Adrian's Nook

A New Chapter ... How Will It Turn Out ...

2011-04-24T19:13:00.000+08:00

I've been waiting for this moment ... diligently counting down the days, the hours, the minutes till I can finally head home for good. The past thirty three months I've been thrusted into a world I never knew before ... but all this will come to an end in a couple of days time. Soon I'll be back to a life I was once familiar with ... a life I once had.

The odd thing that hit me is this ... I expected myself to be feeling on top of the world ... I mean the prospect of going home, to be with family and friends, to seize back the life I used to relish ... all these should thrill me to no end ... but somehow that's not what I'm experiencing at this moment. In fact, deep down inside, I feel that there's a sense of dread that's trying to claw its way out of me. A definite fear that is trying to eat me whole.

I reckon all this may sound a little too melodramatic ... maybe it is ... but to a certain extent, it's true. A frequent quote I've heard and used many times ... 'Time will tell' ... I guess there's no denying that time will ultimately reveal everything. So it's just a matter of waiting it out and see what happens. Just that I'm not comfortable starring into the abyss and wait for the monster to come get me ... if there is one in the first place. Still ... the idea of not knowing terrifies me.

I ought to be thankful for what I have ... I mean considering all the shit that's happening around the world ... the tsunami the Japs were hit by, the constant war that has enveloped the Arab world, starvation in the African nations ... actually, I should be shot for even voicing out my oh-so-trivial discontentment with life. I guess this is just one of my off days and I would really appreciate an avenue where I can channel out my grouses. So just bear with me or you can simply click on the little red button with the 'x' at the top right hand corner of your screen. :p

I think I've blogged bout this some time previously ... the part where I wake up every morning, look into the mirror and I say to myself 'Hey buddy, sucks to be you huh'. Despite his bleh-ness, some good did come out from all these. Well, I'm now a proud co-owner of a rather nice pad, at least that's how I would rate my home. Also, working here have afforded me a couple of memorable holidays and not to mention some cool gadgets ... only God knows how I survived without the iPad previously. Let's see, what else ... oh, I've managed to catch up on a lot on my reading, one of the few activities that helped kept my head in check all these while. It's where I can 'escape' briefly from the bitter reality. Ok ... I know ... drama queen again.

Ok, now towards the downers. Well, my health ain't at its optimum so to speak. I may look ok on the outside but I'm pretty sure the insides isn't as pleasant looking healthwise. I've been consuming instant noodles AT LEAST ONCE EVERYDAY. That means my stomach is probably lined with enough wax to fill an entire Madame Tussauds galery. I know you'll say something along the lines of 'Why don't you just eat something else instead?!!!'. Well, given the situation that me and my colleagues are in, it's easier said than done ... trust me on this one. Also, never before have I been exposed to weather this harsh ... at the peak of summer, it goes well above 50 degs C. So I laugh when I hear the pussies back home whining over how scorching it is when the thermometer reads a paltry 38 degs C. Pffttt ...

Oh and then there's the sand. You know how you read about the white soft sands along the sapphire beach that holiday makers just love to squish between their toes ... well, newsflash, the ones we get here aren't the same. During a sandstorm, you'll get particles of sands making its way into every of your available orifice and there's really no way of preventing it. So the next time you see me, you might as well call me a walking hourglass.

The other stuff are almost neglectable ... the lack of social life, no proper transportation at my disposal, NO GYM (I've been gym-ing everyday before I came over here), the shortage of proper food amongst other things.

Well, my biggest grievance is time. Well, how I was robbed of it to be more precise. Of course, no one pointed a gun to my head and forced me to spend three years here but nevertheless, it's fact that I've lost three years of my life being away from the people that matters most to me. Take for instance, a colleague of mine whose mom passed away while he was working here. So the million dollar question is ... is all the money in the world worth what we're trading it for? And another aspect of my life has simply gone from bad to worse. Well, that's a story for another day.

We cannot turn back time, what's gone is gone. So I should try to make the most of what I have now. But is it too late? *cue drama music of your choice now* All jokes aside, this period of time have been a real trial for me. I guess I'm weak. A lot of others have endured worse and aren't bitching bout it. This makes me sound like a pussy. So I guess I'll just cut it short and end it here.

Let's hope things will turn out well for me eventually. Let's hope I'll see the rainbow after the storm.

Thanks for reading.

Ciao.

The Wife's Birthday

2011-04-10T16:32:00.012+08:00

Sandy opened the door and reached out for the morning paper. The headlines screamed 'President Ousted' in bold. She vaguely remembered watching a segment on the news late last night reporting the indictment of a certain political big wig for siphoning large amounts of the nation's money into his own private account. The world is in choas she thought, just like her own life.

She opened her letter box and its rusted screws screeched, shattering the serenity of her apartment corridor. She fished out the contents and rummaged through them. In her hands was a Chinese take-out menu which she crumpled and discarded immediately. There was also a letter from the bank. She would be most suprised if it wasn't another reminder to settle her credit card dues and lastly, there was a baby pink envelope addressed with her name on it.

Sandy went back into the apartment and closed the door behind her. Delicately, she peeled it open and pulled out a card. On the front was an illustration of a three-tiered cake staked with dozens on multi coloured candles. On top of it, the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY was punctuated in some typical cartoonish font. A tired smile escaped her lips. She flipped the card open and read its message ...

Dearest Sandy,

May you have the most wonderful birthday this year. We're awfully sorry we couldn't make it to see you, Jake's got his soccer tournament today. We hope you understand. Will definitely try to pop by sometime next week. Make it up to you then sis.

XOXO,

Gabby and Jake

P.S. Hope you liked the balloon Jake had drawn for you :)

Beneath the message was a squiggly heart shaped balloon crayoned in red by her six year old nephew.

Gabby was her twenty five year old sister and also a single mother. Jake's dad decided he couldn't stomach the responsibility and had left Gabby high and dry two months before Jake was due. So for the past six years, it was the two sisters who slogged and raised Jake into the beautiful boy that he is today. They showered him with as much love as any kid could possibly digest and as a result, Sandra found in Jake the son she never had.

Today, October the 13th was Sandy's twenty ninth birthday. She felt her entire life wasting away by the minute and had achieved nothing except harnessing copious amount of unhappiness and grief. To add to it, the absence of her sister and nephew on her birthday this year added a tonnne of lead to her already heavy heart. Sandy shut her eyes tightly and tried in vain to wish away the depression that was shrouding her. Her futile attempt was interrupted by a sound coming from her bedroom. Jacob, her husband must have awoken and the thought of seeing him added to the dread within.

Sandy put the kettle to boil and spooned some coffee powder into her mug. A cube of cane sugar was added and she admired the stark contrast of white against black. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jacob coming out of the bedroom fresh from a shower. As much as she hated to admit it, he smelled delicious from his Hugo cologne. He pocketed his keys and wallet and went for the door.

He stopped there, looked at her and said 'I'm going out for a bit.' She ignored him. Two seconds later, she heard the door slamming and the echo of his footsteps going fainter and fainter along the corridor. He didn't even have the decency to remember her birthday, she thought. Fucking bastard.

Their relationship as husband and wife had been strained for some time now. He was always being occupied with something and she felt painfully neglected. Sandy desperately craved for her husband's emotional support and physical touch but as far as she could recall, this was not to be. Every little thing seemed to set off arguments and hence, the scraps of moments they had together was peppered with cold shoulders and long periods of deafening silence. It was killing her inside to go through this state of agony and she often wondered where did that sweet loving man she married dissappeared to.

The kettle whistled loudly disrupting her train of miserable thoughts. She turned off the stove and emptied the fillings in her mug down the sink. She just wasn't in the mood for anything, not even her morning brew.

Sandy must have dozed off while watching the Sunday noon talk show programme for she was jolted awake by the piercing message alert from her mobile. Still drowzy, she read the sms

Can we do an early dinner tonight? I have a game with the guys later at the club

She typed in her reply

Whatever

and hit the Send button.

By half past four in the afternoon, he was dressed and waiting in their living room. He was watching one of those slutty teenage singer shaking and grinding her thang shamelessly on the MTV channel. She came out of the bathroom with her hair still wet. She put on an old floral dress and thought to herself 'When did it became so bad ...'

Sandy opened the front door and walked out. She heard the TV being turned off and Jacob hurrying behind her.

He asked 'So, any preference? Where do you wanna eat?'

'Up to you,' she answered coldly.

In the car, he was whistling almost too cheerfully as they snaked along the heavy traffic. 'So how was your day? Did anything interesting?' he questioned, trying to dissolve the uncomfortable quietness.

'What do you care,' she said.

She heard him inhaled deeply and stayed silent. Deep inside, it satisfied her to piss him off. Nothing helps with bitterness like spreading it around.

He parked the Volvo in front of an all day buffet restaurant. They had frequented this place a couple of times before not because the food offered someting to shout about but because it does the job if you want to make your money's worth. For 25 bucks, you can choose from an array of seafood, cold cuts, salads, grilled meats and a pitiful selection of overly sweetened desserts.

At 4:50p.m., the place was empty. At one corner, three Indian waiters were busy wrapping metal cutleries in gardenia white serviettes. Jacob picked a table by the glass window overlooking the street outside. One of the three came over and emptied half a bottle of water into their glasses.

'Shall we?' he said.

She got up without a word and headed towards the spread. Nothing seemed appetizing and she finally settled for some greens and ceasar dressing.

Moments later, Jacob came back with his plate filled to the brim. A wide grin was plastered on his face and he was obviously very satisfied with his haul. He dug in and found it difficult to eat without spilling some of his food on the table. So he took the huge piece of grilled dory and placed it on the side plate. 'Too much there,' he said to no one in particular.

Sandy stared at him with anger brewing within her. She took her fork and stabbed his fish. 'This is ME!' she said too loud.

The three waiters were staring now. Jacob looked up from his plate, his mouth stopped chewing and his eyes expressed bewilderment.

'Huh?' he uttered.

'You heard me. THIS.IS.ME!' she said through gritted teeth. 'Everything on your plate now is your fucking life. You see the steak, that's your work. The rice, those are your colleagues. The prawns are your family and the chicken ... your idiot friends. You have too much on your plate and there's just not enough space in your life for me,' she exploded. 'Don't you see???!!! I'm just this fucking fish that you can easily do without. I don't fit anywhere in your life anymore'

'Aw come on, this isn't fair. It isn't like that,' he replied trying to soothe her.

A waiter came over and asked 'Is everything with the food alright?'

'Everything's fine. Thank you,' Jacob replied.

The waiter stole a quite glance at Sandy who had her face buried in her hands. Eventually, he turned and walked away.

Jacob reached out to hold her hand. She jerked back and said 'Let's just eat and go.'

They ate what's left on their plate in silence. Jacob signalled for the bill and they left the restaurant. Once outside, Sandy said 'You go on ahead. I need to be alone for a while.'

'Come on dear. Don't be like this. Let me take you home. It's cold out here,' Jacob pleaded.

Sandy started walking and Jacob tried to hold her arm. She turned around and pulled herself away with a little too much force. 'Don't touch me,' she hissed. 'Go, just go. Go to the club with your friends. Don't keep them waiting,' she said spitefully. With that, Sandy walked away rapidly leaving Jacob standing on the walkway alone. Across the street, an elderly couple stood watching and shaking their heads.

She didn't know where she was going and was walking aimlessly. She felt utterly lost. Tears were uncontrollably streaming down her face. Every now and then, gust of wind would sweep across and send chills down to her spine. She wrapped her thin jacket tighter around but it doesn't help with the frosty weather. Her nose was runny and she was beginning to shiver. The sun was fading on the horizon and by now, the soles of her feet were aching. Her mobile rang and she saw that Jacob was calling. She pressed a button and it sent a busy ring tone to the other end of the line.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandy was climbing up the stairs to her apartment. By now, her tears have stopped flowing but her eyes were still red. She felt exhausted and the idea of going back into an empty home dismayed her tremendously. She wanted to curl up in bed and call her sister. She desperately needed someone to talk to.

She turned the key and pushed opened the door. She heard what was like a child's giggle and a wave of panic blanketed her. She was certain the noise came from inside of her house. Someone was in there. She quickly fumbled for the light switch and flipped it on.

The brightness blinded her for a moment but her ears were pounded with shouts of SUPRISE!!!

When she regained her vision, she stood there dumbfounded. Staring back at her were all the people she loved and cared for. Her closest family and friends. Gabby was there with Jake in front of her, his hands clutching on a nicely wrapped box with a yellow ribbon going around it. He was smiling at her revealing a missing tooth in front. Sandy's mother was there too, sitting on the sofa with her eyes wide, as if willing her to have at least some reaction. At the back, members of her book club were standing, all sportingly wearing party hats and grinning. Finally, standing in the center was Jacob, holding up her beautiful birthday cake. It's tiramisu, her favourite. He remembered ... he didn't forget she thought. Then she was burdened down by so much guilt for the way she had treated him earlier. Tears started to form once more at the edge of her eyes. She couldn't hold it back and her vision began to blur.

Before she knew it, Jacob was hugging her tightly, squeezing a little breath out of her. It helped with stopping the tears.

'Jacob, I ...,' she started to say but he stopped her mid sentence.

'Today's your special day. I spent the whole day making this happen, so promise me you'll go and enjoy it,' he said with a smile. 'Besides, you've kept your guests waiting for quite a while.'

She could only nod in response.

Jacob let her go and her nephew was there next, throwing himself at her legs, clinging to them for dear life.

'Happy Birthday Aunty Sandy,' he said shyly. And then Gabby was there, embracing them in a group hug.

'I hate you,' Sandy told her sister. 'You don't know how much grief this caused me,' she said between sobs and laughter at the same time.

'Jacob made me promise not to tell,' she said with her hands up in a surrender pose.

Soon everyone was mingling in the party and was having a good time. They then sang Sandy her birthday song and she made a wish. A wish that if came true, would guarantee a happily ever after for her and her Jacob.

'The cake's delicious,' she said to her husband.

'Especially when all you had earlier was salad,' he teased cheekily.

As the night was getting late, the guests began to leave. There was school tomorrow and Jake had to be up early. So Gabby took both her son and her mother home. One of her book club member was actually drunk and had to be helped by two others as they staggered home.

Jacob and Sandy were left cleaning the place up. She was doing the washing by the sink when he came and hugged her from behind.

He whispered in her ear 'I know things haven't been so good lately. I'll make it better ok. Promise. I ...'

But she didn't give him a chance to continue. She turned around to face him, tiptoed and kissed him deeply. He was taken aback but only for a split of a second and then, he kissed her back locking their mouths together. Sandy felt overwhelmed with love and a thought came to mind, as long as our lips still fit perfectly ... our lives will too.

The 7 Days

2011-04-05T18:50:00.002+08:00

Day 7

Lisa woke up and the first sensation that hit her was the excruciating throb inside her head. She tried to distract herself by recalling what happened. The curtains were flapping lazily and sunlight poured in, enveloping almost every inch of her tiny bedroom. She scanned the room for Tyler and he was no where to be seen. She strained her ears to listen for sounds, still hopeful that he could probably be lingering somewhere in her apartment. Several seconds passed by and the agonizing hangover got the better of her. She reached for her mobile and saw a piece of paper, neatly folded in two at her side table. She stared at it momentarily and slowly reached out for it. She felt her heart pounding as hard as the thumping inside her brain. Suffocating with a mix of anxiety and fear, she unfolded the paper and read its contents.

My dearest Lisa,

Please take your time in reading this letter for through writing, I’ve found the little courage I need to tell you my truest sentiments. There is really so much I want to talk to you about, so much I need to say to you. But when I’m with you physically, I’m at a lost. The things I’ve been meaning to tell you seemed to evaporate. It’s as if an unseen force is dying to prevent my heart from reaching out to yours. I won’t blame you if you despise this cowardice of mine. I have no excuse for it. I’m sorry ...

Before you came along, my routine life in this town was painfully dull. Day in and day out, I functioned like a zombie, alternating between work, meals and sleep. Everything I see appeared to be shades of white, grey and black. I hope you know what I mean. I couldn’t stand another day living like this. Bumping into you in that train was the best thing that ever happened to me. You brought the rainbow. No, you are the rainbow. And now, I wish time would freeze, so you could continue to colour my soul. How I wished we would have met sooner. How I wish you came into my life under different circumstances. Through the days of being with you, I hated so many things ... God, life, you name it ... for forcing us in this scenario. It feels that we’re being punished for nothing.

Now I’m pleading for you to forget about me. Take the past 7 days as a fleeting dream and nothing more. I know it’s hard. For me, I think it would be impossible to ever forget about you. But still, I’m selfishly asking you to try. To be leaving soon and never seeing you again is the hardest moments in my life. I swear this. The pain I’m feeling is simply indescribable. But I know it’s for the better. Like I said, I’m no good for you. I am not who you see me to be.

Live your life to the fullest. Reach for the stars. I have no doubt you’ll find happiness in someone. Someone who can truly give you everything you’ll ever want and ever need. Forget about me but I beg you, please don’t hate me …

With all my heart and more,

Tyler

Lisa re-read the letter three times. The more she read, the more her mind was being sardined with clutters of questions. Has Tyler left town? Why is he no good for her? Does he have an incurable illness? Why didn’t she cherish their last moments together better? Why did she have to pass out? So many questions. So many regrets. So much pain. No answer. No relief.

Live your life to the fullest. Reach for the stars ...

Lisa knew what she had to do. She jumped out of bed and realised that the hangover had magically disappeared. Propelled with a rush of adrenaline, she afforded herself a quick wash up, brushed her hair, put on the first clean dress she found in the closet and dashed out of the apartment.

Following her heart, she broke into a run and headed towards their usual café. Laughing silly to herself, she felt liberated. For once, she is actually fighting for something she believed in. She was basking in a glorious mood and felt invincible, as if nothing could ever dampen her spirit and resolve.

When she neared the café, she expected to see him sitting on the bench beneath the jasmine tree. No one there. She then peered through the enormous glass door of the café, confident that she’ll find him sitting there, looking back at her, smiling. Instead, she was stared at by a dozen faces stamped with bewilderment, none of them familiar.

Panic began to creep into her system causing her to hyperventilate a little. She took deep breaths trying to calm herself and sat on the bench. Lisa fished out her mobile and dialled Tyler’s number. The dialling tone sounded muffled for all she could hear ... all she could sense ... was her heart hammering against her ribcage.

The call connected.

Her throat was parched. Her lips trembled without a sound. Then, she heard a voice from the other end of the line.

‘Hello,’ the voice said.

The voice wasn’t familiar. The voice wasn’t Tyler’s. The voice belonged to a woman.
‘Hello,’ the voice repeated itself.
‘Hi *pause* Hi. Can I speak to Tyler please?’ Lisa mumbled.
‘Oh, Tyler just got home. He’s in the shower,’ the voice replied.
‘I see. Ummm ...’ Lisa said as a thousand thoughts flooded her mind.
‘This is his wife. Can I take a message?’ the voice offered.
The word ‘wife’ revibrated again and again in Lisa’s ear. She felt utterly numb.

Lisa hung up.

She felt her world shattering. Anguish and disappointment exploded internally causing her body to convulse. Only the sudden gust of wind caught her by physical surprise and her quivering eased. A solitary jasmine flower twirled and landed gently on the ground in front of her. Lisa stared at it, trance-like. That image overwhelmed her. Seconds later, countless more jasmines surrounded her as they fell from above. Lisa buried her face in her hands and wept like never before beneath the tree of sorrow.

The 7 Days

2011-04-04T20:10:00.000+08:00

Day 6

For a twenty five year old girl, Lisa’s studio apartment was incredibly bare and clinically clean. In the living area, there was a two seater fabric sofa and a no-nonsense square coffee table. An out-of-date copy of the Financial Times and a beat up laptop sat on the table. Propped on the wooden tv cabinet was a solitary 32 inch plasma. The ‘bedroom’ was separated by a sandblasted glass partition. In there, a queen sized bed resided next to a makeshift side table. On it was an unfashionable radio clock. There were no posters adorning the naked walls. Only a two tier bookshelf housing a number of Dickens’s classics gave the room some much needed contrast.
Lisa was busy in the kitchen. Both she and Tyler had agreed to have dinner together but when Tyler suggested a cosy Spanish restaurant in town, she had insisted on cooking for him.
‘You need any help?’ Tyler asked politely.
‘Nope. Just make yourself at home. Oh, there’s beer in the fridge,’ she replied from the kitchen.
The bottle of Heineken was scarcely chilled. She must’ve bought it not too long ago he thought to himself.
He went into the kitchen asked her ‘You seem to be a huge Dickens’s fan huh?’ By now, the entire apartment was blanketed with a delicious smell of chicken broth.
She was chopping up some leafy vegetables when she stopped and answered ‘Not really. Dylan was. I just made it a point to read his entire collection. I figured that way, I could still remain some sort of connection with him. I finished the last one two days ago.’ She then resumed her cooking and Tyler felt as if it was his heart on the chopping board.
When dinner was served, Tyler’s jaw dropped. On the table, lay a magnificent feast. There was steamed fish in soy sauce, stir fried beef with spring onions, chinese ‘pak choy’ in oyster sauce, fried wan tons and herbal chicken soup.
‘Wow,’ he said, truly admiring the result of her efforts.
‘I bet you didn’t think I could cook,’ she teased.
‘Well, to be honest, no. My humblest apologies Ms. Stewart,’ he replied.
‘Apology accepted. Now dig in and tell me what you think,’ she said as she spooned the soup into his bowl.
By the time they were done with the meal, both of them were stuffed to the brim.
‘That was by far the best meal I’ve had ever since coming here. In fact, it was the best meal I’ve had in a long time,’ Tyler complimented Lisa.
‘I don’t believe you. You’re just teasing me,’ said Lisa but she was blushing a little at the same time.
‘It’s true. Now why would I lie to you. Here, let me help you with the dishes,’ he said and they both started clearing the table.
Standing side by side at the sink, she washed and he did the drying. When it was finished, she asked ‘Wine?’
‘Sounds good,’ he said.
He uncorked the bottle of white, poured them both a glass and sat in the balcony.
‘It’s good,’ he commented after taking a sip.
‘Really? I don’t know anything about wine, so I just asked for an expensive bottle,’ she admitted.
‘It’s beautiful isn’t it,’ Tyler said looking at the full moon.
No answer.
He looked over at Lisa and she was crying. ‘Stay longer … please,’ she said looking at him through her streaming tears.
It shattered his heart to see her this way. ‘I’m no good for you Lisa,’ he said, almost a whisper.
Lisa gulped down her wine and refilled her glass to the brim. She then drained its content down her throat and let out an audacious burp.
Tyler couldn’t help but to chuckle. Next thing he knew, Lisa was straddling him trying to lock her lips onto his with much aggression. He held her back and she tried to push forward. Exhausted from the struggle she screamed ‘WHY???!!!’ and then broke down into an uncontrollable sob.
Tyler held her tight, one arm holding her back and the other stroking her hair. His shoulder was soaked wet with tears and after what seemed like forever, Lisa fell asleep. He gently laid her on the bed, wrote a note, placed it on the side table and left the apartment.

The 7 Days

2011-04-04T18:29:00.000+08:00

Day 5

‘So tell me, what do you actually do?’ Lisa asked.
‘Well, the local university bought a machine and I’m here to commission it,’ Tyler replied.
‘What sort of machine?’ she countered.
‘It’s a CNC machine. Computer Numerical Control. By writing certain programs in its PLC, you can get the machine to perform all sorts of functions like cutting, grinding, profiling materials automatically. Quite fascinating really … well, to me at least,’ he said.
Lisa nodded. ‘Though I hardly understood what you just said, it does sound remarkably … what’s that word … intelligent.’
‘What about you? What do you do?,’ he returned the question.
‘Well, I used to work a nine to five job as a clerical accountant. That was until Dylan passed on. Now, I do freelance accounting works for small firms around town. That way, I don’t have to apply for sick leave whenever I plunge into depression mode. Haha,’ she said not so jokingly.
‘He must’ve been really close to your heart?’ Tyler said out loud.
Lisa sighed to herself and said ‘Yea, he was.’
‘Are there things in your life you wish you could change?’ she asked him.
Tyler took a few moments to think and then said ‘I guess. Humans are never satisfied. They always want more, they always want better. The grass is always greener on the other side no?’.
‘If it were up to you, what exactly would you change right now?’ she queried.
Tyler let out a long breath and replied ‘My circumstance. And you?’
‘Yea, me too. My circumstance. All my life, I’ve never really dared to do anything for myself. I’m more of a follower. If asked to choose between the norm or taking a risk … any sort of risk for that matter, I would conform to the norm instead of fighting for what I believe in. I’m just useless that way I guess,’ she said.
‘Trust me when I say you’re not the only one feeling this way. Most people are. At least you have the guts to admit it,’ he said.
She looked at him and asked ‘How long will you be staying in town?’
‘If all goes smoothly with work, I’d be leaving in two days,’ he said.
‘So soon?’ Lisa exclaimed.
‘Yea.’
‘Will you be back coming back again?’
‘I don’t know really.’
The sun was almost setting and they were sitting on the bench in front of the café under the jasmine tree. She rested her head on his shoulders and laced her fingers tightly between his, simply wishing for time to stop. Above them, a loft of pigeons flew past, heading back to their nests.

The 7 Days

2011-04-04T15:36:00.001+08:00

Day 4

Tyler cursed silently when he felt patches of his shirt clinging to his back. He was beginning to sweat from walking a little bit too swiftly to the train station. He glanced at his watch and it told him that he was already eight minutes behind time. When he arrived, Lisa was already waiting on the platform. He could see that she was twiddling with their tickets. A slumbering stray kitten on the opposite side of the tracks was keeping her attention. He stood still for a moment and studied her. Today, she wore a beige knee length dress sprinkled with navy blue florals. Her hair tied back in a neat bun exposing her ears. She also had on a simple pair of sapphire earrings to compliment the dress. Against the radiance of the morning sun, Tyler thought her beauty was most mesmerizing.

He took a deep breath and walked towards Lisa. She heard him coming and treated him to a glowing smile. He realised that it was this smile that first captivated him when he saw her in the train. This smile that left an imprint of her deep inside of him.
‘Hey, sorry I’m a little late. I sort of misjudged the time it’ll take me to get here,’ he said.
‘Don’t worry ‘bout it. Besides, I had good company to keep me entertained,’ she said indicating to the still snoozing stray.
‘So ... where are we heading to exactly?’ he questioned.
‘You’ll see,’ she replied mischievously.
As Tyler was headed to bed last night, he received a SMS on his mobile from Lisa. He had written his number behind the muffin wrapper before he handed it over to her. The message was rather brief. First was to apologize was messaging him late at night. Second was to ask him if he would like to join her for an outing the next morning. And third was another apology for doing things at the last minute. He replied to her message ‘When and where?’.

A train arrived as they were finishing their coffee from the vending machine.
‘This is us,’ Lisa said as she hopped out of the bench. ‘Don’t ask me anything until we reach our destination okay.’
‘Huh,’ Tyler grunted.
‘Promise?’ she continued.
‘Yes maam,’ he relented.
They boarded the train and being a Sunday, there was hardly anybody on it. They seated themselves side by side and ten minutes later, the station master gave the green light for it to resume its journey.
It wasn’t long before the scenery outside the window took a remarkable change. From the rustic grey buildings of the sleepy town, they were now greeted with a refreshing panorama of endless fields ... a picturesque vista with multiple shades of green and yellow. Rolling hills spread majestically across the horizon and on the cloudless sky above, a pair of swallows was performing an aerial courtship waltz.
The conductor came to verify their tickets and Lisa handed it over to him. It was the same guy who had checked on them a couple of days before when Tyler embarrassed himself in front of Lisa. If the conductor recognised the pair of them, he didn’t show. After he was gone, Lisa smiled at Tyler and continued looking out of the window, allowing herself to be lost once more to the charming landscape on the other side of the glass.
The swaying of the cabin eventually lullabied Tyler to sleep and when he awoke, he found Lisa staring at him. He cautiously checked himself for saliva stains and was relieved when he found none.
‘We’re here,’ she told him demurely.
Tyler got up and gave his body a good stretch before following Lisa onto the platform.
‘So now, can I ask where we’re heading?’ he asked her.
‘You’ll know soon enough,’ she replied.
Just outside the station, there were two rows of double story buildings lined up on both sides of a narrow street. At first glance, Tyler noticed a bakery, a bookshop, a hair saloon and two hardware shops. The remaining others were closed and not a soul was in sight.
‘This way,’ she gestured.
Tyler followed Lisa, keeping a couple of paces behind. For reason unknown, he felt that he didn’t want to invade into her personal space. So for a while, he trailed her in complete silence.
They eventually came to stand in front of a meadow. Hundreds of acres of shimmering grasslands dusted with wild pink fireweeds flourished before them. The view was breathtaking and the air, so clean and crisp. Every now and then, strong gushes of winds would pass, disarraying their hair in all directions.
Lisa stopped to rest on a large tree stump and Tyler sat beside her.
She looked at him and said ‘I want to tell you something.’
Tyler nodded.
Lisa stared ahead, deep in thought and finally said ‘I brought you here to meet someone.’
She paused momentarily.
‘He’s my boyfriend. Or rather he was. He passed away exactly two years ago. Last year, I came here alone and it was petrifying. So many memories of him came flooding back and it suffocated me,’ she continued.
Another pause.
‘It was unbearable,’ she whispered and he saw the first teardrop splattered on the ground.
Tyler didn’t know what to say. ‘Time will heal,’ was all he could offer and the words felt cold coming from him.
‘The worst part is that I’ve never cherished him when he was around,’ Lisa whimpered. ‘I was always busy with my life and never took the time and effort to make him feel loved. I mean, I love him, I really do, it’s just that ... I never showed him,’ she added between sobs. 'Yesterday, when I realised that I needed to come here, I was terrified. So I asked you to come along. Please don't be angry with me.'
'Of course I'm not,' he said meaning every word of it.
She brushed the tears away and stood up. ‘Come. I’ll take you to him.’
They crossed a bridge made of solid old pine with a tiny stream flowing beneath it. The burgundy dirt path led them to a small opening shadowed by dense groupings of red oaks. Beneath one of the trees, a faded marble stone stood erected. There were no engravings of any kind on its smooth surface. They came to stand in front of the stone.
‘His name is Dylan,’ she said.
Her eyes were closed and Tyler guessed that she must be having a private conversation with the man buried there.
After several minutes, she took out a can of Guinness from her bag and placed it on the stone. ‘It was his favourite,’ she said. ‘You know, the both of us used to come here often. We could spend the entire day reading or just napping. It was our special place. Now, it’s the worst place for me to be in.’

He walked towards her and hugged her lightly. He felt her body tensed and then she pressed her head into his chest with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist now.
‘Thank you for being here with me,’ she whispered.
‘My pleasure,’ he responded, noticing a lonesome grey squirrel staring wide eyed at them.

The 7 Days

2011-04-04T14:10:00.002+08:00

Day 3

Tyler sat on the bench outside the café with coffee in his hands. The steam rising from his cup blurred his vision of the few pedestrians occupying the quiet street in front of him. A young mother was pushing her baby on one of those ultra modern strollers. Behind her, a boy of about 15 years young was walking his cock-eyed Shih Tzu and finally, a cyclist was zooming past both of them as if being chased by a crashing asteroid.

He wondered if she would show up. This is a weekend afterall. They had parted ways yesterday with a mere ‘See you around’. Tyler didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. He got out of bed just like any other Saturday. He dressed himself in his casual Gap Polo-T paired with a simple bermuda khakis. And yet, something was different inside. Today he was hoping. Hoping to see her again.

‘Hey you,’ came a voice behind him.
He smiled, knowing the owner of that delicate voice. Tyler turned around to face Lisa.
‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘You here on weekends too?’
‘Yeap. Caffeine addict. Guilty as charged,’ she replied, raising both hands in a surrender pose. ‘How come you’re sitting out here today?’
‘Just wanted the fresh air, especially when there’s less traffic around,’ he lied. Truth was, Tyler was afraid she might miss him if he’s tuck in one of the corner tables inside the café. ‘Care to join me?’
She sat down beside him and opened her paper bag. She took out a warm muffin purchased from the café and offered it to him. ‘You want some? I could never finished it.’
He laughed and took out a similar muffin of his own. ‘What flavour you got there?’
‘Blueberry but it’s low fat,’ Lisa answered. ‘You?’
‘White chocolate, the fattening kind,’ he replied with a grin.
The wind blew and rustled the tree that was shading them. Tyler looked up and saw patches of yellow and green. Yellow from the peeping sun rays and green from the pointy leaves.
‘Notice how the leaves appear blackish against the light of the sun?’ he said as he popped the last bit of muffin into his mouth.
‘That’s just the way life is,’ Lisa answered. She offered nothing more.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked after a while.
‘Well, you only miss the green because it looks blackish against the sun. Similarly, people always take what they have for granted. Only with the bad will people appreciate the good. Sadly, it’s often too late when you realised what you have missed,’ she said all too serious.
‘That’s deep, especially for a Saturday morning,’ he tried to lighten the mood.
She looked at him and smiled. ‘Do you know what tree this is?’
He looked up and frowned. ‘Errr, not really. Do you?’
‘It’s a jasmine tree. Older folks refer to it as the tree of sorrow. The flower will bloom at night and fall in the morning, when the sun hits them,’ she answered sagely. ‘As the myth goes, as long as the people beneath it are happy, the flowers will remain. Only sadness will cause them to fall off. Silly myth isn’t it,’ she continued gloomily.
Tyler could see now that Lisa was enveloped with a sense of grief. He wanted to reach out to her. To hold her and tell her everything will be alright. Instead he took out a pen and scribbled a note on his muffin’s wrapper.

They both continued to sit in silence, staring out at the empty street.
Lisa got up to leave. ‘I’ve got to go now. Thanks for keeping me company.’
Tyler got up as well. He gave her a smile then pressed the wrapper into her hand.
She unfolded the crumb stained wrapper and it read ‘After the storm, try looking out for the rainbow’.
‘Goodbye now,’ she said as she hurriedly walked away, hoping Tyler wouldn’t notice the tears glistening in her eyes.

The 7 Days

2011-04-03T17:02:00.001+08:00

Day 2

Tyler woke up to the thunderous sounds of blaring trumpets, hollow tubas and smashing cymbals. Since his rented apartment was located next to the local university’s field, he had to put up with all sorts of noises especially on a weekday. The worst being on Friday mornings when the marching band conducted their weekly practice. This was one deficit that wasn’t highlighted by his 84 year old landlord when they negotiated the tenancy agreement and when Tyler brought the subject up, the landlord defiantly told him that he could now save on an alarm clock. The nerve!

He got dressed and headed out to his usual coffee place at the end of the street. He had been frequenting this café for his daily dose of caffeine since he moved into town 3 weeks ago and had learnt that by being there between 7:20 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., you get to beat the morning crowd. There’s just something about the pleasing jingle from the clinking of mugs and whirring from frothing milk that gets his mornings started on a sweeter note. But most of all, he preferred to fill his lungs with the bitter sweet aroma of freshly brewed java instead of being intoxicated by Chanel No.5 and the latest Armani Black Code the yuppies these days love to cloak themselves with.
Today, only one customer was lined up in front of him. The barrista was taking her order and something familiar struck him.
‘Would you like any syrup with it miss?’ the barrista asked.
‘Just two pumps of vanilla please,’ the customer answered.
‘And you name miss?’
‘Lisa’
‘Here’s your receipt Lisa. Please wait at the corner for your coffee. Thank you and come again’. The barrista scribbled Lisa on the paper cup and passed it to her colleague manning the machine.
Tyler couldn’t take his eyes off Lisa. This is Lisa from the train. Lisa who witnessed one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. Lisa who laughed at him. Lisa who offered him wet wipes. Lisa who went into the opposite direction. Lisa whom he thought he will never meet again. Lisa who left a twitch in his heart when she walked away. The phrase love at first sight was creeping into his mind when the barrista interrupted him to take his order.
‘What’s it going to be for you today Sir?’
‘Ummm, just straight black,’ he replied without taking his eyes of her. She was now standing at the other end of the counter, iPod plugged in and reading Dickens.
Tyler thought to himself if its possible for someone to read and listen to music at the same time.
‘Anything else Sir?’
‘No. That’ll be all. Thanks.’
‘Your name Sir?’
‘Lisa.’
‘Huh?’
‘Oh God. I mean Tyler.’
‘Your coffee will be with you in a minute Tyler. Please proceed to the corner. Thank you and come again.’
He caught the barrista sniggering as he walked away and was sure that this was going to be topic of the day for the staff at the cafe. Bloody punk Tyler thought to himself.
Lisa was too self absorbed in her book to notice Tyler or anything else for that matter. So when her coffee came, she knocked it over by accident, spilling the brown liquid all over the counter top. She gasped, more from shock than the scalding of her hand. She took two steps backwards a little too hastily and bumped right into Tyler.
‘Sorry,’ Lisa said before even looking at him.
‘No worries,’ he replied, holding her shoulders firmly.
That was when she saw and recognised him.
‘Here you go … Lisa,’ he said, handing his packet of Kleenex to her.
The barrista was done cleaning up the mess and said ‘Here’s your coffee Tyler.’
A hesitant pause, a little smile and she took it from his hands. ‘Thanks Tyler.’

The 7 Days

2011-04-02T18:26:00.003+08:00

Day 1

‘Excuse me sir, your ticket please,’ asked the conductor almost too regally.
Tyler stirred and let out an involuntary groan for the sudden influx of light from the afternoon rays stung his eyes.
The conductor cleared his throat, his stare brimming of irritation.
Tyler searched every compartment in his rucksack but couldn’t find his ticket stub.
‘Did you purchase a ticket for this ride … Sir?’ the conductor said, punctuating the final word with a dollop of menace.
‘Yea, just gimme a minute. It’s here somewhere,’ replied Tyler, this time searching on the cabin floor.
Then he heard a voice. ‘Try your shirt pocket,’ she said.
He looked up and sitting opposite him was a girl, smiling. His gaze stood transfixed on her causing her blood to flush her cheeks a little. She then gestured towards his chest. Tyler looked down and saw a piece of white stub sticking out against the red and black of his chequered shirt. He promptly handed the ticket over to the conductor who glanced at it, handed it back to Tyler and left without another word.
The train continued chugging along its century old tracks, gently swaying the cabin sideways.
‘Err, thanks,’ Tyler said.
‘No problem,’ she answered. ‘You must’ve had a really good sleep huh,’ she continued.
‘What do you mean?’ he replied.
She grinned cheekily and using her eyes, pointed towards the corner surface of the table resting in between them.
He saw a small pool of liquid and took it all but 2 seconds to realize what it was. By instinct, he quickly rested his elbow on his puddle of saliva and felt the cooling sensation soaking up the sleeve of his shirt. It was repulsive but no where near the embarrassment he was suffering at that moment.
The girl laughed out loud and Tyler wished he had a hole he could crawl into now. The girl placed a packet of wet wipes on the table but he chose to ignore it.
She then fished out a book from her bag and began reading. The worn out hardcopy had A Tale of Two Cities labelled on it and Tyler wondered to himself, who the heck still read Dickens nowadays.
He was on the brink of dozing off again when the train began slowing down. The name of the next station came over the crackling loudspeakers as the metallic wheels let out an ear splitting screech. Tyler got up and swung the rucksack over his shoulder. He noticed the girl bookmarking her novel and then placing it back delicately into her bag. She also pocketed her tissue she had offered to him earlier.
They were the only ones who got off at the platform. He was in front and she, a couple of steps behind. He felt her gaze weighing down his shoulders and increased his pace. They both reached the exit of the station and headed in opposite directions. Tyler glanced over his shoulder and saw the girl walking with her face buried in the Dickens classic once more.

X'mas 2010, New Year and 2011 ... so far

2011-01-10T00:51:00.004+08:00

I managed to schedule myself to be back on X'mas eve. I haven't been home for X'mas for the past two years and it's just not right (in my books) to be celebrating the yuletide without your loved ones. Anyways, at the airport, I was informed that my flight home will be delayed no less than 3 hours. Apparently the plane taking me home is flying in from Dublin and the chaotic weather over in Europe is the cause of the delay. Don't know bout you peeps but I simply hate spending time in the airport. Ate a cheeseburger at the Happy Hippo restaurant and then lazed the next couple of hours away reading magazines and listening to my Ipod.

When I eventually touched down in KL, it was during the evening rush hour and by the time I reached home, it was time for the annual X'mas eve dinner at my grandma's. At least wifey being there to greet me when I reached home made up for it :) After dinner, I went over to the in laws to pay them a visit before heading home to my parent's for the X'mas countdown. We usually exchange gifts after the countdown but because Shaun had to work late that night, we postponed it to the next day.

For X'mas morning, we went for mass at The Church of Divine Mercy in Glenmarie. Chit chatted with some of my relatives after mass before heading to Paparich for breakkie. Ooo how I miss nasi lemak!!! After that, did some errands before heading back to my parents to give and receive pressies. This year, I got shirts, towel and a set of bowls. On a sadder note, the shirt that wifey got me shrunk when I tumble dried it *DAMNIT!!!*

For the rest of the time, wifey and I spent quite some time in the kitchen experimenting on different recipes, mostly from Jamie Oliver's cookbook. We had great fun and the food turned out pretty darn good too ... well, most of it lah. Seems that wifey got bitten by the cooking bug and she seems to have developed quite the talent :) Am sure we'll be trying out more when I'm home the next trip.

We also managed to steal a li'll bit of time to watch Gulliver's Travel. Nothing like the classic by Jonathan Swift, this one took a playful twist starring Jack Black. I'd rate it 5 out of 10 but it was ok cause it was quite some time ago since wifey and I watched a movie together.

Oh and I also had some of the Sheffield boys (my ex uni mates) and their better halves over at our crib. We had quite a good time catching up over wine, garlic bread and my failed apple crumble *boo hoo*

On Dec 29th, I woke up real early and drove to Alban's home. I was to be a member of his red army ... one of his 'heng tai' for his wedding to Samantha. It was rather nice being part of all the fun and games devised by the 'chee muis' and I actually ate a banana laden with enough wasabi for an entire year's worth of Jap food ... while doing push ups no less. Later picked wifey up for the church ceremony in Assumption Church. After the wedding service, we and two other couples headed to Kanna Curry House for some authentic banana leaf rice. It was awesome I tell you. *droolz* Later in the evening, we made our way to Cyberview Lodge Resort and Spa for the wedding dinner and it conclusion, the wedding was a beautiful one indeed. Met Jason (in the gents ... haha) from Jason Geh's entertainment who also played at our wedding. What suprised me was that Jason still remembers us.

For New Year's eve, wifey and I cooked dinner at home ... a simple meal for two. In fact, her pork chop is so good, she'll be preparing them again for the upcoming CNY Eve dinner. *Yay* We later met up with some gym peeps at Starbucks for the countdown. While waiting, we played a li'll Taboo to pass the time. When the clock struck 12, only our group was making some sorta noise while the others just stared at us as if we had gone bonkers ... *party poopers* :p

Since Ji's b'day is on the 3rd of Jan, we decided to celebrate his big day a li'll earlier to coincide with the weekend. This time around, instead of buying him a cake, wifey had the idea of making him one. In the end, we made a tray full of fairy cakes with blueberry and chocolate icing. It turned out rather delicious and everyone enjoyed them.

Soon it was time for me to head back to Babu Babi ... :((( Met our company's accountant who was on the same flight as I was. Weather back here is cool and nice since it's winter now. But that is essentially the only pleasant part being back here. We'll be shifting out soon to the outskirts since our villa's tenancy is expiring. Sighhh , as if life isn't sucky enough, soon we'll be practically staying in the middle of nowhere. *Sighhh* To make matters worse, we also have to shift out of our office cabins and into the plant itself. Apparently, our cabins are located on top of a pipeline which needed to be relocated. This is the third time we're relocating already. *Siennn* And to make matters worse, the isn't any phone reception inside the plant and it is also not internet-ready. Sometimes I wonder what management are thinking?!

Also, I can only head home just before the eve of CNY since a bunch of consultants will be making their way here for some redundant work. Can't understand why must they only be here so near towards CNY and why must we accomodate them so. All are chicken shit, that's why. I wouldn't mind it so much given if it was before I got married. Now things are different and I have two families to 'take care' of. When I highlighted this fact, all I got in return was this lame reply ... 'No choice lo'. KNN! Like I said ... chicken shit!

Also, no internet means less communication with wifey. Today she sms-ed me bout encountering with a road bully of sorts. I was boiling inside knowing that there's nothing I could do being so far away from her. It kept replaying in my mind that if I was at the scene of the incident, I would love to stick my shoe so deep into that MOFO's arse he'll be tasting my soles with his tongue. Fucking Malay idiot!

Oh and while jogging earlier today, I almost got hit by a car because the moron behind the wheel doesn't know how to utilize his signal indicator *dumbass*

That's all for now folks ... feels a tad bit better after ranting. :p

Ciao

Guns n Roses Live in Abu Dhabi

2010-12-17T17:11:00.009+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, news all over was abuzz that the legendary hard rockers Guns N Roses would be coming over to Abu Dhabi for a one day only concert. When I first heard bout it, I brushed it off thinking 'No Freakin' Way!'. Not long after that, it was official ... Thinkflash, a local events company announced in all major publications that the show was on. The best part, general admission tickets were going for AED150 (approx. RM125). VIP tics a.k.a. Golden Circle tics cost AED450. A couple of my colleagues were all excited and began planning for this 'MUST SEE' event.

In the end, eight of us including Ferdie, a chap from our sub contractor's company confirmed our attendance by purchasing the tickets. What's even better was that if tickets were purchased in batches of 4, we get AED25 off ... which translated to only AED125 a stub. Now this is a real STEAL!!! :D

So on Dec 16, we packed up and left work slightly earlier that usual. Once at the villa, everyone rushed to freshen up and had an early dinner. At 6:15pm. we were on the road ... bound for the Yas Arena (next to the Yas Marina F1 circuit and Ferrari World) where the concert was to be held. Ferdie decided to go on his own since he wasn't ready by the time we left. On the way there, Khairi was already blasting Sweet Child O Mine from his mobile just to get everyone in the mood. Our driver wasn't very sure of the direction but luckily all we had to do was to follow the throng of vehicles headed towards the same direction.

After a slight traffic congestion, we arrived and had to walk a couple of hundred meters from the car park to the arena. That was ok though as the weather was sublimingly cool. Along the way, we also feasted our eyes Ferrari World's rollercoaster track. It looked amazing and am sure the ride is even more so. Everywhere you see people donning GnR T-Shirts chatting excitedly ... obviously waiting for the show to begin in eager anticipation. The MASSIVE crowd of 25000 were made up of mostly Westerners, Filipinos, Indians and locals. A good mix that clearly proved GnR have reached out and garnered fans from every corner of the globe.

At about half past 7pm, we made our way through the front gates of the arena. It's my first time there and I must add that the place is rather impressive. Humongous open field area that allowed the concert goers to bask beneath the bright crescent moon and the millions of twinkling stars ... but the only stars everyone were waiting to see had to be the ones getting ready backstage. :)

While waiting, we browsed at the merchandise booth and they only had pathetic Yas's t-sirts and caps ... nothing from GnR whatsoever. *Boo hoo* Anyway, I headed to the booth with a big sign that read 'Beer Only'. For AED30, I snagged myself an ice cold pint of Heineken. What's a rock concert without booze eh :p Also available were other non-alco drinks and finger food i.e. kebab rolls, fries etc.

We picked a spot behind the VIP area facing the center of the stage. Those VIP ticket holders have proper seatings while the rest of us 'poor' folks had to stand. But then again, wouldn't it be weird watching a rock concert seating down? By 8pm, the crowd were pressing in and there was no need for a jacket despite it being winter over here. Both the large LCD screens on stage were playing a mix of adverts while the speakers were blarring mostly pop rock tunes.

At precisely quarter past 8pm, the lights on stage went out and a bunch of guys positioned themselves behind their intruments. Introducing themselves as Juliana Down (a local western rock band), the pumped out a couple of their songs which this blogger think is very very mediocre. Credit must be given as they tried really hard to get the crowd going but it's just isn't good enough. About half and hour later, they thanked the crowd and made their way ot of the stage. The stage crew then went about tuning the drums and guitars for the main event guys. It's very apparent that everyone was filled with uncontrollable eagerness. The level of expectation created electricity in the air.

But alas, we waited and waited ... each time the organizers tested the stage lights, the crowd went wild ... thinking that the show was finally starting only to be left dissapointed when another lousy song blasted on the speakers. We bitched amongst ourselves that the band was probably OD-ing backstage *lol* but I personally think they weren't even at the venue yet at that time. I guess this is what rockstars do ... revving up the enthusiasm by being exceptionally late :p

Our spot was very close to the camera crew's podium. So when I saw two burly guys climbing up and stationed themselves behind their respective cameras, I knew this is it!!! I grew up in high school listening to the few of GnR's better known hits and to somehow see these idols performing live is some sort of a dream come true. Before this I never thought I'd ever see GnR rocking it live, so this is one item I can cross out of my bucket list :)

The lights went out. The crowd cheered deafeningly. Everyone was clapping, shouting and wolf-whistling wildly. The screen played a collage of images from the band's latest album, Chinese Democracy and then the screeching sounds from Slash's guitar sent everyone into a fanatical frenzy. Axl Rose then came out and belted out one of their newer hits. Don't ask me what song it was cause I'm only familiar with their older ones. :p

Here's the opening in case you guys wanna see it ...

They rocked and they rocked HARD ... non stop for the next two and a half hours. All the tiredness from standing for the past 3 hours or so seemed to be have evaporated. There were quite a few solo performances which were nothing short of amazing but it was after Slash's solo effort that he 'goreng-ed' his guitar for Sweet Child O Mine. This is when things EXPLODED!!! Everyone started headbanging in unison and I couldn't even hear Axl cause everyone else including yours truly were singing along at the very top of our lungs. The other GnR 'classics' I really enjoyed last night were Knocking On Heaven's Door, November Rain and Don't Cry.

Here's the ending to November Rain with Axl on the piano ...

One incident stained the outing when a jackass from behind thought it'd be funny to throw a pint of beer on the people in front. So a bunch of us got drizzled by Heineken. It's not that big of a deal for me but for my Muslim colleagues, it was a big turnoff. We suspected that it was done by one of the ang moh teenagers since the group was getting rowdy ... moshing around with their shirts off. Subsequently, another group ... also ang mohs confronted them and a near scuffle ensued. But the efficiency of the organizers was showcased as the security bouncers appeared out of no where and neutralised the situation instantaneously so everyone else could get back to enjoying the concert.

It wasn't long before they guys bid everyone goodbye and the lights went off but the show wasn't over. Why you asked? ... cause the camera guys were still manning their stations very attentively. *Haha* Everyone shouted 'We Want More!!!' and it didn't take 5 minutes before the band was out again and the crowd roared.

The show finished with a bang with Paradise City. The stage was fantastic with no expense spared. The lightings were breath taking ... in fact, the best I've ever seen and the spontaneous filming editing by the crew was superb. Most importantly, the showmanship by each and everyone of the band members were incredibly astounding. Slash also displayed his trademark ciggie on the guitar :) With a combination of fireworks, shooting fireballs and a shower of confettis ... this is without a doubt the best concert I've been to as echoed by my colleagues as well. Okay ... so I've not been to that many anyways but you get my drift. *Haha* Guns N Roses ... truly rock legends in their own right!

Before this, I never imagined ever seeing GnR rocking it live before my eyes and I'm glad I did. As we made our way home, my knees were aching, the neck sore and my throat parched but the overall satisfaction more than made up for it. Tiesto will be playing in Feb and I heard Metallica is headed this way too. Oh boy!!! ... >:D

Note : The two videos above were taken off Youtube

UPDATE : That wasn't Slash that played that night ... read the comments.

The One Where We Moved In :)

2010-11-23T20:41:00.004+08:00

So I went back home for a short trip recently with one main agenda in mind. It's something both the wife and I have been planning and looking forward to but I'll come to that later.

I exited the gates of the KLIA to be greeted by gloomy grey skies ... not suprising since it's now the dreaded monsoon season. Wifey took the day off to pick me up from the airport but I was being all cranky from the severe lack of proper rest. I guess it's the built up from weeks of lousy slumber and the red eye flight I was on was absolutely torturous with a toddler literally screaming his head off through out the 7 hour flight. If only murder wasn't a crime, I wouldn't think twice about flushing that li'll bugger down the toilet.

Anyways, I perked up after getting my much needed dose of caffeine at Old Town Kopitiam with the family. From there, wifey and I adjourned to the in-laws and we were presented with a gift from YJ. It's one of em' steamboat cum grill set which I'm certain we'll put to good use. :)

We then braved the rush hour traffic frenzy to the gym in PJ for a special Body Combat class by Peekae (a Les Mills Master Trainer from our nothern neighbour). The crowd was overwhelming without an inch of space to spare in the studio. Even with the intteruption of the failed sound system, it was a awesome class and I enjoyed the preview to the upcoming release. After a good workout, wifey and I treated ourselves to some delicious grub along Jalan 223 ... we feasted on Hokkien Mee, ikan bakar and ling chee kang. And that concludes Day 1.

The next day, we met the in-laws for breakfast before taking Bryan to the hypermarket for some grocery shopping. Bryan was gonna serve us chicken chop for lunch and we spent quite a fair bit of time buying the ingredients as wifey and I were also shopping for our own. Back at the in-law's place, I met Bryan's other half for the first time and Abby turned out to be a rather pleasant girl. Although it was a wee bit too salty, Bryan's chicken chop in mushroom sauce is good enough to sell. Credit must also be given for his efforts in the presentation of the dish. Later that night, wifey and I thougt of heading to Feast Village for dinner but detoured to Paya Serai @ PJ Hilton instead since it's been a while since we both had buffet. The spread was decent and by the time I paid the bill, satay and rendang were oozing out of my ears.

We met up with the Lims for lunch the next day at Duck King @ Jaya One. Shaun's buying in conjunttion with his graduation from the management trainee program. The food was excellent and we adjounred thereafter to Starbucks for coffee. Later that night, we attended a friend's wedding dinner and it was good to catch up with some ol' mates. Food was aplenty that night since 4 others from our table decided to emulate Houdini's dissapearing act.

We were invited by the in laws for lunch the next day. Tony Roma opened a new outlet along Jln Yap Kwan Seng and wifey's parents being regular customers were invited to grace its pre opening. The management of Tony Roma wanted to train their staff and so we were the designated 'guinea pigs' to test out how well the team was doing. Food was delicious although teething problems with the service were encountered. That is to be expected though and we couldn't really complain much since the entire meal was on the house. *Woot*

Alas, disaster soon struck. It was pouring heavily and Rain (our family dog) was barking like crazy as he is terrified of thunder. So to calm him down, dad released him from his leash, so he was roaming free within the porch area. When I got home, I totally forgot that Rain was unleashed despite my dad sms-ing me earlier bout it. The moment I opened the gate, Rain dashed out of the house. By the time I parked my car in and went out to look for him, he was no where to be found. Dad and I drove around the area but there was no sign of the furry bugger. This isn't the first time Rain 'escaped', so we were hoping that he would eventually find his way home, just like last time. Wifey and I hit the gym later that evening but I guess Rain being missing really affected me. Halfway through the class, I lost focus and left abruptly. We had a simple dinner of porridge before calling it a day.

We woke up early the next day and had some dim sum in USJ 21. Still no sign of Rain but we've got pressing matters at hand. Today is the day wifey and I are officially moving into our home. We bought a small condo and spend the last couple of months doing up the place. Bit by bit, the place is almost complete now and we're proud to call it home. After breakfast, we went to Carrefour for some last minute shopping before making our way to he condo. My mom had earlier prepared an auspicious basket of pineapple and oranges as a token of luck and prosperity. I've also printed out a list I found on the internet pertaining to the do's and don'ts of moving into a new home. We turned on the lights, gas and water for some time and opened all the windows to regulate the flow of 'chi' in the house. We also boiled some water and sprinkled a mixture of rice, salt and tea leaves on all corners to ward off uninvited guests. :p Next, we hung up a piece of red cloth at the main entrance and placed sweets on all desk and table tops ... apparently this is for garnering wealth. Better to be safe than sorry no? *Hehe* We then said a simple prayer before 'asking' all 'uninvited guests' to please vacate the house. *BOOOooo ...*

We then busied ourselves to prepare for dinner. Both our families were coming as well as a couple of YJ's and Bryan's friends. We cooked some and bought the rest. Our families helped as well. Mom prepared her signature chicken curry and helped with the dessert. Shaun made his trademark almond jelly while YJ whipped up an awesome raspberry and blueberry cheesecake. Sree made roasted chicken, yellow rice and fried up a very tasty dish of mixed vegetables. I made 'char siew', salad and coleslaw while Ah Yi added a fruit salad (which kicked my salad's ass) as well as a cheese dip that went along very well with crackers. We also ordered satay ... A LOT of satay and some ketupat to add on to the menu. Oh yea, we also had some nyonya kuih that added pretty colours to the food spread. Everyone enjoyed the sumptious meal except Shaun who couldn't make it due to work commitments. Ryan presented us with an ice bucket as a housewarming gift. He knew I was eyeing it at the Kitchen Shop previously. *Thanks bro*

We ate drank and be merry. By the time the party ended and we all helped with the cleaning, we were totally worn out and I slept like a log. Wifey had a little trouble adjusting to sleeping at our new home though.

When we woke up the next day, we vacuumed and mopped the entire house since we didnt do it the day before. Apparently we weren't suppose to clean up the 'luck' on the first day of moving in. :p

We re-heated up the balance of the food from the night before and wifey's family came by again to help us 'kautim' all those grub. Later that evening, we had a few friends from gym drop by to see our place. Ping arrived first while Sharon and Celest busied themselves shooting photos before we went to Madam Kwan's @ Empire Galery for dinner. After that, we walked around the mall for a bit before heading home.

I promised Wifey that I'll cook her a meal, so we went to Sunway Pyramid for grocery shopping at Giant Hypermarket. Lunch was at Canton-I and it wasn't long before we were home and I started preparing for dinner. Since there seemed to be quite a lot of food, wifey suggested we invite my family over to join us for dinner. Mom, Dad and Ryan took us up on the offer. Shaun couldn't make it again due to work. :(

Anyways, it was going to be a simple meal of soy sauce chicken, pickle veg soup, stir fried mix vegs and fried rice. Sounds easy and I'm sure it is for most people but it's the first time I'm cooking for five people ... so this is pretty huge for me. *haha*. The food turned out to be pretty okay, so I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that. *pat pat* For dessert, I made caramelised pear with honey and orange sauce and vanilla ice cream. Although it didn't exactly turn out the way it was supposed to, I reckon it wasn't half bad either. *keke*

Now here's the amazing part. Just before dinner time ... mom called to tell us they are going to be late. Apparently someone called and said he might know where Rain is. Here's the story. The day before, my dad was chatting with one of his client and the subject of Rain goine missing surfaced. So his client suggested that my dad check out Paws (a center for dogs and cats), just in case someone who found Rain might have brought him there. My dad went to Paws and met an elderly couple who enquired if my dad was there to adopt a dog. My dad told them bout Rain and soon the couple were describing Rain's looks. Apparently, their son had a friend who called the day before saying that there was a lost dog near my housing area. Someone had tied Rain to a lamp post hoping that its rightful owner would be able to come and claim him. By the time the couple's son went there after work, he said Rain wasn't at the lamp post anymore. The son's friend also took a photo of Rain and posted it on FB. My dad then asked for a copy of the photo to confirm that it is indeed our Rain. The next day, just as my family were getting ready to come over to our place for dinner, they received a call from the couple's son who said he might know where Rain is. My dad and Ryan met the young chap at a temple in SS13 and indeed they found Rain there :D Looks like it's all been fated as a string of coincidences miraculously led Rain back home to us. When we bought Rain ... it was raining heavily. When we lost Rain, it was raining heavily. When we found Rain, it was raining heavily. Hmmm ...

Anyway, suffice to say, everyone was really glad that four legged rascal is safely back home and dinner that night tasted especially delish!

The next day, we took things easy. We were suppose to head to Ikea to buy a serving tray and some stools but ended up spending a lot of moolah on so many other stuff. Everything is soooo tempting to buy there and it's excruciating to say 'no' to them. *Blehhh* Later that night, we made our way to Kepong for a friends' gathering at Eric's place. Although not the entire SASA gang was present, it was a good catch up session nonetheless.

On Saturday, we had our housewarming session with the same SASA gang. Good thing is more of them were able to make it this time around. The menu was almost identical to the food we had with our families before except this time, we had spring hoppers (putu mayam) instead of rice. I would like to think everyone had a jolly good time. We ate, drank and be merry. Got ourselves a couple of nice gifts as well. As our last guest left and we cleaned up the place, it was already past 3:00 a.m. It's been a while since wifey and I partied till the wee hours. O_O

Next morning, I went to church and was about to head home for lunch when Shaun called to say his car suffered from a tyre puncture. So after we both fixed his tyre, I got him over as well for lunch and we were joined by Ah Yi's sister and family. We polished the leftover food from the night before. Haha ... not good to waste food ma.

We barely had time to digest before we made our way to Lemon Garden @ Shangrila Hotel for a scrumptious buffet dinner with my family. The food spread was nothing short of splendid and we makan makan makan. *nom nom nom* This time, it was wifey who overstuffed herself but who could blame her ... the food was THAT good.

The next day, we ran some errands before I headed back to the sand pit. Till my next trip home ...

P.S. Photos for all the above will be on my FB :)

Ip4 vs BB vs Andr.

2010-11-05T16:51:00.001+08:00

Source : Soyacincau

Happy Birthday Baby :)

2010-10-29T13:28:00.005+08:00

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder

But every waking moment I wonder and I ponder

My thoughts echo the feelings of my heart

The wretched bitterness from us being apart

On the same day last year, a promise was made

That this time, surely I’ll be around to celebrate

To be together to cherish this special day of yours

Instead of sending flowers from an online store

But alas, here I am missing another opportunity

I hope to make it up from now till eternity

Although beside you I cannot be today

My affections and love ... you can feel I pray

To the very love of my life

Happy Birthday my darling wife

Everytime I listen to this song, it reminds me of you ...
Everytime I think of you ... my day gets a little less blue ...

My Memoir ... Life in the U.A.E. so far

2010-10-15T23:26:00.007+08:00

Cliche' as this may sound but truly, I remembered it as if it was yesterday ... my boss called me into his room. He sat me down and gave it straight to me without beating around the bush. The company wanted to send me to the U.A.E. ... its capital, Abu Dhabi to be exact ... to construct a district cooling plant. He said the project duration is planned at 20 months but he was pretty certain that we could easily finish at 16. 20 months on paper was just playing it safe he said. I asked him if this was a request or an instruction. He just smiled. I told him I needed to consult my surgeon to check if I was physically fit to work under such environment. Four months prior, I had undergone two surgeries on my brain and spine. I was still recovering. Truth to be told, I didn't know if I wanted to go or not. Hence, I decided to let my surgeon help me decide. When I met the doc, Prof. Vicky, he asked me how I felt bout myself. I shrugged. 'Ok I guess'. But I didn't know what to expect. I couldn't anticipate for the unknown. Before I left, the doc said that in the worst case scenario, I can always hop on the next flight and come home. I couldn't argue with that.

The other fact was at that time, I just got involved with someone. For some time I pursued her but my labour wasn't fruitful. Only when I told her about my surgery that she realised what her heart had wanted all along ... and that was to be with me. She visited me almost everyday while I was warded in the hospital. Since the damaged nerve on my arm was causing me pain, she often massaged it till she doze off. I reckon that earned her major brownie points in my parents' eyes. :) During my recovery period, we got closer than ever. Life was blissful indeed. I told her about me being asked to work in Abu Dhabi. We talked about it and she felt she have no right to stop me. Logically speaking, it was a good oppurtunity for me career wise. I figured that it would give me a head start on life. A couple of weeks before I was due to depart, we planned for a getaway on a little island. As the waves lapped the shore and the sun bidding the day goodbye, I popped the question and asked her to be mine. She said yes.

On the 28th of July 2008, I boarded the plane with a heavy heart. Seven hours later, I touched down and hailed a cab to the hotel. The humidity was atrocious and for the first time in my life, my feet were literally sweating. I hated the place already. The next morning, I was greeted by one of my colleague who brought me to an Indian restaurant opposite the hotel for breakfast. The place was small and reeked of sweat and customers were packed in it like sardines. For the following 10 days, my colleague and I had all our meals there for convenience sake. Eventually, I got used to the flies hovering over my food and flicking away the roaches that were occupying my seat.

The other thing that needed getting used to was the sweltering heat. The rays were most unforgiving and blazed every inch of the city. I tried to stay indoors as much as possible but there were times where I had no choice. Once, our freelance driver left me by the highway because he needed to rush off to pick up another customer. I had to make a mad dash across the highway and hope I wouldn't end up as roadkill. Good to note that we never engaged his service after that.

There was also the time where our office was raided by Immigration officers. Our visas and work permits were in the hands of our Public Relations Officer (PRO) then, so we were hauled up to the Immigration Department and since their detention area was undergoing renovation works, we were remained in their transport vehicle ... a caged van. Funny enough, two of my female colleagues were not 'detained' despite not being able to produce the required documents. Anyway, our PRO rushed to us and helped sorted out the issue. Looking back now, it was quite an experience.

Work was slow, there was an issue with a water pipe belonging to the government which cut acrossed our construction site that prevented us to start work. It took eons for them to relocate that bloody pipe before we could do anything. When work eventually kicked off, we had to deal with unscrupulous subcontractors ... all trying to make mince meat of us given the lack of experience we have working in this region. Being the only sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves isn't a pleasant feeling. Malaysian contractors were labelled as being too soft, too trusting, too obliging and I guess we lived up to that billing initially. We learned many things the hard way over here ... but through blood, tears and sweat (literally), we're finally sprinting towards the finishing line (I hope).

Weather in the city was more forgiving than in the desert. Here, the sun scorched everything. I found it to be unbearable initially. A visit to the stuffy loo was excruciating. It's like being in a natural sauna except that the thermostat was cranked to maximum temperature all the time. Spend 5 minutes in there and we'll be drenched in our own sweat from head to toe. If you want to lose water retention, I bet there isn't a better way :p

Our clients and supervising consultants, after dealing day in and day out with them, I can confidently conclude that they are either lazy or stupid. Most of the time, they fullfill both criteria. They talk well and they present well. But shake em' up a fair bit and the phrase 'an empty tin can makes the most noise' comes to mind. Nevertheless, their incompetence isn't entirely a bad thing. There are times where it works to our advantage. We get things done easier since they know jack shit bout the actual work. I've acquired the skill to butter up people's ego real nice throughout my duration here. *Yay*

There really isn't much to do for leisure in this part of the region. Ok, so maybe there are but the option is not made available to me. I don't possess my own car here. So getting around is a real drag. Imagine walking to the bus stand under the desert sun ... NOT FUN! In addition, cost of living here is pretty high. Most of us are here to save up the money we earn. So the limited spending power also tightens the leash on our wallet. With that being said, all is not lost. Certain things are cheaper than it is back home. Vehicles here are being sold tax free ... no import duties, no road tax etc. So I see Porches here as often as I see Protons back home. I come across Bentleys on a daily basis ... you get the picture. The money I paid for my Honday City back home ... I can afford an Accord here with change to spare. I've also re-discovered my affection for Gap. Yeap, the American casual clothing retailer. The trick is to buy when its on sale. So what if it's last season's line ... a Gap T-shirt for AED29 (bout RM24) is a good bargain in my books. In M'sia, the Gap sales are a rare occurence and even then, it's crappy. Just yesterday, I was scouting around at for an Ipod docking station and was told that it's cheaper by about 30-35% compairing to prices back home ... depending on the brand and model of course *woot*

Now let's get on to my diet. Since being here two and a half years ago, I've taken more curries than I did in my entire life. The same goes for McDonalds, instant noodles, briyani and 'yong sum so' (some chinese herbal roots supposedly works well to cool the body). Overall, my food intake is appalingly unhealthy but it really isn't much of a choice. When there's only one kitchen shared by almost 16 others ... we can't afford to be fussy. The company used to hire a 'chef' to prepare our daily meals. This chef was previously working at a mamak restaurant in KL, so to him, chicken curry and mutton curry is an entirely different. To me ... curry is curry. And curry we had almost everyday. When management decided to let the chef go to cut the company's expenses, we relied a lot on instant noodles. they say beggars can't be choosers, so who am I to argue with that. Besides that, with only a part time cleaner who comes in to clean the place once a week, we share the kitchen with thousands of roaches. Nasty buggers who won the battle against every insecticide available on the market. Our request for management to hire a pest exterminator is still pending. Sighhh ...

Appliances in the villa is constantly breaking down ... especially the air-conditioners. Being in the Middle East, not having AC is akin to not having air to breathe. When the owner of the villa signed the rental agreement with us, he insisted that maintenance of the place should be borned by us. I guess we were conned again then. Funnily enough, almost each time we got a repairman to service a broken AC, another unit will give problems shortly after. I'm beginning to suspect something foul is going on but without proof, it's my word against theirs. Mind you, these repair charges comes from our own pocket and not the company's.

My colleague's and I are housed in a three storey villa. Inside, there are a few rooms on each floor. Some of us have to share rooms while others are fortunate to have their own. I had my own space until someone of higher position was hired and I had to relinquish my room cause no one wanted to share with him. Ok, so none of us could stand him cause he's no more than an bungling wanker. When his service was terminated, we said good riddance to old rubbish and I gladly moved back into my old room. I get along generally well with most of my colleagues but then again ... to see the same faces almost 24/7 was more than I could bear. Imagine seeing them the moment you wake up, during meals, during working hours, after working hours etc. ... not exactly my cup of tea. Also, to have so many people of different characters living under one roof, conflicts and difference of opinion are bound to occur. In addition, having an inconsiderate superior who thinks he's king of the world despite being out of office doesn't help. How would you like for your boss to come over to your house after working hours and still boss you around? Mostly on Fridays which is my day off, I will head to a nearby mall for a movie and then hole myself in a quaint cosy cafe for a cuppa. With soft music and high speed internet, this is the luxury escapade I permit myself to indulge in. It helps keep things in balance or I swear I will start going on a killing rampage. Haha. There's only one TV in the villa and the boss ... yea, that inconsiderate one will be occupying it most of the time. So to pass the time, I read for leisure. Soon the bookshelf at home wouldn't have enough space to accomodate my collection of books :p

What about the people here you ask? Well, we have all sorts to make this world go round. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. The local Emiratis make up the minority while expats and labourers from all over the globe poured in with the promise of a better life and a fatter pay cheque. I'm pretty certain you heard stories of how selfish and unreasonable some Emiratis can be ... especially the rich ones ... well, it's true most of em' are ridiculously wealthy. Either through inheritance or support from the government / royal family, some of these people have taken their priviledge for granted and have gone to the extend of abusing it. Take for instance, I've witnessed a local lady parking her car outside a grocery store. She honked repeatedly for the shopkeeper to come out to attend to her. After about 5 minutes of no response, she called the police who came and arrested every worker in the shop. These poor buggers were released later in the day. On another occasion, I was part of a massive queue at the local telco provider's office. We each had our number and was waiting for our turn. Two local men just waltzed in and demanded to be served immediately and their request was met. On a plane, a little boy refused to be buckled up as the plane was about to take off. His mother sitting beside him said she could do nothing as it isn't within her right to tell the little brat what to do. Only his dad (who wasn't on that flight) can do so. Beggars belief huh. I'm not saying all locals are rotten ... I'm simply implying that some of them are and it's these maggots that are tarnishing the overall reputation of their nation.

Before my surgery, I used to hit the gym almost everyday. I enjoyed working out and teaching classes in the gym's studio on a part time basis. Not only did it enabled me to avoid paying for gym membership fees, the gym pays me in return. The additional income made it possible to spend on luxuries I wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford. The experience from teaching transformed me from being an introvert into an extrovert. I enjoyed making new friends and meeting new people. I socialised and was enjoying it. Over here, gym memberships cost a bomb. Hence, I resolved to running. So everyday, I would run around my villa area to maintain in shape. Not easy to keep this up since it's getting really really reallyyy mundane. I've also missed out on many outings with my friends and had to skip weddings and birthday parties. Thank God for Facebook ... at least through it, I'm not entirely cut out from everyone I know back home :p

Now on to better things. Let's face it, the main reason most of us are willing to work here is because we're lured by the moolah. To be honest, it's not as good as some might think, but it's definitely better than what we could earn back home. It afforded me a proper wedding and a wonderful honeymoon. Not only that, I'm now the proud owner of a humble abode ... a little place for Wifey and me to call home.

So all in all, being here for the past 28 months have blessed me with some and at the same time taken some away from me. To look at it from a positive angle ... with the bad, I learned to appreciate the good. If given the choice to do it all over again ... I guess I wouldn't change a thing. I say this now since I'm almost done with this place. If all goes well, I shall bid it goodbye by year end and the thought of heading home for good ... into the arms of my wife and being in the presence of family and friends ... now that's something I've been looking forward to for a long time now. Wish me luck! :)

A Fairytail : Chapter 16

2010-09-06T01:48:00.002+08:00

‘You’ve all got ten more minutes,’ the examination invigilator boomed over the microphone. Anna was writing furiously trying to cramp as many words as possible on her last sheet of answer paper. From the corner of her eye, she caught Wei Yee who was seated beside her, tapping the tip of her ballpoint pen on the table rhythmically, as if willing for time to pass quicker. Anna, filled with anxiety and irritation, shushed her friend who replied with a lop sided grin.

The two girls have always competed against each other throughout their academic years. Anna would spend countless hours burying herself in her notes and textbooks but alas, Wei Yee would always emerge the victor despite taking things a lot easier. Wei Yee would contribute the fact that she paid her utmost attention during lectures and tutorials but Anna often argued scornfully that her best friend is blessed with a photographic memory and the intelligence of a rocket scientist. She frequently blamed this unfairness on the genes she inherited.

‘Pens down everyone,’ the invigilator said. ‘And I mean now!’ she added, referring to the few students who obviously ignored her initial statement. After their exam sheets were collected, the girls along with the rest of the students thronged towards the bottleneck at the exit of the hall. A few of them were spotted browsing deep into their textbooks, trying to confirm their answers. Some looked relieved whilst others appeared dejected.

Outside, the weather was simply lovely. The air was fresh from the after-rain and the sun was still playing hide and seek behind thick heavy clouds.
‘I need to head to the library. Got a book overdue,’ Wei Yee said.
‘Oh ok. We’re still set for lunch tomorrow right?’ Anna asked.
‘Yup,’ Wei Yee answered and offered her friend a pinky promise.
‘See ya babe,’ as she walked towards the opposite direction.
Gabriel was leaning against one of the concrete pillars, playing on his mobile, oblivious to the group of girls who were too busy admiring him to notice Anna approaching. Anna was close enough to make out the whispered words hot, gorgeous and yummy before one of them spotted her and promptly nudged the rest. The group scooted away with much reluctance.
‘Enjoying all the attention huh?’ Anna said with much sarcasm.
Gabriel looked up and responded with a blank look, the confusion making him look all the more dashing.
‘Nevermind,’ she said as she looped her right arm into his left.
From behind, a voice was calling loudly, ‘Anna’.
They both turned around and a guy was running towards them. He was catching his breath when he finally stood in front of the pair.
‘Here,’ the guy said, handing over a cardigan to Anna. ‘I saw you left it behind in the hall earlier’.
‘Oh yea. Silly me,’ Anna said as she took her cardigan from the smiling guy. ‘Thank you so much ...
‘It’s Rufus,’ he said, still smiling.
‘Well, thank you Rufus. I’m Anna and this is ...' she answered.
But he cut her midsentence and said ‘I know who you are. You’re from 10B right?’ he referred to her class.
Anna looked over at Gabriel who was trying to stare down Rufus before nodding awkwardly.
‘I’m from 10A. So I guess I’ll see you around eh,’ he said with a wink before turning around and taking his leave.
‘You know him?’ Gabriel asked as they descended down the staircase.
‘Obviously not. I don’t even know his name,’ she said.
‘Well, he most definitely knows you,’ he said with a tone of jealousy.
‘You’re acting all silly. Come on, our exams are just over. You promised to take me some place nice to celebrate,’ she said reaching out to tickle his chin.
His attempt to stay livid failed miserably and he broke into a smile. He squeezed her waist a little tighter and said ‘I know just the place’.
As they exited the college grounds, they heard a honk. They spun around and saw a silver BMW 7 Series flashing its headlights at them.
Puzzled, Anna looked over at Gabriel whose shoulder had slumped and a scowl plastered across his face.
‘Wait here for me,’ his voice stern.
He didn’t wait for her response and walked towards the car. From the back, his body language seemed abnormally rigid with tense. The tinted window at the back wound down and she saw Gabriel lowering himself, speaking to whoever it was inside. From where she was standing, she couldn’t hear the conversation but she saw that the sentences exchanged were brief. He straightened himself and jogged back towards her. She could tell he wasn’t his cheerful self by the looks of his tightly clenched jaw.
‘I’m so sorry baby but I’m afraid I’ve got to give our date a miss,’ he said looking utterly disappointed.
‘Hey, don’t worry ‘bout it ok. We could always do it another time but is everything ok?’ she asked worryingly. ‘Who’s that in the car?’
‘I’ll tell you everything later ok. Promise,’ he said as he hurriedly walked back to the Beamer.
Gabriel got into the back seat, closed the door and the car sped off like a bullet, leaving behind a very distressed Anna.

A Fairytail : Chapter 15

2010-09-03T16:38:00.005+08:00

The stillness was shattered by her coughing. When it eventually stopped, spots of greenish phlegm plastered her callused palms. Anna walked in groggily and passed her a warm glass of water. She stroked her mother’s back for a bit before Claire urged her daughter to head back to bed.

She stared out of the window as the first rays of the morning peeked from the horizon. Up above, the crescent shaped moon still lingered stubbornly, unwilling to slumber. Claire pushed opened the double glass panes and a sudden chilly breeze caressed her face. It freshened her instantly. The street in front of her home is barren except for the attendance of the neighbourhood mongrels who had parked themselves lazily at the front gates of a vacated terrace. Perched on the window sill next door, two pigeons were having an early argument. When they noticed Claire staring, they flapped their wings furiously and disappeared from sight.

After a series of agonizing chemotherapy sessions, her doctor seemed positive that she’s well on her way to a full recovery but he warned that a relapse is always on the cards. Before discharging Claire, he reminded her to cherish her second chance at life.

Everyone had advised her to take things slow but Claire had so much she wanted to do and she wanted to do them all now. The phobia of her illness returning continued to haunt her. Still feeling weak from the treatments, she was certain she wouldn’t survive another battle with the cancer.

She spent very little time doing nothing during her three months of medical leave. She wakes up at dawn and walks herself to the playground nearby where she would join the elderly folks to practice tai chi, (a graceful martial art focussing on internal force of the mind and body). Soon after, she would busy herself in the kitchen preparing a scrumptious breakfast for Anna. Gone were the days where her daughter started her day with stale bread or dry biscuits. Nowadays, Anna filled her belly with poached eggs on crispy toast, fluffy pancakes drizzled with honey, chinese porridge with pickled cabbages just to name a few. Once Anna’s off to college, Claire would religiously surf the cooking channels to pick up new recipes. In the afternoons, after a deserving nap, she would do some light reading or occasionally go for tea with Mrs. Chan to catch up on the latest gossips. For the better part of the evening, she will cook up a storm, experimenting on the various formulas derived by the kitchen scientists and enjoying every minute of it. Then, mother and daughter would take pleasure eating and chatting about the silly nothings of the day. Sometimes Gabriel would join them as well when invited and Claire is beginning to get used to him being part of her daughter’s life now.

.....

It was a dream like no other. This one felt uncomfortably real and the sheer intensity of it seeped into her soul. Claire was trapped in total darkness. The sense of being lost suffocated her. When she lifted it to her face, she couldn’t even see her own palms. She shouted frantically for Anna. There was no response, not even the echo from her own voice. She dared not move, not knowing what lies in front or behind or beneath. Claire flung her arms around, hoping to grasp on something … anything. Panic surged and though she saw nothing, she felt the shadows hiding behind the darkness mocking her. Is this what death is she asked herself. Claire broke down and dropped on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. She choked on her own breath and gasped for air. The thought of this dreaded feeling never ending depressed here immensely and she wept even harder. And then she heard it. It was very faint she was certain to have missed it if she wasn’t shrouded with absolute quietness. She strained to listen and there it was again, it seemed like a dog’s howl and it reverberated her skin. It’s as if it was trying to draw Claire towards it. She was trying to pinpoint the direction it was coming from and then heard a bark so loud it drummed her ears painfully. Claire jolted awake with her heart beating rapidly and felt that her blouse was soaked with sweat. Outside, rain was pouring. She was startled as lightning flashed across the window followed by the deafening boom of thunder.

A Fairytail : Chapter 14

2010-08-29T12:07:00.001+08:00

Mr. Foo Chee Seng is a proud man. At sixty four, he truly believed he have the world at his feet. Beginning at the ripe age of twenty two, he had conjured an obscene amount of wealth out of nothing and in doing so, he bestowed upon himself, unquantifiable confidence and an even bigger ego. His fairytale story of a lowly office boy to becoming one of the nation’s most affluent business tycoon glossed the pages of many publications. He advised would-be-taipans that sharp focus, unwavering determination and of course, hard work are the key ingredients he used in his recipe for success. What he failed to mention was that malicious shrewdness, horrifying blackmails and immoral back stabbings were utilised generously during his transcend from rags to riches.

As his business domain expanded, so did his name. That was how the once scrawny lad people in the office called Ah Seng became Raymond Foo. He chose Raymond because it rhymed with diamond. Diamonds are equated to luxury and extravagance and Raymond Foo had always aimed to live life luxuriously and extravagantly, regardless of whatever it takes to get there.

Raymond's life seemed perfect to the outside world. When he had made his first million, he also bagged himself a trophy wife. Felicia was the anchorwoman of the local news network. Charming, intelligent and gorgeous, naturally she became the prime target of countless eligible bachelors. Her list of pursuers consisted of business big wigs, entertainment artists, sons of very prosperous people and even a member of the royal family. It wasn’t long before the race to win Felicia’s affection narrowed down to two horses, Raymond and the other guy, Rob, an editor of the country’s hottest fashion magazine then. Both had their respective attributes that appealed to her, Raymond with his arrogant charisma, unshakable self-belief and financial stability while Rob was suave, highly intellectual and had his network with people in the industry. Finally, tabloid reports made the decision for Felicia as claims by a struggling fashion model that Rob had fathered her child surfaced. It wasn’t until much later that the model confessed to having lied to the media to smear Rob’s name. She admitted it was done after he turned her away when she auditioned to be featured in his magazine but a darker truth remained untold. In reality, a certain Raymond Foo had paid her handsomely enough to let the malevolent slander slip out of her mouth. By the time Rob’s image was restored, Raymond had sealed the deal with Felicia to carry his last name.

Now with most of his business ventures running like well oiled machines, raking in a combined profit enough to administer a small country, Raymond busied himself spending time with his bevy of mistresses, all of them young enough to be his daughter. He parked each of them in various luxury condominiums and would often switch from one to the other, depending on which tickled his fancy best. The one other thing Raymond was very particular with is giving back to charity. Through his Ray-Of-Hope Foundation, he frequently donated liberally to the needy. This was done not because he advocated in doing good but because he is a staunch believer in the universal laws of karma. For all the sins he had committed, Ray prayed that his benevolent nature would eventually help him escape the destined punishments decreed by the unforgiving Gods of his religion.

There is only one thorn that the great Raymond Foo isn’t able to get rid of. Tried as hard as he might, he hasn’t been able to get through to his one and only son. His son accused him of being morally corrupted, often abandoning his mother to be with his other women. To overcome her loneliness and depression, Felicia turned to the bottle and it wasn’t long before she drank to herself to death. He was wrong to assume that his son would in time, outgrow his rebellious personality and embrace Raymond as depicted by the status quo. As the boy grew, he took notice to the fact that their lavish life was being sustained by dirty monies earned through depraved methods. He made a vow never to be involved in his father’s dealings and have honoured it ever since.

Raymond realized that time is ticking and age is catching up on him. He had so far ignored his board of directors and investors to consider taking a back seat role in the company’s day to day activities. He envisioned them to be ravenous sharks, waiting to devour him whole at the first sign of blood. His strained relationship with his son was no secret to this ungrateful bunch and this knowledge only served to fuel their hunger to have him removed from the power seat. Raymond Foo desperately needed Gabriel Foo to willingly take over the reigns of his business empire before it’s too late.

A Fairytail : Chapter 13

2010-08-28T21:41:00.003+08:00

Cuddling against the immense trunk of the college’s angsana tree on a lazy afternoon, they tried to guess the shapes of the floating clouds against the sky’s blue canvas. A particular one caught their interest and a cheery debate ensued.
‘It’s a dog!’ Anna exclaimed. ‘Look, can’t you see its shaggy head on the left?’
‘If it’s a dog, then it’s a mutated one cause it has three hind legs,’ Gabriel retorted. ‘That’s its tail, dummy,’ she laughed out loud.
‘A tail that’s longer that its legs?’ he feigned ignorance and that earned him an elbow in the ribs. ‘Hate you’, Gabriel whispered as he planted a tender kiss at the side of her forehead. This is paradise, she thought.

.....

‘So what would you like?’ Steve asked as he nervously fidgeted on the one page laminated menu, dog eared on all corners.
‘Hmmm, I’m still undecided,’ Wei Yee replied, her fore finger twirling her fringe habitually. ‘What about you?’
‘I always go for Set A,’ he said, referring to the value meal consisting of toasted bread with butter and kaya (coconut jam), eggs and a glass of iced coffee.
‘Hmmm, I might as well go for the same. It looks good in the photo here,’ she said, still scanning the menu.
Steve signalled the waitress over and placed their orders. All week he had been looking forward to this weekend where Wei Yee had agreed to go out on a date with him. Although it might have seemed weird that she suggested they meet up for breakfast because she was planning to finish her assignments in the afternoon and then visit Anna’s mom in the hospital later that night, Steve thought it would be the best to grab at whatever Wei Yee is offering now.
When the waitress left, Wei Yee was starring at the traffic outside the café. The morning rays were resting beautifully on her face, radiating what seemed to Steve like the very essence of beauty itself. His mouth felt as dry as the desert while his palms were moist like the dews of dawn.
She turned to look at him and with a puzzled expression said ‘What?’
‘Oh nothing,’ he tried to recover. ‘So what do you usually do on Saturday mornings?’
‘Well, I usually sleep in. It’s the only day of the week I get to wake up late,’ she casually answered.
‘What ‘bout Sunday? Steve continued.
‘Oh, my parents do their weekly marketing then, so I’ll help out,’ she said, squinting this time as a passing car reflected the sun into her eyes.
She looked astonishingly adorable, his mind gushed. ‘So I guess I wrecked your beauty sleep huh,’ he said bashfully.
‘Nah, didn’t they say the early bird catches the worm,’ she chipped in.
The waitress came and placed their iced coffees at the center of the table and as they reached for their drinks, the tips of their fingers brushed against one another. Out of reflex, Wei Yee instantly pulled back and Steve caught the action, causing his heart to slump down a couple of beats.
‘Sorry,’ she muttered.
‘What for?’ he replied.
‘Umm, nothing,’ Wei Yee said, suddenly feeling awkward.
Both of them were rather relieved when their food was served and they ate in an uncomfortable silence.
‘You like it?’ Steve asked referring to the breakfast set.
‘Oh yea. It’s really good and the butter is especially rich,’ Wei Yee lied.
As they resumed eating without conversing, Wei Yee surprisingly noticed how they actually ate in a similar peculiar manner. Both of them would discard the skin of the bread before slathering the butter on one side and kaya on the other and they would eat both slices separately. The eggs would be consumed last. This eating habit of hers had bugged her ex-boyfriend to no end and they even once had a silly argument over it in a restaurant.
Just then, a meow brought Wei Yee back from her thoughts. A brown and white stray feline had parked itself next to Steve’s feet and was shamelessly begging for food. Steve took the leftover bread skin on his plate and tossed it lightly on the floor. The cat moved in and was immediately chewing on it hungrily. Wei Yee took hers and bent under the table to feed the stray as well. Their gazed locked and she felt her stomach flutter, a sensation she haven’t experienced in a long time. Before she could even try to digest this newly developed emotion, she felt something else, something not good.
‘Steve, I need your help,’ she said embarrassingly.
Someone had stuck a piece of gum under the table and now it’s lodged between the strands of her hair. Steve immediately came over and he knew as soon as he saw her predicament. He tried to remove the gum by tugging it but it seems the more he tried, the messier it got. When he eventually gave up, Wei Yee’s hair was in total chaos. Patrons from the other tables were looking, some chuckling.
‘I think we need professional help,’ Steve said seriously. ‘We need to get you to a salon’.
She stared back at him blankly and then they both burst out laughing, attracting even more attention from the other people.
‘If I still look okay after my hair is fixed, how ‘bout I treat you to a movie,’ she said. ‘If you’re available this afternoon of course’.
Steve beamed and said ‘Now let’s get you to the nearest saloon’, oblivious to the dog shaped cloud drifting above.

A Fairytail : Chapter 12

2010-08-24T19:19:00.006+08:00

By now, news of Anna’s mother’s illness has spread within her close circle of friends in college. They offered their genuine sympathy and tried to help her out in ways they could. Knowing that Anna would head straight to the hospital after her classes, Steve negotiated with his sister to give Anna a lift there on days which they shared the same lectures. Katie insisted that Anna take her notes for all the classes she had previously missed and everyone knows there isn’t a more comprehensive set of notes in the entire college than Katie’s. Ivan and Jung Ho recorded a Japanese / Korean get-well-soon song for Claire. Though none of the rest understood a word from this horrendously tuneless collaboration, Anna appreciated their fine intentions nonetheless. The Outdoor Society sent a huge fruit basket directly to the ward and even Maya seemed to stop sneering at Anna whenever they cross each other in the college hallway nowadays. Her lecturers were also being understanding towards her as they thoughtfully rescheduled her tutorial sessions so that she could afford more time to spend with her mother.

None of their combined efforts could match Gabriel’s as he practically committed all his free time towards helping mother and daughter in any way possible. He made himself her personal chauffeur much to Steve’s sister’s delight, ferrying her to and from the hospital. This particular action earned him many brownie points from Claire as she often worried about Anna’s safety especially when she had to commute home from the hospital late at night. Many a times, Gabriel would ensure there’s a hot meal waiting for Anna during dinner hours and the two would enjoy their meal in the hospital’s cafeteria. He would collect mails from their home and deliver them personally to Claire. When the utility and credit card bills are due, he would help pass them to Uncle Leon to be taken care off. There were also occasions where he would sneak his family’s maid into Claire’s home and have the place cleaned and tidied up before Anna could put in her rejection.

Despite everything that is keeping her fully occupied, Anna couldn’t help realising that her fondness for Gabriel has grown deeper. She was secretly delighted that they were now spending most of their free time together even if it means running her errands or simply willing the hours away in the hospital. At least she now has something pleasant to look forward to everyday.

.....

Notwithstanding how much her doctor and nurses tried to prepare her for, Claire couldn’t prevent the depression from showing when the first after-effects of the chemotherapy treatment finally kicked in. She was constantly shrouded in exhaustion. A trip to the bathroom to ease herself took so much effort that she gratefully traded her dignity for some assistance from the nurses in return. If it was even possible, Claire is looking even frailer than she has ever been. Her tremendous loss in appetite limited her food intake causing her body weight to plunge border lining a critical stage. Worse still, she vomited aggressively without fail after each and every chemo session, leaving behind only the bitter aftertaste of the regurgitated bile. Her sunken cheekbones magnified her popping eye sockets and her once healthy looking skin is now almost translucent white, radiating a sickly glow over the branching highway of her purple and green veins. The knockout punch came when clumps of her hair effortlessly came off while being brushed. It took only days before her thinning mane started revealing the obvious beige of her scalp. She began developing a natural fear to shower as the clogged drainage hole was a sight she couldn’t stomach. No amount of comfort could stop her heavy tears from gushing freely. Soon after, Claire refused any visitors apart from Anna, Wei Yee and Mrs. Chan. The three of them went shopping for a wig and found one that was more or less similar to Claire’s former hairstyle. It helped for a while before it began to irritatingly itch when worn over a long period due to sweating. In the end, Claire chose to don a cotton knitted bonnet instead and it proved to be a lot more comfortable. Gabriel still visited as often as before but courteously met up with Anna either in the cafeteria or the hospital’s garden area.

.....

Claire was napping and Anna was completing her assignments as her mobile vibrated silently. She saw that it was Gabriel calling and answered it. ‘Dinner is served my lady,’ he said with a regal tone. She smiled and said ‘Make known that the lady shall be proceeding to the royal dining chamber immediately’. She packed her stuff and left a note to her mother before taking the elevator to the cafeteria. On the way down, a pair of young giggly nurses gave her knowing looks but they had already reached their floor before she could enquire more.

She found Gabriel by the entrance, leaning casually against the wall. When he caught sight of her, he straightened out himself and flashed her a heart melting smile and she still hated herself for feeling so flushed. When she reached him, she tilted her head slightly higher and said ‘Her highness wishes to know what’s on the royal menu today’. He gave a little courtesan bow. ‘Dinner today is a little special my lady. Shall we proceed?’ as he gestured towards the elevator. She gave him a puzzled look before saying ‘You may lead on, my good man’. She was surprised when he pressed on the 7th floor button, the highest level of the hospital. ‘Where are we exactly going?’ she questioned, a tinge of excitement welling from within. ‘Just wait and see,’ he answered, his eyes showing an impish glint. Once at their designated floor, he led her to the emergency staircase and proceeded walking upwards without a backward glance. She had no choice but to keep up from behind.

They stopped at a narrow passage way with a door at the end. He took a deep breath and swung it open, allowing a refreshing breeze to wash over them. He grinned at her reassuringly and cocked his head towards the outside. She took a step on the hospital roof’s flat surface and immediately a light source caught her eye. Like a shiny beacon, a table was laid out at the corner and a cluster of lighted thick pink candles were sitting on it. ‘Come’ he softly said. As they approached, she could see that the table was scattered with champagne rose petals and a basket laid waiting on one of the chairs. ‘May I,’ he asked as he pulled out the empty chair for her. Still recovering from the surprise, she sat down slowly but deep down, she could feel her insides performing a triple somersault, over and over again. Without saying a word, he opened the basket and took out two plates and two pairs of fork and knife. He laid them on the table like an experienced maitre’d. Next, Gabriel opened a container and immediately, a scrumptious aroma enveloped their surrounding. He placed a piece of succulent steak on each plate and drizzled brown sauce generously over it. Anna thought it looked mouth wateringly delectable. On the side, he spooned portions of potato salad and finished the presentation by arranging a few pieces of baby carrots for added colour. As for the beverage, he uncapped two chilled bottles of sparkling grape juice. Perfect.

Anna was utterly lost for words but Gabriel wasn’t done. He placed a cute pair of mini speakers on the table and hooked his Ipod onto them. Soon, the air was filled with the romantic melody of ‘Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore’, a duet by Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes and also Anna’s favourite.

She could only look at him, her heart threatening to explode and her mind frantically trying to look for the perfect words to befit such a dreamy scenario. She realised then about the giggling nurses. ‘One last thing,’ he said. He carefully took out two cupcakes and placed them at the center of the table. Squiggled with icing on each of them was Happy and B’day. She was simply overwhelmed. Even she had forgotten that today was her birthday. This was an experience like no other. This was so special it was almost magical. At that moment, Anna felt like a princess in a happily ever after story.

‘I hope it’s not too much and errr ... I took the liberty of assuming that you would be available tonight. Good thing you didn’t have anything planned out,’ he bashfully said, ruffling the back of his hair, a habit for whenever he’s nervous. She could only continue starring at him and whispered ‘Thank you’. He replied ‘Hey, it’s your big day. You have every right to be treated like a princess. Besides, it was my pleasure to ...’. She cut him out mid sentence. Through glistened eyes, she lunged forward, grabbed him by the collar and put her lips to his. His was surprisingly soft and she tasted a hint of sweetness probably from some chewing gum he had earlier. They both knew this was what they had wanted all along and the sensation was purely wonderful. It’s as if nothing could go wrong and even if it did, it didn’t matter. After a while, they pulled away breathless. They couldn’t help but to exchange smiles shyly and he grabbed her hands. Lacing his fingers between hers, he said ‘Now try my cooking. I laboured the entire day for this’. But she couldn’t remember how the food tasted as every part of her body is bathed in a delicious warmth of love.

A Fairytail : Chapter 11

2010-08-22T02:13:00.005+08:00

The next couple of days whizzed by in a blurry daze. Anna soon became accustomed to the punishable routine, often using the bitter sorrow to numb her fatigue. By 6:30 a.m., she would have already collected the piping hot porridge Wei Yee’s mother had generously prepared. Anna wanted her mother to have at least one proper meal a day. She tasted the soupy macaroni served once at the ward and likened it to eating rubber pellets soaked in diluted bleach. After breakfast, she would read her mother the daily news hoping to take both their minds off the horrible fate that has befallen them. Her mother would then take a nap or watch chinese soaps on the fuzzy tv while Anna used the time to search for potential curing methods for her mother’s illness on the web. She soon became very familiar with the medical jargons and was comfortably applying them when speaking to the doctors. By 5:15 p.m. Anna would rush home for a quick shower before heading to the nearby coffee shop to buy her mother’s dinner. She would have Aunty Ho, the noodle seller to specially cook her mother’s noodles without oil or too much salt, usually just a dash of pepper in the aromatic chicken broth and sprinkled with some finely chopped spring onions. Fifteen years of patronage granted Anna this exceptional treatment from Aunty Ho. On the rare occasions that Claire is blessed with a better appetite, Anna would take away instead steamed rice topped with stir fried bitter gourd with chicken and black beans. It is her mother’s favourite but it pained Anna to see Claire being able to finish no more than half of what is served. By the time Anna reaches home at night, it is usually close to 11:30 p.m. and she goes to bed with an aching back from sitting too much on the unforgiving plastic chair beside her mother’s bed. She’s thankful that her exhaustion serves also as her nightly lullaby.

There wasn’t a day where Claire didn’t have any visitors. They comprised of distant relatives (some Anna had never met in her entire life), close friends (they are only a handful), neighbours (less than a handful) and Claire’s colleagues (Anna lost count but suspected they came as only an excuse to get away from work). By the fourth day she was warded in, Claire already had 3 standing bouquet of flowers by the corner of her room, all well wishes of a speedy recovery punctuated in bold. Anna hated the aroma of the daisies and gerberas because it reminded her of the same smell emanated in the funeral parlour when her grandad passed away. She beared with it since the colours added a certain vibrancy to the otherwise dull and depressing room.

Wei Yee and her mom came as often as they could for which Anna is grateful. Sometimes, Mrs. Chan brought along double boiled herbal soup which is supposedly good for revitalisation of the mind and body. Mrs. Chan being Mrs. Chan wouldn’t leave until Claire swallowed the very last drop.

To take care of her mother, Anna had missed the first three days of the college’s second semester. Although she was sure she’s falling way behind in class, it couldn’t be helped. No one needed her more than her mother now. Uncle Leon is trying his best to source for a part time maid to relieve Anna of some of her duties so she could attend classes but his limited income is making his search especially tough. Wei Yee would make copies of her notes and pass them to Anna by the end of each day but they weren’t sharing all the same classes. As far as Anna’s friends from the other classes are concerned, she wasn’t ready to share her recent family tragedy with them yet.

One day, Anna was washing up the dishes in the ward’s bathroom and she heard a male voice speaking to her mother outside. She assumed him to be one of her mom’s colleagues and didn’t give it a second thought as she began skinning an apple. When she was done, she walked out of the bathroom and was utterly stunned to see Gabriel sitting on her plastic chair, chatting animatedly with Claire. ‘What is he doing here!’ her thoughts screamed. They both looked at Anna’s bewildered expression and smiled. A few seconds passed before Gabriel spoke up ‘So … you’re just going to stand there all night?’ Anna blushed and quickly came over to the bed and said ‘What are you doing here? And how did you know?’ ‘Well, I didn’t see you in class and you’re not answering my calls. So I asked around and everyone’s as clueless as I am. So left with no other choices, I cornered Wei Yee and my boys threatened to scar her pretty face unless she spilled the truth,’ he joked. ‘You did what!’ exclaimed Anna. ‘Woah, I was just joking, silly. I simply asked her very nicely and she told me what happened. Besides I figured you needed the notes from all the classes you’ve been missing,’ he replied. He then looked over to Anna’s mother and said ‘Aunty, I asked the shop keeper and he said all you have to do is to boil it for three hours with the rest of the herbs and it’s ready’. Anna realised then that Gabriel was referring to the very big box of American ginseng he had bought for her mother. ‘Aiyo, I can’t possibly accept something so expensive from you. Please take it back,’ Claire said embarrassingly. ‘Don’t worry Aunty, that shop keeper is a family friend and I got a very good discount. So it’s actually not very expensive,’ Gabriel graciously countered. Anna wanted to say something but the door opened and Mrs. Chan walked in. The inquisitive lady immediately said loudly ‘Waaa Nana, who’s this hemsem young man? Your boyfriend ar?’ ‘Aiyo Aunty! No la! He’s just a friend and he’s here to pass me some notes,’ she replied very quickly as blood rushed to her cheeks. ‘I didn’t know they thought you all how to make ginseng in college. Waa! And look at the size of it, surely not cheap eh,’ Mrs. Chan replied as she playfully nudged Gabriel. ‘Eh Claire ar, looks like your future son-in-law is treating you very well hor,’ she continued teasing. ‘Who are we to control these young people nowadays,’ Claire said with a smile. Gabriel looked at Anna and a mocking grin was plastered on his face. ‘Nana?’ he silently mouthed.

Just then Wei Yee walked in and said ‘Ma, I parked the car on the street opposite the main entrance. The hospital’s car park is full already. Oh, you told Anna yet?’ ‘Tell me what?’ Anna responded. ‘Oh, nothing la. Just that from tomorrow onwards, I’ll be your mother’s full time caretaker. I’ve already arranged everything with Uncle Chan. So you can go back to college okay,’ she said seriously. ‘I can’t trouble all of you this way Aunty. You’ve already done too much for us as it is,’ Anna replied. ‘Don’t talk nonsense la. It has been decided. Next week onwards, your mother will be undergoing chemotherapy. She will need banyak (a lot of) nourishments to pull through. My cooking will do a lot more help than the ones you bungkus (take away) from the coffee shop. Also, you can’t miss anymore classes or you’ll flunk out of college. You want to give your mother heart attack some more ar,’ Mrs. Chan said wisely. ‘Besides, it’ll give us old ladies more time to gossip,’ she added less sagely as she launched into her trademark hyena cackle. Before Anna could respond, her tearing mother was already thanking her friend profusely.

A Fairytail : Chapter 10

2010-08-18T20:57:00.003+08:00

Wei Yee’s parents dropped Anna at the hospital and they left for home on Anna’s insistence. Wei Yee had persisted to stay with her to offer comfort and help in any way but Anna preferred to face this situation with family only, at least for now.

She found the caller sitting in the ward’s common area, his gaze fixed on the styrofoam cup he was grasping with both hands. He didn’t blink when the steam arising from the coffee connected with his eyes. ‘Uncle Leon,’ Anna sniffled. ‘Oh Anna,’ he replied while getting up and circling his arms around to give her a tight hug. Her uncle looked drained. His hair was ruffled and his expression pale. ‘Where is Ma? What happened exactly? I tried calling so many times but I can’t get through to you or Ma’ she asked as tears blurred her vision. ‘You must’ve called when I was in the doctor’s room and had my phone turned off. I guess there’s no point trying to hide it from you any longer. Did you notice any change in your mother lately?’ he said. Anna thought for a moment before answering ‘No, not really. Perhaps she has been going to bed earlier nowadays but I thought it’s because her age is catching up’. ‘Yea, she gets fatigued easily and her weight has dropped steadily over the last four months,’ Uncle Leon added. Anna was silent. She felt stupid for not noticing these signs earlier. ‘She’s in pain Anna. For the past couple of months, the pain had gotten worse. Earlier this morning, she was heading out to the market. She wanted to cook your favourite soy sauce chicken tonight but the pain came suddenly. It was so unbearable she collapsed and after a while, she managed to drag herself to the phone and called me. I rushed over and got her admitted,’ he said. Her tears were now streaming down her cheeks as she asked ‘But why? Why is Ma suffering like this?’ ‘The doctors did some tests and they just confirmed it. Your mom has leukaemia,’ he answered her dejectedly. When the words finally sank in, Anna felt her gut being turned inside out. Her head was spinning as if the entire building just crashed on her. ‘I need to go see her now,’ she said.

Claire was warded into a twin sharing room. Because the bed beside her was unoccupied, the lights on that side were switched off casting an overall gloom over the already dimly lit ward. The walls painted with pastel green shows signs on peeling revealing the truer age of the building. A 14 inch tv hung by the top corner of the room with the pieces of its remote held together with lots of scotch tape. The entire place stank of bitter medicine and artificially scented floor detergent.

Anna stood at the doorway starring at her mother. Her mother’s body looked shockingly frail under the bare fluorescents. Her face was ashen and her lips showed a hue of purplish blue. A drip was inserted into Claire’s left hand and Anna could clearly see the swell of her mother’s vein where the needle pierced through the skin and then flesh. Anna couldn’t bear the depressing sight and silently, the tears kept flowing. Claire turned her body slightly and the metal bed creaked fiercely in response. She grimaced before letting out a series of violent coughs. Anna rushed to her mother’s side and rubbed her chest to pacify the irritated lungs. Claire slowly opened her eyes and managed to give her daughter a very tired smile. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Anna said in between sobs, her tears splattering on her mother’s dry cheeks. ‘I didn’t know it’s cancer and wouldn’t want to worry you. I also wanted you to focus on your studies,’ replied Claire weakly before coughing again. Anna turned to her Uncle and asked ‘How come Ma’s condition changed so quickly? She looked fine before I went to camp’. ‘The doctor said with leukaemia, things can turn bad very rapidly,’ Uncle Leon explained. ‘Come Anna, we should let your mother rest. I also need to get you home to pack your mother’s stuff to bring over. We rushed here this morning we didn’t have time to take anything with us’.

Anna bent over to her mother’s ear and whispered ‘Ma, rest well you hear. We’ll be back real soon. Everything is going to be ok’. She gave her mother’s arm a reassuring grip before leaving with her uncle.

A Fairytail : Chapter 9

2010-08-17T23:54:00.002+08:00

Anna could already anticipate the questions Claire would ask and she will take pleasure in telling her mother everything over a lovely dinner. Although it had only been three days, Anna was surprised to find herself missing Claire. The bus dropped them off at the college and everyone started bidding each other goodbyes. The trip presented the opportunities for new friendships to be formed and the harrowing episode by the stream only served to deepen the sense of camaraderie between them. The very same Mercedes was waiting for Gabriel and he insisted on giving Anna a ride home but she stubbornly refused. A part of her wondered how her mother would react to the scene of her getting out of a flashy car with an unknown guy beside her no less. She didn’t dare to risk the consequences just yet. Gabriel then offered to stay back until she has safely boarded the bus but she literally pushed him into his awaiting vehicle telling him not to worry. ‘I’ll call you when I’m home ok,’ she said. Truthfully, she was touched by the nature of his concern. Wei Yee was also seeing Steve off in a beat up Ford TX3 driven by his elder sister. He wanted to wait with Wei Yee but his unaccommodating sister was having none of it. As the siblings drove off, Wei Yee could hear them arguing already. Anna walked over to her best friend and they sat on a kerb stone. The road was mostly deserted as the college is having its semester break and the next car that appeared belonged to Wei Yee’s parents. ‘Hey Nana,’ Mrs. Chan greeted Anna loudly. ‘Aunty! People actually recognize me here’ Anna faked a shocked appearance. ‘Aiya, no leng chai (attractive guy) around also,’ Wei Yee’s mom sportingly played along. ‘Eh, we’re going for a simple dinner. Come join us la,’ Mrs. Chan proffered. As far as Anna could remember, Mrs. Chan is a firm believer that it’s always better to give than to receive. Hence, she’s always being as big-hearted as she could afford. ‘Cannot la Aunty. My mom’s waiting for me at home. Am sure she has dinner prepared too,’ Anna politely declined. ‘Then we send you home first la,’ the generous woman offered. ‘It’s ok Aunty. You all go makan (eat). No need to susahkan (inconvenience) you all. See, my bus is here’ Anna said pointing to her oncoming ride. ‘Ok ok, you be careful ar. Sms Wei Wei once you’re home,’ she added maternally. ‘Promise,’ Anna replied with a smile. The girls embraced as Anna whispered to Wei Yee ‘Hey, don’t mention anything ‘bout the incident ok. My mom will get a heart attack and probably ground me for life. Don’t tell your family too. You know how your mom and my mom like to tittle-tattle with each other’. Don’t worry la,’ Wei Yee said adding a zipping motion across her lips.

Once she got off the bus, Anna trudged the path leading her home. For reasons unknown, an uncomfortable anxiety was brewing within and she hurried her pace, believing that she’ll be able to shake off the uneasy sentiment once she’s safely home. She heaved a sigh of relief upon arrival at her house’s lawn gate. Out of habit, she pushed the gate open before the piece of criss-crossed welded metal bounced violently back, almost slamming into her face. It took her a moment to reel herself out of shock and realised that the gate was padlocked. This is uncommon because Claire would usually lock the gate just before bedtime. Anna also noticed that none of the lights in her home was lighted up. Didn’t her mother knew she was coming home today?

Anna rummaged her bag for the keys and let herself in. Once inside, she switched on the lights and called out ‘Ma, you here?’. The only reply she got was a faint echo of her own voice. She ran upstairs to her mother’s room hoping to find her fast asleep but no one was on the bed apart for an old neatly folded duvet. After searching the entire house, Anna then whipped out her mobile phone and speed dialled Claire’s number. Her attempt went straight into her mother’s voicemail. Panic began to brew from within and Anna tried calling her Uncle Leon instead. Hot tears stung her eyes when she heard Uncle Leon’s voice requesting her to leave a message at the sound of the beep. Anna went out and asked for her neighbours. She prayed that they knew where her mother was. ‘Hi Mr.Ong. Did you happen to see my mother today?’ Anna asked. ‘Hmmm, if I’m not mistaken, I think I saw a car stopping by this morning and Claire got in,’ replied the seventy four year old retiree from next door. ‘Did you happen to see who the driver was? Or what car was he or she driving,’ Anna enquired nervously. ‘Oh, that I couldn’t tell Anna. I’m sorry I wasn’t particularly paying attention. I guess I was too engrossed tending to my bonsais. I’m sure your mom simply forgot the time and that she’ll be back soon,’ the old man said trying to sound comforting. ‘Thanks Mr. Ong,’ she replied. The added information worsened her fear.

Anna jittered from one end of her living room to the other and tried to think of the most sensible thing to do but horrifying thoughts keep clouding her mind. She contemplated filing a missing person report but knew that it wouldn’t do any good unless it’s past the twenty four hour mark. She called Wei Yee and her friend promised to rush finishing her dinner and immediately come over. Anna pondered if her mom could be waiting for her the college compound instead. Enveloped with a sense of dread, she decided to back track her way to college when she felt a vibration in her jean’s pocket. Her heart almost leaped out of her mouth when she saw ‘Mom’ on the caller ID. She frantically pressed the answer button and a familiar male voice on the other side of the line said ‘Anna, I need you to calm down and listen to me. Your mom’s in the hospital’.

A Fairytail : Chapter 8

2010-08-16T20:14:00.004+08:00

The loud clashing of metal against metal woke everyone up. Anna spied at her watch and it showed her the time was 5:33 a.m. Sticking her head out of her tent, she saw Bruce and Janice each had a spatula in their hands, banging it against the bottom of an empty pot. When Janice spotted Anna’s grouchy expression, she laughed out loud and banged harder. The next forty five minutes saw everyone washing themselves up by the well. Some of the guys were mocking the girls for bringing a barrage of facial wash and what nots on a camping trip. Everyone had to haul their own water through a bucket attached to the pulley and Gabriel aided both the girls to get theirs. Anna couldn’t help but to marvel at the sight of his biceps and triceps rippling in action to which Wei Yee teased ‘Look into a mirror and you know what you’ll see? A love struck dumb blonde’. Anna playfully smacked Wei Yee’s buttocks for that comment.

Breakfast was simple yet satisfying. They feasted on baked beans, canned tuna mayo, sliced bread and an assortment of Malay kuih generously supplemented by Pak Awan. Bruce then announced that the first activity for the day would be abseiling. This brought a thunderous applause from majority of the guys. Slipping their feet back into their mud soaked shoes, they trudged up to a little hill with a steep drop on the other side. Pak Awan briefed everyone on the proper methods of abseiling. No hero antics would be tolerated and that safety is their utmost priority at all times. Each of them had to select a partner of almost equal weight so that one can serve as an anchor while the other abseiled down. After putting on their helmets and fastening their harnesses, the group proceeded to the edge of the hill. With Bruce serving as anchor, Pak Awan demonstrated how it ought to be done. In a matter of minutes, the old man’s feet were both firmly planted on the foothill. He then motioned for the rest to begin.

Seeing that Anna was to abseil down before Wei Yee, Gabriel set himself to go as well but Steve came to ask if it is ok he went first. Weary in the beginning, Anna soon got the hang of it and was thoroughly enjoying herself. A couple of feet above her, Steve yelled ‘Hey Anna, wait up’. Anna stopped descending and it gave her a chance to catch her breath. When they were shoulder to shoulder, Steve grinned at her and said ‘Let’s go slowcoach’. They were almost half way down when Steve voiced out ‘Hey Anna, I just needed to ask you something ok’. Anna eyed him curiously and said ‘Shoot’. He inhaled deeply and blurted ‘By any chance, is Wei Yee seeing anyone at the moment?’ He didn’t dare look at her when uttered that question. Anna burst out cackling like a hyena and almost lost her balance. That earned her a nasty reprimand from Pak Awan. The guide wasn’t going to allow anymore hiccups after yesterday’s incident. After finding her composure, Anna said ‘Oh Steve. Haha. I never knew you had a thing for Wei Yee’. Steve looking embarrassed replied ‘Ok. Just forget I asked and don’t you go telling Wei Yee anything you hear’. He was suddenly very focused on reaching down below. ‘Hmmm, if I were her, I would be very grateful and not to mention, impressed by your display of bravado yesterday. We girls like that in a guy you know,’ Anna answered. His face glowed and said ‘You think I have a shot then?’ ‘You never try, you’ll never know Steve. You do realize we only live once right,’ she encouraged. ‘Yea,’ he said nodding to himself as both of them stepped foot on solid ground simultaneously.

By the time everyone have had their chance to abseil, the sun was already at its highest position of the day and that also indicated that it is lunch time. Instant cup noodles were passed around and most of them slurped on second helpings. They then savoured on some delicious bubur cha cha (sweet potatoes & yam in coconut milk dessert) courtesy of Pak Awan’s wife.

A free-and-easy session was allocated for the early afternoon. The students were allowed to roam around within a fifty meter radius of the camp site’s vicinity. Led by Gabriel and armed with their cameras, some of them ventured out hoping to catch breath-taking snapshots of what Mother Nature had to offer. Anna and the rest chose to take it easy and linger in their respective tents to rejuvenate from the earlier vigorous activity.

‘You know, a most peculiar thing happened during lunch time,’ Wei Yee said to her tent-mate. ‘Oh? Do tell,’ Anna replied interestedly. ‘Well, it’s probably nothing but Steve came up to me and sort of asked me out on a date, I think,’ Wei Yee said in a bashful manner. ‘And what did you say to him?’ prodded Anna excitedly. ‘Errr, I say I’ll consider it and let him know,’ Wei Yee answered. Anna laughed and replied ‘How typical of you. You know, when it comes to these kinda things, you think too much. Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow and see where it leads to. You might be pleasantly surprised to find the answer in the end’. ‘And being trapped in the jungle with Gabriel makes you a love doctor now?’ Wei Yee said mockingly. ‘Speaking of which, tell me everything that happened with him or I swear I’ll tickle you till you die of laughter. I want to know every single detail,’ Wei Yee threateningly joked. And so Anna spilled it all to her best friend. After all, they share no secrets between each other.

In the evening, Pak Awan escorted the entire group to a stunning waterfall hidden deep within the jungle like a buried treasure not meant to be discovered. On the way there, Gabriel was walking by Anna’s side. ‘So what was it that was going on between you and Steve earlier?’ he tried to sound casual. ‘It was nothing. Not any of your business anyway,’ she tried playing hard-to-get. ‘Oh ... ok,’ he sounded hurt. ‘I was just messing with you, silly. Steve’s got a crush on Wei Yee. So he’s sort of asking me to help him out,’ she explained. She was glad to know he was capable of being jealous. ‘Oh, haha. I should’ve seen that coming. He was acting kinda weird last night in the tent, as if totally lost in deep thought. I guess he must be thinking ‘bout her. Looks like the jungle rubbed off some of its magic on them too,’ he said. It was then that he tried to lace his fingers between hers but she dashed excitedly ahead, captivated by the beauty of a picturesque vista. From high above, the waters crashed down into a sparkling pool of jade crystal liquid. Its loud splashing muffling Gabriel's dissapointed sigh.

The boys took turns to fearlessly bomb dive from a colossal sized rock while the girls amused themselves chasing schools of red swordtails. As the sun began to set, most of them simply lazed around and permitted themselves to be enchanted by the therapeutic haven gifted by our creator. Anna spotted Steve and Wei Yee by the edge of the shore, enjoying each other’s company with a little chit chat. By instinct, she looked around for Gabriel and found him by himself, sitting on the sand banks, and leaning against a crooked tree. He was observing her and even from afar, she could tell that his eyes radiated nothing but affection.

That night, the sat around a campfire and grilled a galore of fresh seafood. Since they were scheduled to leave very early the next day, all of them wanted to make the most of their remaining time here. The students ate heartily, chatted, laughed and sang along to songs that Bruce strummed on his guitar. They also presented Pak Awan with a souvenier, the club’s T-shirt as a token of appreciation for the generosity he had bestowed to all of them. As the night drew to a close, one by one, they drifted back to their tents and capped the end of another fantastic escapade by the Outdoor Society.

A Fairytail : Chapter 7

2010-08-10T01:20:00.001+08:00

‘Do you even know where we’re going?’ Anna yelled. Back in the dense forest, with the rain still hammering furiously, the only way to be heard is to shout. ‘I figured that as long as we stick to the path, we shouldn’t go wrong,’ Gabriel hollered back. ‘What path!’ Anna said referring to the mud covered grounds they were tramping on. ‘We took almost two freaking hours to get here. Do you think we could ever find our way back under this condition?’ her voice loud but uneven. The cold, exhaustion and utter frustration are fuelling her sudden spike in anger. Gabriel stopped walking, turned around and said ‘Yea, you’re right and it’s getting dark. We better seek shelter somewhere’. They scavenged the area and stumbled upon an uprooted tree. The decaying trunk is easily forty feet long and its massive branches with its leaves attached provided just the refuge they were looking for. Sitting with a three feet gap in between them, Gabriel tried to console ‘Hey, it’s gonna be alright. They’re gonna find us soon’. Looking away, Anna ignored him and tried to appear brave but her trembling lips and shivering limbs ruined her poor pretence.

Shrouded in total darkness, they seem to lose track of time. It was hard to judge if a minute had passed or was it five. At least the rain had died down to a drizzle. At night, the jungle portrays itself in an entire different façade. Unlike the charming scene that greeted them earlier in the day, now everything around them exuded a sense of frightening menace. Threatening noises from creatures of the night send chills up Anna’s spine. Every now and then, rustling caused by unseen nocturnal animals would make her jump. At that moment, she wished she was curled up beside her mother, watching TV and sharing a tub of ice cream. The thought made her whimper.

Suddenly something touched her and Anna screamed. ‘Hey hey, it’s ok. It’s just me,’ said Gabriel. ‘Don’t you dare!’ Anna snapped. ‘I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you like that. I can tell you’re freezing and perhaps if we huddled together, you wouldn’t feel so cold,’ he replied apologetically. ‘Why do you keep pushing me away?’ he asked after an awkward silence. ‘Hah! I don’t need to explain myself, especially not to you,’ she retorted. Better to sound angry than weak she thought. ‘I just thought we’d be better off being friends than strangers,’ he countered. ‘Being friends’, those two words hurt her. ‘Stupid. You’re just so bloody stupid Anna,’ she admonished herself in silence. ‘I mean, did I do something wrong? If I offended you in anyway, I swear I didn’t mean to,’ Gabriel pressed further. She looked at him and could make out the outline of his slouching figure. The glow casted by the crescent moon made the forest undergrowth a little less creepy now. ‘No, you did nothing wrong,’ she said softly and realised it was the truth. She was being unfair to him all this while but she couldn’t help it. He edged closer, testing her reaction. Finally, only an inch separated his right shoulder to her left. ‘What’s your story with Maya?’ she asked. ‘I know it’s not any of my business but,’ she couldn’t find the right words after that and left her sentence hanging. ‘Maya’s just an old friend to me. Our families knew each other from way back, so naturally, I grew up as her playmate,’ he tried to clarify. ‘And that’s why I know her so well,’ answering her question from when they got off the boat earlier. ‘She’s more like a sister to me,’ he said further. ‘I bet she doesn’t feel the same way,’ Anna stated as a matter of fact. ‘Well, she may feel differently about me but it doesn’t matter cause,’ he paused. ‘Cause?’ she asked impatiently. He faced her and said ‘Cause I already fell for someone else’. Anna hoped the darkness had helped hidden her smile. The butterflies in her stomach are back after a long leave of absence and they’re obviously overly excited. ‘You’re still cold,’ Gabriel said as he pulled her towards him. This time, she did not resist and allowed him to rest her head on his chest. Her cheeks were pressing uncomfortably against his damp t-shirt but it didn’t seem to matter. ‘Feel better?’ he enquired. ‘Yea,’ she happily lied. With the heavy burden lifted from her heart, she willingly gave in to the demands of her worn-out body and fell into a deep slumber.

After a while ...

Anna woke up hearing faint noises. At first, she thought she had imagined them but the voices became clearer. She shook Gabriel who had also fallen asleep. No doubt, people were calling out their names and they could see beams discharged from highly powered torch lights slicing through the area not far away. They excitedly stood up but Anna crumbled straight down because of the pins and needles in both her legs. ‘Go get them. I just need a moment,’ she told Gabriel. Gabriel nodded and started shouting out at their rescuers. ‘Praise Allah both of you are safe. Now let’s get you back to camp,’ said a very relieved Pak Awan. He led the search group with Bruce, Steve and two other boys in tow. Wei Yee pleaded to come along but Pak Awan vetoed sternly against her request saying her wounded leg would only slow them down. Wei Yee dejectedly complied and had the injuries on her palms and leg treated by Janice.

When they arrived back at the camp site, everyone stood up to applaud. A couple of them wolf whistled. Wei Yee ran and hugged her friend so tightly she squeezed every ounce of breath out of Anna. ‘I was worried to death. I was so scared they couldn’t find you’ Wei Yee sobbed. ‘I know. But I’m ok now. See,’ Anna replied and made a 360 degrees twirl. Bruce came to them and said ‘It’s best Anna dry herself and get some hot soup into her system’. The idea of food made Anna’s stomach growl fiercely. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until then. Gabriel brought over a bowl of chicken soup with some white bread. Anna accepted them and returned him with a most endearing smile before he went over to chat with Pak Awan. Wei Yee immediately shot her a questioning stare. ‘What?’ Anna cried out. ‘You tell me. I know that look,’ Wei Yee responded. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she said dipping her bread into the boiling soup before putting it into her mouth. It scalded her pallet but she didn’t care. Food never tasted this good. ‘Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep it from me,’ challenged Wei Yee. ‘Fine. Let’s see,’ Anna replied adding a mischievous smirk.

After cleaning up, Bruce instructed everyone to get some shuteye as the next day will be another tiring one. Two to a tent, Anna and Wei Yee zipped up the opening and snuggled into their individual sleeping bags. ‘Still not telling huh,’ Wei Yee said. Anna replied by sticking out her tongue. ‘Hate you,’ Wei Yee said as she turned to face the other side. ‘Hate you too,’ Anna responded giggling.

A Fairytail : Chapter 6

2010-08-05T23:46:00.003+08:00

Upon arrival at base camp, they had to board a speedboat taking them up the river before they could hike to the camp site. Unlike travelling on the bus, everyone enjoyed the bumpy cruise along the emerald river. Shaded by the lofty canopy of the rainforest, they mesmerised at the sights of siamangs (black furred gibbon) peeping from behind gargantuan tree trunks, the symphonic hums of the jungle insects and even saw a kingfisher, diving into the river before soaring majestically back up with a tiny fish clasped tightly in its razor beak. ‘It really is a whole other world here huh,’ Wei Yee said in wonder. Anna nodded in agreement, taking in every bit of sight and sound presented by the thousand year old Malayan jungle.

Twenty five minutes later, the boat docked beside a brittle looking wooden jetty and everyone carefully got off. ‘You need any help with your stuff?’ Gabriel offered to Anna. ‘Nope. I can manage a knapsack,’ she said. ‘I’m surprised your Maya isn’t here,’ Anna couldn’t help but to add. ‘Errr, firstly, she isn’t MY Maya. She did sign up to come along but I guess after last night’s drinking binge, she should still be having a heated argument with her toilet bowl as we speak,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Besides, she’s not really an outdoor adventure kinda person,’ he said. ‘Well, it seems you know her incredibly well. I guessed as much that when I saw you, she was the other one who didn’t show up this morning’ Anna sounded with a hint of jealousy. Just then, Steve and Wei Yee caught up with them and Gabriel dropped what he wanted to say.

The camp site is actually a very generous open area surrounded by a myriad of age old kapok trees. They stockpiled their belongings at a corner and had lunch. Famished, everyone hoovered in the pre-packed combo of curry chicken, stir fried cabbage, steamed rice and washed it all down with servings of diluted rose flavoured cordial. With their bellies filled, everyone felt a surge in vigour and started setting up tents. Since the girls know as much about tent setting as they would how to build a space shuttle, Steve ended up helping Wei Yee leaving Gabriel with Anna. Gabriel it seems is an expert and only needed Anna to pass him the material. They only exchanged words when necessary. When the tent was up, Gabriel sauntered over to help Steve who seems to be having trouble untying the aluminium rods for the tent’s support structure. Wei Yee was looking on, unimpressed.

At 4:00 p.m., they prepared themselves for their jungle trekking expedition. After a quick briefing by the local guide, Pak Awan (loosely translated : Uncle Cloud) they started moving out. Walking in a single line, they treaded on a path led by Pak Awan who will stop every now and then to explain the characteristics of certain flora and fauna. They learned how to spot wild tapioca leaves and that it can be eaten fresh from the ground. They identified herb roots that supposedly contain a range of medicinal benefits. They overturned moss covered rocks to expose a community of angry fire ants beneath it. They were taught to distinguish the piercing callings of the monyet balanda (proboscis monkey). The outing was thoroughly pleasurable and educational.

Gabriel and Steve were bringing up the back of the group followed by the girls and the rest of the entourage in front. There were instances where Gabriel’s sweaty arms would brush Anna’s and she tried her best to think nothing of it although each accidental caress would send a jolt up her body.

Without warning, it started to pour heavily. The echoes erupted as huge water droplets pounded the jungle surroundings was deafening. Anna could hear Pak Awan shouting up front but couldn’t make up his words exactly. Finally, the message reached her. They have to hurry up and cross the stream before it overflows. As if by magic, the dry dirt path morphed into a slippery mud slide. The more they rushed, the more they tripped and stumbled. Amidst all the chaos, Wei Yee suffered a deep gash at her left calf when she sliced it on a sharp protruding tree stem. The pain brought tears to her eyes but she was relieved that the rain was able to mask this show of vulnerability. When they came upon the stream, the water level was already dangerously high. The once serene stream terrifyingly swelled into a raging river right before their eyes. To get cross, one would have to walk on a man made bridge constructed out of lime stones. Over the years, flowing waters have polished the surface of the bridge making it extremely slippery when wet. Pak Awan was the first to cross and even he lost his balance when a sudden gush of water took him by surprise. Fortunately, years of trekking experience and a solid physical core helped him to steady himself. Once safely on the other side, he threw a rope over to be tied to a tree trunk. Using the rope, one by one, the students inched their way across. As the fifth student reached the other side, the rushing waters was already above their ankle level. Panic began to register on the faces of those yet to be on the safer side of the stream. The rain showed no signs of yielding and the constant ear-splitting thunder only adds to the students’ rising tension. Some of the girls were screaming fearfully as the knee high water is forcefully trying to wash them down stream. Pak Awan and Bruce were trying their best to motivate the group by screaming words of encouragement. People from both sides of the stream were shivering uncontrollably in the relentless rain.

When it came to Wei Yee’s turn, the water had already risen above her hip level. Pak Awan was afraid that she might not be strong enough to sustain the might of the water. So he said that they have to risk two people crossing the river together. The added muscle from the guys should provide them a better chance. With only the four of them remaining, Steve took the nylon cord Pak Awan had flung over and double knotted Wei Yee’s waist securely to his. Wei Yee was scared stiff she wasn’t able to take the first step. With tears streaming, all the possible ghastly scenarios flashed before her eyes. The she heard Steve’s voice, very steadily saying ‘It’s now or never Wei Yee. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back ok’. Grabbing the rope for dear life, she plunged one leg into the murky water and immediately lost her footing due to the strong currents. She heard Anna scream but Steve was already clenching her shoulders firmly. ‘Don’t worry, take your time,’ he reassured her. Though still enveloped with a sense of terror, she nodded. One step at a time, they inched forward. The water being surprisingly warm helped calm a bit of their nerves. Nevertheless, Wei Yee could feel the sting as the roughness of the rope bit painfully into her delicate palms. The wound from her ankle was throbbing so bad it made her dizzy. The only consolation was knowing that Steve was there for her. Every now and then, he would offer words of support. It was his way to let her know he’s right behind her in every step. It felt like an eternity before they both reached the other side. By the time Bruce helped pulled them out, the water level was hanging above Steve’s shoulder, leaving Anna and Gabriel trapped on the other side. With no other options, Pak Awan shouted for them to seek cover at least until the rain dies down and wait for the stream to shallow itself. Right now, any attempts to navigate their way across would be suicidal. As Gabriel pulled her back towards the direction they previously came from, Anna could see a sobbing Wei Yee begging Pak Awan to save her best friend.

A Fairytail : Chapter 5

2010-08-05T18:00:00.001+08:00

The first college semester is zipping by rapidly. The students were fervently going through the days without a minute to spare. In between the lectures, tutorials, assignments and exams, some were naively falling in love while others committing themselves to temporary best-friend-forever bonds. More often than not, neither will last through the end of the year. Sex and booze are all the rage and made more so by the fact that both are so easily attainable in today’s ungoverned society. To be involved is to fit in and hardly anyone dares to defy the status quo. The more daring ones were busy getting intoxicated by experimenting on substances readily made available by Josh. Frequently lounging in the alley beside the 7-Eleven store, the pusher is at all times secreting beneath his trademark crimson Timberland cap. The bright colour acts as an easy beacon for his customers to home in to. The unnatural ‘high’ guaranteed, coupled with the excitement from breaking the law infused an irresistible addiction in his regulars. Their insatiable hunger for more makes business very good for Josh indeed.

On the whole, the college community is exploring the limitless avenues granted by their new found freedom. Once a preferred avenue is found, they will tend to push the boundaries. For most, the phrase, curiosity kills the cat fails to come into play.

Anna and Wei Yee made a pact to keep each other grounded on the morals which they were brought up on. Each will police the other’s behaviour to make certain that neither one will be tainted by the sinful temptations offered beneath life’s mask of false veracity. Anna didn’t need reminders to recognize how difficult it was for her mother to slave through the job she so despised to afford Anna a comfortable education. Furthermore, Anna has been missing her mother lately. They hardly had the chance to see each other apart from dinner time. Locking herself up in her room on most evenings to complete her assignments, she would appear later in the night to find Claire already fast asleep, sometimes as early as 9:00 p.m. Times like these, she would be overwhelmed with guilt for not being able to help ease her mother’s fatigue.

Their little band of misfits consisting of Steve, a religious Trekkie and a devotee of all things science fiction, Katie, arguably the most intellectual human Anna and Wei Yee have ever met, Ivan, Katie’s acne prone twin brother cum die hard fan of Japanese music pop groups and finally, Jung Ho, an extremely bashful Korean exchange student who hardly speaks any English would spend their time in college hobbling between classes, the library and the cafeteria. On the rare occasions where weather permits, they would relax beneath a shady 65 year old Angsana tree towering high within the college compound, enjoying a silent game of people watching.

Three long days stand in between the girls and their first trip with the Outdoor Society. A two nights three days camping excursion at a forest reserve along the borders of Pahang (a state in Peninsular Malaysia) does sound awfully appealing since it gave them the opportunity to momentarily liberate themselves from the burden of lectures and assignments. Wei Yee had only ever camped once throughout her 18 years existence on God’s green earth and that was only in her school’s field. Anna is a self confessed camping virgin. So their rising enthusiasm as the day drew nearer was understandable.

On the night before the camping trip ...

‘You packed everything?’ enquired Claire. ‘For the hundredth time, YES Ma,’ Anna punctuated. ‘What about your insect repellent? The diarrhoea meds? You never know what they’ll feed you in the jungle,’ pestered her worried mother. ‘Oh and will you be having your period then? You need pads?’ continued Claire. Anna rolled her eyes and said ‘Yes Ma, insect repellent’s already in the bag. So are the meds. You packed them in yourself remember. Just so you know, we’ll be surviving mostly on canned beans, bread and instant packet curries and cup noodles, not leaves or any creepy crawlies. And no, I won’t be having my period seeing that I’ve just had it last week’. She gripped both her mother’s palms and soothed ‘It’s only for three days. I’ll be back before you know it’. ‘But it’s the jungle and a mother always worries. You’ll call me each night right?’ Claire replied. ‘Errr … I don’t think my mobile will have any signal in the middle of the jungle Ma,’ said Anna to her wide eyed mother.

At 5:30 a.m., the thirty seven eager beavers gathered at the designated assembly point, ready to board the bus that will ferry them to the camp site. Two members failed to show up and the annoyed group leader, Bruce was trying to get through their mobiles to no avail. Anna and Wei Yee were chatting animatedly as they chewed on lukewarm fishballs on a stick they had earlier bought from 7-Eleven. Steve was still deciding between a can of Milo or Nescafe. A gleaming Mercedes S Class screeched to a halt and everyone turned to stare. Gabriel climbed out from the back seat, flashed a grin to Bruce and ran over to him to apologize. At that instant, Wei Yee nudged Anna to close her opened mouth which revealed some rather disgusting mashed up fish paste. ‘What is he doing here?’ exclaimed Anna to her friend. ‘How should I know,’ answered Wei Yee before popping the last fishball into her jaws. Less than a minute later, Bruce announced ‘Ok listen up everyone. As I’ve explained earlier, we’re going by the buddy system here, meaning you pick a partner and you look out for each other. If your partner is M.I.A, you report to me. If your partner is ill, you report to me. If your partner goes berserk in the middle of the jungle … you report to me. Am I understood?’ Majority murmured ‘Yes’. Now if there’s anyone who doesn’t have a partner yet, raise your hand,’ Bruce instructed. Everyone looked around and two hands were up. One belonging to Steve and the other, Gabriel. ‘There you go fellas, a match made in heaven. Now let’s get a move on. In an orderly fashion, store your belongings into the bus’s storage compartment and then board up, one pair at a time. Nobody leaves the bus once their in. Janice here will be taking your attendance,’ Bruce said gesturing to the petite bespectacled gal standing beside him. Janice waved at the rest of them cartoonishly.

Anna and Wei Yee were amongst the first few on board and they chose to sit two rows from the front. When Steve came up, he said to Gabriel ‘Hey, these are my friends, Anna and Wei Yee. Girls, this is Gabriel’. ‘We’ve met,’ answered Wei Yee frostily. ‘Great. Lets sit here,’ Steve said to Gabriel as he settled into the seat behind the girls, obviously not detecting the coldness in Wei Yee’s words. ‘Only if that’s ok with you?’ asked Gabriel looking at Anna. ‘It’s a free country,’ Anna responded.

The journey took a strenuous six and a half hours. Throughout the ride, Steve was painstakingly trying to get the three of them to warm up to each other. At last, he gave up and slept instead. Anna could feel the back of her neck prickling, as if Gabriel was sending electric pulses through his gaze from behind.

A Fairytail : Chapter 4

2010-08-05T00:57:00.003+08:00

Over the next few days, Anna avoided Gabriel the best she could. She would go into class at the very last minute and sit as far as possible away from him. When the lecture is done, she would be the first one out, not giving him the opportunity to approach her. Many a times, in the classes they shared, she could feel his gaze piercing into her very soul but she brushed off the feeling, persuading herself that it was no more than a figment of her silly imagination. Then there are moments she could have sworn she heard him calling her name but she crudely dismissed the thought before she has had the chance to confirm it. Anna was resolute to expunge him from her life and so far, it’s going according to plan. This pleased and saddened her at the same time.

The college organised a fair for its clubs and societies to recruit their respective members. Tents of all sizes and colours were pitched in the open assembly area. With the latest songs on the pop chart booming from the speakers, it looked more like a carnival. Existing club members were trying their best to entice newbies to sign up with them. Pens, key chains and candies were the common bribes used to lure in potential recruits and it’s no surprise how efficient these insignificant hand-outs get the job done.

After spending hours, literally rubbing shoulders with the rest of the college community and putting the fine art of verbal rejection to good use, Anna and Wei Yee finally put their name down for the college’s Outdoor Society. The panoramic photos of happy campers beneath a gushing waterfall and the view of the sunrise taken from the summit of Mount Kinabalu promised an abundance of adventure ahead. Besides, they got a water tumbler each which they both thought was rather neat.

Anna saw Gabriel hanging out with a couple of jocks at the Soccer Club’s booth. The guys were generally gorgeous looking and blessed with matching physique. They were talking and laughing without a care in the world, knowing full well the effect they were emanating to the rest of the envious people around them. The rays of the afternoon sun bouncing off this group of immaculately groomed individuals radiated an aura of absolute coolness. Anna couldn’t help being bedazzled and she hated herself for it.

As if tugged by unseen forces, Gabriel suddenly stopped chatting, turned and looked directly at Anna. Their gazes locked and he offered her his trademark smile. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered furiously. This overwhelming sensation panicked her and she hurried towards Wei Yee who was already on her way to get a vanilla milkshake from the cafeteria. Her hasty action caused Anna to miss the look of dejection that registered on Gabriel’s face when she ignored his genuine show of affection.

Queuing up at the drink counter, Anna pleaded ‘Wei Wei, you need to help me get a grip of myself. I saw him and all my defences just crumbled’. ‘Just be like me. I saw him too. So just ignore him la. What’s it gonna be ... strawberry or vanilla?’ countered Wei Yee. ‘Vanilla ... no, wait, strawberry,’ Anna replied sheepishly. ‘Two milkshakes please. One vanilla and one strawberry,’ Wei Yee told the grumpy looking Chinese lady behind the counter who in turn screeched to her teenage daughter cum helper standing no more than three feet away ‘Meelk sake! Vaaneela chee pueh! Stobelee chee pueh!’. She faced the girls and said ‘Lak kor (Six Ringgit)’.

They chose to sit at a quiet corner and the only audible sounds were emitted from their straws as they sipped on the blend of artificially flavoured fluids.

Out of no where, a figure towered over them and said in a shrilly voice to Anna ‘Hi, I’m sure you remember me. I’m Maya. For some reason, Gabe thinks that I’ve offended you the other day and insist that I apologize. So here I am ... apologizing for his sake’. Anna didn’t know how to respond. She only thing in her mind was that gazing up at Maya, she could observe her neatly trimmed nose hair very clearly. ‘Yeap, you were right. She looks like a bitch. She dresses like a bitch and now she acts like one too. No doubt, a bitch through and through,’ said Wei Yee out loud as she glanced up at Maya and shot her a very phony grin. ‘HA. HA. Jealousy breeds idiocy,’ snapped Maya as she strutted away. Anna reached across the table to grip her friend’s hand and said ‘Thank you’. ‘Believe me, it was my pleasure,’ replied Wei Yee warmly with a cheeky wink.

A Fairytail : Chapter 3

2010-08-04T12:47:00.001+08:00

Afraid of being late for Mr. Ananda’s class, Anna broke into a sprint towards Lecture Hall 2. A text message from Wei Yee just came in, informing her that the burly lecturer was already arranging his slides on the projector and was about to begin. Pushing open the door as quietly as possible, she slithered into the hall and instantly spotted Wei Yee waving at her. Anna tip toed and settled herself into the seat her friend had earlier saved for her. ‘Phew,’ sighed Anna as she paused to breathe before taking out her notepad. ‘Living life on the edge huh,’ teased Wei Yee. ‘You know me,’ retorted Anna smartly.

As they were busy taking down notes, someone from behind tapped Anna’s shoulder. As she turned around, that stranger handed her a piece of folded paper and whispered ‘For you’. ‘Errr … thanks,’ replied Anna softly before turning around with the piece of paper in her hand. She unfolded the paper and read the scribbling

Hey, just wanted to apologize on behalf of Maya for what happened the other day. Would like to make it up to you. Coffee after class? My treat.

Gabe

Anna knew Wei Yee had read the note as well. She turned towards her friend and raised her eyebrows. Wei Yee responded by rolling her eyes and carried on jotting down notes on the molecular structure of methyl bromide.

He stood waiting for her at the entrance of the college. She halted her walking to savour the moment. He was almost picture perfect. The breeze was blowing gently lifting his hair up for a moment before dropping them lightly across the sides his face again. Gabriel reminded her of a leading male lead in one of those tragic Korean drama series. An upward curl escaped from her lips uncontrollably.

She tugged on his sleeve and trying to sound as casual as possible, said ‘Hiya.’ He turned around and at once, gave her a heart melting smile. ‘Don’t blush Anna, don’t you dare blush,’ the thought to herself. ‘So where’s this coffee place? Is it near enough for us to walk to?’ she asked. ‘Yea. It’s just two blocks away. It opened a couple of months back. Just wait a moment k. Maya should be here any minute,’ he said looking around obviously for Maya. Anna felt as if she had been stabbed in her gut. ‘Actually, I just remembered I’m meeting someone else. I really got to go,’ she stammered. Crossing the street hastily, Anna heard Gabriel shouting her name. She turned around to offer him a half hearted wave and saw Maya sashaying towards Gabriel from behind, directing a smile most sinister at Anna. A bus stopped in front of her, erasing her view of Gabriel. She got in without caring if it is the right bus taking her home. Staring out at the window through teary eyes, Anna was trying in vain to put back together pieces of her broken heart.

Later that night ...

‘Aiya, forget about him la. He’s hardly worth it. Guys with looks like his, they’ll be flirting with the next girl in a short skirt the moment you turn your back on them,’ comforted Wei Yee. ‘Besides, you two have hardly spoken ten sentences to each other right?’ she added. ‘Yea, you’re right. He’s not worth it,’ Anna answered, trying to convince herself of the fact. *Pause* ‘But you know, it just feels different whenever I see him. It’s like the insides of my stomach are doing cartwheels, my heart beats a little faster and everything around me suddenly appears more … colourful. I know it’s stupid of me to feel this way but it’s just the way it is,’ Anna explained over the cordless phone tugged between her cheeks and shoulder. ‘Okay, okay, so you’ve got a major crush on the guy. It’s not hard to see why but how sure are you this is going to lead anywhere? I just don’t want to see my best friend getting hurt. Then I’d be forced to kick his ass and I really prefer to keep a clean record in college,’ Wei Yee responded. Anna couldn’t suppress a smile when reminded how wonderful a friend Wei Yee is to her. ‘Alright, I’m going to forget ‘bout him,’ exclaimed Anna. ‘You do that,’ Wei Yee replied. ‘I will. And thanks for hearing me out. Don’t know what will I do without you babe,’ Anna said trying to sound adorable. ‘You can buy me lunch tomorrow and I need to go shave my legs now before the WWF declares it the next protected rainforest reserve. G’nite girl,’ uttered Wei Yee before clicking the phone off.

The last thought Anna had before drifting off to sleep was how ridiculous it was to allow herself to feel so deeply for someone she barely knew.

A Fairytail : Chapter 2

2010-08-03T14:08:00.003+08:00

Their common classes were Chemistry, Physics and Modern Maths. Wei Yee stuck with Biology while Anna opted for Accounting. Anna’s better with numbers and besides, dissecting a live frog last year made her lose her appetite for the entire week. Nothing could persuade her to go through that gut wrenching experience ever again. Wei Yee on the other hand aspired to pursue medicine ever since she sat in her cousin’s fiancé’s flashy BMW. The way Dr. Eric discussed medical procedures over the phone with his colleague set an everlasting impression on the teenage Wei Yee then. Anna hasn’t set her target on her career choice, so she figured it would be best to select general subjects that will equip her with the broadest range of knowledge.

Since Accounting has less than fifty students all together, the lecture was conducted in a large classroom rather than a hall. Anna selected a seat three rows from the front and positioned her notepad and stationeries neatly on the table. The rest of the students were taking their places when someone occupied the seat next to her. She peeked and it was that guy. Her heart skipped a beat before he said ‘Just for the record, I was late for class because my car broke down. I had to wait for the tow truck to haul it to the workshop. So if you can, please convey my message to your friend, the wise one.’ She desperately wanted to say something but she was again spell bounded by his boyish grin. He swiped his hair, tucking it suavely behind his ear and stared at her.

Her mouth moved without words, like a fish out of water, gasping for air. Something clicked in her mind and she stuttered ‘Oh, I saw you. I mean I saw your car by the roadside when I was on the bus to college.’ Just then, the lecturer, Ms. Tan walked in and said ‘Alrightey class, page three on your textbooks please.’ ‘I’m Gabriel,’ he whispered. ‘Annabelle. Friends call me Anna,’ she replied as rushing blood reddened her cheeks.

The minutes ticked excruciatingly slow and by the time the 53 year old tutor ended her teaching, more than half the class were on their way to dreamland. People started making a bee line towards the exit of the class when a girl came and stood in front of Anna and Gabriel. ‘Hey Gabe,’ she said beaming her megawatt smile. ‘Hey there,’ replied Gabriel not matching her enthusiasm. Dressed to impress, the girl wore a short chequered skirt and a white shirt with four of her top buttons opened revealing the scarlet tube inside. Her attire magnified her physical attributes particularly zoning in on her legs that seems endless until it reaches her vivacious buttocks. She is what college society would generally term a hottie. ‘She your new plaything?’ asked the hottie obviously referring to Anna without looking. Anna who was attempting to ignore her while packing up her stuff couldn’t help but to glare at the girl, stunned at the disrespect directed towards her. ‘What? No!’ answered Gabriel at once. ‘This is Anna and she’s just a friend,’ he continued. ‘Whatever! The gang’s heading to Starbucks at the mall. Wanna come? We have loads to catch up on,’ she said suggestively. ‘Sure,’ Gabriel replied briskly. ‘Hey Anna, you wanna join us,’ he offered. Anna just shook her head, stood up and left abruptly. For some unexplainable reason, she felt upset by his statement ‘she’s just a friend’. Not far behind, Anna could hear the hottie laughing uproariously and on reflex, walked faster away.

‘So tell me all about your first day in college,’ enquired Claire as she made preparations for dinner. ‘It was nothing Ma. Just like high school except no uniforms and longer breaks. The hall was freezing though. Remind me to bring along my cardigan tomorrow ok,’ said Anna as she drank the milk straight from its carton box. Her tastebuds registered a vile sourness that naturally caused her face to contort. ‘The milk’s bad Ma,’ squeaked Anna as she rushed to the sink to gargle on tap water, ridding her tongue of the nauseating aftertaste. ‘I’m so sorry dear. I’ll get fresh ones tomorrow ok,’ said Claire as she quickly tossed the carton box with its expired liquid into the trash.

In the next three hours, Anna had made five agonizing visits to the bathroom. It’s evident that the milk is not going to go down quietly. In fact, her stomach was churning so badly that the doctor had to give her an injection in addition to the usual diarrhoea pills. Anna is terrified of syringes but comparing that to the piercing stirring in her belly, she gladly endured the former. Back home and resting on her bed, she texted Wei Yee ‘TERRIBLE STOMACH UPSET. NEED HUG :( WON’T BE GOING TO COLLEGE TOMORROW. SAVE ME YOUR NOTES’. Two minutes later, her mobile vibrated with a reply ‘REST WELL. DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE NOTES. WILL VISIT AFTER CLASSES. XOXO’. Anna switched off her night light praying that she won’t need to use the bathroom until morning.

Anna spent the morning slurping on tasteless noodle soup prepared by Claire before she headed out for work. For lunch, it was cream of mushroom from a can and some re-heated honey & oat bread. In between meals, she was channel surfing on the devil box and was pleased that she only needed to go to the bathroom once. The doorbell rang and she picked her weary self up to greet a smiling Wei Yee who had brought along a packet of tau foo fa (bean curd dessert) to share. They enjoyed the sweet pudding as Anna lazily browsed through the photocopied notes her friend had compiled according to subject. ‘Oh, dunno-what’s-his-name asked for you today,’ Wei Yee said out of the blue, her eyes still fixed on the TV. The image of Gabriel immediately floated into Anna’s mind and she casually replied, pretending not to care ‘Ummm, what did he say?’. ‘Nothing much. Just asked how come you weren’t in Accountancy today,’ Wei Yee said as she flipped to the Discovery channel. ‘I see, Errr ... was he with anyone then?’ Anna said while stirring her spoon in the empty dessert bowl. ‘Didn’t notice. Why do you care anyway?’ Wei Yee eyed Anna curiously. ‘OHH. You’ve got a thing for what’s-his-name!’ she gasped dropping the TV remote. ‘No la! And he’s got a name for crying out loud. It’s Gabriel,’ Anna replied a bit too loudly. ‘Yesterday, one of his girl friend referred to me as his new plaything. So I just wanted to know if that bimbo is still hanging around,’ Anna offered the explanation. As soon as she said it, even she herself couldn’t deny how lame the excuse sounded. ‘If you say so,’ replied Wei Yee with a naughty smirk.

A Fairytail : Chapter 1

2010-08-03T00:49:00.002+08:00

‘ANNA!!! You’re gonna be late. Hurry up. Your toast is getting cold and I AM NOT going to make you another one,’ screamed Claire at her 17 year old daughter. ‘You will,’ whispered Anna as she curled and snuggled deeper into the comfort of her duvet. The same one she has been sleeping with for the past 13 years. Hand sewn by her Po Po and given as a gift on her 4th birthday, Anna practically couldn’t sleep without first whiffing on the familiarity of her own buried scent wafted from this ragged blanket.

14 minutes later ...

‘That’s it young lady! You’re going on your first day of college on an empty belly,’ hissed Claire as she forcefully open the curtain drapes, allowing the morning rays to explode in basking over every inch of Anna’s tiny room. ‘Okay, okayyy. I’m up,’ replied Anna groggily. Anna fisted her palm and rubbed first her left eye and then the right. A habit developed since young. She nonchalantly reached for her mobile tugged somewhere beneath her pillow and registered 6 smses and 2 missed calls. All from Wei Yee, Anna thought to herself and she was right. She could’ve guessed the contents of the messages and the calls and so didn’t bother reading them.

Her Sony digital clock reads 7:19 a.m. Cramped up next to her single bed is her double door-ed wardrobe filled up to the brim with clothing bought 3 weeks ago to those she has been wearing since she was 3 years old. Sentimental values were her excuse for not discarding them away. Propped on the other side of her bed is her study table. There isn’t an inch to spare on the pastel blue desk as it was piled with pirated music CDs, a box of Kleenex, a 2nd hand Acer laptop given by her Uncle Leon, notepads, stationeries, a half eaten packet of Cheezels and a photo frame of Wei Yee and her, taken two years ago during their class trip to the waterfall at Kota Tinggi. That leaves about a two feet walking space leading to the entrance. Yes, her room is painfully small but that’s all Claire, raising a child as a single mother could afford. David, Anna’s dad left the family eight months after she was born. It seems his leggy secretary was too hard to resist and they have not heard from him ever since. Not even through an occasional birthday or Christmas card. As far as mother and daughter are concerned, he never existed.

Anna brushed her almost perfect set of pearly whites and doused warm water on her face. She doesn’t subscribe to using chemical enhanced facial cleansers and her porcelain smooth complexion agrees. She tied her shoulder length hair into a solitary pony tail and put on her plain circular white gold earrings, given by her mom when she scored straight As in her finals last year. She dressed herself in a navy blue hoodie, thought better of it and changed into a red one. Paired it with her regular jeans, she slung her bag across her shoulder and bounced to the kitchen downstairs.

‘I’m done Ma,’ chirped Anna, faking cheerfulness over excessively. ‘I just made you another toast but it’s going to be the last time you hear me,’ said Claire stifling a smile. It’s the same game they have been playing since Anna started schooling. ‘Butter’s in the fridge,’ her mother added.

The bus ride took no more than 20 minutes before Anna spotted Wei Yee looking anxiously at her watch in front of the college’s foyer. ‘Wei Wei,’ shouted Anna across the street. Wei Yee rolled her eyes upwards and pointed at her watch. Anna skipped across to the foyer, smiled and said ‘Ohayo Wei Wei-san.’ ‘Didn’t you get my missed calls and smses?’ questioned Wei Yee irritatingly. ‘Oh you called?’ pretended Anna dramatically. ‘It’s ok la. We’re just in time. See the timetable says Chemistry starts at 8:15 a.m. and it’s only 8:07 a.m. my dear. I took longer to get here, some car stalled and caused a li’ll traffic jam,’ said Anna. ‘I know ding dong but all the good seats will be taken by now,’ grumbled Wei Yee as she dragged Anna up the stairs to Lecture Hall 2.

Wei Yee and Anna are best friends since they were in Primary 2 and have been inseparable ever since. They first cross path at the school’s bookshop. Both had their eye on the electric pink Barbie Doll pencil case and there was only one left for sale. Both girls raced to save enough money to make the purchase of a lifetime but it was bought by another classmate of theirs, Ayu. The spoilt little 8 year old spent the next several days gloating over her new ‘jewel’ to anyone who would listen. An incensed Anna and an infuriated Wei Yee decided to gang up and ‘not friend’ Ayu from that very moment on. That was how their bond was formed and it has only grown stronger over the past nine years.

‘See. I told you. Now we’re right at the back and I could hardly see what’s written on the board,’ complained Wei Yee. ‘I think it’s time you need glasses la. I can see it crystal clearly wo,’ Anna said. ‘Didn’t expect there to be that many students this early though. All so kiasu, just like you,’ as she stuck out her tongue cheekily at Wei Yee. In response, Wei Yee drew a blue line across Anna’s right arm just as the lecturer demanded everyone’s attention to start of the class.

The lecturer, Mr. Ananda boomed over the microphone and gave his usual pep talk as he has done over the past eleven years to students attending their first Chemistry class in the college. Fresh meat he calls them and he enjoyed terrifying his wide eyed pupils with statistics of failure percentages. He believed the exaggerated numbers should at least keep them on their toes for the time being.

Wei Yee was absorbing every horrifying detail Mr. Ananda was dishing out while Anna doodled sleepily on her brand new notepad. She glanced around and soon noticed the different groups segregated across the hall. The front rows were typically occupied by the nerdy ones. The girls in short cropped hair along the fringes with double china doll pig tails on each side while the boys creamed their comb over till it’s shiny enough to reflect the beaming fluorescence from the ceiling. Almost all of them wore thick glasses. Anna smiled to herself as she observed this scenario of unchangeable status quo. Along the center aisles, the hip and happening people assembled. Girls in their miniscule hot pants and spaghetti tops browsed through the week’s tabloids, hungry for the latest celebrity gossips while the boys chatted noisily about last night’s Champion League match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid. Two other blokes were focussing intently on their PSP games, oblivious to the on goings around them. On the back row, a heavily pierced guy was in deep slumber. His face plastered on the desk, drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. ‘YUCKS,’ thought Anna.

The door suddenly burst open startling both girls. Standing there was a silhouette of a guy. He was about to take his first step into the hall before Mr. Ananda voiced out ‘Leave my hall immediately young man. I DO NOT tolerate late comers.’ ‘That goes for the rest of you,’ he continued as he perused his gaze across the audience. The man then resumed his lecture ignoring the silent interrupter. The silhouette turned around and shut the door behind him.

‘I like Mr. Ananda,’ Wei Yee told Anna without looking at her. Two hours later, the students made their way out of the hall in a steady file. A few from the front row swarmed the lecturer, bombarding him with pressing questions. Mr. Piercing was still fast asleep despite the heavy noises surrounding him.

Anna packed her pens and highlighters and dumped her notes into her bag. They got up and slotted into the queue heading out. ‘Which elements did he asked us to researched on again?’ questioned Wei Yee as she shuffled through her scribblings. ‘Never mind, I found it,’ she answered her own query. They were on their way to the library. Reference books were needed for their homework. More than a hundred students fighting over a handful of copies available. Anna sighed at the thought of that. ‘Arghhh. Haven’t we already gone through all these in high school? Why is he making us do everything all over,’ Anna groused. ‘He simply wanted to refresh our minds I’m sure and I want to make a good impression. Come on Anna, let’s hurry before all the books are gone,’ replied Wei Yee increasing her pace.

At the library’s information counter, scores of students were barraging the exhausted looking librarian with their demands. Before they could scrum in with the rest of the crowd, a guy stood in front of them and said ‘Hey, weren’t you two in the Chemistry lecture earlier? Mind if I borrowed your notes?’ ‘Yes, we were in that class and yes, we do mind you borrowing our notes. This should help remind you to not be late in the future,’ Wei Yee curtly replied. ‘Now excuse us,’ she added as she hastily manoeuvred both of them around the guy. Anna couldn’t hear a word Wei Yee said. She was transfixed by the way his hair fell stylishly across his face, revealing little of his peeping eyes and that mesmerizing grin in the end. It was a good thing Wei Yee dragged her away for she couldn’t remember the last time she ever blushed this way before.

A Fairytail ...

2010-08-03T00:32:00.003+08:00

Goaded by wifey, I've decided to write. Yes, as in pursuing my dream to publish a fictional novel. Don't laugh la. I know it sounds absurd but I've decided to give it a go anyway. At least when it's done, I can cross this one out of my to-do list. The past 3 nights, I've managed to 'finish' almost four chapters now and wifey had been most supportive though me think her opinions are biased. Nevertheless, she's the reason I'm putting virtual ink to paper and hence, I'm dedicating 'A Fairytail' to her. Yea, that's the title of my story.

As it's still a work in progress, I shall publish one chapter at a time on Adrian's Nook and your comments are most welcomed. It's ok to be brutally honest with your feedbacks ... I can take it ... I think :p

Anyway, for now ... putting it up on my blog is the closest I'll ever get to actually 'publishing' my work. I hope you peeps will enjoy it as much as I do, writing it.

Now let the journey of once upon a time begin ...

The Last Airbender

2010-07-31T00:41:00.003+08:00

Adapted from Nickelodeon's hit cartoon series Avatar : The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan brings us The Last Airbender. Apparently, Avatar was dropped from the title to avoid confusing it with James Cameron's mega blockbuster Avatar. Hmmm ...

Earth as we know it is divided between the four great nations ... Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Everyone co-existed in harmony until the Fire nation decided to wage war against the rest for the sole purpose of world dominance.

A century has passed since the world has last seen an Avatar ... a being capable of controlling and manipulating all four elements ... earth, fire, air and water. It is believe that the Avatar is the only one with the potential to bring back peace with its powers.

We next see Aang (first time actor, Noah Ringer) blasting out of a ice sphere and as it turns out, he's the reincarnated Avatar *YAY*. Initially reluctant to accept his fate as the world's saviour, he slowly comes to term with his destiny and responsibility ... with the help of a Water bender, Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone).

Since Aang was only trained to control the element of air before he pissed in his pants and bolted upon being crowned Avatar, he has to learn to bend the water element next. So off he goes to the Northern Water Kingdom with his groupie in order to attain Water masters to train him up.

Dev Patel (from Slumdog Millionaire) is Zuko, the banished prince from the Fire Nation. His aim is to capture the Avatar and hand him back to his father, the Fire Lord Ozai in order to redeem himself for being 'too soft'.

So an epic battle between the Water and Fire Nations ensued in the Northern Water Kingdom and no prizes for guessing how things ended. The movie finished with the Fire Lord sending his exceptionally gifted Fire bender daughter out to hunt down the Avatar. We can expect a sequel in the making soon I suppose ...

The CGIs were pretty impressive but then again, one would expect no less from a USD150 million shooting budget. Since regular 2D cameras were used for the filming, an additional USD 15 million were coughed out to convert it into 3D.

If you're a fan of magic and fantasy or the cartoon series itself, then you ought to enjoy this enchanting flick. The characters pretty much stuck to the originals but don't go expecting good scripting or exceptional story plot. I dare say, not even Shyamalan would be bold enough to anticipate any Oscar nominations for his work this time around. Nevertheless, it's not a bad way to spend 2 hours of your weekend catching this. Don't forget the popcorn!

Rating : 3 / 5

Predators

2010-07-30T17:08:00.004+08:00

Most of us have watched the 1987 original by Arnie ... the scene where the former Mr.Universe was slathered in mud and gearing up to give the alien hunter a good ol' ass whooping ... now that's a classic! From this ... other B-grade spinoffs sprung out but I must admit that Alien vs Predator was rather good.

Anyway, 23 years later, we have Predators and a couple of big names were roped in for this project. The movie kicked off with Royce (Adrien Brody), a lone mercenary finding conciousness while being parachuted down into some remote jungle. He has no recollection of how he got to where he was before that. It wasn't long before he grouped up with a few others who landed in the same manner. The rest of the bad-ass members consist of an Israelli sniper, Isabelle (Alice Braga), a Mexican drug lord's bouncer, Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), a brutish Russian soldier, Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), a freedom fighter from Africa, Mombasa (I dunno what his real name is :p), a convict on FBI's most wanted, Stans (Walton Goggins), a Yakuza enforcer in a suit, Hanzo and lastly, a nerdy doctor, Edwin (Topher Grace ... yes, the geek from That 70's Show).

Royce assumed position of group leader and they soon discovered that they weren't on Earth! *JENG JENG JENG* They're actually on another planet ... a hunting ground of sorts and suprise suprise, they're the target.

It wasn't long before they were attacked by some teeth-baring-ferocious-looking alien mutts. Cuchillo got killed. Then they stumbled upon a 'camp site' where one of em' alien predators was tied up. Other aliens appeared and both groups traded gunfires. *BANG BOOM BANG* Mombasa died.

Then Noland (Lawrence Fishburn) appeared ... literally out of no where and led the group back to his base. He briefed the group that he ... like the rest of em' was tossed into the planet and he somewhat managed to survive for the past 10 seasons. 10 minutes later, the predator blasted Noland into chopped liver.

One by one, the group members got massacred but so did the aliens. The aliens always hunt in group of 3s ... that is if u discounted the 'loser' who was tied up at camp site.

A lot of battle scenes ensued ... you even get the aliens fighting amongst themselves ... yes, the abovementioned 'loser' with the last survivor from the 3. Edwin turned out to be not who good doctor he seems to be (watch it yourself to find out) and the final combat sees a shirtless and muddied Royce facing off with the baddie. *How nostalgic* Another group of targets were parachuted down so start off the new hunting season before the ending credits started rolling out ... *crap! Not another sequel?!*

Is there something in my teeth?

Rating : 2.5 / 5

I'm toasted

2010-07-28T13:05:00.002+08:00

I woke up with an insatiable craving for butter on toast. That’s rather weird since I’m not a bread person. I nom nom on the occasional croissant and that’s just about it.

But this morning ... I was salivating as I pictured the slice of toast, piping hot out of the toaster where it’s white with patches of brown ... immediately being slathered with a thick slab of rich creamy butter ... melting ... slowly caramelising it golden yellow.

The first bite ... sinking your teeth wholly into the bread ... making your way from the crispy outside *crunch* into the softer inside of the bread ... the butter juices exploding and enveloping your tongue entirely with its salty goodness. Ooh la la ...

The one where it wasn't so good ...

2010-07-28T00:28:00.004+08:00

The past couple of days weren't nice to say the least. I wish that it'll be forgettable and that things will turn around ... sooner than later I hope.

Bogged down with personal issues which I shall not delucidate further. And work hasn't been kind either. I was roped in to 'help out' with another project and things over there are real messy. Not exactly my favourite thing to do at the moment but orders are orders. :(

What else ... oh, I'm pleased to announce that I'm recovering from the usual bout of flu, cough and sore throat. Deadly combo this one. Coupled with the heat, sand and dust ... I wonder if this is what hell really feels like. Do pardon the exxageration but ranting makes this blogger feels a tad bit better.

We're in the peak of summer and my room's air-con unit decided to take a vacation. Sweating oneself to sleep isn't pleasant ... trust me on this one. Got some guys over to fix the damn thing but now it's leaking like a faucet. Sighhh ... at any rate, it's churning out cold air and for that, I'm grateful.

Yesterday morning's breakfast gave me a very rude wake up call. Swimming in my bowl of cereal was a cockroach. Could've been worse I guess ... at least I didn't nom nom nom that bugger ... or maybe I did its cousin and just not realize it ... oh well ...

No one informed me that today was diarrhoea day (I pray that it wasn't the cockroach causing this) but at least it has stopped *fingers crossed*. That's one way of getting rid of water retention huh :p

So yea ... not exactly a good couple of days but at least I'm still in one piece. Need to stay positive *Oohmmmmmmmmm ...*

Hope you peeps had better luck than I did. Peace out!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-07-23T17:04:00.004+08:00

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for all things related to magic and sorcery. I'm a mega fan of Dungeons & Dragons and yes ... even Harry Potter :p So when Disney released The Sorcerer's Apprentice, I simply knew I've gotta watch it.

This movie was actually Nicolas Cage's brainchild as he was an avid fan of Disney's original Fantasia. Hence, the story was conceived and pitched to Disney's bigwigs who happens to agree that it'll be cool to make a modern adaptation of Mickey's magic spinning antics. Even the scene of Mickey doing his chores with the aid of a li'll sorcery (pictured above) was incorporated into the film. *wink*

Ok ... so back to the story ... it tells of Merlin, yes THE Merlin and his three diciples, Balthazar Blake (Nic Cage), Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) and Veronica (Monica Belluci). Working together since the medieval era ... 700 A.D. to be exact, they battle the evil sorceress, Morgana who's aim is to bring an army of dead sorcerers back to life and *GASP* rule the world!!! *JENG JENG JENG!!!*

So anyways, they almost had Morgana defeated but because of Horvath's betrayal, Merlin was killed and Veronica trapped in a Grimhold (magical prison) with Morgana. The reason for Horvath's treachery was revealed later ... it seems both Balthazar and Horvath had the hots for Veronica *YAWN* and since Veronica chose Balthazar (coz Cage's a bigger star than Molina), hence, Horvath had to play the role of the spurned lover and wreck havoc. *DUH*

On the brink of death, Merlin gave Balthazar his dragon ring and says the person whom the ring chooses will be the Prime Merlinion (PM) ... the only person able to defeat Morgana for good. *OOOooo*

So for a thousand years *no kidding*, Balthazar have been trying to locate this PM and at the same time, battling and imprisoning other evil sorcerers . Oh and he doesn't age over time since Merlin previously put a spell on all 3 of his diciples so that they can search for the elusive PM without growing old and dying *Genius!*

Fast forward time to the year 2000 and we see 10 year old Dave Stutler coincidentally landed himself in Balthazar's shop, the Arcana Cabana while on a school field trip. In there, Balthazar found out that Dave is indeed the PM ... the chosen one he has been searching for millenias. *Jeng Jeng Jeng!*

Dave unknowingly released Horvath from the Grimhold and a battle ensued between the two sorcerers resulting in both of em' being trapped in an ancient urn for the next 10 years *Boo hoo*.

Tick tock tick tock ... 10 years later ... both dudes were released from the urn and tried to locate the Grimhold. Balthazar finally managed to locate and persuade Dave (Jay Baruchel) to be his reluctant apprentice while Horvath recruited a 'Morganian' to help him with his wicked cause to free Morgana. Let's get ready to RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

You'll be pleasantly entertained by a whole lot of action with rather cool special effects ... electric plasma balls, tesla coils, a Merc SLR & Ferrari car chase, big-ass steel bird, the bronze Wall Street bull coming to life, a fire breathign dragon etc.

The ending is rather predictable and the inclusion of Dave's love interest, Becky (Teresa Palmer) into the whole equation provided the eye candy. I'd give it a 3.5 / 5. Don't expect too much and you'd be walking out of the theater a happy customer.

The One Where I Needed Vitamins ...

2010-07-21T15:26:00.002+08:00

Everything was a blur ... I couldn't remember how I got there or what happened before that. As I scanned my surroundings, I began to grasp that I was lying on a bed made of cold metal. The icy sensation stung the receptors on my skin. Blinding my vision were a cluster of bright spotlights hanging overhead.

I hear voices of several people ... all speaking at once. I couldn't comprehend what they were talking about ... it was all just frenzied noise to me but I noted the sense of urgency in their tone. I closed my eyes ... shielding them from the annoying glare and tried to block out the mutterings ... it was then that I could perceive echoes of beepings.

It all came together like a completed puzzle. I suddenly knew where I was ... I was in an ER ... a hospital's emergency room. The doctors and nurses were busy buzzing around me ... trying to fix me up. I struggled to remember what was wrong with me in the first place but couldn't quite stick a finger to it no matter how hard I tried.

Another weird thing was that none of these people seem to realize that I was awake and aware of what's going on around me. I wondered if this was suppose to be like this.

The beepings increased in frequency and instantly resulted in a gibberish of medical jargons being spat all over the room ... reminds me of episodes I used to watch from Grey's.

Out of no where, a face appeared in front of me, probably belonging to a young female attendee ... I studied her dire expression as she tried to explain to me what's going on. I register nothing except for the continuous beeping noise.

And then I understood a few out of the hundreds of words she was attempting to jam into my drowzy state of mind. Apparently ... my body is lacking in vitamin C ... hahaha ... I kid you not and for some reason, this is a grave situation ... so serious that a team of specialist has to be present to administer the 'procedure'.

They tried every method ... double dosage of 1000mg capsules, liquid injection throught the IV (I think it's Redoxon :p) and ... using some sort of laser tech by exposing my skin to some richly vitamin C enhanced lighting. O_O

But alas ... my body seems to be rejecting everything and suddenly I go into a seizure before the beeping sound went into one long monotonous hum.

Someone shouted 'CLEAR!!!' as they tried to shock me back to life with the defibrillator (see photo above).

That was also the moment I jolted from my dream. I woke up feeling drowzy ... as if recovering from a heavy dose of GA. Oh what a rush ...

Man down ...

2010-07-17T23:53:00.004+08:00

I was in the midst of having a dream. Not a bad one I might add ... something along the lines where I was holidaying with wifey and my family in Hong Kong. Oh and for some peculiar reason ... it also involved some bean sprouts. Hmmm ...

Anyways, the dream was shattered when I was suddenly jolted awake by a series of uncontrollable coughs ... my own to be exact. It went on for quite a while and when it finally stopped, my lungs felt sore. Not exactly sure why but those excruciating coughs prompted my nose to start leaking like a faucet. A few deep breaths later ... I drifted back to ZZZzzz ...

As I was washing up for work ... the throat felt irritated and before I could brace myself, a series of chronic coughs ensued. I'm sure the neighbours didn't appreciate such a rude wake up call.

Throughout the rest of the day, I was hacking like an old witch and the extreme heat from the summer sun didn't help either. Coupled with the dusty environment at the site ... I've got myself the perfect recipe to cook up a coughing marathon.

In the evening, the weather was more forgiving ... the heat more merciful. So I thought I'd give my body a good sweat in the hope of expelling the spells of lethargic that have been enveloping me the entire day.

I stretched and laced up. When I was ready, I started with a slow jog to warm up the gastrocnemius muscles. I steadied my breathing and controlled my pace ... so not looking forward to another series of dry coughs to interrupt the run. The music on my earphones were pumping hard to distract me from that nagging feeling that was building up from within ... one step at a time I told myself.

I was sweating more profusely than usual and I haven't even hit the 2km mark yet. Large beads of sweat were stinging my eyes and as hard as I tried to motivate myself to go on ... my body was screaming for me to stop.

When I did ... I was overcomed with sheer exhaustaion. With my palms to my knees, I could literally feel my heart banging against my rib cage and I was breathing awfully hard ... gasping for every ounce of air available.

I lugged my tired self back to the villa and peeled off my drenched attire that was clinging to my body for dear life. After a hot shower ... I hoovered down my dinner before allowing 10ml of Linctus to yuckily trickle down my throat.

I guess the meds are taking effect now as the eyelids are beginning to weigh quite a bit. Time to hit the sack and I hope tomorrow's gonna be a better day. G'nite folks ... ZZZzzz ...

Inception ... The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

2010-07-16T18:17:00.006+08:00

Inception ... it was jaw dropping and mind blowingly awesome. The storyline was exceptional. Truly something original as was to be expected from writer & director, Christopher Nolan. To be able to conceive such an intriguing plot ... whatever it is he's smoking ... I want some of it too :p

The cast .... I dare say everyone of em' were nothing short of sensational. The young and the old ... the 'newbies' and the veterans ... all of them gave a stellar performance and gelled incredibly to deliver a very believable act. A short cameo by Michael Caine added a certain zest to it.

Lastly, the special effects. It's beyond words. If you're watching Star Wars or Avatar, you'd expect a certain kinda graphic staging but to take 'normal' everyday stuff and transform it into something extraordinary ... now that's A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!! You gotta see it to believe it.

As a result of all these elements, the audience are presented with a silver screen masterpiece.

The general outline tells the story of Dom Cobb (Leo Dicaprio), someone who's capable of intercepting into people's dreams to either extract information or to plant new ones in them. Haunted by the death of his wife, he's trying to find a way back to his children whom he had to leave behind due to regretful past incidents and a last job stint provided by Saito (Ken Watanabe) will deliver him a ticket back into the arms of his children. Aided by his team, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao) ... they ventured into a multi-layer dream realm ... a dream within a dream if you will ... to perform an inception on their target, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). Everyone had their own role to play in order to pull of the perfect job but unexpected turn of events and hidden plot twists made this thriller all the more exhilarating.

A word of advise, don't even blink cause this gripping tale requires every ounce of your focus to truly appreciate it in its entirety.

Don't wait any longer ... make a beeline to your nearest theater to catch this work of genius. It's one of the better ones this blogger have seen in a long long time.

Rating : 9/10

The Spy Next Door ... Don't Bother!!!

2010-07-14T15:37:00.008+08:00

Jackie Chan ... a household name synonymous with high action comedy all over Asia and in recent years ... Hollywood too. His transition from Asian cinema to Tinsletown's silver screen started off with a bang! Rush Hour was brilliant, Shanghai Noon it what you would typically expect of Jackie, so it was a watchable. I don't know what happeneded after that but whatever formula that used to work for Jackie certainly isn't working well now.

It was excruciating to watch one of Chinese's biggest entertainment star strutting his stuff pathetically like the way he did in The Spy Next Door. Jackie ... so famous for performing his own stunts is now doing child-like feat while exploiting the use of 'very obvious' wires ensuring laughable results ... and I don't mean it in a jovial funny way. Perhaps he should've quitted action movies while he was still at a high. Looks like the aging process doesn't elude anyone ... not even movie stars eh :p

Playing a secret Chinese agent loaned to the CIA, Bob Ho intended to retire from secret service to settle down and marry his girlfriend, Gillian (Amber Valetta). Trouble was ... hitching with Gillian means carrying excess baggage since Gillian has 3 kids of her own and they aren't exactly thrilled to call Bob their new daddy *like DUH!*

So as usual, the Russians are the baddies who managed to create a chemical capable of eating up any material petroleum based. So they intend to vaporize all the petroleum resources in the world except for Russia's of course. How original! *blehhh* Bob's life gets flip flopped as he tries to stop the baddies and at the same time babysit the kids while Gilian went off state to tend to her sick mother.

The plot couldn't be any more predictable and it seems Jackie's extra hours at his English classes didn't pay off either. Special effects are best ignored and fight choreography (if you're willing to call it fight scenes to begin with) was weak. George Lopez and Billy Ray Cyrus both put in forgettable performances as CIA agents, so can't be bothered to say anything more about em'.

I take comfort that I caught this disasterous movie on DVD instead of the theaters. Looks like Jackie has gotta do a lot more to convince this blogger to ever pay for a cinema ticket for any one of his upcoming movies.

The Twilight Saga : Eclipse ... FAIL!!!

2010-07-13T18:40:00.005+08:00

I am by no means a 'Twihard' ... you won't catch me dead proclaiming my allegiance for either Team Edward or Team Jacob. Ever since I got hooked on to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake vampire series, I became a fan of all things related to vampires, werewolves and just about any other creatures of the night. So when the Twilight franchise came about, I went along and caught Twilight, New Moon and recently, Eclipse when it hit the theaters.

I won't bother with the synopsis as a quick online pop to imdb.com would to that nicely for ya. What I wanna do instead is to RANT about how ridiculous the movie was.

Firstly, Bella (Kirsten Stewart) is a total biatch for thinking that she can possibly love two guys at the same time. Okay, so they aren't technically your regular dudes ... one's Edward (Robert Pattinson), a pale blood sucking vamp and the other fella's Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a huge furry werewolf but that's besides the point. The freakin' point is that you don't go asking wolf boy to kiss you after accepting fang boy's marriage proposal. What?! ... the diamond studded ring was just too hard to say 'No' to?!!! Doing this makes you no-more-and-no-less ... a SLUT!

I luvvvvvv the 100 carat ring you gave me Edward ... coz I'm that shallow ya

And have I mentioned Kirsten's performance throughout the entire movie as an angst filled bimbo was utterly horrible. She's the Hollywood equivalent of Jay Chou and honestly, I reckon I'd be better entertained if I watched paint dry on a wall.

I luvvvvvv your ripping biceps and washboard 6-packs Jacob ... coz I'm really that shallow le

The best part is yet to come ... despite knowing her for who she is ... guess what?! ... both guys still wants her bad. They bared their broken hearts and still insist on throwing away their lives for her ... all in the name of ... love. *pfftttt*

So where shall we go for our menage a trois???

Vamp boy was his usual emo self throughout the entire show and wolf boy was eternally tempremental. All three should do the world a favour and just jump off a building or something ... but wait, both vamp and wolf would survive since they're supernatural beings and it's kinda hard to die that way which would in turn leave only Bella's brain splattered all over the tarmac. Hmmm ... not a bad ending no? At least it'll solve the love triangle issues :p

I would suggest you watch this ONLY and ONLY IF you're a Twihard. Don't say you haven't been warned!

The 2010 World Cup

2010-07-12T13:59:00.008+08:00

So the 2010 World Cup at South Africa drew its closing curtains yesterday. Amidst the display of fireworks which gloriously sparkled the African night sky, it took its final bow to the 1 billion viewers across the globe with a rendezvous appointment scheduled 4 years down the road in Brazil.

Just like its predecessors, this WC has its fair share of controversies, bloopers, let-downs bla bla bla. No reason for me to try to sum up the tournament in my own words since a quick sneak into soccernet.com would get the job done.

What I want to add are my own takes on my observations to all things related to the World Cup.

So Spain can finally call themselves worthy champions to bring the golden trophy back to the land of Sangria but by my reckoning, the biggest winner of the tournament is none other than an eight-tentacled mollusc known to the whole world as Paul.

Paul successfully prophesied the outcomes of eight matches and has now made itself an international sensation of sorts. Spanish businessmen offered its owner to sell it for a hefty 30,000 Euros. That's an equivalent of not one but TWO Mini Coopers yo! The Azzuris are staking claim that Paul is actually a 'Paolo' instead since it was fished out of Italian waters. The Germans are issuing it death threats ... the list goes on. Part and parcel of what an octo has to go through nowadays I guess to snag itself a tasty mussel *sheesh*.

Whenever a group of guys get together to watch a match ... suddenly, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF EM' is an expert. From how a goal should be scored, how a yellow card is uncalled for, how 'kayu' the referee was, how the coachs' strategies were wide of the mark ... you name it ... every fella will have his two cents worth of 'the right thing to do'.

Facebook is virtually overflowing with status updates and comments associated with the World Cup. Everyone's trying to showcase their 'superior know-how' of the beautiful game ... from the waiter at your regular mamak joint to the nosy 60 year old ah ma next door ... you'll find them religiously updating their FB with match predictions, 'live' updates from an on-going match, results from last night's match etc. Like I said earlier, if I wanna read about the World Cup, I could simply Bing it or head on to soccernet.com ... I really don't need to read from FB that a tween bimbo is rooting for ... get this ... Manchester United to win the 2010 World Cup finals *epic FAIL*

The people I work with ... be it colleagues, the consultants, the clients ... most of em' look 'good' enough to attend a Holloween costume party and everyone are coming as zombies. Bloodshot eyes, droopy eye bags, unshaven beard, ruffled hair, loose neck ties ... pretty much zombified alright!

So as far as the World Cup is concerned, that's pretty much it for me ... until 2014 that is. Ole Ole Ole!!!

Blur d ...

2010-07-11T20:26:00.002+08:00

At McDs ...

Me : Can I have a sundae cone please

Waitress : Sure. Anything else?

Me : No, that's all. Thank you.

Waitress : Would you like ketchup or bbq sauce?

Me : O_O"

Pause ...

Waitress : OH ... HAHAHAHAHAHA ... Thankyouhereisyourchangepleasecomeagain.

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 4)

2010-07-11T14:05:00.007+08:00

Continuing from the previous post ...

We left U.Studios and got back to Conrad. We immediately showered ... eager to wash away the day's grime from ourselves.

After relaxing for a bit, we decided to head over to Suntec Mall (5 minutes walk away from the hotel) for some grub. We were kinda undecided on what to have for dinner simply because we were famished and everything we saw looked so darn delicious. :p

We toured the place for a bit ... browsed through Food Republic, Fish & Co, Bali Thai, Ichiban Boshi, MOF, Pepper Lunch just to name a few. We then chanced upon the famous Fountain of Wealth.

We saw throngs of people queuing up to circle the fountain and dip their hands into its waters in the hope of bringing home some luck. We didn't bother though and headed back in for our food hunt.

In the end, we settled for Crystal Jade Kitchen as I was having a mad craving for some authentic Chinese fare.

There was quite a queue building up for a table but we soon got one albeit being seated on the walkway of the mall. These are what we ordered ...

Sour and spicy sze chuan soup

Salt & pepper fried tofu

Spinach in superior broth

Roasted and BBQ-ed pork

Yong chow fried rice

Dinner was splendid as we polished off everything on the table. Seated next to the window facing the Fountain of Wealth, we were also treated to the fountain's nightly laser show. Nothing to shout about if you ask me and it couldn't really hold a candle next to The Dubai Fountain.

After dinner, we strolled the mall and Wifey shopped a bit before we called it a night and retired back to the hotel. With dinner partially digested, we enjoyed our anniversary cake compliments of the good people at Equinox and soon slumbered. *ZZZzzz*

Very early next morning, well ... 5:00a.m. to be exact, we checked out and got into a cab to Changi Int. The taxi driver was like none of the usual ones I'm used to see back home. In his mid 20s at most, he was very trendily attired (long sleeved stipred shirt paired with jeans), I could have easily mistaken him coming home from a club or something.

We got our boarding passes and had breakfast at some kopitiam @ the airport's foodcourt.

I had two of these ... :p

At 6:45 a.m., our flight took off for home ... marking the end of a wonderful trip to a tiny island down south. Singapore enriched Wifey and I with such a pleasant holiday that we vowed to return soon for more. :)

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 3)

2010-07-09T23:52:00.021+08:00

Continuing from the previous post ...

With our stomachs growling loud enough for others to run to the nearest earthquake shelter, we scavenged for food. Luckily Friar Tuck's Tavern was nearby and we popped in for some delicious chicken and beef filled pita bread, crinkled potato fries and soda. We only needed to top up a couple of SGDs since we have the food voucher we could utilize.

As our mouths work on the food, our feet get their much deserved rest. :p

After such a hearty meal, we soldiered on and met a couple of 'lost' animals. Why if it isn't the cast of MADAGASCAR!!!

They were dancing all right! *I like to move it move it!* It was such a joy to see these adorable characters shakin' it to the beat especially with my favourite King Julian being there too.

This bloggger's face was plastered with the widest grin throughout the entire performance. What's even better, we met the stars of Madagascar and had our photo taken with them ... haha.

See how big their smiles were posing with us ... *lol*

From Africa ... we shipped ourselves to Waterworld. Taken from then motion picture of the same title starring Kevin Costner, we had to queue up for quite a bit since they only had 3 shows per day.

Notice how the crowd were all trying to squeeze themselves into the tiny shaded area ...

Once the floodgates opened, we marched in and took our seats in one of the three available zones.

The seating zone closest to the set is known as the Soak Zone, meaning people sitting there run the risk of getting COMPLETELY SOAKED and U.Studios wasn't joking when they warned about it. We chose to sit in the Splash Zone where we may get a li'll bit wet from all the action later. Lastly, the Dry Zone (reserved for the boring crowd :p) is where the audience will stay as dry as when they came in.

The set of Waterworld ...

Soon, two of the cast members appeared and they were 'armed'!!! ... with WATER GUNS. They nonchalantly loaded up their guns and started spraying the crowd with water and it was most entertaining as we see certain people being caught off guard *SPLASH*. At one point in time, both me and wifey became casualties too. :p The more you try to evade, the more fun you made it for those two hoodlums and they take no prisoners. Even senior citizens weren't spared as we saw a lady way into her 60s being 'shot' at as she took her seat in the Soak Zone. I highly suspect that she wasn't even aware of the relevance of the zones and she glowered menacingly as water dripped from her drenched blouse. From water guns, the fellas soon started taking pails full of water and simply pouring it on the audiences. They amused the crowd wonderfully and even got people from the audience to participate ...

Soon the show began and what a show it was!

Taken directly from the storyline of the movie, we were awed as non stop action grasped our attention with a death grip. The professional stunt actors fought their way through a series of fires and explosions. From two storey dives to a cast member actually catching fire, it was spectacular. I reckon the photos below make a better storyteller than this blogger ...

While exiting Waterworld, we met an ol' friend ... Frankie.

After such a thrilling performance, we took a break to calm our pounding hearts. In one of em' cafes, we shared a lovely cupcake and a cuppa coffee.

We also cheekily fooled around in their souveneir shop for a bit before using our retail vouchers to purchase little tokens of U.Studios to take home with us.

As we strolled along Hollywood Boulevard, we met a couple of celebrities who were most obliged to have their photos taken with us. So here are a couple of shots of Wifey and I looking all star-strucked ...

The sexy Betty Boop

The original diva ... Ms.Monroe

And the comical Mr.Chaplin of course

On our way out, we were further entertained by a retro singing American group. Surfs up dude!

So there you go, the detailed account of our adventure in Universal Studios, Singapore and both of us concurred that it was actually better than Disneyland, Hong Kong. We left the park feeling very exhausted but immensely satisfied. We promised to return for more ... perhaps when the entire place is operating at 100%. Can't wait!!!

Would you like to go too??? :D

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 2)

2010-07-09T18:01:00.025+08:00

Continuing from the previous post ...

At the Sci-Fi Arena ... we went for a ride on the spinning 'flying saucers' a.k.a. the teacups at any other amusement park. Despite twirling at a relatively high rpm, we risked Snappy being flung out and managed to camwhore a bit. Haha.

And posed a bit with the 'out-of-this-world' characters.

Too bad the twin-tracked roller coaster wasn't in operation yet. Apparently it was running on the opening day and was since shut down due to safety reasons. Hmmm ...

From a galaxy far far away, we ventured on till we landed ourselves in ancient Egypt ... the Land of the Mummy.

Statues of Anubis, guardians of the underworld menacingly guarded the entrance.

We had no choice but to make humble offerings or risk offending the ancient deities.

The guards of the pyramids towered high above us and Wifey was genuienly frightened as this one sneaked cheekily behind her. *Haha*

Wanted to ask Cleopatra for her number but Wifey was there :p

We then queued up for an indoor Mummy-themed roller coaster ride. The queue path itself was pretty impressive with loads of props that'll make you feel as if we're tunneling through a pyramid or something. Once belted securely in our coaster capsule, we were threatened by The Mummy himself and he swore to enslave our souls for all eternity. Before we had a chance to escape, we began zooming into oblivion ... total darkness ... we couldn't see what was ahead ... we were thrusted up, then rocketted down, forwards and even backwards ... all at neck breaking speed. Luckily, just before we were doomed to spend our lives in the underworld, we found the Book of Life and heroicly escaped the evil cluthces of The Mummy. :p

Not wanting to chance another encounter with The Mummy, we scurried to Far Far Away and I must say that this if my favourite part of U.Studios since I'm a HUGE fan of the green ogre. :D We did skip the Jurrasic Park area since they only offer kiddy rides in there. *Blehhh*

We managed to pose with a few of the lovable characters from the Shrek franchise *Yay* ...

Next attraction we went for was the Shrek 4D Adventure. Seated in a theater-like hall, we were transported into Far Far Away and the story was about the dwarfy Lord Farquaad (who happens to be dead by the way) whose mean spirited ghost is trying to kill Princess Fiona so that both their spirits can be together forever. So it's up to Shrek, Donkey and Dragon to save the day.

Now we're used to all things being in 3D lately, so U.Studios added the extra 'Dimension' by giving the audiences a chance to literally experience the on-goings in the show. The chairs we sat on 'move' in accordance to the characters on screen i.e. Motion Master style. We were provided 3D glasses for the visual effects and if the scene is windy, you feel the breeze for real, if spiders are crawling on the screen, your legs get tickled and if Shrek is racing down a river on a log, your face gets splashed with water. You get the idea no? It was a refreshing experience indeed and not to mention tonnes of fun :D

We also went for the 'Live' Donkey Show staring ... well, Donkey of course. We were greeted by Raoul, Donkey's sidekick who also doubled as the show's MC. Now Raoul told us that Donkey's a big superstar now ... with having his own show and all that jazz. Plus, to make it more fun, we are to participate with the adorable grey ass to boogey. Haha.

It wasn't long before the star of the main event strutted on stage. It's actually an animation of Donkey, Capt. Hook and some headless dude but get this ... Donkey actually interacts live with the audiences. Raoul picks out people from the crowd and they'll chat, sing and dance with Donkey. HOW.COOL.IS.THAT! The kids simply love it and we enjoyed ourselves immensely with all of Donkey's jokes and cheeky banter in Singlish no less.

From there, we headed on for a kiddy roller coaster ride of sorts on Enchanted Airways. With no 'delays' to the flight, we soon took off on a enjoyable ride with lots of whooshing and whizzing around.

Feeling exhausted from all the excitement *phew*, we decided to take a break for lunch. To be continued ...

If only all ogres were this beautiful ...

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 2 - Part 1)

2010-07-08T13:20:00.014+08:00

Continuing from previous post ...

Note : I'll let the photos do most of the 'talking' in this post. Enjoy ...

We woke up with much excitement on Day 2 because ... *drumroll* today we're going to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!! *WOOT*. So after a good night's slumber (the bed and its lush pillows were heavenly by the way), we bounced outta bed, washed up and headed down to have breakfast by the pool. Stuffing ourselves silly with cereal, congee, bacon, sausages, fruits, juices etc., we hopped into a cab and told the driver to hurry us to Universal Studios. The journey took slightly less than 20 minutes and I guess the absence of the rush hour traffic helped. It was a Sunday ma :)

We were dropped off just outside Resort World's Casino entrance and we walked around the area for a bit. Though it was still rather early in the morning, the place was already filled with loads of visitors and more were steadily trickling in. It was like a carnival there with all the restaurants and performances in conjuntion with the World Cup at the concourse area. The Waka Waka fever's here!

We took the escalator up and it led to the intersection between U.Studios and Sentosa. I was overcomed by a sense of nostalgia when I saw Sentosa's Merlion as it was about 18-19 years ago that I last went there with my family and now ... the place looks entirely different ... in a good way of course.

As we headed towards then entrance of U.Studios, we noticed every single one of their ticketing booths were closed with a notice that ALL tickets for the day have been sold out. Good thing we secured ours online a couple of weeks back or there would be major dissapointment.

Of course, like everyone else, we Kodak-ed in front of the iconic Universal globe

We noticed how U.Studios hired quite a number of local retirees and I personally applaud them on this effort. Regardless of age, the staff there were well trained and provided service with a warm smile.

They took our printed tickets, scanned it and pleasantly ushered us into the Customer Service building where we redeemed our SGD5 meal voucher and SDG5 retail vouchers each to be used inside the themepark. *Yay*

Our U.Studios adventure officially begins now and right smack in front was a booth filled with 'Maps to the Stars' ... our guide map for the entire park.

There was also a massive crimson popcorn truck and it filled the air with a delightful sweet aroma. *Yum yum*

We continued walking no less than 2 minutes before a very familiar character swaggered its feathery self towards us. It's non other than one my of my childhood favourite cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker. I can imitate its laugh to almost perfection yo! :p So we queued up and happily had our photo taken with him. Every character you meet in the park is flanked by U.Studios staff and they will be most obliged to help you take a photo or two.

Guided by the map, we continued to explore the different sections of the park and stopped by every now and then to capture special moments on camera.

We also saw Poh from Kungfu Panda but unfortunately the line was too long and we didn't bother to waste anymore time in the queue.

We came to our first attraction and the usherer hurried us in as Steven Spielberg is about to start his show and this big-shot Tinstletown director doesn't like to be kept waiting. So with much haste, we went into his famous Sound Studio ...

Once inside, we were greeted by Steve himself ... on a screen that is and he took a couple of minutes to explain the 'magic' behind the scenes we see in so many of his movies. It was the stuff of wonders and we were then led into a studio to experience the absolute thrill of 'LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! for ourselves.

The story was about a hurricane hitting a city causing the ensuring flood, the chaotic explosions, the boathouse (which we were suppose to be in) crumbling down etc. We were utterly mesmerised for the following 10 minutes as it strictly felt as if we were really caught in that frenzied scenario. I kid you not! The blend of crazy lighting and sound effects, coupled with the fantastic props and mechanics ... I simply can't describe the exhiliaration ... one simply must enjoy it him/herself to truly appreciate it for what it is.

The inside of the Sound Studio ... no photos or videos allowed once the show starts :p

With our hearts still beating rapidly, we gleefully carried on with our exploration. Below are more photos for your pleasure viewing and the rest shall be continued in the next entry ... :)

Officer Adrian reporting for duty!

Muscle men bebeh! :p

Beauty and the beast

The Sci-Fi Arena

As you can see, construction works are still ongoing at the park

Is it Halloween already???

She has her eyes on you O_O

P.S. More photos on my FB ...

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 1 - Part 2) The Wedding Anniversary

2010-07-07T14:12:00.027+08:00

Continuing from the previous post ...

We queued up at the taxi stand for a ride back to the hotel. A somewhat friendly lady in her 50s was just behind us and we made small talk. In her 'kuai lo' accent, she told us she's back from London to visit her local relative etc. Once in the cab, we were soon caught in a traffic deadlock. A lot of the main roads were closed for the National Day Parade rehearsal. Our young Malay driver was resourceful enough to take alternative routes and it wasn't that long before we were back in the comfort of our hotel room. Wifey's stomach didn't agree with the driver's skill of sudden acceleration and hard breaking though. Thankfully she still managed to keep her lunch inside of her *lol*

After showering, we dressed up nice and headed out. Pretending to consider where to have our dinner, I 'suggested' we feast at Clarke Quay but wifey heard me asking the hotel's concierge for directions to Swissotel instead *haha* :p

Anyways, after a 3 minute walk outside, an awesome scene greeted us. The Singapore military were having a full dress rehearsal for the National Day Parade. *woot*

Like the many others on the streets, I whipped out my dslr and started shooting away. It was an impressive display of their military might and not only that, it was evident that every personnel was well equipped with strict discipline ... there were hardly any movement, no playful chattering whatsoever as the men in camouflage were poised and ready for action *salute*.

After a while, the entire arsenal started moving out and so did we. A leisurely 10 minute stroll landed us in Swissotel @ The Stamford. By then, Wifey knew I had something up my sleeve as I happily led her to the 70th floor of the hotel ... to The Equinox. It was to commemorate our first wedding anniversary and I thought it would be nice for us to dine high up amongst the stars. :)

When I made the reservation earlier, I specifically requested a table with the best view and they were happy to oblige by sitting us beside the floor to ceiling window. Dining at the highest restaurant on the island, it blessed us with the most breath taking spectacular view of the city ...

We had an unobstructed panaromic view of the newly openend Sands Marina, the Singapore Flyer, Clarke Quay and errr ... Maybank Tower. :p From up above, we could see the marching parade below and the maitre'd informed us that earlier in the day, paratroopers were seen gallantly swirling down from the skies.

Can you see the tiny marching formations below?

We decided on our beverages as the waiter recommended the house specials. The menu was extensive but nothing compared to their remarkable wine & liquor list. We soon settled our order as wifey's mocktail duly named The Raffles and my Moet & Chandon were laid on our table.

As we sipped on our drinks, we happily reminisced on the happenings exactly one year ago on the eve of our wedding. Fond memories of joy, anxiety, excitement were all blissfully remembered as if the wedding was only yesterday. :)

The waiter came over with the complimentray bread rolls and we had three types to choose from. They were complimented deliciously with olive oil & vinegar, unsalted butter and our favourite ... cream cheese. *Yummy*

We opted for the wagyu shabu shabu to share as our appetizer. Raw wagyu topped with tuna roe, salted tofu and mushrooms, it tantalised my tastebuds delightfully though wifey would have preferred the wagyu cooked.

Another suprise came about when we heard sounds booming from the outside. In conjunction with the National Day Parade rehearsal, the organizers were testing out the fireworks and it was an awesome display of colourful lights against the ebony night sky. We jokingly mused that this was all to add in to the celebratory ambience of our anniversary. :D

It was then time to feast as Wifey's whole grilled lobster and my angus tenderloin soon satiated our appetites. The de-shelled lobster was delish and so was my juicy tenderloin.

Such delectable food, wonderful surroundings and most importantly ... the perfect company ... it was fitting to the occasion and a night to remember indeed.

A sweet celebration needed a sweet ending, so we shared a sinful but very delighful dessert. I couldn't remember its name but it was highly recommended by our waiter. Layers of different chocolates ... a charming combination of bitter and sweet much to our liking.

We called for the bill and was ready to leave when we had another lovely suprise. :) The restaurant knew we were celebrating our anniversary and they sent us a complimentary chocolate cake from their kitchen. It was a very thoughtful gesture and we had it packed to enjoy later.

Since the night was still young, we walked towards River Quay (mistaking it for Clarkey Quay :p). We passed by the Singapore Parliament, the majestic Fullerton Hotel and the regal Asian Civilisation Museum just to name a few.

The Parliament Building

The Fullerton with the Sands Marina at the background

The Asian Civilisation Museum

River Quay is mainly made out of seafood and Thai restaurants, bars and a couple of massage parlours ... all targetting the expats living on the island. Every restaurant we pass, their waiters / waitresses would try to lure us in to savour 'the best in Singapore'.

Friends of mine would know that this self proclaimed flogger can be a quite the glutton at times and I simply cannot resist seeing photos of succulent crabs. I've been wanting to try out Singapore's famous chilly crab and nudged Wifey if we should give it a go ... much to her shocking disbelief. Haha. She finally relented though as Wifey knows me best.

Sitting beside the waterway, it was soothing to hear the sounds of the water lapping in. We ordered the chilly crab of course with fried dumplings to go with the sauce and a portion of stir fried green veg. Two young coconuts were served as well and it was on the house *we're sucker for freebies* :)

We reckon the crab was so-so and I'd rate it at a modest 4/10. Well, to be fair, I'm sure it's not the 'best in Singapore' but at least it satisfied my craving for it.

Watcha lookin' at punk?!

After our 2nd dinner *burp*, we took a slow walk to the taxi stand and made our way back to the hotel to cap off a fantastic first day in Singapore. :)

Singapore ... 2010 (Day 1 - Part 1)

2010-07-07T13:02:00.019+08:00

My last trip to Singapore was no less that 7 years ago where I spent a week there for work purposes. Didn't manage to see much of the place then but heck, I thought there wasn't any different from whatever KL had to offer, so I wasn't missing out on much.

Now fast forward 7 years later, it's an entirely different story. Our neighbour down south had undergone so much development despite the little resources they have and they're pulling in hordes of tourist with attractions like the Resort World Casino, Universal Studios and The Sands Marina just to name a few.

Desperately needing to escape from work for some R&R, wifey and I planned for a short trip to Singapore. Using her corporate rate, she managed to get us rather reasonable rates for our air fares as well as for our hotel accomodation. *YAY*

We packed light and excitedly began our much anticipated holiday. We got our regular taxi driver, Mr.Yee to ferry us to KLIA and once checked in, we headed to Oldtown Kopitiam ... opened recently at the Main Terminal Building.

I ordered at the counter and it only took several minutes before we began savouring local delights such as Nasi Lemak Rendang, kaya and butter toast, polo bun and iced milk tea.

Our breakfast 'kautim-ed', we soon boarded our 7 am flight and took off towards the blue blue skies.

Before we could even finish digesting a packet of peanuts and a glass of juice, we started descending and landed on Changi Int. Lulled our luggage to the taxi stand and a Toyota Crown took us to our hotel. It was less than 20 minutes later that we were ushered in by the bellboy and checked into the Conrad Centennial. Service was exquisite and we would expect no less from Conrad.

The receptionist, a pretty Filipino personally led us to our room and showed us the amenities. In the room, the Conrad Bear and the Conrad Rubber Duckie stood waiting ... they're for us to bring home, compliments of the hotel. A small yet very pleasant touch which we appreciated.

After freshening up oursleves, we hopped into an awaiting cab and directed the driver to take us to 313 Sommerset, one of the newest amongst the many malls mushrooming all over Orchard Rd. Now a couple of days before, we heard news that part of Orchard Rd. was flooded and we worried that it might have actually affected our trip there. Our concern was unfounded as everything seemed just as normal as it should be. :)

First thing on the agenda was lunch. After browsing the directory, we settled for Marche'. Since wifey have never been to one, I figured she should like it.

We thronged the restaurant's 'market place' and ordered rosti with cheesy chicken sausage, roast chicken crepes, stir fried vegs and a glass of lychee lemonade to share.

What do you do at a shopping mall??? You shop of course and with outlets like the 4-freaking-storeys Forever 21, Mango etc, wifey had a glorious time and truly enjoyed The Great Singapore Sale extravaganza. Before we exited Sommerset, we pit stopped at the famous Yakun Kaya Toast as this was highly recommended in the tourism brochure I read at the hotel.

Well, the brochure wasn't wrong as our order of kaya & butter toast (again :p), half boiled eggs and iced coffee was all good. Though the interior of the cafe is somewhat modern, you'll notice all its staff are of the ol' school kopitiam employees. The toast was crispy on the outside and tender soft where it meets the kaya and butter, the eggs were just as it was described in their menu ... very slippery and wet ... and the coffee ... divinely rich.

With our legs rested ... we walked along Orchard and immersed ourselves in the hustles and bustles of the holiday merriment.

Along the way, we indulged in a little bit more of shopping and I must say that if you know where to look, great bargains are in abundance. I snagged myself a pair of Boss Orange shoes going at 50% lower than the usual retail price *happy happy joy joy*. The streets were filled with activities from lively street performances to the chaotic jostling of the pedestrians. The weekend atmosphere was brilliant!

Jazz performance at Capital Mall

We sneaked into a couple more shopping malls before I hurried wifey back to the hotel on the pretext that I was tired. Truth is ... I had a suprise all planned out. :p Stay tuned for the next post :) ...

Rancangan ini tergendala

2010-06-15T20:09:00.004+08:00

Adrian's Nook will be on hiatus for a bit. You'll know why when I resume blogging. Adios amigos :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JJ!!!

2010-06-13T00:55:00.003+08:00

JJ's our Control & Instrumentation Engineer over here in Abu Dhabi and yesterday, the guy celebrated his b'day. He turned 26 years young. The ice cream cake was from Baskin Robbins and it was DELISH. Simply perfect to be enjoyed on a warm summer night.

Coincidentally, I was just chatting with wifey before that and mentioned how I was craving for some Baskin Robbins ice cream. Lo and behold ... sometimes you do get what you wish for huh. Let's hope my lifelong yearning to hit the lottery jackpot will be a reality too :p

Happy Many Returns buddy. Go have a good one!

She's Out Of My League

2010-06-12T00:02:00.004+08:00

Another 'revenge of the nerd' kinda movie where your typical skinny nerdy, looking guy, Kirk (Jay Baruchel) ends up with the hot chick (Alicia Eve). The noticable difference is that the girl actually fell for the guy first. She dumped the typical jock who cheated on her and then went for a safer bet with Kirk since she assumed that falling for a loser wouldn't allow her to get hurt.

Although Kirk initally appears to be one of the many geeks on the block ... but as the audience gets to know him better ... he does somehow emanate a certain sense of goofy warmth that you can't help but to like the dude. How often do you get a guy who confesses to a girl that he prematurely ejaculated while they're in the midst of making out and the girl's parents and sister just so happen to walk in on them. And then there's his family and buddies who constantly talk down to him resulting in this geek having self esteem problems.

It's a good watch ... a movie that'll make those who have never found love realize what they're missing out on. Bless those who have found and lost love ... a hope that there's indeed someone for everyone and finally, cause those who are already in love to miss their love ones. I know I do ...

A word of advice ... avoid watching it in the local cinema where all the vulgar words and actions are 'beeped' by the good people working in the cencorship board. Don't they just suck the fun out of everything. Get the director's cut on blu-ray, cuddle up with your partner on the sofa and share a tub of Ben n Jerry's. Enjoy ...

I love it when a RIDICULOUS plan comes together!!!

2010-06-11T17:23:00.005+08:00

Being a Project Planner, naturally I'm paid to plan ... ensuring the progress matches the schedule and within the allocated budget.

But no way in hell I could've come up with plans like the ones showcased in this year's 80s remake of ... The A-Team. From the get go, this action packed flick fills the audiences with an adrenaline overdose with over-the-top helicopter chase scenes, wild explosions, crazy bust ups and oh yea ... loads of ammo action. OH WHAT A RUSH!!!

Simply listening to the original theme tune reminisced a silly grin from this blogger's face. Too bad the iconic bad-ass van only made a cameo appearence before being 'pan-caked' as what Baracus a.k.a Mr.T mentioned in the film. Pity the fool! Haha.

The Alpha Team, led by Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith (Liam Neeson) exuded an electrifying sense of cool and macho at the same time. Liam was zen-ed in Star Wars, then blinged in Clash of The Titans ... but here ... this is where I think he played his best ever role for as long as I can remember. A deadly combination of brain and brawn ... I like!

Bradley Cooper from The Hangover re-lived the role of Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck. The 'eye candy' of the movie, Brad certainly put in impressive effort in buffing up his physique for the camera. Am sure the ladies will appreciate it. :p

Bosco A. Baracus was played by Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson. The producers certainly are keeping it real by casting a UFC fighter for this role. I couldn't stand it though when B.A. turned his intimidating mohawk into a sissi-ed afro. Luckily that didn't last too long. Haha.

Finally, Sharlto Copley is 'Howling Mad' Murdock ... the literally insane aviation specialist ... from flying choppers to Hercules ... it ain't a problem for this lunatic pilot.

Oh and then there's Jessica Biel as Capt. Charisa Sosa ... also the love interest of Faceman and the baddies in question are Agent Lynch, the double crossing CIA agent (Patrick Wilson from Watchmen) and Col. Pike of the Black Forest platoon (Brian Bloom).

While lacking in quality script writing ... it more than makes up for it in sufficient humourous punchlines. I mean you can't really expect to appreciate Shakespearean mumbo jumbo admist all the explosions no? :p Come on!!! ... it's all about the CRASH BOOM BANG bebeh.

To put it simply, our heroes are celebrated war soldiers who were set-up, betrayed and court marshalled. They broke out of prison with the help of the baddie (who of course have their personal agenda) and set out to clear their good names. Oh and have I mentioned that certain scenes were bordering the absurd???!!! I mean have you ever seen someone 'flying' a tank?! Anyways ... after firing countless amounts of ammo and blowing up enough explosives to make the Gulf War look like a sad New Year fireworks display ... the baddies were either caught or annihilated BUT ... our heroes were arrested again *Boo Hoo* ... and ... the broke out AGAIN!!! Haha ... let the good times roll yo!

Thumbs up ... 7.5/10.

The original ...

Not a good day ...

2010-06-10T01:09:00.003+08:00

Just one of those days where nothing falls into place and you end up with a crazy urge to slam and bury your head into the wall.

Expectations ... I still can't handle them well. Being sucked helplessly into it and then being tormented by it. This emotional turmoil has blinded my eyes so I'm lost in the dark. It gagged my mouth so I couldn't call out for help. And it binded my hands and feet so I couldn't run away.

Let's hope I'll wake up to a better day ...

I Bought A HARLEY DAVIDSON!!!

2010-06-07T00:04:00.004+08:00

Ok, so it may not be what you had in mind ... but I wasn't bluffing :p

Hehe ... my first Harley ...

I needed it cause my current pair is going into retirement ... the frame was chipped, the colour is fading in patches and most importantly ... my power increased a tiny bit. Sighhh ...

Also hor, wifey complained that my current pair's design is too 'fancy' ... very Ah Beng-ish were her exact words. Let's hope she approve this one. :p

Have you found your knight?

2010-06-06T12:45:00.001+08:00

I'm a fan! :)

This is one sad family

2010-06-04T23:19:00.006+08:00

First off, let me just say this ... if you want to watch a movie that'll make you laugh till the the fizzies ooze out of your nostrils, then you simply must set a date for Death At A Funeral.

Headed by a galore of big Tinsletown stars, this remake of the 2007 movie by the same name had this blogger in stitches from beginning till the very end. We have Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Luke Wilson, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Regina Hall, James Marsden and Zoe Saldana just to name a few. Now isn't the cast list impressive enough for you to shut off your com ... like right now ... and head on to catch this 'dramedy'???

Aaron (Chris Rock) is your average hardworking day to day tax accountant whose father happen to passed on. So as the eldest in the family, he took it upon himself to arrange a proper funeral for his ol' man at the family home and to deliver the eulogy. You then have Ryan (Martin Lawrence), Aaron's younger brother (by 9 months to be exact) ... a successful author who flies in first class with his LV suitcases and blings. As the 'writer' in the family, everyone looks up to him despite him having massive character flaws ... an all around scumbag who tries to get his elder brother to pay for everything but yet hogging the limelight whenever possible. *Hmmm ... I do know of certain individuals sharing these same lousy traits but that's a story for another day :p*

Loretta playing the grieving widow is constantly giving stick to her daughter-in-law (Regina Hall) for not giving her any grandchildren as yet. Elaine (Zoe Saldana) is Aaron's cousin and she is bringing her nervous boyfriend (James Marsden) to this funeral to announce their marriage to her father who just happen to dislike the white boy to the core. To calm his anxiety, she fed him with acid mistaking it for valium causing the poor guy to go on a hallucinating high. I must add that James was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS in his role. I swear I split my spleen each time he comes on screen. :D

Danny Glover is the wheel-chair-bound-eternally-pissed-off-grumpy brother of the deceased while the perpetually annoying Derek (Luke Wilson) has a mad crush on Elaine and wouldn't stop pursuing her. Tracy Morgan is a family friend who ended up with Danny Glover's faeces all over his hands and face. That was one of the funniest part of the movie *LOL*

Who else have I missed out??? Oh and there's a dwarf who appeared at the funeral to blackmail both Aaron and Ryan for a cool 30,000 dollars. The reason for his actions ... well, it's best you watch it for yourself to find out ... wouldn't wanna spoil it for you eh. :p

Reminiscing the movie is forcing uncontrollable chukcles outta me as I'm typing out this entry. A word of advise though ... skip watching this at the local theater. Get the uncut version on DVD because the language is most colourful but it's this boorish script-writing that made the movie so uproariously funny. So what are you waiting for???!!! GO ALREADY!!!

Marriage ... Give it your best shot!!!

2010-06-04T17:06:00.004+08:00

Let's get straight to it ... sweet innocent girl (Katherine Heigl) just got dumped by her nerdy boyfriend and went on vacation with her parents played by Mr. Moustache from Magnum P.I., Tom Selleck and Catherine O'Hara who's paired with some sorta booze in EVERY scene she's in. In scenic Nice, our heroine meets hunky hunk, Spencer (Mr. Demi Moore a.k.a Ashton Kutcher). They fell in love, badabingbadabang ... it all led to a very swift marriage. The happy couple went on to have 3 kids, a Golden Retriever and everyone lived happily ever after ... NOT!!!

As it turns out, Mr.Perfect isn't exactly a consultant as he claims to be but a professional hired assasin for some government agency. Anyways, since he's got a wife now, our hero decided to quit his job and happily plant his roots. He went on to be an actual building consultant ... yea, one of those white collared guys going around with huge drawing plans of houses / buildings etc.

For three years, they lived the perfect couple's life settling down in a very family oriented suburban neighbourhood where picket fences and block parties are all the rage. He drives a pick-up and she ... a Volvo convertible. Ahhh blissssss ...

As the saying goes, everything good has to come to an end and that day started with Spencer getting a call from his former boss bout another 'job'. He duly declined and soon began to have everyone he knew trying to blow his head off. These included his colleagues, neighbours, the delivery guy, his wife's best friend etc. Kinda absurd when you think about it ... cause all these people are supposedly hired killers as well and have been keeping a close tab on this couple for the past 3 years or so. And now .. with a 20 million dollars bounty on Spencer's head, it's time for them to act. Loads of gun action for the adrenaline junkie. Bang bang bang!!! Oh and Usher had a 2 minute cameo as a K-Mart employee. :p

I enjoyed the hilarious bits inserted here and there as the couple dodge bullets while discovering the truth that had been hidden before. I'm not going divulge bout the ending as it may spoil it for those who are intending to go watch this. I'm just nice like that! :)

So there you go, a comedy about a couple who try to save their marriage and at the same time ... their lives. It's this kinda flick that this blogger enjoy on his day off. Now shoo!!!

The night run ...

2010-06-04T03:20:00.003+08:00

I stared at my runners ... still soaked from yesterday’s sweat, I hesitated putting them on. The body is exhausted … every fibre of every muscle screaming for some much needed R & R. The mind’s utterly chaotic. Countless thoughts zig-zagging in a crazy frenzy ... none of em’ pleasant.

I strapped on what used to be a pair of lightning blue NB ... now mostly grey from months of unwashed dirt, dust and perspiration. By the time I double knotted the laces, my fresh pair of socks had already started to soak up that putrid dampness. Oh how I despise summertime in the desert.

It has been hours since the moon was peaking high amongst the clouds and yet the surrounding exuded an intense humidity ... burdening the lungs to circulate air at an uncomfortable rate. I stretched ... lengthening my limbs until I feel the familiar ‘click’ of the joints. Elongating the neck, first to the right, then left, then down and finally up ... I spotted night moths fluttering rapidly around the nearest streetlight.

I thumbed the center button on my Ipod and it took 2 seconds before the opening of Sweet Child O Mine started blaring on my headphones. Beads of sweat started forming on my forehead as I heaved a heavy sigh and began my run.

The trashing of the guitars and the crashing of the percussions was deafening and yet they complimented the frantic on-goings in my head well. The music helped possess my legs and paced my strides. As usual, I tried to adopt a tunnel vision ... picking out a certain object in front of me as a target for me to reach. Once there, I simply pick another one ahead. Usually, it’s either a palm tree or a traffic light. This time however, it was a pedestrian, an obese local Arab in a red t-shirt. For reasons unexplained, a loathsome sentiment towards this individual, unknown to me surged out of nowhere. The pedestrian pathway was narrow, barely able to accommodate two regular sized passing people, let alone one who is obese. I dashed ahead and at the very last minute, the local moved aside ... allowing me to pass by.

As I tried to suppress the agitation that was beginning to build up from within, there was silence as the song ended. I hear the familiar whoosh of fleeting vehicles as a Chevy zoomed by, inches away from me. A silent curse escaped from my lips just as the Teriyaki Boys began pounding my ears with the ever catchy Tokyo Drift.

I can literally feel the immense beatings of my heart as if it’s trying to break free from its dungeon that is my ribcage. Working in overload, it sole duty is to pump crimson fluid to every part of my body but its hypnotic pulsations also serve as how a metronome would benefit a pianist.

My attire completely drenched, it wasn’t long before sweat started stinging my eyes. I squeezed my eyelids tight in the hope of expelling the swelter that’s causing this excruciating twinge. It took a while before the hurt went away. Soon after, the familiar ache on my left knee started to disrupt my running tempo. I upped the music’s volume and stubbornly pushed harder. My logic is to simply use one pain to cancel out the other.

36 minutes later, I reached my finish line. I was panting furiously ... naturally practicing open mouthed breathing to inhale in as much oxygen as I possibly could.

Slugging myself to the makeshift ‘gym’ in the villa, I lay down on my Weider Crunch Trainer ... pausing a few moments to recollect myself. I gain a sense of satisfaction as I see sweat being emanated from its glands. Better out than in as Shrek would have said. I proceeded with my crunches with the aim of gaining the prized washboard abs ... the very same ones I lost when I stopped teaching classes in the gym years ago. The only motivation I had was from LL Cool J’s Control Myself.

With that done, I positioned both palms solidly on the marble floor and using my body as natural weights, I did my push ups. On the 40th effort, I allowed myself to slam onto the floor as I remained in such a state for the next 1 minute or so.

As I stood, I picked up two dumbbells weighing 5 kilos each. They belonged to a colleague who appreciated them no more. So it’s up to me to ensure they don’t go lying around collecting dust. I did 75 reps ... alternating between both arms. By the time I was done, the popping bicep vein was most prominent. This is my reward.

I abide by the teaching that we must lengthen after we strengthen. So despite being on the verge of collapsing there and then, I performed my regular stretches before hitting the shower.

To feel the highly pressurised water droplets beating on your back ... it is a 'massage' of sorts I appreciatively savour after each run. I imagine it washing away all of my fatigue into the bath tub’s drain hole ... it’s a silly yet refreshing thought I reserve for myself.

And you know what, I'd do the whole thing again tomorrow just as I have been doing it everyday for the past 2 years. Try and catch up ... if you can.

Biting the hand that feeds you ...

2010-06-01T23:40:00.004+08:00

As a general rule of thumb, we were taught never to bite the hand that feeds you. Doing so would invoke unendearing terms casted upon oneself such as ungrateful, non appreciative yada yada yada ...

My question is what happens when the hand that feeds you is also the very same hand that drives the knife into your back?

It really is very exhausting to fight and fight and fight for the company only to see the company turning around to take what is rightfully belongs to you. It's akin to a soldier coming back from battle only to have salt poured into its wounds. I don't expect rewards of any kind apart from what was contractually agreed upon but coming in to rob me of my dues after all the effort I put in???!!! ... now that's hitting below the belt and this blogger would not tolerate it.

It's kinda pathetic when I think about it ... utilizing my resources to fight the company instead of fighting for it.

Many might disagree with my actions ... you may say I'm selfish or even silly but being where I am now ... I am all I have ... it's every man for himself in every sense of the word. So it's going to be an all out war. The guns are all ablazing ... now I just need to pull the trigger.

I want to ... I need to!!!

2010-06-01T16:06:00.006+08:00

ARGHHHH ... I so badly wanted to rant bout this a**hole. So many things I wished I could say to his face and my language would be most colourful too. Sighhh ... still thinking if I should. The nerve he has to be THIS BLOODY INCONSIDERATE!!! *PULLS HAIR IN FRUSTRATION!!!*

I can now so relate to those trigger happy sickos who goes on a shooting rampage. I'd relish the satisfaction in emptying the entire magazine of bullets on his face. *BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!*

Shrek Forever After ... in 3D!!!

2010-05-28T20:36:00.007+08:00

Part 1 introduced us to this lovable green ogre and his motor mouthed best friend, Donkey ... part 2 was punctuated by cheesy yet very laughable one liners ... part 3 was a bit of a disaster (so this blogger shall not elaborate any further) and we're now at the final chapter of the Shrek chronicles aptly titled Forever After. *sob sob*

The main characters were all voiced by the stars in the previous 3 installments and this time ... as with most animations released in 2010 ... it came as no suprise that the fellas at Dreamworks decided to feature this green ogre and friends in 3D.

Picking up from Shrek The Third, the story began by showing how domesticated our mud-bathing-eyeball-martini-loving hero have become. A far cry from the scary ogre he used to be, the routine life of a dedicated husband and father to 3 mini ogres are beginning to take its toll. Under such circumstances, Shrek was tricked into signing a deal with baddie magician Rumpelstiltskin (voiced by Walt Dohrn) to enable Shrek (Mike Myers) to re-live one day as the mean green monster he once was. The catch ... Shrek had to give up one day from his past in exchange.

However, evilll Rumpie here chose to claim the very day Shrek was born, hence ceasing the very existence of Shrek himself. This boo boo resulted in altering the history and fate of Far Far Away land itself with Rumpie being crowned king / dictator and his horde of creepy witches serving as the militia police force with the sole purpose of hunting down the remaining ogres across the land.

All his friends couldn't remember him and so, Shrek had to go through the hassle of rekindling his bond with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Btw, Puss debuted in this movie as an overweight kitty. Obviously packed on more than a few pounds since he went into retirement. *LOL* More importantly, Shrek realised that there is indeed a buy out clause in his foul deal with Rumpie ... that is for him to kiss his One True Love before the day is over.

Fiona (Cameron Diaz) is now the leader of the ogre-clan resistance group and along with other green muscle heads, they plot and attempt to overthrow Rumpie from his rule and gain freedom in Far Far Away.

John Cleese and Julie Andrews were given very little and forgettable scenes as the King and Queen but cameos from Pinocchio, the Three Little (German) Pigs and Gingie, the gingerbreadman more than made up for it. With lots of hilarious punchlines and an awesome soundtrack which fitted the respective scenes marvellously ... this is a must watch. I reckon it's on par with How To Train Your Dragon and gives the audiences a dose of happy-feely ending ... which was exactly what this blogger needed.

And I got the popcorn combo with came along with ...

Fatty kitty ... MEOWWW!!!

Betrayal!!!

2010-05-27T23:51:00.005+08:00

Betrayal is defined as the breaking or violation of a presumptive social contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations.

Today, I was unfortunate enough to experience it first hand. Yes, there were initial suspicions. The signs were there. We were wary and so we notified the relevant parties. No actions were taken and we were left with nothing but hope ... stupidly hoping that the worst wouldn't occur.

Today, the inklings we had were proven to be true and we're now left to digest a very bitter pill. Thinking back, this foul play could have been avoided all together. If only certain quarters made the right decision and acted accordingly. I would relish in the satisfaction to say now 'Told ya!!!'. Sighhh ... no point crying over spilt milk I suppose. The bigger question is how do we proceed from here. The steps we take from here on end are most crucial.

The horizon is still unclear ... will it be bright yellow or pallid grey???

Bottled up

2010-05-26T18:02:00.001+08:00

So much I do not comprehend
Maybe there’s even nothing to understand
From how the universe first started
To matters leaving one broken hearted

I end up starring at the bluish grey sky
Asking God ‘How’ ‘When’ ‘Who’ and ‘Why’
Gawking back at me is a lonesome brown Argus
Silently mocking me for being utterly hopeless

So day in and day out, life passes by
Every minute punctuated by a dejected sigh
Wondering if I’ll ever see the silver lining
Nothing I can do but to mull here waiting

Is enough ever enough?

2010-05-25T02:12:00.005+08:00

Some want it.

Others hate it.

Some can't get enough of it.

Others are dead afraid of it.

Some have tonnes of it.

Others have none of it.

Some would kill for it.

Others shed tears, sweat and blood for it.

Some suffer sleepless nights over it.

Others sleep soundly because of it.

Some go to war for it.

Others earn it from these very same wars.

Some debate endlessly about it.

Others would rather not say a word about it.

Some pretend to have enough of it.

Others pretend to have none of it.

Some say it breeds evil.

Others are humbled by it.

Some were told to appreciate the value of it.

Others often felt depreciated due to it.

Some swear it brings them joy and happiness.

Others argue it's the sole cause of their sorrows and sadness.

Regardless what some or others say ... it ultimately affects us all. You better know what it is cause it's a part of our lives.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I'm talking 'bout the Benjamins, my friend.

Words from within ...

2010-05-24T01:47:00.004+08:00

It’s so difficult to be away
To ease the pain, I would solemnly pray
How long oh how long
Till together again we hear our song

Being apart we know for what reason
And yet, there are times I wish it was different
To be with you every minute of every day
Instead of only 2 weeks in the month of May

I take comfort in knowing and believing
That this separation will soon come to an ending
That we may be as man and wife proper
From then on till ... well, forever

Treasure Hunter FAIL!!!

2010-05-23T01:15:00.003+08:00

My rating for this movie ... NVM!!! Can't be bothered really. Starring 'The Mumble King', Jay Chou ... it has the lamest of plot 'bout the hero trying to prevent The Company (yea, that's what the baddies are called *sheesh*) from stealing some buried treasure. I reckon they tried to make this HK's version of The Mummy meets Indiana Jones which failed at gargantuan poportion. Not even with the inclusion of some really delish eye candy in the form of Lin Chi Ling and funnyman Eric Tsang could salvage what ought to be awarded the worst movie of the decade. *APPLAUSE*

Truth to be told, it was too painful to watch it till the end. The fight scenes were horrendous ... HELLO!, the wires were sooo obvious. As for Jay, it's either he stops acting indefinitely or someone ... anyone ... PLEASE for the love of all things good ... send this guy back to Acting Class 101 like right NOW!!!

Half way through ... I stabbed both of my eyes with a rusted nail, then coated them with some spicy sambal belacan before sprinkling some salt over it. AAAhhhh ... it feels better now.

Confucius ... watch this, you must.

2010-05-22T12:22:00.004+08:00

This 2009 movie starring Chow Yun Fatt as the famed Chinese philosopher, Confucius confused me. I stereotyped this great sage to enjoy beard stroking, speak in reverse sentence construct i.e. Yoda-grammar ... in slow motion no less and twirls his robe every once in a while. You get none of the above in this flick directed by Hu Mei. Oh but what you do get is A LOT of bowing action ... and I mean A LOT! Everyone bows to each other and they do it SOOOoooOOOooo slowly too. *Yawnzzz* Filmed mostly in He Bei, the story kicks off in the later part of Confucus's life where he was portrayed essentially as a politician as well as a militarist. Known as Kong Qiu then, he was first a mayor for the province of Zhong Du, then a Minister of Law and subsequently the Minister of Internal Affairs where he gets to put his ideals into practice to establish a harmonious governance.

Ruled by the Three Noble Families ... all the time squabbling amongst themselves to gain the upper hand on each other, essentially Confucius was driven into exile. He left behind his family and wandered from state to state with his loyal diciples to spread his teachings while refining his own wisdom. Along the way, they got entangled in political web of deceits, suffered hardship due to starvation and harsh weathers and struggling to survive during China's Warring period. In the end, they was finally invited back by the very ruler who expelled them back to their homeland.

Only in the last 5 minutes of this 2 hour epic do we see Confucius truly as what he is best known for ... a thinker and educator. He died at the frail age of 73 ... surrounded by the scrolls he loved so much. 'If the world learn to know about me, it is because of these scrolls. If the world learn to hate me, it is because of these scrolls'.

Personally, I would rate this movie at 5.5/10. I hope its recount of the historic facts and events were in order. Peter Pau, the cinematographer for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon also did a splendid job in showcasing the visual effects to a very convincing fashion. Oh and then there's the rather mesmerizing theme song by non other than Faye Wong.

Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time ...

2010-05-21T19:13:00.006+08:00

This week, it's ACTION FRIDAY! Caught the newly released Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time. I was a fan of the video game years ago and it's nice to see it being adapted to the silver screen now.

This Jerry Bruckheimer (the guy who gave us the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy) release tells the story of a street orphan, Dastan who was adopted by the King and raised as a prince. Set in ancient Persia, Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) with his two other brothers would then set out to help their father to expand the already massive Persian empire. Credit to Jake for bulking up for his role. With shoulder lengthed hair and breardy stubs, he looked the part though something is still lacking. Well, can't complain though ... imagine if whiny Tobey Maguire got the part instead?! Also in the picture is the King's brother, Nizam played by Sir Ben Kingsley who is actually the baddie in this action adventure flick *OH SUPRISE SUPRISE!*

Their latest conquering quest takes them the city of ... err ... can't remember the name d. :p Anywayyys, after a series of impressive acrobatic stunts, Prince Dastan managed to infiltrate the city gates which paved the way for the Persian army to take over the city with relative ease. Somewhere in between that, Dastan found in his possession the Dagger of Time, although not realising the true potential of the dagger at that time. Now this dagger will grant its wielder the power to turn back the clock and change the events that occured. Furthermore, only the wielder of the dagger will know what is happening ... past and present. I can so use a dagger like this I tell you! Just too bad the lottery wasn't created yet during those medieval era. :p

The guardian of the dagger is the very lucious Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton, last seen in Clash of The Titans). Always attempting to retrieve back the dagger from Dastan so that she can hide it in some desert temple cause ... it basically has too much powers and if it falls into the wrong hands ... Nizam's hands to be exact, it'll bring forth a crazy ass sandstorm that will wipe out everything on earth. So yea ... in essence ... ARMAGEDDON!!! *JENG JENG JENG!!!*

Ok, here's the crappy synopsis ... *SPOILER ALERT* ... Nizam needs the dagger to go back in time so that he could have his brother, the king killed in a hunting outing and that'll automatically make himself King of Persia. In order to get the dagger, he's gotta frame Dastan for killing the king. Dastan and Tamina-the-Tease runs away, falls in love and return to Persia to set things right. Dastan's two brothers were killed by Nizam's Hassasins (Persian assasins *lol*) and Tamina dies too by falling into oblivion. *Boo Hoo*

Dastan kicks Nizam's butt and turns back time. Suddenly everyone is back alive again *YAY* Nizam's plot to have the king hassasinated was uncovered *duh* and he ended with a sabre through his chest *Ouchy* Oh, the hero gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after.

A few trivias to take note of ... more than 20 versions of the Dagger of Time were produced for this movie. Filmed mostly in the deserts of Morrocco, the crew pitched football field sized tents and consumed more than a million bottles of water. The actors' clothings and stones were 'mixed' in a cement mixer to make 'em look authentically ragged.

So there you go, it's a master blaster of an action movie and this blogger rates it 6.5/10.

This is just too hilarious :D :D :D

2010-05-20T23:16:00.004+08:00

This is a Parental Advisory Encouraged post. You've been warned!

I laughed so hard till my stomach hurt .... :D

I bet these are what singing angels sound like ...

2010-05-20T15:24:00.004+08:00

A melody so beautiful I'm lost for words ... it exudes purity and filled with simplistic innocence. I hope you enjoy it as much as this blogger does ... :)

A solemn reminder to self ...

2010-05-20T02:01:00.004+08:00

We know the sayings 'It's no point crying over spilt milk' or 'It's already water under the bridge' ... and yet, we're prone to repeat the same mistakes we make. One common screw-up that most of us commit over and over again is that we take the people and things around us for granted. Are you one of 'em? This blogger is guilty as charged ... on multiple accounts.

With people, the ones suffering most are usually the ones closest to us ... the ones we supposedly hold dearest to our hearts. Isn't it true that we tend to rant our anger at our spouse, we take out the frustration on the kids and yet put on a smiling face in the presence of friends or guests. We channel these negative feelings and actions while always assuring ourselves that we can make it up to those we affect at a later time ... tomorrow perhaps.

Do you tell your parents you love them? Or are you one of those that readily spit out 'I love you', 'I miss you' or 'I'm sorry' so readily that it doesn't mean anything anymore. Words are indeed cheap if there is no truth or substance behind it.

We often take life itself for granted. We indulge in self pity. Oh woe is me!!! We so conveniently blame anyone and everyone for our despairs ... never thankful for the blessings we receive. We are blinded by pride and selfishness. We hide behind the proverb 'To err is human'. Yes, life is undeniably short by usual standards but are we doing enough to truly appreciate it for what it is or what it is offering? I've failed in this aspect on so many levels :(

Now the question is ... what if tomorrow never comes? What if it's too late to make amends? A second chance is a privilege and not an obligatory right.

To live a life of regret amounts to an inextinguishable pain. A pain no treatment could heal. The tears may eventually dry up but does the heart stop bleeding?

Everyone's life is a story. Every story ends with a period. The question is ... do you know which is your epilogue?

A li'll retail therapy ...

2010-05-19T00:31:00.003+08:00

Got this for a rather decent discount at Aldo last week. What's better ... the Filipino sales assistant offered me his staff discount too cause ... I think he mistook me for his fellow countrymen. Haha. Hello kabayan! :D

Nice???

My daily routine ... photo-sintesized

2010-05-18T12:40:00.006+08:00

And it all goes downhill from here on end ... *blehhh*

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth!

2010-05-17T02:33:00.003+08:00

I caught this on dvd last night and I must say it wasn't all that bad. Kinda enjoyed it actually. A family comedy with an all around good feeling to it.

Starring Dwayne Johnson, the ex-wrestler a.k.a. The Rock from WWE, it tells the story of a ice hockey pro-has-been who dismissed the existence of tooth fairies. Hence, he received a summon from Fairyland *duh!* and had to perform tooth fairy duties (something like jury duty) for 2 weeks. You get a dose of the usual where the hero is initially apprehensive bout the whole fairy thingy. I mean come on ... a muscle meat head with wings and a tutu???!!! Anyway, he soons rediscovers what believing in dreams are like ... bla bla bla and everyone lived happily ever after. Ashley Judd plays opposite Dwayne as the female lead while Dame Julie Andrews is casted as the Fairy God Mother.

Watch it if you're stuck at home with nothing else good on Astro. It might even squeeze a laugh or two out from ya. *wink*

Idiot clowns I have to put up with ...

2010-05-16T16:04:00.007+08:00

*ALERT* This entry is nothing more than some senseless ranting and the characters mentioned does not relate to anyone specifically ... dead or alive.

There are those we love to hate and then, there are those we hate to love. Either way, some of us have to put up with them regardless if we like it or not. Below are just a few examples of the clowns I have the unfortunate oppurtunity to be aquainted with.

Clown 1 : The Know-It-All

You say something ... anything at all and this clown will have something to say about it. Be it about the latest tech spat out by Mr.Jobs's fruity company to the 25 cents discount for apples in the fruit market. And even when they don't know shite bout the matter, they'll still pretend that they do with an added air of arrogance to boot.

Verdict : Ought to be shot ... twice!

Clown 2 : The Big-Mouth-Bragger

This one's a classic where this clown can't put money to where his mouth is cause talk is cheap ... dirt cheap. What he/she lacks in wisdom, diligence, experience, an average sized dick and all things good ... it'll attempt to overcome it with the shameless audacity to brag and elevate himself above all else. The thing is, this pathetic effort to paint itself in a better light ALWAYS backfire since the people around sees him/her for who he/she truly is. One cannot hide one's true colours forever dipshit! And guess what ... your colour is a murky blend of dull grey and yucky brown. *Eeewww*

Verdict : Ought to be quartered and fed to the dogs!

Clown 3 : The Stinky Mouth

Ooo ... this one has a sharp tongue and it's usually paired with a pungent breath ... so much so that every word uttered stinks to the high heavens. Nothing pleasant leaves this clowns lips as he/she takes pleasure in causing others embarassment or discomfort by shooting out only distasteful and offensive remarks. To see others blush and squirm desorily amounts to an achievement of sorts for this wretched being.

Verdict : Ought to be drowned in acid ... no other way to get rid of the putrid pungence.

Clown 4 : The Credit Robber

The worst of its kind, this one will brazenly rob anyone and everyone of their credit and claim it for his/her own. Sometimes it really goes beyond words like you wouldn't bloody believe. Experiencing it first hand is akin to being slapped in the face. More often that not, these are the people sitting in the higher ups of the hierachy and they commit this smiling so slyly it gives me the shivers. It's always the li'll people being screwed around. There's never a superhero when you need one.

Verdict : Shooting doesn't work. This clown's hide is sooooo thick, bullets just couldn't do the work. We need to grind, blend and mash this clown into paste before flushing it down the toilet.

Being associated with these clowns can be so demoralizing sometimes. Anybody know where I can purchase an uzi? Oh wait ... this is just some nonsensical ramblings ... why am I getting so riled up by it???!!! Sighhh ...