A Matter of Perspective

Met Guppy Ghalpz to watch "Flag of our Fathers" last Sat. Being totally clueless about the movie, I must say it was a good war movie. War movie is one of my favourite genres.

In the movie theatre, we exchanged a quick update whilst the trailers were running through. So it went something like this:

GG: I mis-caculated my leave when I transferred to another department. What was actually 2 days of leave became 10 days. I can't clear them by Dec.

Azure: How can you miscalculate?! Please don't do charity and donate it to the organisation. That would be damn stupid.

GG: Well, my boss is pretty nice, he said I could just clear them in-lieu in Jan since I have alot of work to do in Dec. That's really decent of him.

Azure: WOW! That's soooo nice of him. I have quite a few days to clear too but work has been busy and I'm feeling stressed trying to clear mine. Mine told me that I could clear my leave in Dec but should come in to clear my work even when I'm on leave. It was hinted at me a few times.

Well, what can I say? Her organisation is more bureucratic than mine yet the flexibility shown sometimes astounds me.

To borrow a phrase from YL - Craparooooos!

Damn Blogger

I can't seem to access my own blog page. I just hope it's the home PC and nothing else. Experienced some trouble posting recently.

Time to transfer everything to wordpress?

Music Recital

For the past year, I had somehow had the opportunity to be surrounded by friends who are passionate about music. One of them was an old friend (whom I had lost touch for more than ten years) who is now a music teacher. Another is a friend who is very passionate about jazz and pop. Through this friend, mi amigoes en clase espanol and I got to know fellow music enthusiasts. I have not had the chance to be surrounded by such folks for quite along while. It brought back very good memories of the days when I was constantly surrounded by music loving friends in school days. It feels great to know people who share your love for music, classical or otherwise and could moon over musical scores, discussing the merits of certain pieces. I would like to think that it's one of the mysterious ways of life. Kismet?

El Oprah is a great gathering organiser and because of him, we have had two very enjoyable music recitals for the past couple of months and a third one is forthcoming. Of course, he was the star performer and we were the food contributors. Jazz and pop were the order of the day. Recently, in the spirit of Christmas, we have indulged in Christmas favourites and have added carolling to the session.

Being the score collector (yes, another of my money wasting hobby), I was the main resource person. El Oprah's jazz (hardcore kind) and improvisational skills are just amazing. This is in additional to his knowledge of all the pop/ movie tunes of yesteryears. He selected some 26 Christmas tunes and I helped to get ready enough copies of the lyrics he had gathered. To add on to the fun we had, our Peruvian friend joined in on the drum set, which added a different dimension to the recitals. I just wished Santiago could join us with his fiddler aka violin. Our Filipino friends such as J lent their fine vocals to the occasion. Unforuntely, his other half, A could not join us. She was supposed to be the chief choir mistress. Their spontaneity just added to the fun. Somehow, the Singaporeans tend to be quite stuffy and reserved. Sheez, I was the appointed page turner in the last recital. Obviously, I zonked out and forgot to turn some pages.

"Wave" by Antonio Carlos Jobim was a crowd favourite. A new Filippino friend took over the drums and his bossa nova beats just added depth to Oprah's flourish on the ivories.

J was a crapper. After singing three stanzas of "Frosty the Snowman" and Oprah asking if we were ever ending, he said he knew a shorter version and went, "Frosty the snowman....melted". Four words, short and sweet. Told Goofy who thought we were mean to poor old Frosty.

The second crap of the night came soon after "Deck the Halls". J announced that this was a song suitable for Singaporeans with all the "La-s" in the chorus.

Due to popular requests, "Twelve Days of Christmas" materialised and poor Oprah and I got pretty lost along the way as the score kept returning to different parts due to the repetitive nature of the song. Luckily we managed. Too bad Santiago was not there to utter his fave "Partridge". I missed his and Santa Maria's presence in class. Good thing Pedro, K-Man and a few others are still around. Romario is sorely missed too.

Oprah's star student entertained us with his hardcore jazz, ala Ray Charles. We were suitably impressed and rued the Limur's (aka the Peruvians) early leave of absence as they were big fans of hardcore jazz.

The night ended with El Entiendido, Oprah, Ching and I having a midnight picnic in a park. After making a circuitous route there, we realised we lacked a plastic knife to cut the cake. All was not lost as we had many pairs of chopsticks, courtesy of El Gatillo's Hokkien mee. Typically, I fell asleep in the middle of our conversations as the day's events caught up with me.

Don McLean's Vincent(Starry, Starry Night) would have been a fitting song to end our musical rendezvous.

Zert Pie Beware

I made it to the Philippines...and back. Beautiful turqouise waters sparkling under the azure skies which reminded me of Bali. At Mactan Island of Cebu, one could walk out to the sea with the water barely reaching your upper torso. Sea weeds abound and threatened to entangle themselves around your legs. Bigfooter told us repeatedly to don on our footwear to avoid being bitten by the hmmm...for the world of me, I could not recall which marine creature it is now.

We definitely heeded his advice as I have no wish to repeat my bad experience in Tioman Island in Malaysia years ago where I sliced off this bit of toe flesh on my first day of arrival. How? By stupidly trying to climb over some barnacles ladden rocks to get to a pristine part of the beach. I limped through the whole trip and it was not fun trying to keep an open wound from the prevalent saltwater.

It was a good chill out by the beach on the last day. Doing nothing but just enjoying the idyllic beach life. We went gate-crashing into Plantation Bay and ate lunch there, a posh resort with colonial sounding names for various resorts. You can get rooms for US$140 and above. Some rooms allow you to enter the pool by this ladder behind the room. You get to enjoy drinks simply by swimming to the pool bar - yes, in the middle of the endless pool.

Bigfooter was a wonderful host cum tourguide. He took his weekend to show us around the city. Met the sweet and nice Lou who was a native Cebuano unlike Bigfooter. Thanks to them, we get to enjoy some great food and checked out all the sights, including checking some nice chill out bars and pubs where everybody seem to know everyone else. Most were Bigfooter's colleagues and friends who seemed like the main international bunch in the area.

Island hopping took a backseat as the timing wasn't right and some of their friends were not available to join us and drive us around those islands. We will pet the tassiers next time. My pal and I tried bargaining with the boat lady (a posh looking cruise boat) but decided that her final price was still a rip off. Even with lunch on the waters. So we managed to hire the entire jeepney (their local public transport - a sort of truck/ van hybrid, a bigger version of the bemo in Indonesia)and zip around, including picking up a guitar and a ukelele I bought for Dimple-Boy.

The Basilica, Santo Nino, Magellan's Cross were located in a quaint, colonial part of the city. We were temporarily transported back to the 1500s Spanish setting. The locals were a faithful lot and religion is a big part of their life. We walked the entire stretch of Colon Street (beats me why they have such a name)which is not your posh shopping district but you get to see really old cinemas -- like the Ruby/Alambhra Theatres of Singapore in the 60s-70s.

A trip to the Philippines is never complete without a visit to Jollibee - the invincible Filipino equivalent of McDonalds. The latter just had no answer for Jollibee. Bigfooter recommended mango sundae (mango being a local produce and export)but I decided on a mango pie. It was similiar to McD's apple pie. After waiting for ten minutes, I finally got my pie and took a bite. The mango sauce and two mango cubes squirted out - the former making its way down my fingers and the latter arching across to land on my forearm. Man, it stung and that was how I acquired my Jollibee souvenir - a burnt patch with a weird shape. The blisters came and went and now I'm left with a scar, which will hopefully fade.

"Caution: Beware of hot filling" was obviously more than a few degrees' hotter than the apple pies here. Burnt by mango cubes?! We all had a good laugh over this and it became a talking point with Lou and her friend before we flew off. We took a photo of my burns and what can I say? I just missed out on my one year free supply of Jollibee fast-food.

I'm Still Kicking and Alive!

Hello one and all,

I have been lazy, no doubt about that. My urge to blog has not been forthcoming. Whatever it is, here is a quick update since my last entry (in random order):

1) Goofy telling me that the last budgie post is stale and that I should get my a** onto a new post

*Btw, Eki confirmed that budgie is called Piou Piou (just an onomatopeia). I'm convinced that he has turned Piou Piou into a schizophrenic as (s)he does not know that (s)he) is it in the mirror (which I was told was there to keep (s)he company)

Like you care to know this trivial, right?

2) Monkey going MIA on me. Where art thou?

3) Otterman "apparated" in front of me during a meeting. He has been away checking out the marine creatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Sounds like he has a whale of a time (no pun intended).

4) Ah Siang flew in from London with hubby (who was once cheated by the roti prata man in the coffee shop. He paid something like $1-2 for a 50-cent prata.) Unfortunately for us, I was flying out of the country and by the time I got back, she was in a huge rush to fly off again. Next rendezvous in London?

5) Watched 3 wonderful dance company perform last month. What can I say? They are simply fenomenal!

The Russians leapt into mid-air with their grand jetes, stomped through the Chekist revolution, swung their way in to 1920s Parisan era with all the big swings and charleston steps in the Red Giselle, interspersed with music of the great Russe, Tchaikovsky. Yes, there was even the overture to 1812, sans the cannon booms.

The Spanish did their inimitable flamenco steps to the passionate strains of neoclassical guitarra compositions and familiar Carmen tunes by the French composer, Bizet. Aida Gomez was one of the most saucy Carmen I have ever seen.

The Brazilians of Grupo Corpo fame xaxado-ed into the Lion City with Parabelo in a double bill performance. Leucona was my absolute fave. Twelve sets of deux and one grand waltz set to the evocative music of Ernesto Lecuona, a Cuban composer and an absolute genius. Rodrigo Pederneiras is one of the talented choregraphers of our times. My only regret is not having enough cash on hand to get its CD. At least I got the DVD! Am enchanted to hear some Portuguese and trying to recall whatever we learned with El Oprah in that one Portuguese class.

Goofy: Are you smirking? :o)

6) I didn't make it to Tibet after all. I finally made it to Xinjiang (the most northwestern part of China)and ended up doing the Silk Road sans the camel way. It was a most interesting trip and a childhood dream come true (thanks to the show Ah Fan Ti, a drama series featuring Uigyurs (one of the minority groups in China. They are one of the majority groups in Xinjiang province though. There were the Huis and the Kazakhs). I was such a rabid fan that my uncle's video tape was ruined in one of our countless viewings (as my father recounted to me post-trip. I totally forgot that part of my childhood!)

There were many fasinating sights and scenes which one would not be able to see in my current part of the world. It's also one of the most arid places and we were perpetually parched. I never missed greenery so much. I certainly missed my steamy rainforests here. I certainly don't miss the toilets (if they could be termed as toilets) though it was certainly educational to get re-acquainted with Chinese toilets.

I missed my camel ride in the famed Mingsha Shan (a shifting desert)and missed viewing Yueya Quan (Crescent Moon Lake - shrinking by the year), much to my great disappointment. I was taken ill and hospitalised the day before and was a sorry sight that morning. The stay in the hospital was interesting to say the least (as well as the drama that surrounded to my hospitalisation).

I finally saw the Dunhuang caves (Mogao Caves, grottoes with Buddhist art since the Tang Dynasty). The lecture I attended in the Lion City by a visiting Dunhuang scholar really helped in my appreciation of the caves and its artworks.

Photography buffs, Xinjiang offers many great subjects for your lenses.

There's so much to talk about for this trip, where do I start?

7) Attended Miz Ferragamo's wedding over the weekend. Glad to say that her hubby has a good sense of humour and they have a "couply" look. Their courtship was unusual to say the least. We sat with a bunch of bankers and made small conversations with them. Of course, we made BIG conversations amongst ourselves.

Prior to the wedding lunch, I bumped into the Happy Lion and his lioness in an Orchard underpass. And I forgot to thank him for brewing a nice bottle of sangria for me some time back. :o(

8) Loon, Director Engz, Happy-Go-Lucky and I attended Little Indiana's birthday party over the weekend too. We felt like a bunch of oldies with all the kids running and screaming. It was fun for them though, with play stations set up, balloons, goal posts, tunnels, tents and of course, candles and cakes.

9) I'm having a music party tomorrow night! Yay! El Oprah has a bunch of friends and he's gonna show off his stuff on the ivories whilst his Peruvian friend plays on the drum. Am looking forward to seeing the Filipino folks again as....

10) I'm going to the Philippines for a short jaunt! This year is Asia year. Am giving Europe a break after two years of consecutive visits. It's debilitating for the bank account. I am still mooning over Korea (for various reasons) but since I have missed its blazing autumn (yes, am a sucker for autumn scenery), I'm not sure if next autumn should be THE time and am dittering over skiing resorts. Chao Nana said she can hook me up with her Korean friends. We will see.

That's all the updates for now. Am uninspired and stuck with a powerpoint presentation for Monday.

A Tale of a Budgie and a Tilapia

Last Saturday during the meet-up, I asked Loony Loon about her dad's tilapia (a kind of fish, also known as ni luo hong in Mandarin). She said that it has been very naughty and was terrorising other fishes in the garden pond. Her mother is considering getting rid of it, though I have no idea what methods she's thinking about.

I had a deal with her father the last time we had a party at their place. That was months back. We agreed to split the loot (i.e. the tilapia) between the two of us once it was more grown up. It was not meant to be part of the fish pond population. However the fish shop accidentally included this fish in their sale to him. We thought cooking it for dinner would be great. Of course, Loony Loon thought we were gross.

Her parents are very fun people to hang out with and her father is a joker. I always have fun with her family.

This episode reminded me of Phew Phew (I don't know how to convert a French name to English but it sounded something like that according to Eki). During my visit and stay at Eki's parents' house in the French countryside, we saw many animals around the house. Six hens whose eggs supplied the entire household; some cats in the barns, some wild horses by the country lanes; maybe some hyenas, deers and what not hiding behind the wild bushes and wild berry bushes; a hyperactive Labrador; a woolly pet sheep and a residential green budgie or Budgerigar which lived in a cage placed in the kitchen.

Eki's friend gave it to him as a gift. Eki has a gift for connecting with animals and they all communicate with him in their own inimitable way. And so, it was a routine for him to let Phew Phew out of the cage and fly around the kitchen (the windows are almost always closed then as it was autumn and cold). He would whistle and chatter away with Phew Phew as our little friend did a vroom-vroom flight and a 10-m dash around the kitchen, perched on his shoulders, pecked at some food from an outstretched hand and repeat this routine.

Phew Phew was extremely vain and liked to talk to himself (I think it was a he) in the mirror. Yes, there was a vanity mirror hanging inside his cage. I never quite found out from Eki why it was so. Maybe Phew Phew was bored and lonely. Anyway, he was a chatty bird and drove me and another friend nuts with its incessant chatter on the day we were supposed to cook a spicy Asian dinner for the whole family, upon his sister's request.

Gosh, I was certainly quite stressed out then as I had never cooked spicy dishes before. Luckily, I learnt something from Indiana's mom somtime before that trip and whilst it didn't turn out the same, the improvisation (from whatever Asian ingredients we could find in a French city) turn out something different and yummy, I might add.

So we were busying ourselves and Phew Phew just twittered non-stop in his cage on the kitchen cabinet. Due to lack of space, we had to put the blender next to the cage to grind the spices. The machine screeched "vroom, vroom" and hey, guess what? Phew Phew went totally silent. Yep, what we could not accomplish (admonishing the bird), the blender did. Come to think of it, maybe he did not comprehend English...I'm sure the Jacques Chirac of the Budgerigar fraternity frowns on Anglo-speaking birds.

Anyway, we had a good laugh as we figured Phew Phew was worried that he would be the next to end up in the blender...haha!

Back to the tilapia, I proposed to Loony Loon that they put a wok and a small fire next to the pond. Figured the fish would not want to end up being grilled or barbequed as befitting the destiny of this bully.

Time for it to stop its bullying tactics! But not before I earned a wiltering look from Loony Loon. *grins*

Ok, now I have made myself out to be an animal abuser. I solemnly swear that I am not! Honest! *hand on heart* My family fishes can vouch for me!

Mobile Trivals

During the late afternoon today, ColumBiao's mobile went off in the office. We had all heard an abbreviated version of the "ringtone" since he always answered his call before it went beyond a certain part.

Today, the entire office heard the full version. It goes like this:

"O-hai-yo" (Good morning in Japanese)
"O-Hai-Yo?!" (We usually don't hear beyond this part.)
"O-HAI-YO!"
"O-HAI-YO!!!" *screech*

A few spontaneous chuckles broke out in various cubicles. He scrambled madly back to his "cubby" before the mobile could screeched off the desk whilst uttering a sheepish apology.

On another note, I had two rather memorable SMSes recently. One was from Goofy (a spontaneous one)sometime last week.

It went something along this line (from recollection):

"Just finished a movie. It was a waste of time. It wanted to end for like 10 times but never did. WTF?! Thank goodness it finally ended!"

I laughed when I read it. It's so vintage Goofy. I have yet to find out what spluttering movie this is.

Another was from Ghalpz today. It went:

"Yes fa cai in Zhongguo! Then fax em your resignation..hahah"

I broke into a grin and couldn't stop laughing inside. I was at lunch with one of the bosses and other colleagues. Ghalpz and I were exchanging some details on the China trip and work. I was rather moody and angsty (yes, Goofy, I think I have been infected with some of your angst!) about work this morning. This reply was totally unexpected and incongruous to my earlier message. Morevoer, when you factor in the fact that Ghalpz's vernacular tongue is not Mandarin, I was impressed by her grasp of hanyu pinyin. Guess all those Channel 8 drama educated her very well in her childhood days. In addition, I could just imagine my bosses turning purple in their faces if I dared do this. Plus, I would be persona-non-grata for the rest of their lives (I am presuming that I'm going to live longer than them accordingly to mathematical principles).

What would I do without these friends to bring some chuckles into my life?

The Land Below The Wind

Had an appointment with JP yesterday. Before I left, I spied this A4 sized paper at the cashier. It contained details of a meditation trip that JP is organising to the northeastern province of East Malaysia, Sabah, otherwise known as Negeri di bawah bayu or Land Below the Wind.

It was more than just meditation and I was interested to find out more, plus I have heard wonderful things about that particular resort in Sabah from Indiana Indy. It so happened she called JP and whilst waiting for him to return, we had a quick chat. Found out that she had also enrolled for the trip with her family. I am also quite keen to visit East Malaysia since I have always confined my Malaysian trips to the Peninsula.

As I never found the time to attend level 1 when JP organised the rare classes in the previous years, I wasn't sure if he would allow me to go. He was pretty nice and told me he would teach me level 1 prior to the trip so that I could follow them. Woooweeee! I was really happy and the only doubt I had to contend with was whether my boss would approve my leave for this December trip. I have lots of leave to clear but I was concerned that it would also jeopardised my China trip despite the fact that the Sabah trip would take about 3 working days.

JP's wife called me this morning and told me that the dates gotta shift from around Christmas period to the earlier part of December. Why? Coz the dastardly travel agent said that there would be an additional $600 plus fee since it was peak season!

Yet another few minutes went by and JP's wife called again, telling me that the trip was off since the resort has been fully booked for that period of time. Damn, I was disappointed but guess this trip was not meant to be.

Quick updates on the China trip. We did some checks and there is actually a package for a day trip on the train from Lhasa to Xining in Qinghai. Only thing is that we will not be going to Beijing. Plus the news paper today highlighted the current train situation in China. There is excessive demand and price tickets have been fluctuating from S$60 - $200. Compared to just $10 per ticket, this is ridiculous. Plus you probably get played out and not even get on any train. No way!

Anyway, we are also checking for a Singapore - Beijing - Xinjiang itinerary. Hopefully, we will cross into other Central Asia countries if we have time. Also feeling quite excited to re-visit Beijing again. Maybe I can persuade Director Engz to do a film whilst there?! That would fulfill one of Chewbacca's wishes.

On the leave front, it looks quite positive though things might change anytime. Sigh...

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed here.

C'est La Vie

An old friend, La Vie got married in May. It was a small intimate wedding dinner, with just 5 tables. It's not like your usual Chinese wedding dinner, which is extremely boring. This dinner allowed everyone to mingle and chit-chat. It was fun and the food was great. The Peking duck was fabulous. People whom I haven't seen for more than 10 years appeared and it was a surreal feeling. I'm not close to these bunch of people as they were not in my class in secondary school.

Met this guy from my junior college. He was dating one of my classmates then and well he's getting married soon, but to another girl of course. He's a friendly guy but not the kind of person I like to hang out with.

One of the nice moments of this wedding was meeting one of La Vie's ex-bfs whom she bumped into whilst he was back in Singapore for a project. He has been living in London and recently relocated to Hong Kong for work. She invited him along and he gladly accepted. I thought it was sweet that he came for her wedding and I thought he looked a tad emotional when the vows were exchanged. Ironically, I still keep in touch with her last ex whom La Vie refused to keep in touch with for some inexplicable reasons. Sigh.....I wish things were better between them but this is one of those things that was not meant to be. He has since moved on but I'm sure somewhere in him, he still has some bitterness. Maybe it will take ages to heal, like so many other things in life.

The dinner ended pleasantly early as most Chinese dinners ended notoriously late. Everyone hung out in the hotel suite and adjourned for a club later in the night. It was ok, just that it would be nicer if there were other people I know. Till that night, I have never met architects outside of work context. Still, they were nice and the ex was a very nice guy and very easy to talk to. And he was a good looker too. One of the schoolmates used to look like a doll and she still had that look about her. Yet another was so different from what I used to remember her for.

Funny how time changes people, and yet in some respects, retain them in that moment in time.

Weekend Jaunt

Some photos from yesterday's outing:

A masquerade shop with spiffy outfits



Any takers for this leopard print outfit?



Peacock feathers?



Cat nap in the masquerade shop



Little Indiana looking rather petulant



Loony Loon testing Happy-Go-Lucky's bright red Vespa. I think she's better off driving her car.



After Director Engz and I had our dinner at a Taiwanese cuisine shop (called Lai Lai something) in Liang Seah Street, we bumped into one of her friends, also in her line of work. Ha, he actually recognised me as he used to buy footages from me. Anyway, check out this rather self-contained mobile looking stall. Director Engz bought a Japanese green tea ice-cream from this store in Bugis Parco Junction basement. Seems like the boss is a Westerner as he was pottering around some pipes at the store. The ice-cream looks unbelivable green and tastes alright, rather milky though.

Top of the World

I have been in an inspired mood to write blog posts for the past few days. There are many things to talk about and I hope my writing mood prevails.

Since I drafted my last musing about China-related stuff last week, I have gotten a more exciting China topic. Folks, my buddies and I are planning to traverse across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to see Shangri-La!

Yep, I was reclaiming a slice of my social life yesterday afternoon after work and went to meet my friends in an Arab eatery in Kampong Glam. I haven't personally explore Kampong Glam much but it has many Arab and Malay eateries, including the popluar Indian-Muslim Zam Zam with its greasy murtabak and Indian pratas). From Yemeni to Lebanaese food, the area is a hotch-potch of interesting cafes and shops. A masquerade shop held our fascintation with its array of zany costumes, on top of Victorian gowns and Egyptian belly dancing outfits.

We intended to visit a friend's cafe but it was closed (short of calling him to come and open the doors), we checked out some other places. A place I visited before was closed and the owner/ worker was waving us away as he was questioned by a policeman. Brawls in the shop?

Went to another eatery which Director Engz said had bad service. We checked out the 2nd floor and found the carpets quite gross. We agreed that the carpets need a good washing and the place a good cleaning. Don't get me wrong, it's still clean in a general sense but there were lots of omnipresent dirt hiding in the carpet grooves and hidden corners. Thinking that Indiana Indy might not fancy Little Indiana tottering around dirty carpets, we opted for benches on the ground floor. Even the menus need a good scrub. The owner, obviously an Arab is a strong supporter of "Free Palestine" as could be seen in all his menus. The staff were either Arabs or of Arab descent and you see some women in burqas.

Oscillated between a Syrian tea and an Andulasian-styled cold drink, the latter won out. Also had a mild spicy chicken soup with brasmatic rice (can't recall where the dish orginated from). Loony Loon came to join us, followed by Happy-Go-Lucky (who agreed to come the moment she knew the Indianas would be coming). We were all catching up on our lives when the Indianas finally arrived. Ok, she's always late and we were hoping she was not going to cancel out on us. We were all mightily pleased to see them (very difficult to meet them with all our busy schedules) and of course, Little Indiana who has grown up alot since we last saw him. His hair is much longer and now he has a decent bun, as one of the "aunties" (aka us!) said. He was decked out in the Ronaldo jersey and busily checking out the new environment as the tireless mom tried to feed him sweet potato slices.

He was re-introduced to each and everyone of us and gave each of us a flying kiss and a high-five.

Goodness, taking care of a 20-month old kid is no joke. He was running all over the place, checking out cars by the roads and we had to take turns to run after him. Luckily, I managed to interest him in some ants during one of my watches and he stopped scampering about momentarily. Not for long though and towards the end of the day, I swear I have an aching back from all the bending, carrying and what not. We just marvelled at how Indy could carry him and hanged him upside down by one arm. no way we could do that. He's a big boy for his age.

It's quite quirky seeing Indy talk to him like a responsible adult. She's quite particular about speaking to him properly. I once lapsed into a slang and was told to speak to him properly. *grins* He recently went to a play school but latest update was that he was taken out of school after a month as Indy felt that he had picked up some bad habits, e.g. yelling and screaming when he did not get what he wanted. Monkey see, monkey do.

Happy-Go-Lucky is a tennis buff and is currently busy with club compeitions. Hmm...wondering if she and Jad (another tennis buff) meet on the circuit? She has taken to coaching her 3 young nephews and Indy offered her son to be part of the team. At least he could be the ball-boy and keep himself busy chasing after balls.

Happy-Go-Lucky spent five years flying around the world and for the past one year or so, has contented herself with staying on the ground. She now "travels" the world by making international calls and recounted a funny work tale. She was trying to talk to a management staff in a Thai private bank but after being passed around for the umpteenth times (as no one could speak English nor understood her), she ended up talking to an Aussie. After some cross-wired talk, she found out that he was a customer at said bank and was getting frustrated as no one could communicate with him. They got a good laugh when they found out that they were in the same predicament.

Director Engz quitted her job recently and is now concentrating on finshing up her own documentary production. We are looking forward to viewing it as it's history from a different point of view. She has traipsed to restive areas to get to her subjects. She once said that nothing beats having to work and rush to cover news in typhoon conditions during her time in Taiwan.

Loony Loon has finally stopped working over the weekends and I'm happy for her. She now has two new staff to help her out and is now so free on weekends that she's not quite sure what to do. She has started to go home before 8pm, quite a respectable time for her. She has now taken to reading up about the financial market reports in order to make her money work harder for her. Happy-Go-Lucky was trying to share with her some of her financial knowledge and well, we were non the wiser.

Indy is busy with yet another upcoming forum (?). She gets to meet many interesting public figures and influential personalities from around the world in her job. Best part is that she has invited us to her Canadian cousin's upcoming wedding party in August! Wooohoooo! Bhangra party! I thought it was a lovely gesture on her part. we are also invited to the temple wedding ceremony.

Ok, if you have seen the movie, "Bend it like Beckham", a UK production, you get a pretty realistic experience. You see ladies taking turns to dance with this vessel on top of their head. Apparently, they will pass the vessel around and you are supposed to put some money in it. I think dancing is in their genes, you see males and females of all ages dancing away. Both the bride and groom will have seperate parties. The last time, some of our parents were invited to Indy's wedding and boy, was it weird to see your own parents trying to boogie. It was for me. Anyway, we are looking forward to it and meeting some friends from overseas.

Yakking on, the topic came to holidays. Before we knew it, we were whipping out tiny calendars and checking on when we would be able to travel together. I haven't been travelling with friends in my last few trips for a few reasons, one of which was finding common destinations, goals and time. It's easier to travel solo rather than wait till the cows come home. It's pretty exciting to be able to travel with these agreeable people again.

We came to a common concensus on the country quickly enough. All of us have travelled to different parts of China for work or pleasure. I was obviously more keen on Xinjiang. Hahah..it wasn't that hard to sell it to Loony Loon once I told her there were many good looking folks there. Happy-Go-Lucky was reminiscing about cheap and good Chinese massages (tui na) in Beijing. Loony Loon hasn't been to Beijing so she was quite keen.

Director Engz was quite interested to go to Inner Mongolia but having been there, I wasn't too keen but I don't mind visiting again, especially if we could cross over to the Russian Far East. The last time round, I was only at one of the border points in a historic city of Sino-Russian influences, Manzhouli. You see many Russians working in China and all the shops have Russian and Chinese names. Both Russians and Chinese can speak each other's languages, common for border folks, I guess. The miles and miles of grasslands were amazing.The diet was heavily skewed towards lamb and beef, which did not have a funny smell. They graze on the grasslands (which has scientifically proven beneficial grasses)and not eat grains and weird junk stuff like what Western countries feed them with. You also get this rare freshwater fish from the Hulun Hu (China's fifth largest freshwater lake).

I also banged my head soundly on the Meng Gu Bao (Monoglian tent) door, when I did not bend myself low enough. It was also my first time riding a horse in a grassland. It was more of a canter rather than a gallop. Being a guest, you get many special treatments. More of such travel reminiscence in other posts if I'm up to it.

Somehow, we also decide to check out on the Beijing-Tibet train ride. Heh! I contacted Guppy Ghalpz who was not with us and she was immediately agreeable to joining us! I just knew it! However, she has signed herself up with an NGO for a humanitarian trip to Aceh, Indonesia so her boss might not take too kindly to another leave.

Director Engz will try to get her Taiwanese cousin who's currently doing her post-grad studies in Beijing to come along. If we do go to Beijing, I can also visit my relatives there. Hmmm...maybe my uncle will bring me to my fave Chinese restaurant with fabulous food (but disgusting toilets) and my cousins and their friends will drive me to the outskirts to pluck peaches? They were so overwhelmingly hospitable the last I visited. I love the yoghurt drink they have in China...yummy. Why don't they have it here?! Heh, my uncle told me I should visit them during the Beijing Olympics...maybe this trip is two years too soon? Being in China also made me realise how Singaporean I am despite having a Chinese side of family.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to making this trip. So little time, money and so many places to visit. Do you have any better solution(s) for me?

From Reel to Yewl

Did I tell you I'm now fixated on my latest set of DVD purchase (when I have some time)? Ok, that was an accidental purchase from a month or two back. I was browsing at the DVD store and chanced upon it. The production was the latest release in the market. It's Shen Diao Xia LÜ (Return of the Condor Heroes). Yet another piece of wuxia pian by novelist Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It's a Chinese production and like my previous raves of the other 3 China-made martial art series that I have watched, the cinematography is excellent. I have watched the HK production showing Andy Lau and Chen Yilian in my teens. There was another one acted by Louis Koo (Gu Tianle) and this other pretty girl (the HK one who acted in Yang Men Nu Jiang) which I haven't watched. Forget about the Singapore version with Fann Wong and Christopher Lee. The costumes look bad. Nothing matches up.

This is in addition to reading and re-reading my father's collection of Jin Yong books. I am admittedly biased in my selection and only read those that have been made into films. I still have a big box of his books to go through.

I personally thought the casting was very well-done. Liu Yifei (a young chit in her late teens), a born in Beijing actress looks ethereal in the role of Xiao Long Nu (Little Dragon Girl) and Huang Xiaoming (another Chinese actor who also acted as Xiao Jian in Huan Zhu Ge Ge) was a tad too noisy (maybe his scripts called for it) but handled the role of Yang Guo very well. He looks very dashing too, like the hero he was in the story. Very different from his Manchurian look in Huan Zhu Ge Ge. I almost could not recognise him till my sis mentioned it. Everything (costume designs, make-up, sets) looked great too me. It beats the HK man-made sets hands down! You see real caves here, real mountain peaks, real foliage, fabulous Chinese architecture and filming styles that captures your imagination (ok, if not yours, mine was definitely captured). I loved the scene when she first appeared at Quan Zhen Jiao to rescue Granny Sun and Yang Guo (the kid). Against the silvery orb of the moon, her silhouette appeared on the roof top with her white costume fluttering in the wind before she slid down gracefully on her white chiffon-like sashes. Yet another scene which I enjoyed was when she and Yang Guo were trying to master Yu Nu Xin Jing amongst the flowers...whimsical and poetic. Very nice production style.

I'm totally in love with the scenery. If that's how heaven looks like, this is it for me. This time, the setting is in the famous Jiuzhaigou valley (southwest to Chendu, capital of Sichuan province, declared by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1992). It's just gorgeous – crystal clear lakes, heavenly looking foliage (green, yellow, orange, red leaves), boulders that somehow looked artistically strewn about, imposing looking mountain passes with its peaks hiding amongst the clouds. I can just live there for good like the protagonists and drown myself in the beauty of the environment. Mount Emei (Emei Shan) and Mount Le (Le Shan) are the places to go if you want to know Buddhism. For wuxia pian buffs, you must have heard of Emei Sect, especially in Yi Tian Tu Long Jian (The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre).

The best part about watching these Chinese-made wuxia pian is being able to look at various parts of China. In Tian Long Ba Bu, you see Dali (Yunnan, southwestern part of China) and you see the Bai Yi ethnic minority group; In She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan , the grasslands beckons; in Qi Jian Xia Tian Shan, you see Xinjiang, Tian Ci, Tian Shan (dubbed the Swiss Alps) and the dessert, in addition to the gorgeous looking Central Asian folks such as the Uighurs (I drooled when I saw a couple of them selling kebabs in the Lao Beijing Jie. Please...it's called asthetics appreciation). There are probably other parts of China in the films, eg. Zhejiang. Seeing all these films just strikes you with the vastness that is China.

I just feel an impulse to visit Jiuzhaigou. Chewbacca went about 2 years ago and her photos were amazing. She is now on her approximately 182-day trip (yeah, it's more than 6 months) or rather soujorn through Central Asia and the Caucasus . She started in Xinjiang (Northwestern China) and was in Kazakhstan, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (as of a few weeks ago) and slated to go through Tajikstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenstan. She's also going to Georgia, Armenian and wherever her legs and money could bring her to.

Imagine how her email group feels whenever they have to see her postcards (scanned by her "agent" here) and descriptive, funny emails. And I might add, having to endure all these travel tales at work! The bunch of us positively turned green with envy!

We read about her tales of cycling in Kazakhstan, seeing wild life bird sanctuary which was just like the National Geographic. The scientists and volunteers there know not an iota about fund raising. Yes, the concept was totally alien to them! She shared with us that the sanctuary really reflected how humans and other living beings should co-exist: in harmony.

I'm seriously contemplating meeting her on her return leg in Xinjiang (my all-time must see place since I was a kid) in a few months' time. I know Ghalpz would join me if I asked. She's into Kashmir (was raving about her friend's trip to visit a Kashmiri friend there) and Tibet at the moment. The new Tibetan train pass from Beijing to Lhasa sounds fabulous and we were ooh-ing over it. I just have this feeling I would be really sick from the altitude though. Romero, my bohemian ex-classmate in Spanish class went for an almost 2 months road trip to Tibet last year. Her Monoglia trip has fallen through this year as her friend had to tend to a sick mother.

My mother was a party blooper though. We were watching the Chinese news clip on how the Chinese authority had recalled all the train tickets sold to external agents (including here) as they did not have enough tickets to meet the internal demand, especially with their school holidays and hordes of students returning home. So my mother recounted a conversation with a friend who pointed out that the oxygen masks on the tank would probably be re-used for umpteen times without proper cleaning. Thinking of my experiences in China, I think they are not that far off the mark. The Chinese sanitation and hygiene levels really leave much to be desired. But then again, we are a spoilt lot, coming from a "too-sanitised" country. No wonder, almost all my friends who went to India all ended up with some sort of food poisoning. Guess it's good to introduce some germs into your body once in a while.

Neelhog has been to Tibet twice for community work and recounted that they could not find any toilet along the roads. Seeing nobody in the surroundings, they just did it by the bushes. I think that's far better than using the bile-inducing Chinese toilets. For those who have yet to be initiated to the Chinese toilets, you generally need a stomach of steel to enter the public toilets. In times like that, I wished we don't have to answer nature's call. Males somehow have it better than females in such situations.

Recounting the words of Chewbacca (from an earlier email), the boarding place where she found in Khotan, Xinjiang had no toilet (not even a common toilet). In her words, Khotan "suffered from a dearth of toilets". She asked the owner who didn't seem to understand why they need toilets for after all, there are common WTCs and baths.

When I hear tales like this, it makes me think very hard if I'm up to experiencing yet another Chinese toilet.

In the Blink of An Eye

As ridiculous as this sounds, have you ever had that moment when you opened your eyes too fast? I mean, snap your eyes open? Well, that was what I did yesterday morning and before my brain comprehended what had happened, my right eye felt a sharp pain (best description I have is an abrasive feel). Then it started tearing whilst twitches of pain came and went for a good half an hour at least. I got kinda worried and tried to examine my eye in the mirror. I couldn't really open my eye as there was this pain there (like having a foreign object poking (or having soap) in the eye and irritating it) and the eye kept blinking.

Smsed my boss and told her I was going to see a doctor when the clinic opened. I didn't think that I would be able to function properly in office with one eye whilst the other was half-shuttled with pain. This wasn't the first time I experienced this but I didn't think much of it whenever this happened over the past weeks. I just figured the eye was dry and tired.

The doctor diagnosed it as eye-strain. He tried to flip the lid and having succeeded, told me it was red. And I thought anything inside the skin was meant to look red?! He said that the dry eye could have abraded the lining (of the inner lid, I hope), hence the redness (of the more visible vessel?). The eye was a bit puffy (and looked smaller than the other) but other than the irritation which had by then subsided, it felt fine. But truth be told, this could be anything but since I have been combing through endless pages of text for the past weeks and working late, eye-strain might just be it. I'm a specky devotee so contact lens could not have been the culprit.

Doctor asked if I had a headache, told him it was not the main issue I had though they appeared every now and then.

I went home with a bottle of eye drop and a medical certificate for a day off. I was supposed to rest my eyes. Just great, I thought, no TV/ DVDs, PC, reading. Ok, there was no interesting show apart from news. I'm no longer a PC junkie (for the past two years) and steer away from them once I switched off the one at work. Aaahhh, reading, I have so many things to read and re-read.

For a few minutes, I realised that I'm almost like a blind person who can't do anything much where sight is involved. It's quite a strange realisation. I thought about having a Javanese massage (discount for weekday afternoon and no stress to the eyes) but thought a nap is in order as I felt the onslaught of a headache.

So off I went to bed at 11:30am and before I knew it, it was after 5pm when I woke up! Goodness! I was astounded with myself. Guess that tells you how exhausted I was.

I felt justified in watching some TV and that gave way to DVDs….sigh. Ok, I made sure I blinked my eyes more (quite moronic in a way) and walked around drinking water and what not. Slept late again but at least I'm feeling fine this morning. However, I still feel that I could have done with more sleep.

By the way, do you think my tear duct is signalling to me that it's going on strike soon?