Daddy’s Birthday...

dinner was at the usual Parkroyal Hotel in Beach Road...
my family’s favourite buffet venue...
fresh sashimi and oysters...
pratas of different flavours such as durian, banana, chocolate and sardines...
drunken prawns...
cockle-full laksa...
and the coffee machine that produces fragrant espresso and cappuccino...

dad is turning 59 tomorrow...
and his age does show in his everyday life...
from walking to talking to sleeping...
i would seriously want to spend more time with him from now on...
something that i have been talking about over the last couple of years...
must remind myself to make it a point to do it...
life is too unpredictable nowadays...

Happy Birthday, daddy...

Kenneth’s Birthday...

the original Ugly Dolls (Wage, Tray & Babo) met up for tea at the Island Café in Tangs...
our first trip there...
the food was quite tasty...

it was a gathering to sort of celebrate Kenneth’s birthday...
a good catching up session on the latest happenings in our lives...

JJ Lin Concert...

bought our tickets months ago under the Keppel Nights Subsidy Scheme...
paid $57 for the $108 tickets (50% off)...
very cheap... and if not for the discount, we would not have watched a wonderful concert...

JJ’s vocals were surprisingly good and powerful...
although there are times when his voice was drowned by the even louder music...
there were many songs from his latest album which i have not bought or listened to...
and there were also many hits from his earlier albums which i was more familiar with...

he did a segment of personifying other singers...
in particular Jacky Cheung and Michael Jackson...
i thought he should have sung “Heal The World” instead of “You Are Not Alone” and “Beat It” since it was Earth Hour Day...
when the concert started, the stadium observed a minute without the lights and appliances...
only the screaming from the fans... lolz...

the most touching part of the concert was when his family surprised him by joining him on stage to perform...
dad played the erhu, mum played the pipa and brother played the piano...
at one point, JJ was unable to continue singing and his dad took over...
what a musically-gifted family they were...

the show ended around 11:30pm...
a solid 3 hours worth...

Busy Like A Bee...

thank you very much to all those who have expressed concerns about my well-being...
i am doing ok...
still alive and kicking...

just did not have the inspiration and time to blog in the past one month...
been busy in the office...
partly due to the KL business trip...
we have a new Regional IA Head based in HK...
changes to current procedures...
which are necessary changes, if you ask me...

here are some of the highlights that have happened...

a 31 year-old Singapore Madonna fan and fellow blogger has suddenly passed on a couple of weeks back...
missed the obituary page cos i was in KL then...
we never had the opportunity to meet up...
despite numerous past occasions when we were in Zouk at the same time...
a lot of speculations on what happened...
some said it was an accident...
others said it was suicide...
whatever it is, my dear fellow Madonna fan, rest in peace...

celebrated Sonny’s 47th birthday...
he cooked for a party of 8 on a Saturday evening...
good food, good wine, good choya and above all, good company...
but marred by a visit by the police after his neighbour complained about the dragging of chairs...
nevertheless, wishing Sonny the best of health and may his wishes come true...

went to watch Kumar at the Esplanade...
glad to see the mixed crowd...
gays, straights, young, old, couples, singles...
Kumar is indeed the drag Queen of Singapore...

been watching a lot of movies on my iTouch...
from The Reader to Quantum of Solace...
from The Wrestler to Eagle Eye...
from Gran Torino to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian...
from Burn After Reading to Frost / Nixon...
my personal favourites were Frost / Nixon and Gran Torino...
The Wrestler is very touching too...
Burn After Reading was confusing and vulgar...
still wondering why Kate Winslet won Best Actress for The Reader...

have i told you that i put on close to 3kg lately...
due to lack of exercise...
and reduction in my Herbalife intake...
gotta get back in shape...
for the J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge run in April (5.6km)...
and the Sundown Marathon team event (10km)...

bought tickets to 4 events of Singapore Arts Festival
3 theatres and 1 music...
ticket prices have gone down across the board...
and i also took up the early bird discount of 30% off for 4 shows...
very good deals...

am watching JJ Lin’s concert this Saturday...
followed by The Importance of Being Earnest the week after...
Cats in April too...

decided to give the Singapore International Film Festival a miss this year...
mainly due to my upcoming KL trip in April which we have not firmed up the dates...
partly due to the venues with limited seating capacities cos Prince & Lido were no more...

that’s all the updates for now...
will try to blog more regularly...