This is my favourite line from a song by The Weepies, called The world spins madly on :) I just love the opening chords...
I think I first heard it in a movie, and it was one of those songs that just captured the moment.. I think everyone can relate to this on some level: that detached kind of feeling you get sometimes, when life's rushing you by and you're an observer from the outside.. Or you're stuck in a 'moment' that seems to slow down time.. And when the little things in life sometimes make all the difference :)
It's been a while
But... I am attempting weak comeback anyhow. Instead of the usual excuses for my absence, I'm attributing this latest 'break' from blogging to a soul searching expedition I took (meaning I lay in bed most of the time and the distance from there to the computer seemed too far...) within the confinement of my sunny apartment at Holland village..
In reality, I've not been inspired enough to write (I think the job absorbs most my creative capacity for the day, leaving me drained of puns and sounding bored, to myself at least). But in the spirit of imminent countdowns and beginnings and general boughs of holly and festivity, I shall blog a bit before I head home for my much needed and much anticipated Christmas holiday, one week of which I plan to spend lying down on a beach somewhere...
I think its a tad bit too early to start reflecting on the year that's passed and its ups and downs and in betweens, so I'll leave that for another post.. What I do want to say though, is that the saying 'What goes around, comes around..' seems to have been realized quite a bit over the last couple of months, in good ways and not so good ways.. I guess karma has a funny way of sneaking up on people ;)
Onto other matters of great importance, I've resumed a temporarily ignored past-time: swimming :) No real way to describe how great it feels, but I plan to stick with this, for so many reasons... maybe running was never really my thing :p
People have been bugging me a lot lately about my 'future' and career goals.. I'm started to get a bit irritated, but they do have a point: I should see myself somewhere doing something worthwhile for the next couple of years I guess.. But its so hard trying to figure out what and when and how *sigh* And I don't really see the need to rush this decision.. I'm quite happy where I am now :)
Happenings worth mentioning: I am shopping for Secret Santa! It's been so much fun already, and there's still 2 weeks left :D The Christmas tree went up at work, and now is blinking away and distracting me further from the work I should be doing :p Scrumptious Christmas party/dinner coming up too... And I was privy to the ceremony of drinking Absinthe a week ago ;) Pretty cool I'd say, the process anyway, though the guy drinking it didn't look so cool after it went down... It involved a conical flask, a smaller wine glass with some sugary liquid, which was ignited and poured over the conical flask so the entire thing was on fire, and then the guy drank a shot glass of absinthe through a straw from the bottom of this whole set up... My research on this since then yielded these facts (my research was a bit hampered here and there by other distractions, but Wikipedia seems to have got it right)
And onto the subject of books: I finally finished The Kite Runner :D It was an awesome read, totally captivating and such a stark picture of reality and life, put in the perspective of someone with a weighted conscience... I'm proud of myself for not getting emotional till the last page :D I think I was sadder that the tale ended more than anything else though :) But its a prize of a book, and I strongly recommend it for some deep seated reflection..
Anyways dear reader(s), the rest of my Saturday beckons me, as well as the other half of To Kill a Mockingbird, which has been neglected over the last few days, and a couple of must-see movies... I shall be back soon, I promise ;)
In reality, I've not been inspired enough to write (I think the job absorbs most my creative capacity for the day, leaving me drained of puns and sounding bored, to myself at least). But in the spirit of imminent countdowns and beginnings and general boughs of holly and festivity, I shall blog a bit before I head home for my much needed and much anticipated Christmas holiday, one week of which I plan to spend lying down on a beach somewhere...
I think its a tad bit too early to start reflecting on the year that's passed and its ups and downs and in betweens, so I'll leave that for another post.. What I do want to say though, is that the saying 'What goes around, comes around..' seems to have been realized quite a bit over the last couple of months, in good ways and not so good ways.. I guess karma has a funny way of sneaking up on people ;)
Onto other matters of great importance, I've resumed a temporarily ignored past-time: swimming :) No real way to describe how great it feels, but I plan to stick with this, for so many reasons... maybe running was never really my thing :p
People have been bugging me a lot lately about my 'future' and career goals.. I'm started to get a bit irritated, but they do have a point: I should see myself somewhere doing something worthwhile for the next couple of years I guess.. But its so hard trying to figure out what and when and how *sigh* And I don't really see the need to rush this decision.. I'm quite happy where I am now :)
Happenings worth mentioning: I am shopping for Secret Santa! It's been so much fun already, and there's still 2 weeks left :D The Christmas tree went up at work, and now is blinking away and distracting me further from the work I should be doing :p Scrumptious Christmas party/dinner coming up too... And I was privy to the ceremony of drinking Absinthe a week ago ;) Pretty cool I'd say, the process anyway, though the guy drinking it didn't look so cool after it went down... It involved a conical flask, a smaller wine glass with some sugary liquid, which was ignited and poured over the conical flask so the entire thing was on fire, and then the guy drank a shot glass of absinthe through a straw from the bottom of this whole set up... My research on this since then yielded these facts (my research was a bit hampered here and there by other distractions, but Wikipedia seems to have got it right)
And onto the subject of books: I finally finished The Kite Runner :D It was an awesome read, totally captivating and such a stark picture of reality and life, put in the perspective of someone with a weighted conscience... I'm proud of myself for not getting emotional till the last page :D I think I was sadder that the tale ended more than anything else though :) But its a prize of a book, and I strongly recommend it for some deep seated reflection..
Anyways dear reader(s), the rest of my Saturday beckons me, as well as the other half of To Kill a Mockingbird, which has been neglected over the last few days, and a couple of must-see movies... I shall be back soon, I promise ;)
Advertising 1101: Honda got it right... ;)
Excerpt from the ad info:
There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in these images. Everything that you see happened in real time exactly as you see it. The recording required 606 takes and in the first 605 takes there always was something, usually of minor importance, that didn't work.
It was necessary for the recording team to install the set-up time after time and it took several weeks working day and night to achieve this effect.
The recording cost 6 million dollars and it took 3 months to finish, including the engineering design of the sequence. The duration of the video is only 2 minutes, but every time that Honda shows the commercial on British television, they make enough money to support any of us for the rest of our lives. However, this commercial has turned out to be the most displayed in the history of the Internet.
Honda execs think that it will pay for itself simply because of the free showings (Honda is not paying one cent for you to see it). When Honda senior execs viewed it, they immediately approved it without hesitation-including costs.
There are only six Honda Accords built by hand in the whole world, and to the horror of Honda engineers, the recording team disassembled two of them for the recording.
Everything you see in the sequence (besides the walls, floor, ramp and untouched Honda Accord) is part of those two automobiles. The voice is that of Garrison Keiller. The commercial was so well received by Honda execs when they saw it, that their first comment was how amazing the computer graphics were. They almost fell out of their chairs when told that the recording was real without any graphics manipulation.
By the way, about the wind shield wipers in the new Honda Accords, they are sensitive to water and designed to start working as soon as they get wet.
In honour of the quarter rockstar :D
Yes Benny, I'm sticking to my word ;)
So for those of you who don't know Benny (aka Asela), he's a really good friend of mine from school... :) We go waaaay back and still talk on a weekly basis, and he faithfully sends me songs that he recommends over MSN and rubs it in whenever he has a holiday and I don't :p
He's a really talented guitarist and a rising star, a fellow Lifehouse and Switchfoot fan, and took part about 2 weeks ago in TNL onstage, which is a competition in good ol' Sri Lanka where rock bands and soloists belt it out and compete for the grand title.. Unfortunately it's always held in November so I've missed it for the last couple of years, and this year was no exception, only that I missed Benny's performance, and would've given anything to be there... :(
You can click here to take a look at his profile ;) And don't forget to watch the video! His song choices for Onstage were the acoustic, indie versions of Quasimodo (Lifehouse) and The Remedy (Jason Mraz)..
Anyways this was just a little post to say I'm proud of ya Bens! (and yes, to also publicly embarrass you a bit :D) I'm gonna fly down next Nov to watch u win ;)
Signing off,
The Loyal Groupie
So for those of you who don't know Benny (aka Asela), he's a really good friend of mine from school... :) We go waaaay back and still talk on a weekly basis, and he faithfully sends me songs that he recommends over MSN and rubs it in whenever he has a holiday and I don't :p
He's a really talented guitarist and a rising star, a fellow Lifehouse and Switchfoot fan, and took part about 2 weeks ago in TNL onstage, which is a competition in good ol' Sri Lanka where rock bands and soloists belt it out and compete for the grand title.. Unfortunately it's always held in November so I've missed it for the last couple of years, and this year was no exception, only that I missed Benny's performance, and would've given anything to be there... :(
You can click here to take a look at his profile ;) And don't forget to watch the video! His song choices for Onstage were the acoustic, indie versions of Quasimodo (Lifehouse) and The Remedy (Jason Mraz)..
Anyways this was just a little post to say I'm proud of ya Bens! (and yes, to also publicly embarrass you a bit :D) I'm gonna fly down next Nov to watch u win ;)
Signing off,
The Loyal Groupie
Spilled her coffee, broke her shoe lace...
So I've decided to do a bit of a mini series on some of my favourite alternative rock bands from the 90s and early 2000s... I think I've already covered Breaking Benjamin in a previous post, so next up is Fuel ;) Introducing my 3 favourite tracks: Bad Day, Falls on me, and Hemorrhage...
Through the eyes of a child...
If volunteering with the kids every month has taught me anything, its how important parental guidance can be. On a side note though, it's also taught me how to be patient and not lose my calm, specially when I become their primary art exhibit :p
Not everyone has it in them to be the perfect parent; I don't think such a thing even exists. But children don't get to choose who their parents are. If you bring a child into this world, how can you not want what's best for him or her? Some of the kids I see are so neglected and deprived of love and attention that it's heartbreaking. You get to be a kid only once and that should be one of the happiest times of your life, instead of being surrounded by adults who paint a dark picture of what life has to offer.
I've also realised that sometimes you get a glimpse of the core of a child; i don't really know how to describe it in words, but there are these moments during some ordinary task like running a relay or making a bookmark, when you see the inside of a kid through what he or she does. It's so uncomplicated with children; they don't judge, they accept you with all your flaws and faults, and they see the world in such a simple way. Sometimes you don't want them to grow up, just so that they could stay that way...
Not everyone has it in them to be the perfect parent; I don't think such a thing even exists. But children don't get to choose who their parents are. If you bring a child into this world, how can you not want what's best for him or her? Some of the kids I see are so neglected and deprived of love and attention that it's heartbreaking. You get to be a kid only once and that should be one of the happiest times of your life, instead of being surrounded by adults who paint a dark picture of what life has to offer.
I've also realised that sometimes you get a glimpse of the core of a child; i don't really know how to describe it in words, but there are these moments during some ordinary task like running a relay or making a bookmark, when you see the inside of a kid through what he or she does. It's so uncomplicated with children; they don't judge, they accept you with all your flaws and faults, and they see the world in such a simple way. Sometimes you don't want them to grow up, just so that they could stay that way...
Updates from a self-proclaimed socialite
This week has been all about social engagements, friends and food... LOTS of food. I've been sinful to the point of actually having to decline dessert on occasion (which generally serves as my main course :p). The following more or less sums up my week's wanderings:
Monday - Holland Village
Tuesday - Wisma Atria and Little India
Wednesday - N.Y.D.C. and New York New York at City Hall
Thursday - Fish and Co. (at the airport)
Friday - Pasta Mania and Eclectic Attic at Plaza Sing, followed by a trapaise through Somerset and Orchard.
Today I shall be at the biennale at Marina bay and Southwest point. And tomorrow heralds dinner again at a yet undecided location.
The flip side of all this is that my sleep debt has accumulated to about 25 hours. I'm also gonna have to run like a lunatic on the loose everyday to get back in shape.
Onto other matters, every girl out there should go check out the Bodyshop decor for Christmas. You don't have to buy anything (though temptation might get the better of you) but just go look at the giftpacks, the colours, and enjoy the festivity of the atmosphere.
My experimental endeavours in the kitchen yielded some pretty good results too. Lessons I've learnt: Apples are perfect for salads, and oregano makes anything taste better. My salads are going to need some work, but the Waldorf and a yet unnamed one have been the best so far.
Movies at lunch began at MTM this week, and first up was Hancock. I'd give it a 2.5/5, mainly because Will Smith is such a hunk... *sigh* But the Christmas mood is spreading, and word of Secret Santas and a looming Christmas party is out.. :D
With that, I shall get back to my interrupted marathon of TV shows and try to sneak in a bit of snooze time... Will be back sooner than laters ;)
Monday - Holland Village
Tuesday - Wisma Atria and Little India
Wednesday - N.Y.D.C. and New York New York at City Hall
Thursday - Fish and Co. (at the airport)
Friday - Pasta Mania and Eclectic Attic at Plaza Sing, followed by a trapaise through Somerset and Orchard.
Today I shall be at the biennale at Marina bay and Southwest point. And tomorrow heralds dinner again at a yet undecided location.
The flip side of all this is that my sleep debt has accumulated to about 25 hours. I'm also gonna have to run like a lunatic on the loose everyday to get back in shape.
Onto other matters, every girl out there should go check out the Bodyshop decor for Christmas. You don't have to buy anything (though temptation might get the better of you) but just go look at the giftpacks, the colours, and enjoy the festivity of the atmosphere.
My experimental endeavours in the kitchen yielded some pretty good results too. Lessons I've learnt: Apples are perfect for salads, and oregano makes anything taste better. My salads are going to need some work, but the Waldorf and a yet unnamed one have been the best so far.
Movies at lunch began at MTM this week, and first up was Hancock. I'd give it a 2.5/5, mainly because Will Smith is such a hunk... *sigh* But the Christmas mood is spreading, and word of Secret Santas and a looming Christmas party is out.. :D
With that, I shall get back to my interrupted marathon of TV shows and try to sneak in a bit of snooze time... Will be back sooner than laters ;)
Halloween, the way it should be..
This year, Halloween actually was something to remember :) I haven't really acknowledged the holiday since I was about 6 and dressed up as a princess, so its been too long a wait. Not that its really a big deal either, but it can be heaps of fun, and it was :)
The babes and dudes at MTM outdid themselves this time... I was seriously impressed and laughed so hard I had permanent stitches in my side during lunch. Check us fabulous peeps out below:
It would've been even more awesome if we'd all headed out to Zouk like planned and partied till the cows came home. Ironically, I ended up in Clarke Quay with two other friends anyway, and it was THE place to be at Halloween, even if only to get a glimpse of the Halloween spirit in Singapore. From wonderwoman to some weird elf-like creature on stilts, to french maids and Egyptian princesses, imagination had run wild and the crowds had done a pretty good job translating it into real life.
Several stories, jokes and drinks later, coupled with Patatas Bravas (heavenly~!), a long walk in the middle of nowhere and music by Reverie, the boys and I wound up back at Clarke Quay again, and came very very close to going reverse bungee jumping at 2 in the morning :p All in all, a day (and night) to remember: great company, good ol' Malibu, and a hell of a lot of fun ;)
The babes and dudes at MTM outdid themselves this time... I was seriously impressed and laughed so hard I had permanent stitches in my side during lunch. Check us fabulous peeps out below:
It would've been even more awesome if we'd all headed out to Zouk like planned and partied till the cows came home. Ironically, I ended up in Clarke Quay with two other friends anyway, and it was THE place to be at Halloween, even if only to get a glimpse of the Halloween spirit in Singapore. From wonderwoman to some weird elf-like creature on stilts, to french maids and Egyptian princesses, imagination had run wild and the crowds had done a pretty good job translating it into real life.Several stories, jokes and drinks later, coupled with Patatas Bravas (heavenly~!), a long walk in the middle of nowhere and music by Reverie, the boys and I wound up back at Clarke Quay again, and came very very close to going reverse bungee jumping at 2 in the morning :p All in all, a day (and night) to remember: great company, good ol' Malibu, and a hell of a lot of fun ;)
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