Sunday, July 24, 2005 0 comments Post a Comment Crazy was stranded at a block of flats near his home. He was there to get a haircut. He ignored the sign of the giant ship-of-a-cloud sailing low and above him and quite absentmindedly left his umbrella at home. So the rain fell. He grumbled a little to the more-than-sympathetic hairdresser and left the salon anyway. How would you tackle this Crazy? You could almost hear the viewers ask in a cutsey childlike tone as they rest their chins in their palms, with curious looks on their faces. Crazy always has a moment of sensibility. He considered. He could wait out until the rain stopped. He could buy an umbrella from the garlic and onion stalls. He could run to the bus stop, the path would be punctuated with shelters under flats, it won't be that bad. but Crazy was long decided and in fact, more than decided. So Crazy, driven by some mysterious force, determined and doubtless, went over to the garlic and onion store and asked for a plastic bag. He was lucky. The owner was kind. She gave him a big red plastic bag. Crazy put his belongings into his backpack and his backpack into the red bag. He remembered his shoes. He took off his shoes and added it into the red bag. He made a double knot and was satisfied. The rain hit the pavement in a crazy symphony. Crazy walked out into the rain. The first drops were sharp and cold. Then he just got wetter and wetter. the wetter the better. His sole shuffled along the smooth pavement to avoid slips and skipped complacently in a dance-like manner when he reached the rough tar roads. He was soaked from head to toe. Jumping into a puddle ,he felt the grime toss from the bottom of the concave. Treading on grass, he felt mud seep between his toes - cool and soft. He hugged his red bag , hopped and with a burst of energy, ran up the long slope. Home was near. The fabric of his cotton t-shirt stuck to his skin with significant weight and ankles aching a little. Crazy looked out for cars. Mommy and Daddy were coming home from the market and would not be pleased to see him walking barefooted in the rain.He felt he could love the little boy on the other side of the road who too was running in the rain. Crazy smiled to himself more than once. He felt free. And crazy. Crazy remembered playing in the rain when he was young. (or was it another one of his affairs with Imagination?) But he didn't have this big red bag of belongings then. Now he was just soaked from head to toe. ~ I had a haircut today. The way i like it : high sloped and short. Feel a flu coming up. But i'm just asking for it anyway. My flight date and time are more or less confirmed. With my dad, that is. We haven't called up any travel agency yet. 25th August 8 am. I'll keep you guys updated along the way if there are any changes. Everything feels so surreal now. I don't really know what surreal means. I think it means exceptionally close and real. If thats what it means, yea. (edit 270705: lou corrected me. surreal means dreamlike. total opposite of what im trying to mean! so i substitute surreal with er.... REAL? haha) Flying away used to be just a date on a calendar, now its everything : travel insurance, medical kits, winter clothes, air tickets, accomodation, phone cards, passports and goodbyes. And of all times (but could there have been another time?), the few of us MOEs decide to get all bonded and organise outings. Maybe its cos the UK people have an additional month so they don't feel the pressure of saying goodbye. I quite like a few of these MOE people and how i wish i could give them my undivided attention and allow time for NORMAL friendship progressions. But for now, its hard to keep my mind off all the old ghosts. Saying proper farewells. hmm. Some workshop we had mentioned sth about saying goodbyes properly so we wouldn't have any regrets when we leave. I agree. But i really don't know how to. Everyone seems so busy with their lives and everything seems normal besides the fact that i'll be leaving on XXX date. Can there be enough outings? I don't know. I hope i can have a one-one farewell session with everyone in august. Just a simple dinner. I'm going to have a checklist people! *weak smile* Its so draining just to think about saying goodbye. I foresee an avalanche of to-dos in august that pop out from nowhere (i haven't even started on exit permit, visa, air ticket , shopping etc) and i KNOW i'm e sort who can get so caught up in everything and get grumpy and stay home. I have to finish all my Chinese books i bought. Plus Harry Potter (aunt's gift for bro's bday today) and Marvel 1602 (by Neil, my gift for bro) and Tori Amos' Piece by Piece. And Zi Fang (my xue jie) is asking me whether i've prepared my standby blog for china. Hmm. I don't think i will bother to till im settled over there. Bah. But i should update everyone on my life. And i bet all the settling in will overexcite me and i'll forget about people back here. So i better start one. Stay tuned. I miss this blog! >:O Flying away in a month. I get wet palms just thinking of it. I hope all my friends out there can be really understanding for my last month. I know its so like me to say this publicly but i'm just gonna sit my bum in anyway : I know some of you are just dead busy and i know i can be really difficult with my timetable cos i have alot of commitments for now. okok i KNOW i can be really difficult. But the next month is really not a month for me to go begging people to go out and organise group outings and go find out how everyone is coping with their lives. I really really don't want to see myself doing that. So for August, please give me the benefit of the doubt when you are wondering : why isn't he asking me out before he is flying? why aren't we meeting up? I would love to meet everyone but i have to settle alot of stuff - both physical and mental. I'm not being a coldhearted bastard or pretending to be xiao1 sa3, i've never done this before, pardon me if i don't do it right. If it isn't too hard on everyone, the golden clue is ASK ME OUT. I'm just so typical (sighs to ml) to say all these but i thought it'll be right to set the tone right from the start cos u know i can be very zy. ~ Met the combi back in HC on friday for a bball (not REALLY bball. ill call it run-and-laugh ball instead) and yong tau foo-cheese prata session. Sigh. the good ol' days. 7/24/2005 06:35:00 PM

yi A student (and maybe one always) / from Singapore in Shanghai / a hopefully chronic baking OCD / aborted mission Noble entirely / decided to stop believing in change and creation but work on succeeding heritages / food is culture. culture is heritage. / dreams of cooking classes in France where everything is white, light & shadows and old mastery - a typical Western enchantment/ wonders if Singaporean food will ever turn into haute cuisine/ will hump a madeleine more than anything else (for now)/ half-worried and half-proud that solid lava cakes distress him more than alot of things/ baking is my first (practical) skill/ believes that fine food can be found in the dodgiest alley after China/ will one day make his baking compulsion serve Charity / The Yi Cafe (a concept not a name)/ has the most pot-bellied father and a kitchen-prodigal mother (thus!)/ the second son with the less discerning tongue/ an aged interest in literature/ a perpetual weight issue / grams not pounds / measuring out my life with tbsps/ feeds the one with a sweeth tooth/ says, "my heart is stollen" homemade berry tart for the jaundice. SH culinary endeavours 1 : tang yuan in glutinuous rice wine SH culinary endeavours 2 : morbidly obese morning sandwich SH culinary endeavours 3 : herbal chicken soup YOU HEAR : Joni Mitchell - You Turn Me On I'm A Radio oh honey you turn me on i'm a radio i'm a country station i'm a little bit corny i'm a wild flower waiting for your broadcasting tower waiting for you fellow pebbles Archive Archives 10/12/2003 - 10/19/2003 10/19/2003 - 10/26/2003 10/26/2003 - 11/02/2003 11/02/2003 - 11/09/2003 11/09/2003 - 11/16/2003 11/16/2003 - 11/23/2003 11/30/2003 - 12/07/2003 12/07/2003 - 12/14/2003 12/28/2003 - 01/04/2004 01/04/2004 - 01/11/2004 01/11/2004 - 01/18/2004 01/25/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 02/08/2004 02/08/2004 - 02/15/2004 02/15/2004 - 02/22/2004 02/22/2004 - 02/29/2004 02/29/2004 - 03/07/2004 03/07/2004 - 03/14/2004 03/14/2004 - 03/21/2004 03/21/2004 - 03/28/2004 03/28/2004 - 04/04/2004 04/04/2004 - 04/11/2004 04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004 04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004 05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004 05/09/2004 - 05/16/2004 05/16/2004 - 05/23/2004 05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004 05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004 06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004 06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004 06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004 07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004 07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004 07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004 08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004 08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004 08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004 08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004 09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004 09/12/2004 - 09/19/2004 09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004 09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004 10/03/2004 - 10/10/2004 10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004 10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004 10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004 11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004 11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004 12/05/2004 - 12/12/2004 12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004 12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004 12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005 01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005 01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005 01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005 01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005 02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005 02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005 02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005 03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005 03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005 04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005 05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005 06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 09/17/2006 - 09/24/2006 10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006 11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006 12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006 06/03/2007 - 06/10/2007 08/26/2007 - 09/02/2007 11/04/2007 - 11/11/2007 09/07/2008 - 09/14/2008 12/14/2008 - 12/21/2008 12/28/2008 - 01/04/2009 01/04/2009 - 01/11/2009 01/18/2009 - 01/25/2009 01/25/2009 - 02/01/2009 02/01/2009 - 02/08/2009 02/08/2009 - 02/15/2009 02/15/2009 - 02/22/2009 02/22/2009 - 03/01/2009 03/15/2009 - 03/22/2009 & I want these Apron Stains! Madeleine Attempt 3 (with baking powder?!) ML's Stollen SY's Baked Almond and Marzipan (urgh) Peaches ZW's Ricotta Cream Cheese Pudding Citrus Delight 4 Lavas + 4 Purins for e Family replica of JG's FG with port gelee, candied pistachios and dried sour cranberries Upcoming Gastronomic Gorges Haiku by Hatsune Geylang Tze Char Pilgrimage Peranakan Food Liver @ Hong Long Xing