Sunday, November 15, 2009

Une citation

Someone's orbit is their dance. Look closely, and you will see that their [sic] are shining planets.

- Yoko Ono

@ 4:50 PM |

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Balzac


Luo and I were in the habit of sharing our clothes, and on one occasion - it was a day of rest - he borrowed my sheepskin coat to wear when he went to meet the Little Seamstress at the foot of their ginkgo tree in the valley of love. "After I had read the passage from Balzac from her word to word," he explained, "she took your coat and reread the whole thing, in silence. The only sounds were the leaves rustling overhead and the faint rush of a distant waterfall. It was a beautiful day, the sky was heavenly blue, blissful and clear. When she finished reading, she sat there quite still, open-mouthed. Your coat was resting on the flat of her hands, the way a sacred object lies in the palms of the pious.

"This fellow Balzac is a wizard," he went on. "He touched the head of this mountain girl with an invisible finger, and she was transformed, carried away in a dream. It took awhile for her to come down to earth. She ended up putting your wretched coat on (which looked very good on her, I must say). She said having Balzac's words next to her skin made her feel good, and also more intelligent."

- Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie


I thought: About how you're almost like all the female characters in the books that I've been reading. Like TLCS, like Alaska, like Oryx, like Marla Singer. Actually, mostly like Marla Singer, but the rest too. Odd and almost baffling, but very, very true.

Next time, I promise to bring along one of the old cameras.

@ 11:18 PM |

Thursday, November 05, 2009

At 3am

The room contains no sound
Except the ticking of the clock
Which has begun to panic
Like an insect, trapped
In an enormous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
You're sleeping
And beside you there's a woman
Who is crying quietly
So you won't wake.

- Wendy Cope


Miss Cope, if you're reading this, my intention was never to infringe your copyright. I just thought you should know I felt this poem speaks volumes about a lot of things. I would remove it if you ask nicely. But until then, this'll stay up.

@ 12:36 AM |

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

I know this because Tyler knows this

Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die. For a long enough time though, Tyler and I were best friends. People are always asking, did I know Tyler Durden.

The barrel of the gun pressed against the back of my throat, Tyler says, "We really won't die."

With my tongue I can feel the silencer holes we drilled into the barrel of the gun. Most of the noise a shotgun makes is expanding gases, and there's the tiny sonic boom a bullet makes because it travels so fast. To make a silencer, you just drill holes in the barrel of the gun, a lot of holes. This lets the gas escape and slows the bullet to below the speed of sound.

You drill the holes wrong and the gun will blow off your hand.

"This isn't really death," Tyler says. "We'll be legend. We won't grow old."

I tongue the barrel into my cheek and say, Tyler you're thinking of vampires.

This building we're standing on won't be here in ten minutes. You take a 98-percent concentration of fuming nitric acid and add the acid to three times that amount of sulfuric acid. Do this in an ice bath. Then add glycerin drop-by-drop with an eye dropper. You have nitroglycerin.

I know this because Tyler knows this.

- Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk


I could quote the entire Fight Club book, or you could just go read it yourself.

@ 12:17 AM |

Saturday, October 31, 2009

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise

My October in pictures:



Never a tea person, but I must admit it was quite a bit of fun drinking Earl Grey (oh, Earl Grey!) on a Sunday afternoon. So, okay, I didn't finish my share, but whatever. Not that my not finishing the tea made it any less fun.

Let's have scones next time!

@ 2:34 AM |

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mail


I received the most magnificent package in the mail today, and because I haven't received anything in the mail (bills are not counted) for the longest time, the feeling was nothing short of.. magical.

I guess I just wanted to say that it's things like these that make me believe the world is not ending (but it's not yet 2012, so we'll all have to wait this one out), that there are a handful of kind-hearted, warm and sincere strangers we haven't met (like uh, you know, kindred spirits), and that social media does not necessarily undermine or threaten human relationships like I keep hearing people say it does (Case in point: It was the topic for Talkback on 93.8LIVE this morning).

Thank you @wallflour!

I'm feeling a bit like I won the last Golden Ticket (ala Charlie) to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (:

@ 12:38 AM |

Thursday, October 01, 2009

You can't deny you want a happy ending

@ 12:18 AM |

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

23

I'll be honest with you - I started writing this on August 31, at 1.31am. So the publish date might not indicate September 9, 2009 (09/09/09). I suppose you need time to think about these sort of things, and you know, inspiration comes and goes and so does my writing mojo.

For the uninitiated, I turn 23 today. It's not a very significant age (plus, it's a prime number), but I felt obliged to write something about it because of the date (again, 09/09/09).

Turning 23 feels a lot different than turning 22. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I suppose it has something to do with my being one year closer to turning 25 and still having no particular highly-in-demand set of skills or talent or achievement that I can be proud of.

I haven't gone on air like I said I wanted to.
I haven't published anything like some people said I should have.
I haven't launched a mind-blowing campaign like I said I should have.
I haven't travelled to Japan, India, Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Latin America like I said I wanted to.
I haven't learnt to cook, sew, bake or create like I said I should have
I haven't gotten a praise that I felt I was worthy of.

Sure, I've got a stable job in a more-than-stable company. I've got an A+ family. Great colleagues. Great friends. Great encouragement. Great support from all around. But the more I think about it, the more I feel it's a "so what?" thing.

Please don't get me wrong! I'm not complaining and god knows I am more than grateful for what I have, but it's just, I think of Mark Zuckerberg, I think of Casual Poet, I think of Xiaxue, C, S, FAG, even Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, the Olsen twins and that hit-me-in-the-face question still surfaces - What have I achieved in all 23 years of my life that I can be proud of? That I can tell people about when I introduce myself? That I can put on all my resumes and have potential employers call me up immediately because I am so interesting, so talented, so one-of-a-kind.

That wasn't meant to be rhetorical question, but I'm not going to answer it because, like I said, it's a hit-me-in-the-face question and it's my birthday and I don't want to be hit in the face.

So this post is going in a big circle, and it's getting a bit whiny and I don't know how to end it. I think all I wanted to say was that I haven't achieved much in the past 23 years, which was why I feel like I don't deserve a lot of the good things that have happened to me, that have come my way. Which is also why I don't feel the need for a celebration. But I'm doing this because 09/09/09 is something that comes once a millennium (I think?). Felt like I needed to do the date some justice.

So here's a list of 7 things that will happen in 2009-2010. May you and the rest of the Internet bear witness to it:

1. Know things
2. "Read voraciously"
3. Learn something new
4. Form opinions of my own
5. Understand humility
6. Lose my marbles, go completely apeshit (once, just once)
7. Live

Okay, so for what it's worth - Happy 23rd birthday, Val.
Here's a pat on your back for making it this far for the past 23 years, and here's another one for the next 23 years to come.

May you achieve something phenomenal.



I'll be spending the whole day tomorrow with my family (and extended family). There'll be a massive feast, lotsa eating, lotsa drinking, cake, maybe party streamers, crazy kids running amok, the whole shebang. I think it'll be fun.

@ 12:09 AM |

Friday, August 28, 2009

Oh, I don't know

I have nothing to update about so here are some pictures.

Look at these, I want!


I also want a bicycle I really, really want one! Even though I don't really know where I might ride it to. But who cares!



And here are some photos from the last roll of film. Oh, and the long overdue photos from the Melaka trip. I kinda miss the hot air there.


T and I signed up for French classes, I am so excited I am so excited!
Bonjour salut, tout le monde!

@ 12:17 AM |

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sun sun sun

We discovered a couple of lovely dining places over the weekend. Nothing much to say so I'm just gonna put some pictures up. Mind you, these pictures aren't anything fantastic either. But, you know, it's all I've got.

This is Little Part 1 Cafe.
15 Jasmine Road Singapore 576584
And in case you get lost on your way there (which you shouldn't, 'cos I didn't and I get lost all the time), call them - 6451 7553.

We had some mini German sausages for starters, the Chicken Schnitzel and an Italiano Crepe. Pretty good!

And then just yesterday, we made an impromptu decision to go eat at Sunset Grill & Pub. We didn't get hopelessly lost, as I'd thought we did at one point, which I'm really happy about! Didn't take too many pictures because my fingers were trembling from hunger. These were the best from the lot. Pretty decent pub grub I'd say.

Oh god, I'm not going to tell you which level buffalo wings this is 'cos it's too embarrassing. We barely scraped past this. Cannot imagine anyone who tried level 30 yikes!

I'm actually thinking of getting one of those prosumer cameras but not DSLR, nothing extremely complex with 87 aperture settings, none of that sort. Would be good if it comes with some manual settings and of course digital stuff so I get to toggle between the two.

What's good?

@ 10:46 PM |