Month: March 2006

Silly things

Face recognition

yannisms

I have been playing with this funny celebrity face recognition website and it has been giving me lots of weird matches! Of course, I am only going to showcase the gorgeous matches that the “system” threw up. Afterall, why would I want to trumpet to the whole world that I resemble Stephen Chow??!

Celebrity lookalike part 2

First, I look like Song Hae Gyo.

Celebrity lookalike part 4

Then I turned Caucasian and became Jessica Alba while the boyfriend…..well, his match was queer.

Celebrity lookalike part 5

I went back to being Asian while Popartgirl’s match was skinny fry Calista Flockhart. Ooh!

Celebrity lookalike part 3

Suddenly, Popartgirl and Squirt both resembled Tata Young!

But the most hilarious match was for this photo of Ash, Popartgirl and myself:

Celebrity lookalike part 1

Ash apparently resembled Jang Dong Gun!!! Popartgirl had no match while I became Kylie Minogue. No complaints though. Tee hee.

Go try it here. Crappy site does not support Safari for Macs though, you would need Firefox. Boo.

Friends

Let’s play Taboo, Part 1

yannisms

Taboo, the game, that is.

We spent Saturday night at Settler’s Cafe and had a great evening of laughter and fun playing games like Taboo, Pictionary and Jenga. Anyway, over the next few entries are gems that were uncovered during the night.

See if you can guess the word that Joker was trying to get his teammates to guess.

Joker: “Dawn likes to do this. In her spare time. In her personal space, in her room.”
Others: “Huh??!”

Arts & Entertainment

V for Vendetta

yannisms

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

And so the movie begins.

!(imgcenter)https://yannisms.com/pix/movies/v_vendetta.jpg!

This is such a profoundly intriguing and powerful movie that I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to watch it. Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore (who wanted to have nothing to do with the movie), it’s thought-provoking and makes me think back to the time when I was attending Political Process classes during my undergraduate days.

In the movie, the government uses fear as a tool of control, effectively manipulating the people into quiet subservience. The mass media has become a propagator of lies, a mouthpiece of the government’s fabrications, an institution that commands no respect or trust in the people’s minds. The people have become sheep, empty vessels that follow the way their leaders tell them to go and although they know that truth is being hidden from them, they have no courage and no will to stand up and fight against the blanket of power that enslaves them.

Until one day, a Guy Fawkes mask-wearing anti-hero V blows up a building to the strains of Tchaikovsky’s 1812. The course of history is changed in that one moment and the people play right into the hands of V and are galvanised into action the following year on Guy Fawkes day.

V is neither a hero nor a villain, a mix of brutality and intellectual elegance. On a larger scale, his reasons for his acts are shrewd and accurate. But on a deeper level, you have to question if he is playing the people against the government in cold, cruel retaliation to the monstrosity that was inflicted upon him 20 years ago.

And that is why the movie is so brilliant. It makes you think, question, rather than accept the norms and notions on a silver platter. There really is no right or wrong in the premise of V’s acts, you cannot apply a standard set of moral values to what he has done.

!(imgleft)https://yannisms.com/pix/movies/natalie_portmann_vendetta.jpg!

The clever twist towards the end of the movie (for me, at least) is that eventually, the decision to move forward from today’s events into tomorrow’s future (based loosely on V’s words) was not V’s to make. He set the stage but chose to step back, bowing to the fact that he would not be the one to enjoy today’s fruits of labour tomorrow.

Most hot-blooded men I know would be rushing into the cinemas to catch the ever gorgeous and subtle Natalie Portman at work. She was wonderful as Evey, the long-suffering heroine, and is given top billing but I felt that the true star of the show was Hugo Weaving.

Hidden behind a mask and a wig, he could only rely on body language and vocal techniques to bring out the character of V. As thankless as the role of Gollum in LOTR, he managed to bring out the human side of V through the emotions in his voice and the movements in his body. A little slump of the shoulders, a drop of his head — all these and more brought out the nuances of the character.

To sum it up, this is definitely a must-see movie. Run to the theatres if you can.

[Let’s play tag! , , ]

Arts & Entertainment

Top Gun vs. South Park

yannisms

!(imgleft)https://yannisms.com/pix/southpark_tom_cruise.jpg!
So recently, there was this big hooha about Tom Cruise getting all huffy about an episode of South Park that dealt with his religion, Scientology. Mr Top Gun supposedly threw his weight around, just a little, and the episode was eventually shelved, possibly never to see the light of day again.

Well, thanks to the Internet community, the episode, which “features” celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, John Travolta and R Kelly, has surfaced on Youtube. Hail the Internet!

!(img)https://yannisms.com/pix/southpark_nicole_kidman.jpg! !(img)https://yannisms.com/pix/southpark_scientology.jpg!

“Tom Cruise won’t come out of the closet!”

[Let’s play tag! , , ]

Silly things

Music meme from Hucks

yannisms

Sorry my dear Kor, I totally forgot about the meme that you tagged me to do. Well, better late than never, I guess. Here goes:

1. A song by a Beatle:
Hey Jude
Unquestionably one of my favourite Beatles song. Yes, yes, I know the question asked for song by A Beatle but hey, I prefer my Beatles together yah?

2. A song featuring piano as the main instrument:
Beautiful Disaster, live acoustic version by Kelly Clarkson
I love this version, it’s so emotional and intimate.

3. A song with a man’s name in the title:
Mr Brightside by The Killers
Heh heh, since it’s got the word “mister” in the title, I think it qualifies as a man’s name. This is by far my favourite Killers song. Once this is pounding in my ears when I am plugged into the iPod at the gym, I become a racer on the treadmill. I used to run with The Killers and Franz Ferdinand, always telling myself I can only stop after the song, and then the next, and then the next. That was how I pushed myself.

4. A song with a woman’s name in the title:
Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls
Who didn’t like this song when it first came out? The perfect angsty, adolescent song.

5. A song about money:
Rich Girl by Gwen Stefani
Not exactly my favourite song, just rather catchy and infectious.

6. A song with weather in the title:
NYC Weather Report by Five For Fighting
One of my favourite band singer. He’s just got this mellow and sad, puppy eye kind of voice that appeals to me.

7. A song with parentheses in the title (these are parentheses):
Superman (It’s not easy) by Five for Fighting
Yes, it’s another Five for Fighting song. Probably the first song to propel him to popularity.

8. A song made by a punk band:
Good Riddance (Time of your Life) by Green Day
Yes, another coming of age song, this is. I remember the guys in my JC choir going bollocks over this song. They would plant themselves in the choir room and then strum this on the aging guitar like the angsty teens that we all were. Heck, I remember this dude who was supposedly in like with me (he fell in like with almost all the girls in my year) sitting outside the room, looking all lost and depressed playing this song. But obviously, the cheap trick did not work in my books, haha!

9. A song with the word “song” in the title:
You and Me Song by the Wannadies
Ack! Ack! I heart this song so much, because I heart the movie that much. I remember blasting this song in nyrtap’s car and us singing our lungs out and bobbing our heads. I think the suspension of his car must have suffered badly.

10. A song you love so much you stop and listen whenever you hear it put it on repeat mode and never get sick of it:
100 Years by Five for Fighting
No doubt, this is THE song for me. Play count on my iTunes is currently 318 and that is not including the number of times this song played on my iPod. It’s been two years but I am still not tired of this wonderful song. Boy, I can definitely loop this all night.

Five people I tag (heh heh):
Cat
Mr Cynical-turned-miso-bitchy (cos he has like 20GB of songs, I don’t think he has listened to every single song in his library)
O2 (if he is still around and reading this!)
VK (you with the beng car!)
AKM (heeeeee….)

Friends, Two of Us

Saturday, bargain day

yannisms

And in a blink of an eye, the weekend is over. It’s back to the grind tomorrow, back to the undesirable week of afternoon shifts. Thank goodness for a wonderful Saturday then.

It started bright and early, with the boyfriend and I popping by our usual prata place for brunch under the blazing hot sun. It was hot. Because I was nursing a sniffling nose, I decided to get a hot drink, a teh halia (ginger milk tea) no less. Throw a spicy mutton curry into the mix and you get a wilting yAnn. We escaped into the cool comfort of the car as quickly as we could.

Because the boyfriend was keen to go for the Wing Tai warehouse sale (yes, he wanted to go shopping), we drove to the warehouse only to be greeted by a snaking queue of determined shoppers armed with many, many bags of items and waiting to pay under the blazing hot sun. We went in for a lookie anyway, saw a couple of good bargains that we might have bought otherwise but decided not to because it just wasn’t worth the time queueing.

With plenty of time on our hands, we swung by Tannery Lane where a Nine West warehouse sale was going on. The air-conditioning and the vending machine were sadly the highlights for us. There were beautiful shoes but the heels were just too high for clumsy ‘ol me to handle. Plus, I am mainly in sneakers and ballet pumps these days.

Since we were in the area already, we thought to visit a sports shop that was around the corner. But it wasn’t great – the pickings were slim and prices similar to the shops in town despite its “warehouse” claims.

The next planned stop was Parkway Parade, as it housed adidas, Nike Women and Topshop, all of which I had discount coupons for. As we whizzed down MacPherson Road, the eagle-eyed boyfriend suddenly shouted out “Why Pay More!!” (the budget sports shop owned by RSH) and in that split second, our plans changed and we made a u-turn at the junction in front. The dude picked out a nice pair of Nike reversible soccer pants, in L size no less {smirks}.

We finally got to Parkway Parade with an hour and some to spare. Encountered no luck with Nike Women and Topshop, before finally hitting the jackpot at adidas (kerchink!!). By that time, both of us were knackered and we retreated to our favourite Ya Kun kaya toast for a well-deserved break.

All that within four hours.

It felt strangely bizarre to be spending Saturday with the dude because he usually plays soccer with the guys before practice and I would be snoozing in bed. But it was wonderful, that feeling of carefree abandon. We shopped, talked, joked, laughed, held hands, kissed, hugged and it was like how it used to be when we first started dating.

Then at night, the usual choir gang trooped down to a games cafe near Parkway Parade where we giggled, acted, hummed, sculpted, spelt and drew for three whole hours. It was hilarious, and it really brought out the wackiness in everyone. During our long-drawn game of Cranium, they came to the conclusion that I had the jinxed touch. Every card that I drew for Sandy and Bralala were tough tasks to complete and they failed 85% of the time. But the jinxed hand came in handy (unintentional corniness) when I warded off the impending victory of Cat and Mr Busy for a good amount of time. Hah!

Meanwhile, the boyfriend busied himself by creating a clay model of himself and throwing tantrums when we needed the clay for the sculpting activities.

Nice Saturday. Happy!

Foodnotes, Friends

Pigging out at Kippo

yannisms

[Update] Last month, Popartgirl and I hatched a plan to swing by Kippo at Keppel Club to try out their sumptuous ala carte buffet. She had tried it once and was impressed enough to want to go back for a second time.

And so this was how, we spent our evening there with 12 others to celebrate the birthday of Trevor last Tuesday.

The food was pretty awesome at the price of $32+++. For that price, you could get a serving of shark’s fin soup (clear soup that was bursting with flavours) and Peking duck, as well as countless orders of other dishes such as chili crab (!!!) with fried man tou to soak up the chili gravy, Tom Yam prawns, scallops, squid and broccoli in XO sauce (abfab!), salmon sashimi (fresh, thick and succulent slices) among others.

There were some odd items such as steamed mince pigeon soup, which wasn’t very appealing to the palate, as well as disappointments such as the chawan mushi. But overall, the quality was rather high as can be expected from a restaurant which is part of the Tung Lok group of restaurants.

Service was rather good as well, with the staff prompt to change our dirty plates and quick to take orders. I must say that they maintained their composure rather well despite coming to our table to take our orders for the umpteenth time.

No photos of the food because I was busy pigging out. We stayed past 10, having arrived after 7, and left with bulging stomachs and a feeling of immense satisfaction. Mmmm! Other than the fact that you would definitely need a car to get to the club, it’s a place that I will visit again. Soon.

The dude and I

The dude and I

Midway through the meal

Check out the array of plates, bowls and cups that are strewn all over the table

Trevor is thrilled with one of his presents

Happy Trevor with a nice gift

More photos here

Kippo
Keppel Club
Bukit Chermin Road
Singapore 109918
T: 6273 3398

The organised chaos

The end of a journey

yannisms

Am I losing interest in singing with the choir?

After six years of non-stop participation, I have to admit that recently, I have started resenting the huge pocket of time practices take out of my personal time. It used to be that singing was such a big part of my life that I could not imagine myself without it. But things change, people change, the environment changes and I realise that my motivation and determination are not as strong as before.

Yes, I still love trooping overseas for competitions. Yes, I still love the thrill of performing under the bright lights of the stage. Yes, I still love spending the time with friends during and after practices. Yes, I still love tracking the progress of our songs, going from a mess of notes into perfect harmony.

But these no longer drive me 100% at each and every practice. Rather, they come in guilty waves, after I lose focus and question the reasons for sitting in a freezing room with 39 other singers, working on a phrase of music for the nth time. Yes, a sense of pride wells up in my when we finally get it perfect but I get restless, bored, just like a child would if you ask him to concentrate on a task for three hours.

The boyfriend and I were in the car one Sunday afternoon when I started musing on all the different activities that we could do when we quit the choir. We could go explore Singapore for photography sessions, check out new places to feast, bum by the beach, learn blading (me, he’s ace at it), relax at home with TV shows and DVDs…..the options were endless. Popartgirl, who has the same intent, has asked me to join her and her Joker of a boyfriend for their salsa classes despite my having two left feet and praying mantis moves. I could spend more time with the family, going out with the cousins. Heck, I could continue singing but on a different path, like starting something new with Clem.

It feels sad, as if I am slowly but surely losing a trusted friend who has been such an integral part of my life. I have been in a choir since 13 and the feelings of familiarity and warmth are there. But maybe it’s time to move on.

Hopefully, things will be clearer after July’s competition.

“!(imgcenter)http://static.flickr.com/18/23782448_139feb0978_m.jpg!(The good ‘ol days in Bremen, 2004)”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannie/23782448/

[Let’s play tag! ]

Arts & Entertainment, Little Miss Shopaholic

Oscar fashion

yannisms

The best thing about the job, really, is the fact that each desk has its own tiny television set. Presumably to alert us to breaking news when tuned to channels such as CNN and BBC, the dial was firmly set at Channel 5 this morning for the Academy Awards.

As I sat there looking through the photos that were pouring in, with one eye fixed firmly at the television, I realised that the fashion parade of this year’s Oscars is sadly bland and boring. Unlike previous years, there weren’t any wow dresses that made me go weak in the knees. For instance, I will always remember the canary yellow Carolina Herrera dress with the giant bow that Renee Zellweger wore one year and the chic green Dior dress that Nicole Kidman wore when she was still Mrs Cruise.

This year, only a handful broke out of the predominantly dark colours to don cheery, bold colours. And now, let’s cut to the chase and get to the yAnnisms Fashion Oscars. Drum roll please!

Continue reading “Oscar fashion” →

Health Goddess, The organised chaos

Poooooh

yannisms

This has not been a good day for me, having started on a lemony mode.

During breakfast, I called for a cab with a local blue company as is my usual habit and managed to get one relatively quickly. The estimated time of arrival of the cab was between seven to 10 minutes.

Seven minutes later, I was pacing at the void deck, annoyed that the cab was nowhere to be found. Called the cab company, was put on hold for a while before the customer service lady said that the driver was around my area but did not respond to their calls. Soon enough, the cab turned into the driveway and the moment I got on, already panicking slightly because I was afraid I would be late for work, the driver started ranting away angrily.

“I waited for so long and even made two rounds to make sure I did not miss you,” he fairly shouted. I told him that he had given his ETA as seven minutes and I was punctual, hence this was no fault of mine. He ignored me and started his tirade again before I interrupted him, with a raised voice, that it was his problem for indicating his ETA as seven minutes. And then, I muttered under my breath, loudly, “what the fuck” and bingo! he shut up and calmed down.

The morning could only get worse. I started encountering a lingering, dull ache to my shoulders and lower back and no matter how I stretched, it wouldn’t go away. What was worse, my “reactive” stomach (according to a doctor) had chosen today to act up again and I could feel it chugging and churning away like a productive little bee. I had to down a Panadol to drive the aches away.

Thankfully, I was complaining to the sista about my problem and she suggested that I attend her Bodybalance class at the gym as the stretches could help alleviate the pain. And it did. The class gave me jelly legs after but it felt refreshing and relaxing. It also killed my fatigue, albeit temporarily. But my right foot is still slightly weak.

Ever since I injured my foot scaling the treacherous steps of Angkor Wat, it has never really recovered. Walking in the wrong pair of shoes would send a sharp twinge down my foot and I always make sure that I land really softly during Bodycombat to avoid aggravating it. This really sucks because I have stopped running altogether, ever since the marathon. I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that my right foot is slightly tinier than my left and while shoes fit the left side nicely, there is always space in the right. Perhaps this caused the right foot to work harder which led to my problems.

And then (yes, there is more), I got pissed when a nicely crafted and wordy text message that I sent out was met with a terse reply of, say, five words. Talk about abrupt. Should just save my money and effort by not bothering in future.

Gaaaah!
I think I should go to bed now.
TGIF.