"It was a queer, sultry summer..."

That first line from "The Bell Jar" ranks eighth among the 10 Best First Lines in Fiction, according to The Guardian. Here are the other nine. 

Popular Penguins all in a row (Photo taken at Kinokuniya Bugis Station in Singapore)

"Everyone is obligated to make a sandwich out of the two last slices of bread."

I was looking for quick and easy sandwich recipes online when I got reminded of that quote from Cathy "Aaack" Guisewite.  I miss that comic strip. I miss a lot of things from the '90s.

Clubhouse Sandwich served with fried banana chips
from a local cafe at Kalibo, Aklan in the Philippines

And here are some sandwich recipes from Pinterest.  If you're to make them, then just stare at the photos. That's what Pinterest-ing is really all about, anyway. Now, for those two last slices of bread...

"Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth..."

but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug was no exception." And, according to Forbes' Fictional 15, he is the richest, too...among fictional characters, that is. 

Benedict Cumberbatch will be the voice behind Smaug in The Hobbit. Photo from The-Hobbit Movie.

Here's the complete list of the richest fictional characters according to the magazine.

"He who destroys a good book kills reason itself..."*

Happy World Book Day! Check out these amazing bookmobile photos gathered by Flavorwire.

*John Milton, Areopagitica

"Imagine and hang on."*

Caught a rainbow while at VivoCity's Sky Park.  This image has not been manipulated at all.

*Colum McCann, "Let The Great World Spin"

"Good days, they just come around the corner."*

One of the reasons we travel is that we want to leave something behind, hoping that it would not follow us in our journey.  And in leaving something behind, we try to find something new to take its place.


Well, that's what I tried to do when I went to Singapore (yes, I'm still talking about forgetting that person).  I didn't that "something" though, but I did find other things that somehow made me a little happier: food. Sumptuous Singapore food.

There's nothing wrong with staying at a backpacker hotel in Singapore as I found out when I last went there. Here's the simple, but truly satisfying breakfast of fruits, toast, jam, and coffee I had at the place I stayed in.

The best Chicken Pie I've ever tasted comes from a Food Opera stall at Marina Bay Sands.   It is best enjoyed with a cup of brewed coffee.

Don't forget to try the chili dip with your fries or chicken nuggets when you're visiting the Lion City.

A visit t Singapore wouldn't be complete without trying the Kaya Toast, which usually comes served with two soft-boiled eggs and kopi. I didn't know what to do with the eggs at first, so I watched the locals crack them up and season them. Some dipped their breads into it, others just sipped it from the bowl!

Forgot what this bread is called. It's like pita with a sweet and spicy filling.  A Singaporean friend got this from a local bakery in Bedok.

Yummy Pancake Ice Cream from Osaka Town at Raffles City Mall

Cap off your dinner at Clark quay with a cone of Hokkaido Ice Cream.  The Green Mint and Salted Caramel flavors are a must-try.

I have been to Singapore several times, but it was only during my recent trip that I got to travel alone.  I got lost several times, I tell you, almost every day in fact.  But in getting lost, I found so many things that brought me joy, even for just a brief period of time.

*Colum McCann, "Let The Great World Spin"

"Whoever loves the more is at a disadvantage and must suffer..."*

Oh, I'm not talking about unrequited love. Nothing as banal or as profound as that, but something more trivial like a purchase of something that we cannot afford. 

I was thinking about this today as I looked at my latest credit card bill and realized that I haven't really bought a lot of stuff the past month and congratulated myself of not giving in to a shopping spree at H&M while I was in Singapore. 

Well, I have "suffered" a little when said the said urge to buy all those nice clothes weren't given in to, but it only happened for about a week. Ok, two weeks. Said suffering occurred again when I realized that the dress that I've been salivating over in the store's Great Britain shops have finally found their way to Singapore just when I have left the country. And then there was the sale that, again, happened when I was already several thousand miles away from the Lion City.

This was the dress, btw. It came in several colors and I would've made a "uniform" out it.
Photo from H&M.

Now that I look at my credit card bill, though, I guess I'm slightly glad that I wasn't in Singapore anymore during the sale. Oh, who am I kidding? I've lost sleep over this! I envy the girls who've bought this out on a whim and just have it hanging on her closet because she just way too many purchases that she can't really find time to wear it. Or, she realized that the color doesn't really suit her.

*Thomas Mann, "Tonio Kroger"

"The world forgetting, by the world forgot."

I was just watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind the other night and it reminded me of how I wanted to erase the memory of someone from my life. I realized at that point that I have indeed started to forget about him because the movie "had" to remind about forgetting him. Get my point?

As hard it is to forget someone or something is to remember things that we are expected to know.  It's a mark of one's being cultured, I suppose, that we can remember the poem where the "eternal sunshine..." line came from or even easily recognize that it is indeed a poem and not something that some brilliant kid from Hollywood came up with.  

Now, scientists from Cornell have supposedly come up with the formula for memorability and, according to The Economist, they are not enlisting Shakespeare or the "eternal sunshine..." poet (it's Alexander Pope, by the way. Thank you, Google!) for help, but rather from...Hollywood.

"Hollywood provides many of the set phrases we deploy in everyday life," says The Economist. "Whether at the bar or in the boardroom, movies permeate our language. Cultural osmosis means that this source material is oft-quoted both consciously and unconsciously."

Here's how it works. 

As for me, I think in remembering that I needed to forget that someone, I have actually remembered him. Indeed, "how happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot."