Going Through The Motion

Jane has been strangely efficient with her uploading of photos. Can I say I am just so impressed?

Wine-tasting at Winebos was a pleasant experience. Free wine, free canapes, catching up with my best girls. I ought to really count my blessings.

All sugar and spice, and everything nice.


Don't ask me why Sandy and Cynthia are posing with their food.


We're Cedarian Netballers, hoho!



Sandy has so sweetly purchased for me a box of Royce Chocolate Potato Chips, together with some very cute printed coupons to cheer me up. I can't explicate the innate gratitude, or describe how touched I felt. There was like a huge great lump in my throat, and I had to take more sips of the wine to dissolve it. It reminded me of the darn lousy day last year when she similarly executed a perk-me-up surprise. Gracias, amigos. I am so apologetic that you have to spare your shoulders, eyes and ears for me through these times. They must be quite sore, eh?

I roused myself up early this morning to prepare food for the picnic amongst some of the Netball girls. Mister Toto was the designated hunk of the day.


Gosh, the sun was scorching. Toto was surprisingly hardworking in fetching the balls thrown into the sea. He was also, unfortunately, making a great big mess at the picnicking area.


We played Dai Dee and I lost like 60 cents. Boo.


I must reiterate for the first time in my life of playing Dai Dee, I got a hand with 4 TWOS.

Toto looks quizzically at the cards.


So as usual, we played the "Memory" game. Instead of alcohol this time, I suggested we be healthy and be forfeited into doing 5 steps of any exercise regime.

Here is June starting out, being all garang. But this is just the start.


Okay, that is me doing my fair share of punishment.


Yeah, and here is June starting to slack off.


Don't ask me what exercise regime she is executing. I thought the usual was push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, star jumps and whatsnot. She started fluttering her arms around and explained she is executing a pilates regime. Right, June, right. I am sooo convinced, yes I am.

Yep, another one of her incredulously ridiculous exercise regime.


I thought I have died and gone to er-mei mountains where taichi is practised.


Here are more of the unfortunate ones, undergoing punishments. What a pity we didn't bring the Netball along. Could have forfeited them to do some drills with the darn ball. By the way, the netball I am holding on to is running out of air. Can somebody please help execute CPR on it or something?


OMG, its GI JANE!


Ah, here is an unglamorous picture of me being the thumbmistress.


Being the thumbmistress means that everyone has to follow whatever I do with my right thumb. This probably insinuates tht Sandy, in taking my unglam photograph, would have been slow in catching the gesture. Ha Ha!

All righty, time for my therapeutic run.

累

我好累。

Uncertainty Breeds Fear, Knowledge Kills it

Gee, I just spent 30 minutes listening to students complain about their fellow project mate. Each time I assured them that I understood their circumstance perfectly, the male student would launch into a new tirade regarding his frustrations.

I guess each of us possesses our own set of problems and frustrations. Only the ones closest to our hearts have the 'privilege' of being exposed to them, or being the primary punching bag. Is that a boon or a bane, I wonder? How many of us are logical and rational sufficiently to reflect retrospectively upon each angry outburst, each upset exchange or each hurtful word uttered?

After all, we are humans, not computers.

A (Wo)Man's Best Friend

Oh, Toto.

Ribena Lies

Ugh, I can't believe my favorite healthy drink since childhood could turn out to be nothing but a farce.

Read it here.

Eh catherine, your livejournal nick of 'ribenapower' need to change already lah. Change to 'ribenanopower' lah.

Ugh. I feel so bottled up inside and having no venue to expend the negative energy is driving me nuts. It is time I remind myself of the mantra - NATO should be ignored.

Late Night Conversations

It has been some time since I stayed on MSN way beyond midnight. I think it is an alternative Messenger crowd altogether at this time. The daytime crowd doesn't seem to respond as actively as the night crowd when I change my personal messages.

Of course, as usual, occasionally I get weird conversations from the ps guy. I am so inclined to block him but I always try (DARN) hard to tell myself his intentions are good and he is inquiring in all genuine concern. Inherent goodness of people, right?

Anyway, some of his warped excerpts include:
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
10 ..
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
why u sigh
lost duckie says:
oh nothing
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
i saw ur bro today
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
wahaha
lost duckie says:
oh?
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
so tan
lost duckie says:
u recognise him?
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
i think so ... u all quite look alike

Okay, to me, that is freaky. Firstly, I don't think I have seen him since he graduated like 5 years ago. And, I don't think he has ever seen my brother before.

a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
exercise with me leh
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
i quite a while din exercise ..
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
sighz
lost duckie says:
i like to run alone
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
how abt tennis
lost duckie says:
well i play sometimes
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
sighz
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
ur sometimes not sametime as mine
lost duckie says:
haha
lost duckie says:
yeah i guess
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
u dun like me
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
sob
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
sigh sigh
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
not fated
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
没有缘

He proceeded to flood with :( faces. I got incredulous for three seconds.

a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
will u still lend me lisa ono
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
kekeke

Right. Liso Ono again. I decided it is safer to send the whole damn Lisa Ono series over the internet. I can be nice and not be freaked out at the same time, thanks very much. Alas, after sending 3 songs...

a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
ok .. these 3 first bahz..
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
going vpn soon
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
hehe
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
thanks
lost duckie says:
no problem
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
but ur fren return liao ... lend me as well
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
heee
a.xiao loves to eat 安 says:
i also want to see you as well ... keke

Okay that's it. Patience limit reached. Into the blocking bin you go for now...

Thankfully, the other late night conversations are much better. Besides the lovable regulars, there are one or two of them trying to cheer me up. HT, probably on guessing it is work woes, tried suggesting stupid solutions.

Ht says:
nevermind lah .. just go face the real world
lost duckie says:
sigh
Ht says:
think u quite talented.. should start own biz
lost duckie says:
HAHA
Ht says:
really... start young
lost duckie says:
u wanna be my sponsor?
Ht says:
on ...
lost duckie says:
doh!
lost duckie says:
throw ur money away
Ht says:
lets think of some biz plan. if reasonable .. u do and i find u cash
lost duckie says:
gosh, thanks for your confidence in me

He suggested we find people, charge them 50 bucks and bring them to the seaside to do abstract painting. Obviously, he has never heard of something called CABS. CABS probably charge like 20 bucks to bring you to a seaside lah. Wah lao, what kind of business plan is that?

I think my idea was a wee bit better though.
lost duckie says:
hmm
lost duckie says:
matchmaking!
Ht says:
huh?! then can u try selling me off first ...
Ht says:
u have an instant customer
lost duckie says:
i think match making good
lost duckie says:
i got good database of people
Ht says:
can u match me first ..
lost duckie says:
can. i throw in champagne
Ht says:
ask sandy intro u 2 me lah!
lost duckie says:
then i won't get to earn money!
Ht says:
u intro me others then wala ... u make some liao

Hokay, now. Who wants to sign up?

Wala, almost 2am. Amazing how time passes when I am absolutely spouting rubbish.

Singapore Fashion Festival

Woot! Here comes the Singapore Fashion Festival once again.

Before I commence, let me indulge in some geek-speak because someone asked me why the hell do I go woot-ing around like some owl. Coincidentally, I suddenly recalled that the name of the regular wine-guy (whose name I could never remember) at winebos is known as woot. Aha!

All right, geek-speak alert!
Woot originated as a hacker term for root (or administrative) access to a computer. However, with the term as coincides with the gamer term, "w00t".

"w00t" was originally an trunicated expression common among players of Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game for "Wow, loot!" Thus the term passed into the net-culture where it thrived in video game communities and lost its original meaning and is used simply as a term of excitement.

"I defeated the dark sorcerer! Woot!"

"woot! i r teh flagmastar!" (Think Tribes)

"Woot, I pwnzed this dude's boxen!'

Yeah, anyway, 'tis the week where all the high-nosed snobs and fashionistas gather to have fun.


I am not quite qualified as either but I did had fun when I attended the Nokia sponsored Calvin Klein Runway Show last year. Has it been a year only? It seemed so far away. Gee.

Well, I can collect invites that admits two for several shows. Not that I will be attending all of them, of course, since I will probably be the lowest-ROI attendee, participating only to gawk, make snide remarks and not buy. If you all are interested in attending any fringe events, I can give ya the invites for the shows I am not attending (which is most of them, anyway).

There is a Raoul show, as well as Levi's on 29th March. Sandy, it is your call.

Holland Village Zoo

I met up with a friend for lunch at Holland Village on a late Saturday morning. While making our way to a pet shop, I pointed out a curious primate sitting atop the signboard. We stared at it for a moment and I actually thought it looked as if it was gonna to leap onto my friend. I don't remember having very good encounters with monkeys.

Anyway, apparently, the little hairy mammal made it to the news today.


Well, for a moment, I thought it was a mascot for the pet shop or something. As we proceeded to Watson's, there was also a crowd gathering outside curiously. There were people holding the cutest puppies ever. There were also excitable kids mishandling them. This Filipino woman seemed to be narrating that her house doggy has given birth to 9 puppies and her family cannot take care of all. This is all very strange. Monkeys and petting zoo eh? What's next?

Hot Dog!

I was so very tempted to join Joy and the other adventure-seekers in their trek of Jalan Lam Sam. My apologies, girl. I am certain you all had tonnes of fun! If you need me to recce the Kent Ridge Park site, do count me in.

Nevertheless, I decided to let Mister Toto have a little run-around himself at Kent Ridge Park. It has been some time since our weekly Kent Ridge Park routine and it is a bonus that Catherine could join us with the sweet, perpetually-worrisome Heidi.

Here is the pair, checking a sign post out.


Well, Toto is considered quite an old bird regarding this area so he is able to be all yayapapaya and strutting his stuff, while Heidi tags along. I bet he feels all important because when Catherine is trying to cajole Heidi to go down the steps, Toto went up and down trying to poke his big fat rubber nose in.

Looks who's checking out Toto's butt!


Black-and-white shot of my black-and-white boy




Little Heidi the shy sipper




After the doggies had their bit of exercise, we drove down to the pet event organized by CATs at the Stadium Green. Gawd, the sun was mercilessly scorching.

We settled ourselves down at a shady spot to have our lunch from the yellow arches, while waiting for our other canine pals to display their prowess at the respective Jumps and Pole-weaving competitions.




Here are the hosts of the event, one of whom is Patrick Wong. When we first got Toto, we trained under Patrick. He tried hard to convince the previous owner to let him adopt Toto. Anyway, it was painful watching him train Mister Toto and we opted out subsequently. On a totally irrelevant note, I think he looks like the Taiwanese Host, Jacky Wu.


Ah, right, here are the heroes, waiting to hao lian only. :P


..and our little canine hero impresses the crowd!


Well done, boy.


Here is Kaiser, taking a well-deserved break and pondering if he would ever be spared of working for his own feed.


Oh boy, 1st runner-up for Jumps competition!


Anyway, for the pole-weaving portion, my camera battery decided to die. I did take a video using my phone instead. Kaiser went on weaving, like, forever until the host had to tell him to stop. Giddy sia, watching him. I have no idea why my videos are always upside-down, but if you are interested, click here.

Catherine and I had a much simpler job, lazing around in the shade, serendipitously chatting with other pet owners who are curious about our dogs. As usual, I had to endure the usual jibes when people learn about Toto's name. One Ah-Beng was affectionately calling him 'Beh Beo'. Beh Beo is Toto meh? Sounds like horse-something to me.

There were the usual photography enthusiasts going around, requesting for permission to take pictures and the usual kids pottering around, waiting to pat Toto on his head.




Well, thanks to the brilliant ball of hydrogen in the sky, I am currently feeling very burnt.

And yes, Jane has finally decided to get her ass moving in uploading pictures. Unglamorous ones at that. She took a photo as I was taking forty winks in the cab en route to Sentosa last Saturday. If her camera sucked my soul and I never wake up, you all know who to blame.


Cafe Del Mar is pretty overrated and the music is rubbish (at least to me).


We were having quite a bit of fun with games until one of her friends became kinda violent. But that is another story.

Okay, I am so starving. Need..to..look..for..food...

Lemony Snicket

When life throws you lemons, make lemonade - so quotes the popular proverb. Well, if life throws me lemons now, I will grab them, kiss them and store them in a crate. I am beginning to see the yellow fruit in a brand new light. Hurray for lemons! Woot woot.

Anyway, I know I sound a tad kooky and quite irrelevant here but do add a dosage of lemon in your life. Be it your jug of plain water at home, your huge mug of sugar cane juice at the hawker center, or your plain glass of iced-cold coke. It will do you good!

On a totally unlemony note, I started the weekend early with Jane at Winebos last night. We were totally starved and ordered a load of happy food like fries, chicken wings and cheese mussels. I think we were a strange sight when the food arrived. Hee.

So, the regular wine guy (whose name I never could recall) recommended a rose pink wine known as the White Zinfandel. It is kinda too sweet for my liking, though.

Kent, the ubiquitous lady there, was much friendlier than usual yesterday, approaching me a few times "How are you, dear? Is there only two of you? Do you want me to shift you somewhere comfortable at the sofas inside?" I haven't seen her that friendly in ages, honestly. Maybe she was pleased with the food we were gorging on. Ha ha.

Anyway, she recommended a Shiraz, which wasn't quite agreeable among Jane and WX. I am quite trained to the taste of Shiraz since it tailors to my dad's palate.

Jane & the Bean


It is quite amazing how we manage to make our way to J Bar at M hotel on foot. Well, I call that the power of pheremones. I was just tagging along blindly. As a courtesy gesture, I nursed a few glasses of whisky and soda before heading home.

Now, I have just received a sms from the babe that she is on a halfday MC due to a major hangover and puking last night! Dudette, cannot mix then don't mix lah. Tsk!

The Last of NUS Arts Festival Goodies

I was at the General Office picking up the keys to my Professor's office when I spied a booklet on NUS Arts Festival 2007. It was chockful of entertainment events and schedule, but alas, it ends on the 25th March.

Here are some interesting ones you still can catch.

Free Live Performance of Spanish Guitar with J Sham.
Friday 23 March 6.30pm
UCC Foyer


E.P.I.C. Live Performance
Saturday 24 March 6.30pm
UCC Foyer


Red Taurus - subtle fusion of flamenco, latin and jazz
Sunday 25 March 6.30pm
UCC Foyer


Hmm, these live performances sound pretty darn intriguing. I heard one quartert (known strangely as Curious Attacks on Green Tofu! (CAGoT!)) singing at the Foyer last Sunday and I must say, I was quite impressed. Well, of course, my standards could be way below since I can't carry a tune for nuts.

Well, if you don't mind parting 11 or 9 bucks, you can get yourself treated to...

25 Years of GENUS! by NUS Guitar Ensemble
Friday 23 March 7.30pm
UCC Hall


Although I would rather have attended Irresistably Yours by NUS Jazz Band last Saturday at 7.30pm. Dang. Where was I last Saturday, 7.30pm? Oh yeah, I was having sushi with a babe. Hey babe, we should have been listening to Jazz, baby! (Instead of those rubbishy stuff they played at Del Mar.)

Okay, Sandy, this will interest you!
Thai Horror Night - Shutter
Saturday 24 March 8pm
UCC Theatre Green Room

Thai Horror Night - The Eye
Saturday 24 March 9.30pm
UCC Theatre Green Room

Well, I might have watch both already but I don't mind going down to spoil the details for ya! Ngak ngak ngak.

Stranger than Fiction

I know I can be quite warped at certain times, but these days, I have been encountering quite a few strange ones myself.

One had me mildly irritated for quite a while. Hitherto, my irritation has been getting more intense. I do not answer to the emails, sms-es nor receive any of his calls. Until recently, I saw one of his rather hair-raisingly amorous mails, got a tad alarmed and decided to set things straight. Perhaps he hailed from a planet beyond me, not only did he not get my drift, he sent an email with totally irrelevant contents and continued with an avalanche of smses and calls, which I again, ignored. Gosh.

Another strange one was a guy who hailed from my undergraduate days in the School of Computing. He was one who would serendipitously chat me up on msn and ask me out for meals, games of tennis and such, whereby I would politely divert by saying 'See how lah.' It is not as if I am being a very biased individual, but I would provide an excerpt on why I find his behavior very disturbing.

One day, I was listening to my Lisa Ono soundtracks on my computer and he managed to see the tracks playing on my MSN. Thus, he started inquiring if he might borrow the songs. Yesterday, he started his requests once more.

Me: Oh, my stack of Lisa Ono CD's are with a friend.
Him: Can I borrow them from you when she returns?
Me: Sure.

Pause.

Him: Look at my nick. Do you like it?

His MSN nick becomes 'Waiting for your Lisa Ono...'

Me: Er.
Him: I changed my nickname for you.
Me: Okay. Cool.
Him: So when are you going to play tennis with me?
Me: Er.
Him: NUS Tennis Courts have been refurbished. Very nice.

Pause.
Him: Hey, I gtg. I need to go ps.
Me: Where's ps?
Him: ps is pang sai (Hokkien for shit).

Okay, I don't have a bone to pick with the use of word whatsoever. However, I do not think I am sufficiently close to him as a friend to qualify knowing intimate details like these. It's like.. okay..stop..too much details.. my eyes are hurting, hello?

As if that is not enough, he msned me the next day.

Him: Sorry about last night. I had to go ps you know.

What the fark? I did not reply.

People are strange.

Being a Sitting Duck

I detest the feeling of being helpless.

In psychology, there is a concept known as the locus of control. The theory distinguished between two types of people - internals, who attribute events to their own control, and externals, who attribute events in their life to external circumstances. I think a primary part of me belong to the former. I like being in control of my own destiny. If I am not, I would like to trust or understand the person who is in control.

As such, I get vexed when circumstances grow beyond my reach, beyond my comprehension, beyond me. When I was just a wee tyke, I would stand by the window to wait for my mum to materialize from the bus stop when she is 10 minutes late from her usual arrival time. As the time dragged longer, I would start to worry my little head, letting my imagination run wild on the worst possible scenario, before starting to tear. This is the feeling of helplessness.

I used to think that the most heart-wrenching feeling on earth is to helplessly watch a loved one suffer. You stand by his or her side, attempting to proffer comfort in vain.

Now, I think it is more grievous to know that someone is suffering and you aren't even allowed by their side to offer any comfort. You are just alone in the world, agonizing their fate illegitimately.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Certainly, I am no culture vulture. Nor do I belong to the lofty, aristocratic, arty-fartsy sorts that delve into the intricate details of each masterpiece.

Nevertheless, I do indulge myself in dollops of the local arts scene. If I were to attend any theatre plays in Singapore, I always have a preference for local productions. My reasoning is that, if I wanted to catch popular overseas plays like "The Wicked", I jolly well catch it at Broadway itself. The local productions such as Magic Fundoshi and The Little Shop of Horrors were quite delightful, offering humor probably only we, Singaporeans, can identify.

Anyway, seemingly, our little (boring) red dot of an island is gradually steaming up in the cultural scene. First and foremost, my varsity is holding its annual arts festival with an avalanche of events.

It looks pretty interesting. The inner and well-hidden rock music appreciator in me was a little disappointed that I missed out on Electrico's performance. I think they are a terrific local band.


I was pondering upon attending Olivia and Friends for some bossa nova indulges, but I gave it a miss anyway. Oh, bugger.


Okay, so, probably the only dosage from NUS Arts Festival will come in the form of acapella performance at Amplitude'07 within the compounds of the University Cultural Center this Sunday evening then. Don't forget our date, babe.

Meanwhile, there are many other cultural events to take your dates to.

I was rather intrigued by the Crystal Mirror.


From the pictures, the setting looks resplendent and luxurious, replicating the style of an antique “Mirror Tent” from the 1920s with acrobats, singers, comedians, musicians and eccentric wait staff. Apparently, a 4-course gourmet dinner will be served, as well. Of course, the prices are quite exhorbitant and I wonder if they are worthy at all. Hmm.

The all-time favorite Phantom of the Opera is also currently playing. Apparently, the crashing chandelier is a favorite with the audience. Sadistic bunch of people, aren't we?


Last but not least, there is the very fiesty Pam Oei fronting the local production, Titoudao. There is Kumar in it so I bet it is gonna be hilarious!


Now, whoever said Singapore is boring?

A Sunday of Diversity

The Sunday was started with much excitement, looking forward to seeing how Heidi have grown since she left my care months ago to her new home with Catherine. We were going to initiate Heidi with her first nature trek ever! Woohoo. And what a darling she was.

Now looky. This was how tiny she was when she was with me.



See that bear she slept with? I think I got it as a birthday present during my secondary school days. Hee.

Ta dah, and now she is all grown up!


So, the trek was pretty all right. I have been to Bukit Brown Cemetery for a previous hash before and I imagine all the souls resting there must be like cursing me for stepping on their graves all over again. Each time I crossed over a grave, I tried to give a silent apology and hope the kind souls would sense it from the bottom of my heart.

I haven't the faintest idea why Toto is looking so comfortable under a guy's legs. His preference for males is really getting disturbing.


Along the way, some emergency occured and the medics sprang to action.


Toto's lust for Suria seemed to have diminish. But I caught him trying to hump Kaiser. And they say women are fickle. Bah.


Here are three babes looking extremely euphoric.


Ah, little Heidi having a drink.


Well, the humans need their water break too, ya know.


All in all, a good sweatout for a Sunday morning. It is always great to start the week with a strong dosage of endorphins.

I rushed home, muddy, riddled with insect bites and sweat-stained. It was a miracle I was able to get ready in time for one of my pal's ROM ceremony at One Rochester in about 45 minutes. In fact, I was checking if I had any mud stains left on my feet as I hopped into the cab for the event. Haa.

The ceremony was a beautiful one and there was a deep sense of happiness within me, watching a decade-old friend progressing into the next stage of her life.

Congratulations, Emmie and Kit!


Anyhoo, the ambience is quaint and beautiful. The food is pretty good, too.


For more photos, click here.