i felt like a little girl today with two teeth less. extraction is a funny thing. dentists have interesting jobs. mingyao picked me up from the clinic and we went to sembawang hills food centre [oh beloved haven of my childhood eats, the sunday kway chups and popiah] where i sipped milo through a straw and mingyao ate his curry rice. casuarina road has been a constant supper haunt of late, after practice in church; i like that great hawker food is accessible where the view is not that of a hdb void deck and where vivid memories of a mini me cycled to or walked to when i was still living in upper thomson paradise. but yesterday we swung by river valley and had bbq sambal sting ray and mee goreng [oh the seafood!] and fish hor fan [oh the gravy] with barley to top it off. it does seem that we eat quite a lot, or rather i write about our eating escapades quite a bit. look beyond it, i believe that eating is really an excuse for us to spend a little more time together; besides we have great fun with culinary talk and it's really the whole package - the ambience, great parking lots, the right amount of gravy (ooh lavendar food court wanton mee) or being acknowledged as regulars by char siew rice boy or being able to watch your car while you eat at havelock road. is it havelock? he's turned me into a real foodie. discovering iron chef on australian tv was a godsend considering how unappetising tv there is.

and i am glad you sent me home. you were right, i needed it. i dedicate the next two teeth to you too.

yesterday was a me afternoon where i sauntered into coffee club in holland village before the dental appointment and ordered just what i had been craving, a plate of garlic prawn pasta [the succulent prawns...]. so while ra-ra arts students discussed in accent tones about film and literature i sat quietly and had my pasta and a book. after which i ordered a mango tango freeze which i was craving too as well and wrote a six page letter to brenda in the hour. there is something lush and comforting about that place in the middle noon being alone and playing let's pretend in my head and having quiet contemplation about recent, present and future events. actually, i think i just floated in the clouds, for a change.