My Space

I received an email from my good friend, Pam today. She says that she saw my My Space account and was very surprised because of some vulgar comments in there. Apparently, my account is set to auto-approve comments.... It is not something that I would pay attention to, as the last time I accessed that account was in 2004. I don't even remember my password. Bummer.

Jailed Jeffrey

I read Jeffrey Archer's Prison Diaries, the first diary at least. I didn't quite enjoy it as his other books. I refused to read any more from the series.

Thanks to Carl, I am now reading his latest work--Cat O'Nine Tales. After I read the foreword, I was surprised to learn that he was actually incarcerated (after some research I found that it was for perjury and libel), the Prison Diaries were not fictitious. I was curious and wanted to know more about how the crime came about but I stopped myself from looking up details of his case as I want to associate him only with happy reading and interesting twists.

(Lord) Jeffrey Archer is most definitely the greatest short story writer! Cat O'Nine Tales is, as expected, very enjoyable. It is composed on nine short stories about crime shared behind bars (loosely) based on fact.

I have two wishes for My Lord. First is that I hope he writes ten more books before retiring (he is into his sixties) and second is that he lives the rest of his days as a model citizen.

It's My Fault!

Today was a very tiring day! I woke up late, as usual, had late lunch, as usual and headed to Orchard Road to meet up with Odell. I dragged him to a certain shop, and he ended up buying shoes. We then headed to Paragon, where he shopped for tops--button downs, afterwhich we went to Wisma because he wanted to look for more tops--t-shirts this time, but no such luck.

Our next stop was to have early dinner with Obet and Cindy at this particular hawker. I had been craving for Mango Chicken for the longest time. It turns out that the establishment has moved, so I called some friends to inquire but nobody knew where exactly the new location is. We settled somewhere else. The only consolation was that we had cereal prawn.

The following item in the agenda is to watch Smokin' Aces. So we all headed to Cathay Cineplex to catch the 9:50 show. When we got there, we found out that it was no longer being shown! Bummer. I was in the mood for some violence and dirty language. Haha.

We ended up going to Clarke Quay for some Dad Drinks. I got to really talk with Cindy again. I missed her. There was a time when I saw her everyday. It is funny how a lot of things have changed but still it seems as though everything is the same. Some oxymoron there.

Anyways, it started to rain real hard, and I had the sinking feeling that we would get stranded. As in Cast Away. We had not one umbrella on us. I had with me a cap, though I seriously doubt how much it would help.

Of course we eventually got cabs. And got home safely.

I had a fun day. It was totally unexpected, all the plans didn't quite push through. I am reminded of a line I read or heard somewhere, (I think it is from John Lennon, I'm not sure if it is a song though) Life is what happens to you when you are busy making plans.

Obet, Cindy and Odell, I admit it, I was my fault that Odell bought new shoes, it was my fault that we didn't get to eat Mango Chicken, and it was my fault we didn't get to watch the movie.

She is Haunting Me!

I was reading the supposed last of Thomas Harris' Hannibal books, Hannibal Rising. What was supposed to be a fifteen-minute read before sleeping, turned to an hour of reading.

I liked all the books from the series, this was no exception. I was really into it when I came across a quotation from Ono no Komachi!

She is definitely haunting me! A ghost of a poet who lived centuries ago is calling me.

Oh and I am suddenly reminded that a few weeks ago, I got myself a couple of kimono tops :)

Nose Picker

I was on a shuttle, a transfer from the resort to the ferry terminal. The sun was at our side of the shuttle, I closed the curtain and looked at the scenery through the window on the opposite side. I was shocked to see a middle aged man pick his nose with his pointing finger (while carrying his child, a toddler with a head full of hair). After a few jabs, he puts his pointing finger to his mouth! It was mortifying!

I poked at my almost-asleep friend beside me and motioned him to look at the scenery through the window at the opposite side of the bus.

After a few seconds, he faces me laughing and says "Bakit kailangan ipakita mo pa sa akin yun?" (Translation: ""Why did you have to make me see that?").

The answer is that it was so scary that I could not face it on my own.

Walking Tall

As long as I could remember, I liked high heels. Friends would wonder how I managed walking, officemates thought I was tall. It might be genetic; my Mom has trouble walking in flat shoes!

My life changed in more ways than I could imagine when I moved to Singapore.

On my second day to work, I took the bus. The ride took me by surprise. It was as if I was riding a giant bump car. I almost fell; it was such a struggle to balance. If there were less people standing, I swear I would have fallen on my face. My shoes didn't help.

I was faced with the ordeal of giving up high heels. My life depended on it. Another issue was that I didn't have flat shoes for work.

To make a long story short, I started wearing flat shoes. I would gradually increase the heel height until I was able to determine the optimal height. Two and a half inches. Perfect.

As I gained confidence in my balancing skills, I would once in a while wear my 4-inch-heels. Of course my feet still suffered as I did a lot of walking here. My only consolation was that at least I still get to wear the shoes that I like without jeopardizing my life. Balancing in buses, it is like riding a bike, once you have mastered it, the skill is yours forever.

It is probably over-confidence on my part when I purchased this pair of shoes that caught my eye.

The first time I wore it, it was a Friday. Come Saturday, I could hardly walk, my calves hurt!

The second time I wore it, I went to a party. I spend 95% of the time seated. The minute I got home, I immediately took off my shoes. No, not when I got inside my room. I took my shoes off right after I got in the front door.

Today was the third time I wore them. The third time was NOT a charm.

Despite the suffering brought about by this pair, I still have not given up on them. I will continue to "train" myself. I refuse to give up. After all, I fell more than a few times and even scratched my legs in more places than one when I was learning how to ride a bike.

Kampai to the Funny, the Good Looking, the Rich & the Invincible

I don't remember where I read it (probably GQ), or when, but it was about the stages of drunkness. Although it was very short, it was apparent that much thought and maybe research had been put into it.

Stage 1 - You are funny

Stage 2 - You are good looking

Stage 3 - You are rich

Stage 4 - You are invincible

Nins, with or without alcohol, you are funny and good looking. Turts is the rich one when drunk. I don't know about invincibility though.

Odell, don't be confused. You are not invincible. However, you are something that starts with INVI and ends with IBLE too. I can't quite remember that one letter that I missed. Sssssssorry.