Christmas Eve - Saturday: we went to my aunt's for a potluck, and we made pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate, candied cranberries, sausages and mash, and the wife made a delicious Manhattan cheese cake.
Christmas - we got the immediate in-laws together, had a mini party and stayover, and watched DVDs all day; since I couldn't bear to be idle, I was the designated cook and made a spicy stew for dinner, pizza for lunch, hot chocolate, coffee and other goodies. Wife gave me the LOTR blu-ray set and an iPod nano! I gave her a coach blue satin long strapped purse and two books - Makeup artiste Kevin and 1Q84.
Wedding anniversary - morning we went to Royal China or dim sum, where I presented my wife with the tiffany blue coach bag I'd gotten from reebonz. Thereafter we went to Marina Bay Sands to view the Titanic exhibition (which was pretty awesome), and ended our evening at plaza sing, where we watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Adel's bdae! On the 7th, brought her and the in-laws to Odeon Towers (Asia Grand restaurant) for some awesome dimsum, then went bugis for a walkabout, ending with dinner at home, where I'd preordered black pepper crab, chilli crab, oyster omelette, sambal kangkong, kungpao chicken, and yam paste from Ponggol Seafood. At night when the in laws had left, I presented her with the coach business bag!:)
On the 8th, started with a simple breakfast at Toast@Marina Bay Sands, followed by the Skypark! Then at 1.30, caught Wicked (the musical), which was FANTASTIC, and I would watch it again, except it costs $145 per ticket. Ended with a simple dinner at plaza sing, Xing Wang cafe, and home to prepare for work on Monday.
All in all, a satisfying end to a rather crappy year.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Evereverafter
Since I was a kid I've always been fascinated with death. Ok, maybe 'fascination' is too strong a word; it presents itself almost like a mystery I have to solve, the rationalising of the underlying fear associated with it, the dreaded finality, and what part religion played in mitigating this fear.
As I lay in bed last night watching my wife sleep, I wondered what could be more fearsome than death itself. Thinkers would say the death of the mind is more fearsome than a physical death. Religious people would say the death of the faith, and of course free men and women would say the death of freedom and the human spirit.
But that's not what I'm referring to; I'm talking about what consequence would be more unbearable than death? If say, someone close to us were to pass on, would that be the ultimate and worst possible thing that could happen? And I realised what it was. It's the same thing that causes fear in all human beings - the fear of the unknown. What if a person is not dead, but missing - taken by a hostile person? I think for me, that would be a fate worse than death - where there is, in fact, no finality, no closure.
I know for a fact I would all my resources and turn my entire mind to hunting down the perpetrator and making sure he (human predators are usually male; isn't that odd?) stays alive a Very Long time. The scene in "a law abiding citizen" where the rapist and murderer is killed painfully, loudly, and most importantly, over a period of time, comes to my mind.
A fate worse than death is not that unimaginable, after all.
As I lay in bed last night watching my wife sleep, I wondered what could be more fearsome than death itself. Thinkers would say the death of the mind is more fearsome than a physical death. Religious people would say the death of the faith, and of course free men and women would say the death of freedom and the human spirit.
But that's not what I'm referring to; I'm talking about what consequence would be more unbearable than death? If say, someone close to us were to pass on, would that be the ultimate and worst possible thing that could happen? And I realised what it was. It's the same thing that causes fear in all human beings - the fear of the unknown. What if a person is not dead, but missing - taken by a hostile person? I think for me, that would be a fate worse than death - where there is, in fact, no finality, no closure.
I know for a fact I would all my resources and turn my entire mind to hunting down the perpetrator and making sure he (human predators are usually male; isn't that odd?) stays alive a Very Long time. The scene in "a law abiding citizen" where the rapist and murderer is killed painfully, loudly, and most importantly, over a period of time, comes to my mind.
A fate worse than death is not that unimaginable, after all.
Friday, December 02, 2011
The Sorrow
A colleague's grandmother passed away recently. It brought to mind the passing of my own grandmother last year, about the same time as well.
I have, at most, 4 persons in my life who have acted as the guides in my life and indeed, can directly be attributed with saving my life - my mother, my grandmother, my wife, and Cloud.
The passing of my grandmother left a huge gaping hole in my heart, one that could not be filled because she was just so unique, so kind and had such a strong presence.
But with her passing, I also have no grandparents left. It is a difficult time in one's life when one no longer has any grandparents. Relatives like your uncles and aunties no longer feel as obligated to visit, and grandchildren are, well, less of 'grandchildren' as they are 'so-and-so's son or daughter.
The inadequacy of prayer, the fervent and feverish begging to a divine entity - all to no avail, suggested to me that it was all a placebo, and was at least part of the reason I have turned atheist. Not just agnostic, because that means I still believe there IS a god.
It is always somewhat unbelievable to me that there are people who revel in tragedy and hope for their lives to become one. If I had a choice, I would not have chosen this lot for myself - the depersonalisation, the years spent in pursuing an education that should have been made available to me a good decade ago, and recently my spreading vitiligo.
It's odd how humans work.
I have, at most, 4 persons in my life who have acted as the guides in my life and indeed, can directly be attributed with saving my life - my mother, my grandmother, my wife, and Cloud.
The passing of my grandmother left a huge gaping hole in my heart, one that could not be filled because she was just so unique, so kind and had such a strong presence.
But with her passing, I also have no grandparents left. It is a difficult time in one's life when one no longer has any grandparents. Relatives like your uncles and aunties no longer feel as obligated to visit, and grandchildren are, well, less of 'grandchildren' as they are 'so-and-so's son or daughter.
The inadequacy of prayer, the fervent and feverish begging to a divine entity - all to no avail, suggested to me that it was all a placebo, and was at least part of the reason I have turned atheist. Not just agnostic, because that means I still believe there IS a god.
It is always somewhat unbelievable to me that there are people who revel in tragedy and hope for their lives to become one. If I had a choice, I would not have chosen this lot for myself - the depersonalisation, the years spent in pursuing an education that should have been made available to me a good decade ago, and recently my spreading vitiligo.
It's odd how humans work.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
3 dogs
We have 3 (originally 4) jack Russell terriers, two of which were born from the first two we had.
The very first JRT we had was Jess who is now coming to 11 years old. Max was adopted shortly after, and it passed away recently from sickness.
We now have Mickey (short haired, extremely hyper-active) and Spot (wire-haired, docile) and both are about 4-5 years old.
I miss them all. (except for Mickey, who is a Naughty Boy, and bites).
The very first JRT we had was Jess who is now coming to 11 years old. Max was adopted shortly after, and it passed away recently from sickness.
We now have Mickey (short haired, extremely hyper-active) and Spot (wire-haired, docile) and both are about 4-5 years old.
I miss them all. (except for Mickey, who is a Naughty Boy, and bites).
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Rage
I don't know why, but a lack of sleep and some kind of unknown effect on me recently is really causing me to have a very loose grip on my temper.
Have had to restrain myself from literally ripping off someone's face, and that's just in the last hour.
Edit: I think it's maybe because I've stopped running after a few months of running. Too much pent up energy.
Have had to restrain myself from literally ripping off someone's face, and that's just in the last hour.
Edit: I think it's maybe because I've stopped running after a few months of running. Too much pent up energy.
Bwb
Just in time to order three books through betterworldbooks (www.betterworldbooks.com) to capitalise on the Black Friday Sale (15% off for 3 books and above).
Purchased David Edding's "The Mallorean vol 1" and "The Belgariad vol 1", as well as Frank Herbert's "Green Brain".
The reason I made the decision so late was cos I checked out the prices for the two David Eddings' books over the weekend and found them to be more expensive locally ($42 SGD vs $23 USD), even if shipping is included. Books in Singapore are mostly seriously overpriced. So much for promoting literacy.
I remember reading The Belgariad and Mallorean when I was in early secondary School; the characters were interesting, though the plot was slightly cliched. In general though, it made for a highly entertaining read and got me through the first two years of school as I read and re-read it countless times.
I probably need to get back to serious reading. I'm just starting off my reading list with Jules Verne's "Journey to the centre of the Earth", and hopefully progress to finishing " Crime and Punishment" by this year.
The vernacular in US and Russian novels (eg The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Crime & Punishment) are slightly difficult to get engrossed in - I think maybe it's because I grew up with UK books, so when slang or dramatic writing is introduced, I lose all interest.
Probably a bad thing since it seriously makes me a picky reader.
Purchased David Edding's "The Mallorean vol 1" and "The Belgariad vol 1", as well as Frank Herbert's "Green Brain".
The reason I made the decision so late was cos I checked out the prices for the two David Eddings' books over the weekend and found them to be more expensive locally ($42 SGD vs $23 USD), even if shipping is included. Books in Singapore are mostly seriously overpriced. So much for promoting literacy.
I remember reading The Belgariad and Mallorean when I was in early secondary School; the characters were interesting, though the plot was slightly cliched. In general though, it made for a highly entertaining read and got me through the first two years of school as I read and re-read it countless times.
I probably need to get back to serious reading. I'm just starting off my reading list with Jules Verne's "Journey to the centre of the Earth", and hopefully progress to finishing " Crime and Punishment" by this year.
The vernacular in US and Russian novels (eg The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Crime & Punishment) are slightly difficult to get engrossed in - I think maybe it's because I grew up with UK books, so when slang or dramatic writing is introduced, I lose all interest.
Probably a bad thing since it seriously makes me a picky reader.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Caffeine & me
I should probably drink less coffee.
Or more. Maybe I should drink more.
I think I like option 2 better.
Or more. Maybe I should drink more.
I think I like option 2 better.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Walled
There is a piece of the Berlin Wall in Singapore, and it's in a now infamous location - Bedok Reservoir.
One feels it could have been better placed, perhaps in a more central location. It is, after all, a symbolically large piece of world history in this tiny country.
One feels it could have been better placed, perhaps in a more central location. It is, after all, a symbolically large piece of world history in this tiny country.
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