A short and fun-filled weekend

Having spent our last long weekend of 5 days resting and playing tennis, the (short) weekend that just passed seemed packed full of activities.

On Friday night, Bunny and I went to watch the controversial play named 251, on Annabel Chong’s life from student to pornstar to web designer. The setting of the stage was different from what we had expected. Instead of having the audience facing the stage, the audience was placed in a way where we were all facing one another with the stage in the middle. It didn’t matter where you sat, because you would be able to see the actor’s expressions and everything they did in detail.

We enjoyed the play immensely and I personally liked how the director took the opportunity to display homosexual connotations, tagged along with political and feminist themes, into this play. I’m assuming that plenty of people who watched the play might not be able to grasp the important essence of telling Annabel’s tale – of how her unconformity landed her as (Singapore) society’s outcast, of how a woman is almost always bounded by the chains of passivity and subdued desires and also of how estranged we all are from who we really are and what we really want to do. The whole play centred around one topic – the double standard that denies women to exhibit the same sexuality as men.

Anyway, after the play we had a quick bite at Ichiban and headed towards The Clinic for the Party Junkie party.

This group always had great girl parties, mainly because they organized them at different venues, it was always free entry, the crowd was different from other parties and the music wasn’t R&B.

The following two days were spent playing tennis – first at Thomson and then on Sunday, Bunny went to display her athletic prowess at the tennis tournament organized by Adlus.

Tossing for her outstanding serve

"Whack the motherf**ker..."

I’m sure she had so much fun there, playing doubles with the other gay boys and soaking in the bright sun rays. I was the official water and towel girl that day. It was so bloody hot I was hyperventilating when I played for a short while, so I decided to plant my ass in the shade.

And then we became camera whores..

Bunny and her tennis compadre

I love my weekends, short or long.

PTO in Singapore (2007)

© The Really Useful Group Ltd

My mom and I attended the Phantom of The Opera musical last night. It was an exciting event for her because it was the first musical she has ever been to, and knowing that she loves the score for PTO, I decided she would be the best candidate to watch it with, albeit she would have a bit of trouble understanding the story and the lyrics. However, I had already ‘briefed’ her prior to the show, so she just followed the plot which I had explained and she managed to grasp the whole essence of PTO (I'm sure she's gonna make me play some scores on the piano again).

We were both thoroughly immersed in the whole musical and allowed ourselves to be transported back to 19^th century, Paris. Haha. Although I know the musical at the back of my hand, nothing beats watching the live performance. My first ever experience at Kallang was simply breathtaking and I was absolutely astounded at how all actors and dancers were prompt and always on cue. Their costumes and props were dazzling, paying attention to every single detail – ballet shoes, the type of ballet that was popular in the 19^th century (as opposed to the high-legged Russian ballet we see very often now), gargoyles, curtains, desks, books, typewriter (even?), the chandelier, the staircase of the Paris Opera, masks, hats, canes, shoes, flowers, ribbons, the mirror, candles, the gondola, the den, score sheets, etc. Thank goodness we both had binoculars so that we could see everything in detail.

One thing I noticed though was that no one did a standing ovation during the curtain call. How unenthusiastic! I mean, Mamma Mia wasn’t that grand a musical as PTO, but when I watched it in Melbourne, everyone did a standing ovation. However, I’ve observed that the standing ovation is gradually being downplayed, due to what reasons, I know not of.

I’m still feeling the after effects of PTO (something I get all the time despite having watched so many adaptations and renditions of it). It’s the same feeling I get from watching Cirque Du Soleil and Les Miserables. Such productions always remain fresh and enticing; no matter how long they have been running for. And then I realized: I’m only interested in productions that have the French element in it. Hmmm.

While soaking in the glamour and amazing score last night, I couldn’t stop thinking of Zon, of how we attended two Cirque Du Soleil productions (where we both wanted to purchase the beautifully hand-made and crafted masks) and the recent movie adaptation of PTO (and how we were extremely annoyed with a woman who kept humming throughout the whole movie, because anyone who knows PTO will definitely know the music, so there wasn’t a need to hum it, goddamn it!). I know she’ll feel the same after-effects once she attends the PTO Australian Tour in July!

After the whole musical had ended, my mom and I went downstairs, preparing to leave the Esplanade, when we realized there was an autograph session by Brad Little, who played the role of Phantom. Since the queue wasn’t that long, we decided to let him sign our programme book (which cost us $25; I remember it was only $10 long time ago). Exchanged a few sentences with him and we headed home after that.

Damn it, now I wish I had bought the $160 tickets instead.

Homophobia is Wrong

Moo and her invisible stalker

This is my second attempt at a less angsty entry. The one I wrote before revealed the total bitch in me, so I figured I’d better write one that it is less judgmental:

Along with the great invention of the WWW, there have been many intelligent sites built since the dot.com, namely eBay. Recently, we’ve seen the boom of an online community site named Friendster, then a video-on-demand site called YouTube, and the ever popular blogging sites, such as MySpace or Blogger.

Now, it’s all good with these great advancements and push for the convenience of socializing, but it seemingly blurs the boundaries of private and personal space of us netizens, making it ever more dubious as to where and when does one’s personal space begin and end in the virtual world. Maybe some of us have yet to experience it (being virtually invaded), but Moo has had her private (virtual) space invaded upon.

Not only has her email and eBay account been hacked plenty of times before, it seems that her Friendster account and blog has been visited countless times, and just to make things creepier, by the same god damned person. Indeed, a blog is a public journal for all to read, but any normal person will be astounded when she looks at her statistics and realizes that most of the hits came from the same bloody IP address! That’s what’s happening to me as well - someone has been clicking through my blog and contributing to my hit count tremendously.

Invading one’s virtual space, to me, is equivalent to the invasion of one’s physical space, and I find it a total nuisance. It’s as if to say, “Whoa! Hold your horses! You’re my friend, yes, but I think we need to draw a line somewhere” or “I know you’re stalking (and totally obsessed with) me. Stop it.”

Having someone stalking you online compulsively should ring some alarm bells. Even friends don’t do that to one another. Well, some people do get carried away with their version of “friendship”. For example, some like to use the emo blackmail method, others prefer the “I’m-angry-with-you-for-not-talking-to-me-today-therefore-I’m-going-to-get-even-with-you” alternative, and some just simply imply that they’re going to kill themselves and wait to see if you repent.

Such typically manipulative and scheming morons need to wake up and smell the dung. They claim that their friendship for another is genuine, scarce and sincere, yet on the other hand, they’re manipulating their friends into doing what they desire and not give a damn if they ARE invading their space. This ain’t a friendship! This is pure obsession!

Why would a friend see the need to stalk another? And why would a friend get all worked up just because the other has no time, or is busy with her own arrangements? Having read one of Grace’s blog entries, it seems that she’s currently facing such a situation – a friend who doesn’t know how to draw the line and who virtually stalks her relentlessly.

All I can say is: that person needs to make more friends, stop attempting to possess someone and perhaps go buy a self-help book with titles similar to “Understanding the balance between friendship and love” or “The Dummy’s Guide to Obsession and How to Deal With It”. It’ll be totally beneficial, I swear.

Poor Moo. I hope she’ll be able to cope with it. I know that she hates having her space invaded, especially from irrelevant and unimportant people.

She's a Daisy

I bought the racket which we went to view last night at Queensway (and for $80 too!). Finally! Now I can't wait to try it out on the court. It does look a bit different from the one that the coach has. Oh dear.

###

I met Bunny at the bus stop yesterday evening and without any prior notice or slightest hint, she greeted me with her usual warm and glowing smile along with a bunch of daises. We're suspecting they're daisies; we're not even sure because the lady at the store didn't even know what sort of flowers they are, so we're assuming they're some sort of daisy.

But why choose "daisies", or this ambiguous looking flower? Because she figured that roses and lilies are too common. Ha.

Such sweetness. An impromptu surprise is always the best.

On closer inspection, they don't really resemble the likeness of daisies, do they? Hmm. Anyway, they're so tiny and cute, I can't help but associate them with Bunny. Heh.

Despite my prejudice towards conventional gifts, I am quite the sucker for flowers and when I'm a few years away from retirement age, I hope to be a florist (although I'm not much of a green thumb, although I did express a slight interest when I was a kid; I accidentally stole a book on indoor plants from a nursery). Every woman's face lights up when they see flowers, so wouldn't it be nice to brighten up someone's day? I already know how my stall is going to look like. Har-har!

Tennis Progress

It’s time for an update on my tennis progress.

Since a few months ago, I’ve picked up tennis and have attended about seven lessons so far. My ground strokes are pretty much there, albeit not as consistent as I wish it would be. The coach from Hong Kong whom we’ve recently just engaged, is rather encouraging and polite in pointing out and correcting my errors, and having played quite a lot with Bunny and some other people, I’ve learnt how to review my errors and try not to commit them again.

Tennis really isn’t an easy game. It’s been months now and I’ve only managed to play just a tad bit better than how I did initially. A lot still needs to be done, especially my service, as I’ve only just been taught how to serve. Grr. Sometimes I get so disgruntled, I really don’t feel like standing in the court at all. But what really drives me is the fact that I know I’ll play well once I’ve practiced more, and more, and more…Well, Bunny says I’ve improved a lot since Day 1, but I don’t see any difference, except the many mistakes I always make. Sigh.

Another thing that really dampens my mood is that the joints at my knees, shoulders and wrists are all loosening up, and I’m feeling the pain each time I climb the stairs or exert a certain part of my body. My joints have been cracking for more than 5 years, and now my knees don’t feel like they belong to me anymore. I’ve bought glucosamine supplements to aid in the regeneration of the cartilage around the joints, so I hope it’ll be less stressed in the future.

We’ll be meeting a guy tonight at Queensway to view a second-hand racket that the coach lends me during lessons (ProKennex Ki 15). If all is well, I might just buy it! And then I won’t have any excuse to not play tennis on weeknights.

This is getting so exciting! And soon to come, I’ll be able to give each of you a furry tennis ball, like what I promised before!

"Who said lefties can't play tennis?"

I hate my old self...

There are two things I hate to talk about:

1. My straight past
2. My depression times and the underlying causes of it

Yes, the above two points were in fact very much part of my life before and it is the hard truth which I have problems facing because when I think of it now, I knew I wasn’t being my true self; I wasn’t being who I was, no matter was it in thought, behaviour, attitude, dressing, whatever. It just wasn’t me and I hated it.

I was so giving during those times. I gave all I could to make others happy, neglecting how I felt and what I really wanted. I, too, went through the homophobic phase, always looking over my shoulder and not wanting my friends around me to know I was gay. And over the recent years, I’ve been so forthright about my sexuality that it becomes something I need to be careful about over here in Singapore.

My personality is one where I’m more or less usually quite positive about certain things, and when I’m not, it’s usually due to lack in self-confidence (especially this freaking project that I’m working on). Otherwise, for situations which I have no control over and when things fuck up, I’m usually quite positive that everything will turn out well. So I’m not really such a negative person after all (so whichever cuntrag who said I was can stick that comment up her arse).

I once gave up on myself. I allowed things to happen to me, good or bad. What a dumbass. Truth be told, I’ve only been comfortable in my own skin for less than 5 years. Other people may have already realized who they truly are by that age, but for me, it was a gradual realization. And if one really communicates with me on a frequent basis, one would come to understand that I hardly bring up my past.

Self-realisation doesn’t happen to everybody and neither does it happen all the time. It’s a long journey that we all embark on and eventually most of us reach a point where we can sit up and say, “What the hell am I doing here?” and “Fuck all this shit”. The rest simply drown in their own shit.

Which brings us to this topic – why am I even in this job? Because of money and all the good/bad things that money brings. If it wasn’t for the dole and the experience, I’ll be a happy Arts student. Well, I still can. The only thing that’s stopping me (such cowardice behaviour) is that the avenue for Arts is terribly restricted and minimal here. You don’t see Singaporean archaeologists digging around do you? Neither do you see historians graduating from NUS.

And it totally sucks shit. Bunny and I should just go and enroll in some Arts course and fuck everything else. Being the practical and realistic Virgos that we are, I doubt this will ever happen in our lifetime.

###

I dreamt that I kissed a transsexual last night, someone who had changed from being a female to a male. Here's the interpretation:

To see a transsexual in your dream, indicates that the masculine and feminine aspects of your Self has been damaged. You may be unwilling to confront your shadow self.

Yeah ok, but what about kissing one?

Geez.

International Women's Day..and why men don't get one

Happy International Women’s Day to all the ladies out there!

Three reasons why I think men don’t get an International Day for themselves:

a) They don’t deserve it

b) They’re always being recognized for their achievements in society anyway, so there’s really no point why we should dedicate another day for them just to boost their ego once again

c) They won’t appreciate it anyway.

I’m sexist. And I don’t care.

Type A and B Behaviour Patterns

Bunny and I came across this behaviour pattern that is apparent in all of us. We read some material online and even did a personality test to see which category we belonged to. It was pretty obvious, but we did it anyway.

Type A Personalities:

According to scientific literature, Type A behavior is characterized by an intense and sustained drive to achieve goals and an eagerness to compete. Personalities categorized as Type A tend to have a persistent desire for external recognition and advancement. They are involved in various functions that bring about time restrictions. Such personalities have a tendency to speed up mental and physical tasks with extraordinary mental and physical alertness. These characteristics make for super-achievers and high-powered people.

Type A individuals can get a lot done and have the potential to really move ahead in the world. But there is a high price to pay. Certain components of such a personality can inhibit happiness and even threaten health. For example, the goals that Type A folks set are often poorly defined and therefore hard to achieve—a perfect recipe for misery.

Type A is also characterized by a general discontentedness and the impulse to be overly critical and demanding, even contemptuous of imperfection, in the self and others. This focus on negative aspects and the accompanying bursts of hostility and impatience result in guilt, remorse and anxiety.

Type A personalities are motivated by external sources (instead of by inner motivation), such as material reward and appreciation from others. Type A folks experience a constant sense of opposition, wariness, and apprehension--they are always ready for battle. And anyone can imagine how this constant (and very exhausting) existence would deplete reserves of contentment and happiness and disrupt personal equilibrium.

Although the literature is somewhat inconsistent because of problems with the conceptualization and definition of Type A behavior pattern, it has been linked to higher risks of cardiovascular diseases. The risks seemed to be reduced with intervention aimed at reducing Type A behavior. Indeed, those with a high Type A score would be happier and healthier if they were to file down the jagged edges of their personality. By learning how to control the negative behavior patterns while preserving their drive, Type A people can be successful without sacrificing their emotional well-being.

Type B Personalities:

Type B behavior is usually defined as the absence of Type A behavior. Type B personalities are relaxed and have a laid-back attitude and posture. They are friendly, accepting, patient, at ease, and generally content. They are at peace with themselves and others. They show a general sense of harmony with people, events, and life circumstances. They tend to be trusting. They focus on the positive aspects of things, people and events. Type B folks are self-encouraging, have inner motivation, are stable and have a pleasant mood. They are interested in others and accept trivial mistakes. They have an accepting attitude about trivial mistakes and a problem-solving attitude about major mistakes. They are flexible and good team members. The Type B person is able to lead and be led.

I’m a Type AB, albeit skewed towards a B. This is what it says about people who fall under the Type AB behaviour pattern:

You seem to be in the middle between the Type A and Type B personality. In this case, the middle ground is good. Your attitude to life is more of the "smell the roses" kind and you know how and when to relax. Nonetheless, you realize that picking up a challenge and competing a little bit for your place in the sun can add some spice to your life. The equilibrium is important, so don't let your hostile, aggressive, and competitive alter ego take over too often. Generally, you are easy to be around, and people tend to feel relaxed and comfortable in your presence. Yours is a very healthy attitude towards life.

No wonder I never get anything done as good as I want it to be, because I’m rather relaxed by nature (and not that ambitious to begin with), yet at the same time, I’m always sensing a need to accomplish certain things.

Take the Type A personality test at: http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/type_a_personality_access.html

Please evacuate the building...and take half day off

*Happily posted by Moo on behalf of Bbit :)))*

The two earthquakes that hit Padang, Sumatra this afternoon, measured a 6.5 and 6.6 on the Richter scale. Tremors could be felt in certain parts of Singapore and this caused many people to panic and led to evacuation operations being carried out in the CBD, Beach Rd and other parts of Singapore.

I just finished watching Channel News Asia's coverage on the tremors today and it has just confirmed my conviction that Singaporeans tend to overreact. They reported that many employees at the Hong Leong Building felt dizzy and a few vomited. I must confess that I, too, was feeling rather giddy myself and was swaying a bit while walking, but vomiting? Were the tremors really that bad that it would cause one to feel nauseated and vomit? What's more, the building authorities were flooded with calls straight after. There were even rumours of cracks in buildings and paranoia was abound.

I remember feeling the tremors (apparently no one else could) for only less than a minute. I looked up to see if it was my phone vibrating, or was it because I was giddy (hence I looked away from the monitor). Then I turned my head to look at the buildings outisde to see if the one I was in was swaying at all. And I did all that in less than half a minute, before realising it could be an earthquake in Indonesia. What else could it be? Then I stopped swaying. I knew the earthquake couldn't have been so strong that it would cause any buildings in Singapore to collapse.

Back to the special coverage. Channel News Asia then proceeded to show footage of schools and polytechnics being evacuated (you could obviously see the students grinning from ear to ear), office employees clearing the buildings in the CBD area (you could see them laughing and pointing; being the mature adults they are, they love poking fun at everything), and of the residents in the heartlands. Other footage included amatuer videos and still images of the evacuation and effects of the tremors on their chandeliers or fish tanks.

Bunny even showed me a snippet of the news report she was reading this afternoon, stating how some employees were weeping and screaming while making their way out of the building. This is not even close to what occurred in NY on 9/11, so why are they panic-stricken and desperate to get out of the building because of teeny tiny tremors? That says it yet again – yes, we ARE kiasi on top of being kiasu.

There's a lot of hoo-haa about today's tremors from the Sumatra quake, but shouldn't the news be covering the situation in Sumatra itself, considering 70 people (and god knows how many injured) had died due to the quake? Isn't the situation there more important and deserves to be highlighted to people who are only concerned about “tremors”? Maybe I had missed the report on Sumatra, I'm not sure, but I do know that the tremors we experienced today were microscopic and minute in importance.

Ever since the first day of 2007, I've been keeping track of the number of earthquakes that have occured. I lost count once I reached the earthquake that occurred in Taiwan (because I was so pissed off with the Internet being disrupted). All I can remember now is that during the first week of January, the world had already seen about four earthquakes. We are now into March, and I remember seeing earthquakes being reported every single week, and ever so often in Indonesia. So it's no surprise that it has happened again.

Being situated so close to Indonesia, it's no surprise that Singapore experiences earthquake tremors from time to time. Although it causes our buildings to sway and citizens to vomit, what's important is that it is not as large a scale as the Boxing Day tsunami.

Stop yelling at my girlfriend!

Last night I dreamt that Bunny and I were in a casino playing Blackjack. There were only two of us seated at the table and after a few games, a man joined in with his girlfriend. I remember fidgeting with the chips and feeling extremely nervous. The stakes were high and we had been losing for a couple of rounds.

During one of the games, the dealer asked if we wanted to buy insurance because his first card was an ace. I can’t really remember what happened then, but I think it went something like this:

Bunny said yes, she’ll buy the insurance. And just when the dealer was about to take out the insurance chip, the man who had joined us a few games before, started shouting and claiming that he had told the dealer he wanted the insurance first, therefore he should be served first. Everyone just looked at him and continued on with the game.

Then came the second round of disturbance. Because Bunny was seated at the extreme left of the Blackjack table, she need not be careful of what cards have been turned up. As a rule of thumb when it comes to playing Blackjack at a casino, the last person sitting on the table should try to “save” the rest of the players, either by causing the banker to bust, or not taking a card even if he/she had low points like 12 or 13, depending on the cards that have been turned up. In other words, the last person cannot behave selfishly. I learnt of this unspoken rule through the hard way.

Ok, back to the dream. Bunny is seated at the extreme left and is the first person, followed by me and then that raucous man. In the midst of one of our games, the man stood up and started shouting at her, telling her that she should have “hit” instead of “stand”. So they started arguing and shouting at each other. The buffoon’s girlfriend was clinging onto his arm and trying to persuade him to stop creating a scene. Obviously, egoistic men will not sit down and shut up, so he continued justifying why Bunny should have taken a card.

I got so impatient and was about to pop my veins. First of all, someone was yelling at my girlfriend, and second, he was being rude, inconsiderate, uncivilized, arrogant and unreasonable. I stood up and started swearing at him. He was slightly taken aback (by this demure, quiet and cute lil’ thing who is only trying to win back her money), but insisted that he was right. It started to get a tad bit violent as we started shoving each other and our hands were flying everywhere. I then picked up the glass of water on the table and splashed his ugly, fat face with it and spat at him.

Not very cool huh? I expected myself to give him a whirlwind kick at his balls and dragon punch his upper jaw. But all I did was splash his face with a glass of water. *yawns*

Then I woke up. And that was how it ended.

I looked up the dream interpretation manual, and this is what it says:

Casino
To dream that you are in a casino, signifies the risk-taker within you. If you are a reserved or passive person, then the dream suggests that you should take a chance. If you are not, then it implies that you need to make a more informed decision instead of relying on fate.

Gambling
To dream that are gambling, suggests that you are participating in some risk-taking activity. You may also be relying on fate and not taking responsibility for you decisions.

Cards
To dream that you are playing a game of cards signifies that you have successfully utilized skills of bluff, strategy, and timing in your everyday life. In particular, diamonds indicates wealth, clubs indicated work, hearts indicate happiness in love, and spades indicate troubling times are in your near future.

Money
To dream that you lose money signifies temporary unhappiness in the home and a few setbacks in your affairs. You may be feeling weak, vulnerable, and out of control in your waking life. Additionally, you may be lacking ambition, power and self-esteem.

Yelling
To dream that you or someone is yelling, represents repressed anger that need to be expressed.

*shudders*

Actually, to tell the truth, I kind of miss gambling in a casino. Too bad I suck at mental arithmetic (and numbers), otherwise I'll probably sign up with a casino and learn how to be a dealer. I heard they earn quite a bit.

"Bhan luck!"

Bed Hair Day

I’ll be going shopping straight after work today, with a list of items that I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to slowly shop for:

A new pair of semi-casual flat shoes, preferably dark coloured – dark bronze, brown or black, which can be worn to the office and on casual days too. I desperately need another pair of shoes because my white one, which I wear ever so often, is wearing out and it stinks a bit. I need more shoes so I can rotate them and not keep wearing my poor white one!

A huge photo album – its sole purpose is to contain all my holiday pictures. I like the ones at Muji (simple, nice and plastic), so if my feet don’t hurt from too much walking later, I’ll probably head to Paragon and see what they have there.

An ashtray for Bunny – the ashtray has to be one where it is either fully covered or semi-covered. I find those “pushdown” ashtrays a tad bit too troublesome, hence I’ll have to look for those “swingy” ones, where you tap your ash onto the lid and press the latch down for it to swing inwards. Doubt I can find any tonight; seems as if these sort of ashtrays aren’t really popular in Singapore.

Soundtrack for Running with Scissors and Little Miss Sunshine - she loves music from the 70s and I prefer original music scores.

And the rest that I’ve not included in the list are miscellaneous items I hope to come across, e.g. a brown belt, maybe a pair of pants (if I’m bothered to try them on in the first place), and perhaps another shirt from Osmose, since there’s a 30% discount going on.

I’ve given up on looking for a cardholder and browsing through books as well. I’ve yet to complete my New Penguin Book of World History, so I can’t start on Mao. So no more books for now, or else they’ll just be sitting on the shelf.

Anyway, it’s been raining overnight, so it does dampen the shopping mood a bit. Maybe I should just go home and watch The L Word. *ponders*

###

I’ve finally brought the two Andy Warhol cat prints for framing. The old man who owns the store near my office was rather nice to talk to. He designs and custom makes very nice framed boxes for display items such as Buddha statues, teacups, etc. and he also installs ambient lighting into them. Really artistic. If only I had display items I want to frame up.

As for my prints, he recommended framing them in natural wood colour, but I wanted black. So I chose a narrow black frame and opted to mount the prints, along with green trimming for the green cat and blue trimming for the blue cat. So there’ll be two mounting boards placed on top of the print. I think he really likes the cats. I heard another customer commenting that the prints are rather unique. They really aren’t anything great, just cheap replicas of original paintings.

I intend to look for one or two bigger ass ones for the house. Now my mom wants to hang prints too. Ha!

###

I’ve got bed hair today. Don’t tell anyone, but I didn’t wet my hair this morning (as I normally do every single day) and just styled it according to the shape I woke up in. It’s not too bad though. Better than other days, when I try so hard to make it work. I should do this more.

48 Kilos

Finally! I’ve put on 1kg and I am now 48kg! Bahahaha! It came as a shocking surprise when Bunny told me to weigh myself at the gym. For the past few weeks, my weight has remained at 47kg and that was the heaviest I’ve ever been my entire life. And now I’m 48kg! That, to me, is an achievement. Ha!

I know many people will think I’m crazy to feel such joy of putting on weight, but for someone who finds putting on weight such a chore and no weight is gained no matter how much I gobble down: THIS is an achievement. I’ve never been as heavy as 48kg.

I remember telling the PT at California Fitness this time last year that my goal was to gain weight and to tone up. He then did some weight and height examinations, and told me my ideal weight should be 50kg. So I need another 2kg more before I am of average weight.

BUT – yes, there’s a “but” to this (and to all things).

…the weight is not being distributed evenly across my body. It’s all accumulated at the tummy! Of all places! Not the boobs or the limbs, but my goddamn tummy! Now I look pregnant with a 6 month old baby, with a tummy that is as huge as a hot air balloon and as fat as cow udders. I swear, when I was fast asleep one night, aliens came in UFOs, abducted me and impregnated me with baby aliens. *alien face*

I’ve got pictures that Grace took of my fat ass tummy, but NO I’m not going to post it here and become a laughing stock. Bunny and Grace like taking pictures of that horrendous tummy of mine. =(

I'm a funny and skinny little thing of 48kg. I need to deflate.

Twiggy - the iconic archetype of the Swinging Sixties (but damn, she hasn't got a tummy):

CNY Trip to Bintan

Due to the rainy season over the past few months, we (me, Bunny and her sister) postponed our Bintan trip to CNY.

With so many resorts to choose from, we settled for Bintan Lagoon Resort. Luckily we booked the rooms and ferry tickets way in advance, as tons of tourists were making their way there to escape CNY in Singapore.

On our way to Bintan






Bintan Lagoon Resort...




...and its pool.














It's not a good idea to fall asleep underneath the scorching sun.

After Bunny woke me up, we made our way to the pool, where I fell asleep again. I woke up half an hour later and went for a dip in the pool, and that was when we saw the strangest sight ever. I spotted a lizard crawling out from the pool and into the bushes. And for a whole 5 seconds or so, we saw it dangling at the edge of the pool, trying to pull itself out of the water. Urgh. There were quite a number of people in the pool, but no one spotted it swimming.

By the time I fetched my camera, it had made its way up onto the coconut tree.

The resident lizard basking its scaly ass under the sun.

View from our balcony - not exactly the Deluxe Seaview room we paid for.



Buffet dinner at Kopi-O - fast service but the food was mediocre. We had a mini 捞起 and Bunny was having a splendid time feasting on 鱼生.

After dinner, we started fooling around at the Recreation Centre. Played table tennis, darts, and explored the place. We eventually settled at the karaoke bar upstairs.

So silly. Hahaha.

On the second day, we headed for the beach again after a big breakfast and tried our hand at bodyboarding. Only Bunny managed to ride the wave perfectly and headed straight to the shore like a mermaid being washed up:

Bunny keeps smiling every time she's on the board. Now that's what I call having fun. Haha.

Hmm..no waves.



Still no waves.



Finally!

After bodyboarding, we played pool for half an hour, had a drink, and that was all we managed to do on the second day before we packed our bags for our return trip to Singapore. I couldn't bear to leave at the very last minute and I'm already missing the sand and sea right now.

We'll be heading to Bali next though. Yay! And this time we're really gonna ride the waves....weeeeeeee~~~

Richard and Zon's trip back to Singapore

Had great fun meeting up with Richard and Zon on the Friday just before CNY. It's comforting to know that although we haven't seen each other for almost a year, all of us still feel comfortable and at ease with one another. It's such a pity that they're only here for two weeks.

We met up last Friday and had dinner at Amoy St., after that we ended up at Clarke Quay and wanted to have a drink at The Clinic. What a disappointment. They only served mixed drinks and three kinds of beer, so we went to Microbrewery instead.

Yay! The three of us again. Grace looks sleepy though.



Getting together....to pig out.






She calls this the "Alien face"

Every one of them (except me) will be in Australia this year. Sigh...

I'm gonna miss them when they leave. Wonder when will we be able to meet and laugh our eyeballs out again.

My Theme Songs

Bunny burnt a song for me and it goes like this:

Karen Song - Club 8

Karen's got a house now
somewhere by the water

it's quiet and dark but she's happy
so i can only wish her well

i'm still a dreamer
stuck with myself all the time
can i go now

don't make me beg
make me believe
it's no mistake
when i see
nothing belongs
to me now

take me out and show me
a future that sparkles and shines
i want to leave now

don't make me beg
make me believe
it's no mistake
when i see
nothing belongs
to me now


And they have another Karen song from their previous album:

Karen - Club 8

i feel alright now
but for how long
what you ask of me
is something i could never be
so for this time
let it be unsaid
so for this time

you ask me gently
can't you be strong
it's the sweetest ache
but far too much for my heart to take
so for this time

karen, you wanted me
but not the way it was supposed to be
karen, you wanted me
but not the way it was supposed to be



If someone sent me this song and meant it, I think I'll stab her.

Testing macro shots with my phone

Not bad for a 3.2MP camera phone. Hmmm.

I'm an Idol Contestant

I had a strange dream last night:

I dreamt that I had participated in the auditions for Singapore Idol and managed to get through to the second round, where they started eliminating almost half of the contestants, downsizing the group to only 12 of them.

The queue for the auditions was so long that it meandered on to about three floors down and out the glass doors. I waited till there were only a few contestants left before I jumped into the queue.

I sang Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" during the audition. Now the tune is stuck in my head. Argh! But during the 2nd round however, I was dumbstruck and couldn't think of a song to sing. I stood there with a panic-stricken look on my face, and it seemed like a whole 5 minutes before I was finally called off-stage. Strange thing was, the audience didn't jeer at me - they were emotionless; more like sacks of potatoes. Can you imagine how awkward I was feeling in my dream? Geez.

According to www.dreammoods.com, here’s what they say about my dream:

Competition – “To dream that you are in a competition represents your need to grow and expand. Learn the value of endurance and perseverance. Also be more assertive.”

Contest – “To dream that you enter or are in a contest indicates the need to prove yourself as worthy and deserving. If you win the contest, then it represents your self-confidence, pride, and/or conceit. If you lose the contest, then it indicates a lack of self-esteem. You may not be fully applying yourself to the task at hand.

Singing – “To sing in your dream, represents happiness, harmony and joy in some situation or relationship. You are uplifting others with your positive attitude and cheerful disposition. Singing is a way to celebrate, communicate and express your feelings.”

Looks like there’s a bit of truth in the interpretation. Hmm. Another important thing: NO, I do not have aspirations on becoming Singapore idol or whatever schmidol.

Furry Tennis Balls

This is not the usual introduction I would have liked to write, but there’s nothing else on my mind now except for this:

I’ve never experienced such bad pre-menstrual symptoms. The depressed, volatile and emotional me subsides once the monthly flow starts gushing out. Although the symptoms are clear and I know that my mood is highly associated with my menstruation, I tend to feel better only after “confirmation” of my monthly visit. It sucks big time. I didn’t use to find it a problem. But now it has become something that irks me and the people surrounding me.

Tennis ­- I’ve had three lessons in total over the past month, as well as practices with Bunny and others; and I’m beginning to doubt if I can really play tennis at all. Once I see that lime-green-rambutan-looking ball heading towards me, I start to panic and everything fucks up. I don’t think I’ll be able to buy a tennis ball for you guys, which I promised to. It’s so disheartening. BUT, I’ll continue my lessons and hopefully my tennis skills will improve (that’s if I even had any in the first place). Bunny tells me not to be discouraged. Sigh.

Richard and Zon will be back next week for CNY and it’s been almost a year since we’ve last seen one another and I can’t wait to catch-up with them! Pity I won’t be able to see MonMon and Mila though.

Two New Hobbies (as of January 2007)

Following up from my previous post on having NO resolutions this year, I think I did make some without the intention of actually making one at all.

Just an update (and of course for my own reference in the near future):

- I took up TENNIS (lessons)! Now that's an achievement on its own because prior to the plenty explanations, theories and techniques that Bunny kept pouring onto me, I had never thought I could even whack a ball using whatever forehand, backhand or schmackhand. Somehow, I do remember my futile attempt of playing tennis long time ago (ok, 10 years ago), but this time, ha, I'm determined to play that game properly, despite how skinny and frail I might appear.

- We took up YOGA (classes)! Yup. Y-O-G-A. Bunny and I ended up as one of those curious customers who got sucked into signing up with the gym on the day we went for a trial at True. However, it took plenty of persuasion from our side and theirs to agree on a price, which we felt was comfortable and affordable.

After enduring the tormenting negotiation, we signed on the dotted line and came back the next day for our very first attempt at yoga. I think we almost cracked our hips from trying not to giggle too loudly. Ohmmmmmm. I must say though, that yoga is truly beneficial, especially for lazy people like me. I need some stretching exercises, more so than weight-lifting I guess.

I never knew that heading to the gym with your partner could be so fun. Just to sidetrack, I think someone has secretly given us a dose of laughing gas while we were fast asleep, because we seem to be cracking up at the slightest thing we see, hear, do or ...smell. Or maybe I'm just purely and truly happy. =) Hence the fits of tumultuous laughter I experience whenever she's around.

So besides the two new hobbies I've taken up, nothing else has changed. Snores and bores. Bunny was down with stomach flu for the past week and I ended up with a flu and fever afterwards. It's funny how this time round while I was sick, I was actually missing Melbourne. I wasn't missing anyone or anything in particular, just the whole notion of being somewhere else. Perhaps I was tripping from the drugs. *shrugs* We're planning a trip to Perth in September and if budget and time allows, I hope to make a trip to Melbourne then. And when I'm there, I'm going to buy so many Krispy Kreme donuts that the store can just depend on me for profit for the entire day (I love to exaggerate).

*cough*

I swear, if I get to play a proper game of tennis sometime soon, I'll buy each and all of you a tennis ball.

I look like Leslie Cheung?