Dancing in Singapore - 20 - 22April 2007

After what seems like eternity - the long wait to watch Phantom in Singapore ( Diana booked the tickets in Jan ), finally i'm heading down south this Friday, 20th April 2007.

The last time i stepped into the Republic was last year. A trip down Singapore is always for me to run-away, when there's a crisis. Then it was my 27th birthday. hah! This year,surprisingly,there's nothing to run-away from.

The group heading down this time : Evie, Terny, Jessey, Jo, Alvin and Hui Tsin.
I'll be taking a day off on Friday, and heading down with Evie & Terny in the morning. Whilst the rest will try. ( they said they will ) to knock off from work at 6pm.

I'm trying to sort some personal stuff out in the afternoon. Try to meet up with Aunty Yvonne, to finalise some communication materials for her company and try to meet up with some headhunters.

Slow & easy Friday
9-ish : Timber ( Life band - i been hearing they play excellent Bon Jovi cover! so i must pop in) Option after Timber : MOS (studio 54) or Velvet.
This depends on car 2. If the rest are too tired, we might not club.

Music packed Saturday
2pm : Phantom ( YEAY!)
6pm : Cafe Del Mar ( i heard that sunset's the best time to be there ). After that it'll be St James Power station at night.

German beer and sausages galore Sunday
Brunch at a German place. I think it's a Pauliner place. It's sausages galore and Pauliners before we head home. YUMMY!!

I can't wait to catch up with the Diana, Karen & Adrian C ( Terny's bitchy twin! ) and Erika.
I'm a little ambitious, as i'm also planning to meet up with Pei Fern & TJ, Bee, Jen & baby Ethan.

3 days (technically 2 days minus the travelling ) and 2 hard night of partying.. and the possibility of Hotel 81turning up to be a sleazy hotel (that means hearing "ooh-aaah - ta li yi tien" in the middle of the night!).

Most important agenda of my week, is to recover from this wretched cough, sore - husky-scratchy throat and runny nose!

It feels like it's going to be a good trip away. Oh dear, April's an overdosed of partying!
I'm not complaining.

Syabas Jabatan MYKAD & JPJ!

And i really mean it.

1 hour for application for a lost MYKAD
(And a very nice photo makcik who complimented that i look better now compared to my old MYKAD photo! haha)

10 minutes for a new driving license.
(you have to go through this flirty counter pak cik, who questions you on why you lost your license, how you lost it and the mandatory questions of "gambar ada? MYKAD temporary ada?")

I had braced myself for long queues, hot stuffy departments and getting angry because everything's so slow. But what a pleasant experience i had. WOW! I am impressed.

Come to think about it... My HSBC credit card is not even here yet! It's the first card that i called to cancel, and it's been a week now.

Week of Fun and newfound Friendship

Last week was really an overdose of partying. The last time i partied this hard was September last year.

I must finally admit, being 28, age is REALLY catching up! Nevertheless, all for the cause of good fun and meeting good friends, "die-die" also must play "kow-kow".

MAMBO NITES
I had 2 doses of Mambo nights! Wed & Saturday.
Always my favourite night out. This craze started started in Melbourne, and I never got rid of it. I've always suspected that perhaps i'm born in the wrong era, perferring retro music to that of the current POP where everything sounds pretty much the same. Plus, recently I met Adrian L who is equally as crazy about MAMBO-ing!

Unfortunately, I never learn, that MAMBO's on Wednesdays will definitely make you a zombie at work the next day. A long night out of dancing, jugs of long-islands, a run-in with the cops and a new friend who's accessory for the ride home is the puke bag = walking around in a daze + quesy stomach +staring at clients blankly while you try to make out what they are mouthing. But it was definitely and eventful night out!

2nd MAMBO night was on Saturday. A little special do in Zouks for the F1 which unfortunately stopped playing Retro at about 12-ish. How sad!
The aunty-ness sunk in, as i surveyed Zouks with my bunch of friends and realised that
i. We ain't recognising the music here...
ii. These kids looked like they just snuck out from their houses to party
iii. When we walked into Velvet, we suddenly felt at home...There were more oldies like us around.. haha! I feel right at home. Wow, i must say, there were tons of "eye candies" in Velvet that night.

NEW & OLD FRIENDS
My definition of a good time is meeting, catching up or getting to know someone better ( yes, even without alcohol). Better still, if we're out there dancing the night away.

Meeting...
I finally met Karen & Adrian. The Singaporean group which Leanne & Diana hangs out with. Their names popped up frequently in our conversations but I've never really gotten to meet them until now! We were so comfortable hanging out, it was as if I've known them for years. So birds of the same feathers do flock together!

Another PISCES! Karen's also a Pisces. So that makes, 3 PISCES in the group - Karen, Diana & me. YAY! I'm excited ( not sure if she is) because that means there's another dreamy, loony like me out there. Tho she appears more matter of fact than I am. Definitely very girl power! And I had to embaress myself at the first "hullo". Me, head filled with jugs of beer, eyes irritated from the smoke decides to put on my glasses.
Me trying to poke my eyes out whilst removing my lenses and then panic strikes. "Shit. Where's it?", a frantic search for a missing lens cover, when Karen pointed out - "it's on your lap dear..". Aiyoh, quite the malus.

I'm truly amazed that there is another "BITCH" so same-same as Terny! It's great! Adrian Chan is the Singapore version of mah BITCH cum Bridesmaid, Terny. Right up to the shaka shaka bum bum dancing. Their mannerism and how they're so "chi mui" with us, is amazingly clone like. I can't wait to get them drunk on our next partying trip down Singapore ( which is about 9 days from now.. YIPPEE!).

Catching up...
Another group which I managed to catch up with was Russ & Chris. The beer guzzling boys from the states, night out kaki in KL 2years ago, Bangkok last year and back again to KL this year. One night out with them in Rum Jungle on Friday.. I'm filled up for at least with half a year's worth of beer. BURP! ( I salute you Erika for the marathon race with them.. really, i can see you're also committed to your cause! )

Dawn & Nige. It's a been a long while since I partied with Dawn. Our busy schedules and new found friends kept us busy. So it was nice, just chilling out with her that night, feasting our eyes on eye-candies.

And very excited for Max, as he begins his packing up and planning for his new job in Sydney! What a piece of good news for him. Especially after the bad luck that he had with EY London. They had rescinded his contract, 3 days before the movers came to pick up his stuff for relocation. And they are only compensating him for 2 weeks! I can't imagine if he had sold off his car, house etc., for this relocation only to be told this piece of bad news. However, it's bad enough as he's quit his job here, bypassing his promotion due. All in all I think it is mighty unfair ! It feels as if it is a bad case of bullying. We will be behind you on your cause vs EY London!

KV & wifey Penny. Never had a chance to talk to Penny before. Last Sunday, was the first time that we caught up. I found another F1 fan. And she recognises drivers by their helmets! Wow!

Getting to know better...
My mambo kaki. Ok, I promise no more long islands...for now.

28 and Illegal
Hungry stomachs led us from Zouk to Aivan's "it's just at the corner" mamak which turns out to be a painful-high- heels 20 minutes walk to the mamak in front of Thai club. And everything was close! I had to beg the nice mamak aunty to use up her remaining maggi mee and what ever that is left for 8 plates of maggi soup and goreng.

Then this is where it happened. I dropped my card-holder-cum-wallet for the night. In it, my MYKAD, driving license and my credit card. By the time i realised that I've lost my "Identity cards", we were already in Shane's car half way home.

Well, if you know me well enough, it's amazing that i've only lost my MYKAD and driving license at this age. The only cheering me up thought that i could think of is, hey, I'll have a good picture of me, in my new driving license!
In one week, i had 2 run-in with the cops. Both after MAMBO nights. I had to make a police report for my loss. Mr cop looked at my report and asked - "pukul 4 pagi? you buat apa?". I don't think he bought into the idea of me studying since the card was lost infront of Thai club!

(I have so far managed to do my MYKAD, which is surprisingly fast! 1 hour for the process. 1 hour of me getting lost in Kota Damansara!)

PRICE but PRICELESS
I'm sounding like an "akua" now. Thanks to the sore throat that's developing and the screwed up sleep time that i have. 3 - 6ams have been my going to bed time. I'm also suspecting that my imsonia for the last couple of nights are withdrawal symptoms coupled with too much coffee.

But i must say, it's worth it. Though i'm paying for now.At 4.30am in the morning, i'm awake, blogging, because sleep just won't come.

EXCITED & RECHARGING FOR NEXT
So this week i've really caught up on what i've not done for the past 6 months.

From Mambo on Wed night, Fri at Rum Jungle,Atrium and yummy Teo Chew Porridge,
to more food fest on Sat at Tmn Tun Lou Shi Fun , Chinese Rice Wine Chicken, Yong tau foo then coffee in 1U and partying in Zouk/ Velvet,
Did my best to crawl out of bed for Easter Service, a mad dash to BKT in Ah Sang, F1 in Chillis BSC and then ending it sky high in Sky Bar.

I can't wait to repeat this feat in my Singapore trip, 20 - 22nd April.
(Though the day after i return to a 24 hour TVC shoot!)