franky

received an sms from tracy this afternoon informing me that eric's dog, franky had finally succumbed to lung cancer.

i remember franky to be a very well-behaved and caring dog who just loves to herd. my condolences to eric and tracy.

eric posted this in the jcgang mailing list. i thought it was especially moving.


THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

There is a bridge connecting Heaven and Earth. It is called theRainbow Bridge because of its many colors.

Just this side of theRainbow Bridge, there is a land of meadows, hills and valleys withlush green grass. When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to thisplace. There is always food and water, and warm Spring weather.

Those old and frail animals are young again. Those who have been maimed are made whole again. They play all day with each other.But there is only one thing missing. They are not with their special person who loved them on earth.

So, each day they run and play until the day comes when one suddenly stops playing and looks up. The nose twitches, the ears are up, the eyes are staring, and this one suddenly runs from the group.

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet, you take him or her in your arms and embrace. Your face is kissed again and again and again and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated.

new ride

doris sms-ed to ask me if i wanted to join her, tracy and eric for lunch at bishan. i declined 'cos i'm too lazy to go all the way there just for lunch.

then she called to say she'll be at west coast to collect her new suzuki swift and will drop by after that to pick me up so that we can go janet's place before having dinner together. eric was her designated 'vehicle commander' for the day while i was chauffeured by tracy for the first time.

in the end, the new car owner was made to drive from west coast to clementi, then to ang mo kio before going to punggol. after that, she had to follow our stunt driver, jason from punggol to bedok to pick up thomas for dinner and then to siglap for drinks.

hmm... that's all in a day's drive for the slightly stressed new car owner. cool, right? ;)

hong kong café

my phone rang when i was walking home from the mrt station.

it was eric on the line… he said tracy is hungry and asked if i wanted to go hong kong café for supper. his curiosity of the café was obviously aroused when we were talking about it earlier in the evening. probably piqued by the café unconventional operating hours at a not-so convenient location.

my first reaction was “huh?!”

i had just came back from the east side of the island. now still walking home with my stuff and skates and feeling hot and sweaty from the day’s activities, and he’s asking me if i wanted to traverse halfway across the island again when i haven’t even stepped home yet?

on the other hand, it seems like a good opportunity to check out the place since eric and tracy are so keen and doris and thomas are at the nearby chalet.

i said yes on the condition that he comes and pick me up after i had the time to shower and change. he agreed readily. trust eric to trudge all over the island for good/interesting food.

very soon, i was in eric’s car with my hair still wet from my shower on the way to pick up doris and thomas at the chalet. after failing to locate the café “using the force”, eric referred to his trusty street directory to get us there.

the café was bright and easily spotted from the road. the tables outside were all taken. a very good crowd considering it’s around midnight. thankfully, we didn’t have to look too hard for a table.

everything on the chef’s recommendation menu look good. i almost wished i was more hungry! you have to write down the item number on the order chit and place your orders at the counter. the funny thing is, they don’t require you to pay up first.

i ordered the instant noodles in soup with pork chop, bo luo bao and tea with milk. the noodles came with a slice of ham and a fried egg on top. the pork chop, tender and well-marinated was given a unanimous 2-thumbs-up by all present except for thomas who didn’t get to sample it.

tracy looked like she could finish the dry noodles with pork chop and luncheon meat all by herself until she exercised some restrain and push the bowl over to eric.

doris’ french toast was sinfully buttery. while the mini bo luo bao were good too. tracy proclaimed her dumplings with almond paste, “nice!”

my tea with milk was done, traditional hong kong-styled, with lots of evaporated milk. satisfying. thomas likes his yuan yang too.

too bad the hot drinks were not served in those big, white ceramic tea cups typically used at such cafes in hong kong. that would have made the experience truly authentic with the canto-pop playing over the air.

doris noticed that the crowd seems rather young, mainly in their twenties. very similar to one which you’ll see at fong seng. guess the older crowd is not into instant noodles and canned food! hehe…

overall, the food was good and up to our expectations. doris and thomas think it’s way better than central at takashimaya. and i think so too.

a pity that i couldn’t be back often due to its location.

sigh.