And today in brief:
Sent M2 for 10000 km servicing.
Met June, Amy and HP for lunch at Maestro Bistro, Cineleisure.
Watched Herbie Fully Loaded with Amy and HP.
Watched MU's Open Rehearsal Performance in which our Drama Club contributed an item.
Ran over to M-i-L's to eat nephew's birthday cake and deliver a "present" to the birthday boy.
No wonder I'm tired.

Today was the Teachers' Day celebration in college. Oddly enough, the staff performed concert items, the students sat and watched. Usually, it's the other way around. But anyway, this occasion marked the inaugural usage of the new parade square for official college business, and here P announced her retirement to the whole college as well.


Q-tip is happiest beneficiary of my TDay gift from the college management -- 2 punnets of strawberries.

And S3D, thanks for the card and your individual messages -- all the nice things you said. :)
I'll continue working hard for you, just remember to keep me on my toes, ok?

Spent 2 hours after the celebrations helping to facilitate a staff workshop on Reasoning a la Richard Paul, though most of the attendees already knew something about it or were already using it in some form or other in their classes already. Guess it's good to consolidate and standardize everything for all departments, but it does make for a dry session when preaching to the converted. Talked too much during my section of the sharing, but if you look at most of the entries in this blog, you'll know it's a trait of mine to ramble on and on and on...

Still reading? Wow!

Celebrated with Vince, Amy, Yee and HP at the Gardens' Country Manna, then went bowling [again!!] the rest of the afternoon.

In the evening I made a turkey delivery (don't ask) to M-i-L's, met June there then drove down to meet Anthony at the petanque courts in Toa Payoh to help him set up for the International petanque tourney scheduled for this weekend. We strung up bunting, ran cable and attempted to assemble the rather large scoreboard in an easily seen location. June also busied herself cleaning up the grimy-looking water-cooler from which the participants will be drinking during the competition. By 2220 or so we were done. For our assistance, Anthony treated us to a Milo Dinosaur each at The Prata House. We gratefully lapped it up, then went on a mooncake delivery (M-i-L's homemade masterpieces) to my Mom's.

Dragged ourselves home past midnight and to bed immediately, hence and forthwith. 'night 'night!

Yay! Table #1 at the annual staff dinner - Anthony - Bhagia - Yee + Gerald.

Our table was in the darkest corner, and for most of the evening we were left to our own devices. Staff dinners are usually semi-formal occasions where the CC-NY schools we belong to recognize our hard work by buying us a 10-course Chinese meal. It also doubles as an initiation ceremony for new staff who put together some "entertainment" to display their talents for singing, dancing, acting and humiliating themselves in public. Essential qualities for a teacher to have, I think, considering the environment we work in.

This year's theme was "Cartoons," so Table #1 came as ourselves. 'nuff said. JY dressed as Snow White but it was just too bad that the dwarves at her table were taller than her. Haha.

The usual highlight was the Lucky Draw. Appropriately enough, Table #1 emerged luckiest table being drawn for the 1st prize in the Table Draw. We each got $20 worth of vouchers from Isetan. I have no doubt June will put my set to good use as will Wendy for Anthony. In the Individual category, Mel won a Metro stored value card, $25 I believe it was. Guess they're telling us to go get some grown-up clothes for ourselves to wear to work. :P

Despite Anthony's and Vince's will to win a top individual draw prize, they were no match for Tam who warded off our lucky charms and spells with the occasional incantation and a wave of his hands and secured the 1st prize for his table mate, TSL, who had only a couple of days ago remarked to me that she had never won anything before in her life. I told her she won the cubicle directly opposite mine, but that probably wasn't enough for her. Tonight she staggered home with a mini home theatre system including the all-important DVD player. I feel so belittled now.

Went bowling [again!] after dinner, and because she had left her make-up case in M2, Mel came along for the ride and bowled with us. And got very excited. Another bowling kaki in the making? We'll see.

Can't believe we've hit the last week of term 3 already. Prelims begin tomorrow for the Seniors, coinciding with our annual combined staff dinner with our sibling campuses; them whom we very nearly became named after during a recent scare a couple of months back. Though we got advance notice weeks ago we haven't had time to think about how our table is going to fit into this year's theme: Cartoons. A bit broad, ya?

Dunno what else to say... day quite uneventful.

Had an unscheduled tea-and-prata session and it was nice to have new company joining us: Avril and Josh amongst the regular crowd.
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....?

Bah. Guess I'm not in the mood to write today. Sorry.

Dinner with Q-tip at Bliss, Punggol Park.

Bliss was June's #2 choice for last week's venue before she decided on Sage. Tonight we dined on sirloin steak (rare with slightly overcooked veggies on the side); and a mixed seafood spaghetti in white wine sauce featuring a prawn whose head was bigger than the rest of its body.

Ambience was not too bad. Garden al fresco dining with a view of the lake pond and a cool evening breeze. The footpaths were crowded with humans and dogs on a walk, 'bladers, cyclists and joggers. Mid-meal we were treated to a spectacle a two-bicycle collision. Bloodless entertainment.

And Q-tip made a couple of new friends.

Just a quick note (in this belated entry) of another milestone I've reached in life and quietly acknowledged through a hard-copy letter I received yesterday. The letter announces that I have fulfilled my national service liability and I can bid goodbye to Uncle Seng once and for all. No more in-camps, no more mobs, no more tactical training and skills proficiency tests. It's over!!!!

From now on you may address me by my official title, Lcp (NS Ret.) "Xmac."

I never thought I would see the day.

Edit 01:
In the evening, the Drama Club bade farewell to our '05 seniors at BBQ pit 61, ECP. Nice place, less crowded than the location nearer the McD's and so breezy! The price of course, is the long walk to get here from civilization. No official programme; just burn food, eat, chat, sit by the sea and not necessarily in that order even. We'll let the pix tell the story:


Having survived his pre-election interview, Fran takes on yet another grilling.


The Wizard attempts to break the world speed record for chugging down a cup of soda.


'rini stays focused and determined as she butters up a chicken nugget.


Proof that things haven't changed much since human beings discovered fire.


Terry holds up marshmallows to represent the absent members of Mel's 04A2 in this class photo.


Girls never grow out of playing with their Barbie.


Darth Mel looks pleased with her new minion.


The Jedi rule of 1 master, 1 apprentice is another tradition lost since the MOE took over.

Acknowledgement:
I won't complain about crap night shots again -- this new toy is awesome! Thanks guys!

PEARLS is in its death throes. One last frantic shudder before finally resting in peace within the next week or so. With this last gasp, our college Seniors are madly scrabbling for whatever points they can scrape together from their co-curricular activities (CCA) while the system still has a few breaths left.

From an outsider's perspective, I think it's sad that these kids seem so desperate to trade their toil, their effort, their memories for just a handful of brownie points. And conversely, that they can be so easily bribed to sacrifice their sweat and their time for points on an arbitrary scale. The fear is in the comparison of one's "contributions" to one's organization against another's. The more points, the greater the contribution. It's been reduced to that.

Under the old PEARLS system, kids didn't seem to join activities for fun, or because there was a new skill to be picked up, or new friends to be made. Considering the frantic contacts I received today -- "I need points for...;" or, "you forgot to add points for...;" or "don't I get points for...?" -- it seems like it's all about the points. The first response we got when we proposed activities was, "how many points will we get for that?" Honestly speaking, is that all kids want? No wonder they feel short-changed so often. Summing experience into points may work well for RPGs, but that's just too cheap in real life.

But PEARLS dies this year. Our current juniors no longer have the restriction of wondering if their activities are going to be worth how many points because the sum will always add up to zero! Now they can't compare which activity is "better" or "more prestigious" than another. CCA advisors won't have to fret over whether organizing one kind of activity goes against the kids' interests because another type would yield more points due to some technicality in an ever-changing rulebook.

Freedom will breed chaos, no doubt about that. There won't be a convenient point-ranking system that easily predicts who deserves what and so rewarding people can become a real nightmare for the decision-makers. But the Best cannot always be determined in this way. Take for example, last year's Farewell Assembly Arts Faculty Representative, Sarab. On a strict point system, let's just say he wasn't exactly a model student. But the situation called for a personable, charismatic, engaging, humorous personality with a knack for story-telling and with his feet firmly planted between his studies and work experience (and NO points for any of these qualities, though he probably picked up a couple of demerits for them, haha!), and there he stood out from the crowd. He may have eschewed the "system" but when a niche opened up, he fit the bill perfectly; and he gladly took the job and in that capacity delighted the Class of '04 that day.

People don't seem to like chaos much, though. No doubt after a while some control-freak in the future will decide to reintroduce points back into the system and the wheel will turn once again. Let's breathe in the freedom gratefully while it lasts.

Edit 01:
Was made to take certain measurements today. Not all results are in yet, but comparing my scores in relation to everyone else's so far, I doubt that there is anyone left who can challenge my title of "fattest man in the Department." Yeah!

Horribly disappointing game, posting my lowest scores so far in competition. Average has been steadily declining to an abyssmal 130 since the previous game in the tourney. No morale to talk about that any more. Bleh.

We had another 'Department sharing' at the Colbar this afternoon, before moving our party to the Ministry HQ for a formal seminar with distinguished guest, Prof T Koh, S'pore's most famous personality in our diplomatic affairs abroad. We also had another guest speaker, Dr K P Tan, but Koh was the man I had come to listen to.

As Koh spoke on our national history from the point-of-view of foreign eyes, I began drawing parallels between Singapore and Cafe Rene, the little food & beverage + "entertainment" establishment in occupied France featured in BBC's hit sit-com, 'allo 'allo.

The story of our international history revolves mostly around our one strategy that keeps us all alive and as an independent entity in this dog-eat-dog world: make friends with EVERYONE, great or small.

Cafe Rene operates and survives the German occupation in WWII in very much the same way. It opens it's doors to all and sundry and services everyone according to their needs. It is the one place where ordinary German soldiers, the maniacal Gestapo, ordinary French peasantry, the French resistance, the British Secret Service, and the Royal Air Force rub shoulders with each other every day and everyone still leaves alive and in one piece.

The harried proprietor, Rene Artois, is chiefly responsible for keeping the warring factions from tearing each other apart in his cafe, and he does this mostly by ensuring that their personal business interests stay alive every time they visit. The Germans entrust him with loot which they intend to sell for a large profit after the war; the local resistance gets him to acquire supplies and execute their mad plans against the Germans; he keeps 2 fugitive British airmen hidden in various 'secret' locations in the cafe; and the Secret Service agent helps coordinate anti-German activities in the cafe. Anyone who wants entertainment can always stuff cheese into their ears before the cafe diva delivers another badly-rendered cabaret song (paralleling the state of Singaporean entertainment culture at this time, I think); or if more intimate female companionship is preferred, there's always Yvette who comes with (no pun intended) her own flying helmet and a stick of celery.

Rene himself is under incredible stress trying to keep everybody happy while dealing at the same time with his own personal life that's falling apart at the edges. But unlike the other French peasants who get 'taken outside and shot' on a whim (both Germans forces and French resistance are equally trigger-happy) this fate is unlikely to befall him (actually it happens more than once but he finds a way to escape every time) as he proves himself useful to each faction, and he occasionally earns a small profit from his adventures as well.

Apparently, our foreign affairs department is likewise busy making friends all around the world, enticing them with trade or alliances in order to tie their fortunes with ours. As long as other countries pin their economic hopes on this "little red dot," and we do indeed make their dreams come true, that above all will be our major selling point, our key to survival.

To follow another analogy, the world is like a playground in which the players comprise both big guys and little guys. While we are busy making nice with the big boys in the playground, at the same time we're making friends with the other little 'uns so that if one of the big boys happens to turn nasty, there'll be the others who'll keep him in check, else all the little 'uns gang up with us and collectively our gang isn't as easy to pick on as if we were sitting isolated in a corner far away from everyone else. It's not easy being on everybody's side, but it's worked for us so far.

Service the rich, enrich the poor. Respect the strong, strengthen the weak. The people in the uppermost echelons of our society do this, so why can't we at the bottom follow suit?

I missed the PM's NDay Rally speech on TV this year, but I found the transcripts and poured over them today. A number of items he touched on seems to have been things we've experienced or at least discussed over the last few days. Uncanny.

Let's begin with the call for a "service culture" here. Generally speaking, we don't have one. June went through a number of potential venues to hold her weekend celebration but turned down her #1 choice because the staff she discussed the event with had no clue about putting their customer's needs first. The ambiance may have been gorgeous; the location had some real memories for us; the menu was irresistible; but when it came to actually serving the customer, the staff went strictly by the book and refused to make allowances for a custom arrangement which was what June was asking for. June took her business elsewhere and put her money on #3 choice instead because it delivered much better service.

Some local establishments such as Robinson's and Giordano do make it a point to provide friendly service but the idea has yet to catch on. Simply put, it's having the heart to find out exactly what the customer wants and filling that need because there is a genuine desire to please the customer. As a result, customers are more than happy to spend because not only do they get what they want, they have made a new relationship in the process. What really turns people off is when shop/restaurant staff (and Management) put money first and people second: "No we don't serve ice-water. Would you like mineral water instead?"

Mike and Angela who run The Pitstop epitomize genuine service, taking the trouble to make friends first even before asking how they may be of service. The food they serve up is reasonably priced, yet prepared and delivered with care and with pride. And I'll keep going back there just because they are also animal friendly, a trait sadly missing from our me-first Singaporean culture.

Genuine innovation and enterprise likewise stem from the ability to see or even engineer human needs, then stepping in to fulfill them. It's pointless trying to do something clever and then discover that no one has a use for it. Innovating for the sake of innovation led to ice-cream pratas (yuck!) and dyed-to-a-radioactive-green nasi lemak. Who really cares? On the other hand, Osim products directly target a specific market with specific needs -- people who are tired out from work, who have aching muscles and knotted tendons -- needs met = profitable company. Of course, there are other uses for these same products that are unmentionable in these PG-rated pages, but it goes to show that throwing in 'extras' and being generous to the customer usually pays off handsomely in the end.

Then the issue of keeping the older worker employed has hit home hard. I am now 40, the stage where in theory I'll need to retrain as a toilet cleaner or a McUncle if I had to find another job; given that at present hiring preference for better-paying jobs tends to go towards the younger, healthier, better-looking applicants. This situation is a reality for June whose company is folding up and though she isn't 40 yet, she is past 35 and that's cutting things a bit too close for comfort. As our population is undeniably aging it does make sense for us old(er) people to be resilient and continue learning new tricks, but HR departments will also have to lose their chronological biases as they face the reality of getting increasingly older applicants for their job vacancies.

So the PM's telling us that we are facing some pretty serious problems right now, but we can solve them if we can make the necessary changes to our system. That means Education will have a major part to play in unlearning old habits and modi operandi that served us well in the past, and groom the next batch of little gremlins first to be more humane in their outlook on life which is the immediate need for our immediate future. Now, that'll be a new trick for us to learn.

If any of you have been induced to vomit over the saccharine-sweet nonsense I've been filling these pages with over the last few weeks, I'm glad to say enough's enough and it's time for the old grouch to return. After a heady weekend culminating in an uncharacteristically euphoric climax and blissful denouement, there's nothing like a Monday morning to smack you in the face with a reality check:

Strike One!
As soon as all essay scripts have been marked and recorded, a new batch of comprehension scripts arrive fresh and ready for yet another round of assessment. 2-week deadline, as I understand. Right.

Strike Two!
Bowling total crap again as our afternoon training wore on. Yee's still sick, Anthony sustained a very bad ankle injury over the weekend and had to be verbally thrown off the lanes so he can rest and recover. Vince and I are throwing wild again leaving simple spares unconverted for a pretty depressing 120-140 average respectively. And the tournament is set for this Thursday. Good luck, Gutter Boyz!

Strike Three!
And I feel really bad that after all the wonderful things June did for me over the weekend, today news came from her Head Office in the US that they're closing the local office here. She'll be looking for new employment once the formalities of winding up the business are complete, maybe by the end of the year. As a result, could there be another lifestyle change in the works for us in the coming months? We'll see, won't we?

We can only live one day at a time...

Couldn't wait to test the new toy the staff-room folks chipped in to get me. The equipment is gorgeous but the quality of the photographs still depends a lot on the skill of the photographer so the "Delete" button is still the most useful function so far. Nevertheless, here's a couple of shots from last night's event:

Some of the staff-room folks, stalwarts, spouses and dates.

Long-time pals: Mary, Jen and Adrian

And a couple that I took of the in-Laws, nephews and dogs during the short outing we had this afternoon:

More people we're bringing to sample the tranquility of Upper Seletar Reservoir.

The dogs get an airing as well.

BTW, The Pitstop is now open only on weekends, in case you're interested to try out the food. You should.

And finally, to test night-shooting capabilities I took this pic of Momo in near darkness:

Apart from Momo's scary eyes, night-shooting seems to work just fine!

A magnificent gift, thanks, guys!

Am now trying to collect pix off other cameras floating around last night. Amy and Gerald, care to d/l me shots for my collection?

Anything I say will be incriminating, but verbalisation is necessary. So like a band-aid over a wound on a hairy limb has to be ripped off quickly, so the following must be immediately made known to all:

I've been lied to, cheated and manipulated by my wife, and all my friends who have colluded with her are equally culpable of some very high-quality deception. Like a lamb to the slaughter, I have over the past 3 weeks been pushed, prodded and shoved into inviting myself to my own surprise birthday party. The effort to make such elaborate and extravagant plans AND keep the whole thing from me must have been Herculean for everyone, though I must also admit that I have been quite a Magoo the whole time too.

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years.... (Psalm 90:10)
If I consider myself an individual with the additional quality of "strength" then the occasion marked the half-way point of my life-expectancy, according to biblical best-case-scenario. And it was truly a surprise to see so many well-wishers giving me their support and encouragement in the last few hours as I topped the crest and began my descent over-the-hill. Thank you folks so much!

To mi familia, we've kept it tight, and we've kept it together. My early years have been a source of anxiety and uncertainty for you, but tonight you got to see that despite everything, you can be rest assured that I am in the good, safe hands of people who care about me as much as you ever did.

My in-Laws, you've done a great job in raising your daughter who has so much love to give that I'm discovering every day there's always more where it came from.

Adrian, Lay Lee, Jen, Mary, Malcolm (and darling little Janice), you bridged a gap for me where at one time you were as large as my circle of friends went. You are the professional, working people I've kept in touch with but you are also people of vision and ideals which your busy-work never got in the way of. That's what I've always admired about you.

Tina, artist, muse and teacher and the link to my aesthetic self, sad to say that when the realities of love and marriage hit home, the arts were the first to be sacrificed in favour of bread-and-butter responsibilities. I ran away from the circus and gave up my dreams, but I found a new reality in which I can be just as happy in. See you back in rehearsal sometime!

Joyce, you never knew those many years ago what you wrought when you inadvertently put June and me together. You were the fulcrum of the turning point in my life and I am truly grateful to you for your thoughtfulness.

Colleagues, friends, playmates: The Gutter Boyz (Anthony, Vince, Yee), Gerald with Kim and little Edward, NBS, JY, Mel, Luanne, you make work so unlike work. We bitch, we rib, we gossip, we sweat, we compete, we eat together and we really know how to have unabashed, unadulterated, uninhibited fun. I couldn't ask for better working partners.

Party coordinators: Amy and Weng, June and everyone else recount the stress and effort you took over the event. How much fetching and carrying you did to get the logistics set up just right; the scoldings you received for the security breaches you committed though it's understandable that considering the many things you were juggling small mistakes were bound to occur; and the thought you and Vince, Anthony and Wendy put into the right theme, setting and atmosphere to make the occasion so memorable. Special thanks to all of you.

And to the CEO of Party Central, my wife, June, you have a knack for surprises and every year tops the previous. You know me so well and you know how to put that knowledge to good use. It's not just the effort of the last 3 weeks that brought everyone together but rather it's been my life with you these last 5 years that's why everyone could come together on this day to celebrate. If you haven't been keeping in touch with everyone faithfully as you have been, the guest-list would have been much shorter due to forgetfulness and neglect, which I admit is my most major character flaw. You make up for my shortcomings and I knew from the start I married the right woman. I love you!

I love all your gifts. I have never made such a haul since my first childhood, and you have outdone yourselves in generosity. But rather than itemize the gifts, I will say that the memory of your presence will always be the more precious to me. Gadgets wear out, wearables eventually become unwearable, food and other perishables er... perish, but you were there for me, and that memory is something we will share together in my mind as well as yours. That's what counts.

And special thanks to the Drama Club who postponed the Senior's Farewell BBQ till next week so that tonight's festivities could go on as planned.

Now I have to ask, what have I done to deserve such favour from all of you? And the crickets chirp in the darkness of the empty cinema hall...

Thanks, everyone, for a brilliant 40th swing 'round the sun!

Edit 01:
Amy is right. There's no need for me to question what I do or do not deserve. The simple truth is, my friends are nice people and the question takes away so much from their good intentions. I see that now, and I won't bring it up again. Now that's a biblical insight worth gaining.

Was appointed Designated Driver to take aged parent (mom) to cousin's farewell party. Cousin is leaving for England on a 5-year apprenticeship in organ grinding building and repair. There are only 2 such apprenticeships offered by H. & H. every year so cousin's off to learn the ropes and become the only guy licensed to service the pipes at the VCH, the Durian, and 9 other locations in Singapore when he takes over from the current one upon his return.

He's one fella who has made a mid-life career switch -- he worked in Education until recently -- and has given it up to pursue his personal esoteric dream. Our family Christmas parties will suffer now that there's no one left of his calibre to play the keyboard to accompany our carrolling. Oh well, the neighbours will just have to put up with it for a while.

Spent much of the evening watching a ping-pong discussion between Architect Uncle and Pipe Organ Cousin over organ mechanics and specs. Usually eyeball rolling subject matter but cousin has such passion for it that I was rolling my eyeballs right-left-right instead of up-up-comatose.

If you have a pipe organ that needs maintenance in 5 years' time, I can pass on his contact.

Thanks to June and her magical efficiency we've got our tix to fly and room in BKK so now we need to get the proper personal admin done. Leave applications have to go out to our respective Heads, and NS overseas notification needs to be submitted. A few clicks online should do it. And then we wait.

Meantime, life goes on. M2 met Eddie again for his bi-monthly grooming. I've been quite lazy with M2, and you can tell. Dusty exterior, floor mats full of bits of grass and other vegetation dragged in by an assortment of feet, white dog and cat fur that stand out so conspicuously from the carbon black leather upholstery, dashboard turning slowly greyish under an accumulation of street dust.

I knew Eddie would faint when he saw the extent I would be pushing his grooming service, so I didn't hang around for another round of lectures on proper car maintenance procedures. I parked, took out my bowling ball from the trunk, tossed the key to Eddie then walked very quickly towards Orchid Bowl for a round of "secret" training.

I decided not to pick up a new 13 pounder for the time being but since the competition is next week I had to reacquaint myself with my 11 quickly. Did reasonably well with the lighter ball so I should still be able to continue using it for another while more. I'll be glad to save the $200+. Never know when another major expense might become unavoidable. Heh.

By the time I went back to collect M2, Eddie was just putting the finishing touches on the rear-view mirror. He'd done a great job, as always. Shiny exterior, polished upholstery and dashboard components, spotlessly vacuumed mats; enough of a morale boost good for a couple of days, at least. With my luck it'll probably rain tomorrow, but I'm used to that already.

As soon as I arrived, Eddie saw his chance to close shop and go home. "Just in time!" he said, then promptly skipped off. No time to harangue neglectful driver then. Saved by the bell!

Making further plans for BKK. Now we've got Wendy helping us look for options for flight and hotel. Guess it's really going to happen so I'm going to mentally prepare myself. Fodor's, Lonely Planet and other travel guides are going to be my Required Reading for now. Maybe I'll even schedule some time to hang out at the little Thai supermarket downstairs to absorb atmosphere, examine (and sample?) the contents of those intriguing bottles and jars on the shelves, and to listen to people speaking Thai to see if I can make any sense of it.

Actually I'm quite reasonably well travelled. I've just not visited my back door before. Maybe I'm overreacting?

Edit 01:
Temporarily interrupted. June came in to boot me off the PC so she could surf the Tiger Airways website in search of a better deal than the one we received earlier today. Indeed, air tix and accommodation do seem somewhat cheaper if we book through our local budget airline.

June and I called Amy and put her on speakerphone so we could discuss these new possibilities. Such animation, such excitement in our voices as we struggled with the arithmetic involved in figuring out which were our more financially viable options. Now it's up to Vince and HP whether these new rates and schedules are acceptable to them.

Considering how psyched my travelling companions are about this trip, maybe what I'm planning to do isn't such an overreaction after all.

A historic occasion for June: I'm actually considering taking a trip to BKK with her. Call me prejudiced, spoiled, whatever, I have yet to be convinced that there is any attraction there for me to enjoy. Shopping? I don't even shop here. Tourist attractions? Puh...leeze. Beach? BKK is landlocked, no beach in sight. Food? The less my stomach encounters spicy, sour cuisine, the better it is for the sewer system. Beautiful exotic women? Umm... let's just say that I become a tongue-tied nitwit just facing ordinary local women already. Imagine what an exotic beauty could do to me (let me clarify: you're supposed to imagine the worst case scenario, ok?).

Yeah, ok. Very stereotypical view of what the Thai capital might offer me. On her first trip, June immediately wanted to go home, but she stuck around (no flights available for the next six hours, probably) and fell in love with the place. No telling that I might do the same too. Or not. But I'll never know until I try, ain't that right?

Much as I prefer travelling alone, in order to convince me to go where I've always resisted going, I feel better going with the right company. June, of course, but she's got her objectives locked in already so I'm going to need others around with perhaps other more diversified interests so at least I can keep my own options open. Who's signing up for this little cross-border jaunt? Well, let's take down a few names and see, shall we...?
1. Amy
2. Vince
3. HP
Think the list is just about full. How about it, Anthony? Wendy?

I haven't handled a 13-pounder since NSF days but I actually found one that fit my fingers at SAFRA this evening. Since Amy bought an 11-pounder for herself and my own 11-pound throws have been going wild these last few games, I theorized that I needed a heavier ball for better control. My 1st game with the house 13 went just fine: 155. Then in subsequent games I started throwing inconsistently again. Scores were still ok, though: ranging from the 130s to 160.

So now I have a decision to make: do I have to get a new ball because my current one is too light for me? If I do, do I get a 13, or heavier? How much will a new ball improve my game? And what is to become of my current 11-pounder? June says she'll take it over as long as we seal up the current holes and re-drill new holes for her fingers, but my poor ball will look horribly disfigured if we do.

Also, budget-wise I don't have that kind of cash to spare right now. I promised myself an austerity drive for the next couple of months just to make my bank account look a little healthier than it is now. Ha ha.

Dinner afterwards found us at the last coffee shop on Casuarina Road, ostensibly to share a couple of noodle dishes amongst Anthony, Wendy, Vince, Amy, June and yours truly. But the crabs looked irresistible so we ordered 2 of the Sri-Lankan variety, one steamed and the other in chilli. Big suckers they were, lots of meat and full of flavour. Wonder if crabs, like oysters, taste best in months that don't have the letter 'R' in their names, i.e., May, June, July, August? These fellas sure sustained the theory.

On the way home from dinner, M-i-L called while I was driving and asked for the Animal Rescue Squad to spring back into action. One of her neighbours had picked up a Pomeranian stray and, mistaking M-i-L's flat for an animal shelter, left the poor boy-boy with her. She in turn called us, knowing our reputation for animal philanthropy.

He turned out to be slightly bigger than Mimi, but a lot friendlier. Our idea was to bring him back to our place and keep him till we could find a good home for him. This turned out easier than we expected. There was a cute teenage girl hanging out with her cute boyfriend in the exercise area on M-i-L's void deck. June immediately went into her sales-pitch mode and after some exploration of the girl's options, allowed her to play with him. Sold. 'nuff said.

Just as we were bidding the new "family" farewell, the dog though he would demonstrate his affection for me by humping my leg. One quick extrication later and June and I fled for the M2 before anyone could change their minds.

Good deed done for the day!

Utterly boring day with very little activity. So boring and I have so little to report that I'll just make a short comment on my marking of essay assignments so far: Either I'm getting more generous, or the kids are writing better, more thoughtful essays. No failures so far, and a handfiul of actually logical, readable scripts that seem above the usual average I'm used to marking. Maybe a whole weekend is too generous a time limit for them to get a short essay done?

Other than that, 3 hours of CSI (thanks, AXN!) on a Sunday night and my eyes feel like they've been burned out of their sockets.

Oh, and June's acquired her own set of Uno cards and she's practicing for a rematch. Guess who her sparring partner is? Ouch...! *nurses bruised ego.

Went browsing around Suntec City in the early evening and found a little chocolatier called, "Royce'," a brand of Japanese chocolate. The outlet is run by a Japanese lady proprietor who freely hands out samples from behind her counter. It was love at first bite for June. Just a tiny piece of dark chocolate on a toothpick packs enough flavour to fill the whole mouth with rich, chocolatey goodness; and it melts readily on the tongue, almost instantly turning into its molten state, so creamy and smooth flowing down into the bottomless pit we like to call the stomach.

It's not cheap, obviously, but it was hard to resist. June bought a standard bar of dark for $6.40 and with a little persuasion got me to purchase their signature product which they keep stored under refrigerated conditions at roughly double the price. Because the latter requires refrigeration, for the ride home it comes wrapped together with a slab of dry ice in a heat dissipating cooler bag. They warn that the packaging is only good for 5 hours transit time, so it's best to save chocolate buying for the last stop before going home. Mmm... chocoholics unite! But save a few pennies first, ok?

Immediately after, we did the most appropriate thing to follow up. A quick drop off into our home refrigerator first, then we sped off for the evening screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The movie's a visual treat, full of colour and quirky designs. Willie Wonka seems to be the Michael Jackson of the candy industry, that is, his isolation from societal norms rather than his penchant for having kids stay over to jump on his bed.

As Wonka evaluates his 5 guests for the big prize, he lets them eliminate themselves by providing opportunities for them to indulge in their particular "deadly sin." The kids represent gluttony (Goop), pride (Beauregarde), avarice (Salt) and wrath (Teavee), but Charlie is the most well-adjusted of the lot because his family balances him out. Wonka, himself, has a troubled past and Charlie eventually helps him to see that love isn't just a chocolate-induced endorphin rush to the brain.

What we have here is quite a fun movie to watch. It's got Burton's dark-whimsy touch all over it which I like. Still, it's not one of those movies that make me feel I want to get the DVD for my library either. Once is enough, I think.