Painful People

Our last day to vacate the office is Monday June 2. As expected, we had a fairly busy week clearing our work cases. At the same time, we were also packing ourselves out of the office in stages. It should have been smooth sailing, allowing us to come in on Monday for a final clear-out.

Until a particularly unwelcome phone number showed up on my mobile early this week. I groaned inwardly even as I put on my most professional voice to take the call.

she: My husband and I would like an appointment for Monday next week.

me: Is there any way at all that you could come in any day this week rather than Monday next week.

she: Isn't Monday your last day in this office?

me: Yes it is. It's just that we will also be packing up the office.

she: But no we cannot come in this week. We would like to come in on Monday for our appointment. And then we leave Singapore for good on Tuesday.

me: We will see you Monday 2 June at 3pm.

They are not among my favourite work cases (is it any wonder?) And true to form, they are a pain to deal with up to the very end.

We will see them come Monday afternoon, provide the work that they seek from us and be damn proud that we have been diligently professional down to the last working hours.

Pietrasanta -a slice of Tuscany

These days I harbour no preconceived notions when trying out a new restaurant. Especially the newly opened and recently reviewed ones. I use the review only for pertinent information like address, business hours and days open.

There have been too many times when an entire glowing review is a work of fiction. And when you stop to think about it, why would a professional food critic write an awful review. It serves no useful purpose to the reader while it incurs the wrath of the industry players.

So with this newly acquired mindset, we set about exploring the month-old Pietrasanta (named after a town in Tuscany). And I was totally happy with everything about the place.

I was particularly tickled that they do a lovely baked eggplant starter smothered in cheese that's done to just the right soft (not mushy) consistency. I love their pizzas (any topping) and meat-and-cheese-stuffed ravioli. And, the sweet finish - Melthing Chocolate Cake that melted so sensually in my still greedy mouth. I have a feeling I'll love just about everything they serve up as I eat my way through their menu.

A noteworthy point - go on a week night when it will not be overly crowded. Then settle in for an evening of personable service and unpretentious home-style food in an atmosphere of rustic old world charm that is Tuscany.

Pietrasanta Restaurant is located at
5B Portsdown road
#01-03 Wessex Estate
S. 139311
Tel: 6479 9521
(Closed on Tuesdays)

Saiidi on a Saturday afternoon

I've been looking forward to this workshop for weeks. And inevitably, work threatened to get in the way. It never fails to amaze and annoy me how appointment times mean so little to so many people. They seem to hold the view that if they are paying for your services, they own you and all of your time.

In spite of these inconsiderate people's best efforts to derail my plans, I managed to finish work and made it to Claribel's studio on time.

The Saiidi cane dance workshop was in equal parts enjoyable and educational. Claribel provided just enough historical and cultural background to the use of the cane in bellydance to make it interesting and give a sense of the mood/feel of the dance style.

Her new studio is big enough to easily accommodate the 12 participants without us hitting each other with our canes.Oh, and the most important accommodation of all for me - the studio has high ceilings so I am not hitting the ceiling when I need to hold the cane upright and high!

I also always look forward to seeing familiar faces. And am excited to meet the new ones.

I now look forward to another exciting date at Claribel's on June 1. All you ladies who have always wondered what bellydance is all about must drop in that Sunday. It may just be the day that will change your life forever.

See you there!

It's official

And the word is out.

The man and I will exit from our work at the end of the month.

The reaction from friends is one of genuine congratulatory incredulity. The reaction from foes is that of accusatory betrayal. Both camps are curious about what we will do after our retirement - one with understandable concern, the other with envious grudge.

I detest the word "retirement". It carries the connotation of dotage, redundancy, irrelevance. It implies a life of gloomy emptiness.

I see it as moving on. No different from having moved on from all the other stages of our lives. There is a lot of living to do, and we now have the freedom to live it.

I relish the fact that we were able to plan our exit. We consciously chose to reduce our work load over the last three years. We filled our free time with enjoyable activities. We treasure our private life. We are now ready to relinquish the professional recognition and prestige accorded us in our work.

And move on to the next stage of our life.

An old familiar place

For Hong Kong style dim sum and very palatable Cantonese cuisine, this place has been a favourite with us for a long time. But as with so many restaurants, we forgot about the place for a few years, and only got around to visiting it again recently.

Although the restaurant has expanded to double its original capacity, they have kept the decor as it was - that of an old fashioned Chinese tea house. The cashier's counter is still this cage of a room with wooden bars for a window. I love that the familiar cheena features that I remembered so well have been retained.

The food while not exciting is likewise comforting in a familiar way.

I still love the place, and am gladdened that precious little about the place have changed. But I really wouldn't mind if they re-named the restaurant. Really, I would even like that.

Mouth Restaurant is located at :
Chinatown Point
133 New Bridge Road #02-01
S. 059413
Tel: 65344233

On a little street in Singapore

we'd meet beside a lotus covered door
a veil of moonlight on her lovely face
how pale the hands that held me in embrace

Peter de Rose & Billy Hill

Back alley

of an air-conditioned nation

so cool we're hot

Eating vegetarian (almost)

the filling (vegetarian):
jicama (bangkuang)
carrot
french beans

condiments (optional):
tau kwa, fried, then cut into small pieces
hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
chinese sausage (lap cheong), steamed, then thinly sliced
bean sprouts, lightly blanched
cucumber, finely julienned
coarsely ground peanut

sauces:
sweet popiah sauce
freshly pounded chili paste

I am trying to eat more vegetarian meals. It's not an easy thing to do because I really do enjoy my meats. And I will not have just a green salad for a meal. I'd rather just skip that meal entirely.

So of late, the man and I have taken to doing popiah for ourselves. We find that we can do one batch of the vegetarian filling and have 3 dinner meals out of it. We collect our small 300-gm order of popiah skin fresh for each meal.

Home made popiah, fresh popiah skin, whenever we want it. That's really living ...

Saiidi Cane Dance Workshop by Claribel

Date : 24 May, 2008 (Saturday)

Time : 3:30pm - 5:30pm

Venue: Claribel's Raks Sharki Studio
31A & 33A, New Bridge Road (opposite Central)

Fee: $50 per person

Participants please bring own cane or buy one from the Studio at $12 each.

For registration and enquiries, please contact Claribel at:

tel: 65368394, 97972261

email: info@bellydanceinsingapore.com

Limited to 16 places only, so please make early payment to reserve place.

I will see you there :)

Our other kitchen

Remember the zhi char place at block 57, Eng Hoon St at Tiong Bahru? The one where the pig-out friends raved about the food, but I did not know the name of the stall? Even when there were several signs on the door? Then I added to the confusion by showing a picture of block 55 which is the famous Sin Hoi San?

Well, these are the 3 signs that are up on their front door. By process of elimination, I think the current zhi char business is the one on the right.

By the way, it is our current favourite dinner place on nights when we do not feel like cooking nor dressing up to go out to eat. In short, it has become our other kitchen.

Their food is really truly indescribably good.

Dancing shoes

These women don't even normally wear heels. Which means on the rare dressy occasion, they are teetering in their high heeled shoes.

They also have absolutely no dance experience. So why would they show up for their first-ever social dance lesson in strappy high heels when they cannot even walk properly in them?

I hope they don't injure me too badly in the weeks ahead.

April

was the month

- the man and I made a life-changing decision regarding our work, a decision that I have been so ready for for the past 3 years, but I suspect there is still some residual resistence in the man about making it absolute

- a longtime girlfriend whom I always saw as my young-younger friend turned 50 and

- I realized so many of the people I always thought of as my younger friends are fast turning 50 and it's not fun to be a few years ahead of the pack anymore

- I decided to make blooming flower tea part of the after dinner-experience at our home after getting very surprised and delighted response from friends who swear they are not tea drinkers

- we went to Xiamen for 5 days
- where the highpoint of the trip was my discovery of Chinese fashion label MixMind
- when I promptly proceeded to make such a huge single purchase that I qualified for a VIP discount card
- which tells me boredom makes me act compulsively, because, you see, I swore off urban postmodern fashion 10 years ago and MixMind is unmistakably, unapologetically, strictly, urban postmodern

- I was just glad to get back to Singapore and go about my sane and ordered life

We went to work 6 afternoons this month. Something tells me something's gotta give. And it will be soon.