I made a trip to Jurong West St 42 last Sunday to check out the much-hyped Monkey God Tree.

It was an educational and amusing excursion.

Of course, I tried to look normal and not make any funny faces because the throngs of devotees crowding the street were quite serious in their worship of deity trees.

So I approached the scene with an open mind.

We weren’t sure exactly where the site was, so we followed the traffic. A most convenient traffic pile-up led us to our destination.

There was a lot of impatient honking. I’ll bet if I were a resident there and had to put up with this traffic while going home every day, I would be wearing out my car horn, too.

As we inched nearer, I saw it!

Not the tree. The people.

WTF?!

Wow.

Stepping out of the car to join this throng was quite a scary thing.

Oh, yes. For the sake of my foreign readers, allow me to briefly explain.

There’s this tree in Singapore, got hit by a car, shed a piece of bark and revealed a monkey shape on its trunk. People claimed that the Monkey God of Chinese mythology had come to Singapore, so they started praying to the tree. [Click here to read the whole story]

So, this fabled tree was what I was out searching for.

It wasn’t very hard to find, as you can tell from the above pictures.

The first thing that raised a smile on my face was the colour of opportunism.

It came in red and orange and blue and green.

What a beloved sight of Singapore.

Anywhere with a crowd, you can be sure to see these ice cream uncles helping Singaporeans quench their thirst.

But what’s remarkable was that there were about six ice cream vendors on that one street alone.

I didn’t buy an ice cream because I was too busy trying to figure the trees out.

I had only expected to see two “deity trees”. But when I arrived, I found that at least six trees were being worshipped. Apparently, after the Monkey God’s appearance, other gods starting popping up at neighbouring trees.

This is what a worshipped tree looks like.

This tree is supposed to be Lord Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god. I don’t quite see the resemblance, though.

Next, I saw this tree surrounded by a bunch of folks staring up at its crown.

Half the crowd there was trying to describe where and what they were seeing, while the other half were perplexedly trying to see it.

I was one of the perplexed for a whole 10 minutes. I listened while many an excited auntie and uncle tried but failed to describe the exact spot of interest.

One of the funniest conversations I heard came from two very young, plumpish ladies.

For reference, this was what everyone was looking up at:

[Translated from Mandarin]
Girl 1: Where is it?
Girl 2: (Pointing) There!
Girl 1: Where is there?
Girl 2: (Pointing) There!
Girl 1: I know! But where is there?
Girl 2: (Pointing) There!!
Girl 1: You keep saying there but it’s such a big tree!
Girl 2: (Pointing) There lah!!
Girl 1: I’m trying to see where you’re pointing but I can’t see it!
Girl 2: (Pointing) There there there!!
Girl 1: Where???
Girl 2: The branch there lah!!
Girl 1: The tree got so many branches!!! Which one??
Girl 2: That small branch lah!!
Girl 1: Got so many small branches!!! Which one??
Girl 2: Aiyoh!! The shape there lah!
Girl 1: What shape?? The whole tree everywhere got shape!!
Girl 2: The white white part, there!
Girl 1: So many white parts!! Which one?
Girl 2: (Pointing) There! That one!
Girl 1: I can’t see lah!!!

I didn’t know whether to laugh or to strangle Girl 2.

They finally walked off as Girl 2 tried frustratedly to find another angle from which to exercise her amazing pointing finger.

I continued standing there, looking up, waiting for another stranger to describe it better so I could see what the heck was going on.

I heard about five different descriptions before I heard one which made sense and told me exactly where to look. Then, I saw it.

I don’t know what’s so hard about describing a spot. It took me all of 10 seconds to successfully describe it to the Goonfather (who had earlier wandered off in boredom while I stood by the same tree for 10 minutes, determined to find out what everyone was looking at).

This was it:

It’s a shape of some say Buddha, some say Kwan Yin (Goddess of Mercy), on the bark.

And I had wasted a good eight minutes staring at leaves and branches because people weren’t describing it properly.

I’ve outlined the shape so you can see it clearer:

And there’s a better picture in The New Paper report.

Hmm, ok. I must admit the shape does look a bit like Buddha and Kwan Yin statues. But I wonder who was the first bloke who decided to go staring up random tree trunks to find deity-shaped anomalies.

I’m not quite convinced that this means some deity has decided to favour this tree or take up residence in it or whatever it is people are thinking.

It’s just a random shape, isn’t it? Like how you see random shapes in clouds and random shapes in… just about anywhere.

I’m sure if I had the time and inclination, I could find other deity shapes in any random tree in Singapore.

The other trees on Jurong West St 42 which have been set up as shrines are even less convincing. They just take any bump on the tree and claim that it’s this god or that god. Totally weird.

But I have to say the Monkey God Tree is something else.

This really does look like a monkey.

I don’t think it looks like the Monkey God, though. It looks more like a random monkey at the zoo.

And there’s so much litter around the shrine.

If the Monkey God were really staying here, I’m embarrassed on behalf of my fellow countrymen.

Lord Ganesha has a neater shrine.

But I guess the Monkey God appeared earlier, so his tree has had more time to accumulate more mess.

This guy was standing by the monkey tree giving out joss sticks to anyone interested in praying to the tree. Awfully nice of him.

Well, I don’t know what to make of this craze.

The Straits Times has a good article on this, with quotes from different camps of people — believers, scientists, tree experts and assorted professors. Read it here.

But I think the best reading material comes from a blog. This guy has made this “Journey to Jurong West” comic spoof and I think it’s quite charming.

I’m kind of on the fence about this because I’m agnostic. Maybe something supernatural is really at work. Maybe it’s just the overactive imagination of a bunch of heartlanders. I don’t know.

It doesn’t really matter, does it? Either way, it’s quite entertaining and it’s always good to see something different once in a while.

What do you think?

Categories: Regular Blogs
40 Comments »

It was a dark and stormy morning.

Well, it was dark before this picture was taken.

The handphone by the bedside announced the arrival of 5:30 am with a series of irritating beeps. The dreary sleeper roused herself from a short, disturbed sleep.

Mettle and grit put to the test.

Will she shake off the inertia of dawn to drag her sluggish self through the rituals of waking? Brave the pouring rain to present herself upon the scene of her punishment?

Yup.

Through rain and snow, hail and sleet, she forged ahead.

Not forgetting to camwhore while she did.

Taking full advantage of the flattering red sheen cast off from reflected vehicle brake lights.

And then, she was there. Together with fellow kooks.

The storm had lightened into a steady drizzle but the rain didn’t look to be stopping anytime soon. The mood was uncertain, despite false bravado showing on certain faces.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Ok, I’m tired of writing in third-person narrative so I’m reverting to my usual first-person.

Yesterday was Run For Hope 2007.

When we arrived at Sentosa at 7 am, it was still raining lightly. We had to walk in the rain for 15 minutes to get to the starting point of the run.

But before that, I had to relinquish my stuff, including my camera, to the Goonfather (caretaker of barang), who refused to walk with us, preferring to sit in the shade at Coffee Bean with his PSP to wait out the race.

So, I couldn’t take any photos of the actual event, starting from our wet trudge to the starting point to wait for the race to start, and culminating in our weary stumble through the finish line.

By the time I met up with the Goonfather and retrieved my camera, we had all cooled down and I was no longer in the throes of exhaustion. So, no sweaty pictures this time! Haha.

The run was fun. I was at first afraid that I would feel intimidated and drained by the presence of thousands of other runners. Instead, I felt happy and energised.

I felt like I was doing something meaningful because, after all, the event was to raise funds for cancer research.

I completed my 4km in 20 minutes. It’s far from astounding; a goodly bunch of crazy buggers finished 8km in like 30 minutes. But I’m happy.

Running alongside thousands of runners all running for the same cause made me feel alive.

The rain had stopped by the time the run started and the air was pleasantly cool.

When we finished the run, there were bananas, water, isotonic drinks and energy snacks waiting for us.

I didn’t eat anything until ice cream was offered much later.

I’m persona non healtha.

I went to the event with a few Cowboy Bar peeps, but I bumped into Chong in the middle of the run. So we hung out after the race and took some photos.

Chong is a funny subject to photograph but I found a cuter subject.

It’s a cairn terrier.

It’s carrying a pink haversack! OMG!!!

Check out the doggy haversack!!!

Anything that carries a tiny pink haversack is too cute for words!

It was quite a nice day to be hanging out at the beach, even though the sand was wet from the early morning rain. But I’m not really a beachly sort of person, so we left Sentosa at about 10:30 am.

Now, right after a healthy run is a good time to abuse your body with fatty junk.

(For those not equipped with sarcasm radars and might protest to the above statement for its potential to inflict moral damage upon the world’s innocent, please bear in mind that it is advisable to wash your hands after you use the toilet.)

Good ol’ traditional pre-packed nasi lemak.

As traditional, no-frills pre-packed nasi lemak goes, this one is really quite good. Chilli is yummy, rice is fragrant even if cold from being pre-packed, fish is tasty.

You can find it on the corner of Baghdad Street and Bussorah Street.

But now I regret having eaten that. Not because of fat issues, but because a sore throat has stolen upon me overnight. After surviving on potato chips and coco pops all of last week, maybe the nasi lemak tipped the heaty scales into overdrive.

Shucks.

Or maybe it was getting rained on yesterday. I can feel a flu blossoming.

Still, I felt really really good, like really happy and energetic, for a whole six hours after yesterday’s run. Of course, the adrenaline finally pumped itself out and I was a zombie for the rest of the day. But it was a good six hours well-worth waking up at a crazy hour and braving the storm.

The Great Eastern Women 10K is in a month’s time.

I’m not sure if 10km will give me the same adrenaline rush as the 4km did; I might die trying to complete the course since my regular training route goes only as far as 6km and even that stretches my abilities.

And now that I’ve got this flu coming, I won’t be able to train for maybe a week. How to run 10km like that?

Categories: Regular Blogs
33 Comments »

I’m on TV tonight, so turn it on!

Stories of Love — My New Best Friend
MediaCorp TV Channel 5
Date: Thursday, Sep 13
Time: 8pm - 9pm

Categories: Acting Journal
19 Comments »

Sometimes, being on set can be so fun that it doesn’t feel like work at all.

I was out on a corporate video shoot on Monday. It felt more like an outing because there were many locations and I got to play tourist.

Free cakes and coffee! One of the small perks of being an actor. Sometimes you get to eat yummy stuff for free if a scene calls for it.

Another perk is that you get to wear clothes you’d never otherwise get into your head to try on.

I feel very tall in this top!

Sometimes, filming takes you places you’d never visit on your own.

Such as the National Museum of Singapore.

Not that I’m claiming to be an uncultured hayseed but, really, who has time to visit the museum?

So, I was really glad to get the chance to step into our newly renovated museum.

Well, we didn’t stay long in there and all I got to see was this:

But it was pretty swell enough. Something interesting I’ve never seen before.

There are two video cameras mounted on the ceiling and on the opposite wall, so whoever stands in the square gets captured and broadcast on the digital wall behind.

Sometimes, the wall shows random photos depicting historical Singapore.

Our next location was the Esplanade.

Okay, maybe I’m an uncultured hayseed, after all, because I totallly don’t get abstract art.

This is such a bizarre sculpture, is it not? It’s on display at the main atrium of the Esplanade, together with several other bizarre sculptures.

Tell me it’s not bizarre! Check out the platypus beak and the propeller tail on this humanoid thing made of aluminium (or something) rings.

I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean. I forgot to read the description.

Here’s a picture of me and three crew members in front of the bizarre exhibition.

We went to Haji Lane next. I never even knew such a street existed in Singapore.

No, actually, I’ve kinda been to that area a few times (there’s a small Indian coffee shop that sells great nasi lemak on Baghdad Street) but I never realised Haji Lane is such a funky place.

But I think it’s a tourist trap because the things are expensive.

We filmed in this shop.

The outside looks really scary and intimidating. It doesn’t give an indication of what’s inside, so I’d never step in to check it out on my own.

But the inside is fun! There are all these cool things to look at.

Can you guess what this place is?

Here’s a clue:

Haha, not much of a clue, is it?

How about another:

Yup. It’s a clothing and accessories store!

Some of the stuff are really gorgeous but too pricey.

I love these shoes!

But they’re like over $200 a pair. Yech. =(

The girls were in agreement with me, so they did this see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil thing.

Or maybe they’re just nuts.

So the shoot ended and we all left empty handed.

And then we saw this.

Guard kittehs in a clothing store!

They were very tame, too. They just sat at the same exact spot and stared at us as we gawked at them and took pictures and waved to get their attention.

Super cute!

What a fulfilling and educational day this has been.

Haha, I feel like I just finished writing a primary school essay entitled “A Fun Day Out” or something asinine like that.

But it was certainly an interesting day and I feel pretty damn lucky that its part and parcel of my job.

Just don’t envy me too much because there are equally many downsides to being an actress, some of which you’ve heard but some of which you’ll never hear because I have to be PC.

For the most part, I try to keep myself focused on the perks, which makes me a happy camper!

Categories: Acting Journal
24 Comments »

Oh my gosh, I’m so tired. Five consecutive days of waking up at unearthly hours for filming and then getting home late in the night.

The good news is I’ve bought my new computer. Went shopping at Sim Lim Square after a shoot today. Depleted my bank account. Hooray.

My new rig should be up and running in a day or two. The only downer is that there’s no new MMORPG to break it in, as has always been the tradition.

Regular blogging will resume tomorrow because I need a good rest tonight! I need to go hug my bed and not let go!

Thanks for putting up with the lack of updates in the past few days. Come back tomorrow! ;)

Categories: Regular Blogs
15 Comments »