1st Day

First day back. Spent it having Malay meesiam at my friendly Malay canteen at Peace Centre. Slice of Lime, that lovely sweetish sour  curry soup... Sedap!! The canteen cooks were so happy to see me; boy, it felt like coming home. You should have seen the Ginger Tea (Teh Aila) they served me!!

Got a haircut downstairs. The hairdresser was really good. And on top of it she gave me a fantastic scalp massage and shampoo. Felt so relaxed ... Best use of $25 this year I reckon. Can't get this sort of service in Melbourne for sure.

Walked out and bumped into one of my old army dudes walking his 6 year old daughter. We were in the same battalion in our NS daze. Lol. But we could also have met in school, he went to ACS too. Dude bought an apartment near my home. We chatted and got along quite well. Nice guy. Married now, he's got a cute kid. ... Lordy, IMGO!!!

Cruised over to Plaza Sing - but the heat was so hot I had to dive into a Burger joint to have American rootbeer. Aw, so nice I had to have two. ...Ugh... I shouldn't. One is good. Two is glutonny.

I've been dreaming of Khong Guan biscuits for over a year now - esp. those soft brown wafers. Can't get them in Australia. And its also very to get them in Singapore. Everyone wants to eat Arnots or Swiss cookies. Shame Singapore Shame!!!

Train/Bus to Serangoon Circus. Dropped into ColdStorage but the buggers didn't have a single Khong Guan biscuit.

Woot!!! Found a old provision shop that still sells the old Khong Guan biscuits in those big factory tin containers. I bought 2kg of my fav KG biscuits. Only $8. Al'right!!! I was so happy I felt like bursting into Baritone song. Simple pleasures in life... ahhhhhh.....

The store owner told me that the distributor also sells the KG biscuits in the bulk tin cans to the public. Mmm... there's an idea. I think I'll bring one or two back with me. haha.

Sat down with my friend SP for lunch - had a bowl of Singapore prawn noodles soup. Yummy!!!! My wisecracking friend also bought me a plate of chicken rice... arghh... I ate it all. I shouldn't have. One is good. Two is sin. And besides the chicken rice wasn't good.

SP brought me over to meet some of his real estate agent friends. And this is where things went sour. In the course of the conversation my friend SP decided to heavily criticize me in front of them and said a few inappropriate things. One problem with SP is that he likes the sound of his own voice and doesn't know when to stop. He's got all the tenderness of a epeletic jackhammer. He ought to buy himself a single bedroom flat with no windows and sit inside and talk out loud so that he can get off on his echo.

I got offended and took a cab home. Cost me about $15 for this. But I was totally bloated after that eating session and didn't want to hurl if I tried walking home. I'm fairly tolerant. But being dragged half way around Singapore to get told my life is a total failure in front of halfwit strangers, isn't how I envisged  spending a lesuirely Saturday afternoon.

No matter. A shower. Plus that handy Chinese nausea medicine. A slight rest. And all is well.
 
Headed down to Mount Faber for that Ab Oriente chorale concert. Amazing. Beautifully sung High Mass in Latin. This is my kind of soul music... Its divine. Exquisite! Sublime, its manna for my ears.

Lord, God is really good to me. And what do you know? Refreshments were included... including fried chicken and fried noodles. At this rate, I ought to change my name to Jabba the Hut.

On a very lovely note, Catherine the main organizer and singer of Ab Oriente came over and chatted with me. OMG, she remembered my name!!! How sweet. Perhaps unfortunately, she asked what I really thought of the night's performance. And being me, I gave my true opinion. Begining strong, Middle Muddled, Ending a bit pedestrian - hitting the right notes but no passion. I added I'm not musically trained and may not know what I'm saying. But yeah, at some moments in the concert I got lost.

My relatives Aunty Grace and her sister were also part of the organizing group. Had a nice time catching up with them. Great to see a familiar face in these sorts of concerts.  It was fortunate for me they were there too, I hitched a ride out with them. It was a long long ride up that secluded hill. And on a Friday night, I doubt whether I could have gotten a taxi.

Wow. This has been a good day. Tomorrow?? Indian curry at Racecourse Road with unlimited servings of saffron basmati rice, I hope!