It’s nearly 3am and I’m still thinking about my French class. As blogged previously, I meant to start at an easier level but due to a scheduling mistake by Alliance Francaise, I was put in a more difficult class than I wanted to be in.
… to go with my eggs and ham.
A drink of note at SXSW 2008.
Then I discovered they also serve green beer in Singapore. At the Red Dot Brewhouse.
Now all we need is a Green Day album to listen to…
The only thing is, I don’t agree with the claim that this beer can cure cancers and AIDS. If beer can do that, then maybe it can create World Peace as well. Then all the Miss Universe contestants will have to think of a new answer.
I've long heard of Michael Chiang's play but on Saturday I finally got to see it in musical form. I was quite proud to see homegrown productions take off. The music was good, the acting was humorous without being overdone, the costumes were flamboyant and the storyline was plausible. Some of us gave a standing ovation.
This is the cover of the programme.
After the show we chatted with Dick Lee's family and I asked Dick to autograph the Beauty World CD we had purchased. A large crowd had already gathered inside the Esplanade, queuing up to meet the cast. I followed Dick as he squeezed his way through the throng, with security guards keeping our path clear. He found a marker pen and a counter table and autographed my CD. Then we took this photo:
I first met Dick when his Mad Chinaman album (my favourite) took off and there was a party at his place. I had just begun writing songs and aspired to be like him. I've always wanted to have a photo with him but that eluded me until yesterday.
After that, we joined the queue to meet the rest of the cast, who were in high spirits. Wherever I could recall a good song performance, I'd praise the respective cast member - it's always good to encourage people. And they were appreciative and very friendly, no airs about them.
Me and my sister with comedienne actress Irene Ang, who was roaringly funny as the Cantonese maidservant.
The highlight was meeting the star of the show, Elena Wang. We realised she was from the same school as my sister, and she was delighted to hear about it. Her voice was crystal clear, she hit all the notes, her acting was convincing - truly a rising star.
All in all, it was a most memorable night. Singapore can be proud of this homegrown musical.
I visited St Regis today. It officially opened yesterday.
It looks even better on the inside.
We wanted to have tea. So we walked up to the receptionist who was standing in front of a nice-looking dining area, alongside a row of fountains. She appeared unsure about what to do, and checked with another colleague before telling us about the different types of tea they had.
We decided to have the simpler English afternoon-style tea, and were led to the Drawing Room. We were seated on some plush sofas. After a while the waitresses pushed over a table draped with a thick linen cloth. They also apologised for making us wait so long for a table (literally). We said that's OK.
The tea menus were comprehensive. For S$38 you'd get a range of savouries and sweets, including 2 types of scones, smoked salmon roll, a wagyu beef rucola sandwich, cakes and chocolates. That was just for 1 person, so we shared the food and ordered extra cups of tea.
We asked what type of tea (drink) they had, and our mainland Chinese waitress apologised and said that their full range of tea hadn't arrived yet. While she recited the list of available teas, I could tell from her trembling voice that she was nervous. We chose English Breakfast tea.
Check out the sugar cubes! They looked like square Polo sweets. Same goes for the brown sugar.
Another waitress brought us two teapots and asked if she could pour tea for us. I was amused as usually the waiter would just walk up and pour tea for us - no need to ask for permission. This probably implied a higher standard of service as befitted a hotel of this class. The waitress also placed our teapots on a separate table, which again indicated that they would pour everything for us.
As with the receptionist, we realised the waitstaff were greenhorns too. The waitress tried to pour tea using a strainer. However, this was a tip tea strainer, i.e. it had a base attached to it, and the waitress didn't know how to use it properly. So the tea went through the sieve, trickled into the base and then went into one of our teacups. My mum nicely told the waitress she had to tilt the strainer at a right angle. After a while the waitress seemed to understand. She thanked my mum for the instruction and apologised that she was trained to use a simpler type of strainer, which the hotel didn't seem to have.
The mainland Chinese waitress was the next to pour tea for us, and she too received my mother's instruction. She learnt quickly. After that, a third waitress poured tea for us. She poured the tea into the strainer until it filled up the base, which then overflowed and spilled into the teacup. For the third time my mother showed how to strain tea properly, and again we were told that they had been trained to use a different type of sieve, not this one. At least the third waitress was more confident and thanked us for teaching her something new.
We asked the first waitress (the one who took some time to understand how to use the strainer properly) twice to pour tea for us again, and twice she said yes then walked off to serve another table. She never came back to serve us. In the end we got the mainland Chinese waitress to help us and she was more responsive. After a while all the waitstaff seemed overwhelmed with new groups of customers coming in, and our teacups were empty for a long time. So we moved the teapots to our own table and poured our own tea. The waitstaff didn't seem to mind us doing that. I thought that wasn't consistent - if you made it a point to pour tea for us at the start, then do it all the way.
Overall, it was not a big deal but the staff need more training, experience and confidence.
After downing many cups of tea, I went to the Ladies and it was very nice. Look, even the toilet flush has Braille on it!
And there are many rolls of cloth towels. Lots of laundering to do. Alas, one patron didn't know where to put her used towel, and thew it into the dustbin! There was a large laundry bin next to it... she should have put it there.
The only thing lacking in the Ladies' was a place to hang our handbags! Not very clever. I thought all the top hotels would have either a ledge or a stub. So we had to hang our bags on the doorknobs. Not very becoming. What if regular patrons like rich tai-tais are unable to hang their large Louis Vuitton or Hermes handbags on the doorknobs? Surely they wouldn't put their bags on the toilet floor. Also each cubicle is a bit small, which was surprising for a top hotel. So there's not much space to put your shopping bags down, either.
Soon after I used the Ladies', two toilet cleaners arrived and one was sitting down on a chair meant for patrons, yarning away loudly to the other in dialect. It didn't make it feel like a 6 or 7 star hotel. Overall it felt like the staff weren't being supervised and were left to cut it out on their own.
We walked up the main staircase and noticed that there were fibreoptics woven into the carpet! Very unusual to see steps glittering. The hotel also had a huge chandelier that looked like Noah's Ark.
While walking around the lobby I realised I knew the lounge pianist! He's a teacher in my music school. We exchanged knowing looks. I was doubly amused because he actually teaches bass and the piano is his second instrument.
Overall, the hotel was very nicely furnished. It has a lovely Christmas tree, paintings, sculptures and the back corridor was lined with plenty of congratulatory bouquets of flowers. The staff were well-intentioned and many smiled and greeted us, although the few incidents we encountered showed that they need more experience and supervision. St. Regis in Singapore may take some time to get up to scratch with the high standards of staff at other top hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton.
While at Bugis Junction this afternoon, we discovered that Graniph, a popular arty Japanese T-shirt store, had just opened today!
I got myself a Helvetica T-shirt. When I wear it (probably with jeans and sneakers), I will feel just like a designer again. This store's like the Japanese version of Threadless.
Update: Strangeknight blogged about Graniph opening in Singapore, too.
Technorati Tags: Graniph
I just contributed my first review to Hungrygowhere.com after dining at another up-and-coming Italian restaurant with Italian chef and local wife, Trattoria Lafiandra. Read my review here.
We watched the Phantom of the Opera yesterday evening and the performance was solid. The catch to starring in a big musical that everyone's heard of many times before, is that it is difficult to produce an exceptional performance, because the standards are already high. It was the same for this sellout performance at the Esplanade.
Over dinner, my family was recounting their time in Paris a few weeks ago. Yours truly had chosen not to go on this trip due to another recent overseas trip (to SXSW) and a pile of deadlines at work.
The hotel receptionist had given my family the wrong directions to the tour agency, so they were late and the bus left without them! However they found an alternative tour which started a few hours later. To pass the time, they went to various shops nearby, then bumped into a Frenchman friend who happened to be back in Paris. He recommended a good place for lunch.
Said my mother, "The restaurant's name was Costes. C-O-S-T-E-S..."
At which point I shrieked, "COSTES!!!! YOU WENT TO HOTEL COSTES?!?!?!? I HAVE ALL THEIR CDs I LOVE THEIR MUSIC!!!"*
In fact I was just listening some Costes music while working out on my Nike+ iPod nano kit a few hours earlier.
Apparently their food is really, really good too. The prices were high but the food was worth it. There were beautiful people everywhere, dressed in suits. And that was only lunch time, so I can only imagine what it's like at night.
The next time we go to Paris, I'll see if I can squeeze in a visit to Costes.
* To be precise, because I have the entire collection of CDs, I didn't see the point in buying their recent 'Best of' CD.
Over the last half a year, I've fallen in love with Moleskine notebooks. I bought my first Moleskines on my birthday last year while at the Museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofía shop in Madrid.
I soon regretted not buying more notebooks then, because they were cheaper in Spain than in Singapore - where small notebooks are being sold between S$24-26+.
When I switched to using PDA phones I thought it would be easier for me to organise my thoughts and my life. However, handwriting recognition still isn't 100% accurate, and fumbling with virtual keypads and miniature keyboards requiring pin-prick accuracy is not my favourite way to jot down ideas or return text messages quickly.
So ironically, for scribbling down my ideas, Moleskines are better for me.
Due to the history and the famous users associated with the brand (even Neil Gaiman uses one), there is a kind of mystique attached to the notebooks. Look at the Wikipedia documentation on Moleskines.
Maybe I'm a fool for marketing ploys but considering I choose Apple iPods over Creative Zens, I am the type who doesn't mind paying a bit extra for a better user experience. Especially where creativity comes into play.
I'm also involved in a Moleskine project with my closest group of SCGS mates. We will all take turns to write in a notebook as we travel around the world (or simply live our lives in Singapore). We're all bloggers but there is still a certain old-world charm to keeping a group diary.
I'd like to see Moleskine's city notebook on Singapore, which will be out in 2008, according to the Wikipedia entry.
In any case I'm thinking of buying notebooks in bulk and on the cheap, via VPost which is supposed to charge cheaper for delivery charges when ordering products from other countries. Anyone tried doing that before? Did you have a good experience with the service?
Hearing news like this makes me wonder whether to laugh or cry. Disney has bought the rights to Enid Blyton's Famous Five and will be making a modern-day cartoon.
I was brought up on Enid Blyton books such as Noddy, the Famous Five, the Secret Seven, Mallory Towers, Amelia Jane, the Faraway Tree and numerous other titles.
The Independent sums up the likely changes:
Gone will be "gosh", "golly" and "jolly nice", replaced - potentially - by the likes of "cool", "awesome" and "boss". The idea of "lashings of ginger beer", the Famous Five "catchphrase" which does not appear in any of the books, to wash down high tea is likely to be replaced by more 21st-century fare and, instead of having a ball of string and a rubber band for "tools", the Five will be able to use technology to ensnare villains.The Five will even have different names because they are the children of the original characters. Instead, they will be called Cole, Dylan, Jo and Allie.
Why make things more complicated by creating new characters? And what if the original charm of the series is completely lost?
My biggest nightmare would be hearing something like this: "Yo, Jo - how about a soccer match?"
It seems that the main purpose is to make something palatable for a mass audience. Disney appears to be catering to a new generation who may not have read Blyton's books. Imagine doing that with Lord of the Rings.
Gingerpop, an Enid Blyton resource website, urges readers to write in to publishers, stating on their "Save the Famous Five campaign page that "Intelligent children understand the concept of history, and can appreciate that the Famous Five stories are of a time and place."
Technorati Tags: Enid Blyton, Famous Five, Disney, adaptations
We watched Singapore Dreaming yesterday. Overall, it was a good local movie with some stereotypical aspirations that Singaporeans would be familiar with - the 5Cs (cash, car, condo, credit card, country club) and an extra one thrown in for good measure: coffin.
It was fascinating to see how even in death the Chinese burn paper cars with chauffeurs, laptops and bungalows in the hope that their dearly departed will have a luxurious afterlife.
The main theme of the show, as you may gather, is aspirations. It shows what some people do to get what they want. How the manifestations of success are only skin-deep. It's what's inside that matters.
Underlying the film, to me, were common communication problems that Singaporeans experience in their relationships - unreasonable expectations, not listening when others are trying to express themselves, or listening but not wanting to understand. And of course, having outbursts at loved ones who are good to you, while trying to be nice to bosses who abuse you. Isn't it ironic how our priorities get misplaced?
The casting was generally fine, though I wasn't comfortable with the actors playing the sister's boss and his wife. They appeared too young and didn't really act convincingly. It's easy to look flustered and go into hysterics but even then it felt overdone.
The film has subtitles which translate Singlish into proper English. I was mildly amused at that. But I guess it is required if one wishes to garner international acclaim - we need to be understood by the rest of the world. I'm concerned that Singlish will become a problem for us. Those who get too comfortable speaking this mix of English, Chinese dialects and Malay, will have difficulty communicating naturally in proper languages.
After the movie, it was nice to have the producers saying a few words to us. Let's support good homegrown films like this one. Go watch it with family and friends!
We watched The Devil Wears Prada last night. It was as good as I had heard it would be.
Anyone who's ever had a demanding, political job can empathise with Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), the new assistant to fashion editor Miranda Priestly (well-casted as Meryl Streep), the eponymous anti-heroine of the movie.
While generally entertaining, some parts of the movie were too exaggerated to be believable. How could a babe like Andy not know anything about fashion? Even I know how to spell "Gabbana". However, I admit that the only difference between the two 'turqoise' belts, to me, was the size of the buckle.
After some initial hiccups, Andy's chirpiness stays with her even months into the job, which is passable in a movie but I wondered if it would happen in real life. She had an amazing work attitude and even the most demanding boss would be impressed at the mountains she moved to stay in that job.
I can empathise with Andy on feeling like there was no choice in some matters. I went through that phase a couple years ago. Also, there's the inevitable conflict between work versus friends, lovers and family. Sometimes you can't juggle all of them together and something has to give. That's when you re-assess your priorities in life. I felt a strong twinge of guilt while watching the movie, as I've become very tardy in keeping appointments with friends. I still haven't visited two friends after they've given birth, and I've cancelled out on dinners, due to family and work commitments.
Miranda Priestly reminded me very much of Cruella De Vil. Fortunately no Dalmatians were harmed in the production of this movie (not sure about other types of furry animals, though). She was merciless, impossibly hard to please, but showed her human side eventually.
OK, any more spoilers and you'd make me walk off the runway. Go watch it and enjoy the show!
Had dinner at Lao Beijing, and then watched a HK/China movie called Crazy Stone which has apparently received pretty positive reviews.
Every minute of the movie was entertaining, funny and at times just hilarious. There are many intertwining sub-plots and themes.
There are the good guys versus the bad guys - the security team versus two different groups of thieves.
There's also the evil, rich and greedy group who get people into more debt, versus the poor and desperate group who go out on a limb just to pay their debts.
There's betrayal of love, and betrayal of familial trust. In the end, each character gets what they deserve, by an uncanny twist (and yet another twist) in the plot.
The start of the movie is like a Quentin Tarantino movie, in the sense that there are flashbacks in time to show how the whole story fits in together. The good and bad guys' lives are paralleled, quite literally side by side. You'll see what I mean if you watch the movie ;-)
This evening, I attended a big dinner party for an old family friend and was ushered to a table of young, beautiful people.
Yes, younger than I, and more beautiful - including the men, and they were straight, too! Mmm. Everyone lived or studied overseas - and in exotic locations, not just the usual *yawn* UK, Australia and US but Spain, Italy, France. Everyone drank wine. The young men didn't gulp it down. No, they swirled it, inhaled the aroma, analysed it - and they didn't look one bit like posers.
I was thinking, 'Oh shoot, why did I choose to join this dinner party... I am going to be so uncool next to them'. Then I thought, hey, I'm supposed to be able to relate to them. I'm still in my twenties! I'm not a country bumpkin either. Hold my ground!
Watching a new Superman movie after so many years brought back nostalgic memories.
We girls had heard that this new Superman was suitably well-endowed ... not with extra powers but, well, you know! Admittedly he had a slightly vacant look but I don't blame him considering his endowment fund had been reportedly downsized!
It's like watching a movie with a new James Bond and feeling that Sean Connery was still better but what the heck, it was a decent show anyway.
*Spoilers*
Watching a new Superman movie after so many years brought back nostalgic memories.
We girls had heard that this new Superman was suitably well-endowed ... not with extra powers but, well, you know! Admittedly he had a slightly vacant look but I don't blame him considering his endowment fund had been reportedly downsized!
It's like watching a movie with a new James Bond and feeling that Sean Connery was still better but what the heck, it was a decent show anyway.
*Spoilers*
Until I watched the award-winning play on its opening night at the National Library theatre, I didn't know that a fundoshi was a loincloth.
Glenn Goei made an opening speech, warning those whose sensitivities might be offended by the bawdy humour, that a red light above the stage would turn on as a warning, and they should close their eyes. The Geylang-esque red light turned on halfway through the first story and remained there until the end.
Rest assured there was no frontal nudity - let's just say they just had a lot of, er, cheek. When Emma Yong (one of my favourite local actresses) made her sudden appearance, I actually saw ... stars.
Kudos to the drummer, and to all the actors for a brave performance.
Technorati Tags: Magic Fundoshi
Since I'm suffering from an ailment that begins with the letter 'D', resulting in frequent trips to the loo, I'm back at home. Anyway, it's about time I updated this blog!
Last week, I watched Brokeback Mountain with some friends. Interestingly it was an almost all-girl outing. I often wonder why some straight guys shy away from any mention of the word 'gay'. Jesus ate with tax collectors. We shouldn't marginalise other human beings just because they're different.
Anyway, the movie itself was what I had expected it to be. The acting was riveting, and silences spoke words. Personally I thought it would have been better if they had either lived together immediately (and risked getting lynched), or forgotten about the whole thing and brought up their own families. Trying to have their own cake, and eating it every four years or so, is kind of difficult, especially for simple-minded cowboys who think their wives don't know what they're doing.
Based on my little knowledge of psychology, another thing which interested me was the family background of the two men. Both felt unwanted, and had low self-esteem. I haven't read the book but it sounded like a lot of thought went into crafting these characters.
I succumbed to the Mixed Grill offer two weeks ago, but am still waiting for my Strongspace and Joyent accounts to be set up. On scouring the forum, it appears that most of us just have to wait a bit longer.
The reason why I decided to sign up with Dean Allen and team was that when things go wrong on my current server, my queries are 'outsourced' and sometimes the answers I receive are not so intelligent. To be fair, things have been pretty calm in the last couple of months, but the next time something major happens, at least I know I have a permanent space elsewhere that I can move all my stuff to.
Which leads on to a long-overdue book review. I greatly enjoyed reading Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind because he has a lot of foresight and gives advice on how to adapt in this new Conceptual Age. Essentially, the Information Age is over. Some jobs can be done more cheaply overseas, at the fraction of your salary. How do we adapt ourselves, so that we can still remain relevant at work? He shows you how, in an open-minded way that doesn't involve Machiavellian tactics.
My favourite chapter is on 'Design' - how we should strive to look at ordinary things in different ways, and improve on them. My own work experience has been a melting pot of different trades - designing, consulting, writing newspaper columns and software reviews, producing music, blogging. So I relate well to it. Another chapter I liked was 'Story'. How people remember stories better than numbers, and how you can make them remember things better by using the former.
'Empathy' was another thing we could have more of. I've had my fair share of mindless cold calls from people who don't really care about you - and many customers can sense if that's the case. Kindness and understanding is increasingly rare in cut-throat industries, where only the bottomline seems to matter.
Pink's writing style is also easy to digest. Busy people can appreciate that they don't have to plough through this book. For its delightful insights, and for making me read it over and over again, A Whole New Mind is my favourite book for 2005.
(Yes, this review is slightly overdue, isn't it!)
I watched a Korean movie, My Brother, last night. It is well-written, and moving. The story is narrated by the younger brother of a cleft-lipped boy, who is the runt of the family and thus gets all the attention from his doting mother. The boys' father left them because of his son's disfigurement, and shortly after that, the mother discovered she was pregnant (with the narrator).
The father leaves little behind - except an old camera. The show begins and ends with that camera. As the boys grow up, there is rivalry for a girl, and the older son's heart is broken as his brother plagiarises his love poetry for her, and ends up going out with her instead. Still, the older son shows love and patience to his brother, despite getting constantly abused by him. Eventually they start to get along. But there is one thing the narrator is unable to do - call his disfigured sibling 'his brother'. His whole life has been filled with jealousy towards his older brother, and resentment towards his mother for the unequal treatment.
While the older son goes on to medical school, the narrator falls out with society, his mother, and even his brother, becoming a debt-collector. Ultimately a string of unfortunate misdeeds which he commits, comes back to haunt him, and it is finally then that he can call his cleft-lipped sibling 'his brother'.
I just watched 'Batman Begins'. Apart from certain criminals, a few innocent citizens and Batman himself, another thing that needed to be suspended way up in the air, was my disbelief. Spoilers ahoy.
I just turned on the telly (after a practice session of Blue Rondo, of course *angelic glare*) and caught a glimpse of MTV's Punked, which essentially is "Celebrity Saboh*"
I caught Salma Hayek with friends (Penelope Cruz?) at a club. They go to the bathroom and see an unimaginably huge turd in the toilet bowl. They giggle and shriek and Salma flushes the toilet, causing it to overflow. The girls run back to their table, still laughing.
Meanwhile, another customer sees them and complains to the management, who then confront Hayek and friends, who are in denial. After a while, Salma is told she's been Punkd. Penelope and friends were part of the act!
Then a Desperate Housewife got Punkd in a fake police hold-up. And an R&B artiste got falsely accused of sexually harassing an old white lady. He got Punkd.
Now they're showing a dating game, DisMissed. A hunky guy dates 2 pretty girls who seem overly confident of their chances of being chosen by him. They seem happy slagging each other off, behind each other's backs. Amusing.
It's time to get back to practice.
*Saboh = Sabotage, as in, play a trick on someone.
I just had one of the best birthday dinners ever, at Zuko, a new restaurant opened by an enterprising ex-colleague. It was good seeing everyone again. You could spout absolute nonsense and everybody would know what you were punning about.
Anyway, it's worth checking the restaurant out for good Modern European fare. One of the chefs worked in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, and he was also part of the original Les Amis. You can find it along Upper East Coast Road, after the Starbucks and Gelare Cafe.
[Excuse my blurred photographs. As you can see, the 02 mini isn't much use in dim light.]
He made an excellent foie gras, crispy on the outside and absolutely melting on the inside. Served on a bed of mushrooms.
I also sampled the scallops with spinach leaves and the seared tuna (above). Nice bits of chilli padi, if you like the spice (I do).
For the main course, I had the Hokubee beef, air-flown from Australia and reared by the Japanese, and if you bite into it (medium rare's best), you can tell why. It's leaner than Kobe, and much more affordable, but still quite succulent.
For dessert, I had the apple crumble and ice cream, good warm and cold combination. Even the crust was tasty. I sampled a bit of the tiramisu, which is the house special.
I also got what I wanted - strike 3 items off my Amazon wishlist! I had such trouble finding Sweetback's Stage 2 at my usual haunts, That CD Shop and HMV, I was relieved that my ex-colleagues chose to give that to me. I think the video of Aya in the song, 'Lover', got me hooked despite the fact that most fans feel their first album was better.
Next is Erykah Badu's Live album. First track, Rimshot, begins with a super-chilled out version of Miles Davis's So What. Maybe I should let my band members hear this version before the concert! Great album.
Lastly, Thievery Corporation's Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi. I loved their other album, Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi, a compilation of latin jazz tracks. A quick skim through Thievery Hi-Fi tells me that this album would fit well in Habitat (cool furniture chain I frequented in the UK). In fact, the track 'Scene At The Open Air Market' was used in a previous Flash intro of Wallpaper Magazine. At least now I know the name of the song!
My colleagues also got me Zero 7's Simple Things remix album. I think I have to get used to this one. There are a lot of ideas in here, to soup up my own productions.
H and A got married yesterday and we Bristolians had a great time at the dinner. I was really happy for the two of them, and H was moved to tears on a few occasions. I wondered if I too would ever experience such overpowering love for someone else.
The ballroom was smaller than expected, but that made it more intimate. The food was good; the company, even better! Though I'm usually not a dessert fan, I must say the chocolate mousse with a crunchy wafer base, encased in a milk chocolate heart, was the best thing ever (yes, I punned that we could 'Eat our hearts out'). And though I haven't seen many schoolmates in years, it was amazing how we could start talking as though we left off yesterday!
YM and her other half, V came over to Singapore, and so did Y from Mauritius. MH also came down from Malaysia. We had people on our table who've never come to Singapore before. The groom's parents were there, of course - his mother seemed to have a sense of humour. And I finally got to get a glimpse of his much-fabled beautiful sister!
As friends hopped from table to table, talking about everything under the sun, I looked around me and wondered, has it been nearly 5 years since we graduated? How infrequent have our gatherings become! Must we get married in order to see our friends again? Noo.....
GY brought his baby around - a cute, chubby boy, less than a year old, who liked grabbing things (taking after his father I see - ahem!). Some of us are still amazed that he was the first in our group to settle down.
Of course, seeing how many of my schoolmates actually DID become lawyers, the numbers thinned down gradually as a few of them went back to the OFFICE. One of them mentioned he still worked past midnight.
And I'll be off to Shanghai in a few hours' time, so ta ta for now and have a good weekend!
For the second time, I caught Wild Rice's production of Boeing Boeing. It's as good as the first time, if you like sexy stewardesses, melodramatics, and catastrophic timing. Also, where on earth do they find such huge Filipina actresses?
I'm sure "It's not ee-see!"
More details in my first review in 2002.
A package arrived today - from Acmabooks.com. I ordered three books from them and it arrived a week earlier than expected - all in mint condition (that earns brownie points).
It all started off when I got roped in as the pianist for our forthcoming company production - a musical farewell to our much-loved CEO. (Have you ever been in a large organisation where nobody says anything bad about the CEO because she is genuinely respected and well-liked? I just have. It's an amazing feeling.)
We heard she likes Broadway music, so to make my job easier, I ordered The Definitive Broadway Collection. I also picked up Edward De Bono's classic book, Six Thinking Hats, and for lighter reading, 'Here Speeching American', which is a collection of very bad (and funny) English used around the world. You'd think all they'd have was what you've already seen in emails ... well there's lots more heavy-duty stuff you haven't seen, and I've nearly split my sides laughing!
Here's a sampler. (Pardon the US spelling)
One of several funny Hong Kong kung-fu lines:
"Yah-hah, evil spider woman! I have captured you by the short rabbits and can now deliver you violently to your gynecologist for a thorough extermination."
Communist Chinese hit songs:
"Mother, I want to Go to the Mountainside and Harden Myself with Physical Labor"
"Last Night I dreamed of Chairman Mao"
Which reminds me of today's Straits Times report that some art museums aren't writing good descriptions for their exhibits. Well, here's a caption from a Malaysian museum about a Van Gogh painting:
"The painting, Wheatfield with Crows, probably painted before Van Gogh commited suicide."
I watched Alexander today. It's another of those epic 3 hour films with lots of gory battle scenes and dramatic speeches, with the occasional romance and sex thrown in.
Spoilers ahoy!
Taufik won.
Yessss!
And there were three million votes.
I always preferred Mat to Ah Beng because he was really the better singer, even though he always looked more anguished. Singapore will be proud to have Taufik as our representative in World Idol. At least, he can pronounce his words properly.
We know the Chinese market will be waiting for Sly, so no big loss to him. Kind of sweet that his parents spoke up for him. Oh, I was pretty amused by Taufik's 5 brides (erm, I think Muslim law permits up to 4).
And both of them, in fact almost all the finalists, sang better than Dick Lee.
Comments?
[Additional thought: Isn't it strange that even though Taufik won, most of us think Sly will do better in Asia? It is a paradox that continues to affect English-speaking singers in Singapore. If you want to make it big more easily, sing in Mandarin, because you can market yourself in Taiwan and China. However that's about as far as you will get, although that is good enough by most Singapore standards. Unless you want to land roles in Hollywood movies playing stereotypical kung-fu good cop/gangster characters, because that's how Asian artistes are generally viewed.]
I had the privilege of catching the opening night of Ivan Heng's adaptation of Friedrich Durrenmatt's play, The Visit of the Tai-Tai.
Tonnes of spoilers ahead. You'd probably want to lock me in the coffin instead if you read this before watching the play. So don't continue reading.
After having dinner with Ally, Paul and little Nate, I walked around Great World City and was inevitably sucked into the Black Hole which I call That CD Shop (because I can never seem to leave, and all my money seems to be going into one).
A sharp-eyed sales assistant spotted me and hijacked my aural attention with some recommendations. After listening to a few good mixes, I decided that buying one or two compilations would be fine.
I listened to a few more CDs on the big speakers.
Then I thought, well, actually three or even four albums would be fine. That would be it. Finito.
Then again there was that new Bebel Gilberto album I was planning to get. Surely it wouldn't count in my quota of four albums, would it?
Oh, and there were even more new compilations I had to listen to. French, Italian, Latin and Punjabi sounds were all calling out to me! The assistant listened to my critiques of each track, and fine-tuned her choice of music for me, so the music just got better and better!
Since it was nearing 11pm I was getting drowsy.
They solved that problem by grinding some beans and making me some decent coffee. They like to do that sometimes.
So after much cajoling and pampering I purchased El Latino, Saint Germaine's Cafe, G Lounge Milano, Latino Beats, and bargrooves al fresco. As well as Bebel's album. I am so glad I'm earning money again, because a good part of it seems to be sucked into That CD Shop (and Apple Centres).
In my defense I did throw back three more imported CDs which I felt were good but beyond my budget.
I got home and to my chagrin, found that most of the CDs were fingerprinted or slightly scratched. I am going back to the shop tomorrow to see if I can exchange them for unopened copies - they've done it for me before without asking questions.
Oh no. That means I might end up buying more CDS from them. What a sneaky thing to do! :-o
[Update: Good service prevailed, folks. They changed my CDs and I got to inspect each one of them. However I found that some of the CDs in fancier packaging, especially those with lots of paper sheets and booklets inside, were slightly 'dusty' - presumably from the folded edges. Also, be careful when opening CDs that have been tested before - sometimes they fall out of the casing when you re-open them, and get scratched. Something to note.
Of course, while I was there, the sales assistant who served me last evening recognised me.
"Oh, hi!! Ready to try some new CDs?" she chirped.
"Noooo-ooo!" I hollered, cringing at the cashier counter, my voice drowned out by thumping music.
They are truly very persistent.]
I just watched Troy and I don't quite know what to make of it.
Admittedly some moments were poignant - like the courage of the King of Troy for visiting Achilles to reclaim his son Hector's body (aka Eric Bana who came out pretty well - his brother Paris aka Orlando Bloom, was just sitting pretty). The cinematography was also good. Now I truly understand the significance of the face that launched a thousand ships!
Other moments were almost recklessly thrown into the wind, as if the plot didn't have to hold. How could a warrior who's been killing men ruthlessly for years have such a swift change of heart, looking for 'peace'? I wonder if some characterisations were fully thought through.
I myself haven't read Homer's Iliad, although my pal Edward who studied the Classics had loads to say about the movie's inaccuracies and liberal doses of artistic licence. He has many good points and is rather funny, so go forth and read.
And I entirely agree with him and my other pal Joan that Legolas belongs in Lord of the Rings, not Troy where he is a sissy, a cowardly misfit who can only kill people from a distance.
Hollywood movies also tend to drag out the love scenes and invent romances that may not have existed. An attempted murder scene turns into a seduction scene. It helps when your intended victim is blonde and beautiful - and we're not talking about the woman.
And of course, when a hero dies, he takes way much longer to die than normal people. He will say many last words - and then some - and kiss his lover for a while. Finally - finally! he dies.
Other soldiers sustaining the same sort of wounds die at once, sometimes with a howl or a whimper, and perhaps a clatter as they hit the ground.
But we couldn't let that happen to Brad Pitt, can we? To heel, boy!
I finally watched a (nearly) full episode of American Idol tonight. The wild cards who were given a second chance weren't all that bad, though some were obviously better than others.
A quick run-through of how I think each of the eight fared:
Jon Peter Lewis. Before I heard him sing, I thought, wow, he looks like a cross between Beck and a hobbit. Unfortunately performance-wise I didn't think he had the X-factor - it was just off a notch. I didn't get to watch his supposedly groovy moves, because I had already walked out of the room, unable to bear seeing him standing still in the first 10 seconds of his song in a grungy outfit.
Elizabeth LeTendre. I think her singing was OK but memory fails me. Frankly I have forgotten what the rest of her performance was like.
George Huff. One of the few things against him is he looks a little goofy (did you see his parents, though?). He reminded me of Urkel, the gawky guy with the big spectacles in Family Matters. But that makes him memorable. He also has an amazing voice, a positive attitude, and good stage presence. He will make it.
Katie Webber. Ah, I thought she was rather pretty, though I had to supress the urge to laser off that distracting mole on her cheek. From what I understand she took previous criticism well, and improved her act. She had good stage presence, too. I could tell she enjoyed herself. However, there is just one small problem: She couldn't hit the right notes all the time. She's a maybe - with more voice training she might be able to make it.
Leah LaBelle. Didn't like her. She's still young and has potential, but I don't think this is her day. I also didn't like how she continued griping about Simon. The man's not the nicest guy on the block, but I think he gives pretty sharp advice. She should be mature enough to take feedback positively rather than shut out the words she doesn't like to hear, because at this stage in her life, she should grow.
Suzy Vulaca. She was the best female singer, though Jennifer runs a close second. She had stage presence; she chose a song which probably meant something to her in this show; she took Simon's advice well and he appreciated the effort. She has power and accuracy in her voice... and she looks a bit like Diana Ross. And - Paula liked her top. I think she could do a Whitney Houston much better than Katie. I can imagine her face on a few albums already.
Jennifer Hudson. I think she has a wonderful personality. She also has power, though it did fluctuate slightly. She picked a very good song to demonstrate her range and volume. I thought the pink dress slagging by Randy and Simon was overdone, but she could carry off something more fanciful next time. She will make it.
Matthew Metzger. Ugh. I'm sorry, but he didn't have a great voice, and he didn't pick a good song either. He didn't have enough power and pitch to pull it off, and it was a waste as the chorus could have been tremendous. I'm thinking he could have chosen something a little warmer and jazzier. However, he does have a nice smile. He could be a face model.
So I have three strong favourites, and one wild card of wild cards.
If the Runaway Jury was a gripping book, I'd say the Runaway Jury was a gripping movie. I never read the former, but I just enjoyed watching the latter.
Dustin Hoffman was, of course, impeccable as the prosecutor. He's one of the few actors who can fit into a role so easily, you'd think he really was the character all along. It's funny to think that when I was young, every time I saw him in a movie I would instinctively think, "Tootsie!".
And I realised, after watching Serendipity and this movie, that I quite like John Cusack. That boyish look, those purty li'l lips... Even if he was playing a manipulator he'd look all innocent and sweet.
The show also demonstrates real-life legal and social issues which people have been debating since laws were invented. Was it all for money (for both defence and prosecution)? If the prosecution won, would that open the floodgates for all other manufacturers of just about everything else in the world, to be sued as well?
For most of the show I was left guessing until nearly the end. Go watch it. It kept me on the edge of my seat for hours.
I watched The Last Samurai last night / this morning. I usually cringe at anything with Tom Cruise in it, but whenever he didn't speak too much, I felt he put up a decent performance. [Potential spoilers ahead, depending on how you see it]
Yeah, I just watched it on a super big Imax screen. Are there spoilers ahoy? Oh yes there are, but they'll be so twisted you won't know what on earth I'm talking about unless you've already watched it. I think. If you want serious discussions, head over to Kottke. The Guardian also has a Matrix shrine and I am sure there are many others about.
After two straight years of work, it is ironic that I have no idea what to do with a week of freedom. I've made a sort of list, seeing how reality will soon set in again.
There. I should get cracking!
The BBC is going to release its radio and television archives to the public.
Greg Dyke, director general of the BBC, has announced plans to give the public full access to all the corporation's programme archives.
Mr Dyke said on Sunday that everyone would in future be able to download BBC radio and TV programmes from the internet.
The service, the BBC Creative Archive, would be free and available to everyone, as long as they were not intending to use the material for commercial purposes, Mr Dyke added.
Can it get cooler than this? :-P There's one programme I definitely want to watch again - Spitting Image. I spent my summer holidays as a fifteen year-old guffawing away at a blue-faced John Major. Bah! Apparently it isn't a BBC production.
It's late. I didn't have a chance to blog yesterday because I had a rushed job to complete. I leave next week for Manila with my training whip (yes, yes, I'm going to Makati and I have insurance coverage) which means I have to get all my work for the next couple of weeks, done by this week.
I spent some time with my old friend Lisa this evening, installing software on her new laptop, get her wired up to the Internet, giving an introductory Flash tutorial in under half an hour. How I envy people who get to further their studies - especially in sunny California! We rushed off for dinner at Original Sin (yum!) with Andrea, who I discovered was an MT blogger herself! What a great surprise. And it was another old schoolmate who hosted her blog.
So it turns out, I'm not the only one 'leasing' out web space, domain names and installing blog software for her friends. Bah :-P
Tonight, before I concuss, I'll work on Vanny's new wedding photos. Vanny leaves today. I will miss her. But I am happy for her. I hope she will be happy too.
I also have to finish writing an article for a women's organisation soon. Sometimes I think I volunteer myself out a little too much.
Jack Neo's movie (literally translated as Run, children, run) didn't move me enough to tears, unlike its predecessor I Not Stupid, but it is still good enough by local standards. The plot is adapted from an Iranian (?) story and tugs at the same old heartstrings. Children once again are the stars of the show, and they were well cast (they did have 1,500 kids to choose from).
Jack Neo, the cast, and Minister Lim Swee Say were present, along with some corporate bigwigs. In fact the boys and some other TCS stars were sitting just four rows in front of me, so looking at the big screen with their silhouettes in my field of vision, was a little surreal.
Thoughts about the movie? It was an eye opener, a good slap in the face to those of us born with silver spoons in our mouths. It is moving to see the lengths to which some children will go to, for dignity, honour and love. I can completely empathise with the troubles, the bullyings, the desires, the cover-ups and fear of retribution that the children went through.
Of course, my logic started to kick in at certain parts but I should suspend my disbelief. In the end, it's up to the children to save the day. And enough said!
[Post blog July 19 2003]: Little Vanny's now a married woman! :-D Woo-hoo! The church wedding was lurvely, thank goodness I didn't bawl my eyes out; I was too busy singing hymns and taking photographs at the same time.
[Back to July 20] And I'm making the wedding speech on behalf of the bride this evening!
I am waking up early today, and hopefully will make it in time for the 8 am church service, rushing home to change into my baju kurong (Peranakan outfit), then rushing off to the Conrad to meet the others, then I will make my way to the new husband Lin Kiat's place to witness (and photograph) the tea ceremony.
I just updated their wedding website with more pics from my Olympus C5050. It's time to sleep. Good morning.
I finally went to Sentosa after ... 15 years? With Vanny and LK, the hubby-to-be. The Hub-be. Ha. Took lots of photos. It was rather hot and sunny despite the morning showers. Now have to work on the wedding site.
I finally hooked up a program to my databases so I can edit them. You have no idea how this excites me :)
And I might just pick up a lens adapter for my new digital camera, so I can attach third party lenses to it. I've taken a look in the dry cabinet and I think some of my dad's old lenses might very well fit. Which is great, especially since my Olympus C5050's zoom isn't particularly powerful. I love expandability.
And that's really it for today. Zzz.
I bought a dress today.
It's actually a long yellow gown, silky but not so shimmery that you'd need sunglasses to look at me. Fairly simple with a bit of patterns in front. I'm a pretty simple person when it comes to clothes, even for special events. No sequins. Nothing luminous. Nothing that people can step on (I'll never forget the last time I wore something with a trail).
Anyway, this gown is for Vanny's wedding. I was at a well-known local boutique and the assistant underestimated my size (and age - she thought I was going to a prom!). So I spent the first 15 minutes in the changing-room, arms plastered to my body as I tried to wiggle my way through, wondering why everything felt tighter even after weeks of dieting and going to the gym.
Things got so uncomfortable that I was about to put a pox on all local dress designers who assumed that the only target market they needed to cater to, was the population of Singaporean females who had A-sized tits, a tiny waist and a slender frame. [Tangential thought: would calling this group the 'vast' majority be an oxymoron?]
However it was soon realised that I was a little taller (and definitely wider) and that a size 12, not 10, was perfect for me. I slid into the yellow gown easily and since mum said I already wear too much blue, I decided to take to this hue instead.
Step two: get a pair of matching shoes. We found a nice pair at Tang's Studio, and returned to the boutique for an alteration. The gown should be ready a couple weeks before the wedding.
God, please don't let me trip and fall on my face as I walk up the stage to make the speech.
So, the new Harry Potter book is out. I liked the first book, but haven't read any subsequent releases. It now takes an immense effort for me to sit down and finish reading a book, because I'm so used to scanning web pages for specific information, that I have no patience for anything lengthy and non-factual.
Which explains why I never did complete Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy when I was a teenager. What a whopper it was! When I reached university, things got worse. Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things is packed in one of my moving boxes, barely touched. Don't even get me started on Lord of the Rings - Mother swears her old books are still around somewhere but we can't find them and I don't dare to buy new ones. So I haven't read anything by Tolkien yet, either. She tried to get me interested in a comic version of the Hobbit when I was young, but I found it boooring, sorry to say it. Thank goodness for the movies.
However I used to read some titles over and over again, such as David Edding's four major series, the Belgariad, the Mallorean, the Elenium and the Tamuli, which some purists would probably see as low-brow Tolkien-inspired fantasy writing. It wasn't flawless, but as a teenager I loved it. Mother had to lock up the books during my A levels. I am also proud to say that I ploughed through Frank Herbert's Dune, and actually understood it, as a young teenager who was obsessed with the games Dune and Dune 2. I did likewise with Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, when I was fourteen. I read some Isaac Asimov and Piers Anthony (also because of the game Xanth), much preferring the style of the latter, but that was it.
Today I stood at the shelves in a major bookshop, flipping randomly through a copy of The Order of the Phoenix, wondering if I'd be lucky enough to hit upon which character died, which would be valuable blackmail material to the few Harry Potter fans I knew.
Unfortunately, I wasn't.
Anyway, mother quietly bought a copy of the Phoenix. I saw her join the queue, discussing seriously with another lady her age, which book was the best. Now you know who's actually been reading them ;-)
What about the baby of our family? Well, Vicki isn't back from Perth yet - she hasn't gotten past book two anyway, and I don't think she'd be interested, seeing how we had to force her to read Dr Seuss when she was eight. My entire Enid Blyton series (she's the best!) ranging from Noddy to Amelia Jane to Secret Seven to Famous Five to Enchanted Forest - the list goes on - was sadly untouched by her during her childhood, and is now packed up in storage boxes at home.
We didn't have much left in the fridge, so I had to be a little innovative. More angles in my new Food gallery.
Today, we explored the North East line, which opened at 10am. We took the MRT from Tanjong Pagar to Outram, crossed over to the new Chinatown station, and made it to Bheema Villas at South Bridge Road for a scrumptious, spicy Indian lunch.
I finally made use of my complimentary Fort Canning movie tickets (courtesy of Mum), and watched Legally Blonde with Queenie. I found it as funny and enjoyable as I was told it would be. I brought the food, she brought the mat, and apart from a few errant centipedes and flies, it was pretty comfortable.
I should do this more often.
The highlight of the day was dinner with Mark and Kristen at Keppel Marina. Kristen, however, was resting at home with a virus, so we all decided to follow Mark home after dinner to visit her. It was rather exciting, what with a trail of four cars behind him on the expressway, all of us trying not to lose sight of him!
The folks at Mobil must've been surprised to see our little contingent pull over and stand in a group deciding which flavours of ice cream to purchase.
I came home late and missed the Henin-Clijsters match but I'll watch the replay. Didn't expect a walkover, but I guess I should be happy that my favourite player won. I just hope that sportsmanship is restored to to the game, which isn't just about winning.
I finally watched The Matrix Reloaded yesterday night. Well I missed half of the first movie on the plane, so I didn't expect to understand what was going on in the second movie.
The fight scenes were extended; the plot was thin, yet complicated; and the scene with that architect / Colonel Sanders lookalike was so droning, it almost felt like the beginning of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, because I wasn't sure when the rambling introduction was going to stop (no offense to Kubrick fans - I just couldn't survive the first 20 minutes).
The only thing that got me thinking, was why the writers used so many Biblical allusions. Sitting through the credits, names like Cain and Malachi caught my attention. And naming the human settlement Zion - well, well, well.
If you read Revelations you may find a few similarities - the idea of a machine controlling human minds is not too removed from the notion of the Beast, who uses technology in the form of a mark, to control people's activities.
In both, there is also the presence of prophecy. Differences between those who believe, and don't. And the arrival of the Chosen One, saviour of the people (Neo / Jesus). Resurrection.
Of course, the similarities stop there. The movie's setting is too thickly interwoven with other spiritual ideas, to associate merely with one religion. It was like a melting pot of spirituality, mingled with futuristic phenomenon.
I was also reminded of a short story I once studied, EM Forster's The Machine Stops, which describes the human race as being subject to an all-encompassing structure through which they live their lives. Chaos ensues when it finally breaks down, because almost everyone was dependent on it. Combine that with Orwell's 1984. A lethal cocktail.
But I still don't completely understand the Matrix. Somehow, I don't think I should, and I don't feel the need to.
[ Want lots of opinions? Head over to Kottke. ]
I finally watched X Men 2 with Hedy, being possibly the only people left in Singapore who hadn't watched it yet. It was excellent!
If, however, you have not watched it yet, DO NOT PROCEED beyond this point.
Today after a big workout at the gym, my instructor tried his utmost to stretch my unfit body in various ways. Bending forward with one leg crossed over the other. With his knee pressed into my back, arms pulled behind me. Lying down, with knee pointing to the side, leg pressed towards my head...
It helped that he looks like Japanese soccer star Nakata, because little else would take my pain away. And that was where he discovered that my right arm, while stronger than my left, was not as flexible (or, shall we say, 'backward compatible').
[ We interrupt this post to bring you photos of the real Hidestoshi Nakata. Mmm! Official site's photographs here, another nice photo here ]
Being a part-time web designer himself, he reasoned that I sat too long at my desk and my right arm has sort of 'retracted', from holding the mouse and stylus all the time. My left arm, however, has been very much a free agent, used at times to bop errant colleagues on the head when they stray too near to my desk partition.
I was advised to stretch my arms whenever I can, preferably by leaning my arm against a door frame. Sigh. The hazards of a desk-bound job.
In other news: This is my three hundredth post. So while this blog's not exactly old, it's not that ... young anymore. And in a month's time, I myself will be a quarter centenarian. Urgh. Da pain, da agony.
I watched the Greek comedy play Lysistrata this evening. Well since it was a local adaptation it was called Lysistrata Lah! It was performed at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute by a group of young dramatists, most of whom I haven't heard of before, but it didn't really matter in the end because we all had a bawdy good laugh.
The story, consistent with the original, goes like this: The women of Athens and Sparta, tired of their men waging war against each other, decide to take the matter into their own hands (no no no not that way) and swear never to have sex with them until both sides agree to stop the fighting and live in love, peace and hormon - I meant - harmony for ever more.
The play will have its last staging this Wednesday, 26 March 2003 so if you haven't felt offended by my style of writing thus far, I think you can probably survive it. It starts at 8.30pm but seats are pretty limited, so come early unless you happen to like sitting on the floor, looking up at male actors pretending to quell their massive uprisings.
The charity initiative is organised by Mercy Relief, which has already raised money and provided aid to Afghanistan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh and the Palestinian refugees. All donations for this play will go to the 'Iraq in Crisis' fund.
All the world needs some Hellenic humour.
More about the Lysistrata Project and the original play. For some illustrations and excerpts from the original play, you can try here (mature content). Get your tees here.
[ Update: Andrea has a review on her site. ]
We interrupt this transmission of the second Gulf War to bring you news from the driving range: Vanessa Tan has finally broken the 170 metre barrier with her new driver.
It was a straight and powerful drive which shot past the left side of the 167 metre flag.
Tan was exuberant as she exclaimed to her mother, "That was the best S$299 I ever spent!" She was referring to the Japanese-made driver she recently purchased at Daimaru's closing down sale. It originally cost S$1499.
"It wasn't too difficult. I simply recalled everything my coach taught me, and tried not to tense up like I usually do. Then I made one of the best swings of my life," she said.
Tan's father added with an approving nod, "If she keeps up like this, I think a short game will be in order."
Tan is now considering taking her handicap test this year.
I just watched my first movie of the year - The Pianist. It traces the life of Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman and his remarkable survival under Nazi rule in Poland.
I can now understand how the film has won critical acclaim, including the Palme d'Or. It not only has a compelling storyline (as do most war movies); it also has many artistic touches and a dash of humour which shows up in the most unlikely of scenes, lifting us out of the gloom ever so momentarily.
There is also a kind of closure when Szpilman returns to the radio station after the war to complete his Nocturne. The film isn't called the Pianist for nothing - every so now and then, music re-enters his life and he relives his glorious past with a concerto in his head - before awakening back to war-torn reality.
Now I feel like watching Schindler's List and Life is Beautiful.
I have a spare ticket (or two) for the Caltex Masters this Saturday. My dad and I are setting aside our Sunday afternoon and evening for it, but he's busy tomorrow. I have a few things on as well, so I'm not sure if I can make it on Saturday.
So I called up the best possible person for the ticket: Karen Seow, Laguna club member with a decent handicap - only to find that she is already slated to help out this weekend, and has a good chance being Ernie Els's scoretaker! Gaaah. *jealous*
She'll let me know if I can help out on Sunday, and follow Els around. Me, a lowly PC holder and a non-member of the club. We'll see :)
My PC's finally repaired. It didn't even cost me one ... million ... dollars. [Dr Evil laugh] Bwaharharhar. I'm back to just 512 MB RAM, which is apparently the maximum amount Win 98 can take without going bonkers and starting in Safe mode. Strange, isn't it? You'd think that the more RAM you add, the greater its capacity to handle more applications simultaneously. That's how a Mac would work, anyway. Doh!
According to my dad's friend who builds our PCs, and the good folks who've replied to my previous post, we should upgrade to Win 2000 or XP for better memory management. If only I could do that to my own head.
Anyway, I'm just happy to get everything back.
In other news: My mum, sis and I attended the opening of a new ballet school for girls, at Robertson Walk. Specifically, young Japanese girls (nothing kinky here, please). This is because the teacher is a Japanese lady who used to be with the Tokyo Ballet Academy. Local students may be taken in at a later stage, if business goes well.
After that, we proceeded downstairs to Mamma Lucia's, a new restaurant featuring a genuine Italian mother's recipes. Let's just say the pasta was properly cooked and drained, not like the soggy, congealed slop you get at many other restaurants claiming to serve Italian fare. The bolognese sauce, for example, tasted EXACTLY like what I had many times over in Rome.
What amused me was that suave-looking owner also runs a fashion chain, so he was all dressed up as he served our food, complete with sunglasses over his head. He looked like he had just jumped off the Milan catwalk 8:-D
In the afternoon, I met up with my Alpha group to watch the Sleeping Beauty pantomime. Yeah, we're just a bunch of kids at heart. I brought my sister along and she seemed to enjoy herself. I've found that hanging out with friends distracts me from my growing disillusionment with work. Until I hear from USC, I won't make the decision to quit yet.
Every year, the Peranakan Association holds a dinner where everybody eats, drinks, dances and has a generally 'gala' time. The theme this year was Phoenixes and Flowers and comedian Victor Khoo was the MC. There was also a surprise performance by Dick Lee himself ('surprise' because he didn't expect it either :).
Our beloved ex-President of Singapore, Wee Kim Wee was also there, with his wife. And so were Peranakans from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (Malacca and Penang, true blue), and guests from Taiwan and even Germany.
After refusing to join me and my dad on the dance floor (mum fractured her toe so she couldn't 'gelek-gelek' with us), my sister was hauled up on stage for a youth competition. It was hilarious. Our table clapped and hooted for her, but she didn't win the loudest applause, which went to a cute little six year-old very appropriately called Vanessa.
Wonderful choice of name, said my mother afterwards. The parents had good taste, I told my mother.
Yes, I'm leaving for Malacca in the early hours of Saturday morning to buy a pair of Nonya slippers so that I will look like a proper, fully-clad 'Kim Gek' on Peranakan Night, which is next week.
Of course the other women in the family (mum, aunt and grandma) are probably going to do much more than help choose slippers for me and my sis (who will be absent from this excursion as she gets car sick - and bored - easily).
If you want me to get anything from Malacca, please give my mobile phone a buzz. Preferably, no chewing gum or pirated CDs, please. Tut-tut.
This evening, I walked from my office at South Bridge Road, to the Esplanade - to listen to one of the world's best orchestras play Beethoven and Bruckner. The former was standard Beethoven, nothing particularly catchy. The latter was much more forceful and foreboding, and I could almost imagine it featuring in the next episode of Lord of the Rings.
The orchestra was fantastic. Not an instrument was out of sync. Half the hall gave a standing ovation. Pity I didn't get tickets to the previous day's performance, when they performed my all-time favourite, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major. I think I would have enjoyed that even more.
The acoustics of the concert hall were close to perfect. The durian shell looks big on the outside but is actually cosy on the inside, with four levels of stalls. This evening, a large circular panel of lights and speakers was suspended near the stage, presumably to be retracted (after each performance) into the round cavity in the ceiling directly above it. Neat. Everything sounded crystal-clear, with no echo. I was also happy that nobody clapped in between the movements. We've come a long way.
Alongside the Berlin Orchestra, the London Philharmonic is probably the best I've heard in a very long time. Ahem. What spoilt the mood slightly for me, was when the conductor Kurt Masur was presented with flowers. Firstly, they weren't very spectacular - something you could've picked up immediately at the florist's - and the lady presenting the flowers had the word 'employee' all over her attire. I would have removed the white work pass dangling from my neck, worn something nicer and presented the flowers with a flourish to the acclaimed conductor. Then again, maybe that's just how I would have wanted to do it.
After the performance, my dad and I headed downstairs for a late dinner. Nothing really caught our fancy (though I might give the Spanish place a try next time), so we dined at Senses, which had the usual Western menu. The French onion soup was very good, but my pan-baked seafood spaghetti in a tomato 'fusion sauce' turned out to be nothing more than breaded calamari rings and prawns, with a few chopped onions and peppers, smothered in a Chinese sweet and sour sauce. And a pool of undrained liquid beneath the pasta, a la Singapour. Never EVER try it.
Lastly, I like the car park system at the Esplanade. It works exactly like an ERP gantry, so you don't even have to wind down your window. :)
I just attended the premiere of Boeing Boeing, a play about an architect who juggles his time between three air stewardess girlfriends. Everything seems to be going fine until the introduction of the Super Boeing which speeds up their travel times, turning his schedule topsy-turvy. It was hilarious. Our local actresses put on decent Japanese, Hong Kong and Singlish accents, and a few friendly digs were made at our Malaysian neighbours ... and let's not forget the long-suffering Filipino maid. Oh, and the talented individuals behind this project are Glenn Goei and Ivan Heng. Need I say more?
I only popped by this evening for a short while, but this was my first time at WOMAD and I didn't even have to sit on the grass, thanks to the hospitality of the Singapore Tourism Board which supplied us with food, drinks, cushions and mats. The African music was pleasant. The Indian dance workshop was splendid. I suddenly recalled the time I celebrated Diwali up in Bristol with my Indian Kenyan friends. That was a bizarre combination of cultures.
Dear folks, thanks for checking out my freshly-launched website. OK it was actually in hiding for the past month while I feverishly did my testing. Anyway, the search engine is working, the photos are up, and my new content management system seems to be running well. But I still have to tidy up one section which isn't in a template yet. I'll leave you to figure out what that is so you can keep on clicking away on this site >;-) Tut tut to me.
Anyway I'm heading off to JB for a staff training retreat and we all have to wear this black T-shirt which says 'Waiting for the next Big Bang'. I hope people don't start calling me Vannabel again.
Until Saturday, adios!
No I didn't get drunk, but after all that energy spent clinking my chopsticks onto various bowls and glasses*, taking photographs and last but not least, playing for the wedding march, I was rather tired.
Congratulations to the happy couple, and may their marriage be a blessed and productive one! >:-)
* - clinking was used during that dinner to indicate that we guests would like the couple to kiss. They happily complied. All the time.
Woo hoo! Just came home from Brenda's (parents-in-law's) place at Pasir Panjang. The bridal shower began with some dinner - a mix of roast chicken and sushi - and several bottles of champagne. After they were finished, Brenda claimed she was sloshed but we weren't too sure about that.
But before we had time to make her drink to another toast, a tall, lean Caucasian man in a black suit strode into the room. And the real fun began! Pity we only had one camera and after two photos, it ran out of film! I had no idea about it until I reached her place, actually, so I plead ignorance...
Tomorrow (oh, it's now today) is the rehearsal at church, I really have to get my act together starting NOW. I'm going off to the piano for a quick practice session before I sleep. Goodnight!
What to get for Brenda's bridal shower? Up to last night I had no idea what it was about - until her sister called to tell me there was going to be one ... today!
But the good thing is that I'm back in touch with my old friend and partner in crime, Wanxi. We're going to be shopping today (at different times in different places) and hopefully we can find something worthwhile.
Wish me luck.