tan minyi
minyct@gmail.com
23rd April, Rooster
Saturday, February 18, 2012
last twelve days of February
5 spent filming
3 spent shooting
4 tentatively unfree days, because somehow i like not having enough time for myself
what would i do / do i do when i'm free like a sparkly cotton candy cloud?
WORK OUT (but that's why i'm back in school a lot, to use the gym hall to jump rope on a soft bouncy knee-friendly surface)
and then EAT LUSCIOUS GOODIES with friends
CAMP AND READ FOR MORE THAN 5h (a lot of my reading of books from NLB on aliens, torture, advertising, marketing & SAMURAI is done in transit while on trains/buses! not good)
WALK AROUND AND WATCH HUMANS (and snap photos of them with an unobtrusive and non-working iPhone)
WRITE MORBID STORIES that only i can darkly desire (we could write narratives in secondary school and eschew expository essays; we could also write macabre/horror)
SAVOR NEW LEARNING EXPERIENCES (and that's why i'm interning hmm okay)
and seriously stop playing with the idea and go ahead already with learning how to bake/cook/drive/kick ass like ninja/speak another language/say no to things i don't really want (pick one)
WHAT GOES DOWN IN THE RI GYM HALL, STAYS IN THE RI GYM HALL
and this, dear viewer, is the very reason why i am raring to be a relief teacher at RI one day and whip up a little army of little boys
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
no seriously
i am really guffawing like that now
BWAHAHAHAHAHMUAHAHAHAHAHWAHAHAHAHA
♥ 1:10 AM
Friday, February 17, 2012
everything is more expensive now!!
Ya Kun increased its prices (quite some time ago), as did Coffeebean whose breakfast sets are now averaging a dollar more (some places have that 1-for-1 breakfast set all day long promotion, which is the only time i ever eat from coffeebean)
money is a very sad thing
having it only saves you from not worrying about not having it
bought my second & third material possession of the year including my first pair of shoes in 2 years
(the last time i bought a pair of non-running shoes was in J1 with A when we went to CityLink Mall)
i can't bring myself to shop for items non-food/drink (and even then i don't buy stuff like the yummier pasta or the cooler-sounding drink if its more expensive), especially if the nagging suspicion that somewhere out there stocks it cheaper persists
also because the Cost : Love weighing balance is biased against the Love side being weightier than the Cost side
SO SHOPPING SUCCESSFULLY TODAY MADE ME VERY HAPPY AND HAPPY ENOUGH TO BATHE WILLINGLY
just kidding
haven't bathed yet
hate bathing
why bathe when you're clean????
okay shopping list includes a wallet (have been using this Na Ra Ya pouch thing which looks like a handphone pouch or a pad pouch; have spent 0$ on wallets in the past 4 years because the David & Goliath Underwear-shaped one was a gift and this Na Ra Ya one is from the storeroom and previously from Thailand); got shoes and a backpack already so actually that's about it
my Spend Money list includes doing something about my destroyed phone (can't make/take calls) because of a incipient internship and a film schedule that requires verbal communication (i.e. NO messaging only)
sucks to have phones that don't like being loosely gripped by your hand
(although sometimes it crashes to the ground because i put it on the round container where you get toilet paper from; so not only is it absorbing gravity's impact, it's also getting DIRTY. maybe it's a very good thing i'll never put my phone to my ear ever again...)
(smoking is bad for health; there are better vice out there, so stay away from tobacco!)
happy to be busy!
going to have 3 projects in the next 2 weeks, one of which will take my day & night for 5 days
also on the prowl for good photographers for cool fun shoots, so i should probably do my part and stop helping my family finish off the Melvado's brownies we have in our fridge
must resist
a second on the lips is a lifetime on the hips blahblahblah
but what to do when gluttony brings such extreme pleasure unparalleled to any other acquisition?
whenever night-time binges strike, the follow-up to sugary bliss sees tea-drinking (courtesy of gramps' dinner-time efforts) as a puny attempt to mitigate feelings of bloat
and no, it cannot wait until morning
food-related and spy-like thoughts occupy my head most of the time
the former, because while it hypnotizes and numbs all other rational thought, it also bodes ill for model/photo-taking work
therein lies the rub :(
and i wish i could work out everyday but what to do on days when you're only free after 11pm and you don't feel like running?
answer: YOU BUST YOUR ASS AND MAKE YOURSELF RUN NO MATTER WHAT
and that's a great plan for another night
can't run at midnight
that's when things that float/glide chase things that run
too much The Ring gets you to this stage
oh Japanese horror writers, why you so creepily luscious
♥ 12:17 AM
Sunday, February 12, 2012
was back in school one day for lunch with amazing A and wonderful W, then bumped into T who was like 'if you take a gap year you'll be bored; aren't you already sick of all that free time?'
NEVER EVER
because thankfully, my free time doesn't feel like empty time
even if there are zero appointments, castings or books to read (impossible right now because i still have the books from last month where NLB felt generous and went 'hey kids everyone can borrow 12 books with every library card' so i did), THERE IS ALWAYS THE SIMS 3
which i can play for 5 hours straight
which was what i did yesterday after a full afternoon of being a mature young adult and absorbing intently the strategic brainstorming going on in the very cool office of the Gardens by the Bay
the most active days see a very sad non-student-concession ez-link dropping lots of dollars in value:
[meet for business discussion at Harbourfront MRT at 10am +
head to Novena Starbucks to chill with youngest sister and read book +
go for casting at Nemesis (took polaroids!! not fujifilm instax) at Upper Aljunied Rd +
take bus to Toa Payoh, take train to Serangoon +
meet second sister to pass her track shoes to bring home (intended to run before dinner, but tempus fugit) +
back to Harbourfront MRT for dinner +
St James Powerhouse Anniversary mad party (got free stuff including glow sticks & pretty balloons) +
hobo +
sleep from 5.30-6.30am where cold winds blow +
wake bathe sleep lepak lunch computer nap +
National Library for watching people sleep where they're not supposed to +
Macpherson Rd to play piano for ballet class +
dinner with Dad +
home sweet home]
or
[wake at unearthly hour of 9am (unearthly is unearthly when you are sleep deprived because you play Sims instead of sleeping when you really need to sleep) to run with parents at Bishan Park +
City Square Mall for lunch +
Rock Climb +
City Square Mall for yoguru (THANK YOU BYAP FOR BUYING) +
Bugis Junction for dinner +
Spring Awakening play at National Library +
Free drinks courtesy of Pangdemonium Productions at LOOF +
Trek to Raffles City Starbucks +
Trek to Clarke Quay Starbucks (camp for very long: magazines, youtube) +
Spot 3 friends at Home Club, which seems to have more ppl mulling about outside than drinking inside +
Watch CQ revelers get wasted (in toilets & against trees) +
Night rider (affinity with fellow sleepless folk)]
okay actually that was Wednesday and that was just now/Saturday
it's not fun to hear about what people do in their daily life (which is why i don't normally detail days even if they're screwed crazy and splattered all over SG), and neither is it fun to read without pictures, SO HERE IS THE CAT AT THE ROCK CLIMBING PLACE
what do you really see
when you look there and see me
okay those two days were busy days
my least busy day so far has been camping at home all day after crying all night and all day because eyes were swollen and would traumatize people at nex starbucks if they saw this hideous poofy-faced girl with terribly unkempt hair reading van Lustbader
sleep deprived days (although i wouldn't call it that because that makes it sound like i chase sleep like it has chocolate dripping from its tips) mostly come about BY ACCIDENT, and is strangely something unplanned even though i love planning my schedule
[probably because i'd never plan to stay out all night because it's not really fun unless my phone is dying and i can take lots of photos of bar fights, spilled drinks, pretty lights, and so much more electrifying scenes that daylight just doesn't see; and i need to take photos to properly remember things to write about: very old uncles dancing on the stage, people flocking to schmooze with dick lee, lingerie taped to the pillars, the hostile homo-panic glares of those who wrongly think their chunky asses have been groped by same sex, etc]
my poor siblings are being visited by the Stress Monster, the youngest because she is in her O level year and as the president of the student council in a school where her mother is also the principal, she has plenty on her plate to juggle (even without piano & ballet lessons, and tuition)
you live & you learn!
<> \ | / <>
if a Subway wrapper is thrown out of a jeep (because its 'out field') and nobody sees it, is it really been litter? (of course it is)
if a bottle smashes and disappears into shifting sands (like that sandstorm in Mission Impossible 4), has it really destructively destroyed?
if a heart breaks but the mind silences the feeling, has it really been cut tortured systematically bled?
'those that cannot contain pain within their bodies find ways to make it show up on the outside; the only way to learn how to contain it better is to submerge yourself in it'
'even when it kills?'
'because it kills'
<> \ | / <>
♥ 5:42 AM
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
i know your pain because we're its parents
let go of the most beautiful thing
you ever experienced
& be clear that the blame is
all yours to embrace
nothing is left
nothing but the agony of
the void vacated by amazing ties
memory cannot suffice
love cannot grow
barren land made barren because
what has died there is
non-biodegradable
and still it remains
♥ 4:13 PM
Sunday, February 5, 2012
one day he will hear
you're cute & warm & cuddly & hard & soft & gentle & rough & noisy & peaceful & amazing
or this he will one day say
have you ever felt desire so keenly it was poison? have you ever felt desire so potently it could kill?
'don't worry you didn't snore'
'but that's not why you were smiling in your sleep'
burning redemption
at what cost
salvation
like water falling from its box
the years flow by
and away
♥ 1:28 AM
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
that face.
he saw her one day, grinning at the phone, the sweetest smile reserved for happy love, a smile he never got to see (because you don't message when you're face to face) and now a smile that poured into him the bitterest of regret and ill-will toward what had slipped from his grasp and disappeared into the ephemeral clouds. you can't hate without love, and there are no shadows where no light appears. in the latter case, only darkness would persist. right now, he desperately wished the only thing pounding through his veins was hatred. but the sick, sick thing was that love remained.
he would never stop purging; neither can he stop his binge.
input input input
output
bought a notebook
to give thoughts their outlet
modeling is no sweat
casting is sweaty business
when you run from public transport hubs to buses to trains
and then from bustops to obscure flatted factories
opting to NOT scale the stairs (although six flights would be amazing) because more sweat would accrue, and that wouldn't be very nice would it
saying hello
giving your comcard
passing over your portfolio
remaining detached about the make-up laden photos of yourself
while answering queries about your actual age and why you look so much older in pictures (IT'S THE FOUNDATION)
10-20min chop chop all done
wish them a Happy [insert day of the week]
exeunt
chinese new year
is an excuse
to binge on chocolates
that nobody else in the family wishes to place on their lips (for fear it goes to the hips).
but it also makes you fall slightly ill
especially when you don't sleep after a night out (when i say night i mean night), which came hot on the heels on another accidental night out, and then go rock climbing in the afternoon of that sleepy Saturday
DRINK WATER SLEEP REST EAT VITAMINS FROM MANDARIN ORANGES
'don't be afraid to have fun with your money; a million dollars in savings won't buy back your youth'
'fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you really are'
accidents happen
fatalities occur
we survived
the demons in our head
but they do exist
we were lucky
no matter how fast you swim in the dark unknown waters
you can't outswim that which doesn't not need air nor life
little decisions made can do a lot for your life
the wrong turn, the wrong bus, the right choice, the right buy
parallel universes can't exist
the possibilities would be endless
and too little space for them all
+
"don't leave me high don't leave me dry"
♥ 2:25 PM
Sunday, January 29, 2012
i have been living in this dreamy haze for what seems like longer than i can remember, but is only less than 50 hours; while the difference between living in and being lost in a swirl of mist that disappears at first bashful touch, may seem poor little, it is yet a great canyon between the two, and we know which side we stand on
but the question is: does anyone else?
♥ 7:55 AM
Saturday, January 28, 2012
'going into the unknown
is how we expand what is known.'
♥ 5:37 PM
Thursday, January 26, 2012
was scrolling left on FB photos, amazed at how i had actually lived through events depicted because it all seems a dream right now, or a faint memory of someone else's days
being fully present in every day means the past isn't a deadweight that saddles but something dredged up occasionally to contemplate morosely (we bring back sad memories more easily and take all the other happy days for granted as the norm)
my cousin and i were tumblr-ing during CNY, and somewhere someone said 'a birth certificate shows that we lived, a death certificate shows that we died, photos showed that we lived'
cheesiness notwithstanding, taking photos is very important for someone like me, who would otherwise be un-anchored to the days behind me
(don't know why taking Food Photos is also super important to these trigger-happy fingers, but it is)
plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
photo taken by Giam, after our class newspaper-collection at AMK housing blocks (:
this is either when we were 3/3 2008, or 4/3 2009
our class had distinct groups (mostly influenced by which lower sec class one came from) and bonded through the ridiculous shit we collectively witnessed and got up to
running on the drain while running rounds around school for PE was recklessly fun, and so was eating at the coffeeshop outside (cheese fries! bubble tea! ROJAK!!) and people-spotting during
fighting for the cushiest cushions/IKEA Snake/furry pillow in InspireTown is also good, as is sharing fruit from the fruit stall's little styrofoam bowls
i think we take things like festivals, Be Yourself Days, Racial Harmony Days for granted because they happen frequently enough, but they're actually very important, amazingly enriching and FUN
e.g. Sports Carnivals where the class sends teams to play football or that game where you push a giant dirty ball around, employing violence where necessary; or that ANDEcarnival thing where each class/CCA sets up a stall in the canteen to sell food items, knick knacks, games and more (bought a Foxtrot comic book for $0.50!)
what secondary school proffers is the cozy sensation that comes from everyone knowing everyone
you can know people by face, or you can know them because they're your friends' friend or your CCA mate, or your ECA mate (like I think Debate Club was an extra-curricular activity instead of a co-curricular activity because it wasn't an official thing, despite our appearances at JG Championships; the Radio Club with XH, P and the rest was also definitely an ECA)
the school isn't that big
six sprawling levels with each cohort having less than 400 Andersonians
when we play around-the-school catching, it's almost like hide and seek catching because it's open design means you can spot your sneaky playmate tip-toeing past the library corridor from far far away
you have to play the game after-hours and hide from teachers too - they don't take too kindly to watching maniacal children dash and laugh and scream while trying to run each other down
those were the days (:
WHOSE CAR IS THIS ANYWAY!!???
okay no, this photo is here because i want to show off blood and pain (even if its not explicitly visible)
that white thing there isn't a sports band - it's bandages
gloriously plunging down granite-laced storm drains with stone scraping skin (and vice versa) produces deep parallel gashes that require lots of cleaning and wrapping
it happened in the last few months before New Paper 2009, which also explains the bangs haircut, courtesy of Monsoon at Novena
the fall was nicely timed, about 3min before the New Face Levi's Ladies event (which my bloodied legs then couldn't bring me to), and a day before the spread appeared in the papers
and because Mrs Poh is a very nice principal, she let me limp onto stage to advertise for votes, confusing classmates who saw me uncrippled just the day before >:)
rehearsal at SPH!
that evening we celebrated the birthdays of 2-3 people, and someone bought very yummy chocolate-y cake from the Spinelli upstairs (:
our batch was very funny because we didn't learn HOW to catwalk (our trainer was ill throughout) and only rehearsed the Daniel Boey's choreography until muscle memory & timed co-ordination took over automatically
luckily, savvy babes who already knew how to sway in heels didn't mind the lack of instruction, and freestyled like a boss (not saying that i'm one of the savvy babes btw!!!!!)
i'm wearing Anderson Sec PE T-shirt, because i don't have nice clothes
still don't have nice clothes
and won't be eating nice food soon if i'm not careful and DON'T FIND WAYS TO EARN A LIVING
(okay, money from the Humanities Scholarship and money earned from being with Upfront is untouchable; what they're doing camping in POSBank instead of being released into the capitalist economy, is beyond me)
Transitions EP Launch 2009 at *scape
did i really do this!?!
was too naively gung-ho to be very very afraid indeed of the serious challenge of emceeing for a rock concert held for a room crammed with older kids who take no shit from nobody
you need the SPIRIT and the SOUL to bring their energy through the ceiling, and then you better be entertaining and likable enough to keep them happy while the different bands set up and do their sound checks
wasn't stressed until the very first time on stage (first time out of many more times), because then i finally got a taste of a community whose pulse i had never come close to experiencing before and didn't know what best to do
T, who was singing/screaming for his band, then expertly saved my noob ass by showing me how it was done, and setting the stage for a mad night
again, BRAVADO MAKES UP FOR A LOT OF SINS!
when you earn some street cred/respect (ah huh ah huh), people won't take you to be the annoying excitable retard you may look like, and will actually listen to what you're presenting and cheer when you cue them to
and now that, was fun
did someone crowd surf? did spittle fly from the stage into the adoring faces of thrashing fans? did light sticks illuminate the smoke-filled room as sweat dripped from moshing bodies?
i remember V showing me her ears and her expensive earplugs, after she spotted me using my Watson ones (:
responsible raving
ftw
ANDERSON THEATRE CIRCLE!!
4 years of being with the same people, in the same CCA, doing more or less the same shit (ONCE YOU DO SOUND, YOU NEVER COME OUT)
met people older that i loved, met people younger i loved, met people born in 1993 i loved also
we walk in honey, walk at the speed of 10/10, walk as if we're animals for warm-ups
we meet in our own Black Box, where you take off your shoes and go in and stretch
we pretend that the D&T lab next to us is our home, and sit on its tables to mark our territory
our Open House displays are always dramatic
our excursions to watch The Finger Players or to perform at National Library always begins with snacking/partying on buses and ends with icky make-up removal
AND DRAMA CHALETS OF THE '09 & '08 BATCHES ARE ALWAYS THE BEST
being in drama hardly taught me how to act (because i never acted (: )
but it did teach me the immense special-ness of every single person, without whom ATC would not be what it has been
we are who we are not because of what we've done
we do what we do because of who we are
but also because you should grab the balls of fun opportunities when life flings them at you
and not be struck and banded like tennis balls by the stars above
anyway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llWYUIUuAZs has the amusing footage of the two nights at TAB, read its description, will explain what needs explaining soon
most important: the acting was purely physical theatre FOR the customers around (because we want their reactions, and are not acting for the cameras that roll)
the mikes snuggled close to our bodies pick up words and sounds that were not meant for the live audience to hear, so you can hear funny stuff like 'Dude! Dude!' at 5:11 while the TAB patrons see panic, distress and vulnerability
everything was improv even though we all relied heavily on WhatsApp to bring us the side-line observations from M (who'd be like 'Okay the table there is noticing, try to slap him or cry', 'Be loud!!!' and 'tussle near the boys')
this is also why you can hear ZR's phone beep at the Confrontation With Dudes part
(:
♥ 3:37 PM
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
the jaw is a powerful muscle
if we spent nearly 8-10 hours pretending to be TAB patrons/workers and have 7min to show for it, imagine the sheer amount of editing, processing, creative work the producers of CNA's BlogTv have to go through to create a 28min show
it airs this Wednesday on Channel NewsAsia at 8pm and 11pm, on Thursday at 1pm and on Friday at 6pm
will try to catch these timeslots when my grandpa isn't watching La Liga Premier or WWE
♥ 11:58 PM
Friday, January 20, 2012
don't run away from your destiny
don't think of a pink elephant
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY NUMBER 1 MIDDLE SISTER!
she turned 17 yesterday
i bought the cake & 16 candles
um accidentally
that didn't turn the clock back, but it did create one less hole in the tiramisu
and what a yummy tiramisu it was
until recently (until a few nights ago), i could count the number of times i've been in a club with the thumbs on my hands
now i need three thumbs if i want to keep saying that
it's always more fun when you bump into people you know instead of watching strangers shimmy while casually displaying their glasses of Teacher's Highland Cream
and it's always more fun to WORK IT and dance chocolate bailey peanut butter ice cream off, instead of, well, not writhing like you're on fire
the downside to clubbing (that i can see so far), is that people get bloodied! fights amongst strangers have been witnessed 33.33% of the time, prompting the unnecessary appearance of the cops & ambulance (bloodied forehead and blood-splattered shirt on the two violent drunks, who were more pissed than fatally wounded)
also, unless you want to camp outside and hobo all early morning long, cabbing is insane and will cost you more than two Starbucks venti drinks (not that i'm endorsing the "dangerous" practice of napping in public, or the capitalist invasion of MNCs)
haven't seen irresponsible drinking and its corollary, irresponsible inappropriate behaviour yet, so can't say anything about that now
its only vice if you think it is
its only nice if you think it is
we screw
our sleep
domesticated chickens have the brains, at least, to squawk and fly hurriedly away when Lucky approaches their little patch of green
wonder what my distant neighbour is keeping them for
feathery pals?
'anon: i hope you don't mind me asking,but what's ELL like?And is it a challenging subject?'
it's as challenging as any other H2 subject one can pick at JC, especially because, like Economics and unlike Mathematics or Chemistry, it's something relatively new to 17-18 year olds
ELL was insanely fun, even though our grades fluctuated weirdly
M, N and myself would revise/mug/chiong for ELL exam papers, which were invariably set at bad date slots either way before or way after the rest of our class was done with their History + Economics + Literature + Math combi
(we didn't take Economics >:D)
we learn stuff like Morphology, Syntax, Discourse Analysis, Phonetics, Phonology, Halliday's Metafunctions, Grice's maxims, Fairclough & Gang; how to linguistically analyze texts, conversation transcripts, advertisements, how to adapt your own text from given text types (OUR A LEVEL HAD SOMETHING ABOUT DORA THE EXPLORER, along with other things like Singapore National Day Songs), how to thoroughly discuss linguistic issues like Language in Society/Politics/New Communication Technology, Language Variation across Factors like Gender, Age, Class and of course, Geographic isoglosses
so ELL is what it is, English Language and Linguistics
and even though H2ELL seemed like hell at the beginning when nobody knew what was going on, it is a fun, useful and eye-opening ride
'Envious: How often do u exercise and wad do u do to get your toned body?'
my body, this vessel that awesomely lets me run walk skip ninja-dash, is what it is because of several things, and exercise is just one of these things
this build comes from my dad, who was buff but not bulky
he contributed also, by being a tough running partner in the years after Rosyth Primary track & field training evolved into fun runs with family and others
because i love the idea of being a spy/ninja, being able to pack real weight into punches kicks and jabs makes me really love doing strength training even if it doesn't help a lot (it helps if you do it consistently, powerfully and DAILY, but i don't)
within a week i try to run at least once
went to the pool recently, something i don't really like doing even after a childhood spent outstripping older (and heavier, therefore more drag in the water) kids
everyday i climb stairs instead of using the escalator (in MRTs)
besides DNA and exercise, what's important is what you fuel yourself with
unfortunately, i fuel myself with high fructose corn syrup cereal, plenty of freaking sugar from cakes that receive no mercy from expertly wielded cutlery (or bare hands, see post of Laduree chocolate cake far below this one), more milk tea than anyone should bear, and more chocolate milk than babies drink
do not feel envy
nobody is hardly completely happy with their bodies in this disgusting age where we're told how physical conformity is more valued than what we actually are as individuals
none can feel envy, dissatisfaction, or anxiety when one doesn't attach anything to the reflection in the mirror
it's not that Ignorance is Bliss, it's how Things that Really Don't Mean Anything Don't Have To Mean Anything
but this is coming from a girl who can cry if she screws up her haircut herself (JUST REMEMBERED: THE AIRPORT CUSTOMS AT VIETNAM CONFISCATED MY HAIR-CUTTING SCISSORS :O) and who thinks her fats gather in her face and throw pizza parties
so uh
eat drink and be merry!!
happy chinese new year to all who will enjoy the string of holiday days!
♥ 11:52 AM
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
FOOD FOOD FOOD
Vietnam food was not as bland as the guidebook warned and was pleasurably affordable >:)
stuff tried and loved or feared:
beef/chicken Pho
crocodile meat (tastes like chicken & beef & mutton & frog!), rabbit meat (grey)
seafood/chicken/beef salads
MANGO YOGHURT SHAKES
coconuts
fresh fruit (Vietnam = #1 exporter of dragonfruit)
biscuits from convenience stores
dried jackfruit/banana
copious amounts of peanut butter and egg omelette for glorious breakfasts
obsessed plenty over the fruit yoghurt shakes
damn good
normally i don't like drinking anything but water (and chocolate milk and soya milk)
but Vietnam fruit yoghurt shakes are almost as good as Singapore's Meilock Soursop Fruit Juices and glacious yoghurt shakes (had my first one today, LOVED THAT BANANA GRANOLA BUTTERSCOTCH SHIT)
missing the texture and the sweetness of ripe fruits sliced & diced by whirring metal
gonna buy eskimo milk tea tomorrow
their stock of pudding should have come in by now >:D
[btw, i gush about these stores quite a bit, but rest assured THERE IS NO MONEY involved and this is free advertising for excellent goods. i just really love letting them earn my $$]
jungle girl
when you're with a bunch of crazy butts who eat a lot and get second orders and third orders (especially for the yummy drinks like THE YOGHURT SHAKES), you persistently forget to not overeat despite shoots that show plenty of the human body in its most natural outfit, its birthday suit
not that i joined in the full frontal exposure
a lot of the outfits specially selected to look like they were casually thrown on were not mine but belonged to R, who bunked with me in all of the luscious resorts and hotels and villas our group went through (and ALL for very delicious prices thanks to Viet rates, off-peak seasons and careful planning by A)
even the doctor marten boots weren't mine but borrowed from T's friend
we covered white sand dunes, red sand dunes, waterfalls (Da Lat's Elephant Waterfalls), outdoor/indoor villa shoots, hotel shoots, street shoots, on-the-road shoots (sticking heads and limbs out of speeding buses while winding paths are scaled), literally on-the-road shoots (walking in the honky-tonky streets), pool shoots and by-the-pool shoots
every location saw the potentiality of fatality! doom! death!
and each journey to each location saw the same
we saw an accident's aftermath, individually focusing and remembering different parts of the scene as our bus whizzed away (dark pools of liquid, crushed glass, man on the ground, crowd encircling the dismay)
and our friendly local friends (originally only D & J's cool street-genius friends, but now everyone's acquaintances too) told us how more Vietnamese die in traffic accidents than Americans in Iraq
so it is cause of wild celebration that we all escaped with only cuts, scrapes, abrasions, bruises
although what is reckless living, but for the young where youth would otherwise be wasted on?
Vietnam was amazing and really opened my mind and my brain (which sounds like something LSD would facilitate, but no, the closest we got to drugs and druggies was about 15cm). It was more tight hot work than slacky holiday, with the epic affordable meals, really late waking time and night-time talking/laughing/roaring making up the latter. But work = fun when you roll with an insane bunch of young adults, who act younger than their age and have spirits that soar higher than their smoke clouds.
The happiest part of the trip, besides the amazing photos that are slowly trickling their way through Facebook...but barely reveal the 120GB of madness we did, was how it made friends out of strangers<3
Out of our motley crew of 6-9 (J, M, R, A, T, D, J, M, M – some joining in for only a portion of the trip), I had only met & knew 3 (M, A, R). But we quickly unearthed our matching horoscopes (we had pairs of Pisces, Taurus & Leo), snapping pictures in matching Doc Mart boots, and warmed to each other in the many hours of clothing-optional picture-taking to come. As the trip came to an end, and after many death-defying experiences or near-death encounters, we all agreed that we managed to click so well because we were all crazy social animals and non-bitchy etc.
Far from being a Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants story, this was a freaking rough ‘n’ tumble, CUTS & BRUISES APLENTY, cursing uncouth raw, dripping in sexuality and retardation in equal part, binging on coconuts mango yoghurt Vietnamese PHO and black strong coffee road trip. No pansy gentleness from any of us, because we are psychopathic warriors that brave pervy Da Lat natives (who grope and pinch), insane traffic (that takes lives, including that of the man we saw face down in broken glass), gravelly roads (kudos for giving me a crater on my left knuckle), and such great heights that are to be scaled then jumped down from, or sprinted up and down and side to side.
The things we do for shoots? EVERYTHING.
and okay, because Al took the previous shot, here is one where she also took the shot, but with a mirror and a HDR-enabled iPhone (that i um cracked a few minutes after this was taken)
this is in the morning, 8am, after a long yummy breakfast at Ana Mandara Villa Dalat Resort that started at 6.30+am
and this cold morning came on the sleepless heels of a night spent on the table, on the couch, on the bed, in the bathtub, on the fireplace
we didn't nap, we shot throughout the night, relying on chatting and dried/fried banana snacks to stay awake and keep inspiration flowing through bodies chilled by the mountain air
morning eventually peeked through thick resort curtains, curtains that made us feel safe from external intruders but also unsafe from the scary sprites in the same room we masochistically conjured to scare ourselves
then we ran outside to take more photos more videos and watch breath turn to vapor in the sunshine
i love really loving something
enough to sacrifice sleep and untorn skin
and having the experience shared & shaped by amazing kids
what's really interesting about travelling with friends and not family is that other groups of travelers approach and strike conversations!!!!!!!!
A gave the owner of our favourite restaurant her first book and we all signed it
in the middle is Deborah, whose husband is a decade older, AND A KUNG FU MASTER
other people we met were encountered on the dingy neon-flooded streets of Saigon
they asked if we were on ecstasy because we were spinning and sprinting while grabbing lightsticks like monsters
they also asked if we wanted more drugs
unfortunately, all we were high on was life and possibly dinner (FAMOUS PHO!), which isn't stocked in stores and couldn't be paid for
we also met very unsavory annoying people, namely three men who stalked our trail across the waterfalls and did not receive visits from karma and fall from the slippery footholds to a stony paralysis despite grabby hands that violate those who refuse to back down and pretend to be afraid
whatever
ninjas shall triumph
and this is only one leg!
J and I ran down (and up and down and up!) hard sand dunes, and had to fall on our asses in mid-air
so the most serious bruise is unfortunately invisible, which is thankful because a butt bruise would be almost too beautiful to not attempt again >:)
the dirtiest shoot was also the hard red sand dunes one, because we roll in mud and soil after sandsurfing on our bellies (where the sand gets trapped in all folds of clothing...like your underwear)
the most illegal = the one at the white sand dunes, because apparently underwear as outerwear is definitely NOT allowed, especially when the plains of the area mean that everyone can see the scant little black material on your yellow/beige/white asian skin from over the hills and far away
most cold = beach
wind wet chilled the the bone smiling with happiness and mad from the thrill of running into waves and crashing onto shore
pictures really tell these stories better, so will wait for the shots to be collated & published
my food purchasing style: keep buying what i love like crazy and never feel the urge to 'try something else on the menu'
so white rabbit blackforest, this is for you
made new friends while being a tomato in SG Poly's library, Chinese Gardens, a bus and in woodlands
and it's even better when one of the new friends made is actually wonderful and awesome and a pokemon lover who invites me into her home for good food and computer fun<3
haven't been into other people's homes for too long!!!!
the horrible thing about me is that i have a weird inability to make or take phone calls without feeling a sense of unease (so maybe it's a beautiful blessing that my phone is irreversibly damaged and can't take/make calls unless i shell out more money than i'm willing to, to make it okay again)
irrational inabilities also extend to MAKING DATES with people
or else i'd be invading kitchens and living rooms of dearly missed friends all the time
CHINESE YO!
desperately need to improve aural mandarin before March, because that's when we're shooting the 4 episodes of Date A Star, which is a CHANNEL EIGHT REALITY PROGRAM
WHICH MEANS I SPEAK IN CHINESE.
okay, before these paragraphs sound like non sequiturs to the photo, the photo is of the nicest outfit that the Wardrobe section has picked out for my manly body to don (the black spots are from the mirror i think)
getting to mediacorp was a huge joke, because of multiple missed buses (got off a bus i just got on, to chase down a bus 140m and 2 traffic lights away, and missing it too) and because of a long run/trek/job up Caldecott Hill from Far East Flora, which made me sweat enough to have to bathe more than once today
grrrr
but i left with more than free make-up and a peek at actors getting their make up done (found J<3 and saw her co-stars as well as Chen Liping happily hairspraying her own hair), i left with the footage of BlogTv's episode on sexual harrassment!
CUE EVIL LAUGHTER
maria gave me the 700MB worth of hidden camera footage and dialogue of the tiny section that makes up BlogTv.com.sg's Episode 15 (or 16?) on sexual harrassment
okay this is my chinese new year resolution, to address the cbox which i have been unfairly neglecting, and to talk about the CNA experience depicted above because it's not everyday you know someone who sneakily tricks fellow customers (who just want to have a good time to unwind, jeeeezus!) into believing that a dude is genuinely intent on creating a serious mess, and that a damsel is in distress
another resolution is also to live each day to the fullest
for now, that means playing The Sims 3 before waking up at 6.30am later
CUE EVILLER LAUGHTER
♥ 1:26 AM