Henry, temporary.

Being a closet stickler for ulu places, I had to visit after learning that this cafe had only been set up a few months ago but will only be around till next February. The building where it's located is set to be enbloc-ed for future redevelopment, so most of the other tenants have already vacated the premise. Apart from the handful of residents who have yet to move out from their homes, and just a couple of other operating shops, it was very much void of the usual buzz found elsewhere on our island...

which is exactly what I love about such places.

However, despite the seemingly deserted exterior, it would take only a second to realize that business was rather brisk upon entering the cafe. It's not a big place (at all); all indoor and outdoor (pet-friendly) tables were taken up so we ended up at the bar counter until some other patrons left. 

The folks who were working diligently behind the bar counter to serve us the yummy offerings were really approachable and friendly; the lovely fair lady wasted no time in explaining the difference between black and white coffees when I inquired.

I ordered a cappucino and it came with a cute little morsel of a home-made (I'm assuming here) chocolate cookie; a lovely touch. And while the coffee's been highly-raved, I found it somewhat unpalatable to my unseasoned taste-buds. I thought it tasted a little tangy and ended on a sharp but bitter (is that possible?) note; not a finish that I particularly enjoy. Anyway, I shall try the other variations if I ever drop by again soon; I'm sure my taste-buds will not have too much difficulty finding something they enjoy.

To fill our tummies, we had the Flourless Chocolate Cake, Nutella Banana Panini and a serving of some Savoury Scones.

flourless choc cake - I like how the top-crust cracked and the slice crumbled when we stuck our forks in, its dense texture and the satisfyingly rich chocolatey taste. For cheapskates like me who refuse to pay for another slice, the only gripe we would have is... why so small slice? :(

Okay, just kidding - I really wanted to try something else instead.

nutella banana panini - This homely and comforting combination can hardly (if ever) go wrong. It was a sweet treat that was well-worth the calories; long slices of banana and gooey nutella sandwiched between the warm and toasty chewy bread. Oh and did I mention that they were awfully generous with the nutella spread? We had trouble keeping the nutella from oozing out of the edges of the panini, only to form tiny 'wasted' blobs on the plate - but knowing the glutton that is me, of course no nutella was 'wasted' in the process of devouring this tasty treat.

We had some savoury scones (cheesy and 'chivey') too. Baked-to-order, the crumbly insides of the scones were piping hot when served. Quite a pity that the serving size was rather tiny though. 

The minimalistic set-up of the temporary space consisted of simple plywood bar-tops, naked incandescent bulbs dangling from the ceiling, lovely radio music (YES), and a range of tasteful magazines for customers' reading pleasure. The crowd ranged variedly from families (inclusive of aunties, uncles, fathers and mothers - who'd have thunk they're into such places too) to dating and married couples, bffs, etc.

That afternoon, we talked about how it was possible to understand "the feeling of having one's balls shrunken" (without needing any) as we looked at mind-blowing photographs of people balancing on trapezes high up in the foggy mountains, and learnt that both the atomic bomb and Comic Sans are considered to be in the Top-10 list of Worst Inventions - at least according to a particular magazine.
Oh, and I also managed to my Science scripts marked. Talk about productivity!

四

A friend recently asked me, "How long have you been single now?" 

I stopped for a few moments to rummage through memories that I've been collecting in my mind over more recent times for the answer. When I finally did manage to find the answer, it somehow felt a little odd that I was surprised by it.

4 years - that's how long it's been since D. 

Wow. 

It just doesn't feel like it's been 4 years.
Times like that make me question my judgement of time; I can't decide if 4 years should feel much longer or slightly shorter than my current perception of 1461 days.

Happily tripping along (pun unintended), I've managed to get clearance for my uni course and, hey look, who's a full-fledged (beginning) teacher now? I couldn't have imagined myself visiting all the places that I've visited or doing all the wacky things that I've done 4 years ago too; much less do some of them solo. Meeting all the wonderful people along the way, it's been an amazing journey and I can't be more happy with how my life has been unfolding thus far.

Citing the main reasons for the break-up back then as a need for personal development and self-discovery, I would like to think that I've pretty much attained them, more than less. Not too long before I broke the bad news to D, I realized how terrible I was behaving as a person, daughter/sister, friend and girlfriend. It was then that I started thinking about how it was important for me to become a better person before I got into yet another relationship, after nearly 3 years of being in 2 relationships without any hiatus to reflect about things. And of course, it was also important to have my share of fun before things start getting slightly more serious.

Just a couple of things I'd done/am still doing since the big break:

I'd...
- learnt to love and define myself for who I am instead of getting addressed as the girlfriend of someone else,
- gotten out of my comfort zone and put myself in places and situations I never wanted to be in not too long ago just for the heck of it; though this is not to say that I don't regret some of them,
- started becoming way more appreciative of my family (especially) and friends who were always there,
- begun telling myself that it's alright to make mistakes (I'm trying very hard to convince my kids now),
- become more open to differences; be it in terms of ideals and beliefs, preferences, etc,
- and importantly, reflecting a lot about myself and some of the things happening around me.

I don't think it'd have been possible for me to have enjoyed life as much if I haven't been doing any of the above-mentioned things during this period, so yea, I believe that I'm a changed person (however slight) now... for the better, thank you very much.

Having drawn that new conclusion about myself, I now feel somewhat ready to continue growing, alongside another person this time round. I'm glad I was talked out of "waiting till I turned 30" sometime late last year, because it was only then that I started to go out on casual dates with new people. It's been a few interesting experiences so far... and they've all given me a much clearer idea of what my preferences are.

I'm obviously not ready to make any serious commitments right now, but if someone apt comes along... who knows what's going to happen?

getting psyched

for AUSTRALIA!