Monthly Archives: July 2006

messy, outgoing, open, self revealing, ambivalent about chaos, unpredictable, not good at saving money, social, likes large parties, likes to stand out, risk taker, quick to make friends, does not like to be alone but doesn’t mind being alone, rash, sarcastic, craves attention, social chameleon, food lover, not rule conscious, weird, assertive, not a perfectionist, anti-authority, thrill seeker, vain, reckless, emotionally sensitive, leisurely, trusting

  

This is a rather accurate list of words that describe me. Hur hur.

 

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Yay, got the tickets for tuesday evening show for Lord of the Rings played at Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto!!! We got good seats, and so it better be good.. Apparently they’re going to squeeze the whole trilogy into the play… I have no idea if it’s going to be as good as they hype it up to be.. We shall see.. :)

Anyways, I’ve been eating out a lot.. Joey brought me to this Mexican restaurant on the street behind his place, and we ate Indian food (again…we ALWAYS eat that in Singapore!! But the Shrimp Vindaloo was sizzling.. I asked for extra spicy, and OMG it burnt my tongue, but all the better!! It made me cry with “tears of joy”..lol) with Anthony (Joey’s Italian personal trainer-nutritionist bud) and Nish (Joey’s school mate from college who owns a sporty-looking Acura and drives like a pro) yesterday for dinner… I swear, there are so many amazing restaurants in downtown Toronto, everybody will love this place just for them. You can find just about ANY kind of cuisine from Italian to Greek to Indian to Chinese to Japanese to American & even vegan (LOVE their juice bars here) and they serve it so well.. Gluttons hands up! *scrambles to pull my own hand down*
Hmmmm I wonder what’s for lunch…??? lol.

Anyways I went for this yoga class yesterday with Anthony at The Yoga Studio along Eglinton Ave. The instructor Steve (forgot his guru-given name) was teaching us how to incorporate yoga practices into your life. Some are rather weird.. Like, he says you should step on your right foot first when you get out from bed every morning, and after you brush your teeth use your fingers to massage the root of your tongue (the area near your tonsils) with a left-right and in-out motion so that you can clear your senses to better interact with your awareness etc… It’s really good, cuz he also taught us how to relax your body and wake up your consciousness to begin each day.. Makes me wanta pick up pilates again because many of the poses are borrowed from yoga but main difference that sets pilates apart is that it emphasizes on your core (which means better abs!!).. Shall check up on what’s happening at Amore when i’m back in Singapore.

Ack. Forgot the time.. I’m supposed to be going to be gym to *groan* work out with Anthony in about 20mins’ time… Shall update again soon.. Most probs after LOTR.. :D

Just touched down about an hour ago at Toronto Pearson airport… This place brings back so many memories! Went past IKEA just now, gotta make plans to give it a visit before I go back to Singapore. And also, Joey and I have got plans to visit Ottawa sometime early next week.. I wonder if the weather’s gonna get better. It’s been raining ever since we got here. Anyways. London is cancelled. Don’t think we’ll have the time to go all the way to UK just to spend 2 days there; would be such a waste of airfare eh. So yea, shall explore Toronto’s vicinity areas this time.

Meanwhile, I don’t think i’ll have the time to make lengthy posts about reflections and stuff. It’s probably going to be mundane updates for now. ;)

Hey all, i’m fine, been here a few days… Vanouver’s got great weather.. It’s summer, the sun’s hot and glaring, but the air is cooling like air-conditioning.. Imagine being in Singapore and carrying a portable air-con by your side…The highest temperature is only 25 deg celcius..! It’s such lovely weather… :D

That includes my Grandma. My father’s mom, to be exact. People say I look like her. I think the truth is, I am more similar to her than anyone else in my family. My butt looks like hers, according to my mom and sisters. We both like sweet stuff. We both like to arrange things for family get togethers (but without consulting anyone else lol). We don’t really fret about nitty gritty things. We’re impatient. We like to eat out together to sample fine cuisine. We are generous to deserving people. We’re both really blessed. =)

My Grandma dotes on me a lot because I can understand why she is the way she is right now. We both believe in hedonism when it doesn’t hurt anyone. My dad doesn’t understand why she plays mahjong everyday and doesn’t save up. For what? I agree with her. Her kids can fend for themselves cuz they all pretty much are settled. She’s been a widow for more than 10 years, that’s why she needs company everyday; she’s afraid of being alone. She loves pampering herself. Her kids are filial and give her allowance every month, more than what she needs. If I were her, I’d do the same thing too — go on holidays with friends, eat, drink and be merry. The difference is, I probably wouldn’t play mahjong everyday. I’d go shopping to keep fit. Purrfect way to burn calories and money. Hahahaha.
Honestly, sometimes I am awed by the realisation that I am from this family that I am from. My parents are ordinary people in the common sense. But I’m always glad about the fact that they’re grounded in their principle, yet open minded enough to be adaptable to paradigm shifts in my generation. I’m so glad my Grandma and my parents aren’t the typical stubborn traditionalists who offer no room for negotiation. I’m glad I can gossip with my mom AND my grandma about anything and everything. I’m glad I can be honest with my sisters about personal things. Really, I don’t know if other families are this closely knitted as us. Again I feel grateful about it.

I just hope I’ll have an equally close family of my own someday. :)

You Are A Fir Tree
You love anything beautiful, and you have extraordinary taste. And while it’s hard for you to trust, you care deeply for those close to you. You are a social butterfly, and you have many friends. You handle stress well – and you are a master at relaxing after a hard day. Overall, you are modest, talented, unselfish, and very reliable.

What’s Your Celtic Horoscope?

They put a price you can pay to help receive some form of payback for damages on mortality, investments, body parts, holidays, houses, automobiles, etc. They want you to believe nothing in life is perfect, something will go wrong for almost anything you get yourself into. And they put a price on how much they will step in to help you move on or lessen the burden when Murphy’s Law works its magic on your life, making you an example of why insurance should be gotten by everyone else, because anything can happen and you should be prepared.

To a huge extent, they’re right, and they’ve covered almost everything, promising that your health will deteriorate affordably as you age, that you’ll rebuild your house that’s burned down without having you worry about where the money will come from, that your car will be returned to you gleaming new after you drop if over the cliff without you having to pay a single cent, that your family will get allowances should you die of an accident or any other reason…

I wish there’s an insurance on relationships. Only, I don’t want money when it doesn’t work out. I wish they return you understanding of what went wrong and courage to forget the pain move on with life. But this will never happen, and we all know it. Why do we even need it in the first place? Indulge me.

The core of my want:
I so want to believe in Happily ever after. I so want to ignore statistics and warnings. I so want to love and be loved by the same man for eternity, for whatever love encompasses in our context, without a shadow of a doubt. If I could have that, God is extremely kind to me, and I don’t mind doing whatever he asks me to in the afterlife, because allowing an ordinary soul like me to live my mortal life in positive ultimatum (again, in the context I define) is almost a sin.

We must get ourselves prepared for the worst in everything we get into so we won’t be lost when shit happens. I guess that’s the punchline for insurance.
When people get into serious relationships, do they prepare for the worst? Given Murphy’s Law, facts, statistics, history, etc, it’s getting increasingly hard to maintain a relationship for a lifetime in recent generations. Presented with these information, people start to plan for what comes after the present relationship. They don’t expect happy endings, because infidelity, divorce, crimes of passion, domestic abuse, prostitution, swingers communities etc are all on the rise.
Are we optimistic about lasting relationships? Not at all. In fact, a 5 year relationship before marriage is now considered eons as opposed to a 5 month courtship-dating-proposal-marriage package people plunge into these days. Divorce, a once social taboo, is now claiming 50% of all marriages, driving a new marketing segment of divorcees who are suddenly single & face long lists of domestic shopping to do. Divorce is suddenly a solution and not the end of your social status.

In the paragraph above, I failed to mention the emotional impacts of these issues. I hate prenuptial agreements, because they treat love like any other thing you can “cover” with a fleeting commodity. Just like how love can’t be bought, a person who falls hard out of love will always have an intangible but extremely real scar in them. Yet, I still believe romantic relationships and marriages shouldn’t be given a death sentence based on logical deductions, because love isn’t logical. Love isn’t measurable, nor warrantable. We can only try to learn from past relationships so we can love better in the next, knowing full well that we won’t ever forget how he/she kissed, a memory that stays well hidden for the good of everyone.

It’s hard to believe, in today’s context, that real romantic relationships can be somewhat unplanned, spontaneous, full of hope & passion AND can last a lifetime. But that shouldn’t stop people from wanting a relationship like that. It’s the hope that makes love so irresistable, tempting, exhilarating, satisfying, and yet, hurting & destructive especially when happily ever after seems impossible.

I was one of those who were afraid to be hurt. Now i think i understand that Newton’s law applies… “For every action (of love), there will be a reaction (that can be positive or negative)” — If you want happily ever after, which, to me is a rather extreme positive, you will have to make a bet and invest an extreme amount of hope that it will last. =)

I shall grace the first post with good news…

Come 25th July I shall be making my way to Vancouver & possibly London for a short holiday with my significant other… I shall be back by early August, so take heart, my dear friends. I shall be back before you know it and continue typing away again.

I have been truly blessed in ways I can’t explain; I wonder if it only means I choose to look at the good in every situation, including the bad. It has helped me cope and made me see the light in many things, and I shall continue to be grateful for everything in my life, including (in no order of preference!) my family, Joey (the mister I adore & can’t resist), all my very close friends & the fact that I am who I am.

I hope whatever I reflect on from now will not be taken as frivolous banter, but mere reflection as i find inspiration from within. I do not hope to be a sage of any kind to anyone. I just want my life to be witnessed and my opinions on Life itself heard.