Food and The Movies

The Queensland Summer is starting to show in it's full strength, and my apartment is a total meltdown area. It is SO hot here, I honestly have to find things to do that would take me elsewhere during the day.

Today Ram and I found a really cool South Indian restaurant, at Mount Gravatt, a suburd quite far away from us. Called Southern Spice, they had a buffet lunch, and man, I haven't eaten such authentic south indian fare outside India/Malaysia. Idli, upma, vadai, sambhar, chutney, raita, kheer, dosa....you name it. It's totally divine. Ram declared he would start with idlis and work his way down :) I'm just glad we discovered this place - Qld is not very Indian-oriented. And the service was fast, with a friendly staff ( friendly enough to lend Ram a lighter when he wanted his occasional cigarette...I have made him quit almost entirely, but such with such great food...I totally understand ).

Last week, I was contemplating watching so good awards-worthy movies. Didn't happen. Since Kisna was out, and this theatre in the city had just started to show bollywood movies, I decided to watch it...especially since I was going fida over the songs. Two words. BAD DECISION. I cannot believe Subhash Ghai would peddle this non-quality crap as a great movie that would cross borders. It is worse than some B-grade films. The only exception is Sushmita Sen, and Antonia Bernath. I was disappointed to the point of anger. And what's unforgivable is the picturisation of most songs, with the exception of Chillman, and My Wish Comes True.

Kinda made up for it yesterday night, by watching 'Ray'. Great movie, and Jamie Foxx is seriously excellent in his accurate portrayal. Kinda long, though, and of course, with the super-hype it's being given at the moment with the Oscar nominations, a little overrated. But on its own, a good movie nonetheless, that thankfully doesn't pull punches like most other bio movies that glorify real characters. Rather it showed a three-dimensional Ray, and unabashedly explored the aspects in his life that made many close to him label him a total arsehole, bastard, etc...

Even more...after Kisna, on Friday, after a long and gruelling day, I decided to take some time to myself ( which entailed DAYS of appeasing the boyfriend....don't men ever get the fact that women are actually BETTER partners if they take some time to themselves? ), got home, had some great pasta, and watched 'Raincoat' by myself. ADORED the movie, even better when I realised it was based on O Henry's The Gift of The Magi. Beautiful narrative, setting, characterisation, acting. Just simple and great cinema.

Starting my WeightWatcher's Diet next week...from tmw, in fact. Done it before,but the situation now is so different, and the POINTS value are counted differently. Plus there's my lovely relationship that seems to be based on the sharing of good tasty ( if not very healthy ) food. It's gonna be a challenge, and I need all the help I can get.
Amen.

Jobs and awards

Wow, its been a while since my last entry. I suppose the major change that's happened so far is that I'm more familiar with my new librarian job at the language school. The building is beautifully old, since it was a hospital during WWII and there are still rooms that used to be wards. The grace of the building has been maintained througout, even in the interiors. I like it that way - rather than having the old facade outside but having a thorough aluminium-steel-minimalist-millennium look inside. I should know. I possess the weirdest copy of the key to the main library door. They don;t make keys like these anymore. It's longer than average, and with an odd-looking nub. It's a wonder my superior found a locksmith who still had the mould to make a copy.

Apparently we even have our very own campus ghost, called the Lady in Grey. She used to be a lady whose fiance was enlisted in the War, and who promised to wait for him at his request. He died and never returned, but her ghost haunts the main building, and she often goes to the window that faces the river, awaiting his return. Scott, one of my trainers, told me that a few years ago they kept old photographs of the main building in the library wing, and you could see a face looking out the window in the direction of the river. All very appropriate to the ambience of the place, if you ask me.

Anyway - I've got some moolah in my account at last, and just in time, too, for it's awards season, and that means watching great movies one after the other. I've already caught Finding neverland, which squeezed out some tears from me, and I'm not a movie crier. Last weekend we watched Alexander - a total stinker. I already knew it wd stink, but went for my guy's sake...he's a huge admirer. But GAWD! Talk abt a miscast lead! I cannot see how Oliver Stone thought Colin Farrell wd be a good Alexander...I'd put my money on Jude Law any day...classic Grecian features, as was Alexander. *SIGH*

Contemplating watching Alfie, Ray, Sideways, Closer,Kinsey et al pretty soon.

Uhm, I'm home

My guy finally dropped me home today. Packing itself took ages. I realised as he drove me here that I'd been away for more than a month at his place. Sure, I came in occasionally to my place, but it was only to pick up more stuff. I housesat for him while he was away at Europe, and three days after he returned my mum visited from Malaysia. He insisted that she stay with him ( they have a mutual admiration club going, which i don't want to be a part of ), and I couldn't leave my mum there so I stayed on too. She left Christmas Eve, and on Christmas early morning my guy had the most terrible illness and I had to call 000 ( our version of 911 ) to get him to hospital straightaway...after which I'd been staying with him, making sure he eats well etc. He recovered, but then we bought got caught up in the Tsunami spectacle daily, and it was the holidays blah blah blah...and things just went on from there.

So now I'm finally home, and oh my god it is SO hot in here ( summer here in the Southern Hemisphere ), I guess that's part of the reason why I keep finding excuses to stay at his central-airconditioned apartment...Not to mention the MESS...each time I visited to pick things up, I've just barraged, rummaged, scavenged and left...the place was already untidy when I first left, and I'd promised myself to clear it up on one of those rainy days ( not for the sake of the expression, but in the vain hope that it'd be cooler then )...but now, it's like the Asian Tsunami had found it's way particularly into my apartment and decided to leave behind a souvenir for Brisbanites.

It all looks hopeless. Especially in this draining heat. I keep telling myself that I gotta start small. Tackle it small area by small area. But I'm meeting my friend Richard for lunch tomorrow, and that'll take ages since we haven't met up since before Christmas and I know we'll have heaps to catch up on, and I need to get to the gym in the afternoon, and then prepare my wardrobe for Thursday, when I start my brand spanking new job as a Librarian for a Language School Library. Yikes! Looks like I'll find time to clean only on the weekend. Although my boyfriend's already making noise about that, and has said if I don't get to his place, he's gonna come to mine. Yeah right...and as if he'll help with the cleaning. ( to be fair, he does, but he makes so many comments like a bloody grandmother that I'd rather clean alone ).

Oh gee...long blog.

Les Incredibles

Hey. I don't care how many people read my blogs ( or in this case, don't ), I'm writing for it's own sake. Or something noble like that.

Saw The Incredibles today. Couldn't have seen two totally different movies in past two days...Swades, then Incredibles. Both really good. Not as hilarious as Finding Nemo, but a good play on superhero stereotypes.

Was supposed to leave for home today, but my guy's kicked up a fuss, and we struck a deal, and if he keeps his end of the bargain, I stay one more night. He won. Not telling what the deal was.

Now, updating a post that I posted on another board, about Swades:

I'm glad to see so many people affected by Swades's themes...although I feel Ashutosh Gowariker meant for more things to stick, like social consciousness and accountability.But yes, I was affected by Swades on my first watch. Yesterday I took my boyfriend to see it. He's Indian too and he left India about 11 years ago to make a life here, which he has, successfully, but I feel it's at the expense of him feeling 'connected' to others. He always talks about India and it's out-of-date traditions in a very harsh and derogatory manner. Though he's right on some things, I feel the hostility is his way of masking the fact that he's willingly left his homeland, and this bitterness eases the pain.

After we got back from watching yesterday, my usually calm boyfriend was pacing up and down the entire house, quite pointlessly. He's the one who usually goes to bed first, and yet yesterday it was me who was ready to go to bed...and he was like "how come you're going to bed so early?" and I'm like "honey, it's midnight"...and he just couldn't rest...still wandering around the house aimlessly, channel surfing, going to the loo, etc etc...till he kinda collapsed on the bed next to me. I said "the movie's affected you hasn't it".

He just nodded, looking away from me. There was a long silence, during which I caressed his back. I couldn't think of anything appropriate to say. Finally I said the most lame yet most reassuring thing I could think of : "everything will be fine". He nodded. I knew I hadn't helped.

Later, he just said "the movie's message seems to be that you can say the truth simply, without being nasty about it". That's all he'll let me know.

(my boyfriend IS Mohan Bhargav in many ways - intelligent, compassionate, generous. That scene where Mohan gives the poor farmer money rather than insisting on rent...that's my guy through and through. Buying water from the boy at the railway station, gettting really affected by it...all him.)

I can't believe this film flopped in India. It may not be the perfect film narratively speaking, but it certainly is a very important film, and really needed to be made. Hats off to Ashutosh for having the courage to say what a lot of Indians, local and NRI alike, only think in their heads.

Addition

an addition...boyfriend just got out of shower. Wearing the shirt I bought for him...a cool fashionable one. It's one he NEVER wears. And I'm always berating him for being sloppy when we go out. And now he's wearing jeans and the vintage 70s shirt I got him. And with that stubble, he can give SRK a run for his money.

Did I mention he looks a lot like Vivek Oberoi? Oh yummmmmmmm...........

Upma and 3-chilli chutney

Yup, that was my breakfast today, cooked by my boyfriend...or lunch, rather. We had it at 1pm, cuz...well, first there were no veggies, so when my guy caught the cooking bug more than half the ingredients weren't there...so he goes to the local Woolworth's to get some, and of course I had to shove my shopping list on him, and of course he had to buy half the bloody supermarket since I'm not there to scold him each time he reaches out at the junk food aisle...and when he comes back, since he's in 'house chores mode', I need to clean out the refrigerator before putting away the groceries...and I really do mean CLEANING OUT...taking out the glass trays, spraying and wiping them in the sink, the works.

And THEN he starts blending the chutney in the food processor...tomatoes, check. Onions, check. Salt, check. Green chillies...THREE WHOLE PIECES??? And then he complains when I barely touch the chutney with my upma!

We were supposed to watch Swades in the city, 4.20pm show. The sec he insisted on the kitchen clean-up I knew it wasn't gonna happen, and mildly suggested that we make it to the night show instead. But the testosterone driven alpha male in him wouldn't listen..."nah, who said, we'll make it, I'll cook the upma in a flash, now that all the ingredients are here...blah blah blah". Oh, really.

2pm...he starts cooking.

2.35...we start eating.

2.55...I ask him what the time is, and when we should leave ( we take the train into the city...he hates driving there cuz parking is shit, though I think it's cuz he's secretly afraid of driving in a place he doesn't really know, and is filled with one-way roads ).

3pm...we plan that we should leave by 3.30.

3.01pm...I mention that movie is at 4.20pm. It occurs to him that since we're taking the train and all.....*tick tick tick*...it dawns on him.

3.02pm....he suggests we go for the evening show. I smile and agree.Honestly, how do men get to be so cute?

New Year's

I know blogs are public and I want this to be, but now I'm faced with this new thing - my life, or rather my words, the ones I choose to type, are going to be out there, and once I press the 'post' button I can't take them back. ( well technically I can, but this just sounds more romantic ).Okay, boring details of today - public holiday here in brisbane. Was the first to get out of bed, before boyfriend - now that's a first. Am re-reading the latest Harry Potter book ( NO idea why ), so read a few pages out on the balcony, while checking in on boyfriend during intermittent periods. (still snoring, still in that same posi...oops, no, now he's on his back...riveting ).

He wakes up around 11 o'clock, thank god, and somehow gets it into his head to start something that should've been accomplished last night, after the dinner at Mt Cootha, and the champagne on the balcony at midnight, with candles and a New Year wish. Aaah, not complaining. Just ran a lot of wild images in my head.Made enchiladas for lunch. Given I never learnt to cook while at home in Malaysia, given that I started only in 2001 to feed my de facto brothers Kesh and Vijay while studying in Uni and living together, I have to say the enchiladas really rocked. Who knew I could get so comfortable with an oven?

Foxtel is showing back to back Will and Grace episodes today, for New Years. Watched some. just realised right now how sad my life is during the holidays. No wonder I need to write in this blog.Oh, how can I forget the great oil massage I got from my guy....and the subsequent hot bubble bath, again with candle and Harry Potter.I'm guessing things'll improve once work starts...and also once I finally collect all my stuff and head back to my little one-bedroom apartment...I love my guy's place, but I'm starting to miss getting to sing and dance to cheesy Bollywood songs while doing the dishes at my place.