The Big Bully

‘No bolster,’ he said.

‘Why don’t we increase temperature of air-con, then we could use the blankets as bolster of sorts?’ I suggested.

‘No, you give me your pillow for me to use as bolster. Tomorrow I give you my pillow. How about that?’ he replied.

‘???!!!’

My husband offered me such a good offer I almost couldn’t resist the other day when we were in Seoul, in the midst of complaining loads about the mattress and pillow.  Yea, the husband who proclaims he loves me, also loves to bully me.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Together

Forever is a long time, since we are now living in an increasingly cynical world where the Holy Matrimony is deemed to be just a piece of paper contract between two individuals (and they don’t even need to be an Adam and an Eve nowadays, if you get what I mean).  Some people use this to get themselves married and dismarried several times, while other use this to remain unmarried.  To each his own.  But within my limited ability, I would like to honour my marriage vows as long as I could.  In this respect, the photograph that I chose today to depict Together is one that illustrates togetherness in maintaining a marriage.  Kind of.

We fell in love with Italy when we first toured the 4 representative cities any first-timers to the charming country (i.e. Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice) should step foot on as part of our honeymoon tour.  A vow to return only materialised 4 years later, where we decided to do an extensive 18-day trip of the northern part of the country.  Included this time in the itinerary is the gorgeous UNESCO Heritage Site of Cinque Terre where  it has since been declared a protected marine area and national park.  Naturally, we must hike the trail that links the five villages.  With our physical abilities (or lack of) in mind, we decided to challenge the Sentiero Azzuro (otherwise known as the ‘Blue Trail).  Don’t read too much into the colours; the trail is denoted in blue colour in maps therefore the name.

The easiest part of the trail is between the first 2 villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola.  It’s mostly flattish, and very manageable to walk.  This stretch of the trail is known as the Via dell’Amore (or ‘Pathway of Love’).  Apparently there is a bit of history behind the name, so if you are interested, click here to read more about it.

So, towards the end of this particular stretch of path, we sighted a fence decorated with some padlocks.  We figured the authorities must have recently removed the old padlocks put on by lovers.  Either that, or the fence is new. We didn’t have any padlock to spare, but the hubby was quick-witted enough to use a strip of the velcro I cut to tidy the straps on our backpacks.  And between the two of us, one of us is bound to have a pen in the bag.

After some effort in writing on the velcro, we stuck what must have been the strangest padlock-substitute onto the fence.  There is a Chinese saying that goes ‘A family that eats together, stays together’.  And mine?  I would say ‘A couple that travels together, stays together’.

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Black Day

As we all know, 14 Feb is known as Valentine’s Day.  Specifically in Japan and South Korea, girls and women present chocolate gifts (commercial or handmade) to boys or men as an expression of love.  Sometimes they also do it out of social obligation.  This favour is reciprocated by the boys or men on 14 Mar, also known as White Day.  White Day is not practised where I come from, so I’m not exactly sure how it goes… but I’ve heard that on White Day, the boys or men will only gift the ones they love with chocolates or candy.  There are many versions I’ve heard, but ya, in general there is such a practice.

Now, South Korean has kind of gone a step further by creating another day called the Black Day on 14 Apr.  And you might have guessed who are the celebrants of this day – the singles.  Apparently, the singles celebrate Black Day by coming together to eat Noodles with Black Bean Sauce (짜장면, or Jajangmyeon).

Ironically, on Black Day last weekend, I had Jajangmyeon for lunch, with the hubby seated on the opposite side of me.  It wasn’t intentional on my part to celebrate Black Day, but well, I read so many tweets about Black Day and Jajangmyeon I developed a sudden craving.  Convenient that the hubby also wanted to go Korean for our late lunch.

After tossing ideas as to where we should get our fix of Korean cuisine, we decided on Hansik Korean Restaurant (again!) since it is located a mere stone’s throw away from home.  This Korean restaurant is fast becoming our ‘default’ place to go to whenever we crave Korean.  Like I’ve mentioned before, there is a serious lack of good Korean restaurants in Singapore.  The bad ones… nobody wants to visit, and the good ones… you can expect a long queue (since as a general rule, all of them coincidentally do not take reservations).

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Buko Nero

I learnt of this place some years back but have never had the opportunity to visit, one main reason being the fact that I am rather a spontaneous foodie but with Buko Nero, one needs to nail that reservation at least a month in advance.  I always made it a point to remember to make that elusive reservation, yet somehow never got down to doing it.  Doesn’t help that you hardly see any pictures of the restaurant on the internet.  Restaurant policy, apparently: no photography allowed. Well, at least my companions could eat in peace for once.

Buko Nero is a small, cozy and nondescript restaurant along Tanjong Pagar Road.  In fact it is situated so near another of my favourite Italian restaurants in Singapore – Pasta Brava – that I must have passed by it many times in the last decade.  Yet we never noticed it; it is that nondescript.

Incidentally, the hubby just visited the restaurant – his first time too – a week ahead of my dinner date with my girlfriends.  And he came home raving about the 5-course meal he had.  Considering how fussy he is, and how stingy he usually is with compliments, I was pleasantly surprised that he enjoyed his night out with his colleagues.  Needless to say, expectations were running a little high.

This is a restaurant where I call the experience ‘slow-food dining’ because there is effectively only one chef at work (probably explaining why the restaurant remains small through the years, what with just about 22 seats).  Not a place to dine at if you are feeling extremely hungry.  But, it’s a great place if you wish to catch up with some good friends over good food because at the restaurant, you need not talk at the top of your voices to carry a conversation.

Our company of 6 mostly arrived ahead of our 7.30pm appointment with the exception of 1. Of the 6, 2 actually walked past the restaurant without knowing they had done so.  So if you are going to make your way there, make sure to keep a very close lookout or you might just miss it.

As some of us were famished, we ordered two starters – the Tau-Kwa Tower and Tomato and Mozzarella Crostino topped with Parma Ham – and both dishes simply wowed us over.  When the last of our party arrived, Tracy came over to introduce the specials of the day, and also elaborated a little about the set menu.  Eventually, 4 of us settled for the set menu (with 2 of us exchanging the pasta main for the ravioli) with the remaining 2 deciding to order from the ala carte menu.  This was how my 5-course dinner looked like:

1. Momotaro and Songino Salad with Citrus Dressing and Toasted Pinenuts
2. Japanese Pumpkin, Basic and Crabmeat Soup
3. Ravioli stuffed with Cod Belly
4. Plum and Calamansi Sherbet
5. Classic Tiramisu

All hits. Asolutely no misses during the meal.  It’s been quite a while since I walked away feeling so elated and satisfied after a meal.

Since I couldn’t take any pictures, I came home and took a shot of the namecard.  I’m not a fussy eater much, but I have to say that Buko Nero is unequivocally one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever come across.  No, scratch that.  It is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever come across.  That says a lot, considering how much good food my family consumes at classy restaurants and how we have actually tasted authentic Italian cuisine in the charming country itself.

Don’t take my word for it; go taste it for yourself.  Just remember, it’s usually a one-month wait so be patient.

Buko Nero
126 Tanjong Pagar Road
Singapore 088534
Tel: +65-6324-6225
Opening Hours:
Tue-Thu 1830-2130hrs
Fri-Sat 1200-1400hrs; 1830-2130hrs
Closed on Sundays & Mondays

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The Big 4

Happy Birthday darling!

To commemorate this special day with something low-cost (since I have been out of a job for almost a year now), I’ve made a collage out of most of our travels since marriage.  I say most because 2011 Tokyo’s Christmas trip notably, is not represented here because I can’t locate the pictures now.  And the Super Show trips are all represented by just one picture of Taipei Super Dome.

I know how you like to always ‘steal’ my pictures off FB to use them as your laptop background picture.  With this habit in mind, I’ve made a collage large enough to fit even the screen of my iMac so go ahead and click on the picture – it will bring you to one with a larger resolution.

Have fun looking through the pictures and guessing where/when they were taken!

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The Awkward Moment

Hahaha… this is really funny. Strikes a chord with me because I have a husband who never seems to know that he is the problem.

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Wanderlust: Realignment

I’m experiencing a wave of wanderlust again and that’s because so I have several friends and family members (little sis, to be exact) making travel plans for the next few months.  I can only watch on with envy, silently.  Yup, I daren’t wail at the hubby because he would exasperatedly remind me once again that I travelled 4 times in the last 5 months, for leisure.  I get it; I’m not exactly in the position to be envious.  But still, a girl could lament, couldn’t she?

We were spending a leisurely Sunday evening couch-potatoing in front of the TV when I mentioned about little sis’ text messages to me that afternoon asking about rail travel in Japan.  One thing led to another and I suddenly exclaimed, ‘Oh, I’m so tired of living’.

To which the hubby replied, ‘I’m so tired of living too.  But there are so many things I have not done, places I have not visited, and food I have not eaten.’

Considering my constant desideratum for travel and his lack of thus far, I sat up on the sofa (I was slouching) and asked him, ‘Places you have not visited?  Like where?’

HIM:  Like Brazil…

ME:  Brazil?  Isn’t Brazil very dangerous?  Don’t you find Brazil dangerous?

HIM:  Ya, I find Brazil dangerous, but I still want to go.  And Africa…

ME:  Africa?  I would only go South Africa…

HIM:  … and China.  I’ve never been to China!

ME:  I guess we should include China in our travels now.  But where should we start with?  Shanghai?

HIM:  No, Beijing.

ME:  I was thinking of Beijing too, but all my friends staying in Beijing tell me the air pollution is really bad.  I’m afraid my asthma might act up again.

HIM:  True.

ME:  And that place where 兵马俑 (terracotta army) can be found?  Xi’an?  Ah, let’s do Beijing and Xi’an together!

The hubby gave me the most incredulous look, as if he couldn’t quite believe what just came out of my mouth.  He attempted to google for a map of China on his laptop but I admitted to him that I do not know the location of China’s provinces very well.  To be fair, I know where the landmark provinces like Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou are.  I just don’t know about the ones in central China.  But test me on the cities in Europe – I would know them a lot better than an average person.  You can’t know it all, right?

HIM:  Beijing and Xi’an… is like New York and San Francisco!

ME:  I know where New York and San Francisco are!  One’s at the east coast and one’s at the west coast!

So anyway, the conversation kind of ended there because I got hungry.  I know this short conversation comprised several urban legends and prejudices but before you judge us based on this, let me just clarify that you might be lifting things out of context.  The bit about Brazil being dangerous came about because we had a similar conversation some time back, and the hubby himself said that Brazil is dangerous and therefore we should not travel there.  This is the same guy who thinks Southern Italy is dangerous because of the visible presence of the mafia in that region.  So there you go… he is just a very cautious person, but having travelled rather widely, we know it’s the same everywhere – you just have to be more careful.

But back to China.  I’ve only been to Shenzhen, and even then, it was a side-step trip after touring Hong Kong and Macau.  That was almost 2 decades ago when I took a holiday with my parents before commencing on my university studies.  I saw a lot of child beggars with missing limbs at places I visited, every toilet I visited was dirty and smelly (even the one in the hotel room), and we were treated very brusquely even though we spoke the same language.  That was my first, and lasting impression of China.  Of course I know Shenzhen is not totally representative of China, and 2 decades have passed; things would have improved.  But I also know for a fact that the toilets are generally still dirty.  I am very, very fussy when it comes to toilets.  For the record, I’m somebody who would rather torture my bladder than use a dirty and smelly toilet.  And considering how sensitive my digestive system is, I do need the bathroom a lot more often than an average person.  I’m just not risking it.

Now that the hubby has specifically stated his desire to explore China, I guess it’s high time I forgo my own wishes and follow his.  Beijing is a good place to start with since I have several friends working there at the moment. Furthermore, there’s this wall I must scale.

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Protected: I Want (pw: name of furkid I lost in 2011)

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You First

And so, a couple of days ago, the hubby and I had a conversation while on the road.

Me:  WL is going to teach me how to knit gloves!

He:  Good for you.

So, in an attempt to rouse his interest, I described the gloves that I was going to learn to knit.  You know, those kind that expose part of the fingers, but you could also cover them with a flap.  He specifically talked about having those gloves (on the last winter trip) so that the fingers could be exposed if preferred, to perform tasks that require more nimble fingerwork.

Me:  I’m going to knit them for you first, then for myself.

He:  Erm… why don’t you knit them for yourself first?  If it turns out good, then knit for me.

Me:  No!  I knit for you first. Then learn from the mistakes and knit a perfect pair for myself.

Oh, I can be so evil at times.

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Of Self Destruction

Or rather, I am quite on the path to self destruction.  No worries, I shall explain further, very soon.

It has been a rather long-time wish of mine to pick up the Korean Language, dating as far back as two years ago.  Between the Japanese and Korean languages, I picked the familiar one to kickstart the self-enrichment process again.  The rest is of course, history.

Now that I have reached a comparatively advanced level in the Japanese language, I wanted to start on the Korean language this year.  And promptly signed up for the class at a reputable school the moment placements were released.  Upon hearing what I did, the hubby commented that he foresaw some problems – that I am bound to be confused, taking both languages at the same time.  I scoffed at his comment, and vowed to prove him wrong.  One of the reasons why I chose to wait till now to learn the Korean language was because I thought I already have a strong foundation in Japanese, and since both languages are grammatically similiar, it will be quite beneficial to learn them both concurrently.  Right?

Wrong.  I went for my first lesson earlier in the week and I was confused with the pronunciation of the Hangul alphabet.  Of the few languages that I know, Italian and Japanese alphabets have almost exactly the same pronunication.  French isn’t so dissimilar from Italian since both are derived from Latin.  But Hangul is completely out of my league.  At this point, it is.

I wanted to pick up Korean for some very obvious reasons: wanting to understand Korean dramas better without depending on subtitles made by fans who are amateur translators, and wanting to understand what Super Junior talks about in Korean when they attend shows or programmes.  Actually more importantly, because Hangul has been acclaimed as ‘the most perfect phonetic system devised’.  I personally find the language intriguing and fascinating.  And due to prolonged watching of Korean dramas and listening to K-Pop, I already have a rich vocabulary of words commonly used.

Unfortunately, I thought my learning progress didn’t quite have a good start.  The good thing is, teachers always appreciate good handwriting, and if it’s anything that I have, it’s legible handwriting.

I came home from class (on Valentine’s Day, no less) and told the hubby that he was correct that I would be confused because I was already messing up with some of the vocabulary.  Words like sea in Japanese (‘umi’) and Korean (‘pada’) are very different so they are not easily to be confused with, but map in Japanese is ‘chizu’ and in Korean is ‘chido’… and they are so similar!  It will only get worse as I attend more lessons.  My, I’m asking for trouble, isn’t it?  Especially when this final 10 weeks of Japanese classes is so crucial to promotion to the next level.

The hubby is not in the least sympathetic.  In fact, he laughed a little when I explained my predicament to him (despite it being Valentine’s Day; I mean, isn’t it the one official day in the year where the husband should be nice to the wife?).  And to add salt to injury, he ended with ‘I told you so’.

Damn, why am I so obstinate?

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