food diary - malacca

in order of yumminess:
otah (oleh sayang)
fish head curry (nancy's kitchen)
itik tim soup (o.s.)
cendol (n.k.)

also rans:
kaya puff
ayam pongteh gravy (n.k.)
kangkong belachan
portuguese baked fish

stuff

1. shoe shopping with two teenagers. ten thousand pairs later, we successfully acquire a new pair.

2. gravid uteri, dressed in various babydoll and miniskirted fashions. back in the day, one would not have been seen dead in some of the garb.

3. all manner of amputated limbs busking on orchard road, that inspire a mix of pity and gothic horror.*

4. clods on train seats. do they truly not see?

5. clods in public. can they truly not give way?

*there is something fishy here. one suspects:

1. that busking has become a career option post-amputation.

2. that there is a roster to ensure equitable distribution of time slots to limb stubs.

i am torn between compassion and outrage. an almost-art form has been bastardized into a form of financial/emotional harrasment.

codicil

the bibik luster is unfortunately dulled by an enthusiastic hammer drill.

hotel puri malacca

spending these two nights at a boutique hotel (what's that?) and being happily surprised at the meticulous detail that a local (malaysian) hotel is able to drum up. which sounds terribly condescending, but hey i've had a lifetime of shoddy workmanship with cracked plaster and cheap tiles. this is a lovingly vintage old bibik who charms without ostentation or cheapness.

mortality

much like how a new season creeps in to settle amid the dregs of the previous season, i find that middle-age has quietly slipped into my life. my first pair of progressive lenses are allowing me to function at focal lengths i have forgotten. it is no accident that the crows' feet are more defined.

so, i notice, does winter hasten away the glorious hues of fall to establish her own cold beauty.

trivial pursuit

having established ourselves in an apartment in town for the next two weeks, i am faced with a difficult decision. should i allow us to slip into an evolving pigsty scenario, or should i attempt to clean up? how ghastly that this should even constitute a choice.

food diary

wonton mee
chicken rice
beef rendang
kookee yong tau foo
yong tau foo (generic)
tiong bahru fish porridge
raw fish salad (t.b.)*
kangkong belachan
fishball kwayteow
fish horfun
tahu telor
satay
hokkien mee
grilled stingray
oyster omelet
fried carrot cake
church porridge
chee cheong fun
pork floss bread
pohpiah

chendol
pandan roll
loupoh peng
tausar piah
muachee
iced jelly
youtiao
kopi si

yum. i obviously have to work on the desserts.
*my absolute favorite

singapore notes

an absence of two years and i fancy things have changed somewhat. for e.g.:

1. service is more pleasant, i think. for the most part still bumbling, but pleasant, puerile bumbling, instead of the old heedless indifference. is it the recession, or have i been fortunate?

2. the public transport has improved. i appreciate the new boards that tell me when my next bus will turn up, and i have finally learned to use the time-tables at the stops. not to mention the virtuous feeling i get everytime i resist a taxi.

3. the american embassy has implemented a queue by internet appointment system that is an unbelievable improvement over the past appointment by begging queue by early bird system.

some things have not changed:

1. how far the relatives live from orchard road, where we are.

2. how crowded the place is, and how noisy.

3. how quickly the gut responds to the oil.

4. how busy J1's social life is.

we've been traveling for so long i'm in withdrawal for:

1. Dog. we are all missing his unquestioning sweetness, which is in short supply in humans.

2. the quiet of my own fortress.

3. the piano and the music.

postscript

feeling considerably more kindly disposed towards bollywood now, thanks to our upgrade to a mini-suite following the bash. wheeeeee!

idiots in the night

we are dragged from the depths of slumber at half past two in the morning by poundingly, exuberantly, rhythmically, sinuously agonizing music emanating from the wall against which the bed lies. in other words, to my disbelief, our neighbors are having a bollywood music bash.

the nightmare finally recedes an hour and four pleas to the front desk later. i dream that i see hotel staff rolling out gurney sacks of bodies on a large cart this morning. i wish.