I am at the moment dog sitting Basil in Piers’ parents’ house, which I thought is a great setting for starting my blog going again.

I’m on a plush sofa. I have in front of me my laptop, a crackling fire and a sleepy dog snoring in his bed. Perfect.

The TV is on because Piers, after he dropped me off here and before he went back to the office, turned it on for me, worried that I would want to watch TV and not be able to turn it on.

I told him I didn’t want to watch TV because I have lots of other things to do but he said to leave it on mute just in case. Apparently, the TV is hard to turn on or something.

I couldn’t imagine how hard turning a TV on could be but I didn’t protest. Life is simpler if you just let people do what they want to do if what they want to do doesn’t hurt anyone.

Now, though, Piers’ worry has gained a new validity. I have just tried to turn the TV off and it wouldn’t go off.

There is a power button on the remote control. I am quite sure the symbol on it is the universal indicator for on/off.

So I pressed it but instead of going to sleep, the TV told me, “No channel found. Please check aerial or local signal availability. Press OK to start Auto Setup.”

It didn’t turn off even after a long wait, adamant that its warning not go unread for the next hour or ten.

Either people are bent on making my life difficult or I am terribly backward. The TV stays on for now.

But never mind the TV. Let’s do updates.

There are many reasons why I haven’t blogged in months. These will remain unannounced because I’m quite sure your life won’t be made better by reading my rambling excuses.

But, since my last post in November, I have been very productive. I have:

• Showed Piers around Singapore and acquainted him with what he’s been missing out on all his life (for example, chilli crab).
• Played a lot of Facebook games.
• Read half of the book I’m supposed to have finished reading by the time school starts (in three days’ time).
• Bought a lot of winter coats from cheap China shopping websites and then thrown away half of them because they don’t resemble the product photographs so much as they resemble chopped liver.
• Usurped half of Piers’ storage space in England because I’m moving in for a year.

Today is my last weekday of freedom. That is, I start school at the Montessori College the coming Monday and I still have half a book unread. I had planned to either read the book or write a blog while dog sitting today.

Write a blog won.

That is not to say that the book is boring. It is in fact a very good read and I can’t wait to learn everything there is to learn about the Montessori Method.

It’s just that there is a very strong procrastination gene in me which sometimes makes me procrastinate even things that I look forward to doing.

Can’t help it, you know. Genes are fixed things. I try to colour my hair brown but it keeps turning black again.

That’s why I don’t do new year resolutions.

Basil just left his bed to seek my humanly warmth.

Actually, he’s probably warmer than I am. The temperature outside is 9°C but it’s quite comfortable indoors with the fire going and two layers of clothes on my body and a warm dog across my lap, passionately licking my left hand like it’s a hunk of juicy beef.

Life is quite good right now and Basil is starting to create a puddle on my hand so I’m going to tell him to stop drooling all over me.

Bye, Basil.

Well, now that I’ve started to blog again, I’m gonna try and keep it going.

Thanks for all the admonishments. “When are you going to blog again!?!?!!”

It’s very nice to know that I’ve been missed.

Have a great 2012. In fact, have a blast. It’s supposed to be the very last year of our lives.

I don’t really believe it but no harm having a blast anyway.

Happy New Year!

I was considerably nervous about attending Piers’ company annual dinner until I saw photos from last year’s dinner.

Although declared black tie, an atmosphere of fun can be detected from the photos. There’s a Laurel and Hardy impersonating duo mingling with guests, a Michael Jackson impersonator as the night’s entertainment, and there’s disco dancing. Many women wore simple cocktail dresses instead of formal gowns.

So I went to this year’s event thinking I was going to be overdressed. (I had bought my dress before seeing the photos.)

I know it’s a bit weddingy.

“Is this for your wedding?” my alterations seamstress had asked.

“Oh, you look gorgeous. Are you getting married?” the greeters at the dinner event had quipped.

“Great! You don’t need to buy a wedding dress anymore!” Piers had said.

What, can’t a woman wear a white dress to any occasion apart from her own wedding?

This year’s dinner was a lot more formal than I had expected. This year’s theme, unbeknownst to us, was Phantom of the Opera, so everything looked really grand and majestic.

It started with a cocktail reception at the lobby of the Leeds Town Hall, a magnificent Victorian structure that hosts concerts, screenings and other events.

I don’t have a good photo of it so I’m going to borrow one from BBC. Here’s an amazing photo taken by photographer Adrian Wilson:

The lobby is not very big so the cocktail reception got a bit cramped with over 200 guests who, fortunately, did not all arrive at once.

We were served a few different versions of champagne punch. I only had one glass because I didn’t want to get drunk.

And also because I was having a drink with Invisalign on for the first time and I was uncomfortable about it. But I couldn’t remove them too early because dinner was going to be a long affair and I had a four-hours-a-day downtime to adhere to.

Just my luck that my Invisalign sponsorship came the very year I’ve got all these cool events to go to.

Steve chatting with a pretty lady I don’t know.

Ellie and David!

Me and Piers!

The reception lasted about an hour or so, during which time the boys (meaning Piers, Steve and David) kept running off to the bar (within the town hall) to buy beers.

The beer addiction in men is more severe than I thought if they choose to pay for beer when there’s free champagne.

The doors to the dining hall opened around 8 pm, revealing the magnificent sight of an old Victorian theatre turned ballroom for the evening.

Candelabras bearing slender black candles graced each of the 22 tables that awaited us as we marched in to the thunderous strains of the Phantom of the Opera theme song resounding off a giant pipe organ.

The effect was beautiful, filling me with an overwhelming sense of grandeur and adventure.

Seats had been pre-arranged, each marked with a personalised name plate. On the inside of each name plate showed the menu items that each guest had pre-selected prior to the event. We were told by our table captain to place the menu face up so the service staff would know what to serve each of us.

There were six bottles of wine on each table that we could immediately help ourselves to.

The dinner itself wasn’t particularly remarkable, being just like any other dinner. We had a three-course meal which was surprisingly tasty. I don’t have photos of my food because I didn’t think it was too appropriate to demonstrate blogger behaviour in the middle of a posh meal.

Between our courses, there were speeches, awards presentations and performances. Well, it was just one long performance by a female soprano singing all the popular Phantom of the Opera tracks.

It was quite nice, except when she sang Angel of Music, the duet between Christine and Meg. I love the song, but our singer sang both parts herself and that’s just weird because it sounds like she’s talking to herself.

Duets shouldn’t be sung solo, unless you’re in the bathroom.

A nice thing happened when the singing started and everyone turned their chairs to face the stage.

As I listened, entranced by the music, a male waiter came up behind me and whispered gently in my ear, “For you, madam.”

I turned around and saw him holding out a single stalk of red rose, smiling gallantly. As I accepted it and gave my thanks, I noticed that every other lady in the room was either receiving the same or had already received it.

At the end of the dinner, the lights went out and the disco started. There were quite a lot of drunk people eager to show their stuff on the dance floor.

Piers isn’t really into dancing. Neither am I, especially when I’m wearing a dress that kisses the floor, threatening to trip me at every turn. And Ellie, being pregnant, had to return to the hotel. So we didn’t stay too long.

Final photo before we said our good nights:

From left: Me, Piers, Steve, Charles, David, Ellie

The next annual dinner will be happening in April 2012 (this year’s dinner was delayed). If Piers sees fit to invite me again, I bet we’ll be having this following conversation some time in March:

Me: Time to shop for my new dress!

Piers: Why do you need a new dress?

Me: For the dinner, duh!

Piers: Didn’t you buy one last year?

Me: So? That was for last year!

Piers: Why can’t you wear the same one?

Me: ??!!!!?!!!!!??!!!

I leave you to imagine the rest of the strangulation conversation.

Tomorrow is Singapore’s National Day but I’m not in Singapore. So, I will have to commemorate by looking at the photos I took during a National Day Parade rehearsal.

It was such a great experience it made me wish I could attend the actual parade (happening tomorrow) but, of course, I can’t because I’m not in Singapore.

Nanny Wen went with me to the rehearsal a month ago. When we met up, the first thing she said to me was, “Why are you not wearing red?!!!!”

To be honest, the thought of wearing red never crossed my mind. I thought people only did that on National Day itself. But I suppose the rehearsals are supposed to mimic the real thing.

I didn’t have any red clothes, in any case. Well, I do have one red dress but it was hanging in my wardrobe in England. (It’s technically Piers’ wardrobe, but my things are in it so it’s as good as mine, right?)

To make up for not wearing red, I decided to plaster myself with the patriotic tattoos given out in the fun packs.

The fun pack has a load of cool stuff in it such as the Singapore flag, a glow stick, a visor cap, water and snacks.

We didn’t have time to look through all the stuff because we were a bit late and the show had already started. Youths in red and white costumes were dancing on the stage and celebrities Gurmit Singh and Belinda Lee were warming up the audience.

The audience was very cooperative and enthusiastic, waving flags or screaming happily when told to.

It was my first time at the Marina Bay Floating Platform, even though it’s been around for about four years and is the biggest floating stage in the world. I’m a bit of a homebody, I suppose. In other words, suaku.

I’m glad I got to see it, though, because it has such an awesome backdrop. I think the beautiful Singapore skyline and the bay waters acting as backdrop probably contributes to heightened feelings of pride and patriotism during such events as the National Day Parade.

Too bad The Float can’t be the NDP venue forever since it can only hold half as many people as the new (building-in-progress) National Stadium will be able to.

After the warming up and singing and dancing, our Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers arrived. But they were fake ones since it was only a rehearsal.

Young men dressed in white waved cheerfully at the audience while holding red signs that proclaimed their roles: MP or CM.

They didn’t stay for the performances. They walked off the grandstand immediately after pretending to take their seats. I think they had to go get ready to pretend to be the Prime Minister and President, who would arrive later in the evening.

Then it got exciting.

It was time for our Red Lions to show off their stuff.

The Red Lions are the parachute team from the Singapore Armed Forces. They spend all their time training to perform at National Day Parades as well as to take part in parachuting and skydiving competitions.

They’re really good but I sort of missed a lot of it because I was busy trying to take good photographs. There were five of them plus one cameraman, who was also up in the air filming the performance that was simultaneously fed onto the big screen on the stage.

The landing was as much performance as the actual air show. Each Red Lion took turns to fly past our iconic skyscrapers and down onto the floating stage, accompanied by supportive cheers from the audience.

Look how the parachute had collapsed into a heart shape in the last picture, heh.

You can probably tell how much I love the Red Lions’ performance by the number of photos I’ve displayed on their segment.

I wish I could enjoy skydiving type of activities because it looks so exhilarating and free. But falling makes my heart jump out of my skin and sends icicles prickling through my entire body and I don’t like that feeling at all.

This year’s NDP features a musical in five acts. While the evening sky darkens, the story of Singapore and demonstrations of the Singapore Spirit are portrayed through a mother and son character with their family and friends.

As the story plays out, more performances and special effects are unveiled, including battle scenes with pyrotechnics, marching contingents and elaborately costumed dancers.

Interspersed within the musical were beautiful moments filled with fireworks, bubbles and confetti (not all together, of course), as everyone waved the blue and pink light sticks given in the fun packs.

The parade ended with more fireworks, reciting of the National Pledge and singing of the National Anthem.

At 8:30 pm, the event ended. Red and white confetti pieces were everywhere — on the floor, in our hair, in our bags.

Nanny Wen and I took a last photo together before leaving the premises. She picked up two pieces of confetti, meaning to form the Singapore flag in our photo, but she got it the wrong way, haha.

It was all very wonderful and emotional, especially towards the end of the night. I can only imagine what the atmosphere will be like at the actual event itself. Hope I get to experience that some day!

The theme of this year’s National Day is Majulah! The Singapore Spirit. Majulah means “onward”, which represents our strength and determination to strive forward in building a better Singapore.

The Singapore Spirit represents our unity and mutual trust as we forge ahead together to scale new heights.

This year’s logo:

You can learn more about NDP 2011 and the Singapore Spirit at these two sites:

NDP 2011 Official Website

NDPeeps Facebook Page

Happy Birthday, Singapore and cheers to the Singapore Spirit!

Sometimes, on a weekend, you’re torn between sleeping in and getting up early to do something fun.

I mean early like 6 am. Sometimes a lot earlier, like if you had to catch the 5 am train to London so as to maximise your time there.

But it was for 6 am on Sunday when I sacrificed sleep in the name of adventure. Not adventure in the traditional sense of the word, but more in terms of interesting and fun.

Sunday, I agreed to visit the home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in the prestigious estate of Goodwood because its doors rarely open for the public.

It wasn’t just about getting a peek inside the factory that produces the most expensive luxury cars in the world, it was also about getting together with hundreds of sports cars and their owners, who would congregate on the massive grounds of Goodwood.

Sounded like fun.

We left home at 7:20 am to meet up with Piers’ cousin, Simon, who drives a red Ferrari 355 Spider, and Simon’s friend, Badger, who drives a TVR Griffith 500.

Here are their three cars parked side by side in Goodwood. (There’s Olive in the middle.)

It was fun driving there together, a journey that took a bit over an hour even with a lot of speed bursts on the highway. By the time we arrived, there was a line forming outside the gates because each car had to be checked against the invite list.

This event was organised by PistonHeads, a leading automotive website in the UK with a huge online community, and 400 cars were given a pass to the event, called the Rolls-Royce Sunday Service.

All PistonHeads events and meets are called Sunday Service, apparently, although I don’t know why because it just makes me think of church.

Anyway, the morning went something like this: Arrive at Goodwood and park. Drool at everyone else’s beautiful sports cars. Have breakfast. Play around with the few Rolls-Royces displayed on the grounds. Drool at more cars. Tour the Rolls-Royce factory. Go back out to drool at yet more cars.

Not an epic adventure but quite good fun.

Photography isn’t allowed inside the actual manufacturing plant but, well, they look just like the insides of manufacturing plants, so you can imagine for yourself.

We learnt interesting bits of trivia, like how clients would fly all the way to the premises to look at their cars. Some rich guy had visited the plant regularly for a year to witness his Rolls-Royce being built from scratch.

I didn’t know that Rolls-Royce made convertibles. They’re gorgeous.

Here’s one.

A very very old one. LOL.

Okay, I’m going to stop yabbering and do photos now.

Loads and loads of cars!

We were done by 11 am, so that’s when we left the premises, although the gates would only close at 1 pm.

It was interesting, the event, certainly worthy of sacrificing my sleep-in.

Today is my birthday and also the second anniversary of the day I first knew of Piers’ existence.

Two years ago today, Piers decided to drop me a Facebook message after reading my blog for a couple of weeks. He really enjoyed my writings so decided to show his appreciation by letting me know. (I think my writings were less bimbotic, then. :P)

He didn’t know it was my birthday when he sent me that message because I didn’t have my birthday listed on Facebook then.

And I didn’t even remember it until we got together this February and I went back to look at the message and saw that it had come on my birthday.

There’s a funny little story about how he chanced upon my blog in the first place, but I’ll leave that story for another day.

I thought his message was quite funny and sincere, so I gave him a thank-you reply. After a couple more funny back and forths, we stopped conversing and he joined Plurk.

I think he was more active in Plurk than I was, haha. Anyway, we were never really close or anything, just regular Plurk friends like everyone else.

Well, then, a year and a half later, you already know that story, I came to England and we made our history.

Okay, one day I will tell the full story but I have to go now because there’s the rest of my birthday to enjoy.

The weather is great today. =)