We will work it out.

.

I dont know what to do, with these cracks that have suddenly appeared.

Cry.

I cried. After a long while.

28 years

28 years in the same house. No, Home. I can't envision living in another area, and yet, 28 years is a very long time; surely it won't be another 28, before the bird flies the coop.

Reunion Dinner 2010 (Photo Essay)

In a small kitchen, simple fare, a warm sense of family.


A change from previous years, this year, we had our reunion dinner at Uncle Robert's place, at Bedok Reservoir.


The usual spring cleaning debris under HDB blocks.


The proud grandfather shows us a photo of his grandson in the USA.


Tucking in to the spread. A picky eater, my food choices were limited to quail eggs, rice, and sliced beef with satay sauce.

Catching up on each other's lives.

Walas 01, 2010

It felt real good to be back at Walas. Such a long time away, since NUS days. The interior was unchanged, except that it's better now without the smoke. Ngak and his band were playing on a Wednesday night. From the first song of the first set, a rocking rendition of Coldplay's Yellow, specially for Nerine, we were hooked, all the way to the last song, Everyone Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears. Live music + alcohol on a weekday - potent medicine to beat the blues.

January Breeze

The old man of 98, lay on a couch in the living room with the old mahogany furniture and the flapping curtains. The caress of a January breeze; it almost felt like yesterday, 70 years before. In a rare moment of lucidity, he remembered. A different couch, red, velvety; his cat curled up between his legs, but the same January breeze lulling him to sleep.

So it begins.

Collected 75 scripts last Friday to mark and grade by the end of next week. And so it begins.

Another year.

As I was saying the other day, to a contract teacher, at times, this job can be extremely satisfying, especially when you get a letter like I did from a student last week, which ended off - "you are one cool teacher, not because of what you did with the class, but because you tried to understand us."

But I can't see myself in this job for longer than the remaining duration of my bond (the details I will not divulge here given the public nature of a blog).

And lightning comes and lightning goes
And it's all the same to me
Let it in

So goes the catchy chorus of Third Eye Blind's Bonfire, from their latest album URSA Major. I will need some music to tide me through to June.

French phrases.

Some common french words and phrases used in English.

a la carte : according to the menu

au naturel: food cooked in the simplest manner

avant garde: art or fashion produced most recently and conveying the newest artistic ideas

carte blanche: full freedom given to a person by his superior

creme de la creme: the very best

double entendre: a word or phrase which has a double meaning

elan: eagerness

faux pas: an error in social behavior

fait accompli: something that has happened which cannot be changed

joie de vivre: enjoying life

nouveau riche: newly rich

raison d'etre: reason for existing

rapprochement: two enemies coming together in reconciliation

sang-froid: great self control in a difficult situation

tete-a-tete : private conversation between two persons

tour de force: show of great skill or power

volte-face: complete change of one's point of view