I am going to India!!!

You may remember when I blogged about going to this audition for a "Roots" type TV show?

Well, guess what, folks. I got the gig!!! I, and about 13 others will be going on a all expenses paid trip to India to find out who our ancestors were and why they decided to make the long nauseating journey that ended in Singapore.

I am going in May, which means it will be stinking hot there, so if anyone wants to buy me one of those hand held electrical fans, now is a good time.

We are going to this little town calles Shirkali, which is in Tanjavur District, and hopefully I will find some homeboys who decided to stay put and breed like crazy.
It will also help if they have done some while outrageous thing, like build the town library or something. Of course, if they turn out to be the local mafia or something, that would be good too. I have always wanted to be famous.

So, if anyone has any advice for a girl on her first trip to that part of India, please let me know. Or and if you are from Shirkali, holla at me. Maybe we can hook up for a drink while I am there!

So exciting.

And Ah-neh, before you ask, yes, KLK has the exclusive scoop on the experience! :)

Give it to me

I am so addicted to this song, listening to it 4,5. 6 times a day.

I think its the beat, appeals to the Indian in me.

Anyway, enjoy. I will have more this weekend.

Things my husband says that make me want to commit myself.

This is the sequel to the post about the things that make me go AAARRRGGHHH. And this time, the tables are turned and this is sampling of the things my husband says that drive me out of my mind.

1) And who is that?
By nature I am a friendly person. I make on average a new friend every week. And talk about him or her for days after.
Let’s say I made a friend. Let’s call her Pam. I talk about her incessantly for weeks. Pam this, Pam that, Pam said, Pam, Pam, Pam.

I only have to give it at most a 2 day break, and then I say something like, “Guess what Pam said?” And Otrie turns to me with this I-am-living-with-an-imbecile look and slowly says, “And who is Pam?”

Grrr. Rather than go through the hassle of reintroducing Pam into our lives, I just go “nevermind”, which may or may not lead to a discussion on how I am secretive and don’t share anything.

2) I am not the woman you are
Nalinee: Look, I bought new shoes! Aren’t they lovely?
Normal Man: *Grunt*

Sensitive New Age Man: Yah, they are nice. Go well with your nail polish.

Gay Man: OMG, they are FABULOUS! Can I borrow them?

My Husband: It’s not the pair I would have chosen, but I am not the woman that you are.

Nalinee: Wha…?

3) Just a second

Now, if you have heard of Indian Standard Time, where if a person says come at 4, you should show up around 5:30, this is even worse.

“Just a second” in Otrie-speak can lead into 5 mins, half hour, two hours later, or even a whole day. There might be longer ones, but I don’t remember. Love keeps no record of wrongdoing *tongue firmly in cheek.

“Just a second” is what Otrie uses when he either doesn’t have an answer or knows that I am not going to like the answer. It’s a time-buying tactic. But now that I recognize it for what it is, don’t think for a minute that I tolerate it. It still makes my blood boil. I want to break a clock over his head while yelling,” This will take just a second!”

4) I was watching that.
Picture this scenario. I walk into the house and the TV is on. Noone is in the living room. I call out. No answer. I peep around to the rooms. Noone peeps back. So I do what any good energy saving citizen would do – pick up the remote and turn off the TV.

“I WAS WATCHING THAT!” A bellow hits me a 90 mph, followed by a very irate husband bounding towards me. “I stepped away for just a second”, he says, indignation welling in his voice. As covered in Point 3, a second can be anything from 5 mins to 24 hours, so I have no way to tell how true this is.

Previously, I used to stand and fight. Now I just turn it back on and walk away. Saves me a lot of unnecessary bile in my throat that way.

I am sure you have similar experiences with your spousen. Share with me in the comments section and we will find solidarity together.

Star Trek Cribs

Ha ha ha. I loved this!

StyleWorks and other celebrity stuff

I have this really strange obsession, where if I am really into a movie and its actors, I research everything about them. Their family, their wife (or husband), their kids, where they went school etc. It's a form of online stalking, I guess, and since all the info is out there, I generally get my fill of trivia.

For instance, did you know that Jada Pinkett-Smith sings in a heavy metal band? Hmmm..

But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about Malaak Compton-Rock, wife of comedian Chris Rock, whose new movie I Think I Love My Wife, promises to be a hoot.

Malaak Compton-Rock, an arts management graduate from Howard University, doesn't spend her husband's fortune on shopping at Tiffany's and embarassing herself in front of the papparazzi. Instead she founded and runs StyleWorks, a non-profit organisation that offers free comprehensive grooming services to women who are moving from the welfare system to work.

These women, usually single parents, unemployed, and in financial dire straits, don't have money to blow for haircuts and make up. They are too busy trying to feed children and find a safe place to live. And this is one of the factors that contribute to the poverty trap - where people have no self-esteem to get themselves out of the self-defeating system.

So what Malaak does is work with companies that manufacture hair care and make up, gathers pools of volunteer hairstylists and make-up artists and give these women a make over. And teaches them how to recreate it at home. That way, they hold their well-coiffed heads up high and get jobs they otherwise won't even have the confidence to try for.

Can you say, "Wow?"

I know external appearances are superficial and it's what's inside a person that counts, yadda yadda yadda... but anyone that has ever had to go a job interview with old shoes, a ripped stocking or even spinach caught in their teeth knows exactly what such a programme can do for your self-esteem.

The hairstylists and make up artists also act as mentors for these women and spend no less than 5 hours with them before they even start with the make over. Malaak works hand in hand with a job placement programme, so she really takes this whole thing the full cycle.

Kudos to her, and to Chris for supporting her work! I am proud just to know there are human beings like that. Makes all that "save the whales" malarkey sound so trite, doesn't it?

When food hurts you

I usually have a really strong stomach and can eat mostly any kind of junk made in all kinds of unsanitary conditions.

So, it's rather quite embarassing to be brought down by a lowly fried egg.


At least, that's what I think it was, the egg fried with "lap cheong" that I had for lunch, but it coulda been anything. It's strange how after a bout of food poisoning, you examine everything you ate or drank, and everything is suspect.

Was it my 4 month old mineral water bottle, that I have been reusing 3,4,5 times a day?

Was it the sad looking veggies that did not get digested at all?

Was it the fish fillet I had for breakfast, that, now that I think about it, tasted a little rubbery and undercooked?

The list goes on.

At the end of the day, what counts is that a little salmonella goes a looong way.

Eliminating the twats

Some people are twats. In a move to better control the entrance on twats into my life (and into my blogosphere), I am removing my tag board. Those of you who have access to my private blog can tag me there.

Twats!

Guest Article - A little boy went to school

The writer of this post has graciously granted me permission to post this here. I was inspired by his perspective that the battles we fight are not against flesh and blood, or race and creed. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

***

We Americans are so blessed to be able to complain about something wrong with every one of our candidates running for the office of President. With speculation, suspicions, new spins, deliberate slips of the pen escorted by quick sanitized apologies, and more, who can run for office these days; certainly not the founding fathers of the nation. Some Christians have become the trifling equivalent of a character assassination Jihad when it comes to politics and religion.

It's true that America is a Muslim-shy nation for many reasons I will not cover here. There are as many types of Muslims nations as there are Christians nations, and as many types of Muslims as Christians. We live in a high security, fear driven world at war, where your every move is scrutinized, judged and categorized well. By just carrying a cell phone, your movements and lifestyle can be tracked anywhere. So it stands to form and criteria that every presidential candidate would be investigated well for job worthiness, because the people need to be safe and secure.

However, the current state of the art media feeding frenzies have turned American freedom of the press into a joke, and do a disservice to the nation in the name of freedom. The knee jerk reactions to Barack Obama's Muslim connections are unfair and ignorant of the ways other people think. It's as if being a child was Barack Obama's big penalty. Are we really saying, you can be 1000 things in America, but if you are a small boy whose parents toted you around to Muslim countries, like the many children of embassy, military or government agency employees, you're in jeopardy if you want to run for public office? I really hope America the Beautiful is not saying, "It's ok to be a Christian convert as long as you were not associated with Muslims before your run for the presidency". Is that America?

If Barack Obama's proximity to Islam is in Indonesia as has been reported, then it needs to be known that Asians think differently from Americans when it comes to family identity. They don't have all the freedoms of identity that western nations have. If your father is Muslim, then that is your legal designation in most Asian countries. If I am a Christian father, then my whole family is Christian, whether they know Jesus or not. In Singapore, if my wife is a Tamil and English speaking Christian Indian, my son's mother tongue designation is Tamil. Some may assume he is of the Hindu faith because his mother tongue is Tamil, but they would be wrong.

Racial and religious assumptions are very strong in Asian cultures. For example, I was coming home from a gig late one night hungry and I thought I might stop for some Bah Ku Teh, an herbed garlic pork rib delight in a tasty peppery broth served with rice. I told my taxi driver to go Balestier Road, the best spot in Singapore for this dish. On our way, somehow a debate arose about why I couldn't have Bah Ku Teh. My Chinese taxi driver kept on insisting that, "Muslims cannot have pork!" And of course, stirred a bit by his audacity, I said, "why not, what happens if they do?" He kept saying, "It's the law", and I said, "well I'm having some tonight anyway, because I'm very hungry, and not a Muslim, but a Christian". My taxi driver made the assumption that so many people make with regard to race and religion. In Asia, race and religion could be broken down like this.



Dark man = Muslim or Hindu
White man = Christian or Jew
Oriental = Buddhist


In America, do we make the assumption that because Barack Obama was a child in the proximity of Islam at one time, he is a threat? As Christians, our political posture is to pray for our leaders and trust in God. I'm thanking God for protecting America, the country I love no matter who's in the White House. My faith is in God's ability, not a political agenda, or issue. I'm certainly not ignorant of the dangers in this world. Yes it's a dangerous world, and I'm glad I know Jesus because our world's problems cannot be solved in carnal ways alone. There are spiritual battles that need to be addressed by a nation who humbles itself and prays.

I cried when President Clinton had his indiscretion, and cried when President Bush didn't find the weapons of mass destruction. I was hurt by Christians brothers and sister as they cheered when Marion Barry was caught on film smoking crack cocaine, and became even more enraged as they embraced President Reagan, a bigot in my book. Every time I see footage of 911, I want to re-enlist in the Army and sign up for covert operations. Yes, I believe there are dark forces rising! I'm passionate, but I know where my help really comes from, the real Hero we should be appealing to, who is above blunders, mistakes, insensitivities, anger, and darkness, our Lord Jesus. He's always steady.

It may be that Barack Obama would be a fine president for reasons that only God knows. Try our best, but we can't get it right as a people through politics and manipulation, we need to trust and abide in the Lord. We can never elect the right person. The right person is the Hero at the right hand of God, the correct Hero to worship, the real king, Jesus. God's grace is the sole reason why America is still great, and enjoys unequaled freedom in this world. To ignore or forget that as a nation would mark the beginning of the decay of our society. Whoever makes it to the White House, please don't stop praying for our great nation.

Things that make you go AAARRRGGHHH

Put it down to the difference in age, gender, culture or just general hard-wiring, but there are some things that I say to my spousal partner that drive him either to find a tall building (to jump off of), or to commit murder in his heart.

Here is just a sampling, based on what I can remember right now.

1. “Boo, can I ask you something?”
I never thought there was anything wrong with this until I heard this uber-lian say it to the guy she was wrapped around. Then I realized, that question is the most meaningless one ever. Having asked it, do you then have to say “Can I ask another question?” It also makes the asker seems like she has the self-esteem of a hunchbacked Spartan and the askee a tyrant, who won’t entertain questions and might beat the asker up! No one wins.

2. “Why you never..?”
Of course, starting any sentence with this phrase sets you up for a “I’m right and you are dog poo-poo” conversation. Why you never is also grammatically wrong, because you don’t really mean “never”, but just that one time.
E.g. Eh, why you never come to church last Sunday?

It’s apparently a Singaporean thing to use “never” when we mean once. But it drives my American husband barking mad. Never means not ever. Not to be used in sentences like “Why you never say you love me?” especially in a hyper-whiny tone.

3. Actually
Here in Singapore, we use this word as a filler, even if we don’t mean it, actually (You see what I did there? I used it as filler.) We don’t actually use it to add emphasis or to indicate that something is actually happening now, which according to Mr Webster, the correct ways to use this word.

So, every time I say actually and Otrie can’t spot an emphasis, or see that I am meaning the opposite of what I am saying, he gets confused. And when people are confused for no reason, they get rather bellicose, and try to pick a fight to deflect their confusion.

We have had so many delightful quarrels over this now that, actually, it no longer bothers me.

4. what, used as a suffix.
I think the thing that bothers him most about this, is the fact that he can’t do it right. Its so much a part of our patois, then we don’t even think when we say things like
“You yell so much also no point, what.”
“Correct, what!”

But to foreign ears, it sounds, well, foreign. There are no rules on what to use when. Same with lah, lor, meh and hor. No rules, unless you have been imbued in this culture. So from Otrie, you get gems like:
“I know its correct, but, lah, this way also can meh. What?”
Translation” Correct, lah, but like that also can.”

Next post: things HE says that make me go aargh and want to commit myself.

Fat Thursday

I took leave on Thursday to do about a million things. I think I accomplished about 3 of them fairly well, so those are the 3 I will write about here.


Snow City - I took Hanan and this little kid my aunt is tutoring called Hari to Snow City. Hanan and I had been wanting to do this for quite some time now and we finally got a chance. I was prepared mentally to not have a good time because I heard some really bad reviews of the place. But we actually had alot of fun. Sliding down the slope with your tush in the snow is quite a rush and watching Hanan and Hari's happy little faces gave me a real warm feeling inside, despite the -7 degrees temperature.
We bought one of those seriously expensive souvenir photos, which I will upload once I get a chance to scan it in.


Titoudao - after a quick lunch at Mac's, I rushed away to deposit the kids with Otrie while I continued my way down to the drama centre to watch a local play about the dying art of wayang. For a review, click here. We enjoyed it very much, even though half of it was in Hokkien, which is currently not my favourite dialect because of the copious amounts of it I have to listen to at work.
I have a new respect for Pamela Oei, after completely hating her in Dim Sum Dollies and it was a treat to watch Beatrice Chia play the overbearing mother-in-law. Karen Tan also deserves a special mention here, utterly beleivable both as the wayang actress and the lead character Ah Chiam's sister in law.


Anyway, the play ended and we spent a while photo whoring in the foyer, when Elgin ran into one of his friends who was in the cast. And she, beautiful soul that she is, literally ran around getting autographs of the entire cast for us. And that's how Elgin and I have copies of the programme ($5), autographed by the whole cast. One day, it may actually be worth $5.50.

Go watch Titoudao. They extended the run till 31st March, so you have plenty of time. I think every Singaporean should at least see this once, and see how differently we lived, not more than 50 years ago.

Till not satisfied with the entertainment for the day, we went to watch the 9:45 showing of Stomp the Yard, a classic college story with some great stepshow sequences, delicious-looking brothers and an amazing soundtrack.

Midnight saw me sharing a cab with the hunky NSman Kenneth, who regaled me with stories of his camp and mates while my mind wandered of rememberance mode.

It was a good day to have lived. And is it any wonder I had to take MC the next day?

Movie Review - 300

I am not a war movie person. I don’t like the idea of wasted lives, gratuitous violence, hopelessness and it’s not my idea of a good time, which is funnily enough, the reason I go to the movies.

300 was none of those things. It was the glory of a battle, the battle of Thermopylae.

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the invader in one of history's most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers.

Yes, there was a copious amount of blood, and yes, lives were lost. But unlike war movies that are all about raising anti-war, anti-Bush or anti-God sentiments, 300 accurately captures what war is about.

It’s about men.

You see modern men have bought so much into the Myths propogated by the Feminist Movement, that they are tyrants and barbarians, that they are no longer encouraged to have any sense of self. Suppressed of their natural born sense of commitment, honour, pride, resilience and loyalty, they have become weak and are held in contempt by women, other men, and tragically, themselves. As a friend of mine put it, “Men have been socially emasculated by the very beings that want heroes.”

300 takes you back to a place and a time when men were men. In the movie, everyone had abs, but the abs were just a physical reminder of what they actually had – guts.

They had the guts to stand up for what the believed in and follow their leader into a battle they knew they would lose.

They had the guts to laugh in the face of danger and make light of the huge army they were facing. In biblical words, they were as grasshoppers to them.

And they counted it for glory to get a chance to die for what they loved – their women, their children, their country. And if they had been a God- knowing people, they probably would have been equal to or surpassed David’s 30, who didn’t just defeat hundreds of Philistines but brought back the foreskins of the fallen to prove it!

And I really can’t talk about this movie without talking about Xerxes, the ultimate villain. What makes him really evil is his duality. It’s easy to spot and defeat a man who is pure evil, but with Xerxes, you didn’t know, especially if you lived outside a clear Judeo-Christian paradigm as the Greeks did. Was he really God? (Leonidas took care of that question when he chucked his spear and made his army see him bleed, like a man). Is he male or female? Is he cruel or kind? Ally or enemy?
You don’t know, and what you don’t know, if you are living in 600BC, you fear.

The cinematography is beautiful, with stop-motion camera and copper plate CGI set design giving a surreal element to every shot. Gerard Butler excelled as Leonidas, the commander, the king and the man.

If I had to pick a genre to put 300 in, war wouldn’t be it. I would think action- fantasy. For it’s in the fantasy realm that the men who should be in the world really are, full of character and vigour, taking bold steps to make their world a better place, against all odds.

18 and Life

I am been here 18 months. In this time, I have gone from exuberantly thankful, excitedly employed, and raring at the bit to change the world, all the way down to morbidly depressed, completely unmotivated and why-God-why-am-I here.

I tried to analyse why the change and these are the reasons I have come up with.

1) I have completely outgrown the job I was hired for. Or the job had become too small for me. Once the initial excitement of setting up the processes and workflow is over, any monkey can do my job. Unfortunately I am that monkey now.

2) The people I enjoyed working with have all left. Eric, Glenn, Rita and now Joyce. There is no one left who is interested in pushing the envelope, pressing a few buttons or changing the world. And frankly I don't have the energy to motivate 30 lackadaisical employees or light a fire under their arse.

3) Marketing is getting boring. Or maybe I should say being a marketing excutive is getting boring. If I was the one exploring new markets, spearheading new initiatives, I would be more interested. But executing a marketing programme is about finding a formula that works, and repeating the formula numbly. Was it Einstein who said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result?

4) I need the excitement of a more diverse work environment. Diverse people, with different backgrounds, education, ethnicity. Diverse interests that can generate conversations about the world, current affairs, anything. I am tired of hearing Hokkien everyday. I am tired of listening to 95.8 FM. I am tired of pretending to be interested in someone's choice of TOTO numbers and how close they came to winning. I am tired of the blanks stares and blur looks that greet my jokes, puns and anecdotes. No one speaks Nalinee here. I might as well be Latvian.

5) I want to do something that impacts my heart as well as my pocket. Sure, the money is nice, and some may say why leave a job where you are paid whether or not you think? But I can't, not anymore. I want to be able to make a difference to the people I work with and work for. I have no desire to sell computer supplies anymore. If people don't get toner number Q5949A, my heart won't break. Honest.

Just so youknow, I am looking. Just at some places that I may be interested to work in. Not aggressively. But if something comes, you will hear it here first.

Is English changing?

A frind sent this to me, and I don't know who authored it, but its really brillant.
And more likely than not, might be true too.

English in year 2020

It is the year 2020 and call centers are opening all over the West, as the new economic power India outsources work to the countries where many jobs originated. Millions of Americans, still struggling to adapt to a global economy, are willing to accept jobs that pay them in a new currency sweeping much of the world: URupees.

Some of them, eager to land one of the customer service jobs from India, are attending special training sessions in New York City, led by language specialist Dave Ramsey, who goes by a simpler name for his Indian clients: Devendra Ramaswaminathan.

On this warm afternoon, the professor is teaching three ambitious students how to communicate with Indian customers.

Professor: 'Okay, Gary, Randy and Jane, first we need to give you Indian names. Gary, from now on, you'll be known to your customers as Gaurav. Randy, you'll be Ranjit. And Jane, you'll be Jagadamba. Now imagine you just received a call from Delhi. What do you say?'

Gary: 'Name as tea ?'

Professor: 'I think you mean 'namaste.' Very good. But what do you say after that?'

Gary: 'How can I help you?'

Professor: 'You're on the right track. Anyone else?'

Jane: 'How can I be helping you?'

Professor: 'Good try! You're using the correct tense, but it's not quite right. Anyone else?'

Randy: 'How I can be helping you ?'

Professor: 'Wonderful! Word order is very important. Okay, let's try some small talk. Give me a comment that would help you make a connection with your Indian customers.'

Randy: 'It's really hot, isn't it?'

Professor: 'The heat is always a good topic, but you haven't phrased it correctly. Try again.'

Randy: 'It's deadly hot, isn't it?'

Professor: 'That's better. But your tag question can be greatly improved.'

Randy: 'It's deadly hot, no?'

Professor: 'Wonderful! You can put 'no?' at the end of almost any statement. You are understanding me, no?'

Jane: 'Yes, we are understanding you, no?'

Professor (smiles): 'We may need to review this later. But let's move on to other things. Have you ever heard Indians use the word 'yaar'?'

Randy: 'Yes, my Indian friends use it all the time. Just last night, one of them said to me, 'Randy, give me yaar password. I am needing it to fix yaar computer.'

Professor (laughs): 'That's a different 'yaar,' yaar. The 'yaar' that I'm talking about means friend or buddy. You can use it if you've developed a camaraderie with a customer. For example, you can say, 'Come on, yaar. I am offering you the best deal.' Do you understand, Jagadamba?'

Jane: 'Yaar, I do.'

Professor (smiles): 'Okay, let's talk about accents. If your client says 'I yam wery vorried about vat I bought for my vife,' how would you respond?'

Randy: 'Please don't be vorrying, yaar. She vill be wery happy and vill give you a vild time tonight.'

Professor: 'Vunderful! I mean, wonderful. You have a bright future, Ranjit. And so do you, Jagadamba. But Gaurav, you haven't said anything in a while. Do you have any questions about what we've just learned?'

Gary: 'Yes, Professor, I do have one question: Wouldn't it be simpler to learn to speak Hindi?'

UPDATE: Found the Author! http://www.melvindurai.com/indianenglish.htm His other stuff is hilarious too, go check it out!

What Superhero are you?

:
You are The Flash

The Flash 80% Green Lantern 80% Superman 55% Spider-Man 50% Supergirl 48% Catwoman 40% Iron Man 40% Wonder Woman 38% Batman 30% Robin 30% Hulk 30%

Fast, athletic and flirtatious.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...


Its sad that all the glamourous female superheroes are soooo far down the line. But I guess I rather be the Flash than Robin, who is obviously just someone's pederastic desires brought to life.

Tremors

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES DIVISION, NEA

TREMOR IN SINGAPORE

INFORMATION ON SOURCE EARTHQUAKE


An earthquake was detected at 11:49am, 6 Mar 2007 in SOUTHERN SUMATRA, approximately 430km from Singapore. The magnitude of the earthquake is 6.6 on the Richter scale. The epicentre is located at latitude 0.4 South and longitude 100.4 East.
METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES DIVISION, NEA
TREMOR IN SINGAPORE

INFORMATION ON SOURCE EARTHQUAKE

Serial No.: 4
An earthquake was detected at 1:49pm, 6 Mar 2007 in SOUTHERN SUMATRA, approximately 420km from Singapore. The magnitude of the earthquake is 6.6 on the Richter scale. The epicentre is located at latitude 0.3 South and longitude 100.4 East. .


Issued by Meteorological Services Division, NEA (Tel: 6542-5059/6542-2837) on 06 Mar 2007 at 2:06 PM (Singapore Time)

**************************************

So that's why I was feeling so crappy this mid-morning. I honestly thought I was falling sick or didn't have enough sleep. Almost took half day to go home and sleep! Turns out I was actually experiencing earth tremors and they were turning my stomach inside out, and mesing with the liquid in membranes. Ain't nature wonderful?

Poor Indonesia. Like can never recover, like that. If its not one thing, its another. I hope we will be able to help them out again. Its when tragedy follows tragedy like this that your friends get "asylum fatigue", and stop donating as much as they should.

Remember the Indonesians in your prayers tonight.

Noone in Singapore got hurt althought apparently people ran crying and screaming from their trembling buildings this afternoon. Or at least one chick did, but trust the media to distort things.

Movie Review

I went to see 2 movies this weekend. Its been a long time since I have watched movies that did not have a G rating, because of the "What about Hanan?" factor.
But one of these movies he could go to, and the other one, he was almost asleep by the time I left, so I didn't feel guilty.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Qn: What does a man do when he comes to the end of the line?
Ans: He finds a new line and hangs on it for dear life, despite the fact that it looks like it looks like thread and like its gonna snap any minute.


That's the basic message I took away from The Pursuit of Happiness. That despite appearance and the evidence that's around you, you were made to succeed and that your life is based on choices you make and the will you enforce.

Speaking of Will, I was totally impressed by Will Smith's performance in this movie. ALthough the script had whitewashed over any character flaws that the real Chris Gardner may have had, Will brought him to life with all his insecurities, guilt and emotions, sometimes portrayed with as little as a look. And enough has been said about Jaden Smith, his co-star and real life son. The kid was cute, can act, and was born in the right family to do it. Kudos, Jaden baby.

The Pursuit of Happiness is for everyone to watch. We watched it with Hanan, and he got so much out of it. We all need to have what Barack Obama calls "The Audacity of Hope" and nothing has brought it to light like this film.


Dreamgirls


Some musicals are best left as musicals. I felt that way about Chicago, and now about Dreamgirls. What is contained with a box that is the stage becomes too big and in your face when watched on a silver screen.

Dreamgirls was big, and raw. Especially all the emotions that were portrayed by Jennifer Hudson just came out and consumed me. And I didn't have the option to back away.

It was a very glamourous movie though. All the familiar Motown sounds and clothes brought to life the characters. I like the insertion of the news flashes of political and cultural events of the time as well. It gave the film an authenticity that the stage may not have been able to capture.

And I was glad to see so many Black Americans working too. Danny Glover, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx, Loretta Divine, Jaleel White (Steve Urkel) and a whole host more. And they were all fabulous in their own right.

Beyonce did alright, but honestly, she was just eye candy. I cared more for JHud's character (Effie), and her struggles and life more than that of Beyonce's (Deena). I even cared more for Anika and Eddie's on-screen relationship than I did for Deena. She claims she was told to downplay her voice, but she downplayed it to the point where u forget she has one.

Dreamgirls is the kind of movie you should watch if you are really into musicals or like Motown. Otherwise, you will probably not care enough to enjoy it.

Blast from the past

Ok, how many people feel nostalgic now? I totally forgot about this song until I heard Hanan singing it.

Travel Blather

There are three buses that take me from the exciting industrial haven of Pandan Loop to the semi civilisation that is Jurong East.

Bus 51 - This is my favourite. It usually arrives almost empty, and is one of the newer double deckers (the kind with enough legroom, so I don't have to wedge in like a door stopper). Its a relatively short ride, and the bus drivers do this cool acceleration over this particularly steep slope on Jurong Town Hall, so that if you are on the top deck, you experience 0 G-forces for a split second. Very cool.

Only downside is - there is only one every 1/2 hour or so. So if u just missed one, you have to look for alternatives like...

... Bus 176 - an even shorter ride, but it is always packed to the gills. It must pass some other industrial area, because its always full of two kinds of pple - the manufacturing line workers, and the software engineer types. Its a bit more frequent though, so if I am in a hurry, I have to take it. And then of course, there is...

... Bus 143 - Very frequent. Usually empty. Gets you to Jurong East. Problem is, its route takes an extra 15 mins. Which is very valuable time when you are trying to get home to the cottage pie your husband made you. But, having just missed the bus 51 and looking at the sardine tins that passed for bus 176, I had little choice.

So a trip around Teban Gardens it was, admiring the lone trees in the middle of fields where there used to be blocks of flats and of course, the lovely Pandan reservoir. And how else to pass the time, but by taking glamour shots of oneself? I posted just one for your enjoyment, but I took about 12.

Vain? No.
Self absorbed? Temporarily.
Glad I did it? Yes.