Steamboat Dinner at Marina South

Had steamboat dinner with Slug at Marina South. Was sad to know that the chain of steamboat restaurants there will soon be taken down to make way for the IR developments.


The fun part about the steamboat dinner at Marina South is not about grilling and cooking your own food, it is about waiting to be served the cooked food. So there I was chilling out with a jug of iced green tea while Slug was furiously battling the flames and heat while trying to stir-fry the chicken shreds and butter prawns. Tasted good.

However, the variety of ingredients at the steamboat restaurant we went to was a tad disappointing. Slug made me vow to go to the neighbouring steamboat restaurant, Zhen Fa, next time.

We finally topped off the dinner with an omelette, which I cooked and rolled myself, and Potong ice-cream!


Then it was off to hail a cab home, but that place was practically a dead city where no taxis were willing to come to. Spent a desperate 30 minutes and lots of chasing to nab one.

It's Zhen Fa next next next weekend (hopefully)!

Wild Hogs

Watched Wild Hogs, a comedy about four big men hitting the road on their Harleys to have a brief gettaway from their screwed-up lives. Slug and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, as it was hilarious and well-worth our time. There were slapstick, gay humour, nudity and a heartwarming ending. There was even an unexpected parody of Extreme Makeover Home Edition at the end of the movie, where the four big men helped to rebuild a three-storey bar, complete with neon signs, for their nemesis: the tough and burly bikers. Imagine the tough guys sniffle, cry and kiss the ground when they saw their new home!

As the four big men (who called themselves Wild Hogs) rode through lush coniferous forests and arid deserts and bathed under cascading waterfalls, I felt that I could use a good riding vacation like this too. I was filled with envy as America offers many breathtaking sceneries. Don't mock me, but there is beauty out of barren and scrubby wastelands and rocky gorges.

After the movie, we went for the Merlionster at Ben & Jerry's. Oh man, it was an orgasmic ice-cream creation with six scoops of ice-cream, topped with brownie chunks, chocolate chip cookies, caramel, chocolate sauce, rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream, and all contained in a waffle bowl. The humorous ice-cream scooper implored us to go for a 10km run after this ice-cream, but methinks a schoolday of screaming and chasing after naughty kids is more than enough to burn off those calories.

School Chronicles (1)

Was teaching a Sec 4 class in the afternoon when an announcement over the PA system disrupted my lesson.

"Sec 3s and Sec 4s, today's NAPFA test will ..."

"Be cancelled," one student whispered intently. It was raining heavily at that moment and it could not be possible to conduct the test outdoors.

"Be ... " Everyone listened with bated breath. "Postponed to ... "

"WOOOOOH!!!!" The whole class erupted into triumphant cheers and a few jokers jumped into the air. When the noise died down, the announcement was already over and one of them asked, "Eh, postponed to when?"

" I don't know," someone replied. The rest looked at one another blankly.

Can you believe these guys actually could not even wait till the announcement was over before behaving like monkeys, and then realised that they have missed out the important information?

Met Granny in My Dreams

The day before was the 7th day since Granny's death, and according to Chinese folklore, the spirit will return to his house to pay a last visit to his loved ones before embarking on his journey to the nether world. My relatives planned to stay overnight at Granny's house, in the hope of seeing her in their dreams when they sleep. I decided to go along too.

When I got there at night, 7 of my relatives were already there. They went to sleep early while I watched cable TV with a cousin till 11+pm. Before going to sleep, I prayed to Granny and asked for her to appear in my dreams so that I could see her for one last time. With that, my cousin and I proceeded to sleep in Granny's bedroom (while the rest of them were cramped into another bedroom).

Unfortunately, I could not fall asleep because of the uncomfortable mattress, so I just laid there keeping a clear consciousness of the surroundings. About an hour or so later, I heard the sounds of buckets in the kitchen toilet, and I wondered if Granny was around. Whenever I was about to fall asleep, I would feel a presence on top of me and would be jolted awake instantly.

When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt of Granny. I dreamt that I was in exactly the same place where I was sleeping, so it seemed as though it was really happening. In my dream, I heard the shuffling of feet in the living room, so I got up and rushed out of the bedroom. There Granny was with a solemn look on her face. I was overjoyed to see her and I yelled "Ah Ma! Ah Ma!" repeatedly so that I could wake everyone up to see her. I ran over and hugged her, and started crying with relief. My relatives started to stream out of the bedroom and surround us, and that was when the dream faded to an end.

I woke up again at 5+am to hear the gentle pitter-patter of the rain. When I woke up at 7+am, I could remember the dream vividly and I felt consoled. I prayed to Granny again thanking her for taking the time to see me for the last time.

When I checked with my relatives, one uncle told me he did dream about Granny but it was a very vague dream and that he had no recollection about it when he woke. My cousins said that they also heard scrubbing noises in the kitchen toilet and suspected that she was actually doing some household chores for the last time.

When my auntie opened the cover of the rice bucket, we could see that the rice had been stirred before. I believe Granny did come back last night, and I believe she would be happy to see us over at her house.

I am sorry for not taking the time to see my Granny when she was still around.

Never wait till a person is gone before you realise how much you love him / her.