Having spent a fair amount of time spring cleaning during the December holidays, I decided to organize a garage sale of sorts to get rid of old books and CDs which were no longer wanted. It was a kind of open house excuse to catch up with old friends as well. All in all, it was fairly successful. As expected, the interesting items were mainly the ones to go - double copies of good books like Ian Kershaw's Fateful Choices, and a volume of Frank Miller's Sin City.
Karin took several black leatherbound volumes of Agatha Christie as I expected she would; I also convinced her to take Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - given her love of British comedy, I was sure she would love the book. I also managed to sell several other classic books among them a copy of E.M Forster's Howard's End, Greg Bear's Blood Music and several others.
Of course that left me with an enormous pile of hardbacks, which had mainly been purchased on offer from Borders, in the first place, which nobody wanted to touch. It's a classic rule which I have now learnt - nobody, and I mean nobody will touch hardback fiction, even secondhand. Blackwell's bookstore in Oxford knew that fairly well - one of their few rules governing the secondhand department was that they would not take any hardback fiction.
And of course old thrillers, Stephen King novels, and other such rather banal brainless reads were also left languishing, not that I was surprised. I mean, it was rather evident that my close friends were hardly the types who would pick up this stuff which was expressly dumped by me because I hadn't read them, or felt I would never read them, or found them to be horrible.
I also failed rather spectacularly to get rid of any CDs barring three Jars of Clay albums and Savage Garden's Affirmation. Admittedly, what was on offer was rather dire - Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Richard Marx, Bob Carlilse, Rick Price smacked of overwrought sentimental ballads and were precisely being sold being they were relics of embarrassing teenage years. And no, I deny any responsibility for the two Spice Girls CDs on sale. Still, there was some half decent rock stuff which nobody picked up.
It was good seeing some old friends again, and I was quite pleased that I managed to raise over $100 for charity - in this case Habitat for Humanity. I should really try and prune even more of the mountain of books that I own and sell them, but human beings are acquisitive creatures but nature, and it is always hard to part with what you own. Still, a enjoyable enough evening, and for a good cause.
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
9 January 2010
3 June 2009
When Harry Dumped Sally
I was having a random chat with M. when we both mentioned that we really enjoyed When Harry Met Sally. Which is unsurprising given that it is a cult romantic comedy classic but surprising given that we are both a little bit cynical and jaded, and don't ordinarily watch rom coms.
The cynical side of us did come through of course. Like in any romantic comedy, the two protagonists end up together at the end. That wasn't a spoiler. If you are watching a rom com you know it is going to happen. Anyhow, I mentioned that I always thought that Harry and Sally would divorce after say 5 years of marriage because they would start to drive each other nuts. M said that she always thought that it would happen that way too. Of course given that the American divorce rate is hovering at about 50%, we have a odds on chance of being right.
So we started imagining what would happen after the credits rolled. So they divorce after 5 years but what do they do then? Perhaps Sally buys a dog to help her get over the break-up and she meets a lovely guy while walking the dog in the park one day. M was like no no maybe Sally turns lesbian (being so put out by men after Harry) and meets this really hot chick and ends up with her! Maybe they meet while Sally is walking her dog.
As for Harry. Well, he probably leaves New York and goes out of state in order to try to find himself. M wanted him to turn fat, and lose his job and be miserable. But, he needs some kind of redeeming quality too. What if he turns gay as well? I tell M. that we can't have both of them turn gay as that will go beyond the bounds of all credibility. Maybe he joins a hippie commune or loses himself in Zen Buddhism.
Where we can agree is that Harry and Sally don't end up back together. We are too realistic and cynical for us to believe or even want that to happen. Life doesn't always imitate the movies. I proposed the title When Harry Dumped Sally as suitably nice. M did say that even she found the idea and the title depressing. It would make her lose all hope in love. Which probably means that it won't sell.
I've always harboured secret dreams of writing a screenplay. Why not write a cheap sequel to a cult classic. Goodness knows it has been done often enough before! I'll just go check on the availability of Rob Reiner to direct, and of course Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal to star......
The cynical side of us did come through of course. Like in any romantic comedy, the two protagonists end up together at the end. That wasn't a spoiler. If you are watching a rom com you know it is going to happen. Anyhow, I mentioned that I always thought that Harry and Sally would divorce after say 5 years of marriage because they would start to drive each other nuts. M said that she always thought that it would happen that way too. Of course given that the American divorce rate is hovering at about 50%, we have a odds on chance of being right.
So we started imagining what would happen after the credits rolled. So they divorce after 5 years but what do they do then? Perhaps Sally buys a dog to help her get over the break-up and she meets a lovely guy while walking the dog in the park one day. M was like no no maybe Sally turns lesbian (being so put out by men after Harry) and meets this really hot chick and ends up with her! Maybe they meet while Sally is walking her dog.
As for Harry. Well, he probably leaves New York and goes out of state in order to try to find himself. M wanted him to turn fat, and lose his job and be miserable. But, he needs some kind of redeeming quality too. What if he turns gay as well? I tell M. that we can't have both of them turn gay as that will go beyond the bounds of all credibility. Maybe he joins a hippie commune or loses himself in Zen Buddhism.
Where we can agree is that Harry and Sally don't end up back together. We are too realistic and cynical for us to believe or even want that to happen. Life doesn't always imitate the movies. I proposed the title When Harry Dumped Sally as suitably nice. M did say that even she found the idea and the title depressing. It would make her lose all hope in love. Which probably means that it won't sell.
I've always harboured secret dreams of writing a screenplay. Why not write a cheap sequel to a cult classic. Goodness knows it has been done often enough before! I'll just go check on the availability of Rob Reiner to direct, and of course Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal to star......
28 October 2008
Bradley in Singapore
I had the opportunity to catch up with Bradley Perrett, an old friend, for drinks today. Bradley, who currently writes for Aviation Weekly magazine, was stopping by Singapore for a week and I felt duty bound to take him out for a few drinks, especially given his love of Tiger Beer.
My family literally stumbled upon Bradley while on a holiday to London in December 2000. We had met, quite by accident, two other Singaporeans who overheard my comments (as well as my accent) regarding the musical Starlight Express during the intermission. They later introduced us to Bradley, who lived on a wonderfully cosy apartment on Charing Cross Street, a virtually heaven for both him and myself, given our shared love of books.
It is always enlightening talking to Bradley. On this occasion, we talked about airplanes and ships (a great passion of his), but also about the threat of nuclear proliferation. Bradley took the alarmist line, viewing nuclear weapons as a great danger, particularly its proliferation to states such as North Korea and Iran. I tried to argue from a viewpoint of limited deterrence, and the view that nuclear weapons actually help to limit conflicts by making escalation so costly that states automatically alter their behaviour (the recent Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan as a prime example).
Anyhow, it is always lovely talking to Bradley, and I would greatly welcome the opportunity to converse and meet up with him again.
In a subsequent MSN conversation we had, Bradley sent me his views on the Cuban Missile Crisis. He had read (and I was reading) a new account of the crisis by Michael Dobbs titled One Minute to Midnight. Bradley took the interesting line that Nikita Krushchev was the man primarily responsible for bringing the world back from the brink of nuclear annihilation. Far from it being an excellent example of successful decision making by an American administration, Bradley argues that Kennedy and his advisers were largely irresponsible, and nearly brought about nuclear armageddon. After thinking further on the matter, I have come round more towards Bradley's point of view.
My family literally stumbled upon Bradley while on a holiday to London in December 2000. We had met, quite by accident, two other Singaporeans who overheard my comments (as well as my accent) regarding the musical Starlight Express during the intermission. They later introduced us to Bradley, who lived on a wonderfully cosy apartment on Charing Cross Street, a virtually heaven for both him and myself, given our shared love of books.
It is always enlightening talking to Bradley. On this occasion, we talked about airplanes and ships (a great passion of his), but also about the threat of nuclear proliferation. Bradley took the alarmist line, viewing nuclear weapons as a great danger, particularly its proliferation to states such as North Korea and Iran. I tried to argue from a viewpoint of limited deterrence, and the view that nuclear weapons actually help to limit conflicts by making escalation so costly that states automatically alter their behaviour (the recent Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan as a prime example).
Anyhow, it is always lovely talking to Bradley, and I would greatly welcome the opportunity to converse and meet up with him again.
In a subsequent MSN conversation we had, Bradley sent me his views on the Cuban Missile Crisis. He had read (and I was reading) a new account of the crisis by Michael Dobbs titled One Minute to Midnight. Bradley took the interesting line that Nikita Krushchev was the man primarily responsible for bringing the world back from the brink of nuclear annihilation. Far from it being an excellent example of successful decision making by an American administration, Bradley argues that Kennedy and his advisers were largely irresponsible, and nearly brought about nuclear armageddon. After thinking further on the matter, I have come round more towards Bradley's point of view.
1 October 2008
The Return of the Prodigal Son
When my quiz team recruited me on that fateful day over a year ago now, they commented that I was a classic 'ringer' given my quizzing pedigree. Little did they know. I had missed the quiz on 17th September after my class overran and I heard later that my usual team had finished in an abysmal 5th position. The following week, I was asked to be the substitute quizmaster as Pete was suffering from some hip trouble. My team took part, without me, and finished 3rd, outside the prizes for the second week in the a row.
This might seem to be just a minor run of bad fortune, but it has to be put into perspective. With me in their side they have never finished outside the top two. Indeed, at one point our team was so dominant that the quizmaster was attempting to come up with a suitable handicap for us after we strung together five consecutive wins, and nine in ten weeks. Lo and behold, I fail to join them for two weeks, and they splutter into a fifth and a third placing!
I could hardly afford to abandon them this week though I was quick to point out, tongue firmly in cheek, how badly they needed me, so I went for the quiz. Things got a little more complicated when Iris, an old friend from my ACJC days, ambled into the pub quite unexpectedly, having made a reservation to do the quiz. It was her first time there and she professed herself fond of 'trivia nights' as they call it in Melbourne where she studies. Oh, if there were only more ladies like her! I was sorely tempted to abandon the lads and join her team, but my loyalty held, and I stuck with them. Bros before Hoes as they say.
Given the return of the prodigal son to the team, it was quite inevitable that we triumphed this week and quite handily at that. It was a comfortable victory, apart from a round where we were forced to guess if individuals were dead or alive - far more difficult than one would necessarily think. In that round I made the gaffe of thinking Sir Roger Bannister (first man to run the four minute mile) dead - I had mistakenly thought they had a memorial service for him when I was at Oxford!
Afterwards, Iris, her sister and her friends headed over to Lau Pa Sat for supper, and I was quite happy to follow. It enabled us to catch up on our assorted acquaintances from our Junior College days and reminisce about the good and not so good old times. Come to think of it Iris is just the last in a long string of old friends who seem to be wandering into the Shoe. First it was a couple of old ACS(I) friends, then it was Edwin, Julian Han and of all people Sheryl Tan (a classmate from my first three months in JC) who popped by the Shoe the week I was the quizmaster. It was wonderful to see them all again, especially Sheryl who seems far more talkative now than I ever remembered her to be (but then again she was the quietest person I knew). So old friends in a familiar setting, perfect all round.
12 September 2008
Lord of the Rings Marathon
I finally succumbed and bought the DVD Special Edition Box Set of the Extended Versions of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Quite a mouthful, and indeed quite representative of the length of the movies themselves.
What better way to celebrate the immensity of the purchase (it set me back around S$130) than to hold a massive marathon movie session to view all three movies back to back (to back) in its extended format? I had previously attended a Lord of the Rings marathon where all three theatrical releases were shown through the night at a cinema in Oxford, but this would be the ultimate test, with all the additional cut footage bringing each movie beyond four hours in length.
Watching the extended versions of the movies turned out to be quite a fun game of detective work, as various people chimed in as to whether this or that particular scene was 'in the original'. It also presented an interesting view into the movie editing process, particularly in scenes which had been retained, but where specific shots had been cut or edited. It is a pity that some scenes had to be cut out, particularly extended footage of the Shire at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, and the Houses of Healing scene in the Return of the King. The scenes involving the Mouth of Sauron were also immensely cool. One scene which I was happy to see cut involved Aragon in the Halls of the Dead, and involved Aragon, Gimli and Legolas running for cover to avoid being inundated by cascading skulls. That was Peter Jackson at his most B grade horror kitsch.
I must thank Edward, Vernon and Karin for staying all the way through the whole night, and Rachel and Hiankai for coming for portions of it. There is nothing like watching the Lord of the Rings with a group of fellow Tolkien fans. It was also something to watch the three movies together, as a seamless whole, which they are undoubtedly meant to be. Now, I have to start working on the three DVDs of extras, commentary, interviews and other footage, which should be an adventure in itself!
19 August 2008
Local Wildlife
Rumours abound about some of the exotic wildlife that one can find in Singapore. During National Service, especially if you are given the chance to savour the delights of Pulau Tekong, you are often told to be on the lookout for the elusive Tekong Wild Boar who is said to roam around the forests of the island. There are also supposed to be snakes, even pythons in the forests of Singapore.
Up till now, I have never seen anything more exciting than a squirrel outside of the Singapore Zoo (which does have a marvelous collection of wildlife). That is until I was returning from dinner last Saturday with Justin at the Rider's Cafe, and he suddenly stopped the car just as he was about to turn onto Bukit Timah Road, and informed me that there was a python on the road.
At first, I thought he was pulling my leg, and I jokingly queried if the glass of wine we each had with dinner really had the power to cause hallucinations. That is until I opened the passenger door of the car, started out onto the road, and lo and behold saw a 8 foot long python lying lengthwise across it.
From the look of things, the poor creature already had been run over at least once, given the tire treads on its torso. It certainly seemed a bit stunned, and being caught in the powerful glare of the car headlights must have added to its discomfort. Justin then proceeded to do something which I personally found pretty daring under the circumstances - he pulled the python by its tail, and dragged it towards a patch of vegetation in the central divider.
Granted, pythons aren't poisonous - the poisonous snakes tend to be the tiny ones - relying instead on suffocating their prey by coiling themselves around it and then swallowing them whole. This wasn't a huge python (by python standards), though it looked big enough to me. I do wonder about how it was going to get across the rest of the road, given that it was now stuck in the central divider. I was frankly amazed that it ended up on the road in the first place.
So, definitely one of the more bizarre and interesting things that has happened to me so far this year. Who knows, the next time I am on my way home from dinner, I might just spot a wild boar standing on the kerb, waiting to cross the road.
15 August 2008
Auf Wiedesehn, Jason
It is sadly time to bid farewell to Jason, who has been at RSIS for the past three months working on his dissertation on Myanmar (and humanitarian intervention following Cyclone Nargis). We first met by the simple virtue of being seated next to each other in the Graduate Office, as I was winding up my work at RSIS and transitioning towards being a full-time student.
It was rather unsurprising that we hit it off, if only because Jason seems to have the rare and innate capacity to have long conversations with just about anyone. He spoke of long conversations with his roommate over endless pots of tea, which were replicated with me on a number of occasions (though beer, in Jason's case Guinness, was our beverage of choice). I owe Jason a debt, not only for his wonderful company, but for introducing me to so many other professors at the institute, be it Chris and his wife Tui to Wendy, who was moving in to Jason's flat even as he was on his way out.
Sadly, he has to return to KL after three months here in Singapore, and from there he is heading back to the US with his wife, where he has a cross-continent trip planned (I am rather envious). So, auf wiedesehn it is Jason, thanks for the great times and wonderful conversation!
16 May 2008
(Re)Discovering Singapore
Juliet, a dear friend from my Oxford days visited Singapore over the past week, so I felt compelled to be the dutiful tour guide and show her the sights. We managed to cover quite a lot of ground - the colonial area on Tuesday, Chinatown on Thursday, the Zoo and Night Safari on Friday, Pulau Ubin on Saturday, and Orchard Road on Sunday. It was great to see Juliet again after such a long while, and also to be presented with the opportunity to rediscover or indeed in the case of places like Chinatown, discover, Singapore for myself.
The jaunt around Chinatown was especially interesting for me, as I had never really taken the effort to see the area. I was especially impressed with the Chinese Heritage Center in Chinatown. It was very tastefully designed, and effective in giving a sense of the living conditions of the Chinese immigrants when the first came to Singapore. On a more random note, while walking around Chinatown, we passed by a small sign leading up to the second story of a shop house (next to a random restaurant) which promised to be the law offices of J.B Jeyaratnam. Also fun was buying a durian and consuming it on the spot at small tables set up just for the purpose.
We also managed to squeeze in a formal Chinese tea drinking session at Tea Chapter. Discovering Tea Chapter was one of the highlights of my time at MFA (we had our typical company sponsored 'group bonding' session thing there). There is something very relaxing about going through the whole process of preparing the tea, pouring it and drinking it.
I also enjoyed visiting the Zoo and Pulau Ubin again after many years. The Singapore Zoo is much more comprehensive that the Night Safari (which though a wonderfully well worked concept, it more of a tourist thing), and it was impressive to spend a good half a day gawking at all the various animals. I remember going on a class outing to the zoo back in my Junior College days. The open concept Orang Utan enclosure, with interconnected aerial walkways for them to amble across over your heads is wonderfully thought out. The elephant show is also quite a draw, though you risk getting wet if you sit right in the front!
The last time I had been to Pulau Ubin was back in my secondary school days, on a Boys' Brigade hiking expedition. I did the more traditional thing this time round and rented bikes with Juliet to explore the island on foot. One new area which I got to see was the mangrove walk on the Eastern end of the island, including a long walkway jutting out into the ocean and a nice viewing tower (climbing up the steps wasn't all that fun though!).
You really can't got to Singapore without shopping, and Juliet set out to do just that on her last day there, armed especially with a long shopping list for camera equipment provided by her brother. In the end, she indulged herself and bought an iPod touch as her main extravagance of the trip.
So, who would have thought it possible that a visitor would come to Singapore and find 5 days insufficient? Surely not I. But that was indeed the case. Juliet didn't managed to visit the Bird Park, or the National Museum. We'll definitely save that for the next time she comes into town.
The jaunt around Chinatown was especially interesting for me, as I had never really taken the effort to see the area. I was especially impressed with the Chinese Heritage Center in Chinatown. It was very tastefully designed, and effective in giving a sense of the living conditions of the Chinese immigrants when the first came to Singapore. On a more random note, while walking around Chinatown, we passed by a small sign leading up to the second story of a shop house (next to a random restaurant) which promised to be the law offices of J.B Jeyaratnam. Also fun was buying a durian and consuming it on the spot at small tables set up just for the purpose.
We also managed to squeeze in a formal Chinese tea drinking session at Tea Chapter. Discovering Tea Chapter was one of the highlights of my time at MFA (we had our typical company sponsored 'group bonding' session thing there). There is something very relaxing about going through the whole process of preparing the tea, pouring it and drinking it.
I also enjoyed visiting the Zoo and Pulau Ubin again after many years. The Singapore Zoo is much more comprehensive that the Night Safari (which though a wonderfully well worked concept, it more of a tourist thing), and it was impressive to spend a good half a day gawking at all the various animals. I remember going on a class outing to the zoo back in my Junior College days. The open concept Orang Utan enclosure, with interconnected aerial walkways for them to amble across over your heads is wonderfully thought out. The elephant show is also quite a draw, though you risk getting wet if you sit right in the front!
The last time I had been to Pulau Ubin was back in my secondary school days, on a Boys' Brigade hiking expedition. I did the more traditional thing this time round and rented bikes with Juliet to explore the island on foot. One new area which I got to see was the mangrove walk on the Eastern end of the island, including a long walkway jutting out into the ocean and a nice viewing tower (climbing up the steps wasn't all that fun though!).
You really can't got to Singapore without shopping, and Juliet set out to do just that on her last day there, armed especially with a long shopping list for camera equipment provided by her brother. In the end, she indulged herself and bought an iPod touch as her main extravagance of the trip.
So, who would have thought it possible that a visitor would come to Singapore and find 5 days insufficient? Surely not I. But that was indeed the case. Juliet didn't managed to visit the Bird Park, or the National Museum. We'll definitely save that for the next time she comes into town.
10 March 2008
Albert's Wedding; A Hectic Weekend
This proved to be a most hectic weekend and an absolutely crazy Saturday. It was dominated by two main events: the wedding of my ex-colleague from MFA, Albert, as well as a return visit of M to Singapore.
Albert's wedding proved to be the first wedding in which I was actively involved (i.e. other than as a guest at a church, or taking up table space at a dinner). I had been nominated as one of a number of "brothers", whose duty it was to lend support to him during the (mis)adventures throughout the day and during the ceremony itself.
The first order of business in any traditional chinese wedding is for the groom to drive over to pick up the bride. Traditionally, the bride will be safely ensconed in her room behind a number of locked doors, ably protected by her sisters, and the groom's job was to convince the sisters of the true depth and sincerity of his love for her. This of course meant that the groom is liable to be tested (euphemism for tortured) and he brings along his faithful band of brothers to assist him (euphemism for suffer in his stead).
Among the trials that Albert had to face was to eat bittergourd coated with additional substances like chilli (he hates bittergourd and brinjals) - though all the brothers ate them on his behalf; putting together declarations of love for his bride to be in both English and Chinese using words cut out from newspapers and magazines (It proved easy enough given Albert's ability to bullshit), singing her love songs through the window, and finally reading out a declaration in cantonese which he then had to sign. He had to conquer three doors in all, and success was only achieved through the liberal sprinkling of various currency notes in red packets to appease the jie meis. This was aided by a wonderful performance in the art of talking non-stop by Borg, and in spite of the girls managing to turn Albert's nephew (who was supposed to be on our side) against us, to the degree that Xander ended up chanting "more money" with them. The rest of the programme involved photo-taking and a tea ceremony at Albert's parents' place, and finally a trip to their new flat.
The wedding dinner itself was held at the York Hotel, in a relatively small ballroom. Given the extensively detailed order of proceedings (which applied to the daytime proceedings as well), it was always likely that everything would happen according to plan. I was seated with Pao Peiyu (who caused considerable excitement by being seen in a dress for the first time, and a classic black one at that); Chivy and Borg; and also Ambassador Tee Tua Ba, DS/IC and my former director at MFA. It was a pretty high powered table (there was a separate, no doubt less stressful Middle East directorate table). I had an interesting discussion with Borg, a real insider if there ever was one, about the recent Russian Presidential elections and Putin's time in power, as well as about Eastern European politics in general. There was also a discussion about the escape of JI terrorist Mas Selamat and his possible whereabouts (Mr Tee, a former Commissioner of Police, is one of a trio tasked to investigate what went wrong). I was the only one not to tow the government line, faithfully reported in the press that he is still at large in Singapore. When asked where he could be hiding I replied: "In Sumatra".
My main duty during that evening was to serve as Albert's designated drinker. It was a rather simple job to be honest - whenever any of his guests concocted a strange, usually potently alcoholic beverage for him as he did his round, I was to drink it in his stead (along with Borg and Adrian). This is a potentially very dangerous role to play in weddings where all the groom's friends are out to get him. However, Albert got off almost complete scot free. Ironically, instead of following my job description of limiting his alcohol intake, I ended up plotting with other MFA people to make Albert drink. In the end, we gave him a choice between drinking a pretty dodgy looking concoction, or standing on chairs with his bride and kissing her for the duration that the entire table could hold a yum seng. He opted for the latter and did it good-naturedly.
It was wonderful to play a role, no matter how insignificant, on such a monumental day for Albert (and my role did turn out to mainly involve standing around - thankfully!). It was also nice seeing all my old MFA colleagues again - Albert, Loy and his wife, as well as Sue, Joel and Brenda. All that pent up emotions meant that, at the end of proceedings, and in spite of the fact that I had gotten up at 6am that morning, I didn't feel inclined to go home (though I should have), and felt like prolonging the evening. That meant, inevitably, a trip to the Shoe.
In the interim between Albert's daytime program and the wedding dinner, I spent the afternoon at M's place, ostensibly to attend her nephew's first birthday party. The two of us spent the majority of the time just randomly chatting, this being M, it was done over wine (excellent of course). I had the honor of having a look at M's wine fridge, including her three bottles of Mouton Rothschild (the first time I had ever had the chance to even glimpse a first growth - it would be great to taste one, and that is a hint M if you are reading this!). Given the birthday party, it was rather amusing to see Maltesers, chocolates and sweets stuffed in with the bottles of expensive wine. It was definitely nice to chat about all and sundry - from wine, to tennis, to Oxford.
Albert's wedding proved to be the first wedding in which I was actively involved (i.e. other than as a guest at a church, or taking up table space at a dinner). I had been nominated as one of a number of "brothers", whose duty it was to lend support to him during the (mis)adventures throughout the day and during the ceremony itself.
The first order of business in any traditional chinese wedding is for the groom to drive over to pick up the bride. Traditionally, the bride will be safely ensconed in her room behind a number of locked doors, ably protected by her sisters, and the groom's job was to convince the sisters of the true depth and sincerity of his love for her. This of course meant that the groom is liable to be tested (euphemism for tortured) and he brings along his faithful band of brothers to assist him (euphemism for suffer in his stead).
Among the trials that Albert had to face was to eat bittergourd coated with additional substances like chilli (he hates bittergourd and brinjals) - though all the brothers ate them on his behalf; putting together declarations of love for his bride to be in both English and Chinese using words cut out from newspapers and magazines (It proved easy enough given Albert's ability to bullshit), singing her love songs through the window, and finally reading out a declaration in cantonese which he then had to sign. He had to conquer three doors in all, and success was only achieved through the liberal sprinkling of various currency notes in red packets to appease the jie meis. This was aided by a wonderful performance in the art of talking non-stop by Borg, and in spite of the girls managing to turn Albert's nephew (who was supposed to be on our side) against us, to the degree that Xander ended up chanting "more money" with them. The rest of the programme involved photo-taking and a tea ceremony at Albert's parents' place, and finally a trip to their new flat.
The wedding dinner itself was held at the York Hotel, in a relatively small ballroom. Given the extensively detailed order of proceedings (which applied to the daytime proceedings as well), it was always likely that everything would happen according to plan. I was seated with Pao Peiyu (who caused considerable excitement by being seen in a dress for the first time, and a classic black one at that); Chivy and Borg; and also Ambassador Tee Tua Ba, DS/IC and my former director at MFA. It was a pretty high powered table (there was a separate, no doubt less stressful Middle East directorate table). I had an interesting discussion with Borg, a real insider if there ever was one, about the recent Russian Presidential elections and Putin's time in power, as well as about Eastern European politics in general. There was also a discussion about the escape of JI terrorist Mas Selamat and his possible whereabouts (Mr Tee, a former Commissioner of Police, is one of a trio tasked to investigate what went wrong). I was the only one not to tow the government line, faithfully reported in the press that he is still at large in Singapore. When asked where he could be hiding I replied: "In Sumatra".
My main duty during that evening was to serve as Albert's designated drinker. It was a rather simple job to be honest - whenever any of his guests concocted a strange, usually potently alcoholic beverage for him as he did his round, I was to drink it in his stead (along with Borg and Adrian). This is a potentially very dangerous role to play in weddings where all the groom's friends are out to get him. However, Albert got off almost complete scot free. Ironically, instead of following my job description of limiting his alcohol intake, I ended up plotting with other MFA people to make Albert drink. In the end, we gave him a choice between drinking a pretty dodgy looking concoction, or standing on chairs with his bride and kissing her for the duration that the entire table could hold a yum seng. He opted for the latter and did it good-naturedly.
It was wonderful to play a role, no matter how insignificant, on such a monumental day for Albert (and my role did turn out to mainly involve standing around - thankfully!). It was also nice seeing all my old MFA colleagues again - Albert, Loy and his wife, as well as Sue, Joel and Brenda. All that pent up emotions meant that, at the end of proceedings, and in spite of the fact that I had gotten up at 6am that morning, I didn't feel inclined to go home (though I should have), and felt like prolonging the evening. That meant, inevitably, a trip to the Shoe.
In the interim between Albert's daytime program and the wedding dinner, I spent the afternoon at M's place, ostensibly to attend her nephew's first birthday party. The two of us spent the majority of the time just randomly chatting, this being M, it was done over wine (excellent of course). I had the honor of having a look at M's wine fridge, including her three bottles of Mouton Rothschild (the first time I had ever had the chance to even glimpse a first growth - it would be great to taste one, and that is a hint M if you are reading this!). Given the birthday party, it was rather amusing to see Maltesers, chocolates and sweets stuffed in with the bottles of expensive wine. It was definitely nice to chat about all and sundry - from wine, to tennis, to Oxford.
8 February 2008
Chinese New Year
So it is the year of the Rat, marking the start of a new 12 year chinese zodiac cycle. If one believes the myth surrounding the origins of the animal zodiac, the Rat won the race between the animals and is thus the head of the zodiac cycle. What is more interesting is how it won. Knowing it was slow and a poor swimmer, it clung on to the Ox until the finish line was approaching. Then, it leapt off and ran ahead to win the race.
Anyhow, it has been a rather quiet Chinese New Year for me mainly on account of my parents being on holiday in New Zealand. Given that my house is currently in a rather disorganised state it is perhaps just as well that we are not having any visitors this year. Things started off naturally enough with the usual Tuan Nian Fan which was held at my Uncle Roger's place this time around. The family tradition (and indeed a common Singaporean one) is to have a steamboat dinner. I brought alcohol over as per my grandpa's instructions but limited it to Tiger beer so as not to raise my uncle's ire.
Thursday was lunch over at my grandfather's house where we all got to make our own popiah (according to my grandpa's special recipe and mix of ingredients). My uncle Albert then kindly agreed to give me a lift over to M's place on Duchess avenue. She had invited me to visit after hearing of my parent's decision to abscond to New Zealand and thus the likelihood that I would be left to my own devices this Chinese New Year. It was good to have the opportunity to see her in person (after corresponding mainly through email) though I ended up talking to a varied assortment of relatives (and meeting her wonderfully adorable for now niece and nephew).
I ended up staying quite late at M's, deciding that it was high time I left after we both watched American Idol (audition episode for the new season). To add to the general excitement, a fire broke out at the condominium across from her house, which naturally prompted the arrival of three fire engines, assorted small civil defence vehicles and police cars and of course the obligatory swarm of curious by-standers. What was more worrying was seeing several fire fighters stand around a fire hydrant hitting it with a metal object (my presumption was that there was no pressure). There was a general sense that this wasn't a serious fire but it certainly doesn't bode well, as M mentioned, for a situation where there was a serious fire.
I then stopped by the Old Brown Shoe for a drink (in my defence I need it after the long walk out of Duchess Avenue) and found it relatively empty. Had a long chat with Lino and then ended up trying to frantically arrange a last minute mahjong game with Jen after we both decided that we had itchy fingers. That having proved impossible, I finally went home.
Friday was a quite day with no visiting. I caught Sweeney Todd with D. It was a movie made for the macabre mind of Tim Burton and I loved the visual feel and the way it was shot. Johnny Depp (despite fronting a rock band) is only passable as a vocalist and Helena Bonham-Carter slightly weaker at best. But it was still a highly enjoyable movie (if one can find throat cutting, murder, and horrible tasting meat pies enjoyable). Later on in the evening, it was over to Harry's@Novena for drinks.
Instead of taking the wise and sensible option (to go home), I called my sister who was in MOS and she urged me to join her. Suffice to say it turned into a rather disastrous evening (I arrived at MOS to find that one of her friends had gotten drunk). We did manage to get a drink at Harry's@Boat Quay and get a listen to their new singer (think Reuben Studdard with more of a jazz vibe). Thankfully, my sister decided to head home after that, after another member of her group went all queasy.
Anyhow, it has been a rather quiet Chinese New Year for me mainly on account of my parents being on holiday in New Zealand. Given that my house is currently in a rather disorganised state it is perhaps just as well that we are not having any visitors this year. Things started off naturally enough with the usual Tuan Nian Fan which was held at my Uncle Roger's place this time around. The family tradition (and indeed a common Singaporean one) is to have a steamboat dinner. I brought alcohol over as per my grandpa's instructions but limited it to Tiger beer so as not to raise my uncle's ire.
Thursday was lunch over at my grandfather's house where we all got to make our own popiah (according to my grandpa's special recipe and mix of ingredients). My uncle Albert then kindly agreed to give me a lift over to M's place on Duchess avenue. She had invited me to visit after hearing of my parent's decision to abscond to New Zealand and thus the likelihood that I would be left to my own devices this Chinese New Year. It was good to have the opportunity to see her in person (after corresponding mainly through email) though I ended up talking to a varied assortment of relatives (and meeting her wonderfully adorable for now niece and nephew).
I ended up staying quite late at M's, deciding that it was high time I left after we both watched American Idol (audition episode for the new season). To add to the general excitement, a fire broke out at the condominium across from her house, which naturally prompted the arrival of three fire engines, assorted small civil defence vehicles and police cars and of course the obligatory swarm of curious by-standers. What was more worrying was seeing several fire fighters stand around a fire hydrant hitting it with a metal object (my presumption was that there was no pressure). There was a general sense that this wasn't a serious fire but it certainly doesn't bode well, as M mentioned, for a situation where there was a serious fire.
I then stopped by the Old Brown Shoe for a drink (in my defence I need it after the long walk out of Duchess Avenue) and found it relatively empty. Had a long chat with Lino and then ended up trying to frantically arrange a last minute mahjong game with Jen after we both decided that we had itchy fingers. That having proved impossible, I finally went home.
Friday was a quite day with no visiting. I caught Sweeney Todd with D. It was a movie made for the macabre mind of Tim Burton and I loved the visual feel and the way it was shot. Johnny Depp (despite fronting a rock band) is only passable as a vocalist and Helena Bonham-Carter slightly weaker at best. But it was still a highly enjoyable movie (if one can find throat cutting, murder, and horrible tasting meat pies enjoyable). Later on in the evening, it was over to Harry's@Novena for drinks.
Instead of taking the wise and sensible option (to go home), I called my sister who was in MOS and she urged me to join her. Suffice to say it turned into a rather disastrous evening (I arrived at MOS to find that one of her friends had gotten drunk). We did manage to get a drink at Harry's@Boat Quay and get a listen to their new singer (think Reuben Studdard with more of a jazz vibe). Thankfully, my sister decided to head home after that, after another member of her group went all queasy.
1 February 2008
Justin's Birthday
Pam organised a surprise gathering to celebrate Justin's 35th birthday today. It was held at the Old Brown Shoe naturally enough (or in Justin's words "my second home"). I ended up late after asking my sister to come along and then having to wait for her to put on make-up and do the other usual girlie things (she was going to Zouk afterwards).
It was nice to meet Maureen again (David her husband and Justin's old chum from the Everest days was out of town), particularly since the lot of us managed to extract a promise from her that she would cook dinner for us one of these days, and specifically she would make chilli crab (very much at my prompting).
Justin got the usual set of predictable presents for his birthday - a book on World War II combat airplanes from David and Maureen, two aerobatic books from Pam. I bought him a book on the history of aviation but forgot to bring it (I subsequently also bought him a model of a P-51 Mustang). Then again I haven't even passed him his Christmas present which is a DVD of the movie Flyboys.
This officially marks my third consecutive day at the Shoe after the pub quiz on Wednesday, going there with Justin and my sister on Thursday after Swing Fling at Jitterbugs. Gotta get away!
It was nice to meet Maureen again (David her husband and Justin's old chum from the Everest days was out of town), particularly since the lot of us managed to extract a promise from her that she would cook dinner for us one of these days, and specifically she would make chilli crab (very much at my prompting).
Justin got the usual set of predictable presents for his birthday - a book on World War II combat airplanes from David and Maureen, two aerobatic books from Pam. I bought him a book on the history of aviation but forgot to bring it (I subsequently also bought him a model of a P-51 Mustang). Then again I haven't even passed him his Christmas present which is a DVD of the movie Flyboys.
This officially marks my third consecutive day at the Shoe after the pub quiz on Wednesday, going there with Justin and my sister on Thursday after Swing Fling at Jitterbugs. Gotta get away!
29 January 2008
Lunch with DT; Two Existential Questions
I met up with DT for lunch today. We had planned on heading to Holland V but a typically sudden Singapore downfall meant that we ended up going to Brewerkz. I remember having dinner with DT and Candida at Brewerkz shortly before I went on to join MFA. That seems a long time ago now.
The chief excuse for the lunch was as a form of repayment for DT earlier treating me (and Candida again) to lunch at the Tanglin Club. He had previously insisted that the Tanglin Club had the best steak and ribs in town and offered to bring me in to try it. For the record, it really was excellent. Lunch also afforded us a wonderful chance to chat and catch up. DT, to me is a kindered spirit in so far as being cynical about life (but not taking things too seriously) and in having a similarly warped sense of humour. It also was an opportunity for me to talk to him about Debs an me, as in his own words he is quite "protective of her".
Two interesting observations from the day. Firstly, the essential mystery that is ladies handbags. Candida had managed to cajole me into buying fifty dollars worth of ACJC fun-o-rama coupons. However since she was at a consultation, she told me to take the coupons out of her handbag and then leave the cash in her wallet. I went up to pass her the money in person, but I couldn't for the life of me find the coupons in her large brown handbag. Basically, I find come to realise that female handbags are incredibly complex mechanisms that no male of the species is able to fully comprehend, let alone find anything in. She later informed me the tickets were in a "side pocket, next too the tampons". Errr, right.
Secondly, I have yet to figure out how to effectively eat a Brewerkz chilli dog without one of two non really palatable options. Firstly, you can try to stuff it directly in your mouth, which causes an enormously huge mess. It is less messy in the case of the burger due to the fact that at least most of the stuff within it is enclosed. The chilli dog has beef chili treatening to spill over the sides at any instant and it usually does. The second option is to cut it up into bite size pieces and eat it that way. But seriously, cutting up a hot dog? That is just plain wrong. It is like, eating your peas in the UK by spearing them instead of scooping them oh so carefully on the underside of your fork (I still find that completely ridiculous).
If anybody has solutions to any of the two existential problems above, do let me know. I will be most grateful. I might even buy you a Brewerkz chilli dog so you can try it out for yourself.
The chief excuse for the lunch was as a form of repayment for DT earlier treating me (and Candida again) to lunch at the Tanglin Club. He had previously insisted that the Tanglin Club had the best steak and ribs in town and offered to bring me in to try it. For the record, it really was excellent. Lunch also afforded us a wonderful chance to chat and catch up. DT, to me is a kindered spirit in so far as being cynical about life (but not taking things too seriously) and in having a similarly warped sense of humour. It also was an opportunity for me to talk to him about Debs an me, as in his own words he is quite "protective of her".
Two interesting observations from the day. Firstly, the essential mystery that is ladies handbags. Candida had managed to cajole me into buying fifty dollars worth of ACJC fun-o-rama coupons. However since she was at a consultation, she told me to take the coupons out of her handbag and then leave the cash in her wallet. I went up to pass her the money in person, but I couldn't for the life of me find the coupons in her large brown handbag. Basically, I find come to realise that female handbags are incredibly complex mechanisms that no male of the species is able to fully comprehend, let alone find anything in. She later informed me the tickets were in a "side pocket, next too the tampons". Errr, right.
Secondly, I have yet to figure out how to effectively eat a Brewerkz chilli dog without one of two non really palatable options. Firstly, you can try to stuff it directly in your mouth, which causes an enormously huge mess. It is less messy in the case of the burger due to the fact that at least most of the stuff within it is enclosed. The chilli dog has beef chili treatening to spill over the sides at any instant and it usually does. The second option is to cut it up into bite size pieces and eat it that way. But seriously, cutting up a hot dog? That is just plain wrong. It is like, eating your peas in the UK by spearing them instead of scooping them oh so carefully on the underside of your fork (I still find that completely ridiculous).
If anybody has solutions to any of the two existential problems above, do let me know. I will be most grateful. I might even buy you a Brewerkz chilli dog so you can try it out for yourself.
26 January 2008
Goodbye Fletch and Liz
Today marked the farewell party of Fletch and Liz, two of the regulars at the Old Brown Shoe. And they were truly regulars. If you popped into the Shoe on almost any evening of the week you would find Fletch and Liz there, probably outside having a smoke, Liz drinking her rum and coke and Fletch his favourite Asahi.
In a random conversation one evening at the Shoe with a man from India who helped to run a Tiger wildlife refuge, Fletch mentioned that he loved Tigers and thought them to be the most amazing of creatures. I thus bought them a National Geographic documentary on Siberian Tigers. I hope they like it.
I got at the Shoe for the 'farewell do' a bit late, having had to settle some other stuff and the place was packed with people wanting to wish Fletch and Liz well. It made me realise how all the regulars there had coalesced into a community or sorts, sharing informal and happy moments. Just like a regular British pub. It also made me realise how much I love it.
On a more random note, I ended up watching some of the FA Cup football while at the pub, and amazingly, Liverpool twice went a goal down to part-time side Havant and Waterlooville [who play in Conference South]. A truly inspiring display by the non-league side who managed to go into half-time level before falling 5-2 at full time.
In a random conversation one evening at the Shoe with a man from India who helped to run a Tiger wildlife refuge, Fletch mentioned that he loved Tigers and thought them to be the most amazing of creatures. I thus bought them a National Geographic documentary on Siberian Tigers. I hope they like it.
I got at the Shoe for the 'farewell do' a bit late, having had to settle some other stuff and the place was packed with people wanting to wish Fletch and Liz well. It made me realise how all the regulars there had coalesced into a community or sorts, sharing informal and happy moments. Just like a regular British pub. It also made me realise how much I love it.
On a more random note, I ended up watching some of the FA Cup football while at the pub, and amazingly, Liverpool twice went a goal down to part-time side Havant and Waterlooville [who play in Conference South]. A truly inspiring display by the non-league side who managed to go into half-time level before falling 5-2 at full time.
25 January 2008
A Birthday Evening
I brought Debs out for a birthday dinner today at Sushi Tei in Vivocity. It was our second trip to Vivo during the week after having dinner at Marche's with Deanna and Tammy, two of Debs's closest friends on Tuesday, in another semi-official birthday dinner.
Despite us getting to Vivo before seven we were faced by an extended queue when we arrived in front of Sushi Tei. It proceeded to get longer even as we worked our way to the front. We were very lucky to get a large table meant for four all to ourselves in what was effectively a fully packed restaurant. I had a soft shell crab handroll and the Beef Yakiniku rice, and Debs ordered some seafood dish for us to share (I ended up with all the salmon because she doesn't like it, thankfully I do).
Afterwards, we just spent our time strolling around Vivo, and out on the open promenade, and perhaps attracting more attention that we would have liked (not that we really noticed). It was a kind of peaceful, placid happiness that comes with being with someone.
Despite us getting to Vivo before seven we were faced by an extended queue when we arrived in front of Sushi Tei. It proceeded to get longer even as we worked our way to the front. We were very lucky to get a large table meant for four all to ourselves in what was effectively a fully packed restaurant. I had a soft shell crab handroll and the Beef Yakiniku rice, and Debs ordered some seafood dish for us to share (I ended up with all the salmon because she doesn't like it, thankfully I do).
Afterwards, we just spent our time strolling around Vivo, and out on the open promenade, and perhaps attracting more attention that we would have liked (not that we really noticed). It was a kind of peaceful, placid happiness that comes with being with someone.
17 January 2008
Ice Skating and Bowling Nostalgia
The past two days offered me a chance to re-live more stuff from my teenage years. After my interview at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (see previous post), I caught a cab that was just leaving NTU (after trying in vain to find the bus stop) and decided randomly to go to Jurong Entertainment Center. Out of a pure sense of nostalgia I ended up heading up to the ice skating rink. I used to go bowling at the alley opposite that rink (it has since closed down and a KTV joint was set up in its place).
Ice skating has always held a special place in my heart since I picked it up as a little kid in Canada before returning to Singapore. It is a sport I imagine I would have continued given the opportunity - and continue I did for awhile. I took lessons when I was in Primary 3 and 4 every Wednesday at the old Fuji ice rink at Dhoby Ghaut (now closed down and turned into a club). But the reality was that the rink was too small and too crowded and the pace of the lessons were too slow. So I stopped.
I still went ice skating now and then after that with friends, occasionally even alone. Back in Oxford there are a few memorable trips to the ice rink. In one, it was for the inter-college ice hockey tournament (at beginner's level - plastic sticks, no shooting off the ground and playing the rink breadth rather than length wise). We did fairly well considering that our goalkeeper - poor old Sam Geen - could barely stand up and used the crossbar of the goal to keep his balance.
I hadn't been for been a year at least, probably more. The rink was mostly empty save a young girl practicing beginner figure skating moves, and two teenagers doing the usual showing off and horsing around. It was probably nostalgia that inspired me, but I decided to give myself a go on the ice. It was odd skating more or less without company (the rink is usually crowded) and it was even more odd skating completely alone when the scant company decided to take a break. Soon the teenagers were replaced by two cute little kids whose Caucasian mom went in to closely watch over them.
It was a nice feeling being out on the ice. But I soon found that it just didn't have the same thrill for me as it did in the past. I guess it is inevitable that you feel a bit pointless doing circles round a rink for two hours, and this is accentuated when you are the only one doing it. The cut up ice didn't help at all - and it was just my bad luck that my two hours expired just when they resurfaced it.
The following day, I met Victor and Nic to shoot some pool and bowl, again activities that used to occupy me back in Secondary School (oh my wasted youth). Victor and me were clearly rusty compared to Nic (who was in the midst of his wasted youth and thus playing pool far more regularly) and we missed a number of simple pots. My problem with pool was that I could never pot the ball all that well, even if I were able to see the shots that I wanted to play (I'm not even all that great at that). I do enjoy watching the professionals on television and I marvel even more at their ability to clear up all the balls effortlessly when my simple shots rattle out, forget playing for position.
After Victor got thoroughly frustrated when I managed to snooker him thrice (two times through pure luck), and I won the match after he gave me a free shot on the black after a fluke foul, we decided to adjourn to the bowling alley. I went through a bowling phase when I was in secondary school, when I used to go about once a week to the lanes, knocking off a significant portion of my pocket money in addition to pins. I even went so far as to get myself a cheap bowling ball and a pair of shoes - something to call my own. But it had been ages and ages since I had stepped onto a lane - bowling just isn't popular in the UK at all.
I was quite surprised at how bad I had become though, spraying balls everywhere except at the middle of the pins, and scoring an abysmal 58 pinfalls in my first game, losing even to Nic. Victor scored above a hundred after hitting a few spares. The second game turned out a lot better for me, and I was in the lead most of the way until Victor caught up with me and we entered the final frame level on 91 pinfalls. Victor then hit 9 pins in his last frame meaning I needed to spare the last to win. I was left with a relatively straightforward 1-2-3 spare but missed it meaning I didn't even break 100 in my second game with a 97.
Again, it was nice going out bowling again after so long, but I can't help but feel that I will never have the same enthusiasm for bowling as I did when I was younger. An occasional game here and there with friends, for fun but nothing more. To round off the day we had a go at the arcade on Daytona. I trailed most of the way after crashing in the opening lap, but snuck into the lead entering the final lap. Sadly, I smashed my car into the wall after being nudged by Nicholas (the bastard!) and ended up last.
It was fun though, doing all the things I used to do in the past, in younger, freer days. But it solidified the certainty that I had moved on to other perhaps more intellectual and challenging things.
Ice skating has always held a special place in my heart since I picked it up as a little kid in Canada before returning to Singapore. It is a sport I imagine I would have continued given the opportunity - and continue I did for awhile. I took lessons when I was in Primary 3 and 4 every Wednesday at the old Fuji ice rink at Dhoby Ghaut (now closed down and turned into a club). But the reality was that the rink was too small and too crowded and the pace of the lessons were too slow. So I stopped.
I still went ice skating now and then after that with friends, occasionally even alone. Back in Oxford there are a few memorable trips to the ice rink. In one, it was for the inter-college ice hockey tournament (at beginner's level - plastic sticks, no shooting off the ground and playing the rink breadth rather than length wise). We did fairly well considering that our goalkeeper - poor old Sam Geen - could barely stand up and used the crossbar of the goal to keep his balance.
I hadn't been for been a year at least, probably more. The rink was mostly empty save a young girl practicing beginner figure skating moves, and two teenagers doing the usual showing off and horsing around. It was probably nostalgia that inspired me, but I decided to give myself a go on the ice. It was odd skating more or less without company (the rink is usually crowded) and it was even more odd skating completely alone when the scant company decided to take a break. Soon the teenagers were replaced by two cute little kids whose Caucasian mom went in to closely watch over them.
It was a nice feeling being out on the ice. But I soon found that it just didn't have the same thrill for me as it did in the past. I guess it is inevitable that you feel a bit pointless doing circles round a rink for two hours, and this is accentuated when you are the only one doing it. The cut up ice didn't help at all - and it was just my bad luck that my two hours expired just when they resurfaced it.
The following day, I met Victor and Nic to shoot some pool and bowl, again activities that used to occupy me back in Secondary School (oh my wasted youth). Victor and me were clearly rusty compared to Nic (who was in the midst of his wasted youth and thus playing pool far more regularly) and we missed a number of simple pots. My problem with pool was that I could never pot the ball all that well, even if I were able to see the shots that I wanted to play (I'm not even all that great at that). I do enjoy watching the professionals on television and I marvel even more at their ability to clear up all the balls effortlessly when my simple shots rattle out, forget playing for position.
After Victor got thoroughly frustrated when I managed to snooker him thrice (two times through pure luck), and I won the match after he gave me a free shot on the black after a fluke foul, we decided to adjourn to the bowling alley. I went through a bowling phase when I was in secondary school, when I used to go about once a week to the lanes, knocking off a significant portion of my pocket money in addition to pins. I even went so far as to get myself a cheap bowling ball and a pair of shoes - something to call my own. But it had been ages and ages since I had stepped onto a lane - bowling just isn't popular in the UK at all.
I was quite surprised at how bad I had become though, spraying balls everywhere except at the middle of the pins, and scoring an abysmal 58 pinfalls in my first game, losing even to Nic. Victor scored above a hundred after hitting a few spares. The second game turned out a lot better for me, and I was in the lead most of the way until Victor caught up with me and we entered the final frame level on 91 pinfalls. Victor then hit 9 pins in his last frame meaning I needed to spare the last to win. I was left with a relatively straightforward 1-2-3 spare but missed it meaning I didn't even break 100 in my second game with a 97.
Again, it was nice going out bowling again after so long, but I can't help but feel that I will never have the same enthusiasm for bowling as I did when I was younger. An occasional game here and there with friends, for fun but nothing more. To round off the day we had a go at the arcade on Daytona. I trailed most of the way after crashing in the opening lap, but snuck into the lead entering the final lap. Sadly, I smashed my car into the wall after being nudged by Nicholas (the bastard!) and ended up last.
It was fun though, doing all the things I used to do in the past, in younger, freer days. But it solidified the certainty that I had moved on to other perhaps more intellectual and challenging things.
10 January 2008
Just Like Old Times
I went over to Victor's place again on Thursday, just as I have been doing for the better part of a decade now. We were classmates in Secondary 2, 3 and 4 at ACS (Independent) and both went to ACJC (he to do triple science, me to do pure Arts). I used to go over to his house during the holidays to chill out, play badminton and changing generations of video game consoles. I remember watching the amazing 1999 Champions League final, when Man Utd defeated Bayern Munich with two last minute goals at his house (I missed seeing the winning goal live because I went to get a drink, thinking extra time inevitable).
Of course, we subsequently went our separate ways - to different units in the Army and then off to our respective Universities - Oxford in my case, Adelaide to do medicine in his, and differences in Hemispheres meant that our vacations hardly overlapped (I chose not to come back during my winter break, he was often just returning to Australia after his short winter break when I returned to Singapore in late July). We managed to catch up very occasionally, maybe once a year, but those visits to his place started to become a distant memory.
The opportunity to re-live the good old days came about because Victor is back on his summer break. I of course am currently out of a job, so I have time on my hands. It a scary thought that Victor's brother Nic, is now awaiting his 'A' level results. When I used to go over regularly, it was me and Victor that were doing our A levels and Nic had barely started secondary school. In one of those supremely random twists of fate, I ended up as Nic's GP teacher when I relief taught at ACJC from July to mid-October 2007.
So it was off to the old Siglap Community Centre and their old indoor badminton courts (bring your own net) for a round of doubles badminton. We were joined by one of Victor's friends from Adelaide, now working back in Malaysia and here in Singapore for a holiday. Vic proved once again that his height and long reach were a definite advantage while Nic showed an amazing ability to hit himself with his own racquet. It was definitely fun, and I really should make use of the new modern indoor courts at the Bishan sports center more often. It's a pity I don't really have anyone to play badminton with regularly.
Having seen some young boys playing football over at the futsol court nearby, I endeavoured to arrange an impromptu 4 a side futsol match. We began well at first, taking a 2-0 lead before letting in a soft goal. But as the game went on it became more an more obvious that we were tiring (I choose to take 2 hours of badminton as an excuse, but no doubt a general lack of physical exertion in recent times had something to do with it). We couldn't put the game away at 4-3 up and they eventually won 5-4. I wonder which was the greater humiliation - losing to a bunch of 10 year olds. Or wheezing from exhaustion by the end of the match.
Victor wanted to take his friend out for a nice dinner that night, so we ended up dining at La Fondue over at Dempsey Road, one of the new hot dining/chill out spots in Singapore, picking up his girlfriend Daphne along the way. We ended up ordering two Fondue set (for two) with an additional portion, which included a salad each, cheese fondue (with bread), an assortment of seafood and meats cooked over a hot plate and in olive oil respectively and finally desert in the form of fruits dipped in chocolate fondue. It was definitely a pretty fun experience, if rather expensive - the sets worked out at over $75 per head. Probably nice for a birthday or some other celebration. I probably wouldn't go again as I don't like fondue quite that much.
The evening entertainment turned out to be a full round of mahjong. I had decent luck this time, winning around 10 bucks (we only played 10 cents/20 cents) but given Nic's lack of finances, I naturally didn't collect. We were falling asleep by the end of it as the last round was only completed around 4am. Quite a day, just like it was in the good old days.
Of course, we subsequently went our separate ways - to different units in the Army and then off to our respective Universities - Oxford in my case, Adelaide to do medicine in his, and differences in Hemispheres meant that our vacations hardly overlapped (I chose not to come back during my winter break, he was often just returning to Australia after his short winter break when I returned to Singapore in late July). We managed to catch up very occasionally, maybe once a year, but those visits to his place started to become a distant memory.
The opportunity to re-live the good old days came about because Victor is back on his summer break. I of course am currently out of a job, so I have time on my hands. It a scary thought that Victor's brother Nic, is now awaiting his 'A' level results. When I used to go over regularly, it was me and Victor that were doing our A levels and Nic had barely started secondary school. In one of those supremely random twists of fate, I ended up as Nic's GP teacher when I relief taught at ACJC from July to mid-October 2007.
So it was off to the old Siglap Community Centre and their old indoor badminton courts (bring your own net) for a round of doubles badminton. We were joined by one of Victor's friends from Adelaide, now working back in Malaysia and here in Singapore for a holiday. Vic proved once again that his height and long reach were a definite advantage while Nic showed an amazing ability to hit himself with his own racquet. It was definitely fun, and I really should make use of the new modern indoor courts at the Bishan sports center more often. It's a pity I don't really have anyone to play badminton with regularly.
Having seen some young boys playing football over at the futsol court nearby, I endeavoured to arrange an impromptu 4 a side futsol match. We began well at first, taking a 2-0 lead before letting in a soft goal. But as the game went on it became more an more obvious that we were tiring (I choose to take 2 hours of badminton as an excuse, but no doubt a general lack of physical exertion in recent times had something to do with it). We couldn't put the game away at 4-3 up and they eventually won 5-4. I wonder which was the greater humiliation - losing to a bunch of 10 year olds. Or wheezing from exhaustion by the end of the match.
Victor wanted to take his friend out for a nice dinner that night, so we ended up dining at La Fondue over at Dempsey Road, one of the new hot dining/chill out spots in Singapore, picking up his girlfriend Daphne along the way. We ended up ordering two Fondue set (for two) with an additional portion, which included a salad each, cheese fondue (with bread), an assortment of seafood and meats cooked over a hot plate and in olive oil respectively and finally desert in the form of fruits dipped in chocolate fondue. It was definitely a pretty fun experience, if rather expensive - the sets worked out at over $75 per head. Probably nice for a birthday or some other celebration. I probably wouldn't go again as I don't like fondue quite that much.
The evening entertainment turned out to be a full round of mahjong. I had decent luck this time, winning around 10 bucks (we only played 10 cents/20 cents) but given Nic's lack of finances, I naturally didn't collect. We were falling asleep by the end of it as the last round was only completed around 4am. Quite a day, just like it was in the good old days.
8 January 2008
Dover Close East Adventures and Eastern Promises
I ended up making a visit to ACJC today. This came after I invited Mei out to watch a movie, which turned out to be Eastern Promises. She mentioned that a group of recently graduated students were making a trip back in order to attend a KI lecture (Mei, Charmaine and Deborah) and I decided to tag along.Upon arrival, we were given a task by the great guru Mr Daniel Tan himself. Apparently, he was giving an introductory lecture on knowledge, and he thought it a good idea to do the whole Matrix red pill/blue pill thing. Having had our idea of using Panadol Menstrual tablets for the 'red pill' (apparently the pills had to be properly edible), Char managed to obtain breath mints that were pinkish and light bluish respectively. I couldn't help but note that the blue pills were very similar in colour to Viagra (thank you Rob Linham for this horrendously inappropriate and useless piece of knowledge).
The lecture went on well enough and I curbed my enthusiasm for heckling Mr Tan (why else would one go back to attend a KI lecture?) I instead managed some asides to Debs and Char instead while attempting not to be too much of a nuisance. It was also nice bumping into some of my former colleagues in the staff room, including Candida and Wendy, though I wish I could have spoken to many of the others. I did manage a few witty and sarcastic remarks (one hopes!) to Miss Ganga J in passing.
Then it was off to watch the movie. Eastern Promises was violent and shocking. That was hardly surprising given director David Croenenberg's B-grade horror background. I saw poor Mei cover her eyes with her sweater during some of the more realistic scenes, and I don't blame her. A full review of the movie will be put up at City Flickers.
30 June 2007
Refurnishings and Reunions
I agreed to meet The Sister at Ikea, as she desperately needed to get new furniture, a bookshelf and a desk in particular, and I've been meaning to get some replacement bookshelves for my room. I also wanted a storage unit that could be placed under my built in tabletop. It was an excuse to get some shopping done before heading over for a class reunion dinner at Corduroy and Finch on Bukit Timah Road.
Ikea was less crowded than we expected it to be, given that it was the final day before the GST hike and given the perennial dollar pinching, bargain hunting psyche of Singaporeans. In the end, I settled on some three relatively simple bookshelves and decided against putting doors on them as there would only be a rather narrow space between the bookshelves and my bed. Besides, the bookshelves would be placed against the wall facing away from the windows and out of direct sunlight.
Afterwards I headed over to Corduroy and Finch for dinner with my classmates from 2AH in ACJC. Quite stunning to think that it has been six and a half years since the whole lot of us were in JC together. In the end, eight of us showed up: Xinyi, Steph, Joy, Sam, Brian, Babs, Victor and myself. It was fantastic catching up for the first time since September last year. I arrived rather late thanks to the horrendous taxi queue at Ikea which I half innocently managed to jump (don't ask - I know I shall be consigned to a special hell for those people jumping long taxi queues let alone queues with people pushing trolleys full of huge bulky items).
It was certainly good to catch up. Victor, we learned, had just returned from a 6 month exchange in Japan, the lucky boy. XY was working as a psychiatrist, Babs and Joy of course were teaching and Brian was about to start at my sister's alma mater no less. I think that the general agreement was that nobody had changed all that much personality and character wise. I was especially pleased to see XY, whom I hadn't had a chance to meet up with since my JC days. I was pleasantly surprised to learn she was keen on salsa dancing; she more so when I told her my parents danced salsa often!
On the whole, Corduroy and Finch was a great place in terms of decor - I love the two tiered seating and the movie screen playing scenes from old Charlie Chaplin and James Bond movies. The food was decent but unspectacular and overpriced in my opinion, with the menu featuring an eclectic mix of Italian, French and British cuisine. It certainly seems like a place trying to be hip and trendy and "fusion" but not in any particularly exciting, innovative or interesting way.
Afterwards, the group repaired to The Old Brown Shoe for drinks since it was relatively nearby. This was when Sandhu made her grand appearance and brought the house down as usual. The rest of us were left bewildered, stunned and quite amused by her descriptions of shopping for a new toilet bowl with her family and her invitation to head over to her place to try the wonderful new Japanese made model (it even washes your bum for you!) once it was installed. That was followed by a seemingly endless stream of good natured chatter and gossip despite her protestations at being "tired". It is good to know that some things are destined never to change.
Ikea was less crowded than we expected it to be, given that it was the final day before the GST hike and given the perennial dollar pinching, bargain hunting psyche of Singaporeans. In the end, I settled on some three relatively simple bookshelves and decided against putting doors on them as there would only be a rather narrow space between the bookshelves and my bed. Besides, the bookshelves would be placed against the wall facing away from the windows and out of direct sunlight.
Afterwards I headed over to Corduroy and Finch for dinner with my classmates from 2AH in ACJC. Quite stunning to think that it has been six and a half years since the whole lot of us were in JC together. In the end, eight of us showed up: Xinyi, Steph, Joy, Sam, Brian, Babs, Victor and myself. It was fantastic catching up for the first time since September last year. I arrived rather late thanks to the horrendous taxi queue at Ikea which I half innocently managed to jump (don't ask - I know I shall be consigned to a special hell for those people jumping long taxi queues let alone queues with people pushing trolleys full of huge bulky items).
It was certainly good to catch up. Victor, we learned, had just returned from a 6 month exchange in Japan, the lucky boy. XY was working as a psychiatrist, Babs and Joy of course were teaching and Brian was about to start at my sister's alma mater no less. I think that the general agreement was that nobody had changed all that much personality and character wise. I was especially pleased to see XY, whom I hadn't had a chance to meet up with since my JC days. I was pleasantly surprised to learn she was keen on salsa dancing; she more so when I told her my parents danced salsa often!
On the whole, Corduroy and Finch was a great place in terms of decor - I love the two tiered seating and the movie screen playing scenes from old Charlie Chaplin and James Bond movies. The food was decent but unspectacular and overpriced in my opinion, with the menu featuring an eclectic mix of Italian, French and British cuisine. It certainly seems like a place trying to be hip and trendy and "fusion" but not in any particularly exciting, innovative or interesting way.
Afterwards, the group repaired to The Old Brown Shoe for drinks since it was relatively nearby. This was when Sandhu made her grand appearance and brought the house down as usual. The rest of us were left bewildered, stunned and quite amused by her descriptions of shopping for a new toilet bowl with her family and her invitation to head over to her place to try the wonderful new Japanese made model (it even washes your bum for you!) once it was installed. That was followed by a seemingly endless stream of good natured chatter and gossip despite her protestations at being "tired". It is good to know that some things are destined never to change.
29 June 2007
Transformers
I managed to catch Transformers on friday night with the Girlfriend at Lido. Just in case you were wondering, she agreed to watch it of her own volition and was actually quite keen to see it. She was amused by but declined my offer to watch Nancy Drew with her in exchange (she wasn't interested).
Having watched the cartoon and played with the toys as a kid, I was definitely looking forward to the movie. All in all it was definitely great fun, with fantastic special effects, particularly the seamless blending of live action and CGI. Gone are the clunky block like shapes of the cartoons - these transformers look frighteningly real. There were of course the usual plot holes but overall the movie did itself a favour by not trying to take itself too seriously. That provided lots of laugh out loud moments particularly one involving the Transformers trying to hide themselves from a teenage boy's parents (despite being over 10 metres tall) by secreting themselves around various parts of his house. There were also numerous digs at the internet age, eBay and your usual awkward adolescent jock vs geek moments.
Purists will complain about the fact that Bumblebee is not a Volkswagen Beetle (due to sponsorship deals between the studio and car manufacturers no doubt) and Optimus Prime seems to mysteriously have lost his trailer. But then again, MI6 seems to provide James Bond with a different car each time, depending on which car manufacturer bids the highest. Besides, the original transformers cartoon was a thinly disguised excuse for Hasbro to sell toys. All in all, this was good brainless entertainment, which is what you would expect from a summer blockbuster. In that sense, it does follow the spirit of the original cartoon to the letter.
I also had the chance to meet up with Tim and Vanessa for dinner (along with the Sister), although I made the big mistake of suggesting Orchard Road on the last day of the Great Singapore Sale. I tried booking a table at Ichiban Boshi at Wisma, but they refused reservations. In the end, after waiting for half an hour, we gave up and tried Wheelock Place where the queues were even longer.
The Sister suggested Far East Plaza, where after a short detour to Sunny where I bought the latest sequel in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series and I bought Murakami's latest novel along with Mark Haddon's (of The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time fame) latest for the Sister. We soon found almost every restaurant completely full, including the random kopitiam style eateries on the fifth floor. In the end, half starved, we found a random Thai place and I finished dinner just in time to make my 9.45pm movie (this after meeting at 7.30pm for dinner).
Having watched the cartoon and played with the toys as a kid, I was definitely looking forward to the movie. All in all it was definitely great fun, with fantastic special effects, particularly the seamless blending of live action and CGI. Gone are the clunky block like shapes of the cartoons - these transformers look frighteningly real. There were of course the usual plot holes but overall the movie did itself a favour by not trying to take itself too seriously. That provided lots of laugh out loud moments particularly one involving the Transformers trying to hide themselves from a teenage boy's parents (despite being over 10 metres tall) by secreting themselves around various parts of his house. There were also numerous digs at the internet age, eBay and your usual awkward adolescent jock vs geek moments.
Purists will complain about the fact that Bumblebee is not a Volkswagen Beetle (due to sponsorship deals between the studio and car manufacturers no doubt) and Optimus Prime seems to mysteriously have lost his trailer. But then again, MI6 seems to provide James Bond with a different car each time, depending on which car manufacturer bids the highest. Besides, the original transformers cartoon was a thinly disguised excuse for Hasbro to sell toys. All in all, this was good brainless entertainment, which is what you would expect from a summer blockbuster. In that sense, it does follow the spirit of the original cartoon to the letter.
I also had the chance to meet up with Tim and Vanessa for dinner (along with the Sister), although I made the big mistake of suggesting Orchard Road on the last day of the Great Singapore Sale. I tried booking a table at Ichiban Boshi at Wisma, but they refused reservations. In the end, after waiting for half an hour, we gave up and tried Wheelock Place where the queues were even longer.
The Sister suggested Far East Plaza, where after a short detour to Sunny where I bought the latest sequel in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series and I bought Murakami's latest novel along with Mark Haddon's (of The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time fame) latest for the Sister. We soon found almost every restaurant completely full, including the random kopitiam style eateries on the fifth floor. In the end, half starved, we found a random Thai place and I finished dinner just in time to make my 9.45pm movie (this after meeting at 7.30pm for dinner).
22 June 2007
Dragonfly
I finally managed to catch up with Ariel yesterday, when we hightailed it down to Dragonfly at St James Powerhouse. I rang her quite late in the afternoon, and managed to organize the whole evening at short notice. It was also a chance for her to meet up with her old friends from Devil's Bar days Ice and Stephanie who are both working at St James now.
It turned out to be a far later night than I had planned - got back past 3am, and of course had to wake up for work the next morning. It was kind of a very addictive let loose kind of evening, with classic 80s retro hits interspersed with the wonderful sets that Dragonfly is known for, complete with lots of over the top costumes. That helped to offset the fact that I couldn't understand more than half the songs, especially those sung in Cantonese.
My parents have definitely embraced the clubbing lifestyle and it's easy to see the appeal in the drinking and partying. There is a kind of abandon that can be found beneath the pounding beat and bright lights that makes it an ideal escape from reality. However, I have also learned that it is a lifestyle replete with its own politics and complications and issues.
Everyone sometimes needs a chance to drink and forget. But ultimately, you don't want to be hit even harder by reality when you wake up the next morning.
It turned out to be a far later night than I had planned - got back past 3am, and of course had to wake up for work the next morning. It was kind of a very addictive let loose kind of evening, with classic 80s retro hits interspersed with the wonderful sets that Dragonfly is known for, complete with lots of over the top costumes. That helped to offset the fact that I couldn't understand more than half the songs, especially those sung in Cantonese.
My parents have definitely embraced the clubbing lifestyle and it's easy to see the appeal in the drinking and partying. There is a kind of abandon that can be found beneath the pounding beat and bright lights that makes it an ideal escape from reality. However, I have also learned that it is a lifestyle replete with its own politics and complications and issues.
Everyone sometimes needs a chance to drink and forget. But ultimately, you don't want to be hit even harder by reality when you wake up the next morning.
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