Month: September 2004

Arts & Entertainment

Wala Wala on a Friday night

yannisms

Alcohol is a poisonous evil and should be avoided at all costs.
Maybe that explains why Evil Fat Brat is such an evil person.

Last night, at Gay Boy’s urging, a bunch of us trooped down to Wala’s. He’s like an ardent fan of the band, EIC, and has fledgling dreams of being in a band. Anyway, we pretty much had nothing to do on a Friday evening and decided to make our way to the hip and happening Holland Village.

The place is as dim and dingy as usual but I guess that’s what makes it such an cosy venue for youngsters. However, there seems to have been many changes since the last time I was there.

First, they have implemented a cover charge rule from Thursdays to Saturdays. You now have to buy a drink before you can make your way upstairs. Somehow, I managed to worm my way past the burly bouncer (yes, there’s that too) without purchasing anything by smiling sweetly and mumbling some nonsense. Others were not so lucky, but they were smart enough to get the cheapest drinks available in the house.

And then, there’s this thing about age limits. They are now checking IDs and preventing anyone below the age of 20 from entering the place. All these new rules are supposedly for crowd control purposes and to allow better service.

But based on our experiences last night, service doesn’t seem to be particularly fantastic. Staff were surly and can be downright rude. Perhaps it was due to the surging crowd of people but weren’t measures taken precisely to prevent such instances? It seems pretty contradictory.

Thankfully, beyond that, we all had a good time. EIC was pretty good, as usual, and we all had a good laugh at their rendition of Emil Chau’s Peng You (Friends). Even the EFB was impressed and he probably didn’t know 99% of the songs that were performed. Kudos to Sandy who actually planted herself there for hours to guarantee us a table.

Anyway, back to alcohol.

How the hell did I ingest such copious amounts of that evil? We only had two jugs shared among five people and that was over a span of four hours. I woke up with a runny nose and a throat that was screaming for water.
Oh well, am probably going to studiously avoid alcohol.
Till the next time, anyway.

(PS Gay Boy is not really gay, he’s totally straight. It’s just something he calls himself, oddly enough. Anyway, he’s the only guy I know who can outshop a girl.)

What’s Playing on iTunes
My Beloved Monster – Eels from “Shrek – Music from the Original Motion Picture” by Various Artists

Everything Else

The Definition of RSVP

yannisms

Back when I was a kid, one of my sister’s most prized possessions was a jaunty, bright yellow umbrella whose size is just perfect for a child. She loved it and used it whenever it rained while I looked on enviously, sharing the boring adult umbrella with my mother. On its cheery fabric was a picture of a smiling Singa the courtesy lion, and beneath him were the words “Courtesy – it’s a way of life”.

Years later, it seems that the courtesy campaign that the gahmen (Singlish for “government”) forced down our throats have had no effect at all. Are people really more polite? Have we become more considerate?

Hardly.

I have always resisted planning outings and events for a large group of people, be it a simple movie outing or a large-scale VC party. It becomes a logistical nightmare, trying to figure out who’s going and who’s not because afterall, everything hinges on the participants. I waste my monthly text message quota on asking around for interested parties. And then, I spend more money going after people whom I had sent out messages to but had not received replies from, when my message stated clearly for them to RSVP.

According to Dictionary.com, RSVP is an acronym that stands for French phrase “Répondez s’il vous plait“, which means “Please Reply“. Perhaps my interpretation of RSVP is different from everybody else’s because I read it as my answer to the host is necessary, whether it’s in the negative or affirmative. Meaning, even if I don’t intend to make it to the proposed gathering, I will respond to the sender. This not only assures the host that you are alive and have received the message, but also that he can go ahead with his plans without you.

Somehow, not everybody shares my interpretation, when people simply do not respond. I could just ignore their silence and go ahead but I worry that the cause of their silence is due to the fact that they did not receive my messages and not out of disinterest. Lately, however, I have come to realise that some people are just not schooled in consideration and courtesy, and have no qualms about ignoring the “RSVP” indication.

Is this a sign of self-centeredness?
Probably so.
But it sure ain’t my business anymore.

What’s Playing on iTunes
Feeling U, Feeling Me [Interlude] from “The Diary of Alicia Keys” by Alicia Keys

Photography, The organised chaos

Contentment is all around

yannisms

Whee!

That pretty sums up my mood recently.
I’m happy!

Not sure why but somehow my life seems to have become more peaceful somewhat.

Perhaps it’s the fact that I am still appreciating the time that I have to do whatever it is that I want to do. I can go out and enjoy the sights and sounds of Singapore, visit and play with my little nephew, and pore over magazines at leisure. I can just pick up the phone and tell the boyfriend that I have a craving for a certain food and he, being the easygoing fellow that he is, acquiesces. I can sit at the couch and play with my XBox for hours, cursing and swearing as my Aragorn gets flattened by rocksyet again. I actually like the feeling of sitting down with my students and going through obnoxiously tough A Maths questions with them, such that my time stretches beyond the stipulated two hours.

And maybe, I am feeling happy because my job prospects seem a little brighter. At this point, I can’t say much because things are not confirmed yet but the fact that I can somewhat choose my path is very heartening.

I wish life could be like this for always.
And I just bought a new pair of heels.
And I still want to buy some more (20% discount at our favourite local shoe shop, you know).
The person who was supposed to stop me didn’t do his duty.
Evil.

PS All Around Singapore is a collection of pictures that I took over the past few months. They may not be fabulous but they are all photos that I like. =)

What’s Playing on iTunes
Something About You from “America Town” by Five For Fighting

Arts & Entertainment

Prudential agents + Singapore Idol = ?

yannisms

Question: What do Prudential agents and Singapore Idol have in common?
Answer: They both irritate the hell out of me.

Let me explain.

I was walking to a banking lobby from Tampines interchange when I was accosted by a Prudential agent. He was part of the Prudential roadshow, which seems to be a permanent fixture in Tampines now. I was in a hurry and waved him away, saying, “No thanks.” He didn’t seem to get the hint and followed after me, all the while trying to get me to fill up some form. Without looking at him, I repeated, “No thanks.” That bugger didn’t seem to get the hint and continued dogging my footsteps, rattling off some nonsense which I did not bother to listen to. This time, I snapped so loudly that some ladies walking in front of me actually turned around and stared, “NO THANKS.”

Hello, which part of frigging NO do you not understand?
Do I have an “I-like-to-fill-up-stupid-forms?” face?? Or a “I-have-pots-of-money-to-invest-with-Prudential” walk???

And then I get home, only to realise that Singaporeans are a tone-deaf bunch.

I didn’t manage to catch all of the Singapore Idol performances today but those that I caught didn’t leave enough impression on me, except Leandra Rasiah and Maia Lee. Thought that they had solid, mellow voices which had enough power to rock the house down. Well, Singapore made one choice right when they voted in Leandra, who absolutely deserved to get into the top 10.

Felt that Jerry “I’m trying to be Douglas O ver. 2.0” Ong’s vocals were weak and unconvincing. If he had sung his song, “To Love Somebody” to the girl he loves, she would run away, screaming, and hide from him in a cave up in Mount Er-mei forever. It was such a fake rendition, he was obviously putting on a show.

As for Muhammad Taufik, well, his version of “My Girl” was alright. Nothing too fabulous, pretty ordinary. Didn’t watch Nana and Beverley Morata but from the clips shown at the live results show, they seem to have pretty powerful voices but apparently the rest of Singapore didn’t think so. They chose cute over solid. Aww, come on!

I’m beginning to get the feeling that this show is rigged.
Yes, rigged!

In the first place, the performances are not live. I don’t understand why Mediacorp wants to pretend that it is by dressing the singers and the judges in the exact same clothing, when the live results show come on. I’m sure Singaporeans are really media-illiterate people who don’t know what edits and cuts are. But then again, given our penchant for bad-sounding idols, we might be fooled by Singapore’s biggest broadcaster afterall.

Sadly, Joanna didn’t get called back to the Wildcard special. The judges’ choices left me completely flabbergasted.

They actually picked Sylvester “I want to look like Jay Chou and sound like Jon Bon Jovi” Sim and Benjamin “I used to be from boyband” Eio over a multi-talented singer such as Joanna.

Go figure.

What’s Playing on iTunes
If God Made You from “The Battle for Everything” by Five For Fighting

The organised chaos

Finding Yannie

yannisms

These past few days have been a murky mix of confusion, doubt and frustration for me.
I dithered here and there, wondering why I can’t seem to find a job that I would really like to do. I wondered if the problem lied with me, that I was too fussy and idealistic, that I didn’t know what exactly it is that I want to do.

And so, in a cold and steely manner, I started applying to jobs that sounded vaguely interesting, hoping that one of the many could be the right one for me.

Some interviews turned out favourably, resulting in offers and recall for second meetings. But somehow, I didn’t feel excited about the prospects of these jobs. I felt uncertain, wondering if they were really what I wanted to do. Somehow, they just didn’t feel right. But I told myself that I should give myself the chance to try them out before rejecting them completely.

Then, the answer came to me in the unlikeliest of places – in the backseat of a cab.

Suddenly, I realised that the reason why I didn’t feel enthusiastic about any of these job offers is because they were not what I had envisioned myself doing. I was doing exactly what I had said I would never do – take up a job for the sake of having a job. To me, a job is not just a job. I don’t want to wake up leaden everyday, dreading work. I want to feel charged and happy about work.

There are only a handful of things that I am genuinely interested in doing. I want to write, I want to be part of the Arts scene in Singapore, I want to conceptualise ideas and strategies in consumer PR, I want to interact with people.

Hence my decision – if I don’t find a job that suits me in any of these areas, I will teach. I want to spread my love for English Literature and Music to young people. I want to teach little children to learn to sing and act. Teaching is not the coward’s way out for me, it’s something that encompasses most of what I want to do.

I’ve found my direction in life.

What’s Playing on iTunes
If You Didn’t Love Me from “Corrinne May” by Corrinne May

Geek Girl

Where did the computer go?

yannisms

Ans: Neatly and ingeniously packed into the dynamite iMac G5!


Photo courtesy of the boyfriend

The latest incarnation of my baby G4 is now a sleek, wall-mountable, lean, mean machine!
It not only promises to be quieter than my baby, despite it running a G5 processor, but is also an attractive skinny thing (quite like me, haha!), being only 2″ thick. Everything that you would ever need for a computer is packed into its skinny 2″ frame. Fancy that!

My fantasy setting: Hanging the iMac G5 on a wall, complete with Bluetooth module and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Ahh…..