FYI, it was really loud hence why the whispering shot. Nothing to report I promise....

....you know there's a problem. Yeps, been workin, workin, workin...

 

Had a nice relaxing weekend, my uncle T was in town this one past. He's a genius hailing from 'the hills are alive with the sound of...Minneapolis' where he does genius things that "genii" (does that make it a plural? Maybe he can correct me!!!) tend to do with electricity/PHD's/computers/robots/chips (not the potato kind).

 

In the space of 51 odd hours we managed to fit in the following:

 

1) Dinner at The New Majestic a MUST for anyone who comes visiting. Right around the corner from my place it's the hottest/newest boutique hotel and has the most superb little restaurant within

2) Bussed it over to Malaysia (Johor Bahru) which reminded us both how lovely a place Singapore actually is. Ew. Found a nice mosque though, see pics

3) Had yummy mint tea on Arab St (another really amazing little nook of Singapore)

4) Dined at Graze, 1 of 5 hip restaurants located along the trendy Rochester Park

5) Made friends with random advertising people sitting at the table next to us and consumed yet more dodgy wine

6) Visited the Singapore Art Museum - out of interest it took approximately 23 minutes to view the ENTIRE 5 wings of the worst art I hope never to view again

7) Lunched at my absolutely most favorite secret eatery in Chinatown - it's such a find!!

 

This crazy 'ghost month' has just started here. It's the time of year when Singaporeans offer gifts (paper money, paper clothes, paper iPods, fruit, cakes etc) to ghosts so they stay happy and don't haunt them. Wafts of incense smoke up the city along with the small bonfires pretty much on every street corner/in front of shops. We were thinking about offering our own house ghosts some gifts, but they would then leave us and that wouldn't be very nice to the poor little ghosties.

 

No, I'm not kidding, we really do live in a haunted house although our ultra Christian landlord SWEARS that no one has ever died in our place or even the vicinity. Funny that, considering we live on the same street as the Singapore General Hospital and Chinatown in general has a wealth of history relating to the mafia and whacky murders, "hanging rooms" etc. Anyways, back to the ghosties, the poor dears obiously don't like the TV being left on for long periods of time, nor the lights and they are very cautious about the windows being unlocked. I guess it's all in the name of safety first and conserving electricity second. Major respect to 'em I say.

 

Now back to my previous 'THAT' drawer post - I have a comment from Tommy who let me take a photo of his own THAT drawer which resides at the bottom of his chest of drawers - SEE I'M NOT CRAZY Y'ALL!! Despite the lack of commenting on that post, little Tommy even made use of my coined term. Bless his cotton socks.

 

And in addition to the world's most longest blog entry EVER, I'd like to end it with one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard/read in my life themed around poking fun at Aussies. So a bloke walks into a pub wearing stubbies, singlet and one thong ("flip flop" for the poms). The old fella behind the bar looks over to his feet and ponders for a second..."Mate, did you lose a thong?". The bloke pauses for a second and says "Naaah mate, I found one."

 

Gold.

 

Time for sleeeep.

Chotio xox

PS - Oz trip currently on hold. More details in time. Not looking good though :(

 

 

Yet another weekend dedicated to work - cramped up in an over air conditioned, pitch black editing suite, cutting a short video for which we had 2 full days to comp together. Joy! I'll be posting up another picture of me in front of the certificate fridge as I stormed into my boss' office on Monday morning demanding yet another rightful accolade! He just laughed....

 

Managed to fit in a little bit of socialising and had a really fun night out on Sat, was my new buddy Nai Yen's birthday. She's an awesome planner I work with at Bates and she pulled together a really fun crew at a cute little bar called Hideout. The music was awesome, mixed by Scottish, Welsh and Malay dj's - very Ruby Rabbit-esque with 70's funk mixed in with hip hop and I was most definitely craving my girls and DJ Tim ("Timmmyyyyy") Sea that night. Met some really nice people from all over the world reinforcing the international identity (lack thereof?) of this place.

 

Fun news is that I am back in Sydney for a few days during the first weekend of August. Woojie's having her big 30th shindig and well there's no way I can miss that one so I'll def be organising some drinks on Thurs 3rd so keep it free. Wow, that will mark exactly 6 months since I left Sydney and boy has it flown...

 

Hmm must get that digicam out of retirement or maybe start making use of this fab new Nokia phone I have with a GREAT 2 megapixel camera :):)

 

Lots and lots of love.

Sweaty Choti xoxo

 

PS - pics from Jen & Marc's recent trip to Singa's. Before and after shots of the awesome chilli crab we had. yum!

..a huge social one! Starting with the devastating Aus v. Italy foulplay last Monday. I honestly had to choke back tears, sitting in Bungey Bar along Singapore's Clarke Quay (sipping on VB's, never thought I would enjoy a few coldies like I did that night) being consoled by Tommy.

 

Random midweek ageny parties took place with some farewells (bonus of living in 'Transitville' where people come and go before you even get to know their last names) and ended the workweek with the Effie (short for Effectiveness) awards - they were absolutely hilarious! Yet again shocked by a very unglamorous advertising industry where there are a) NO good looking people b) really bad ads c) disgustingly casual/bad dress sense...sigh. The good thing was that Bates took home 3 Effies for Heineken - a really nice event campaign where they organised a series of music events on rooftop carparks. Edgy, love work like that! Of course we went out afterwards to celebrate the victory which once again meant another silly big night....

 

Weekend days were spent shopping (Zara and MNG started their sale simultaneously!!!), eating, catching up on sleep and cleaning my room. As I attempted to rearrange my drawers/cupboard space, I realised that I have this habit of creating 'THAT drawer' - a phrase I have coined for that random space where you stash random things that simply don't belong anywhere. Everyone has one and it usually contains leftover passport photos, unused make up that you know you will never wear again but for some reason hold onto it, used batteries (or you're unsure whether they have been used?), empty water bottles, a Nokia product box which still contains the unread marketing paraphernalia, a gel eye mask and a half empty packet of throat lozenges.

 

Now I'm wondering if everyone actually DOES have a 'THAT drawer' so hopefully I'm not the only freak in the world. If you do, please drop me a comment and list out what you found in your own 'THAT drawer'...

 

Until next time kittens....

Choti loves you xo

 

PS - Brewster: I bought that Corrine Bailey bird's cd and it has one of those 'you can not import this into iTunes' blocks, therefore I am morally opposed to even listening to her music. Don't care how good the soul sister is, anti sharing is anti caring y'all...