An early Mother's Day dinner was the perfect excuse to check out the latest Chinese inspired menu at Amber. Not that we need an excuse to eat out, but I suppose it soothes the over-indulgence-conscious part of the conscience. Amber's one of the rare places that my family visits pretty regularly, partly due to their menu that changes every few months and the very reasonable prices.

Amber saw a full house for dinner that day and we were, to our pleasant surprise, ushered to a private room away from the hustle and chatter. The waiter started us off with a complimentary passionfruit and pineapple mocktail that was refreshingly sour. I liked it but  my parents found it average. For starters, we had a prawn tikka salad tossed with Japanese cucumber, tomatoes, and achar. There was a touch of yoghurt in the dish as well that complemented the sourish taste of the achar rather well. Opted for the sea bass and scallop for the main course and the fish was great, as usual, although I thought the accompaniment of the yam fritter was a bit odd. Dessert was a chilled snow pear & white fungus served with red date jelly, which I found a little too sweet and but pleasant overall.

Always inspired to cook after I return from such dinners. Dinner conversations would normally involve critiquing the dish and figuring out what's the best way to recreate the dish at home...not that I've gotten around to it. Yet. Gonna break in the muffin maker first.

Worry Not

I dearly wish I could give you the tightest hug and tell you "Don't worry about me" and have you do just that. I know it's not about not having faith in me; it's a worry that stems from concern and I appreciate it far more than I let on. I'm aware of the dangers but I'm also know that most times, we imagine the worst scenarios that may befall people we love and freak out for them. Please don't pin me back with guilt over making you worry. While your heart may hold motherly worry, have faith in the goodness of people - strangers. Give faith. And give me this space to grow up a little more; I need this. ♥

On posture

Mom, while attempting to get my dad to improve his unbecoming uncle posture,

"Imagine you've a delicate thread holding you up and you've to stand straight so the thread won't snap."

To which my dad immediately replied,

"But then my pants will drop." 

Not bad, dad. I was rather impressed.

Maternal Logic

 "Do you not trust me?!"

"It's not that I don't trust you." 

"THEN?" 

"I just doubt you a lot." 

& we're just talking about directions here.

Oh Mom.

"But MOM, I'm sentimental!"

"Ya, go take a knife and cut yourself."

Mother-sister conversations can be so interesting.

Fancy-pants

So yesterday night was pretty much spent trying to get the photographers' attention, sampling the various courses, keeping reasonably warm and catching up with people here&there. Have to say it was a good opportunity to bask in the company of people you've worked with in the past year and get updates about their lives (:

And of course, thank you, neighbour, for the ride home. Much appreciated! (:

A friend who was absent cited lack of productive studying as an excuse, so he'd feel guilty about whiling the night away. That made me realise, with greater clarity than before, how much of a priority studies are in my life. Oops.

My mom has recently started using Facebook on her phone (after eons of denying that she ever had a Facebook account) after realising the stalker-capabilities it offers. Now she keeps tabs on our (my siblings & I) lives via FB.

Moving on to a completely different topic, I wonder how unconsciously does passive-aggression manifests itself in a person's actions, and about the level of malicious intent hidden in that passive-aggressive action. Came across a couple of things in the past few days that had 'passive-aggressive' written all over it, but y'know, I might be reading a little too much into things (that, once again, are of no concern to me. I'm just kpo.)

AM GOING TO SLEEP EARLIER

because late-night reading isn't worth the eyebags, loss of half a day, general grumpiness & intolerance of the already intolerable weather.

In other news, this week has sprinted by all too quickly. Some books have yet to be read and I've more on the waiting list! Can't help it, really. The thought of having books to read make me grin like an idiot. Also, it's time to start thinking about the upcoming semester; my coursemates are scaring me. Bought three lovely tops today, two of which are striped. For once, my mom didn't roll her eyes at my obsession with striped clothing. (That was how lovely they were.) Camp next week! (:

HA HA HA

"Boys have no brains, even though both start with 'b'.  

The Source of My Eccentricity ♥

"That's me. That's your dad, cos he's the tallest, followed by you and Ade. & the last one's your idiosyncratic sister."

"Thanks mom. Nice to know you named your toes after us."

"What? NO! You were all named after my toes!"

JTLYK #24: Story of my life

I oversleep. We need alarm clocks that ring & bounce & roll around so that when you'll be wide awake when you finally catch the blasted annoyance.

Anyhoo, while the mid-sized academic agony has just ended, I am now faced with a deluge of things to confront: From (immensely sigh-worthy) school work to the various 'why' questions being posed (& everything else in between). Making things abstract really magnifies the issues, although it doesn't make them any clearer.

My mom should be a shrink. She does a fantastic job of cutting through nonsense and putting thought-worthy questions in my head.

"My friends think I've an obsessive affair with food."

"So why're you so superficial huh?"

"I'm not! It just so happens that I always have food-related stuff to talk about!"

"...that's because your depth is only up to your stomach."

"Christine, when are you going to get a boyfriend???"

"When I find someone who intrigues and fascinates me in a way I cannot explain."

"... Okay, you can date Mom then."

My Mom Says The Darndest Things

"You sexy dodo."

o.0 Like, whattt?!

To Infinity & Beyond/ An Update

"Hi Mom, guess what? I'm feeling optimistic about uni life! :D"

"You're always optimistic and look what happens in school."

"Heh."

*****
Starting tomorrow,the next 2 weeks will be some kind of mad rush in a sea of forced calm to complete The Project that I've to get done by the end of the month, if not earlier. Let us hope everything'll turn out well & I'll continue to sleep early every night (:

From what I can remember, the past week's been enjoyable - Mee Siam, Putri Salat, awesome chilli by Chef Abdul, paycheques (No longer as broke!), ISE camp & Post-SportsCampDeux meetup :D Thank you God for awesome food & friends!

You're too quick, Mom

"I think at the speed of light."

Said my mom,

...upon seeing me in my (usual) random over-sized tee & denim shorts:

"TSK. Your shabbiness increases by EXPONENTIAL factors each time!"

... while we were discussing about men & their ginormous egos:

" What do you call the forces between 2 men with big egos?" 

"Hmm?" 

"EGOSTATIC. Especially between D. & Uncle X."

You're too cute, Mom.

As my mother was scrolling through my younger sister's blog, attempting to figure out why she's been so pms-y/ emo/ hostile lately, her eyes spotted a seemingly outrageous sentence. It must've seared her retinas for she started muttering furiously, "What is this?! Tsktsktsk. How can she write something like that?!" while highlighting the offending sentence which had been italicised for emphasis. Then she proceeded to jab the DEL button continuously for several seconds before huffing indignantly at the uncooperativeness, "Hey, this cannot be deleted ah? Why can't I delete this?! Christine! How can I delete this sentence!" Frowning confusedly, she proceeded to try the BACKSPACE button, failing miserably as well.

At that point, having lost control of any ability to speak due to laughing harder than I've laughed in the last 2 weeks, all I could do was wave a helpless hand towards the mouse attempting to convey the futility of her efforts.