Sunday, January 29, 2006
CNY p.s. bday :) 
1st day of cny 2day..as usual nothing much to do coz we dun do cny visiting among our relatives in sg and the others which we are closer to r in m'sia. abit envious of my bro n sis-in-law who rode their bike back to m'sia tis morning, couldn't go tis yr coz of dad's condition... so long nvr go back liao... didnt go anywhere to celebrate my bday coz 1st day of cny none of my frenz would be available n family already celebrated during reunion dinner yesterday. had reunion dinner in the afternoon instead coz mum wanted everyone to be present (previously sis-in-law wld hv dinner with her family instead) started ard1pm with yu sheng followed by the usual fare of steamboat until we drop ;p
yu sheng
steamboat as usual
juz b4 12 midnite, went to tis temple @ paya lebar area with mum n dad coz they had signed up for a ceremony to welcome the god of fortune... juz as we got there, the clock struck 12 and they were letting off those electronic firecrackers. even though not as nice, it did really sounded like the real thing.. went ard taking photos and praying while waiting for the ceremony to start ard 1am. always luv to go to the temples during festivals coz itz all so crowded and festive rather than staying hm to watch all the new year celebrations and shows.
@ the temple
firecrackers
lotsa red lanterns!
lion dance :)
when the annoucement for the ceremony came on, all the pple who had signed up (ard 100-200pple!!) all flocked to the designated area where a raised platform was erected (facing north as that was where the god of fortune is supposed to be tis yr) the ceremony took ard 1hr of which we had to spend ard 40min kneeling down while every single name of the partipant was read but mum n i gave up half way n sat down coz it was really painful kneeling on the concrete road ;p. heard dad's name being called up loud n clear but both of us couldn't catch mum's name properly. me not really concerntrating coz smsing, taking photos n chatting with mm ;) onli got hm ard 2.30am and according to tradition, i stayed awake till 6am as customs has it dat by staying staying awake on the eve ("shou ye") children will help to lengthen the life of their parents. me during ceremony :) 
all the other participants 
god of fortune giving out ang paos
8:08 PM star light star bright... Y
Thursday, January 26, 2006
bangkok, here i come!!
omg, u wont believe this... I WON A PAIR OF FREE TICKS TO BANGKOK!!!! cant believe my luck!, itz not even the new lunar year and my luck is oredi catching up on me (p.s. those born in yr of goat suppose to hv lotsa luck n $$ in the coming lunar yr ;p)! actually hv been following this wk long contest on radio stn ufm1003 (my favourite stn!! not juz coz i won ticks, k?! ;p).. today is the last day and hv been trying really hard to multi task during working hrs, i.e. listening to radio, trying to call in and at the same time sms in the answers while flipping thru citta bella mag (sponsor of ticks) trying to get answers... nerve wrecking week.... finally today i managed to follow most of the show copying down notes of possible qns and when the time came, i managed to call in!!! i was the 2nd caller, the uncle b4 me didnt know answers but luckily he hung up fast coz my line happen to be engaged on their 2nd line and when i heard my voice on the radio and the host speaking thru my handphone, i almost freak out! lucky day today coz i actually knew where exactly to find answers in the mag as well as happened to scribble down answers to the qns!! HURRAY!!!!!! told everyone, including mum dad n bros!! mum wants to go with me n bro suggested if possible can go with him n gf when they go next mth... but haven know which airline and when to collect yet coz waiting for the organiser to contact me!!! still veri excited!!! :)))) best bday gift eva!!
1:20 PM star light star bright... Y
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
memoirs of a geisha - the movie preview
got a pair of free ticks to watch "memoirs of a geisha" today... as usual it was pouring...
p.s. forgot to mention... due to my trip to chinatown, i came down with a really high fever, 39.3degrees, sour throat, block nose and a terrible cough which kept me awake most of the nite n prob irritated alot of pple in the cinema with my "tuberculosis" sounding cough even though i tried hard to muffle it with tissue :P... had to go see doc at a 24hr clinic and had to pay $52!! h/r supposed to be back at work today but doc forsee that i'll need to rest another day so gave me mc for today :))
ok, back to the movie...overall a nice movie, like certain scenes but fully aware that lots of parts hv been changed and pace a lot faster than the novel (which i took the trouble of re-reading it again b4 going to see the movie ;p) skipped alot of parts like:
- started off when tanaka san took them away but done away with intro to sayuri's life in her hometown n what drove her father for allowing tanaka san to take them away
- did away a lot of parts abt the "battle" btw hatsumomo n sayuri n mameha, i.e. hatsumomo stalking the two of them and spreading rumours abt sayuri
- the better times pumpkin n sayuri did spent together like practising their shimasen in the snow before hatsumomo put a stop to it
- skipped the part abt her 1st danna who had helped them significantly in terms of material needs during the war (nodu san did mention his name but dont tink those who had not read the book would take notice)
- did not mentioned that eventually she went off to america to open a teahouse with the chairman's help
and changed some storyline like:
- sayuri was suppose to take the opportunity of delivering hatsumomo her shimasen to look for her sis instead of running out on her own
- mameha shd hv approached sayuri's okiya much earlier to propose taking chiyo as her younger sister and the terms of her offer totally changed like the bet was supposed to be sayuri would settle all her debts before 18 or 20 (forgot ;p) instead of within 6 mths etc...
- sayuri was not suppose to know that the other bidder for her mizuage is mameha's danna, the baron, from mameha herself but from others later on
- sayuri was to only return to her okiya only when she receives instructions from her mother for her to go back n not simply folllowing nobu san's pleas
- sayuri was to entertain a new jap finance minister n not an american colonel and venue was suppose to be at an empty theatre n not in the rm as shown..
okok, stop boring pple...overall, they had to increase the pace coz the show was ard 2hr 15min after cutting some of the scenes, imagine how long it would take to finish the whole show, think tiffy would hv passed out by then.. anyway, like some scenes like the ambience for the solo performance performed by sayuri (as seen in the picture below), the scenic gardens of the baron's estate and how they ended off on the really nice garden where the chairman finally annouced his feelings to sayuri... but still tink a little lack of details explaining some of the ceremonies and customs, such as the type of hairstyle and obi that diff geisha wear etc... but cant expect that much coz itz meant to be a commercial movie. maybe they shd film a tv series which will better tell this story...
got to go sleep, working tomolo, oredi 12.30am... by the way, cant wait to catch "the da vinci code - the movie", another novel which i like and cant wait to see the adaptation with all the scenes and actual pictures to relate to wat i hv read, before that, go to re-read the book but plenty of time coz it only opens in may ;p
oyasumi nasai!
11:59 PM star light star bright... Y
Saturday, January 07, 2006
07012006> chinatown cny lightup
went down to chinatown ard 6plus to see the lightup as well as the start of the cny night market.. it was raining for the whole day since last nite, the rain stopped on off up till the nite when the ceremony started... couldnt get near the main stage so couldn't see too much from the big screen at the side. left the main performance area aft the initial lightup n small fireworks to go makan n shop shop instead (and thus missing the bigger fireworks at the end of the ceremony)... didnt buy much things coz would be going back for at least 2-3 times with frenz n mum. bought a lot of cds and cny deco though :)
the star
the moon
the main road
the night market
11:50 PM star light star bright... Y
Friday, January 06, 2006
05012006> 1st karaoke session in 2006...
knocked off work on the dot on thurs to go karaoke with my colleagues, tiffy, karen 7 angelia... went to the new kbox @ marina sq... very new n veri nice! think it may become my new hangout, i.e. marina sq, coz the shopping centre looks really nice aft itz major revamp... had a nice session esp since we managed to win a free jug of soft drink. the kv had a game session whereby we play bluff using dice with their staff and at 1st, me n karen wanted to back out after starring at the lot b4 us all fail, at least 8-9 pple. aft much starring n explaining by the staff, we decided to play n surprising had beginner's luck. could hv opted for beer but dun tink any of us would drink it anyway so opted for soft drinks but they got it wrong, instead of lemon sprite, gave us honey lemon ;p... went hm ard 11plus...
the gang
us taking turns to pose with the drink :P...
karen
tiffy
angelia
me :p
3:50 PM star light star bright... Y
