Wednesday, December 14, 2005 0 comments Post a Comment i seriously wonder if anyone still reads this blog anymore. besides the preying polar bear. and of course you know i'm the authentic zy. ('seriously' by the first sentence)*smirk* so how are you my imaginary readers! (the random strangers that stumble across must be feeling quite uncertain about carrying on the read) yes yes, i am being random but hey its the exams and i'm blogging! did you expect anything less? its bloody cold here. ('bloody' pronounced brit) you don't know what cold is. i'm serious. its unbelievable. you walk out of your room, everything looks perfectly normal. you let your defences down for ..BAM! the cold hits you. then it shrouds you and eats you up. Walk out of your building and you know you were kicking up a fuss. the wind cuts. the cold omnipresent. cold takes any form. air, knife, tapwater, numbness. here, there and everywhere. (paul!) its amazing how i manage to stay alive and cheery. probably cos i'm distracted. i mean how much time can i spend conjuring up depressive thoughts when i'm busy fighting the cold. (fighting is an understatement. its a shakeout. a raging battle. warcries and all.) shivers, migraines, frozen earlobes, dry lips and hard fingers. not forgetting trying to bend over (gracefully) to pick up that moronic glove that decided to fall out. crawling your fat gloved fingers into that tight padded (long johns) pocket to reach for that goddamned why-can't-you-be-10-times-bigger lip gloss. oh and try unlocking your keypad with gloves. i took 5 minutes. or stuffing your scarf into your pocket to find out later that its gone. it probably fell out halfway while you were trying to ride that creaky wreckage of a bike. just because shanghai decides to be girly for a day and throw a sunshine tantrum, you're severely overwrapped and wet inside. but i really love shanghai. i mean no lies. i hate winter or whatever you call this mudblood of autumn-winter-sometimes summer. actually it isn't that bad too. mind and body united against the common enemy. so its more of love-hate. helps to objectify it too. and hey, its not the coldest yet. we're expecting neg5. but its really different in shanghai (dun mock our coldness, osm) cos we have wind. gales, draughts, gusts, occasional cold currents followed by a much desired rebound in temperature. nightwinds kill. morning moisture gnaws. but i really love shanghai. lalala. my exams are in 2 weeks. i have just been informed that i have 5 papers in 4 days. *gleeful grin* yay! hurray! wooooooo! pop the cork! bring the booze! cram me with papers! overwork me! hurray hurray hurray haha hurrah hurrah hurrah heehee!! *slit eyes* i'm going mental. but nevertheless, i love shanghai. you guys must come over. (gasp. the first normal-looking sentence!) serious. get out from the city and come to THE CITY. i have decided Shanghai, Paris, London, New York and Tokyo will qualify as the 5 most significant cities in the world. Of course my choice is impaired by my lack of knowledge but you know what i mean. but even if you guys do come over, i don't know where to bring you. only by living here can you feel the city beat (dun be lame). there is something stirring beneath. sure there are dodgy alleys and unlit, litter-cluttered corners. but thats what i feel a city should be - a melting pot. beggarchildren scavenging to expats swinging at bars, its that life that refuses to be categorised or named. you can strut across the road or linger near the lamppost, shanghai doesn't even notice you. you wish to be remembered. here you are infinitely minute and thus infintely large. you are the pebble and the river. the loner and the victor. this city breathes and you breathe. you long for nature and farms and anything rural. you wish to go home, where its small, where its simple, where its all predictable and in your grasp. but you need to stay. of course its me talking so take it with a pinch of salt. alright. enough of litdiarrhea. pops a charcoal pill. updates updates! i'll be returning home after my exams. and yes, i won't be telling some people about it. haha. come onnn, let me enjoy depriving you guys. and don't we all love surprises! and if SOMEONE in the clique can't know about it, the entire clique too will have to kept in the dark. and of course some OTHER clique might not need to know about it because of some drastic internal changes. *grudging look* hehe. i'm good. wrapping up myself well. eating well. too well in fact. so i might be slightly swollen when i get back. (operation HL must be carried out. i need people to turkey her up so i don't lose the bet.) i am doing volunteer work for those who don't know. and i have been very attached to one of the kids there. hao hao. and he'll be going back in feb (back to some other province for good) so i'm sorta prepping myself up for the goodbye. but i'm fine cos i got his address. he's real sweet. will tell u guys about it. besides getting info from news and non-info from jj, i haven't heard much about singapore. do update me when i come back anyway. exams exams exams. i'm studying. don't worry. my japanese tutee (is there not such a word tutee?) AKA student scored 87 for his midterm. mwahahhahaa. and he smsed me to thank me. wooha! sigh. there's a singaporean exchange student that i'm pretty close with. returning in early jan. one less volunteerwork and drinking kakee. she's damned cool (of cos by the zy def.) lar. and yes, i do drink. one reason why i am so gonna die when i return to singapore is the lack of dirtcheap booze. its disgusting. 80 cents sing for 660 ml bottle of qingdao (i dun drink lite but ah. u get wat i mean.) and KTV is 5sing per person for 6 hours with ultranew songs (kbox can sit on the bench). i love shanghai! argh. and i don't overdrink la. just ya know dinner drinks yaterdidididi. i love my old testament teacher. he is seriously random. (halfway thru lesson) " Are there heaters in your rooms? i know there aren't heaters in your room. so actually there isn't much reason to come late to class. if you have heaters in your room, maybe its okay to lie in bed a while longer. but there aren't. so you might as well come over and hang around. " " The exams will be on 11th jan. (uproar) hey hey hey! what's up? don't be so excited! is it because you guys don't think much of it? its going to be tough you know? We put it at the very end because its going to be the Ya1 Zhou2 Xi4 (finale)." " (compares to some part about Israel taxation) So well this is sorta like what the teachers here face now. the party issues us a receipt for our salary monthly and its a really long list with many deductions , so the teachers don't get much money. " haha. he's stupid. love it. anyway, there is this super jap buffet here that is to DIE for. free flow sake and beer. free flow uni (sea urchin) . free flow A-grade beef to be barbecued. free flow raw beef. all of top standard. no jap food in singapore , i repeat, NO JAP FOOD in singapore i have eaten comes close to this standard. sighhhhhhhhh anyway, this is a long post. so i have met my quota for the next 3 months. haha. till i am inspired. take care babes. " 12/14/2005 03:46:00 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