Last Day

Today was my last day with IMDEX Asia. Although I had a tough time working on the project, I learnt a great deal and I was happy to have worked with some very wonderful people.

Dawn finally sent me her wedding pics. Of course the evil bitch in me couldn't sniggering at some of the funnier ones. Anyway I'm glad that the beautiful wedding has been immortalised in these pics.

Presenting Dawn and JF!

The happy couple

Walking down the aisle with Nicole


Nicole singing 'Come What May' during the dinner


My table, that's Dominic first to the left.

Best friends forever

Bride on the loose!

Monday Blues

It was an insane day at work and I was in a daze for much of the day. The mood carried over into the evening and I was a little down by the time I met Dominic. Coupled with a mysterious headache, I was not a happy camper.

On the upside I finally bought my wedding gift for Dawn and JF, I couldn't afford anything spectacular but I really hope they like it. Thanks to Dominic, I got a huge discount on the purchase so I bought him dinner at this Japanese place at Capitol Building. It was our first time there but the food was quite good and the staff were really perky and happy. Guess that helped to lift my spirits a little (the food and the perkiness!).

After dinner, I met Sherman to collect my free copy of Lonely Planet Spain. Thanks pal! We also met up with Eric at our usual beancurd place and I discovered that come this time next month, all 3 of us will be in different parts of the world.

I realized it's been too long since my last film and I look forward to making one soon. Perhaps it will happen in Europe!

The Great Singapore Sale!

After a quick nap to recuperate from the mahjong all-nighter, I met up with the Donkey and his girlfriend Jamie for some shopping. I had to get a few things for my impending trip to Europe and it was just nice that Saturday was the first day of the Great Singapore Sale.

There were quite a lot of good bargains everywhere and I ended up buying more than what I had intended to. Here are a couple of places with pretty good offers:

1. Gramophone - There is a 20% discount on CDs and 15% on DVDs and records storewide. I finally bought Cao Ge's Superman album after pondering over it for the last few months. Before more serious damage was done to my wallet, I dragged myself out of the store after buying just that 1 CD.

2. New Balance - I really needed to get a new backpack as all the pirated North Face bags I bought from Bangkok were in disrepair. After spending the entire evening looking at cheap (but ugly) and gorgeous (but expensive) bags, I finally stumbled onto something that caught my fancy. After a 40% discount, I paid only $21 for it. To say that I was satisfied with my purchase would be an understatement.

Coincidentally, yesterday was also the launch of the Singapore Arts Festival and there was a whole shindig at the Padang. It was our luck then that we were treated to a fireworks display as part of the celebrations. Call me jaded, but I don't get excited anymore with the constant display of fireworks in Singapore. I still think that it is all a gross waste of money that could have been put to better use.

The Donkey offered to lend me his old digital camera for my trip so I should be posting pics here pretty soon. Happy Shopping!

TGIF

After work on Friday, I went with my colleagues to the NSRCC chalet for our departmental gathering.
The highlight of the evening was the bowling competition.
Although my team lost by a mere 3 points, I tied for best scorer with my colleague Steven.
As it was a tie, we split the grand prize of... a pair of movie tickets!
That's right, both of us won 1 movie ticket each.
But it was a fun experience and I bowled a decent game although I haven't played in ages.

After the competition, I stayed back with Serene, Vivian and Margaret for a mahjong session.
Things didn't go as well and I ended up $100 poorer by the end of it all.
But we all had a good time and I look forward to more games in future :)

盛夏光年 Eternal Summer

I finally watched Eternal Summer a couple of days ago.
Although I had problems with the pacing of the movie at times, I have to say I really liked it.

Looking at the development of the relationship between the 2 male leads, I was reminded of some points of my life.
While I wouldn't say my life was that dramatic, I definitely understood the feelings the 2 guys were going through.

As for the ending... let's just say that realistically we shouldn't expect a complete end to any story.
After all, some things are better left unsaid.

And the American Idol is..

Jordin Sparks.

There, I said it with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
What better way to cap off a lackluster season than to crown a totally safe, boring and insipid singer?
In a way it didn't really matter who won since the competition was over for me the second Melinda was voted off.

Looking back at winners of past seasons, it made sense that Jordin won.

Season 1: White Bread Girl-Next-Door (who has since evolved into an Angry Woman)
Season 2: Black Teddy Bear
Season 3: Funky Black Mama
Season 4: White Country Girl
Season 5: Spastic White Guy
Season 6: Fat Mulatto

So congratulations to Jordin, I wish you a great career ahead.

And so it goes...

So I have finally decided to crawl out from the gigantic rock I've been hiding under and enter the blog sphere. I'm quite lazy by nature and the thought of frequently updating my blog is a little off-putting to tell the truth. I love travelling and since I will be trotting my way across France and Spain for 6 weeks, I thought of documenting my journey here.

Me in Bangkok

But anyway here goes...

I'm a writer by profession.
"What do you write?" people ask me all the time.
I'm tempted to tell them that I write political essays and publish books on life-changing subjects... anything cerebral.

Unfortunately most of the time I write drivel for the only broadcaster on our beloved island.
Not to say that I don't enjoy my job, in fact, I do like it quite a lot.
Which other job allows you to visit new places, meet new people and if you're lucky, travel?
Just don't ask me about the money!

Most of the time, I'm contented to stay at home and rot.
I'm not very outgoing, at least not in Singapore.
So I'm lucky to be surrounded by a core group of good friends.
In fact, I consider them all my best friends.
But in order not to upset any of them, here is how I categorize them.

1. Best Friend (Dominic) - By virtue of the fact that he is my longest friend (17 years), I have to give top honours to Dominic... or risk grievous bodily harm!

2. Soulmate (Dawn) - Everyone should have a soulmate, someone who is so connected to you that you only have to blink for that person to know what is on your mind. And I'm lucky that person is the lovely Dawn Marie Lee, I'm going to miss her when she moves to Turkey in July (sniff, sniff).

Dawn

3. Brother (Lennon) - My buddy from army, I get along better with Lennon (and his wife Vivian) than my own brother. There was a period of time when people literally thought we were real brothers! But now that I'm so fat, nobody will make that connection anymore :p

4. Buddy (Ah Ho aka the Donkey) - A junior from army, it's amazing how I managed to click with Ah Ho rather than most of my own teammates. The Donkey is a real interesting case study. Here is a rather fine specimen who unfortunately behaves in a most dorky manner. But now that he's flying in the skies, we'll see how much of the famed SIA training rubs off on him.

The Donkey

Get familiar with the 4 characters above, you will be reading a lot about them here in future.