Night # 98

Found a few jokes on the web about marriage and this literally cracked me up.

The Silent Treatment

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.
Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM."
He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.
Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.
The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

If you need something to cheer you up... that's one interesting site.
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Night # 97 - A Fleeting Moment

I have been rather puzzled by the sudden influx of icq chatters during this couple of days. I mean it is usually dead quiet with an occasional "oh oh" from strangers but since Thursday it has been extremely busy. Then it occured to me that it is the long weekend and people are probably hoping to meet someone from the cyber for a sexually exciting weekend. I may be wrong.. but try explaining the 9 out of 10 chatters who are only interested in your height and weight and whether you meet people online for sex... or the occasional ones who asked if you would like to see their naked self on the webcam... I asked a friend to check out my account to see if there's anything that's attracting those hornets. Nothing turned up.. but hopefully the buzz shall end tomorrow.

Night # 95 & 96 - Wishlist

List of food I am going to eat when I get back to Singapore (The list will grow over time)...
In no particular order...

1. Chilli crabs
2. Char siew and roast meat rice
(I am never so fond of it, but I found myself thinking about it so often these days)
3. Curry puff (the kind with chicken and egg)
4. Sashimi
5. Sushi
6. Durians
7. Char kway teow
8. Fried hokkien mee
9. Spagetti carbonara (with pork bacon)
10. Dim sum
11. Chicken rice
12. Satay
13. Black forest cake
14. Chicken wings!

That's about it for now. Goodness, I think I got to lose 10 kgs to make space for all that :)

Night # 94

Sunrise symbolises new beginning and to some, renewed hopes... the start of another brand new day.
I rather prefer the sunset 'cos I am never in time to catch the sunrise.

Night # 92 & 93

I saw the wildest sand storm over here last night. The scene outside resembled a heavy downpour coupled with strong winds. Visibility was that bad. The only difference is that it isn't rain that's pouring, it's the sands. Closed doors were slamming against the door frames and we heard the sounds of wind trying to get through the gaps and into the house. I was just glad that I watching Zorro at home and was not on the streets.

Night # 91 Stalked!!

Went to pick up my laundry today and was going to buy some tomato paste for pizza at this little shop just some 30 metres away. All in all I was going to be about 100 m away from my apartment building.

As I attempted to cross at the exit of a carpark, a SUV pulled up in front of me. The driver rolled down his window and said that he wanted to speak to me. I looked at him briefly (behind my sunglasses), turned away and continued my walk.

At the next carpark exit, I saw the same guy again. Initially I thought I must be imagining it but I noticed that same car made a turn at the carpark ahead of me after passing me. I was thinking "Oh no" and decided to be more alert... but the path which I was walking on is parallel to the carpark, so he was driving towards my direction as I headed closer to the shop. I decided against looking in his direction especially, you never know, he may think that I am interested in his attention. Just as I was about to reach the shop, he pulled up again in front of me. I quickly went into the shop and ignored him.

I was so frightened. I think terrified seemed to be a better word. Though there are people on the streets and cars on the road, I wasn't sure that there would be people who would come to assist me if I were to scream for help. I did the only thing I can think of. I called my husband and kept talking to him till I got home.

Night # 90

Wow... It has 3 months already that I have been out here in the middle east.

It is interesting to see how sometimes, just when you think you know exactly where your life is leading you to, it made a turn and heads you off to somewhere else.

Some of my close friends would know. There have been talks about relocating to Houston, China, before this middle east thing came along. By then I was pretty sure that it will be only just talk. Nothing will happen. I will only get excited and in the end we will be just where we were, in Singapore. I remembered when a friend contacted my husband about this job here in Kuwait, I was thinking... yah yah... this will entertain us for a while and then it will go away. Nothing will come out of it.

It turned out to be the one that did work out. I know I have been the envy of some of my friends for being able to take time away from my work, to be away from the pressure and hectic life, but my friends, this does come with a price.

It is hard to be away from home for so long. It is hard not to see the people and the things you are used to. It is harder than I thought to start all over again. I have been surprised at some of the little things I missed... (a friend just msned me and talked about having curry puff... God.. when was the last time I had one?) I suppose the adjustments are harder when I have gathered 30 years of moss on me (you know, I always think of my mom when I remember the "Rolling stones gather no moss"... she taught me that).

Don't take me wrong. I am happy here. Am contented and comfortable... but nothing is the same as home yah?

Night # 88 & 89

I think I caught an Italian bug while I was away. Had been sick for a few days now. The rich italian food certainly didn't help either... but I ain't complaining. The photo above is a typical metre pizza from Naples. We weren't there but there was a restaurant in Arezzo opened by these good people from Naples. It was yummy. It is nothing like our local version of pizza.

Anyway, I got to show you all this photo of the house owned by Prada. The land is enormous. Makes you wonder about all the bags and clothes that you have bought to support this huh?

Night # 87 - Room with a View

I realised a couple of things about myself while I was in Italy last week. Living in a country, as opposed to a city, is nice as long as it is not a long stay. I am pretty much a city person. Perhaps it is due to the fact that Singapore is a city and having grown up there, I am used to certain conveniences and the way of life in a city. There is only so much peace I can take before my mind starts wondering "What's next?".

Of course it didn't help that my brother in-law did not have internet access nor a computer at his place. Both of which have been very much a part of my life. I kept all the photos that I wanted to show my in-laws in my portable hard disk and that device is totally useless without a computer. Fortunately, there was still the digital camera that I could rely on as I had kept a few of them there intuitively.

Life is perhaps less complicated without the computer and the internet. Can we ever reverse it? Would we be able to "uncomplicate" and make it simple again?

Night # 85 & 86

Do as Romans Do

Have been away for a family reunion in Italy. We stayed with my brother in-law and his family at the countryside. It was awesome place they got there and it was certainly nice to see it in spring. The greenery and blooming trees were a welcoming change from the desert scene.

I had been looking forward to see everyone again as this is the first time for me that the whole family is together. However, I kept having this sense of regret that my father in-law wasn't there with us all. I am sure though we all had him in our thoughts.

Night # 83 & 84

I will be taking a break. Will be back at the next "bloggable" moment.

Night # 82 - Clarification

Allow me to explain my earlier entry on Apartment for Rent.

The pool is within our estate compound and there's a wall next to the pool that prevents curious passerbys from looking into the compound. Hence it is "safe" for the residents to be clad in swimwear - one piece or 2 pieces, and to hang out at the pool.

I was doing just that the other day, basking in the sun and enjoying a leisure dip in the pool, until I spotted this man on the other building beyond the wall. He was standing at the window of his apartment with his mug, staring in my direction. Feeling rather uncomfortable, I decided to move slightly to my right so that I will be blocked by the pillar and the lamp from his view.

I was checking in a couple of minutes later if he's still there, when lo and behold I saw him standing at the window of another room staring intently in my direction, still holding his mug. I didn't enjoy being watched and I definitely didn't like being "stalked".

This is outrageous... and enough is enough...

Night # 81

As I think about yesterday's the cabby incident and reading through my entry for last night, it dawned upon me that perhaps I could be in trouble if that arab man decided to open the cab door and pull me out... Afterall I didn't lock the door and the window was wound down since the cab was not air-conditioned. But at that point in time, I think I was more fuming mad than afraid.

Anyway, to continue my next first...

Two:

It was my first time stepping into a girls school in Kuwait. It is a very different experience really. I was warned about how curious these girls could be as they are rarely out of their houses... but nothing beats finding it out for yourself. I was sitting at a chair, browsing the textbooks, while waiting for my friend to finish her class, a girl came up to me and asked "Miss, what are you doing here? Are you lost?" Awww... so sweet right? They aren't afraid to ask questions that's for sure. During the change of periods, they were all over the corridor, I was thrown with other questions by different girls. "Miss, are you a teacher here?" "Are you a student here?" "Are you going to be our new teacher?" "What is your name?"

Did I also mention that they are persistent too? This girl who asked me for my name, refused to give up. I told her that she will find out my name in due time. She said "I want to know your name now." Wow. That's one challenge I can't resist. She left without knowing my name. :)

Night # 80

The Bahrain boat incident was reported extensively in the newspapers. What was interesting was the difference in the reporting in Singapore and the one reported over here.

S'pore Times : http://www.asiaone.com/st/st_20060403_382420.html

Arab Times: http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/world/view.asp?msgID=7473

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Today's a first for a few things.

One:
I took the taxi on my own today. It was one heck of an experience. I called ahead for a cab to take me to the school where I was going to have my interview. The cab came late (why am I not surprised) and was waiting for me at the school instead of at my apartment. That mistake happened even though I called the company 3 times when the cab failed to arrive and I repeated where I am each time I called.

Oh well, I was still able to quickly grab a cab by the roadside and was on my way. Cabby was super friendly, well, men here are always friendly to asian women. I made minimal conversation and made a point to call hubby while in the cab to be on the safe side. The trouble with hailing a cab by the roadside is that chances are he may not know the exact location where you are heading.... So needless to say, we got lost. Cabby was good. He stopped and asked for directions despite being a man and we took a bit of time going round.

It was during one of the times when he stopped that this arab man pulled up and walked towards the cabby inquiring the nature of the concern. The cabby was fluent in arabic and was explaining the situation. BUT this arab man, chose to walk round the cab and talk to me. I thanked him for his trouble, but asked him to nevertheless speak to my cabby since I have no clue as to where I am. He spoke briefly to the cabby, continuing to stand at my side and ended off by saying to me "I give you my number. You call me if you are still lost. Ok?" Maintaining my smile, I thanked him again for his trouble while the cabby pulled away quickly. The cabby was furious but he kept apologising profusely. He kept saying that man was no good.

I reserved my comments then as I still needed to be calm for my interview.... but @$%$^!&*!!!

To be continued....

Night # 79

Apartment for Rent

Spacious rooms with big windows.
All rooms have pool view but no access to pool facilities.
Sightings of men in skimpy swimming trunks
and women in sexy bikinis guaranteed.

ps: Make sure you move in with your mug.

Night # 77 - 78

I am going to take a break from writing... I have run out of ideas :)