A day in the life

Yesterday we spent a day in the life of a tourist, visiting the new addition to our island’s cityscape.

All photos courtesy of Quen. Please fall prostrate at his feet now.

The four of us had the privilege of witnessing this amazing view of this little red dot, and what better time to do it than a month before National Day :) Four of us = Quen, Jiwon, Tarnia and I – probably one of the most randomest combination of people yet. But I sekretly love random small groups which are Not Awkward. Its like finding a new combination to a puzzle. Random church chatting @ Beanstro ftw.

I will not damage the beauty of this post with my rambling (I will do another with MORE RANDOM PHOTOS of this day) but one last thing -

Bright lights shine on the street at night, guiding me closer to home.

Everybody now!

“DUDES! PUMP IT UP~!”

*SPIRIT FINGERS GONE MENTAL*

OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAH ~

YOU ARE THE ONE SINGAPOREEEEEE~

x

OH HAYYY we got this thing DOWN. JJ Lin ain’t got nothing on us!

I would like to restate my feelings about this YOG cheer. My brain has grown quite fond of it, as I cannot seem to shake its melodious tune and moving lyrics out of my head. Wherever I go and whoever I meet, I have this compelling urge to break out into (this) song complete with hand actions and demented facial expressions. I guess it really must be some lyrical masterpiece after all.

~DUDESLETSPUMPIT~

So I’ve been avoiding watching the YOG song cos everyone has been moaning & groaning about it and I feared that I would be scarred for life. Tonight I just decided to check it out.

FIRST OF ALL. SRSLY. SRSLY??

I cannot imagine how the SONG-WRITING meeting went down with this one.

*gathers round table*

“Uh so how about three OH YEAHS (cos youths are lazy and don’t respond to proper words nowadays anw)

and then how about a YOU ARE THE ONE, SINGAPORE! (cos you know, its generic and doesn’t really refer to anything)

and then finally, NOW IS THE TIME HERE WE GO!! (another useless phrase which doesn’t mean anything but brainless youth will surely lap it up!!)”

*everyone nods in agreement.* Meeting ends after 10 minutes.

=.=

OK AND SECONDLY. EVEN BEFORE THE RIDICULOUS LINES GET REPEATED 1902830123 TIMES IN THE VIDEO, this is the intro part that I am more intrigued by:

SRSLY?

ARE U SRS.

K U JUST GOTA BE KIDDING ME BY NOW. The man is clearly a maniac.

I would like to add in that before he commences this insane SPIRITFINGERS movement, the voiceover goes like this:

“DUDES! LET’S PUMP IT!” *proceeds as above*

My reaction (and I’m pretty sure the rest of Singapore and the World for that matter): Areyouserious.

I would like to express my condolences to the children/teens/teachers/staff/coaches that were featured in the video and were subject on the spot to follow along with the ~~~swankyhandmoves~~

Well, at least they achieved their purpose of having it ADDICTIVE. Annoyingly addictive. I’m gona be singing this in front of everybody now. Complete with ~swankyhandmoves~ and ~spiritfingers~ and ~pumping~

WOOOOO~

Disclaimer: I love my country but COME. ON.

Observe.

Hmm…

Bus 174

This morning I have a thread of running thoughts as I ride the bus. And because I don’t want to flood Twitter with them, I am typing this on my way to work. Pardon the random inconherentness.

Listening: Won’t Even Start – David Choi (I really need to do a post on these YouTube people, my life has changed since I’ve subscribed to some awesome channels)

Question 1:

I put this on Twitter but I might as well bring it up again. Are the buses during rush hour packed with people and impossible to get a seat? Cos that was my impression when I was getting ready to board the bus. So I don’t know if it just Bkt Timah, but the bus is always like. Fairly un-full. I always manage to secure a seat the minute I board.

Does this confirm the age-old (not really) myth that most Bukit Timah residents are RICH $$$$? And thus don’t need to take public transport cos they drive to work in big swanky cars that line up in rows during the rush hour jam? Hmm :( I always got indignant when I tell people I live in Bkt Timah and their first reaction is: WAH! BKT TIMAH! (this started happening alot in Uni. And now at work) I guess it would be my equivalent reaction to someone who lives at Sixth Ave or Holland? I always had to quickly compensate by saying UH I STAY IN A HDB!! (to which they counter with: STILL! BUKIT TIMAH!) And I am like -.-Srsly?

There was even once in the HR module I took (fav class of last sem!) where we were kinda debating about meritocracy and the rich/poor divide in Sg. And this dude was all like ‘You see all those rich people, drive big car and live in Bkt Timah!’ And I was like NOWWAITAMINUTEMISTER.. I would like to dispute that. INYOFACE. Ok it didn’t go down exactly like that, but I did voice my displeasure.

So this entry was just meant to highlight the question but has turned into a full fledged ESSAY. I had other questions I wanted to post, but you’re scrolling downward on your google reader already now aren’t you? I know you chronic scrollers..

I am going to stop babbling and save my other questions for next time. Bus rides induce thought bubbles of wonderment. I’m sure I’m not the first person to realize that.

Workplace!

I love my work environment. It is sandwiched between quaint Ann Siang and bustling Chinatown, hidden among the fancy shmancy shophouses decked out row by row along the road. Pretty cafes, boutiques and high-end restaurants are next door. It is quite the inspiring walk en route to the little white door of the office. One of the best parts is that some of the Best local fare can be found in hawker centers a stone’s throw away, alongside all these Atas angmoh joints (I stereotype indeed). The urban planner must have had in mind the plight of the poor and hungry office worker at lunchtime.

x

I LOVE THE NEW WORDPRESS THEME! Ima gna edit it either tonight or later this weekend when I have time. Its time for a little revamping. But I love it as it is right now already, with the image bordering and bold title fonts and such. Love. Yea don’t know if you’ve observed – I might be a mess in real life with my room falling apart, but when it comes to my blog layout, I’m kinda perfectionist about it. HA THE IRONY.

USS Mini Series #2

This is the 2nd part of the 2-part USS mini series.

This one shall be called. Hmm. GIDEON MEETS&GREETS USS STAFF.

The last 20 minutes of being in the theme park were spent doing the following:

RACING THROUGH ALL FIVE (FOUR!?WHATEV) WORLDS AND GIDEON TRYING TO TAKE PHOTOS WITH EVERY SINGLE PAIR OF STAFF IN DIFFERENT COSTUMES.

It was drizzling, we were tired, but we literally raced through the entire park and grabbed as many victims as possible to accomplish the following:

Spot the enthusiastic faces of the staff! How cute. AND YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS ALL!? NO, THERE’S MORE OMGZ.

Check out the guys in bluegreysanatomy getups. The dude was like wth-? but before he could arrest us WE RACED FORWARD. HAHAHAHA.

Yeah. Pretty impressive huh?

WELLYOUHAVEN’TSEENANYTHINGYETLOOKATTHIS:

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA AND THIS PHOTO CRACKS ME UP EVERY TIME.

Whats that now? A photo of A WHOLE GROUP OF USS STAFF AND – OOH LOOK, GID IS IN THE MIDDLE.

Insanity, I tell you. Pure insanity. I will have you know the story behind this photo is that the staff were all lined up in 2 rows to say goodbye to the guests leaving the park, and I just wanted Gid to stand in front of the 2 rows so I could get a photo of them as the backdrop. And WHO KNOWS THE MOMENT I WHIPPED OUT THE CAMERA, THE STAFF CAME RACING TOWARD GIDEON AND PILED ALL AROUND HIM………..

And the rest is history.

USS Mini-series #1

This is a two part mini series of events encountered at USS.

This is the first one, which I would like to call: USS BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN US.

(And by best, I do mean worst)

So it all started with our initial sighting of THIS:

Which led Gid and I to endless guffawing as we continued our journey around the place.

About 10 minutes later, we found the same group of them again. This time they were like STRADDLING PILLARS AND STONE LIONS AND OTHER INANIMATE OBJECTS and we were just like o.O – CAMERA. TAKE PHOTO. NOW.

So I tried to get them in the background with me imitating my best touristy/LIANZ pose. Which evidently failed. I’m out of touch with this lian thing since last year.

So I present to you my fearless failed imitations of RANDOM GIRL/WOMAN/LADY-WHO-USES-EVERYTHING-AS-A-BACKDROP/PROP FOR A PHOTOSHOOT.

Yeah. I know. I FAIL. BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The point is that there were HEAPS more of these people doing RIDICULOUS POSES that sadly I didn’t manage to voyeuristically take a photo of, and this includes the following:

Oh look, lets take a photo of me opening a door!

AND MY ULTIMATE ALL-TIME FAVOURITE:

I kid you not, people, I kid you not.

(And my facial expression is Not an exaggeration of the real deal either).

Loves it.

Yaps & USS

The day that the Yap family (-1) visited Universal Studios Singapore.

PHOTO VOMIT AHEAD.

LOOK AT US ALL EXCITED. (Okay a lie because this photo was taken at the end of the day and we were kinda wasted by then).

We arrive and are extremely EXCITED BECAUSE WE LOVE THEME PARKS <33

Kicking it with Betty Boop & Charlie Chaplin.. and prancing through the amazing architecture.

I LOVE THE EGYPTIAN WORLD. Coupled with the insane heat = perfect desert experience. I couldn’t stop taking photos of the amazing sculptures! AND REVENGEOFTHEMUMMY ride = thumbsup yall.

Egyptian man on stilts – there was another one who was HOTTER but he ran away :(

Parents with backdrop of USS + Gid trying out the Battlestar seats + CHOCOLATE CHURROS!?

THE LOST WORLD AND THE MADAGASCAR PLACE (I don’t think I’m using the right terms here)

Sadly we didn’t get much of The Lost World esp since the water ride got shut down when THUNDER started rumbling :(( Madagascar was alright. Check out our cover of the Beatles cover. HA!

FAR FAR AWAY! An awesome place. I love the castle (but doesn’t beat Cinderella’s castle in Disneyworld tho). Had lunch at FRIAR’S place and I kissed a frog but nothing happened. Failsauce.

Gid tries to steal strollers and tries to break into the candy hut. Nice try.

WATERWORLD performance! Filled with AMs. I’d like to see some Asians up there doing those flips and kicks please. We’ve got Jackie Chan, Jet Li and friggin Donny Yen so don’t tell me we are inferior in any way. While they’re at it, they can incorporate some KUNGFU-fighting *insertmusic*!

Checking out the merchandise in Shrek store. Weird ferris wheel of doom with children trapped inside + spoof of the disney pricesses! Tsktsk.. NOT COOL. Don’t mess with my disney princesses! And thats why I’m not pleased in the next photo. Mom checks out VERSARCHERY (HAHA I love the spoofs. Far far away is full of them).

Speaking of spoofs.. here are a few more to tickle your bone.

Caleb insists that I take photos so he can reminisce his East-side golden days. (I SAY WEST SIDE FTW).

The B-boy performance! Which was pretty awesome. Except when they got volunteers up…. then it got pretty awkward. Ask any of us for the story. Girls at such a young age should Not be krumping like that….

And onward to the end. CHECK IT OUT – Caleb hangs with a colourful bunch of ethnic ladies. Loves it. Plus perusing the hershey’s store for insane amounts of chocolate. Loves it too. AND LASTLY, VICTORIA’S SECRET. LOVES IT MORE.

A happy family photo for a HAPPY DAY! WE LOVE THEME PARKS!

x

Coming up: USS #2 and #3 = Starring yours truly & Giddy Yap.

Kodak moment

Photos of the day:

In their colourful saris, squatting outside an Egyptian palace @ Universal Studios Singapore.

And yes, they are all eating coconuts.

A (stolen) KODAK MOMENT RIGHT THERE.

Residue

Little leftover bits from YJ’s Singapore trip, in a nutshell. (I am SO lazy – I discovered I have this huge backlog of photos that I haven’t even uploaded on fb!)

The “chinese ahbeng” haircut that plagued him the rest of the trip.

The new passport that was the reason why he was delayed in Australia for 4 days!

I wasn’t kidding about toasting under the stars @ Rawa :)

Matching NUM slippers.

Singapore slinging with Jackie.

An entire afternoon in Andrew’s room with Nat, watching Zack&Miri + stalking clicknetworktv (aka kaykay) videos (excuse Andrew’s nudity).

NIGHT SAFARI!

Singapore flyer (we are such tourists).

Chinatown with Tarnia.

Island Cremery + Taboo with Shamil, Illya, Jackie.

Shawna finally met her could-been foster father.

Little India CNY lunch with the family.

Making me tissue paper roses (one of the bunch).

Ordering only Chilli crab and finishing it between the two of us. His last meal.

Munchkins sendoff at the airport.

x

After this post, I conclude that YJ has way too many friends in Singapore now.

EAT.

So I never really got down to posting about what YJ did while he was in SG those 2 and a half weeks.. I decided that this would be the best way to sum up what we spent half our time together doing.

(Brace yourself.)

Sambal stingray & chilli kangkong (his first meal!)/ Fishhead curry & chilli kangkong (clearly he was addicted)/ Nasi Lemak & Chicken rice/ Prawn Rib Mee/ Hokkien Mee & Sugarcane/ XLB & Hotstone fried rice/ Charkwayteow, Popiah & Indonesian chicken/ Chilli Nachos/ CHILLI CRAB (his last meal)

Oh yes, it continues.

Some weird spicy chicken intestine thing/ JELLIES from Chinatown/ Coconut juice/ Wings @ Hooters/ Takopachi/ $1 ice cream in town/ DURIAN/ Burgers @ NYNY/ Singapore Sling

How about there’s still the time we had Indian food during Chinese New Year, and reunion dinner @ that Chinese restaurant with my family, followed by two consecutive days of eating at my house (food provided by the mothership) – KONG BA PAO AND CURRY CHICKEN MMMMYUM – and also the time that Pete & Sarah were in town – FOOD REPUBLIC EATING FRENZY…….

Okay I’m kinda freaked out now. I got kinda scared making the collage actually. Hahaha well what can I do when Singapore is all about the eating! :) We love our food. PLUS the fact that its cheap – YJ was ranting and raving nonstop about the BEAUTY OF HAWKER CENTERS the entire 2 weeks.

x

In part, this is REVENGE for him calling me a FATASS while we were in Santa Cruz for the weekend last year, just because I wanted to eat Cold Stone after we had an Indian buffet of which we stuffed ourselves silly.

<3

NEOPRINTxZzxxxZ~**

BIRTHDAY HIGHLIGHT #3:

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS ZOMG. Geri and I were gushing about how many hundreds of dollars we used to spend on neoprints and how we used to STICK THEM IN NEOPRINT BOOKS HAHAHA.

DECORATING IS SO. MUCH. FUN.

Yea Yvonne removed that after I drew a heart over her face.

x

AND THE FINAL PRODUCTS:

AND OF COURSE, LET US NOT FORGET:

Yes, you thought it had gone away. AHLIANZxxzz~* FTW.

x

MAN I LOVE NEOPRINTS. On retrospect, those hundreds of dollars over the years were probably worth it.

JAMBO

MAMBO (03/02)

Pictures speak for themselves.

(Spot the series of photos where YJ & Andrew take over the podium. More disturbing ones on fb.)

SUNSHINE. MOONLIGHT. GOOD TIMES. BOOGIE.

:)

x

Post-comments: Our foreigner friends were very intrigued by the concept of mambo and MAMBO KINGS hahaha so cute but yes it was a good CULTURE SHOCK for them. Herd behaviour in a club somewhat, but when you’re in good company, everything is so much ridiculous fun. One of the best nights ever.

Ihouse in SG (Part II)

After sunset destination: Clarke Quay.

SO PRETTY.

Andrew & YJ still behaving like they are in AMERIKA.

x

DINNERTIME! We went to Beach Road Hawker Centre to have Soup Tulang! My first time trying it too – I TOLD YOU I WAS A TOURIST.

HOHOHO.

Dinner company. Spot the fake couple!

This was the end of Saturday. On sunday we proceeded to go for church service (Yvonne, Rachel, Amelia, Andrew & YJ all came HAHA), Japanese buffet dinner, and ended the day with hanging out at Blooie’s @ Rail Mall.

Insane weekend.