The Book of Firsts

Deux Mois!

2009-02-17T15:21:00.002+02:00

Turkish Crash Test Dummies

2009-02-16T18:00:00.004+02:00

Having lived in Istanbul for more than 19 months already, I thought I'd seen the worst drivers possible.

I kid you not, these are daily sights on Istanbul roads. As funny and incredulous as they sound, they are true!

Cars REVERSING on long stretches of highway, in the middle of SPEEDING traffic, just so they can take the exit they missed. Never mind that the last exit was more than 500m behind.

Fully loaded dump trucks speeding so fast (100km/h), with their cargo, often sand or gravel UNCOVERED so it's flying and spilling all over the road.

People driving while holding babies/children IN THEIR LAPS.

Well, on Thursday, here's what I saw on the way home from town. Luckily I had my camera with me!

No door + no seat belt = crash test dummies!

My 1st Birthday Cake & Yu Sheng!

2009-02-06T17:45:00.007+02:00

Hello all!

It's Julien again. Now that I'm back in Istanbul with Mummy, Daddy and Cookie, I really miss my family in Singapore! Especially Mama and Kong Kong.

Here are some photos from my 1st birthday party! Koo Koo Mark and Ee Ee Wendy bought me a yummy chocolate cake and Chunky Munky ice cream! But Mummy didn't let me eat any! Hmmmph! She says I'm too young, so I was a bit grumpy. (see my scowl?) But when Mummy was not looking I tried to sneak some cake! Too bad she caught me ;p

Hmmph! Why don't I get to eat my cake?

Me trying to sneak some cake!

After my birthday, we also celebrated my first Chinese New Year before we left Singapore! Wow! The yu sheng was bigger than I was! Since I'm a bit too short to do the lo hei, Mummy helped me with the chopsticks. (But I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon!)

I'm one month old!

2009-01-17T08:52:00.005+02:00

Hallo everyone!
This is Julien writing.
I'm sneakily typing this on Mummy's Powerbook while she is taking a nap.
(I wonder why Mummy is always zonked out whereas I never want to sleep! Sleep is sooo overrated.)

I'm one month old today! Yippeeee!
Very soon I'll get my licence to ride around in the big boys car seat.
Although it's MY birthday today, I gave Mummy a big BIG present...the BIGGEST, smelliest, yellowest POO ever!
Thick, gooey and overflowing.
WOW, she sure was overjoyed when she saw my gift.
She was SO worried cos I haven't pooed for 6 days and it was freaking her out.
So I thought I'd give her a surprise today.

Kong Kong was so happy too..because he came home from hospital today after having his first round of anti-cancer treatment.
He had to stay there for 5 days and he said he missed me so much. He was also so happy I pooed that he wants to buy a cake for me to celebrate. (Hahah...my Kong Kong is so funny!)

Anyway, for all my adoring fans, here are more pics of me. Yes I can read! I'm a big boy. (well I just look at the pictures really, Mummy reads the words out loud for me)
Hmmm....maybe I should make the tongue thing my trademark. I was already doing it in Mummy's tummy!

Ta ta for now!
Julien :)

Facing the Big C

2009-01-04T08:27:00.004+02:00

On New Year's Eve, my Dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer. The doctors give him 6 months.
They can't operate because the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.
His options are to try a new type of radio therapy...SIR SPHERES.. where the radioactive material in injected into the cancerous mass. At the same time, he will also take an oral drug which acts like chemotherapy to treat the lymph nodes.

The news came as a huge shock to us. Totally unexpected.
About a month ago, Daddy had gone for a routine health screening bcos he complained about pains in his stomach. Which turned out to be 2 ulcers.
But the screening also showed up a mass in his liver, which we now know is cancer.
The doc told us it is caused by Hepatitis B.

Cancer must be the sneakiest disease on the planet...it just creeps up on you and throws U a whammy.

Dad has been trying to remain positive and focus on recovery rather than the negative.
I guess as with many diseases, the human spirit plays the biggest part in recovery.
No matter what doctors may say, the will to live is what matters the most.

Above all, there is always hope.

A Star Is Born

2008-12-26T12:54:00.016+02:00

Astrophysics tells us that a star starts out as a black hole in the universe in an area where a mass has formed to such a great amount that its gravitational pull becomes immense. So powerful is this force that even light particles at their high speeds-286,000 miles per second, cannot escape it and are drawn to the mass. Eventually a massive explosion occurs, changing the solid matter into a brilliant fireball and a a STAR is born.

In this season of Advent, exactly a week before Christmas, amidst an explosion of emotions, a universe of choices, a milky way of tears and a supernova of love, our own little star shone his light into our world.

Meet our son,

JULIEN ANDRE CHASSIN
Born 17 December 2008
In Singapore
At 4.15pm
Weighing 3.97kg
Measuring 51.5cm

Mummy and Baby's First Kiss

What a big strong little boy!

In dreamland....

Some privacy please paparazzi!

My favourite photos of Julien to date...they look so serene and contented together, my two boys :)
To the AP people at TAG HEUER, listen up!...Ditch Lewis Hamilton & Uma Thurman....here are the models for your next ad campaign..the Chassin boys!

Dum dee dum STILL WAITING

2008-12-15T05:57:00.004+02:00

Our little baby boy is still not out yet.

Am now 41 weeks and 2 days.
Will see Dr Chong 2mrw and he will start induction by sweeping the membranes.

After the drama of last week (trying to sort out JF's flights was a nightmare cos the Turkish SQ office was CLOSED THE WHOLE BLOODY week thanks to the Bayram (Hari Raya Haji) and SQ in Singapore codn't get in touch with them AT ALL) we had to lose both JF's air tickets and he thankfully sorted his work schedule and got his boss blessing to stay on with me in SG till baby comes. PHEW.

He was supposed to leave on 12 Dec and back again in SG 22 Dec. So now he's staying right thru til 3 Jan.

We have tried everything over the past week that's supposed to induce labour:

1. Spicy Food (had Indian food, nasi lemak with super hot sambal, more curry, fresh cut chill....)
2. Lots of walking & squatting (gravity helps) and rolling on my birth ball
3. Eating a TON of pineapple
4. Religiously drinking Clarysage tea (thanks Jana!)
5. Almost 2 litres of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea everyday (damn heng that I like the taste of herbal teas)
6. Pressing acupressure points
7. Massage
8. Singing, talking to baby, telling him to come out
9. Other stuff!!

Schirin (who was due 16 Dec) was the first one in our Hypnobirthing group to give birth.
And last week Lori had her son Caleb on 12 Dec.

This morning, reading Lori's birth story on her blog was very encouraging...she had a short, easy, comfortable birth just liked Ginny said was possible :) And they went for a waterbirth too.

Hope Julien will come just as easily and quickly.

Baby Baby WHERE ARE U?

2008-12-08T05:13:00.002+02:00

Ok I am officially GAN CHEONG.

Julien Andre Chassin where are U??
U were supposed to be born 2 days ago on Saturday. That's right, you are ripe, well-cooked, and ready to pop out.

Hmmm....I guess U think the room service is too good inside Mummy's 7-star luxury hotel huh?

Well my little boy, it is time to check out! Mummy feels like she is lugging around a very big watermelon, and Daddy REALLY wants to see U before he has fly off this weekend.

Please come out! We're trying to do everything to help U.

Everyone is anxiously waiting for you and Mummy is REALLY XIAN of everyone asking! (Hint hint if U people see me with a bump, I am still OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT...DUH!!!! So don't say things like "Still not out yet ah?" Not constructive peeps!!)

Fingers crossed...come out today!

Counting Down!

2008-11-07T03:29:00.010+02:00

Baby's hatch day is getting closer...and I'm nervous and excited all at once! Have been back in my home sweet home for 3 weeks now and enjoying being with my family, Bloss Bloss and scarfing down all the yummy & nutrious food I've been missing! I swear I can eat tau huay and fish porridge every single day!

Started HypnoBirthing classes with Ginny (who is also going to be my doula) 2 weekends ago and really enjoying it. Find it a lot more useful than the Birthing From Within Classes we did with Julia in Istanbul. While Julia's classes were fun (we did a lot of drawing with pastels!) and eye opening, they were very hippie touchy feel-y and not practical enough I felt. Whereas the HypnoBirthing classes have helped me to focus a lot. Really recommend them to every mum-to-be!

Slight panic last week when I found out my SG OBGYN Dr Paul Tseng was going to be away near my delivery date!! The panicky thing was he didn't tell me! I just overheard another patient talking to the receptionist while I was waiting to see him.
So I asked him who would replace him, and he said for births at Mt Alvernia, it would be Dr Beh. Consulted Ginny and she said Dr Beh may not be as open to my birth plan as Dr Tseng.

ALAMAK! Why do gynaes always do this? Ok I understand docs also need time off, but the least they could do is inform their patients as a common courtesy right?? I don't like the fact that I found out by accident and he didn't tell me. I remember June saying her doc was also away last minute near DN's birth, so Dr TC Chang had to step in.

So I was very gan cheong trying to find another doc who WOULD be around. Finally settled on Prof. Chong Yap Seng at NUH bcos Ginny said NUH is the best place in SG for waterbirths (which is what we plan to do). NUH is the only hospital in SG that has birthing tubs in every alternate delivery suite. Was also quite surprised that all the fees (both docs and hospital fees) are much cheaper at NUH. The only thing is, it's pretty far from my home. But JF says no where in Singapore is far....just that we're so used to short distances here.

We decided a waterbirth would be great for us cos we both are natural water babies, love swimming, diving etc and feel at home in the water. Waterbirth is also a very gentle birthing method for the baby bcos they have been living in water for 9 months. I want a natural birth without any drugs, so no epidural for me. (Here's where the HypnoBirthing relaxation and breathing techniques come in for pain relief!)

Have been busy gathering baby essentials and Mummy even inspired (and helped) me to make mittens! Ok lah I suck at sewing, but these are not bad rite?? (Thanks to Mummy's help too!)

Next I am going to attempt to make a Baptism gown if I can!! Heheh so ambitious eh?

In the meantime, I'm still driving (surprise surprise I can still fit behind the steering wheel! PHEW!) and wadling about town looking for baby stuff. My little Julien is wiggling about so much too! The funniest feeling is when he has hiccups almost immediately after I eat. (Hahah just like Mummy and Daddy who love yummy food and eat too fast!) It feels so funny in my tummy! Hic hic hic!

CONGRATS TO ZERNERD who also recently announced they have a little sugarbug on the way!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!

Miss JF and Cookie SOOOOOOO much even though I see them on Skype often. Can't wait til JF gets here.

Baby Shower Wish List

2008-09-28T18:48:00.005+03:00

My friend Heather wanted to throw me a baby shower here before I go home in 2 weeks.
But there simply isn't enough time because all my friends are away at the moment due to the week-long Bayram holiday.
Also baby showers are a pretty American concept, and I've only ever been to one in my life...the one we threw for Christy in May this year. (it was really fun with GREAT food I got catered by another friend, Ayse)
Wonder if anyone will throw me one in SG?

Anyway Heather was talking about typical baby shower gifts and she said she was surprised that most people here almost ALWAYS give clothes as baby gifts. After all, new parents are already SWAMPED with clothes as gifts, and often the baby grows too fast to even wear them.

Heather said that in the US, friends and family usually get stuff that the new parents would REALLY need, like a Pack n Play foldable cot or a Diaper Genie.

Diaper Genie? What's that? It was the first time in my life I heard that term. Well, she explained what it was, and WOW! I'm impressed! ALL NEW PARENTS SHOULD GET THIS! How come no one EVER told me this existed?

Here's how it works: (from Wiki)

"Diaper Genie, a creation of entrepreneur John Hall, is a baby diaper disposal system. The unit consists of a large plastic container with a plastic lid. The system seals diapers individually in a scented film to protect against germs and odors. By opening the lid on the top of the canister, a soiled diaper may be inserted into the "mouth" of the container. After inserting the diaper, the lid is replaced and twisted 3 full rotations to seal the diaper inside. After the container is filled with dirty diapers, it can be emptied by unlatching the bottom of the canister, where the diapers fall out still individually sealed."

How cool is that??? An easy clean way to deal with stinky poopy nappies.
Considering that new babies need to be changed 10-12 times A DAY for the first few months, this is GREAT!
It retails for about US$50 in the US. How come this isn't widely available elsewhere?
Definitely never seen one in Turkey, or France or even Singapore for that matter.

So if anyone wants to get us one as a baby gift INSTEAD of clothes, PLEASE DO!
Getting hold of the refiil bags is another issue....but I was told you could sorta work it out with regular trash bags.

So start hunting this down for me folks!

Good Parenting

2008-09-24T12:11:00.004+03:00

Scary how more and more foodstuff from China is toxic.
First killer dog food and instant noodles made with motor oil, now baby milk.
I wonder how many White Rabbit Sweets I've eaten in my lifetime? As a child, the little rice paper wrapping was a constant source of fascination for me. Hmmm....that could explain the overall weirdness of my cousins and I!! White Rabbit Sweets have been slowly altering our mental states all these years! If only our parents knew....

Speaking of parenting, here's a good baby care guide for all mums n dads to be! Hee hee hee!

ATTACK BY EVIL ALIEN CREATURE!

2008-09-09T17:37:00.007+03:00

Today we came under siege by an EVIL ALIEN CREATURE with SHINY GREEN EYES! Eeeeeks!

I was sitting happily in our bedroom, listening to Baby Einstein Mozart CD (very soothing!) and writing in my baby journal when this thing WHOOSED in. (The balcony door was open cos it's so hot)

It zipped around like crazy! So fast that I couldn't really see it clearly. But because it was bigger than a moth or a bee, I thought it might be a HUMMINGBIRD. I had seen cute little hummingbirds before around the lilac bushes near the pool. Always wished I had my camera, but usually I was swimming at the time.

Suddenly the creature flew up to the ceiling and into the hole at the base of the light fixture. (Yes, til today the gaping holes made by the useless people who installed the lights more than a year ago have never been fixed! HMMMMMMPH!)

Anyway, I quickly closed all the doors and windows and rushed downstairs (as fast as a 6.5 month pregnant woman can waddle!) to grab my camera and zoom lens.

When I got back into the room, the creature was hiding in the hole and REFUSED to come out. I think I waited about 45 mins but it didn't budge!

OK nevermind, so I go downstairs again to Google HUMMINGBIRDS. Didn't I read somewhere that they need to eat every hour so they don't die? Cos they have the highest metabolic rate in the world. (all that fluttering about flowers).

I came across an article called HUMMINGBIRD RESCUE and it described how to rescue hummingbirds trapped indoors. Also I thought it might be a good idea to hang a cup of sugar water out so the poor thing wouldn't starve.

Armed with my sugar water, I get the ladder and climb up to hang it on the light. Waited 10 mins but the creature still didn't emerge. Suddenly I got the idea to tap the ceiling with a mop stick.

Sure enough, it flew out!! Grabbed my camera and started snapping! On closer look, IT WASN'T A HUMMINGBIRD! It was......this!

What in the world is THAT? My overactive, pregnancy hormone-driven imagination tells me it's an ALIEN SPY SCOUT sent to monitor us earthlings (So I recently finished reading The Host!)

Or could it be Oberon in disguise? Come to survey my mortal baby?

Anyway, the THING flew back into the hole and IS STILL THERE!

Aaaah the musings of a very pregnant, rotund writer. :)

Ladybird Books - the UN-PC version!

2008-09-05T11:14:00.003+03:00

Do U remember reading Ladybird books when we were kids?

Peter & Jane and all that? I loved those!

Well take a look at THESE!!!
They are so un-PC they made me howl with laughter.
Boy, this must be the work of a very bored AD with too much free agency time on his/her hands ;p

Read the rest of the book here:
http://seorant.ath.cx/police/ladybird.html

Jia you Jiawei!

2008-08-15T18:22:00.004+03:00

Wow. We actually made it somewhere! Our women's ping pong team has made it to the final!! Face off with China on Sunday.

Which means at the very least, we will get our FIRST OLYMPIC MEDAL in 48 YEARS! (last one 1960)
And a Silver one to boot. Let's hope it's GOLD :) Jin jin eh jing ah! (snicker snicker, WK knows this pte joke!)

Isn't it ironic, our top paddler, Li Jiawei was born in BEIJING on Singapore's National Day (9 August) 27 years ago?
It was in the stars. She was born to be Singaporean huh?
Damn farneee rite? Of course Ms Li is now a loud and proud SGian.

(photo: Reuters)

SPEAKING OF NATIONAL PRIDE...

Here's an exerpt from an article I read today by a Turkish journalist, commenting on Turks themselves. (Time Out Istanbul, August issue)

"You may have noticed that we Turks don't care too much about quality. In fact, some might point out that we even have a genius for mediocrity. Anyone who's had their plumbing patched with paint and cement....or whose request for directions has been met with grunt and point of a finger by someone who was too lazy to say "Second street on the right" or too ashamed to say "I don't know", will have figured out that in all endeavours we undertake, we almost invariably opt for some kind of sloppy all encompassing middle-way quick-fix. If there's a corner that needs to be cut, we'll be damned if there isn't a way we can cut it even more."

See, I wasn't being a paranoid whiney cow. This place SUX cos the people SUCK. It's in the very core of their culture. Even they themselves KNOW SO.

Like when we bought a brand new aircon 2 months ago and it started leaking indoors ON THE 1st DAY of use.
First of all, the repairmen show up 2 days later than the scheduled appointment. Then, without even opening or looking at ANYTHING, they ask me what temperature I set the thermosat at (22 degrees celucius). They immediately declare, "Turkish people don't put it below 25 degrees. Aircon won't work properly below 25 degrees." and promptly leave. DUH.

Same dumb reasoning from the landcape people when I asked them why the grass they planted for me in May still hasn't grown in some areas. "Oh, the grass will only grow in NOVEMBER." Double DUH.

C'est la vie a la Turca.

Coming this Christmas....

2008-08-15T12:41:00.001+03:00

What It Means To Be Singaporean

2008-08-07T13:25:00.009+03:00

On the eve of the eve on National Day, sitting in this godforsaken, sweltering, smelly city with bombs going off now and then (latest attack..this morning near JF's office) I was thinking about what it means to me to be Singaporean. Yes the safety, cleanliness, security, efficiency, clean air and water....I miss all that about home.

But the most recent sense of national pride that I felt is: When I saw a CHARLES & KEITH shop in Cevahir last week!!

CHARLES & KEITH is my absoulte favourite Singapore shoe store...EVER.
Every time I go in, I leave with at least one (or 3!) pairs of fab shoes.
Great designs and great prices! When they started doing handbags a few years ago, I was over the moon.

So imagine my joy when I saw a CHARLES & KEITH in Cevahir last week. I was almost moved to tears, no kidding.
Cevahir is one of the biggest malls in Istanbul. Stores are a mix of international brands like Zara, Pull & Bear, Next, Mothercare, as well as Turkish high street brands.

I felt SO proud to see CHARLES & KEITH here. They also have another store in ASTORIA (another mall in Istanbul, but not as centrally located and as big as Cevahir)

Like WOW here's a homegrown Singapore brand halfway around the world. Plus it's my fave shoe store to boot. I guess Americans probably don't feel the same sense of pride when they see a Gap or Levi's store overseas, but to me seeing a homegrown Singapore brand that I grew up with go international, well it's really something.
Of course the stores in Istanbul have less than half the range of the average CHARLES & KEITH store in SG, and prices are about 3 times higher, but still the fact that they're here, makes me smile :)

I still remember shopping at the very first CHARLES & KEITH store in Amara Shopping Centre more than 10 years ago.
They had great, affordable shoes then and still do now. The 2 brothers were then making their shoes out of a factory in Ang Mo Kio. Now they're in 25 countries all over the world.

I guess it's a little strange that my sense of national pride comes from a SHOE STORE. But hey, shopping (together with eating and movies) IS our national sport.

That said, it gives U a pretty good idea of how we'll do in Beijing! Ok so we may not be bagging the Golds (or even Bronzes) and Team Singapore getting into the first round of ANY EVENT at the Olympics may be cause for nationwide celebration. (BTW GOOD LUCK TEAM SINGAPORE! At least just TRY to trump the next door neighbours at anything lah ok?)

But by jove, our brands will one day conquer the consumers of the world! Muahahahahahah world domination through retail!

Charles & Keith Wong, way to go and HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!

Coffee Bean and A-1 Curry Puff, please hurry up and come to Istanbul so I can have my fix!

(Incidentally, THIS National Day, I will be sitting in some cafe in Rome, dearest hubby by my side, stuffing my face with REAL Gelato, hunting down the legendary Italian 5kg jars of Nutella and looking forward to meeting the Pope. To show my national pride, I will be wearing a red and white striped T-shirt which makes my baby belly look rather fetching :)

Bee In The Bonnet

2008-07-29T20:00:00.017+03:00

As my tummy grows rounder and rounder by the day, and little Baby Chassin has started to kick a lot, JF and I felt it's time to do some serious shopping for the little tyke.
After much research we were surprised to discover that not all baby things are made equal!

Just like Ferraris and Hermes bags, the baby world also has it's exacting standards for the uber chic.

To sum it up...all the cool Mums have these:

- Bugaboo stroller (and not just the Bugaboo Bee but the Cameleon mind you! Top of the range)
900 EUROS (SG$1890)
The Limited Edition Denim version costs even more...and of course, my friend Christy (also a first time mum) who just gave birth to her daughter 2 weeks ago, bought one.

- Baby Bjorn front pack
150 EUROS (SG$315)

- STOKKE crib (in walnut no less!)
700 EUROS (SG$1470)

Not only do these babyssentials come with astronomical price tags, (the Bugaboo costs more than a round-trip plane ticket from Singapore to Paris), but they are seemingly justified by experts. For example, the Bugaboo is supposed to have the best safety, suspension and cushioning on the market. Perfect when U need to stroll with your baby in sleet, snow or sand. Or just skim over bumpy potholed city streets, latte in hand. Well for THAT price, I'd expect it to come with dual airbags too!

BUT NONETHELESS, first time parents as we are....we want the best for our little bebe.
So just before we left for France 3 weeks ago, we trundled along to one of the hip kiddy stores in Kanyon to place our order and deposit for the Bugaboo. We checked out the display model top to toe, tried out the brakes and suspension. After all, we were about to buy the Rolls Royce of baby strollers! We chose our colours - Red and Sable. Then suddenly JF had an illumination in the store - HEY we were going to France! I get a 13% tax-free refund there. So we decided to buy it in France.

The very next day......my friend Bonnie calls to tell me she has other stuff to sell....specifically, baby stuff. (She was moving out of Istanbul and I had agreed to buy her vaccum cleaner for 80 YTL, cos Amelia Bedelia, our doofus ex-maid had broken ours...together with the fan etc.)

The short of it is...we ended up buying Bonnie's 5-year-old Bebe Confort stroller for 250 YTL. (125 EUROS) Ok, it's a well-known French brand, the stroller is well-made and in perfect conditon, it folds easily AND she threw in all the accessories, but I can't help but feel WRACKED WITH GUILT!!!!!!
AAAAAAACKS!!! Who buys 2nd-hand stuff for their FIRSTBORN?? Does this make me a bad parent?
I literally have been having bad dreams about it since then. (Just last night I dreamt I was pushing our baby around and all the other mums were laughing at me cos I was the ONLY one without a Bugaboo.

JF tried to rationalise with me and we talked it over again and again. All the money saved from NOT buying the Bugaboo would go towards other nice things for Baby or even a diving trip for us.

But to make things worse, when we were in Paris, I saw so many Bugaboos!! Plus, JF's brother also has all the cool baby stuff for Carla. A STOKKE stroller (also 900 EUROS), Baby Bjorn frontpack and a STOKKE highchair (now that she can sit up and feed herself).

So we set out to at least buy a Baby Bjorn, but after trying it out with other rival models, we ended choosing a Tomy, The Tomy frontpack was a mere 30 EUROS less than the Baby Bjorn, but JF felt the Tomy would be more comfortable for Baby.

So now we're Bugaboo and Baby Bjorn-less!

And what do I see in all the French parenting magazines?

"Les Mamans Glamour ont le Bugaboo pousette, Baby Bjorn "carrier-bebe", lit STOKKE (crib) et le biberon Dior (Dior baby bottle)"

AAAAACCCCCCCKS! I feel absolutely BAD now. Have I truly fallen into the parent trap?
When I was a baby, I think I slept in a sarong hung from the celing, rolled around in a ratty green mesh stroller but at least had Marks & Sparks undies.

So how come I feel so malu that my kid will be Bugaboo and Bjorn-less??

Well at least I'm proud to say I've bagged some fab Petit Bateau gear for Baby Chassin while we were in France. Whoever heard of a French baby without Petit Bateau togs?

I'm an ANG MO??

2008-06-12T11:21:00.002+03:00

Mummy and Daddy and WK are here now in Istanbul and I'm really enjoying my time with them.

They are so enanmoured with Cookie, even though he seem's to have gone on a chewing rampage recently! (The newest victim being his IKEA shoe soft toy which he's ignored for months!) Mummy is trying to teach him new tricks like SIT, STAND, STAY.
But Daddy says Cookie reminds him so much of Beauty that he's possibly Beauty reincarnated. Both dogs are nervous, stubborn, look alike and are so loving. They even eat the same way.

Went for another check up at the OBGYN yesterday. Everyone came along, but only Mummy and JF came in with me to view the ultrasound. Baby Chassin was swimming about as usual, waving little arms and legs at us! Baby moves even more when I cough or laugh.
I tried using the Jedi mind trick to get baby to turn around for the camera. JF was so happy and emotional he almost cried.

The Down's Syndrome test results came back and we're in the clear. Hurray! Thank U God!
Daddy noticed something funny which I've never noticed before on all my test results.
On the results, my ethnic group is listed as: CAUCASIAN.

HUH!?!?!??! When did I become an ang mo???
Is it because of my surname? (or rather JF's)
But I've been going to this clinic since last August and they can CLEARLY see I'm Asian. So how did I become CAUCASIAN? ;p

Akan Datang! Coming Soon

2008-05-28T19:31:00.003+03:00

...in 6 months anyway :) Hurray! Hurray! :) Fingers crossed, prayers needed.
We're very excited and nervous.
Praying hard tht everything goes well.

Have spent the last 2 months literally sleeping and feeling nauseous.

Weighed in today at the docs. Surprise, surprise! Who knew being pregnant made u lose weight? 2kg to be exact.
Probably because I feel like throwing up all day long and not just in the morning. Especially during car rides.
Cooking has also been difficult bcos the smell of raw food (even some veggies like carrots) makes me want to puke.
So quite often in the last 2 months, if I didn't order take-out, or we didn't eat out, I just didn't eat.
Almost everyday I found myself wishing that someone was around just to make me fish porridge so I could just get up, eat and go back to sleep.

The doc gave me anti-nausea SUPPOSITORIES (of all things!!). Why not oral medication I DON'T KNOW.
They probably learnt it from the French who love sticking medicine up their butts...Even from a very tender age.
(Poor Carla, it has happened to her since she was 5 months old....haiz traumatised I say, traumatised.)

So, not wanting to take THAT route, I just haven't taken any anti-nausea medicine.
The ONLY thing that seems to help is Ting Ting Jahe Indonesian Ginger Candy, which I whip out when I want to puke.
With only about 5 sweets left, I'm panicking! And no one seems to be able to find ANY! Wee Keong has sent his legions scouring Singapore for it but no luck. Who wants to hop on a ferry to Batam for me? :) Anyone going to Indonesia real soon?? I'd be so grateful!
SEND ME TING TING JAHE! (Strangely enough, the last time I found it was in Tang Freres in Paris!)

Anyway, all that aside, 12 weeks is supposed to be a milestone where all the tiredness and nausea is SUPPOSED to wear off.
Fingers crossed again!

JF is over the moon of course and I'm excited too. But more than anything else, I guess I'm just anxious. About everything. Baby's growth, baby's health, the birth, where to give birth, how to give birth. It's crazy!

It's a life altering event in so many ways, and frankly I don't know if I can cope. Some people make it seem so easy.
But very honestly, can U imagine someone needing U 24 hours a day? 7 days a week? Non-stop?
Even a dog doesn't need that kind of attention.

All my friends who are moms say the anxiety will fade the moment U see ur baby. U just want to be with him or her all day.
Let's hope so!

Today I felt so happy and excited to see Baby Chassin do para para dance in my tummy during the ultrasound. So active! Saw cute big head, nose, fingers and toes and even brains. Yup brains! Amazing :)

My husband the make-up artist!

2008-05-08T10:17:00.002+03:00

How do U know when your husband really REALLY loves u?

When he fixes on your false eyelashes for U and does it DAMN WELL!!! ;p hee hee hee.

My dear hubby is so talented.
He can cook, make pancakes, do electrical wiring, pin my kerosang onto my kebaya, build a wooden deck for the garden from scratch, bathe Cookie (no easy task with all tht wriggling!!) and now, to add to his already stunning repetoire of skills, he can put false eyelashes on for me!!

Last Sat was the IWI Spring Ball which I organised. It was a charity ball and our theme was Orient Express/1920s.
Have been working on this for the last 6 months, so very happy tht we raised about US$30,000 for charity.

With my now very GOON haircut (aka Dora the Explorer) I thought I needed something extra in the make-up department to detract from my clownish fringe.

Rummaged around and found a pair of false eyelashes tht I bought from BKK, dunno how long ago. AND a bottle of glue!
I was in luck. BUT I have never put these on myself before (usually a make-up artist does it for me). So I rope in JF to do the deed.

With so much experience sealing the bathtub and windows with silicone, my dear husband paints on the eyelash glue with such precision and then gently taps the lashes in place.

VOILA! My super long getai singer lashes are in place and stay put all evening.

THANKS MUNKYNOU!!!!!!! U are zeeee best teeeny chocolit munky in the world! I love U!!

MEET COOKIE!

2008-03-21T16:24:00.007+02:00

JF and I have just adopted a dog :)
We have named him Cookie! (JF’s choice but I like the name too :)
I initially wanted to name him Scooter but since this is JF’s first dog ever in his whole life, I think he should name it.
Well, Cookie does look like an Oreo.....black with a creamy white stripe down his chest :)
He looks like Blossom (my Black Lab) but is the size of Beauty (a bit taller).
He also has a strange curly bushy tail.
We don't know how old he is, but the vet at the shelter thinks he's about a year old.

Have been considering this adoption for 3 weeks now....I first saw him when I was volunteering at the dog shelter.
He was found on a highway with a black n white dog who was very affectionate with him. The rescue workers think that they were living together as house pets but their owner dumped them on the highway. Unforunately a lot of people here do that, get dogs as puppies then when they grow up, they just abandon them.

Anyway, he is a very very sweet natured dog but extremely timid. (I think the bad experience of being abandoned made him like tht)

We hope he loves being our dog :) So far it's been 3 days and he's a sleepy little fella......sleeping all day long, and he likes to carry our house slippers to his blanket and sleep with them. (So cute, he doesn't chew them but just sleep on them)

The way I see it...

2008-03-05T19:05:00.005+02:00

I'm crazy happy with my new camera!!
My very first "BIG" camera so to speak. A SLR.

After all these years of watching my little brother Mark shoot with his monster camera with lenses that cost more than my engagement ring, I finally decided to explore my love of photography with a SLR.

A Canon EOS 400D XTi. It was JF's Valentine's Day present to me. (Incidentally, we celebrated Valentine's Day by eating Thai street food next to a longkang in Krabi and it was GREAT!)
I've waited so long bcos I wasn't sure if I wanted to carry about a heavy camera and bother with constantly changing big lenses. But in the end I decided to jump in and give it a go.

Now back in the Bull, I've joined a Photo Club and went on a trek to try out my new toy. Here are the results! I'm mighty pleased :)

Suaku Goes Skiing - Part Deux

2008-01-31T15:58:00.000+02:00

Anyone who has known me long enough knows that I was born without a sense of balance.

I fall over just by walking around in my house. No kidding.
Usually twisting or scraping some essential body part or another in the process. And unfortunately, it happens more often than I'd like it to.

My mum says it's all thanks to my genes...specifically, my paternal grandmother, Mama Mary, whom it seems, was a major klutz too, always accidentally injuring herself. Like me.

When I was a toddler, my pediatrician said it was because my head was too big for my body...hence I toppled over pretty often.

So armed with my outrageous lack of balance, I hit the (baby) slopes strapped into dodgy rental skis as tall as me. (Why the hell do skis need to be SO LONG!?!?)

Here's what happens when a suaku goes skiing:

30 seconds in, she falls.

She tries to get up, but discovers she can't!!!! "Arggh those 4-year olds are whizzing by! Why can't I stand up?"

So she uses her poles to try to stand up, but instead, unintentionally does an Elvis-on-stage-finale impression. "Thank you, thank you very much."

10 minutes later, she's still on the cold, wet ground. "Sod it. I'll just sit here and try to look cool in my stupid beanie and nice Chanel lunettes. Keep smiling, keep smiling, no one will notice."

20 minutes later she starts to worry. "What if there's a blizzard? Oh no! I'm wearing white! I'll blend into the snow! No one will find me!!" So in a mighty panic, she miraculously gets off the ground.

And off she goes! Whoohoo! (Nevermind that she lost her silly beanie)

Steady....steady....

......and WHOOOOMPH! "Sigh I think I'll just sit here and eat some snow."

In the meantime, while the snow suaku is languishing on the baby slope, her husband, who HAS NOT SKIIED IN 20 YEARS (!!!) is expertly whoosing down the green, blue, red AND Black Diamond slopes with his mates!!!! How is that even possible?! Is it because he's European? (They all seem to ski like pros!) Has longer legs? Has less hair? It must be like learning to ride a bike....you never forget.

Or maybe a wee dram of the ole Scotch gave him Dutch courage to hurtle down the side of a very steep mountain. "Regarde, c'est pas difficile non? Allez, sante mon ami!"

Of course, boys will be boys.
Vincent: What did U say?! My banana yellow ski boots are girly?
JF: Oww! Oww! Oww!

In between slope-conquering, Les Experts stop for a photo op. "Look at us...we're cool!"

At the end of a very cold day, they head back to rescue the snow suaku (whose derriere was by then frostbitten, but alas, not any smaller) and they piled into a cosy log cabin, knocked back hot chocolate and borek and enjoyed the spectacular view of Kartalkaya. Ahhhhhh.....

The End.

Suaku Goes Skiing - Part 1

2008-01-21T10:18:00.000+02:00

What do you do when it starts to get REALLY cold and snows a lot?
Go skiing of course!

Nevermind that you have to sit in a car and drive until your ka chng sng to reach the mountain. (There's the nice rustic snowscape to ogle at after all)

Nevermind that the weather is -14 degrees celcius (yes, MINUS fourteen!).

Most of all, nevermind that you hail from a small, tropical, sunny (read: HOT) island on the equator (where a very COLD day is 21 degrees celcius) and have never actually SKIIED in your entire life.

In the gung-ho spirit of the new year - die die must try!
With hot spiced wine packed in thermos flask; with enough food to feed 20 people packed in car; with puffer jacket that's more Michelin man than snow bunny, the snow suaku decides to go skiing!!

NEW SNOW, NEW YEAR

2008-01-09T16:50:00.000+02:00

Well well whaddya know. It's 2008.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, and no this blog aint dead, just dormant. Needed to take a blogiday....a long one.

Last week, for the first time ever in my life, I watched snow fall.
It was so thrilling to me I just sat and bed, looked out my window and watched, just watched. For at least half and hour.
It was beautiful, silent.

Have always seen snow already there on the ground, but never actually seen it snow.

What amazed me more was that snowflakes are actually PATTERNED. Yup. Beautiful tiny icy stars, every one different.
I always thought pictorial depictions of snowflakes were imagined by artists.

Until I lifted one with my black-gloved fingertip.
They really do look like inctricate lace stars made of ice.

It's a good omen I feel, this first snow.

What do I hope for 2008? I'm still thinking about it :)

Happy Birthday lil brother! :)

Living out of focus

2007-10-09T15:47:00.000+03:00

In the past week, I've been plotting my escape from the land of magandas.
See, my Turkish is improving and I've learnt this very useful word which describes, oh about 90% of Turks encountered so far.
I'll leave U to Google it.

I need to go home for a while to recharge, regain my sanity, think about what I want to do, hug my parents, play with my dog.

In the last week, I met some expat women and signed up for the IWI...International Women of Istanbul.
Some think it's a tai tai's association for bored rich housewives with a car, driver and young kids in tow.
(All of which I don't have.)
Others like me just want to be able to have a conversation with another human being without using hand signs and feeling frustrated.
Christy, a perky blonde American who's the membership secretary, asked me if I wanted to organise some events or outings to attract a younger crowd. Sure why not. Tennis, golf and playing bridge sure ain't my cup of tea.

It's Ramadan, but strangely here in the Bull, people seem to be stuffing their faces more than ever.
Restaurants are more packed, day or night. In supermarkets, frenzied shoppers are grabbing food off the aisles.
And oh yes, the smoking continues.

I just can't understand the general mentality.
Everything's mixed up, upside down, and often downright stupid.

Case in point:

Last Thursday, my Filipina cleaning lady Rosie was taking a bus home. It was about 5pm, bus was full. 20 minutes into the journey, the bus suddenly swerves, rams into a car, skids to the side of the road and flips on its side. The driver of the car was seriously hurt. Passengers are screaming and crying.
What does the bus driver do? A MUNICIPAL (read government) employee.
He crawls out of the bus, AND RUNS AWAY.
Doesn't try to help. Doesn't call for an ambulance. Just RUNS AWAY.

Like HELLO, you are employed by the government, your bosses know you're driving THIS bus on THIS route and you RUN AWAY from the scene of an accident?
And where's the personal sense of responsiblity?

In the past months, people having been telling me, "celebrate the cultural differences", accept, adapt.
Well, no matter how hard I try, I can't celebrate idiocy. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

The late, great Bukowski speaks for me.

Be Kind by Charles Bukowski

we are always asked
to understand the other person's
viewpoint
no matter how
out-dated
foolish or
obnoxious.

one is asked
to view
their total error
their life-waste
with
kindliness,
especially if they are
aged.

but age is the total of
our doing.
they have aged
badly
because they have
lived
out of focus,
they have refused to
see.

not their fault?

whose fault?
mine?

I am asked to hide
my viewpoint
from them
for fear of their
fear.

age is no crime

but the shame
of a deliberately
wasted
life

among so many
deliberately
wasted
lives

is.

Smudge

2007-09-27T19:41:00.000+03:00

Ever had a moment when someone expresses EXACTLY what you feel?

It’s difficult to turn back into a rainbow when you’re bathing in ink. - Maarten

Fatigue: inflicting pain on the body so that the mind will be tricked that it is not hurting. - Hansel

Love you both.

Broken teacups

2007-09-26T14:54:00.000+03:00

Random thought of the day:

How to save a marriage. Have a fling with the young Richard Gere lookalike who's there sipping his latte, waiting for you.

------------------------

A decade ago, I learnt to be cruel. In a way I never thought I could be.
Looking back, it was a catharsis that I needed.

My soul's run out of batteries.
Pain keeps the shell shuffling along.
How far can I go, running on empty?
Self...please take over and SAVE ME.

When you break a teacup, if you're careful and keep all the pieces, you can glue it back together again.
But no matter how well you do it, or how much superglue you use, you can still see the cracks.

Humanity

2007-09-24T12:35:00.000+03:00

There's something so morbid, humiliating, depressing and so surreal about having to wrap up your own placenta in a plastic cup, cling film and foil.

U feel as though it's a scene right out of a William Burroughs novel.

A flash of a crack whore's nightmare. Almost gory-ly funny in that twisted Tarantino-esque way.

Then you suddenly realise that it's happening to YOU right now in real time. That's a bloody chunk of your own human flesh that you are wrapping up in the middle of your kitchen in the dead of night.

There's nothing worse...except the moment U gawk in horror at the blood covered mass that just came out of you.
Bloody, veiny, spongy......damn it looks like chicken liver. What the fuck is it?!
You call your doctor in a panic. He tells you to bag it for him to examine the next morning.
No matter how many seasons of CSI you've watched, nothing quite prepares you for bagging your own flesh.

Miscarriage. What a fucking stupid euphemism, makes it sound like you took the wrong train.

Everyone tells U it's normal, it's common. It's Nature's way, it's in God's plan.

WELL FUCK THAT.

So what if it happened to a thousand other people?
It's my loss and my pain and it's all new to me.
So DON'T FUCKING TELL ME IT'S NORMAL.

Some days I'm so angry. I want to destroy everything, kill everyone, beat the shit out of people who make me so miserable.

Other days I'm just so tired of fighting. Don't want to try anymore. Just want to fade into the cool darkness of night, stay there, hibernate, hide.

Anxiety lies where peace should prevail.

Requiem

2007-09-20T09:26:00.000+03:00

On my birthday two days ago, I lost my baby.

It was 8 weeks old.

I had some slight bleeding on Monday, so on Tuesday on my birthday I went to the Gynae.
He could not find a heartbeat.

Yesterday we checked again, and he confirmed our baby is dead.

JF and I are devastated.

Everything has been incredibly difficult since we came to this country.
And now this.......I feel like someone just punched me in the face.

Don't know what to do. Tomorrow I will have an operation under GA to remove the baby.
I'm scared.

To quote Hansel, my dear friend from his blog...."There is still the daylight to overcome."

3rd day of the 8th moon

2007-09-13T12:09:00.000+03:00

Spoke to Mummy yesterday and she said its my Chinese birthday today, 3rd day of the 8th moon.

Felt so sad that I'm not home in Singapore, cos my parents esp my Dad always makes my birthday so special.
He cooks his famous chilli crab for me :) I'll really miss my family on the 18th.

Well the movers FINALLY came yesterday and all our stuff has arrived although some things were broken or missing. We haven't turned on the electronic equipment yet, so let's hope n pray for the best.

But the most UNBELIEVABLE thing of all was that the truck driver CRACKED the compound wall!!
INCREDIBLY F****** STOOOOOOPID! He backed his truck INTO the wall and cracked it!
The compound manager came over and made huge fuss.

Well if they are going to make us pay for it we'll definitely sue the movers!!!
HOW F******* stupid can they get.
Oh wait but then we are in Turkey....and I've been told by more than one person that this is typical Turkish behaviour.
Not thinking, irresponsible, quite often stupid.

When can I leave when can I leave when can I leave?!?!!??!!??!?!?!??

Hope to escape to London to see JF's brother's family next month.

Every opportunity I can get I want to be outta here!!

The Incredible No Show

2007-09-11T17:31:00.000+03:00

It is now 5.30pm.

We were SUPPOSED to move today. Guess what? They didn't show AGAIN!

Big surprise there. Good ole Turkish reliability for you.

We waited the whole damn day.

At 4pm they called to say they have "loaded the truck but customs won't let big trucks on the roads between 4-6pm"
So they can't come.

They MUST HAVE KNOWN this beforehand seeing that this is not their first moving job!
WTF!????????????????????????????????????

Someone please give me a loaded gun for my birthday.

Get a MOVE ON aptals!!

2007-09-10T17:22:00.000+03:00

Ok so now they tell us they can move our container into our new place tomorrow....fingers crossed.

Judging by the way things have been going, I hope they:

1. Show up
2. Don 't break anything
3. Actually UNPACK our furniture liked they are SUPPOSED to and not dump it in the flat.
(One of JF's colleagues who also moved here from Singapore got his PCs...all not working. Another had stuff broken.)

Got lights installed......workmen did a pretty lousy job and left gaping holes in the ceiling.
One of the lights is falling away from the ceiling leaving a bigger and bigger gap each passing day.
Just wonder when it will come crashing down.
Have called them to come today to re-fix, but guess what? NEVER SHOWED UP.

What's more my Mac monitor has suddenly decided to kaput on me.

I SWEAR THE SWAY-NESS OF THE COUNTRY is UNBELIEVABLE (as I told Dawn...who incidentally just entered Blogsphere :) Hooray! Her blog is linked on the sidebar.)
Nothing but sway crap has happened since we got to this country.
Maybe it's aura/energy is 100% incompatible with mine.

Lets see what the pendejos come up with tomorrow.

Our baby has a heart!! And we're still homeless

2007-09-07T11:42:00.000+03:00

Saw our baby's heart for the 1st time yesterday and was very excited! So cute. Yes baby is still a bean for now. And yes we are still homeless after 62 days in this wretched country.

Sorry everyone for the long hiatus. No this blog is not dead and gone....just temporarily interrupted due to our many moving problems (2 months on we are STILL HOMELESS and have changed hotel for the 5th TIME thanks to they very reliable Turkish efficiency....yes U can count on them NOT TO SHOW UP or GET THINGS DONE even when U PAY THEM or book ahead) and the ridiculously slow & unreliable Internet connections in this 3rd World country. YES, after living here for 2 months I really do believe Turkey is a 3rd World country NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

The mentality, actions and behaviour of the people are 3rd world. I have come to see why (but STILL DO NOT ACCEPT) why they are out to cheat us, scam us all the time just to make money. Why they don't give a damn about service, don't bother to do things, just make empty promises to get your money first. They don't care because they are desperate. They want to take U for all you've got to escape their own dire situation.

Most Turks and even some foreigners kid themselves into thinking that this country may be 1st or even 2nd world, but they must be blind or have their eyes closed when they walk on the streets.

Just stroll outside the main tourist and business areas of Istanbul and U will clearly see how people live in such squalor. Even 5 star hotels in the tourist part of town suffer from water and electricity cuts from time to time which they have no control over. Go outside the city and you'll see how shockingly undeveloped the rest of the country is. Definitely 3rd World.
How they can even dare to say they are European or want to join the EU.....beyond my comprehension.

I spoke to a German lady livıng here and she had this to say:

As with big cities in 3rd World countries, Istanbul is full of people that have no roots any more. People from all over the country move to the metropolis to try to escape the poverty and their bad situation elsewhere. So they trample on each other and everyone else to get to the top of the heap. This makes people act strange and do things that seem to be rude, unpolite,uncivilised. They are desperate and they have nothing to lose. Many are not intelligent enough or simply don't have the resources to change their situation. It is hard for me to accept the strangeness of people and the terrible things they do. Civilisation here is a very thin skin. The slightest thing happens, and the skin tears.

Hearing her say that to me was like an illumination. Suddenly it all became so clear why all these bad things are happening to us here, why they people are the way they are. They are a pack of wolves among other wolves and we're the fresh meat. So they scramble to get every scrap they can. What's more some do it under the cloak of religion and those are the WORST of all. Religion should never be used as an excuse for personal inadequacy.

Well I'll be damned if I'm not going to fight it all the way!!!

I recently read this quote....interesting and food for thought:

To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.

-Rowan Atkinson

Jihad Tomatoes

2007-08-16T17:52:00.000+03:00

Yes JF and I are so excited. Right now we've named him/her Pepin, which means seed or bean in French ;p Pepin la Boule.

But I have to confess my mind is not at ease at all.
I try to find positive things, but it feels like every fibre and molecule of my being is rebelling against this place.
If I took a snapshot of my mind, it would probably look like Edvard Munch's goulish painting.
Yes...SCRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

It doesn't help that people seem to be out to scam us all the time.

From the real estate agent who when asked basic questions like "What are the monthly maintence fees for the flat?" replies, "It's not my job, Don't ask me." And then harasses us to sign a blank lease without any fittings or fixures listed. (BTW over here WE are the ones paying the 12% commission and NOT the property owner. In spite of this fact, he doesn't give 2 shits about finding out basic info for us.) WTF!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

To the fish place that tried to charge us 80YTL (about SGD$92) for ONE miserable 1kg fish when we agreed on 50 YTL before ordering, paid a 20YTL deposit ONE DAY IN ADVANCE AND waited 1 hour 30 minutes for.

Tell me, how not to get pissed off and depressed?

Recently I met a Singaporean Malay lady who has been living here for 17 years. (She married then divorced a Turk) She's the ONLY Singaporean I know of here so far. She told me that most ppl here, especially landlords don't give a shit about the tenant, they just want to "take your money, and trample on you."

Water and electricity cuts are looming everyday. When they first came into effect in the capital, Ankara 2 weeks ago, the mayor publicly announced that "people should go on a holiday to save water." All the local papers were outraged by this comment especially when they discovered that this mayor was told THREE YEARS AGO of the looming water shortage but did nothing about it.

The upcoming presidential election is also big news here. The ruling party have chosen and backed Abdullah Gul, the guy who announced his candidacy in April which then resulted in mass demonstrations by the Turks and worldwide press coverage. He withdrew his candidacy back then after much pressure, but now he's back in the sadle and announced that he won't back down. The millitary here is strongly secularist and wary of him because he is seen as an Islamist. Hmmm.....I doubt a coup here will be as peaceful & fun as they are in Thailand, with people selling spring rolls and cold drinks to demonstraters and handing flowers to soldiers.

Lately, about twice a day I've been hearing this truck pass by with a loud hailer, some angry-sounding guy shouting away, calling for jihad for all I know. (Maybe it's just the language that sounds angry.) So I look out the window, and turns out he's selling potatoes and tomatoes by the truck load. Wow. The karang guni man's comical beeping horn sounds so much friendlier in comparison and doesn't make me fear for my life. It seems like funny misconception, but just adds to make me feel distrubed living here.

Watch this space...

2007-08-15T13:57:00.000+03:00

Yes we're happy excited nervous gan cheong! Just found out. Still in a daze. All cos of this little black dot. :)

Ok so half my planned activities go out the window. But hey I read that Dallas Howard did her own stunts in Spiderman 3 while in her first trimester. So paragliding should be ok huh? :) He he.

And in case you're still wondering, no we don't have a place to live yet, and no I still don't like Turkey.

GET FACEBOOK NOW! (then add me ;)

2007-08-01T13:34:00.000+03:00

I've been a little (ok, A LOT) obsessed with Facebook over the last week!!

WOW U get to bite people, turn them into Vampires, play with vibrating hamsters, send growing plants and receive fish! (THANKS FOR THE 3 cute starfish Melissa!!! At least now I don't look like a saddo for sending myself 2 fish ;) Hehe.

And it's ALL YOUR FAULT MEEEEEEEENA!! Nyah nyah nyah! ;p Hee hee, no actually thanks Mel! It's fun, love it! HUGS.

Again, I'm not the speediest person when it comes to blogging, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook etc.
So some of you may think...whaaat? Facebook is like SO OLD. Where have U been Dawn?

Anyways, even though I got a Facebook account some time back, I never used it cos, well, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW. Dumb right?
DOH! (Has anyone watched the Simpson Movie? Me, not yet)

Sometime last week, Melina sent me an email (and some lovely pix from the wedding in France!) to cheer me up cos I'm having a hard time here. She mentioned FACEBOOK and searching for me there, and how it's so useful for finding long lost friends, classmates etc.

So I decide to revive my Facebook account and started getting addicted to it!
I used it to search for my friends and also found an Expats in Turkey forum (cos I'm just dying to converse with ANYONE in English without having to use hand signals!).

So ALL OF YOU READING THIS, JOIN FACEBOOK NOW and add me :) My nick there is BLUSH.
Promise I'll bite U!
And please please please send me things for my aquarium.
(U can stroke my hamster too....I've named him Milton and he's darn cute and vibrates)

Other than that, I decided to tweak my strategy for finding stuff to do here to keep me from going INSANE.
Joined another expat forum and postwhored myself there, got lots of replies about stuff to do.
If all goes as I hope, I might be able to:

1. Volunteer at an orphange/ Little Sisters of the Poor/ homeless dog shelter
(bearing in mind that I may probably have to spend a fortune on taxi fare since I don't drive here)

2. Sing, Act, dance, prance in kids theatre (they do shows for charity) That's if the Director doesn't think I'm pants.

3. Write a comprehensive English guidebook to Istanbul for newcomers
(There is a great French guide done by the French community here, but NONE in English...not as detailed and comprehensive anyway) U gotta LURVE the French for adding "Good places for Brunch" and "Chocolatiers and Patissieries" under the "ESSENTIALS" heading. Muahahahahahah! Vive la Froggies ;)
All proceeds of their guide goes to charity. So I thought I can do the same. With help from the BBC for all the local contacts. (Oh forgot to add that I'm planning to join a women's group which I, in Dawnspeak, christen the Bored B*****S Club. Hehehe. Go figure THAT one out.

4. Start paragliding lessons. Found a guy on the expat forum who does that every weekend and he told me there's a school.
They go to some ulu place about 130km from Istanbul. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE jumping out of planes, off tall structures, so hey....jumping off a cliff and flying sounds like a lotta fun too! (Knowing the huge KLUTZ that I am though, high chance I may trip on a rock and hurtle face first into a cactus patch)

Anyone done paragliding before? SHARE SHARE TELL ME ALL. I want to know.

5. Try Ulimate Frisbee! Stumbled upon a Ultimate Frisbee group on the forum. They play 3 times a week and seems like a lot of young American college students studying here. Ok, so I haven't a CLUE what Ulitmate is, and nevermind that I'm proabably 10 YEARS older than the average player in that group, but they said we're welcome to join them anytime to play. Should be fun.. Frisbee = running, jumping, catching, throwing. Dawn = pathetic hand-eye co-ordination, stands there n WAITS for the tennis ball/shuttlecock/frisbee to come TO HER, gets doinked on the head by said item.

More later, right now I'm gonna make a sandwhich for lunch with Aunty Maude's delicious life-saving HARE BEE HIAM! (Half pack left...alamak.....gabra....finish how?)

NEWS from Home & BLATANT BDAY WISH LIST

2007-07-26T10:48:00.000+03:00

Last night must have been one of the worst nights EVER since we got to Istanbul.

I was so upset I just bawled my eyes out non-stop. I feel depressed and frustrated, and cry everyday.

After an already depressing day, JF comes home and tells me that his dumbass company HR is giving us ANOTHER majorly raw deal. WTF?!??!? Have they not royally screwed us enough already?

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH CLEARASIL!!!!!! THESE F*****G problems keep popping up everyday like a bad pimple outbreak!!!

Sigh, so I start trawling the net for Singapore news to cheer myself up a bit.
I discovered that the Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi blogs are GREAT reads!! Funny, poignant and on the pulse with current affairs. (Ok call me SLOW, I was never into reading blogs before. But yes, I DO know that these two are hugely popular in Singapore blogsphere.)

Reading those blogs, I find out about the news I've been missing like:

Recently, the Prime Minister's son, 2nd LT Lee Hong Yi, stuck his neck out to expose a fellow national serviceman (possibly the son of another big shot) who went AWOL twice and unpunished.
Instead of consulting his immediate superior (as they are taught in the army), 2nd LT Lee directly emailed all the MINDEF big guns to complain about this. SUBSEQUENTLY, his email (which contained the indentity of the AWOL guy) leaked on to the Net, and there was a lot of chatter in local forums.

Interestingly, the identity of the AWOL soldier is protected throughout the whole episode, while the Prime Minister's son was publicly reprimanded by the SAF for "insubordination and not respecting the chain of command". Woah...that must have put the government spin doctors in a tizzy. Apparently as soon as the press got wind of it, all traces of discussion about the original email were deleted from forum threads.

From what I gather, the way the Singapore press covered this incident focused on the "insubordination" of the Prime Minister's son. Whereas, the real issue here is, why did a soldier go AWOL...twice...and was unpunished? Is it because of who, or rather, whose son he is? Why is his identity protected?

On a lighter note, Singapore blogsphere is also abuzz (or rather laughing it's ass off!!) at the on-going XIAXUE vs STEVEN LIM feud. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! It's made me laff SO HARD. Watch this and you'll see what I mean:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=riBS5cURFRI

Ok, now when I'm mad at anyone, I'll just scream "You are a BIG CHICKEN PIE!!" MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Here's another interesting blog nugget from Mr Miyagi:

Mr Miyagi writes:
"If you’ve ever wondered if Singapore was really such a hi-tech connected country with hi-tech connected people, wonder no further.

On the Emerald Hill Group’s website’s “Work for us” section, there are openings for ‘Cleaners’ to work at their various outlets on Emerald Hill. So confident are they that people who usually seek employment as cleaners would have internet access and have the nous to look up job openings online."

SOB SOB SOB!!!! It makes me miss Singapore even more. The damn Internet connection over here is SO DODGY, slow, and keeps dropping. Don't even talk about Wi-Fi. Yeah it's available, but it DOESN'T WORK. Most hotels here will proudly claim that they have Wi-Fi. But it DOESN'T BLOODY WORK! The signal strength is SO LOW that you can't even open a webpage.

So right now I'm using a cable stuck into my Mac. And guess what? The connection STILL drops. Not very funny when U are on a Skype phone call!

Anyway, to put my mind onto happier thoughts, here's what I want for my BIRTHDAY.
(Yah not shy one! I'm BLATANTLY putting the list here so U guys can SEND ME PRESSIES!! hahahah. Ask my brother to pick it up from U cos JF's colleague is coming over from Singapore in August)

1. A packet of SEA MONKEYS!!!!
(Mark and I had these as kids and I loved them. I was HEARTBROKEN when I found out that we can't get a dog here. :( The owner of the flat we hope to rent doesn't allow them.)

2. Bee Cheng Hiang CHILLI BAK KWA

3. CHILLI TAPIOCA (loads of it!)

4. A magic carpet to bring me home (Air tickets also welcome!)

5. DVDs of Heroes, Ugly Betty, Little Britain, Absolute Power

6. GOOD BOOKS TO READ!

7. Any other gorgeous, beautiful, smashingly lovely PRESSIES U want to send me!

MUAKS :)

GENIUS SANS LOGIC?

2007-07-25T12:19:00.000+03:00

Your IQ Is 150

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius

Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Hey I never claimed to be logical! No wonder I once stupidly put 2 DVDs in the player AT THE SAME TIME and JAMMED the whole thing. DUH.

I'm usually swayed by passions....love it or hate it...vehemently! Hahaha this is so funny!
I'm just surprised that I can do Math. Usually, I'm pants at it!

Thanks for this Melissa!!! I MISS U!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!

2007-07-21T18:22:00.000+03:00

Happy Birthday Hubby! Happy Birthday Wee Keong!

It just so happens that my best friend and hubby share the same birthday :)
Kismet, destiny, fluke, call it what U may, I'm blessed to have them both in my life :)

3 years ago,
on a breezy October night
little did I know
that my heart would be set alight
i met this froggy
who wasn't keen on doggies
but all that changed
when we fell in love
he's mad about me
and my sweet Bloss Bloss too
he's my love so true
who makes me smile when I'm blue
on his birthday today
i just want to say
I LOVE U MORE THAN CHOCOLATE & CHEESE!
hee hee....love u Munky!

a long time ago,
i was miss bossy boots
and you, a shy gawky nerd
yet somehow we became the best of friends
in 13 years we've seen each other through
thickening waistlines and thinning bank accounts
headaches and heartbreaks
endless plates of sushi, hair embellished dim sum and the art of the devil(!)
now that I'm miles away and missing you a lot
remember keong, we'll always have Bangkok!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and may you strike the next big TOTO!

On Being Gay in Disneyland

2007-07-20T18:00:00.000+03:00

“We should recognise many paths to success and many ways to be Singaporean. We must give people a second chance. Ours must be an open and inclusive Singapore……..We've got to support Singaporeans being spontaneous, being unconventional. We should not put obstacles in their way. We should help them to succeed. “

- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, National Day Rally Speech, 2004.

Here I am in a foreign country thousands of miles away from home. Over the last 2 weeks, I felt really proud and lucky to be a Singaporean. I proudly tell people how everything's so darn efficient, fast, clean etc in Singapore compared to just about anywhere else on the planet. Everything looks good and runs well, like an expensive Swiss watch.

We have clean air, can drink water right from the tap, a very good public transport system, good roads, services are always accessible - mostly within walking distance, and we can enjoy meals in public without being subjected to someone else secondhand smoke. There's always a new cafe, bar or restaurant opening, lots going on in the evenings & weekends, beautiful parks and nature reserves where JF and I frequently go for walks. Efficient banks & medical services, in schools kids are given laptops to do their homework. There's free WI-FI practically everywhere.

IN SHORT, EVERYTHING WORKS.

THAT IS, IF you don't happen to fall outside the designated boundaries set by the powers that be.

In recent years, since we got our new Prime Minister Lee in 2004, he suggested that those boundaries may be expanded to become more "inclusive". Ok so we're building a giant casino, bars can now stay open all night and ex-cons have become the heroes of a TV and Print "Yellow Ribbon Campaign" encouraging the public to "give them a second chance."

Today I found out that a friend, a bright young university graduate, has been forced to resign from his (non-combat) job at the Ministry of Defence because they found out that he was gay. Earlier this year, there were also reports that a trainee teacher was also asked to resign because he was gay.

When I hear things like this, I am so ashamed to be Singaporean.

In his now famous WIRED article (1993), writer William Gibson describes Singapore as "Disneyland with a death penalty".

There is no slack in Singapore. Meaning if you are slow or different, there isn't a place for you. How far will "more inclusive" go? We can only hope for the best, and in our usual ant-like manner, pretend go about our merry way in the perfect little colony.

WHATEVER!

2007-07-20T10:30:00.001+03:00

What a great attitude! HAHAH I love this! From now on, this shall be my answer to all the crap and shitty stuff I'm facing in Istanbul. WHATEVER! Speak to the hand! THANX WENDY!

Headscarves & stripper heels. Something's not right

2007-07-18T13:00:00.000+03:00

The settling in pains are still continuing and in fact getting worse. I'm trying so hard to see the positive side of things, but I just don't see any upside. It just seems like one battle after another.

Maarten said something in his last comment which is so acurate......Usually when U move to a new place, you experience all the initial joy and excitement of discovery...THEN MUCH LATER, the culture shock and unpleasantness hits.

But this time for me in Istanbul, I felt NO initial joy or excitement. I still haven't found ONE SINGLE THING that I REALLY LIKE about this city. Sure, I'm experiencing new things, but not in a pleasant way!!!!!! Everyday I just wake up and think......"F***, LET'S JUST GET ON WITH IT."

I don't feel comfortable here. There's something about this place, the culture, the food that just doesn't sit right with me. Can't put my finger on it, it just doesn't feel right and I don't feel completely at ease. I don't feel threatened or endangered, but I'm not happy either.

Maybe it's because of what I call the "Turkish Paradox", that's how I think of it anyway. Lots of other writers have written about it, but here's my own impression. Turkey wants to be seen as a modern, cosmopolitan, secular nation, embracing diversity, civil liberties etc. That image seems quite right if you stroll down the Istikal Caddesi, the main high street in the modern Istanbul. Bright lights, cafes, book & music chain stores, the universal high street brands, coffee and burger chains, neo Goths, emo kids, students in low-slung denims and Converse, chain smoking, having a beer and chattering away.

At the same time, you realise that there's like 20 men to 1 woman on the street. (Where are all the women?) And that it's common to see girls wearing headscarves and fully covered from head to toe, arms, legs everything.

BUT

you suddenly realise that although they're covered, their clothes are super clingy (e.g. a tiny miniskirt over black leggings, a long-sleeved turtle neck under a tight camisole top and a headscarf) and they're wearing 4-inch platform wedges or stripper heels. WHAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THAT? I just don't get it. I thought that the whole point of the Muslim religion asking women to cover up is so that they don't "incite lustful thoughts in men." So I just don't understand 4-inch heels and tight clothes with headscarves!

The Lonely Planet Turkey guide sums it up this way:

"Modern Turks will assure you that theirs is a very cosmopolitan country, an impression that can just about be sustained if you stick to the main tourist areas. However when it comes to permanent inhabitants, the picture looks very different. The shortage of restaurants selling anything other than local and "daringly" European food SPEAKS VOLUMES FOR THIS LACK OF DIVERSITY."

Now, normally I'd say that travel guides tend to exaggerate and what they say should be taken with a pinch of salt. But that comment is BANG ON ACCURATE.

1. I hate the local food. I've been giving it a chance and trying different things but it still SUX.
(How's this for variety? 1 big modern food court in a big modern mall, 20 different food stalls....ALL SELLING THE EXACT SAME THINGS - kebaps, kofte, lemachun, pide... repeated again and again.) Cosmopolitan and diverse? I think NOT.

2. No matter where I go, I am assaulted at least once a day by the acrid pong of CIGARETTE SMOKE & B.O (ESPECIALLY evident in any enclosed space...which is just about everywhere.) So much so that I have taken to eating at weird times just to AVOID sitting near other people. E.g I figured that if I eat lunch at 3 or 4pm the food places will be EMPTIER, increasing my chances of sitting at a table far far away from other people.

3. The local ice cream is RUBBERY.
JF and I had a rude shock when we bought some Turkish ice cream on Sunday. It was so THICK & RUBBERY. You could drop it and it would bounce. NOT KIDDING. DITTO for the cheesecake. For the first time in my life, I took one lick of ice cream, one forkfull of cheesecake and left the rest untouched. Yes it was THAT AWFUL.

4. Finding and moving into a flat is a nightmare. Another rude shock - ALL THE FLATS FOR RENT here come TOTALLY EMPTY. And I mean EMPTY!!!!!
NOT EVEN ONE light (just wires hanging from the ceiling), NO CURTAIN RAILS or Curtains, No applicances, not even a stove, oven or washing machine or fridge, NO CLOSETS AT ALL, not even one chair or bedframe. NOTHING.
All the flats are like this, brand new flats or smelly old flats with paint peeling and warped doors, ALL HAVE NOTHING IN IT. NADA.
We just calculated that it will cost about 5000 EUROS just to get whichever flat we rent into LIVE-IN condition. Just BASIC stuff and no deco. What's more, applicances and furniture are twice the price here than in Singapore!!!!!
DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMIT.
I asked the relocation agent why the rental flats are all like this and she said it's because Turkish people are taboo about using other people's things. They don't even want used lights or curtain rails!
When they move into a rented place, they usually even RENOVATE IT. IMAGINE THAT!!!
Spending thousands of dollars renovating a place that is not even yours and you have to give it back someday.

5. IT IS A F****** DAMN DIFFICULT task JUST to get a SIM card WORKING in your mobile phone!!! ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
First of all, before I came, I did my research and read that the government requires all foreign mobiles to be registered AT THE AIRPORT upon arrival at Customs IN THE PASSPORT of the mobile phone owner if he/she wants to use it long term in Turkey. Original Proof of Purchase (i.e. purchase receipt of mobile phone) required. IF you don't do this, your phone gets cut off in 3 weeks. PAIN in the ASS but fine OK.
I emailed the relocation agent about it, she said no need. Old rule.

THEN when we got here I buy a Turkish Turkcell SIM card, put it into my phone and IT DOESN'T WORK. FlyingF******Fish! Ok nevermind. The relocation agent tries to help me and we run around looking for a Turkcell shop that can register foreign phone. When we FINALLY FIND one, we are told that the rules have changed AGAIN. The government NO LONGER ALLOWS foreign mobiles to be registered for use with foreign passports. AND U can only register a foreign mobile with a Turkish passport IF YOU PROVE that you travel overseas often.

In the bloody friggin end of it all, I had to buy a new TURKISH phone. Phones are so damn bloody expensive here, even more expensive than France and the UK. I got an older NOKIA model which doesn't even have Bluetooth and it was 270 YTL which is SGD$340!!!!!!! For an OLD MODEL!

SIGH. I hope that things will change for the better very soon and I will find some positive aspects of living here. Right now it just seems like an endless battle to get things done. Mummy shared something with me today when I was pouring out all my worries and frustrations over the phone. She said,"BELIEVE." JF's birthday is on Saturday and the Turkish elections are on Sunday. Hope all goes well. Where are my magic red ruby slippers? There's no place like home.

Welcome to IT'SDAMNBULL

2007-07-13T10:37:00.000+03:00

It seems like an eternity since we left Changi Airport, when in fact it's just been 6 days. It has been A LOOOONNNNNG week for me here in Istanbul. It's been so trying.

Wanted to post this earlier, but the Internet connection in the hotel is terrible and sustains for about 1 minute. It's supposed to be wi-fi, but the connection drops all the time.

Apart from Mummy, Daddy, Mark n Wendy, Dor Ee, Mel & Sasha, Betty Ee, Zer & Leonard came to see us off.

Dor Ee was super duper sweet and made us 2 big boxes full of her famous walnut brownies for the 13-hour plane journey. (We had to stop for 1 hour in Dubai). We are still saving the last 2 browines today with immense gratitude and appreciation. Mainly because the Turkish food here SUX BIG TIME!!!!! It tastes NOTHING like the Turkish food in SG, UK or Australia. Will go into detail later.

I almost wanted to cry at the airport saying goodbye to everyone, especially Daddy, who looked so sad. Held back my tears because I knew it would distress him even more if I cried. Last minute before we went in, he hurriedly pressed his old rosary into my palm. Later I discovered that Mummy had also slipped something into my bag without me knowing - 3 little wallet-sized cards with cute pictures and phrases like "God is with you! Expect a Miracle". I like stuff like that...little notes etc. It makes me feel loved.

JF left for Paris on on Wednesday and I've been on my own, house hunting with the relocation agent. It's not been a walk in the park. There's enough material there for a whole other post, which I'll do later.

Here's what I've experienced & observed in Istanbul so far. If you are Turkish or love all things Turkish, U may want to stop reading here cos some of it may be offensive to Turks. (BTW apparently U can get thrown in jail here for insulting "Turkishness".....the govt here has taken its own Turkish citizens to court over this....writers, political cartoonists.)

1. I discovered that I really dislike Turkish food here. IT SUX. FYI it tastes nothing like Turkish food I've tasted in other countries, even UK where there are Kebab shops at every corner. The local food here consists mainly of:
- Dry and smelly meat. (I hate lamb & mutton...even the beef here has a bad smell) And that seems to be present in EVERY MEAT DISH
- Sour sauces on vegetables
- Flat bread

(No wonder Vim warned me. She and her hubby, both Muslims visited Turkey and they HATED the food here even though they really enjoy Turkish food in Singapore.)

In short, the food smells like it has B.O. NOT KIDDING. To my utter dismay, I had so-called seafood spaghetti at a cafe the other day and it smelt like B.O. SOUR LAMB to be exact. BLEAH. Maybe they cooked it in lamb fat.

2. Surprisingly, although Istanbul is right next to the sea (The Bosphorous, Sea of Marmaray etc) IT IS SO DAMN HARD TO FIND FRESH FISH. On every menu, everywhere, meat meat meat but no fish. The relocation agent even told me not to order fish if it's not a specialised FISH restaurant because high chance that the fish will be off.
This is a rude shock for me coming from Singapore where $3 can get U fresh sliced fish soup in every hawker centre or food court.

3. Have not seen any markets. Before coming here I thought there might be abundant fresh food markets bursting with fresh veggies, fruits, fish etc. Well, NADA, NONE so far. Just some sad looking minimarts.

4. Sad to say this but my nose has discovered that quite a number of people here have bad B.O. From the taxi driver who took us from the airport to hotel, to shopkeepers, to people squashed up against me in the METRO. I want to FAINT!!!!! It's probably not a hygeine issue because I read that Turkish people are fastidious about cleanliness. I think it's mainly because of the FOOD. If U eat B.O smelling food everyday at every meal, U can't help but smell bad.
TO ADD TO THE ALREADY BAD B.O, unfortunately a lot of guys here seem to favour OVERPOWERING COLOGNE. So imagine bad B.O mixed with strong perfume. CAN DIE.

5. Everyone here (Men, Women, Grannies, Hip Chicks, Teens) smokes smokes smokes, in aircon places, in food places, in the metro station, EVERY DAMN WHERE.
I think that will be a big problem if I'm pregnant here....all that second hand smoke!!

6. MAJOR MAJOR LANGUAGE PROBLEM. I don't speak Turkish, they don't speak English. As a tourist, it's fine and U can get away with one or 2 weeks of sign language and smiles. But TYRING TO SETTLE here is a nightmare. I went to check out home applicances yesterday and everything from the buttons to the the instruction manual is in Turkish.
Of course I will take Turkish lessons once we are settled, but it seems SO HARD. I don't know how to describe what it sounds like. It's not even like Arabic. JUST ROJAK.

7. You can't drink water from the tap. The Turks themselves don't even drink it or make ice from it.

8. Every place U go, from the metro station to shopping centres, there are security scanners (just like at the airport where U walk through a scanner and put your bag in the X-ray) It's a bit unnerving.....For me it's a constant reminder that I'M LIVING NEAR THE MIDDLE EAST. Ok technically that's not 100% correct because part of Istanbul is on the European continent. But still, this country is neighbours with Syria, Iran and Iraq. Not to mention all the unhappy Kurdish separatists.
On the plus side, people seem to be quite friendly and ready to help.

OK this post seems like one long RANT. But I'm feeling very alone, depressed, worried, anxious. JF is not even here.

I miss my family and my cuzzins.....and I miss Blossom so much. Coming home and seeing her happily wagging her tail and jumping up and down really cheers me up.

More house hunting today. Oh yah this seems silly, but it's kinda part of my happiness barometer.......the shoes and bags here are VERY UGLY and QUITE EXPENSIVE. Sigh. THAT'S Depressing. In France and UK they were expensive but at least they were beautiful and there was a wide range. Here, all the shops seem to have the same ugly shoes in the same colours. Even the most unfashionable auntie or tacky Ah Lian in Singapore won't be caught dead it them.

:(

The Cuzzins Nite Out @ Brewerkz

2007-07-06T09:59:00.000+03:00

Went out with my lovely cuzzies on Wed nite to have a last send-off bash at Brewerkz, this restaurant that brews its own beer/ ale/ pilsner/ whathaveyou. I don't like beer, but they do great GIANT burgers there!

We took like a gazillion photos and asked Melissa aka MelSteph to be the official blogger for the nite. (Aiyah coz Zer n I are lazy old farts who are a bit jurassic about blogging. e.g I tried to get a tag board and it FAILED MISERABLY. Didn't appear. HELP!)

So read all about our nite of meaty malty madness HERE:

http://ricecaked.livejournal.com/

(Under the Jul 5th entry HUHHHH? WHAAAAT?)

Check out the Super Gross video of Nennerd and a piece of tissue paper. Bet it will make the You Tube Top 10 one day!

Pix courtesy of MelSteph

Doesn't Jeanette (bottom right pic) make a very convincing vampire? Attack those bangers girl!

In other breaking news today, I've added my friend HAL's blog to my Links. Do go read it and support him if you can - he has decided to run and has strarted to train for a CHARITY MARATHON in Florence, Italy this November. He is doing the marathon to raise money for the SAN FRANCISCO AIDS FOUNDATION.

I couldn't believe it at first...Hal? Run a marathon??? NO WAY! This is a man who loves food, shopping and comfort as much as I do! (We once polished off 32 plates of dum sum between the 2 of us.) His gym shoes were probably still sitting in his closet brand new with the tags still on.....since 1995.

SO WAY TO GO HAL! I'm so proud of you for doing this! I know U will succeed!

Recipe for the Perfect Chocolate Fondue

2007-07-03T17:48:00.000+03:00

Step 1
Have a superlovely cousin-in-law like Zerline who brings the goodies AND prepares everything!

Step 2
Find out that you have to SHARE your marshmallows

Step 3
Dig in like there's no tomorrow. Nevermind if you drip on everyone else's fingers.

Step 4
Prove that you can out-eat the oldies!

Step 5
Treat your spouse to a nice anti-oxidant facial. If said spouse is hesitant, hold him down and get Betty Ee to help you!

Step 6
Model the latest skincare range - cheaper than Creme de la Mer and tastier too!

Step 7
Kiss your lovely wife who made this all possible...awwww...

Step 8
Flaunt your lustrous crop of nose hair, Bugs Bunny teeth and one big eye

OR

Prove that you can join the Russian Ballet

Step 9
Tag team with your sister and take your father hostage to trim his eyebrows with a menacingly big pair of shears

Step 10
Surround yourself with people you LURVE

The 3500 km Wedding Road trip

2007-06-29T12:57:00.000+03:00

Just back from France and off to Turkey next week. Guess what? We decided to buy a chateau! Nice yah?

Lord and Lady Chassin's chateau bedroom. Complete with antique chandeliers and 17th century paintings.

I always said the man who buys me a castle would sweep me off my feet. Ummm....maybe in the next lifetime or when we win the Lottery!

So here I am in limbo again...back in Singapore waiting, waiting to leave in a few days. Somewhat disconcerting to have no shell to settle in. Wee Keong is in now Madrid, Mark and Wendy somewhere is Spain as well, Rita Ee and Uncle Pat in Holland (I think!) and Mel & Kris back in Aberdeen.

Our France trip was really something else! On the road almost everyday with my family and BFF in tow in rising summer temperatures. Lots of hilarious moments (like when we got lost driving on the narrow one-way streets behind the walls of old Avignon) and ones where tempers flared too (ditto Avignon!). But at the end of the day, we all sat down to a good dinner and had a great a laugh about it. Boy did I get a month long lesson on family dynamics!!

Lots of special memories for sure and the wedding was enjoyable. Wedding dinner food was FANTASTIC, everyone said so. To be honest I had a lot more fun at our Singapore wedding. I just put it down to a totally different wedding experience. The French wedding felt like one big party for JF's mum. Maybe cos most of the invitees were her friends and apart from 1 or 2 couples, I had no idea who they all were.

Anyhoo, I was really happy that my family was there to REPRESENT! THANKS and BIG KISSES to Mel & Kris for making it there for the weekend!! Love U guys! Also BIG HUGS to JF's friends Samuel and Constance and their son (JF's godson) Theophile. They took a 4-hour train ride all the way from Paris just so they could be in Brive for our 45 minute church ceremony and then take the train back to Paris immediately after that again because the couldn't stay for the night. MERCI! On est tres touche.

A funny wedding moment - After the church ceremony, Rita Ee quickly hopped into the car and did an amazing quick change act! She was wearing an amazingly beautiful cocktail dress. It was SO GLAM and I loved it. I mean WEDDINGS ARE SUPPOSED to be GLAM right?? That's the whole point! (Apparently SOME people failed to realise this and turned up wearing sneakers and flip flops!)

Rita Ee felt so "paiseh" bcos the French guests were not as glamourously dressed, so she changed into a "lesser" dress. Though I think it's just as gorgeous.

The Lee Family contingent (Chek Lye and Aunty Maude were wandering around somewhere, Wee Keong was taking the pic)
From left to right: Uncle Pat, Melina, The Bride, Mummy, Kristian, Rita Ee, Daddy, Wendy & Mark,

Daddy escorting two lovely ladies down the aisle in chruch

With my real brother Markie

With my other brother and BFF Wee Keong

No wedding is complete without kiddies (or ducklings as Wee Keong calls them) scampering around! These are JF's cousins' kids - Pierre, brothers Paul and Martin, Remy in the center and the captivating little blonde Julie, who serenaded us with her cover of La Vie en Rose during the dinner!

My chic Mum

With Hugues parents, Joel and Annie Martel. They were so thoughtful to ask Hugues to send them Ang Pow packets so they could give us Ang Pows, which are a traditional Chinese wedding gift. MERCI!

Aunty Maude and Carla - Isn't she a babe in that cute lil pink cheongsam Aunty Maude got for her?

Champagne, champagne for everyone! Aunty Maude and JF's mum, Madeleine getting sozzled!

Us looking on in horror at our choux mountain...errr...wedding cake.

Funny thing is, the first time I went to a French wedding, it was Hugues sister's wedding. During then, the wait staff spent like 15 mins fiddling behind a screen as the DJ built excitement with increasingly loud music. (Think Final Countdown by 80's rocker band Europe!) Suddenly, the screens were flung open and there was this huge mountain of choux with fireworks sizzling away!!! I found it so amusing I laughed myself to tears then. GUESS IT CAME BACK AND BIT ME IN THE ASS COS THE SAME THING essentially occurred during our French wedding! Cake and fireworks anyone?!? Must be a French wedding throwback from the 80's or something.
I HAVE to say tho, the little custard filled, treacle covered choux were damn DELICIOUS!

With Jacques and Christiane Rogie, dear friends of JF's mum. Such a sweet and caring couple! The minute they heard we were getting married, they immediately booked their air tickets to Singapore to be with us for our Singapore wedding. Unfortunately, Jacques fell very ill at the end of Feb and the couldn't come. But we were so happy to see them at our wedding in France.

Around midnight, we all gathered outdoors to light and float our Thai wish lanterns. We got these in Bangkok. These rice paper lanterns are traditionally used during festivals in Northern Thailand. They work much like hot air balloons - lit at the base and released, bringing wishes of the people who float them up to the heavens. Here's a lovely pic of Melina and Kristian floating one. (Taken by William, JF's soon-to-be cousin-in-law who's a damn good lensman)

The next day, the local papers reported sightings of UFOs around the ulu French countryside. Irate farmers were quoted saying their free-range cows were so startled by the UFOs that they produced purple milk. Umm...yes...imagine that...hehe.

The Lovebirds

Ooooh....in case I forget, I've put our SINGAPORE WEDDING photos here in case any of you wanna see:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=9wfuk6d3.6oqrmo0j&x=0&y=-heg0dn

More about the trip and photos coming soon!

Bonjour France encore!

2007-06-04T11:52:00.000+03:00

PHEW! At last, most of my packing for Turkey is done, the Helping Hand guys came today and moved all my stuff from my parents place to the flat. WHAT A RELIEF. I didn't think I'd make it on time.

I'm such a horder! I can't bear to throw away sentimental stuff like cards, photos and letters. I even have bus tickets from 1982. While I was sorting through all my junk, I found old diaries, photos, love letters etc......it brought back a lot of memories and laughs. The "Autograph Book" I had from Primary 6 was a laugh! Also, it was so funny to read all my angst-ridden teenage diaries again.

Mummy & Me

One of my most treasured possessions from my childhood are letters from the Tooth Fairy (aka my Mum. But of course but I didn't know it at the time!). Reading them always makes me cry. It reminds me of all the love, hope and dreams she has for me.

The old love letters....well, they're something else altogether. They serve as postcards to myself from another time, making me realise how I've grown emotionally over the years. Honestly, I wouldn't have been ready for JF if we met years ago. It's like in pottery, when you shape and mould the clay, you even out the lumps, cut off & throw away the scraps, sculpt until U finally get something you're pretty happy with. Next you fire it to make it strong. To quote John Mayer on his "Love Song For No One", "This is a song about talking to the person you haven't even met yet. Maybe they're rollin around in the hay with someone else, but they're not as good as you'll be. You just gotta wait your turn. He's out there, She's out there, they're just learning what to contrast you against."

Tonight we leave for France, and altho I'm down with flu, combined with sneezing fits due to all the dust from packing, I'M SO EXCITED TO SHOW MY PARENTS & WEE KEONG France! WOOHOO! :) We're doing a 3 week long road trip covering Paris, Burgundy, Lyon, Provence - Avignon & Aix - Lourdes, Brive, Bordeaux & Angouleme.

I want to show my Dad all the hundreds of different types of smelly cheeses and make his head spin with gorgeous wines and rock bottom prices (compared to Singapore, wine in France is cheap cheap cheap). I want to let my Mum eat all the nutty chocolates and different jams, fruits and breads. I want Wee Keong to stuff himself silly on macaroons and shout with joy at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

For me, I can't wait to see JF again cos he's been gone a week and I miss him. Going back to Lourdes and Provence will bring back so many memories for me...but this time with JF, we'll create new ones :)

Coconut Kong Kong

2007-05-31T18:02:00.000+03:00

Our dearest Kong Kong is in hospital again because he is bleeding profusely when he goes to the toilet. He missed my wedding because he had the same problem the last time, and the time before, it was his heart. I'm worried cos we're leaving for France on Monday and Rita Ee n Dor Ee will be away too. I'm praying that he'll recover very quickly.

Luckily he was in good spirits when we visited him last night and today. He was being cheeky and was devising a way to sneak in beer for his "guests"!

"We can hide beer in the fridge then throw the cans away outside the room. The nurse won't know." Ever the thoughtful gent, he was thinking of how to be a good host, even when lying in a hospital bed with a tube stuck up his arm.

Other Kong Kong quips:

Nurse: You're here because you have a bad heart.

Kong Kong: No! My heart is good! It's just weak.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rita Ee: Daddy, do you know why you're in hospital? U must tell us as soon as U see blood when U go to the toilet.

Kong Kong: But I'm a boy! Only girls have period.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~~*~*~*~*~*~

It's truly a blessing to have such a good sense of humour when you're 85! I guess these moments of wit and lucidity is God's way of reassuring us that the Kong Kong we love so much is still there even though he has the onset of Alzheimer's.

I noticed the strangest thing when I was in his room....there was a picture of a coconut tree hanging above his bed! Right next to the IV bag. A rather sad-looking bendy tree, my mum pointed out.

BIZARRE. My mum couldn't contain her curiousity and went searching for a nurse to question. We found out it was a "code" for hospital staff to be aware that this patient is prone to falling. EH?! Didn't they already write that on his chart? Does that mean that some hospital staff CAN'T READ? Hmmmm......ponderous. I wonder what their icon is for incontinence.

Last Saturday, Zerline & Leonard (or Nennerd as he is popularly known) invited us cuzzins over to his house for dinner. We had such a great time and it reminded me how lucky I am to have such a close, loving family. And because we're all genetically strange in one or more ways (even the ones who married in! See photos of JF and Zerline below for proof!) topics of conversation ranged from worst food hygiene experiences (Nennerd won hands down - he bit into a piece of chicken from a prata stall, and there were MAGGOTS wriggling inside!!), to the best way to clean your derriere after doing a dump! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Dor Ee, STOP BUYING 4-ply toilet paper!!! U ARE CLOGGING THE SEWERS!!

Me n my cuzzins n our Kong Kong!

Betty Ee demonstrates how to kill "kachuak" (cockroaches) the old-fashioned way. Nennerd claims it's how she got him to pass his Chinese exams all those years ago.

Nothing stands between the ZerMonster and her chocolate fondue!

JF as a child

JF last Sunday

Cuzzins again with Barney's goooooooood twin, Puff the Magic Dragon. (No we DIDN'T lah! Melissa & Melanie are minors!) But we do look rather spacey don't we? Peace n Love as JF says!

Off with her head!

2007-05-25T16:34:00.000+03:00

I did it. I chopped off my luscious long, curly locks today.

Mainly because:
1. I didn't think they were so luscious anymore. The dry climate in France wreaked havoc and reduced my $950 hair-do to a mess of tangled hay. It literally hurt when I washed my hair.
2. I was fed up and needed a change. (in more ways than one...a woman never chops off her hair "just for the heck of it")
3. Hair will always grow back.
4. I really wanted to shave my head on July 1st in support of the cancer charity.

My hair sensei Shunji-san was supportive, and did a fab job (as always). So that was my happy thing for the day. I've never walked out of his salon feeling unhappy with his work. You don't get to be Cindy Crawford and Donna Karan's personal hairstylist by being crap.

My packing is not going well (I hate packing!). In a week, I leave for France. In a month I leave for Turkey for the next 3 years. Snails have it good. They simply get up n glide along when they need to move to another country with everything already nicely packed on their backs.

As if my anxiety level is not already high enough, at the moment, the MIL is being a pain in the ass..again. Sigh.
And this is the only place I can rant about it. So bear with me.

I guess all MILs will be so at some point in time, no matter how hard the DIL tries to please. Cos they're just wired like that - subconciously, subversively suspicious and displeased, programmed to drive DILs up the wall every now and then. It's been happening since time immemorial. Case in point: decades ago, one of my aunts was so damn mad and frustrated at the MIL that she splashed bottles of nail polish all across the MIL's bedspread. Jackson Pollock's ghost smiled on approvingly.

Note to self: If I ever do become a MIL one someday, I promise I'll try to behave and not be a biatch.

Today I spent 5 hours trying to lay out pages in PowerPoint. Which is quite pathetic considering there were only 7 pages to lay out into a booklet for our French wedding mass. Something I didn't really think was necessary in the first place, but it was just sprung on me last minute by the MIL, ONE WEEK before I leave for FRANCE!!!!!!!!!! ARGGGGGGGGGGGGH. Multiple Hokkien expletives exploding in brain.

But it would make the husband happy, so I did it.

Anyways, it took 5 damn frustrating hours because:
1. All the text kept running whenever I edited something.
2. Text boxes kept disappearing.
3. Mystery symbols and widget like items appeared when I did printouts n I couldn't figure out where the hell they came from.
4. I'm absolute pants at PowerPoint.

At the end of it all, the MIL was still not satisfied. The printers were kind and super efficient (I love Singapore!!) enough to rush out the covers and deliver them to my house WITHIN 4 hours. But guess what? In spite of all this effort, I'm still WAITING for the MIL's final approval before I can proceed to print, photocopy and bind the booklets.

In times like these, I repeat to myself, "I love my husband. I love my husband" all Dorothy-like. (When she closes her eyes, clicks her heels and chants "There's no place like home. There's no place like home", wishing to be transported far far away from the land where she killed the big bad witch and back to Kansas.) If only a bucket of water did the trick for me too.

FedEx a Tank right to your doorstep

2007-05-24T06:48:00.000+03:00

Looking at a map, I suddenly had this thought about moving to Turkey.

We will be living next door to........IRAQ!!!! Just over the border. Not to mention IRAN and SYRIA.
Yes, those countries U constantly see on the news with fighting, guns, bombs, beheadings and refugees filling up your screen.

Never in all my life, have I lived so close to the "axis of evil" as Dubya so ironically says. The man who is ignoramusly unaware that he is the single, greatest WMD that America will ever face.

So what better way for a kiasu Singaporean to "BE PREPARED!" (as the Civil Defence Force constantly reminds us) than to buy a TANK off the internet. Imagine me zipping around Istanbul in a TANK. It'll be a HOOT! Judging from what I've read about the traffic and drivers in that city, I may very well need one.

Yup yup, U can BUY A TANK on Amazon.com and have it FedEx'd right to your doorstop! It's going for a trifle US$20,000. Check it out. Budding dictators and revolutionaries all over the world must be thrilled, especially with the FLAME THROWER option (which is unfortunately not available if you live in California, Arizona or New Mexico, but U can still have the land torpedo loaders). Mwaahahahahahaha! I'm laughing so hard now my tummy hurts!

It's name is even funnier! The JL421 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank

This nifty vehicle:

- Carries cargo or a crew of up to five internally or on the roof.
- Is piloted from within the armored shell or from an exposed standing position through the hatch.
- Fitted with troop benches and LAND TORPEDO LOADERS
- 6hp Tecumseh gasoline engine, top speed 40 mph.
- Includes head/tail and turn signal lights, trim and underbody lighting.
- 400 watt premium sound with PA system, plush interior, and external camera
- Can be fitted with an optional flame thrower, DVD player, GPS and other customisations

WOW. Talk about Pimp My Ride Gone Wild.
BEST OF ALL, U can put this tank on a Bridal Registry. How bloody funny is that?!!?
Ooh yessssss, I want my very own BADONKADONK. WITH flame thrower please...very useful for BBQs.
Hint hint hint, my birthday is in September!

Read the reviews here...they are a SCREAM!

http://www.amazon.com/JL421-Badonkadonk-Land-Cruiser-Tank/dp/B00067F1CE/ref=pd_sbs_gf_1/102-0452450-0392923?ie=UTF8&qid=1179898693&sr=8-1

(BTW can ANYONE teach me how to write the HTML so I can make URLs clickable links??)

And even funnier....the "Customers who viewed this item also viewed..." section
They include:
- 1 Gallon Tuscan whole milk
- Fresh Whole Rabbit at US$29.95 but doesn't look very fresh

Who knew you could buy a Tank, Whole Rabbit and a Gallon of Milk all on Amazon?! Long live Jeff Bezos! The day he figures out how to ship piping hot, fresh A1 curry puffs to me anywhere in the world, I will kiss his feet.

P/S: Looking again at the tank photo, I have this sneaky feeling I've seen it before. YES! It looks like one of the desert thingys in RETURN OF THE JEDI. (U know, the one with Jabba the Hut, where Princess Leia wears this kinky metallic bra n panty get-up??) Guess the designers of the BADONKADONK are major Star Wars geekazoids. But OH DEAR, since I recognised the design, that makes me one too. ;p

Is this still Dawn?

2007-05-18T07:40:00.000+03:00

Yesterday evening I got a text from a number which I didn't recognise. It was a Singapore mobile number.

It read: "Hi is this still Dawn?"

I had absolutely no idea who it was, so I msgd back "Yes it is. Who r u?"

And the reply came:

"This is someone from a long time ago. I'm not sure if i can use the word, but we used to be good friends once upon a time. This is someone who never really forgot u (or ur phone number!) and someone who is still sorry he hurt you and never had the guts to face you after. In the years that have passed i dunno how many people have hurt u but if we have any remnants of a connection then you will know who this is."

GOSH. Heavy stuff. I thought it sounded like the start of a short film. I still hadn't a clue who this person was! So I replied that I had no idea and I was leaving Singapore in 2 weeks anyway.

He replied, "Hmmm...just in the nick of time to say a proper goodbye... :) We love music and travelling. We also love Paulo Coelho and Nick Bantock...and i am going for mass soon. Surely that must be enough?"

It was him.

The person who all those years ago ripped my heart out and flushed it down the toilet, bit by bit over a long period of time. And I was the dumb-ass monkey who was in love with him while my relationship with Ian was drawing it's dying breaths.

If my memory serves me well, the essence of my last communication with him was essentially along the lines of "****off and die and don't even try to talk to me again. Ever."

So why him? Why now? WTF!??!? I replied saying I knew who he was, and asked him if he had just read Paulo's new book, The Witch of Portobello, which I just finished reading. I wondered if this was the catalyst that made him get in touch. We both loved and were inspired by Paulo Coelho's work, and often discussed his ideas at length.

He replied,"Nope I didn't read it Dawn. You and your number just flashed across my mind while on my way home. I dunno why the compulsion to contact you was stronger than ever today."

I didn't know what to feel. My heart was beating fast, but I felt no anger, no hate, no sadness, no joy. Just numbness, and maybe nostalgia. I wondered why. This was someone with whom I once had a very close, intense relationship. Yet now, when he pops up out of nowhere, all I felt was numb. Like having 36 flavours of ice-cream placed in front of you, but you just stare, not even wanting to lift the spoon or take a lick.

In the next few SMSes he asked me how I was, what I've been doing etc and I told him about work, how I found my Personal Legend (a concept which Paulo Coelho wrote about, and something he and I always said we'd fulfil) in writing, that I got married and am moving to Turkey.

For some strange reason, I didn't ask him about his life. I didn't feel the need to, although I was curious.

So what next? Do I even want a next? Our messaging ended at: "Be well Dawn. And I'm sorry it took so long for me to touch base."

Paulo Coelho often writes that he doesn't believe in coincidences. He believes that things all happen as part of our journey to help us fulfil our Personal Legend. Signs along the way.

In the car with JF later, we were driving home and I was telling him about what happened. I turned the radio on and a Kenny Loggins song was playing. What are the chances of that? Kenny Loggins songs are not exactly on heavy rotation these days. I was a bit spooked. "He" hero-worshipped Kenny Loggins and we used to listen to his music together all the time.

They say time heals all wounds. I say it brings with it indifference and questions all at once.

The answer is....

2007-05-15T04:37:00.000+03:00

For those waiting with baited breath...or just gave up.

The answer to Melanie's riddle is:

STOP IMAGINING.

Like.....DOH!!!! as Homer would say!

Geddit geddit? It began with "Imagine you are in.......

IK(D)EA

2007-05-14T15:18:00.000+03:00

I just got back from IKEA and I HAD to post this:

OK call me suaku, but I never noticed it before! (Bearing in mind that this was only my 2nd visit EVER to IKEA Tampines.)
What a brilliant idea! On top of the usual hadicapped parking spaces, this IKEA store had reserved parking lots for families with young babies/kids travelling with a pram. WOW COOL! I wonder if this is also done elsewhere in the world. Does anyone know?

Hmmm....I'm not a Mum yet but already thinking like one...oh dear. Any Mum with a young child will tell you, (and I've seen this happen with my friends) that most parking lots in Singapore are tightly crammed so close to one another that you barely have space to open the door wide enough to put in the baby car seat or pram. The worst of these being the carpark at ISETAN SCOTTS. (My Dad says the people who design carparks in Singapore obviously don't drive cos they don't know how wide the average car is!!)

Usually parents have to drive the car out of the lot to be able to open the doors wide enough to load it with those things. Another great thing which surprised me was that parking was FREE. You'll be hard pressed to find FREE parking 7 days a week at any other commerical location in Singapore. (Even the IKEA outlet in Alexandra Road charges for parking.) Probably because this IKEA outlet in Tampines was located in the middle of nowhere, together with Giant and Courts.

So WELL DONE IKEA! I think more malls should have such family-friendly lots. Another discovery at IKEA today - They've stopped giving out free plastic bags! Many customers didn't know this and were complaining at the till, but in France however, I discovered that this practice was very common in many supermarket chains. You just have to bring your own bag to carry your groceries home. Which is how I ended up with diswashing liquid, pesto sauce and a can of beans in my handbag one day....I didn't know they didn't give plastic bags!!!

(French women, being ever so chic of course, have these cool, hip-looking large trolley bags with wheels which they use for all their grocery shopping. No, these are not the frumpy, ugly type you see homeless people or rickety old grannies wheel about in movies. These French women had trolley bags which looked STYLISH. The nicest ones I've seen look like a cross between a Hermes Birkin bag and expensive wallpaper.)

Anyways, back to IKEA and their new NO PLASTIC BAGS policy. I'm all for it because I think we use WAY too many plastic bags here in Singapore. But I just don't think IKEA has put enough thought into their new policy. First of all, most of the customers I saw were caught by surprise and were unhappy. IKEA could have posted these signs about their new policy at the entrance and throughout the store or even take out a print ad in the main daily broadsheet, Straits Times. (I dunno if they did cos I've been away, but judging by the reactions, not many customers knew about the new "no plastic bag" policy.)

Secondly, plastic bags WERE still available, and at a mere 10 cents for the regular-sized bag, and 20 cents (I think, or 50 cents) for the extra large one. Most of the people I saw paid for the plastic bags anyway. What is 10 cents to the average Singaporean shopper? Which makes me question IKEA's motives. They are STILL handing out as many plastic bags cos people are buying them. How does this help the environment? Just that now, they're collecting revenue from the sale of what used to be free bags. There was also a sturdier re-useable plastic carrier on sale for $1.20. But NO ONE I saw bought that.

What IKEA could do, is to TOTALLY do away with the thin plastic bags (not even sell them for 50 cents each) and just have the sturdy re-useable carrier available for say, $4-$5. I believe that way, more people will remember to bring their own bag every time they shop there cos it costs much more to buy a carrier bag.

What do you think?

I want my chilli!

2007-05-14T10:43:00.000+03:00

HOME SWEET HOME!!! It feels SOOOO good to be home! My little Blossom was madly barking with joy when we saw her.
After one whole month of cheese, I finally get my chilli!! SHIOK!

On Sat we had a popiah and cold crab party at home, just of the 7 of us. Everyone worked all day to make the dinner. JF and I went to Tekka to buy the crabs, Mum n Dad bought the veggies n ingredients for the popiah, Muji chopped up and fried stuff, Wendy cleaned and helped kill the crabs with Dad, she also "tumboh" all the garlic the traditional way using a motar n pestle (JF called her "Age Stone woman" heheheh!) JF and I peeled and chopped veggies (you should've seen him, so cute painstakingly grating all that ginger with a tiny grater the size of a mobile phone...of course, he cut his fingers....poor thing!)
It was all worthwhile for the SUPER YUMMY dinner we had, and we overdosed on chilli and garlic! (Our burps were awful for the next 36 hours!!) Topped off with pears poached in red wine that JF made.

Then yesterday, we celebrated Mother's Day by visiting Mama's niche together, going to mass and dinner with Kong Kong. (We've been doing this every year since Mama passed away in 1992). For the dinner, I picked an Indian restaurant which was a nice change from the usual Chinese dinner we always have.

I was so happy being with my family, just sitting there soaking in the joy and loud chatter with my crazy cuzins Mel and Melanie (aka Sasha). I realised how funny they both are (LIKE SUPERFABULOUS FUNNY and they have SUPERFANTASTICKILLER SHOES like me, and we think Leonard is SUPERBOZOWEIRD cos he doesn't like chocolate. I mean, something wrong there lah!) and I really like hanging out with them...WE SHOULD DO IT MORE OFTEN GIRLS! Dinner was a mad frenzy of good food and laughs...... passing platters of curries, tandoori chicken, palak paneer, pulling on fluffy Kashmiri naans which everyone fell in love with. (Wendy declared that it was the first time she enjoyed Indian food, the Kashmiri naan did it for her. Mark was just happy that there was meat....hehehe! The first thing he asked when I said we were going to an Indian restaurant was, "Got meat or not?" Cos quite often we have Indian vegetarian and he doesn't like it ;p My brother is a meat and noodles boy! He loves anything doughy. When we were kids he used to eat 10 roti prata all by himself!) I KNOW YOU ARE PUKING AS U READ THIS WEE KEONG!

My cuzin Melanie (aka Sasha) was SO funny in her usual witty way. I swear that girl was a British comedian in a previous life! She has such dry wit and at the same time tells her Sasha-esque riddles that are so DUH they're funny! And she's only 16!!!!!

For example:
Imagine you are in an enclosed room with no doors or windows. The water level is rising fast and all you have is an umbrella and chair. How do you get out?

Answer: Akan datang...read my next post! hehehehe...c'mon crack ur brains u lot!

At the end of the dinner, the restaurant manager started handing out flowers to the Mums. (which was a really nice touch I thought, plus they re-made a new batch of naans for us cos some were a bit too chao dar...good service and excellent food. DELHI RESTAURANT in Race Course Road....GO THERE!) Anyways, all the crazy Ee Ees told him to give Wendy and I flowers too cos we're "Mums-to-Be"! ALAMAK! Not yet lah! Akan datang. I'm not pregnant yet PEOPLE!!! The cheese in France was just REALLY REALLY GOOD! ;p

We ended the night by striking funny poses and laughing so loudly that the ang mohs at the next table actually stopped drinking their beers, fell silent and stared at us! (You know you're REALLY making a noise when you're louder than a bunch of Pommies swigging their beers!)

Hamming it up with Kong Kong! He's such a sport ;)

The vainpot Lee Sisters and their Dad!

Also, I FINALLY got my wedding day photos from the photographer after SO LONG!!! Thank goodness for pix cos I think I missed half the stuff that was going on. I was in a daze all day, just floating by on my cotton candy cloud. Will put some here and the pix from Italy too :)

Right now I'm off to IKEA to buy a gazillion cardboard boxes to pack all my junk. I HAVE TO PACK MY WHOLE LIFE and ship it across the globe!! YIKES! The shoes alone will take forever!

BTW thanks to Wendy and MelSteph's feedback, I've changed the comments to "Allow anyone". I didn't know it was only restricted to Blogger users before! Sorreeeeee! ;p

Yodelaydeehoooooo, Ciao Bella!

2007-05-10T18:30:00.000+03:00

On Tuesday, we had breakfast in France, lunch in Switzerland and dinner in Italy. Wooohoooo!!!
I'm so proud to be Singaporean....there is no distance too great for a true blue Singaporean to travel for good food.
Be it Jurong to East Coast for shiok laksa, or France to Italy for quattro stagioni "the way mama makes it" (U can almost hear me channelling my inner don when I say that. Si, Sono Don Dawn! Now kiss my ring.) Hehe.

It was our first time in La Suisse and Italia too! 32 countries and counting!

It was a public holiday here in France, so we decided to drive to Geneva for the day. My first impression of the city....DULLSVILLE. (The city's pride and joy is a giant jet of water near the lake called Jet d'Eau (it's even on their city logo)

So after a yummy lunch of rillette de saumon, grilled trout and chestnut cream, we decided to drive to Lausanne and Montreaux (where the famous Jazz festival takes place) We wanted cheese fondue and rosti but couldn't find any believe it or not! Or maybe cos we were just too hungry and quit looking after checking out the menu at 3 restaurants.

Salmon rillette with a Spring salad

Clever Swiss invention: Make a piece of trout look like a crab. Ta-dah!

Chestnut cream (the only really Swiss thing we ate that day)

I was hoping to see Heidi chalets, cows with bells and Tolberone mountains along the way. Instead we saw lots of vineyards!! So surprising....who knew? So we decided to drive further into the Swiss countryside until we finally saw the breathtaking snow covered peaks of Mount St Bernard. (We also saw an entire museum dedicated to the St Bernard dog)

I couldn't help but turn towards the mountain and yodel! Or attempt to anyway. A melodious mix of Yodelaydeehoooooooooo and Reeeeee-koh-la! (The Ricola ad was stuck in my brain) I did this numerous times and must have scared the cows. Can U see Heidi running in the distance? ;p

After fulfulling my cliched Swiss fantasies, I said, "Let's have dinner in Italy!" JF looked at me like I was mad, but it didn't take long to persuade him. (Mmmm....think about all that gooood pizza honey, and we'll be in Italy for the first time!)

More n photos coming soon! Have to pack now, we're catching the plane home tonight...yipppeeee! See U in Singapore on Friday!!

COOOOOKEEEEEEE MAWWWWNSTER!

2007-05-05T20:12:00.000+03:00

I was just reading my cuzin Mel's blog and laffing out loud! She wrote about her conversation with my belle-soeur Wendy while eating ice cream. My dear lil bro Mark just realised that we are all STRANGE except him! Mel said cos he missed out on all the STRANGE LOUD GENES!! (So did Gerard and Sasha, Mel's lil sis) So Sasha is "in a world of her own" and Mark is "at the other end of that world" MWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! I LURVE my family!

Good to know that the women in my family (well Mel W. and Mel S. for sure!) like me, LOVE tottering around in high high heels even if it kills us! Hahahahahaha! Mel W. talks about her Four.Fives in her blog. I've been there!! I love my Four.Fives too altho they are stashed somewhere right now....I'm kinda an everyday Three girl.
Altho since I got my Birks I've practically been living in them.....so unglam huh? Sad to say I don't own a pair of Jimmy Choos......YET. Wee Keong and I sauntered into the JC boutique in chi chi Siam Paragon last year and he fainted from the prices. So after much drooling and longing, lustful looks at the fine specimens on display, I tip-toed out of there, towing him away before he fainted again.

Here's something else I discovered via Mel's blog! Couldn't help but put it here!!! Damn accurate!

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth.

You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around.

You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking

How you live your life: IN THE MOMENT. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Lords, Ladies & everything in between

2007-05-05T19:20:00.000+03:00

One of my favourite areas in the Lyon is the St Jean/Fourviere district just behind our flat. It's teeming with spooky old buildings, Gothic architecture, boho people & shops, uneven cobble-stoned streets (which are a serious health hazard when you're in heels... as I discovered first hand) and best of all, you never know who you'll meet round the next corner.

Some of the people that I bumped into there on sunny Saturday morning:

The Duke and Duchess waiting for their carriage (umm..taxi) to arrive

A band of travelling minstrels

The Three Musketeers (retired)

Rembrandt's disciple

Extras from Interview with A Vampire

A lady-in-waiting with hair I'd love to have! The 2 robins seemed very happy nestled in her coiffure.

A blur-looking knight with his Frodo-like sidekick. Probably not a Templar. Definitely not my kind of Lancelot!

The Queen Anne's courtiers jivin' away

Baffled and bewildered, I wondered what I'd walked into. I quickly found out that it was a celebration of the Middle Ages, complete with duels, court dancing and a full-scale sit-down feast (no plates, bare hands and all).

It reminded me of something Maarten once told me about but I'd never seen. The Society for Creative Anacronism which "re-creates the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe" and "consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world." Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, arts exhibits, classes, workshops, dancing and feasts. They have different ranks and the "royalty" hold courts at which they honor members for their contributions to the group.

Well shiver me timbers and blow me down. I wanna play dress-up too! Hmmmm....I'd love to be Madame de Pompadour, that stylishly chic, sly old bird who had the king by his balls (literally). But then that wouldn't be historically correct considering that she existed in 1721, which is not exactly the Middle Ages.

Oh well, then I'd be Dante's Beatrice. Not a bad thing being a muse, inducing beatific visions and immortalised forever in The Divine Comedy.

Right now, this Muse is off to Burgundy, then Geneva for the weekend! Woohoo! Will be my 1st time in Swizterland...altho I once knew a Swiss Roll (my Mum coined this nickname not me!) who was well....rather BORING. (Amongst other things, he didn't eat BOTH mushrooms and onions, and picked them ALL right off the pizza, leaving just the crust to eat!!)

What's your word?

2007-05-04T14:46:00.000+03:00

If you had to choose a punctuation mark that best describes your life (or how you'd WANT to live it), which would you choose? I think mine would be ! An exclaimation mark :)

JF says he finds it funny that very often, I passionately love or hate something. That when I react to people, objects, ideas, circumstances or carry out tasks, I either do it with the ardent fervour of a saint in prayer, or with such chilling disdain that you'd think it might just kill me. Hmmm...maybe it's true. I don't appreciate mediocrity, and mindless conformity irks me. I HATE when people reply...."that's just the way it is". BECAUSE IT'S NOT. I WILL make it NOT be that way.

I've just finished reading this excellent book:

I really do recommend that you get your hands on a copy at once. From a writer's technical viewpoint, it's a brilliantly crafted piece of writing. Words are skillfully selected to surprise and delight your mind. MORE IMPORTANTLY, the book is so enjoyable, so riveting, simply because it is SO HUMAN.

It's one of those rare books that inspires, shocks and make you laugh out loud (and cry) at the same time. (And I'm one of those people who laughs out loud when I read or see something funny....even when I'm all alone, honestly!)

The book is a work of non-fiction and it's about a year of change that the writer goes through.

In one part of the book, the writer has a discussion with her Italian friend, Giulio about the "WORD of a city". He says that each city has a single word that defines it, that if you could read the thoughts of the people passing you on the street of that city, you'd discover that most of them are thinking the same thought. And he says that the word for Rome (the city which they are in) is SEX. While the word of the Vactican is POWER. The writer thinks that the word for New York is ACHIEVE, for Los Angeles...SUCCEED. Her Swedish friend Sofie says (rather sadly) that the word for her hometown Stockholm is CONFORM.

This gets the writer thinking about her own word and she's stumped. She hasn't found her word yet. (She does later in the book).

And so, it got me thinking, what's my word? I haven't found it yet either. I know my punctuation mark is !

In the politely politically correct "all-inclusive" world we live in today, it may seem limiting to confine the definition of your entire being into one word. We are after all, multi-faceted souls (although I do know some one-dimensional people!) But this is merely an exercise in FUN, something to think about in that quiet moment just before you fall asleep. I also can't help but love the copywriting challenge in this! :)

While I'm pondering, it'd be interesting to know what you guys think my word is. Thank you Maarten for posting all your comments....I really enjoy reading them and it makes me feel that some out there is listening :)
It'd be great to hear from the rest of you who read my blog :) So post away!

To Market, To Market

2007-04-28T16:03:00.000+03:00

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jigety jig!

Some childhood rhymes stay stuck in your head forever don't they? Nevermind that it also happens to be the title of a Sex And The City Season 5 episode......a series which I still love long after it ended.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Being a writer, it would be downright unethical and a slight betrayal to my profession to agree with that statement. But today when I was at the market I thought, since I wrote so much about it, it'd be nice to give you some visuals :) So here goes! Je vous presente.......

The Cheese Man...aka Tom "Fromage" Cruise. (Yes, even JF agrees that he does look like a young Tom Cruise!) We bought a lovely ripe St Nectar and an 18-month-old fruity Comte from him today. Tasty! Oh yeah the cheese was good too. ;)

Mr & Mrs "Vrai Poulet"! The "REAL Chicken" man and his wife...See what I mean about the licking fingers thing? They all do it! Food people here like to lick there fingers when serving you. I guess it's testament to how mouth-wateringly good their wares are. Along the lines of "Never trust a skinny cook" I guess. So it's when they DON'T lick their fingers that you should be worried ;p

The jolly olive lady! Doesn't she look sunny in her straw hat? More free tastings again today!

Her olives ended up as our Saturday lunch today, together with a great bottle of Anjou and some teensy weensy little prawns called "Crevettes Gris" and "Crevettes Rose". (Again, 1st time I tried and seen these in my life) Each prawn is about the size of your thumbnail and you usually buy them already cooked. They're the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and these ones were bursting with roe. A squeeze of lemon, then pop one into your mouth and the flavour just explodes.

Beefy Italian Tomatoes...don't they look like mini-pumpkins?

And lovely French vine tomatoes from Provence

Have you ever seen shallots so big? Those long golden-brown things.

Spears of white asparagus thicker than your thumb.

Bunches of radish and spring onions with big white bulbs.

Huge heads of artichoke

Berry heaven! I was such a Strawberry Shortcake fan when I was a kid! I know U still are Dawn Wee!! :) Remember how all those little dolls smelled so good and lived in strawberry houses? I think that's when my love affair with strawberries began....years before I tasted a fresh one.

Little French strawberries. They grow all over the place in summer, so much so that people who grow them have to make pots and pots of confiture (jam) so they don't all go to waste :) Homemade strawberry jam over a thick warm slice of brioche...mmmmmmmm!

Gosh I never thought I could get so exicted over fruits and veggies! Hahaha...those carnivores among you must be retching by now. Saying that, I could never be a vegetarian either......a good roast chicken still gets my goose. Funny, but before I met JF, I was never a fan of meat, and would NEVER eat beef or lamb, seldom pork. Just chicken and seafood. But since we got together, I've learnt how to appreciate good meat once in a while. A big steak is still not my first choice at a restaurant, but I would enjoy some bavette (the French restaurant "Le Gourmand" in Manila just NAILED it for me and made me a fan of bavette for life) or duck magret.........choices I wouldn't have made a few years ago. (I would probably be boring and order the fish again and again, as my parents will tell you.)

Now I know why French children eat their veggies and have balanced diets....with produce as good-looking as these, wouldn't you eat up too? :)

Ma 'hood n all dat

2007-04-28T01:45:00.000+03:00

Don't worry, I've haven't turned into Jenny from da block. (We both do have big behinds, just that hers is WAY larger ;p hehe) I just thought that after the long read in my last post, you'd enjoy some scenes from ma 'hood...ok, my quartier, to give ur peepers a break.

Place de Jacobins - just outside our building.

Our local carousel - I have yet to ride on it!

MACAROONS GALORE! I think I must have eaten at least one (ok, two) a day since I got to Lyon. There are just so many macaroon stores and hundreds of flavours! It can drive a girl mad! Wee Keong, this is for you! Remember Le Notre in Siam Paragon? Wait til you get here!

My local breadshop...the one I prefer to go to anyway! They have excellent loaves there...so warm and chewy.

There's another boulangerie much much closer to us, but I don't like going to that one. The lady there just grosses me out. She coughs, sneezes, wipes her nose, then uses her bare hands to pick up your bread for you.

(Acutally almost every person I've encountered in a food related business in France uses their bare hands, some even lick them. Ah c'est la methode Francais. That's just the way it is in France.....they're not overly big on food hygiene. Plastic gloves are a rare sight on food workers here!)

Anyway in this particular BAD bread shop, I've even seen her drop a customer's bread, let it roll on the floor then pick it up and sell it like nothing happened!

Gorgeous window display at the local milliner's. Makes me want to buy a hat! JF's grandmother was a milliner :)

A pretty little "bouchon"...tiny little bistros which Lyon is famous for. They are all over the city, but not all as pretty and quaint as this one. These bistros are called bouchons because way back, inns serving wine outside of mealtimes were indicated by a wisp of straw (“bouchon” in French, which also means "cork") hanging from their signs. This marked inns where mâchon, a snack composed of charcuterie (cold meats) accompanied by a good wine, was served outside of mealtimes.

A GREAT LYONNAISE IDEA....2000 free bikes to ride all over the city.

This is FABULOUS idea that I wish Singapore would implement immediately. In town, eg. like Orchard Road and Shenton Way, and in different HDB estates. Forget about COEs and ERP. Singaporean drivers will still keep paying the escalating prices to own a car. This bike system however, works over here. It's environment friendly and encourages people to be healthier and happier too!

To cut down on traffic congestion, pollution etc in the city, the folk in charge of running Lyon decided to place 2000 free bicycles around the city for anyone to use. There are stands placed all over the city where the bikes are stationed and electronically "locked". All you have to do is sign up for an account and enter your credit card or bank details at an ATM-like kiosk at any bike station. You get a permanent pincode which you can use to unlock a bike. You can then ride it anywhere and return it at ANY of the 200 stations around the city.

Your usage is timed from the second you unlock the bike. The first 2 hours of usage is FREE, after that, the subsequent hour is 1 EURO, and the next hour, 2 EUROS. If you do not return the bike by then, a 150 EURO charge will be deducted from your credit card. Pretty clever and very useful! Each bike even comes equipped with a bike lock so you can park it while doing your errands before you return it to a station.

How to Peel an Asparagus (and other facts of Life)

2007-04-27T23:30:00.000+03:00

I must apologise my dear friends, for the tardiness of this post. Ok yes it's been awhile since my last entry.
But NOT cos I've been laaaaazy (Wee Keong has been badgering me to post!)

You see my dear Wee Keong, while you've been cavorting with a certain Princess of Siamese origin, I have been busy wrangling with phallic looking vegetables. (And NO your life is not complete yet!! How can U say that! You have yet to meet the trumpet-playing Big Kahuna himself!)

My mother never taught me how to peel an asparagus. And what a messy time I had figuring out how to...I nearly lost the tips of my fingers!

Living a 2 minute walk away from a fresh food open air market, I've been doing my grocery shopping village style.... buying only what I need to cook for the day, everyday. If you were here, you'd see why! Stalls bursting with the freshest veggies of all shapes and colours, some of which I've never seen apart from a photo. (Luscious heads of artichokes, baby carrots the width of your pinkie with the stems and leaves still attached, bunches of rosy radishes.) The beautiful thing about French markets is that the produce changes with the seasons. Supermarkets seem SO boring and banal now. Food looks better too in the morning sunlight and crisp outdoor air. So right now, all the Spring veggies, fruits and flowers are de rigeur. For the first time in my life, I touched and inhaled the gorgeous scent of REAL lillacs! It reminds me of the scent of hyacinths but not as overwhelming. Tiger-striped roses and lilacs...lovely.

So U see how I ended up buying a big bundle of white asparagus....it just LOOKED so good. So how DID I peel them in the end? Well, first I used my fingers. You see back home in Singapore, my experience of cooking asparagus was limited to the skinny little green things that look like french fries. U could just peel the fibrous outer skin with your fingers.

But alas it didn't work with the ones I bought here, which were about 6 times the size and bursting with juice. So then I tried a paring knife. Now anyone who knows me, knows that Dawn and sharp objects don't go well together. Amazingly, I have inherited my father's knack for being able to handle tools INCORRECTLY. They usually slip and injure us. Til this day, I still can't peel a mango the way my Mum does. (Now, SHE'S nifty with a knife...and you should see what see can do with a screwdriver!) I just slice the mango in half and scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon.

So since the paring knife didn't work, I whipped out my trusty $1 potato peeler bought from the neighbourhood HDB Auntie shop in Lorong Ah Soo that sells plastic pails and mops. I never leave home without one. And YES, it begins to work on the asparagus, but unfortunately, I didn't know that asparagus was SO SLIMY when being peeled. After at least 45 minutes, I FINALLY peeled them all! GREAT SUCCESS as Borat would say. Only thing is, I also lost about one third of each spear! Hehe. Better them than my digits.

I must say that once you master it, peeling asparagus IS one of life's essential skills. The end result is SO worth it.... thick juicy spears of white Spring asparagus accompanied by a creamy, light mousseline sauce (made by me of course!) YUMMY! Finger-lickin good! ;)

OTHER FACTS OF LIFE

I love going to the market here, every day is a new culinary adventure. I never know what I'm going to cook.....just browse and see what's on offer. I even have a few favourite stalls now! The chicken man and his wife are so friendly!! They claim that their chicken is "le vrais poulet" (the REAL chicken) and "c'est extra" (extra good). I've always heard that chicken from Bresse is among the best tasting in the world....and gosh it's true. It's DELICIOUS. So funny how the chicken man said that it tastes good cos the chickens are happy cos they get to run around (making the wing movement with his arms as his speaks!) Heheh reminds me of the time Dominic was quoted in the papers saying that the chickens at the organic store he was working at were "happy chickens so they taste better"!!!!

My cheese guy looks like Tom Cruise...when he was in Top Gun (Not the mad Cheshire-grinned looney that he is NOW). What can I say...I don't need a reason to love cheese, but he sure makes going to the cheese stall a tastier experience....literally! Cos he lets me sample the different kinds :)

The olive lady is a darling too....she wears this big white hat and a white apron and encourages me to sample everything for free. "C'est pour votre plasir" she says. "It's for your pleasure". Today she said I should speak in French and she speak in English so we can practice the languages :) I got some cibolettes from her today...tiny little violet coloured olives from Provence...first time I ever ate one too!

The market stallholders always have a word or two to tell you about their produce or how to handle it, or how to pair it with other food. Things I've learnt from the market:

- You can buy and cook an ENTIRE calf's head. The brains are a treat, apparently.

- Never put tomatoes or strawberries in the fridge...it kills the taste. That's why tomatoes bought from supermarkets have no smell. The ones here are actually fragrant when sliced!

- Never wash mushrooms...again it kills the flavour. (Technically this isn't new to me....My friend Maarten taught me this some years ago and I was astounded...cos mushrooms were always washed in my home. How to eat with all that dirt? Well, you're SUPPOSED to BRUSH them with a mushroom brush...something I have YET to find. So I use a toothbrush.) If you really think about it, you're about to eat a FUNGUS, so why let a few specks of mud bother U?

- Dandelion leaves can be eaten. In French they are called Pessenlit. Which literally means "piss in bed" cos they have a direutic effect. These made it into my salad bowl. Tastes a bit like rocket. I was so capitvated by how the light hit them I just had to take a pic. Dandelions are so whimsical.

- Perfect looking, symetrical fruit that U see in supermarkets (think big red waxy apples and monster strawberries) are far inferior in taste to the smaller ugly looking ones. It's true! At first glance, I wouldn't have bought the small, mis-shapen French strawberries, but encouraged by the stallholder (and he was right!) they taste SO SWEET.

- Some cheese can mature over half a century and still be edible. Now I don't know HOW this is possible, but the hard 50 year old cheese I tasted sure was tasty!

- Dried mushrooms can cost SGD$680 a kilo!!

JF's Visual DNA

2007-04-19T23:07:00.000+03:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Me

2007-04-19T15:10:00.000+03:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Lost in Translation

2007-04-13T11:09:00.000+03:00

Continually trying to express myself in French is very trying. Especially when it's a rather delicate matter and I need medical help! Male readers, you might want to stop reading now.

Sometimes after a prolonged period of stress, I get a yeast infection. I got it for the first time in my life last year and I thought I was going to die!! It's an UNBEARABLE itch which I can imagine in the 17th century, probably made those petticoated lassies go mad and jump off a bridge.

But after talking about it to some female friends and my gynae, I discovered its actually extremely common in females, even young girls. Surprisingly, it clears up very quickly (within 2 days) of taking the medicine my gynae gave me....Difflucan. Not exactly sure what brings it on, my gynae said it could be stress, illness, reaction to other medication, high blood sugar level, pregnancy, or "heatiness" which is what some TCM practitioners believe. In women, it occurs frequently before or after a period, due to the change in hormones. It's also aggravated by wearing tight clothing made of non-breatheable material such as synthetic underwear, tight jeans, damp swimsuits etc. and sometimes, scented products such as perfumed soaps, shower gel etc.

Well, I have it again now.

For those of you who don't know what a yeast infection is, it's basically an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in your body which allows yeast to grow. (So you better listen to your mother and drink up your daily Yakult! Or eat yoghurt. It's full of good bacteria) Some people get it in their mouth, but most women get it down there. Yes down there! So you can imagine the difficulty I had trying to explain to a French pharmacist that I need medication for my problem.

(Ent. Scene)

Dawn walks into a French Pharmacy

French Pharmacienne: Bonjour madame.

Dawn: Bonjour. J'ai une probleme feminin. (Translation: I have a female problem(??!!!!! now how lame does that sound?)

French Pharmacienne: (who looks like she's about to laugh) Quelle probleme madame?

Dawn: Je besoin medicine pour ca (Translation: I need medicine for this) (points DOWN THERE and makes numerous hand gestures and facial expressions to indicate extreme itchiness and discomfort)

French Pharmacienne: ?????????? (looks puzzled and trying to stifle her laughter)

Dawn: (in pidgin French) Avant mon gynecologue donner moi le medecine Difflucan. Maintenent, j'ai le meme probleme. Alors, c'est possible pour prend ca? (Translation: My gynae gave me Difflucan before for my problem, can I get the same now?)

French Pharmacienne (giggling) blabbers on about how I need a prescription and I need to see docteur for that. She suggests that I try a numerous variety of "produit intime".

Dawn: Ah d'accord, merci.
(Scuttles out of pharmacy looking dead embarrased and still itching like crazy)

Anyways, to my utter embarassment, I told my mother-in-law about it and asked her to get a prescription for me from her docteur.

(Due to some stupid HR administrative incompetency, I am not yet covered under JF's insurance, so I can't see a doc here. Well I can, but it will cost an arm and a leg. Of course we didn't discover this until after we left Singapore, and it's too late for me to arrange for my own insurance coverage. I asked my agent and he said the policy has to be effected BEFORE I leave the country. And my existing medical insurance doesn't cover me overseas or visits to the doctor for that matter, just hospitalisation.)

On the up side of things, I finally found a supermarket near the apartment, a bread shop, a cobbler and a place that does alteration of clothes. I guess those are my "little victories" and I feel rather happy that I found them all by myself.

Although I did get a MAJOR SHOCK at the cost of alteration. I wanted to shorten the hem of my skirt by about 5 inches. The shop that I bought the skirt from said it did free alterations, but couldn't do it for me cos my skirt had 2 layers. So I walked about and found a tailor. GUESS WHAT? Just shortening the hem cost 20 EUROS! That's the cost of the skirt itself! That's SGD$40!!! The tailor near my house in Singapore charges $5 for the same job.

Sigh. No choice lah, have to do what.

Living in Lyon

2007-04-11T13:14:00.000+03:00

JF found a really nice area for us to live in. It's in the Presquile quartier, right smack in the centre of old Lyon. (To me, there's something about the word "quartier" that makes any place sound so exotic and a bit mysterious, when all it means is "neighbourhood". Well it sure sounds more alluring than Hougang New Town!)

Our tiny apartment overs looks a quiet square and is in a chic neighbourhood, but it's also the size of my mum's bedroom in our home in Singapore. Yes, the WHOLE apartment including bedroom, bathroom, living room and mini-kitchenette could fit into my mother's bedroom.

This part of the city is very pretty with a lot of Haussman style architecture, fountains, narrow cobblestone streets...like Paris but more laid back. And because it's Spring, all the trees and flowers are starting to bloom, truly gorgeous with blue skies and the buildings brushed with golden sunlight.

Amidst all this beauty, I feel lost. Ok maybe I'm being a drama mama, cos it's been barely a week since I left home, but I feel a bit sad and anxious cos I know that this is how it's gonna be, what's coming.....starting a new life in a new place, and most of the time, by myself. (Naturally, JF is at work all day so I'm left to my own devices). We are going to move almost immediately after the 2nd wedding in June. Probably to Istanbul.

I miss my family, I miss my friends (mostly Wee Keong) I miss my dog. I miss knowing where everything is.

A new life is very exciting - the new sights, sounds, smells and food!! But is also a bit daunting. Cos every little thing is a challenge. Simple things like getting food and water, and getting people to understand you. (Yes, I can get the message across, but my French isn't exactly precise or elegant. I must sound like a Primary One kid. Like the other day, I told my mother-in-law that I put the SALTY towels in the washing machine! The word for dirty is "sale" (pronounced "sahl") and salty is "salé" (pronounced "sah-lay"). She must have been wondering how I got them salty in the first place!)

Yesterday I walked around for an hour looking for a boulangerie (bread shop) or supermarket to buy lunch but couldn't find any. So in the end I had a salad at a cafe..it was so awful.....a mysterious spongy, cold piece of meat pretending to be chicken and a bunch of leaves tossed in a mustardy sauce. Worst of all it cost 9 EUROS! I could have had 6 plates of chicken rice for that!

It's kinda funny that we are living in Presquile now. Lyon is situated at the confluence of 2 rivers - the Rhone and the Saone. And Presquile is on a little islet EXACTLY in between the 2 rivers, with the Rhone on the right and the Saone on the left. My life right now is also at a confluence, don't exactly know where it's headed but know that it's changing fast and is a bit unstable at the moment. JF and I discussed this and he says that for us to feel secure, we need to hang on to "rocks". Just like when we're diving. If there's a strong current underwater, you grab onto a rock and hang on to rest until you regain your strength to swim on.

I guess it all boils down to the feeling of not having a home. Just being in transit all the time. Funny, you would think that living in Scotland previously, this would be a breeze for me. But somehow it feels different this time. Maybe it's the language thing. Maybe cos I was younger and more eager last time. Ah the invincibility of youth! Wish I could've bottled it and sprinkle it when needed, cos I need it now.

Easter in Brive with ma Belle-Mere

2007-04-10T10:05:00.000+03:00

We arrived in Brive just in time for a late dinner. My mother-in-law was sweet enough to buy me the smelliest cheese she could find. I LURVE SMELLY CHEESE! Yummy. How can Americans eat those tasteless plastic slices?? Worse, Velveeta!! That must be the worst manipulation of cheese I've ever come across. It's a crime! A toxic looking orange paste in a metal tube that pretends to be cream cheese.

The next morning I wake up to see a glorious sight...cherry trees in full bloom! WOW! It's great to have Spring, something we don't have back home. Cherry tree in my belle-mere's garden.

Spring flowers

After breakfast, we're off to the chocolate shop. Ah life is good! JF's mum's friend Paulette Vimbelle owns a choc shop and everytime we visit her, she gives us a a huge stash of fine chocolates. Mmmm..... le noir c'est le meilleur. I LURVE dark choc! So many shops in France have window displays to make you drool, whether they're selling chocs, clothes, flowers or cheese. Her shop was no exception.

And here's what I got for Easter - Choc bunny n duckling bigger than the size of my head!

AND a giant basket of choc bunnies, teddy bears, chicks, ducklings, eggs, dolphins and clowns.

Later, we visited the Grotto of St Anthony of Padua. He rested in this grotto near Brive in 1226 during his sojourn in Limousin. He had the gift of prophesy and miracles. His image is often shown carrying the Infant Jesus because it is believed that the Infant Jesus appeared to him.

JF's mum says she has often had her prayers answered through St Anthony's intercession. He is also Kong Kong's patron saint. So we prayed for Kong Kong, and also for JF's ear to get better. His left ear has been blocked since we went diving in the Maldives. We saw a ENT specialist in Singapore before we left for France but the doc couldn't do anything.

Candles for St Antoine

The Archangel Michael

Easter in France

2007-04-10T09:04:00.000+03:00

When you look out of your hotel room window, what do you hope to see?

Betcha wouldn't count on seeing a CEMETARY!
Well, I did. And I thought it was fabulous! Where else but ah, Paris.

I arrived in Paris on a chilly Good Friday morning. Fresh off a sleepless 13-hour flight, JF picked me up at Roissy and dropped me off at the hotel before heading off to work. (Surprisingly it's not a public holiday in la France). BTW Economy in Air France sux big time, SQ Economy is ooodles better....what can I say, I'm a patriot that way.

Before he leaves, he tells me, "Don't draw the curtains, just go take a nap". So what do I do? The minute I get into the room I throw the window WIDE open and see this:

The Montmarte Cemetary. Resting place of Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola and Francois Truffaut. Lovely. To be welcomed in Paris by famous writers and filmmakers. How romantic! :)

THE PARISIAN EXODUS

Around 1.30pm, JF rushes back to the hotel, we throw everything into our bags and make a dash for the autoroute. The mad Parisian Exodus has begun!! We hope to beat the crowd, but alas, we're caught in the massive wave of Parisian cars leaving the city for the long Easter weekend. (Monday is a holiday). It took us TWO HOURS just to get out of Paris and onto the highway!

Apparently this happens whenever there is a long weekend or holiday. Parisians pack their bags and head for the country. Nevermind the 6 hour drive, road rage, traffic jams, blaring horns and middle finger salutes along the way. It's all worthwhile to get to LA CAMPAGNE. (The countryside.)

La campagne c'est France profond! Yes the French believe that the essence of France is in the countryside. Chic Parisian femmes ditch their Christian Louboutins for green wellies to tramp the countryside, inhaling the wonderful Parfum de Cowpat as they pick strawberries for tea.

Soul Food

2007-03-29T12:19:00.000+03:00

Today I was reading an edition of The Warrior of Light. It's an e-newsletter that Paulo Coelho sends out every few weeks. I enjoy his writing...it's honest, thought provoking and often inspires.

The last few editions of the Warrior of Light focused on the 7 Deadly Sins. Today, he sent out the one about Sloth.

This sentence made me think. He wrote:

"Sloth is lack of physical or spiritual effort, which degenerates the soul and leads to sadness and depression."

I thought it's the other way around.......that a constant stuggle, without little victories, chips away at your soul, and eventually leads to it's destruction.

I remember when I was living in Glasgow, Ian couldn't find a job for the longest time. Teaching was one of the options he considered. His mother, a veteran teacher of 30 years, strongly discouraged him from becoming one. I clearly remember, she said it was because it was "soul destroying". That was the very first time I had heard someone use that phrase and I've thought about it often since then.

We know what what nourishes our soul....but do we also recognise the things that slowly destroy it?

Dream Job & Baby Making

2007-03-28T08:21:00.000+03:00

What happens when your dream job finally comes along? Well, in my case, you ditch it, pack up your whole life and move half way across the world to make babies.

Ok this may sound a tad shallow. but today I got offered one of my fantasy writing assignments - To SHOP, suss out the scoops AND GET PAID to write about it in a weekly column! (Even though it's just a 2 month project from end May to July, I would LOVE to do it.)

Guess what? I can't accept the job cos I'll be in France then and I'm required to be in Singapore to do this. What's worse? I KNOW that I'm the PERFECT person to write it and I'll do a killer job. It's a missed opportunity, but hey I can't really complain about roaming across Provence and having a second wedding in a little chateau! I'm really happy about what's happening in my life right now, just that I wish that at some other point in time, I'd get another chance to do a fantasy writing job again. (Others include writing about FOOD and incredibly luxe travel locales! I love reading intelligent, witty writing about these topics.)

The following months will be a great period of change in my life. We have to pack up all our stuff (a nightmare for me cos I HATE packing. Anyone who has travelled with me knows that it stresses me out completely), move to France, then move again to Turkey. And in the midst of all this, try to get pregnant cos we want to have kids pretty soon.

I'm very excited that all this is happening. But also pretty stressed when I try to figure out how pack up my entire life. What do I do with my countless books & shoes, old copies of Glamour & In Style, hundreds of cards and letters, thousands of photographs and about a million other bits and bobs?

When I think about having kids, I do feel that I would eventually love being a Mum. But the other part of me winces at the thought that my freedom will essentially be KAPUT. ZILCH. NADA. I've seen it happen to friends...once U have a new baby, your time is not yours anymore.

You can't leave the house at a moment's notice to meet a friend. (I'm told even leisurely breakfasts reading the Sunday papers become a thing of the past.) You & your husband can't go on spotaneous dates (let's have a picnic today, go to a beach bar!) without having to concoct an elaborate plan of what to do with the baby. Bring it along with it's 6kg worth of diapers, pram and other baby stuff? Or arrange for a babysitter? Will the babysitter drop my baby? ALAMAK. That's why new mums say their freedom is GONE. Worse if U have a rugrat who cries ALL the time.

Second fear - turning in "one-of-those" mums. U know, the type who can only engage in conversation when it involves babies, specifically THEIR own baby, or baby related gadgets. Who knows? I may one day coo about my own kid so much on this blog it'll put some people off!

Anyways, I still have time to ponder cos I haven't got a bun in the oven just as yet. In the meantime, here are some pix of JF's niece Carla. JF is tickled to bits by her and adores her....everytime he sees her he keeps telling me we have to hurry up and make one! Our nick for Carla is Space cos she has this permanent spaced out look on her face, staring at U with her giant saucer eyes!

Munky & his niece Carla aka Space Chassin

Oooh look I can swim at 4 months old! It runs in the Chassin family!

BLISS

2007-03-22T04:00:00.000+02:00

Our wedding rings on the beach at sunset. In mine: Poussin, me more. In his: Munky, me more.

Our home in the Indian Ocean

Dawn watching the dawn (heheheh...sorry couldn't resist it! Occupational hazard of a word fairy!!)

Right at our doorstep - La Mer.....our private swimming pool (and the name of my face cream...!)

Dinner under the banyan....it was gorgeous....like a wedding dinner all over again...we're thinking of having another one here next year to celebrate our 1st anniversary. So everyone start saving up to fly to Maldives next March!

VIVE LA PLONGEE!

2007-03-21T12:18:00.000+02:00

Just got back from our honeymoon in Maldives.

One word............ SUBLIME!!! GO THERE!!! We stayed in a water suite in the ocean...wow...dive out of your own private deck into the clear blue sea! The turquoise water's soooooo tempting....and even better when you scare the fish with your nekkid butt! Heheheheh.... Champagne for breakfast watching the sunrise over the roaring waves

We did 10 amazing dives, and I finally got off my ass and decided to do my ADVANCED OPEN WATER CERTIFICATION (.....after 7 years of diving!!!! I must be the only person who waited THAT long. Basically all this time I couldn't be bothered to do it and I figured I didn't really need it anyway....I did so many night dives and deep dives already.)

Me with a big ole eel! Yummy.....unagi!!

But since the divemaster in Maldives suggested it...I thought hey, why not?...I have the time now. Used NITROX for the first time....can't really feel the difference altho you ARE supposed to feel less tired after using a NITROX tank (It's got 32% oxygen compared to 21% in the normal tank)

Also, I went sailing for the first time in my life....wow, I can actually SAIL a craft on water all by myself...well.....with some tuition from my husband! JF spent most of his childhood summers sailing at summer camp. (And other notty things like invading the girls dorm with the other notty little boys!!)
Sailing is a breeze....that is..... ONLY when there IS BREEZE! Otherwise you're stuck in the middle of the ocean, getting totally sunburnt, wondering if there's a shark circling around the bottom of your dinky little sailboat waiting for you to capsize......

Some piccys here and lots more to come!

JF the underwater paparazzi! Work it turtle!

Imagine how many unagi dons that big thing would make!

Hubby n Me and fishys make 3!

AU REVOIR MISS LEE!

2007-03-13T09:16:00.000+02:00

I'm MARRIED!!!! Madam Chassin. Mrs Dawn Marie Chassin!
WOW! I'm actually MARRIED!! :) :)

It went so fast....but it was like a DREAM....a beautiful fairytale dream with so many surprises! JF and I had such a happy and fun time, I'm more in love with him now than ever...and I know it will keep growing. We had so many laughs, and so did all our family & friends. Everyone kept coming up to us and telling us how much fun they had and how they could feel the LURVE (as cheesy as that sounds, I really know what they mean....it was wonderful!)

It started in the church when we were walking down the aisle after Mass....suddenly out of nowehere, we we showered with hundreds of beautiful bubbles....just what I ALWAYS WANTED!!! I was so surprised I wanted to cry!!

My darling Dor Ee had bought soap bubbles for everyone to blow when we were walking down the aisle and it was SO MAGICAL!
WHAT A LOVELY SURPRISE! And when we reached the end of the church...POP! We were showered with canons of confetti! Woohoo!!

Then at the lunch buffet, we had so much fun with the candyfloss and balloons....and for the FIRST TIME EVER, (well in all my experiences of wedding lunch buffets that I've attended) ALL THE FOOD WAS GONE! FINISHED! Amazing. Next, the cake too was totally gone! Even the base of blackforest which was holding up the Piece-Monte (French wedding cake) I surprised JF with.

I can't begin to say how many lovely surprises came, one after another (More in the next entry as I have to be at the airport in 3 hours to leave for our honeymoon in Maldives, and I haven't started packing yet!!)....Wee Keong, Mark and Wendy worked really hard to make everything run smoothly....and they did a great job.

Well, all weddings wouldn't be complete with one little hitch...and ours was very minor....admidst all the excitement...we left our marriage cert behind in the church!! Hahahah....thank goodness the next wedding couple (who used the church after we left) found it and gave me a call. My Dad, my hero as always....went to retrieve it the next day.

Well bye bye Miss Lee, but the Divine Ms D reigns on! :)

TGIF!!! Tomorrow tomorrow!!

2007-03-09T05:48:00.000+02:00

I MADE IT!! One day before the wedding and I'm still alive! Yippeedooo!

Woohoo!!!

I had the BEST AWESOMEST Hen Nite on Wed thanks to my Dor Ee Ee (coolest hip 58 year-old who got carded cos she din bring her IC!!! Hahahah. I asked if they could give her a senior citizen discount!) and all my cousins, Jeanette, the 2 Mels, Nic, Zerline and my friends Nana, Grace, Janice aka Oliver and Linna. I got a lapdance from some Frenchie (so I'm told....I was too drunk!) and apparently some Brazillian guy said unmentionable things to me! All thanks to my rowdy bunch of hens and a game called The Bachelorette's Paty Dice & Cards. It had dares like "Find a man who can prove to you that he's not wearing any underwear" "Find a many who will talk dirty to you in a foreign language" We were caught on camera by a photographer who snaps pix of clubbers! So we're on some party website...Aiyoh!

THANKS NA for buying this crazy gift that made the night with girls gone WILD! :)

Thank god for my sis-in-law Wendy! She has been a saviour to meet thru'out the wedding prep. And yesterday she gave the bridal shop a blasting cos they screwed up so many things. The album from Robin turned out SOOOOO CHEEEEEENA I literally broke down and cried at his studio. So ugly how to display? JF still wants to show it tho. Hummmmmmmmmmm.....

Well so far everything's turned out DIFFERENT from what I planned....I'm wearing a big poufy dress with a train that goes from here to eternity (and can BARELY fit in the church aisle!), we have posed wedding photos and our wedding car is a darn Merc!! All the things I never thought I wanted and swore I wodn't have.

Well, well well. Surprisingly it ain't half bad!

Fingers crossed that all goes swimmingly tomorrow! At least there'll be pink CANDYFLOSS! Yaaay!

SNEAK PEAK!

2007-03-01T08:46:00.000+02:00

Here's a sneak peek from our wedding pix. That's the ACTUAL sign JF used to propose to me :) Hehehehe :)

Not that I've had much else on my brain lately besides the wedding, but I was just discussing this with JF a few days ago.
I watched the film Little Children a few weeks ago, and Wee Keong is working on a play called The Swimming Instructor. All this reminds me of an experience in my life.

I told JF that I really do believe that at least 80% of all children may have been molested at one point in their lives.....whether they know it or not, or whether they realise it only years after it happened.

OK, I hear U screeching "WHAT?? NO WAY!" But scarily enough, I DO believe that it occurs more frequently than we think. Because it happened to me when I was 9 or 10. It was my swimming instructor.

And I didn't realise what was happening at the time, or what it was even called. It just felt weird. I only realised what happened years later when I was in my teens, and became aware that there's such a thing called "molestation."

I was taking swimming lessons with my brother Mark (He was 7 or 8) at Paya Lebar Swimming Pool. And we had this male swimming instructor. I can't remember his name, but what I remember was this awful strong chlorine smell that clung to him and he always wore red shorts. I think he was one of the lifeguards at the pool.

Anyway, I remember most times he stood behind me in the pool and held my arms up with his hands to teach me the proper swimming stroke techniques. Most of the time it just me alone in one corner of the big pool (cos Mark would be in the shallow pool). Then sometimes this guy would touch and squeeze my (non-existent!) chest and between my legs. I felt very strange but didn't want to tell anybody cos I didn't know what was going on. I also felt weird cos my swimsuit was a bit old and threadbare....still remember it was a green one with purple swirls.

It was only when I was in Sec 1 (when I was 13) that I realised that my swimming instructor had molested me.
Because Sec 1 was when my friends and I started reading about sex. (Remember Judy Blume? Harlequin Romance? Sweet Valley High?....thinking back on it, it was SO FUNNY how we all hid those books from our parents!)

It was only then that I realised that my swimming instructor did something WRONG. I didn't, and don't feel dirty or ashamed or scarred or anything dramatic like that. But just that I can't believe it happened! This got me wondering if anyone else I knew had a similar experience.

And over the years, by talking to my friends and different people I met, I found out that both males AND females had been molested when they were kids. Sometimes by strangers and sometimes by people they knew and saw often. What surprised me the most is HOW COMMON it is and frequently it occurs! Ask some of your friends, relatives, people you know....you too might find it's happened to them. Or even to you.

I don't think my life has changed or has been affected by it. And NO I don't see the need to go all Oprah about it and start a support group or anything. Maybe because I DIDN'T REALISE what it was when it was actually happening. It just makes me believe that it happens A LOT, but kids being kids, just don't know how to say it or tell. So the problem goes on undetected.

What can we do as adults? No, don't suddenly be all "kiasee" and go on a witchhunt for paedophiles.
But be AWARE. Much more aware. And have the COURAGE to stop it if you see it or know it's happening.
Even if it's not a kid you know.

11 days to go....

2007-02-23T13:27:00.000+02:00

Guess I'm one of those people who'll never make a living out of blogging. (Considering that my last entry was more than 2 WEEKS ago!) Not that I have legions of loyal fans or anything like that....!

Well well what's happened since? Valentine's Day came and went. I had one of the lousiest ones as far as I can remember because I spent the day 1. Working 2. Aruging with the hotel 3. Get shabby prints of wedding pix 4. Crying over my useless lost cause of a wedding gown. JF was away in France so tht's how I spent my Val's Day this year!

Fortunately things HAVE got better since. Being a natural born shopaholic, I scoured the entire city for a replacement dress. And I found it in the most unlikely of places! ( A secret I will take with me to my grave...even JF doesn't know where). What's more, I found a gorgeous evening gown that's 10 times more glam than the one the bridal shop made!

I swear if I had to do it all over again, I WOULD NOT have taken a bridal package. Listen up all brides to be.....BUY OFF THE RACK. Cos your ACTUAL dress will NEVER turn out like what U had in mind even when U give them a PHOTO! (Again, I did a survey of recent brides and this is a FACT!!) It's one of those bridal conspiracy things.

We're into the final 11 days and the pressure is mounting to get things done! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Wish everyone would just read my T-shirt and shut up and make my life easier!

I'm a Bini, He's my Lucky!

2007-02-08T17:34:00.000+02:00

I'm soon to be a Bini! Hahaha what a cute funny word! Just learnt it from Daddy.

Apparently in Baba patois...."bini" means wife and "lucky" means husband. Daddy says it's kind of a way to speak in code.....eg. "Is you bini coming to my daughter's wedding?"

Hehehe how funny! The hubby is called a lucky because apparently being MALE is lucky!

Had a brilliantly happy day today! Whooppeee...shiny happy Dawn...fa-la-la!
Brought Kong Kong out to lunch, then Chinatown to buy CNY goodies, and then went over to his place to jazz it up for CNY. I'm so happy with the result. Bought a new bunch of peonies and plum blossoms for him....very pretty!

Kong Kong is very witty for his age, even though he has the onset of Alzheimer's. Rita Ee had new glasses made for him at Nan Fang today. And being the ever-so-thrifty gentleman that he is, he said "My old glasses are good what, no need to waste money!" Rita Ee said he should get them, to look extra handsome for my wedding. And Kong Kong replied,"But I can already see Dawn's boyfriend well with my old glasses what!" Hehe, my dear old Kong Kong! Wish Mama was alive to see me get married. She would love JF too :')

I LOVE CNY as much as Christmas! Love preparing for it.....doing all those funny little traditions and being pantang once a year. It's funny how my Mum is not really into it, but I am. As far as I can remember, for YEARS now I'VE been the one preparing the sticky "nian gao" cake and huat kuay for the Kitchen God. Complete with red dates and dried longans....8 of each. Filling the rice bin, stocking up on sugar, salt, oil, oranges etc. We believe that passing the New Year with these essentials means that you will have ample food for your household for the rest of the year. Yes, yes, thanks to me, everyone in my house will be fat....the dog too!

Blossom wearing her army hat......so fitting since she was an army dog :)

Blossom & the late Beauty...I miss her so much...

SPANX saves the day!

2007-02-01T07:05:00.000+02:00

Had our wedding photos taken yesterday......yes it was a long, tiring 8-hour shoot over 4 locations.

My non-Singaporean friends find it bizarre that people here take wedding photos BEFORE the day itself. Hahah...the vice of vanity.... ;) During Mum & Dad's time, the couple would head to the studio only AFTER church on the wedding day to have their wedding photos taken.

I now fully understand why models get paid so much to just POSE....it's not as easy as it looks! (That, and that they're genetically blessed....mark my words, the day will soon come when model DNA will be for sale, and made-to-measure babies are de riguer. Yes, who wouldn't want their spawn to be a perfect specimen of gorgeousness with lithe limbs and a concave belly? Intellect not included.)

As perfect as models and celebs are in their Size 00, 7 For All Mankind denims, they do have one little red carpet secret which makes them look EVEN MORE perfect than they already are........SPANX!!! And the good news is that we, mere female mortals can own a pair too!!

I must say SPANX saved my day yesterday.....what with my too-tight-dress woes and all. Slip on (or rather huff, puff and pull yourself) into pair of Higher Power SPANX, and VOILA, tummy begone! That tell-tale bump from too many macaroons simply vanishes into thin air. The dress now glides on and flutters delicately....oooooohhhh....*collective sigh*

What the makers of SPANX (and everyone else who owns a pair) DON'T TELL U is that U'll FEEL like you've been vaccumed packed! Squashed, squeezed and smoothened out. I kid U not....it's NOT comfortable!!!! Ah well.....it sure beats whale bone..... The cleverest thing about SPANX is that you can easily go wee wee without having to struggle out of it :) Genius.

I enjoyed the photoshoot A LOT MORE than expected! :) I was dreading it because I felt SO UNCOMFORTABLE at Mark's wedding photoshoot when we had a family portrait taken, cos the photographer was saying silly things in Mandarin like...."smile a bit sweeter" (!??!?!?)

But yesterday, JF & I had such a good time, mainly thanks to Robin our photographer. He made us laugh so much....addressing JF as "young man" and me as "girl". Robin also seems to have this instinctive ability to capture the most unusual angles. Apart from the studio, we also shot at The Raffles Hotel (where our wedding banquet will be held), the Botanic Gardens (one of our favourite weekend haunts, especially when there are free concerts - we pack a picnic :) and along a row of beautiful Peranakan houses in Blair Road. Can't wait to see the photos next week!!

I think of all my wedding outfits, I like my Peranakan kebaya best. It's the outfit that I feel most beautiful and comfortable in. (Surprisingly, I like my white wedding gown the least....it's lovely, but not what I wanted it to look like)

Wearing my Peranakan outfit means a lot to me, with all my intan jewellery given to me by female members of my family.......kerosang from Mama, jade and gold bracelet from Mummy's dowry when she got married, intan ring from Koko, necklace from Rita Ee, intan bracelet and earrings from Mummy.

Here are some pics from Leonard's wedding where we were all wearing kebayas.

Mum & Moi

Me, Rachel, Melissa & Melanie

Grandma's Butter and The Mole

2007-01-27T04:04:00.000+02:00

Saturday morning breakfasts, like the one I just had, are a little special for me. It's when I take my time and make myself a leisurely breakfast at home. Best of all, it's my time to savor my yummy scrambled eggs. I really do think, that the best scrambled eggs I've EVER had, are the ones I make.

If you think that scrambled eggs are merely attempted omelette gone wrong, then hurriedly chopped up with a frying slice...well, you HAVEN'T had scrambled eggs then my friend!

Scrambling eggs is an art. The perfect scrambled eggs are smooth, creamy and melt in your mouth. Sprinkle sea salt or little pearls of roe on top and you've got a gourmet dish.

The trick to making perfect scrambled eggs is a very very very low, miniscule fire. Many cooks (especially and UNFORTUNATELY many line cooks in diners, hotels and cafes!) MISTAKENLY think that scrambled eggs are to be cooked hurriedly....resulting in hard yellow blobs that are often...well...chewy! Yeeeeucccch!

Perfect scrambled eggs are softly simmered and lovingly coaxed into thickening with a wooden spoon. Be patient. It may seem like a long time....but the eggs WILL start to thicken. :)

Well, today, I decided to have a slice of buttered wholemeal toast as well.
It's funny, but spreading butter on bread always reminds me of Mama (my Mum's mother). Mama died in 1992....just one day after I sat for my last A-level exam paper. (I'll always remember that). She was the only grandma I ever really knew growing up, because Mama Mary (my Dad's mum), passed away when I was 3 years old.

Even though it's been 14 years since she died, my memories of Mama are still so vivid. The way she would hug me, how she has a special way of taking a breath of you when she kissed you on your cheek.... how she'd eat her curry with black soya sauce (a habit I picked up and something everyone else thinks is strange!). Here's a lovely old photograph of Mama and Kong Kong when they were newlyweds.

Well butter reminds me so much of Mama. Because all those years ago, it was very unfashionable, and thought of as unhealthy, to eat butter. So in our home, we had only margerine. Whereas, in Mama's place, she ALWAYS had butter with her bread (French loaf was her favourite...and mine too). I still remember how it was kept....in this blue butter dish with a cover...and I thought it was so original and special because we didn't use a butter dish at home. Margerine comes in a white plastic tub!!

Now thinking back, I remember eating butter on Roti Francis at Mama's place was such a treat.... and thinking how much yummier it tasted than margerine. I think for the ENTIRE year of school in Primary One, I had jam and margerine sandwiches (brought from home) for recess.

Funny how we have memories we didn't even know we had.

THE MOLE

Got an email from Victric yesterday about his latest short film, The Mole. You can view it here:

http://www.digitalfilmfiesta.com/Video_TheMole.htm

I must say that my jaw dropped when I saw it! It's SO GOOD! Very whimsical, quirky yet sad. Think Tim Burton, Melancholy Oyster Boy, Edward Scissorhands....
It was so good that I called Wee Keong immediately raving about it, screaming that he should watch it right away....hehehhehhe... :)

I so admire people who have the tenacity and vision to make good films. Yeah everyone out there wants to call themselves a short filmmaker. But they can't even write a decent story or hire actors who can actually act. It really takes A LOT of work and effort and planning to make a decent film. So 3 cheers for Vic's new film!

Jesus n Church - AIN'T THE SAME THING!

2007-01-25T18:47:00.000+02:00

This is my friend Hal who was in Singapore last week, en route from Bali to the US.

I've known Hal for...what....17 years now. The first thing I said to him was, "Are U the boy from the Coca-Cola ad??" (Way back then, I had an enormous crush on the Coke boy....U know...the cute kid in the ad that goes.... "I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony....")

Anyways, back to my friend Hal.

Hal is a happy man who lives in a very happy city called San Francisco - also happily married to another happy bloke, Jonathan. They had a beautiful wedding with lots and lots of lovely FLOWERS. SPEAKING OF FLOWERS......... it seems that I can't have ANY IN CHURCH FOR MY WEDDING!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sob sob sob sob!! (Mad Bride Disease strikes again)

And all because of a major dumbass rule which I've NEVER heard of until a few days ago. Apparently, 10 March 2007 falls during the season of LENT. And apparently, the powers that be (or maybe just this church) decree that the church can't be decorated with blooms! When I spoke to the chruch florist she said she'd use just LEAVES!!!

WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF!?!??!!?????!??!? I'M SURE JESUS LOVED FLOWERS! Being the hippy, one with nature kinda dude that he was.

Which just goes to show folks.....JESUS AND CHURCH really aren't ONE. Hey.....the guy was JEWISH to begin with! Ever thought about that? (Am reading this great book now by Kahil Gibran called "Jesus The Son of Man." The book gives really interesting perspectives to Jesus life on earth as a Man....weaknesses, desires, popularity etc...he was human after all. An ordinary Joe who grew into a cult figure....

Anyways, I am SO MAJORLY bummed by this whole lack of flowers for my wedding. Cos anyone who knows me, knows about my love affair with flowers.

I snapped these beauties in Kashmir...phwoarrrrrr...blooming marvelous!

My sweet old Dad (always wanting to make me happy) gallantly offered to sneak into the church just 2 hours before the wedding to stealthily place lots of flowers inside and tie them to the pews. He said it quite seriously and with a straight face!

Awwww Dad....thanks......
Dad n me.....This is my favourite photo EVER of the 2 of us....you can see all the love and hope he has in his eyes... :')

Oh well.....when life gives U lemons.... Hmmmm.... maybe I could persuade the florist to use FRUIT as well. Apples, lemons, limes, oranges, grapes.....it would be pretty interesting to have!

He's the One :)

2007-01-24T11:09:00.000+02:00

This is the man I'm to marry and I love him! I LOVE HIM!

I'm so lucky that JF understands my bouts of craziness and multiple neuroses! We can be so cheesy and geeky at the same time and I love it. (Like liking Bee Gees songs and dancing to Stevie Wonder.....hahahaahhaahah...)

He says the sweetest things like...... "Don't worry Poussin you will look so nice....I'll still marry you even if you wear a blue jean." (yeah right down to the cute way writing/speaking French-English....Franglish!)

So even though I may be going crazy preparing for the wedding....I know the the most important thing of all.... is that we found each other.

Ding dong the DAY is near!

2007-01-24T10:34:00.000+02:00

While in Bhutan in January, JF & I decided to start a blog to write about our frequent travels to far flung places. He came up with the idea to start a Happy List.....listing down something everyday that made us happy.

Frankly, even though almost everyone I know blogs...from my overexcited new mum friends to tweeny cousins.......all this while, I've felt that blogs are a WASTE OF TIME. I mean....does everyone really need to know that you cut your toenails today?? Or that you hate onions?? WTF?!?!

Well amidst the growing madness of my wedding prep, I thought, OK let's give it a shot. Use this space to rant and rave. You see, my dear reader, I have become a victim of MAD BRIDE DISEASE!!!! ARRRRRGGGGH!

This ailment creeps slowly into your system the very second that you choose your wedding gown. Over the months, it sneakily overpowers your enitre being.....and as the day of your wedding draws nearer and nearer, U go crazy! Scream! Weep! Toss in bed and pull out your hair.....all over the minutest of details!

THE FAT BRIDE CONSPIRACY

Went for the 2nd final fitting of my wedding dress and evening gown on Sat. Our photoshoot is on 31 Jan, just one week away.

BTW this is the design I chose.

TO MY UTTER HORROR and DISMAY, the gowns were TIGHT!!!!! During the last fitting that I had in Dec, they were too loose and a lot had to be taken in. But I think they took in TOO MUCH!!

Yeah sure the dresses look fab when U are STANDING UP, but I tried to sit down and I COULDN'T BREATHE!!! GASP! (and turn blue). HOW could this happen??????? These are MADE TO MEASURE gowns, meaning, they are supposed to be tailored to FIT ME NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccckkkkks!

I asked Kenny (my designer) and Suzanne (bridal shop owner) to have them let out, but they said the dresses wouldn't look nice for the photoshoot if they were not VERY FITTING. They said they can let it out AFTER the photoshoot.

GEE GOLLY GOSH! That doesn't make sense at all! Too tight dress = can't breathe = can't smile for the camera = bad photos!

THIS IS WHERE THE FAT BRIDE CONSPIRACY COMES IN

I was wailing to my sis-in-law Wendy about my dress woes and she said "making the dress too tight is a stupid thing all bridal shops do" I was shocked!! She said when she went for her penultimate fitting, she couldn't ZIP up her gown! And this is a girl who is THIN!!! WAS THIS TRUE??? Why do they do this??

Curious, I asked 3 friends who had gotten married in the last 2 years.......and they all said the same thing! Dress was too tight during the fitting! I'm shocked!

I was secretly cursing myself for choosing those designs. Why oh why didn't I stick with the more forgiving empire line Marchessa gown which I chose originally???? If it was good enough for the Golden Globes it's good enough for me. Why oh why???

LESSON TO ALL BRIDES TO BE - CHOOSE A GOWN you will be COMFORTABLE IN! If I had time to re-do my dress I WOULD! But the wedding is just 45 days away!!

I've NEVER wanted to be one of those brides who worries and fusses about looking PERFECT on her wedding day. I really just want to have FUN and enjoy what is to be the happiest day of my life. In ALL the weddings I've EVER attended.....it is SO RARE to see a bride who doesn't look stressed out. Only 2 weddings I've been to had really happy brides.......Zerline on her wedding day....the clever girl chose a very pretty, bought off the rack, short n swingy empire line dress from Forever 21 for her evening wear! And she had so much fun!

The other bride was Hugues sis Adeline, in France. She had so much fun dancing and laughing, and everyone was very relaxed and had a blast!

Back to the wedding dress. I was also quite disappointed that it didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned. I chose this very simple design - a soft French lace with clean, simple lines, no big poufy skirt - BECAUSE I LOVED THE SCALLOP details. But it turns out that the bridal shop couldn't do the scallops!! WAAAAAAAAAAH I was SO disappointed!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! MAD BRIDE DISEASE strikes again!