Kimchi Tofu with Dumpling Noodle Soup

It has been rainy all day

Something nice & really warm was in order

The ceramic bowls I bought today came at the right time.

Noodles served piping hot in a beautifully made bowl.

Aesthetics my dear,

does make a difference

Forbidden Colours - Ryuchi Sakamoto

Hauntingly beautiful

I desire to play this

Hej!

I visited my Danish friends a few years ago. But never got down to completing the photo album until today. Recycled some pamphlets from Crabtree & Evelyn and it all came together quite nicely

Can't wait to parcel it soon

Flowers at Claire's

Table flowers

Claire invited me to her place for Vietnamese Bánh cuốn 

She had the nicest table flowers arranged

Don't you think?

Hands were too busy wrapping and eating 

that I could't get a picture of the food

But it was so so good.

Le Chef d'Orchestre

'It's been a thrilling journey - I have had to really learn that an orchestra is an entity - it's a creature.I have been calling it the dragon and the conductor is the dragon tamer. And you just have to...ride and don't let go and you will be fine.'

-Tori Amos

Jason Lai from here

We shall all be in for a real treat.

The dragon tamer is here.

Oyster Pasta

Found that John West makes canned oysters.

What a novelty

Makes a lovely pasta dish with 

Sundried tomatoes,

Black Olives,

Pesto,

Brocolli

I ♥ Fri night dinners

一天到晚游泳的鱼

The fish that swims all day

I cannot tell you how nostalgic this is.

I wanna be a fish that swims all day!

Carefree as the whistling tune

*Whistling*

Book Spree

BooksActually

Supporting the bookstore that once supported me.

That once when I was 

A little lost

and a little hopeful.

Puzzle

There are different ways to solve a puzzle

But whichever way you chose

Once solved, the fun/ struggle ends

Perhaps that is the reason 

The puzzle of life continues to enchant us

Never let me go

One of the first books he gave me was an Ishiguro's.

Perhaps it was because of this that I first got drawn to the book.

Or perhaps it was the title itself

And knowing it was Ishiguro's drew me closer still

I can't quite describe the book.

I tried, but I'll just say I'll never do it justice.

Ishiguro is a sort of genius - the really rare kind. 

'I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it's just too much, The current's too strong. They've got to let go, drift apart. That's how it is with us.'

- Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go

Bookshop Music

When I was working in the bookshop a couple years ago, the only peeve I had was how the music kept replaying over and over. Perhaps the only few songs that gave respite was this one. I call it the horse song. The starting sounded like horses cantering in a clap-pity-clap rhythm

The Radio Dept - Strange Things Will Happen

Hearing it again transports me back to the smell of musty bookshelves, hours sitting quietly making cahiers, throwing rubberbands at Cake to fight his imaginery enemy, discovering Rilke in the well of the staircase,  nights of deep uncertainty as I walk along the river.

Those days.

Seem so far away.

Real Food

Real Food

One of my favourite places to eat,
the regular staff know me from my many visits

Lovingly made food that is rare to find these days
Refreshing juices and drinks
Quiet ambience at the Killiney branch

Love.

The Starry Night - Van Gogh

'For my part, I know nothing with any certainty,

but the sight of the stars makes me dream'

- Vincent Van Gogh

View from his sanitarium window

Star Gazing

There was a talk today on stargazing at the National Library near my home. I have been really interested for a long time and today confirmed why I had.

There is so much beauty and wisdom in the skies.

Today I learnt about Arcturus, Spica and Saturn. They live in some sort of a right angled relationship.

Face east and look up.
Those 3 bright spots - they might be it.

Meantime, check out this amazing freeware - Stellarium

Burger Staurday

Fresh burger

We discussed at length what to cook for lunch.

And finally settled on good ol' burger.

I cycled to Bishan, hop on the Circle Line.

Got off at Botanical Gardens.

Loaded my backpack with 

4 burger buns from Simply bread

300g of fresh minced beef

1 pack of tomatoes

1 pack of spinach

2 bottles of Bundaberg Root Beers

Although Jerome's recipe has his own individual spin, it's close enough to this.

Now, Saturdays are good for experiments too.

La vie en Rose

I bought this and I had wanted to gift it.

But he said, he hardly write anything down these days.

*

'To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you - the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important that all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is for her that I've killed the caterpillars (except the two or three we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasred, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose'

- he quoted

*

Oh hello

Stitchwork on felt

I used mint green strings on greyish blue felt

Hello!

Try

'I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.'

- Roger Ebert

Tokantsu Sunday

Its's Sunday again.

The beautiful day of food experiments.

Lovely fresh pink porkloin was at the supermarket

That can only mean - Tokantsu!

I used the recipe from here

Sauce recipe was a genius

Juicy goodness.

Tying the knot

A simple design for my dear and simple friend.

Invites for the wedding -  home reception version

Rough draft to bounce off her

What will the final look?

Good, fingers crossed