I’m going to publish an archived post from my old blog today. (The one that I had in 2004/5 which I deleted after switching to WordPress.)

Back then, I had an impressive number of, like, 20 readers. Probably because my blogs then were text-heavy and only very serious readers could be bothered to read my rambling, inconsequential walls of text.

We all know that serious readers are a dying breed. If they aren’t already dead.

Today, after 6 years of blogging, my visitor count has gone up a bit, so let’s see if the number of serious readers (vs. people who just look at photos) visiting my blog has increased at all.

If you’re one of them “serious readers”, you might want to leave a comment to acknowledge your own existence, you think?

The following post first appeared on Sheylara.com on Jan 17, 2005.

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The Crazy Things We Do

Once again, I have fallen under the corrupt clutches of commercialism. I have now in my possession 28 exceptionally adorable (but also exceptionally useless) Neopets.

Huzzah.

I blame it all on the eyes.

[Qiaoyun] Angel says: “It’s a scheme to cheat parents of their hard earned money. To cheat struggling actresses who should know better than to spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need. Besides, McDonald’s is fattening and you’re on a diet!”

[Qiaoyun] Devil says: “Look at the eyessssssssss…! Aren’t they all ohhhhhhhh soooooooooo dropdeadcuddlycoo cuuuuuuuuuuuute?”

[Qiaoyun] says: “Leave me alone! *pause* Awww… but Cloud Shoyru is looking at me with such adoring, beseeching eyes…”

And so, I have in my possession 28 Neopets stashed in a Metro paper bag, where they will remain stashed until such a time as I find a nice, gentlemanly billionaire to marry, who will buy me a mansion in which I can build classy frosted glass shelves to display my embarrassing collection of Neopets and Hello Kittys and the like.

Which, of course, isn’t going to happen.

Which means that the Neopets will remain stashed in the Metro paper bag forever. Or until I decide to give them all away to a kid sister or a baby niece, whichever comes first.

I never learn.

We never really do, do we?

So, my latest hobby is to take extremely close-up pictures of Chong on the MRT because we always take the same MRT home after a gathering and he enjoys annoying me, so I whip out my camera to shut him up.

It works, because when he’s trying to leer at me menacingly for sticking the camera in his face, he actually shuts up.

Compare Chong’s mugshot to this picture of a Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus Eques), which I took in Sentosa’s Underwater World while filming there last month:

Notice that the resemblance is almost nil?

Yes, amazing, isn’t it?

So, you’re going to ask me what the point is in comparing two completely unrelated pictures.

The point is, who knows?

The point is. The world is illogical, so live with it. If you can’t beat it, you have to join it or it will drive you nuts.

If I am half nuts, I blame it on the world.

I recently bumped into a classmate from my Japanese class on the MRT while going to class. We’ve “known” each other for two months since the start of the course but have never spoken a word to each other and never knew that we actually lived just opposite each other… until that day we bumped into each other on the train.

It also happened to be the last day of our Elementary I course.

Which isn’t quite the point, of course.

The point is that, after half an hour of awkward and inane conversation about the weather and such, she suddenly looked at me strangely and said, “You look very young. How old are you?”

Now, I find that question extremely disturbing.

It’s okay for people to ask me how old I am because it’s one of those questions people ask because they can’t think of anything else better to ask.

But what’s with the “you look very young” precursor?

I don’t know what that means. Does it mean that she thinks I behave like an old hag but I look too young to be an old hag so she just needs to find out whether I really am or not?

Or does it mean that she thinks I’m, like, 12 years old and have no business attending Japanese classes without a chaperone?

If, for example, I behave like a 20-year-old and look like a 20-year-old and she thinks I’m 20 years old, a logical statement to make would be, “How old are you? Let me guess… 20?”

Where is the logic in: “You look very young. How old are you?”

What would make an almost stranger phrase a question that way?

Prior to that question, no mention of age or job or hobby or anything like that was made.

To compound matters, she looks like 22 or 23, which I think is young, so what is so amazing about me looking young or being young that she has to make a separate comment on it?

I don’t understand it.

So, I’m going to put up another extremely close-up photo of Chong:

Followed by a picture of a jellyfish who resides in Sentosa’s Underwater World:

Note that I’m not trying to imply anything by following pictures of Chong with pictures of seafood. I mean sea creatures.

Speaking of pictures, I am featured in a four-page interview in the current issue of Playworks (the EQ2 vs WoW issue) but I am embarrassed by the way I look in the pictures so I’m not putting any of it up here.

For now, applications to buy me a mansion for my Neopets are open. Please apply here.

I got a call last week from CNBC reporter Cris Prystay, wanting to interview me for a story on CNBC.com.

It was nice. We spent about 20 minutes chatting about my blogging career.

I feel quite lucky that, so far, all my interviews have been quite positive. I mean, I haven’t gotten any reporters trying to wrangle nasty stories from me or purposely misquoting me just to make me look bad.

(Okay, except for that little thing in Maxim, but that was probably my fault for reading the question wrongly, and partly their fault for phrasing it badly. But it wasn’t like a deliberate sabotage.)

This CNBC interview was for a business story, anyway, so I wasn’t expecting anything nasty, although I didn’t know the angle of the story when we were chatting.

Turns out I’m a case study for a bigger story on how blogs are today a dominant influence in consumer markets. I feel quite amused. And somewhat flattered, I suppose.

Anyway, what the report didn’t mention is how thankful I am to have supportive readers who enjoy reading what I write. That’s what keeps me happy and inspired.

Click here to read the full report on CNBC.com.

So, I just wanna take this opportunity to once again thank my readers for reading. You’re the reason for my existence!

And thanks for the mention, CNBC!

So, I bought these giant, geeky specs in Korea, thinking I would wear them in Singapore once in a while, for fun.

But I’ve been back in Singapore for more than a month and I haven’t worn them in all that time.

With that and similar experiences in the past (bought stuff overseas then didn’t feel like wearing them back home) I’ve come to the conclusion that the Singapore weather is really uninspiring for fashionista wannabes.

Your face gets greasy quickly, your curls get weighed down by the humidity so they become limp and straggly, and your body thinks you’re in a sauna so you’re sweating out toxins by the bucket.

Just five minutes outdoors in Singapore and you’re ready to go back indoors, remove every article of clothing that you’ve spent a painstaking 30 minutes to carefully match, then put on a ragged oversized t-shirt and call it a day.

I prefer dressing up when I’m overseas in a cooler climate. I feel good and comfortable the whole day, even after being in the streets for 10 hours.

But the problem with dressing up overseas is that you don’t have your full wardrobe with you. You only have what you managed to pack in your little suitcase, and maybe a few things you picked up there, which is nothing to call home about.

Little suitcase. lol.

Plus you have limited time because your friends are waiting for you to finish vaining around so you can all go out and do some touristy things before the sun goes down.

Maybe that’s the reason why Singapore can’t be a leader in fashion. Given the weather, people can’t be bothered to dress up and fashion designers can’t feel too inspired to create breakthrough looks.

And, of course, since we only have one season all year round, the stuff we can wear is quite limited.

Not that I’m trying to give excuses for the uninspired fashion scene in Singapore but, really, think about it. How many people do you know bother to dress creatively?

And when you do get people who dress creatively, if they haven’t already died from the sweltering heat, they might receive jeering comments such as “ai sui mai mia” (willing to sacrifice your life for the sake of beauty).

Between the crazy humidity and the jeering comments, it’s a wonder at all that you can even spot the occasional fashionable person in Singapore.

Sure, you can be fashionable in light clothing suitable for our weather. But sometimes you don’t even want to bother with that because the heat has already fried your brain cells and you just wanna lie down in an air-conditioned room and go to sleep, right?

After several times of buying stuff overseas and then not wearing them in Singapore because it’s too hot to bother, I’ve kinda gotten tired of shopping overseas. In my last few trips this year (Korea, China and Hong Kong), I hardly bought anything, spending most of my money on food and entertainment.

But it’s making me feel boring and uninspired. Maybe it’s time to bugger it all and dress crazy again. I’m planning to travel quite a bit in the coming year so maybe I’ll start shopping again!

If you like the herbal duck in Dian Xiao Er, you have to give this one in Johor Bahru a try.

Yeah, I know it’s kinda far but I think it’s worth it. I loved the one in Dian Xiao Er. I loved this one in JB more, although my perception could be a bit warped since the last time I ate at Dian Xiao Er was about 2005 or thereabouts.

The story I’m hearing is that Dian Xiao Er bought the recipe from this Malaysian franchise which, according to its name card, has eight outlets in the country and claims to be “The First & Original Herbal Roasted Duck”.

But Dian Xiao Er might have a better version with its Ten Wonder Herb Roast Duck.

The difference, I think, is that the JB version is drier and comes across as more crispy. It’s awesome.

There are five different flavours. I tried the Tang Gui and liked it so much I think I might just forgo trying the other flavours next time I visit.

The sauce has a sweet, herbal infusion which teases the tongue quite palatably. It’s also on the salty side, so it’s a good idea to eat it with rice. The meat is pretty tender and has a nicely roasted taste.

At RM22-RM24 for half a duck, it converts to just under S$10, which is pretty reasonable.

Of course, the travelling will be a bit of a hassle.

The outlet I went to is just past the immigration building at the Woodlands checkpoint. Walkable distance. You’ll pass through Johor Bahru City Square (the mall) and then cross a few streets to get there.

Maybe I’ll go try the Dian Xiao Er duck again and see if it’s gotten better after all these years.

Here’s the address for the JB one if you’re around the area and want to search for it.

Restorn Hao Bi
31 Jalan Meldrum
80000 Johor Bahru
Johor, Malaysia
Tel: 07-222 5591