Preparing for Auntie-hood

August 18, 2008

I mentioned in a previous post that my nephew was here on holiday, so the next couple of posts would be all about our little escapades in Singapore.

This is really good practice, preparing me for fatherAuntie-hood in about 2 months time.

Here’s a couple of photos we took at the Tanglin Club two weekends ago.

Playing shopkeeper at the playground

Ethan gives his mummy a kiss through the mesh window.

Losing his balance down the slide

Narcissist shot, doing the KC.

posted in Family | 4 Comments

Happy Birthday Josh

August 17, 2008

Wayne’s best friend Joshua reluctantly celebrated his 30th last weekend.

Clockwise from top left: Josh & Jessica (Brother and sister, share the same birthday), Wayne being his kiddy self, Wayne being his adult self, Leon and Lynette.

The ladies were looking bright and colorful that evening, it warrants a picture. Carynn is Leon’s sister, Anisa Joshua’s girlfriend, Lynette Leon’s girlfriend.

Carynn, Angela, Anisa, Lynette

posted in Geek | 10 Comments

Poker face

August 17, 2008

It was either Christmas or her Birthday that Penny got a poker box set, inclusive of the green casino mat, card shuffler and ‘real’ chips (the heavy ones).

Last weekend, i thought I’d join in for a game with the BG Boys. Vince was on webcam helping Penns play, just like virtual poker.

I’ve never played poker before, but I’ve have watched people play on the casino floor and on Vegas TV. So it came as a surprise when i wiped three of the players out. Felt so bad taking their chips, I was so consumed with guilt, maybe I’m just not cut out to be a gambler. Think I’ll buy them some snacks and drinks at the next game.

Talk about beginners luck!

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The mystery of the showering divers

August 15, 2008

The mystery of the showering divers
By Chris Chase

Over the last three nights, NBC has led its primetime Olympic coverage with synchronized diving. According to the stacks of letters that have poured into the Fourth-Place Medal Investigative Unit Headquarters, you’ve all been watching but are baffled by one facet of the competition. In that case, you’re in the right place. After successful forays into the cases of Cullen Jones’ disappearance and the identity of the hot Paraguayan, Fourth-Place Medal will today tackle the mystery of the showering divers.

After completing a dive, competitors swim to a ladder, climb out of the pool and head immediately to a bank of showers that sit adjacent to the diving boards. Then, in full view of the crowd and NBC cameras, they shower off. Divers keep their suits on, of course, usually appearing only to rinse off their hair and arms. Often times, the divers will receive their scores while still showering off. What’s the purpose of this?

Theories have ranged from ‘to get the chlorine off’ to ‘they want to have fun’ — seriously, that last one is a direct quote from NBC’s diving analyst, Cynthia Potter. Neither are the reason.

Divers shower in between each dive to keep their muscles warm after getting out of the pool. The temperature of the pool water and the air are usually different (the pool is usually around 80 degrees, with the air temperature between 68 and 72 degrees). This difference can cause muscle tightness. To combat this, divers warm up in either the showers or a hot tub.

Mystery: solved. (Although we’re still a bit unclear as to why the showers are out in the open.The water cube cost over $200 million to build. They couldn’t have put a privacy wall in?!)

Photo via Getty Images

posted in Geek | 7 Comments

Octopuses have two legs and six arms

August 14, 2008

By David Thomas
Last Updated: 9:13PM BST 12 Aug 2008

To most of us it has always seemed obvious that an octopus has eight arms.
But experts have now revealed that this assumption is wrong - as two of their long tentacle-like limbs are in fact legs.

A study by scientists at Sea Life centres across Europe found that the invertebrates move across the sea bed using their two rearmost limbs, leaving the other six free for the important business of feeding.

Researchers who observed the creatures in action found they push off with the “legs” and then employ the other tentacles to pump themselves along.

The study, the largest of its type carried out, was designed to show if octopuses favoured one side or the other.

But it found that octopuses are ambidextrous, though many seem to favour their third arm from the front to eat with.

Octopuses either swim or crawl across the seabed.

If they need to move fast they can shoot a jet of water from an opening in their body.

Scientists from 20 centres across Europe analysed data from 2,000 observations of common octopuses to get the results.

Claire Little, a marine expert from the Weymouth Sea Life Centre in Dorset, said: “We’ve found that octopuses effectively have six arms and two legs.

“Observations showed that they use the rearmost two to get around over rocks and the seabed.

“They also use these two legs to push off when they wish to swim, and then other tentacles are used to propel them.”

posted in Clips | 3 Comments

Made you think…

August 12, 2008

posted in Geek | 14 Comments

Ouwwee

August 10, 2008

A weekend ago, we all went over to the Tampines trail for a couple of rounds, a trail which we’ve all gone round plenty of times. But not too long ago, PLing had a pretty bad spill on a gnarly section near the bridge.

So on the first round, Rebecca, thinking she should go slow and easy, still had a pretty bad spill down the rocks and got her shin pretty badly chewed up.

On the second round, it was my turn. I was going too slow too and the bike was taking me down the left into the water. But luckily I managed to throw the bike away from me and grabbed on to the bridge. But the fall didn’t come without injuries.

As my nephew would say it, I got an Ouwweee! The bruise was there for a week! Which meant no skirt or dresses for a week! That part now is almost un-ridable due to the weeks rain and erosion.

Here’s adidas Wayne, i say that because he actually took time this morning to match his shirt with his shorts with his socks with his shoes!

posted in Exercise | 13 Comments

Friends that stand the test of time

August 10, 2008

Had a surprise call from an old friend and neighbour last week, and a catch up session was definitely in order. Jeevan came by for dinner with Grandma’s curry in hand! OMG how I missed her rendang. We’ve been neighbours and friends since we were kids, and I was probably 5yrs old when we started hanging out together.

Above: Ren, Jeevan, Georgina, Angela

We headed out to P.S. Cafe at Dempsey for coffee and dessert, reminiscing the good old days of Playground sports like:

Badminton - a line was drawn in the sand to represent the net
Cops & Robbers - I was always too young to play, so i stayed at the robbers end making sand nasi lemak with the leaves around me.
Sand Traps - we used to dig a hole in the sand, place a newspaper on top, pack the edges and sprinkled sand on top disguising the hole. Then we’ll wait for a friend to come by and walk right into the trap!

We have not seen each other in about 10 years and, and it felt like we’ve never been apart!

We’ve caught up with one brother, now for the next one, Dharan, in about a months time.

posted in Family, Geek | 6 Comments

I wuvvv stationery

August 8, 2008

I really get excited when it comes to stationery, I’ve got two pen holders at work filled with all the colours of the rainbow, in different thickness and types (rollerball, felt, fountain, ballpoint). My favourite is 0.7 rollerball for scribbles and a 0.5 for work. 2B lead mechanicals, and I hate using the rubbers on the pencil unless it’s an emergency. Correction tape as opposed to liquid (tipex), Glu stick instead of glue gum.

Anyway, my favourite client gave us a cutter & buck pen yesterday morning. Unscrew the cap and it reveals a 1GB USB stick. Neat.

Am such a nerd.

posted in Geek | 26 Comments

Singfest 2008 - debrief pt2

August 6, 2008

Work has been hectic, so I haven’t had the time to sit down and write about Singfest. To date, it’s the best concert I’ve been to.

I’ve been listening to Jamie Scott & The Town for quite a while now, and surprisingly, he doesn’t have a huge following here in Singapore. Every time I mention his name, I get the “Who is he? What does he do?” answer. But judging by the crowd’s response on Sunday arvo, I’m sure he has scored himself a few more fans from Singapore.

I’m just so glad I got to listen to him live! … At times he sounds like a combination one of my other fav singer Ray LaMontagne and Paolo Nutini.

Nick the amazing cellist

I think the only down side was the heat! It was scorching hot, and we were all trying to keep cool with the ONE electric fan i brought. I reckon the organisers should have at least put a few industrial sized fans to cool us down. The crowd was ok, although it did get a bit rowdy when Jason Mraz came on.

Here are a couple more of my favourite photos of the night.

Panic at the Disco

One Republic

Mr A to Z

Mr Mraz, Toca and their fantastic horn section

Jason Mraz

More pictures can be found in my gallery HERE

Sorry there isn’t any pussycat dolls, rick Astley photos. I was a bit busy then.

So will i go to Singfest again? Well if the line up is going to be as good as this year, hell yeah!

posted in music | 13 Comments

Singfest 2008 debrief

August 4, 2008

I’m such a lucky girl. I got to meet both Jamie Scott & band and Jason Mraz & Toca Rivera at Singfest.

With Jason Mraz

With Toca

Jamie Scott & The Town
I just wished i didn’t look so disheveled. But then again after jumping around for four hours in the sun and the crowd, it was a bit hard to look fresh!

posted in Geek | 23 Comments

Brazil vs Singapore

August 2, 2008

It was a spur of the moment decision. On Monday, Wayne decided he wanted to go watch the Brazil Singapore International friendly match at the Singapore Stadium.

If you asked me I think it was a real waste of $60. The game was sloppy and the stadium was in an embarrassing state. It’s time to tear down that place already, what’s taking the government so long!

The only consolation was the company. Chi, Max, Ling, Leon and Lynette made the night entertaining, especially chi with his sudden outbursts during the match. “Oei, $60 can buy me alot of nasi lemak, and right now the nasi lemak is looking alot more attractive!”.

Final Score: Brazil 3 - Singapore 0

posted in Friends | 4 Comments

Beanie

August 2, 2008

Wayne and I were just getting ourselves some bike lights when we came across the cutest beanie. I wish we had the climate that allowed us to buy it. boo

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Golden retriever adopts tiger cubs at Kansas zoo

August 1, 2008

Thu Jul 31, 7:47 PM ET
A dog at a southeast Kansas zoo has adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother. Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them.

A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn’t pay attention to them. That’s when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said.

Harvey said it’s unusual for dogs to care for tiger cubs, but it does happen. He said he has seen reports of pigs nursing cubs in China, and he actually got the golden retriever after his wife saw television accounts of dogs caring for tiger cubs.
Read more…

posted in Clips | 3 Comments

USA Day 5 - Las Vegas

August 1, 2008

On Day 5 we’re still in Las Vegas. After the late Cirque du Soleil show the night before, we slept in and wasted away the morning swallowed up in our duvet and pillows (I love cold crisp hotel bed sheets). By the time we got up showered and change, it was about midday, lunch beckons.

Las Vegas was always famous for its cheap buffets, but nowadays, those cheap buffets no longer exist. Based on the Frommers guide book I had, The Wynn took top spot for buffets, so we made our way down the strip for some lunch grub.

The Wynn is a $2.7 billion luxury resort named after its creator, casino magnate Steve Wynn. I think the most eye catching thing about the hotel is the beautiful and colourful floral mosaic tiles near the entrance of the hotel. And did you know that The Wynn does not have any floors that start with the number 4, since it is an unlucky number in Chinese culture.

When we got there, the queue had already started to build up. I reckon we were there for a good hour in line before we got a seat. Verdict? Overrated. I reckon our Singapore buffets are still better in terms of variety, presentation and taste.

After stuffing our faces, we had to walk it off. So we rolled ourselves to a couple of casino/hotels nearby. The Venetian was a bit of a disappointment. First of all, it’s so expensive to sit on a Gondola which only goes down a very small stretch of canal. Gondoliers were singing and interacting with customers, which I heard the real Gondoliers don’t do. The architectural reproduction of the sky was alright I guess.

So what was the highlight for me in Las Vegas? As sad as it sounds, I bought tickets to watch the American Idols Live in concert. Uh huh! Now stop giggling, I’m serious. I was pretty hooked this season thanks to my ICON colleagues Gwen and Sarada, who used to exchange notes on performances from the night before. This season, I had two favourites: Jason Castro and Michael Johns. Both with very different voices and style, and both charming in their own way.

Wayne likes Carly Smithson. There I’ve said it. HAHAhaha..

More walking after the show before we retired for the day.

posted in Geek | 1 Comment

Singfest 2008

August 1, 2008

I’m going to Singfest this Sunday for two Js.

Jason Mraz and

Jamie Scott and The Town.

Some of their songs on my playlist if you’re interested to have a listen.

I CAN’T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT! AHHHHhhh…

posted in Geek | 8 Comments

Sony EricssonTraffic Jam 2

July 31, 2008

Work can be fun, sometimes. Attended the iris Singapore conceptualised Sony Ericsson Traffic Jam 2 last Sunday at Armenian Street. Headlining the gig was American Music Award winner and Grammy nominated rock band ‘Daughtry’.

I quite like the themed-event idea, it’s meant to mirror an actual traffic jam. They had a “broken down” car and a tow truck in the middle of the road, a bus stop, petrol beer station and a car wash entrance. Cute. I love themed parties!

posted in Work | 0 Comments

Pet rabbit hops to rescue to save owners from fire

July 31, 2008

A pet rabbit has been credited with saving an Australian couple from a fire that started in their house while they slept. The rabbit woke its owners, Michelle Finn and her partner Gerry Keogh, by scratching on their bedroom door when smoke poured through the house in the Macleod area of Melbourne.

Read more…

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Ian, Lisa and Ethan

July 30, 2008

We’re going to have visitors tomorrow!! My cousin Ian and his wife Lisa will be in town with little Ethan. He’s the cutest boy you’ll ever meet.

I know who’s going to be happy he’s here, Wayne! Ethan and him get along so well, he’s like a mini-wayne.

Can you guys suggest where we can go or things to do for kids?

posted in Geek | 9 Comments

Happy Birthday Danz!

July 30, 2008

Celebrated Danli’s birthday last Friday night at House@Dempsey. We’ve known each other since primary two I think, can’t believe we’re both celebrating our 26th birthdays this year.

Times flies… Happy Birthday babe!

posted in Friends | 8 Comments