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Singapore
A fallen cannonball anemone, a single petal remaining, but heavy with scent and memory. On my infrequent visits to Singapore, I always make a beeline to the Botanic gardens, with its photogenic dragonflies and this curious tree. Faced with the traveller's dilemma. What to see and do? What to drink and taste when there is so little time. . . Should you narrow or widen the aperture? Deep but limited, or shallow and cursory? Around and around in circles . . . Sleeping close to the Singapore river, every morning a slow pre sunrise run along the waters edge. Each day I’d trace the same path, the only variance my starting direction. . . I was surprised by the number of chickens strutting around unencumbered. I discovered retrospectively that they were the prototypal wild jungle fowl, unintentionally reintroduced, slimmed down, muscular and with beautiful tail feathers. First the food arrives and then the hunger . . . I ate as much buah keluak as I possible. One
by noreply@blogger.com (Edward)5 views202195chablischardonnaycontextflowers - news
Qi
I’ve been practicing Hanzi , timidly, trying to memorise all those odd looking squiggles and lines, consistently messing up the stroke order and direction. It is curiously satisfying. Trying to understand what each character represents and how it has changed over time. Each character pregnant with meta data. Today I learnt the character for Qi. 气. On 3000 year old oracle bones it is represented by three horizontal lines, representing the three treasures. Essence, energy and body and mind. Three lines to capture the intangible. . . You could characterise a wine in these terms. . . Essence being what is imparted by the terroir and season and the hand of the maker. Qi is more about what is in the glass, is the wine alive, is there a spark of energy or is it fading and quiet? Qi is often equated to the life force, or vitality, or breath. It’s an elusive concept for the Western mind, which thinks of energy in terms of mitochondria and sleep, glucose and caffeine, swi
by noreply@blogger.com (Edward)4 views2023contextgreat-southernrieslingshirazwords-and-wine - news
Lo Hon Chai
I’ve been doing a lot of reading and thinking, interspersed with conversations with Chat GPT. What else would you call it. . . I ask questions, the AI responds, I ask follow up questions, it’s a deeper and more intimate dialogue than I would have with most people. It’s tangential and at times scatalogical. I ask about Lo Hon Chai, Buddha’s delight, and it makes suggestions. It’s a Lunar new year dish, signifying purity or cleansing, designed to nourish without inflaming desires. . . I look at the ingredients and wonder about the flavours, it seems very bland - but it works - there’s a poise and gentle balance . . . Lo Hon means Arhat, an adept who has obtained Nirvana. . . I always thought the original number was 4, but the Chinese inflated it to 10, then 16 and finally 18. . . . A pair of recent books both containing the word Golden in their title. The Golden Road - by William Dalrymple and The Golden Wok - by Diana Chan. From the first I learn about the Indosphere and how
by noreply@blogger.com (Edward)5 views2022bookcontextpinot-noirrecipetasmania