hoi polloi

Lunch Time At Work

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:24:00 +0000

buwahahaha...!!!

A Year On...

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:58:00 +0000

i took a quick sneak-peek here and realised that my last entry was dated 21 August 2007. it's been almost or rather, exactly, a year since i've totally slacked off writing. can't seem to find a reason to explain the inertia... let's just say i took a sabbatical to deal with various milestones or highlights in the past year.

it's been an amazing past 12 months, it really did flew past by me real fast.

yesterday
and more yesterdays
they tickled and fancied you
piercing moments
they did define me
and they went away
but i remember

some highlights to squeeze in that one year gap...

hong kong island, november 07 - harry's stag night. he got married.

we, best men

catching up with porcky was a total blessing - gone duct dough, sup say hoe, yau ma tei, kowloon, ferry rides, mid levels, ngau la mien, victoria harbour, beer, lan kwai fong - hong kong never fails me especially with porcky around.

november 07 - dennis' birthday. maureen and i, living up to the bollywood theme.

november 07 - one month into the job with a new consultancy. i called it quits after six months and i recovered my sanity and life.

december 07 - russel and i picking a christmas tree

december 07 - CY's newly acquired four-wheeled vintage... fricking nice can!

december 07 - porcky back in singapore for a month

december 07 - christmas eve dinner at russel's

january 08 - lichelle and rafa visited us... and they're engaged... awww...

february 08 - last chinese new year in willyn ville

kuala lumpur, february 08 - with an old friend, al

february 08 - ngiap came back for a visit and flared

march 08 - one of the many sunday brunches at russel's

march 08 - the night moira almost blacked out at prive and ended up stuffing our faces at crystal jade in the village

april 08 - we came out tour de force at 1 TwentySix to celebrate my throwing in the letter-of-resignation

may 08 - back to the fold in the village

kuala lumpur, july 08 - we travelled out of singapore for the very first time together

kuala lumpur, july 08 - to catch up with the same old familiar friendly faces; honey and ish

kuala lumpur, july 08 - and of course... how can we forget her royal highness, shida

and oh, news of dora getting pregnant came up in december 07 and a gorgeous Jordan Ross Turner popped right after national day in 08. bless the Turnips.

photo courtesy of http://cameldiaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/two-men-in-my-life.html

i think i'm ready to continue with more postings :-)

One Of Those Days At Work

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:23:00 +0000

found this picture in my archive which was shot several weeks back. thought i'd put this up for the heck of it... no prizes for guessing who that was in the picture. grin...

Jalan Jalan Nasi Padang

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:32:00 +0000

saturday, one of the rarest weekends i've had in a long time, where the day and night was spent out of the house.

it made me so happy... so very happy!

karen and i had a brilliant jalan-jalan nasi padang at arab street. so brilliant it was that karen did a wunderfulll collage of our sojourn and i had no choice but to artistically steal her creation off her blog (www.purposelydifficult.blogspot.com) and paste it onto mine.

nice hor...? i like...! aiyooo karen girl, you so clever do this picture leh...!

and we turned all kiddy when we saw a shop selling all things 'blast-from-the-past'.

the gooey sticky paste one blows into a sticky bubble from a teeny-weeny yellow straw was enough to fill our hearts with sheer joy and contentment. it was pure pleasure costing only a dollar for a whole box full of gooey ballony paste.

gurl... you blew it good i say... grin...

and our sojourn brought us past the row of shops along arab street, baghdad street (nope... no gun-toting redneck/marines here, and no need for a green zone either), bussorah street, kandahar street (yeah no talebans here either) and until karen had this culturally-skewed idea to pay a visit at the old istana kampong glam now turned into some malay heritage and cultural museum.

and we found a replica of an old HDB flat in the museum, all done up ala the 70s presumably, replete with gaudy wall paint colour, a black and white television set, that old school electric blade-fan and super retro furnitures. and get this, it came with a linoleum lined flooring as well!

departing from arab street on a high... i made my way to chern yeh's studio and lazed the whole afternoon in his couch playing xbox games. i suck big time at car racing games even though i was driving a lexus. stupid car.

elvan came in the evening and picked us up for dinner at little india. pure north indian vegetarian dinner at raj's was enough to burst our pants at the seams.

the supressed look of extreme hunger...

at night, wei came over and dragged me out to the mercedes' c-class launch at sentosa's cafe del mar. him and his car-crazed mood as usual.

and i cannot believe he made me walked all the way from the faraway parking lots to the supremely faraway cafe del mar.

after a long walk riddled with grumblings and curses (coming from me) in the extreme humidity of the night, we finally arrived at cafe del mar. the free flow booze was my redemption after the grueling long walk.

oh-so-cute-sinewy-muscled bevy of young boys doing free-running all over the metal structure... which i remarked to wei was an extreme homo-erotic display where topless boys of age slide down poles and holes next to one another in extreme close contacts

les enfant terribles...

several many many glasses of wine later...

... we both looked like we need extreme makeovers

wei's idea of driving us back home safely without having the traffic police to stop us on the road for breathalyser tests - sleep off the alcohol on his mini cooper

hadn't had a saturday this fun in a long, long time!

Yet Another Candle For Seto

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:52:00 +0000

HAPPY BURFDAEY SETO THE CHEETOH!!!

one will know one is ageing simply by observing the fashion in which his or her birthday is being celebrated:

1. instead of the usual drunken night of debauchery and decadence in a cool club like zouk, your birthday is celebrated over high tea at the swissotel's equinox with a group of friends and they are totally sober

2. one does not get receive gifts or presents like a vibrator or a dildo anymore, but will instead receive useful practical gifts like bookstore vouchers, travel suuitcases, running shoes, etc.

3. at least one of your guests at your high tea birthday celebration will have children in tow and you and everyone else will be addressed as auntie seto, uncle zai, auntie dora, uncle david, auntie karen, auntie yvonne and uncle dolphin (that's me according to felicia's little nicholas)

the cake was obviously too small to fit in 40 candles altogether... or was it 45?

and the view from the equinox was of course, to die for...

and yeah, i had a whale of a frigging good time!

we love you seto the cheetoh!

When Push Comes To Shove

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 08:01:00 +0000

if the sky is clear and blue, it does not mean you'll have good weather for the rest of the day.
if the ocean is calm, it does not mean there will never be a tsunami elsewhere.
if the meadow is serene, it does not mean there will never be an earthquake.

and if you deduce this blog of mine to fully reflect i'm having a good time 24/7, i say go shut your traps and keep your fucking poor judgement to yourself.

writing keeps my fucking sanity alive.

and i'm sorry i don't live a fucking picture-perfect life like the way you do.

a perfect day a perfect night
your perfect life
threw me a spanner
that makes you fucking perfectly happy
i hope

Sunday Yum Cha

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 03:26:00 +0000

this entry is dedicated to dora, to remind her how bleddy expensive dim sum is in singapore compared to bangkok's hai tien lo in the pan pacific hotel.

it's also dedicated to ethan for waking up so early on a sunday morning to have dim sum with me.

dear dora, you know how little the amount of dim sum we had at crystal jade? very little lor. and do you know the price tag attached to the meal? i damn angry lor, nowhere cheap like hai tien lo in bangkok lor! are you feeling restive now or not?

but ok lah, at least got great company like ethan to have dim sum with on a sunday. hor hor hor? ethan hor? teo boh?

but i still want to go back to bangkok's hai tien lo and pig out there lor...

D Is For Down

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:02:00 +0000

D is for Down.

I can't go to KL cos of work on the weekends in August.

I really wanna be in KL in August.

And now, they took away my last weekend in August and the first weekend in September for work as well.

I am sorry.

D is for Down.

Down, it really is.

O shall be for Out.

Out, it must be then.

Tres Fabuleux Bangkok - 14th July

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:01:00 +0000

david arrived the night before and we dragged him to the same starbucks coffee joint the very next morning

and we were ready to do more visits to another temple involving a giant swing... no kidding

here it is - the giant swing in the phra nakon district, facing the the wat suthat temple. all that is left of it is the 30 metres structure that used to hold a swing used during the harvest season. men would perch on the swing and had to swing high up and to catch a sack of gold for theirs to keep. the then reigning king in the early 1930s had to ban the ceremony after... errr... many men unceremoniously died while trying to grab the sack of gold. right.

the facade of wat suthat

view from a different angle

the courtyard

gorgeous, gorgeous finely crafted windows! i also want!!!

both david and james apparently had trouble locating the "many-tiered and massive roof of the wat suthat complex..." as found in the brochure

one of the many buddha statues along the walled perimeter of wat suthat

cute kiddy monks during lunch

temple devotees

and the four of us continued our sojourn on foot through the many rustic sois of bangkok

the UNICEF office where james holds a humane job as a humanitarian... both dora and i too, wants to have a humane job like james has and live fabulously like he is living it up in bangkok right now

dora and i rightfully holds the conviction that submitting this photo of us looking as humane as possible together with our CV and resume when applying for a humane job with the UN will increase our chances of getting an employment there

forest whitaker lived in the very same building as james' office when he was in bangkok for filming way back then

the oh-so-bloody-gorgeous-view of the chao phraya river from the balcony where james' office is... arghhh! i also want!!!

and if you look to the left, that is the other view of the chao phraya

all want to act cute only... they all not shy one...

bagpackers' haven - khao san road - made famous by leonardo dicapacicililiyoyo in the movie "the beach"... i don't know how these skanky looking bagpackers do it but i think i won't last more than an hour here. but the imitation ray ban i got was a steal... for 8 frigging SGD!!!

aboard the river taxi along the chao phraya

the nervous smiles - upon realising the fact that we did not see any life vest on board

wat arun or the temple of dawn - in all of its towering majesty as our river taxi passed by it

the food court at emporium mall - i had to have another plate of pad thai there, it was frigging fuyummyfuckingliscious! and the fish maw soup i had was out of this world!

and men being men, david and james got all too exhausted and went home. dora and i were left to our own devices - we went straight to 'boots'.

as with my several previous bangkok holidays, i never did learn my lesson when it comes to shopping for toiletries at 'boots' - a lesson which almost cost me in terms of my cargo weight allowance each time i take the plane bag to singapore.

all in all, i bought:
a. 2 bottles of body lotions
b. 8 bottles of shower gels
c. 6 tubs of facial cleanser
d. 4 tubs of shaving gels
e. 1 jar of face cream

total net weight of toiletries purchased - 5kg

and i was tempted to add two 1-litre giant ass sized shower gels, but my rudimentary mental arithmetic sent me alarm bells that i may exceed my cargo weight limit when i fly back to singapore later. dang! dang cargo weight allowance! dang you budget airline!

no holiday to bangkok is complete if one did not partake unto the deserts and fabulous drinks that greyhound cafe in the emporium mall has to offer... it's something i'd always do whenever in bangkok

the parfait in greyhound... oh-so-fucking-yummy!

view from vertigo, the rooftop bar of the banyan tree hotel where we had pre-dinner drinks

another breathtaking view where the lit-up lumphini park is almost visible

my lychee martini rocks! and please do ask dora to relate the story behind the orchid found on her drink if you see her next time - she'll enlighten you with a new cultural insight she had learn from james and me pertaining to thai culture

vertigo - i fucking love it!

with the cool evening breeze perpetually blowing in your face, not even singapore's new asia bar above swissotel can rival the experience vertigo has to offer

to do this, i think i'll need a boyfriend... dang!

dinner time - we went to the district of sukhumvit's arab quarter for a middle-eastern fare - while james and dora were busy looking at the signboard for the menu...

...my digicam lens wandered off and caught sight of a oh-so-cute-thai-guy making bread... oh-so-cute... awww... u can dough me anytime cutie...!

fantastic dinner with fantastic company... yummers!

on the way home, we each got ourselves a scoop or two of gelato along sukhumvit road.

it was yet another marvelous day in bangkok.

oh yes one more thing... did i talk about macaroons and cakes from the grand hyatt erawan already?

that'll come pretty soon then.

Tres Fabuleux Bangkok - 13th July

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:00:00 +0000

i got up way before mister james did, our kind host who let us stay in his lovely apartment. seriously, it was a lovely apartment... decked with old wood carvings from the southeast asian cultures, old wooden and teak consoles, contemporary paintings and a rubik cube on his coffee table.

james, who holds a humane job under the auspices of UNESCO as a humanitarian, left for work for humane reasons, and dora and i - to our own devices. we were both ready to take on the city.

this is as close as we got to keeping to our exercise routine (like we had back in singapore) - we visited the pool downstairs from james' apartment and after a minute, we went on through the sois of bangkok in search of glorious food.

i don't do this in singapore, but dora said we must do this in bangkok. starbucks was just across the road from where james is living at and we had to go visit it for a cuppa.

the both of us were totally bowled over by thai hospitality from the staffs of starbucks. we felt the initial reaction - that restive feeling started to brew in both dora and i. why can't we ever get impeccable service such as this in singapore?

i told dora i am seething on the inside at the startling degree of asymmetry between bangkok and singapore when it comes to service and hospitality quality.

all was calm on a friday morning in starbucks. lovely french doors opened into the deeper exterior of the place.

aaargh! their starbucks is housed in a lovely wooden villa!

the food loft @ central chidlom - it's like le vill'age or marche' in singapore, only difference is that it is not tacky and does not contain cheesy decor. and oh, did i say it has impeccable service standards? and supremely all-smiley and helpful service staffs too?

with a view to boot from where our dining table was

pad thai - pure culinary heaven on the taste bud till the last stands of noodles and taugeh and juicy prawns

and we walked down past the grand hyatt erawan where the famous erawan shrine is situated next to it - the four faced brahma deity

the erawan shrine replete with female thai classical dancers in service of dedication of song and dance to the deity for every devotee's prayer that was answered

although james and david (who joined us in bangkok on later in the evening) were alarmed at how dora and i exhibited our disturbing eating pattern and habit throughout the whole trip, james was glad to know were were both planning embarking some serious cultural tour of the city of bangkok.

i forgot how majestic the sight of the golden stupas and glittering roof stuccos were when i first visited the grand palace complex many years back. one has got to be there to revere the awesome architecture of the whole complex.

the avenue leading to the entrance of the grand palace

one of the first murals on the doors of the main gate we came across - i went completely crazy over them non stop

a close-up shot on part of a massive mural depicting a scene for the ramakien, the thai version of the ramayana epic

the upper terrace where the golden reliquary, a buddhist scripture repository and the royal pantheon of the past chakri kings are enshrined

watching the courtyard swarming with tourists and travellers like myself, i can't help but reminisce the days when i read ancient and modern thai history in school and university. for a while, i imagined how the early chakri kings could have strolled in the palace courtyard - long before commoners were allowed in its hallowed compound.

pat on my back - not bad an attempt at a shot on my cheapskate digicam

along the corridors of the emerald buddha temple, aka wat phra kaew

the main doorway leading into the hall where the statue of the emerald buddha sits atop a more than ten metres altar gilded with gold and precious gems. dora and i sat on the floor inside the main hall where the emerald buddha sits... and i was totally in awe of the massive murals on all walls and the ornate interior produced by the finest thai craftsmanship.

the royal pantheon - prasat phra dhepbidorn

dora and her newfound bling-bling buddy as accessory

she wasn't quite pleased when i requested a shot of her from her cleavage upwards

looking at this very window makes me want to be so frigging rich cos i'd like the same for my windows at home too, including the kitchen and bathroom windows

endless wall murals on the depiction of buddha's life

the chakri maha prasat hall where the central throne hall is situated

very very hot... cannot tahan

quaint small cafe where we had our 10 frigging bhat cold mineral water... 10 frigging bhat! that's like under 50 cents in singapore... we felt restive all over again

so we did the tourist trapping of hopping onto a tuk-tuk to MBK mall where we met james who knocked off work by 4pm (at 4 frigging pm!!!).

under my instigation, dora and i had a quick but fantastic KFC meal at MBK. we conspired not to reveal this part of our eating habit to both james and david.

dora suggested that we should clean our hands and fingers with antiseptic gel to rid ourselves of the KFC smell of oily fried chicken, in a bid to destroy all evidence on us partaking greasy junk food. i totally adore this girl for her brilliant ideas.

but we both can't lie or keep a secret for nuts, and confessed our actions to james when we met him at MBK. david soon too, found out. it's official - both dora and i are are singaporean tourists in bangkok.

back at james' apartment in the evening, the three of us had a tete-a-tete over wine, beer and gin & tonic before heading out to dinner at soi lang suan

dinner at thang long with james' friends - sara, jeffrey and sittisak - and many many beautiful boys there made me go a tad haywire along with the many many glasses of wine and rum & coke

dora went back to receive david who had just arrived in bangkok that night. and i tagged along with the rest of the gang to a nice bar called 'the room' along soi lang suan facing lumphini park. i think i had one too many whisky by then... but hell it was frigging fun.

we went back at 2am, and as i got ready to sleep, i had piggy thoughts of pigging out the next day at more food courts and food halls all one may find in bangkok.

hmmmm... food... equals to fat... but i'm on a holiday.... so it is fine right? sure is fine.

Tres Fabuleux Bangkok - 12th July

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:01:00 +0000

i don't even know how i'll go about making this blog entry on the recent bangkok trip i had with dora and david.

it's frigging massive considering the fact that i snapped over 400 pictures on my trusty cheapskate digicam.

many a times, while walking along the backstreet soi of bangkok, i'd ask dora, "eh how ah? i've got way too many pictures leh... then hor, i also want to include ALL the pictures onto my blog but i know cannot lor, sure too many... then how?"

i've figured it out: be selective and do short captions for each image that i will choose to upload.

and so i shall start from the thursday evening we flew out of singapore to bangkok...

dora was cramming her brain to the very last word on her english-thai dictionary before we boarded the plane

she made it... the whole english-thai dictionary... we will never be lost in bangkok for the next 4 days

we boarded the plane. it was a budget airline that we took. and that was my first time on a budget airline. ever.

i was horrified petrified. it was the smallest airplane i've ever been on board in my entire life. and everything went bumpy in mid-air.

mid-air conversation with dora ensued:

me: hey, it's kinda like shaking all over the place, this plane i mean, i've never had anything like this on way bigger planes i've been on, pretty bumpy for a small plane huh?

dora: do you wanna change seats with me? you don have to be next to the window you know... do you have valium on you? you might wanna pop one right now. or you want candy? i've got candies.

me: nah it's okay, i'm okay, just that... like wow... my first time on a budget ya know... and the seats are like... 3 seats, then the aisle, then 3 seats... kinda small doncha think? i'm used to either 3 seats, then the aisle, then 4 seats, then another aisle, and followed by 3 seats... big... ya know... big... or even business class which i took when i travelled in my previous job... big planes... really big planes.... not small like this....

at this point during the conversation, i had a strong suspicion dora really wished i had valium on me.

we eventually touched down, safely; at suvarnabhumi international airport.

and we headed straight to mister james' (our kind host) condo apartment situated off ratchadamri road.

and we both fell asleep amidst conversations over what to eat the next day...

Welcome Back To Sickeningly Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:14:00 +0000

budget airline
air asia
sawadee
wat phra kheaw
bangkok grand palace
soi mahatlek luang neng
hyatt erawan
mitkorn mansion
macaroons
99 bhat kfc meal
pad thai
tum ga khai
lumpini park
polyglot
monoglot
central @ chidlom
food loft
starbucks' staff
a&w
vertigo
amaltery
food hall @ siam paragon
unicef
humane career
mister james
dora
david
chao phraya
suan prakad
river taxi
suan lum night market
langsuan
dim sum @ hai tien lo
greyhound cafe
parfait
raspberry pudding
fish maw soup
alarming eating behaviour
boots
toiletries
toiletries
toiletries
etc.
etc.
etc.

the restive south is brewing

watch this space for that upcoming entry on winter of discontent in bangkok

We Were Sailing Along...

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:57:00 +0000

if only everyday's lunch holds a view like this for me... i'll be blissed out even if it means eating chicken rice from a plastic takeaway box

i wanna be back there for lunch again... or a sunset dinner... or a sunrise breakfast... or an afternoon of earl grey and pisang goreng... i could live there

location - sentosa golf club, il lido restaurant, sentosa island

The Splendour On Sunday At The Grand Hyatt

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:27:00 +0000

i started my sunday frantically helping pavithra pick the right saree to wear for the pre-wedding dinner at hyatt later in the evening.

i convinced her to wear the off-white georgette saree with bead-works. the electric blue and red sarees are saved for the jakarta lag of the wedding.

by 6pm, we got ready. pavithra was stunning!

and i had my fully embroidered black kurta suit with an organza gold shawl to match pavithra's saree.

at 7pm, we arrived at the grand hyatt in *ahem* our full splendour and regalia.

me: i can't believe how gorgeous we both look

pavithra: that's an absolute given dean, everyone knows that

me: we're just being honest right?

pavithra: of course we are, without a doubt

me: and without feeling all too self-conceited too

pavithra: get over it, we're both truly gorgeous lah

it was also a college reunion of some sort, with all the familiar faces from NUS. damn, i still have a crush on mark (4th from left)! *grin*

karishma the bride and pavithra

and the traditional punjabi welcoming party started to usher guests into the grand ballroom regaled with percussion music, dance and lots and lots of intoxicating singing... i can't help but feel amritsar at this moment must have been a very happy city in the whole of india.

and the dancing and ushering continued into the grand ballroom, with the womenfolk taking turns to carry the happy looking pot (literally, a pot with lit candles atop it, not the other sort of 'happy pot' ya)

and the dining table we were seated at...

and the couple was formally declared as husband and wife during a civil union ceremony, flanked by their respective families on stage

followed by FOOD... it was a supremely sumptuous long buffet spread of punjabi and north indian cuisine... absolute culinary heaven, and i totally busted my diet plan that night with 3 full helpings followed by a salmagundi picking of indian deserts like rasmalai, gulab jamun, saffron and pistachio kulfis and loads more... i may have gained 3kg right now...

pavithra and i were... well... totally stuffed after several rounds of deserts and gallons of wine and spirits

bhavna and the rest of the girl friends... damn... i love their sarees and salwar khameez!

oh-so-sweet-and-totally-in-love couple... george and radha... and oh, they're having a baby boy soon... sweet.

the newlywed kick started the all time favourite song-and-dance routine...

and soon after, it was bhangra-beats and bollywood boogey all the way for the rest of the guests

while for the rest of us, it was photo-opp time with the couple

and it was most disturbingly evident that, like krispy kreme, the full on buffet spread of good food and desert had an immediate effect on my face... a startling one kg found its was to my cheeks and chin and elsewhere...

the gang from our university days...

and they danced...

and danced...

till 1am... and my lens caught two helluva cute brothers in black and fuschia coloured kurtas... arghhh! HOTTIES!!!

damn... they're super HOT!!!

by 1am, the bride and some girl friends of ours made our way to the martini bar at the mezza9 for our last of many night caps - lychee martini

and karishma and sister rosie were all obviously pooped out...

pavithra and i made our way back home to the village at 3am...

it was one helluva night

i will so totally miss out the second lag of the sangeet and wedding in jakarta although pavithra and porcky will be there... you have fun on my behalf there girlfriends!

a day after, on monday, pavithra flew to HK to be with porkcy before they fly to jakarta for the final lag of the wedding.

i am so jealous.

but i had loads of fun on the weekend.

i'll miss you pavithra.

perhaps i'll come visit you in berkeley. i'll bring hindi music albums and dvd films by mira nair.

and to charanjit and karishma, all the best in the new phase of your lives and God bless.

Karishma's Hen Party

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:09:00 +0000

i am ranting.

no men allowed at karishma's private hen party at pooja's place?

but... but... i'm ghey!

and get this this: there was no male stripper!!!

it was only vodka and cakes! and no male stripper!

but... the following party at attica rocks!

of course the endless flow of moet et chandon was extremely helpful

and an indecent proposal from a gorgeous looking straight couple in the club who were total strangers who struck an acquaintance with me stroked my ego big time

karishma (left) and girl friend

with dahling pavithra

at 3am, pavithra and and i came back to the village, and stuffed our faces with cheese pratas. i totally busted my diet that weekend. but i don't care cos it'll prolly take a long time before i can go silly on carbo-loading with pavi in the dead hours of the morning with pavithra again. or with lichelle. or with porcky.

all in all, that was ballistically fun!

Charanjit & Karishma's Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:23:00 +0000

and so it was the engagement ceremony according to sikh rites this morning at the gurdwara on wilkie road.

i got up at 8am, shaved, powdered my nose, and put on a champagne coloured kurta suit, and headed for the gurdwara. and they gave me a pink scarf to have my head covered, as per sikh rites and custom upon entering the gurdwara. so totally my colour!

pretty much a free and easy morning. the day started with yummy breakfast in the communal kitchen - think samosa, halva, semolina, sweet cakes, tea and the works.

groom-to-be charanjit - pink turban and pink shawl - that's him alright, campy!

radha and hubby... negotiating who gets the first bite on the samosas

and the ceremony started proper on a very free & easy note...

i presume that's the priest, reciting verses from the guru granth sahib. on intervals, he'd take out a gorgeous looking fly whisk and he'd whisked it all around him in the air. oh-i-so-wanna-do-the-same-too!

lots of kirtan (hymns) followed suit, three dudes (extreme right) did the gig on tabla and the whatchamacallit accordian thingy... trippy! on hindsight, it sounded very much like ghazal.

after almost an hour of trippy hymns, the ceremony came to an end, and charanjit was formally declared as engaged to karishma...

and some warrior looking sikh dude (and he had a dagger slung across his chest i swear!) offered us a lump of warm sweet milky semolina... i reverently accepted and chowed it down there and then... lest he finds an excuse the draw his dagger.

the blushing groom-to-be...

and families of the groom and bride-to-be

and the rest of us - i looked pregnant in this shot lor... damn irritating can!

and then...

the langar lunch followed at the communal kitchen again... sweet rice, yellow rice, chapatis and vegetarian fare... one's gotta love sikh ceremonies for all of its trippy hymns, pink head dress and lots and lotsa food!

i like!

oh by the way, karishma was not present at the ceremony... due to some customary requirement i guess.

she's having her bridal shower tonight but no men allowed... but i'm ghey! dang!

meanwhile, pavithra touched down in singapore from delhi for the wedding and she's staying with me for the celebrations.

gotta go get ready for the big partaaay for the lovebirds at attica tonight... another posting to come for the traditional sangeet pre-wedding celebrations at the hyatt tomorrow evening.

what to wear? what to wear? what to wear?

Pret-a-Problem

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 07:27:00 +0000

aishwarya rai
hrithik roshan
madhuri dixit
lara dutta
zeenat aman
lata mangeshkar
asha boshle
amitabh bachan
jaya bachan
ranee mukherjee
vivek oberoi
prety zinta
shilpa shetty
sharukh khan

and the list goes on...

it's charanjit and karishma's wedding party this saturday and sunday.

two of my favourite people on this planet.

charanjit makes the best fag stag for every 'behind-the-velvet-rope parties'.

karishma amuses me all the time when she reports on latest business news every morning on TV on BBC live from mumbai.

yeah sure, i have lots of kurta suits and ring shawl shaminas and pashminas to match.

but i feel totally inadequate somehow.

you guys had to do the 'dean & partner' on the wedding invite.

what 'partner' may i ask?

it's okay, i'll walk into the hyatt ballroom with Pavithra in tow, my exotic chennai beauty with brains and a PhD from berkeley to boot.

but i don't know what to wear.

Super Illegals' Ghosts

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 04:15:00 +0000

ian, the head honcho of super illegals, played his band's track entitled 'Ghosts' in the office.

immediately, the mat motor-void deck in me exclaimed "eh i like! so emo like i want to slit my wrists like that! i likeeey!"

and so here it is, embedded in my blog for posterity.

thanks ian.

enjoy.

happy friday by the way.

and yeah, i'm a mat and i hang out at the void deck and pluck my guitar too.

Those Damn Addictive Calories!

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 03:10:00 +0000

so, what's with watching your calorie-count when you actually have nice sweet cute interns bringing you home-baked muffins to your desk for breakfast in the morning...?

so that was like what? 10,000 gazillion gazooboollion calories? but hell it was damn good! macadamia and white chocolate in that mound of all things sweet!

and a pommey followed suit... yeah ok, that was just my way of saying "i'm redeeming myself with a healthy super packed anti-oxidant fruit..."

Bang! Bang!

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:54:00 +0000

t-baton defense tactic- PASS
tactical defense & unarmed defense- PASS
revolver shooting- FAIL - DAMN IRRITATING CAN!

nabey...!

Being Beng

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:01:00 +0000

for the first time, i had fun today during my reservist in-camp training course. we had to learn and demonstrate a new move during our tactical unarmed combat and defense tactic class.

we played pretend. an assailant attacks a police office from the back. police officer immediately drops to the ground and curls his body and rolls on his shoulder and butt to a safe distance away from the assailant. police officer jumps back into defense position and authoritatively commands "stand back sir!".

wasn't an easy move to be honest. but i gave it a shot anyway.

assailant attacked me from behind. i dropped to the ground and curled my body and rolled on my shoulder and butt to a safe distance away from assailant. i recovered pretty fast into defense position and the unthinkable happened.

i instinctively blurted out the line "nabey cheebye! hong gan!"

the whole troop descended into chaotic laughter and delirium. the instructors dropped on their knees and guffawed their guts out while clenching their stomachs.

for the rest of the day, the troop addressed me as ah beng.

reservist training has never been this fun. i love the day i had today.

Back To Paradise Gulag

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:32:00 +0000

okay, here's a quick one.

i'm back to reservist gulag training camp from monday till friday this week.

i'd usually ceremoniously brandish my middle finger and all manners of profanities in the hokkien and cantonese dialect will be directed towards the gahmen for forcing me to serve a conscripted, undignified, regimented and a total waste of time during the duration of reservist training period.

but after a total bollock of a weekend spending saturday and sunday working my ass off from 7am; giving up my almost non-existent social life and my gym routine on both days; and only to bear the brunt of extreme senselessness - i admit this: all hail to reservist training. this is my short reprieve from it all. my chance to regain my sanity. my much needed space to rethink the next route i must take from here.

gotta go now and ready my damn uniform... dari kiri, cepat jaaaa-lan!

That Wounded Friday Afternoon Feeling

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:50:00 +0000

one of those dreary late friday afternoon conversation with my girl friend al on yahoo:

Porn Star: sat n sun must work full day

alubah: hayoh!
alubah: at the office or out?

Porn Star: i'm just ranting

alubah: ohhhh
alubah: poor thing

Porn Star: it's a friday now
Porn Star: at this time in KL, i'd be paying up for my purchases at the supermarket in KL at Plaza Damas, with you in tow, then u will be calling Almir to check if he can help send me back to Lanson Place
Porn Star: i always fall asleep in the couch while waiting and the TV will be playing until you know...
Porn Star: sigh...

alubah: then he'll come and wake you up
alubah: awwwww

Porn Star: and what am i doing right now? frigging writing strategy/concept paper in the office...

i need a big break out of this whole thing here...

Those Damn Q&As Again

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 07:05:00 +0000

i decided to post this draft that i had saved from last night. i get this sorta thing all the time via e-mails or friendster or whatever... it's stupid but heck, i thought this will be fun.

1. What are you doing now? (apart from answering these questions)
Pan-frying 4 marinated skinless chicken drumstick

2. Where are you at now?
Home, Willyn Ville, Holland Village, at the dining table in the living room

3. Where were you at before this?
California gym, Orchard Road branch

4. What were you doing there before?
Boxercise class and weight training, trying to lose weight off my frigging face and my ass

5. Who was the last person you spoke face-to-face with?
That same cute guy from the gym lah; I don't even know his name! Aaaargh!!!

6. What was the content of the conversation mainly about?
If we both may should go for spinning (cycling) class on Thursday night; yeah we're going!

7. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
Chris whom I am lusting after but I have no guts to ask him to bed with me...haha!

8. What was the content of the conversation mainly about?
Asking me what I was doing until his mobile phone battery died out on him

9. Who was the last person you chatted with via online instant messaging?
Al, my girlfriend who lives in KL

10. What was the content of the conversation mainly about?
That this low fat, low calorie, low everything diet we're on sucks BIG time!!! And that we miss deep fried food and more good stuffs like that... sigh...

11. Who was the last person that you corresponded with via SMS?
Andy... hum sup Andy

12. What was the SMS content mainly about?
That his bf Jake is away on a business trip and he wants to meet me for supper but that was just an excuse to get into my pants because he's horny... buwahaha! (sue me!)

13. What was your last meal? (breakfast, lunch, tea-break, dinner, etc)
Apart from my dinner which is not ready yet? That has gotta be the snack I had before gym

14. What did you have during your last meal?
A Quaker-oats with raisins 90 calorie, zero fat, zero transfat snack bar... sigh...

15. What was the last thing you did before you went bed last night?
Prayed for mom's restful soul

16. What was the first thing you did when you woke up this morning?
Walked to the bathroom and took a piss while brushing my teeth with my new Oral-B Braun electric toothbrush... heaven... I don't even have to move my arms vigorously anymore!

17. What was the first thing you consumed this morning?
Blended quarter of a watermelon and 4 celery sticks... drank it all up... sigh...where's my egg prata?

18. What did you wear this morning to wherever you were going?
Blue jeans, printed short sleeved shirt, sneakers

19. What was the last song you heard?
Siren by Tori Amos

20. Describe the bed you sleep in (type of sheets, bedlinen’s colour, etc)
Decadent! Very decadent! :P 440 thread count sheets and quilt-cover and pillow casings from Cressendale; one bodymate pillow, four pillows, colour scheme - dark brown and dark gray

21. Describe the state of your bedroom currently
Ultra messy, I need to re-organize my work-station-desk and vacuum the floor, it's been more than a week since it was vacuumed!

22. Describe the state of your bathroom currently
Sparkly, dry and fresh! I fcuking love Mr Muscle bathroom and tile detergent man!!!

23. Describe the state of your kitchen currently
Free from those damned roaches which came out of nowhere last week until I installed roach bait-poison... other than that, it's pretty okay and it smells of 4 marinated chicken drumsticks in a frying pan cooking slowly on a small flame

24. What is the latest big ticket item you purchased? How much did it cost?
Supplements and stuffs like that. $320 bucks after major discounts.

25. Where did you purchase it at?
GNC along Orchard Road

26. What big ticket item do you want to purchase next?
Tough... but it will probably be a new laptop

27. What items are you wearing or do you have on you almost every other day that makes you think you’re a brand whore?
Uhmmm... my Energie belt and wallet? Or my Etro keychain? But I'm no brand ho' lah!

28. When was the last time you had an alcoholic beverage?
Last Sunday night

29. What sort of an alcoholic beverage did you consume? How much did you consume?
Guinness Draught, 2 pints

30. Where did you consume it at? With whom were you with when you consumed it?
Holland Village's Tango, with CY and his girlfriend

31. When was your last holiday/trip?
Way too long a time ago, end of January 07

32. Where did you go to on your last holiday/trip?
KL, Malaysia Truly Asia

33. Who did you go with on your last holiday/trip?
Alone as usual

34. When will your next holiday/trip be?
Cross fingers, mid July!

35. Where will your next holiday/trip be at?
Nearby lah, Bangkok

36. With whom will you be going with on your next holiday/trip?
Ah eh with Dora!!! Aaaah! Wait we both can take same pictures and blog about the same things! Aaaah!

37. What do you normally do on Saturday mornings?
Either (i)boxercise class and weight training in the gym or (ii)run from home to the Botanical Gardens and meet Dora and David and sometimes together with the rest of the friends for brunch at Tanglin Mall's Cafe Beviamo

38. What do you normally do on Saturday evenings?
Ok this is sad... I stay home and watch DVDs and drink wine alone despite Colin coaxing me to come out with him and Roy

39. What do you normally do on Sunday mornings?
Either (i)i sleep in late or (ii)i meet whoever for early morning breakfast

40. What do you normally do on Sunday evenings?
Head to the gym and dinner thereafter with Alex

41. What is your most watched TV programme/show?
BBC's World Report

42. Name five TV channels you cannot live without?
Cartoon Network, Discovery, National Geographic, HBO, BBC

43. What was the title of the last book which you have read?
Muhammad by Karen Armstrong

44. What is the title of the next book you will want to read?
Hitler's Pope - The Secret History of Pius XII by John Cornwell

45. Name three movie titles you can watch over and over again
Romy & Michelle (here's to us Sean darling!!!), Amelie, The Lords of the Ring

46. Name three book titles you don’t mind reading for the second time
All titles by Roald Dahl, Rumpole of the Bailey series by John Mortimer, all titles by Stephen Fry

47. Name a friend who you meet most of the time
Alex lor! And his parennial SMS: "you do what thing? tea/dinner later?"

48. What is the one thing you’ve always wanted to do for a long time but you have yet to get round to it?
Pierce my nipples...at least one of my nipples lah... but the thought of it... YOUCH!!!

49. Who do you really want to see right now?
Al but she's in KL... and another in KL... oh well... I'm stuck here

50. What are you thinking right now?
I can't believe I am doing this! On a serious note, I need greener pastures. Enough said.

State the time and date at which you completed this list of questions:
10.10pm, 6th June 2007

Haiku

noreply@blogger.com (sabre hound) — Tue, 29 May 2007 06:59:00 +0000

while i was rummaging through my old notebooks looking for some work-related information, i came across something which i scribbled last year... penned down in between some old and tattered pages of an almost forgotten notebook which i thought i had lost it and i never stopped blaming myself for losing it.

it was a lame attempt at writing a haiku... and die hard traditional haiku fans will gladly burn me at the stake for willfully ignoring the rules of writing a haiku. oh what the hell... i mean it anyway. but i'm so glad to have found it again.

and hence, i'm posting this for posterity:

12-14052006

vascillating mind
wrist watch beckons
time at standstill

journey between hills
the eyes closed
when will it be over

same receptionist smiled
her mischievious thoughts
key card to room 914

cold beer in alexis
and the sky poured
smoking and waiting

came thru the door
the smile again
enveloped in an embrace

rivers gushing wild
oceans forming wide
who's to stop them?

between the bedsheet
and the pillows
his murmurs seeped into the night

hazy petrol filled day
never beyond the hills
it shall remain here

to depart day after
the face must be brave
for the night

the night dies out
the key to morning
must be lost but it did not

silence marked
the departure
a kiss and embrace dominates

back home
the spot next to me
you're back there again