You 2

All of you,
incredible in your own

varied adjectives

Haha, the ones without their masculinity
what do they do?
Hide behind their facades,
their foolish idiosyncrasies,
their elaborate ruses,
their, their, their!

Mon dieu,
Sacre Bleu,
The blue skies,
cotton balls, wrung out,
no longer able to hold,
much like the ink that is part of your books,
the books you let fall,
Lady Arwen, with her pale white hands,

Creame Fraise,
Slippers,
Cod,
Boots,
The all, the entirety, the whoopie,
Aite, aite, Ah'ma Gon get choo a real ride.

Ah. mMph

phew.

Chapter 3

Entrez Vous

She stepped into the white room. Your heart stops for a second, and then it resumes normal service to various points on your body, albeit at a speed similar to that of the TGV. Somehow, the whole oxygen-carbon dioxide-hydrogen mix of the atmosphere seems to change, seems to thicken, seems to weigh you down so that even standing becomes difficult, perspiration is forced out of your pores, right onto your underarms, leaving that unsightly dark spot under your 250 Dollar shirt.

No,

Never...

Why? How come?

That fantasy in your head, again and again evaporated long ago. Hours, minutes? No, no, my sweet, months, years ago.

You replaced it with this.

She stepped into the white room. The children around her stop for one second, marveling at her presence and carry on with their varied actions, their varied... devastations of the family furniture. She drops the briefcase on the floor, and picks up her blackberry, looking at the message flagged in red hearts. She smiles knowingly, at the knowledge of the elicit rendezvous that would occur not many minutes from that moment. You, have no idea of this of course, all you know is that she's the one for you, she thinks you're just the one of many. When did they take all the control? Haha, they always did, and men trying to even pretend to have any sort of control are only fooling themselves.

Penang Kitchen

I must warn you, that this post includes some very graphic Food porn. Those with weaker dispositions are thusly warned. I also would like to point out that pregnant women with weird food related moods swings can become violent after reading/seeing pictures on this blog and by continuing to read you agree to indemnify me and Blogger of any injuries incurred upon yourself or the people around you.

This Thursday began as all Thursdays did, as I got up at 0545 to switch on the water heater. I heard my cell phone play an alarm tone, I lept out of bed, flung my blankie asunder and hit the switch. A fraction of a second later, I was back in bed, with the covers pulled up to my Chin. 0600 my tiny little blue alarm clock sounded, screaming an aria that only a badly manufactured alarm clock can produce, awakening the entire neighbourhood and more. Jump forward to the end of the day, because all I can tell you about my day at work was that I was seriously bored with nothing to do and no prospects and the sky so ominously overcast. Though I can tell you that today was the first time I went out of the HQ SCDF compound to get lunch, and it wasn't even for myself HA.

Anyway, Dinner. I got out of the house and wandered across the overhead bridge, not knowing what exactly to eat, then I remembered what my 4th Uncle said to me last night about trying the Penang food, bless him for not being able to get outta the house poor soul what with Jetlag and all, anyway... I entered the restaurant and plonked myself down on the table closest to the door, being the fat lazy arse that I am. This wonderful little lady, came and passed me a bright Yellow menu that was laminated. I ordered and sat waiting for my food to come.

First, the drink. It was Nutmeg and Lime. Now I thought, whot the...? But to be perfectly honest, it was really really good. The nutmeg taste was subtle but present, not too strong to overpower the sweetness of the lime but lending an altogether delightful sweetness to a drink that I absolutely loved. I don't have a pic to show but I can say that even though the colour, a lightish brown, was alittle off putting the taste MORE than compensated for it.

Next up, my Main. Shown clearly below
Isn't it something, evidently from the picture, I've already done alittle digging around the pile of Penang Style Fried Noodles with Seafood and Gravy, but who could resist no? The vegetables included were Kailan which is not normal for a dish like this but somehow seemed right, and the usual Chinese spring onions, with some fried shallots as well. I was throughly overwhelmed by the simplicity of this dish. Its ingredients stood by themselves and the yellow noodles' subtle bitter taste was more than compensated for by the liberal use of dark sauce. I am not a fan of the watery fried noodle but Penang Kitchen has definitely changed my mind about it.

Next up is the ever delicious fried Chicken wing. Yes, yes its a cliche, yes, its artery clogging, yes I'm fat, we know all that. We also know that the ladies flock to my yard, and they're like its better than yours, damn right, its better than yours, I could teach you.. you know the story:D. Anyway... AND, TA DA!So, these wings, had really really crispy outer covering. I mean the likes of which are classically Asian I think. I mean from KFC's examples of chicken have throughly soft skins, but I digress. These chicken wings were coated with what I think was Shrimp paste, and I think I tasted a hint of Chinese 5 Spice. But whatever, it was really good. More than worth the 5 dollars I paid for just 3 pieces.

So overall this place gets 4 stars out of 5. The service was really good though I was saddened to hear that the lady who served me was leaving after today. Many many props to her for making this meal of mine memorable. The atmosphere was very well done, though I could have appreciated more grit. It was almost too clean to be serving food, then again, I'm just being a quibbly little Biatch:P. I LOVED IT! Why am I ruining it by slagging it off.

P.S. While I was at Fairprice later, I happened upon a Mediacorp Channel 8 actor, who's if I'm not wrong Huang Biren's Husband. Eitherway it was at the Coronation Plaza Fairprice so, yeah.
Peace out y'all.

Me looking all weird

This is me trying out my new 3.2 megpix cybershot phone thank you Sony Ericsson. I loves you lots!

I actually blogged this from my Cell, but it costs moola to do that :( Sads!

I Can't Get Used To It

I can't get used to it,
the brevity,
of your emotion.
There was much to be said,
and in the wee hours,

It felt like yesterday,
just before my sleep today though.

I can't get used to it.
How it all changes,
everything, life the everlasting.
Forget.

Don't forget,
It wasn't yesterday. It wasn't today.
It was last week,
You broke it,
I had to fix it.

I can't get used to it,
As a guy, its part of me,
its all me, I need to fix something
I need something to fix.

Stand next to me,
No, don't
because I don't see you there.
I just see

Shoulders.

Drink me.

A Day Late

This post comes a day late. It seems to me this post needs to come in a Sans Serif font.

Eitherway, 10 months of sweet bitterness has come to a timely end. I cannot and will not assign blame, (IT WAS ALL HER!) I cannot and will not talk about it, (BITCHES TO ALL THE GUYS WHO'LL LISTEN), I cannot and will not throw myself off a building, (THROWS HIMSELF INTO WORK), I cannot and will not do something stupid, (GOES OFF AND BUYS A CAR... EVEN THOUGH HE CAN'T DRIVE). Hi, My name is Chandler, I use jokes as a defense mechanism.

Most importantly, I will get over it.

Now moving swiftly along into other importante news. Spent a good night out with pals from the bad old days of SSIShood. Went down to the newly opened Hedkandi place, called Kandi bar. Wow! Really nice chillout bar, with appropriate MoS music and hella fun to sit outside and get over your ex, with appropriate short skirts and tight tight jeans.

Mmm, Champagne to celebrate the death of your relationship with a few of your guys back from the day... I really do love how some things just happen to be timed perfectly. Actually, I'm very lucky that in my life, I've been blessed with rather good timing. Going for the IB completely changed my educational career, going to SSIS completely changed the way I saw the world, in the most positive way, going to NS well, it just gives me time to think everything through.

I need comfort food, AH MA!!!!

The Fools

Don't lie,
even when you don't intend to,
even when the lies are small,
insignificant almost.

Don't sarcase,
because for lack of a better word,
all too much sarcasm,
cynicism,
devours us.

Don't assume,
all too often now we assume too much,
our intelligence getting ahead of us,
positions of inadequacy.

Don't eat too many cookies,
you'll get fat.

Don't be a fool,
You'll never manage to break the record,
for most sausages eaten in 12 minutes,
You'll never be normal or whole,
You'll should never sing.

Songs.

Ok I'm done with this poem. There seems to be not enough going on in my life, and yet some days it feels like I couldn't have a better life, with friends, family and all that all throughly thrown together in a mix of wondrous and godawfully bad. Kinda like a salad with a bad dressing.

The mess of modernity compels us to be the best at whatever we do, to be perfection and more. To give your 110%. To excel, to achieve excellence. Go Humanity!

You're an imperfect being created by an imperfect being...
- The Borg Queen

Clerk!

Why an exclamation mark you might ask? Well the answer is simple. I am a Clerk in Training now. I shout out Clerk Course in an exclamation of unity with the rest of my Clerks in training, whenever we get dismissed or greet a superior officer.

I just realised that I haven't blogged at all about all my time in BRT. Its strange but cannot be helped. It was a mass of 7 weeks, filled with pain, suffering, sweetness, with the tang of human sweat. Not a nice sight, smell, etc. I swear to you. Nevertheless, I've come out of it all, that much more appreciative of the things that are in my life. The iPods, the cellular phones, the MSN contacts that I maintain. These little things make my life all the more bearable.

Thank You, the ladies in my life. Without Grandmama, Both of you I wouldn't be walking around. Without the pretty girls waiting all over the world, I'd be alone.

Thank you, Dad, coz well You're Dad. And Mom, Coz you're the only Mom worth having.

Casino Royale

The cool breeze as you step
into the room.
Your eyes, with a glance takes it in,
the knowledge that the room knows
Knows you are here.

The old whales, they stoop over their chips,
the young and fab, want to bed you.
And yes, she arrives.

She who is yours simply because you're you.
You're the inevitable embrace,
and grace,
bodies intertwined.

The demonstration of your powers, your license.
Your own decisions, the life, death, the love.
Its all there. Take it with the responsibility?
No, take it with a martini, shaken.

Deck of cards. Aces
A stare from the Sharp.
You know as always, the fate of the free world
in your hands. And yes, everything ends.

Orbis Non Sufficit. You need to be Bond, just for once, for
the once in a while.

The Expected

The expected,

The expected is what came.
What came to you in a flash of light.
When you know its going to happen.
A deja vu
Almost.

You cannot help but ask why.
Why me?
Why did it come to me?

I expected it.
I did
Did expect it

Did I?
Why is this poem even called The Expected?

The phone rang and I was thinking,
just before about something mundane.
Something material, Something that always becomes insignificant.

Just before.
You know before the night falls
The Shadow
Just before they arrive.
I must be there!

I must make sure that this is not the end.
No, Never The End.
Fair Enough.

You expected it didn't you? Didn't you?!
If you did, then why are you being a little Puss.
A Puss which mews

She's my grandmother.

A Lack Of Faith

By the time you were Six,
Your mother told you,
those few stories...

What about the knowledge you held,
to be true? All your youthful learnings.
All those dusty books with self-confident learned words,
What happened when modernity
stepped into your life?

You found your faith unable to cope
With the fear.
Horror.
That this century has provided.
And yet you know His name.

His name which echoes in different languages
Everyone knows Him.

What about I?
My mother told me no stories!
What little I learned, I gleaned from Grandmama.
With her rituals and how she taught me.

She would tell me that I would be protected by Guan Yin.
When I prayed for good results, for safe passage.
And I've got that. I've got all that.
Did I really believe in Her?
A part of me would shout out yes.
But only to be drowned again by the learned men, the white suits, the pocket protectors.

How does one lose his faith.
If he never had one in the first place.
Did I ever have faith?
Faith in science? - Bullcrud.
That's a load of crap. Its everchanging state, its points and counterpoints, its constant need to evolve and better itself.
How can one have faith in that? That which inspires so little faith, that even its own scientists try to disprove themselves.

But to believe... To truly believe. I can't do that!
I just can't! I need proof.
Not want. Not desire.
Need.
I have nothing to feel faith for/towards/onto.
How I wish I could taste them all,
Just a sample then... A taste of faith. Without the whole need to devote
Mind Body Soul.

Need?
Need.

2/3: The Truths

*This Poem starts here *

The Pop happens.
And she's there.

The truth seems to finally be revealed to you!
The flowers seem to bloom.
The sky opens up,
Azure in all its beauty.

Where was she all this time!
This Venus. This Carravagio of vibrancy.
Hiding? Where you shouldn't find her.
Where you must not find her!

She tells you the truth.
Because its convienent for her.
The beauty of modernity,
We crave convienence
Hence we find it everywhere. Anywhere.
Even in the glory of the bounties
shed upon us through her light.

Darkness.

3/3 Click Me!

The Last Day

All right then. Today's the last day before I get sent into indentured servitude with my country. Unlike the Americans, it isn't for 7 years but for two, and unlike the Americans, I am not one of those "redemptioners, victims of religious or political persecution, persons kidnapped for the purpose, convicts, and paupers." So yeah. I guess I'm in a better place than the servants of the 17th century.

This post starts off on a dark note, as all posts before entrance into National Service should. I've spent today doing various things. I've received blessing of sorts from Guan Yin. I have had a meal at Carl's Jr. I've been watching Desperate Housewives and of course did my ironing. *well Mom did, bless her soul, but I must make it sound all manly and go I did it.* Hmm, what else does my English educated ass have to say.

I leave all my stuff to... LOL Kidding. That's way too dark and well, probably unappreciated humour. Then again who cares. Though I think Hue would get the PC, and the Xbox. Momma and Dad would get the rest of the stuff in the house and charity would prolly get the money? Lol, though inheritance taxes may come into play... Hm... I made it dark either way, which is once again the point of such a wonderful little send off post.

Ok. Lets see, Will: Done
Dark thingymajiggy: Done
Long words: Used
Oh yeah, Last and certainly not the least! I'm off to Camp EA 06 later on. That's so Sweet eh?! Get to check out games from the upcoming Christmas season before its even released!

Here's the day you hoped would never come.

The day you hoped would never come. That was today for me. Now gather close my pretties, while I tell you the story.

I woke up two days back and noticed I couldn't call out from my home phone. Starhub had blocked my phone number because they hadn't received any payment from me for my telephone number. Now therein laid the problem. I HAD infact been dutifully paying my bills, JUST not for what I thought was a telephone bill which I though was rolled into my Cable and Internet bills. Starhub had noted my address for the telephone bill INCORRECTLY. How on earth that happened while they got the correct address for my CABLE AND INTERNET bills is beyond me. However, I proceeded to get this issue resolved. and thus swiftly, it was beautifully brought to a conclusion. I paid my bill without too much fuss from a wildly sympathetic and helpful girl at the customer service center in Plaza Singapura. And was on my merry way.

ALSO my Nokia cellphone decided that now was a great time to die on me. Specifically the RINGER that is. I was vastly disappoint yesterday when at 8:15 PM at night while I was just alittle late from riding the bus with my wonderful Gloria to Bishan MRT, the customer service had to shoot me what I thought must have been the dirtiest look ever, like I was a retard and a pile of steaming poo lying on the ground. I was like ok FINE. But today when I went there at 5ish everything was beautiful. It must be the lack of sleep/overdose of cellphone smells that gave these people bad dispositions at 8 o clock. But now, as my cellphone is at the Nokia Care Center being fixed, I'm cellphoneless. No matter, I decided to find myself a replacement, for situations like this and such. Because you never know when you need a replacement cell.

I got myself a Samsung X160. Frankly a better phone than my 6021. The user interface has SOME tiny quirks that I can forgive it for in the main just Samsung style quirks. But I mean for the lack of bluetooth, it is THE perfect phone. HUGE Phonebook. Sigh, the lack of Bluetooth is infuriatingish. But I am seriously considering giving my Dad my 6021. Or My bro. Coz his phone could seriously use a refresh. HINT HINT Hue. Trade in your old one get a new one for yourself and give the 6021 to dad. See such a simple plan. MUAHAHA. Or Not, I may want both for myself. One for weekdays and one 2 party with:P LOL I'm a Fone whore.

A Day In Suzhou

Yes, Suzhou, Venice of the Orient. Where rampant construction has not yet touched this pristine and beautiful country, tourism has arrived, and in the best way possible. I shall begin, with the picture of the street outside the Humble Administrator's Garden.

Ah yes, The Humble Administrator's Garden, 拙政园, a beautiful garden, full of life, beauty and more that cannot even be stated in words alone. The entrance fee of 70RMB aside, it is truly a sight to behold one of THE reasons to even visit Suzhou. What is so special about this garden, is probably its size, its variety of flora, and the way which all this beauty comes together in glorious harmony. We in Suzhou are blessed, truly blessed to hold one of the world's treasures, treasure it we must.

The above picture of a tea house, is typical of such Chinese gardens and can be found almost always filled with smoking Chinese men and women, a performer, in this case a person playing a Chinese instrument and singing in the local dialect.

A feature of the Chinese garden which often surprises people is the common appearance of buildings, this can be a little disconcerting for the average non-local. However we must remember that these gardens were meant for private use in the past and often was integrated into the houses of the Elite in Chinese society.

Something which I found extremely beautiful which is rather unique to 拙政园 is the number of lotus plants there, in the ponds. I thought it provided so much green and was incredibly pleasing to the eye, no wonder Monet loved painting his Lotus plants! Bamboo, Bamboo lined up all against a wall, totally reminiscent of the scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in the Bamboos dancing rather than fighting in those leaves. You can almost hear the HIYA-ing and the rustling of leaves.
We leave the garden with this picture of what to me truly is the Humble Administrator's Garden, Tourists, Lotus plants, Nice old Buildings and a serenity that seems to be a snapshot in time.

We move on to Tiger Hill, arguably Suzhou's No. 1 tourist spot, though oddly enough, and all the better for me, dear readers, a much better place to go to. 虎丘, has been over the years known by different names, in the past because of its proximity to the ocean, because of an Emperor's desire. We know it as 虎丘, simply because of a story, that as an Emperor was being buried in a tomb on Tiger Hill, a White Tiger was sighted passing by, the locals believed that this Tiger was the reincarnation of the Emporer, and renamed this Hill, Tiger Hill. A story much more interesting on the hill itself, with a bubbly 20-something tourguide telling it to you. Here is a picture of me and my 6th Uncle at the base of this Hill of 36 metres in height at its summit.

Directly behind us is the actual entrance of the hill, and behind that some metres up is this beautiful rock, named the 1000 Persons rock. This rock, as with most famous rocks that housed tombs in history is named thus because it required 1000 people to carve into such a beautiful shape and condition. The Emperor as is most Chinese Emperors in history was afraid that these people would tell others about the location of his tomb and his 宝剑, *Why should he care about his treasured swords! He's DEAD!* Either way, he had them slain, and that is why, we have the name 1000 Persons rock.

In this beautiful picture... of the scenery, we see a beautiful rock formation, shaped in a sword. This formation, is there simply because of the treasure it hides. The aforementioned Emperor's 宝剑. He hid them underneath the water, the fishies, in a sword shaped formation... Hm, why no one caught on is beyond me. Darn, or they did and didn't tell me bout' it!

This next picture is really unique. It is essentially the Leaning Tower of Pisa in China! Yes another Italian reference, wonder if its something in the water, first Venice then their tower, next thing, you know they'll be taking their noodles as well!

This picture shows the tilt more obviously and also throws in some of that beautiful greenery that we rarely see anywhere anymore.

Next we come across the 定园，strangly AKAed as the Calm Garden, nevertheless it is something special. Within the wall of this garder are these nice little boats where all the propelling power is provided by women, slim slender Chinese women, who sing as the row along, with 7 people in their boats, HA! See, we, Chinese people whup the asses of those smancy pants Venetian Gondoliers!

This garden is truly quite beautiful. The difference is it has this nice river within it, so there is slightly less flora here than at the Humble Administrator's. However there is a charm similar to 周庄, right here in the middle of Suzhou. 周庄 for those of you in the know, i.e. living outside of China, is that little town where they shot the whole Tom Cruise screaming ZHOU KAI scene in MI:3, in what must be the most Lao Wai accent you can think of at the hapless Chinese people whose only sin was smoking copious amounts of ciggies and spitting. This little garden was where I ended my tour of Suzhou, in a little garden not well known to tourists, but extremely beautiful and definately with its beauty, its flaws hidden by its stunning colours, tastes, smells and textures.

J'arrive

I am here, back so to speak, in the land of my fellow countrymen, the land of beauty and industrialisation. The Middle Kingdom. Yes, Ladies and Gents. I am here, In China. Those of you no doubt will find out later in the day. Haha, I kept it a surprise, yes, a surprise. To freak those of you out, especially in MUN. Oh god, it feels quite good to be back. Though, my head is spinning from lack of sleep and I really should be going off to bed now. As is probably quite plain to see, I am not up to my usual standards of blogging, and beg you, my dear reader's forgiveness. I am only human. There are things to do here, like get a testimonial from Mr House, and... er. Lol well Yea. Things to do. Yes busy busy busy. Like, wash my hair, breathe, sleep, run around neighing like a horse, buy turquoise jewelry, and handbags. See lots of things to do! So yea, Don't go telling me this trip will be a waste!

A Story

The writer sat at the table, completely assured of his abilities, forever certain that someday, he would in fact be able to pay the bill for his daily cuppa, rather than his mother, his wife, his father, his lies. The sheer torrent of words that mulled in his head gave his an all consuming desire to write, and yet the connection between the spongy material in his head and his writing implements seemed once again spotty, if he was a cellphone, his agent would be getting a "Our system is not getting a response from the subscriber's mobile phone, please try again later". Not that his agent didn't call, he did, everyday, hounding him for the next sure-fire sell-a-million book. No, he thought, let me write a bomb for once, let the critics roundly hate me, roundly criticise me for losing my knack, for no longer being able to write, for deciding to get lost in the streets of Shanghai. His own life, had been decided for him since he was born. He knew he had write even as he was in his mother's womb, or at least in a profession that let him write, law, journalism, even joining an airline, because he heard of the mounds of paperwork pilots had to fill out to get up in the sky. He considered them all, and yet, here he was, a Writer. A poor writer, but still a writer. People wondered, what the hell is he complaining about, he's only poor now! But the publishers love him, he had the the looks-ish, the charisma, a million girls would kill to be him and a million men would kill him. But of course, they couldn't know. He was after all, a writer. No writer can continue writing if there wasn't something gnawing away inside of him. Some repressed urge to express the un-expressable. Some observation that if revealed would shake the very foundations of the Earth. He hated that cliche even, that old cliche that said writers had to be sad, depressed and disappointed with his lot in life. He could be happy, he had just forgone that right when he chose his line of work.

He wrote everything, and anything. From literary fiction, that was the darling of the critics, to solid plotty stories, with heros and heroin, guns and roses, women and more women, men with well, men. He knew what appealed to the public, and seemed to have his finger sorely on the pulse of the popular, the fashionable, and the interesting. He always knew that his gift, would benefit him, and benefit him it did, he was in turns rich as a sultan and poor as a student, had a loving wife, that kept him firmly on the ground, through the good, bad, ugly and vile. She worked herself, as a sucessful agricultural enginner in Spain, so money was never really problem, even though he hold onto the belief that men had to be men, bring home the bacon and have a loving wife to fry the afore mentioned bacon. He was going to try for children, and if that didn't happen, as often it didn't if twentieth century media was to be believed, he was more than willing to adopt. Nothing could stop him, and here he was, stopping, sitting at a little cafe along Orchard road, sipping away at his cappucino. He had used up his last million buying that strange little casino down in Monte Carlo, that ended up getting squandered away. He was a poor, but sucessful writer. Money was bound to pour back in at some point, and he just had to wait. He didn't quite know what was around the corner. And his life for now, was a complete blank slate. He decided to just wait, because that was the card fate dealt him, all he could do was see what game was coming up, hell, if there was a game to be played.

Sarah walked up to him. Kissed him on his lips. He stared at her, and loved her. All over again, he loved her. She started talking about fashion, the police, and the fashion police. Everything she knew, she told the writer, knowing that somehow it would trickle into his writing, and she would get an acknoledgement in his book, with the appropriate kudos coming from her friends, relatives, and taxi-drivers. He was in a light haze. Happy for a moment, and he swiftly returned to his expressionless face, his look of intense studiousness. He knew she was cheating on him, and he cheated on her. They led a 20th century lifestyle afterall, but they were married, and they loved each other only. There was nothing else in their lives worth loving, so along they carried on, in their own merry way. Why not, they asked their friends who held more conservative views, after all, love is all that really matters, and after which they would insert a intelligent comment like, "Oh Gosh, I sound like a 60ies hippie!" Prompting laughter and a subject change. They knew the routine and used it often. Friends loved them, invited them to parties and knew they would provide excellent company, they on the other hand treated it like a mathematical excercise, if you practice it enough, it was no problem at all.

And, so after finishing his cappucino. He got up, paid his bill, and walked away, into the sunset. Singapore's multitudes soon swallowed him out, and he disappeared from sight. You, my dear reader, would wish him all the best, as him would continue to lead his life ever so typically, ever so wonderfully, and yet so normally. Who's to say that normalcy isn't perfectly beautiful, isn't perfect in itself.

Sinking In

So, I think I can officially say that the notion of joining the Civil Defense has sunk in. Its a strange combination of surreal, mixed with a tinge of fear, and complete and utter terror that I'll look bad in the uniform of the SCDF. Oh yeah and the fact that after a week in basic, I'll probably keel over and die. Literally, keel over, die... keeeeelllll, DIIIIEEE. Yes. I'm developing a flair for the dramatic, how sad. Living alone can do that to you. Hell, living alone can make you develop a love for the small things, the smell of the breeze, the taste of the water, the weird squelching sound you make when you slide around the sofa and yes, you even begin to think that this particular extended description is overused to the point of cliche isn't even that sad! And reading that last line makes me think that I'm also losing my ability to write clearly and concisely. Exactly what Mr House keeps warning against. Oh yes, I'm screwed.

For those of you wondering, I've not been drinking (to drink alone that'd be sad), I'm not amped up on Meth, and no, the painkillers are just for the dull ache in my heart. Love Y'all!

My 18th Birthday Champagne

Gather round my children, I shall tell you this interesting thing I learnt just now from my God Mother that happened after my birthday celebration. I went to the Lim Family (on my mother's side) family home(ish) and we had the whole shebang, by our own lofty standards. My contribution was 400 grams of meat. Yes, meat, but from Crystal Jade, so very very good meat. We went downstairs, me and my feisty grandmother, to the neighbourhood hawker centre, and bought a bunch of stuffs back home. Hokkien Mee, Stingray, yes, food that is artery clogging and yes its my birthday, so yes, I let my guard down. We also ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. It was surprisingly edible. (Of course, nothing compared to Pete's Place or Garibaldi's, don't strike me down, Gods of Italian Cuisine!!!) And who was to show up but my cousin in the air force, Xiang, along with the parental units. I really do like those members of the family, they are fun, and actually like technology! Like me, but on a slightly less fanatical level. (YES! Buy an Intel Core 2 Duo but not anything else!!! NO, No ATI, Nvidia all the way!!! 133t H8xx00rz!!!!)

Anyway, I brought along with my meat, two bottles of drinks, A bottle of Sparkling grape juice, and Champagne. Proper Champagne, from the Champagne region in France. The family finished off the Grape Juice in about 10 minutes, and didn't even touch the really really expensive stuff! It cost me 55SGD! (close to 300 RMB) I was a little disappointed, and I really can't hold my liquor, I guess its a family trait. So ne grave pas, I left it to my Grandmother to pass on to apparently the only drinker in the family, one of the sisters.

Turns out they didn't manage to give it off. What they did then, as I told them that Champagne goes bad *flat* in 3 days or so, was to put the champagne into whatever meat dishes they had during that week, and it turned out, "really really great lor!" I was throughly surprised, and a little disconcerted, but hey, my Grandmother at this point in her life managed to create a whole new genre of cooking, French haute cuisine-asian homestyle fusion! I'll call it Frangapore Style Cooking! Haha... Maybe I should ask for her recipes! Hell maybe I should sell her recipes!

Biennale Singapore: First One Ever

Fantastic isn't it, we are now the proud hosts of an event originally started by the ever fabulous Italians, the First Singapore Biennale!! And what better way to inaugurate an event than the slightly staid sounding IMF and World Bank Board of Governers Meeting. Looking at it sends chills down my spine!!!

The opening piece of installation art as seen below, was/is (could still be there)... very beautiful. If kid friendly. Which I believe is the whole point of art, coz if you can't even get your most innocent, most precocious members of the audience to appreciate your work, how can you get the more experienced, more educated members of your audience to appreciate it. To the creator's credit, I thought it was really something else, something so unique and beautiful, though shortlived.




My fervent apologies for the incredibly blurry pictures above, that's the problem with nightime shots, you can't use a flash if not everything else is just black in colour, so yeah, those pictures above are the pictures Gloria and I took of the installation art, with varying degrees of sucess, either way, enjoy!

The poem shown above, though I did not manage to catch it all, was a stunning example of pure ingenuity. City Hall, was decked out in pink coverings, all over the windows and such with subversive(?) writings and such, and the beautiful white font, clear though this beautiful white font, the columns sort of obscured the writing, so unfortunately I did not manage to catch it, I am however, very much intrigued by this poem and given the chance I would definately make an effort to have a look see.


Anyhoos. It was a night to remember, for it spectacularly told us all you really needed to know about the Singapore party scene. (or any house party hosted by SSIS people at 9 pm) People were standing around, nodding, walking away horrified at the music being played, or just standing there stunned that they made sound systems that could pump out such noises, while a few slightly rockier people were, WHOO HOOing and dancing, and screaming... the singers/rappers/screamers/insane manic depressed persons on stage were, to be polite, not at all to my taste, while their bands were really quite good. I really really liked their string players, totally in the spirit of things and definately rocking. So all in all, just bordering on acceptable? God, I'm such a bitch. Its art, darling, you're not supposed to know that the artists are saying, its their creative vision... etc etc.

After leaving the Padang, we sauntered off to Boat Quay, where we managed to get into Q Bar, and I must say, this place was definately a lot cooler than many places I've been to, though definately too smokey for my taste. It was cool though afterwards, we walked the stretch of Boat Quay, and settled down at Harry's Bar, which coincidentally you can also find in Suzhou, and I passed by the Harry's in Venice too. There're just too many Harry's. Anyway, I had an Erdinger, Great German Beer, and got red (I just know you Suzhou folks are reminicing about my famous 1/16 Margarita incident). Gloria has a Kilkenny and didn't like it much. So we all stomped off to the Metro, (MRT lah, I know but must internationalify it for the foreigners) and I prepared to go off, to the warm comforts of my bed. But no, I ended up at Gloria's neighbourhood 24 hour prata store, and had 2 Kosongs (basically a flat crispy pancake, tastes 100 times better than it sounds). Yes, it was fun. Yes, it was surreal, having prata till 2 in the morning, but hey, its my one life, I'll live it the way I want to... albeit without too much drinking, no smoking, and definately no drugs, but hey! I rock, I roll, and I definately have the physical proportions to roll!!! So Yeah! Don't tell me I'm Staid!

I leave you with this picture of the St. Andrews Cathedral. Because I can;)

A Long Line Of Contradictions

So, guess what books I bought today! The South Beach Diet along with The Makansutra 2007! Yes, its in my most recent list of contradictory purchases. So yes, I feel so dirty. Not just because I was caught A LOT in the rain today, but because I've fallen victim to the impulse buy. The South Beach Diet was something I set out to buy because I really need to lose some weight, I simply can't exercise with my weight at this level. Its ... probably gonna kill off my heart like in a beat. So I'm gonna lose some weight through South Beach first.

I guess I could go use the Makansutra afterwards... yeah.

Ring

Those of you who have seen me online recently, on MSN would have noticed my new display picture, in glorious Sepia colour. A Ring. On my Ring Finger (Right). Yes ladies and gentlemen in the audience, I am attached. Very much like the cuffs on a criminal, I too am experiencing the wonderful heaven/hell that is a relationship.

Now, people are bound to ask, what is the significance of all this, are you going to marry her? Oh god, please don't tell me she's pregnant. I would love to be your bridesmaid, when's the bachelor party(ies)? Etc. I say to all this, the significance is that of a promise ring. I personally don't quite get the idea myself. To me, I just think a promise ring signifies the promise to my girlfriend, to love her, and that she's the only one in my life, oh and of course that I'll pay for her meals:). Eitherway, its a simple thing really, more akin to being teenagers who are crazily in love with kitsch(yes kitsch, because that's what we think of each other), with the weird and consequently wonderful and with each other, or so we hope.

Looking out the window, the thunder just went boom. I think I better go take in my clothes. (Yes ladies, he does his own laundry. Uh-Huh, what a house-husband!)

WoWing

For those of you out there in the know, WoW or World Of Warcraft, is a Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game. Its incredible appeal stems from its long lineage, with a rich and colourful storyline that dates back to the good ol' days of Warcraft.

I have never been a huge fan of the Roleplaying game genre. I find it too much hassle to go around whacking things in order to gain level. However, I think I'm beginning to warm up to the idea of WoWing. I've set up a new Charecter on a PvP (player versus player) server and have a nice gleaming female Level 5 Human Paladin. On Icecrown, the server with my main Char, my Troll Mage named Drkcoffee (Lvl 25), I've been slowly but steadily working my way through the quests, I've now managed to clear out some of those smelly old quests that I cannot stand doing and may finally be on my way to another part of the game or sommat. Eitherway, I am truly proud of my brother Huezin's achievements with his Dwarf Hunter. Its a great char, with lotsa cash. I am glad we can play this game together. Hopefully in the process pass a lot of time and who knows maybe become involved in one of those torrid internet relationships we've read so much about!

I think I'm gonna go for Dinner soonish. It seems the right thing to do, because it seems like if I don't I'll end up just sitting around playing more WoW or Age Of Empires.

Embarassing

Well, so it was 11:10 this morning, and my friend Bee rang on the doorbell and caused me to literally LEAP up from my bed. Why am I still in bed at 11:10 in the morning? I slept at 3 am last night. Why did I sleep at 3 am last night? Believe it or not, because I was reading. Yes, I am a read-aholic. I need help.

Or maybe not. After all, it is for the betterment of myself. Yes, I said betterment. Chim Words are spouting out of me. Ladies, you can start flocking to me now, I try to better myself from a Lemonade swilling lush sitting around watching Oprah Primetime, to a Smoothie swilling lush sitting around watching Jamie Oliver! Yes! Jamie Feeking Oliver!

I will not swear on this site, I'm determined to keep this a rated PG-13 site. So I will be making use of such colourful words as Feeking, BrotherPucker etc as I think them up! Enjoy!

I am currently thinking about what I want to eat for lunch.

Strange New Worlds

As I begin making use of this new blog for announcing to the world strange and new discoveries I have made, I will also hope to provide a fresh and altogether unconventional perspective to you, my dear readers! Yes, we are about to embark on a whole new journey together, one that will be hopefully filled with fun, sun, puns and most importantly, enough dry wit to make a martini.

Now, that the hard part's over. Time to properly introduce myself. My name is Jerrick Lim Jieq. The Jieq is an embarassment provided by my lovely Father, who I will thank eternally for making my life ever so much more complete. After all who doesn't need a Q at the back of his name! I do very much like that about my name actually, as the Lao Wais i.e Gui Los, ang mohs, foreigners, will have a hell of a time trying to pronounce my name. Even though it is probably the simplest Chinese name anyone can have. 林杰 is how it is written in mandarin. Lin Jie is the pinyin pronounciation. Why he couldn't have simply used Lim Jie is beyond me. My name it is, its over and done, lets move on. (I bitch about myself, isn't that refreshing)

Up until recently, I lived in the fair city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. Spent two years of the best years of my life, breathing in the fumes of progress, the dust of industrialisation, and did not manage to get any action from the fair ladies of Suzhou! (I apologise to you Gloria in advance, I am wearing my ring, please don't rape me... well... I'll put up a token show of resistance) Nevertheless, it was a life changing experience, where I met fascinating people from many different countries. All of whom are and will remain my friends.

Upon moving back to Singapore in early July of this year of 2006, I have discovered a Singapore not much different from the Singapore of 2 and a 1/2 years ago. The people are still friendly, (contrary to what the Reader's Digest says... We'll come back to that some other time). The food fantastic, the heat reassuring, the people fascinating. I could go on. There is however one change in my horison. I will shortly be joining the Armed Forces of Singapore(sic) . I will be undergoing mind numbingly dull work, and naturally will be stripped of all my individuality. I say it like its a good thing eh? Of course, you, my dear readers, will provide a suitable outlet. Or at least an avenue for me to have intelligent conversation with the world. So I thank you in advance, patient readers, for you, *sniff sniff* make me who I am...

The choice of name Crossed Destinations is rather simple. For although the title Coffee, Black, is just about a handle for me. (pichu1988, Yes well, let us move past that shall we?) I needed something unique for my blog. It seems rather apt in my opinion. Afterall, I live in a country that is crossed between two worlds, the East and the West, I recently left a country in the process of reasserting its own foothold on the world, trying valiently to fuse Eastern and Western influences, Communist (yes well Technically Communist if you want to nitpick) and Capitalist, Totalitarian and Democratic, etc. It seems to me that my life is frequently about crossings, about 十字路口, so why not make a blog about my adventures through the meandering places that I cross, about the beautiful and the fugly. I think I may even surprise myself in the process, and hopefully, dear reader, I will surprise you.