With all thy getting, get understanding

Solomon was really on to something. He really had everything mortal man could want in the physical world. Money, fame, power, women, properties, children (this one's a bit iffy. And yet his knowledge that all that is nothing without understanding (or wisdom, as some translations have it), is really mind boggling.

In a time when so much of what we do seems to be based on how we feel, rather than what we know, I am reminded that wisdom to sift the wheat from the chaff is indeed the most valuable thing of all.

So much is relative, so much is measured on the level of pure emotion, that it is easy to look track of what's real and go with the flow. I am thankful for reminders everyday.

I know this is kinda rambling and random, but I needed to remember I said this.

Theatre Review: Shakespeare - Reduced and Riotous

I went to the opening night performance by the Reduced Shakespeare Company last night with my friend-in-all-things-literary. The complete works of Shakespeare - Abridged, performed in 97 minutes. All 37 plays, some sonnets, some aprocryphal works and a whole lot of physical comedy, innuendo, quote massacre,puns and play-on-words thrown in.

While most of the plays were mainly touch and go,(All the comedies were lumped together under a skit titled "4 weddings and a tranvestite"), the entire second half was devoted to what is considered Shakespeare's greatest work of all time. (And if you have to ask which one, tch).

The most enjoyable was the incredible versality of the actors, whose multiple talents really kept you guessing at what they are going to come up with next. Adding relevancy with references to popular culture (who hasn't used wiki or google to research eh?), the performance reminded us of the Bard's innate talents as well as his absolute verbosity, his penchant to "distil" other people's works and to pair the most unlikely couples in his many plays (many of whom can be married in various states in the US, as astutuely observed by the players).

If you are planning to watch this, you are in for the laugh of your life. I can't remember the last time I saw the aforementioned partner in crime laugh so hard or lose it so badly.

If you weren't planning to watch this, let me assure you that dont need a knowledge of Shakesepeare's work to enjoy it. Go. Now.

Till 2 August 2009
Drama Centre
Tickets from $19 at Sistic.

Resolve or Dissolve

Dinner with PKH yesterday was good for my sense of sensibility and perspective. Being the intense, analytical, very logical and feet firmly on the ground kinda person that he is, his views on almost everything are about 180 degrees removed form mine. Which is why I enjoy our friendship so much.

His take on the whole resolve or dissolve dilemma was at total odds to all my previously held opinions on the subject. When someone steps out of character and does something that shows initiative and a desire to communicate, is that reason to celebrate the effort or use it to make my case against why he cannot be trusted.

Food for thought.

Bob Blumer - An encounter

Last Saturday, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a cooking class hosted by Bob Blumer, one of my Discovery Travel and Living heroes. Bob hosted a really cute show called Surreal Gourmet, where he travelled around toaster-mobile in his cooking extaordinary meals for the most unlikely people, with the simplest ingredients. Bob has a great sense of humour, and his passionate for food, coupled with the cute Canadian way he says "aboot" instead of "about" makes him very likeable indeed.

The class was a blast! There were perhaps 30 of us in all, contest winners, food bloggers and other calefare i.e me. He was in town to promote his new show "glutton for punishment" which almost killed him, to hear him tell it. Although he looked really tired, he was most obliging with our incessant requests for photo opps, autographs and dumb questions (can I use oil instead of butter?) He had just come from Manila and was leaving for KL the next day and I was surprised he wasn't more grumpy.

Bob taught us how to make chicken on a stick, prawns on a stick and chocolate wontons (not on a stick). The food was amazing, but it paled in comparision to meeting a prolebrity (professional celebrity?).

The good people at Discovery did a bang up job organising this, and gave us nice freebies like a awesome apron and a Glutton for Punishment Coffee Cup with cover/cookie plate. I love it!

It was an awesome experience. Thanks S for asking me to go and thank you God, for making it possible.

PS Photos later. For some reason blogger won't let me post photos at the mo.

What this woman wants - really

I had a good talk with an old friend yesterday (has it really been 10 years?!) and we spoke of many things. Then he asked me a question which really floored me.

What do you want, he said, all serious.

I hadn't thought about what I wanted in such a long time then I was completely bewildered for a while. What DO I want? Then I started thinking, what if what i want is too superficial, too shallow, too minor? Does it then make it something not worth wanting, or even worth having?

It's something I am still pondering. Who knew such a simple question would be so hard to answer.

Sometimes...

.. it's just not enough.

Back to school!

The last 2 weeks of the school holidays were just packed! Birthday celebrations, trips to Malacca, church camp and endless other feasts and festivities filled our days.

Needless to say, waking up this morning at the glorious time of 5:45a, was a drag. Surprisingly enough, Hanan bounded out of bed rather quickly and was not too cranky about my hurrying him through the shower, dressing and shoes-and-socks stage.

After he left, I went to bed but instead of sleeping, found myself praying for the many things on my mind. Michael Jackson's demise. My friend's dad's operation. My ability to get through the next ten weeks of term and emerge sane. My seasons of self-pity and loneliness.

It's a whole bunch of depressing stuff, but at the end of it, I actually felt stronger and more confident than I had in quite a while. Strange, no? Or maybe not.

First Birthday Thing

My department people at work took me to birthday lunch today. We had Japanese, as my request, which is one of my favourites (among the other 15 types of cuisine which are my favourite. Ok, I like food.)

It was really fun, especially trying everybody's food, making fun of each other and generally continuing the asinine mayhem that goes on in the office anyway.

And I got really nice presents, including a "hot babe" tag. Finally, the recognition for who I really am :)

Happy already!

Some photos. I won't ruin your pleasant bewilderment with captions.

Oven

I have been hankering for an oven recently, after throwing out my old decrepit one in December along with a whole bunch of other kitchen junk i no longer needed.

It's funny that I haven't felt the need for one till recently when the plethora of good recipes on www.foodgawker.com have made me want to grill and bake again.

So, through an angel who will remain unnamed I got this Moulinex Compact Chef Oven for a very afforable price. Well this is not the exact thing, but it looks something like this.



And now, I realise that I need to get all the peripherals that go with it - cookie sheets, cake pans, muffin pans, stoneware, etc etc...

This is gonna be fun! And just in time too.

Singing in "Indian"

On Page 39 of Thursday's Today newspaper, a very popular, iconic SINGAPOREAN musician was quoted as saying,

"We once did a Chinese song... done as a ballad with Indian instruments and sung in Indian."

Every Indian nerve in my body prickled and stood on end at those last three words. Sung in Indian?

How do people who have lived in a multi-racial society like Singapore, have friends of different ethnicity (one would assume) and have written and performed in all 4 official languages not know that "Indian" is not a language?

I can understand if the person grew up at the bottom of a well, is a SAP school alumni and local university graduate whose only contact with other races is when they are feeling exotic and want to eat prata. But this person is a much respected cultural icon, who honestly should know better.

So, to clear it up, here is the low-down:

Indian is a nationality.
A Hindu is person who practises Hinduism, a religion.
Hindi is a language.
The Indian language that is also our official language is Tamil.
Tamil is spoken by 90% of Singaporeans of Indian descent.
Tamils are not classified by how "fair" or "dark" they are, but where their forefathers came from (Tamil Nadu and some parts of Kerala and Sri Lanka)

And for the record, we are not amused when you imitate our language and ask non-enligtened questions like "Wah, you perm your hair ah?"

It is as impossible to sing in Indian, as it is to order food in Malaysian or speak in Singaporean.

To the respected musician in question, I really do hope that you were misquoted. It is unforgivable for a person such as yourself, who borrows freely from our vast cultural heritage to make such an ignorant comment.

Vignettes

Its been exactly 2 months since a certain someone got on a plane and left for the shores that welcomed the teeming masses. In a lot of ways, i guess its wierd not having him around. But in even more, it is actually quite good. No more arguments for the sake of arguments. And going home is a lot more plesant.

***

In 8 days, I will cross an important threshold and go into my late thirties. Ugh. That's a whole other checkbox on most survey forms. On the up side, I am more stable emotionally, secure financially and mature spiritually then I have ever been.

***

What do chocolate cake, baked rice, roast chicken and sugar cookies have in common?

They all need an oven to be prepared. And I don't have one. For some reason they cost an arm and a leg and the there aren't that many second hand ones for sale.
I need an oven. It will make me feel fulfilled as a woman in her late thirties. Well, maybe not. But that's my story and I am sticking with it.

***

Why do I sign myself up for stuff I don't have time to do? I just sorta kinda volunteered to be pretty heavily involved the production of the combined service. It started off with an innocuous idea which grew till I realised, wait, I am signing up for more work here.

But I guess I didn't really want to say no. Not to this anyway.

The Worship Concert

There are few things that I rather do on a Friday than relax with some people who are near and dear to my heart, listen to really good music, have a good conversation that brings me joy, comfort and food for thought.

Thankfully that is exactly what I got to do last night at church, during The Worship Concert, a worship event that seemed like a microcosm of the worship experience at Hillsong Conference last year.

With excellent musicians and singers from FGA Singapore, FGA KL and Every Nation Church Singapore leading the way, it was all I could do not to break out into a full-fledged dance routine.

Of course what took it one step higher was that it was all in praise of awesome God, but still, there is little that could have detracted from the fact that everyone brought their best.

The auditorium was packed full and slightly warmer than it should have been (that could have been just me, though), but the sound of every voice raised in song, hands raised in worship was phenomenal.

I could have done that all night.

An ex-churchmate once said, "Sometime we worship, sometimes we just sing songs." I thought of that last night. People outside of a church environment will probably see it as a bunch of people, who know all the words, singing songs to their God, with additional dramatics like raised hands, clenched fists and hypnotic swaying thrown in.

Which is why we can never explain what it feels like to worship God and know that you are heard, and loved and responded to. Its like trying to explain the thrill of your first kiss, or how it feels to suckle a baby, or how just hanging out with your beloved is like to someone who has never had those experiences.

And therein lies the conundrum of worship. It's awesome, its healing, its freeing, its uplifting. But it can't be explained. It has to be experienced.

I am glad for the experience.

Yum Yum Tex-Mex

The last time I had really good Tex-Mex food in our fair city was probably 15 years ago when the Westin had a beautiful restaurant called the .. the name eludes me at the moment, but still.

El patio had all the quality of food and ambience without the pretentiousness. In fact if you were looking for it from Lorong Mambbong, it might be easy to miss next to the garish, overdone pseudo-Mexican facade of its next door neighbour/ competitor. But El Patio is for people looking for Mexican food, not the "experience", the way the local kopitiam is for people who want coffee and not a "caffeine experience."

We ordered the prawn quesadillas and the mixed combo fajitas, our inner carnivore knowing it craved meat, but not which kind. We were not disappointed. Tender, flavourful slices of lamb, chicken, beef and *gasp* prawns were beautifully carmelised and served with warm tortillas. The prawn quesadillas were crisp, stuffed full of prawns and highly satisfying. I was so glad that they weren't oozing sour cream and guacamole like in some places.

All of this was complimented by tortilla chips, freshly made guacamole (they make is 5.30pm everyday, apparently) and salsa. Add a couple of jam jars of frozen magarita with the strongest kick o tequila I ave ever had, and we were all laughing.

The service was impeccable. Polite, coherant and well-informed staff made the experience even more fulfilling.

El patio is for real tex-mex food lovers. It's the real deal. And of course all the eye candy in the surrounding vicinity doesn't hurt either :)

God of Time

Studying Daniel Chapter 9 with my life group yesterday, I was just wowed by how amazing God is. That He, being beyond time, can create a way to measure time so accurately that we, as mere created beings, can not only understand his purpose, but can compute exactly when he is going to carry it out - to the day.

In the 490 years predicted in Daniel, I was thrilled to find out his provision for the "Church Age", the period of time where as his people, we have the privilege to live under his promises and blessings till the final kingdom comes! That during Daniel's day, nay, at creation, God already made a plan to keep us on his mind!

How astounding! I am humbled and thankful to such an amazing God.

God is the Master of Time. And he is able to stretch it and compress it if He wants to. But he keeps it nice and consistent for us to order our lives by. I will never feel like wasting time again.

Mother's Day

Flowers.

Roast lamb dinner.

Friends.

Sweet baby.


Mother's Day has always been a very bittersweet occasion for me. But this one was good. Thanks all.

Not a movie review - Star Trek

My church friend K and I made a date one year ago to watch Star Trek the first day it came out. And yesterday, our year-long anticipation and excitement finally paid off. And it was so worth it all.

I have been thinking about reviewing the movie all day, but you know what, I can't. I am too much of a fan for cold clinical deconstruction of the script, performance and direction of what is touted as the most enduring sci-fi franchise ever.

I loved it. All of it.The way the scriptwriter basically wrote into the script that this is an alternate reality and from here, anything can happen and we don't have to hold on to the former storylines. And yet, despite the license, there were so many endearing familiarities, so many inside jokes, so much that adheres not just to the movies and the original series, but the books too. That was really commendable and we fans enjoy that.

Whether you are a trekker or a trekkie (yes, there IS a difference) or completely new to this, you can't help but be blown away by the sensitive moments in the movie. Chris Pine plays a picture-perfect Kirk, maverick and master of the ship, lost boy and lord of the manor, lusty lover and loyal friend.

And Zachary Quinto did a fabulous portrayal of the stoic, logical Spock. I for one, am glad that in this movie, they let his human side surface a little more. Some inter-racial relatonship never hurt, and why should Kirk have all the fun?

Chekov was so sweet, Sulu hilarious, Uhura just too beautiful for her own good, and Scotty.. good ol' Scotty. And Bones looked like a 50s matinee star... The casting was so spot on, that I couldn't help noticing that Nimoy and Quinto had the same nose! Whether prosthetics or real, the fact that the effort was made makes at least this Star Trek fan very very happy.

I will probably see it again. And again. And again. And it will be good. And it will be worth it.

You had me at hello

I have recently been noticing how people greet one another when they pick up the phone. It is very telling of the person's personality, their current state of mind, the company they are in. And all this sometimes by the simple "hello".

But before that, a story. I remember when I was about 7 or 8, I first started becoming interested in the phone as a communication tool. Before that it was the domain of adults, who spoke into it, sometimes to people i knew, sometimes to strangers. I didn't even know the number.

But after my parents split up, the phone became all important. It was my connection to my dad. When with dad, it was my link to mum. The numbers 4526473 had great significance and was committed to memory like no other number had been (not even the times table)

I also noticed that my mum answered the phone in a weary, sad tone. The "H" in the hello was heavily exhaled, like a sigh. The tone was low, the volume lower. It sounded as burdened and as tired as she was.I learnt to gauge her actual mood by the next word. An excited "Ah, yes" meant it was a family member, a no-nonsense brusque tone - a call from work. A wordless "Nalinee, it's for you" meant it was my dad. And much later, a high giggle indicated that her then-boyfriend, now-husband was on the line.

Little known to myself, I too started to answer the phone with the world-weary hello. Maybe it was just mindless imitation (probably). Maybe I wanted the sympathy and attention she seemed to get with that tone (possibly). Maybe sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

But it was years later (almost 12 years) when a male caller who would later become my husband called me on it. "Why do you always answer the phone like someone just finished berating you?", he asked. I thought about it. I made a conscious effort to sound more cheerful. I hope it worked.

Today my mother answers the phone with an Australian accent - the insertion of the "i" and the questioning tone which sounds like "Helloi?". Go figure.

Dad, he sounds like he was in the midst of reading the Iliad. In the original Greek.

My brother, always surprised. Btw, he says "Helloi?" too. :)

Hanan - lowers his voice a couple of octaves, tries to sound like a grown man.

R - sounds like an English Lady, going Cooee! Sorry dude, you do and I love you for it.

A - says "Har-low!" True blue Singaporean.

What do I sound like now? Tell me next time you call me ok?

Goodbye Frankie Manning

Frankie Manning, the global ambassador of the Lindy Hop, passed away last week at the grand old age of 94, a few weeks shy of his 95th birthday. A 5 day dance festival was planned to celebrate his birthday and his contribution to the world of American Dance, and allegedly his wish was for the party to go on even if he couldn't make it.

I had the pleasure of watching Mr Manning dance several times in Singapore at various dance events where he was the indisputable guest of honour. Watching him was poetry in motion and if I could move half as gracefully at half the age, that would be a miracle in itself.

Read a fitting eulogy to the man here. And do a swing step in his memory.

Long time, no see

It's been a real long time since my last post, but things have been swimming along rather furiously and its all I can do to keep my head above water.

Still, thank God for busy periods, especially during this time when people are getting laid off left, right and centre. The busier I am, the more likely I will still be employed at the end of this year eh?

Its been eventful with so many things I can't share here. But I can share this: My mum just had the most rip-roaring 60th birthday this weekend. We had it at the SAF chalets in Changi and more than 50 people came. The food was awesome, the company great and people we haven't seen in a long time showed up so it was quite cool.

My cousin Shal and I made my mother this poster as a keepsake for people to sign on. I thought she will like it it. I didn't expect her to cry.


She had her dance with her husband, which she wanted very much, and really liked her diabetic friendly cupcakes, so I think she was happy.

Me, I was just freaking out at every little thing that didn't go exactly according to plan. Like I always do. :)

Servicing Water

How exactly does one service water? By providing a crystal decanter?
Or perhaps by releasing it back into the rainforest where is belongs?
Or maybe it will not be called servicing unless it was done effectively?

The mind boggles.