House calls

We continued the tradition of our quarterly library book delivery to the disabled folks in our community. Head office knows us by face and name already, so we were spared the usual rookie briefing. Destination: Woodlands.

Veterans we may be, but still making rookie mistakes. Navigation is always a problem. Turn left, turn right, go straight, didn't you see the arrow back there, where the h*ll are we now? Yep, those and the "I thought YOU had the checklist?" "No... didn't YOU hand it to the lady to sign at the last house?" "Oh, yeah. Crap." variety too.

One of our drops was to a minor celeb of sorts. He was the friend of another young disabled chap with MD featured on an episode of Life Transformers. We'll be getting a chance to appear on TV ourselves. Some Middle Eastern film crew wants to interview some of us volunteers, possibly next weekend. We'll see how that goes.

Josh and Jan hosted dinner for us. June wanted to learn some Thai cuisine from Jan and together they whipped up a creditable green curry, prawn tom yum, stir-fried mixed veg combo. Mango sticky-rice for dessert. Jan's a good teacher, June's a good student and their hubbies are becoming quite well-rounded as a result.

While the ladies were busy in the kitchen Josh and I rented Tropic Thunder to entertain ourselves with. It's quite a work of metafiction being a film about a film with a character actor, a method actor and a clown cast as the main stars of the film within the film. Amidst the action and things blowing up, there are lots of commentaries about film genres, acting styles, and a behind-the-scenes look at the dirty business that goes on behind a Hollywood blockbuster production. Loads of fun to watch.

But I am kinda' regretful renting it too because with its profanity-rich dialogue, I'm pretty sure Josh's house has never endured such colourful language since they moved in. Wouldn't be surprised if he's put "spiritual cleansing" on his to-do list for tomorrow.

High strung

I can't shake this odd sensation I've been experiencing all morning. I'm feeling all excited, but can't tell if it's the excitement that comes with the anticipation of something wonderful about to happen or if it's the fear of some great horror that's fast approaching. The odd thing is, I have no reason to expect any such thing, either way. Weird.

I wonder if it's the result of the two consecutive cups of coffee I had for breakfast? Caffeine doesn't usually affect me that way, but maybe McD's is using a blend that's more potent than any other I've had so far?

First timers at Resorts World Sentosa

Happens that a special occasion falls on today's date. We decide to celebrate at the newly opened Resorts World Sentosa. Here we're at the Brazilian themed Fiesta Restaurant. Expect lots of meat!

Fiesta features a four-course set: soup, appetizer, salad and the main course. There are lots of options per course, but you get all the salads listed including the salad of the day. Salads are quite exotic with ingredients such as baby beets and heart of palm. Thought I would hate beets, but these ones didn't kill me.

June's option was pork ribs for the main course. This portion was way more meat than she could handle. She ate one-third and donated the rest to her dining companion.

He was busy with his own Churrasco, a mixed grill of sausage, sirloin steak and spring chix. The meats were done beautifully, especially the sirloin that was delightfully pink inside. All this on one plate would have sufficed for a meal, but with June's donation of pork practically melting off its rib bones, I became a gorging carnivore, eating like I'd marked tomorrow's asteroid impact on my appointment calender.

One item not listed on the menu is dessert. Today, they served two kinds; on the left is a sweet-sour passion fruit pudding, on the right a sweet-bland port-soaked rice pudding. Exotic and surprising.

Tea and coffee to wash it all down. Overall, the meal was well-balanced. Lots of veggie-salads to complement lots of meat. Each dish was light and fresh, in just-right portions. I believe if we had asked for more salads and sides we would have been obliged. As it was, we were already stuffed without having to ask for more. How much per pax? A very reasonable $39+++, really not bad for a special occasion.

Sadly, we couldn't get tix into Universal Studios, so this is the closest we could get, standing forlornly at the turnstiles. Never mind, we'll plan an outing soon, I'm sure of it!

But when it comes to parking in the massive underground parking complex, please don't be an idiot and park anywhere you please. They're serious about enforcing proper etiquette and they will clamp your wheels if you try to get creative. Don't worry, this isn't M2. There's enough parking for everybody plus there's a free tram service around the parking lots too. So any lot is as near your intended destination as another -- there's no reason to park like this.

Gambling on a dream

Goodness! My old boss is in the news today. Should have known he was the one behind it all 'cos he was already talking about it way back then. So glad to know that his dreams have come true, especially since they said he was just living in a fantasy world. Major hospitality resort (check), on Sentosa (check), US franchised theme park operation (check), superstar concerts on a regular basis (check), casino (um, he never actually discussed this in my presence -- maybe I wasn't in his inner-circle of trust, but check). Article says it took him 35 years. I say if anyone was going to get it to work, he would.

Congrats, Ron! You've proven your critics wrong, and I'm really happy for you! Now comes the really tough part -- keeping it all alive! You the man!