五月天創造演唱會

离演唱会一个月!

暴肥记

真不敢相信， 我竟然在一个星期内暴肥。

想必，一定是上个周末的暴饮暴食 - 薯片，汽水，冰淇淋， 东海岸跑足三十分钟后的大吃大喝（太不因该了，把本来消耗的变本加厉的补回）。本来不怎么样的食欲，突然间加倍了一些。午餐正餐加甜品；下午茶点时间觉得饿，开始馋嘴找零食吃。

起初， 我还以为游泳后一天去快跑， 使得大腿变得更“结实”了， 可是为何发现别的地方也开始“扩大”。

我想，一定是前几个周末在一个友人的婚礼，太多人说我越吃越瘦，害我得意忘形的任吃，狂吃.....才成这地步。

嗨.........现在要积极的小心看准能吃和能消耗的。

The song in your heart on the cresent and stars

This year's NDP song seem to be mired in controversies. Many commented that NDP song should be something that they can sing-a-long, that can rile up people's emotions as it gets played and got sung during the national events..and not some punkish group asking people what they can see.

Maybe that's why people dont like it. ("See..see what? Huh? Got sign that says "No eating" on MRT meh?")

Going by what I read from the forums, I wonder why so many people think we need another Sing-a-long NDP song. We already have many - I dont think anybody can ever forget how to sing "Count on me Singapore" (that is my favourite...my eye will always involuntarily become a bit glisten with that wee bit of tear when I sing it :p) (don't tell me you dont???) or "Stand up for Singapore". But of course, there were a handful that was probably as forgettrable. You think anybody can really remember the lyrics of Kit Chan's “家”?

Or maybe it's been a while since these few iconic songs were composed. It shoud be around the 1980s...gosh..and in between, there wasn't much of a song that can have as much impact and with the ease of tune and lyrics for the mass majority. But then, the 1980s was the era of 新谣, when the songs were more 朴实、down to earth, reflecting leaner times when the majority of the populations are less sophisticated in their lifestyle. It translates to the simplicity and autsterity of the tunes and lyrics of those songs, which of course, make them easy to sing; and in a way, makes these songs uniquely reflecting the Singaporean experience. Just take "小人物的心声".

However now, things are so different from yester years. Singaproeans are so exposed to the vast amount of information from around the world, getting into the latest trends in every aspect of their lives, which includes musical taste. I think if "Stand Up for Singapore" is introduced in today's times, I wonder how many people will give it the thumbsdown.

Anyway, I like this year's NDP song. Of course, I may be biased cos I like Electrico in the first place. But I like the fact that finally NDP is supporting local acts, instead of pop stars who are heavily influenced by Taiwan, Hongkong music scenes. Not that "What Do You See" does not show any Western pop scene influence; personally I thought it sounded a bit like Coldplay without the Brit accent. But I do not think it deserves the bad criticisms thus far, cos other things notwithstanding, it is a nice catchy song.

Maybe this NDP-song word-war can generate more interest in driving up a movement to develop a local musical scene, that can come up with an NDP song that many will like and can sing along, which is then truly Singaporean.

So here goes.


Btw I cant help but this is a cute ditzy-Singaporeans'-idiosyncratic song that I have to share. I love the part on the durian..took me 1 sec to realise what it meant. hahah~

Public Pools in Singapore

I previously commented that public pool is yucky. That was after I been to the Jurong East public pool one Sun afternoon when I decided to finally hit the pool after a long hiatus.

Being a Sun, the competition pool was crowded. But most of the people were there just to dip in the pool. The kind that stood around the edge of the pool, so that when you were heading trying to clear another lap, you had to try to find a spot along the wall that was NOT occupied by another standing-body in order to touch and push off again. And more often that not, that spot was often none existent so you had to just stop swimming, stood up and turn around.

That was not bad enough. Sometimes you had group of men/boys horsing around that side of the pool (which was of course shallow enough for them to stand chest deep); and then you had to try to swim around them, then try to find the afore mentioned spot.

But hey..I have not gotten to the yucky part. How many of you swam with your eyes open? (with goggles of course).

Have you ever had a look at what is at the bottom of the pool?? Or maybe it's better not to look.

And have you ever wonder..that men standing along the side of the wall..when you dipped in the water for so long, wont you have the urge to go toilet? How often do you see people step out of the pool, leave for somewhere (that would be the toilet), then come back into the pool? And how many of them actually use the pool-side showers before jumping into the pool?

Which was why I had really hesistated when I was thinking that I havent clock any swim this week. But I figured, the throngs of people will only hit the pool on Sun, assuming that some may work half-days on saturday, or only during the late afternoon when it gets really hot. So i decided to hit the pool at 11am.

I think my figur-ation was probably quite accurate - the pool less yucky, there are less men hogging the walls. No, there were still..but there were more wall spaces.

Did I mention only about the men at the pool? That's cos there were really like 98% men. There was only 2 other ladies at the pool today, and only 1 the other Sun. This shows how off-putting to the women the public competition pool is with all the men formation, I think.

I prob need to look for another pool..

Le Ballon Rouge

Such nostalgic parisian streets. The simple joy of childhood.



I was trying to remember the last time I last held a ballon (which I cant) - the awe and happiness of having such a beautiful plaything, but as the ballon got deflated, you just accept it as it is, and move on.

Seems like it has become a habit.

The clip is long..but it was worth the wait.

It's time to get my butt moving!

No. 1 Stanchart Half Marathon

Signed up and paid for on Sun. Did my first run in 2 weeks this morning. Counting down to 3 months later.

My goal : to go under 2.30hrs without stopping to walk. That would have better my timing from the one I did last year which I had foolhardily not trained for.

No 2. Swim Test

I have to clock 400m under 10 mins..erm...so that is 8 laps under 10 mins...that means it's 1 lap in 1.15 min. I just calculated that out as I type.

My first instinct is...what?!? I can probably do that on breast stroke provided I hit the pool regularly henceforth. But I want to push myself to really get used to front crawl....

Gulp....

And the other issue I have to contend with...is...the public pools in Singapore are simply too yucky!!!!! That is a story for another blog entry...

Poker Face

Gosh...the song was stuck inside my head since we were at Timbre two Saturdays ago. As a farewell for a colleauge (well, ex-colleauge now), the group of us wanted to go to a place with good food and drinks. We decided on Timbre @ Substation, and we were there on a Saturday, when Goodfellas was playing that night.

It turned out that that (ex) colleaguage was a closet-rocker, which was totally unexpected, given that

(i)during the first week when I was there, he actually instant-message me to tell me that something very minor..when his cubicle was just behind mine (I'm sure I had blogged about it before)
(ii) policy people tend to be a bit on the straight and boring side..no? (oh..maybe that's why he's leaving. Hah~)

How do we know he's a closet rocker? He actually asked if anybody going for the Mr Big concert next month. I was like..Mr Big?? That's so "rock"! And OLD!! To think I was the only one at the table other than him who owned up that I knew who MR Big was :/

Well, befitting the occasion and the subject (the farewell-boy), Goodfellas were churning out great rock songs. Too bad their set started only at 10.30pm, and by 12 mn, we were too drunk / tired to stay for their second set. But anyway, they did a cover of Lady Gaga's Poker Face, which was delivered smooth with a bit of blues, totally different from the original.

Anyway, what's to do after two weeks when the song doesn't leave your head? GO GET THE CD! Which was what I did :D With another 2 CDs thrown in (well..I did wanted to get Taylor Swift a few months ago and I was looking for the longest time for Emi Fujita's album where she did the cover for "Fields of Gold"!)

Anyway I couldn't find a good representation of what I heard at Timbre that night, but I kinda like Daughtry's version. I think I want to go Timbre again on one of the Sat!

Serene and Abel's wedding

It was a beautiful wedding. Long time friend Serene married her beau of 3 years yesterday. It was real beautiful cos:-

(i) She got married away with a beautiful church ceremony (one of the young hockey girls shed more than a tear I heard);

(ii) Her dinner venue was a clear see through tentage under the night sky, with chandeliers, wine, good music and good food (buffet though).

I didn't take manage to take any photographs (I should have!), cos I was the mandarin emcee, and I was simply too full of nerves to remember to bring my camera. I was just glad that I hadn't mis-pronounced the groom's father's name (it was 沈春才. Go figure) or trip over any words, with the pro beside me (my English emcee was a newscaster..OMG...).

But really, it was beautiful cos of how the whole wedding took place. The whole wedding was organised and run by the groom and bride's friends, from the events planning, wedding shots, videos, purchase of wedding favours, to the setup of both the church and dinner. Up to the last minute, both sides of friends were still running around making things happen. Yet, during the wedding, you can see the friends were genuinely enjoying themselves at the matrimonial event of their good friends the couple, drinking, laughing and basically making merry.

Serene and Abel are really two special persons, touching their friends many different ways. Serene has been a good friend and team mate through all the time I knew her from JC, playing in the same team for all these years. Other than seeing first hand how she had always been there for any one in trouble or feeling down, knowing her character, I can imagine how she had brought joy and good companionship to her colleauges and other friends. Abel, going by what his best men said and how his friends rallied around him for the wedding, must be quite a good guy despite having the tough-as-a-beng appearance.

I should have taken photographs..but being on stage, I definitely wouldn't have been able to capture the spirit of the evening - the glow from Serene and Abel as they did their second walk in, preceded by their friends who had shimmied and shashayed into the tentage, followed by the wedded couple, basking in their friends' blessings and bascially, the love for each other.

Oh..what a beautiful wedding!

Zee Avi

My colleague passed me 2 CDs she bought recently..one of them was titled :-

WTH is Zee Avi? But I must say, I like the look of the album cover so that was the first CD I popped into my player (I am superficial, I know). And it turns out that well, the songs are good too!

She reminds me of Rachel Yamagata..I like "Bitter Heart" but then there was some copyright restriction thingey that prohibits that single's clip from playing on youtube, which was like..huh? what copyright restriction that is jurisdictional based?

But anyway, here's a medley of her 4 songs, which includes "Bitter Heart".

讽刺

今天的邂逅
就算你在我面前
却好像
隔了一个深渊

话家常
我强颜欢笑
却不时地
搜索出路
能仓皇而逃

你说我
近日 愁眉不展
我心想
那已是
好几年的事了

一阵鼻酸
你没看见 因为
是谁 自顾自 的
忘了我

你有说过
不能怪你
那就是我
咎由自取

今天
被你又一次的
讽刺

Beware which customer you offend!

This is hilarious!

Me? An addict??

8.30am meeting was such a killer. I was so zomb and my head felt like it was swirling in fog. With another 10 mins to the meeting, I cant function without it! I was devastated when I saw the queue stretched to the entrance of the shop.

WT*&^%%&*..never mind..I can survive this.

After escaping from the super crammed lift car to my office(I never had to squeeze with so many people before! I was so ready to bite off the head of the person who block my way out of the lift when it reached my level), I quickly grabbed paper, doc, pencil, laptop and made a dash to the board room. Big honcho wasn't not there yet, and I can feel the withdrawal symptoms kicking in. I foraged into the annex room but I almost couldn't find what I wanted until my colleague pointed out that it was just on the side of my right hand. My head felt so heavy, I had totally missed it due to tunnel vision. But someone turned off the switch of the appliance..I cant mix the stuff when its cold! Argh...I can feel my eyes throbbing and really to pop out anytime..

Flicked the switch and retreated back unsteadily to my seat, and boss came in with something in his hand (I want that!), left it on the table and kicked off the meeting. My mind kept wandering back to the appliance in the annex and I cant keep my eyes off the thing on the table (the green medusa kept beckoning to me..), until I had to start scribbling notes just to keep myself occupied. Oh my throbbing head..My body was screaming for the antedote and threatened to shut down if I dont feed the addiction soon. I know I need it..more than I realised.

After about half hour, I saw one of my colleague sneaking away and came back with what looked like a styrofoam cup with steam coming out of it; from the corner of my eye, I saw another colleague went the way of the annex, so the coast was clear while the rest of the group debated on, and no one would notice I was missing. I walked away from the table and just when I was outside the annex, I sniffed the aroma and suddenly, "Ding"! the fog lifted and it felt like someone had turned on the light. Salvation!

I was good for the next 3 hours.

After the cup of instant coffee, extra strong cos the whole content of the satchel of Nestle Rich instant coffee powder was mixed in a small styrofoam cup with the water from the electric thermal flask.

That is until the next cuppa in the afternoon...

Talk to me before I have my first cup in the morning?

At your own peril of course.

What is your passion?

Since I am at it (waiting for the dog to sleep - but hurray! Sis is back and she gg to take over after she showers), I was surfing through FB and saw one of message thread with an ex-colleague.

It started out as he asking about the new place, the culture and stuff, and we went into how mid-life crisis came about, when people begin to attempt at finding meaning in their lives other than work. And he revealed that he would pursue his passion, if not for the fact that it probably cant support his financial obligations, to which I replied that well, at least the job is paying for the pursuit, so it's a win-win situation.

Then as a parting shot, he asked, "So what is your passion?"

I was stumped. My first thought was, does interest count as passion?

Sometime ago, was discussing with a friend on a common friend of ours, that that particular guy cruises through life without much of an objective, taking one day at a time. Not that he is forced to, by circumstances like some who may have to put away their personal wants and desire for something or someone else. I find it difficult to understand how one passes through life like this.

Maybe it's the habitual goal setting routine since young, having to better onself through the numerous practises on the hockey pitch (of course la..you miss-hit another ball hnot only kena scolding and even maybe ordered to run 5 rounds round the pitch!), to aim for a spot in the next tournament, with all the self talking, when knowing that the best person to motivate you, is well, yourself, and that at the end of the day, you can look back and say, that was a well taken journey.

Anyway I rambled. My point is, now that I stop playing competitive, mundane everyday life seems somewhat lacking, and I become restless to the point of being snappy and irritable. So being that, I started to looking around for stuff to do. But does that count as passion? Hockey possibly was, and that's probably the only reason for playing in the local league now. But if I am still passionate, I would have stayed to help out in other areas, especially after the one-hit-wonder stint as the team manager last year. But somehow the fire wasn't that strong for me to stay on given some of the rubbish I encountered.

And that's how I went into diving. But passion? It waits to be seen, but I like it so far. Probably when I dive more and start seeing more underwater wonders, I may be drawn more into this silent world.

Masochism? Ego-feeding? Donno. Anyway this is a good thought-nugget to gnaw on..what is my passion..hmm..

(gnaw?? I have been spending too much time with my dog..sheesh :/)

Another "past time" for the night owl

Gone are the days when I tried to sneak into the house, after coming home late, to avoid waking up my mother and to have her standing outside her room and ask, "这么迟才回来？". To which I will always try to mumble some feeble reply and steer far far away from her in order not to freak her out with the alcoholic fumes.

I thought I had earned my freedom finally when my mum couldn't care less if I party till the wee hours and come back home (in one piece! I owe myself that).

Until recently. Now when I tried to turn the key, I had to be extra careful and try not to make any sound. But so far there were not much success. By the time I open the door, I hear the whine and I know that that's it.

The dog will start whining, calling for attention. And after walking away from sight, he will start barking and then it would be panic - oh no. I dont want neighbours to start complaining! Removing makeup and showering became hasty affairs just so that I can get to the dog quickly to get him to stop the ruckus.

Leave it to mum? Yeah. Then she will start complaining the next morning and that is the last thing a non-morning person would want. Brother? Donno what is he doing in his room with his computer. Sister? Non-existent until the weekend when she comes back from hall.she comes back from her ECA in uni.

Sometimes I wonder if I should just try a sound test, to see how far the bark can travel. If the neighbours cant hear, then maybe I could bloody care less. But then again, it's hell for light sleepers like me to try to sleep through the din.

The only solution I can think of now is to stay with the dog until he falls asleep again. LIKE NOW! I am sitting on the kitchen floor typing on my laptop, and the dog is on his other side of the fence - the wire grill that forms his playpen. The past few occasions, I had let him out to roam a bit while I do other stuff, but I figure that he would realise that his success rate is pretty high if he whines and barks. So now, I decide that he stays in the playpen. Hestill looks frisky and has no sign of dozing off, while I am all about ready to jump into bed.

I've got to find a solution to this soon @_@.

My horoscope today

"Your great mental energy helps you see things from a new perspective -- maybe one that seemed pretty foreign to you not all that long ago. It may be life-changing, so get ready for it!"

Right.

Maybe its the revelation that I am a closet bag whore (just cos I cannot afford that guccisimo bag doesn't mean I dont covet it)

Maybe it's the realization that there's no point in worrying if another department upstream or downstream doesn't really do what is necessary - if they screw up, they screw up; no use hounding the issues if they are nonchalant about it..but it makes a hell of a difference with the blood pressure.

Or it could be that it's high time to revert back the short hair, after that glimpse at the mirror that I thought I had my bob again, before realising that my hair was covered by the collar of my jacket.

But the above are not life changing..

But this may be.

Hmm..or maybe it wont.

Well, whatever. This is going to be a long week, when suddenly from some appointments came out from nowhere. Sleep!

Sleep!

I can't believe that I was nodding off by 9pm last night. Am sure that a few nights of rushing that piece of homework had contributed somewhat..but at 9pm?? A sign of age??!!!

I ended up working until about 2am (I could have wrapped up by half an hour earlier, but the dog was acting up..ggrrrrrooowwlll...no, that was me warning the dog.)

It was a struggle to keep awake today for the training symposium. I thought I will jump into bed by 10 odd. But again, as usual....I ended up doing research cos the trial usage for the database was going to end by tonight.

I am such a pathological night owl.