Home...

I wonder if it comes a day when I call this place as my home. I remembered only a few weeks ago, hubby kind of lightly mentioned that this is home now and I was almost violently objecting to that notion. I was adamant that home is in Singapore. He patiently said "Yes, but this place is home now".

Hmm...

Just Driving Around

Am trying this for the first time... let's see how it looks :)

It was taken a couple of weeks ago, on a Friday morning. That explains the light traffic flow. Just an idea about the roads and buildings here as we drove to Sharq mall (that is towards the Kuwait City).

I Thought It Was It...

Last night while we were on the highway coming back from class, hubby was driving on the left lane (that's the fastest lane) and was going at 120 km/h (the speed limit). Traffic was relatively heavy and there was another car on our right, slightly ahead of us, going at around the same speed.

Suddenly this black car came up at God knows what speed, squeezing in between us and the car on our right. At that point I froze, it was so darn close and I thought this was it, we were going to die. It was lucky for us that hubby already saw it coming on his rearview mirror. This car was already overtaking very dangerously from behind and seemed to be in a mighty hurry to get off the highway.

I really thought...

Some Parcels of Life Here

The accident occurred somewhere near our place and this isn't even the highway, it's a road with speed limt of 80 km/h. The car was definitely going faster than that judging by the state of the wreck. This is where it is puzzling. Alcohol is not allowed here, so driver shouldn't be under the influence of alcohol. It is a straight road, so it shouldn't be a situation where driver loses control while negotiating a turn. So is it possible that he/she was trying to overtake and lost control? By the way, did I mention that one can normally see such wrecks along the highway too?

I am constantly amazed at how dangerous some drivers are at this side of the world. It is like as though they started with a death wish. They whizzed in and out of the lanes, in between cars at crazy speed and they seriously think that is the only way to drive here.

On a side note, our air-conditioning is not working again. It is the second time this month. Am trying to remember to stay cool and drink lots of water. It's going to be a hot day.

Pottery at Last!

This week has been rather more interesting. I joined a pottery class in this Arts school over here. Pottery is relatively not as popular as oil painting but nevertheless there's some efforts in promoting it. Hence this department was set up in this school.

The first time I visited the place, I was totally struck with awe. It was really cool. This place used to be an old Kuwaiti house and the compound is big. I managed to take some snapshots of the place while I was there last Wednesday. Will try to take more next time.

These kilns somehow reminded of me Wizard of Oz.

I have been told the difference between UAE and Kuwait is that UAE have a substantial population of its citizens investing in their country, developing it; whereas in Kuwait, due to the Gulf war, many of these capitally abled citizens had fled the country and only a few had returned.

The state of development in Kuwait is very much slower than UAE. UAE has been developed to draw in visitors and tourists, as one can see from its hotels, tourist attractions, public transport, even the beach front says alot. Kuwait is only talking about a tourism plan that hopes to be completed in 2008. At some parts where we stay, hubby often liked to say, you may break your neck while trying to walk on the pavement here. We don't even get a proper pavement.

This isn't a complaint entry really but rather it brings to mind some stuff I read back home. There have been lots of discussion back home about certain political issues and general unhappiness about freedom of speech and expression. It is alright to talk and complain about it I guess but what was disturbing was when I get comments from friends like "That's why, if I can, I will leave this place".

So if the abled leaves, leaving the unabled behind, what will become of our fate? Would it be one where we have a plan but we no longer have our own people supporting and making it happened? Where only foreigners find it an attractive place to seek a better life, where its own people finds it too unattractive to inhabit? There is no utopia out there, if there is, it would have been flooded with people by now. If Singaporeans are seen to be an unhappy lot, there's no use complaining about it or playing the blaming game. For a start, be happy yourself, find things to be happy about. If you find Singaporeans to be generally rude, then start with yourself to be courteous. You will be surprised how difficult it is for a rude person to continue to be rude to another who is persistently pleasant and courteous.

Perhaps some may say... it is easy for me to say as I am not in Singapore, I am one of those who left. Yet being out here makes I realised that I do wish to go back and we will. There isn't quite another place on this earth that's like Singapore.

And Then There was None...

Finally the wind has stopped. After 5 days of huffing and puffing, it has finally decided to take a break. What a relief! It took however a couple more days for the sand and dust to settle and to resume the clear blue sky days.

Just when I thought it was finally over, the taps ran dry. We were stranded without water for a night.

Welcome to the Kuwaiti summer.

The Rage Continues

Looks like there's no sign of the storm stopping, it has doubled its efforts in fact. I can't even see the sea anymore.

This is how it ought to look like on a clear beautiful day.

By the way, if there's no more entries on this blog from this day forth, you know I have been buried by the desert sand.

Sand Storm

It has been four days
The wind howls relentlessly
Blanketing the city with sand and dust
We are not safe in the house
We feel the wind seeping in at the closed windows
We hear the pounding of the wind on the closed doors
We see the layers of dust and sand
settling on the furniture and kitchen tops
Nothing is spared

Chocolate Cake

Made a chocolate cake today. You can find the recipe here if you are keen to try. It tends to be moist, which is the way I like my cakes. Not sure if this recipe works by steaming instead.

Oops!

One lesson I learnt yesterday is that one should never (let me stress NEVER) incur the wrath of an expat tai tai. For one, she will have all the time and an extensive network to ensure that your misdeed is made known to the other ladies... and these ladies will in turn inevitably update their husbands over the dinner table. And you really wouldn't want to embarass your husband at his workplace with your ungraciousness.

Sounds kind of negative but this is how the grapevine works and I saw how powerful it can be over an incident yesterday. I wasn't the party involved (thank goodness!) but I was one of those who got to hear about it. Sounded very unbecoming but then again but there will be more to come, I'm sure.

Prata Anyone?

Tried my hand at making roti prata today. Verdict? It tasted kind of healthy... hahaha.. I guess it was just not oily enough. It was surprisingly easy to stretch the dough to a very thin sheet, needless to say, it was the more oil the better. But I somehow thought the final prata looked a little too smooth. It didn't have the usual "wrinkles" or folds as what we normally see in the ones from prata shop.

For anyone who's interested, the recipe can be found here. The recipe doesn't state the quantity and proportions of the ingredients, so everything is "agak agak" one. Of course if you are in Singapore, it isn't necessary to go through such length to make your own prata :)

Is This Goodbye?

How will it be like when we die?
How will we see this world on our last day?
With our last breath?
What will be our last thought?
What will be our lingering regret?
What will we take away?
What will we leave behind?
Will we be thought of?
Will we be missed?
Will we miss this world?
Will we see each other again?
Will I hear you again?
Will I be able to call you again?
Is this goodbye?

Sunday in July

I suddenly realised that it's already July. The months had quietly and peacefully come and gone. I curiously asked hubby if I had changed over the last few months... and he candidly replied "We all change over time". Hmm... not the answer I was seeking. So I asked again (this is so woman... hahaha...). This time round he said "Yah, you are more relaxed now". Hmm... Does that mean I am a nicer person now than before? More amiable, agreeable? Or less ruffled, less agitated? Anyhow, I take it that it is an improvement :)

During my last trip back home, needless to say, I bought lots of books. They are all crime fiction novels. I guess I haven't outgrown them. Reading helps me to escape the reality, reminds me of my youth, indulges me. So it was during this book shopping trip that I found this book written by Jake Needham, The Ambassador's Wife. It is a crime fiction based in Singapore featuring a local inspector- a Singapoorean who whined about everything from the weather to the people and foreigners... Oops!

I am almost half way through with the book and I am still struggling to read it. For one, the inspector worked only from Monday to Friday. While working on the murder case, he was significantly annoyed when he was disturbed on a Sunday by a guy who supposedly had some leads to his case. There was little anxiety or pressure in him wanting to solve the crime quickly. Did I mention that he didn't like his mobile phone switched on?

I am beginning to wonder if this is fiction or fantasy.

Chicken Rice !!

Cooked chicken rice today. It wasn't too bad. I was initially quite skeptical since I couldn't get all the ingredients here and the chickens here aren't particularly chubby either. The best part of it is that it survived my hesitating chops :) For anyone who's keen to try it out, you can check out the recipe here. The person who wrote the blog left a very detailed recipe... almost dummy proof.