15 Dec 2005 — Hmm, how time flies! Received a mail from Satoko today who reminded me that I’ve been home for more than 2 weeks now. So I guess it’s time that I update everyone about my whereabouts and what I’ve been up to.

First of all, I’ve actually branded this first portion of my trip back as my “tour of duty”, i.e. duty to family. Probably ‘cos I live in Sydney, I do somehow feel guilty about not spending enough time with my family, so it is my intention to do so as much as I can whenever I’m home, especially this period before William joins me. So in addition to having lots of meals with my parents, going grocery-shopping with them and basically just trying to spend more time at home, I’ve also made a conscious effort to spend time with my grandparents. Part of this includes accompanying them on a weekly bus-ride day. They used to regularly do this themselves until my grandfather was advised not to by his doctor due to health circumstances. However as long as someone goes along with them, it’s ok. So knowing how much they’ve missed their weekly excursions, I volunteered to do so. And wow, the moment I mentioned it, you could see my ah-gong and ah-por’s eyes just lit up with glee, making it all worthwhile!

So here we were just yesterday. When I say bus-ride day, I really mean taking buses the whole day. For instance, last week, the itinerary was bus no.157 from Bukit Batok to Toa Payoh, then bus no. 31 from Toa Payoh to Tampines, then 969 from Tampines to Woodlands, and finally as a concession, the MRT from Woodlands back to Bukit Batok. Yesterday, it was bus no.188 from Bukit Batok to Harbourfront, then bus 80 from Harbourfront to Sengkang, then 87 to Bedok, and finally 66 back to Bukit Batok. Wah liao, by the time we got back, I was really quite seh oredi… but wat to do, the old folks really enjoy themselves. My ah-gong doesn’t like the MRT because he says you can’t see much on the train. His favourite is the air-conditioned double-decker buses, where like a kid, he’ll definitely grab the seats in the first row on the upper deck. And my ah-por, she’s like a historian cum tourguide, rattling away about all the changes that have been made to the various locations as we pass them on the bus. At our pit-stops, we’ll have lunch or tea and a snack or pay a visit to the “$2 shops” — on the whole, quite a leisurely way to spend the afternoon.

Closer to the homefront, just last Sunday, I finally got to experience prawn-fishing for the first time. But more of that in a bit. The day started with a trip with both my parents and grandparents to the Zhun Ti Gong Temple. This was located in the Keong Saik area, where for those unfamiliar with Singapore, there still exists the old shophouses. However these have of course been restored and renovated and are now typically rented by modern small businesses like advertising firms, design houses, etc.

Anyway, we were at the temple because the year of the rooster was coming to an end, and so we had to give thanks as well as pray for an auspicious new year.

The women in action for the family

My dad insisted I pose next to this spiral staircase which he says is fast-becoming extinct in Singapore.

After the temple visit, we had lunch at the nearby Maxwell Market. From there, my mum accompanied my grandparents home, while my laoba and I went to Marina South to meet Sean for some prawn-fishing action. So for some months now, I’ve been hearing about this new “sport” that my brother has picked up, and was thrilled when he invited us to join him. For those who have the notion that we’re fishing the prawns in the wild, erm, sorry to disappoint, but we’re actually catching them from a farm. Yes, these prawns are specially bred in a pool to be caught. I know I know, it sounds pretty lame, but as it turns out, it’s still pretty challenging, and there are certain skills involved! (being very defensive for my brother) The rules are: with a rod, you’re allowed to catch as many as you can within the time you’ve paid for. Today, we paid $36 for four hours.

…and now the men in action for the family. See, everyone has a role to play.

Yay, our first catch for the day. I apologise if you’re from the SPCA and find these images disturbing. Unfortunately, animals were harmed in the making of this blog, including these bloody scary cockles that were used as bait… eeks!

My dad literally getting down to serious business…

Me!

At the end of the four hours, Sean had caught a total of 27 ‘live’ prawns! 26 with the rod, and 1 by hand (haha, he cheated).

And now, we pass the baton to mum.

So here we are, back at home in the kitchen, all prepared for the next leg of the relay — cooking the prawns. In what style? To retain the natural sweet juices of the live prawns, it’s got to be ‘Drunken Prawns’ of course!

For intoxicating the prawns, my mum recommends the Pagoda Brand Huatiao Cooking Wine. She would like to highlight that she only uses the aged “10 year old” one! A woman of fine taste indeed.

Inevitably, the prawns met the wok, sealing their fates. Oh well, at least they went out with a bang…

While waiting for the prawns to cook, Milou busied himself by drinking from the tap.

And finally, the end-product! Wowee! The prawns were so fresh and sweet!

My mum also prepared a stew of chicken, mushrooms, sweet potatoes and carrots. Also very yummy, especially the sweet potatoes!

So apart from these family events, I’ve also busied myself with:

- finally meeting up with Peiling for the famous bak-chor-mee: and indeed, it lives up to its reputation! Since it is the first time I have ever eaten this dish, I don’t actually have anything to compare it to, but believe me, it is very very delicious! And this is coming from someone who doesn’t even like pork!

- watching lots and lots of local TCS drama + Taiwanese entertainment programs: always a must!

- attending Adeline’s talk “Producing the Modern Oriental: The ‘New Asia’” at NUS — wah liao, been 7 years since I’ve been there, cannot oredi lah, now so old, the knees cannot take those steps anymore man… but the food at the Arts canteen is still as good and cheap as before! As for the talk, it was part of the 11th Biennial Symposium on the Literatures and Cultures of the Asia-Pacific Region (what a mouthful!) held at the Guildhouse, all the presenters and attendees were of course some big shot or other of the literati circles, and the atmosphere of the event was all rather pretentious and high-brow. But must say that Adeline did an excellent job, not just in presenting her paper but also tackling all the tricky questions thrown at her.

- meeting up with Weiling: wah that woman very productive ah! Only back in Singapore for a week and she’s oredi secured herself a job, as well as found a place to rent. Right behind Orchard somemore, will be sure to visit!

- meeting up with Wendy, Desmond and baby Giselle, just doing some family stuff like having lunch at the foodcourt, then grocery shopping, then back to their place for some R&R.

- when William was in town for 2 days: we also met up with Jeff & Serene, our usual. Had zi-cha at Tiong Bahru, teh masala and teh halia at Little India, then back to their place to peek at their newly-painted room: Orange’s the colour!

- and last but not least: I’ve been visiting a million and one bridal studios!!! No lah, actually only about 10, but that’s what it feels like… aiyoh, I’m so bored oredi, and comparing all the different packages is giving me a major headache! Who says wedding preparations are fun anyway? It’s damn stressful man! And we’ve not even started to look at venues… hey Billie, how about just eloping?

So well, that’s about it folks! For those in Singapore who are expecting calls from me, I do apologise. I will definitely get round to it soon! Take care all!

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 15th, 2005 at 2:28 pm and is filed under General Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.