My New Place and NYE

After hunting around for about 2 months, I have finally found a place in Glebe. Isn't it awesome? I'm quite excited but also rather broke. This place comes unfurnished so I'll have to buy 2nd hand furniture of the net which will probably set me back heaps.

I thought I was unlucky but at a bbq in Newtown today, I realised from chatting with the home owners (by the way, the newtown place looked really awesome) that prior to this place, they had been searching for about 5 months without luck. Perhaps I should consider myself lucky then.

I just wish Eugene was here to help me make decisions about which housemates and furnitures to pick.

I've come to realise that I'm really bad at such decisions.

New Year's eve was a blur.

Had a bbq house party at Marty's place and spent the night before kneading burger mince in preperation. Phew!

On the day, had a slight migraine which was a bit of a dampner and all i really wanted to do was to sleep early. The nine o'clock fireworks were pathetic and I playfully declared to the party full of aussies that Sydney's pyrotechnics was poo poo compared to Singapore's. Everyone booed me of course and tried to convince me that the midnight once were way better but i declared that I had already passed my judgement. Sydney was CRAP and that i was boycotting the midnight display.

By tenish, the headache was gone (hooray) and I decided it was time to give the party a little Zing!

by 1130, I was well and truly wasted...

meanwhile, marty had gone missing which made me feel a little helpless. He wasn't answering his phone too. He turned up a short while later but the earlier helplessness left me with an unease i could not quite shake off for the rest of the night which was a real bummer.

I did eventually pay tribute to the midnight countdown fireworks and for all the chemical euphoria i felt, the fireworks were still shit. Everyone agreed. One for Mindy Zero for Sydney.

3am, the revellers had left one by one and found myself collapsed on the living room floor, speechless with exhaustion with john on the couch. tucked john into bed with aristootle and a blankie, gave him a goodnight peck on the cheek and stumbled into bed and fell asleep dreaming of weird negative things. Not Good.

I'm beginning to wonder whether it's really worthwhile to live such a decadent lifestyle. From feeling terrible the next day to feeling terrible the next few days to feeling terrible immediately and for the next few days.

I probably have a body of a 38 year old.

I have been having some problems in the house hunting front.

Firstly, the rental market is extremely competitive now. It seems to get a place, you have to fight tooth and nail for it.

So I decided to get a house instead of an apartment because I figured the extra space would reduce any apartment living inducing claustrophobia. I mean, living in an apartment with your family is one thing. Living in an apartment with friends/strangers is another. One needs a little space once in a while.

So I began my hunt of 2-3 bedroom houses in selected suburbs. These suburbs are well known as attas suburbs with mostly young families and yuppies living there. After numerous rejections, I realised that it was naive of me to limit my options and I was never going to get a place if I continued on like that so out of sheer desperation, I extended by search to dodgier suburbs on the outskirts of the city.

Realising that sharing a 3 bedroom house would allow me to get a nicer place for a lower per person rent, I decided to ask around for a housemate and "fortunately" or so it seemed, one other Singaporean guy (name not worth mentioning) expressed interest.

So I tried to include him in my house search, even picking him up and driving him around to see houses and suburbs. Meanwhile, ignoring all the warnings given to me by Max and Eugene because I wanted to see the nicer side in a fellow human being.

His responses for each place was always polite and non-committal and I really should have smelled a rat but we have all been fools at one time or other I suppose.

So yesterday, this guy tells me he thinks he will extend his lease on his current place and wouldn't be moving in with Gene and me. I Hoorayed inwardly. So I told him that's cool and i'll just go ahead and find some other roomie if I get this house in Glebe and then he tells me Oh... if you do get the house in glebe then I'll join you too! So i go, ok.. well if you want to... And then today when I call him to tell him that we would most likely be getting this place, he tells me he has already extended his lease at his current place.

Can you see my pain?

I wonder if it's a social disability he has. It seems as if he has a problem observing common decency.

So now I'm in a dilemna, do I take the current place, the only remote sign of success I've had so far, and hope i find a new housemate? or should I find a smaller place?

it's going to be a crummy homeless xmas for me

I am finally beginning to feel the christmas cheer. A little last minute but at least it's not too late.

Will be doing last minute christmas shopping tonight in the city with Marty. We need heaps of presents for all his cousins and his parents.

Nothing like christmas shopping and departmental christmas music to enhance the holiday mood.

It's great that the weather has been grey. Strange as it may seem for me to think so but the rainy weather reminds me of Xmas in Singapore.

Tried making sticky date pudding last night and it was an absolute success!! Will be contributing that for christmas lunch.

Shopping here i come

My exam is over.

Even though I only started studying on Friday and probably chalked up all of 2 days worth of study, it felt like forever especially because marty was out the whole weekend having fun, what with luke and Matt both buying the latest Wii, everyone seems to be having house parties with booze and video games these days.

After the exam, had lunch at Burwood with Max and friends, after which, decided to give myself a much deserved reward and went shopping at Burwood and even though I promised I wouldn't buy any more cardigans, I went out and bought 3 more, a dress and 2 singlets. But, in defense, I'd like to say that the exhilaration from splurging made every single cent spent absolutely worthwhile.

Who needs shrinks when they can have retail therapy.

Went to watch Russell Peter live today at the Enmore. If a stand-up comedian can keep you laughing for more than an hour with his incessant banter, he's gotta be good.

Looks like its going to be a busy week for me. I've got house hunting to do, moving furniture, going for marty's xmas parties, hanging out with Jolene, sewing my dress (if I have the time) etc etc etc...

And next week, I think I should plan a trip up to Tarringal.

Apparently there's a dress shop there. Its name? Mine Mine Mine.

Illeanna says the dresses there are to die for =)

Road trip is just an excuse for more shopping!!

had a really awesome weekend.

Friday started out with drinks with Phil and beat at bungalow 8 with dinner afterwards, catching up with kel who just returned from his Singapore trip. Simple but satisfying way to start the weekend.

Saturday went shopping with marty who bought me a pair of shoes from nine west. Yay!! then bought some material to sew my own dress. When i actually get round to doing it.

Then went for Luke's bday celebration, which started at pier 26, followed by CBD, then to the Bavarian beer cafe, some irish pub, bungalow 8 where we stayed til closing time. By then, no other place wanted us. We got rejected by the oriental hotel and dirty jackson. possibly cos they knew we would be poor customers anyway, all we would have done was to sip water and sit around anyway. We sat at the tables outside the ship inn and finally said our goodbyes at 5ish in the morning because Luke and ceez had to rush to the airport to catch a flight to fraiser island. Brock and Zeezhan did not want the night to end just yet, headed of to embassy to see if anything was happening there

Marty and I wandered off to nurses walk where we sat, cuddled and chatted til 6am when we decided we had enough. We walked to wynyard train station and took the train home, stumbled into the shower and collapsed into bed.

After about 4 hours of sleep, we got up and headed to chatswood for lunch, did more shopping, i bought another pair of shoes, went back to Mart's chatswood home for coffee with his folksy. i was so exhausted, i fell asleep on marty's shoulder to the soothing sounds of chatting.

it's really nice to have that family feeling. having no family here, I really like hanging out with marty's parents. it gives a semblance of family life.

it makes me believe that perhaps, living here for a while longer wouldn't actually be a bad idea at all. Plus, eugene will be coming soon too!

There is hope.

This week looks up as well. My last week on Tower, having dinner with Marty's folks tomorrow, starting on Zurich as well which will be exciting.

Overall, Life's pretty good for now. The boyfriend is exceptional

my car hit a grey cat last night =(

I was giving Zeeshan and John a lift home after the guys went over to Mart's for dinner and drinks. No one could drive except for me.

We were going down the winding back roads of mosman which aren't very well lit at all.

I actually saw the cat belly crawling its way across the road and slowed down expecting the cat to have slunk its way through comfortably but instead, it turned and looked into the blinding headlights of the car and froze in the middle of the road.

I hit the breaks but it was too late and i heard a few sickening thuds as the cat disappeared from road view under the car. I wondered if I had stopped the car over the cat and half hoped i had run over it proper and that it didn't suffer to much but moments later, we saw the cat zip off with lightning speed across the road.

The guys tried to reassure me that the cat must have been alright if it was able to run away so quickly but it was still a unnerving event.

*sniff sniff*

Someone asked me the other day if it was possible to like 2 people.

"Yes." I replied. "But it isn't possible to love 2 people."

And I say this because my definition of like is a mere fondness for someone whereas my definition of Love is the feeling that you can only have that single person in your heart.

Love is outmoded these days, quite like chivalry.

Or maybe it has always been like this but no one really told us the truth until we grew up and found out for ourselves.

Ten years ago, I believed in happily ever after but now, I'd be happy if I get past the one year mark which incidentally is only 2 months away.

So between one guy and another, how does one choose?

The familiar but worn and outdated pair or the jazzy new one?

I guess it depends on the intended travel distance. If its long distance you wish to go, then the old ones seem a better choice because the jazzy new shoes might give blisters. If its just a night of partying you're after, definitely go for the jazzy new ones.

Or if you don't know how far you want to go, maybe wear one side of each pairs around for a while. Either one will come in handy at some point. although, wearing both at the same time may be tricky affair. Much like walking on a tightrope i imagine. A balancing act

Bought my very own first 6 piece set of sauce pans and pots in anticipation of my intention to move out. I feel like a grown up now :) Nevermind the fact that i have been paying rent and bills for the last year and a half

It's been a year here but God Knows where my money has gone but I am finally able to say that I have saved enough to be able to move out. Even if its on my own. Although good news is that Eugene is coming over so looking to move out together with him.

I have been looking around at a few places and have realised its usually a toss up between location and space. But of course.

So on one hand, I'd really like to move into a house but on the other hand, houses in prime districts are obviously ridiculously expensive so if its location i want then i have to compromise on size. Its a tough choice.

I just saw an apartment in kirribilli which overlooks the city skyline. I just know it will be gorgeous at night. I can just imagine listening to jazz, chilling out and having coffee in the lounge but apartments can get claustrophobic sometimes.

and then there was this house in balmain. No view whatsoever but 3 bedrooms for only 450 a week. would be great place for barbeques, dinner parties etc...

decisions decisions decisions

Marty has been hinting at my lack of interests in anything lately.

I suppose that is true to a large extent.

Somewhere between April and now, I lost my interest in hobbies that I used to enjoy. Guitar playing, shower singing or singing any where at all for that matter, cooking or whatever else Mindy likes.

God knows where the inspiration to do these things went or why they went, but disappear they did. Leaving an almost empty, introverted shell of a person. Contented to do nothing, neither happy nor sad. Which to some, may be an improvement from mopping. Who's to say.

I can understand why Marty would have a problem with this. At the moment, I have as much personality as a toothpick. I've probably turned into one of those wallflower girlfriend sorts. The types that just stand beside and slightly behind their boyfriends at functions, smiling as if it pained them, making everyone who tries to start up a conversation embarrassed with the lack of response.

I exaggerate.

Anyway, I've decided to go for swing lessons this coming Thursday.

Wish me luck

Marty has been hinting at my lack of interests in anything lately.

I suppose that is true to a large extent.

Somewhere between April and now, I lost my interest in hobbies that I used to enjoy. Guitar playing, shower singing or singing any where at all for that matter, cooking or whatever else Mindy likes.

God knows where the inspiration to do these things went or why they went, but disappear they did. Leaving an almost empty, introverted shell of a person. Contented to do nothing, neither happy nor sad. Which to some, may be an improvement from mopping. Who's to say.

I can understand why Marty would have a problem with this. At the moment, I have as much personality as a toothpick. I've probably turned into one of those wallflower girlfriend sorts. The types that just stand beside and slightly behind their boyfriends at functions, smiling as if it pained them, making everyone who tries to start up a conversation embarrassed with the lack of response.

I exaggerate.

Anyway, I've decided to go for swing lessons this coming Thursday.

Wish me luck

Sydney Sucks!

I know I don't ever want to live here for sure.

Nothing works.

Buses don't come on time, bus drivers drive off without stopping leaving you to wait another half an hour to forty five minutes for the next available bus, if it even comes. The trains break down. The ticket machines at the train station breaks down. You tell the police you've come home, the door is ajar and your house looks like its been broken into and they tell you its not an emergency and say they will transfer you to the finger printing department which puts you on hold for ten minutes. You hang up and dial the emergency number again and this time you clearly tell them you need someone to secure the premises because the trespasser might still be inside and then and only then, the light bulb goes of in their heads and they send the next available police car which takes more than half an hour to arrive. Et Cetera.

We had breakfast at kirribilli, a new cafe Ian recommended and then after which, we decided to stroll across the harbour bridge.

We wandered into a museum shop set up exactly like how it would have looked in the 1920s, selling everything from twiggy brooms to wooden clothes pegs and sticky fly paper.Even the two old ladies looking after the shop looked old and shrunken.

We continued wandering around the meandering lanes and found a nice warm spot on some benches beside some old sandstone building where we snuggled down comfortably reading our books and enjoying the soothing live jazz music wafting from a cafe nearby.

The light grey clouds in the sky occasionally blocked out the sun for a minute or two, providing a temporary haven from the sun's soon-to-be blistering rays.

When we got hungry, we found a fish and chip place and had our lunch and continued with our book reading.

We strolled through the city, Hyde park and down to oxford street, chasing sea gulls and pigeons which always managed to remain just a step ahead of us so we were never able to catch them. We didn't really say much. Conversation would have been good but sometimes, silence is good too.

We met up with others at the Paddington Inn where the boys had their beers and the girls had their diet cokes. There were so many people dressed in blue, local supporters of the soccer match.

We made our way to the stadium, along with dribs and drabs of others also going for the match before we finally converged like mercury droplets at a traffic light just in front of the stadium. A man stood barbecuing hot dogs at the pub just in front of the traffic light and all it took was for one of the boys to declare he was getting one and soon, all the boys handed their five dollar notes over in exchange for hotdogs and ketchup with fried onions in a bun. The taste of the fat from the hotdog on bread was good in its simplicity.

The stadium was awashed in a sea of blue. Beer was all around. I proudly wore Marty's Sydney FC scarf. A sign of my allegiance.

In a flurry of shots and rebounds, we managed a goal and how we jumped up for joy, clapped our hands, screamed and did little dances in jubilation. It wasn't the world cup but then again, things like that aren't meant to be had to often.

After the match, we made our way back to oxford street for dinner. We trailed slightly behind the group and held hands whilst I sang my favourite jazz tunes.

We had dinner at the pink peppercorn. Laotian food at western price. They had gorgeous pink serviettes and served white rice dappled with grains of black rice.

We excused ourselves early from dinner and made our way home, contented and exhausted.

It feels good to be back home...

Surrounded by friends who love me :)

was great having a cuddly session with jo and talking about life the universe and everying. I feel like me again....

ME ME ME!!!!!!!

This morning, i said farewell to Amanda.

For the past few months, I only saw her on the odd occasion. Mostly, I think, because our boyfriends were kind of different.

As we gave each other our bye bye huggies, I felt my eyes sting up and had to make an effort to keep the tears down. I was genuinely surprised by the strong emotions i felt then.

I have always been supportive of her leaving. Believing that moving away is always a sign of a fresh start, of opportunities and of new discoveries. I couldn't tell her to stay because I'm restless too and would leave myself if I could.

I thought I knew myself well... *shrug*

Guess not...

I can't even really explain why i feel a sense of loss.

I feel a little sorry that Amanda will be leaving Sydney but a bigger part of me knows that it's for the best.

I know how desperately she wants to get out of here and her difficulties in getting her stuff to melbourne so I offered to drive up to melbourne with her. And just like that, I find myself looking at a road trip to melbourne over the weekend.

We'll be driving up on Saturday and I'll be flying home alone on Sunday night.

It actually sounded quite exciting. I've never driven long distance before and I'll get a chance to give Jean a surprise. Plus, I get to introduce Jean to Amanda and I'm sure she'll take great care of her and introduce Chris and Andrew to her as well...

Was initially worried that things were gonna be hard for Amanda but when i had the brilliant idea to accompany her to melbourne and with that bright spark came along the other bright sparks - getting Jean to take her around - I know Amanda will be in good hands.

The only regretful thing is I'll be missing Round 2 of boyfriend's bday picnic cum house-warming at his new place on Saturday *bleah*

The boyfriend has gone off for a lan gaming session with his friends tonight. His invitation was tempting but for some reason, my body has been feeling battered and bruised, plus the miserable weather outside called for a stay in tonight.

The stay in was good, allowing me some ME time but the freezing cold does make me wish I had a warm body to snuggle up to.

I'm really excited about going home and it feels like I have a hundred and one things to do in the 4 days and 3 nights that I'll be there. My flight arrives at about 10pm and after grabbing my luggage, it's already been decided that I'm heading off to wala's to rendevous with Eugene. Jolene has also agreed to take Fri off if she has nothing important on.

It feels like there's so many people to meet up with but so little time and I've decided that meeting times shall be allocated according to meal times and coffee times. Meal times will include breakfast for people who are willing to get up early to meet up with me. No choice there. Limited time available. I can already forsee an intense 3 days of late late nights/ early mornings, lots of tehs and lots of local food - hopefully this would include vegetarian noodles, boon lay nasi lemak, chilli crab, fish slice noodles, yong tau foo, roti prata and ban mian.

yay... Singapore here I come.

On another note, it's the boyfriend's bday this Saturday. =)

Yay. Will be going back to Singapore for 4 days and 3 nights in the start of August to celebrate my dad's 60 bday. I'm so excited!!

It's going to be a hectic few days

ok... a quick snap shot of what's been going on.

max arrived for his secondment, yihan came for his dentistry course, karen came for hillsong.

Karen went back to singapore, yihan will be leaving tomorrow and max will be here for another 2 years.

France lost the world cup which made me sad because the dirty Italians won and felt sorry for Zidane. But then, the Italians are really good too, so.

Woke up at 4am last friday and decided that I want to leave Sydney next year.

Destination -> Potentially, the city that doesn't sleep, the Big Apple.

Got so excited I couldn't go back to sleep.

Worked really late this week but had lots of fun with the colleagues.

Have a big weekend lined up.

Dinner in a bit with Yihan before he leaves, yum cha tomorrow morning, watching a play tomorrow evening, straightening up my apartment on sunday, sunday coffee and croissants at sappho books with Mart's cousins, Ian's bday drinks at Monkey bar sunday evening.

No Me time =(

Really excited to be going back home in 2 weeks as well.

oh and the new pay looks good on the bank statement.

I could admire it the whole afternoon

Had a really unexciting day with the boyfriend today.

Due to the world cup match timings, I have been waking up at all odd hours and on a Saturday, a day in which I fully intended to sleep in, I woke up at 6am.

So there I was, lying in bed with my brain alert as it ever could be, not knowing what to do with myself and so I dragged the boyfriend up to watch the world cup matches of that morning.

Obviously, when the match ended at 9am. We were both rather bright-eyed and bushy tailed and so decided to head to Bronte for breckie.

Much in the spirit of the world cup, well actually, it was sheer coincidence that I picked up this book at the boyfriend's place, I was reading this book by Nick Hornby - Fever Pitch - A book that would strike a chord in the heart of every male soccer lover.

In the preface, Nick Hornby wrote about his passion for the game and how he has often caught himself drifting off in the midst of a conversation, reminiscing a magnificent goal from a match years ago.

I read that with one eyebrow raised and after confirmation of this phenomenon with the boyfriend, I was well and truly flabbergasted.

Anyway, the point is this. Throughout the whole morning, the boyfriend, who isn't one of your boisterous types in the first place was quieter than usual. With a faraway look in his eyes (reliving kewell's goal at every opportunity). The only conversation we could have was to either discuss the world cup, talk about the world cup and talk about the world cup somemore. Did I mention the world cup? Might have slipped my mind.

Men are well and truly from Mars.

Moving on slightly, watched The Breakup tonight. It is a rather good movie for the simple fact that it managed to portray so realistically, possibly the reasons why most relationships go awry. In fact, so successful was the movie in depicting the thickheadedness of men, it made me almost pissed off with Marty simply because of his sex.

Of course, all men are dickheads and jerks to a certain extent and seeing those similar male habits on the silver screen only drums home one fact.

Those habits are inherent and unchangeable. Ugh.

Sports, video games, mess.

Live with it girl. That was the sublimal message. Ok... Maybe not that sublime.

Of course, I must also mention (only briefly though and in small fonts) that girls are very manipulative and expect men to read their minds.

Anyway, conclusion: Must watch movie to educate the men. They simply must have it spelt to them. They have to want to do things for us. Even if it's just a pretense. They ARE expected to read our minds. And no means YES, yes means yes and maybe means NO....

It's not that hard is it??

the boyfriend's alarm blared at 4:30 in the morning and I concluded he loves his soccer more than me from his willingness to leap out of bed.

"But i woke up early on our trip to melbourne for you as well... see i love you too" he protested

"yeah? but we were going on a holiday together" i say as i narrow my eyes at him.

"that's true" he admits

he goes away and switches the heater on and makes me a tea.

After tossing and turning for a bit, i finally stumble downstairs into his study just in time to see the first goal less than 2 minutes in the match. Ouch!

After which, a gripping 90 odd minutes ensued where there was much jeering, cheering and leering (courtesy of a female australian fan in a yellow halter)

the end result, Australia drew 2-2 with Croatia and gets into the next round by the skin of their teeth.

so the boyfriend and i jubilantly make out way to the city for breckie before work.

there was lots of honking, cheers and shouts in the city. everyone was walking around with smiles plastered on their faces with a few odd grouchies aside.

it was fun!

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On a slightly sadder note, work is shitter-dee-doo-dah

Stayed til 7 on a friday night which is insane if you ask me.

Ruined my friday night and I missed a dinner with marty and friends to celebrate the australian win.

Possibility of working over the weekend.

With greater power comes greater responsibility said peter parker's pop.

Just copped a whole lot of shit at work and with the recent promotion, I can't turn a blind eye anymore. But then again, work life's always like that. There's shit everywhere.

Pity my tai tai ambition looks even less attainable.

I suspect the boyfriend is the sort that not now or would ever condone the idea of a dependent spouse so unless I start hunting around for a new one, I'd better get used to the thought of office politicking in the office and serfdom at home for the rest of my life.

-_-'

Chatting with Marissa the other day and the topic of tai tai~ism came up.

I told her how Marty did not take to the idea of having a housewife and she said... "aiya... you should go out with a singaporean!"

Ouch....... and I feel like such a hypocrite sometimes.

Maybe it's a cultural difference... but i think Marty's school of thought seems to be more "you take care of your own shit and I take care of mine, after which, we'll just hang out and have fun with each other" but this is not how I was brought up.

I believe in a family unit. Not in the individual.

Plus it just feeds my aforementioned uneasiness when all my asian friends never fail to remind me how individualistic white people are.

I guess for now, I'm just going to go with the flow... I think it wouldn't be long before I feel like leaving Sydney. As it is, I'm starting to feel frustrated with this city.

Just yesterday, I spent more than an hour waiting for the bus to come. I was sick with a pounding migraine, it was cold and wet outside and the bus stop had no shelter. Just because it hardly rains in Sydney (an average of about 32 days in a year), the state government obviously saw no need to have sheltered bus stops. Buses are supposed to come every half hourly but sometimes when bus drivers to a no show, there are no replacements. What with the world cup happening and all, I'm not surprised that the drivers have chucked sickies.

It's really appalling how fucking lousy the public transportation network is here. You'd think that such a cosmopolitan city should have really good infrastructures in place but Sydney disgusts me that way.

Roads with portholes, road markings old & defunct with new markings along the roads causing confusion, inconspicuous road signs making it impossible to find your way around, poorly lit roads, buses that are horridly late, trains that are never on time and breakdown causing massive hold ups, new road tunnels that are poorly planned and hence unused AND MUCH MORE...

I just can't understand how the public can accept this kind of service level. I mean, if this was a backwater town fair enough but it's not!

The state government has said that it intends to spend $40billion on improving public transportation. $40 fucking billion.

First of all, short of blasting this city to the ground and rebuilding it, I don't really see how any improvements can be made without inconveniencing everyone who needs to commute to the city.

Secondly, $40 billion? Geez... that's a hell lot of money. After the horrendous cross-city tunnel boo boo (Background: the state government spent about $800 million building a tunnel that is now under utilised because Sydney siders have decided to boycott the tunnel due to several reasons, one of which, the compulsory installation of an e-tag much like our ERP machines. And because the state government promised the private contractor who built and owns this tunnel a certain level of revenue, the state government will now have to pay the private contractor the revenue shortfall and guess where this money comes from - TAXES), all I can say is, the $40b better be justified.

Thirdly, alot of the inefficiencies of the public transportation is due to the plain nonchalance and laziness of the bus drivers and train drivers. They get paid more than 60 grand per annum. Hell of alot for a pretty brainless job in my opinion. I'm pretty sure lots of people from third world and developing nations would gladly have half that amount.

So why aren't these lackadaisical idiots fired? For fear of incurring the wrath of the trade unions.

Fucking bunch of spoilt brats really... if the governments would loosen immigration laws and allow a much more competitive labour environment, not only would it lower costs for everyone, it would also teach those lazy bums a fucking lesson, to either take their jobs seriously or shove off for someone of that would.

Grr.... it just makes my blood boil

Scoff at the propagandistic style of the Singaporean government, the yearly composed nationalistic songs in celebration of national day, the seemingly apathetic ignorant population (which i feel is entirely the success of governement propaganda so why the hell are they blaming our generation for being indifferent i wonder), the ugly government housing, the lack of creativity and vibrancy in the arts et al BUT give me the law and order, dependability of public transportation and well-maintained roads any day.

Unless of course, i'm rich enough to afford my own car and never ever have to worry about public transport ever again.

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Anyway, Aussies vs Croats today at 5am. another late night party at Mart's with beer, nuts, lollies (read: sweets), cookies, potato puffs (maybe) coffee coffee coffee then it's off to work immediately

for now, i'm off to pick marty up from work and cooking paprika chicken for dinner tonight. A dish my slovakian colleague has imparted.

After slogging for 2 years and 9 months as a lowly associate in my firm, I've finally been given my first proper promotion and I can finally call myself a SENIOR accountant/associate. With that, I also have a whopping pay increment of 42%.

YAY

*cartwheels*

Had a superb day today!

First, Jean and I met Chris and bobo (chris' dog who walks around on 3 legs because one of her hind leg is bad) for breckie at Chris' regular cafe near St Kilda's beach although I wouldn't really call that miserable stretch a beach but nonetheless, it was an interesting joint which had the coffee and cakes counter in the centre of the cafe and table all around it.

After breckie, we paid a visit to Chris' home to drop of his yellow saab convertible. Mmm... convertible. I LIKE. Anyway, Chris has a really cool bachelor's pad. His house is a tastefully done up two-bedder with nice art, a cool fireplace and cow skin rugs strewn around. A real bachelor's pad. =)

We took jean's beat up suzuki swift to Dandenong. This little red car makes the most awful noises when starting up and heaves and chugs going up slopes. The drive to Dandenong took forever and after a couple of wrong turns (Jean had this compulsion to turn left all the time) we were finally on the right road up the mountain. By this time, it was well past midday and we were getting peckish again.

A few kilometres up the mountain, in Olinda we stopped at Mrs Marples Tearoom for a wonderful tea. If you ever go to Dandenong, you have to try this place. Mrs Marples has a nice rustic atmostphere with a roaring fireplace. All the tables have nice floral printed table clothes and scones are served in nice baskets with matching linen. Rustic teapots are displayed throughout the restaurant/cafe and old pictures hang on the walls. It was very cottagey and was an enormous welcome from the brisk cold outside.

We ordered cottage beef pie (very apt), scones with homemade jam and cream, bread and butter pudding with ice cream and tea (but of course). The tea was some supposedly awarding winning blend in Britain. The whole get up was so very English.

After tea, we drove up further to a lookout point in Dandenong. The drive through the mountain was really beautiful as well with towering trees on both sides of the road. At the lookout, we could see the light of the setting sun on the mountain tops in the distance. We took a short bushwalk and saw huge trees which had a red tinge and looked like furry tails from a distance. The furry branches started from the base of the trunk and obscured the view of the tree trunks entirely. We didn't go very far before Bobo started slowing down her pace in protest.

As Dandenong is a mountain resorty sort of area, there were alot of quaint shops and after the look-out, we went shopping in these shops. We chanced upon a shop that had over 300 variety of teas and teapots of all shapes and sizes. I went crazy and bought 3 different kinds of tea there. We also went crazy at a shop selling body cremes and butters.

By this time, it was 5 and time to go home so we started the long and arduous drive back to Chapel Street where we had dinner at the Borsch, Vodka and Tears restaurant for yummy russian/polish food. Melbourne is slightly different to Sydney and getting a liquor licence is easier. Hence, All of the restaurants and cafes here sell liquor as well as food. Sydney has more BYOs - bring your own alcohol.

Borch, Vodka and Tears is a dimly lit restaurant with an old feel that somehow feels a little melancholic. I think anything Russian associated tends to exude that sort of melancholia. According to Chris, the restaurant hired a russian designer to intentionally make the place old looking. Here's a couple of pics of what BVT looks like. The restaurant at night is much darker.




The food was pretty good although I've never had borsch or dumplings in russia. An interesting experience anyway and plus the company was great.

One of the best days I've had in a really long time

Walked the entire of stretch of chapel street and most unfortunately, found absolutely nothing at all. Well except for a fake chloe bag made of faux leather of a nice red. It isn't expensive at all and I really like the design but i'm iffy on the fake stuff. beat however has gave me roaring encouragement.

As promised to my two business partners, I have been scouting around looking for ideas and I've been feeling disheartened. After agreeing to go into this venture, I've been paying keener attention to ear rings, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, brooches and the like and I've managed to add a few new pieces to my collection. All for less than $5 each.

And whilst shopping with Marty at Paddington on Saturday, I found a shop that sold all ear rings for 25 bucks. Really gorgeous ones at that. Competition seems stiff but Eelin is of the opinion that there are stupid people (rich ones) who will not mind paying simply because they do not know there are cheaper and better ones about.

It's been an exciting weekend.

But let's start with the bad.

During the week, I received a call from Suli. Much to my enormous surprise. When I asked him what was up, his flippant reply was that he had nothing better to do. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He asked me how I was and equally flippantly, I told him I was still alive.

He suggested meeting up for dinner on friday and deciding to let bygones be, I agreed.

Come Friday, we decided to meet at 7:30pm at Glebe. Not wanting to be late (silly me), I hurried Mart out of the house at a quarter to seven. I was cursing under my breath when I remembered Suli was ALWAYS late. But it was too late. We were already at Glebe.

I gave Suli a call at the restaurant

m: We're here

S: oh you're here!

M: we did agree to meet at 7:30 and it is 7:25 now

S: Oh we're still home and we haven't picked Jane up.

By this time, I can't keep the annoyance out of my voice.

m: This is annoying

S: I was going to tell you we would be late.

Uh huh... like when? 8pm? next year? the next millenium?

I hung up on him shortly fuming and disgusted with the lack of respect this so-called friend had for me. The most abominable thing is he does this all the time but each time, he waves off all his wrong-doing nonchalantly without any sense of remorse for wasting other people's time.

Maybe I'm not laid back enough but I do not see why I should be always waiting around for someone.

And to add insult to injury (but then again, I wouldn't put it part Suli to be such a user), I find out over dinner that his "pals" are busy this week what with house moving and all. I light bulb goes off in my head and I realise the unexpected call and suggestion to meet up was simply because his usual kakis weren't free.

How nice.

Moving on to nicer things, I'm in Melbourne!!!

Absolutely freezing here.

Came on Saturday night and had dinner with Jean and Paul and Spicy Fish. I was falling asleep during dinner from the lack of sleep the nightbefore.

The next morning, we drove 300km up North to Benella, where Andrew's mother lived. it was a quiet town with a pretty decent sized town centre. We made a trip to the Brown Brothers winery, Milawa cheese factory, explored the gold mining town of Becchworth, had hot pies at the bakery there, drove through a scenic route and bought lots of bric-a-bracs. It was great.

Came back last night in time to watch the Australia - Japan match.

the boyfriend went insane with the world cup. Spending 2.5k on a new LCD tv and is now having world cup gatherings every important match. We have been wagering on a match a day and I was 30 dollars ahead before last night, having won 3 bets in a row. muahaha...

i think the boyfriend was beginning to feel ego-bruised expressing his wishes to win his money back but we all know it wasn't about the money. afterall, he is or thinks he is the football guru. Must have been unsettling losing to me like that. Anyway, with the australia match, obviously he took australia. He is patriotic like that. Thankfully Australia won and the boyfriend is happy now, having had his beloved Socceroos winning and breaking his losing streak. So now, I can go back to winning.

Over drinks tonight, Ee lin, Marissa and myself have decided to go into a little business together selling accesories. I know it sounds terribly passe but to be honest, life has been seeming rather lack lustre of late (hence the lack in blogging entries) and this new development has at least given me something to look forward to.

It all started out very innocently with Marissa going on about how she would love to set up her own business relating to fashion of any kind and then Ee lin started on about how her mom is doing the same thing and that she has contacts but just that she lacks the motivation to and how she needs someone to nudge her along and suddenly we were talking about how feasible it actually was and then I started chucking in details and BAM! We realised we were in business. Plus, being the geek that I secretly am, I whipped out my lappie and immediately started googling information to help us along. And suddenly, my life doesn't seem that boring anymore.

With all this new excitement coming up, I can't help wondering if i actually need a boyfriend. Sometimes, i feel as if I don't really need a relationship. For years I have always been in relationships of sorts and have never been technically single for long periods but from memory, I seemed really happy in those little pockets of singlehood.

I still think Marty is a great guy but maybe relationships are overrated.

It's absofreakinglutely freezing in Sydney.

Either winter has come early this year or if this is what Autumn is like, I dread the thought of winter.

Marty and I decided to go away for the weekend. Down to santuary point again. Where we can have some "ALONE" time. Yay.

The previous trip in warmer weather was absolutely delightful but this time around, I have my doubts. The weather has been forecasted to rain for the next couple of days and rain in temperatures lower than 10 degrees celcius is not something to be trifled with. You definitely want to be indoors and all rugged up.

It's times like these that I wonder how my people like Francis, Woanwei, William and the bunch in London survive.

It's a race to get home everyday after work. The wait at the bus stop feels like an eternity and whenever the cold wind blows, and boy does it blow mercilessly, I imagine myself not all too different from a fluttering dried leaf stuck to a twig. I also wish I had a roaring fire place.

Sometimes it even gets too cold to breathe and I find myself unconsciously holding my breath.

Anyway, fun weekend up ahead i Hope.

Will be back on Sunday night for dinner. Perhaps at a German restaurant that I've been meaning to go to. Need to introduce Peter and Nina (german colleague) before they both fly back home next week for the upcoming world cup.

I surprised Marty yesterday by telling him I knew what the score was for the Japan vs Germany match. 2-2 it was. That's what you find out when you get stuck at the reception with the newspaper on hand and honestly, I'd rather read about the world cup than Australian news.

He was flabbergasted and I think slightly proud. Maybe even loved me a teensy weensy little bit more than before. Who knows!

Movie night tonight. When movies are almost half-priced but still $8.50 per ticket. And popcorn? 11 bucks. How expensive can it get to see a movie here anyway? 30 bucks if you're 2 halves of a whole.

But seeing as how there isn't much else to look forward to on weekdays -the other day being Thursday, late night shopping day when shops close at nine *rolls eyes* - that's what we have been indulging in when decent movies come up.

X-men was a riot in that there were bits in the movie that were probably meant in all seriousness but were a tad OTT for me that really cracked me up.

If you don't want me to spoil the surprise than please do not read on.

There was just a bit too much gayish undertones in the movie for me to bear. Angel was definitely one hell of a pansy and my skin crawled a little when the source of the cure/ little boy stared out of the window at Angel flying free in the skies with moony eyes.

And then when Angel flew in and saved his dad, the look of "love", "compassion" and "forgiveness" in his eyes for his father. Ugh... Way too sappy. Overacting overacting overacting. I would have much preferred a look of erm... nobility and grace perhaps? *shrug* Admittedly, everyone's a critic but this character really made me cringe.

And also not forgetting the goth drag mutant bad guy (or is it girl? or shim?) who had the power to make force fields. What's up with the holey singlet and the bra underneath. Martin reckoned maybe he was really a she so what gives with the manly voice? And what about the clapping motion before he/she summoned the force field?

GAY GAY GAY.

I'm not homophobic but I just don't understand how the gay theme helped the movie.

Oh and what about the way Magneto tore out the bridge in order to transport his cronies to Alcatraz. Err... why didn't he dress them up in ice skates and fly them over instead. Or better yet, get Jean Grey do to it. I mean, she is a class 5 mutant capable of vaporising anything. Surely that would be a piece of cake for her.

But the most puzzling was the ending where Wolverine goes "I love you" and kills Jean Grey, once again proving that men are idiots. Like Hello!! Why did you go do something dumb like that? If a cure for mutants is available and he loved her, just inject her with the cure. Sheesh.

Despite the hilarity of some bits of the movie, it was still a rather gripping action movie. And i do have a penchant for movies about people with superpowers. I liked Sky High so go figure. =)

Had a dinner party at me place last night. Chicken curry, sambal belachan spinach (they were out of kang kong), mapo egg tofu, and sweet potato soup.

It was a good dinner. Ee lin, beatrice, david, jane, amanda, karl, marty and me. And even though I was feeling quite listless and dazed yesterday (God know's what was wrong with me), I perked up in the kitchen and whipped up all the dishes in 5 hours, including the time it took me to drive out, buy grocceries, drive back home, clean up a bit of mess and shower, which is a mean feat if you ask me.

In a bid to be more authentic, I resisted the urge last night to chuck in everything I could find in the fridge. My curries here are usually a mish mash of stuff like mushrooms, pumpkin, broccoli, sweet potato, chicken and even capsicums but I really wanted to have a dinner which reminded the Singaporeans/Malaysians of home. So i only had chicken and potatoes. Mom would have been proud I think.

Now, the next homey dish I'm gonna whip up will be beef rendang.

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In case anyone was wondering why I haven't been writing of late and if i'm still alive, which obviously and maybe unfortunately to some, Yes I Am, I've just been a little uninspired and also working a little harder.

One thing I've noticed about work and me is that my work and my creative side are negatively correlated. When I focus more on work, writing and reading gets more frustrating. So lately, I've been kinda standing at the mini crossroads of my life.

Being an auditor here is not a bed of roses as some would have you believe. Yes. It's true that I get off work on time mostly. Yes it's true that I "work" from home on the rare occasions when I'm not needed in the office.

But in order to be good at what you do, not only do you have to keep abreast with changes in the accounting and auditing standards, you also have to be widely read about the industry that you specialise in. And that for me, ladies and gentlemen, would be the (drumroll)... Insurance industry. All the journals about the industry changes, market outlook, etc... as also being contantly updated about the client that you audit by reading journals in factiva, market announcements etc... Phew!

And then for insurance, the industry is impacted by the other industries, catastrophes, interest rates, economy (does it ever end?), you also have to know what's going on in every where else.

That makes me wonder. Is this what I want to be doing for the rest of my life? Face buried in a copy of the financial times? Poring over analysts' reports, walking the walk and talking the talk?

And if I stop being an accountant, then there goes my chance to live and work all round the world. I'd be extradited out of here immediately, maybe even with a cannon. =(

It's frustrating because I don't know what I should do.

And that makes me entertain thoughts of winning millions in the lottery.

So I was on lavalife the other day because the boyfriend and I were having a disagreement and breaking up seemed to be on the cards. And I kinda wanted to put myself out there in the dating game again as quickly as possible. Afterall, time and tide waits for no man and it makes the breaking up period much easier to handle.

So lavalife has this chat thingy on the browser so you can chat with anyone online if you wish to. So this guy says hi to me and I say hi back. He asks me what I'm doing online, I take a peek at his profile and reply, I'm chatting with my ex. =) by the way, he's 45.

And he goes... oh... what a pity for me...

So i go... why's that

and he goes... because if you get back together with your ex boyfriend then I won't stand a chance...

Ugh... i hate it when they do shit like that... Why does he think he would have stood a chance otherwise?!

So I go... I just looked at your profile. Unfortunately, I think the age difference is too great.

And he goes... it's not the age that matters. it's the inner beauty of the person...

me... would you go out with a woman who's 70? (my mind conjures up a picture of a shrivelled old lady)

and he goes... of course

me... right!

He... too narrow-minded...

First of all, narrow-minded? I wonder if people will call me narrow-minded just because I do not partake in beastiality. So call me narrow-minded if you will but I just don't feel comfortable dating a senior citizen. At least not when I'm not a senior citizen myself. Why accelerate life? Why wouldn't I want to enjoy the hard taut muscular body of a young male if I can and when I can?

Secondly, and I may be cynical for thinking so BUT who he is trying to kid anyway... inner beauty of the person? This is a dating website for god's sake where people put pictures of themselves (if they don't look like clowns although some still do anyway) and talk themselves up. So don't get all self-righteousy on me for being superficial.

There should be a law against these paedophiles!!

Thirdly, why are there so many weird people online? Maybe I'm weird too... I don't know... I hope not... :(

But just, more often than not, you get pyschopaths, despos etc... it's hard to find some stranger online that you can just chat with about random stuff...

On jolene's recommendation, I set up an account at http://sg.wholivesnearyou.com

Apparently this is the latest and greatest website for one nighters...

Not that it'd be of any use to me but I'm still Singaporean so i signed up an account to see what the hype was all about.

So I got a couple of messages from people and realised that I had to verify my account with a $2 sms from a singapore phone before I could reply people... what a downer!! and there I was all excited about chatting with fellow Singaporeans... oh well... lucky for people back home unlucky for Me...

Memento mori

Remember last friday night, I raided the neighbourhood library and brought back a book which much later on, I felt I must have been confused to have wanted to borrow it? A book about a man and his dying wife?

Well. I ended up reading it today.

A sad sad book.

how much of us there was by Michael Kimball

the book was about a man who's wife has a seizure in the middle of the night, after which, she slowly deteriorates and dies. But even though the story line seemed cliche and predictable, the matter-of-fact delivery, the honesty behind the words struck a chord in me.

Seizure in the middle of the night, and wife going into a coma

"I parked our car next to the emergency room entrance and left the engine on. I thought that that might somehow help to keep my wife alive. The ambulance that had had my wife inside it was parked there too, but there weren't any people inside it anymore. But the hood of the ambulance was still warm and i t made me think that my wife was still alive"

"Her eyes were closed and another part of her face was covered up with an oxygen marks. She didn't look like my wife like that, but I had never seen my wife dying before that night and I didn't know what it was going to look like."

"The machines and wires made her look so tired. I was tired too. I wanted to get into the hospital bed with my wife and go back to sleep with her. I wanted to sleep her sleep with her."

Bringing her home after she got better...

"I started the engine of our car up, but I was afraid to drive us away from the hospital. I was afraid that she might stop breathing again and that we would need other people to help us to keep her alive again. But I was afraid to turn the engine off too. Our car had kept her alive before"

"I would have carried her inside if I could have lifeted her up. But I was too old too , and too tired, and we just wanted to go back to bed and back to sleep together so that we could wake up again and it would be morning at home again. But neither of us could sleep much. We were both too afaid that one of us might not wake up.

"But we also knew that she was going to die sometime..."

"we knew that it didn't matter what or how much we ate. We knew that we couldn't be alive and together for very much longer"

"We wanted it to be daytime all of the time. We didn't need much sleep anymore anyway. I wanted to be awake for tht rest of the time that she was going to be alive.... We cooked and ate and sat and talked and waited and moved and walked and we did it all slowed down. There wasn't anything else that we wanted to do but be awake and alive with each other."

When she started deteriorating

"So we began to practice for how and when she might finish living and dying."

"We considered slitting her wrists, but we thought that that would have hurt her too much. We tried suffocation with a pillow, but I couldn't hold the pillow down."

"So we also practiced for her death with sleep. She would keep her eyes closed and change her breathing and push that hard last breath of air out of her lungs and her nose and her mouth."

"We both took sleeping pills so that we both could sleep. We were doing everything together that we could then."

"I swallowed mine so that I could sleep that sleep with her and not wake up either. We both held onto each other and looked at each other before we closed our eyes and let go of her."

When she dies

"But she was gone too and I hadn't taken enough of her sleeping pills with me or I wasn't close enought to dying to go with her yet."

"The rest of her body heat seemed to be leaving her body too, but I tried to keep her warm. I covered her back up with the blankets and I wrapped myself around her on the couch and held onto her too. She seemed to feel a little warmer again, but that was probably just the body heat from me warming her skin back up. But then she started to feel colder again and heavy in my arms and it made me feel cold too."

How his wife lay in the casket

"We had practiced for all of this in those last days too. We had used the couch for how she wante do be laid out inside her casket... She picked out that red dress that she wanted to wear and I thought of the sweater that she had always liked to wear at home and that she could wear over the dress and that might help to keep her warm."

"They asked me if there were anything that I wanted to put inside the casket with her, but I couldn't think of anything that I wantedher to take with her but me... and the casket wasn't big enough for both of us inside it."

"I laid down in the cemetry grass next to my wife's grave and thought of us lying next to each other in our bed again. I rolled over onto my side and laid my arms out over the dirt and tried to hold onto my wife again."

"I folded her clothes up to my face and smelled them and that made me afraid to wash the smell of her off of them. I folded her clothes up and stacked them up into a pile. I got a plastic bag out and set that little pile of her clothes down inside it. I tied the ties up on the plastic bag tight. I wanted to keep as much of the smell of my wife on those clothes and with me for as long as I could."




Dying is scary... to be old, ill and helpless is scary...

to love someone and lived with someone for so many years and have them die on you first is scary... I try to put myself in the shoes of such a person and it makes me shudder. I think I would want to just lie down and die with my loved one as well...

and I don't think I can overcome a major illness because i lack the tenacity to fight for my life. As it is, I'm only 26 but have begun to find life tiring.

Life seems to be a constant struggle to live up to the expectations of others. Worse if these expectations are work-related. That's why I try so hard to not let work affect me in anyway.

Most people never pause to consider that they have only a finite amount of time to live. They think it frivolous to fritter away economic value producing time mulling over death, dying and the like but to me, turning a blind eye to the fact that each passing second brings us closer to death seems almost naive.

Yay, boyfriend is finally a productive member of society.

Starting his new job at a bank.

Goodbye daggy t-shirts, jeans and sweater. Hello smart business attire.

Phew! I won't have to look inconspicuous when we meet for lunch anymore.

==========================================

Another yay!

Mark is going away on holiday for a month and I'll have the whole apartment to myself.

I can't wait.

P-A-R-T-Y

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It was Mart's good friend's (Bayliss) b'day last night. His girlfriend Amy planned a surprise for him and arranged for friends to wait out at the Clock pub (somewhere in Surry Hills) whilst Ian and this other guy, dressed up in clown suits and scary masks, went to Bayliss' (who by the way has a phobia of clowns, as do I) house, kidnap him with black sack over the head, taped up wrists all and then bringing him to the pub.

Ian looked like he had the most fun. And he gets to keep the clown costumes for a week. It would have been much better if Bayliss had a fear of men in uniform. I can think of more ways to have fun with say an army officer's uniform. *wink*

Anyway, over drinks last night, I had a chat with Jo.

Jo = girlfriend of Matt --> Mart's friend.

We got to talking about how dreams and aspirations. And even if that isn't the most interesting topic, it is really much more preferred to "oooh yes I am an accountant and I deal with the financial statements of banks, insurance companies, and fund managers. Blah blah blah"

So there I was telling Jo how it'd be great to some day be able to open my own cafe et al, when suddenly, i had this moment of ephiphany and realised that talking about my dreams (Or perhaps bullshit because i couldn't be further from realising any of them) wasn't something I could do with Marty.

I've spent many a night, bullshitting in this a way with dear friends. Ideas that were thrown about were for example, an online funeral planner business (gene's idea), dressing up in secondary school uniforms and crashing JC 1st 3 months economics lectures, being really rowdy and defiant but able to answer all the economics questions with ease (the lecturers will have a fit), renting an apartment with cool friends, travelling overseas in the hazy future etc etc etc.

Maybe because he's too pragmatic.

But a mere mention of anything slightly whimsical usually garners no response whatsoever. And after a couple of slaps on the wrists, I've stopped. Which I feel, really stems my creativity and daydream starved.

Half seriously, I lament how Marty's boring and it's hard for me to BS about my "dreams" with him and when Jo agrees with me quickly, I'm mildly concerned and I wonder if it is the general consensus that Marty is boring.

============================================

Today's mother's day. Mart invited me to his Aunt's place for lunch. Third time meeting the extended family.

Dom and Lisa brought Pontoof, their whippet. A really endearing dog with fur as soft as a possum's.

Whippets look a lot like greyhounds. With long bambi like legs, they are built for speed and were used in hunting and considered as the poor man's greyhound.

Pontoof was sooo cute. Even with his long spindly legs, he curled up on my lap and went to sleep by tucking his head in the crook between my folded arm and my body. awww.... Now i wan't a dog too...

Am trying to persuade Marty.

heh heh....

anyway, lunch was great and i feel less uncomfortable around his relatives although i do think it's still gonna be a while before I feel totally at ease

Finally managed to tear myself away from the boyfriend after 2 weeks of seeing him close to 24/7 and had dinner with beat at Cya, a decent korean restaurant in a small alley way in the heart of the city.

As we were paying for our dinner, we spot Marissa and Kel near the entrance of the restaurant waiting to be seated. Beat wonders whether we can make our getaway without them noticing. Now, Cya is a tiny restaurant of less than 20 tables and only one entrance so there was absolutely no chance of getting out without walking past them. We are momentarily delighted when Kel walks into the gents and decide to say a quick hi to Marissa and then disappear before kel reappears.

Unforunately, our quick hi just wasn't quick enough and kel came out of the loo before we made our escape. Brief pleasantries were exchanged and Kel asked after my health which was a tad unsettling perhaps because of my own guilt. To avoid the awkward silence that eventually decends on unwilling conversational parties, i remind beatrice that she has to rush home for her movie. I sensed the relief in kel, beat and myself. heh

The crisp cold air greets us as we spill out onto the busy street giggling. Beat remarks that kel should consider himself a lucky man, to be caught in such a situation. Caught in an awkward situation with 3 gorgeous girl he's gone to bed with. That tickles me and I laugh heartily in agreement.

We wonder if Kel has ever thought the same and that thought tickles us more and we continue laughing as we hurry along the streets on our way home.

I realise it's been a long time since I've had a good laugh with a friend. Which is kinda sad. These days, perhaps it's the lack of like-minded individuals, perhaps i'm just getting withdrawn. Who knows? Laughing just isn't as fulfilling as before. Usually it's more of a "that's amusing" sorta smile. Ah... i know... it's the lack of evil laughter. The kind of evil laughter you get from bitch fests.

Shucks. Not much I can do about that I guess.

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Finally finished American Gods - Neil Gaiman. The unabridged version.

It was disappointing. I've always thought NG to be a really good storyteller. Captivating in a dark and sometimes satirical way and American Gods was intruiging at first. However, half way through the book, perhaps because I lost the reading momentum and was picking it up and putting it down sporadically, but I think mostly because he tried to do too much in this one story, the book just got too confusing.

There were so many new characters being thrown in constantly and so many subplots (some of which were insignificant to the main story) that I couldn't help but tire of trying to dig into my memory of who said what and who was called what. Bear in mind, this book was more than 600 pages so trying to recall the what(s) the who(s) said in the beginning of the book is no mean feat.

And what's up with the missing children and hinzeleman anyway.

Now I know why the version that won all the awards (abridged) was much shorter.

anyway, it's friday night and Mart is now getting inebriated at the Monkey bar with his mates, No doubt talking about the latest innovations (hydrogen powered cars?), politics, and other "did you knows".

I could have gone but the idea of drinking lemon lime bitters or diet coke whilst being a "trophy" girlfriend was less attractive than being snug in the comfort of home with a book, some milo and chips.

After I'd finished American Gods, the only other easy read on hand was "confessions of a shopaholic", which might I add, Mart enjoyed reading out loud to me in the car whilst i drove around today. He claims that it's only enjoyable because he's reading it out loud to me and he wouldn't enjoy it otherwise but then again, the unwritten rules of masculinity forbids him from admitting the latter so I have my doubts. I mean, I ask the guy to read out a paragraph or two just for kicks and he proceeds to read out at least 3-4 pages.

So.

Anyway, afraid that this chic fic would annoy me so much I would be near bald from tearing my hair out at its bimboticism, I head off to the library and arm myself with:-

1. Tom Holt - Snow white and the seven samurai. (i reckoned that I miss reading him)
2. Neil Gaiman - Anansi boys (What the heck, figured I'd give him a second chance)
3. Walter Moers - Rumo and his miraculous adventures (this book has illustrations of animals. I've decided to live dangerously)
4. And one more sappy book about love. and no, not a romance novel per se. I don't do danielle steele thank you very much. Some story about a man's love for his dying wife blah blah blah...

So it's gonna be a night of reading for me.

I guess Mart's right afterall. I think I am a geek.

It's interesting to realise the quirky things about people that make you like them.

I walked into his room. well sort of. it was his sister's room before but she got married and moved out a while back. there was a huge king bed and on the bed was a black hard back novel by james patterson. Not exactly the kind of book I'd read. His glasses were wedged between the pages, marking up where he left off. they were intellectual and serious looking rectangular thin black metal frames. I think he looked better in them. I've always preferred bespectacled men.
The memory of the novel and glasses on the bed brings back warm fuzziness.

To list down other quirky things that I remember fondly, I'd say, the clean yet musky smell of the bed and pillows. The way the room had a warm yellowish hue when the sun streamed in. How there was always a lingering smell of cologne.

And as an after thought, although it used to be one of the main reasons why I like him, how I always felt taken care of. Looked after. Safe.

In the end, I never really knew him and he never really knew me. We are as good as strangers and yet we were close friends.

I indulge myself and wonder about "what ifs"... but only sometimes.

It's 5am in the morning and I'm wide awake in the kitchen, sitting with my legs curled up sideways with a tea by my side, the heater switched on and my laptop on my lap, trying to take stock of my life. Or in other words, nitpick.

I woke up in the middle of the night, more than an hour ago and lay tossing and turning in bed. I've hardly ever done this for a while. This waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep.

I realise I haven't been writing much of late and it bothers me because I loved writing but of late, there just hasn't been any drive, or maybe just that my life has gotten a little dull and uninteresting.

Someone once said to me a relationship kills individuality. I think it applies to myself because of who I am but I do not think it applies to everyone. Marty for one, still retains heaps of his own individuality. He is absolutely undaunting in his warcrafting and reading habits.

He can be such a book slut. He carries around a little black satchel which I call his library. More often than not, there happens to be at least one IT magazine, 2 novels, his psp and an assortment of games.

I on the other hand am unable to stomach any book which doesn't tickle my fancy and a quarterly essay on the similarities of the English and Australians is definitely one of those types.

I digress.

Anyway, Marty is his own individual. I think. He's been a geek his whole life and never aspired to be anything else. If 20 odd years of peer pressure couldn't change him, how could a 3 month~ish relationship? Not that I want to change him. I love his geekishness most of the time. Although it will get quite disturbing when he starts to want to spend more time on warcrafting and reading than with me. Anyway, I'm just pointing out how he's not the sort that would lose his individuality just because of a relationship.

Back to myself.

A relationship cramps my style I think. Simply because my style is supported by a single's lifestyle. Before M came along, I decided that this year was going to be a swinging single's year for me. Where I would busy myself setting my life in order and dating several people. How happy and full of life I was then.

I'm quite a passionate person but in order to have passion in my life, I need the recklessness that comes along with passion. The free rein to live life teetering on the edge. Not cautiously creeping along, putting someone else's feelings over and above my own. It's natural for me to consider the feelings of my other half but doing the "right" thing is perhaps not second nature for myself.

I want to acheive some sort of balance. Having a relationship but being my own individual. For now, the relationship seems to have won. Who I am, what I want has become a blur. I feel restless and confused. In a state of disequilibrium. A recipe for disaster I think. Afterall objects can't be in a state of disequilibrium indefinitely.

I feel that I've become really philosophical about crap at work.

I try to be.

It's not really that hard actually but it does require a little bit of effort.

Effort in letting go of things beyond my control.

And all it really needs is that.

Letting go.

And finding peace 0f mind.

Yesterday was a particularly trying day at work where I got so busy I had no time for lunch. My mind was so addled (from adding?) that all I could manage was an aimless stroll in Chatswood where the bright lights of the shopping mall were comfortingly distracting.

Sung myself hoarse today at the karaoke (pronounced Care-Ree-oh-key) session with some folks at work today. What's the thing with karaoke and white people.

Place a mic in a white person's hands and he/she suddenly turns into a robbie williams/ mariah carey wannabe, gyrating their hips and contorting their faces (for greater effect i suppose). They aren't singing mind you... oh no no no... proper singing at a karaoke session with white people is a cardinal singing. Shouting and going off-key is the RIGHT way. *HEAR HEAR* Afterall, where's the fun in one (or two) person(s) singing whilst the rest solemnly sit around and "appreciate" (honestly, no one really listens when karaoke gets competitive... people just get restless and impatient waiting for their songs to start).

The beauty of having rowdy karaoke sessions is at the end of the night, everyone leaves feeling slightly closer to their fellow croonies or crooners (Depending on how wild the night went). Thanks to good training from me dad, I was able to keep up with the oldies in the group. Folks that sang oldies like delilah, layla, New York New York et cetera...

Fun songs to keep in mind for future karaoke sessions are:
1. Uptown girl (definitely a great group singalong)
2. Can't take my eyes of you (My personal fave)
3. This love (Maroon 5)
4. oh bla di oh bla da (Beatles)
5. you've lost that loving feeling (righteous brothers)
6. Summer days (??)

Bucks' night (continued)

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The long weekend is most unfortunately over.

Sigh...

the shite thing about holidays are the end of it all, when you pack your bags, heavy with shopping you paid for with money meant for your rent for the next couple of weeks. Money you really shouldn't have spent and the weight of the luggage makes your back feel like its about to snap like a toothpick. But most of all, you feel the weight of the impending drudgery you will face once getting back. The piles of laundry, other household chores, work, colleagues, my once beloved routine, leaving my cousins behind. I dread all of them.

I feel restless.

I get back to Sydney and I feel like I should go out and do something. Not waste the what's left of the public holiday. It is afterall only 2:30 pm when I land.

In the end, I stay home and decided to pen down my thoughts over this long weekend.

I swear, if people stop blogging, msn, random internet surfing and put the time to productive use, we could probably seriously enhance the economy of one if not a few third world countries.

anyway, i digress...

1. hen's night

Hen's night wasn't too exciting. As expected. I hope it's because of the generation gap of the hen's night participants and myself. My idea of fun is certainly not sitting in some dim lit pub, answering silly questions and drinking because i've gotten them wrong and then going home.

in my own defense, I tried to get the party to liven up a little. the idea was that jean had to fulfil some assigned tasks. the first and only one we managed was that she should find a random guy, tell him that there was a group of horny women who wanted a mass orgy with only one guy and that he was the lucky one, convince him to follow her back to our table and then make him buy her a drink.

as luck would have it, all the cute guys in the room were in groups with other girls. not wanting to step on anyone'e toes, we left those alone. only the creeps and the impecabbly dressed faggots (obviously) were either standing alone nursing their beers or in all-male groups.

anyway, let's make this short. jean settled for a creepy guy who seemed to be high on some substance. when he found out jean was getting married the next day, he agreed to buy her a drink on condition i give him a kiss.

although i was feeling a little wild that night (anything to liven up a party), i wasn't sure if I was about to disappoint my boyfriend with someone that wasn't (in my books) attractive at all. Plus, his apparent altered state of consciousness was quite unsettling and he had a side kick that reminded me of the undertaker cum baby huey, ie, curly oily looking hair with a demeanor of someone slightly retarded.

after persisting for what felt like a lifetime, mr creepy gave up and bought jean a drink after borrowing some cash from his croonies. poor guy.

the mood was ruined and everyone became much more subdued after that. or rather, i became more subdued and hence, the party (if you can even call it that) petered out into a quiet mumur and i think I may even have almost dozed off a few times.

2. Buck's night

The guys weren't answering any of our phonecalls. bleah... only at about 130am did Mart disclose their whereabouts. Bar 20. In marty's own words, "it's..... classy"

Yuming and I decided to head off to bar 20. We reckoned that was where the fun really was.

the girls at bar 20 were really good. Much better than the ones I have seen in Sydney. great figures, great dancers and even better performers. the place wasn't as seedy as the ones in sydney too.

i must admit, i found the idea of my boyfriend visiting a strip club felt quite disturbing because it brought back memories of jerko david who visited seedy nightclubs even when he was with me. of course i was kept in the dark.

I don't know if i'm supposed to be accepting of behaviour like that.

it seems to be a case of double standards.

Why is it ok for a guy to go to a strip club, pay money so that a girl could touch and tantalise him but yet unacceptable if i did the same to another guy?

mart's explanation is that guys aren't allowed to touch the girls at the strip club, hence.

somehow, i begin to realise that no matter how much i try to understand the male species, I'll never be able to fully put myself in their shoes. to understand their ability to seperate love from lust.

I don't think i would want to hurt the person i love by making out with someone else i was lusting after even though it is lust and only lust i feel for the other person. I also do not think that i would justify my actions by saying that t'was all in the name of good fun or it doesn't meant a thing. Because, shouldn't the feelings of your loved one matter the most?

perhaps it's an unavoidable business practice in asia to entertain at nightclubs with female escorts. but unavoidable and ingrained does not mean women should be apathetic and accepting about such behavior.

it's either the men should stop their perving or let's see some male strip clubs and nightclubs with male escorts only!!!

Wedding insanity

What is it about weddings, family ones in particular, that cause people to go slightly mad.

All marriageable aged family members who have yet to tie the knot would inevitably be interrogated not too differently, I imagine, from how the Gestapo interrogated their hapless victims, until they crumble into a dithering heap, surrender and agree to get hitched in the next year.

Mart and I were put under the grinding knife last night at Jean and Marcus' wedding reception. Now ordinarily, considering how I'm the "next in line" of the cousins, I really shouldn't be too surprised. However, they fail to realise that we've only been together for THREE MONTHS!!!

The hints started dropping when Andrew asked over cocktails when the next part was going to be held. The next party in Sydney. I did a major eyeroll that probably scored a 9/10. As if on cue, everyone started.

At the VIP dining table, I seated Mart beside Uncle Richard, thinking he would be safe there but uh uh... after getting a little sloshed, Uncle Richard got a little chatty and started his banter as he heartily clapped mart the on shoulder...

"so... when are you getting married?"

it was at first amusing the laugh at Mart's discomfort but as the night wore on, even I had sympathy for him. I mean, these people were family and even though I had my fair share of ribbing, I could laugh and brush them aside. I could afford to be a little "rude" but Mart had to plaster a smile to his face even though he must have felt like shoving a foot into my uncle's throat. I know i did.

sometimes oldies drive me insane.

fortunately, mum was mum... haha

even at the after wedding party, we were not spared.

the most annoying thing was how everyone made out like I didn't have a choice. That mart was the one who was the all deciding factor in us getting hitched.

hrrmph

"hello" a girl can say no can't she?

ppffft

in the end, I realised the best way was to openly admit that a wedding will be on the cards in the next year or so, drink down a toast from "well-wishers" and laugh it off.

I'm just glad mart hasn't decided to pack his bags and leave. I mean, which guy appreciates being arm twisted into an awkward situation like that?

or maybe he has already decided to but is just biding his time...

....

....

After much a do, which included fuck ups in domestic flight tickets, train rides to the airport et al, I finally managed to make my way to melbourne.

Kinda disappointed because I was expecting to fall in love with the city after hearing so much about how "european" it is. Unfortunately, the towering skyscapers were the first to greet me as I neared the city and it reminded me too much of Singapore for me to be impressed in anyway.

Perhaps I'm just a tough customer.

Anyway, in a bid to buy a dress for Jean's wedding, Mart and I went crazy shopping around. The shopping here is definitely way more overwhelming than Sydney. There are so many boutiques on every single street to do boutique shopping would be too stressful for me to handle so I decided to stick to the safe departmental stores and did a damage of *ahem* almost $500 in the first afternoon of shopping :P

At night, we head over to an italian restaurant where Mart's friend is a chef there and have a freaking 8 course dinner with champagne

1. pizza dough balls with anchovies, chilli and zuchini flower breaded and fried

2. caprese salad

Honestly, after the caprese salad I was pretty happy to place my fork down, rub my belly and call it a night... little did I know it was just the beginning....

3. buckwheat pasta and potato with butter sauce, sage (or maybe some other herb) fried crisp in butter

4. There's something here although i can't quite remember what

5. Prawns wrapped in prosciutto with potato and lemon salad

6. Rabbit ragout and thin fettucine

7. lamb with tomato salad

8. Eggplant ball in napoleonese sauce

9. Crepe suzette and vanilla ice cream and coffee... (good good coffee)

The food was good though... =)

after dinner, we both so exhausted we came back immediately and slept... zzz

So Torin, the dude mart helped me make friends with on rsvp said "hi" to me last night and we started chatting.

So i asked Torin what he did for a living to which he replied "i'm a free lance journalist... i can help you with your english if you like =P"

I guffawed...

It's been a long running joke amongst some of us here. Being Asian, non-australian and living in Australia, it's often that the aussies/white people are impressed by Singaporeans' command of English.

"oh you speak really good English" they say whilst smiling ever so sweetly at you. Thinking they've paid you the compliment of a lifetime without realising how idiotic they've just made themselves out to be.

to digress a little,

i found it really funny once when mart complained about how an ignorant american remarked on his good english. It was funny hearing the indignation in his voice. See the parallel here??

and now, back to the point...

so now, whenever mart tries to take the piss, he tells people that i speak good english. And then we both snigger knowingly

anyway, when torin said he could help me out with my english, mart was there to. It was so hilarious. how we laughed.

and i continued my conversation with torin, making the extra effort to be grammatically incorrect.

"wow thanks you very much... my english needs most improvement" says me

" so is your boyfriend from sydney or singapore?"

"mine boyfriend is from sydney"

Meanwhile, Mart accuses me of being mean and asks me to stop

I get annoyed and insist Mart's cramping my style...

"or soon to be ex" i type spitefully in front of Mart... *hah*

this gets torin really excited...

"oohhhh soon to be ex... you're breaking up with him?"

I imagine him salivating

"hah he cramping me style" --> Mart thought this sounded more cavewomanish than bad english

"ooh yeah... that's nto good" says Torin...

"what's NTO" i ask *innocently*

NTO?? who needs help with english now huh??

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So the saga continues today...

Torin sees me online and says hi again.

He asks me what et puis means...

"it means and then in french my dear ignorant one" i replied

I guess i'm in a cheeky mood...

he asks me for inspiration to write travel pieces as his portfolio for a travel magazine interview...

Still feeling cheeky, i suggest writing a piece about travelling in time. A holiday in France in the 1700s... quite clever i thought... i mean if you could sell a holiday in France in the 1700s to me then you could probably sell ice to eskimos... and it was funny

then he asks me if the girl in my msn picture Amanda is my friend...

to which i replied... yeah or maybe she's a random stranger or maybe i'm lesbian and she's my girlfriend

he was deaf to my sarcasm and eagerly asked if Amanda was single.

"you'd hope so" i type *boy is this guy desperate*

"so do you think she and & me could be couple?"

*oh my gawd*

Someone bring in the restrainers

"are you white? doesn't look like it... fraid not then... maybe you could colour your hair blonde"

"what about you... are you still with your bf? or u single now?"

*ARRRGHHH!!!*

Rabid dog on the loose.

Hello!!! i just told you i have a bf like less than 24 hours ago...

"my my... you're quite keen aren't you? unfortunately, i'm still happily attached to my boyfriend."

"but we can still be friends right?"

"i have my doubts... you freak me out with the things you say"

I go for my shower.... after which, i found he left me this message on my com

"so you don't want to chat anymore? that ok :) (--> note the smiley before the rant)
to be honest, i think you're the strange one... last night ur telling me how you wanna break up with your bf, 2nite you say the opposite & when i ask you about travel story you tell me write a story from the year 1781!!! ur a freak dont msg me anymore ok"

I laugh somemore

and my boyfriend reprimands me for getting off on upsetting strangers

:'(

can't a girl have some fun? doesn't anyone have a sense of humour anymore??

*grumble*

Had dinner with Mart's extended family today at a chinese restaurant in Chatswood. It reminded me of the dinners with my extended family back home... the lazy susan and a round table, relatives all squashed cosily around the table, inane banter about everything from baby names to work and of course, not forgetting, reminscing... plus, great food from crabs to abalone to fish...

even though alot of conversation was lost on me, it was still nostalgic and suddenly, a crazy idea came into my head... i wondered if perhaps I should go back home one day... permanently...

life in Singapore is rather monotonous. There's only so much I can do there. From going to wala's, to shopping at orchard road, bugis or city hall, to having supper... I don't really club much so there goes MOS, MS and zouk... work there is crap too... petty policitics, unreasonable slave drivers and lack of staff welfare. But what Sydney can't give to me that only Singapore can is family...

I wish i had family around me to depend on... they'd be good for calling when I get a flat tyre and an unreliable boyfriend. Cousins would be good for catching up over coffee and having dinners. Nephews and nieces would be good to play with and spoil. Watching them grow up...

and I guess because i was brought up to be filial, a part of me feels I should spend more time with my gran and me folks...

But if i were to be realistic about the possibility of me going home, then I'd admit that would be really low if not impossible.

I've always lamented about how crappy Singaporean men can be... it is so hard to find an agreeable singaporean male whilst living in singapore. Now that I'm away and the ratio of singaporean men to non-singaporean men is so much more unfavourable, i can't imagine how i'd be able to meet a singaporean man whom i'd like and who would be interested in me too...

Plus, i'm already seeing and Australian/irish/chinese

So.... Since i don't think i'd ever go out with a Singaporean again, hence, I'd never be compelled to go home and therefore, i can just kiss my big chinese family dinners goodbye.

i guess i could always ingratiate myself with mart's extended family and live my big chinese "family" dinners vicariously through him and his family... all of them were warm and friendly

cept for Bev who happens to be mart's closest cousin. I think she's my age. call it intuition (although i call it common sense) but i'm pretty sure Bev doesn't like me. the reason is unbeknownst to me. afterall, I've only met her twice but then again, people tend not to need good reasons to dislike one another. All i know is that she made me uncomfortable the first time we met and today, the second time, she didn't say a single word to me (bear in mind, everyone else in the family all seemed excited to meet me), which is just the kind of cold attitude you'd intentionally put on to make someone new to a group feel uncomfortable.

But i'm not the grovelling sort so i'll leave ingratiation to another day.

So for now, i'm family-less in sydney... bleah