me & my camera

my perfect afternoon tea

2008-03-21T10:24:00.004+11:00

not-too-heavy-crumbles-just-right scones with a feathery light dusting of icing sugar
whipped cream so light it feels like air
sweet strawberry jam that holds just right and doesn't slop all over the place
a cup of english breakfast tea (not in picture)
heaven.

my guilt

2008-02-18T20:40:00.000+11:00

so many questions

i miss you

a first for everything

2007-12-30T01:28:00.000+11:00

today was a day of firsts - & it wasn't even the new year yet!

my first photo shoot
my first time curling my hair (then ironing it out cause i refused to walk out looking like that)
my first hair ironing
my first make-up "makeover" by a make-up artist

shoot 1: the graduands & family
* mum said we looked like 'de tao' which literally means pig heads so i won't embarrass anyone (myself, in particular) by putting those up. i thought she was a bit harsh... i mean, honestly, christmas was, after all just 5 days ago (the turkey, the pudding, the cookies...).

shoot 2: the one for album covers and online dating profiles
* crazy group shots (3 generations of family members), solo shots, weird shots , hug everyone shots, do whatever you want shots (see above)

we had about 209 frames to choose our 'academic & try to look intelligent' portraits & match.com ("when you're serious about love" or "when love becomes reality" I can't remember the tagline) online dating site photos from...
the whole shoot took 3, almost 4 hours...

but it was so much fun!
but i'll definitely stay away from the curlers.

p.s: now, don't get me wrong about match.com. we are not members (sorry guys).
oh, it's real alright. the 2 of us (see above) just absolutely loooooove to laugh our heads off (if we're not reeling from shock & omfg-ing) at the profiles. i know i know, we'll probably die spinsters & burn in hell.

why did the pig cross the road?

2007-12-27T18:26:00.000+11:00

WARNING: Vegetarians & animal/ pig lovers, do not read.

we'll come back to that

this morning, i had my first encounter with a wild boar that looked a lot like the one in the picture

i was in my pajero io (backseat of course, only mum or dad drives at the ungodly hour of 7.45 am) on the way to brekkie when suddenly a huge wild boar (by huge, I meant - abt as tall as a pajero's tyre, about 40 cm wide, about a metre long - in other words, it could probably feed an entire village) came charging across the road (at full speed, mind you - this poor little piggy was running so fast its trotters were a blur) & nearly slammed into the side of the car (MY side)
& i swear i saw its tusks

now, i'm one who can keep my cool in any situation, so naturally, i shrieked & tried to claw my way to the other side of the car (very gracefully of course), mum screamed, dad swerved; the boar tried to stop, slipped & somehow grew wings & flew across/ under the car (i wasn't exactly paying attention) to the other side of the road

so it was aaalllllll fine
ok, actually, i might need to speak to my therapist

but anyway, back to the all important question of why the pig crossed the road.

To hear cars squeal their brakes.
It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees (Darwinism)
Whether the pig crossed the road or the road crossed the pig depends on your frame of reference (Einsteinism)
To crosseth or not to crosseth, that is the question. I shall crosseth, to compare thee, faire sow, to a summer's day (Shakespeareism)
Post your own answers & leave me be to recover from my pig trauma.

Happy Birthday

2007-12-15T11:00:00.000+11:00

I didn't forget

i have been

2007-11-14T23:42:00.000+11:00

...blessed with the water from the bathtub of david o'mer

*yes boo, i went, again

my favourite act from the La Clique show by The Famous Spiegeltent
need i say more?

i was in the 3rd row & was sprayed with water when he was swinging around with the ropes & doing acrobatic stuff in & out of the bathtub, clad only in jeans, drenched with water; with women at the back row near the bar whistling (& swooning) & stuff
let's just say, i was glad that i was sitting down & leave it at that :D

now. what is The Famous Spiegeltent?

well, The Age described it as a "pocket-sized mix of burlesque, vaudeville and circus"

oh oh & more specifically, "David O'Mer repeats his signature act, his jeans-clad figure a vision of physical perfection as he swoops in and out of his bath or soars overhead, cheekily spraying the audience with water. It has to be the sexiest act around."

& to this, Australian Stage Online added "the sex god himself - the man with the incredible physique (also know as Bath Boy!) - David O’Mer. This man alone probably generates more repeat business that the other popular performers combined!"

this is the Spiegeltent tent... you know what i mean.
cosiest circus i've ever been to - abt 6 rows or so around a small circular stage as you can see (except our stage was a bit raised), with a fully fitted bar the back & private booths if you want don't wanna get too close to "feeeeeel david o'mer's love"
& no elephants, dogs in tutus & all that jazz (they kinda had clowns (captain frodo) & a juggler (mario queen of the circus))
just plain, raw acrobatic talent
with a few 'what the h*ll?' acts thrown in for good measure

1 of them being: the great captain frodo - the rubberman from norway
hilarious character, this one
he managed to to squeeze his way through a 10' tennis racquet as well as a 12' one by dislocating and manipulating his body parts
& oh gawd, he had nipple rings - ouch.
i absolutely loved the way he threw tiny paper confetti sporadically throughout his performance for added "tadaaaa!" effects

a new act this year - guest artist mario queen of the circus
another hysterical chap, this one
yes that's right, queen
& boy, does he love Queen
he could associate Queen songs with almost anything - juggling, unicycling; whilst bragging about his sexual prowess in an accent a la Borat
he even made us sing We Are The Champions while he did that crowd surfing thing around the tent in his tight leather pants & midriff baring leather jacket

alright
next favourite act

the english gents

yup, that's what they're called
although they were originally "spotted on the streets of melbourne"
i'm guessing it's the spandex union jack undies that did it
saw them at last year's Spiegeltent and The Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year too at the free comedy show at Federation Square

an awesome duo - 1 silly mr. bean character; the other, like a mr. sheffield from The Nanny
great to watch if you're into surface anatomy. very educational. really.

& no, i was not at a strip club.

M.I.A

2007-11-12T14:19:00.000+11:00

yes yes i know
i'll be back after this short break

mt. buller

2007-08-11T23:32:00.001+10:00

it was 0ºC & freezing (naturally) with about 10 m visibility but it obviously didn't stop someone from skipping all the way to the slopes for some good serious skiing

our very cozy living room/ dining room/ fireplace

my skiing gear
whizzing down the slopes, the swishing sounds of the snow as you turn, feeling the wind in your face (with the occasional pelting by the snow & strong winds), tasting snow & blood
ahhh, good times

boots, wet shoes, gloves - you can just imagine the smell in the drying room

rum chocolate cake

2007-08-06T11:02:00.000+10:00

of some sort...
in a soufflé cup!
the chocolate-y (i used real dark chocolate), moist texture with a slightly sweet rum-y tinge...
the kitchen was a mess but it was worth it!

& oh my goodness, this is my 100th post!

Top 10 Reasons to Date A Physical Therapist (Physiotherapist)

2007-07-08T18:36:00.000+10:00

from a Facebook group:

We can get you in & out of bed.
We can work your body in ways you never imagined.
We understand the importance of a good ol' sweaty workout.
You can "play doctor" with an actual doctor.
We have no problems resorting to gadgets to get the job done.
PT's actually take classes on hip and pelvic movements.
It's in our job title to be physical.
We own a variety of lotions, creams and gels, and aren't afraid to use them.
We use "repeated contractions with timing for emphasis".
We do it on hospital beds and gym floors all day long.

take that, niro, chandran & fendi! ha!

festival de cannes

2007-05-30T23:58:00.000+10:00

The 2007 Cannes Film Festival

Monday May 28, 10:17 pm

Singapore film awarded Special Mention at
Cannes Film Festival

SINGAPORE : 23-year-old Singaporean director Anthony Chen has done Singapore proud.

His short film, 'Ah Ma', was awarded a Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival award ceremony.

It was only one of two short films to be awarded this honour, out of 11 short films selected from more than 3,000 for the Official Competition.

The other film is Mark Albiston's 'Run' from New Zealand.

Anthony is the youngest director in the competition.

Meanwhile, the Palme d'Or for Short Film went to Elisa Miller's 'Ver Llover' from Mexico.

This is also the first time a Singapore film has been selected to compete in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The short film jury was headed by famed China director Jia Zhangke.

I'm so proud of you, ET!

veni, vidi, vici

2007-05-09T22:21:00.000+10:00

this place never fails to make me feel calm & at peace
(yes, even with a super high energy bouncing ball of a human next to me - cl!)
she came, she saw, she conquered
(do not even get me started on her shopping frenzy)

i decided to take cl for the ultimate cheapo cultural experience:

1st up, free exhibitions at the NGV

"people playing with white lego" at the cubic structural evolution project 2004

the japanese golden screens exhibition

& finally
ooh-ed & aah-ed our way to the permanent international collection display

1 of many

too bad we had to miss sneakers: classics to customs

knowing what a shoe-shopper & shoe-crazy person cl is, i'm sure she would've appreciated it
but ah well... there were more important things to cover
like buff men in union jack undies
(more in later posts)

we, in true 'artsy fashion', decided to name this 'piece' the 5:aqua (taken at 5:00 pm)
fingers on a water trail
"damn emo lar!"

fireworks

2007-05-07T22:09:00.000+10:00

view from our crib: club 604 ya'll
(for the fina world championships or moomba, i can't remember now)

a very very long post - a new record

2007-05-06T14:42:00.000+10:00

apologies for the month long absence
thought i'd make it up by posting a really huge, long post with truckloads of photos
so here it is

rod laver arena - home of the australian open, fina world championships 2007 & many more.

The susie o'neill pool, in all its splendour
view from cheapest seat in the house (with fangilla) but with an amazing bird's eye view of the entire pool (best view to watch the race, i reckon)& starting/ finishing block
see below

take your mark

*beep*
all in less than 5 seconds
(men's 200m freestyle finals)

view from free front row seat tickets on the last day of the competition! (with ah saz)
close up but not so great view of the action (couldn't see who was leading by how much)
see below
slicing into the water in perfect form (men's 50m backstroke finals)

very nice 'curtain of water' with (you'll have to look closer on this) highlights of the days before beamed onto it at the start of the last day of the competition

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. the one & only michael phelps (a very short excerpt)

if you look close enough, he was actually swimming a whole body length in front of the red world record line & smashed his own WR by 0:02.04 (new WR 4:06.22) - this was the 400m individual medley finals

after he'd broken another WR - yeah, what's new

(men's 200m freestyle finals)
1st place: michael phelps (WR 1:43.73)
2nd place: pieter van den hoogenband of the netherlands
3rd place: park tae hwan of south korea

i guess he was in a hurry

2. aaron peirsol

yet another american who broke his personal WR (new WR 52.98 - men's 100m backstroke finals)

the way he did it was as if it was no big deal at all!
this was probably the only time he actually showed anything more than just a polite smile & wave

3. natalie coughlin

guess what
she's american
she broke her own WR (new WR 59.44)
go figure

women's 100m backstroke finals
1st place: natalie coughlin
2nd place: laure manaudou of france
3rd place: reiko nakamura of japan

the star-spangled banner was played so many times i think i know it by heart now

4. federica pellegrini

a surprise WR (1:56.47) by italian pellegrini in the women's 200m freestyle semis
insider's goss: a swimmer can get up to $15000 (if memory serves me right - just something i heard from a more senior colleague at the MSAC when i gushed about how we witnessed 4 WRs in 1 night) per WR

5. the usual aussies

australia's number 1 favourite liesel jones
seen here with tara kirk (usa) after the victory ceremony for the women's 100m breastsroke (new CR by liesel 1:05.72)

eamon sullivan & brenton rickard signing autographs after the victory ceremony for the final event of the competition: men's 4 x 100m medley relay for which australia won gold

they need to slow down
seriously
shown here - lisbeth 'libby' lenton

you wouldn't want to get to close everytime a record is broken

this, i think, for all swimmers is the start of everything

special thanks to fangilla & ah saz for watching the making of history & analysing swimming techniques & screaming themselves hoarse with me.

"...sexy" "..,music"

2007-03-17T11:24:00.000+11:00

those 2 words were used (both within the same week) to describe the F1 noise i'll have to endure for 4 days
i guess it's 1 of those things i'll never understand

for chandran, biggest rev head i've ever known
(i wish i knew how to upload the audio clip of him imitating the sound of the engines, that he specially made for me, ha!)
The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
sorry, didn't make it to ferrari's 60th anniversary exhbition at crown, this is the closest thing
( http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0702/S00309.htm)

so it's that time of year again
where people pay good money to sit with their ears plugged for hours
(honestly, you can't really talk to your friends or anything because 1. your ears are plugged, right? 2. you'll have to try & scream your head off which won't look very nice if your friend's ears are plugged & you'll just look like you're... screaming at him/ her.)
& watch something speed by at __fill this in, chandran__ km/h every few minutes

& the noise is positively driving me nuts now
explain to me again, chandran
WHY.

chamarel, grand bassin, black river - yeah, around there

2007-03-15T21:41:00.000+11:00

random waterfall at 1/2 way pit stop up to chamarel (7 coloured earth)
jason, correct me if i'm wrong

view from 3/4 way pit stop up grand bassin (gwan bassahn)

to all med students

2007-03-08T22:52:00.000+11:00

yes, especially you, niro
"useless PEE-sios... Dr.s are too busy & important that's why we pass some on to the pee-sios"

& you, chandran
"yeah, 'cause physios' jobs are so safe,
what's the worst u can do...break a bone?"

& you, fendi
"the pee-sios will make tea for me"

"load the rum!"

2007-03-04T01:35:00.000+11:00

pure home made mauritian rum - infused with spices (cinnamon & stuff & i think, a hint of chilli) & herbs (rosemary & stuff) & fruits (lychee & stuff)
1 shot & it burns a path down the throat (much more fiery than whiskey or brandy, i think)
i learned it the hard way - i sputtered & coughed my way from my 1st sip to the last
but it was good shit

Capt. Jack Sparrow: "What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade, the rum."

Elizabeth Swann: "Yes, the rum is gone."

Capt. Jack Sparrow: "Why is the rum gone?"

Elizabeth Swann: "One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me. Do you think there is even the slightest chance they won't see it?"

Capt. Jack Sparrow: "But, why is the rum gone?"

- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

cotton candy

2007-03-02T23:54:00.000+11:00

fluffy fluff at flic en flac

"are you indian?"

2007-02-25T12:26:00.000+11:00

mauritius - my 1st sari

a patient asked me today if i was indian

& no, I wasn't wearing a sari (at that time)

go figure.

1 call

2007-02-18T17:04:00.000+11:00

3 years ago, that changed everything

& i still ask myself questions i don't have the answers to
i see him, & i see you
& every little thing that reminds me of you - a big mac, free willy...

you didn't pick yourself up
if only you did

pause

2007-02-10T14:34:00.000+11:00

due to the stresses of neuro life, this blog will be inactive for awhile, at least for the next 2 weeks.

a typical day (not like you'd be interested but...)
6.30 am - *alarm clock rings*
7.10 am - dash through the door & out to the tram stop
7.35 am - sprint through ticket machines just in time to hop onto 7.38 am train
8.00 am - arrive at the austin hosp., begin the daily climb up stairs to main entrance, through foyer, up 3 floors, cross over to the old building & to shuttle bus stop
8.15 am - shuttle bus arrives
8.30 am - arrive at the repat.
9.00 am to 4 sometimes 5 pm - assess & treat patients, brains picked by supervisors etc...
4 pm to 6 pm - do all of the above again, walk in through front door in time for the simpsons
6 pm to 11pm - dinner, prepare notes, read up for next day's patients, crash into bed
Repeat 4 days a week.
& i'm sure you don't want to know my friday timetable.

& then there are the monks of siem reap

2007-01-25T15:55:00.000+11:00

the one legged monk added a certain romance to the whole 'late afternoon stroll amongst the ruins' atmosphere

monks spend most of their time at Angkor Wat, praying & practising their english with tourists

the children of siem reap

2007-01-24T14:38:00.000+11:00

the village children who live near the ancient stone quarry
they were positively ecstatic when we gave out candies, such adorable kids (damn i sound old)
the twin boys in front (we were told) haven't had a bath for about 2 weeks, the little boy on the right had flaky cheeks because of all the abrasion (from wiping his mouth & face I presume, with his forearm, after eating)

a very shy boy running around Angkor Wat (locals get in for free) who didn't know how a sweet wrapper work

can't tell if it's a girl or a boy

another child chillin' on an Angkor Wat windowsill
this is probably 1 of my favourite-st photos

this song's about cass

2007-01-22T01:44:00.000+11:00

congratulations to dear ol' blur cassie (missed her name in my last 'grad post' - cause she was m.i.a most of the time to let me know she's graduated!), that gal who flooded her room, giggled (with me) at the guys sitting in front of us at the cinema who were bawling their eyes out watching the notebook & introduced me to maroon 5 & yoshitomo nara way back in 2004.