Supa-Dupa

Featuring DA GIRLS, Bloss and Winnie (and me)...at Bangkok's Airport Lounge, before our flight back home. Can't believe it's almost a year since that trip!


In memory of my pornstar-aviator-bling-bling sunglasses (somebody stole it in Kerala..dayymmmm)

Today on Oprah

Today on the Oprah Show, I came across something interesting..

"Young girls today are more afraid of getting fat than a nuclear war, cancer or losing their family"

--Study finding by the University of Colorado.

Makes you think, huh.

"Swashbuckling"

Is there no OTHER word to describe adventure-crazy pirates? I've been hearing/watching a LOT of reviews of the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (and I mean, a LOT), and I've come across that word at least 4 times per review!!

Like come on, find another word to describe pirates..swashbuckling, swashbuckling, swashbuckling, swashbucckllinngggg, bleugh.

And for those who watched the movie, could anyone tell me what was the POINT of going to that cannibal-filled island?? It was funny and all (perhaps the funniest part of the movie), but whhhyyyy, pray tell...i think it was just to feature Johnny Depp..stoopid Orlando Bloom kept popping up everywhere else in the damn movie. And don't get me started on Keira Knightly..double-bleugh

The 24-hour Mega-Shop

Singapore has this shop- it's called Muhammed Mustafa & Sons (or Mustafa). It's the highlight of any Indian tourist to Singapore. And it's open TWENTY-FOURS-A-DAY-7-DAYS-A-WEEK-365/6 DAYS-A-YEAR. Yeah, I know... freeeeeky..but it is open non-stop. And sure, since S'pore is Shopping Capital, u DO get insomniancs going down at 4am to shop (i've never done that, but Winnie has =p )

Besides the fact that you can get almost EVERYTHING (from Massage chairs to blood-glucose-testers to DVDs to Rolex watches to GOLD to diapers to cold-storage FISH to really horrendous clothes to suitcases to Adidas shoes to Squash rackets to IBM laptops to..you get the point, at afforadable prices), you ALSO get lousy service and long queues (neat eh! what a deal!!). All this and MORE, especially on Sunday nights.. you'd either be craazzyyy or sadly masochistic to go to Mustafa on a Sunday night. If you're looking for a night of more pain than pleasure, I suggest a Sunday night...but you again get the point.

Anyway, on my way home today I saw a bus with a Mustafa "One-stop Non-stop shopping centre" ad painted on its exterior. And it had an Indian female as its model. Pearly whites, brown skin, dark brown eyes and all.

It struck me as strange. This has been honestly the first time I've seen an Indian model on a public bus ad (but I'm sure there are others, probably in non-East parts of s'pore =p). Perhaps i became used to seeing Indians as models when I was on my traineeship in India, but I had also become so used to seeing non-Indians as models in S'pore, that when I saw this today, I felt it as, you know, Weird. I think i've officially been re-integrated back into Singapore. The cycle has ended =)

He gave me the KS as my farewell gift!!

Thank you for that, Alok =)
*Paneer Butter Masala (PBM) and Jeera Rice forever!!!*

Alok, my terrific colleague at my traineeship-company! (Yeah, he's tall!)

I'm NOT getting old...or am i??

I was in Vancouver, Canada 4 years ago on a student exchange program. My floormate and good friend Estee was 22 and I was 19yrs old. I remember observing her and her behaviour and thinking that she was so composed, mature, and well, OLD..not like 22 was a bad old-old age or anything, but it was an age to be respected..tw-en-tee-t-oo..imagine that.

But when I turned 22 last year, i felt nothing, nada, zilch (maybe it was cos i was in Europe then, and everyone said I looked 15..sheesh..)..well, my last birthday had an anti-climax in that aspect, but that's besides the point.

Today's my ex-trainee-but-still-a-close-friend Patrick's birthday. He said in his email to me that he remembers thinking when he was 22, that he'll do this-this-this by the time he turns 26. And he's 26 today. It got ME thinking now. I turn 23 in 2 weeks (pause for a *HINTTT*)..i should probably start making one of those "when-i-turn-26-i.e.-another-slimy-word-for-THIRTY" promises to myself.

Well, since 'I'm so free, i'm gonna think about that for the next 2 weeks.
For one thing, when I'm 26, I wanna live life with the same devil-may-care-ness that I have 'til now. But, lately, I notice that attitude diminishing..I'm not turning..yuck.."serious", am i?!?...schiesse, schiesse schiesse!!! Naah, can't happen =p wouldn't let it happen!!

But I DO wonder if 19yr olds today would look up at me (hey, get the short jokes out of ur head) and tell me that i'm composed, mature and NOT old.

Ahh, the World Cup

YES, i'm the typical girl..i watch football for the guys. well, not so much for the GUYS (maybe a bit), but more for their antics. There's something pretty darn funny about the way they go around tripping each other, acting so bloody in pain (while getting up and going the moment after another player smacks their bottom), and the way they really show their camaraderie (yeah, even rivals can be nice to each other..sometimes =p). It's a good game, when played in the right spirit, bla bli bloo.

Jergen Klinsmann, Germany's pretty-darn-cute coach, really is an interesting character to watch. His maniac-like involvement in any game that Germany plays is pretty intense, and he has a pretty hot-looking side-kick too (yeah, i'm a woman..so let me be). Plus it's always funny to see the coach jump and run around when his players score. Puts a smile to your face, for sure. And he's cute, but I already mentioned that =p

And then, there's Germany's Goalie Jens Lehmann. I was always pretty impressed with Germany's intricate preparation (strategies etc) for every match. What struck me most was the prep before they went against Argentina for the penalty shoot-outs. Lehmann was captured reading a piece of paper, which probably had info. on all the ARgentinian players striking ways etc..and he was clearly refreshing his mind/memorising them..in any case, it seemed to have helped cos he performed preettyy well.

But what's reaallyy funny was how Straits Times writer Tay Yek Keak poked fun at him today.

"I was hoping just before the Italians scored their two late goals that the match would go into penalties. Normally, I hate penalties as much as I hate rising cab fares but the German goalie, Jens Lehmann, aka Crazy Jens because he goes into inexplicable dark moods at Arsenal, is a funny guy who talks to himself and stuffs pieces of paper into his sock.

In the shoot-out against Argentina, he took out the paper and read the instructions from his coach about which opponent was going to kick where and saved two of them. I wanted to see Jens take out the paper against the Italians and read 'Eggs, broccoli, ham' and realise in front of millions that he'd pulled out his wife's grocery list by mistake.

An Italian paper joked that there's no magic formula in that piece of paper. It just contained a message from Klinsmann that said, 'If you don't make these saves, I'm going to break your neck.' "

(Tay Yek Keak, Straits Times Life!, 6 July 2006)

Well, at least we get a chance to see Germany play again this Saturday. Looking forward, would be fun =) I wanna see more prancing around =D

The Sunday Paper

I've always liked reading the Sunday Times, mainly 'cos it's 88pages in 3 parts as opposed to the average daily newspapers' 216 pages in 8 parts. I think we can do without the information-overload once a week.
I also have this habit of keeping the best for last, namely the Comics and Horoscopes section in the Sunday-Lifestyle paper. But now and then (not always, unfortunately), we get to read a treat of an article from Ms. Sumiko Tan, who writes in the 'Reflect' section.

If there ever was a writer I admire, it's Sumiko Tan. She's up-front with her feelings and her life, and I feel that she speaks the truth, right from her heart. Never mind if she's talking about zits, her travel plans, her work scene, her dog, her view-on-life..i feel, i know, it's the truth. Here's someone trusts you enough to tell you something truthful. (well, of couurrseee you could think that she and whoever else is making things up to get increased readership, but let's try to be simple and leave the marketing ploys out of this for once).

And I also like her analysis on things..maybe it's 'cos i think along the same lines as her and can connect with her analyses. Like her article today. She was writing about World Cup 2006 and how winning the games can be applied to climbing up the corporate ladder. Some excerpts:

“Talent is No.1--- To win football or in the working world, there's no running
away from the need to have talent. You must be blessed with it -- loads of it.
... But it makes up (I'd say) 70 per cent. Whether you finally reach the top
also depends on your strategy (10%), opportunities that come your way (10%) and
pure luck (10%).”

“Don’t peak too early – The teams that eventually win big tournaments are the
ones who play so-so during the group stages so that they don’t burn out, but
peak at the right time. … In the same way, you should work smart in the
office. There’s no need to give 150 % to every assignment. Pace yourself and
reserve the big effort for work that will get you recognized.”

Well..just a little bit from Sumiko Tan, but it really does make you think a bit more about life. Neat analysis.