A Muse(d)

Ok, I haven't gotten over yesterday, although I feel better. But I sure need a distraction of sorts. Hahhhh... that's when I started to blog surf and came across a perfect distraction. Muse Two by YSL. Gotta have it! Very sinful I know... well I'll sleep over it and we'll see. My latest muse:

Arrgggghhh!

Tossed and turned in bed - it's not me to have problems falling asleep. But tonight, I just had to get up and try sorting out the sh*# that I had to endure in the office today! What a start to the weekend! Was it my wrong judgment? Was it neglect? Was it MY FAULT!!!??? Arrrgggghhhhh! Hate it when the boss gets upset with me. Hate it even more when I wasn't the cause of the problem! Hate it some more when I have this knack of starting to blame myself the more I dwell on the problem. It's a long story but let's just say a vendor's mistake and inefficiency led to my misery!

NO! IT'S NOT MY FAULT! and YES! I MADE A JUDGMENT CALL AND WILL STICK BY IT!

Ok, (pant pant) I feel better now. Hopefully I will be able to get some sleep now.

Lights, Camera, Action!

It's been a long time since I've supervised a photo shoot. My last was at least 2 years ago. And so, covering for R in KL was a great opportunity to work with Peter again and also to reminise the days when I had to scurry around like mad looking for props, engineering staff and doing crowd control - single-handedly!

This shoot was a breeze. Jacq from Marketing did a fab job getting the props (Wedgewood chinaware and Waterford crystal wine glasses, no less) and the staff were literally on stand-by, by our side, throughout the shoot, at every location! It was such a relaxing shoot.

Peter is one of the best photographers in the industry. His angles are seamless and he always manages to catch them at the first attempt. Check out these nice angles, considering that my amateur digi-cam is definitely nowhere near Pete's lenses.

Jacq went out of her way and got her husband Ad to pick us up almost every evening for dinner. Imbi dinners aka Zhi Char. Yummy yummy yummy! I was so engrossed with the food each time I obviously forgot all about my camera. One evening, we were brought for "Ratatouille". I was hoping it was not French food, or perhaps some exotic Rat dishes!? Ad stopped at a dark alley and parked right in front of a big old tree. We all got out apprehensively. All I saw was an old man smoking and reading the evening's gossip papers next to a crooked cupboard and flanked by 2 woks. I looked further and saw a scatter of some 5 tables and random stools. Hmm... this is going to be interesting! And that was also the exact moment I put the pieces together and realised "Ratatouille", as the place is affectionately named by Jacq and Ad, referred to the inhabitants of this dark alley - RATS! Ok ... I had to remain calm. After all, we did ask for "street food".

Tea was served together with cutlery and side plates. A "tea ceremony" followed. Jacq and Ad nonchalantly started pouring tea over the chopsticks, plates and tea cups. And then the famed Hokkien mee (udon like, unlike those yellow ones in Singapore) arrived. Y-U-M-M-Y! We cleaned out the plates of mee and the bowl of soup! BURP!

My Ratatouille moment arrived in the nick of time - just as I was wiping the slurpy remains of Hokkien mee from the corners of my mouth. Yikes! I saw one (or two, or three!?) rat dashing across the next table! Thank goodness we were already saying goodbye to the old man (still smoking) by his crooked cupboard. I began to wonder what lurked within those rickety cupboard shelves...

My greatest regret - forgetting to take pictures this adventure :-( But I'm sure to be back. Till then...

Happy 2008!

New Year's Eve was spent at the heart of the Marina Bay countdown (literally!). We were on the verandah of Al Dente at Esplanade. As the throngs of revellers crowded below us, we happily drank, ate and anticipated the fireworks.

As Gideon pushes on to K2, I hope that 2008 will be a fun-filled year for him. His hat may be too big for him now but as time breezes us by, I'm pretty sure it'll not be long before I post a picture of him in his army cap. As for me, I hope 2008 continues to be a healthy, happy one for all.



From all of us

May your 2008 be a blast!

X'mas Wraps

Ed finally put up the pix on Facebook and so I can finally post this. After days of bugging, he decided he will not be photographer for a while or he'll be irritated to death by me "reminding" him to send the pix. Christmas dinner at their new place was nice as compared to the near-rowdy Christmas eve party at Chris and Angie's. As the kids brought the house down (as usual), the BIG kids used Owen's Christmas present, a biting crocodile, for their drinking game. You take your chance to press any of the croc's tooth and if it snaps / bites, you drink up! Geez... to think that a 3 year-old's toy could keep the adults this high! And Owen never got to take the present back with him. The drinking carried on way after he left!