Just a Few Minor 'Accidents', Some Funny, Some Not

Real-life accounts from who else but me. It's not something that you don't already know; you guys probably won't be surprised if I'm going to tell you I'm one hell of a clumsy person, I'm always having bruises on one part of my body at least. By the time I'm thirty, I'll probably have enough accounts to fill up half a book, I think. Nothing too extreme, of course (I hope).

Anyway, for starters, here's a picture of my palm that SK 'eeyer-ed' to last week. They don't look too bad here, all dry and free from the prune-like wrinkles and blotches, but trust me, you'd go 'eeyer' too if you saw them in that state.

don't look that bad eh?

No more wrinkly fingers anymore though. I hope that's because I'm starting to make better (read: correct) use of my harness and the harness lines... It does seem like the sail's much lighter when I'm kept suspended by those lines and hooks, my back takes alot of my weight off those hands.

Speaking of my harness, I had one scary experience some few weeks back. I was hooked onto the harness line and for the moment I leaned too much to the back, I got thrown off my balance. It resulted in me pulling the sail down with me into the water on the windward side, still hooked onto the harness. It took me one second to realize that I was underwater and being dragged by the sail, the next two seconds I started panicking and fumbling to unhook myself with my eyes closed underwater (my water confidence is now shit, as you can tell). Once the hook came off, I struggled to make my way out from under the sail, gasping for the biggest breath of air I could breathe. I was so happy and thankful to be breathing at that moment. 

That was the worst five seconds in a long time. And it made me realize that you get things done the difficult way when you start panicking, but... it also left me questioning "How do I keep myself from panicking?!" I thought I was pretty confident underwater, but looked at what happened when I fumble. For that five seconds, I thought I was going to die la.

Last night, I knocked the corner of the sofa with my head after the last round of mahjong with Siaos, Robs and Jon. A loud 'kok' was heard and now my the skull on my right forehead has a dent. It was so painful that my tears just flowed out, I was laughing at my stupidity and crying in pain both at the same time; and Siaos was rubbing it for me the whole time. I couldn't believe I missed that corner and headplanted my head in there so hard la. Anyway, we went to McDonald's after that and all was fine.  :p

pixelated because it's two inches to my vajayjay.

Today, I thought all was going well at windsurfing. The wind picked up (a little), and I could put the harness to use again. Coming back was quite a bitch but I managed to come back all the same. Everything sounds good? It was... until I decided to have a go on PA's club boards. After ten thousand attempts at beach start, I finally got up and out. I dropped my sail somewhere just after the breakwater and as I was uphauling (a.k.a. pulling up the sail) so as to make my way back, I realized how slippery the club board is and the next moment. I slipped and fell right on my bum, but that is not the worst part. The worst part? The mast (a.k.a. metal pole) went right in between my legs, bham! And at this moment as I'm typing this, I'm truly thankful that I'm not a guy. It was so muthafucking (no other word to describe it, really) painful that I screamed out loud and all the other windsurfers within 5 metres radius stared at me. I cursed the board to no end as I tried to uphaul a second time, this time round I'm ten times more cautious. 

Okay, enough clumsy stories for now. I am officially disliking the old club boards now. Ugh.

Latin Music Loving...

Two consecutive nights to the salsa club left me with aching soles, but what the heck, I had so much fun!

It's been 4 months since I first picked this form of dance up, and nope, no regrets so far. Started off with the fairly basic steps, and then we moved on to more simple turns, and then onto the more complex turns. I started visiting the salsa club more regularly only two weeks back, and this 'extra practice' I get at the club is so helpful. There's been much more exposure to the different kinds of latin music, and I'm really into some of them.

that's my left heel

I guess I'd like to share some of the different (but more common) types of latin dances with you guys here, hope it'll spark off some salsa interest, enough to make you sign up for classes... and we can dance together after!

First up, the most common and popular Salsa! The beat goes like 123 (pause at 4), 567 (pause at 8), and it's mainly just about weight-shifting between your two legs. Once the coordination is right, it's pretty difficult to be stepping on your partner's toes. Heh. The male half will need to lead the female into her turns and steps, and the female, basically, she just has to follow through. I guess it's pretty important that the guys learn to lead proper. It's all about making the lady look good, so you will look good in turn.

Salsa

Next up, there's Bachata. This is a really sexy and sensual-looking dance, when done in the close-hold (hip-to-hip) position correctly. I don't know much about it yet, apart from the basic steps that are supposed to be taken in a sidewards motion, in a beat that goes like 123(hip), 567(hip). I like Bachata music a lot, maybe because it's much easier to follow the beat. Listen to it below, see if you like it too! I guess after Salsa, Bachata is what I want to learn next.

Bachata

And lastly, there's Zouk. Not talking about that popular mambo club here (speaking of which, mambo in Singapore isn't really the latin mambo), it's another genre of music. This is a category that I'm mainly clueless about, but I think one of my salsa mates summed it up in a relatively easy to understand manner: pop songs + latin beats. 

Zouk

I think it's amazing how the people that you meet at the salsa club come from different woks of life, in all shapes and sizes. You have the steady-and-sway-like-crazy Uncles, smoking hot mamas (ladies in their 40s onwards), pretty young things, handsome studs... etc. Before you know it, that uncle with the big beer belly standing in the corner is going to show you all his 'pro' moves. I like seeing how two people are able to move together with so much chemistry, it's just nice to watch lo.

salsa, anyone?

And now, I suppose I'll need to give my sore feet a break. Happy weekends to ya all!

There's parent-teacher meeting for my new kid in school so she's taking a little longer than usual to get back home. So here I am, sitting on their porch, enjoying the lush greenery, chirping birds and buzzing insects surrounding me. It's my 5th time here and I'm still amazed at how magnificent this place is, in terms of it's size. It can easily pass off as a hotel, with that swimming pool and grand porch. A pool in the house, it'd be perfect when I'm having my late-night swim cravings.

How do people get so rich, seriously. Not just rich, but mad rich la.

Anyway, it feels like the house is pretty much cut off from the rest of the world out there; hidden by all the trees that line the perimeter of it. Seems like a perfect escapade from the busy urban life; like a holiday home... How lucky of the residents of this bungalow to be able to retreat back home to such a lovely place everyday.

Fan-girling

For as long as I've remembered, I was never a fan-girly kind of girl. Granted, I sort of gushed about Kian from Westlife when I was in Primary 6... and I really like (still do) croaking to Westlife's love tunes... but, that's just it! *fingers-crossed*, let's move on... And during the CCHMS days, taiwanese boy-bands were all the rage. Sure, those boys were good looking, and I was caught up in all the taiwanese drama serials, but I never understood how some of my friends are willing to spend so much money on buying their endorsed products, do whatever they can to imitate their idols, much less the time to queue up for autograph sessions or concert tickets for that matter.

is it just me or were they better looking before?

I don't know if people see me as a prude because of that, but in all honesty, I just happened to not understand what's the big deal about them or justify my peers' excitment about them. I couldn't appreciate anything further than these guys' good looks (okay, maybe their slick dance moves too), and I guess that's the main reason I haven't gone gaga over them.

pretty boys secondary school girls went crazy over...

I can still remember the guys who tried to have the same hair cuts as them.. ha!

With that said, I think I've just found the person that I'd really like to idolize. He travels, he eats, and he's hungry for more. He's not exactly a looker, and I'm really drawn to him because of the common interests in life we have; food, travel.

I've read his autobiography (keeps it real, something I really appreciate) sometime back (the book stood out specially for me on the library shelf, I swear), and I am really in awe of how he transformed from a druggie-hippie (aka good-for-nothing) into a world-renowned chef, step-by-step, oyster-by-oyster, dish-by-dish, restaurant-by-restaurant. And it is not just about the transformation; he accepted the fact that he was making mistakes (gaining no respect from fellow chefs with his wayward behaviour), took responsibility for that, and decided on change. That is totally someone I hope to become; a person who is not afraid to just take responsibility for her mistakes, but also right all that wrong.

simple and yet amazing-tasting food.

So apart from reading his autobiography, I've tried to follow him on telly (and youtube) too. It's not an easy thing to do, all that fan-girling, I assure you, but hey, I'm lucky his shows are aired on one of my favourite channels, Discovery & Travel Living, so I have it much easier, I suppose. Anyway, I probably have raved about his TV programmes somewhere in this online space before, but, I'm going to do it again anyhow. He gets to travel to the most fantastic countries in the world, and eat the most exotic foods he can get his hands on. He has the most awesome job and he does a pretty damned good job at convincing viewers (like me) of that; all that food that he says is good, he does so with much conviction that I cannot help but disagree, even if it's really the most simple-looking food in the world. He makes everything (yes EVERYTHING) that he's going to put in his mouth look and sound tasty, and the most gloomy country sound fun (hats off... like seriously?!). If he says it's good, it's got to be good.

All that... it just boils down to me wanting to follow in his "foodsteps" (hur hur), and disliking people who show little appreciation for food. That's what makes food tastier and a whole lot of fun to eat, showing appreciation for the people, the ingredients that go into the final product, and the processes. Thank you for making me fall in love with food and travel! 

and there you go, Anthony Bourdain.

I don't think I've done a good job at exemplifying my appreciation for this guy or show what real fan girls do, but hack, it doesn't matter a single bit. If you're keen, go google him or something!

Today is a really gloomy day.

Life Is Wonderful

lunch at Siao's...

May is nearly over now. I'm living my life one day at a time right now; there are no assignment deadlines to meet, or project meetings to attend, or what I really dread: preparing for presentations. I wake up real late most days, and yet, still have time to spare for lazing about in bed. I've been procrastinating about waking up a little earlier so that I have more time for meaningful activities but I seem to have taken into consideration that I'm sleeping real late too.

Today, after having a yummy bak zhang that Siao's family made for brunch, I made my way down to her place for lunch. The girls ordered 3 pizzas and some shrimp rolls from Pizza de France, and the bill came up to $34. In terms of taste, the pizzas tasted not too bad (shrimp rolls were just okay), I guess I will very much prefer it to Canadian Pizza. With that being said, nothing will beat thin crust pizzas though... love them just way too much.

Post lunch, we looked at some free-&-easy deals to Hong Kong on Classifieds. We settled on Chan Brothers and Siaos reserved three places for all of us over the phone. It's going to be a really short trip, so let's hope we'll be able to make the most out of it.

Something pretty funny to share. Yet another parody of Wonder Girls' Nobody. Hur hur.

You're An Angel

You.

I don't know how I'd be able to do all this without you.

The Best Present I Can Give Myself...

is a one-way ticket to whichever country I'm really keen to visit. And of course, have enough money at the end of it to make my way back home.

Maybe, just maybe, at the end of my 8-year bond, I'll do just that.

What Will I Do Without You Guys...

The plan to burn some calories tonight turned did not materialize. Instead, we ended up having a steamboat buffet dinner.

I think the two of them secretly agreed not to exercise whenever I'm joining them for outings; last week it was Manpuku at TampOne (over jogging), and tonight, Shabu Shabu (over jogging again) along ECP Road. The more we fat together... tsk.

The Show - Lenka

Catchy and playful tune, it's what I've been singing to for the past few days. Lyrics for your singalong pleasure...

'im just a little bit
caught in the middle
Life is a maze
and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go
I can't do it alone
(I've tried)
and I don't know why

Slow it down
make it stop
or else my heart is going to pop
'cuz it's too much
Yeah, it's a lot
to be something I'm not

I'm a fool
out of love
'cuz I just can't get enough

I'm just a little bit
caught in the middle
Life is a maze
and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go
I can't do it alone
(I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl
lost in the moment
I'm so scared
but don't show it
I can't figure it out
it's bringing me down
I know
I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

The sun is hot
in the sky
just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the sign
and synchronize in time
It's a joke
Nobody knows
they've got a ticket to that show
Yeah

I'm just a little bit
caught in the middle
Life is a maze
and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go
I can't do it alone
(I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl
lost in the moment
I'm so scared
but don't show it
I can't figure it out
it's bringing me down
I know
I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

oh oh
Just enjoy the show
oh oh

I'm just a little bit
caught in the middle
life is a maze
and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go
I can't do it alone
(I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl
lost in the moment
I'm so scared
but I don't show it
I can't figure it out
it's bringing me down
I know
I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

dum de dum
dudum de dum

Just enjoy the show

dum de dum
dudum de dum

Just enjoy the show

I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back
Just enjoy the show

I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back
Just enjoy the show

Two McFatties please!

I drove up to Simin's place earlier on to get some dumplings that she made with her family today (yay to yummy bak zhangs), and intended to head back home but we ended up at McDonald's, with a McFlurry each and a box of 9-piece nuggets (she stopped me from getting the box of 20), and washed it down with a mango-pomelo dessert at Xin Wang.

I told her I'm compiling a photo entry here on my blog of all that food that we've consumed, and I'm going to title it "The More We Fat Together". Watch out for that people. Let's get fat together!

Anyway, my finger tips are hurting a little more than usual today. SK went "eeyer..." when he saw my shriveled (and prun-like) fingers yesterday, and told me I'm "three-quarters a guy"; I've got rough hands!  I surfed a little longer, and only washed my equipment at 6 p.m. today. Beach start's still terrible as usual, but I'm getting a little more used to the harness lines. A nice sister (she wouldn't tell me her name) corrected my tacking technique, and she misheard my name to be Adidas (like seriously?! lolol). Everything that's happening around the little club where all these people hang out, makes the whole experience so much more fun and makes me want to shout out "I love windsurfing!" Not getting mushy here, so let's just keep it at a shout-out level. 

It's left me really tired today...

Don't be sick of it please! It's just me...

I didn't know what made me change the address back then, but it is quite a mouthful, alifeparadoxical.blogspot.com, isn't it? Keeping things simple for now (no more Plurk, it's back to Twitter), no pretence, not going to be showy/flashy, what you see here now will just be the plain old me. I promise to be good here for at least a year okay!

The Rules Of Love

I had the chance to browse through this book last night at Kinokuniya and I think what's written in there is pretty helpful. A lot of common sense, in Liksin's words, but common sense we forget to remind ourselves that we should have most of the time.

The book is broken up into a few different sections, Rules for Finding Love, Relationship Rules, Parting Rules, Rules for Family, Rules for Friendship, and Rules for everyone. I managed to find all the rules here so, read if you're bothered.

Rules for Finding Love

1.  Be yourself
2.  Get over it before you get on with it
3.  You won’t be happy with a partner until you can be happy on your own
4.  You’ll know them when you meet them
5.  Choose someone who makes you laugh
6.  Being less than a hundred percent attractive is a great filter
7.  Don’t keep making the same mistakes
8.  Certain people are off limits (you know who they are)
9.  You can’t change people
10.  Relationships aren’t about sex
11.  Get to know someone through all the seasons before making any major decisions
12.  Don’t stay with someone who doesn’t care
13.  If you can’t trust them, you haven’t got a relationship
14.  Be honest (while you still have the chance)
15.  Don’t play games
16.  Don’t tar new partners with old brushes
17.  Check you both have the same shared goals
18.  You can’t make someone love you
19.  Be cruel to be kind
Relationship Rules
20.  Be nice
21.  Be together because you want to, not because you need to
22.  Allow your partner the space to be themselves
23.  Look to your own faults
24.  Be honourable
25.  Put each other first
26.  Recognize the signs
27.  Be a hero – or a heroine
28.  Accept the differences, embrace what you have in common
29.  Don’t belittle your partner
30.  You want to do what?
31.  Let not the sun go down upon your wrath
32.  Be the first to say sorry
33.  Houston, we have a problem
34.  Don’t put them on a pedestal and expect them to stay there
35.  Know when to listen and when to act
36.  Never stop trying to be attractive
37.  If you can say something nice, do
38.  Don’t try to be their parent
39.  Be part of their life
40.  If little things annoy you, say so – with humour
41.  Go that extra step in trying to please them
42.  Make sure your partner is always pleased to see you
43.  Don’t dump responsibility on your partner
44.  Let them know if you don’t like their friends
45.  Jealousy is your stuff, not theirs
46.  Your partner is more important than your kids
47.  Make time for romance
48.  Have a passion for your life together
49.  Share the workload
50.  Trust the other one to do the job
51.  Don’t be a nag
52.  Make sure your love making is making love
53.  Don’t control them
54.  Listen to what they’re not saying
55.  Most everyday arguments are about something else
56.  Respect privacy
57.  Treat your partner better than your best friend
58.  Don’t be offended if they want some space
59.  Men like flowers too
60.  Keep your finances separate
61.  Contentment is a high aim
62.  Be generous to each other financially
63.  You make a choice every day
64.  Don’t be a martyr
65.  You don’t both have to have the same rules
66.  Put yourself in their shoes
67.  In-laws are part of the package
68.  Keep talking
Rules for Parting

69.  Listen to your own internal voice
70.  Recognize that it takes two
71.  Keep the moral high ground
72.  Don’t keep raking it over
73.  Leave the kids out of it
Family Rules

74.  Don’t blame your parents
75.  Don’t let your parents control your feelings
76.  Your children come before you
77.  Nothing is worth falling out over
78.  Treat them the way you believe is right, no matter how they treat you
79.  Don’t pressurize your family just because you can
80.  Never be too busy for loved ones
81.  Your children need to fall out with you to leave home
82.  They don’t have to be the same as you
83.  There’s always stuff with siblings
84.  Let go of your role


Friendship Rules

85.  There are no rules
86.  Your best friend was once a stranger
87.  Only have people in your life who, on balance, make it better not worse
88.  If you’re going to be a friend, be a good friend
89.  Never give advice
90.  Find friends who love the truth
91.  Never lend money unless you’re prepared to write it off
92.  If you don’t like their partner, tough
93.  When one finger points forwards, three point back
94.  Friendships change
95.  Know when to let go
96.  Bitterness helps no one


Rules for Everyone

97.  Guilt is a selfish emotion
98.  Love equals time
99.  The more you put out, the more you get back
100.  Other people are where it’s at

Okay, we've come to the end of a hundred of them. Wow. I didn't realize there were that many as I was flipping the pages yesterday. So basically, the boldened ones are those that I nod my head in agreement with, much more than those that are not. 
Don't forget them, they'll come in handy sometime!

If Happiness is A Choice...

more than just smiling faces

why are there people who deny themselves of it and choose to waddle in unhappiness all the time?

I just don't understand it. 

I've been having quite a few points of ponder about life and its issues of late. Instead of helping me understand the bigger picture of life, they're all making me really confused.

ps. I REALLY feel like changing my blog URL again :x

Thursday Night at Union Square

I visited Union Square for the third time tonight with a couple of my classmates, and despite all that nerve-breaking moments, I had a lot of fun! My classmate was quick to tell me I get stressed rather easily on the dancefloor, seeing how quickly I broke into sweat. My ankle's hurting a little right now; it was a little crowded today and some lady's heels went down my right ankle as we were dancing. I think nearly everyone heard me cry out in pain, oops.

It was really nice looking at those amateurs spinning their partners around in circles, makes me hope that I can spin so nicely like them too someday. Heh. 

Anyway, I'm really glad it's Friday! Another night of salsa lesson and then it's the weekend. Time to skate and surf oh yeah.

ps. Just talked about the possibility of a Redang trip with Jaime and his friends end June. How... exciting!

Bailamos? I love Cuban/Latin music!

I feel like dancing non-stop to the music I've just acquired.

Anyway, uncle Ben gave me the link to watch Shutter (the Thai horror flick) online and we watched the second half of the movie online together. The two of us were screaming "arghs!" and "walaos!" literally in our msn windows; that totally brought back memories of when I watched The Perfect Stranger with Siaos sometime back, in the comfort of our own homes but still talking through the phone and msn. Hur hur. Quite fun, you should try it someday too...


Tonight was spent eating out at TampOne (Manpuku) with Siaos & Robin. We.Are.Pigs.Period.

You Can't Hurry Love

I don't think I will ever understand the minds of people who rush into love. Why rush into it when you have all the time in the world to enjoy every single moment of the process?

I'm tired from running

haven't holga-ed in awhile..

Right, so I haven't exactly been running, skating's the closest I've got but that's besides the point. I digress too much, and way too early.

Tonight's a night where I feel like I can't keep up with all that's happening around the world right now. One bad news after another (negativity counts, tell me about it), the world doesn't seem such a bright place anymore, or have I realized it a little late?

Anyway, I'm onto my 3rd Stephen Clarke's book just today. I think you can almost classify his writings as the dude's versions of chick lit, and he comes up with one or two funny lines that crack me up most of the time.

Social Night

social night at JJ

You know I'm going to say the same old thing again; time flies! I haven't done much this holiday, and yet it feels like I've been really busy all the while. With god-knows-what...

JJ's (where I learn salsa from) social night for the month took place two nights ago. As usual, there was good latin music; the performing dancers, the beginners, the professionals... everyone were all just out to have fun! I signed up for a new class with two different instructors this time round; June & Jackson (now you know why it's called JJ's), and the first class some three weeks back just took me off guard because the pace was so much faster.

All's good now, and I really think they're such a loving couple when I see them conducting their lessons. June's one hot mama and Jackson's one funny dude.

Got to run for now, rest of the updates for the weekend tonight!

Two Left Feet

That is usually what happens during my salsa classes. Nobody beats me for having the worst sense of rhythm, and taking the most clumsy-looking steps.. Okay la, I know I have plenty of catching up to do.. But, I still look forward to classes weekly!

Digressing, I think my callused hands look and feel horrible! I guess it means less uphauling for me... let's hope I'll be able to do that on Sunday. It's been more than a week now since I last windsurfed, don't sound like it but it sure feels longer than that.

The fart story

Salsa class starts at 6 pm and it was 5.30 pm but there was still no bus service 133 in sight. I don't know why but the nagging in my head told me it's a bad idea to take a cab. Ignored it, and hailed one nonetheless. Tanjong Pagar Mrt Station, I told the uncle. He asked me which route to take, to which I expressed uncertainty. No idea if it'd be faster to go by ECP or North Bridge Road, considering all that potential traffic jam. Silence, he said nothing. And then we proceeded to take the North Bridge Road route. I cursed as we passed the ERP gantry at Bencoolen Street. Traffic wasn't too bad, there was still not too much of a jam, thankfully. And while the car was cruising past Chinatown, 'Priak''. What was that?

And then I realized the uncle must have farted, since I figured that holding onto the steering wheel could not possibly produce that sound. And the smell, it confirmed my suspicions. I almost died back there trying to hold back from laughing out loud. Gosh. The uncle wind down the window a little and tried to make small talk. We shared a precious moment of awkwardness.

And when I finally arrived at my destination on the dot at six, the place was nearly empty apart from the instructors and receptionist. Oh, so early today? The ladyboss instructor asked. What? Lesson starts at 7 pm, not six darling. Oh okay, I'll just wait then. Smile. Can't be any more embarrassed. I spent 11 dollars to smell an old uncle's fart so that I could be the cuckoo who's one hour too early for her class. FML.

I really should have listened to that voice in my head. Really.

Timbre, The Arts House

love the lights

Lesson of the day: It's a bad, bad idea to drink on a nearly empty stomach. I almost puked back in the toilet cubicle, but somehow, I couldn't after I heard the poor lady next door vomitting her guts out. Had a few slices of the yummy thin crust pizzas (roast duck ftw!), some more food and tried to wash it down with some Erdinger but the nauseous sensations came not long after. I hate that feeling; that grinding in my stomach.

I want to go back for some more roast duck pizza soon.

Tioman 8th - 10th May 09

My short getaway has finally arrived. This will be my second visit to Tioman, and my fourth dive trip. I was too lazy to whip out my camera, so credits to Shiqi, Cheelong and Chenghong for all the pictures in this entry.

the water looks welcoming, don't it?

The trip didn't start off very smoothly. We shared the bus with another three divers from Apache (I think), of which one guy was late, super late. I was totally looking forward to the petrol kiosk toilet break to fill my nearly empty (and rumbling) stomach with some hot instant noodles so you imagine my dulan face when one of the dive masters told us we had no time for a stopover because of that guy.

The rest of the group brought up that the driver sped throughout, but I thought it wasn't that bad. I guess I'm more or less accustomed to such driving... Hm. Or it could be that I was sleeping quite comfortably (due to my hunger) half the time. Heh. We reached the jetty about 30 minutes after we were supposed to have boarded the ferry, and lugged our stuff onboard to meet up with the other half of the group who were already there.

Instead of spending a night at Mersing this time round, we were heading straight to Tioman. I actually prefer it this way, lesser haste in the morning when we wake up. The sky became overcast with dark clouds as we made our way to the island; the lightning that streaked across the skies looked really intimidating and yet beautiful at the same time. Ominous, and foreboding...

in my red bandana, taken with kaiming's G10.

We slept in a different area this time round; I guess that's mainly because the 'Tioman Season' is in full swing right now and the rooms we had the last time round are taken up by the other non-diving holiday makers. The rooms were much bigger (so are the beds), and I can't thank god enough for hot water showers.

The dives this time round were only so-so, as compared to most of all my previous dives. I don't remember any previous dives where the visibility was as poor as this round's, and I didn't spot any turtles or baracudas this time down, or something that's more noteworthy than the spanish dancers. Without such noteworthy spottings, the dives were just not as satisfying. 

Yes, call me a spoilt diver. Nonetheless, I'm still thankful I get to dive okay.

with the Mok sisters, in the bikini that Siao got me from LA

Okay la, less interesting sights is not necessarily a bad thing. It meant more time to play around with my buoyancy. It's definitely better than when I first started; better hovering now, and learnt to make use of my breathing to control the buoyancy. I'm quite happy with two weights now (hey I'm sinking!), but I think I should play around a little more and try using just one the next dive.

Equalizing was quite a breeze this time round too; read: no more nose bleeds phew.

with sx; so nice to bend down eh :p

And after we talked about how we got thirsty underwater (all that dryness in your mouth with the regulator in it) sometimes, our divemaster, Kaiming made it known that you could actually drink Ribena underwater. SX and me brought a packet down each after. It felt so surreal okay; I was marvelling at the whole idea of drinking water underwater as I took my very first sip, and I guess I was too fascinated with the drinking process to notice that I was holding my breath.

Go read page where I linked to, pretty interesting.

deck. lovely weather.

And while I didn't manage to savour enough of the BBQ dinner we had the last time trip because of the night dive we had to go for, I made up for all of that this time round. Loaded my plate with chicken wings, squid, fish and I-can't-remember-what; dinner is the meal I look forward to most on dive trips. I love BBQ dinners la, especially when I'm not the one doing the barbecuing. It might not be the best, but it was definitely tasty enough for me. 

I love licking my fingers clean after a really satisfying meal.

shiqi's bending down to take a shot with me too... I feel embarrassed as I am typing this hahah

And I realized my love for ice lollies with jelly cores on this trip.

yum yum

I had like, seven of these in less than 36 hours. Very shiok I tell you, the ice on the outside is sour and will make your face giu when you suck or take a bite out of it, but the iciness of it makes the sourness alright. And the jelly core... it's sweet and absolutely a delight to sink my teeth into. 

The group started making fun of my appetite after they saw me on my 4th stick. hur.

1 dive instructor, 3 dive masters, 2 leisure divers, 2 advanced divers and 12 open-water divers

First trip to have a female divemaster (bottom row, extreme right lady beside me), and she shared a room with us. She's a really nice person, because she had the ice lollies with me! Felix and Rico didn't join us this time round; Felix is down with some virus that cut him off from scuba (hope he gets well soon), and Rico was diving in Phuket.

SX tried to press me down, I jumped up and hit his chin. This is the aftermath; don't worry, I wasn't in pain, laughing actually... haha

Oh and before I forget, one of the funniest (and probably worst) things to happen when you're on a dive trip is when you get left behind on the island while everyone else is making their way to the dive sites. I couldn't stop laughing when Kaiming asked the other divemasters where one of the two advanced divers was, and everyone realized that he did not board the dive boat in two seconds. (I'm still laughing as I type this) There was no signal out there as we were at sea, so it was impossible to make a call back to the main island to check; and basically, that poor chap was just stuck at the jetty as we made our subsequent dive. Tsk tsk SX...

Shit happens and I guess we're all glad he's stuck on the main island instead of out at the dive sites. Hahaha, don't say I zek ark, it's only human nature.

And that's about it for this trip!

Friends

What makes a friend more than just a mere acquaintance? What do you think?

I don't have too many friends, and I've probably said this one time too many but still, I'm thankful for all these angels/devils that I call my friends. I love the crazy moments we have; all that joy and tears.

It took me 3 past relationships to realize the importance of friends, yes I'm slow like that, but I believe there're people out there who are far worse off. There were so many times when I was the 重色轻友 asstard; putting my friends up because of a last-minute date with the ex-bfs (read: treating them like my spare tyres), or not getting into contact with friends just because I've been spending way too much time with the ex-bfs, or calling them up when I'm in need and other irritating stuff like that. But despite all that kind of shit that I've put my friends through, they were still there for me when anything bad happened. I actually felt ashamed of myself for overlooking you people when you lent me your shoulders to cry on.

There's no guarantees that I'll not be such an asstard again, but, I'll try my best when the time comes when someone comes along and sweep me off my feet. Hee.

I am blessed with the most awesome group of friends and I know it.

Bimbos' Picnic at Botanic Gardens

Sometime last week, the three of us decided to head down to Botanic Gardens for a picnic. So after 1 hour of getting lost on the road, we arrived at our destination. 

lovely weather

To be honest, Botanic Gardens sounds like a really boring place to me. Well, at least that was the case before we had our picnic. Anyway, it must've been more than 10 years since I last dropped by the place; and the only childhood memory I have of the place is that of a kindergarten outing. 

mich's brownies, geraldine's pasta salad, and my sushi!

dig in!

I was expecting the place to be just as undeveloped as it was 10 years back; expecting parking to be a bitch and the weather to be all too hot... and I was happy to know that finding a lot at the underground carpark was quite a breeze, and the weather was almost perfect for a picnic. Apparently NEA also saw a need to have a food court somewhere near the entrance of the garden, not that I have any grouse about that.

don't they remind you of offerings you place on altars :x

5 minutes upon our arrival at the Garden, we found the perfect picnic spot under the most gigantic tree we could see. It was shady, dry, and gave us a good view of all that was happening around us.

A visitor...

We spread our disposable picnic mat out on the ground and laid our stuff on it, set up the place a little before we started munching on all the food that we brought. 

holga and a coloursplash

So in between our picnic lunch, we took lots of pictures and gossiped quite a fair bit. I think we were basically just accumulating bad karma points back there. Heh. I'm not going to share with you guys the content of what we talked about here because I don't think it's a nice thing to do. I realized that the three of us are quite similar in some sense.

strawberry girls

I had quite a good time back there, enjoying the occasional breeze in my hair and frolicking around in that glorious sunshine, all in the company of 2 good friends.

cute Caucasian babies aplenty

this is the big tree that gave us all the shelter that we needed

mich!

tree-hugging geraldine...

not-so-plastic bimbos

colour into black and white

on the sturdy long branch

lots of ferns hanging from this particular tree

later I changed the mode to black and white

having suicidal thoughts

one of the many toddlers that were running across the great grassy patch

postage stamps?

what good times are made of.

End. I'm so looking forward to my next picnic.