<A Stepford Girl>

Monday, October 15, 2007
Re-start

Time flies, I've been back for more than 6 months. And this blog has been in a deep sleep since March. Time to wake up, baby...

It's been raining all day. Guess I like to write when it's raining. The greater the intensity, the more I feel like writing. Maybe it's the sound of rain splattering on windows, maybe it's the dark, ominous feel when rain clouds block the sky... =)

Just came back from Taiwan. It's been raining non-stop there as well, thanks to Typhoon Krosa. The rain's definitely not as heavy but the wind is strong. My umbrella's almost gone... It's the most slack, relaxing trip I've ever had. I like it. I like my trip companions. They're easy going and non-threatening.

Thanks to the superb trip, I expereinced the worst mood crash ever when I returned to work. Too much work, too much competition, totally unecessary. This translated to severe shoulder cramps, eye fatigue, malaise, facial and dental pain (thanks to a collection of greenish mucous in my sinus, I think) lasting from Friday to Sunday.

I think my eyesight is deteriorating. Maybe it's stress (working too much on the computer), maybe it's psychological. Anyway, I bought an eye supplement containing Bilberry, Eyebright, Lutein, Vitamin A, Beta-Carotene, citrus flavanoids, blah blah... Hope to give my eyes more tender loving care.

The rain's stopping, my blog's ending.

Looking forward to the next rainy day... =)

1:29 AM
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Friday, March 30, 2007
Last week in Houston

Oh well, I'm finally back from New York... Actually, it's been a week already and it has been a really crazy week. Lotsa cleaning and packing to do since I'll be leaving TOMORROW!!! I hate moving. It's so stressful.

What I enjoyed most in New York were the musicals and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Les Miserables was absolutely amazing. A tragic and beautiful story but one filled with hope, grace and mercy. The songs were great, sometimes funny and the sets were pretty interesting too. Would definitely watch it again if I have the chance. Phantom of the Opera is another amazing show although the element of surprise is not there since I already watched the movie. Again, I must say, the sets and songs were beautiful. Definitely worth watching again.

The Tiffany collection of stained glass art at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts was simply mesmerizing. Words or print alone cannot describe the splendor or beauty of it. You have to see it in real life! And I always thought Tiffany was just an overpriced brand catering to people with money to burn. He was a guy who actually had talent for stained glass! Whatever happened along the way, I don't know... At least now I have a little bit more appreciation and respect for Tiffany, the artist.

The subways in New York were real convenient but real dirty and stinky. You kinda get used to the stench after some time. They're pretty old and rickety too. Was it worth going up to the Empire State building? Well, the view was nice but it's not worth the price or waiting time. C'mon! I had to queue to get down as well! Argh! Was Times Square interesting? Well, if you like lotsa neon lights and bill boards. I'm neutral. I like the New York Public Library though. It was really grand and the architecture beautiful. Makes you feel like a 19th century scholar...

I like New Haven, there's a cafe at every corner and there's no lack of museums too. Yale was very beautiful. Looks so regal when surrounded by snow.

Bottom line, New York is great for musicals and museums. New Haven is a nice place to live.

10:00 AM
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Friday, March 16, 2007
Of Fate and Fortune

What a dampening start to my day! First, I woke up at 430am and found out that my flight to New York got cancelled due to an ice storm warning. Then, I was put on hold for 1 hr 20min before I got to speak with a rep from JetBlue. After arranging to depart on Monday morning and cancelling my accomodation for the night, I realised that the day wasn't as bad as I envisioned. Instead, it would get better throughout the day. I really really thank God for the following:

1) I don't have to brave the biting cold in New York or walk around in cold, soggy shoes.

2) There is breakfast today at the office. It was an amazing spread of pastry, dark chocolate truffles, casseroles, fruits and banana nut muffins. Yummy!

3) I bought tickets for Les Miserables for next Friday instead of today. If not, I would have to kiss my $75 goodbye.

4) I only need to cancel one night of accomodation.

5) I get to see Scottish festival concert at Toyota Center tonight.

6) There is St. Patrick's Day parade at downtown tomorrow. It will be warm and sunny, not cold and wet!

7) Miller Outdoor theatre opens tomorrow night with an Irish dance performance. It's FOC!

8) I will have more time in New York since I won't be visiting Shenandoah National Park as proposed in the original itinerary. Oh well, maybe next time...

Yeh! Nice turn of events! Isn't it great?

9:05 AM
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Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Trashing bulls and kicking horses

Well, that's what you get to see at the Rodeo, bulls trashing and horses kicking some serious butt! I'm not sure what the criteria for judging is but it seems that as long as you can stay on the trashing bull/horse for more than 8 seconds and still do so with finesse and grace, you'll score very well with the judges. Some contestants got thrown off in less than 2 seconds so it's pretty serious stuff... Of course, there are other less violent contests, like chuck wagon racing, teamwork lasso and calf wrestling, just to name a few. In calf wrestling, the contestant simply jumps off his horse and subdues a calf by bringing it to the ground and tying up all four legs. And it's supposed to be done in less than 10 seconds. Amazing... It's a pity I'm sitting so far away from the field.

All in all, the Rodeo is an amazing event. It started with a prayer, followed by the national anthem and then there was the spectecular fireworks! Yes, fireworks in an enclosed stadium! I've never been so close to fireworks before and it was real pretty =) Liked that a lot!

However, I can't say I liked the Sheryl Crow concert which follows the Rodeo. The music was so blasting loud, it made me sick. Didn't really enjoy her songs too. Guess I should have gone for a concert with a more country feel. In any case, ear plugs are a must for any future concerts I go to.

11:57 PM
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Monday, March 05, 2007
Houston Rodeo Carnival 2007

We went to the Rodeo Carnival on Saturday and it was great fun! The rides were amazing and I'm just glad we bought the $50 coupon booklet. Well, it was the first time I've ever taken any rides that flip 360 degrees and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be... The trick is not to resist being turned upside down, just fall in the direction you're being thrown at =) That certainly requires a good degree of faith in the harness that's holding you to the seat. Oh well, what the heck, I survived anyway. Altogether, I think we took about 6-7 rides. And there wasn't any queue since we got there early, like around 10am.

Yup, this is one of the rides which I took. Kinda like a crazy windmill...

And there were lotsa animals to see as well. Horses and premium cattle aside, it was like a minature zoo where you can get up close and personal with the animals.

My favourite pic: Me and Mr. Llama =) I think he looks real cute!

The stack of cheese fries we had was soggy and absolutely bad. The funnel cakes were good though. Freshly deep fried, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and sprinkled with a generous dose of icing sugar... Other killer junk food which we did not try include deep fried snickers, deep fried oreo cookies, deep fried cheesecake, deep fried coke popsicles and deep fried whatever-you can-think-of.

5:32 PM
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Monday, February 19, 2007
I love my kitchen!

I love my kitchen and I love cooking!

Remember my confusion between puff pastry and phyllo sheets? Well, after I sorted them out and got out of my depressive state, I bought the phyllo sheets and continued where I left off. And I must say that my baked asparagus in phyllo sheets tasted pretty good! Got to work on the presentation though... NL baked a couple of HUGE spinach-cheese pies with the phyllo sheets and it was great too!

I also made a sweet treat with the leftover puff pastry and I'm pretty happy with the results! The filling was just made up of semi-sweet chocolate chips, walnut pieces and toasted coconut. Really, can't go wrong with these ingredients...

There's this southern food called grits which I got from the supermarket. It's kinda like oatmeal type of stuff that people eat for breakfast. Well, I cooked it with cheese and it tasted absolutely disgusting!!! Yuck! Then I saw a recipe on Food Network and decided to give it a try. Basically, instead of cooking it like porridge, I baked it with cheese and eggs. My goodness! What a DIFFERENCE an egg or two makes to the dish! I went from hating grits to loving it =)

Finally, I tried making meringues the traditional way. Yes, whipping egg whites manually with an egg whisk instead of a food processor. It was hard work! Some people think I'm crazy but it's possible! How do you think people in the pre-food processor times made meringues? Anyway. it was really really satisfying seeing my egg whites go from liquid to a smooth, airy foam! The meringue cookies turned out pretty well except it was a tad too sweet for my liking. I'll have to half the sugar next time...

6:03 PM
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Sunday, February 18, 2007
Happy Chinese New Year!

Hmmm... Didn't realize that it's been so many days since I last blogged.

So, it's New Year's Eve yesterday and we had steamboat at a friend's place. Yup, it's the Singaporean gang again =) Let's see. Do I miss the festive mood, food or visitations to relatives? Well, not quite. We didn't have pineapple tarts, prawn crackers, BBQ pork, mandarin oranges or any nuts/dried fruits/pickled fruits platter. But it's ok! At least I'm having a lot less calories! It's nice and quiet here.

The steamboat was... well, how should I put it? I'd rather they just ordered a few pizzas. There was too much food. Too many varieties of fish cake and fake crab meat to be exact. Was it worth the money and time? Certainly not. Does it taste good? Well, MSG good! Can you cook steamboat with a rice cooker? Maybe not such a good idea. But it certainly was nice to have some canned abalone, shrimp crackers and chocolate love letters! Geeze, and I should know better than to cross paths with Miss Martha Steward, the most wonderful domestic goddess, when it comes to preparing food in the kitchen. Just like my mother.

Bad food is fine in the company of great friends, that is, until they decide to play a board game for hours and hours on end after dinner. I just want to go home and sleep, really. But the game is not ending because the dice throw is just not in our favour. And I can't just leave cos we carpooled here. So what time did I reach home? 2:45am. Geeze! What the ****!

Don't get me wrong. I like the game, really. It was great fun but tiredness combined with dry contacts can really foul up my mood. So much for steamboat.

8:14 PM
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