off to print

After a whole lot of delays, delays and more delays, finally sent the May issue off to print this afternoon.

And then, a snippet of an MSN conversation with my graphic designer CX:

~ * j u n * ~ [ the princess of peach blossom island ] says:
every time i send an issue to print i feel a bit sad

xun says:
:(
敏感的小孩 sayang

~ * j u n * ~ [ the princess of peach blossom island ] says:
haha
don’t you feel the same

xun says:
想了又想 i think i’m positive lor, very 期待 and松了一口气
but
i think this magazine is your baby already
baby send out, will be sad i think
i am a nanny maybe

raising an eyebrow

Last Friday my colleague L came over to talk to me. She stood pretty close, and all of a sudden she asked, ‘Your eyebrows, real or fake?’

And I was like !!!!!!, ‘Got fake eyebrows one meh?!’

‘You draw one or what? Very dark, I like!’

‘No lar! Real one!’

‘Very dark, I like!

And I ran my finger through both brows to prove that they were real. Lol!

food for thought

Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.

Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

blue is the colour of dreams

Today I fell in love with a blue silk skirt from Marni.

NB Title is a slogan from a Tiffany ad a couple of years back.

the end

Finally used up all my RMK blush today!

山中问答

刚才突然想起这首唐诗：

山中问答
李白

问余何意栖碧山，
笑而不答心自闲。
桃花流水窅然去，
别有天地非人间。

Anyway this sounds rather amusing but we actually did an English translation of this poem for Lit class in JC:

Question and Answer in the Mountains
Li Bai

They ask me why I live in the green mountains.
I smile and don’t reply; my heart’s at ease.
Peach blossoms flow downstream, leaving no trace -
And there are other earths and skies than these.

translated by Vikram Seth

Googled for alternative translations but I think the one above’s still the best.

And when I shared this Tang poem with Ahgong on MSN:

Avalon says:
ic
very apt for me
cos I stay in bishan
haha

~ * j u n * ~ [ the princess of peach blossom island ] says:
hahahahahhaha OHMY yes
bishan got river right

Avalon says:
now u know why I alwaz xiao er bu da

real friends need no formalities

便在此时，只见山门前一个僧人大步奔下，他竟全力施展轻功，跑得十分匆忙。无色眉头一皱，说道：“大惊小怪的干甚么？”那僧人奔到无色身前，行了一礼，低声说了几句。无色脸色忽变，大声道：“竟有这等事？”

那僧人道：“方丈请首座去商议。”

郭襄见无色脸上神色为难，知他寺中必有要事，说道：“老禅师，朋友相交，贵在知心，这些俗礼算得了甚么？你有事便请回去。他日江湖相逢，有缘邂逅，咱们再喝酒论武，有何不可？”无色喜道：”怪不得杨大侠对你这般看重，你果然是人中英侠，女中丈夫，老和尚交了你这个朋友。”郭襄微微一笑，说道：“你是我大哥哥的朋友，早就已是我的朋友了。”当下两人施礼而别。无色回向山门。

金庸《倚天屠龙记》第一回

from one flower island to another

On Facebook today:

Me: happy birthday poppish princess! we’re getting olddd!!! :D

Zhi Yun: peachy princess! it has been ages.

ask not what your country can do for you

In the heat of the elections last week, this letter printed in the ST Forum probably went largely unnoticed, but I liked it once I read it.

a new high

131 page views today!!!!!!!!!

the morning after

This morning Singapore woke up and found that PAP had won 81 out of 87 seats in Parliament and WP had won the remaining six seats.

counting the votes

So the polls closed at 8 pm last night and they started counting the votes not long after.

It’s 1.50 am and we’re all glued to the TV and various channels of social media to find out the election results.

Meanwhile I gotta say I’m totally enthralled by the Returning Officer, the same guy who keeps coming out to announce the polling results for each party. The guy has a very appropriate poker face, speaks slower than a funeral march, mangles various names but still manages to command the attention of the entire nation, with nary a hair out of place. His name is Yam Ah Mee and apparently many other Singaporeans are equally enraptured by his deadpan delivery because he has gone viral.

People are twittering madly about him as I type and he’s even got his own Facebook fan page (14 884 likes garnered in less than two hours when I took a look a second ago).

Does he really only work once every four years?! And how does one apply to be a Returning Officer anyway? Ahgong says you have to be an army general first! I hope not – it’s my Dream Job at this moment!!! :D

on voting

Snippet of an MSN conversation with Ahgong a few hours ago:

Avalon says:
I hope the residents of bishan tp make the gd choice

~ * j u n * ~ [ the princess of peach blossom island ] says:
good is subjective :(

Avalon says:
bt of cos
as long as one touches his conscience before he/she votes
it’s a gd choice

~ * j u n * ~ [ the princess of peach blossom island ] says:
:)
that is a cute answer

for the greater good

I cast my vote for the very first time at exactly 2.05 pm today.

Went alone cos the rest of my family had voted earlier. There wasn’t a queue anywhere, except when two election officials were checking ICs at the entrance of the polling station (my primary school). At the voting area, I had my name crossed off the electoral roll to signify I had voted, and I realized most of the names had been crossed off already. Was definitely late in the game! :P

And the entire process took about five minutes or so. Completely anti-climactic!

congratulations

There was a minor commotion early this morning / late last night at home when my brother checked the university joint acceptance website and found that he had been offered a place in NUS Medicine!

Congratulations little brother! Another doctor in the family! Looks like I cannot even get away from the profession even when I’ve knocked off from work!!!

And yes, Ahgong, I will definitely benefit from ‘kinship selection’ – shall send my kids to intern in my siblings’ clinics when they’re old enough! :P