Saturday, Sunday

INSEAD's Monsoon Ball will take place tonight. Without me. I wanted to buy the tickets yesterday but they run out of them early. Procrastination is usually a bad habit, I don't regret it this time though. I didn't want to end up buying the tickets and not being able to attend the ball in case my tonsils give me a hard time again. Anyway, weekend will be fun. Tonight, we will attend the birthday dinner of Sylvia's sister, Charmaine, and tomorrow, we will watch the French musical Notre Dame de Paris.

School Break

This last week was extraordinary. I had a week long break in school, and although Sylvia couldn't get a few days off from work, we met every evening. We watched Chinese dramas and American TV shows. She cooked a really nice penne bolognese, and baked the best garlic focaccia I had so far. The texture, shape and taste were just perfect.

I started to learn Mandarin. I have to switch my mind to a different study mode for that. Luckily, I can practice it with Sylvia. Although it is not her mother tongue, she speaks Mandarin very well.

Today, the last period already started at school. I took a lot of interesting courses, most of them focus on entrepreneurship. I hope my tonsils will be alright for these remaining two months. After school we watched Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Since I watched the original Hong Kong film, the Infernal Affairs trilogy, the suprise factor was unfortunately missing. It was a really good film though, Scorsese is an amazing director. I really like his mob films, especially Goodfellas.

Meeting More Relatives

I met Sylvia's youngest aunt's family yesterday. The apartment was zen-like and really cozy. The uncle had an amazing tea-pot collection and the best teas from China, Taiwan and Japan. We were talking a lot about buddhism, taoism, business, life, culture and history while listening to traditional Chinese music. I learnt some very interesting things. For dinner we had vegetarian sushi rolls, tofu with pork floss, chicken pie and glutinous rice with mango.

Today, we visited Ama and Ah Gong. We ate chicken rice, it was really good, one of the best I had so far. It seems I'm getting more and more Singaporean, I talk a lot about food. But that's okay lah.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Bad: Last weekend I had a terrible outbreak with my tonsils. I felt really sick. I didn't feel good for about a week or two but it got almost unbearable bad on Sunday afternoon. I had to see a doctor, who referred me to a specialist.

The Good: Before that I had lunch with Sylvia's family at Crystal Jade Kitchen. So far, I had the best char siew and siew yok (barbecue and roast pork) there. Afterwards we headed to the National Museum of Singapore to see the Cartier exhibition. There were a few amazing pieces, but most of the jewels I found just too much, too fancy or too slushy.

The Ugly: I met a specialist regarding my tonsils on Wednesday. The doctor first shot a photo of them, they seem really ugly and swollen. He advised surgery as it was the fifth or sixth time they got inflamed this year.

The Bad: Then I found out that my insurance doesn't cover it, as it is considered an elective surgery, and it would cost 4 thousand dollars. Since this kind of surgery is free back home in Hungary, I will wait a few more months, and do it there when I'm visiting my family.

The Good: Nath is back for a few days. Today we joined Sen, Jordan and Eric for lunch at Din Tai Fung, a really nice dumpling restaurant in Raffles Plaza. They say The New York Times ranks them as one of the world's top ten best restaurants. The food is indeed delicious, but I'm still sceptical about this claim. Nath and I spent the rest of the day together, it was so great to catch up with her. She brought me a special French sausage, and Regina sent me cheese from France. In the evening Sen, Jordan and I opened a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and ate the reblochone, camambert and petite billy with the greatest pleasure (thanks a lot, Reg!). Tomorrow Sylvia and I will have the saucisse (thanks a lot, Nath!). And there's still some moon cake in my fridge (thanks a lot, Sylvia!). Wow, life is beautiful.

Temporary Depression Seasoned with Severe Impatience

The haze is terrible. The smoke comes from Indonesia, where they burn the forrest to gain land for agriculture. I haven't seen the sun for weeks, everything is grey. Besides, my tonsils are in really bad shape. I have headache all the time and I'm very weak. I will see the specialist tomorrow to discuss the surgery. I hope I will get rid of them soon. These things make me quite depressed, and with the job search, it's just not a good time. I still have many applications in line, and I'm confident to get a good job in Singapore, still, it gives me stress. I hope to get over this period soon, and enjoy my life with my princess and my friends. This period we haven't organized a single pot luck. I hope the next one, which is the last one, will be really amazing.


I shot this photo two years ago, back in Hungary. I had the patience to sit for four hours for a single shot, so I will have the patience with anything else too. I took really interesting courses for next period, mostly focusing on entrepreneurship. I will also keep on learning rapid reading. So far, I increased my reading speed around 2-3 times from the earlier one. And as soon as I accept a job offer, I will start learning Mandarin too. And of course I'm trying to pick up some Hokkien as well, as that's the dialect Sylvia speaks.

You Stepped Out of a Dream

(Nat King Cole)

You
Stepped out of a dream,
You are too wonderful
To be what you seem.

Could there be eyes like yours?
Could there be lips like yours?
Could there be smiles like yours,
Honest and truly?

You
Stepped out of a cloud,
I want to take you away
Away from the crowd,
And have you all to myself,
Alone and apart.
Out of a dream
Safe into my heart.

You
Stepped out of a cloud,
I want to take you away
Away from the crowd,
And have you all to myself,
Alone and apart.
Out of a dream,
Safe into my heart...
Wa-dee-la-la
Out of a dream!

Zoo, Karaoke and Lots of Food... As Always

Singapore Zoo was amazing. Sylvia and I had a great time there last Saturday. I think I will buy a yearly pass for next year. It's really relaxing there, the animals are beautiful. We should go for the Night Safari next time. In the evening we went to have dinner with the parents. I chose an Italian pasta, which turned out to be a wrong decision. I tried Sylvia's pig intestine soup as well, and had some moon cakes with ice cream. Yummie! That turned out to be a good combination.

Sunday we went to meet up with Winnie for lunch. We had dim sum. Then we went for a karaoke. I felt nervous before I started the first song, but it was great. Sylvia said I have a nice singing voice, though I sometimes have difficulties with higher notes. I realized that I'm getting old. I only chose songs which were performed in the early 1990s the latest. I had two favorites, the classic Mack the Knife, and a duet with Sylvia, I want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You. Afterwards we went for a walk in Chinatown. I was able to get four early films of Akira Kurosawa on DVD for 5 dollars each. We ended the day at The Soup Spoon, we both had pumpkin soup, it's really delicious there.

Shot of The Day

Weekend Plans

My tonsils are giving me a hard time again. This time I went to see a doctor, and he prescribed some anti-inflammatory pills. It seems I have to get them removed sooner or later. But the good news is, that weekend is here. Today, Sylvia cooked an amazing dinner. We started with mushroom soup, followed by her favorite dish she learnt from her grandma, which is a wok fried minced pork dish with egg, ginger and dark soy sauce, with rice and stir fried vegetables as side dishes. We bought guava but forgot about it. We'll eat them tomorrow, I will have them plain, Sylvia with saur plum powder. Tomorrow we'll visit the zoo, then have dinner with family. Sunday we'll go for a karaoke. This will be my first time, I feel a bit nervous. I like singing, I just can't. I hope I won't sound terrible.

Time Passes Faster on Weekends

On Friday after school, I met Gergő and Kata for a few hours on their way back from Bali. We went to eat ramen at Plaza Singapura and we had a chat afterwards at the park near by. Unfortunately, Kata felt quite sick, she must have eaten something.

On Saturday, Sylvia and I went to Bugis. She was craving for ramen, so I had it two days in a row. She had her hair cut afterwards. Then we went to have neoprints taken of us. Neoprints are those glittery photographs, where you pose in front of a blue screen, and then a computer will add different backgrounds and elements. We were shopping a bit later, I needed some business wear. Finally, we went to visit ama and ah gong (grandpa).

On Sunday, we met Ruben at Fullerton Hotel. He invited us, and also three other guys, for a brunch with free flow of champagne. I haven't had such variety of good cheese for almost a year. We were talking about life, business and Asia. Afterwards we watched Banquette, the Chinese adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, starring Zhang Ziyi and Daniel Wu. I liked it a lot, although you can't compare it to Kurosawa's Shakespeare adaptations. In the night, we even watched An American Haunting on DVD.