hitting "reply all" when you can not clearly identify EVERY PERSON on a group email...

 

tut tut...

 

not pointing any fingers here....

Yet another hilarious exchange of cleverly written emails. God bless Lizzie Lamb....

 

Painting the scene - it is 1994, Liz and I are all of 13 years old. We believe we are destined to be famous rockstars, we feel the anxst and pain/suffering that all real musicians do (usually relating to less than perfect maths results hehe), we identify, we're playing with big guitars in the Lambs' poolhouse. We are emulating (attempting to) the Pixies and Ramones...I am crap and getting nowhere, Liz is clearly outblitzing me on both bass and guitar, she sees my frustration, calls in the big guns. Liz lends me her gold nugget live recording (a tape of course) of 'the pixies' for some inspiration...

 

Liz: "Mehreen, this is the only copy I have of this live recording which was done in the USA (as the pixies have never toured oz before) so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't lose it...."

Mehreen: (nodding head excitedly, thinking to myself "THIS is the inspirational break I have been waiting for my whole life...a Pixies mix tape with a side serving of Green Day on the flipside") "Yep, for sure, I'll make a copy and give it back to you next week."

Liz: "Cool..."

Mehreen: "Cool...."

 

Alas, that was the last either of us ever saw of the pixies live recording and I have carried the burdening guilt ever since. Occasionally in times of sheer drunkenness we will reminisce over the poor mix tape but recently thanks to triple j i thought i can finally lay my guilty conscience to rest. as i said earlier, god bless Lizzie Lamb :) see emails below:

 

 

no one does pop music like asians. especially the taiwanese. im telling you these guys put sugarplumfizzycolabubblegum yanks to shame!

 

i cant tell you the name of the albums or the names of the exact tracks but jolin tsai (chick) and jay chou are absolutely amazing. i have been bopping along to their tunes for the last few days. qual qual qual.

why would you ask someone to 'go to the movies' when you want to "catch up" with them? i couldn't imagine anything more antisocial for an occasion that is supposed to be highly social and chatty.

 

osb - offensive social behaviour.

 

 

apart from being evacuated down 60 flights of stairs TWICE yesterday (big earthquake hit Indonesia and we got the big aftershock treatment) and being reminded that this space is still in existence today, i owe a snapshot of the last few weeks. apparently the southern coast of indo has been devestated and we are supposed to be expecting more from the 'ring of fire' tectonic plates that sit underneath indo's surface. freaky shit. sitting 30 levels above the ground, i tell you it was a tad on the scary side watching my desk sway side to side and wondering if i was having a flashback to adolescent days of stupidity :)

 

both mum and wooj have flown through on their way to pakiland and have had too much fun with both, pics uploading shortly.

 

chinese new year was also really fun fun fun! wei was kind enough to adopt me as his familys orphan for the weekend, so i got to spend a lot of the festivities at the tan's place. we ate so much cool food, including a home done steamboat for the reunion dinner on new years eve when all the kids stay up as late as possible gambling to ensure their parents have a long life. no gambling was done but i do think i stayed up very very late that night (probably reading salman rushdie which i have not been able to put down!!).

 

i witnessed yet some more fab music moments (i was seriously not expecting it in SINGAPORE of all places!!!) when i firstly saw Muse, but more importantly caught the Beastie Boys at the Good Vibes festival. Having seen them at several big day outs and once at the metro in sydney, i was absolutely surprised to see them rock harder here!!!!!! they were simply buzzing all over the stage and entertained us all for over 1.25 hours!!! love a pleasant surprise, cos i was expecting them to be a bit flat as they are old codgers by now....

 

latest discovery (yeah im a bit daggy and tech unsavvy) but have discovered a WEALTH of music on the jjj website. live sets, mixed tapes, it's simply wicked stuff....im sharing the goodies, get on and have a look: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music_specials/artist.htm

 

ok, pics being uploaded later. sorry for being boring, lets hug it out bitch.

chots xo

 

 

his name is jack. he is early forty something, a widower, has a daughter, works for the us ctu (counter terrorist unit) has great ties with the president and all fbi/cia senior heads, leads a highly unbalanced life jam packed with adventure, conspiracy, lots of big guns and a tonne of freaky coincidences...

 

it's official. i am having a fictional love affair wth a fictional tv character.

 

meet jack bauer, the lead character in the best tv to ever hit our screens - 24. i never really bought into the 24 concept (24 x 1 hour episodes of real time events) because the pain and hassle of watching 1 x episode a week has never sit well with me - coming from a person who tries to avoid watching tv at all costs because of the annoyingly long ad breaks (!).

 

but the story that unfolds with each season of 24 is not only spine tingling and at times stressful, it is one of the best thought out and written plotlines ever. we are faced with our lead character jack, around whom the characters constantly rotate depending on the national crisis he has been summoned to save the usa from (mainly the city of la). he has a menace of a daughter, kim, who he simultaneously rescues as she is prone to always get herself into trouble - she is usually scantily clad in skimpy, tight white singlets.

 

apart from watching a stack of 24 recently (managed to fit in around 13 hours in 2.5 days this weekend passed) and celebrating Haroon's bday (see pics), things have been pretty low key. have started attending the most amazing yoga/meditation class that will warrant a separate entry unto itself because it is actually infiltrating all aspects of my life. safe to say, choti has slowed down the pace a notch.

 

chots xx

culture vulture time again - this time for my first asian chinese new year. coming up on the weekend of 19 feb and being the dirty expat that i clearly i am, i somehow managed to forget i was in asia momentarily til this weekend passed. leanne was here from sydney on her way back from europe (bless her, she rocks!) and we walked down to chinatown and all 5 senses were chinafied within seconds.

 

the smell of smoky sweet woody incense that lingers in your hair and clothes for the rest of the day, the music of the high pitched chinese sopranos (and percussion frenzies at key plot thickening intervals), the vibrant bright red and golds, the touch of the gooey jelly sweets and cakes that wobble in your hand like cheap plastic boobs, brushing past clans of 3 generations of the same family all buying big on their red packets for pre-death inheritance distribution and eating soupy dumplings in the rain.

 

we had many an amazing conversation this weekend, but i posed a really interesting thought starter that when i am to make my oscar winning film (of course boycotting the actual event) and move to paris, i would hold small dinner parties with my favorite anti-establishment famous friends (well, they would be my friends by then).

 

at this dinner table i would invite the following people:

- johnny depp: he lives in paris, destined to be a regular i reckon

- madonna (have identified that she is exactly like me, except a few years older, white, great dancer etc etc but you get the drift) and maybe guy ritchie if they stay together. surely we could smalltalk about movies, maybe collaborate on my second oscar?

- benicio del toro: he's about as anti-establishment as they come, hides from the paparazzi, doesn't turn up to his own movie premieres.

- thom yorke: do i even need to justify this one? he signs off all his emails and blog postings with a 'x'...sigh

- my current favorite f*cking cool designers/artists http://www.eleykishimoto.com

 

a very very smart ex coleague of mine confessed that she uses this question in interviews to test a persons ability to identify inspiration (and subsequently passion) and i must admit i have stolen this from her in recent times...so who would you invite to your dinner party? dead or alive?

 

hmmm, maybe the moral of todays post is that it is finally time for that career move i been contemplating for such a long time??????

 

x

My god, 06 was without a doubt the quickest one to date. A big one, but a GREAT one indeed.

 

I headed down to Sydney town for new years which was insane. Some stuff that was successfully achieved:

 

- Flying in at 10pm on the 29th didn't stop Wooj and I from heading straight to the Cat N' Fiddle (www.thecatandfiddle.net) in Balmain to see her friends band Meza (www.myspace.com/mezaband)

- Drinking the yummiest schooner of Carlton Draught EVER

- Checking out the revamped Kirketon Hotel (FIX) (http://www.kirketon.com.au/)

- a short visit to the revamped-but-still-looks-the-same Grand Pacific Blue Room and my ye ole ole favorite reliable and faithful Ruby Rabbit (www.rubyrabbit.com.au).

- Eid was a girly affair with Wooj, Ammi and I eating up a storm with some family friends. Around 42 shami kebabs were consumed that night alone.....by me.

- counting down at Kuletos (cocktail bar http://www.kuletos.com.au/). Really took me back to my uni days of bumming around Newtown most afternoons (strategically had zero classes in the morning!!) and especially hanging with Liz Lamb and Nikoletta who I was reunited with after almost 5 years. Needless to say some things don't change and we ended up giggling (and taking photos of each other doing "Asian poses" complete with fingers forming V's - see pics).

- managing to get a last minute ticket to Field Day and boy was it Hendociting...(hehahhehehahahaheheha). I don't know where to start - Solveig, Mylo, Kid Kenobi and a WICKED day out. When I figure out how to do the YouTube thing, I will post videos up for you to see for yourselves.

 

The rest of the time was spent chowing down Wagamama's with Wassef, pubbing it up in the Rocks with the old Mojo crew, eating lots (!!!) of home cooked meals (THANKS AMMMMAAAAA!!!), chilling with NasYas (Happy Budday Yasmeeeen), drinking stacks of chai and general hanging around....and coming back to be greeted by Aboo on his way home from Mecca and catching the Singa Desi crew at Reema's party...

 

Something new starting from next post...i promise :)

 

Until then, xox

Chotoo

 

1) You really love your home country more than life itself. In fact, don't leave your home country ever. Period.

 

2) You can't handle walking at a pace of 1km/h which is the average pedestrian rate in warmer climates.

 

3) You can't handle big crowds of Asians.

 

4) You don't like Asians.

 

5) You are inflexible in your travel co-ordination and like to plan all your travels down to the dotting of i's and crossing of t's.

 

6) You can't handle the fact that sometimes waiters may get your order wrong.

 

7) You can't accept that Taxi drivers may take you to the wrong place, but only because they don't understand you through your broad accent. (speaking louder is not the solution either)

 

8) Words such as 'The Bali bombings', 'Schapelle Corby' and 'Bali Nine' would deter you from ever visiting certain regions. Places like Bali wouldn't want you there either nor do they need your contrived and patronising dollars.

 

9) The thought of stray dogs/cats and rabies makes you feel 'ill' or 'dirty', let alone the squirmish impact it has on you when you see it in real life.

 

10) You feel the need to shower at every opportunity/before and after meals/at sleeptime, after taking a piss etc....

 

and the clincher....

 

11) You have no desire to do your homework before arriving here and assume that you can simply rock up and there will be a tour bus/guide waiting on arrival. This is NOT the case and I strongly urge ANY traveller to read up before embarking on Asian travels. It also stops you from asking dumb questions...

 

 

I've always wondered why Subway Coke tastes so darned good? No really, out of all the fast food Coke 'mixes' I've had, it really is a truth that Subway is the most refreshing. Yet, I'm still on a quest to find out WHY it is clearly the inferior tasting Cokey goodness...hmmm...

 

For some reason I am listening to a whole stack of oldskool Elton John and The Beatles at the moment. I can't seem to shake Rocket Man/Benny and the Jets/Yellow Submarine out of my head...some real quality music, in fact maybe some of the best music ever made...it's a big call but i think i just made it without even knowing that my non-commital self was remotely able to commit such an opinion.

 

An embaressing musical moment (and interesting exchange of emails) from Simmmmoooooo Wassef - my original Sydney University "ill-have-a-large-chips-n-gravy-thanks-sweetheart" buddy. We have had this banter since day dot about him being a "newskool 80's" kid because he was born in 1982 although managed to finish up his studies with the rest of the '81 babies. So every time a potential argument would arise, it could quite easily be resolved with a quick newskool 80's "full stop to the power of infinity", per example:

 

Choti - "Simmy, what time's our econometrics lecture?"

Sim - "2pm"

Choti - "I thought it was at 3pm"

Sim - "Naaaaaan, 2pm, I swear"

Choti - "No it's not"

Sim - "But Choti..."

Choti - "Whatever Wassef, you're newskool 80's mate, let's go play some pool instead"

Sim - "OK cool, but have you got any food?"

 

 

Scroll from the bottom up. but basically i went for around 7 days where i couldn't stop humming an ace of base song (i saw the sign, and it opened and it up my eyes i saw the sign) and in my consultation with Wassef about why this was happening, I saw a day where I got the 'full stop to the power of infinity' treatment back. 7 years of pented up newskool vs. oldskool angst, rushes out only to leave me sore and gobsmacked. It must be that time of year where words such as 're-evaluate', 'resolutions' and 'goals' seem to be part of everyday questions, phrases such as 'midlife crisis' make me want a very very fast and red car....

for some reason this dumb space wasn't letting me write any entries...for weeks! so i had all this amazing, insightful crap to write up and it's all just a dream now....sigh

 

i've been in hardcore pitch mode, my first asian pitch. really interesting stuff actually. how do you create a campaign that is sure to work in india all the way down to australia/nz and everywhere in between? the cultural differences between the asian powerhouses, although close geographically, are immense and sometimes bipolar opposites. for example, a tvc showing armpits will not pass through the malaysian censorship board and animals can not be shown in indonesian ads. just a few examples, but the list is huge....

 

one fun little minibreak i had was up to KL last weekend. i caught the bus up with Mehru and Noon, a 5 hour busride which was really fun as we spent the entire journey chinwagging ('chatting' for non-aussies). they both are asolutely tops!!!! i bid them farewell at their hotel and went to stay with Sonia (gorgeous as always!!!!!) who was flying through malaysia on her way to india for 6 weeks to become a famous bollywood actress. it was really great to see her and finally have a chance to catch up on overdue stuff. we didn't do much to be honest - kinda ate lots, visited a nearby temple, revisited KLCC and dropped by the night markets to satisfy any fake designer purchase urges (not mine although some of the hermes and coach stuff was seriously convincing).

 

i left her on the sunday morning and bumped into M&N a few hours before our return bus was to depart ole KL and boy did we have a smashing time. we found a little outdoor lounge bar and decided to get somewhat intoxicated ("vodka shots anyone???") to make the journey go a bit faster....and did it ever! hehe...to top it off, we went off for some haleem and nehari at 'Usmans' - the only legit pakistani food in sg - for a post-bus-welcome-home dinner when we got back in at around 10pm, it was truly a fantastic way to end a truly fantastic weekend!!!!! 

 

lots of fun stuff coming up in the next few weeks, hopefully CRAPPY MSN will let me actually make use of this space.

 

until then muffins,

choti xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

ps-i am going to be here for xmas and new year, may be back in oz towards end jan.

A religous music experience was had last Thursday night when I saw the infamous Peaches perform live at Zouk. The electropoprock princess graced the club in a silver leotard and trainers and rocked up a storm for over 2 hours, was encored for 3 extra tracks and danced IN the crowd much to the dismay and concern of her security...she is one of the best live acts I have ever seen and her tunes ain't so bad either (anyone who has ever seen the awesome show Freaks n' Geeks would recognise the theme music "i don't give a damn about my reputation", not to mention her famous duet with the main man Iggy Pop). Go and see her....

 

Yet another award ceremony was frequented by the usual types on Friday night. Bates cleaned up with some client work which was somewhat refreshing. Scam is the order of the day here, but to a ridiculous extent - it seems like regional clients don't buy award winning ideas and poor little deprived creatives are left to fend for their own 'cornershop' clients...This is starting to bug me as more emphasis should be put on sellling decent ideas to paying clients - keeps the creatives motivated to continue providing good work for the big bucks. Some nice work done by M&C Saatchi http://mcsaatchi.com/work_detail.php?workid=117 Check out the full 'Mediacorp Hear it First' campaign.

 

Last night I managed to hold my first Singaporean party. Wine, cheese and an open house. Starting at 2pm, finishing up at around 2am have a look at tha pics of the aftermath.

 

Apar from that, it's time to get back to work.

Choti xox

Hmm once again I've been slack in updating the ole space. Combo of work and a fairly active social life has been top of mind.

 

Other interesting bits and pieces:

 

1) Most recently, I've adopted a personal trainer at my gym. An investment let me tell you.

2) Eid was spent wih my adopted Pakistani family here. We have developed a nice little bunch of Pakistanis from all over the world. Never ceases to amaze me as to how small a community the Pakis have managed to create globally. All I can say is that the world is small and being a Lahori is testament to this :)

3) Visited KM8 - Singapore's answer to the Greenwood, except it's a bit more Cafe` Del Mar, loungey. We all had a wonderful afternoon out.

4) Yet another advertising award night, this time for the Singapore 'Hall of Fame' awards. Fun.

5) Went to a Slayer concert. YES, Slayer, the hard rock metal band. Hilarious! Would never have dreamt of paying over A$100 to go to a gig, but hey this is Singapore....Going to see Peaches this week which I am absolutely HANGING for...

6) Lastly, I met the coolest cat in the world. It's a stray kitty that resides on the main road in Little India and sleeps like a human on its' back, deep sleep, hi level REM, in the middle of a walkway. Now that is one kool kitty...

Enjoy the pics

Choti xo

 

 

(in the most teeny bopper voice EVER) OMIGOD, the new JT album is SOOoOOoOoOOoO hot! No really, he did it again (or should we forward our praises to the ultra {ahem} talented Pharrell?) Look, who gives a sh*t, the album rocks and Justin merely adds to the whole finesse of dirty pop. Go and get a copy, I promise you won't be disappointed. Yes Brewer, even you...

 

Ammi left me on Saturday night, homeward bound (we could hear those hungry cats of hers meowing all the way in Singa's -  MEEEOOOOW) after we got to spend a quality week or so doing usual Ammi/Choti stuff. Most fun of all would have to be The Princess and the Hunter (no, not a story about me silly people!!). Being the cultured sort that I CLEARLY am, I thought it would be a nice idea to show off my "culturalness" to my Ammi so I booked us a pair of tickets to a Taiwanese opera performance. We quickly stopped off at a mad modern Asian restaurant called Space (in the same complex as the theatre) who served up the most amazing strawberry, chicken and roasted nut salad and then found our seats in the huge Esplanade Theatre which was incidentally designed to look like a durian (ew).

 

So being 2 out of the 5 foreigners in the full house theatre around the same size as the Opera House, we made ourselves comfortable...with the 2 screens to the side of the stage. Yes, we read the entire opera in subtitles...it was like watching SBS, without the cheap rampant Eastern European style sex, better choreography and martial arts and awesome ancient Chinese percussion instruments. It was GREAT and I strongly urge y'all to check it out should a Taiwanese Opera company be travelling through your neighbourhoods.

 

So post parental withdrawal saw me make some big life changes (and purchases!). First bad decision was to enter an electronics store after half a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc with Jen - a lazy Sunday afternoon bevoir affair at Clarke Quay. Electronics here are dirt cheap and seem even cheaper when you are turning blue from holding the hiccups in as you peruse the home theater section. "Hic! Hic! I just want it to SOOOUND good". I also got a discount on my new unnecessary 2500w hairdryer that nearly caused my newly polished fingernails to catch fire. That's another story...

 

Other big decision was to get FIT. Yes, I promised myself I would never join one of those big, horrible, gyms that play too much Vengaboys on repeat but I simply had to - I'm finally a backpack carrying member of Fitness First. Funniest bit is that I came home especially early this evening to get into my new exercise gear, plugged into the music world and walked to the gym. I was bl**dy was buggered wasn't I by the time I got there, so instead I sat around, signed the papers, had a sandwich, a coffee and walked back home. I even drew a sweat...but hey I looked the part in my new fitness attire.

 

Last item for todays agenda is new years 07. I have officially decided to have a big new years do at my house this year. So wherever you are, you are invited to my house for an oriental style affair - the global invite will circulate shortly so look out for it :) Brewer will be in town, so may the rowdiness begin...

 

Anyhow, must be off, my muscles are simply killing me..hehe.

lots of love

chotoo xox

I am useless and can't believe it has been so long since I've written something substantial. Or interesting for that matter.

 

I am a bad person.

 

I am a lazy person who must make more time for blogging.

 

Ok enough self punishing babble, the quarter life crisis is tough enough minus overt self loathing online....

 

Has been crazy days with mum and dad in town. We have had a GREAT time - mainly eating and shopping although we did sneak in a touristy trip to the Singa Zoo today. Fun!

 

Bday went off well (thanks for all your well wishes), crossed the 24th finish line last week and started the marathon to the 26th baton. Party was AWESOME, the usual faces came out to make it a really special night. We dined at Da Paolo in Rochester Park http://www.dapaolo.com.sg/ which is one of the best modern European meals I've had here (not to mention a pretty incredible selection of wines). Haing said this, it was once again the people that made it a special night as you will see from the pictures. Yet again, big thanks to mum and dad for trekking over especially for the occasion! All the rest of you were so sorely missed but it was so nice to hear your voices/receive texts/flowers/gifts/cards - I was a very lucky girl that day. x.

 

As for the rest of the pics - let me skim through what they are about.

1. Some zoo pics from todays adventure. If reincarnation exists, I hope God/Buddha/Devilman doesn't send me back to earth in the form of a zoo animal. No matter how nice a zoo, the whole concept simply doesn't sit right with me. Animals shouldn't be caged up in any kind of form (unless they are mosquitoes, spiders, snakes, lizards etc). No really, the word 'enclosures' doesn't make it superior to a cage...especially when it is 25+ degrees everyday and you are keeping polar bears in air conditioned rooms!!!

2. CK autumn launch party. Tommy-bless-his-cotton-socks managed to score VIP tickets to the CK launch - much fun, booze and McDonalds was had that night - by Tommy :)

3. Recent Sunday afternoon adventure at Rob G's condo. Apparently the beer was simply not chilled enough :)

4. Random encounter with the most quaint buddhist temple located SMACK bang in the middle of the CBD. I had to do a double take as I walked past - what an amazing site. I have no idea what it is called or exactly what street it is on...I wouldn't be surprised if I dreamt the entire thing up!! A really special and serene place in the midst of chaos....

 

And I think that it is it. I have a few short stories that I have scribbled down recently, perhaps it is time to air them finally.

 

I promise not to be so boring.

 

I promise to write more often.

 

I promise to try and take more pretty pictures.

 

Until next time,

Choti signs out. xo

 

 

Yes it is official, I have become the most boring person in Singapore. I started writing this entry 2 weeks ago - on a Friday night 7.30pm when I missed out on using my VIP tickets to a STACIE ORRICO concert (yes, im still wondering who she is myself) to sit in the office and prepare for a bigass pitch on Monday morning. It was ridiculous. There have definitely been moments where I've wanted to throw things, mainly tantrums, but yes it's been a busy few weeks.

 

On the upside, Ammi and Aboo are in town this week (and next for Ammi) to help me celebrate my 25th (oh god!). They are keeping me SO busy - shooping and eating is consuming life outside of work. But it's GREAT FUN and overall it's just fabulous to see them...

 

Promise to upload pics shortly, i hope y'all are still visiting this poor little neglected space :(

 

Chotio xox

Was pleasantly greeted by friendly familiarity this weekend when Nas & Yas (havng morphed into a singular entity only to be referred to as "Nasyas" or "Yasnas") popped in for 24 hours on their way OS. They have set off on a 3 month adventure around the globe, first stop Chotiville, do not pass go nor collect that 200 bucks. It was absolutely fabulous spending time with them, we ate, drank and watched Indian flicks....some things never change ay :) Check out the pics....

 

I think I have worked some 17gernillion (yep made it up) hours in the last 2 weeks so I'm pretty pooped. I've watched a stack of fillums recently (in an attempt not to leave the couch on weekends except for food emergencies) - most interesting would have to be the Godfather trilogy. Yes I'm 'fessing up that I had never heard of the Corleones until 10 days ago and my god am I completely blown away. Masterpieces - all of them (part 1 ranks high in the "best films ever" list). Have decided that the Sling here in Singapore is dedicated to catching up on all the movies/books I've missed out to date. Next stop is the Rocky's, the Rambos and The Great Escape (upon recommendation from Nasyas). If you think of any all time classic 'mustviews' please email me or leave me a comment...

 

Oh and I have adopted some grandparents here! Introducing Mammaji and Pappaji - my adopted Singaporean grandfolks (care of some family friends - no I did not pick them up on the bus!). They are 2 very cool oldskool Singaporean/Malaysian Indians who are up to their 5th or so generation in the South-East Asian region. It's phenomenal how huge their respective families are here. They were kind enough to take me to a wedding of their grand niece - well what a fusion. The bride was half Punjabi, half Spanish and was marrying into a Punjabi family based along the south coast of Malaysia. The reception itself consisted of Malays, Spanish, Chinese, Punjabis, Muslims, Sikhs, Taoists, goris, goras and many sparkly joras. The Spaniards retaliated to the Bhangra on the dance floor with the most amazing spontaneous flamenco - I observed that just as we were forced to take bush dancing (heel and toe, heel and toe, slide, slide, slide, slide) the stunning Spagnolas were obviously forced to learn the dance of love in their 'learn to walk' years.

 

Anyhow, having been on a 17 hour shoot today I really think it is time to call it a night. FYI Oziland advertising buddies - the catering is MUCH better on Aussie shoots :):):):)

 

xo's

Choti Corleone

Nope, have not gone completely insane but believe it or not I have had 2344 visitors to my blog since its inception exactly 6 months ago. For this I wanted to say thank you all for popping by at some point and sharing in the journey. xo's all round.

 

Hmm, so should go back to post Sydney blues as you would have seen (in the photo gallery) I did manage to have a complete blast down under and came back to be greeted by the flubird (HA!). Managed to quickly hit the ground running at work with many late-night visits to local pharmacists and subsequently the grocery store. Meet my new best friend in Singapore: Cold Storage (oh god did I just say that out loud?).

 

Think Woolies style with a bigger Asian food aisle and a liquor section - the place is a dream come true. I found these most ENORMOUS apples (ha ha for those of you who thought this was going to be a political rant about the unsafe world we {have always} live{d} in...pffft as if!) in there that come at a price of around S$15 each - go the Japs for pumping these babies full of the stuff Chinese female swimmers would be envious of. Check out the pic of me holding one to get a perspective of the sheer size and AMI (apple mass index. ahem.)

 

As for Thom Yorke - the guy can simply do zero wrong in my eyes and if 5 listens of his latest album are testimony to that then so be it. I recommend everyone go out and get a copy of The Eraser to get the juices boiling and overflowing. As always emotion packed with an extra jolt of mood and electrop...heaven!

 

And as for the outstanding item on today's agenda, I suggest you check out the photo gallery for a certain sequence of pics featuring Simmo and Aleksi. Bless.

 

Over and out for tonight.

Chots xoxoxoxoxoxox....

Uh huh, managed to send Aboo a text message an hour before landing (love the wi-fi on Sing Air) along the lines of 'landing in an hour, hope someone is there to pick me up'. Of course Aboo was neither awake nor left his moby on overnight, so thankfully Hector called the olds to check that I had managed to make it home. To which they were both shocked and Ammi immediately jumped in the car and picked me up from the airport. She ensures me that she intuitively knew I was going to turn up that day...freaky....

 

So I had a total of 3.5 days in Sydney and managed to:

- dine with the parentals at the refurbed Hilton (without a doubt the best creme brulee` I've ever had)

- followed up by a pizza/beer/wine dinner at home with A&A, Shahida Auntie, Nas, Yas, W&H - we had our usual banter going on, hysterics all round (check out Naseer's awesome t-shirt - he really is a badmashi!!)

- drinks with the buddies at The Loft (Simmo and I began the night/afternoon early at the Opera Bar cos now that I'm a tourist, I insisted we go somewhere "along the harbour watery like place you know?!?") and Amar and I ended the night quite late at THE CASSSSS at around 7am the next morning. That night alone, we managed to fit in visits to a restaurant in the Cross called Tharons where we sangalong really loudly to hits such as '500 miles' (complete with 'umdidilumdidilaaas'), ate doner kebabs (YUMMMM), Hugo's, Candy's Apartment (was it?), The Courthouse (yeehar) and were refused entry to Q Bar and Sapphire Suite...hang on did I say that out loud? Thank you thank you thank you to all of you who came out, it was absolutely wonderful to see you all and have no doubt I'll be seeing ALL of you here in Singas at some stage. xox

- attended Woojie's 30th, aptly themed for 'the 80's'. Had a blast, especially in the costume department, everyone did a FAB job. Send me more pics if you were in attendance and I will endeavour to post all of em up.

- general hanging out at home and repacking all my stuff, atempting to sort out my parents new spare bedroom :)

- bring back a horrific fever which I think I might have already passed onto Wei

 

It's a public holiday tomorrow for Singapore National Day (Happy 41st Bday ay!), apparently the fighter jets will be out in full force so no sleep in for Choti :(

 

Until next time ay - love Chots xo

 

PS - Really over this MSN Space, time to move, send me recommendations on where the blog should go instead??

 

Yes, managed to surprise the folks by turning up in Sydney last Wednesday morning, its a long story and i'll explain it later. Overall, am back in Singapore again, exhausted and ill. Totally not loving this new blog style, ew, thinking about moving elsewhere. Myles, where are you? Need your help to shift this entire thing to another location. Will let y'all know where I end up.

Laters xoxoxoxoxo

Chotio