WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?

Friends back in London call me weekly for an update (thank you MC!) and I miss them far too much to like it here in HK really!
However, I think I do owe them something at least - to let them know I have been etc. etc.

Well, life's been treating me just okay (despite missing them faar too much and missing London too!)

So last week, a visit from Hoh, coupled with an action-packed boat trip to 大潭 (DAI TAM) - trying out wakeboarding (hehe! managed to get up and stay on the very first attempt...oh how smug am I!), then dinner at this great local place in 北角 followed by a quick drink at JJs with Ro, L-Net, P and SC then nipping off to Hei Hei to meet M&M.

I was exhausted!

Some pictures from that very crazy Saturday...

SENSING AND INSENSIBILITY
ONE MONTH (ALMOST) ON IN THIS NEW CITY

It's been almost a month since I set foot into HK and how things have shaped up in the last few weeks ...

The work and going back to work (well after 9 months of not working) has been strangely pain free and I have managed to pick up from where I left off pretty seamlessly. My hours are very civilised and a welcome change from my previous banking job (goodbye 6am starts, herald the 9ams!). You get to go for lunch (aka swimming or gym sessions for moi) and you really are not expected to work past the 6:30pm mark.
Regarding the type of work I perform - it varies. I've set up the backbones for the marketing of the HF and have recently been roped in to drive the starting up of two PE fund (gosh - the beginnings of all the financial jargon, how v different from cake baking but yes. It's easy peasy for me and it's like I've never left the industry almost!)
So work is just about okay...oh and MSN, Skype and all the things you are banned from communicating with the outside world is used freely/encouraged in my office. :) How very nice is it to not be in a large corporate giant!
Of course, the downside is you are more highly scrutinised, there is less anonymity and slack and you cannot push the blame to having bureaucracy in your way!

Lifewise though has been less of a smooth transition. I miss all my friends back in London, the beginnings of the glorious summer weather and of course, Borough market where i while away many Saturday afternoons, strolling the food stalls, drinking the madly addictive Monmouth coffee and carrying back home lots of good meat from The Ginger Pig.
Life has been a lonely one-person exisitence. What social life?

Generally in HK you get to meet lots of people, but many of the same type (note: bankers, lawyers abound) It's hard to make true friends here and life is pretty much about work for many. The work-life balance is poor for most (hence you are alone most of the time if you fo not put in those punishing hours) and everyone ends up angry, easily irritable and very unforgiving.

===

What I came to attempt to do seems like a distant tale now. I await to see what fate might bring though I am not entirely sure how long I can be in this state of insensibility...

It's getting real ... the move to HK

Okay - I have to admit, I am beginning to feel scared now. Most of my stuff is gone, true friends like MC, FH, Cx, A&Lip have been very encouraging and helpful in more ways than one. I really am lucky to have them as friends. When do true friends come by in your life? Not very often at all.
I have been re-assured that if there was any hint of sadness or unhappiness I am subjected to in HK, I should retreat right away back to London.
It's good to know I will be missed. Just like Anna had said: "There are many things you will miss of London but at the same time, there are many things in London that will be missing of you."

There is hardly any time to left to think about the sadness I feel inside me. More of going through the motions of making the move possible and as painless as possible: last minute frantic packings, leaving dinners, last goodbyes, dealing with the mundane things of getting my flat sold etc etc. At the same time, the hint of excitement of moving in to a new city. I think it's the uncertainty that's giving me the kick...
I await to the new beginnings in HK

Nasi Lemak parrty ... sedap?

I had a really simple nasi lemak party for my Malaysian gang last night as part of the dinner party series I was hosting in the run-up to my leaving of London for HK.
Due to a series of mishaps and delay in paperwork, it is likely my move to HK will not happen on the 15th March hence, more fustrations and more uncertainties regarding my living arrangements in HK!!! How very very annoying...note: inefficiencies of the corporate world...here it goes again!

As usual the wonderful company of new and old friends made it an incredible evening. There were 8 of us at the dinner and I had to cook 7 cups of rice! My my...the nasi lemak certainly went down well with the crowd!

We had: nasi lemak (all the trimmings of sambal belachan, ikan bilis, telur, teeboon) together with ayam curry. We finished the meal with sago gula melaka and green tea with adzuki bean mousse cake!

Yummy!! Was a shame that Ong could not join us and we had a last-minute cancellation from Cynthia! =(
She's not been feeling her best since she came back from HK...hope she's feeling better now!

That was the wonderful but sad evening I had....to be reminded that this is the life I will be leaving behind in London. All my friends, dinner parties and stuff like that!

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2007

This year's CNY is indeed a strange one. It's potentially the last one I spend in my flat, in London, with friends. How emotional these days have been...and will be in the days to come.


Friday night - spent at D's place. We had "打边炉" and D was all so excited about his new gf G whom he could not wait to introduce to us...hehe...will definitely catch up with G in HK since that's where she's based.

Sat night - with my wonderful HKie gang! Not alot of us were there as the lucky ones had gone back home/holiday and the not so lucky ones had nights. We were at Shanghai Blues and ate till our hearts content. Thanks to WingK we had a good time after dinner with copious amounts of alcohol and sang karaoke till 5am!

Sunday lunch - party at A,S and Zacy boy's home. S was a wonderful hostess and made you feel more than welcome at her beautiful flat. The group was labelled broadly as "family" vs a very small minority of non-relatives.(people like moi) We had 鱼生，乳猪 and a whole host of other traditional goodies!!! Yummy yum yum....it's nice to be around people during CNY. We stayed and chatted and ate till 8pm! What a wonderful and long lunch....also went to visit their new home (A+S: it's beautiful, cannot wait till when you move in and we have the first meal in the "favourite room of the house"). Zac as usual is the darling ...

THAT WAS MY CNY!!!

Remnants of the thai feast - Take 2

I enjoyed the dishes I made so much during the thai feast I decided to share the wonderful recipe with you. Afterall, good food is meant to be shared, in more ways than one:

Chicken and Pamelo Salad - serves 6 (if not big fans of Pamelo. If they are like A+S, S then maybe just 4)

Ingredients

Chicken:
Chicken breasts - 2 large ones. Only fresh ones will do please
Coconut milk - diluted with chicken stock or water to make the poaching liquid
Lemon grass - 1 stalk, bruised at ends
Kaffir Lime leaves - 2 pieces

Poach the chicken breasts in the above poaching liquid with the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves infused into the poaching liquid. Depending on the size and thickness of the breasts, it will take about 10-15 minutes.
Leave to cool in the poaching liquid and shred(by hand) roughly.

Dressing:
2 cloves of garlic
1 stalk of lemongrass
2 dried chillis - soak in water to soften
juice of 1 lime
palm sugar
nam pla - fish sauce

Pound the garlic, lemon grass and chilli into a fine paste with a pinch of salt for abrasion. Add the lime juice, palm sugar and nam pla. The dressing should first taste sweet/salty and then finally tangy with a very faint heat. Adjust accordingly. Next add the cooled poaching liquid to this dressing you have made. The poaching liquid will greatly reduce the acidic tones to the dressing. Adjust again to taste.

To assemble:
Peel 2 fresh pamelo (can be replaced with canned mandarin segments from Waitrose but nothing beats the real McCoy. Get your partner/bf/male friends to peel the pamelo. There is no free lunch in this world!) into the segments and try to losen the segments

Mix dressing with shredded chicken, then mix in the peeled pamelo segments. Add fresh roughly torned mint leaves and coriander. Garnish with fried shallots, deep-fried julienned kaffir lime leaves.
Serve and be delighted for many days/years to come. (as you are sure to crave for it the very next day and the next day after like I did)

THAI FEAST AND MORE TO COME - my way of managing away the stress of the thought of leaving London

I had an incredible dinner party last Sunday at my place. Good food (well I hope my guests enjoyed it!), great company and lots of fun...what more can one ask for?

It was an intimate dinner for 4 + 1 (Zacy boy) and as the company was so good, it went well past midnight with Zac having to have 2 feeds!

I had a thai chinese menu and it included the following:

Dinner for 4 - thai chinese

Deep fried wontons with Nahm Prik sauce

Chicken and Pamelo Salad

Minced chicken and prawn dip with rice crackers

*****

Charsiew

Tamarind prawns

Chiu Chee scallop curry

******

Chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream and blueberries

Mint tea

It was as much fun preparing the meal as it was actually eating the food! But the company of A+S (and S) was what made the whole event such good fun. The love for food really bring people together...

It's sad to be leaving London having only met A+S+Zacy boy just in the last month or so. But I'm sure you guys will come visit HK and Uncle S so it's only a matter of time we meet again. There can only be more foodie adventures in HK - I'm waiting for you guys!!!

I've caught the hosting bug so I've decided to host small dinner parties over the next few weeks amidst the packing, selling of flat and enjoying London. I hope with the company of good friends, it makes it the move that much easier on the mind.

So friends, get ready for dinner party invites!

***

New friends, new experiences. The world is so big yet so small...(don't even get me into the degrees of separation here, I think we're only 2 degrees away) and I am grateful to what fate has brought to me so far.

Sometimes we hope so much for what we think we want, but in the process we discover, that maybe what we had hoped for dearly was all but a journey; the things we hoped for bring us on a journey, some people get off somewhere along the way, others get on. But if the journey was never made, you would have missed out so many things you never realised could be possible.

Why do some people take it so hard upon themselves to do the right thing? Sometimes going along with the flow and let things develop and evolve in its own way might not be such a bad idea. How about the "give it a shot"(not literally!) attitude? - should there not be times we allow things to happen and see how it pans out? I am constantly asking/thinking/wondering: what is exactly holding us back?

Enough of my random muses and sketchy thoughts. It's back to the packing and dinner parties!

What happened to New Year, New resolutions?

2007 - this is supposedly a new year. New year, new beginnings, everything new! However, strangely, I do not seem to have a feeling of newness. Embracing the new year with new hopes, renewed optimism and all the fanciful stuff was the deal!!
What happened?

===

As much as I am acutely aware of the privileged position I am in; to have these many options opened to me (work/start a business/location/travels etc. etc.) I am extremely bothered by the uncertainty it has brought upon me. I've learnt to be a lot calmer than I was before(or is it what we call "bochap") and can that be a good thing?

Singapore hardly feels like home. I used to get that feeling of pride and happiness everytime the plane touches down on the Changi runway, seeing rows and rows of neatly planted trees, this artificially created garden city with the towering HDB flats in the background. It felt comforting and reassuring.

However, somewhere along the way, that feeling has disappeared. I no longer feel I belong here. In fact, I feel caught between two time zones: the time when I left Singapore at the age of 19 to study at the LSE and now some good number of years later, where London has been my home. Somehow, to me, Singapore was where those hazy childhood memories were established. London - was the beginning of the real adult life.
How am I to bridge the gap them? I'm finding it extremely difficult.

The Search is on...
"...with my one foot in and my one foot out..."

Yes - after toying around with flour, eggs, sugar and butter for a good few months, throwing in a couple of trips around Asia and Europe, it's time to face the real world again.

What is the real world exactly? A job? Or facing up to the fact that living in London alone, is actually quite a lonely prospect? So what's the deal?(the latest of my grand plan) I've decided I want a change of scenery and yes! I'm heading to Hong Kong.

The BIG question is: AM I READY FOR THIS?

Life is about weighing up what we lose and what we gain. At different point in our lives we crave for different things. Some things that were very important before, become less so now.
London has been home for so long. I miss my flat every single day I'm away. I miss the familiar oven, the gym, the markets and pretty much everything else. I never get enough of this city that I've called home for such a long time. My wonderful wonderful flat. It's truly beautiful and I cannot tell you how much I've grown to be attached to it.

As much as I'll miss London, the flat and all the things that come along with it, the adventure to HK I must say is truly exciting.

Setting up a new home, new faces, new challenges, new wants/needs...another adventure in my life story!
Who knows what might be in store?

Good communication, is it a new language?

How strange it is that in this day and age, where everything is so technologically advanced: PSPs, PS3, wifi, wireless, MSN, Skype, ipods (and of course the mobile!) and who knows what else, to keep us in the loop; to keep us in contact with our peers, but have we lost the ability to communicate in the most basic way - talking face to face?

Is it a new language that should be taught in schools? Do people now actually communicate as effectively as they want to with all these new gadgets, designed to aid communication?
In the past, if u wanted to let someone know something, u called them to tell them. Or you had to go see them. It's a planned move. It takes conscious effort. It takes effort, period.

Now, with MSN and Skype, you can type off endlessly, say (type) what you don't mean - communicate badly that is.

Blame it on technoligy that we get to hide and conceal our feelings behind them all.

I like talking on the phone to know how one's doing. You get to heard the breathing, the tone of the voice, the pauses, the words - everything really. But of course, does not beat talking face to face. Hence the need to see some of our friends to catch up and find out how one's really doing from time to time. I realised it is a luxury to be able to do it if especially our friends are all spread out throughout different parts of this world. Again, I know I've been fortunate enough to be able to do so from time to time.

For now, technology is helpful and is as good as it gets.

My Paris Trip...

Special thanks to O for hosting me. Some of the photos....

See the magical creations of Sadaharu and of course, Pierre Herme.

To Be less Me...

It's not all bad being Me. But just sometimes, the me is far too sensitive and far too emotional. That's the me I actually think is isn't all so great. Jumping to conclusions too quickly is another bad me...and recently, I learnt the hard way. The result did not turn out as bad as I thought it was, but nevertheless, with some good advice from Leons I think I salvaged it fairly quickly! Phew!

Anyway, today's been an okay day. I went to GOSH and RLHH and by some sheer coincidence, Tango reminded me about the Hunterian Museum and since I was around the Holborn area, it seemed like a perfect day to go over and have a look. I was always fasinated by anatomy and what surgeons did and all things to do with natural philosophy! So it was the Hunterian Museum then!

It turned out to be one of the best museums I've been in a long time (Thank you Tango!) - the exhibits were really fasinating and having one of the world's largest collections of anatomy specimens in the world just by my doorstep in London reminded me how fortunate I am, once again!
Then managed an impromptu lunch with Tango and it's nice to meet up having not seen him for so long despite being back in London. Sometimes just speaking to someone face-to-face really helps. He seemed happy but a little stressed with the upcoming exams(finals!?!) but I am sure he'll manage fine. Tango's a friend that you can have that does not judge (most of the time I hope), fairly clueless, but says some pretty sensible things despite not being v sensible himself. He keeps me fairly grounded. But yet at the same time, tells me things I thought only happened in movies, but obviously they actually REALLY do happen...anyway....shared with him a little secret (dont think he judged me on that one, but he was getting close to it) but it's good cos sometimes you need to get it out of your system.
Reminder: he's a friend to keep, though you have to remember he lives in quite a different world! HAHA....

LOOKING FORWARD TO HK TRIP....

How odd...i'm incredibly looking forward to the HK trip at the end of the year! All my good friends...and yes...someone I've been planning to meet but just keep missing each other! Also have not been to HK for so long...wonder what's it like? Will I like it there?
Some friends have a mentality that its just flashes of light ; extremely shallow and hollow...hmmm...we shall see.

Paris

One of the cities I have been many a times yet most of the time I see very little of. Trip this time is meant for a recharge, to think through some of those confused thoughts in my mind, to visit Sadaharu Aoki, Pierre Herme, La Maison du Chocolat, Fouchon and all the wonderful frenchy places really! Oh and also a trip to INSEAD and HEC as an MBA becomes increasingly favourable in times of uncertainty.

So nice of O to host me - having met her sis, bro and all. Even a visit to the family for dinner tomorrow! I'm blessed by wonderful friends.

Chill is what I plan to do, though I must say I am missing the said person somewhat. How strange that seems...even to myself!

... four days later

INSEAD is as I had expected it to be. People are interesting, extremely warm, funny and Fontainebleu is enchanting. I can imagine having a good time there. Oh and its the riding town of France so there you go! Where I can properly practise riding...hmmm...v tempting indeed.

HEC is shall we say what Milton Keynes is to UK. INSEAD's like Hampsted Heath and HEC Milton Keynes? I meant not in a bad way but it did feel v isolated and cold although the course structure is more appealing. INSEAD does sound too rushed, too fast.

Patisseries - I'm completely stuffed. Would not even dare to step onto the scales when I get back. The creations are truly enchanting and you can see why PH is so popular. Its proper quality and we're talking real real quality stuff like good ingredients and all. Compared to Sada, Sadaharu is a little more adventurous and very avant garde but not better definitely. Its like some days you want something quirky and different, but not neccessarily cheaper you buy Paul & Joe. For proper clothes of good make and always guaranteed to fit (me that is) you go Maxmara. Thats my wat of comparing ler.
And macarons - ate 4 on said person's account. 2 from PH and 2 from Ladureé. Must say that in terms of the balance between flavour and lightness, Ladureé rules. Though PH must be given some brownies points for the interesting flavours he had on sale. I had the Chocolate and Yuzu and a passionfruit and chocolat au lait one (tasted a little like cough mixture)

Enough of food, but yup. Have also been giving the whole MBA, London, baking thing a thought. Asking myself what I've yet to do and would be nice to do. Maybe HK? That will be someting new and also properly throwing myself into something. BIG AND BAD...sometimes I wished I had the courage to just go do it. Be less apprehensive, be a little bolder. Yes - giving up the job was a big thing. But I've not properly tried. Or have I? Isn't it all a gamble?

Still missing said person...

Bothered and bewildered...

When you try to let down that social veil, you become truly vulnerable. As much as we would all like to protect ourselves, there comes a time when you just have to be what you are.
If you're just very weepy you cry. If you like someone you tell them (or is it so simple?). But sometimes you cannot seem to take that step forward.

Pushing boundaries are hard - extremely hard. Especially if it means it's not rational, it does not make any sense, there are complications to all of it. (are you feeling lonely or are you truly missing someone? 8+ time differences, here/there/nowhere)
As you grow older, you're meant to make responsible judgements, actions, say things you know are right (most of the time what you don't mean) and all that things that are associated with growing up.

Why are there such choices to make?

I was told to live for the moment. I find that incredibly difficult. Live for the moment is a very new and scary concept to me. It represents no security, uncertainty, fear and carelessness. Many things that do not define me. Am I losing my identity as a person as I take this time out to think through my options? What opportunities has this brought to me so far?
New friends, new relationships, new lifestyle?

I hope my trip to Paris tomorrow will help to clear this truly messed up mind of mine I have right now. Some perception, new discoveries ... yet, at the same time, I'm silently hoping for THAT miracle to happen. To be swept off the feet, to be surprised!

What are the chances? We live in such a predictable world today. Everyone is guarded, calculated and selfish.

Sad movies, always make you cry...

Probably some of you might already know this, but I am a hopeless romantic and a complete sucker for sad movies. Of course my all-time favourite (get ready for the "chehs") is this old Chinese movie called 玻 璃之城. Yes - that's the one with London as a backdrop. That's the one with Leon in the movie. Yes yes...that's the one!

There's only 2 people in this world that guessed correctly when asked what they thought my fav. movie was(what are the chances?). One acted in the movie (eew!) and one was given a big clue cos I wanted the said person to guess correctly you see ...

Oh well - sometimes I think that the movie's so unrealistic and so so old-fashioned. But I guess it's just one those movies that reminded me of the times when things were so simple (in my life), when everything in my life was very clear and defined and so totally uncomplicated.
The most worrying thing was the A levels. That was it really.

Those were happy times. In fact, I relived some of those happy memories this weekend. I bumped into an old college friend in one of the bars. (the bar was hideous) It's unbelievable that after 10 years (omg! It is 10 years) that the life you left behind, creeps back and everything just seemed so familiar once again. Student Lounge, class bench, econs lecture..haha....
I did not particularly knew A well when we were in JC. Just that when you hear a familiar voice, a familiar mannerism, things are just so much more comfortable. Again, it's all to do with the fact that we are creatures that prefer things we know better.

Having said that, someone unfamiliar can also be familiar. And can be close at heart. Only if we allow ourselves to open up, to let down those boundaries. Maybe you'll discover that the world outside of your own might be very intimidating, or you might get lucky and find out that there is actually someone out there that cares!
LIFE IS GOOD AGAIN...FOR NOW...

p/s: NONO! I dont like A...for the benefit of all my guessing friends! It's the said person...or is it not?

The Real thing starts today...

I've finally delivered my first order. I've baked, delivered (half of it) and collected payment for my very very first order! It's now real and tangible and kind of odd. It's probably the most difficult 87.40 pounds cheque to earn in my life.

A sense of achievement yet extremely physically exhausting. Yes. I was baking and packing those cantuccinis and langues de chat till 3am last night. And the first thing I did since I opened my eyes this morning was to continue baking the matcha sponge (which in a moment of anxiousness, I messed it up and had to re-do another one), went out to get more supplies for the ginger and cinnamon bread and came back baked that, then discovered I could not manage carrying all that at one go so it'd be another delivery tomorrow.
Then it's cutting those labels and logo by hand, then putting double-sided tape on them (yes...double sided tape..and even that was a pain to obtain in good old London) and then putting on 3 separate little things on each pack!

Wow...that was alot of work.

The cakes seemed to be well-received by the customers of postcard teas although we're already having my very first..issue!
The coconut milks langue du chats are losing their crunch very very quickly! It seemed that the seal has not been air-tight and unfortunately I have had to take them all back. I felt really bad that Tim had to be the one to discover this hiddcup and no myselves, which really I should have tested the product a little more rigourously before offering them for sale!

Oh well...that's another lesson learnt! Let's see how we can further improve the product!

As a result, I did not take any photos (too embarassed) of my products at Postcard teas.

Test Recipes and reports

LING PATISSERIE kicks off with ONE order from Postcard Teas owner Tim D'Offay. Tim has been very helpful and encouraging with the concept of LING PATISSERIE and it's during these difficult start-up times that you need to meet people like Tim. So friends and family, do go and "幫　稱" and buy my cakes and cookies!

Lots of things to do when you're setting up a business (or trying to do so) and I'm learning along the way.

• Working in isolation is a new concept to me. Sometimes I do not speak to anyone for days (that's difficult - given MSN and email. IF you consider that as speaking) and that's new too.
  
• Recipe testing and creations is not masak-masak. You bake you eat, you beg friends to take them off you. Sometimes you get annoyed when things do not turn out the way they should be.
  
• You decide on 4-5 types of products, you have to start thinking of marketing them, creating labels, packaging, transport, the works.


• You learn to do most things yourselves (why pay?) - Adobe Illustrator (bleed, trim marks dpi, ppi...wow!

I've posted some pictures of the recipes I've tested and some of the stuff I'm going to be selling.

Matcha Langues De Chat - these have been very popular. See the packaged result!

Matcha and Adzuki Bean mousse cake

Banana Bread - at the request of Tango! (I like banana bread too but just needed a feeble excuse to bake it)

Acceptance and fantasies

I guess it's because my life had always been considered as plain-sailing, all-achieving, blessed and some say "glamourous" ( I beg to differ). I'm not going to deny that some of this is indeed somewhat true. But at the same time, there had been so many a times I went along with the flow, not knowing what I wanted, and somehow, with lots of blessing, did OKAY and relatively well in the very end.

Everything I hoped for and wanted since I was a kid, I got. Be it the grades, the school I wanted to go to, the Uni I attended, living in London, the handbags (well - most of them but I guess the more the merrier), the shoes (see before), the travel (S: when is the Paris foodies trip?) and everything most people can only dream to have.

BUT WHY AM I STILL LOST AND CONFUSED?

Is it because I expect too much of myself, I try to conform to social norms, there are expectations(real and imagined) I believe I have to live up to?

Or has it come to a time of self-realisation that maybe, just sometimes, when things do not go the way that seems right or are not plain-sailing for me, when uncertainty creates fear, that this is all normal and part of life? AND GROWING UP?

I feel pressurised to make the "right" decision: WHAT DO I WANT? What is the life I really want to lead? To be happy? To be right?

Definitions of happiness and rightness change as we proceed on in life. Sometimes we are motivated by money, sometimes we're motivated by love. Or none at all! (that's status quo for me as I write/blog I meant).
That's the one that often coined as the mind and the body?
Sadly, reality rules it bites and it hurts.
Living in a time warp is safe and comforting; facing reality and the brutal society is harsh and painful. Do you keep a constant balance of both or do you slip in and out of these two states all at one go?

I think that's the question that needs to be answered.
Still lost and confused....

Ohm it: 可 欲 , 不 可 求

Do you practise yoga? If you're a yoga virgin like Tango you'll find the chanting of "OHMmmmmm" extremely relaxing (not!) and somewhat, shall we say - giggly..haha...In all honesty, throughout my numerous years of on-off yoga practise (I'm coming close to a decade!) the ohmming part of yoga sessions, deeply touched my heart in times of lost and bewilderedness and as some of you might know, I'm going through this phase in my life right now.

Ohm suddenly becomes relaxing, calming and all things nice.It is claimed it calms the mind, it increases mindspace, it serenes your soul! (we all know there are a lot of chemical substances out there that do it much better, but hey! we're going au naturale here!)

But how about ohming " 可 欲 , 不 可 求" ?I learnt this through my long-lost childhood friend G. We recently found each other (on cyberspace) in one of the horrendously long mass email lists and have since kept in contact. G shared some of her dad's words of wisdom with me. One that touched my heart was: We should treat relationships as " 可 欲 , 不 可 求" .可 欲 , 不 可 求 (for the benefit of you non-Chinese educated people out there) sums up THE life philosophy we should all adopt. It literally means : can be lust over but cannot be hoped for.

If we eradicated all the mental "criteria lists" we created and stopped hoping and waiting in anticipation for boxes to be ticked, I believe we will lead much happier lives. Afterall, it does seem like fate and timing play a big part in most relationships.The right place at the right time. It's all about timing.Hence, instead of hoping to serene your soul through chanting ohm, how about chanting the new mantra " 可 欲 , 不 可 求" at yoga class tomorrow?