eat, pray, love (or: there's no place like home)

[epicflailer]

crazy wonderful amazing whirlwind of a week, and i can finally talk about it without fear of ruining the surprise for anyone!

sunday:

• make it through 14 hours of flying (5 eps of friends, 5 movies, and a 2-hour nap), a two hour layover in dubai, 7 more hours of flying (3/4 a movie and 4.5 hours of on and off napping)
  
• TOUCHDOWN IN SINGAPORE!
  
• successfully surprise parents after months of secretive and ingenious plotting!
  
• wish for the foresight to have had a video camera rolling to capture their (ridiculous) expressions
  
• king's breakfast of prata and lor mai gai and siew mai
  
• realise it's the first day of the seventh month (timing is everything) and there are prayers to be prayed and joss sticks to be burnt
  
• kway teow for lunch in chinatown!
  
• prayer roasted meats + barbequed chicken wings from newton + carrot cake + hokkien mee + oluak = delicious homeocoming dinner
  
• pass out by 9.30pm

monday:

• breakfast of champions = economy bee hoon + AMAZING YOU TIAO
  
• chill out around the house with a little bit of cross-stitching
  
• watch the parents have lunch at a nasi padang stall along killiney road
  
• be uncertain about how to spell killiney
  
• meet the cousin for sakae sushi buffet
  
• eat a stupid amount of sushi and receive a $150 discount
  
• show everyone the receipt over the next few days
  
• buy an sg50 ez-link card and feel equal parts horrified and amused
  
• successfully surprise captureinsanity after months of secretive and ingenious plotting!
  
• have a delicious, if tiny, dinner, and half a catch up after
  
• feel almost unbearably grateful to be home and with everyone in it

tuesday:

• kind of icky laksa for breakfast
  
• stop eating after a couple of bites under the pretext of having to rush to get ready for more praying
  
• possibly get slightly misty-eyed in the temple
  
• miss grandma a lot
  
• go for a dental appointment
  
• find out about a crack in a tooth
  
• go for lunch at paradise dynasty
  
• be disappointed by lunch at paradise dynasty
  
• go for dessert at a hong kong cafe and a light spot of shopping at promod
  
• see nickietang!!!! and have a delightful (more or less) home-cooked dinner

wednesday:

• go for a delicious oily economy bee hoon breakfast with the papster
  
• more praying to grandparents
  
• get involved in the (very complicated) process of praying to grandparents
  
• go for the most DELICIOUS dim sum lunch at imperial treasure
  
• no but really THAT ZHA LIANG
  
• chill out in the backyard at home
  
• successfully surprise stephoosaurus, tash, carol and missporcelain after months of secretive and ingenious plotting!
  
• have an eh dinner at cedele...
  
• ...rounded off by super tasty chocolate cake!

thursday:

• finally shake off some jetlag and wake up past 9am
  
• eat two bites of economy bee hoon for a late breakfast
  
• meet missporcelain for lunch at dian xiao er!
  
• realise that no matter what, dou miao will always = heaven
  
• head home to chill for a little bit
  
• meet __prototype for a luscious dinner (crab bee hoon! foie gras! fried chicken! salted egg crab! mmm!)
  
• keep __prototype up way past her bedtime (oops)

friday:

• sleep in again! (success!)
  
• get ready for lunch with distant relatives at my dining room
  
• remember why said relatives are generally kept distant
  
• have a fairly good lunch anyway
  
• go for a(n at times uncomfortable and awkward) meeting with people at booking.com's offices
  
• almost die after standing around in heels for three hours
  
• be upset about almost dying after standing around in heels for three hours
  
• resolve to practice walking in heels for extended periods of time
  
• get home to change into comfortable shoes
  
• squee a lot about how cookleta is the best otp ever / the ship that sails itself / everything good and beautiful in life
  
• meet stephoosaurus, captureinsanity and abish for dinner at manna restaurant
  
• feel overwhelmed by the crowd
  
• feel vaguely singaporean again
  
• have tash and her girlfriend join the group for dessert at ji de chi
  
• TANG YUAN + ALMOND PASTE = YES FOREVER
  
• skip out on nightfest to love on everyone whilst seated and eating
  
• feel pangs of nostalgia taking the bus home with captureinsanity + her broken toe

saturday:

• wake up at a reasonable hour (finally!)
  
• go for delicious prata at a neighbourhood shop
  
• hang out at cb2 looking at too expensive furniture
  
• go for chicken rice at boon tong kee
  
• buy 4d for the first time ever
  
• spend a lot of time listening to music in the backyard
  
• have a meal with favourite relatives that is so mindblowing it makes all of life's potential trials seem bearable
  
• remember why a life without suckling pig is not a life worth living
  
• walk the dog
  
• drink cooling tea
  
• lie back in bed and be stupidly happy about turning 27 at home