ballet

After much delay, I am finally going for my first ballet lesson. It's a good thing that I do not have to wear pink pointe tap shoes or pink skin tight cotton tops. Since I can never become the swan queen in swan lake, maybe I can come up with with a production of my own. It will be a production for the awkward ballet dancer, the wannabe with ungraceful mannerism and the dude with poor psycho-motor skills. The title - 'The ugly duckling'.

'Every time I see people wearing this, I thought... OUCH!'-cj

point and tap.. point and tap..

Awesome #29 when you realized you were talking to a millionaire

That guy that I offered to pay for his lunch (because I thought he had not money) was a freaking millionaire. Our conversations evolved mainly around our common dancing interest; which was why we never got about to talking about our jobs. He had no airs around him and he looked like your friendly neighborhood uncle. It was only after a few weeks had passed before someone who saw the two of us together came up to me and asked me,"Do you know he is a millionaire and he stays in Sentosa?" My jaw dropped.

It is not so much about talking to a millionaire that is awesome, but knowing that there are such humble people around that is ...

AWESOME!

Awesome #28 when you walk around barefoot outside the house

Some people have a problem with getting their feet dirty, others might worry about stepping on sharp objects; but not me. I'm just dirty and reckless. I like the feel of the floor against the sole of my feet. The floor can be cold and hard, rough and dry or smooth and lacquered; and I will still take my shoes off for them anytime.

it is almost therapeutic for me that it's... 


AWESOME!

dream

I have a dream. One that keeps me chasing after a finishing line that moves away as  I approaches it. Every time the finishing line moves, I have to renew my faith and strengthen my determination. Perseverance is a quality. But is singleminded doggedness always the best?

i need my trade off curve.

scientific love

haha heh.

Awesome #27 when you find money on the floor

Money do not grow on trees nor drop from the sky. In fact, I think they sprout from marble floors in shopping centers. I was walking around Vivocity when I saw 40sgd on the floor. I did a quick scan and fail to spot any potential owners. I'm not sure if I did not spot any potential owners or I did not want to spot any potential owners. My eyes quickly darted around to see if there are any candid cameras. No cameras. I always believe in returning money that is not yours, but in this case it is hard to positively id an owner and leaving it at the security sounds like an equally stupid idea to me. So I picked it up and continue my path without breaking my stride. You have to be at the right place at the right time to be lucky enough to find money lying on the floor. The guy walking right behind me must have felt like a sucker.

Being able to find unidentifiable money lying around is...


AWESOME!

zouk

Dancing to Zouk is a new experience. So much sway...

Awesome #26 when a hot aunty winks at you

We were strangers. To me she was the lady who takes you order at the coffee shop; to her I was one of her stall's many patrons. Our relationship was professional and totally food related. She stands out from the other coffee shop aunties that you see around. In her heydays, she was probably the golden girl of the kopitiam or the school's prom queen. Time who can be strict when it comes to enforcing aging is exceptionally kind to her. She did not lose the shine in her eyes. Today, while I was window shopping in Vivo, our paths crossed and those eyes of hers were exceptionally playful. She winked at me. A May-December relationship was unlikely. Though it is nothing compare to a wink coming from a younger lady.

Catching a wink from a hot aunty was still...

AWESOME!

Awesome #25 when someone asks you to join them for lunch on your first day

I was the new kid on the block. The only person I know is the HR lady who brought me to the 23rd floor. She subsequently left me in the charge of Tiffany who brought me around and introduced me to the rest of the department. The morning passed rather quickly with nobody even taking a glance at me. The whole department was buzzing with activity while I remained one with the furniture. I hanged on to this semi transparent existence till around lunchtime. That's when Michelle came over and popped her head into my cubicle, 'Hey want to join me for lunch?' I brightened up immediately. It felt good to be acknowledged.

When someone asked me to join them for lunch on my first day at work, it felt...

AWESOME!

dream job

'The moment I strapped on inside the cockpit, I could feel it inside myself. This is what I really wanted to do.' It feels good to know that people around you are making progress in their lives. Some of my friends are pursuing their dream job, some of them have landed their dream job. I am on the other hand still trying to figure out mine. I literally gave up on an cushy job offer when I called back to tell them I am only available in June. No regrets; I have thought it through. I already have a decent job offer. It is not going to make me a specialist in earning money, but it is one that enables me to take on a future management role. I want a more rounded development of my skill sets. Furthermore, I am enjoying my secret other life. I like hanging out at the studio with the other students. I am getting familiar with the people and would like it to form the basis of my social life. I want to complete my dance certification course and move on to dancing competitively in future. This 6 months break is just the right time to do it. Lastly, I have a promise to keep and molding my environment like this might just be the right thing to do. Right now, I am not sure of what my dream job would be. For all I know, it might be Chief Information Officer , top 10 amateur dancer in Asia. We should pursue our respective dreams.

Bon voyage my friend. Come back with wings.

queen

She was the queen of the dance floor and I was the one with two left feet. Never in my wildest dream would I imagine myself being in her grace. But tonight she stride up to me, grabbed my hands and pulled me onto the dance floor. She started moving her body, swaying and pumping it to the rhythm of the music. It was mesmerizing. High with her transmitted energy, I let the beat fade into the background and listened to the music. Suddenly, I was no longer the awkward student. I led the dance like a diva.

We danced an intoxicating dance.

not enough work

The first two day of work went as expected. There is not enough work flowing to me. My system is not up yet, so there is no access to internet. A good portion of my time was spent sending out short messages and playing games on my handphone.

urgh.. i get headaches from boredom.

first day of work

After bumming around at home for so long, I finally found a part time work to pay for my dance classes. There is no job beneath me. So today I will head down to SGX without any idea what would I be expected to do. 

over qualification is not a problem.

blister

I got the blister from dancing for 3 hours. For me, dancing is the new running.

one two three.. five six seven..

Awesome #24 when your whole family squeeze into a room to talk and laugh loudly

I like it when the whole family squeezes into and sits around my grandmother's apartment in Bedok. I like to watch my aunties and uncles laughing and talking loudly, my male cousins running around the house and messing up the place, housewives fussing over the amount of food to cook, my brother playing 'hunter and the bear' game with cousins half his age, my sis bringing her bf over for dinner and the 'O' level student hiding in a corner studying Physics. If we are talking about entropy of the household, this is major disorderliness. We seldom have many occasions when the whole family comes together to celebrate.

I find this rowdiness comfortable, familiar and... 

AWESOME!

Awesome #23 when you roll up your sleeves and pants to play soccer

On the first day of Chinese New Year, the last thing I am appropriately dressed for is soccer. In fact, I was in my new long sleeves shirt and pants. Being a sucker for New Year goodies and red packets, I am easily cajoled (or arrowed) into taking care of the noisy kids. The two 12 year old boys were kicking a ball around in the house, doing a somersault in bed to land an overhead volley, ramming the ball at the false wall, dangerously dribbling around people and heading balls that ricocheted off the ceiling. In order to maintain peace in the household, extend the lifespan of the furniture and reduce any loss and injuries to life and limbs, I was asked to bring them outside to play ball. Mistakenly thinking that all I have to do is to watch over them while they kicked the ball around the field, I agreed to it between bites of the bwa kwa.

I had misread those words and those kids. Clearly, they are not going to let me stand under the shady tree in my clean white shirt and sip packet box winter melon juice. Before long, they got bored of kicking the ball to each other. They came over and challenged me.

They: Hey let's play 2 versus 1. Two of us (two 12 year olds) against you.
Me: I do not want to sweat in my new year clothes.
They: OK. We give you a 5 point head start.
Me (not going to entertain some kids) : I do not want to sweat in my new year clothes.

Seeing that this conversation is not going anywhere, they started kicking the muddy ball at my white shirt. Dodge it once, twice, a third time; finally I gave in. Crap. I got blackmailed by two 12 year old. I rolled up my jeans and sleeves. I'm going to show them what is it like to challenge people who are twice their age. It was a little hard to lobang them as their legs are short, but I managed somehow.

'soccer with kids. Outrun. Outclass. Outwit.'-cj

The free spirited spontaneity of rolling up my long pants for a quick game of soccer was...

AWESOME!

Awesome #22 when a public holiday falls at the end of the work week

This year's Chinese New Year falls on Thursday and Friday. Having super long weekends like this is..


AWESOME!

Awesome #21 when room is spotless and tidy

The yearly spring cleaning at my home is not like your mundane weekly housework routine. Spring cleaning is a major reformatting of the house, it makes your weekly housework looks like a routine virus scan. We make it a point to make sure that no spec of dust  is spared, even the big bad ass dust balls that had remained hidden for so long will be given the broom. After one whole day of cleaning window grills, decorating the house, throwing out of trash, sweeping and mopping the floor, the house feels relatively cleaner.

After the major clean up, living in a cleaner house feels...


AWESOME!