trust me

Last made What Did I Do Today (Proper) entries on July 19th. It is now August the 4th. *amusement* Let me begin again where I ended.

July 19th – Attended majokai’s birthday party. Found them after much wandering about HDB void decks in shadow. Also found them in playground. Birthday Ratalien was on the swings. ; ) D/E-ers would be very happy with the introduction she gave me. There was sparkling apple and grape juice – which in the semi-dark, looked an awful lot like champagne. Tidying up was faster than I expected. Had extended conversation that featured anime, Pokemon, slash, Finding Nemo (my fault, as everyone who will read this knows), and Final Fantasy. Did not know that fics were written as a form of payment. That is interesting. Must investigate further. Now if I could get Rataliens to pay me for not writing fic… *devious smile*

Also I would like to speculate that the birthday party preparations involved buying all the satay sticks/bamboo skewers within several blocks’ (and an MRT’s) radius. Went to two major supermarket chains at could not find any bamboo skewers. And then I went to the barbecue and found where they’d all gone. *amusement*

Sunday, 20th July 2003

(I would like to add here the Insufferably Random Remark of Day: Why is it that Sunday, 20th July 2003 sounds better than 20th July 2003, Sunday? [Waiiiit. That’s not a remark. That’s a question.])

Went out with family for lunch at the Marriott. Sibling and I were very amused by the price of chicken sandwiches. Or should I say horrified. I remember them as being $5, but it must be post-traumatic stress. The actual price of the sandwiches must have been $10 and/or (most probably and) above. Had the smoked chicken pasta and was ashamed of my own cooking. Then again, the Marriott is a hotel and I am not, so I must not feel too bad about it.

(This is beginning to sound very Bridget-Jones-ish. I would also like to take the opportunity to say that I read the VSDs before I read Bridget Jones’ diary. So the amusement occurred the other way around. I’d be reading Helen Fielding’s work and going, “This is so VSD!” whereas if I’d kept up with reading, it would have been very much the other way around.)

Was breaking in new pair of boots. Went off to Kinokuniya (which is a very long trek from the Marriott if it’s done in new boots, after lunch, in the heat) and headed for the Jedi Apprentice section. Was easily five years older than the oldest child in that section. Compulsively arranged the JA books until they were in order. Also did this to Tolkien’s books in bookstores. And to Robin Hobb’s books. I want what I like to look nice, darn it. And I’m saving the staff effort. ; )

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Bookshops and Other Obsessions

I can never spend enough time in a bookshop. I go in thinking twenty minutes will be enough (this is the Centrepoint Times) and it never is.

Also, the Centrepoint Times has no Jedi Apprentice books.

The Orchard Library also lacks a children’s section.

You know how I know.

Bought X/1999’s (Seriously outdated now) sixth book. Kamui and Fuma. *eyes them both* Fuma, spit it out already.

This next cut for spoilers and slash, but this being X/1999, and this being CLAMP – rather synonymous. ; )

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ARGH Kotori. ARGH. >< Blonde and bubbly and… Fluffy.

Also to anyasy, I am still happily with my X/1999 pairing, but you’re the only one who’ll convince me to take a look at the other two. Also, I still like Hioshi.

Saturday, 26th July 2003

Had predeparture session for UK Students. 30% of the talks were actually useful, but they freaked me out 200%, thanks to the You Must Do Well Or You Will Never Be Able to Work Back Home speech. Was with risax. My freaking-out fit also painfully obvious. Am not cured of compulsive note-taking either.

Went to dreamcatcher’s place for a Writers’ Circle barbecue! *hugs dreamcatcher* It was utterly amazing. She made potato salad with green apples, hard-boiled eggs, and mayo. It was delicious. ; ) Our dearest Auntie Al baked a cheesecake for the first time (made me ashamed of own lack of baking talent). He used 1 3/4 pint cream cheese, and 1 pint of sour cream. (I had no idea sour cream went into cheesecakes. Score 1 Ignorance! Go me!) His cheesecake also had strawberries and a digestive biscuit crust, and looked wonderful for a first cheesecake. (My fifth would look half as good at his first.) And dreamcatcher bought whipped cream! *amusement* Which went wonderfully with the cheesecake.

aingeal_isilme, davidbard and the Professor were there too. Much amusement for the Rataliens resulted when dreamcatcher remarked, when asked why a chair wasn’t taken, that "The foil is sitting on the chair." *elbows Ratal’s beloved werewolf and giggles helplessly*

And in true hobbit fashion, we were treated to fireworks! It was a National Day Parade rehearsal, and dreamcatcher’s place is near enough to the stadium for us to catch a fabulous view of the displays. Cheesecake, whipped cream, and fireworks. ; ) It’s hard to get much better than that.

But we did it ^_^ Had maniacal photo-taking session, then wrote trash. *smiles evilly* Trash is a Writers’ Circle tradition, passed on to us by our esteemed seniors. It is done with a fellowship of writers, who sit in a circle and pass a sheet of lined paper around said circle. The first writer begins with a line and a half, and folds his or her sheet backwards, such that the first line is concealed. The next writer then takes up from the half-sentence. Each writer leaves half a sentence, unfinished, for the next writer in the literary daisy chain. (Suddenly this reminds me of The Blue Room. All this talk of daisy chains.)

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Oh, and also - *hugs ranchelle*

Just because.

Tuesday, 29th July 2003

Met risax for lunch. ; ) Went to Delifrance. Iced lemon tea there is 40% ice. But I love their fruit tarts. ^_^ Then went to Kinokuniya, Borders, and Kinokuniya again. *happiness*

And the Finding Nemo Junior Novelization is back out in bookstores! Fishing Stocks were depleted two weeks ago, but they’re back!

Which begs the question (for people like me) – if there’s a junior novelisation, how about the Adult Novelisation of Finding Nemo?

Wednesday, July 30th 2003

Met up with Sparrow for dinner. Am very grateful to her for enabling me to meet a senior at the university where I will hopefully be soon. Had dinner at Tampines Mall. Saw a shop which did T-Shirt transfers. Saw an Attack of the Clones transfer which was Yoda-centric. Happiness attack resulted. ; )

Thursday, July 31st 2003

Met up with Sparrow for lunch, this time also with two more seniors. Much thanks again! *beams* After lunch, we headed off to Jasons’, but not before stopping by Out of the Pan for passionfruit sorbet (my fault), which Sparrow says wakes you up better than coffee. Is tangy. ; ) Also went to the Body Shop and spent a lot of time looking. I like the | Mango | and | Brazil Nut | moisturizers. (Which they call Body Butters.) Sparrow likes the Mango and | Grape Seed | ones. Naturally it being the Body Shop, they are wince-inducingly expensive.

Joined JN, Xiu and D for KTV at Cuppage Plaza. That place has the best KTV lounges I’ve seen so far. Then we went clothes shopping. U2 has a 20% discount at its Orchard Emerald/OG branch. Bought yet another article of black clothing to add to my collection. (I just like black.)

Then met up with my family for an extended-family dinner. Sibling and I wanted to go to "see fish". This is in reference to the fish tanks with live fish which are in full view of the restaurant’s patrons. We asked Second Youngest Cousin along. (She’s seven next month, as she will tell you.) Youngest Cousin, who is five, followed enthusiastically. He reminds me of a young Star Wars: The Phantom Menace-era Anakin Skywalker. (Shh. I know I’m strange.) The fish tanks are two-tiered, so Sibling and I had to pick up a cousin each so that they could see into the top tanks.

Youngst Cousin proclaimed that the smallest luohan (Flower Horn) fish in the tank looked like Nemo. (Had been thinking the same thing. Go us!) And young children (when clean) smell nice. Like babies (when they are clean). Youngest Cousin, freshly-bathed, smelled like soap powder. Somehow, that was nice. ^_^

Also, Sibling and I were singing Evanescence songs at the dinner table. Started off with “My Last Breath”. And then we began assigning them to relevant characters and scenes in Carol Berg’s Rai-Kirah trilogy. Evanescence, to me, says/sings all the Pretty Angsty Things, and so very beautifully, too.

Thus: “My Last Breath” lyrics:

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Somehow very appropriate to two of Ewan McGregor’s more high-profile screen roles in the Phantom Menace and Moulin Rouge.

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