spring garb

the old neighborhood is looking very pretty these days, as long as you don't think about the electricity bill.

afternoon joe

cuppa-to-go, from the stall run by the eager young man who wins my business with his enthusiastic solicitousness and courteous enthusiasm.

the coffee's not bad too.

simple pleasure

solo lunch from DDD as HOM goes to attend a talk. just me and the sashimi and my laptop.

with no offence to HOM, i do savor my one-person meals.

luvverly.

modern campaigns that we need

• no spitting in public 
• turn down the video volume on public transport
• or use headphones
• do not conduct 'phone conversations on the bus
• no littering (yeah, a rehash of the old one)

a crowded noisy week winds down.

sunday thoughts from rev. 4

holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!

worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

how terribly awful is God on his throne

how impossibly perfect and unreachably holy

how amazing that i may approach Him

and say abba, father!

breakneck - dan wang (2025)

why i love this: it is as close to a chinese account of china as i can get in the english language. his insight on china being engineering-driven and america being lawyerly is fresh and largely convincing. his description of the lot of middle-aged chinese immigrants in u.s. suburbia is pretty much spot on.

why i take this with a pinch of salt: he is young and it shows and his bias is american and it shows. having lived through an attempt at zero-covid myself i think his description is quasi-accurate and the emotional impact may potentially be a little exaggerated. 

nevertheless this is a thought-provoking and well written book that actually has a different thought per chapter, unlike many books that struggle to say something fresh after chapter 2.

yummo

rich fruit cake with wensleydale cheese. 

boozy moist indulgence with nutty crumbly mild accompaniment. (okay it could be more boozy)

thanks to Ji and J2 for the suggestion.

dong dong qiang

the pre-CNY season starts with a bang. neighborhood fairs festive songs and seasonal deals abound. fortunately we do most of our grocery shopping online these days. otherwise i might burst an aneurysm.

ambush

the overhead bridge leading into jurong east mrt station has become the hunting ground of aggressively enthusiastic purveyors of skills future courses.

this is all very well for more energetic folk. i wish they would avoid middle-aged looking women who much prefer vegetating to attending improvement sessions during their free time.

ouch

one 50-meter shuffle two 100-meter dashes to catch the bus over three consecutive days with a day of power-striding around in heels and i am left nursing an ache over the front of my left knee on the lateral aspect.

memento mori, they say. mortalitatis nocet*, more like. there's no way you'd forget either.

*mortality hurts

for old times' sake

played the piano for church service today with my usual guitarist partner (HOM) different drummer and a worship leader and singers that we have not buddied up with for years.

how lovely it is when old friends play together, i think. the old camaraderie returns, unforced. the old understanding rears its head. old signals pop back into place like a beloved old garment.

time passes and things change but sometimes one is gifted with a chance to revisit the previous magic.

isaac's storm - erik larsen (1999)

tragic and grand and sweeping but ponderous too. fascinating account of the hurricane that brings galveston to its knees and equally impressive narrative of global weather systems. i am left with an impression of a remarkable amount of work that goes into the writing of this tome.

enjoyed it. almost gave up midway.

my first real finish for the year. (if you discount the thoroughly enjoyable j. d. robb murder binge from december and the forgettable this is why we can't have nice things (abandoned after chapter 2)).

back to earth

there you go!

extended break over and done with. dried and dusted.

journey's mercies good company beloved children great food.

grateful and missing it all already.

blessings all mine.

da list

birds eaten on this trip:

• goose (roasted better than braised; liver is tolerable)
• duck (jiangmuya magic is real)
• chicken (roast, in guangzhou, mmmm)
• pigeon (too scrawny, so just meh)
• quail (just the eggs)

bonne nuit

our last nite, in xiamen. we fly back to our real life tomorrow.

wuz a lovely prolonged paiseh-inducing trip of a vacation.

coffee

another place, another cuppa.

of all the benefits that gentrification brings possibly my favorite is a dependable cuppa joe in every port of call.

another one, not so ubiquitous, is a jap-inspired patisserie.

light show

we attend a light show.

so do lotsa other people.

so we watch their screens.

they spare our necks.

chaozhou

 

our penultimate stop and possibly the least prepossessing yet. the streets teem with humanity the air reeks tobacco the hocking and expectoration are back the hand of commerce is heavy but the ware is limited.

in additional news, the cars toot their horns with blithe abandon.

gateway to the shoppes

el cheapo's shopping haven at wholesale prices, if you ask me. our traveling companions spend today visiting the parks to appreciate the seasonal colors. HOM and i unabashedly support the local economy instead. 

zipline!*

i commit to a ride before i fully grasp what it is. and then it is too late to uncommit.

'nuff said.

*at baiyun scenic area

notes on foshan, guangzhou

• considerably fewer clouds of tobacco smoke than elsewhere
• as well as more controlled hocking and expectoration of sputum
• more relaxed and lived in but still cosmopolitan
• cantonese is a most melodious dialect, in speech and in song
• and the food! the ambrosial food!

i still love shanghai hands down, but guangzhou is coming a close second.

booze

baijiu-laced latte.

shades of bailey's irish cream, served icy cold.

wong fei hong

we visit the wfh museum.

fellow had FOUR wives.

that's a couple wives too many, if you ask me.

furniture malls of foshan

sprawling complexes selling everything you need to muscle up your home. and your office. fortunately we do not have a new place to shop for, HOM and i tell each other. otherwise one could go crazy shopping.

new coffee friend

so much for brand loyalty. on account of getting our directions mixed up we end up at cotti coffee which turns out to be cheaper than and just as satisfying as our previous mvp, luckin.

going green

the hotel does not turn on the heater at this time of year, the girl at the reception murmurs. but we have put you in the room with lots of sun to warm you up!

that's all very well for the day, girl, but what is one to do when the sun sets and the body shuts down?

i am all for energy efficiency and responsible consumption but man, is the cold bone chilling before the sun comes back up.

then and now

35 years apart almost to the day and i am amazed at how the place has leap-frogged into the modern age and beyond.

you can read all you want about sleeping dragons awakening and stuff but until you see for yourself the wonder does not sink in. and when you finally see it looks so in situ that you think it must have been like this all along. but actually it was not. not by a long shot. and if you are fortunate you get to realize that at least once in your lifetime.

final junket

on to our final trip before the nose returns to the grindstone. HOM and i quickly seek out supplies to augment our stay. we are clearly well-rehearsed and have a coherent focus.

dîner pour deux

back to tropical humidity E the dog our own bed and my trusty kitchen knife. traveling is fun but coming home is good too. HOM says we will plan actively to travel aggressively more in the coming year.

new day new year

to quote something from social media, the first resolution of the year should be to remember to write 26 instead of 25.

in other news, am jet-lagged brain-fogged and achy-bodied from the flight home yesterday and the neighborhood idiots shouting happy new year to all and sundry just after i manage to fall asleep last nite.