words of weesdom from the NSB

Leo the Neighbourhood School Boy speaketh again. This time, on the difference between guys and girls. (Paraphrased a bit by me.)

Girls' mind like Internet. Always link this one to that one. They don't understand that guys' mind like full of many boxes. Can only open one box at one time. And there is one box inside got nothing.

Cheem siah...

rubbishy talk

The four-six girls had a post-birthday gathering for yh and me on Sat. I swear we have taken the same group shots over and over again in the last 10 years, but we never seem to tire of them! The conversation bordered on the err...outrageous this time. What started with an innocent "who is Ng Hui???", went on to "爆炸头 - our rgs senior with a pale face and big hair" to this particular girl's obscene antics in the lab during some exam. She apparently masturbated in the lab with a boiling tube until it broke??? HUH??? Ok, I think we left J really confused because all she wanted to know was: who the hell is Ng Hui!!! HAHA.

Ng Hui is the mediacorp artiste, who used to be from rgs, but seems like very few of the four-six girls know who she is. She had appeared on a recent edition of 8 Days (it was called the Raffles Edition).

Conversation aside, birthday was held at Wynne's new marital home in Holland Drive. Wynne and hubby, being architects, transformed their three-room corridor flat into this beautiful, inviting, spacious abode that I simply love. White, clean lines, simplicity, walls knocked down etc...So nice....I also want :)

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Grey's Anatomy.
Mondays, 11pm.

Ever since olduvai raved about the show (ok she doesn't really rave in general...hee), I've been rushing home every Monday to catch this medical drama. And I love it. It's not the medicine that makes it interesting, it's the everyday human drama that makes you feel like you could be one of the characters in the show. Not adrenaline-pumping. Just so normal. So real. So just like you and me, that makes it so watchable.

Show's about this group of surgical interns who experience love, love lost, family struggles, friendships...Even the ethical dilemmas they face at work are related to their own personal lives. And I love the music. It is the second drama that I like partly because of the music. The first was The O.C.

Monday's now one of my favourite days of the week. Of course, the smouldering good looks of Patrick Dempsey are a boon.

The nightmare is finally over!!!

Yes! The nightmare is finally over!

:)

Happy.

My music - part 2

Still going through my songs...Actually, I don't know how to play most of them now. And I've lost some of the lyrics. Gonna share another set of lyrics here to the song I titled "eva_rough". My diction sucks in the song! But I like the musical flavour I gave it! :) I don't think I ever gave it a proper title, don't know why the name Eva came to mind anyway. So here goes:

Eva

When the birds raise their wings
When the kites pause to catch the breeze
When the time stands still
A freeze frame
You'll be there with me

When the singer hits the note
When the car splutters to a stop
When the time stands still
A freeze frame
You'll be there with me

Words unspoken, words forbidden
Words that belong to only hearts
Pictures they never lie, you'll see
Frozen in time, frozen in tears

Ferris wheel, circle of lights
Seats for two and some love
One revolution, one sudden stop
Hanging in space with the stars

Look there's Mars overhead
Freeze frame, just you and me

My music

I have been having a terrible week. Decided to gather all the past songs that I've written, listen to them, laugh at myself, reflect about stuff, and basically, just to make myself happy. And I'm happy.

Year 2002 was the year (and the only year) I started penning my thoughts into melodies. For two reasons. First, I always believe that one has to be sad to write songs. And I was sad - after my first breakup. I've stopped writing ever since, because I got happy when I met leo :) Second, Talented James Porn was egging me on to try recording songs on my computer. If not for his persistence, I wouldn't even have attempted to open the recording software. Nice James Porn even let me use his condenser mike for one of the songs. Haha.

I still cringe a bit when listening to my songs. But still proud of myself lah. They were mostly done on first takes, excepts those that had harmonies. My guitar-playing skills not fantastic, so can hear lots of mistakes. Rhythm sometimes not zhun, and pitching also not perfect. Plus got sound distortions. Ewww....But they are songs that really made me happy. Heh.

I have uploaded the songs to my Multiply site. For keepsake's.

The following is my favourite, when I first learnt jazz guitar chords. I purposely wrote a song to suit the jazz chords. It is titled "roughjazz (love is like)" on my Multiply site.

Love is like

Love is like cotton candy floss
A ball of fluff, like a pink cloud in the sky
You can’t miss it, but it feels like it’s not there
Oh…love, funny love

Love is like a sundress in the wind
Littered paper sweeping to and fro in the gusts
No mind of its own but it feels at home this way
Oh…love, funny love

Love is cruel, kind, perfect, imperfect
Say all you want, you’ll always be right
Oh love, oh darn
You’ve fallen for it
And fallen in it

Love is something you can say you don’t want
But it gets to you eventually
Oh love, oh darn
You’ve fallen for it
And fallen in it

I've turned 27 - entry 2 of 2

March 16: I went shopping for my birthday present with lil' Ethan, Ethan mummy, and belle. It was a really random outing. Over a phonecall and an msn message, three girls (and a rascal) who don't hold very fulltime jobs decided to meet in town in the next two hours.

First stop: Zara. To buy a present for YL who'd be leaving for Shanghai to be a food magazine editor. So cool. Ethan likes shopping, yes. He preens for the mirror, he looks for the perfect piece of clothing for auntie YL (heh, more like looking for mummy!), and he doesn't realise his jacket hood comes in handy when mummy wants to catch up with him!

Next stop: Borders. Where I choose something very practical, as usual. Something that makes Ethan mummy go "alamak" cos she'd rather have shoes/bags/clothes/accessories. Haha. I got a book called "Skills Training for Children with Behavioural Problems". Happy. It has worksheets that will come in handy for my work in future :) Thank you belle and ethan mummy.

March 19: Time for the combined birthday party for me and Ben. Ben's 29....AWWWW....TWO WHOLE YEARS older than me. Sad sad. We have the same birthdays, and almost every year since uni days, we've been celebrating it together! Also, using it as an excuse for uni gatherings lah. Cos he's always hanging out with us younger gals, he has to act cute like us too (see below)!

Ever domesticated ben already had the food bought and heated up by the time we got there. There was cepati, naan, chicken curry, kong ba bao, some sushi-ngor hiang-lookalike, stingray (that hj quickly ate up before YL came!), and many many more yummy stuff. It has been a long time since I've sat around a dining table, eating and talking in a very homely setting with friends. Eating junk food, yes. But not a proper dinner with rice and proper plates. It was nice.

Of course, who doesn't want to be in the picture? So we piled up ben's books to get the correct camera angle (see above). That's hj with her ancient ANALOGUE camera!!! HIYO!!! She still makes prints for us!!! She's very persistent, I must say. We've all moved on :)

Wanna say thanks to (in no preferred order): hj, kartaly, YL, ben, dsd, ethan mummy, belle for making it a nice, warm, fuzzy, happy birthday for me. Thanks also to olduvai and beng (we missed you!) for the pressies and the thoughts. Wished you were there.

I now end my oscar speech. Thank you again.

I've turned 27 - entry 1 of 2

I turned 27 yesterday. March 21 was the day. And I'm feeling happy...nice, warm, fuzzy, happy. Leo kept calling me up yesterday, opening each conversation with "birthday girl!". Think he felt guilty that we could not spend the day together. He had to work, I had to write my paper and study. Haha. But it's ok with me, we already celebrated last Friday!

March 17 (Fri):
We went for Taiwanese porridge at Kovan, and decided to take a driving tour of *drum roll* PUNGGOL!!! SO EXCITING!!! Yes, we drove along Old Punggol Road - the stretch whereI brisk walk (used to jog whoops) - right up to the Punggol Jetty.

We noticed some people getting on a boat (see above) which said "Outward Bound Singapore" (OBS). Me, being the kaypoh, asked this policeman in very very faded uniform where they were headed to. He said boat trip was for staff of OBS only, and boat was heading to Pulau Ubin. Oh I see...

This (see above) is the nicer stretch of the beach. If you walk further along on weekends, you'll find anglers perched atop the huge boulders on the sand, waiting for their catch to take the bait. Walk on further, and you might catch a wedding couple having their wedding pix shot in this grassy area that sort of resembles a forest.

AHHH!!! Blogger's acting up!!! Can't post more pix!!! Anyways, I give up. What I want to say is that the ice-cream man/woman has also started selling ice-cream in this ulu part of Singapore. That day, we each had a cup of mixed flavours. Not the right mix though. There was peppermint, yam (???), atap chee and chocolate in mine!!! Yucks.

Then we got chased away by a policeman in a darker shade of blue, cos our car was parked "inappropriately". If you're wondering where all these cops come from, there's an air-conditioned shack by the jetty housing these men in blue (see shack in first photo). I think police duties there are very enjoyable, cos nothing much to do mah, everyday just chase away people who park their cars "inappropriately".

After being chased away, we drove around Punggol 17th Avenue where there are many terrace houses and childcare centres. I've been around there, but Leo hasn't. So we hung around. We also dropped by Marina Country Club, where we stood awe-struck, watching this truck-like contraption lift motor boats and yachts into their "parking lots". Imagine a giant shelf with three tiers. Yup. Each tier can store a few boats. And the first tier is probably two storeys high.

Then we got bored and decided to go home, somewhere in Punggol. Nice, relaxing day :)

More adventures with other friends coming up in entry number 2, when Blogger behaves, and I can post more pix.

which comes first?

Which comes first? The chicken or the egg?
Ans: .............

In Singapore, which comes first? The marriage proposal or the application for an HDB flat?
Ans: Application for an HDB flat. DUH.

I'm stuck.
S.T.U.C.K.
Stuck in the rat race. I have applied for an HDB flat before the proposal. And when your boyfriend asks you in jest, so how ah, now that we've applied for a flat, when you want me to propose, you know you're really stuck. Living in Singapore totally sucks the romance out of marriage. And yet, strangely, I don't want to leave. Too comfortable. He wants to leave though. I don't.

Too comfortable. Yeah. He and I are too comfortable in the way we are together. We are very happy. But the practical thing to do - and it's always about being practical in Singapore - is to find a roof over our heads. And so, he has had to do the thing that I know he wished he didn't have to do. He had to suggest marriage with a silent "let's get a flat".

I'm perfectly ok with it. In fact, I told him I didn't want a ring for a proposal, because I hate wearing rings. No fanciful stuff please. That makes me want to dig a hole in the ground and hide myself. Well, he knows me lah. I just want to know that I will be happy that we are together. That's all.

It just sucks having to be practical in Singapore.

O Happy Day

What makes me happy?

1. Enough slumber. Eyes are less puffy today. Yay.

2. Nice hair day. Which also means time to take photo. Good angle. Sharp chin. Nice hair-styling. Double yay.

3. Mayday. Ashin has published a book with more than 100 songs that he has penned for both his band and artistes such as Stephanie Sun and Fish Leong. Bought it yesterday. He's such a poet. Ashin has ever mentioned that writing lyrics, for him, is the most frustrating part of composing. He says in his book:

我们在禁锢的血肉中诞生，在忧伤的战门中成长，在时间的流转里失去彼此。而我正切开厚厚的典籍，释放那些曾经重压着我的铅字墨迹，将它们摇滚成诗。愿那些没有实现过的梦想，在最华丽最颓靡的幻想中重生。

4. Mayday again. Tonight Ashin appears on the Chiling and Kang Yong talkshow on cable. Few hours later, Mayday as a band appears on Kang Xi Lai Le on channel U. Double double yay.

puffy eyes, school boys and short hair

That's me and mong, my Hongkong classmate, at Pasir Ris Park yesterday. Spent the entire afternoon chasing after a bunch of sec school boys, filming them complete more than 10 rather physically exhaustive activities. Aim of the programme was to learn about setting goals, and we had to film them for a group project. Tired man. Luckily I wore shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops. If not, body cannot breath ah!!!

Woke up with really puffy eyes in the morning (as you can see in the picture). Have been so tired the whole week, sooooo busy. So my eyes have suffered. Sigh.

It was quite fun observing the boys though. Here, you see them helping to push each other over a wooden wall. They were really funny to watch. Haha. I have other pictures, but I'm too lazy to post them up.

School boys aside, I also wanna talk about my hair. My newly cut hair, which I have to style so that it looks nice.

Today, I was shopping at Cards n Such at Hougang Mall, thinking very hard about some presents I wanted to buy. There was a customer chatting with the cashier while I was mulling over some items. Suddenly the customer said: "Miss, your hair very nice. Very fashion. Where you cut ah?"

Of course at this juncture, I'm feeling very pleased about myself. Haha. Told her the place and she said she also had her hair cut there. She asked for my hairstylist's name and I gave it to her. Then she said: "What you do for work? Are you an air stewardess?"

HALLO! In my whole life, NO ONE has ever thought that I look like an air stewardess CAN??? SIAO AH!!! Ok I admit, I did dress quite nicely today with my quite funky hairdo (I tell you, the hair makes me wanna dress nicely), but hallo??? Air stewardess??? Air stewardess is fair, have long hair and very classy feminine one lor. I'm tanned, have super short hair and err...not very classy.

I don't know if she made that comment to "hook" me, but turns out she wanted to hand me her name card and introduce some beauty products that she sells to me. She's a beautician. Then she asked: "Miss, how about we be friends lah? Can give me your number?"

I said: "Aiyo, don't want lah. I very shy one. Don't want lah." And quickly thought of an excuse to leave the shop.

Well, she was actually quite a nice lady lah. She wasn't pushy, but friendly in a non-intimidating way. I admire her courage man, to make friends just like that! But giving my private number to a stranger is just getting too close for comfort.

I just hope she was genuine about the hair comment. Well, I think she was lah :) Hee.

taking stock

My exams finish end-April. Time to look for a job. Sigh...

I'm having trouble answering the people who are asking me what I'm going to do next. Because I'm not so sure myself. So in the last few weeks I've been thinking and thinking. Seems like thinking is what I do best in!

And I think, I would like to work with children and their families. Not youths, but primary school children. Oldest probably sec 1 to sec 2 types. Older than that and I need to deal with more issues apart from familial ones, such as sexuality and peer group pressure. Headache lah.

Not too young, because I want to be able to carry on a decent conversation with them at least. When working with children, I also have to work with their parents, because ultimately many times parenting shapes what these children become. Why children? I love them! And I think I can relate to the primary school age group pretty ok.

So....children who've witnessed domestic violence? Children from single-parent families? Something like that.

Through the short experience during my practicum, which is ending soon, I've been fascinated by how children can communicate their deepest feelings through drawings and other hands-on activities. I think, if I really do get a job dealing with this target audience, it will be really fun learning all the different techniques to get children to articulate their thoughts and feelings.

I did wonder, before I started my one-year course, whether I should go into geriatrics because of my experience with mr jai. But I think, I might not have the patience to listen to story after story that old people love telling! :) And anyway, children were my first love.

And so, the job search starts.

disappeared for a while

I am irritated. I don't know what happened to my blog yesterday. Couldn't access it at all. Asked dsd and olduvai to try and they couldn't either. Message said I wasn't authorised to access it. But I could access all other blogspot blogs! Then I tried to post an entry on my blog but when I hit "publish it", the message said "there are errors" and I couldn't post it.

Wah lau. I thought kena hacked or what. In the first place, who would wanna hack my blog???

Thank goodness this morning, everything's back to normal. Phew. Blogger technical glitch?

I'm still irritated.

House-hunting with our parents

Yes, the whole house-hunting saga is not over. The whole world (which means our parents and leo's grandma) are still at it.

So to appease the higher powers, we went looking at HDB showflats yesterday - taking our parents along on different trips. Actually our parents are very easy-going people, so it's not a chore bringing them along. It's just that...well...I wish I could just stay home and nap. House-hunting gives me a headache - must check the facing lah in case the afternoon sun floods the place, must make sure don't have certain kinds of neighbours on the same floor lah, must make sure this and that lah. Sian man.

Fortunately, yesterday was quite a hilarious experience. Because we realised why some units in a Woodlands cluster were still vacant after about five years.

Imagine a block with corridors on every floor. Ok that's normal. This block, however, is built in a circular fashion, such that all the corridors are facing one another. Similar to the NTU hostel where when you come out of your room, you can see all the other doors of the rooms of the corridor that runs in a cirle. And when you look down from your corridor, you see a little garden or patch of green that forms the centre of your block. Which also means that when an outsider looks at the facade of the block, they don't see the corridors. They have to walk under the block to its centre (where the garden is) and look up to see the corridors.

So anyways, I think this design gives the residents such a "sense of privacy" they hang EVERYTHING over the the railings of the corridors and even on the railings of the stairways!!! Mattresses, blankets, UNDERWEAR (yes, I saw many hangers with those things), shirts, jeans, whatever you can find.

leo and my mum said: "Wah lau, like kampung!"
And then later leo added: "Like domitory!" before checking the label of a shirt hanging on a railing and asking me if I wanted to take it home. Hee.

And then all of a sudden we heard a chorus of barks reverberating in the block. Like, really reverberating. It was then we realised that because of that circular enclosure, the echoes of any noise you make are magnified by like, I don't know, a hundred times? Goodness me. Knowing how families often fight in HDB flats, I think hor, if got people quarrel, everybody can hear very clearly lor. Extra clear.

Wah cannot cannot. This place, cannot live.