Its only numbers

Usually I get quite emotional on my birthday and would rather lock myself in and have a bloody good cry. Strangely this time, I felt quite unaffected. Maybe L's presence comforts and cheers me. I got tons of well wishes from family and friends on FB and via sms, including a text from mom which read 'Yen, happy birthday to you'. It was a simple and sweet message, and it made me sobbed like a baby on the MRT, with no tissue to blow my nose! Mmph.

We took the day off to relax in town, met mom for dim sum, and also tried to change the size of the diamond ring which L surprised me with the night before. It's not an engagement ring, darlings (not yet lah). We call it a 'birthday ring' - which will complement the diamond earrings he got me last year (which he reminded me I've not worn them since). He's such a sweetheart and I'm thankful that he has great taste too! In the evening, we whipped up a mean dinner of white wine and tom yum mussels & clams, followed by 'Benjamin Button' on dvd.

I didn't expect much from the film but it turned out to be very touching and sad, esecially how apt that it's about the ageing process and one's life journey towards the end. The main character (played by a very understated Brad pitt) was born old and as he aged, he became younger and younger. The message revolved around age, that we should not judge a person based on his/her age and it's also never too old to do what you want and live life to the fullest. As Queenie in the movie always said: 'You never know what's coming for you...' The film made me cried like mad (I was inconsolable, just like that time I watched 'Madison County') and the next day, I woke up with damn swollen eyes lor.

Making it happen

The last 2 weeks just zoomed by! The whirlwind of joyful activities started with V and P's beach wedding at Bintan on the 4 July weekend. It was a simple but sweet ceremony attended by family and close friends, where her parents performed a song for their march in on the sand. Awwww. V waited 47 years for her true love and she didn't give up. Well done, mia amica! L and I also enjoyed the short getaway together and came back with quite a nice tan (me, not him lol).

After that, I busied myself with putting the final touches to COTW exhibition which opened on Thursday to many positive comments! The framed cat photos looked great and it was worth the time and effort organising it. The stress melted away with every encouraging word from friends and strangers. A lady came up to me at the opening and said: 'Are you the organiser? I must congrat you on such a great exhibition. We enjoyed it a lot.' A few other folks also thanked me for making it happen - which made me feel so proud of myself. *pat pat*

Michele 'il sindaco' (my classmate from Seychelles) was also in town since martedi and we have been painting the town red and pigging out everyday. We sweated over cheap $3 lunches at Maxwell hawker centre, licked our fingers clean at Little India, chomped down on sushi at Sushi Tei, chicken rice at Yet Con and slurped up spicy chilli crabs at No Signboard Seafood in Geylang. M also splurged generously on $380++ cena at The White Rabbit and a $500++ decadent pranzo at Iggy's! It's great that we didn't spend much time at the shopping malls (only 1!), instead I showed him the enclaves of bustling Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street and Boat Quay.

As nature lovers, we also enjoyed an evening stroll in the lush Botanic Gardens where he pointed out the huge Coco de Mer palms, native to Seychelles. He had hand-carried a female coco fruit as a gift - and to illustrate its distinctive shape which resembles a woman's hip. Do you know Coco de Mer palm trees are either male or female in nature and one can't tell untill 20 years later when they mature and bear fruits? The male tree sprouts penis-like long fruits which flower and wither away quickly while the female fruits bear the seeds and can live on forever.

I must say nature is truly amazing. Which is why I have this nagging urge to get back to nature and start volunteering on local farms; to feel the dirt in my hands and sun on my back. How wonderful it'd be to run away and farm for a whole year (I'm convincing L)! Sometimes I feel a tad sick of the rat race and city life. I crave the fresh air, greenery and the sense of freedom. And I keep my secret dream close to my heart. Maybe it's my birthday that's stirring me and setting the stage for another transformation.

Mite happen to any cat

Luckily work eased up a tad for me so I can focus on getting everything ready for "Cats Of The World" exhibition that's opening next week! *Gulp* This year, we have some great shots from the past year contributors as well as many new cat lovers that I've tracked down from Flickr. You'd be amazed at the quality out there! And I'm proud that more sponsors such as Canon and Fancy Feast have come onboard to make it a better show. I'm already thinking of doing a cat flea market (cat & flea, so funny!) in conjunction with the exhibition next year! Hmmmm... Plus the media coverage has been very encouraging and Elle even included me in a story in July issue about 'Inspiring Women Who Make A Difference'.

Talking about cats, Jarvis has been bugged down by a suspected bout of mites - little brown flecks that dot his fur from head to paws, so we finally brought him to the Animal Clinic and the vet confirmed it. Luckily all he needs is a dash of 'Revolution' applied once for the next three months (same goes for the 2 girls since they are probably carriers too). For the past couple of months, he looked listless and had been over-grooming himself. After the visit, he actually looked kinda relieved and went to lao sai in his litter pan after farting in F's car. He's such a puttycat; we love him to bits!

The vet said we should be happy that Jarvis and Ripley are still doing well at their age (around 15 & 17) as most cats are lucky if they make it past their 10th birthday. In terms of human age, they have both surpassed the 100th mark so they are centurion cats! To put his age in perspective, if Jarvis is a human, he's 15 and should be at secondary 3 now!

Father figure

I'm not sure if it's fair but the excitement surrounding Father's Day always pales in comparison to Mom's. Even at home, we don't really celebrate it because dad is not that sentimental and practical him thinks it's another commercial gimmick. So we've learned to accept his school of thought and save on a fancy dinner. He's a traditionalist at heart and is not the expressive sort but that's probably from his upbringing. From what I heard, Grandpa was not the best father figure to his kids so who's to blame? But I know he cares and wants the best for us all. When dad was sick a few days ago, I realised how old and fragile he could be. And that day I happened to bump into him on the MRT on the way home, he was so tired and sleepy after work (helping a friend on a housing project at Boon Lay) but he still offered me his seat.

Anyway Saturday was a sad day as uncle A. Yeo has passed away barely 1 month after finding out he's got leukemia. He was Luc's dad - a respected counsellor, author, pastor and also a father figure to my sis when she had problems. Even when I had anxiety attacks from my last relationship with the pyscho ex, he also took time to counsel me and him separately. My sis was informed that the chemo wasn't working and his body couldn't fight the infections, so uncle A made the decision to pull the plug on the respirator on Father's Day (so poetic and brave; this is coming from a man of faith who has counselled many distressed people and written many books/thesis on death and coping with loss).

We were going to pay our last respects to him in the ICU on Saturday but when we arrived, we were told his blood pressure was dropping drastically and only family was allowed. I couldn't imagine how brave his family must be during his dying moments. We left the hospital and got the call shortly that he has passed away. Peace be with him.

I remember reading that life is full of uncertainties but the only thing certain in life is death. As much as we all fear it, we have to face the inevitable end. It is a sad but also inspiring thought - that we must live each day to the fullest, to be happy, to go after our own goals, and to say 'i love you' to the important people in our lives. Happy Father's Day to all dads.

P.S: Auguri to L who celebrates his onomastico aka saint namesake's day - aka Saint Luigi's day. There must be thousands of Luigi in Napoli who's eating cake and drinking vino today! What did we do? I shaved his head and he went happily to work! :)

Bali's hot maams

Bali has become more developed in the last 7 years since I was there in 2002 after the bombing incident. But I can still remembered it fondly from 1993; the first time I went abroad with my sis, Luc and Jamie (Hard Rock Cafe was all the rage then). Now Kuta and Legian are crazy crowded with shops after shops (all selling the same surf brands and local cheap wares) and ever more polluted with traffic. But the weather's great here - my heat rash's gone and my cough's soothed by the daily cold birra although I should lay off the sweet clove cigarettes.

The narrow roads were jammed bumper to bumper on Friday when we got off the taxi and gobbled down the crab n peas nasi goreng, squid chap chai, mee goreng and fried chicken wings in a sweet butter sauce at a local warung. Then we made a beeline for the extremely crowded beach and caught a magnificent sunset as the red glowing ball dipped below the horizon. I don't remember it so dirty and packed. The bali surf boys are still there trying to pick up lady tourists; some giving us the ernest glance. I kept a nonchalant mask on, to shopkeepers' greetings of 'hello darling'.

Naturally some spoke to me in bahasa Indonesia. I'm used to being mistaken as a local everywhere in Asia (but just recently I was mistaken for a Myanmar native by a cab driver in S'pore; that's a first!) We had soaked in our own private pool all Friday morning since the in-villa brekkie at 10am (for the record, I prefer my eggs overeasy). The damn cocks and hens on the property next door had woken us up early in the wee morning with their relentless cuckookooooo every freakin!%@ 2 minutes. Cannot tahan.

The night before, we flew in late and had supper at Made Warung in Seminyak (great gado gado and tongue-numbing chilli dip in nasi goreng). Anyway it has been bottle after bottle of chilled Bintang beer ever since we arrived. Bintang is great on its own or with food - in or out of the pool (M swore it has 0% alcohol content as she never got high.) We usually grabbed half a dozen bottles and plenty of chips from the minimart. I wish they'd carry Bintang in S'pore soon!

Just to give a quick lowdown on the company - F, M, S and I were college mates 17 years ago when we were 17 (yes, do the maths). The driver asked if we are students - terimah kasih uncle for the compliment - but the operative word is we WERE students before. Still, it's good to know we haven't aged much and can still pass off as youngsters. Heehee. This was out first holiday abroad and we were naturally excited.

On Sat, we booked a driver and car for US$50 and our first destination was Ubud - the cultural heart - an hour's drive away. Bali is a huge island but most people contained themselves in the southern zone spanning Seminyak, Legian, Kuta, Sanur, then making a side trip up north to Ubud in the hills. We had 2 lunch stops - the first was Dirty Duck, a local institution for its bebe bengil; spice-marinated duck steamed and then deepfried to a perfect lightp-as-air crisp. We could eat a few ducks - and more Bintang beer please.

We also shared an octopus salad (passable) and Indonesian platter of stuffed tofu, spring rolls and sate' (not bad). The prices are more affordable than I imagined, the garden setting is lush and green against a backdrop of padi fields and the pavilion dining experience is unique (except after 20mins, my folded legs were numb). We were careful to save some room for the 2nd lunch stop, but first some shopping at the Ubud market to work up an appetito.

The mercato was as I remembered it. Inside we sieved through a mind-boggling labryinth of stalls selling local crafts, silver jewellery, pretty batik dresses, silk scarves, woven bags, intricately mosaiced mirrors etc. We all got souvenirs, losing no time at bargaining. The rule is mark down by at least 60%; if they don't give in, honey just move on (unless you really, really like it)! Anyway most of them sell the same things, so you're bound to find a willing seller. It sounds cruel but they really mark up by a lot lor.

Happy and thirsty, we proceeded to nearby Naughty Nuri's for their acclaimed spare ribs and cocktails. It was indeed a roadside shack as described in the reviews and the menu's scribbled on the wall for all to see. We ordered chips and ribs, with 3 whisky sour and 1 margarita. The waitress promptly grilled the ribs by our table after slathering them with a thick bbq sauce. I wasn't sure if the smoky flavour came from the cars or the grill, but hell they were superb! Very meaty and finger-lickin' good! Also damn cheap at 65,000rp so we decided to ta-bao another serving. The only gripe we had was the overpriced cocktails at 100,000rp (S$15) EACH! I double-checked with the waitress if there had been a mistake with the zero's, but nope the bill states 400,000rp for the 4 drinks! We felt ripped off - should have stuck to Bintang beer!

Permesso please

L got his work permit today and immediately passed all the numbers he can find on it to my mamma (for 4D what else?) whom he has affectionately nicknamed 'Matta' (italian for 'mad') for her boundless energia and chatter. I guess I've inherited some of that unstoppable madness.

Yesterday L said he saw the Singapore President whom came to the barbar shop next door to the italian ristorante. It was no mistake as there was polizia outside. Being the 'relationship manager' written on his namecard, he wanted to personally deliver an espresso and tiramisu to thank him for his work permit but was worried he'd be shot down. Imagine the headlines: "Espresso Attempt Thwarted - A Close Shave For President at Barber". Hahahaha.

L's current obsession is Phua Chu Kang after I've pointed Singapore's favourite ah beng on the MRT's courtesy campaign poster. We watched re-runs of PCK on You Tube and I must admit it - it was rather funny. L's Singlish has improved tremendously - now his fav phrase is 'Pui Chao Nwua' (meaning 'spit smelly saliva'). I try to explain the context of it being used but it's not an easy one. My granny said it's like to curse your bad luck when something bad happened. She'd know since she's the eloquent queen of hokkien swear words and sayings.

Sew & sweat project

It has been a sticky weekend a casa, with the temperature soaring. Two showers ain't enough. L went to work on both days, already drenched in his sweat before stepping out. I might give him a sweat gland removal operation as his birthday present in October. Last night I brought mamma, nonna and zia to surprise L at his workplace. It was nonna's first pizza at age 78 and she had second helpings, followed by tiramisu and a sip of cappuccino (too much foam, she agreed). She's always so adventurous, all the more now keen to try everything after her stroke.

Anyway I just lazed at home, read papers, watched crap tv, cleaned room and finally got down to my sewing project today. I had bought this 2metre of fuschia pink cotton stretch fabric few months ago and couldn't figure what to do with it. Somehow I was inspired and tried my hand at making a simple tee-shirt dress. Mom, the ex tailor, laughed at me as I cropped the fabric against my t-shirt. She was laughing even louder but this time impressed, when I presented my final work, complete with a black belt for maximum effect! I could wear it to sleep and party. Spurred on, I sew a tank top and strongy octopus-centipede toy for the cats. So clever hor. *Pat pat*

Permesso finalmente

The good news that we have been waiting for finally arrived ~ L got his work permit! A big load of pressure rolled off our chests. He can start work and no longer fret about overstaying. He has been distracting himself the last week by experimenting with tofu - his latest culinary obsession. Inspired by tofu on hot plate, he has fried it up with chilies, prawns, chicken in soy sauce and noodles. Just last Thursday, he brought me lunch and we sat by the riverfront and tucked into the box of fried hor fun with fishcake, chicken and tofu. It wasn't the best I've had but it was a good attempt and full of amore. Bravissimooo.

A shame I haven't had much time to write and upload the pictures for my Hainan voyage and the Vespa 'ride n cook' outing. Last few weeks were madness - busy juggling a couple of new clients and the upcoming Cats photo exhibtion! Sponsors are hard to come by and I'm starting to worry about the framing and printing issues. But at least, we seem to get more contributors who are keen to be part of this community project. Also Elle magazine is featuring me in their July issue, as part of a feature on women professionals who still find time to fight for their causes. In comparison to other animal/ environment activists, my small humble project is just peanuts but I hope it will touch hearts and inspire people to be kinder to animals, especially cats.

Talking about inspiration, I was contacted by a fellow member of the Italian cultural institute who has won a scholarship to study at Perugia. R also heard about my WOOFing farmstays from our teacher AM and was inspired to go on her own! I sent her a few tips and my blog and she said "Maybe you should have your own talkshow one day. It is just incredible that your experiences resonate a lot with me so I’m sure others will find stuff that would help them reflect on their own lives too. All I want to say is grazie grazie grazie. I wish you a beautiful week and a beautiful life with L." Aww, isn't it nice?

My classmate E also finally plucked her guts and will be going on a solo journey to Italia In june! I'm always telling her she works too much and stresses too often. Life is short and she is so young and talented! Imagine she can speak fluent italian and hasn't even stepped into our Motherland! :) How can one love and perfect the lingua without living it? E, kiss the ground and suck it all in! La primavera arriva e la vita e' veramente bella. Complimenti, cara!

A Casa in Cina

L told me a funny incident yesterday - he was getting out of the lift when the doors opened and a monkey was standing outside on the ground floor. He was in shock and nearly shat himself. Last weekend, mom said everyone was amused by the AVA guys who were trying hard to catch some monkeys on the loose at the wet market. I don't know where they come from but they seem to be settling well in the neighbourhood.

Funnily I didn't see any monkeys at Hainan even though they had a widely publicised Monkey island (i kid you not!) All I remember were thousands of balmy coconut trees and rice paddy fields. The heritage trail was an amusing tale and I'd need more time to write about it (sorry was busy with a preview for a French auction house last week!). Firstly L was supposed to go with us but was rejected at the Budget terminal because he didn't know about the 'letter' from the China Embassy to say he can get a visa upon arrival. We were devastated. I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't booked the hotel at Sanya. Anyway we only had ourselves to blame becos we should have done our research and covered all grounds.

Mom and 2nd aunt (dad's side) were equally disappointed as they were hoping to show off L to the folks. Imagine bringing an angmoh to this remote rural village. He'd be a circus freakshow or hometown celebrity. Either way, it'd be hilarious. Anyway I'm cheating on my blog entry for this trip, and have cut and pasted the story I did for a food and travel magazine below - enjoy!

Hello To Hainan
Nothing quite prepared me for Hainan, even though I’ve heard several accounts of our ancestral village from my family. The travel literature on this ‘Hawaii of the Orient’ is also rather cursory and limited on the internet, so I could only envision this lush tropical island south of China (approximately four times as big as Singapore) by piecing imagery from the many Miss Universe beauty pageants that were paraded against the sunny backdrop of Sanya’s beach resorts.

Understandably this glamour factor, together with its all-year warm weather and many fine beaches of Sanya, are the main reasons why most tourists flock to Hainan. Since this was my first time in my ‘homeland’, I roped in my mother and aunt – both veteran visitors to Hainan. We would travel from Haikou in the north and eat our way to Qiong Hai and the nearby ancestral village Hui Li. Sanya would be the icing on the cake.

To begin with, Haikou is a bustling modern cityscape that is no different from Hong Kong with its maddening traffic and grim concrete terrain. I couldn’t mutter a word of Hainanese but thankfully my Mandarin (or ‘guo yu’) came in useful as we bantered with relatives over a feast of pork ribs and papaya soup, stir-fried beef and tofu, braised pork belly, baby sea cucumber with kalian vegetables, eggplant on sizzling hotplate and the ubiquitous Wen Chang chicken. Food is indeed a great ice breaker.

Apparently the inspiration for Singaporean’s Hainanese chicken, this local breed of Wen Chang chicken is a definite winner with its tender, flavourful and lean meat – simply boiled and served with a chilli dip (other frills like the ginger dip, dark soy sauce and rice cooked with chicken stock are Singapore inventions). At other meals, I got to try the other famous local specialties – Jia Ji duck and Dong Shan lamb – but alas, the He Le crabs were not in season.

At the morning markets of Qiong Hai (similar to those found in Vietnam and Laos), farmers showcased a wide variety of fresh produce, live stocks and rice – essential ingredients that contribute to the uncomplicated Hainanese cooking. Even favourite breakfast choices of Bao lor fun (thick succulent noodles in a meat gravy) and piping hot claypot porridge are unfussy and comforting.
Outside the cities, Hainan is simply green and verdant. Closer to the ancestral village of Hui Li, our taxi ride got bumpier as we passed by rice paddy fields, pineapple groves, guava trees heavy with fruit and troops of ducks wet from the rain. Once we got there, a curious crowd of relatives and villagers came to welcome us. Some of them had chosen to remain in the village and make their living as farmers. Their houses were austere by our standards but they should be proud of their abundant vegetable plots, fruit trees, and animal stocks of plump geese, chickens and ducks.

After paying our respects at the ancestors’ altars, I was quite amazed to learn that all the family records were still being updated and we could trace our roots to our predecessor Lu Duo Xun more than 1,000 years ago. He was a politician, historian, writer, diplomat and philanthropist who fled the warring states in mainland China in that era and had come to settle in the village.

We considered it a huge privilege to be able to trace our heritage and are also grateful for the opportunities that we have now, had it not been for my grandfather who left Hainan at the tender age of 14 to seek a better life. As we sat down to a sumptuous home-cooked lunch washed down with plenty of fresh coconut juice, our two different worlds were united by a common lineage.

I wasn’t prepared for what I had experienced so far on the trip but more surprises awaited at Sanya. For starters, one would think we were in Russia, given the prolific Russian street signs and adverts found there. Apparently Sanya has long been a tropical haven for Russians to get away from the cold, and is also an alluring beach destination for waves of well-heeled mainland Chinese tourists decked in shocking Hawaiian prints.

With the boom in tourism and property market, many international hotel chains, from the likes of The Hilton to The Banyan Tree, are claiming their stakes at Sanya and changing the landscape at an alarming rate. But for now, the public infrastructure and urban planning still have a long way to go, compared to the more matured beach destinations in Asia. Sanya has a lot of potential, especially in the region of eco tourism with its rich natural resources of volcanoes, hot springs and ancient forest reserves.

It’s a shame we didn’t have time to explore these natural treasures but we did enjoy our last days in Hainan lapping up the fine powdery beaches, dining on the wonderful live seafood and relaxing to traditional Chinese massages. We also lugged back exquisite dried seafood, Chinese herbs, preserved fruits, coconut candy and coconut-laced coffee so we could share a taste of Hainan with our loved ones at home.

Buona Pasqua

Buona pasqua tutti! Easter doesn't mean anything special to me, but it's an important occasion for L and his catholic famiglia. They'd be stuffing their faces on all kinds of traditional dishes including goat, Easter cakes and sweets. Sfortunatamente L had to work throughout the long weekend, although we are also thankful for the work. The contract has not been discussed but we'll see what's been offered. I told him if the terms are not favourable, just screw it and wait for something better to come along. Another amico met someone from the IR and asked for his CV to be sent. At this rate, his resume is well circulated there! Bene, bene.

Last week's headlines that caught our attention was of couse the terremoto (earthquake) in L'Aquila area. Unknown to many, Italy is an earthquake prone country. In history books, there had been many well documented earthquake incidents, specialmente the big one that shook Umbria decades ago that destroyed many great monuments. Gang wrote to say he felt the tremours twice at Perugia and ran out terrified. I could imagine his fear. In Italy, most of the old towns' palazzi are ancient and might not hold up.

Amid the earthquake concerns, L's mamma, papa and zia called on numerous occasions to chat with him. It has been almost 3 months since he left home and they must miss him a lot. Perhaps we will have some italian visitors this summer lol. I don't think we'd be going back to Italia this year, as much as we'd love to be at Nonna's gran 80th birthday festa in July. For now, we are looking forward to the upcoming vacanza at Hainan in China - la nostra prima volta li! We're already curious about my ancestral village and forsee a group of bemused relatives who'd be surprised to see a chao angmoh eating with chopsticks in their ulu kampong.