peanutbutterfly

Bygones

2010-12-31T13:25:00.002+08:00

It's that time of the year when I inevitably feel painfully sentimental. I've been thinking back to past travels, Italy and Hokkaido in particular - although that could very well be due to their delicious cuisine - and it really didn't seem that long ago. But it was, and the memories are already receding. Speaking of travel, 2010 was when I realised that it can also be fun if part of or even the

Day 5 of feeling poorly

2010-11-26T21:50:00.000+08:00

Craving your indulgence - I hardly get sick so this whole business is quite a novelty. It started with a dry and raspy throat on Monday, which has since progressed to dry(ish) coughing and completely blocked nasal and aural passages. This afternoon I developed a massive headache which has spread to the neck and shoulders. It also doesn't matter what I eat; my tastebuds only register (a)

Blowing off the dust

2010-11-12T12:23:00.001+08:00

It's quite funny how the more I stay away, the less inclined I feel to write anything. I fear I would probably have been grappling with the same old gripes and grouses or throwing the usual pointless punches at what passes for humanity. Me complaining about something or other is like you brushing your teeth or taking your dog for a walk, right? Everything I vaguely ever thought of committing to

Somewhere out there

2010-10-05T11:34:00.000+08:00

"Did you bring your camera?" "Yes." "OK, I want to show you this really nice spot, you must take picture..." My dad grew up in a kampong and is an avid nature enthusiast. On Sunday, after picking me up for a family dinner, he made a detour through Seletar, stopped at the side of the road and shooed me out to go snap this: So I was squatting quite unglamly in full view of a bus that had stopped

Cosmos

2010-09-05T17:11:00.002+08:00

by Carl Sagan I wanted to be a scientist when I was younger (in addition to a whole lot of other now-irrelevant aspirations). I didn't know it then, but the type I had in mind was what I now know to be an astrophysicist. I've always been fascinated with anything beyond this tiny blip of a planet, i.e. anything celestial. Completely devoured books on planets, the stars, galaxies and such.

Buhbye, comfort zone

2010-08-31T00:57:00.000+08:00

What attracts you to a scene? For me, that would be light, colour and asymmetry. In that order. Totally abstract, but so far it lets me get away with a lot when I'm shooting anything. I'm not one to nitpick about specific details like counting stops or bothering too much about lenses - I'm not a guy. I'm pulled more to the art than the science side of photography. I've never remotely

Not again

2010-08-23T09:56:00.000+08:00

Here's another bizarre one: I just dreamt that I was doing Vrschikasana (scorpion pose) with the bendiest spine ever and like I didn't weigh anything at all. Real casual too, while waiting around with friends. Dream Moods Dictionary: To dream that you are performing yoga, symbolizes unity, balance, harmony, calmness, and self-discipline. You have complete control of your mind and body.

Just wondering

2010-08-22T15:11:00.000+08:00

Me: Can I become a druid? Him: Mmmmmm. Ah well. I'm sure he thinks I'm kidding. Besides, I don't think there are any druid orders in Singapore...

X is for

2010-08-21T22:53:00.000+08:00

... xylophones. Of all things, there was a small part in my dreams last night / this morning in which I was playing scales on a large glockenspiel. Yeah, I didn't really know the difference but Wiki says the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes. And I know what I was playing was definitely metallic. Anyway, this struck me as so utterly odd that I

Bad medicine

2010-08-17T18:17:00.001+08:00

Still somewhat reluctant to write about the recent work experience, so here's something about yoga. Last week, a couple of sessions involving janu sirsasana and parsvottanasana booked me a weekend in Hamstring Hell. It was quite torturous to climb stairs or to move between standing and sitting positions. Ignoring my overworked pain receptors, I dutifully went for my vinyasa class yesterday - in

Famous last words

2010-08-05T18:44:00.001+08:00

Me: I'm not sure how to get there [Temasek Poly]. Lagoon: I have GPS. We are invincible! Lost in Geylang...

Why am I always asking why?

2010-08-02T22:43:00.000+08:00

Think of the last time you saw an ad for cameras, watches, fragrances, cars... or something more mundane like shampoo or toothpaste. It's always the same scenarios, same sort of appeal, even same style of copy and typeface, isn't it? I don't understand why advertisers are so adamant about fitting into a perceived accepted norm. I can almost hear them telling their A/PR firms they want to be seen

STFU or GTFO

2010-07-30T19:23:00.000+08:00

I can hold it in no longer. I know I'm not the only one experiencing the indescribably joys of playing host to increasing waves of foreign "talent" and visitors! But why do they have such stupid habits? You know, like standing at the top or foot of staircases and escalators and just talking to each other? WTF? Are they not aware that these are busy choke points? Can't they hold their village

Get wif da pwogwam

2010-07-07T23:08:00.002+08:00

We're currently looking for temp staff for what is essentially data entry. So we've been interviewing kiddos on holiday, and my colleague has been telling them about "content population" and "CMS systems" (the latter being tautological, I know, but that's not the point of this post). The point is, when you're only 20 or 21 and looking for a temp job, you probably wouldn't know or care whether

Kicking darkspawn ass from this Blight to the next

2010-07-04T01:11:00.002+08:00

Finally... I've completed my first playthrough of Dragon Age: Origins. I know, I know, it's disgraceful but I am no longer the gamer I was. I don't think I even finished the last game I was playing (Titan Quest?!) before Perfect World. WG gave me this on PS3 for Christmas last year. I played a bit, got stuck and slightly discouraged, restarted the whole thing and pushed on during the past few

Snapshot #18

2010-07-03T12:51:00.003+08:00

Yesterday.... 1. After freezing my ass off in a sub-arctic meeting room, got drenched in a sudden downpour on the way back from lunch. And someone actually had a hair dryer in the office - but it wasn't very effective and I went for my other meeting still damp. 2. Was given a trial Stilnox tablet (the time-release one) by G as I had mentioned my insomnia and IBS have kicked in for reals this

My new (old) life

2010-06-20T13:42:00.002+08:00

Alright. Some of you may know that this has been my first week back in the so-called workforce. This 180° lifestyle change has been overwhelming so far, I'll admit... so much so that it's only during the weekend (this weekend, I don't know about future weekends yet) that I feel I have some semblance of a real life. I've cut myself out of social media, yoga, cooking and everything else I used to

Still stewing

2010-06-06T22:51:00.000+08:00

Some questions I came back with after a brief shopping stint... 1. Why does raw (not to be confused with brown sugar) sugar have to cost more than refined white sugar, even from the same local manufacturer? Because demand is low (then why is it usually low- or out-of-stock)? If anything, shouldn't less refining make it cheaper to produce - so is this a case of greedy profiteering? 2. Why do I

Benchmarks of birdbrainery

2010-06-03T12:57:00.003+08:00

Welcome to another round of Words That People Often Fuck Up. I present: Gauge - verb: to estimate. noun: a unit of measurement. Guage - there is no such word, dammit. Just try pronouncing it and see how stupid you sound. Gague - I will just assume this is a very unfortunate and unintentional typo. Gouge - verb: to dig out forcefully. noun: the hole left by said digging. Gorge - verb: to

The other Little Misses

2010-06-02T19:17:00.004+08:00

Back in the day, I loved the Mr Men series. I had a particularly soft spot for Mr Messy because, unlike all the other characters, he was just a squiggle. But, like what happened with the Care Bears and other groups of characters, it got diluted with expansions that I found hard to keep up with and eventually didn't care about. Like the whole "Little Miss" series. Actually, what triggered this

Hokkaido in 9 days - part 2

2010-05-25T16:45:00.002+08:00

Actually it's more like 8.25 days... but, to pick up where I left off... From Bikuni, we drove to the Kamui Cape, a scraggy headland reaching out into the Sea of Japan. It was a pretty scenic 45-minute stroll from the car park to land's end, despite it being close to noon, quite warm and utterly glaring. Check out a panoramic shot here :) More Shakotan pics Our drive then hugged the coast for

Hokkaido in 9 days - part 1

2010-05-24T20:43:00.005+08:00

"How did you squeeze in so many places in such a short time?!" my cousin (who has lived and worked in various parts of Japan) demanded. Well, now that I look back, basically we were in the car a fair bit, and stayed one night in most places, a couple in larger cities like Sapporo and Hakodate. Which is actually fine, because unlike Tokyo or some other megalopolis, Hokkaido seems to be lower-key,

I ate what?

2010-05-18T14:00:00.002+08:00

Hello! Alright, I've been back from Hokkaido for a week but am still going through photos. It's something I want to get out of the way before other things happen, and until I finish I can't even begin to gather my thoughts on the trip itself. It's like how I can't work on new jewellery if I have commissioned work in progress. Will write more later, I promise. Just managed to retrieve pics taken

Nothing more than feelings

2010-04-27T23:30:00.002+08:00

"You will resist the urge to adjust or fidget, to scratch or even cough." This now precedes our ritual 10 minute meditation session (which comes after a 5 minute yin breathing practice). Unfortunately, I have never once heard the class silent throughout that miniscule timeframe - there is always a cougher. Somehow. But I wasn't going to rant. Since J has taken to giving us yoga-inspired

Mostly about food

2010-04-21T00:12:00.005+08:00

What with me (and XT) being tea fanatics, and there having been so many tea shoppes springing up, we had to go and give arteastiq a try. We discovered it one day after so-so ramen at Ippudo: seduced by a posterboard of "dessert teas" - infused with alcohol, no less - positioned incongruously in front of a painfully hip furniture store. Made a note to go back on another weekend. That weekend came,