mmmmm, hungry....

"Just a Burger? Just a burger. Robin, it’s so much more than "just a burger." I mean… that first bite—oh, what heaven that first bite is. The bun, like a sesame freckled breast of an angel, resting gently on the ketchup and mustard below, flavors mingling in a seductive pas de deux. And then…a pickle! The most playful little pickle! Then a slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce and a…a patty of ground beef so exquisite, swirling in your mouth, breaking apart, and combining again in a fugue of sweets and savor so delightful. This is no mere sandwich of grilled meat and toasted bread, Robin. This is God, speaking to us in food."

How I Met Your Mother - Season 4, Episode 2 "The Best Burger in New York"

Lessons learnt from Gilmore Girls

Luke:
Oh! Uh, congratulations.

Emily:
For what?

Luke:
You know, your thing tomorrow, renewing your vows.

Emily:
You congratulate the groom. You offer the bride best wishes.

Luke:
Oh.

*awkward silence*

Uh, best wishes.

Emily:
Why, thank you Luke. How sweet of you to say.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Richard:
*whispering* Psst, Lorelai. I need you to do something.

Lorelai:
Oh, spy voice. Cool.

Richard:
Focus, please?

Lorelai:
I am a camera.

Richard:
I want to give your mother a present. But I don't know what her dress looks like. So, I need you to take these, wait till she's not looking, hold them up to the dress, pick the one that looks best, bring it back to me and I will give it to her. Got it?

Lorelai:
Got it.

Richard:
Go.

*She goes upstairs to Emily's room*

Lorelai:
*walks in and holds out both necklaces* Which one do you want?

Emily:
That one. The other for my birthday.

Rory:
Look at that! It's so fancy.

Emily:
Your grandfather has perfect taste in necklaces and earrings. It's very important to find a man who can pick out your jewelry.

Lorelai:
Or steal it!


Episode 100 (Season 5) - Wedding Bell Blues

How I Met Your Mother - 'The Wedding' (Season 1 Episode 12)

Marshall:
This wedding does sound pretty amazing though. Fancy hotel ballroom... Everybody all dressed up...

Lily:
Uh here we go...

Barney:
What?

Lily:
We can't get anywhere with our wedding plans because I want it to be fun and Marshall wants it to be lame.

Marshall:
*Scoffs* Oh yeah. Ok, that's a pretty fair assessment of our two arguments.

Lily:
I thought so.

Marshall:
You know what, excuse me if I don't want to get married barefoot in the woods next to Lake No-One's-Gonna-Drive-That-Far. Yes! I want a ballroom and I want a band and I want shoes. I've been dreaming about this day since I was... like...

Lily:
*Interrupt* A little girl?

Barney:
Waddup! *High-fives Lily*

Marshall:
Ok, I'm just saying that it's my wedding too and I should have a say in it.

Lily:
But I'm the bride. So, I win.

Marshall:
But I thought marriage is about two equal partners, sharing a life together.

Lily:
Right, but I'm the bride. So, I win.

Wham! Bam! AMAZING!

Some of my favourite pieces from fantastic choreographers!


Mad (Ne-Yo) by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo (aka Nappytabs! hehe...)
Performed by Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb


Ruby Blue (Róisín Murphy) by Wade Robson
Performed by Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant


Koop Island Blues (Koop featuring Ane Brun) by Mia Michaels
Performed by Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak


This Woman's Work (Maxwell) by Tyce Diorio
Performed by Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi

I wish I could dance like that...

UPDATE: I think the videos have been removed...

Three words

YOUDA SUSHI CHEF

Hours of endless fun...

http://www.miniclip.com/games/youda-sushi-chef/en/

Sartorial musings

I was having coffee with my mom and people-watching today - and making the observation that people in Singapore generally dress rather sloppily and/or wear clothes that don't flatter their bodies.

which started my mom on how in her childhood, my grandmother, who used to be a seamstress before my grandfather opened the provision shop, used to reiterate how important it was to dress well when one goes out. like even to the market, because it was about being presentable outside of the home, so she'd wear her samfus, which were always well taken care of. my mom didn't have many clothes as a child, but if she went to Chinatown with my grandmother, my grandmother would always make sure she had on a nice dress and wear shoes with socks (because according to my mom, clogs and slippers were only 'allowed' to the market and no further).

I think we've lost the sense of dressing presentably before leaving the house. Funny when you think about how much we love to shop - is it that we always stick with our old (comfortable) favourites, no matter that it no longer fits well and/or looks tatty? or is it just that we have no innate sense of style?

now THAT'S quite worrying...

the downside of dancing

raw/broken skin
blisters
callouses
bruises
cracked/chipped toenails
sprained toes
clicking knees


OoOooOo it feels good to be back dancing...

Even Abraham had to endure periods of waiting for his blessings

But in the end, he was truly blessed in all areas of life.


I'm really learning what it means to wait and keep trusting God...

Like I've always said...

I love how Warwick scored so highly on the first three sections (and hence overall) but only got a 58% for graduate prospects!


People always look at me weirdly when I say I did my degree for fun because they always expect me to say that it opened doors for my career. HA!

Anyway, in the competition of Warwick vs LSE (between siblings, there's always competition!)...

Recipes to remind me of home

in the midst of all the planning for the wedding, I've suddenly remembered I'd better figure out the recipes for/learn how to cook dishes that remind me of Southeast Asia.

You know, being a good wife and all...

So far, the top item on my list is otah otah.

Yo-yo-ing

Some days, what really cheers me up is thinking about the wedding and dresses and possible colour themes and flowers.

But sometimes, I feel completely overwhelmed by the amount of work that has to be done. Or rather, the fact that there are a lot of things that cannot move forward because of other things which are still pending that are standing in the way of progress. Then I get frustrated thinking about it and then my inner Monica Gellar kicks into overdrive and I end up trying to do up more and more checklists and plans to feel like there is something that I can do 'in the meantime'.

It's funny but I think ultimately it boils down to me missing you. And since my method of dealing with things is to compartmentalise, I focus my energies on planning the wedding. Which in turn leads me to get a bit excessively obsessive compulsive and frustrated that other people are not working on the same timescale/pace as me.

Then when 1 thing moves from pending to confirmed/settled/done and dusted, my mood is lifted and I get all excited again.

I think I need help.

Exhausted

I cast all my cares upon you
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet
At any time I don't know
What to do
I just cast all my cares upon you

"And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like 'I love you'"

It's been a crazy 3 weeks. And even though I know you've gone to start preparing for our life together, part of me is still caught up in the short-term. The NOW feeling. Which is that I'd trade it all to have you here with me.

But I know it's silly. And compartmentalizing is my coping mechanism. So for now I'll sit here and wait (im)patiently for you to come back to me.

Because I love you and I know you love me even more...

The very thought of you and I forget to do
Those little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of a daydream
I'm happy as a queen
And foolish though it may seem
To me that's everything

The mere idea of you
The longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go
Till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you,
The very thought of you, my love

Overwhelmed

Now as we remember
Strains of our school song
Call to mind our motto
Filiae Melioris Aevi

Filiae Melioris Aevi
Daughters of a better age
United by a common goal
Filiae Melioris Aevi

Trust RGS girls to pull off something as amazing as tonight's 130th Founders' Day Homecoming Celebration - and all in 6 weeks and mostly through word of mouth, no less! Looking around the hall filled with generations of old girls, I felt proud to stand together with them to sing school songs and join in some cheers. It was fantastic to know that I'm part of such an amazing legacy - these women who've come before me have worked so hard to give me the opportunities I have today and I'm grateful that RGS taught me that I can be whoever I want to be!

And I'm still feeling the buzz from tonight even now...

One of the best running storylines on TV

And I think what really makes George Clooney so attractive is the twinkle in his eyes... *swoon*

funny birthday stories

so Fang's and Geri's birthdays fall one day after another (actually I have 4 friends whose birthdays are 1 day after another) and since we are meeting for dinner tonight, I decided to get their birthday presents before the meal.

except now Fang wants to share in Geri's present AND Geri wants to split Fang's present AND BOTH WANT TO MEET ME TO GO SHOPPING FOR PRESENTS.

hence the potentially funny situation tonight where they'll end up buying themselves presents...

and out of the group of 4 of us for dinner, I'm the only one who'll not be receiving a birthday gift!

An Evelyn Waugh weekend - something that jumped out at me

"The truth is that motor cars offer a very happy illustration of the metaphysical distinction between 'being' and 'becoming'. Some cars, mere vehicles with no purpose above bare locomotion, mechanical drudges such as Lady Metroland's Hispano Suiza, or Mrs Mouse' Rolls Royce, or Lady Circumference's 1912 Daimler, or the 'general reader's' Austin Seven, these have definite 'being' just as much as their occupants. They are brought all screwed up and numbered and painted, and there they stay through various declensions of ownership, brightened now and then with a lick of paint or temporarily rejuvenated by the addition of some minor organ, but still maintaining their essential identity to the scrap heap.

Not so the real cars, that become masters of men; those vital creations of metal who exist solely for their own propulsion through space, for whom their drivres, clinging precariously at the steering wheel, are as important as his stenographer to a stockbroker. These are in perpetual flux, a vortex of combining and disintegrating units; like the confluence of traffic at some spot where many roads meet, streams of mechanism come together, mingle and separate again."


Evelyn Waugh, 'Vile Bodies' (1930)

House arrest

so here's a funny story. the electrical mains to my office building caught fire and now the whole building has no electricity. and rewiring will mean we'd be office-less for about a month.

so now my colleagues and i are on "house arrest". which translates to me "going to work" in my PJs.

which is kind of funny. unless you are my bosses...

HUR HUR.