Cairo Quikpost

Good morning! Haha ... I would probably have woken up at around this time if I were in Singapore, but now that I'm in Cairo, I've not gone to bed yet, thanks to this 1-hour wireless Internet card that I bought so that I can send some document back to office. But weirdly, this is one of those rare moments when I think my job isn't so bad actually (despite 12-hour fieldwork days here in Cairo!). I'll tell you why.

1) The city is beautiful. Even the hotel we are staying in is very nice. It is by no means the best in the city, but it's got a gorgeous compound.

2) The people are beautiful. They really are very charming! The women are pretty and many of the guys are very good-looking. Even our hotel waiters are cute (though they could be from elsewhere in the region).

3) We have a maniac driver taking us to our second fieldwork everyday (we do two a day). It's scary but exhilarating at the same time. I sort of relish it, especially with the window open and my face gets a good beating from the sandy wind.

4) People have breakfast at 1 pm, lunch at 5 pm and dinner at 10 pm. Imagine the horror on our local contact's face when we wanted to go for lunch at 12 noon. Haha. So today, we had lunch at 4 pm, to live like the Cairenes do. We had this popular east-west fusion of Egyptian fare called the koshary.

5) Government workers go to the office at 10 am, have breakfast, chit chat, type some documents and go home at 2.30 pm. Imagine the swell of envy in us when we heard that!

6) Everyone we meet seems so happy; laughter is quick. But our local contact says, that's laughing in the face of adversity. Everyone has their own problems that they keep inside while they put on a brave front with smile and laughter as shields. We should all take a leaf out of their book. The day will be better if we keep an optimistic outlook, like having sheesha in an open-air cafe nestled in the sprawling low-cost housing area for Cairo's poor. I'm quite affected by this respondent from the lower class that we had today. A bright kid, just poor. I hope his plight will not be like that of those charming kids in Karachi who get stuck in the rut they've been born into for life.

Will post pictures another day.

Karachi Doors

Karachi is a city of doors. Having been here only a mere 5 days, I have experienced tremendous amount of generosity from the people of Karachi. From the very rich to the very poor, doors are always open to us. People welcome us with the most sincere albeit shy smiles. Drinks and food were always served, as though by magic because some of our appointments were very last minute. Yet, doors of opportunities seem to be closed to the poor. The different classes don't mix, so the rich keep opening the right doors of fortune, while the poor get stuck in the rut forever. A sad fact of life that is also true for many other developing nations.

Two instances brought me close to tears. Both are of the so-called C or D class of Karachi. This means very poor folks. Yet when we visited, they were generous in their limited means to make us feel welcome and well taken care of. The man in this picture (top left) served us some local snacks and tea from this tiny teashop (which is funnily called a hotel here), at which our local guide panicked and told us to NEVER accept food from anyone from that area. Even Karachiites will not eat there. She must mean Karachiites like her who hail from good families that live in spacious double-storey bungalows.

All the time we were there in the C-class area, we were constantly chided for venturing two houses too far because our safety became of paramount concern. We felt perfectly at home! Sure, there were curious stares, some kids wanted to have their photos taken, there were friendly greetings which we couldn't, of course, understand. I observed that it was really our guide who was uncomfortable with all that attention, which I cannot blame her for, for many of the Pakistani women we've encountered are careful about being looked at or photographed.

The other impressionable instance was this family that lived in a small house, all 7 of them. This is a family of daughters (4 or 5) and only one son. This is consistent with Pakistan's population census - there are more women here than men, although we only see men on the streets, seriously! This was a last minute appointment. When we arrived, I was impressed at how neat the place was in spite of its lack of space. I was deeply touched when their little boy turned up with bottles of chilled Pepsi, which his mom promptly served us. This poor family got us Pepsi, cold ones, which must be such a luxury in this hot climate!

Today, there's a strike going on in conjunction with the arrival of the Chief Justice in Karachi. They are protesting power troubles. Damn right, that's a problem that really needs fixed. Everyday we're here, there are blackouts. According to the locals, power outtages in the city area can last up to hours, but it takes days before the elecricity comes back on in the rural areas. In this 38-degree hot weather, that must be seriously frustrating. Coming from a childhood where power outtages were quite common (though definitely not as frequent as here in Karachi), I can really appreciate the inconvenience.

Well, so thanks to the strike, I am holed in this hotel room, trying to get some work done but I thought I'd do an update first. We move on to Cairo tomorrow. Sigh, what a pity we see a day less of Karachi, and alas, no opportunity for shopping. Maybe I'll return someday, Isya'Allah (a Muslim expression meaning by God's grace)

A Tale of Two Muslim Cities

This time tomorrow, I'll be in Karachi, Pakistan. Kinda excited really because I'm finally doing some real work and not just tiresome logistics. Oh, and every opportunity away from the stifling office is priceless.

I've never been to Karachi, or anywhere in Pakistan, and I don't care whatever people say or however the West must label the city "the most dangerous in the world", from what I've seen and read about Karachi, it's lovely. Because it's a mysterious, strange, new country - oooh ... it's highly appealing to me.

Neither have I been to Egypt nor its capital Cairo. We move on from Karachi to the Land of the Pharoahs on 13 May (Mother's Day - please remember to celebrate with Mom!).

If I haven't miscalculated and really, really keeping my fingers and toes crossed, we have a free day at the end of our stay in Cairo. That means a possible day trip to Giza! It's only some 25 km from downtown Cairo ... yeah, the Pyramids, the mighty Sphinx ... I have to see them or else I'll leave a piece of myself behind in Cairo, to be picked up on the next trip ...

Hey, this would only be the second wonder of the world I've seen, if I do eventually. The first was the Grand Canyon - so breathtaking that any attempt to describe it with my limited vocabulary is contemptuous.

Looking forward to the same effect at Giza.

*pray hard*

d(>.<)b

So inviting!

Home Sweet Home

Happy labour day! This day only comes once a year ...

... but fortunately, my home is always welcoming, with the soft bed (and the soft toys that live right next to mine) always beckoning and ushering my tired soul into dreamland ...

After a long and hard day's work, ahhhh ...

Snaps are unedited, from my new Sony Ericsson W880i (yes, I've gone over to the dark side :). Only 2MP but I'm quite happy with the picture quality.

987 FM Celeb Control: Elvin Ng

Finally!!! I thought Shan had forgotten or deliberately exclude Elvin from his podcast list cuz the last time I checked, he had every other Celeb Control episode except the one featuring Elvin.

... enjoy enjoy enjoy ...

d(~.~)b

Part 1

Part 2

P.S.: Hmmm ... strange. Just checked the 987 FM Shan Wee podcast page and the podcast is still not there ...

Off To Jakarta Tomorrow ...

... only for 2 days. And hence begins the gruelling fieldwork of this super exciting multi-country research and film project we call "Across Asia".

Like its namesake, lots of travelling required. Really, I won't mind country-hopping at all if the timeline is not so squishy. Oh well, I'll have to settle for 2 countries then. Hope it'll be Egypt and Pakistan.

Hmm... whatever the combination is, wish there's Egypt in there somewhere. Will really love to see the land of the pharoah, although I highly doubt the chance to sneak some moments off to the pyramids. We'll just have to see.

I'd love to go to Korea too ... and I'm kinda excited about Jakarta. So near yet so far. This will be my first time in the city. Any strange city appeals to me.

And I'm already thinking of the air-conditioned single hotel room with a soft bed that caresses my fatigued muscles and the plump pillows that cradle my brain after an intensive week.

Only in preparation of an even more hectic schedule, all the way till June. Sheesh ...

J'adore Babar

... not that I know any other French elephant, but yeah, Babar is my favourite French elephant, and one of the few cartoons that I adore outside Disney's.

My first encounter with Babar was bitter. Well, none to do with the character or the show, but I was down with food poisoning, thanks to some chicken rice balls that I ate (my grandma was ill too). I've since shunned those things, no matter how famous they've become around the world. I just refuse to eat them.

So funnily now, even as I think of the bitterness of food poisoning, I am smiling, reminiscing the first episode of Babar and the little orphan elephant who was adopted by Madame and raised in Paris to finally return to the jungle to reclaim the throne.
[the story of Babar]



I was in Mulhouse, France when I picked up a set of Babar figurines from a local toyshop. In my haste, alas, i picked the set with Arthur, Celeste's brother, not the one with Flora. It's really strange how they even had such varieties. Well, anyway, I gotta return to France soon to find Flora and complete Babar's family.

McDull Career

Haha ... innocently reflective of what I'm going through now.

Dull = Career

明星好帮手~.~黄俊雄

Woo hoo!!! It's the weekend!!!

And I Had A Bad Day ...

The little boy jumps his own shadow. Then he tries to run from it. Next, he chases it.

Finally, he turns around and smiles at me. A sweet end to a rough day.

Tuesday was utterly bad for me. The day began with this totally uncalled for email from our head of department to the research manager in response to his suggestion that we should relook at certain project objectives to realign some changes which have happened recently. A sincere recommendation met with malicious backlash.

We had a long talk on Monday. He was already at the point of snapping. But he was also totally unsure which path he should take - go or stay. He's a foreigner so that means a lot of complications for his residency status if he walks out of this job and fails to find another before his social visit pass expires. He cannot afford this with his whole family depending on his salary. So when we parted, he was more for a wait-and-see approach, even in spite of his wife's advice to quit because it is obvious he is in immense work-induced agony.

On Tue morning, he told me he had typed his resignation letter the previous evening but was still hesitating until he opened his mailbox and found that email. That was it. No further consideration. He tendered.

I was flabbergasted. I'm afraid for the multi-country research and filming mega project that has been tossed onto my lap, to be handled by me single-handedly. Gosh, how many parts can I split myself? Am I next in line to be royally screwed?

I'm not sure how to take this. It seems like a great opportunity to prove what I can do (and great on the resume too). For now, she seems fully confident of my ability and our relationship has been placid so far. My only fear is that there were people between me and her who were getting screwed and once they are removed (like R will soon be), the missile will have a clear line of fire towards me. Guess I should just do my job dutifully for now, complete the project and then take flight to dodge the missile.

R's departure is definitely a loss to the company. To the department and all of us who could have learned so much from him had he been given the chance to perform the tasks that his job description had prescribed for him but never enforced. He's definitely capable but alas, it goes unappreciated by the people at the helm of the organisation.

Worse, he's not the first. There was a fabulous editor whom our previous manager coaxed from a renowned magazine. He left 2 months after being screwed (I try not to use this word but there doesn't seem to be an equivalent in the vocabulary) real bad by the same people. A fine lady psychologist left 4 months into the job, citing differences with the same people, among other things (although we have no doubt the former played the biggest part).

This must not be a good for where this corporate ship is headed. Maybe it is really time for me to jump ship. Funny, even LG who had been so determined that he would stay for at least a year confided during lunch that he's extremely fatigued and contemplating the 'q' word.

Apparently, the brewing problem has not gone un-noticed. The GM spoke to a few of us to gather feedback on 2 'problematic' persons within the department. One is our head, the other the project scheduler, both very inflexible personalities that have caused crossfire. Seems like there's a consensus from the info that GM has gathered. He mentioned he would discuss the problem with big boss and improve the morale of the team. Sigh ... I wonder if I can stand to wait and see if things would finally change for the better ...

Luckily, aside from 'Peter Pan' whom I met on the way home, I had a good time watching "Before We Fall In Love Again" by Malaysian director James Lee. One of the Executive Producers is Yasmin Ahmad, my film-making hero :)



This is the first part of a trilogy, screened free at the Goethe Institute. The second part, "Things We Do When We Fall In Love", is on the film fest's main programme.

Although I found the actions a tad too slow, the story developed at a steady pace with interesting, hilarious and suspenseful twists. It's wonderful, the way the film-maker captures little nuances that mean nothing to the average person, magnify them with the camera lens and voila, you suddenly realise just how funny you've never looked at things this way and you laugh and you laugh and you laugh ...

Like the scene at the travel agency. Those airline standees are so common; they are often found in several places at travel agencies - behind the counter or in front, outside or inside the main door, in the waiting area. But when you put them all next to each other, with a couple of courteous agents also in that genteel pose behind the counter (because courtesy rules in the service industry), it is an image so bone-tickling that the entire room erupts in laughter.

Today was peaceful. It's good to see a more relaxed version of R. The past few weeks, his brows were always knitted in a frown. I'm happy for him. Hope I'll be able to say so much for myself soon. Very soon.

Did You File Your Taxes? :P

.click to read.

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.