They paved paradise, they put up a parking lot
A pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always go to show
You never know what you got till it's gone ?
They paved paradise, they put up a parking lot.
I've always enjoyed hosting dinner parties. It's such a joy to be able to gather people around the dining table over conversation - there's a certain civility and warmth about the atmosphere that you can't somehow get at a restaurant. And as a budding cook, there's a major plus side for me as well - that is, having a perfectly legitimate excuse to spend most of the day in the kitchen, completely unfettered - humming to music, banging pots and pans, chopping up veggies and with a certain four-legged rascal running circles around my feet. Sure, it's a whole lot of effort, and I've been told that I'm borderline obsessive and a nervous wreck before the dinner (always worried that I forgot something on the list, or that one of the dishes will not turn out right or that people will not enjoy themselves).
I've been meaning to host a dinner party for the people who have, in small but meaningful ways, made a difference to my life in Singapore. These are the friends I've made at the School who noticed when I was down and took me aside to have a quiet word, sat with me patiently while I complained for weeks on end about why I refused to accept that the marginal utility of slippers and shoes were the same, and shared with me the notes (and perhaps, just perhaps, might have signed in for me...hehe) for one particularly dreaded course. :) But I'll admit that I've put it off for weeks now, always citing the crazy schedule at school, or having too many things on my plate, or being overwhelmed. But last weekend, I listened to an old favourite of mine, Big Yellow Taxi, and it dawned upon me that in just a few more months, my life in Singapore will be packed up, labelled and waiting by the door in 20 x 20 boxes as I begin a new chapter in my life. I remembered an old Malay saying, "cakap tak serupa bikin," (Say one thing, but do another) and I realised I too, shamefully, hadn't lived up to my word.
Of course, as luck would have it, I got completely drenched trying to navigate 4 large tote bags of groceries through the thunderstorm this morning, and I may just have fallen down and broken the eggs when I slipped on the floor at the Bukit Timah market, but I'm none the worse for wear. It was a great night - my friends ate, I drank, as the laws of the universe dictated. Recipes to follow, I promise!
No dinner party is complete without the infamous kitchen accident
Alamak...the aftermath!
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