Extreme Chilli Experience

Have you ever stuffed chilli in your face untill u sniff, choke and sob...?

The chilli experience can indeed be very extreme sometimes. The pain in the tongue, lips, stomach, and so on. To seek these experience takes more than a little courage in oneself. And when the sweat beads start to collect, then there is a feeling of expulsion, and mild relief of the tension built up from the taste of spiciness.

So I am home in Singapore now. Everything is so familiar, but I no longer feel the same about things at all. I've been going on long trips for 4 times now. First was a 6 months period working in Hong Kong, 2nd was a 2 months trip to India, 3rd was another 3 months trip to India, 4th was the past 6 months in Europe. Each time, homecoming always felt somewhat dull. End of the adventures. And this time, it is starting to feel difficult.

The pace, the beat, the vibes, the culture, the people, are all different. It's all about chic, style and wallet. Sitting in pretty pubs, fancy restaurants, earning the bucks. Marketing a new product, public taste assesment, competition, judging if item A is better than B. Investments, job opportunities, better job opportunities, house, car, shopping, spending. Who do you want for a bf, does he have the cash? Someone says, it's not about cash babes, but it's better if he is rich... isn't it?

Well, where is all these going, and if there is any meaning at all.

I have gathered many experiences and inspirations on my travel. And I was bursting with energy, to want to come home to seek the life I love, to want to be happy. Yet while I walked out of the airport and hopped on the taxi home, the air is humid and heavy, it's getting dizzy here. It felt harder to breathe.

Today I went to meet some friends in Zouk, one of our favourite clubs in town. Good music, good parties, and a great chill out bar. Then we went to Clarke Quay, where it used to be warehouses by the river in the past. Now, a myriad of bars, clubs and pubs have occupied area. They boast of classy hang outs, every inch and corner looked like it was polished and smoothed out to perfection. Not a single piece of trash on the ground. CHIC, is the style. Someone at the table asked me if I wanted to look younger and passed me a flyer publicising for the launch party of some beauty care product - Renoasis. On the flyer printed, "Dress code - Smart chic". Apparently, they say that this product uses Nanotechnology and can penetrate 7 layers of the skin, where the naturally based components can work on your system and regulate your hormonal balance for younger, fuller skin.

What is chic you might ask, or you already know. Anyway, I would explain it as the "super model" look, that every piece of garment or accessory on you needs to look just they way they were made for. Wear the design, or it is simply out.

So everybody looks like a super model, and wants to sashay down the walkways. Make a pose and make a round. Head turns, somebody bitches.

I got home at about 4am in the morning, still suffering from jetlag. I listen to some music, desperately trying piece everything together. The Europe trip, the homecoming, and future.
*Blank*
Everything was disconnected ... Attempting to join the dots was futile and hopeless. I made myself a bowl of noodles, stuffed it with chilli paddies (the really small but really spicy ones) and ate them. Just for the adrenaline rush. Just to burn my lips, feel the pain and to breathe. My nose started to run. IT was super spicy. And tears were flooding up.


*****
wake up to the kiss of a cat, hitchhike to the next town for a party, drink piktas in BlueOrange, sit in the kitchen and talk, jump into a lake, eat strawberries from the garden, pick mushrooms in the forest, spin rocks, jump into the sea in middle of the night, lay on the grass and watch the stars, sleep by the river bed, sleep by the highway, watch the sunset, wake up to the kiss of a dog, wake up to the sounds of seagulls, walk into a cafe with a friend behind the counter, have a double expresso after breakfast at Rua de Camoes, paint the walls, 5 policemen for 1 parking ticket, kiss twice and say hello, run and laugh in the rain, wink and say hello, break a bottle, hide the keys, laugh and choke on pasta, dance.