new ride

doris sms-ed to ask me if i wanted to join her, tracy and eric for lunch at bishan. i declined 'cos i'm too lazy to go all the way there just for lunch.

then she called to say she'll be at west coast to collect her new suzuki swift and will drop by after that to pick me up so that we can go janet's place before having dinner together. eric was her designated 'vehicle commander' for the day while i was chauffeured by tracy for the first time.

in the end, the new car owner was made to drive from west coast to clementi, then to ang mo kio before going to punggol. after that, she had to follow our stunt driver, jason from punggol to bedok to pick up thomas for dinner and then to siglap for drinks.

hmm... that's all in a day's drive for the slightly stressed new car owner. cool, right? ;)

let's party

it's jerrell's 5th birthday and the theme is transformers. and he really looks cute in his autobot costume although he complained that it's warm after a while.

the children were thrilled as usual to meet their friends, play with the toys, crowd around the cake to sing the birthday song and drink lots of juice. the gang enjoyed the laksa specially catered due to overwhelming prior popular demand.

doris and thomas couldn't make it today 'cos they're on their way back from the US. julian really took the cake, pun fully intended. :)

check out what he did here.

dumplings

yup, that's right. 端午节 is round the corner again. this year, jan promised my mum that she'll come by to learn and help her out.

i fear for her. :P haha...

unfortunately, estee is down with flu... very likely that she had caught the bug from me a few days earlier. so in the end it's only mum and jan doing all the work. my contribution to the annual festival remains consistent, i eat the cooked dumplings.

delicious! :)

red

another outreach programme of the singapore arts festival 2009, this is by stalker theatre company [australia] held at the plaza, vivocity.

a very energetic and unconventional dance performed with the aid of what i call 'springy ladders' and stilts. there were 2 of these ladders that were fixed spring-loaded, straight up perpendicular to their stands on the floor. when the dancers climb to the top and lean over, it'll tilt over towards the ground and once the load is off, the ladders will spring back up straight again.

hung around to take pictures. my heart goes out to the dancers who had to perform in singapore's sweltering humidity. kudos to them for being able to take the heat. :)

marina barrage

another new place that i've not explored... have read about it in the papers and really intrigued by the 'grass' roof. yup, that's not a typo... it's an environmentally-friendly roof planted with real grass that keeps the buildings below cool.

today's the last performance of the singapore arts festival 2009 festival opening act, helios II by la compagnie malabar from france. the crowds wasn't too overwhelming i feel 'cos we didn't have any problems boarding the free shuttle bus from international plaza.

we were slightly early so had some time to go around taking pictures of the surroundings and the cityscape. the show promises to bring to life the construction of the sun god at its zenith, with a spectacular procession of circus artists, performances, music and dazzling pyrotechnic displays.

quite flashy with the occasional fireworks incorporated into the performance, all the performers were on stilts. the best part was the fireworks at the end but my camera's battery ran out of juice... that's not the worst, since i was prepared with a spare battery so it's great, right?

unfortunately, i wasn't able to change it in time in the semi-darkness to capture the glorious fireworks finale.

duh...

jennis & wei nien

so excited about attending the wedding dinner at st. regis 'cos i've not been there. the john jacob ballroom turned out to be such a grand and understated beauty. of course the pretty floral decorations played a part to create this romantic and almost dreamy feel of the night.

was slightly late since i waited quite a while for the bus, fortunately the dinner has yet to begin although most of the guests were already seated by the time i arrived.

jennis surprised me with a fiery-red evening gown that was definitely befitting of the happy and auspicious occasion. :P

the dinner menu, although chinese, wasn't your typical 8-course wedding dinner. it was a beautifully and individually-plated 6-course dinner that consisted of traditional wedding dinner staples such as shark's fin soup and abalone as well as less common dishes like scallops stuffed in yam, fried olive rice and a delightful ginseng essence with longan served cold. something which i thought might be too much for overseas or non-chinese guest.

i read in 8 days that it cost in excess of $1.7k for a weekend wedding dinner here but i guess it's money well-spent if you can afford it. me and the gals went round to take more pictures after the dinner. the crystal chandeliers just beg to be photographed.

jasmine & colin

it's a blissful month at my former office since there're 2 colleagues getting married this may. but my wallet has to take a beating. :P

jasmine started the ball rolling today with gowns that were eye-catching to say the least, all thanks to her lanky frame.

saw rudy's wife for the first time. and everyone tried to avoid sitting with him and ohad. luckily i was early, else i might have to sit with them if my seat was taken up by colleagues who flagrantly ignored the seating plan. :)

the food was ok, and everything proceeded like clockwork.

lunch @ sushi tei

had late lunch at the sushi tei at west coast plaza for an early mothers' day celebration since wilson just returned from his vietnam business trip this afternoon. and i have a wedding dinner to attend tonight.

first time eating at this branch. standards are consistent. no complaints. yummy as usual.

labour no more

it's a special labour day 'cos i wouldn't be labouring much from today for a while.

cheers!