Happiness.

what’s playing::Elegy for Dunkirk – Atonement OST::moodflash:: bliss::

In the span of a week (4 days, actually), I dined at Shokudo Food Bazaar three times. If that is not obsessive compulsive, I don’t know what that is. But the food is fairly good. I daresay it’s the magical draw of the saba fish that got us hooked the very first mouthful we took.

I love good food.

I watched Atonement on Sunday, and it’s the best movie I’ve watched since Pan’s Labyrinth. The soundtrack is amazing and emotive. But one particular scene (and song) calls out to me more than most.

This.

The lyrics in whole is from an age old hymn. As follows:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm!

Hymns always make some sense.But somehow, these two particular stanzas seems to be something that resonates within me. It’s as if the two stanzas are the exact words expressing what I feel at this very moment. And when something strikes a chord with you, it’s hard to let go of it.

It’s this two:

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm!

Today was indeed a good day. And I was surprised beyond words. A good meal. A pleasant surprise. An anticipated receiving. A pair of shoes. What more could I ask for?

The ability to please breath properly.

♥
[I love you - Happy 36 months. Who's counting?]

Not so much a sidenote.

what’s playing::Elegy for Dunkirk – Atonement OST::
moodflash:: happy::

Today is a happy occasion and I’m determined to make it a happy day, whatever comes my way.

Happy 36 months baby. I love you.

♥
[kisses]

A Dated Dinner

wjat’s playing:: Songbird – Eva Cassidy::
moodflash:: full::

15 days of Chinese New Year is now long gone. Long gone, I say, because in this age typified by a short attention span, anything more than 3 days is considered eons. But that’s just me talking.

And because I’ve just eaten the best glazed dognuts (locally, sans Krispy Kremes) from J.Co (or something like that), I’ve decided that the pictures from the Chinese New Year dinner should go up. Yes, there is no link actually between dohnuts and a CNY dinner, but I was just looking at the pictures on iPhoto and have decided that it’s too delicious to not share. Talk about being civic minded.

Looking at food makes me happy.

Dinner was at Royal China at Raffles Hotel. I must say, the food was nothing short of good, albeit a tad too salty every now and then. To be honest, after the mini Buddha Jumps Over The Wall, I was already full. So it took quite a bit to stuff the remaining dishes down the throat.

Have had dinner at Shokudo for the past two days, at Raffles City. I like.
♥
[food makes the world go round]

This.

what’s playing::Surprise – Sugababes::
moodflash:: void::

This is getting to be one big mother-fucking mind-fuck.

♥
[bugger]

A sentiment.

what’s playing:: Ikenai Taiyou – Orange Range::
moodflash:: worried::

I am scared.

Petrified of the what-ifs.

And I hate myself for the coward that I am.
♥
[a pounding heart]

Happy Lunar New Year

what’s playing::Heikinritsu Clavia Kyokushuu Dai 2 Kan 16 Ban – Johann Sebastian Bach::
moodflash:: upbeat::

The things I like about Chinese New Year are as follows:
i) Angpows. The fatter the better. And I don’t mean with just $2 notes.
ii) Bakwa. ‘Nuff said. Better still if from Lim Chee Guan. But not so soon this time round.
iii) The excuse to but new clothes.
iv) Not having to go to school/office – select where applicable.

So the traditional reunion dinner isn’t any different this year from the last and the one before that. Same old same old, but it’s the rare occasion (almost yearly, I daresay) where all of us sit at the same round table, and eat. And it strikes me that each year we change a little, and that we all, slowly, left that familiar round table as we grew up. So CNY would be the only time we actually sit together at that table to eat. Come 2009, there would be a new addition of 6 months, in the form of a (hopefully female) baby. And I can’t wait. There are perhaps, just somethings you never get jaded of.

So here’s the chow. Not impressive, but comfortingly familiar.

I recall taking a similar picture of the family exactly a year ago. And each time I won’t be in it.

On a totally random side track.

Did you know that you cannot deposit money into a POSB account if you do not have the person’s bank book or card? I only realised that after spending the good part of half an hour queuing to deposit said money, only to reach the ATM and realise my folly. The horror.

So I am not assured that POSB sucks balls, and that not only does UOB rock, internet banking is the greatest gift to mankind. Now I only wish I could do internet banking to pay my damn school fees.

Going on a separate off tangent. Went to have a personal 二人世界 reunion dinner with chang over the weekend, and ended up at some (initially dodgy looking) steamboat place near Bugis. It’s one of those stores offering steamboat affairs amongst a whole nest of such similar stores. With varying pricing but generally similar pricing, standard (or lack thereoff) of hygiene and service. It was then I came to a realisation that for steamboat affairs, you really cannot afford to arrive later, and wait for spare tables, hoping that diners would do a diner dash, just hurry up eat and go. Because steamboat affairs just do not work that way. So it was kinda drizzling consistently and a whole massive crowd just continued to build up outside the stores, huddling against each other in the wet cold rain – and watching us in the steaming shop eating steamboat. I then vowed that I would never do that for a steamboat affair, no matter how good. I would either make a reservation, or come obscenely early just so I don’t have the queue. Patience is not a virtue all the time – it’s stupidity.

That whole pointless rant aside, the food was quite good. Ate at this place called … something. It was a chinese name, I couldn’t read it. The soup came to a boil rapidly and generally it’s a case of mai hiam beh pai. I would probably come back again, except that I forgot to get the contact number of this place, and I’m not sure how to find it since I’m quite sure it doesn’t have a website.

Of course we ate more than that. But when the food cooked, the hands got dirty. One thing led to another, and I wasn’t about to let my camera stink of crab. A note though, hygiene freaks would probably run from this place. Stomachaches the morning after aside, I should think the food wouldn’t cause severe food poisoning.

I tried mexican food, and I’m still undecided about it. The flavors are somewhat unfamiliar, and while generous helpings of cheese are a definite bonus, I still have not developed a penchant for mexican food. Though I must say, margaritas are fantastic. The sweeter the better. I think I’m missing the point here, but my point still stands – that sweet is good.

I swear, there is just something about a pink drink that entices people.

This is become too much of a rambling and non-directional post.

Last news flash. Daryl has the makings of a game addict. The horror! He’s quite tech savvy – he even knows how to use the iPhone.

♥
[Happy Chinese New Year Y'all]