Yes, I Watch Singapore Idol

I remember when the first season of Singapore Idol came out, I followed it religiously, watching every episode with feverish delight and cheering for my favorite. When it came to the finals between Taufik and Sylvester, I rallied behind Taufik because I was mesmerized by those long lashes, amazing smile and voice. Besides, Sly was gay and beng. I voted, forced Fadz to vote, and wrote my declaration of love and devotion on a white board in school.

Ah the folly of youth, how I miss that. I even bought Taufik's first album. See, such a loyal fan right?

So when the second season rolled around, I was of course, older and much cooler. Miss an episode here and there? No sweat. Anyway, some of the contestants really, really sucked. Thank God there's no 3rd season. I don't think my ears can take more horror before reaching the acceptable finals.

Hady vs Jonathan. It was always too reminiscent of the first finals. The difference? Erm, hello, more even competition? Jonathan looks a gazillion times better than Sly, and sounds lovelier too.

Just look at that. Jon looks like a slightly less appealing version of Taneshi Kenishiro! Since Taneshi is like the ultimate God, even 80% of that means you're damn good! And for a Singaporean! All the more must give him props!

But fine, it's a singing competition. People aren't shallow, right? And Hady did rock the house, so good luck to him, fighting for the same territory as Taufik. And I do like his singing. But Jon? Limitless appeal, man.

Yes, Hady can sing damn well and he made a pukable song radio-friendly.

But this cuteness is hard to resist.

LOL, maybe I'm not out of the adolescence woods yet.

Why Are Men So Annoyingly Stubborn?

Seriously, what's up with Singaporean men and their stubborness? They would rather appear petty, donkey-headed and downright annoying than to admit that they are wrong. That, or they can't take an apology in a gracious manner. Instead, they must nag and nag and nag in a self-justified manner. Save it. It just makes you small and even more insignificant.

3 petty men in the same week. I can't take it.

First was a mistake on my part. I mixed up my dates and send out an email with the wrong information. This guy, let's call him Alwin, found me on msn and started lecturing and lecturing and lecturing. Seriously. I was sincerely shocked at my mistake and sent out an apology, but it still wasn't enough. He was happy to lord it over me and nag, nag, nag. I wanted to punch him real hard.

Next... the Singapore Uni Games have just ended. I'm the volleyball club treasurer and had to keep track of all the referee payments. Now, we had negotiated with the referees to give us some lead time as the school did not have a policy of paying the referees on the spot. So I asked the office of finance when the payments can come in. They said at least 2 weeks. And my stupid volleyball president repeated the same thing (exactly 2 weeks!) without giving any lead time. So anway, long story short, I had to chase for all the payment slips because different people collected the slips on different days. And so, 1 week had passed. Today, I get an obnoxious call from the volleyball association guy demanding payment. Oy stupid, 2 weeks can! Then I ask for some more lead time, even going so far as to apologize for any inconvenience caused. Then he had to get on a high horse and say that this gives SMU a bad impression, people in the future don't want to work with us... blah blah blah. My fault ah? I apologized again and said a whole bunch of insincere stuff, and he still wasn't appeased. He felt the need to launch into a tirade on how things should be done "properly".

Eh, Ah pek, I owe you $240, not $240,000. And the lead time was not even up yet. Stupid, stupid cow. I curse him forever cannot strike 4D. Either that, or he bet $10,000 and only get back $240. Hahahahha!

And now, I'm sitting in a financial class, fuming over how stubborn and pigheaded my professor can be. Tell me, how would you round up the following to 2 decimal place:

3.44451

12 years of school would tell you the answer is 3.44 right? Even Microsoft Excel says so. But nooooo, my prof says that the right answer is 3.45. He says that he's from a different generation and was taught something different. You must first round to

3.445

Then round again to

3.45

WAH, very smart hor?

The whole class violently objected and we argued and argued. Students from China also agreed with our format. He tried it in Excel and the answer was the same. But NOOOOO, tutors are always right. So he put his foot down, and said that his format was right. In his class, that was law.

When did we become a Nazi/communist state? Free thought is evil, disagreement is bad? Hey Papa Smurf, you really need to talk till you're blue to convince this group of students.

Men.

New Blog Skin!!!

Yay, I'm so happy. This is officially the first skin that I've ever made. Previous attempts were limited to finding a picture, using someone else's script, and making minor tweaks. But this is all mine, mine, mine!

Erm, is it too pink? Even Kristin commented that it was a bit too bright. But oh well, I love it! This represents my new quest to become a super demure and kawaii girl, ok! I can do it!

Er yes, I do plan to change my opening sentence. Doesn't quite fit the image, does it? But brain drain, brain drain. Besides, Rome wasn't built in a day. Demure Joanne cannot be moulded in one night. LOL.

Culture Shock

Am I really very scary? Before you answer that, please consider... Is my loud-talking, ass-kicking, rapid speech, boistrous laughing really that intimidating to men? Haha, oh well.

My Investment Banking project group decided to adopt an exchange student. He's Japanese, but alas, does not look like any Japanese God-like celebrity. As least he dresses well.

We were for lunch together at Sakae Sushi. I know, I know... bringing a Japanese to our lame, fastfood-like Japanese food chain. Must have been a slap to his taste buds. AND he didn't recognize most of the sushi that Sakae attempts to pass off for Japanese food.

But what I found most amusing was just how SHY he was around us. You know what happens when Sylvia, Kristin and I get together. We talk loudly, eat tons of food and basically act the complete opposite of demure Japanese girls. That might explain why poor Aki burst into nervous laughter constantly and didn't meet our eyes when we spoke. Now, we're so used to looking at people in their eyes when conversing that I think at one point Kristin was basically frantically searching his eyes to make a connection, and poor Aki was dodging and fidgeting madly.

Sigh, the poor boy has never been outside of Japan. I can just imagine him leaving with the impression that Singaporean women talk too much, outeat the guys and are too direct.

Man! And I usually do demure so well! *coy laugh*

Killing Me Softly

Sorry Singapore gah-men, but I've yet to feel the wondrous effect of having the IMF meetings held here. In fact, we, the lesser mortals, are being squeezed to death. Literally.

Heightened security, closing of roads, worsening traffic... You gotta love how blindingly optimistic the government can be... going so far as to print optimistic propaganda. Sorry lor, not working. NO, the roads are not moving smoothly. NO, the frequency of public transportation has not increased. NO, life is not similar to before. It is much, much worse.

Because the roads are closed, because the roads are impossible to travel on during peak hour, more people are turning to public transport. What happens? The human squeeze is tripled! I end up smelling people's gross, sweaty armpits! I'm pushed incessantly against the door, against other passengers! And I get to school late!

The government then goes on to claim that it has increased the frequency of trains and buses. Not happening. I think it's getting worse!!! Trains which used to be 2-3 minutes apart are now 5 minutes. I know in normal times it wouldn't matter (2 minutes only what), but during peak hour, when logic is thrown out of the window and people just squeeze and squeeze to save that extra 2 minutes.. it makes a hell of a difference.

And people are getting angry! Very, very angry! I witnessed a fight today on the train because of the lack of private space. This old man was reading his Today newspaper even though it was super crowded. This young man then screamed and ranted at the old man, causing the entire cabin to cease talking to listen in on their conversation. You gotta love the community spirit of Singaporeans. When there's a fight, we circle overhead and pry. Scream, scream, scream, the young man threatens the older man and even told him to "take it outside".

So dear Singapore government, in case you're monitoring the Internet and google the word "Singapore Government" and come across my humble blog, please please please do something to ease the woes of innocent citizens like me. Yes yes, IMF will bring about more jobs, greater spending, prestige, blah, blah, blah. But excuse me for being short-sighted and not thinking on a national level. That's your job, honey. All I can think about is getting to school in one peace and not being squished like the insignificant bug I am.

On the plus side, I might hazard a trip to Suntec for some shopping. Nothing like tightened security to chase away the crowd and bring out the bargains!

I Have A Dirty Mind!!!!

Yes, yess, to all those people nodding sagely, bugger off. I just didn't realize that my mind worked in such a warped manner until today. Anyway, I was with the volleyball people and we went for lunch together at Plaza Sing. So long story short, David and I were chatting and I think we were talking about school or something... Whatever the case, look at what happened:

David: ".... I need to buy CB".

Me: momentarily stunned. brain thinking, "CB? Chee Bye? He needs to buy chee bye? How sad can this boy get??"

Me: "erm, you need to buy what?"

David: "CB, Consumer Behaviour textbook."

That's when the curtains parted and it all made sense. I feel terribly, terribly ashamed. Why like that? Why, why, why? It's not like I actively think about such things... it just happens! In fact, I think I probably know less Hokkien swear words than a lot of people!

Need to wash brain/mouth/ears.

A Great Girls' Night Out

Damn, but I'd almost forgotten how good it can be to let my hair down and par-teeh.

I did have my reservations going to a freshmen bash, but hey, it turned out pretty fun. Besides, nothing lots of alcohol wouldn't solve. After all these years, yesterday night was the closest I ever came to passing out/puking. But I didn't. Hallelujah, the clean record lives on!

Anyway, our game plan was to duck into MoS early so that we can get on the 1-for-1 bandwagon. Armed with a jug of house pour each, Krisin and I watched the ending of the SMU pageant (lame), boogied a little and whiled away the time.

I think I'm getting old, though. At the end of the last sip, I could feel myself already getting a little tipsy. In fact, as I stood up, I knocked over Kristin's jug, much to the amusement of the old guy next to me who tried to engage me in conversation. Sorry old timer, no interest in older guys unless you look like George Clooney or Richard Gere. Hiak hiak.

In the later part of the evening we hooked up with Kristin's BE friends. It's amazing how prim and proper everyone looks in school, but can turn out to be such party animals once the sun goes down. Unfortunately, the lengthy guessing games that we played meant that I drank the equivalent of another jug of house pour. And some beer. Talk about feeling bloated. I almost gagged on all that liquid.

Thank goodness we met up with the other group. Stupid MoS was teeming with people and when it was just Kristin and I, we were squashed against the side of the cages on the dance floor. The guys of the group were so sweet, especially LN. Whenever a gross, badly dressed, dancing lunatic threatened to push any of the girls, LN would heroically slip in between and act as a barrier. So nice hor?

Speaking of dancing lunatics (of which, there were plenty around), don't these men get embarrassed? I mean seriously, your gangly limbs are falling all over the place, you aren't keeping with the beat... how do they get out of bed even? And another phenomenon I've noticed: guys enjoy dancing with each other. I mean, I spotted so many groups of guys dancing in a circle, doing the chest jiggle against another dude. Can I go like, eww? So many girls around, you're obviously heterosexual and you don't think of asking someone to dance with you? Men. Sheesh.

I was definitely feeling the effect of the alcohol later in the evening. Could feel the earth spinning gently around me. Vaguely remember sitting in the toilet and watched a hilariously high Miss Hsu Xiao Hui shout and giggle in a bid to boost the flagging spirits of a pageant contestant who did not get the crown. Let's just say in our lack of sobriety, there were plenty of kisses, hugs and stripping.

The best thing about a school party? The people you know and the love that flows. Even walking from the dance floor to the toilet, I can be accosted by acquaintances who press drinks into my hands and mouth. Long live champagne and drunk boys!

But I'm totally suffering from all that partying. Work up groggy and lethargic. When I met Fadz in the afternoon, my head was stuffy and I couldn't hear what he was saying. My poor baby... For someone who doesn't club, I can't even imagine what must be going through his head. "What happened to my girlfriend? Who is this pale-faced idiot dragging her feet?"

Oh well, hope I don't wait another 6 months before clubbing again. I tend to be excessive. Haha!