the lastsplash

The mahjong-kakis ate in style at Al Dente Trattoria , an Italian restaurant at Colours of the Bay Esplanade , this evening to celebrate Theresa's birthday! Thanks to the AMEX promotion, we "could have been able" (???) to enjoy the main courses at 1-for-1. Why? lol . We were enjoying this wonderful appetizer, Antipasti Sampler Platter ... Salami slices, grilled mushrooms, tomatoes with mozzarella cheese, ham with melon & cold seafood cuts on fresh garden greens... ...when 阿发 said that he had left his AMEX card at home! We all knew he is good at cracking such cold jokes. Unfortunately, it was true! Anyway, we went on to enjoy our main courses which we couldn't really make out what they were from the menu till we saw them in front of us! Our birthday girl had the Filleto di mauve ? Anyway, its beef tenderloin ragout of mushroom and pancetta with red wine glazed... mmmm yum yum. Juicy and tender! Dear had Pesce al forno ... which is oven roasted red snapper and ba...

Not knowing what to expect, my JC mates and I were in for a big surprise at the National Museum last night! Studio Festi from Italy performed at the open area between NMS and SMU for the first Night Festival. If you remember the performance, Water Fools , at the opening of the Singapore Art Festival this year, this was something of similar grand scale, but it was up in the sky! The performance was befittingly known as " The Dancing Sky ". Singaporeans must have acquired the taste for such audio and visual splendid, for the turnout was really good too! I was only able to see the dancers in the sky from afar... The graceful dancers glide through the facade of the National Museum, creating romantic images of magic... A closer inspection, you can see the performers hanging on the trapeze. Then planets carrying dancers floated in... On the ground, there performers danced to the tune of Vivaldi's Four Season... And dancing with fire... Dancing in a bowl of water, smooth like a...

It was official. Not sure how much impact I made in the past two years. Probably none. For three hours, two to three days a week, I felt more like a guest. But yet, I gained quite a bit. Neither am I sure when or how I can use what I gained. For now, I know at least I made a few people proud. =) The traditional photos at the staircase, And with the giant ceremonial bear! One of the best thing is to have accomplished it together with my dear. Before we take the next steps of our lives together, arm in arm. A moment for us to pause and celebrate! And I will leave the rest of the reflections to another day bah... hah .

I woke up an hour earlier today. I would leave an hour earlier for lesson, so I wanted to get to work an hour earlier as well. At 5.30 am, the air was fresh. It was dark and cool. My mind was blank but very much awake. I regained some of the inner peace which I had during the couple of days when I was on MC. It was some sort of calming feeling. I could take my time in everything and nothing would agitate me. Then, the early morning evoked some memories. These were memories of days when I was awake by 5.30 am. There was the BMT days at Nee Soon Camp. At this time of the day, I would be having my water parade and then marching to training shed near the cook house to wait for breakfast. There was the secondary school days. I would be one of the first few in school, to finish homework from the day before. :-P Sometimes the gates were not opened yet and I had to scale the low walls. As the train emerged from the tunnels at Redhill MRT station, the dark morning skies had turned to baby blue....

You may be wondering why am I blogging at this time of the day? Well, I am on sick leave at home. This is a much needed break for me. On the work front, it had been more than challenging lately. Having to juggle tasks of different nature, and wearing hats much bigger than my head. I constantly keep in mind the size of my head and try to do my best to fit into the hats I have to wear. But its not easy lah . I made a couple of mistakes due to my negligence. I am keeping myself positive. Hopefully, the hard work will pay off soon. On the home front, it had been smoother. After receiving the keys , we had the flat painted and cleaned thoroughly. As the new man of the house, I washed the two toilets, scrubbing every inch of the floor and walls, digging up the little corners of dirt. Thanks to my four years of staying in Hall One, I had plenty experience in washing my toilets. =p My future mother-in-law helped us with the kitchen. She did a splendid job in turning it sparkling clean. While ...