Happy Boxing Day. :)
Christmas this year was the best I've had in a long time. :)
Ben, my sister's boyfriend, and Joseph were both over for Christmas dinner at my house last night; hope you had fun, baby. ^_^
Homemade soup with potatoes, mushrooms and abalone (sounds odd, but it tasted lovely); roast turkey with homemade cranberry sauce, honey-baked ham with homemade applesauce, baked potatoes and samosas and wine to go with everything-- 16-year-old German Reisling wine. Must be the first time I've drunk something that's almost as old as me. :P
Pity we didn't open the Chardonnay that Joseph bought, although I did have a feeling that my mum was going to have Reisling on the table since that's been the pattern for the previous few years.
Dessert was the traditional Christmas plum pudding (which I got to light, haha-- for those who don't know, you usually pour about a teaspoon of liquor on the pudding and you flambe it before the liquor gets absorbed into the pudding) and black forest log cake.
It was a good kinda feeling to be sitting round the table with everyone and eating together. And y'know what's funny? It didn't really feel like my family and two other people having dinner; it all just felt like one family. ^_^
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas, one and all. :)
The only thing which puts a damper on all this is that later, I'll still have to go to work, but on the bright side, it'll be for the last time! Hurrah!
Spent Christmas Eve last night with my baby; my mum let me stay out late last night, so we had dinner together after I was done with work, walked down Orchard Road to look at the lights for a bit, then came back to Plaza Singapura at 11.15 to catch the late-night preview of Death Note 2.
Death Note 2 was slightly confusing, but VERY good. And how is it that only *now* I've realised that the actor playing Light is really pretty good-looking? But never mind, that's just random.
I'll try not to spoil the movie for anyone since it's not officially opened yet (that's on the 28th), but it does give you more to think about.
I suppose it's true that the law isn't perfect, but we do the best we can, as Light's father tells him in the film, but then you'd have to wonder what a system of justice would be like in an ideal world. Because justice doesn't seem like something that we're ever going to be able to agree on anytime soon, and drawing on what I learnt in SC4215D this sem, justice or equality in one sphere only means the lack of it in another.
But hey, I don't think we can fault Light for trying. If we had the time to think about it, who wouldn't believe that our world is rotten in some way?
And if we think of the human spirit as one which constantly strives for improvement and perfection, then who wouldn't try to make the world a better place?
But then my dear Light, what on earth would we do with a perfect world? Would it even be possible for us to be happy in a perfect world? If the world were perfect, there'd be nothing to strive for, nothing to improve, nothing to make perfect. Perhaps the only thing which makes our existence worthwhile is the idea that things can always be better.
What *does* your perfect world look like, Light?
Is it one where there's simply no crime or violence and everyone is happy with what they have? Is it a world where everyone is happy because everyone has what they want? What then becomes the point of living? Do we all live simply because we are happy to do so?
I would think not.
What drives us is not just the idea that things can be better; our motivation is that we want more, we want better, and we want to be better than everyone else. And we want to know that we earned it. We want to know that we struggled and we deserve what we have achieved.
So Light, if everyone could simply have what they wanted, would anything have any meaning? Without struggle, what is anyone's life worth?
Perhaps, as it was said in the "Matrix", this is why the "perfect world" in the "first Matrix" didn't work. People had no purpose. Perhaps Light, even if you were the god of a new world, your new world would be one where nothing had meaning.
So then, would a perfect world really be a good thing? Would it be a good thing because of it's perfection, or would it be a thing of sadness because there is no longer any need for improvement anymore?
Maybe in the end, the point of the movie was simply that most people who try to make the world a better place are more likely to die trying.
The only thing which puts a damper on all this is that later, I'll still have to go to work, but on the bright side, it'll be for the last time! Hurrah!
Spent Christmas Eve last night with my baby; my mum let me stay out late last night, so we had dinner together after I was done with work, walked down Orchard Road to look at the lights for a bit, then came back to Plaza Singapura at 11.15 to catch the late-night preview of Death Note 2.
Death Note 2 was slightly confusing, but VERY good. And how is it that only *now* I've realised that the actor playing Light is really pretty good-looking? But never mind, that's just random.
I'll try not to spoil the movie for anyone since it's not officially opened yet (that's on the 28th), but it does give you more to think about.
I suppose it's true that the law isn't perfect, but we do the best we can, as Light's father tells him in the film, but then you'd have to wonder what a system of justice would be like in an ideal world. Because justice doesn't seem like something that we're ever going to be able to agree on anytime soon, and drawing on what I learnt in SC4215D this sem, justice or equality in one sphere only means the lack of it in another.
But hey, I don't think we can fault Light for trying. If we had the time to think about it, who wouldn't believe that our world is rotten in some way?
And if we think of the human spirit as one which constantly strives for improvement and perfection, then who wouldn't try to make the world a better place?
But then my dear Light, what on earth would we do with a perfect world? Would it even be possible for us to be happy in a perfect world? If the world were perfect, there'd be nothing to strive for, nothing to improve, nothing to make perfect. Perhaps the only thing which makes our existence worthwhile is the idea that things can always be better.
What *does* your perfect world look like, Light?
Is it one where there's simply no crime or violence and everyone is happy with what they have? Is it a world where everyone is happy because everyone has what they want? What then becomes the point of living? Do we all live simply because we are happy to do so?
I would think not.
What drives us is not just the idea that things can be better; our motivation is that we want more, we want better, and we want to be better than everyone else. And we want to know that we earned it. We want to know that we struggled and we deserve what we have achieved.
So Light, if everyone could simply have what they wanted, would anything have any meaning? Without struggle, what is anyone's life worth?
Perhaps, as it was said in the "Matrix", this is why the "perfect world" in the "first Matrix" didn't work. People had no purpose. Perhaps Light, even if you were the god of a new world, your new world would be one where nothing had meaning.
So then, would a perfect world really be a good thing? Would it be a good thing because of it's perfection, or would it be a thing of sadness because there is no longer any need for improvement anymore?
Maybe in the end, the point of the movie was simply that most people who try to make the world a better place are more likely to die trying.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
I'm working from 1-9 pm these few days, so this weird timeslot means that I get to stay home till late morning before setting off to work.
What usually happens is, I wake up at about 9 am, get my breakfast, wash up and do some other miscellaneous stuff about the house, and if there's time to spare, I might sit down in front of my lappie or the TV.
Earlier this morning (or yesterday morning rather, since it's already 2 am now), while I was watching TV, one of those TV spots which wishes viewers "Merry Christmas" came on; the one with all the Singapore Idol finalists in it and Jack Johnson's "Better Together" playing in the background. In the final scene, Hady Mirza wakes up on his couch in his living room and all the other finalists jump out from behind the couch, surprising him with their presence (although if I were him, I'd be wondering how the hell they got in first).
And there's a shot of Paul Twohill popping out from behind one end of the sofa which honestly gave me a bit of the creeps.
Seriously.
Paul Twohill, popping up out of nowhere with his hair all over his face has to be quite positively the most horrifying thing I've seen on daytime TV.
No offence meant to Paul Twohill fans out there.
What usually happens is, I wake up at about 9 am, get my breakfast, wash up and do some other miscellaneous stuff about the house, and if there's time to spare, I might sit down in front of my lappie or the TV.
Earlier this morning (or yesterday morning rather, since it's already 2 am now), while I was watching TV, one of those TV spots which wishes viewers "Merry Christmas" came on; the one with all the Singapore Idol finalists in it and Jack Johnson's "Better Together" playing in the background. In the final scene, Hady Mirza wakes up on his couch in his living room and all the other finalists jump out from behind the couch, surprising him with their presence (although if I were him, I'd be wondering how the hell they got in first).
And there's a shot of Paul Twohill popping out from behind one end of the sofa which honestly gave me a bit of the creeps.
Seriously.
Paul Twohill, popping up out of nowhere with his hair all over his face has to be quite positively the most horrifying thing I've seen on daytime TV.
No offence meant to Paul Twohill fans out there.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Feeling just a little burnt after today's training.
After such a long period of not standing out in the sun for extended periods of time and today's especially hot weather, my armguard tanline has returned in all its glory, and my face is flushed red.
All this because for last two years that I've been an archer, I've almost never put on sunblock when I shoot. And my mum always scolds me for not taking care of my skin.
Anyway. Saw last night that Joseph has pictures on his blog, so I shall put the same two pictures up here. Because I think I look nice in them. XD
I think I look better in the second one, really. Although the off-center angle of the first shot makes it look artistic. And this was taken after we went um.. Christmas shopping. A shirt for him (the one he's wearing) and a skirt for me (which you can't see in the picture, obviously), both from Esprit. So this is like an Esprit poster shot or something.
After such a long period of not standing out in the sun for extended periods of time and today's especially hot weather, my armguard tanline has returned in all its glory, and my face is flushed red.
All this because for last two years that I've been an archer, I've almost never put on sunblock when I shoot. And my mum always scolds me for not taking care of my skin.
Anyway. Saw last night that Joseph has pictures on his blog, so I shall put the same two pictures up here. Because I think I look nice in them. XD
I think I look better in the second one, really. Although the off-center angle of the first shot makes it look artistic. And this was taken after we went um.. Christmas shopping. A shirt for him (the one he's wearing) and a skirt for me (which you can't see in the picture, obviously), both from Esprit. So this is like an Esprit poster shot or something.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Post-exams destressing. XD
Went out after my dear had his second-last paper today (because really, his last paper isn't one that needs to be studied for :P) and lookie what we got!
Matching slippers. Haha. The pair on the left are mine, and yes, I know I have big feet. I wanted new Havaianas anyway, and he wanted slippers, since he doesn't have any at home. Oh happy coincidence. XD
Went out after my dear had his second-last paper today (because really, his last paper isn't one that needs to be studied for :P) and lookie what we got!
Matching slippers. Haha. The pair on the left are mine, and yes, I know I have big feet. I wanted new Havaianas anyway, and he wanted slippers, since he doesn't have any at home. Oh happy coincidence. XD