Afternoon Sips

I'm very much taken to the French habit of drinking wine any time of the day.

I tried to convince the girls to open a bottle of Lambrusco today. It's sparkling red dessert wine. You see, the French (or Belgians) scorned white wine cos they felt that white wine would never be as refined as red wine. And we amateurs like white wine mainly cos of its sweetness. So dessert red wine would be a good introduction to actual red wine. Oh the atrocity! Evon would look at me in exasperation.

But the girls didn't want to try...

After the very delicious Italian fare at Robertson Quay this afternoon, I couldn't resist ordering a glass of wine to clear my palate from the rich creamy pasta - taking cue from my Belgian friends.

I really like the idea of drinking wine on a lazy afternoon over long lunches with dear friends. Oh my, am I turning French? :D

The Best And Worst Airports

Just saw this article.

I realised I passed through the world's worst and best airports in a space of 2 weeks.

Well, I don't know about it being the worst or not, but the London Heathrow Airport was rather dismal. Among other things, the only directions were all over the place, the officials there barked at me for being confused.

And Charles de Gaulle lost a piece of my luggage.

Home is always the most inviting :) Way to go, Changi!

Slumming It

You have heard of eco tourism, dark tourism, medical tourism. What about poverty tourism? This is a term I (thought I) coined myself to define the tourism of visiting the villages or slums in developing countries. Only to learn that this is not a new concept - poorism.

Poverty tourism or poorism, also known as township tourism or slumming is a type of tourism, in which tourists travel to less developed places to observe people living in poverty. Poorism travel tours are popular in places like India, Ethiopia, and even places that have had natural disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis. After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana became a big poorism site.

Critics say poorism is likened to a kind of voyeurism, exploiting people less fortunate, snapping pictures and leaving nothing in return. - Wikipedia

While researching travelling materials to developing countries, I see lots of pamplets encouraging me to "experience a day in the life of the native folk".

I don't mind contributing money and time to help improve the lives of the poor in these regions. But if laying two bricks on an unfinished village school and posing for photographs in the process just for the thrill of feeling charitable and sympathetic, I say no thanks.

Some places are so developed in poverty tourism that the visiting route is all planned out for the traveller who wants to "slum it". Recent trip to Siem Reap really opened my eyes to this superficial farce.

Indeed, we leave nothing behind when we visit the slums except the sense of inferiority. What gives us the right to peer and take pictures of people who are hard at work in the fields and fake our sympathy? I say it is fake because most of us will not take sustainable measures to help the poor when we are back in our cushy beds at home, no matter how saddened we are during the tour.

Oh yes, I was also guilty of being the affluent tourist who travelled to the slums to gawk at the villagers "in their natural habitat" as if they were animals at the zoo.

We took a river cruise on the Tonle Sap River whose main attraction is the floating village. We were fascinated by the floating homes, floating markets, floating chapels and basketball courts. We stared in wonder at the river folk while our boat weaved through their homes.

We were then brought to the floating provision shop to buy some stationery for the poor children studying in schools. "We will bring you to see the children later." Immediately an image of happy children hugging my legs while I give out pencils popped into mind.

At the little shop, 8 pencils cost USD$4 and 10 exercise books cost $12. Exorbitant! When I took one packet of pencils, the guide prompted, "Get more. That's not enough for the children," and smiled widely.

The our guide took us to the floating school where the children were having lessons. It was the most awkward experience! There were just 2 of us. When we stepped into the classroom, the teacher stopped and smiled at us. The blackboard was filled with mathematics equations and the children were apparently doing their work.

We looked at them and said hi. The children just stared at us, just like how they stared at the many damn foreigners before us. They did not swarm around me like I imagined. We tried to pictures with them and realised they were not responsive. After a few hasty attempts to be friendly, we scooted off. We really did not want to make them feel like an exhibition.

I don't know if the money paid for the stationery will eventually help the families. It took me a while to grapple with the fact that I was no different from any damn ang mohs - I participated in poverty tourism.

没有梦想太遥远

Last month, I was in charge of a voice recording for a radio commercial. That was just a couple of days before CNY. And I got to chat with the voice talent, who happened to be DJ 帝聪.

Seeing that I looked kinda green to be "in charge" of a project, he asked when I graduated, what I studied.

I shared that I actually wished to study subjects not related to my current discipline, e.g. history and literature. I didn't study them in the past because my mum didn't think much of arts subjects. In fact, I dreamt of pursuing the creative line such as broadcasting like him, or writing for publications.

He was adamant that I did not pursue my dreams because of my mum and demanded that he spoke with my mum. While it was obvious he was joking, I was touched to hear his encouragement.

At the end of the session, we parted with his blessings to achieve my dreams in the future.

Until now, when I think of our conversation, I will weep quietly. Deep in me, there must be a strong sense of regret. It is not too late to chase my dream?

It's queer how a stranger can make such a deep impression on me.

I Love The World

Discovery Channel is running a TVC that reflects my exact sentiments.



I just wanna say:

I love the world.
I love the whole world.
I love the wonders of the world.

I wanna see the world.
I wanna embrace the whole world.
I wanna experience the wonders of the world.

And until I embark on this wondrous journey, I'll continue to dream :)

For Better Or For Worse

Tears stung my eyes as I captured this photograph. I had the idea that getting married is not just a union between two people in love but also separation from the parents whom you're forever indebted to.

Don't think I can bear to leave my family.

Anyway, I still wish the couple a happy life forever :)

Children Overdose

Don't you just hate it when people practically shove their children into your face and expect you to say "Ohhh.... Your baby is so cute...!"

I super hate it, especially when most of the children I was introduced too were not particularly cute. Some look sullen all the time. Some try too hard to be mature. Some are just plain rude. But when I have to, my delighted praise is usually accompanied by a wince, which the proud parents will never notice.

When will you be surrounded by flocks of "adorable" children? At a company gathering of course! And no company gathering is bigger than the Triathlon, which my company sponsors every year.

I really don't like to play with children. I don't like to play a clown to delight them. I hate!

And so, I stay away from them.

But strangely, they fascinate me. I usually stare at them from afar and try to figure what their every little action means. Babies are funny creatures.

So, do I like children or not? I don't know. *Confused by little people known as babies*

P/s I acknowlege that all parents have every right to be proud of their children. Please don't take offence.

Birthday Musings

I don't have a fancy car; to get to you, I'd walk a thousand miles.

- All I Have To Give, BSB

Sometimes a girl just needs a hopeless romantic. It's my secret girly dream to marry Nick Carter. I don't care that you think he's fat, or he's dumb or he has dated Paris Hilton. Nothing matters as long as he would walk a thousand miles to me. Every girl needs a a man who would venture into unknown realms just to retrieve a fallen star for her. :)

Damn. My favourite track in the album is jumping. I think I overplayed it.

*****

It's been pouring cats and dogs and mice for days. And I love it. I can stare out of the window all day and muse about the world. I fantasise about jumping into the puddles while holding my frilly umbrella and singing in the rain.

Just not in my precious new shoes. Which unfortunately got soaked today.

*****

Was watching the Golden Horse Awards, the performance segment where an orchestra played the sound tracks of some popular films. And I pointed out to Baby, Hey do you recognise this? It's from the God of Gamblers!

She shrugged and remarked, I don't know. It's from your generation.

Am I old enough to belong to a generation of my own already??

*****

I confess. I'm secretly in love with Stephen Chow's films. I used to hate them cos I thought they were stupid. But I realise sometimes you just need to laugh yourself silly. There's no need to be so high and mighty all the time.

*****

Friday kickstarted the birthday celebrations. From boogie-ing at Butter, dining as posh Oosh, feasting on seafood, meeting the girls to romancing at Clarke Quay.

The stars are shining on me. I'll be signing the contract, setting my future in cast and stone. I'll be collecting my long overdue degree too. It's gonna be a great week :)

Only problem is there's a pimple on the underside of my eyelid, making it impossible for me to open my eye to its maximum size. And it's rather uncomfortable to close it too. How to take pretty pictures with a swollen eye??

Time To Upgrade

On the day the BSB album was released (yes, they have a new album), I sat on my bed clutching the album excitedly. I fiddled around with my player - a beautiful pink SONY discman, which I haven't touched in at least two years. To my dismay, it wouldn't respond at all. It had gone into retirement for good...

I don't have a hi-fi in my room so I couldn't play it at all. Imagine my disappointment - there was an album itching to be played. But no player to play it. I held the CD to sleep that night.

But before I fell asleep, I decided that it was time that I upgraded to an MP3 player.

So long, my love...


Hello, pretty...

Sicko Rich

Lonely Planet six degrees featured a bunch of guys who kidnap people for a living in NYC. But they don't do it with a vicious intent. They only ask for US$5,000 for each stint. And only if the victim is the one paying for it. The leader is kinda cute. And he showed how the team trains by using teddy bear victims.

In short, people actually pay them to experience the thrills of being kidnapped. It's weird enough to know that this group trains themselves to kidnap and perform psychological torture on a regular basis. It's also pretty disturbing to know that people actually pay to get tortured like this.

I can only say that rich people are not just self-centered (see below). They're sick in the head too.

Feeling Blue

I don't wish to be tied down by earthly matters like money.

Rich bosses don't know the misery of poor, little people like us, whose debts take up 50% of our meagre pay. So they happily issue our pay late. Thus, we can't pay our fees/dues/installments in time and we get fined. The poor get poorer. And the rich just laugh at our misery. Grrr...!

It just poured heavily in the bright sunshine. I could feel the heat of the sun yet couldn't see much through the heavy sheets of rain.

Strange. Heavy rain on a sunny day.

Yesterday's Today Said

"Mr Liu said his boss, who was in his 50s, hanged himself on Saturday, according to the report. It is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China."

-Toys recall: Factory boss commits suicide

Just wondering why the reporter found it necessary to mention that "It is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China". Seems like a subtle attempt to inject some prejudice *shrugs*

Feeling Moody

For the first time in my life, I dropped my phone. Coincidentally on the weekend when it is critical that I pick up every call. Because I need to attend to an ad that's going out very soon. Because I'm meeting some friends who have numbers which I can't remember by heart.

I've suspended my line. Please call me at my home if you have urgent matters. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone who has my home number.

After I get my replacement phone, please drop me an SMS so that I may store your numbers. But wait till I get it. I'll put up a notice when I do.

(Sigh. This is my worst two weeks in a very long time. I need to go pray or something already. To think that the astrologer said that this was the best year of my life.)

You Haven't Caught Up With Me For So Long, I Might Have Popped A Baby

Call me. Ask me out. I miss everyone!

Yay, It's The Weekend Again~

Now that my weekdays (and nights) are burning away like the forests in the region, Saturdays and Sundays have become unbelievably precious. Five movies in a week is no longer possible, nor are regular meetings with friends. Thanks goodness for birthdays that make attendance at gatherings mandatory.

Physical exhaustion has shaped me into a domesticated little creature. I'm content being confined to the neighbourhood - having weekend breakfasts, taking walks at the reservoir, cheering on Man U and getting all the rest I can. The only visits to town are on Sundays when I go yum cha with my family.

Sigh... Yet I love what I'm doing :)

Oh, and I'm waiting for someone for call me for mahjong. Call me! I'm itching!

It's Time To Make A Baby

As a favour to a neighbour, I agreed to coach his seven-year old son in his English despite my tight schedule.

I am usually stingy with praises for children but this little boy has charmed me like no one else has. He has the biggest eyes with the most beautiful lashes, a dimpled smile and a face twinkling with mischief. And he is awfully affectionate to me :)

One day, to practise his speech, I asked him to tell me about his family. He held up four fingers and counted his family members. As he counted to the last finger, he stuck out the fifth finger and said, "No, no. Five. And you." Then, he smiled shyly and shook his head.

I almost melted into a puddle. Le sigh.

Serene Has A Bedok Face, I Have A Michelle Face

Isn't it cool that you can guess bits of information about a person just from his/her appearance? 'Cept when the deductions are wrong.

Last night, two different people called me or introduced me as Michelle even though they knew that my name is Melissa. This wasn't the first or the second time something like this happened. I'm sure Gek Leng remembers clearly. Strangely, a handful of friends that I make over the past years subconciously think that I'm called Michelle. They said that I looked like a Michelle.

Doh.

Seen In A Primary One Assessment Book

The rapist was taken to jail by the police.

Try explaining "rapist" to the child.

Ramblings Of A Mother-To-Be

Every once in a while, during aimless chitchatting, I am asked to ponder whether I want to have a boy or a girl. (Interestingly, the question of whether I want to have children at all is almost always omitted, when it should be the very first question to be asked.)

Just like beauty queens turning their noses at average girls, I, once crowned the Most Beautiful Baby, am stingy with praises for babies. My expectations are high. I want a girl, a little girl who is clever and has the precocious ability to charm everyone, a little girl who looks angelic in white summer frocks, a little girl whom every soon-to-be married couple fights for to be their flower girl. Basically, I want a little girl who is the replica of a little me.

Feel like punching the narcissism out of me already?

Then I am asked what if my baby turns out to be somewhat different from what I have in mind.

If my baby is not smart, she has to be irresistibly cute. If she is neither intelligent nor beautiful, I may have to smother her with a pillow and attribute her death to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, I will joke.

Usually at this point of time, beads of perspiration will form on my friends’ foreheads and stiff expressions will be plastered on their faces. I need to blurt, “I’m only joking!” to revive their smiles

Actually, I haven’t wholeheartedly meant it to be a joke. There are times that I seriously consider the option of killing my baby if she is not up to expectations. But, I will then think what if Fate wants to punish me for my frivolous thoughts and really blesses me a baby who not bright and not pretty? Just to test my limits, to see if I will carry out my threat.

Beautiful parents can have physically flawed babies. News about a celebrity’s newborn scares me very much. Do you know that treatment for hare-lipped babies take a lengthy 18 years, in a few stages, to complete? Their condition not only spoils their appearance, it also affects their ability to chew and talk. Imagine the trauma the child needs to go through.

Besides this, it is also probable that smart parents may have less intelligent children. And what if the baby has Down’s Syndrome? We have to go through the agony of deciding its fate. To give it a chance to live or to save it from a life of suffering?

And then, what if giving birth, which apparently makes a woman whole, causes her desirability and amount of time for her husband to plummet?

I shudder and come to the conclusion that the safest thing to do is to not have babies at all.

I think about the same question all the time. Sometimes, I decide that as long as the baby is healthy, nothing else matters. Sometimes, I optimistically think that I will definitely have a healthy, beautiful and clever baby. There is nothing to worry about. Sometimes, I conclude that having no children at all is the best bet. I really do think about the question all the time. What the hell… I’m not even getting married yet.

This Is How A Sunday Should Be Like

Getting up at eight in the morning. Going to temple to pray. Getting lost in the wilderness of Bishan/Thomson. Having breakfast at Crystal Jade Palace with family. Reading newspapers at breakfast. Jostling with the library crowd at Expo all by myself. Scouting for the best buys at the old books sale. Getting bumped by people holding stacks of very thick computer guide books. Nabbing one out of the only two Photoshop manuals found in the whole non-fiction area. Providing free A Math tuition for Baby's pal. Wolfing down Mummy's heavenly cooking. Rejoicing at the Gruu's 4D strike. Watching The Hulk on Channel 5. Whispering sweet nothings to the phone. Gobbling up fishballs from the coffeeshop. Reading How To Kill Your Husband (and other handy household hints). Falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

:)