1. Not falling over
   
2. Not breaking my glasses
3. Not getting too drunk - thank you Danny, now where's my t-shirt!
   
4. Blue label
5. Uni sushi in Minoru
6. New PJs!
7. Lychee martinis in The Bellini Room
   
8. Happy Birthday, Marylin Monroe style
9. Incriminating pictures, which will remain locked for all eternity
10. Incriminating videos that will never grace cyberspace
    
11. Waking up and going for classes mildly hung-over
12. Masquer8 @ The Upper Club
    
13. Lots of crazy friends who made my birthday weekend one of the most memorable...ever!
    

"I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love." - Florentino Ariza

Because it seemed like a good idea (and also because I was feeling 'literary'), I read Gabriel Garcia Marquez' classic, Love in the Time of Cholera. At first take, the story about a 50-year love triangle between its three protagonists seems preposterous. How the hell can one guy claim to love a woman for that long? And wait the entire duration of the time for her husband to die? Is it worth it? Has he not heard of poison? Ok, the last part is me being impatient...

To be clear, this is not a fairy-tale story about 'true love'. Even though they fall passionately in love and exchange a barrage of love letters, the lovelorn Florentino Ariza is rejected by his Fermina Daza three years into their affair. She eventually chooses to marry the sophisticated Dr Juvenal Urbino. Devastated, Ariza later whiles away his years writing passionate love poems and letters and indulging in 622 affairs while reserving his heart for Fermina.

The romanticism of it and the way that the book was written simply blows me away. The story raised issues of unrequited love, relationships, aging and the idea that suffering for love is a kind of nobility. The skeptic in me wonders; How can a love like this exist? And is it even possible in such fickle times as today, where everyone is constantly looking for their personification of love?

Fifty-one years, nine months and four days - are you committed enough to wait a lifetime for love?

My weekend of crime was fairly interesting.

It made me wonder, just what is it with directors and their muses?

While I admit that some of these combinations work, I think that sometimes directors and actors have to break out of their comfort zones to work on other projects instead of sticking together. The much-hyped American Gangster reteams Ridley Scott with Russell Crowe and delivers a strong story with engaging character studies of its two protagonists. Character study aside, it's a story that we've seen before far superior movies like Infernal Affairs and Heat. American Gangster plays up the 'being bad is good' card but loses steam in the midway, which sucks. It would've been better if it was trimmed down.

The movie that won me over was David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises. Gripping, gory and dripping with malice throughout, it got me caught up from the start. The one thing that I forgot about watching Cronenberg movies is the gore...If you cannot stomach sudden spurts of violence and blood, then it's best to give this movie a pass. What worked was the hints of violence as well as the use of the victim as a narrator, it's such nuances that chills the blood. Although the characters in this movie and their mob ties can be a little confusing at times, you never lose sight of its purpose or plot. Very good.

Now to wait for No Country for Old Men...woo hoo!

Movie musicals are often a hard nut to crack. While there were box-office winners like Chicago and Moulin Rouge. Some, like the highly acclaimed Rent and the cult favourite Hedwig and the Angry Inch, barely made headlines and money at the box-office despite their iconic songs, storylines and well-loved cast.

All that said, the one movie musical that seriously impressed me at the start of this year was Across the Universe.

If your're a movie nut like me and have watched any of Julie Taymore's previous work like the Oscar-winning Frida or the super chilling Titus, you know that you're be in for something different.

The storyline's pretty straightforward but what made the movie brilliant was it's excellent use of music (in this case, a whole lot of great Beatles songs) and visuals that are weaved almost seamlessly into the story. The director's choice of using mostly new or indie actors is great as the audience then focuses more on the story rather then on how well they sang.

Soundtrack-wise, the deluxe edition is brilliant (*hint, hint*). For the aficionados, the deluxe edition comes with all the songs in the movie. The songs are sung by the cast which gives the them a fresh, new appeal and will probably change the way you listen to these tunes now.

Verdict: You'll either love the movie or hate it. But you'll definately remember the songes long after the movie's done.

Doing it for ourselves!

So guys, stop thinking that all that makeup, tight little clothes, the gorgeous hair and all the work that goes into this is for you. Ok, a little bit of it is for you, but the majority of the work is for us – and for us to impress other girls.

Eve-of-the-eve of the wedding, a whole bunch of us girls were doing the manicure/pedicure routine. Honestly, I’m not much of a fan of getting pedicures due to (what I dub) a traumatic experience in Thailand…however, it didn’t stop me from going through the routine with my usual bravado – if bravado means looking like I was going to be tortured, boiled and fried…then that’sexactly what I looked like throughout…

Thankfully, my manicurist was kind enough to make it a more enjoyable experience and I managed to look less like I was going to die. The good news is I happily got some nail art done for the first time. Yay! Pictures will be posted in Flickr soon for, in all my excitement, I forgot to bring my camera cable home. Well done, me...

Today, makes it only one more day to the wedding.

Congratulations Alicia (you've made it through all the hassle and the family drama!) and to Ah How, welcome to the family – if you thought that our family was strange, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Good luck and lots of love!

New year, new rant...

Sometimes people are just plain weird...I don't know what the hell they are thinking but it's certainly an annoying trait. I was having dinner with a friend sometime back when this came up:

Me: So, how did you do for your exams?
Friend: Aiyah, not so good...
Me: Really? So what grades did you get?
Friend: It's bad...I got all Bs this term
Me: ...

Firstly, doing badly in my book means barely passing your exams. Yes, I know we live in a highly competitive society but seriously, a B is bad?

If you thought that was bad, let me cite you another example of another friend who lamented of his lack of savings and when probed, he said...I don't have much money...just about S$60,000.

Speechless. This was followed by a huge urge to just smack the shit outta him.

In telling the truth, I know that sometimes sugar-coating it often helps soften the blow but false modesty like the above two cases just grates. Thinking back, many people, especially Singaporeans do this incessantly. Who doesn't like to boast about their achievements, right? But when someone is really seeking sympathy, that is an abhorrent way to behave. It's condescending, people and we should stop doing it.

Why? Simply because plebians and sad souls like me need a listening ear, a hug and even empathy sometimes. And yes, we're selfish too because we'd love to have the chance to bitch and moan about how dreary our lives are - without hearing how wonderful yours is.

So, the next time you have the list your achievements to someone, just be frank - warn the poor soul that you are unburdening to and let them have a decent head start, to run away from you.