I went for my pre-employment medical checkup at Republic Plaza yesterday. As I was trying to find my way around, I began to imagine what it would be like... Working at Raffles Place.
The clothes I have to wear, the way I have to speak and carry myself.

If one changes job annually, it means one has to take 1 X-ray per year. That's a huge sacrifice, isn't it?

At the clinic, I met an former St Nicks school mate.
I love to speak in Mandarin with another who has good command of the language, coz it has been some time since I last had any real practice.

She commented that I was more the St Nicks me in person, unlike on the blog.
Yeah... I didn't use to have such long hair either.
I think sound/voice and gesticulation complete the picture. =))

If you are reading this... You are supposed to email me so that we can have tea!

I had a late lunch at Cedele Depot alone at the basement of Republic Plaza.

Jason got 'Good Fren' a second birthday present because the last present seemed to have worked for me and not 'Good Fren'.
In any case, I have taken over the new game, Puzzle Quest - Challenge of the Warlords, as well. =P

I know my mother likes ah niah flowers.
So I got the florist next door to put together something for her, while I ate my lunch and played my game.

Then I drove to NUH with the flowers in the front passenger seat, threatening to roll over at every turn. =_=

Think my mother is pretty happy with the flowers. =)))

Around 5pm+, my mother started shooing me home.
She said I needed time to travel and to prepare for dinner.

On my way home, I kept thinking about the 2 medical establishment I had been to for the day.
By observing the operation bits which are apparent to the outsider, one would realise that the medical business is highly rationalised.
As with any highly-rationalised organised, the individuals are likely to feel disengaged and alienated at some point.
Couldn't help feeling like I was at Macdonald's.
...........................................
What's for Dinner?

Tom Yum Kung and Beef Rendang!!!

With some 21st century help of course!


TOM YUM KUNG

Step (i) - Boil some water.


Step (ii) - Boil the mushrooms and prepared herbs (Packet #1).


Eh... Someone got rather excited. =)))
Check out his precious little face!!!


Step (iii) - Throw in the prawns and squids, then add Packet #2.


Then hor... Boil Boil Boil...

Step (iv) - Turn off the heat. Add Packets 3-5. Stir and serve.


TAH-DAH!!!



BEEF RENDANG

Step (i) - Heat up some oil in the pan.


Step (ii) - Stir fry the beef cubes.
You see the white froth? Looks quite gross, right?
It's caused by the white wine I used to punch the beef about 1 hour before cooking. This tenderises the meat.


Step (iii) - Empty the packet and add water.


KNN... I added too much water. =_=
Maciam beef CURRY!


While you let it simmer for 20 mins, do other stuff like fluff the rice and bring out the chopsticks.

Yeah... We is healthy people. We take partially unpolished rice. But hor... it's damn tough to cook this medley of rice well, coz the grains explode at different points. =_=
So sometimes, the rice turns out super hard.

In any case... The rice turned out ok last night.
What a spread!!! =)))

Coconut water for 'Good Fren', white for me!

I love to watch 'Good Fren' eat.
He asked for more rice but I had to disappoint him coz I only made 3/4 cups. Shouldn't take too much carbos especially we only have dinner after 8pm.

During dinner, Tiger was a little sian... Coz he couldn't participate!! HO HO HO!!!


No dinner tonight...
'Good Fren' is going to my cousin's place to give him tuition.
No no... This is not the Butter Factory cousin. Neither is this the RJC snogging one.
This one is male, and less 'adventurous'. =)))

I woke up yesterday at 11am, and attempted to make my way to Temasek Polytechnic to have lunch with Miss Ene yesterday.

Like Emily, I got to know Miss Ene in the previous job.
She's one of the most friendly people on my floor.

While on the PIE, I was checking out some really orbeet condos when I realised that I had missed the 8B exit. =_=
So I turned out at 8A into Bedok South instead.
Then I got lost in Bedok. KNN...

By the time I got to TP, I was about 20 minutes late.
[Btw, all the pics were taken with my mobile phone coz I forgot to bring my digicam. =((]

I called Miss Ene and she brought me to the Business canteen and told me I could order anything I like coz it was really affordable.
I thought she was joking...

While she bought food, I took my seat and started to scrutinise the canteen. Oi... This canteen is called the Busines$ Park leh...
You see the purple-coloured graph line and the blue grid?
It's a motif repeated on every stall.
It's rather American in the 1980s hor?



The canteen was about 3/4 full, bustling with chattering.


I noticed some of these aunties and uncles hanging around. Miss Ene later confirmed that they were Part-Time Invigilators hired for the exam period.
They are former teachers, ok!! Dun Play Play ah!!


Miss Ene appeared with some drinks and later collected the food. She wasn't joking about the prices.
You see my Teh-Si-Gosong? It's SGD0.30!!
Seriously...
What else in Singapore can one buy with SGD0.30?!

And the Hor Fun?? It's SGD2.00.
Win oredi...
You see the pink purse at the top of the picture? That's Miss Ene's coin purse for school only.
She said she would fill it up with SGD20.00 and it would serve her well in the school canteen for weeks!

Throughout the meal, we were reminded to keep the canteen and tables clear of rubbish.


So, BM cleared the table. And dumped the dishes into these containers. Must step on the lever on near the floor to open the clear plastic hood, ok!


Miss Ene had to go tie up some stuff before she could dump the exam papers in my car. After that, we planned to take a quick tour of the campus.
I couldn't go into her office, so I loitered along the corridor like some delinquent student for at least 20 minutes.

I like the way sunlight is introduced into the building.
Officially opened by then PM Goh in 1997, TP was designed by the late Pritzker Prize Winner, James Stirling, who's also responsible for designing various portions of world-renowned universities, such as Cambridge, Harvard, Rice etc.
James Stirling did the initial design for TP, but passed away before the building was completed.

After we dumped the all important exam scripts in my boot, we embarked on a walkabout around the campus.


Seriously, though the campus was unfamiliar to me, it had that warm feeling of 'knowledge', if you know what I mean. Some part even smelled like NUS. =_=

Of course, we had to visit the campus shop.


FWAH... TP jackets!


This shop is even more random than the NUS Co-op, which I totally adore! =))
Check out the wu-ah-boh-mee-giah!!


Miss Ene kept holding up this mini-banana and saying,"I like this banana." At least twice hor!!
I think this can be used to psychoanalyse her. =P


I bought all 3 of these. Coz (i) they are black and (ii) I thought my phone had the loop for such things.
I is so wrong.
Now I have 3 of these things and dunno what to do with them.


Heh... Here's the cashier, asking me to pay up while I was busy taking pics of her and the hardcopy of 'Diana, the Portrait' for less than SGD28!!!


Maybe if I take up this diploma, I will be able to figure out the deeply rooted fears/desires of Miss Ene, especially taking cue from the mini banana.

She's so gonna kill me after she reads this entry. o.Oy

I love long corridors. It is symbolic of institutions.
Schools, hospitals and other public buildings.

And when you are young and hormonally-charged, the corridor is your runway.
有时走路还会有风 leh!

At the heart of the campus, you find this ultra modern high-rise library.


Erm... Yes... And till today, there are people who cannot get used to the high rise National Library, when this TP library has been around for the past decade.


Apart from books and more books, I was rather intrigued by the multimedia section.
It has a great collection of DVDs and music CDs.

Seriously... what's this?!! It caught my eye coz it looked like some 1980s porn.

I is amazed and totally suaku...
Ofra Harnoy is Vanessa Mae even before Vanessa Mae was born and subsequently created!

And what the... Yeah... Come to think of it... I don't have any recordings of the national anthem.


Another cool feature of the library is that there are tvs all over, running CNN and CNA.



Miss Ene informs me that this is an operational tour agency where members of public can purchase their dream holidays from.
It also doubles up as a 'specimen' for the tourism and hospitality management students.
Cool eh...


We then drove across the 30-hectare campus to its western end.

These lovely Australian-looking apartments are staff housing!! Wonderfully tropical!!


Comes with an Olympic-sized pool just 2-minute walk away.


Check out the shower and loo...
Very resort-feel hor?!


Just beside the pool, a few workers were working on this modern tropical covered walkway.


This is part of the... Miss Ene says must emphasize... SGD5 Million recently opened Temasek Culinary Centre.


Where students can learn how to operate F&B establishments.



IT'S HOT!!! Just opened in Aug 07 leh...


This cafe is part of the new extension. There is a restaurant, Top Table, on the upper floor but because it is the exam period, it is not opened for business.
Do drop by for lunch. Make reservations hor!!


After the super comprehensive tour of the campus, I was hot and enthuz-ed. =)))
I WANNA GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

Anyway, I then sent Miss Ene home (some super ulu part of Singapore), and met her Star Search sister called Jeneen.
I kept saying... FWAH!! 名星的家 leh!! =P

After finishing my Ribena, Miss Ene gave me some directions on how to get to town, coz I was meant to meet Moby to catch Ratatouille.
I was so late lor!!
As Moby and I were going up the escalator, we saw an RJC couple snogging like half a metre away.
I was making faces at Moby. Having quite a bit of fun, when I realised that the chick looked super familiar.

KNN... She's my cousin!!!

No... Not the Butter Factory one...
Another one!!

You should have seen me! I got so excited... and was whispering to Moby... "SHE'S MY COUSIN!!!"

They got past the ticket-checkers and so did we.
Fearing that I might lose the chance to verify her identity, I called out to her.
She turned around and her face flushed immediately.
The tightly held hands broke apart.
I grinned.

Then hor...

THEY WERE WATCHING RATATOUILLE AS WELL!!!
Win oredi...

Then hor... Then hor...

WE SAT IN THE SAME ROW!!!
'Cept they sat at the extreme left corner. I suspect to facilitate making out or something.
HO HO HO...

Moby and I sat in the middle of the row.
While I kpkb-ed that the row was too faraway from the screen, that we might as well watch tv at my place... I asked Moby if it was too jeesiao if I went over to the little couple and offered my cousin some popcorn and chips.
HO HO HO!!! =))))))

After the movie, they refused to move off.
Freaking credits were ending oredi lor...
So Moby and I went off.

I wonder where they went after the movie.
I is kaypoh cousin!!
Hee Hee Hee...

So cute hor?
JC Love... Maybe they go pluck coconuts like I did!

Emily and I made plans to meet up once I went on leave.
We decided on yesterday noon. For lunch at Tiong Bahru Market. But because it was raining so heavily, she stayed put at Tiong Bahru and tah-pau-ed MOS Burger instead, while I attempted the long car/taxi queue to pick her up.

We then escaped into the dry comfort of the apartment, in the company of 2 charming kitties. =))

It has been quite a few months... actually almost 6 months... since we last met.
I got to know Emily through the previous job, and hit it off pretty well eversince. Something I noticed... Emily has funky shoes. =))

While we consumed heavenly nectars (beer, white, red + tea w honey), we spoke about all sorts of stuff.
It's quite refreshing to have a female in the apartment once in a while. I could feel our menstrual cycles syncing oredi.
HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Aparting from getting intoxicated and chatting, I also prepared dinner. I is female mah... Must multi-task to feel alive.
So I was skinning lotus root for a soup, and preparing chicken for Thai Green Curry.
Talking and waving dead chicken meat around is quite funny.

YEAH... I did make Thai Green Curry for dinner. No kidding.
Of course I had some help lah!!

My discovery at Giant on Tuesday mah!

Step (i) - Cut chicken and brinjal into small pieces.
The mushrooms are for stir-frying... A separate dish.


Step (ii) - Boil water.


Step (iii) - Open up Packet #1 aka dried herbs and dump into the pan.
(Note: Because our apartment is super small, we only have 1 pan for everything. It doesn't even come with a cover. =_=)


Step (iv) - Throw in the brinjal cubes.


Step (v) - Open Packet #2 aka dried coconut cream.


Step (vi) - Open Packet #3 aka Green Curry Paste. This is the stuff that makes it look green.


Step (vii) - Empty Packet #4 aka some sweet, sour and oily paste. Then load the chicken pieces.
While instructions say empty Packet #5 aka non-diary creamer. You hesitate because creamer sounds rather artificial. Then you geh-kiang and add fresh milk instead.

After the milk (which you of course dunno how much to add) the Curry begins to look a little too watery. =_=
Regret... then empty half of Packet #5.

Simmer for a while... and serve.


It turned out to be pretty ok.
Though 'Good Fren' came home late... The Green Curry was appreciated.

I have 2 other boxes for Tom Yum Kung and Tom Kha Khai aka White Curry!!
Can't wait to try them!!

一猫一层 感情不散

一猫一色 感情才会久

一猫一边 感情永不变

'Good Fren' woke me up before he left the apartment this morning so that we could give Blinky his antibiotics.
After that, I went back to bed...

Before I knew it, I was awoken by my persistently ringing mobile. I had 1 missed call. From the former colleague I was supposed to have lunch with.
I realised he had smsed me earlier at 11am. =)))

Meet up with him at Pete's Place, Hyatt.
It has been such a long time since I was last there.
The food was so-so. The conversation was long overdue.
I'm beginning to notice a trend amongst people I have been talking to over this period. I will attempt to summarise at the end of the 4 weeks. We are still far from completion!!

After lunch, I made my way to IKEA Tampines.
I is good... I didn't miss the TPE exit this time.
There is something about cruising on a weekday along the Singaporean expressways with 蔡琴 and Coldplay.
Makes me yearn for a cig to complete the mood.
(Dun be stoopeed...)


IKEA without the crowd is BESTEST.

There is just so much shite to see and potentially buy!!
I told myself... I'm just here to see... and perhaps buy a little... So there is no need for a trolley. Picked up one of those yellow bags instead. Extracted a bag trolley from its line, then put it back again.
I ain't gonna buy that much!!

YEAH RIGHT...
Soon after, I was looking rather silly with the plastic bag filled and struggling with 2 heavy rugs.

"Look cool and walk on... We are gonna make it!!" the little voice in my head went.

Not bad lah... I managed to walk out of IKEA with a less than SGD100 bill. =P


Next stop... GIANT!!!

I'd imagined GIANT to be more gigantic than it actually was. A little disappointed with the selection and the service. The guys behind the seafood counters and at the cashier counter didn't look happy at all.

I witnessed this tai tai-looking mother struggling with her screaming 4/5 yr old son, and maid pushing pram with younger kid.
The screaming started around the frozen food section. I walked away. Then I met them again at the check-out counter. He was still screaming.
He must have been screaming for 20 minutes. =_=

Anyway, I bought a trolley full of stuff and was dreading the part where I had to bring everything from the car to the apartment. =_=
Managed to get through it by making 2 trips and without any cats escaping from the apartment.

I am now waiting for 'Good Fren' to get home before I start cooking. I may as well put down what has happened yesterday.
.....................................................

Blinky spent half of his Sunday in this box, while we cleaned the balcony and planter.

He likes small tight spaces.


Check out Tiger's face!!!
"UH... Where's Blinky? What's happening?"


And the plants arrived around noon!!

"TIGER!! LEAVE THE PLANTS ALONE!!"


"I NEVER!!! I'm just CLOSER to the plants!! I NEVER TOUCH THEM AT ALL!!"


"You see?!! I'm just checking them out... No touching... No touching..!! Me No Touch!! Sniffing ain't no Touching!!"


"FWAH... This is good... I think Mummy is not looking..."


"TIGERRRRR!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!"


He ate part of the leaf, and we found later that he threw up . =_=


After setting up the plants and stuff, we made our way to Katong for food and fruits. Had a super late lunch at Lotus Thai, then found that our favourite fruit stall was not exactly opened for business.

So we ended up buying durian puffs from Puteri Mas.


They managed to cross-sell us some cutsy donuts.

Donuts are not too good... Better stick to the classic durian puffs.

My yuppie eagle eyes caught a glimpse of Obolo across the road. We had to go inside to take a look. Inevitably, we ended up with some yummy desserts


Gold-tipped leh...


From left: Some hazelnut thing, tiramisu, and strawberry cheesecake. Apart from the tiramisu, these are super yummy.

We also bought some macarons. This is obviously an yuppie establishment, coz the prices are really quite steep. In total, we spent about SGD26 on the above.

Mmmm... We are fatty bom boms...

So, I played Tai Tai today. It's quite good fun. Like play masak masak. But hor... it's quite clear that this can only be a 'holiday activity'.

As you oredi ought to know by now, I'm on a 4-week break, in-between jobs.

Many people have suggested that I ought to make an overseas trip because I am on such a long leave.
This is really a weird phenomenon, i.e. on leave = must travel overseas, which I have observed since I started working.
Coz I think it's rather nice to be on leave and hanging around different parts of Singapore, including in my own apartment because we pay so much for it but seldom get to enjoy it properly.

In any case, we had plans to go to Tokyo for a short break in early Sep 07. It would be our first 'long' overseas trip.

The choice of destination, i.e. Tokyo, was because his ex, this Japanese chick, would be getting married, and we were meant to attend the wedding.
I thought it's quite cool to go to Tokyo for the 1st time and get to attend an authentic modern Japanese wedding!
Cool itinerary!


So, we were all getting excited about airtix and ryokans when we realised that Blinky's course of antibiotics was a 20-day dosage (half a tab, twice a day).
It meant that he would miss his last 6 days of antibiotics if we were not around because he ain't gonna stay put for anyone else in the world to drop it in his throat.
Even the clinic people couldn't get him to relax during the hospital stay, remember?!

Though Moby has agreed to help feed the cats while we are away, we do not think Blinky will co-operate for the antibiotics.



So, we have decided to give up the Tokyo trip.

Another time then...

'Good Fren' and I had to execute Operation Chlorophyll today.
In simple terms, we want to buy some plants for the apartment lah!

Of course, the most ideal terrain for Operation Chlorophyll is the stretch along Thomson Road.
But before that, our growling stomachs distracted us from our mission. I ended up paralleling parking along Upper Thomson Road.

Just as our stomachs had distracted us from Operation Chlorophyll, the pet shops along Upper Thomson Road distracted us from food-seeking.
We are easily distracted people. =_=

In about 15 minutes, we walked out of the pet shop with this.

=)))))

It's called a Multipurpose Pet Carrier!
But I prefer its Italian name, i.e. Trasportino Multiuso!!

You can either drag it along on its wheels like a cabin luggage, or carry it on your back like a knapsack.
The auntie boss of the shop said she would bring put her doggie in it and bring it into shopping centres. "People dunno one," she said.

I know I have written earlier that I like a pet pram, but our apartment is so damn small that we do not have space for the pet pram
Which led me to ask a persistent question over lunch,


Do they chain the pram outside their apartments/flats like bicycles? HAHAHHAHAH!!
The pram is a transportation tool, like a bicycle mah!!

Or do people store the pram away in the home. But that's like really gross, right? Coz the wheels have gone all over the public roads and stuff...

'Good Fren' suggested that people might keep the prams in their cars. Oh ok... That makes sense... That's probably why people get MPVs with huge boots.

Oh... Lunch was along Upper Thomson Road too.
At Auntie Kim's. YUMMY!!
I like the crockery! It says 'Auntie Kim's'!!
And this is the first time for Korean food that I haven't been served rice in a stainless steel bowl with cover!



After lunch, we made our way back to Thomson Road for Operation Chlorophyll. We were having this "Ok, this is a funky plant and that is an orbeet plant" discussion, and trying to imagine the plants in our tiny planter and balcony.

We spent at least 1.5 hours there. With me jumping around, chewing on my lips, and getting a headache coz I couldn't decide on which plant!!

The larger the size of the buy, the 'bigger' the decision is, ok!!
Plants are BIG, ok!!

As you can see... I was so gan cheong that I forgot to take pics!

I started itching a little because I'm allergic to grass and stuff.
*itchy scratchy*

In the end, we decided that since we ain't no expert, we would only buy 2 pots of Rhapis and 1 pot of Dracaena, and get used to this plant thing before we invest any further.
They said the plants would be delivered tomorrow afternoon!
So exciting!!!
I'd better go clean the balcony coz it's caked with dust and stuff. Wait the plants die ah!! HO HO HO!!

Of course, since we were there, I braved the Far East Flora freezer and found these 2 types of flowers.
(Shite... I dumped the packaging before I could learn their names... =_=)


Very nice hor?! =)))

Of course, we shoved Blinky into the Pet Carrier for a trial lah!!


We brought Blinky to dinner... in his Pet Carrier, of course!
Cannot bring Tiger along lah... Coz the Pet Carrier can only fit 1 at a time. Also I want Tiger to stay home and feed on the normal food, coz Blinky is on a special diet.

Erm... Dragging the carrier on the roads makes rather loud noises and huge bouncing motion for the occupant.
We thought Blinky might feel uncomfortable, so 'Good Fren' swung it on his back instead. I tried it on the way back. It's freaking heavy lor!!
Maciam backpacking!

Blinky's reaction was mixed... Kaypoh + soft protest at one point. I guess he can get used to this.

Oh Oh Oh!!! We did as the Pet Shop Auntie had suggested.
We brought Blinky into Cold Storage.
He kaopeh-ed a little when we moved near the coolers with the veges. Probably feeling cold. I get rather excited and anxious when this guy in Cold Storage uniform walked towards us. I thought he knew and wanted to throw us out!!

HO HO HO!! Fortunately, we managed to complete our first grocery trip with Blinky without a hitch!!
YIPPEEEEEEE!!!
Maybe we should try to bring him to Ngee Ann City?!
............................................

Some time amidst the above, I turned to 'Good Fren' and said,


It's nice, sweet and all... But it's really quite no meaning...
Imagine... Another 2,500 times of this.
Freaking GoundHog Day or something... It's a pretty scary thought, isn't it?!

1. Woke up as early as 'Good Fren' to give Blinky his antibiotics. Coz need 1 person to hold him, and the other person to pry open his stubborn mouth.
2. Surfed the Net.
   
3. Did some house work (laundry).
   
4. 12.30pm - Lunch at Bukit Timah Plaza.
5. 3.00pm - Met my mummy at Raffles Town Club.
6. 5.30pm - Got home and started on dinner preparations.
7. 8.00pm - Walked around the neighbourhood. Some 7th month auction was going on. Took a quick peek.

Ok, my relationship with the people I had lunch with yesterday. This may sound a little complicated. Are you ready?!

I had lunch with Zer0 + 2 of his friends whom he knew from JC.


Here's the sitting arrangement.

The Fire Hero was first mentioned in Zer0's earlier entry.
Subsequent to that, I found out from my colleague aka Mr 朱茵 fan that Fire Hero and him were school mates since Secondary School after I sent the former the link to Zer0's entry.

Using that email, Fire Hero found out from Mr 朱茵 fan that I knew Zer0, whom he had lost contact with coz he lost his mobile or something. So Fire Hero asked Mr 朱茵 fan to ask me for Zer0's contact number.

Are you confused yet?!! =)))

Then Zer0 set up yesterday's lunch, and asked one more former classmate along, i.e. Friend.

Upon meeting up, Fire Hero found me rather familiar.
We thought we could have met through work.
After a while, we realised that we had quite a few common friends, and... Get This!!! That we used to stay in the same hostel back in NUS, and we probably played basketball or handball together?!!

By the way, Fire Hero knows 'Good Fren' too. =)))

Then hor... 'Friend' knows one of my exes bcoz of work. And... Zer0 suddenly realised that he knew my ex too!

I think hor... There are too many Rafflesians in the Public Service. You know one, you link them all.

HO HO HO... Singapore is one freaking tightly-knitted FACEBOOK!!
...........................................

Had tea with my mummy.
She's been rather stressed out lately.
Her father is dying and the doc recently found a lump on her liver. So while she's all stressed about her dad, she worries about her own mortality.

Because she's due for a surgery next week, she asked to see me to 'tie things up'. It was weird talking to her about death, inheritance and stuff.
We also discussed my recent entry on euthanasia.
How my mother and her siblings struggle over whether to resuscitate my grandpa etc.

Inevitably, she started on the 'When are you having a baby?' topic. I knew there was no running away from this topic. =_=

Then hor... she asked me how to create a hyperlink in Blogger, and how to add pics. Coz my aunt (my mummy's sister and reader) complained that my mummy's blog, unlike mine, was dull without pictures!
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!
........................................

A thought struck me while I was driving home after the session with my mummy.
We are both going through a period of 'life-keeping', when we are to sort things out, put them in order, because we may/will not be around anymore.

Hence, in a sense, I just had a 'live' wake, where those who cared showed me their feelings.

Boss said to me smilingly,"Regardless whether they liked you, your presence definitely had not gone unnoticed."

Perhaps, this is what matters.

Perhaps, this is what Life and Death are about.
And I am now in Limbo. Waiting for the next chapter.

Remember this earlier entry on how I found pics of 朱茵 and my colleague in his room?


Apparently, his wife happened to read my blog that day, and that entry got him into some minor trouble.
UH OH OREDI!!

Nair mind.
I will set things right...
I is gooooood...

While I was clearing out my room, I found a MAYDAY poster (his wife is a fan!! think she keeps a pic of Ashin in her wallet, even till now. =)).
So hor... I passed the poster to him.

The poster is now right above the 朱茵 pics!!

天下太平 oredi!!

[Yesterday, he even smsed to remind me that I hadn't uploaded the Mayday pic proof!!

I was thinking... Maybe the unborn son can be called 林X信 or something, get the drift?
林阿信！ Win oredi!! =P]
..................................................

Another colleague of mine is also very kawaii.

I left office at Tuesday's noon, and got home around 3.18pm, right?

He smsed me around 4pm+.
Apparently, he was sitting in my office, having a nostalgic moment.


Very cute hor?!! =)))

Aiyoh... No need to be sad one lah...
I'm always around. Just an sms away!!

In fact... I is very bored... I is having lunch with Zer0 and a Fire Hero today. Will blog about it later.

Went to check Blinky out at the clinic again this morning.
Vet took out the catheter.

It's freaking long lor! No one would be happy with this sticking up his...

Vet also gave him 2 jabs this morning. He struggled a little during the second jab, but in general, it went ok.

Breakfast was served after his ordeal, and Blinky gladly polished about 0.75 can of his new C/D diet.
I'm glad he doesn't hate it!!

Blinky seemed to have become rather ok with the surroundings. While he was eating, a huge lab scampered past him, and Blinky just teow-ed him a little, then continued eating.
Amazing...

Now, we'll just have to wait for him to pee on his own before he can be brought home.
If he pees this afternoon, he may even be able to come home today!!

And he needs a bath badly!!
Blinky is a smelly boy!!
.................................................

*UPDATE AT 13:59...

Clinic called!!
Blinky can go home at 16:30 today!!

Blinky 要冲凉 oredi!!
.................................................

**UPDATE AT 18:50...

BLINKY IS HOME!!!

A shower, a pee (this is a very good sign!), a dump, and a meal later...


Tiger is obviously not too happy with the recent development.


Tiger was complaining very loudly during the bath.
HO HO HO... =)))

Vet says we are to observe Blinky. If he doesn't pass urine by tomorrow, he'll have to go back.
If he does, we'll only have to go back for a follow-up in a week.

Vet also said that it's likely that Blinky would be down with 1 more similar episode in a couple of months before it could clear up completely.

*fingers crossed*

Erm... I'm home. At 3.18pm on a Tuesday afternoon.
And I will not be working for the next 4 weeks.
This is not just 4 weeks of leave. It is a proper pause before I transit into the new job.
I try to imagine the new place, new dynamics and I stop. Because it is just impossible to anticipate it all.

Had lunch with a... erm... colleague, and he passed me a namecard before we walked off. It's really strange to look at the same namecard but with someone else's name on it.

Visited Blinky this morning at the clinic.
Clinic people called me while I was driving there. I found out why later. He was mighty pissed by the time I got there. Hissing his head off in the towel-covered cell.
As the towel was lifted, I started to talk to him. The hissing stopped.

Blinky looks ok. Pee kept dripping from the catheter. Tail is wet. Ate and drank while in the unhappy cell.
I took him out. They checked and jabbed him, then gave him some food which he took to immediately.
Not bad at all.
I spent about 15 minutes with him, stroking and talking to him.

Talking to Blinky in public has made me conscious about how I speak to him. In essence, I say a few things to him on repeat.

1. "Hello Blinks!"
2. "Lemme see the face! Oh... So handsome?!"
3. "Ohhhhhh..."
4. *while he is eating* "Are you a pig?"
5. "Ah-Voo-Tjoe!"
   

Yeah... That's about it. And it goes on for 15 minutes.
And he will reciprocate with lots of purring.

So... Back to my leisurely state... What am I supposed to do with my newfound time?
I think I am at a loss here.
I haven't been on anything more than 5 days for the past 2 years. Think this needs some getting used to.

Think I go do the laundry for a start.

The Vet called me this morning.
Apparently, Blinky had turned super unfriendly, and the clinic people couldn't check whether his drip and catheter were still working.
Also, Blinky had somehow managed to remove the huge plastic elizabethan collar.

I said, "I'm coming down now," and rushed to the clinic.
With all my anxiety, I managed to pull off some rather nifty one-try parallel parking. I think the human ability is greatly awakened, and perhaps enhanced, in times of 'crisis'.

When I got into the room with the stainless steel table, the Vet asked me to remove Blinky from his little carrier cell, which was found to be filled with urine and some poo.
His belly and tail were wet with urine.
Some blood had gone up the drip on his right foreleg. The Vet removed the tape and found that the needle had dislodged from his foreleg. Blinky must have been rather violent.
The catheter was still in place though.
With the catheter in place, Blinky cannot control his pee. Hence, the involuntary wetting. But this is necessary because toxins need to be flushed out of his body.

While I stroked and spoke to him, they gave him a jab without a struggle. Vet was surprised at how calm Blinky was in my presence.
I never knew my presence would make such a difference.

Vet said there were 2 options:

(A) Remove all plastics and bring Blinky home.
This is a lousy option because we have to be sure that Blinky's body has been flushed of toxins accumulated due to the blockage.

(B) Keep catheter on and give him special food and water, but keep him under observation until Wednesday.
This meant I would have to come in minimally once in the morning to hold and keep Blinky calm while they gave him his jab and checked him. May have to drop by in the evening if Blinky yanks his catheter out.

Obviously, Option (B) makes more sense, because the objective to ensure that Blinky gets well properly.
So, we went with Option (B).

They allowed me to spend some time with Blinky before I was to carry him to his larger cell, with more space, real food and water.
The cell, incidentally, was placed above that with a huge dog.
Shite... It's damn stressful.

I stroked and spoke to Blinky for a while. Then carried him, with pee and all, to his cell. (I is smart. I wore a T-shirt and brought a work-shirt for change.)
He was quite calm about it. No struggling. Got into the cell willingly.

In the afternoon, I called to check if they needed me to go down. They said Blinky didn't mess with the catheter, so I only would only have to be there tomorrow morning.
.................................

Thank you, people who have left me comments on the previous entries. Apart from the pee and poo, Blinky looks rather fine today. Bright eyes and all.
I think he will be ok in a couple of days and after a good bath.

And the Vet is no cat-hater.
His cat had suffered from the same condition 8 years ago. But with the flushing and change in diet, his cat has not had this problem since.
Removal of the penis is merely the last and unlikely option.

Meanwhile, Tiger has been extra friendly.
'Good Fren' thinks it's because Tiger has seen Blinky getting 'removed' and fears for his own fate.
=_=

I've always suspected this, but I have not been able confidently conclude because:

1. I ain't no mummy.
2. I haven't done formal and/or extensive research

What am I talking about?
Do check out the article on 'Yummy vs Slummy' by Kathleen Deveny in the 13 Aug 07 issue of Newsweek, Pg 42 - 43.

The article is a critical piece on how modern mums like to obsess over parenting choices, get defensive when confronted, draw lines between stay-home and working mums. All these are highly visible on the internet (e.g. forums, blogs etc) and in print (e.g. non-fiction paperbacks on parenting methods, stories, experiences etc).

I always suspected that such obsession, angst, indignation, whatever you call it, has to do with (i) Economics, and inevitably (ii) Feminism.

In simple simple terms, once the female faction is allowed access to Education (READ: To gain consciousness of Values such as Equality of Gender, and Concepts such as Opportunity Cost), the role of Motherhood becomes a moral dilemma between Social Norms and Economics, raging against the hormonal time machine.

Of course, the obsession in Singapore, like all other obsessions/syndrome which we develop, is milder when compared to the rest of the 1st worlds.
But it is not difficult to find amongst your female friends locally, those who place their careers on hold for motherhood and those who relish their dualistic role as a working mum.
Both, invariably, feel superior to females who are mothers to none. This is perfectly understandable, because certain amounts of sacrifice have to be made when the female chooses (i) to give birth and (ii) motherhood, i.e. career, time, energy, body etc.

Feminism gets in the way and allows the mothering female to:

1. Think that I am female, so I have to right to be a mother
2. Translate her role as a mother into a 'profession'. E.g. having 1 baby makes her the Expert Mother. [Think otherwise: Having a driver's licence for the past 20 years, doesn't make one a Lewis Hamilton.]
   

The above is symptomatic of the Motherhood Myth, i.e. her way of coping with the huge cost of this decision which she has made, knowing or unknowingly.
[Some fathers exhibit such 'professionalism' and readily dish out fatherhood advice as well, but that's usually precipitated by some other masculine insecurities.]

I think the fundamental, and as usual, rather counter-intuitive question to ask is:


Because if all females have to produce (only with the exception of physiological inabilities), it will not be such a dilemma, right?

The answer, again, is rather simple.
Because this is, still and regardless of bra-burning and/or government-sanctioned campaigns, a rather patriarchal society and system.
That every worker, regardless of gender, is measured by the worth of a male worker, i.e. he is expected to produce X amount of work + only entitled to X days of sick leave per annum.
That's it.
The HR department ain't gonna plan for a replacement if Worker A is going on leave for 3 + 2 months to have a baby, i.e. 1st 3 months on maternity leave and next 2 months on annual leave.
Who's doing Worker A's work when she's away?
Her colleague, Worker B.
Is Worker B gonna get any extra compensation for covering Worker A? You tell me.

Regardless whether one sees Parenthood from the personal or the individual's perspective, it is undoubtedly a selfish decision.
Because if the parent was selfless, a child of any origin will do, and one does not have to raise it personally.
........................................

Perfectly random picture of my Chairman Mao to date:

Thanks to Laissezfaire, we dropped by FASHBASH at Curiocity, NAFA yesterday.

Let's recap.
10am - Facial
11.15am - Foot reflexology
12pm+ - Some kopitiam along Bencoolen Street


Found a Thai food stall, operated by Thais.

Everything was so damn hot and spicy. Halfway through the meal, I realised that my teh-si-gosong wasn't gonna help me. Got 'Good Fren' to help by getting a ice-cold 100-Plus, while I sat paralysed in my seat.
SHIOK-KER-DOO-LOO!!! =P

'Good Fren' had this.


After the tormenting meal, we made our way down the street to FASHBASH.


THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE!!!

I saw many many interesting pieces which I would have bought if there weren't so many people!!
Took one look at the changing room queue and gave up immediately.

BLINKY IS SICK AGAIN...
I promised myself that I would go back real early today, but unfortunately at about 1.30am this morning, we found Blinky straining himself in the litter box in vain. Off and on, he stood in the litter box for at least 30 minutes, while we watched helplessly.

At 9.15am this morning, we found some pee in the living room and food puke.

Brought Blinky to the vet again.
Vet said we had to anaesthesise him so as to check his bladder, take blood and insert a catheter into his urethra.
Because Blinky had been labeled as crazy cat in the clinic, Vet got me to hold onto Blinky while he injected my favourite cat with chemicals which would take away his consciousness at a 5% risk of not regaining it.

After about 5 minutes, Blinky began to lick his lips uncontrollably. He then vomited all over the cold steel table. Stuff he ate this morning.
Then his body began to throb involuntarily and felt weakened.
I was patting him all this while, and it felt really terrible to watch.
The only comfort was that he didn't struggle much. Vet thought it was because Blinky was too sick to get violent.

Vet took Blinky's blood, but didn't find anything bad.
However, Blinky will have to stay over at the Vet's for a few days. Subsequently, he will have to be put on a special diet for the rest of his life to avoid the future formation of crystals.
And if this still doesn't help, he may have to lose his penis because the urethra is rather narrow and tends to get blocked.

While I understand the physics of the tube, liquids, solids etc, and that a neutered cat ain't gonna need/use his dick, but I dowan Blinky to have to go through an op and the healing process. =_=

Read a candid account of FLUTD by an owner.

Had a mini farewell & birthday lunch with my colleagues today. They insisted on some cake. So, we got 1 slice. =)))


Last night, 'Good Fren' insisted that he didn't intend to get me anything. When I got home and pushed open the door, I saw 'Good Fren' running for the bedroom.
Apparently, he wasn't done with the wrapping.
HO HO HO!!! =)))

My presents.

Check out the brown paper he used as wrapping paper!!!
He explained that it's because the stationery shop only had crappy/orbeet wrapping paper. So, he thought this would be better.
FWAH... Not bad leh... Quite indie hor?! =)))

Tiger loves roses.


What's in the brown package?!!

FWAH!!! A digital SLR?!!! So luxurious!!!

I tried to take a pic of the new SLR with my Canon. Think the red Canon is not too happy.
Check out the lousy pic!! =P


Finally, it stopped sulking and took a decent pic. =))


'Good Fren' then instructed that I had to dress up for dinner.
So I took the opportunity to wear the red dress from VD07!!
I is happy!! =))


'Good Fren' refused to tell me where dinner was to be, and we got stuck in town traffic for about 30 minutes.

Then I realised we were headed for Sentosa.
The Cliff at the Sentosa to be exact.

It's gorgeous!!

You can see the kitchen crew working hard at your food.


We had the Chef's Set (Degustation, I think...) with wine-pairing.


Apart from the tardiness of the food, the taste made up for it.




I like food in small servings, because tasting is more important than eating. I wished I could not ingest. But I guess that will come across as rude to the people at the table and probably the chef. =))
.....................................

During dinner, I asked 'Good Fren' what we had learnt in the 1st year in my 30s.
We realised that we would remember mostly sucky stuff. =(

I don't think it will get any better in the years to come.
However, I am glad we are conscious of them, and that we have each other to survive anything with.

WOO HOO!!
=))

Moby booked my Thursday evening for celebrations-in-advance. My 31st birthday mah!!

So, 'Good Fren' fetched me to Holland Village this evening.
The 3 of us had dinner and beer. The usual chatting.

Suddenly, Moby said he had to go get something from a guy called Alvin. That's when I told 'Good Fren' that I would like some hair clips from 7-Eleven to put up my hair coz it was rather warm.

Then Moby re-appeared with this tiramisu and a lit candle!!!

We sat around wondering whether to blow out the candle while waiting for 'Good Fren'.
We thought the candle would have become a stump by the time he got back.

Guess what Moby got for me?!!!

1. 881 OST
2. A diary with a lock - He says it's to stand in for blogging
3. A pen
4. The monst*rz cat you see above!!
   

Moby really sucks at wrapping. He actually used a red rubber band to hold the wrapping paper together.
Win oredi!! =_=

I'm gonna keep the rubber band and use it for wrapping when his birthday comes along at the end of the year! =P

Of course, as I put this entry together, the 881 OST is on repeat.

I wonder what 'Good Fren' has installed for me!!
He's been unusually quiet and calm...
Very suspicious!!!

Had dinner with Angry last night. Haven't met up with him for some time. And as usual, he had to bring up a rather counter-intuitive issue.

Does a euthanasiast, i.e. one who performs euthanasia for others, has got to be medically-trained/is a doctor?

Coz having taken the Hippocratic Oath does complicate this issue at a fundamental level.

Suspending the legality of euthanasia, we explored the profitability of developing a certain Hotel California where one could buy euthanasic relief.

Angry concluded that the bare basics (e.g. the drugs, machines etc) would incur minimum costs.
The profits would mainly come from the packages such as the 'themed' rooms and frills like in-house psychiatric/legal services, videography, online services, food, drinks, streamers, additives to the deadly cocktail to ensure maximum bliss etc.
And of course, the suite rates would be inflated during peak periods, i.e. around 7 weeks before the 7th month coz that would mean re-visiting loved ones in the shortest period of time after one's death.

I think the 'Princess Suite' will be very popular amongst girls. If one didn't have the chance to live like a princess, perhaps one could die like one.
Angry insists that the most-played song for the Karaoke Suite will be 'My Way', and that the Couple Suite is a must-have.

Angry also intends to 'recycle' the guests through an organ-transplant programme. Profits will go into subsidizing those who cannot afford full rates in the most euphemistic manner.
I am rooting for an attendant donation programme where one can pledge part or all his wealth to choice charity organisations.

Hotel California is part of the 'Life Conglomerate', which the Surrogate Farm is also part of.
And it's freaky that we spoke of the former exactly 1 year after I wrote about the latter.

If you are looking to buy the soundtrack for 881 at Novena, don't bother. All sold out. =_=

Looks like I'll have to search elsewhere.

Meanwhile...
This is the favourite song for many, I think.


Or this cute one...


Nice, but I still prefer 身外物.
Apart from 最后一口气 by 陈金浪 (i.e. a freaking sad hokkien song), 身外物 is my favourite song from the movie.
Think this guy sings at Wala's.

身体和财富, 都是身外物.
都是借来, 完成短促的演出.
人类是租户, 爱却是礼物.
哪怕物归原主, 爱也不会结束.


Tonight I told someone that I would like to make lots of money.
I never thought he would understand why.

这场演出
有多少人 会曾经明了

一个人的力量 就是有限
一颗炽热的心 也会有心灰意冷的时候

牵手难 放手更难
不舍得 也于是无补

漠然的眼神 刺疼了赤子的梦
依依不舍的眼泪 浇湿了无奈的心

不敢奢望自由 只求一个转捩点
既会让回忆更妩媚 也会让疲惫的心灵 歇息

Woke up after noon today.
I blame 'Good Fren' coz he bought this series called 'Shades of Truth' aka 水浒无间道. He caught about 2 episodes on tv, and got hooked.
So we finished the series in just 3 days.
Yesh... All 25 45-minute episodes.

After the usual weekend chores, we made the usual shopping list and headed for the usual Great World City.
Had lunch at Bangkok Jam on the 2nd floor.

I always order Mango Salad and clear Tom Yam soup when I visit any Thai outlet. The former is ok, but the latter is not powerful enough. I like it super hot and sour.
Phad Thai was good though.
Do not order the steak. 'Good Fren's medium-rare came super well-done.

Because someone enticed me over IM with a song video of 881 on Youtube, I made 'Good Fren' catch it with me today! =)))

I will do up a separate entry on 881.

Apart from the Papaya Sisters and the Durian Sisters, my other favourite group in the movie is the HIV.
Holy
Innocent
Virgins

They are damn funny lor!!

I must say I'd expected the movie be merely a good laugh, but I cried quite a bit. =_=

After the movie, 'Good Fren' kept teasing me about my red face/eyes. BUT IT'S REALLY QUITE SAD WHAT!!! =_=
Especially Chen Jin Lang's hokkien song about Dying.
Sad songs in dialect are extremely sad, can?!

Anway, we then proceeded to clear our shopping list.
Once we got home, I had the urge to take some self-pics.

With Sequined-Camo Cap...

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With Zer0's gift from Tokyo.
I is NEKO CHAN!!!


With Cap + Neko Mimi!!

The ears also come with a white furry tail, but cannot see in these pictures.
'Good Fren' says it's rather... erm... I cannot say...

Blinky also must try!!

Think 1 pair of ears for him is enough.

You cannot help but to wonder why the day you end a 7-year twisted relationship is also the day you realise, through her blog, that your former best friend has already migrated to the US.

You read her entries leading up to the great move, and you realised that you could have been there for her when she couldn't sleep due to anxiety.
That it must have been difficult.
Just like she did back when you couldn't sleep due to anxiety.

The world is obviously smaller these days, and the US is just a day away via air, and a click away via cyberspace.
But would physical distance have made a difference?

Or that you are just pissed off at the amount of time and energy you have spent on useless things and people when you could have read her blog just a little earlier?

Why are we so unhappy?

No meaning. Absolutely no meaning.

I have many many accounts online leh...
I'm sure some of you have more than me!

1. Blogger
2. Gmail
3. Yahoo
4. Hotmail (I dun use this anymore hor!)
5. Friendster (I dun use this anymore hor!)
6. MySpace (I dun use this anymore hor!)
7. Wordpress (I dun use this anymore hor!)
8. SecondLife
   
9. Blurbme.com
10. Facebook
11. Others (e.g. banks, singpass etc)
    

How to remember all the userids and passwords?!!!
How many accounts do you have?! Leave a comment, please! I am very curious about this. Coz I don't think human beings had to remember so many passwords in the history.
We have now become the Gated Society. Access is governed by membership, passwords and the Great Digital Divide!!

Ok, I managed to find like 2 long lost people on Facebook so far. And according to my facebook, I have 21 friends only.
HAAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!

I didn't know this social networking tool can be so advanced.
Mooiness' facebook even has RSS feeds of his blog entries?!

So whatever happened to Friendster?!

Seriously, how can some people live without the Internet?!

On Sunday, 'Good Fren' and I went to Katong again. The objective was to buy fruits from our favourite fruit stall.

But no laksa for us this time round. We had really good Thai food at Lotus instead.

This is the first time I have seen White Curry. It's pure, milky and spicy-sour at the same time.
I like it very much.

After buying at least 5 kg of fruits, we went to Haji Lane and Boat Quay on my request. To suss out indie designers and stuff.
Parking at Kampong Glam was crazy, so I gave up.

4th on the list was Tangs at Scotts Road.
We were looking for some basket in vain when I found this!!

My dad has one which looks exactly like this, except it is white.

All's normal, until you turn the little bust around.

What the ... ?!!! For Goodness' Sake!
Chairman Mao's a Communist leh!!
How can anyone slit his back and make his bust into a coin-bank?!! This must be crazier than the long march!!

For a moment, I froze in B1 of Tangs and thought seriously about what this meant.
Incidentally, I got home and happened to find online and in Newsweek, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev cruising by the Berlin Wall with a huge Louis Vuitton bag.


This is not the first time Mr Gorbachev has been on a commercial. His first time was with Pizza Hut.


"I'm a Social Democrat," says Mr Gorbachev.
His demeanor reminds me of a certain powerful figure whom I know personally.


In any case, I cannot afford a piece of that LV bag.
But I could will afford to buy Chairman Mao at a 50% discount for SGD9.90... Actually, 'Good Fren' paid for Chairman Mao. =P

Avant Garde Chairman Mao is currently sitting on my shelf, along with the all American Hero, Spiderman, a cheesy light-up cat clock, Mr LeeKY, a Zouk 15th Anniversary 'Answer' Ball, a crazy toy donkey, the cover of LocoRoco, a picture of Blinkymummy, and other stuff such as CDs and books.

Who said Singaporeans were politically apathetic?
We participate in alternative manners. That's all.

After completing part of our weekly chores yesterday at noon, we made our way to Simply Bread at Robertson Quay for a late lunch.


I have been a fan of Simply Bread since its first outlet at Guthrie House during my varsity days.
I can't actually eat lots of bread.
I just like to see and smell the bread.


Here is 'Good Fren' looking like a gay batman after my sophisticated photoshopping attempt.
I is GOOOOOD!!


After lunch, we walked over to 72-13 where Sayoni was holding a talk called Bifocal.

I still haven't figured out what Sayoni is. It seems to be an online community who meet up in the flesh. Then again it may have been a flesh life community which eventually set up a website.
I dunno.

This is part of the Indignation events happening in the 1st 2 weeks of August.


So, what is Bifocal about?
From what we saw, it was a forum where 5 Bisexuals had agreed in advance to be on the 'panel', and a facilitator-host gets the dialogue going.

You see the colourful chairs? That's where the panel sat.


While we were on time, the event took some time to start. 'Good Fren' fell asleep waiting.
=_=


So, the facilitator, who was also bisexual, asked questions such as:

• When did you come out to yourself?
• How did people around you take it? Any difference between the reaction of gay and straight people?
• Etc.

I must say it was quite an experience watching real people answering these questions in front of an audience. They look like the typical Singaporean, but I must say they speak pretty well and are come across as rather lucid people (except for 1 who's probably less structured to begin with).

It's actually like live blogging.

I wonder what these people do for a living. Some of them are students. I think most of them are have received tertiary education. Perhaps this is a sample-bias.

Definition of Bisexuality
Inevitably, the panel tried to define 'Bisexuality', which was rather interesting because I've always wondered whether one had to be sexually active to determine his sexuality.
One on the panel said if one's sexual orientation (e.g. straight, bisexual, gay etc) could only be determined and defined by the act of sexual intercourse, then virgins ought to be considered asexual.

HO HO HO...
Correct what... Neber test before, how you know, right?

This 'test' also means that one cannot really claim to be straight by just having sex with a person of the opposite gender + thinking that one will not enjoy sex with the same gender.
One can only claim to be straight after one has had gay sex and decided that he didn't like it.

Sexual Identity may be different from Sexual Orientation.

Not a popular theory eh? =))

The same person then highlighted that the determining criteria was therefore one's preference. I guess it is because not all who desire will get to mate.

Hence, a bisexual is one who desire to share an intimate relationship with males and females.
Of course, someone quoted Alfred Kinsey's scale, which ostensibly measures sexual orientation and his theory that most people are bisexual to varying degrees.

If it's all about desire, then hor... I may be bisexual... coz I like Gong Li. OMIGOD!!! =P
Guess which school I was from!! Noo Nee Noo Nee Noo!!

During the bit on being 'Bicurious', 'Good Fren' decided that I was Bicurious, and pointed his finger at me,"Don't lemme catch you with another chick!"
What the...

Bisexuals & Monogamy
Then the discussion, deflected by some people in the crowd, started deliberating on whether Bisexuals are less likely to be monogamous. Some guy was trying to allude to the fact because Bisexuals desire males and females, when in a relationship with Gender A, Bisexuals may yearn for qualities exhibited by Gender B. Hence, more likely to zaosai.

Fwah... Very complicated oredi...
Coz by this time, while I was trying to hear the discussion (sometimes people spoke without mics), 'Good Fren' was posing rather difficult questions to me such as: What do you call a straight guy who like a butch?
(Btw, my answer to him was - Tragedy. Coz the butch is unlikely to reciprocate his love.)

Anyway, back to the question on whether Bisexuals are less likely to be monogamous.
I think this has little or nothing to do with bisexuality.
I think whether one can be monogamous depends on 2 factors:

(A) The intention to be monogamous
While social norms may seem to dictate monogamy, some couple do explicitly/implicitly agree not to be monogamous. Hence, monogamy is not a given for all relationships.

(B) Satisfaction derived from the existing relationship
If both have agreed to (A) + you are satisfied with your partner, it's unlikely that you will seek another.

As seen above, remaining monogamous has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

But 'Good Fren' thought otherwise. He said he could understand why a Bisexual may need more than 1 partner.

BM: Why?
GF: It's like me having you and DOTA!
BM: HAAAARRRR?!! DOTA?!
GF: Yeah... After I found Baby, I still need to play DOTA.
BM: Erm... Baby? DOTA is not human. *beginning to wonder what DOTA actually means to 'Good Fren'*

Bisexual as a Minority
Somewhere, someone said being Bisexual was like being minority within a minority. It seems that Bisexuals do not have the trust of Straight and Gay people.
I didn't know this.
But if this is indeed the case, it is not surprising, because most people like to claim 'purity' to draw a line between Us and Them. The objective is usually to feel superior.

I think drawing the line is fine as long as you keep to your side of the line and mind your own business.
I'm sure the world, and even Singapore, is big enough to accommodate all sides if all are willing to find creative ways to stay out of another's way.
This is consciousness is also known as 'Respect'.

Unfortunately, spillover effects and ego get in the way too often. And others take advantage of the situation because they love fights.

Once these fights start here and there, people (for whatever selfish reasons) will start to realise the need for understanding.
As with all line-drawing problems, there needs to be more exploration by both sides. Just as not all straight people are the same, not all queer people are the same.

Perhaps when enough exploration has been carried, we would then by convinced that... Eh?! Actually the supposed 'difference' doesn't matter that much.

But will we get there in our lifetime?
See Verstehen on Wikipedia. Do note its criticism.

There is just something about waking up on a Saturday morning, and finding your Partner, in the living room, racing virtually.

You then proceed to play with your cats, and in the process, you find some evidence of earlier regurgitation in invisible corners.

That inspires you to proceed with your chores, specifically cleaning the floor.

Just as you make your way to the utility area, you see the dried laundry hanging and screaming "KEEP ME!! KEEP ME!!"
"One thing at a time," that little voice mumbles in your head, while you reach out and grab a shirt for inhalation.
YUMMY!! The smell of sun-dried laundry.

As you clean the floor of cat hair, dust and other shite, you block your partner's view with your body. He cannot see his race, and goes,"Baby!! It (the race, not... ahem... you) is very exciting now!!"

Okay, FINE!!!
*mumble mumble + sings "SPIDER-CAT! SPIDER-CAT!" to irritate Partner*

Partner decides to proceed with some chores as well. He changes the cat litter, while you play Massive Attack and take pics of the mountain of laundry to be folded and sorted.

The small box of Lakerol is there for scale.

The laundry is still on the sofa. The Partner is cleaning something. And you is now blogging with a purring brown cat on your lap, with claws digging into your fats.
(It rhymes!! Oh well... at least a little...)

I think this is called BLISS.

Some random surfing caused me to realise that the Harry Potter mania is still scorching.

I think Harry looks distorted.
The chick looks good though. She looks smart.

The Harry Potter mania is so viral that the other day, 'Good Fren' took the air-con remote, pointed at the air-con set, and exclaimed,


And there was a cool breeze... =_=

Anyway, I dunno why I dun really like ang moh fantasy/period drama. It's just not fascinating at all.
Also, the dark heavy robes look rather unhygienic. They all look like they have dirt under their finger and toenails.
I mean... Even when 张无忌 was staying in the cave with the monkey, he looked pretty clean, didn't he?

I'd place my SGD9 on THE SIMPSONS!!! Even though it's an utterly crappy movie with a terribly corny plot!!!
Best Yellow-People Family in the Entire Universe!!!

SPIDER-PIG!! SPIDER-PIG!!
=)))

Nah... Best of both worlds for the indecisive you.

I've been wondering about people a lot lately.
I think many people are unhappy with their lives. Dissatisfied. Sulking day in day out.

But, most strangely, few of these people are unwilling to do anything about their predicament.
And so, they go about their lives in the same fashion over and over again.

Days, Weeks, Months, Years, Decades...
And before you know it, it's over.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Apart from not doing much about their predicament, these people like to blame others for their unhappiness directly/indirectly and/or subtly/openly.

'Good Fren' made a very good observation the other day. He said such people blamed others because other people provide contrast for their inadequacies.
In others, they see what they are not born with, what they have not worked for.
I never saw it that way before. I got stuck at wondering (with dropped jaws) how the bitching was gonna help with anything.

Guess their shitty lives are not shitty enough to improve upon, yet not good enough for them to be satisfied, or at least shut up.
What a lousy rut!

Which reminds me... I attended a seminar this morning.
Part of it was on 'Addiction'.
Behavioural (Sex, Gambling, Gaming etc) and Substance (Heroine, synthetics, nicotine etc) Addictions are 'active' addictions, i.e. one has to do something to satisfy his addiction, i.e. to achieve gratification.

Is there such a thing as Indolence Addiction?
Being lazy is 'inactive'. Does the action (or lack of) matter?
I wouldn't think so, because the aim of succumbing to an addiction is to derive gratification.
Hence, if one can derive joy from doing nothing, it can potentially be addictive.
However, unlike 'active' addictions which one could intensify the act by increasing dosage, frequency etc, how does one intensify an 'inactive' addiction?

One of the speakers spoke of Internet Addiction.
I spend shiteloads of time online. And in terms of dependency, I cannot live without the Internet. My generic weekday:

I start my mornings by getting out of bed, putting the water to boil, CHECK EMAIL & SURF, pour boiling water into mug with teabag, shower, dress up, SURF, get out of apartment.

Once I get home after work and dinner, I dump my stuff on the table, feed wailing cats, switch on water heater, CHECK EMAIL & SURF, shower, SURF/BLOG/IM while playing with cats and talking to 'Good Fren', go to bed.

Am I addicted to the Internet?
Or is this just a 21st century ritual?
Contemporary Psychosis?

And Champion Motors pisses off yet another potential customer.

My Experience in Mar 07.
Her Experience in Jul 07.

Seriously, don't they learn?

Thought one of my readers had already informed the Champion Motors' Manager about my Mar 07 entry?
And the latter was 'very angry' at his staff?

I had a 'conventional BBQ Life couple' moment today!
It's so gross that my skin crawled!

It goes like this...
I didn't drive to work today, so at around 7pm, I called 'Good Fren' to arrange for a pick-up.
At 7.30pm, I stood outside my office compound and waited by the road. Stretching my neck eagerly at the first sight of 'Small White'.

Small White was about 10 minutes late. I got in and did the 'Hello Baby!'. Then I sat in my seat, trying to imagine this scene replaying every freaking day.
It sent shudders down my spine. This is so BBQ Life!!!
I will definitely drive to work tomorrow!

Once inside Small White, we had the usual 'So How?' session. Trying to decide where to go for dinner.
But I is decisive. I pointed towards Dempsey Hill. (Even though it was so not in sight from where we were.)

Dempsey Hill is so urban now.
There are proper parking lots!
As opposed to the generic unlined parking spaces just a couple of months ago.

Restaurants, Pubs etc everywhere.
And CHAINS!!! Dome, Harry's, Ben & Jerry's etc.
'Good Fren' says it feels very Australian. I think it feels more like a West Coast American town.

Then I saw this.


HOUSE - The Social Benefits.


I like the tagline. It has a definite whiff of cultural capital.
So we had dinner there.

Before the food had arrived, I took a quick tour of the premises. It's actually a SPA (Spa Esprit) with 3 dining areas (but same food menu), i.e. House, Barracks and Camp!!!



I spoke with the chick at the reception. Merely asking informally about the establishment when she earnestly called her colleague from the spa to gimme a tour of the spa.

This gorgeous green building holds the Spa on its 2nd floor.


I didn't take any pics of the spa, but I would if I could when we go for a massage this weekend.
It's really rather funky. Think my designer friend will like it too.

Check out the sawn-off tables abutting the wall!!



BTW, HOUSE is only 2 weeks old.
Probably because the establishment is rather new, while the service was earnest, the food was served in a tardy manner, and it looked better than its taste.

Notice the mess tin cutlery holder?
The waiters/waitresses wore uniforms (literally) with the word 'BARRACKS' on the collar.
'Good Fren' says their shoulders could afford some ranks! =))

Regardless of its teething problems, HOUSE has extreme potential.

And I think... Instead of spending tens of thousands of good dollars on a hotel ballroom wedding, one ought to consider HOUSE as the next cool venue for weddings and celebrations.

BTW, I am not paid to say this.