I love fat cows!!

My colleague Ruth knew that I was homesick and invited me to stay at her place last weekend. Because of my ‘jar-par-lang’ English (Sg-US-UK pidgin with no logic whatsoever) there were so many funny moments, like the time when I exclaimed ‘These pants are great!’ in M&S and got horrified looks from Ruth and Andy (her hubby) because “pants = underwear” and the pair that I was pointing to should have been called TROUSERS. *roll eyes*

She is so English in the way she speaks that whether it was in college or at her place that I sometimes have to do a double take to catch her meanings. A typical conversation (E.g. preparing dinner at her place last sat) will be like this:

R: Do you want full cow or half cow?
Me: Full what?!? (thinking of the beef that she has just popped in the oven)
R: Full cow of half cow? What will you like with your tea? (bemused grin forming) You’ve never heard full-cream milk or semi-skimmed milk called this way?
Me: Never heard milk called that way before…. (laughs and shakes head) but half cow will be fine thank you. I love having tea with Carnation milk, that’s the way my mom has hers at home.
R: We call that fat cow.
Me: (Burst into laughter)…. Carnation’s not fat. It’s just concentrated, like cheese. You can put less of it in your tea if you like.
R: Yeah, but it’s still fat!! My sister is lactose intolerant and she takes fake cow – that’s soy milk.
Me: (nodds and getting the hang of things) So what do you call UHT milk?
R: Well, my Andy calls it -- Never seen a bloody cow!!

And so, I’ve learnt that I love fat cows with milk and heated half cows with cereals and my hall provides chilled never seen a bloody cow for breakfast. *LOL*

Ruth sometimes thinks that I’m funny in the head and as a compliment, I think she is too. =P

My trip home...

It has been a long time, but I’m back online again. The trip back home has been so short and crammed with activities that I felt like I hadn’t taken any break at all! Currently suffering from the "need a holiday to recover from a holiday" syndrome. *chuckle*

The first few days was spent preparing for my presentation and catching up with my family and MX. I really do missed them. A lot. Mmmm. A lot. Just tired of LDR with all my family, friends and relatives. It’s good to be home, to be in the crowd, to be part of the family. But of course the objective of this trip was to help me make up my mind on my career path and so I went around to visit labs, talk to people and now I hope I have made the right choice that will offer me a balance work-family lifestyle for the next six years. I’ve kept the news of my holiday from some friends as I know that I wouldn’t have time to meet them but I did bump into some unexpected faces during my 9-day stint in Sg (like FT, JL, YW, WH) and it was really great catching up with them.

My brother’s knee surgery was scheduled for the end of the month, hence I was able to get out of the country for 4 days, first to Macau, then to Hong Kong. MX did a very good job planning and coordinating the trip and I got to see all the sights that I wanted, although the summer heat there really kills the mood for walking. I wore sandals as I thought it’ll be cooler and more comfortable to walk around in but I soon learnt that the combination of perspiration (which softens the skin) and the usual amount of friction encourage the growth of blisters. We had nice company from his colleagues and friends and also managed to meet up with two of his old Imperial friends (Ah-Fa and Dennis) in Macau.

There were not many photo-friendly or panoramic sights in Macau other than the ruins and the bridge linking Taipa. The casinos were interspersed between really run-down housing estates, giving the impression that the whole area is falling apart during the day but their state of disrepair was less obvious during the night behind the veil of casino lights. One might be disappointed if they compare this Asia gambling haven to Las Vegas but Macau is still the place where serious gamblers congregate. I witnessed a 30-something lady blew $1000 in just 15 minutes on a jackpot. Minimum betting denomination was 100 Macau dollars (which was too much for anti-gamblers like me obviously) at the tables. The one thing I was really impressed with was the stringent security check at the SANDS (金沙) casino entrance which I felt was more thorough than most airports. After passing through the metal detector gates, the security guard spotted a half full bottle of mineral water sticking out of my backpack and he politely enquired what kind of liquid it contained and if I could take a sip from the bottle. I was quite puzzled at his request but complied and he thanked me for my cooperation. Excellent service I must say! I still do not know what he suspected I had in that bottle (cos anyone bringing in vinegar or acid will surely use a glass bottle??) but my usually defensive nature didn’t felt threatened by the experience. The highlight of our stay in Macau was the Portuguese dinner that Ah-Fa brought us to. Their ‘pizza’ was really unique and half the time I don’t know what I was eating but they are really finger-licking good.

MX brought us to the ever popular Victoria Peak the very first evening we arrived in Hong Kong. The tram ride up to the peak was so exciting and incredibly steep. I don’t think even the streets of San Francisco were that sloped. We arrived at the top just in time for sunset and the view was amazing. It was one of those sights that are better seen with the eye then on film as we had some difficulty getting a good picture in the fading light. We headed straight to Temple street for the night market after that and also had dinner in one of the street side stalls (大排挡) which was ingeniously air-conditioned by the hawkers who draped huge sheets of plastic over the tin roofs overhanging their stalls to form an enclosure for about 10 tables, and stationed no less than 3 air-conditioning units hooked up to oil-powered generators. The dishes were cheap and tasted better than those I had in London’s Cantonese restaurants.

On the way back to our hotel we witnessed a police raid on a small hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Initially we saw a group of about 20 police officers in those dark blue police vests strolling down the street and thought that they were being given an orientation of the area as they all looked so young. A minute later, another 20 police officers or so strolled by in their blue uniform with reporters in toll, heading in the same direction as the previous group. We got curious and trailed them to a small hotel a couple of streets away from Temple street and there were so many officers gathered there that most of them couldn’t get in and had to stand outside the building. I was surprised at the lack of urgency and secrecy in their raid but MX said that the actual raid would have been over by then and these are just backup forces and HK police raids are usually highly publicized. True to his words, the success of this region wide raid was widely reported in the newspapers the following day.

We decided to give Lantau Island a miss as it would require a day trip. Instead on the following day we visited the Wang Da Xian Temple, Times Square, Lan Gui Fang. Convention Centre, Harbour Walk etc… Didn’t do much shopping as there wasn’t enough time. However, on the last day, darling MX did accompanied me to visit my grand-aunt, who is now having walking problems but nevertheless still mentally alert as ever. She reminds me of my own grandmother who passed away 12 years ago and I very much wanted to see her ever since my grand uncle passed away. With some translation help from my HK aunt, we managed to converse quite effortlessly and I promised to visit her again next year.

I feel like I’ve not done much in Singapore on this trip. Other than giving my parents and brother their birthday treat, accompanying my brother to the doctor, a visit to MX’s parents, my extended family gathering, attending to KX wedding, meeting up with several friends, HL having a sleepover at my place and singing myself sore at KBox, it was soon time to return to London again and I found myself grocery shopping and packing my bags 12 hours before my return flight.

So sorry to JF, SM, VL and PS who I wanted to meet but couldn’t find time to meet during the trip. Well, I’ll be back for good in 9 months time so hope to see them next year. It was really difficult leaving home again this time even though I stuck to my rule of not saying in Sg more than 2 weeks for the fear of deeper emotions taking root. Luckily I have friends in London who will keep me occupied for the next 3 weekends and get me back in shape (emotionally) to handle the most important part of my studies – writing up. =)

I’m off to Ruth’s place for a packed weekend of dinner, dirty-dancing (the movie), picking out clothes for her and her hubby for their 10th year anniversary, a little bit of gardening, maybe raspberry picking (and hopefully jam making!!). Next weekend will be Mahjong and BBQ at Grace’s house and the weekend after is reserved for the Tiger Beer Singapore Chili Crab Festival at brick lane with CR and Qi-jie. Well, that'll be our way of celebrating national day... hahah.... It’s just 2 days back and my organizer is filling up again. *brimming with joy* This summer is looking good babe!! =)

But of course, I will bear in mind MX’s advice to ‘play in moderation’ and put in lots of hard work in my thesis. I promise. Cos I wanna be home soon. Can't wait. =)

Holiday pictures will be uploaded later folks!!