Blank Doll

The past two days (three if you count today) have been rather at once incredibly fulfilling and tiring. I don't even want to talk about the emotional highs and lows but suffice to say, my family devours me.

Anyway, I digress. Massage at Red, White & Pure was delicious. The service was impeccable and I bought a peony perfume for my mother because it suited her so. Lunch there was even better. I had a pumpkin gnocchi which was beautiful and very healthy since it was seasoned with celery foam. Mummy had a really inspired sesame cod with pea soup. The pea soup was really fresh and did I mention that they serve a mean roast pumpkin? Dessert was nothing special though, should have taken the lavender infused pear.

Shopped with Mummy at Vivo for a while longer. Mummy and I found Tom Ford aviators, still deciding if I should get them since she has kindly offered to buy them for me. Mummy prefers the Dior shades though.

We had dinner at Sun with Moon thereafter. We had the usual sashimi and sushi. The dessert was delightful though! I really love the spiced candied tomatoes. You lick it and it tastes like a lolly and then you bite through the brittle caramel and the burst of tomato juice does wonders in bringing out the spice of the caramel.

After dinner, Mummy and I walked around and we saw this little shop that sold beautiful tiny desserts. Apparently, dessert shops are getting more and more common in Singapore and you can now have a macaroon wherever you are. We had a lot to talk about before finally going back home. I love spending days out with Mummy.

Friday was spent with Jessie. Lunch at the Royal Copenhagen Lounge where we shared a foie gras salad and a really huge platter of cold cuts, pate, smoked salmon, mushroom ragout and pickled herrings. I love talking with Jessie because we can talk about everything and she never takes anything too seriously. The world has too many melancholic people.

This was followed by more shopping before going down to a parent-teacher meeting. I'm the perfect brother, the "surrogate parent" as Jessie calls it. Dinner at Basil Alcove, a secluded little restaurant at Middle Road that's really cheap and good. Had the duck with balsamic vingar and mussels. Fabulous.

New classmates in French lesson today. Bought a few cds including a Bartok and a Pink Martini.

My family's mad but I love my life.

C'est tout.

Blank Dolls.

The idiot who said home-cooked food tastes the best must have had Bocuse or Robuchon in his kitchen.

I did make a beautiful dessert platter for ma petite soeur. Flambeed bananas with kahlua-infused caramel, fresh pear slices enrobed in soft meringues and pumpkin custard. I love coming up with desserts. Almost as much as I do coming up with frocks, lacquerware, interior designs, furniture and textiles.

Tomorrow's going to be great, as will the day after. I do deserve a break after all and nothing could be better than a massage and spa cuisine.

C'est tout.

Blank Doll.

With all the gravity of a soon to be nineteen year old, I think I've grown fatter. Somebody in my office commented that I looked as if I'd put on some weight and I have been eating a little bit more than usually recently.

You know, this wouldn't be so difficult if I could eat more protein and less carbs. My shin splint hurts like hell as usual and I haven't been working out for three days already. GARH.

Rant enough. I have a little something up my sleeves for next month. Shall see if it works out.

Oh oh, and I have rediscovered my love for Nigella Lawson. God she's beautiful.

C'est tout.

Blank Doll.

Damn the Straits Times. This is deliberate baiting, I tell you.

Look, obviously, I'm going to roll my eyes at the pathetically desperate letter written by some girl's mother who was so deluded as to think her daughter's absymal grades were "above average". Sweetheart, average is 2 As and even then, just merely. I wouldn't even dare tell people my grades since it's only 3As.

Besides, it's simply absurd that anyone could be so contradictory in their lament. You argue that NUS isn't being meritocratic because it's not accepting your daughter based on her grades then argue also that NUS should accept your daughter because she's a sportswoman. Somebody else then chimes in that PW shouldn't be used as you can't possibly hope that something so subjective as PW (check out the arts curriculum darling) should be assessed and adults 18 years of age wouldn't take PW seriously enough anyway. Sweetling, if you couldn't be arsed to do well for something as easy as PW then you probably aren't good enough for the working world, are you? You have a teacher and bloody friends to do a project, not a slimy boss and backstabbing colleagues for crying out loud.

Anyway, for an institution that so unabashedly claims itself to be one of the top centres of academic learning, NUS shouldn't have to settle on the merely good. Be like France, be like Japan or China, be unashamedly meritocratic and elitist. The real problem, the one we Singaporeans do not see, is that the A levels no longer function as a reliable basis of academic worth. It's too easy. You get As too easily. People in Britain are worried. We aren't. We ought to be.

End of rant. Feel free to flame my tagboard now. I practically dare you to.

Sometimes when I think of you, I wish I was stronger, older, somehow more of the man you need, if only so I could protect this innocence that you fight so hard to cling onto. Instead, I keep silent, laugh and play the clown for you.

C'est tout.

Blank Doll enjoyed himself.

Today has been utterly charming. It has been a long time since our family last spent a Sunday together having fun without the phone(s) ringing, tempers flaring and some long annoying to-do list at the back of our heads.

Morning was spent at the Four Seasons having brunch which is such a cheerfully familial thing to do. All the food you can eat. Fresh oysters, wonderful seafood salad, warm mussels in butter, peking duck, foie gras, grilled duck, truffled risotto, leg of lamb, salads, croissants with lavender honey, floating islands, souffles, cakes, pralines, sorbets...I could go on. Oh, then martinis and juices to wash it all down. Simply divine and definitely a convival way to spend a morning/afternoon together en famille.

This being a really unusual family day out, we went to the ACM! Haha, Mummy was really surprised that such a place existed in Singapore and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly going through the various galleries with me as an impromptu tour guide. It was fun but tiring and Pa amused himself with the handicap door-opening buttong mechanism.

Thereafter, we decided to watch Shrek 3 at Plaza Singapura. Had tea and cake before watching the movie and saw Jo en route. Cheer up! Oh oh, the movie was hilarious. The "frantic cultural name-dropping" as the Time called it was very good as usual and I thought the involvement of all the princesses was inspired. Didn't like the ending though, just goes to show you can't really take the didactic out of a fairy tale.

Gosh, it's been a splendid day and now I can rest my tired feet at home. Tomorrow's going to be great too and Tuesday, oh gosh, and I can't wait for Thursday.

C'est tout.

Blank Doll says so.

Hellohello!

It's been a long time since I blogged. While, it's been a long time since I blogged about happy things so yes.

I have my life back finally. Isn't that great?

Oh oh, before I continue, I must tell you, Red, White and Pure is a wonderful experience. Lunch there was pretty healthy and wholesome and that chef is such a genius with vegetables. Seriously, I love their tomatoes and they make a beautiful poached pear in lavender and chocolate. If you make a special trip down to vivocity to check out Red, White and Pure, do remember to buy their delicious chocolates and their tomato vinegar. Also, also, also, do indulge in a couple of their skincare products which are just inspired. Will talk more about this little jewel of a healthy lifestyle boutique once I have tried their massage.

You know how much hype there is over that donut place at Raffles City? I think I like pop dough more and recently, I simply cannot get enough of their frosted cruellers. Yeasty and sweet, the way donuts ought to be.

Ok, as it turns out, the dear bag I was looking at in Louis Vuitton costs too much for me to just buy it for the fun of it. It's funny because I didn't expect the bag to cost 2300 so there, it probably wasn't worth it then. This being the Great Singapore Sale however, I am looking at a pair of Gucci laceups which are beautiful, utterly beautiful.

Did I mention that I got Mummy a woolen shawl with a swan embroidered in swarovski crystals and a silk scarf for her birthday? These works of art are mostly one-offs, especially for the handpainted and hand embroidered shawls and you can buy them at Tangs. They're really affordable! Oh and I got sister this gorgeous book called The Alchemist and a book on the Singaporean Dream.

The coming month will be packed. Dinner with Mummy, Sunday brunch at Four Seasons, visit to the ACM, dinner at Indochine, tea at Hediard (Kai Min Kai Min! Caviar alert!), flute recital with Xuan and Sister, dinner with my beloved classmates and to top it all off, I intend to have ice cream at the Raffles Creamery and get a shirt from that shirt shop whose name reminds me of Cycle & Carriage.

Oh oh, and I really need people to watch Dimsum Dollies and Doll House with me. Sarah, you're the first person I thought of and anyway, we said we'd watch Doll House together.

Look at me, drunk on consumerism. Perfect.

C'est tout.

BD yells.

In the event that my beloved Padre happens to be reading my blog, here goes. I resent it when you tell Mummy that I'm spoiled and when you accuse your son of being hopelessly materialistic. People can be so forgetful sometimes, I do not forget that I never had the sort of simple childhood where I could look forward to walks in the park or fishing trips. Furthermore, I am very annoyed that none of you have ever defended me against your pathetic acquaintances who only see your son as hopelessly spoilt. Is it such an affliction on your consciences that you cannot bear tell them the pains I suffered when the both of you decided that marriage was a little too tiresome?

No, I do not appreciate it when you allow your friends to think of me that way. I hate it even more when you think of me that way too.

Pointless, to list the things that I have done. I am who I am, love me or don't.

Having said all that, I am a little miffed with Gucci because they still have not gotten around to carrying a particular model of shoes that I must have. Breadtalk at Paragon has a nice pear bread. I stupidly thought that Jurlique would sell me edible rosewater. Oh, and I saw this beautiful pair of white jeans at Ted Baker which I am going to buy.

By the way, did you know that there's a store in Toa Payoh that sells macaroons? They're paltry seconds next to Canele's but they were rather good, even if they only came in kaya and peanut butter. I thought the green ones were pistachios, haha.

Also, I am very happy because I shall soon own a bottle of calvados after much searching.

I need Paris.

C'est tout.

BD talks.

I choke on your fatalism and storied pain.

I ought to be calm, composed and relaxed. This, however, promises to be too much. It hurts when somebody older than you pour their troubles on you and expect you, with the barest measure of wisdom, to be able to imbibe all of it without bursting.

Right now, all I really want to do is bite into something.

Our maid left us yesterday. It's funny how I can get sentimental about things like this. The new maid is slow, timid and...slow.

This had better work out.

I need solace.

C'est tout.