Selamat Hari Raya to all friends near and far who are celebrating this special day.

Saturday morning

This is one of the many food joints or rather what we call hawker centres dotted across our island. I love having breakfast in these places. It's really the heart of where most of us gather as you'll always be able to find one within walking distance. This morning we had half boiled eggs and prata and curry and tea with evaporated milk. Kinda heart stopping both in the mental and physical sense. I am a fast eater and I think it comes from childhood where I always think there's not enough hours in a day to do what I do so while eating is enjoyable, it has to be accompanied with reading my textbook, homework or watching tv. Or maybe I just eat fast coz my brother and dad can do it faster than I do and then I don't get the best bits of the food if I don't eat fast enough. Of course that's not the reason why I do that now but I think that my early experiences did something to my brain.

So I finished my meal, got bored. So with my polaroid in hand, I took some shots of my husband while he was eating. The drink stall helpers (for lack of a better description) were fascinated with the clicking sounds of my paloroid camera. Admist their duties, three of them took turns to come by to see if the picture had appeared or not. I could tell by their accent that they were from China. When the picture did appear, they came running to see it. Then I asked if I could take a picture of them. They ran back to their drink stall and suddenly everything got every serious as they went about cleaning the counter and making tea and coffee and washing the dishes. And the minute I focused my camera on them, they all ran and hid behind the rows of cans of drinks. Once they heard the twirling of the film, they all came running out again giggling and waited for the picture to appear.

House

I'm addicted. By now, everyone probaby knows about this american medical drama about a medical genuis who you'd probably not want as your family doctor unless you have a life threatening disease and really don't care for attitude. It's in its fifth season already but I've only chanced upon it two weeks ago and then got hooked. So I bought the first season and was on a House marathon last night.

Hugh Laurie plays Dr Gregory House, brilliant doctor who goes all out to do the right thing but appears as if he doesn't care. He's rude, obnoxious, sarcastic and appears to be devoid of emotions. But he is oh so cool. I'd like to be him. And I mean being so good at what you do that attitude really doesn't matter. You know the kind where a virus is attacking all of the world's technology and the person who can only save the world is a computer geek who lives in a single room apartment where he spends his time playing computer games, eating pizzas and designing softwares as a hobby and the president in all his power have to seek help from him? I'd like to be that geek. Cool.

What I like about House is his passion for what he does which sometimes mean breaking the rules for the greater good. Not many if us do it often enough. To push the limits because we believe in doing the right thing despite the protests and threats. I guess it takes more than passion. Knowledge, experience, creativity, persistance, confidence and a whole lot of courage. I'd like to get there some day.

Meanwhile, I'll keep watching House and like true soap opera fashion, hope that House and Cameron get together. Don't tell me what happens next.

Dempsey Hill

A little potty goes a long way

Everyday, I would pause at my doorstep and take a glimpse at our potted plants. Did that one just grow a new leaf? Is there a bud forming on that one? Wasn't that a darker shade of pink yesterday? The plant you see above is curry leaves. It's been this way for two weeks and it doesn't seem to be growing. I can't figure it out. It has the same amount of sunlight and water as the other pots but it isn't growing and neither is it shrinking. Maybe it likes being this way. That way, no one is going to notice it and take it away from its comforting blanket of soil it has come to know as home. I don't have green fingers but I do like watching things grow. Plants are amazing. If you think about it, we have our basic needs of water, food, oxygen and waste removal. We eat. It gets oxidized. Carbon dioxide is given off as waste. Plants use the carbon dioxide, and together with water and sunlight, it makes its own food , giving off oxygen. See? I was paying attention in my science class. Plants are also pleasing to the eye and its brings a little homeliness to wherever you go. That, I figured out all on my own.

Pearly whites

I always feel that a simple pair of pearl earrings is a must have for every woman who loves timeless classic pieces. It's simple enough for everyday wear especially on days when you can't decide what to wear.

Hong Kong

Hello. Have you been to Hong Kong? It's funny because you would think that living 3 hours away that I would have visited it by now. It was my first time last week. Although it was work related, it was nice to be away. The hotel was rather small but tastefully furnish. With a small land space and 6 million inhabitants, they have been quite creative in making use of space. The streets reminded me of Bangkok though. There's a eatery at every corner and really, you cannot go wrong with any of the food places. They have chicken rice and char siew (barbeque pork) in almost every food joint and we're talking about large chunks of them. I could eat it everyday. The transport system was easy and convenient making it easy for travel. I wish I could stay a little longer to see more of the city but at the same time, it's good to be home.

I love trees