Monday, April 07, 2008
A little off my game
So last week was a bust.Monday was frightfully productive. Tuesday was a day of meetings and errands, but fortunately was topped off with good news. Thereafter the entire week kinda went outta whack: between meetings and mood swings and my usual procrastinatory impulses, I just didn't get enough work done. Add in the lassitude induced by the stifling hot weather, and you have a recipe for a major deadline disaster.
Which hasn't happened, um, yet.
Yesterday I was at the old flat for what is probably the last time. It looked very, well, empty. Not forlorn, necessarily, but most definitely vacant, vacated. The whole experience, including travelling there and back, was quite surreal. I don't think I've completely processed it yet.
Today has been absolutely productive --- except that given the amount of backlog from last week, it's still not enough.
PS: Key to being productive? Like all the lifehacking sites tell you: stay off instant messaging.
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 1:54 PM
Friday, March 28, 2008
It's my birthday and I'll brush my teeth if I want to
Even if the cat won't let me.
Actually, he got out of the sink after a couple of minutes, so I could perform my morning ablutions after all.
My birthday has been hot (where's the unseasonal rain when you need it?), somewhat work-filled but generally not too bad considering how much dawdling I did. This I document to reassure my brother, whose SMS to me this morning consisted of birthday greeings followed by "Hope the whole day isn't spent doing work."
My dad's SMS included a line to say, "Make the world a better place to live in" --- both sweet and guilt-inducing at the same time. I need to dust off certain ideas and get cracking on them.
My mother's SMS asked me what my plans were. To wit:
- I planned to back up my hard drive --- done.
- I planned to do a spot of work --- done.
- I planned to mix various leftovers into a chicken salad for lunch --- done.
- I didn't plan to finish the Leonidas chocolates oiseauxbleu gave me for Xmas, but there were only two left and I did.
Technorati Tags: birthday, cat, Ink the cat
Labels: Freelancin' living, Kitty corner, Personal
posted by Tym at 5:46 PM
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A monologue on mushrooms
Said to me, over lunch, on Sunday, about my week-old haircut:You look a little bit like a mushroom --- but a nice mushroom. ... What's a good mushroom ah? Not button ... I dunno, fungi. You look a little bit like one of the mushrooms that's gonna sprout out of your umbrella.My hairdresser would be so pleased.
Technorati Tags: haircut, mushroom
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 8:15 PM
Friday, March 07, 2008
Someone said ...
So apparently, I am very well-preserved for my age.Huh.
Labels: Personal, Twitteresque
posted by Tym at 1:56 AM
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Sing-along time in church
The wedding I attended today was the first in a long while where I knew all the songs in the service. Many wedding services tend to be full of these trendy "Praise & Worship"-type tunes, and even though I grew up with enough of those that some still occasionally spring, unbidden, to mind, it's the hymns that I have a soft spot for. Maybe it's the Methodist side of me (i.e. my mother's side) coming out.Today's hymns were: "How Great Thou Art", "O Perfect Love" and "Blessed Assurance". "How Great Thou Art" is my favouritest hymn ever, chiefly because my friend's dad led the most rousing rendition of it I've ever heard. It's still his voice I hear, when I think about that hymn, and no one else seems to give it the thumping resonance it deserves.
"O Perfect Love" is alright --- dignified, with some unexpected turns in the tune. I didn't realise until today that it's quite specifically a wedding song. I guess I never paid attention before to lyrics like "That theirs may be the love which knows no ending / Whom Thou forevermore dost join in one."
"Blessed Assurance" is another old favourite, but I don't have much to say about it, other than that same friend's dad used to do a kick-ass version of it too.
It was also only today that I noticed that all these hymns were composed in the 19th century. What does that say about my musical taste now, huh?
Technorati Tags: hymns, wedding
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 11:26 PM
Sunday, February 10, 2008
A cool trick I learned last night
When things just all get a bit too much:
Close your eyes.
For one or two minutes, tune in to a background sound.
And just concentrate on that.
Thanks, domch!
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 12:28 PM
Monday, January 21, 2008
One year
What a year.Sometimes, no other words are needed.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 9:22 PM
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Just call me Little Miss Crankypants
I wish it wasn't such an uneven week.I wish "emily" would stop "inviting" me to MySpace.
I wish I'd remembered to blog the line "If the kempeitai asked me to make a corporate video ..." earlier, because it's too much trouble to explain now.
I wish I didn't have a sludgy headache after spending a perfectly decent day with the best friend and the smallboy, looking for stuff for the new place.
Technorati Tags: crankypants
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 6:42 PM
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Selling, selling ... sold
I don't remember the day Terz and I bought the flat. I remember that we had seen several in the neighbourhood, but they were all done up in various styles that provoked either cringing, despair or, in one case, utter revulsion (a spooky goat-headed altar was involved). Then we found this one through a newspaper ad, and it was as bare-bones as we wanted it to be, so that we could get it fixed up our way, without having to spend a whole lotta money on ripping out the existing finishings.It didn't come dirt-cheap but it was within our budget (though I seem to recall my mother having thought that we paid too much for it). I have no recollection of the negotiation process, just that at some point must have been a phone call, I think, to tell us it was ours, and then we came to the flat to sign the paperwork with the existing owner. I remember subsequently going to HDB offices at Bukit Merah and the housing agent navigating us through the bureaucracy's byzantine requirements. At the end of it, he opened the boot of his car and gave us a watermelon.
Yesterday, I got word that we had sold the flat. We had been involved in a little back-and-forth with the potential buyers for the past couple of weeks, but our agent (not the watermelon guy) finally got us the price we wanted.
The news came via SMS, as all news does these days, and I didn't know how to react. There was glee that we'd made a fair (though not obscene) profit on it; there was relief that I wouldn't have to show the place to strangers anymore; there was shock that this really had happened, we'd sold a flat, the flat --- and then there was that moment they tell you about in books, when sadness wells up and hits you because this really is goodbye.
Despite everything that happened here, it was a good home. It was the first place I ever owned --- I remember signing on the dotted line for a loan amount bigger than my mind could comprehend --- and it was the place we owned together. I wish it hadn't stopped being a home for the reason that it did, but ...
I have very few photographs of the place. I wonder if I should take any.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 1:48 PM
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Downright local and doing good
It was a windy welcome to the new year, which I know only because I was far from the madding crowd --- first at a delightful house party, then having supper at the neighbourhood prata place. It was windy enough that I started to feel cold by the end of supper, despite wearing a sleeved top and ordering a teh halia to warm myself up. And thisI would be a liar if I didn't admit to having felt a little holiday ennui this year, despite the family festivities and meals with friends whom I hadn't seen in a while. More accurately, it was great to see family and friends --- I just wish it didn't have to be dressed up as "the holidays" to happen.
The first thing I did in the new year (Singapore time) was to clink glasses, sip champagne and knock over my friend's beer. I'm not sure what that portends for 2008, but hopefully nothing too dramatic.
Technorati Tags: Singapore, New Year's
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 5:27 PM
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Next stop wonderland
It's a little surreal to contemplate, but in about a month I will be living somewhere else.After a surprisingly effortless search, graced by a great deal of serendipity (my mother would say God's will), I've landed myself a nice little apartment in the very heart of the neighbourhood I was eyeing. And it only took buying two copies of The Straits Times (to peruse the classifieds; the news sections went straight into the recycling heap) and viewing exactly one apartment.
Yes, you read that right: one apartment.
But the real kicker is that the apartment turned out to be owned by someone I know professionally --- not someone I'm especially close to (wouldn't that be awkward), but someone I've worked and occasionally socialised with enough that I didn't have any qualms about saying yes to the asking rental price. Sure, I wish it were cheaper, but given how manic the local real estate market is at the moment, I'm thankful for what I have, rather than griping about the unlikely.
I don't have a fixed move-out-by date, but I figure before the Chinese New Year is a good target. Which means that most of January will be spent planning, measuring, sorting and pa(ni)cking. And working, of course.
In the meantime, I'm madly surfing Apartment Therapy and websites of its ilk, and I've ordered the very first piece of friends' artwork that will grace the apartment's walls.
Technorati Tags: Singapore, moving house
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 11:18 AM
Thursday, December 27, 2007
A cousin collision
I saw my cousin today for the first time in what might be fourteen years. And if I hadn't had gone shopping for Abigael and Ming's birthday gifts, I wouldn't've bumped into him at all.Impressively, he recognised me after I hailed him in the Parkway Parade post-Xmas crowds --- not bad considering that I now wear contact lenses, keep my hair short (though it's a little raggedy around the edges at the moment) and am almost half a lifetime older. He looks pretty much the same, just older and more built. Someone's got a gym membership, I bet.
Sadly, though we wanted to catch up, a quick glance at my watch confirmed that I needed to get home stat or I'd be late for my 3 pm meeting, and he leaves Singapore tomorrow. Let's hope it isn't another fourteen years before we run into each other again.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 7:58 PM
Friday, October 26, 2007
This never happens
When my eyes blinked open this morning, everything was still cast in evocative grey-blue tones that could mean only one thing --- it was barely dawn. I checked my alarm (aka my cell phone) and I had an hour to go before my 7:30 a.m. alarm time. So I went back to sleep.Or rather, I wanted to and I tried to, but the brain was already awhirr with adrenaline, beyond what I knew was the point of no return. Funnily enough, I didn't feel like I needed more sleep either --- whereas I'm usually bleary-eyed and reluctant to wake up even after a solid eight hours' sleep, which is what I'd planned for last night. But this morning the mind was all up-and-at-'em, racing away with with all sorts of work-related foo.
So I got up. At 6:20 a.m. I reiterate, without the alarm clock going off or any extrinsic circumstance motivating my getting out of bed.
Or to use a pithy Singaporeanism: faster go and buy 4D now.
When I fired up the laptop, no less than three IMs popped up almost immediately, marvelling at the fact that I was up. Ondine was up because she has four-month-old twins, kk was up because she's in Tokyo and they work hard over there, and the third friend friend was up to help with the Cat Welfare Society's mass spay-neuter day. My excuse: "I went to bed at 11:30 p.m. last night."
Well, clearly, I need to not do that again.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 6:48 AM
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Writing style
I write in Helvetica 11 point with 125% zoom on Microsoft Word. How 'bout you?Labels: Personal, Twitteresque
posted by Tym at 11:22 AM
Sunday, September 02, 2007
A birthday party, senior citizen-style
My grandfather rang in his 90th birthday last night with a chocolate cake from an HDB bakery, a short speech and toast by his eldest great-grandchild, and the flashbulbs of a dozen digital cameras of varying vintage. There was also the requisite nine-course Chinese dinner, and the presence of almost every family member who isn't living overseas, as well as his closest church mates.
This was the first Chinese dinner I attended that involved, technically, three servings of dessert. First, the Portuguese egg tarts (ho-hum). Then the ah bo ling (yum-yum). Then the birthday cake.
The most surreal moment: when Gong Gong's sitting behind his birthday cake with one great-grandchild perched on his lap and another ten or so huddled around him for the picture --- and in my mind's eye, I'm seeing a yellowed photograph from the late 1970s, when he was similarly surrounded by my cousins and me, with Packrat (now a daddy himself) in Gong Gong's arms. The quintessential composition of the picture hasn't changed, nor have the expressions of the children, nor has the aesthetic of the cake. It's just my grandfather who's somewhat older and more distinguished-looking.
Though I suppose the kids are also dressed a lot more hip than we used to be.
Related post: A little birthday fuss
Technorati Tags: Singapore, birthday, grandfather
Labels: Food for thought, Personal
posted by Tym at 1:47 PM
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Did you know ...
... that the first CD ever produced was The Visitors by Abba? So says BBC News, as the "Compact disc hits 25th birthday".I've never been a real musichead so I don't think I started buying CDs till the early 1990s. When I graduated from university in 1997, CDs were still something you bought in a music store ("CD store", though they didn't sell blank ones), while data storage to the average person meant 3.5" floppy disks or Iomega zip disks with a whopping 100 MB capacity.
I don't remember the first CD I bought (though I remember that the first cassette tape was a 1983 compilation of Grammy Award-winning songs). I do know that I did a double-take after seeing Discmans for sale in Ho Chi Minh City last week (alongside pirated music CDs, no less) and I almost wished I hadn't given my mother permission to sell mine some years ago, otherwise I could add it to my growing Collection of Obsolete Technology.
When I cleaned house a couple of months ago, I accumulated at least 100 used CDs for recycling. My mother now hangs some of them outside her windows to scare the birds away. How far we've come.
Technorati Tags: CD
Labels: Geek girl, Personal, Pop culture, Travel babble
posted by Tym at 2:45 PM
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Out of sorts
I think my Super Hero cape was on backwards this weekend, because everything conspired to make me feel at the very bottom of my game. Okay, not everything, because the weekend began promisingly enough with a work-related event Saturday morning, at which I shook enough hands and traded enough introductions with folks to make me feel like Work. Got. Done.
But maybe having to do a work thing on the weekend threw me off my game, and watching two tortured love stories on DVD on Saturday afternoon wasn't the best complement to that. Then there was the 满月(first-month birthday) celebration for the twins today, at which many members of the extended family were in attendance.
On the bright side, at least I know I'm not PMSing.
Labels: Freelancin' living, Personal
posted by Tym at 10:55 PM
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Crabby when hungry
Now that's a warning label I should come with.Labels: Personal, Twitteresque
posted by Tym at 10:40 AM
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Officially a workaholic
You wouldn't know it from the (in)frequency of blog postings here, but I'm actually faffing about on a lighter work schedule right now. After the breakneck pace of the last few months, I decided, annual business targets be damned, I needed to cut myself a little slack before I completely lost my mind.And so I've been coasting along working what approximates normal hours, i.e. an average of 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week (rather than 10-12 hours a day everyday). Now I remember what the concept of "free time" is about.
Which also makes it the perfect time to consider this timeless question from Workaholics Anonymous: Twenty Questions: How Do I Know If I'm A Workaholic?
(Via Cowboy Caleb. Of course.)
Workaholics Anonymous prefaces the list of questions with: If you answer "yes" to three or more of these questions you may be a workaholic. Something tells me three "yes" answers are going to be something of an understatement in my case.
1. Do you get more excited about your work than about family or anything else?
No, but I get pretty damn excited about my work in general.
2. Are there times when you can charge through your work and other times when you can't?
Yep. Times when I can: when non-negotiable deadlines are coming right up, particularly if the money is good. Times when I can't: when I'm feeling burned out or creatively spent, or on the weekends when everyone is out having fun and I'm alone at home in front of the laptop.
3. Do you take work with you to bed? On weekends? On vacation?
To bed: yes. But only when I know it doesn't matter if I'm also simultaneously catching up on friends' blogs or chatting online.
On weekends: Yes. Hence the chronicling of the "Day of rest" series.
On vacation: Okay, that's an absolute no-no. I try not to even have my cell phone on when I'm on vacation. Except that I've got a two-week vacation coming up in September and I'm thinking of bringing my laptop just so that I can check in on stuff ... and already I can hear the chorus of friends screaming "NOOO!!!!!" down at me.
4. Is work the activity you like to do best and talk about most?
See, this is where it gets tricky. My work involves writing and editing, which I love doing, and part of me really wants this to be the last job I'll ever have. That means even when I'm not writing for work, I'm writing for fun which also feeds back --- sometimes indirectly, sometimes directly --- into work. And writing is certainly one of the things I live to do best.
On the other hand, do I talk most about work? Heavens, no. In fact, I get tired of giving the same answers when people ask me what I'm working on at the moment.
5. Do you work more than 40 hours a week?
Yes. I'm almost unapologetic about it.
6. Do you turn your hobbies into money-making ventures?
Well, I've always like to write and now I write for a living. I've occasionally been paid to blog, but I wouldn't say those experiences merited the term "money-making ventures".
7. Do you take complete responsibility for the outcome of your work efforts?
Absolutely.
8. Have your family or friends given up expecting you on time?
I hope not! Although I'm late more often than I'd like because "I was just finishing up something."
9. Do you take on extra work because you are concerned that it won't otherwise get done?
Sometimes --- but usually only if my reputation and/or the quality of the overall project is at stake.
10. Do you underestimate how long a project will take and then rush to complete it?
Sheesh, just about all the time. Mostly, I think, because I typically work at home and then I get distracted by bits and bobs of things around the apartment. I'm much more productive working in a cafe or office environment; I'm most productive if there isn't an Internet connection available.
11. Do you believe that it is okay to work long hours if you love what you are doing?
Yes.
(Kill me now.)
12. Do you get impatient with people who have other priorities besides work?
No way! People get to make their own choices.
But if someone commits to completing a certain join within a certain timeframe, and then fails to do so because they felt like going shopping, and then the entire project is thrown into jeopardy --- well, let's just say I'll be more than impatient in such a situation.
13. Are you afraid that if you don't work hard you will lose your job or be a failure?
Yes. *meep*
14. Is the future a constant worry for you even when things are going very well?
Yes. *double-meep*
15. Do you do things energetically and competitively including play?
I most certainly do not play competitively. In fact, I slack on most things that aren't "work"; hence I'm fairly domestically challenged, never really did well (or made money) from any of my hobbies, and never saw the point of conversations about who found the best bargain/has the swankiest apartment or car/had the coolest vacation/has the latest designer outfit/etc.
16. Do you get irritated when people ask you to stop doing your work in order to do something else?
Sigh. Sometimes. I need to let go, I know.
17. Have your long hours hurt your family or other relationships?
I think so. I believe this merits a *triple-meep*
18. Do you think about your work while driving, falling asleep or when others are talking?
I don't drive at the moment, but when I used to, I used to be mostly swearing at other drivers.
I've sometimes made the mistake of thinking about work as I was trying to fall asleep --- only to be up another half hour because that my mind spun up into high gear and wouldn't let me rest. Now I think about the colour black ("colour" is a misnomer, I know).
When others are talking? Sometimes. But only if a) I'm stressed about work, b) they're being at that moment truly, 110%, I've-given-them-as-many-chances-as-our-relationship-will-allow boring.
19. Do you work or read during meals?
Yes. But not all the time. (Reading during meals was a bad habit I picked up as a kid, despite my mother's best efforts.)
20. Do you believe that more money will solve the other problems in your life?
Of course not!
THE END
On that note, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my non-working Sunday.
Technorati Tags: workaholic
Labels: Freelancin' living, Personal
posted by Tym at 3:08 PM
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Things I meant to blog in the week that passed
TuesdaySome days all I do is plot to leave this country.
Other days, I've got my goreng pisang (fresh from the wok) in one hand, a cup of sugar cane juice in the other, as I'm traipsing from Telok Ayer across a corner of Chinatown to Peck Seah Street --- and it feels just like home.
Wednesday
On MSN with James:
James: So how has it been so far?Thursday
ME: moving the shelves into the living room
ME: then reorganising all the books again
James: So butch!
James: I think you were a lesbian in your past life
At Raffles City, I literally almost ran into a friend I hadn't spoken to in several months. But all I had time for was, "Sorry, sorry, I'm late, I'm late!" and keep on running.
Not five steps later, I ran into another friend, and yammered the same staccato response while still in motion.
Dammit, I need to stop being late for everything.
Including updating this blog.
Labels: Domestically challenged, Personal
posted by Tym at 11:49 PM
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
What do you call it
For the first time ever, someone in conversation this week said "ex-husband", by which they meant mine. For a moment I felt like I had been unplugged from what was going on around me, then the feeling passed and the conversation maundered on.I have not said "ex-husband" much myself. Mostly I use his name, as most of the people I talk to recognise it. Otherwise, the default term is still "husband", out of habit. "Ex" sounds too trivial --- one in a string thereof, no different from how one would refer to an adolescent sweetypoohbear or a boyfriend who lasted all of one month. Not that one's age or the duration of a relationship alone mark the seriousness of a relationship, but I think being married to someone for seven-plus years quite clearly falls into a separate category of intimacy and dependency.
Then there's the "we/I", "our/my" conundrums that trip up one's speech. We used to have a car, but I don't have one now. It's our flat but my clothes that are in the cupboard. "The" becomes remarkably handy, filling in for any possessive pronoun that would otherwise draw too much attention.
What it boils down to, ultimately, is that I never thought "ex-husband" was a word that would be admitted to my personal lexicon --- but there it is.
Technorati Tags: ex-husband
Labels: Personal, Words words words
posted by Tym at 11:15 PM
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
And then there were two ...
I'd never carried a newborn before. Usually I don't even visit babies when they're at the newborn stage; on the previous two occasions that I have, I peered appreciatively at the child and even babysat one briefly while his mom went to the bathroom (alas, he gave himself up to bawling within seconds), but always declined to actually carry the child lest I drop it on its head. Newborns are so, well, small. They fit within the crook of even my arm and while I love how soft their skin is, that also always reminds me of how fragile they are.Yesterday, I carried a newborn for the first time. Two newborns, actually. First there was Jordan, who frowned and gave a small yawp when she was moved from the new dad Packrat's arms to mine, but quickly settled down and snoozed on. I whispered, "Be vewy, vewy quiet. Hello, Ah Hui."
("Hui" really is a part of her Chinese name, but since "Ah Hui" is a homophone for "ah huey" which is a none-too-complimentary Singlish reference to a woman with dubious fashion sense, I'm pretty sure new mom Ondine doesn't want me calling her that too often.)
Then there was Evan, who seemed a little more sanguine about being handed around. He has very "boy" features with a certain Zen-like cast. I didn't whisper anything to him besides his name because nothing clever came to mind.
I'm still surprised that they a) fit within the crook of my arm (yes, it bears repeating) and b) are lighter than my cat.
I'll leave it to the parents to tell you the story of how Jordan and Evan got here, but meanwhile there are (Family-only) photos on Flickr and, of course, the inevitable quote from The West Wing --- not just because it's about babies but because it's about twins and there was talk about using a "Huck and Molly" codename at one point:
Toby: I didn't realise babies come with hats. You guys crack me up. You don't have jobs. You can't walk or speak the language. You don't have a dollar in your pockets, but you got yourselves a hat. So, everything's fine. I don't wanna alarm you or anything but I'm dad. And for you, son, for you, this'll be the last time I pass the buck, but I think it should be clear from the get-go that it was Mom who named you Huckleberry. I guess she was feeling like life doesn't present enough challenges to overcome on its own. And, honey, you've got a name now too. Your mom and I named you after an incredibly brave, uh, an incredibly brave woman, really not all that much older than you. Your name is Molly. Huck and Molly. So, what do I do? Well, you're gonna need food and clothes and doctors and dentists, and there's that. And, should you have any questions along the way, I'm gonna be doin' stuff like this (grabs a tissue and wipes Huck's mouth), Huck, because you're leaking a little bit out of your mouth there. You're holding my finger, son? Hey, Molly. Your brother's holding my hand. Do you wanna hold my hand?Plenty of time for hand-holding as we go along.--- "25", The West Wing
Edited to add (Thu, 12:48 am): Packrat's posted snapshots of the twins on their first day of, well, life.
Technorati Tags: babies, twins
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 11:21 PM
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Things I wanted to Twitter yesterday
... but didn't have the time or internet connection to.$83.94 for a new remote control for the airconditioner??
Despite all the construction and new traffic, pockets of Portsdown Road are still very pretty.
Nothing like almost choking to breathlessness on a miscplaced gulp of water to add a little perspective to one's day.
People who screw up one's dinner (namely Suzie's) should offer at least a free dessert to atone. (Sun With Moon Cafe, if anyone wants to know. Good food and service, except for the part where they screwed up).
Labels: Food for thought, Personal, Singapore stories, Twitteresque
posted by Tym at 12:36 PM
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Still in bed
Things that are impossible to do when one is beset by a cold and fatigue:- Copyedit text.
- Proofread emails to see if anyone's been left out of the list.
- Make sense of emails in general.
- Tick off people who cut in front of me in the cab line or ATM queue.
- Chase the cat down from the top of the blinds where he's taken to hanging out (and scraping plaster off the ceiling).
- Eat.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 8:36 PM
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
To bed, to bed
Ondine says that the last few blog entries make me sound like an alcoholic, so I should qualify them by enumerating what I had to drink today:- Warm honey in water
- Warm water
- Vitagen (peach flavour)
- Honey dew juice (I wanted a green apple juice, but the stallholder heard me wrong)
- Warm water
- Beer (oops)
- Warm water
Wah, so much verbal diarrhoea. I need to go to bed.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 12:19 AM
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Moving day
1 hour.10 boxes.
2 friends and a hired mover.
A bow, a bicycle, a motorcycle helmet, a bedroll.
More than 8 years together.
Goodbye.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 7:48 PM
Thursday, May 31, 2007
I've got jeans!
Which is an achievement worth blogging because while I have at least three pairs of jeans that are still in serviceable condition, my recent (inadvertent) weight loss means that what was once snug now is hanging-off-my-butt. And the current crazy work schedule didn't exactly put me in the right frame of mind to go shopping after work, even though I am in town pretty much everyday.So today: a deliberate trip to Far East Plaza, where the clothing shop in the basement immediately to the right of the descending escalator opposite Gelare is now officially my favourite place to get jeans in Singapore, because the retail assistant (whom I suspect is also a co-owner or the owner's wife) not only immediately offers genuine assistance when you walk in, but is extremely astute at picking out jean styles and sizes to suit your person as well.
It was pretty much a verbatim repeat of my last visit there:
Woman in the shop: Can I help you? Looking for jeans?The only difference being that I bought two pairs of jeans today, because the woman was so prompt and helpful.
ME: Yes.
Woman (immediately pulls something off the rack): This is our latest. The cutting is very nice. Want to try?
ME (looks it over briefly): Can I get my size?
Woman (sizing me up, literally): I think this one can fit you. Go and try.
So I do, and the jeans fit perfectly, and five minutes later I walk out of the shop, a happy customer.
The rest of Far East Plaza was a bust. Where has Womb gone?
Technorati Tags: Singapore, shopping,
Labels: Personal, Singapore stories
posted by Tym at 8:54 PM
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Two degrees of separation (or not even)
In which I whine about how Singapore is Too. Damn. Small.Among my current clients, I count:
- The best friend's ex-boyfriend from way way back.
- Someone who went to school with Wahj way way back.
- The old government department I used to work for, including people who used to be my bosslets and colleagues a few years ago.
Familiarity is fine and dandy (which is partly why I took the job with my former department), but I would also like to meet some new people, please!
Technorati Tags: Singapore
Labels: Freelancin' living, Personal, Singapore stories
posted by Tym at 8:00 PM
Monday, May 21, 2007
Monday morning to-do
I need two character referees who have known me for two or more years, who must be Singapore citizens and not related to me.And, obviously, who don't mind being thusly named in a government form.
It's not as easy as it looks.
Labels: Personal, Singapore stories
posted by Tym at 12:13 PM
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Oops
I forgot to blog.More accurately, I have been trying to spend a little less time on my laptop, so when I'm not having to do work, I try not to be at the computer, which kinda makes it hard to blog.
As for how I am doing generally, leave it to the inimitable Suzie to put her very finger on it, even over MSN:
ME: i think i am more "two steps fwd, one step back"?
Suzie: it's more of, two steps forward, maybe one step back, oh maybe not, wait, wait, er, how about another one back, oh whoops, back and forth, aiya, just sit down lah.
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 6:49 PM
Friday, May 04, 2007
Prophetic much?
Who said this in 1970?Life is not just eating, drinking, television and cinema. ... The human mind must be creative, must be self-generating: it cannot depend on just gadgets to amuse itself."Well, obviously, I'm screwed.
Labels: Food for thought, Geek girl, Personal, Pop culture, Singapore stories
posted by Tym at 1:02 PM
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The day when everything went wrong
We used to get assigned to write school compositions with that title and whip up impossible feats of coincidence to satisfy its demands. Who knew that real life could be just as churlish?I dreamed that I stabbed Ink accidentally and had to rush him to the vet's emergency room. (The dream was this morning, around dawn, so it counts as part of "today"'s calamities.)
I woke up to my cell phone alarm and the cell phone was fine --- but after charging it for an hour or so (which I do everyday), the screen went on the fritz. I think I'm going to have to get a new one, but that means paying more than I'd like for the Nokia N95 because I can't sit around and wait for the price to go down. I just hope I can still trade this one in for something.
Putting on my contact lenses just now, I managed to flip the case into the sink --- and the lens I hadn't put in yet vanished into thin air. I peered all over the sink and absolutely could not find it. On the bright side, I had one last pair of lenses I could switch to, but that means I need to order more lenses stat, too.
If all this had happened yesterday, I'd be a sobbing (and sodding) heap. Good thing it all waited till today. But still: poo.
Labels: Geek girl, Kitty corner, Personal
posted by Tym at 10:54 AM
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Written off, sold out
I am writing a piece on the first Cabinet of Singapore.And enjoying it more than when I was writing a profile of Madrid's Hotel Urban yesterday.
Kill me now.
No, really. Kill me.
Technorati Tags: writing
Labels: Freelancin' living, Personal
posted by Tym at 4:15 PM
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Welcome back
Ah, swollen lymph node, how I've missed you.Not.
Labels: Personal, Twitteresque
posted by Tym at 10:38 AM
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Chindian lunch
I don't normally use the phrase "Chindian" (i.e. a mixture of Chinese and Indian) and indeed, I'd never heard of it till a few years ago. But it seems appropriate to describe today's made-at-home lunch (not to be confused with a homecooked lunch), which consists of:- basmati rice
- mushroom achari out of an instant pack (thank you, Mustafa)
- a fried egg
Speaking of Chindian meals, has anyone tried the several-months-old Indian Wok at Siglap? It claims to be some blend of Chinese and Indian cuisine, though from the outside the decor looks more heavily Indian than anything. Part of me wants to give it a shot, another part of me shies away from what seems to be yet another variety of "fusion cusine" ...
Technorati Tags: Chindian, lunch
Labels: Domestically challenged, Food for thought, Personal
posted by Tym at 12:56 PM
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Confession
Warning: extremely uncharacteristically angsty emo post ahead.I had enough blog post ideas to cover every day this past week, but finding the time to write them proved to be more challenging than I imagined. So there will be no posts about turning down a copywriting job because of ethical issues, ordering the Buffy Season 8 comic (never mind that it's a second-print), enjoying The Devil Wears Prada more than I expected (maybe the Lana cake helped), attempting (very badly) to dance at Movida after a day of mild aggravations, cheering Shirlyn's Newfound Jealousy album launch or long conversations about where all this is going.
Suffice to say the following:
I am not as well as I appear to be. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it gets harder everyday. I've had too many good days --- or what felt like good days, anyway --- and now it's like all the bad days are showing up to claim their due. The crying is ridiculous, at this point. Just call me Chemical-Dependent Emo Girl and be done with it (the chemicals being alcohol and caffeine, not anything that requires a prescription or psychiatric examination).
I don't usually write about less-than-thrilling personal affairs on this blog because, well, because that's just the sort of blog I keep. But I realise that as a result of that editorial policy, this blog of late has painted a perhaps too-pretty picture of life post-separation/-breakup. Not that I was deliberately glossing over the less photogenic moments, but it was more important at the time to just get back to writing about something, even if it was as inconsequential as what I had for dinner or Urban Dictionary's word of the day.
Now ...
I'm not about to start letting all kinds of emotional foofaraw rip on this blog, but now I know why leaving the country seems like a good idea. A cheaper alternative is just to start screening calls. Not that anyone's become persona non grata overnight, but it's positively exhausting to talk about it all the time, yet to not talk about it seems to be a pathetic attempt to ignore the elephant in the room.
A friend commented earlier this week that maybe all the crying is because of the emotions that have been bottled up for some time, because I'm not the kind of person that lets on that I'm upset, and now it's time when I just have to let it all out. Maybe so, but can it all just be over, please?
PS: I'm leaving the comments open, because that's my editorial policy, but seriously, this is not a desperate cry for help or plea for internet-conveyed sympathies and pats-on-the-head. I'm writing because I need to write, and also need to have this on my blog. At the same time, I've consulted those nearest and dearest for advice, Kleenex and comfort food. So don't panic that I'm moping in front of my laptop or anything.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 11:34 PM
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
I, the neo-nomad
I recently came across the BBC's "In search of the neo-nomad", which picks up a San Francisco Chronicle definition of neo-nomads as:... people who turn a laptop, a wireless connection and a cafe into an office and work wherever they happen to be ... distinguishe[d] from traditional freelancers because of their close engagement with technology and use of the latest generation of web-based tools in their working lives.Laptop --- check.
Wireless connection --- check (thank you, Wireless@SG).
Cafe --- check. Coffee tastes best at Starbucks or tcc (German blend). Less satisfying is The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf's, and overpriced is Coffee Club's. Epicurious and Toast also have yummy coffees (and unbeatable iced teas). Not that there's anything wrong with indigenous kopitiam coffee, but sometimes in the afternoon it's too hot to sit in a non-airconditioned environment.
Close engagement with technology --- I think so. Did I mention what's in my bag? Nowadays, the list includes a laptop (usually with charger), although I only have one cell phone now and no more security pass.
Latest generation of web-based tools --- check. Gmail to manage 5 work-related email accounts, Flickr, Adium for MSN/Yahoo/GTalk/AIM, blogging software (Blogger/Movable Type/Wordpress) all. Plus I recently got sucked into LinkedIn.
I'm going to put down "neo-nomad" the next time I fill out a job that asks me for my "occupation".
Technorati Tags: neo-nomad
Labels: Freelancin' living, Geek girl, Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 4:58 PM
Monday, April 02, 2007
Catching up
Over lunch today with an old, old friend of what would be about twenty years, except that I hadn't seen him in the last ten:"So, you and your husband not planning to have any kids?"Weirdest conversation over lunch, ever.
"Uh ... actually, we split up a few months ago."
"Oh. I thought so. I had a feeling. Happened to me too."
"You got married? When?"
"2002."
"And just split up?"
"Yah, recently."
And yet, not.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 6:44 PM
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Day of rest II
Nature rambles are well and good, but sometimes in Singapore you gotta settle for the urban variety.
If anyone knows where I can get a copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 Issue #1, let me know? I've left my name and number at the Comics Mart at Raffles City, but they didn't seem too sure if they were getting that second batch in.
Related post: Day of rest I
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 11:11 PM
Saturday, March 31, 2007
The birthday that was
It was my birthday earlier this week, and it was a rather strange one.
For starters, I was PMSing, which meant that there was far more meaningless and uncontrollable crying than I'd care to admit to. All those scenes you've seen in movies where a female character burst into tears for no good reason whatsoever? It's just as frustrating in real life if you're the cryer, to say nothing of how truly baffling it must seem to any cryee(s) present. Thank goodness it lasted only two days.
Then there was the fact that something was definitely wrong with Ink. He kept getting into his kitty litter, scrabbling around and assuming the position to pee --- only to have very little or nothing come out. Rinse, repeat, rapidly within a matter of minutes. Poor boy. I took him to the vet on my birthday (I'd given myself the day off, which made it the only free day I had this week) and she diagnosed him, predictably enough, with a urinary tract infection. The antibiotics seem to have taken effect since, so fingers crossed he doesn't have a relapse or I might be blogging next about how to get a urine sample from a frisky cat.
Finally there was the weirdness that ensues when it seems like everyone's forgotten your birthday. Which, in my PMSing state, I didn't mind at all (and still don't, for the record), but it's just sort of weird anyway. I mean, even my mother --- who called me first thing in the morning to ask about something else entirely --- forgot to wish me happy birthday, as she faithfully does first thing every morning on my birthday (she later SMSed a contrite message of atonement).
Of course, not everyone forgot and it's not like I sat around all day wondering why nobody loved me. Nor am I still wondering about it today. It's just that today I downloaded the above picture of a gargantuan slice of pie (served up at Marché at Vivocity, in case anyone was wondering), which was one of the many decent eats I had on my birthday, which made me think I should blog about the birthday, else this time next year I'll be cracking my head to try to remember what happened.
Anyway, when in doubt on how to end a blog post, I always say look for a Buffy quote. In this case:
Joyce (Buffy's mom): So what'd you do for your birthday? Did you have fun?Note: This is not some kind of poorly disguised passive-aggressive plea for belated birthday messages, nor an attempt to guilt-trip anyone who forgot. Say whatever you like in the comments, but for goodness' sake, don't say "happy (belated) birthday". Thank you!
Buffy: I got older.
Joyce: You look the same to me. Happy Birthday. I don't have to sing, do I?
Buffy: No.
Joyce: Well, go on, make a wish.
Buffy: I'll just let it burn.--- "Innocence", Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Technorati Tags: birthday, InkTheCat
Labels: Kitty corner, Personal
posted by Tym at 9:13 PM
Budget airline, budget website?
After months of whinging about it, I have finally booked that damn vacation.Of course, it's in August, but still.
On Adri's sound advice ("Terminal 1!", "assigned seating!", "20 kg baggage allowance!", "no aunties with plastic bags!"), I went with Jetstar instead of Tiger Airways --- also because a Jetstar ticket wound up being about $30 cheaper overall. Despite being a seasoned internet veteran, this also marks the first time I've ever booked an air ticket online. Which leads me to two interesting observations (read: gripes) about the Jetstar website.
When you make a ticket booking, you have to indicate a contact person and assorted details. Strangely, while there are no character limits on the fields where you key in the travellers' names, there is a 14-character limit on the last name of the contact person. I have a 15-character double-barrelled last name, which I whittled down to 14 characters by dropping the hyphen in the middle. But what about all the lovely people who have less truncatable last names (particularly Asian ones)?
So I thought I would do what everyone does in the internet age: click on the link for "contact us", which would no doubt lead me to some kind of online form that I could fill up with the above observation and click on its merry way to the Jetstar feedback department.
Jetstar's "Contact Us" page states:
If you have any feedback relating to our customer services or web site please forward them in writing to the applicable address. [emphasis mine]Snailmail? They want feedback on their website to be conveyed through snailmail? My mind, it's still boggling.
Jetstar gets an A for having cheap tickets and all the other perks that Adri mentioned. But I'm not sure how many points I'll dock for the level of customer-unfriendliness at the end of the day.
Technorati Tags: vacation, Jetstar, budget airlines
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 10:35 AM
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Who's calling, please?
All the calls I've received on my cell phone today have been from people I know calling me from phone numbers I don't know. Mostly, it's people calling me on their office line when I only have their cell phone numbers punched into my contacts list. Which means that the opening of the conversation generally goes like this:Me: Hello?Except that nobody calls me "Tym" in real life. Of course.
Friend: Hey, Tym.
Me: Yes?
Friend: Eh, it's me.
Me: Er, okay ... (while I try to figure out who it is)
Time was you never knew who was calling you till you at least heard the voice at the other end of the line. And my parents never had caller ID even when it became available, so it wasn't till I acquired my first cell phone that I got used to the idea of knowing who was calling before I even decided to answered the call.
In the almost ten years that have passed since then, I've come to regard with mild suspicion any phone call from an unidentified number. In fact, I used to summarily not return missed calls from unidentified numbers, but that changed when I started freelance work --- you never know when it's a potential new client calling. So now if it's an unidentified number, I pause, mull over who it could possibly be, sometimes ponder which part of Singapore they might be calling from (if it's a land line), then answer.
Maybe I should just go back to my pre-cell phone habit of just answering the damn phone already.
Technorati Tags: phone, cell phone
posted by Tym at 7:24 PM
Saturday, March 24, 2007
How to pwn a runny nose
It worked before and it's worked again: after blogging about a bad nose, it's decided to retreat into submission and has ceased to torment me. Looks like I didn't need that second box of Febs tablets after all.Technorati Tags: cold, sick
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 6:19 PM
Friday, March 23, 2007
My nose runneth over
Seriously, having to blow my nose every 5 minutes? Not funny. Interspersed with very animated sneezing of about the same intensity as a Pacific Rim volcano? Really tiring.This isn't the first time I've blogged about having a cold. But I still hate having them. Give me a good debilitating fever any day.
The downside to being a freelancer? No such thing as "taking MC" or pleading for medical leave. Work proceeds apace.
Technorati Tags: cold, sick
Labels: Freelancin' living, Personal
posted by Tym at 8:07 PM
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Day of rest I
I took the day off.
Note to self: spend more time at East Coast Park.
Labels: Food for thought, Personal
posted by Tym at 9:17 PM
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Thirsty
I know I drink more than my share of 2 litres of water a day, but sometimes I just want to be hooked up into an IV drip of iced green tea, stat.Labels: Food for thought, Personal
posted by Tym at 6:33 PM
Friday, March 09, 2007
Bah
How can I be so tired even after 8 hours of solid sleep?Labels: Personal, Twitteresque
posted by Tym at 8:47 AM
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Procrastination, Chinese New Year-style
And so it was, that on the eve of Chinese New Year, I finally got my shit sorted out.First thing this morning (meaning some time after 10 am), I bought the very last box of oranges available at the neighbourhood fruit vendor. He had a few other boxes on display, but said that they'd been reserved by other customers. 21 Chaozhou oranges for $8.50 --- not too exorbitant for an absolute last-minute buy.
Then I called my mother to tell her how many new dollar bills I need in each particular denomination for this year's ang pows. I usually rely on my mother for the new bills because banks only dole them out in huge amounts of like $200 worth of two-dollar bills, whereas I never need more than $80 worth (particularly once I factor in the leftover new two-dollar bills from the previous year's ang pow situation). However, I also usually sort this out well before the eve of the New Year.
Small-denomination bills settled, I had to go get some fifty-dollar bills from the neighbourhood ATM. Banks don't typically dole out fifty-dollar bills; they tell customers to go to the ATMs for those. But it seems (according to the reliable source that is my mother) that there's a shortage of fifties this year, so all I got at the ATM were used bills.
In feeble defence of my apparent procrastination, I should mention that I actually went to the ATM to get the fifties yesterday. However, this fails to factor in the fact that after eight years of giving out the same number of large-value ang pows (to grandparents, parents and siblings), I got the math wrong. Which necessitated today's ATM trip.
Nevertheless, the best thing about doing things at the last minute, is scoring the wickedest ang pows that one could give to kids. And they were free, too.
Funkiest. Ang pows. Ever.
Related Posts: Why I should not procrastinate, The afternoon: a chronology, *poof*, They won't throw me in jail for my birthday, I procrastinate, therefore I am
Technorati Tags: Singapore, Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, procrastinate, procrastination
Labels: Domestically challenged, Personal
posted by Tym at 12:14 PM
Monday, February 12, 2007
To resume
Friends who've known me since my pre-blogging days and who perhaps don't spend quite as much time immersed in the world of blogging as I do --- they've asked me before, how is it that I can put up my life on such public display on my blog, to have its minute details read by people I've never met and whom I may never meet.My answer is simple: it's not my entire life that's on display here, it's just the bits and pieces that I choose to put on record, things that I can live with people knowing, that don't infringe on my own privacy or security in any way. The blog version of me is hardly the whole me there is to know.
Of the many things I don't write about, one of them is my relationship with Terz. It's an unwritten rule that I came up with on my own, to maintain my sense of equilibrium between public and private, between real and virtual.
And then sometimes things spill over into the public domain.
All of which is a long preamble to my saying that if you didn't know already from reading Terz's blog (also the most beautiful blog entry ever --- I'm not insensitive to that), here's the Cliffs Notes' version:
That's all I'm prepared to say here --- at least, at this juncture. Maybe someday I'll say more, maybe this is all there'll ever be on this blog about this.
Meanwhile, life, as they say, goes on.
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 11:15 AM
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A whimper or a bang
Perhaps someday this will make a good story, but at the moment it's impossible to see how.Taking some personal time. Thank you for all the SMSes/IMs/emails and a few old-fashioned phone calls. So this is how one weathers an emotional crisis in the age of the internet.
I will be back. I just don't know when.
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 9:01 AM
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Random thought
And then, some days, the dilemma is: what do I wear that's apropos for meeting a potential new client this afternoon and going to the open-air Muse concert at Fort Canning tonight?Labels: Freelancin' living, Nightlife, Personal
posted by Tym at 12:19 PM
Monday, January 15, 2007
Not bored, just ...
Last Tuesday, I found out that someone we'd worked quite closely with for a recent project had unexpectedly --- it seemed, inexplicably --- passed away. Add the fact that I got the information through SMS and that adds a whole other layer of surrealism to the occasion.Last Thursday, I slipped in the rain, fell down and scraped my knees open. My mother would despair of me. The knees are healing slowly --- yes, I must be getting older because the same wounds used to clot and scab within days when I was a kid --- but still look ugly, unsexy and highly tak glam. Well, at least I'm not limping anymore.
Last Sunday, my stomach decided that it would tease me with all the discomfort of diarrhoea, without any of the actual diarrhoea. Ditto today. I don't know whether to be grateful or disgruntled.
Labels: Life in the internet age, Personal
posted by Tym at 11:41 PM
Monday, January 08, 2007
Bored now
Terz was away at a shoot all day today, so it was just me and the cat, hanging out at home. First there was the requisite whining about how bored I was, but Ink didn't seem too impressed by that. Then there were the desperate attempts to lure friends out for coffee or something, but everyone already had plans and couldn't entertain me.(Wahj, however, deserves a special mention for regaling me for 4 minutes with the story of how Sun Bin, the grandson of Sun Zi, gave his patron good advice at the horse races. I totally thought he was making up the story on the fly, but no, it's a bona fide tale from the Chinese classics.)
So I had no choice but to do the work that I'd been procrastinating on, but not before I attempted to procrastinate further by doing some household chores. I'm no fan of vacuuming or wiping down cupboards, but on a long, empty Sunday afternoon, even that's preferable to tapping at the laptop.
As evening inched upon us, I tried one more round of "Free for dinner?" instant messages, but again, the Force was not strong with me. So the only person that I spoke to and interacted with in person, between noon and bedtime, was the neighbourhood hawker who sold me my mutton murtabak for dinner.
On the bright side, I did get some work done and it's fun having season 1 of Veronica Mars run for white noise while I'm poking around at household chores. I think Ink got tired of me harassing him, though, because he flopped down to sleep a good bit earlier than usual and didn't even stir when I nudged his head.
Labels: Personal
posted by Tym at 12:58 AM
Friday, January 05, 2007
Cranky
A little hungover.A little irritated by the cat's
A little unproductive.
Labels: Kitty corner, Personal
posted by Tym at 1:11 PM
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year!
I ate so much at X-man's party last night that I failed to take any pictures of all our party-poppers going off at midnight. Blame it on the bountiful salads and yummy couscous cooked up by the guest cook, not to mention X-man's shepherd's pie, which tasted much better than its low-fat ingredients would have one believe.
You know we're getting old(er) 'cause we had the good sense to cover our drinks with tissue paper a few minutes before midnight, to make sure that they wouldn't get tainted by any errant party-popper streamers. Also, I suspect everyone actually ate more than they drank.
And so, abruptly, here we are in 2007.
Technorati Tags: Singapore, New Year's
posted by Tym at 2:11 PM
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Looking for the right umbrella
We're having one of the fiercest monsoon seasons ever this year, which means that one doesn't leave home without a sturdy umbrella, unless one has made handsome libations to the rain deity or enjoys flipping a coin between the options of being trapped in a building by an unexpected rainstorm or taking an outdoor shower of the extremely unsexy kind.
My collapsible umbrella's served me well for a couple of years, but one of its metal arms snapped out of position a while back and another one was threatening to do the same this week. So I thought: perfect, now I can go shopping for that perfect collapsible yet stout umbrella that I've always wanted. I know such a species exists because I had one of its kind for four years in the States and it was to my eternal chagrin that I didn't make space to ship it back in one of my boxes. Foolish me, thinking that it would have been easy to find an umbrella of equal durability in the little cosmopolitan and technologically-savvy crossroads of Asia that I was going home to.
Who knew that almost ten years on, it's still tough to find a strong collapsible umbrella in these parts? Robinson's and Marks & Spencer, for all the other fine household items they sell, do not seem to carry umbrellas, or at least I couldn't find them, at their Raffles City outlets. I was forced to consider the feeble options at the basement Cold Storage supermarket instead, where just under $4 bought me a not-too-auntie-despite-the-floral-print umbrella --- that lasted exactly two uses before one of its rods parted ways with the umbrella fabric.
Humph.
In the end, it was back to my old faithful neighbourhood provision shop, which for $5 has given me a chequered print umbrella that snaps stoutly into place (despite being a collapsible model) and has a reassuring heft to it even as it's being extended to full length. It still doesn't feel as solid as the one I had in the US, or perhaps I'm just idealising that memory, but I think it'll do me all right in the current situation. If nothing else, I quite like the somewhat retro chequered print.
Now if only I had a place to dry my umbrella without worrying that the cat would get at it ...
Technorati Tags: Singapore, umbrella, rain, monsoon
Labels: Personal, Singapore stories
posted by Tym at 11:55 PM
Monday, December 25, 2006
Bah humbug
This Xmas, I have been feeling a bit of a sourpuss. I suspect it's the guilt that comes from yielding to laziness and deciding that I really wasn't sending any Xmas cards or buying any Xmas presents --- wanting to soak up the festive joy without putting in the work, so to speak. I actually made a face over the phone last night when my mother called to remind me to bring gifts for the gift exchange at my aunt's place today.
Fittingly, the last episode of Veronica Mars that I watched last night before going out to an Xmas party was the season 2 holiday episode:
Veronica (voice-over): New Year's Eve. Someone just needs to change the name to Same Old Year's Eve, because that "New," implying all that hope and promise, it's not fooling anyone.Last night's party sure felt like a warm-up to New Year's Eve. For one thing, there was an actual countdown to Xmas, which arrival was then heralded with plenty of silly string and fake snow being aerosol'ed all over people. Fortunately, none of it got on my new shirt.--- "One Angry Veronica"
I think it's time for a nap.
Merry Xmas, everyone!
Technorati Tags: Xmas, Christmas
posted by Tym at 4:30 PM
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Just in time for the holidays
Nothing like a boring meeting on Wednesday to make me pick up the threads of something I let slide for months: reading blogs. And nothing like catching up on blogs (which is sorta like catching up with a whole bunch of old friends, all at the same time) to make me realise that I'm way, way, way tardy on a meme that dio tagged me for over a month ago.For the record, yes, this took me four days to complete. The letter 'H' is harder than it looks.
10 Things I love that begin with ... the letter 'H'
1. Home --- namely, the apartment where