有好多话想说，但不知如何说起。。。
心中百感交集，也不知如何说起。。。
尽在不言中对有些事来说,不一定是好事。。。
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Langkawi Trip ~ 6-9 June 2009
A long overdue entry post on my Langkawi trip... This was a trip which had the few of us scrambling making several last minute decisions - and at times, I would be wondering why I agreed to go in the first place... things that went wrong were mostly communication problems such as...
1) A commented that the air tics were bought wrongly and hence, we ended up paying S$20-30 more. It's only S$20-30 more. No one was complaining and A was just informing. But B, who volunteered to book the air tickets, was obviously offended and became rather defensive.
2) Everyone wanted to have a say in the kind of accomm they wanted to stay in. That is too dirty. This is too far. The rooms don't look comfy. etc etc.. Why don't we get a suite so that everyone can stay together instead of two rooms? Which option is cheaper? bla bla bla...and in the end, by the time we decided on one, it was not available anymore and we realised that there were not many options left.
3) Even the kind of car that we were to rent also became a small issue. A preferred to drive a manual car. B was upset that we kept mentioning to leave the driving to A, and no one remembers that he can drive too, and when A offered B to drive, B said he's not that confident in manual car...
4) N the worst thing that made me roll my eyes was that A sms-ed everyone to change more money so that we could pay the hotel in cash, and still could say "Lucky I tell everyone - cos no one thought of it. Otherwise, everyone is just going to bring a couple of hundreds for daily expenses..." And honestly, I had question marks written all over my face. HUH? I could not understand why we could not pay the hotel by credit card and must carry so much cash with us. Luckily, before I could start screaming , B (who still was sane, called me and asked why must bring so much cash) offered to pay by his credit card first.
But all in all, I guess it was just the hassle and logistics of planning for a trip. We still enjoy one another's company and everything went well and it was fun during the trip .
The days were spent exploring the island, while the nights were spent chatting, playing games and being real naughty (heh heh)...
Welcome to Langkawi sign at the airport!
The plane was just behind us... For some reason, Vern kept thinking we took JetStar instead of AirAsia...
The iconic eagle at Langkawi (@ Eagle Square) of course must pose for a group picture!
The cafe opposite our hotel which we thought was quite cool!
Our breakfast! Yummy, right?
The boats for island hopping. It was rather difficult for the gals to get onto and off the boat, actually. At one point, Vern was kinda stuck on the boat and had no idea how to get off the boat - even with the guys trying to hold her. Quite a farnie sight though... But after a few times getting on and off, we kinda learnt the trick - and by the last trip, none of the gals needed the guys' help.
We reached one of the islands!
The green padi field we saw when we were on the road. We liked it so much, we actually stopped by the roadside to take photos and look at the cows that were nearby. Typical sua-gu city gals and boys... 
I guessed our trip was quite unique, because people usually go to Langkawi to nua at the beach. Our group, on the other hand, decided to visit all the atas villa hotels on the island- one after another - until I lost count, and then have drinks there... Because the weather was damn hot, we have refreshing fruit juice almost every day!
The 2nd photo was at Datai, in which a prince was seated supposedly just a table from us. Anyway, the waiter there was quite friendly and chatted with us throughout our time there. But everyone was surprised when he asked for my number when we were leaving. I thought he would never call anyway, so I stoopidly just gave, in which I was being scolded by the guys in the car. But, who knows? He called me just a few days ago, which was like - almost five months down the road, and said he wondered when he can see all our faces again (huh?) and he missed all our faces! (huh again?) Freaky.
The guys had a game of pool, while the gals (or rather, me, cos the gals had a game therafter too) just waited. What's new? More than one group of friends had tried to teach me, but I'm like forever "catch no balls"... hahaha..
Think there's really nothing much or things to wah about on the Langkawi island... it's really nua-ing, and enjoying a slower pace of life. So it was good that we still enjoy one another's company and we didn't end up in cats' and dogs' fight! We are trying to plan for another short trip early next year again, so let's see how the logistics will go this time round again...
Alrighty, next up on the post should be the also long-overdue Malacca trip with the girls! =) Hope the blog works well then...
Sunday, November 01, 2009
女人心语录III
I had wanted to do two photo posts on my Langkawi and Malacca trips which are long overdue... But I can't seem to access certain pages of my blog account... Sigh... So in the end, I ended up doodling and penning, so here goes...
***
女人是个喜欢被人捧在手心里的动物。 所以，小时后，先是父母的掌上明珠(手)。 长大后，希望是她所爱的男人的心肝宝贝(心)。
女人始终是个感性的动物。无论一个女人多么能干，多么坚强，多么聪明地不让自己的情绪写在脸上；遇到打从心里自己紧张的事情，就会芳心大乱，失去平时的思考和办事能力，根本不知如何是好。 这也许就是女人和男人的不同吧！
有些女人很喜欢钻牛角尖；又或许是太习惯胡思乱想。 结果，明明是一件很简单或不以为然的事情，却因自己的左思右想，越是苦恼，头脑就越乱；然后满脑子就多出了很多莫名其妙的可能性。就这样， 把自己的精神弄得非常紧绷， 对周围的事和人都多了一份猜疑心。
又有些女人，喜欢骗自己。喜欢活在自己从小编的童话故事里。 明明发现了一些伤透了心的事情，却找了好多理由去安抚自己。 久而久之，就这样，自己就不知不觉地相信自己编造的美丽谎言。 也许，骗自己是想让自己好过一点。
有些男人会觉得他身边的女人很烦。 整天在他耳边啰里啰唆，唠叨个不停，好像什么芝麻绿豆的事情都能拿出来讲。 其实， 换个角度想想。 有个女人在你身边唠哩唠叨，其实，也是一种幸福。 一个女人会像一只打不死的蚊子在你耳边嗡嗡叫，连你打个喷嚏都问长问短， 是因为你对她非常重要。 如果她不爱你了，即使看到你跌得头破血流，她最多只会说四个字“自己保重”，也不会再多问一句，也不会再多一丝的怜悯。
***
女人是个喜欢被人捧在手心里的动物。 所以，小时后，先是父母的掌上明珠(手)。 长大后，希望是她所爱的男人的心肝宝贝(心)。
女人始终是个感性的动物。无论一个女人多么能干，多么坚强，多么聪明地不让自己的情绪写在脸上；遇到打从心里自己紧张的事情，就会芳心大乱，失去平时的思考和办事能力，根本不知如何是好。 这也许就是女人和男人的不同吧！
有些女人很喜欢钻牛角尖；又或许是太习惯胡思乱想。 结果，明明是一件很简单或不以为然的事情，却因自己的左思右想，越是苦恼，头脑就越乱；然后满脑子就多出了很多莫名其妙的可能性。就这样， 把自己的精神弄得非常紧绷， 对周围的事和人都多了一份猜疑心。
又有些女人，喜欢骗自己。喜欢活在自己从小编的童话故事里。 明明发现了一些伤透了心的事情，却找了好多理由去安抚自己。 久而久之，就这样，自己就不知不觉地相信自己编造的美丽谎言。 也许，骗自己是想让自己好过一点。
有些男人会觉得他身边的女人很烦。 整天在他耳边啰里啰唆，唠叨个不停，好像什么芝麻绿豆的事情都能拿出来讲。 其实， 换个角度想想。 有个女人在你身边唠哩唠叨，其实，也是一种幸福。 一个女人会像一只打不死的蚊子在你耳边嗡嗡叫，连你打个喷嚏都问长问短， 是因为你对她非常重要。 如果她不爱你了，即使看到你跌得头破血流，她最多只会说四个字“自己保重”，也不会再多问一句，也不会再多一丝的怜悯。
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
My FYP!
Came across by accident the final year project I did with two John's in my final year in Uni! And that was when Singapore's telco market finally liberalised, with StarHub entering the market with a bang and created lotsa of hoo ha... and suddenly, everyone was seeing seas of red, orange and green everywhere....
http://repository.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/11512
Those days were fun! Gosh... We actually graduated in Year 2001... Oh man... We are old...
Brought back some fond memories, especially when Mr Ong tried to make his computer station at home as cosy for me as possible ~ by surrounding me with teddy bears and soft toys (how weird!) ~ when I was typing the report, while the two guys went to explore the powerful home theatre system! ... ... and how I was so upset with Mr Ng cos he always just wanted to zzz instead of working on the project, and seemingly just all talk and no action... But as usual, I was so easily pacified by Mr Ng...
And Prof Wan was my favourite professor ~ he's just so damn smart! I simply love Strategic Business Management ~ such that I gate-crashed his tutorial classes even though he wasn't my tutor! And I could still remember how he taught us to work around the loop holes of the banking system in Singapore and be able to flee away with $$$ undetected - or at least, undetected for quite a long while! Gosh...
And Prof Hooi too! With his cute lttle bow tie every lecture, and telling us that's his trademark, and that's how he stands out from competition. Because Marketing is all about differentiating and positioning, isn't it?
Awww... Ahh.. school days are still the best... If only we can turn back the clock...
http://repository.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/11512
Those days were fun! Gosh... We actually graduated in Year 2001... Oh man... We are old...
Brought back some fond memories, especially when Mr Ong tried to make his computer station at home as cosy for me as possible ~ by surrounding me with teddy bears and soft toys (how weird!) ~ when I was typing the report, while the two guys went to explore the powerful home theatre system! ... ... and how I was so upset with Mr Ng cos he always just wanted to zzz instead of working on the project, and seemingly just all talk and no action... But as usual, I was so easily pacified by Mr Ng...
And Prof Wan was my favourite professor ~ he's just so damn smart! I simply love Strategic Business Management ~ such that I gate-crashed his tutorial classes even though he wasn't my tutor! And I could still remember how he taught us to work around the loop holes of the banking system in Singapore and be able to flee away with $$$ undetected - or at least, undetected for quite a long while! Gosh...
And Prof Hooi too! With his cute lttle bow tie every lecture, and telling us that's his trademark, and that's how he stands out from competition. Because Marketing is all about differentiating and positioning, isn't it?
Awww... Ahh.. school days are still the best... If only we can turn back the clock...
Friday, September 18, 2009
It's a long weekend!
Have been feeling out of sorts this week.
You know how it is when you keep thinking it is Tuesday, when it is actually Wednesday? Or Wednesday, when it is actually Thursday?
Yes, while most of us are hoping that the week will end faster, such that the long weekend will be here faster, I think I am the only oddball here, subconsciously hoping the week won't pass by so fast. Hence, I was still living in yesterday ~ thinking it was Wednesday when it was actually Thursday...
***
Bloss said I could join her and her students in the ice cream workshop this evening, and David has also graciously allowed me to attend it ~ without having to pay (I think... )! Yeah!
But then, who knows? I got lazy and decided to head home instead.
I miss the ice cream though - especially the dunno what liquer, triple dark choc. I always like that! Yummy! Shall go have that soon, I hope!
***
Butter should be in BKK now, happily shopping and eating and nua-ing... So nice.
I need to get more $$ to satisfy my hunger for trips. Hahah. Oh yes, and go on trips with the right people.
***
I'm tired.
It's a long weekend, so it's a good time to rest. I hope.
***
Cancer is such a scary illness. Been reading that if it is detected in the early stages, there are still hopes for cure.
But if so, why is it that the cases I heard recently ~ the cancerous cells are only detected at a much later stage, and by then, everything seems too late?
What's even more ironic is the "you've cancer" news always come when people are hospitalised because of some other comparatively-minor illness and then from there, everything goes spinning downhill?
Been talking to AW and I also pray her guy would survive the ordeal. She said it's a 50-50 chance, so let's bet on the 50 survival. He has to. He must.
That said, we must really take care of ourselves. The recent events have even drilled deeper in me that it's not only the sick feeling ill, everyone ard him/her and those who really care, are not having it any easy either...
***
One student is getting more and more "atrocious". She is either not doing her homework or always bargaining with me, in her sweetest voice, to give her less homework.
And I am also getting more and more "atrocious"! Cos I actually just nagged at her and then agreed! Darn.
EOY exams are approaching and by no means is she going to pass her exams at this rate. Shucks... I need to be firm with her (and myself).
You know how it is when you keep thinking it is Tuesday, when it is actually Wednesday? Or Wednesday, when it is actually Thursday?
Yes, while most of us are hoping that the week will end faster, such that the long weekend will be here faster, I think I am the only oddball here, subconsciously hoping the week won't pass by so fast. Hence, I was still living in yesterday ~ thinking it was Wednesday when it was actually Thursday...
***
Bloss said I could join her and her students in the ice cream workshop this evening, and David has also graciously allowed me to attend it ~ without having to pay (I think... )! Yeah!
But then, who knows? I got lazy and decided to head home instead.
I miss the ice cream though - especially the dunno what liquer, triple dark choc. I always like that! Yummy! Shall go have that soon, I hope!
***
Butter should be in BKK now, happily shopping and eating and nua-ing... So nice.
I need to get more $$ to satisfy my hunger for trips. Hahah. Oh yes, and go on trips with the right people.
***
I'm tired.
It's a long weekend, so it's a good time to rest. I hope.
***
Cancer is such a scary illness. Been reading that if it is detected in the early stages, there are still hopes for cure.
But if so, why is it that the cases I heard recently ~ the cancerous cells are only detected at a much later stage, and by then, everything seems too late?
What's even more ironic is the "you've cancer" news always come when people are hospitalised because of some other comparatively-minor illness and then from there, everything goes spinning downhill?
Been talking to AW and I also pray her guy would survive the ordeal. She said it's a 50-50 chance, so let's bet on the 50 survival. He has to. He must.
That said, we must really take care of ourselves. The recent events have even drilled deeper in me that it's not only the sick feeling ill, everyone ard him/her and those who really care, are not having it any easy either...
***
One student is getting more and more "atrocious". She is either not doing her homework or always bargaining with me, in her sweetest voice, to give her less homework.
And I am also getting more and more "atrocious"! Cos I actually just nagged at her and then agreed! Darn.
EOY exams are approaching and by no means is she going to pass her exams at this rate. Shucks... I need to be firm with her (and myself).
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
还好
看到他还会拿我开玩笑，我心里的石头终于放下。。。
然后，在回家路上，我才焕然大悟，原来，几个星期的焦虑不安，是因为我只能从我们谈话中，他的口吻，自下定论。即使他说还好，我还是放心不下。
一切只是意味着想确定他真的一切都还好。
直到见到他实实在在，在我面前，虽然是瘦了一大圈，脸型尖了许多，样子很憔悴和累，但我的心是踏实了许多。
惠群说就算他心里有多难过，应该不会在这时露出来。 也对，现在他还是忙得团团转，没时间想这么多。 但我想，明天的事，明天再说或担心吧。
其实，刚才也说不到几句话，因为他得去“跑台”。 望着到他跑来跑去，之间，似乎又看到了那眼神和笑容，我知道他会没事的。
他会有力量度过这时期的。
然后，在回家路上，我才焕然大悟，原来，几个星期的焦虑不安，是因为我只能从我们谈话中，他的口吻，自下定论。即使他说还好，我还是放心不下。
一切只是意味着想确定他真的一切都还好。
直到见到他实实在在，在我面前，虽然是瘦了一大圈，脸型尖了许多，样子很憔悴和累，但我的心是踏实了许多。
惠群说就算他心里有多难过，应该不会在这时露出来。 也对，现在他还是忙得团团转，没时间想这么多。 但我想，明天的事，明天再说或担心吧。
其实，刚才也说不到几句话，因为他得去“跑台”。 望着到他跑来跑去，之间，似乎又看到了那眼神和笑容，我知道他会没事的。
他会有力量度过这时期的。
Sunday, September 13, 2009
最不想看到的简讯...
看到他传来了一则简讯。
看到了简讯的头几个字时, 我就已猜到简讯的内容。
跟两年前，凌晨时分，收到的简讯口吻是一样的。 当时，打了长途电话给他，听到他哽咽得根本说不出一句话，我的心也乱得七上八下。
迟迟都不想去证实我心想的，所以也迟迟不去按"read". 就把电话扔在床上， 然后就去翻报纸，开电视，开电脑。坐也不是，躺也不是， 站也不是。
就这样过了好几个钟头，终于受不了，去读了简讯。 然后对着电话又发了一个钟头的呆。 不敢打给他，也不知该怎么回应，因为我根本不知道能说些什么。 我也不忍心再次听到他哭得哽咽到说不出一句话。
最亲的人的离开不是亲朋好友说几句(同样的)话就能安抚的。 尤其是当你和家人的关系是最密切和良好的。
也许，唯一能欣慰的是至少亲人离开时，他是走得安祥的。 病痛是减得最低的。。。
相信他的父亲还有许多许多的牵挂，但还好，他的家人都在，陪他一起走完人生这最后一段。。。我想，在那时，这才是最重要，也算能安祥离去。。。
也希望他能找到力量和勇气度过这悲伤时期。。。
看到了简讯的头几个字时, 我就已猜到简讯的内容。
跟两年前，凌晨时分，收到的简讯口吻是一样的。 当时，打了长途电话给他，听到他哽咽得根本说不出一句话，我的心也乱得七上八下。
迟迟都不想去证实我心想的，所以也迟迟不去按"read". 就把电话扔在床上， 然后就去翻报纸，开电视，开电脑。坐也不是，躺也不是， 站也不是。
就这样过了好几个钟头，终于受不了，去读了简讯。 然后对着电话又发了一个钟头的呆。 不敢打给他，也不知该怎么回应，因为我根本不知道能说些什么。 我也不忍心再次听到他哭得哽咽到说不出一句话。
最亲的人的离开不是亲朋好友说几句(同样的)话就能安抚的。 尤其是当你和家人的关系是最密切和良好的。
也许，唯一能欣慰的是至少亲人离开时，他是走得安祥的。 病痛是减得最低的。。。
相信他的父亲还有许多许多的牵挂，但还好，他的家人都在，陪他一起走完人生这最后一段。。。我想，在那时，这才是最重要，也算能安祥离去。。。
也希望他能找到力量和勇气度过这悲伤时期。。。
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Things will get better.
A colleague mentioned today that, "这个七月好像很猛！ 好多衰事情发生了。"
So weird - Bloss and Butter always claim I am the most pan-tang among the three of us, but yet, I did not relate anything that I heard/knew this week to the Hungry Ghost Festival.
1) Just heard that an acquaintance, who is one year older than me, just passed away. From pancreatic cancer. She just got married in May this year. Beautiful bride. And she was all ready to start her new chapter in life with her hubby. Her hubby lost his wife within a month after she was diagnosed with the illness. Everything happened so quickly. I don't know and can't imagine how he is going to handle and cope with the sudden loss.
2) My colleague's dad contracted shingles, of all places, in his eyes! gosh... but fortunately, he is on his way to recovery though he still complains of itchiness and pain...
3) And then, a colleague's mum passed away. And then, another two -- each has one parent recovering from a bad fall in Changi Hospital and SGH.
Came home and told mum that it might be better that the hungry ghost festival ends quickly. Two more weeks...
***
And then, he finally found time this week to call me.
His tone wasn't exactly very right; in fact, so much softer and more tired than usual.
And to cut whole story short, I think if I were him, I might most probably regretted calling me.
With already so many problems at hand, and already mentally, emotionally and physically drained, you wouldn't want to call someone, only to add more totally-unnecessary stress to yourself, would you?
My accumulated worry and concern turned -- at that very instant when he called -- into aloofness, followed by frustration.
And after he pieced the whole two-month puzzle, all I could utter was a very soft "oh..." cos I could think of nothing else to say, except that I'm such a brat for venting on him.
Now when I recalled him "brushing me off" with a "Still very busy with many stuffs", that was, honestly, more than an understatement.
My heart just broke when he tried to choke out a dry chuckle, and told me he could not imagine why and how so many things could have happened just within two months, with no prior symptoms and such, and that everything seemed to happen all so swiftly at the snap of a finger.
Throughout the whole conversation, I could hear that every little bit of energy and zest has almost been sapped from him.
It hurts that I can't and dunno how to do anything to help alleviate his stress levels. Except to help him find out about certain stuffs while he goes busy wtih other things. And to pray.
So weird - Bloss and Butter always claim I am the most pan-tang among the three of us, but yet, I did not relate anything that I heard/knew this week to the Hungry Ghost Festival.
1) Just heard that an acquaintance, who is one year older than me, just passed away. From pancreatic cancer. She just got married in May this year. Beautiful bride. And she was all ready to start her new chapter in life with her hubby. Her hubby lost his wife within a month after she was diagnosed with the illness. Everything happened so quickly. I don't know and can't imagine how he is going to handle and cope with the sudden loss.
2) My colleague's dad contracted shingles, of all places, in his eyes! gosh... but fortunately, he is on his way to recovery though he still complains of itchiness and pain...
3) And then, a colleague's mum passed away. And then, another two -- each has one parent recovering from a bad fall in Changi Hospital and SGH.
Came home and told mum that it might be better that the hungry ghost festival ends quickly. Two more weeks...
***
And then, he finally found time this week to call me.
His tone wasn't exactly very right; in fact, so much softer and more tired than usual.
And to cut whole story short, I think if I were him, I might most probably regretted calling me.
With already so many problems at hand, and already mentally, emotionally and physically drained, you wouldn't want to call someone, only to add more totally-unnecessary stress to yourself, would you?
My accumulated worry and concern turned -- at that very instant when he called -- into aloofness, followed by frustration.
And after he pieced the whole two-month puzzle, all I could utter was a very soft "oh..." cos I could think of nothing else to say, except that I'm such a brat for venting on him.
Now when I recalled him "brushing me off" with a "Still very busy with many stuffs", that was, honestly, more than an understatement.
My heart just broke when he tried to choke out a dry chuckle, and told me he could not imagine why and how so many things could have happened just within two months, with no prior symptoms and such, and that everything seemed to happen all so swiftly at the snap of a finger.
Throughout the whole conversation, I could hear that every little bit of energy and zest has almost been sapped from him.
It hurts that I can't and dunno how to do anything to help alleviate his stress levels. Except to help him find out about certain stuffs while he goes busy wtih other things. And to pray.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
I love sleeping in.
I love sleeping in.
Especially when I wake up at 7.00 am and realise I have the luxury of sleeping in, without any tuition or appointments to rush to.
I think my skin will also thank me for letting it rest and breathe for a day.
I love my bed and pillow. Heavenly bliss.
Ok – but imagine how I gasped out loud this morning when I next looked at the clock, it was already 1.00 pm!
Such a pig!
***
Caught the preview of The Extraordinary V Conference 2009. Although it was the usual slapstick humour which made fun of the happenings in Singapore and around the world, it still made the audience (and me) laugh out loud.
It was still hilarious – seeing them poking fun at (some of which quite sensitive issues):
• The relationship between Singapore and Malaysia
• How our government may plan to receive Mr and Mrs Obama should they decide to pay Singapore a visit, and on Mr Obama being the first African American to hold office, Mrs Obama’s toned arms and the famous “Yes, we can”…
• The AWARE saga
• The rojak food poisoning saga
• H1N1
• The numerous/countless campaigns that Singapore runs in the past few years (Speak good “Engrish”, Speak Mandarin, Quit Smoking, Two is not enough, the revival of Singa the Lion for the courtesy campaign, etc, etc.. how many of these campaigns do we actually remember?)
• The proliferation of the new language (acronyms) used by youngsters nowadays – many of which I don’t understand at all
• The gung-ho attitude of many developers who competed to launch retail malls, one after another, this year despite the economy’s performance
• How Buddhists/Taoists should consider learning from the Christians to conduct roadshows to recruit more followers
• The standard obtaining-of-three-quotations by the government bodies/stat boards for any jobs
• How and why we should be “thankful” to our “gahmen” for agreeing to dip into the $2.2 billion reserves for the first time…
• The relationship between Zoe Tay and Fann Wong, the “flop” of The Ultimatum and the “success” of The Little Nonya (and Joanne Peh was there too… with her ang-moh beau)
Quite refreshing also – that this was held at the nightspot, Zirca, instead of the usual Esplanade or Drama Centre.
And it felt good to walk in and out of Zirca, Lunar and Rebel, as we wished, when there were super long queues forming outside all three nightspots – to which I don’t understand because the three places were practically rather empty inside!
Talk about forming false impressions!
***
Heard some news about a friend. The friend who told me was kind of surprised that I reacted to the news so calmly with just a “Is it? OK. Why and how?” in the most monotonous tone and not what she expected “Oh my god! Why??” in my 8-octave higher shrieking voice.
She said she was shocked and speechless when she first learnt of the news.
Oh well. I guess it’s partly because the thing she shared with me did not only happen to that one friend, but I already knew of three other people who did the same thing. So I guessed it is either I am getting more liberal-minded or I am already kind of immune – though I still can’t make sense out of how such things can happen.
But I guess it just goes to show:
* Good, stable and mature guys are rare and almost extinct? And similarly, young, demure, gentle and slim girls are also slowly becoming dinosaurs of age? Stereotype stereotype...
* Girls understand girls’ wants, needs and moods better? And similarly, guys understand guys’ wants, needs and moods better?
* Loneliness is more than scary – if one does not know how to manage it well, it can make one do the most unexpected (and maybe, regrettable) things at times.
* There is always a 99.9% possibility that “something” is going on between two parties (guy-gal, gal-gal, guy-guy) – regardless of whether the involved parties are conscious of it or not – if both willingly spend too much time with each other (regardless of gender)
***
I guess I’m easily pacified.
And I guess I should be even more understanding.
But I still think there’s a limit to everyone’s tolerance and level of trying to be understanding. No matter how kind, easy-going, good-tempered, understanding one is, there is a limit to everything – to which, of course, the level of elasticity on how much one can stretch to “tolerate” depends on who the other party is.
***
Dunno why - suddenly recalled the quote from the movie UP.
“Sometimes, it's the boring stuff I remember the most.”
***
I think I should start blogging about my Langkawi, Malacca and Cameron trips soon, before I forget…
I should also utilise my baking utensils and oven more often, I think… They are collecting dust man…
Mummy’s cooking now and it smells great! I think I should also start to pick up some culinary tips from her. Then again, I would never match her standards – just like how she still complains that my method of hand-washing clothes is not thorough enough and then make me do it all over again… Tired leh… It takes so much strength to hand-wash clothes! grrr… I should tell her that the washing machine is TOO under-utilised.
Then again, sometimes, I find my mummy quite "cute". She just walked into the room, stood behind me and gave me a "lecture" on what she thought of Andy Lau now. And ended with a "haiyoh - to think you still support him all these years! tsk tsk tsk!" and then, she walked out of the room! hahha...
Anyway, I wonder what's the huge fuss over him being married, or hiding the fact that he's married. Didn't everyone already assume or guess that both of them are already married since ages ago? It is just a matter of confirmation from him.
Granted - talk about 天时地利人和, the only "suay" thing was the timing - this piece of news surfaced and got hugely amplified when his father-in-law passed away.
Yes, talk about social responsbility.
But again, all he did was not sharing he's married mah. Besides, it's between him and his wife. If his wife willingly agrees to be the woman behind the scenes, who are we to criticise her husband and who are we to try to play saint and stand up for her - sympathising and empathising with her? And who are we to conclude that she has suffered all these 24 years? For all we know, the couple discussed it and agreed on it, and she has been feeling blissful instead?
You can never underestimate a woman's power and endurance level when it comes to the man she loves.
Just like what I mentioned in an entry in March 2007:
女人其实很简单。只要她所爱的男人对她好，她就可以不惜一切地为他着想，以她自己的方式守护和照顾他。尽管多少委屈，就算天塌下来，也能承受下来。
On a more serious note, I think I should also start to give my resume a look. It has lain dormant for a few years… Time to re-visit and update it again.
Especially when I wake up at 7.00 am and realise I have the luxury of sleeping in, without any tuition or appointments to rush to.
I think my skin will also thank me for letting it rest and breathe for a day.
I love my bed and pillow. Heavenly bliss.
Ok – but imagine how I gasped out loud this morning when I next looked at the clock, it was already 1.00 pm!
Such a pig!
***
Caught the preview of The Extraordinary V Conference 2009. Although it was the usual slapstick humour which made fun of the happenings in Singapore and around the world, it still made the audience (and me) laugh out loud.
It was still hilarious – seeing them poking fun at (some of which quite sensitive issues):
• The relationship between Singapore and Malaysia
• How our government may plan to receive Mr and Mrs Obama should they decide to pay Singapore a visit, and on Mr Obama being the first African American to hold office, Mrs Obama’s toned arms and the famous “Yes, we can”…
• The AWARE saga
• The rojak food poisoning saga
• H1N1
• The numerous/countless campaigns that Singapore runs in the past few years (Speak good “Engrish”, Speak Mandarin, Quit Smoking, Two is not enough, the revival of Singa the Lion for the courtesy campaign, etc, etc.. how many of these campaigns do we actually remember?)
• The proliferation of the new language (acronyms) used by youngsters nowadays – many of which I don’t understand at all
• The gung-ho attitude of many developers who competed to launch retail malls, one after another, this year despite the economy’s performance
• How Buddhists/Taoists should consider learning from the Christians to conduct roadshows to recruit more followers
• The standard obtaining-of-three-quotations by the government bodies/stat boards for any jobs
• How and why we should be “thankful” to our “gahmen” for agreeing to dip into the $2.2 billion reserves for the first time…
• The relationship between Zoe Tay and Fann Wong, the “flop” of The Ultimatum and the “success” of The Little Nonya (and Joanne Peh was there too… with her ang-moh beau)
Quite refreshing also – that this was held at the nightspot, Zirca, instead of the usual Esplanade or Drama Centre.
And it felt good to walk in and out of Zirca, Lunar and Rebel, as we wished, when there were super long queues forming outside all three nightspots – to which I don’t understand because the three places were practically rather empty inside!
Talk about forming false impressions!
***
Heard some news about a friend. The friend who told me was kind of surprised that I reacted to the news so calmly with just a “Is it? OK. Why and how?” in the most monotonous tone and not what she expected “Oh my god! Why??” in my 8-octave higher shrieking voice.
She said she was shocked and speechless when she first learnt of the news.
Oh well. I guess it’s partly because the thing she shared with me did not only happen to that one friend, but I already knew of three other people who did the same thing. So I guessed it is either I am getting more liberal-minded or I am already kind of immune – though I still can’t make sense out of how such things can happen.
But I guess it just goes to show:
* Good, stable and mature guys are rare and almost extinct? And similarly, young, demure, gentle and slim girls are also slowly becoming dinosaurs of age? Stereotype stereotype...
* Girls understand girls’ wants, needs and moods better? And similarly, guys understand guys’ wants, needs and moods better?
* Loneliness is more than scary – if one does not know how to manage it well, it can make one do the most unexpected (and maybe, regrettable) things at times.
* There is always a 99.9% possibility that “something” is going on between two parties (guy-gal, gal-gal, guy-guy) – regardless of whether the involved parties are conscious of it or not – if both willingly spend too much time with each other (regardless of gender)
***
I guess I’m easily pacified.
And I guess I should be even more understanding.
But I still think there’s a limit to everyone’s tolerance and level of trying to be understanding. No matter how kind, easy-going, good-tempered, understanding one is, there is a limit to everything – to which, of course, the level of elasticity on how much one can stretch to “tolerate” depends on who the other party is.
***
Dunno why - suddenly recalled the quote from the movie UP.
“Sometimes, it's the boring stuff I remember the most.”
***
I think I should start blogging about my Langkawi, Malacca and Cameron trips soon, before I forget…
I should also utilise my baking utensils and oven more often, I think… They are collecting dust man…
Mummy’s cooking now and it smells great! I think I should also start to pick up some culinary tips from her. Then again, I would never match her standards – just like how she still complains that my method of hand-washing clothes is not thorough enough and then make me do it all over again… Tired leh… It takes so much strength to hand-wash clothes! grrr… I should tell her that the washing machine is TOO under-utilised.
Then again, sometimes, I find my mummy quite "cute". She just walked into the room, stood behind me and gave me a "lecture" on what she thought of Andy Lau now. And ended with a "haiyoh - to think you still support him all these years! tsk tsk tsk!" and then, she walked out of the room! hahha...
Anyway, I wonder what's the huge fuss over him being married, or hiding the fact that he's married. Didn't everyone already assume or guess that both of them are already married since ages ago? It is just a matter of confirmation from him.
Granted - talk about 天时地利人和, the only "suay" thing was the timing - this piece of news surfaced and got hugely amplified when his father-in-law passed away.
Yes, talk about social responsbility.
But again, all he did was not sharing he's married mah. Besides, it's between him and his wife. If his wife willingly agrees to be the woman behind the scenes, who are we to criticise her husband and who are we to try to play saint and stand up for her - sympathising and empathising with her? And who are we to conclude that she has suffered all these 24 years? For all we know, the couple discussed it and agreed on it, and she has been feeling blissful instead?
You can never underestimate a woman's power and endurance level when it comes to the man she loves.
Just like what I mentioned in an entry in March 2007:
女人其实很简单。只要她所爱的男人对她好，她就可以不惜一切地为他着想，以她自己的方式守护和照顾他。尽管多少委屈，就算天塌下来，也能承受下来。
On a more serious note, I think I should also start to give my resume a look. It has lain dormant for a few years… Time to re-visit and update it again.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tired
Heard <<我等到花兒也謝了>> on radio… and it actually gave me goose bumps ~ especially the first verse when there wasn’t much music in the background.
He’s really not given the title of 歌神 for nothing. His voice is damn “powderful” lor … **Swoons**
***
Anyway, been rather pissed and upset at work these days. And it’s all cos of some moron who kicked a big fuss over ONE LINE I wrote in the internal newsletter.
First, he came to me, brought me to the notice board and then shouted at me there and then, questioning me why I changed the copy he gave me. And then went on to question me who gave me the authority to change it? And while raising his voice at me, his ugly scrawny finger was pointing and hitting the notice board so hard that there was a minor “dent”, and the paper in a near-torn state.
And I especially hated it when he did not even give me a second to explain or talk back or actually make sense out of this whole thing, and he walked away! Fish him la...
Followed his secretary back to her table, printed out what he gave me, and honestly, until then, or rather, until now, I still have no idea what the BIG fuss was about.
Asked his girl..
Me: So what’s the difference between what he gave and what I wrote?
Girl: Dunno.
Me: **in my mind** what the Fish!
And then he suddenly appeared from nowhere, and made it loud and clear to me again..
“You owe me an explanation. Your boss owes me an explanation. Ask your boss to COME TO ME AND EXPLAIN.”
And he walked away again!
Pardon me. But if I could really swear there and then, I would have really hurled vulgarities at him and could really kick him in his groin man.
What the fish!
1) There’s no need for him to raise his voice at me. He could have confronted me in a firm and professional way. He could have explained to me why it was wrong. And not just tell me, I’m right. You are wrong and how dare you have the audacity to edit what I gave you.
2) I don’t report to him. He’s not the big boss or the 2nd or 3rd in command anyway. What the hell. And so, why the hell is he raising his voice at me, in a place smacked right in the middle of the company?
3) I really hate it when people walk away, accusing me of something and then don’t even listen to what I have to say – regardless of whether you agree with me or not. Please lor, this is a work place and not your home where you can just throw tantrums and walk away, without listening what others have to say. Still don’t understand how could such attitude happen in a work place, especially with someone in the senior management?
To cut long story short, it was such a huge matter to that moron that he asked his girl to come arrange a meeting with me and boss. Asked us when we are free – to which my boss said – no, we are not free. No time.
And he ultimately had no choice but to walk to my boss’ workstation, and oh man, it was another session of heated “argument”. But of course, he was so soft this time, I couldn’t hear him at all. But my boss managed to stay firm to what we wrote and I think it drove him nuts.
Apparently, when big boss came back, he complained to him about us. And then my boss was being called in for a “chit chat” session. And God knows what and how he painted the whole picture, big boss had the impression that the “mistake” I made was communicated to the media. When my boss told him it was only a one-liner in our internal newsletter, big boss only uttered an “Oh…”
What actually got me very upset was how big boss tried to broach the subject with boss… Apparently, he broached the subject by telling my boss that maybe next time, on what ever matters, she could approach to the HODs and talk to them personally, instead of getting me to talk to them.
What the fish!!
1) I rarely approached the moron directly since I know he has such a big ego that he talks only to the heads, that I always passed message via his secretary.
2) And for this matter, he was the one who came to me and gave me a lecture mah. Not me.
3) If I really have a communication problem, why is it that I have no problems with the rest of the HODs and are on good terms with a couple of them?
And that was when the light bulb lit with boss and she knew straight away it was this moron who complained to big boss, and that’s how all the things came to light.
Even though boss managed to shoot all the false accusations down, and backed me up, I just feel damn pissed. Besides, I heard the session between boss and big boss from boss herself. Call me paranoid but how would I know how true it is or rather, what other things big boss have said but boss chose to keep it from me?
Think my boss caught my face slowly turning blacker and blacker, and she told me to cool it and said so long as we know what we are doing, it’s OK. There’s no need to get so angry.
And then, I kept bumping into him in office today. Tried to control myself to not look at him and just look straight, head up; otherwise, I think I would really kick him in his arse ~ literally.
He sent something to my boss, copied big boss and me today. Though there were words like “Thank you”, his tone was condescending. “I expect you to bla la bla. You are to bla la bla.” And his last line was something along the line tat he expects direct communication from my boss from now on. Which I read between the lines to warn me to stay clear from and out of his way from now on.
So be it.
I don’t even want to communicate with his girl now. His girl called me twice when I was in meeting today. Rejected the calls. Didn’t even check back, which I usually would. Shall leave this department to my boss.
How idiotic.
And boss had to remind me today that I need to start work soon on the next issue. I wonder if I can just allocate minimal space to this department.
Oh, on another note. Someone actually vandalized the photos of the staff being featured in this issue. Drew all over her face. Just find it hard to believe such things still exist in the corporate world, where everyone’s supposed to be mature working adults.
Showed my boss, who showed big boss. Saw big boss shake his head and crushed the paper immediately, with his face turning solemn.
***
I did my part in leaving him alone for two weeks and only tried to check with him how things are at home now, and all I got in reply was a “Still been very busy with many stuff”. Fine ~ so blatant that his many stuffs don’t include me, nor sharing with me nor updating me.
Oh well, I’m not going to do my part anymore. Enuff of such rubbish. He wants his barang back, he wants to only look for me when he is finally done with his many stuffs and finally has the time, he blardy well just waits until when I have the time and mood.
Alright, nonetheless, I pray for his family’s good health.
***
Think haven't really stayed home for the whole day on Sundays for the entire August... Tired... Two Sundays went to birthday celes. One Sunday went to two tuition lessons. One Sunday went to some event.
I want my Sundays back. MY Sundays. Just for myself. So going to block out Sundays... Shall start next week.
He’s really not given the title of 歌神 for nothing. His voice is damn “powderful” lor … **Swoons**
***
Anyway, been rather pissed and upset at work these days. And it’s all cos of some moron who kicked a big fuss over ONE LINE I wrote in the internal newsletter.
First, he came to me, brought me to the notice board and then shouted at me there and then, questioning me why I changed the copy he gave me. And then went on to question me who gave me the authority to change it? And while raising his voice at me, his ugly scrawny finger was pointing and hitting the notice board so hard that there was a minor “dent”, and the paper in a near-torn state.
And I especially hated it when he did not even give me a second to explain or talk back or actually make sense out of this whole thing, and he walked away! Fish him la...
Followed his secretary back to her table, printed out what he gave me, and honestly, until then, or rather, until now, I still have no idea what the BIG fuss was about.
Asked his girl..
Me: So what’s the difference between what he gave and what I wrote?
Girl: Dunno.
Me: **in my mind** what the Fish!
And then he suddenly appeared from nowhere, and made it loud and clear to me again..
“You owe me an explanation. Your boss owes me an explanation. Ask your boss to COME TO ME AND EXPLAIN.”
And he walked away again!
Pardon me. But if I could really swear there and then, I would have really hurled vulgarities at him and could really kick him in his groin man.
What the fish!
1) There’s no need for him to raise his voice at me. He could have confronted me in a firm and professional way. He could have explained to me why it was wrong. And not just tell me, I’m right. You are wrong and how dare you have the audacity to edit what I gave you.
2) I don’t report to him. He’s not the big boss or the 2nd or 3rd in command anyway. What the hell. And so, why the hell is he raising his voice at me, in a place smacked right in the middle of the company?
3) I really hate it when people walk away, accusing me of something and then don’t even listen to what I have to say – regardless of whether you agree with me or not. Please lor, this is a work place and not your home where you can just throw tantrums and walk away, without listening what others have to say. Still don’t understand how could such attitude happen in a work place, especially with someone in the senior management?
To cut long story short, it was such a huge matter to that moron that he asked his girl to come arrange a meeting with me and boss. Asked us when we are free – to which my boss said – no, we are not free. No time.
And he ultimately had no choice but to walk to my boss’ workstation, and oh man, it was another session of heated “argument”. But of course, he was so soft this time, I couldn’t hear him at all. But my boss managed to stay firm to what we wrote and I think it drove him nuts.
Apparently, when big boss came back, he complained to him about us. And then my boss was being called in for a “chit chat” session. And God knows what and how he painted the whole picture, big boss had the impression that the “mistake” I made was communicated to the media. When my boss told him it was only a one-liner in our internal newsletter, big boss only uttered an “Oh…”
What actually got me very upset was how big boss tried to broach the subject with boss… Apparently, he broached the subject by telling my boss that maybe next time, on what ever matters, she could approach to the HODs and talk to them personally, instead of getting me to talk to them.
What the fish!!
1) I rarely approached the moron directly since I know he has such a big ego that he talks only to the heads, that I always passed message via his secretary.
2) And for this matter, he was the one who came to me and gave me a lecture mah. Not me.
3) If I really have a communication problem, why is it that I have no problems with the rest of the HODs and are on good terms with a couple of them?
And that was when the light bulb lit with boss and she knew straight away it was this moron who complained to big boss, and that’s how all the things came to light.
Even though boss managed to shoot all the false accusations down, and backed me up, I just feel damn pissed. Besides, I heard the session between boss and big boss from boss herself. Call me paranoid but how would I know how true it is or rather, what other things big boss have said but boss chose to keep it from me?
Think my boss caught my face slowly turning blacker and blacker, and she told me to cool it and said so long as we know what we are doing, it’s OK. There’s no need to get so angry.
And then, I kept bumping into him in office today. Tried to control myself to not look at him and just look straight, head up; otherwise, I think I would really kick him in his arse ~ literally.
He sent something to my boss, copied big boss and me today. Though there were words like “Thank you”, his tone was condescending. “I expect you to bla la bla. You are to bla la bla.” And his last line was something along the line tat he expects direct communication from my boss from now on. Which I read between the lines to warn me to stay clear from and out of his way from now on.
So be it.
I don’t even want to communicate with his girl now. His girl called me twice when I was in meeting today. Rejected the calls. Didn’t even check back, which I usually would. Shall leave this department to my boss.
How idiotic.
And boss had to remind me today that I need to start work soon on the next issue. I wonder if I can just allocate minimal space to this department.
Oh, on another note. Someone actually vandalized the photos of the staff being featured in this issue. Drew all over her face. Just find it hard to believe such things still exist in the corporate world, where everyone’s supposed to be mature working adults.
Showed my boss, who showed big boss. Saw big boss shake his head and crushed the paper immediately, with his face turning solemn.
***
I did my part in leaving him alone for two weeks and only tried to check with him how things are at home now, and all I got in reply was a “Still been very busy with many stuff”. Fine ~ so blatant that his many stuffs don’t include me, nor sharing with me nor updating me.
Oh well, I’m not going to do my part anymore. Enuff of such rubbish. He wants his barang back, he wants to only look for me when he is finally done with his many stuffs and finally has the time, he blardy well just waits until when I have the time and mood.
Alright, nonetheless, I pray for his family’s good health.
***
Think haven't really stayed home for the whole day on Sundays for the entire August... Tired... Two Sundays went to birthday celes. One Sunday went to two tuition lessons. One Sunday went to some event.
I want my Sundays back. MY Sundays. Just for myself. So going to block out Sundays... Shall start next week.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A very incoherent entry...
I would most probably be “stoned to death” by my friends for entertaining this WEIRD thought and even have the audacity penning this down in record… but I shall naively assume that all my friends, especially those close ones, are mature enough to understand that individuals are entitled to their own random thoughts and opinions, etc, regardless of how weird or boh-liao they are…
Had dinner with Nancy last night, and when she asked me casually what I’ve been busy with for the past month or so…
Me: The usual.. but I’ve been feeling very tired for the longest time, and having the nagging feeling that I haven’t had time for myself for a long long time… and I need that.
Nan: You keep going out with A & B? Meeting them weekly?
Me: No.
Nan: Then? Why no time for yourself? Why so busy? Or you keep meeting C? Or is it D? E, F or G?
And so, she started to list all the names I dropped during our past conversations (gosh.. she does have a good memory…) I perfectly understood that she meant well and expressing concern (which I do appreciate) when she tried to probe further; but on the other hand, I felt I was being interrogated. And part of me was wondering – why do I need to tell you who I’ve been frequently meeting or what?
Despite my repetitive “NO” answer, she, being her usual inquisitive self, did not really catch the subtle hint that I wanted her to stop probing there and then.
To prevent her from guessing further, I simply told her not to guess or ask anymore, cos I could not remember (which was true… , or at least, it’s not at the tip of my fingertips what I did for the past week or who I met.. and I’m not interested, and too lazy, to think, think, think just to satisfy her inquisitive appetite…)
But from this incident, something just suddenly got me thinking…
She could just start to list names of some of MY friends, regardless whether she really knows them or not… And she knows what I’ve been up to randomly, via some of my friends’ FB updates (who have also added her as friend. Or I dunno who add who..) And honestly, and dun ask me why, but for whatever reasons, I’m not exactly comfortable with that.
Take for example, she just went – You and Serene drove all of you up to Cameron?! You dare to drive?? Whose car did you drive? And all those questions just totally caught me off guard.
Not that I have anything to hide or what, but I did not have the intention of purposely sharing with my other friends that I’m drove up to Cameron with my sister pals…
Or rather, to put it in another clearer way, it just gave me a very unsettling feeling that when you did not share a piece of information of your life personally with someone, or via your own FB updates, and yet that someone knows – from another source.. and started questioning you about it..
What happened and where did that little space of privacy go to?
Which brings me to another point.
Nan is MY friend. A, B, C, D, E, F & G are MY friends. Nan met SOME of them only, the most, once or twice, through me.
And I shall assume that she dun even have A, B, C, D, E, F & G’s phone numbers, email addies, or even spoke more than 10 sentences with each other, what have you.
So, are A, B, C, D, E, F & G even considered friends of Nan’s?
And if not, why are they friends on FB and even have the time to go see/snoop around, looking at photos or updates of people you aren’t even close to?
No, don’t get me wrong.
I’m perfectly fine with them getting acquainted with one another and being friends on FB, and even upgraded the relationship from being just acquaintances to friends in real life, what have you.
But I honestly just find it “too effort” that people take the effort to go search online for other second-degree friends and request to be added – and the “weird” part is, the 2 may just be acquaintances for the longest time or hear each other names via me, and are not really friends to begin with…
It all just became a game of collecting names in your online account. And what’s the point in this?
And yet, the best part is, one could still go “kay poh” about an acquaintance’s life – via FB updates (notwithstanding the part if one is really into that person as a love interest or really want the person as a friend for whatever reasons)
And also, it just struck me that why is it that my friends know the names of my circle of other friends; yet, I don’t know my friends’ other circle of friends?
But, of course, I guessed partly, it might be me who did not make any effort to be interested and get to know my friends’ other circle of friends…
Hmm… now that I wrote to here, I also dunno what is the point I am trying to make here in the first place…
****
And to make things worse for myself…
Butter just msn-ed me excitedly with a “Hey babe!” and cos I was still trying hard to re-arrange my thots and figure the point I am trying to make here and phrase it more succinctly, I carelessly replied with a “?”…
To my total shock, she actually dismissed it off as a super unfriendly reply.. and then, her subsequent replies seemed angry and pissed – even after I tried to lighten the situation with “Orh, then I answer you now with a ‘hey babe!’”.
Her reply was “Next time you reply with a ‘?’, I’m not going to say anything anymore.”
HUH???
Honestly, if the images in the cartoons really exist, you could really see many question marks hanging above my head…
And when I explained that I was busy (without going into details) and asked her what’s up, she decided not to share with whatever she intended to share with me in the 1st place with a curt “nvm.”. “Nothing.” And finally, “”Go be bz then.”
And all because of a “Question mark”…
… …
****
On another note, I forgot how much I enjoy reading. Be it trash magazines, fiction stories, marketing journals, branding books, etc... Spent almost the whole afternoon at the national library last Saturday reading and totally loving it.
Love the reading. Love the time to me and myself, with no other distraction.
Apart from the fact that there was this stoopid guy who sat beside me, and somehow, slowly invaded into my sofa space with his bag, laptop and books. But I think my stern stare and irritated look sent the message loud and clear that he picked up his stuff and left.
Borrowed a branding book back home and could not put it down for the past few days. Read it on the train. Read it before I sleep these days... It's great.
I should do this more often... I really should.
***
This afternoon, for dunno-what reason, while shopping with my cousins, chit-chatting, happy and all, a very uneasy feeling suddenly hit me, out from nowhere, and I actually trembled for that split second. And the first thought that came to me was him.
I hope and pray things are alright.
It will be alright.
Had dinner with Nancy last night, and when she asked me casually what I’ve been busy with for the past month or so…
Me: The usual.. but I’ve been feeling very tired for the longest time, and having the nagging feeling that I haven’t had time for myself for a long long time… and I need that.
Nan: You keep going out with A & B? Meeting them weekly?
Me: No.
Nan: Then? Why no time for yourself? Why so busy? Or you keep meeting C? Or is it D? E, F or G?
And so, she started to list all the names I dropped during our past conversations (gosh.. she does have a good memory…) I perfectly understood that she meant well and expressing concern (which I do appreciate) when she tried to probe further; but on the other hand, I felt I was being interrogated. And part of me was wondering – why do I need to tell you who I’ve been frequently meeting or what?
Despite my repetitive “NO” answer, she, being her usual inquisitive self, did not really catch the subtle hint that I wanted her to stop probing there and then.
To prevent her from guessing further, I simply told her not to guess or ask anymore, cos I could not remember (which was true… , or at least, it’s not at the tip of my fingertips what I did for the past week or who I met.. and I’m not interested, and too lazy, to think, think, think just to satisfy her inquisitive appetite…)
But from this incident, something just suddenly got me thinking…
She could just start to list names of some of MY friends, regardless whether she really knows them or not… And she knows what I’ve been up to randomly, via some of my friends’ FB updates (who have also added her as friend. Or I dunno who add who..) And honestly, and dun ask me why, but for whatever reasons, I’m not exactly comfortable with that.
Take for example, she just went – You and Serene drove all of you up to Cameron?! You dare to drive?? Whose car did you drive? And all those questions just totally caught me off guard.
Not that I have anything to hide or what, but I did not have the intention of purposely sharing with my other friends that I’m drove up to Cameron with my sister pals…
Or rather, to put it in another clearer way, it just gave me a very unsettling feeling that when you did not share a piece of information of your life personally with someone, or via your own FB updates, and yet that someone knows – from another source.. and started questioning you about it..
What happened and where did that little space of privacy go to?
Which brings me to another point.
Nan is MY friend. A, B, C, D, E, F & G are MY friends. Nan met SOME of them only, the most, once or twice, through me.
And I shall assume that she dun even have A, B, C, D, E, F & G’s phone numbers, email addies, or even spoke more than 10 sentences with each other, what have you.
So, are A, B, C, D, E, F & G even considered friends of Nan’s?
And if not, why are they friends on FB and even have the time to go see/snoop around, looking at photos or updates of people you aren’t even close to?
No, don’t get me wrong.
I’m perfectly fine with them getting acquainted with one another and being friends on FB, and even upgraded the relationship from being just acquaintances to friends in real life, what have you.
But I honestly just find it “too effort” that people take the effort to go search online for other second-degree friends and request to be added – and the “weird” part is, the 2 may just be acquaintances for the longest time or hear each other names via me, and are not really friends to begin with…
It all just became a game of collecting names in your online account. And what’s the point in this?
And yet, the best part is, one could still go “kay poh” about an acquaintance’s life – via FB updates (notwithstanding the part if one is really into that person as a love interest or really want the person as a friend for whatever reasons)
And also, it just struck me that why is it that my friends know the names of my circle of other friends; yet, I don’t know my friends’ other circle of friends?
But, of course, I guessed partly, it might be me who did not make any effort to be interested and get to know my friends’ other circle of friends…
Hmm… now that I wrote to here, I also dunno what is the point I am trying to make here in the first place…
****
And to make things worse for myself…
Butter just msn-ed me excitedly with a “Hey babe!” and cos I was still trying hard to re-arrange my thots and figure the point I am trying to make here and phrase it more succinctly, I carelessly replied with a “?”…
To my total shock, she actually dismissed it off as a super unfriendly reply.. and then, her subsequent replies seemed angry and pissed – even after I tried to lighten the situation with “Orh, then I answer you now with a ‘hey babe!’”.
Her reply was “Next time you reply with a ‘?’, I’m not going to say anything anymore.”
HUH???
Honestly, if the images in the cartoons really exist, you could really see many question marks hanging above my head…
And when I explained that I was busy (without going into details) and asked her what’s up, she decided not to share with whatever she intended to share with me in the 1st place with a curt “nvm.”. “Nothing.” And finally, “”Go be bz then.”
And all because of a “Question mark”…
… …
****
On another note, I forgot how much I enjoy reading. Be it trash magazines, fiction stories, marketing journals, branding books, etc... Spent almost the whole afternoon at the national library last Saturday reading and totally loving it.
Love the reading. Love the time to me and myself, with no other distraction.
Apart from the fact that there was this stoopid guy who sat beside me, and somehow, slowly invaded into my sofa space with his bag, laptop and books. But I think my stern stare and irritated look sent the message loud and clear that he picked up his stuff and left.
Borrowed a branding book back home and could not put it down for the past few days. Read it on the train. Read it before I sleep these days... It's great.
I should do this more often... I really should.
***
This afternoon, for dunno-what reason, while shopping with my cousins, chit-chatting, happy and all, a very uneasy feeling suddenly hit me, out from nowhere, and I actually trembled for that split second. And the first thought that came to me was him.
I hope and pray things are alright.
It will be alright.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Me minus you equals blue
Love this song the first time I heard it years back... Tried to find the MP3 in vain.. Gave up..
Heard it on radio again today and still love it. (Just goes to show sometimes, not all things change with age...) Tried to find the MP3 again. In vain again. Roped in Bloss to find too. Tough luck. =(
And so, I'll just have to settle for a non-motion obiang photo youtube video...
With all my heart, I pledge my love forever
You've got my word, you and I will always be together
There may be times, we have a disagreement
This love's too strong, to ever let it come between us
I would, I would keep this love alive Oh baby
I would, I would because otherwise
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
Like so many hearts hidden in the dark
It will never be me minus u
Each day I learn, a little more about you
Then I know for sure, that I'd never wanna be without you
We're gonna stay so true to this relation
Me without your love is such a sad equation baby
I would, I would keep this love alive Oh baby
I would, I would be cause otherwise
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
Like so many hearts hidden in the dark
It'll never be…
What we got can't get much better
I would never change a thing
Baby we're so good together
Then I'll never, never ever want it to be me
Me minus u equals blue
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
I want you in my life
I can't be without your love
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
I need you here with me
Me - you = blue...
Heard it on radio again today and still love it. (Just goes to show sometimes, not all things change with age...) Tried to find the MP3 again. In vain again. Roped in Bloss to find too. Tough luck. =(
And so, I'll just have to settle for a non-motion obiang photo youtube video...
With all my heart, I pledge my love forever
You've got my word, you and I will always be together
There may be times, we have a disagreement
This love's too strong, to ever let it come between us
I would, I would keep this love alive Oh baby
I would, I would because otherwise
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
Like so many hearts hidden in the dark
It will never be me minus u
Each day I learn, a little more about you
Then I know for sure, that I'd never wanna be without you
We're gonna stay so true to this relation
Me without your love is such a sad equation baby
I would, I would keep this love alive Oh baby
I would, I would be cause otherwise
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
Like so many hearts hidden in the dark
It'll never be…
What we got can't get much better
I would never change a thing
Baby we're so good together
Then I'll never, never ever want it to be me
Me minus u equals blue
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
I want you in my life
I can't be without your love
Me minus u equals blue
Can't imagine what I ever do
If it'd ever came to
Me minus u equals blue
I can't stand the thought of us apart
I need you here with me
Me - you = blue...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Rawa Island ~ 15-17 May 2009
This entry is a bit late... Realised I did not blog about my other trips after Phnom Penh... So here goes...
Phnom Penh in April and Rawa in May...
The trip to Rawa was really one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable trips that I had so far ... Simply because it is really just an island, and you feel that you are really on a relaxed holiday, away from the hustle and bustle of city life and air/water pollution...
And more importantly, without any other distractions, like TV (you know what a TV addict I am...), computer (though the guys brought along a laptop, which we used to watch some... erm.. crappy movies...) and mobile phone.. (I think apart from two smses from a fren who questioned why I was overseas with the Swine Flu alert everywhere, and a couple of sms-es from him, I'm glad my phone stayed quiet most of the time.)
The sky was blue. The water was blue. Or rather, the water was so clear that you could actually see fishes swimming - even when I did not go snorkelling with the rest.
Not to mention, Jenny and the guys were fun company. I'm so glad Jenny asked me along for the trip (think she guessed I needed one...), and I'm so glad I agreed.
The one thing I enjoy travelling with Jenny is I can just be quiet and be in my own world, and she leaves me in it, without nudging/nagging/whining at me to join them for the activities or whatsoever, and not be offended that I needed some solitude time.
Just like how I was totally zonked out on the 1st night when we reached and all I wanted to do then was to shower and retire back to the room to zzz like a piggie. And Jenny had to "explain" to the guys to let me be, and so, the three of them played games in the other room. Then again, in the end, I was drifting in and out of sleep because I could hear them laughing and chatting so clearly! hahaha...
Or during our Bintan trip quite some years back, when for some reason, the flu bug acted up and I just had to pop the medicine and immediately retire to bed at 8 pm, leaving her in the room to do some leisure reading...
But honestly, I seriously appreciate that. I reckon if i were with any other friends, I would ultimately be obliging (unwillingly) and "dong" through the night until everyone decided to call it a day.
Really enjoyed the trip and look forward to going there again!
Oh, and another thing, I absolutely enjoyed the 200km/hr ride! Woohoo! hahaha..
First day when we arrived at the sunny island!
Phnom Penh in April and Rawa in May...
The trip to Rawa was really one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable trips that I had so far ... Simply because it is really just an island, and you feel that you are really on a relaxed holiday, away from the hustle and bustle of city life and air/water pollution...
And more importantly, without any other distractions, like TV (you know what a TV addict I am...), computer (though the guys brought along a laptop, which we used to watch some... erm.. crappy movies...) and mobile phone.. (I think apart from two smses from a fren who questioned why I was overseas with the Swine Flu alert everywhere, and a couple of sms-es from him, I'm glad my phone stayed quiet most of the time.)
The sky was blue. The water was blue. Or rather, the water was so clear that you could actually see fishes swimming - even when I did not go snorkelling with the rest.
Not to mention, Jenny and the guys were fun company. I'm so glad Jenny asked me along for the trip (think she guessed I needed one...), and I'm so glad I agreed.
The one thing I enjoy travelling with Jenny is I can just be quiet and be in my own world, and she leaves me in it, without nudging/nagging/whining at me to join them for the activities or whatsoever, and not be offended that I needed some solitude time.
Just like how I was totally zonked out on the 1st night when we reached and all I wanted to do then was to shower and retire back to the room to zzz like a piggie. And Jenny had to "explain" to the guys to let me be, and so, the three of them played games in the other room. Then again, in the end, I was drifting in and out of sleep because I could hear them laughing and chatting so clearly! hahaha...
Or during our Bintan trip quite some years back, when for some reason, the flu bug acted up and I just had to pop the medicine and immediately retire to bed at 8 pm, leaving her in the room to do some leisure reading...
But honestly, I seriously appreciate that. I reckon if i were with any other friends, I would ultimately be obliging (unwillingly) and "dong" through the night until everyone decided to call it a day.
Really enjoyed the trip and look forward to going there again!
Oh, and another thing, I absolutely enjoyed the 200km/hr ride! Woohoo! hahaha..
First day when we arrived at the sunny island!
Jump! x 1
See how clear the water is!!
Babes! haha!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Glimpses into my very scattered random thoughts...
"People are to be loved and things are to be used... But nowadays, people are used and things are loved."
Saw this on an acquaintance's status on FB. How true...
Suddenly, remembered someone said to me before that "I"m only friends with so-and-so because they are of value to me. Once they outlived their value, I do not see the need to maintain contact as friends - unless of course, they make the effort but still, I do not see the point."
Scary, isn't it? And we were only 18 or 19 years old then. But there are really such people around, and still surviving well. In fact, perhaps, much better than you and me. It dun really hurt them that much, particularly when they belong to the good-looking-and-know-they are-attractive type. Morons just swarm around them.
I steered far away from this "friend" ever since.
***
Am feeling a bit messy up there again. Today, Butter mentioned something to me in a by-the-way tone and then, we were at the topic again. And the conversation made me tear again. Shucks. I guessed it's the feeling of wanting to do a lot of things but I absolutely have no idea how to go about doing it or reaching out to people -- which may sound pretty ironic.
This also again, reminded me of my silly nightmare, some time ago, of everyone forsaking and ignoring me when I called out to them. Or the nightmare about my teeth being crushed - to which I did an Internet search - which some sources denoted that such nightmare usually signifies that one is very afraid of losing some thing one cherishes very much, yet refusing to admit it.
And then, just the other day, for some reason, Butter mentioned about reaching mid-life and having achieved nothing yet. Now, I think I finally kind of understand why some people are always asking what's their purpose in life? What are they doing here?
It's scary. Time flashes past quickly. It's kinda sad that when you look back, you can't name anything or any achievements, big or small, that you are really proud of.
***
I also feel kinda silly, and a bit weird, for including some other people - apart from my family and really close buddies whom I hold close to my heart - in my prayers - particularly for good health and safety.
Silly because I've been really diligent and sincere about it. Weird because, I'm ashamed to admit, that I think I am even more diligent and sincere now than before.
But I still include them anyway, cos it is something that has been nagging somewhere in my head, no matter how hard I try to be nonchalent about it.
I really hope all's well.
***
A friend recently put down everything at hand immediately and bought an air ticket to New York to visit someone whom she holds very close to her heart. He is suffering from a relapse and is seeking medical treatment there. He told her his condition is critical and he's not really sure whether he can survive this crisis.
Her reactions to his calls reminded me of my brief irrational moments during a company trip at Ho Chi Minh when I received some bad news too. At that moment, I just wanted to immediately fly back to Singapore. If not for my parents who were with me, and I did not want to alarm them, and of course, my call to Butter who calmed me down, I sometimes, wonder if I would have made arrangements to fly back there and then.
So now, I guessed I could understand how my friend feels. She just want to be by his side, and just to be there, even though she knows she can offer little help to alleviate his agony.
I hope he's also on his way to recovery.
Honestly, I admire this friend's courage. I'm not sure if I would have the same courage if, touch wood, I were to be caught in a same situation -- especially when I'm still not even sure if he holds me dear to his heart as I do.
I mean, her actions should say a lot to the guy but what if it has, all along, been one-sided? Wouldn't her sudden appearance (she did not tell him that she's flying over) be a shock, rather than a surprise, and create awkward moments? He can't not entertain you because you flew all the way there. But if the feeling was not mutual, it's just sad. More than sad.
Then again, I'm just the same old pessimistic me. I read somewhere too, that sometimes, love needs some impulse. You can't think and consider too much because love doesn't wait. I totally agree with that too. And so, I was all for my friend flying over. I don't want her to live in regrets, if anything unfortunate should happen.
The last conversation I had with this friend before she left for New York was that she told me to really cherish those I love. All things happen for a reason. People act in certain ways because something has happened and he/she might not want to let you know cos he/she is not in a clear state of mind yet or he/she might really be caught up with very important or life-and death matters or what... I need to be more understanding and stop my paranoia. And that I should not try to analyse or see things in my usual cynical and pessimistic way.
Which makes me remember a book I came across at my Regional Director's desk two days ago when I was in office at 5.20 am... "Whatever you think, think the opposite." That's a book for being creative and thinking out of the box. I shared this with my designer and he said it's true. I should try. But he added, another way is - whatever you think, if you can't think the opposite way, then exaggerate it! Hmmm...
***
Saw this on an acquaintance's status on FB. How true...
Suddenly, remembered someone said to me before that "I"m only friends with so-and-so because they are of value to me. Once they outlived their value, I do not see the need to maintain contact as friends - unless of course, they make the effort but still, I do not see the point."
Scary, isn't it? And we were only 18 or 19 years old then. But there are really such people around, and still surviving well. In fact, perhaps, much better than you and me. It dun really hurt them that much, particularly when they belong to the good-looking-and-know-they are-attractive type. Morons just swarm around them.
I steered far away from this "friend" ever since.
***
Am feeling a bit messy up there again. Today, Butter mentioned something to me in a by-the-way tone and then, we were at the topic again. And the conversation made me tear again. Shucks. I guessed it's the feeling of wanting to do a lot of things but I absolutely have no idea how to go about doing it or reaching out to people -- which may sound pretty ironic.
This also again, reminded me of my silly nightmare, some time ago, of everyone forsaking and ignoring me when I called out to them. Or the nightmare about my teeth being crushed - to which I did an Internet search - which some sources denoted that such nightmare usually signifies that one is very afraid of losing some thing one cherishes very much, yet refusing to admit it.
And then, just the other day, for some reason, Butter mentioned about reaching mid-life and having achieved nothing yet. Now, I think I finally kind of understand why some people are always asking what's their purpose in life? What are they doing here?
It's scary. Time flashes past quickly. It's kinda sad that when you look back, you can't name anything or any achievements, big or small, that you are really proud of.
***
I also feel kinda silly, and a bit weird, for including some other people - apart from my family and really close buddies whom I hold close to my heart - in my prayers - particularly for good health and safety.
Silly because I've been really diligent and sincere about it. Weird because, I'm ashamed to admit, that I think I am even more diligent and sincere now than before.
But I still include them anyway, cos it is something that has been nagging somewhere in my head, no matter how hard I try to be nonchalent about it.
I really hope all's well.
***
A friend recently put down everything at hand immediately and bought an air ticket to New York to visit someone whom she holds very close to her heart. He is suffering from a relapse and is seeking medical treatment there. He told her his condition is critical and he's not really sure whether he can survive this crisis.
Her reactions to his calls reminded me of my brief irrational moments during a company trip at Ho Chi Minh when I received some bad news too. At that moment, I just wanted to immediately fly back to Singapore. If not for my parents who were with me, and I did not want to alarm them, and of course, my call to Butter who calmed me down, I sometimes, wonder if I would have made arrangements to fly back there and then.
So now, I guessed I could understand how my friend feels. She just want to be by his side, and just to be there, even though she knows she can offer little help to alleviate his agony.
I hope he's also on his way to recovery.
Honestly, I admire this friend's courage. I'm not sure if I would have the same courage if, touch wood, I were to be caught in a same situation -- especially when I'm still not even sure if he holds me dear to his heart as I do.
I mean, her actions should say a lot to the guy but what if it has, all along, been one-sided? Wouldn't her sudden appearance (she did not tell him that she's flying over) be a shock, rather than a surprise, and create awkward moments? He can't not entertain you because you flew all the way there. But if the feeling was not mutual, it's just sad. More than sad.
Then again, I'm just the same old pessimistic me. I read somewhere too, that sometimes, love needs some impulse. You can't think and consider too much because love doesn't wait. I totally agree with that too. And so, I was all for my friend flying over. I don't want her to live in regrets, if anything unfortunate should happen.
The last conversation I had with this friend before she left for New York was that she told me to really cherish those I love. All things happen for a reason. People act in certain ways because something has happened and he/she might not want to let you know cos he/she is not in a clear state of mind yet or he/she might really be caught up with very important or life-and death matters or what... I need to be more understanding and stop my paranoia. And that I should not try to analyse or see things in my usual cynical and pessimistic way.
Which makes me remember a book I came across at my Regional Director's desk two days ago when I was in office at 5.20 am... "Whatever you think, think the opposite." That's a book for being creative and thinking out of the box. I shared this with my designer and he said it's true. I should try. But he added, another way is - whatever you think, if you can't think the opposite way, then exaggerate it! Hmmm...
***
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Still 发花痴-ing...
Today, amid the rush to memorise my script and to finish my work for the day, I heard two of my colleagues let out a scream and then came over to my side and one of them went, "You saw 林峰 up close & personal again ya?!"
Bla bla bla... bla bla bla... (ya ya.. I actually put down my work for that five minutes to gush abt how cute and handsome 林峰 is, and showed them the photos... All these when I'm so pressed for time today some more! Kaoz.. priorities seemed all wrong.. but well, cos it's 林峰, so what's five minutes? oops...)
And hence, I hereby announce I am starting my 发花痴-ing all over again... Shucks!
Awww... ~ cute!
**Credits to Fung Forever **
Bla bla bla... bla bla bla... (ya ya.. I actually put down my work for that five minutes to gush abt how cute and handsome 林峰 is, and showed them the photos... All these when I'm so pressed for time today some more! Kaoz.. priorities seemed all wrong.. but well, cos it's 林峰, so what's five minutes? oops...)
And hence, I hereby announce I am starting my 发花痴-ing all over again... Shucks!
Awww... ~ cute!
**Credits to Fung Forever **
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Bubbs went star gazing… and got star-struck again! Awwww…
I love my pals. They almost immediately agreed when I asked them to accompany me to go star gazing – though they weren’t exactly very gaga over 林峰.
Granted Butter forgot her event was at Jurong Point – where 峰’s autograph session was held… And when she finally remembered, she went “shucks!!” But she already bought her tics to KL so… but before she left Jurong Point, she called and said again she wished she could join us, and I knew she meant it! =)
And thus, Bloss took up the big task of accompanying me to go star-gazing.
Really appreciated it cos I knew it took her quite an effort wor – considering she had to sacrifice her afternoon and evening to stand for more than four hours with me, without dinner some more – and also, she had to read the map and drive all the way from Sengkang to Boon Lay wor!
The autograph session backdrop
What's worth mentioning was Butter mms me the backdrop early in the morn, with the msg "make you gian 1st! hahah"...
峰was late. His autograph session was supposed to start at 730 pm but he made his appearance only at 8 pm thereabouts. And we just stood there, squeezing with the crowd from 5 plus all the way to 8 plus… On heels some more wor.. tiring…
Throughout the session, Bloss suggested more than once to me to join the autograph queue, or even “bribed” someone to let me cut queue, but I kept hesitating – partly cos the queue was so damn long all the way to the old JP entrance and got loops some more leh, and partly, cos I was very “shy” to join the queue.
Well, I’m always like that when it comes to stars gazing.
I am such a sucker for HK TVB stars (think even my colleagues could attest to this when they witnessed how I suddenly perked up and ran amok around our hotel to search where the TVB crew was when we spotted a TVB van near our hotel – and that was when I was literally dragging my feet and complaining of wanting to return to hotel asap, just minutes prior to spotting the van)… But if you ask me to go “chase” after them or join queue to get their stuff or autograph, what have you, I would immediately become a coward and hesitate – cos I would think “aiyoh… how old liao?… still can behave like teenager …Grow up!”
And so – for the record, during the HK trip, we finally found the TVB crew.. was some 2nd or 3rd grade actor and actress, and I “manja-ed” my colleague to go take photographs for me! Hahhaa.. See?
Anyway, I digress.
Back to my 峰 autograph session today. I was lucky to have Bloss with me – cos when the emcees announced that 峰 and his manager had agreed to extend the autograph session, she asked me again whether I wanted to check the queue out.
Again, I hesitated.
Then I think she buay tahan my wishy-washiness and said, “I’ll go check it out.” And so, I just followed her…
And lo and behold, the queue was short by then, so we immediately joined the queue… And before we knew it, the security guard came to seal off the queue entrance.
But while we were nearing the stage, one of the security guards told us that we would most probably not get his autograph cos they had received instructions to stop at a guy who was wearing black or dark blue shirt in front of us.
And guess what? Bloss actually manja-ed/reasoned to the security guard and asked him to help “bargain” and “negotiate” with the organisers to just continue and “finish the queue”, since there were only the few of us left behind that guy…
And presto! We did finally squeeze in and were among the last five to get his autograph! Woo hoo!!
Bloss’ the best! I wouldn’t have gotten his autograph nor see him so up close and personal again (since the MS day)….
Awww… up close and personal with 峰 again… He’s so 帅 lor… His cute dimples, “electrifying” eyes and shy smile… And did I mention his skin’s macham so flawless too! **meltz**
And best of all, he made an effort to look up and smiled and nodded to all those who went up on stage to get his autograph. **meltz once more**
And this Bloss actually went “谢谢你，辛苦你了!” Wah… He din look up though, when she said that. He just concentrated on signing the poster… but he did look and smile at Bloss thereafter.
And when it was my turn, I just stared so hard at him and how he signed the poster and when he was done and looked up to smile and nod at me, I just managed to mutter a soft “谢谢你”… oh man, how creative…
Anyway, the best had yet to come… after we got his autograph, we just stood at a distance, away from the stage, at the JP entrance just to see how the event was going to end…
And surprise! The route of his “escape” was exactly where me and bloss were standing… ie, he actually walked past us to get to the car park!!!
Amid the pushing of the rest to try to catch a last glimpse, I thought I let out a scream (of his name), and he actually turned, gave his signature dimpled smile and waved bye!
Awww… I’m sold.
At JP, 12 July 2009
At MS, 27 Nov 2008...
Granted Butter forgot her event was at Jurong Point – where 峰’s autograph session was held… And when she finally remembered, she went “shucks!!” But she already bought her tics to KL so… but before she left Jurong Point, she called and said again she wished she could join us, and I knew she meant it! =)
And thus, Bloss took up the big task of accompanying me to go star-gazing.
Really appreciated it cos I knew it took her quite an effort wor – considering she had to sacrifice her afternoon and evening to stand for more than four hours with me, without dinner some more – and also, she had to read the map and drive all the way from Sengkang to Boon Lay wor!
The autograph session backdrop
What's worth mentioning was Butter mms me the backdrop early in the morn, with the msg "make you gian 1st! hahah"...
峰was late. His autograph session was supposed to start at 730 pm but he made his appearance only at 8 pm thereabouts. And we just stood there, squeezing with the crowd from 5 plus all the way to 8 plus… On heels some more wor.. tiring…
Throughout the session, Bloss suggested more than once to me to join the autograph queue, or even “bribed” someone to let me cut queue, but I kept hesitating – partly cos the queue was so damn long all the way to the old JP entrance and got loops some more leh, and partly, cos I was very “shy” to join the queue.
Well, I’m always like that when it comes to stars gazing.
I am such a sucker for HK TVB stars (think even my colleagues could attest to this when they witnessed how I suddenly perked up and ran amok around our hotel to search where the TVB crew was when we spotted a TVB van near our hotel – and that was when I was literally dragging my feet and complaining of wanting to return to hotel asap, just minutes prior to spotting the van)… But if you ask me to go “chase” after them or join queue to get their stuff or autograph, what have you, I would immediately become a coward and hesitate – cos I would think “aiyoh… how old liao?… still can behave like teenager …Grow up!”
And so – for the record, during the HK trip, we finally found the TVB crew.. was some 2nd or 3rd grade actor and actress, and I “manja-ed” my colleague to go take photographs for me! Hahhaa.. See?
Anyway, I digress.
Back to my 峰 autograph session today. I was lucky to have Bloss with me – cos when the emcees announced that 峰 and his manager had agreed to extend the autograph session, she asked me again whether I wanted to check the queue out.
Again, I hesitated.
Then I think she buay tahan my wishy-washiness and said, “I’ll go check it out.” And so, I just followed her…
And lo and behold, the queue was short by then, so we immediately joined the queue… And before we knew it, the security guard came to seal off the queue entrance.
But while we were nearing the stage, one of the security guards told us that we would most probably not get his autograph cos they had received instructions to stop at a guy who was wearing black or dark blue shirt in front of us.
And guess what? Bloss actually manja-ed/reasoned to the security guard and asked him to help “bargain” and “negotiate” with the organisers to just continue and “finish the queue”, since there were only the few of us left behind that guy…
And presto! We did finally squeeze in and were among the last five to get his autograph! Woo hoo!!
Bloss’ the best! I wouldn’t have gotten his autograph nor see him so up close and personal again (since the MS day)….
Awww… up close and personal with 峰 again… He’s so 帅 lor… His cute dimples, “electrifying” eyes and shy smile… And did I mention his skin’s macham so flawless too! **meltz**
And best of all, he made an effort to look up and smiled and nodded to all those who went up on stage to get his autograph. **meltz once more**
And this Bloss actually went “谢谢你，辛苦你了!” Wah… He din look up though, when she said that. He just concentrated on signing the poster… but he did look and smile at Bloss thereafter.
And when it was my turn, I just stared so hard at him and how he signed the poster and when he was done and looked up to smile and nod at me, I just managed to mutter a soft “谢谢你”… oh man, how creative…
Anyway, the best had yet to come… after we got his autograph, we just stood at a distance, away from the stage, at the JP entrance just to see how the event was going to end…
And surprise! The route of his “escape” was exactly where me and bloss were standing… ie, he actually walked past us to get to the car park!!!
Amid the pushing of the rest to try to catch a last glimpse, I thought I let out a scream (of his name), and he actually turned, gave his signature dimpled smile and waved bye!
Awww… I’m sold.
At JP, 12 July 2009
At MS, 27 Nov 2008...
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
我比想象中爱你 & some random ramblings...
A very soothing song (I feel la) which I accidentally came across while doing some aimless surfing... quite like the melody, which could seemingly transport me to times when the days seem to be more carefree... Dunno why - I actually think of ... 林青霞 and Qing Han! The 1980's!
***
I've frens asking me why I havent been blogging lately... Honestly, I dunno. I dunno what to blog. No inspiration to write. I guess I'm just living each day as it is. So there's nothing spectacular/peculiar/what have you to blog about, I guess.
I'm sick of always blogging about how lost or sad or miserable I am or how much I miss so and so. Paul once said we shld try to always blog about happy things. Record happy things, instead of sad. And I read somewhere, the article said the same thing too... And by blogging happier incidents, sooner or later, you will become a happier person too...
***
Just had the mid-year review which some of you might have known and knew how uptight, tense and nervous I was prior to my review. Weird - the review turned out to be better than I expected. Boss said she could see my old self coming back and that my soul seems to be back at work for the past half year, though she adds that she noes I dun seem to be at my peak yet, and she's looking forward to that. But of course, I still have to think of how to fulfil my four major objectives - which, erm... none of it has been fulfilled yet! Darn...
Nonetheless, her comments came as a surprise, because I feel I am still behaving like an aimless zombie at work, living in my own world, fretting over personal problems.
***
Told butter I am consciously making an effort to re-arrange my whole life all over again. And though she claims that my conscious efforts dun gel with my thoughts, at least I know i am taking baby steps to try. It's very difficult but I'm trying. I consider more than twice now before I feel or think I wan do something - which, I dunno if being too rational and conscientiously allowing my head to take over my heart is a good or bad thing. But at least, I know I am slowly getting back in control of my life. Then again, I dunno how long this "rationality" can last. But we'll see.
There are still many things (and his things) lying around in my room, and even my HP and MP3 and some of the stuff I use on a daily basis, which cruelly serve as reminders.
But I guess, again, rationality is the way to go. I used to be able to do it. So I'm sure I can do it again. :)
***
And "horrors of all horrors", I just realised two nights ago - when J asked me about my previous embdedded song -- that he has been randomly reading my blog! Oh well... but i've nothing to hide from you anyway. Stalker! =p But i'm glad to chat with him again, though he always ends up making me feeling stressed by asking me serious questions like "where do i think my career is heading?", and "have I ever seriously thought of how to increase my $$", and "where do i think i stand among my uni-mates in terms of career advancement, $$, etc"... Bleah!
***
I've frens asking me why I havent been blogging lately... Honestly, I dunno. I dunno what to blog. No inspiration to write. I guess I'm just living each day as it is. So there's nothing spectacular/peculiar/what have you to blog about, I guess.
I'm sick of always blogging about how lost or sad or miserable I am or how much I miss so and so. Paul once said we shld try to always blog about happy things. Record happy things, instead of sad. And I read somewhere, the article said the same thing too... And by blogging happier incidents, sooner or later, you will become a happier person too...
***
Just had the mid-year review which some of you might have known and knew how uptight, tense and nervous I was prior to my review. Weird - the review turned out to be better than I expected. Boss said she could see my old self coming back and that my soul seems to be back at work for the past half year, though she adds that she noes I dun seem to be at my peak yet, and she's looking forward to that. But of course, I still have to think of how to fulfil my four major objectives - which, erm... none of it has been fulfilled yet! Darn...
Nonetheless, her comments came as a surprise, because I feel I am still behaving like an aimless zombie at work, living in my own world, fretting over personal problems.
***
Told butter I am consciously making an effort to re-arrange my whole life all over again. And though she claims that my conscious efforts dun gel with my thoughts, at least I know i am taking baby steps to try. It's very difficult but I'm trying. I consider more than twice now before I feel or think I wan do something - which, I dunno if being too rational and conscientiously allowing my head to take over my heart is a good or bad thing. But at least, I know I am slowly getting back in control of my life. Then again, I dunno how long this "rationality" can last. But we'll see.
There are still many things (and his things) lying around in my room, and even my HP and MP3 and some of the stuff I use on a daily basis, which cruelly serve as reminders.
But I guess, again, rationality is the way to go. I used to be able to do it. So I'm sure I can do it again. :)
***
And "horrors of all horrors", I just realised two nights ago - when J asked me about my previous embdedded song -- that he has been randomly reading my blog! Oh well... but i've nothing to hide from you anyway. Stalker! =p But i'm glad to chat with him again, though he always ends up making me feeling stressed by asking me serious questions like "where do i think my career is heading?", and "have I ever seriously thought of how to increase my $$", and "where do i think i stand among my uni-mates in terms of career advancement, $$, etc"... Bleah!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
真的宁愿做一个傻女人。。。
最近被芬拉去看《天冷就回来》这部舞台剧。
看的时候，感动地哭了。
看了过后，感触很多。
尤其是有一幕，简直就是逼我回想我大概不这么想记得的过去。
男主角问女主角她的理想是什么，女生就羞答答的回答，“很简单。只要每天知道你平安快乐，每天能依偎在你怀里，我就觉得很幸福了。
男生又问，“你不怕我骗你吗？不怕我在外面有别人吗？”
女生的回答让我当场愣住了。
“怕。可是，如果你要骗我，求求你，就骗我一辈子。我宁愿做一个傻女人，也请你永远不要让我知道。”
我曾经跟他也说了这么同一句话。我也还记得他当时还笑我傻，也答应我如果真的有这么一天，他会尽全力不让我知道。
最终，他真的是背叛了我。他最终还是向我坦白了。 很奇怪。我当时第一个怨他的并不是为什么背叛了我们的感情。而是为什么他没尽全力不让我知道事实。 为什么让我怀疑？为什么向我坦白？为什么答应我的事没做到？
芬说我是个典型的小女人, 只是嘴巴硬永远不承认。是不是，我不知道。
我只知道，事隔多年，我还是觉得我真的宁愿做一个傻女人。
要骗就真的请骗我一辈子。
*** ***
最近在追看《珠光宝气》。 剧中的女人可以为了她们爱的男人出卖她们的亲人，什么事都把自己放在最后，也不管男人是否领不领情。 好可怕。。。
不知是不是女人都是那么傻， 总是会比较会感情用事。
原来，有些话说了，是再也收不回。 有些话听了，日子久了，想起那段话时，心还是会像被刀狠狠多刺了一次。
在整理手机的简讯信箱时，看了他以前发给我的简讯，再想起我们的对话，真想就这么消失掉。
我怎么会说出那些话？他又怎么会有说好像没说？
更厉害的是我们俩事后可以装得这段对话好像从没发生过！
其实，虽然我没说，我们的对话一直在我脑海里重复着。 每重复一次，心就被刀狠狠多刺了一次，在那还没抚平好的伤口再插了一刀。
原来，最痛的是他在我面前，我却要装得我一点也没事，我不能让他知道我好挂念他。 也不能让他知道他其实伤得我好深好深。
应该是要和他保持距离的，应该是要对他冷淡一点的。 这些我都知道。
可是不知我是犯贱还是什么的，我还是做不到。我还是很紧张他，还是很在乎他。
他一个简讯说他伤风感冒，或说他拉肚子，或说他会和朋友去喝酒 – 他的简讯简单的一行字，我的回复就是噼里啪啦地说了，问了好几行字。
难怪他说我好唠叨。 可是，他知不知道我不是向谁都会这么唠叨。他又知不知道如果是别人，我才懒得回应。
奇怪的是，他如果怕我会唠叨，大可不必随口跟我说，反正，他不说，我也不知道。 也许，他并不知道他的每次随口说说，都会弄得我紧张西西，替他担心这个，担心那个。
好矛盾。 我好想见他，但是，事实是真的是不能见到他。每一次见面后，我的情绪就会起落不定。
当我们肩靠着肩，当我们有默契时，当我们贴近彼此耳旁说话时，当我感觉到他在我脸上呼吸时，我真的好想问他为什么我们的心却不能如此地靠近？
忽然觉得自己好可悲， 怎么会把自己弄得那么狼狈？
或许，更正确的说法是我一直不敢，不想去面对和接受我们的心真的无法象我希望地再贴近。
更荒缪的是，或许，由始至终真的都是我想太多 – 所谓说者“无意”，听者“有心”。
可是，我想太多，我有心，是因为。。。
其实，说这么多，想这么多，也没有用。
因为不管我多么不想面对，多么不想承认，我们现在。。。 就是纯粹好朋友而已。
看的时候，感动地哭了。
看了过后，感触很多。
尤其是有一幕，简直就是逼我回想我大概不这么想记得的过去。
男主角问女主角她的理想是什么，女生就羞答答的回答，“很简单。只要每天知道你平安快乐，每天能依偎在你怀里，我就觉得很幸福了。
男生又问，“你不怕我骗你吗？不怕我在外面有别人吗？”
女生的回答让我当场愣住了。
“怕。可是，如果你要骗我，求求你，就骗我一辈子。我宁愿做一个傻女人，也请你永远不要让我知道。”
我曾经跟他也说了这么同一句话。我也还记得他当时还笑我傻，也答应我如果真的有这么一天，他会尽全力不让我知道。
最终，他真的是背叛了我。他最终还是向我坦白了。 很奇怪。我当时第一个怨他的并不是为什么背叛了我们的感情。而是为什么他没尽全力不让我知道事实。 为什么让我怀疑？为什么向我坦白？为什么答应我的事没做到？
芬说我是个典型的小女人, 只是嘴巴硬永远不承认。是不是，我不知道。
我只知道，事隔多年，我还是觉得我真的宁愿做一个傻女人。
要骗就真的请骗我一辈子。
*** ***
最近在追看《珠光宝气》。 剧中的女人可以为了她们爱的男人出卖她们的亲人，什么事都把自己放在最后，也不管男人是否领不领情。 好可怕。。。
不知是不是女人都是那么傻， 总是会比较会感情用事。
原来，有些话说了，是再也收不回。 有些话听了，日子久了，想起那段话时，心还是会像被刀狠狠多刺了一次。
在整理手机的简讯信箱时，看了他以前发给我的简讯，再想起我们的对话，真想就这么消失掉。
我怎么会说出那些话？他又怎么会有说好像没说？
更厉害的是我们俩事后可以装得这段对话好像从没发生过！
其实，虽然我没说，我们的对话一直在我脑海里重复着。 每重复一次，心就被刀狠狠多刺了一次，在那还没抚平好的伤口再插了一刀。
原来，最痛的是他在我面前，我却要装得我一点也没事，我不能让他知道我好挂念他。 也不能让他知道他其实伤得我好深好深。
应该是要和他保持距离的，应该是要对他冷淡一点的。 这些我都知道。
可是不知我是犯贱还是什么的，我还是做不到。我还是很紧张他，还是很在乎他。
他一个简讯说他伤风感冒，或说他拉肚子，或说他会和朋友去喝酒 – 他的简讯简单的一行字，我的回复就是噼里啪啦地说了，问了好几行字。
难怪他说我好唠叨。 可是，他知不知道我不是向谁都会这么唠叨。他又知不知道如果是别人，我才懒得回应。
奇怪的是，他如果怕我会唠叨，大可不必随口跟我说，反正，他不说，我也不知道。 也许，他并不知道他的每次随口说说，都会弄得我紧张西西，替他担心这个，担心那个。
好矛盾。 我好想见他，但是，事实是真的是不能见到他。每一次见面后，我的情绪就会起落不定。
当我们肩靠着肩，当我们有默契时，当我们贴近彼此耳旁说话时，当我感觉到他在我脸上呼吸时，我真的好想问他为什么我们的心却不能如此地靠近？
忽然觉得自己好可悲， 怎么会把自己弄得那么狼狈？
或许，更正确的说法是我一直不敢，不想去面对和接受我们的心真的无法象我希望地再贴近。
更荒缪的是，或许，由始至终真的都是我想太多 – 所谓说者“无意”，听者“有心”。
可是，我想太多，我有心，是因为。。。
其实，说这么多，想这么多，也没有用。
因为不管我多么不想面对，多么不想承认，我们现在。。。 就是纯粹好朋友而已。
Monday, April 20, 2009
Phnom Penh trip – April 17-20, 2009
On our way to Phnom Penh! At Changi Airport at 6-plus-ish in the morning. Don't we look fresh?
Landed safely - At Phnom Penh International Airport - with our luggage
Ann holding the "Kotex-look-alike" envelope package which contained all the USD for our meals
Yaw Heng couldn't control his surprise that I actually carry a bottle of medicated oil wherever I go - and he laughed non-stop... Grrr... Shouldn't have passed the bottle to him for his mosquito bites!
A weighing machine in the supermarket - control your weight. Don't buy too much snacks!
The yummy kampong fried chicken rice which I like!
The path to The Royal Palace, where the King of Cambodia lives... Shhh...
At The Royal Palace
1) Enjoying (natural) sauna everyday…
Talk about losing water…
I’ve been told that it would be very hot in Phnom Penh. I checked out the weather forecast before the trip and it said it was between 25°C to 32°C; hence, I thought it should be similar to Singapore’s and that Yaw Heng and Ann-marie were trying to exaggerate…
Are you complaining that Singapore’s weather is hot, hot, hot these days and really unbearable?
Wait till you arrive at Phnom Penh. It’s basically soaking yourself in a sauna bath everyday! The HOT Singapore weather is like air-con to Phnom Penh’s.
No kidding.
During the four days, I could feel HUGE beads of perspiration flowing/dripping from my forehead, to cheeks, to chin; from neck, to shoulder, to chest, to belly button… Eeewwww…
I’m glad I brought along a paper fan and a face towel, despite Vanessa and Ann-marie asking me not to ('cos it’s so auntified)… But it turned out that my flimsy paper fan was the savior for all of us!
2) Enjoying massage and spa everyday…
I’m starting to believe I am really not cut out to be a tai-tai. Unlike many other girls, I don’t enjoy massage and spa. I don’t really fancy a stranger’s hands roaming freely up and down my whole body. And not forgetting, massage can be painful and ticklish at the same time.
It all started with the other two ladies ranting about wanting to enjoy massage and spa to escape from the hot weather… We went to Cham Pei Spa and Salon. Ann-marie and I took a full body aroma massage, and an exfoliating body scrub plus honey milk bath package. Cost us US$40.50. The exfoliating body scrub was good, I must say…
The honey milk bath was in a Jacuzzi bath tub filled with flower petals. Looked pretty and smelled good! But somehow, I could not just lie down and rest my head comfortably, like Ann did! For some reason, my butt and lower body kept floating, regardless of my sitting position! Ann had a good time laughing at me, seeing how I was trying to balance myself in the Jacuzzi tub. She concluded it was because of my light bottom and heavy top, which acts as a pair of natural floats! What the &#*$&*#^%^%@!!
The masseurs who attended to us did not know how to speak English and whatever we said or asked, the answer was a smile, nod and “Yes.” And they always “refused” to give us disposable panties – that is, until we asked them by playing charades and even resorted to showing them what’s underneath our shorts…
Everyone enjoyed the massage and scrub so much that they decided to return again for the next two days. And being the only one casting the “no more” vote, I could just follow the majority's preference…
Did a full-leg massage on Day 2 for US$10.50 and a full body aroma massage, and a coffee body scrub plus honey milk bath package on Day 3 for US$40.50.
By Day 3, I started to really enjoy the entire process that I almost fell asleep, instead of cringing in pain during the massage.
Fresh after our spa retreat!
The snacks we had after the pampering session.
3) Mosquito/houseflies murderers
Our mini-van was infested with mosquitoes and houseflies on the first day and on other days too. Think it was the hot weather (and the filthy environment)…
Ended up having a mosquito/houseflies killing competition in the van.
Our driver must have thought that we were mad with all the clapping, slapping and stomping of our hands and feet.
The winner was Ann-marie, followed by Vanessa and Wee Kiat. I tried but always missed them. Ended up only waving my hands and shaking my legs, shooing the pests away…
These pests were also a common sight at restaurants, orphanages and practically everywhere.
4) Visits to two orphanages
Children at the orphanages were very friendly. Some of them ran up to our vans and greeted us with warm “Hello!” and smiles, while some were very shy and just stood around.
The first orphanage was Unicas. The children were very obedient and sat down (similar to a classroom setting in the open) and waited for us while we talked to the director of the orphanage and discussed how to go about distributing the presents to them.
I don’t know how the others felt but I felt awkward when I was distributing the lollipops, stationeries and cartoon face towels to them. I felt even more uneasy when I handed the presents to orphans who were already teenagers.
If you ask me, my heart goes out more to the teenagers than to the younger kids. Why? Because it breaks my heart to see that they are physically an adult, yet you could see that they are as delighted as the younger kids when you hand them a lollipop or a pencil or a cartoon face towel.
And most of them were running around barefoot.
The simple things in our daily life that we took for granted are such treasures to them.
Spoke to two girls who were 19 and 20 years old. They told us they want to be a nurse and a pharmacist. I sincerely hope they would be able to achieve their dreams.
Can you find me?
Kids waving goodbye to us when we left. They even ran all the way to the gates and continued running behind us, after our van...
The second orphanage was New Phnom Penh. We were actually way behind our schedule for the day, and Queen Vanessa already gave orders in the van that we only had 20 minutes to spare at this orphanage.
However, it turned out that the children actually prepared three five-minute long dance performances – complete with costumes and make-up – to welcome us!
I was touched.
Throughout the performances, Vanessa was getting grouchy and impatient, and kept shooting us looks that we were running out of time. However, the rest of us figured we could still afford another 30 minutes and ignored her.
With the kids who performed for us
Honestly, I think we would never be able to fully understand what these kids are going through. Some of them are not exactly orphans. They have parents but their parents are too poor to support them and have no choice but to send them to the orphanage. Some have parents who are diagnosed as HIV-positive.
Learnt that one boy was knocked down by a moto on his way from school back to the orphanage the day before our visit. And while in the hospital, they were worrying about the hospital bills. Sad.
5) Miscellaneous…
a) We were trying to find a restaurant but when we reached there, the place did not look at all like an eating place. Turned out that there are two places with the same address! How weird is that! I bet the two places must be receiving each other’s mails!
b) A pity that the Central Market was under renovation and I did not get to see the famous dome-shaped structure. Did not shop much at the Central Market and the Russian Market as the weather was so scorching warm and the temperature seemed to have risen even more as we trotted down the many narrow aisles of the badly-ventilated and low-ceiling markets.
c) Something spooky… We were all getting ready to zzz, lying on the bed and chatting/giggling away on our last night in our apartment when suddenly, Vanessa and I saw a bright red/white flash across the ceiling.
It was only then that Ann-marie revealed that she already kind of saw the flash – from the corner of her eyes – for the past two nights but since Vanessa and I did not mention anything about it, she thought it was taboo and decided to keep mum. She only realised that the two of us did not see it until the third night. According to her, it always happened around the same time.
The weird thing was our apartment was on the third level (already considered one of the highest levels in the city) and we drew the thick window curtains. Even if the Khmers living in the super lok-kok building opposite us were rich to afford a camera, we don’t think a photograph shoot would warrant such a strong light flash. And we don’t think they own a camera anyway. I was just glad I managed to fall asleep fast for the first two nights.
d) Talk about Earth Hour. I think Phnom Penh should take the responsibility of spearheading this world event from WWF. Black-outs were a common sight in Phnom Penh. We experienced black-outs at all the restaurants we visited. Visited Malis, one of the supposedly high-class restaurants in Phnom Penh, and the moment we stepped out of our van, the restaurant went dark. Turned out that a tree fell and pulled down along with it the electricity poles and wires. Visited the Chinese restaurant opened by my daddy’s friend, the Khmer Surin restaurant and a few other places, and we also dined in the dark for a good five minutes or so. By the third night, I ended up giggling non-stop when the posh pub we were at also experienced the same thing and the rest laughed, saying “I was expecting it, right?”.
At Khmer Surin restaurant
Don't ask me what Vanessa was doing tying the red napkin over her head...
e) It was raining elephants and hippopotamus shortly after we arrived at S21 museum. Hence, we did not really explore the place except for the building we were stuck at, while waiting for the rain to stop. Not a very pleasant place to visit because it was kind of depressing and spooky too. There was a photo exhibition by a photographer who took pictures of the place and – whether it was unintentional or the photos had been edited or it was due to the angles that the photos were taken – the photos seemed to have captured and reflected stuff from “the other world”.
The memorial at The Killing Fields...
f) Many of the Ang-moh tourists were also trapped in the same building as us and after a good 15-20 minutes (and no signs of the rain changing to a drizzle), they decided to just run in the rain to their vehicles. As for us, we actually figured out a smart way to stay dry. We called our driver, made him drive up the kerb, onto the walkway to the building and boarded the van. Before Wee Kiat closed the van’s door, he actually shouted to the other Ang-mohs looking at us, “Stoopid Ang-mohs! Run in the rain! The Asians are the SMARTER ones! Woo hoo!” Wah!!! I bet most Asians wouldn’t have the guts to do that!
Leaving International Phnom Penh Airport
Landed safely - At Phnom Penh International Airport - with our luggage
Ann holding the "Kotex-look-alike" envelope package which contained all the USD for our meals
Yaw Heng couldn't control his surprise that I actually carry a bottle of medicated oil wherever I go - and he laughed non-stop... Grrr... Shouldn't have passed the bottle to him for his mosquito bites!
A weighing machine in the supermarket - control your weight. Don't buy too much snacks!
The yummy kampong fried chicken rice which I like!
The path to The Royal Palace, where the King of Cambodia lives... Shhh...
At The Royal Palace
1) Enjoying (natural) sauna everyday…
Talk about losing water…
I’ve been told that it would be very hot in Phnom Penh. I checked out the weather forecast before the trip and it said it was between 25°C to 32°C; hence, I thought it should be similar to Singapore’s and that Yaw Heng and Ann-marie were trying to exaggerate…
Are you complaining that Singapore’s weather is hot, hot, hot these days and really unbearable?
Wait till you arrive at Phnom Penh. It’s basically soaking yourself in a sauna bath everyday! The HOT Singapore weather is like air-con to Phnom Penh’s.
No kidding.
During the four days, I could feel HUGE beads of perspiration flowing/dripping from my forehead, to cheeks, to chin; from neck, to shoulder, to chest, to belly button… Eeewwww…
I’m glad I brought along a paper fan and a face towel, despite Vanessa and Ann-marie asking me not to ('cos it’s so auntified)… But it turned out that my flimsy paper fan was the savior for all of us!
2) Enjoying massage and spa everyday…
I’m starting to believe I am really not cut out to be a tai-tai. Unlike many other girls, I don’t enjoy massage and spa. I don’t really fancy a stranger’s hands roaming freely up and down my whole body. And not forgetting, massage can be painful and ticklish at the same time.
It all started with the other two ladies ranting about wanting to enjoy massage and spa to escape from the hot weather… We went to Cham Pei Spa and Salon. Ann-marie and I took a full body aroma massage, and an exfoliating body scrub plus honey milk bath package. Cost us US$40.50. The exfoliating body scrub was good, I must say…
The honey milk bath was in a Jacuzzi bath tub filled with flower petals. Looked pretty and smelled good! But somehow, I could not just lie down and rest my head comfortably, like Ann did! For some reason, my butt and lower body kept floating, regardless of my sitting position! Ann had a good time laughing at me, seeing how I was trying to balance myself in the Jacuzzi tub. She concluded it was because of my light bottom and heavy top, which acts as a pair of natural floats! What the &#*$&*#^%^%@!!
The masseurs who attended to us did not know how to speak English and whatever we said or asked, the answer was a smile, nod and “Yes.” And they always “refused” to give us disposable panties – that is, until we asked them by playing charades and even resorted to showing them what’s underneath our shorts…
Everyone enjoyed the massage and scrub so much that they decided to return again for the next two days. And being the only one casting the “no more” vote, I could just follow the majority's preference…
Did a full-leg massage on Day 2 for US$10.50 and a full body aroma massage, and a coffee body scrub plus honey milk bath package on Day 3 for US$40.50.
By Day 3, I started to really enjoy the entire process that I almost fell asleep, instead of cringing in pain during the massage.
Fresh after our spa retreat!
The snacks we had after the pampering session.
3) Mosquito/houseflies murderers
Our mini-van was infested with mosquitoes and houseflies on the first day and on other days too. Think it was the hot weather (and the filthy environment)…
Ended up having a mosquito/houseflies killing competition in the van.
Our driver must have thought that we were mad with all the clapping, slapping and stomping of our hands and feet.
The winner was Ann-marie, followed by Vanessa and Wee Kiat. I tried but always missed them. Ended up only waving my hands and shaking my legs, shooing the pests away…
These pests were also a common sight at restaurants, orphanages and practically everywhere.
4) Visits to two orphanages
Children at the orphanages were very friendly. Some of them ran up to our vans and greeted us with warm “Hello!” and smiles, while some were very shy and just stood around.
The first orphanage was Unicas. The children were very obedient and sat down (similar to a classroom setting in the open) and waited for us while we talked to the director of the orphanage and discussed how to go about distributing the presents to them.
I don’t know how the others felt but I felt awkward when I was distributing the lollipops, stationeries and cartoon face towels to them. I felt even more uneasy when I handed the presents to orphans who were already teenagers.
If you ask me, my heart goes out more to the teenagers than to the younger kids. Why? Because it breaks my heart to see that they are physically an adult, yet you could see that they are as delighted as the younger kids when you hand them a lollipop or a pencil or a cartoon face towel.
And most of them were running around barefoot.
The simple things in our daily life that we took for granted are such treasures to them.
Spoke to two girls who were 19 and 20 years old. They told us they want to be a nurse and a pharmacist. I sincerely hope they would be able to achieve their dreams.
Can you find me?
Kids waving goodbye to us when we left. They even ran all the way to the gates and continued running behind us, after our van...
The second orphanage was New Phnom Penh. We were actually way behind our schedule for the day, and Queen Vanessa already gave orders in the van that we only had 20 minutes to spare at this orphanage.
However, it turned out that the children actually prepared three five-minute long dance performances – complete with costumes and make-up – to welcome us!
I was touched.
Throughout the performances, Vanessa was getting grouchy and impatient, and kept shooting us looks that we were running out of time. However, the rest of us figured we could still afford another 30 minutes and ignored her.
With the kids who performed for us
Honestly, I think we would never be able to fully understand what these kids are going through. Some of them are not exactly orphans. They have parents but their parents are too poor to support them and have no choice but to send them to the orphanage. Some have parents who are diagnosed as HIV-positive.
Learnt that one boy was knocked down by a moto on his way from school back to the orphanage the day before our visit. And while in the hospital, they were worrying about the hospital bills. Sad.
5) Miscellaneous…
a) We were trying to find a restaurant but when we reached there, the place did not look at all like an eating place. Turned out that there are two places with the same address! How weird is that! I bet the two places must be receiving each other’s mails!
b) A pity that the Central Market was under renovation and I did not get to see the famous dome-shaped structure. Did not shop much at the Central Market and the Russian Market as the weather was so scorching warm and the temperature seemed to have risen even more as we trotted down the many narrow aisles of the badly-ventilated and low-ceiling markets.
c) Something spooky… We were all getting ready to zzz, lying on the bed and chatting/giggling away on our last night in our apartment when suddenly, Vanessa and I saw a bright red/white flash across the ceiling.
It was only then that Ann-marie revealed that she already kind of saw the flash – from the corner of her eyes – for the past two nights but since Vanessa and I did not mention anything about it, she thought it was taboo and decided to keep mum. She only realised that the two of us did not see it until the third night. According to her, it always happened around the same time.
The weird thing was our apartment was on the third level (already considered one of the highest levels in the city) and we drew the thick window curtains. Even if the Khmers living in the super lok-kok building opposite us were rich to afford a camera, we don’t think a photograph shoot would warrant such a strong light flash. And we don’t think they own a camera anyway. I was just glad I managed to fall asleep fast for the first two nights.
d) Talk about Earth Hour. I think Phnom Penh should take the responsibility of spearheading this world event from WWF. Black-outs were a common sight in Phnom Penh. We experienced black-outs at all the restaurants we visited. Visited Malis, one of the supposedly high-class restaurants in Phnom Penh, and the moment we stepped out of our van, the restaurant went dark. Turned out that a tree fell and pulled down along with it the electricity poles and wires. Visited the Chinese restaurant opened by my daddy’s friend, the Khmer Surin restaurant and a few other places, and we also dined in the dark for a good five minutes or so. By the third night, I ended up giggling non-stop when the posh pub we were at also experienced the same thing and the rest laughed, saying “I was expecting it, right?”.
At Khmer Surin restaurant
Don't ask me what Vanessa was doing tying the red napkin over her head...
e) It was raining elephants and hippopotamus shortly after we arrived at S21 museum. Hence, we did not really explore the place except for the building we were stuck at, while waiting for the rain to stop. Not a very pleasant place to visit because it was kind of depressing and spooky too. There was a photo exhibition by a photographer who took pictures of the place and – whether it was unintentional or the photos had been edited or it was due to the angles that the photos were taken – the photos seemed to have captured and reflected stuff from “the other world”.
The memorial at The Killing Fields...
f) Many of the Ang-moh tourists were also trapped in the same building as us and after a good 15-20 minutes (and no signs of the rain changing to a drizzle), they decided to just run in the rain to their vehicles. As for us, we actually figured out a smart way to stay dry. We called our driver, made him drive up the kerb, onto the walkway to the building and boarded the van. Before Wee Kiat closed the van’s door, he actually shouted to the other Ang-mohs looking at us, “Stoopid Ang-mohs! Run in the rain! The Asians are the SMARTER ones! Woo hoo!” Wah!!! I bet most Asians wouldn’t have the guts to do that!
Leaving International Phnom Penh Airport
