The dating conundrum

Just read yesterday's newspaper...There was a long feature special on dating services in our quaint little city...I did have a rather enjoyable time reading it and i do have my two cents worth on the whole article...hahaha.

Apparently, match-making services have moved with the times to appeal to a better-educated and more affluent clientiele...In the past, the traditional match-making agency paired potential couples together based primarily on education level and lifestyle.Activities were restricted to large-scale group picnics and barbecues...The client had to pay a relatively paltry sum to access the agency's database...Today, dating services pair couples up using far wider criteria...credit rating...financial status...handwriting analysis...even horoscopes...comparatively more intimate activites (eg.dinner and drinks, clubbing and coffee dates) are organised...oh, and boy do you have to pay to enjoy the dating service! (in the region of five to six hundred dollars for around 10-12 dates)

Some of the dating ideas seem really artificial...dating is an activity that should come naturally for singles with an eye for a particular guy/gal...it's just not appropriate plonking two complete strangers down in some trendy dining spot and expecting them to be friends at the end of the whole evening...In a sense, you run the risk of being forced to endure the whole evening with someone who may really turn you off; just for the sake of courtesy(and to do the money you spent on the dating service justice)...Can you imagine how contrived the whole situation can be?

Some customers are all for the alluring intrigue and the possibility of being swept away by a dark and handsome (hopefully Ang moh) stranger a la MILLS AND BOON...But come on! Get real man! Do you honestly thing that handsome Ang Mohs with cash to burn would sign up for this kind of dating service? In an ideal world maybe...but in our all-to-human world? only in your dreams baby...

The exorbitant prices of the dating service package (more than five hundred sing for a 12 date package) is another factor that puts me off...I love meeting new people...and I am a strong believer in fate and destiny...to me, there seems to be something intrinsically wrong about having to pay to meet a potential life partner.

What do you think?

naturally, i am happy in this pic 

The Gals there are really cute...here's one of them with my cuzzie... 

SaT NiTe!

I love sat nites...so many fun things to do and great places to go to...new people to meet...old friends to catch up with...truly a time to recharge, rave and relax...After a hectic week at the workplace, nothing beats letting your hair down and hitting the clubs or coffee joints...

This saturday night was not bad at all...

Had a mission to do recce work at ESKI Circular road cos my clique are going there next week...so i roped in good friend Gen and cousin Shao Qi to follow me and check out the place...heard really great reviews about the low, low temperatures and the furcoats they provide...yadayada...but i had to see the place for myself.

It did live up to my expectations of being a nice place to chill out (literally)...music was mainly deep trance with a lil' bit of house...Really liked the campy winter getup the bar gals were in...made them look like white and fluffy Santerinas! and really pretty ones too...The service staff was friendly and very approachable...good knowledge of drinks...I give them high points in terms of professionalism....Thumbs-up gals! The signature drinks are the Eski Blue and Sleeping Polar Bear...We tried the ESKI Blue...i sampled it and was bowled over by the subtle curacao hints and the whooping punch of lychee liquer...definitely a saccherine-sweet cocktail! Perfect for light or first-time drinkers...I stuck to good ole'Jim Beam Bourbon for my main course...it never fails to impress...Gen had the Sex-On-The-Beach...but i felt that it lacked the necessary panache...the cranberry flavours in the vodka were probably derived from some kind of artificial syrup...definitely not fresh cranberry juice concentrate!

The downside to Eski is the small floor-space...when the crowd started trickling in slightly after Happy Hour (5-9 on Sat)...the place started getting very cramped and noisy...it was impossible not to get nudged by somebody else's elbows or knees! Oh, and since smoking is allowed indoors, the whole bar smelled like Bhopal after that poisonous gas leak in the 1980s...*yucksie*

After Eski, we took a stroll down Boat Quay...we wanted to go to Mad Monks...but it wound up last year...so we decided to check out HOME...the club that replaced Mad Monks...it was sorely disappointing...with a miniscule dance floor and dao waitresses...not a good place to spend the night...

Eventually went to PARADIZ to K...but we changed our minds when we stepped into the room! hahaha...Shao Qi's friend Esther joined as there...i think she's a rather soft-spoken girl (unlike the other Esther)...but nice meeting her anyway...Got her to join us for cake and coffee at TCC downstairs...then she went off with my cuzzie to someplace else...

which left Gen and me to ponder where to go next...I wanted to find a quiet place to sit down and talk...but we ended up walking along Orchard stretch till LATE at night...haha...then we kinda got tired and i took her home...

Overall, it was a great Saturday night...Now to spend Sunday lazing around!

The platoon outing was a far more subdued affair than I had envisaged...

But we had a good time nonetheless...

It was great to catch up with people like Marc, Yishan and Boey...I've not seen them for some time, so it was wonderful just having them over for dinner...Boey is going overseas to study soon...I certainly hope to meet him a few more times before he flies off...Edwin Quek and him were really our De Facto elder brothers in camp...And who can forget Marc kor? The smooth-as-butter ladies' man...haha...another funny dude

I'd like to thank people like Jason, Ah Don, Alen and Wei Quan...It was nice having you guys join us...I hope you enjoyed yourselves too...I was certainly very glad that you guys came to make the whole dinner thingie more lively.

Hmm...I caught Mr. and Mrs Smith with Gen and Esther...I do have a mixed opinion about the whole movie...The fast-and-furious pace of the movie certainly took my breath away...I was particularly impressed by the pyrotechnic-filled highway chase scene...The acrobatics that the stunt drivers performed were strong proofs of the stunt choregraphers' imaginativeness...Can you imagine cars somersaulting and sailing in the air as if they just vaulted from some gigantic trampoline? The gratuitous explosions and generous serving of flying scrap metal created a sense of mayhem and a very anarchic mood! Hell Yeah!

Also noteworthy was the sizzling hot chemistry between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie...To borrow a cliched expression used by throngs of entertainment writers, "Angelina Jolie was oozing with sex appeal from every pore"...As for the chiselled and rugged-looking Mr Pitt...he looked like a modern incarnation of the Greek God Appollo...The Casting Directors are very shrewd people...It takes common sense to put two attractive people of the opposite sex in the movie...but it takes a genius to find two people who complement each other like Vermouth and Gin in a Martini!

What I simply could not tolerate was the shoddy and shallow storyline...It was a hacknyed disaster...The scripwriter ought to be shot for his lacklustre treatment of what could have been a cult hit...The script was flat and uninspired...relying solely on a series of explosive assasination attempts to move the events in the movie...The protagonists remained one-dimensional characters throughout the movie, experiencing little character development...they don't show any emotional growth or change their attitudes towards each other...well, except for the part where they toss their weapons aside and have make up sex...The predictability of the plot implies that the producers have to depend heavily on the visual effects in order to captivate the audience and keep it riveted to their seats...

and boy was I stuck to the edge of my seat!!!...hahaha...

On a more sombre note, I managed to catch up with Xu Wen sometime in the week...She looks really drained and tense...it's probably the stress of starting work...i did manage to make her laugh...so i guess i brightened her life for awhile...Take care gal. hope you feel better.

Ah...what a week...

a picnic that evolved to become an evening spent sipping drinks by the riverside...lunch with my family at a restaurant with colonial trimmings...the usual movie-and-kopi outings...suppers...and steamboat buffet with my brothers...

I truly enjoyed myself this week!

The Grill is on fire !!! 

Marc Kor and Me!  

boey and our beloved yishan! 

Friends are always sad when parting...from left: Me, Marc Kor,Jason and Boey 

wiv brother Boey.. 

We Wiv Mah Rummy!!!! 

Nite Out!!!

What a night...

supposed to have picnic dinner at the Esplanade Park with Gen...but it was raining like mad...so we took our food and drinks into the Esplanade Underpass...lots of Melayus breakdancing there...

The Dinner Menu:

1. Sushi
2. Cookies
3. Chocolates
4. Mineral Water
5. Chewing Gum

Really, really sad...haha

Anyway, I took her for a nice stroll around the Fullerton/Esplanade area...so we did have an enjoyable time afterall...then we went to Boat Quay...

Finally settled down at SIX Bar...where Gen ate Unagi Kabayaki and drank a Shirley Temple...I had a Jim Beam with Cola...This Melayu waiter who served us looked like a hybrid between an ape and a camel....had fun laughing at his weird facial expressions....muahaha...

Sorry gal...Next time will be better! just hope you had a great time spending the evening with me...haha

ThIs Is A GrEaT PlAcE fOr LuNcH! Beaulieu House has wonderful nostalgic ambience

Angel

Angel

Sarah McLachlan

Spend all your time waiting

for that second chance

for a break that would make it okay

there's always one reason

to feel not good enough

and it's hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction

oh beautiful release

memory seeps from my veins

let me be empty

and weightless and maybe

I'll find some peace tonight

In the arms of an angel

fly away from here

from this dark cold hotel room

and the endlessness that you fear

you are pulled from the wreckageo

of your silent reverie

you're in the arms of the angel

may you find some comfort there

so tired of the straight line

and everywhere you turn

there's vultures and thieves at your back

and the storm keeps on twisting

you keep on building the lie

that you make up for all that you lack

it don't make no difference

escaping one last time

it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh

this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

You're in the arms of the angel.

May you find some comfort here.

SaTuRdAy!!!!

My God...I love Saturdays....

Woke up this morning and realised that I was still wearing the shirt and jeans that I wore out yesterday...

It was a beautiful morning...Been up-and-around the past two days...so decided to chill today...haha

Grabbed my morning cuppa and settled on the couch to watch the Saturday morning cartoons on Kid's Central... skimmed through The Straits Times, Weekend BT, yesterday's International Herald Tribune and this week's edition of TIME...So many issues...so much information...

What disturbed me most was the rapid increase in the number of HIV cases in India...It is shocking to learn that contraceptive use is still unheard of within the rural, agrarian population of the subcontinent..One farmer actually thought that covering his index finger with a condom was the correct way to use it...

After all the heavy, serious reading, I decided to transport myself to a more innocent world...I bought 'The Chronicles Of Narnia' by C.S. Lewis and immersed myself in it...It is a gem...simple yet eloquent at the same time...I'm now at Book Two ( 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe')...really impressed by the beauty behind some of the fundamental truths in the book...

The long and sultry afternoon was spent blogging...and reading other people's blogs...

I went for a long, long jog in the evening and made a new friend...

This really sweet young lady, Elaine, was struggling from cramps in her calf..I'm not a healer, but I know enough about heat injuries to recognise the symptoms...I advised her to stop and take a rest in the shade... and bought her a Gatorade...Then we went on to talk about other stuff...My evening jog just became a more meaningful event :p

Anyway, it was nice meeting you girl! Hope your leg is better now...don't over-exert when you go for a run next time...keep in touch ok? Take care!

came home and made Spag for din-din...had a glass of vodka and Cranberry juice just to unwind a little...

What a hot and humid night!urgh...

The Joy Of Giving...

This is definitely not going to be about the Christmas Sales at Metro...Incidentally, "The Joy Of Giving" seems to be their theme for their annual Christmas Sales...haha

Anyway, it was a wonderful day today...

I went to donate blood at the Health Sciences Authority with Dad and his colleague Uncle S...

Uncle S. is a real riot...He's a crusty curmudgeon with a really bad speech problem...I don't mean to be rude or judgmental, but he got me in hysterics every time he opened his mouth to talk...His words are shot out of his motor-mouth like bullets from a General Purpose Machine Gun...when his mouth couldn't cope with this, ahem, rapid flow of information, it seemed to me like he was choking on his tongue...blurt,blurt,stutter,stutter...

oh, and spit,spit as well...flecks of stinky, smelly saliva were dancing around in the air every time he got too excited over some issue...

the magnitude of his verbal impediments was paralleled only by his horrid dress sense...when he sashayed into our car this morning I thought he was the campus cleaner...haha

Anyway, the Blood Bank was rather crowded today...I took a blood test and proceeded to the Donation Room...The nurses were really warm and friendly...really put me at ease...we chatted about music...clothes...food...shopping...and many more of topics! So nice to talk to, these nurses...but manpower allocation was a serious problem...there were six nurses at my counter...but none at the other counters...In fact, it was so quiet in Uncle S.'s corner that he had fell asleep! Drool was dribbling down his wrinkly neck...He looked blissfully sedated...

I strongly encourage everyone out there to donate blood...it is a universal gift that can make a difference between life and death...blood donation at the Blood Bank is a safe, hygenic and painless procedure. There are many people out there who are in need of blood transfusions...when you donate blood, you are giving them the gift of life...More importantly, you are giving them the hope to live for another day.

I truly experienced the "Joy Of Giving" this morning...

I decided to leave Dad and Uncle S. to their own devices...i was desperately in need for a good cuppa, so I went to The Ginger Cafe for a perk-me-up...The coffee there was a really strong and flavourful brew...I appreciated it greatly...

Then I went to the Church...so many emotional disappointments and frustrations lately...I hope God will give me the strength to climb my little mountains...

Came home and slept for awhile...then talked to Steph awhile...Her cousins coming to SG tonight...Welcome! hope you enjoy your stay here girls!

Went for driving in the evening...hmm...fun little ride...

Oh well...it was a very nice day...lots of meaningful things to do...days like this make you appreciate what you've got...

and happiness is about contentment right?

Narrative...

Another great day...haha...I seem to be getting more of these lately...

First i went to get my hair done...i think it looks great...really much better than the mop-top with the floppy fringe I was sporting...it was getting a bit too bohemian for my tastes...and Thank God the CSM hasn't really been around lately, so nobody had much to say about my long hair...

After that, I went to City Hall to meet Stephanie...

It was wonderful seeing her again! Hav'nt seen Stephanie for nearly a month because she went to Canada for a vacation...We went for lunch at Kenny Roger's...which is one of my favourite dining places... Then we went to Suntec to pass Ying her birthday prezzie...It was nice seeing Ying too

After that, we leisurely drifted to The Esplanade...What a wonderful place to spend a lazy and mellow Thursday afternoon! Steph and I made our way to The Roof Terrace where we watched the little boats sail around Marina Bay...it was a perfectly idyllic setting and the silence really left me with a sense of inner peace...we talked about many, many things....menopausal mothers...demonic bosses...two-faced friends...haha...

and then Steph started stepping on the ants on the floor...I was faintly irritated...I don't know why...

I had a sudden epiphany...I looked at the skyscrapers of Shenton Way and thought to myself, "aren't we all going to be ants in the future?"... Wouldn't we all be scuttling into our little cubicles everyday to work for omnipotent, yet invisible bosses?... will we still have a mind of our own? I doubt so... Will we still maintain our sense of individuality? Will we be able to preserve what essentially defines us as human beings? I have my misgivings... We will simply be faceless entities...production units to help line the pockets of a few powerful members of society...It really sounds rather bleak doesn't it? And when the time comes, what might be the only things that can give us a bit of happiness? The chance to move into a slightly bigger cubicle and a few more dollars to pay the tax man... Afterall, the goals of the average Singaporean employee are a promotion and a pay raise...

or aren't they?

Anyway, something really hilarious happened to me on my way home...

I was lost in thought (i.e. stoning) on the Mrt when this pui ji parked herself right in front of me...At some point of the train ride, we were unfortunate enough to run into some form of "Rail Turbulance", which caused quite an upheaval within the carriage...Having a relatively large mass, it was understandably more difficult for our slightly more prosperous-looking friend to maintain her equilibrium...the poor hippo, I mean, fat lady, stumbled, struggled valiantly to grab the metal pole, and collided into yours truly...

Like the victims of shark attacks, I was in a state of shock...too numb to feel or do anything...I felt my life flashing before my eyes...and the image of my Filipino maid happily pounding belachan in the backyard was recurring in my stunned mind...I only had the sense that one of my contact lenses had fell out of my eye...

Oh my...a tsunami right in the middle of the North-East Line...who would have believed it? haha...The army teaches its soldiers how to compose themselves after a surprise attack...but evidently I had not been paying much attention to those lessons...I was still in a state of shock when the fat lady helped me up and propped me against an empty seat, holding my body like I was a wooden puppet that has been snapped...

after listening to her profuse apologies, I regained a certain measure of composure...

only to realise that I had missed my stop...Argh!!!