My mum meticulously procured this pomelo after a long selection process, and, fearing that others would take the wrong one, promptly autographed her name to eliminate all chances of that happening. It was chosen above its brothers and sisters in a Malaysian fruit orchard. And apparently, when it comes to beautiful pomelos, my mum adopts a 六亲不认 stance because the others who were in the fruit orchard with her (and whom she feared would seize her pomelo) were her sisters. When I saw it on the dining table the next morning, I laughed and chided my mum for her "auntie" behaviour. Just wanted to share with you all yet another one of my mum's jolly antics. ;)

Last Saturday, Bee and Kim Choo took me out to celebrate my 22nd birthday belatedly (our annual tradition). We met at Raffles Place, and then embarked on a rather long walk down Boat Quay. The destination: Mind Cafe.



Once there, my hosts for the day evilly announced that I had to win one game to receive my present. I shuddered as the games I normally play at such board game cafes usually involve quick reactions, which I sadly lack. Our first game, Ugly Dolls, (a modified version of Snap - you have to race to grab as many cards as you can) quickly revealed that I had not improved an iota in that department.

After a few short games, our food arrived. It was acceptable fare considering the price and the fact that their primary business is not gastronomy.

We tried a few more games, and it became more and more evident to my hosts that I wasn't lying when I said it was going to take a long long time before I managed to claim my present. So they started to tone down their competitive streak and help me win (a truly touching move, for my friends' philosophy in life is "Play to Win" =p). We were playing this game called Pictureka, which is like Where's Waldo. You have to search for certain pictures within a maze of images. It's difficult, but really fun if you aren't dying to win.






After some increasingly obvious efforts at letting me win (outright cheating), I finally did.







The handmade card and the ipod speaker (sponsored by the two of them and Cheryl) were more than worth the effort. I was extremely touched because I'd wanted such a speaker since at least 2 years ago, when my brother got one and I played with it while he was away. I never mentioned it again after that, yet Bee still remembered every single feature I'd said I loved about it! At an age when our memory is rapidly degenerating, it's nothing short of an impressive feat.





There are even some artfully chosen words written at the side, conceptualised by KC and written by Bee. Talk about customization!

This really is a lovely gift, because thanks to the sleep function, I can now have my idols sing me to sleep every night without running the risk of strangling myself with my earphone wire, or having to wake up and turn it off *contented smile*. Plus, the softly illuminated blue display screen doubles up as a comforting night light to chase away the boogeymen (normal night lights are too bright for me).





I really like the creative handmade card, too.

We then proceeded to Waraku for dinner. KC actually pretended that her 大姨妈 was here so that she could buy the cake! Her acting was really worthy of a Golden Horse nomination - I was taken in completely. Next time I must use this excuse too, heehee.



As the pampered birthday girl, I got to satisfy my craving for chawanmushi. Sadly, I discovered that I prefer the Ichiban version.




I tried kaminabe for the first time. It wasn't as good as I expected, though. Still love Waraku anyhoo!

We then had stimulating and hilarious top-quality conversation until the restaurant staff started packing up. Then out came the delicious tiramisu cake from tcc, and the revelation that KC's 大姨妈 had missed her flight and wasn't here after all ;p.

That night, as I sat reflecting on the day's events, it occurred to me that in many ways, thanks to the people around me - bosom buddies like you all, and my family - I am more 幸福 than some who have found love (in guys). I have found love in those whose blood runs in my (manly pop-up) veins, and girls who in my humble opinion would make excellent girlfriends. What more can I ask for, really?

Thank you, gals, for helping me reach that epiphany. =)

Welcome home =)

The smell of the pages when I open new books. Oooh yes. That's when I know it's worth the price, and when I know that e-books will never take over completely as long as enough of us old-fashioned people are still around.

I also love the smell of Wheelock Place, starting from the moment I open the glass door into the basement level from the underpass. Ending when I leave the whole building. I'm not sure why I like it, but it must have something to do with Borders.

Labels: what I live for

Body Shop's Satsuma Shower Gel (or Satsuma anything, really). The delicious fumes make me groan with pleasure as every single muscle in my body loosens up.

Thank you Grace! Wonderful Christmas present :) I left the whole gift pack on my table so that the aroma would entice me whenever I was sitting there.

Kudos to my ex-roomie as well. I remember you saying that you use it to de-stress during exams. Great idea, it really works! =)

It reminds me of my first love, The Original Mint Source shampoo and shower gel. How I miss that tingling feeling that lingers after I step out of the shower.

And now, back to the show.

Labels: what I live for

The light yet intoxicating smell on my towels when they are freshly laundered. It says "Welcome home" while bringing back memories of Taiwan (for reasons I either don't remember or cannot fathom).

Labels: what I live for

Our rear windscreen has been replaced for over $1000 dollars. Ridiculous, right? "Luckily" (depending on how you see it) we "only" had to pay $200. Insurance covered the rest.

The people at the workshop said that such things are very common, and it could be any number of reasons. I was talking to my mum about it last night and she continued insisting that someone did it. I told her it was cracked from the inside but she didn't really believe it, because when we got home she touched it on the outside and got a small cut. I told her that's because during the drive back the cracks deepened and broke the outer surface. She didn't seem convinced, and told me that many years ago when we just got a new car, somebody scratched it. And it wasn't even a particularly expensive car at the time. Never underestimate the evil nature of some people, she warned. Her reasoning is that since we parked the car in the residential car park, which is very small, and we aren't even residents, plus the fact that my aunt and uncle have 1 more parking lot than other people. Thus that someone was incredibly annoyed and decided to give us a little "warning".

Interesting theory. But well, we'll never know who was right in the end.

Today, my family went to my cousin's house to make offerings to our ancestors for the 15th day of the 7th month. When we left their home at about 9.30 pm and walked back to the car, we found the entire sheet of glass of our back window cracked, but not shattered - yet. The pattern of the cracks was so uniform that my parents initially didn't believe my brothers and I and thought it was droplets of rain.

Kenneth ran his hand over the glass and said it was smooth.

I panicked and said I swear it's all going to rain down upon us if we drive (that's how it always is when a back window is cracked in the movies, and that was the image playing over and over in my mind). But my dad said no, it'll hold. He was strangely calm about it all. Maybe he was just thinking about things like whether the insurance was going to cover it and how on earth this could have happened.

My mum's theory is that someone smashed it. But Ken argued that since the cracks are so uniform, that can't be true. And if someone wanted to smash our car, why not continue until all the glass shattered? And the most important thing is, when we got into the car, my curiosity-is-more-powerful-than-injury brother touched the glass on the inside. It's cracked from the inside, he announced.

As the idea that someone broke into our car and hit our back window from the inside is highly unlikely, I can only conclude that it was the change in temperature or something. But that doesn't seem probable either because tonight was neither a particularly hot or cold night. Kenneth's theory is that since our car was originally parked outside and then moved into the car park a while later, the temperature change caused this to happen. But it still seems like an unsatisfactory theory to me.

The ten-minute ride home terrified me. As we drove, the glass creaked. I kept staring at the corners of the window, feeling that the bits at the corners would give way first. None of us in the back seat dared lean backwards. But luckily, my image of glass shards pelting us did not come true. The sheet held itself together. My dad drove in silence, but I could feel the extra care he was taking at corners and humps. As we passed the street lights, the shadows of the back window painted the cracks on my brother's backs. It really looked like rain drops. A haunting sight.

When we got home, we examined the glass again. The cracks on the left side seemed to be more spaced out, but I don't know if it was already like that before we started driving. Once we were upstairs, my dad checked the car insurance. Turns out we're covered, but still have to pay a small fraction of the repairing costs.

I'd been in a bad mood the whole day, and this weird incident just tops it all off. The lack of any theories to explain it just makes me feel so 毛骨悚然. I wonder if my dad kept quiet because his brain was working overtime, or because he has a few theories about what happened.

I really don't know if someone tried to smash our window. All I know is that it seems rather unfair to be shelling out money when we don't even know how this happened. But I suppose that's life.