Weekend of Friday the 13th

I'm happy.

Another one of those unexpected random things that inexplicably, thoroughly warms my heart.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, Danny Messer finally realises how important gutsy rookie Lindsay Monroe is to him on CSI:NY. The frantic yell for Lindsay when her cover was blown in the company of unscrupulous diamond smugglers and that countenance of immense relief when he heard her small voice call his name amidst the fog of tear gas ... priceless...

The pair have been chummy since they first met last season when she replaced the fired Aiden (whom I can't stand and whose death became the unit's case later in the season). The chemistry is strong; they are always joking and teasing each other. I'm glad its producers have the good sense to bring the soft side out of TV's most street-smart, coolest CSI franchise - my favourite CSI.

There might be pitfalls though.

Remember Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson? I was a Nancy Drew fan for the earlier books but as her romance with Ned took centrestage later on, my respect for her as a sleuth faded. It was like she belonged to Sweet Valley High more than River Heights where a brainy girl called Nancy was always smelling out crime! Nevertheless, it will be fun to catch the Nancy Drew movie when it hits theatres this summer, for old time's sake.

So as long as workplace romance takes a backseat to crime scene investigation, I'll be rooting for the pairing of Danny and Lindsay. He pops the question next week; what's Lindsay's take on it?

The 20th Singapore International Film Festival kicked off last week. While the number of films in the main programme seems to have shrunk this year with some sponsors backing out, free movie marathons at the Goethe Institute seem to have ballooned, spilling over to the Substation.

On Saturday, we caught a documentary on 60s rock 'n roll band LOVE at the Goethe Institute. We had no idea who they were, but the almost-2-hour narrative-documentary was mostly poignant because it wasn't till the end that we all realised most of the band members who had been interviewed were already dead.

A combination of 'being at the wrong place at the wrong time' and drugs did them in. It left me to wonder ... what is it in the entertainment business that leads so many promising young talents to drug addiction which brings them eventual damnation? That's a constant pattern, past and present.

Some great music from the band's repertoire, and great punch lines from frontman Arthur Lee, made LOVE fun to watch. We skipped the 141-minute classic from German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder but would return later for the KAFA animation (Korean).

We adjourned to this cozy arty eatery on Killiney Road for a 2-hour girl chat and Japan appreciation. Pauline had just returned from a great trip to Honshu. Her stories left me heady with wanderlust. My recent obsession with Murakami, Death Note, Studio Ghibli, etc ... and my sister's constant praise for Hana Yori Dango (HYD) have put me in a very pro-Japan mood. After the KAFA screening, which featured some quirky, some interesting stories, I headed for Daiso to grab some Jap snacks for a late-night screening of HYD2 at home. I also picked up some udon noodles which I'd cook for dinner because Pauline's pictures of the noodles have stimulated my salivatory glands beyond control!

So that's the weekend for me. Not doing anything very much but kind of fulfilling.

And oh ... there's almost nothing to update on Elvin Ng, until an hour ago (ugly shirt by the way ... very un-Elvin). He was at the Ritz Carlton attending a Gucci fashion show the very night I was supposed to attend my company's birthday bash for March-April babies, which I had plotted for a month to wriggle out of, which of course, I did.

Hmm ... no wonder there was a funny feeling that maybe it wouldn't be too bad if I went; with so many people also attending, the chance of any private conversation with boss would be close to nil. In any case, he had already cornered me in the office earlier that week for an 'opinion-sharing session'. And the food was bound to be good. And I might bump into a certain celebrity.

Elaine, it's a whole new journey for you tomorrow. Enjoy the ride! I'm sure you will :) See you next Sunday.

Okri and Murakami Lore

No pun intended. I don't know why I put it there. Maybe just for fun lor.

I've jumped straight from the African spirit realm of Ben Okri's The Famished Road into the surrealism of Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore. These two books are where you can find my nose buried in these days; everywhere I go, every single waking moment when I am not researching or writing about some impoverished Asian nation. Both are vividly delightful works, the words paint a thousand imageries that play in my mind like a movie reel rolling onto the projection screen.

From Okri's prose I imagine the illustrations of fantasy artists the likes of Alan Lee spring to life - a three-headed monster battling a beautiful maiden gliding on sparkling water as smooth and reflective as the surface of a mirror. From Murakami's words, the entire Studio Ghibli seems to be unleashed on the pages that my fingers flip with constant urgency. Compared to Okri, Murakami is a much easier read.

I've decided to rotate between Okri and Murakami for the follow-up novels of Okri's chronicles of the akibu Azaro and Murakami's countless other fantasical wonders.

The beauty of both books, I find, lies in the words that appear to be so simple that they are profound, that after reading it once, you instantly return to it to find that there's a deeper meaning that you can relate to, one way or another.

I shall quote some from Murakami's Kafka, for inspiration's sake.

"In travelling, a companion, in life, compassion," she repeats, making sure of it. "So what does it really mean? In simple terms."
"I think it means," I say, "that chance encounters are what keep us going."

"Even chance meetings are the result of karma."
"Right, right," she says. "But what does it mean?"
"That things in life are fated in our previous lives. That in the smallest events, there's no such thing as coincidence."

"What I'm trying to say is your problem isn't that you're dumb," Otsuka said, an earnest look on his face. "Your problem is that your shadow is a bit - how should I put it? Faint. What I think is this: You should give up looking for lost cats and start searching for the other half of your shadow"
"To tell the truth, Nakata's had that feeling before. That my shadow is weak. Other people might not notice, but I do."
"That's good, then," the cat said.
"But I'm already old, and may not live much longer ... You die and they cremate you. You turn into ashes and they bury you in a place called Karasuyama. Once they bury you there, though, you probably can't think about anything anymore. And if you can't think, then you can't get confused. So isn't the way I am now just fine? What I can do while I'm alive, is never go out of Nakano Ward. But when I die, I'll have to go to Karasuyama. That can't be helped."
"What you think about it is entirely up to you, of course," Otsuka said, and again began licking the pads of his paw. "Though you should consider how your shadow feels about it. It might have a bit of inferiority complex - as a shadow, that is. If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."

"When I drive, I like to listen to Shubert's piano sonatas with the volume turned up. Do you know why?"
"I have no idea."
"Because playing Shubert's piano sonatas well is one of the hardest things in the world. Especially this, the Sonata in D Major. It's a tough piece to master. Some pianists can play one or maybe two of the movements perfectly, but if you listen to all four movements as a unified whole, no one has ever nailed it. A lot of famous pianists have tried to rise to the challenge, but it's like there's always something missing. There's never one where you can say, Yes! He's got it! Do you know why?"
"No," I reply.
"Because the sonata itself is imperfect. Robert Schumann understood Schubert's sonatas well, and he labeled this one 'Heavenly Tedious'."
"If the composition's imperfect, why would so many pianists try to master it?"
"Good question," Oshima says, and pauses as music fills in the silence. "I have no great explanation for it, but one thing I can say. Works that have a certain imperfection to them have an appeal for that very reason - or at least they appeal to certain types of people. Just like you're attracted to Soseki's The Miner. There's something in it that draws you in, more than more fully realised novels like Kokoro or Sanshiro. You discover something about that work that tugs at your heart - or maybe we should say the work discovers you. Shubert's Sonata in D Major is sort of the same thing."

Silence, I discover, is something you can actually hear.

Discovering Tests Once More

I've only been to 5 written tests my whole working life so far. Looking back, I can really tell how valuable those tests are in helping me imagine myself in the role I apply for, probably more than they are to the employers in screening out unsuitable candidates.

The first written test I have ever taken was at Marshall Cavendish, for an editorial position for school books. Hehe ... it seemed like a natural choice at that time since I was so hell bent on a writing job, even if it's math and science textbooks. But on hindsight, the test really showed that I had no love for scrutinising grammatical errors or correcting sentence structure. I passed the test, was called back for an interview, during which the interviewer cautioned that I might be bored to death editing school texts given my background in the creative industry. I actually agreed with her during the interview.

The next three were for corporate communications positions in Citibank, the Singapore Land Authority and the Alliance Francaise.

Citibank posed serious questions; I don't even remember half of them now. As far as I can recall, I wrote something about leadership. I think I answered intelligently although I remember racking my brains and wondering if it was what I really wanted, spending my time writing up masterpieces that put this leader of the banking industry high up on a pedestal.

SLA required me to write an opinion piece on cab drivers. I think I had to choose from a few choices, just like the English composition exam back in school. How typical of the civil service.

The Alliance Francaise test was at least practical and the dossier they gave me, very interesting. I was to write a press release for two separate exhibitions by a couple of France's most renowned photographers, Henri-Cartier Bresson and Robert Doisneau. I eventually went to both exhibitions last June and gained insight into photography as an artform, especially snap-shooting that Bresson is so famous for.

Last Friday, I went to what must have been the fun-nest written test at Mediacorp. There were three parts that we had to complete, a piece each on concept, critique and script-writing. For two hours, I was in la-la land, especially the concept part, dreaming up sequences that I would like to see on tv. I think I provided reasonably interesting story ideas and sound critique, so I'm just now hoping for them to think likewise.

I pray hard

for this new hope

it will blossom into something beautiful

it will fulfill a dream

ten years in the making

Entertainment is something that I really wanna do.

Filling Up The Half-Full Glass?

I got a call from Mediacorp today. The last time I received a call from them was in Nov 05 for a Harry Potter contest that I won, which was one of the craziest things I've done but that's quite another story I'll save for another day with a different mood.

Today, I'm ecstatic.

The call was in response to my application for the position of "Research Writer" that I sent quite some time ago, which I had deemed ended up in the HR trash like countless other prior applications. If only they knew how badly I wanted it!

I've been invited to a written test this Friday morning. While it doesn't promise anything as yet, it is HOPE. I see the half-full glass just slightly fuller. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'd make it through all the way; the glass will fill to its brim.

Strange this has to come a day after discussing dreams with my friend and a casual chat with my sis about how telecommunications, or the lack of, had altered my destiny.

In the days of pagers, when I was still a student, I once made a cold call for a vacation job with LIME magazine. They called my pager, I didn't see it till the next day and because I was staying at the hostel, phone facilities were limited. By the time I managed to place a call back, the position had been filled. If telecommunications had been more 'advanced' then, my name would probably have been on the editorial panel of that magazine, or some of its cohorts, for several years now.

Or maybe that had been a blessing in disguise, for because of that miss, I had the chance to dabble in video production, interactive design, trends research and hopefully in the near future, TV.

Meifeng gave birth to a baby girl this morning. Her name is Cheryl. Both mother and daughter are doing great; I can't wait to see them.

What a truly happy day.

The Glass is Half Full

Talked about dreams with my friend last night. A weird start, but the conversation stemmed from the MTV of My Chemical Romance's "I Don't Love You". Stylish and ironically romantic.

He said, "The glass is half full; I realise the glass is half full, so I drink heartily, knowing the glass is half full."

I am gonna start my day with this.

Maybe the glass is never meant to be full, like half a glass of fine red wine. A full glass cripples you with severe hangover.

Maybe to truly enjoy half a glass is a far bigger joy than hankering after a glass that will never fill.

Another opening at 8 Days. Shall I fill the glass?

Wanderlust 07: 九寨沟

Was at the Natas fair last Saturday - though crowded, it didn't seem as impenetrable as last year. The booking promotions weren't as great either, except for the UOB one where pairs of free CX tickets to Hong Kong were given out to bookings of $10,000 and above, which we would have been eligible for last year.

This year, we went for cheaper packages. No particular reason really. Just that my sis had spotted $399 Jiangnan tour deals in Natas ads so we decided on China as our family destination for this year.

Yet, we fell for the irresistible 九寨沟 (Jiuzhaigou), a gorgeous valley where rainbows perform somersaults on magnificent waterfalls that embrace roaring streams far below while colourful leaves float on lakes more tranquil than the surface of mirrors.

Shuzeng Falls - One of the four waterfalls at 九寨沟, famed for its numerous follow-on falls

The Multi-Coloured Pool

Oh, since international flights land at Chengdu, we'll be spending time there and the agency promised me GIANT PANDAS ! v(^.^)v

Can't wait for my leave application to be approved. I must wait though, since today didn't feel like the best time to ask my 'boss' for favours of any kind - she was in a mad dash for a business trip to Europe tonight. I'll wait patiently till she returns to office on Thursday. Maybe I'll wait till Friday cuz who knows if her jetlag might set accidental fire to my vulnerable leave application form.

And then, I wait some more, till 9 June, when I fly into the great unspoilt natural wonder of inner China.

Mosaic Dreams

Slumber Sunday, Mosaic Dreams

Some sneak peeps at the FREE Mosaic Music Festival performances Pauline and I went to last Friday (16 March). Too bad Fauzie didn't manage to come with us cuz she was ill (later found out that she passed out on the train on the way to work ... poor girl!)

I was excited all week about the show, especially since I missed Baybeats last year and this year's show won't happen till August. August?!! Hasn't it always been July?

We had wanted a quick bite and The Soup Spoon came to mind. I'm still a fan despite the grisly murder of the store supervisor by the restaurant's chef one Saturday ago. It seemed many people were still fans too. We couldn't find seats and decided to just pack sandwiches and went on to the Nokia Music Station, an outdoor concert venue at the Esplanade, by the rivermouth. There's a bigger venue further in called Nokia Powerhouse. Great promotional strategy and extremely targeted at music lovers for their N-Series (incidentally, I've checked out the N95 and feeling lusty for that beauty with a brain this very instant :)

Friday's show showcased indie bands and aptly named Indie-mand. We missed the first act, Goose from Thailand. The second act was a young band from Singapore - Allura. Though not hugely impressed by the performance, I was by their burning passion for music and being able to do something about it.

Music is not just a display of talent and creativity but a great channel to communicate thoughts and feelings, release angst and steam and preach rhetoric and logic that can hopefully help someone. I wish I had that. But I don't. So I will just sit back and soak in the wild enthusiasm and be inspired to act on things which are within my means.

The grand finale was by Lilac Saints. I didn't know they had been around for so long - winners of the Best/Favourite Musical Act award from Perfect 10 in 1996. Boy, were they good! Am especially smitten with guitarist Baskar's skills with the strings.

I made it home in time for Hui Ching's 24th birthday celebration at midnight. Oink! ^(oo)^

It had been quite a happening week last week. Spent Monday at the movies watching The History Boys. It was great fun, made me terribly nostalgic about the old good school days and thinking how right Mom had been about cherishing those best years of our lives, but the characters were just ... weird. In the end, even the least likely person was sexually disoriented. Hmm ... does it make good drama or simply an insight into the real world of all-boys schools? Intelligent boys, at that, cementing the suspicion that it's a calculated choice, not a foolish misdemeanor.

On Thursday, met up with my university clique - 4 girls (ladies?) including me - 2 singles, 1 already a mom of a toddler girl and 1 is on the way to her first baby within these couple of weeks. It's usually kinda pressurizing for me to be hanging out with the uni-clique cuz they talk about 'serious' things. This time, it was babies, maids and cars. Earlier, it was choice of career and financial planning. No Baybeats or Mosaic or hunks.

Very serious, real-life issues that I do not want to spend my leisure moments pondering over, thank you very much. Nevertheless, it was good to be in touch and to see that everyone's doing well and happy despite some grouches about the difficulties with maids, gynaes and the constricted spaces of smaller cars.

And then, there was Friday. And there were effervescent images of dream-chasing talented people whose passion ignited the fire in us to hold our seats in the sweltering breeze-less evening by the Singapore River, feet tapping to the beats and ears ringing well into the weekend.

d(@.@)b

Stuck In A Moment That I Can't Get Out Of

It's around this time last year that I started with my current company. How time flies, it's been almost a year.

How time flies, it's been almost a week since my good friend-colleague handed in her resignation last Friday.

Today, we had 2 new Trends additions. One's a web consultant and the other, a researcher who holds a Masters degree from Stanford. Whoa. Do I feel a bit inadequate here? I am really not sure.

JY made an interesting prediction to LG today. That I'd be the next after EC to leave. Not that the thought hasn't constantly been on my mind. But finding a suitable job is really, really tough. Have I driven myself into a corner by being too adamant about what I want to do that it's teetering on the brink of unrealism, way out of reach?

Since the arrival of our new research manager, I begin to see a glimmer of hope. He brings with him sound knowledge and a wealth of experience in research methods, unlike our 'bosses' who are pretty much clueless most of the time. Besides, he's French, so I'm looking forward to rekindling my abandoned passion with the most beautiful language in the world :)

Plus, I can't shake off my wanderlust. Much as I complain about tiresome business trips, the chance to step foot on the most exotic countries of Asia and the Middle-east excite me tremendously. I do not know where else in the working world can afford me this "free" travel. Unless I become a travel writer? But that's really hard to find, and even harder to hitch.

So, given these considerations, I'm thinking why not take a look-and-see approach?

And then, U2 sings "Don't say that later will be better, now you're stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it"

Frustrated, I watched Maid To Order 3 featuring ... ELVIN NG! Lol. See, I've tried hard not to blog about him but how can I when he keeps popping up everywhere everyday?!

Well, anyway, his assignment was in Pulau Ubin. His tasks were to clean the toilet, buy groceries and cook a meal or an old lady who had injured her foot. He didn't mess up but didn't exactly perform spectacularly though there were some shining moments like -
1) When asked to scrub mould from the tub, he asked for a demo first (duh!)
2) When he asked Pat Mok how to read 'ka fei fen' (coffee powder) and then blamed his inaptitude at Chinese on her 'illegible' writing
3) When he wanted to put oyster sauce and soy sauce into the fish porridge that he was making (really hope he was just kidding there - ever seen black fish porridge before eh?!)

The shoot was 3 weeks ago, on a Saturday. Incidentally, my foot got injured the day after that (like it had wanted the same royal treatment!) but I didn't get no porridge :(

HA HA HA -- Stress relieved. Sigh.

A Rebel's Return To Innocence

Elvin was the first celebrity on a new segment of Shan Wee's late night show - "Celeb Control" - last night (err ... this morning?)

It was kind of Shan to announce at the start of his programme that Elvin was due in at 12 midnight and would play DJ for an hour. I haven't been listening much to Perfect 10 (or Power 98) these days, which I practically glued my ears to everyday previously, due to an influx of 'gangsta' music that I fail to appreciate. The time I spent on P10 last night was the longest in quite a while. Lol.

Well, anyway, Elvin came on right on the dot. (Poor guy, does he ever sleep?) Bright, cheery, cheeky and armed with a very agreeable playlist. I was grinning from ear to ear rocking to my favourite songs that Elvin incidentally picked :) although I would later suffer from a rare case of insomnia.

d(@.@)b

Class of 69 by Bryan Adams
E on why he picked the song: "It's from my JC and at that time, I was obssessed with listening to Bryan Adams."

Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli
(Thanks to E, I found out who the original singer to this 'Lauren Hill song' was. While hers has a unique R&B flavour, this version is more sensual and really very nice. I like it very much.)

Return to Innocence by Enigma
(By this song, I was trouncing my bed. I just couldn't believe that he picked all my favourite songs! I haven't heard Enigma in quite a while and this song just completely lifted my spirits so high up I could see insomnia peeking over my sleep horizon)
E on why he picked this song: "Sometimes I like to listen to this type of music to relax especially when I'm driving home."

Geek In The Pink by Jason Mraz
(I almost fainted that E liked this song because I loved it so much! Jason Mraz is da bomb!)
E on why he picked this song: "I like it because it's unconventional. Maybe rebellious."

The word "rebel" popped up many times during the hour including why he enjoyed Asian and African, post-colonial literature - he liked the rebelling spirit of the people who fought hard for their own destiny. Little did he surprise me with the answer to his choice of the following song, his rebellious streak shining through -

From This Moment by Shania Twain
(I wonder if he knows the story behind this song. Shania wrote it after her parents died in an accident. It's a tribute to their love that was unfortunately, perpetuated in death but from that moment (of the accident) on, they'd be together forever)
E on why he picked this song: "She's pretty (laughs) I like older women." Shan asked, "How old is too old?" E said, "There's no too old as long as you are young at heart." Shan teased, "Even if she's 45?" E laughed, "That's too old. I think about 35."

With Or Without You by U2
(Faint second time. Did he see that 'sold-at-U2-concerts-only' badge on my diary when he signed it? Should have sneaked him a peek at the U2 Sydney concert ticket from the back of my diary - he would have been so envious! Alright, I'm not sure how big a fan he is, but who can resist a U2 concert? Surely not Elvin the Rebel!)

Never Let You Go by Third Eye Blind
E on why he picked this song: "It's during my army days. I bought this CD and listened to it everyday before going out to training." Shan asked, " What's your favourite army memory?" E replied, "I'd rather not remember anything from those days. There were happy times but I don't like this constriction thing."

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden
(When he wrapped his segment up with this song, I had no doubt why he's my favourite artiste. Even his musical taste is flawless :)

Today, I was hoping Shan would be super-efficient and have the podcast ready but as expected, it's a NO. I figure it won't be till after this Sunday, when there's a repeat of the show at 2pm (that means 3pm for Celeb Control) so don't miss it!

Instead, I discovered podcasts of an interview with my favourite-est DJ and musician BT when he was in town last September.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Haha ...

Sounds Like a B-day Treat :)

No ... do it everyday :)

Another Year Wiser Today ...

Happy 31st birthday to myself!!

w00t w00t

Had dinner with Fauzie and Pauline at Sofra Turkish Restaurant ... delicious kebab and nice ambience. We chatted and laughed till the restaurant cleared and we were the only ones left. It was awesome. Oh, and they gave me the U2 Vertigo Tour in Chicago DVD!!! Yippie! Though it's a different city, it'll definitely bring back fond memories of that awesome concert I went to in Sydney with Pauline.

Hmm ... forgot to ask Pauline if Alan had sent over those pix of me looking deliciously leggy in the final rays of the sun setting over Botany Bay ...

My birthday wish - the usual one -

May all my dreams come true!

Precious Little Things

I love receiving the National Geographic magazine in my mailbox every month.

Ok, maybe with the exception of last month when many pages were covered with the most spine-tingling creepy crawlies. Hehe ... not literally. It's just a feature on the rarest worms of Hawaii. But me being the chicken chicken (well, the normal chicken would have leapt in joy at the sight of her staple wriggly squishy protein-rich diet :), I have not flipped the magazine since I accidentally stumbled upon those ... ugh.

This month's issue, though, is the GREATEST. As though they know it's my birthday month so I deserve a special treat (well, especially now that I have many dull weeknights to endure since the last episode of ... ok, I'll stop obsessing with the E -word :)



I literally leapt in joy at the sight of a herd of magnificent African elephants on the cover (my sis thought i was gila (mad) but didn't I just have a wanderlust moment last week looking at those pictures on a certain traveller's website? Plus, just yesterday, ST reported the rescue of an abandoned baby elephant from a theme park. It's now residing at the Malacca Zoo and is seeking sponsors for its maintenance at the cost of RM1,500 a month. I wonder how I can contribute ... ). Then as I read the smaller prints, there's also a feature on Orlando, the Disney World city and where NSYNC was founded. I miss it - it's been more than 5 years since I was there - so lucky me, it's a double whammy for me on NatGeo this month!!

Earlier today, after withdrawing some cash from the OCBC ATM, I received my first birthday greeting. For once, the personalised message, which had always been about selling one financial product or another, put a smile on my weary face.

It's little things like these that make my day. v(^.^)v

red.dot

Heavenly ones. Painful ones. I had them both this past weekend.

Saturday afternoon, I spent a good 2 hours at the Red Dot Museum. I'm talking about a particular spot across from the Pacific Coffee Company. It's the first weekend of March, hence the 'flea market' was on. Not many stalls though, and although there were some attention-grabbing creations (mostly stuffed toys but that's really just me going for anything cute :), others were quite unimpressive. The Red Dot Design exhibition was not great either. Plus the price tags were pretty hefty too. By my standard, anyway, even for limited edition handmade pieces.

Ok, I'm very giam alright ... I have better ways of spending my dollars and more sense than cents to spare, so there. Especially now that I am reading The Famished Road, a beautifully worded and thought provoking novel by Ben Okri about the miserable lives of post-colonial Nigerian society seen through the eyes of an akibu (spirit child) called Azaro. Ultimately, it is about human strength and survival but into the fabric of Azaro's detailed narration is infused African mythology, customs and traditions, heightening my fascination with the continent. I must visit it soon! (I was researching for a project when I came across a website that documented a traveler's journeys to the great wilderness. His pictures of African and Asian elephants were AWE-INSPIRING! -- absolutely my favourite-est animals!)

In a way, the Red Dot Museum (which I've nicknamed The Oasis since my first visit there as it is a basin of tranquility lodged in chaotic CBD) amplified the magic realism of The Famished Road. Even the grafitti on the wall (though a little too 'organised') seemed to draw me into the mystical realm that straddled the platforms of life and death.

In the solitude of the Red Dot compund, I found this paragraph from The Famished Road especially inspiring -

In the middle of the clearing, a solitary wooden pole had been stuck into the earth. The pole had burst into flower. Little buds had grown out along its length and some of the buds had opened into the beginnings of branches. Dad said:

"This is what you must be like. Grow wherever life puts you down."

Xiaoming, Chevy, Elaine and I had an awesome time at Chongqing Huoguo. The steamboat soup came in 2 flavours which we got to choose from a menu. It was Chevy's first time having steamboat and she's gonna bring her family there when they visit at the end of this month.

Since XM definitely cannot take spicy food and Chevy can only take not too spicy ones, we had a portion of chicken soup and a portion of tom yum soup. The latter was the shiok-est thing ever! But only for the first round when it was so super spicy it made my nose run ... hehe. But after several rounds of soup top-up, it was no different from the chicken soup.

Yesterday, my sisters craved for soup from The Soup Spoon at Raffles City. This is another new addictive discovery that we have recently. The soup's awesome and comes in huge portion so we could drink to our heart's content. When upsized, we get a drink, a sandwich/wrap and a little chocolate bar. Yummy!

After downing the hefty meal, we decided to head for the Happy Place (Carrefour) for some cupboard/shelves shopping as we just 'unearthed' some paraphernalia that we had no idea where to place. That's where I got my second red.dot. I swear I didn't even touch the bloody cupboard, but I guess perhaps someone had brushed against it and the loose glass front crashed down on my foot!

There was no pain. I didn't think I was hurt until I looked down. There was a nasty gash. Funny it wasn't bleeding until some seconds later when blood started oozing out that I realised it was actually kinda deep. I started to panic. I worried about glass shards trapped in the wound. Luckily, Hui Ling had tissue to suppress the bleeding, and plaster to cover the wound as we headed for the doctor's.

It was only later last night that some form of soreness and tingling pain set in, perhaps due to an accumulation of acid there? Not sure. Anyway, the doc said he doubted there's any debris in the wound but asked me to observe and see if it starts to show any symptoms of inflammation or infection over the next few days. Hope that won't happen!

So today, I'm blissfully on MC. Photoshopped my pictures and patiently waiting for the last episode of Happily Ever After. Ok, sure I've watched it on mobtv, but still nothing beats seeing Elvin on tv. Sigh, after tonight, it's gonna be many boring nights till June! Hmm... then again, it's good that I'll be able to resume my nightlife - haven't been to the movies and anywhere else in ages! Time to stop obsessing about Elvin and start on more serious subjects - hmmm ... like what to eat tomorrow?

Au revoir for now!

Happily Itching

爱: A great way to spend a wet afternoon ... hmmm .... only with some 50 other girls! Haha ...

It rained and it rained and it rained for at least 2 hours yesterday. We, of Elvinology, the fan club as certified by Elvin himself :), gathered at this beautiful house at Yio Chu Kang. The hosts, though I'm not quite sure how they came about to host this lovely event, were very gracious. Thank you to Jean and family!

We waited and we waited and we waited since 3 pm. Elvin turned up only at around 5. Soaking wet. Not from the rain but the poor guy was perspiring profusely. I wondered if he parked some serious distance away from the house, or was dropped off at some inconvenient location, that he had to jog up the winding lanes of this posh neighbourhood to keep our date. Aww ... Elvin, your tardiness is forgiven! In fact, it's forgiven the moment his sunshine smile dried up the rain (well, not literally but still ...) as he came up the walkway with a bag of crunchy (yes!) nougats.

We, Elves, had a great time yesterday. Definitely my best CNY in years.

And as I rolled these memories over, I realised that this star-chasing craze is some sort of a 7-year itch! Haha ...

FLASHBACK to 1999, I went ballistic with pop stars. A trip to the airport to welcome Jordan Knight (former New Kids On The Block), then chased all the way to some club at Scotts Road (the name of which I have duly forgotten) for his mini concert (which I had to scheme a little to get into since I didn't have the 'rightful' ticket :). Then, there was the BBMak mini performance outside Carrefour and their in-store signing at Tower Records. And ... (to my horror now but it was absolutely exciting then) Westlife's very first performance at the Rock Auditorium courtesy of LIME Magazine, the tickets to which I had to queue an hour for!! I think I began to dig NSYNC this year too (which I would continue to obsess over, over the next few years, culminating with a trip to El Paso, Texas to see them in concert and I have not given up on JC Chasez yet!).

That's madness. That's also madness that came after a lull of some 7 years or so since Step By Step, the final hit album of New Kids On The Block, my first star idols!

NOW in 2007 (actually it began in July 2006), I am miraculously head over heels over Asian stars. Mind you, I only had eyes for those gorgeous Western hunks! Maybe I've finally found my roots after a good beat round the bush. Maybe, as people get older, they seek to re-connect with who they were born into, who they really are. Or maybe, it's simply just that these days, the western world of music is infested with pointless, eyesore brawn, blond and bling.

Elvin wears his bling really well though. I'm not putting up any pictures because the gathering was at a private residence and I think it is only right the privacy of the kind hosts is preserved. As for details of the gathering, they are all recorded in that little diary of mine, whose magic finally came alive yesterday (~_~)

Moving On d(~(oo)~)b

The start of the third day of Chinese New Year. As usual, the past 2 days of CNY were quite a bore. Much snoozing and little else :) Okie, so yesterday it rained quite heavily around midnight but we went out for some midnight snack at the 24-hour McDonald's at the Pahlawan Mall. It was crowded, mostly with kids, and I couldn't help being envious of this new-found nightlife in Melaka that was so non-existent when I was still in school. And then, Hui Ling killed some wriggly thing that somehow managed to get into the bedroom I was in upstairs (it has a toilet, maybe that's why and how it managed to wriggle itself there) I missed the commotion because I was groggy with sleep albeit having slept for most of the day (the rest of it spent reading Harry Potter and fantasizing :) :)

Not to say that the chance to catch up on the much needed sleep isn't desirable at all but geez, the days seem wasted. Today we accomplished a little bit more. By right, we should be off visiting relatives but since dunno when, the visiting has been moved from the second day to the third, so that's what we will be doing later today. But anyway, I got to dress up (which I totally missed although it was the first day yesterday, I juz didn't have the mood to put on any new clothes cuz we weren't getting out of the house), went shopping at Tesco, went to Shek Jia Yan to offer prayers to grandma with Angela who went to pray to her dad who passed away juz recently, and Raymond brought yee sang and we had a round of lo hei. It was the fun-nest thing in 2 days (hmm, though I didn't verbally express my deepest desires when lo hei-ing... hope it's heard nevertheless!) but still, I wish it was back to Friday, when we were all too eager to catch the bus home, go last minute shopping for clothes and new year goodies or necessities...

Oh well, gotta move on yeah... Thankfully, the channel 8 interruption has also moved on and I managed to catch 'fan jian xin xian ren' tonight! Poor Tianying got his emotional line damaged but with an outpouring of love from Tianqin and a little help from the Jade Emperor, it seems to be fixed again. For sure, so has my broken spirit of missing 2 of the supposedly best episodes! Hmmm ... so mobtv, here i come!

猪您新年快乐!!!

d(~.~)b

As as long as I get to see Cowherd everyday. Missed him again yesterday - episode 9. Broke my heart. Thought he'd continue to be elusive for this entire time I'm home in Malacca (one whole week - unbearable!!), but oh wow, things went from the worst to the best today.

Reception was really good tonight. Though his screen appearance was for such a limited time, but enuf to satiate this hungry pining... hehe. Cut that out, I'm not actually desperate okie... but his zodiac sign being my lucky star this year, I'm counting my blessings on him ... (with him?) ... dream on (^o^)

Oh and he posted a new year message on the 15th actually which I completely missed, which would have made the missing of ep 8 so much less excruciatingly painful. Can tell a lot's on his mind about where he's headed. Like echoing my own mind. So I guess, our mental strength can help us achieve what we don't think we're capable of. Maybe I should be proving my worth rather than trying to weasel out of knotty situations, projects.

m@@d: sad

I missed Cowherd today. Episode 8. Yup, I heard it's a great episode! Argh, damn work. But oh well, I'm looking forward to a good long holiday... hope the survey that I had to miss Cowherd to work on (and in the process, being quite mean to poor Grace) works well. Sigh ...

I miss Cowherd <(-.-)>

爱: l<3ve is ...

Elvin ... thanks for helping me recall my youthful obsession.

Yes, Cowherd did. Oh, actually it was the Weaving Girl who threw the question at Cowherd, setting him into a mad frenzy of finding the meaning of love within the stipulated time so that he could remain in the race for the Weaving Girl's heart.

Hmm... what am I talking about? The romance of Cowherd and the Weaving Girl is legendary and everyone knows just how in love they are. What I am driving at is the Channel 8 drama, Happily Ever After, which puts this romance in modern times with a whole slew of twisted comedic moments. Do check it out, if you haven't - weekdays 9 PM v(^o^)v

It's my 31st V-Day, and the breakdown of this excruciatingly exciting day ... ha ha:
8 hours of work
3 mandarin oranges
2.5 pieces of bak kwa
1 bowl of instant duck porridge
1 hour of Elvin Ng (and happiness :)
1 spur of the moment recall of what Love Is ...

Love Is ... Daddy religiously cutting out the comic strip everyday and safekeeping them for me when I wasn't home. I didn't ask him to. I guess he must have noticed my obsession with the strip and continued to add to my collection even after I left for Singapore to study, so that Love Is ... intact. Thank you Daddy, I love you.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Shine!

Channel 8's campus drama "Let It Shine" ended its run today. While it hasn't got the most incredible script, it has been great fun coming home every week-ning to relive my school days through the experiences of the student-and-teacher cast of the drama. Great job Felicia! She's now my favourite Mediacorp female artiste (if I decide to have one, that is :)

The passing of Xinyu, and her determination to fulfill her dream to take part in the songwriting competition which she eventually won, sent me thinking.

If I had just one more week to live, what is the one dream that I can accomplish before I pass into the nether world?

Choy, choy ... too much fantasy on TV and off.

On TV: Elvin Ng on "Happily Ever After" as Cowherd is the only reason I am refusing and shall refuse till ... ermm ... maybe well around my birthday, to budge from the prime position in front of our dear TEAC TV set come 9pm every weeknight. No compromise ok ...

And ooh, for my own enjoyment more than anybody else's, a collage of Elvin's appearance at Compasspoint on 4 Feb on a Mediacorp CNY roadshow cum promotion tour for "Happily Ever After" below. It was the first time I saw Elvin in the flesh and truth betold, all the speculation of just how gorgeous he was, WAS TRUE.

Off TV: Elledragon finally materialises in the form of a well, dragon, a sweet she-dragon (as I would have her :) that I laid eyes on and picked up without any second thoughts last week (3 Feb) from Taka.

Oh, and finally, all my poor toys who have been cooped up in the giant Disney plastic bag for the past year or so, are out on the shelf! And I gave dearest Sammy a good wash yesterday, he's shining white (well, almost) like he should.

Hmm ... all these shining moments have more than made up for the lacklustre mood at work. Elaine and I have been talking about moving on for a while. Difference is, she's having a couple of chances to do so and me ... sigh. Guess I have too specific an aim to be a writer, especially with Mediacorp, that every round of JobsDB scanning has been futile thus far. Not that the current work is so bad but I have yet to live my dream of being a writer - an entertainment writer. So I shall not concede defeat yet.

I will always remember that David Ogilvy only began his journey to become the great ad-man that he was when he was 38.

ALRIGHTY! New year is here, and with the Year of the Pig, dragons are promised great fortune (including in the arena of <3 )

~ HAPPY THOTS HAPPY THOTS ~ 猪您新年快乐 ~

525,600

I've been wanting the RENT soundtrack ... got it, finally!

525,600 minutes (how do you measure a year)

As I wrap up the 10th day into the new year, and chilling to RENT in the comfort of ma chambre, I wonder - how have the years in the new millenium measured up?

2000: FLIGHT
Year I took flight for the first time. Yup, my first flight into the adult working world, first flight on a rewarding journey in the media industry and first AIRPLANE travel to destination Bangkok! A short one, but good enough for the maiden flight of someone whose furthest destination, up to that point, was Singapore. First time I ever owned an international passport, and first time I lost a passport too (keeping my fingers crossed, it will be the last!). A great start to great travel tales in the years to come!

2001: DISCOVERY
My second flight was to Europe in Feb, 2 months after my maiden flight. I was lucky! And of course, being the waghalsig that I was (though I had yet to discover the meaning of the word despite being in Germany), I didn't think it too difficult to travel solo. After scouring the Alps with Allen and Chit and the faithful Opel, I packed my bags in August for the U.S.A. to fulfill my American Dream - to attend a NSYNC concert! The concert brought me to US-Mexico bordertown El Paso, Texas. The bigger American Dream got me round to Orlando, Florida - and the Walt Disney World. Boston spellbound me with its old-town charm; New York City was a last minute addition because I wouldn't have been to the U.S. of A without a trip to the Big Apple, the City that doesn't sleep, would I?

That day - Sep 11, 2001, I saw the great city brought to its knees, me to my tears. I witnessed senseless revenge, I saw millions pull their spirits up and generosity flow. I saw the most amazing sight of selflessness in a time of great adversity, a glimmer of hope in humankind, especially those who have long been labeled selfish individuals hot on the heels of material pursuit in the sinful labyrinths of megalopolises. I discovered people.

2002: CONQUER
A friend and I spent a lovely May morning on the highest peak of Southeast Asia - the Kinabalu. I brought home some Australian abalone on a trip to the Gold Coast, something for Grandma, a rare delicacy that she hardly ever tasted, if she ever did...

2003: LOSS
The saddest year of my life. As I watched Adrien Brody collect his Oscar for The Pianist, I received a phone call that informed me of Grandma's fall. I knew that was it. Hardly any elderly could survive a fall, even one as tough as Grandma. She passed away on Aug 12, 1.30pm. If I had one regret, it was not going home to see her over the National Day weekend because we didn't want to brave the "long-weekend crowd". I think I'm still in a state of denial. I haven't been too eager to go home these days; I'd rather my parents come visit more often. I'm losing ties with my birthplace.

2004: AWAKENING
The year I got my priorities right. I quit my super-tedious, time-eater job. Went home, learned to drive, spent time with my family, wrote, dabbled with graphic and multimedia design, traveled. Simply doing things at my own pace, in my own interest. Things that used to rank far down the to-do list when work was king. I guess this year the commoners rule!

2005: ANXIETY
I crept into the material world again. Slowly. But at a quicker pace, my savings were seeping away. I needed a regular source of income; freelancing was cool but terribly unstable. Yet, finding the one satisfying job proved to be a real challenge.

2006: RETURN
Return to full-time work. April. This time, with a design consultancy. Product design was an entirely new area, but Trends was not. It was close to heart. The travels that came with the job were too. Except I was expecting more editorial-based responsibilities, but as the year rounded out with much restructuring of the department and individual roles, it seemed I was being nudged into my old role of producing.

2007: UNCERTAINTY
The year kicks off with butterflies in the stomach of various breeds. Professional, relationships, dreams, life. 11th day into it, I'm curious how the next 511,200 minutes will measure up.

{Exciting!}