today's get-up 31july2007

i've been rose-pinked!!

i went to get my hair colored..... then the stylist somehow convinced me to get my hair cut. i like it!!! but i do miss my hair!! suddenly i feel really bald.

i chose a rose-pink color. kinda reddish, kinda pink. it looks different under diferent kids of lighting. oh yeah.

• pink and red jersey gown (i caught a cold)
• green and white striped shirt by topshop
• dark blue sarrouel pants by sunao kuwahara
• navy tights
• brown leather boots by topshop
• toy necklace by mercibeaucoup

oh bloody hell. try as i might, i can't get it to look pink in the photos!!! #&$*#*!($#&**!!

my friends and ex-bosses, roger and yvonne, have all been pretty obsessed with this thing called phiten. it's been pretty big in japan all the while, but i never paid attention to it cos i thought it was all nonsense. it comes in all sorts of bracelets or necklaces (mostly really ugly) but the expensive stuff actually look like nice silver jewellery. it actually has some micro titan balls embedded within, and when you wear it, it apparently helps circulate your blood, which in turn gives you better energy, helps you sleep better, and overall improves your health. well the two of them and our mutal and family friend, edmund, swear by it. in fact, they talked so much about it, my sis and i decided to get some for ourselves and our family. we thought of buying it here in singapore but it's like major expensive so where else to buy it from but where it originated from... japan. much thanks to von and rog who just went there with our huge shopping list. i got myself a turquoise hello kitty phiten. i love it! it's so cute and doesn't look anything like a health product!

and beatrice made me the bracelet with that girl in a crown. isn't it so freaking cute? plus, i love crowns!

yesterday i went for dinner and drinks (i ate a cow and ended up with a tummy ache) with some old friends and ex-teacher, 6 of us in all, from secondary (middle) school. i've known them since i was 13 and we used to play hockey together. i haven't seen some of them in years, but i think because we used to share this huge bond (4 years of extra-tough training together AND winning the gold medal. of course we have a bond!!) together, all those years apart didn't matter when we started talking. it was like time had stood still all along and we're all still the same silly 16 year olds!! i had a lot of fun...... i've got just 2 to 3 weeks before i pack up my bags and leave for new york. i've gotta make sure they take leave off work to meet me again before i go!!

it's disgusting how we look the same after all these years!

work those hips, baby!

on july 1st, a new smoking law was put into action here in singapore. smoking is no longer allowed in air-conditioned areas (unless a cordoned-off area is specially made for it), and in outdoor areas, only 20% of the outdoor seating capacity will be set aside for smoking seats. not that it mattered to me since i've never taken a puff in my life, but it was funny going around and seeing all these signs.

i went with some hockey friends to bar none at the marriot hotel on the 1st.




we were there to watch kumar - arguably singapore's best comedy act, and most flamboyant drag queen. i haven't watched stand-up comedy in a while and it was really funny. unfortunately, those idiots sabotaged me!!! when kumar asked if there were any celebrations for the night, they screamed that it was my birthday!!! and they call themselves "friends"! well, so-called friends! bah!





there were two sets, and on the second set, i was made to go up stage!! oh god i nearly died. i kept hitting my coach, nordin, cos he was the evil mastermind who went around telling everyone "it's gilda's birthday today, must sabo her."

ugh.

so up the stage i went. this other friend of mine, ishak, got sabotaged too. he's an old hockey acquaintance whom i've never been that close with, but have known for years. and there was this other guy, a stranger called abraham. apparently it was none of our birthdays but we were all sabotagees. yeah. we became the comedy.

oh god i was so embarrassed i can only remember some bits of it...

well we = one chinese, one malay, one indian. we got our names, our race, our face, our whatever, made fun off. which, well, was pretty darn funny.



and then horrors of all horrors, we had to dance in front of everyone. so the dj played some music and well, i like dancing i do, but when you have like a hundred pairs of eyes on you, it's kinda different. but i sooo wanted to get out of there i was like ok ok just dance and let's go girl!

kumar made me dance with ishak. oh man. i think i went totally red but it wasn't so bad cos at least i knew the guy. then he/she/kumar pulled me around and said, "okay now you dance with abraham."

WHAT!!

then kumar made some remark to the dj about the lousy song he chose for ishak+me, and said something about me dancing with an indian next and that it better be a good song.

next thing i knew, a typical tamil song was blasting through the speakers.

AHAHAHHAHA it was so funny. kumar went something like, "she's chinese she can't dance this! i will!" and hiked up her dress to thigh level, and started err, boogie-ing to tamil music!!


pffffffffft

the crowd then sang all 3 of us a july 1st birthday song.

and then she dropped the real bomb on us.....

the guys had to face the crowd and using err... hip movement, "write" my name out.

and i had to turn away from the crowd, and basically stick my ass out there and "write" ABRAHAM.

well there are millions of girls out there who can probably shake their ass real sexy, but i'm not that kind of girl. not in front of all these strangers!

me: "HAR??? ABRAHAM??? IT'S SO LONG!!! (the name. to write. with my butt.)"

kumar: "how'd you know? you've seen (it) before?"

me: laughing my head off, looking back at kumar, smiling and raising eyebrows suggestively at a speed of 110 kilometers/hour.



well at least they gave us a free shot of tequila or something to compensate our embarrassment (i was soo dying, i don't even know what i drank), which we drank in a gulp and received some claps from everyone.

i don't think i was a very good stand-up sabotagee.

while i was on-stage, i had imagined all sorts of smart-alec comments to say and probably win some fans and start my own act. but then i was too busy laughing at what kumar was commenting about, err, myself, to even remember to say anything!!!

damn.

+note to self+
spread the love and laughter. make more people laugh.

so that was my 15 minutes of fame.


love and kisses from me (and my big ass) to you,
abraham.
xoxo.

lychee love

because i'm sitting here in front of my computer, eating away at the kilo of lychees i bought this afternoon. i wish i could be bothered to get up and make myself a lychee martini *slurp slurp* but nope, i'm like glued to this chair.

psst: don't be a pig like me; try making one!!

use lychee liqueur, vodka, and a dash of lime juice. alternatively, you can use fresh lychee juice if you don't have the liqueur. shake with ice, and strain into glass. top off with one or two peeled and pitted lychees and enjoy! oooh and try adding a stalk of lemongrass to your martini. it adds a totally different flavor and is totally yummy!!

many things have been happening lately, and i've been doing a lot of thinking. my friend tells me i shouldn't think so much. HAH. that's easy to say.

i painted another still-life thingy the other day. it was my second ever oil-painting attempt, and i think i'm getting better. well the first was an absolute disaster; i don't wanna even think about it! i've never had formal training in art or drawing. back in bunka, we had weekly design classes, but that was more of training us in the design (clothing) factor, and nothing concrete in the real "art" part. but yeah, i'm actually really enjoying myself in class. i missed a lesson while i was away in melbourne, so during the lesson i only had time to paint the objects and couldn't go into the details in the background. i'm quite pleased with it though. heh heh. (ok for those of you who are pros, just let me pretend i'm doing ok, ok? ;D)



i'm not sure how it happened, but it's suddenly almost 2am. i've had a long day today. i went to the doctors, went to buy fruits for the family, went to my juniors' training, then went to the club training. honestly, i'm kinda tired, and it's been quite a while since i've been this tired.

it's raining outside. like totally pouring. i love to sleep when it rains, so i think i'll go to bed soon.

sweet dreams, lovers. and tell me what you dreamt about.

neon pink kisses,
gilda

photos from victoria (part2)

psst. did you see part1?

june 16th
we reach melbourne and head first to the markets. i meet up with my cousin who's staying just nearby. it's been like 2 years since i've last seen her!! each time i go back to singapore, she's not there, and when she goes back, i'm in japan. so we basically talked nonstop and updated each other about our lives.

i found gala's blog about a month ago, and have since fallen in love with her. well she talked about this shop in the markets called madame pompadour. (145 victoria street, west melbourne. tel03.9326.3344) when i saw her pictures i knew i had to go. well i love pink and i love fabrics and i love bright colors, and this shop had all that. i had to stop myself from buying too many things.


we headed off to the city and i just loved all the little alleys with cafes and beautiful little shops. ooh. we shopped till 6 when everything closed. DAMMIT. WHY WHY WHY do shops have to close so early in australia?? i just don't get it.

my cousin brought me to this little place called cabinet (11 rainbow alley. tel9654.0915) for some food and drinks. the people there, alan and ben, were the cutest, sweetest things ever. we had some really yummy dory fillet, and ben made us some gorgeous cocktails. ben creations. one of it was called waterworks. it was the yummiest drink i've ever had.

watermelon martini, topped with basil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar to bring out the sweetness in the watermelon. i loved it.


we went for a last drink at this place called murmur, in like the darkest, scariest alley i'd ever walked into. really. is it even safe?? and though that was like some dead alley, murmur was like super alive-and-kickin'! wow! really nice!


after 4 tough games, today was rest day. i think i might have been really tired this whole trip, because just after a beer and 4 cocktails, i'm actually almost a little high. god, i must be aging.

june 17th
we headed to footscray for our final game. they were good. and big! really tough. i think one of the ladies in their team had to be like at least 190cm. when she collided with one of my girls, she literally stepped over her??? seriously. we played a good game but we lost to better opponents, 0-3.


after the game, we went to a hockey shop. they had this humongous hockey stick there, obviously not for playing, but none of us could resist trying to dribble a ball. it was so fun. it was longer, or taller, than some of us! haha!


the whole team went for dinner together, after which we went into little groups. i had a real long talk with some of my juniors, and it made me really glad that i did go for this trip, because if i hadn't, i would not have had the chance to get to know them like this.


i went over to my cousin's house around midnight, and spent the next 5 hours chatting with her before finally passing out on the sofa.

june 18th
i made plans with my cousin to go speed shopping for 2 hours. we were supposed to leave for the airport at around 1, but i had a meeting till around 11. so i told her to sleep till around 10, and i'll let myself out, go to my meeting, then meet her in town later.

when i left her house at 8:15 (located right in the city), i couldn't figure out why helicopters were hovering. all i knew was i couldn't get a cab and i was late for my meeting. when i finally went back to the hotel and start asking what time we could go shopping, the girls were like, "didn't you hear? there was a gunman in the city."

i went, "WHAT!!!"

i didn't turn on the telly when i woke up, so i had absolutely no idea! my god!!! it happened just a street away from my cousin's place! that's why the helis were there! that's why i couldn't get a cab, cos the roads were all blocked off!! i called my cousin and told her something like, be careful, there's a gunman in your area!!

since some roads in the cbd area were blocked off, and we had minors travelling with us, our coach decided it was too dangerous to let our girls out in the city, so we went to some suburb mall on the way to the airport. i had to call my cousin to say goodbye, which was reeeeeeeeeally stupid because i hadn't said a proper goodbye yet! when i left her house,she was still sleeping! i mean, we thought we were still gonna see each other!!

anyway, we got on the flight safely and came back to hot ol' singapore. i swear i started like, pouring sweat, the moment i came outta the airport.

i later learn that the guy who fired the shots, had been assaulting his girlfriend on the streets. the 2 passers-by who went to help her got shot at. one, a 43 year old solicitor, died. the other, a dutch backpacker, suffered 3 shots and is in serious condition. the lady also got shot at. i thought it was horrible and really tragic.

i don't know what exactly happened... (did i get the facts right? was it his girlfriend?) but its outcome really saddened me.

brendan keilar and paul de waard, you two are true heroes, and i salute you.

photos from victoria (part1)

i'm back here from victoria, australia!! i just got back on monday night. after complaining about the heat in singapore for weeks, i go away to la-la-2degree-heaven. also known as melbourne. then i come back here to this crazy heat. as i stepped out of the airport and walked towards the carpark, the heat just hit me like a tidal wave. it's insane. this humidity really stinks.

well well, lots of photos from victoria. so, long post up ahead. OOPS!! a personal apology to markiv. sorry, another 2mile post... but i'm long-winded and can't shut up. heh heh.

i haven't been to australia for many years. my sister used to study in sydney, so i've been there about 5, 6 times to visit. but i've only every been to melbourne once, but that was like 10 years ago, so it was almost like the first time for me.

so. this trip to victoria was part of a training tour with the crescent hockey club. we turn 5 this coming october!!! time has passed so quickly and i can't believe 5 years has passed since i set this club up with nordin, my coach, and rilaini. well, being really old (in comparison) and almost jaded at 24, i have a lot of juniors now whom i don't really know. well, some i do know, but having been away for so long, i just haven't had the chance to get to know them better. so when nordin told me they were heading to victoria for this trip, i jumped at the chance. (yeah, big thanks to me parents who paid for everything! woohoo.)


june 10th
the 20 of us (16 players and 4 officials. i am an official, ni-eh ni-eh) leave for melbourne. but about hundred people (ok much less) come see us off at changi airport. my luggage ALREADY weighs 21kg. OH NO!! already hitting the limit and leaving like zero allowance for shopping!!
not very clever, gilda!


june 11th
we arrive early morning. i didn't manage to sleep onboard the plane. lack of sleep = low immunity = sneezing and sniffles. yeah, i get that all the time. so my body had like zero energy to keep myself warm. we head straight to footscray from the airport, because there was a hockey carnival so we went to watch. also because check-in was at 3 and we had nowhere else to go. boo.

we watched some games that day and had an early night. after 2 nights of not sleeping, i seriously K.O.ed and fell asleep once i hit the pillow. i think i slept at like 10! but apparently some of my girls went to bed at 8! how's that for healthy living!

june 12th
after much requests, we decided to let the girls have their way and took them to the anarchy fairy park.

err, we were the only adults in that place. everyone else were... like 4 year old kids with teachers screaming at them to stop running. it was quite funny. well, kinda. everything was so small and cute, except that the dolls, the robot-thingies, were all super scary. but i hear that the entire place was built by its owners, which i must say is really amazing.





that night, we played our first friendly against geelong. they were really good, but we let in one really stupid goal and lost 0-1. they had cooked some pasta for us, which we had after the game. it was really yummy. then we played some super retarded games together but had a ball of a time. they also laughed at us when we told them we went to the fairy park. just great.


June 13th
we head to ballarat, and go to the wildlife park after lunch and shopping. yeah, wildlife park. we really went through the whole tourist route. you know, feeding the kangaroos and stuff.




i took this picture from a distance. the little boy had put his beanie on the kangaroo and i just thought it was so funny, i couldn't stop laughing.


this particular old dude was kinda gross and refused to stop scratching his balls!! like, hello!

we played our second friendly against ballarat. drew 2-2. then rilaini and i got interviewed for the local news.
blimey! i totally freaked out!



june 14th
the girls had a homestay with our ballarat hosts and we picked them up in the morning.

for the rest of the day, i hear endless stories about gorgeous australian country houses with rubber duckies in the bath, horses and sheep in farms, delicious breakfasts.... we officials stayed in a motor inn with zero breakfast and i got grumpy. heh heh.

we pass chocolate mill on our way to bendigo. once inside my day gets a lot brighter. the smell of rich, very rich chocolate lingered in the air and i could almost imagine willy wonka coming out from nowhere. i stole sips of hot chocolate from some of the girls who bought it, and it was so good, i danced the oompa-loompa dance. yummy!!! chocolate mill makes hot chocolate from REAL chocolate, and it really is so different!! for the rest of the trip, no matter how much hot chocolate i drank, nothing was good enough!!


that night, we played a friendly with the bendigo team. their coach, vicky, was the former national womens' coach for singapore. nordin, who's the assistant coach, spent hours talking and catching up with her. well, we drew again. we played well but we need to win!!


june 15th
on our way to shepparton, we dropped by this place called confectionary capers. it's this really kinda corny, but ultimately pretty amazing place. its owner built it all by himself, and the place is just filled to the ceiling (literally) with hundreds of little machinery thingies.


we were early for our friendly and i spent much time lying on a bench looking up at the sky. it was so blue!! a really pretty, clear blue.


then i couldn't get enough of my shadow. i was wearing penguin pants and it just looked hilarious.


shepparton was our 2nd last friendly. our last would be against the melbourne/victoria country team, and they would be our strongest opponents. having lost a game and drawn two, we really needed to win this match to lift our spirits. it was hard playings against all the different conditions. some of the girls were still not used to the weather, and we were playing on sand-based pitches. we used to have a sand-based pitch in singapore, but that was like 8 years or so ago, and some of my juniors had never even seen one before. but we did well tonight, and won the game 3-0. yippee!

our shepparton hosts also cooked us a fantastic meal of fish and chips, and dessert!! the dessert was fabulous!! there were 2 different kinds of cake and some thick cream. i loved it. the girls went off on another homestay and i get slightly jealous.

june 16th
we pick our girls up in the morning and head to melbourne!!! yeah~~!! the city, the city! i'd been "saving" myself for the city. we've been going to all these smaller towns and to their malls and all, but i had been stopping myself from shopping. i was dying to shop! itching to shop! i told my juniors that when i would finally shop, i might break out in allergies from resisting too much!

psst. more in part2.

greetings from melbourne

hey everyone. i've been like super missing-in-action. my bad.

i've been here in victoria, australia!!! i just got into the city today, but i've been going around to little towns like geelong, ballarat, bendigo, shepparton...

i'm here with the crescent hockey club. we're having a training tour now, and have been playing with all the teams from the towns.

i'm been having a ball of a time. i've even been on the local news! woohoo!

i'm getting the chance now to get to know some of my juniors whom i don't usually get to mix around with. and i'm getting back into the game that i'd once loved so much.

i'm really enjoying myself and i'm so glad i came.

i've got so many pictures to post up, but i've only got 3 minutes left on this computer and i'm doing mad typing right now!!!

AHHH!!!

anyway i'd just been out for shopping, dinner and drinks with my cousin who's living here, and i had real fun trying to catch up. it's great. superb. i'm having a fantastic time. in fact, i've got too many things to do, but not enough time!!

anyway i'll be heading back to singapore on monday.

so be good okay. heh heh.



lots of love and neon pink kisses,
xoxo
gilda

shadow is in doggie dreamland

as i type this, she's sitting by me, and making all sorts of funny
sounds. soooo cuuuuuuute!! she had a haircut yesterday.
but i was a little peeved when i went to pick her up from the
groomers'. they cut her hair really weird. i prefer her hair long,
just because she looks prettier, but in this heat, i know it's better
for her to have it short. but the haircut is just awful.

nah-ah.

they cut the hairs at the back of her neck so short, but left those
at the front of her neck long?? and at the back, instead of having a
smooth slope from short to long, it looks like... a step. (you know,
from stairs??)

oh god. i can't even describe it.

my baby's growing so old, her brown outer coat is hardly even
growing anymore. with her hair cut short, she's almost all white.
she looks like a lamb. hmph.

bib and i went to meet our cousin again last night. she took me to
the latest hangout in singapore. it's called the cannery, right where
clark quay is. it used to be a really DEAD spot but they did it up with
lots of new clubs and bright neon lights. we went to kandi bar.
well yeah yeah it was kinda cool and all but i couldn't believe it when i
ordered a lychee martini and it came in like a wine glass.
BAH. i was not impressed.


however i've heard a lot about this fashion bar and you know me,
i love all things fashion, so i'm waiting for a chance to go check it out.

after some drinks, we went to this arsenal fan club-ish place.
there used to be this manchester united bar in singapore a few years
back too, but that closed down. which surprised me because there are
thousands of man u fans here in singapore. (err, for those of you who
are lost, i'm talking about the english premier league!)

i'm suspecting this arsenal bar is still standing because it's owners are
just about one of the richest families in singapore, so they don't really
have to worry about paying rental and all!!

we went to watch the uefa champions league finals between liverpool
and ac milan. i was rooting for milan.

as a former man u fan (i worshipped eric cantona),
there is NO way i could have cheered for liverpool.

did anyone watch!!?

unfortunately, i thought milan played really poorly in the first half.
like hardly any possession! but kaká is just SO talented. i became
quite a fan after the last world cup. he had this one move in the
first half of the match that got me saying a really loud "OOH!!"

and was that first goal almost a hand-ball? well it was a
upper-arm-ball. kinda tricky but heck! they put in another one to
silence those liverpool players anyway! HAH!

anyway, today i went to play badminton with my coach, nordin,
and rilaini. it was so funny. i hadn't played badminton since
primary 6!! (12 years old)

my juniors from my secondary school had training after that,
and i joined them for a short while. i had aching muscles for
a day after training on monday. well, i had expected that, since
i haven't been exercising for like, 3 years! the last time i ran
was when i last came back to singapore, last year in august!!
(when i joined the team for training.)

by some kind of miracle, my muscles stopped aching today
and i could run and walk.

hooray!

i've put on a lot of weight the last few years and it's almost
disgusting. i'm not in the overweight bracket yet, but i'm just
leading such an unhealthy lifestyle, it makes ME sick. so now
that i am back here i'm determined to lose some weight and
start exercising again. and hopefully get my hockey skills back!!

anyway, after training, i went for my first ever oil-painting class.
i've never been properly trained in the fine arts and before
attending fashion college, where we used color pencils and
watercolors to sketch our designs, the last time i had ever held
a paintbrush was when i was 12. so i had LOTS of problems in
college just attempting to paint a simple design, so i thought
i really needed to get trained. i've always wanted to try
oil-painting, so since i had like 2 months free here in singapore
i decided to have a go at it.

i joined a weekly class at the nanyang academy of fine arts.
there were just about 7 or 8 people in my class, so i was pleased
that it was small. but i was kinda nervous since i'd never done
anything like that before. since it was the first class for fellow
beginners like myself, our teacher got us to do a painting on
blocks, where we would learn undershading and lighting,
err, that kinda thing.

it was really interesting and i really enjoyed myself. although
i'd have to admit that half the time, i didn't really know what
i was doing. haha. my teacher commented that he noticed
that i don't look at the object very often but i'm kinda getting
it right anyway. i wonder if that's a good or a bad comment.
he also said he doesn't know what i'm thinking cos i was
expressionless. which i thought was hilarious and made me
laugh, cos i have always been miss exaggerated-expressions!
well i guess it was a room full of strangers and i needed to
warm up before letting all my crap hang loose. heh heh.

the lesson went on for about 3 hours, with a lot of "what do
i do next?" thoughts going through my mind. it was really
interesting though, how we all look at different angles, and
even if it were the same angle, how we would look at it in
a different way. don't you think the brain and how we work
is just fascinating?



yeah yeah i know, not very good at all. well cut me some
slack cos i only had 3 hours!! we'd be working on this
again and finishing it up during our next lesson.
hopefully, it turns out much nicer! yikes!