g-suited!

of bananas, not pumpkins

B1 and B2 came out in their pjs
to have some late night halloween fun
that began with a boot party
at the end of a little dead-end road named river valley green.

the night bananas came out to play

gracie, lou and i went as humans
and mingled with the fruits, a bouncy rabbit,
a humsup mechanic and a dead race queen, among many others.
we even got red-beamed by unknown terrorists
wielding scary sniper rifles.
jj, whom we haven't seen since goodness knows when,
made a special appearance as brandy's twin.

i thought of going as a smoker,
complete with yellow box, fag hanging from my lips
and an ash tray perched on one shoulder,
but i'm a lazybum.
i did play dress-up earlier in the night though,
and could have gone to the party
as a dashing fighter pilot in an anti-gravity suit:
(you should have seen the helmet!)

partially g-suited and ready to rumble!

if only the gear wasn't so big,
and didn't cost thousands! =P

was supposed to report for a BKK.
woke up early and was all changed and about to step out of the house
when i received a call to tell me that i don't have to be there
and am now on standby.
"aircraft downgrade. we'll call you if there's anything".

righty-o.

so i'm supposed to just sit around,
nap with full make-up on,
and maybe take my bun out for a walk?

ARGH!

scaredy seeks a home

oh give me a home...

heard a kitty mewing piteously for the longest time
so i went downstairs to take a look.
it hid from me for quite a while *massages sore legs*
before venturing out bit by bit
and eventually allowing me to hold it.

scaredy seeks a home

scaredy has been fed
and is really quite clean.
but now scaredy needs a home
(coz my parents are heartless).
please let me know if you can adopt it!
(yes, i forgot to check if scaredy's male/female)

God was so surprised that i actually went for a swim today
that he ordered a thunderstorm right after i got into the cab and left the club.
-----

i want the princess hours vcd!!!!!!!!!
*nudges fengmin, puppydog eyes at aunty sai*
-----

i like dou miao
and i like it that he lets me order dou miao
even though he thinks it's rubbish veg.
-----

there's a little black alarm clock
somewhere in the world,
that doesn't have my name on it
but really does belong to me.
i'm sorry i left you on the bedside table in that foreign hotel.
-----

i need more books.
-----

i just killed a baby roach
by placing a newspaper on it
then stamping on the newspaper real hard.
my mum came out of her room to find out what happened,
and i got dad to lift the newspaper up to see if the carcass was there.
i told him that the roach's real big. ARHAHA
-----

i think it's time i go to bed.
(and time for cinderhelly to start studying heh)

glory glory man united

MANchester, not MANila

i know the F16 flies much faster than my boeing,
but it still doesn't take me 13 hours to get to the philippines.
the toot. =P

anyway...

no trip to manchester will be complete
without a visit to old trafford.
so despite there being no afternoon tours
coz it's the day before the big match (manchester united versus liverpool),
the 3 of us still took the leisurely bus ride to the stadium,
just to have a look.

we saved the 6pound entrance fee to the museum
since we got there just as they're about to close for the day.
the nice lady waved us in,
and we raced around inside,
like camera-wielding rabbits with foxes chasing after us.

glory glory man united

plenty of silverware on display,
and lots of red, as expected.
pity we couldn't go for the tour,
and missed out on sitting in the stands
or maybe kicking a ball on the field itself!

would have gone for the big match
if the "normal" tickets were still available.
but i wasn't prepared to part with 150pounds,
just to get one in the black market.

the next day was a sunday
and the cathedral near my hotel called out to me.
the 10.30am eucharist marked my return to church after quite a while.
it was a nice, friendly atmosphere filled with lots of old folks
and a rather entertaining preacher who spoke of terrorism and racial harmony.

called to church by the tolling of the bell

the rest of the day was spent
walking down manchester's main shopping strip,
checking out primark and arndale,
popping into M&S and H&M and the many boutiques.

oh, and a 92-year-old man nearly died on my flight there.
oxygen had to be administered
and an announcement had to be made for medical personnel.
thank goodness there were 2 young doctors onboard,
and their timely help extended the old gentleman's life.
he was very disorientated after the whole thing though,
and his poor wife was worried sick
(and also angry at him for making her worry). =S

meeting the parent

there's something daunting about that,
especially when the first time you see her
is after you've skipped out of the toilet,
and the sound of an additional female voice in the house
caused you to creep to the corner to peep out.

a few moments' lingering,
before taking a deep breath and stepping out.
uncertain.
both heads turned round to look at me,
conversation ceased mid-sentence.

i must say he made it easier for me.
his amused yet comforting grin, eyes reassurring me that it's all right,
then the introduction.
her gracious smile, an outstretched hand,
a few kind words before she finished their conversation
and left us alone.

then later, when we were about to leave the house,
he walked into the room to let her know that i was going,
and i poked my head in to locate her.
my very original "bye auntie"
her half-stand to smile and bid me farewell.

nothing dramatic,
nothing unpleasant,
yet still left me rather perturbed.
i think it's the total unpreparedness of it all.
she might as well have yelled "SARH-PLIIIISEEE!!!" when she saw me.
hahaha now that would have been scary =P

orgasmic piece of meat

whirlwind sydney visit

had just over half a day to sleep and eat,
which is hardly enough.
worst sydney pattern ever!
and with tazzy sick at home,
and glenn (who now owes me a dinner) finding it too late to travel,
it's a good thing trusty bigben was there to save me
from having to have a lonely dinner.

we walked over to darling harbour,
and stepped into meat and wine company
for the most delicious and perfectly done steak i've had in a long while.
it was totally worth the long waiting time
even though i was deliriously weary and hungry.

300grams of orgasmic goodness

*drool*
p.s. no, the chips aren't larger than the piece of meat hrmph. haha

random thoughts and lines starting with "i"

i did my first live safety demonstration this morning and
i think i didn't screw it up too bad.
it's relatively easy, 'cept that when you're not prepared for it at all,
it can get rather jumble wumble.

i kept wanting to burst out laughing at myself.
-----

i experienced the best touch down (of the aircraft type) yesterday.
it was so smooth, so bumpless, so quiet a landing,
it was as if the wheels gave the tarmac a soft kiss.
i wouldn't have known that we'd touched down
if it hadn't been for the slowing down of the plane.

i think the captain deserves a medal.
-----

i am sleepy and grumpy.

kimchi chichi

ah nyah hoh say oh!

kimchi chichi

one short day in seoul gave me but a superficial glimpse of korea.
i sacrificed sleep to catch the earlier shuttle bus to itaewon
where i got luggage tags embroidered
(that seems to be THE thing to do there, other than to buy fake goods).

a huge korean lunch of yummy kimchi
and way too much beef and mushrooms later,
i headed back to the hotel to put my stuff down,
then took another shuttle bus downtown to the posh lotte department store.
i walked past scores of gorgeous korean women
(and a handful of guys with movie star looks)
and ventured into namdaemun where i got plastic-framed glasses made,
before i called it a day.

hopefully i'll get to experience the more traditional side of korea
the next time i fly there.

before male

a weekend of diving in tioman,
with my diveketeers fai and mark,
who made choppy seas friendlier
(even though that didn't stop me from puking).
it's good to be back on board the ruby with them.

back on the ruby

the dives weren't all that spectacular though
since the monsoon season's fast approaching
and the conditions got pretty bad.
we had trouble getting back to land on the first day,
and when we finally reached the jetty,
a terrifying accident happened just as we were climbing out of the boat.

uncle boatman was trying to hold the boat steady for us
when he slipped and broke his shin.
his foot was in a funny angle last i saw him,
and he was bleeding and sitting down,
holding on to the bottom half of his leg.
they had to rush him to hospital - which was a feat in itself
seeing that the nearest hospital was more than three hours away.
he ended up in hospital in JB.
it was scary shit.

i just hope the doctors know what they're doing,
and set him right
so that i'll see him onboard the ruby again real soon.

back in male...

crazy hazy
all thanks to our flamin' neighbours.
on the bright (less smoggy) side,
we can pretend we're in foggy london/paris
(feng's very good suggestion).

i escaped the haze with a week in the maldives
*pictures lotsa green-eyed monsters glaring at me muahaha*
the diving was as good, maybe even better, than the last time i was there -
i saw more manta rays and one of them even gave us a private display,
gliding around us for the longest time.
and the weather was heaps better - not a drop of rain,
just burning rays all week long
that turned many of us lobster red.

back in male...

thanks to the fantastic weather,
we managed to go night fishing.
i learnt that i cannot make a living as a fisherman -
i caught ZERO fish.
it's a good thing the boatmen and most of the other crew
fared far better than i did,
and caught more than enough yummy fish for our dinner.

we went nightfishing!

some less fantastic happenings marred our stay though.
illicit propositions from dodgy island staff,
a mysterious phone call saying that one of us had been airlifted out,
loud knocking of some doors in the dead of the night,
and a broken window and upturned tables and chairs in the balcony.
all very very strange indeed.

crazy shopping in frankfurt

frankfurt - the land of unpronounceable words
many many euros disappeared from my bank account
after just three days in germany.
three days of whirlwind spending
on chocolates (giotto *yum* and hanuta),
on a guided tour to old heidelberg,
on birkenstocks,
on bags (the killers),
and on souvenirs. *help*

crazy shopping in frankfurt

spent my first day with some of my colleagues,
eating at the spinach/pizza/pasta place everyone goes to when they're there.
shared a large serving of spinach, a squeeze of lemon, and creamy mushrooms,
a to-die-for salmon pizza,
and way too much spaghetti carbonara.
that was enough eating to last the whole day.

the more experienced ones brought us newbies to the shopping area,
where i spent my flight earnings (and more) on my first pair of birkies
(plus one for my sis and one for grace),
my first longchamp bag,
my first louis vuitton bag (omg i've gone over to the dark side!),
german chocolates chocolates and more chocolates.
i am a sucker hear me roar.

started out my second day bright and early
with a buffet breakfast at the hotel cafe
before getting on the bus for a guided tour to heidelberg,
which is a city about 80km south of frankfurt.
i traveled on the famed german autobahn
where there aren't any speed limits
except at certain areas and for certain types of vehicles.
it's a pity i was in a bus and buses can only go up to 100km/hr.

old heidelberg provided a different german experience.
its "romantic" bridge, calm waters of the neckar river,
quaint town and magnificent views all round
were a far cry from the more cosmopolitan frankfurt.
i had a lovely time walking down the little streets,
visiting the church and leaving a written wish,
popping into shops every now and then,
and soaking up the bustling atmosphere.

tour to quaint old heidelberg

the old town also boasts of a beautiful old castle
whose ruins loom over the town centre
like an ever-watchful guard.
the sprawling castle gardens,
the rich history behind the building of the different facades,
and the awesome bird's eye view of the town
were almost worth the 68euros tour fare.

spectacular gothic facade of heidelberg castle

touched down friday morning and got a bit of rest
before heading to tioman for a weekend of puke-inducing waters,
a terrifying accident,
relaxing dives,
and some fun with my underwater buddies.
but more on that next time.
gota go pack for tonight's flight to male.
woohoo more diving!!!