Tremors
The earthquake off the Coast of Sumatra last Tuesday resulted in half a day off for around 300 people working at One marina Boulevard (OMB). After tremors were felt for a 2nd time at about 2 pm, the building was evacuated.
A mandatory half day off was like a ‘free’ holiday. Everyone was in a good mood despite the damage a mere 420 kilometers away. Soon as the announcement was made, folks were cheering and clapping.
I know they are suffering but it just didn't feel close enough to home. I wonder how many felt the same way.
Made good use of the afternoon off to catch Dreamgirls. Lots of song and dance, but Jennifer Hudson’s super powerful voice, Oscar or no Oscar, frayed my nerves a little.
Unsalvagable
Was distressed enough to take leave last Monday. Went to Kimage @ Funan and seeked a ‘consultation’. Actually I asked for a perm, hoping to rectify the damage. The hairstylist who attended to me was horrified at such a request. ‘What? you just permed 2 days ago CANNOT perm again. Your hair will cui3…’
She didn’t even want to make money on a Monday morning when there was hardly any business… Haiz. So the verdict is I gotta wait a minimum of 1 month before any chemical job. Preferably 2, mian2 qiang3 also at least 3 weeks. Else she say she don’t even dare to do it.
She picked out a number of uncurled bits (those the rollers missed out) and layered them off. Then recommended styling methods to hide the damage as best as possible. All in all, she’s quite nice and sensitive.
In the meantime I gotta wake up half an hour earlier everyday to try to ‘shape’ them into some semblance of normality and wait it out.
Grrr.
A Hairy Disaster
I've never had a regular hairstylist in my entire 23 going 24 years. Unless you count the few times i went back to this hairdresser a friend recommended for haircuts at Jean Yip IMM. She went on maternity leave and disappeared for a few months. So i went back to being a hairdresser-hopper. I would have stayed on with her otherwise, cos she didn't try to experiment with fanciful cutting styles on my head and understood i just want something low maintanence and don't 'kiu'. She also wasn't pushy in selling products. The only thing she pushed was to add 3 bucks to 'upgrade' the shampoo you used, so her haircuts always cost $30 + $3 = $33 bucks. Nice number hor...
Off-hand, I can recall going to a few salons at Far East Plaza, various branches of Jean Yip, Jantzen, Kimage, Hair Movement, ProTrim, Reds, Storm and some neighbourhood 'auntie' salons.
Most of the time, I'm neutral to the work done, sometimes I'm disappointed, and occassionally upset.
I absolutely hate it when the hairdresser layer my hair too thin and worse still when the layering is done on the 'outside' cos it must be done on the 'inside' so that the hair don't stick out. Reason being my hair has a bit of natural curl and is very prone to 'kiu' out. Its condition is also naturally dry. So the quality is sub-standard to begin with.
My number one hair disaster (counting from the time i started to give tuition or do part time jobs after JC and started doing 'chemical stuff') was a dye job gone wrong. I went to Jantzen asking for highlights. I even showed the stupid hairdresser a picture from a magazine. Like light brown on dark brown. The light brown looked more like blond and was super chunky. Looked like some chao ah lian. It was damn ugly. Esp the fringe!! I couldn't stand it and went to dye my hair again a few days later. Needless to say my hair was totally damaged from all the chemicals. My pocket was also seriously damaged of cos. Think i stopped dying my hair after that time, not quite sure.
When i was little, my ma used to cut my hair and she insisted on doing it all the way to Pri 6, giving me disaster after disaster. (She had serious parallax error and always cut it too short cos its always 'oops left side a bit longer than the right', then she trim a bit on the left, then trim too much on the left, so go and trim the right somemore. Its okie for the back cos there's hair to play around with, but the fringe.. man the fringe was usually too freakin short)
I still remember the first time i cut hair at a auntie salon proper. It came after i finally rebelled and whined and pleaded and finally screeched for her to stop embarrassing me and take me to a salon instead. I simply refused to let her touch my head.
So she took me to an auntie salon in Jurong West to get a haircut. I still remember the auntie was kinda distracted by this Qiong Yao show - Xin Yue Ge Ge - playing on TV while cutting my hair. But hor, schoolger cut is quite simple, so still looked fine.
Then my mum had to spoil it by asking the auntie to cut shorter to save money. Her rationale is cut more so no need to come so often. I said don't want, the length just nice already. The auntie hairdresser, eager to watch Xin Yue Ge Ge in peace also quickly added. 'Zhe Yang Gang Gang Hao, Tai Duan Bu Mei' - 'Like this just nice, too short no nice.'
But my ma insisted. And so the auntie cut reluctantly. The price to pay for using up her TV time was a hair disaster. It was so short the ends only reached the middle of my ear lobe. When she finished, she still said in a buay song manner, gou duan le ma? (short enuf not?) (the tone says 'U cheapskate!')
And so i went home teary eyed once again after a disastrous haircut and went to school with dread the next day.
Come to think of it my mei mei got her first rebonding in Pri 6. Talk about double standards. Perhaps she's just smarter. It took me till Pri 6 to scream at my ma to embarrassing me. I should have been more fierce younger.
I digress. Anyway this hairy curse continued all the way till today. Yes TODAY. Like 12 hours ago.
Actually i should say the disaster today is a continuation of my pre-CNY disaster. Or rather it is directly linked to my Pre-CNY disaster.
Right b4 chinese new year, i had this incredible urge to trim my hair (cos everyone's suddenly sporting haircuts and in a moment of weakness, seeing the state of my messy and dry ends, decided to cut a little bit) However, all the salons had already hiked up their price substantially. So in a bid to save money, i parted with a 'mere' 22 bucks for a trim downstairs. I had gone to the same shop for wash and blow dry b4 and hence assumed its safe) And that was it... The hairdresser did the number 1 error despite my reminders - Layer outside. So my stupid genetically defective hair started sticking out all over the place. SIanz. Every morning i fought a losing battle to tame it.
Just a sidetrack - think marrying a hairdresser won't be too bad. Haha. At least i'll have pretty hair all day every day, no worries of a bad hair day (sounds like an advert for pads...) If he's nice enuf he'll even wash my hair for me everyday.. ooh lala... The chances of landing one is like 0.0001. Take away half who like their own kind, then the rest are surrounded by pretty female hairdressers with gorgeous hair. Sign...
In the future if i go sign up at Lunch Actually or whatever dating agency, i'll put down 'know how to blow dry hair nicely' as a criteria. (I totally suck at blow drying hair. Can only do the right side nicely. Can hold brush with right hand and hold hairdryer with left. but cannot do properly for the left side. ) Come to think of it its a really 'good' criteria cos a guy whose willing to blow dry hair for ya should be really nice and sweet, no?
Back on track.. to my hair disaster. Yes i was saying that everyday i had to fight 'kiuing' hair. so i thot -- hey since i have a bit of 'not here nor there' type of 'curl' maybe i ought to just curl my hair!
So i found myself looking at women with curly/wavy hair on the mrt, in the office, etc..
And i became more and more tempted each time i yanked at my unruly strands in frustration.
went to read up on forums too. so many types! jap perm, ceramic perm, digital perm. plus 'interviewed' a colleague who had jap curls.
And made up my mind. brought a couple of pics to the hairdresser to explain the kind of curls i want. bearing in mind the limitations - not enough hair and not v.long hair. and made it a point to emphasize that i want sth low maintanence. asked if i can get the type of curls i want or if he can recommend.
And guess wat.. it still turned out to be an utter disaster.. The curls are not the type i wanted, and one side seems more curled than the other. and the back is like so uncurled.. Ugh.. The stylist had to 'jaga' a few customers and i was sitting there waiting after every step for so so long. went in at 12 and got out at almost 430.
To make matters worse the payment was a very ugly scene. When i made the appointment, i was quoted 140 for a digital perm and cut plus 50 for treatment - altogether 190. I was also coaxed into buying a product for 36 bucks.
Then when the bill came, it was 266 instead of 226. The components were 180 + 50 + 36.
The perm had appreciated by 40 bucks!
I pointed it out and said i was quoted a different price on Thur night. He then asked who quoted the price. The woman was in the shop and i pointed at her. I also said she had jotted down the quoted price and service requried on the appointment bk. He can check and see
Then he said what she quoted me was for
digital perm, and what they gave me was a
digital spa perm. WTF.. wat spa? Reason being the chemical used was better. And he ASKED me why i didn't ask him? Therefore he automatically gave me the better one.
I was super pissed by then. Piangz i'm already super distressed by the disastrous hair and 4.5 hours of rotting on my ass and you have the cheek to charge me 40 bucks more and ask me why i didn't ask you?
KNN! ( i didn't say that to him) How am i supposed to know you have digital and digital spa? Its not on your 'menu' of services!
And i told him your assistant said have jap perm and digital perm. She wrote down nicely the price and service in appointment book then i take it as that already, u also never asked me.
And he offered a 20 buck 'concession' insisting that its a spa perm. Hell hath a woman's fury i tell you. If looks could kill, he wld have dropped dead. I was so so freaking angry.
I'm not going to be bullied into paying that extra 20 bucks. When did it turn into a concession? And in the end i didn't have to.
SO freaking suay. What to do now? Reperm? Rebond? Really not much hair left le.. Plus the damage of another harsh chemical treatment.. Was intending to highlight it after 3-4 weeks. Now how? Heartpain. Pay money to torture myself... haiz..so sad
Bai Nian with Uncle Ringo
Today is the 2nd day of CNY and i was bored as hell.
A gal pal kindly offered to let her mei mei, and 2 gal pals tag along her date, one of whom is me.
I started the evening with a major blooper. Reading 1715 as 715pm. As a result, everyone was waiting for me. Thankfully the gal pal i was supposed to meet at West Mall called to ask 'Where the hell i was'. In a state of panic, I shoved down the piece of Bak Kwa i was nibbling on (been nibblin on lots of Bak Kwa lately, esp the charred bits. Yes i noe its carcinogenic) and got ready in record time.
Flew down the stairs and *oopsie* everyone was waiting in the car. Apologised to everyone and we journeyed to far-away Hougang to visit Uncle Ringo.
Uncle Ringo collects $2 Ang Bao from his visitors before you can enter. You get free music too. You then buy coupons to play with his toys.
Each coupon costs $2.50.
The kiddy rides usually cost 2 coupons.
The ferris wheel, Top-gun, this spinning thing and i dunno wat... cost 3 coupons.
The Vortex and this spinning swing thing cost 4 coupons.
DO the maths...
... ...
...
Moi only went for 2 rides - Ferris wheel and the spinning swing 4 coupon thing.
Ferris wheel although pricey at 3 coupons went ard enuf times to give me my money's worth. The sad thing is there's not much of a view at Hougang.
The spinning swing thing (still can't rem its name) left my badly layered - already messy hair - in knots. (can't do the Pantene thing) i untangled (i mean yanked) a few knotted strands after the ride.
The loud music and spinning made me a bit light-headed. Can't figure out why i paid 10 bucks to be thrown forwards, backwards and sideways. But i have to admit the screaming does help to release frustration. There are only so many places for a sane adult to scream your guts out. You can do it at home and risk incurring the wrath of neighbours, or in a padded cell which is way too extreme. So ya i figured funfairs have their uses.
There's a number of Games stalls but not many people willing to throw many 2.50s to win soft toys. Imagine its like flinging a packet of chay kuay teow (will be much more shiok though). Having watched lots of TV as a child, I used to have this fantasy during my teenage years that i'll have a bf who will win a giant soft toy for me at a funfair. You know, then can hold the huge, fluffy and absolutely useless thing and walk around proudly. Its like having a bouquet of 99 roses on Vday that sorta thing.
Uncle Ringo's toys really suck. If I have a bf who dumps many 2.50s to win one of those pirated toys or not very clean looking giant bears or outdated Hi-Fi sets, i'll personally shoot him with the rubber pellet gun.
For so much money, they really ought to give better toys. Like those cute turtles from Action city or piglets (Its the year of pigs afterall) or pirated Hamitaro at least.. They're still giving away pirated Pikachus..
Turtles are good. Maybe if you get 300 points, the small turtle, then 500 points the medium one and for one thousand points, you can get either a big big turtle or a piglet...
Shen Ri Kuai Le
A Jingle Ma film. Think along the line of Di Xia Tie and Xiang Zuo Zhuan Xiang You Zhuan.
The last time i felt so moved by a chinese movie was Xin Dong eons ago starring Takashi and Gigi Leung. Dat was like in Sec 3 or 4? *Gasp*
Watch it if you’re into sad romantic tragedy stuff.
Skip if you can’t stand slow movies where guy stares at girl and girl stares back at guy... Dat sort of thing.
Warning: If you’re the weepie type (me not), pack along tissues and go light on eye make-up.
Warning to Bfs whose Gfs are the weepie types: Pack loads of tissues and wear a wrinkle free shirt.
A week in Cambodia
Traipsing about Cambodia was exciting and hot..seriously HOT... it didn’t rain once during my stay!
Day 1: 29th Dec - Setting off. Flight 3K 593, SIN to PNP.
Lugged along my luggage to work and charged off to Changi right after the Year-end party wrapped up. Checking in at the JetStar queue was rather messy, reason being we’re weren’t sure which snaking line to join. Eventually we were all checked-in, got seats in the same row and no one lost any luggage. Verdict: Pass but Barely...
The Phnom Penh airport though tiny by international standards was very nice, clean and new. Clearance took forever though, attributed to the ‘New Computer System’. Travelling by budget air means we don’t get an aerobridge, gotta walk across the tarmac. Thankfully there was no rain!
The real Phnom Penh became apparent after we stepped out from the airport. The free pick-up from our guest house turned out to be neither a van nor a car … (Moi was still rather hopeful after crossing the airport carpark --> ‘Oh, the guesthouse save money don’t park at airport!’)
… Only to be greeted by 2 Tuk Tuks.. *Gulp*… so 3 of us squeezed into each Tuk Tuk hugging our belongings. Traffic in Phnom Penh is quite amazing.. or rather it is the way drivers somehow manage to get by with like almost non-existant traffic lights, motorbikes with a whole family on them, zippy Tuks Tuks which we discovered can swerve like bikes when turning fast enough…and oh there are no restrictions on whether the steering wheel is on the left or right. Anything goes.. Despite how messy it sounds, its somehow quite orderly. talk about order among the chaos.
Btw, the ubiquitious rich man car is not the SLK or BMW but the Lexus SUV - figured its Mighty enuf for the hazardous traffic. The Lexus drivers are every inch as snotty as our local SLKs’!
______________________________________
Onward to
Happy Guesthouse for the nite. Unlike its name, it wasn’t a very cheery place. Firstly, there wasn’t enuf rooms for us, and after a rather tense half hr or so, we settled down in a triple room for the 4gers and the guys shared a double.
Next, the boss told us ‘No more bus ticket to Siem Reap’. We had placed orders for the Mekong Express Company. But well, expect the unexpected. So he booked another company which cost USD$6 instead of 12. Half price so wat's not to love? And after spending the night in a so-so room where Kexin caught a roach, we had breakfast by the river and made our way to the bus pick-up.
______________________________________
Day 2: 30th Dec
Now the USD$6 ride was another surprise.
1. Aircon which hardly coughed out any air.
2. Mosquitos – whipped out insect repellant
3. Almost non-existant suspension which ensured a super bumpy ride.
4. The half hour stopovers at like 3 pick-up spots.
5. Overbooking!!! This one was quite scary. Folks were made to sit on little plastic stools along the aisle. Moi started scribbling our seat numbers onto the tics cos some tics apparently came with numbers and some without. It din help one bit since the driver cum ticketer cum seat assigner tore off the portion I wrote on…But thankfully non of us were evicted from our seats.
6. The little ger in front of me decided to open the window for ventilation. Ventilation’s good but wind gusting against your left cheek with loads of dust is no good. Its like blackhead heaven...
Anyway we reached Siem Reap at 230 instead of the promised 1230. Since our free pick-up was waiting for us at the Mekong Express Bus terminal, we had no transport, which meant we were in rip-off heaven for the Tuk Tuk drivers.
To be continued ... still 'optimising' the pics. Part 2 will be pic heavy.
Sounds of the morning
As predicted, after a mere few days at work, I’ve all but morphed back into the bitchy city ger. Another scrambling ant in the buzzing CBD. Scramble on the train, many arms sticking out towards the lone handrail, shove shuffle bumped, beep beep beep beep. Train doors closing.. off to the east bound train. Scramble up the escalator, beep beep beep, pass the gantry, clop clop click clack, grab Today’s Today. Join the Mr Bean queue, xiao jie yao shen meh? Wen1 de3 yi4 bei1. Pancake ma? Bu2 yong4 xie xie. Clop clop clack clack. Another morning. As it is repeated every morning by many denizens of the worker ant economy.
Pedi Luv
Moi just blew some hard-earned moolah on a much-needed pedicure, what with all the dust, sand and soil that got into my fake berks.. which turned into liquefied dirt whenever my shoes got wet… Can’t even begin to imagine all the toe jam.
I simply love pedicures. Frankly I don’t enjoy manis half as much, since most of the time, I’ll chip off nail polish in under 5 days. So it just becomes a waste of money. And a source of constant heartpain whenever I look at the missing bits. Even shorter lifespan if it’s a dark shade and chipped dark nails are painfully obvious. Dark colours are precisely the reason why you get someone to paint your nails anyway (with the exception of French and nail art), since it’s that much harder to get a smooth matt dark shade right when you DIY.
As I floated home on rubber slippers, (packed them along in my work bag) having chucked my heels into a ziplock bag post-pedi, I had a rather morbid thought. If I got into some road accident, at the very least I’ll depart with nice feet. Anyway that’s besides the point.
Dipping tired feet into a hot hot tub of slushing water, having my soles filed, ridges buffed and smoothed, cuticles tidied up and toes massaged is such a wonderful feelin, awww…I feel so comforted and pampered that I wish all the pedicurists in the world are male, then perhaps I can marry one of them and enjoy lovely toes forever and ever. Amen.
Feelin' Lucky
I've been walking around feeling pretty 'lucky' and appreciative these few days. This is going to sound totally idiotic but i'm still gonna say it. When i was walking to the bus stop on fri and as usual, the feeder bus jus jus jus left, I was about to cuss when I told myself to be thankful that I'm stepping on tiles, there's shelter and there's a good bus to take. While celebrating Andy and Dawn's birthday at Helios, I was glad there were such creature comforts.
While walking through the neighbourhood park, i felt thankful again that its such a safe city, i can walk around without worries, kids are playing happily at the playground, we can all go to school, etc ...
While eating Yong Tau Hu at Kopitiam, i was glad the food is good and cheap. And my tap water is clean and dont smell of copper.
While watching Blood Diamond, I was glad to have never experienced the pain of civil war or war of any kind.
The list goes on ....
And nope i haven't turned all religious or anything like that.
Figured i had better jot these down before i morph back into the kiasu, materialistic Singaporean tomolo. I'm sure the CBD air and the morning MRT rush will wipe out any feelings of contentment and thanks in no time at all.
So let me be appreciative for just one more night.
Year end syndrome
As we transit from 06 to 07, some of us turn increasingly pensive, reflecting on the past year, our lives, and churn out a list of new year resolutions.
In the month of Dec, I found myself thinking about my life a lot, what i wish to do, to have, and what i have done so far. I call this the year end syndrome. I'm not big on making resolutions.
But i would like to do a few things - such as being happier, more positive, more decisive, quit dwelling on stuff i can't change and improve on stuff i can ... negative traits which i want to improve. and very very importantly - get a new job come April.
