That's What Blogs Are For

BECAUSE I AM UNABLE TO RETALIATE ON FACEBOOK I SHALL DO IT HERE.

HOW IS SEZAIRI A BETTER SINGER THAN SYLVIA?!

Personally, I've got nothing against him. He's probably pretty likeable in real life, and he's not a bad singer. I thought he did a good job on the episode where Tabitha got kicked out.

Heck, I even thought he did slightly better than Sylvia on the second song - but that's probably only because I got over Yellow a long time ago.

So before you get all antsy and point fingers at me, let me just state for the record that I don't really have anything against him winning, because I do like him, and anyway winning Idol doesn't actually say much for your music career. Case in point being Adam Lambert, though he's going all weird and I'm not so sure I like him that much as a perfomer anymore.

And whatever it is, Sylvia was the real deal - she had talent, she was sincere when she performed, she was pure heartland - there's something so Singaporean about her, somehow (despite her mixed blood). So I think she'll be fine, career wise. I'm definitely going to support her.

I'm just feeling really annoyed right now, at people who make pompous, know-it-all comments on Facebook about how they feel Sezairi's win was "fair and justified" because he was a better singer and that people just wanted a female to win, hence the support for Sylvia.

Give me a break, and give the girl credit where it's due. Honestly, he's not a better singer or performer than she is. Any objective spectator/listener could tell you that.

I wish they would create a "Dislike" button on Facebook.

P/S I'm still a firm believer in Regardless of Race, Language or Religion.
I mean, imagine life without asam fish and asam stingray? Or ayam penyet? Or that awesome chili sauce only Malay food stalls seem to have? Hello?!

This Week At Work

There is no email exchange of the week, because we were all tired out max.

However, on Wednesday, when Aunti L smsed me to say she was buying "yami," I immediately thought of whether Yami Yoghurt would have a claim in passing off against Yummi Chiffon (which was what Aunti L was really buying).

Which is really, really sad, if you think about it.

To quote a colleague, I think Aunti L and I had passing off coming out of our ears (add appropriate hand action, simulating things flowing out from ears).

And because I simply couldn't do any more work at around 4:30 p.m. on the eve of Christmas Eve, I found this game called Sara's Super Spa which TechSupport didn't block (but now they will, I'm sure) and played it until I reached Level 7.

Try it, it's fun - especially if you're a girl. A bit like Cooking Mama in a spa setting.

Then I felt bad, so I turned off the game and mooched about until it was time to go home.

Merry (belated) Christmas and a Blessed New Year to everyone! :)

Email of the Week, or Much Good Part 2
From J (ah, which J, wouldn't you like to know), after lunch on Friday:

I need help!

How do I view the New Msg on my phone ????

Which button to press ah hahah

I didn't know the answer to his query, and the fellow suffering pupil (trainee? What are we now called?) sitting opposite me told me the wrong thing.

It took us some trial and error on those dang-blasted office phones before I was finally able to ring J back with the correct answer.

Yes, me and fellow suffering pupil sitting opposite me actually left each other call-backs.

***
In other news, I bought Jon's Christmas present today and gave it to him just now so he can use it at work on Monday. He'd wanted to buy it on Friday, after seeing someone in his office use one, but I told him I'd just get it for him for Christmas.

It's a multi-colour pen with a mechanical pencil (perfect for marking-up, as he said). Quite cool, really. Because I bought refills, the lady at the stationery shop asked me if it was for a gift. When I said yes she gave me a silver box with Zebra on to put it all in. She even wanted to wrap it in pretty paper, which had a teddy bear-flower-heart print. I kid you not.

Must have been my look-like-student face.

I said in Mandarin: it's for a boy, no need lah.

I think she found me quite amusing.

Don't believe what you hear about posh lunches, dinners and expensive presents. I told you lawyers were deathly boring, practical people.

Some of whom can't even operate their office phones.

Hey, not me yah. I already know how to operate it okay.

:)

Jon, at 0050 yesterday morning: ...i feel like applying for the queenstown bto...shall we try?

Not quite Facebook-status-change-worthy yet though. Stay tuned.

Tell Me Why

Xiang Yun appears to have hair like A*Mei's, circa 2006? And Edmund Chen has taken to calling himself "Rex Lee"? And how come I know all this random TV trivia?

And, of course, tell me why the (I'm restraining myself from using "my") Yoghurt Passionfruit Syrup Cake tastes So Awesome?

AWESOME STUFF

Today I baked the Yoghurt Passionfruit Syrup Cake from NotQuiteNigella. It was really quite fortuitous that I actually had two passionfruit in the fridge clamouring to be eaten or used in such an awesome way. I also thought I'd have to buy yoghurt and baking powder (to make self-raising flour), but I chanced upon a tub of yoghurt in the freezer, and self-raising flour in the fridge.

Tenny is currently on holiday with PoBe and my parents in Hong Kong, so there are no photos of the cake - but it looked quite liked Not Quite Nigella's except that I didn't bake mine in a Bundt pan but in a springform pan which is actually Abi's and appears to be have made its permanent home in my kitchen (well, she does have three of them).

I was a bit worried the chunks of ice in the defrosted yoghurt (which I stirred away) would affect the ability of the cake to rise in the oven, but twenty minutes or so into the baking time it was rising just fine, and turned out wonderfully light and fluffy.

I also didn't have enough passionfruit to make up the required one cup of pulp, so I used the - get this - frozen lemon in our freezer. I had to defrost it in the microwave first, and was worried the juice would've dried out but it was as juicy as ever!

My mother is in the habit of freezing things, as you can see.

I thought the lemon gave the syrup quite a bit of an edge. Oh and if you're planning to make it with lemon and passionfruit don't follow the instructions exactly but add as much water/sugar as you deem fit, to get the consistency you want.

The cake was so cakey, crumby and light and moist, just the way I like it.

I hardly ever eat anything I bake, but I had a pretty substantial slice of this, it was just awesome.

And I think I've figured out the secret of the heartland bakeries - self-raising flour.

Email Exchange of the Week

On one of my many visits to D's desk to borrow the materials we have to use, I noticed that he had a navy blue H&M 'M' sized sweater-vest thing on his desk. I immediately assumed that it was his girlfriend's, until he informed me that it was his cold weather wear.

Since there are only so many things to amuse us in the office, I reported this fact to Aunti L when I got back to my desk.

Me: D brought winter wear can go laugh at him hahahaa

Aunti L: He brought winter wear FOR?

A few minutes later

Aunti L to D: Snowing in the library? :)

Much Maligned D, Only Male Pupil (Trainee) and Therefore Has to Suffer and Forebear the most:
Hahahaha you and chloe are like one entity. Talk to one and the snide response comes back from the other!

Your email must have some 'auto CC' feature

***
Aunti L sent the above exchange to me, along with "!!" to express her sentiments towards it.

I couldn't stop laughing, it was awful having to try and keep from laughing out loud.

And you still wonder why I actually look forward to going to work.

Hopefully the feeling lasts.

Family Ties

PoBe's prom was last night, and because he's in Hong Kong with our parents (oh, woe is me and the need for those 180 days), I just commented on his Facebook wall that the choker he wore was uggs maximus and that I wish I'd been at home to tell him to take it off.

YUCK.

I really don't like chokers on boys. It seems so wrong somehow.

Don't you wish you were an older sister, old enough to be mean and getting away with it?

Kudos to JC kids who don't bother to restrict their Facebook profiles. Or maybe they're still at an age where they want their lives to be subject to voyeurism. But that's just weird, don't you think? However, I used to be like that once.

It struck me how very young they all looked. And when I look at photos of my prom, I just see old people. Weird. I wonder if he sees old people too, when he looks at his prom pictures.

***
Today D informed me that the Khong Guan biscuits which are round with the frilly edges have a peanut cream filling, thus resolving the mystery and saving me some calories in the process.

I discovered they've got the plain square ones! Maybe it's time to get some cheese.

New

I have a new desk on another floor, and there are also new biscuits in the office - Khong Guan biscuits, to be exact, of an unidentifiable (cream? The round ones with little frilly edges?), the fake Oreo and the lemon puff variety.

Suffice to say, all this is very pleasing except for the fact that the lemon puff variety (which happens to be the only variety I'm partial to out of all three) appear to only be stocked in the pantry of my old floor, so I've got to nick some whenever I'm down there discussing the NECESSARY with my colleagues or make my NICE colleagues bring some up to me whenever they come up to discuss the NECESSARY with me.

***
Today I went to the Family Court, and I came back with a mini short story in my head. However, I tried to type it out just now and failed miserably because I couldn't help feeling somewhere in the back of my mind that I was being pretentious and rather poseurish, so I scrapped it.

It had something to do with a man and his wonderings at how he'd felt more disappointed at discovering that a song he liked was actually Jay Chou's 最长的电影 (because Jay Chou isn't exactly the epitome of manly music) than with the end state of his marriage, and how dispassionate he felt sitting in court waiting for his turn to take the witness stand at his own divorce hearing.

And about how he'd felt more amused than anything else at what was supposed to be one of the most crucial turning points in his life, snickering softly along with the pupil (Guess Who!) from the law firm he'd hired at the things he observed and heard as he waited.

Like the two Ah Bengs sitting behind him, who seemed to be acquainted but didn't know the other would be there -

What are you doing here? (in Hokkien)
Divorce lor, what else? (in Hokkien)
(String of Hokkien words)

Which unfortunately, I - I mean, our protaganist - was unable to understand.

You're starting to see why I had the uncomfortable feeling that I was being Rather Pretentious, don't you?

The best line (in my opinion) of the short story which I managed to churn out before I gave it up as a bad job was:

How can people bear to live apart after all that (courtship, struggling through years of heartache in the hope that there was something better beyond that, etc.), even though they can't bear to live together anymore?

Does that even make sense? I used to love writing things like that.

In a warped way I guess it does make sense, but who wants to live like that in the real world? Isn't it very tiring? Isn't life just so much simpler where there's God and no God, cake and no cake, ice-cream and no ice-cream? And don't I sound like an annoying three year old? (Gotcha!)

***
I miss Aunti L, but on the brighter side, at least we'll (hopefully) be more efficient now that we're sitting apart, and can thus go home earlier.

Unsentimental
It's nice to be thinking about HDB flats and hearing from my own dear mother that she does NOT want me to stay in Punggol.

And it was nice, on Friday morning at 1 a.m., to be able to leave BTC without feeling much nostalgia, just extremely grateful for Jon and YH, even though we'd seen each other almost everyday for the past three weeks.

I'm looking forward to Monday, even though I would welcome a day of sleep.

There will always time for the little things.

So really, boys and girls - it's not the end of the world, it's only the beginning!

***
Just remember, when all else fails, there will still be . . .

cake.

Polar sugar rolls, Bengawan Solo pandan chiffon cake, Yummi Chiffon cake, QQ Bread butter cake.

Crumby, honest to goodness, down to earth, no-frills, cake.

And cake means tea breaks in the pantry, with friends (not just colleagues, but friends) who are just as sick of being in front of a computer as you are.

Of Exams

The amendments to the Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules 1996 include the removal of Section 19, which used to provide for Greeting Cards. The said section is reproduced below:-

Greeting cards.
19. - (1) An advocate and solicitory may, on the occasion of any special observance or on any other special occasion, send greeting cards to -

(a) any person who is his client or a client of his firm; and

(b) any person with whom he has personal or business dealings.

(2) Any greeting card referred to in paragraph (1) shall, apart from the message of the greeting, contain only approved information.

(3) No advocate and solicitor shall send greetings to anyone in any form or for any occasion by publishing the greetings in any mass medium, electronic or otherwise.

If this rule was still in force, which of the following greetings would attract a reprimand from the Law Society? (N.B. All grammatical errors are intentional)

(A) I wish you a hapPy christmas tOday.
(Hope to hear from you soon!)

(B) we Must & will remAin in CONTACT.

(C) We hope you are in good health this festive season. If not, we send you our regards.
WeWILL see you soon!

(D) All of the above.

***
At least it's over!

(And you do know the above question is fictitious right, even though the paper was pretty awful.)

Inspiration!

After watching Fantastic Mr. Fox with Jon today so we could watch The Informant! with everyone else on Friday (note the corresponding exclaimation mark in the title!), I was seized with the desire to do something stealthily.

Something which actually needed to be done stealthily, of course.

So I decided to wash my new clothes.

I washed them in the bathroom with the door closed while my mother was hanging out a batch of washing.

And then I waited until she had finished hanging up said washing, and finished fussing over the locking of the door and the switching off of the mains.

And I waited some more, until I heard her bathroom door close, indicating that she was taking a shower.

And it was then that I snuck out to the backyard to hang out my new clothes, which I shall instruct PoBe to remove from the laundry poles as soon as they are dry.

But there's a slight problem with all this - how on earth am I ever going to dare to wear these clothes?

***
Fantastic Mr. Fox was pretty good. Maybe it's time to forgive Ong Sor Fern for giving Troy 5 stars.

Yes, I have held a grudge against her for that long.

Polls About Punggol

I was going to call this post The Taste of Tea Eggs, and tell you all about how they bring back memories of rainy afternoons crossing the Causeway in the car when I was in primary school. That was back when Holiday Plaza was still a haven for people (like my dad) who wanted a cheap (read: pirated) software fix.

To his credit, he bought pirated software just to try it out - if he really liked the program, or thought it was useful, he bought the original.

Eating tea eggs when we went to JB was de rigeur. My indulgent paternal grandmother would buy them for me from the Chinese medicine shop at the back entrance to Holiday Plaza: she liked them too. I couldn't resist the smell, and till today I can't not walk past a stall with a slow cooker prominently displayed right in front and brown coloured eggs simmering gently in it without feeling like I need to buy one.

Finding a lady selling tea eggs at the bus station in Taiyuan made the fact that we were three girls off in the far north of China a little less frightening.

And on a rainy go to JB afternoon, holding the warm egg in cupped hands (after it cooled down and there was no need to transfer it from hand to hand or hold the plastic bag it was in at the top) was extremely comforting, curled up in a corner of the car looking at the rear lights of the car in front of us through the raindrop-spattered car windows.

If there was a traffic jam, I really counted those tea eggs as blessings.

The only fault I can find with them is that you never get any of the "tea" in the yolk to create that lovely yellowy brown slush one gets with hard-boiled eggs and soya sauce.

My maternal grandmother cooked up a batch of tea eggs on Sunday in honour of my maternal grandfather's birthday. She didn't crack the shells enough for the "tea" to seep into the eggs, but no matter. The fact that she cooked them is enough, because she hasn't cooked so much for some time due to her bad knee.

I also wanted to take a picture of my grandfather and my aunt at the small table next to the window in my grandparents' flat - the light was right, and she was cutting up his Bengawan Solo cake and he was eating a piece, slowly with his left hand, because he hasn't been able to move the right side of his body since he had a stroke when I was nine.

The feeling was right, notwithstanding Noisy Aunt and her family talking very loudly, at each other, certain other extended family members joining in the fray (read: naughty brother and cousin who enjoy baiting people who can't tell the difference).

But for once, my father had left Cammie in Muzzie (car).

So you shall just have to imagine the scene.

Today I checked out the name of the Bengawan Solo cake - it's very aptly called "Fruit Cake," and consists of jellied fruits atop a yellow layer cake (scented with lemon), with slices of patterned white chocolate around its sides.

I've blogged about another of his birthdays before, so if you remember that, good for you - and now you know what the cake is called so you can buy it too. It's a cheaper alternative and doesn't taste half bad, really!

Sometimes, I feel that visits to my maternal grandparents' on one of their birthdays, when almost the entire extended family is present, is like being in a Uniquely Singaporean indie movie.

And I know I'm bordering on self-indulgent by blogging about it like it is, but hey. What are blogs for, right?

***
Anyway, the title of this post is Polls About Punggol, so here goes:

To discourage Jon from harbouring notions that we are going to stay in Punggol, I have polled various people very loudly, usually in his hearing, as to whether they will visit us if we stay there.

Most people have, very encouragingly, said "No, unless _______________." "____________" is the usual nonsense, like "you buy me a car" or "you pay for my cab fare." And I pointed out to him that my father already KBKBs (pardon the French) about going to my maternal grandparents' in the East, so it is most likely that he will KBKB even more about having to visit me if I stay in Punggol.

(Multiply the KBKB by the distance from Marine Parade to Punggol to find out just how much I think he will KBKB.)

But today, my Very Own Brother the PoBe (Polar Bear, if you remember) unfortunately gave a resounding - and I mean resounding - "YES!" to the question, designed specially to discourage Jon from wanting to stay in Punggol.

Jon wasn't there because I asked PoBe this question at breakfast, but STILL. (PoBe didn't do Literature in secondary school, so Et tu, Brute? would be lost on him.)

His reason? "It's near Changi Village! I can go cycling! And after that I can leave my bike at your place!"

I don't like to use emoticons, but in this case I think there's one which sums everything up succinctly:

-.-

Now, if only we could answer exam questions that way. Gives new meaning to "succinct," doesn't it?

No Jon, I'm Still Not Staying in Punggol

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s first public housing project along the Punggol Waterway will have eco—friendly features and resort—like designs.

The 1,200—unit waterfront project will be launched in the middle of next year.

The firm behind the winning design is a partnership between international architectural firm Group8asia and local design company Aedas.

They stole the crown with a distinctive sky terrace concept which creates public spaces along the waterway.

More than 100 design firms from Europe and Asia took part in the Punggol Waterfront Housing Design Competition.

They had to submit plans that matched the housing board’s theme of "Green Living by the Waters".

HDB said the waterfront flats will be kept affordable.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, said: "New HDB estates look like private condominiums, but don’t cost as much as private condominiums. New innovative construction methods like pre—fabrication reduces cost and construction time. And that’s one of the reasons’ why we are able to keep the cost of construction down." — CNA

Well.

Friendship

I think one of the best memories I'll have of 2009 is of B and me scoffing down the remains of a Bakerzin blueberry cheesecake which H bought to celebrate the birthday of his and Jon's DL.

She, delicately shoving the candle-shaped plastic knife with a piece of cake on the end of it into her mouth; me, picking up the bigger bits left behind in the box with my fingers. H telling us to Please offer some to A's girlfriend also don't use the knife can?!, and B telling me You know I think we're really act cute, but I think they like it la.

And the knowing look we both gave each other as we happily ate blueberry cheesecake.

Boyfriends do like it - in small doses, anyhow. I think (well, I hope!) girlfriends themselves wouldn't be able to stand acting cute in large doses.

It's nice to have someone who understands these things, and who isn't afraid to say so in front of me, because I'm thinking the exact same thing.

It makes everything a lot easier, and I thank God for her.

***

More than a boyfriend, also a friend :)
When can we cut another cake? I want to go to Korea on you-know-what and stalk Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae.

Ask No Questions
And I'll tell you no lies.

But wouldn't you like to know what resulted in this picture during my MSN conversation with Aunti L?

(Yes, that's "Aunti" to you. Many Malay names end with "i," ok? Just keeping with the theme)

glowie chloeie says: DONT WANT TO HEAR

Feeling Cakey

As I said to Abi, I was feeling "cakey" yesterday, i.e. I had a sudden, strong desire for cake - and I came across a recipe for Italian Brownie Muffins, and so I made them. Have oranges and olive oil, will make Italian Brownie Muffins. The recipe can be found here. I left out the orange essence, and added the zest of about one and a half oranges. I also cut the sugar to slightly less than one and a third cups.

They turned out good and light and wonderfully cakey, as one review promised, to my great delight. Not at all like a brownie-muffin.

Here is a picture of them, posing with the oranges which I zested. I'm sorry I couldn't pose them better.

They look ugly, as do most of the things I bake because frosting is dreadful to clear up, and I hate wasting things because it's tremendously difficult to scrape up all the last bits, which usually add up to quite a bit of wasted frosting.

But ugly food tastes good. These Brownie-Muffins which were really cupcakes tasted like good orange chocolate, which we all know can go horribly wrong if the orange isn't done right. Guess you can't go wrong with fresh Sunkist orange zest!

***
I've been watching a trashy max show called Hot Guys Who Cook, but it's quite entertaining listening to the guys featured shooting their mouths off about everything. Today's Channel 5 episode featured an Irish guy who came up with the following nugget of wisdom:

"Irish men and women, American men and women, they're all the same! Irish men, American men, they all like to watch soccer, whether it's just soccer or American soccer. And Irish and American women, they like to spoil it for them. I've learnt to just, you know, make comments like 'Yeah, chicken's great fo' dinner,' 'No honey, you don't look fat in that,' you know, that sort of thing."

Well, what were you expecting from a show with a name like that?

Maybe It's Just The Time Of The Month

I was thinking recently about why I love Jon, and tonight we had a conversation about why HE loves ME. Girls love to know why, I think, and maybe guys just don't do "whys."

Anyhow, this might make me sound like a horrible girlfriend, but our dates are becoming more and more TV-oriented, as I make him come home with me to watch telly, often with my father or grandmother. Or I'll even want to not have dinner out with him so I can rush back to watch BAD local television (I have no cable) with my mum after tutorials.

I'm serious.

Maybe I'm just becoming a TV addict?

Well, I had to ultimately accept that guys really don't do "whys."

But I know why I love him - and it's comforting, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Besides the fact that, among other things, he makes me laugh, and we can talk about the most unromantic things and I still feel like we're having a "couple" conversation.

It's because he encourages me to be a better Christian; to trust in God's transforming power and love, and I think he's inspired me more than anyone else in my journey to becoming the woman I believe God wants me to be. And he continues to so inspire me.

I know - even I find that a most unromantic thought. Sometimes it worries me that I don't feel all warm and fuzzy anymore, when I used to. But thinking about why I love him, and realising what the answer was, was immensely comforting in the face of my worries about the lack of warmth and fuzziness.

So, guys, knowing the WHY can be a good thing.

And just like a (very human) girl, although I think I'd be glad if his "why" matched mine, I'd still want him to say it's because I make him laugh like no one else. Among other things.

***
An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:10-12

Indirect Resemblance

This is a picture of me and Jon's youngest brother.

I think we look alike.

He looks like Jon.

Therefore, I look like Jon.

It's that annoying couple thing.

Disturbing Images

No, not of war-torn nations, or the sad faces of rape victims in the DRC, and the like - but something potentially more disturbing, I think:

(pictures courtesy of marthastewart.com)

How are these "adorable baby costumes" for Halloween?! At least the baby in the Lobster picture, who also appears to be the baby in the Turkey picture, has a real baby smile. In the Turkey picture he just looks plain terrified of being eaten.

And is that a HUGE offset spatula I see next to the baby's head in the Pie picture?

More Inside Information Required

A recent encounter led me to think of the following poem from What Katy Did At School (that's when Katy goes to boarding school. Res ipsa loquitur, really):

Who ran to catch me on the spot
If I the slightest rule forgot,
Believing and excusing not?

Who lurked outside my door all day,
In hopes that I would disobey,
And some low whispered word would say?

Who sternly bade me come and go,
Do this, do that, or else forego
The other thing I longed for so?

. . .

Who is our bane, our foe, our fear?
Who's always certain to appear
Just when we do not think her near?

Who down the hall is creeping now
With stealthy step, but knowing not how
Exactly to discover -

If you've read the book, you really ought to know who I'm talking about.

If you don't, here's a link to a summary of the next book in the series, which mentions certain characters from the book before. It should be pretty easy to see who I'm referring to.

***

In other news, my Snotty Trekkie father has finally condescended to watch the Star Trek movie, which he has pooh pooh-ed as not being "in the spirit" of the original - too Hollywoodised, he says.

All I can say is, it hasn't stopped him from finding it Extremely Engrossing.

The Essence of Irreverence (and Friendships formed on exchange)

Shangren in a Must-Be-Zen-When-Pouring-Tea frame of mind

Shangren's "Receiving Birthday Present" Ceremony

Nevermind!

Heroes

I'll admit it - I've decided to follow Boys Over Flowers (rather late in the show but nevermind, I still know what's happened. I mean, it isn't exactly That Difficult), and will be trying to convince Jon to watch it with me next Saturday once I rush back from worship practice. Even though the story is getting a tad ludicrous. But what were you expecting? It's a Korean drama, and I shall be sorry when it ends.

And watching it is much more enjoyable now, because yesterday, wonder of all wonders, my father actually managed to use the old remote control to work the "DUAL-SOUND MODE" and I can now watch it in the original Korean!!!!!!!!

Though I must say Koo Hye Sun sounds slightly better in the Chinese, because They got rid of that horrible high-pitched female who did the dubbing for Hearts of 19.

My father is a hero!

Much Good

Right now I'm feeling like I did the night after I had my commencement ceremony.

Abi came over to "celebrate," and she ended up helping me clear out all the gunk stuck in the bathroom sink pipes - I remember it was the first free night I had to do it, and my father had been nagging at me to do it for days. And so we did.

I remember asking her, how many graduates does it take to clear a choked bathroom sink?

Today, enticed by the description of the Apple Cake in Tasty Home Cooking (I can't remember what the recipe book was called!), we attempted one. Or rather, I convinced Abi that we should attempt one. The fact that it called for half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg should have set alarm bells ringing at top volume in both our educated minds, as should the strong smell of nutmeg when we opened the jar to spoon out the required amount.

Alas, there are many things they don't teach you in university, and this is one of them.

We now have a rather good-, homey-looking cake with "moist and tender" pieces of apple in it, which unfortunately just tastes of nutmeg.

The Beginning of Wisdom

Jon had his last two wisdom teeth out last night, and today he actually REQUESTED that I go over and visit him, the invalid.

I declined at first because I wanted to watch TV in the comfort of my own living room, but due to his PERSISTENCE (for once he milked his invalid status for what it was worth!) I went over after all.

Notice how I'm calling it "PERSISTENCE" and "REQUESTING" and not "whining."

But it makes you wonder whether the male species is capable, after all, of learning the tricks of the trade.

Waste of Time
I shall stop worrying about whether Singapore will be consumed in an earthquake. Because Life Still Goes On. That's the funny thing, isn't it? No matter that thousands of people are now homeless and displaced, and experts interviewed in the newspapers are giving dire warnings, and my overactive mind will not let me stop thinking about certain passages in the Bible (Matthew 24) - Life Goes On.

That's actually the way it should be, if you think about it. If not people like me would be stuck at home, paralyzed by fear and unable to just - Live. It's also how I believe God would want us to be.

AND now that Jon has deigned to wake up and book our tickets to the AMIT World Tour 2010, I am well-pleased to share this information with you. You can click on the link to book your tickets too.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Sufficient unto each day is the evil thereof - Matthew 6:34.

Jon's Birthday Celebrations, Part 2

No, there are no pictures. I'm sorry but I was rushing out of the house and I didn't bring Tenny with me (AND I also have no patience to wait for pictures to upload!).

We had what you might think was an Extremely Boring UnBirthday time, but I still think it's worth blogging about because after we each had a lovely burger at Blooie's at Rail Mall - though my bacon cheese and mushroom tasted suspiciously like the Mushroom Swiss from BK in parts - and ice cream at Frutta La Viva (down with Udders! Lots of alcohol does NOT equal good ice cream) we hastened to my house to . . .

WATCH BOYS OVER FLOWERS!!!

Alright, I know I dissed the show a couple of posts back, but my mum and I tuned in the other night and found it more interesting than before. Maybe because they've stopped bullying poor Jin Sicao (that's Geum Jan Di to you).

Also, I found out that my mother had no idea that Meteor Garden was based on a comic strip. And that Jon had no idea that Boys Over Flowers is essentially a much better version (but that's just my opinion) of the Taiwanese Meteor Garden.

And after Boys Over Flowers ended, because Jon had to wait for the beer he had after dinner to get out of his system, we watched the last episode of Full House.

What a sweet boyfriend I have!!! Although I don't think this is going to happen very often - our Saturday excursion was also a kind of make-up for the fact that we couldn't have dinner on my birthday because I was sick. He also pointed out to me he felt exactly like I would have if he'd made me sit through 2 hours of pole-vault on YouTube.

Point taken.

I think I'm going to bring my mother to watch Rain when he comes, purely for entertainment purposes - and she needs to have an Aunty-Killer Outing at least once in her life.

And after Full House, we watched some of Jacky Cheung's Odyssey Tour footage because one and a half hours of him on Thursday just wasn't enough. That, at least, we BOTH enjoyed.

So endeth our birthday celebrations.

***
What I'm currently doing now has made me unable to write in anything other than bald facts. Too bad. But then again, that makes it that much easier to voyeur, doesn't it?

Glorious Anticipation
(and a vaguely idolatrous-and-emo sounding post)

I love that phrase - and I now have a chance to use it! Say "glorious," "glor-ree-uhs," so it's got three syllables and not just two as when you say "glor-ryus."

Forgive me for the horrible phonetics.

I spent most of yesterday in Glorious Anticipation, knowing that The Hour was Finally Going To Come, The Hour where I would see A*Mei LIVE. And after sodagreen left the stage at Fort Canning, the feeling heightened considerably, with me jumping up and down and screaming "A*MEI WO AI NI!!!!!"

And even though she sang a whole lot of rock songs from AMIT and looked really tired from the heat, her voice was Amazing. Just being able to hear and see her LIVE was Amazing. I screamed and screamed and jumped and jumped and was Really Tired after that - and Even More Tired after doing the same for Jacky Cheung, though not as much. He's only a few years younger than my mum (ooh, she won't like me revealing her age like that, hurhur) but he was Still Amazing, as Amazing as he ever was in J's VCD of one of his concerts, and what I've watched on YouTube.

But my heart, of course, is with A*Mei.

谢谢你。你美妙的歌声为我的生活增添了好多不同色彩和感情。尤其是我搭巴士和地铁的时候，和我晚上要睡之前的那些时刻。

Thank you, for your lovely voice has added many different colours and emotions to my life. Especially when I'm taking the bus or the MRT, and in the moments before I drop off to sleep at night.

Listening to some of her songs always takes me back to Beijing, and those long bus rides to and from school, or just to wherever. And, funnily enough, it makes me think of Chinese people and culture.

The whole experience was Glorious, I tell you. Simply Glorious.

Now to wait for her next Singapore concert.

***
EDIT:
I should put down what CY said: I'm sure it'll be a*mei-zing!!!

As I've repeated ad nauseum, it most definitely was.

Last Night

My maiden experience at the live taping of a MediaCorp show - the Singtel Grid Girls Grand Finals 2009, no less. Not something I greatly desire to repeat, because it was Very Tiring (I was Totally Exhausted by the time it was over) screaming and screaming and clapping, but it was fun going with G, J and I. And being catty with J about certain contestants.

Flesh parade MAX, indeed!

Two things:

1. Michelle Chong is very, very funny. I'm so glad this came just in time to give her an opportunity to be Barbarella Posh-Beckham, and poke fun at the rather unfortunate Ris Low and the SingTel Greed Gerz. Though I was rather surprised they allowed such irreverence on the show, snigger snigger.

2. My primary school classmate is now a mini-celebrity!!! Dear Shumin, even though this does not mean that I will stop calling SingTel Grid Girls 'Greed Gerz,' a la Barbarella, I hope you enjoy your time being the lead . . . Greed Ger.

You know I still luvch u!

***
Two days, and a Civil Procedure tutorial to A*mei and Jacky!!!

Exciting Day

Sometimes when I'm sitting in class, I think of the most irreverent things. Like how Cecilia should just say it was her twin sister Briony who was responsible for the murder of Paul in the mock criminal hypothetical we've been given. Or that their mother, who is my Aunt Emily, should make Briony take the blame because she's a struggling painter who dropped out of school and Cecilia is on her way to Oxford on a PSC scholarship.

Or how, when the fact patterns given to us throw up witnesses who have passed on, that we should just conduct a seance or use an Ouija board.

I wonder if people think of these things in real life, when facts pattersn like these arise. I'm sure it crosses their minds.

Today we walked into the SC, and we saw four people, each armed with a cleaning implement, cleaning a cordoned off area, the size of which was disproportionate to the amount of labour expended. J wondered out loud about this disproportionality, to which I responded Maybe there was a fight and they're cleaning up blood!

Today I also learnt that the penalty for daylight robbery is less severe than the penalty for robbery committed at night; daylight is defined in the Penal Code as the hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and night is defined as the hours between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. You can check out Section 392 of the Penal Code at Singapore Statutes Online.

Nice Afternoon

I had a talk with P just now as we walked to the bus-stop, after our movie at Sinema Old School, along with J, J and S.

I'm too young to have studied at the Mount Sophia campus, but I recognised the buildings from old photographs, and it was nice all the same to be able to share about the long flight of steps leading up to the place, as well as seeing the cross still on what must have been the old chapel.

It's a artsy-fartsy-max place now, and I kept thinking about that episode of The Simpsons where Lisa submits a film to the Sundance Film Festival. That was really funny, and made me wonder what I used to see in watching arthouse films, or becoming so emotionally invested in them. Eternal Sunshine doesn't count, by the way.

Okay, I was just young and angsty and trying to be "different."

Anyway, we watched Please Vote For Me, which I thought was a pretty good take on the Chinese way of life and thinking.

And we also watched seven BAD short films after that (the eighth was okay), simply because we'd paid for them. We laughed and laughed, and I was very hungry after all that laughing.

But the point of this post is to tell you the upshot of the talk I had with P on our way to the bus-stop - ugly food tastes GOOD.

So here is a picture of the Guinness Stout Cupcakes I mentioned in my last post, looking sloppy and oh-so-delicious with (cheap, I used Emborg whipping cream along with Cadbury's chocolate) Chocolate Ganache Frosting. YUM!

Sitting pretty (ugly) in a wrapper with hearts on, in a brown paper bag for R

YAY!!!! :)

I can now sing along to A*mei on my MP3 player happily, because I'm going to be watching her LIVE next Thursday at F1 Rocks Singapore!

Yes, we won the LG competition. The video is still on Facebook, and if you haven't seen it you still can! Follow the link on my profile.

Thank God, and thank you everyone who Commented on/Liked our video - thank you for not deleting me off their list of Facebook friends after I kept updating my status and actually SMS-ing some of you.

And thank you LG. Just in case the person who selected us is reading my blog, haha.

Law school has taught me one useful thing, and that is, to read or at least browse through Terms and Conditions. Most people don't bother anymore, especially with Facebook, because you have to keep agreeing to Terms and Conditions everytime you add a new application, or upload photos, etc.

Well, there was a clause which read that videos which had a higher number of Comments and Likes would have a higher chance of winning.

Now you understand my tenacity in trying to get YOU to make a few clicks.

Jon's Birthday, Part 1

But before I talk about that, I would like to tell you something interesting I realised recently. When you sing A*Mei's Bad Boy at KTV there's one part where the lyrics read "BAD DOG BAD BOY." I always thought it was a typo, because well, you can't trust the source of these music videos, right?

Well, I was listening to Bad Boy again recently and guess what! She really sings, "BAD DOG BAD BOY."

Nevermind the inferences which can be drawn from those lyrics, especially in the light of reports of Singaporean men being abused by Singaporean women.

***
We had dinner at this steamboat place on the edge of Chinatown. It was really good! We had tom yum and herbal soup. There were 5 Js, a K and a C.

I like corn cooked in soup.

And I baked Chocolate Guinness Stout cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting. Those were pretty good too, if I do say so myself. Dense like a good chocolate cake should be, with a bitter stoutey aftertaste, without the tau cheo overtones you usually get when you drink stout.

If I make them again I'd probably not cut the amount of sugar so drastically. But the frosting saved the day - how wrong can you go with chocolate ganache, anyhow?! Dark chocolate ganache at that, even though it was made with Cadbury's 72% Cocoa, which I bought because it was on sale at NTUC. I also put in a touch of XO from the bottle sitting in the fridge.

That's all.

(What were you expecting? I TOLD you already, the lives of lawyers and lawyers to be all Very Sad One. Don't believe what you see, read or hear about the legal profession.)

Dreams

One of the first things I'm going to save up to buy when we go back to work is a hand-held mixer - so many recipes I see nowadays call for fluffy, light-as-air beaten egg whites, which are next to impossible to achieve by hand. And they apparently make for lighter, softer, crumbier cakes.

Just like my favourite cake of all time, pandon chiffon cake. Yum.

I'm starving to death slowly in front of Lenny, reading recipes, while my parents try and convince me to snack before dinner because they did and are therefore not hungry enough to go for dinner yet.

Begging Pardon
Dear Jon,

I am most sorry that I have been accusing you of being in possession/losing my Stevie Wonder Greatest Hits CD. As you already know, I found it lurking in one of my desk drawers, hidden under some old foolscap paper and a CD of Debussy's Piano Works Volume 2.

I am just posting this so that you will feel some sense of vindication, and also because it is de rigeur for people who blog to let those reading their blogs know how cool they are, from time to time; oh how varied are the types of music one listens to!

And I am in one of those moods now, just like my father - this morning he came up to me and said, "I'm feeling bombastic today! So I've decided to use the word quintessential in one of my papers!"

Love,
Chloe

p.s. For your love, I would do anything, just to see the smile upon your face.

:)

"VOTE" For Us!

Okay, so it's not a "Most-Liked," "Most-Commented" sure-win contest.

BUT. Having people comment on and liking your video can't do any harm, surely?

Follow the link on my Facebook profile. Remember to comment on/like the video found on the LG Mobile Singapore page itself!

Thank you!!! Especially to everyone who's already taken the time to do so.

I haven't laughed so much in one night before. I kept bursting out in laughter everytime we tried to take the entire video in one take, hence the fade-out before we start the song.

Which is a very catchy tune, and was written by Jon.

Happy laughing and saving the video for blackmailing purposes in the future.

Ways and Means

We've decided, once and for all, that we're too broke to buy tickets to the first day of F1 Rocks - well, if we weren't too broke, we'd be too busy.

Anyhow, I googled for contests and found two.

We've entered one, and our entry to the second one is pending an email confirmation.

I will tell you more (rather silly and funny) details at a later date.

Wish us luck! (it sounds strange to say "Pray for us" somehow. But please do.)

Prawning

It's because I like eating prawns, and because I've seen photos and heard so many accounts of friends and acquaintances going prawning that I decided I'd like to try it. And as part of my 23rd birthday celebrations, at that. Even after D disabused me of the wonderful notion that people went prawning with nets.

Well, ok - what was I thinking, right? What would be the point of prawn farms offering you the chance to prawn, then?

Even so, yesterday afternoon, my head was filled with visions of prawns and prawns barbecuing in a row, ready to be peeled and eaten. I could smell them cooking, a lovely prawny smell tinged with barbecue smoke. And the taste of their legs! I love the taste of prawn legs (very weird, but I'm sure there are weird things YOU like to eat. Don't let's hear the pot calling the kettle black). And they're somewhat meaty-feeling in your mouth.

And of course, the sweet, sweet taste of fresh prawn meat, all fat and white and pinky orange.

Alas!

Prawning is barbaric, and also rather difficult. Ten prawns in just about 4 hours, with three rods and about 8 different people taking turns to have a go. There were many people, so maybe that accounted for it, and it was our first time after all (excuses, excuses).

But the results were tasty, and matched up to the visions I had.

And, as one of Jon's friends pointed out, the fact that I was squeamish about seeing them skewered and salted while they were still flipping about didn't stop me from eating them with a relish, a huge grin on my face.

With our rather small catch

I caught one and three-quarters on my own (Jon completed the last quarter of our first catch), and he caught two more, I think. I almost got a whopper one time, but he (she?) got away, with such force that my fishing line swung up and my hook got caught in the attap roof.

The uncle, when he came to help me release it, said 小姐虾在水里不是在上面 (Miss, the prawns are in the water, not up there).

At least I didn't drop the rod into the water， like You-Know-Who did. Sniggers.

We went to Hai Bin U Enterprise Prawn Fishing in Bishan, at 603 Sin Ming Avenue, next to the driving range. The zhi char was pretty good too.

And no, we did not order barbecued prawns.

***
In other news, my brother fell off his bike two days ago. He cannot walk properly, and he has puncture marks from his pedal on his left calf.

I couldn't stop laughing when he was describing it. Especially when he kept insisting, after that, that he had a sprained ankle (he didn't).

What a mean older sister I am.

But he's so huge, and he was kinda being a bit of a . . . (see my blog picture). You know?

Odiously Pleased (O.P.)

I seized upon this phrase yesterday morning when M and I went back to ACJC for a chat with our form teacher, who is finally pregnant, after many years of students nagging at her to have children. Our class played a big part, I am happy (sad) to say (oh, the terrors we were).

I asked her whether her parents were O.P., to which question she responded with her trademark rolling of eyes.

And the phrase has stuck with me since. It isn't a very nice adjective, but it does sound so nice when you say it!

I am currently feeling O.P., having cleaned the floor thoroughly, and am feeling that I am a Very Virtuous Daughter who can clean the floor better than her father. Please excuse the use of italics, it's only because I am feeling so very O.P. at the moment.

Don't you just wish you could wipe the smirk off my face?

***
A few Sundays ago we had a sermon on unity in the Chrisitan body. Of course, Pastor J talked about unity in families, and it struck me then that for all I complain about my father and disagree with the way he does things, I have a united family which I'm thankful for.

My displeasure with my father results in my not ironing his pants and his shirts which I deem too old and worn out, and not mopping the floor of his study room. The latter I gave in to, just now because my mum pointed out that all our labour would be in vain if he tracked the dirt from that room out to the clean parts of the house. And I might give in to ironing his pants soon, to stop him from coming to my room in the mornings demanding why they have not been ironed.

Wrinkle-free fabric, indeed.

And his shirts are so worn-out that they don't need ironing anymore because they don't wrinkle.

Keeping cool is the most important, says he.

The shirts which do need ironing I feel tremendously O.P. about, after I've finished with them.

To his credit, he did take the mop from me and mop his room, but that might have just been because he didn't want me crashing and banging about into the carcasses of old computers strewn about, with towers of books in between for good measure - you almost suspect he enjoys purposely creating impediments to a clean floor.

I'm probably also the only young person in all of Singapore whose primarily driving parent (father) constantly tells it to take the car!, but staunchly refuses to do so in the interests of the safety of other Singaporean drivers.

And he likes Jon. I fell sick on the 3rd when we were supposed to go out for my birthday, so Jon came over instead. I went to bed early, and he stayed in my house watching NCIS with my father.

So tonight, to round off my birthday week, we're going prawning! I'm very excited. Be excited for me, and I'll share the experience with you next time!

Making It Up, and The Sad Lives of Lawyers To Be, Part 4

I was Very Sad after my last post, but Jon has fully redeemed himself by coming to my house at midnight on my birthday (this has never happened before) and giving me my birthday present.

And in true lawyer form, right after being lovey for a bit, we proceeded to Very Unromantically discuss the assignment due on Thursday.

Below, Part 3

Jon, at 22:45:53: 114060. Guess what's that :)

Me, at 22:46:45 (thinking it has something to do with something nice for me, like maybe he won a lucky draw and now we're going to see Jacky Cheung and A*mei on the 24th): I dunno? :) :)

Jon, at 22:48:29: my new high score. Hahahahahahaha

The Sad Lives of Lawyers To Be, Part 2
I'm to blame, really.

It was I who discovered the game on Jon's new phone, Phone-E. So called because he's a Nokia E63 (or E68? I'm not sure) and we wanted our phones to be relatives. My phone, if you recall, is named Phoney.

And it is I who have been playing this game whenever a lecture proves too boring for words. Which is rather often.

However, Jon is not the only one who has an E63 (E68?), and I am not the only one who finds this game exciting, stimulating, and a great way to pass time!

I received the following SMS from J about 15 minutes ago:

Omg I was playing globalblox ..my score was like 97000+ then the dumb thing said gameover...s**t...

(asterisks added to maintain family friendliness)

We will be taking the bar exam at the end of November and all we can think about now is how to beat each others' high scores on a souped-up version of Tetris.

You Can't Deny It

Today, my fellow Aunty - also known as Fellow Suffering Pupil #1, or #2, or #n depending on who comes to mind first as I'm telling my tales about the day - pointed out something.

L, SMSing me excitedly about the "new" and "damn gd" drama Boys Over Flowers: Ya e lead looks like pck.

Minus the mole and the jade ring, of course.

"New" and "damn gd," in my opinion, are in quotation marks both literally and figuratively. But then it might not be that bad after all. I don't like it mostly because I didn't like the Taiwanese one, and that was because Barbie Hsu was just Plain Annoying and I couldn't stand Vanness Wu's hair.

I shall refrain from insulting Jerry Yen because L likes him and I don't want to hurt her feelings. And he was the least of all the Meteor Garden evils, anyway. I'll concede that.

Don't forget now, all fans of Boys Over Flowers - A Happy Journey, Starts Like That!

Maybe the campaign would be a lot more effective if they actually got Lee Min Ho to front it.

That is, if people could tell the difference.

Oh shucks. I forgot the mole. Dead giveaway there.

Wonders Will Never Cease

Today my father mopped the floor; when we ordered Coffee Pork Ribs as part of dinner at Forture, they came with blobs of whipped cream with coffee powder sprinkled over.

I'm surprised I don't see pigs flying.

And now, I am going to blog in Mandarin, and attempt to translate a Liang Wern Fook song. If you are displeased with the translation you are free to offer a better one.

Don't be surprised if you see a large pink pig backside suddenly appear at your window as you read this.

***
亲爱的文耀，

（如果你不能读以下的短文，你可以 scroll down for translation)

今天我们庆祝我们两年半的生日。 其实我的华语没你想象中那么好吧。但是我们两都知道我是骗人的。哈哈。去了北京四个多月，一直听八八三家FM，听华文MP3，看第八播道并不表示我的华文会讲得写得完美正确。

可是我的华文还是比你的好。记住啊！

这首歌虽然是首伤心的歌，但是我非常喜欢它。是我们最爱的梁文福写的，而这版也是他和潘盈唱的。 有点老套 (what is "old-fashioned" in Mandarin?!) 但是我知道你也会像我一样欣赏它。

谢谢你这两年半来给我的勇气和自持，爱心和保护。谢谢你每次很愿意和我共享你的食物。我知道食物对你来说是很重要的 - 你奋不顾身的牺牲你的食物对我来说是你表达最高度的爱心。

如果没有你，我可能还会被困在以前伤心的回忆中。

我已不再怀疑我究竟有勇气几许，因为你给我勇气继续。



我总是忘记 怎样地不去想起你
I always forget how to not think about you

我总是怀疑 你依然相信我的心情
I always suspect you still believe I have feelings for you

每一次伤的是你 每一次刺痛的是我的心
Everytime you get hurt it is my heart which feels the pain

我紧拥着你 却经已失去我自己
I've held on to you so tightly that I've lost myself

一条漫长路经已走到这里 走下去我就不再是我自己
I have come thus far down a long road, and if I go on walking I will no longer be myself

然而望着你的背影 究竟我有勇气几许
But as I look at your shadow, I wonder just how much courage I possess

回头去走那无尽无止的记忆
And I turn back to walk through those endless memories

一条漫长路经已走到这里 然而分离是否就拥有我自己
I've come down this long road, but if I leave you I can find myself

因为思念不是当年没有一丝牵挂的你
Because memories of yesterday are not yesterday and I'm not holding on to any part of you

寂寞也不是最初的我自己
Being lonely is not something which I ever was

Another sweet song, another heartbreaking story.

Except that our story isn't heartbreaking, of course not.

Here's a translation of my note to Jon, for his (and your) benefit:-

Dear Jon,

Today we are celebrating our two-and-a-half-year anniversary. Actually my Mandarin is not as good as you think it is, but then we both know that I'm just a fraud where this is concerned. Haha. Staying in Beijing for about 4 months, listening to 88.3 FM, having Chinese songs on my MP3 player and watching Channel 8 dramas definitely does not mean my Chinese will be wonderfully accurate.

But remember, my Mandarin is still better than yours! Haha.

This is a sad song, but I like it very much. It is by one of our favourite composers, Liang Wern Fook. This version was sung by him and Pan1 Ying2. Even though the arrangement is extremely old-fashioned, I know you will like and appreciate it just as much as I do.

Thank you for the courage and support, love and protection you have given me for the past two and a half years. Thank you for always being so willing to share your food with me. I know food is very important to you, so the fact that you are ever-willing to share your food with me so self-sacrificially shows me that your love for me is of the highest degree.

If it wasn't for you, I might still be stuck in the sad memories of the past.

I don't wonder anymore whether I have enough courage - for you give me courage to carry on.

好肉麻喔！
Eeee, so mushy.

May God grant us many happy years ahead, together. Thank You, for all You've done for us and everything You've brought us through.

Assaulting Your Senses

Between the last post and now, I have finally found on YouTube the songs which have been haunting my waking moments for the past few weeks.

Of course, no one ever watches YouTube videos other people post on their blogs, but I'll take the chance.

If you have a grandmother who watches a lot of daytime Chinese TV you'll definitely know these songs. Don't bluff me that you don't okay?!

And I have no idea what they're singing about - I barely understand Hokkien - I have to read the fan ti lyrics.

Above each video is what I call each song when I sing of their greatness to Jon, who has to listen to me belt out the only lines I know ad nauseum. I shall make an effort to learn to sing the Hokkien.

ＷＡ MENG TI WA MENG TI


AAAHHH JI AI NI YI JI LANG


And then I'll be an Absolutely Intolerable Friend to have.


***

Watching Korean dramas has made me miss Beijing. Going to school in Changping, especially. And street food. Definitely the street food.

Had an almost taste of Beijing on Tuesday when we went to eat steamboat in Chinatown after tutorial. Unfortunately the ma2 la4 was more la4 than ma2, which was not only most un-China but resulted in Glorious S**ts (in the plural. I am gross, I know) for Jon and myself. I'm not sure about the other people involved, but you can ask them. It's quite likely they suffered the same fate, seeing as Jon and Other Persons Who Shall Not Be Named probably downed close to 50 beef balls between them.

Being Practical

I woke up this morning to the news that A*Mei has joined Jacky Cheung (and Da Mouth and sodagreen, whose music I have never heard) as one of the acts for the first day of F1 Rocks.

Tickets are $175 per day. Not that I'm going to be forking out more than $175, although a part of me is secretly tempted to go watch the Backstreet Boys with Abi, because she wants to, and just because, you know? Not that I was a big fan - my father thought they were trash and so refused to buy their CDs (good on him, now I don't have dusty BSB CDs to get rid of!) but there's something about the Backstreet Boys that's so secondary school; makes me feel all nostalgic.

You know what they say, once you start feeling OLD and NOSTALGIC it means you're not that old. So I better stop talking about things I don't know about.

Anyhow, September is Jon's and my birthday month, so we were debating whether we should go as a birthday treat. Our friends have, however, pointed out that we can go to both Jacky Cheung's and A*Mei's individual concerts when they come, for the same amount of money. Plus we'll feel so much more fulfilled after a good 3 hours or so of the best the Chinese Pop World can bring in terms of costumes and production. Can't say much for the sound system at the Singapore Indoor Stadium though.

We have no idea how long the sets at F1 Rocks are going to be, but there are four acts - you do the math.

There's also the fact that we have a tutorial until 7 p.m. that day so we'll have to go late. Fort Canning's opening up at 5 p.m. Not that A*Mei or Jacky Cheung will open, but I just feel like I've gotta get there early to make it worth my while.

It's the kiasu Singaporean in me coming out in full force.

We inquired at the SISTIC counter at Raffles City twice today, and we still haven't bought the tickets.

I doubt we will, because there's a blue dress in Chinatown calling out my name, I hear it everytime we go the Subordinate Courts for lessons.

But we'll see, we'll see. Wouldn't it be something to go. I'm just a bit worried she'll go all Amit on me. I'm not sure I'm prepared to embrace Amit, when discovering A*Mei for real was one of the best things that happened to me in Beijing.

I'm turning into my mother. I can hear her voice in the back of my head telling me she thinks the money would be better spent elsewhere.

You might just see us standing next to that huge cherry sculpture outside the National Museum, opposite Fort Canning, come 24 September 2009.

Today

I realised that Jon and I have come very far together, and I felt very thankful for everything we've been through and the way God has blessed our relationship.

My mother said being bored was better than being sian. Like, it's better to be bored to tears writing a letter to imaginary clients about the imaginary sale and purchase of an imaginary house (that's a REAL letter we're talking about here) as opposed to being sian about something going wrong at work.

Then your heart will stop and you'll feel totally horrible and you hope and pray that by the grace of God you don't have to pay out of your own pocket.

She's right, I guess.

And after today's BSF lesson on complaining, I really ought to just shut it, count my blessings and give thanks to God. So I leave you with a picture of an imaginary "person" at her imaginary house, to decide for yourself which you would rather be.

Please exercise the Option to Purchase within seven (7) weeks of the date of this Option to Purchase. If not, Meow Meow Lee would have already reached a new level where she gets a new house and you will not be able to buy this one anymore.

My, I am bored.

Dear Reader,

Re: Procrastination

1. We refer to the above.

2. Sigh.

Yours faithfully,

SUPERMAN LLP

Of Friends Who Look Like Korean TV Stars
(or, You Know You've Been Watching Too Many Korean Drama Serials)

THAT pose. You know, the one where the male lead is driving his SUV/sports car during a time of crisis and looking Extremely Troubled. He usually puts his hand to his forehead and gives an exasperated, sad and frustrated "TSK." He's also driving Really Badly, but no one around him seems to give a s**t.

Jon Wrong on his way to becoming an Asian superstar (I didn't manage to get a picture at the moment his hand was on his forehead), Shannon looking doubtful that that's ever going to happen.

BYE QUENTS!!!

See you in December/January!
(and that was only to make myself feel better for not dragging myself out of bed at 0430 to go to the airport tomorrow morning. Not much point, when you'll only be gone for about 5 months)

More Good Old Chinese Pop

A less cheesy MTV, unfortunately.

In Lieu Of Vegetables

My parents went to JB last Friday, and like all the other times they go to JB, I fully expected them to come home with a couple of supermarket chickens for dinner, and a baguette or two.

Sure enough, they finally pulled up in our driveway at around 8 p.m., by which time I was ravenous and my tummy was singing for my supper.

My mother, for once, didn't buy any salad or cook any vegetables - she bought fake Yakult instead, and after dinner, told us that we all had to drink some of it because we hadn't had any vegetables.

No offence to anybody, especially if the manufacturers of the fake Yakult had developed the product themselves (though it's unlikely), but it tasted horrible. I got stuck with the orange flavour - and everyone knows fake orange-flavoured anything tastes awful, the only thing with a fake orange flavour I can stand is effervescent Redoxon - and after a few sips I handed it to my father and told him to enjoy it.

Saturday afternoon saw me, my mother, my grandmother, and my J2 brother who is Very Cool and About to Enter Army space out in front of Full House, which L lent me, with the kind words: You'll confirm like it lor. My aunty radar says so.

I've been wanting to blog about the Beijing Exchange Persons 2008 outing to Tea Chapter at Neil Road Thursday before last, but something's wrong with Blogger and I can't upload any pictures. The funniest picture of the day (to me, at any rate) was of Shangren pouring tea with his Zen face: When you pour tea you must have a qian3 cheng2 de4 xin1, so he says, and there I am in the background doing my best impersonation of a disrespectful moose.

We had a great time.

I went for NDP with my mother yesterday. I was supposed to go with Jon but he was sick, which was really disappointing for both of us. For me especially I think, because girls do tend to take these things a little too hard you know? And these tickets were hard-won and long expected, being as they were from one of Jon's friends on the organising committee. We failed to get any from the ballot. I'd been looking forward to the long weekend and fireworks, jostling about with a sea of people in red and singing cheesy National Day songs at the top of our patriotic, compliant lungs.

But no matter, I had a lot of fun with mummy, who was very excited too and we had a good time waving our little Singapore flags and light-up hearts around in time to the music.

I liked this year's NDP a lot (except for the fake terrorist attack) - I thought Ivan Heng did a good job. I especially enjoyed the music, which finally appears to NOT have been arranged by somebody with an alliterative name (oh, YOU know who I'm talking about), and the script which poked fun at bad Singlish and other Singaporean idiosyncrasies. It was kitschy cool, with those cheesy, rather ghoulish "people" borne about on sticks and the moving flower motifs on the big screens when they were introducing the four different races through dance and song. Ivan Heng has taste, and I think he loves Singapore, if not the show wouldn't have been as moving and goosepimply as it was. Just like how Jon thinks Home is so enduring because Dick Lee meant it when he wrote it. That, and the fact that he's talented, of course.

Maybe it was just the wind at the Marina Barrage, and those light-up hearts.

I suppose I'll get flak for this post, especially since there're probably more people than not who thought the NDP was a huge joke and the government would do well to spend the money elsewhere. But I was moved this year, and proud of Singapore and how far we've come - and you know what, I think we do have some semblance of a national identity after all, and I'm proud of that, even if doesn't epitomise sophistication. Ivan Heng managed to capture the essence of it, which is something I think no other NDP has been able to do effectively.

It's the essence of lazy afternoons at a coffeeshop wherever, drinking coffee or tea, eating a pau, popiah, or bak chor mee (that rhymes). Aunties and uncles who cook all that wonderful food, who give you a welcoming smile and know your order even before you say it, because that's what you always eat when you come to their stalls.

Like walking along the Singapore River with a loved one and about half of Singapore, enjoying the lights nonetheless, or listening to xinyao with them.

That kind of thing, you know? I'm sure you have your fond (and un-fond) memories of what makes Singapore home to you.

Wherever you are, there'll always be things which you don't like about a place, things which annoy and irritate you. But I think it's all about making the best of things. And then you'll find that things aren't so bad after all, and that Singapore is a country worthy of our love and pride.

Happy Day After National Day everyone.

Do check back with me when I have to brave rush hour crowds again.

Nah, I'm sure I'll still be fine. There'll be emails with the Aunties and Uncles To Be in the office to look forward to.

Nice Picture Which I Never Knew Existed
But alas, while they look good, I just look chubby.

(Sniggers. Sorry Jon, but you'll always look like a monkey to me.)

Picture taken before I left for Beijing.

In other news, last Friday I closed JM's car door on my right thumb. He almost drove off with my thumb caught in the door.

Despite the bleeding under the nail and the swelling, it's mending well. It still looks pretty gross though. I was going to upload a picture of it but I've decided not to, just in case you're eating when you read this.

Still, every cloud had a silver lining. Because of my resulting Miserable-Like-Anything face, Jon agreed to watch My Girl with me - yes, the Korean drama serial I was so enamoured with in Beijing. I caught it again on Channel U, and decided that I liked it so much that I had to have the DVD.

The downside is, because it's been digitally mastered for sharper images, Lee Dong Wook's lack of acting skills have become glaringly obvious and I cannot avoid that fact any longer, even though I would like to remain in denial because he is dishy. Even Jon agrees.

There's also horrible subtitling. It would have been funny if the conversation was in Mandarin, but I cannot understand Korean at all. Yes, I can watch it dubbed, but what's the point?