Today was a good day. I checked my account and my marksman monetary reward has been debited into my account. For once, this organisation seems to be on the ball. Pity though, since there are still a few others who have yet to receive their share of the pie despite waiting a few months for it already. And then, there are also others who are complaining yet again about how their pay has been deducted this month because of wrongful back-pay on the organisation's part for the past few months, and making it seem as though it's the end of the world. To this person, I say, the money wasn't meant to be yours in the first place, and I don't see the point of you being extremely upset about it. It only makes you seem to be an extremely petty person, and trust me, there are a billion other things you've done and said that has already labelled you as a very difficult person to be around.
I baked Triple Layered Brownies With Marshmallow Smores today. They were really good, what with the Hershey's bar I snuck between the layers of brownies and marshmallows. Unfortunately, the results weren't very pretty and I shall not post the picture up here. They were just meant to be eaten, and that's that. The marshmallows sort of didn't melt as I thought they would, between the layers of brownies, so they popped up the the surface, and anything less than perfect as far as presentation goes, isn't perfect. But they were great since they acted as comfort food for my throbbing headache which subsided as I enjoyed the therapeutic activity of baking.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Being Sick Is God's Way Of Punishing You
I like being fake sick. The kind where you wake up and don't feel like the day is going well, and you decide to go to the doctor's for an excuse to legitimately skip school. And how, after, when you're clutching the medical certificate in your hands, you have that inexplicable adrenaline rush of feeling because you've managed to somehow do something forbidden, like lying to the doctor, and exaggerating your conditions just so you can skip that one economics lecture, or miss the deadline for the maths assignment.
Being sick in real life, though, is ultimately the worst feeling in the world. Your body feels cold on the outside, but burning from the inside. Your nose leaks like a faucet and your eyes gets blurry for no reason whatsoever, rendering watching television series on your laptop a hassle. Your head thumps like a bitch, and you're super sensitive to noise, and light, and everything annoys you. When a slight movement causes so much discomfort, and when you find that one perfect spot, you just want to lie down there forever, but alas, you have to get up and go to the bathroom because the flam is getting caught up in your throat. When tilting you head causes you to feel nauseated, but nothing ever comes out. That's right, being sick in real life really sucks.
But the good thing about lying in bed and having a friend overseas is that I get to live my life vicariously through him, so in my suffering, I envision the kind of joy my friend is feeling and seeing, and I imagine myself doing the same very things he'd done. Jun Xian is in Japan and he is detailing everything he's done so far, via live updates on whatsapp, and I feel like I'm floating on air. Traditional Japanese guest house, check! Outrageous Japanese fashion, check! Hot Spring Resort, check! Gorgeous picturesque landscape, check! Somehow, it's so apt that in my feeling of death, I'm thinking of all these beautiful things. Isn't that what most people think during that last few moments; all those beautiful mortal things they're leaving behind? Unless of course, you die from a sudden tragic death.
Being sick in real life, though, is ultimately the worst feeling in the world. Your body feels cold on the outside, but burning from the inside. Your nose leaks like a faucet and your eyes gets blurry for no reason whatsoever, rendering watching television series on your laptop a hassle. Your head thumps like a bitch, and you're super sensitive to noise, and light, and everything annoys you. When a slight movement causes so much discomfort, and when you find that one perfect spot, you just want to lie down there forever, but alas, you have to get up and go to the bathroom because the flam is getting caught up in your throat. When tilting you head causes you to feel nauseated, but nothing ever comes out. That's right, being sick in real life really sucks.
But the good thing about lying in bed and having a friend overseas is that I get to live my life vicariously through him, so in my suffering, I envision the kind of joy my friend is feeling and seeing, and I imagine myself doing the same very things he'd done. Jun Xian is in Japan and he is detailing everything he's done so far, via live updates on whatsapp, and I feel like I'm floating on air. Traditional Japanese guest house, check! Outrageous Japanese fashion, check! Hot Spring Resort, check! Gorgeous picturesque landscape, check! Somehow, it's so apt that in my feeling of death, I'm thinking of all these beautiful things. Isn't that what most people think during that last few moments; all those beautiful mortal things they're leaving behind? Unless of course, you die from a sudden tragic death.
Monday, 8 October 2012
Buffet Lunch @ Cafe Brio
The Earth is this huge spherical blob of mass in an otherwise wide expanse of nothingness, but today, it felt considerably smaller, more accessible, more claustrophobic. Within the span of ten minutes, while I was out, I bumped into three different people, all of whom were at some point, and some still are, my commanders. It's funny how we don't talk to each other much in base, but when we're out, everything just spews out. It's as though everyone's trying to make up for that lost time, where everyone had to act within their capacity as commanders, as leaders, as men and as followers. Norman and Nian Phong were from base, whereas Leslie was on leave despite being an instructor back in Changi Naval Base. If it weren't for this accidental bump, I would never have known that Norman and Nian Phong would be starting school in January, one doing law, the other economics, whereas Leslie would be reading accountancy at NUS.
The reason we all managed to find each other in Kinokuniya was because Shawn and I were there hunting for books after our very wonderful and filling lunch buffet at Cafe Brio @ Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. The seafood buffet was glorious, filled with tiger prawns and clams and salmon fillet, and other mouth-watering dishes. The desert table was just stacked precariously with shot glasses of the most sweetest of deserts I felt as though I was Alice In Wonderland. Speaking of which, I found the English literary classic book illustrated by Yayoi Kusama I think I found the perfect gift for someone I know.
After parting ways with Norman and Nian Phong, because Leslie was with his other group of friends, Shawn and I made our way around and lo and behold, Typo was having a sale, and knowing me, anything eclectic and pretty catches my eye, and I made out of the store with buys that I reasoned would be used when I'm staying in hostel next year. Come to think of it, a lot of my buys have been boxed carefully with the idea that they would be used next year, for when I rejoin society again.
While walking around, Shawn enlightened me on the whole debacle that's happening right now, of which I have no idea that something like that could warrant such an intense reaction from the public. I mean, if half the wacky, obnoxious things I said were made known to the public, it'd probably end up with me at the stakes ala the Salem Witch Trials. Shawn and I parodied what the post could have been had it been directed to the different races and we channelled our inner-most Singaporean hillbillies and the results were so outrageously crazy, we threw caution to the wind. The things we said, it could only remain between the two of us.
But on a more serious note, and everyone seems to have an opinion about it, I honestly believe that the lady should not have been fired from her job. Everyone, at some point of time or another, must have said something insensitive but nothing to the point of it being labelled as a 'seditious' act. The lady was just dumb enough to have it posted on her Facbook account. As a society, we should be better than this, and we should be able to sieve out the fact that she was merely complaining about the noise, but had decided to include other reasons, which might I add, were not completely false. Goodness me, have we not seen the statistics of the divorce cases in Singapore?
This whole debacle serves only one purpose, and what it does is that it magnifies the Singapore society's gravitation towards a witch hunt. We love massacring one individual and time and time again it has happened; the most recent one being that girl who called NSFs weak. Personally, I feel we could all be better than this. We count ourselves as a forward society, but when the time calls for us to be one, we easily turn our backs and we return to the age old tradition of pointing the blame at someone else. We need to learn to differentiate between callous remarks and remarks that could really divide a society, and I feel that there are other things out there, more pertinent issues, that are so blatantly divisive, yet no one addresses them, simply because they are the ones rooted from the top-down. Everyone knows about them, yet no seems to question them. Instead, we go all out to bring down this one lady who made an insensitive, not completely untrue remark, about a specific group of people. What a society we live in!
The reason we all managed to find each other in Kinokuniya was because Shawn and I were there hunting for books after our very wonderful and filling lunch buffet at Cafe Brio @ Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. The seafood buffet was glorious, filled with tiger prawns and clams and salmon fillet, and other mouth-watering dishes. The desert table was just stacked precariously with shot glasses of the most sweetest of deserts I felt as though I was Alice In Wonderland. Speaking of which, I found the English literary classic book illustrated by Yayoi Kusama I think I found the perfect gift for someone I know.
After parting ways with Norman and Nian Phong, because Leslie was with his other group of friends, Shawn and I made our way around and lo and behold, Typo was having a sale, and knowing me, anything eclectic and pretty catches my eye, and I made out of the store with buys that I reasoned would be used when I'm staying in hostel next year. Come to think of it, a lot of my buys have been boxed carefully with the idea that they would be used next year, for when I rejoin society again.
While walking around, Shawn enlightened me on the whole debacle that's happening right now, of which I have no idea that something like that could warrant such an intense reaction from the public. I mean, if half the wacky, obnoxious things I said were made known to the public, it'd probably end up with me at the stakes ala the Salem Witch Trials. Shawn and I parodied what the post could have been had it been directed to the different races and we channelled our inner-most Singaporean hillbillies and the results were so outrageously crazy, we threw caution to the wind. The things we said, it could only remain between the two of us.
But on a more serious note, and everyone seems to have an opinion about it, I honestly believe that the lady should not have been fired from her job. Everyone, at some point of time or another, must have said something insensitive but nothing to the point of it being labelled as a 'seditious' act. The lady was just dumb enough to have it posted on her Facbook account. As a society, we should be better than this, and we should be able to sieve out the fact that she was merely complaining about the noise, but had decided to include other reasons, which might I add, were not completely false. Goodness me, have we not seen the statistics of the divorce cases in Singapore?
This whole debacle serves only one purpose, and what it does is that it magnifies the Singapore society's gravitation towards a witch hunt. We love massacring one individual and time and time again it has happened; the most recent one being that girl who called NSFs weak. Personally, I feel we could all be better than this. We count ourselves as a forward society, but when the time calls for us to be one, we easily turn our backs and we return to the age old tradition of pointing the blame at someone else. We need to learn to differentiate between callous remarks and remarks that could really divide a society, and I feel that there are other things out there, more pertinent issues, that are so blatantly divisive, yet no one addresses them, simply because they are the ones rooted from the top-down. Everyone knows about them, yet no seems to question them. Instead, we go all out to bring down this one lady who made an insensitive, not completely untrue remark, about a specific group of people. What a society we live in!
Sunday, 7 October 2012
Dorm/My Girl
I don't always watch horror films now because I don't want to put myself through hell just before I go to sleep. That wasn't the case when I was growing up. When you're surrounded by cousins, and being the youngest at that, you don't really have a choice of what television show or DVD you'd be watching because someone else always gets his or her way. And horror shows were always on the television screen for most of the time, especially Asian horror movies, and let me just tell you, Asian horror films are always the worst, most horrible kind there is out there.
Anyways, I managed to watch a Thai horror film on television just now called Dorm, and it's something that I've watched a few times before. For one, the reason I'm able to watch this show alone in my room is because it's more of a drama film with interjections of horror; not just a meaningless, scare-the-shit-out-of-you kind of show. It's such a poignant drama that explores the idea of loss, of getting left behind, and of carrying the burden of your past actions. For that, this film is one of the few Thai films that I remember watching, the other being My Girl. Coincidentally, both film stars the same child actor who seem to be genetically blessed and didn't undergo that awkward phase of growing up. I remember watching My Girl years ago in secondary school after examinations were over and it's funny how the film has always stayed in my subconscious for the longest period of time.
Anyways, I managed to watch a Thai horror film on television just now called Dorm, and it's something that I've watched a few times before. For one, the reason I'm able to watch this show alone in my room is because it's more of a drama film with interjections of horror; not just a meaningless, scare-the-shit-out-of-you kind of show. It's such a poignant drama that explores the idea of loss, of getting left behind, and of carrying the burden of your past actions. For that, this film is one of the few Thai films that I remember watching, the other being My Girl. Coincidentally, both film stars the same child actor who seem to be genetically blessed and didn't undergo that awkward phase of growing up. I remember watching My Girl years ago in secondary school after examinations were over and it's funny how the film has always stayed in my subconscious for the longest period of time.
Friday, 5 October 2012
Calories Be Damned
Yesterday, after our dismounting debrief, which was all kinds of wonderful news, I headed down to Casie & Mum's, together with Shawn, Jonathan and Yu En for some afternoon tea. It's a recently opened cafe at Albert Court Village Hotel down at Albert Street. The cafe reminds me of the ones in Australia, where when you enter, you immediately feel as though you've entered someone's home. At first, I expected something posh but after taking a step back, I kind of appreciated the fact that the owner meant for it to feel homely, as though you're visiting a friend's place, where they open up their kitchen and pantry for you to bake, and mingle, and build a rapport. The banana cake was superb and sipping it down with hot tea was just a nice way to relax and have a chat with friends. It helped a lot that the cafe is situated within the compounds of renovated pre-war shophouses, because you know, ambiance is really important to me.
We then headed down to Amoy Street to collect my order of chocolate cupcakes from Matt's The Chocolate Shop. They were honest to God, the best, most simple cupcakes I've ever eaten in my life. The chocolate glaze was just nice. It didn't overwhelm the cake, and there was that perfect balance between bitterness and sweetness. And the cupcakes themselves just glided down my throat that calories be damned. Getting there, however was a hassle when you have four boys, each thinking they know the best way to get to the damn place. We ended up taking the bus, walking a little bit and reaching the oasis of chocolate-y goodness. On the way however, the bus took a route I've never taken before, and it opened my eyes to how small and compact Singapore is. I never knew that Little India was just behind Bugis Junction by way of Bencoolen Street, and that you could pass by Dhobby Ghaut to get to Chinatown, and visit Raffles Place on the way. Small little things we learn each day!
Today however, was not a day of gourmet taste-testing. It was a day of back-to-back movie screenings with Asaad at Shaw Lido down at Orchard. We watched Celeste And Jesse Forever and The Words, and is it just me, or do I watch a lot of movies about relationships despite not being, or even believing in one. Celeste And Jesse Forever was excellent mainly because I love Rashida Jones and the fact that the premise was really compelling, and that it made Los Angeles look beautiful and that they made Elijah Woods to be gay. Divorced couple remains best friends, whatever could go wrong? The Words, however didn't get my love as much, even if the slow burning drama tried to be stylistically beautiful with the interjections of the past and the present. But the show did get one thing right; Paris is beautiful, even during wartime.
We then headed down to Amoy Street to collect my order of chocolate cupcakes from Matt's The Chocolate Shop. They were honest to God, the best, most simple cupcakes I've ever eaten in my life. The chocolate glaze was just nice. It didn't overwhelm the cake, and there was that perfect balance between bitterness and sweetness. And the cupcakes themselves just glided down my throat that calories be damned. Getting there, however was a hassle when you have four boys, each thinking they know the best way to get to the damn place. We ended up taking the bus, walking a little bit and reaching the oasis of chocolate-y goodness. On the way however, the bus took a route I've never taken before, and it opened my eyes to how small and compact Singapore is. I never knew that Little India was just behind Bugis Junction by way of Bencoolen Street, and that you could pass by Dhobby Ghaut to get to Chinatown, and visit Raffles Place on the way. Small little things we learn each day!
Today however, was not a day of gourmet taste-testing. It was a day of back-to-back movie screenings with Asaad at Shaw Lido down at Orchard. We watched Celeste And Jesse Forever and The Words, and is it just me, or do I watch a lot of movies about relationships despite not being, or even believing in one. Celeste And Jesse Forever was excellent mainly because I love Rashida Jones and the fact that the premise was really compelling, and that it made Los Angeles look beautiful and that they made Elijah Woods to be gay. Divorced couple remains best friends, whatever could go wrong? The Words, however didn't get my love as much, even if the slow burning drama tried to be stylistically beautiful with the interjections of the past and the present. But the show did get one thing right; Paris is beautiful, even during wartime.
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Day Of Doing Nothing
You know, how when you're younger, you're excited when the adults took the days off, and they stay at home, and you think, "Hey, today's gonna be a good day. We're going to go out shopping at the mall!" And then your excitement gets deflated because the adults don't seem to want to go out because they'd much rather stay at home, and you think to yourself, "How boring! What a party pooper."
Well, I fully understand that "adult" sentiment now because that's exactly how I'm feeling. I had the most beautiful of plans; of walking around the city, of going to the museum, of visiting that quaint little cafe down at River Valley, of reading the book I've been putting off for the past few weeks, and of course, I never did any of those things. I woke up early thinking today's gonna be the day that I fully take advantage of the nice weather and after booting my laptop and going about my usual business, I decided to laze around on the bed at around 10am only to wake up at 6pm. My nap lasted for 8 hours! 8 hours of which I could have had a very fulfilling day. And the only thing I remember doing was eating warm, delicious muffins from The Muffinry for breakfast.
And so, to keep up with this restlessness and laziness, I decided against doing anything for the rest of the day. No going to the library to return my books. No going to the post office to pay my bills. No watching of television. Just the very blissful thought of lying down and doing nothing.
Well, I fully understand that "adult" sentiment now because that's exactly how I'm feeling. I had the most beautiful of plans; of walking around the city, of going to the museum, of visiting that quaint little cafe down at River Valley, of reading the book I've been putting off for the past few weeks, and of course, I never did any of those things. I woke up early thinking today's gonna be the day that I fully take advantage of the nice weather and after booting my laptop and going about my usual business, I decided to laze around on the bed at around 10am only to wake up at 6pm. My nap lasted for 8 hours! 8 hours of which I could have had a very fulfilling day. And the only thing I remember doing was eating warm, delicious muffins from The Muffinry for breakfast.
And so, to keep up with this restlessness and laziness, I decided against doing anything for the rest of the day. No going to the library to return my books. No going to the post office to pay my bills. No watching of television. Just the very blissful thought of lying down and doing nothing.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Cold War
It feels good to be out and about on a mounting week when the rest of the guys are back in base. That's what happens when you manage to store all your leaves until the last few mountings of the year to quietly savour and enjoy. Speaking of savouring, I dropped by The Muffinry for a chat to possibly take up a part-time job there and although I was super excited initially, after talking about it to Gary and Shawn on two separate phone calls, they made me realise that the service line is not my kind of job. For that, I am thankful to have friends that are able to shake me from my allusion that I'm this super cool, barista-waiter persona in this chic-artsy enclave in my own make believe world of Southern California ala The O.C.
I left base early because I had a breakfast date with Nadia. It's been ages since we last met and we've always been toying with the idea of meeting up and nothing ever materialised so when the opportunity arose, we decided to just grab it. Today was a good day because I was leaving base and Nadia had to go to NTU for a group discussion in the afternoon so a breakfast date was in order. I love talking to Nadia because, and I have to say it here once and for all, she keeps me in touch with my Malay roots. There I said it. Whenever I talk to Nadia, I have this urge to mix Malay responses to whatever I'm talking about. That's as far an extent to which I've spoken the Malay language after I left secondary school. On the way to meet her though, there was a horrible accident where this lorry crane smashed into a bus stop, thereby obliterating that poor structure before being split into two after hitting this huge ass tree.
In other news, and this is petty news, but the month-long cold war between my mother and I finally reached a truce when she talked to me when I reached home this evening. The thing with me is, I can drag on a petty issue for as long as forever, and I don't usually yield on anything, so even my mother has to bend to accommodate my rules. And even funnier is that, I don't even know why I wrote that.
I left base early because I had a breakfast date with Nadia. It's been ages since we last met and we've always been toying with the idea of meeting up and nothing ever materialised so when the opportunity arose, we decided to just grab it. Today was a good day because I was leaving base and Nadia had to go to NTU for a group discussion in the afternoon so a breakfast date was in order. I love talking to Nadia because, and I have to say it here once and for all, she keeps me in touch with my Malay roots. There I said it. Whenever I talk to Nadia, I have this urge to mix Malay responses to whatever I'm talking about. That's as far an extent to which I've spoken the Malay language after I left secondary school. On the way to meet her though, there was a horrible accident where this lorry crane smashed into a bus stop, thereby obliterating that poor structure before being split into two after hitting this huge ass tree.
In other news, and this is petty news, but the month-long cold war between my mother and I finally reached a truce when she talked to me when I reached home this evening. The thing with me is, I can drag on a petty issue for as long as forever, and I don't usually yield on anything, so even my mother has to bend to accommodate my rules. And even funnier is that, I don't even know why I wrote that.
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