Jam Jam, Human Jam
There was a fireworks festival at the Esplanade yesterday. All through the area was a sea of people along the Marina Square shopping center all the way to the Esplanade by the bay.
Normally I would enjoy watching fireworks. But instead of staying for the fireworks display, me and my brother rushed and snaked through the throngs of people. We knew that there was going to be a huge jam once the display was over.
There we were, squeezing though people and rushing to find the carpark while the sky lighted up with red, green, blue and yellow flames. People screaming in delight and children jumping up and down and everyone pointing to the sky.
At last we found the carpark and in the maze of cars we finally found the scooter. we hopped on and went off.
Unfortunately for us, just when we left the carpark and on the road, that was when the fireworks display ended.
Suddenly the road was streamed full of pedestrians jaywalking and cutting across. Traffic was at a standstill. I was thoroughly annoyed
And there I was thinking, “Why on earth am I here in the city area on a saturday?”
Then I remembered, “Its because I needed to go to the library@Esplanade to borrow some literature videos. Other branches did not have them and I’m only free during the weekends”
Oh bother.
The day of empowerment
Just yesterday, I was helping Vai with a powerpoint presentation that he needed help in. Vai was a classmate from Jurong Institute.
Me : What? So simple like this also you dont know?
Vai : $*&$*(&@$!
Me : Be nice. You’re at my mercy now. I can dont help you if I want to!
Vai : Ok ok … I’ll buy you pizza.
Me : Hey, I wanna tell you something shocking after this.
Vai : What? What is it? Tell me now. Please? Now I’m so curious. Is it about you? Tell me lah, wait, you’ll forget.
Me : Nope, you’ll have to wait.
During the powerpoint, Vai started to drum on the table. It was impressively fast!
[audio:vaidrumming.mp3]Me : Hey you got to teach me how to do that
vai : It takes practise, you got to tap your fingers one by one slowly and then progress from there.
Me : How come you dont practise the tabla?
Vai : Those takes years to master and it uses all 5 fingers including the pinky. I just want to drum tables.
At length we were done with the powerpoint presentation.
Me : (jokingly) Now we’re done! Now get out! Get out of my house!
Vai : What? You toot you!
Me : So now I can tell you the surprise! (Hands him a helmet) I’m taking you home
Vai : Oh. My. Goodness! You have a bike? I’m so jealous. I’ve been trying for ages to get a motorcycle license.
We walked to the carpark and I showed him the scooter. After I started the scooter, he jumped in and the scooter was so unstable! I think I underestimated his weight and started to wobble and was not able to balance. I wasnt used to it that we nearly dropped the scooter at the junction.
But after that it was smooth sailing, I adjusted the way I was riding and Vai stopped fidgeting and rested comfortably at the back.
And luckily for me, We arrived in one piece. Vai thanked me profusely and we said our goodbyes.
Oh how I felt so empowered! A girl taking a guy home? On a motorcycle? Maybe its getting more common but at that point of time, I felt like wonderwoman 🙂
Scootering : The week after
Its been a week since I’ve got my ride and life is good. I’m slowly getting used to the roads and slowly getting a little more confident in parking at public places.
First few days wasnt like that though. I kept turning to the wrong junction and then rode round and around the area wondering where the heck I was. Actually I still get lost till now, but the good thing about Singaporean roads is that there are prominent signs everywhere around the major roads that you will eventually get your bearings again.
When I arrived at my workplace with my scooter, the look of the guard, Mr Singh, was priceless! His mouth was literally agape.
Mr Singh : Marina! You’re riding?!?!
Me : Yes!
Mr Singh : When you were telling me that you were getting a bike, I thought you were joking!
Me : Heh heh heh
There were many people who were surprised that I could ride – Teachers and students alike. Even my classmates at night class were in disbelief.
Classmate : Goodnight Marina
Me : Goodnight! (walks to scooter)
Classmate : Huh? Where are you going? Arent you going to take the bus?
Me : Nope, I’m taking the scooter
Classmate : You’re joking right!
Me : No lah. I really am taking the scooter.
Classmate : But .. But … You’re wearing a skirt!
I think there’s nothing wrong with wearing a skirt while riding. The scooter is designed in a way that there is a free area to rest your legs in front, unlike regular bikes that require you to sit with legs apart. Thats what makes a Vespa popular choice with women.
At the same time, being females on bikes, bring along unwanted attention.
I was riding along night class and there were a two men on a bike teasing about the way I ride, “Way go go sis! Go on behind the car!”, they shouted while they continued to snake along in the traffic.
Yesterday, while I was on my way home from the highway and stopping at the red light, I saw a man in a lorry, first looking in surprise and then he waved and smiled at me!
Even after parking my scooter at the commercial center, IMM, I heard cheering and whistling from the construction workers. And I looked around to see what they were cheering at. I finally found out that they were cheering for me.
So wierd.
But I’m really loving my new baby 🙂 She’s just magnificent and wonderful and stylish and smooth. Really wonderful 🙂
*smooch!*
The only negative thing about it for the moment is that I think that the fumes from the exhaust pipes are bringing my immune level down. I’ve started to sniffle, have sore throat and random migranes. Maybe its the flu season upon us again.
Not so pleasant.
Lovely day out at the tea party
Fact:
The first time when you ride on the road, it tends to get overwhelming. Especially when you are on your own and not familliar with the road. But in time, you’ll enjoy it and feel freedom and a sense of accomplishment.
I was talking to Red online and told him the news about the scooter. Coincidentally, he owns a Vespa himself and gave me some practical advice while being on the road.
I was still under euphoria. On a whim, I said, “Lets go out on our scooters!” Surprisingly, he agreed.
I brought my brother along with me and we met up at the Taman Jurong bowling alley before riding off together.
“Hey! What do you think?”
“Ah! I’m envious”
“Aww … I’ve always wanted this one”
“I think I’ll get one in time”
“You ready to go?”
“Yes, but please go slowly, I’m not familiar with the roads yet”
Red led the way and we rode along Boon Lay way to Holland Drive and I took in the lovely and tranquil sights along the way. There was this particular area that I’m not sure of the name of the road that we passed though but it was lovely.
It was suburbia – bungalows of different types shaded with many flowering trees of many different colours. I think it was beautiful.
We reached Sixth Avenue and headed for this place called “The Tea Party”. Friendly waiters greeted us and then we looked at the menu. My gosh, there was such a wide array of teas there, it was mind boggling. We must have taken at least 15 minutes just to read and flip through the intensive menu.
I’ve never seen so many different types of teas being served. There were more varieties of tea here than even the Chinese Tea House that I visited 2 years ago.
At length, I just picked at random, a flowery rooibos tea, my brother, spicy tea and Red had this tea with an unpronounceable name.
But when the tea arrived, we were all enthralled and breathed in the beautiful flowery tea smell.
Ahhh!
Soon after, a couple arrived and came up to us. Immediately, I knew that they were Fadhli and his girlfriend Yati.
Actually this was the first time that I’d be met Fadhli in real person. All these while, I’ve been talking to him online. I first got to know him though deviantart and thought of him as a very talented artist. He did works like these, which are most impressive.
It was a comfortable meet, they were very friendly and I was a little surprised even, to see that there was no awkwardness among any of us.
We had a lively chat over tea, got baffled at the Shah Alam supernatural display, laughed over Richard Gere jokes and cracked our heads over this completely weird game called “Fact or Crap”
Me (reading a random card) : A rattlesnake can commit suicide by biting itself
Red : What kind of stupid question is this? Crap!
Fadhli : I think it’s possible. Fact
Yati : Hmm .. I’ll just tikam-tikam (choose randomly)
Bro : And I’ll go with the majority vote
Me : The answer is ‘crap’. Rattlesnakes are immune to their own venom. Please put a token in the pile.
Everyone : What the heck! Richard Gere must have used his visa card to change the answer again!
It was an evening of enjoyable fun and laughs. Too bad the evening passed by so quickly. Eventually, we had to say our goodbyes. But it was a such a pleasant day and I hope to have more pleasant days ahead. 🙂
Check out my new wheels!
OMG! LOL! OMG! BBQ!
Look everyone! My new baby! The Vespa GT200! Its what I’ve always wanted. Its not green, but I could spray paint it in a year or so.
I guess its a kind of personal birthday present for myself, after passing my 2B riding test last year.
My brother and I went to AS Phoon Motors in Changi this afternoon under the recommendation of a friend and after our test and transaction, I’m the new owner of a lovely grey-black vespa 🙂
I must say that I’m pretty much impressed by it because riding is so smooth. Its automatic, so there’s no gear on it but amazingly the pick up speed is rather fast.
Its been a while since I last rode, so when I left the motorshop with my brother behind me, I felt nervous. I forgot a few basic rules and nearly got into trouble while I was changing lanes.
But after a while, we were riding and it was there again, the feeling of the wind in my face and the coolness of the evening air. O I love it!
Of course, I dont know how it will be when my first monthly installment comes in. Hope I can still afford it 😛
But at this point of time, I’m in euphoria!
Who wants a ride? 😀
Gimme GT200!
That should have been my face in there!
The urban newspaper featured the Vespa today and I find myself drooling over the different models that was featured there. Most of the riders interviewed owned the Gran Turismo 200 (or GT200 for short)- the bike that I’ve been dreaming to own for ages.
It was love at first sight. The seductive shape of the body, the stylish grandeur, the enchanting shade of green. And it even has the powerful drive of 200cc and has minimal fuel consumption.
I had the luck to chance, the other day to notice this beautiful scooter being parked at the sidepath while walking home. I stared and gazed at it admiringly. I must have taken quite a while, because the owner returned and asked me what I was doing. We had a short chat.
Me : I was just admiring your scooter. This is my dream bike!
Man : Yes, this is a good bike, it doesnt have any gears so accelerating is very smooth!
Me : Do you think that it might be too big for a person like me? I’m worried that I might not be strong enough to handle it.
Man : If you’re nervous about that, you can go for the LX150, its lighter, and its cheaper too.
Me : Thanks for the tip. Have a good day 🙂
Man : Bye! (zooms off into the bustling traffic)
And here I am, still scooter-less after passing my riding test in October. I really really really would like a GT200. I’d be on cloud nine if I get it. It will be a dream! But at the moment, I can only gaze and drool at other people’s Vespas, wishing and moaning for one of my own.
Do you like Vespas? Do you think I’d eventually get one? And would you donate to Marina’s get-a-scooter foundation? Please? Pretty please?
Video of our Secondlife Home :)
Goodbye 2005. It has been a good year
Picture snap thanks to Wishfulone
The start of the new year. My goodness, how did 12 months go by so quickly like that? I don’t think that I even got comfortable with 2005 yet! However, there were a number of highlights in the year 2005 to remember by.
January:
Moving in the new school campus for West Spring Secondary, where I used to work at.
February:
Registered for night classes with the hopes to improve myself. After a hiatus of many, many years.
March:
Entered into very bad depression, caused by many different factors, such as the problems with my previous job, and the psychological effects from my severe acne problem.
April:
Got my canon EOS 350D! And took loads and loads of pictures thereafter.
May:
I was terminated from my previous company. Well, good riddance to them, the only reason I stayed so long was because I liked the previous school I was attached to.
June :
Got a new job in a better, and more established company!
Started my photography classes and my brother’s basic military training graduation.
August
Took a leap and travelled half-way around the world to meet my dearest for the first time in real life.
September
My blog post about my dearest got into Tomorrowsg! Hee hee hee hee!
October
After a long year and a half, I finally passed my Motorcycle Riding Test.
November
My maternal grandfather passed away.
December
After a long engagement, best friend Hema, got married and it was also Cart and my first year anniversary 🙂
Goodbye 2005! It has been a good year, full of interesting and enriching experiences. Some bittersweet. Some beautiful and unforgettable. All that I wouldn’t ever want to trade for anything else.
And what are the things to come in the year 2006? I’ve many things that I planned to do this year, the nimmo and friends webcomics, writing articles for publications, going in depth with photography, trying to learn actionscript and loads of other things …
I’ve many things I’d like to do! But first things first would be my upcoming A level examinations. And I’d like to try to do good this time … and I might have to sacrifice a little.
Anyhow, bro and I was out last weekend with the intention of going to the Vespa Showroom to look at the different scooters that they had there. I’ve always wanted to get green GT200 for the longest time but wanted to see it for real before the actual purchase.
It was a beautiful day. Skies were blue, and big fluffy clouds graced the sky and I was happy and revved up to finally get to sit on my beloved scooter.
To our dismay when we finally got to the building, only to find it locked and closed. It was so upsetting that I had to jerk the gates repeatedly to see if it really was locked. It was as if someone played a prank on us.
We decided to head back and took the bus that will take us home. Fortunately for us, we saw a huge motorcycle gallery while on the way and I quickly asked Nazry.
Wanna go take a look?
I don’t mind
I don’t mind either
Lets go!
He quickly pressed the buzzer and we dropped by and explored the place. Ohh .. there were loads and loads of motorcycles around, in many different colours, shapes and sizes.
There were several men looking around a specific model of a bike and asked the sales person some questions. There were so many bikes! Almost bursting with them that even the exit had at least 10 bikes being displayed outside. Even the walls and ceilings had bikes hanging precariously with metal bars.
At this time, I was feeling quite overwhelmed by the amount of bikes that there was there. There were so many, that I didn’t know where to start. And the signs on the bike didn’t help much either. I couldn’t understand a thing! All the technical specifications were so alien to me, it felt like the first time I bought a computer (I didn’t have much computer knowledge then) and finally just settled on a computer that seemed easy to use.
But nevertheless, I did see some interesting bikes, some with really large radiator looking devices in front of the engines. Some sprayed to look like a yellow cab taxi. And there were even one interesting bike I saw that looked so plastic, I wondered how it could ever even run.
Bro seemed to fall in love with this one
Gosh look at how excited and happy is
It was an interesting looking bike, with footrests. Nazry thinks that it exudes the ‘cool’ factor with the interesting body-frame and the movable seats. Personally, I thought it looks a little odd and a bit flimsy. He asked the salesman, how much the bike costs. “$10k” was the reply. A bit much for me.
We left after spending about an hour or two in there. I think next time, I should ask someone who’s more experienced in bikes to accompany me. It was truly overwhelming.
We went to Jurong Point for lunch when bro felt like playing a game in the arcades. I accompanied him and looked on, while he played this game called “Ghost Squad” and I was amazed to see him shoot down the enemies one by one.
This must be what the army trained my brother for 😛 He was so fast that even before the enemies appeared, he was well prepared to aim and shoot them down. A true marksman.
Bro had a strange costume for his character player though.
A man in a panda costume with a cat stuck behind him. “What the heck is that?” I asked him, with a note of disbelief. “Why, only high level people could use this costume!”, he replied proudly.
And he looked triumphant as he completed the entire game.
Anyhow, it was a lovely and relaxing day. It was pretty good. And I enjoyed myself. Before I go, I think I’ll post a picture of my mum, just because I like this picture of her.
Goodnight!
I’m not gorgeous but its okay
Oh sweet! Look at what was just delivered this morning. Yay!
The coy and demure pose
Tried to call up the vespa showroom but there was no reply. Thought it would be nice to try out the different scooters before making my mind up about which one to get.
I dont mind slightly heavier bikes. (Not too heavy though!) Because they are more stable but I don’t think I could get a bike which is too tall. If the balls of my feet can’t touch the ground, that’s no good.
Anyway, been looking at tomorrow.sg when an article caught my eye.
In a nutshell : A blogger here in Singapore was nominated as the hottest blogger Apparently, she was noticed by a local talent agency to sign her up with MTV.
I read about that a few days ago but I didn’t think about it much. She’s a very pretty girl and she’s very lucky to be signed up with MTV.
What an adorable face
I mean, I wish I was as pretty as she. But I’m not. So I pretty much abandoned all my hopes to become the next popular pop-star/TV host/singer/ and just forget about it. (Haah? No more Marina Carey? Boring)
However, I wonder why talent agencies or TCS or any local media here seem to favour more of the Caucasian look and then the Chinese. There is very little, if none at all Malay or Indian actors and actresses, models used for advertisements.
Even Taufik Batisah, the winner of the Singapore Idol competition, seems to be completely non existent in the TCS 5 world. Save for the one drama series, Shooting Stars and the 7-11 commercial. Sheik Haikal, Norleena Salim, Kumar … Where are they now?
My classmate, Adi, believes that the reason being is that Caucasians have much more appeal than the other races. It all boils down to marketing, people with more appeal, generate more revenue.
But I feel that the lesser fairer races also have their own special appeal. Who is to say that Indians and Malays don’t?
It makes me sad to see biasness in the media when in actual fact, most Singaporeans are in a melting pot. We interact with each other in daily life, we have best friends with each other, we even form relationships with each other. So what’s up with the one sided view?
Yes, I would like to see more diversity in races in the media. What can be done to promote it? I wish I knew.
I’m still hopeful though.