
Wish you a very very Happy Deepavali!
आप सब को दीपावली की हर्थिंक शुभकामनाएं
தீபாவளி வாழுதுகள்
Then we walked around Lucky Plaza, Tangs, and Far East. I was bribed to bunk office and go off with them to Chinatown but being the conscientious person that I am, loserly, I went back to work.
Evening time saw us in our collective favorite Cafe BluJaz on Bali Lane. Belly dancing, sotong sambal, chicken fireballs, hunk burger, chimichanga, Arab street walk, drinks, and many many hours of live jazz music later we were happy to be back home.
Next morning Cee made us pancakes for breakfast over which we sat for hours over till it was time for Pune cousins to catch bus back to KL.
The next visitors came a week later on Friday, 18 July. This time it was another cousin and a sis-in-law cousin both from Chennai. Again super excited, we did Cafe Iguana again, we did Cuba Libre, we did BluJaz but more than all this we did so much shopping! Unfortunately I was in office during most of these shopping trips but if there were ever in Orchard I did not miss the opportunity to join in the fun. More on that in a bit.
Between these 2 weekends there was a week - as there usually is, otherwise we’d all be happy troopers. The week saw my boss in Singapore. It was the first time I was meeting her and there was the usual round of meetings and outings. Mwah the meetings and let’s get on with the outings. We did Sushi Tae sushi and Sashimi one day, Taka basement food court another, and then we decided we needed to do a nice fancy lunch. So my colleagues booked a table @ a popular local seafood joint, Jumbo Seafood. I went along not very sure what to expect but hey I love seafood, so how bad can it be? What I had blew my mind away.
Indian markets are like a bhelpuri of all aforementioned things - the good and the bad - all mixed, tossed, and served up with dhania and sev on top. थोड़ा खट्टा, थोड़ा मीठा, थोड़ा crunchy and थोड़ा chewy. Am lovving it!
So on Thrusday I shopped in beloved Comm St buying 100 rupee to 2000 rupee chappals all morning. In fact I got so carried away with my chappals that shopkeepers started offering me business deals - they thought I buying all these chappals to set up a shop abroad! Aghast, I quickly dived into Shiv Sagar to lagao a juice and चाट and restore my composure.
Did Dalam or pomegranate juice (which is YUM there) and decided to do one chat... which somehow got followed by the Shiv Sagar Thali. Replete with all this I rolled off next door to visit Mecca Stores - a book library, a ladies fancy item shop, and a household fancy items shop - all in one. This place has been around for ages, ‘cause everyone remembers it being there for as long as they can remember. It’s not changed an iota, expect for the sorry demise of the elderly gent presiding over the shop, but his son is running the show and its business as usual.
The ladies fancy item section (1/2 part of the entrance), according to me, has the best collection of earrings, hair clips, hair bands, and other sundry ladies fancy items, in all of Commercial Street. Their general fancy store section (one wall and 1/4 of the entrance) has an inexpensive fast moving collection of ceramic vases, cookie jar sets, flower vases, and other time pass glass and ceramic items. Bought my essential earrings, hair bands, scrunchies, a vase, a jar, borrowed a few books, chitted and chatted a bit, and this is what being in Bangalore for me is all about.
Next stop was to the temple of creativity. A visit to my best friend in Comm St. namely Vijay - my trusted and much harassed tailor. Pleaded with him to make time for me and make me some new apparels, the moment he gave in, off I rushed to Pooja Collections, Shoba Collection, New Choice Collections, Lal's Collection, Mysore Udyog Collections etc. to collect materials for skirts, tops, dresses and dumped it all on Vijay for him to do his magic and to turn them into wonderful creations, which I must say, he miraculously does.
The next day I had pretty much the same schedule, took one last look into all the shops to ensure I'd not missed anything. Lunch was with Chint at Tiger Bay, which I must say, does a very decent Non-Veg Thali for lunch. Of course, the added bonus to eating in Tiger Bay is that one needs no excuse to browse through Bombay Stores. While I am the most ardent believer of retail therapy, and practice it most religiously, shopping in Bombay Stores is a double therapy. One, which of course is retail, the other is an almost Zen-like soothing and relaxing atmosphere of the shop. Browsing through their multi-mid-level floors, little niches, very pretty desi uber chi-chi merchandise, quite ambience, and nearly empty shop (yikes! not a good thing for them is it?) I feel as great a calm as having done half hours mediation. Rested, refreshed, and completely at peace. Bombay Stores - you ought to bottle and sell this!
Dinner was at friend's favorite restaurant - Paparazzi. Allegedly, 'One of the World's 82 Best' restaurants. Set on top of Central Park Hotel (now called Royal Orchid Central, I think) it offers nice food and a great view of Cubbon Road. Must have is the 'Bread Basket with Multiple Dips' I totally love it. The rest is kinda pendulum type - the chef can be very good to disappointing, the service can range from very attentive to I'm-so-totally-ignoring-you. Royal Orchid Central people - you've really got something good going - please be consistent, stock up your bar, your cellar, or wine cooler, or whatever and train your staff. I'd love to patronize you more, give me a little more reason.
Saturday, my last weekend started with breakfast at Vidhyarthi Bhawan - really nice dosas, but everyone complains that they were better - well I didn't find anything missing. Post dosa went to pay my respects to Dodda Ganesha and Dodda Basavanna at the Bull Temple.
Basavanagudi is super quaint and charming. With shops selling pooja samagri, snacks like congress kadle, ready-to-cook food like fresh hand-made idiappams, a huge vegetable market, and traditional Indian flower shops selling loose flowers and elaborate flower garlands. All this right in a austral heart of cosmopolitan, almost-metropolitan Bangalore. Travellers, if you want to see the 'real' old Hindu Bangalore, do make a visit here. After making one full round from VB to Bull Temple, to all the shops and back, we were ready for one more dosa at VB. Glutton, that me! Finished that off perfectly with a post breakfast snooze.....Zzzzz....
Saturday night I was lucky to attend a very dear friend's father's 65th birthday bash. As with everything uncle does, this was also in grand style. Lovely Manglorean people, with their great food, and their great music, fun and laughter. One of the most hospitable people and man do they like to party! It was a great ending to a lovely Bangalore holiday.
Sunday was spent with mom and dad, eating (again!) home food, chatting, finishing packing, weighting the suitcase a 100 times, removing stuff, weighting again, adding stuff, weighing again and you get the drift. All that done, I chilled in my room in Bangalore for one last time, for a long time to come. Come evening I was off to the airport.
Ah! another update on the airport, so it was well organised, there are weighting machines to weight your luggage outside so you can remove stuff from your bag if it’s too heavy and give it to the relatives who have come to see you off, the terminals were well lit and everything looked clean and tidy. But then there were 4 terminals for check-in and only 2 working, resulting a long and serpentine queue. There were not enough seats for people/kids to sit, and the loo had the most MAJOR surly cleaner who refused to speak in any language and resisted all entreaties' to be even remotely helpful. Also, considering there was no seating space outside, people occupied the toilet seats and refused to vacate! No! I am serious.
All this endured, there was some time left for a little browsing in the few upgraded duty free stores, got a beer at the sports bar, munched on the goodies mommy packed for the flight. Boarded the flight at 12; a 4-hour-flight-that-seemed-like-10-hours, no sleep, and landed bright and early on the shores of Singapura Monday morning and am sure I don't need to spell out the hue of this Monday morning blue.
Shee:"Aye, what ya Singapore you've settled off in aa? Chumma why you went off only I don't know."
Me:"Shut up ok Shee, what you're going off to UK no?"
Shee:"Aye no ya, I don't want to go only ya.."
Me:"Aye your mad aa? Why you don't want to go mein?"
Shee:"Go ya... who'll go so far. You also come back yaa…"
We reach upstairs and keep talking while the waiter is standing with a pained expression on his face; quickly I tell him a table for four.
Shee:"Aye listen ya..."
Me:"Shee you saw the look he gave us aa? Heheheh"
Shee:"Heheheh. Poor fellow ya, why you trouble him like this mein"
Me:"Me aa? You're the one who is going on and on, ok"
Shee:"Shut up ok, I've not said a word."
Me:"Yappa! What a lie! You were always a liar only Shee."
Shee:"Shut up okkkay". Aye, where we going ya?"
Meanwhile the ಚತ್ತ್ರಿ (clever? chalu? wily?) waiter has led us to the last table at the end of the world. Shee and I see the table and collapse into another fit of "hehehes" and the waiter makes his escape. While were are happily "you shut up ya, you shut up ya-ing" the waiter throws the menus at us and runs away to hide again.
- 1 Chicken Chilly
- 1 Chicken Sholay Kebab
- 1 Prawn Sholay Kebab
- 2 Fish Fry
- 4 Buttermilk
- 2 Meals
- 2 Chicken Biryanis
- 2 after Biryani Meals
Thus we spent over 2 hrs chatting, eating, and laughing. What's really sweet is that it's a week day and everyone except me is working and has very sweetly made time for this long ".com" type lunch break. Ah! Love my friends. Long live my friends! (If any of my friends' managers' is reading this, errr... free meal courtesy me @ Nagarjuna for you).
After polishing off Nagarjuna's day's supply for provisions we rolled down. Of course no meal in Nagarjuna is complete without a desert from Corner House aptly situated below. So we do 2 by 4 desert and sit around for another hour and finally I make my replete way back home with sole intention of sleeping off the food.
10 mints later:
~Beep-beep beep-beep~ [SMS tone]
Shee: Aye, how much we've eaten ya, I can't stay awake only, how am going to work?
Me: Roll-eye, ignore, and sleep.
1 min later:
~Beep-beep beep-beep~
Shee: You sleeping aa loafer? Am sitting in office and you are sleeping. Aye wake up ya, I can't stay awake only.
I succumb and reply: Go home and sleep no Shee. Why you troubling me?
20 secs later:
~Beep-beep beep-beep~
Shee: No ya I got work to do, can't go home. You sleep ya, what for you. Its holiday no for you.
Me: Small evil smile for full happiness (no strength for bigger smile) and sleep.
10 sec later:
~Beep-beep beep-beep~
Shee:You've gone to sleep aa loafer? Heheh
I have a feeling that this is going to take an ugly turn so I pre-empt my clever friend, turn off the offending phone and अपनी आँखें मूँद लीं [died in peace].
God bless Nagarjuna, their chef, their food, and most of all, my friends.
Succumbing to incessant and painful nagging from the parents I (re)started one of the more unfruitful almost-ritualistic chore, which has become a part of my home-going for the past 6 months or so. It is 'Mindless Relocation' and this is what it involves:
The logic behind it has always baffled me, but I always give in as it seems to set the old folks minds @ rest and hence like the dutiful daughter I am, I have indulged them the following times:
And now,
And I am this close to losing my mind! One more time and it's a padded cell for me. So, to do me good and to preserve you all from my madness, you are not going to see me in India for a long long time to come.
But I also have a memory of a dog… so I will forget all about this and walk right back into the trap – again. Till then, see ya around folks!
Dinner was with the HP gang
Yet more drama
Then there were the rest of us mere mortals:
Gmanj with his ever present beer
Hems with his fruit punch
KC is hiding something with that smile, wat? ;-)
Nish - The Lady Who Knows Too Much
Ever photogenic me :-p
We ate lots of stuff but there were the usuals:
So there was all the above in the following:
But for once the focus was less on the food and more on the conversation. Surprised? Don't be! 'Cause there ain't a funnier gang than us. When we are just being normal we are hilarious, when we set out to be funny we are out-of-the-world! We laughed so much we had no appetite left for food.
There was Gmanj killing us with his talking about Barrels in Pajamas, KC and her high power liquor and stronger stuff 'hush-hush' business, Nish the bearer of everyone's secrets - The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and Mr.Glamorous Himself! Of course cautious Hems did nothing but giggle the evening through and didn't give anything away.
We reminisced on the good old Embassy Icon days - days filled with some work and lots of tea and laughs on the balcony, Nisarga, Eden Park, Aura, Sweet Chariot, Egg sandwiches from Food World, Masala Corn and how can I not mention Casa Picola which served us so well! (I think all of us have lost weight since we've stopped eating there)
As usual we could not stop chatting and stood in a light drizzle chatting on and on. And this was a week day mind, which means work for everyone except me, the next day! Finally we parted laughing hysterically on some joke or the other, our laughter ringing in the almost silent Bangalore night air.
Till we meet again amigos!
I also did the blessed act of introducing an Indian colleague to Murugan Idli Kadai - World Famous in Chennai (and Madurai, and Singapore, and wherever else they open am sure). Predictably I also suffered the consequences, I was dragged there (willingly) 3 times last week. I managed to make a pact with her and the 3rd dinner we did at super delicious Raj. What a lovely food I say, मज़ा आ गया! If you promise not to tell anyone, I will tell you what all we ate:
Right through dinner we were in heaven; a few... err... many digestive hours later we slowly and reluctantly floated back to mortal land.
Talking of food
Sunday was spent reading The Golden Compass, which I thoroughly enjoyed and swimming which am getting stronger at. Bicycle is still in shed thank you. Gym का रास्ता भूल ही गए हूँ और salad किसे कहते है मुझे कुछ याद नही। Come back Such!
Food consumed over the week:
Luck never made a man wise. ~ Seneca, Letters to Lucilius
(And am I a living example of that. Read on to know more.)
Friday 23 May, was a landmark day. It was the day that 3 things happened, 3 important things, 3 good things. Listed in order of importance, they are:
Friday saw me back in the folds of River Valley Road, Such and Cee. Back to office and back to breakfast with my colleagues @ The Coffee Bean and The Leaf Tea. Ah! That's the life. Taste-o-Treat in my tummy and a large cup of English Breakfast nestling in my hand, lying back in one of a winged sofas. Replete with breakfast and a gossipy chat with my colleague, who fills me in on all the latest to-dos in office while I've been in training, we get to the ATM to check my financial status.
As we were walking to the ATM I am surprised to see a bunch of people waiting for the Takashimaya SC to open. I've never seen anyone wait for a shop to open! Banks yes, shops no. Usually, shops open and wait for people. Laughing and admiring the zest with which Singaporeans and tourists in Singapore shop, I reach the ATM and voila! The money is in. I hardly need a reason to start spending now but as I turn around I am smacked with the BIGGEST reason to spend - the GREAT SINGAPORE SALE 2008, my friends, was starting that very moment!
The shop doors glide open and people walk straight to their favorite aisles to pick up what they've been waiting for the sale to pick up. Everything is on sale. Unable to resist, being a shopaholic, and this being my first (earning) time during the shopping festival, I walk in determined to get a bargain. My very restrained first day, first hour purchases were:
The whole day is spent finishing an assignment at work and running downstairs (read talking the lift downstairs) from 13 floor to shop floor to cull out more bargains and see everything on display. There are softer than soft towels with the most delicate embroidery, bed sheet sets, there are jewellery cases, toys, house hold items, pots and pans and kettles and the works! I know I'm yet to check 4 more floors. At 7 P.M I call it a day and head back home.
I step in and Such has obviously been waiting for me, I have 10 mins to get ready she says, Cee is waiting. I quickly get ready, donning my new dark pink Kappa top, Such looks fetching in a black and black ensemble. In the honour of the occasion we take taxi to Fullerton and it looks like the river is celebrated my return! It is crowded and everyone is expectantly waiting. Bursting with curiosity; I stroll over and find a nice spot to oversee the happenings on the river. Welcome to the opening of the Singapore Arts Festival floats a voice over the river. And then the action begins.
The opening act of the festival is a water theater played out on the Singapore river neat Boat Quay. The reflection of burning boats on water was rather pretty but the fireworks was the highlight of the evening for me. Here is a YouTube on the opening act:
And one more on the final fireworks act:
We dined at an Indonesian restaurant Bayang in Clark Quay on our way back; dinner consisted of the following:
The night ended at Cee's favorite bar in Clark Quay, Cuba Libre. A live band performing South American music and lots of rum-based alco. (None of which I had thank you, cause the heat is just not getting me in the drinking mood; silly I know but what to do?)
Saturday 24 May, breakfast was @ Epicurious on Robertson Quay (yeah we live on one Quay or the other like some sort of expat fishing family). Next on agenda was Vivo Mall. On the way to Vivo Mall we took a bridge to cross the river and lo and behold what did we see! The whole bridge was covered with rafts – all student-made, hand-made, home-made (ghar pe bana hua), and seemed like they used recycled materials. I was so impressed with these school/college kids, and obviously they were having a good time doing all this. It was such a vibrant and expectant atmosphere there like everything was waiting for the "water test" the next day.
There were all kinds of rafts - some all done up, some coming undone, some real basic, some others were totally tricked out – butterflies, water rat, lobster, tortoise family – very darling. There was also a section for slipper rafts (never got to see if anyone could float it on water and actually manage to stand on it, didn't look like it was possible!). The best of all were the F1 rafts designed to look like, what else, F1 cars. All this was for the River Rating Competition being held the next day I found out. Sunday for us, I realised, was booked.
Vivo mall is 3 stations away from Clark Quay MRT. The biggest mall in Singapore – naturally there are loads of shops and there is tons of stuff. Loafed and loafed and loafed and bought 1 croc chappals. Had lunch @ 6 @ Brotzeit German Bier Bar and Restaurant – beer, sausages, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut. With a view out into the little stretch of sea separating us from Sentosa island, it was a peaceful and reflective break after a crowded mall.
Back home and it was time for a quick nap. Woke up and met Laks @ Takashimaya where she was making the most of the Great Singapore Sale. Loafed a bit with her, saw Paragon mall across the road from Taka mall and headed out to Blu Jaz! Had their famous Chimichanga and washed it down with a large Jasmine tea. And then it was all socializing with the owners (the owners are the sweetest people), servers (so much fun), musicians (oodles of talent there) – man has that place has got it right! A great let-your-hair-down atmosphere, three floors of party space, each with its unique theme and genre of music, a vibrant crowd, and a dias for amazing musicians - the place is 1000 watts of happiness and energy. We sat there till 2 P.M. listening to musicians jamming and when they shut shop we made our weary way back home.
Sunday 25 May, was supposed to start @ 9:30 to watch the first of the River Raft Races. But as things turned out, we opened our eyes @ 12. Ouch. Cee made us Amsterdam cheese and sundried tomato pancakes which were superlicious and with sustenance in our tummy off we went to watch, what was left, of the raft races. We managed to catch a nice shaded spot on the river edge and saw a few races that were left. And were they fun.
Of all the rafts we saw yesterday, we really could not say if they would even float. Looked like most of them managed to float but there were serious crew issues. Some rafts only moved in circles, not ahead or backward, just round and round, some went forward but only diagonally. It was a riot! Some kids were super competitive the others obviously looked like they were there for the fun of it. Lots of rowing (naturally), a few splashes into the water (hehehe) and overall a great time had by me. We meandered back home with a quick stop in Brussel Sprouts to quench our thirst.
After this I became all serious and ironed my clothes from 5 to 6:45! Time for a serious treat and Such and I headed out to Little India for Murugan Idli Kadai – yes my friends, they have a branch in our own piece of India in Singapore. Have to confess that Little India on a Sunday evening is like Gariahat during Durga Puja, Delhi on Holi, Ahemdabad during Navratri, Tirupathi during a festival, and Gateway of India during weekends all rolled into ONE! In other words utter ROWDY nightmare! But what I will not do for Murugan Idli. Lovely dovely idli was consumed and with a full tummy, a happy heart and a sated soul the weekend was over.
And also all the money in my account, thank you. There's luck for you!
(As all you clever fellows might have guessed this post was supposed to be ready and up on 24 May 2008)
GAAK! It's been 10 days since my last post… how did that happen?! I'll tell you how it happened, it's been a hectic 10 days, that's how it's happened and yes, not all of it was work. So here the summary:
Thus 15 May 2008 – The honeymoon time in office is over and am loving the work here (?). Dinner was another beautiful salad creation by Such devoured with cold cuts and asparagus soup (awesome stuff!). Again no pics am afraid L
Friday 16 May 2008 – Hard work junkie Cee decided to dedicate this Friday and Saturday to work on a construction work project for Habitat for Humanity. Back breaking real-deal construction work of digging pits, wheel barrowing construction materials, and hand mixing cement, among other hard working construction site things, the girls decided his hard work deserved a party. So that's what Such, Lak (a friend) and your's truly did, all in the name of Cee (while Cee was still in construction camp hehehe).
And off went the beauties to Brussel Sprouts. Have I mentioned Brussel Sprouts? No, well it's this lovely Belgian beer place on Robertson Quay (Quay pronounced "key" don't ask me why) that Such and Cee love to go to. And with good reason! The setting is alfresco, the view is of the river, the staff is very friendly (I think that's cause of Such and Cee are so outgoingly friendly) and the beer – specialty. I have never seen such a long menu for beer, man its longer than most wine lists I've seen in my life! Two tightly packed columns of an A4 sheet, that's how much the choice is. Your's truly had an beer that is brewed by monks in a romantic far-off monastery, and the others has equally exotic stuff. It was a balmy night, with lovely company and some good cheese croquets.
Saturday 17 May 2008 –
Started the day @ 9.30 with a house in Tiong Bahru. Awful! Am coming back to India. Did some retail therapy in Great World City mall to cheer self up. Lunch was courtesy Such – a lovely vegetable and pasta toss-up. Faith in humanity restored, I went the next appointment in Bukit Batok – a much better house, but a little too far from office right now and not quite hitting the note. Cheered myself up with a pedicure, in an all Chinese place, where I didn't speak any Chinese (surprise!) and they didn't speak any English. It was comic to say the least, with customers pitching in to translate both ways! That's when I decided to get more local.
First step I walked over to the bus stop to puzzle out the hitherto untried SMRT buses. After staring @ the route maps for 5 mints and projecting my famous i-really-am-lost girl look, which I am devastated to say had absolutely NO effect on any of the locals (but did attract the pity of 2-3 desis, so sweet), I got the lay of the land and the rest my dear friends is history. So to Outram Park (a little tidbid of history my friend pointed me to) it was from Bukit Batok and while the location and price of the place was great, and the building was in good condition, the flat itself was not satisfactory. From there it was another bus to the nearest point to home and a 10 min uphill trek on Killiney to get home.
Such and Cee (back after his back-breaking-in-a-totally-nice-and-bittersweet-way construction site duty) took me to Blu Jaz in Arab quarter. They both need a post dedicated to just them, and I will do that soon, so watch out for Blu Jaz (you can check out their blog for some info) and the Arab quarter. For now all I will say that the food and my large Jasmine tea hit the spot; a perfect remedy to a stressful and not-so-successful day.
Sunday 18 May 2008 – Woke up @ godforsaken 8 AM and made breakfast for me and a friend, gobbled it up and ran (read: took a taxi) to Kallang river to go learn Dragon Boating. Well it was either a wrong place or wrong time but we never found our trainer and the team. So we went cycling instead. My friend Lak, decided I should see the Central Business District, so that's where we went.
I have to say that Sunday mornings are the best time to get introduced to the CBD, it was empty and cycling, I imagine, would otherwise be a non-insurable activity around that area. Tall buildings and so many of them and so close to each other that like a rain forest floor the sun does not manage to reach the road @ places. As with most things in Singapore the buildings are built with a aesthetic eye, the hawker center in the middle of CBD is slightly more up market but with all the essential hawker center characteristics, the footpaths are wide and clean and there is a sense of understated opulence about the place. The CBD area description cannot be complete without a mention of the Fullerton Hotel. It is a colonial style impressive building occupies a pretty spot next to the river in the edge of the CBD and forms a distant background for the Merlion.
The sun was out and I hadn't cycled for a long time and not for this long, so I got home and was out like a light! Slept and slept and then woke up with Indian food hunger pangs. Rushed (via bus if you please) to Little India, packed a rice and curry meal and came home to eat with TV.
Monday 19 May 2008 – Holiday! Woke up @ 12 and Such and Cee had invited friends over for a Champagne breakfast. AWESOME breakkie consisting of the following was consumed by all of us:
We saw Such and Cee's wedding album, saw a few familiar faces (15 yrs younger) while digesting the spread. And then to the pool (swimming) it was! Played a hectic water throw ball, did a few laps, soaked up the sun a bit and off I was to Semei. Home cooked Indian food @ Bit's place to start a three day training starting tomorrow.
My room, temporary room as I've been asked to call it, faces east. So most mornings I am woken up by the sun shining into my face. Which, I have to say, is not my favorite way to wake up. To expand on the subject, listed in ascending order of preference, are the ways I do like to wake up:
But that is neither here nor there. Getting back to the point, I woke up today and my eyes were delighted to face a blue sky with grey undertones and - no sun! Now some people might consider this awful, but I LOVE IT! True blue skies give me a peachy pink mood, making it feel like a party day!
Even before I moved to Singapore, everyone's been telling me about how it rains daily here, and how the skies are almost always cloudy. So imagine my disappointment when we've been having the driest 2 weeks of weather! My luck so totally changed for the better today with my (almost) first true blue Singapore rains.
So although it's a working day, and I cannot really see the skies outside from where I am sitting in office, am still HAPPY thanks to the rains. In half an hour I break for lunch and then I sneak a peek outside and enjoy the rain with a cuppa of Jasmine Teh. I really wish I could post a pic of the view outside, but no digi cam as yet! Anyone wishing to sponsor a digi cam, feel free to contact me.
So, heh, am back from lunch, which was from the "Whats your Prata?" counter at Food Republic in Wisma Mall and consisted of 2 Pratas ($1.2 each), Potato veg ($1.2 small), Dhall (free with Prata), Nasi Biryani with Fried Chicken ($5.5). Replete with that, I took a cuppa and walked over to one of the entrances of Takashimaya and enjoyed the Teh while watching the softly falling rain. Orchard wore a decidedly wilted look in the rain but to me personally I think it made it more endearing.
Things to procure and soon: