Well, I couldn’t resist the prospect of making my own bento box and so I paid Daiso a visit, and gathered some gear (at bargain prices!)

And hence the culmination:

Sushi riceballs with the flaky things outside (not sure what you callthem). Salad made of dou miao (bean shoots) and local lettuce, along with two weiner octopuses which are so typical of Japanese bentos. The yellow bear contains holds dressing for my salad.

Not bad for a first try, right? I am looking forward to making more bentos!

And just in case you were wondering, I made this the night before, and leave it in the fridge. In the morning when I am about to go to school, I pack it into this thermal insulated bag with a freezer pack, which keeps my things cool for at least 5-6 hours! My classmates thought my bento box was cute, yay.

Today something very dramatic happened in my neighbourhood. While on the way home from the library with my family, we saw a crowd forming around the driveway-ish area near my block of flats. We thought there was a car accident and upon investigation, we saw three people sitting on the floor in the middle of the driveway - two women and a man. The women were bawling and being dramatic, and the man being seemingly stoic. My sis’ first thought was that it was a love triangle, and the two women fighting it out. Then one of the woman started to ask the onlookers for help. So I called the police. First time in my life calling 999, was quite excited. Actually was more excited about the call than the drama going on. So I told the operator that someone’s fighting here, etc. Then I stayed on to be kaypoh, and partly to wait for the police so that I can see them in action.

So we waited, and while waiting, some nosey neighbour came around and disseminated more information. Apparently, it was a daughter with the mother, and presumably another male relative. The daughter was trying to run away from home, and while the mother was chasing, the mother actually shouted for passers-by to stop her, claiming the daughter is crazy. Then somehow the mother caught her and so they sat around on the floor in some sort of lattice to stop her from running away. While sitting on the floor and bawling and screaming, the daughter found time and interest to light a cigarette. Then we started thinking if she was actually high on drugs or something.

After standing around to observe the drama for 20 minutes (yes, response time for the police was about 20-25 minutes, despite me telling them there IS a fight. I guess if it was a real parang knife fight, they’d be bring bodybags by then.), the police arrived and then the truth came out. The daughter has depression due to some relationship problems, and she was trying to run away from home to (1) be with the guy (2) kill herself, so the mother had to stop her, etc. and ended up in a mess on the floor in the middle of a driveway (and resulting in this poor Ikea van having to reroute itself.) Sounds almost like TV, really.

Yesterday we were discussing the topic of preference and discrimination in class. I was recounting a story to Su and XP about how I was at a Suntec City toilet when this mother with her 4-year-old (thereabout) son was in the line. I overheard the boy saying something like “the flower one fatty bom bom” (I was wearing a shirt with flower prints that day.). Not only that, he went on saying “fatty bom bom, bom bom bom, bom bom bom …” as though it was amusing. Frankly speaking, it was amusing, even though I was the object of insult. I knew the boy was being rude, but I couldn’t be arsed to do anything about it. Because if I had said anything, it would have meant (1) I admit it was me, aka. I think I am a fatty bom bom myself; (2) I am being intolerant towards guileless young children; (3) I am generally a nasty person. So I ignored the child. His lack of manners obviously stems from something else. The mother did not stop him, which adequately shows how much respect SHE has for other people (i.e. me). So if I had tried to say anything, how would such a parent retaliate? Or deflect the accusation by feigning ignorance? Get me right, I am not condoning the act, but I took a step back and decided not to act because I gave the issue some thought: (1) this is ill upbringing, which is something I can’t be arsed to interfere with, because without insensitive asses like these, there are no GOOD people in this world (relatively, of course.) (2) A child with ill manners will never make it big in life anyway, so that’s good enough justice. (3) Stealing a quote from a friend, I only have endure this lousy attitude for 5 minutes, the child and his parents will have to endure it for a lifetime. Aw. So sad right? Now, don’t chide me for having vengeful thoughts and being mentally evil, that is my right as a thinking creature.

Anyway, back to the topic on preference and discrimination. At the end of the discussion we sort of came to an agreement that it’s a very thin line between what’s preference and what’s discrimination. The rationale is that, when you use a certain variable (e.g. physical attributes) as a basis to judge another variable (e.g. work performance), you are discriminating. For example, guy A abhors fat women. In being the boss of a radio station, he admits a twiggy DJ over a fat DJ,even though they both have equal qualifications. That is discrimination because size is not a relevant nor justified basis of rejection here. However, the tricky part comes when it’s choosing a romantic partner. if I said I preferred rich men, and so refuse to go out with this poor fella, is that discriminating? I don’t think the crux lies in whether the choice is rationally justifiable, but then again I’m not sure what makes it NOT a discrimination then. So there’s that thin line between preference and discrimination.

I packed my own lunch to school for the past 2 days.

What’s on the menu? Tomyam tuna pita sandwich. I bought some pita bread from Giant, and made my own tomyam mayonaise tuna spread (tomyam paste + mayo + tuna steak in brine). I put in a couple of local lettuce leaves to prevent the tuna spread from wetting the bread and thus turning it soggy. I had enough pita and tuna for 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and a midnight snack for my sister. I also have enough lettuce to make a small salad yesterday. My total cost? $6. This might not be the cheapest meals around (I think you can buy mee soto for $1 from the Muslim food stall), but I guess it beats having to go to lunch at the crowded Arts canteen. Seems more healthy too.

On the notion of packed lunch, I have been stalking this blog, The Food Pornographer, for some time and I always find myself drooling over her brilliant bento boxes. She is situated in Australia, but she comes up with the wackiest lunch items that are vaguely Asian/fusion! Very good place to just ogle at food. Looking at these sites always make me want to attempt my own bento boxes, but chances are, I’ll buy a whole drawerful of tools, and run of steam after 3 days or something. So, for the time being, I’ll stick with sandwiches and salads. Only when I am sure, only then will I try bento boxes.

My current favourite thing to see on TV:

Me loves the Discovery Channel (okay, tie between that and History Channel).

Since Sulz posted about meeting me for the first time, I guess I should complement it with some pictures and my POV!

On my 5th day in Hong kong I went to Macau, which is 1 hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong Island. I took the Turbojet, which is presumably the fastest among the other (cheaper) carriers.

Upon reaching Macau and clearing the horribly long customs, I took a free shuttle bus from the ferry terminal to Greek Mythology Casino Hotel, which is on Taipa island. The quaint thing about Macau is that it is actually a cluster of islands connected by beautiful bridges. I never knew that! Here is one of the bridges:

Macau is largely a beautiful place. No tall buildings, brilliant summer sky, rolling fields of green in the distance, excessive casino buildings … the Vegas of the East without the desert.

We went to Senado Square, which is my favourite place of Macau, despite it being a very hot summer day.

See the awesome sky. And the beautifully tiled floor.  There are a myriad of European buildings on this street, most from different traditions, the Neoclassical, the Baroque, Spanish (Southern) Neoclassical … Although Singapore has some vaguely similar buildings, they just aren’t as nice as the ones I saw there. Maybe because these were built by real Portuguese, and ours were British ripoffs? (The only English building tradition I can think of is the Stonehenge, seriously. Ok, and maybe industrialised buildings like train tracks and glass houses.)

Sulz is right, I did a course on Western Architecture. (It’s such a pity they don’t offer SEA Architecture to non-architecture students.)

The Baroque post office.

Somewhat Florentine cathedral. I was yabbering to Sulz about how the dimensions of this cathedral is slightly off. Because the height should be equal to the width, and how you can draw 9 squares out, and each of the 9 squares should be the same size. I think I lost her there. Now looking, she could have yelled “freak!” and ran off. Ha!

The famous St. Paul’s Ruins. Seriously, it’s just a facade left. It’s quite Gothic plus Classical I’m not sure what this is. Obviously my architecture class was not in-depth enough. Nontheless, it’s a nice facade. Quite very majestic and awe-inspiring.

We then went to the Macau Tower, and went up the observation deck at the 58th storey. There was acrylic panes on the floor where you can look down and see the ground. Quite scary, but fun. We had fun walking around and waiting for the bungee people to leap off from the 61st storey. When one man eventually did, people on the 58th storey clapped and cheered. Quite an experience!

View from the top.

After the Macau Tower we went to the Venetian, a 7 star hotel/casino. It’s big, and excessive. Like, they build a river in the mall. They plaster 82375293 metres of wallpaper and gilded everything in sight. It was so excessive it was almost grotesque and tasteless.

See. this is just a corner of the mall. Apparently the ceiling lighting changes alongside the passage of day i.e. if it’s nighttime, it’s darkened. It’s a nice place for photos I guess.

It was a fun day travelling around Macau and meeting Sulz for the first time in flesh, and shopping for souvenirs… possibly one of the highlights of my Hong Kong trip! See, Macau is so beautiful I want to go again before this decade is up. And when I go back, I will go and play slots.

A new semester started for me yesterday. I’m now officially a year four student, in my Honours year. The three classes I have attended so far have been interesting. Before I go on, here is a list of the modules I am doing this semester:

1. EL4200 Research Workshop
2. EL3252 Language Planning and Policy
3. EL4205 Discourse of Argumentation
4. EL4254 Language, Ideology and Power
5. GEK1500 Inside Your Personal Computer

Today I admitted in class, to my professors and 8 other fellow honours student that I must be somewhat masochistic to want to take Research Workshop. It all started because the professor said that there’s been some rumour going about in the department that this module is harder than hard, so unless we’re all masochists, there must be other reasons to why we are taking the class. But the truth is, I am taking this module because people say it’s hard. I’m probably the sort of character that can’t turn down a challenge of this sort. I think it is large due to my enlarged ego, that if I escape from this class unscathed, I must be smarter than those who claim that it was difficult, right? (Then again, only a crazy person like me will think in such a profoundly convoluted manner.)

Anyway, having attended the first lecture of GEK1500, I think it’s a much easier course than GEK1511 (Introduction to IT). It barely skims what a computer is made up of, at least from what I gathered from the course introduction. Better for me then, I suppose.

Many of my fellow honours students are already decided whether they will be writing a thesis or ISM (shorter version of a thesis). I am just about to climb the fence to sit on it. Truth be told, I don’t have a topic. The only one I marginally have belongs to the Chinese linguistics department. Hurrah. Even though I’m sure ONE of the professors in EL will be interested to guide me in the topic, I’m not sure the department will approve. Maybe I’ll just try my luck then. That is IF I am intending to write anything at all. I can’t think of one good reason to write a thesis or ISM, besides what a classmate said about having your thesis placed in the library and hence have your name in the library database. I’m not sure why so many of them are keen to write a thesis, especially when most of them are not going to pursue graduate courses, or even going to work in a related industry. So is it really that having-something-to-your-name thing? Oh, maybe I forgot something important - they are all trying for First Class! Ok, I have to say this here, I’m not mocking anyone, just being curious at how people make decisions.

So, yeah, 2 days into the new term and I am vexed over such matters. Sheesh.

Four friends sip coffee and exchange tales. One of them brushes her arched, feathered wings, while another steadily contemplates the instrument in his hands. The other two debate incessantly about human rights and wrongs and the appraisal system they try so hard to uphold.

Suddenly, the winged musician rises and declares he is taking the initiative to blow his horn, which will usher in the Day of Judgment. While the pair of moral auditors bicker, their client sinks deeper into a coma.

They share more tales and drink more coffee…the perfect recipe for a good get-together, or even Armageddon.

(Synopsis stolen from here.)

A refreshing multilingual play that I think can only be found in Singapore. I went for this play with Angela and her American friend, whom I assume understood little from the play, especially during the scenes where no translation was available. I know it sounds quite mean for me to say this, I felt quite proud at that fact; that Singapore theatre is able to produce something really Uniquely Singapore, something that belongs to us. I’m not usually a big fan of interculturalism (blame Ong Keng Sen for this), but this play is different. It makes me feel proud to be a Singaporean.

This play explores the different manifestations of angels, or rather, what angels are to different people. It may be the beings that sit atop your shoulders and influence your decisions, it may be that very nice altruistic person, it maybe the one who provides solace and comfort at the end of the day. In exploring these different concepts of angels, this play invokes many recognizable Singaporean elements, from the “stop at 2″ policy, to the hunt for Mas Selamat, from familiar childhood games to cheesy TV commercial (read: a certain brand of hair wax and deodourants).

I enjoyed the play immensely, and part of me is sad that today is the last show (at 8pm), that I can’t possibly tell people to go for it (besides, it’s sold out). Through watching this play, I suddenly realised that I have been quite out-of-touch with theatre. Yes, you heard that right, I feel like I am not involved as much as I want to. All the theatrical techniques, set-design … maybe my mind has been poisoned by too many Action Theatre plays (read: Mama’s Wedding), that’s why I produced something as vile as Smell of Rain at the 24 Hour Playwriting Competition. Nevertheless, I think I need to read and watch more plays before I attempt to write a play again.

A bit overdue-ish, but stole this from Museditions. Some things might not sound coherent, since I’m typing this after only 2.5 hours of sleep.

The task is to complete a sentence based on each of the two words listed below.

I am: a woman, a man, a girl, a boy, all rolled into one.
I think: we can truly learn to be at ease with ourselves when we don’t will ourselves to disappear into the walls at a crowded place.
I know: that truth sometimes can hurt.
I have: all the material goods I need at the moment.
I wish: I have friends who share the same interests as me, or maybe I just am not looking in the right places.
I hate: my impatience when it comes to many things in life.
I miss: the smell of that out-of-production powder from Marks and Spencer.
I fear: not being able to somehow overcome my fears.
I hear: the whirring of my fan and I am greatful I have electricity.
I smell: like vanilla on most days.
I crave: watermelon lime freeze.
I search: for my calling in life.
I wonder: if there is indeed divine beings, did they make us flawed intentionally?
I regret: Not taking a certain phonology class.
I love: sitting at cafes on lazy afternoons and reading novels.
I ache: when I have to be apologetic about something.
I am not: high on life, and I don’t need to be.
I believe: I will see space programs going to another planet apart from Mars in my lifetime.
I dance: only when no one sees.
I sing: in the shower (sometimes).
I cry: soundlessly.
I fight: the temptation to spend all my money on frivolous nothings.
I win: friends with sincerity (mostly).
I lose: track of dates easily.
I never: buy a novel without some sort of discounts/offers.
I always: try to be on time.
I confuse: people when I tell jokes face-to-face. I’m just no good at that. People usually take 5 seconds to try to process the jokes I tell.
I listen: worse than I read.
I can usually be found: smiling. I think that’s one thing I do best.
I am scared: of not doing certain things and thereby wondering for the rest of my life what might have been.
I need: more money.
I am happy about: everything in my life at present.
I imagine: that I will accomplish all that I’ve set out to do.
I tag: whoever is interested.

I’m blogging so slowly about my Hong Kong trip I think by the time I finish the series, I might be embarking on another trip already (read: Dec). Anyway, this post is about my 4th day in Hong Kong, where I took a scenic walkabout to this little quiant town of Stanley, and the Avenue of Stars at Tsim Sha Tsui.

The Stanley Market

Most people would describe it as a “tourist trap’ … well I feel that it’s really up to you whether you want to spend money there. No one is forcing you to buy souvenirs or dine there. Stanley doesn’t deserve such bad reputation.

The other part of town

The shoreline

It is really windy and sunny at Stanley, which makes it really pleasant! Walking down the street, I felt like I was some other place other than Hong Kong, somewhere where time goes by slowly, and everybody lounges about stress-free. Seeing the boats bobbing up and down on the water, children blowing bubbles and playing Catching, elderly couples walking hand-in-hand … really nice place.

Stanley has its own beach too. It feels rather small to me though, and the waters aren’t exactly clear. (Not that the ones at Sentosa are good, but you get what I mean.) It was pretty crowded on a Saturday, but what else to expect?

After my trip to Stanley, I took a scenic bus back to the main parts of Hong Kong, and proceeded to the Avenue of Stars at Tsim Sha Tsui, as well as walk along Salisbury Road, just so I can take this following iconic shot of Hong Kong:

The sun was crappy that day, no blue sky, only clouds. The Avenue of Stars was crowded with tourists, who find endless amazement in the palm prints of celebrities on the floor. I don’t know. For me it’s just a see-and-run affair; I know it’s there, and that’s enough. Felt no real desire to want to fondle/rub/kiss those palm prints. To me, it’s just another slab of concrete.

After which, I went shopping at the Tsim Sha Tsui area and managed to hunt down Harbour City, which is one of the biggest shopping centres in Kowloon I heard. It stocked many high-end brands. Sometimes I think I should have bought the limited edition Le Pliage from Longchamp, but then I thought, that 100SGD can be put to much better use than to buy a stupid nylon bag that I don’t need. Harbour City was also insanely crowded on a weekend. It was just fill with people. And as some of you might know, I hate crowd. My pissed off grouchy mode gets switched on whenever I am in a crowded place. So I absolutely hated Harbour City; Lane Crawford at Admiralty was wayyyy better. They have nice bathrooms, ample walking space so that I don’t have to breathe the same air as too many idiots at one go.

And thus concludes my 4th day in Hong Kong.

(To be continued… after 10th August, because there are many other events to blog about from tomorrow onwards.)