Blogging Stoned

Did some spring cleaning on my blog…

Ok everyone, A very happy new year!!!!

I am gonna be one year older soon..

Auntiehood is approaching…. at least 2 more yrs to be officially certified as Auntie..

Gosh, during CNY, I told all my cousins’ children to DO NOT CALL ME AUNTIE. Just call me.. erm… I didn’t even say what to address me as. But I think Sharon jie jie would be nice. I’m afterall unmarried, still energetic and well, the best part is, DON’T LOOK MY AGE! Ain’t I blessed? I’m indeed blessed. May I be look 25 forever….

I’m feeling nostalgic and decided to post some photos where this place used to be my playground… Yes, toa payoh garden. Those who have lived in Toa Payoh all their lives like me. We couldn’t have forgotten this stone like structure that has water cascading down noisily and this ramp leading up the Toa Payoh white tower. Toa Payoh Garden had its prime days in the 80s where it used to be such a popular place for wedding shots to be taken. Here are the reminisces of what was Toa Payoh Garden like before in the 80s.

The famous stone structure waterfall. My most unfavourite place to be near.

The ramp leading up to toa payoh tower. You could get a low angle from here. Yea, I was very short at that time as you can see, trying to stretch my head as far as I can so my dad could have a better angle. I guess my brother didn’t have much trouble but he has this grouchy look on him all the time.

When my dad had his day off on weekends, he would bring us, mainly my bro and me to snap his pictures. Notice how my dad placed me and my brother. Me in foreground, him in background to get a better shot. Gosh! Miss those days feeding the fishes. Check out this stoned curved bridge to link from one side of the pond to other. I thought the bridge is kinda cool… yeah, notice the wind blowing on my fringe. Thank goodness there was a breeze on such a hot day… and my brother looking as grumpy as ever.

Ah yes! Remember this fountain! I thought it was scary. There would usually be one or two fishes swimming among the waterfalls. I used to think that if I ever fall into the water, I would be drag away by the water and disappeared into the dark corners. Yes, I was very grumpy when dad took this picture, mainly  coz I was worried about falling in. Some kind of pose that is… instructed by who else but my dad to do it. Bleargh! The picture next to it, is on this ramp leading up to the toa payoh tower. It doesn’t exists anymore.. Remember the white railings?? Classic… Oh yea, as you can see, I’m totally exhausted from all these photo takings that I decided to catch a quick nap before proceeding on…………… Nah, it was my dad who told me to close my eyes for a more realistic natural effect. So poseur!

Well, as you can see, my dad was looking for a nice background and we chanced upon this bent tree. My dad made me sit on it. Oh yeah… as I sat on it, I was wondering what’s for lunch thus me biting my lower lips. It better be Mcdonald’s!

Finally! Yes, as you can see. I got so sick of posing that I decided to puke while my brother looked on stupidly…. Again this is part of the ramp leading up to the white tower. Bottom half in fact, now it doesn’t exists anymore. How I miss climbing onto those……

Today is one of my lazy days. In actual fact, everyday is my lazy day. I think I’m relaxing toooooooo much until I feel so guilty. I watched 2 DVDs in one row and they were pretty average. Those typical B-grade romance movie that is either trying to hard or too cliche.

Sigh…. I miss Stephen Chow movies. everyone around my generation would have said the same. I could watch for eg. Stephen Chow’s "A Chinese Odyssey" millions times and not be sick of the same thing over and over. Those stupid jokes and stupid tricks can be repeated so many times and yet it’s so hilarating whenever you watch it all over again.

Of course, I think Stephen Chow’s movies will not be the same if he doesn’t have his long time partner in crime, Ng Man Tat starring in it as well. I think both make a classic comedy pair.

Speaking about Ng Man Tat, Tat-ge which we called him. He’s certainly one of the most professional actors around when he came down to town to shoot "Money No Enough" during the Channel U days which I was "ahem" proudly involved in. Hahah.. actually the plot of the drama was rather lame and silly, plus the fact it was again, so cliche.. but when I worked with Tat-ge, I really enjoyed working with him. No airs, professional and he could memorised almost everyone’s lines when the camera rolled. Plus, sometimes when the director wanted to come out with something funny for the action. Tat-ge would be the one who suggested this antics etc. Wow, really pro and he’s so humble.

I remembered when we finished shooting a scene at some Toa Payoh HDB blocks, usually Tat-ge would take a cab back to his apartment. When I wanted to escort him to take a cab at the main road, he refused and said it was ok. Then he left in his "wardrobe" which consisted of a Singlet and a pants. If you just look at his back view, he could pass off easily as an ah pek knocking off after work. Haha… but really… he was one of the most easy going artistes to work with. Always on time and first to arrive at the scene. I must admit, sometimes I feel ashamed at the working etiquette of our local artistes.

I guess when one is rich and famous, one must never forget its humble beginnings.

Yay! I’m going to the beach tomorrow with Sylvia! Been a long time since I’ve been to beach. We will be going Sentosa to chill, suntan and read. Hope I’ll get an even tan. I realised one thing, as I grew older, I became more conscious of getting sun burnt and all. Gone were my poly days where I wouldn’t mind getting sun tan and show off the bronze golden skin colour. But now? I’m more vain. Freckles, spots, pimples, signs of aging skin are freaking me out! Hey, I’m a woman too, I mean a girl (will always remain a girl in my heart). I still do the beauty regime of cleansing, moisturising but heck, just because I’m a girl, I’ve to do all those girly stuffs! Sigh… but you reap what you sow right?

Anyway, yes! Sentosa tomorrow! I shall make my gazpacho (spanish cold soup) and give Sylvia a little surprise at my culinary skills. Ay,not much of culinary skills actually. All you have to do is blend tomatoes, cucumber, red capsicums, onion, bit of garlic with water together. At final touch, just add some olive oil, salt and a piece of bread in together to blend again. Voila! Gazpacho! Cold tomato soup to be taken during summer in Spain! Good to prepare the day before and chill it in freezer. Tomorrow, it shall be cold and nice to drink at the beach. Yum! SALUD!

Oh I just realised one thing, my leg is beginning to peel… dun be alarmed, it’s nothing serious. What I mean is, it’s peeling coz I was sunburnt like a week ago. So now it’s shedding its beautiful white flakes… means I’ve to start to moisturise and moisturise again… Argh!

Finally got to meet Syl today. Haven’t seen her since boxing day. She still looked good although she complained about her heavy workload as a teacher. Sometimes I really salute and admire the way she teaches the kids. Really, nowadays teachers have to multi-task. They’re the counsellor, administrator, friend etc…

She recounted to me about this incident whereby she had to counsel this malay gal who just transferred like 1 or 2 months ago to her school. I was so shocked at what she told me that I decided to write in my blog.

Apparently, this malay gal is quite problematic and her father even came down once which I don’t remember why but it was because of the daughter. So Syl told me that when the father came down, he was donned in this malay baju or whatever you call them and had this black cap on his head which gave the impression that he could be a religious Islamic man.

So Syl told me that she counselled this malay gal. It was funny that nowadays as a teacher, it’s not the same anymore like the last time. You’ve to talk to your students in their "language" to get their attention and to listen to you. So Syl who is already trained in these kind of problematic students proceeded to talk to the gal in her most concerned way. It goes roughly like this,

Syl : So how many boyfriends have you had already?

Gal : 9 la…

She’s only 14 and had 9 boyfriends!! Gosh! Why have I been when i was her age?? Now she has 2 more from the school she just transferred to within 1 or 2 months!! *GASP*

Syl : So what do you do when you meet your boyfriend?

Gal : Oh, go out la.

Syl : So what do you do when you go out?

Gal : Do things la.

Notice at this point, my eyes grew wider as Syl recounted this to me. Well, it might not be exactly what Syl recounted to me but it was roughly like this.

Syl continued to counsel the gal and told her that as a gal, she shouldn’t anyhow let the guys do what they like to her and told her all about sexually transmitted diseases and she should respect her own body as it’s only one body she has, blah blah.. The gal claimed that she’s still a virgin and she only let the guys touch her and nothing else. Syl continued and said but you’ve 9 boyfriends so you’ve let like all the guys touch you and you should value yourself, blah blah blah..

Then the interesting point was, the gal said, " but my mother said it’s ok that the guys touch me as long as they’re my boyfriend." HUH???!

This time my eyes grew even wider and probably my jaws was dropping too..

Interestingly, Syl mentioned something about smoking which I don’t remember what. The gal was like, "cher, how you know I smoke?" Syl was probably rolling her eyes but not in front of the gal, i supposed.

Syl : so who bought the cigarettes for you? Your boyfriend?

Gal : No, my father bought them for me.

Syl : Huh? What do you mean?

Gal : Oh, I started smoking since I was pri 4, my father shared his cigarettes with me but my mother doesn’t know. So my father bought the cigarettes for me.

Syl : ?????!!

Now you know where and how the problematic child came about. From their parents of coz!! I mean what kind of morals would the parents instil on their child if they themselves have no morals at all? Really, Syl and I, we both agreed that we will not have any kids of our own in the future. We ourselves are not even sure how we’re gonna handle children of the next generation. Will we be too open minded unlike our parents’ generation? I really don’t know. I honestly think that children of our next generation will not be as gullible as us anymore. Too much wrong education.

Sigh.. I truly empathize with the teachers.

Honestly, I don’t understand the concept of ‘chopping’ seats with packets of tissue paper on the table. These are commonly found at hawker centres esp at Shenton Way where all the "kiasu" executives will do during peak lunch hour. It’s just so lame and super "kiasu". Please, I’ll just dismiss those tissue as previous customer who has left those behind.

Why do I decide to write about those kiasu tissue ppl? Coz just few days back, I encountered the same incident but in Pastamania ok! Well, the incident was, Pastamania was quite packed during the lunch hour. So my friend went to order the food while I went to look for seats.

At first, I took the 4 seats table which was not cleared at all, there were still leftovers behind. Later, I thought that since it was only the 2 of us, I decided to take the 2 seat table. However, my friend later gestured to me to take the 4 seat table as another friend will be joining us. So I did. Just nice, the staff was clearing up the table. I saw like 2 packets of tissue on the table and thought the previous customer left those behind. Who knows when I sat down, there were these 2 ladies at the counter ordering their food turned to me and pointed to the table to gesture to me that it was ‘chopped’, it was then I realised that those 2 packets of almost half empty tissue papers are the sacred items to ‘chop’ the seats. How lame!! Actually if I was nasty enough, I would have just told them, what?? What you mean ‘chop’? Those packets of tissue doesn’t even carry any words that said "reserved". Durh… if you really wanna chop seats the next time, put something more obvious like umbrella or bags or plonk your fat ass on the seat.

I wonder who came out with this stupid idea of reserving seats with packets of tissue paper? Sometimes I find it so amusing to see like 3 or 4 packets of tissue on the table. I should just plonk myself on the seats and pretend nothing has happened. If they come back with a look on their face, then that’s too bad.. The packets of tissues are mine and I’ve already taken the seats. Hahahah!

Seriously, I think there’re better ways of "chopping" seats. I think getting your friend to sit at the table while you get the food is a better way than the irritating packets of tissues. Enough said, I’ve made my point really clear. Next time, bring an umbrella with you whenever you lunch. It’ll look more menacing than a packet of harmless tissue. And yes, don’t look at me as if I’m stupid coz I’m taking your seats whether it’s tissue papered reserved or not. Too bad !!

Finally I’ve finished the 2 short films! Yay!! I feel so relieved. I had a great time while it lasted yet I’ve this feeling that it’ll perhaps be my last short film stint. Perhaps I am just exhausted from 2 shoots back to back. Right now, I just need a really good rest and it’s also back to reality for me. Means I’ve to start looking for paying job and get those $$ rolling in.

But I just don’t feel like working again. I think I’m just crazy. Of course I do want to work and I need to find a job. But I don’t want to just take any job and jump into it on impulse. I really need time to recuperate from all my lost energy and sanity. Strange how short films can really zap me of my energy. Next time if I ever do a short film again, first, I must make sure that the short films are not being scheduled back to back. Second, I will make sure that there’s alot of budget for the short film and the crew are at least paid a minimum wage, otherwise I’ll make sure the welfare is really fantastic in terms of transportation and food. 

The last few days are really spent on packing, reorganizing and having a moment to myself. Wish I’ve the money to just book an air ticket and getaway to some exotic beach resort like Hawaii, maybe get to know a hunk at the beach and sip coconut juice with him and watch hawaiian sunset with him. Ooooh…. how nice!

I need to get myself in shape again. I must I must I must make an effort to go gym or jogging everyday. Anyone wanna join me? Badly need a companion to spur me on. Why doesn’t anyone jog nowadays??? I need to go swimming too but just got so lazy at the thought of having to bring so many barang barang with me to swimming pool. I wish I live in a house with my own private gym and swimming pool so at least there’s no excuse for me to not exercise.

Seriously, now that the short films have ended. I just feel that life is back to normal again. Once again, the empty feeling is back. I know I’ve alot of things to do but yet I’m not doing anything about it. I’m just such a procrastinator.

Sigh.. how I wish those 13 days of shoot would be paid. I’ll be so rich by now and not worry about how to survive the next few months. Perhaps take a short holiday somewhere without worrying about burning a hole in the pocket. Sigh… 

Life is like a battlefield…

Time really flies. Just last year in Dec, I was in such a holiday mood. Christmas, followed by New year and now Chinese New year!

I’ve been a really lazy girl. I wanted to update my blog with photos from X’mas and New Year but I didn’t. I wanted to make my new year resolutions which I didn’t as well. Sigh.. what a procrastinator I am!

Soon, I’ll be jobless again. Well not soon, in fact, it’s now! Come to think of it, I was rather depressed just few months back. I guess it was due to work stress and plus the fact that I don’t think I’m getting enough fun out of my life.

"Fun" , this word seems to be non-existent in my vocabulary now ever since I started work, or perhaps I should say ever since the merger between the two TV stations. Well, life goes on…

As I was saying, I don’t think I’m getting enough fun out of my life. I’ll be turning 27 soon this year. I should be enjoying my late 20s before I hit the big 3. I only have 3 more freaking years to go before I hit the final stage of my 20s. How scary!

I really can’t imagine myself at the age of 30. I still want to enjoy my life very much. But just seeing most of my friends with their careers, romance and you know at the final stage, settling down. It’s just such a scary thought.

Sad to say that, nowadays it’s so hard to find friends whom you can meet up and have fun with. I still very much like to go clubbing once in awhile. But sigh… is age really catching up?

Just last night, I went to MOS finally with Lynn and Cleo. I wanted very much to go MOS for a very long time but it’s so hard to find friends who don’t mind clubbing or who don’t mind staying out late now. Even those friends whom I used to chill out or clubbed with are just not into the mood anymore or sometimes it’s so hard to match each other’s time to go.

Anyway, last night, when we were there at MOS. It was ladies night. We arrived early being "kiasu" coz I thought there would be the infamous queue but apparently, there weren’t any queue and it was quite empty when we went in. We went around exploring the places. It was kinda big but really cool with different rooms for different music or chilling out. Later the crowd started filing in. At one point, we felt quite out of place because the crowd were so much younger. Suddenly I feel that Lynn and Cleo looked so much more mature. Even I feel that about myself too.

We danced for just perhaps 1 hour and already we felt abit tired. "Lao le", Lynn exclaimed. Yes, indeed. Where is the energy that we once used to have? I dunno… What happens when I turn 30 in a few years’ time? Will I be less energetic and less enthusiatic? Noooooooooooo…………… that is so against my life’s principles.

Not long ago, I told myself or perhaps even promised to myself that even if I turn 40 or 50, I wanna still be having fun. I want to be able to dance with the crowd even if they’re all kids. I want to be able to laugh at silliest things when drunk. By that time, I just hope I’ll be able to find friends who’re able to share the same sentiments as me. Grow old and dull??? NOT ME!!

Here are the belated photos that I promised to update on for the dinner at Junfeng’s place. It was nothing much. All we did were posing some photos besides the what else?? but the X’mas tree…..

A happy Madam Clara wishing she’s Santarina.. Say cheez!!

Oh…… Santa boy… what do I get for this year’s X’mas??? I’m a good good gal… Mmmmmm…………

Junfeng : Heh Heh Heh

After X’mas dinner, everyone went a little off due to heavy dosage of wine and tiramisu!

Kena caught under the mistletoe???

Psycho Joey : Oh, you’re my dream guy.. Kiss me kiss me!! (forced kiss..)

Very drunk Fran

Fran : Did I just "hic" got myself a big present?? "hic"

Tiramisu and whipped cream boys!! Delicious!! Slurp!! I mean the tiramisu la!!

(Junfeng & Bryan)

X’mas has come to an end. Well, i supposed there are 12 days of X’mas so we should end by now. But the other day, a friend of mine told me that x’mas is supposed to come to an end on 25th Jan. So what does 12 days of X’mas really mean??? Can somebody tell me??

Anyway, I wanted to update on my X’mas last year but I’ve been too lazy and kept giving myself excuses but I know I MUST update coz it was my best X’mas spent with all my lovely ones despite all the hectic work blah blah blah…

On 17th of Dec, "kiasu" Junfeng invited us to his place for early X’mas dinner. Reason why it’s so early?? Coz we could exchange gifts earlier. Kiasu ma… Wahahah!Just kidding! I guess everyone would be tied up with their own program on 24th so Junfeng arranged for the dinner earlier. We were supposed to do something like a pot luck thing that Junfeng told me just 1 or 2 days before the dinner. I was too busy to really cook something and so I bought some instant salad since we needed some greens as a starter. Times have changed… guys should be the one doing the cooking for us girls !!

We arrived late at Junfeng’s place (ps: It was all Madam’s Clara fault la… hee hee…)  When we arrived, everyone was rolling on the floor with hunger… well, not really…coz they still have the energy to complain about us being late… sigh… After I passed the 2 pkts of instant salad to Junfeng, he threw them into a salad bowl, tossed in some cherry tomatoes and Voila! We had some salad as starter with fragrant balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Simple as can be… I’ll think of that for my contribution to any pot luck events the next time round. Hee! Hee!

We started our dinner with really delicious food. Some nice meat with herbs made by a friend of Junfeng and spanish meatballs made by Fran. They were really yummy !! But the highlight of the night was the TIRAMISU!! Made by Junfeng. It was really slurrrrppp…! Yummy! Topped with white cream whipped by hunkelicious Bryan… hmmm.. no wonder it tasted so goooood…… And Bryan did told us afterwards that while he was whipping the cream, he fell in love with…… the cream……  as he was whipping it… Er………but truely, I can feel the love in the tiramisu by the combined efforts of 2 "shuai-ge" What more can you ask for??? So yuuuummmmmyyy!

We exchanged gifts afterwards when we finished with the dinner. We were made to look for our gifts under the X’mas tree. I had to distribute mine to them coz they couldn’t find their names on my gifts, it was too small for them to see.. Haiyo!! You expect me to write until so obvious??! Where’s the thrill???

But anyway, here are my presents from them :

1. Maroon-coloured fishermen’s pants from Junfeng. Those type that have 2 strings to tie to the front or back?? I dunno… but with an extra flap around the opening of the pants when you tie it up. It will drop if you don’t secure it properly. I think I’ll secure it with safety pins when i wear it.(Junfeng, are you suggesting to me to start wearing something loose so I can air my  ……………………………………… LEGS!! What were you guys thinking of???!! Huh huh??)

2. Lavender scented toiletries from Fran and Joey. A set complete with shampoo, shower, lotion and er….. don’t remember what else but lavender is good for my increasingly stressful headaches so guess I’ll use it often.. (But are they also suggesting that I smell bad??? Huh?? Hahaha!! Kidding!!)

3. The final present is from Madam Clara. She told me "since I can’t afford to get anything from your top ten x’mas wish list so I saw this and thought it suited you well." hmmmm.. I was thinking what was it? Guess??? She got me a……… necklace with an orange scooter pendant on it. Wahahahahah!! Thank you!Thank you! Madam Clara!! You made half of my wish came true!

So so, thank you ! Thank you my friends for the lovely x’mas dinner plus gifts. Btw, if Uncle Phuah is reading this. Yes, I think a seat belt will be lovely for my dream scooter !! Hahahah!!

Hey hey! Christmas is round the corner and I’m feeling super duper excited about this year’s coming x’mas. I mean, it’s not gonna be the same as last year’s and perhaps there’s not big hoo-hah about it but still, I just can’t stop thinking about Christmas! I’m so looking forward to it… I think I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve listed 10 of my X’mas wish list below and hope that anyone reading this will do the same, you’ll never know that someone might be feeling duper good and might wanna bring a little cheer to you!

TOP TEN X’MAS WISH LIST

1. Holiday by the beach in a nice little Island resort
2. A nice new bikini (If i don’t get the holiday by the beach, at least a new bikini and chill out at Sentosa)
3. Full body massage with Spa
4. A new mobile phone preferably Nokia!! (must be sturdy even when dropped 10000 times)
5. A facial package (My complexion is getting worst due to stress!!)
6. A mountain bike (I miss my bicycle….stolen when I was away on holiday outside at my corridor)
7. A sponsored Class 2 theory and practical lessons (since cars are so ex, might as well learn bike and get a scooter!!)
8. Diving lesssons (Wanna explore the underwater creatures and make friends with them! A tribute to Daniel who can’t swim…wahahhaa…)
9. Fun with all my dear friends packed with lots of love and laughter on X’mas day (priceless…)
10. I need a belt ! (I’ve been shopping for belts but haven’t seen anything I really like, so hope someone will give me a belt and I don’t have to think about what kind of belt would go with my jeans)

That’s all for now, hmmm.. I feel quite satisfied with my wishlist.. Can’t wait for it to come true! Hope I’m nice this year… which I think I am!!