The list of a hundred

In no order of preference, the list of 100 things that i love/would love, pretty predictable, thats just who i am i guess.

1. Long black/flat white/cappuccino/any of your usual ice blended at Holland Village in the late afternoons. Watching the world passes by, feeling as though i do not belong to this world
2. Being alone
3. The word indefinitely
4. Making love in the wee hours of the morning, with the slightest rays of sunlight falling softly on the sheets and the birds singing
5. Listening to music that makes your heart aches for no reason at all
6. Watching movie after movie after movie 12 hours straight
7. Men with sexy British accent
8. Stilettos and strappy heels that do not kill my feet
9. Out of this world, nonsensical banter with an intellectual equal
10. Greasy food and feeling guilty afterwards
11. French, the language
12. U2
13. Crystal Jade's Shanghai soup dumplings
14. Thick bath towels
15. To rollerblade and not throw myself against the gravel ground, or worse, the lamp-post
16. The ocean, an umbrella, me on a deck chair with a book and all of the afternoon
17. Moisturiser on the soles of my feet, i'm not the only one, am i?
18. Getting high on margaritas and not get sick
19. Staring into space, not thinking about anything in particular
20. Ikea furniture
21. Colin Firth (yesterday, today and tomorrow)
22. Donald Duck
23. Walking barefooted
24. Romantic comedies in the likes of When Harry Met Sally, Bridget Jones Diary, Nottinghill and Four Weddings and A Funeral
25. To speak at least 4 languages fluently
26. The airport
27. Jane Austen
28. Cheese - Parmesan, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Romano (No milk please!)
29. Singing along with U2, Coldplay and Keane. Correction, screaming along, who cares if i cant sing?
30. Second dates, where you lose the nerves of the first but still tingle with excitement when that someone smiles and looks at you
31. Men's watches
32. Sunsets
33. Air-conditioning
34. To fall ludicrously in love
35. Olive green, sky blue and black
36. Snowmen and snowglobles
37. Shortbread
38. Swings and see-saws
39. Greece, since i was 14
40. Ethnic jewellery, beads, shells and what have you
41. The naked chef
42. World Peace
43. Bridge, Euchre and Mahjong
44. Dance like nobody's watching, you've heard this one huh? Well, i've always been self-conscious, even in gay clubs! Tsk tsk
45. Dogs
46. Foot and body massages
47. Breakfast in bed, no such luck yet, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed
48. Rainbows
49. My family, i feel guilty not putting them on the list
50. And my friends, of course!
51. Autumn
52. Snorkeling in Phuket
53. Parma ham with figs/melon
54. Florida's Natural orange juice with extra pulp
55. To cram as much knowlege and facts into my pea sized brain as possible
56. To own a bookstore/restaurant sometime in the future
57. To believe that La Vita E Bella
58. The stars, the crescent, big cities and skyscrapers
59. Croissants, baguettes, madeleines, French pastries in general
60. Rainy days
61. Fettucine carbonara
62. Every Meiji product ever made
63. Watching aeroplanes taking off and landing
64. Growing my own vegetables
65. Witty people with a sense of humour
66. Cinema Paradiso
67. Lingerie
68. Christmas and everything about it
69. The Little Prince
70. Cycling
71. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
72. The year 1995, cant remember much of it, but i'm sure at that age, i was probably happy
73. Clothes that scream JAMIE! :p
74. Gwyneth Paltrow's wardrobe
75. Sarah McLachlan's voice
76. Giraffes
77. Marlboro Menthol Lights
78. Indian sarees, bangles and nose piercing
79. Sushi
80. Economics (imagine that!?!)
81. Grocery shopping, aisles and aisles of fresh and canned produce makes me happy
82. Ennio Morricone
83. Hugo Boss' Intense
84. Cinnamon
85. To learn to play the piano
86. To do something for my parents, to make them happy, for once
87. Blue mountain coffee
88. Kayaking
89. Not doing the laundry, especially ironing
90. Spontaneity
91. Reading while doing number 2
92. King-sized beds
93. Adrenaline rushes
94. Snuggling in bed on a cold night with that someone (again, no such luck as yet)
95. Eating with my hands
96. Competition, just enough to spur you on types
97. Pride and Prejudice
98. Gummy bears
99. Vanilla
100. Not knowing what tomorrow brings, the mystery of tomorrow makes today worth living
101. Wide open spaces
102. John Donne
103. Eat, Drink and be Merry
104. Henry Mancini's Moonriver, over and over again
105. LBDs
106. Happy endings, at 26, it sounds almost pathetic, but i have, still do, and perhaps always will believe in happily ever after


Its so easy to get carried away, a hundred can easily become two, three and on. One needs to know when to stop. This is the new and improved list, i fucking forgot to save my work last night. Lol. Bonne nuit greedy little me.

A Song

A memory-evoking song

I'll Never Read Trollope Again - Dave's True Story

I've an appetite for fiction
No post-modern work can slake
I refuse to buy a book
Unless it's thicker than a steak
Now Gordon Lish and Barry Hannah
Have their partisans and shills
But I prefer Victoriana
For my literary thrills

And of all the British authors
Who were writing at that time
There's one special British author
I find especially sublime
Now Austen is awesome
And Dickens is a kick
But no one packs a wallop
Quite like Trollope
Yes Trollope is the one I most adore
But my days of reading Trollope are no more

I was sitting in a quaint cafe
With a favorite tome and some cafe au lait
But my luck ran out when you came my way
Now I'll never read Trollope again

You spied the cover as you slithered near
And said "The 1800s--that's my favorite year."
And then you sat right down and now I fear
That I'll never read Trollope again

Armed with Trollope and a cup or two
I could while the day away
Now just a dollop
Makes me think of you
And that's too high a price to pay

I'll read Kafka's tale about that lonely vermin
I'll read every Jonathan Edwards sermon
Hell, I'll read Emmanuel Kant in German
But I'll never read Trollope again

I used to read him with a friend or two
I used to read him by myself
But to read him now only makes me blue
So I've tossed him from my shelf

I'll read Don Quixote five or six times through
I'll read Jackie Collins till my face turns blue
Hell, I'll even read Bukowski too
But I'll never read Trollope again
No I'll never read Trollope again

Food Glorious Food

If you had to choose between good cuisine and good sex, what would it be? Being the gourmand that i am, the answer is evident. "You obviously havent had good sex, ever!?!!" Ad said teasingly. I shall not attempt to dignify the disparaging statement with a response. :p I stumbled upon a food blog today, i spent the last hour looking through the archives, salivating at pictures of muddy mud pies, chicken cordon bleu oozing provolone, mashed potatoes in thick gravy with sausages, curries of all sorts, buttered sweet corn in melted cheese, belgian waffles soaked in honey and a gazillion other scrumptious dishes.

Its amazing how a cup of pipping hot coffee can make a whole lot of difference in the mornings for some, or how simple chow like a cup of instant noodles can cheer one up. I eat when i'm happy, gorge when i'm depressed, binge when i'm bored, in fact, my life revolves so much around food that its a wonder i can think of anything else. LOL. Okay, if i am scaring anyone, i'm really not like that. I'm a dilettante in the realm of cooking, there are but a few dishes i can whipped up with pride. My long bean rice is out of this world although i must admit that i need to work on my curry, and if you havent yet noticed, i do have an issue with modesty. :D

Right, all this talk about food is killing me, i really shouldnt be eating at this hour. Anyway, here's the recipe for long bean rice if anyone is interested. Its really easy to make, try it.


Ingredients (Serves 4, gluttons if i may add)

3 cups of uncooked rice
2 cups of fresh chinese long beans, cut them into about 2.5 inches each
2 cups of dried mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1.5 cups of dried shrimps, soaked
1 can of luncheon meat, cut them into cubes
2 chicken stock cubes/2 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of water
Lots of minced garlic
Fair amount of cooking oil
3 tablespoons of soya sauce
3 tablespoon of teriyaki marinade (optional)
Fresh pepper


Instructions

I am too lazy to write step by step instructions so do not attempt if you are a complete idiot in the kitchen, otherwise, heat oil in large saucepan, saute minced garlic, throw everything else in, including the water you used to soak the mushrooms, simmer for 10 minutes. Dump everything in rice cooker and leave to cook and voila, ready to eat in an instant!





Picture courtesy of YY. :)

Much Ado About Nothing

Nothing much has been happening lately, National day came and went, uneventful. I have been staying home most days, pretty much immersing myself in the sea of books, music and movies. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, if that were true, my brain has probably regressed into that of the size a pea or smaller, if that is possible. Came upon some really dandy tunes while listening to Yahoo LaunchCast Music - Iron and Wine, Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, Kings of Convenience, The Shins, The Trashcan Sinatras, Sondre Lerche, Nada Surf, Jem, Pink Martini and Missy Higgins, enough music to last me for a couple of weeks. :) Picked up some few bucks last weekend selling preschool products at the JL sale at the EXPO for a friend of mine, i sucked as a salesgirl, that much i'm sure. I've always tried to avoid monstrous sales like such as much as i avoid the supermarkets on a Sunday. Crowds are just not my thing, would rather pay more to shop in comfort, not that i can afford to do that often.

Scraped my knees while rollerblading last night, served me right for not wearing knee guards. A nice old man offered me a plaster for the wound, bless his soul. As i was cleaning the wound, it occurred to me that the antiseptic wipes and iodine were bought on two separate occasions by 2 different friends. The iodine was for the time i fell off my bicycle, the wipes for tripping while rollerblading. A klutz is one of the more subtle names i've been called, those not so polite names include - a walking catastrophe and an accident waiting to happen. A friend once asked half seriously, "Jamie, what if you accidentally stab me with a steak knife while devouring our meat?" And he was one of the few whom i havent told about the incident with the London cab, which, by far, is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me. Just the other night, i was reading Sophie's World while sitting on the bowl with a tummyache, as i stood up to pull my shorts up, the book fell into the unflushed bowl, the first instinct was to flush, it didnt help of course. I stood watching Sophie's World in the whirlpool of pee and poo, praying that it wasnt destiny's way of telling me where my life was going. Beyond salvation, i wrapped the book in a bag and threw it down the rubbish chute. Laughed myself to bed that night.

On an entirely different note, some guy i dated last year appeared from the blue, apologising for his behaviour and thanking me for "everything". For someone who claimed to be working for the "SEE-EYE-A", he risked losing his job just to talk to me, he is a laugh and a half. My cousin is in town and bunking with us while she looked for a job, before this, i had no idea it was such a huge contrast, being a Malaysian versus a Singaporean. Crossing the causeway meant a whole world of difference, for once, i am thankful that i am on this side of the bridge.

Ciao for now!