We Were Soldiers

A lady from my HR department called me sometime last week and started asking me leading questions about whether I will be free this Friday, whether I can spare "a few hours" for something official, etc., to which I said yes... after all, you wouldn't want to risk pissing off the people who decide your increment and bonuses right?

Then she sprang the trap.. SAF Day dedication ceremony...

Win already.. clean forgot about it until 6am this morning. shit! I pack my army stuff away in a box, and there is this inescapable musty smell.. had to beg my mom to wash them..

When I go back for reservist, I love to wear mygarang No. 4 with concertina-wire tears and super-worn-out marksman badge... tomorrow, I have to wear the new bird bright green "please shoot me" No. 4, the pants of which I don't even know if I can squeeze into...

Not to mention I have to kiwi the boots later... kanasai...

That Only Other Thing in Life which is Certain

Just realised that filing ure tax returns early means that you are asked to pay early as well... my taxes for 2004 aren't anywhere near as high as my 7-month-bonus uni classmates (heh.. that's my only consolation, and cold comfort at that), but still something of a pinch..

Was really deliberating whether to do the Giro 12-month equal interest-free instalment program (no 100% non-satisfaction refund tho), but decided against it.. 1 of the things which really get to me are my recurring monthly costs.. insurance, broadband, cellphone, parents' allowance... oops.. haha.. thank heavens I don't have a car..

So it's a rather big depletion in my savings this month, caused by one-off taxes and some shares I bought... like dat how to get married?

Torment

1 of the nice things about taking the bus to work is that TVmobile shoves certain daily information down my throat.. it's almost like sinking into the seat is plugging into a central server to get daily software upgrades.. oil prices stay above USD60 on NYMEX, the damned USD remains defiantly strong, blah blah blah..

But the adverts! It's always the same damned irritating ones.. Pow Sing Chicken Rice and Tan Quey Lan (or something like that) Steamboat really take the cake..

But recently they've been playing a Time-Out one with Wouldn't It Be Nice by the Beach Boys.. the song's so catchy (and the lyrics are so awwwww) I've been humming it to myself non stop.. between that and me singing/whistling 千言万语 non-stop for the last week or so, I've been giving my colleagues pure hell!

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long
And wouldn't it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong

You know its gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through

Happy times together we've been spending
I wish that every kiss was neverending
Wouldn't it be nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could be married
And then we'd be happy

Wouldn't it be nice

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Wouldn't it be nice

Life-Saver

A week of blogging about photos. It's mostly cos I bluetoothed my cellphone photos to the computer over the weekend, and decided to blog them at 1 go..

I've got the above book amongst the tomes in my shelf at work, and some colleagues are tickled pink when they spot it, and go wah, you mean you use this textbook to negotiate our million dollar contracts??

No lah... not that bad.. tho I kinda get what they mean.. imagine you were to go to a lawyer for advice, and you see him flipping through the pages of You and the Law 3... die man..

But there have been times when it's been a life-saver at work... like simple intellectual-property issues, which is an area I never read in law school and am therefore an idiot about..

Not to mention friends' personal legal needs.. sad, but I suspect the crease down the spine of the book is caused by the divorce pages, when I have to zap them to fax out to friends...

I think I've said this before, but it's scary / sad that our legal training churned my classmates and I out mostly to fight arbitrations / court cases upwards of 6 figures and to draft agreements with the tightest call and put options, but I've forgotten some of the simplest things which affect the average Joe...

Awww...

Went for a garden wedding at Sentosa on Saturday... it was lovely! The weather held, it was cool, the night sky was mostly cloudless such that you could see the stars..

The solemnisation session was conducted as the helicopters practiced their national day flypast.. sweet!

Would have loved to walk the beach after the wedding dinner, by my lady companion was too tired from 3 hours of sleep the night before..

Spoiler!

Link to scan
Link to discussion

For those of us who have finished the first season of Lost, here's a treat! Allegedly part of the script for the next season.. but as someone pointed out, Sayid is spelt Sayed... so draw your own conclusions as to veracity.. heh

Blush!

I've got a law school classmate, KJ, who works in the next building from mine.. which is next to miraculous considering my office is in the boondocks..

Anyways, KJ went to Australia recently for a holiday and I got her to buy back for me packs of these potato crisps called Red Rock, and my fav flavor is Lime and Pepper.. thanks to YJ who introduced me to them! They are so good, they don't lao hong even if you leave them in the open for 2 days.. haha..

So we met for lunch to catch up, and so that she can return me my wine guide and hand over the packs of crisps.. they came in a Blush! paper bag lor!!!

I have no problems undie-shopping with my closer female friends.. by now, I can guess bra sizes pretty well from playing bra-size-guessing games with a certain female friend years ago.. when I went to Bangkok for business, I went to 2 different shopping centres to buy bras for friends, all by myself..

But to carry a Blush! paper bag back into the office after lunch, right next to seasoned "warriors", my secretary and my bosses, cannot lah!

At the bus stop, I discretely emptied the bag of the contents, folded it away and nonchalantly walked into the lift.. safe!

Question of the day, guys - between carrying a bouquet of flowers and a Blush! paper bag, which would you rather do?

It's def the former for me.. I've got no problems buying/holding flowers...

Just for Powerpuff

Apologies for the long time it took to get this done.. now that there is a lead weight in my heart, perhaps it will make the songs come out easier.. heh..

Ok, I don't think they are songs which make me cry per se, but songs which have special (including sad) meaning to me..

1) Anyone at All
The song makes me think about what I kinda want in The Someone, and how nice it is to know that she's a good friend and who has been beside me for a long time, even before I had the hots in her.. but she doesn't share my sentiments, and told me that this was the song which she would have wanted to play at her wedding with an ex-boyfriend..

2) Chances Are - Bob Segar & Martina McBride
Chances are (haha) you've never heard this song before, or have heard but don't know it's name.. but I seriously encourage you to get your hands on it by hook or by crook...
It's the song I want to play at my own wedding..

3) Everything I Own - Bread
I guess a lot of us come from slightly differing age groups, but this song was played when the mother in Growing Up died.. I definitely teared, as with half of the Singapore which watched that episode.

4) Imagine - Eva Cassidy
I don't know why it makes me sad.. melancholic song I suppose.. but that said, I listen to it over and over again.. probably because I think Eva Cassidy's rendition is amazing...

5) It might be You - Stephen Bishop
Reminds me of the 2 girls I liked in Sec 3 and 4... more sentimental than sad..

6) It Must Have Been Love
Again, another secondary school song from Pretty woman, which reminds me of those 2 girls...

7) Lose Your Way - Sophie B. Hawkins
From the Dawson's Creek soundtrack.. in the first few years of law school, I spent almost everyday with this wonderful friend (whom I had the hots for at some point), and we played this song almost everyday in the car..

8) Somebody - Depeche Mode
Dunno.. but just haunting and melancholic...

9) You and I Both - Jason Mraz
A certain girl said this to me when this song was played in my car radio - "you know, we have so much in common"... this being the girl I so love, I really wish she could have woken up from that figurative stupor and realise....

10) 千言万语 - 王菲
No special meaning.. but Faye Wong's version is so haunting... gives me goosebumps the same way the live version of Somebody does..

I'm not really a fan of passing batons.. but I'd really love to see Lynne's and YJ's responses, mostly cos I think we love the same kinda songs.. if you could indulge me... YJ, you can whisper it in my ear when u come back from overseas-land.. :D

Quiz

I've gotten so reliant on Bloglines that I inadvertantly miss out reading some of my favourite blogs.. Hmm.. I still dunno whether she prefers to remain fairly anonymous, so shan't link her yet, but heyhey, you know who you are, tell me otherwise yah?

The Question of the day is: So, what is the one spark in the midst of your darkness? What was the one thing which made you smile today?

Cliched answer, but it's really my friends. Over the past month plus, something unfortunate happened to one of us, and from the way we have rallied around him, I know they will hold me up when I fall...

Many friends come and go, some whom you think will be around forever somehow leave as well, which saddens me, but I know the HJ bunch will always walk in front, beside or behind me in my life...

Today, HJ, GL and I came up with a business idea which felt far, far more compelling that the rest we've floated.. for once, I think this one's really gonna happen! And the best part is, aside from the money, we are helping people in the process!

Stolen from Tetanus - Test

Get to know yourself better (Italics are my response)

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

Ding!

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Half right - I judge a book by its cover all the time and think I'm very good and sizing people up in the first 10 seconds..

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

Hmm... I don't quite know anymore, but think it's correct lah..

The seriousness of your love:

You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

I also don't quite know anymore..

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

Not really, but I'd love to have a Wharton MBA...

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

Kinda.. but HJ, GL and I just came up with a possible business plan which will hopefully see a CLS350 in my porch in 2 years..

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

Ding!

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Wrong! I'll be the first to admit I need my friends.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Ding!

Initial CLS

I may have to buy the cheapest one, but I swear I'll own one 1 day not too long from now... black on the outside, cream on the inside.

Watched Initial D tonight... the cars didn't do all that much for me, though I'd have paid $50 to sit in the car when they do 1 of their rounds.

The girl's really cute! and Jay Chou rocked the way he could race with 1 palm cupping his head and the elbow propped against the window sill... IIRC, he was driving a right-hand drive and on the left side of the road, but the Merc owned by the sugar-daddy was a left-hand drive!

Don't know if you guys ever watched Herbie, but there's a 2005 instalment! Reviews don't seem to rock so much tho.. will blog about it soon...

Paging for Miche

Miche,

Come back and explain your expressing behaviour! :D

My questions:
a. why would you freeze instead of refrigerate it? For greater freshness?
b. how do you unfreeze it later on?
c. when you're at work, what does the baby drink? And does he/she get a double dose at night, since there is the Pantry Express and the Freshest Express?
d. why is it called "express" anyway?

Funnel

If you know me, you will likely know that I love most things nautical.. but no, don't worry, there ain't brass bells and big wooden ship steering wheels lying around the house.

Check this out - Christie's is having an auction on items from the golden age of cruise shipping. 1 of the items is in the above photo; it's actually a life-jacket from a survivor of a 1934 cruiseship disaster. Not that I could have bought or wanted such an item, but cool right? A catalogue of this auction would have been nice, but that's USD30.. eeks..

Susu

My friend was the first to reach his office last Thursday morning. The kopi-o he made himself from the pantry was too hot, so he decided to put some ice cubes in.

Open the pantry freezer, and he sees a small white clear-plastic-wrapped block. Hmmm.. is it what he thinks it is? Ever the intrepid ex-commando, he poked at it.. it's hard!

1 of the lactating women in the office must have milked herself the day before and forgot to bring it home!!! Some poor baby would have been famished that night...

Disclaimer: The term "milked herself" was my friend's exact words, not mine.

Wabbit

Why the heck am I blogging when I have so much work to do? Cos I'll forget the ideas otherwise..

Was just reading FF's post about her lunch, and it reminded me of my rabbit experience from a long time ago. I was running from my old place at West Coast all the way to Pandan Reservior, and then around the reservior.. it was damned shack I tell you.. 7km at least.. not even sure I can still do it..

But anyways, what was important was that near the end, I saw a rabbit amongst the shrubs! I really, really thought that I was hallucinating from the exhaustion, but I saw a brown and white bunch of fur hopping around.. can rabbits survive "in the wild" in Singapore? As in, what will they eat and where do they sleep at night / when it's raining?

In the meantime, here's a really cute rabbit. It's owner should put up new pics!

Father's Day

I'm not close to my father.. I guess he's the type from a different generation, we don't have much in common to talk about, and I find some of his views parochial and slightly bigot-ic.

People always ask after Father's / Mother's Day what we did for the weekend, and the simple answer is that, in my home we don't celebrate these things.. not birthdays, and CNY holds little meaning, etc.

But of course there are wonderful memories - the one that's indelibly etched in my mind was when I was maybe 7 or 8, and my dad let me man the steering wheel of the car when we were driving along a quiet stretch of road on the way home.. and that's what I realise I must do as a father - to empower my kids and make them realise what they are capable.. sounds like management / leadership fluff, but I firmly believe in it.

And lest anyone thinks otherwise, I'd be the admit to say that I take my parents for granted sometimes, but I know the ends of the world they go for me.. picking me up from the MRT station when it's pouring, driving all the way from pasir panjang to Lim Chu Kang when I was in the army, etc.

More than mom, it's hard to say the 3 words to dad...

+++

Went to HJ's place to swim yesterday, and I am so dead. Couldn't last 300m before my arms screamed in pain... Which means, there goes my IPPT..

We did dinner at this Korean charcoal barbie place at Pasir Panjang called Ju Shin Jung.. the card says that their website's www.jushingjung.com, but it's only a bunch of script... It was quite good, tho we over-ordered. We got sliced beef sirloin, pork chops and chicken fillets, topped off with their hot and spicy soup.. And we got the whole works as far as the condiments were concerned... somewhat pricey tho.

The funny thing was that dinner reminded me of something, but I couldn't put a finger on it for the first 5 minutes.. then I recalled - I had almost the same thing with SM in Sydney last year, which kinda brought back bitter-sweet memories... but that's a can of worms I never really understood so I better keep a really tight lid over it.

And HJ's been hilarious.. remember when I asked about scuba diving? So HJ's been calling a couple of schools, and asking them if their lessons have a lot of girls.. hahahahahaha..

We've decided the modus operandi will be this - we make it clear to the school that 1 of the objectives of learning scuba is to make new friends (haha) and so we don't mind doing the pool and theory lessons first, but we wanna go up with a bigger group. Smart right? *pats myself on the shoulder*

We also "plotted" to bump GL from the lessons, as he is a threat to us, being good looking and all.. hahaha..

Rush

Work the past 3 days have been just nasty.. Can't remember the last time I had to work on a Saturday... tho I must say the adrenaline rush felt good...

The only reprieve, which I'm still thinking about, was the food last night.. I gave up at around 9 (knowing today would be a work day anyways) and HJ swung by to pick me up, and we went to Alexandra Village for dinner.. some of you might be familiar with the zzz char stall there... some 2 or 3 years ago, we used to eat there quite a lot, but probably got sick after a while cos they used the same tangy / spicy sause for quite a lot of dishes..

But it felt good to eat there again... between 2 of us, we had barbequed stingray, fried kang kong, fried mussels and prawn rolls... you know when you eat barbequed stingray with a fairly large group you have to take polite portions? Not last night.. the feeling of sinking your teeth into one-third of a 1-cm thick, 4-cm x 9-cm slab of sting ray's fabulous!

Then we went to his / GL's bachelor pad.. and sipped Cordon Bleu (haha.. so ah pek) to celebrate a certain anniversary (yikes.. that sounded so gay) whilst watching De-Lovely...

Shucks, seem to have lost 2 of the taxi receipts which I was meaning to claim against.. that's $25 gone.. damn..

And I've finally decided to accept the company's Blackberry, after the intial resistance.. the model I'm getting comes in blue or black, and actually I really want a blue one, but this kinda thing how to ask right? hahah.. and what else sux is that the company uses another telco for our cellphones, so voice / sms isn't activated on the unit.. otherwise I'll be able to send sms-es when I'm overseas for 0.5 cents instead of 50 cents..

The song for today, in line with me being an ah pek last night is: In This Life by the Beatles:

There are places I’ll remember all my life
Though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these mem’ries lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I’ll love you more

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I’ll love you more
In my life I’ll love you more

Collide

The below post was written this past Sunday night and meant to be posted sometime during the week when I've nothing else to write about; but now it seems particularly apt that I blogged about Somebody (the song) this morning, to which I found that Somebody (the person) has ostensibly the same taste in music as me!

Isn't 1 of the nicest things in the world to find that you and someone else have exactly the same esoteric taste in books, or music?

I've never met someone who has (almost) exactly the same taste in books as I do... My fav author ever is John Steinbeck, and I can just imagine that when I mention the name, most people get sucked back into the traumatic vortex of Sec 2 literature, when The Pearl / Of Mice and Men / The Red Pony was shoved down our throats..

If I met a girl who said her fav author was Steinbeck, how would I react? Probably my brain will overload as she pronounces "John Steinb.." If there are compelling reasons to convince me to shamelessly go after a particular girl cos she might be The One, this is probably one of them...

So if anyone feels rich, you know what to get me for my birthday.

My taste in music is hardly esoteric.. it's mostly boy bands and marginally alternative pop / rock, so there's no real magic if we like the same songs.. but singing them together over the car radio on the long drives, now that's heavenly..

Have been listening to Howie Day's Collide on repeat for the past 2 hours.. so, FF, maybe I can serenade you with that the next time we meet.. heh..

Even the wrong words seem to rhyme.

Somebody

She says that Depeche Mode's Somebody is 1 of the top 10 songs which make her cry..

I don't think I've ever cried over a song, but yeah, there are songs which remind me of certain people, or have a special meaning for whatever other reason, like:
a. More than Words: reminds me of MY cos that was her favourite song
b. I will remember you: reminds me of sec 3 and 4
c. You and I both: LG
yadda yadda..

And I've said this many times - I almost always never listen to lyrics. But Depeche Mode's Somebody, that's something else altogether. Many were the nights where I'd lie in the darkened room with only the uplighter on, and the song goes on repeat forever..

The strangest bit about the song is that it gives me goosebumps.. but in the nice kinda way I guess...

Let's see which parts of the lyrics still hold true for what I want in the Somebody.. Red's for "no", Green's for "yes", and the default font color's for "whatever.."

I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
Know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
She'll get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
She'll hear me out
And won't easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact she'll often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me

I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought and
With every breath
Someone who'll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
To anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to steer clear of
Those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
And kiss me tenderly
Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
I'll get away with it

Wet wet wet

I was raining cats and dogs when I reached the work bus-stop this morning.. was really tempted to wait for the rain to abate, but I had a big-shots' conference call starting in 15 minutes..

And no, I'm not anywhere near 1 of the big shots.. I'm there in case they have some legal issues which need to be addressed, which are so rare that what almost always happens is I put the speakerphone on mute and read the papers / sort out the emails that come in overnight..

Anyways, I got distracted.. yet again.. what I was going to say was I ran through the rain, and the feeling when the part of the shirt over my nipples is cold and wet is just really gross!

Jailbreak

Read today's papers?

The dude who escaped from police custody outside remand prison has been caught. Where? Having a meal with a 20-year old female companion.

I didn't follow this piece of news closely, but assume that he was in remand for quite a while before the "jailbreak". The first thought that came to my mind was "what a stupid thing to do", both w.r.t. the eating in public and the female companion. Surely the police were going to stake out the homes of his relatives and best friends, etc?

On further thought, hey, isn't that a natural thing to do? The whole idea of escaping was to get freedom, and if you couldn't be with your loved ones or do (well, in this case, eat) the things you most want to do, what's the point of escaping?

+++

Totally irrelevant, but re-reading the above paragraph, the thought that surfaced was this cheesy line: If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right. eeks.. :D

+++

On the whole jail theme, if you for some reason were due to be hanged, and the wardens were to indulge you in your request for your last 3 meals, what would they be?

Mine (in order of preference):
1. Keppel Road Bak Kut Teh - the almost clear, peppery kind, with lotsa you char kway
2. Foie Gras Burger - what the heck, since gonna die anyways, I want a triple-patty, with no pickles, lettuce or cheese, on a sesame seed bun.. heh
3. Mom's bittergourd mee suah - amongst the unholy trinity of vegetables (Bittergourd, Brinjal and Ladies' Fingers) I like bittergourd the most, and my mom makes the most kick-ass mee suah

And speaking of foie gras, an evil friend woke me up yesterday from a lovely dream where my ex-secretary was grilling foie gras yakitori sticks for me.. yums... if not for the said evil friend, ex-secretary would probably have been hand-feeding me.. hyak hyak hyak...

GPS

If you've been reading my blog from the start (and I believe Powerpuff is 1 of them.. thanks tons!), you'd remember that 1 of my first posts was about my ex-roommate, and how for Christmas 1 year, he replaced the Mont Blanc fountain pen I lost when I dropped it into the sea / left it in the ship which I visited to pay the starving crew...

I've felt bad for the longest time about how I was going to go about repaying the value of the present (partly due to the stingy-ness.. heh)

And finally I'm even...

Though he could definitely do with the Garmin Forerunner 201 cos he runs and does whatever other exercises.. it's got a GPS built-in so you know exactly how far you've run, whether you're running faster than last week, blah blah blah...

Got it on ebay for USD135 (S$225) all in... the closing prices started going up over the 1 week I was watching / bidding, probably due to Father's Day..

So that's this year's present sorted out.. most of the time, it's much easier buying presents for girls than guys..

Real Winners!

Had a sudden itch to bet some money (thought that there were World Cup Qualifiers available for betting at the 4D outlets) and made TL show me the 4D shop nearest his home.

I've good money on Real Betis to win Osasuna (who????) at 1.75 odds... make me proud! and rich!

Sunday School

Thanks to Lancerlord for the kick-ass link.. My apologies if anyone is offended by the message.

Everett

This is hilarious.. Life sux, doesn't it?

Kinda like if Lincoln admitted he chopped down the cherry tree cos he thought his old man would sayang him, but got a good hearty paddling instead.

Halls

Have you all seen the Halls Polar Bear ad on tv? It's hilarious, especially when he nicks his, as my friend says, jiao jiao...

Holy Jacket

My company adopts a pretty slack dress code - men are only required to wear business shirts, and some people have even taken to wearing short-sleeves.

So I'm one of the very few men who have a suit jacket draped over my chair, and people in the lift give me a weird or fearful (depending whether they have fear for authority / know how un-senior I actually am) look when I commute between the floors on contract closing days, etc. in a jacket.

This morning, the personal assistant to the No. 2 Honcho in the company came to borrow my jacket cos her boss forgot to bring his.

This means my jacket would have been worn by a former-megatop-civil-servant ok? wahhhh... Maybe I'll even have new superpowers when I don it from now on..

Reminds me of the time I got to (read: had to) to carry Darvinder Singh S.C.'s court robe when I was a wee trainee... I swear there was a certain sacred-ness about the stuff that he touched.. you'll go to hell if you were to accidentally drop it, or let it touch the ground.. haha..

Argh!!!

There was a really great blogging thought I had in my head which could be summed up by 1 keyword, and I was repeating it in my head so as not to forget, but a colleague called to check on something, and now it's lost!!! wah lau!

Anyways, I'll blog about the thing I can remember first. Dinner!

It was ERM's birthday yesterday, and SF suggested dinner with him, RP and me at this place called Kazu at Cuppage Plaza. I'll never be able to write a review which does justice to the superlative evening, but you can read reviews here and here.

I first started discovered Asahi beer at the business class lounges in Changi.. The beer fridge had small sections of Tiger and Heineken, both of which I like a lot, but a huge row of Asahi Dry, and there's been no looking back since.. Asahi at Kazu came complete with the small beer glass, and not too cold such that you can't fully taste the good stuff.

But the highlight of the food there has to be the yakitori foie gras.. woo hoo! Each S$5.50 skewer comes with 3 pieces the size of which I can only best describe as the "flag" erasers we used to play with when we were young? Almost like pan-fried - slightly crispy on the outside, and half-gooey on the inside.. yums!

Some of the other skewers I liked more were:
a. asparagus
b. golden mushroom
c. quail's eggs with bacon
d. lamb

Though I must say the smell of un-sauced fish being yakitori-ed turns me off somewhat..

All that was missing was the company of some hostesses from the sleazy watering-holes populating Cuppage Plaza.. haha.. kidding.

The total damage? I don't quite know because SF treated, but I suspect it's about $70 per person..

Quite stuffed by the end of the night, and something (probably Mr. Asahi) gave me the courage to retrieve my shoe-boxes to sneak a peek.. but that's for the next instalment!

Shoeboxes

Once again, TL writes a very insightful post which stokes the vague memory I have somewhere in the back of my head.. we're cursed with the think too much disease.

I've always been a very sentimental monkey.. and one of the hallmark traits of such a person is his/her tendency to hoard all manners of junk which have vague sentimental value.

My work email inbox is full of archived personal emails from various friends, and this will show you how ridiculous it gets:
a. during my ORD month before I left my last job, I printed out the "important" personal emails accumulated from December 2001 to February 2004.. from interns, hot dates, law school classmates, etc. The Whore With More - A Life in Letters came up to 2x 1.5" volumes

b. for my last fortnight with the previous employer, LG and I emailed long emails back and forth everyday to chronicle my last month.. it's a nice slender volume, ring bound blue for me, and red for her.. heh..

I've got 3 shoeboxes full of notes, cards and letters from Sec 3 onwards.. I was from a co-ed school, and had my fair exposure to girls daily.. there are tons of mini note cards, usually with a friendship or religious message, which we'd buy for about 30 cents from shops like the now-defunct Bob's in Orchard MRT station where Sembawang Music Centre currently occupies.

There are letters, about love, angst, encouragement, mostly. There are a few friendship bands, a couple of bookmarks, (I think) a crushee's hairpin which she dropped and I secretly pocketed.

And Christmas / birthday cards of course, though these get fewer and fewer as the years go by...

Somehow, I can't say I want to go through those papers, especially those from secondary school, but I don't know why.. is it that I don't want to feel old? or I don't want to read the stuff I felt when I was 15 and realise that nothing has really changed? Or...

On a more light-hearted note, I was a BMT instructor in the last 5 months of my NS, and the recruits were made to give instructor appraisals the day before their passing-out.. I still have some of those scraps of paper they wrote on, with sketchings and all.. and it's amazing how mushy 18-year old recruits can be.. eeks..

Space Invaders

I take this express bus from Jurong East Interchange to work every morning, and it's nice that I usually get my favourite seat, i.e. the one on the left side in front with the 2 rows of seat facing each other.

I sleep, veg out, I read the papers, or listen to my iPod.

But recently, I realised that there is a colleague I hardly know who takes the same bus from a later stop almost everyday, and now he's taken to sitting down beside me every morning. He's a pleasant chap, but in the mornings I just want to be left alone, and I usually would rather not have to make conversation with people who are not already my friends.

The only solution I can think of is to take a seat which is half-occupied the moment I get on the bus, so he can't sit near me; but it's quite telling cos during 1 of the nothing-to-talk-about moments, I mentioned that it was my favourite seat and I'll try to get it no matter what..

This kinda simple thing also got problem...

My Dream Girl

As you already tell, it's a really slow day in the office, and my dept. colleagues aren't around, hence the mind-wandering and my blogging those thoughts into words.

Once in a while there will be friends who ask how come I've not had a girlfriend in so long.. thankfully I'm not mascular nor a spiffy dresser, otherwise they will probably suspect that I'm gay.

But the ones who really know me know also that I'm really picky.. this one cannot because she [fill in the blank], that one also cannot...

Then the conversation almost always veers (sometimes it's cos I ask) to the you got any friends to introduce or not?, which is followed by what are your pre-requisites?

No matter how hard I scratch my head, the only deal-breaking criteria are:
a. pleasant looking (note: "pleasant", not even "sweet" or "pretty") from my subjective point of view;
b. non-religious, or does not seek to impose her religious views on me - that said, I can't say I terribly respect a significant other who does not constantly try to convert me if she believes that I need to believe to be saved;
c. at least fairly affectionate;
d. generally a happy & smiley person;
e. doesn't have a nasty family;
f. is communicative, and will talk about her aspirations and problems; and
g. needless to say, we must be compatible.

Like that very difficult meh?

But of course there is the additional wish-list:
1. RC / EY's face and voice
2. LM's legs, butt and chest
3. MK's Clairol shampoo-ed hair
Argh! I'm fantasising about my colleagues / law school classmates at 3pm on a work afternoon!! haha...

Nasi Padang

I guess one of the (occasionally) nice things about my job is that I work more with the top management than people my own age or seniority, and they treat me with more respect than most. With that comes the work-day lunch invitations to places where rich people eat, for lunch hours twice as long as officially permitted.

And whilst they invariably reject my offers to pay for lunch, I get a bit paiseh after a while wah.. When I heard that we were going to eat Nasi Padang at Jalan Sultan today, I leapt at the chance to pay, so that I can at least say we even! Was desparate enough to sneak downstairs halfway through lunch (on the pretext of going to pee) to settle the bill first.. So what if the average lunches they buy me usually cost 6 or 7 times as much? =)

Dreams

I read 1 of my favour blogger's one particular entry, and whilst it was probably about something slightly different, it gave words to a dull ache I've been feeling...

I can't remember exactly when we went to KL, but I'm sure you and I had a great time.. we never stopped talking on the coach all the way up to KL, and at night, in the darkness, we chatted until the sentences came spaced further and further apart, and then one person heard the regular breathing of slumber of the other..

I gave you that photo of us at the swing at the Bak Kut Teh place.. funny, but a swing always really lets people express genuine happiness which a posed photo never can.. on it I wrote something along the lines of:

"Bus Ticket: $60
Bak Kut Teh: $8
The smile on our faces: priceless.."

Cliched.. yes, I don't deny that.. I've got photos of us at karaoke, I remember you using my shower foam and smelling exactly like me that night...

A month plus ago, we made plans to go to / be in KL together, but for whatever reasons, they never panned out.. I never told anyone of my travelling companions (save TL, who reads this blog) but I wished and wished it was being with you in KL again...

During our first year of practice, we made tentative plans to go on a holiday together... but u were afraid to ask for leave due to a certain work situation, but a 10-day holiday in Tasmania became a proposed 3-day break in Bintan, which, surprise surprise, never materialised, cos ure mom was going away and I was too nice and suggested that if she wasn't comfortable leaving the house empty, then we ought not go and spend the couple of days in Singapore instead.. I hate, really really hate, being the nice guy which gets no where in the end.. Admittedly we had a pretty cool time in Singapore, but it's not the same..

There were days when I said I love breakfasts with eggs and ham and such, and you said u'd cook them the next time we went on a holiday together...

Just last month, we spoke of spending some time in Shanghai together.. less than a week after those words were uttered, things underwent a sea-change...

All those dreams... it's been letdown after letdown I don't want to have any hope anymore.. at lunch today you said u would want to go to Hong Kong with me if I were to make a quick run up this month.. you know, I don't feel excited cos I don't want to hope anymore? not even the prospect of feeling ure warmth radiating from the other side of the same bed at night, not even ure scent, nor us huffing and puffing climing Lamma Island..

AssPeeSee

Woo hoo! Bought into SPC from 2 months back as it slid from $4.22 to $4.06.. it's $4.48 now, and I got $0.20 in dividends last week... 15% in 2 months!

Onwards and upwards, soldier!

That said, this is barely enough to cover the darned losses I made going short on the USD... floody buck!

Help!

Anyone knows of scuba diving courses which are overwhelmingly-populated by chicks? Preferably single, non-religious, under-25 ones...

Not for me; I asking for a friend! hee hee..

Bantam-Weight Batam

Official Statement: We did nothing naughty in Batam..

It all started a couple of weeks back when a friend was experiencing some problems and we thought we'd distract him a bit with a short trip out of Singapore. We don't all play golf, and there aren't so many places within a 2 or 3 hour drive we haven't been. Plus should save money some more..

So it became Batam. I had to complete some ship-purchase transactions on Wednesday, and so dropped by Harborfront to get the tickets. It was ridiculous that everyone else knew their passport expiry date when I called them, but I didn't know mine off-hand.

The ferry we took to Waterfront City at 0930 had only like 12 people. Went go-karting straight-off, and I won both rounds! S$15 for 10 minutes ain't too bad I guess.

Then Nagoya - we showed the cab driver the address of a massage place a female (so it's clean!!) fellow blogger recommended, and he kept insisting on bringing us to another place and even drove us to the doorstep. Got us really cheesed-off. We went for lunch instead, and honestly no where on the streets looked "safe" enough to eat. Instead, we had lunch at the Japanese restaurant on Top of Paranoma Regency.. nothing to scream about.

At long last, we got our massage, which was, well, a massage lor :o)

Mucked around for a little bit, and decided to have an early dinner and try to catch an earlier boat home.. we went to Golden Prawn 933 that everyone told us about (FYI, Golden Prawn 555 and 933 share the same owners). The 5 dishes were puny, the prawns we ordered were probably 12 years-old (in equivalent human years), and Bir Bintang sux! It cost us S$70 for 3 people.. geez..

We were totally spent by the time we got in the ferry.. strange considering we didn't do very much.. the sun, perhaps..

Sounds boring right? Overall, not very fun.. and interestingly, we didn't see any other Singaporeans, except at go-karting and on the ferries..

Dirty Weekend

It's confirmed - we are going to Batam on Saturday! Amazing, but I've never been to some of the places most Singaporeans frequent: Batam, Bintan, Bali, Hong Kong and China.

On the other hand, I've been to most of the big cities in the USA, and in the eastern half of Canada... Montreal and Quebec City are 2 of the nicest places on earth.. lush lawns, the Chateau Frontenac, quaint B&Bs... I'll definitely go there twice more before I die, and once in winter...

Seems like I'll be spending 20 days in Hong Kong for the rest of this year for work and some other personal reasons.. probably going to PRC in a few months for work too! How things change..

But I digress.. again...

So it's go-karting and paintballing this weekend! The sucky thing about go-karts is that how fast you go is largely determined by how heavy you are.. in our case, I'll probably come in the middle cos HJ's heavy than me, but GL ain't.. it's lousy going into a bend faster and earlier than a chick, only to have her overtake you out of the hairpin...

A fellow blogger's been an absolute dear by sending me links and write-ups about the spa / massage places... clean one ok! appears that Javanese massages are only S$8 per hour.. now to find one which services men, and does not provide sexual services... my army buddies' rule is: any place which gives sex does not give good massages. They would know...