Month: February 2007

Little Miss Shopaholic

Looks from the 79th Academy Awards

yannisms

Hands up to those who weren’t bored by the Oscars yesterday. I knew it, it was such a snoozer that I was hardly thrilled by it. And now that I am down with viral stomach flu because of the vile Indian food I had after work (there was absolutely no time for me to even take a loo break, let alone take lunch), the Oscars is even less appealing to me now.

But well, at least there were some decent frocks on display yesterday. If last year’s affair was a dull one, this year’s was even worse.

Here is this fashionista’s choices of the top picks from the 79th Academy Awards:
“!(imgcenter)https://yannisms.com/pix/oscars/oscars_2007_sm.jpg!(Click for larger image)”:https://yannisms.com/pix/oscars/oscars_2007_lg.jpg

Continue reading “Looks from the 79th Academy Awards” →

Health Goddess

Happy pumping

yannisms

The objective was to push myself a little bit harder than before.

I have been going through Pump classes for a while now without feeling any aches or pains the next day so I figured my body had gotten used to the weights. My competitive nature set in and I thought it would be good to just add more itsy bitsy weights to the bar as a test.

Boy, am I regretting it now.

My thighs are cursing me for my arrogance and they are protesting by giving me twinges of pain whenever I sit or walk. My shoulders are stiff and unyielding, I suspect they are not entirely happy with me either. My baby biceps sulk a little when I lift my arms.

Well, too bad. Im off for another pump class soon at Cathay.

Guess they will just have to suffer in silence. Am I a sucker for pain or what. Heh.

Masochist, over and out.

Two of Us

Till death do us part?

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I wish I could go on a feminist rant and start a tirade against Valentine’s Day but I can’t, simply because I had a smashing good time. Dinner was sumptious wagyu beef at Aburiya, accompanied by a delicious tomato and cucumber salad and a fabulous beef stew. It was followed by draught Hoegaarden beer and lychee martinis, and a good dose of rocking music at Wala-wala. I’m not going into details because it’s probably boring to everyone else but us and, well, it’s nice to keep some aspects of the relationship offline.

But I’m still not really a Valentine’s Day girl – don’t give me expensive roses and gifts on that day, I’d rather go for the small, sweet actions that you do for me everyday.

……….

It sounds strange but being an avid blog reader, I have come across the breakdown of more than one marriage of those whose blogs I read in the past year. I do not know these people personally but nonetheless, it still makes me sad to read about the divorces.

I couldn’t help but wonder: whatever happened to “till death do us part”?

Was it because the couples chose to ignore the changes that had occurred in each other and in the relationships? Or was it because of the growth of differing opinions and perspectives in important issues between the two? Was something, or someone, the cause of the chasm? What dilluted the passion and turned it into bile?

It honestly scares me because it makes the idea of marriage less sacred than I had thought it to be. And it makes me think twice about whether I am really ready for marriage.

On paper, it seems that this is the perfect time to take the relationship into the next step, having dated for more than seven years. But sometimes, I look into the mirror and a child is staring back at me. Am I ready to share my life with someone else? And be the parent of my own child? Do we have enough tolerance, patience and love in us to make it work?

Two of Us

The story of us

yannisms

“!(imgleft)http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/339424718_cdaffff09f_m.jpg!(The ONE bookmark that started it all)”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmyliew/339424718/in/set-72157594449547241/

Because it’s Valentine’s Day today (not that we are particularly into this whole concept of expensive roses and overpriced chocolates), I believe I have a right to be mushy and absolutely, disgustingly nostalgic.

Actually, I don’t really remember when was the first time we laid eyes on each other. It was probably when I was 17 (1998) and still singing in the VJChoir. We did a guest performance during Chorale’s concert that year and had to go for joint practices during weekends. All I can remember of my first impression of him was thinking to myself: “who is this fat dude talking to us about the forum?” Not nice. Anyway, I was preoccupied with other boys at that time (sobs) and he was nothing but a passing acquaintance.

I had been pretty close to my seniors then, who had just graduated from the college, and they had this big Chorale clique going on. They went back to the school together pretty often and I would drop by and say hi. And I think that’s how we became friends.

In 1999, I ran a bookmark-making project (see above) for the choir to raise funds for our Germany trip and somehow, he sneakily managed to get hold of my ICQ (yes, that ancient, prehistoric IM) number and started messaging me under the pretext of wanting to help in the contributions. We started chatting but my boy troubles lasted till towards the end of my JC life and I wasn’t looking for another mess on my hands again. He asked me out a few times but I never thought it went beyond a platonic friendship.

Oddly enough, something must have changed because I actually went out on a movie date with him in the midst of studying for my A’Levels (points to you if you remember the details, baby!). And from then on, everything fell into place and we started dating. We went for movies, dinners and walks by the beach. The process of finding out about everything about someone new was quite exciting and exhilarating then.

It was quite funny because he really tried very hard during that period of time. I would go back to the school to study and he would drive by with a tub of Haagan-Dazs mango sorbet (my favourite) for me. He even woke up extra early just to send me to school during my examinations.

There were many a time when I wondered if I was crazy to go out with this man because he was a good seven years older than I was (and at 18, believe me, you would feel the difference acutely). I had just gotten out of some trying times and wasn’t sure if I could handle another relationship so quickly. I wanted to be sure that it was love and not infatuation or rebound.

But in the end, I felt that if I never tried, I would never know what the conclusion would be. And that’s how he and I became us.

Not the most exciting story in the world but hey, we’re still here today.

………

I went to bed with a smile on my face last night because he had said he wanted to take me out for dinner today. This, coming from a man who normally relied on his girlfriend to arrange for dates and who usually had no specific preferences for activities, was rather rare. Plus, he’s not quite the kind to spring surprises on me so I’m rather amused and am wondering what tricks he has up his short sleeves.

Happy Valentine’s, everyone.

“!(imgcenter)http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/361583799_04f13e6be0_m.jpg!(Happy)”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannie/361583799/

Werk

One “bad apple” does spoil the whole office

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(Because this is so relevant to the current office atmosphere, I kept thinking “yes, yes, YES” to myself as I was reading it)

One “bad apple” can spread negative behavior like a virus to bring down officemates or destroy a good team, according to a new study examining conflict in the workplace.

Negative behavior outweighs positive behavior, so a bad apple can spoil the whole barrel, but one or two good workers can’t “unspoil” it, researchers at the University of Washington said in the current issue of the journal Research in Organizational Behavior.

…..

The study defines negative workers as those who do not do their fair share of the work, are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or bully or attack others.

(Via Yahoo! news)

Everything Else

Better Days

yannisms

I’m late to The Goo Goo Dolls’ bandwagon and what I have heard so far from their Let Love In album has simply blown me away.

Lead singer Johnny Rzeznik wears his heart out on his sleeves and bares his emotions for the world to see. His raspy, slightly raw and imperfect voice is brilliant for the album of songs about lost love, pensive thoughts and hope. It lacks the slickness of most modern singers (think Justin Timberlake) and comes across as sincere and even emotionally searing.

It feels a little like Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty and Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol but less smooth and with a rock style that’s distinctive.

So almost eight months after falling in love with Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars (I am particularly smug that we uncovered the song back in June 2006, way before it became a “hit” gaah!), here’s a beautiful, heartfelt song from The Goo Goo Dolls titled “Better Days”.