The Never Ending Chinese Saga
17 Nov 2005 — Boy time sure does fly! Didn’t realise it’s already been 5 days since I last blogged. So what have I been up to? Hee hee really girly things like making my own ring cushion, arranging and personalising wedding favours, creating our ROM guestbook and just generally planning everything down to the minutest detail. Might sound really silly and frivolous to some, but I’m actually really enjoying myself. All these activities are allowing me to express my creative side, which usually doesn’t come into play very often. But when it does, it is all-consuming! I can get lost for hours just selecting the right font for the tags or photoshopping a picture till it’s just the right size and colour or mixing and matching ribbons till they fit perfectly, etc, etc. Always thought I’ve got some 小小的天分 for art and design, even wanted to be an interior designer at one point. Hmm, maybe when I’m 50, I’ll go for drawing lessons proper and really learn how to paint. In the meantime, I’ll just nurture that creative spirit through these little ROM projects. Feels good for the soul.
Also, just received pictures of my grandfather’s 88th birthday from Evelyn, my kum-moh (mum’s younger brother’s wife). My mum’s second in line in a family of seven children. And with several of my aunts spread around the globe, it’s not often that all seven of them get to be in Singapore all at once. But for this occasion, they made it! First time in years!
“Grandpa and his 7 kids”
This picture includes all the in-laws and “outlaws”. (Evelyn’s the one in the pink top in the front row. She’s my favourite kum-moh, then again, she’s my only kum-moh! But she’s great, a bit xiao like me, maybe more, and she’s just a few years older, so very kaki-kawan.)
And now with nothing more to report as per current situation, I’m going back to my never ending Chinese saga. I know, it is a bit long drawn now, and at first I thought: “Ah, just forget it! So long ago oredi!” but I started it and it should have a proper ending. Besides, Weiling took such good care of me and I had such a fabulous time with her, I really owe it to her to finish this. So here we go again: (hang in there, not long now…)
15 Sep 2005 - Today was yet another relax, take-it-easy, just lounge around at home day. But in the evening, dunno why 心血来潮 decided to go to the gym with Weiling. Wah-lao! Finally! On this trip, I had actually prepared my knee guards, track shoes and acetyl-l-carnitine, thinking I’d be visiting the gym very regularly and hence losing tons of weight! As it turns out, this folks was the one and only time I did go. Haha.
The experience itself, as with most things in China, was once again interesting and puzzling. Again a paradox of the high-tech and the crap.
From afar, the gym looks pretty regular. But on closer inspection…
…wow, every cardio machine comes equipped with its own telly and remote control. No more trying to focus your gaze on one screen in a myriad of 20, you can watch what you like when you like! Whoa… so advanced hey?
But then, when you get to the changing rooms…
Check out the shower stalls. Don’t even have proper shower heads, just teeny tap-like things that dribble little spurts of lukewarm water (and why are they so high anyway?!?). And see, no proper doors either, just shower curtains that insist on sticking to your body when you’re showering.
And just in case you didn’t notice the grey tiles that paved the floor in the picture above, here’s an encore:
So 60s right?!? Nowadays the only place I can still see these sort of tiles is at my grandfather’s house. And grey?!? Haiyoh, what kind of colour choice is that? And the lockers, so old-fashion! Maybe I’m spoilt, but the changing rooms in Aussie gyms these days look more like hotel ones. This is far from it, so sterile, look like hospital like dat. Don’t you agree the whole set up is perfect for filming B-grade horror movies? Get me outta here!!!
No sooner have we burnt off some much-unwanted calories, Weiling and I were all prime to put them back in. Very sad but how to resist. For dinner tonight, Peking duck duck duck duck duck… (trail off…). In Beijing, of course have to hantam this dish right?!! On our last trip here, Weiling actually brought Bi and I to one of the most famous Peking Duck restaurants around. But after that meal, which was of course quite expensive, we shared the opinion that the duck was way too oily, too much fats and so little meat, had much better ones in Singapore. Of course we didn’t dare to say anything at that point. But now after living in BJ for so many years, Weiling herself has become quite the expert on hunting down good duck, and was quick to agree that the previous restaurant was just hype and little else.
This time she brought us to a quiet unassuming restaurant that served excellent duck at even better prices.
We were joined by Mel.
See, so adorable, the place is fashioned to resemble a train. Well, at least they try.
The duck as promised, plump and juicy, and very tasty. But what was even more exciting, the deep-fried spareribs. So crispy, a bit salty and Oh-so yummy! Ho liao, ho liao. Huh, can’t remember the name of the restaurant now, but if anybody is interested, just let me know, I’ll try to get it from Weiling.
That’s it for today’s blog on China, short and sweet. Thought I’d ease you back into it slowly.