14th entry - For the love of cakes

For as long as I can remember, I love cakes. Not just eating them, but also admiring them. Of course, I am selective - I do not fancy sponge varieties like pandan cake or swiss rolls. I like cakes with tons of chocolate, nuts, real fruits and cream, but most of all I appreciate those with character.

So far, the best cakes that I have tried are found at:
1) Lana Cake Shop (see reviews)
At 36 Greenwood Avenue (Bukit Timah), this shop has been selling "homemade" cakes since the 80s (or maybe earlier). When I was growing up in the 80s, my parents would spend what was to us a small fortune to order a cake from Lana to celebrate occasions like Mother's Day and birthdays and even Christmas. Their fruit cakes wrapped in gold-foil are full of juicy raisins and crunchy walnuts, and it tastes moist and very sweet. At my 1st birthday anniversary celebration, my parents ordered for me a blueberry cake shaped like a large number "1". I believe it was my mother's favourite - back then, blueberries were considered a luxury. Later, I discovered that Lana was famous for its chocolate fudge cake. Ready-made cakes are not available at this shop - you had to order at least 3 days in advance and collect it in person. To me, Lana's cakes are like evergreen songs - one never gets tired of them!

2) Cedele (see
review for the Wheelock Place branch - the best so far based on several reviewers' comments)
The first time I bought my first carrot walnut cake from this shop, I was taken aback by its price. After eating it, I realised that you get what you pay for - excellent quality. The carrot walnut cake is soft yet coarse due to the chopped walnuts, giving it a rustic homemade feel, and its not too sweet. The thin layers of cream cheese blends fabulously well with the cake, enhancing the richness of its flavour. Cedele's carrot cake reminds me of "mother" - full of tenderness and love!

3) Secret Recipe

A few years ago, a colleague brought me to a Secret Recipe restaurant for lunch. While their set menus were nothing to rave about, I was attracted to the large cakes and curry puffs on display in their dessert counter. There were so many varieties of delectable cheese cakes and chocolate cakes that one may simply marvel at the chef's ability to create so many different and interesting flavours to suit their customers' varied tastes. Later, my other half, S, told me that Secret Recipe actually originated from Malaysia, and the prices of the cakes sold in its Singapore branches are twice those sold in Malaysia. I've tried the same cakes in Singapore and in Malaysia, and both taste the same to me, so I've been buying SR cakes from Malaysia ever since... SR cakes remind me of Art and endless creativity!

4) TCC (see website)
UOB Signature Card used to have a promotion in which customers could get free coffee at selected TCC outlets by producing a recent Signature Card receipt. S and I would sip our complimentary coffee and order some of TCC's cakes. One particular cake captivated my heart the first time I ate it - if I recall correctly its name is "Chocolate Indulgence" - a small cupcake-sized confectionery that had a liquid dark chocolate core. When I sank my fork into it, the chocolate filling oozed out. It was totally divine! Alas, the promotion ended and I've not had a chance to visit TCC lately... *sigh* TCC cakes are associated with the Modern, the Fashionable, the Trendy - Avant Garde!

S's favourite cake is blackforest cake. My dad's favourite is durian cake. My mum and I like all sorts of cake, but she prefers the fruity type while I prefer the chocolatey type. Nothing beats a delicious cake served after a satisfying meal, but I can eat cake anytime - just like our friend Keroberos in Sakura Cardcaptor!

12th entry - The First Gay American Idol?

Article from Yahoo News, 1 May 2009:

Could Adam Lambert be first gay "American Idol"?



LOS ANGELES - Adam Lambert wears eyeliner and diamond stud earrings, sings like a dream and has won a rare standing ovation from tough-minded judge Simon Cowell.

With three weeks to go before the "American Idol" final, Lambert, 27, is favored to win the No. 1 U.S. television talent show and become, possibly, the first gay or bisexual singer to be handed the "Idol" title by millions of Americans.

Lambert, praised by "Idol" judges for taking risks with songs like Cher's "Believe", has never publicly confirmed his sexual preference, nor has he denied speculation about being gay -- a striking contrast to 2003 runner-up Clay Aiken.

When photos showing him kissing other men and dressed in drag circulated on the Internet last month, Lambert said simply: "I have nothing to hide. I am who I am."



Lambert ended in the bottom two for the first time on Wednesday night, but viewers have so far shown little sign of caring about his ambiguous sexual orientation.

An army of "Glambert" fans cheer him on, vote for him weekly and have made him the favorite to win.

"Some people are saying, wouldn't it be amazing that in the same year that the first African-American president took office in the U.S., we also elected the first gay and/or bisexual 'American Idol'," said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York.



"I don't think that's comparable. Rather than being surprised, I am thinking 'Wow, have we really got this far without having one yet?'"

Gender-bender stars are nothing new in the music business -- Elton John, Prince and the androgynous Boy George. Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell are openly lesbian, and while TV stars like Neil Patrick Harris have come out as homosexual, Hollywood awaits its first huge gay male star.

"American Idol" may just give it to U.S. music fans. The show has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States in the last eight years and is as much a popularity contest as a talent show. The audience that averages 26.3 million viewers weekly has shown an openness to embrace everyone from 8 to 80 years old -- and it's the viewers who vote to decide who wins.

Aiken, the 2003 runner-up, dodged questions about his homosexuality for five years before publicly acknowledging in 2008 that he was gay.

Lambert, who donned a white silk suit and diamond ear studs for the show this week, is more flamboyant in his dress, vocal style and performances than most -- if not all -- contestants.

"Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi called him "confusing, shocking, over the top, theatrical -- but I like it!"

I went through several blogs and found comments from fans who love him "even though he's gay" etc., but by and large I found it heartening that most fans love him for who he is: a top-rate entertainer, a darn good singer and a Glam-rocker. The fact that he is homosexual is besides the point. I've always believed that Americal Idol is a competition for vocal talent, not so much for character or personality or any other aspect of the singer's life (unless it interferes with the ability to entertain or perform).



When asked about his sexual orientation, Adam replied, "I am who I am." I hope Christians will not find this offensive (it is taken from scripture) and homophobic fans wont withdraw their support of him. To me, from a celebrity starting out his career in an unforgiving (even brutal) industry, these words come across as brave, unpretentious and "in-your-face" rebellious - "whether you like it or not, I wont deny any part of me just to please you; I wont succumb to public pressure".
could have said. For this as much as his fabulous vocal talent, Adam has my deepest respect.



Another American Idol star who came out later in his career was Clay Aiken. Compared to many celebrities who go to great lengths to conceal their sexual orientation, I think he is considered quite courageous and honest. I wonder whether he will become unpopular because of his public admission, but from the comments made by many of his fans, they dont seem to mind very much. Similarly, I hope that Adam will also not lose his appeal because of his sexual orientation.

13th entry - How many tongues do you speak?

"Speaking in tongues" according to the Bible is a gift of the Holy Spirit that I have never acquired. I remember that a group of concerned cell-group (or bible study group) members at a church I attended years ago had prayed fervently for me during a regular weekly meeting, to receive the gift of tongues from the Holy Spirit. After about 15 minutes of "praying in tongues", I knew in my heart that I did not receive any ability from God to "speak in tongues", which I attributed to my own lack of religious piety or faith. But seeing that my cell-group members were praying so earnestly and knowing that they firmly believed that I would (and should) receive this gift from God, I decided to act as though I had received the gift by pretending to speak in tongues (it was actually some incomprehensible gibberish stuff that I mumbled). My acting was quite convincing, for they immediately gave thanks to God and assumed that I had been given "the gift"... At that time, I felt really guilty for lying, and also depressed that God withheld this gift from me when everyone else seemed to have it.

Since then, I came to believe that "speaking in tongues" in a biblical sense is not absolutely necessary. Its not an issue of sour grapes, but rather I do not know what speaking in foreign tongues (which sound like gibberish) can be used for - it sure is not used for communication (unless its with God, but then its ridiculous because tongues are not needed for communicating with God anyway!). In the same vein, I also felt that Christians from different denominations who argue endlessly about whether "speaking in tongues" is a myth should really focus on other more critical issues, like their own walk with God - no point being able to speak in tongues (or for that matter being given any gift) and not using it for any edifying purpose. Needless to say, the number of "tongues" one can speak (in) is totally nothing to be boastful about and in fact its implications are rather contentious - does more "tongues" necessarily equate with a higher or greater "gift"-ing?

My colleagues were talking about a young man in Singapore with exceedingly high IQ who knows more than 10 foreign languages, including some that are rarely spoken by foreigners, like Hebrew. What is remarkable is that the guy is only in his late teens or early twenties. I admire people with great language ability, especially those who can not only master their own mother tongue and official languages, but also other foreign languages. They would be able to converse with people from other countries, learn about their diverse political and cultural backgrounds, and discover fascinating things about the world at large. I wished I was able to speak in many "real tongues", but it will be difficult for me. I didnt even manage to learn my mother tongue well when I was at school, and my short basic course in Arabic was a disaster... Sigh! I guess I just dont have affinity with languages...

11th entry - We don't want a cure!

The title of this blog was inspired by the movie, X-Men - The Last Stand (2006). Mutants were offered a "cure" for their "abnormality" by the US government, after a gene that permanently reverses the mutant genes and makes mutants "normal" was discovered. In the story, mutants who saw this as a panacea for their suffering amidst persecution and marginalization in "normal" human society obviously welcomed the offer.

Others felt otherwise. Being a mutant is not like being sick. What there to cure? In the end, the polarised mutants took sides. Frustrated and angry ones joined Magneto in a bloody revolution against their human tormentors. Little did they know that their sacrifice was in vain, for they were merely used and exploited by the equivalent of a real-life heartless terrorist leader - much like the suicide bombers in the Sep-11 tragedy. The level-headed ones defended the humans, and gained not just political victory for the mutants but also won the hearts of many people.

We must have read, or at least heard, about how leaders throughout history had sought to bring about the systematic extermination of people whom they felt were somehow "different". What I feel is truly tragic is not only the many innocent lives were lost because of the abuse of political or military power that was supposed to protect them. The frightening truth that many of us are not even aware of, or would admit to, is that there are people who believed in the basis or source of discriminatory policies because of their own fear or paranoia, of those different from them.

Today, political correctness, feminism, racism, ageism and sexism have been used widely in jokes. But trivialising them is no laughing matter, especially when people still suffer, usually in silence, from various degrees of discrimination and persecution due to their differences or beliefs. Part of the fear and paranoia about people who are different comes from ignorance and phobia - both of which are "diseases" that plagued mankind since the Dark Ages. Ironically, is it not the "normal" humans that need a "cure" from their ignorance and phobia?

We may think that we have come a long way, but complacency is something we can ill afford when the fact is discrimination and persecution in various forms still exist. I wonder if we can ever be rid of it.

I read with interest about the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) saga that recently came to a close. The newly elected President of this women's rights/gender equality advocacy group, Ms Dana Lam, commented that she was surprised that the NGO, which was at the centre of much controversy because of its sexuality education programme in schools and its open acceptance of lesbians, received so much support and activism (read related stories reported in Channel News Asia article and the Straits Times forum discussion).

What interested, and indeed comforted, me most was that Pluralism won in this battle, even though by a very narrow margin, and the War still rages on. Scholar Terence Chong commented that "the warning against ‘playing the religious card’ is but a disingenuous attempt to pretend that such Christian activism does not exist in multi-religious Singapore. This is unhelpful. Instead, it would be more constructive to urge the more moderate and liberal Christians to speak out. The local Christian community is not homogenous but one that contains a gradient of values, and its time for those who are more inclusive and tolerant of differing life-choices to stand up and be counted (see full article at Opinion Asia). Like Terence, I believe that no political or social segment of the community should be allowed to dominate the political or social views of others.

How are Singaporeans reacting to the AWARE saga? Many, undoubtedly, will respond with cold indifference - "It's just a cat-fight turned ugly". How many Singaporeans will actually feel joyful for the modest victory of social activism, and breathe a sigh of relief that the development of civic society in Singapore did not suffer a blow because of the political ambitions of a religious minority?

I do not believe that bigotry should be fought with equal bigotry or even bloodshed. What the X-Men achieved could be achieved in peaceful means by the GLBT community as well. It may take time, and perhaps some sacrifice, but surely "normal" people can slowly and eventually open their minds and hearts to be more tolerant and accepting of those different from them. At least, this is my hope. The GLBT community do not need a cure - they just need to be accepted as they are.