A Little Too Not Over You

Ever since I found out that the Bukit Timah summit trail is just within walking distance from my place, I have been going there for hiking every weekend. Elevated at 163m, the hike is less than 1 hour, it can be quite boring. So I asked Tony to join me. Tony lives in the neighborhood, and he runs too. The only problem is, he enjoys running under the sun.

This week, we decided to take the alternate route to Upper Bukit Timah Road to have brunch at Spruce, a firestation-turn-café. The café is patronized by mainly families with kids, there is a kids corner next to the dining area. So Tony and I were the weird ones out, 2 guys with sweaty tops and shorts, and questionable body odour.

I had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and avruga caviar. It is quite decent but the bread was just plain failure, it's bland and thick. I was planning to cut them into pieces to go with the eggs and salmon but gave up after a few tries. It was that hard to cut them through. Eventually, I picked up the bread and ate them, and then the eggs and salmon separately.

The signature lemonde with mint and the orange juice. Tony can tell from my distorted face when I first sipped the lemonade. It was really sour. And to make thing worse, they tried to cover it with sweetness. So it's like half glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice with another half glass of saccharin. Yes, that bad, how could one screw up a simple drink?

The Greek yogurt with fruit preserve and granola crunch. The yogurt is hardened and non-flavored, it taste like those fermented tofu 豆腐乳 that Chinese'd normally eat with porridge. It is that extreme even the sweetness from the fruit preserve and the granola crunch are not able to overcome the sourness. Of course, I didn't manage to finish it.

I couldn't agree more that it's a nice place to have brunch. The waiters and waitresses are exceptionally attentive and polite. But the food, nay.

Mind Fucking Game

It has been almost a month since I last ran with Yu. Things have cooled down between us.

He forgot the marathon that he promised to run with me. The Thai food that he promised to eat with me. And stood me up for the Kumar show that he said he’d watch with me.

He was always pre-occupied with dinner plans on our usual Tuesday and Thursday run.

I didn’t bring up the Penang trip again as I sensed that Yu has been avoiding the conversation.

Maybe he doesn’t want me to pay for the trip. Maybe his parents don’t allow him to travel with a stranger. Or simply, he doesn’t want to travel with me.

So when Yu told me that he went to Batam for a few days, it really bothered me. I didn't know who did he go with. And frankly, I was in no position to question him.

Avoiding direct confrontation seems to have become my best defense mechanism.

In the past, what I'd normally do in the next step is to completely cut the contact off, deleting email conversation, unfriend on Facebook, blocking incoming calls, throwing away stuff, burning mini toy version of the guy (just kidding).

Yu is off to 2 years national service soon, that might be a good way to call it a closure to my imaginary relationship.

I never regret meeting Yu, I just wish I could have treated him as just a running buddy from the start.

Meet the Parents

Everything was going so smooth (and actually kinda fast). I invited Yu to spend one weekend with me in Penang. He was keen to travel to as many places as possible before he is enlisted for national service, so he said yes.

I had many plans in mind, things that he would never have done in Singapore. And I wanted to show him the place that I grew up in. I can already imagine the smile on Yu's face.

• Jungle trekking National Park along the coast and climbing up the light house at Muka Head;
• Riding on my 100cc bike around the island;
• Driving to Butterworth via Penang Bridge and coming back with the ferry;
• Parasailing, playing banana boat and watching sunset at Batu Ferringhi;
• Exploring street food and mural arts in Georgetown;
• And so many other fun things I can think of..

After asking for his passport details for several time, Yu has yet to set his foot down. Yu told me that his mum doesn't want him to travel overseas with a stranger, unless she knows who is he traveling with. And that his dad thinks Malaysia is dangerous.

"Maybe I should meet your parents" I jokingly asked.
"If you insist." Yu answered in a very ambiguous way and threw the ball back in my court.
"Whatever takes you to Penang!" I was really determined to make this trip happens.

I was all ready to meet his parents for the first time. I even had the chocolates from The Cocoa Trees, one that Yu mentioned to me the other day when we walked pass the shop. It was actually Yu's favorite, I have forgotten which one he would like to get for his mum.

I'm not the kinda person that immediately bond with a friend's parents when we first meet, or one that the parents would call them a son after a few meet; but I'm sure they would be reassured that their son is safe with me.

Saveur [sah-vere]

It has been 4 months since I moved to Singapore, and there are so many places that I have yet to explore. It's unsual, I normally am excited about checking out new places. I guess the idea of dining alone in the city didn't really exciteme.

So when Yu came into the picture, everything just seems little adventurous. Yu suggested to try French this week. Saveur [sah-vere] is located on Purvis Street near to Bugis. I was kinda impressed when I saw a maitre d' taking name of patrons who were already in a queue.

We got the 2nd session. The restaurant interior was rather simple. By the time we seated, all the tables were already filled. It felt more like an express dining as the food was prepared in advance so they can be served rather fast.

When it comes to French cuisine, foie gras is a must try. And you know me, I don't do internal organs so this must be Yu's. Duck liver was used instead of goose's. It is pan-seared and served with apple-infused port wine and vanilla bean. I had a little bite, the tip of the liver was burnt so I didn't really taste anything funny other than charcoal.

The salmon confit was lightly smoked so it is a little salty. The salmon was covered by chopped scallions and pepper, like confetti. It was served with apple and fennel salad.

Duck leg confit, homemade mashed potato, sauté shiitake mushroom, orange segments and orange infused natural jus.

Pan-seared sea bass, diced sauté potato with crabmeat, french beans, & caper vinaigrette. The fish is a little bit dry and lack of pan sauce.

Pistachio Panna Cotta with Pistachio-flavoured cooked cream, topped with ground and caramelised pistachio.

Cookie and milk. When they firsted serve the dessert, we were surprised to see only a small pool of foamy milk. Then we realized it's an illusion of the plate. The centre of the plate is deep enough to hold the two pieces of cookies. The mixture has a slight touch of pop rocks with kirsch cherry flavor, so when you hold a spoonful of the foam in your mouth, you can literally feel and hear them popping on your tongue.

If only I can kiss Yu right then and feel the fireworks in our mouths.

Radar

Yu met me at work after tuition, no he was tutoring. He showed up with specs. This is the first time I've seen him wearing specs. He hates it because he feels less confident but I think the dorky look makes him look really cute.

He was wearing a striped T-shirt with a jeans jacket. He paired it with short pants and suede brogue. I teased him that it looks really sophisticated and.. gay!

He was quite sensitive about it. I demonstrated the gaydar game I was playing with Wayne, in which we would make beeping sound whenever a suspiciously gay-looking guy is close by.

"So what kinda sound am I?" Yu asked.
"Is it beep.. beep.. beep.. beep..?" He said it slowly like a heartbeat.
"Or is it BeeBeeBeBeep!?" Yu was really concerned on how he looks.
"Hmm.." I paused.
"I think it's more like put-a-bomb-psst! The gay reading is too high, it exploded! "
"That's not funny!" Yu objected and I can't stop laughing.

After dinner, we walked back to Raffles City. Yu showed me some of his favorite indie artist in That CD Shop. I think he and Doug would have more common topics to talk about.

We got a cup of frozen yogurt from Yoguru. Like Joey from Friends, I normally don't share food but sharing the froyo with Yu was kinda sweet. I have never had that feeling before.

On our way back to Bugis Junction for Warm Bodies, we saw some trishaws waiting in front of Raffles Hotel.

"We have similar trishaw in Georgetown." I wanted to make Yu excited about the trip.
"But some of them are decorated with plastic flowers and a big speakers playing some really old Hokkien songs." Not exactly a good way of promotion.
"I'd never take one of those." Yu said in horror.
"Well, let's take one now!" I can be spontaneous, too!
"Are you serious?" Yu doubted me.
"Hell yeah!"

It should have been a 10 minutes walk but we eventually paid $15 for the trishaw ride. I tried to strike a conversation with the cyclist in English, Mandarin and Hokkien, that uncle just totally ignored me and kept telling us to shop at Bugis Street.

Most of the time, we were in the middle of the road and tailed by a much bigger bus. And while waiting for the traffic lights to turn green, we were already half way in the yellow box. We were relieved to be able to reach the theater on time.

It was a fun (and dangerous) ride. Yu told me it was his first. I wish I'll be the one who accompanies him to achieve many of his firsts.