Tuesday 31 January 2006

Some random stuff

1) Was sitting at this spot earlier today and thought it looked a bit different outside the kitchen windows. Later I walked to the windows and realised the trees outside had been felled. It means they're making way for the upgrading works! :)

2) I felt most weird watching Geisha. It's one thing reading a story set in a non-English speaking country in English, and quite another watching it!

3) Yesterday was the first time in my life that I went to town on the second day of CNY. Even in the shopping malls, some shops remained closed. The coffee shop downstairs is still closed cos it's run by Malaysians who have all gone back home for CNY. GOOD, cos the whole bunch of them stay in the unit next door and are very noisy every night, not to mention the cigarette smoke that floats in, yucks!

4) Mother just dumped five red packets into my lap, all from relatives and friends who came visiting yesterday while I was out. One was from this cousin, obviously reused cos the glue was loose and the money actually fell out of the bottom as I tried to open from the top! I don't mind recycling red packets but come on, glue it properly! Ok, I'm quite biased against this family - I never want to be around when they come by.. Anyway, loot of $226 this year - happy :p

5) Friend was saying how guys would only treat her like a little girl and nothing more cos of her appearance, and wondered if she should change. I had similar thoughts, cos guys treat me like one of them sometimes! But if I were to change, then I wouldn't be mf anymore! Scary thought, to be mf and yet.. not mf.. Hmm..

6) I chose to ignore Mother's nagging over my drinking last night. And I'll never tell her I used to drink a lot more! My tolerance was better last time, likely cos I had a lot more fats back then :p Well, better to learn my limit now than later! I was thinking about it just now and realised I probably wouldn't want to lose control over my drinking anymore; am getting to the age when such behaviour seems rather unbecoming..

7) Renewed reading list, in order of priority:
Everlasting Regret - difficult to read but must finish that!
The Magic of Thinking Big - something I wish to check out..
The World is Flat - another one that sounds interesting
Memoirs of a Geisha - relegated to lower priority but it remains
Japanese text - must practise! On alternate nights when I don't have my retainers on, cos I lisp a bit with my retainers :p

8) 8 items today, just for CNY luck :p I feel that I haven't had enough CNY goodies this year - told you this is one weird CNY! Think I'll go grab a bit now!

CNY 2006

It feels strange. CNY arrived rather suddenly cos the week before had been totally hectic. And now, it's the last day of the holidays!

The first day with Grams was quite unlike previous years. The lunch was still the same, we sat elbow to elbow eating from the hot pot - literally kuei sio! But after that, we didn't play very much. Played a bit of Game of Life with the cousins. Then some left by mid afternoon. Yan had to go to her godmother's place some time in the pm too so I took a nap while waiting for her to come back so we could carry on our girl talk.

A phonecall woke me from my nap. An anonymous call. I was groggy from sleep but I found the voice familiar. Then it dawned - Kofi! Goodness, I was so shocked! He called to say happy new year - thanks man! :)

Oh, I was traumatised by Hui - she called me mama! =( Wa liao, I never knew I had this 8 year old daughter! I refused to acknowledge her greetings until she called me jiejie. But once I turned to her, she called me mama-jiejie *faint* And with a smile too adorable to ignore! Truly the baby of our family :)

My nose decided it wasn't happy with me for some reason towards the evening so I slept quite early. Woke early for a jog the next day, cleared my nose, phew!

Did some work until lunch when I had to get ready for all the visiting. CY came and watched me do my make-up etc. Paiseh, girl! Was too slow yesterday :p Then we walked to her place mid afternoon. Relooked our photos from Taiwan and laughed over some stuff again. She also tried to tempt me to go for Singapore Idol! But I prefer to sing Mandarin songs leh.. And I don't fancy queueing the whole day to register for audition. Think the system is crap - since people can sign up online, can't the system allocate audition time instead of asking all the wannabes to queue for a first-come-first-serve audition??

Walked over to Ker's place after that - many of my friends stay around me! He had an open house - I think I shall not have anything of that sort; tough to host people who don't know one another..

Rushed back to put down the mandarin oranges before dinner with KLK. Tok passed by my neighbourhood on his way to town so came by to give me my birthday present - thanks! :)

Na, YS, Kok, MS, Tok and I squeezed at a seat for four cos two were quite late. Only remember one part of our conversation: would you go out with an ugly person? Tok shared that in a seminar he attended, only one girl listed looks as one of top five criteria for a partner. I said she was the only honest girl around. I'm honest too, hee hee.. So they asked me if I would still hold my stand at 30. How about 35? 40? Then YS said they should ask if an ugly guy would ask me out at 40.. $%^&*#$%^&!!

Anyway, we left the restaurant when YX arrived. Kok went back - poor guy had to work today - while the rest of us headed for dbl-O. It was very fun! Drinks were so damn cheap at $3 per shot that we just downed a number before hitting the dancefloor. Results? Two rather pissed girls. Don't know about Na but I could still do differentiation - I've never been good at integration so don't ask me! Strange, every time I show the slightest sign of being tipsy, people will ask me to differentiate or integrate. Is it cos of my maths degree or is it cos we are a bunch of nerds?? :p

I felt quite ok after a couple of burps (heh!) except that I was losing my motor skills. But Na was feeling rather bad so we left. I shared a cab with Tok while MS gave the rest - all westerners - a lift. Five seconds in the cab and I felt truly sick. Had my head down all the time trying to control motion sickness made worse by the drinking while hearing Tok talking with the friendly (he sounded friendly) uncle who said something about penalty of don't-know-how-much should I puke - thought he said it like it happened to him every day..

Anyway, I got back safely without puking in the cab. But I did puke in the end. I was going to change when I felt it coming. I walked slowly (couldn't move faster) to the toilet, recalled with dread the last time I puked from over drinking at Dol's birthday party of four drunk girls, bent over and BUAAAH! Yucks.. Made myself drink some juice to get rid of the smell. Then I stripped down to my underwear and slept, but somehow I managed to sms CY to cancel KTV before that!

Going out soon to watch Geisha with CY - backup plan since I couldn't sing now. Later shall do some work before a jog in the park again. Then it will be a good night's rest before resuming normal working hours from tomorrow!

PS: Strangely, I didn't take pictures this year, hmmm..

Friday 27 January 2006

Let me grumble!!

I was damn pissed earlier on. After dinner, I was sitting on a low table packing some stuff quietly on my own when the stupid bitch hit the table as she threw herself onto the sofa next to it.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO SHOCKED IN MY LIFE. The noise, the impact - I felt like something got stuck in my chest. It took me a while to realise what happened and I turned to her only to see her sniggering away at my shock, not the least bit sorry! Of course I shouted at her! But guess what, she shouted back and louder with that stupid face squeezed tight and red!

Fuck, kena a big shock and then kena scolded somemore?!

I had to sing along to a whole CD before I managed to get the shock and some of the anger out of my system. The loud singing helped purged whatever that was stuck in my chest. But I was still angry. I ironed my clothes as I watched the 9pm show.

Still pissed as I'm writing this.

Some might know, I'm not particularly close to my siblings, esp the bitch, two years my junior. Before you give me all that shit about siblings must be close blah blah, hey I didn't choose to have her as blood relation; was a stroke of misfortune.

And I don't forgive easily. Still remember some time in sec, she actually slapped me for changing radio stations and I couldn't fight back cos she is physically bigger; I knew my odds.

I stopped talking to her since then. Any communication between us has been out of necessity, unless I feel charitable. Found her a bigger nuisance after I came back, I can't stand the things she does, the crap she says - I just can't stand her!

1) I'm reading in the shared room at night. She walks in and demands that I switch off the lights so she can sleep. It's still freaking early lor, cos Mother's still watching TV! Naturally, I read on. So, "may all the mosquitoes bite you and you itch to death if you don't switch off the lights!" or "else I'll kick you!" How my blood boils! How evil!

2) But she will watch VCD until late at night if she likes. And guess what, the TV is right next to my bed where my head lies. Fuck.

3) It is normal that she's in front of the TV when I come back late at night. Tired, I'll want a quick shower before sleeping but once she sees me getting ready for the shower, she'll dash to use the toilet. Wtf?!

4) And she is the one taking super long showers lor! Even Mother complains.. Using her "chong liang shou", no doubt.

5) TV is her best friend. One Sat, she said she was bored and asked me to watch her Jap drama VCD. Why should I watch her VCDs when I had my Kenshin? When I told her to buzz off and watch by herself, "I just finished watching." Huh? Then why did she ask me to watch?! "So I can watch it again while you watch, else Mother will nag me for re-watching!" Pls, get a life!

Now the brother.. At a bbq, cousins were asking why YQ couldn't join us. Well, what to do? One likes to watch TV, one likes to sleep! He is a true chip off the old freaking block! Every morning, his alarm will wake everyone but him, MZ will yell to wake him, Mother will nag to wake him. Then he will get up really s l o w l y . . . Sloth! I've said before, haven't I? That sloth is the greatest sin!

It's little consolation that they're not violent.. A friend's sister threw IRONS - the iron-and-ironing-board irons - at her siblings, and pushed the TV off the stand when she did not get her choice of programme! But MZ is close enough, so ya, very little consolation indeed..

I'm glad I'm getting out of this place, and when I'm back, I'll have a safe haven called "my own room".

Wednesday 25 January 2006

Education..?

mf: He said he seldom saw me in a skirt, but I only recall seeing him at most twice before today! At least he's quite cute :p
Sito: You should say "you usually see me in nothing" *snigger*
mf: Um, no..
Sito: Why not? Your pipes need cleaning..
mf: .. *thought enters head* Haha! Say that again!
Sito: .. Your pipes need cleaning..?
mf: Pipe. *hahaha* The others *hahaha* are *hahaha* one way only!!

How warped *.* But hey, that's english and bio combined lesson for the less enlightened! :p

Fish, another fish, pink

After that fish died, YQ wasted no time filling up the tank again, this time with small small fish, tetra neons or something, plus a couple other slightly bigger fish. They're actually quite pretty under UV light.



He also decorated with all these weeds and ornaments, not possible previously cos that old fish was much bigger.

Can't help feeling weird looking at the old man in the boat. He was supposed to be part of the landscape thing, with the pretty bridge and the kelong hut. But UNDER THE WATER? He's a dead fisherman *.* And he died grouchy and ugly and true to his trade:



The blessing on the sail obviously didn't help..

And talking about fish, Kel sent me this picture a while ago, "this pic is very you"



So is it a mf-ishy fish or am I a fishy mf..?

Apparently, the association between mf and this fish was made based on the colours - pinkish. I suppose people associate me with pink cos

1) I wear pink stuff - it's pretty and easy to wear and match with other pieces
2) If I were to buy a car, it will be in shocking pink - cos I want something different from the boring black, blue and champagne cars you see every two seconds
3) I like the Japanese language - but pls delink me from all the largely pink kawaii culture. My primary trait is not the pink kawaii type *.* And for the record, I didn't take another O-level subject to be kawaii!

I suppose some people also assume pink to be my fav colour. But if you were to ask for my fav colour, I won't say pink - note that this blog isn't even pink.. In fact, don't think I have a single colour preference; it all depends on the object. Eg I like pink cos it's sweet, but I won't insist on a pink mug, or pink cat, or pink - I don't know - pink cookies! Or I like red cos I find it sexy, but you won't find me wearing red from hairclip to toe nails.. If I have to choose, the most pleasing colour for me will be this particular shade of yellow, bright and light, like a bed of daffodils or daisies bathed in sunlight - nice :)

Tuesday 24 January 2006

My Lovely Sam-Sun

That's the title of the Korean drama I was talking about earlier in Chinese. Mother was watching it last weekend so I watched too. And the more I watched, the more I liked Sam-sun, the plump girl who made lovely cakes and stuff!

She had no qualms expressing her every thought and emotion, and fighting for what she wanted. Then she talked in the most matter-of-fact manner and with the straightest face even though it was so funny at times. So adorable, I like :) But I also admit I like her cos I'm "huggable" and like to bake cakes too :p

Anyway, found in my old lappy the recipe to the choc cake I mentioned before, the one which I finished (3/4) in an afternoon:

1) Preheat oven to 350F (about 180C?) and dump a tray of hot water at the bottom of the oven
2) Blend these:
200g choc - should be dark choc
180g butter
80g sugar
3) Blend 4-5 tablespoons of flour into four beaten eggs
4) Blend everything and pour into a lined pan to bake for 25-30min
5) Leave it to cool before decorating with icing sugar if you like. Best eaten chilled.

Saturday 21 January 2006

Lunch in the pantry

There was this day a couple of weeks ago when I came back from lunch at TPY with an egg tart for Joyce Darling. Went to her desk - third behind mine - but it was empty!!!

She has suddenly moved =(

Actually she was posted to another division since early Dec but the physical move was to be later.

But glad that a number of us still meet for lunch, especially Tues yong tau foo, Thurs prawn mee and Fri balls (fishballs, but we like to say balls :p) In fact the regulars are alumni of my division, like LC and Joyce Darling! Besides bitching over articles in Urban - eg deciding who is urban/ suburban/ undecided/ uncategorised, and some time ago we were baffled by a write-up on weird men's briefs (the adjective describes the briefs but, oh well) - we also draw on weird/ funny/ corny stuff we hear from a friend's uncle's colleague's mother..

Missed lunch with them the whole week, and won't see them until next Thurs, sighs.. Eh, a relaxing lunch is key to productive work in the pm ok.. Also motivation for the am :p

The most recent bout of laughter was a prawn mee and Urban day by six of us giggling girls. Siok shared an anecdote from her cultural exchange Asean+Japan trip. They were in a Japanese school and talking about sex education. The Japanese teachers were asking how teachers in Singapore would refer to "penis", as in what word. Guess what some people said? KU-KU-JIAO! (or chiao if you're more ang mo)

Omg, how horrible! Now, a part of Japan will think Singaporeans call the male reproductive organ kukujiao/chiao!

PS: My old lappy is starting to fall apart.. The Z key came off *.*

久病成医?

那天早上起床时,就听到某韩剧女主角的一段话。我不知道是哪部韩剧。因为电视在床旁,早上和晚上都零零碎碎的看了些许,象是那女的不知怎的欠了那男的一笔钱,而他便要求与她“契约恋爱” 以摆脱家人的纠缠。典型韩剧吧。可是我蛮喜欢那女生的,有点儿胖,又喜欢烘蛋糕,象我!:p (就连手机铃声都是一样的!Samsung嘛……)

在“契约”初期一次不如意的早晨,她一边烘蛋糕,一边想:

身体对心说:“我生病的时候有医生医疗。你生病时,有谁为你治病?”
心回答身体:“我生病了,只有自己可以把自己医好。”
有些人心痛的时候会喝酒,有些人会唱歌……我心痛了,就想早起,到厨房做糕点。没有比这样更香甜的医疗方法了。

我一直记着这段话。我想,每个人都有自成一套的所谓coping mechanism吧。留学时期就已经发现家务和烹饪对我来说是一种therapy。我喜欢把桌上的文具等重摆,老爱花上大把时间小心翼翼的把每一件衣物熨好烫好,更热衷于下厨。

记得最后那年,考试压力特别重,因此特别用功。在一个没有心情K书的午后,我烦得要命,就跑到厨房做了一个巧克力蛋糕。因为是临时想做的,冰箱里的牛油不够,我用了近半杯的菜油取代,是一个无敌发胖毒药!而我竟因为心烦,当场就吃下了四分之三!(开动前已分了四分之一给在场的邻居。如果她不在,恐怕我就把整个蛋糕吞了!)

又一次,为dissertation而烦,把冰箱里的食物都拿出来煮了!一个人,五六道肉啊菜啊,眼见吃不完了,幸好当时寄宿我家的朋友回来,陪我吃了一大半,剩下的都留着当隔天的午餐。(吃,也是一种疗程。可是东西吃多了会腻,煮菜做家务却不会;至少我对煮菜家务还没腻!)

前阵子,我常在周末下厨,煮些意大利面,回味留学时代的感觉,也在繁忙的空档里自得其乐一番。刚过去的圣诞,在朋友家大煮一顿,虽然没有象以前那样摆得老大一桌,也乐的很。

(I’m too damn slow typing in Chinese!)

Lately, I’ve been having depressing and sometimes morbid thoughts. Or maybe these evil thoughts crawl into my head, a result of a weak mind..? But no excuse for myself! Despite an exhibited optimism to the world at large, I must admit that my innate pessimism (think my sad CDs which I love so much) is beginning to manifest itself and way too often these days.

I’m glad, though, that I have some tools to make myself feel better, to clear my mind. Although I seldom have the chance to cook in the house these days (time and poor adaptability to using only one lonely hob), I make it a point do my own ironing every week or two, weekend mornings, when people are taking the chance to sleep in. This is healthier than years back, when, as a child, I used to dig my fingernails into my arms when I was really upset or angry - repressed kid, no loud outburst, everything was inward. Anyway, that was a passing phase..

Point is, I don’t want to walk around looking like the world owes me something - if I do, you have to hit me on my head! 敲敲敲敲我的头! – or as if I’m the saddest person in the world, cos I’m not. I want to appear happy so people around me will feel happy too, but to do that, I cannot be unhappy internally. Actually it’s a cycle la: if I make myself look happy, I can infect myself too. Right? Yes, I think so :)

Nvm, yet another random outburst due to fiction...

Ok, I lose!

Yes, I always lose whenever I say I'm busy like hell or some other negative things; I always lose to people who say they are busier or worse off one way or another.

Isn't it strange that they don't say "me too" but "I'm worse/ you can't compare to me". Then I can't say anything about my situation anymore cos it's like so not worth mentioning when there's something else so much worse!

Thing is, making such comparison, specifically saying that you're much worse, doesn't make anyone feel better, even if the intent is to make the first person who complains feel better. The first guy will be like, "you mean this is still not bad ah? I'm freaking stuck/overloaded etc!" And the supposedly worse-off guy is only sinking deeper into shit cos he's thinking I'm the worst-I'm the worst-I'm the worst *.*

All of us are busy or stuck etc in different ways, how is one to compare busy-ness or what??? (Almost wrote business :p) If you want to lament, a better way may be to go "same here!" and start to kao beh together for the sake of kah beh-ing! Just get it out of the system together! :p

Fine, so be it! Everyone is in stickier situations than me! I don't mind losing cos I think, by being in the better situation, I'm the ultimate winner! Yoohoo! mf wins! =D

The rest of P&P

This is waaay overdue! A few more chapters I wish to record here, and I promise, that's it!

Chapter 36, when Elizabeth realised, from Darcy's letter, that Wickham had been the villain. I like the harsh self reproach, tough to admit such brutal truth and discoveries about self.

She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think without feeling she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.

"How despicably I have acted!" she cried; "I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameable mistrust! How humiliating is this discovery! Yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind! But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself."


Chapter 50, after Lydia and Wickham had been found. Reiterates that sometimes you never know what you have until it's gone! I'm rather amused by the part in bold..

Elizabeth was now most heartily sorry that she had, from the distress of the moment, been led to make Mr. Darcy acquainted with their fears for her sister; for since her marriage would so shortly give the proper termination to the elopement, they might hope to conceal its unfavourable beginning from all those who were not immediately on the spot.

*blah blah*

From such a connection she could not wonder that he would shrink. The wish of procuring her regard, which she had assured herself of his feeling in Derbyshire, could not in rational expectation survive such a blow as this. She was humbled, she was grieved; she repented, though she hardly knew of what. She became jealous of his esteem, when she could no longer hope to be benefited by it. She wanted to hear of him, when there seemed the least chance of gaining intelligence. She was convinced that she could have been happy with him, when it was no longer likely they should meet.

*blah blah*

She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was an union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved; and from his judgement, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance.


And finally, Chapter 59, when Elizabeth was summoned to her father after Darcy asked him for her.

Her father was walking about the room, looking grave and anxious. "Lizzy," said he, "what are you doing? Are you out of your senses, to be accepting this man? Have not you always hated him?"

How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, her expressions more moderate! It would have spared her from explanations and professions which it was exceedingly awkward to give; but they were now necessary, and she assured him, with some confusion, of her attachment to Mr. Darcy.

*blah blah*

"Lizzy," said her father, "I have given him my consent. He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse anything, which he condescended to ask. I now give it to you, if you are resolved on having him. But let me advise you to think better of it. I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband; unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage. You could scarcely escape discredit and misery. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life. You know not what you are about."

*blah blah*

"Well, my dear," said he, when she ceased speaking, "I have no more to say. If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have parted with you, my Lizzy, to anyone less worthy."


I've said it before and I will say it again: I like Mr Bennet :)

Bits and pieces..

The whole week was a haze; time flies when I'm busy. I remember that two new female colleagues joined us on Mon; one a marathon runner and the other an am-pro in rumba! Wow.. What did I do on Tues..? Argh! Can't remember!

Wed was a bad day - gastric pain from about 4pm. I don't know why! I had lunch at 1+ and I ate slow so it couldn't be indigestion. It was a mild one so I went for ballroom anyway. But somehow it got a bit worse and I had to sit and watch; couldn't dance cos I couldn't straighten, had to keep bent to comfort my tummy. I rated it a moderate gastric attack by then. Was in pain for about 8hours in all before I slept - had compulsively insisted on finishing up some work I neglected. Thanks all for your concern :) I promise to see a doctor some day! In fact I've just made an appointment for a full medical in Feb..

Talking about health, I received a call one night (can't remember when!) from TTSH to ask me if I would like take part in a study (not clinical trial) to document the use of an immunity drug against dust mite allergy. Of course I do! Anything to cure this! My first visit (out of five in a year and a half) is scheduled a week after CNY. Excited!

Oh, I suddenly remember, Tues was farewell lunch for HK. Dor collated a booklet of things we wrote for him and had FK read out the hilarious poem on the front page - there was a line that says "HK, our division daddy"! Omg..

And Na is back from a work trip in China! She was telling me on Thurs night about what she bought, the food there and the "amazing" toilets - think we dwelt on that last bit for quite a while :p

Yesterday I was supposed to finish up some stuff and almost forgot about our monthly healthy lifestyle activity! I wanted to visit the
NEWater plant very much so I went despite the outstanding work - which was why I worked until freaking 140am last night. But wait, that wasn't a complaint :p The tour was worth it though it was quite short. Good to know something about the water we drink! In fact, I find the experience simply faaantastic! That was the stupid pet phrase of the virtual guide, obviously catered for school kids..

Oh after blogging last night, I received an sms from TC asking me to send his 7pm email back to him cos he had to resend with some amendments. That was like freaking 2am! Just thought it incredible that he would think that I wasn't asleep and that he had assumed I had my lappy with me - the unfortunate thing was that he was actually right on both counts! Anyway, just heard he sent to LH and HK too, so I'm not checking my email anymore, heh heh!

Finally! It feels like CNY!

Just came back from the market. Haven't been there for some time and this CNY season, it was totally transformed! Bright colours of red and gold decoration pieces for sale, the spread of cute little red pineapples and the big ugly green ones, big round piles of lime green pomelos and boxes and boxes of mandarin oranges!

But the most amazing was the good old supermarket - the area outside the store was way bigger than the store itself! Under the canvas sheet was the whole range of CNY goodies in addition to the usual tidbits and everywhere I went I bumped into aunties and uncles trying to buy all they could, since there is only one week to go before the new year.

Mother had bought the goodies earlier; this trip was just part of her normal shopping routine. I had tagged on to get myself some facial foam, which I didn't buy in the end cos it was no longer as cheap as some time ago - I'll go find it in Watson's later..

Then she bought two ugly pineapples to make PINEAPPLE TARTS!! I hope she's making the rolled type - I like :) Oh the guy selling pineapples used this super sharp parang to skin the fruits. I was totally mesmerised watching him cut off the ends of the pineapples like they were paper and then proceed to cut away the rest of the sharp bits. I think he could skin pineapples faster than I could apples *.*

I like going to the market now that I'm older. Suddenly it seems very interesting. The very "heartland" kind of bustling, quite different from the crowds in town. And unlike the designed lightings in town, the colours and sounds in the market are all haphazard, all natural! I regret not having a camera at hand..

As a young kid, I used to fear the market. Too crowded. And I was afraid of slipping in the fish area so I would grab Mother's skirt tightly since her hands would be full. As I grew older, it was safe enough to let me wait outside the wet market while she chose the fish.

One day, I think it was just before CNY 1999, I went to the market with her. No longer the frightful kid but it was too crowded so I waited outside anyway. I was facing the market when I heard someone shouting behind me "lai ah!" Instinct was to turn around to see, right? Imagine my shock when, the moment I turned, this man dashed by right in front of my eyes carrying a BUTCHERED PIG, WHOLE FROM HEAD TO TAIL!!

I could only stare at the thing that just passed less than a metre away. Wow, first time I saw anything like that! The man emerged from the market after a while and continued to ferry gigantic pieces of pork from his truck. Saw three or four in all, thought the colour looked quite different from the packed pork in supermarkets.. Then it struck me that what I saw was the skin colour :p

Told Mother I'm going to make a dish for the eve dinner - homemade meatball stew :) I only saw the finished product on TV while waiting for my lunch one day. It looked good so I must replicate - just cook, pork never goes too wrong!

Yes, I'm getting excited over CNY now :)

Satisfied.. enough

Just finished some work at 140am. Could tune further but I never know when to stop tuning and my brain is fried, I'll make do with less than perfect :)

In the past 6hours, I've been referring to this 43-page report by this old fellow. It's long and it's work but his style of writing made the length seem short and the dry stats interesting. I enjoyed it so much I actually re-read some parts!

Think we cannot be so serious all the time. All the papers I've seen before this are very serious, those that can render your caffeine useless if the contents are not to your taste. Or even if the contents are to your taste!

Recall that when I was using S-plus for stats, I was so crap in it that one day I decided I would read all the tips of the day at one sitting! So I read.. And I discovered, to much delight, that every so often, the Insightful people - they created S-plus or something - will insert something random, like "It always rains in Seattle, stay away. I know, because I work here." (not too certain if the second line exists - could be a figment of my imagination!)

Sleep first, tomorrow - er, daylight - I'll make my absence earlier this week felt! :p

Thursday 19 January 2006

Mad rush

Been mia for a while cos busy. Still busy but someone pissed me off very very much today.

There are a few functions of late that my team is organising for the first time and I'm doing RSVP with Ros. We sent out the invite on 4 Jan and this company has not yet replied though the event is next Mon. Ros called the PA - let's call her J - who said, "I'll get back to you cos I have a lot of things to clear, if you don't mind!"

Huh?! Well, I mind! So later, I called to chase. She sounded totally rude! In all gruesome details:

J: I cannot tell you now! My boss is overseas and I have to wait for her to come back!
mf: This event will take place next Mon *I stressed* and we have to confirm attendance by today. Could you just check her schedule to see if she is even back in Singapore by then?
J: She will be back next week!
mf: The event is on a Monday, would she be back on Monday??
J: She.. will be back on Monday..
mf: Oh.. But even then, can she rush for the lunch meeting if she wants to attend at all?
J: I'm not sure if she will come to the office on Monday and I can't ask her!
mf: *pissed* In that case, I suppose I could take it that she could not attend.
J: You said that, I didn't.
mf: Yes, I said that, cos we had to confirm attendance today. HOWEVER, appreciate if you could inform her that *she tried to interrupt here* IF *I didn't give her the chance* you could just inform her that..
J: Yes I will inform her, bye!
mf: Hang on! I meant to say if you could inform her that we would be like to extend an invitation to her in future since she is unable to attend this session.
J: Ok I will inform her! *click*

Wtf is that kind of attitude?!

1) I don't understand why the secretary of the CEO has no idea when the boss is coming back to office.
2) I don't understand how the secretary could stupidly think that she could RSVP for an event on the day itself. And she wasn't even sure if she would see her boss that day!

Could you imagine how hard it was for me to keep my voice level when talking with her?! Argh!

Anyway, a mini conversation to share, thought was funny/cute/funny.. Oh well..

Boss: Eh you must tell me if you're overwhelmed (with work), otherwise I'll just continue to shoot! Heh..
mf: *blink blink* Ok, then stop now! :p

Truth is, my to-do list is bursting with must-do's. And I just added another item that I wanted to do some day. Just need to finish fighting the fires from all these functions first, yucky.. SY, now I understand what a pain doing such things can be! My other stuff have to give way to the events, sighs..

Friday 13 January 2006

Now we have memes..

Remember all those chain emails, and even the chain letters during the days of snail mail? Sad to say, I was ignorant enough to actually react to one chain letter in pri school. Since then, I spurned everything else. Now I get especially irate at chain emails - oh, and of course, similar ICQ/MSN etc messages saying your account will be deleted if you don't send on blah! Pls! *roll eyes* - that promises happiness and luck etc if you forward it within the next n minutes or to n friends, n being a number you've chosen earlier; I make it a point to delete these chain crap at the end if I like the email enough to forward.

Then today, I received a tag from Nacente - for a meme! Honestly, I read his words as if he wrote Catalonian - huh?? But there's always good old google, which gives
this in addition to M-W's definition. Then I found a whole website on meme - I dare not read too much cos I'll just end up with loads more fluff to write here! (Not that that's bad - fluff, that is - but, as you can probably see, I already have a shitload of my life to impose on the regulars here!)

This sounds like fun and better, no endnote saying I would die 3million deaths or not meet my prince charming if I don't follow it. And as someone writes on his/her blog, "no obligation on the victims" - one is supposed to tag five others.. I'll play! But I'm not tagging anyone - you may tag yourself and attribute it to me if you like, heh!

Here go my five weird habits:

1) OCD: what's new? Next!

2) I break into song. I just do, and without warning, when I've got the radio or my mp3s, or when a tune takes root in my head.

3) It's easy to sweat in SG weather and I hate it. But there are times when I would love to sweat it out and then enjoy the ache for the next few days *.*

4) Exhibitionist streak: can't wear my clothes when my skin is still damp, so I walk out of the shower in my Tasmanian Devil towel to change in the room. And I change in front of the women in the house sometimes. I hate it but they want to watch VCD and won't pause unless one of them wants to go poopoo..

5) Feet fetish, or something close: they should never be raised above the knee; they stay on the floor! Must wipe my feet before putting them on bed, even after showering cos the floor is not too clean (bro's footprints etc)

6) I smile at nothing. I'm walking alone on the streets and quite suddenly, I smile. Sometimes I giggle. Some happy/ funny/ weird thoughts must have found their way into my head somehow..

7) The healthy eating paradox: vegetables must not be swimming in oil, ie no sambal kangkong, no sesame oil or fried onions over oyster sauce! But I take fried chicken and sometimes the skin, and I always eat the skin of roast duck instead of the lean bits. Well, the healthy stuff should be eaten healthy, ie sans oil - that's my rationale!

I know, there are seven instead of five - it means I'm weird and, as the big M says, I'm lovin' it!

Wednesday 11 January 2006

Long birthday weekend

Yup, I said I wasn't going to celebrate it, but some people celebrated it for me anyway! Wrote below over the past few days..

YX took me to dinner at Corduroy and Finch after work on Fri. It must be the most enjoyable dinner for the longest time! Fantastic company, great food, lovely ambience..


Source: Website

We went to The Balcony for drinks after that to carry on our conversation. Quite a cool place except that they seemed short handed cos our bill didn't arrive after 20min of waiting..

Talked a lot man! It was ok in the restaurant cos it was quiet but at Balcony it was too noisy and I must have been shouting without realising cos after a while - in fact, after 3-4hours - I felt a dryness in my throat, a discomfort that could spell the beginning of the usual sore throat..

We talked about JC times, our travels, our work, our discontentment, and what to do in Singapore apart from chilling over kopi or drinks for hours on end :p But eventually, our attention was (almost) totally grabbed by the presence of this fluttering thing among the trees outside, by which I mean a moth! But YX said it wasn't a moth; it was a bat. Then we decided that it couldn't be a bat cos it didn't have the tell-tale winged claws. But YX refused to acknowledge that as a moth cos it was too big! Hey I've seen these flying things since years ago when there were short trees on the road between my place and the MRT station, and moths were breeding like, moths! I once saw a tree infested with caterpillars, and on another tree, a huge adult - length of my palm - was sleeping in the daytime! I resolved to check it out! But first, check out my first present!




Lovely right? I feel happy looking at the cheery thing :) I think YX is always spoiling me.. But a girl needs to be spoilt every so often, heh!

Got back quite late and sleepy, but I spent some time at the kitchen window, observing.. It was about 4am and there were two aunties dispensing parking summons to the naughty ones who did not display their parking coupons! They each spent a lot of time assessing the vehicles whose owners would get a rude shock in a few hours.. Thought it interesting..

Anyway, Sat morning - um, late morning :p - arrived and I set about my task to verify the ID of that living UFO. I still can't believe what I did - I searched for pictures of moths! They completely freaked me out but my resolution kept me going! =(

I looked through all the moths here but found nothing quite similar. Decided to check local websites and found something close. I refuse to have that gross picture on this space so check it out here. Chanced upon this too, the last photo is damn scary!!!! =(

In any case, I've ascertained that you can find moths of up to 25cm wingspan so the thing we saw could reasonably be a moth! There, I'm satisfied :)

Er, enough, this is not about moths.. Gosh, I'm so totally consumed!

Did nothing in particular on Sat, just MSN and Initial D before mtg Kel and Moh for dinner at Kovan; the planned jogging in between didn't materialise due to the weather.

Random pictures of the PRs in Kel's car, very cute :)





And jang jang! Bookmark from Kel! :) It's at chapter 7 of my Jap text now..



I slept by 1130 cos I wanted to go jogging on Sun am BUT it rained again!! So I lazed in bed for an hour or so, daydreaming at the ceiling, smiling at my Meh, hiding in my blanket, scowling at the rain, thinking of the day ahead, what else? Can't remember now..

Mother was out getting groceries, the other two were still sleeping. Good time to be awake! Put on the music on my old lappy, set up the ironing board and ironed away! It was like the old days at 177A Iffley Road when it was cold outside so I stayed in to do little chores..

It strangely felt like just any ordinary Sun. Except that I had a dinner appointment after ballroom - rare cos I usually rest on Sun for a new work week. This Mon, I was on leave :)

(A bird incident)
It was raining heavily on my way out. Saw a dead mynah on a walkway. But I was feeling sad for the poor thing for only about two minutes, cos two minutes down the path, another mynah was hoping on the sidewalk, shaking away the falling rain now and then and looking as if it was having great fun!

Caught a glimpse of myself in the glass door while waiting for the train - hmmm, I looked slim! Haha! Wonders of the correct match of clothes :p CY and I went to Cartel for dinner before New Asia for more girl talk, more shouting above the din that resulted in a raw throat again.

Something interesting: we've been friends for 15 years but last night was the first time we shared our crushes from our school days! Really made me wonder what we talked about in our teens.. I remember a while ago, they had four middle age actresses in a campaign advert against breast cancer. My reaction was, omg, that would be us discussing preventive measures in twenty years!

Side: Buay tahan!!! As I'm writing this, Mother is listening to the radio. Host is this guy whom I simply buay tahan! And the guy who called in is a weirdo! "I called and called but no answer and I was shouting at the phone and very angry! And I called earlier to leave a msg but it wasn't play blah blah!" Wtf?!

Monday morning was actually clear! But I was too tired to go jogging =( Lazed a bit before packing the few things on my bedside table (it's actually YQ's D&T table cabinet) - looking much nicer and neater now :)

Took pictures of two other presents! The shawl in the lovely pink is from CY, and the game from Ker:



The shawl will likely replace my current pink shawl (the one I brought to Taiwan) in future trips cos the latter is of fragile material and falling apart =( Mother was very excited at the game, strangely! And I accepted her suggestion to bring to play with the cousins in the coming CNY :)

IS and I went shopping at Level One after lunch. It was funny; we wear vastly different sizes cos she is paper thin though taller than me! Sigh, I'm feeling fat again.. The last time I was drenched in sweat was two weeks ago =(

Finally bought a very nice shirt at Zara just before my massage session. The moment I saw it, I knew I would buy it if I could wear it. And if it didn't cost a bomb. It was $75, quite steep but I thought it ok for a shirt that fits me well. That's the way I shop these days. I don't linger too much in one shop cos I look at things very fast, if nothing catches my eye, move on!

The drizzle graduated to a downpour as I made my way on foot to Amore. I arrived in wet sneakers and socks. Oh, the socks were the kind covering only the toes with a bit of elastic stretching to behind the heel. Sito said they were ball pouch - no, not the football ball *.* Mother happened to wash one pair last week (usually I wash them myself) and she didn't know what she was washing - I was amused :p

My therapist Ivy used a different scrub this time - the smell was heavenly.. The shiatsu massage that followed was one of the best. I kept dozing off here and there. When I walked out, I was feeling happy and relaxed and.. a bit drowsy.. And I found that the rain had abated! Dashed to City Hall before the rain had a chance to resurrect and I was in safe shelter, phew!

Next was Pho House with LS, SX, Jon, SW and Yen. Talked about Oxford inevitably. SW had been back since graduation and she said shops had changed, Cornmarket looked different, yet it was like home.. Sighs.. How I miss the feeling of home..

Dwelt a lot on MBTI; SW just went for a course on it. I think I'm more I than E, as in I draw energy from within rather than from others. And I'm confirmed more J than P - recall my OCD :p The other two, um, fuzzy.. SW said Yen was fluff, and clink! Fluff? I like fluff! Cos I'm fluff too! But we are different balls of fluff la; I'm pink :p

All but Yen went on to KTV at Chinatown. Na joined us after her movie. I thought SW sang very well, and she knew so many songs too! Realised I have become a time capsule; don't know many new songs =( I need more radio - different station from Mother though!

Could not talk much on Tues am *.* So I took a picture of these cute stuff from LS and SX:



I was so amazed when LS said the tissue was cute - she usually abhors Hello Kitty! The two round bottles are moisturiser, they smell totally heavenly, and almost yummy..

So this birthday has come and gone. Nothing too special except that with no intent for celebration, I had surprisingly many well wishes. I don't regret that there was no cake (hence no sin :p), and it doesn't matter that Mother forgot my lunar birthday for the first time (I forgot too.. But she decided to forget about MZ's and YQ's too, and make up to us over CNY dinner spread!) I'm just happy that people remembered me and made the effort to text me something nice, even though it goes like, "you're old! OLD!! Haha!"* Um, well, still, you remembered!

* Nah, I made that up :p

Tuesday 10 January 2006

Out with the thrash

Spent the pm in my pyjamas (still in them, and they are dirty now :p) surrounded by piles of school magazines and other miscellaneous stuff and dust. As I flipped through each, I struck them off my "treasure list"; I'm finally willing to give them up after hoarding them for years!

Dumped all my Oxford Union term mags which I never read, sec prize giving ceremony programme booklets (programme booklets! Imagine!), expired warranty cards, two handheld electric fans, old bookmarks, rotting batteries (yucks!) and novel extracts from almost two years ago. Also gave Mother some stuff I never needed - souvenir pens from events (too heavy for me), old bookmarks, souvenir key chains and various dangling mobile accessories with forgotten origins and whose existence I forgot too (and I need no more than one, or at most two, of each!) - to dispose off, give away or something.

Could have dumped a lot more - eg JC notes?! - but I was lazy and did not clear out everything in the bigger cabinet since the stuff at the back had been intact for the past year.. Even then, I only just managed to finish cleaning up. Though it was likely all the before-I-dump-it last read that took up so much time :p

Oh, counted my movie stubs - 106 since I came back some two years ago! And there were some movies whose stubs I forgot to keep.. Can't help remembering that Mother's last movie was when I was in pri 3, ie 17 years ago! ~.~ Anyway, I dumped them all with the school mags and resolved not to keep future movie stubs anymore. It's.. unhealthy..

I must go make myself healthy now, with some food.. Think I'm famished..

PS: Was about to publish when I saw this off Kel's MSN: beauty is only skin deep, ugly.. goes to the bones! Haha! Can't get over it :p

Sunday 8 January 2006

Abuse of mf

MF = baka
Discuss.


* baka means stupid in Jap

KLK were discussing about something when Kel mentioned a new thread on abusing mf. Tok had the cheek to really start a new thread on it! Above two lines were message content, like a freaking GP question..

So.. answer it, I shall!! But don't expect any proper structure as required in exams..

Over the years I have come to understand that I give people the impression that I'm brilliant. The most recent example happened last night over dinner and dessert with Kel and Moh, who mentioned that our class had a greater proportion of single (and very available) persons than other classes at this point in time. Does it have anything to do with ours being a stream class? And that the smart girls were worse off.

mf: I don't think I'm very smart leh..
Kel: That's like insulting our batch of NJCians.. (cos I topped our year, a shared honour with two others, I must add)
mf: But that's only academic! Just need to mug!
Moh: Other people mug too..
Kel: Both la, need to be smart plus mug..
Moh: Ok, let's say there are guys who are less smart!

*pause* Did the little boy next door just call me "auntie" as he walked past my unit?! Omg! I know I'm 26 today but..!

(continued) Oh yes, there are, but there are also many who are smarter than I am. I suppose I could beat everyone flat in my heyday back in school but what's the use of that now that I'm out of school and at work?

I suspect people take me at face value - they think I'm smart cos of my amazing academic record that even I myself am surprised at. I'm going to be pompous and say that I never left the top three positions since pri 6 (3rd, lost by ridiculous margins like 1/400), I graduated top of batch in Sec despite less than perfect score with two A2s in Physics and Jap, and finally, I left the Singapore education system with 8 A1s under my belt, catapulted straight to Oxford on a scholarship.

Perhaps you may now think I'm smart. Otherwise, I thank you, and congratulate you that you aren't fooled by my paper qualifications.

Studying ceased to be my priority in Oxford; I had by then understood that academic excellence alone could not help me survive in the real world. I needed to see the world, to learn more than wave motion and Euler. But I didn't think I learnt enough.

There are days, if I do sit down and think about it, when I feel more stupid than anyone could imagine I could have felt. About things I've said and things I've done, as well as those I should have said or observed, both at work and in my social life. I've since convinced myself that things that are said or done are said and done so I should not worry about it - just laugh it off. But for things I should have done, I'm as yet unable to let go very well. I need to train myself to be sharper, to think wider and deeper, to control my little whims and petty ways, though perhaps not all lest I cease to be mf..

Think the point is, I wish to be known as enlightened as an adult then as smart cos of exams. I wish for such understanding. Perhaps that's why whenever I receive compliments in the light of being "clever" and - I can't believe this unless it comes with being mf - "creative", I feel rather uneasy, and slightly ashamed too as I feel inadequate for the compliments. I suppose I'm slightly enlightened in that I recognise my inadequacies?

Don't know if I'm making sense anymore (stupidity may have kicked in a long while ago) so I shall stop the heavy stuff and go on to the more usual (?) lighthearted stuff.. Came across this test the other day, some weird results.
Not sure if they truly support the proposition though..

Well-Rounded
You have:
55% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and
47% EMOTIONAL INTUITION


The graph below represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored about average on emotional intuition and about average on scientific intuition.Keep in mind that very few people score high on both! In effect, you can compare your two intuition scores with each other to learn what kind of intuition you're best at. (Weirdly, your emotional and scientific intuitions are equally strong.)

Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake (mf: what the hell is Quake?!).

Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.


My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 13% on Scientific
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 6% on Interpersonal


Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I'm in the STUPID region and yet I'm well-rounded? Perhaps it's not so bad afterall! :p

Saturday 7 January 2006

The dreams are back!

Around May-June, I suffered from restless sleep most days cos I kept having dreams, many strange and disturbing ones. Then the dreaming stopped and I was relieved. But the past couple of nights, I've been dreaming again. And remembering them.

Like Thurs, I had a weird and super tiring dream that SY, Kel, Moh and I were out having supper every day and at super late hours. At one point, I was so tired that I just fell asleep, somewhere.. Then I woke (in my dream) and went to find them for supper, all the time thinking "I need sleep! I need sleep!" Then I woke in real life.

I told Kel who gave me this, "The want of sleep more than food signifies the longing of dreams more than pragmatism." I didn't actually read too much into this dream, cos some of us do go for late suppers and recently I had some late suppers that they were also breakfast.. Still, I was reminded of Kel's earlier comment on another matter that I could be too idealistic. Hmmm.. Maybe I am but sometimes it's hard to accept reality and sometimes it's just too darn difficult to compromise on certain things! Dreams are so much nicer and easier.. Ok ok, I'll do a reality check someday. Someday..

Anyway, then last night, or rather, about an hour ago.. Hmmm.. Oh no! I forgot the dream! =( Strange, I was remembering it just before I started typing all this.. Gaaar! Dreams are such fleeting memories!

I recall that in the days of ICQ, I used to relate my dreams to a select few. Back then, dreams were few and usually mild, mostly ridiculous and funny, the scariest always to do with my teeth :p I like to talk about dreams. I remember I had recurring dreams as a kid.. Here are some dreams I could still remember (somewhat), mostly suspect nightmare cases..

The dino outside the window
This is the most memorable one cos it happened a few times. I must be in kindergarten or early primary when I had this dream. When we visited Grams, the cousins would play kids' stuff in Aunt's room. Sometimes, we would play hide and seek or police and thief aka catching (oh this is fun, the whole block was our playground and it was most exciting to see your hunter stuck outside the lift as the lift doors closed!) when we were sick of the indoors.

The dream was set in Aunt's room with the cousins. I saw a dino walk past on the other side of the window and warned the others but no one believed me. Somehow, I became the only one left in the room. Cousins were gone, the adults were talking among themselves in the living room. I was crouching under the window so the dino couldn't see me. Actually the dino didn't look scary at all, not the T-Rex kind but the cartoon kind with big round eyes. And it was a mild shade of brown, not the dirty kind. But a dino is a dino to a kid! Esp when it kept walking past the window, looking into the room, with just me under the window. It was as if it was looking for me..

It wasn't too scary thinking of it now - guess we have different fears at different stages of life. And in fact, I think I wasn't too frightened in the dream, just.. worried. But I think fear and worry are siblings..

The voodoo
Can't remember much except that I was in urban civilisation, carrying some stuff and following an old woman who was a relative of someone, perhaps even myself, while my companions made a detour somewhere. Then as we entered a forest and walked near this huge hole - imagine an empty quarry - she signalled to a ladder on the left before JUMPING DOWN INTO THE HOLE!

I was completely stunned but when I peered down, there she was, crouching on the ground like a cat and just about to stand up. I was freaked out that she didn't die falling 20 storeys! But I climbed down the ladder anyway, which strangely took me about seven steps. Then my companions appeared from nowhere and - that's it, no-head-no-tail kind of weird dream..

The creepy old lady reminded me of long po in those Hong Kong horror movies =(

The terrifying
The night before I went to set my veneer, I had one of those dreams about my teeth. My teeth were crooked, crowded, even soft, then they broke, they shattered, they wobbled in their little gum holes, they became very small (I like them big), and all the time I could do nothing to set them straight and pretty!

Have been paranoid over teeth since I had my braces done.. Dr Siow was very amused when I told her, and she couldn't take it that I was very very vain about my teeth (I didn't tell her about the rest of me, heh) *.*

The disturbing
This has to be classified under "nightmares"! I couldn't decide if I should document it, since it is a bit um.. But I must get it off my chest! I didn't remember it the moment I woke but a few days later; something must have triggered some memory switch inside and I recalled the dream with a giant jolt and much revolt:

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

I grew a dick =(

I - it's mf ok, mf the girl girl - became half man half woman in the nightmare =( And somehow - don't ask me why - it was an heavily erect phallus showing its presence through my work trousers ok.. Come to think of it, I don't own a pair of trousers like that lor.. Argh! It was totally bizarre la, I still looked like a girl outside but at times, I knew I had morphed into a boy..

Couldn't take it so I tried to rationalise this nightmare. I was reading Middlesex around that time, about a man brought up as a girl due to ambivalent/ambiguous genitals. Might have a bearing.. Then the pet word in ballroom lessons back then was "balls": imagine that the head is a bowling ball, and another is inside the tummy; when we dance, we need to keep the balls aligned and rolling all the time. Every time we felt that the movement wasn't too smooth, we would go "we're not moving our balls! The freaking balls!" (Btw I don't recall the - can't bring myself to say "my"! - dick being accompanied by balls *.*)

Thus, I convince myself, the nightmare happened.. Still! I'm so totally disgusted!

Friday 6 January 2006

Phew!

I actually finished enough work to enjoy this long weekend! (And blog too :p)

Looking at my cute Fish & Co diary (keeping one since I was given many!), my Sat and Tues are still empty. Good! Cos though I've taken leave on Mon, dreaming of rest and some spring cleaning, Mon is already bursting with three appointments *.* Can't help that I'm popular :p At least I have two days of me time to watch Initial D and clean my cabinets etc in time for CNY..

Gave another complimentary diary to a friend, who came back with an unexpected reply, that perhaps the diary could give him luck.. Well, I don't know, my friend, it's up to you to fill in the entries! I say open your eyes, heart and mind, and work hard :)

Off to dinner..

Wednesday 4 January 2006

Damage assessment

I've never ached so much in my life! Could barely sit up in bed this morning. Butt to thighs to calves. And there's a bruise on my left ankle but that's from kicking myself with my dance shoe. Upper body just my right arm, the frisbee arm..

In the pm when the sun turned fiery, I sprayed a bit of sun screen on my shoulders but neglected my face. Result? I would like to say Faye Wong but it's actually more Rudolph *^*

Update

FK: Still aching?
mf: Cos I'm freaking weeeak!
FK: *hush* Not enough sex..
mf: Ya, so not enough exercise, not flexible enough..
FK: Any target of late? *mf shakes head* Consider girls la..
mf: Hmmm, different leh..
FK: Fingers can.. *wriggle fingers*
mf: Well, different la..

And now achy mf is off for ballroom, hope can dance..

Tuesday 3 January 2006

Oooh, it's 2006 :)

I'm excited at a brand new year, for reasons I can't really fathom :p

The morning was noisy. Didn't understand why until I opened the door and saw teenagers in uniform crossing the overhead bridge in hordes into the school - a new term! If I had just waited ten more minutes, I would have heard them sing the National Anthem too..

mf has been busy the past weekend, busy having a great deal of fun! Now read and be envious. No, be jealous :p (Except for one part.. Read on..)

No happening Fri for me but at least I had some much needed sleep cos when I woke at 730am on Sat, I was to stay awake for the next 23hours. But of course, I had no idea then..

You know I watched Narnia on Sat am, you know about the downpour on Sat pm. I shall fast forward to the night.

30min before I left the house, Sito warned me that the crowd would be young, 18-25. So we belonged to the, um, upper echelons? :p True enough, we saw enough xiao mei mei and xiao di di to feel old. And I was towering over those little things, who, I told Na, were most probably at their max height *.*

Anyway the place was half filled at best lor, no sucker would ever pay $35 at the door for this! Later MC announced it cost only $25 but no, we spent only $10 each on vodka cos entry was complimentary to pretty girls!! No la, I had this e-mailer.. Heh heh.. Still, we ARE pretty!

They had a breakdance performance just before midnight, with a minister squatting in front of the barriers between the stage and the dance floor - cos this event was organised or sponsored by PAYM :p

We were at a vantage point right behind the barriers and man, were we surprised when mini fireworks exploded like 2m in front of us at the stroke of midnight! Music got better after the countdown but we decided that MS was probably better and we ditched the kids..

Eh, flash back to Narnia, cos I suddenly remember the scene where Mr Beaver said to Mrs Beaver, who was looking at the floor while brushing her fur on the way to Aslan's camp, something like, "quit brushing, you're looking great". And she beamed :)

Ok let me continue with the night now.. I resumed with some less pleasant bits. Yes, the dreaded foreign workers!

You know, I've never seen so many of them gathered together before. It was kind of freaky thinking of it now. First, I was waiting for Na and had the misfortune of being in the way of some of these people. I just thought they were taking a break from work. Next, around midnight when we were standing in front of the stage, we saw dozens of them lining the barricades outside, looking into the party space, listening to the hip hop music but amazingly motionless, not a tap of the foot, not a shake of the head, just plain STARING. Then on our way to get a cab for MS, we saw the foreign workers spraying random pedestrians with foam from aerosol cans. In fact some were freak ambush incidents, eg one guy stood innocently near the road with an arm on some railing, and as a girl walked past, he turned his arm to reveal a can and PSSST!

Na and I very soon became targets; Na got it more esp face. She observed that they targeted girls especially. I just signed a petition on Xiaxue's to ban the foam sprays. And it's scary to read her post on the Bangla-foam *.* Go to these links and Na's cos I'm not repeating, but remember to come back to finish reading this! :p Or shift-click..

Side: I wasn't sure if I wanted to use this word - Bangla - cos thought it sounded pretty rude so I refrained when I first heard it six years back from a senior who imitated someone exclaimimg BANGLA! He was just teasing her la.. But now.. Fine, you may call me Singa.. On second thoughts, Singaress, cos I'm female :p

So with dried foam on hair, face and clothes, we arrived at MS to find a $25 cover charge at MW so we moved to Newsroom where her cousin was (shit, forgot his name!), paid $20 - cheapo, saved $5 haha! But hey $5 is also money ok.. :p

We didn't drink a lot but we danced a lot! At one point, DJ offered to be our pole, something about mf and the pole at MW a whole year ago.. YX joined us at 3 plus and we left the place when the lights came on - second time we stayed so long! First was my 25th at MW..

What do people do after dancing a whole night? If they are not too pissed, they eat. We weren't pissed, at all :) But we had to pay for our prata with a long walk cos we couldn't get a cab..

Cousin's friend sent me back at 610am. I slept at 630am. I woke at 1130am. I had ballroom at 3pm, mere 11hours after leaving the dancefloor! Couldn't dance long, my knees had never hurt so much in my life! =(

Fast forward again to Mon, cos this is getting too long..

KLK's first trip to Sentosa!!! :) And it was very very fun! Lovely weather, lovely people :) Though Kok was mean..

1) We were contemplating taking off our tops when it started to get real hot..

Kok to mf: Whatever la, nothing to see what!

=(

2) We were talking about Na's boobs..

Kok to Na: You cannot cut your toe nails ah, view obstructed..
*pause*
Kok to mf: You're thinner than the last time I saw you in bikini *point to tummy*.. But here *point to me chest* still nothing to see la.. You can cut your toe nails easily, can look straight down!

=(

But well, of course I was a bit thinner that day, expended 5-10 calories every time I fetched the ball or the frisbee from far far away! :p We were playing both at the same time, funny cos at some point, some of us will get both at about the same time. I once managed to touch both simultaneously but in the most unflattering pose - teapot! Then Kok's forehead made contact with the flying frisbee, retribution for being mean? :p The amazing thing wasn't that he walked into its path but that after being hit, he looked like nothing happened, like, eh what?! Played a bit of monkey frisbee too, resulting in sand on every bit of my skin and abrasion on my knees.. Then today, I'm aching like never before. I couldn't even turn in my bed last night!

Enough, I'm leaving office now for my Initial D! But before I go, must share a piece of good news to kickstart this great year. It's going to be a great year cos I saw a notice on my way back last night, that UPGRADING WORKS BEGIN 6 FEB!!!!! Yay! My new room and a happier me in the making! :)