Tuesday, June 30
\\*A Large Chapter - Closed*//
Today is my last day at Timbre.
It is kind of sad actually, considering the fact that I have been with Timbre since the day they began, as a mere waitress; and how quickly time flies.
Four years have passed.
This is me, as a waitress, back in 2005.
At that time, I loved going to work because everyone was fun - we were like a family. Especially with JV, who was then a bartender.
my favourite.
There were the weekly nights out to some club - either Phuture, Zouk or Rouge or at that time, MOS.
THIS is the original batch of servers, bartenders, supervisors and managers of Timbre in 2004. Or 2005. I can't remember.
Who can forget Rosalin. The little Rose of Timbre.
Then there was Hendrix, the lovable father figure.
And of course, Danny.
There was the 1st staff chalet, and then the 2nd staff chalet, where I became the events co-ordinator and catering supervisor for Timbre.
Amar, my godbrother.
And of course, the Timbre Anniversaries. I will never forget that one where I was called on stage to receive the Long Service Staff Award.
This is the 3rd Anniversary at Timbre@ The Substation.
And of course, the company trip to Bali last year.
4 long years. And now it is time for me to leave these people with whom I have spent my formative teenage years, with whom I have grown with into adulthood. People have come and others have gone. Friendships were forged with many from all walks of life. Clients remain friends; the Timbre family has expanded and at its peak, I shall take a bow and leave.
The proper closure of a good and fulfilling chapter of my life, never to be forgotten, only to head to a fresh new beginning.
(but why do I feel that I dread going to school again?)
the angels they burn inside for us|6:30:00 PM|
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Tuesday, June 9
\\**//
I know I know, it has been yet another long drag of days of empty entries. My life hasn't exactly been THAT busy - maybe it was a lack of inspiration of what to blog about since there isn't really much going on nowadays...
TIMBRE has shifted office from our 'cosy' little loft above Timbre@ The Substation to a modern, fully-equipped PROPER office space above Timbre@ Old School. Some vast improvements made were:
- We finally have enough tables and chairs for everyone (the 'loft' above T1 was horrendously small and squeezy)
- We have a full pantry now available at anytime (previously for drinks, one had to go out of Timbre to buy or wait for the bar to open at 5pm)
- We are no longer claustrophobic as our new office has large windows and a somewhat good view of the carpark below, which usually has some fab looking cars owned by rich men
- We are not swamped by files and papers which took over space on the floors and crept up the walls (now everything is neatly filed in big spacious cabinets)
But ONE major disadvantage is climbing up THAT flight of stairs (some say its 133 steps, some say its 111 steps - varies probably with the breathing pattern). I tell you, climbing up that flight of stairs is no joke. One starts from the back of Plaza Singapura, in between that and The Cathay, all the way up Mount Sophia.
I climb it extremely slowly everyday, and even so, it's a feat. So far I have climbed it twice. Once, when I was climbing, my iPod actually played The Climb by Miley Cyrus!!! I groaned with the chore of the uphill scale plus the sheer irony of it all.
I expect to get better at it as the days pass. Therefore, I absolutely do not wear heels to work unless I'm going to be driven. Should I miss a footing and fall down that flight of stairs..
That shall be the end of me.
One more good thing that's happening is that my cute little Truffle is recovering very well! She now walks with a less drunken swagger, she can balance herself pretty well, she can eat on her own, do her kitty business on her own, she can MEOW damn loudly and she can jump up beds!
I feel that she is going to remain at this kitten size and not grow anymore. When Cadbury was her age - 9 months - he was certainly much bigger than Truffle is now. So was Strudel.
Remaining at kitten size can be cute in a way. And she's becoming very pretty! Her eyes are still blue and her face is slim like a Siamese cat's.
Damn cute.
I have not been going for my follow ups. Perhaps I now have developed a phobia of seeing the doctor because there is nothing but pain when I see him. I was supposed to go this morning but I skipped it because...I feel well!
And it's at 9am...so early. And I don't want to go alone. The Boyfriend is not free to accompany me and I don't want to trouble my mother to take leave from work.
I promise I will go when someone is free to accompany me. Or when I feel sick again. Whichever comes first.
I also have not clubbed since October last year. That's like 8 months!!! I could have a baby already.
I feel like some hermit in a shell. The clubs are calling out to me already. I feel the urge coming. I keep asking The Boyfriend to come clubbing with me but he's just not the clubbing sort. And besides, clubbing is kinda boring when there are so many better ways to spend my time. Such as curling up with a good bottle of wine and a great movie at home. And lots of chocolate.
And anyway I have only JUST resumed my right to alcohol because my medication has ended. But I still feel tired very easily. BUT I think the time is coming. Real soon.
One more good thing is that although I have only been with The Boyfriend for what, 4 months?, I feel that I've known him for years. Perhaps it's the fact that we spend every possible moment together (except for Friday nights, when he HAS to play tennis with his BFF) and he loves to talk to me (although sometimes I'm like, spacing out. I always feel like I'm in a dream and everything around me is woozy).
And he's finally let go of his insecurities. Which means we're a very happy and peaceful couple with no quarrels!
AND when everything is out of the way and two people can have a blossoming relationship in which they both grow emotionally and look towards the future and be part of each other's lives, only then will the flowers bloom.
It is like a garden which was intended to grow a bed of roses. Along the way, weeds grew and the roses never stopped having thorns which pricked flesh and made it bleed. Hence the roses were constantly trampled on or doused with poisonous insecticides and too much of it would cause the garden to merely die. But by understanding that roses must have thorns and that weeds can be gotten rid of by merely plucking them away when they grow, the roses could see the sunlight and be healthy.
Ok I don't know what made me use the analogy of 'A Bed Of Roses' but I did - so stop laughing.
Specifically referring to my relationship with The Boyfriend, the garden with the bed of roses was his dream, his fantasy and his expectation. He thought that a relationship was easy and as long as we loved each other and were fully committed then nothing would go wrong.
Little did he expect that my past would return to haunt him - in reference to the thorns. It got so bad to a point that I could say no more. Besides, I'm not very good at comforting people (according to him it's because I'm the First Child and I'm spoilt, therefore never had to comfort people; I'm bossy, I'm stubborn, that's why I just order him to forget about it and move on; and I can't help but to agree. I really don't know how to comfort him for even he knows it comes within himself.)
The weeds were created by The Boyfriend, signifying ex-crushes or girls who were interested in him. He got rid of all of them one day, which some how made it worse because they came back and demanded why he got rid of them.
But now all is well because roses will always have thorns just like how my past will always be part of me. Weeds will always be there because some people will never be automatic enough to know when they're not needed or wanted in someone else's life. But the roses still grow and everyone is happy.
And therefore, I have come to appreciate The Boyfriend alot more for who he is, especially when it comes to the following:
- His V-lines
- His willingness to buff up when I suggested that he do so, and now his pecs are wonderfully cushiony
- His metrosexuality which involves many things including: Buying hundreds of dollars worth of facial products for me and using them as well, going for facials and massages with me, loving to have his eyebrows plucked/shaved and knowing how to wax
- His philosophy of "My Money, Your Money. Your Money, is still Your Money." And elaborates by paying for almost everything.
- He believes that watching porn is like cheating on his girlfriend and hence, does not watch porn (or tries not to).
- Aunties think he's cute
- We love the same kinds of food
- He believes that some girls are indeed interested in him and is ever-so-willing to cut them out of his life.
- He can use his charm and make me laugh when I'm super grouchy (which doesn't happen often but when it does it's a huge bomb).
- My animals adore him
- He's good with kids
- He can take my daily complaints and even make it seem like a joke
- He can sing and therefore, serenade me
- He's like the perfect Prince Charming (sensitive, romantic, understanding, good-looking, able to carry heavy shopping bags) except that he has a HUGE ego, but I can withstand that.
WEE quite happy with that.
Tongues always pressed to your cheeks,
While my tongue is on the inside of some other girls teeth,
Tell your boyfriend if he says hes got beef,
That I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fucking scared of him.
She wants to touch me wa hoo
She wants to love me wa hoo,
She'll never leave me wa hoo hoo hoo
Don't trust a ho,
Never trust a ho,
Won't trust a ho,
Cuz the ho wont trust me
the angels they burn inside for us|1:38:00 AM|
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Thursday, May 14
\\**//
I know I haven't been blogging for a long time.
Been really busy (or lazy) at times, and Beerfest did take up 5 days of my time where I worked super long hours with minimum sleep. 7am - 12nn was my regular sleeping time then.
Glad that's over, and then I gotta spend time with The Boyfriend. Since Beerfest coincided with his return from Taiwan, I already didn't get to spend time with him and he was on leave!
So I had to make up for lost time.
And then, I got really sick. I won't bother to elaborate on my illness, but those closer to me would know. It is really really scary and since February I have been battling with the viruses and bacteria. I wouldn't put details here and nobody would wanna know.
Anyhow, I will have to go for followups in half a years' time. I am hoping it is not cancer, although there is a high possibility. The pain and discomfort that I went through during the last checkup really scared me half to death and I walked out of the clinic with my legs weak and feeling like jelly.
I am still sick, because The Boyfriend got sick with flu and fever and cough, so he spread the viruses to me. But I adamantly would not allow it to blow up into a full blown flu, so I've been actively swallowing Panadols and antibiotics, together with the ton of medicine the doctors have been giving me.
Recently, I've been taking public transport and I realise that I cannot take it. I don't know if it is because I am sick, but I get woozy and dizzy when I take the bus. I know it is bus sickness but it has never been so bad before. Then I feel like vomiting. Then I feel faint.
Everyday I get 8 or 9 hours of sleep, but still I wake up with my head feeling like a ten-ton weight is on it, I wake up with aches everywhere all over my body and I am dizzy all day long. And everyday I am very tired all the time.
AND I have been getting many bouts of bronchitis attacks. I often have trouble breathing and a slight cough or sneeze would trigger off asthma. It is really bad but the good news out of all these illnesses is that I have finally quit smoking! I hope I will not have a relapse though.
And that is why I have not been blogging for so long. Maybe I am trying to find excuses but honestly, I no longer have the mood to blog.
The Boyfriend's birthday is coming and he has requested for a homecooked meal. Obviously, I am not exactly friends with the kitchen and if I could I wouldn't step in. I don't mind cooking a meal for him but it's not exactly easy when there is no place that we can eat in. It is not as if we have our own place where everything is convenient.
AND I suck at planning birthdays. So I shall try my best. Stress is mounting on my already weak body and delicate mind that often has headaches.
the angels they burn inside for us|12:02:00 PM|
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Friday, April 17
\\**//
Today I received a pleasant - no, more than pleasant - I must say it was a fantastic surprise from The Boyfriend.
Just when I was beginning to feel quite insecure. I was beginning to have doubts - why is he always going to the lan shop on some street in Kaoh Siung and sending me messages on Facebook? I mean, yeah, his messages and texts are nothing less than sweet words of a uber doting boyfriend, but still, did SAF spend so much money to send a bunch of naval divers to Taiwan for 18 bloody days when all these FREE TIME can be cut short to like, 10 days or less, if you minus the weekends that they're free to go clubbing and shopping, and all the afternoons and evenings that they're so damn free, SO THAT these precious naval divers can come back home to Singapore and be with the people they love??!
Ah so anyway.
I was beginning to feel really insecure. I have never been that insecure in this relationship before. Not even when The Boyfriend had a pesky 'old-time friend' whom he was once interested in, who kept contacting him for dubious reasons and even scolded him for deleting her off Facebook.
And she even had the cheek to blame ME for making him delete his friends off Facebook, when I had totally, absolutely no clue that he had gone and deleted at least half of his friends! Both male and female, because he said that Facebook is becoming too public and he does not want half the world to see what's going on in his life and become a gossip point for people.
Luckily, The Boyfriend and I have agreed that we would share everything with each other, even things that would hurt us, because we want to have an open relationship. And I wasn't even the one who initiated that pact. I agreed with him because I no longer wanted to hide anything from someone who loves me this much.
And I got to know about all this rendezvous when he showed me the incriminating evidence of his text messages with her. And when I saw her replies...I was boiling. She had not only tried to place the blame on me ("Is it because of your gf? Everything also for your gf! Nothing but your gf!") until The Boyfriend said that I knew nothing about his actions; she had also tried to act all coy and cute at the end of it all ("I really can't bring myself to be angry at you for long. Rar.")
When I read those messages I was boiling, and it seemed like a dark cloud had formed over my head, and boy did I fume. I never wanted to show it because I wanted to seem like, "Ok, fine, whatever. You deal with her yourself," but inside, I felt like every part of me was being eaten up.
A few weeks later, she texted him again. "Hello stranger. How are you?"
A seemingly innocent message, but ask any girl, and she would have immediately caught on to the innuendos lurking beneath. Once again, The Boyfriend did not reply to her text, but instead showed the text to me. Once again, the dark cloud formed over my head. This time, there was not only thunder but lightning as well.
I said to him, "You yourself judge this text for yourself. You tell me that you know she's still interested in you despite both of you being attached. And I, as your girlfriend, cannot stand this shithead anymore. I know you will never be interested in her again. And I know you are trying your best to stay away from her. But I cannot stand the fact that she blatantly tries to keep in contact with you despite not trying many years ago when she became attached and threw you aside like an old rag. We both know what she's trying to do ok."
The thing is, The Boyfriend was indeed interested in her at the same time, or even earlier than when he was interested in me. But they had only gone out on one date, and the rest is history, because he started asking me out more frequently.
So anyway, we disposed of that problem immediately (she still had the cheek to bring up stuff like "Remember when you said you wanted to go jogging with me? When we went out on Christmas Eve?" I mean hello, obviously he said those things because he was trying to court her, but now that he's attached shouldn't she have the decency to respect him and his relationship, if not his girlfriend, and stop trying to be a blatant flirt?) and life went on.
Even that episode didn't make me as insecure as I felt yesterday. I constantly felt like he was going to the lan shop too much- possible liaison with a pretty taiwanese babe? Although yeah he did say that he would log on to Facebook and send me messages and look at my pictures and videos, but it only takes at most 10 minutes to send me a message, then he can waltz down the street with some chick!
Yeah that's called thinking too much.
But every girl will know that the slightest thing matters when they are insecure. And even I scare myself. I used to think that insecurities of other people are very insignificant, and when I decided to be with The Boyfriend, I realised that I hardly ever felt insecure with him. I had become one of the most secure persons around. Despite being uber insecure in the past, I have realised that it is your partner who has most responsibility to see to your security. Of course, it takes two hands to clap. But hell, if a man can't succeed in making you feel secure, it ain't really a relationship.
Therefore, I scared myself with my insecurities yesterday. I tried to ignore them, to push them away like I do for all negative thoughts and emotions. But I couldn't, and nothing he said would make me feel better. Deep down inside, I knew he was not doing anything behind my back. He couldn't even bring himself to. That is how confident I am of him and our relationship.
But yet, I would read too much into everything he said, or didn't say.
And it was only the 5th day.
He said he has a surprise for me. His text read, "Go to the cupboard where I put my clothes. You will find a thumbdrive. Your surprise is in the thumbdrive."
Excited, I opened the cupboard and felt on the uppermost rack. I felt it immediately, that small, capsule-like thing.
I quickly inserted it into my laptop which was faithfully on standby (office email). There was only one folder in the thumbdrive. It read "For Maxine".
Obviously, I clicked on it. And I saw not one, but FOUR videos. And a smile crept onto my face.
In case those perverted minds are wandering and wondering if The Boyfriend is yet another Edison Chen or Gary Ng, please halt.
The videos were of him, no doubt, with some clips of me, of course, but he was on my screen, larger than life, fully-clothed and talking to me. It had been days since I've heard his voice, seen his smile... and I'm very used to the way he talks, his expressions, so much so that I've taken them for granted, and didn't know how much I really missed him until I saw him on that first video clip.
It was him sitting on his bed. Fully-clothed, I reiterate. It was him, acting like an MTV VJ, talking to me like I'm right there in front of him, showing me things like little notes I had written to him, movie ticket stubs which he had collected, saying, "Contrary to your belief, I actually kept all your little notes and almost all the ticket stubs."
I saw the sarcasm even before it came and that made me smile even more.
My silly sister broke my reverie in the 2nd or 3rd video clip by bursting into my room and saying, "Why are you smiling to yourself?!?"
He even said, "And I'm a video guy, and that's why I take so many videos of you -- (stop being perverts everyone) -- not wanting to take videos..."
Cut to him trying to take a video of me walking Orchard Road with me screaming, "Can you stop it? Can you stop it! Don't take me!"
Yeah sounds very perverted.
"...Videos of you eating at Outback (Steakhouse)," he continues. Cut to me eating a juicy steak and smiling at the camera while he delivers a light punch to my face and I laugh. Different video from the one on Facebook, at Starbucks when he punches my face in front of Forde and Pamela.
"...Videos of you vacuuming your own car..." Cut to me vacuuming my car with his portable vacuum cleaner, wearing a hat with a feather in it and asking him, "What are you doing?" I remember thinking that night I was vacuuming, "I wish we didn't have to waste time vacuuming my car when we can spend the time together,"
The second video clip was of him after he had sent me home. I bet some of you are thinking, "What the hell, you drive but he sends you home?!" Don't worry, even my own parents think we are ridiculous. But hello, shouldn't the older generation respect chivalry more? Sometimes I really think my family is slightly dysfunctional.
So anyway. The second video clip was late at night, after I was safely tucked in bed, he was filming himself on camera. After we had watched Detroit Metal City with Forde, Pamela and Jason.
The third video clip was of him buying ice-cream for us! All the Ben & Jerry's. His hair sucks in this video but I seriously don't care. I am still grinning from ear to ear. On this day that he was filming, I was on my way to his place.
In the last video, he was topless (woo!). He had just sent me to an event and had gone home to nap, before coming to pick me up again later. He says, "You are probably watching this video while I'm in Taiwan, and I just wanna assure you that --" he pauses, and I hold my breath.
"I won't die ok," he finishes, and rolls his eyes.
Before he left, I was going on and on about him dying while under water. "What if your oxygen tank runs out of oxygen?! What if you get poisoned by a stone fish which you thought was a bomb and happily picked it up to defuse it? What if there's sharks? What if you get hypothermia or pneumonia due to the freezing waters? What if you eat Taiwan food and get food poisoning??!"
Obviously he just laughed it off. Now, even when he's in Taiwan, he is reminding me of how pessimistic I am and how he loves to laugh at me.
"I'll be fine there. It is very safe, so you don't have to worry," he continues. I pause the video and just as I expected, there he was, smirking at me with that you-must-be-insane-to-worry-so-much look! I felt like he was right there with me, chiding me and smirking at me and laughing at me and I just felt like wiping that stupid look off his face.
But then all I did was to laugh back at him. Back at his frozen face, with the frozen smirk. I was too happy that I could even feel his presence. The video subsided with me and Pam holding guns, shooting at House Of The Dead 2, and my mouth forming the words "Go away lah!!!!" because The Boyfriend was blocking my view and blocking the sensor for my gun to shoot the corpses.
I wish I hadn't shouted at him like that, even if it were in jest.
And it cuts to him walking to pick me up from my place. The camera focuses on me. I obviously see him from afar and walk towards him. And then I smile at him.
As a former media student, I must say his work is very homemade, with his specialty in jump cuts. But despite the lack of expertise in lighting and sound, and even editing, the director had clearly portrayed what the video clips were meant to say.
It was not that he missed me while in Taiwan. It was not even to assure me that he still cares for me and to fill my lonely gap while he is away. It is not that he wants me to know that he won't die, or whatever. It is not that he wants to show me how capable he is of planning and executing romantic surprises. It is all of the above, yet it isn't all of the above.
He meant to portray how he sees me from his eyes and his heart. The camera is like a pair of eyes, conveying to the audience the director's viewpoint.
And I swoon over the clips so much not only because I am able to feel him again, or that I am gloating over my sweet Boyfriend who has gone to the expense of making four video clips to surprise me...but because I am able to cherish him so much more, knowing that those clips are shallowly meant for me to see him because he knows I will miss him, but then, why would he put snippets of ME in the clips? Why the hell would I want to see ME for?
I finally understand that he has filmed me in the most unexpected circumstances, when I am caught by surprise, or happiness, and that is how he remembers me by when he is away. He sees me as that all the time. I never really believed him whenever he says he is thinking of me all the time or that he misses me. I mean, we spend ALL our time together, days merging into nights and turning into days again. But now I do.
By this, I truly understand now. Because I am able to see and understand, I am able to cherish him so much more.
And because I am able to cherish him more than ever, my insecurities are all gone. I am back to who I was before the insecurity plague hit me. Waiting now. Just waiting...
the angels they burn inside for us|12:28:00 AM|
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Monday, April 13
\\**//
Here I go again - exclaiming about how long it has been since I've blogged. I must admit it really has been eons, but now that The Boyfriend has taken yet another trip to Taiwan, specifically Kaoh Siung, for 18 days, I have loads of spare time to become a cyber buddy once again.
In my home there is a lack of food. Every afternoon when I wake up, I can find nothing to eat. By 'nothing', I mean that I am sick of the same old junk food residing in my larder, such as - instant noodles, bread loaves which I toast with cheese, or frozen pizzas.
Monday - toasted bread with cheese
Tuesday - instant noodles
Wednesday - frozen pizza
Thursday - toasted bread with cheese
Friday - toasted bread with cheese
Saturdays and Sundays are an exception because my parents buy food back.
So it has gotten to a point where I absolutely don't eat until dinnertime, or wait for The Boyfriend to buy lunch or eat lunch with me when he's on leave. Pathetic.
One day, I was so sick of toasted bread and cheese, but I was starving. I had to eat something or I knew I would faint or get some gastric problem. So, I found a loaf of wholemeal bread in the kitchen, took out two slices of bread and slapped on a slice of cheese on each of them. I was so hungry that I didn't even take a plate out; I merely held the bread in my hands and proceeded to eat.
Then I went to lounge in the living room with my sister who was watching television. The bread tasted so good, for some reason. It was crunchy and especially tasty. I had finished one slice of bread already, when I happened to look at the other slice in my hand.
To my horror, I saw mould growing on it! There was green mould, black mould and white mould!
I screamed, "Oh my god the bread has mould on it and I ate one fucking slice already!!!"
My sister looked at me and said, "Gross,"
I ran to the kitchen and tried to vomit but I couldn't. I rinsed out my mouth several times and even with Listerine, but I guess even if I had swallowed Listerine, it wouldn't have made any difference.
Oh well. Needless to say, my appetite was gone. Then, a few days later, I was at Timbre overseeing an event.
It was the first birthday of a baby boy, and his parents had spent close to $3000 on his 1st year party.
My nail had broke a few days ago, and the wound was deep, so I had a plaster around my finger. I was happily sipping on my iced lemon tea in between intervals of appeasing my client, as it was raining and the food was served a tad too slowly.
As the function came to an end, my iced lemon tea was finishing too. I had always felt that the straw had some kind of problem and therefore I could not suck the drink properly, but I dismissed it to the back of my mind time and again as there were many other things to do and not being able to drink my iced tea was too small a problem to invade my mind.
So I happened to look in my glass, and to my fright, I saw a plaster at the bottom of the glass, stuck to the opening of my straw!!
I gagged immediately, and the bartender asked me what was wrong. I handed him the glass rather shakily, and all he did was to throw the offending liquid with the plaster into the bin. "Aiya, it's only a plaster...too bad you drank it," he said.
So much for comfort...
Even while blogging this, I have not eaten (as there's no food at home remember) but yet I feel like vomiting. Utterly gross to no end.
But as they say, bacteria is good for the body. In olden days, people who were poor ate mouldy bread and they didn't die.
the angels they burn inside for us|12:55:00 PM|
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Tuesday, March 17
\\**//
The adventures of The Boyfriend and I continue... ...
One fine day, we were merely going to have dinner at Suntec City. I had a pretty rough day at work. One of my events resulted in a sous chef getting fired - although I clearly know it wasn't my fault, but I still felt incredibly guilty because I was the catalyst.
The relationship between me and this particular sous chef has never been good from the start. There was a time last year, when he shouted at me in front of his entire kitchen and wait staff because he could not control his temper, because he was being extremely difficult and uncooperative. I know he has a point when he says last minute functions are very rushed, but neither do I like last minute functions. I have no choice but to take up the function (thanks to idiots who plan their functions one day in advance) because it is my job.
And it is his job to prepare the food.
So last year when he blew up at me, immediately I was 'protected' by someone else, who then asked him what his problem was, and we had a sit-down meeting which we agreed that I would give him two days grace before every function.
Everything was amicable, until recently, when I received a function enquiry on Tuesday morning, for Wednesday evening. That gave me only 12 hours to settle and confirm everything with the client.
By 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, I had given heads up to the head chef, who said it was ok, there was ample time to prepare the food.
By 7pm on Tuesday evening, I had sent out my event memo to all operation managers, and even texted the head chef, operation managers and out of respect, I also texted the sous chef. (By right, I have no need to inform him - I just need to disseminate info to the head chef who will pass information down to the sous chef of each outlet.)
Everyone said "ok", and I assumed everything was going well, no problems. The sous chef then texted me back saying, "Why is it so last minute? I thought we agreed that you give me two days grace?"
To which I replied, "I only received the enquiry this morning. And didn't (insert head chef's name here) inform you when I told him this afternoon?"
He didn't reply.
The next day, the day of the function, I was at a press conference to launch one of our largest events, just to help out. I had rushed back to one of the timbre outlets to collect my car (as I did not want to park at the Singapore Flyer for the press conference because it was too expensive), and on my way to the function, I ran into the head chef.
I asked, "Is everything for the function tonight ok?"
Head chef said, "Yeah, okay ah, why?"
And I said, "Then why is (insert sous chef's name here) asking me why the function is last minute?"
I mean, clearly, I was bewildered. If time and again the head chef has no problem with preparing the food, why would the sous chef be so nervous and anxious about it?
Unexpectedly, the head chef suddenly blew up, "Who the FUCK is he to ask you if the function is last minute? He should ask ME! Why is he going direct to you? Never mind, you go to the function now, meet your client first, I will talk to him!"
This outburst occured in front of all the kitchen boys at that particular outlet. I merely, meekly, drove away.
Arriving at the other outlet, I decided to avoid the sous chef. I would hate to have some sort of confrontation with him again. Obviously, I just wanted things at work to be peaceful and amicable, and I just wanted to get my job done and every function running smoothly.
And besides it's really not my fault what. It's not as if I got the function enquiry one week before, forgot about it and sent out the event memo only one day before the event. Duh.
So I was waiting for my client to arrive, when the sous chef came stalking out of the outlet and said, "Thanks ah," very sarcastically.
I went up to him and said tiredly (or I hoped sounded tired, not confrontational), "What's the problem now?"
And the operations manager shooed me away. He said, "You leave him alone first..."
So I left him alone, turning away from him yet feeling his eyes boring into my back like daggers. Or maybe I was just imagining it, but that's how comfortable I felt.
After my function, which went well, I ran into the head chef at the outlet's kitchen. At the same time, I saw the operations manager taking a bag and handing it to the sous chef.
Shit, I thought, please do not tell me he has been fired.
And I felt even worse than before. I know I was probably right because I tend to be psychic, in those ways when I think about someone and that person calls...
And The Boyfriend was present, so I brought him to say hi to the head chef, because both of them keep talking about each other to me, saying how much they remember each other (since he was my client and they had some food tasting for their event and I introduced the head chef to them).
Apparently what had happened was this:
3pm, Tuesday - Head chef received call from me, saying there'd be a function the next day. He calls sous chef to give him the heads up. Sous chef says ok, no questions asked.
7pm, Tuesday - Head chef receives event memo from me, replies my text saying ok, calls sous chef to inform him of food to prepare. Sous chef says ok, no questions asked.
6pm, Wednesday - Head chef runs into me, realises sous chef asked me why the function was last minute, calls sous chef and asks why he asks me what he asked me. Sous chef blows up at head chef and starts shouting at head chef over the phone. Head chef calls sous chef a 'dickhead' and shouts back at sous chef and says, "You don't talk so much I will come down now and talk to you,"
6:20pm, Wednesday - I am at the outlet waiting for my client.
6:45pm, Wednesday - Sous chef stalks out and says "Thanks ah" to me sarcastically.
8pm, Wednesday - I am talking to head chef, who says, "Firstly, why must he shout at me? I am his superior! Secondly, he's trying to surpass me by asking you questions that he should ask me. Thirdly, he thinks I'm a wood ah, shout at me and I won't shout back? And he said, 'So you think I'm hard up for this job? I can find a job anywhere! So now you want to sack me lah!' To which the head chef said, "Yah now I'm going to SACK you!"
And this happened in front of two outlets' worth of kitchen boys. First with the phonecall and next with the shoutfest.
Oh I feel so guilty.
Although yeah he was mean to me and everything but still. WHY do I take it upon myself!?
So that was that, and after that, The Boyfriend and I went to Suntec City's Kenny Roger's to fill our hungry stomachs, though I had completely lost my appetite by then.
After dinner we decided to head for desserts, and passed by this stall that was selling Hello Kitty ez-link card stickers. I stopped to ooh and aah for awhile, and asked The Boyfriend which sticker I should buy.
The salesperson was watching some Korean/Japanese/Hong Kong movie on her laptop. She was completely unhelpful.
I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf
While jacking off listening to Mozart
You bitch and moan about L.A.
You need SPF45
Just to stay alive
I said, "Which one should I buy?" to The Boyfriend, and he said, "Maybe you should buy Hello Doraemon...or Hello Rabbit!" (referring to My Melody).
"Can you be serious! This is a serious important decision you know!" I whined.
"Buy this one lor," the Boyfriend said, pointing to a sticker that made Hello Kitty look fat and enlarged.
"Eeee, this Hello Kitty so fat!" I said. "I think I will buy this - " and plucked one sticker of Hello Kitty and her pet (the rabbit) out from the board.
We were there for about 5minutes, tops, and suddenly, the saleswoman, a fat, long-haired, unpretty woman, gave me a super dulan face and went "TSK!" super loudly, crossing her arms.
She then proceeded to diao The Boyfriend.
You're so sad maybe you should buy a happy meal
You're so skinny you should really super size the deal
I whispered loudly to The Boyfriend saying, "Er...why is she so pek cek??!"
And the Boyfriend said, "Think we don't buy lah,"
I said, "Yah lor, wah she's so rude! Then you help me put back the sticker can?" and I gave the sticker to The Boyfriend. Obviously the saleswoman could hear our conversation because she was just standing next to us.
AND THEN, the fat, long-haired and unpretty saleswoman snatched the sticker out of The Boyfriend's hands! And piak the sticker back onto the board!
"Oh my god! What is wrong with her?" I said, before scuttling off into Bakerzinn.
"She just had a bad day maybe?" The Boyfriend said.
"Wah I never met such a rude saleswoman before you know!" In case anybody wants to know, her stall is outside Bakerzinn, the middle stall (there are 3 stalls there) at Suntec City.
She was so rude until she was scary. That I didn't even dare to scold her because she's bigger-sized than me. And of course The Boyfriend won't scold people because he's too nice.
He went off the get the waiter while I remained trembling in my seat.
And when he came back, he produced the Hello Kitty sticker that I wanted to buy and said, "SURPRISE!"
I gaped in surprise at the surprise. "WHAT?! YOU WENT BACK TO BUY FROM HER???!" I screeched.
"Yeah...just wanted to make her happy lor, cuz she had a bad day mah..." he said.
"Pui lor! People like her just are bad-tempered because they don't have a boyfriend who buys Hello Kitty stuff with their girlfriend like YOU, somemore so shuai, so she's just reminded that she got dumped by her ex-boyfriend and suddenly became very bitter about it," I said rather snidely.
"No lah...but she snatched the money out of my hand and said, 'You sure you want this ah?!'" The Boyfriend said quietly.
"WAH LAO!! So rude! You hao xin wanna make her happy, then she treat you like shit!" I exclaimed. "Orh I know why she's like that...because I pointed to the Hello Kitty sticker and said "Eeee this one so FAT!" and she thought I was talking about her!"
"No lah...but she did return me my change with two hands," The Boyfriend said. "Aiyah, just make her happy lor..."
"This kind of person won't be happy one lor," I muttered under my breath. Don't know if he heard.
You walking around like you're oh so debonair
You pull them down and there's really nothing there
After our wonderful dessert, I wanted to go buy those small Hello Kitty thingies that come in a capsule machine...which required us walking past her stall again. I tried to walk as fast as I could past her because she's too goddamned scary. And then we had to walk past her again to go to the carpark for our car.
She was busy packing up her stall and chatting somewhat happily on the phone.
"Eh you see! She's like so happy talking on the phone lor!" I pointed out.
"Yah lah, cuz she's now happy that I bought the sticker from her mah," The Boyfriend said.
I merely shuddered.
So yeah the scary woman at Suntec City became one of our worst nightmares and adventures.
You're so gay and you don't even like boys
No you don't even like, no you don't even like, no you don't even like boys
You're so gay and you don't even like boys
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
La, la, la
La, la, la
Oh, oh, oh
Do, do, do, do, bop, bop, bow
Do, do, do, bop, bop
You're so gay, you're so gay
the angels they burn inside for us|4:02:00 PM|
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Thursday, March 5
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One night, one cold windy night, I was out about town, with The Boyfriend, trying to find a food court where we can eat, because we've always been eating at restaurants and getting kinda sick of it. And yeah, he wants to save money for holidays and all. And I was craving for some greasy food court fish and chips.
It was the 16th of February, a Monday evening.
We were at Plaza Singapura. Unfortunately, our plans to save money were thwarted. I suppose even the gods didn't allow us to eat some cheap and good local food. Because the food court was closed or under renovation or something. We wandered around the place, our stomachs growling.
We passed The Manhatten Fish Market, perfect place to satisfy my craving, but the queue was long as always. "Since you wanna eat fish, why don't we eat here?" The Boyfriend said.
"But the queue is so lonnnnggggg....by the time we get in I'd have died and rotted," I whined. My hungry stomach was making me damn cranky.
Next to Manhattan's was this Jap restaurant whose name I can't remember, although I have ate there before and I remember vaguely that their service sucks. "AH! Why don't we eat Japanese? Mmmm sashimi!" said The Boyfriend excitedly.
"But I don't feel like eating japanese..." I pouted and crossed my arms rather huffily. "I want my fish...!"
We pondered for like, three minutes outside the two restaurants and I said, "Why don't we eat at Secret Receipe?" I said pointing into the not-so-far-off distance.
"No," The Boyfriend said.
"Cafe Cartel?" I asked. Anything to stop this hunger pleaaaaassseee....
Thankfully, he said, "Ok!" rather happily, so we trooped down to Cafe Cartel where I satisfied my fish craving and he had his ribs.
And then, we just had to have our coffee. My previous addiction has returned, especially since he is an addict too. We had coffee at Starbucks, and dessert. We simply are just dessert people. Which I love.
And then, just when we were happily having our coffee and chocolate lava cake, my dad had to call. He asked me to fetch him, which I was gravely reluctant. I mean, we were happily poring through the Valentine's Day present which I gave him a few days ago. Plus he had to go back to the miserable camp later, so time was precious.
But I decided to be filial. Of course, The Boyfriend got jitters when he realised he was about to unofficially meet my dad. In the end, I had to send my DAD and his FRIEND home. His friend stays in Bedok Reservoir, which isn't freaking near nor far, but I was just pissed because I am always sending his friend home.
WHEN I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING. LIKE DATING MY BOYFRIEND, FOR EXAMPLE. OR GOING OUT WITH FRIENDS.
And by the time the chauffeur finished her rounds, it was time for The Boyfriend to book into camp. I spent one hour driving around, and another 45 minutes driving to Sembawang. We wasted 2 precious hours which could have been spent talking about anything under the sun!
And my butt was aching from all that sitting and driving.
It was already 11.30pm, but The Boyfriend wanted to watch Indebted, which I had brought along to show him, and the MTV that Alex, Rachel, Eve and I did during the poly days. He has always been interested in media and intends to pursue it, unlike me.
By 11:50pm, I was ready to drive (again) to his camp to plonk him outside those gates - and see if I can catch any suave looking soldiers on the way - but he asked me a question, "How do you feel about spending the rest of your life with one guy from now on?"
"Er..." I said.
And he said something like, "Don't you feel afraid because you will be with me for many years to come?"
I shall fast forward our conversation and not put all the inside bits out here for all and sundry to see, but we ended up at this place, that all lovebirds who make out at the Sembawang carpark do not know of. It is a little clearing, by the main road, but shaded by big trees. It is relatively lit because of the streetlamps and the road.
We found it by accident.
We ended up there because we realised we were the only couple not making out in the carpark and we thought we were invading their privacy. And besides, we wanted a place we could talk (and when we talk we really talk) without the occasional police car peering into our car when we're not even guilty of anything.
And we fell asleep!
Needless to say, it was one of those nights where he didn't book into camp (again). And his officer is so cute, I'm sure he'll be let off the hook because cute people are relatively nicer than ugly people.
I remember I was extremely exhausted. I didn't have much sleep the previous night, plus all the heartfelt talking was making me even more tired because I was consuming too much brain power to say what I really feel. Although it's supposed to come from the heart, but the heart can't put into words what feelings are.
So anyway. I was so tired that although my sleep was interrupted by the many mosquitoes that kept attacking me, I couldn't wake up. I was just conscious enough to swat away the mosquito and scratch vigorously at the bites before I fell asleep again.
Needless to say The Boyfriend is perpetually always more tired than I am.
I remembered that I had switched off the engine, which explained why the doors were open and the mosquitoes were flying in.
When we awoke two hours later, it was about 3-ish.
AND MY CAR BATTERY WAS DEAD.
Like, how is that even freaking possible?? It should be fully charged after my 2 hour drive around Singapore, and it was turned off the whole time. Charging the radio wouldn't take up ALL its power for 2 hours!
And I know this because I know.
So now, we're stuck in a godforsaken ulu place, where we had to drive about 2 kilometres in from the ulu-but-still-better-than-this-place Sembawang Park carpark.
"AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! My battery is dead!!!! How???" I almost shrieked to The Boyfriend, who was still bleary from a deep sleep.
I try to start the engine many times but of course, it is dead.
My mind is furiously running by now, charged by the minimal nap I had.
Option 1) Find a car to jump start the battery. To do so, gotta walk down to the main road to find a car/cab.
Option 2) Call my father at 3:45am in the morning and brave a firing squad of questions such as, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN SEMBAWANG AT THIS TIME?" and "HOW TO GET THERE?" (which I don't know how to tell him because it's so freaking ulu)
Option 3) Wait until daybreak then call a mechanic.
Obviously, Option 2 was OUT OF THE QUESTION. Option 3 too, because that would mean The Boyfriend would be screwed. Obviously he wasn't going to leave me with my dead car. All he said was, "Don't worry about me,"
Too scared to be touched, I merely walked round to the boot and flipped it open to find the cables for the battery, the jumpstart cables. After searching around for 1 minute, I suddenly many pricks on my foot and up my leg, not painful at first; and I merely brushed them angrily away.
But as I continued standing there searching for the cables, the pricks never stopped, and for a fleeting moment, I thought I was allergic to grass. I remember thinking, "So this is what it feels like to be allergic to grass,"
However, the pricks began to become unbearable, as there were more and more of them, and they never stopped. Finally, I looked down and shined the light from my handphone onto my foot, and saw dozens of ants crawling all over my leg, light and weightless, until they bit me.
I immediately hopped off the grass and began yelling, "ARRRRGGHH!!!! Ants!!!!!!!!!!! Save me Daniel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very painfulllllllll............AND I CAN"T FUCKING SEE THEM BUT THEY"RE STILL FUCKING BITING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I think I was about to lose it. Standing there, on the pavement, I began frantically swiping the irritating ants off my legs, but they were everywhere! And I was bitten until my legs were numb, either from the slapping from my hands or from the numerous ant bites.
The Poor Boyfriend helped me swipe them away, as I continually screamed my lungs out. I remember him just silently sweeping them away, and telling me to relax. "Fucking ants!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed.
Then, I shined the light from my phone onto the ground, and horrors of horrors, there was a LONG line of ants marching from the spot where I just stood, to the spot that I was standing at now! And marching around my feet, or across it, and biting me in the process, to god knows where.
I screamed again, more in frustration than fear, and ran off a few metres away, leaving The Poor Boyfriend searching for the cables in my car boot.
He didn't get bitten by ants because 1) He was wearing pants and covered shoes and 2) Since he knew where the ants were (since I was bitten first), he obviously didn't step near them.
So I was the sacrifice, the blood which the ants sucked.
(By the way I forced my mother to dig out my baby files to find out what's my blood type, so I wouldn't be clueless all my life, and I found out I'm A positive blood type!)
We decided to abandon the car and go and look for a car/cab. In order to do this, we were NOT going to walk the 2km out the winding roads which were darker than where we were, so we had to...
BASH THROUGH SOME TREES AND GRASS, DOWN A SLOPE, TO GET TO THE MAIN ROAD.
I was, by this time, reeling from the ants bites that I never wanted to step on grass ever again, but apparently it wasn't my fate.
I couldn't think of any way to get out of the situation - although asking My Poor Boyfriend to carry me down the slope was one idea but I quickly diminished that because he was already quite poor thing enough, and besides it was my car, I should find a solution - so I had to bash through the freaking grass which was freaking disgusting.
Normally I already hate walking through grass because I'm afraid I will step on some frog or snail or worse still, snake!
And now I had to be scared of ants' nests.
I didn't even whine. I do not think My Poor Boyfriend deserved that.
Anyway, after we reached the road, we still had to walk. There was NOT A CAR IN SIGHT! We were like, trapped in some warped timezone whereby nothing existed except both of us.
And I had happily thought that, after escaping the ant-infested ulu place, we would reach civilisation, which would mean people, or cars, but apparently no! We had stepped out of an ulu place, into an ulu place, which would mean we never really stepped out at all because in the first place, Sembawang IS an ulu place.
Of all the places for my car battery to die.
We walked for 45 minutes. I do not know how many kilometres that is, but it is ALOT of distance we covered. Road after road. The road signs went past, but still no car. And then, we saw a van! It was delivering newspapers. We hitched a ride, in the back of the van; we sat on top of newspapers that would probably be on somebody's breakfast table in a few hours.
The van dropped us off somewhere, but there still was no cab, so we continued walking. Like tired, thirsty hitch-hikers.
Finally, we reached semi-civilisation, whereby there were some cabs passing by. We flagged down many cabs and asked them if they had the cable to jump start the battery, but apparently they all do not.
In the end, we were so desperate for someone to save us, that we took the fifth cab that we flagged. "What, you mean you guys walked all this way? It's damn long you know!" The Indian cab driver said.
"Er..yeah..we know, but we had no choice," I muttered.
We reached our dead car, and My Poor Boyfriend tried looking for the cables again. Because I swore they were in there somewhere. It was rather difficult searching under almost no light, but I was NOT going to stand on the stupid grass and get bitten by nasty ants again to shine the light from my phone while he searched.
In the end he found the cable!
So, we attached the cables (positive to positive) to my dead battery and the cab's battery.
I tried to switch on my engine.
NOTHING FREAKING HAPPENED.
No sparks flew, NOTHING.
The cab uncle was rather helpful and nice, although he didn't know anything about jumpstarting a battery. In the end, after many many tries of him switching on and off his engine and me switching on and off my engine, we gave up.
He gave us the number to Comfort Delgro's 24-hr mechanic, and we called them. I paid the uncle $22 bucks for his time and he sent us to the not-so-ulu Sembawang carpark to wait for the mechanic.
Who came in 10 minutes instead of the half an hour the operator said, and we sat in his van. The Boyfriend actually nudged me away to go into the van first, which I thought was very unlike him, since he's always the one opening cab doors and ushering me into cabs (when I'm not driving).
Then I realised he didn't want me to sit next to the mechanic.
Which made me smile to myself. Then I immediately thought that yes, I AM losing it. Imagine noticing such a thing in such a time of distress!
The mechanic took out many devices, and attached them to my battery quickly (he stepped on the grass too but HE didn't get bitten by ants!). The devices can print out reports like a cashier machine, which is like freaking cool and I so wanna get one.
And my battery was healed!! It was revived.
And My Poor Boyfriend paid the mechanic $35 bucks cuz I had no more money.
The mechanic said my battery is very weak so I should not stop on the way home. Then I said, "Har, then traffic light how? ... I thought cannot switch off the engine only what,"
And the mechanic said, "Yah lah, cannot switch off the engine. Then tomorrow morning, you bring your car to your own mechanic to replace the battery or something,"
We drove away, leaving the mechanic with the ants. However, to our horror, there was a freaking mosquito in my car!!! And it's horrendously BIG and kept flying around and hiding in corners then suddenly appearing again.
The Boyfriend wanted to send me home and THEN take a cab back which I adamantly refused, because I could easily send him home and drive myself home! But he said, "What if your car dies on the way home?"
I refused to think about that.
So, I sent him to camp at 6ish, without even bothering to look for any cute soldiers because I was too tired and bitten half to death by ants.
The car didn't die, otherwise I would have another story to tell, and when I finally parked the car, I switched off its engine and re-started it.
It started fine!!
I left a pink Post-It for my dad, telling him his car died, showered (tried to scrub off the ants disgusting trail of invisible dirt left by their feet and mouths), and stumbled into bed.
When I woke up, I still had to go to the vet to buy Truffle's special food, and apparently my dad didn't read the Post-It although it was hot pink and probably stood out more than anything on our black piano!
In the end I called him and he asked me to bring it to the agent. So I drove (the car could still start) to the agent after the vet and they have the same device!
And there's nothing wrong with my battery.
Nothing wrong at all!!!!
I guess my car just can't stand the ants or something. Throwing a tantrum.
So that's that. Oh and my P-plate is coming off on Friday! No more road bullying for me, all you sickening OLD MEN who think you own the freaking road. All you stupid cab drivers. All you irritating road cutters.
I AM A FEMALE DRIVER WHO DRIVES LIKE A MALE, AND NOW EVERYONE SHALL BEWARE MY PROWESS, ONCE THE BLINDING ORANGE TRIANGE IS GONE.
the angels they burn inside for us|1:09:00 AM|
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