Tag: summer blog 2010

On the Friday before our two weeks summer holiday to Europe, what a beautiful morning it was.  Life had been hectic, up until that morning.  I felt so lifted that morning.  And as I walked towards our car, I stopped, and realized that I have forgotten to bring something important to work.

“Oops. Where are my headphones?” asked I.  Cynthia reached into her handbag and asked, “Do you want to borrow mine?”  I shook my head and answered, “Don’t worry.  I have another set in the car.”  “Another pair?!  How many headphones do you have?!”

Well, we are men.  We have backup accessories and devices everywhere we go.

“Like me having a lipstick on every handbag then?” Cynthia pondered.  “You have a lipstick in each of your handbag?!” exclaimed I.  And she nodded.  Maybe it is a girl thing.

You see.  Even after living with that someone for more than a decade, there are still much to be learned.

On the way to work, we were in an exceptional chatty mood.  Cynthia has recently moved into a new role, dominated by men.  Out of nowhere she asked, “Is it normal for men to shift the testicles during meeting?”

Good question.  I am pretty sure I have seen it before from time to time, when we have meetings with only men.  I mean, it is like scratching your head or digging your ears, yes?

“Hmm.  Do girls shift the boobs in an all-girl-meeting, when no men are watching?” I innocently inquired.  “Of course not!  We are civilized.  Not like men,” replied Cynthia.  “What do you girls do then?”

“Hmm.  We talk about makeup and handbags?”

Just when you think you know what the world of the opposite sex is like.

By the time you read this episode, I shall be on my way back to Singapore.  Right now as I am doing my final round of edit for this entire series, I feel as though I have time traveled forward, picture how you would react reading this series, and back.  And by the time I read this again, I wonder if I would think that this series is indeed a silly idea.  Don’t blame me.  Blame Bob the Bot™.

Recently I have been experimenting in becoming a quasi-vegetarian.  There had been in the past heated debate between my friends and I on how healthy, or rather not healthy some vegetarian dishes are.  Granted.  San meat does not mean that it is good for health.  To take one level up, recently I have been experimenting with organic vegetarian food.  And there is one that I frequently visit, with Cynthia, because the restaurant is near to our Spanish school.  To be frank, Cynthia is not too keen on the dishes.  For me, when it comes to new experiences, my mind is pretty open.  And I think the “Vegetable Noodle with Soup” dish has put my open mind to the test.

Having tried almost all their menu times, I was curious on what “Vegetable Noodle with Soup” tastes like.  The amazing is, after spending close to half an hour consuming it, I have managed to deciphered how to cook it.  Here is the recipe.

Step 1 – Boil the water, cook the noodle, drain the water from the noodle, and put the noodle aside.

Step 2 – Boil the water, put in one piece of organic sweet corn, a few slides of dried seaweed (there is no organic seaweed, is there?), a few slides of organic tomatoes, a few slides of organic cabbage, a few slides of organic carrots, and two pieces of organic tofu.  I presume you know the order of which one to cook first (for example, sweet corns and carrots take the longest to cook).

Step 3 – Resist the temptation to add salt or any seasoning or flavoring.

Step 4 – Put the cooked noodle inside the organic vegetable soup.  Bring to boil and serve hot.

When Benny – my brother-in-law – heard my experience, he asked, “Is it appetizing at all?”.  I suppose that was why I took half an hour to consume the dish.  And when I looked around, there were dinners who took longer than I to finish their food.  I think that answers Benny’s question.

PS. Believe it or not, I am considering to add this into my regular home cooked diet because it is so easy to make.

This is a true story.

The problem was not without warning.  At first I discovered that the buttons that called the lifts were not as responsive.  At times when I pressed the button, it remained dull, and nothing happened.  As if determined by some random events behind the electrical circuits, the button would light up, eventually.  At random.  In a modern living environment going by the observation that since this was a common problem, someone would have reported it, and hence there was no need for me to take action.  Perhaps that was why this problem was escalated to a second stage.

One warm afternoon, I was back from my grocery trip.  Carrying with me bags and bags of goods, I could barely walk on a leveled ground.  Called for the lift but none of the button worked.  I waited for a divine intervention but there was none.  Strangely, the lifts went up and down under their own will.  At times, a human or two got spat out of the metallic container and before I could enter, it closed its mouth.  How did those able to board the lift if no one could signal it to stop at their floors?

Lack of options, I walked up the stairs, carrying the heavy bags.  On my way up, I saw someone on the way down.  We greeted silently and exchanged a reluctant smile that did not say much but said it all.  I wonder what would happen if I was 100 years old.  The stairs looked indeed daunting.

Shortly after, I needed to get out of the apartment.  I attempted to call for a lift, it did not seem to work.  Lifts went crazy going up and down on their own.  While contemplating if I should take the stairs instead, one lift arrived at my floor.  I dashed inside without much thinking.  Suddenly it struck me.  What made me think that I could control the lift from inside?  As it closed its mouth, I felt as though I had been swallowed by a crazy lift.

Year 2000, Kevin Bacon played the character of Hollow Man.  Being invisible, this fictional scientist takes full advantage of his new found ability doing stuffs that he would not be able to do, including spying on his female neighbor.  Rumor says that there is a deleted rape scene too.  The film prompted me to read “The Invisible Man” by H. G. Wells.  Imagine what I would do if I can be invisible.  Imagine what you would do.  That sense of invincibility.  Even if one perishes, no one knows (assuming that invisibility persists through death and beyond, which I recall according to the story, it is not the case).

The opposite of Hollow Man is not any one on the street, I think.  The opposite of being invincibly invisible is being visible but no one takes notice.  Like fading into the background or becoming a piece of everyday wallpaper that no one stops and takes notice.

One day, I went into a restaurant alone.  The staffs were busy doing the things they did.  I chose a seat in the middle of the restaurant.  Still, no one attended to me.  I stood up, picked up a menu nearby, returned to my seat, and started reading.  Quietly contemplated on what my lunch would be, I could not help but to observe that people around me were aware of my presence but liked a piece of wallpaper, I had faded onto the background.  Perhaps when the lunch hour was over, when the rest of the customers had eaten, paid, and gone, the staffs might notice someone siting in the middle of the restaurant reading a menu.  And they might wonder when did I step into the restaurant in the first place.  Or not.

It seems to me that the only time when we get to notice, examine, and appreciate the wallpaper is when the room is empty, newly renovated perhaps.