Working OT

Gosh, my mind must be working overtime lately as almost every night I have dreams, some very vivid, some I cannot recall at all.

Last night I had a dream again. I forgot what happened in the beginning of the dream. Then I was in this very modern and beautiful apartment. There were many big comfy-looking sofas around, and an entire stretch of windows in front revealed the most beautiful seaside I ever seen. The water was blue, and the sand was almost white. There was no trees or greenery. Just the beautiful blue sea and skies. 

I was wandering and exploring the huge luxurious apartment with many rooms. I was gazing at 2 different sets of sofas for some time, which I was thinking should be arranged in another way.  Then someone appeared, a woman whom I did not know, she was talking to me about something. Then it occurred to me that this was actually a house-office apartment. This big apartment was actually my office!

Then I got out of the apartment, and suddenly I was at a huge place which looked something like a cargo warehouse. It was so huge that I kept walking and walking.   

I was supposed to attend a meeting with someone. Another lady appeared and seemed to be talking to me about work. Then I saw my friend, P, appeared too. It seemed that P was also my colleague or staff. P was saying something to me, again I did not understand what. After a while, a man in his 40s or 50s appeared and I think he was supposed to be my boss, as introduced by the other lady. The man was smiling with mouth wide open, revealing a missing tooth. He was, however, very courteous to me. But in the dream, somehow, I felt uncomfortable with him. I felt he had a sneaky smile and felt he had some motive/agenda.  As I walked with him and the other lady and P, I was asking the lady questions about the boss (the man himself did not hear what I was asking). In my mind, I was trying to piece together his name, his looks, his background. Somehow I felt I saw him before or knew him before somewhere previously. Then abruptly, I remembered! He was some kind of a crook or criminal who had committed a crime before. I shuddered at the thought. As I planned my exit, I told P... "I want you to get out of here as fast as possible".   

Aiyoh!!! I hope I don't meet this kind of man in real life!    

Locked at heart, written in the heavens

I like the highly talented author, Deepak Chopra. Below is his take on soul mates:

"I don’t have a problem with concept of soul mates that says there can be uniquely profound connection between some souls that transcends the limits of one lifetime. But the soul mate idea that implies that one soul requires the presence of another specific soul (its other half) for it to find happiness, completeness and genuine love is a misguided fairytale. I believe that soul mate fantasy has led to many ill-advised relationship decisions."

"The soul is always complete and self-sufficient in itself. It does not require anyone or anything externally in order to be happy, enlightened and whole. So even if your vision of soul mates leads you to an idealized love it is important that you approach it from the perspective of two independent, fully complete souls joining to share love out of joy, not that your souls are two halves that need each other to evolve and become complete." - Deepak Chopra

Copper Chimney

Brought my parents for naan. Wanted to bring them to Ananda Bhavan (see my earlier entry) opposite Mustafa but it was too packed and no table available.

We ended next door - Copper Chimney - another Indian restaurant, but this is non-vegetarian. I remember I attended the Indian buffet the last time upstairs from another Indian restaurant - Sankranti.

We ordered a few pieces of Garlic Naan, a Chicken dish, a Potato & Green Peas dish, as well as a mashed Spinach with Cheese dish. I like all the dishes. Mom agreed the naan was very fragrant and nice. The Garlic Naan here was thinner and crispier than that of Ananda Bhavan's.

My naan with potato and spinach and cheese, oo-la-la... spicy and heavenly. Surprisingly, one piece of naan was enough for me. I did not use my hand to tear the naan, but using the fork and spoon were still quite difficult, so I wish they come served in bite-size pieces instead, haha!  

Not to be missed, I ordered Mango Lassi again! This concoction here was thick and milky. Copper Chimney also serves Chinese dishes, but I think the Chinese dishes are cooked Indian style, so we did not bother to try.

Sweet dreams are made of these?

They say the dreams that you have in the wee hours of the morning at the break of dawn are the most vivid. It's true, because I just had a dream early this morning and I can remember almost the entire dream. So I am going to quickly write it down here before I forget. I tried to search for photos (below) that closely depict what I saw in the dream.

In the dream, I was walking along a dusty road in a primitive village with no traffic. Both sides of the road were padi fields. There were simple thatched huts along the way. Then I reached a row of huts which looked like shops selling something, like this photo.

It looked somewhat like a shop front with thatched roof. As I walked into one of the shops, the interior seemed much bigger than expected from its humble facade. The walls were of faded paint. It looked like a centre or something. Quite a few people were inside waiting in seats for something. I was supposed to be looking for someone or something which I did not know what.  It was a bustling place, as people walked in and out.

There was this man sitting next to me and writing alphabets on a piece of paper. I  remember specifically there were 8 alphabets written like this, with 1 alphabet missing.  At this moment, my friend P walked in and saw me. P approached me and asked me what that man was doing. I said I was not sure. Then a tanned short-haired woman wearing pink appeared and sat down beside the man and took that piece of paper. She began telling him things she saw from the alphabets, something like fortune-telling. Based on what alphabet he wrote and at which position, she was able to tell and advise him about something. Then the woman in pink turned to me and gave me and P a piece of paper each and told us to write the 8 alphabets which we thought of in that positioning, again leaving the last one blank.

P and I were pondering and discussing what that was all about. Just then, the pink woman got up and walked out of a door at the back. Somehow, I got up and wanted to follow her. P tried to stop me, held my arm and spoke gently to me "don't go". I think I did not hear. I was already out of the back door.

What I saw outside the back door surprised me greatly. There was a lake or river surrounded by little temples or stupas like these all around the lake. It was unusually calm and peaceful and there were a few boats on the lake although the water was a little murky looking. The temples/stupas surrounded the lake and you had to get on a boat if you wanted go to any of the temples.

I waved to a man on a small boat and signalled him to fetch me. He rowed his boat slowly towards me. I got on the boat. He began rowing his boat, without asking me where I wanted to go. Further out on the lake, I saw beautiful pink lotus flowers floating on the waters. It was really breathtaking.   

Then I saw a small white chinese-looking bridge in the middle of the lake, so I told the man to bring me to the bridge. He slowly rowed the boat towards it.  

As I alighted and stepped onto the bridge, suddenly there appeared in front of me, a land adjoining the bridge, had formed and it grew bigger and bigger, till it looked like I was back on land again. Wherever I stepped on, soil/land grew out of the waters. It was like I was walking on the water that grew solid soil for me to step on. I was exhilarated and surprised. Just then, I thought I saw a white fat cat. So I followed it. I walked faster as the cat walked away even faster. I had wanted to touch and stroke the cat. But it was illusive and I had to walk faster chasing it. 

Finally I managed to catch up with the white cat. As I reached out to stroke its head and neck, it suddenly became very big in size! As it turned its head to look up at me, I saw a very big white lion instead. It looked like a tiger, but a voice was saying to me "white lion".  The sneaky fat white cat had turned into a very big white lion! I was a little shocked and afraid as I withdrew my hand. The white chubby lion looked at me with very kind-looking eyes. I was not afraid anymore as I stroked its furry head and neck and body. I think it liked being stroked. It rubbed its face and body against my right leg.  Then in mere seconds, the white lion looked up to me for the last time, its eyes were very kind and gentle, its face was benign and it seemed like it was smiling. Then the white lion turned and disappeared. End of dream.

Wow, I was blown away by the clarity of the dream. Now, can anyone tell me what is the meaning of this dream?

The world is my oasis!

This is my travel map. According to Facebook's Cities I've Visited by TripAdvisor, I have already travelled to 88 cities in 26 countries! I'm not sure how they tally up to this number, because no matter how I count, it is not this number.  But anyway..... WOW! Great motivation to add more onto the list.

Here are some of the countries I have visited and their cities:

1. Belgium  - Antwerp, Brussels

2. France - Bordeaux, Lyon, Marsaille, Metz, Nice, Paris, Varsailles

3. Germany - Berlin, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Stuttgart

4. Italy - Bellagio, Bologna, Como, Florence, Milan, Pisa, Rome, Sorrento

5. Monaco - Monaco-Ville, Monte Carlo

6. Switzerland - Lausanne, Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne

7. Holland - Amsterdam

8. Turkey - Ankara, Antalya, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, Marmaris

9. UK - London

10. UAE - Dubai

11. Australia - Melbourne, Adelaide

12. Cambodia - Phnom Penh, Siem Reap

13. China - Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Xi'an

14. Malaysia - Ipoh, Malacca, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Johor Bahru, Shah Alam, Taiping, Kluang, Kota Kinabalu

15. South Korea - Incheon, Jeju, Seoul

16. Thailand - Bangkok, Chiangmai, Pattaya, Phuket

Places I hope to visit in future, in no particular order:

Venice, Italy. Although I have been to the other places in Italy before, I have not visited this lovely romantic place yet. Would love to go cruise along Ponte dei Sospiri on a gondola, and especially to check out Burano at the northern part of the Venetian Lagoon. Burano has quaint and brightly painted houses (photo on the right) which is different from the photo on the left and provides a very different atmosphere - more of nostalgic old-world charm. I just need to confirm whether Venice is more romantic than Paris because I do not find Paris romantic at all. Ha!  

United States. I have not landed on the USA yet (oh how long the dreary flight!) but I am waiting for the right chance and timing. For a start, I would love to see the magnificent Niagara Falls and then hop over New York to capture the Statue of Liberty (a touristy thing) and then also to shop till I drop in those mega huge outlet malls. But really, I would like to go Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco (but I will not be wearing some flowers on my head!). :P

Japan. Each time I consider going to Japan, I always end up choosing Europe instead, because for the amount of money and time that will be spent, I would prefer to visit the zillion of cities in Europe. So yes, I am still waiting to visit Japan to see their cherry blossoms (but not really interested in climbing Mt Fuji). I would like to see their explicitly different culture and be overwhelmed by consumerism and also perhaps to chance upon a geisha too?  I missed the chance this year when an ex-collegue asked if I would like to join him and his wife on their honeymoon. Are you kidding, why would I want to be a light bulb??!

Prague, Czech Republic. It may look like just any other city in Europe (which I love), but ever since watching the Korean drama series "Lovers in Prague", I have sort of fallen in love with the place. It seems more laidback compared to Rome in Italy. Would love to roam Piazza Venceslao. In fact I love all the gothic looking buildings surrounding piazzas all across Europe.

Nepal. No, I don't think I would be keen to climb Mt Everest. Situated between China and India, I am keen to visit Kathmandu, to check out the picturesque sights and the native people. Although Buddhism is a minority religion in Nepal, it is nonetheless the birth place of Buddha. I long to take plenty of snapshots of beautiful Nepal.  

Bhutan.  Near to Nepal is the little kingdom of Bhutan. I know of Bhutan not because of Tony Leung and Carina Lau. I have heard about the peaceful little country long before that, ever since I got to know Neyphug Trulku Rinpoche personally, the 9th reincarnation and emanation of Yeshe Yang (disciple of Guru Rinpoche). Guru Rinpoche prophesied his rebirth, and that "even those connected to you on single occasions will all be led to my abode by you!". In June 2005, while Neyphug Rinpoche was in a meditation retreat in the mountains for 6 months, the image and mantra of Guru Rinpoche Buddha appeared mysteriously and spontaneously on the rocks, and holy water gushed out from the rocks. I am confident and would love the chance to visit Bhutan and to see Neyphug Rinpoche again, in Guru Rinpoche's abode!   

Taj Mahal, India. I would like to visit this UNESCO world heritage site, the beautiful white mausoluem. I have always feel an affinity with India but I am yet to have the opportunity to visit. As I mentioned before, I am not surprised if I had been an Indian in one of my past lives.  There is something attractive in Taj Mahal, its paintings, sculptures, motifs in its architecture.

Dharamsala, India. And if I am to visit India, I am surely to include Dharamsala as one of the must-visit places. Dharamsala is where the Dalai Lama is currently staying in exile in his personal monastery, Namgyal Monastery, on the Himalayan hills. It is called Little Lhasa here. His Holiness is the living emanation of the 1000-Arm Chenrezig (Guan Yin). All along, I have had different dreams of being on green hills with snowy mountains in the background with crisp cool air and colourful prayer flags hanging across the mountains. Just that I do not know exactly where is the place, whether in India, or Nepal or Bhutan or where. I guess I would only know where when I finally visit the place which had appeared in my dreams.  

Lhasa, Tibet. Of course I would love to visit the real Lhasa in Tibet, the Potala Palace, former home to the Dalai Lama. Now it has been converted into a musuem by the Chinese.

Actually, frankly, I do not mind going anywhere, as long as it is a place I have never been to before. It will be my life long goal to visit and to pin down each and every city in the world. I find myself perenially attracted to the culture and the people in some places. Also, some of those lovely places I have visited, I would love to re-visit again. But then again, we only have that much time in this life time. Unless I become a full-time traveller....

Who would like to go with me when I embark on my next journey?

Fatty's take-away

This was my late dinner from the famous Fatty Weng tze char coffeeshop. They use opeh leaves to wrap all their takeaway and tie it up with red strings. The opeh leaves supposed to make the food... more fragrant?

My wet fried bee hoon. Seriously, even without any ingredients, the bee hoon itself was fantastic. Kinda miss their famous Horfun which they use pork slices, skin and liver as ingredients. 

Was craving for some greens. Ordered simple stir fried Baby Kailan. It's got the "wok hei". Yummy!!

The full moon without

Had a relaxing Mid-Autumn Festival, no particular celebrations. Anyway, there was no moon tonight because everywhere was raining or cloudy. Like @MissLoi tweeted.... "It's 窗前没月光 tonight". Haha, cute.  In the evening, as usual, went for puja. Today was one of the series of many large-scale important pujas to avert calamities and to pray for the victims of the recent earthquake disasters, as well as for our own obstacles to be removed and wishes to be actualized. 

It was actually wonderful weather the entire day as the skies looked like they were going to break into a storm, hence no sun and not hot. But it did not rain until just after I reached the centre for the puja at 6 plus in the evening. When I started to make offerings, it started to pour, quite heavy about 7pm.  Before the puja started at 7.30pm, I tweeted saying "It's raining cats and dogs now but I am sure it will stop later. Wanna bet?"  No one took up the bet as the skies did not looked promising. Shortly after the puja started, the heavy rain stopped.  Hohoho, I knew it. I do not know whether it was raining in the other parts of Singapore, but at where I was, it stopped raining alright. As I have mentioned many times before, whenever we were in a midst of a puja, the rain could come before or during the puja, but never never continue immediately after the puja. Always after the puja, the rain would have stopped. Rain signifies blessings (sort of an  "acknowledgement") from the Buddhas.  So, you see, I never once had to use my umbrella when on the way home, even though it might be a wet rainy day. What more so today, a special day.

 Did you had a wonderful 八月十五?

G8 Snack Cafe

I have passed by this little shop in Ubi selling snacks a few times. It occupies half of a normal shop unit and the shop name is called G8 Snack Cafe.  I am amazed at the variety of items it is selling and there are about 3 small tables outside for "dine-in" customers.

All the walls of the shop are filled with photos of all the snacks they are selling - they probably have at least 60 items on the wall - 20 different types of bubble tea, 20 different types of other drinks like lychee bubble tea, milo dinosaur etc.., at least 8 types of burgers, few types of pancakes and waffles, and 9 types of french fries done in different flavours. In addition they have those normal titbits and sweets and soft drinks. Looking at all these snack items, it is mind boggling. A couple is manning the shop and they are pretty busy all the time, as they have students from nearby schools patronising them. Also, I noticed they have competition too, just opposite their shop is another bigger bubble tea shop selling mostly bubble tea and few other snacks. I wonder how this shop cope with the competition and the crowd and if they can make money.

One day, I was with someone, and passing by this shop, we decided to have a snack.  We shared a waffle with vanilla ice cream (they have another in chocolate flavour). The piece came in ready cut 4 quadrant pieces and they were crisp and nice. Really not bad for a small snack shop in the heartland.

We also ordered the Spicy Cheesy Fries. It came drenched with melted cheese and chilli powder. Wow the powder made the fries very spicy indeed. The fries were more of soft rather than crispy because of the cheese, but they were shiok. There are 9 other flavours which I would like to try next time, like Wasabi Fries, Seaweed Fries and Teriyaki Fries! Now why do the high-class restaurants and fast food outlets usually only serve one type of regular fries?

I also had the longan bubble tea, which came generously with 6,7 longans and other ingredients at the bottom. Really not bad. Each snack item costs between $0.50 to $3.50. I was just totally impressed and blown away by the variety of choice the shop offers. During peak hours when students knock off school, the queue can be quite long and you may have to wait at least 10-20 minutes. But I feel we should support small ventures like this if the food is good and passable, because it is tough for small-time owners.