waku ghin

on our most recent trip back to singers, there was reason to celebrate. being a not-so-closet hedonist, there's always reason to celebrate but this was an especially big one. hadn't been to waku ghin since it first opened, and then we were guests of a truly special couple celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. slight aside: there's a more conscientious review over there, when i was pseudo-eloquent and better able to articulate my thoughts before medsch dulled my wit and charm. anyhoos, the meal was the stuff of dreams and the memory of it still burns bright. before i lapse into even greater melodrama, let me first say i kept the menu but have seem to have left it in sg. oops. so i can't tell you in any greater detail what each of these courses are (sorry!) and the incredible uni with botan ebi and oscietra featured again but was demolished before i could take a photo. tell a lie. i did take a photo and sent it to a friend whose one word response was "blimey" so i suppose it must've looked exotic enough. the chefs worked their magic with the freshest of produce, and paired with tetsuya san's junmai daiginjo (spoilt now, can't have regular japan centre sake no more :( ) everything went down way too easily. relished each dish and was kept wanting more. even now, i would go back tomorrow if i could. 

on a semi-related note, was having a discussion with a dear friend who's based stateside but happened to be home the same time i was last summer. we were tucking into the aoki chirashi and decided that if our meagre means allow, it's best to eat <S$5 or >S$50 because every thing in between would be mediocre. huge fan of hawker food and defo got my fill but it's nice to punctuate the grease with something a little more glitzy at times.

officially autumn

officially the start of autumn and it's already turning cold. something about this season seems to kick off a maelstrom of cravings and i'm stuffing my face with greggs sausage rolls and donuts. well not just donuts but danishes, brownies and all the candy i can get my hands on. waitrose prawn crackers are another firm favourite. so much for being adult and having a healthy relationship with food! 

suppose greed is something most people struggle with and it's something i need to reign in more often than not. but speaking of which, it was refreshing to have A san and her friend visit. i like people who eat well. nothing annoys me like a house guest with dietary restrictions, if you get what i mean. so these two lovely ladies were down for everything. from a massive yumcha lunch, chased by bubbletea and snacking through the afternoon then more flights of beer than we should've had (complete with side of pervy stranger!) before coming home for home cooked goodness. (wo)men after my own heart. usually over order at the yumcha place but was pleasantly surprised that they finished everything, and dinner which is usually for 5-6 was put away in next to no time. C commented that she thought i'd be having leftovers till the end of the week but noooo! 

much as i'm as wary of excess as i am of over-restriction, they look perfectly healthy and are active so no, no binge-ing there either. it's just such a tricky topic, isn't it? with all these trigger warnings you're meant to put up just in case someone with an eating disorder wanders by. joining C and a colleague for dinner tomorrow and have been warned not to mention weight. not that it's on my mind much / something i usually bring up but hm, put on notice to avoid at all costs! pity - as it's always nice to have an open discourse and i'm a girly girl who rather be supportive and part of a strong sisterhood that engenders body confidence. but recognise not everyone wants to talk about it, and fair enough! 

digression aside, weather was mucky but like to think we made the most of it. hit up the museum, traipsed across the bridge, stuck our heads into the concert hall and just soaked in the sights. a little more soaking than i'd have liked with the spitting rain but what's a girl to do. thrilled that A san is the same delightful person she was all those years ago. we'd a good sit and think because ohmyword has it been five years since we first met?! really felt our age. was glad to know she thought i was the same (whew!) and it was as if no time had lapsed. to me, that's the beauty of true friendship and being able to pick up where we left off is a real blessing. and the funny aside with the pervy stranger - not quite worth repeating but constantly reminded how the world is a big bad place and a girl can't be too careful. long story short, we got talking with a lone guy two tables away. perfectly innocent, harmless banter - or so we thought. honestly, hand on heart, nothing untoward at all and i'm usually quite switched on about boundaries and my spidey senses were far from a'tingling. but back at the flat, A san discovered that mr. creepster had added her on fb (he must've overheard us talking about her full name...) and then started messaging and basically asked if she wanted to get it on. in less polite terms, of course. so we had a mini panic and i was glad we hadn't mentioned my address or whereabouts or anything vaguely identifiable other than her name (bad enough!). quick delete and block but A san was visibly shaken :(

didn't get much sleep, as expected, and went straight to a 90min prescribing exam. yay! having my cake (lemon meringue pie?) and eating it is something i'm always all for. even if it meant staying up after everyone went to bed to plough through 42 pages of worked examples. fun times - being a full-time student is the bombdiggity. i think.

and this was breakfast near the station! A san's first taste of porridge (english-style) on C's recommendation. she liked it :) gimme good ol' rice porridge any day, but oats with thick honey and blueberries is admittedly comforting on a blustery autumnal morning.

it's only mid-week and i'm already exhausted. busy weekend ahead. another weekend, another set of friends passing through london. there's E who i've not met in over 5 years. chance meeting at a dinner party and she was so kind as to have her hotelier father host the mister and i on his grad trip in south america. we went from backpacking on a shoestring budget to living in the lap of luxury with comp-ed stays at his arequipa then colca hotels. immensely grateful and still wanting to pay it forward some day. that's the beauty of kindness, isn't it. and there's A who's a swiss lawyer (judicial clerk) turned banker turned big swiss bank biz dev dude who's in town. dialing things up and see them escalating to high octane so bracing myself for a big weekend. there's also 7am spin (gotta make small dents at the autumn feasting) and perhaps a tiny staycation if i'm lucky. so hey, bring it !

activity

so a fortnight into fourth year, things seem to be picking up pace. changing gears, perhaps? i wouldn't know, being completely useless and unable to drive stick. then again, if my uk driver's licence is to be believed, i can! and motorcycles and massive lorry-type things too. funny how my one automatic licence when converted conferred me additional and undeserved powers. but i digress.

it's been o-k so far? funny regression to pre-clinical before it's fast and furious clinicals after christmas. enjoying the down time, maybe skipping more lectures than i should. i blame my short attention span (not so much ADD but you get the picture) and preference for reading over slides on my own (and not listening to someone drone on for 2h on end). 

some excitement in the next few days. a dear housemate from stockholm is visiting with a friend so that should be good fun. she's a sweetheart and being the nostalgic sap i am, associate her with a time when i was young and carefree. in a way i like to think i still am (me me me, oh dear!) but there's no denying that things are different now. we met on the very first day in stockholm and discovered we were corridor-mates (there were 12 en suites sharing a corridor!) which was nothing short of serendipity given how many hundred internationals there must've been. we'd natter away in japanese, much to the amusement of the corridor dad (dubious honour given how he was the only swede and been living there longer than the rest) he used to comment that we sounded like kittens, which in retrospect may have been more pervy than i'd have liked to believe. but hey, benefit of doubt + lost in translation! 

when it was time for me to leave, she helped drag my massive suitcase all the way to the tunnelbana and burst into tears as i crossed the turnstiles. and when i visited in summer, she let me stay in hers so it was nice to be back on our corridor to pretend i was still on exchange (when i had in fact just graduated and stared down an uncertain future of bar exam + medsch entrance exam + medsch apps.

we linked up in tokyo a couple of years later when she was working, and when i was in first year of uni round 2, we had a skype reunion. this time she was in stockholm with what was left of our then corridor, and i was in halls. finally finally two years on it's time for some proper facetime and i can't wait to see her again. only too happy to play tour guide and wish i was in edinburgh today (where she's staying with krishna, another of our corridormates but alas i took the commercial decision to stay put and patiently await her arrival. 

there we go - a lengthy preamble about why i'm looking forward to the next couple of days. it's the business before having houseguests now. supermarket run to stock up on milk and snacks, doing a few loads of laundry to make sure bedding is nice and clean, and general activity planning using accuweather as a guide.

fourth year

it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks since my housewife moan. was in sg for 9 whole days - the longest time since moving in 2011. usually back for 3-4 days so 3 days into this visit, i was all ready to jump on the first flight to londontown. not wanting to sound like a complete ingrate, it's getting harder to be an adult child at home. sad to see grandmothers getting on, older and more crumbly each visit. the inevitable goodbyes get harder too. 

what was nice was meeting friends. there was a sad element to that too - meeting friends who i've drifted so far away from that catch ups were stilted and painful. it's not always a function of time. there were friends i caught up with for the first time in two years who felt like no time had lapsed since we last hung out. yet there were others who i felt had outgrown me. but that's life isn't it? people change and move on and the sooner we accept it, the sooner we stop pretending we're closer than we actually are, the less awkwardness. something else i can appreciate is friends who make an effort. everyone is busy, everyone has a demanding job and it means a lot when someone tries their darndest to make it out of the office and be present for the short time you've together. been there, done that. know how challenging it can be and all the more grateful for friends who are intentional.

the B word was something that came up a lot. have absolutely no qualms sharing plans and views with nearest and dearest. in fact, i might even volunteer! but if it's a nosey aunty or acquaintance clutching at conversational straws then i get immensely defensive / crabby. i mean, in which universe is it o-k to ask someone about their family planning...?! 

it was an incredibly social week and a bit and met a few new people. part of me wants to minimise obligations in sg and just chill at home, while another part is more opportunistic (okok, FOMO) and craves the high octane social stimulation so easily sought when back for a short visit. 

now the summer hol is well and truly over and i'm back to school, life's slowed down to a more leisurely pace. kinda surreal that in a short 5 weeks, there was aix with jeanne, the cruise with my fam, lisbon, essex and then sg.  loath as i am to talk about uni, fourth year's looking pretty relaxed and it's a nice break from the crazy that is third year. so trying to scheme a couple more getaways, and defo down for porto en masse.

housewife-dom

not the prettiest of pictures but sums up what i've been doing the past week or so. my defunct instagram bio reads "undercover housewife" which i suppose holds a grain of truth given that it's essentially what i am when i'm not at uni. friends are often surprised that i cook and clean on repeat while the mister, bless him, doesn't. haven't entirely worked out gender roles in my mind but this arrangement works and i like being able to manage a house (ok, one bedder) on top of everything else. not like there are kids or extended family in the fray, so it's really not all that impressive. how hard can looking after myself and another independent adult be? MIL was up last month and remarked how quickly i hung up clothes. back-handed compliment, much? suppose there are worse things to be known for...