Chelsea 3 - Liverpool 2

Cup heartbreak as Reds lose in extra time



Perhaps it's a good thing that I was busy with my essay. I'd hoped that it was the kind of nightmare that you wake up from, but -- well.

Irrational late-night thoughts

It's embarrassing the kind of essay I've put together for my Philosophy class. I'm 75% done (or "done") with it, and already I feel like throwing it out.

In Literature, you are expected to critique authors and their works. This means that even if you don't understand their inane artistic nonsense, you can spend the entire essay lambasting the guy, and still get a good grade.

In Philosophy, you are expected to answer inherently inane questions like "What is success?" which can have no good end, really. This means that when you're done (or almost "done") with your assignment, you will probably sit back and lambast yourself for attempting to sprout inane artistic nonsense.

(Yes, I am a Chemical Engineering major, which, I hope, is the answer to nilsinelabore's question. Despite evidence to the contrary, I know.)

***

I can't tell if it's because he's getting old, or if something is wrong, but Rocky has been waking up in the middle of the night -- when in the past, he'd easily sleep through it. He does crazy things like walk around a lot, pee at the stairs, drink copious amounts of water, and pee some more.

This typically lasts for an hour before he exhausts himself and returns to deep slumber.

I sometimes wonder if parents of infants feel this way. Like, what are you doing?, why are you awake now?, is something wrong? can you tell me?.

I remember when I was around four, I used to wake up really early (that has since changed). My mom would rise at 5 AM, and I would automatically jump out of bed at the sound of the door knob (to her bedroom) turning. My sister would be sound asleep, and I would quietly sneak out of our room, and into the arms of my mom.

Every morning, I'd be so enthralled at how my mom went about her household chores. The sweeping and mopping of the floor, especially. It was almost like a dance -- our dance. I would insist on being carried as she mopped, and she would oblige every single time. She'd sing as she mopped with one hand and carried me with the other, and we'd laughed as she spun me around until we were both dizzy with glee.

By some miracle that only mothers can manage, I would fall soundly asleep, safe in the cradle of her arms. The next thing I would remember, is awaking from the sofa hours later. I suppose that when I fell asleep was when she'd get her real chores done. ;)

... And what d'ya know, Rocky's fast asleep now; he was peeing when I began this entry.

***

Happy birthday!
What can I say,
I wrote this poem,
It sucks but hey!
Happy birthday, anyway!

My first birthday poem, I think. Courtesy of K. Much appreciated (and amused).

Ask me after Thursday

X: "Dinner tonight?"

Me: "Essay due on Monday. Ask me after Thursday."

***

M: "Dinner on Tuesday?"

Me: "Mid-term test. Ask me after Thursday."

***


Baby Blues by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Heat wave

Because I cannot stand the carcass being the first thing you see on my blog...



Even Rocky has found ways to tell me how hot the weather is. Tiled floor is cooler than parquet floor -- okay, I get it, Rocky.

Ghostly

For Photo Friday.

Other than the many blurred shots that I had, this was the only one I could find that was remotely "ghostly." This was taken in Jewel Cave in WA, and what you're seeing is the carcass of some animal that'd accidentally (I assume) fallen in.

Days of Our Lives

"Despite six long years occupying the afternoon time slot on local television, soap opera Days of Our Lives will soon be no more.

"... [T]he news has caused distress to loyal fans of the show, with many contacting MediaCorp to express their unhappiness."

-- "Days of Our Lives coming to an end," TODAYonline (Links mine)

Help keep DOOL on our screens! E-mail editor@mediacorptv.com (Subject: "Frankly Speaking") and webmaster5@mediacorptv.com and tell them how much you love DOOL! ;)

[Edit: Here is an earlier post on a useful DOOL site. :) Especially for those who are soon to be suffering from DOOL withdrawal.]

American Idol, and some

I know, I know, the girls are performing later, but I'm not planning to watch. These are the boys that stood out for me, in order of merit:

Bo
Constantine (Although it must be said that the guy creeps me out.)
Scott
Joseph

But Bo is first by a loooooong way. And these are my first impressions; I reserve the right to scoff at my own choices later. ;) Good quality performances on the whole, I must say.

***

Overheard on the bus...

Guy A (out of the blue): "Hey! Why don't you go for (woo) Lydia?!"

Guy B (deadpanned): "Dude. I have a girlfriend."

They then kept quiet for the rest of the ride.

Times like these make me try to recall how life was before I had to figure out what goes on in the male brain. My world probably made a lot more sense then.

***

Earlier, I'd dunked cream crackers into my coffee for breakfast. I threw out the remaining coffee after I'd finished my crackers.

But a couple of hours later, I could no longer help myself...




My first full cup of coffee. The semester has officially begun.

Family

My sister, cousin, and I were e-mailing over the Chinese New Year holidays. It mostly started because I was sending them photos of the family. (Some background information for those of you who are not in the know: my sister is stationed in Western Australia, my cousin in London.)

Anyway, I'd sent them a photo that I found at an aunt's place, of the three of us (with my brother and my mom), taken close to 10 years ago. We were talking about how different we all looked...

Sister: "This is going to sound mean, but our brother was so much cuter back then..."

Cousin: "That is mean! But there is hope yet. Look how his two DORKY sisters turned out!"

Me: "..."

Movie review -- Hotel Rwanda

It seems like whenever I set out to do a "review," it just ends up being some random thoughts being put together the best they can. This one probably isn't any different.

I could probably tell you what the story is about, but you can read that elsewhere. I could tell you how impeccable Don Cheadle's acting was, but I wouldn't be the first. (I haven't figured out, though, whether I was partial to the guy prior to watching Hotel Rwanda, because of his portrayal of Dr. Paul Nathan in E.R. You can probably still catch him guest-starring in the next couple of episodes on Channel 5.)

I could also tell you how your heart will break, how it will shame you, how you will want to cry -- to reach out and hug some of them, but in a way so gentle because you're afraid of hurting them. But I suspect you will have to find that out for yourself.

I always find myself picking apart movies and books that are "based on a true story." Part of me questions people's abilities (and motives) to reproduce the "truth," and the other part of me is embarrassed for feeling this way -- for doubting. This time, I know, at least, that there is no way that we could ever overstate what went on in Rwanda.

Paul (Cheadle): "I am glad that you have shot this footage, and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance -- that people might intervene."

Jack (journalist, played by Joaquin Phoenix) (unable to look Paul in the eye): "Yeah, and if no one intervenes, it's still a good thing to show."

Paul (bewildered): "How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?"

Jack (gently, but with brutal honesty): "I think... if people see this footage, they'll say 'Oh my God, that's horrible.' And they'll go on eating their dinners."

And I thought about it on my way home. It was like one of those cheesy scenes from a movie, where a murderer contemplates the evil, of what he'd done, for the first time: I raised both hands, face up, and stared at them, and wondered, just for a moment, how much blood was on my hands. You see, I remember watching the news, and seeing the images; I don't remember going back to my dinner, but I'm sure I must have -- I had no reason not to.

Pictures II

Since I have nothing profound or particularly moving to share, you win another post of my day in pictures. :)


Snacking before church...




More of the creepy baby. Who knows what it has to do with the grass jelly drink?




"You're gonna use this to blackmail me, right?" asked K, after I'd made him put my pearl bracelet on, and pose with it.




Well, yes, that was the original plan, but the reason why I'm posting it is because he pulled out a packet of facial oil blotter afterwards and asked me if I wanted one...

Me: "Are you trying to say that my face is oily!"

K: "Of course not!"

I glared at him and took a piece. There's no such thing as being too matte, anyway.

K: "Can you please take TWO?!"

Me: "..."

In the process, we missed our stop and ended up in Marine Parade. I really don't want to talk about how that happened. Long story short? We went to eat soup. YUM! :)




We deliberated, over lunch, about what show to catch, and ended up doodling. He drew a caricature of me, and I drew a... benzene ring. It was a gooood benzene ring.




K wanted to watch Constantine or Closer; I wanted to watch Hotel Rwanda or Hotel Rwanda. So we watched Hotel Rwanda. Coin toss turned up in my favour, although I'm pretty sure I would have talked my way into having... erm, my way, anyway.




Ooh, we also did consider Seoul Raiders, actually. I didn't object because I love Tony Leung. But timings and all.




Also, on closer inspection, Richie's head was ripped off the promotional board. The things people do.




We had some time before our movie, so we shopped around. I'd wanted to get a nice Precious Moments cashcard, which I remember seeing at the gift shop in Wisma. Turns out that they're renovating the whole level. If anyone knows of anywhere I can get a spiffy cashcard... :)

So we settled for some browsing in HushHush, a Japanese (I think) shop of everything. We even had the priviledge of being welcomed by the -- what I can only assume to be -- shop mascot. (It moveth!)




K found his calling being a bug...




While I found this gorgeous bag! Look how well it matches my top, too! Admittedly I only have one top in this colour, and I have too much junk to be using a bag that small. But I loved it anyway.




Anyone who knows me will also know that I'm a sucker for bath products, even though I hardly ever take long baths anymore. Still, that doesn't stop me from ooh-ing and aah-ing at lavender bath salts.




But what Japanese product is complete without bad English? Humanity are fighting against tired, indeed.




We were both famished by this time. K insists that, while the soup was filling, it also "makes you hungry very quickly."




After we were done, we got to our movie just in time for it to start. It was very Schindler's-List but -- dare I say -- better? It could be that I watched Schindler's List half-asleep (I remember having a bunch of friends over and we were all huddled snugly under my covers with the lights dimmed. How were we expected not to fall asleep?)

To top it all off, I came home to black pepper crab (pincer)! Much love to the aunts who saved it for me. Hur hur. Look how huge it was! A whole meal.

Rural

This week's Photo Friday.

Well, I didn't have much choice with this one, with little option for "rural" in Singapore. I took this photo in all of five seconds, and then ran back to the car. First, I wasn't sure if that was a pile of dung that they were standing on; second, they were staring at me! I don't know if they were posing for the shot, being friendly, or getting ready to charge at me, but I wasn't taking the risk.

Fertility studies

"You want to have children in the future?!" Dr. F asked.

A pregnant (hur hur) pause. It caught me by surprise; I didn't realise that he actually wanted the question answered until I stared into his *expectant face for about 20 seconds.

"Erm... yes?" I replied apprehensively, wondering if this was some trick question.

"Mmm, good," he flashed me a satisfied grin.

We had to get Dr. F's approval for safety clearance to work in the lab. This, by the way, was his way of telling me that n-hexane causes infertility. Is it just me, or do people have strange ways of conveying simple things?

All ended well, though. He signed the forms so I no longer have to work illegally in the lab.

*All puns brought to you by the Number "4" and the Letter "C" (if you get this, you get a star).

Sociology III

Dr. T: "With power comes resistance. It's like Physics, you know, some law. Newton or something."

***

Dr. T: "We look at increasing GDP, productivity, and say that we have improved. But what we don't take into consideration are our increasing divorce and suicide rates."

***

Dr. T: "Some of my colleagues marvel at students who don't sleep; they're impressed because it means that they are very productive students. But I want the kind of productivity that comes out of contentment and a sound mind. I don't think you can be very sound if you don't sleep."

***

Dr. T: "We are already so small, and people still want to fight with us for a lighthouse. Are there any Malaysians here?"

(A few hands go up.)

Dr. T: "Please, lah. Just give it to us."

***

Dr. T: "In the 80's, the PAP (People's Action Party) lost a few seats, so they got a bit excited... that's the only time where we had some semblance of democracy."

More twins, and a song meme

Another pair of look-alikes: Michael Bublé and Jensen Ackles, no? :)

***

A song meme (via Danielle).


Total amount of music files on your computer?
1138.

The CD you last bought is:
Wayne Watson's Wayne Watson and Bebo Norman's Try. Bought them both at the same time. :)

What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
Corrinne May's "Journey" (after reading the lyrics on Rice & Soup). Wonderful recommendation. :) You can download it for free on Amazon, or listen to the whole album on her website.

Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
Let me just say that it is not reasonable to ask someone to pick five songs out of 1138. That being said, this is my best shot:

1. "If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens
2. "Who Am I" by Casting Crowns
3. "A Page is Turned" by Bebo Norman
4. "On My Cross" by FFH
5. "If I Stand" by Jars of Clay

What CD are you looking forward to buying or thinking about buying?
Right now, Corrinne May's CD (which is titled differently in different countries). But if you want a comprehensive list...

Do you have any music on your computer made by friends?
Yep. My friend, HW, writes beautiful songs and very generously allows us to listen and critique. :) He wrote one song a couple of semesters ago, borne out of the frustration of the long hours of studying, and the examiner calling him up to tell him that they'd lost his exam script. Don't worry, there was a happy ending. Well, sort of.

What's one song in every genre you like that you'd recommend to others?
Seeing as I don't listen to much radio at all, you're going to find many blanks here. And if I get some of them wrong... well, there's nothing much you can do.

Pop: "These are the Special Times" by Celine Dion
Rock: "More than Fine" by Switchfoot
90's: -
Alternative: -
Emo: -
80's: "I Swear" by All 4 One
Punk: -
70's: -
Soundtrack: "King of Wishful Thinking" by Go West (Pretty Woman OST)
60's: -
Hard Rock: -
50's: -
Funk: -
Rap: -
Christian: "If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens
Classical/singing: -
Classical/instrumental: -
Christmas: "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

Any musical genres that you do not like?
(See above.)

Book review -- A Wrinkle in Time

She had lost the protection of Calvin's hand. Charles was nowhere, either to save or to turn to. She was alone in a fragment of nothingness. No light, no sound, no feeling. Where was her body? She tried to move in her panic, but there was nothing to move. Just as light and sound had vanished, she was gone, too. The corporeal Meg simply was not.

Then she felt her limbs again. Her legs and arms were tingling faintly, as though they had been asleep. She blinked her eyes rapidly, but though she herself was somehow back, nothing else was. It was not as simple as darkness, or absence of light. Darkness has a tangible quality; it can be moved through and felt; in darkness you can bark your shins; the world of things still exists around you. She was lost in a horrifying void.

-- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

I have a strange love-hate relationship with children's books. Part of me rolls my eyes at the suggestion of fantasy and the world of make-believe; another part of me is in awe of the one that puts into the mind vivid images with mere words.

There are times when I flip through my old Enid Blyton books, and I find myself wrinkling my nose at its tackiness; you mean I read through all of these fantastical stories in wonderment? I mean, come on, The Magic Faraway Tree? Reeeeaaally?

But what captures my fascination is the realisation that I could never write with such magic; the cynic in me would never allow me to do so, even if I did know how to. Who writes these things? Who takes something as intangible as darkness, and make it sound like something you can hold, touch, breathe? Who is the mind behind these words?

And yet, even as I read in amazement, I realise that these are not the questions a child would ask. I don't know what a child would make of this -- I will never know -- because I never read this story as a child; somewhere inside of me, a deep chasm gapes -- the knowledge that, among the things that money cannot buy, what I can never get back is the simple marvel and innocence of my "child's-eye view." And perhaps what is even more poignant is knowing that when I did possess it, I never once realised its pricelessness and transience.

Girly stuff

My new purse has met with some disapproval, but I got tired of having to sort out what goes into where in my wallet, and I'd much rather just stash everything into said purse. :)



To be honest, though, I'd much rather have this one. I find myself quite partial to the old-fashion clasp. :) I looked around a bit, but couldn't find any that looked remotely decent. Since my previous wallet was bursting at its seams and threatened to pop the only press-stud that held it together, this will have to do for now.

Luscious

My very late Photo Friday submission.

To tell the truth, I had a hard time with this one. The word "luscious" brought three things to mind: tomato, lips, and grass -- in that order -- although I suspect it was more "lush" than "luscious" for grass. Word associations are very tricky indeed.

I thought that over the weekend I could find something "luscious" to snap, but I haven't managed to, so I rummaged through my old photos again, cropped this yet-again-taken-in-WA photo, and that's why it's up.

***

I've been mulling over my Philosophy mid-term topics for the past two weeks. We were given five topics to choose from, and my progress thus far has been to eliminate one. That leaves me with another four (for the non-mathematicians) to mull over.

During Philosophy tutorial today, my tutor put into words something I thought only I was crazy enough to feel.

"Whichever topic you choose, you will only be able to write well if you find your 'bliss.'"

The one argument or claim that you will feel happy writing about; that will find the words and passion flowing (sorry to get all icky on you). And that's why I'm still having trouble choosing my topic.

It's always that one idea that hits -- that makes everything fall into place. That even though not a single word has been written, you know exactly what it's going to say. Now it has a name: The Bliss.

Forever friends

At the beginning of every semester, I send out my timetable to a few close friends; I did this at first by request, then out of habit. I figured it'd be easier to arrange dinners and even mid-lecture lunches, if we were in the vicinity of one another. It caught on. Now during the semester, I always have a couple of timetables -- that are not mine -- stuck onto my notice board.

A couple of months ago, X asked if I were free for dinner.

"I have an evening lecture," I sighed. "Why don't you just print out my timetable and stick it up?"

"Okay, I have something to confess," she stammered.

"You're too lazy to print it out?" I guessed.

"Worse!" she replied guiltily. "You know how you send me your timetable every sem? Now I always wait for that e-mail to come so that I can modify it and print my own timetable!"

"And the reason that you cannot draw up your own timetable is...?" I inquired.

She replied sheepishly: "I don't know how to draw tables, lah!"

You know it's a friendship built for life when this ranks as the most major "confession" in our history.

Valentine's Day

To the hunks and babes who still buy gifts, even though we all agree that Valentine's Day is just another excuse for florists to extort money from us... :)


Pretty roses...




Daisies...




Chocolates...




Even jewellery! :p




And early birthday presents too... who would've thought? :)




Happy Valentine's Day! To all the romantics and cynics alike. ;)

CNY: Day Four

Steamboat at my place tonight. As usual, I'd forgotten to take pictures until towards the end of the dinner. Better late than never. :)




Yu Sheng count: Two.




Resting and chatting after a long night of eating and playing Taboo (oh, the irony). Simple pleasures.




With half of us doing our attachments, and the other half busy with our final year projects, who knows when we will have the luxury of eating, drinking, and making merriment together like this again. But we're grateful for the here and now -- at least, until school and work start on Monday.

Playing fair

Eleanor: "Beck took the deal. He had to, Eugene, he couldn't risk a murder trial. And as weak as their case was, he had to... Of everything that happened in the last 24 hours, the most frightening to me is the look of futility in your eyes. Eugene -- people like you, they can't give up. Most people don't want to live in a police state; most people still believe that human liberties and civil rights are more important than just rounding up bad guys. And with the erosion of our basic human rights, and everything else going on this country, what most people need right now -- desperately need -- is for men like you not to give up."

-- The Practice, Season 8, Episode 11 (Police State)

For me, it has always been Eugene. Bobby and Alan, people love because of their eccentricities, their passion; there's something romantic about going all out to win a case, even -- especially -- if it means breaking every single "rule" in sight. But for me, it has always been Eugene's allegience to the system. I think that even Eugene himself knows that the system is flawed, but to him, if everyone who can be counted on plays fair, they will end up doing more good than bad. To have the police -- that he counted on to be just -- violate the very rules that they fight to keep, was what broke him.

I want to play fair -- even if no one else does, even if it doesn't pay off. I want to play over-fair.

CNY: Day Two

I'm grateful that I have today to catch my breath, seeing as we're hosting another two dinners on Saturday and Sunday.

More visitations yesterday -- at my aunts', my former nanny's, my dad's friend's, my grandma's... And, finally, dinner at Harbour City Restaurant, complete with Yu Sheng.



I must say I never cared much for the stuff; I think it's the parsley. But I take my obligatory portion anyway. For me, this is one of the worst things about CNY -- and it's not even that bad. :)

CNY: Day Two (not)

I hope everyone had a good CNY. :) Me? My body has given way to the flu bug -- no doubt from wrecking my immune system by uncontrollable snacking. I've just spent the last hour resizing, editing, and uploading photos for overseas family members; now my head simply does not allow me to blog about the events of the day.

Until tomorrow -- or whenever I wake.

(I took this photo of our very festive New Year decorations -- I hadn't even noticed that Rocky had stumbled into the picture until I uploaded the photos onto my computer. I couldn't not love him even if I tried.)

***



As long as I'm editing photos, I would just like to add that Noah Wyle is a much better actor than Keanu ever will be -- long-lost twins as they are.

That is all. :)

The Amazing Race

I think it surprised everyone that Freddie and Kendra won. I thought it was a pretty poor finale, and not just because Freddie and Kendra were my least favourite team. It was just... not that fun.

I would have liked either Kris and Jon or Rebecca to win. And yes, I cried when Aaron proposed.

I knew that Rob and Amber were going to be in TAR 7; I don't know why I assumed it was going to be an "All Stars" cast. I think they should have cross-overs like that! Have one series of TAR where all the Survivor contestants take part in, and have one series of Survivor that sees all of the TAR contestants competing. (When I put that in writing, it doesn't seem to be a good idea at all. That's probably why I'm not part of their creative team.)

I think that the producers are going to have to try really hard to keep Rob and Amber on, because the other teams just don't look the least bit interesting.

***

Z: "That guy looks like Chip."

Me: "Chip who?"

Z: "As in, Chip and Dale!"

Me: "The chipmunks?!"

Z: "The Amazing Race!"

Me: "Chip and REICHEN. Chip and Dale are CHIPMUNKS!"

Z: "Oh. Weren't there THREE chipmunks?"

Me: "No. There were three DUCKS: Huey, Dewey, and Louie."

Glad we got that sorted out.

CNY: Day One

Dinner tonight was at our place. How we periodically manage to squeeze 15 people at the dinner table has always been a mystery to me. Our five loaves and two fish, if you will.

One of my cousins brought her maid along today:

"Siti, can you get me a pair of chopsticks!" she hollered, sitting herself down at the dining table. "Thank God we brought the maid," she heaved.

"Yes, because it would be unthinkable for you to retrieve your own chopsticks from the kitchen," her husband shot back playfully.

I think that everyone should have as many children as possible, because big families are very fun. Of course, my tune might change when we get into one of our infamous family fights where everyone gets in on the act and is either screaming or crying. For now, though, it's easy to just cherish the good times. They are worth it. :)

***

We always thought that my paternal grandpa had only a younger brother and younger sister. Today we found out that he did, in fact, have two or three older siblings, but they had been kidnapped back when they were still in China.

I didn't really know quite how to react to such news. On the one hand, it means that I possibly have granduncles and grandaunties and distant cousins that I don't know of; on the other hand, it doesn't seem to mean much, since those granduncles and grandaunties have probably passed on (my grandpa was 92 when he died last year). The distant cousins, if they do exist, seem a little too disconnected for me to get emotional about. How would you react?

I half expect someone in the family to investigate into this and attempt to locate our long-lost family. How and where they would begin looking, I know not.

(Unknown facts like these surface every single year in my family. If only there was a "Fast Forward" button, we might be able to give Days of Our Lives a run for their money.)

As we got ready to bid my granduncle farewell (after the huge revelation and discussion of its implications), and head for my grandma's house for lunch, I caught myself momentarily about to say "See you, Grandpa." Even though they're a good 12 years apart, people constantly mistook them for twins (when Grandpa was around). And then I think mascara got into my eyes because they started to sting and water.

Goodnight Grandpa, we missed you this year. See you when I get there.

CNY Eve

Chinese New Year typically kicks off on its eve -- reunion dinner night.

We headed straight for everybody's favourite baby, Ben, who was getting ready for the party (or "party") -- nappy rash cream and all. It reminded me of when he was born, and the aunts crowded around him in amazement. Instead of making sure that he had the proper number of fingers and toes, the first thing out of their mouths were: "Yi aye jiao jin deng hor!" In English, that means "He has a huge penis!"

Even by my family's standards and record for saying the most inappropriate things at the most inappropriate time, it still managed to shock most of us. Will he ever forgive us for embarrassing him? Worse, will he ever forgive me for publishing this in my blog? Ask me in 15 years.




The main event, of course, was still the dinner. Tonight we had two tables: one for the traditional steamboat, and another for shabu-shabu.






Usually, we'd settle down into groups after dinner -- playing Mahjong and other miscellaneous card games. But we accidentally stumbled upon this set of old chinese gambling cards, so we set off on a mission to learn the game ("Four colours," it's called in Hokkien). It took us phone calls to five different (old) people, before one of my uncles arrived to teach us how to play it. What made it worse was that the older generation kept calling out the cards in Hokkien, while my cousins and I could only read the words in Chinese. The rest of the night was spent playing the game wrongly and killing each other with laughter.






(I found a Pfizer towel hanging in my uncle's bathroom, complete with the tagline: "Efficacy that makes a difference." That was something I could have lived happily without knowing seeing.)




Last stop: nursery along Clementi Road to get our New Year flowers.




That's Mom in the blue floral top.




And Dad -- typically bored from the selection process.




The orchids were my favourite -- they were also the most expensive of the ones we bought, at $128 a pot.




Pineapples. I'm not sure why these belong in a nursery.




A rooster-shaped plant; tacky, I know, but still worth a picture. :p




We also got to make friends with the (snotty) resident dalmatian!




And this is what they do when snails evacuate their shells! :p




I'm not sure why I'm enjoying these things more as I get older. (And I can't imagine you found this post particularly interesting.) Maybe it's because you don't do them every day. Well, no, I don't take examinations every day either but that doesn't mean that I'm liking them more. So I just don't know. But I think it's a good thing. Rather than loathing this time of busyness and festivities -- as, I know, many people do. I mean, it's going to come around every year; might as well enjoy it, right? :) Now let's just hope this runny nose clears up in time for me to enjoy the rest of the New Year. Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!