After 9 months in London I finally committed to... furniture. I've been living with just a wardrobe and bed all this time and while it's fine I'm tired of having all my books and stuff lying on the floor, plus I'm developing a permanent crick in my back everytime I lean from the bed to reach for my phone or water on the floor.
I've put off this decision for months, saying I don't have the funds for it due to my incessant traveling, but part of the truth is I can't decide how to do my room up. But now is the time to put a stake in the ground and define my decor style. For now. I've decided on a classic dark brown / black pieces to go with my white walls and cream carpet, and I'll decorate with framed photo prints. I like the monochromatic look, but guess that goes better in a loft with exposed brick walls and wooden flooring. I love wooden floors. I can search for vintage pieces and maybe some colour so the effect isn't severe. Hopefully I can get some mirrors and frames from the Habitat sale.
Ordered online from IKEA last night and it should be delivered next weekend, where I'll have the joys of figuring out how to assemble flat-pack furniture, which I suck at.
Hang on, I just realised I forgot to use my gift voucher that was a present from the girls!
Been meaning to mention, but never got around to, a couple of great movies I caught in the cinemas recently. In Singapore there were more and more themed film festivals, but it's not on offer in the scale and range you can get in London, all the time. I feel like a kid in a candy store. I must say I prefer film to theatre. Location shoots, cinematography and editing really helps escape you into a story. You don't need to overcome a leap of imagination to believe that the character is say, on a beach watching an amazing sunset.
In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007) Indie romantic comedy set in slacker LA, two lonely souls look to find love and companionship on New Year's Eve. They meet online through Craig's List and wander through the city together, talking about life and love, and finding out they have more in common than they realise. The fact that it was an indie movie meant it wasn't Hollywood glossy, felt really real and was funny as hell. There were poignant bits and it had a realistic ending, was just a refreshing movie to watch.
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) Part of the Cuban film festival, this movie was from celebrated director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea about the alienation of an intellectual in Cuba post Castro revolution. Lots of people were leaving Cuba for America, unsure of the new world, but the protagonist Sergio remained, and you're never sure why. Because he didn't seem to believe in either Cuba or America and seemed stuck, only observing and quietly criticising those around him. Things don't get better as he gets into all sorts of women trouble but he can't seem to relate to others. Thus the increasing alienation. I didn't have the context of lots of Cuban history but it was an interesting portrayal. One thing is Cubans seem innately distinguished and very cool.
Went for a Moroccan cooking class on Saturday, held in the instructor's home kitchen, and what a beautiful home it was. Eclectic and breezy with a pretty courtyard and a big open kitchen, it was a fun way to spend a Saturday.
The kitchen was big, warm and had the best collection of cookware and gadgets. And a big long table that doubled up as a worktable and dining table.
John, the instructor, instructs us in the way of preserving lemons. The culinary dream team: Ward, YL, Melf.
Moroccan cooking involves a lot of preserved lemons (preserved in lemon juice, packed salt, water and oil), herbs like parsley, coriander, and mint, and spices like tumeric, cumin, and sweet smoked paprika. Everything smelt fragrant and fantastic the whole time. We also learnt how to fillet fish, and clean squid. Eech. I think I'll buy my squid cleaned.
The Fish Pastilla was seafood noodle filling in baked filo pastry. Seabass, chopped squid and shrimp were poached to make stock, glass noodles blanched then seasoned with soya sauce, then pan fried with herbs and spices and harissa paste to make this yummy noodle filling. Then we brushed 2 sheets of filo pastry together with melted butter before filling and wrapping the pastry up. A few brushes of egg yolk and the Pastillas were ready to bake. Very good.
An aubergine and tomato mezze was simple to make. Chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives was really yummy. We made a marinade of herbs, spices, oil and water to simmer the chicken in the tagine.You just leave it to cook, and add olives in the last 10 minutes to warm through. This is a definite repeat recipe, I need a tagine!
For dessert we stewed pear and apple in butter, sugar and cinammon, strained the liquid, and wrapped the fruit in filo pastry. 5 minutes later it was ready, drizzled with the fruit sauce and poppyseeds. Really easy and tasty.
The best part of cooking class is you get to eat all that you make! Munching on the mezze in the courtyard at breaktime.
Interview with David Simon, writer and producer of critically-acclaimed HBO TV series, The Wire.
Culture Show:"Your show has been accused of being inaccessible to the average viewer, who wants to dip in and dip out."
David Simon:"Average viewer? Who wants an average viewer? Does a writer want an average reader? Average viewer. Pick them off the end of your line and throw them away like bad fish. Throw them away. I write for people who want to be told a story."
Good man. I need to watch this.
Series synopsis (from the site):
One of television's most critically acclaimed programs, the Peabody Award-winning drama series 'The Wire' continues to challenge viewers with a "cop show" unlike anything on air.
The fifth and final season of 'The Wire' centers on the media's role in addressing - or failing to address - the fundamental political, economic and social realities depicted over the course of the series, while also resolving storylines of the numerous characters woven throughout the narrative arc of the show.
Explains series creator David Simon, "It made sense to finish 'The Wire' with this reflection on the state of the media, as all the other attendant problems of the American city depicted in the previous four seasons will not be solved until the depth and range of those problems is first acknowledged. And that won't happen without an intelligent, aggressive and well-funded press."
This season of 'The Wire' is based in large part on Simon's experiences in 13 years at The Baltimore Sun. Simon decries recent trends in the newspaper industry that have conspired to make high-end journalism vulnerable: out-of-town chain ownership, an economic climate in which the share price of media companies matters more to industry leaders than the product itself, and a newsroom culture in which prizes, personal ambition and the cult of the "impact" story has replaced consistent and detailed coverage of complex issues as the primary goal.
10 Years ago I was: Enjoying the 7-month break before entering Uni.
5 years ago I was: Newly and significantly single, moving on to one of the best jobs of my career.
1 year ago I was: Enjoying Singapore then packing my bags for London.
5 Things on my To-Do-list: Aside from my household chores and work stuff... Register with the NHS, Research Edinburgh trip with Dawn & Denise, Measure myself for Dawn's bridesmaid dress, Research for Dawn's hen's weekend, Plan Wen's hen's weekend with the girls. (See Dawn it's all about you!)
Five Snacks I enjoy: Kit Kat, Chocolate Digestive Biscuits, Kettle Chips, Chocolate Pocky, Bak Kwa.
If I were a Billionaire I would: Live like The Darlings (from Dirty Sexy Money). No, not really. Well, the beautiful bits would be nice. Assuming I'm a Billionaire because someone's keeping the money rolling in (not me) and I have all the free time to do what I want. Get involved in charity, not the tai-tai fundraisers but working with smaller grassroots groups. Quit my job and enter design or culinary school. Invest in my friends' business ideas (I'm gathering a dream team covering the key functions like strategy & management, law, accounting, IT & Ops. They know who they are ;-) I'll cover A&P.) Acquire property for all my dream locations: Loft in NYC, House for my parents in Singapore, Ski Lodge in Switzerland, Beach house in California, Beach house somewhere along Andaman coast in Thailand, Townhouse in London, Seaside house in the Amalfi Coast / Maldives / Somewhere with ridiculously blue waters, good weather and food, private pier and yacht. All my property have the best outfitted kitchen and outdoor rotary spits where there are gardens. They must have large balconies where possible.
Five people/groups I'd want to have lunch with: I'm counting out my good friends that I see regularly. Family (miss them), Barack Obama (because I'm reading his books and I want to see if he's for real), Charlize Theron (one of the hottest, most underated actress), Lee Kwan Yew (I'd be terrified though), Ryan Gosling / Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the guy who plays Lizzie's patient-love-interest who dies in Grey's Anatomy and the Irish guy in PS I Love You (I've got a huge crush on them).
Five Places I've lived: Singapore, Stockholm, Berlin, London. That's it but I hope that's not all. Five jobs I've had: Intern monkey at the Trade Ministry, Client Servicing monkey in 3 ad agencies.
Absolutely packed with busy and fun these weeks. Work went nuts last week, spilled into the weekend, and will continue at full (but hopefully manageable pace) till next Friday. This week I had gigs back-to-back with Jason Mraz and Alicia Keys. I'm a fan all over again for the both of them, incredibly talented and unabashedly crowd-pleasing, bring it on!
Mraz and Keys. Small and intimate versus Big and slick. Love it all.
I saw a fight break out yesterday evening when I was on my way to the gym. A group of boys, aged no more than 16, 17, broke out in a scuffle in front of McDonald's and start kicking and pumelling 3 boys. I didn't see how it started, only when the yelling started and the punching began. The action was coming straight at me, and I backed up quickly.
It was horrible to see, violence from those so young. Crime in London is high, but sadly it seems to come mostly from the youth, and in recent weeks the spate of knife crime from these kids have risen to almost an incident a day. This week there have been four youth knife killings in London alone, my colleague even witnessed one outside a pub she was in last night, the boy died on the sidewalk. It's really sad.
Yesterday when it was happening, I felt somewhat scared but very disturbed. I wasn't in that much danger, I was maybe 30m away and could still run for it if they charged down the street in my direction. But it was the unchecked violence you could feel in the air. It's not the adults you fear in London, it's the gangs of teens.
Then the most extraordinary thing happened. The fight was happening right at the traffic lights, and when the light changed, traffic on both sides didn't move off, all cars stopped and blared their horns at the same time, the sound and intensity was frightening. And this startled the boys and they broke off, and eventually walked away, while the boys on the receiving end ran across the street. It was as if everyone stopped and took action, to stop the violence.
I took heart for a minute.
This reminds me of Macolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point, when he talks about a little known incident can spark off a spate of "copycat" occurences. From wearing Hush Puppies is cool again, to suicides among teens in the same area of a country, something small can spark off a chain reaction. I have to read that book again. Maybe one day we'll understand why this is.
Took lunch out in the square today for some much needed sunshine. Now I know why Westerners sprawl outdoors with any spot of sun. Need some Vitamin B. Too windy though, I hate eating when it's windy.
WIth my boss away for a week, I've got my hands on her laptop! This means I can gym and continue work at home. Woo!
Watching John Mayer play in Hyde Park. He was third in line from Eric Clapton and Sheryl Crow so his set was short and too chill - was disappointing. He's yummy though.
Karyn came to visit, I've not seen her in 2 years!
Kevin teaches me to cook Ghanaian food - it's yummy!
The perfect black pumps. 2.5 inch heel, shapely all round, slight stacked heel. As the shop owner said, "this is for when you want to feel feminine..."
"... and this is when you want to walk quickly." Classic black patent loafers for work, and stomping around London.
My boss commented how I wear black even in Spring / Summer. Oh well, it's my uniform.
... is the music of Rodrigo Y Gabriela. I've never seen fingers fly over an instrument so quickly, and with such rhythm and power. They're acoustic guitars, for goodness sakes. And I've never seen such fervour from the crowd, usually reserved for a rock concert. Fucking hell, I was blown away.
... is also for Cottons, a Rhum Shack (love that) and brilliant Caribean food. Feel the groove.
I did a phenomenal amount of shopping in Amsterdam, partly because I had the time, and the great sales and relaxed shopping districts made it really conducive. I may have blown a good portion of rent on my purchases, but there were a lot of good investments there, Very pleased.
The Filippa K shops there were on sale, so I picked up a camel trench coat for sprint/summer, and a black shirt dress for work. I've always wanted a trench coat. Images from http://www.filippa-k.com/
Bought stone-washed skinny jeans and a powder blue ruffle strappy top from H&M Divided, and a royal blue T-shirt jersey dress from Goods, a shop that sold several labels from Laundry Industry to Vero Moda. The dress was by a LA designer and the brand was called Born Trash, I think. The same style came in several primary colours and a couple of cuts and lengths and were laid out like candy in a store. Yum. You can wear it on it's own, or over leggings or jeans.
Got a few bits and bobs from American Apparel, love it for its slouchy cool casual wear. Jersey cotton pullovers, tanks and tees that I want to spend my life in, it's the softest thing ever.
Finally, picked up a pair of perfect black pumps, in the right height (2.5 inches), slight stacked sole, with a not-too-rounded-not-too-pointed toe. Plus it was comfy to boot! This was from a small Dutch brand, Square Feet. Love it. The second pair was a pair of black patent loafers that's classic and perfect for work.
Am back from Amsterdam and feel like my time wheel hasn't stopped moving at a semi-fast pace for the last month or so, since I got back from Singapore. Work has picked up, lots of travels, and I'm managing to keep my social calendar really busy too. What's different from when I was living in Singapore was I didn't have to do housework or spend so much commuting before. Seems like the only time I have to chill, read, or think, is to and from work in the tube, or a few precious minutes before I fall asleep. How I unwind before bed is to surf the web, listen to music, and blank out my mind. Precious and short time to veg and be alone, when even blogging seems to require more energy than I can muster.
People with families have it even harder, I can't imagine, I'll need to cut out some things. Was in Amsterdam with an old colleague, F, who moved away from Singapore back home to Germany several years ago, and I've not seen her in 3. We finally made our reunion happen, and had a great time reminiscing and catching on all the people we know, especially our dear gfs that we used to hang out with. Everyone's moved on to their own stage of life now in different countries, whether marriage, exploring new countries, changing careers, it was great that we still kept in touch. With these girls I always had great sounding boards for future plans and ideas, and stimulating conversations.
F has a 1.5 year old baby girl with her partner, she talked to me lots about the joys and stresses of a baby on her as a modern working woman, her struggle to keep her sense of self and independence, the effort of keeping a long relationship fresh. All challenges I'd probably encounter in the future and will have to learn to cope with. For now I cope with what's currently on my plate, and I look forward to more me time when this month is over.
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kopibren's journal
