auntie, this one how much?

i did a stint at the family provision shop today
coz mum was on duty but she had to go chauffeur fawn.
it's the first time i manned the shop all alone,
and it turned out to be rather exciting.

i had fun playing with the "gun"
that was used to stick price tags on things.
did quick calculations without mechanical-assistance,
and got the kids to call me "jie jie" instead of "auntie".
dweeb came to shop-sit with me,
and listened to me reminisce of the time when grandpa was still around
and used to encourage me to take whatever i fancied, whenever i came by the shop.
boy, that was eons ago.


if you're ever in the bedok area,
do pop into the convenience store that's round the corner,
under block 129 which is opposite the bedok stadium.
support the soon family! =D
-----

in other news, my six months probation period is finally over
and i am no longer a p-plater.
you should have heard my shout when i checked my roster today
and saw the "p" missing from beside my name.
woohoo 867!

it's one of those nights......

launch of cafe del mar at sentosa was very mos,
with plenty of overdressed (or perhaps i was underdressed?) posies
(jackets and pants? at the beach???)
free bubbly and food at the vip reception (service was terrible though),
and for a while there, the music made us want to lion dance.
not very entertaining at all.
it was a good thing i was with some pretty fun people.


came back from melbourne a couple of days ago,
and i'm very pleased to announce that gelati is very much alive and kicking
and deliciously worth the out-of-the-way walk to lygon.
mmm roche......
a big bunch of us had supper at the casino foodcourt,
hung out at the pub,
i lost some money at the casino,
ate my yummy grecko cheesecake,
bought another pair of bettina lianos and a pair of mollini heels,
and had a huge bowl of gyu tan don before the flight back.


was in the national library the other day,
and i realized how difficult it was
to find a moment of quiet there.
the shuffling of papers, dragging of feet,
the occasional cough, loud whispering...
a very un-silent environment.
-----

someone spelt kindergarten as "kindergarden"
and i pictured a plot of land with toddlers planted in rows.
-----

incessant chatter often gets to me,
like an unpleasant and continuous banging on my eardrums,
that increases in volume, causing much discomfort.
-----

i wish you're back.
-----

if i lay here
if i just lay here
would you lie with me
and just forget the world?

altogether now...

we're half a month into 2007
and the blues haven't completely gone away.
but well, it can only get better.

been missing in action coz i just haven't felt like blogging
so here i am now with a recap of what has been happening.

spent christmas and the days leading to it in dubai and istanbul
and this time, i managed to go on the desert safari tour!
it involved being picked up by a 4-wheel drive,
a trip out of the city to a desert that suddenly appeared at the end of the road,
an at-first-thrilling-before-it-quickly-became-nauseating neverending rollercoaster ride
up and down the sand dunes,
stepping on the golden sand and feeling the super fine, cold particles,
puking out my chicken briyani lunch,
stopping at a camp in the middle of the desert
for a camel ride, a bbq meal, henna, and some belly dancing,
and yet more 4WD-ing that thankfully, didn't cause me to lose my dinner.



camela-whoring indeed.

istanbul was crazy cold even though it didn't snow when we're there.
had so many kebab meals that i'm not going anywhere near middle eastern cuisine
for the next couple of months at least.
paid the grand bazaar another visit and did quite a bit of shopping.
we spent nearly 3hours in ONE shop at the spice bazaar,
jesting with the shop owners,
and ended up buying at least one of everything they had on offer.


went to perth in the second week of january
and took a train to fremantle alone,
after the boy told me i HAVE to try the fish and chips at cicerello's.
they were indeed yummy,
and fremantle was so quiet and sunny.
i had quite a nice and relaxing time walking about aimlessly
and taking photos with my brand spanking new sony ericsson K800i.


fantastic photo quality for a camera phone eh?! =)
followed his directions and got to northbridge when i returned to perth,
and bought some corica apple strudels.
crisp, flaky pastry, and delicious granny smith apples within.
mmmmmmm......

i just came back from london (again) a couple of days ago,
and when i was there, we went to the russian winter festival at trafalgar square
which turned out to be a russian pasar malam where we didn't buy anything,
got some free ribbons, took photos, played with man-made snow,
and listened to some russian band hooked up to a terrible sound system.
we also visited an arts museum, failed to get cheap tickets to a musical,
yum cha-ed in chinatown,
i went for mass at st paul's while the rest headed to harrod's,
and we stuffed ourselves silly with way too much duck rice. THRICE.


i will be spending my entire CNY in london,
including chu xi.
it sucks.

and guess what, i've got my long-awaited, first indian flight.
i'll be in AHMEDABAD for SIX WHOLE DAYS,
where a cow will be sure to headbutt me,
tread me to death,
chew on me,
then jump over the moon.
i promise to return as an ah neh ghost swathed in sari.

probably the worst start to a year.
ever.

happy 2007.
right.