La-La Land of 13th Stitch

Current Music: Open Arms (Journey)

Got my "extended weekend"…and how bizarre, I wasn’t even asking for it! Hee *happy*

Met up with the ol’ peeps from Zoo…felt great to be home again. And no one calls Mimi "Mimi" anymore?? Guess it was a moment of flashback or something when I called her that.

It gave me a warm feeling with the whole catching up sesh…oh how I miss those days. The time when I gave a guest a good scare by trying to be helpful…The Maggot and her amazing telepathic abilities.

Did the hill the following morning…and speaking of that, wasn’t I supposed to hit the park ce matin? Oh wells, I didn’t even remember the Oscars till Mard mentioned about it on MSN just now. Slothy morning…

So anyways, we walked all the way from Bukit Timah to Bukit Panjang…then to home (Hussy’s). In the open fields somewhere in the heart of the hill, I was putting myself in Pin Yathay’s shoes in the midst of the Rouge regime…"I can see Thailand already, just a bit more to go!!". Errm…no, he didn’t really say that in his book…I simply made it up. So yea, that kept us going. Kinda disappointed when we finally reached the border of civilization.

1) Tall concrete thingies (flats)

2) Oblongish thingies that move real fast (cars)

3) Monstorous caterpillars that carry their babies inside them (buses)

4) Vibrantly-coloured parties on the move (troupes of lion dancers)

Hey…we were tired and hungry people, ok. So hit BP foodcourt for lunch. I’m never ever gonna have oyster egg thingies ever again!

Pretty much slothed the day away…she was on the Mac with work/planning for Viet. Stayed in for the evening…watch The Italian Job, which was brilliant. Made me want one of ‘em Minis. Doesn’t matter if my legs are gonna get cramped up…a girl can dream, can’t she? Heh…

Ended it all off with that Thai pimp murder case on True Files. Amazing the fellow managed to escape the gallows since he was inebriated at the time. Law of tort has always fascinated me! Peut-etre I should switch industries…

Current Music: The ol’ air-con whirring

The past two days of CNY have been interesting. Even getting to work was quite an experience. From getting late due to ridiculously long queues, to taxi fare that shot up to more than twice the amount I usually pay to get into the island.

Then I was watching some CNY celebration thingie on Channel News Asia when I got back home…and realised I totally forgot about mailing out the greeting cards! Yeap… I think they’re still in my bag from Putrajaya. Sorry…past few weeks have been really mental.

Well, just one more day to get through and I’ll get my well-deserved rest. And immerse myself in the wonders of slothdom this weekend…hopefully I’m on morning shift though, so it’ll be a longer weekend for me…hee!

ONE MORE DAY!!

Current Music: What You Waiting For? (Gwen Stefani)

Will someone please help recall ONE FUNNY PART out of the movie above? Gosh…yeap, it’s THAT bad. So yea, if you’re planning on catching it, hoping that it might turn out like one of the Wayans’ occasional funny puns…PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF FROM CRINGING THROUGH THE WHOLE MOVIE!! Save that $8.50 and get yourself a decent McDonald’s upsized meal instead…trust me on this.

Well, I saw that article about the ring on TNP from a couple of days back (thanks Hussy for saving it!). Quoted by her, "A staff called (her)…". Hmm, why can’t they put it as "An ex-staff who’s now in Sentosa called (her)…" or "A staff by the name of Syila called (her)…". Oh wells…it’s a nice feeling, though, when Mimi told me that she asked about me that day *beams*!

Have you realised where most of my happiness derived from lately? Hmmph!

Highlight of the Day: Virgin Trip to Bukit Timah

Current Music: ’80s Pop Playlist on iTunes

I’m feeling chirpy today…wee! Started the day with a happy dream…can’t exactly recall what it was all about, but I remember waking up feeling happy…and that SF was there. But not ‘cos of the fact she was there, yea…just the dream on overall.

Then something silly happened…something ONLY I can afford to pull off. Was in a favourite position with my laptop in bed: lying on my back with two pillows under my head/neck, balancing Syila’s Machine on my tummy. SM got a tad too warm for my tummy, so I reached for my fave Mogu to place it under SM. But while trying to position the Mogu properly, SM slipped off my hand and landed on my lip…causing a lovely haematoma.

(I can’t help laughing everytime I listen to Prince’s "When Doves Cry", thinking of the cheesy video…hehe! )

So yea…lovely swollen lip! Reached work, and someone made a comment, "must’ve been caused by serious making out with a significant other (I wish!)"…anyways, I didn’t exactly have the time to elaborate my silly misadventure (which might just be followed by the explanation of why I resorted myself to such slothdom), and simply made up some lame thing about knocking my lip against the wall while sleeping (well, I tend to do that at times…so it’s half true!). So yea, to colleagues whom I kinda fibbed to this morning…sorry about that…heh!

Then I had things like:

1) someone complimenting my fave white rhino shirt

2) people admiring my piercing

3) parler français avec une amie

4) fantasizing about migrating to a deserted island and bum all day long till I get bored of it

5) whistling to "Jingle Bells"

Hmm…je veux dormir!

Current Music: One Of Us (Joan Osborne)

Current "Wee!": Sophie Kinsella’s latest instalment - Shopaholic & Baby

Current "Duh!": People who blindly forward chain mails for the sake of saving their love lives or other crap along the same line

Real happy seeing Jasmine and Leslie this afternoon (my greatest guilt-free self-claimed break I’ve ever had so far!). Another reason to make me ponder on what’s next for my life plan…heh, still missing the "Malayan Tapir".

J’ai faim!!

Current Music: Immortality (Celine Dion feat. Bee Gees)

Hier…he sure made me cringe, though just for a tad while. For that anticipation period like the time I was anticipating the pain of piercing my navel, with butterflies (or wasps) creating an eddy in my tummy…well, metaphorically. Then it went smoothly… kudos to moi! No glitch at all…except for that lady fainting. But hey, we couldn’t have avoided that, could we? *happy camper*

You know, sometimes if you don’t put too much thought into a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’, it won’t get all that bad. Subconsciously, it’s gonna cause you a monstrous emotional turmoil…and all that for what? I’ll say submerge yourself in some therapeutic mindless stuff… like how Munge and I used to amend the maps and cut papers…hehe. I sure miss those days. Though if you’re the purely ethical and disciplined one, nobody’s stopping you from doing productive stuff!

Alrighty, I’m off to get some productive stuff done…like laundry. And get this…work is at 12.00pm. More time to sloth in bed…woohoo!  ;p

Later!

Current Music: It’s Like That (Mariah Carey)

Had an enriching morning! After much procrastination, I managed to drag my a** to explore Labrador Park. Started off with a run along the coastal path. Just found out what the Fort people refer to as "Dragon’s Teeth Gate" has got two other names. Well, if you learnt History in lower secondary, you might recall the hazardous rocks that blocked the gateway to the southern part of Singapore from the east (between mainland and the former Pulau Blakang Mati). Chinese sailors termed the rocks as "Dragon’s Teeth Gate". I found out that before the Chinese came, they were known to locals as "Batu Berlayar" (Sailing Rocks) and known to Brits as "Lot’s Wife", in reference to the biblical story of the wife of Abraham’s nephew who was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back on Sodom.

Then climbed the friggin’ flights of steps that were supposed to lead to what the signages said "Bunkers’ Encampment"…well, I seriously have no idea if I passed that site. Signages were confusing! Found that secret tunnel I’ve heard so much about…but it’s $8.40 to get in and I didn’t have a single cent on me (started off as a harmless jog into the park, remember?). Perhaps some other day…

Here’s a pic which I took from one of the aerial lookouts…and yes…I climbed all the way up there! ;p

As I walked through the historical site, had Kenny G on my iPod and immersed myself in the ambience and tried to visualise it all as if I travelled through time…just like how I tried visualising the kings and other royal family members in their elaborated costumes as I strolled through the temples of Siem Reap. Bliss!

Then I tried reading the interperatives about this gun encasement, and that gun storage area…and yada yada yada…sorry, absorbed none of it. Guess I have to accept the fact that I’m no historical junkie…sigh. Now, I’m not exactly looking forward to Fort Siloso…hoohoo!

Stinky boo…gonna get cleaned up. Arrivederci!

ps: I did a search on Lot (Lut in Koran) in Wikipedia. There was a part in the Bible when he was seduced by his daughters and they were impregnated by him as a result (he was drunk). Incestuous relationship is not forbidden in the Bible?

Current Music: The air-con whirring

Haven’t exactly heard my heart singing yet…sigh…Ariel hasn’t been singing in my head. I miss her…

I wonder if grasping thingamabobs in the shortest time possible has this effect…ain’t I supposed to enjoy it? Maybe not…sais pas. Sure I laughed…got silly…des amis nouveaux…et c’est bien payé (très importante!)…mais je pense quelque chose est missing.

I’m giving myself un mois…

Oh yea…saw Jessie Baboon at Sky today (another story as to how she ended up as Jessie "Baboon") with her entourage. Really lovely lady…I remember that she was one of my earliest WD guests. Even gave some feedbacks to Sue with regards to my presentation ‘cos I was farking nervous! Anyways, there were subsequent tours with her following my mediocre debut at guiding…her lil’ girl remembered me, too! And Jessie said, "We’re going to miss you at the Zoo…"

That made my day.

Current Music: Merana Jiwa (theme music for Dukun)

You guys should check out the site for Dukun (even the haunting music is giving me the creeps!). It’s a show based on a true high-profile murder case in the early 90s involving a witchdoctor ("dukun" in Malay) by the name of Mona Fandey. She believed in immortality by carrying out certain practices (which I shall not go into details, will be revealed in the movie!), and was also known to say the line "Aku takkan mati", which simply means "I will never die"…hence the homepage of the site.

The movie supposedly tells a story which centres around the mysterious unknown world of black magic and how it’s used to succumb to human greed for power. Pretty sure Umie Aida will pull the character off real nicely…

Wonder if it’s gonna be screened at the theatres here…hmmph!

Excerpts from my travel journal while in Putrajaya:

"I even remember glancing through the documents with the evidences when he was working on it (the case). Though I chickened out after just looking through some of the pages with the graphics of the mutilated body parts :s"

"…Fiq and I were telling Fish and Yan about what we heard from him back then. Apparently, when Fandey was imprisoned at Pudu Prison, there were religious people who "purified" the cell that held Fandey while pending for final sentence. The purification was supposed to prevent black magic being carried out within the cell (she’s a bomoh, remember?). Though there were reports of wardens seeing her wondering OUTSIDE the cell when she’s supposed to be inside…hee, creepy!"

Current Music: Everybody Hurts (R.E.M)

Nah…I’m not hurting or anything. Just the current playlist I have on iTunes.

Yesterday was a great day out pour moi! Met up with Munge at our usual…though she insisted on meeting at the "outer cloister" at the last minute since she’s worried about splurging once she’s in there…LOL. Took me a while to recognise her ‘cos of the bangs nouveaux. I think she’s très heureuse avoir l’air jeune .

Had our usual Sakae…I think it was a record for us! The lowest amount spent in history, parce que no red plates…hee. Gave her the long-awaited gift…hehe, true enough the greeting card was of a wolf, and not husky as I suspected…silly me! Well you see, Munge used to have a husky…so I got her that card, thinking that the canine fella looked like the pic of her husky she used to have on her locker eons ago. Suddenly realised that it looked suspiciously like wolf instead of husky as I was writing the card. So yea…my 2nd realisation was correct. Sheesh!

Then nous went along the streets, dropped by des magasins looking for Kums’ prezzie. Anyways, ended up getting nothing for him. Popped by HMV, and I got ‘em waterproof earphones I’d been longing to get since forever ‘cos Sony Nudes don’t work well with perspire when I run. Was struggling to hold myself back from getting any DVDs… SAY NO TO RAMPANT CONSUMERISM!!

Oh well…other minor purchases include navel stud (absolute NEED since I lost the screw for the one I’m using) and socks from Esprit (another NEED for work…well, doesn’t hurt to throw in some exciting colours, pas vrai?). I really hope the stud works for me since the dude confirmed that it’s surgical steel. The previous one I got from there caused blady rashes  :s  So there…my teeny-weeny lil’ purchases…all stashed into my "Doraemon pocket" bag, hence DISCREET…hee!

Kums came down from the Zoo, we had diner and went on to Penang Road to watch the Thaipusam procession. It was my first time at such a close range! Got some pics of the devotees with the kavadis and whatever-nots…shall post on Shutterfly/flickr later when I’ve got the time.

It’s really interesting learning more about the festival from Kums. Deffo something I can use when the day comes for Images of Singapore guided tour…IF I’m still around, heheh *evil laugh*. The kavadis are actually done up by the devotees themselves…and with the help of friends and relatives, I suppose. So it’s totally up to them how elaborate they want theirs to be. Each kavadi holds one or more pot/s of milk, which is to be poured over the deity once they’ve reached the temple at Tank Road (near Clemenceau) after going through the 5km walk from a temple at Serangoon. Milk flows to an area where other devotees will collect to drink as some sort of blessing. This part, I assume, has somewhat the same significance as drinking the zam-zam water from Holy Mecca.

Kavadi carriers range from the young chaps of about 11/12 years to the adults…I even spotted one of the younger boys having a metal rod piercing through his cheeks! But then again, body piercing is the fad these days, so I guess that’s nothing? So instead of piercing, kids can choose to stick to carrying the heavy thingamajigs over their shoulders. There’s a fellow who carried books wrapped up in a yellow piece of cloth. That, according to Kums, was a sign that the guy’s still studying…by going through that, he’s praying to the Gods so that he’d do well for his exams…something like that.

Other interesting stuff about the ritual:

1) Idol or photo of the God is perched on the very top of the kavadi and is not supposed to drop at any time (though there were some which looked dangerously loose!)

2) There’re some kavadis with up to NINE tiers that the carrier would have to kneel down to get into the temple if the doorway is too small

3) One way of going through the ritual is to walk with another person applying a pull force from behind by holding on to strings/ropes attached to metal pieces which are pierced through the back torso skin of the devotee…eek!

4) Devotees are required to go through a vegetarian diet, not sleep on mattress (just the floor) and not shave for at least three days before carrrying the kavadi

Interesting, ain’t it?

Well, since I’ve got my earphones nouveaux maintenant, about time I get my act together and run for real…à tout à l’heure!