SASCO Gala Night / Ms Singapore World 2007

Let me begin by saying how I had not expected the Ms Singapore World 2007 pageant to take place during the charity dinner which I attended.

At the beginning of the year, my dad was approached by SASCO to make a donation either in cash or wheelchairs, which was to be rewarded with an invite to a charity dinner. Seeing no need to spend more than a certain amount, he generously bought just one ticket. However, 8 months later, he found out he couldn't attend, and so asked my mum to go in his place. She wasn't too keen, feeling uncomfortable at attending the dinner alone and possibly having old folks surrounding her (which the organisation helps anyway). I would have volunteered if not for the fact that I was on manning this week, and could potentially be mobilised to don back my green uniform. Thus I declined to replace my mum.

But by late afternoon, with no news of possible mobilisation, I agreed (somewhat involuntarily) to go in place of my mum with that solo invite to Meritus Mandarin along Orchard. It was only after reaching the ballroom on the 6th floor of the hotel that the word "wow" simmered into my vocabulary. Sure I know, going to some glam charity dinner alone isn't exactly appetizing to your average person, but it takes courage considering it's not the first time I've done it.

With more than 80 tables decked out in Mandarin-style, the 6-course dinner took place concurrently with the Finals of the Ms Singapore World 2007 pageant, including the swimwear, casual and evening gown segments, not forgetting the all-important Q&A for the top 8. My invite card had indicated Table 60, and fortunately, I found myself sitting with 5 other people whom I introduced myself to.

Why "fortunate"? Cos the father of 2 beside me, an amiable Mr Quee, remarked that we'd be able to eat more now that our table was not full! Though later on he and his wife carried on comparing how other tables (some with just 3 people) could really enjoy a feast. I enjoyed talking to him, and found out he belonged to the first batch of men called up for the inaugural National Service back in 1967 when it was introduced. A retiree now with 2 grown-up kids, he and his wife have now taken to watching TV and holidaying in Genting (every year) and around Asia. Our conversation topics ranged vastly, considering he once used to be civil servant with the police before retiring at 55, thus sharing wisdom and experience to this fresh grad seeking employment in a supposedly-good job market.

Anyway, below you'll catch a glimpse of the swimwear segment which took stage between the 2nd and 3rd dish. From afar, everyone looked fit, sexy and deserving.

At this point I should commend Meritus Mandarin on their appetizing food, which included their signature Chatterbox Chicken Rice served as the final dish before the Avocado Pudding dessert. Service was also increduosly prompt, with waitresses filling up the beer, soft drink, and chinese tea cup every time they spot your glass not full. *Applause*

By 11.30pm, it was time for the results.

This was the 2nd runner-up, whom I (and probably a lot more people) think has noisy supporters. Every time and every segment she goes on on stage, her supporters blow their whistles and sound the horn (the type used to flag off sprinters on track) continuously, thinking that noise levels equates to triumph. It wasn't any surprise Mr Quee commented that her awarded title of "Ms Popularity" was a cover up for having noisy supporters. I guess the judges were prompted to award her the 2nd runner up for fear of angering her supporters. *shrugs*

The 1st runner-up went to Contestant 18, and the winner, Contestant 20. See if you can spot them in this link, which was taken at the Semi-Finals, otherwise make do with the grainy pictures I took below.

The picture above (left) shows the 2007 and 2006 pageant winners, the latter of whom made it to the top 5 of 100-over contestants competing at the international Ms World pageant in Moscow last year. A mighty feat (for Singapore and Asia) which I still remember, considering Singapore never seemed to make the cut in any beauty pageant at the international level.

By midnight, everyone (including myself) was just hanging around for the top 10 winners for the lucky draw to be called out, which included a $800 travel voucher as the top prize, and other attractive prizes like a 21" colour TV, return flight to Perth on Qantas, 2D1N Holiday Inn stay in Bintan, etc. Had it not been for the lure of the lucky draw, I bet most attendees would have left much earlier.

P/S: Carol, if you're keen to know what Q&A questions they were asked, ask me...Personally, these contestants seem to have more confidence and intellect than those in the MSU2007...I think.

Ice Cream Teppanyaki

The TLs met up for a wonderful BBQ/Steamboat/Teppanyaki dinner at Yuki&Yaki (Marina Sq), of which I'll highlight only the dessert "segment", since there were at least 3 amateurs who didn't know that the ice creams had to be prepared/"fried" by ourselves. After we stuffed ourselves silly with the main course, we contemplated with the optional ice cream. Chua then told WG, San and myself that it'd be fun to make our own ice cream by "frying" it in the same pan the BBQ was in place.

An awkward silence followed as we three disbelieved the very words coming out of Chua's mouth. After all, the whole time she had been pretty "cold" with her lame jokes and qian-bian questions. But we turned to Shan and checked, and immediately, the tables were turned on us three as we were told that Chua wasn't wrong. Instead, we became the swa-koos...

So we shifted to another table to begin the "teppanyaki" session as WG took the first lead on freezing our ice cream, literally. I found it superbly amazing and despite understanding the laws of thermodynamics and freezing, it was surreal just watching the ice cream take shape in front of my very eyes! It was, literally, damn cool! I ought to thank the engineers who came up with the idea of duality in having the BBQ pan heat up and cool down to extreme temperatures. So anyhows, this was WG's first attempt at freezing our ice-cream...

And then it was Chuhua's turn to try. Notice how she's the only one who needs to stand up...heh.

Overheard on radio

The best vengeance a man who steals another's wife can receive is to let him keep her.

Mondays

The National Day Rally Speech 2007

After having spent the past 3 consecutive years working for the National Day Rally since this PM took over, it was sort of a relief to watch it from the comfort of my home this year, stress-free. Whilst the speech this year did not seem to affect me much, I think it addressed notable issues our aging population Singaporeans face and will continue to face. Whether I think my life expectancy will hit 80, or if I've sufficient CPF funds for retirement, or if my future penthouse in Punggol 21 will be facing the man-made canal, is still early to say, judging by the fact that I'm still "seeking employment". I'd rather not hear any more lectures, since things are now "beyond my control". I just have to play the waiting game, and pray.

Some of us may also have read/heard how the government is now headhunting newer and younger politicians to groom, so as to lead Singapore into the new economy. I used to think I'd work my way up into that seat in the Istana, or in Parliament (yeah I know people dream of other things but well...) but since our meritocratic society allows only the "smart-ones" with straight As to be rewarded with scholarships and thus dream jobs to excel, that hope kinda faded. Of course there's the other ladder which starts from the grassroots and "youth wing", but seriously?! Who wouldn't deny the importance of grades to succeed in the service? Granted, such lamenting may be attributed to my failed attempts at a PSC scholarship 7 years ago, and aggravated by recent job applications to 2 ministries. Heck, it's their loss.

But I shouldn't complain, the economy is supposed to be good. Reading the papers, or the paper if I should say, the graduates of 2007 are enjoying the "employee market" now. Did you not read about the 6 fresh NUS graduates who were offered between $2500 and $3500 as starting salaries in (mostly) the civil service and the MNCs with mutiple job offers? I suppose the writer was generous in his wide selection to portray the excellent job market now. Then again, in all fairness, I admit I am choosy. Yet, looking at it from another perspective, I can only afford to do so with such a market right? So, the whole chicken-and-egg-story forms the basis of mindsets. But fortunately, it doesn't depict the actions that follow - I still submit my resumes and go for my interviews in the hope of falling in the "good things come to those who wait" category.

Anyhow, I seem to have digressed. So apparently, the NDR this year seems to address my parents more, with changes to the CPF minimum draw-down age, and the percentage increase thingy. Even when PM aligned himself with Nike's motto in encouraging more babies, that didn't jerk me to find a wife immediately. Erm, pun not intended. After all, one wouldn't call it "falling" in love if you saw it coming right? Again I digress.

A fourth university in Singapore? Well that's good, at least our poly students stand a better chance in competing with the influx of foreign talent. Good news for those who currently fall outside the top 15% of their cohort. But I still believe more places should be made available to the local students, without fear of attracting foreign talent. What about the government and MOE's new incentive for encouraging non-Malay students to take up Malay as a 3rd language? It all seems part of the grand masterplan to groom a pool of candidates to be the next generation's tri-lingual PM don't you see? How come those incentives didn't come earlier when I was taking Bahasa Melayu in my final year? Bummer.

Okay, my brain's stopped working already. I've to play catch-up on Prison Break Season 2 online. Ciao!

From L-R: NDR 2004, 2005, 2006

For all the August babies (including myself), and here's a Mambo wish we'd all like.

Singapore in 4 hours

It's always nice to have overseas friends come pay me a visit, but when they only have 6 hours of transit time in between flight arrival and departure, how do you show them Singapore?

Hyemi emailed me a week ago, seeking advice on what to do for 6 hours when she, her mum, her friend Jessie and her mum would transit in Singapore from Christchurch en route to Seoul, Korea. I sought to challenge myself again, after doing the same with Hyemi and JiSu last year when they transited with an entire day to spare. Of course, it pays to have the family car free for my use then, and again today.

Hyemi and Jessie's spent a third of their time translating whatever I said into Korean for their mums to comprehend, about Singapore and Singaporeans. It was perfect that they managed to catch a whiff of daylight, dusk, and night all within the short time they spent in Singapore, plus experience the multi-racial food culture we seem so proud of.

*I should make a mental note to myself how ridiculously expensive tiger prawns are.

On a similar note, I should keep my tour itinerary a secret for interested parties/clients to buy out. Hmmm. Anyway, I really ought to thank Hyemi's mum for her generosity in rewarding my hard day's work with a bottle of NZ wine when I alighted them at the Departure Hall. I willed myself so hard in refusing her offer, but courteously accepted it later on grounds of fairness in chauffeuring and splitting the dinner bill.

It's really rewarding to hear first-time visitors exclaim in all impressive-ness of Singapore's cleanliness and vibrancy. Even Jessie asked me why I'm much fairer than other Singaporeans (I think she compared me to the non-chinese), and was surprised to hear how we Singaporeans serve our National Service the same way Korean guys do back home. It was a pity time wasn't on their side, since the girls would have loved to get out of the car anywhere along Orchard Road to do their thing.

At least that's incentive to re-visit Singapore.

Gayathri, Indochine and Zouk

The Team C dinner at Gayathri's (along Race Course Road) last night saw a good turnout of 7, including Anna, Angela, Dawn, YC, Mugant and Jeremy. While not a big fan of Indian cuisine and spices, the dinner was just as good as the adjacent Muthu's Curry, which I had 2 months ago when cousin Val and Aunt Lucy came to town. More importantly, it was more affordable than crazy Muthu's. If I recall, a plate of 8 broccoli's (yes you can actually COUNT how many pieces on the dish) cost something like $8, while the Fish Head Curry was ridiculously pricey and huge. Next time the waiter recommends 2 large servings for a "huge" family of 8, do not believe him.

Back to Gayathri's. Anna, the regular there, helped order a variety of dishes, including the mutton, chicken, prawns, and fish croquet (that's what I'll call it since I tasted more potato than fish), with an accompaniment of curry and yellow rice. We shared a jug of lime juice, which serves exactly 7 glasses (and costing just $2 less than what 7 individual glasses would have costed). The final bill came up to about $16 per pax, but the dinner experience and listening to Jeremy's jokes about wanting us to visit Yangtze with an umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh to watch a movie, was priceless.

I got to remind myself to get the pictures from Angela/YC.

After dinner, we adjourned to Indochine at Clarke Quay, minus Anna and YC, adding Jiayin. Maybe it was the drinks, or the empty bar, that prompted the guys to take turns relating/telling ghost experiences/stories all night, before making our separate ways home/elsewhere just before midnight.

Technically, the "elsewhere" was applicable only to me, since half my mind wanted to join Siyun and Meng in celebrating her 23rd birthday at Island Creamery, whilst the other half itched at accepting Edda's offer to mambo at Zouk with Iggy and some of his exchange friends. Eventually, I walked a good 20 minutes towards Zouk, before Edda messaged to report all the exchange friends had left, leaving just her and Iggy.

I contemplated a while, before convincing myself to seize the no-queue opportunity and free-thursday-to-sleep-in notion and entered, only to hear really bad music. Granted, it was only midnight, and the better mambo music usually picks up towards 1am, but by 2, it got unnerving and prompted me to leave. Even Edda's virgin stint up on the ladies podium for a good 2 hours or so didn't boost my mood.

Errr, don't take it the wrong way Edda, I was referring to the music.

Ken H popped by to say "hi", as he stayed past his hall bash earlier that evening, and coincidentally, knew Iggy too, saving any intoduction on my part. I didn't have the opportunity to introduce him to Edda since she was busy jigging away on the podium in her white, sexy...spectacles.

It had been more than a year since I last visited Mambo and when I did last night, I was greeted with nothing but a bad mix of music. For one, the DJ had the cheek to play Kit Chan's national day song "Home", which initially got boo-ed on, yet interestingly enough, got half the crowd belting out the lyrics in pitchless harmony. Sometime later, as if to salvage the night, the DJ put on Rihanna's latest hit "Umbrella", which unfortunately, sounded like a pirated copy with the track skipping several times, and worse, not sounding like Rihanna had sang it! Of course, other than the usual mambo-jambo tracks, it was refreshing to hear new 2007 additions like Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend", revealing how many closet Avril (guy)fans there were, each one yelling out "Hey! hey! you! you!"

Gwen Stefani's Sweet Escape Tour

In my opinion, Gwen Stefani's concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium was the best this year, possibly beating Christina Aguilera's one in June. Of course in the past 3 years, Coldplay's concert is still the best. Despite a rather bare stage and minimal lighting effects, her soulful voice and Harajuku Girls (Love.Angel.Music.Baby) more than made up for the fantastic 90mins show her band put up. Just like her music videos, Gwen's fabulous Harajuku girls were as just as pumped up in jigging and breakdancing to most songs, not to mention they looked just as Gwen and her incredible abs.

Her short repertoire of songs included:
1) Sweet Escape
2) Rich Girl
3) Yummy
4) 4 in the morning
5) Luxurious
6) Early Winter
7) Wind it up
8) Danger Zone
9) Hollaback Girl
10) Wonderful Life
11) Now That You Got It
12) Twisted - Breakin' Up
13) Cool
14) Orange County
15) Real Thing (acoustic)
16) What You Waiting For

What took the audience by surprise happened between song #12 and #13, when Gwen suddenly burst off the stage, speeding past the entire Premiere crowd onto a temporary platform at the back, where she got closer to the arena crowd at the North. There, she continued to work up the crowd, screaming how cool Singapore is, thereafter encouraging the crowd to join in her next song, Cool.

As if the fans weren't in a frenzy yet, she burst off the temporary platform and zipped right into the masses in the North Terrace, a sight and scene most could only envy for the lucky few. Hopping from one mob to another, she next propped herself at the East Terrace, where more fans crowded around, wishing to get up close and personal. Apparently, Keesiu also mentioned how Gwen also sat on some lucky chaps while belting out her song.

By the time she got back to the main stage for her last song Orange County, she had already succeeded in getting everyone on their feet and at their peak, but it was time to introduce her 8 back-up dancers and 5-piece band before closing the show. Thankfully, she came back on to the delight of the crowd with 2 encore songs, The Real Thing and What You Waiting For.

If anything, Gwen's one artiste with no airs. She thanks the crowd for supporting her road to success, from a humble background in Anaheim to where she grew up, and for being known outside of America. And when leaving the stadium, she's actually one of the few artistes who bothered to make a detour to the screaming fans standing behind a barricade at the carpark to shake hands, sign autographs, before hopping on her getaway van for yet another Sweet Escape somewhere in another part of the world.

Hollerback Girl

After Christina and The Cure, guess who's coming next Tuesday!

I walked past this store in Raffles City today, wondering if there were other Danish stores (other than Lego) which tried to break into the Singapore market. Anyhow, it just reminded me of the times I was in Denmark, and how cheap utensils and kitchenware were in Ikea instead.

The Fourth of August

I had thought my 21st birthday party was incredible, or that my 24th last year was superb (with a good mix of friends, sangria, flaming lamborghinis, or tequilas that ultimately knocked me out), but this year's August 4th tops the charts.

Let's begin with Aug 3rd, where Karish so kindly treated me to dinner at Fish&Co, after which we adjourned to UCC with JK and Iris joining us to hear the amazing Corrinne May live in concert. This time, she played songs from her new album Beautiful Seed, along with some familiar tunes from her previous albums, much to the joy and delight of everyone. As with last year's Christmas concert at the Esplanade, I was keen to get her autograph and photo at the end of her performance. This time however, I wasn't fast enough, and saw myself lining up at the tail end of the queue at the foyer. Already expecting myself to spend a minimum of 2 hours queueing in line, I convinced myself I could only afford to do so with no commitments like a job gnawing behind my back. And so I did, to the astonishment of fellow UCC ushers wondering why Abel would subject himself to such "agony".

But it really is the patience and amiable Corrinne that makes her so personable, and if she could attend to each fan with no hurry of time, sign autographs and pose for pictures, so could the fans share or appreciate that same patience. When I finally reached the front of the queue, unembarrasingly enough, it had been 2.5 hours of queueing time - all for that moment.

Right after midnight, birthday sms-es from Val L, Anna, Sanchia and Yiping began streaming in.

The next morning, I woke up real early for training (where I received wishes from Shannon and QQ), took my graduation photo shoot with my family at the studio, and lunched at Beach Road. It was also a pleasant surprise to bump into Hetty in this ulu part of Beach Road, where she too surprised me in remembering my birthday. I later met Luyi in Orchard for coffee, and got my first present in hand, David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas". Thanks girl!

Then Ken H called to wish me, and asked if I still read.

Me: "Huh? What do you mean? Err...I still read the papers lor..."
K: "No bro, I mean, like, do you read?"
Me: "Ohh...err, not really, I think I stopped after university swamped me with notes and texts."

Providence you think? Maybe.

All day long, inbound sms-es continued from Annamalaii, Jacq Wong (all the way from Down Under!), KC, Liana, Iris, Sarah, Keesiu, Maggie, Xiuzheng, Ken L, and Vincent.

Here comes the exciting part.

My college council friends Sheena, Beat and Val had "booked" me a couple days ago for dinner, but failed to mention where. When I asked, all they said was that they'll come pick me up (in a cab as they usually do) at 7pm. And since I planned on clubbing after dinner, I wore a shirt and pants, waiting by the roadside outside my house. Val had earlier called to confirm that she just left her house in AMK and would be reaching mine in 5mins, before we head to pick Sheena up.

Barely fifteen minutes of waiting, I caught a glimpse of the three girls and Evarn stroll out from within my condo, dressed in semi-casual outfits (Evarn was wearing berms even) and announce that we would be heading to East Coast for the dinner! Feeling cheated about overdressing, I asked if I should change, but hearing some whispering behind my back, cheekily asked if I should just follow them to Evarn's car to get my bulky present so I can put it at home first.

They conceeded, and I tried to lead them to find Evarn's car, which he failed to remember where it was parked (granted since he wasn't familiar with MY condo anyway). We crossed the pool, and was about to walk past the BBQ pits, when I immediately spotted Clifton and CK happily BBQ-ing away!!! I turned around, saw the look on the girls' faces and was simply amazed at the whole conspiracy/surprise!

For one, I had not expected the least bit to be surprised, much less in my own condo premises! But Sheena and gang executed the best surprise ever. Credit must go to her for that. Moreover, when I included Clifton and Ford (who arrived after the initial surprise) in my sms list to club later, and they didn't respond, I only assumed they weren't interested. The only person who did was Tan Wee, who was in the US and therefore apologized for not being able to.

Yee Fang also called and wished me, but not before asking "How do you like your surprise?" And then she revealed that she wanted to call only after a certain time to make sure things went underway first...WHAT?! Apparently, Beat had also taken the trouble to ask some of my UCC friends and to spread the word, but it was too last minute to gather any response. No wonder I later got belated well-wishes from Chuhua and Hannah on Sunday. Hah. Well done!

My deepest thanks to the 22nd Councillors Sheena, Beat, Val T, Clifton, CK, Ford, Tze Yi (and Desmond), and Evarn for being part of the celebrations and my life! You guys rock la! The food, the cake, the presents, the company...for once it made me forget the woes of unemployment or bachelorhood. Hah.

Thereafter, the councillors adjourned for KTV, but I already made arangements with Val L, Karish, BQ and Dan to head down to this new club Velvet Dragon (ex Club Momo) which had free cover before midnight. Ranjan also replied my sms invite to club, declining on reasons of fatigue, asking "what the occasion was", before he called back some time later to apologize for having the cheek to ask me that question! Haha! Hilarious, but no offence taken bro, we'll do Chomp Chomp soon!

Barely 30 minutes later, and disgusted by poor DJ-mixing of one music with another abruptly, we hopped over to Butter Factory and opened a bottle amongst 4 of us. This was at the start of a full Chivas, and what happened thereafter was history.

To Karish, thanks for not helping me finish the 2 flaming lamborghinis (I remember seeing your straw hovering above the surface of the liquid but never drawing any alcohol); To BQ, thanks for your generous round of B52 shots and stealing the camera away from me; To Dan, for coming down after work; and finally Val L, for your apt cocktail guide and enjoying yourself high on Chivas too.

Thanks to Facebook/Friendster/other internet reminders, I also ought to thank friends who sent well-wishes, including: Sinae (Korea), Sebi (UK), Naweed (Denmark), Ee-Reh (Manchester), Wooi Min, Sophia T, Eileen, Carol, Sophia L, Tanya, Edda, and also Yen Teng, Daniel, Aunty Lucy (USA) and Uncle Tony (USA) for your personal emails!

To everyone who made this "quarter-of-a-century-old" boy feel blessed, and above all, God, THANKS!

I love Fridays

Guess who's coming to town for a one-night only gig tonight!