Haikus for Heron's Nest

Made 5 submissions to The Heron's Nest yesterday. *fingers crossed* Mostly compositions inspired by the Ubin trip. Now waiting for the Sep 08 online issue. haikusea.blogspot.com

偶像 - 06062008

六月六日，夜间７点半，茶渊，
讲题：新加坡与中国两地人文感触

Wu Wei Cai is going to speak this Friday, at Tea Chapter, a place we have not been since more than 5 years ago. Finally, am gonna see him for the first time. I hope it's going to be an interesting session. And 久しぶりのTea Chapter...懐かしいわ。

Office

siew khim, esther, franz, grace, nori

Ens' wedding

note to self: Four Seasons is an excellent location.

達屋

I have never posted my opinions on food places here before, although I have made an effort to spare time and compose some reviews at online food communities of 3-4 places that were highly rated in my point of view. (why waste time commenting on nondescript places or blasting lousy ones.) But this one - Tatsuya - deserves special mention. Went for their well-recommended, value-for-money set lunch on a weekday (Nori-san no okagede). Service was efficient and passable but that is no matter. The food and the makers of it were clearly the star. Had a $30 sushi bento, as illustrated. The impeccable details paid to the production of the food clearly shone through. The use of Japanese ingredients, down to the chopped slivers of spring onion (not in pic) whose purpose is to gently enliven the 6 pieces of sea-goodness on rice, demonstrates the chef's persistence and dedication to his craft. Those 6 delectable pieces were made-to-measure for the hito-guchi and as each bite went through, hints of yuzu zest started to envelope the palate - ahh, what a refreshing combination. Special mention also goes to the chawanmushi, which is one of my least favourite Japanese concoctions. But this one, ironically made sono-mama without any usual prawn/meat/gingko nut companions to lend flavour, was pitch-perfect. Again, the credit has to go to the yuzu for dressing up the steamed egg. After hitting the peak with the sushi, the tempura seemed almost mediocre. But I note the light batter and absence of visible swathes of oil, in contrast to the floury, oil-drenched crust that seems to be a common sighting at most establishments here.

Sex and the City

All girly pink and screechy fun. Love that hussy Cattrall.

Elaine's wedding

Photo at wedding, but no bride. Din realise then but the bow looks rather awkward. Hmm.

Avenue Q - episode 1

Countdown: exactly 5 (long) months more to go

Episode 2: the aftermath

Tea classification

To aid my aging memory....

Green Tea: Dragon well, Biluochun (light green brew)

White Tea (leaves with white buds): Shou mei, Bai mudan, Baihaoyinzhen (light yellow brew)

Yellow Tea: Huangyacha, Huangxiaocha (yellow brew)

Oolong: Shuixian, Tie Guan Yin (golden/orange brew)

Red Tea (English): Darjeeling, Assam (deep red brew)

Black Tea: Pu-er (e.g. Tuo cha) (brown brew)

www.tea-chapter.com.sg has a good summary of factors affecting a good brew (temperature, amount of tea leaves and water, and brew time) plus classification details.

floating world

Re-read this. This collection of premodern Japanese senryu remains accessible and highly readable a century after they were written. I find this concept of ukiyo ("floating world" is the best translators could muster and agree on) fascinating. It's a very Zen Buddhist philosophy that is closely linked to the perspective of "everything is nothing and nothing is everything". The Chinese call it 一切皆空. 既然是空，也就不必太介怀。