LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

the past weekends have been flying by with warp speed, what with rehearsals, dance classes and all.

here's an extreme example of how the saturday that's just past went...


my cymbals

the instrument i'll be playing in the percussion performance in tunisia.

the cymbals mean a lot to me because they're the first thing i learnt in lion dance.

of course, they're the only thing i know in lion dance still, but that's not the point. =P

my musical background, coupled with my skills learnt from yeung ching scouts and lion dance, had me pick up the rhythm and style of our performance item within two practices.

so thank you, yeung ching, for giving me the basics. =)

i'll be accompanied in the chinese drums team by yvonne and melissa...


wendy, yvonne, melissa

wendy and melissa were the original drummers, but wendy got pregnant (cool shit eh?) and yvonne came in to take her place.

after percussion rehearsals from 9am to 1pm, it was a harried lunch followed by a bloody long cab ride to bukit chandu...


frown lines

...where the first malay regiment in the war were slaughtered.

i was to host an event there that was supposed to start at 7.30pm or so.

i had to be there by 2.30pm. go figure.


here's where i stand...

uhhuh...here's my view at the events i attend.

i usually host those i do go to. =(

after the third rehearsal of an hour of non-stop talking...my voice just cracked, and threatened to go on me.

by the start of the award ceremony, i had to "shout" to get my words out.

it wasn't a pretty sight...though i could still crack those signature serene jokes.

thankfully, it all went relatively well so i decided to stop being lazy and snap some pictures of the events i go to for the blog...


funny faizal

he always says "eh serene...again you tell jokes i don't understand!"

adorable man.


me and andrew

one of those who always has a ready smile and a witty comment for me whenever our eyes meet. =)

and finally...


bubba and me

old friends, fated friends...whatever they call it.

i think i'm a uniform gal...i kinda look all right in most of'em. =P

SHINE

checked out youth.sg's blog today and caught a link to pictures from the SHINE thank you dinner two fridays back.

didn't even know i got into a coupla'em...but first:


janae

i got to know this little sweetie and her parents at the reception and we ended up at the same table.

she had a little hands over her little ears as the rock band was jamming...poor girl.


steve and i

was trying so hard not to seem star-struck by steve...watched him since his sportscity days.

he's now with CNA and doing stuff for the Y as well.

might be helping out with his projects and the Y in due time...


and they named this "attentive"

what the hell was i watching?!

time to head home. i'm sick.

RUBBER BALL

...i keep bouncing back to you.

sure, the everly brothers have some pretty weird shit song titles like "bird dog".

but when you listen to the lyrics, they do make sense. =)

anyways, the title of this post originates from training last night.

someone called me a "ping pong ball".

this, even though i've obviously put on weight.

in any case, first evening out was fun and left me feeling pretty darn good.

let's hope i can make it to the next one. =)

HEY MAMA!

the mother made an uncharacteristically witty comment sunday night.

my naughty little cousin had taken my brothers hand and folded all his fingers downward 'cept for the middle one.

she pointed it at my mom and said...

"he point middle finger at you, you not angry ah?"

at which my mom (who looked pretty bored) replied...

"it's okay. he's pointing the rest of his fingers at himself!"

i was the only one who caught it and burst out laughing...even my mom didn't know she made a really dry joke.

the aunt and cousins from the states are heading back home this evening.

sigh...wish i had double the time i had now so i could've at least spent a dinner with them.

SAVE ME

uhhuh.

that's the song that's been playing on the cell since friday's meet-and-greet session at the library@esplanade.

that hour or so held a revelation for me, something that angus had pointed out months ago.

"you could've written little superhero girl."

of course, he means it like i was exactly what the song was about.

corrinne may is close to my heart because i can relate to her music.

it was only last friday that i realized i could relate to her as well.

1) how she met david foster.

she said she and a friend, zack, went to an upclose-and-personal session with the guy. after he finished his introduction, he invited people to go up on stage to play their music. zack went while she hesitated. in the end, she was like "oh what the heck, how often do i get to play for david foster?!" and went ahead to play Same Side of The Moon. at the end of the song, david foster sat down and replayed that very song! she was exhilarated.

i've been in many situations like that...where i'm often confronted with a "to do or not to do". most times, i just throw away reason for that moment to take the first step. once i'm on stage, i panic but am forced to go through with whatever i'm up there for because it'd be a horrid waste of opportunity to step down.

if i had never taken that first step, no one would've known me, or how good i could be.

(it's not an ego statement, btw.)

2) origins of Fly Away.

she said it was one of the songs that came out of her most difficult time in the states. it was about her parents loving her too much to keep her from pursuing her dreams.

my parents have always tried their best to make mine come true. unfortunately, it was not meant to be...but that doesn't mean they didn't try.

our parents love us so much to want us to fulfill our dreams. the only difference here is...she managed to. i haven't.

in this sense, perhaps life holds a different path for me.

and perhaps, as much as i yearn to pursue academia, something much bigger lies in store...just waiting for me to wake up and smell it.

i need to get over the fact that i'm never gonna get my PhD before 30.

i've stopped stumbling.

CONFESSIONS

i like wearing my SIA uniform. =)

i tried it on last night to make sure it still fitted...before i bring it all the way to tunisia and realize i got too big for it. =P

it's amazing how simple words strung together could create such an impact on a person.

or how one ol' word can do it.

"You know what? I knew you were special the first time I danced with you last time at our Friday class...special and talented some more."

yes it meant something...even though it was said via msn.

"You're getting there...I know you are."

sigh. you guys are too sweet.

i feel a bout of reflection coming on.

tomorrow morning, maybe.

in the meantime, let me bask in the joy of having secured, prepared and conducted an interview in two hours flat. =)

OH WHAT A NIGHT

of near misses.

simon buzzed yesterday afternoon to say he couldn't make it for the corrinne may concert that evening, and i toiled to look for a replacement.

elmie decided she'd be horrible to back out of volleyball training last minute and everyone else just couldn't go cuz it was too bloody last minute.

so i got the only other person i knew who knew of miss may from me - my bro.

then jac's schedule threatened to have her miss the performance too...and she was fighting all the way till the time we entered the concert hall to make it.

alas, it was not to be.

so somewhere in our midst of the sold-out concert was an empty seat.=(

the night went all right, except for the horrid sound system and miss may's penchant for smaller crowds.

the huge concert hall seemed a little too overwhelming for such a toned-down performance.

oddly, the song that received the best response was her remake of "close to you".

besides having heard it in the movie "so close", i don't think it's received much airplay.

but it's a carpenters hit, so go figure.

and the few of us just went a little crazy while in the queue for her after-show autograph session...


me and claire

yes it started with this one picture.

which escalated to "lemme try point-shooting us"...


me, claire and angus

after which claire decided she wanted to give it a shot too.

so she lifts the camera in front of us, and these two guys behind us were like "why don't we help you with the picture?"

and i'm like "she wants to try to point and shoot".

and they're like "uh...i think you should move it slightly..."

*SNAP.


yes it came out like this

we all burst out into laughter. =)

trust us to make acquaintances outta people in the queue.

then of course, we got a little bored so the brother and i started singing "yesterday".

then came the verse...

suddenly
i'm not half the man i used to be...

at this juncture, my brother did this...


am i half the man i used to be?

yes he's looking at his crotch.

*cue the laughter again.

it wasn't long then before we finally got there...


us and miss may

jac said she looks like mulan from the animated film. =P

and then the craziness carried on outside the esplanade.

we cut through the trees to get to the underpass and my brother decides to do this...


yes claire couldn't resist

sigh. =)

OH WHAT A NIGHT.

GO THE DISTANCE

i know every mile will be worth my while...

a friend who yoda-cizes every sentence offered me this simple line of wisdom:

Even Gods were mortal once ... besides, the dancing Force is strong in you they sense, thus the Council they seek you to join.

i was confiding in a non-salsa him about my apprehension.

and he put it into perspective for me, just like how mark put business news into perspective for me.

CEOs are mere mortals. they are no different from you as a human.

great dancers are mere mortals too. yes, bow in reverence of their skill, but there is no need to fear them as humans.

i'm on my way to clearing the hurdle of such ridiculous fear.

and these people might make it easier for me to get over it.

god-like issues aside, here's the photoblog on the madness that was monday night!

the skies were extremely kind to clear up the evening for us, and clement kindly undertook his photog role to capture these special moments for us...

and it begin with this one picture...


the sandwich laydees

ling and i had met up in the late afternoon to grab ingredients for our sandwiches of tuna mayo, egg mayo and ham and cheese.

seems that our dish was way too popular and the first one to go!

of course, charlie simply HAD to join in the exotic fun for the evening...


ling, clem and me

the whole shindig gathered like a class outing on a saturday night, especially when the whole lot of us moved to one side to view the performances.

check out the pretty maidens...


dainty daisies in a row

aren't these ladies lovely? =)

of course, this, being a salsa party, couldn't have gone on without some butt-moving...


cecilia and eddie

check out that frame!

we also had a consolidated birthday treat for our three august babies...


albert, cherie and philbie

yes, they all salsa. =) which reminds me...we forgot the birthday dances!!!

now it being exotic night, we had a surprise item from THE MEN...


boon on pole

argh...my eyes! my eyes!!!

i was yanked into the madness...


boon trying to seduce me

and so was evelyn...


eddie trying to seduce evelyn

check out the slight flicker of apprehension in her eyes. hehe. majorly good actress she is.

they were trying to strip us...


HELP!!!

but we didn't let'em.

and it all ended with us girls fully clothed, and the men in their...um...thangs.


the end

while the guys were trying to give us girls a run for our feminine money, we showed them some too...


you go girl!

to the people who thought yuli wasn't IT...BLEAH.

she's so hot, you oughta be pouring ice down your pants!

and we all still ended fully clothed. well, almost all of us. =P


OUCH!

darn the jagged flooring.

anyways, somewhere in the middle of all this madness, philbie managed to sneak in a stranglehold on me...in full view of the parental unit.


double HELP!!!

and so we were...

HAPPY.

IS THIS LOVE

i wanna run...

the euphoria of yesterday is akin to that of falling in love.

when someone tells you he likes you and wants you to be with him, exhilaration takes over, especially when you've secretly had a crush on him for the longest time.

i was offered a fantastic piece of news monday, and it SHOULD'VE happen the exact same way.

but alas, it didn't.

i just HAD to play devil's advocate to myself...refusing to accept the compliment that came along with the news.

i don't get it.

i had secretly admired them from the sidelines eversince i knew of their being.

and i'm euphoric at the prospect of having the chance to join them.

so why did i have to curb that enthusiasm so?

enough rationalization.

i'm excited.

thanks for our little chat monday, adeline.

you've made both my monday and my national day. =)

VEHICLE

great god in heaven, you know i love you.

was just blasting the salsa version of this song...=)

it's tonight! it's tonight!

the food and dancing's gonna be awesome, sensual and patriotic. haha.

i had a very very packed saturday, but 'twas also very very good.

morning till afternoon was percussion practice with the team going to tunisia for the bid.

and then came this in the evening...


flags in the air

my laydees and i went to the esplanade to catch the dim sum dollies in action...but we managed to catch more than that...


PARTEEEEEEE!

there was this huge party going on near the waterfront theater where a female group was croaking a tuneless "truly, madly, deeply".

*hair stands.

union after.

it was good. =)

LULLABY OF BIRDLAND

never in my worldland could there be words to reveal
in a phrase how i feel.

i almost forgot how much i loved it, or how it felt to just...liberate.

but i've paid the price, and man...do i feel like a bag-a-sore-bones right now.

notes to self:

1) learn how to head-flick in the other direction (*massages aching side of neck)

2) do not try to restrict dance days or else your stamina's gonna head down the toilet...

3) good move - not eating more than half a sandwich before dancing

sing me a lullaby.

AND SOME...

and the co-emcee just posted these...=)


prim and proper


oh come on...move closer...NOT!

a pity we didn't have any pictures of me in my dress together.

so much for taking before-and-after pictures.

PICTURE POSTCARDS FROM LA

...to hang on my refrigerator door.

here's one for the fluffy-clouded day...

so you're dying to know what i've been up to over the weekend eh?

and in reverse chronological order...

THE WEDDING

the cousin had his wedding dinner on sunday, with his friend and yours truly as his emcees.

yes i did the mandarin part. (stop the bloody sniggering already!)

my aunt and cousins from california flew down for the wedding after surf camp, so yes, they're tanned as hell.


my mom and me, my aunt and her two kids

tell me you don't know which one's my mom...hehe.

then of course, there's me and me bro.


eugene and me

talk about chemistry. =)

saturday night saw a few of us trying out for salsa fanatico.

we got in.

JAZZ@SOUTHBRIDGE

friday night will be remembered for a long time to come...good company, good music...what more could a girl ask for?

this is such a classic...=P


weirong sandwich

and they had to yank me in for this sleazy one as well...


EEEKS!

hian hong's flying off to the states for work and backpacking tomorrow...he'll be sorely missed by the rueda gang. bless him.

and lastest...

LITTLE JACK JACK'S PARTEEEE...

in true jack jack fashion, he was the star of the night.

of course, this being my blog, i'm only gonna post such selected shots.


casino community, rueda amigos y amigos

we all turned up for jack jack, because he is SPECIAL. =)


me, KY aka jack jack and boon

then people just couldn't get enough of exoticism...


yuli, ling and me

like this one guy, who claims he's charlie, and that we're his angels...hehe...(GOOD MORNING CHARLIE BABY!)


clement aka charlie and his angels

all righty. i'm tired.

back to the drawing board.

I LIKE BIG BUTTS...

and we discovered we won the following...

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

MOST CREATIVE

BEST INTRO

and we were acknowledged as being the most hardworking...damn right...hehe.

thanks mama chix.

FEVER

...all through the night.

tuesday night was pure hotness...the girls were SO HOT.

ours was...well...performed...choreographed...so it went all right. =)

it was over way too fast. but i think we'd wanna do it again some other time eh, girls? ;P

the interview with JC from UTAC went pretty all right...

JC: you've asked me about drinking and all...why? you want to buy me a drink is it?

Me: uh...CAN. only if you'll cook for me.

JC: on.

Me: okay...on.

but we all know this is one date no one's gonna keep...wahahaha. it made for good radio though.

jenny, nancy and i (ex-SIA teammates) hung out at a dodgy marina south steamboat place earlier...and they came over for a chat after.

it's amazing how we managed to gel so when we were in the airline.

we all lead such different lives now.

it felt almost surreal when nancy said "i think he's the one" with such conviction.

time.

sigh.

it just slips, doesn't it?

I'D LIKE TO GET YOU ON A SLOW BOAT TO CHINA...

all to myself. alone.

the doughnuts are here! the doughnuts are here!

how hilarious it was that at 0130hrs this morning, we noticed the huge stack of doughnuts before recognizing the relatives carrying them...;P

when the relatives came out of customs (they flew in from the US) we went to hug them while my brother rushed over to hug the doughnuts...HAHA.

and the sweet thang was cool enough to give me a box of'em. yums.

everyone seemed to have turned up at the airport for something...apart from the sheer joy of seeing the aunt and the kids again.

my mom was had her See's Toffee-ettes sitting comfortably in my aunt's luggage, i had my pair of dance sneakers and my HP sitting in that same bag and my brother had his doughnuts.

i love my dance sneakers and i love my harry potter, even though i don't suppose i have the time to read it till AFTER the wedding. knowing it's in my possession is good enough.

the aunt said she got it at US$15...i saw the same version at borders going for S$53!

i'm glad i waited it out. =)

us three exotic girls worked it out sunday morning...and we're getting better with each run-thru.

i'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well tonight.

us in our short skirts and sexy shoes. =)

and people talk about PMS all the time.

i have the bloats...and it's the MS. sigh. still, the show must go on.

i feel overwhelmed by the amount of work on my plate.

not "work" work, but everything i have to do.

my WSJ bid presentation is bugging me...but i don't have enough information to work on.

i'll be leaving for tunisia in a month and i'm so not ready for it.

i'm feeling just a tad bit empty these days.

not because i don't have much to do and have way too much time to think, but because i just feel like i haven't done enough. of everything.

perhaps it's because of the wave of rejections i've been sending out.

i hate to reject offers, but sometimes, i just need to put my welfare ahead of your request because my health is, indeed, suffering. i need rest. please understand.

i want a little something more
don't want the middle or the one before
i don't desire a complicated past
i want a love that will last.

- Renee Olstead.

now you know i'm a committment phobe. for now i am.

but recent events have had me wondering how it would be like to be in a constant relationship.

i have no desire to be in one yet.

i'd much prefer spending whatever time i have left to myself, at home.

but yeah, i'm just wondering.

oh well.

i suddenly miss my brother. hmm.

i just realize i've pictured myself protecting him, and me, from something...way too many times.

COUNTING BLUE CARS

this one was a fucking big MPV.

with a huge driver.

on his puny mobile phone.

the idiot almost knocked me down at the traffic light...when the green man was on.

THE GREEN MAN.

and the little bugger wasn't even flashing.

IDIOTS AND HANDPHONES.

either that, or men just can't multi-task.

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.
You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

- James Blunt

reminiscent of Damien Rice's The Blower's Daughter.

"i can't take my eyes off you."

now how many times have we been drawn to the people we know we can't have?

i know i have.

bygones.

HOME

for this is where i know i'm home.

how different would someone be, crossing the 21st age line?

is it even remotely possible for someone to think "hey it's time to be a responsible adult" the minute he turns 21?

if it were that easy to switch modes like that, why wouldn't they have "enlightened" themselves at the other two landmark ages of 16 or 18?

why the big 2-1?

and if 21's the major turning point, why are there still idiots who behave like fucking imbeciles at the age of 26, 28 or even 31?

so maturity and responsible behavior doesn't come with age. uhhuh.

and people give seemingly sensible speeches on their 21st birthday...thanking their parents, relatives, friends, friends' girlfriends (hey i don't know what they do behind closed doors...)and all that jazz.

then they get pissed drunk during the course of the night and begin all their childish nonsense in the morning again.

day one after 21st birthday.

so much for that speech.

though i gotta admit...the last birthday speech i heard really got to me.

my baby brother celebrated his 21st birthday over the weekend.

i'm pretty sure he had intended to just sit back and chat with his friends till they wanted to leave.

then my cousin started chanting "speech speech speech..."

and so came the dreaded silence before he collected himself to say something.

i felt almost bad for him as everyone looked up at him, expecting him to burst into a flurry of eloquence.

i didn't need to.

my brother showed them.

he showed them why he was 21.

and he showed me he had the right to make that speech.

you see, my brother had leukemia.

there were points in the early stages of his treatment when he was hanging on to the blood bank for dear life because the drugs were too strong and they created ulcers in his bodily tubes.

he bled.

out of desperation, we had him ferried to a bigger hospital, where they pumped blood directly into his heart via a line.

i can still remember the doctor's exact words...

"this boy is very weak and he is at a very critical stage. but we will try our very best to save him."

i didn't cry. i just couldn't.

my parents sobbed and waited it out.

i just sat there.

and then the doctor came out.

"we managed to put a line directly to his heart. it is highly risky but we needed to risk it because he was losing too much blood. any infection of this line will be fatal. so we have to be very careful."

yes, my brother was still alive.

i remember walking to the bathroom...hovering over the sink, and suddenly collapsing into a sobbing mess...

though by the time i rejoined my parents at the ICU, i was back to "normal".

my brother was 12 then.

when i lived at home with my parents and brother, i'd creep into his room every night...just to check if he was still breathing.

going to his room became such a habit that we'd always spend some time chatting in his room or mine.

every night.

so when he made that speech last saturday evening, and he thanked his mom, his dad, his grandaunt and his sis...it was too much for me to handle.

all those images threatened to flush through my mind...the catch to that little closet was getting loose...

the thing that saved me from bawling my heart out was my relative's thunderous applause.

after which, my brother said...

"many things have changed through my life. and things are going to change. but one thing will remain, and that is love."

*cue the thunderous applause once more

i admire my brother.

he has balls.

he is THE REASON for my existence.

i live for him.

and he...

he lives within me, wherever i may roam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EUGENE.

YOUTH NATION

want to determine how you want to use the area around the youth park aka the new youth community space?

scape.youth.sg.

post your suggestions.=)

YOU DON'T KNOW ME

you speak of her like she could do no wrong.

you think she's special because you think she does things differently from others, including yourself.

you elevate her to goddess status.

i'm not saying she's a sinner.

i'm not saying she isn't special.

i'm not even disputing her goddess status in your heart.

i'm simply presenting a contrarian view of how the people hovering around us now might just be that kinda special as well.

and perhaps they just aren't showing us that side of their lives.

then you insist that "she really is special" and i'm saying things like this because i don't know her.

how well do you know her? or me, for that matter?

what if i told you that whatever you think of her as special for, i've already gone through?

would it make me any less conventional to you?

no.

because i would never reveal that side of me to you.

so you can go on thinking of me as normal (read: boring) and one-dimensional.

and how she's so much more special than me, or her, or her, or her...

OBSESSION

an excerpt from one of my old writcomm essays...

Women's obsession with the perfect figure has them all conforming; trying to better themselves. They never realize though, that the perfect body can never be achieved, nor the perfect posture, nor the flawless surface. American author George Orwell wrote, "While the Pobble was in the water some unidentified creatures came and ate his toes off, and when he got home his aunt remarked: It's a fact the whole world knows, that Pobbles are happier without their toes." "Pobbles" and women are uncannily similar in their plight. Women discipline their bodies. At least Pobbles had their toes bitten off.

hmm.

PITTER PATTER, RAINDROPS SPLATTER

somehow, LSG just sounds good with this weather...


storm brewing just past 4

five minutes later...


talk about foggy

and then...


closer to free

everything in its time.

WAR OF THE WORLDS

nixon: hey serene, can you tell me what make all the aliens in the movie "war of the worlds" die?

me: umm...hard to explain, but it's the very micro-organisms we humans live off or can tahan that the aliens couldn't.

nixon: i tot so, but it stupid. alien plan the invasion for million of yrs to harvest human as food yet not expect food poisoning.

is it just me, or is his response funny as hell?

HOT IN HERE...

you know it's true when:

1) a macs wait staff comes up to you while you're in a queue, taps you on your shoulder, and says (in cantonese) that you've got a nice figure;

2) one of your dance mates exclaims how sexy you looked in that white skirt saturday night;

3) the receptionist keeps harping on you to stop wearing your tank tops.

when did i ever become the center of such comments?

it's fucking hilarious.

BIGGER THAN MY BODY

someday i'll fly
someday i'll soar
someday i'll be so damn much more
cause i'm bigger than my body gives me credit for

someone told me this last night:

"you're not little superhero girl, you know."

how obvious is it that this someone knows i'm not dillusional?

how closely has he listened to the lyrics of the song?

i feel like a little girl
trying to conquer the whole wide world
everybody wants a piece of me
and i just don't know where to turn.

even angus admitted that he could see me writing such lyrics because it's just so...me.

i know can't cast a "pink-poodles-that-bark-but-don't-bite" spell over the whole world.

but i can change the world. one asshole at a time.

the short skirt seemed to have worked pretty well last night.

i felt so different dancing in it...in the words of some of the guys from last night, i looked "hot and sexy" in the short thang.

um...okay.

HEY BIG SPENDER

spend a little time with me.

makes me wanna touch myself all over, hit the floor and do a head flick.

i still remember wanting to perform this song (a lap dance inclusive) at an event several years back.

yes, pre-exotic days.

on hindsight, nah...don't think i would've been able to carry it off.

then again, if angus and andreas already think roxie was hot...

imagine what they'd think of me now. =P

philbie said i'm becoming "sexier".

perhaps it's because i've put on some weight so i look less boney. (wheeee!)

the short skirt today sure created a lotta attention.

the receptionist kept scrutinizing me from head to toe, whenever i walked by her.

ashley let out a loud "WOW" when i came into the room.

i wonder if this skirt should ever see the light of day again. *blush*

so uh...those of you reading this now and seeing me tonight...

just pretend i'm wearing shorts okay? ;)

*which i am, under the short, short skirt.

SATURDAY IN THE PARK

now here's a short one, with pictures from an event i hosted saturday afternoon.

after a press conference to launch the youth community space behind orchard cineleisure, minister of MCYS vivian balakrishnan was supposed to try out the flying fox at Urban Infest just across the road from the youth park.

and so he gets suited up...


let me at it!

and starts making his way to the top...


you'd better let me win this one...=)

where he gets prepped on what to do to make his way down safely on the flying fox...


spot the minister

and off he goes...


wheeeeeee....

and as he approaches the halfway point, he...


stop the minister

STOPS.

that's right. the stupid thing stops.

apparently, the wires weren't angulated enough.

and so, the fella sits there and starts waving at everyone peering at him from below...(and the press are having a field day)

about a minute later, two guys grabbed the rope attached to the minister's harness and pulled him down.

LAND.

IF I KISSED YOU

and if i kissed you
would you lose track of time
would you feel the surge of happiness
running up your spine
would you run naked in the street
with a tattoo of my name on your behind

if i kissed you.

- corrinne may.

this song hasn't stopped being on replay since i got hold of her album.

this, and "save me" are two songs i absolutely have to listen to on a long bus ride home.

picture this:

you board the bus.

as you walk to a vacant seat, you sight this girl mouthing something, and looking blissfully at the passing scenary.

you sit down and keep observing this girl.

you catch her tapping her feet, accenting her rhythm at several points and moving her fingers like she's playing an imaginary keyboard.

as she stops running her fingers across her bag, she smiles...and glances at her ring.

she fingers her ring.

and smiles again.

that girl is me.

i look like i'm blissfully unaware of the grey shade enveloping my surroundings.

i look like i'm happily engaged or married.

i look like i'm...well, happy.

and i am, happy. at least for the duration of songs like the two abovementioned.

the ring is a deliberate effort to keep men at bay.

though sometimes, i feel the ring perpetuates my singlehood.

such is the irony of my reality; your pseudo-reality.

as the melody of the songs die down, the shade of grey seems to creep closer...and i find myself reaching out, trying to grab on to any song that'll take my hand.

i scroll clumsily through my playlists, finding that one extra number that'll keep me up five minutes longer.

and when i can't get my fix, i'd fall into withdrawal.

in some odd way, i feel like a hardcore addict for my faith.

though you can't blame me, can you?

it's the only thing that's been constant in my life, from my days as a wallflower till my present.

MUSIC IS MY RELIGION.

i sing for you and only you
wherever i go i find you
you're in the sound of every hello
in everything i do

you're the song i was destined to know
and i'll only sing for you.

- daniel letterle, i sing for you

he is my lover...one whom i'm never afraid to call MY LIFE.

my pride was never an issue in this relationship, because i've always been at the receiving end.

he's taught me how to love, and in the absence of giving, to embrace the love one might give.

there was a time another came close to rivaling my love - salsa - and i was in turmoil for a while.

how could i love another?

but he was kind, and told me to go.

and i realized that love need not be spread between the two, but that it could be multiplied.

so they compromised and co-exist in my life now.

but THIS part of me will belong to him, and him only.

I WANT TO SING.

on a lighter note, curtis and i decided we're gonna enter the next Amazing Race! =)


ashley, curtis, me

we gatecrashed curtis' dad's wedding to check him out...him and his tux.


c'mon girls, give me a kiss!

and he insisted on having his sunglasses on for the rest of the pictures.


agent smith and his babes

so you think we'd be able to pass off as a long-distance dating couple? ;)

the fashion shoot pictures seem to be getting a few hits...interesting.

here's another guy who loves being flanked by ladies in pink...


me, ricky, ling

in other news,

i've just been informed i'll be attending a dialogue session with the Prime Minister.

uhhuh.

ashley: eh, what would you ask the PM ah?

silence.

me: uh...i don't know, seriously. what would you ask?

ashley: i also don't know leh.

so...here's our topic for the day:

IF YOU COULD ASK THE PRIME MINISTER ONE QUESTION, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

*yes, i'm looking for a response. tag, comment, email...just speak up. =)

ROLL WITH IT

this was the start of a majorly fun saturday evening at union...


pinkertons...not!

...and it started with all of us in pink.

us girls got so excited when we saw each other in pink that when ling and i bumped into daphne near the entrance, we shrieked in delight!

(don't expect me to turn into a girly girl now...)

we were tired, but dang...we had fun.

i had more than a "hi" with one of the sweetest girls ever that evening (in a non-gay way).

thanks evelyn, you made my evening, simply by smiling at me. =)

boon's also passed me the shots he took for his assignment, so check my flickr album out to view them.

i need to pee now.

WORK IT

a friend who's working with the MCYS said they're planning a "thank you" dinner for the volunteers who helped out at SHINE.

she said i'm invited.

she said when the team was wondering who should emcee the dinner, her boss said "serene".

ALAMAK.

every event i've gone to this year, i've hosted.

every event i've been invited to, i'm going to host.

i sure hope i get to sit down for this one.