Poem of the Day:

Petite Pretty girl on the MRT (next to me).

You stood next to me,
Whether by choice or not,
The two of us were,
Stuck next to each other;
Two tired, lonely souls in an MRT Carriage.
Full of sticky, knackered after-work office workers,
Packed like Singaporean Sardines.
Congested and somewhat dank,
I swear the girl in front of me had hair that stank.
The more everybody tried to get comfortable,
The more they looked like they were all playing twister, together, at the same time.
What a shape-shifting fluid mass of office workers we were.
As the train moved, you leaned closer and closer until it seemed like we'd been doing this forever.
I tried to look dapper in my nicely checkered shirt,
tucked into my black flat front trousers,
standing tall in my black leather shoes.
But I was so uncomfortable in that crowd, I don't think you knew.
Or were you faking insouciance
As you leaned against me (your white sheer fitted shirt was well-made I could tell) throughout the duration of that short ride between Raffles Place and City Hall?
For that minute or so, I thought I might have been in love, albeit briefly.
You didn't have to lean against me and yet you did (I want to believe that you wanted to).
Was it really that crowded or were you just lazy?

Tim'06

Choonage: The Juan Maclean - Tito's Way

p.s. Ru, you'd love this song if you don't already know it! It's got the best hypnotically-driving electro-ish beat ever!

It's been another fun weekend. After completing my first ever full week at work (I learnt so much, my head hurts still...or is it because of the usual weekend hangover??), I went for a fascinating talk on Friday night by the Anthropologist Liza Dalby who was in town to talk about her experiences as the only non-Japanese so far to be allowed to become a Geisha. Once again, I learnt a fair amount. It brought back such pleasant memories (of uni), listening to her talking about her field work, that I actually took notes! I then went on to have dinner with Moose Girl, her brother, her two friends (Sandra and Brenda) and Max at Graze, 4 Rochester Park. To cut a long story short, we ate some lovely fusion food before going on to drink some lovely cocktails. The restaurant and bar are very nicely decorated and the beats of chilled house, mellow drum and bass and a whole gamut of sounds that would fall neatly into the "chill out" genre of dance music are to be heard as you eat/drink. We stayed there for hours because the lovely tropical rain started falling. Good thing then, that we had, by this point, good seats in the main building itself (a lovely "Black & White" or old colonial detached building)...twas much like being at a nice house party...we danced about to the cds on loop, drank some more, and eventually ended up at Zouk (most of us did), where we jumped around and had a generally jolly time. Saturday was spent feeling hungover mostly until the pretty decent Japanese film ("It's Only Talk") and the wine we consumed after. Today's been spent mostly sleeping and storing up energy for the week ahead. There's more learning to be had, hurrah! I hope you lot have a lovely week ahead of youse. Peas Oot.

Am presently busy trying to fill my head with lots of new information. Am also learning a whole lot about the local hospitality industry as well as trying to figure out the art of negotiation in a variety of circumstances. Am definitely getting used to wearing shirts and am turning flabby slowly but surely. Could this be the start of a new life as a droid? Very possibly. Let's hope not though.

Choonage: Overture - Chicane

Happy Easter everybody!! Hope you were all good and went to church today. It's been a pretty eventful week I gotta say. I started work at STB and swiftly found myself adapting (or trying to) to a life of coffee, meetings, shirts, trousers, hand shakes, office politics,etc. I'm up on the 12th floor which has lovely views and is especially quiet. I dare say that weekends have started to become precious to me again...memories of National Service have started to surface slowly. Anyhoo, this has been a weekend of St Andrews and MTV. The former cos Kristina and Diana are both in town. It's lovely to see them both again. So, I've been getting in some uni-related chat and it's warmed my cockles. How I love my mates from Scotland. Kristina is here for a few more days which is nice and Diana is leaving for less humid shores tomorrow. Diana, if you ever read this, it was lovely to hang out with you last night and today. I look forward to the next time I see you in Scotland! As for how MTV's been a part of the weekend, I bumped into Denise on Thursday in town. She also happens to be the very first recipient of my very first name card! It was a very touching moment for me. Aye, handing over your first name card is something I won't forget anytime soon. How I wish the moment had been captured on video....I also made some new friends this weekend. Max is a new VJ at MTV and he's full of fun. He knows the words to almost every famous disco song and he's well up for a laugh on the dancefloors of Spore. His mate, Matt is just as crazy. I had a good two nights with these two boys at Jeff Mills and Tiesto. My liver is not happy with me at the moment let me assure you. And on that note, it's best that I head to bed immediately!peas oot.

Poem of the Day:

Worker Bee

My sedentary life is lost to me, I'm now a working man.
My head is filled with working things,
And trepidation about what the future might bring.
I'm quite scared but not as scared as I was this morning.

Tim'06

Choonage: Smashing Pumpkins - Suffer

Just finished reading a book called "You are not a stranger here". It's by this chap called Adam Haslett and is one of the more memorable pieces of fiction I've read in a long while. Seeing as how it's also his literary debut makes it all the more impressive. It's a collection of short stories based in places as varied as St Andrews (Mon!) and Los Angeles, revolving around characters whose lives are filled with longing and almost always, a dark sense of humour. I'm not very good at reviewing books (as I've come to realise in the past few minutes, trying to blog this down) so I shall just say that this book struck me in so many ways; from its cover (an androgynous-looking and strangely sexy character lying on top of a bathtub??) to the way in which Haslett writes. His writing is filled with so much pain. I don't know if I was feeling particularly empathetic but everytime I started reading one of the many short stories, I felt myself being drawn in, engrossed and sorry to get to the end of each story. I also left each story feeling weary and bogged down by a weight I came to conclude was sadness, imparted from Haslett to me, the reader. I was thankful for being allowed to enter the world of each of the characters but also, anxious about being mired in a depression which was so distinctly foreign (I can't remember the last time reading a book made me sad...it must have been at least 5 years ago) and yet seemed so familiar (sadness is sadness after all, I suppose). Anyhoo, the time to play tennis has arrived. if y'all have time, try to get your hands on this book and let it consume you as it did me. You'll feel stronger/better for it, I think.

Choonage: Beck - Soul Suckin' Jerk

Right then, my first day of work will be next Tuesday, the 11th of April. I'll be working at STB itself which is, thankfully, but a 10 minute drive from my house. I'm going to spend my next few days attempting to wake up slightly late, doing as much exercise as I can, wearing shorts and flip flops everywhere, eating as much as I can and enjoying the company of my friends and family. Next Tuesday onwards, my life as I know it will be changed forever. I'm going to be joining the ranks of millions of people around the world; I'm going to become a working man!! Yikes!! I never thought It'd happen but happen it must and it's probably about time too. So, ladies and gents, watch this space for updates. I'll blog more when I know what's in store for me.

Choonage: Earthquake Weather - Beck

Hello one and all,
The last post saw me whine about not knowing what my "passion" is. Well, I'm still unsure but you know what? In spite of my not knowing the answer (and how to answer), I guess I must have said something (s??) right that day because less than a week after the interview (i.e. today), they called me up and offered me a JOB!! HOORAY!!!! So, it looks like l'il Tim here is going to be in the Management Associate Scheme at the STB (Singapore Tourism Board). Nice one!! I'll let you all know more about my job scope and all that kind of thing once I start. For now, I'm just relieved to have finally landed a job exactly 7 months (yes, I've been back that long and yes, I've not had a fag in the same amount of time!!) after returning to Spore. Thanks to all you lovely folk out there for all your support, encouragement and advice. It means the world to me. I would have turned into a dribbling wreck by now if I didn't have you guys. But most of all, Thank you, Jesus.
The weekend just gone by was a pretty good/tiring one. Friday was quiet and Saturday was pretty crazy. We had a cookout-type-thing at JJ's on the latter. I didn't cook though, I bought food and wine. I'm getting old and lazy. After eating and drinking too much, we ended up at Zouk where I tried to dance to Felix da Housecat's crazy electro-house-techno-musical melange but spent a great deal of the time trying instead just to keep the water down (yes, I was so wasted I could only bring myself to drink water). After going to bed at silly o'clock, I woke up a few hours later and immediately proceeded to spend the rest of Sunday feeling incredibly hungover, irritable and regretful (why do i punish myself like this week in, week out??!!). Church was good, the sermon was insightful and what helped matters was that the cutest little girl (she must be about 3 yrs old I think) in the world sat in the row in front of us. I spent a good deal of time admiring her white, leather moccasins and her little, perfect form. I sat there, thinking about what it'd be like to have a daughter like her.*sounds like my paternal instincts are beginning to kick in!!*
I spent the afternoon watching "Singapore GaGa" (a documentary by Tan Pin Pin) which was, at that point in time, very agreeable with my fragile state. I thought it was very cleverly edited and quietly clever in its own way. It really got me thinking about alot of the daily soundscapes in Spore that we tend to ignore or not notice because we're just too busy plugged into our ipods or away with the fairies or just too busy being busy (I now know that "The Voice" on the MRT Train belongs to a lady called "Juanita"). I then spent a few hours with Shirley and Mag and their friends chatting over Coffee, which made me feel slightly more alive. It was a result of both the caffeine and the chat! I also got to talk to Mag about STB which cleared up a few questions I had about the organisation....little was I to know that less than 24 hours later, I'd be called up to join the same organisation. Looks like we're going to be colleagues eh, Mag? Nice one!
Anyhoo, to cut a long story short, I'm still feeling pretty weak. I have a feeling that I'm suffering from a combination of an extended hangover as well as food poisoning. Not the best, really. I just want to end off by thanking each and every one of you once again. You guys are all stars!
Peas Oot,
Tim!!
p.s. Neelesh, you sly dawg. Email us immediately and gie us some banter!! You know what I'm talking about!

Choonage: Manhattan Skyline - Kings of Convenience (A-Ha Cover)