February constellations..

Ok so admittedly the title's a bit lame, I was trying for a song and the Foo Fighters popped into my head, though the song itself is a bit too mellow for this post.. Which, incidentally, is about how great February has been ;)

I feel like I've lived a lot more this month than I have in the last few combined, probably because a lot of things I've been wanting to do just happened to come together at once.. I went dancing almost every week, my dear ol' friends Talaal and Sabeer visited Singapore and kicked up a storm, and I got to travel to Bangkok :D For work of course, but it ended up being an amazing weekend... :)

On another note, I've been frequenting Iguana so much now that the staff there are starting to recognize me :p And yet we found ourselves there this weekend too, to drown our sorrows because Su Yin was leaving, and attempting to get her drunk as well... I'm going to miss her tons :(

I think the week with the boys deserves a little blurb too.. What began as pub crawling, getting stuck in a lift for half an hour with 14 people all from different countries, and a Valentine's day countdown with borrowed chocolates and dancing on a boom box on a Friday night, progressed to chillie tequila dares, strawberry margaritas, a river cruise and a failed attempt at reverse bungee jumping on Saturday, and ended with a rib cracking sit down dinner on Tuesday... I hate you guys for leaving! 'nuff said.

And to wrap up with a short post mortem on Bangkok- between keeping my boss company for drinks every night, a successful conference with no major disasters, awesome food (!!!), a Thai massage (everyone should experience this at least once in their life :O), shopping for 6 hours straight at the Chatuchak weekend market and repeatedly getting lost in that maze, walking around for half an hour trying to find my way back to the hotel via the MRT (which happened to be right in front of me all that time), a Mardi Gras party (yes, complete with a mask!), an extended stay at the Sheraton with complimentary rooms, sightseeing and having a few fights with a couple of tuk tuk drivers (and i suspect i got ripped off :p), I'd say I did quite well for the 4 days I was there :D

I leave you then, with a few select pictures (haha yes, I'm still obsessed with capturing life through a lens!) Ta for now peeps!

The evolution of dance... continued

A follow up to the previous post a couple of months back... He's returned ;)

My ideally perfect man...

... needs to possess the following traits:

(a)(1) Have a very cool name. This is so that if I decide to append it to the back of mine, it won't make me sound like Princess Consuela Bananahammock (though I absolutely adore Phoebs).
(a)(2) As a follow up to (a)(1), I've noticed the Irish have very interesting names... e.g. Diarmuid (uber-ly cool I think! so Lord of Rings :D)

(b) Be of a mixed heritage. This accomplishes several things. For one, my kids will be exotic and have a messed up gene pool. Growing up, I was utterly confused most of the time about things like nationality and race and religion, so I think they should go through this too- though unlike me, who's still a bit confused admittedly, I hope they'll come to some sort of decision about their roots.
Secondly, they'd look really good.
Thirdly, if they are born in a different country (like I was) their passports will be confusing. So will visa applications and birth certificates. This can be an amusing affair and is a good source of fun.

(c) Needs to be able to cook. Mexican and Italian cuisines are compulsory. If he's a chef, even better. This is because I can't cook to save my life, but I still want to have a happy life eating good food.

(d) Have a great sense of humour. This is almost as important as being able to cook. I absolutely cannot go through life with a man who can't make me laugh.

(e) Should own a horse. He doesn't necessarily need to know how to ride one or anything, it's just that I love horses, so I would like to have one. To throw in a romantic angle, its nicer for your guy to give you a horse than for you to go buy yourself one (just as with cars).

(f) Love me and treat me well- the usual.

I think I have effectively narrowed down my options to 0.001% of the world's population. Sigh. The manhunt continues!

p.s. I love Friday the 13th! I have no idea why, the whole spookiness it brings with it is just fascinating... :D
p.p.s. And no, this post has nothing to do with the fact that it's Valentine's day tomorrow :p

Random rants...

Humans can never truly be satisfied I think. Either the grass is always greener on the other side, or countless hours will be spent wondering about whether it is greener or not, or even if its a prettier shade of green out yonder...

It is extremely depressing (and a bit amusing) that the tunes and playlists you grew up listening to, identified with and still feel good listening to, can now be found on the 'golden oldies' radio station..

Women were born with the God-given right to have mood swings and be PMS-y. Men were not. So guys, you really don't have an excuse to be that whiny and complain so much.

The older you get, the younger you want to be. My dad warned me about this when I was about 12, when I wanted to learn how to drive. I wish I'd listened to him then.

People using public transport really need to be taught a couple of things about travel etiquette. Mainly, if there is a woman bearing child, or an gentleman old enough to be your grandfather standing in front of you, while you're comfortably settled with your iPod blaring and a book open in your lap, do the right thing and stand up, offer your seat to them (before some other iPod doning teen grabs it) and let them sit through the ride in comfort. Trust me, you'll feel good about doing it later.

It takes a hell of a lot to get me mad at someone or about something. If you somehow manage to cross that line by doing something, there's a good chance you're being stupidly insensitive or downright idiotic, or both. And yes, you should feel bad and apologise, because I don't forgive easily and almost never forget.

If only everyone could just see the humour in life and laugh at themselves more often, we'd have a lot less depressed and angry people going on killing sprees and rampages.

They just don't make boy bands like they used to. At the risk of sounding like my grandma, the current 'generation' of bands are a disturbed lot really, either emo or gothic or a bunch of metalheads- the common theme being black and lots of booze and narcotics. Their music though, is still pretty good. I just worry about them sometimes...

Don't take too much for granted. At some point, you'll have to give back or risk losing everything.

Everyone has a right to live their life the way they want it. You do not have the right to laugh at the introvert next door who prefers to read in his room instead of joining you for a night of getting wasted. He may be living in a fantasy world of vamps and leprechauns, but at least he's happy that way. And, chances are, he won't wake up with a hangover the next morning and only a vague recollection of the nights events.

People should be kind, but not get walked over in the process. Admittedly, this is a lot harder than it sounds. But really, some people are just not worth that much time and effort.

Yes, we all are hypocrites at some point in our life. A lucky few get away without too many people noticing. Just try not to make a habit out of it.

About two rants ago I realised that this was starting to sound a bit like the lyrics to the sunscreen song... But what the heck, all greats have to start somewhere ;)

The flipside

All righty so here's a long overdue collection of funny forwards and attachments that I've been receiving.. They still crack me up :D

Global warming protest...





















What goes through your mind when someone says "Let's go for a drink"?



























































Application for a night out with the boys...

























Installing a husband























I can't seem to locate the rest, so will make another post of it soon enough ;)

One down, eleven to go..

Yup, Jan's flown by in the blink of an eye (that was so NOT meant to rhyme)..

And the end began in pain with a necessary but reluctant visit to the dentist that made me realise why dental phobias are so common :P But two hours later, with still sore tender gums, I was feeling much better after a little retail therapy ;) Bugis is THE place to shop!

And the day just picked up after that... I gave myself a haircut (perfecting my skills in case the recession hits the healthcare industry), dolled up and headed out for a lazy afternoon at the riverfront near Esplanade and an amazing night watching the Chingay parade :D Life in Singapore can be fun, if you know the right people and the right places to be ;)

The month always starts well if accompanied by a drink and good company, preferably with throaty vocals and awe-inspiring guitar solos, and its even better when all this is 5 mins away from home :D Time's flying by too fast for me to keep up though, but there's been more ups than downs lately and I really can't complain too much... :)

Life at MTM has been a rollercoaster lately.. Just when we said goodbye to Wendy (with a farewell party and gift that rocked!) , we find out that Suyin's bidding us farewell at the end of this month too :( I'm going to miss her heaps, and the office is going to be so dead... That and the fact that the office creep and mushroom are getting more annoying and weird by the day is going to drive us writers over the edge.... sigh. But on the flip side, I'm finally going onsite, after so many almosts.. Lots to look forward to, but I'm feeling a tad bit apprehensive about it too...

I shall leave you then, my dearly beloved readers, with my selected pictures of the week... Given my up and coming obsession with photography, I might as well spread the craze ;) Till next time, ta!

Post CNY: The best one yet...

I've got to admit, the week leading upto CNY was kind of depressing. Everyone was going away somewhere for the long weekend, and by the time I decided on the place(s) I wanted to go to, everything was booked and super expensive. Added to this, the Sri Lankan passport I own commanded the need for month-long visa procedures, so needless to say, I found myself stuck in Singapore for the holiday.

But it turned out to be one of the best long weekends yet.. And I was home alone, with the whole house to myself to do whatever I wanted *evil grin*...

So I pretty much set up camp in the living room, close enough to the kitchen to keep the supply of potato chips, grapes, cookies and juice going strong.. And right in front of the television, which a bit disappointing really, given our lack of cable, and with my laptop and a stack of assorted movies and books next to me :D Heaven in a 2 square metre area!

Other happenings that made the weekend even better: A spontaneous trip to the airport followed by a huge breakfast at 1pm, cooking my first decent meal of rice, dhal and assorted odds and ends (under supervision of course) and being too full to move for the rest of the afternoon, and CNY dinner at Beck's followed by a round of Black Jack that left most hong baos wiped out haha... :D

Going back to work today (specifically waking up in the morning today) was painful... If only we had more 4 day weekends! :(

Bits and pieces

This post is going to be a recollection of all the funny/weird/embarrassing/happy/memorable moments of the last couple of weeks, written in code though to keep the suspense going and save myself from public humiliation... I don't quite know why I'm even writing this down, but I suspect I'll want to read through this in a year's time and laugh at myself (again..)

- Unravelling of shoes when crossing the road during lunch... And again when walking on the road during lunch.. Twice..

- Attempts to imitate someone's eating habits (consisting of slurps, loud munching and sniffing) resulting in myself choking due to laughing and slurping a drink at the same time..

- A warm look of surprise and gratitude due to an unexpected lunch delivery on Tuesday..

- A particular exchange of words over camera models, which resulted in a DVD of horror movies the next day..

- A long and painful meeting on Thursday, a mad run into the lift to escape the office mushroom, and a harried run to Bugis with furtive looks over our shoulders.

- Laughs, more laughs, sharing old secrets and reliving old stories from school over 1-for-1 Bacardis, chicken drumsticks and self important potato wedges at a random bar in Orchard

- 12 laps in a 50 m pool and feeling like the owner of rubbery legs and an overworked heart...

- A three way family conversation on skype that ended in a lot of confusion, hilarious yelling to one another, and a heavy dose of laughter

- Art paper shopping and cutting paper chains under a desk...

- Messages from the northern end of the world that make you smile after a long, painful and tiring day, and miss the ones dearest to you..

- Hanging out with kids who wrote down chocolates, soft drinks, candy and meat in the 'bad food' column and rice, bread and abalone in the 'good food' column

- A drumming performance using drumsticks, poles made of bamboo, and feet.

- A Sunday that started off at Holland village, through lunch at suntec city, shopping at Marina Square, the discovery of a bohemian store, coffee and pretzels by the fountain of wealth, a sunny walk back to Bugis, a traumatic visit to Mustafas, the purchase of ramli burgers on the way back home, and the viewing of 1/3rd of a movie..

Yup, the little moments in life make it all worth the while.. :)

An end to the delay..

Much apologies for the prolonged absence, I've seriously just been lazy and a bit busy :p

I've decided that in the spirit of New Years and with resolutions flying hopelessly about, I am going to declare this year as the year of travel, and Bailey's Irish Cream. I don't see a problem with the latter, but the former is a bit more expensive and requires some effort. Nevertheless, I refuse to be beaten down or discouraged, since its only still January and a bit too early for that, but I do hope I'll get to travel a bit more this year than I did last year...

And in preparation for all this travelling (and drinking), I bought myself a camera :D I am quite thrilled with it, though now I have less of an excuse not to put up embarrassing pictures of funny moments :) A tough choice between a Sony cybershot and a Panasonic Lumix, and lots of tugging on them heart strings later, the Lumix won :)

I've also been consuming a lot more food than I need to. In particular, a visit to P.S. cafe for dessert had me completely blown over. That evenings choice of dessert was lemon pudding served in a moat of lemon custard sauce, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.. A serving big enough for three people I think, but yours truly managed 90% of it on her own.. I really don't remember how I got home that night :p

Another mention-worthy meal: Saturday all-day breakfast at Swensons :D French toast with maple syrup, cheese sausages, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, chicken ham and scrambled eggs, juice and tea- absolutely divine *dreamy sigh*.. And after all this, the day ended with long overdue Teh Halia and prata at Niqqi's Cheese Prata :D I miss that place so much... :(

And friends.. where would we be without them :) Asanka was making a stop on his ship at the Jurong shipyard last week, so a reunion after 5 years ensued.. I was reminded once again that there's just something priceless about the friends you grow up with in school :) Nothing has changed, yet so much has, but at the same time, you know that they'll always be there for you :) Also met up with the a few of the NUS peeps after a long time- so much to catch up on, so little time.. And the girls.. Seeing them always makes the day better :) Still lots more socialising to be done in the next couple of weeks, something to definitely look forward to ;)

Work's just not the same without Jo around.. :( I particularly miss her very audible laughing across the office and companionship for anything dessert-related :D But I know she's gonna make a wonderful doctor, so all the best to her :) Wendy leaves this Friday too, so there's gonna be one less cool kid around :(

And on that note, I shall end this rather lengthy post, and return to my book- which has also been neglected and is now demanding attention... But with the usual promises of more posts to come in the next couple of weeks.. Oh and Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone!

Survival of the fittest

It's a bit long, but its worth the watch :D



Much thanks to Nips!