Someday when I die and somehow I've been good enough to end up in heaven, and if there is such a thing as the option of choosing to become an angel or to just enjoy heavenly life... I would want to become an angel. But not the grand type of angel that appears in visions, dreams and in tunnels of light and glory or those who perform great miracles for I'd probably screw up things with all my clumsiness. I would like to be the kind of angel in charge of the small stuff. To hug someone forlorn, to touch the tear-stained face of a person in grief, to blow a little breeze onto the face of someone dejected, to make a tiny feather land on the nose of someone heartbroken, to create a comedic moment that'll get an angry person laughing, to make puddles of rainwater for children, pets and young-at-heart adults to splash in or flamingoes in the city to lepak in, to leave little signs for people who feel they are forgotten or abandoned, to bestow calm upon an anxious heart and sleep upon an insomniac mind, to make cats lie terbalik on the floor and ask you for a tickle... Okie, the last one is probably the most redundant and an unsanctioned angelic deed. Yup, small stuff punya angel. I think I'll make a good one... if I get to be one that is.
Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my hope, all of my plans
My heart and my hands
I'm making them Yours
Strains of a beloved hymn find their way into the still of a restless night. A cool breeze sashays through the window, flirts with the curtains and waltzes its way out into the living room. The whirring sound of the table fan seems to blend in harmony with the hum from the highway traffic, fingers tapping on a laptop, noisy footsteps from the void deck and the occasional vehicle taking a corner on the street below. Somewhere across the world, decisions have been made. Whether or not they are in favour of helping my dream take flight remains to be known. I can only wait and lean not on my own understanding, something that's been so difficult to do this entire week and the remaining stretch of hours...
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my hope, all of my plans
My heart and my hands
I'm making them Yours
Strains of a beloved hymn find their way into the still of a restless night. A cool breeze sashays through the window, flirts with the curtains and waltzes its way out into the living room. The whirring sound of the table fan seems to blend in harmony with the hum from the highway traffic, fingers tapping on a laptop, noisy footsteps from the void deck and the occasional vehicle taking a corner on the street below. Somewhere across the world, decisions have been made. Whether or not they are in favour of helping my dream take flight remains to be known. I can only wait and lean not on my own understanding, something that's been so difficult to do this entire week and the remaining stretch of hours...
Building Number 22
Read an e-mail ten times over while trying not to blink. Whisper the incredible news when your heart feels like screaming out loud. Feel your shoulder blades and ankles itch because you might be sprouting wings. Greet a morning feeling fabulous although you haven't slept for 38 hours. Happiness makes the silly justified and the mundane marvelous.
Five more days to feeling like this all over again or descend down to earth and oh well, plan the next great adventure!!
Put Your Records On
by Corinne Bailey Rae
Album: Corinne Bailey Rae © EMI (2006)
Three little birds, sat on my window.
And they told me I don't need to worry.
Summer came like cinnamon
So sweet,
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete.
Maybe sometimes, we got it wrong, but it's alright
The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same
Oh, don't you hesitate.
Go, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow.
Blue as the sky, sombre and lonely,
Sipping tea in the bar by the road side,
(just relax, just relax)
Don't you let those other boys fool you,
Gotta love that afro hairdo.
Maybe sometimes, we feel afraid, but it's alright
The more you stay the same, the more they seem to change.
Don't you think it's strange?
Go, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow.
Just more than I could take, pity for pity's sake
Some nights kept me awake, I thought that I was stronger
When you gonna realise, that you don't even have to try any longer.
Do what you want to.
Go, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
Go, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
Oh, you're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow
Pucuk rebung biru diselubungi kabus.
Menara kembar berkerlipan disinar mentari.
Fajar di hatiku menyingsing.
As the bus sped on along the highway, I was lost in a moment of quiet happiness. The familiar landmarks, glimmering and ethereal, faded away as the distance between us grew so as to shrink again on another day. Wang Leehom's Da cheng xiao ai plays on my Mini. Small love in a big city. How apt. I wonder how many people noticed the lovely clouds and the beautiful blue today. I saw a laughing dog and one that looked like a karipap. My left butt still aches from the bowling session on Saturday. I can't bowl to save my life, only for comedic relief. Supra and me had a splendid date with Atah- bowling, sushi, window shopping, and many adorable dogs. I almost cried looking at the delicious spread that Mama and Atah whipped up yesterday: stir-fried pork strips with szechuan vegetables, Anion, Bodatoes & Carrot soup, stir-fried leek with crispy pork belly chunks and fried fish in tomato tauchu sauce- all my favourites! I wonder how was Sugeo's night at the Wagner opera yesterday and how Vienna looks like from inside a cafe wafting with the smell of freshly baked pastries and brewed coffee. I think of the afternoon with Mama Guon discussing details of Lish's Hen Night getaway, both wondering what happened to Evie-chai, the conference call with Pohf and the night visit from Lish. I really miss these women loads. toAdie and Fung Kit's papers started today and I hope they both ace every paper and kick some great ass.
I stared out of the window into the blinding sunlight and whispered my gratitude. So many blessings to count, so much love... God made all these kindred spirits and they are my life. He must love me very much. How easy it is to forget that simple knowledge which needs no reasoning. One little moment and all of life comes into perspective...
Menara kembar berkerlipan disinar mentari.
Fajar di hatiku menyingsing.
As the bus sped on along the highway, I was lost in a moment of quiet happiness. The familiar landmarks, glimmering and ethereal, faded away as the distance between us grew so as to shrink again on another day. Wang Leehom's Da cheng xiao ai plays on my Mini. Small love in a big city. How apt. I wonder how many people noticed the lovely clouds and the beautiful blue today. I saw a laughing dog and one that looked like a karipap. My left butt still aches from the bowling session on Saturday. I can't bowl to save my life, only for comedic relief. Supra and me had a splendid date with Atah- bowling, sushi, window shopping, and many adorable dogs. I almost cried looking at the delicious spread that Mama and Atah whipped up yesterday: stir-fried pork strips with szechuan vegetables, Anion, Bodatoes & Carrot soup, stir-fried leek with crispy pork belly chunks and fried fish in tomato tauchu sauce- all my favourites! I wonder how was Sugeo's night at the Wagner opera yesterday and how Vienna looks like from inside a cafe wafting with the smell of freshly baked pastries and brewed coffee. I think of the afternoon with Mama Guon discussing details of Lish's Hen Night getaway, both wondering what happened to Evie-chai, the conference call with Pohf and the night visit from Lish. I really miss these women loads. toAdie and Fung Kit's papers started today and I hope they both ace every paper and kick some great ass.
I stared out of the window into the blinding sunlight and whispered my gratitude. So many blessings to count, so much love... God made all these kindred spirits and they are my life. He must love me very much. How easy it is to forget that simple knowledge which needs no reasoning. One little moment and all of life comes into perspective...
Jason Mraz's Mr A-Z album back cover art
"Hey, look!! Childcraft!! Comelnya..."
And the two lawak sisters squealed with delight. Supra noted that O.Lover's in the wrong colour. "Yeah, Volume 9 is pink. Wait. Song For A Friend is wrongly coloured too because Volume 12 is a deeper shade of pink than Volume 9. Really? I think it looks correct. Wronglah... definitely not maroon. Did You Get My Message pun salah. Nolah, betul lah tu... World and Space is turquoise blue, remember? Yeah. Hey, Childraft don't put their numbers at the bottom of the spine. Theirs are on top, above the picture part."
"Poems and Rhymes, Stories and Fables. What's Volume 3? Children Everywhere. World and Space, About Animals, The Green Planet, no no... the The Green Kingdom, How Things Work, About Us. Holidays and Birthdays. What's next ah? Places To Know. Yup. Make and Do, Look and Learn, Mathemagic, About Me and Guide for Parents. Plus the two supplementary ones: Feathered Friends and Myths and Legends! Hah!
"Kawaii neh... Yeah man, and they used the older cover design rather than the new ones. Hey, our Childcraft set is as old as Sugeo, you know? Yup, Mama's not ever throwing them away. Yeah, no way. There are volumes of memories and inspirations in them. The coolest gift ever. Hee... so much of my life began in those pages."
I think I'm beginning to understand why toAdie said that the two of us sound like demented sisters whenever we start rattling off and string sentences together as if there were no commas and full stops in a conversation.
Hokkien char. Black. Fragrant. Lots of crispy fatty lard cubes. Ramly burger ayam special. Meat patty that's terbelah dua. Lots of pepper and Maggi seasoning. Wrapped in egg and mayo. Chinese tea with ice at any kopitiam and any mamak. Roti telur with kuah dhal. Nasi lemak. Simple. Fragrant. Tender beef rendang. Sambal kerang or sambal ikan bilis. No otah, no hash brown, not chap fan style. Karipap. Huge. Half a hard-boiled egg. Chicken chunks in yummy curry sauce. Klang seafood. Period. Bak kut teh. Herbal. Lots of assorted mushroom. Maggi goreng. Tak merah dan tak manis. Anything and everything that Mama and Atah cook!!
Be still my heart. It's going to be an awesome weekend.
Be still my heart. It's going to be an awesome weekend.
The washing machine did a Merlion and vomited suds all over the kitchen floor. I can just hear Pohf going "Oh no... the evil thing is at it again!" Hee.. poor thing, probably just a case of indigestion. Now the floormats have to be washed for the second time in two separate loads. Great.
Random thoughts flood my mind as I wait for the first load to be done...
75% of the girls I know in Singapore are attached whereas 75% of the guys are single, available and searching (5% are all that plus desperate). My female:male friends ratio = 1:5. Ah Tan's conclusion: I'm choosy. My idealistic wait for `mere jaan, mere kismet' is hopeless. Lovely.
When I was 16 or 17, I told Mama I wouldn't mind being a nun if I'm called to the vocation and I'd consider it a special blessing. Mama went ballistic and mogok bisu with me for three days. Something about how she didn't carry me in her womb for nine months and have a daughter for a firstborn only to have her end up as a nun. When Atah drove me to school on the second morning, I got reprimanded that such "sensitive" topics (including the one on not wishing to get married) were to be avoided in future conversations with Mama unless I find it funny to make her kik sim enough not to talk to me for days on end. So based on history, I think Mama would really flip if I ever mentioned that I sometimes suspect I may be gay.
Radio stations that play mushy love songs in the wee hours of the morning are more evil than a washing machine that sounds like a herd of charging rhinos when it spins and plays hide and seek with one's student card and housemate's undergarments.
Oh well, the evil thing with a fetish for Kavita's knickers has finished round one. Yeay!
Random thoughts flood my mind as I wait for the first load to be done...
75% of the girls I know in Singapore are attached whereas 75% of the guys are single, available and searching (5% are all that plus desperate). My female:male friends ratio = 1:5. Ah Tan's conclusion: I'm choosy. My idealistic wait for `mere jaan, mere kismet' is hopeless. Lovely.
When I was 16 or 17, I told Mama I wouldn't mind being a nun if I'm called to the vocation and I'd consider it a special blessing. Mama went ballistic and mogok bisu with me for three days. Something about how she didn't carry me in her womb for nine months and have a daughter for a firstborn only to have her end up as a nun. When Atah drove me to school on the second morning, I got reprimanded that such "sensitive" topics (including the one on not wishing to get married) were to be avoided in future conversations with Mama unless I find it funny to make her kik sim enough not to talk to me for days on end. So based on history, I think Mama would really flip if I ever mentioned that I sometimes suspect I may be gay.
Radio stations that play mushy love songs in the wee hours of the morning are more evil than a washing machine that sounds like a herd of charging rhinos when it spins and plays hide and seek with one's student card and housemate's undergarments.
Oh well, the evil thing with a fetish for Kavita's knickers has finished round one. Yeay!
I was walking with Ah Tan back from lunch when I caught sight of him, walking towards us. I was instantly snapped out of the post-lunch-hot-afternoon stupor and smiled like a silly twit. Without stopping, I mustered a casual but idiotic "Going for lunch?" while beaming like a star on the verge of going supernova. He smiled, answered to the affirmative, grinned and continued on his way. The cosmic moment passed and I descended back onto planet Earth and turned around to see Ah Tan walking far behind. Caught up with her and promptly said "Ah Tan, wanna know a secret? But you can't tell Ah Chan, okie? That guy just now... I think I had a major crush on him."
"I know. During the conference, right?" came the selamba answer.
I froze and exploded into smithereens except that there wasn't a black hole where I had collapsed. After a short period of staring speechlessly at Ah Tan's highly-amused-but-trying-hard-not-to-laugh look, all my molecular bits reassembled and I asked her how she knew.
"I just know lah... can see what."
"See? Arrrghhh it was that obvious? Where got? Ah Tannnnn!"
"Not obvious, but I can see lah. Ah Su, I know you well enough..."
"Yeah lah, but how and what? If you noticed, means he does too!! I can so die now."
"There are some things that I can see that others can't."
"You see dead people? Okie, okie just kidding. What you see? Tell me lah, please?"
"No big deal lah. I just know... will you just relax?"
"Cannot... how in the world? Wait, did I say his name aloud in my sleep and you heard? I never mentioned before what... didn't even do anything. I... it's just that the sight of him somehow makes me happy and you know, I never thought there was going to be anything lah... I don't even know whether he's available or not. Little things lah... light up my day, you know... and that's about it. Arrghh, This is so malu-fying. I can keel over and gloriously die now for you to see. "
"No need to die one. Chill lah... you know he is single what."
"I do? He is single? How you know? Wait, single means not married only what!"
At that point of conversation, Ah Tan looked like it was her turn to go supernova. Hee...
"I know. During the conference, right?" came the selamba answer.
I froze and exploded into smithereens except that there wasn't a black hole where I had collapsed. After a short period of staring speechlessly at Ah Tan's highly-amused-but-trying-hard-not-to-laugh look, all my molecular bits reassembled and I asked her how she knew.
"I just know lah... can see what."
"See? Arrrghhh it was that obvious? Where got? Ah Tannnnn!"
"Not obvious, but I can see lah. Ah Su, I know you well enough..."
"Yeah lah, but how and what? If you noticed, means he does too!! I can so die now."
"There are some things that I can see that others can't."
"You see dead people? Okie, okie just kidding. What you see? Tell me lah, please?"
"No big deal lah. I just know... will you just relax?"
"Cannot... how in the world? Wait, did I say his name aloud in my sleep and you heard? I never mentioned before what... didn't even do anything. I... it's just that the sight of him somehow makes me happy and you know, I never thought there was going to be anything lah... I don't even know whether he's available or not. Little things lah... light up my day, you know... and that's about it. Arrghh, This is so malu-fying. I can keel over and gloriously die now for you to see. "
"No need to die one. Chill lah... you know he is single what."
"I do? He is single? How you know? Wait, single means not married only what!"
At that point of conversation, Ah Tan looked like it was her turn to go supernova. Hee...
Recently, two of my Barcelona shots and one on Naples got shortlisted for inclusion in upcoming Schmap Guides of the said cities. Am not sure if my photos will be selected eventually but the shortlisting had me utterly delighted simply because Flickr is huge i.e. to be noticed is already awesome enough! There's a lively discussion going on in FlickrCentral on the topic of Schmap using Creative Commons-licensed photos in their online guides. Well, I think Schmap's a great tool and I'll be glad for the exposure if my photos get selected. I find it amazing that you'll never know just who might turn up on your Flickr page or where your photos turn up at!
in Cycling Feast
in ♥ HEART Magazine ♥ This photo won LensaMalaysia's first monthly assignment with the theme: Rust
in GoldFish Queen Supra is pleased as Punch!
in Sacred Destinations: Thailand
in Cycling Feast in ♥ HEART Magazine ♥ This photo won LensaMalaysia's first monthly assignment with the theme: Rust in GoldFish Queen Supra is pleased as Punch! in Sacred Destinations: Thailand
"Her hand hovers so close to yours and you deliberate whether or not to take hold of it. She stands next to you and you resist the urge to stare at her sun-kissed face and the disheveled hair teased by the wind. Your eyes dart from the traffic to your shoes but mostly back to her, surreptitiously. Left, right, left, right. A warm breeze blows and occasionally your shoulder brushes against hers. Suddenly the traffic is clear and when you reach the other side, her fingers are intertwined in yours and neither wants to let go. You let the moment linger and it leaves the scent of a memory so pure, you'll remember it for the rest of your life... Twelve seconds."
A lazy Sunday and my mind drifts to that lovely scene from Les Poupées russes (Russian Dolls) by Cédric Klapisch; a tremendously enjoyable sequel to L'Auberge espagnole which I absolutely adore.
Keywords to note when inviting Ryan and Cheng Puay to watch an "unknown" movie: French, contains nudity, and Audrey Tautou. Hee...
A lazy Sunday and my mind drifts to that lovely scene from Les Poupées russes (Russian Dolls) by Cédric Klapisch; a tremendously enjoyable sequel to L'Auberge espagnole which I absolutely adore.
Keywords to note when inviting Ryan and Cheng Puay to watch an "unknown" movie: French, contains nudity, and Audrey Tautou. Hee...
