I worked my ass off to prepare for my PhD viva, survived plenty of sleepless nights and passed it (thankfully!). I started my new job and loved it. We travelled to Florence, slurped up scoops of gelato, wolfed down mouthfuls of heavenly pasta and chunks of Florentine steak, and even caught the Scoppio del Carro. A week later, we went on down to Murcia and Cartegena, and spent the weekend watching replays of the royal wedding on TV whilst scoffing down tonnes of jamon iberico. Before we knew it, we were off to Vienna and strolled along the romantic streets, enjoying the sights and each other’s company. We drove up to Oxford to see the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Grand Hall in spring and conquered the trails with fellow friends in the Forest of Dean as autumn morphed stealthily into winter. I scored a reservation at The Fat Duck after more than 160 calls and had the best meal of my life. I even met my pastry hero, Pierre Hermé. This summer, I became a proud aunt to my adorable niece, A, whom I’ve been anxious to meet since we learnt of the good news. Shortly after, I graduated and donned the strawberry shortcake hat that I’ve been ‘dying’ to wear for years (trust me, it ain’t pretty), and was teased mercilessly by my proud parents. I spent my birthday feasting in Paris with two very important people to me, my husband and my good friend, E. As 2011 came to an end, I appeared as the guest pastry chef for my friend’s awesome supperclub in London, Plusixfive and learnt more than I ever could than just cooking for the two of us. 2011 wasn’t a bed of roses of course, there were a couple of heartbreaking moments, that were lifted when my superhero survived a scary bump on the road we call life and hung in there, and for that I’m thankful. There were also times when I’ve struggled with uncertainty and times when I truly felt like throwing in the towel.

All in all, 2011 wouldn’t be 2011 if not for its people. I met new people via this blog and we became fast friends, friends that I wished I had met sooner (but as they say, it’s better late than never), friends whom I have come to rely on to keep my chin up. You know who you are, peeps.  My family and friends who have stood by me all these years, my rocks, what else can I say that hasn’t been said about them? Nothing that I have experienced in 2011 would mean anything if not for these very special people in my life. Nothing. So..I just want to say that it’s been an absolutely stunning year because of you, my dear friends and family, and I know that 2012 will be even better than before.

To good things, to those who wait, to all of you, I wish nothing but the best for you.

Happy New Year, everyone!

]]> http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/youve-been-good-2011/feed/ 4 The Pleasure Monger http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/be-thankful-be-glad/ http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/be-thankful-be-glad/#comments Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:01:41 +0000 The Pleasure Monger http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/?p=4013 ]]> For most of you, Christmas Day must be almost over. Well, it’s early Christmas morning where I am, 8am to be exact, and I’ve been up with jet lag since 5.30am.

We are settling down as well as newbies can be when taking to a new city, thanks to those who asked. The apartment’s really cosy, the city is beautiful, people are so lovely and friendly, my only complaint is that the weather is a tad freezing. My face tends to get rearranged in some sort of a weird mid-spasm expression when I’m out. It doesn’t look or feel comfortable, but I’m happy that the rest of my body stays warm most of the time.

As the year approaches its winter, its sunset, its finale, some thoughts are running through my head. Hopes, fears, dreams and uncertainties seem to exist in harmony, well, most of the time at least. This morning, as I watched the sunrise from our home away from home, the negative tipped the balance every so slightly; but when my husband woke up, shuffled out into the living room, looking quite the little kid with his dishevelled hair and sleepy eyes, and muttered Merry Christmas as he waved his hand at me, every ounce of negativity melted away.

Today, I’m thankful for him, my loved ones and my dear friends. They are the greatest gifts I could ever ask for and I wish the same for you.

Wherever you are, seize the day and tell the people you care about that you love them. You don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but today is the Present, the Gift, so tell them.

Happy Christmas everyone.

Now, just a little bit on my classmate. MsGlitzy writes at and runs a very successful and prolific lifestyle blog over at MsGlitzy.com. Unlike my very rudimentary-looking blog, her glossy pages are glistening with the hottest tales of fashion, beauty trends and tips, food expeditions as well as fun things you should be looking out for in Singapore and beyond! Ever since she started writing, I have come to read her blog for a very comprehensive take on everything that I need to know as a person who is also interested in fun, food and fashion! So if you like the same things as I do, do pop over and say hello to MsGlitzy, if you haven’t already! MsGlitzy also does videos for some of these topics, now that is something you should also keep a lookout for! Whilst you are at it, don’t forget to check out my guest post on my Christmas Wish List (any generous Santa or Santarina out there, please show yourself….) and comment away! Let MsGlitzy and me know if you are looking out for the same/similar items this year, and what YOUR Christmas Wish List is, if you want!

Happy Christmas to all of you, just three days to go! Have a lovely festive weekend!

Christmas is just around the corner. Are you busy wrapping up your work to prepare for a week’s worth of feasting and gifting? Well, for me, I have finished work for the year and aside from packing, tying up loose ends, spring cleaning and cooking for dinner parties, I’m mostly relaxing in the apartment, idling when I can and savouring some me-time and time with my husband.

For five years now, Christmas has mostly been rather quiet for us. If we’re not back in Singapore to celebrate the season with our families, we spend the holidays all wrapped up in the freezing cold, with each other in our cosy home. The shops are almost always closed during Christmas Eve and Day in Europe, and unlike Singapore, there’s nowhere to go during the holidays. At first, this came as a bit of a shock, because we didn’t know where to get groceries, or even a bottle of mineral water if we happen to be travelling. Over the years, however, we have come to appreciate the quiet time that is Christmas.

When there is nothing else to distract us, we focus on being with people. I’m not just talking about merry-making, but we catch up, talk about hopes and dreams for the new year, learn more about each other or about our friends and families, and most importantly, we appreciate and give thanks for the wonderful people in our lives. It is afterall the season of Joy and Love.

What better way to spend quality time with people whom you love than to sit around on the floor, huddled together under thick duvets by the drafty windows, laughing over mugs of hot chocolate? What better way to say thank you to your loved ones with a cosy dinner at your home? And what better way to send them home with good memories of the night, each with a bag of warm cookies in hand? I honestly can’t think of better ways to celebrate the season than with good food and good times together, but that’s just me.

Wherever you are, whatever you do and whoever you are with, I hope you enjoy the holidays. And I wish that the new year will bring you love, happiness and good health.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Here’s the recipe for my Dark Chocolate & Coconut Cookies, if you’re interested:

Dark Chocolate & Coconut Cookies:
(adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook)

230g unsalted butter, room temperature
300g soft light brown sugar
50g liquid glucose
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400g plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
200g 70% chocolate, roughly chopped (I used Lindt)
100g flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

2. Beat butter, sugar and glucose on the stand mixer with a paddle attachment for about 8 minutes on medium speed till creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat at medium speed till combined (scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula after each addition to incorporate the unmixed parts). Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the vanilla extract.

4. Add flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the roughly chopped chocolate chunks and flaked coconut.

5. Arrange 6 tablespoon-sized drops of cookie dough on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Ensure that these drops are spaced well apart (more than 2 inches apart) to allow for expansion. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-9 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. At this point, the cookies will be quite flat, and frighteningly soft and pliable. Leave the cookies to cool slightly on the tray before transferring the cookies onto the cooling rack.

6. You can choose to eat them while they are warm (not hot!) and wash them  down with a glass of cold milk, or have them at room temperature. I like them warm. When the cookies have cooled completely, store them in an air-tight container. These cookies should remain slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Enjoy!

*Updated: This post is featured on Foodgawker. Check out my profile on Foodgawker to see my other featured posts!

Check out what I have been baking in my own kitchen.

Also check out my other food adventures.

The crisp winter air is getting chillier, and we are gratefully snuggled under a warm duvet on the sofa, listening to Christmas carols and watching holiday movies. Time seems to slow down as we take in the holiday cheer, and marvel at the simplest things such as the beautiful tree that is standing in our living room now and the pretty snowflakes that will soon grace the season. Even that mug of hot chocolate seems to be that much more special when tucked under your cold fingers. There is just something magical about the time that is Christmas. Everyone seems cheery despite the blistering cold. Shoppers smile as they bump into each other with their big bags in madly crowded stores. The lights are especially pretty, as if they were there to put the misery out of the shorter days and longer nights. The odd hum of a carol that pops in my head when I am  cooking. The thought of seeing my family warms my heart, this year especially as we are moving across the globe (albeit with one or two pitstops) within the next year. This winter, our fifth, our last, the finale, is no doubt the most beautiful.

Delighted as we are to return home soon, we will come to miss everything and everyone that defines London. Our dear friends who have become our family over here, the stories that we share, the good and bad times that we have been through together, even the bitter cold and annoying rain that drapes London in a depressing shade of grey. It seems befitting to celebrate the last winter with our friends. What better way to do so than with a party full of cheer, brimming with home-cooked food and copious amounts of drinks?

And so we did. We came up with a menu that took all of what we experienced and loved whilst living in London, and entertained our friends with it. Grilled Camembert with tomato and chilli chutney, served with warm crusty bread and an assortment of cold meats. This was similar to what we had and loved during our recent trip to the Three Choirs Vineyard | An Ottolenghi-style salad of roasted aubergines with shredded roast chicken, pine nuts, pomegranate, basil and garlic yoghurt, something we have come to adore during our time here | Good ol’ steak, something that M has been crazy about after our trip to Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn, New York, and has mastered during his time here, served with creamy mash potatoes and homemade béarnaise sauce, a sauce that paralysed both my arms after some Olympic-worthy whisking when I first attempted it years ago, and now I’ve found a shortcut to doing them, sparing my wings from pain and agony | Moroccan leg of lamb with mint yoghurt and chickpea sauce, which I learnt to cook in my first year here when I was an amateur in the kitchen, after falling in love with Jamie Oliver’s recipes | Matcha tiramisu, a testament to how my eyes have been opened to the possibilities of reinventing traditional recipes.

After much nerves, and toiling in the kitchen, we’re glad to say that everything, including the monstrous leg of lamb, was cooked to perfection. It was the best dinner party we have ever hosted, and even we were very surprised by the success of it, because a lot of cooking had to be done in a tiny kitchen, and as we know, the tension runs high when two cooks with very different styles are working in a small space together. Our friends were duly impressed and we were even happier to know that they went home well-fed, drink-drank-and-ever-so-slightly-inebriated. Jokes were cracked, and embarrassing stories were let slip. We laughed till our bellies ached and I drank till I was hung over the next day. It was all in good fun and I’m really going to miss all the times we’ve spent together. Everyone’s going their separate ways come the heart of winter, so I guess it’s goodbye for now. Till we meet again, my dear friends, till we meet again.

It feels soooo good to be back in the kitchen again. To feel inspired by sights, smells and flavours. To dream up things I want to eat and things I want to feed my husband. To chop, peel and grill. To present a beautiful plate of food. And most of all, to watch him tuck in happily.

You see, most of the time, M cooks for me. He is a wonderful cook, don’t get me wrong, and I’m very fortunate to have someone who tries his best to come up with something new, exciting and delicious on the menu everyday. Now it’s my turn and I’m gladly returning the favour.

I’ve been a little more cautious with what I eat lately, as I am getting older and it only makes sense to try and eat a more balanced diet in appropriate quantities. I used to have such a hearty appetite, even M was a little alarmed in the early stages of our relationship and casually mentioned that even if I don’t get fat, I might just eat till he and I are broke. After a health scare in my family this year, I’ve resolved to cut down on the quantities of food that I’m packing in, and surprisingly, it didn’t take much effort to do so – it’s the age thing I reckon, I feel full more quickly than I do before with the same quantities of food. But I have my weaknesses – the more-than-occasional chocolate,  the incredibly tasty stuff (i.e. anything tasty is usually high in carbohydrates or fats) and man, do I dislike vegetables. To make matters worse, I don’t see the point of eating fruits. My philosophy was (still is, actually), why make yourself feel bloated with fruit when you can have your rice and meats, and feel properly full instead? People say they feel cleansed after eating fruits, I say I feel stupidly bloated and uncomfortable.

Regardless, I’ve started to pay more attention to what I eat. I still have a bit of a battle with fruits, but I try to have more vegetables and less carbohydrates (rice usually makes me happy). And the only person who could make me eat more vegetables is….unfortunately not my mother or my husband. It is Yotam Ottolenghi. If everyone makes salads like he does, we would all be vegetarians, I kid you not. I first heard of Ottolenghi about 6 years ago, when I realised that M loved the chocolate cake and I asked his good friend to get a birthday cake for him on my behalf as I was living in Singapore. When I came to London for a holiday, I made it a point to drop by Ottolenghi to try the cake for myself, and it was good but I remember thinking how silly those ridiculous good-looking model-esque people were to queue for….salads. I was clearly not herbivorous then. Two years ago, my good friend D suggested for us to have lunch at Ottolenghi, boy was I skeptical but I was keen to try the cakes, so I agreed. That changed my life forever (D has a knack for changing my life, first with macarons then this). I had the roasted aubergines with saffron yoghurt salad and I was SOLD.

I took M to Ottolenghi after that, and he too agreed that the salads were wonderful. So this week, I decided to make the roasted aubergines salad for lunch. I had only two strands of saffron left in the pantry and it wasn’t enough to make the yoghurt, so I tweaked the recipe and added whatever I fancied to make it better. It was mostly aubergines, pomegranate, pine nuts, basil drizzled with a yoghurt-y sauce made from 0% fat Greek yoghurt and some seasoning. I couldn’t stay away from meat of course, so I added some roast chicken slices into the salad, and it was divine. I can’t believe I’m saying this but it is possible to have a delicious AND healthy meal, and this revelation is all thanks to Ottolenghi! Needless to say, M was happy to come home to a good lunch.

We do have sinful meals of course. Just the other night, I made one of my favourite things in the world – Chorizo Spanish Tortilla! Turned out perfect and we were happily fighting for the last piece.

So it isn’t so bad to be healthier, really. I’m back to cooking with more of a healthy focus than before, everything’s still pretty damn tasty and our bellies are happy. I’m looking forward to trying out more new recipes in the kitchen and feeding M. Looks like New Year’s resolution came very much resolved…..early!

Check out what’s cooking in my kitchen!

Also check out my other food adventures.

]]> http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/back-to-cooking/feed/ 6 The Pleasure Monger 20111209 Roasted aubergines salad 2 20111207 Roasted Aubergines with Yoghurt, Pom, Basil & Pine Nuts 20111209 Chorizo Tortilla http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/my-first-guest-chef-experience/ http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/my-first-guest-chef-experience/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:31:31 +0000 The Pleasure Monger http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/?p=3903 ]]> [All photos in this post are courtesy of E at Heaven in a Wild Flower, who was the fabulous FOH at the supperclub the night I guest chef-ed (I would also like to add that she's mightily talented in cooking, design, photography above everything else that she's also good at)!]

Some of you may have read that I made my first ever guest chef appearance recently on 13 November 2011, at the Plusixfive supperclub no less, and I thought it would be nice to document my experience here. It was a real eye-opener for me to be changing gears on what I usually do, as I’m more of an amateur home cook who siphons off the excess things that come out of my kitchen to willing friends. To actually bake for something which I’ve been commissioned for, to offer my pastries to paying customers, now that is a different ball game. To sum it up, it was a daunting albeit rewarding experience for me, and I wouldn’t have embarked on it if Goz, head chef at Plusixfive, hadn’t bambi-eyed me into it (read this to see how a grown man manages to do this!).

Gula melaka salted caramel buttercream macarons

This was made even more challenging, when my oven decided to go kaput on my macarons the week before. I was getting cracked macarons left, right and center with the same recipe that have always worked for me, and I had no idea what went wrong.  I panicked quite a bit as I didn’t want to disappoint Goz and his guests, so I made batches after batches of macarons to test out every variable  (as I would have in my past life as a scientist before I made a career switch), and finally narrowed it down to an overheating oven. The odd thing was the oven didn’t have any effect on my other baked goods, and my conclusion was macarons are just extremely sensitive to heat. This was affirmed when I tried some new steps that I’ve now included on top of my usual recipe (not posted yet), which thankfully gave me beautiful macarons once again, just in time for the supperclub. I also spent a good amount of time tweaking my lychee chiffon cake recipe to perfection, and even had my husband mule some lychee essence back from Singapore to do this. A few hours before the supperclub on 13 November, I was absolutely relieved to get everything done in time for the guests.

Lychee chiffon cake

So after the nightmare that was the oven, you can imagine how anxious I was in having ‘em desserts meet the customers, especially since Goz was serving up his famous (and very very very yummy, I can attest to this) gula melaka ice cream right before my macarons and chiffon cake were presented to the guests! But I am glad to report that they received positive reviews despite the oven drama that I went through, and despite the fact that Goz set really high standards with his gula melaka ice cream. Some supperclub guests asked how I made the macarons and chiffon, others asked if they could order baked goods from me in future, some were wowed by the macarons, others were bowled over by the chiffon cake. I was just buzzing with nerves and excitement, then flooded with relief when everyone went home feeling happy about the desserts (or at least, they pretended to, being very cordial people they are!). T, one of the guests, left a comment on my Facebook page on the chiffon cake, and Jen who writes at Hungry Tiger Thirsty Dragon gave  us some glowing reviews on the desserts.

Jen has  kindly given me permission to quote an excerpt from her review here:

Desserts were the highlight of the evening: the gula melaka ice-cream was divine, salty-sweet with gorgeous caramelised notes. Guest-chef desserts were courtesy of Rachel of The Pleasure Monger: gula melaka macarons and lychee chiffon cake. The macarons were so good I could forgive the double-dose of gula melaka, and the chiffon cake was wonderfully airy and fresh.

Did I learn anything from this? Yes, a hell lot! Did I gain some confidence, which I’ve been told I severely lack? Yes, a teeny bit. Would I do this again? Yes, why not! Did I have fun? Without a doubt!

There you go, my first guest chef experience, and hopefully more to come.

Before I go, I’d also like to say that Goz’s rendang is DA BOMB, and personally, I would die for it. M gushed, ‘Man, Goz CAN cook!!’ as he fought me off with his spoon when I tried to stake a claim on the rendang. So, I’m urging you to sign up for the Plusixfive supperclub – hop on over here to find out how. Read these reviews if you’re not convinced! And scroll on for some snapshots of what you missed at the supperclub!

Click to view slideshow.

 Check out what I have been baking in my own kitchen.

Also check out my other food adventures.

Hello everyone! Just dropping by quickly to make an announcement, well…sort of anyway, because something’s big happening tonight at a mysterious location in London and I’m part of it!

Those residing in London may have heard of (if you haven’t, I wonder if you’ve been living under a rock…) Plusixfive, THE supperclub that has been making waves in the dining scene with its kick-ass Singaporean food. Now, head chef gozgozgoz has kindly invited me to serve up some sweets tonight (some of you may have caught wind of this on Twitter, and boy, am I glad that gozgozgoz thinks I’m worthy of his supperclub)! It kinda came at a good and bad time. You see, I have been toying with the idea of doing the whole baking thing on a small-scale commercial basis after receiving some requests to do dessert tables for weddings in Singapore (I can’t do this ladies, because I’m not based in Singapore..unfortunately), but never had the guts/opportunity to do it, so this was the perfect thing to be commissioned for. The bad really showed up unannounced when I ran into some oven trouble last week and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to deliver. After a whole week of troubleshooting, I’m happy (and relieved) to present my Gula Melaka Salted Caramel Buttercream Macarons, and a new-and-improved version of my Lychee Chiffon Cake for the supperclub tonight!

This may be nothing much for all you funky, cool, talented chefs out there, but for a nondescript home cook like me, this fares pretty high up on the list. Wish me luck, everyone! And to all who are attending the supperclub tonight, I hope you enjoy the dinner (and the sweets, hehe)!

]]> http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/the-pleasure-monger-serving-up-at-plusixfive-tonight/feed/ 16 The Pleasure Monger 20111113 Plusixfive debut 1 20111113 Plusixfive debut 2 http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/macarons-be-inspired/ http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/macarons-be-inspired/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:25:20 +0000 The Pleasure Monger http://thepleasuremonger.wordpress.com/?p=3886 ]]>

I am often asked by readers how I first came to even think about making macarons, how I conquered the wretched task of growing feet on them, how I conjure up flavours and how I style them as I do today. The truth is, I’m mad, mostly, and I’m a flawed perfectionist. Oxymoron, no? Let me explain.

Mad to want to continue making macarons even though sometimes I get slapped in the face with cracked shells and uneven feet, because I really quite enjoy the process of nurturing them into being, and watching my delighted friends savour (or at least they pretend to…) these treats. But a lot of times, I do this at the expense of immense frustration and foul moods that come with getting it all wrong. Sadistic…..? Yes, just a little bit.

And I really do seek perfection in everything I do or make, macarons included. I try my darndest to get them to look right, taste right and even the process has to feel right. If the shells are a tad too chewy, or too crispy, I am inclined to throw them away (although M thinks it’s a waste of food and stops me from doing so now…). If they look wrinkly, they go straight to the bin. If the flavours don’t come together, again, bin-bound. If they look, taste, and feel right, but I don’t style them well, I feel like crap, as if I have wasted the few hours making them.

So it takes the attitude of a perfectionist for me to pursue the whole shebang of making macarons, because I constantly am seeking ways to make them better and better, and I won’t rest until I do. Unfortunately, I am flawed and I’m not a complete whiz at making macarons, so I never quite get them to be perfect. Come to think of it, it might just well be this flawed-slash-perfectionist nature of mine that empowers me with dogged determination when it comes to making macarons.

Above all, I am inspired to make them. And the very man who inspires me (other than M, of course) to do so is none other than pastry maestro, Pierre Hermé, himself. Ever since I had my first bite of his macarons, I never looked back. I was intrigued and captivated by the ingenious flavours that he came up with. And I grew very curious as to how this man could pack so much flavour into such a tiny and delicate mouthful. Before I knew it, I was getting busy in the kitchen, trying ways and means to dig deep into the mystery that were macarons, experimenting like I used to when I was a scientist, troubleshooting problems, discovering the tricks of the trade, playing with colours, dreaming up of flavours that would please my palate, capturing the beauty that belonged exclusively to macarons. My world was changed.

So imagine my delight when I was invited to meet Pierre Hermé for an interview at the Quintessentially Epicure event in early September. And imagine my horror when I realised it fell on the same day as my graduation. Both were once-in-a-lifetime events, but my family was here and I couldn’t possibly miss my own graduation. I was gutted to miss the event and I thought I would never have the chance to meet Pierre Hermé again.

Boy, was I wrong! Just this afternoon, I was invited to attend Pierre Hermé’s book signing event at the Belgravia boutique in London, to celebrate the release of the English edition of his ‘Macaron’ book (which I bought a couple of weeks ago!). And this time, I’m fighting tooth and nail to see him!

So, calling all Pierre Hermé fans, do drop by the boutique on 4 November 2011 Friday, from 4.30p to 6pm, and be inspired by the man himself! If you happen to see me hugging my Macaron book with a silly big grin on my face, please do say hi!

(Weeeeeeeee!!)

Address: Pierre Hermé Paris, 13 Lowndes Street, London SW1

If you love macarons, join me on my macaron journey.

Check out what I have been baking in my own kitchen.

Also check out my other food adventures.

And this was what we did yesterday evening. We talked.

M: When you married me, did you feel like you went fishing and caught a really big fish, and went home a really happy girl?

Me (laughing): Huh?! Fishing?

M: Yeah, fishing. Don’t you know that feeling?

Me: Hmmmm…I wouldn’t say that it felt like I caught a very big fish. It felt like..an angel dropped from the sky when you came along.

M: …

Me: Like God’s gift.

M: ….Well, when we got together, I felt like I went fishing and caught a really big fish. I was really happy…

Me: I guess that’s how it is. You did the chasing, so you felt like you earned something. I was waiting for love to show up, and so you were like a gift when you came along.

M: Hehehehe.

Me: Hehe.

After more than 6 years together, I’ve come to learn that our conversations can shape-shift into anything, but I would never have thought that it could take the form of a fish and an angel. Not until yesterday, not until we started talking again.

[On another note, I kinda wished I were the angel instead of the fish....fish...really?!]