i am in montreal now

i am in montreal now. after driving for about five hours from maine and with trembling blue stars on endless repeat, we have reached the french city of canada. the drive was long but pretty lovely too. it is too late in nov to see the famous foliage of new england, the leaves are all brown or have fallen off the branches but the drive through new hampshire, past the white mountains with wide wide lakes, foggy skies and numerous quaint ski resort towns was quite a treat for a city kid like me. lovely that we started the day with sweet and salty scones, and had a mix of dark chocolate-coated popcorn and nuts for lunch. i wanted twinkies too but was too sick after all the sweeties.

we are all too tired and just headed straight to chinatown for chinese buffet. pretty yummy actually for chinese (north) american food standards. maybe we were just too hungry.

it seems it might be rainy in montreal over the next two days. new york was rainy last week and the streets were wet and dirty with puddles in the uneven sunken patches on the ground. i was reminded of bangkok. the traffic was crazy too.

oh i had pretty good thai food in maine - thai poms, the only authentic thai restaurant in maine mall area, it claimed. it was like the delicate and expensive thai food served in restaurants in bangkok that are mainly patronised by non-thais and at about the same prices.

i am a little disappointed that i only caught peaches in new york and had to miss dat politics and kevin blechdom... hoping to catch +/- tomorrow evening. rufus wainwright is performing on fri evening but it is too expensive at $55... but maybe i will go watch avey tare.

sad to miss the cosmo night last wed, the fruit party last sat and the we:union event this fri... why are all these events happening while i am out of singapore...

i'm at greenwich village

i'm at greenwich village... well, by the time you read this, i was at greenwich village. was at harlem for lunch for a $11.95 buffet lunch too... very home-cooked southern fare, very dirty grimy place but the food was cheap!

i actually had pretty good and resonably-priced szechuan food last night in the east village. it seems that's what i'm always talking about... eating.

i actually went to the metropolitan museum of art this morning too and it was packed. went to moma last night and it was free entry but the line was super long and snaked around the block a couple of times. fortunately, the line moved vert fast.

i'm going to eat at the szechuan restaurant tonight again... grand szechuan. i really don't have anything else to say...

the sky finally clears in new york

the sky finally clears in new york. it's been raining for two whole days since i reached here on wed. yesterday was particularly chilly with the rain and the wind and walking 20 minutes to a theatre to catch almodavar's volver which was brilliant, obviously, and much more accessible than his previous films.

i caught borat last week in boston and oh boy, it's such a devious funny good movie. hope it will not be censored in singapore.

new york is a very expensive city to live in. didn't help that i just spend $9 dollars on a piece of popiah (cut into three sections) at this malaysian food joint and another $9 dollars on two kong ba pao at this it bar (ok, maybe only for singaporeans new to new york) - momofuku bar = lucky peach bar. i should have stolen the menu with the cute orange peach...

i've finally reached the united states of america

i've finally reached the united states of america... after a full day of flying, endless repeats of cd86, delay, missed connecting flight, faulty engine (the plane flew nevertheless) and double-booked seat (not mine! i'm actually a bit lucky!).

i'm so happy, cos i've been wanting to listen to the pancakes' last two albums shuffled together and finally got to do so on the plane. all already ready is such a happy album and everyone has a secret is such a sad album but both can be so angry with certain songs and they sound very very good together as one long playing mix. i love dejay. she's my fave hk indie artiste. a true star.

i saw a bear on the train the other day

i saw a bear on the train the other day. the train was heading to bugis and he was standing in the space conjoining the cabins. with his broad face, his large frame, his soft belly and his eyes which were small and looked as if there was trouble opening them and peering through, he reminded me of a bear.

mr bear was standing opposite me, with his left hand in the left pocket of his khaki slacks. his hand was firmly thrusted in his pocket and like a mirror image, my right hand was dug deeply in my corduroys. i never knew what to do with my hands when standing, but i did not want to appear as aping mr bear and took my hand out, only to be unconsciously putting it back in a number of times during the journey.

at city hall station, mr bear readied himself to alight, removed his hand from his pocket, removed his glasses, folded down their sides and kept them in his other pocket. he performed these actions, as well as you or me would do when taking off our glasses, even if he had no paw on his right arm.