So tonight.. I'm gonna find a way... to make it without you...

It's been a long time since I've heard a great song from Alicia Keys.

Well this is it...

I thought I would post some overdue Singapore pics to show you guys I'm still alive and kicking and not some dead boring economist you've never heard of. The highlight of my trip has definitely got to be Ah Chew's dessert house on Liang Seah street. I believe the picture below says it all:

Mouth watering mango pomelo ice dessert with... wait for it... REAL DURIAN FLESH INSIDE!

I have never been more excited to try this dessert even after I had stuffed myself with all-you-can-eat steamboat half an hour earlier.

Of course, Liang Seah's place didn't disappoint. They had a cool system in place. Those tags up there have the names of desserts. Red means it's sold out. Green means it's available.

Me taking a picture of Jenny taking a picture of me.

Me and babes

Restored Bugis houses. I personally would love to live in one of those. Imagine having blue or purple steps!!!!

Alas... my trip was cut short due to some unforeseen circumstances. The pictures end here. I am looking to take the trip of my lifetime pretty soon though. If all works out, fingers crossed, pretty soon I'll be having my own....

A plea

Lately, i've been inspired by certain events that have unfolded, with a little help from a few friends.

Yes, we need to do something about our country. We are only as poor as we make ourselves to be. Look at these events with a half-full-glass mentality. They can prove to be a turning point. They may ignite something in the educated: teach the uneducated.

You and I. We are no different in terms of what we need. We both need our system to change for the better, we have placed too much faith in it to see it fail. Don't. give. up. This is your problem as much as it is mine.

Special thanks to Nish and J - you've helped me come up with the perfect background for my thesis (if i ever do make it to a masters).

In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

There's nothing you can't do

Now you're in New York

This streets will make you feel brand new

This lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York New York New York!

For a person who has never stepped foot on New York soil, and has vowed each time the next city she travels to would be New York, this well-crafted anthem by Alicia and Jay-Z has had me rocking on the edge of my seat for a good 4-5 months. And.. when you watch the music video, you can't help but give New York some lovin'. It.is.just.so.beautiful.on.screen.

p.s. watch the music video and check out the cool Yamaha piano with the New York skyline on it. I WANT IT. It will become a collector's edition, i'm sure of it.

The died-ed blog

Everytime I start out to write with a topic in mind, I never finish it. So i'm just going to let my thoughts flow and not try to frame this post or slant it in one direction or another. Isn't this how creative writing starts out?

Don't mind me. I've been starving the whole day having lasted on fruits all the way up to dinner. So i'm feeling pretty delirious right now. For example, I swear I thought I left my computer on the bed. When I left to go get my guitar strings fixed, I came back to find Maccie on the floor. Which is weird. Because from the looks of it, it would have shut tight if it had dropped from the original position it was in. I say I'm getting freaked out because my Grandma passed away last week and a series of freaky events happened to her before she died in her sleep. According to certain sources, she kept on saying she was going to die and that friends from the past had come to visit her. Yes, freaky much. I am going to pray before I sleep tonight.

Anyways, on to happier (or at least more mundane) stories. I'm getting burned out at work. I still immensely enjoy what I am doing. But the more I look at it, the more work keeps staring me back in the face. There are annual report drafts, equity bubble charts, research papers, monthly reports... i think imma faint.

I don't know. Life was so much better as a student. =(

Have yourself a merry little Christmas 2009

The year in sum, was a blur of rushing deadlines, lugging bags through airports and train stations, coping with new faces and missing the old ones, the familiarity of Friday poker nights, re-establishing filial bonds, late nights inhaling the scent of apple grape mint, the occassional drunken night or two, rejection, acceptance and less time to ponder. Less time to think. As I filled my hours with work and play, I left the remaining hours I had to sleep. Sleep, glorious, sleep. No time allocated just to daydream and ponder.

So today, to make up for the lost time, I sat down on one of the benches facing Jusco supermarket, lemonade in hand... and I people-watched. I watched as an extremely under-fed Santa walked through the mall handing out balloons while an elf jingled a bell and gave out sweets. I marvelled as I saw scores of parents trailing after Santa, begging for a single balloon, their children hanging on like leeches on to their right hands, jumping up and down impatiently in anticipation. You don't get to see this everyday. The fates of a few children resting on a single green sphere filled with air on a stick. The merry smile on one child's face would have to be matched with tears on another's.

I could not help but smile because it brought back memories of my childhood. All it took was a single balloon to brighten up my day when I was five. Nothing much has changed. And I took a step back to thank God that He managed to preserve that pureness in a child that could have easily seen thin Santa with a balloon, and walked right past him.

This post screams Adam Lambert!!

Excuse my obsession but just so you know, I rarely go all the way out to buy someone's cd especially when the songs are available for free online. The thought of not owning the debut album of this legend-in-the-making was just too miserable to deal with so I went all the way out to obtain a copy for myself the first day it was out in Malaysia.

Btw, have you guys bought Adam Lambert's new album, FYE?

If you haven't I suggest you go out and buy it now, now, now! My favourite track has definitely got to be Sleepwalker. I can't place a specific genre on this song except to say that it is really really really good. The lead guitarist is none other than Orianthi Panagaris! I loveee herr... saw her for the first time on Michael Jackson's 'This is it'. She is loaded with talent and is of Greek Australian descent. Voted one of the top ten female guitar

ists in the world! She has a solo in this song not to be missed. Oh fyi, this song is also written by Ryan Tedder of One Republic fame. He's the guy who also wrote Bleeding Love. Talented talented... I just cannot stop raving about it.

Orianthi!

While the songs on this album are mostly glam pop, Adam shines in songs which are NOT pop. His ballad 'A loaded smile' brings his pitch perfect falsetto to the forefront. Remember when he sang Mad World and gave the audience goosebumps and THEN he sang If I Can't Have You and made all our hearts melt? Yeah. similar experience.

That's not to say that his pop songs are bad. There's some substance in Fever (written by Lady Gaga), Strut (Kara Diogardi and the man himself) as well as What dya want from me (Pink @ka Alicia Moore).

So what are you waiting for? Go get the album! Support gay rights by supporting Lambert. I'm just joking btw. I have nothing against gays but for neutrality's sake, I'm not about to advertise gay rights here.