Nat AraLC

Flowers et Leaves

2012-02-04T23:44:00.004+08:00

Hakone, Japan

PS Cafe Palais Renaissance

Green Lane

Agnes b. cafe IFC Hong Kong

Lantau Island

Macau

St Regis Les Saveurs

Dhoby Gaut MRT Station

Botanic Gardens

Humble Abode

2012-02-04T22:43:00.003+08:00

If the bench upstairs was empty

2011-12-28T17:48:00.001+08:00

For many years I looked at life like a case at law. It was a series of proofs. When you're young you prove how brave you are, or smart; then, what a good lover; then, a good father; finally, how wise, or powerful or [whatever.] But underlying it all, I see now, there was a presumption. That one moved... on an upward path toward some elevation, where... God know what... I would be justified, or even condemned. A verdict anyway. I think now that my disaster really began when I looked up one day... and the bench was empty. No judge in sight. And all that remained was the endless argument with oneself, this pointless litigation of existence before an empty bench... Which, of course, is another way of saying - despair.

- the character, Quentin, in After the Fall.

Shanghai

2011-11-07T03:18:00.002+08:00

Pretty excited about the Shanghai trip. I'm gonna..

Make a cheongsam

Take lotsa pictures

Eat lotsa hairy crabs and mini lobsters

Spend time with the girlies and talk about everything under the sun, under the stars

This cute boy I met

2011-11-04T21:26:00.006+08:00

So I met this really cute, pretty boy. We were at the queue, waiting to board the plane.

Him: Hi. What's your name?

Me: Oh hi... I'm Clara. What's yours?

Him: Hi ...xxx..ara.. (He couldn't quite hear me I think). I'm xxx.. (And now I couldn't hear him)

Silence.

Him: I don't stay here.

Me: Oh really? Where are you from?

Him: The Philippines. Manila.

Me: Oh cool. Where are you going?

Him: Malaysia.

Hmm.. me too.

Him: You're. beautiful.

Me: Oh thanks. That's great! Haha. ha.. (awkward laughter)

Him: (Pointing to this other girl in front) She's my friend.

I nodded and smiled at said friend. SO TEMPTED to ask - Is she your girlfriend?

Throughout the queue, he kept turning back to look at me. Very cute.

Him: You're pretty

Me: Oh. That's great news!

Him: Where's your seat?

Me: Hmm I'm sitting at.. let me check.. 22A. You?

Him: I sit at... row 6.

Me: Haha cool.

Finally we boarded the plane. As I passed him,

Me: Have a safe flight.

Him: Thank you. You too.

So the plane took off and landed in a heartbeat.

At the immigration booth, while doing my passport check.

Him: HI... (He hollered from the adjacent lane)

Me: OH Hi..

Him: Helloo..

Me: Haha Hello.

Silence.

Him: You're really.. pretty.

Me: OH Thank you. haha (Okay getting abit embarrassed now.)

I finally got my passport processed and am taking my leave. As I walked past him,

Me: Bye. Have a good trip.

Him: Thank you. You too..

As I walked away, he hollered after.

Him: What's your name again?

Me: C l a r a!

Him: Bye Clara. (And a wave)

Me: Haha B Y E.

Sweet.

Oh did I mention his only about 6 years old?

Sleepless

2011-10-04T03:38:00.001+08:00

One of those sleepless nights where I just stare at my bedroom and listen to the yummy thunder and the impending rain.

Too. Much. Thoughts.

Ennui

2011-09-11T18:22:00.001+08:00

SYLVIA PLATH

Ennui

Tea leaves thwart those who court catastrophe,
designing futures where nothing will occur:
cross the gypsy’s palm and yawning she
will still predict no perils left to conquer.
Jeopardy is jejune now: naïve knight
finds ogres out-of-date and dragons unheard
of, while blasé princesses indict
tilts at terror as downright absurd.

The beast in Jamesian grove will never jump,
compelling hero’s dull career to crisis;
and when insouciant angels play God’s trump,
while bored arena crowds for once look eager,
hoping toward havoc, neither pleas nor prizes
shall coax from doom’s blank door lady or tiger.

Page from Plath's copy of The Great Gatsby

Green Lane.

2011-08-07T23:20:00.001+08:00

Popo's conscious this morning. Knew her maths. Recognized her children and grand children. But still a wee bit delirious. Her hands were cold, so i held one tightly. And she squeezed my hand every now and then. She misses mahjong and we think she needs it too.

Had her first session of physiotherapy today. The physiotherapist was a gentle looking punjabi lady. She said that it's a slowly but surely process to recover. Hope so. Popo's belly was swelling - strangely. And it was really big. Constipation? Water retention? I don't know. I just know I want her to be okay.

Whilst she's recuperating in the hospital, my uncles and aunts decided to do a big clean up at home. Green Lane. Where I grew up. Where popo took care of us kiddos. Where we fought. Where she plucked a mini torned branch to cane us when we were too naughty. Where the garden was big in my memory. Where things amassed - call it junk, vintage or what. Things that was important to someone at one time. Things that was part of green lane's history, story, happenings. And we had to clear it - cuz it's not bringing good health and luck with all the junk piled up - says a geomancerish person who came to look at the home. It's a good, big and decent house. But just a little too cluttered with old things.

So my uncles and aunts cleared whilst I chipped in here and there or babysit the cousins. The karang guni spent hours poring through and weighing the wares - furniture, heavy equipment, Knick knacks.

My favorite part of the home is the garden - the work of popo - who has green fingers. She resurrects my family's potted plants.

My uncles and aunties sure know how to lighten the situation and make mundane and tedious stuff more fun and laughable.

Honestly, when I'm away, I do feel worried and felt like crying sometimes. But when I'm with them, I feel safer about the situation. So glad to have the family.

Just heard that popo's running a fever. It's okay, stay strong popo.

Popo

2011-08-07T23:00:00.001+08:00

Never been so scared about mortality before.
Popo please stay strong.

On thurs afternoon, Mark sent me a text to say that Popo was admitted to ICU, suspected stroke. Immediately, I called him and he said they're currently doing tests. I couldn't help myself from crying. Stayed in the office toilet for a few minutes. What happened to popo?

Rushed work and got to East Shore. There was a congregation at the corridor. My popo is a very social person and has many close friends and relatives. The sight of them comforted me to some extent. Didn't dare to go into the ward as I was a little flu-ish. Mum, uncle, aunt and bro went in to speak to the neurosurgeon. I stood outside and observed the discussion from the glass door. Each of them started imitating how Popo had her fits - first the doc, then my uncle, then my aunt. I mean it's quite funny watching them playing charades. Comic relief does help.

Friday
Visited her finally. Her eyes were open, but her speech wasn't clear. Suspect it's stroke as the doctor had arranged for a speech therapist. She looked fine, but her delirium worries me. Well, at least she could recognize us. I miss her old self. Please be well.

Sat
Apparently she was asking about her cousins in Hainan island. And really uncannily, they had just arrived Singapore for a short holiday. Just when popo was asking about them, they turned up! Telepathy. Popo's such a gregarious person, everyone's so connected to her. In her state of delirium, she was asking mummy to serve them barley and hainanese dishes she had cooked for everyone. Mum just played along and said yes. By the time I arrived in the evening, my aunt was trying to make her rest. Apparently the continuous visits she get didn't allow her rest. She was talking and talking the whole time. And it just gets more confusing each time. Poor thing, her leg was swollen and the doc extracted 220ml of fluid! And they discovered a fracture in her right knee. So she's now in a cast. I wondered if that pain triggered her fits. :(

We make dinner on a saturday night

2011-07-31T16:46:00.002+08:00

Finally, a cook-out was accomplished. It's a mini one - which is perfect. Manageable. And not too stressful. :)

By 4pm, we already had our hands full of ingredients:

korean rice wine & korean snacks for the movie

2 bottles of Long Flat and Lindemans muscato - cheapest and good!

A regular brie and a walnut brie, rasins and crackers

A bag of rolled oats & a tub of nectarines

A pack of baby spinach & half a pumpkin

1 long japanese cucumber & a bag of carrots

Yits julienned the carrot and cucumber. PQ sliced the nectarines. Joel cut the pumpkin into cubes. Whilst I pretty much dished instructions around - flicking things off my memory and cross-referencing with the iphone. There was some competition going on - about who did the most work, who was useless, how I assigned jobs according to ability. Urgh, so funny. Although I didn't quite laugh out loud as often I'd love to - just focusing on the next steps!

In a timely fashion, the dinner meal rolled out nicely as such:

Starting with muscato and the cheese plate. YUP, we totally brought the last course forward. Don't judget

Baby spinach with roasted spiced pumpkin salad.

Crispy rice cakes ala mos rice burger style which goes well with the bro's miso egg. Well this rice dish was a last minute add-on due to a sleight of hand and a twist of fate.

Nectarine oatmeal crumble. Healthy twist on the typical flour crumble.

BURP. Then moved on to watch 3 movies in a row - Matilda, The Virgin Suicides and High Fidelity. It was a simple night - 3 friends coming together to make a meal. Although the wine and cheese totally busted our budgets, we did catch ourselves busting with laughter most of the time.

Worth it.

Detox

2011-07-17T05:06:00.001+08:00

The alcohol effects have just worn off and now I can't sleep. The only thing my mind and body could think of now
Is a detox!!!!!

Darn.

I'm craving cold vegetable juice now at 5.06am.

JK Rowling

2011-07-16T14:26:00.005+08:00

WSo I watched Harry Potter, with the lovely friends last night. After the movie, I only had JK Rowling in mind. How could such a wonderful, complete, out of the world, complex, creative story come out from this woman's mind? I woke up this morning, still thinking about this. I guess, knowing a bit about her, does added a depth to my interpretation of whatever I've seen of Harry Potter.

I've watched a documentary of her, a couple years back. Her 'base line' - as she puts it - was the year she was a single mother knowing about her mother's death. As she had described, depression was where all thoughts of happiness just left her. She was numb and cold, not sure whether she would be happy ever again. And the only good thing that she had then was her baby daughter, whom she thinks would also be lost one day. Hence seeing her every morning, still alive, just seemed like a miracle each day, when everything else could just go wrong. That is depression.

With this thought of 'how bad could it be' to finish up her manuscript and send off to a publisher, she did it.

It's truly the 'how bad could this be' thought that could really set one free. And it was something I did live by for a period at my earliest darkest period of my teenage years. Of course, when things improved for a while - you forget your baseline. How strong you could actually be at your lowest.

At church last week, the speaker spoke about personal sanctuary - an undefined place, time, mode where you get in touch with God. I felt comfortable with this. As I never felt comfortable with how the previous churches I've been pre-defines how you should connect with God - Speak it out loud, shout, cheer, clap, sing at the top of your lungs. That's not me. I thought for a while - what makes me feel closest to God? And at the end of the sessions, I kinda had a rough idea. Through people. As much as people do tire me (I'm quite sensitive, or even allergic, to certain types of people), it's actually through the human spirit that I felt most touched, and in awe of the goodness of things. Not music, not art. More human spirit. And I could never be more thankful to meet, and keep in close contact with people who exudes genuine love, care and concern for others. And all other good things..the industrious spirit, frankness, or even sense of humour in all situations. And I know who some of you are. It never is a case of all qualities residing in one person. It's having a bit here and there that you have - that I love.

So back to Harry Potter and JK Rowling. I like her. I like the fantasy stories. Because, they spell the ideals out loud. They spell conscience from a situation and to an explicit, definitive sentence. Something that urban novels hardly spell out. And I admire the honesty and acute observations Rowling has of people, that perhaps adds on credibility to her work.

A quick shoot-and-answer session she did with ABC News.

What's your favourite virtue?

Courage.

What vice do you most despise?

Bigotry.

What are you most willing to forgive?

Gluttony.

What's your most marked characteristic?

I'm a tryer.

What are you most afraid of?

Losing someone I love.

What's the quality you most like in a man?

Morals.

What's the quality you most like in a woman?

Generosity.

What do you most value most in your friends?

Tolerance.

What's your principle defect?

Short-fused.

What's your favourite occupation?

Writing.

What's your dream of happiness?

Happy family.

When are you happiest?

In the hospital. For the birth of each of my children. And Venice with Neil last year.

What's your biggest regret?

When I didn't keep my mother on the telephone longer when I last spoke to her.

What do you want to achieve?

I want to get better.

Do you ever feel you just got lucky?

Having the idea.. was lucky.

Do you ever feel a fraud?

Less as I get older.. But I have.

What keeps you going?

I'm a born tryer.

Why do you still write?

Because I love it. And I need it.

How would you like to be remembered?

As someone who did the best she could the talent she had.

If the world turned silent

2011-06-28T19:38:00.001+08:00

If the world turned mute for a moment, will the actions displayed - without words - reveal a different story?

Your actions. And mine.

Healthy eating phase

2011-06-25T13:24:00.001+08:00

Good morning. Here's a morning monster I'm consuming for breakfast.

It's called Peter Pan. It's made up of organic sweet potato leaves, spinach and sunflower leaves, with banana and apple for the sweet taste.

Powerful detox stuff apparently. And may I add that it tastes yummy.

Let this be the last one

2011-06-22T22:24:00.001+08:00

Let this be the one.

Let this be the last morning I'm indulging in a full cup of coffee with sugar and milk.

The last burger filled with fatty smoked meat and salami.

The last mouthful of Reese and chocolate bites.

The last chocolate dates - all five of them.

Let this be the last one - for now.

I'm gonna kickstart a healthy eating phase.

Morning commute

2011-06-17T08:57:00.001+08:00

I regret not taking the express bus to Shenton way this morning. Decided to give up rushing for it for a cup of yogurt. Darn.

I forgot how precarious it is to balance on high platform heels, squashed in the middle of other commuters with not a handle or a bar to hold. The carriage lunges forward to start, and jerks back to a stop. Thanks to the 2 years of training with the school bus to 3rd Lang class, those balancing tricks on a fast moving vehicle are put to good use.

Keep ur knees unlocked, bent if necessary.
Keep your footing light and agile. Focus on the balls of your feet, not the heels.
Pre-empt the direction in which the train lunges or jerks. Shift your weight to counter it.

Ooh I suddenly smell a whiff of coffee. Hmm. Oh man it came from someone's hair. H m m.

Nice metallic turban there with gorgeous light grey multiple leather bands strapped but a huge shellish button at your wrist.

Alright, stop orchestrating the traffic in a commanding voice, fellow commuter.

A sudden jerk of the carriage is followed by massive heel-clocking sounds as the crowd scrambles to find footing.

Alright don't panic. I'll step out on city hall for a while to let you pass before I get back into the carriage again.

Finally, RAFFLES PLACE INTERCHANGE.

"Do you have manners? Can you say please?? I'm not a culture idiot!"

Alright, I just have to include this sound byte right before I hit the submit button.

Sam X Clara Staycation Jun 2011

2011-06-16T09:18:00.008+08:00

Sam is a huge fan of hotels and staycation. She's pretty much the epitome of a comfort creature. Sometimes, I do join in the luxurious bandwagon whilst having some catch-up session. This time this year, it's the St Regis that we're checking into.

It was a total rest and relax session - I think it's what a holiday should really be like. Dining in the premise, then going up to your hotel room. Get some room service in. Turn on surround sound jazz music. And watch black and white films. Of course, take lotsa photos. How not to when you have unusual settings of a luxury hotel. Samantha was a total pro at it and I was tagging along and assisting like we were on a work trip.

Here's a summary of what I think makes st Regis a tad special.

1. Butler's personal welcome note

2. Gorgeous toilet with tub and shower and LOADS OF SPACE.

3. Generous couchette area

4. Complimentary coffee and tea - order by a la carte through the butler service.

5. Bubble baths prepared by the butler service

7. A range of lighting configurations

8. Of course gorgeous breakfast which isn't too big - just about right dining crowd size.

9. Drawing heavy curtains at 12noon with the press of a button and turning day into night in an instant for a perfect movie viewing experience in the room.

And a tea and a bite of chocolate at your disposal.

10. Poolside compliments: mist spray, water and a fruit.

Lovely.

Quotes of the day

2011-06-12T01:50:00.001+08:00

"we were taught to arrive at our own conclusions rather than being force-fed facts and have to mindlessly regurgitate them."

- ow yew heng

"it's important to believe in what you want."

"You need to follow the dream and keep your feet on the ground. Try to so this on a day-to-day basis, and in a normal way. You don't need to be aggressive towards others. The secret is to believe in a dream and follow it - day by day, hour by hour."

"Don't forget that the most important thing in life is not to be the number one or the biggest, but to do what you like to do."

"Don't ever push people to meet your dream. That will destroy your character."

"you win in life when you do what you like."

"We change our life day-by-day. I make small changes."

- Diego Della Valle

Long term attitude

2011-06-11T22:44:00.001+08:00

I've decided. I want to invest in long term things. Long term beauty. Long term value.

No flash in the pan.
Whatever that is created will have long term establishments. No matter what it takes.

No short term quick fixes.
Solutions that could solve problems at its roots. That have proper systems to execute at larger scale and longer period.

No one time only happenings.
Turn them into habits, traditions, commitment. Whether they are keeping the room neat and dapper looking, keeping in shape and looking good. Having great living habits. Keeping old ties.

Only those that could withstand the test of time are worth the investment.

Planning ahead

2011-06-11T12:26:00.001+08:00

Having visibility of your next steps does help to drive things better - there's direction, a sense of time and a sense of purpose.

I guess the ones who made it always had a plan in mind. They probably live life in zest. Spirit fills them and hence, energy too (yes I do think that when u have the spirit, u have the energy). Why? Cause they are conscious of every step they take. They could see it. They see the bigger picture cause they have visibility of their next steps. And they could look into the details or skip them however they want it, cause they have their priorities in mind. Somehow it helps to live in the moment, not live in blur.

And this doesn't apply to work itself. But play too. It's about maximizing the resources. Getting the most out of the finite time you have. I've been constantly mulling over the finiteness of time it's insane. Time pressure ain't no misnomer.

So the message here is PLAN PLAN PLAN but do allow those little segments for spontaneity to take place.

And after the planning comes the action.

Satisfaction.

Not ideal

2011-06-02T09:05:00.001+08:00

Weekdays.
9am - 5pm.
Home.
Have dinner.
Wash the dishes.
Work on the laptop.
Watch a little TV.
Washes up and heads to bed.

Weekend comes.
Go to the market.
Prepare lunch.
Have a nap.
Housework.
Dinner.
Mother's place.
Ironing.

Where do shopping, tea, me-time come into play?

Le Weekend of 28 may 2011

2011-05-29T22:53:00.001+08:00

This weekend has been great. Had two pretty good catch-up sessions that left me feeling good and blessed to have friends as such. I'm not a great conversationalist. But I get to indulge in great conversations because some of my friends are. Thank you.

Another thing to be happy about is birth and completion of PQ's Almost Left Behind play production. 9 months of non-stop working ON TOP of normal 9-5 work commitment. It's pure heaven and hell in this 9 months, I can imagine. And the end result was just something to be really really proud of. There were art installations, short film, monologue, drama, Glee-like song performance, and a whole list of other items. It's a hodge podge of stuff in a single ticket. Just go feast and get lost in transition - which really was the case for quite a number of the audience who didn't quite know how to plan their route cause there simply were too many things going on in that finite amount of time.

Here's a picture that shows one of our favourite shows at my favourite moment.

Anyway, this is a month of indulgence. Warning lights ahead :)

What I do

2011-04-18T09:16:00.001+08:00

I think that doing art and creative work, just because, is not an economically viable option, in the long run. That is why it has to mix with commercial at some point in time. That confluence is probably, and most often, where advertising comes in. Perhaps, this justifies the existence and the want to do this. I'm at the point of where art meets commercialism.

Hey Gorgeous, of Fall 2011

2011-04-17T15:05:00.007+08:00

I do think that basic bags should be the black and cheap ones.
Exquisite ones should be bold and bright. Thats how you make your money worth.

Do you agree?

Bvlgari

Salvatore Ferragamo

Givenchy (love this one)

Celine (love this one)

Images from Style.com

This is funny.

2011-04-16T23:42:00.003+08:00

So, I was looking through some artwork online today, and I saw this.

I'm OK with adult content. So I clicked it.

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The cherry on the sundae is.
Title: You
Artist's statement: I think this would make a fantastic shower curtain, too.
Art By William Powhida

Just in case you are interested in this piece. Here.

Sunday Shiokness

2011-04-03T22:28:00.001+08:00

8 episodes of Gossip Girl straight. A lazy afternoon of utmost nuaing and bliss. A dog that frequently wants to be pat. A gentle girlfriend Michelle lee. 2 cups of perfumed tea.

Sunday shiokness.

God Bless Japan

2011-03-17T14:19:00.000+08:00

And the 50 faceless heroes.

On air

2011-03-04T20:14:00.001+08:00

Ooh it's the 2nd time going on air. Somehow this round seemed a lil more exciting. Perhaps the last time I was too swamped directing the play, the publicity just felt like another to-do item. Perspective. Now that I have nth much to be absolutely excited about, this was a big thing.

So we went to 958 radio station to do a live segment on air - to publicize our performance. Interestingly, but not too surprisingly, the focus went to the troupe - how each of us has been there for 19-22 yrs. Which really was quite amazing now that they've pointed this out. Jacked our director a lot on air. The deejays love him. And talked about wishing for more ticket sales. Liting cleverly recorded the entire recording on her iPhone. Let's post it on facebook!

www.facebook.com/speakingoflove

Speaking of love. 花言心语

2011-02-28T20:52:00.001+08:00

Singles yearn to sow the seeds.
Couples seek to nurture that which is budding.
Some grow weary, and questions it.
Others strive to treasure it before it withers.

It takes a life journey to speak the language.
Of love.

Here's a series of short plays. Come watch us.

18 mar, fri. 8pm
19 mar, sat 3pm/5pm
20 mar, sun 3pm

Drama Centre Black Box
National Library level 5

Sgd 25 (includes sistic charges)

Book here : www.sistic.com.sg
Or call 映彤 at 97459536

For more info about our play, visit facebook.com/speakingoflove

Rehearsal

2011-02-28T00:27:00.001+08:00

In preparation for the upcoming performance, the director took the cast out for a day of activities - to break the monotony and lethargy of running the same scenes over again in the same old environment.

We met at 3.45 and he didn't tell us anything more, except to add that 如果他们听不懂，没关系。继续演就好了。darn, he's throwing us at toa payoh central to act the scenes. We split into three cars. No idea where we were heading, only to know that we had to follow him. Even when our car when off track, he refused to tell us where the venue was, insisted to wait for us to make a u turn before proceeding further. Commitment.

First stop, we drove into a road surrounded. By thick foliage - and tombstones. We finally entered a clearing - a pretty nice one. He pulled out the stools from the car. "好了,就在这里。＂

The sound of birds, the rustling of leaves with the wind, all added a certain inexplicable effect on the process. Each cast reacted differently to their environment. Some became more relaxed, some more intense, some extremely bothered by the ants, some distracted and some worked with the surroundings. I wanted to pee so badly.

A round of feedback and it's down to the 2nd stop. It was getting darker by the late afternoon. He took us to that dilapidated house on the hill, that abandoned old French consulate. We were there before, for a scriptwriting course. Somehow this time we had to explore more thoroughly. We had to pick a room to perform our story.

By the time it was our turn, the sky had gone dark. Fortunately ours was planned at the balcony, not in one of the rooms inside - which would be absolutely impossible to do inside that old house cuz it's pitch dark. I've to say, the feeling was quite something. I cant say further w/o letting out bits of the storyline. We were emotionally charged. The place complemented the story somehow. By the time the story ended, we couldn't quite see each other's faces under the moonlight. So we had to rush thru the debrief and promptly leave the place.

Kudos to mr Kwok for setting this up and making this happen. A lil creativity and extra thought go a long way.

Alright, will post details of the show next!

Semi Dischordant staycation

2011-02-27T02:19:00.001+08:00

路边摊铺 at the Singapore Flyer. Awesome authentic hawker food. Then it's a night of nonsense w a part of dischordant. All thanks to Ben.

Wander Lust

2011-02-11T09:24:00.001+08:00

The mind wanders a hell lot. A while ago, it was all pottery. Later, it was cheongsam-tailoring. Then the focus shifted to an intense rekindled interest in ballet - even thought of picking up ballet for adults. And this morning, I was fervently searching for foldable portable bikes.

Lust wanders. Keep going.

Jan feb randomania

2011-02-10T00:36:00.001+08:00

Bunny ears attend JK's 25thh

2011-01-31T00:28:00.011+08:00

There was a period last year when I was quite hooked on Louis Vuitton's bunny ears - so fun and hilarious, yet wearable.
So when Jiakai's birthday theme, "Headgear", came along, it only made sense for me to do a pair for myself. YAY.

Well the eureka moment only came during the morning itself when I was in the shower. Immediately, I was so darn psyched up with the idea that I got dressed and was out of the house within 20 minutes - whilst planning the route and execution plan in my head.

1) Head to Dhoby Gaut. First things first, buy a traveling sewing kit.
2) Scoot to Spotlight to get malleable wire and pink cloth / lace/ whatever. Yea I decided to have hot pink whilst shampooing the hair. I want them bright and hot!
3) Park myself somewhere to whack this thing out within an hour.
4) Dash to drama rehearsal

Then, I was trying to figure out how to do it. So in the end it went like this:

1) Twist multiple malleable wires together first to form a thicker wire cuz each wire was too filmsy
2) Loop the wires up
3) Bend the wires into an eight-figure . I'd advise the ends to be pointed. You'll know why when you see mine.
4) Place it over the cloth material (I got hot pink can-can!). One layer under the wire, one layer above it. This only works for see-through material where you can see your wire frame in between the layers.
5) Secure the wireframe with the cloth at interval points using the needle and thread.
6) Trim off the excess cloth into the shape of the bunny ears. I chose to cut each layer of can-can unevenly to show off the layering.
7) My favourite part - twist the 8 figure can-can over a hairband and voila.

Now you see why the ears have to be more pointed. Mine looked like a whale's tail. Dammit.
More pics of her bday.

The party hit a high when nacho libre and all headgear made their guest appearance!

1 WEEK BREAK

2011-01-05T11:11:00.005+08:00

So I have a 1-week break from work and I'm halfway through it. This break is really important to me because it is that window of opportunity to do just about ANYTHING I want. This is what work does to you. You get all hung up over free time as well, clawing every bit of it.

To maximise this break, I gotta be clear with what I want to do. Here's my wish list:

Visit the dentist (check)
Fix my back (check)
Do sth about the hair
Brows
Lotsa sleep
Surf the web leisurely with a drink in hand
Read
Check out more books
Tacos at the Shack (checked)
Voucher shopping
Manage finances
Dinner with the mates
Sit and do nothing
Cook
Design stuff
Organise the Mac
Edit the closet

From the above, it looks like I've gotta be both efficient and relax as well. Interesting. If I could achieve this for the rest of my life, I should generally be a happy bunny, no?

Anyway, here's a picture of a wish list item that is now struck-off. Tacos at the Shack.

Beef tenderloin and Fish tacos with Watermelon Agua Fresca (not in pic)

Moving forward

2010-12-27T00:49:00.001+08:00

I'm suffering from a really bad lower back ache right now and the doctor had just diagnosed it as 'nerve irritation'. Uncannily, it has also summed up what I've been feeling for the past few weeks - nervous and irritated. The mind has certainly manifest itself in the physical state.

Yitties is right. The most effective way to relieve stress is to Just Do It. Clear it. I also understand that when a problem arises, nip it at the bud, solve it, don't let it lie around unattended.

I've moped enough, whined enough, and have thrown a fair share of attitude around. Any more would be a permanent damage to my rep. While I still could, I should cut my losses, leave no regrets.

I will do my best. My utmost best. And when I do so, I have no fear. My conscience is clear.

I came upon an old note I wrote 5 years ago:
If things gotta be done, choosing to be enthu and to move on is less tiring than complaining and dragging my feet to it.

I guess I had lost my focus for a while.

2010-12-14T08:23:00.001+08:00

What I'm feeling right now.

Fear
Weariness
Intimidation

And absolutely lacking the Can-Do spirit.

March on.

Hey what's up yo.

2010-11-29T09:05:00.001+08:00

Why have you been feeling so down lately? It looked like optimism has left you. The frown hardly leaves your face at work. You hold your breath as you forgot to breathe. And your teeth are clenched involuntarily.

Is work giving you a hard time, or are you giving yourself a hard one? Are you thinking lots of thoughts that are speaking only about yourself? And what have you been thinking about yourself lately? Hmm, you've gotta audit your thoughts too. Cuz it works like this

Thoughts -> emotions -> decisions -> actions -> effect

It all starts from thoughts. As what some dignified and wise Jew in the concentration camp said, no matter how much they (Nazis) could take away from us, one thing they could never take away is what's in our minds - unless we allow them to.

Take away the noise. Ask it to be still. Ain't helping if it's cluttered and noisy. Nothing good passes through. So keep it simple. Simplify things. You can't quite go wrong with that. Truth is, if you keep things low and grounded, return to the necessities as your base point, you'll be steadied.

So reign your thoughts in, convert them to positive, constructive ones. Loosen that jaw. Loosen yourself. You always have the choice to shrug your shoulders, give a smile and move on. The world isn't shackled to your feet. What more your job.

I WANT

2010-09-30T01:26:00.004+08:00

from magpieandrye.com

From Urbanoutfitters.com

2010-08-21T00:08:00.004+08:00

Whoa. holy moly. This is white heaven.

Bodie and Fou

So simple, so chic. Who says style has to be complicated? I love it!! And it's easy to manage as well. Just place big and simple and beautiful things together in a blank white-washed space. You have your art on the canvas, isn't it?

Anyway, I just feel SO SO SO not knowledgeable. Someone mentioned VegeTales. No inkling what's that. I hear gasps from all corners.

Do you know VegeTales?
Don't hit wiki. That's not fair. :(

Social Saturday

2010-08-15T03:46:00.003+08:00

Today is FAB! Catching up was just so good.
Good cuppucino and pancakes at Riders with Mich, Jas and special guest appearance Seah. Mich's 1st solo debut at a court hearing. Seah's new endeavours at Oxford. Jas's work challenges and the pending CFA. Conversations flowed over the cool rainy noon.

Then it's SAMBA pract - which I've not gone back for 10 weeks (or at least that's what yuchang counted to). Arh. New beats. Old beats. I'm beat. :) New faces are invigorating though. And I shall REMEMBER TO BUY BLARDI EARPLUGS.

Then it's off to the finale for the day - Weikiat's 26th birthday woohoo! We had 3 XXL pizzas at Pepperoni's with 6 flavours, 4 pastas and 2 tiramisu and 1 panna cotta. How the hell did 6 people finish 2 XXL when all 13 of us couldn't finish the 3. The joke of the day.

Clara: You guys are childish.
Kiat: Alright, let's talk about something mature then.... CLARA'S FACE.

Weikiat is really the livewire of the gang. I hope he keeps on going this way. That would be my wish for this dear friend.

It was good fun times really - jacking Gerald for being oh-so-massive-we-can't-see-yuchang. Weikiat for being also-quite-massive-we-can't-see-rebecca. Then the party carried on to Cafe Iguana next door where Weikiat bought us yummalicious magaritas of Kiwi, Pineapple, Strawberry and some other concoction. It was so fabulous that I guzzled a little too much at the start and started experiencing hot flushes and heart palpitation in the next hour. It was talk and talk and talk the whole night. The entire restaurant echoed with our loud voices. Absolutely loving it.

So today is a good day.

downtime

2010-08-13T18:55:00.001+08:00

so today ended rather sweetly. had a fantastic 3rd party producer from a certain photography house who's on mc but still strive to service us well. I remembered working with them during the last shoot, and it left me motivated to service the client equally well too. well my senior and her make me see how dedication should be done in the course of work. Honestly such efficiency and dedication is intimidating. But in a greater scheme of things, it is awesome and admirable. So screw the intimidation. hello awesomeness.

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Lunch Ochre

2010-07-27T00:19:00.003+08:00

So lucky us managed to score a lunch treat by the good people of Far East Organisation. After viewing the really raw and empty office area (which they are lending it to us for a company event), we headed to Ochre for lunch. I love the jambon basket with a cube of juicy fat pork of the antipasti! I like the black ink ravioli with tiger prawns (warm and soupy) against the minty tomato base! I couldn't finish the medium rare steak in red wine reduction! Sorry, I just have to squeeze in all the peripherals because those information are integral in painting the pretty picture I am seeing and feeding on. And the company and small-talk wasn't even difficult. Give me free lunch any day and I'll small talk with you till you can't take it no more!

And at this freaking hour, I'm craving for wine - a smooth, sweet, heavy merlot. (Fuck the proper adjectives to describe the reds). Since WHEN? Yea, since when. Beats me.

Bitter-sweet

2010-07-25T23:40:00.002+08:00

I've lost in an audition.
But I've gained experience with my friends.

I think the benefits outweigh the losses.
I think it's still wonderful.

2010-07-24T03:11:00.000+08:00

I do think I need to be a little more educated, a little more well-read.
Lest I become an obsolete empty vessel.

2010-06-21T20:08:00.000+08:00

Do you see the beauty I am seeing?

:(.......

2010-06-14T23:31:00.000+08:00

I've a new obsession with an old obsession.

Nostalgic.

My Lunchbox Idea 4

2010-06-09T00:32:00.001+08:00

Cold Mixed Noodles

Buckwheat/soba noodles
julienned cucumber
julienned carrot
julienned ham
sesame seeds
soya sauce
sesame oil
pepper
parsley

My Lunchbox Idea 3

2010-06-09T00:28:00.001+08:00

Purple, red and orange - powerpacked

Blueberries
Strawberries
A glass of orange juice

My Lunchbox Idea 2

2010-06-09T00:27:00.002+08:00

Stir-fried egg & tomato + brown rice

Egg & tomato stir fry with brown rice at the side

My Lunchbox Idea 1

2010-06-09T00:24:00.001+08:00

Barley + Corn Salad

Barley
Corn
Red Onion
Cherry Tomato
Grapes
Olive Oil
Balsemic vinegar/lime juice
Salt
Pepper

x10 YOOHOO

2010-06-04T01:52:00.001+08:00

testing on the x10 now. uber cool to be blogging on the phone. i love android market!

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x10 YOOHOO

2010-06-04T01:51:00.001+08:00

testing on the x10 now. uber cool to be blogging on the phone. i love android market!

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Saturday got us whiskeyed away.

2010-05-16T10:07:00.003+08:00

Decided to catch A Seed at the last minute with PQ and crew. One of her friends was performing. The hiphop rap thing didn't work on us. Hmm the fake accent really has to go. The actors of the last show was pretty good, but the script wasn't exactly comprehensible. John Savage, that poet, is indeed quite a Savage, and the love poems had us remembering certain lines and spouting them on repeat the whole night.

Then Overeasy time.
Then, ktv and drinks at the Gunawan's.
WHICH TOTALLY KILLED PQ and I.

The drill: multiple whiskey shots. and the additional caffeine pills this round.
Sent PQ home. She was totally gone - pukish and limpish. The blardi blardi whiskey.
5am to 6am saw me facing her toilet bowl. I couldn't get the blardi blardi whiskey out of the system. Climbed back to her bed for another couple of hours tossing and turning to find the right spot that wouldn't make me nauseous. In my head, I was building a to-do list for Sun, Mon, the week, whatever. 8am, got up. Gotta go. Whole body aching and my eyes were blur.

I sauntered out into the street - feeling surreal and light and heavy and achey and blurry.

Good morning Sunday. A list of things awaits me.

15 May 2010

2010-05-15T15:23:00.002+08:00

My dream day today

Someone to do our housework
Voyeur on my bed, in the air-con room the WHOLE DAY
a night swim
a cool drink
sleep

My real day today

My parents doing the housework, with me cleaning up my room
Voyeur on my bed, in the air-con room A FEW HOURS
a song to arrange
a script to write

This is manic.

2010-04-24T02:35:00.003+08:00

So now, I've 1 hour before I set off to Jurong East to meet the colleagues who will drive up to KL. So now, being 2.37am, and with this 1 hour, I couldn't decide to sleep or to keep awake. I might oversleep if I choose the former. I might spend the whole day with glazed eyes the next day if I choose the latter. Today is just plain, strange, weird.

The office was bustling like crazy over the mammoth pitch of 35mil USD (which we'll only take a share, but still) that consumed nearly 100% of the creative resources. Even with tons to do, there was still a 5pm deadline where nearly the whole creatives will step out of the office building to board the plane to KL. Everyone's stressed yet happy, jittery yet excited at the same time. The air was a bit different. It's the holiday mood infused in a high stress level setting. You get the drift. So my senior and I were just doing our own shit. With the colleagues intermittently bugging on work and alternating with a "are you going tonight?" kinda convo. Couldn't leave with the group. Gotta wait till studio gets freed up to finally start doing our artwork that are due to upload by the end of the day - 5 final artwork + 5 interim artwork + 2 colour visual guidance. Yea, today is D-Day for our first ATL upload.

We waited till 5.30pm to finally get things started. Frankly, I knew it was gonna be a late night. And I wondered how the hell am I gonna make it to a 4am drive to KL. PURE MANIC. So we toiled, worked, haggled, cracked up, all the way till 11.30pm. Pushing and pushing and made the deliveries for the night on time. Good on us. The day just felt utterly surreal, with 2 contrasting ends co-existing in my mind - work and play.

Headed home at 1am, to quickly put the bag together - what wedding outfit should I wear, what toiletries must I bring, oh and the angpow, and the ringgit. And, what else.

And now, I've decided to wait for 3.30am to come with eyes wide open. Okay maybe I'll catch a wink or two.

this is manic.

Impromptu weekend.

2010-04-18T23:50:00.008+08:00

All thanks to banker tay, we scored a gig at Sentosa Beaufort resort. Upon reaching the resort, it was a straight plunge into the pool. See the 3 ghostly figures in the waters. Those are my friends. haha.I want my bathroom looking like this!

And my bedroom like this!

Distracted. HTHT.

Morning daze.

Ethereal sunshine.

Paparazz. Elusive Xinyee.

Never enough of the trees and water.

Brekkie time babes. Her colleagues think we eat a lot for girls.

Post check-out exploration.

Noon at Del Mar.

One of the best weekends I had. Really talked a lot. Into the wee hours in the bed. And even more into the afternoon. HTHT max.

Headed home. quick shower. Off to town to meet the 2 other besties.

Ahh. the funniest and cutest. Another mini HTHT.

Then Samantha arrived. Talked till forgot to take any photos. Piang.

Things & happenings - March

2010-04-17T17:43:00.008+08:00

High......

Mum.

French fix.

Fruits of the sea of kukup.

Utterly retro finishing. Ambience perfect.

view from the hammock.

We set our own fireworks.

Saturday afternoon & the aircon room.

2010-04-11T03:35:00.001+08:00

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

- Oscar Wilde

Random rambling of week 14

2010-04-10T00:11:00.000+08:00

The week passes by oh-so-fast, fuzzy, and a little weird.
Some weird stuff going on in the office, leaving me a little pressured, unnatural, not knowing my footing.
But I guess, if I've got to confront it, I've got to.

The busyness and non-stop working just leaves time running away so quickly. It's the weekends again.
I've not been reading. Not been accumulating my wealth, nor nurturing an artistic flare.

Hardly.

I have endeavours. But I don't commit. NO TIME. that's my reason.
Or is it my excuse? Or do I just not have enough conviction?

Maybe i just need more sleep.

Goodnight world.

Birthday week 2010 - 1

2010-03-28T21:08:00.002+08:00

Birthday week was awesome. Let me write it down before I forget all the details of it.

The 2nd Samba gig
Following the Friday's surprise, came Sunday. Woke up early for the Seng Kang CC samba gig - the first gig for the morning. We were informed to keep our time free for a 2nd gig right after that, a private event at Dempsey. Cool! Someone's birthday gig again? Is it an ang moh? Or else, who else would hire a samba band for a private event. My car was the last to set out. I had Weikiat and Yuchang with me. Following the topo's orders, we slowly and safely arrived Dempsey. Phonecalls were flying during the drive there. Some people got lost. Jiakai got kan cheong about us not arriving on time. I wasn't feeling anything. Just enjoying the drive, and curious about this private gig ahead. Finally, reached dempsey, parked the car, and entered by Hacienda's side door. I saw Weikiat running ahead of me, rushing to meet the 'client' i guess. Yuchang was just walking beside me as I asked how Weikiat got the gig. He said he was MIA, so he knew nothing about the liasing part. Jerry was at the side door, rushing us to enter quickly for the gig is starting. YA RIGHT. I walked through the door, and I saw crystal, yan bin and the rest seated at a long table, jiakai beside me and siqing holding onto a cupcake with a candle.

"SURPRISE!!!"
Oh. My. God.

The good people of Sambiesta. What else can I say. And it didn't just end like that. Soon enough, my "Acctg girls" arrived - jo, xinyee and rols, then huiyi. AND, a while later, Justin & Ruilin walked through the door. MAN. I was really touched that these friends were willing to spend time and money to do that. Thank you.

And thanks to the 2 organisers - Jiakai & Weikiat.
Watch the couple in action as they 'discussed' who thought of buying me the wallet first :)

The 20th of March of 2010

2010-03-21T02:04:00.003+08:00

Enough of working your ass off for the week. You wanna do something.

Friday night - meant to be knocking off on time, and catching a play on time. It didn't happen. I knocked off at 9.10pm, and the play was due to end by 9.30pm. Still, I just headed down to the venue, thinking that there would be an important meeting to attend anyway. Reached there. Got in. Huh, they were already debriefing. I was embarrassed. And to take it further, MJ interrupted LR's debrief requesting for a commercial break. With cake in her hands and 24 candles lit, she announced that it was my birthday (soon) and everyone sang me a birthday song. I was really speechless. Even more embarrassed. One of the best things :) Thank you.

Saturday - caught the play "again". one of the most magical moments was when the actor was narrating about fairytales and the hairspray that was in the air refracted the spotlight with irridescent glitter. For a whole minute, the scene that was before my eyes was glittered up, just like those magical moments in fairytales where people lived in glitter. We literally were living in glitter. Pure magic. Quite a moment. Stayed around for abit before looking for Sam in town.

DROVE :)

We headed for Bistro du Vin to get some French - the place that we missed out the last time of our staycation. The Fricasees salade was yummy - wild mushrooms with bacon and poached eggs, yummss. Baguette was crusty. Butter was light. My coq-au-vin was tender but too too salty. And I ended my meal with the pear poached in red wine with vanilla ice-cream. It costed us about 50 per head. Shiok... Urgh, i miss such good food really. Such indulgence :) It was great that dinner started early. By the time dinner was done, it was only 9pm. Went to starbucks to grab a cuppucino (my favourite) and randomly asked Sam if she's up for movie. Honestly speaking, we both could hardly have our eyes opened. Sam spontaneously said yes. And we spontaneously decided on a movie we hardly knew or heard of - Remember Me. We spontaneously went to check the movie and goodness gracious, it starts in 5 min and there were still tickets! Happily, we bought ourselves movie tickets with a promo combo of large popcorn and drinks. Yummers. Headed to Lido 1, sat down, the movie began. Perfect timing.

The ending was poignant. A little strange. But it was so subtle, so plain - like water. Enigmatic in its dull strange sense. kinda nice. Maybe it's robert pattinson la. Anyway, it is all about living in the moment, and not wait to act on what you love only at the end.

Anyhoos. this is random. But wonder if anyone has noticed that Chanel has a very coolio liquid eyeshadow base that has really fine, even glitter? So pretty!! I was quite amazed by it during the whole 10 min at the Chanel counter.

2010-03-06T02:07:00.002+08:00

The only reason I think why it has all gone wrong and awry is that the project wasn't managed properly in an organised fashion, and with confidence.

Confidence is only there when there's knowledge and understanding.
Organisation is only there when there's a system.

Need to sort out the system. Need to understand where all parties are coming from, where we should all be heading.

Need a timing too.
And an armour of steel.

Against all odds.

2010-01-31T22:28:00.002+08:00

If only we arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult, then that which now still seems to us most alien will become what we most trust and find most faithful.

My Blue Cheese & Pear Pizza Attempt

2010-01-10T23:36:00.005+08:00

Well, I used tortilla wrap for the base instead cause it was what I had in the fridge!

Before popping into the oven,
And after taking it out from the oven, it's topped with rocket leaves.
:)

Julie & Julia

2010-01-04T00:55:00.003+08:00

And so my mum and I were watching Julie and Julia. Really fantastic movie. I really love the scene of Julie flipping buttered bruschetta on the pan and chopping fresh red tomatoes to go on top; every every scene of Meryl Streep as Julia Child - so so funny.

The food just looks delicious it makes me ravenous after the movie. And I just feel so happy watching the big-hearted and jollyness of Julia Child, and the love shared between the 2 couples.
Just makes me feel like picking up cooking again - burning and succeeding in a seating. (Is that possible?)

So anyhoos, I went to check out Julie Powell's real blog, Julie/Julia Project. Go have a read. See how a person's life could transform through Julia, through cooking, through having an aim, committing to it, and bringing it to life.

And also, being so blardi amused by Meryl Streep's role as Julia Child, I had to see the real one for myself. And this one's pretty damn interesting. She deliberately burnt her food for one of a scientific series on Ring of Truth. Check it out!

KL 2009

2010-01-02T14:39:00.006+08:00

toy camera

Jalan Alor

Madam Kwan's famous nasi lemak. And her fantastic penang assam laksa.
And, Madam Kwan herself.

Super shagged diao.Love the partial carpet partial wood flooring. Best of both worlds.Ennui.

Hawker fare.
But we still love Madam Kwan. Back again for the 2nd night.Random home with a balcony full of lanterns.Shagged diao again. Time for coffee break.Finito.

Dischordant

2009-12-18T00:33:00.004+08:00

Watched Budak's NOTHING ALSO HAPPY concert. They were awesome once again. How bad can Budak go? It's more than just music, it's their personalities too. And personalities stay forever. I love Gordon - voice so nice, so funny, so family person, so tall and funky looking with his bald head. aiya, just damn funny lah. Michael's so cute with his impersonation of - Michael! MJ. okay, for a moment, we did feel like it was a cult thingy when they asked "who's hearing us for the first time" and you see almost everyone turning to look at that really small minority who had raised up their hands. Everyone's a Budak follower. And we wondered what took the minority so long to find their way here. Finale was brilliant when the entire concert hall dazzled under the disco light. For the first few seconds when it lit up, I thought the sky had open up to reveal a galaxy and stardust. I literally went "wah!".

But of course, I think of Dischordant. Thought about those good old days where we jammed so much we nearly saw each other every day of 2004 for a period; when gigs just never seem to stop streaming in. And we scored an invitation to perform at the Istana for a private function. Wah seh. Thought about our very own Dischordant concert too - 2 hours plus of just US. Those of you who bought tickets to support - wowza :) Lots of love. And I thought about what we could be in the future, that is, if and only if, we hold on together.

We're in this long hiatus. Wonder if we'd ever wake up.

No plans for tomorrow. Since i'm feeling fat and anti-social anyway, I'll do some music. :)

We Kiddos Are Home Alone - Day 2

2009-12-08T23:30:00.003+08:00

This morning was a smoother drive to bro's school - sending him there, and coming back! While he was in school, I too had to do my own thang - buy the elusive ingredients! My bet is on PH of AMK. Unfortunately, I began the day too early. I reached the store at 8.15am to find it closed :( So thought I'd go to J8's library and get some books before heading back to the store at 10am (their opening hour starts then). Alas, library opens only at 10am too! Loitered around j8 for a little. Finished my book at toastbox with my morning cuppa. Then got breakfast ingredients at the supermarket before heading to the library. It was 10.15am already by then. J8's supermarket has lotsa Australian goodies - kept me up a lil longer than I intended. YAY. I finally hit the library. Had been walking past it day and night, to and from work. And i thought that one day, ONE DAY i shall walk in to indulge in all the literary gems.

I was really happy to find the French Laundry book - not 1, but TWO of them. Yayness. This book is big in size, content and certainly price. No need to pay through my nose just to partake in those exhilarating culinary creations. yippeeeeeee. The library rocks! Alright, gotta go back to the main task for the morning. Headed for AMK ave 3 blk 422. FOUND IT - the elusive packet of ingredients. Spent like 50 bucks over there. Hmm. I can't wait to get started.

On my way out of the car park, the brother called to say that he's done with school and he wanna go eat dumplings at margaret drive - that place i got lost for and never had a chance to reach there. HUH. I am so up for the challenge I got quite excited. Just these couple of days, I realise that I really enjoy driving through Lornie to Adam to Farrer to Queensway and to north buona vista and to holland.. The drive just feels so... free. Music and cold air blasting. It's a balmy morning or a sunny noon time. I really could feel the freedom in space and time. And also, a good feeling of running an errand for the family. I just feel like i'm doing what Daddy does every day. :) So dumpling stall was closed. We had chicken rice instead. Then it's home sweet home.

The moment we reached home - switch on the aircon and tv. Took out all measuring devices and electronics. Put them all on the table. The cleaning, prepping and measuring began. Then it's the cooking, bubbling and mixing. I can only say that the first batch was a failure as expected. So was the 2nd batch. XXX is really a tough one to perfect. While waiting for them to shape up in the oven, I took a moment to flip through The French Laundry. Wow - really good stuff in there. Absolutely inspiring - love it. Lotsa visuals and scenarios in my head while poring through every word of the first few pages and recipes. HMM. After dinner, dropped the bro and picked up my neighbour cum recently-anointed wondergirl, Rols, for a post-dinner teh tarik catch up. :) Babe, if you see this - follow your heart and just whack! DON'T WASTE TIME. You know it.

Nope, not talking about a guy.

Alright, I aim to sleep on time tonight.
Rise and shine. The early bird catches the worms.

We Kiddos Are Home Alone - Day 1

2009-12-07T22:28:00.002+08:00

My parents have gone to Xiamen for holiday with their friends and family, so Mark and I are left with each other. So today's Day 1 of us without Dad & Mum.

And us, WITH the car.

My brother woke me up to fetch him to school in the morning. Rushed and got out of the house. Slipped into the car with me in the driver seat! We embark on our journey to Kent Ridge with my brother giving me the directions. Drove through thomson and reached Lornie Road. After inching bit by bit through Lornie, finally got to Farrer Road. Then we hit Farrer road and move further through Queensway. With a right turn, we hit portdown ave and moved along to finally reach Kent Ridge. 1st task in the morning is accomplished.

I had to send an email and complete some work early in the morning. So popped by Holland V and nestled myself at Starbucks with breakfast. After work is done, went to read a whole write up about baking XXX. What a great deal of info and various techniques. Wah piang. Alright, gotta get some ingredients for my grand baking plan of XXX. Darn! There were no ingredients that I needed at the Cold Storage. Nonetheless, I picked up some pork sausages, muesli and yogurt. LOVE LOVE LOVE breakfast. And popped by Provence for some warm chocolate wassants. My brother better appreciate me for this! haha okay. Even if he doesn't, i'd still do it.

So, got outta holland road and drove past cornwall gardens. I happily drove ALL the way straight before i start to realise I hit freaking orchard road. Where's my Lornie Road???? wtf. Okay, so i relied on the signs throughout until it got me to stevens road. Okay. Recall how the taxi always drive mum and I home from Orchard Road. Eventually, I hit Mt Pleasant! Drove through the 'forest' - thank God it's in the day. Tada, I see my familiar upp thomson road and drove home from there. Phew! I miss home already.

Watched City of Glass (1998). I noticed more details than I did as a 12 year old when I first watched it. Flashbacks of post PSLE period. How could a 12 year old enjoy such a mature show? I could remember myself not understanding some parts of it, but somehow still feeling poignant about the love story. Arh. I gotten in touch with lost love for this movie. Certainly, this is one of my favourite chinese love story.

Anyway, time flies and it's 6.30pm. Alright, gotta hit J8 to meet zc for dinner. Before that, gotta hunt down my XX ingredients. Unfortunately, it was a futile effort :( Dinner was nice - cheap and yummy and quite funny of course. But, big sister has got to run her errands. Time to pick my bro up - at Queenstown dumpling place. Where the hell is that? Okay okay, zc's instructions was - hit marymount road and then go by thomson road. Right.

I drove through marymount road and started seeing balestier turn left and novena ahead. Where's my Lornie Road again???? FARK. Decided to try to make it right again with a guess than Lornie Road should be on my RHS. So I turned into Whitley Road and started heading down Stevens Road. Errr. I'm on my way to freaking Orchard Road again. I decided to stop at a petrol kiosk to pull out my trusty street directory. (BTW i really love road maps.) To add on to the stress, my bro called. I knew he wanted to reach home by 9pm to watch his favourite 4 constables show, cuz he explicitly called me to tell me that before dinner. it is now 8.45pm.

"Eh zeh, where are you now? :)" Starting still got a bit of smiley face.
"Eh I'm now at Stevens Rd!" Try to laugh it off. "I'm looking at the street directory".
"Huh? You're at Stevens Rd? You didn't come down from home arh?"
"Errrr. yeah. I came by Marymount"
"Stevens Rd... Stevens Rd... (mumble to his friend how to come by stevens Rd)"
So anyway, I told him I'll figure. I stayed at the petrol kiosk for another 4 min still figuring.
Then the phone rang again.
"Eh zeh, where are you now?"
"Er, still at stevens road? The petrol Kiosk?"
"You know how to go there already?"
"OH YEAH! I figure i can go to anderson road, turn left down orange grove and i'll hit Tanglin Road which will lead me to Margaret Drive and then i'll be around Queenstown!" So happy.
"Er, okay. As long as it gets you here la." By then his phone had died. Fortunately, his friend was around.

So I went further down Stevens Road and was SO HAPPY to see RGS again. Cuz it's anderson road. As planned, I found orange grove and turn left. woohoo! And Fark. I realised tanglin road is one way only and it is NOT the direction i wanted it to be. My plan had failed = more time to re-topo = brother waiting longer with friend = less time to watch 4 constables. So, took a turn again to get myself back to Anderson Road. I parked in front of the RGS gate and whipped out the street directory to figure out what went wrong. True enough, i missed out the single direction arrow on tanglin road. URGH. then the phone rang again.

"Er zeh, where are you now?"
"Er, i am now at Anderson Road."
"Huh, you're still at Anderson Road arh?" they probably thought i took 10 minutes to drive 100 metres. "Why not we meet you at somewhere you can recognise. You know how to go to Adam Road hawker centre?"
"Er. Okay, I can try." Frankly speaking, I know how Adam Road looks like, even know how the flyover near it looks like. But, no idea how the roads connect to that point. Back to my street directory! Okay, I shall hit orange grove again, this time I go back down to stevens road to see bukit timah road, then turn left and go straight down. Then, I shall turn right into Adam Road. I vaguely see Adam Road FC on the map. OKAY. this is the plan.

So I did all that until I was happily driving down Bukit Timah Road. ah-huh, serene centre is on my left. I thought I could smell victory. Suddenly, i was at a crossroads - metaphorically and literally. Instead of following my plan of turning right, for a moment, I thought the signs told me to go straight. And as I drove straight ahead, I looked on my right and felt like Adam Road was calling out to me from there. I cried in my head, behind my eyeballs.

FARK. turned into a dinghy corner and pulled out the street directory again. I was thinking that my brother and friend have probably double-confirmed that I'm such a road idiot by now if they knew that Big Sister Has Missed the Turn Again. Map tells me that there's a u-turn ahead and I could later then head back and turn left into Adam Road. And so I did. Finally, before turning into Adam road, phone rang.

"Er zeh, I'm at the FC already. Where are you?"
"Er, i'm at Bukit Timah Road. Turning into Adam Rd"
"Hmm, you know which part of Adam not?"
"Er....."
"Which part of Adam are you at?"
"I think the part where I'll see a bible college"
Mumble mumble to his friend "Er, I think you've over shot already. Are you heading towards Lornie Road"
"Yeah I will."
"Okay he ask you to go to the petrol kiosk. You'll see it later."
"OKAY!!"
This is the how manyth time we changed meeting point.

I see the petrol kiosk ahead - my oasis in the desert. Parked my car. Exhausted. After a couple minutes, the door opened. My brother came into the car and let out a very flabbergasted, exhausted, and exasperated laughter. "Aiyo, what happened?" Shortly after, his friend's car slowed down beside mine and gave me a little wave and nod - a knowing nod. I couldn't figure if I was crying or laughing behind my eyeballs.

Home sweet home down my familiar lornie road and upp thomson road. :)

My bro caught the 4 constables for the last 10 minutes.

"Hmm, what time is your class tmr arh? I wanna make breakfast."
"Hmm, I need to be there really early tmr. 8am."
"oh."

"Hmm, you wanna drive?"

Simple plans

2009-12-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

3 things:
1. Library books
2. Macaroon-making
3. Christmas stuff.

2009-12-06T04:40:00.001+08:00

Ahh I'm hooked on Privileged and I really want to wake up at 5.30am to see my parents off :(
TIME MANAGEMENT ZERO.
:(

But yeah Privileged.

Through the lens of a lens - Holiday

2009-11-27T14:29:00.006+08:00

I bought a toy camera at GOD in hong kong and wanted to have a play with it, do some test shots. The vacation shots are taken through the camera and I have no scanner. So make do with the photoboothing of my photos. And pardon the lingering fingers at the side.

Hong Kong
Hong Kong pictures turned out too dark. I only had a couple of shots with enough light. Must be the tall building blocking the sun from my lens.

Evan and her spicy mini fish balls that were really boomz.

Phuket
The Phuket pictures turned out better. Loads more sunshine going on over there.

Jiakai and Weikiat at the boarding gate
The awesome roadside ice-cream with lotsa dubious gooey toppings but some darnn awesome :) Peanuts, coconut, red ruby thingy, corn, condense milk, +++
Maya Bay
Khai Island
Our lovely resort at Deevana Patong
This shot finalised my entire roll of film.

Non-Stop hip hop till you drop

2009-11-18T02:49:00.002+08:00

Hihi, touched down Singapore at 1.20am from Hong Kong and I'll be boarding another flight to Phuket at 9.30am. I am loving this. A chapter closes and another begins.

The Blue Mansion

2009-11-10T19:00:00.004+08:00

Not too sure if you guys have watched this film. I thought the sets were beautiful. The old peranakan mansion with the interior modernised in each room - Meng's bedroom, Mr Wee's study with the huge golden pineapple against those dark wood and quirky, strong furniture, the pool of water under the air well, the master bedroom that reminds me of curse of the golden flower. Talk about old meets new.

The cinematography was amazing. The shot that caught my breath the most was when the entire family looked at the wake ritual from across the pool at night, and the water reflected on their faces with aquamarine.

Although it didn't have my favourite shot, I gotta show you the rest of the pictures.

Go watch if you haven't. This is one local production i'm proud of.

Died and gone to heaven

2009-11-04T00:03:00.005+08:00

theappletreebkk.com

Saturday at Green Door

2009-10-24T20:33:00.003+08:00

Ooh. Haven't been blogging for quite a while.

I'm now at Green Door studio doing a little recording for Samba demo track. I hope our Super Star tour's gonna happen. :) Hmm the past weeks have been quite a ride, really. Some highs and some lows. But in anyhoos. Such is life, and life goes on. I guess the question is how fast you can bounce back. And how good you are at retaining all the goodness that comes from that whole experience. You'll still be a winner.

So today, woke up really nice and leisurely and had breakfast at home, did a bit of work. And i'm outta the house. Had a rehearsal at the oriental hotel - did a very casual sound check for a couple hours. Then off to Sambaaaaaa. Talking about singing, I am so in love with Janice & Sonia's cover on Tamia's Officially Missing You. Been playing this on loop the entire day every day for the past week, while doing PO and invoicing and other stuff on the lappie.
Yumms.

Alright, gonna flip back to my Bazaar editorials while I wait for my turn to enter that Chamber of Truth (all the samba-playing flaws magnified and you're all in there recording the track alone. line by line.)

Visual Feast 4

2009-09-12T00:04:00.004+08:00

From top to bottom:
Chanel FW 09/10 Pre-Collection Accessories
Chaircouture
Merus Winery by Uxus Design
Francoise Nielly
Chez Ines de la Fressange, Paris

Dry.

2009-08-24T23:31:00.004+08:00

Not too sure why, but I seem to be dragging my feet to work these days. I am daunted by the mountain ahead. The past week made me realise that I might be a tad too weak for this industry. I am made of tissue paper. I am a crybaby.

My ex boss (whom I loved to death) once told me that people there have fragile egos - handle it with care. The taxi uncle said that advertising people are the most conniving lot. The connivers who ironically have fragile egos. This just doesn't add up. And if it does, when such a combination exist, it's just extremely.. messy. extremely high strung. Very sensitive.

But perhaps, in this mess and chaos, the good ones shall shine. Maybe I know what's lacking. I haven't been inspired for a long while. The days of the bright-eyed rookie is over. Most things were seen through rose-tinted glasses. Now, you start to see bits and pieces of true colours. This is the real thing.

Can you handle the truth?

I miss those days when I see the best in people. Only the best of people. I was constantly in awe. Everyday at work was just wow. You see they have both capabilities and kindness. It was so amazing. You can't help but want to be part of them EVERY SINGLE DAY at every moment.

Maybe my eyes are just blurred by the moment of anxiety, fear, unfamiliarity. I need to find the beauty in it again.

Work rant

2009-08-14T01:09:00.000+08:00

Was sick over the long weekend. But it was a good thing, cuz it forced me to sleep more than I usually would. Ah, the thing about sleep is it really declutters the mind and refreshes it. I miss good quality sleep.

Work has been rather blah. I just felt inconsistent in my performance and really wish I could just stabilize it and perform in full force. Loads of things to do, and new information to take in - how should you talk, how should you sell in, how should you revert, how should you avert. I just try my best really. I don't really wanna care about comparing myself to others. I just wanna focus on competing with myself. This is the only consistency i can get.

Need to have a more balanced life now - it's all about moderation. Striking a balance, achieving harmony. Deciding on what you want to do and go for it, and meaning what you say. Laugh a little more, complain a little less. Sleep a little more, eat a little less. I wanna stretch a little. There's just quite a bit of pent up energy.

yawn.

Carving time

2009-08-02T22:41:00.003+08:00

There is time for everything, it just has to be defined properly. Once you're in it, you live in the moment. It cannot be messed up - like a mismatch of the time and the things you're doing. You do the right things at the right time. It should all be clearly defined. You have a balance of all things - work and play. As long as you plan the time out wisely, it should all work fine. You should know what you ought to do, and when you ought to do them. Stick to it, and you'll come out unscathed. You gotta to do what you dislike to do, cause most of the time, you'll be glad to have done it on hindsight. You also got to indulge in what you'd love to do occasionally, cause you simply need to take your mind off and smell the roses. You need to be back to neutral.

Morning Post

2009-07-27T08:50:00.003+08:00

I often wake up to the sound of my parents screaming at me because i fail to hear the alarm clock ring. Hence, most often that not, I find myself a rather grumpy morning person, who has committed a mistake right at the start of the day, sometimes before I even get off the bed. I get annoyed with whoever had just shouted into my room, waking my day with an angry tone. They get angry, so do I. It's a vicious cycle after that. And I certainly don't feel good about it.

Every body has a morning routine that they follow when they wake up. Some people may do something in particular in the morning that helps keep them relax and happy. Like running. Or for the more chi chi ones or the hardcore ones (whoever you may be), yoga. And now, here I am in the office on a Monday morning, before the entire team arrives, before the work starts filing in, before I conquer a day, I write a post to start the day right again and to put things in perspective. 3 minutes more to go.. What's your daily morning routine?

Visual Feast #3

2009-07-23T00:13:00.005+08:00

2009-07-19T01:25:00.000+08:00

My favourite people going to my favourite country.

I wanna be there!!

Day 7 - Post Commence Day. Pre-First Day of Work Day.

2009-07-12T23:53:00.001+08:00

Woke up late cuz of a really late night! Then it was a mad rush down to NUS UCC to support Jas's convocation! :) So glad that Mich and I made it there and we took pictures! Bumped into a few SMU peepz who had crashed to support their NUS friends too. We found it really funny to take a picture under the NUS Commencement 2009! Hee. Jas's family treated us lunch at ikea. They had to eat nearby because Aloysius's ceremony is later at 3pm.

Mad rush again cuz I had to reach Victorial Theatre before 3pm to catch The Emperor's New Clothes with linhui and qinrui. Phew! made it in time. The musical was enjoyable, the costume was splendid and the setting was really awesome! The colours, the colours! I shrieked at the end when Huang Shuping laoshi went topless for the parade down the audience as the king marches through the spectators. They even drew EIGHT pecs on him. Freaking hilarious! Jalyn laoshi brought on some edge and current flavour to it as the director for this musical. With the beatbox and hip hop moves. Funny.

At the end of the show, managed to catch my cousin Freda who was working as the asst stage manager for the show. She's grown so much that my little cousin is now holding such huge responsibilities on what used to be my childhood playground! Spoke to Jalyn laoshi, still as whacky as ever. Met my favourite Xiao Hei who has grown much older. Come to think of it, he's only 1 year younger than me, but i always treated him as my little brother when we were really young. haha. He now runs a pub for his dad. How interesting life develops. Spoke to Huang Xiuling lao shi a little too, sharing our thoughts on the show and hers. :)

For the first time in months, I went to green lane. :) I miss the big family and I appreciate a lot of their love. Which was very evident before i went to australia, when they were fussing over me and my packing while my parents were away. Thank you.

So this is the final 7 days of my official holidays. And this is the close of one chapter of my life.

Day 6 - Commencement Day

2009-07-12T12:29:00.000+08:00

Today's D-Day. the end of the journey as a student. Family was pretty excited. Dad picked out a gold tie to go with his white shirt. I haven't seen him in long-sleeved for eons. Mum just looks casual and pleased. I do think that my graduation is also my parents' form of graduation. They are first-time parents who have managed to support their kids all the way to graduating from university. how great that is, really. So I wrote them a card and gave it to them, right before they dropped me at Suntec Convention to meet the accounting girls.

Registration - Checked. While looking around exhibition hall 601, there were tables accompanied with 2 full-length mirrors placed across the hall. These are the robing stations!

Now, it's putting on the gown. We wrestled a little with the cape and the hook. And then the motar board. Tying up the hair, untying the hair, setting the fringe at the side, setting the fringe at the back. Everyone was standing behind and beside one another, trying to share the mirror. The gown is heavy. The heaviness does lend a sense of intelligence to the wearer. shiokk. Maybe it's the robe that lawyers wear when they go to court. And, it does feel a little like graduating from Hogwarts.

The ceremony turned out enjoyable, far from what I had expected. From the procession of the Faculty, to the speeches by the valedictorian and salutatorian, it was all very marvelous. The former was so grand, the latter were personal. Then within our own school of accountancy, it was also fun. Our school is small. Hence, we pretty much knew nearly everyone who had gone up to receive their degree scrolls. And the applause given to each student when they received their scroll was really heartening. :) Aww. JJ announced that the yearbook shall be sent out to every individual's home and had thanked all of us who had worked on it for the past 6 months. Kudos to all. Though there were hiccups, we pulled through to still make it happen.

After the ceremony, dad and mum treated me to Korean bbq food. It was really gooood. The whole table was stacking with food. They were awfully generous with the side dishes. By the end of it, we really needed to walk the tummy away. And it didn't help that we were sitting down cross-legged throughout the dinner. The night couldn't end this way. parents dropped me at marina square. The samba people had decided to do what we had always wanted to do (or rather what weikiat had already set out to do since Auzzie) - BOWLING.

Owells, it was fun. Dun need to talk about scores here. But i've definitely improved my scores from the early days of bowling for Waddle at my very first bowling competition. for the record, i scored a mighty 38 points for my house in that competition. Definitely a waste of space in the bowling alley, i am. They desperately needed people to compete, and I had to rise to the occasion.

Day 5 - Grad Night

2009-07-11T08:16:00.000+08:00

Tonight's grad night and there's just SO MUCH to do. I woke up late, which totally left me nearly half a day shorter. Had to go to school to settle a library fine incurred by a friend, then rush down to china square to have Titus do up my hair. No tai tai POM hairstyle, no glitter hairspray, no made up look please! Then rush back home to change into my pseudo qipao and make up. Well, i've spent the past few days looking through different looks in the magazine, trying to pick up a look that i could put together. I lurve every moment of it, really! And decided on the smoky eyes nude lip look. what else. Anyway, deciding on a look in the visual mind and executing it to life are 2 different things!

After all's done, Vanessa and Ujin came to my place as the meeting point. Weikiat Jiakai and Jiahui will be arriving in the LIMO aka merc maxicab to pick us up to Fullerton. When they arrived, we saw that the van actually has its steps lined with fairylights. Trying to be Limo. damn funny. And we tried pulling the black curtains to look more elusive from the other motorists on the road. Okay, only me. I was trying to max out the experience and rock it like the high school prom I never had.

Grad night. Everyone was well-heeled, well-groomed and well not in their seats. First course was Foie Gras. Which I absolutely love a lot. However, somehow the foie gras had a pretty strong smell to it. Hmm. Then it just roller coaster-ed off with a blurry memory of going everywhere to take photos with various people and complaining that my camera sucks, and then koping pictures from Jiakai. Then finally, a long long long queue outside butter factory. Which we decided to just give up and go to Zouk. After the first drink (not even a second), i was pretty off form already and felt really groggy for a long moment. I do remember a cute A&F model hitting on siqing, yuchang's funny friend acting funny on the dance floor and that's pretty much about it i guess.

Hmm. peace out.

Day 4 - Crisis management

2009-07-10T00:47:00.003+08:00

Made a final call to the printer to get the yearbook sorted out. Have been on this the past few days doing the usual call to check on the delivery date. But drama unfolds today when he gave the sentence - Very very bad news clara. We can't deliver this week! But a promise is a promise! Anyway, upon hearing that, I just felt a little numb by then. I couldn't quite push for any alternatives to that solution, except to keep asking him if they could beg the binders to insert our job in due to the urgency of a very important graduation ceremony of a university; or to have alternatives to this binder and have someone else do it. But I could feel that the other side's pretty helpless as well. I've to admit that the amendments took up a lot of time. But that was a week ago. There was no certain flagging of any problem in meeting the deadline then. Why didn't they say we're running at risk of missing the deadline? If only we had rushed it out earlier. But seriously, that was quite the best we could. IF ONLY. Anyway, the guys went on to speak to the printer. Perhaps I'm too soft to push my way through. An alternative has been drawn up. Not the climax that we wanted and probably more follow-up work for us, but something personal still. I won't complain anymore.

Got the booth poster printed. Then went to collect my altered clothes. Good for me, Vanessa saves the day before my thoughts consume me. Got distracted talking about makeup, hair and accessories. Heh. And Kiat messaged that he has won a free limo ride and it could pick us! HILARIOUS. After that, it was meeting the rg babes for dinner, discussing about our dresses and Haotian's hen's night. Managed to touchbase with a few friends whom i've not spoken to for a while. :) Glad.

Rushed back home to catch up on the follow ups on the yearbook saga and trying to feel better by trying to do something about it. The guys are really much better at being firm and tough in negotiation. But this is quite a kiljoy. The moping should end. It has to.

Day 3 - Meet ups

2009-07-09T12:03:00.002+08:00

Spent the day with J Lau at the Tampines area. I wanted to check out Uniqlo and Ikea with a shopping list in my head. While walking around Tampines One, I ran into a couple of the freelance make up artist and hairstylist whom I met at Studio. They were having lunch break from a photoshoot. Urgh. My heart yearns for something. But I was really really glad. Justin and I spoke the whole day as he filled me in on his life. And we blardi ate a lot. He says meeting me means pig out. Wunderful. Bought stuff from ikea and more more food over there. Needa control! Friday how? So yes, my good friend carried the stuff for me as we walked around the homeware section. thanks so muchhh. :) I hope you've decided to go clubbing in the end, to rock and commemorate MJ with the moves. So anyhoos, back home, before gym, I received Rols text message on hitting OverEasy after dinner. And I was glad to have acquiesced because it was really nice meeting new old people and letting the conversations run. Great night. I really love it! Albeit no clubbing, i think it was better. Thanks friends! Bye bye to Day 3!

Day 2 - the Blow by Blows

2009-07-08T03:21:00.004+08:00

I overslept and woke up at 11.45am when I was supposed to meet the girls at 12.05pm - BOTAN.

Fark.

Took a cab and rushed down to the place. Had a lovely chat with the Taxi uncle who lovingly told me all the stories of his very clever 2 yr old grand daughter. ARRRGH. Cuteness. Felt quite grrr about myself for missing half the conversation at the lunch table and missing have my friends' time. URGH. But anyhoos, hope we can do such lunches again in the next few weeks. Popped by iris to say hello, thanks to Jojo. After that, I only needed to do the one and only errand for the day - alter my clothes. I felt that I had a lot of time to spend today so I stopped by one of the donation booth and let one of the road show person explain to me about their cause - for the Singapore Heart Foundation. He was a young boy who was ernestly promoting the donation. He asked me where I studied. After that, he cheekily asked me to guess how old he was. Damn funny. 17 years old only my gosh. Coolness. Work hard!

Then popped over to Tangs again, then hopped over to Borders to feed on magazines. I LOVE magazines. After that, more shopping at Body Shop and this really friendly lady generously did loads of demo for me. and i was SOLD. I really might have bought more than what I initially set out to buy. Then zipped down to city hall to meet the friends. I'm glad that Weikiat had finally bought the entire set. That same young funky Topshop guy who relentlessly attended to us the other day was once again very helpful and so very involved in Weikiat's selection process. Jiakai couldn't stop suanning him on how long he took. Haha, but for that amount of money spent and the gravity of that outfit, it is time worth taking to think about it. Yay, jiakai locked in her outfit too which i think she really would carry off pretty well! A fraction of her initial choice and very much more cute and pretty. Rolyn was with us the entire shopping trip, giving her 5 cents worth. Yay. All my good friends around at the same time. I like it. :)

Dinner at Thai Express. Hocky is Back! In Jiakai's words, he filled us up on his Japan trip while we filled him in on our Australia trip. The exchange of information was quite something. Funny stuff. Talked and talked. Housing, relationships, work. Wethink we turning into adults and JK was appalled by it. We talked till the restaurant was clearing up. Stopped over at Starbucks to have a final coffee before heading home. More convo about Friday's dinner and the after dinner plans. then it's adios and see you tomorrow.

Verbal Diarrhoea over.

Counting down 7 days to work - DAY 1

2009-07-06T21:00:00.000+08:00

Mummy took leave today and so we've decided to do what girls love to do most

SHOPPING

We had nasi padang with daddy at Little India first. After our tummies were filled, the girls took the train to orchard to start the spree! We were very efficient. Within the first hour at Tangs, bought 4 pairs of shoes. My gosh. Apparently Dad told Mum on the sly to buy me more clothes cuz he thinks that I've been repeating my clothes much too often. I never knew Dad bothered about such things. Now both parents play fashion police. Thank you very much. Bought more working clothes. Seriously, my mum's more excited about what I'm going to wear at work than I am. And Even more Seriously, I don't even think there would be much difference between my current casual working clothes and my future working clothes. I tried on the clothes as instructed. Thou shalt not disobey the Queen. So mum has been displeased with my attire the whole day. She kept eyeing up and down when she thinks I haven't noticed while I buy drinks at Yakun as our resting pitstop. MUMMY stop looking or else you'll make yourself angry! Anyway, towards the end, her being annoyed by my clothes just became a funny thing and I kept laughing about it. It's really funny, my mother. So more shopping at far east at her favourite shop, at my favourite shop, at a new shop. Bought an interesting Vivienne Westwood top too. :) and then another Break at BK. We had juice. This time, mum was eyeing the french fries and was lamenting why Dad has to cook just when she takes her leave. At the order of the Queen "GO!", I bought french fries. And we were very happy.

Then more shopping again at Zara. So when I was looking at those clothes that I think were very pretty but I felt guilty and decided not to even think about it, my mum excitedly walked towards me exclaiming that she found something she thinks is really cool and wanted me to see. Cool enough, my mother excitedly tried The Boyfriend Blazer. Faints. So cute. And she bought it. Really excited about her new buy. I was like screaming "that's what I've always wanted to get all the time!" in my head. But my mother beats me to it. NVM. share share.

So this is the end of the wonderful first day of very successful shopping with Mummy.

I shall not elaborate how my father had to endure our fashion show in the living room in the evening.

Back from Australia.

2009-07-01T01:07:00.004+08:00

Our Magnificent Australia, as appeared on the excel spreadsheet plan sent by Weikiat at the conception of this graduation trip, was indeed a Magnificent one. I am pleased and glad that it turned out the way it did. Thinking that 24 days would probably leave us sick and tired of each other by the end of the trip, I am wrong. In fact, there's probably a bit of a very very mild and subtle withdrawal symptoms from such an action-packed part of the last whole month. If I could, I would detail every part of the trip- the coolio activities we did, the ultimate slacking moments, the moments we push ourselves hard, the moments we can't believe we could just 'let go', the jokes and laughter we simply let out, the awkward silence, anger and secrets we pretended not to know of, the scandals, the 'wondering when they will get together' and 'finally they've gotten together', our pride and insecurities, from budget to high life.. It's a total of 576 hours we are talking about. There were some key moments in there in that beautiful country. And I'm glad I wasn't alone when they happened.

Hopefully when the pictures come in, I'd be able to do some pictorial talking.

2009-05-29T22:46:00.003+08:00

I am feeling so. farking. miserable.
AHHH.
blardi test of mettle.
I'll bring you down. I'll bring you down to ChinaTown.

..................................

I deserve to be spanked. I deserve to wake up at 4 in the morning to study my ass off from day to night. and only take sleeping, eating and toilet breaks and NOTHING ELSE.

just for 5 days.
Can I handle it?

Visual Feast #2: Australia inspired

2009-05-26T02:18:00.005+08:00

nytimes.com/travel
theselby.com
desiretoinspire.net
aniceideaeveryday.com

2009-05-25T23:33:00.002+08:00

Hurling back gives you a shortlived relief/enjoyment akin to scratching an itch.
After that, it aggravates the problem, to the extent that it bleeds.

Visual Feast

2009-05-24T02:44:00.005+08:00

theselby.com

Thinking about thoughts

2009-05-23T17:27:00.003+08:00

Surprisingly, post hell week and pre exam week has lived up to its expectations (in fact, i'm not really expecting much from it). Had a ktv session with the accounting girls impromptu. Had a dinner with A. from studio, last minute confirmed. And a long near 5 hour lunch with Yit. Thank you :) This week was laden with lots and lots of thoughts in my head. Really pondering and pensive. Sometimes I wonder if I should just stop thinking and do something else instead - like play a sport, do some exercise, or even drink more water and have more sleep, just to clear my thoughts. My brain was really crowded. I tend to think and think till I could think through a hole. Like I just needed to reach an epiphany, or a revelation. And I'll be done with it.

Like now. I've unloaded some stuff over here.
Go on to do my thing.

2009-05-23T00:58:00.000+08:00

we're just imperfect people, trying to help each other make things better.

Meaty issue

2009-05-23T00:07:00.003+08:00

I'm officially fat, and gross. If taken any further, I'll also be officially embarrassed of myself.
Perhaps, the grossness does not only come from the lack of a slender beautiful sillouette, but also derives from the fact that I've allowed myself such ill-discipline, and that I could bear to see myself degrade any further. No pride. No glory. Just wasting away.

As I mentioned before, if you couldn't even manage your weight, how could you manage your life.

Anyway, you know what?
If something is going to hurt so bad, do something about it or just stop thinking about it.

I heart AFA

2009-05-14T13:45:00.003+08:00

The quest for knowledge continues.

Now, i'm in the midst of getting acquainted with AFA. I wanna shout Farkmylife in my head. But, when you detest something, it will exert an equal and opposite force against you (according to Newton's 3rd law). So, I shall love what I study. 感情是可以培养的. But can I 培养 a bit faster? I'm seeking for love and I hope it loves me back.

Anyhoos, while I eyeball the various chapters, somehow a "post hell week 'to do' list" seem to be taking form by itself in my head every now and then. Shake it all off. we'll look at that later.

Decide, Focus, Work Hard, Deserve.