taitai steamboat dinner at paramount hotel's tung lok
saw us eating way too much (what's new?)
and putting skewered live prawns
out of their misery

slices of sashimi, beef and venison;
plates of mushrooms, scallops and fish...
bobbing balls, skittering prawns,
and some very bitter herby soup later...

we surrendered and headed to parkway
for some healing tea/coffee/fizzy drink,
and, naturally, took more photos en route.

macca's washroom proved to be rather photogenic,
but durex's "blow to enhance" lubricant's quite shy.
we trooped over to dhany's next,
for a breezy night by his pool.

beer and green tea,
strings and singing,
pink and black,
boys and girls.
not forgetting R-O-C-K ROCK
(or in cakes' case, R-O-C-Y)

cakes:
you deserve special mention
for pure effort and determination

HOOYAH!

i heard a secondary school student say:

"how many money ah, this phone?"

god, save our ears.

ting posted this on her blog
and totally cracked me up

*rofl*

http://www.zennyzennzenn.youaremighty.com/
ARHAHAHA thanks freddyfrog, you made my day!!!

mark very kindly invited me
to join him, jaelle & derrick
for dick lee's
~ man of letters ~

our evening started off
with dinner at da paolo's pizza bar
where we had the yummy mango&avacado salad,
a perfect chef's pizza,
and heavenly stuffed portabello mushrooms,
before heading over to the very glam NUS cultural centre.

man of letters was surprisingly good.
surprisingly, coz we really didn't expect it
to totally blow us away.

the musical numbers were pitch-perfect,
and its talented cast kept us spell-bound.
we followed the leads through love and deceit,
blind loyalty, cowardice, and strength.
we laughed along with them at their '50s antics,
and felt their passion, their drive, their struggles.

it's a pity last night's was the final show.
everyone should go catch it
if they ever perform it again.

whoever said that the singapore arts scene sucks?!

thanks mucky, for a truly lovely evening =)

- 21st may 2006 -
a bunch of crazy people
got up at an unearthly hour
to gather at the national stadium
for THE NEW PAPER BIG WALK!!!!

daddy went too!
(but he walked with his colleagues)

one of the reasons we went,
was that it's colinmolin's birthday!
whatever made him want to
celebrate his birthday by
walking 10km with his friends,
i have no idea.
but i'm glad i was part of the fun!

*huff huff puff puff*
*i need sunblock*
*i'm dying of thirst*
*ARE WE THERE YET?!?!?*

WE ARE BIG WALKERS
HEAR US ROAR!!!
we stayed for the lucky draw
which only served to prove us all
terribly unlucky.

so many number tags,
not a single winning number.
hrmph
but we're all champs for surviving the walk!!!
*flashes victory sign and a big fat grin*

we celebrated my sister's 18th birthday
with a huge buffet dinner
at amara hotel's element

fresh salad, divine sushi,
piping hot soup, melt-in-your-mouth chawanmushi,
peking duck, sashimi sashimi and more sashimi,
a rather disappointing teppanyaki station,
and way too much dessert...
left us with absolutely no space in our tummies
for the nydc 2x choc cheese-birthday-cake!

joyeux anniversaire, ma cherie!

one of the good things about being stuck
in peanut butter and jam
is that you can take photos
of the fiery evening sky
while the other cars honk impatiently

burn with desire =)

wendy took a random shot
when we were studying at the airport

a case of the glums

there are times when i wish you'd understand
without me having to say anything.
there are times when i wish you'd comprehend
what i'm trying to articulate.
there are times when i wish you'd show
that you really do appreciate me.
there are times when i wish you won't contradict
what you say with what you do.

there are times when i wish
i no longer care.
-----

just hang on, hang on to the vine
stay on, soon you'll be divine
if you start to cry, look up to the sky
something's coming up ahead
to turn your tears into dew instead

"hang on little tomato"

an instructor's wife left us yesterday,
taken by a cancer that had brought her
and her family much pain.

this instructor only taught us on our first 3 days in sqool,
before he had to take time off work
to care for his beloved wife.
but his animated way of teaching,
his sincere and easy-going nature,
plus a wealth of experience that he shared with us
through his numerous (often hilarious) tales,
set a benchmark that few could surpass.

he reached out to us
even during his times of hardship and sorrow,
sending smses from his wife's bedside in the hospital,
asking if our training is going all right
and updating us on his wife's condition.

yesterday's early morning sms brought sadness
as we shared his pain and felt his acute loss.
a part of me is thankful
that his wife has been released from cancer's torturous grip,
but the agony felt by those she's left behind
is hardly anything to be relieved about.

we went to the wake after class,
to pay our respects.
he seemed surprise to see us -
this bunch of not-very-familiar faces
who turned up to give him
a little comfort, a little warmth.
he knows us by our batch number,
he's apologetic that he couldn't remember our names,
he's sorry that he had abandoned us so early in our training.

we told him it's more important
that we remember him,
for he's already touched our hearts.

he looked tired, worn-out,
yet he smiled,
asked us how everything's going,
gave us exam tips.

we told him to take care of himself first,
asked if he's doing ok.

he looked at his 2 children
and said with a wry smile,
"i'll have to do some repair work there".
he spoke of his wife's strength, her willpower, her optimism,
the road leading to her demise.

we withheld tears,
not knowing what to do,
not knowing what to say,
but hopefully, us being there was enough.

the fragility of a human life,
a lonely husband who didn't get to say a proper goodbye to his wife,
and 2 kids who will be spending this mother's day
motherless.

sir, our thoughts are with you and your family...

mmm the sony ericsson k610i looks
veryvery promising.
slim,
3G,
and rather attractive.

i've always been a nokian,
but if the real k610i lives up to it's picture,
i may well become an ericsson!
(hope it won't be too pricey *fingers crossed*)

we had a girly taitai sunday
a couple of weeks ago
that started with a very satisfying lunch/tea at menotti

ooo my veal, the tiramisu, the warm choc cake, the ravioli, the lamb
were all to die for!
we went shopping after that,
to work off the calories (and failed to do so miserably)
before we met up with edmund and his friends
for some seah street deli burgers!

very yummy burgers indeed
so yummy that we were too busy eating them up
to take any photos.
everyone should try their elvis burger
and play with the retro jukebox.

went to ed's for the rest of the evening
which proved to be a lovely way to close the day -
comfy couch, fantastic company, "the sweetest thing" and lotsa camwhoring

more days should be spent like this =)

a bunch of us trooped over to velvet last night
for the cheap thrill of using our pass
to enjoy special priviledges!
i didn't spend too long a time at velvet though,
firstly coz i arrived late -
after drinks (or fries, in my case)
with the girls, noolnai, mike, xiaoqiang & kris;
secondly coz oakenfold attracted tons of people
and it was just toooooo packed.

so we made our way to momo
and jiggied to r&b, malay and bhangra tunes!

ahhh all the girls look so much better without
the wayang make-up!

the 8 who lasted till the end:

got home at 6am
only to have to wake up at 9 to coach.
good thing my kid didn't drown!

oh, and i had to vote!
the deed itself wasn't particularly exciting,
seeing that all i had to do was walk to the polling station,
show my nric and poll card to several people,
put a cross on the ballot paper,
and drop it into the box provided.

i only had one thing on my mind the whole time:
that ballot paper is serialized
and the number is tied to my name.
my vote's a secret?
i hardly think that's the case.

according to the elections website however,
the presence of the ballot paper number
is to "protect the integrity of the democratic process
and not to undermine the secrecy of the vote".
ah well, if you put it that way......
*shrug*

taken at the close of a happy day...

(",)

a collage of my batch
with the stuff we each love:

kudos to wendy - my sny flight buddy
for her great photo-taking skills
and for coming up with this idea!

these photos are a bit overdue
but we'd a mini sarh-plise
for hock last week
to celebrate his royal oldness

ah bengs, ah lians and ah hocks
must celebrate birthdays in ktv rooms
hokkien songs included.

while waiting for everyone to get there,
gracie and i went food shopping
and chanced upon some square watermelons
(hereby dubbed squatermelons)

at 50 bucks each,
they'd better taste damn good.