Hanging Out with Famous(?) People

Seriously, I think Singapore is too small and lacking in real celebrities. Whenever I mention that I work in MediaCorp, people's eyes light up and the line of question usually runs along the lines of, "do you see famous people all the time?"

Huh. I guess in Singapore, Fann Wong and Tay Ping Hui qualify as famous. But my definition of celebrity is someone who is recognised by more than 4 million people. Someone like David Beckham. Or Brad Pitt. You get my drift.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is, anyone who appears on local tv gets instant fame and locals REALLY do get excited by celeb-spotting.

I was hitching a ride back to the office with Ramesh, who is this really seasoned reporter, been in the business for 26 years or something.

So we were trying to flag a cab outside Shangri-La hotel, and this yellow CityCab stops for us.

We get in, Ramesh sits in front and says, "Uncle, MediaCorp".

The taxi driver immediately looks at him and says "I know you. I know where you work. See you on tv all the time".

Ok, never mind about that. Some recognition is bound to happen.

But as we cruise along, the cab driver pips up and says "You stay in Bishan right? Near me. See you all the time."

Eh, creeps-ville?

And the dude was visibly excited to have someone "famous" in his cab, and kept talking and talking.

It was quite amusing.

I wonder what it'd be like to share a cab with Fann Wong. Would the cab driver like just, hyperventilate?

Birthday Musings

Man, I'm turning another year older. Like I've been telling everyone, I'm gonna have a mental breakdown next year. You know, a quarter life crisis.

Youth is all I have!!! How can I be ageing so quickly?

Oh it just seemed like yesterday when I was traipsing around the world, one minute in Vietnam, the next in Taiwan. The only worries I had were whether my aching body would make it to volleyball practice, whether my managerial accounting homework made sense, whether I should go watch a movie with the girls or go to the library and study...

Ahhh, 21 was a good age. Yup yup.

So the birthday's this Sunday. Through some fortuitous good fortune, I'm off from Friday to Monday.

Lady luck is shining down on me, thank you thank you.

Ok, some wrangling was involved as well. Had to work 6 days straight, and work my butt off indeed. From parliament, to MOM, to Everest, to AWARE and Sex Ed, think I covered it all this week. I swear I was puking blood yesterday, stuck in the office trying to churn out story after story.

Like my colleague put it, when Joanne starts speaking in rapid mandarin and swears like a hokkien ah lian, she's stressed out.

That's the thing about MC; I'm a freaking one man show, expected to produce the same amount and quality of work as ST, which by the way, sent a phalanx of 4 reporters down for the same event. And I have to do it on the double, cos RADIO is all about speed. What midnight deadline? My deadline was the previous hour's bulletin. Gaah. It's enough to give me hives.

So anywayz, the schedule looks quite packed, which suits me just fine.

Tonight will be celebrating my bday in advance with the family, cos the big sister is running off to Abu Dhabi tomorrow. Ah yes, my globe trotting family. Bless their souls.

Meeting the colleagues for drinks tonight. Hope my liver is up for it.

Meeting Shawn and Sylvia tomorrow for some wholesome good fun.

And Sunday is reserved for Fadz to dazzle and entertain me on the very day I came into being. Yes, I still attach a lot of significance to my birthday. I can't help it. It's THE DAY I entered this world. If that's not cause for celebration, I don't know what it. Hahahahahaha.

Monday... hmmmm, told Jack I was toying with the idea of going to the beach. Dunno if she's still up for it...

Alrightie, off to while away my time in pleasurable, leisurely manner.

You know you love me. XOXO. HAHAHAHAHHA.

PS: I can't believe Kris Allen won AI!!!!! Adam Lambert was totally robbed of his glory! His rendition of Mad World gave me the chills and goosebumps. Ok fine... Kris' Heartless last week made me grin like an idiot too. But seriously middle America, stop being so conservative and pretending that gays don't exist. Being prudish is so not cool.

For your hearing pleasures :)

Exhuastive work environment

Crawled home at 1AM, after running my head off in parliament.

Oh god, how I sometimes hate my job.

You know what else I hate? The unpredictable working hours. In less than 9 hours time, I'd be back to work, onto the next event. And it's supposed to be my off day! I so loooovveee my boss. Sheesh.

Gaahhh, it's enough to give me premature wrinkles.

You know what else is giving me wrinkles? All the drama mamas in the office. My conclusion? Women are very, very scary creatures who snap and bitch about each other in a heartbeat. I'm just trying to avoid getting burnt.

Nuff said. Previous experience has taught me that saying anything more here has the weird effect of coming back to bite me.

Oh yeah, and I'm suffering from a slight case of ageism. Against myself. I'd be the ripe old age of 24 in 5 days' time!!! That's like 1 more year only to 25, and then I'd have myself a proper quarterlife crisis!

Maybe I'd shave my head bald and run off to be a nun. Maybe. More likely, I'd drink my weight in vodka and puke. Maybe. Naahhh, I'd just have a nervous breakdown.

Yup, that sounds about right.

I'm dreaming of another holiday.

I know, I know, I can hear screams of "didn't you just go to Hong Kong and New York??"

Well, yes, I did, but that doesn't mean I can't plot and dream about my next trip, right?

Ah, if only life was one non-stop vacation rollercoaster, and working was the in-between bits to fill time, rather than vice versa.

Thinking of touring Xinjiang next. To do the China Silk Road bit. Sounds cool right?

Route: Xian, Turpan, Urumqi, Kuche, Kashgar, and back.

I shared my plans with Fadz via email. He emailed back:

"HAHA! Sounds so alien. You might as well have said Tatooine, Vulcan, Klingon."

-_-''''''''

Haven't been doing much since I came back. Aside from researching about Xinjiang. Do you know airfare to Xian is $700? and a 1 day train from Xian to Turpan is USD103, and from Turpan to Kashgar is USD63?

Tried destroying my liver last week. Guess that counts as a memory.

Drink(s) at No. 5 on Thursday, clubbing at Butter Factory on Friday, beer and live music at Wala on Saturday.

Met Fadz on Sunday, and I was literally clutching my scarred liver.

Think I'm getting too old. Maybe not. Butter is smoking hot! Saw Benedict Goh, and lots of (married) bankers looking to get pissed drunk/laid.

Saw many SMU peeps too. Guess it really is the hottest hotspot of the mo.

Ok, back to American Idol. I'm just blogging cos I'm bored and waiting for the results.

Haha!!

Photos of New York up on Facebook. If you're not on my Facebook (unlikely) and waiting for the pics here.. ermmm...