Long short weekend

Thursday : Dinner, then swing fling, then Harry's, then supper.
Friday : Dress up as Jap schoolboy, watch Swing Girlzu, lindy bomb cinema, Harry's
Saturday : Bal-swing, Performance Lindy, Work, Harry's.
Sunday : Day off, Gym.

Is it any wonder that my body feels like it's been pummeled by a thousand sumo wrestlers right now? That said, this is one of the best weekends i've had in Singapore in a while. Haven't stayed up this late this often since college. which was 5 years ago at this point.

Swing Girlzu was ultra-fun! Imagine 15 girls and guys all dressed up as Japanese students, all dancing in the cinema at the end to Sing Sing Sing. And the New Paper even showed up! Who says Singaporeans aren't sponteneous. And the movie was a delightful combination of cheese, camp and Japanese humour.

Performance Lindy class was fun too. I was apprehensive at first ; part of the reason i didn't go for performance lindy the first time was because of my knees and also because i was afraid of not being able to do the aerials/moves. That said, I took to heart what someone said... it is not the cost of doing something, it is sometimes the opportunity cost of NOT doing something that is important. Why let an irrational fear stop us from trying something out? That's of course different from doing something reckless... :) That said, it was interesting trying to figure out how to work my muscles to do things like backward rolls and handstands. Personally, I found the aerial preps easier than the rolls and stands :P. So, the whole point of that convoluted set of sentences was that while I am still somewhat sucky at performance lindy, class was enjoyable. Gives me additional impetus to go the gym, that's for sure. We'll see where and how this goes.

Told Arie and L about H last night on MSN. Their reaction was really cool and touching. Am glad that I got to share this part of my life with them.


Anyway, back to work tomorrow! Time to be serious again :)

happy happy!

got promoted. got a raise. got a good bonus this year. life feels good right now ^^

anyone seen the latest playstation portable? might just go get one. or maybe a bang and olufsen sound system (drool)

gonna do an extremely silly thing today. maybe i'll post the pics on here later.

Life and Death

The Terri Schiavo case saddens me.

First of all, I have to state that I unequivocally believe in living life to the fullest, regardless of the obstacles and curveballs thrown in our way.

And that is why this whole incident is upsetting. So many doctors have testified that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state", with no hope of recovering normal cognition. But the hope and belief that somehow Terri will wake up someday keeps her parents fighting for her survival. Despite the fact that people who have woken up from such comas in the past still had functioning brain material. And the worse part is that people who believe in the "sanctity of life" project their values onto her case, and make her out to be a test case of the issue of abortion.

Still, i find myself asking. If all evidence points to the fact that she cannot recover, and that she will remain aware and unconscious, is keeping Terri alive in some ways denigrating the sanctity of life? By fixating on the fact that she sometimes smiles or moves, despite the point that her brain is mostly dead, are we projecting our own fears of death or values onto a case in the face of scientific and objective evidence?

Is letting her go instead the more courageous thing to do? To release our own emotional ties so that someone we love can stop leading a mere facimile of life?

Again, I have to emphasise that I am all for life. I was reading about the case of a former national water polo player who was stricken by ALS. Once muscular, his arms are now sticks and he can barely raise his hands. Yet, he has accepted his condition and lives as meaningful a life as he can. That he continues to strive against his condition in such a way is deeply worthy of our respect.

Accepting our fears, and learning to let go, can sometimes be the most courageous thing a person can do.

Atheist Agnostic Religious Fanatic

Had to blog about this. It's one of the most powerful articles i've read in a while. Honest. Sincere. So much resonance, especially in a world where religions seem to keep defining issues in more black and white manners.

H and I have always debated about religion. H is an atheist. I am an agnostic, mainly because it is somewhat more comforting to think that there is a greater being out there that can make sense of all the wonderful and crap things that happen around us.

After reading this article, i'm not so sure. Maybe choosing not to believe in a greater thing or entity out there is the more courageous thing to do, because it forces you to take responsibility for your own actions.

Part of the reason I have never been able to join an organised religion is because I feel like too many variants of it focus on blame and guilt and closing off debate. But i appreciate the sense of community that religion provides. Yet, there are many other ways for us to be part of the communities around us. And this article only reinforces that point for me.

I literally felt a shiver up my spine while reading this article. The emotional truth came through for me. And the way she raises her kid. It's so darn awesome.

Neptune... Uranus... and other solar bodies

So.... went to dinner at the Neptune Theatre tonight, which by the way is the only topless cabaret act in Singapore. Let's just say the experience was a little surreal. Here goes...

1) Come in and the first thing you see is a cabaret act. Swing number. Good! Then you realise that the lady is wearing some leather S&M thingy that leaves the cheeks exposed..... The second cabaret act is equally interesting... a strange hybrid of russian and indian moves. Of course, i didn't stay for the topless part at the end.

2) The MC was off-the-wall, as is usual for most MCs at most dinner-type events in Singapore. Singapore MCs must go through some whacked-out training school, where they are probably shown the worst comedy movies ever (which includes anything by Chevy Chase or Martin Short), and then drugged and beaten over the head till they have lost all sense of reason or humour. This must be the reason why MCs decide that they have to make everyone play stupid games and be as un-dignified as they are on stage. which is what this MC did during this dinner.

3) There are unopened bottles of Guiness and wine on the table, just begging to be opened. Wanton debauchery awaits!

4) The guest of honour proceeds to warble out My Way to raise funds, with everyone going up to present orchids.

5) I take my leave, hoping to catch a cab. and then end up walking 20 minutes to City Hall MRT and giving up and taking the MRT home. Cabs are an endangered species in the City Hall area. Anyone who says there are too many cabs in Singapore needs to be beaten over the head with a really really sharp idiot stick. Or spend some time running around like a headless chicken waving down anything that remotely looks like a cab.

Got to meet up with some old secondary school friends. It sure seems like our school produces geeks. 2 of us are doctors, 1 a lawyer, 1 a civil servant and the last a computer programmer. In some ways we all haven't changed from the nerds that we were in secondary school. We still like computer/video games, and we still play board games. The nice thing though was that we agreed to meet up for more stuff, like badminton or Dungeons and Dragons. That's definitely one thing I need to do this year, which is to get back in touch with some of my old friends. Oh, and the restaurant, Mouth Restaurant? It sucks big time. If you want good dim sum, go to a Tung Lok restaurant anyday.

Such a cliche

Sitting in a bar, enjoying music with some friends, celebrating the birthday. Then you realise the music is from a station that woke up quite a while ago on the other side of the bed from "hip", and landed right square in the middle of "dull". And the one person at the table below twenty years of age is bored.

Is this what getting older means? Does it really boil down to such a cliche?

Top 5 Favorite Songs
1. Galileo by the Indigo Girls
2. Slide by Goo Goo Dolls
3. Big Machine by Goo Goo Dolls
4. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
5. Angel by Sarah Mclachlan

See a pattern? Some call it lesbo-rock/folk, i prefer to call it folk/pop alternative :)

While the songs all have good tunes, part of what makes them special are the lyrics. Poetic is the only word that comes to mind. I recall sitting in at a performance by a singer-songwriter who had just started out in the industry. She wasn't bad, but it gave me a much greater appreciation for the craft and artistry of people like Tracy and Sarah.

Do you pay more attention to the lyrics or tune of a song?

Ever cried cos a song was too too good? Or gotten swept up in a song on the spur of the moment. I have.

--- all drugged up on flu medicine. stream of consciousness prevails!

Milestones

This is the 10th year since leaving JC.

More than half of my friends have kids, are getting married, or are progressing towards marital bliss.

Will be 28 next week.

Time flies. Do we find ourselves becoming the things we swore that we would avoid when we were young? Or were we foolish back then? Sometimes, I look back at who I was 10 years ago, and feel like that was a completely different person. So many life experiences and memories. The cliched storyline where the protagonist wishes he could talk to his younger self from many years ago... that has more resonance now.

But yet I feel like things are standing still. Maybe it's because I want to have a family but can't yet. Maybe it's not having a special someone physically present. There are many things I miss about not having H around. Having someone to rant to, to be comforted by at the end of a long and weary day : that is something infinitely precious that I miss each and every moment.

Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

Service... or a lack of it

Why does service in Singapore suck so much?

Go to any normal restaurant, and the only time you see the server is :
a) when he takes your order
b) when he brings your ONE measly cup of water
c) when he settles your bill (after much desperate hand-waving and assorted other gestures to get the server's attention)

And yet, we have come to expect this kind of service, even in fine dining establishments. And to top it all off, the restaurant charges us a 10% service charge. Only in Singapore can we get foul service, pay a 10% surcharge and deal with it, yet complain about everything else under the sun ^^

Maybe part of the problem is that servers here don't get to keep the tip, unlike in the US, where up to 80% of a server's wages can come from tips alone. Over there, I've never had to stare down waiters for water, never had servers give me blank looks when asking about the soup of the day, never had to literally pull servers by the scruff of their necks to the table to settle the bill.

Ok, so maybe Singaporeans are stingy, and don't like to tip so that they can keep their bills down. Fine. Then why charge a 10% service charge when there is. Literally. No. Service? Yeesh.

Rant done. Over and out.

You know you're a geek....

when you ....

1) play Dungeons and Dragons in your late 20s

2) wore HUGE black plastic glasses as a teenager

3) lindy hop

4) squeal watching mildly scary movies

5) can't wear UFO pants without looking silly

6) are a video and computer game addict

7) act so spastic that your staff call you an "idiot" (in a good way) :D

8) are insecure

9) are described by a friend as a "white-bread momma's boy" (and M, you know who you are)

10) get WAY too excited over a chocolate buffet

It's been a while....

wow, haven't blogged for a while. so many things to blog about.... where shall i start?

Well... SEAJAM was just over, and it rocked! Even if my feet felt like solid knots of pain by the end of the camp, it was worth it :D Going to lindy hop camp always gives me new insights about my own dancing. Bee and I won the competition (free SEAJAM next year), but i realised from everyone's comments that i need to have more energy in my dancing. Something to think about over the next year.

Work has been good, and I like the culture in my new job. Still trying to adjust to the fact that i report directly to a politician. I spazzed out when i realised that there was no immediate superior in the office to turn to for guidance.... but am over that now. Now, I'm just trying to figure out how i can best value add to the organisation given how directly hands-on the politician can be... But hey, one insecurity at a time, yes? :)

WoW!

Been playing a ton of World of Warcraft.... it's a fun game. And WAY too addictive. Something about orcs doing the breakdance and female bulls (called Tauren) doing riverdance routines when u do the /dance command just rocks my world. Zug zug zug...

Long distance small distance
Had an interesting conversation with Fred the other day about relationships. When H and I end this long distance relationship and move together, there will definitely be some issues to sort out. For one thing, one or both of us will need to uproot and leave behind our current social networks. On this trip, I realised that our mutual friends have now moved away, and H and I have formed different social networks. This made it harder for me to connect with H's friends at times. Compounding this will be the fact that one or both of us will be looking for jobs....
That said though, I am quite confident that our relationship can withstand the stress. In some ways, being in a long-distance relationship has made me more appreciative of what the two of us have.

Guess that's all for now. I wanted to rant about credit cards and their insane annual fee charges, oh and the complete stupidity of the 10% service charge in Singapore restaurants... But i guess that can wait for later :)