I just have to share this cute little kitten.

It’s not mine. I met it at a coffee shop where I was having dinner and it was so delightful I had to take pictures of it despite the darkness.

WILL YOU JUST LOOK AT THAT!

IS IT TOO CUTE FOR WORDS OR WHAT?!

I know it’s dark and my camera is lousy (no flash lah, I using night vision mode) but will you just look at the adorable anime melty eyes?

The kitten very obligingly posed for pictures while I snapped at it nonstop. It is so unlike Scruffy, who would charge at the camera like a crazed hyena every time I so much as point it in his direction, even when I’m, like, a hundred metres away.

He’s a very enthusiastic doggy.

Cutey Kitty got a little excited during the photoshoot and tried to climb up my seat. And there it remained, perched cutely on the edge of the chair, until I could get a good, clear shot. (Ok lah I know it’s not clear it’s blur but it’s night lah can.)

I wish I could take it home. But I’m afraid Scruffy would eat it.

Scruffy the Lunch Thief eats anything he can get his paws on. In fact, the only way you can take a photo of Scruffy without having your camera mugged is to distract him with food or, in fact, anything, because Scruffy thinks everything is food.

Alternatively, you can trick him by scratching his belly while taking his picture because he can’t multi-task, so he can either enjoy his belly rub or he can try to eat the camera, his choice.

Or you could put him on the Goonfather’s belly while the Goonfather is lounging on his bigass executive chair playing Spider Solitaire, and then attract his attention by talking about milk sticks, beef jerkies and chewy bones.

I meant attract Scruffy’s attention, of course, not the Goonfather’s.

Scruffy is trapped on the Goonfather’s belly and doesn’t dare jump off because he’s afraid of heights.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAAA.

So there you go. Stay tuned for more lessons on tricking your pet into posing for photographs, which could be some time in the next millennium because I have returned my i-mode phone to StarHub so I shall be cameraless until I strike Toto and have enough money to buy a new camera or until I land a digital camera endorsement and get a free camera (yeah dream on).

In parting, Scruffy says: “Cameras taste weird.” 

Categories: Pets
12 Comments »

I feel fortunate to have so many pairs of eyes watching for me.

My blog readers (yes, you) always spot my ads way before I do.

Which is jolly good because I seldom watch TV or read the papers so it’s virtually impossible for me to catch myself in action.

Anyway, I’ve just been informed through several channels that my Kao commercial is being aired on TV right now. The Kao Magiclean one. Yah lah, I’m an auntie again lah. What of it? Just go watch it. It’s in both English and Chinese.

Remember in my last blog I mentioned that three separate people have told me they’ve seen me in three different ads (in which I never appeared)? Two days ago, I had a fourth person telling me she saw me in yet another, totally different ad (in which I also never appeared).

Well, like, WOW. Are there really so many people in Singapore who look like me? Hmm.

It’s getting very surreal on my end. Being recognised for people whom I’m not. It’s really, really weird.

Anyway, Thank you all who enjoyed my Kao commercial and told me so. Now go buy the product! :P

Categories: Acting Journal, Media Showcase
15 Comments »

First of all, thank you all for participating in my Johari Window exercise. It was fun, wasn’t it? And it is very interesting for me to find out what people think of me.

It is even more interesting to note that I have no truly dominant trait. Almost all the provided adjectives, many of which are contradictory, have been used to describe me, and there seems to be no proper consensus as to my personality.

And I don’t think I can really object to any of the choices.

You know what this all means?

This means that I’m certifiably confused.

I think it also means that I’m probably not a very memorable character since I have nothing that sets me apart. Like, you know, people won’t point at me to their friends and go, “Oh, see! That’s that crazy girl with the funny hat who plays tennis with a monkey!”

People might point at me and go, “Oh, see! That’s… uh, I mean, actually, um, I also dunno. I just find her familiar.”

Speaking of which, something strange is going on.

Three different people have come and told me they’ve seen me in three different ads. Each time, I had to correct them because, sadly, I am not in the ads they mentioned.

Last night, another acquaintance told me he’d seen me in “that ad”.

Well, I have learned my lesson. I decided not to ask him “which ad?” like I normally do. That way, if he happened to be thinking of the wrong ad, I won’t have to know and I can continue to assume that I really am that prolific and people really do see me everywhere and recognise me. Haha.

Sometimes you have to practise a little self-deception for the sake of a little comfort.

Anyway, I think this also means that I probably have a very common face if people are going around mistaking me for someone else.

So maybe all those “I find you familiar” comments arise not out of my actual “fame” but out of my having a common, easily-mistaken-for-someone-else face.

Well.

You people just wait.

One day, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO CONNECT MY NAME TO MY FACE CORRECTLY.

Perhaps plastic surgery will help me look more unique and properly recognisable.

But while I save up for boob jobs and nose jobs and the like, I think I’d better work on my personality.

For detailed results of my Johari window, click here.

If you haven’t participated, please click here first.

Thank you.

Categories: Social Media
17 Comments »

I found a fun program off KingMeng’s blog.

It’s one of those things I just have to try right away, unlike most things I usually file away for a rainy day until I invariably forget all about them.

Now, I had a lot of trouble picking adjectives to describe myself because my personality confuses me. But perhaps you’ll find it easier since you don’t live with me and you don’t have to put up with my split personality.

So, why don’t you help me out? It’ll take you only a minute, unless you’re as indecisive as I am. Hah.

Then make your own and let me know so I can come do yours. But only if I know you personally. Duh.

Categories: Social Media
15 Comments »

You say to Snoseniffer the Schemer, “Tell me about the blacksmith.”

Snoseniffer the Schemer says, “The blacksmith’s assignment is to make us coins. We needs lots and lots of gold coins. The more coins the better.”

You say, “Why?”

Snoseniffer the Schemer says, “Why? Because everyone needs lots and lots of coins… We puts them in chests and counts them and the more we have the better we are.”

You say, “But why? What’s the point? Are you trying to buy something?”

Snoseniffer the Schemer says, “Huh?”

— extracted from a dialogue in EverQuest II between a player and a goblin.

Gaming life is very easy. You kill monsters, you get money, you buy cool stuff with your money, all without breaking a sweat. (Well, gaming can be stressful if you choose to make it so, especially if you’ve played Star Wars Galaxies, but we’ll leave it at that.)

When I’m broke in the real world, or when there is something I desperately want to buy but can’t afford to, I would wish I could just go out in the streets, bash up some monsters and earn some money.

Yeah, right.

In the real world, you could, of course, go out and get a job to earn money. But real world jobs don’t spawn all over the place like monsters do in game worlds.

In the real world, you have to go through an interview for a chance to get a job. In EverQuest II, you don’t need to be interviewed by the monster to get its loot. You just take it by force.

These days, the economic system in games is getting more complicated, though. You can make money in so many ways. You can be a businessperson. You can be an entrepreneur. And you always make money. You never lose (unless you’re a hopeless moron). So, if you’re someone with half a brain, you could make a fortune in a game world if you wanted to.

For instance, you might start a business selling potato pies. You invest a small sum of money (which you got from killing monsters) to make a first batch of 200 pies.

Most of the time, if it’s in the game, you will have customers and your pies will sell for a tidy profit.

But let’s say, for discussion’s sake, your pies are extremely unpopular, you’re extremely unpopular and everyone hates you and hates your pies and they don’t sell.

Your potato pies sit there for three weeks and they are still untouched.

IT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE GAME WORLD PIES DO NOT SPOIL.

You can keep them in your backpack for five years and they’ll still be as fresh as the day you made them.

And, one day, you decide that enough is enough and you’re sick of staring at your 200 unsold pies, so you make your way to a non-player merchant (that is, a computer-controlled one).

THE MERCHANT WILL BUY YOUR PIES!

EVERY TIME!

Giving you a tiny profit, even!

If you’re a business savvy person, you could make unbelievable amounts of money in the game. If you’re not, you make a small amount. But you still make money and you never starve.

Isn’t that grand?

Killing crabs for dinner.

Categories: Gaming, Random Musings
18 Comments »

I am finally enlightened.

All these years, I have celebrated Valentine’s Day feeling like a fraud because there’s this part of me rebelling against the idea of having to set aside a special day to love someone.

Some years, I’m like, yeah okay, let’s go to McDonald’s and then let’s go home and forget about it.

But now, I have broken through the cynicism and finally understood.

Valentine’s Day is like any other “special” day. Birthdays, anniversaries, Teachers’ Day, International Women’s Day, World Turtle Day. In the sense that there is a reason and purpose for each designated day.

Although there is merit in the school of thought that goes, “We do not celebrate Valentine’s Day because we believe one should be loving every day of the year, and not just one day in a year,” the theory is not entirely sound.

Yes, one should love every day of the year, but that doesn’t mean one can’t also specifically celebrate love on a particular day. Valentine’s Day reminds us to be appreciative of our loved ones and that’s always good.

At the very least, it’s an excuse to eat, drink and be merry. And any excuse to eat, drink and be merry is a good excuse.

But I do not support commercialism on Valentine’s Day.

Boycott overpriced roses! Boycott overpriced restaurants! Boycott retailers who try to teach us how to celebrate when it’s actually they who are celebrating the sudden incoming cashflow!

The one-day price inflation is ridiculous. Retailers are smart to take advantage of the fact that many men are willing to pay the moon and the stars to impress some lady. But I’m not out to impress anyone and no one is out to impress me, so us plebeians will just drive to the nearest McDonald’s for some very unhealthy but very cheap indulgence.

Nobody said you have to celebrate with roses and fancy restaurants.

And I will celebrate with little Scruffy tonight by giving him all the belly rubs he can tolerate. He is clean and fluffy now because I gave him a bath last night, on the assumption that clean dogs are easier to love.

In fact, clean anything is easier to love, so remember to shower regularly.

And now, let me share with you a homemade digital “card” I received from someone who wants only to be known as “secret admirer”.

Thank you! Extremely sweet of you!

I hope everyone has a nice Valentine’s Day, too, and don’t forget to tell your loved ones that you love them!

Categories: Random Musings
10 Comments »

Still in the spirit of Chinese New Year, I decided to do another CNYish thing: Buy a Hongbao Toto ticket.

This will be the very first time I’m buying the Hongbao Toto so it’s an event for me. Besides, I need to get a ticket for the Goonfather if I want him to win $10 million for me (since he’s not free to go queue up).

I decided to go to this Toto outlet in Yishun, listed in the Singapore Pools website as the top winning outlet in Singapore, having produced something like 18 winning tickets in all.

Yes, there are some theories on how winning outlets get that status only because stupid people like me flock there in the hopes of getting “luckier” tickets. This increases the outlet’s sales, which in turn increases its winning chances.

Balls to that, I said.

I want to be where all the kiasu people are!
I want to soak in all the kiasu CNY atmosphere before CNY ends!
And I am very prepared to queue up for it in true Singaporean fashion!!

But…

I WAS NOT AT ALL PREPARED FOR THIS.

Where the heck did all these people come from?

This was 3 pm.

You all don’t need to work one ah??

Here is what the queue looks like from a bird’s eye point of view (not to scale):

I gathered, on a very modest estimate, that there had to be at least 200 people in the queue. Maybe 300.

I really underestimated Singaporeans. I had expected maybe 50 people in the queue. The Hongbao toto is on sale for nine days altogether, so I thought the queue would be reasonably spread out over nine days, and over the thousands of outlets in Singapore.

But it seems like the whole world decided to buy tickets from this particular outlet. No wonder it keeps producing winning tickets!

Of course, the Hello Kitty queues in the year 2000 were much, much worse. But I make allowances for that because those were once-in-a-lifetime kitties. $10 million? Pfft. You get a chance to win that every single year. Big deal.

Anyway, I didn’t join in the queue. It was simply too intimidating.

I wouldn’t have minded if I could have read a book while queuing. I’m perfectly willing to stand around for hours waiting for nothing as long as I have a good book.

But because Singaporeans (especially Toto-buying ones) are a superstitious lot, I was afraid the people around me would give me the evil eye for doing an “inauspicious” activity while standing in the fortune line with them.

(For the benefit of my non-Chinese readers: “Book” in Chinese is “shu”. And “shu” also means “to lose”. So any word sounding like “shu” is automatically inauspicious.)

I had consulted the Goonfather early this morning.

I said, “Later when I go queue up for Toto, do you think if I read a book while queueing, the other people in the queue will keropok me?”

His reply was, “Why you wanna do such a thing?!?!?”

Sheesh.

So I didn’t bring my book and I didn’t get in the queue and I didn’t buy my ticket to win $10 million.

I think I shall forget about soaking in the kiasu CNY atmosphere. Looking at today’s queue was plenty enough atmosphere for me.

Tomorrow, I will just go buy tickets from the most ulu outlet I can think of.

Categories: Random Musings
21 Comments »

Something strange is happening to me. I swear I’ve gone nuts.

I have been really excited over this year’s Chinese New Year.

I mean, really.

The last time this festive season truly excited me was when I was, like, 12 years old.

As I grew older and the novelty wore off, CNY became an annoying routine. The noise and festive mood in the streets frightened me. The exchanging of oranges seemed crazy to me. The CNY countdown on TV irritated me.

Of course, I cannot deny that I love the ang pows and bak kwa and yusheng. But that doesn’t equate to liking CNY, does it?

This year, I felt the excitement about a week before CNY. I actually started looked forward to it. How freaky.

Two days before CNY, I had my first yusheng with my friends. After dinner, I wanted to go to the River Hongbao, but half the group didn’t want to. I can understand why. For as long as I can remember, I have avoided the River Hongbao like the plague. I have never been able to understand why anyone would want to squeeze about with sweaty bodies and have their eardrums violated by noisy ching chong music. What’s the fun or benefit in that?

So why do I suddenly want to go this year?

On New Year’s Eve, Elyxia and The Goonfather dragged me to Chinatown in the afternoon. They claim that it’s a yearly ritual for them to go check out the CNY bazaar. For me? Survival instinct dictates that I avoid Chinatown like the plague during the entire CNY period.

So why did I willingly go this year and even get all excited there?

After reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, I went to the famous Loyang temple with my friends to welcome the Fortune God and to count down to the CNY. I never liked going to temples because the suffocating incense and the crowds really bother me. And I already mentioned that I hate CNY countdowns.

So why did I organise a trip there this year?

On New Year’s Day, we all woke up at the break of dawn to get a nice headstart to the new year. For the past several years, I’ve had to wake up at about 8 am for CNY visiting and I’ve always hated that.

So why did I happily wake up at 5 am this year, and with only three hours’ of sleep before that?

This year, the Goonfather took me along to visit all his relatives. And we’ve been having dinner at a different relative’s home every night since the second night of CNY. I’ve always hated socialising and wild horses couldn’t drag me to my own relatives’ homes past the first day of CNY, much less somebody else’s.

So why did I actually enjoy all the visitings and dinners this year?

Last night, the Goonfather’s uncle hired a lion dance troupe to perform at his house, where a whole load of relatives was gathered for dinner. I also usually avoid lion dances like the plague because they’re noisy and it’s like, you seen one, you seen ‘em all.

So why did I get all excited over it last night and watch it like I’ve never seen a lion dance performance in my life?

For the past many many years, CNY has meant doing the mandatory first-day visiting and then it’s stay home and eat bak kwa for the rest of the 14 days. And that was the way I liked it.

This year, I find myself doing everything I possibly can to milk every single day of the Chinese New Year for its worth.

Yes, I am absolutely nuts.

I don’t have any answers to all my “whys”, unfortunately, but I do have some theories:

1. I’m getting old and senile.
2. It’s the dog year this year and I love dogs (lame).
3. My new cheena name has turned me into someone else. I have suddenly become proud of and patriotic towards my Chinese origins. Huh?

Honestly, I don’t know why.

All I know is that I’m having the time of my life celebrating CNY this year. This change in me is freaky, but it’s also kind of nice. As much as I admit to being a cynic, I have to declare that being the excited child always always beats being the cool, unaffected teenager.

After all, what’s the harm in embracing life and living every minute like it’s your first?

None, I think.

The Goonfather wants me to blog about the fact that he’s going to win this year’s $10 million Hongbao Toto by the power of wishful thinking.

Because it’s CNY, I shall be nice and not tell him to ”go blog yourself lah, shen jing bing”.

Because if he wins $10 million, he is going to give me a million to make a low budget movie. And another million to go shopping.

Or else.

Categories: Random Musings
10 Comments »