Through the looking glass

Through the looking glass


New green zebra striped specs

Inspired by Jimmy & Jitty

What is it with men & pet fishes? Almost all the men I've interviewed & known have fish as pets. Jit is one of them. Jimmy Liao the illustrator has written about it (though I haven't read it yet).

Anyway, given the signs by heavens to confirm the positive + strong correlation between men & fish. I have written something...

鱼的沉默与渺小让你体会到无边灿烂的宇宙；还是让你看到，
其实简单乐趣的颜色就是小鱼游览在水中 - 平凡无起的浅蓝。

X-Ray eyes

Apparently Dr. Balaji has x-ray vision. He was present at Life! Theatre Awards and when he was giving awards he could tell immediately who had AIDS and who didn't. AMAZING! He probably also has a sideline as a fortune teller - he knew just looking at (who he thought were gay) guests that four to five chaps who were probably HIV positive will die in four to five years. Such accuracy. I must get an appointment with him to get his divine prediction on the TOTO & 4D soon. Trillionaire soon I will be. His mates squatting at their stalls along Ladies' Street must be getting real solid publicity from his predictions.

So lovely of him for empathising and feeling 'sad' for them, while still laughing along at their jokes at the awards ceremony. Doesn't he realise they were laughing at him? *sigh* he's really not helping matters, people don't need to be stigmatized more than they already are. I don't know how he plans to tackle the problem of AIDS if his view is that we do not even need to talk about sex. So is openly targeting gays a better approach? Fear factor + insufficient, inaccurate information just leads to more stereotypes & pushing people away from the truth.

'Celebrity' Spotting

Went out with a bunch of good friends to catch up at First Thai restaurant found nicely tucked away on Purvis street. Very authentic Thai food with retro + eclectic look. There, we spotted had out first celebrity spotting.



Keanu sharing space with Thai King + delicacies

Very enterprising these people, clever marketing. Know that once got celebrity endorse sure alot of people eat. Needless to say, we polished off everything. But seriously, durian + glutinous rice was a heavenly dessert.

Later on our way home, exhausted after 'save the cat' escapade we had another shocking find!!! Very amusing...



5566 very popular with ang moh girls too!

I'm going to end off this post like this, I'm completely speechless + starstruck. Not to mention sleepy.

Observations for today

1. I am late for almost everything except aikido. Somehow I still manage to feel wide-eyed even after only 4 hours of sleep.

2. Seasonal Affective Disorder develops in individuals whose moods are affected especially during winter. They get depressed, crestfallen due to the long nights & short daylight. What's the acronym coincidentally? SAD.

3. Even after saying very loudly on the train "Woah...so crowded there are no seats for pregnant ladies!" Singaporeans still won't budge from their lazy asses. Only stare at me blankly. Stare what stare, I dig your ba jiu out then you know.

4. Apparently bags have privileges I've never known! Especially at eating places where seats are free for all, they have seats reserved just for them. How lovely.

5. Rats in my estate are fat because they're smart enough to cham siong around with pigeons for food during the day.

Imitation is the best form of praise

My dedication to Nini

In view of her 'sacrifice' to me...imitation is the best form of praise. Though in this case I don't know how true it is *grin*

Evening with Ikuhiro Kubota Sensei & miracle

Ikuhiro Kubota Sensei shared with us his personal story about his battle with liver cancer last year. He was pronounced healed 3 months after diagnosis. Miracle isn't it?

Initially when Kubota Sensei was warded and awaiting diagnosis, Tada Sensei (his Sensei) would call him everyday. Their conversation would inevitably start with Tada Sensei making known it was him, followed by the question “Have you done your Kokyu Ho today?” For the first two days, Kubota Sensei did practice Kokyu Ho. However on the third day after he was told of his diagnosis, Kubota Sensei shared with us frankly that he did let the fear of dying take over him, thus he did not practice Kokyu Ho. Not until he received his daily call from Tada Sensei did he start practicing Kokyu Ho. After thirty minutes or so of practicing, he felt the feeling of fear dissipate. He revealed that he accepted death. Not simply just by looking at it head-on, but like an aikido attack – recognizing the attack and then side-stepping it. (I try to say it like how he was trying to express it, but it’s difficult as we heard the story from translation).

Kubota Sensei also mentioned that we must practice aikido truly as a martial art (budo) and not like a game. Martial art is serious. This led him to speak about Tai, Kokoro & Ki. When practicing aikido, the first level is to learn the technique and movements. Followed by kokoro (your heart), you must practice with your heart. Shomenuchi chop as it should be – a blow. Your heart will extend you physical movement to beyond, no boundaries. Almost like training your heart to overcome fear of anything – fear of physical strength, weapons (the 2 things I heard). Ki is about blending and unity with your partner, giving and receiving spirit & with spirit.

1. Tai (kanji body) – technique, getting the movements right

2. Kokoro (Heart) – Combine your technique with your heart, with intent, blending. E.g. when you do shomenuchi, chop with full intention

3. Ki – Unity

Other pointers that he gave technically were:

When you practice Kokyu Ho you have to shut your butt hole that was taught by his Sensei (Tada Sensei). A true & good aikidoka will have his butt hole shut and he can feel if there are other aikidokas with their butt holes shut. This means you are centered; your Ki is not flowing out of your body. Many years of practice will be required in order to achieve this.

When you do Taiso (exercises before class e.g tenkan, irimi tenkan) it is to learn the movements and to let help your body make it a naturalized movement. When doing tenkan & irimi tenkan Taiso, it is easy to get a grasp of the movements; however perfecting it is not. The challenge is to getting a perfect 90 or 180 degree turn is to use your line of sight. Focus on the horizon in front while you move; your body will follow your heart (physically: line of sight).

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It was amazing + inspiring to see for myself a real japanese sensei perform aikido moves with such energy, spirit & speed (considering he's 67 years old). I have been motivated enough to go for morning sessions at hombu dojo at the ungodly hour of 7am. As such the lag in blogging because I've simply been too exhausted, albeit a happy sortof exhaustion ;)

Some 'exciting' events that happened

I'm careful how I title my post because what's exciting to me may not be exciting to others. As such, my ramblings today will be about cat saving escapade first. Very enthralling & exciting.

...

So. Cat Saving. As Glitzy has put it so aptly in her blog, I involved everyone who were my companions that night to saving a kiasi cat who was mewing for attention out of hunger (and of course kiasi-ness la). It was stuck in a hole in the wall of the drain (have to use your imagination for that).

To cut the long story short...

Hero of the night: Mr. Mano
Description: Kind gentleman who ochestrated rescue mission. From calling SPCA to getting ladder to offering to adopt the cat in case SPCA manages to capture it and decides to *gasp* put it down.

Sidekicks: Nini, Glitzy, Jo & I.
Description: Cheering Mr. Mano on + buying tuna to put on the ladder.

Villain(s) in diguises:
1. Kaypoh walker-byers who just gawk + chatter among themselves without offering help.

2. No common sense woman with bf who kept feeding tuna that we placed on the ladder to the kiasi kitty. Use your brain woman! The cat won't be attracted to the tuna on the ladder (hopefully reduce fear of big scary ladder + hopefully climb it) if you've already fed it! Felt like screaming at her, but had to restrain myself. Didn't want a second incident on hand.

Anyway it was a happy ending when the SPCA man came and said that the cat would be alright and had no danger of drowning in the drain. I must say he wasn't too patient in trying to capture kiasi though. Very unlike what I see on Animal Planet about animal rescue. But who am I to judge his methods, he's the 'expert'. I'll have to call Mr. Mano to get updates on kiasi though.

Cat joke that night:

Me: Mr Mano is insurance agent! I'll have to tell all my friends. If he's that nice to animals imagine how much more caring he will be to humans?

Jo: (Without missing a beat + deadpan expression) Especially if their name is Kathy

Geddit? Wah Piangz!

What's the other cat joke?

Promiscuous Blogger

That's me. The promiscuous blogger. I have up to date 3 blogs. The first one was when blogger had a long-difficult-to-remember-url which made linking very unappealing; but it was most interesting with all my escapades + creative juices. Second one was with livejournal. I admit I was shallow, attracted only to the cute kitty icons that represented each of my dysfunctional moods. However, with working as majority of my life (translation: no life) - the journal just read boring, boring, boring *scream* Anyway, as per Eelin's request I will not let both of them fade into the abyss of cyberspace but link it here. You have been warned of the babbling - proceed with caution.

P.S. to get to the archives of Univershity days, click the 'archive' url at the bottom of the page, not the one on top.

Being a Gemini

As a typical Gemini you talk a lot and you are never where you were five minutes ago. No one can tie the Twins down with a heavy cord and expect this sylph of the air to remain patiently waiting until the cord is tugged. True. More likely, you'll perform a Houdini-like trick and vanish before their eyes, leaving them with the cord. You are unpredictable, changeable as quicksilver, loving disguise and mimicry, fascinated for a little while with just about everything, quick to become bored and move on.

Gemini is the butterfly of the zodiac (some butterflies are smaller and nimbler than others, but they all fly). Of course there are Geminis who have become skilled at some particular study, art or profession. But even they must find variety within their chosen field.
Your sign is sometimes accused of being superficial and shallow. That's simply not true. Your mind is perfectly capable of depth and concentration, when necessary. It's just that if you spend too long on one thing, you might miss something else. True. And missing out on something potentially interesting is the next-to-worst thing that could happen to you. The worst is being bored. I'm not against idling though heh...

Your restless mind seeks a broad and comprehensive spectrum of knowledge, and the further you pursue your education, the happier you're likely to be. You're the eternal student, from cradle to grave. You're interested in people (from a safe emotional distance), and will talk to just about anybody to hear a new point of view. There isn't any prejudice or narrowness in you; you're a true democrat at heart. This sounds alot like what I'm doing for a living now. I like people, but I've learnt that thinking out loud just ends up in being perceived as fickle. On the other hand, observing people in activity gives me a more accurate perception of their personalities. A price must be paid, of course, for all these sparkling gifts. You may sacrifice the capacity for deeper relating in order to preserve your mobility. Yours is not a sign which likes heated emotional confrontations.

Geminis often joke about the things they feel most intensely about. If someone starts pouring out their deepest soul in grand, theatrical gestures, like the butterfly you're likely to fly away - through emotional disconnection if not literally. With all that knowledge clattering about inside your skull, you can sometimes be curiously blind about your own deeper feelings.

This is the least introspective of the signs, and it can take some very painful experiences to get you to sit down and deal honestly with all those messy emotions. And when you do, you're likely to observe and dissect your own feelings with the same detached curiosity with which you observe and dissect other people's. It's no wonder that so many Geminis are gifted writers. It's the spectator who sees most of the game. I wish, wish, wish I could write as well as some I know.

Like a child, you're capable of having several distinct personalities. You can be tender, delicate, poetic and exquisitely attuned to the world around you. You're also capable of plunging into some pretty sour black moods, which, fortunately, rarely last very long, and are forgotten immediately afterward. Definitely one vice I hope to be rid of.

You hate being probed and questioned, although you're not averse to probing other people, and if you're expected to explain your behaviour, you're happy to make something up just to throw others off the scent. My mom bears the brunt of all her militia type questioning. I play the 'Invisible Man' ruse, I pretend she doesn't exist & tune out. I hate justifying myself to anyone. Self-indulgence & self-centredness are people I like to run away with. They're fun. Sometimes. You're capable of practising big and little deceptions, both on others and yourself, if you feel too pinned down. But deep down, you have strong ethics, and you try to deal with people fairly. As my ex used to call me "Ethical Yan".

Duty for duty's sake isn't your style, of course, and you like to travel light. If you're trapped in a morass of endless domestic duties or a boring job which doesn't stimulate your lively and curious mind, you'll either go to pieces in a mass of nervous fidgeting, nail- biting and paper-shredding, or you'll simply leave. Commitment can be difficult for you, even when you're deeply in love. I don't know how true this is. The 3 years felt like a lifetime (in a good way). The only shackle was the one of sacrifice I imposed on myself. It's not that you don't feel intensely, and you can remain constant in a good relationship for a lifetime. But you don't enjoy being nailed down to the earth. The butterfly brings joy and magic only if it's allowed to fly free.

Cleo's Eligible Bachelors

I was flipping through Cleo's most eligible bachelors issue and was most unimpressed with the 'eligible' bachelors' answers. Most of them when asked what about a girl would wear to turn them on, answered "black/red/sexy/lacy lingerie". Either they watch too much porn (my usual response especially when guys say girls like blow jobs) or they have had inadequate experiences in that department. I may generalise, but eligible bachelors of 2006, please show me more dimensions to your character. The current ones are sounding as one dimensional as they magazine page they're featured on.

Toiletbowl in mouth incident

So I attended a colleague's wedding today and my friends & I were trying our hardest to avoid this auntie-colleague-major gossiper. There's just this unspoken quality that makes her gossip sound mean. But as luck would have it we ended up in the same table. So the rest of the lunch reception was spend making mundane small talk openly while discreetly whispering our personal small talk. Was particularly irritated she tried to join our conversations. Fastforward to the last dish of the day, colleague 1 & I went to the toilet and came out speaking about some conversations we had at the table just now. Usually I'm very careful when I speak in toilets (after watching countless boo-boos in movies), but today I HAD to throw caution into the wind of all days.

Conversation (loosely translated from mandarin)

Me: I'm sure Auntie Gossip was laughing at me when I said I wanted to marry David Tao.

Colleage #1: Hiya...she's like that. Only know how to make small talk by joining other people's conversations abruptly.

*toilet flush* As Colleage #1 turns her back, as I catch a glimpse of Auntie Gossip coming out.

OOOOHHHHH! We didn't really say anything really mean, but it almost made me jump out of my skin with guilt. We spent a few minutes laughing and conjuring our escape after this slightly embarrassing incident.