I have not received so many Christmas presents since I was like five years old.

Most years, I get an average of three presents and that’s including party gift-exchange presents.

This year, WOAH.

I told the Goonfather, “We need a Christmas tree to put all these presents under!”

I made that announcement like on Christmas Eve. His response was, “Oh, yes. That’s a great idea. We’ll buy a tree and decorate it and, after two days, we can throw it away because Christmas is over.”

“Boo,” I said.

But then the Goonfather came up with an alternative to satisty my tree-needy soul. He stole a digital wallpaper of a Christmas tree from somewhere and projected it on our actual wall, leaving just enough room to place presents under it.

Hahaha. What a goon.

But I suppose it is rather cool.

(You can also tell that The Body Shop enjoyed thriving Christmas sales this year.)

We went to St James Power Station for Christmas countdown. Because the Goonfather is an old man, he shunned the more festive and rowdy outlets like Dragonfly and Powerhouse.

He likes Movida so we went there for early drinks.

We had to sit at the bar because this was quite an impromptu trip and, apparently, all the seats had been booked solid at least two weeks ago.

We got complimentary champagne for getting a St James membership.

They gave us ugly hats and party packs.

Which Morte immediately decorated himself with.

Men are so lacking in fashion sense.

I kinda liked the lighting in the toilet (low and eerie), so I took a mirror photo. I seldom do that because I think mirror photos are silly, but it’s not silly if you have a good reason.

Anyway, we had dinner at Movida. It’s not a dinner place but I love eating snacks and finger food so I insisted on having a dinner of finger food at Movida. Yummy!

I didn’t take pictures because finger food all looks the same so why would anyone want to see pictures of them?

After my dinner, the Goonfather made us all go to VivoCity for his dinner because he said finger food for dinner is ridiculous.

VivoCity was really cold so I went shopping for a jacket while the men ate their dinners. (It was imperative that I bought freeze insurance because we were going to catch a 1.30 am movie at VivoCity.)

I ended up buying a coat which looks thick enough for winter.

After dinner and shopping at VivoCity, we continued partying at Bellini Room. I informed the Goonfather that the place is more suited to his old-man-ness because Jazz is played there.

We managed to get a table next to this beautiful wall of glass bottles with blue lighting. Aww.

It was fun, because I got to take plenty of blue pictures.

The light turned red for one very brief moment, though. Not sure what’s up with it because it never came back.

Mostly, it was just blue.

Then, I realised that I could make my own red.

Cool! It’s fun to change the colour of your face (without Photoshop)!

Anyway, I kinda “missed” the countdown because I was busy videotaping the countdown. Not posting the video here because it’s a boring video and it’s shaky. Haha.

And then, there’s that, Christmas was over.

We went to watch I Am Legend after countdown. It’s very similar to 28 Days Later but I think it’s much better. Will Smith is great. The suspense is great. The plot is great.

And the Goonfather came out of the cinema with a slightly-deaf right ear. Wahaha.

Well, Merry Christmas (Happy Boxing Day) to you all, and thanks for all the presents! ;)

Categories: Regular Blogs
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Wanted to blog about Christmas celebrations but was out all day today, so I think I’ll leave that for tomorrow because it’s late now and there are too many pictures to process.

Here’s a bit of irrelevant news for now.

Two days ago, the Goonfather and I went to his sister’s place for Christmas dinner and discovered that his niece and nephew had bought three Roborovski hamsters between them.

They’re so cute! And I kinda commented casually that I wanted hamsters, too (although I don’t really really want them, even if they’re cute, because pets are such a huge responsibility).

Later, we found out that the Goonfather’s sister was going to buy a new dog and the seller wanted to give her more hamsters for free.

So, it ends up that she’s going to take the free hamsters and give them to us.

OMG.

I didn’t decline the offer because — ZOMG — how could I resist baby dwarf hamsters???

Free somemore leh!!

We’re picking them up tomorrow!

So, today, the Goonfather took me shopping for hamster housing and necessities.

TMD LAH. Ends up my free hamsters cost me a total of $120 for initial set up.

But, never mind. I’m really excited! Especially since I just spent $120 buying cool stuff to welcome my new pets.

I’ve set up a corner for them in my room!

I even bought them a bathroom, a toilet and a sleeping cot! (But turns out I couldn’t fit everything into the house.)

The house is called Pink Princess Castle. SO SWEET RIGHT??!?!?!!

Even though it looks nothing like a castle, and I don’t even know what sex my hamsters will be, I had to buy it because the name is so cute lah. I’m a total sucker for marketing.

I can’t wait to see my hamsters! I bought yummy snacks for them!

Well, I hope my hamsters will find them yummy.

Categories: Hamster Tales
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I already twittered this but here’s the full story.

Yesterday, while out shopping, I dropped by Polar Puffs & Cakes at Citylink Mall to have a quick snack.

I told the guy at the counter, “One chicken pie and a cold milk, please.”

I know cold milk is a very unusual beverage to order but it’s there on the menu and I love milk.

He said, “Having here or takeaway?”

“Having here,” I told him.

So the guy went off to get my order while I waited at the cash register. He came back, plonked a plate on the counter in front of me and stared at me expressionlessly, not saying anything.

On the plate were two items, a pie and a puff.

I looked at him meaningfully and said, “One chicken pie.”

He said, “Yes.”

I said again, “One chicken pie,” emphasizing the one.

He said, “Yes. One chicken pie and one tuna puff.”

Scratching my head, I told him, “Er… I only ordered one chicken pie.”

Wordlessly, he took the plate away, put the tuna puff back into the display shelves and then returned with my one chicken pie.

“Anything else?” he mumbled.

I was feeling a little weirded out at this moment because this guy was staring at me with a bored, semi-annoyed expression, as if I was the one who was being difficult.

“Milk,” I reminded him.

“Hot?”

“Cold.”

He grabbed a plastic cup and asked, “More ice or less ice?”

That stumped me for five seconds. My brain raced furiously to remember a single occasion when plain milk was served with ice.

I couldn’t think of any.

“No ice,” I said.

The guy looked annoyed at that. Then he looked confused. Wavering a bit, he turned around, grabbed a packet of milk that was just standing around at the coffee counter, and poured milk into the plastic cup.

Then he gave me my correct order and collected my money.

Because I was feeling a little bewildered by this time, I didn’t pay attention to the cash transaction. I just gave him a $50 note, collected my change and quickly carted my hard-won spoils to the seating area.

It was only later that I realised I might have been slightly overcharged, but then I can’t be sure because I wasn’t given a receipt and my memory isn’t always reliable.

I know I was charged $4.50 because of the remaining cash sitting in my wallet.

I know a chicken pie costs $1.60 because I’m a fan of Polar chicken pie.

I think I remember seeing on the menu that milk costs $2.00.

So what happened to the extra $0.90?

Maybe the guy charged me extra for not wanting ice with my milk.

Oh, well. At least the milk tasted good and I wasn’t served any of those rubbish low-fat or slim variety.

And the chicken pie, as always, was great.

Categories: Regular Blogs
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It seems that the NBL Hummer Championship matches hosted at the Singapore Indoor Stadium have become more like blogger gatherings.

Over the months, the number of bloggers attending keeps rising, which is great, because that means more support for home team Singapore Slingers.

Note: This isn’t a full picture. For various reasons, many bloggers who attended the match aren’t in the picture. I guess some are shy.

And, now, a summary of what transpired on Dec 19.

Merry Christmas Y’all!

The Slingers-vs-Razorbacks match was a Christmas edition, it being held near Christmas, presumably.

Invitations to the game went out to children from various homes and shelters, thanks to sponsors and donors. Part of the stadium was decorated with green and red balloons to welcome them, and they were each given a goodie bag, adding to the festive spirit of the day.

The Slinger girls also wore Christmas-themed outfits.

Which deeply infused Vandalin with the Christmas spirit.

Hello Kitty Hunk

TK was proudly sporting a snoopy plaster on his forehead. The way he preened, you would think it was there as a fashion accessory and not to protect a wound.

“Nice plaster,” I told him.

“Thanks!” he said, preening.

“I got Hello Kitty plaster. You want?”

“Hey, sure!” he enthused.

Dotdotdot.

(I didn’t actually expect a positive answer.)

So, anyway, I gave him my Hello Kitty plaster and he carefully replaced Snoopy with Hello Kitty.

Nice.

Photos and Videos

I’m getting lazy taking photos at events these days, especially since there are so many bloggers with bigger, sexier cameras and kickass photography skills.

Jason has amazing photographs of the match.

Simply Jean has amazing photographs of the entire event!

Alice has video clips of exciting moments — Part 1 and Part 2.

Great job, you guys!

Win A Million Dollars

At every match, one spectator is randomly picked to shoot some balls from different spots on the court. Each successful shot yields a different prize — corporate box seats; 32″ LG LCD TV; $500 cash. (The participant is eligible to win all the prizes if he gets all the balls in.)

Lennie was picked this time round! OMG. Lennie’s an errant blogger who hasn’t blogged for more than a year.

Lennie won $500!!! OMG.

Nicholas has the scoop here.

And, now, I talk about the million dollars.

On Feb 13, 2008, one lucky spectator will get picked to shoot hoops for a chance to win a whole million buckaroos in cold, hard cash!

To get picked, attend any Slingers game and answer the secret question that will be revealed at the game. Answers can be sent via SMS or through the Million Dollar Shot website. And then be at the game on Feb 13. (Obviously, you can’t get picked if you’re not actually at the game on the day.)

Well, since it’s almost-Christmas, let me share this chance with you even if you didn’t attend the match on Wednesday. I’ll give you a hint for this week’s secret answer so you can take part, too!

The answer is my birth date (day of the month).

Haha.

Ok, ok, for those who don’t know me that well, here’s another hint.

The answer is that mysterious number that Jim Carrey was obssessed with in that psychological thriller shown in cinemas early this year.

Is that easy enough? *lol*

Ok, go try your luck now.

If you win the million bucks, share some with me, ok?

Free McDondald’s!

Because Lennie won $500 at Wednesday’s match, he wanted to buy us drinks at St James Power Station.

Strangely, no one seemed keen to go there, so we finally decided on having drinks and supper at Kallang McDonald’s.

What a lot of food and drinks!

Thanks for the treat, Lennie!

And thanks once again to Nicholas for the invites to the games!

Categories: Regular Blogs
23 Comments »

So, I just found out that the “theatre” we’d been working in is haunted.

Our stage manager, who is apparently “sensitive” to spirits, can see them. Throughout the five days we were at the Q Bar, she saw a mother and daughter spirit always sitting or standing in a corner.

The Q Bar was one of our performance spaces and acted as our base where we met and put our stuff, so we spent a lot of time in there.

There’s also another female ghost residing outside the bar.

The security guards around the Arts House confirm that this is true.

We had a post mortem meeting today and all this was revealed after the meeting. We learned that there were times some of us even walked through the ghosts or sat on them.

OMG.

There were some moments I was alone in the Q Bar late at night.

But nothing happened to us in the five days we were there and our show went well without major hiccups so, if there were spirits, they must be benevolent.

But I think Sean (designer) was a little disturbed when he heard that there was a moment when he walked right through the skirt of the woman spirit, who was just floating in mid air.

Bendini (The Fun Stage) exploded into dramatic hysteria. “Why must they float around and scare people?? Why can’t they just behave normally??!!?!?!?”

Timothy (publicist) burst out laughing at that, but that’s Timothy.

We learnt that ghosts look just like us except that they have a translucent quality and they pretty much just go about doing whatever it is they do.

“Well, what is it they do?” I asked.

No one could tell me.

“When they’re walking along Orchard Road, do they go shopping?” Bendini wanted to know.

“Of course not!” said Richard (Little Red Shop).

I think ghosts (if they really exist) are misunderstood. Maybe most of them are harmless (I’m not saying all are). It’s the media that makes them into horrible, scary beings that eat people or whatever.

But I wonder. Do they have a purpose when roaming the earth? They allegedly can’t interact with objects in our plane and I haven’t heard any reports of them having their own objects. So what do they do? Aren’t they bored being restricted to sitting, walking and floating, maybe for eternity?

I would be. No computer games, no DS Lite, no camwhoring, no blogging, no going to parties, no reading books, no acting in plays and accidentally sitting on ghosts.

What a horrible existence.

Categories: Acting Journal, Regular Blogs
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