I Like To Play Dirty

Back at school, the boys i used to have crushes on are mostly clean-cut. So are the celebrities i fantasized over. Years later, i went to college and my taste remained the same.

Then i went to university and something must have happened somewhere because i started falling for scruffy men with facial hair (not moustache/full-on beard though. i still think it's a crime to have one). Come to think of it, i think only two of my friends agreed with at least one of my choices because the rest went on about how 'dirty' or 'messy' they look. One even asked me if Guy A's hair is smelly!

Since then, friends have been saying that i have a weird taste in men. But guess what? I don't have a weird taste in men. They do!

In a research conducted amongst 76 women (aged 18-44), the majority preferred men with stubbly chins than those with clean-shaven faces. In fact,

"Men with light beards were considered the most dominant. Those with light stubble were rated the most attractive and as the ideal romantic partner for the short or long term. Clean-shaven men finished bottom for masculinity, dominance, aggression, and social maturity, and they were the least favoured choice as a long-term partner. They came second-to-last for attractiveness.

Facial hair, or beardedness, is a powerful sociosexual signal, and an obvious biological marker of sexual maturity."

See? Told you my taste is awesome!

Squish Your Watermelons And Durians Together

The next time i head to Jusco for grocery shopping, i'm going to pray that this happens to me.



And this video is awesome on so many levels:

It's a musical so that automatically makes it awesome.
Random acts like this put a smile on everyone's face.
The first guy they interviewed after the musical is hot!

Check out ImprovEverywhere for more of their wacky missions. I am officially in love. It's time like this that i wish i'm an American citizen living in New York (where they are based).

That Girl Looks Familiar...

Except for a few close ones, i did not tell anyone else this but not too long ago, i was filmed for an episode of TVIQ's English Room. They wanted to interview a writer and somehow Lady Luck decided to point them my way. It has been a long time since i've done something like this so when my editor told me about it, i got pretty nervous. I mean, i can talk about myself but to actually teach people how to write? I don't think i'm qualified yet.



Before filming began, all i wanted to do was to slap on some powder, eyeliner and mascara. But colleagues insisted that i put on some make-up so i don't look so pale on screen. Chen Ny lent me her lip gloss, Shamayne did my make-up and when i didn't have a clip to pin my hair up, they went scrambling around looking for one! I definitely felt the colleague love that day! =]

When the cameras started rolling, i realised i was speaking in my fake accent but couldn't stop myself! Thank God Joyce saw the clip (it premiered today) and said i didn't have the accent on. So yeah, as usual, with me being nervous, i was rambling on and on about how i go about writing an article. Miraculously, the video editors did a great job because i don't think i look that stupid on TV! What i said actually made sense! My dear English teachers, your efforts on me did not go to waste!

I still find it weird to see myself on TV though. And it doesn't help that the second half of the show was shot from the side, allowing the world to see my double chin! But oh well, i never said i was perfect.

Sweet Surprise

If i wanted to lose weight yesterday, i would have failed...miserably.

Morning was spent at Axian Dim Sum, Puchong where i had to interview the owner Jason for this show he's doing with AFC. Was kinda nervous at first because colleagues told me he cannot speak English. Wrong! His was not perfect but still much better than i had expected. And he kept bringing food to the table. Once your drink is finished, the very next second, a waiter places a new one in front of you! Ah, the wonders of dining in a restaurant with the owner...

Got back to an empty office cos it was lunch hour. And since we have longer lunches on Fridays, i thought, 'Why waste my free time?' and decided to join the girls for a chap fan lunch where I learnt about a new card game: In Between. Cousins, let's play this on Christmas! We bet using peanuts lah cos i believe gambling your hard-earned money is stupid.

About 20 minutes to the end of the work day, Rengee and the awesome intern (who went diving with sharks) dropped by with some sweet, sweet lovin' courtesy of DTL. I heart freebies! It was a huge box and in it were three massive pretzels! So huge that one pretzel alone can feed 10! Since only four of us were left in the office, we tore everything up and stuffed em into containers for us to take home, while devouring the remainders that could not fit into our containers. They even had my fave sour cream flavour!

Got back from work and Dad wanted to head out for a steamboat dinner. Tom yam, golden mushrooms, meatballs, beancurd skin, vege...what a delicious way to end my Friday night and celebrate the coming of the 3-day weekend!

Ah, definitely one of the best Fridays at work. Plus, my editor was not in so everyone's more relaxed! But we still love you Shamayne!

Familiar Faces On A Friday Night

Last Friday, the lecturer cousin, the cruiser cousin and I came together to do a little damage to our purses because when DPerkins, Topshop and Selfridge throw a member's day special, you don't say no to it even though you know you shouldn't add anymore clothes to your already full closet.

Because nothing in the stores caught my eye (or maybe because i've already fallen in love with Forever 21 instead), i walked away empty handed. Which is good in a way because i really should be saving up for more important things. But Eda told me she bought an uber cheap dress from Cotton On! Oh, the temptation...

P.S. - Why is it taking so darn long to upload a video onto YouTube? I need to get some sleep already!

No Black And White, Just Grey.

How much compassion should one have?

Compassion does not come with an instruction book that tells us when and how much of a good Samaritan we should be. Which is pretty scary judging from today's world where crime is aplenty. As much as you want to help someone (which is what we should do), a little voice in your mind keeps telling you "What if he's just pretending to be in need?", "What if he's really out to get you?", "What if you are the one who ends up getting hurt?". But another voice also reminds you to do the right thing.

Once, Karen, Joyce and I got tricked by a man pretending to be a Singaporean whose passport and belongings were stolen. We bought him an LRT ticket to the Singapore Embassy but luckily, did not give him any money despite him constantly telling us how hungry he was. A few weeks later, Karen saw the same man, with the same 'uniform' in the same place again. Fucking liar.

Recently, if you've read the papers, a man suffered a fatal shot while trying to rescue an aged woman from a snatch thief. He should be honored for what he did because frankly speaking, most of us (including myself), will think twice about helping strangers for fear of injuring ourselves.

I've spoken to mum a few times about this: If you witnessed a murder and are asked to testify in court to help prosecute the murderer, would you do it? While our morals would immediately lead us to say 'yes', you cannot help but to also consider the repercussions of your decision. What if you've testified and now, the murderer is after you? Is it fair to put your family and friends at risk just to do one act of kindness to a stranger? Wouldn't it be safer to just pretend you didn't see anything?

My answer for that question is always 'yes'. Because what rights do we have to complain about the shitty condition of today's world when we are taking the coward's way out by choosing to not help the authorities rid the bad guys. However, my 'yes' is not a solid one. I cannot help but wonder about the potential dangers that may come after.

I guess one will never know what one will do until one is in that situation.
And i hope none of us will ever be caught in such predicaments.

Light A Candle, Spread A Smile

This year's Mooncake Festival, i learnt not about the origin of mooncakes nor about the rabbit figure on the moon. Instead, i came to realise that paper lantern makers these days are cheapskates.

Seriously, what happened to the awesome yet cheap paper lanterns i used to play with back when i was a child? Not only are the paper lanterns expensive, the quality is as bad as my guitar playing - which i should add, is pretty bad. The wires to hang the lanterns are so friggin flimsy they snap easily; candle holder is too big to provide a secure grip causing the candles to tilt and eventually burn the lantern; some lanterns cannot even open properly!

I'm better off lighting colourful candles by the sidewalk while the boys opt for a more macho activity: grab any trash that is flammable, throw them into a pile, burn it, create a bon-fire.

At one point during the night, Jeremy, little Kimberly's friend, came up to me:

Jeremy: Auntie, can i have a candle?

Lea: Sure. Come and pick your colour.

Kimberly: She is che che lah. Not auntie.

How cute of her to defend my youth! Sigh, looks like my che che days are dying. Oh well, i shall be the hippest auntie in town then.

I Brought An Owl To Work

After buying new clothes, i usually don't like to wear them out immediately. I have a habit of keeping them in the cupboard for a few days or maybe weeks because the thought of having new, unworn clothes makes me happy!

But because my buys from 21 are so insanely pretty, i had to wear them to work as soon as they were washed and ironed!

Doesn't my necklace just spells awesome? I've been eying it on their website for so many months so when i saw it at the store, i grabbed it without having to think about it even for a nanosecond.

Can someone please move me into Forever 21?