peanut butter muffin cups There’s something about baking. The methodical measuring of ingredients; the mixing and beating. The simplicity of combining items of varying degrees of solidity and liquidity into something that made sense. The wafting aroma of magic on the rise and the joy of first taste. Something piping hot and sweet. Something of own effort. A satisfaction. I baked again - Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip muffins. Baking makes me happy. What’s that sound? Only my stomach in approval. =)        a long time coming So, the Bali bombers have been executed early this morning. Although the analysts have said that chances of revenge attacks is unlikely, I’m not quite sure whether their word can be taken. After reading the news reports on the bombers, I have to admit they seem like a pretty disillusioned and confused bunch. If by killing lots of people in their not so holy war, they will be led on a garden path to heaven, then they should be welcoming the end to their not so sorry arses as soon as they’d been hauled in by the authorities. Instead, this delay of the inevitable with their charade of appeals the past 6 years have shown that they were not yet ready to die, no? All that claims about being welcomed in heaven is merely big talk to calm their own nerves, to coax themselves into resignation as the hour of dark drew upon them. Seriously, you’d think they were smart to be planning all the surprise bombings. Anyone with a quarter of a brain would realize how warped their ideology is. It’s even worse when even their families have been duped into this false reality. We’ve all heard how stupidity cannot be cured. Apparently stupidity can be hereditary too. Just look at all the throngs who went to pay last respects to a couple of corpses. I do hope that their bodies were as bullet-riddled if not more, than Jennifer Hudson’s nephew. That poor kid didn’t deserve to die like that, these assholes on the other hand, definitely do.        a kind of fear. On her last checkup at the hospital, the doctor found that the red blood count in my grandmother’s body was a tad too low compared to normal standards. She attributed it to 2 probable causes: There’s a hole in her gastric She has some kind of cancer growing there We’re still in the midst of scheduling her for a stomach scan. Last night, I dreamt that she had cancer. I love my grandma and I don’t spend enough time with her. I don’t know how to and spending time with her entails spending time in that house of that single blemish of the family.        the stuff that good stuff is made of. So tonight was department dinner night. The team finally sat down to dinner with 2 of the big bosses; all initial plan of a round 2 at the clubs turned to snuff when the dining venue was decided- Mellben Seafood at Ang Mo Kio. Expecting a dirty, stuffy and sweaty environment for a messy crab meal, all intention to dress up and party this Halloween night away was abandoned. Imagine our amazement and astonishment when we arrived to find the old dirty, and cockroach sprawling coffeeshop to have been given a makeover. Save for air-conditioning and servers with uniforms, it was easy to mistake the new Mellben for one of the more popular city central seafood restaurants. But mistake not the quality fare that it serves. The prices may be steep but in comparison to a lush, air-conditioned dining affair with all the trappings of fine dining and mediocre fare, Mellben was pure seafood heaven, for crab dishes at the very least. We ordered the Butter Crab (thumbs & toes UP UP UP), Crab Bee Hoon (soup base was absolute creamy sinful goodness), Curry Crab (spicy!) Mongolian Prawns, Spare Ribs, some stir-fried veggie & fried bean curd. I have to admit, there wasn’t much conversation- in part because everyone was too busy tucking into the yummy food that were quickl served one after another. After dinner, we parted ways. That was when I started feeling empty; everyone else had some place to go, someone to be with after dinner. All except me. The fact that I’d acknowledged long ago, suddenly loomed larger than me - outside of work, I have nothing else. But a last minute decision to join Gypsy & the Cave Man at Tapas Wine & Bistro fixed whatever melancholy & emptiness I’d felt. Nothing but great laughs, poking around at each other and just simple laughter straight from the gut that headed directly to the heart. That laughter pumped the heart full of love to keep the body and spirit satiated enough to move on. I guess that’s what the good stuff in life is made of. At the end of the day, good food remains defeated by good company. That’s not to say that good food wasn’t enjoyable. I guess tonight, I needed more nourishment to the soul than the stomach. And what I needed, I’d got through them. There’s nothing like winding down a work week with a bunch of familiar faces and hearts. Cheers and Happy Halloween~        blueberried. After my many many failed attempts at baking, this afternoon’s virgin venture into uncharted territory turned out to be a success. When I say success, I really do mean it this time (even though the muffins do look a wee bit odd-shaped at the top). The blueberries burst during baking so it had a bit of the melty berried look that’d motivated me to bake them in the first place. I think this is a sign- a sign to try baking other flavors of muffins! Scroll down for proof! I’m feeling pretty proud of myself now. Heh ~ Oh and happy Deepavali, guys!        lately. Sleep the past week has been fitful, fragmented by multiple dreams. Mostly involving work which, upon waking up I strangely remember none of. December cannot come swiftly enough.        Come December, Guess who’s going to Bali?!        meddling with the mystics A fraction of The Happy People met up tonight at Brewerkz for dinner, the good old catch-up and to celebrate their successful transition from part-time student to University graduates. Amid jugs of Fruitbrew, Golden Ale & Oktoberfest, we discussed Perth plans and bitched (as usual) about other people in the cohort and newbies. It wasn’t until later in the night when things got a bit more interesting; we went to have a go at the fortune teller nearby. We had our names read and deciphered to us; good and the bad, some (like me) were recommended to have the characters in our names changed to something less harsh. Apparently, the change would help us build our career, realize our full potential and regain our health respectively. I’m intrigued and feel like returning for more. Like getting my palm read and perhaps, look into my future and see, if there really is a sprig of peach blosson in my life afterall. Sifting through the myriad of topics we’d shared tonight, it felt like we’d all discovered something new about each other; things that we had never known during the past 2 years. And I feel like we now, perhaps know a bit more about each other now. Listening to The Happy People recount their childhood days and more “happening” times, it made me feel sheltered and pampered. It’s time to live my life with a bit more zest, a bit more excitement. Just let me figure out how; maybe, just maybe, things can start happening after December. Wait with me, and we’ll see.        Gypsy’s Weekend It’s been a weekend of birthday celebrations. 2 days of celebration for 1 birthday, gift-wrapped with oodles of fun and blown out with candles of laughter. At the stroke of 12 on Friday night, Gypsy’s age clock skipped to 22. We started off with an extremely price-inflated Indian dinner at Muthu’s which she could get at SGD 20 in India and rounded it off with drinks at Cafe Iguana. Over my mock magarita, her real deal Margarita and the Virgo’s atas glass of white wine, we poked fun at blinding people, mocked the bashful Virgo’s porn practices and snapped pictures over and over, at the perfectionistic art direction of the Virgo. Then, there was yesterday’s afternoon spent at Mind’s Cafe. We started slow with Taboo then, promptly got massacred by the Virgo in Monopoly. Not content with our sorry defeat, we headed back to Gypsy’s after dinner & dessert at Chinatown to battle it out all over again, this time with Mich & the Doc in the game. Maybe it was the hour, or maybe it was the feng shui of our seating positions, this time, the Virgo was the first to throw in the towel and the Birthday girl soon got caught in a struggle for Monopoly between the Doc and myself. At 1am, the Doc gallantly waved the white flag in defeat. Heh ~ There was no cake smashing or post-party alcohol party this time around but I hope the Birthday Girl had rung in her 22nd year with enough joy and laughter just the way she’d wanted. Happy Birthday, sweets~ *Image pilfered from MindGames        love. If I’ve kept you too close, it’s because I wanted to keep you longer. *whips out hanky        stillness. Lately, it’s been too still…far too quiet. The stirrings of the mind have ceased and I wish for it to begin again. Contemplation has given way to nothingness and it is precisely this nothingness that I despise, abhor and repulse. Too much of a good thing loses its initial perceived benefits. While this stillness can also be considered a peace of mind in its most literal sense, it is also boring, routine and beige. What happened to “change is the only constant” when the only consistence right now, is no change. Life should be colorful, like shades of the rainbow with a few star bursts tossed in occasionally. I could be feelng greedy, wanting more than I can have though there are things that I am thankful for. I just wish, there was more to life. More than this.        day 3. Alright, so it’s day 3 since the extraction. No drama so far which is good, wound seems to be healing fairly nicely. Am on daily cocktail of 2 types of antibiotics, 1 painkiller and 1 anti-swelling pill which finishes today. I’m fine with it all, really. Though I’m not a stickler for taking my meds on time. Just wish the antibiotics don’t make me so……full of gas. I’d reckon if someone lit a match near my arse, I’d go up in flames in an instant. Just like that. No point posting pictures though. The swelling’s barely noticeable since my face is normally huge already. Heh ~ I did request to keep my teeth though. So yesterday, I took them out and cleaned them, tried to remove whatever gum pieces which were stuck. Maybe I’ll post those up instead, when I’m up to it (read: not feeling so lazy). So, if anyone’s short of a dining khaki from now till Tuesday, please don’t forget me. I’m getting sick of eating mush. Toodles ~        before d-day So Gypsy and I met up tonight for the long-awaited opening of “Vicky Christina Barcelona”. Not a conventional chick flick I must say, from the narration, warped and at times quirky storyline and a personal first- watching a chick flick in a theatre filled mostly by guys. Though I must admit, it was mildly entertaining and for the most part, pretty annoying. In fact, Gypsy and I had speculated for a bit if the 2 guys seated in front of us were gay. Imagne our disappointment and relief when they moved away from the couple seats and settled in front of us instead. Then, there was a bunch of caucasian guys who could break a single moment’s concentration on the film with their loud and disturbingly cynical guffaws; not that the parts weren’t funny. If only they’d learn to tone it down a wee bit. But all in all, a good night’s out. A decent little chat slumped on the comfy couches at Cathay, a new experience paying $8 on average on stuff we could have easily made at home in an environment too young for us and popcorn that we couldn’t finish (as usual). Forgive me if my thoughts seem scattered here. I have legitimate reason to be so scattered. This time tomorrow, I may be all balled up in pain. From my wisdom teeth extraction. So forgive me if my thoughts seem disjointed and ill-expressed. Then, there’s the period that chose to arrive the day before the extraction. Fingers crossed I heal without complications or the looming gloom of “dry socket”. Pictures, maybe if I’m well enough for it.        I baked. And I think it was a marginal success (by my really really low standards). O.K. I’m ok though unable to quite aptly describe how I feel these days, post-Friday. It sort of feels like something had broken (no, not my heart), like some magic had lost its spark. Perhaps, it’s the murder of my expectations that has left me without the courage to hope for more. Or, it could also be called acceptance. Things with him have pretty much gone back to normal. I’m not sure if I’m still in like anymore though I still have yet to muster up the courage to re-read that day’s reply. More to check how long he took to reply than to read the actual message. After all, I’m done analyzing, re-analyzing, over-analyzing and trying to read between the lines. I’m tired of it and there no longer is cause to do so. So to the 20-odd people who’d been here yesterday and the past weekend, I’m ok. Seriously. Just not back to normal. But I will be. In time to come. *I’ve got a craving for dips. How ah? who’s afraid of the clown? Your result for The Brutally Honest Personality Test… Clown- ESFP 53% Extraversion, 47% Intuition, 13% Thinking, 47% Judging Congratulations. You are the buffoon of society, the class clown, the general funny guy/gal. Your purpose on earth was to serve as entertainment for the rest of us sane ones. We’re laughing with you and at you. Some people would kill to be as funny as you. Other would rather just kill you. You’re spontaneous, fun-loving and optimistic. You’re all in all an idiot. You wanna know why? It’s because you would rather have fun than concentrate on your duties and obligations. You act before you think. You talk before you think. All in all, you don’t think that much at all. You did terribly at school, didn’t you? You were the class clown. Paid no respect to the teachers or to your fellow students. Paid no attention to your school work. And look where you are now… starting to regret your decisions? Get down to earth. Find a real job and start taking care of your responsibilities. Sure, people love you, but they don’t love you because they like you. They love you because you make them laugh. They love you because they can always look at you and say “Well, at least I did better off than him or her!” …but at least you�re funny, right? ***************** If you want to learn more about your personality type in a slightly less negative way, check out this. ***************** The other personality types are as follows… Loner - Introverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving Pushover - Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging Criminal - Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving Borefest - Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging Almost Perfect - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving Freak - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging Loser - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving Crackpot - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging Sap - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging Commander - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving Do Gooder - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging Scumbag - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving Busybody - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging Prick - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving Dictator - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging Take The Brutally Honest Personality Test at HelloQuizzy the daydreamer. Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test… NBPC - The Daydreamer Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow. The Perception Personality Types: Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy getting over me getting over you. The Internet is the most wonderful invention ever. One can find lots of information the Internet; goodness knows how many essays/reports I’d written about the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet. But one thing I’d never touched on, is the propensity to share. The propensity of its users to share information. Like how I’d set about searching online for the quickest way to get over someone. While the methods offered were pretty much the same and probably written by the same few people; the fact that it appeared on so many other sites made a virtual space seem much more humane. In a world where strangers brush pass each other with no hesitation, the virtual space had turned strangers into comrades of the same pain. Reading other people’s sob stories, I felt better. No, not because of Schadenfreude. But because I was not in love and we never dated. This meant I wouldn’t go through the same pain they did; only a small fraction. Which also meant that the “half the taken to fall in love to get over him” theory wouldn’t work on me. My healing process would be faster and best of all, less painful. Not that I was in pain at any point. After all, I have a really low threshold for pain. =) Maybe 2 days is really what I need after all ~ I want to dance in the rain, with abandon and without care. Maybe one day, I just might. Hold your breath. Watch me. Sidetrack: There’s a “12 Lotus” interview on teewee. I’d just realized that Jem looks kinda like Royston Tan. Apa sia! rainbows. So after work this afternoon, I did something that I’d wanted to do ever since I’d started working here. Slipping my shades on, armed with a bottle of Heaven & Earth’s Osmanthus Tea, I made my way on foot to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Along the way, as I trudged along the upgrade-in-progress sidewalk, the sun began its little game of peekaboo amid grayish clouds. As the white fluffs started to get lost among the thick and heavy, I prayed to the mystic powers above: “If you love me, please don’t let it rain” Sure enough, it didn’t. Ok, I lied. I did no such thing and it did rain on me later but I did get to the Botanic Gardens dry as hay. Picking up a map as I entered the floral-motifed gates, I slid into local tourist mode. I must say though, there really isn’t much to see in the Gardens. The only plant that I recognize there out of the innumerable greenery was the Canon ball Tree with its pretty pastel blooms and its cannonball fruits. My initial intention of heading to the Gardens on my own: Explore the Gardens While time away until 3pm when Aunt Edna’s 60th birthday tea party would start Sort out my thoughts and feelings; a little me time for peace and quiet so I could try to still that heart to be peaceful and quiet Somehow, I ended up curled on a bench under a generous foliage with a collection of Gabriel Marquez short stories. Not quite the lighthearted reading I needed though; the first 2 stories circled around the morbid topic of death. At approximately 3pm, the dark clouds had culminated to the point of rainfall. The foliage provided me with shelter from the raindrops that sent picnic-ers a scurry. It was then that I’d noticed this other girl on her own on a bench not too far away from mine. She sat there, with headphones to her ears calmly sketching on that book of hers. Of course, the shelter of greenery above her was far more expansive than mine. Not wanting to be outdone, I too remained on my seat until the raindrops started pattering with a vengeance. One that sent the both of us running for shelter; which was few and far between. Aunt Edna’s party was postponed until 4pm to give her guests who were stranded by the rain time to arrive. Barely warming my seat,  I left soon after for THE movie date with Gypsy and Jem. The rain fell thicker and heavier than before. The filmsy map I’d used to shelter my head soon turned to mush and I resorted to the trusty green shawl for a bit of protection. Slowly trudging along the winding and deserted paths, the rain seemed to wash away a bit of me. The part of me that was hung up over you. It was as if, with every step I took, with every fall of raindrop, it took away that bit of stinging that melted along with the rest of the rain and gathered into puddles that splashed at my every step. On the way home, I’d marveled on how nicely everything fell into place. It was as if I’d planned for you to buy the ticket for me so I could meet you yesterday so that today would be jam-packed with activities that I wouldn’t have time to mope about you. But I didn’t. Perhaps, this is what people call divine providence. But I’ve never been a believer. The movies sucked. But the company and the food was fantastic. It never occurred to me to count but I’m fairly sure that the jokes we cracked together this evening had us in tickles far more than the 2 movies combined brought us entertainment. Even Jemo was in his bestest behavior tonight; gallantly squishing in mud to collect our goodie bags and popcorn for us. His “Minah” impersonations kept Gypsy and I nicely entertained while we waited for the movie to start. Unlike our previous attempt at a picnic which resulted in unfinished food, I’d say our food was pretty nicely consumed this time around. Of course, there was the sweet gesture of the “Surrogate Frog Lover” from Gypsy when we met at PS for pre-picnic shopping. There was no kissing involved though I sure hope the next frog that comes along really does turn into a prince. =) All in all, a warrior weekend well-spent. With friends like these, who needs guys? No, I didn’t really mean that. As Gypsy and I waited for Jem to pick us up earlier this evening, we spotted a faint rainbow arching across the mildly sunny sky. I’d walked through the rain earlier in the afternoon. Perhaps, it were true as metaphorical as this sounds. After the rain, there will be a rainbow. Someday, I just might find a rainbow to call my own. A rainbow that would make weathering all that rain well worth it. Until that day comes, I’ll just have to hold on to the hope that rainfall is good; without rain, there can be no rainbow. So off to dreamland I go, to where rainbows lead. make it go. I never knew what to expect to feel when I’d finally turned on my phone. There were 2. One from the concerned and one from you. Relief washed over the insecurity and fear from before. Then the big boys came to play. Big boys with big guns. It was a mixture, a twinge of sourness that stung. Not quite unlike dousing salt on an open wound. Not by sadistic torture but knowingly doing so. Through the night, the radio made a mockery of me. Funny how the same love songs that used to soothe and lull me to sleep now made me toss and turn. Every melody openly twisting and rewinding the words from you. They were not unkind. You were not unkind. In fact, I cannot imagine anyone else letting anyone else as gently as what you’d done. But it was a sense of disappointment; something that could’ve been erased by what was not to be and cannot be, created by a conflict of my wants and what you did not want. In retrospect, signals probably were never mixed. It was all a matter of misinterpretation. There was no pain to be felt. I was never and am not in pain. Pain stems from loss and you can’t lose something that you never had. Everyone knows that. It was just a misplacement. I’d misplaced my heart temporarily; it was here with me all the time just like I’d never had yours; not that it was mine to have at any point. But I dislike this feeling. This sudden airiness somewhere inside and yet, the leaden heart. A pod full of songs; mostly serenading love. Love gained and love lost; none of which I belong. Even the instrumentals seem to pluck at everything that is remnants from yesterday. Tinkles from the piano and every tug on the violin strings pushes it all further in. Deep breaths. There was nothing to cry about; yet there was twice I had to fight it back. Because crying would mean it hit straight in the heart. Crying would make it real. Crying would mean that I am in pain but I am not. I refuse to be. Crying won’t make this go away. Make this go away. Make this go away so we can return to before. Before the my heart got in the way. coming clean I woke up this morning and tried to remember. Memorize this bittersweet feeling from your blissful ignorance. For 2 years, I looked at you but never really saw you. For 2 years, I heard you speak but never listened to you. For 2 years, you were simply you; we were 2 separate entities never meant to cross. I’d reasoned with myself time and again. Why did I have to see you, hear you, and feel for you when it was never meant to happen in the first place. This morning, I woke up with a mission and a deliberation. On the way home tonight, that same mission and deliberation both weighed and powered my thumb as I fought between the two. The mission won; deliberation defeated. The panicky recall at the last moment was too late and all is now lost. I’m going to sleep tonight with a mission accomplished. As I lay open and vulnerable, indulge my shutting down. I gave you an either or. But I have learnt that maybe I’m not brave enough to hear the truth. Because after sending out the truth with an open heart, I’ve realized that truth hurts. Even before it comes back to me. Being open and vulnerable hurts. Which is why, I’m doing both. Just being here now, hurts. You’ve been a great friend. We’ve had fun times. Perhaps this all is enough. I’ve betrayed the laws of friendship and you shouldn’t have had to bear the punishment with me. My selfish willfulness and the desire to be fair have brought us here. I never should have taken your choice and believed it, after all, you didn’t know what you would be getting yourself into. I’m sorry. And I do wish you all the best. at 7. Eyes drank in the rose-tinted pastel sky as evening light slowly ebbed. She wondered if she will find, that one thing that could fuel her through this lifetime and maybe the next. That, and when. Mundane tasks continue to claw out at her, as she willed her hands to move faster. Faster than the wheels in her mind could click. So time would make her forget just how much the mind craved to move. Dimsum Sundays My grandmoms from both sides of the family had been complaining that they hadn’t seen much of me of late. So this morning, Mdm Chong and I took my fat grandma out for a little bit of Dimsum. Amid steaming hot baskets of succulent hargows, siew mai, char siew buns, my fat grandma kept us up-to-date of the latest gossip in the family while tucking into her favorite roasted pork and other signature dishes of Crystal Jade. It’s always been most curious how my grandmoms lead such different lifestyles. While my fat grandma is doted on by her 3 offspring and is a connoisseur of foods in her own right, my paternal grandmom (skinny grandmom) lives under the tyrannical rule of her elder son; one who scrimps and saves and doesn’t hesitate to collect money from her over a packet of chicken rice he bought for her lunch. Widowed in her prime, she’d slogged for the most part of her life doing dishes and laundry to bring up her 3 children, her elderly years didn’t bring her respite even though her 3 kids have fully grown up. Her youngest, the one she doted on the most ended his life in his late thirties laving her bereaved. At the ripe old age of 84, life has not been kind to her; sending a barrage of diseases her way leaving her house-ridden, unable to leave the house. Whenever we visit, she’d always lament at her fate and tell us how she’s merely waiting for death to come for claim. Sometimes, I really do believe it to be so. A simple woman with very simple needs, she doesn’t deserve to be treated the way her life has treated her so far. My fat grandma on the other hand, never had to lift her hand to even rinse a washcloth until she’d married my grandpa. Even then, my grandpa would always take care of the household chores. He’d sweep and mop the floor, clean the home while all my grandmom had to do was make dinner and take care of the kids. Grandpa was the disciplinarian and the one who brought home the bacon. When grandpa passed away from lung cancer 5 years ago, my grandmom was devastated and fell into a spiral of depression. Thankfully she’s since walked out from her dark days and now devotes her time to volunteer work at the neighborhood elderly daycare center. My two grandmoms have shown me the 2 sides of having offspring. Like everything else, having kids is like a gamble of chance. Sure, you can teach your children the right way, the morally ethical way of living life. But who’s to say they will follow by your teachings when you are old and no longer financially able? This world is a mercenary one as the materialistic aspects of life continually outweigh the value of kinship. I wonder how many more other grandparents and parents out there, are being treated like my skinny grandma. Life is unfair and may be what we make of it that counts. But if the hands of fate is harsher than the niche we try to carve out for ourselves, what then, is the point of living? What is the point of casting a die knowing that wherever the wind blows, it will be a losing hand anyway? To harbor hope for a better tomorrow while having it smashed to smithereens at the end of today. As promised. So, VO and I swung by the Escape Launch Party at Marriott’s Pool Grill on Wednesday night. Although I haven’t been to that many parties, I’d say Escape’s was a pretty decent one though it’d be nice if food was more readily available. Don’t get me wrong; the canapes were yummy and the pumpkin soup served in shot glasses were simply divine. All that waiting for the gracious servers to come around can really drive a rumbling tum-tum bonkers. Other than that, the night was perfect weather for a pool party and it was good fun learning how to hobnob around and getting introduced to people in the industry. Much as I’m afraid of socializing, it’s starting to look pretty fun; as soon as I get over the issue about talking to mere strangers. Did I mention the goodie bag was fantastic? From the travel journal to the Burberry’s overnight tote. That’s one item I’m definitely toting along for future travels (to store all that extra shopping). Then it was back to Shaw for the movie screening of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” with the Popcorn Terminator (more on that later). Honestly, the movie sucked. The Mummy isn’t really THE Mummy without Rachel Weiss. Further the plot wasn’t remotely interesting. I’m not quite sure what Glenn Ong meant when he said it made fun of the Chinese culture though I really couldn’t care less. I mean, it’s not like the Chinese were known to be saints. Afterall, they did come up with the idiom “五马分尸, had harems of women in their palaces along with other atrocities that I have no need to recount. Further, whatever they’d featured in the movie, others (Asian tv series/movies) had done to death already such as slavery which was purportedly true, killing others to feed their lecherous desire for women who were beautiful and attached etc). Ok, with the exception of 五马分尸 the part. In all, the film just didn’t deliver that kick that the earlier movies did. It was also during the movie that I was given a not-so-private showcase of the Popcorn Terminator’s appetite for popcorn. You had to give it to him; the guy polished off a bucket of mixed popcorn on his own. I’d post pictures but I’m afraid it may be too horrifying an image. All in all, a great way to cap off the mid-week. Digressing, I’m watching the Opening Ceremony for the BeiJing Olympics. And Li Jia Wei was the flagbearer for Singapore in an Olympic event hosted in China. I hope I’m not the only one who has a problem with this. Say it with me: Pfffffffft! I suppose the US of A has officially been demoted and PRC has just been “upgraded” to BFF status. That or, you can make the judgment call yourself. escape! Launch Party & PAssion Partners Night Updates tomorrow. After I receive the entire goodie bag items. Heh ~ where do the ghosts go? Update on the previous post: Have sort of made up with The Mother though I still want my alone time in Melbourne. Moving on, we were talking about the Hungry Ghost Month over lunch today. Been wondering about this for a couple of days now: If homeless ghosts “wander” the human realm, then do non-homeless ghosts return to the home they had in life? Protected: things that I cannot say to you This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: pirouette with me. Enrapture. Was something that one read about from books. Movie reviews and most times, describes beauty that arrests one’s heart, soul and mind. Beauty that freezes all other thoughts and simply descends upon a person. Much like snow, enrapture is a fleeting moment that melts in the palm of your hand as soon as it falls to rest upon it. That was my Saturday evening with Gypsy at our very first Ballet Under the Stars. It would be far too much a cliche to say they moved like water. They soared through space illuminated in hues of fuschia, turquoise, honey yellows and red, their fluidity and dexterity further complemented by flowing skirts of satin. Under blue skies speckled by silky streaks of milky white as the cool evening breeze caressed our hair, accompanied by mere strangers with their bottles of wine, checkered picnics and appreciative applause, one couldn’t ask for more. We will be back next year. With our own picnic spread. 7. July though barely over, has been a month of farewells and reunions. We welcomed Grandma Jane home and sent off Chaoda Bro Marc then Gypsy came home and promptly organized a mini cheese party at her place the very same evening. Then, Nana left us a couple of weeks back and on Friday, the new designer came in. I’m sure she’s a nice person but its just not the same. Because shes not Nana. We had our first S&M meeting this morning. Our first in yonks and I didn’t bring in my candy because there’s no Nana around to muck around with in there. Lunch was quiet. Maybe everyone was tired since today was a Monday afterall. Or perhaps like me, everyone else didn’t know what to say, how to strike up an interesting conversation, how to engage her in a conversation. Yep, that about sums up my July. Maybe I should blog on a monthly basis. the bip-bop There is no one thing or thought More a feeling One that creeps up upon you Slowly and quietly Reaching into deep within The heart of being Gently pulls the face into a tiny smile A smile that grows A heartbeat that accelerates and slows down All at the same time.