A Fleeting Sunset

Back from a short trip from Bali where we got conned left, right and centre. Am rather peeved with all the people there who try to scam tourists - taxi drivers, stall vendors, establishments, everybody!! Bali would have otherwise been a very nice place. Seems like every beach destination in Asia is set up for the sole purpose of cheating tourists of their money.

ALL the stories I could share with you...which I will eventually.

Here are some shots we took at the beach stretch just in front of Potato Head Beach Club at Seminyak.

Another Birthday Dinner

With the oogas this time around. Dinner was at OChre which serves Italian food and was recommended by Amelia.







The story behind this picture, was that I said my wish out loud when I blew out the candles on my fruit cake. Immediately, Sammie and Rox both exclaimed, "You're not supposed to say it out loud otherwise it won't come true!" I was thinking DRATS! when suddenly the waiter came from behind and presented me with a complimentary Tiramisu.

Surprise!

This meant I could make my wish proper.

But by the the way, my wish did not come true. And the object that shattered my wish into a million depressing shards came in the form of an email that was sent on my birthday itself. Woe is me.

On the bright side, I didn't check my email till two days after my birthday. So I was still happy for the most part.

Twittamentary

Just back from a screen of Twittamentary which was hosted at Hackerspace.sg and organised and Stef and a few other people! Stumbled upon it through Jeanette and was very glad I went for the screening!

You can't call yourself a new media/comms students until you've seen this show. Unfortunately, it's not going to be screened in theatres. I have no idea how to get a copy of it.

Twittamentary explores how lives meet and affect one another on the fast growing micro-blogging phenomena that is Twitter.

Twitter users have contributed stories on a single theme: How Twitter has affected your life and the lives of those around you. What’s your Twitter story? The documentary is directed by Singaporean filmmaker and Tweeter, Tan Siok Siok

It was a very intimate documentary that captured excerpts from Tweeters who shared why they Twit, how they Twit and the revolutions that came from simply Tweeting. Like how a women randomly tweeted that she lost her laptop and 39 of her followers chipped in to buy her a new MacBook.

What.

#truestory

This same women referred to Twitter as a "hipster commune" where everybody wants to help people out.

Which seems the case for another homeless tweeter who received free items in the mail through tweeting that she was homeless. Twitter empowered her and gave her comfort, but I dont really approve of her lifestyle. Why are you tweeting when you are homeless?? Twitter was encouraging her to live on handouts. And she mentioned something like all homeless people are sick - something to that extent. TRY AND GET A JOB? Oh, but if im not wrong, she got a place to stay from just tweeting. Twitter is really working some miracles here.

On the flipside I really like what some people are doing with Twitter. Taking it from a social media tool to provide instant news and elevating it to a platform to raise awareness. Twitter is also a great avenue for businesses to reach out to their customers and it's becoming a must-have tool for companies.

The documentary was set in the USA, even though the director is Singaporean, and I find that the tweeters there are extremely different from Singaporean tweeters. I can't put my finger on it but I just don't see Singaporeans chipping in to buy some stranger a laptop. I guess that would be an interesting area to explore.

If there's anything that attracts Singaporeans to jump on the bandwagon, I think it would be because Singaporeans want an outlet or avenue to complain or spoof our government.

Of course, a documentary like this will always beg the question - what about those people who have no access to, or don't use a Twitter then? (This is the type of legitimate question without a real answer that you ask to sound critical and smart.)

So what's your Twitter story?

I have none, but you can follow me at @chowow!

Blujazz & Roses

My girlfriends bought me cupcakes and roses. Two of the prettiest things a girl can ever ask for.





The quirky 10-piece band. I love the sound of a trumpet.

And this concluded a rather impromptu Monday night. We watched the live band with a couple of drinks and we could have sworn it was a Friday instead.

My friends never fail to make me feel like an extremely blessed person! Went home with a skip in my step and a huge smile on my face. It was one of those very rare moments where I felt extremely contented and at peace with the entire world.

Too cute!

Did you know how nice it is to watch a sweet message get written out stroke by stroke on Draw with Friends? IT IS COOL.

Cocotte

Birthday dinner with the dancers at Cocotte, Wanderlust Hotel. On weekends they have live music and this singer completed the ambiance. She had a very floaty voice and I was very happy when she sang Kina Grannis' In your Arms. She also sang a birthday song for me :D





The style of Cocoette is supposed to be 'communal' so you can order dishes in small, medium or large to share. We ordered their house speciality - the Poulet Roti ($60 - M), and added a slow cooked pork cheeks ($98 - M).

The two meats we ordered divided the table. I thought the pork was too oily because it was soaking in a pot rich, thick, cheesy gravy. The Poulet Roti which I preferred, was cooked to perfection. I normally eat the breast meat which tends to be rather dry, but this one was so juicy and soft. We also had sides of my favourite baby potatos and brussel sprouts.

When dessert time rolled around we were deciding between ordering the Dessert Platter ($30) or individual desserts. DBS is having a 1-for-1 promotion now so it was either 2 Dessert Platters or 2 different desserts. We asked the staff for recommendations but they were of utterly no help. Bah. In the end we decided to go with individual desserts and ordered crepes with grand marnier ($18) and a frangipani apple pie ($16).

The texture of their crepes was sooooo good (slightly chewy, but still light and fluffy). Even better than the ones that I had in Paris which was utter killjoy. It's like you go to the land of crepes thinking the crepes are going to blow your socks off, and when you bite into them....it tastes like the crepes you get in some random Singaporean stall.

My plan is to go back and try their lime pie.

Oh, we also saw another table order the Dessert Platter and after that I wished we had ordered it!

Ok I leave you with pictures of us.











Wanderlust hotel is tucked away at a rather inaccessible part near Little India, but it is worth the trip to this lovely little French restaurant.

Happy Birthday to Me

You know the birthday tradition of making a wish before you blow out your candles? It's always been something that I look forward to every year on my birthday.

There's something about making wishes that makes me happy and it's probably because Disney created this grandeur illusion about how "wishes do come true", and when they do, oh how happy you will be! Cue birds carrying flowers in their beaks to tuck behind your ear and the most sparkly and frilly ball gown that will appear...somehow.

For the most part since my 18th birthday or so, I'ld been wishing for the most frivolous things. I do it for fun, it's not as if I expected it to actually come true. It was a free wish anyway, so I spent it like how I didn't earned it.

Well this year, I realise a wish is something that you can do for yourself.

It shouldn't be something that you hope might evaporate out of thin air because in reality, the birds hate us and nobody wears those types of sparkly ball gowns any more.

A birthday wish is a like a new year resolution. Except that while most people break their resolutions, don't spoil your one and only birthday wish. Make your own wishes come true.

Happy 24th Birthday to me!