A Pretty Sight

For those who may be interested in a desktop wallpaper version, this is for you ; ) I hope you'll like it as much as I do!

Cravings... (Perfect Substitute: Fish & Chips)

Okay I know this is not a very good photo but trust me, it tastes much better than it looks here. I blame the poor lighting. I have a craving for it right here, right now. Sadly I'm many miles away from the nearest Botak Jones outlet, all the way in Toa Payoh. I really love their fish & chips. (And their cajun chicken, the jumbo sausage...) The fish is crispy and fresh and comes with a generous dollop of their homemade tartar sauce. I also love the mountain of coleslaw and fries that accompanies. I need a platter. NOW.

*GROWL*

Oops, that was my tummy. Not me. Sorry.

And by the way, this would really work as a perfect substitute for fish and chips in Fish & Co :P It doesn't have that strong buttery taste that seems so heavenly on first bite, but as you work your way to the end, you just can't stand it anymore. This one works really, really well.

Best part is you get all these for just $6.00. Nope, no typo here.

I hope dinner will be good >_< ARGH.

Specially for you!

Psalm 71:19-20
19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
You who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
20 Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
You will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up.

Le Sigh.

My hair has often been a sore point for me.

When I was in primary school, my grandmother used to gaze at my luxurious, long, black hair and will say, "Your hair can be used for shampoo advertisements" as she stroked the silky, glossy strands.

Come secondary school, hormones came along and brought its friends, Acne & Insecurity, into my wretched adolescent existence. And hormones ravaged my hair and left it unrecognizable. What was once silky & black is now just... a mess of black wires. Truly, with each painful year, the hair simply exploded. It was unstoppable: black, thick, unruly, wiry, coarse, untameable. I gave up trying to have a flattering hairstyle, for verily, hope deferred makes the heart sick.

In junior college, I found a hairstyle that won't make me look too much like a mop and pretty much stuck with it for the rest of my life, as a JC friend so unkindly and bluntly pointed out to me ("Hey Quirkie! Wah your hairstyle never change from JC days hor!"). Oh sure, I tried a different style every now and then; I even had a dalliance with the rebonding trend; but at the end of the day, it was still the boring short cropped layered slope.

My church... *shuddering sob* A place of respite & acceptance? They coined this nickname for me: Bush. Nope, nothing to do with America, everything to do with botany.

And the colour of my hair. It's an intense black. A did-you-dye-your-hair-black?-black. So if you have tres noir hair that is also over-abundant, you get this very hard and harsh look without even trying (have I mentioned my thick, black eyebrows?). It wasn't until I tried colouring my hair once after my graduation that I realised how a softer hair-colour can make a person look friendlier and less sallow.

A few months ago, I tried colouring my whole head a reddish-orange tinge and it worked pretty well for me. I felt more confident and looked less harsh. But you know how it is... hair colour fades, black roots grow out. So, yesterday I decided it was time for a new colour treatment, seeing how I've got 2 weddings to attend pretty soon. I chose a reddish colour again, seeing how it worked for me the last time.

As the hairdressor washed off the dye, I stared at the mirror and a pale-faced punk with bright red hair stared back at me.

This morning, my colleague did a double take when he saw me. He went over to my other colleague and said...
He: Quirkie did something to her hair.
She: Okay, is it a good or bad thing?
He: It's... attractive.
She: So it's a good thing lah?
He: You can say that... but attractive also means it attracts a lot of attention.

So far, an aunty in the office has been merciless on her relentless attacks on my hair. "Ah lian! Ah lian! When Intuition see you, he'll be like, Wah! Who's this new girl I'm dating? Looks like ah lian!"
And then she said, "Wah, with this colour you must be careful about what you wear... Wait you wear not nice, people say you aunty. You go market later people call you 'aunty'!" -____-b
"Eh, what is this colour you dyed? Burgandy? You must tell me, so that next time I go hairdressor, I'll know what colour not to ask for..."
*whispers to another colleague* "I want to pour my black coffee on her hair so that it will turn black..."

Woe is me, for I am a girl of unkind hair, and I work among a people of unkind lips :(

Grassy? Me?

Ms Krong was sharing about a personality test she tried and how she was surprised at its accuracy. With my curiousity piqued, I asked her to email it to me for me to try, and like her, I was surprised at its accuracy (except for the modern-life bit. how is my mundane life modern??). Here it is!

You are the grass-fragrance type
You have very strong will, not dependent on others and gives an impression of being a lone-ranger. You are extremely curious and sensual, living a clear-headed, modern life. At first glance, you place yourself on a pedestal & are difficult to get along. But once others talk to you, they know you are easy-going. And when the relationship develops, they realise you are affable. You have an androgynous charm which makes you popular with all genders. But you don't like your weak side to be seen. You might look cool on the surface, but beneath it all, you are really passionate. Only people who know your true self can maintain a long relationship with you.

If you luv me like Jesus asked you to you'll give me money...

--->> Warning: Potentially controversial rant ahead. If you disagree with me, I invite you to tell me why, but no flaming please! <<---

Today, someone came into the office saying "Praise Jesus!" and asked for a staff who wasn't in at that time. So another staff attended to him.

And then the elderly gentleman went on to announce loudly to the whole office a sob story about how he's got no money n he needs money to go Ang Mo Kio to see doctor n he needs money and the office must give him money cos he's asking Jesus for help and he got no money and he wants us to give him money to let him get to AMK to see doctor if we don't give him money how he walk there he got athritis you know his leg is painful he got no money he's asking Jesus for help to give him money to go AMK to see doctor his medicine finish already he cannot walk to AMK not using money to gamble or womanise need to see Dr in AMK (how does he reach here in the first place?!?!!) My colleague offered him a free meal and offered to refer him to a medical social worker to get his bills reduced / waived / something or other but he insisted that "i need money to see doctor."

Apparently he came here several times asking for money already. From Ang Mo Kio? Hah.

Do I sound jaded and harsh? I don't think so. Honestly, I'm all for helping the less fortunate and I truly believe there are many individuals out there who need a helping hand. I honestly do think that more can be done for the poor in Singapore, eg making resources known instead of hiding it behind lots of corporate social jargonese. But there is a difference between having compassion for those in need, and being wise so that you're not taken for a fool.

The first time I met such a person, I was alone in the office with no one else around. I had to IM a guy from another part of the building to come in and handle the situation. Same case--guy walks in, says "Praise Jesus!" and goes on to say how he needs money. Out of the kindness of his heart, the guy who attended to him gave him $10 and sent him on his way. Is he going to spend the money on food? We don't know, but frankly that's beyond our control.

Working in a VWO, I know that we do render practical help and assistance to genuine cases. There are usually some paper work to go through, but for the urgent cases, we do close an eye and give some form of assistance before the paperwork is done (e.g., food rations). And there is world of a difference between a genuine cry for help and a deliberate emotional blackmail ("if you don't help me get out of this {make-believe} mess i got myself into it's all your fault").

Shooting Colours

Sometime this week, someone invited me to be a last-min stand-in desperate-liaoz-no-one-else-can-make-it-HELP!! photographer for a simple media publicity project for a seminar targeted at the ladies in his church =) Of course I was extremely flattered and accepted the offer! I'm a novice and I've never done this before, so I told him if he's willing to endure an inexperienced photographer, I'm game for it =D

The idea was to have a series of black & white photographs with a single colourful object highlighted. (he wanted 10 good ones.. I gulped at that) The models are all from his church--a bevy of beautiful babes. The guys in that church must have a hard time concentrating on the sermons! :P

Here are my favs from the morning's work =) It was a lot of fun. I would sacrifice my Saturday morning snooze-ins for more of these experiences =)







EDIT: at the request of my friend, I took out the pictures where his friends are identifiable =)

Word Associations

So, there's this little game out there where you say a word, and another person comes up with another word that is associated with it. Example from Family Guy:
Mayor: "Okay, so I'll say a word and you'll respond with another. Mosquito."
Meg: "Bite!"
Mayor: "Good one! Here's one: Bite!"
Meg: "Mosquito!"
Mayor: "Yeah! We have a connection! How about.... hmm, mosquito?"
Meg: "Bite!"
Mayor: "Bite?"
Meg: "Mosquito!"
Mayor: "Oh, you're very clever!"

Some of the word associations in my mind right now?
Bubble ---> Burst (Like the economy... things are on an upswing, but sometimes, u just never know.)
Time ---> Out (Cadbury! Break time!)
Talk ---> Cheap (heard of NATO? No Action, Talk Only. Such as CASE being on NET's case. time to sign up for a debit card)
Over ---> All (Overall, big picture.. or it can mean "Over; all." play on words :P )
Stuff in the news and close to the heart--food and money.. sigh.

Zoo Excursion (whoop-de-doo!)

I went to the zoo on Saturday with my cell group, so you can understand why I'm so thankful that it wasn't too hot nor was it rainy :P Taking 2hours to travel there only to be met with wet weather doesn't do very much for your mood.

Here are some nicer photos from that day's excursion. Not a lot of animals, huh? Come to think of it, where were the zebras that I saw the last time? Hmm.. But this time we did go for some shows, which allowed us to rest and get some respite from the hot sun.



Could you tell that I went for the elephant show? For once I'm glad I didn't get the front row seats. The people sitting in front were mercilessly sprayed with the river water by the elephants. Just imagine. The elephants like to roll in the water, and then they suck it up their noses and spray at you. I try not to think about elephants doing their business in the water and elephant snot. You should try not to, too.

This boy's t-shirt read "I'm not allowed to date... unless you're hot". When asked, it was his mum's t-shirt :D I want this t-shirt!!

This boy's so cute--cheeky look and a mop of fine, curly, brown hair. The hula-hoop was taken from him and he remained in that position for a long time, relishing all the laughter and attention :D He's a natural entertainer, that one is!

We tried to rush for the 5pm "Splash!" show, but the show was absolutely packed. We could only look on from the side. There was this little girl who wasn't paying attention to the dolphins, she's probably curious about all those people milling about below her. Kawaii ne!

Simple Pleasures in Life

Simple pleasures in life include good weather (i.e., not too hot and not raining) over a weekend of outdoor activities =) God is good!

Yet another: Free movie tickets to Pirates of the Carribean! The pleasure is in receiving free tickets, not in the movie :P The movie is okaay I guess. Chow Yun Fatt has the ultimate superfluous role... you could edit him out of the movie completely and it would still be okay. Methinks his main role is to announce "Welcome to Singapore!", which makes me wanna go "d'oh!". That was as necessary as the exchange between James Bond and Vespa in the last James Bond installment-->
"Nice watch. Is it a... rolex?"
"No. It's an Omega."
"Oh!" *approving look*
-___-b. . . Placement ads don't get much more blatant than that. The fight scenes in Pirates are also toooo long... Seriously, I don't see why it should be a 3hour long movie when it could easily be much shorter.

Where was I... oh, simple pleasures in life. Yes...

A good night's sleep =) Last night's weather was cooler than usual, which meant that this morning, it was with much difficulty and reluctance that I dragged my comatose self out of the very, very comfortable cacoon.

Also, my mum is going Hong Kong this week, which means that my brother and I get to use the car! She offered to leave some cash behind for our daily expenses, but we're both working liaoz, so we counter-offered.. "Don't need lah... but instead, you can leave a full-tank in the car when you leave!" This set her off on a spiel on how we should drive safely and not speed. "Yes mum, we know; no mum, we won't..."

Here is a video on youtube that I saw some time back, but it always tickles me much ;) Indeed, simple pleasures in life are worth celebrating!

Idealists and Pragmatists...

I used to think that Intuition and I are as alike as 2 peas in a pod--figuratively speaking. We do not physically resemble each other, thank you very much :P

Some similarities:
- we have very similar interests: watching musicals, listening to music (similar taste in music, too! christian contemporary!), reading, playing the guitar (he's better by far, but it's something i enjoy), walking in parks, eating, writing...
- we share similar values and generally feel the same way towards issues
- we enjoy creative work rather than routine driven, admin work.
- our rooms are veritable labyrnths. try finding your way around or looking for something that got... eaten up by the clutter.
so sometimes I wonder, are we too similar? Usually opposites attract, right? So are we an anomaly? What happens when two similar people get together, especially if they are both downright messy? Does the house become a... a neighbourhood dump? Shouldn't at least one of us be um, neat and clean? And orderly?

Recently, I've come to realise that we do have our differences, and it's a very fundamental one (besides the fact that he's a guy and i'm a gal. "Gal" means females, for the benefit of -SOMEONE- who didn't know that until very recently..). He's an idealist and I'm a pragmatist, and never shall the twain understand the other's decision making process. He wants to do the right thing, the right way. In fact, if you can't do the right thing the right way, don't bother doing the right thing at all. For me, I want to do the right thing, the practical way. Does the right way cost too much time and resources? Is the practical way immoral or illegal? If not, then I'd choose the practical way.

It's interesting to know that there are so many facets to each person that even though you think that someone is so totally like you, chances are, s/he's really not all that similar to you. And that's not a bad thing =)

Perfect Substitute # 5: Burgers @ Botak Jones

In QuirkieKai's burger rankings, McDonald's is right at the bottom, all the waaaaay doooowwwn theeerreeee... It's small, it's got zero nutritional value (in fact, it's got negative nutritional value.. it takes away from your health rather than add to it!) and it's yucky. Ick. Do yourself a favour and don't ever go McD's for meals. Go spend your $6 at a hawker centre and knock yourself out with char kway tiao instead. Even if you eat up all the lard bits, it's probably still healthier than one of their upsized meals with all the trans-fats choked fries and DNA altering-soft drinks :P

Burger King used to be better, but recently their burgers also CMI (cannot make it). Their mushroom swiss burger used to be a thing of delight! A glorious, cheesy, mushroomy mess of calories and cholesterol! But now, it's small, dry and a sad shadow of what it once was.

The burger scene in Singapore would have been downright sad if not for the entry of Carl's Junior, with all the droolworthy messy burger ads. I love their burgers and their criss-cut fries with that tangy salsa sauce! The grilled chicken burger and the mushroom burger are yummilicious! However, their meals aren't exactly cheap, though you could easily share some of the meals.

Thanks to Singing Tigger (again :P hahah! she's my food resource person!), who introduced me to Botak Jones, there is a light at the end of the Burger Tunnel... the tunnel being lined with cholesteral, but sometimes we have to live life on the edge. The patties are THICK and juicy, nothing like the paper-mache pieces they pass off as beef patties at McD's, and they are completely coated in cheeeese... For an additional $1, you get a mountain of coleslaw and fries that threatens to overflow from the big plate the burger comes in. You can also customize your burger.. wanna add bacon? more cheese? more veg? Just let them know, and they'll bill you accordingly =) Think Billy Bomber portions at just-slightly-above-Burger King prices, with home-made beef patties. Heavenly, no?

The strategy for eating at Botak Jones is to make sure that half the crowd DON'T order the side-dishes! Share the coleslaw and fries! I assure you, there will be more than enough to go around :P When I went to the one at Depot Road last Thursday, there were many plates with fries and coleslaw still untouched in it... It's a sad sight to see good food go to waste =( While I'm all for indulging, let's just play our part and not over-order when we know that food will go to waste. Will be going to the Toa Payoh branch with my colleagues tomorrow =) Shall take some pictures then!