Merry X'mas

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

This year's christmas was pretty lowkey for me. No big dinner, no walk around town. I don't really celebrate actually except for the occasional get together at my aunt's place (from my dad's side) and the pretty presents Mahirah and I will get from her. However, this year's christmas is a memorable one.

Airil picked me up at Tampines and we drove to Changi Airport for lunch and a lovely, long stroll around. They replaced the old sky trains with the new ones which seem faster and more spacious. We managed to watch some take-offs. I'm so envious of all the people checking in cos they get to enjoy all the facilities that we by-passers can only look at. The next time I do get to fly off somewhere, I'm gonna check into the arrival hall like many many hours earlier so that I can wonder around, use the gym, watch a movie, go to their gardens etc.

After that, we headed back to Airil's place and his mom gave me two containers full of these little chocolate cup cakes, backed by his mom and sis, that were simply to die for. The recipe was gotten online at ttp://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232391. Durga tried it but I don't know how it turned out.

Anyway, the memorable part comes later when he drives me home. Usually he only drives around the eastern side of Singapore. This was gonna be his very 1st time. Yikes! The traffic was pretty heavy and I was honestly feeling a pinch of fear cos he has never driven that far before. I was like a naggy, old hag pin-pointing his every driving move. "Don't go over 90!", "Don't steer towards the other lane!", "Why are you so slow!" I was worse than any driving instructor. Haha. Girls are always way more paranoid and cautious than guys. Or maybe it's just me.

Fortunately, he was understanding and patient enough to not scream at me though the pressure was stressing him enough to stall the car quite a couple of times while parking. I'm so sorry, but thank you for making this Christmas unforgetable in a non-Christmas yet funny kinda way.

5:47 PM

I miss HOME

Thursday, December 21, 2006

It feels so good to be back home after nearly 2 weeks. My holiday took so long cos the whole big bunch of us, my family plus my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins, went all over Malaysia. 2 nights each from KL to Ipoh to Cameron Highlands to Sunway to Port Dickson and lastly Melacca.

The holiday was enjoyable because:

of the huge amount of SHOPPING we all did. I bought 7 tops, 1 pair of jeans, 2 necklaces, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 bottles of perfume, 1 belt, 1 pair of sunglasses, my year long supply of contact lenses and quite a few magazines. But my cousin ShaSha was the top shopper. I think she spent around S$250, considering that she's only 14.
I did lots of reading and sleeping. When you're on the road for hours, you can't do anything else but read and eat and sleep. You're practically a pig.
Mahirah, ShaSha and I, despite our moderately large age gap, managed to have lots of laugh and nonsensical girl talks regarding school and guys. I feel like I was back in secondary school.

We played lots of Tai Di, everyday for 10 consecutive days, whenever we got bored.
I ate like 5 slices of Secret Recipe cake (Mud Cake, Chocolate Indulgence, Tiramisu, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Mud Brownie) throughout the whole trip cos it's cheaper in Malaysia.
My dad drove through 2 floods. I know 'fun' isn't the right word to describe it but Mahirah and I were more amused than scared while my mom on the other hand was praying hard that our car will make it through the waters.
I drove 3/4 the journey up to Cameron Highlands. The narrow, winding roads were quite scary. I stalled the car twice while trying to overtake a lorry. But overall, it was a great experience.
I had a good laugh when I was bowling cos I use a ball a little to small and when I was just about to bowl, the ball got really stuck to my tumb. My sister had to yank the ball out.
I was surrounded by the prettiest, colourful and fresh flowers, fruits and plants at Cameron Highlands. It's just so refreshing and relaxing and keeps you in high spirits. Plus the cool weather, an average of 18 degrees, is just right.

I ate my very first SUBWAY sandwich. Yes, I'm a little slow but it's the only halal subway I saw. I got SO excited the moment I saw the Subway outlet at Sunway. The sandwiches were HUGE and YUMMY! I think it can serve at least 3 people. Haha.

I ate RAW corn. My first too. Not boiled like the usual corn, the raw corn which was from Cameran was really sweet and pretty addictive. It's whitish and yellowish in colour. Interesting!

I'm really glad to be back home cos as soon as we left from melacca, it started to flood terribly. I would have been stranded if we went home any later. The sights on the journey home were quite depressing; the highway was flooded, rubber and palm plantations were submerged in water, streams filled to the brim, houses were only recognizable by their roof tops. Gosh! I'm so thankful that I'm back in Singapore.

3:35 PM

Farewell dinner

Friday, December 08, 2006

Yesterday was a pretty ''big'' night for me. Airil's dad was leaving for Doha on the 18th for work purpose and decided to give a treat before flying off. The idea of all of us going out together made me pretty nervous at first. It's not that I've never had dinner with them, but it was the first time that we were going out on an outing together. Sort of like a stepping stone.

I dropped by at Airil's place first, waited for his sister to get back from school. All 6 of us managed to squeeze into Uncle's car and travelled all the way from Tampines back to Choa Chu Kang, ending up at a seafood restuarant at CCK park cos his parents wanted to try the food at my west area. Haha. The food was plenty and yummilicious - shark's fin soup, not forgetting Kang Kong, black pepper beef, lemon chicken, Satay, Tom Yam soup, etc. My tummy nearly exploded. Airil's brother, despite his size, was a massive eater just like him.

We headed to Lot1 next and his mom and sister did some shoppping. Uncle was really funny. He just bought a new phone and was snapping many candid shots and recording us while we were rounding the shops. And his reason was, "Just nice. I can look at the pictures when I'm in Doha." We went for a movie at 9.30, DeJa Vu. Another great Denzel Washingston movie. It really boggles your mind. It has all the elements for a good movie - action, suspense, romance, a good twist and a relatively unexpected ending.

The night ended of on a good note. I was very comfortable going out with his family just as much as he is comfortable going out with mine. This meant alot to me cos I got a chance to know his family more, vic versa. I'm glad I got this opportunity to go out with them; his parents are really nice, chatty and comical.

I'm nearly done packing, just left to chuck in shoes into my bag. I'll be going to Malaysia from the 8th to 20th. Nearly half of my holiday is spent there. I'm looking forward to do some shopping there. Yey!

3:38 PM

8 trivial things I'm Amazed about.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

I'm not goin out today, simply feeling like lazing at home and doing nothing. Then, I began wondering on some stuff. I always think too much and I'm abit insane sometimes.

8 trivial things I'm Amazed or amused about:

I'm amazed at how much babies and dogs just puts a smile on my face. It's just the way my brain works. I want both but I know I can't have a dog. A baby...maybe in due time. Haha

I'm disgustingly amazed at how loud I can fart sometimes. It's terrible and gross but I really wonder how the compressed gases just releases into an obnoxious, weird sound. Thankfully my farts don't stink most of the time.

I'm amazed at how filthy rich some Singaporeans can be. They are not international superstars, just plain Singaporeans who live extravagant lifestyles. I was watching 'The Finer Side', a channel 5 show hosted by Dick Lee and Denise Keller, and it showcased a bunch of very rich socialites. They hire chefs to cook for them personally at their home, they do their hair (simple blow drying and combing) for $800, buy a half a million dollar watch after looking at it for like 10 seconds. How these people get so rich? I have no idea.

I'm amazed at how easy it is to get into engineering but how freaking hard it is to stay in the course without failing anything. I guess most of my fellow engineers-to-be feel the same way. Most of us take about 7 to 8 modules per semester and we study till our brains are about to explode. While my other friends from FASS or biz take about 4 or 5. Some even have only 2 examinable modules while the rest are all project-based. Engineering should be for all those who ace their A levels man. I wish I had studied harder for my A levels and gotten into business or accountancy.

I'm amused at how Airil can be so similar to Jessica Simpson, in a bimbotic way that is. Haha. For 22 years of his life, Airil thought that Tuna, which we often eat in sandwiches, is actually Sardine. Yes, he thought that Tuna is from Sardine but with a different name, not 2 seperate fishes. I had the best laugh from that. Hahaha. His mind works best with cars and aeroplanes only.

I'm amused at my little cousin Syifaa. Despite being only 8, she's obsessed with the Korean drama - 'Princess Hours'. I love the show too. During her malay composition exam, she used the characters of the drama as the characters of her compo. 'Yul goon', 'Shin goon', 'Chaegyung' and 'Hyorin'. Her teacher nearly threw a fit but she still aced the compo. Haha.

While mugging for exams in the school library, my friends and I were giving ourselves nicknames from the movie 'Batman'. AND my friends called me CATWOMAN...but since my liking for dogs, i decided to call myself DOG-GIRL... Apparently, Airil asked me... do you know what a female dog is called? the rest was history... I've been stucked with that nickname ever since. I'm DOG - GIRL.

Lastly, I'm amazed at how bad my spelling that my sister and my mom have to correct it. I spelled obnoxious as 'abnorxious', filthy as 'filty', museum as 'muesem' and emperor as 'empirer'. Gosh! I think I should go for phonics lessons like those primary school kids.

Only 8 so far. But there'll definitely be more to come.

9:06 AM

Happy Feet vs Tenacious D

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Going to the theatres with a bunch of friends or just someone close is my kind of thing. It's an expensive hobby but it is quite worthwhile when you catch really nice shows that just stir up emotions that are seldom felt. When you watch a horror flick, your heart tends to pump harder. I would always use my hands to cover my eyes, which means I only watch about half a scary movie. Yes, I'm chicken shit! I flung a whole cup full of popcorn once at Krys when I got startled watching
'The Eye 2'.

Anyway, in the space of 3 days, I just saw 2 movies. More of the light-hearted type. I went to Vivocity to watch Happy Feet. I don't see why everyone is making a fuss about that place. It's an ordinary shopping centre but probably a little bigger. But I really like the cinema cos it's all new and clean, the arm rest can be brought up for all the seats and the seats are more spacious.

Happy Feet was about this little emperor penguine who was unable to sing his 'heart song' which was required when he wants to find a mate. Unfortunately, he couldn't sing and became an outcast. However, he had a gift for dancing and ya da ya da his dancing helped to solve the problem of the disappearing fish. Ooooooooooo! What I loved most was how adorable the baby penguines were. All teeny-wheeny and fluffy.

The ending was a little sudden and it sort of spoilt the show but overall it was not too bad. Robbin Williams is ever so talented, playing the voices of 3 or 4 characters. Still, I think 'Cars' is the best animated film so far.

Moving on, I just watched Tenacious D today with Airil, complementary tickets from my aunt. I saved 16 bucks. Phew! The movie starts off with how Jack Black aka JB runs away from home and meets Kyle Gass, who is seriously an awesome guitarist, and they form Tenacious D. The rest of the movie is basically about this guitar pick which apparently has some special powers and the duo goes through a hilarious adventure to steal the pick from the Rock & Roll museum.

There's plenty of songs, vulgarities, heaps of laughter and from the movie, you can really see that Kyle is brilliant on the guitar. His fingers are just so fast and flexible. Jack works well with the lyrics and his voice is not bad actually. They don't look like the average rockers, which makes it even funnier. To me it's one of those 'Must Watch' movies. It'll just cheer you up if you're feeling down or bored.

Here's the lyrics from one of my favourite songs by Tenacious D entitled I'm The Only Gay Eskimo. But it would be better if you hear the song itself.

I'm the only Gay Eskimo
I'm the only one I know
I'm the only Gay Eskimo
In my tribe

I go out seal hunting with my best friend Tarka
But all I wanna do is get into his parka
I'm the only Gay Eskimo
In my tribe

Well, me and Nuckfluckchuckbuck
We both like Blubber
But me, I've got this crazy fetish for rubber
I'm the only Gay Eskimo
In my tribe

I make a wish on the northern lights
That I could find a decent pair of whale skin tights
I'm the only Gay Eskimo
In my tribe
And the seals, they sing now:(kooky seal grunting noises)

I'm gonna download more of their songs for the blue, lousy days.

12:53 PM

Bright Lights = Great fun!

Friday, December 01, 2006

My morning started off really early. I was in town by 10, bearly awake while eating my Hotcakes. Mama didn't want to get caught in the crowd so she made us take the 9 o'clock bus and we were wondering about Taka by 11. I borrowed a whole shelf of books from Taka's national library. I must say that their adult fiction section is pretty good (they have a number of Meg Cabot's latest books) plus the ambience was just so relaxing and peaceful, not like the other national libraries around housing estates.

By 2pm I was off to Airil's place. I needed to kill time so badly cos I was only meeting Krys at 7 in town again. He was still mugging for that one more paper before the end of his exams. His round, chubby cousin was at his place and he couldn't stop reminding me that I stole his french fries. Oops!

Immediately after watching 'Lake House' (Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock - not such a bad pair) on his laptop, I was off to town again. Dinner was yummy. I had 'Boo-Boo'; delicious chocolate cake. 2 tumbs up! I recommend it to all chocolate lovers. Then Krys, Suff, Nic and I just walked the whole stretch from Wheelock place to Heeren, taking tonnes of photos and having lots of laugh.

Suff and Krys became the new models for 'SK fashion', a new line of unisex clothes. Haha.

And as ususal, we had a Ball of a time.

To end it of, we had 'glowing' mouths.

It's amazing how a bunch of lights can just add so much more life and joy to a place especially when you're out with friends. Nic! We're all looking forward to the Christmas party come sleepover. I miss you guys already.

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