Random Pictures

Just some images of places around the city:

indian temple at the heart of chinatown (love the mix of culture here)

national library (basement with all the books is heaven & halls at the top for plays)

botanical gardens (great for jogging althought i don't jog plus they sometimes have free concerts in the middle park)

outside the majestic boutique hotel in chinatown (love the food in resto and the look of bar)

P.S. Cafe in Dempsey (great brunch and white wine sangria with relaxed ambience)

old shophouses in chinatown (like the look)
robertson quay (way classier than touristy clarke quay & dodgy boat quay... love the resto's here & my dream is to own one of the condo's in the area!)

white rabbit at dempsey (resto converted from an old church... okay food but great atmosphere)

the iconic fullerton hotel (check out the Phil. flag!)... breathtaking architecture, outstanding rooms & holds sentimental value

A Curious Thought

Why is it that ever since I got here, going home to Manila has been such a treat and privilege? We talk as if wow, that person is so lucky he's spending 3 weeks in Manila for the holidays! Or good news, I'm going to Manila for work and then I'll extend. We get so jealous of people going to Manila and get so excited about going home.

But when we are in Manila, going abroad is the treat.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...

Ice Cream + Art

Ever since I started my so-called "bucket list", I have been going out more on weekends to explore the city beyond the malls and Orchard Road.

So far, I have attended a visual arts exhibit, watched a play (Vagina Monologues at the National Library -- awesome place, I love libraries! not so awesome play, for me anyway), attended a baking class, finally went jogging (only once so far), went to a photo exhibit, and visited a wetlands reserve (thanks to my boyfriend's insistence).

Last Saturday, I went to the first ever ice cream festival sponsored by Ben & Jerry's at Fort Canning Park. The place was packed! I was amazed, it was a really good idea! There were food booths, bands, a show and of course a kick-ass scooping station with the most number of Ben & Jerry's flavors I have seen. The big draw was 12 flavors never before sold in Singapore and flown in from the USA only for the festival. I absolutely adore Ben & Jerry's because of the inventive flavors, amount of toppings in the ice cream and the unique names. But I proved my absolute love for it that day when I lined up for 1 hour to buy a double scoop cup. Yes, I am a pig as well as the hundreds (?) of other people who did the same. I was there anyway so why waste the trip? I tried the butter pecan (just so-so) and the peanut butter cookie dough (love love!).

where the magic happened

bliss lies beyond this gate!

the grounds
so cute! star-shaped soap bubble... they even had heart, flower and peace sign shapes!


the looooong line... i still had 40 minutes to go from here

the menu

hmm, doesnt look very photogenic! but trust me, it was really good that i wasn't even able to take a pic of my ice cream before scarfing it down

After pigging out and consuming the ice cream in 1/6 the time it took to line up for it, I decided it was time to feed my brain. I have been interested to go to the Japan Media Arts exhibit at 8Qsam since I saw the ad for it but of course, I end up going on the second to the last weekend it's on.

The exhibit was divided into 3 zones:

Zone 1 showed modern japanese art but still with themes/ roots of traditional japanese.

photos showing ths inside of a flower where beauty lies within too

dots and letters made to move like fashion models

manga is art!

this is really cute... "The Lighting Doodle Project":random people made to make doodles in the air with their light emmitting devices like cellphones and then shot with long exposure and put in an animation video

Zone 2 showed that "art" can be in many different forms like figurines based on a manga story, miniature figures, paper wrestlers (this was so cute! the artist created different 3d wrestlers made from paper and each had its own personality and character), portable video games, games (there was a piece that was air hockey but with a mirror so you play against yourself)... Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures. :(

Zone 3 was interactive where you can actually read manga, watched japanese animation or play the games (like wii and mario bros!).

Before I left the museum, I checked out their "school" exhibition. Artists were invited to interpret the theme of school tied in to the fact that the museum was a school before. I found the ones below interesting:

a "school house": 1/2 the size of an actual classroom with a chalkboard "house" where guests are invited to doodle and put in their own memories of school

very visually appealing and to think this can be considered graffiti by some

This piece was in the front lobby od the museum. Made by a pinoy and is modeled after the famous Philippine jeepneys. It actually is a real jeepney but the back is stuffed with all sorts of odds and ends.

Just makes me think... art can be found everywhere and anywhere. It has various forms and medium. What is ordinary for some is extraordinary for another.

Not bad for an ordinary Saturday afternoon. After this, I still had time to go to Mass, go grocery shopping and clubbing at night. Phew!

The Biennale

One of the perks of living in Singapore, aside from the independence, is the opportunity to take advantage of what a first world city has to offer.

Going to a mall is the top thing to do every weekend back home. Here, as in any developed city, there are more distractions. There are plays and museums and special exhibits and festivals and parks and libraries and zoos... Maybe it's because Singapore is so small with hardly any "real" natural resources (versus the beaches and various forests in the Philippines) that they have found ways to make the city-state more interesting.

Every weekend I try to at least do or go to someplace new to make the most of being here. Okay honestly, I devote one day to lazing around at home and the other day to at least spending the afternoon out.

Today, I visited the Singapore Biennale (not sure about the pronounciation, short i or long i?)visual arts exhibition. I have wanted to visit since it first opened last September and of course, procrastinator me only went today which is the last day already.

The exhibit is a contemporary arts exhibit (the second in Singapore) with the theme Wonder from artists around the world. It is spread out in different places in the City area. I was a bit hesitant to go at first because I thought it would be too "modern" for me. I do not pretend to be an arts connoseiur but I want to see art that I understand at least.

I'm glad I went because even though I have been to mueseums in Europe, this was more quirky in a way. Not too modern, can be understood (thanks to the free guided tour plus the little English placards) and very visually interesting and arresting. It was also very varied so one would not get bored - scuplture, videos, photographs, installations, carvings, etc... Art opens the mind.

Personally, I'm happy to appreciate and to be surrounded by beautiful things (a trait of a true Libran) and to live in a city which makes this possible.

Some of my favorites:

scupltured out of yarn

looks like a renaissance painting but is a modern photo

10,000 filigrees with vibrant colors on one side...

and charred on the other

wooden carvings used in stop motion for a music video

made by a Filipino, "aliens" on the city hall rooftop with the new supreme court as their "spaceship"

love this... looks like fabric but is actually paint... impressive size, covering an entire high wall

love the old world mysterious feel of the exhibit in South Beach... with lone hanging lightblubs illuminating the art cards

made by a Filipino team... various personal items collected and shaped in balikbayan box mold to represent social dislocation and our need to send things home to give belongingness

dancer's twisting body

very cute... two exactly the same "barbershops" that one thinks she is looking into a mirror but the other side is actually a real live barbershop too... showing what we think is not real can actually be real

molded bars of soap representing washing and man's routinary life with one hundred years of solitude installation in the background
again by a Filipino... representation of headline disasters with the use of food!

neon light swing (I'm sure this has a deep meaning too.. solitude? fragility? time passing?)

this just looks pretty... adhesive stickers on a wall


i don't know if this was part of the exhibit but it was one of the rooms although had no art card... a deep meaning of man's obesssiveness in cleaning? or just a janitor who left the broom?! :)

Homecoming

I just got back from a week of being in Manila. It was my longest stay back since I moved here 6 months ago. I have been back a total of three times (I know, I'm spoiled!). I've been back thrice for a personal trip usually lasting 4 days 3 nights max. Every trip has been a barrage of emotions.

The first trip back was in June, only a month and a half of being away. It felt strange because I still thought of Manila as home and it didn't feel like I was on "vacation". I felt high seeing friends and family whom I haven't seen for a couple of weeks. I had lots of new experiences to talk about. I missed my loved ones terribly and I looked forward to that trip rather badly. It saved me because if not, I might have given up and gone home after the homesickness wave.

My second trip back was last August. Again it was different as I had more or less adjusted to Singapore life and estabished a routine. Manila still felt like home but it was a home that I felt was dirty and confusing. I was just starting to discover Singapore then with its efficiency and first world planning and facilities. By contrast, Manila with its traffic, pollution and inept government made me think twice about living there again. It felt small, as if there was nothing new to discover again.

My third trip back was early October for my birthday weekend and to celebrate my youngest sister's debut. It was a reunion of sorts, first night with family and relatives at my sister's party. Second night with friends at my party. It was a compact trip back whereby I was able to see people that are close to my heart. I was just coming from a high of the weekend before whereby I was able to do things in my Singapore bucket list like jog around our block and watch a play by myself. But then I thought, what good are those things if you don't have someone to share a drink with after the jog or someone to talk to about the play. It was bittersweet to see everyone but it didn't feel sad after because I knew I would be back soon for my work trip.

This last trip as mentioned was the longest one so far. It was strange to spend that long a time in old familiar places and re-establish routines. Singapore felt like it never happened at all. In no time, I was back to old habits again: things that I wanted so badly to change and climb out of before because I felt that I was stuck in a rut. Surprisingly, I looked forward to these things. Like attending a press meeting, catching up with office people, answering emails at the office, going to my grandma's, having lunch with my family, eating dinner with him at our favorite restaurant, drinks with friends Friday night at usual haunts.

I dreaded leaving. It's harder to say goodbye after a long trip. Somehow, my Singapore life felt so surreal. Now that I am back here, I have mixed feelings about this whole situation. I miss him and my family and my friends. I miss having a close network of people who genuinely care. Strangely enough, I also miss the old familiar routines. But at the same time, being here now reminds me of what I love about this life. Living alone with my own rules, being independent and selfish with what when and how I want things, having time to myself, exploring a new city and discovering what I am capable of.

Each life has its own pro's and con's. I don't regret my time here at all because I have lived and learned. I know that there's more to come. But at the same time, I know that my time here has an expiration date.

There's always that part of a movie wherein the hero realizes what is important in his life - love or career (or whatever at that point the hero is after - pride, money, etc). And always, there is only one answer in all those movies.

Why I got Fat

I do not know how to cook.

I know how to bake -- or at least follow recipes. I used to bake a mean cheesecake back in the day. I used to attend cooking classes when I was little. I even graduated from a sushi making course! I joined a pasta cooking class somewhere after college. My mom, the quintessential Bree Van de Camp, cooks our meals regularly and when we were little, she would demand that we stand in the kitchen and observe. It didn't even matter if we were doing anything. She just wanted us to study what she was doing although at times she would ask us to do some slicing or moving around items in the pan.

The thing that baffles me most about cooking are the terms. One can buy and measure the correct ingredients but the words used in the recipe are hard to understand for the unitiaited -- baste, broil, sautee, deep fy, pan fry, ... Thank god for the internet with how to videos!

I cook rice on a weekly basis as I don't have the time or the patience to do it everyday. I have done plain rice, garlic rice and fried rice with spam and egg. The dish would usually be frozen food from the grocery that I just need to fry or heat. Pasta is another easy dish and I cook it with ready made sauces or with lots of garlic and olive oil and whatever meat I have on hand (hotdog, ham, ...). Grilled sandwiches is another go-to dish as anything with melted cheese and lots of butter tastes good and cannot be messed up!

my weekly portion of rice

one of my many variations of pasta

grilled ham and cheese sandwich

As you can see, all the things that I know how to do are oozing with carbs! And since I live alone, there is pressure to finish the dish before it goes bad or so it doesn't go to waste. My pathetic attempt at being healthy would be to buy a big bag of lettuce leaves and eat a portion of salad.

My mom, again being the quinessential Bree Van de Camp, sends me food everytime I go home. She cooks dishes already at home or buys it ready made, freezes it and I bring it back with me to Singapore. Saves a lot of time as then it means I don't have to cook for at least a month!

And the other reason why I got fat here? My friends below that keep me company. I think I also became an alcoholic here...!

new-found friends