The intriguing facts on enjoying dim sum:

See how happy we are..

*****

Finally finished this..

Nothing but praises for it.

Though I did not catch the movie,

I’m thankful that I chanced upon this book when PY and I went up to JS house the last meeting.

Sort of a new lesson for me again..

From family bonds to friendship to loyalty to hope and redemption..

I'm really blown away.

I thought there is a vast difference between catching the movie and reading the novel.

The movie gives the eyes a sumptuous feast and animated loud effects.

But I supposed the gist of the story passed through too many hands that the main essence of it gradually diminished to subjective stances of the directors, producers actors and audience.

Reading gives you a more vivid description of everything..

Every emotion, every backdrop, every conflicting interest..

With the novel, it’s just me and my imagination.

First of all,

This story totally changed my prejudiced impression of the Afghans.

Beneath those ugly stories we have heard, lies a whole new perception of morality values, of immensely strong family bonds, of utmost respect for traditions.

How beauty lies in the simple settings filled with poverty, brimming with unjust and flooded with extreme violence.

Funny how such stories used to bore me..

I used to prefer reading the more luxurious stories of life, and then getting attracted to the more optimistic aspects of living.

On this novel,

I simply took pleasure and allowed the details to seep through me..

Left it to pull the intangible melancholic chords in me.

A place of mix feelings drawn from people all over the world..

She is not a land of violence, not a land terror on herself..

But the people who evolved and upset the lives of the natives made her a land of horror to live in.

According to the novel,

She was invaded by the Russians first, then driven out and taken over by the Talibans who made it a living hell.

Killing innocent random people whenever they deem fit, sexually abusing the orphans, both boys and girls, drove females out from schools.

The way the author writes..

Never ending string of vocabulary

A harmonious mix of both bombastic and the down to earth.

Not forgetting the consensus of both highly and mildly climatic moments, apparent in almost every couple of pages.

I supposed that was one of the reasons that kept the reader fascinated, yearning for more..

My flow of thoughts followed through closely, intently..

As I went deeper into the story,

I found myself visualizing the illustrations, absorbing every embellishment.

It seems the writer was describing his very own life.

I truly savored the protagonist’s constant reference to his childhood.

Because he was the only one in the story who had a good memory of his young life.

Classes were strictly defined and servants remained so loyal in a manner that was..unimaginable.

Friendship and loyalty come with a high price.

How dark secrets consume the goodness of one and then hinder him to really lead a carefree life..

How the shadowed past prevented you from moving forward until you really came face to face with it.

How relived the heart felt the minute the locks to the bottled up fears are set free.

What the author is driving at..

Clear isn’t it?

It’s only human nature to err..

So it all boils down to whether one is willing to come face to face with their mistakes, and not running away from them.

And no matter how far you run..

The past will always haunt you.

Mental turmoil is something you cannot rid unless you shoot your own brain.

*****

We turned up almost in full force..

Dom, Ming and Don's buddy JX joined us this time round..

The dudes went over to Changi Village for their famous Nasi Lemak..

See what they had become after a full meal..

Havent seen daddy this happy lately..

Glad this "trip" took his woes away for a while..

He actually posed readily with the Sri Lankan crab when we asked him to..

And then he asked for another crab for a second picture..

Hurhur..

Just like all previous sessions,

The main organiser announced the day's "earnings" or voluntary donations..

Or the so call special numbers..

Amounting to $6080.00 for that afternoon.

On the boat ride back to the jetty..

Daddy remained his chirpy self..

Posing for pictures..

And I meant really posing.

We must be really crazy to be thinking of doing jump shots on a bump boat..

Imagine as we jumped and the boat zoomed off..

That would very well leave us in the water with the crabs..

So we came up with this:

When we finally reached the jetty,

The guys went back to Changi Village hawker centre for some cold desserts.

Mommy and I finally caught up with those long legs..

Only to find Daddy gone..

So where did daddy go..?!

And the main culprits..?

Hurhurhur..

As Dom had never bought 4D before..

The ticket ended up under Dom's care for safekeeping.

All because they thought maybe they would win if Dom keeps it..

The so-called beginner's luck..

But did beginner's luck validate?

........

*****

Saturday 13:30..

The first group met at Khatib Mac..

Off we went in dear's car to Beach Road..

In the car, Yan showed us her present..

Shopping Diva clay container..

Packed neatly in a panda prints paper bag.

Laughed my head off..

A shopping panda heh heh..

What a perfect reminder to shop when there's not much work in office indeed..

And the one thing that I really loved was Yan's delicate efforts to cut out the heart shapes and gave each of us a piece to write wishes on it =)

Arrived at Miss Clarity 14:20.

Went in and settled down quickly..

For once we were early..

The cafe is an all hot pink one..

Hard to miss it as we walked down Purvis Street..

The plan was on its way to success.

We messaged Pail, not expecting a response.

Then it was Jeff's turn to write his well wishes..

Odin and Yan were drawing on the present's box.

A panda's frequent food is bamboo..

Hence Jeff suggested drawing the mahjong tiles with two and seven bamboo shoots respectively.

Odin executed it =)

Thereafter Yan and I were thinking..

HOW on earth to lure Suki away for Pail to write his wishes..?

Maybe I shall ask Suki if she wants to go toilet..?

Or maybe we shall ask if Pail wants to go toilet with the heart shaped papers..?

Then Odin suddenly announced that Pail and Suki had arrived..

We were making a fair bit of noise in the cafe when we saw her brief bewildered look.

Hahaha..

She was wearing a white panda tee..o.0

And the first thing Pail said?

Hurhurhur..

We were all grinning from ear to ear..

Damn fun la..

Our food orders came.

The set meals were pretty decent and wholesome =)

They even had an appetizing pre-starter Amuse Bouche that came in a small cup that looked like those meant for drinking alcoholic shots.

We only knew it was fish..

With the level of noise we were creating..

It's hard to believe that we are all true blue working adults >,<

We were still cracking our heads how to ask Suki go to the toilet so that Pail could write his well wishes..

And EVERYTHING failed when someone suddenly asked where the toilet was and Suki merely pointed to the direction and said "There.." as if she knew the toilet was a one cubicle only plus she totally had no intention of going to the ladies >,<

Then being the ever observant person she is..

She caught our weird looks and volunteered to walk out of the cafe for the gang to finish what they were supposed to finish.

I went out with her to take more pictures.

When our idling time outside the cafe became a tad too long..

LOL

At the beginning of Sept,

A thought suddenly struck me..

Suki had posted the dates of her availability on her blog's calendar..

Most of them were taken -,-

(这女人未免太忙了吧..)

Seeing that 27 Sept was not taken,

I asked her if she wants to meet up with JS and I.

The three of us have not met up since Jun..

After some research, gave her three choices..

She chose the one that was most camera friendly =p

But the problem was, I didn't really know how to go there.

The Botanic Gardens MRT station will only be ready Year 2011.

We ended up alighting at Newton MRT and took a 4 bucks plus cab ride to the destination.

Hohoho..

So here we were..

But on the eleventh minute, without JS o.0

Probably because of the natural settings,

The cafe is quite popular among the Caucasians.

Furthermore,

As the prices shown on the menu include GST and there isn't extra service charge,

The dining experience was considerably friendly on the pockets =)

Well..

We took in all the calories..

And then burn them off with these =p

Very oblivious to the passer bys in fact..

LOL

The jumps were not all perfect though..

Albeit not as natural as before..

The Botanic Gardens still has its fair share of scenic greens..

A great place for dog lovers to take strolls with their dogs..

The second cafe of the day came on spontaneously.

Wanting to find a nice place to chill, a nice place for cakes and drinks.

Brought her to a place where I secretly hoped she had not tried before..

Situated at a quiet corner of the new shopping centre,
The Blue Mountain Cafe is really a place for avid coffee lovers..
Loved the ambience, and the service of course.

Handed her her present..
To which I knew exactly what she needed and got it prepared a month ago =D

*****

Popped over to the Nike shop after work..

If it wasn't for the mutual motivation, I'd probably utilize the shoes till the soles drop out..

But this stimulant did not come cheap../cry

His version

Mine..

After creating the dents in the pockets, time for dinner..

More dents..

*****

Nine years plus..

Yes I've come this far =)

This is my fourth pair..

Which sort of confirmed the two and a half year lifespan of Nike shoes for my kind of running pattern.

Join me on Lunarglide =p

*****

But this was just as good =)

Melts in the mouth, leaves you asking for more..

*****

Just like that, piles and piles of new folders, photos after photos..

I have been reading though..

And doing research, lots of them =p

Funny how the lack of chalking words become evident when you are taking in others' thoughts.

*****

Have you ever wondered..

How coincident it is,

That all things have to reach the end of their lifespan at the same time..?

Sighz..

Standard lifespan,

Two years..
And I have to admit that I kept tripping over them..

Inevitably standard?

Three years.

Both necessities are not something that you can simply pop into a shop and get them replaced.

Geeez =(

*****