The Inheritance of loss

BF’s friend gave me this book during last X’mas and I’ve finally finished it *yeah!*

Overall, it was an enjoyable book (won the booker price last year hor, don’t play play), I like the way the author played with her words, story line is a tab weak though.

All in all, it still couldn’t beat The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. This book totally broke my heart and got me to appreciate the English language again. The story was tragic yet with a touch of innocence and joy. For both times that I read the book, for both times, I wept. I wept for him - the “God" of small things, I wept for the forbidden love between him and "Ammu" and I wept for the innocence lost by the twins.

I read it somewhere that Arundhati Roy is working on her second novel and I am so looking forward to it!

If there is one book that I will recommend, it has to be this book – The God of Small Things. (Lord of the Rind is the second that I’ll recommend!!)

Open your heart when you read it. Some said it's a girly book... yah yah, macho men only read books like "Dune" ah? Wrong! I read "Dune" too. But seriously, God of Small Thing touched me like no other books had ever able to...

I’m out of the team…

I’m a quitter. Officially.

Due to tremendous workload AND studyload, I’ve decided to withdraw from my salsa performance team. I’ve with this dance school, Two Left Feet ever since Dec 2004 and have totally enjoyed myself.

I started out as a “freshie” in the salsa scene, stepped on tons of toes (sorry, guys), being elbowed a few times and even got my boobs grabbed ACCIDENTALLY by fellow salsa mates on some occasions. (They told me they accidentally touched lah)

And in Jan 2006, I went for the audition to join the performance team and got in! Thus, I started on a very, very demanding yet totally fulfilling journey in being a performer for Two Left Feet Dance School. In preparation for the performance in L.A Salsa Festival in L.A (Duh) in May06, I endured extremely demanding trainings. We practiced up to 4 to 5 times a week, each session lasting at least 3 hours. Not only that, I also endured scoldings from the instructors when my dancing was not up to their expectations. They had very, very high expectations… …

Although the trainings were tough, I improved my dancing skills by leaps and bounds and made a few valuable friendships along the way.

For this year, I wanted to be in the team as well, to perform in the Malaysia Congress in August, This year’s performance routine is even much more exciting than the last, and I was really excited about being able to perform again. However, as workload got heavier, in addition to the CFA exam that I’ll be taking in June, I am having problems coping with the schedule of 2-3 times of salsa trainings per week.

Thus, I quit the team…

I have to tell myself that “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job” to justify to myself that I had to give up on one of my dearest loves – dancing.

Sigh. “There is a time and place for everything but salsa is just not on your agenda right now”, said BF.

I guess he is right.

I am older today
Am I wiser, I say?
A year has past and I have learnt
I am older today

I look older today
With a line or two on my face
A little more depth in my eyes
Yet my hair grows limp and thin
I look older today

I feel older today
More burden on my shoulders
Heavier as time goes by
Serious thoughts have to be acted upon and not merely entertained
To ensure things are done before spring is over in May
I feel older today

I’ll be even older by end of today
Will get older tomorrow, and the day after
But I relish in the process of aging
Where I will gain more by giving more
I yearn for the day when I can look back,

Well and alive with a head of frizzy white hair
Reminiscing the good old days and a life well-lived
I want to be older today

I used to be happier?

Just today, one friend commented “what happened to you? You used to be happier..!” Another commented “You are like an old fart now!”

All because I do not enjoy clubbing anymore.

E (one of my gfs) wanted to get me out clubbing on this Friday… but I am not interested at all. I told her I am good to meet up for dinner or some chill-out bars, but not Zouk, MOS or Butter Factory or any of the clubs. And she said “What? You are behaving like an old fart!”

I was like “yeah… I feel like an old fart, although I do not want to look like one!”

Feeling amused, I told another gf of mine, L. And she commented that I used to be more extrovert and was such a party-girl. She was like “What happened to you?!”

Actually, nothing happened to me. I am still as extrovert as ever, in fact, I'm just more at peace with myself as I finally know what I want in life and I try to work towards my goals.

I have decided to put my party days behind me as I do not enjoy partying anymore.

The late nights.
The insane drinking.
The self-indulgence style of dancing.
The waste of time.

I try not to stay up late anymore… if not for work, if not for reading, if not for my fav TV programs (;p). Nowadays, I enjoy waking up early and try to go for a quick run b4 I hit my office or during weekends as well.

I try not to do hard liquor anymore except for whiskey. Haha, I am such a whiskey fan. Give me a Macallen anytime! Nonetheless, I find it so much more meaningful to appreciate a bottle of wine with close friends or with like-minded wine lovers than to binge drink.

Instead of doing senseless hip-hops, I’ll rather hit a salsa bar to work on my salsa dance steps and improve on my coordination and footwork. I do not get any satisfaction in grooving to Justin Timberlake or Madonna anymore, I mean… for what? To attract attention? Kinda passed that phase.

I begin to realize that time is running out. I only have 3 more years to go before I am 30 and there are so many things that I want to achieve before I hit the big 3-0. Thus, I try to engage in value-adding activities such as: reading, exercising, working, catching up with friends and family, traveling and some self-reflection.

I think I have grown up. *FINALLY*

A special friend

Ok… here I am, blogging about friendship again. But I just have to blog this, to remind myself of a very talented friend, who has always inspired me in so many ways yet I didn’t know that he leads such a lonely life until today.

Technically, he is actually BF’s friend. I only got to know him through BF. Let’s call him D. BF and D are from the same kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and junior college. After that, D went to the US to pursue his studies and currently is still based in the US for his professorship in physics.

Thus, BF and I only hang out with him when he is back in Singapore during the winter break. Only for about 1 month in a year, I get to interact with this great guy.

D is easily one of the MOST intelligent human being I have ever met in my life. Always full of clever jokes and interesting stories, he has never failed to amaze me.

He self-taught himself to play the piano.
He takes amazing pictures.
He makes me laugh all the time with his witty remarks.
His dad makes me laugh even harder with his “uncle-ness” and I-am-always-correct attitude (in a non-imposing and oh-so hilarious way)
He engages in conversations that made me go quiet and think.

I really enjoy his company because I can learn so much from him, and I am really fond of him, as a friend, as an older brother, as a buddy. Among all of BF’s buddies, D is definitely my favourite. Hands down.

And just about 15 mins ago, I chanced upon his blog and his blog made me wana cry.

I didn’t know that behind that cheerful face, he is tormented by loneliness.
I didn’t know that beneath that intelligence, he is lost and questioned about his purpose in life.
I didn’t know that under that shield of strength, he longs for her pair of gentle arms to stroke his hair. And all these while, I noticed his glances at her and I have always thought that she is perfect for D. But yet, there is really nothing at all that I can help nor do.

His grief really saddens me in a ridiculous way, in a way I cannot explain. I feel really helpless. And the worst part is that I do not dare to confess to him that I have read his blog. Now, I understand his loneliness and despair, but I am nobody to comfort him or to show my support.

D is rather protective of his blog and doesn’t want many people to read it. Should I leave a comment on his blog to let him know that I understand his pain? Or at least I try to understand his pain?

I didn’t. And I don’t dare. I’m afraid that he would just shut down his blog and that tiny, little window for me to glimpse into his life, his fears, his pain and his longing for love.

BF is greatly troubled too. I know because he is sitting there, looking far away and swirling his wine without really drinking it. I know that he is upset that his best friend has been unhappy and he didn’t find out until 15 mins ago. And he couldn't do anything about it as well... can he?

D is flying back to the US tomorrow and we will not meet till about 11 months later, in the next winter break.

With all my heart, I sincerely wish that D can be happy. Can find that purpose that he has been looking for. Can hold the hand that he has been longing for. Can answer the questions that he has been asking himself.

D, my friend… all the best.

Im disappointed… …

I’m kinda disappointed with my circle of friends right now. Then I looked around and I realized that I don’t really have many friends to start with. That, itself is not an issue since I’ve always believed in the quality of friends rather than quantity.

But now, I can’t help feeling a little disappointed. Maybe it is my fault on my part that I have not been "maintaining" my friendships or maybe I’ve been too giving as a friend that people took me for granted?

Technically, I only have two girl friends from my secondary school. GirlA takes the path less traveled and now is an entrepreneur, her son is almost two and she is expecting her 2nd one. Our friendship works such that we do not meet up all that often but when we do, we have endless things to talk about. But as her life is really different from mine, sometimes, I do kinda feel detached from her.

GirlB has been my best friend since young as we were in the same primary school, secondary school, JC and even university! So, we have really come a long way. GirlB has always been the quieter one, more feminine and private. While I’m just a loud, over-the-top and don’t-you-dare-to-f**k-with-me kinda girl.

I will usually tell her whatever happened but sometimes, she kinda keeps things from me. It will be a long while before I knew exactly what happened (sometimes I am still clueless!). I understand that some people needs some time to digest and selectively give out some information but I really cannot help but to feel disappointed that a friendship of almost 20 years cannot even “handle the truth”.

Sigh.

I used to be rather cosy with a bunch of hall friends but lately, I just feel that whenever we hang out (it had been a while since we last hung out), the conversations became extremely superficial… so much so that I feel that I am entertaining a bunch of acquaintances instead of friends.

Maybe I am just too overbearing. Yet, some said I am aloof.

I have always been envious of Carrie in “Sex and the City”, specifically her strong friendship with her 3 other friends - Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. I really do wish that I have 3 other girl friends who we can all hang out together and have breakfast/ Dim Sum every Sunday morning to bitch about everything under the sun. (esp. cute men or the lack of cute men in or lives)

Ok, time to recruit new girl-friends. If only it’s really that easy.

It’s nearing the end…

Hmmm. It’s the time of the year when one should sit down and reflect upon one’s achievement for the past year… …

*picture a old lady in a rocking chair, sipping some tea and goes “ahhh” while nodding her head at the meanwhile*

Heh. Hopefully that will be me in like 50 years’ time. Still alive. Still kicking and in one single piece.

I don’t know about you, but I kinda started doing this “reflection-at-the-end-of year” thingy while I was in the US.

As I was there for only 1 and a half years, time was short, so I really need to sit down and reflect upon what I had done for the past year and were those activities “value-adding” and with the remaining half-yr to go, what other sports/things/places that I must pick up/do/visit before I left the States.

I learnt how to ski, how to fish (game fishing), how to ride a horse, how to survive alone in New York. I traveled to Costa Rica, parts of Canada and parts of the US that I wanted to.

And since then, I picked up the habit to reflect upon what I have done and I try to do that on a consistent basis, for example, at least once every 6 months.

I truly believe that this is a very meaningful exercise and I do think that I’m leading a more fulfilling life after practicing this exercise consistently.

Take 2006 for instance, at the beginning of 2006, I started to get bored of my ex-job and wanted to get a job that I really enjoy, so that I do not have to drag myself to work everyday. And so, in Jun06, I was indeed very lucky to find one, which I totally enjoy and was exactly what I wanted.

It was in 2005 that I first went for my virgin-10km "race" and would have gone for the half marathon this year if not for the CFA exam that I had to take, which was on the same day as the half-marathon. But for the past 1 year, I have been running regularly although I do wish that I can cover longer distance in each run.

I told myself at the beginning of 2006 that I wanted to go back to school and upgrade myself, and I did. I took up the CFA exam and I am determined to BE a CFA. This in turn, means that I will most probably sacrifice a chunk of my social life to study part-time on my own for the next 2-3 years.

Now that I look back upon 2006, I really do think that it was a truly great year for me and I do have a sense of achievement that I have accomplished what I have set to do at the beginning of the year.

Just a tip from me, set small, realistic goals for yourself and trust me, the sense of achievement can be really satisfying.

So, for the coming 2007, this is a list of what I have set for myself:

1) Run to MacRitchi Reservoir from Bishan (that’s where I am staying now) and do the full 11 km run, around the reservoir. To prepare myself for the half/full marathon at the end of 2007.
2) Sign up for the New Balance Run at Sentosa in July, and clock a decent timing.
3) Continue with my pursuit to be a Certified Financial Anaylst.
4) Go diving?
5) Be an expert in the Vietnamese stock market.
6) SAVE MORE MONEY!

The Ugly Truth about Myself

Ok… I know I have many ugly truths, but this… this… must be the ugliest of all ugly.

I HAVE CELLULITE.

ARGH?!?!?!

These horrible “orange peels” reside at the back of my thighs. How can that be? I run regularly, I used to dance regularly ( I will start on my salsa classes once again after my CFA exam), I stretch regularly… So, where the hell did these “orange peels” come from?

And after doing some research, I realised that those are “hard” cellulite, which many runners and athletic women suffer from as well.

And guess what, hard cellulite is MUCH harder to remove than soft cellulite. As soft cellulite is mainly due to sedentary lifestyle, overweight and bad drainage, but for hard cellulite, these unsightly fats are actually imbedded in the muscle, just under the skin. Thus, no amount of running or exercise can get rid of it?!

WTF?!

Luckily, all is not lost… Apparently, with religious scrubbing during baths, massage with essential oils MIGHT improve the situation.

Ok, the New Year resolution for 2007

[1] Remove cellulite
[2] Remove cellulite
[3] Remove cellulite.

Ok, you get the picture.

Bourne. James Bourne.

Yup, I went to watch the Ugliest-Ever-James-Bond on last Friday. Hrm, the name of the movie is Casino Royale.

For the very first time in Bond history, I did NOT walk out of the cinema screaming “STUPID MOVIE”. This time round, no invisible car, no DNA-exchange-from-Korean-turn-AngMoh and no stupid gadgets.

Although pretty women with big breasts are still there lah.

Nonetheless, this Bond actually made me sit up and go “hmmmm… he is pretty good, isn’t he?”

Yes, he is so ugly that he should be Mr. Bean instead of Mr. Bond BUT he has the most striking blue eyes brimming with intense intelligence (and not lust).

Yes, he’s not that smooth BUT he actually fell in love in the movie… *awww* And almost lost his balls for that.

Yes, he looks like he is balding But who gives a f**k? Real men bald! (That’s what BF likes to say)

All in all, I really did enjoy the Bond movie! Sigh… and I thought Hugh Jackman might have a chance to be Bond as he is oh-so yummy, but Daniel Craig really had me eating from his hand from the opening of the movie! I guess Craig is definitely here to stay!

Go watch Casino Royale, as it is more Bourne than Bond. For once, you really do NOT feel stupid watching a Bond film.

I miss Halloween…

I miss dressing up. I miss being invited to crazy, private parties where EVERYONE would dress up and had a hell of a time.

Sigh. I miss New York.

I had the best Halloween party when I was in New York 2004. The whole street was filled with people in hilarious costumes and everyone was checking out everyone’s else costume.

I remembered being invited to a private party which the owner took pains to decorate his place with a huge spider web! Not only that, he even dressed up his cat in the “MIB – Man in Black” costume which the pug was wearing. The cat looked so cute! And everyone attended the party in costumes and we had so much fun taking pictures…

As for last year’s Halloween, I went to Wisconsin for a private party and that was so much fun too! It was a college town and WOAH! All the students dressed to kill! I must say that most of the costume was extremely creative and was self-made!

And this year… Although I was invited to a salsa party which the theme was “school uniform”… (a tab boring), I stayed at home to study. Totally unhappening and depressing.

*sob*

And the saddest part is that when I suggest to my friends and BF to dress up and attend Halloween parties, they said that I am “boliao”.

WTF?!

Anyway, I used to have a pug when I was a kid and it was given away when my mum got pregnant with my youngest brother. Nonetheless, if I were to own a pug now (and I will, in the future!) I will definitely dress my pug up! Just like the picture!

To Shanghai and Back

Yup… I am back from Shanghai! I went to SH for the long weekend, so it was a really short trip of only 4 days 3 nights. In fact, it was shorter than that because I had to go for a plant visit on Monday and attended a meeting on Tuesday noon. Thus, effectively I only had Sat and Sun to explore Shanghai.

The first thing that struck me when I hit the Bund, was the familiar feeling of being in New York City. Besides the fact that people around me were speaking Mandarin instead of English, and the occasional spits and spats (SO GROSS!), Shanghai definitely has the buzz. Just like New York.

The sky scrapers, the honking, people pushing and shuffling… ahhh, I did kinda feel right at home. ;p

Anyway, BF and I got bored after a while… It was too crowded to shop or do anything else, thus, we headed back to the hotel, took a power nap and got ourselves ready to eat hairy crabs and party!

O yah, hairy crabs. Couldn’t believe how bloody expensive one can cost… especially a female crab since they are in season now, i.e: they are full of roe. Well… I do have to admit that the roe of the hairy crabs is indeed sweeter and has a more robust taste than our Sri Lankan crabs, BUT nothing can be compared to our Chili Crabs or Black Pepper crabs. Plus, the hairy crabs are so darn small… maximum effort in digging the flesh and minimum flesh to dig and eat. Not worth it.

Ok, after the hairy crabbys, we went out partying. Clubbing in SH is so, so, so expensive. NO Shit.

We went to Bar Rouge at Bund 18, supposedly THE bar at the moment. Cover charge was 200 RMB and drinks are NOT included?! Goodness, that’s S$40?! Drinks cost at least S$18 each… well, no wonder the place is full of Ang Mohs and expats from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Hmmm… oh, and the view of the bund wasn’t that great either. All in all, not worth it. Super NOT worth it.

Then we went to “Guan Di”… ahh, that place was pretty cool. Played good Hip Hop music although the music was a little dated. No Ang Mohs, mainly Chinese expats trying to groove to hip hop. Definitely more casual and less pretentious.

So we grooved till about 4 am, knocked out and woke up at noon the next day to eat the best xiaolongbao in SH. We went to “Nan Xiang Man Tuo Dian” at Yu Yuen, where it was basically a huge tourist trap. However, the Xiaolongbao was excellent! Definitely better than all the ones I’ve tried in Singapore and Taiwan. This Nan Xiang wins hands down.

That basically concluded my Shanghai trip. All I did was eat, drink, party and sleep. Actually… much more happened, but I am just too lazy to write lah.

Well, I wouldn’t mind going there again if the next trip is FREE. Or else… I’ll rather go to Beijing.

You can wash everywhere but DUN wash my FACE... ...

I SAID DUN WASH MY FACE!!! You, @#$%&*!!! Cannot understand English issit?!?!

Don’t feel like studying

Agrh… I am supposed to be studying for my CFA now, in office. But it does not seem to be working out.

I am too tired and somehow too restless to study. It takes me like 5 mins to understand a single paragraph.

CFA is such a pain… but I cannot afford to fail and my exam is just 2 months away and I still have other 4 books to go?!

Shit.

Sigh.

I am depressed.

I NEED a study buddy… ;(

Too much good food and wine…

Past weekend was a sinful one.

One of BF’s good friends organized a wine tasting event: “Pinot Noir: Old World vs New World” on last Saturday. It was a small affair with only 12 but 2 “heavy weights” of the local wine scene were around!

So, I was privileged to taste some of the better Pinots from Burgundy, Australia and Oregon. (No New Zealand though.. weird)

One Pinot really caught my fancy, Domain Drouhin from the US, Oregon. Most of seasoned drinkers did not find the wine great as it was “very un-pinot”. At the beginning, the wine had a “smoky” nose, with a tinge of roasted peanuts. Very un-pinot indeed.

However, as the night progressed on, the wine evolved to a slight herbal nose with the usual tinge of strawberry. And finally, the full nose of raspberry, oak and fruits were presented at the very end.

What a delight!

Usually, I am an “Old World” drinker, usually prefer Burgundy, Bordeaux, Chablis, Pomerol or Italian. Not a great fan of Australia or US, as I find the wine to be “too big” for my taste.

However, this Pinot Noir from Oregon was really elegant and well-made. And most important of all, it was able to "hold" for at least 4 to 5 hours. It constantly evolved and changed, and did not collapsed. Unlike some other Pinots, which collapsed after 2 hours or so. Definitely the “wine of the night” for me.

O yah… and I ate so much. Not a pretty sight.

Argh… this weekend will be another sinful week. Mooncake “celebration” on Friday and another wine dinner on Sat. This time, the theme is Amarone from Italy. Hmmm… tough theme!

Alrite, enough of all the snooty and "ah-tas" stuff.

The haze is back and it's killing me... it's really irritating my eyes and throat. Worse of all, I can't run outdoors!

And with all these rich food and wine... I AM GETTING FAT.

I need a gym membership... but being a "giam-kana", I refused to pay for anything that costs more than $5 bucks. Sigh... I missed my old gym from my previous workplace, which cost only 5 dollars, with shower facilities and a swimming pool somemore!

;(

Back from China, Shandong

Last week, I went to China for 3 days, for my very first business trip. To be specific, I visited Yantai , Shandong province.

Yantai is considered to be a 3rd tier city, with a population of ONLY 3 million ++. To be a 1st tier city in China, the city gotta have a population of more than 10 million, 2nd tier city à between 5 to 9 million and a 3rd tier cityà less than 5 million loh.

Hmmm… is Singapore a 3rd tier city then? No lah… Singapore is not part of China mah!

*Bo Liao*

Anyway, business trip went well except for the very last day, which I suffered from food poisoning. Woah… must be the fried scorpions, fried roaches and 1 fried silk worm cocoon which I ate. I took pictures of those insects before I crunched them in my mouth. I’ll have to upload to the web once I got the chance… One of the roaches, which I named “Xiao Qiang” is extremely tasty!

Yup, I am so proud of myself that I actually tried those “exotic” foods. They did not taste that bad, except for the silk worm cocoon. The cocoon was too “squishy” and tasted really weird. As for the scorpions and roaches, they were pretty yummy… aiyah, all fried food taste yummy to me.

And I visited my very first Wal-mart in China. Very different from the Wal-marts in the U.S. Well… you cannot find live soft-shell turtles in U.S Wal-marts. Not even as pets. Those turtles were sold as FOOD in the China Wal-mart!

All in all, it was a fulfilling trip as I got to learn more about China’s consumer habits.

I can’t wait for my Shanghai trip in Oct!

1st tier city leh…

Zouk – Zonked out…

Last Saturday, Sien had a house warming party where the “Hall 6 Kit Kat Gang” decided to destroy whatever she has in her new home.

Oh, I am part of the Kit Kat gang, by the way.

So, we chomped down almost all of her food (much to her relief, actually), drained her wine and Choya collection, messed up her bedroom, bullied her new dog and treated her husband like our new maid.

Wahaha… damn fun! And it was so good to see all of the Kat Kat Gang again, especially our MamaSan is back from the U.S for a short break (a.k.a Min), Miss Powerhouse (a.k.a Serene) is also back for while before heading for China. Also good to see Huanghui as she is so busy with her schedule with TCS (Yeah… I have a friend who is a star leh…)

This house warming party also served as a farewell party for our Miss Happening (a.k.a Fiona) and Mr. Piggy (a.k.a Jeff) who are heading for Tokyo and Vietnam respectively! Wow… with all these friends overseas… I can leeched on them when I visit. Yeah!

After destroying Sien’s place, Kit Kat Gang wanted to party so we headed down to Zouk.

Woah… Haven’t been to Zouk for such a long time!

However, there wasn’t much of a crowd for a Saturday night. Hmmm… guess everyone is either at MOS or Butter Factory nowadays. I was kinda disappointed... Nonetheless, I was at least with my Kit Kat Gang!

And since, it had been a long time since we last gathered; the guys started acting crazy and ordered drinks as if they were free.

My God.

There were: 2 jugs of Gin Tonic, 2 jugs of Vodka Ribena, 2 jugs of vodka orange, 20 shots of Lychee Martini, 30 shorts of tequila, 20 shots of Apple Shooters and 20 shots of Sex On The Beach.

And there were only 8 of us… …

Everyone got zonked out.

Some started puking… *not very glam*

But we had tons of fun!

Hrm… although I do wish that the guys had gone easy on the alcohol… binge drinking is not that fun. Especially the hangover on the next day.

But it was really nice to hang out with old friends again.

Viva La Kit Kat Gang!

I'll post some pictures once I lay my hands on them!

Café Le Troquet

I have not been to the one in Paris, but I must say that the Le Troquet in Singapore is pretty damn good!

BF and I decided to check out the place last Saturday after hearing so many good things about the restaurant. In fact, we did not make any reservations as the restaurant is located in Balestier, thus assuming the place should be empty. (Despite being a Saturday night, but who wana hang out at Balestier on a Saturday night?!?!)

And we were right.

There were only 4 tables being occupied, although the restaurant can easily sit about 26 people (inclusive of the “al fresco” area outside). It was a very simple restaurant, no frills. The crowd was casual, we had a group of Ang Mohs in a corner, a young couple behind, and another two older couples beside us.

The restaurant has a set dinner that cost S$48 NETT, with a glass of wine, starter, main course, dessert and coffee/tea. We took the set, although I exchanged my starter to “Pan fried Foie Gras” (you have to pay a bit more) and that was absolutely delicious!

It was crispy on the outside but totally soft in the inside and melted in my mouth within seconds. Wow… it had been a while since I had such well made foie gras.

BF’s starter was salad with cold cuts and that was absolutely delicious too! The cuts were of good quality and tasted really fresh, like fresh, good quality sausages. Yummy…

Oh, before I forgot, they also served WARM bread with Greek beans by the side for pre-starter. The bread was mini-baguette which I remembered eating in Nice and Paris… ahhh. So nice.

I ordered steak for my main course and BF had the Duck Confit. Oohh… the duck confit was excellent! The chef flew in the ducks from France and thus, they are so plump and juicy. A very well executed duck confit… highly recommended!

As for my steak, it was well made; however, it paled in comparison to the duck confit.

By the way, Le Troquet carries a very good range of French wine, which is not expensive at all. We ordered a bottle of red from Rhone Valley and I totally enjoyed it. (I couldn’t remember the label though).

As for the dessert, we went for the cheese selection, where 3 kinds of cheese were served. I believe they are blue, bree and camembert. I personally love blue cheese… thus I gobbled that within minutes. I did not try the sweet desserts, thus I cannot comment much on that.

All in all, it was an excellent dinning experience where I had good quality French food, in a relax environment where I don’t have to pretend and speak in a fake accent to get my orders done.

The owner of the restaurant is Suzanne Leong and she stayed in France for a couple of years. Thus, that explained the authentic French food.

She is very friendly, but a bit blur as she misunderstood my orders twice. Nonetheless, she is warm and sincere to serve the best food to her customers at attractive prices.

I really like the place and will definitely go back again.

By the way, both BF and I wore berms and slippers, but had good French food and wine. And nobody is there to sniff their noses at you because everyone there is so casual!

I love this place.


The address:

Café Le Troquet

529 Balestier Road #01-01
Singapore 329856

Tel: 6736 1070

Near Accident

Last Sunday, 27 Aug06, I drove one of my younger brothers back to his hostel in NTU, and had a near-accident experience…

I just got my license almost 4 months ago (in April) and have been zipping around on the roads to practice my driving.

So, back to last Sunday, as I was zipping down Mandai road, towards BKE/KJE (pretty close to the Zoo), a dog dashed out from nowhere and wanted to cross the road?!?!

My first instinct was to brake but as I was traveling at about 80 km/hr, I knew that brakes would not be enough and I would definitely hit the dog for sure! So, I SWERVED my car to the left.

That was a mistake that could have killed both me and my brother.

There was a van on my left, trailing behind me and THANKFULLY, he was driving slower and thus was able to avoid me even though I swerved into his lane without warning!

Good God!

My brother was screaming “Jie!!! What are you doing?!?!”

p/s: “Jie” means sister in Hokkien.

Broke into a cold sweat after that… and the dog ran back to the side of the road.

Good gracious… my brother started scolding me, saying that I couldn’t just swerved into other lanes like that… should have jammed brakes instead… blah blah.

But what if I really ran the dog over?

But what if there was a lorry behind us, and if I were to jam brakes, the lorry would have run us over?

I only had 2 seconds to react to such a situation. I had no time to analyze but to act on my instinct, and my instinct was to “save the dog”!!!

I can still remember the fear in the dog’s eyes when it noticed my car was approaching really fast and it immediately tried to turn back. How could I have run it over..?

*scary*

NO more driving for the next 1 week!

Purple and red lights upon me
I see nobody but my own shadow
I crave for the embrace of a partner
To swirl and move together
But I am alone
In an empty dance hall filled with my hollow echo

*****************************************************************************

This picture was taken at the Upper Club where 2LeftFeet presented its maiden performance and was snapped by my salsa partner with his cellphone camera... not bad huh? Got artistic feel huh?
Although it looked kinda sad and lonesome isnt it?
Actually the whole of performance team was just practising the routine in front of me!! Out of range of the camera of course...