Love is an icy cold drink on an impossibly hot humid day.

22 Nov 2006 — Much to the dismay of my hubby, I’m at it again. This time I’m off to the Maldives! Yep, I’ve just been offered the position of “Lifestyle consultant/Naturopath” at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. (Oh thank gawd! Finally she’s not talking about food!)

I know what you must be thinking, “Wow you really don’t want to go to the US huh?” Well NOW do you believe me? But let me clarify this very moment though that this has got nothing whatsoever to do with William. I absolutely love him to bits, and if I could have my way, I’d pack him in my suitcase and lug him to Maldives with me. But see, just as he wouldn’t do that for me, at this point, I also don’t wish to follow him to Virginia to be a wife. Really, it’s all business, nothing personal. But won’t I miss him? Of course I will! I’ll probably miss him terribly and yearn for him with every inch of my body, heart and soul. Yet, if in foregoing the comfort of his presence for the moment I might gain independence, then that’s something I’m willing to concur with. For so many years, I have relied so heavily on him physically, mentally, emotionally and monetarily that slowly by slowly, I’ve felt the loss of self-reliance. I also have the stinking sinking feeling that this will only degenerate further if I was to follow him to the States at this point.

Having just turned 30, on the verge of a wedding, and before having kids, if for no one else but myself, I need to prove that I can survive on my own, and more importantly, that I can be my own person. Someone quite distinct from William’s girlfriend, then fiancee, and finally, wife. I need to rediscover the person that I was, all autonomous and free, before I became someone’s partner. That had been my intention when I first went to Hua Hin earlier this year. I guess going there taught me I’m courageous enough to take the first step. Now I have to follow through with the mission to reclaim my identity and self-worth. This is unfinished business.
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21 Nov 2006 — It’s been a while since Pipi and I officially did a piece for “Makan Round the World”, doesn’t mean we’ve stopped eating, yah right, me? Never! Come to think of it, we’ve been travelling quite a bit these last few months, so our tastebuds have actually been adventuring on homegrounds, just that a lot of these places didn’t afford me the luxury to blog about the experiences, ok ok, or I was just plain lazy alright?! So anyway we’re back doing our thing, and hwah hwah hwah, not to scare you but this time, we’re going l’alimentation des française! For the occasion, we’ve picked what has got to be Sydney’s temple for French cuisine — Marque. So if you’ve been following my blogs, you might be quite familiar with what might be thought of as the local restaurant Oscars? Well Marque has not only been awarded 3 Hats for the past few years, SMH (Sydney Morning Herald) has also named it “Restaurant of the Year 2006″ and crowned Mark Best, its owner and head chef, as “Chef of the Year 2006″. With such a long list of accolades, it’s no wonder the restaurant was completely booked out when we first called. No matter, we settled on another day.

Of course our choice of restaurant today was no random pick. Being the very free housewife that I am these days, I have extensively scrutinised most of the other hat-winning restaurants before picking Marque, so it came as quite a surprise when I first noticed its address. Unlike most of the other three-hatters that boasted harbourside locations and views, it was situated in a quiet little part of Surry Hills.

True enough when we got there, there was none of the pizzazz that I associate with restaurants of its calibre. In fact, from the facade, it seemed very low-key and understated. And don’t talk about harbouside views, there was in fact, no view whatsoever! You can see from the picture that all the windows were shaded, oh well, I guess to ward off sights of nosey passerbys peering in from the drab-dreary sidewalk.
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20 November 2006 — You know Christmas’ round the corner when chocs like these start hitting the shelves. Aren’t they adorable! Almost too sweet to eat. Almost.
The problem with these figurine type chocolates though is that you get so attached, it’s almost personal, not to mention scary(!!) when time comes to chomp down on them. I mean, do you decapitate them first, or perhaps amputate an arm? Or a leg? Yikes!

Thank god I wasn’t forced to make such a grotesque decision on this occasion. The manufacturers have so kindly limit the gnome image only to the wrapping not the tasty treat within.

Speaking of chocolate, Thierry Muret, Master Chocolatier at Godiva, has these tips on how to savour fine chocolate:

“When tasting a piece of chocolate, let it melt against the roof of your mouth to feel the texture. A fine chocolate is velvety smooth without the graininess that comes from incomplete refinement. Roll the chocolate over your tongue, allowing the flavors to permeate your mouth. The initial taste should be a nutty, roasted chocolate flavor, followed by sweetness and other flavor components. Lastly, fine chocolates tend to have a longer “finish” or pleasant aftertaste that lingers on the palate.”

Yums…

17 Nov 2006 — If you are like me, you would typically go through several “junkfood phases” throughout your lifetime. There was the Milo phase, the konyaku jelly phase, the Famous Amos, the Khong Guan wafer biscuits, Krispy Kreme donuts, pandan cake, Pods, Red Rock Deli chips, durian cream puff at Joo Chiat, Gelatissimo ice-cream, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture. Not all junkfood is created equal of course, some are more evil than others, which is why I’m more than relieved to say that this latest junk fad that I’m going through has actually taken a good turning.

You might have heard of it. Afterall how many of us Chinese did not grow up having to drink one sort of herbal tonic soup or another, especially if at least one of your parents is Cantonese. So what am I talking about? 枸杞! Yep, adorned in some fancy packaging and going by its new funky name…

…your once very average humble wolfberry is now strutting the uber-hip functional-food catwalk as the “Goji” berry. And with that new image comes its new price, what previously only costs a few dollars a packet is now being sold downunder at AUS$25 for a 450g bag, and looking up some sites in the UK, up to 18 GBP (AUS$44, S$53) for 500g! Whoa! If people in China caught wind of this, they’d be laughing their heads off!
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14 Nov 2006 — In a bid to find new ways to get active (we just went snorkelling 3 days ago), Billie and I did some kayaking today around the Spit Bridge area in Mosman.

This is the third time I’ve kayaked in my life, once when I was a kid in Phuket, once with Bi at East Coast Park in Singapore 8+ years ago, and now here. So you can understand if I’m not all that confident. The old guy and girl that ran the place also played mind games with me. The whole time they were getting our kayaks for us, they kept talking about how the winds were pretty strong today, asking if we were sure we had the strength to brave the waves, blah, blah, blah. Like enuff oredi! And it certainly didn’t help that the kayaks turned out to be a WHOLE lot rockier than I expected. Eeks, what have I got myself into…

And it was only AFTER we were already some distance from the shore that this Ah Bi, who had done this once, admitted, “Yah huh, today the winds are a bit strong.” Grrreat! NOW you tell me. And you can tell when I’m nervous. Yep, kayaking definitely brought out the “best” in me. “Why do you keep running your kayak into mine?! I oredi no strength to control mine still have to worry about you!!” “Why you go so fast?!! No need to wait for me one izzit?!?” “And why are those two still looking at us? They are making me so self-conscious!” “What do you mean I’m paddling wrongly?!? It’s just one paddle wat, still got right way and wrong way one meh?!!” “And if so, why didn’t you tell me earlier, like BEFORE we headed into the water?!?” “Aiyoh cannot even balance still want to take picture?!!” “And I thought you said we won’t get wet, I’m SOOO wet!” “Aiyah will you just stop telling me what to do?!!” “Just leave me alone oredi!” “Not again! Can you just f@#k off?!?” All wasted on William of course. He failed to note the seriousness in my voice and just kept laughing his head off.

In the meantime, to calm myself down, I likened myself to a Survivor contestant, the whole time playing the theme song from the show over and over again in my head. Overall it must have worked, ‘cos miraculously, we made it back to shore at the appointed time. Though at one point, those guys from the kayak hire got so worried they actually sent someone out in a boat to check on us. 什么嘛? Of course we’re okay! Why wouldn’t we be okay?! 简直就是在侮辱我们嘛!

You know what’s more extraordinary though? That somehow in some freak moment of dexterity, I actually managed to take this photo WHILE remaining in control of my kayak! Now THAT’S some accomplishment!

Heh heh and actually having survived that ordeal, in hindsight, it was really fun and exhilarating! And yup, I think we’ll be back for more!

12 Nov 2006 — So a few days ago I celebrated my 30th. The night before I suffered a panic attack. I am REALLY leaving my twenties behind now. Last year when I turned 29, I said I couldn’t wait to turn 30 just to get it over and done with; now I’m not so sure. 29 suddenly seems heeeaps younger than 30. And again, I chided myself for being unemployed, with an uncertain future and not even a kid to show for it.

The next time a potential employer asks me what I think my worst trait is, I know what to answer. It has definitely got to be “impatience”. I am impatient to find out what the future has in store for me. I can’t stand waiting till I get to the US to see what I can do there. I’m going crazy just thinking Virginia’s going to be cold and bleak and boring and I’m going to be stuck at home junking out on chocolate, chips and day-time soaps. I’m jealous that William’s finding so much purpose and fulfillment in his work and will be further building on that while my only viable option there seems to be procreation. I didn’t study so hard and so much just to become a housewife, and have a baby or two just cause I have nothing better to do. And I certainly don’t want to make small talk with his colleagues nor their wives at company functions just to be “nice”!

I want a future and career of my own that I can be proud of. I want to continue with my naturopathic and healing work, to make something of it, to be of service. And at the back of my mind, I know somehow, somewhere, I will get there. The problem’s I want to get there NOW! I’m 30! Time’s running out. Can you blame me?

It was with these fatalistic thoughts that I drifted off to sleep on the night of the 7th…
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12 Nov 2006 — Though its beauty’s not as fleeting as the sakura, its presence is no less dramatic. The jacaranda is in bloom.

1 Nov 2006 – Remember the 4D3N family trip that I mentioned previously? Well we returned from that just last night and I’m glad to report: we survived! And no, we didn’t run into any bushfires. In fact, other than the occasional to-be-expected family tiff and one too many roadkills, it was just lots of great weather, breathtaking scenery, unadulterated fun, fabulous accommodation (even if I do say so myself being the one that picked them) and glorious food and wine! In fact, the one real tragedy was my laoba suffering the runs one night, thus missing out on our 5 course degustation dinner at The Cellar. Sean might argue though it was him having to sleep on the sofa at The Vintage where there were only two very plush comfy king-sized beds. Overall, there were more ups than downs, thrills than spills, and I’m sure everyone would agree it was a thorough success.

Today for the first time, my parents and Sean have gone out on their own, leaving ah-Bi some time to work and me to just chill. So there I was surfing one of my favourite sites www.oprah.com and lo and behold, guess who made it to her show?

None other than that guy who used to try getting people to hug him along Pitt Street Mall right here in Sydney! Whoa! He made it to Oprah??? To her annual “My Favourite Things” episode as well?!! Wow! And to think there we were, Bi and I two years back thinking he came across a bit suspect. My, he sure has come a long way!

I soon found out his name’s Juan Mann (pronounced “one man”) and basically what started as one man’s (no pun intended) attempt to spread some love and cheer by giving out free hugs along one of Sydney’s busiest streets has now turned into a world-wide phenomenon all thanks to the video “Free Hugs Campaign” on, you’ve guessed it, youtube.com.

Since its release on 24 Oct 2006, the clip has already received almost 5 million hits!

The video hit was launched by Sick Puppies (on right), a little known teenage band from Sydney, and featured their song “All the Same”. And at first I thought: Bah! Just another wannabe band trying to ride on someone else’s wave. But as it turns out, there’s a touching tale behind the making of the clip itself.

Shimon Moore, the lead singer for SP who was working odd jobs by day and playing gigs by night had met Juan at Pitt Street when he was doing one of his rounds with a sandwich board advertising a shoe sale. The two became friends, and one day Shimon happened to borrow his dad’s video camera to shoot the hug man at work. Just recently, when Juan was feeling a bit down after his grandmother passed away, Shimon decided to cheer him up by piecing together some of the video footage with music from the band to present to him, and well, the rest as they say is history. While both parties didn’t expect to get anything out of their actions, Sick Puppies is now being wooed by 4 separate US music producers, and Juan, well, THE GUY APPEARED ON OPRAH, didn’t he?!?

So during his interview with Oprah, she asked him, “So do people think you’re crazy?” “All the time,” Juan says. “People tend to be a bit wary of strange men in velvet coats walking around with giant signs.” Geez, to think we were one of them. Shame on us! So a few morals to the story:

1. Be open to receiving love — Yes, don’t be so skeptical. Haven’t you heard? The best things in life are free!
2. Love creates miracles! — What?! Getting on Oprah isn’t a miracle?!?
3. Give and you shall receive — C’mon you can do it! Click on my Google ads oredi!

Oh, and before I forget. Happy Birthday Alvin! Bon voyage and have a wonderful birthday celebration! *wink wink*