Last week was all that I predicted and more. It was horrendous and almost like a Tim Burton movie brought to life. Complete with a cast of pale characters whose moods swung from moderately normal to screaming banshee as the minutes crawled.

On Saturday, I decided that I should make my annual foray to the Singapore International Salsa Festival (SiSF) at Downtown East. Held from October 24 – 26, the festival brings in the top global salsa instructors, regional performers, a renowned salsa band and top DJs. Maybe it’s the economy, the sheer distance to bloody Downtown East or just plain ol’ salsa fatigue or just me being tired but somehow, this year’s festival seemed lacking. Usually the night parties are totally rocking with many instructors and dancers just cutting loose and enjoying themselves but this time, there was a general sense of something missing.

I was speaking to two French girls who was coming to the festival for the first time and their grouse, was similar to mine. That is, local salseros were generally too shy to approach strangers to dance. Instead, they waste lots of time by standing around or dancing with their friends most of the time. Little does she know that this annoying thing happens all year round and at all salsa parties. This year, I didn’t manage to dance with many of the instructors and didn’t catch any of the performances but that’s ok. It’s been too tiring a week. I do have some other grouses that I hope the organizers will take note of:

1. Venue. How about a change of venue next year? Pasir Ris is way too far for people living in the West and even tourists who would love to pop by to enjoy the night festivities …how about looking at Sentosa or the East Coast and have a beach party instead?
2. Tickets. Please standardize those ticket prices…year one and two’s Sat night party cost $45 at the door and this year it’s $60? Hello, organizers…
3. Short workshops. How about having one or two instructors do a short workshop at the night parties? The crowds are so much bigger and there is potential to teach more fun dances like reggeton, basic cha cha or even merengue. At this year’s party, I noticed that lots of people were hardly able to cha cha but, doing it en masse to the band was great fun
4. Rueda. I think organizers should re-introduce rueda to the night parties – this is the fastest way of getting to know other dancers and of having the most fun on the dance floor with everybody participating.

The one big thing that the organizers got right was the band. I am a big fan of live music and I thoroughly enjoyed The Bronx Horns. Fronted by Mitch Frohman, the band played a tribute to Hector Lavoe for their first set and later on, came back with salsa classics from the likes of Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto and Tito Puente the really got the crowd up on their feet. We saw the return of sonero, Frankie Vazquez whose English is much improved since we last saw him a year ago.

Hey, if the tired SiSF gets a fresh breath of air, me and other salseros would be signing up for full-day passes instead of just dropping by for the night party. C’mon, organizers revamp the festival and you will definitely draw in bigger and better crowds. And we won’t have to sign that petition again…

When the nuns in The Sound of Music sang this classic song, we all listened to it and thought of various quirky people around us who reminded us of Maria. She brought about a sense of innocence and also of a girl who seemed to be in the wrong place, stuck in some dreary abbey.

Lately, the song seems to play in the background of my mind whenever I speak to a dreaded client. It’s not because they embodied Maria’s characteristics, it’s the opposite. This song to me represents all that could be but did not materialize because the clients are such frustrating people. They engaged us to help run the PR element of a large event which will finally take place this week. I can safely say this is one of the most painful projects I have ever run in all my years of being in PR and also when I was in-house, I have never come across such people.

They are stubborn, insistent, arrogant, and disrespectful – to clarify, not many clients are like this but this one takes the cake for being totally disrespectful to their consultants. What irks me the most is they do not follow-up on basic things which are the ingredients required to run a successful large event. And they refuse to listen to counsel, when they fuck things up, they just shrug and simply say, well shit happens. How can you learn from simply shrugging off problems?

Let me give you an example…they cannot even manage to secure one media centre at the event site. A media centre is used as a base where members of the media can work, get all the on-site materials and information and at times use the room to conduct small group or one-on-one interviews. Apparently, adding such an essential room where you can interact with the media and help them gather their information is far too expensive. Let’s get this straight – this is for an event that attracts c-suite movers and shakers, internationally renowned speakers and an international audience. The interview room that they have now rotates on a daily basis and materials are in a separate room – very nice.

In beginning, we went all the way to help them. Pull together materials, secure quality interviews, get foreign media and get them listings for their event. But whenever we secure something, like confirm interviews for their renowned spokespersons with leading regional publications, they manage to fuck it up somehow. And fuck in a big way too, by promising others do exclusives, declining interview requests from foreign media and just fucking up by not giving us access to said spokespeople so we can arrange for interviews or just get information from them to do pitch angles. Yes, you should be on top of all your interviews but you should never renege on a confirmation.

I don’t mind going all the way for clients if they play ball or at least meet us halfway so that the result means more quality coverage and a big win all around. However, despite counseling and even when the big bosses step in, nothing happens. In fact, things either get worse, they completely fail and then they do something that I completely detest. Call my more sympathetic colleague to lament on the sad state of their lives. Oh please! Grow up; stop fucking up and your lives won’t be that bad.

Anyways this week is the event. Wish us luck, we need all we acn get. My colleagues and I have seen the materials they prepared and w are prepared for the absolute worst. This will be a nightmare. I kid you not. And thank God, you are not in my grumpy shoes.

This kind of sums up how I'm feeling these days. Yikes.

But still, I love Nip/Tuck. It's so nasty and veers to the sensational. I love the writing and how each character can sometimes seem so human, yet cruel. This is probably one of the few TV series' that incorporates music so well into the story lines. Now, to ask someone to get Seasons 4 - 6 for me...Singapore TV sucks. They air the show on the free-to-air station but very late at night and it's trimmed so tightly that the plot doesn't make sense. This and the authorities that be wonder why people don't watch the show or tune into the TV station . I can probably ramble on all day about this. Sheesh...anyhoo, enjoy the video.

Sometimes life takes a more surreal turn. These last few months could best be described as revolving; much like the doors at The Fullerton.

Too many people have come into my life and while I celebrate new friendships, I also had to mourn the time to bid some of them ‘adieu’ when it came their turn to leave for homeor bigger adventures.

My appreciation for globalization comes with its own set of pros and cons. While the world seems to shrink with so many people moving around and working all across the globe, the drawback is that it’s always heart-wrenching to have a close friend or a loved one move far, far away from you. Yes, I know that you can go visit them and the Internet makes communicating with them so much easier, it’s the little things that count. No more spontaneous bottles of wine and long chats, or hanging out, or even cutting out from work early for happy hour.

It is the human closeness that is sacrificed in these situations. I didn’t realize how much having my friends around means to me until slowly, they begin to leave. It also made me think…maybe it’s time for me to make my foray into the big, bad world too. It could be time for my big adventure :o) I know I’ve been talking about this for some time but it feels like something that I must do due in order to satisfy a restless soul that yearns for more than just normality and to see for myself what other things are out there.

This was an emotional week for me. It finally came time for a close friend and colleague to depart for London where she will be working for the next two years. And almost everyone and I had to come to terms with the reality that she is really going. It is after all, one of her biggest wishes to work in another country and be close to her family. And although I was excited to see her move on, I was a little sad to see her go.

A very warm girl with a generous heart, she has been one of the lights in the office. She’s always ready with a big smile and advice or a helping hand whenever one of us runs into trouble. She’s also become a close friend whose adventurous spirit and gusto has helped me overcome some of my demons. Yes, we have gotten into some interesting adventures and while some of them cannot be recounted without implicating other guilty parties, it’s been a really eye-opening experience :o) I can also thank her for introducing me to her crazy girlfriends, D (who I never would’ve met if we didn’t go partying after the beach) and also for most of the new look – I honestly would not have the courage to do all this without your support and egging!

A, you’ve come to mean so much to me too…who am I going to have happy hour with now and online shopping?! Who is going to laugh at the weird things that happen around the office? I have to confess, it was a tremendous effort trying not to be a water fountain at the airport and even while writing this post.

So, my dear A, have a great time in London! Don’t forget to work and I hope to see you really soon :o) PS. you can always read this blog for adventure updates!