female bonding

met up with 2 girlfriends to celebrate one of their brithday this evening. we went to a nice place at raffles city called menotti. it is quite a pretty, cosy little italian restuarant that serves pastas & pastries, oh, wine too! it is a pity that i forgot to take a picture.

the price is reasonable for such a place, not too expensive. we were there for the longest time, near to 4 hours - eating and chatting, from the place was packed till it left only 2 tables of patrons.

not going to dwell much into what went on tonight's conversation but sometime it is nice to share with friends on your experiences and dilemmas. they might just give you a different perspective and solution. never think alone because 2 heads are better than 1 and through conversations, you get to know your friends better too.

learn to accept yourself and identify who you are. be sad and yet move on. the world will not stop revolving. dont be envy of others because god is fair - you gain some, you lose some. look within yourself and grow.

all in all, i am still happy and more privileged than many others.

here are my fighter bears!

listless, aimless

have you some time goes to office not knowing what to do? it is not that you have nothing to do but in fact, you know that there are deadlines for you to meet and approval papers to write and budget to calculate. BUT somehow, somewhere, somewhat you just can't seem to decide what to do. that is me on this monday!

came to office and not quite knowing what i should do first... lotsa things on my mind but can't think straight of the stupid throbbing headache i have early in the morning. argh! trying very hard to get going... doing the simple thing first.. no brainer admin job should be my best bet..

oh well, i hope you have a better morning than i do and goes for the same for the rest of the week.

bear war

now i am swarmed with soft toys at my office table, my bedside and maurice's car... let me count... 6 at my office desk, 3 at my bedside, 1 in maurice's car and i got another yesterday from miao and vee... i have 11 in total! maurice is the main culprit for this... hehee

i shall post the photo in here so that you can see them fighting for my attention at the back of the car. i was holding onto both of them in the car last night. i guess the passing cars must be thinking what a kid i am at my age... but i don't care and simply love the soft toys! =)

but all thanks to mian and vee to buy this huggable bear for me for no particular reason.. just because they thought it is SO me when they saw the bear. am so blessed and blissful. and yes, i am THAT easily contented and satisfied.

am a simply girl, aren't i? ;)

True friends warmed my little heart

it has been a long while since akino had a gathering and all thanks to jamie to organise it last friday.

i bet all of those attended had a good dinner at waruku @ starhub cuppage. we got a small cosy vip room that separated our loud laughter from the outside noisy crowd. can't imagine the noise pollution with us in that little restaurant. it was good to squeeze all in that room because everyone was seated so close to each other.

it was a pity that we couldn't have full force as it has been ages since akino had a full family photo. apparently wilman and jeffrey had posted our photo taken like almost 10 years ago on msn and were "ordered" by huiyin to remove them. =D being with akino is never too bored nor will you ever stop smiling.

as usual, the topic in the group never fails to visit wedding notices and renovation of house. this year, the wedding bells are ringing for sharon (22 aug) and ah beng (5 nov) and hanseng (21 july 2008!!). too bad i can't attend sharon's wedding because i definitely have to work on that night, or else it would be an eye-opener event... ;P

no doubt all these talks have also caused some to envy especially one that yearned to be a housewife (the one & only that i know so far that wants to be a housewife as a her aspiration! hahaa) and others to be left out especially those single and available to be quiet as they have no contributions to the conversations.

all thanks to jeffrey... he reminded us that it was akino's 10th anniversary... 10 years have flew past since we graduated from our secondary school. all of us lamented that our friendship is into the 14th year for most of us and it was warming enough to see that friendship is still going strong and a rare sight for many. i particularly remembered wilman said "we started as akino then to akino & friends and now akino, friends & family".

where can i get such friends that are ever so forgiving and fun-loving?

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oh, i had my appraisal yesterday. looks like i am off to china some time this year... & i am so looking forward to the short bintan trip in may althou' i am kinda broke...

tea dance

i was doing a research on the project that i am starting on -- tea dance and to realise that i didn't have much information and experience in it. Afterall my first and last tea dance was when i was in sec 2 and went with gregory in an afternoon at some ulu part of orchard.

the only vague impression left on me was that it was no difference to the disco i went now -- dark and smokey. i can't remember if alcohol was sold or what music was being played. perhaps i was overwhelmed by the experience. you see different people there and probably you might not believe that they were about the same age as you b'cos they just don't look like it.

so as i was google-ing away, i came across this chinese newspaper article which apparently came about b'cos of leslie cheung's suicide. it mentioned that tea dance was a popular dance culture amongst the youngsters in the 80s especially there was no checking of any identification. it also seems that his songs at that time was also popular as it was being played then. some said that "it was ballroom dancing in the afternoon". subsequently the culture died down and discos were hot, mainly b'cos those who went for tea dance had all grown up.

some knowledge - The tea dance originated in the 1880s in America and England as an added attraction of the afternoon tea held at hotel tea gardens. It was, reportedly, an opportunity for ladies and gentlemen to mix more freely. The afternoon dance grew in popularity during the 1920s and '30s. the dressing look would be vintage-look or modern attire. In the 1920s and ‘30s, ladies would wear a lovely afternoon frock. Gentlemen would wear a long sleeved dress shirt with bow tie or ascot, classic slacks, a single or double-breasted sports jacket (or suit), and lace up oxfords.

anyway through some asking, someone actually provided me some information on the places that still does tea dance:

1. CLUB 5 7500 Beach Road, Plaza Parkroyal (Tel: 6298-0011)The 20-year-old club is a mainstay of the ballroom dancing scene. It has a DJ spinning music from the 1970s onwards every Saturday between 3 and 6pm. Pre-registration costs $10. Walk-in customers have to pay $15 (include free-flow soft drinks or two standard drinks)
2. SINCHI TCAFE 41 Seah Street, Metropole Hotel (Tel: 6336-3611)This six-month-old cafe takes its cue from Chinese teahouses in the early1940s, offering free-flow of tea at $5 from 2.30 to 6.30pm. Its clientele consists mostly of senior citizens and middle-aged professionals exercising their feet on its 93 sq m dancefloor.
3. TOA PAYOH WEST COMMUNITY CLUB 200 Toa Payoh Lorong 2 (Tel: 6253-5585) The community club hires a DJ to spin music every Tuesday and Thursday from 1.30 to 4.30pm. Members pay $1 & non-members pay $2. No drinks, but regulars (houswives and retirees) are known to brew and share their own concoctions. Other community clubs: Yio Chu Kang CC(Tel: 6456-1324) and Queenstown CC (Tel: 6474-1681).
4. REX BROADWAY LIVE STAGE 2 Mackenzie Road (Tel: 6338-3313) Its huge dancefloor - almost the size of a tennis court - is a plus forbig-moving latin and ballroom dances. Tea dances are held from 1 to 8pm daily. There is no cover charge, but patrons (mainly socialites and danceschool students) must buy two drinks at happy hour rates of $15.
5. UPPER CLUB 30 Victoria Street, 02-01A Chijmes (Tel: 6338-1313) The restaurant-club has been a dance haven for the rich and the famous since it opened for business last year. it has stopped its regular tea dance sessions but now organises private tea dance parties for 30 to 120 people for dance schools, companies and individuals.

Are you itching to dance, like me?

欲望 = 选择？

“欲望”是什么? 它是想得到某种东西或想达到某种目的的要求。那我相信谁都有欲望，只是我们有得到吗罢了。但如果有一天，你的欲望有可能成真时，我相信是谁都会非常开心。

但是，如果你的欲望附带着不可设想的后果及危险时，你是否还是会拼命一博？因为这可是你能达成欲望的唯一机会。那是否就把所有的危险抛在脑后？选择!!!

欲望是危险的--它能让你在一念之间成与败也可在一念之差做出错的决定，后悔不堪。该如何作出决定？

我曾告诉自己：
不可再听信它的花言巧语
不许再掉进它的圈套里
不能再做出伤害别人的事
不可再做出伤害自己的事

但我做的到吗？这欲望的感觉强烈，我能抵挡吗？也许潜意识里我真的想得到因为我开始做出让步，理性告诉我万万不可。

我现在面临着选择。我可以不选吗？或，有人可以帮我选择吗？

在网上找到这句话：欲望不是纯粹的、绝对的东西，它需要理智的调控与节制。