after the storm

Ever noticed that expressions of extreme pleasure and extreme pain are remarkably alike?

Spent hours trawling the wire pictures for a page I was doing on dealing with the emotional aftermath of the tsunami.

Cliched as it sounds, that was when the news really hit me, like a relentless wave.

Ended up severely depressed after looking at literally hundreds of colour photos of brown bloated bodies and faces of despair and grief.

I padded around the office in a daze with a stack of photos, looking for my editor to choose the "best" one. But in my heart, I was reluctant to use any of them, really. It seemed like such an intrusion into someone else's private mourning.

I walked past into my favourite photographer and listlessly showed him all the grieving images. I guess I was looking for reassurance that all those souls are somewhere above in a better place and badly needing a hug.

But because it was sure to freak him out, I blinked back my tears and asked for his professional opinion on the quality of the photos instead.

cable car revisited

C and I had a romantic dinner for two on Cable Car No. 15. Two hours of swaying motion, a Japanese meal that had been sitting in the open for a little too long, some amateur night photography and a good girl friend. It doesn't take much to make me content.

Just like when we spent 24 hours in that enclosed space in March, there was never a moment when we had nothing to say to each other.

Topics discussed include: best and worst kissers, alternative jobs, and boys we had "hu gao" with before. But 'nuff said, cos we agreed that nothing would be repeated outside the cable car.

seeing red

On Monday, a blood vessel in my left eye burst. There was a red clot, but I didn't think much of it, since it didn't hurt. I even wore contacts.

Same on Tuesday, but I decided to see a doc anyway, just in case.

Turns out that I can't wear my lenses for the next two weeks.

The reason for the burst vessel? Eye strain, the doc says, probably due to staring at the computer.

But I know better. It's eye strain due to intensive sewing into the wee hours.

wo zhi zai hu ni

Listening to Teresa Teng's classic Wo Zhi Zai Hu Ni, sort of in honour of my parents' 31st wedding anniversary. And also because the tune has been echoing around my head since I heard C and C rehearsing it in the pantry for H's wedding.

Am so full now from celebratory buffet dinner at Amara that I can't sleep.

Update on my dressmaking progress: Have been frantically trying to complete a day dress and night gown for the wedding of the year coming up on Thursday.

Spent the better part of today hunched over the sewing machine, with my sissy roped in as the assistant elf to do tacking. Have even taken a day off tomorrow so as to go for dressmaking class.

As my sissy says, "The fire has reached your eyebrows." [It makes more sense in Mandarin!]

So far, the bubble dress with little sailboats is 99 per cent completed, with only the zip part to go. It's lurvely, if I may say so myself, though it is a little fattish [a word which my sissy and I invented which describes so precisely clothes that make us look fat].

The dress for the night, however, is only 75 per cent done. Need to join up the top and bottom parts, do up the armholes and add pretty lace bits. And only tomorrow left to accomplish all that, or I'd have to go for the wedding dinner in -- god forbid! -- some old dress.

While running Elna my sewing machine -- yes, I named my sewing machine, cannot izzit? -- at full throttle this afternoon, I caught a glimpse of my darling Jay on Chinese MTV.

How the heck am I supposed to get over him when he keeps popping up everywhere in reality, and not just in my subconsciousness?

Which reminds me of something funny which I had meant to blog about, but forgot. On jay-chou.net, there are these rabid fans who translate almost everything he has ever said or written into English, which is wonderful for people [ie. me] who take hours to figure out his mumbled lyrics.

Anyway, there is a link there to get his fans to vote for him for the MTV Asia Awards, and the exhortation is to vote "every five minutes" because "the S.H.E. fans are overtaking us". That just cracks me up. And no, I haven't voted. Yet.

showers of blessing

If your husband-to-be picks you up from your bridal shower: +10 points
If your husband-to-be picks you up from your bridal shower in the rain: +20 points
If your husband-to-be picks you up from your bridal shower in the rain looking drenched: +30 points
If your husband-to-be picks you up from your bridal shower in the rain looking drenched and handsome: +100 points

Congratz to the happy couple!

one more time, with feeling

It makes us sound like losers with no life, but we had a post Singapore Idol party last night.

It was rose champagne, KFC, black sesame and Earl Grey ice-cream while Sly and Taufik sang their hearts out in the background. Even the lone Taufik fan among us, who watched the finals live at the Indoor Stadium and couldn't really hear much, had to admit at the end: "I'm a little swayed towards Sly now."

The next party will probably be when His Slyness releases his debut album.

fruit head

Forgot to write about my new hair, which I snuck out of work for two hours to get done last Friday. I didn't want my bosses to know but I guess it was pretty obvious when I returned, that I'd had my hair cut.

Anyway, my previous cut made me look like a coconut -- a cute coconut! -- while this current one makes me look like a pineapple. A stylish one, butofcos.

I guess a photo would paint a better picture. Akan datang.

la la la la

It was a reunion of sorts last night, when the four of us who went for Jay Chou's concert grudgingly attended Jolin Tsai's concert.

I say grudgingly because:
(1) we don't know any of her songs, besides the annoying one which goes "la la la la" [which is now stuck in my head, demmit!]
(2) we hate her already cos she's Jay's rumoured paramour [why he so no taste!?!]
(3) we are not teenage Ah Lians with bleached waist-length tresses

So why did we bother to troop down to the Indoor Stadium?

Sly, butofcos! He was the opening act and we had to control our swooning cos we were seated in the press section, hence had to appear professional [especially T who had the unfortunate task of reviewing the concert].

But mark my words, he is gonna be big. Huge, even.

say cheese

An afternote to yesterday's post:

L came over excitedly to show me a photo of him and Karl Lagerfeld. I equally excitedly told him: "I got photo too!"

And promptly showed him my prized pix with SpongeBob and Patrick. He almost fainted.

last fling

Dragged my sorry ass back to work today after one week's leave, which I frittered away doing nothing much. Didn't even manage to do my ultimate indolent off-day thingy -- wake up at 11am, brunch followed by cooking and decor shows on TV, capped with an afternoon nap with the blinds lowered. Where did the time go?



What I did manage to accomplish in the past seven days:
- Semi-annual catch-up session with old friend [we can pick up like we'd only just met yesterday]
- Idolising party [waving of Sly flags included]
- Getting over Jay by watching a lot of old music videos [bought dirt cheap from Chinatown]
- A pathetic bit of sewing on my bubble dress [and a lot of unpicking]
- Facial
- Dentist
- Zouk Out
- Post-Zouk Out recovery [which took a whole Sunday]



But on my final day of leave yesterday, I did squeeze in quite a lot:
- Karaoke with my sissy [first time ever singing! It's all cos of Jay Chou!]
- Spongebob Squarepants roadshow [we were the only adults there -- the kid in the pix is a mere decoy! -- and shamelessly went on stage to hug Patrick Star even though we were not among the privileged first 50 children there. Check out his adorable stumps!]
- Meet up with friend back from New York [must maintain good relations for future visits there! Hotels there very expensive, you know?]

life's a beach

Zouk Out was a whole lot of bikini tops [not ours though, cos we're no longer 18], bare chested boys [as well as tubby ang mohs] and hot sandy dancing to Jazzy Jeff. And some drinks, butofcos.

Three champagne, two Sex on the Beach, two Apple Shooters -- That's not a lot, right? So why, then, do we look so sloshed?

I swear M said this to me as we got happier and happier: "If I see Sly now, I would KEYS him."

But she claims this is how the [drunken] conversation went:

Me: I think I'd KEYS Sly on the cheek if I see him now. You on one side, me on the other.
Her: It must be on the lips!

Alcohol-induced amnesia strikes every time.

and i thought i was bad

It's been three days and we're still in a daze over Jay.

Only half my mind is at work. The other half is busy processing how to get to know him and marry him.

One friend went home and immediately started surfing the net for information on him until 3am. And bought his VCD the very next day. And almost fainted when he took off his shirt during one of the songs.

Another had such bad withdrawal symptoms the day after the concert, she had to rush out and buy the DVD of his previous concert.

Yet another suffered from illusions of grandeur -- her own words -- that he was her ex-boyfriend and he was singing to her at the concert and that she was his one true love. "Can die!" was her exclamation.

We were totally kicking ourselves when we read that he was at The Heeren and Crystal Jade at Holland V on Sunday and we missed it.

As for me, I dusted off this old book of his photos which I bought in Taipei. And almost dropped into a dead faint when I flipped to the page where he was topless.

I've also been moping around like he just broke up with me, cos I'm not going to see him again for a very long time.

When are we going to snap out of this delicious agony?

common jasmine orange

Still floating around in a Jay Chou-induced haze...

Spent the whole day flipping through the Chinese MTV channel hoping to catch a glimpse of him -- and I did! There was a "Making Of" special, which helped stave off the Jay Chou withdrawal symtoms for an hour or so.

I think I need to go to buy all the VCDs of his music videos. And very soon too.

shuai dai le

Just got back from what must be the best concert of my life -- Jay Chou! Shuai dai le!

I would gladly have paid three times the $128 I spent on tickets -- and this is a lot coming from someone who is so spoilt and used to getting free tickets.

But that is part of the joy of the concert, that it has absolutely nothing to do with work. No need to take note of crowd behaviour, celebrities in the audience, number of empty seats, run-down of songs, encore or not, etc etc...

Instead, it was pure unadulterated idol worship. Heck, even Sly was in the audience! But he was but a mere blip on the radar compared to the meteor that hit when Jay took over the stage.

[Full-blown teenage groupie mode ON]

Swoon. Scream. Melt. Swoon again. Especially when he played the piano. And the flute. And the drums. [Not all at the same time of course!] But he looked so good no matter what he was singing or doing. Or as TPL put it: "Even the way he walks!"

At intermittent intervals, we'd be turning to each other and sighing: "Shuai dai le", "He's soooo coooool!", "He's so talented!" and "I lurve this song!"

Trying to think which is my favourite part is very tough... I would have to say the whole three hours! We wailed when it was over... I think we melted and left a puddle on the floor too.

Am now listening to the Jay Chou for Dummies compilation I made for the girls as a primer for the concert... still swooning away...

amnesia/insomnia

Every now and then, I get insomnia for no fathomable reason. And somehow, I keep wanting to call it amnesia, which is appropriate in a tangential way. Because whenever I get insomnia, I think of a certain someone who helped me while away the tiresome hours of insomnia. Now, I'd rather have amnesia.

On a more mundane note, I'm now using my thighs and calves as bait. Almost caught that annoying mosquito a few times, I could even see its black and white striped skinny legs, but just wasn't fast enough to slap it. One more reason I can't get a good night's sleep.

flu away

Minor illnesses that are not life-threatening. I like and I have one now.

You get pampered with specially-prepared invalid food, which also helps to lose a bit of weight at the same time, and can snooze the day away in a drugged out state. Oh and of course the best bit is staying at home wihle everyone is at work.

on the sly

During lunch today, instead of working, I snuck out to Junction 8 with two of my colleagues to see Sly.

There were hordes of screaming girls -- some no older than seven, I swear, they were so tiny compared to the already skinny Sly when they hurtled into his arms. I was vaguely ashamed to be there, and hung around the back, trying to look nonchalant.

Anyway, while my colleague was backstage interviewing Sly, he so sweetly got me an autograph.

The crumpled piece of notepad paper says: "To champagne parties! Thanks for your supports! Champagne parties!" and there was a scrawl beneath that.

Apparently, besides the boo-boo with the plural of "supports", he also had to ask how to spell "champagne" and check that "parties" was not spelt "partys".

But do we care? Of course not. Mousey the English teacher has already offered to give him tuition.

media law

How many media law courses do I have to go through in this lifetime?

Rather painful, but still bearable the first time round in uni.

One more time in London, with excruciating evening lectures in the dead of winter, and a three-hour exam on media laws of Britain, Scotland and Wales, for crying out loud. [Being a typical Singaporean, I aced it, butofcos!]

Third time round now. On course for today and tomorrow, and it hasn't been as dreadful as feared. Amusing case studies, and of course the infamous Toh Chin Chye was brought up again.

Found myself thinking, I wish someone will defame me. Even though I'm no LKY [who can command half a million in damages apparently], I might be able to sue and get $20,000 at least. Ah yes, this is the sort of day dreams one engages in during media law sessions.

public service announcement

You know the ladies toilet at Borders, the one at the side entrance that they specially built a door with theft detectors?

Do not ever use the handicapped toilet next to it. The glass door is so poorly fitted that there are huge gaps along the side.

And to make matters worse, the door frame is of such shiny metal that the interior is reflected to anyone standing outside.

Even though I tried to avert my gaze, I saw everything going on inside. And I do mean everything.

hari raya hooray

Dying of boredom in the office without my twin to keep me occupied with her "hahahahahhahahahahahahaha" messages. Also very frustrated cos I have a tonne of pages to churn out but there are pix and text missing on every page, so nothing can be done.

In the spirit of Hari Raya -- which to me means wearing green and purple clothes, lots of Malay goodies and sprucing up the house -- I'm wearing my Sound of Music purple tee with green shrug, ate a yummy suji biscuit for tea, and thought hard about where I can buy lamp shade frames to make lamp shades.

Have been obsessed with making my own, since buying a book on the subject last week at a book fair. Also grabbed a whole lot of home decor books, which I've been drooling over since. I want to re-decorate my room with space to display all my handbags and Enid Blyton books.

happy diwali

In honour of Deepavali -- although this has nothing to do with it -- I have decided to stop my food diary.

The real reason is that I have no time for daily updates and my short-term memory is so lousy that I can barely remember what I had for brekfast.

food diary
kaya toast
tea with sugar
lobster bisque
salmon pasta with cream sauce
one packet of Lakerol
baked salmon
cauliflower and carrots
spinach soup
half an orange
half a pear

food diary
bun with weird meat
one mouthful of Milo
wanton mee
two peanut butter cups
rice with yong tau foo and veggie
two slices of star fruit
half a pear
two squares of chocolate
lobster keropok

food diary
fishball noodles
tea with sugar
two otah
Boon Tong Kee chicken rice with veggie and tofu
barley drink
champage and strawberries ice cream
Shashlik chicken
two escargot
baked Alaska

food diary
blueberry muffin
tea with sugar
Nonya Bong rice with chicken and cabbage
curry puff
samosir
Hawaiian pizza
Campbell soup

vote for sly

Idolising parties are back!

To celebrate Chris being kicked out last Friday, Ah Tan broke out the bubbly for a party. We started screaming even before the show started, when the pizza delivery boy came and she tipped him before telling him to vote for Sly.

Of course, when he sang, we were totally silent. Then, when he ended, we let it rip.

When the show ended, the gals forced me to vote -- I'd been abstaining since my beloved David was eliminated -- so I did. Twice.

food diary
can't recall what was for breakfast and lunch but dinner was unforgettable:
three slices of Canadian pizza
lots of champage
tiramisu with very strong Tia Maria
rum and raisin ice cream
champage and strawberries ice cream

food diary
half-boiled egg with soya sauce
kaya toast
tea with sugar
kway chap without any of the Fear Factor innards
one leg of gingerbread man
one cookie
large plate of spaghetti
one pear

food diary
tuna sandwich
tea with sugar
seafood soup
entire packet of cheese cookies
stingray
veggie
lotus root soup
rice
watermelon
papaya

food diary
kaya bread
hot chocolate
fishball noodle dry
watermelon juice
suji biscuit

food diary
chee cheong fun
chicken, potatoa and carrot soup with macaroni [my fave food in the whole wide world]
two pieces of tapioca cake
KFC family feast
half packet of Calbee prawn crackers
one konyaku jelly
one glass green tea

food diary
half packet fish ball noodles
five otah
half bowl cha soba
four slices tako
half plate chuka hotate
half plate tori karaage
green tea
orange cranberry juice
seven sticks of chicken satay
half a ketupat
some cucumber
three sotong balls
watermelon
konyaku jelly

food diary
two tau sar buns
half cup of tea with milk
fruits and vegetable juice with wheatgrass [took a chance on the vile-sounding drink and it was so good]
diet Coke
fried chicken wing from Crystal Jade
suji biscuit
few forkfuls of oyster omelette, carrot cake and Hokkien mee

food diary
three slices of mini pizza
tea with sugar
one suji biscuit
pho in chicken broth
Ya Kun kaya toast
tea with sugar
Cosmopolitan
some chips

food diary
can't recall what I've been eating, exactly, for the past few days, but it includes:
pork ravioli
some soup
fried chicken wings
beehoon
Ribena
croquette
apple juice
Milo
Polo

food diary
two slices of biscuit
bacon and potato bun
tea with sugar
fishball soup
one slice watermelon
one slice rock melon
one taupok
one egg
some rice

food diary
lor mee
honey with lemon
one-third packet of Roller Coaster
fried rice
one Yakult
three slices of orange
half a kiwi
two slices of pear

dressmaker elf

Very productive day today as a busy dressmaker elf. Managed to wake up early-ish -- 11am is early considering that I left office the night before at 11pm -- and even had time to go buy some silk lining, zip, fake crystals and that wheel-roller thing for transfering patterns before going for dressmaking class.

Have cut out my cute navy blue cotton with mini sailboat prints, and will work on the lining at home tomorrow. Very excited about the bubble dress I'm making now.

Came home after dinner and continued in seamstress mode. Finally finished the scallop hem of my circular skirt. It's so beautiful, I can't wait to wear it, but still gotta sew some felt appliques onto it first.

Also gotta do alterations on another skirt I made. Oh gosh, so much sewing to do. As I've been lamenting a lot these days, "If only I have more time!"

Barely had time to enter my food diary this week, what with the crazy revamp of the papers. Have been arrowed to be in charge of the music pages, which is a joke because I have no idea most of the time what Chris Ho, S.Y. Whang and Chang Tou Liang are talking about in their columns. Had to go through an interview with a rapper which contained the word "bombakla". Since we're so not with it and don't know what the word means, we've been using it as a code word for any and everything, i.e. "Why is he such an asshole? Bombakla!" or "Bombakla, let's go for lunch."

Then there has been an influx of Bag It Now queries and orders due to a short write-up in Her World. And with new stock coming in next week, we're going to have another round of photo taking and mass emailing, so it's gonna be busy busy busy.

Where am I gonna find the time to have lunch?

food diary
half portion wanton mee dry
yong tau foo soup
one Yakult
one packet Roller Coaster

food diary
kaya toast
tea with sugar
teochew porridge with egg, tofu and sotong
watermelon juice
half a chocolate cake
one profiterole
unrecognisable Indian food [but yummy nonetheless]
veggie with garlic
Thai-style fried chicken
some rice

food diary
Beard Papa cream puff
tea with sugar
Rotiboy [again! It's that good!]
four pieces of wheat biscuit
CQYD
Yakult
two pieces of white chocolate

food diary
pork floss on bread
half cup of Milo
chicken rice [you know the drill about half portion and breast meat by now, right?]
Rotiboy [ohmigod, it's so yummy! Sweet and savoury, crispy and soft, all at the same time!]
veggie
chicken
rice
two pieces of pear

food diary
raisin muffin
half cup of Milo
half bowl of fishball kwayteow soup
half a chocolate cake
half an Indian rice puff thing
yong tau foo soup
veggie with mushrooms and vermicelli
some rice
some watermelon
half a pear
two squares of white chocolate

food diary
century egg porridge
three cups of homemade barley [without sugar, tastes like longkow water]
half packet wasabe chips
half a piglet
four fried ikan kuning
veggie in oyster sauce
some rice
watermelon
rojak

er ling si liu

[Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for 2046]

Have a new favourite movie -- 2046. Am never good at these movie review things, so will just borrow Clara's words: "It dismantles the idea of an ideal love, only to ressurrect it beautifully again."

food diary
half portion meepok dry
tea with sugar
four otah
three mini packets of seaweed and sesame crackers
giant Indian dinner with super sweet dessert
half bottle of Snapple Pink Lemonade

to all the pervs out there

I find it vaguely disturbing, after looking at my visitor log and how they came across my blog, that it has appeared in searches for "nakid mama" and "anal discharge pix". I'm beginning to suspect that Google is being used for unspeakable purposes.

food diary
Swiss roll
tea
yong tau foo
Ribena
two almond cookies
half a curry puff
large bowl of chocolate ice cream

food diary
bread or cereal or something
Milo
polo bun [no, not the mint with the hole in the middle, but the Hong Kong bun which supposedly resembles a pineapple]
fried fish soup
one slice of watermelon
rice with baked chicken and veggie
two squares of white chocolate

turn left, turn right

Have once again managed to sprain my neck in my sleep. Working with limited head movements now.

Have also managed to become overly "heaty" -- nose started bleeding alarmingly after lunch -- and am developing a sore throat.

food diary
Milo
tuna bun
chicken rice [half portion rice, roast chicken, breast meat, lots of chilli]
tomato soup with fish slices
broccoli and carrots
some rice
two squares of white chocolate

broke broked broken

Oh dear, just realised I'm going to be very broke when my credit card bill arrives later this month.

Have to pay for my Dad's car -- don't get me started on why I've to pay for a car I don't get to drive or this rant will never end -- and my Phuket trip. Oh, and a very expensive hydrating facial after getting sun burnt.

Yet, I can't stop shopping. Shopping loot so far include:
-- two boat-neck tops from Zara
-- purple cardigan from Mango
-- nautical flip flops
-- turquoise cardigan from Ness
-- billowy top from Ebase
-- Shiny PVC clutch from Ebase
-- Silky pleated skirt from some Spanish brand I can't quite figure out

food diary
four mini sausages
one mini bun
one sunny side up
one teriyaki chicken burger from Mos Burger
one corn soup
half cup of pink guava
one-third cup of Coke
one-third box of sweet popcorn

new toy

Playing with my new toy. Is this Lomo or what?


The colours of Venice


Drip dry in Murano


Round and round in Florence

food diary
one brownie
Milo
three spoonfuls of cereal and raisins
herbal chicken with rice
can't recall dinner

pillow talk

Woes with pillows the past few weeks. I feel like Goldilocks.

First, it was too soft, and I ended up spraining my neck and shoulder.

I bought a new one last week, and it was just the right firmness. But alas, it was too high, and the quality was so superior that no matter how hard I tried to squish it, it refused to be broken in.

Finally, my mom got me one which was nice and firm and not too high. But somehow, it affects my neck in weird ways, and my head tilts sideways, my mouth falls open, my drool flows out and I wake up with a slurp. Grossssss...


Perhaps what I need is the Boyfriend Pillow.

food diary
prawn noodles soup
very little rice with tofu, cabbage, pork chop and tiny fried fish
can't recall dinner

food diary
one prata
four otah
tea with sugar
two sotong balls
liver soup
green bean soup
two yummy homemade brownies
one Yakult

food diary
Milo
wanton mee [half portion noodles]
kaya toast
chicken drumstick
Ribena Light
instant soup
handful of ikan bilis
two squares of milk chocolate

idolising party

Can't concentrate on work, just counting down the hours to Singapore Idol tonight at 8pm, so I can see my David and Sly again.

Me: No Idolising Party this week. *Sigh*
Sissy: I have party with you at home lor!

Hooray! Think I shall buy some chips at least in preparation for the show. Less than three hours to go...

food diary
half a ham and cheese and tomato sandwich
tea with milk
cereal with raisins
one grapefruit
one wedge of watermelon
two deep-fried mini crabs
one packet sunflower seeds
cabbage, mushroom and chicken rice
one slife each of guava, orange and pear
two squares of milk chocolate

warning: holiday pix coming up

Baikar recovery procedure -- seawater and staying horizontal


Me and my lurve


On Bon Island [not to be confused with the famous James Bond Island, also on Phuket]


We only look nakid...


Suakus who have not seen coral before


I want my own infinity pool


Liquid diet -- frozen mango daiquiri!

food diary
ham and cheese sandwich [hehe, suddenly remembered the Phuket airport had a shop selling "sandwishes"]
tea with milk
Nanbantei obento set
stingray with belachan
cauliflower and mushrooms
rice
one wedge of pomelo
one box of Lakerol

food diary
tea with milk
nasi lemak
an entire bag of cheddar-flavoured cheese [MSG craving!]
tofu and taugeh
my favouritest soup -- chicken, potato and carrot soup
one wedge of pomelo
two strawberries

food diary
tuna bun
chicken bun
tea with milk
steamed fish
veggie
rice
half a piglet
one syrup-covered Chinese snack

food diary
two otah
one cup of tea with milk
shrimp dumpling noodles
lots of papadom
yong tau foo
veggie
rice
four large pieces of keropok