To Kyneton we go!

Off, off and AWAY!

I am so psyched about my upcoming weekend, which starts tonight really. Why do I love my weekends so much here in Melbourne? Because of the choices of things to do on the weekend.

This weekend, I'm off to Kyneton as I've been invited by my dear friend Amy to visit her extremely old home in the country. I'm bringing my little fluffball along, some bottles of wine, popcorn for DVDs, and a stomach of guts (a birdie told me Amy has a creepy porcelain headed Victorian era doll sitting by her bed with... get this, it's HEAD tilted on one side).

What is to be planned? Definitely a visit to Pizza Verde for some of my favourite simple fare, trips to the spa where the yummytummy flab comes into play, and of course, chill out sessions with my girl + pooch watching DVDs and running down a dirt lane in the forest mimicking a scene from True Blood.

On Sunday, we shall head to Daylesford for some fresh produce, antique shopping and basically breathing in fresh, unpolluted country air. The last time (and the first!) I was at Daylesford was in 2007 at the dawn of Winter, and I'm wondering if anything has changed since then. I'm hoping nothing has, and that it remains untouched and as idyllic as I remember.

Well, it's one more night to go before this roadie begins. Perhaps I should bring my laptop there so I can update some posts! Had a couple of cooking adventures in The Capri and just haven't gotten around to posting them up.

Until my next post! x

Food and cold weather - ahhh, how could I forget what Melbourne promises?

Gotta say, I'm quite loving the research I'm doing at the moment. Armed with a cool glass of milk and my trust H&K slightly cacak notebook (sorry la, but it's lost the plot after the 18mth), I decided to plow my way thru a list of Aussie suppliers taking part in an exciting Melbourne food festival I'm working on later this year.

Designer cupcakes, organic meats, luxury ice-cream, wine, cheese, chocolate...! the list goes on. There were stories of humble beginnings, of local farmers hit badly by the Black Saturday catastrophe, various recipes and food & wine reviews... Wow, I am bowled over by the offerings this country has! Being away for nearly three years and I had almost forgotten the freshness and high quality of tasty food Oz churns out. No wonder the strict custom laws!

Another thing I'd almost forgotten how bitterly chilly it is. Weather has turned to EXTRA chilly too - a high of 11 degrees and a low of seven tomorrow with showers predicted. Locals would laugh at my freezing tootsies, but I should be forgiven! Three months back and we're fully into winter already! So far, so good. Only had a case of blocked ears...Brrrr! I've started wearing my thermals (thanks V!) and thicker leggings. I've also heeded the advice of a wise man who's told me to walk to work for exercise and to warm up. A good dose of fresh morning air is invigorating for the brain, and I daresay walking helps me wake up by the time I get into office! Yes - I do live a mere eight minutes (walking) from work! How convenient is that!

I'm thinking of the many activities to do this week. Seems really busy! I must be consistent and pen down my thoughts and upload pictures too... Somehow, I tend to sit and space out way too much. No more of that, and now off to bed for me where I get to zone out for a good seven hours. Ahhhh, bliss!

Until next post. X

Sensation White

Relive youth. Relive energy. Relive friendship. I want to soar back through the skies and hurtle myself 4 years back. Carefree, light, truly free. No one owned me, and I owned no one. Nothing could stop me then. My world was my oyster. It revolved around the most basic of necessities. No need to prove anything to anyone. Except to be true to myself. To be me.

I want to live this feeling once more. Just a tiny taste to escape the humdrum of everyday living. What is the true meaning in life anymore? I want to dance with the angels. I want to sing from the mountaintop. I sound like an idiot dreamer.

Sensation White is happening, yes? No? I want to go home. And fly freely once more. Will you join me?

Lost in time (Leave me there, reality bites hard and fast)

Can it really be past the middle of March already? Am i almost going to turn the big 2-5? Almost impossible it seems, but yet, it is real. Aging has become a part of my life that I can't believe has set in. I had this thought, that you know you're old when you say "Oh i just sat for my O Levels awhile back" but then you realise, that your younger sister is actually done with HER O Levels, and just bought a spanking new lappie for Poly. Wow. Time flies huh?

And as all old fogies do when they realise that the precious sands of time are beginning to slip through their fingers at an irreversibly quick speed, I too, have begun to do much reminiscing. With so much of my time spent at work, I find that each moment has become all the more special and to be cherished. I no longer am able to take my three hour naps as often as I wish, or watch some random MTV, I no longer can go for the many coffees, have the many glasses of wine. Movies aren't a regular outing, but a rare treat I indulge in every 3 weeks or so. And my fave activity of supermarketing has cut down to about once a month. Tres sad, I daresay.

I'm missing my Life. I'm missing it so greatly at times, I wish I woke up, and the present was gone, and I somehow was placed back in the past. If for but only a moment in time. I'd do it. For that one minute, I can walk down Bank Street and pop into Peko Peko for the world's BEST cafe latte and Honey Chicken. For a drive down St Kilda Road, and a simple sketch by the beach. I long for the day, when I enjoyed my cigarette (one good thing, is that I've kicked the habit now!) with nothing but a book and a hot G.T. I miss the time when personal space was not a luxury that I had to fight to enjoy, but rather, a daily life that I was living.

Will I ever feel that freedom again? To be cut loose and left out there alone, to fend for myself. Where the choice of getting out of bed, and to DO something was solely up to me. I wonder, i ponder and I wait. And until that time comes, I can only dream. For dreaming takes me out of this world, and back into time where there were no boundaries. And my dreams were real.

Ungraciously Singapore - Encouraging the devils to breed within our Nation

Living here - Why I get so put off.

Will somebody get them to shut up already?!?!?!?

Someone recently posted a blog touching on the topic of misbehaving parents in Singapore - this post linked to a letter in ST by a Mrs Tay, who was voicing a complaint about the rigid practices of a librarian in Singapore who refused her child entry to a story-telling session due to her age. There was a rather stupid comment (excuse my judgment, perhaps its a bad day, and his comment just irked me badly!) by an Anon. blogger who said the librarian should "lighten up" as these are KIDS we are dealing with, what's the big deal???

Jesus Christ.

What's the big deal about letting a pushy parent force entry for her child (aged 2 yrs and 4 mths) into a reading session meant for 5-6 yr olds or worse yet, sit IN for the reading session? I guess there isn't any big deal about opening a "floodgates" that may at the moment seem like a small issue, but fast forward a good 20 - 30 years, and I can guarantee that the kid will grow up to be yet another i) spoilt, ii) inconsiderate and iii) ill-mannered child. Oh big whoop. As if our country didn't have enough middle-aged (and mostly middle-class wannabe rich) inconsiderate louts pushing and shoving their way on the streets of Singapore! Yes, granted that the kid IS only barely hitting 3 yrs, but these are the most influential years of a toddlers life - they learn from their surroundings, and pick up vital life lessons in their childhood days. Whoever argues that childhood doesn't play a role in one's development is seriously short-sighted or hugely misinformed.

Ok, let's get things straight here. I'm not an angel myself, never have been, never will be. However, I believe basic courtesy, manners and consideration for people in OUR community are skills lacking in this so-called developed country. Come on Countrymen, are we that barbaric? Are we working so hard on building up wealth for ourselves that we've forgotten that only with a collective effort can a Nation live peacefully? It takes one rotten apple to turn a whole basket of fruits bad. Encouraging behavior such as that of Mrs Tay, and many other likeminded Kiasu Singaporean parents will only end up in more of such Types living here. Why do you think those that prefer the gracious world move overseas? It isn't usually the pull of money that drive citizens out of the country. It is the People.

Living Overseas - why I loved it so much more.

I had a good run of 6 years in Melbourne and during my stay there I experienced the Good, the Bad, the Ugly. And boy, is their ugly ever bad! However, their good seemed to overrun the bad. People don't give fierce stares if you bump into them at the supermarket aisle, they give a nod and say "you're alright". They greet each other in the lift with "G'day Mate". This may be diverging from the main stem of argument, but one incident chalked clearly in my memory is sitting in my apartment corridor with my dog and my neighbour and her dog. Her little cat (a stray she had rescued) had climbed into my unit over the balcony, and I had walked next door to pass it back. We both brought our doggies out to play and have a chat on the clean carpet. It didn't matter that we were of a different colour, or background. It didn't matter that we worked different jobs. It didn't matter that I actually hadn't known her name, until that day. :) What mattered was, that we were living side by side, and we both had little dogs of our own. Two male neighbours returned (TV presenters on a local news station) and they ended up standing there and having a little chat with us. Friendly words exchanged, it felt warm, cozy.. despite the cold winter breeze outside, and I felt so at home.

Colour of skin was never a real issue in Melbourne, Whites and Asians danced alongside each other at rave events. Interracial couples strolled hand in hand, as did same-sex couples, and no one seemed to blink an eye. Things that people here would stare at, or even mock, was seen as accepted there. People never judged. At least, not the ones that I had the chance to mix with. Though the cultural divide was quite great appearance wise - there were several Aussie friends who would comment on the texture of my skin, or how black my eyes were - we were all still Humans nonetheless. In a country where the One People Party once dominated, Australia has now opened up to immigrants, regardless of ethnicity. The Whites found us endearing and interesting, they enjoyed hearing our accents when we spoke in rapid English. They enjoyed hearing our descriptions of our various homelands. They enjoyed playing host to us, and they enjoyed us being there too.

As for standard of living, despite the article about a Sydney man dying alone, it didn't seem the case where I was living at. The elderly walked around looking pretty cheerful, hand in hand, holidaying in idyllic places. Or enjoying their morning cuppa at a quaint cafe. Cafe's that had tables free from "choping" with packets of tissue paper. Cafes where no service was charged for, but with waiters so engaged in your well-being that you simply had to tip 10% or more. You wouldn't get a parent wanting to "sit in" for a child's reading session and you definitely wouldn't get one writing in the national news quoting the Government as encouraging us to bring out kids for "reading activities". What pish-posh they'd say! And looking at how the public's (aussie) reacted to Corey Delany, the interviewer drew much flak than Corey by her insisting he take off his "famous" glasses and apologize nationally!

Conclusion

Well, Singaporeans don't look anywhere near to being a considerate nation which respects people, and Kiasu-ism is definitely NOT a dying trait. To me, I wish that the majority of locals who do nothing but rant and rave about how the government isn't doing enough would just SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Because seriously, have a glance in the mirror and take those damned tinted glasses off, this isn't Oz and there aren't any ruby slippers here to save the munchkins from the Evil witch.