Dance like no one's watching

The new gal taking over Banker joined my department this week.  In my attempt to be friendly, i arranged for WC, Ratz and myself to have lunch with her yesterday.  We started discussing our plans for tonight during lunch and i asked the new gal (NG for short) if she was a drinker.  Her immediate, rather boastful reply was, “I’ve never reached my limit before”.

The minute she said that, WC, Ratz and i went, “oooh…”.  WC then said, “That’s a dangerous thing to say…”

Not quite realising her mistake, NG said, “does that mean i shouldn’t have said that?” and smiled.

Being the naughty drinking cha bors, WC, Ratz and i poohed poohed that and said we were just glad to find another drinker to join our group.  Heehee. 

Well, the last guy who said he was an excellent drinker… was drank under the table till he konked out on the beach at Sentosa… and the other colleagues had to call his gal friend to come get him.  Heehee.

We have some new limits to test now.  😛

What I’m missing… is all the action tonight.  🙁  No Eon Canteen, no yummy dinner at Peach Garden, no Balcony/Zouk even!  All because I’m sick.  Very sick.  🙁

Felt extremely thirsty after my tennis lesson last night.  Came home, drank water, and switched on the TV to watch the Miss Universe 2007 (which btw, the theme must have been Fugly is the New Beautiful).  Halfway through the programme, i started shivering… and soon goosebumps popped up all over my arms.

At first i thought it was just an allergy reaction to all things fugly…. but it was more serious than that unfortunately.  Started running a temperature by the end of the programme and felt really weak.  Didn’t help that my right foot cramped for a good 20 minutes when i was resting on my bed. 

Took 2 panadol, a cooling shower, and wiped myself with a towel a few times but it didn’t helped.  I actually thought of waking my parents up to go to A&E if the shivering + burning sensations didn’t go away.  Sigh.  Was bad. 

Fever eventually subsided about 3am+ and i managed to have a good sleep after that.  Woke up this morning and thought of seeing the doc for my sore throat before going to work.  But the fever started again… accompanied by feeling of breathlessness… so i came home after seeing the doc instead of going to the office.

Took more medicine… and i suspect the caffeine in the panadol is keeping me awake.  So here i am… msn-ing and surfing youtube videos.  Heh.  Heard this really nice Stefanie Sun song on the radio just now.  I’ve heard the song quite a few times before… but never paid attention to the lyrics till today.  Here it is… for your listening pleasure.

Translated, the lyrics mean:

我问为什么 (I asked why)
那女孩传简讯给我 (Did that girl send me a text message) 
而你为什么 (And why did you)
不解释低着头沉默 (Not explain but lowered your head in silence)
我该相信你很爱我 (Should I believe you really love me)
不愿意敷衍我 (And are unwilling to pretentiously humour me)
还是明白 (Or should I understand)
你已不想挽回什么 (That you do not wish to save the relationship)

想问为什么 (Thinking of asking why)
我不再是你的快乐 (Am i no longer your happiness)
可是为什么 (But why)
却苦笑说我都懂了 (Do I smile bitterly instead and say I understand)
自尊常常将人拖着 (Pride often drags a person down)
把爱都走曲折 (And makes love go out of tune)
假装了解是怕 (Pretending to understand because of the fear)
真相太赤裸裸 (That the truth will be too painful)
狼狈比失去难受 (Being pathetic feels worse than losing someone)

我怀念的是无话不说 (What I miss is how there was nothing we didn’t talk about)
我怀念的是一起作梦 (What I miss is how we dreamt together)
我怀念的是争吵以后 (What I miss is after an argument)
还是想要爱你的冲动 (There would still be urge to love you)
我记得那年生日 (I remember my birthday that year)
也记得那一首歌 (Also remember that song)
记得那片星空 (Remembering that starry sky)
最紧的右手 (The tightest grip of my right hand)
最暖的胸口 (The warmest chest)

谁记得 (Who remembers)
谁忘了 (Who forgets)

想问为什么 (Thinking of asking why)
我不再是你的快乐 (Am i no longer your happiness)
可是为什么 (But why)
却苦笑说我都懂了 (Do I smile bitterly instead and say I understand)
自尊常常将人拖着 (Pride often drags a person down)
把爱都走曲折 (And makes love go out of tune)
假装了解是怕 (Pretending to understand because of the fear)
真相太赤裸裸 (That the truth will be too painful)
狼狈比失去难受 (Being pathetic feels worse than losing someone)

我怀念的是无话不说 (What I miss is how there was nothing we didn’t talk about)
我怀念的是一起作梦 (What I miss is how we dreamt together)
我怀念的是争吵以后 (What I miss is after an argument)
还是想要爱你的冲动 (There would still be urge to love you)
我记得那年生日 (I remember my birthday that year)
也记得那一首歌 (Also remember that song)
记得那片星空 (Remembering that starry sky)
最紧的右手 (The tightest grip of my right hand)
最暖的胸口 (The warmest chest)

谁忘了 (Who forgot)

我怀念的是无言感动 (What I miss is being moved beyond words)
我怀念的是绝对炽热 (What I miss is the absolute passion)
我怀念的是你很激动 (What I miss is your agitated)
求我原谅抱得我都痛 (Pleas for me to forgive, hugging me till it hurts)
我记得你在背后 (I remember having you behind me)
也记得我颤抖着 (Also remember my trembling)
记得感觉汹涌 (Remembering the feelings that overcame me)
最美的烟火 (The most beautiful fireworks)
最长的相拥 (The longest embrace)
谁爱得太自由 (Who loved too freely)
谁过头太远了 (Who is it, once you’ve missed becomes too far away)
谁要走我的心 (Who took away my heart)
谁忘了那就是承诺 (Who is it, once forgotten becomes a promise)
谁自顾自地走 (Who left caring only for himself)
谁忘了看着我 (Who forgot to look at me)
谁让爱变沉重 (Who made love feel so heavy)
谁忘了要给你温柔 (Who forgot to give you some gentleness)

Ahh… Ooh…

我怀念的 (What I miss)
我还有想要爱你的冲动 (I still have the urge to love you)
我记得那年生日 (I remember my birthday that year)
也记得那一首歌 (Also remember that song)
记得那片星空 (Remembering that starry sky)
最紧的右手 (The tightest grip of my right hand)
最暖的胸口 (The warmest chest)

我放手 (I let go)
我让座 (I give up my place)
假洒脱 (Pretend to be nochalant)
谁懂我多么不舍得 (Who understands how much I can’t bear to part)
太爱了 (Love you too much)
所以我 (That’s why I)
没有哭 (Did not cry)
没有说 (Did not speak)

That is a very rough translation… it’s really hard to capture the poetic essence of Chinese lyrics.  Sigh.  The beauty is lost in translation.

Just met up with the havokers for supper again.  Seems almost like a regular thing nowadays.  Haha.  But it’s really just trying to catch one another on weekends when (almost) everyone’s in Singapore.  Shavoker (that’s Shanghai Havoker renamed) managed to spend the weekend in Singapore before he goes back to Shanghai tomorrow.  (He was in Indonesia the past week). 

Two other chaps just returned from a holiday in Shanghai tonight.  (Came for supper straight from the airport!  Luggage in tow!).  They actually bunked in at Shavoker’s apartment though he wasn’t there.  Haha.

JesterTM also just got back from France a couple of days ago, and of course i myself just got back from Manila last night.

It amazes me how mobile we are nowadays, travelling, whether for work or leisure.  Makes me appreciate technology all the more ‘cos even when we’re in different countries with different timezones, friendships can still be maintained, or even deepened via chat programmes like MSN.  Even while in Manila, i kept in touch with Iceman and Azure constantly via sms. 

I’m thinking of going to Hong Kong end July… and perhaps extend my holiday to visit Shavoker in Shanghai the week after.  It is good to travel, especially when you’re single with no family commitments to worry about.

Wonder why the book Lonely Planet is named thus.  This planet… really isn’t that lonely!

Hi folks!

Am in Manila this week on a work trip. Big boss wants to introduce me to the key personnel in various client offices so that i can grow the terrorism insurance portfolio in Philippines. Funny thing is that my big boss refers to me as his “terrorist engineer” or “terrorism engineer”. Fancy name for saying that i’m a terrorism insurance broker. I told my big boss, if he says that when we’re in Changi Airport, we’ll be in jail in a minute.

I’m putting up at Shangri La Makati. Excellent hotel. The room is terribly spacious – i got lost in my hotel room on the 1st nite. It’s like everytime i turn a corner, i find a new cubby hole or a new something that i never noticed before. Heh. Broadband’s expensive though… at about SGD21/day?

Took photos of my room which i will post once i’m back in Singapore. Been busy busy busy. Lots of meetings, then dinner with big boss and clients/ underwriters, then drinks, and it’s close to midnight by the time i get back to my hotel room.

Big meeting tomorrow morning. Need to go over the client’s file AND check my office email before i sleep so i need to end this post soon. My boss called when i was having drinks with my big boss and this underwriter. After we hung up, my boss called my big boss. I concluded that my boss must be lonely in office w/o my big boss and me around. Hahahaha.

My 1 and only complaint before i came was that IT gave me such a crappy notebook. It weighs a ton (approx. 3.5kg), has batteries that do not work, and the function keys are dead and so i can’t adjust the screen brightness/contrast at all!! Sigh.

Oh well, that’s all from me folks. Will be back on Saturday evening. Ciao!!

hello dear friends and fans,

i was greatly alarmed last Monday when i suddenly heard pounding sounds coming from around my backyard.  i remember the horror stories that my mommy told me before… of how owners left pitiful bunnies to die when war broke out.  i remember my mommy saying then that we should always be ready for such times.  i know we’ll be ok food-wise… ‘cos there’s fresh supply of grass.  but we haven’t solved the water issue yet!  if no one refills our water tray, we’ll all die of thirst!  🙁

as the pounding sounds grew louder, i sprang to my feet with my ears upright.  then i heard footsteps.  thud, thud, thud.  oh no!!  it must be soldiers coming to destroy the Forbidden City!

i ran around in circles trying to warn everyone but my mommy just lay next to the washing machine sleeping.  no one bothered to listen to me!  in panic, i ran back to my house… then i heard the footsteps & a voice calling me, “pinky?  pinky?”.  how did the soldier know my name?  he must’ve been observing my kingdom for a long time!

jumping out of my house, i ran to where my mommy slept.  she opened one eye to look at me, and went back to sleep.  i crouched as near to my mommy as possible.  i saw feet approaching.  as i huddled with my back pressed against the wall of the cupboard, the figured started to look familiar.

*phew*.  it was my chauffeur.  to deliver our afternoon meal.  bleah!  that scared me!  smelling food, my mommy woke up.  i asked her about the terrible pounding sounds that had now stopped.  my chauffeur and my mommy said that the sounds came from the house behind the Forbidden City.  stupid owners were tearing down the old house and building a new one.  sigh.  scared me for nothing.

hot and sticky from all the running, i decided to ignore everyone and clean my fur coat instead.  stupid humans.

sweaty-ly yours,

pinky

Bo liao on a Sunday evening…

You scored as Sleeping Beauty. Your alter ego is Princess Aurora, a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty! You are beautiful and enchanting, and as sweet as ever. Sleeping Beauty 63% Cruella De Ville 56% Goofy 50% Peter Pan 50% Ariel 44% Donald Duck 44% The Beast 44% Snow White 44% Cinderella 38% Pinocchio 38% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

2:26am.  Was in the toilet washing up when my phone rang.  I ran out to see who it was… i mean, it should be an important call if it came at 2:26am?  A friend in need of help perhaps? 

“03 calling” was flashing on the screen of my hp.  Sheesh.  I gave him my hp no. like 2.5 weeks ago?  What the heck was he calling me at 2:26am in the morning?!  Decided not to take the call.  Recalled the time ABC called me in the wee hours of the morning too.  Sigh.  I wouldn’t be surprised if 03 was not too sober to be calling at this time.  I mean, we’re talking about an ex-schoolmate that i saw for the first time in 10 years in Dec last year, and whom i exchanged contacts with only recently.  Sorry, i may be awake, but it doesn’t mean i’ll take your call.  I refuse to talk to drunkards.

Saw this excerpt on my friend’s blog.  Two very keen observations, good food for thought. 

“Just how many times do people say things they claim they didn’t have intentions to? Far too often.
Actually, verbal cues may not apply at all in some situations because people like to believe that they are being ‘politically’ and/or ‘socially’ correct and that they were compelled to respond that way.
BUT take another person, who not only observes such political/social cues but corresponds that with non-verbal cues. Cues may be cues, but non-verbal cues are quite the different story – it’s almost unconscious. We hardly think about it. So when drawn into a situation like this, where all cues correspond – we get ‘chemistry’.
There is no chemistry, if non-verbal cues are not involved.
So, if a person tells you, he has miscommunicated his intentions, then that’s crap because with intent there is consciousness.”

There you have it.  Chemistry explained and intentions unravelled.  No misunderstanding for sure.

Went for the Grasshopper Forever (Cao Meng) concert just now.  They were sooooo good.  I like quite a few of their songs though i don’t really know the words ‘cos i listened to them during a time when my Chinese was really really bad… when i couldn’t even read the words to memorise them… and could only learn a song by listening to it repeatedly.

Saw a couple of local celebrities in the audience – Kit Chan, Taufik, Chong Qing.  Don’t ask me what Taufik was doing there since he obviously doesn’t understand Cantonese… maybe it’s to learn stage presence, how to work a crowd, etc.  Plus i’m sure his tickets were free since 1 of the sponsors of the concert was Hype Record (Ken Lim… Taufik… ring a bell?).  Boy were the Grasshoppers good at getting the audience on their feet.  Even my mom stood up and swayed along.  Haha.

Edmond So also shared that this year will be his 10th wedding anniversary.  And pictures of the singers with their familes were also flashed on the screens.  I felt so happy looking at them.  Firstly the Grasshoppers have stayed together as a group for over 2 decades, never mind if they haven’t released many new albums in recent years.  Fact is they never disbanded over “creative differences” or burgeoning egos.  Secondly, all 3 of them have normal family lives.  Isn’t that great?

Here are some videos… blurry ‘cos i zoomed in too much.  🙁  But oh well, better than nothing.  I took so many videos and photos that my N95 kena low batt.  And i had to delete the mp3s in my memory card to free up space!  Haha.

Going to sleep now anyway. It’s taking too long to upload the videos! Bleah!  Oh and it’s quite amazing how they didn’t drop or fling the mikes away by accident… heehee.

Yay!  It’s my birthday once again!  Sigh.  How fast time flies… this blog’s 2 years old now.  Went to watch Phantom of the Opera just now.  Excellent show… though i did doze off at a particular scene… but that’s really ‘cos i’m super tired.  The sets were fantastic and the staging was superb.  Although the songs didn’t touch me as much as Les Mis.  But that’s the music… not the staging?  Heh… never mind.

Had dinner with Iceman, Azure and a colleague Sharky at HK Cafe before adjourning in time for the last 2 songs of the Filipino band at Balaclava.  Am relatively happy.  We had a very good time at HK Cafe… heh… thanks to the great sense of humour of the company i was in.

Cirrus called to wish me a Happy Birthday… and HD sent me an sms when i was in the cab on the way home.  Told me to enjoy my off day tomorrow too… but didn’t reply after i messaged saying i’m only taking half day leave ‘cos i have too much work to clear.  Oh well.  😐  There’s a reason why people don’t stay who they are.

A couple of friends asked me what i wanted for my birthday.  Don’t have anything in mind really.  The biggest gift i suppose is just to meet up with friends.  Some may say that if you need to use a birthday as an excuse to meet, then what’s the point?  But i disagree.  I think it’s inevitable that there will be friends that you don’t meet up with as regularly as you might want to.  So even if it means meeting up just once or twice a year on each other’s birthday to catch up, i think that’s something special.

So, thank you to everyone who has or is taking a little bit of time this month, to meet up.  🙂

met HD for lunch today. he sms’d about 9:30am in the morning to say that it was my birthday week and “lunch please”.

i replied to say let’s meet today since Bubbs had a lunch appointment already and so we did.  said he hasn’t gotten me a present and i said it’s ok ‘cos he had 2 hrs from morning till lunch to get something.  then he said he didn’t have time and i would’ve let the issue drop but he brought it up during lunch again.  said he saw this nice jabra bluetooth earpiece with interchangeable colours that he wanted to get for me.  so i said he has the whole of next week since i’ll be in Manila.

i really don’t think he means to get me anything… at least not now.  but i didn’t like the way he tried to “action action” that’s why i thanked him in advance for the gift. :p some people ought to be taught a lesson.

went to this japanese restaurant at boat quay for lunch.  was pleasantly surprised we both thought of the same place, though he doesn’t know it… but then again, the food was disappointing.  bleah.

sometimes i wonder why i even bother with HD.  his behaviour and the things he say are highly questionable at times but somehow… just ‘cos he’s usually open and frank with me, i’m more than willing to overlook his flaws.  sigh.

will not pandang belakang.