queue-rage

Ussually, when I write my blog, the events have been sitting in my head for at least 2 days, I make it a habit so as to write with as much objectivity as possible.
But today's events warant a special treatment.

I went to Singapore's biggest mall today to catch a movie (yes, I went alone), after I book a ticket from the internet. As I arrive at the mall, no less than 4 ppl have step on the back of my slippers. Crowded, full of bodies, I think nothing of it. Nevertheless, I was slightly irritated.

When I get to the cinema, it was 1 hr before the movie supposed to start, and I joined the queue to collect my ticket.Turns out, it was 30 minutes before I can collect my ticket!!. There were only about 8 or so ppl ahead of me, so I have no idea what caused the wait, coz when I reached the counter, the service is good, and person who served us realize that its peak time, thus he is very efficient.
It was a good thing that I booked the ticket in advance otherwise I will have to join the regular ticket counter which spilled to a good 6 meter from the counter!

Anyway, as there is not enough time for me to get a nibble out of the cinema, I decided to grab something from the cinema cafe. So I joined {another} queue for my hotdog and cola. As I moved up the line, suddenly there is this banshee-like screech from my right "IIIEEEEE!!! EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!" I quickly realized that I've cut the queue. I offered my apology and step back behind her. But that didn;t stop her to stare me up with an expression I'll-tackle-you-down-you-b***h!
Hello..!!! who's fault was that, when she is not keeping the line at the queue while stuck to her boyfriend like a leech?!?!!?!!
And for godsake its only a line for popcorn and not the last of the food ratio!!....I did offered my apology and she was not even gracious enough to accept it. Someone did not "get-it" last night..

This afternoon accident with queue-ing has a precedent the day before. I was shopping at a book store, and as I finishing up paying at the cashier, a guy step up next to me to pay for his purchases. I was suprised and said "sir, I think there is a queue" and he replied "But,there is no one behind you" in an insulted tone. I quickly turn around and the 2 french ladies were no longer there. I assumed they forgotten something and abandoned the line. I told him as much and he said "I beg your pardon" with an undertone of "don't-simply-accuse-people".

EH!?

In the end, after the movie, I went shopping. But, since it was 2 accidents, I think I'll need a second shopping expedition tomorrow.

If any of you guys ever heard me suggesting that we catch a movie at the same mall again, you may knock me unconcious and tied me to the nearest lamp post.

Rojak

Ok, this is not about food, but more of a collection of blog that I wanted to "dump" this once, without different title ,.. so here goes;

There is a new guy at the office, he is one of my country-men and while we were chatting, I found out that he is one of the many families that has been devastated during our country's riot. He claims that his family no longer has a house due to destruction by the rioters, and now he is in singapore, his brother and sister is still back home, but his parents are seeking asylum in US.
He himself has left our home country right after he graduated and ever since has become "nomad" like me.
During my bus ride to home, I am pondering his situation, and in comparison, I guess we should be grateful that what we lost then, can be replaced, unlike his lost of family which is quite impossible to replace (his parents can not ever return home or even visit, once they have been granted citizenship under the US scheme, and I can tell that by the whole experience, he will not be returning home any time soon, lets say 30 years)

Went to another movie last weekend, this time is the animation "Happy Feet" .....
hm,.....(thinking of putting the experience to words)..............................................................................
To put it shortly, we have been entertained by the dancing penquins as much as we were entertained by the dancing audience.
There were a lot of kiddies among the parents, and most of them were stomping and jumping in their seats to the tunes of dear mumble!!

Currently listening to Earl Klugh's "wishful thinking".............................................................

movie fest

Last weekend, was a movie fest for me..

It was all started with "A Beautiful Mind", on the telly. A rerun for me off course, coz I already watched it over the cinema, but nevertheless (as stated in my bio) it's my favourite movie so far, and I watched it till its over.

Saturday started late, so after lunch not much things to do, I "skimmed" through "Akeelah and the Bee" and "Take the Lead"
(Skimmed = re run at the dvd after the initial viewing over the cinema)
Went out to dinner bought "First Daughter" by Ms.Katie Holmes. Not too bad movie, on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd say 5. The reason is this movie is a siamese twin with "liberty". Same story line, same concept, but Ms.Holmes played her role with more "I-am-a-princess-in-a-white-castle" attitude then the-girl-at-"liberty"-which-I-can't-remember-her-name.

Sunday started later than saturday. After lunch, went down town and end up in the cinema for "Material Girls".
Not exactly hate it, but won;t recommend it either. Nothing against the Duff sisters' act, just not my storyline and type. Even though there is an attempt to make the movie look "smarter" its just all about dumb-blondes and dry jokes.

Got home, eat dinner, catch the tail of Mr.Bond's Aston Martin in "Die Another Day" and on to Ms.Audrey Hepburn (bought before head home) on the DVD for "Breakfast at Tiffany". I watched this one, more because of curiosity rather than anything.
I was curious as to what makes the movie so popular after its time beside its connection to the jewellery empire and the catchy score.
Well,.............its classic, and I discovered that I am not a bone-deep-romantics after all,..just skin-deep,.....

I wonder what held in store for next week.........

Little shop of horrors

Went to an interesting and certainly entertaining musical yesterday night with my cousin and his friend.

At first, I was not so convinced about the title nor the cast (being never heard of them before), but my cousin was pretty eager to see it. Not that he knew anything about it either, but simply being recommended by his friend

Anyway, we dress up, doll up (me, that is), and off we go.
Part of what makes me agree to, is because my cousin said that it is a comedy, so I figured that there will be no harm done from a little laugh, and the music arranged by Mr.Alan Menken, my favourite Disney scores composer.

It was suprisingly quite funny, although one or two of the local jokes just escape me; but nevertheless it was a good musical with lots of potential.
The leading lady, I especially noted has great pipes. The rest of the crew are good too.
The show was attracting lots of kiddies too, the content being not too stuffy, not too scary, sexy but harmless, with a few twists.

The odd thing that I noticed is that there seems to be a subtle battle of popularity between the chorus girls; "The Dim Sum Dollies" and the rest of the crew. Or is it just because "The Dim Sum Dollies" are very chatty, vibrant and witty, they overshadowed the rest.

Not until lunch with the guys at work, did I know, that the musical is an adaptation from the original version to the local style.

But, I can say that Singapore are definitely appreciating (and having) more art variety with almost International quality.

For you guys in Singapore, have a go at the show, have a great evening, or at the very least you will have a good laugh or two (which will improve that mood!!):P

wireless

Just want to share my mate's story (Leni - Thank's Len), enjoy;

Three countries, America, England and Indonesia, are trying very hard to determine which country among the three of them had the most sophisticated technology by testing their soil contents.

As agreed, America will start, followed by England and Indonesia.

In America, after digging as deep as 1000m, they found a copper cable, so American Team proudly announced that 1500 years ago, America had construct phone system utilizing copper cables.

In England, there were nothing after 1000m dig, but at 1500m, they found fragments of glass. England team therefore proudly announced that 2500 years ago, communication had utilize advance Fibre optics in their system.

Lastly, in Indonesia, they dig for 1500m, 2000m, and still they had not found anything. So, Indonesian team -bursting with pride- concluded that 5000 years ago, communication in Indonesia had been WIRELESS.

variasi ahhh..

Aduuh, capek juga blog-ing dlm bhs Inggris, kadang suka nggak kesampean maksud hati, jadi kali ini pengen curhat nya pake indo aja, biar lebih nyantee,..

Hehe, for you guys who view my "English" blog, sorry for this one time, I am indulging in my mother tongue. Next blog will be in English, I promised.

Eh, itu sebenarnya banyak iklan ttg baby Suri tuh apaan sih? kyknya banyak deh celeb hollywood laen yg punya baby, ampe 3 kadang-kadang, tapi jarang yg kayaknya di"brand"ed kyk ni anak nya si mas Tom and jeng Kate, jadinya kayak misterius banget.
Anyway, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so buat ortu manapun pasti anak sendiri yg paling cakep, udah aturan dari "sono"nya...
Jadi, apa sih yg bikin baby Suri beda dari "cuties" all over the world yg laen?? (selain bakal nge-warisin milyar an $$$) ,... So what gitu loh?!?!

Jadi, ada yg bisa memberikan penjelasan?? fans nya mas Tom mungkin....??

yin and yang??

We currently move our office to a new location.

Previously, it was a home office, built at the back garden of a "black and white"; quiet, full of foliage, a pet,timber decking, and 2 hawker centre for lunch option.
Now, we still have foliage (across is a open air parking area), quiet during the day but in addition we are also close to: 10 hawker centre within easy walking distance [that's about 100 plus hawkers], a supermarket, a mall, a wet market, 3 (three!!) 7-eleven (within a 100m in each direction!), and a streetful of KTV lounges and pubs!!

I've got nothing against those lounges, as they only start after 5pm everyday (although there are times I am tempted to throw something hard at a bad voice screeching from one of the establishment) , so we have the street for the day, and they rule it over the night.
Most of the lounges are located on the ground floor of the shophouse while at the 2nd/3rd floor, like us, are occupied by sober and creative offices; from architecture firms, advertising firms, investment firms, something-that-deals-with-marine firms, etc that doesn;t minded a bit of "life".

Interesting ain't it??

shucks!!

Don't you just hate it, when you arrive to work first thing in the morning, the first day of the week, and you found that your superior/manager/boss had arrived with a black dark mood in tow.

It literally darken the air in the office, and you, being the very next person in contact, are helpless in changing the situation but to appear calm and composed and wait for his/her mood to pass, while doing the best you can to avoid adding the tar to the mood, however small the chance of success.

au revoir..

Yesterday, I say goodbye to my most expensive shoes (to date),...

They have been with me for almost 4 months, and during that time, everytime I put them on, they gave me the blisters of my life.
The last straw is yesterday when in the short 30 minutes morning commute to office, they manage to gave me a blister the size of the African Continent at the back of my heel!! which popped before I can do anything about it! plus squashed my toes until everytime I slip out of them I almost cry with relief.
I went barefoot for the whole day in the office.. luckily none of the guys minded much,.. (haha) but unfortunately its really uncomfortable as my office floor is a concrete spread.

They are not always so a pain-in-the-foot, I quite happy when I bought them, they really looked good on and off my feet, although I guess my feet are silently suffering.
Anyway, on the way home, I grab a pair of flip flops from the local super, and chuck the offending pair in the refuse box.

But, my dear friends, that is not the end of the story, from the super, I went to the shoe shop to get a similar concept shoe (working shoe) but with an open heel (what with all those blisters), and guess what, these new pair want to live up to their predecessor's achievement by rubbing the sides of my feet red!,....argh!!

Now,aside from the sterile gauze covering my ankle, there are 2 strips of Mr.Handyplast at my feet!! Not even my suitcase has this many decor!!!...

This is really not a good week to buy shoes,..

morrigan's cross, the trilogy

I've just finished reading the new trilogy fiction by Nora Roberts; Morrigan's Cross, Dance of Gods and Valley of Silence; which this time, have a bit of every genre in them; science fiction, thriller, folk lore, and off course romance.

The three books tells about a fictional fight of good against evil with a dash of hollywood style thrown in, anyway, suffice it to say that I recommend these books (of the trilogy) to anyone who likes a good happy ending ;where the guy get the girl.
I also thinks that the trilogy are not for novice readers; as Ms.Roberts' novels (most of the time) are in-depth in research, very detailed which one needs to read with concentration, and imagination that rivals the author of Harry Potter.
As entertainment goes, its two thumbs up!!

I wonder if any film maker/producer/anybody with a thick pocket, would find them interesting enough to translate them to the silver screen. I will be the first to queue at the box office on the first day of release.

"web"

I never fully understood the complications and the consequences of being an expat before.
Although I am only a stone throw away from home, it made quite a difference.

When I was a foreign student exploring and sociallizing is something that comes more naturally (for me) because that is the stage of life when you kind of spread your wings and have a look around the world, met likeminded people with all the energy and enthusiasm of youth. But as you add more years to your age, it is human nature to start rooting at a particular spot most comfortable for them and start develop a social web (married, have children, take up golf,etc) and have a target in life that most of the time doesn't include a lot of travelling.
To uproot and plant it somewhere else, the web must once again be woven to the local scene, and it will take a certain skill and passion that will in the end effect the speed of the web forms, how wide the web reach out to, and how strong it is.

Now, even though I barely get my feet wet in this new territory, I have planned to try other country for a living. Its sort of work and travel, but since I am not with a company that sends its staff around the world nor I have money to burn, so this is one of the solution that I can think of.

I have a feeling I will develop a soft yet strong "web" ; light; easy to transport yet reliable. :P

What a weekend,..

Winding down after movie night with a buddy, I can say that this 2 weekend night have been splendid,..
Last night went out for dinner with the girls to one rochester, up at Rochester park. Really charming; secluded, live sax, not too shabby food, decent beverages, however it is the surrounding and the setting of the place (lush landscaping, romantic lighting and great weather!) that really made that place currently the top of my list for the ult chill out place.
Its a cluster of 10 "Black and White"s, currently only 5 opened for public, as various restaurants and lounge bar. We only went to one rochester, but we did have a tour about the compound to scout our next rendesvous. Being there feels like being invited to one of the private parties, and actually they were catering to a function on the 2nd level for some association.
Definitely the place to chill out or 2nd date.

And there is today (or technically yesterday), went with one of my mate who's visiting from home, to a movie "scoop" which is suprisingly good.
Mystery-comedy-romantic-ironic of woody allen, this movie doesn;t really strike gold with the critics but its an enjoyable movie, so what the heck,..its entertainment.

But, there are still 21 hours to go before the weekend actually ends and I am an optimist.

The un-appropriate weather

Currently, we are having un-appropriate weather here in the merlion city. Its been pouring all day since yesterday afternoon, and drizzling still steadily, turning the day into overcast, with welcoming breeze and coolness after 2 dry and hot weeks.

Its in-appropriate because it is the middle of the week! Its still wednesday and thursday (not even friday) where this kind of weather is more appropriate for sleeping at home, not working in the office.

The scene would be: a cup of hot chocolate, open windows, overstuffed sofa, bare foot (offcourse) the latest fiction novel by my fav author with Mr.Cole Porter at the speaker.

Hhhhmmmm,...heaven.

Choices...choices..

It occured to me the other night (while having dinner accompanied by an animation on the DVD), that my life has taken a significant turn. Towards the better I hope.

5 years ago, I was going out with this nice bloke who's been around since high school, and we went out for 5 short months before things dissolved. It was a really really short relationship coz we only spent like 3 days as a couple in the same town, before i had to flew back to uni halfway across the globe.
We did communicate through phone etc, but really no quality time, so we decided we'll pick it up until after I return home.
But, when I did return I found that I've changed my mind, and he already married with one son. Well,.....Didn't manage to say congratulations as it was a bit awkward then.

Now, I am happily working to a great company, in another country, and single.

But, I still wonder sometimes "IF" we did manage to get together again, how would my life be and the most important thing is "Will I like it?".

Lazy summer day

Location : office
Local time: 3.28pm
Weather : 31 deg. Celcius

Mission: staying awake
Preferred activities: zzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

East Coast again

Today, went to the beach again, this time with me couzin, he on his weekly jog and me on my sometimes-exercise,..
I think I might invest in a pair of inline skate, that way, I will have to make use of it, and exercise regularly, and safe the rental fee.

The past few days, the "aura" of the office is dark and gloomy, caused by a break down in the net connection and chain reaction to my boss, who has a lot of things going with the emails.
He is not happy. At all.
And that is not all, the back up battery for the computer also crashed; and his other half is out of the country.
Definitely not a good week.

Feeling blue

feeling blue
missing the 2 people I love most
But thankful still
for I still have 2 people to be missed
rather than them
who do not anyone to share love
and affection with

Happy birthday to Luna and Jovann, may you grow in love and secure in knowing that we will be there for you to give our support and blessing.

a trip down memory lane

just got back from spending the weekend in KL, Malaysia.

Made the trip to/fro by coach, which is definitely not the mode of transportation for people with small (or compressed) bladder (pregnant ladies beware).

The city is not too much different from the last time I was there, still a bit messy downtown, but green at the suburb area.

I did contact some old friends there, who all are quite successfull. Miss "S" (for safety reasons I have decided to conceal their identity against overwhealming fans, hehehehhe) had started her own company, and has passed the 1st year, ready for the 2nd (go girl!, very happy and proud of you!!),.. Miss "T" has decided to quit her current job, and about to start on her own too (best of luck missy, I know u can do it!)
Now, Mr and Mrs "A" and "L", who have been very nice in letting me crash in for 3 days and 2 nights, with amenities rivaled to a 3 star hotel (courtesy of the ever meticulous Mrs."L"), are in their 3rd year of marriage, and I dare say they are getting even more romantic (way to go, mates!)

I didn;t get to see much in the short trip, I promised myself I will be back and explore more, but I was more interested in seeing what has become of KL in the 5 years that I've left it, so I look for familiar surroundings.

The famous Suria KLCC is still the favourite shopping centre, with the "everything under the sun" catchy phrase.
But, Star hill has evolved into a mediterranian sidewalk somehow with road side cafes offering "Shisha" (the turkish and Moroccan smoke pipe) along with coffee and ice cream. Interesting sight, which reminds me of a Moroccan friend.
New malls being built with impressive range of shops and brands, pretty much what I see back home and in the land of the merlion, well most malls are anyway, but one of the malls actually offered the buggy service if you have more shopping bags than your 2 hands can carry, they happily provide a chauffeured buggy to take you and your purchases back to where you park your car, and take you back to the shops for another round.
Went to visit the neighbourhood "pasar malam" for dinner but the pirated dvd vendors are no longer there. Ah well,...

And the icing of the cake, I manage to restrain myself from contacting an old flame.

in line skate & tsunami

I just got back from in line skate-ing at the east coast beach front. Its quite a stretch, with interesting cafes, a scatter of public bbq pits that being used by teenager of singapore. But what I like most is the feeling of being able to run fast with the help of the wheels at my feet and wind from the sea. truly awesome and relaxing.
With $7/hour you can run the beach stretch to and fro. Makes me wonder when Indonesia will ever manage to have such a public park and make use of all those beach front of all the islands.

My couzin's flat (in which I am crashing right now), is not so far away from the beach. 10 min walking distance through the underpass and we are there. Although, with recent disaster in Indonesia, it kind of alerted me of how IF (touchwood2) the sea trash to the land? We are so close to the water!. Well, the whole singapore is close to the water, sea view is actually one of the selling point of apartments and condos in singapore, so I guess the fear is lodge at the mind of every singaporean since the quake near Java. (Gosh!)
I fervently pray there will not be any more quakes big enough to cause tsunamis, I can say that our country has suffered enough.(Please, God)

my very own

hm,.. sebenarnya gue nggak mau ikutan trend bikin blog, abis, gue bukan termasuk org yg suka cerita banyak,the main reason gue create ini blog, gara2 blog "mommy of twins" kagak bisa di kasih comment kalo bukan blogger, jadi lah blog ini tercipta.
second reason, I think this is a good spot to practice my writing skills, walaupun nanti nya yg ngeliat blog gue cuman sodara2 yg nge-cek karena nggak mau nyakitin hati gue (hehe..joking guys).
anyway,..gue jadi punya blog deh.amin.