http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1008365/1/.html
We didn't feel anything, though apparently some people in S'pore did: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1008370/1/.html
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
how dee's day is just the same. but isn't.
same: Today I got up and got ready to go to work.
isn't: I'm awake at 7am. ME. 7AM. (People who know me well may now wish to pause to let this sink in.) Cause EVERYONE in S'pore gets up at dawn. If the sun, a piercing orange DAGGER OF LIGHT directly into your EYEBALLS does not wake you up at the crack of dawn, then the garbage-man, the leaf-blower man, the street-sweeper man, or the dreaded cart-man (ARGH. Empty lorrie driven back and forth over speed bumps on our road all morning... why... WHY) will do it instead. Or the neurotic non-trained and no-walked trophy dogs next door. Or the massive biblical-grade thunderstorm.
same: The busdriver was heavy-footed this morning, barely slowing down for the speedbumps.
isnt': they're not bumps, they're humps. Srsly. The word "humps' is spray-painted on the road. Causing me to uncontrollably start mentally singing the Black Eyed Peas song EVERYTIME I see a speed ... hump... which means that at least 4 times a day -- back and forth on the bus-- I am singing MY HUMPS MY HUMPS MY LOVELY LADY BUMPS in my head.
same: The nice glass of wine I am enjoying is an okay semillon from Australia.
isn't: the bottle cost $47 bucks (SD). o_0;;;;;
same: Catching a ride home with a friend this evening, some guy cut us off in traffic. Our driver yelled at him.
isn't: Saying, with a complete lack of road-rage, "Oh LAH. Your grandfather build this road or WHAT."
same: Every purchase I make is ensconced in a plastic bag. No matter how small. Sometimes double-bagged.
isnt': you will never, ever see one stuck in a tree. Or blowing across the highway. Or discarded on the ground. It's just something that doesn't happen here. Like snow.
same: It's a clear September evening, a bright half-moon in the sky and maybe even a couple of stars visible through the haze of city lights.
isnt': it's 31 freaking C in here. *hugs the fan*
I just realized how long I could go on with this. This is one of the reasons I'm really enjoying S'pore. It's just like home but slightly, weirldly sideways-- not too much-- just enough to occasionally, gently, freak you out.
isn't: I'm awake at 7am. ME. 7AM. (People who know me well may now wish to pause to let this sink in.) Cause EVERYONE in S'pore gets up at dawn. If the sun, a piercing orange DAGGER OF LIGHT directly into your EYEBALLS does not wake you up at the crack of dawn, then the garbage-man, the leaf-blower man, the street-sweeper man, or the dreaded cart-man (ARGH. Empty lorrie driven back and forth over speed bumps on our road all morning... why... WHY) will do it instead. Or the neurotic non-trained and no-walked trophy dogs next door. Or the massive biblical-grade thunderstorm.
same: The busdriver was heavy-footed this morning, barely slowing down for the speedbumps.
isnt': they're not bumps, they're humps. Srsly. The word "humps' is spray-painted on the road. Causing me to uncontrollably start mentally singing the Black Eyed Peas song EVERYTIME I see a speed ... hump... which means that at least 4 times a day -- back and forth on the bus-- I am singing MY HUMPS MY HUMPS MY LOVELY LADY BUMPS in my head.
same: The nice glass of wine I am enjoying is an okay semillon from Australia.
isn't: the bottle cost $47 bucks (SD). o_0;;;;;
same: Catching a ride home with a friend this evening, some guy cut us off in traffic. Our driver yelled at him.
isn't: Saying, with a complete lack of road-rage, "Oh LAH. Your grandfather build this road or WHAT."
same: Every purchase I make is ensconced in a plastic bag. No matter how small. Sometimes double-bagged.
isnt': you will never, ever see one stuck in a tree. Or blowing across the highway. Or discarded on the ground. It's just something that doesn't happen here. Like snow.
same: It's a clear September evening, a bright half-moon in the sky and maybe even a couple of stars visible through the haze of city lights.
isnt': it's 31 freaking C in here. *hugs the fan*
I just realized how long I could go on with this. This is one of the reasons I'm really enjoying S'pore. It's just like home but slightly, weirldly sideways-- not too much-- just enough to occasionally, gently, freak you out.
Monday, September 21, 2009
what have you been working on, dee??
Comics!! Chapter 16 of Nightschool is finished and away as of last week, Svet's outdone herself this time, the series just gets better and better, everybody go pre-order #2 it's so gonna rawk. Tones for Odd Thomas are next on the agenda, but this weekend was consumed with slacking, unpacking the rest of the boxes, cleaning AND EATING DIM SUM AT H.V. OMG, and also we found corndogs in Tanglin mall. No, for real! Corndogs and they were awesome!!! Why didn't I take a pic, that was dumb, I have no proof... eh, well, I'LL BE BAK. CORNDOG EXPEDITION PT. II RETURN TO CORNDOG.
(Seriously, succulent corndogs ... I never found corndogs in Boston the whole time I was there. And do not say Summer Shack to me, bleah those do not count.)
Anyway, oh yes, dim sum quite good for big "sunday" breakfast, although no one liked the pork buns but me... which,TOTALLY TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM, I heroically ate all three, yes, it's true, I'm all about the self-sacrifice for the good of others, thanks.
At Crystal Jade I had soya milk for the first time here. And it was awesome! Bean-y deliciousness! Of course I've had soy milk in the states but the stuff in the carton is bland and character-less, almost as if it's ashamed to be what it is and trying to pass itself as something it's not-- skim milk. Boo on you pale, bland, low-self-esteem soy milk! The glass I had at CJ was full of the Pride of Beans! Even had a slight texture. I liked it very much. C. says the restaurant makes it themselves.
The face Al made when we made him take a sip was priceless. Sadly no camera deployed. Classic case of pearls before swine. Won't eat his porkbun, won't drink his soya milk, sheesh.
...inhaled the prawn dumplings, though. Like a Hoover with attachments!
What was I talking about, oh yes, comics. Here's a page from Tacto and my entry in the Journeys anthology to be printed in Japan for us to sell at our table at Comitia this year, yay! So many wonderful contributors to this book, it's really gonna be amazing!
I really think this turned out so beautifully, really the best work we've ever done. Pencils by Tacto, inks & tones by Dee. And the setting is the 1964-65 World's Fairgrounds in Flushing Meadows, Queens! Dee's favorite obsession!
(Seriously, succulent corndogs ... I never found corndogs in Boston the whole time I was there. And do not say Summer Shack to me, bleah those do not count.)
Anyway, oh yes, dim sum quite good for big "sunday" breakfast, although no one liked the pork buns but me... which,TOTALLY TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM, I heroically ate all three, yes, it's true, I'm all about the self-sacrifice for the good of others, thanks.
At Crystal Jade I had soya milk for the first time here. And it was awesome! Bean-y deliciousness! Of course I've had soy milk in the states but the stuff in the carton is bland and character-less, almost as if it's ashamed to be what it is and trying to pass itself as something it's not-- skim milk. Boo on you pale, bland, low-self-esteem soy milk! The glass I had at CJ was full of the Pride of Beans! Even had a slight texture. I liked it very much. C. says the restaurant makes it themselves.
The face Al made when we made him take a sip was priceless. Sadly no camera deployed. Classic case of pearls before swine. Won't eat his porkbun, won't drink his soya milk, sheesh.
...inhaled the prawn dumplings, though. Like a Hoover with attachments!
What was I talking about, oh yes, comics. Here's a page from Tacto and my entry in the Journeys anthology to be printed in Japan for us to sell at our table at Comitia this year, yay! So many wonderful contributors to this book, it's really gonna be amazing!
I really think this turned out so beautifully, really the best work we've ever done. Pencils by Tacto, inks & tones by Dee. And the setting is the 1964-65 World's Fairgrounds in Flushing Meadows, Queens! Dee's favorite obsession!
i haz a birthday
We iz at The Prime Society eatin' dey Australian cowz, nom nom nom.Also, ice cream there quite good. And the fizzy wine from Austria, delish!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
btw, woks and stuff
Yes, you can make marinara sauce in your wok. You can also pop popcorn in it. (I learned this from the demonstration lady in the basement at Tangs who also cooks cakes in hers. I haven't tried cakes yet. Cakes? Hm, really?)
Woks are amazing tools, under-utilized in the States because our cook-tops are not set up for them. Here we've got a gas stove with a reserved space for a wok. And the gas is like FWOOOOOOSH RAWR BURN, very intense, so you can get the temp up to where you need it for a decent stir fry. And speaking of cooking, fresh green veg here are plentiful and cheap and you can buy a huge bag of bean sprouts for 19 cents. NINETEEN CENTS. And that's at Cold Storage, the Whole Food-esque grocery store! I guess if you got your sprouts at a wetmarket they'd fall to their knees and beg you to take them and be healthy.
The fruit and produce here are amazing. It seems very easy to eat well and we've both lost weight and have a rosy glow in our cheeks -- despite all the Tiger beer -- from all the walking (no car), the pool downstairs (!!!) and the good food entirely free of bullshit high fructose corn syrup. You go, S'pore.
Alright, the sin tax on alcohol sucks... 25 bucks for crap chardonnay out of Australia, urg, but still...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
oh crap, it's september
21 days since last post?? Nooooooo! *Glassy sksh-POW ting bling ting! as resolution to post regularly shatters and hits the floor*
Work is kicking my butt. 1 dayjob, 2 night jobs and a side project for the Arteestly Trip to Japan coming up in November (squeee!) which I will tell all about soon, plus the remnants of getting the house set up, which...
Okay, this gets its own ordered list. I call this list:
DEE'S ELECTRONICS WHICH AL HAS BLOWN UP
So on top of everything else it seems like every weekend something happens that prevents me from working. Like going down to SimLim Square AGAIN. NOT BITTER. to get a new printer because the fierce current of Singapore fried mine with Al's help. Like this:
al: *plug in*
printer: *BAM* *curl of smoke* *acrid smell*
dee: *@*^$#(#@#&$ PRINTER!!!1!!!ACK11!!!
al: Oh... so when the manual says either 120V "or" 220V... that's an EXCLUSIVE "or".
dee: . . .
dee: EXCLUSIVELY KILL YOU ARGH
So all the jobs are like, Dee, where's my stuff which is why I haven't posted or responded to kind emails from my friiiiiends! GOD, THANK YOU FOR WRITING ME, WAH. I think I'm beginning to catch upthough.
We finally got a phone (I don't have one yet. I'm holding out for an iPhone, which, there AREN'T any. Seriously, on the whole island. Singtel: "We're out of iPhones, Ma'am." WHUT. The nation of Singapore is OUT OF iPHONES? For a MONTH? I know, freaky. Anyway... AL gets a phone at last. Which means only one thing. Yes, this...
TAKE OUT PIZZAAAAAAAAA@21!!!!!@@1!! Mana from heaven. Pepperoni pizza, moist with the tears of an expat who hasn't had a good slice in months. Thank you Rocky's Pizza. T____T
I've some really decent food pics I need to upload soon. The thing is, almost EVERY meal in Singapore is memorable, so it's hard to discriminate-- I have to post them all. I mean, after shopping at SimLim the other night we just sort of wandered out to the street, looking for dinner, passed a couple of freakin amazing temples-- one Hindu, one Chinese-- and then stumbled across this tiny mall wherein was this humble little noodle shop staffed by 3 utterly charming and hard-working ladies that served me up one of the best bowls of beef ramen I've ever had in my life and a dish of fried dumplings that I still see in my dreams. I really need to blog every day.
Work is kicking my butt. 1 dayjob, 2 night jobs and a side project for the Arteestly Trip to Japan coming up in November (squeee!) which I will tell all about soon, plus the remnants of getting the house set up, which...
Okay, this gets its own ordered list. I call this list:
DEE'S ELECTRONICS WHICH AL HAS BLOWN UP
- One set of computer speakers
- My printer
So on top of everything else it seems like every weekend something happens that prevents me from working. Like going down to SimLim Square AGAIN. NOT BITTER. to get a new printer because the fierce current of Singapore fried mine with Al's help. Like this:
al: *plug in*
printer: *BAM* *curl of smoke* *acrid smell*
dee: *@*^$#(#@#&$ PRINTER!!!1!!!ACK11!!!
al: Oh... so when the manual says either 120V "or" 220V... that's an EXCLUSIVE "or".
dee: . . .
dee: EXCLUSIVELY KILL YOU ARGH
So all the jobs are like, Dee, where's my stuff which is why I haven't posted or responded to kind emails from my friiiiiends! GOD, THANK YOU FOR WRITING ME, WAH. I think I'm beginning to catch upthough.
We finally got a phone (I don't have one yet. I'm holding out for an iPhone, which, there AREN'T any. Seriously, on the whole island. Singtel: "We're out of iPhones, Ma'am." WHUT. The nation of Singapore is OUT OF iPHONES? For a MONTH? I know, freaky. Anyway... AL gets a phone at last. Which means only one thing. Yes, this...
TAKE OUT PIZZAAAAAAAAA@21!!!!!@@1!! Mana from heaven. Pepperoni pizza, moist with the tears of an expat who hasn't had a good slice in months. Thank you Rocky's Pizza. T____TI've some really decent food pics I need to upload soon. The thing is, almost EVERY meal in Singapore is memorable, so it's hard to discriminate-- I have to post them all. I mean, after shopping at SimLim the other night we just sort of wandered out to the street, looking for dinner, passed a couple of freakin amazing temples-- one Hindu, one Chinese-- and then stumbled across this tiny mall wherein was this humble little noodle shop staffed by 3 utterly charming and hard-working ladies that served me up one of the best bowls of beef ramen I've ever had in my life and a dish of fried dumplings that I still see in my dreams. I really need to blog every day.
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