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| Monday, 18-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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DUBAI!!! 14th June 2005
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A short entry for the place we spent the least time in. Dubai was our transit point and we decided to extend the trip to a 24 hour one to seep in as much of the place as we could. We arrived at 6 in the morning and we didn't get much sleep on the flight so we were completely knackered by the time we arrived.
Can't say I saw too much of the place but from the small bit we covered, I wasn't too impressed. Everyone was raving about Dubai (then again, everyone raved about Emirates too and look at how that turned out. More to come on that later.), the buildings, the duty free shopping, the mercedes cabs. I thought that the non touristy part areas were reminiscent of Malaysia, it really wasn't terribly spectacular for me. I was impressed by the Baskin Robbins there though, Baklava ice cream, come on, who would have come up with that one? It was amazing by the way. Pastry, honeyed nuts and ice cream. Mad props  .
The weather was a solid kind of scorching hot. When we stepped out of the airport, the blast of heat just went WHAM on us, we retreated back in the airport and tried calling Helmy but I think we called his Jeddah number instead. It was so hot that water in the taps and loo had mild steam coming off! We went to the Burj and was thinking of doing a tour but they have stopped that because it infringes on the privacy of their very distinguished guests. But if you made dinner reservations, you were allowed access. Oh, no submarine ride to an underwater restaurant for me today, thank you. A 3 sec airlift to dine amongst the stars with a spectacular view? Erm no, maybe next time? 
Then we went to the airport and met a lady who was screaming at the top of her lungs that someone took her bag. Why was she so crazed? Because she had, and get this, 10,000 pounds worth of jewellery in there and someone snatched it when she left it "for only a minute" outside. Please.  She demanded to call the police, the manager at the airport told her to go right ahead. I love how the people in Dubai's customer service talk. Straight faced, to the point but yet always prefixed with a "My friend" so it sounds like they're actually being friendly. AHA!
Lastly, Emirates was the biggest washout of all. The service was appalling. Best airlines? By whom I ask? Every one of our 4 flights had a problem. The first one kicked off with a leading stewardess yelling at a passenger. This we all heard and I kid you not. "We care for your safety sir and if you don't get that and want to complain you can be my guest" Stomps off and returns in a huff " What is your name Sir? Why don't you want to give me your name? Do you have something to hide? Well, I can get it off the passenger's list anyways!!  " Stomp, stomp, stomp. Yeah and thats not even the start of it, we had stewardesses who looked like they were being punished, taking our order for something grudgingly and then have them forget it later, a spoilt dessert, the same 3 lousy movies for all the flights, ground staff making us pay 40 dirhams to store our luggage when we could have checked it in for free, seperating us on flights only to find seats empty next to us later and my luggage soaking wet when it came back from the conveyor belt. (And here I thought it was my 3 euro french wine that broke, how disastrous would that be?? )
We wrote in to Emirates and for what its worth, they were genuinely apologetic and addressed every one of our concerns. They even offered us a free upgrade within a year for a class up. (we get biz class tix if we fly economy and first class if we fly biz etc) but they forget, that is only valid if we choose to fly Emirates again.
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| Friday, 8-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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PARIS!!! 7th - 13th Jun 2005
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Parisans have changed! I remember having at least 3 bad encounters when I was there in 2002 and found every excuse to agree with the statement that the French are just plain rude. I really believe now that their, "Be nice to tourists who don't speak French" campaign worked. Singapore, take some notes. And also, this time we carried a French English dictionary so we could order a chantilly crepe au noix without flinching or at least earn endearment points because we looked like we were honestly trying.
One thing that hadn't changed was the enchantment of the city. Its beautiful. The architechture was just sooo rich... For this reason, I think I was definitely more a fan than Sherin cos she thought that the whole place was a little overbearing and I can see how it would be for some people. They have sun and moon gold embelishments on street lamps for crying out loud. But I think I liked it for the exact same reason, its soo distinguishing, so typically Paris. Sherin and I found a way to beat the transport system. Buy tickets in the booklet of 10 so they are discounted and then use 1 ticket for 2 people. LOADS to tell So lets get down to it!
[color=red]Day 1: Initially had problems figuring out that the RER and Metro were different lines so couldn't find the stop we wanted at the airport maps! In Paris, do as the Parisans do. Don't pay for your train fare, throw your luggage across and climb under or above the turnstile with a huge Alsatian watching you. Took a train to the city and found our little quaint hotel - The Kyriad Brianchon. Note: Paris hotels are small. And their lifts are even smaller and I am not kidding when I say if you are prone to claustrophobia, to take the stairs. Was evening by the time we settled in so we went to a Boulangerie and picked up a baguette, found a nice park and ate dinner there.
Day 2: Got a morning call from a strange man entering our room! He seemed even more shocked than us but that definitely got us out of bed. Since we were in Montparnasse, our 1st stop was The Catacombs. Bollocks, it was closed. FOR RENOVATION and wouldn't open til late June. Screwed that and went on to Notre Dame. We bought an audio guide and saw the whole thing in rather great detail. After which, we took a short walk and went to see another famous Gothic church, the Sainte-Chapelle. Very similiar to Notre Dame so was more of the same really. Made our way down to The Louvre and got distracted by Sephora where I bought Dessert Beauty! Did the 3 famous works walk. The Mona Lisa (but of course), The Winged Victory of Samothrace (a masterpiece of Hellenic art) and the Venus de Milo. Call me an uncouth barbarian but the Mona Lisa's ugly, the winged victory has no head and the Venus de Milo thought of as the quintessence of feminie grace and sensuality, has no arms. We passed David's Coronation of Napoleon (THAT was something!) and his portrait of Madame Recamier. Finished sightseeing and made our way to our sleep stop for the night. Peace & Love hostel! Walked around the place for ages and couldn't find the entrance cos the check in was at the bar. How hip! Went downstairs to try and make wordly friends but the only 2 clowns downstairs were young American boys who asked us if we had any marijuana. 
Day 3: We had crepes for lunch and dumped our bags at our 3rd hotel - The Du Prince Eugene. Made our way down to Montmarte to see the Sacre-Coeur (our favourite attraction!) The Arc de Triomphe (where we climbed abt 240 winding steps for a view) and walked down Champs-Elysees, There we met a fellow Frommers guide book fan, Scott. (Frommers - bringing people together!) Scott lives in L.A and he works in film (bet you didn't see that one coming) and on the set of Scrubs too! Its nice to meet fellow travellers from all walks of life he followed us to see the Hotel Crillon - where Louis 16th and Ben Franklin signed the Treaty of Friendship & Trade and the place de la Concorde. The Egyptian obelisk comes from the temple of Ramses II in Thebes and is more than 3000 years old. A gift from Egypt to France in 1829.
Day 4: Woke up to baguettes, fromage and lait for breakfast and then we went to see the Pantheon where Marie Curie, Victor Hugo and Louis Braille are buried. Had lunch at a nice Italian restaurant where we met a devil child who seconds before was too shy to introduce himself to us and then proceeded to tear down the entire restaurant later. Luigi was his name. Brrrr. Went down to Invalides to see the tomb of Napoleon, but they closed at 6! Frommers said 7!! Went back to Champs Elysees to walk around Sephora. I challenge ANY SANE WOMAN to walk into Sephora and come out empty handed. This time came out with some Cargo cosmetics! Arggh!! Met someone from Dubai who gave us some tips on where to go next.
Day 5: Woke up early to avoid the crowds at Pere Lachaise but got too cold walking thanks to our scanty jackets so we stopped at a cafe to defrost with some hot chocolate. Reached the cemetery and found our way to Jim Morrison's grave. The only one in the whole cemetery that is barricaded, watched by surveillance cameras and has 2 guards on 24 hour duty. Left some flowers there and then went down to see Chopin's, Oscar Wilde's- (many poets sit next to this one and derive inspiration) and Edith Piaf's graves. This cemetry is something amazing, there are tombstones you can walk into, magnificent statues and yet a peaceful air still hovers around it.Saw the Eiffel in the evening, watched it light up and had an early night.
Day 6: We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Paris, and then took a lil day trip out to Versailles to see the palace that was built for Louis the XIV. To say this palace exuded grandeur was to say that a rocket travels quite fast. Its STUPENDOUS! The rooms, the hall of mirrors and the gardens! At its peak of its glory in the 1600s, the gardens had 1400 fountains. It extends until your eye can't see any further and then goes on for somemore. There, was where we saw the star we had been waiting for our whole trip. We met Ben Stiller!!!  We got some lousy snaps of him cos he was surrounded by an entire entourage but he was still a very nice peppered in surprise. Came back to Du Prince, and made our last stop at the patisserie next door to us.
This, deserves a whole paragraph to itself. French pastries are in a league of their own. I don't know what it is but its like nothing you've ever tried. Every run on the mill pastry shop in France looks like Bakerzinn here. Pastries, breads, macaroons, tarts, chocolates, candy! And the quality - *sob* the quality  !! Best eclairs Ive had in my life and they have a genius creation called the Touilloise (note they could have called it the toilet for all I care) and what it is, is choux pastry piled high with freshly whipped cream (light as air) with 3 small pretty eclairs strategically surrounding the top with a strawberry. I can't relive this, its too painful.
Bought some pastries, kissed the patisseries and Paris au revoir and got on another crappy Emirates flight. Hello Dubai.
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| Monday, 27-Jun-2005 00:00 |
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LONDON!!! 1st - 7th June 2005
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| Tuesday, 31-May-2005 00:00 |
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Bon Voyage Sherin et Maria!
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Be back in 2 weeks, see yall then!  BOI! *waves*
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| Monday, 30-May-2005 00:00 |
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The Wedding Dinner
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Ok everyone, scroll down for church and tea ceremony pics if you haven't already seen those. This is a continuation of the wedding - Dinner at the Goodwood Park Hotel!
Stress level was down at this point cos we were in the hands of the banquet managers Jeannie and Ace. We did a last minute rehearsal for the surprise cos more cousins decided to throw caution in the wind and join us on stage to make complete clowns of ourselves! Mario gave the first speech of the night, he cracked me up when he said:"When we first met Christine, I and Maria's first thoughts were: How do we remove her?"  It was terribly odd hearing him call me Maria too. Its been about 19 years since he's called me by my name!
Then he ended with: "At the end of the day, all you really need is love". So that was our cue for the surprise. All the cousins, about 20 of us, got up from our tables and started singing All You Need is Love by The Beatles. Now, we had a brilliant, perfectly choreographed sequence but with so many of us on stage doing it for the first time, it just ended up in a very endearing mess. The tip was, when in doubt, HUG!
Mark and Christine gave us a standing ovation so that must have meant they liked it right? Mark in his speech thanked us for the "hours of practice we must have gone through"  Oh heck, we had fun in the process.
And as promised, my personal list of thank yous (feeling wedding couple):
Angel: For helping out and being there every step of the way and functioning on 4 hours of sleep on my lousy couch.
Nicole: For all the music compiling which was nothing short of sheer hard work.
Dev: For the last minute notice and for your fantastic turnaround time getting the flash presentation done, in a erm, flash.
My tailor: For helping me get a dress sewn in a week and for doing a better job than I expected.
My cousins: For coming all the way to pull off the surprise!
Reuben, Ernest and Jeffrey" You're never gonna read this but for making our jobs soo much easier and for taking care of everything so we could actually enjoy the wedding!
To Mark & Christine - We wish you all the joy and happiness in the world! And remember, at the end of the day, love is really all you need. Love yawl!
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| Sunday, 29-May-2005 00:00 |
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Tea Ceremony and Church Service Pics!
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I survived to tell the wedding story! And no, nobody stood up when they were told, "If anyone thinks this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, let him speak now or forever hold his peace."  I am also very happy to say that everything went very well! Sure, there were a few glitches here and there but for the most part, it turned out just beautifully.
Couldn't blame me for being a lil paranoid cos just the day before, at 2am, Mark was typing his speech furiously on the comp, Mario was reading his diaries from 1988 to plan his best man speech, Sherin and I were planning last minute choreography for the big surprise, Sherin, Dean, Mario and I were driving around to find a petrol station that could give us a car wash and I couldn't decide if I should wear the pink or white skirt to church!
After 4 and a half hours of sleep, we got up and got everything ready for the tea ceremony. Mum was yelling down our necks cos she wanted us to reach the Siglap house before her relatives did. We hadn't counted on them arriving half an hour before! Cos the groom's side of the family couldn't go pick the bride up, Sherin and I missed the ragging in the bríde's house but I heard Mark had to do a countless number of push ups and drink water whilst doing it. Merciless jie meis
Church after went really well, everything was set up on time and the sanctuary was packed. Kudos to Jeffrey, Reuben and Ernest - Mark's best friends who were so thoughtful and meticulous, they anticipated every movement and always with a smile on their face. They even had Ernest doing a little CIA stunt with an ear piece in his jacket going: "2 mins before walk in, OK ready" And I bet you they synchronised their watches too.
Christine was beautiful in her stunning wedding gown and Mark was pretty calm which means everything went better than he imagined so huge sighs of relief all around!
Dinner update coming up tomorrow - just too many pics for one post! Together with my personal list of thank-yous so til then!
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| Wednesday, 25-May-2005 00:00 |
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And they say drugs mess you up
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It has been kinda crazy this past week, and no updates either cos I figured I'd save the space and bandwith for the big events like the wedding this Saturday and the hundreds of photos we will come back with after our holiday. No harm writing I guess cos how much of space will that take?
Weddings - ever the emotional mindtrip huh. Was chatting with Dev the other day when he said and I quote:
so...u know...going for weddings all...makes you think...
like u're happy...but sad...but excited for the ppl...but look to your date and feel lonely..u know...
now...i guess its cause if you are the spectator there...its ok...it just hits you slowly...
if you were helping out with the organizing....
slowly...you'll hear a voice...that you wish this was your wedding...and everything was perfect...and that can kill you...
yet make you happy that its happening for someone you love...
and that tingling feeling...not nervousness...not scary...just tingles inside you...cant put a finger on it..maybe excitement
And that was it. Everything I've been experiencing in words. Put right down to a pat. I mean yeah weddings mess you up but the past few days it just hits closer to home. Its my brother, the first wedding of the family and everything is bittersweet... I mean sure I get his room and all but there'll always be something missing I guess. We've lived together for 30 years! You start to remember your childhood and then I looked through some old photos that day, it was just a flashback of everything high and low.
Memories that are stored in a nice corner come flooding back so vividly, suddenly I'm in my Changi house playing trivial pursuit with my cousins, bringing my dog King out for a walk, picking rambutans with my dad, watching my grandfather do his handshake after he's blown out his birthday candles and I realise that somehow, this was proof of the quality of my life that I can hold on to. Suddenly starting up a fotopage seems like a smart thing to have done! But I digress...
Weddings, its everything for me. Its happy, its exciting, its sad, its inspirational, its hopeful, its a tinge of envy, its love, its a question of what your future holds and its another memory you keep in your photo cupboard waiting for you until your next photo rummage and life inventory. What do weddings do for you?
Leaving you with Dev's last words:
remember know..when i get married...i want the whole works with allloooooot of helpers...y...so that they can suffer nicely!!
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| Tuesday, 3-May-2005 00:00 |
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Happy Birthday Firstborn Brother!!!
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Definitions of cacat: left. Normal: right
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On Vj's art direction, this was supposed to look like a CK ad...
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Hurhur I look terrified in this one!
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My brother turns 30 this year, its a big year for him... another year older and he's getting MARRIED!!!  The 28th of this month so lots of wedding plans are in order. Its quite exciting, the first wedding in this family and I celebrate it without having a clue on what to wear. Nothing in mind for church nor the wedding and then you have my mum on the other end of the scale getting her 5 outfits prepared. One for church, and two for dinner. "TWO?? Why??" Cos you have dinner in one and send off guests in the other? Teehee. The other 2 outfits by the way are supposedly standby for Mario's wedding... See if Mark made me bridesmaid I wouldn't have to fret about outfits! 
Vanan opened a club on Friday so we went down to check it out and support a bit. Its a bit out of the way near Long Beach Marina but rather cosy nonetheless. Alison showed up and it was sooo nice catching up with her after so long! Last we saw her was on New Years Eve...  Had supper at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, felt I was being transported to JB in a portal! Had chicken rice and mee soto all on the road, and an Arabic shop that does a Famous Amos on their signboards. Sheesha: Apple, Lemon etc $2.50. Smells: FREE. Weird dish names too - killer fried rice, Ladyboms, Babyboms and Kebabays. Faiz who was feeling all JB and all cheated me of some major feelings when he said they have Ramly burgers. Should have seen the hope on my face before my heart fell and shattered into a million pieces. But I recovered laughing our guts out reminiscing Sherin's birthday celebrations (see previous entry) and at terms VJ coined up like "Repressed Memoirs".
Sunday had dinner with the family at this Chinese restaurant called Jade Peony at Clarke Quay. We had the ala carte buffet and food was good cept for the fact that they run out of roast duck and peking duck after you have one measly serving. Why don't they ever run out of fried golden mushrooms?
Maddddd Madddd props to Venessa! She made us the most amazing chocolate fudge cake at her place on Monday. It was everything a chocolate cake should be - rich, warm, moist, aromatic and amazingly delicious. And she was afraid it wouldn't turn out to par. Anthony Bourdain would have passed out eating the cake it was that good! 
On an end note, does anyone else see the Constantine - Smeagol resemblance?
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| Wednesday, 27-Apr-2005 00:00 |
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Happy Birthday Sherin!!!
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"For she's a jolly good fellow.... and all because of us!" (My dad's version of he's a jolly good fellow)
From the earlier post, no prizes for anyone that has the correct guess for where we threw the party. After that lil catastrophe we had at York (we stained the carpet with crepe paper dye, crepe paper!! who'd have thought?) we scouted around for a new hotel and I tell you, I think we heard angels singing  when we reached The Scarlet.
Everything about it was perfect. The service, the decor, the uniforms, the rooms and when you thought it couldn't get any better, they gave us matches with black sticks and red heads. Wow. That really just put me over the top right there. Very black and red themed, it had a very Phantom of the Opera / Moulin Rouge feel, male staff had long black velvet tailcoats and chandeliers were adorned everywhere. Thats the thing about boutique hotels I think. They just scream soo much more character. Ok, and my time is out for free advertising.
What comes before Part B? PARTAY! 
Sherin and I had a birthday lunch with her family at Billy Bombers walloped some really good wings, cheese fries and burgers. Sherin's mum baked the birthday cake. If anyone needs further evidence of the wonderful cakes my auntie makes, check out her creations here. Mad props!
We checked into the Scarlet and did the first thing any normal person would have done. JUMP INTO THE JAUZZI! We got the room that opened right to the jacuzzi area (cos we're smart like that) and it was literally a hop, skip and jump away into warm bubbly heaven. Doesn't get more perfect than that right? Wrong! Throw in some Malibu rum and fruit punch concoctions (to drink of course, not soak) and there you go! Ala Paris Hilton. Got ready to welcome people later, thing that was great was that we had the entire jacuzzi area in front of us, so it felt like it was our front porch and accomodated a lot more ppl this way. We didn't even have to share the area! No one came down at all!
"I got your b _ _ k!" - Dilip (but no prizes whoever guesses this one!)
We went to Cocolatte at night, everyone was happy cos all found their music taste catered for either upstairs or down. Sherin had a customary flaming lambo and we all had a few dances! Breaked for supper at Shah Alam to refuel and went to Desire after! This time when we requested songs for "my friend, its her birthday" it was actually true. Teehee. Big up to the good people of Desire who gave us a good amount of free drinks! After one too many, conversation pretty much ended up like this:
Dilip: Don't worry you guys! I got your back!
Sherin: Let's dance!
Dilip: I got your back.
VJ: Maria you OK?
Maria (completely sober): Yup!
Dilip: Don't worry, I got your back.
VJ: You ok ah?
Dilip: Its ok, I got her back!
VJ: *lunge lunge lunge*
*Repeat throughout the night.
After that, a taxi driver agreed to take 5 of us in a cab lah. Thats the first time in my life its happened. I think he knew it was Sherin's birthday too. Everyone's in on it!
The next couple of days was spent with good food and good movies that culminated to Sherin's birthday itself where I presented her over warm artichoke &feta salad and mimosas at the Marmalade Pantry with her birthday present that Shane, Nicole and I bought ! It plays music and its red, it doesn't get more Sherin defined! She loved it, YAY!!!!  I'm so glad!
Special thanks to the guys! VJ, for all the laughs, I had fun! Dilip, for the erm, security! Was great being out with yall.
Angel, I hope you had a wonderful birthday this year, I had a complete blast and I hope to spend every subsequent birthday like how we know best. Together!
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| Friday, 15-Apr-2005 00:00 |
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Sneak preview into tomorrow's party....
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