Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes.

Last night was opening night for "Rent," at Kallang Theatre, performed by the touring cast from Noo Yawk. Yes, this is the one with Ms Mok (not Pat) in it to give an Asian audience someone to root for.

So much can happen in a year. Friends are made, lovers pair up, plans change, romances disintegrate, trust is betrayed, fame is gained, somebody dies. Not necessarily in that order but that's life, social beings that we are. And in this setting, we get the debate between order, control and profit vs. chaos, spontaneity and poverty; corporate systemania vs. creative Bohemia. Either way, the 2 cannot find a way to get along together. Interesting that in Singapore, we're trying to develop both in the same space.

Bohemia comes with a price tag. Crime, substance abuse, disease, material privation, disregard for established law and order. We want the benefits of a lively, spontaneous, creative, out-of-the-box lifestyle that Bohemia promises; yet consider our attitude towards the above. Wonder how realistic we are in our desire for a managed bohemian utopia? [Oy, get off the soapbox, you!]

The musical has lots of exciting, energetic choreography, nothing overcomplicated. Adrian was quite tickled by the character of performance artiste, Maureen, whose protest recital (the play-within-the play) was played-for-laughs silly, yet poignant; and because our seats were extreme left of the stalls, we got the full benefit of her mooning the entrepreneur, Benny, whose rent the Bohemians refuse to pay. Yay, Maureen!

Also lots of different musical genres blending together in the score, so there's not a boring moment anytime. There were a few technical hitches though, like sound and lighting cues not quite perfect yet. I was surprised when Mimi, Ms Mok's character, got a call from her mother, "Dónde está, Mimi?" Then I realised Mimi was supposed to be Hispanic! Wouldn't it have made more sense for her mom to call in Cantonese?

But what are we quibbling about? It's a great show, we had excellent seats and we got in by invitation, big thanks to Mary! Mary's invite included drinks with the cast as well, hence the dress code. We only hung around long enough for Ms Mok to make her appearance 'cos, well, it was our chance to be so close. She's actually quite small-built though she looks taller on-screen, and she has a very wide smile. Guess she must have been happy to see the couple of fans (not from our party, I assure you) who approached her for an autograph.

Adrian's walnut bread -- which we devoured in the parking lot during the interval -- didn't last us long. As soon as was decent, we skipped out from the reception and headed for Teochew porridge at the Oasis complex. Food, at last!

I whacked my bush off today. No, it not what it sounds like. I mean I got a haircut. Think the kid who usually does my hair has left. That's what I understood from the new guy who gave me a Marine cut told me, if I've translated it correctly.

New guy's ok. Did a decent enough job but tried to engage me in conversation, which isn't my thing. Thankfully, I was engaged in a flurry of text messaging at the time so I was sufficiently distracted while he could concentrate on the job at hand.

Preparing for "Rent" opening night. Got complementary tix and we're expected to dress for the occasion. Dress code: Ghetto glam. Anyone know what that means? I interpret it as rapper-wear with lots of bling-bling. Ripped T (bearing "Yo' Momma" or some other vernacular idiom), baggy jeans, Nike treads, slick shades, NY Yanks baseball cap worn backwards, big-ass Mercedes hood ornament dipped in gold-plate hung round the neck on a security chain... Adrian tells me it means smart-casual. Oh. Well.

Too much NFS:MW means spending the night in the living room. Not because the wife's pissed off, but because running from the cops can be quite fatiguing, especially when you've been at it for the better part of the day. Before midnight, I switched off Watson and staggered outside to watch a little TV for a break. Almost immediately, I shut myself off and, try as she might, June couldn't wake me to go to bed proper. I lay comatose on the carpet, unwashed and CLs still in my eyes. Thank God for off days.

I could stand it no longer. Too long have I been deprived of a good video game. So I finally bit the bullet and picked up a Radeon x700 Pro to replace my useless 9800. For good measure, I also picked up "NFS: Most Wanted" and spent the afternoon driving recklessly at ridiculously high speeds, inviting the traffic cops to catch me if they could. In the early stages of the game, the cops are quite hopeless, and I have to slow down, stop and wait a bit before they can catch up then the chase is on again! What fun!

Couldn't progress far though. Went to pick up June after work then met Amy, Vince and TKS (CL Dept) bowling at Downtown East. The alley is quite a retro one, similar in design to the one at OCC.

3 games each, then Anthony, Wendy and Weng joined us. We all adjourned to Fisherman's Village for dinner. Nice place, I guess. Boardwalk dining by the beach which was nice, but the Cantopop didn't quite work with the atmosphere.

Sought dessert at Via Mare in Siglap. They have a decent bread-and-butter pudding and an ok brownie a la mode. But our main purpose was to play bridge. Think there're still a few finer points of the game I haven't quite appreciated yet, although I'm beginning to recognize I've made a mistake as soon as I play a wrong card. That's a start.

Oh, and before I forget, we've named the new kitten. His name is Kaiser. Bow before him or feel his wrath! Das ist alles!

Finally finished my marking quota by this afternoon. So tired, I spent the evening passed out on the living room carpet again. June wrapping Christmas presents around me. Is it that time of year already?

Once in a while, a reminder of our mortality comes up and makes one sober for a while. Today I attended a little ceremony to remember Mim, and to witness the award of a scholarship in her name to its first ever recipient, a Mr Robin Yong. In a simple, polite ceremony, we recalled the colleague and friend we lost 2 years ago as scenes of her life flashed before our eyes via PowerPoint slideshow.

I was prepared to be stoic through the ceremony, but then on one of the earliest slides I recognized a quotation that happened to be something I myself had written on her condolence card to her family, and I was quite touched that Yee, who created the slideshow, had chosen to include it. It felt like I was a part of Mim's circle after all, though I didn't hang out with her after she had mentored me through my first week in college. Guess at that time I felt I wouldn't have been able to live up to the kind of teacher she was, so I sought my own path as soon as I was able. Still, it's nice to be associated with one of the good guys, tenuous a link though it may be.

It hits me harder that she and I were born the same year, yet she didn't reach her 40th year as I did. Life is so fragile, so easily lost; but Mim's memory will endure because so many people regard her highly for the person she was, and for the things she did for them.

Mr Yong, you have enormous shoes to fill for the education you are receiving in Mim's name. Congratulations, and good luck!

Met early for 'blading at Bish Park for a change. JY bought us breakfast. That was nice of her.

Bish Park in the early morning is quite different from the one we're used to at midday. Early morning is full of people and their dogs. The dog run is busy conducting obedience classes; the 'blade rink is packed with kids training with the Skateline instructors; joggers, walkers, cyclists and some guy doing half-naked yoga throng the walking trails. It's a jumpin', happenin' hive of community activity, but it's a nightmare for beginning 'bladers like June who left the confines of the rink and ventured out into the park for the first time.

Maneuvering through the park means taking climbs, slopes, bumps and bends which a rink 'blader is sheltered from. Add a crowd into the equasion and my 2 L-plate companions get a very practical lesson in crash-landings.

A sudden downpour ended today's session early.

Got home in the afternoon to receive a delivery of a set of pet clothes for Q-tip. June had placed an order through the Petsonality website and John, the contact person, made the delivery himself. Now Q-tip has an updated wardrobe to model, but perhaps not today.

And could this handsome fellow be Belle's replacement in our house? We found him hiding behind a couple of bicycles parked on our floor in the lift lobby. He doesn't yet have a name, but he's quite good tempered, so maybe we'll keep him. He seems like a proper little gentleman wearing a formal tuxedo and sports a little goatee, so if you have any naming suggestions, maybe that description would help.

Slightly edited 20 Nov 2005:
Today the ladies (i.e., Sharon and Wendy 'cos June and JY sat out) get to try out the trapeze at Sentosa we've been raving about, as well as the Luge later. Check out the pix from our action-packed afternoon:


Theory lesson before the practical.


Weng prepares for take-off.


This is about the only maneuvre I could get right today. My timing's gone a little screwy.


The launchpad gets a little crowded with Sharon about to take off and Wendy anxious to take her first swing.


Wendy demonstrates perfect form.


A quick conference to see how we can help Anthony get his routine right.


Anthony in flight.


On our way to try out the Luge, Sentosa's latest attraction.


JY and June play it cool on the chairlift.


At the end of the trail. And JY braces for impact with Anthony's rear end.


Bravely ascending for the 2nd ride of the day.

Returned to the Trapizza in the evening for dinner. Shared the space with a beach wedding dinner which was more formal than a beach party should be. Fortunately, there was a sudden torrential downpour which drowned out the "festivities" then the party really got more fun with the guests just mingling around, nursing their drinks and ice-creams and flitting from wet guest to wet guest making happy chat. The guests even surprised the bride with a birthday cake that appeared when her attention was, erm... directed elsewhere by a friend.

The wedding party left our table unmolested so we, dry under our canopy, were free to devour our outstanding thin crust pizzas. We had a Sicilana (basically everything on top), a Quattro Stagione (four seasons -- pizza divided into quarters, each quarter sporting a different topping), and an Aloha (Hawaiian, duh). Fresh ingredients, explosively crispy crust. Yummy. Though as usual I would've appreciated a little less salt.

Last night we were at the Singapore Conference Hall to support Ivay who was playing trombone for Thomson Jazz, of which she is a member. Me and June with Amy and Yee haven't much of a clue about music of this nature, but Ivay's a friend and her musical ability is worth our appreciation.

Don't know enough to comment on the music, but it was refreshing to be entertained by a local band that really enjoyed what they were playing, without getting too caught up in delivering practiced perfection (the S'porean malaise). The music was high energy stuff, played with full confidence, and as far as my untrained ear could tell, the band played well together; and they were having fun!

Boppin' heads, swayin' shoulders, tappin' to the tempo when the music calls for particular instruments to rest, then picking up the beat naturally on cue shows the musicians are into the music and not just hangin' around waiting for their turn to play. Even C Smith, guest conductor for the Big Band segment, couldn't keep still, dancing to the music and switching from bass to bongos and back to conducting with fluidity.

The jive band segment (in which Ivay played) introduced a vocalist, Y Atienza, with a rendering a 3 bluesy numbers, one of which was "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," which rang a little bell in my mind because it seemed to me like the answer to a question someone asked some time ago, but I cannot now recall who had asked the question, nor what the question even was. *shrugs.

Shame-facedly confess that immediately after Ivay's performance, we slipped out during the interval to watch the late screening of "Goblet of Fire" in J8. The book was a whopping 700+ pages long, so the movie focused on the more exciting SFX driven parts and still it ran way over 2 hours.

Because of its comparative brevity, the movie had some abrupt scene changes that made me think I was missing bits. What might have been a highlight of the movie, the Quidditch World Cup matches, was skipped over. There is a shot of the expansive stadium, the introductory fireworks of the Irish and Bulgarian teams, the flypast by uber-athlete, Viktor Krum, and on Fudge's cue to begin the match we cut straight into the post-match euphoria and the senseless attack of the Death-eaters. Even the roles of the Hogwarts profs became relegated to that of comic relief, with perhaps 1 significant scene each if they were lucky.

Still, it kept the excitement factor high, with lots of action to make the 2+ hours breeze by without feeling the strain. And, wow, the kids have grown up.

Wonder if there are any continuity scenes shot but deleted that will make their way into the DVD?

Spent the evening at the vet's. Q-tip appears to be limping a bit, favouring her right front paw and trying not to put any weight on the left. We tried examining her, but there's no sign that she's in pain or anything. Pressing on different parts of her paw yields no results; she carries on like nothing's bothering her. So we brought her to the professionals for a more expert opinion.

Very crowded this evening. A long line of pets and their owners spilling out onto the sidewalk from the clinic doors. And a little bit of drama with an irate pet owner who was unhappy with the diagnosis she got based on a faulty x-ray machine scan of her dog. She was so unhappy she called in the police, 3 of whom arrived and hung around the waiting area with the rest of us and likewise hoping to be called into the consultation room soon. They waited about a half-hour, all the while reminding the complainant that it being a civil case they can't barge into the doctor's office as and when they like. I'm not sure even they knew what they were supposed to be doing in this situation, other than perhaps taking a statement from the vet's side of the story. Other than that, I think they were prepared to make it up as things went along.

Eventually, we all got seen -- even the police. The doc observed Q-tip's limp and found nothing visibly wrong with it; more likely to be a sprain than a fracture. So we'll observe Q-tip for another few more days and then see how . But the vet also identified Q-tip as FAT and in serious need of a proper exercise regimen and a scaling of her teeth; for which we made a Monday morning appointment. Anyone know of any slimming centres for overweight dogs?

June joined our lunch crowd today, an unprecedented occurrence. She's taken 2 days off work to train with the college petanque team under ze French Master to improve her game. Good to see how serious she is with her training. Hopefully, we'll start beating people in doubles competitions soon, else our morale is going to remain in the dumpster.

Speaking of low morale, my training was at Plaza Bowl in the late afternoon and it was such a struggle to get my scores above 120. Amy pulverized me in our first 2 games with scores of 130+ and 140+. While I can be proud of her progress, I'm also terribly annoyed and frustrated with my inconsistency. Yee did well throughout, so next year the Phoenixes and Dragons are going to be very strong competitors in the college tournament, and Pegasus is in trouble 'cos I haven't found anyone likely to partner me for the doubles event who can adequately replace Anthony. JY, Chief of the Winged Horses, a little help please?

Anthony's letter finally arrived and it confirms that he's leaving us for greener grass. After all the uncertainty, it's a relief that we now know once and for all.

To send him off we took him to dinner at Sunset, next to the Seletar airport runway, for the "leaving on a jet plane" feeling. No special programme, just eat, drink, yak, torment NBS; the way we've always been.

We? Here's the guest list:
Amy
NBS
Darrell
Edward
Gerald
June
JY
Kim
Xmac
Q-tip
Vince
Wendy
Yee (in alphabetical order, more or less)
All to wish him well in his new posting and to say we'll miss him. Or not, for some of us :P.

Vince and NBS tried out bridge and Yee showed us the German variation which is more complex, takes longer to finish (17 rounds!), and requires pencil-and-paper to keep track of the score. The game's intriguing, but it does sort of cut the 4 players off from existing company, and vice versa.

And because of the uncertainty of his posting, we held off buying Anthony's farewell pressie. Maybe he'll get it in the next few days?

No photos. Forgot my cam again, haha.

Between June and myself, we couldn't come up with a name for our petanque doubles team, so HB put us down as "First Timers." Guess that's better than "Old Timers." Anyway, our tournament began reasonably well, going down a fighting 13-2 against one of the better pairs in the competition. That is, they consoled us with the fact that scoring 2 points off them was no mean feat.

Our second (and last) game saw us competing against 2 cute little boys who knocked us out 13-7. A couple of terrible errors early in the match put them far in the lead and our poor pointing finished us off.

By 1100 we were left with nothing to do so we took off and put in more 'blading time on our own.


On a roll.


Banking clockwise


Everybody invariably gets a shot like this.


On guard.

Oh yeah, thanks, Anthony for meeting us a Bish Park to return the water bottle which we had accidentally left behind at the petanque courts!

NBS couldn't join us 'blading so we lunched together instead. I wanted soup and bread at Cedele, J8, but somehow we couldn't find the place. Maybe we were searching in the wrong annex? We settled for MOS Burger instead where June bought a cute Coke promotional teddy bear (white with "Coke" in tiny letters emblazoned all over it). We sat and chatted longer than expected -- I even got a sighting of NBS' sister who happened to be walking by our table but, unfortunately, on the other side of the glass partition, so an intro wasn't convenient.

JY arrived at Bish Park way before us and by the time we arrived she was ready for her solo park tour. June continued working on her basic maneuvering and eventually learned to bank anti-clockwise. Next week, she'll figure out clockwise banking, and hopefully, braking. Then she should be ready for park exploration. JY isn't so systematic. JY is the learn-as-you-fall kind of student. Cool.

Went for petanque training late but we still put in quite a few games with the kids and a triples game with Wendy, Celine and CW. Training was a little edgier today because June and I are partners at tomorrow's National Doubles Championship event, which everyone else is training for too! To be realistic, we'll just concentrate on pointing well since our shooting sux, and hope for the best. Wish us luck!

After training, June found an adorable little kitten at the garbage collection area of TP stadium. She wanted to take it home so badly, but it wasn't ready to leave its mother yet and kept darting back to the safety of its refuge every time June got too close. June'll have to build up trust over time, as she has with many of the strays downstairs of our place, and then it's ours! Bwa ha ha!

Weng taught us how to play bridge after dinner at Blue Jaz. Rules are simple enough, but it's going to take lots of practice -- as always -- before we can play the game properly. Oh, well, 1 more new skill to pick up...

After a long day of report writing, a couple of meetings that promised some unexpected developments -- not ready to talk about them yet, though -- and a day full of department excitement because today the JC2s took their GP exam, I squeezed in a bowling quickie with Anthony and Amy at the CSC in the late afternoon.

Nothing to boast about, though. Of 3 games, my first 2 scored 120+ each only. Lane 16 was a bit slippery and my very first throw landed me on my butt though I still knocked 7 pins over. Wonder if the college bowling team training on the lanes behind us saw? Anthony and I both threw 125 on the second game and were severely punished by Amy's 140+. The girl's game is picking up nicely.

It was only in the third game I got a decent score, 164. It's bad that it takes a long warm-up before "the game" can start proper. And even worse, I need to find a different aiming point and a different starting position because what worked in a previous game doesn't necessarily work in the current one. Where is the consistency?

Took June and Q-tip out to dinner. Nearly collided with a Matrix as I was exiting my parking lot and entering into the main road. Must be a problem with my judging of distances or the Matrix was just driving faster than I estimated. Whatever. I thought I could make it, but as I entered the lane there was a furious beeping from behind, so I switched to my left lane to avoid him. He had the exact same idea and likewise switched to the left lane to avoid me. All I could do was floor the accelerator and hope for the best. Meantime, the Matirix driver stood on his brakes... the fact that I can still make this entry means that we all made it out of that hairy situation in one piece without a scratch. My guardian angel really works overtime to keep me alive.

Dinner at Porridge Culture: Warning -- cash only. Credit cards and NETS not accepted. You imagine the scenario.

OPs are finally over and we are now on the final leg of the PW cycle -- assessing the groups' files of supporting documentation for their projects. From the OPs there seems to be a trend to research the feasibility of incorporating yoga, or aromatherapy, or some other homeopathic practice into the school environment as a means to "cure" hyperactive children, relax stressed-out kids, and focus easily-distracted kids so they can do better in their exams. Sort of makes you wonder about the working environment our kids have to put up with.

But it also shows the kids do have some ideas about how they could possibly make improvements for themselves. They aren't all particularly original, and some might even be financially disastrous, but the OP could be a way to actually trash out what works and what doesn't, as Chewie and I did with the presenting groups after their assessments were over. Once we put away our assessment forms and our pens, the presenters could relax and then our discussions became animated, spontaneous and highly engaging. Don't know if the kids enjoyed the post-presentation chat, but their assessors sure needed it.

In the evening, June got her first petanque injury. She was slightly behind me, both of us bending over to see whose boule won the point. I estimated that she had won so I stood up and jerked my thumb in her general direction to say so. She was still bent over, intently looking at the boules and not seeing my thumb until it poked her in the eye. And put a small scratch on the bridge of her nose too. Why do we always hurt the ones we love?

June's really happy with the Rollerblade carrier that Ching brought back from Modell's of NYC last night. It's the 2005 model and it's so spacious it'll probably swallow up not only her in-lines but all her protective gear (sans helmet) too. Now she's fully kitted up she's got some serious incentive to learn to 'blade properly. Go, grrl!

Went bowling with the Gutter Boyz at the CSC after OPs. Seriously needed to unwind.
# of Games: 6
Average: 158
Clean Game: 1
High Game: 216 (personal best to date!)
After throwing a few crappy games, I think I've finally got the hang of CSC's lanes. Let's see if I can repeat this feat again another day.

June had to entertain a HK business visitor so they had dinner at Equinox, leaving me to my own devices this evening. Found company with Anthony, Amy and later Wendy, and we had dinner at Blue Jaz, the Dunlop Street branch. Navigating around Little India was quite an experience. I haven't even walked those narrow streets before, let alone drive through, sharing the road with pedestrians, bicyclists, hand-pushed carts and trolleys piled high with goods or recyclables. Finding parking here takes patience and luck, and a good navigation sense since it's unlikely you'll get parking right at the place you want to get to, unless you're Anthony who's quite lucky about these things.

Parked on Dickson, just a short walk away from Dunlop. Interesting sights and scents with the backpackers' hostels; quaint, cosy pubs and bistros; mixed in with electronics stores, stores that sell junk (literally), and traditional Indian goods. The scent of jasmine and Indian spices is unusual, almost appetizing, and I was looking forward to eating soon.

Blue Jaz here offers an all-day, all-American breakfast with coffee for under $5, as are many other items on the menu. I had the dory (smooth, white fish) but it wasn't enough to satisfy my raging hunger. So I ordered a companion plate of cheese fries (cheese whiz, more like), a choc milkshake and later, an earl grey tea. For the price, the food really isn't bad. Not great, but decent sized portions and reasonably tasty.

No luck here with dessert either. Had my eye on a brownie a la mode featured on the menu, but only the NY cheesecake was available. Not quite what I had in mind. Too bad.

Below is June's eulogy for Belle:

Today Q-tip lost her "package"–Belle. This is usually how we introduce Belle to our friends and relatives. As when my mom's ex-tenant moved out of TP 4 years ago, she left 1 dog (Q-tip) and 2 cats behind. My mom's friend only wanted to adopt the black Tom cat as Belle was pregnant during that time. Our intention is to give both the cats away and only keep the dog but since my mom's friend wasn't interested in keeping the pregnant cat, we had to take her in.

Remember when she first came in our house, she was so smelly and panicky. She hid behind the washer and the fridge for almost 2 days. Q-tip kept trying to squeeze her head behind the washer and fridge to look for Belle and encouraged her to walk out from her hiding place to play and had her meals. We later managed to catch hold of her and put a collar with a bell on her to keep track of her movements. That's why Min wanted to name her Bell but we later decided to name her Belle instead.

This morning Belle was not able to move both her hind legs again, this time she even vomited in the second bedroom and on the living room carpet. We quickly took her to Dr Kasey and he told us she had a stroke again. This time the condition was quite bad and the chance of recovering was slim. Both her ears also turned pale and cold when we took her out of the cage, she was also not able to control her urine. I knew it was serious but I was still hopeful. I have to leave her with Dr Kasey and I left for work.

Dr Kasey called me around 3 pm and told me that Belle just vomited blood and was breathing through her mouth and asked if I could rush down to see her for the last time. He told me Belle will collapse anytime soon.

Belle couldn't wait for me and Min. She died 20 mins before I reached the clinic. At least we got to stroke her head and body for the very last time. I requested Dr Kasey to put her collar and her name tag back on her as they had to remove it during the treatment. I told her to remember her name is Belle and from now on God will take care of her on our behalf till we meet again in heaven. This is the last thing we can do and give to her.

June and I chilled out at Timbre, drowning our sorrows with bitter lemon and ginger beer in 10 oz. high-ball glasses. Thankfully, the place doesn't serve desserts else we'd've wiped out their entire stock of ice-cream.

The beer was flat; the acoustic 2-piece band was um... youthful, needing to down treble and up bass a bit, and the music kinda' sweeter than I'm used to. But it was a restful evening, no need to engage either brain or muscle. Just hangin' out with friends, making idle chatter 'round the table, and alternating between critiquing the band and singing softly along with their music.

Thanks for the company, ppl.