there is always something to be happy about. first, there is this really cute librarian in alderman who teased me about the title of the book i reserved a few days ago (pagan mysteries in the renaissance, by edgar wind, which i am told has good chapters about emblematic practices - hopefully useful for merchant of venice.) he's very tall and has wavy light brown hair and an accent that i can't place though i think perhaps turkish? (i probably only think this because of von's turkish roommate who has the same colour eyes and hair.) today when i was checking out christina rossetti's sing song he was there again, explaining to me that i'll have to wait a little for them to print a barcode label (apparently, my book hadn't been checked out for so many years that it still doesn't have a barcode label) herbert tucker had suggested that i could look at it for some riddling material, but i was too lazy to add anything new to my list of books. however, waiting in alderman for a classmate to review latin today, i thought, oh well, perhaps i should be diligent and get hold of it anyway, and hah, there he was again. the moral of the story? ipsa sibi virtus praemium.

and, inspired by my mother's package, and lusting for chocolate, i took two buses and went to the inconveniently-situated international supermarket after class. what did i find? unbelievable. milk peanut soup!! in a tin! hah! even more convenient than the kind we eat at home cos it's all prepared. and and! remember those big round blue tins of danish butter cookies? yes of course you do every singaporean child knows what i'm talking about. i got a tin! it'll last a while, or i hope it does! i put a dish of it out in the living room too. anyway, i wandered around in a happy daze, though occasionally jolted out it by outrageous prices (a very small packet of baci wass $5.49. simply obscene! walker shortbread was even more expensive.) but the crucial thing is that i have now a room full of soba, (couldn't find the right sauce though, gotta look ard somemore) flavoured teas, half a dozen different kinds of cookies and biscuits, curry powder, milk peanut soup, various kinds of dark chocolate. when i came home, i defrosted my fish and boiled carrots and made fish curry rice. very happy. now i'll have to wash the rice cooker to cook cheng tng so i can have some dessert when i'm writing my paper tonight.