Coolcat's Jottings

What a day yesterday has been. And what better way to de-stress and recharge than to hang out with Twinnie and Annie. We had a really nice time at Colonnial Times restaurant - the Indian food there was really good and so was the Masala tea. We realised that we've met up just exactly one week ago and still have oodles and oodles to yak about. We recounted the first time we met. Who would have thought we'd be addicted to each other like this?

To conclude the wonderful and feisty dinner (yup, the food was hot and so was the company!), we watched Mukhsin. This was a long-awaited for movie. Twinnie blogged about a topic inspired by it here last year.

The movie was sweet and funny at various points. The actors were very natural and the kids did a good job especially the girl who played Orked. There's even a cat actor named Bujang who did sick things to a chicken. Maaaaan....

The whole theme of the movie was based on the question: "What happens when one falls in love with one's best friend?" Definitely something we can relate to. Ah, the bittersweet anguish of having all these feelings and wondering if it's reciprocated.

Also, found a nice parking spot right at the cinema entrance. It's PINK in color and I fit the description to a T! How thoughtful and caring of the Cineleisure management, eh?

They say good things happen in threes. I wonder if we'll meet up again next Thurs. We'll see.

Lips was so excited about cooking dinner for me. At various points of the week she would check with me what I'd like to eat and whether I would prefer pasta or chips. And then later on, it was a choice between pesto and some other type of cooking pasta. For me, it was such a sweet thing for anyone to offer to cook for me that anything goes. Really.

However, the cookout day finally arrived and I started getting worried. Firstly, I already had a hefty lunch at the Jap restaurant on that very day itself. Secondly, I had salivated over and been brainwashed by the photos of over 10 lovely and dazzling Jap dishes. After sorting out and editing the mouth-watering photos, I suddenly felt apprehensive about the home-cooked dinner ahead. Would I be able to express adequate appreciation towards my dear friend who had laboured over the stove for me that night? By adequate appreciation I am referring to finishing my portion to the very last morsel and having the appropriate esctatic facial expressions to accompany it.

I pushed such trepidition away as I made my way to her abode. It's been a while since we last met face to face. I was looking forward to a guaranteed time of warm fellowship ahead. She greeted at the door beaming brightly and the sight that greeted me blew me away.

Frankly, I was expecting this:

Instead, I got this:

Times like this, I wished I brought my baby with me!

My jaw dropped to the ground. Had I just stepped into the latest cafe in town?? Her hubby EC and mom were already wolfing down the sumptious spread. Chicken breast meat tightly rolled with ham, fettucini pesto ala Lips and salad with grapes got my stomach growling ferociously and I soon joined the merry party. Needless to say, I had no problems at all expressing the appropriate appreciation for the fantastic meal. Not a single morsel left on my plate - nor the others, I noticed.

So errrrr, Lips... when are you cooking again ar?

Massive photo shoot going on this week at the Jap restaurant. Which means my meals will mainly consist of the same strain as the above. These are some of today's shots.

I love my job! Someone pinch me. It feels like I'm dreaming...

Last Thurs we were at Gems again. With my girlfriends and sistahs. Sistahs are the guys each of us gals brought to the group for their wacky sense of humour and the ability to girl-talk with the best of us.

After a long bout of paranoia about carrying pink bags around town after my encounter with snatch thieves, I finally succumbed to the girlish cries within me. I spotted a darling of a pink bag a couple of weeks ago, decided to get it and was proudly walking all over town with it the very day itself.

You can't believe how wonderful I felt to finally have a pink bag firmly attached to me again. Kinda like a long-lost limb. I felt complete, sugar, spice and everything nice. But no one noticed that subtle transformation from being bagless to pink-baggy. Nor the inner contentment that I feel whenever I walk around toting it.

However, my girlfriends noticed it immediately when I walked into Gems last Thursday. D frantically waved her pink bag at me and we just had to have a pic taken with our precious pink items.

Only a girlfriend would notice, appreciate and celebrate the acquisition of a pink bag. But more importantly, it also signifies a form of freedom from the fear that I lived with for the past few months. And that's cause enough for celebration.

We love our pink bags!

Twinnie also blogged about our meetup here. Yep, we retired earlier than normal that night to catch up on some much-needed rest.

Kindred spirit - someone who feels and thinks the way you do. Popularised by Anne of Green Gables.

"The meal is so dry. I can't possibly finish my rice like this," she said.

The words sounded like music to my ears. In all my years of eating with friends, I have not come across many people who eat the way I do.

We both looked at our plates balefully. It was heaped with white rice, a few strands of vegetables and some portions from the yam basket. There was an acute lack of gravy. To us, it looked rather an impossible task to finish.

Then we started passionately exchanging stories of how we endured dry meal after dry meal with rice sans gravy. We were passionate because we discovered that it's a subject that's very close to our hearts.

"Some meals come with soup. But it's not the same as gravy, you know."

"I so know what you mean! I can't imagine soaking my rice in soup. Soup is soup and must only be consumed on it's own - in a bowl. Nothing like lots and lots of gravy swimming in your rice."

"And I feel so bad if I scoop all the gravy that are contained in certain dishes. Like I'm robbing the others from their share of gravy."

"I feel exactly the same! Long live dishes that come with oodles of gravy!"

"Yeah!!!"

Then we looked around our dinner table. The next dish had arrived. Gravy-laden, thankfully. My sister and I exchanged grins as we proceed to pour generous helpings of gravy onto our plates. Ah, now we can finally truly enjoy our meal.

Growing up, I used to think that we are so very different in many ways. In order not to get lost or mixed up with the other siblings, there was a constant and subconscious desire to individuate.

But now, I'm starting to realise that I do have a kindred spirit in her. And it's a strangely welcoming thought. For with it, comes the unique kind of comfort and the joy of familiarity that only siblings share. It just can't be helped. We were brought up by the same folks after all. I can only marvel that it took me so long to see it.

Wah.