manndy

So it's been 3 weeks since I got back from South Africa but i find myself constantly thinking about our time there. There's something magical and magnetic about that country.

People have been asking me "So how's South Africa?", "How was the trip? The safari?" and i find it hard to sum up the experience in a way that does it justice.

In a way, for me, it's like listening to Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Sigur Ros, Jack Johnson and Morcheeba on shuffle. Like having a refreshing bottle of ice cold beer followed by a glass of pinot noir.

Above all, it was a wonderful experience - from the sights to the seafood, the spectacular sunsets that photos can never do justice to, and the cheap good wine. Above all, it was the people we met along the way. Thomas and David who showed us how to party like the Zambians do, Kim and Magnum our guides at the safari, and all those taxi drivers in cape town.

I also couldn't ask for a better bunch of people to experience SA with.

Pictures to follow soon - lotsa giraffes, zebras, lions, landscapes, sunsets and plenty of goofing around.

Did a quiz online and this is my NKOTB song

!

This always takes me back to Melbourne International Backpackers. Where i spent most of my nights accompanied by friends and ice cold Carlton Draught

Seems like i'm in a 90s mood today :)

So i walk upon high and i stuck to the edge to see the world below...

Took a cab home after work and dinner tonight. The taxi uncle was listening to a selection of music which was pretty sweet, in my opinion - Eric Clapton's Layla, followed by Soldier of Fortune, Seagull by Bad Company... and singing along!

So eventually when Hotel California came on, i said, "oh uncle, this is the version with the long intro."

He thought i'd never even heard of The Eagles, and when i said i practically grew up with the music he's listening to, he started talking and skipping tracks and telling me all about "Black SabBAH" and "Lod Stewart".

As he was passing me my change, he stopped the CD player, took out the disc and gave it to me... saying he really enjoys talking to people who love music, and hope i enjoy his compilation of "classical songs from the 70s".

I feel really good about it. sometimes you strike up conversations with virtual strangers and it makes your day so much better. I'm gonna resolve to talk to strangers more often from now on.

I still can't believe the uncle gave me a compilation CD of classic rock.

I was bored so i decided to do a meme.

lRULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Knockin on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison (ermmmm......)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Those magic changes - Grease OST

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
There goes the fear - Doves

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
Shine on you crazy diamond - Pink Floyd

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Gatecrasher part 1 - DJ Tiesto

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Getaway - Stereophonics

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Riders on the storm - The Doors

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Attitude – Suede

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Shoulder Holster - Morcheeba

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Flipside – EBTG

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
The secret place – Brian Eno

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
On The Run – Pink Floyd

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Shh – Frou Frou

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Today (Trance ambient mix) - Paul Van Dyk (haha. Debs always wanted trance at hers!)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
As you are – Travis

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Good Enough – Sarah McLachlan

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Burn one down – Ben Harper

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Lightning Crashes – Live

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Andromeda – Chicane

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Gorecki – Lamb

I'm tagging whoever still reads this. so die hard!

With my phone dying on me last Friday, i started getting a bit paranoid, and got down to backing up my data from my mac.

at the same time, i was looking through old photos, especially of my student days in melbourne... there were a few of when bruce and i just started dating. young and silly, we looked like there was no care in the world. That all we needed was to be happy together and everything would work itself out.

three years down, that is still true. just less obvious. we are so caught up with things happening around us - our jobs, material ambitions, quest for recognition - that we forget these things pass and don't really matter in the bigger scheme of things.

Friday night, we sat at eM long after the rest had gone back, just talking and having Chimay. we spoke of silly things, complained about the futility of corporate slavery and laughed about random whatnots.

times like that remind me that it's still me and him against the world. everything falls into place somehow.

... in last Friday's madness:

WE ARE NO LONGER 18! Alcohol cannot be consumed in such quantities without having to live through after-effects the ENTIRE weekend.

It was fun while it lasted though...

Now to ensure those photos never see the light of day.

This is creative marketing.

Yesterday was my farewell drinks with the PN-ers. Over jugs of margaritas and servings after servings of nachos and chimichangas, we laughed, teased and caught up on conversations entirely unrelated to work. It was heaps of fun. When the night ended, it also signaled the end of that episode of my career.

A new job, new challenges and a new life await me.

To anybody who's considering ZoukOut. :)
Amazing.

Eddie and I were discussing music today. Both fans of 90s Brit-alternative-rock music, we bemoaned the loss of our favourite bands... Suede, Pulp, Placebo, Blur, The Verve, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins and the list goes on.

I tell Eddie how my iPod has so few new songs cause my ears literally hurt when i listen to the likes of The Black Eyed Peas. Eddie says that someone went through his iPod once and concluded that he was sick in the head because he had everything from The Spice Girls to Teresa Teng to Stone Temple Pilots.

I told him i couldn't speak to him anymore.

This will be the last you hear of Eddie.

I'm back to listing top-fives. Today, because i'm going all nostalgic and having Brit fever, it will be...

TOP 5 Songs from 90s Brit Bands that brings me back to simpler days based on my mood today.
(in no particular order)

1. Handbags and Gladrags - Stereophonics
2. The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve
3. Animal Nitrate - Suede
4. Live Forever - Oasis
5. High and Dry - Radiohead

What's yours?

I've just experienced the worst hangover morning in a very long time. It was a dizzy mixture from the night before: some Jim Beam, some Absolut and ALOT of wine, both red and white.

It was supposed to be an easy catch-up kinda night with Kim, Brandon and Song. Song and i left the lovebirds alone for dinner and headed to La Forketta at Dempsey where i had an amazing pasta dish with sweet juicy prawns and freshly-made pesto. Song had a pizza which was equally yummy.

Kim and Brandon were supposed to join us at wine connection after that, but Brandon came up with this idea which involved an 80s card game called Mind Trap. He thought it would be tons of fun and convinced Song and i to head over to Kim's to play and have drinks.

Alot of drinks and perhaps about an hour or so later we got bored with Mind Trap and Tai-di and someone suggested playing "I Have Never ..." I know, i know, it's the kinda thing you play in Secondary school and Uni. But we had tons of fun anyway - anyway we were among close and trusted friends, and it didn't matter what manner of skeletons were let out of the closet.

***WARNING - gross bits ahead***

3am. Stumbled out of Kim's and into a cab, got home and took a shower. At this point, some churning was going on in my stomach and threatening to come up with vengeance. So. i puked my guts out. And it's a disgusting reminder to myself to:

1. Stop drinking so much
2. Stop mixing my alcohol
3. At breaking point, DO NOT PUKE - i know various people who espouse puking while pissed drunk, because it apparently makes them feel better. Not for me... i feel tons worse if i let it all out.
4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
5. Sleep with windows open, fan on, aircon off. fresh air always helps.
6. Indulge in hangover food the next morning
7. Have a glass of water with berocca

Thank goodness i'm on leave today.

A friend and I have these regular chats about the nature of relationships - he calls me a bloke on heels and i simply call him a bloke. So here we are - two blokes, except one is anatomically and (once a month) emotionally female. But i digress.

Today he tells me about this girl he's working with. You know the type: cute, perky ass, low-cut tops, dazzling sultry smile. Essentially a girl who gets her way around hot-blooded men.

According to him, she's a bitch in tight clothing and she's not getting her way - not if he has anything to do with it - immune to her charms and wiles, apparently. Naturally, my reaction is "yeah right". But knowing my friend (let's just call him Eddie), I half believe him.

Eddie is one of those guys who enjoys the thrill of the chase. He loves girls with attitude and it helps if they have a nice booty to, well, boot. Doesn't matter if they look gorgeous - in fact, if they look kinda Plain Jane but have the confidence of Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman combined, he'll be drooling like a little puppy.

That said, Eddie is the first guy that has confirmed that ALL Singaporean men have an Ah Lian fantasy.

If that isn't complicated enough, the girl-in-question needs to be able to hold a witty conversation, drink him under the table and must absolutely have no inner whiny-needy-tantrum-throwing beast.

And guys say women are complicated.

As a woman in a cosmopolitan Singapore, or any other cosmo city for that matter, you're expected to be independent enough to not want to bother the man when he wants space, yet not aloof or risk being called hard-to-get. You also need to make up your own mind, yet value the man's opinion. You must be sexy but not skanky (although sometimes, under strict supervision you might be allowed to be). You must tolerate his penchant for 'undesirable material' but not be too overt in ogling Calvin Klein Underwear models. You can't be drama and pick fights all the time, yet you cannot be too submissive.

Of course the list goes on...what it comes down to, of course is this game. As an old friend once told me: "Relationships are like a game of tennis. you're at an advantage when the ball's in your court." Erm. OKAY. (It's a funny quotable quote, as long as you don't say you got it from this blog.) I'd like to think the game is more primal than men in tight white shorts hitting a yellow ball to and fro, though.

Guess it's a discussion reserved for another round of happy hour beers.

I've been lazy, yes. When i started this blog, it was with the intention of keeping the peeps back home about my life in melbourne. Since i've been back, though, all i've done is post random photos and lyrics.

So, while my life is undergoing some change now, i've decided to be more disciplined about documenting my existence.

watch this space. :)

Taken in Melbourne when Pam's younger boy turned one :) Check out the wide grins.
I wanna pinch his cheeks!! (Jake's)

Bruce is here! :D

Arrived in the early hours of the morning yesterday... i was still sleeping and Paul went to pick him up from Spencer St. It seems he wasted no time. He hopped into the car and said to Paul "Let's go for coffee at Chapel". Coffee at Chapel (other than the fact that the lattes are amazing at Amici's) means perving at the girls who, despite the frigid weather, still wear super short dresses to strut down the street.

We ended up having dinner at Mercadente, where Bruce used to work. Incidentally, Mercadente is also the place where Bruce and i had our first dinner while we were getting to know each other. It's also the place where our parents had lunch before heading out on that bizarre trip to the Great Ocean Rd.

We then headed to Kitten Club (the one Song calls Pussy Palace) and got kinda sloshed. Wish i'd brought my usb cable now so that i could upload some of the pics we took.