A Very Long Hiatus...

Oui, Annonymous Commentor, point taken. I haven't been updating.

Indeed, it's been quite a looooong and hectic three months despite myself being jobless. And educationless. But, that's besides the point. Ever since my birthday, things have been a neverending snowball and even after three months, it hasn't ceased its rolling. Right after an afternoon of fun at my house, a few days later came a bowling bash GB had organized for myself & Bunny -we were celebrating our birthdays together- and a few days after that was my cousin's wedding, held on the same day of Blome's birthday celebrations at East Coast Park which I missed.

That same week on Friday was the much-anticipated Westlife concert at the Indoor Stadium which I attended with one of my best Internet buddies, Xue a.k.a Sam Winchester. We had second row seats, baby!! Woo-hooooo!! Of course, Westlife still rocked the house minus Bryan McFadden with their mix of old and new hits, including their rendition of Dontcha. Oui, the very same sexy song by the Pussycat Dolls. Placards we had not, only our voices and a very good camera in hand. Needless to say, I came home with a very scratchy throat and an almost-bursting-with-joy heart. Thanks Bunny, for sponsoring my ticket. I WILL pay you back. Soon.

Right after the concert was my housewarming & even though not all my friends came, I guess you could say the event was successful. God knows how many times I had to climb up & down those stairs to give guided tours around the house.

I missed Punani's birthday dinner at Newton as well because of a 5-day radio course held at Mediacorp. A whopping $500 took me behind the scenes of what radio is all about and at the end of the day, we even got to do a little demo for ourselves. Dahlia Z -or Mama D, as she's known as- was our mentor & instructor for the duration of the course. We had sound engineers to assist us with our demos although our talksets had to scripted individually. My sound engineer was Drew Crothers, one-half of the Don & Drew Show podcasted on 98.7FM. He was also our vocal trainer for one session. Drew, Drew. So charming. So handsome. So...*sighs dreamily*

Just in case you didn't know, Drew is the man behind all the voiceovers done for Mediacorp. For example, after you watch a local production show and after they show the credits, they'll show this closing credit for Mediacorp and he says, "A Mediacorp production. For Channel Five." Or something along those lines.

One lucky student would get a contract with Mediacorp Radio and its radio stations. I wasn't actually hoping to get it; I was looking forward more to knowing what makes a radio station & a particular program tick & be so good that listeners feel their day isn't right without listening to that show. My personal favorites are Muttons In The Morning with Justin Ang & Vernon A. as well as Shan Wee 11-2.

Ramadan came and went within a blink of an eye. I managed to get myself to both Geylang and Kampong Glam, although the latter was an abyssmal disappointment. This year, my Ramadan had been...very challenging, so to speak. Not only for myself, but for my family as well. I guess the whole family was feeling the strain of just moving in and having problems errupting every now then concerning the house. I had immersed myself in the library after every driving lesson just to escape the harsh reality of my father's presence. Even Fartz, who was usually very laid-back about my father couldn't stand being in the house with him. He had turned into a tyrannical monster. Or maybe he had been that all along.

So, after the radio course it was back to driving. And it was only on my 5th try did I pass my Final Theory Test. Oui, you heard correctly. FIVE. All my instructors had laughed at me when I told them I hadn't been able to book for my TP test because I hadn't aced the FTT. Finally, all my driving modules are done & yes, I was now able to book. I think my grandmother was my good luck charm.

I went over to her place just before I took the test & it was probably her blessings that made me pass. And also due to the fact that I went for an E-trial test session on the test date itself. I stayed at Nanny's for the night -it was during the first week of Raya- to temporarily rid myself of my father's overbearingness before I went insane. Nanny provided the perfect refuge for a runaway. In a time of always getting the blame & always being shouted at for some stupid reason or another, I bloody had to do something. I always knew I could run to Nanny's. Mom says that I'm Nanny's pet...or Nanny's girl, I'm not sure what the reasons are. But I beg to differ.

Anywayz, between outings with GB, my driving lessons and everything else in between -that included voluntary days at my sisters' school- life has provided most of days with at least some form of activity. I even find washing the porch to be welcoming. Cleaning the toilet used to be a once-in-a-million-years thing at the old house. But now, it is a beckoning challenge. And I for one, am not one to back down from a challenge. It provides me with a venting sanctuary when I'm at odds with my father.

I have just finished two nights of marshall duty for the Mediacorp Subaru WRX challenge. I wasn't there when the winner was crowned, but I do know some of the contestants during my time spraying their faces and showering their swollen ankles with ice-cold water while holding my breath to avoid the intake of the wretched stench that only came from endless hours of standing in the sun drenched in perspiration without going for a bath.

I am still bemusedly wondering why those goondus put themselves through such a hassle when they can just easily fork out ninety-grand for that same car. 300 bodies on 8 cars, with about 40 sqaushed together on one is just insane. To pit people against each other like sardines in a can -and ultimately wreak like them too.

In any case, congrats to the winner from Car 8. I didn't get to take car of that car but from what I heard, it was one of the last cars to have the most number of people. I was in charge of Car 5 but occassionally flitted to Car 4 just to converse with one of the girls. Okaylahh, and to look at a one or two cute guys hanging on to the decal palm print for as long as they could. Thank God I was only in charge of cars on my second day as marshall. Otherwise, I would've spent more of my time looking at their faces rather than their hands.

On my first day, I was in charge of F & B, which went rather well. Oui, there was one cute guy as well. But, this was a man and not a boy. As usual, friends were made but only four of us kinda...clicked. This graduate nurse named Yasmin, a young mother who's sister-in-law worked for Class 95FM named Julia & a Republic Polytechnic student named Trish.

And the man who I deemed cute, I named him Piercing. I really didn't know his name & we didn't really exchange acquaintances. Even when we all talked, it was more casual and about the whole event than, hey, where you from?

On the first night, Mark Richmond was present but by the time dawn came & he went home, we were all calling him Mabok Mark. Enough said. So tall, so handsome. But so mabok.

Hady Mirza came by BUT it wasn't during my shift.

*bawls eyes out*

But the best part was...GETTING MY PIC TAKEN WITH SHAN WEEEEEEEEEE!!

*goes into a comatose*

Anywayz, signing up voluntarily for this was as good as I expected it to be, if not more. This coming from a person who doesn't sleep at night. But of course, after two night shifts in a row, I felt as crappy as the remaining contestants with their hand on the car amidst all that hallucination. But that's okay, because at least I'm being paid to spray iced water all over the contestants who wreak of 3-day old socks.

Laterz...
Lenny