Kindly Yours

I woke up early to savour  a variation of the omelette - this one lovingly made with  a dash of truffled oil, served with thin slices of ham and carefully laid on crisply grilled Italian bread.   The rain was pouring outside the Federation terrace in the heart of Wollongong city, with visibly enlivened plants soaking in the moisture. Coupled with the sensations of freshly made latte, I could not have asked for more. Staff at the Lee & Me cafe were bubbly - and Lee was wardrobed in striking white, over a grey-blue cargo pants. This evening, Rick Stein was enjoying his Australian adventure, cooking in a Balmain house and meeting up with cuisine writer Charmaine Solomon, courtesy of pay tv.  An hour ago it was the Discovery Media Singapore Corp take on Malaysian food, featuring, amongst others, the experience of Carol Selvarajah;  the fact that Indians do not normally take fish head and the Chinese do not otherwise indulge in curry, yet there is thi...

The aroma of slowly but surely ripening mangoes from Queensland permeates my house in summer.  Just as sure as the cool breezes from the ocean blow in after dinner time in Balgownie, these fruity sensations remind me of a childhood growing up in a tropical airy place, where seasonal fruits make up for the lack of changing climate seasons, and where the variety of such produce can also mean the fruits of long term labours.  It takes gestation periods, monsoonal changes and planning ahead to arrive at the grin on the faces of darkened fruit growers, their tan resulting from days walking on their orchards udner the intense equatorial sun. Summer officially arrives on a Wednesday this year, but the last Saturday of November already gave a good show of what it can be. The sun was up too early, as expected, and I felt too excited for the day in chilling out and now feel so bad texting a mate so early. As I write this, there seems to be a synchronisation of temperatures up in ...

Soon, it shall be the completion of a decade for the new millennium. I ponder about what it was like on the cusp of new century, and more.  Who are the mates who continue to nourish me from that time,way back when? Was it only yesterday when things, that mattered then,  do not anymore? I relish in the new ideas that have emerged since and in persons who still matter. I look around my house, cherish in things that still persist, things that I continue to appreciate using and people who still nourish my soul and mind in my journey of life. I recall the difficulty of letting go when others did not likewise experience my emotions, whether of friend ship, organisations or habits. The advantage of hindsight can make me think these things could have been so funny, but when then caught up in those significant moments, I remembered that such things were not easy to adjust to. Having survived, and allowing the healing power of time gone by, I ...

Image Credit for above: Mr Yong Chung Shen Image credits for above and below:  Miss Adelyn Yong  

There are places I remember..... Above: The Harbour at Ulladulla, NSW South Coast. All my life Above: A corner of Sydney's emerald Harbour. Above: Mollymook's enchanting and panoramic views. All these places have their moments, I still can recall......                        Above:  A placid change to Manly Beach, north of Sydney,on a week day. I've loved them all........                            Above:  Rosie,who dropped by every morning at the Henley Point townhouse. Lyric Credits from the composition "All My Life" by Chantal Kreviazuk and inspired by the singing of Jose Feliciano

I glanced at beyond the ornate glass door to the left of my dining table.  The heavy rains had created a misty effect showering the hills lined up on the coast. I was reminded of Somerset Maugham and perhaps this was his inspiration for his novel entitled 'Rain".  At the same time, it dawned on me on how hilly the island is, a fact not brought out before in the way how the skyscrapers now contrasted with the natural steep slopes.  I thought of isles in the South Pacific which revealed their underwater mountain peaks as jagged piercings into the humid tropical swirling atmosphere.  The inter-monsoon rains had come down on this particular isle - my home island - for the past few days, and it showed in the heady moist air and cooling breezes that offered comfort to the swaying palms and colonial age stone ramparts protecting the hotel from the sea. Behind May, the sea did however look placid and calm. The swimming pool deck was absolutely damp but there were some gues...

On flight SQ221, I noticed a  child who is unusually tall for her age and demeanour.  She reminded one of  a budding Singapore Girl, the iconic enduring symbol for what Singapore Airlines has stood for in all these past forty or so years. I then wondered about where the original Singapore Girls- like those from the eighties and even before the new Millennium - have landed up today. Every new SQ flight seems to have an endless supply of the slim and cheek-boned female crew that the airline projects - and delivers. How are the incumbent Singapore Girls managing their career - and more importantly,  life? Whilst Qantas continues its ever apparent consistent  recent pattern of delivering the occasional aircraft performance incident, and budget airlines in South-east Asia persist with late arrivals of aircraft and the inevitable flying delays, Singapore Airlines offers  no more irritation than provide the incorrect economy class menu on board an...

Eenh, the Fujian term for round rice flour balls served in syrup, significes wholesomeness, fertility and promise. Hence this is a simple but much appreciated concoction used to herald spring; celebrate marriages and births; and substitute for eggs as symbolic icons in the middlke of winter. Often coloured for festivity or left pure elegant white, the act of hand crafting these balls have become acts of family ritual. The dough is usually started off by someone who has achieved much in life, to ensure an auspicious beginning to the process. One cannot partake much of these cooked dough balls, but one must, to share in the abundance, joy and hope. All image credits above - Miss Adelyn Yong of Auckland, New Zealand. 22 October 2010