Inevitability

Last night, I met up with Isa and Hui at Vivocity for dinner and we ended up going to the newly St James Power Station to check things out.

It was our first time there and boy, weren’t we lost! Cause St James Power Station (wah this must be one of the longest names for an entertainment centre!!) consists of 9 different outlets, and almost each of the outlets has its own queue, so we were quite puzzled over which one to queue for.

But in the end, we settled for Dragonfly because it’s the one that we have most heard of. And the queue outside had to be the longest as well!! And to be honest, when we were in the queue, we were far from being impressed with the club-goers in the queue with us.

Most of them looked like they come after work and mostly looked OLD. Ok, to be fair, 23’s not very young too, but most of the guys look like uncles in their 30s and some of the ladies, let’s just say that they don’t look too youthful haha. And for a moment, I was questioning if we should pay to go inside a club that seems to be meant for the older crowd.

But fortunately, the queue moved along pretty fast and in less than 20 minutes, before we had any chance to regret, we were in the club.

And in the club, the crowd was actually alright. Still a lot of uncles but there were a couple of pretty cute guys around. And we actually spotted a gorgeous angmoh in the club, which is funny, considering the type of music in the club. But he had an equally beautiful partner hooking his arm, so well, what could we have done haha.

And have I mentioned that the music in the club was great? In case you have never even heard of the club before, Dragonfly is actually a live music room for those who enjoy listening to Mandarin pop favourites performed by the 2 resident bands. Now, when’s the last time you’ve heard of a local club playing Mandarin music? Besides it’s live performance by a band and the singing of the male and female singers were really outstanding (sound better than any of the Channel U Superstar contestants).

The band can really get you high! And it’s not just plain singing and live jamming. It’s actually a myriad of entertainment activity, starting at 6pm for happy hour when the band performs acoustic Mandarin and English evergreens before switching into full show mode complete with dancers, aerialists and guest performers to deliver a different M-pop show every night.

It’s actually the most “song” club that I’ve ever been to. It’s definitely a totally new experience to me, but believe me, I like it. It’s very refreshing and something absolutely different from the usual clubs that we go to. Actually Dragonfly’s more like those kinda nightclubs that you see in HK movies , but not as sleazy. =)

It’s great to go to, especially if you don’t really listen to the English stuff playing in all other clubs, and if you are not the type who like to shake your booty to the music on the dancefloor. In Dragonfly, you don’t have to dance to enjoy yourself. Just get some good company, grab a table early and down some booze, and just enjoy the performance of the band.

Definitely a place that I’ll still visit in the future. =)

I learn yoga but never in the hope of doing stunts, yes I would call them stunts, like this:

Nor this:

This yoga blog is some link that I’ve gotten from Kenny Sia. And being a elementary yogi (soon to be beginner yogi!), I thought, why not take a look.

The more I look, the more frightened I got. Ok, “frightened” is a pretty strong word, but it’s really like watching some freak show! No offense meant though. “Freak show” because the poses look extremely daunting and difficult to do! I’m sure that my instructor would nod his head in agreement! (Hmm wonder if he has seen this blog before. Maybe I should give him the link too hahah.)

I look through some of her poses and I realised that I could only do this currently!

 Well, that’s the Tree and I suspect that it doesn’t take a yogi to be able to do it! And I can do the breathing too, but it sounds stupid to mention it. Which I just did. -_-

Oh, wait! I’m good at the Cobra too! =) =)

Other than these, nah! Can’t do the rest…yet. Maybe one day I can, but I think I might need to break all my tendons. Or is it ligaments?? Oh well, whatever! The thought of breaking any part of me is not pleasant at all.

Anyway take a look whether you are interested in yoga or not. The photos are mostly pretty well-done, I thought, but it can just be me, an amateur speaking. =)

Peace out. It’s Thursday morning and I need to start some work.  

Back from lunch and suddenly my server can work! I logged onto E-buddy (finally…) and saw Huat’s MSN nick. THEN I realised.

When I was critising the Taiwanese book for being too sleep-inducing, it’s the Taiwanese that causes the slow internet service lah!

Ok lah, to be fair, it’s the earthquake that struck Taiwan at 8:26 pm (1226 GMT) that causes the slowing of internet service all around Asia. And I should be sympathetic as 2 were killed and at least 42 wounded during this disaster. The earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, with its epicenter 23 kilometres southwest of Hengchun in Pingtung county in the southernmost tip of Taiwan, was so severe that ”telecommunications around Asia were severely disrupted on Wednesday after earthquakes off Taiwan damaged undersea cables, slowing Internet services and hindering financial transactions.”

Apparently, Singapore is being affected too.

Damn the earthquake.

Ok, no lunch yet. Hungry.

Still nothing to do. No sight of boss.

Finished 1 chapter of the Taiwanese book!  

I’m actually alone in office now with nothing to do at all. Can you believe it?

And it’s not even lunchtime yet.

I could use this great opportunity to blog all I like, but for the weirdest reasons, unless it’s a curse for me, the servers are more or less down. In the sense that I can’t surf many websites now. It’s just weird!

I can’t go onto E-buddy or even Google now! And I wanted to blog about the movie I caught last night “Night At The Museum” and the IMDB website won’t load too!!

But WordPress is working fine, I can use the Mediacorp Radio website, and the company’s website is functioning, so I don’t know if it’s the problem on our side or all the other websites are simply down currently. Though the latter seems sooo unprobable. =(

So currently I don’t have much to do except to read this Taiwanese book on sleep disorders that my boss gave me. Apparently this book is pretty popular in Taiwan, having won some kinda award. And my Chinese ain’t too bad. AND I can understand the bloody Traditional Chinese characters that the stubborn Taiwanese use. BUT hell, try reading all those complicated-looking characters vertically arranged into lines, with not much illustration, for 15 minutes! Man, I can virtually hear my brain clicking twice as fast as usual to read the Traditional Chinese characters that we Singaporeans don’t use. I can look at such a character and instantly recognise the Simplified one, but there’s still something about all those strokes, man, isn’t there many anyway, that ache my eyes.

Anyway I can’t keep my attention span on the book for more than 2 pages and yawning proceeds after probably about 20 characters.

But yes, I do want to aim to finish the book ASAP. It would be useful to me – both the knowledge and the Chinese terms. So ok, back to the book, and hopefully more interesting posts later on. =)

2006 is coming to an end.

Again and again, each year seems to zoom by, with increasing speed. Before you know it, it’s end of the year again.

You know what fears me most about each year’s end?

Of course, firstly is having nothing to do on New year’s Eve, which might be precisely what I would be facing this weekend.

But I’m also terrified of the self-reflection that we are supposed to do at the end of the year, and of course, the New Year resolutions that one’s supposed to set for the coming year.

Talking about the New Year resolutions though, I’ve given up on setting those since a very very long time ago. Because I think it’s like a curse: whatever that you’ve set as New Year resolutions, thou shalt not accomplish. Really. So now it’s just very simple for me: just aim to be a better person, to be happier, to do more and to expect less. The less specific it’s, the easier it’s to be done. Anything more specific, like “exercise more” or “lose 3 kilograms”, only ends up in failure.

Maybe I should make a resolution like “remain single”, then maybe the opposite will occur! hahah~

Self-reflection is scary for me. I get a bit depressed when I think about all the things that I should have done or would like to do but I didn’t. I do not know when I would get around doing them. Maybe I would never do them till I breathe my last. And it also gives me a headache if I try to seriously think through all the major stuff that has happened this year. I would prefer to write them all down but then that would take me 100 pages and probably a week and 3 hands to complete, so that gives me a headache too.

So basically every year, I skip past the entire business of self-reflection and New Year resolutions, and just enjoy the partying and the countdown with my friends. This year though, I might not get the fun part of New Year, so I thought that I should do the self-reflection instead. But of course, with some help from my fave magazine CLEO:

To make better goals for 2007, first take stock of how 2006 played out for you.

DO A SELF-INTERVIEW

Did I move forward? – No one wants to stay stuck with the same worries and problems year after year. Are you still in the same troubled relationship or dead-end job? Did you take any steps to steer your life towards the direction you envision for yourself? If not, do it now.

Was I thrilled? – Not garden-variety joy, but the kind of thrill you get from skydiving or climbing a mountain or riding roller coasters. Plan a great big adventure sometime in the next 365 days.

Learned anything new? – Driving, baking a cake, speaking Spanish – any new skill is not just fun to pick up, it could also change your life. Who knows, you could be relocating to Valencia this time next year, working as a design intern or a Mandarin language teacher.

Did I pitch in? – The world’s pretty messy right now. War, poverty, hunger, climate change. You don’t need to give up all your comforts and go be a doctor in Africa. Start from where you are – see who needs a hand or think of ways you could be of service in your community.

Number 1 checked. I’ve gotten a job that I want and enjoy.

Number 2 not checked. Skydiving/roller coaster type of thrill?! I’m pretty sure that I’ve no such thrill as yet. No skydriving/roller coaster in Singapore. Unless Escape Theme Park rides are counted as “thrilling”. Hmm guess not. And no mountain too. But I’ve climbed Bukit Timah Hill many times! Huh. Not counted too?? Ok la, ok la, I need to plan for something adventurous sometime in the next 365 days, and NOT in Singapore.   

Number 3 checked. Yoga!!!! Going to finish the elementary course this weekend and planning to go onto the beginner one. I surprise myself this time round because initially I was very relunctant to wake up early on Saturday mornings when I could finally enjoy a good sleep. But now, I can wake up on time (well most of the time anyway) and be punctual for lessons! I even enjoy the 20-minute walk to the CC! And I think I find the lessons interesting and rewarding now and appreciate what yoga can do to both my body and soul. Even though I suck at forward bends.

Number 4 checked too! Firstly, I think it helps that I’m aware of things going on around the world, and I’ve my own stands when it comes to many issues. Secondly, I help people in my job. Sure, I’m not like my bosses who do the real work of helping and even saving people, but I play a part too. Which is why I like my job =). Thirdly, hmm, I donate my blood last Sat! Something small really but it’s always better than nothing, than saying how concerned you are and NOT doing anything. My 5th donation since jc1 and may I emphasize that it’s not painful at all and please do donate if you are healthy. And I got Di to donate with me =) =). Her 1st time, virgin donation haha. You can check with her. No pain at all!

Wow~ To sum it up, seems like my life’s not bad and 2006 can be said to be a fruitful year! How’s yours?

She and I had a good long talk.

It’s a good feeling. Because our friendship started from long chats over the phone as well. As the years go by, we went to different schools, took up different courses and now plurge into different career paths. We are seemingly different. But luckily somehow something fundamental must be similar and that’s how our friendship can survive all these years.

And we had a long talk. And we talked about how tired we have gotten from all the stuff we have done for people whom we care for (we think haha) but don’t seem to care for us, stuff that they seem to just take for granted and never volunteer to do themselves.

I have never given for the mere sake of wishing to receive something in return. Ask not what others can do for you but what you can do for others – an adaptation of the famous quote from US former president John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” This is something that I truly believe in.

But I guess when sometimes people just take and take, there’s just nothing much left anymore, isn’t it? It’s just like giving the rubber band an extra tug each day and one day, you are going to push it beyond its limits and it snaps right in your face.

I’m not asking for a free Porche or something unaffordable. In fact, the best stuff on earth are often the most inexpensive, the non-material, and the things that money can’t buy. I “volunteer” to do the stuff that I did because no one’s going to do anyway, so if I don’t do it and then what? What are we all going to do? Just sit around and wait for something to happen?

Nothing’s going to happen. This I promise you (sorry simply can’t resist cracking a joke in the midst of something serious haha). But unfortunately for you, you and you, our “services are terminating” with the effect of 01 Jan 2007. Not because our services are not satisfactory or there’s no need for our services anymore. But we are running out of resources. We survive on the “public’s donations” and it’s just insufficient for us to run anymore.

This is not a plead for permission to terminate. It’s just a notice. So take note if things are not the same anymore next year, because we’re forced to, before our souls run dry.

A year ago, by this time, I was queuing outside the newly opened MoS, all set and excited to enjoy a night of fun, good music and booze with my girls.

Now, I’m just sitting at home.

My life sucks but never mind. Merry Christmas, everyone!

I deal with many elderly people practically every day during work.

I like the elderly. Because of their wisdom and the subsequent good nature. But of course not all old people are wise even though wisdom and age more or less correlate. And I say that most wise people are nice (hey that kinda rhymes!) because when you have understood all there is to life, there’s nothing to frustrate you anymore.

Which is why I’m extremely inspired to brush up my Hokkien nowadays.

So I thought this was very funny when I chanced upon it on mrbrown. It’s a totally hilarious camera (but I can’t remember the brand) commercial, which is completely in Hokkien (don’t worry, there are English subtitles), about a man trying to take a photo in a park.

Enjoy. =)

4 more days to Christmas and this year’s Christmas is going to be much much much more boring than before.

Work has made my days go past so quickly that I didn’t even realise that Christmas is THAT near until last week when I started receiving Christmas cards from some of my dear friends (-_-). I know that Christmas IS coming but it didn’t occur to me that it’s just around the corner.

And so I panicked last weekend. I had not bought my Christmas cards then and hadn’t done much Christmas shopping (for myself of course haha). So last Sat, I managed to buy a couple of new tops for work. Which talking about work, I didn’t have time to shop and buy new working attire in the past 2 months, despite knowing that I’ve been wearing the same pile of clothes over and over again, in rotation style and despite being ashamed of that. Work is fun, it gives me much satisfaction, I enjoy my work, I like meeting people. BUT it also takes up too much of my time - causes me to sleep less, spend less time with my family, too tired to meet up with other friends besides my jiemeis, too tired to watch late night tv on weekdays, too tired to watch movies on weekday nights resulting in having to spend more money to watch on weekends, and a lot lot more. 

Ok, I’ve digressed too much. Back to Christmas. I wish that someone can just wipe the day off the calender and have some other special holiday instead. I would still want 25th to be a holiday of course, because then I won’t need to work on that day, but can it not be Christmas? Can’t it be “Save The Trees” day or “Wear Leopard Prints” day or “No Vulgarities” Day?

Why must 25th Dec be Christmas?

Because to me, Christmas = Lonely Christmas. It’s already sad enough that it’s not a White Christmas.

I HATE CHRISTMAS.