Fried mealworm snack

One of the teachers from the school came into our office, pushed the box of fried mealworms under our noses, and strongly encouraged us to take one and try. Fear Factor popped into mind instantly, of course. I stared at the already-dead, straight, stiff, oil-covered worms and was wondering whether to take it when Ray commented that it tasted a bit like almonds.

Being the only female in the room, of course I have to show that we, ladies are not all squealing and disgusted when it comes to stuff like that. So, while all the manly males picked the whole worm, which I can distinctly see the head, with the tiny eyes all the way to the end, I'm not ashamed to say I picked out only half of a worm. Surprisingly, it was empty inside, no tiny intestines or whatever, it was just empty, like a straw.

As for the taste, it was indescribable... nothing like the almonds Ray mentioned. It was like some dried stuff... with the thin membrane-like covering feeling like the thin coverings of peanuts, and the taste was... well, wormy. I felt myself giving it 2 tiny bites before washing that half body down with a whole mouthful of water. There was a strong after-taste... which was immediately covered by a mentos sweet.

I can only imagine how it tastes like when alive, and moving... like those shown in Fear Factor... eeewwww...

《北京人》

Went to watch the play, Beijing Ren, with Papa, Mama n Qing last evening at the Esplanade. It was the longest play I've ever watched. Both Acts 1 and 2 took about 2 hours, then with a 20-minute break, and finally, Act 3 took about 45 minutes or so.

A short summary from the website :
Beijing Ren (the Peking Man) is Cao Yu's own personal favourite play. It bespeaks the fragility and fractured emotions of the people who live and take shelter in it. Set in 1937, a family is torn apart by selfishness, divided loyalties, unrequited and unfulfilling love, and yet unable to escape its own entrapment. This theatre classic exposes the eclipse of traditional feudal families at a time of turbulent change in China.

Sounds quite arty-farty and abstract huh?

Ok, let me put it simply.

The family had a strict father who tried to keep his family and home together. The eldest son, was completely useless... didn't bother to help with the financials of the family, but instead, had an opium addiction and refused to take any risk and get out of his comfort zone. He got a wife whom he didn't love. Instead he was in love with his cousin, who so happened to love him back, and was also living unmarried under the same roof. (and everyone in the family knew they loved each other. duh.)

Naturally, this cousin was a sweet, kind-hearted and well-liked lady, who because of that useless man, chose to stay unmarried, sacrificed her own youth to stay in the house to take care of the aging uncle (who is the father of the useless man).

Oh, and naturally also, the wife is the typical sharp-tongued and horrid daughter-in-law from hell. But in the end, she actually wanted the husband to take in the cousin as his concubine, which she thought would make him happy again. So, she wasn't as bad as everyone thought.

Then the younger sister had a drunk for a husband, who only knew how to talk big, but didn't dare to do anything, which is what we call "all talk no action". There was also the 17-year-old grandson, who had a 18-year-old pregnant wife, but they had nothing much to say to each other except comment about the weather. The young wife liked her husband but he was completely clueless about the marriage and was still behaving like a child.

Simple enough plot?

Maybe so. But the more thoughts given to the different personalities and scenarios from the play, the more one can appreciate the hidden message and meaning that it was trying to convey. Filial piety, forbidden love, sacrifices made for loved ones, and cowardice to stand up for yourself, your life and your own happiness.

Personally, I felt that it was like many "lessons of life" integrated into one. It showed how things were handled, though in the proper and ethical way, it didn't mean that it was the good way, or that it gave the best outcome.

Seems like my view about the play is completely different from the synopsis. But then again, plays are subjective, and I have not read this work, so I didn't know what to expect. But on the positive side, at least I know I learnt something from it and that I'm ever so grateful not to be born at that period of time.

Is this spyder?

You Are An ENFJ

The Giver You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed.Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections. Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down.You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine. In love, you are very protective and supporting.However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite easy for you to get jealous. At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential.You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist. How you see yourself: Trusting, idealistic, and expressive When other people don't get you, they see you as: Bossy, inappropriate, and loud

The performer in me...

Accurate or not? You tell me. Haha.

You Are An ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. In love, you are a smooth talker and incorrigible flirt. While you get into relationships easily, you don't tend to stick around when times get tough. At work, you do well in groups. You keep everyone laughing through difficult tasks. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor. How you see yourself: Capable, fair, and efficient When other people don't get you, they see you as: Incompetent, stubborn, and silly

What's Your Personality Type?

Guiding Lights

What is a guiding light? A light that guides people?
How can a light that doesn’t move guide people along?
Or is the light a stationary one but it leads people towards it?

A recent show I watched inspired me. The actress said ‘I want a man who can guide me where to go because I do not know where to go’. This quote set me thinking. In life, do we guide one other? Parents? Spouse? Friends? Colleagues? Who actually?

After some thoughtful thinking, I guess in life, we need people to guide us along at different stages of our life and I think that can change our lives. From young, our parents guide us and tell us what to do, what is right or what is wrong. But, what is right? And what is wrong? A young child borne into a normal family will most probably be guided as what is wrong and what is right, but to a young child borne to a poor family or rather, a bad family, might be taught that lying and cheating to get what they want is right, because, they have to be taught how to survive in this world.

When we are growing up and when we go to school, teachers and friends could be our guiding light. Teachers bear great responsibilities as they impart their knowledge as well as moral education to their students. Friends are the most influential, mixing with the right and wrong company can change a person’s life. During my school days, I have friends who turned to the ‘dark side’ and I could see their life change drastically after they graduated from school. If a guiding light was there at that moment of time, would it have changed their future? Or was it the ‘dark’ light they followed that changed their fate?

As we grow older and graduated and step out into the working life, our colleagues would be the ones who would be more influential. My work has exposed me to lots of people and different people do really show different characters. I guess so far in my life, I have been very lucky to have met a quite a number of good people who have guided me well. Could it have been better? Or could it have been worse? I don’t dare to think else wise.
Well, I guess the bottom line is, if we believe in ourselves and with the proper bright guiding lights that keep appearing in our lives, we can definitely strive for the better when opportunities and chances come along. I wish everyone all the best.

spyder

Happy Fathers' Day!

We had an early Fathers' Day meal at the Plaza Market Cafe at Swissotel The Stamford. Food was not too bad, if not a little too expensive... but I guess it's just as it is becoz of the venue. All the others, except me, absolutely loved the durian dessert. It was of durian, and durian only. It's not that I don't like, or is scared of the durian smell, but somehow, it just doesn't appeal to me at all.



Too bad about the blurred photo of papa. He didn't posed long enough for Yun to snap a proper one...

Inconsiderate

Just realised that the clothes I had hung out to dry since this afternoon had been wet, thanks to my upstairs (don't know which storey) neighbour. Damn! Whoever it was, had hung out laundry that were still dripping wet. What happened to those pamphlets that had been stuck in our letter boxes reminding us to be considerate when hanging out wet laundry?

The least that person could do is to stuck her head out to see if there are any other laundry hanging from neighbours below her, especially if she knows that hers are going to drip badly. Thanks to my ever sharp hearing of the dripping sound. If not, I think I would have gotten more than two half-soaked shirts. Just thinking of it made me feeling p***ed all over again. What harm could it do to exercise just a wee bit of consideration for your fellow neighbours?

But then again, I ever heard someone mentioning that even if we are considerate for others, would others be the same? Would they know that we are being considerate for their sakes? So, at the end of the day, why should we care when others don't?

I think this is what some people feel too... which is why we have pamphlets for almost anything here. It seems really ridiculous to have to give out pamphlets to remind people to be considerate, to be courteous, etc. All these values are supposed to be instilled in us from young. The adults are supposed to teach the young ones. When has it come to this? What kind of "gracious" society are we living in if we need to be reminded to be nice to others?

Somebody save me

Silly Ray and Sam... got so darn excited over the new Gatsby hair wax. It's not enough that they both happen to buy that thingy, they were behaving like two overly excited girls... looking at the ad by Takuya Kimura. That stupid song was already stuck in my head after Sam played the ad a few times. Then Ray got this real dumb idea to put it as a ringtone! *duh* If one didn't know better, I would think that it was Takuya himself who got them both so overly, hyperly agitated.

Somehow, as the day went on, the excitement started to rub off on Dass. And at the end of the day, he demanded that either Ray or Sam to send him the damn ringtone.

I won't be surprised if Ray and Sam had already mastered the dance by tomorrow, and the 3 of them to start twirling their hair with their fingers, swinging their asses around, and singing along to the song.

Help.

To the cinema : Pirates of the Carribbean - At World's End

I'm not sure if I'll be as enthusiastic about the 4th sequel of "Pirates of the Carribbean" when it comes out. "At World's End" definitely leave much room for sequels, and also with the news about the production crew signing on for at least 2 more episodes of it. I wondered what else can the scriptwriter come up with after this.

Frankly speaking, I was not impressed at all with this sequel. In fact, I was actually quite disappointed with it. Not much excitement or suspense. It was just plain entertaining funny, with expected storyline as it goes along, except for the surprise ending.

And the character of Chow Yun-Fatt, maybe it's to add in a touch of Asian, or as a selling point. Coz at the end of it all, thinking back, the Sao Feng character could be there or not, doesn't make any difference to the movie. If they want a new bad guy, at least come up with a character which is more vicious, doesn't die so easily, or is not so stupid to be conned by Jack Sparrow or Will Turner. At least someone who matches up to the wit of Jack Sparrow.

Comparing it to the first 2 episodes, the plot of "At World's End" seems more complex, and confusing. To me, many issues were left unexplained.

1. Why was there a need for a pirates meeting?

2. Why was it that the crew feel the need to rescue Jack Sparrow? If he is to be present for the meeting, then back to Q1, why is there a need for the meeting?

3. Why Calypso suddenly could return to her true form when Turner told her that it was Davey Jone who betrayed her, when in the movie, it was emphasized that only the 9 items from the pirates were needed?

4. Why did Davey Jones betray Calypso when they were supposedly to be lovers?

5. When in captive, Calypso said she would "show them what I am capable of" or something like that. It sounded like revenge. Why? To who?

6. Why was Jack's father at Shipwreck Bay, and suddenly appear at the meeting? Was he one of the members of the board? If so, what was his role? *Poor Keith Richards (Jack's father), only to appear for that one small scene.*

7. When fighting Davey Jones, why was it shown that only the Black Pearl was in battle? What about the other pirates?

8. Why was the always cool-headed Lord Beckett suddenly at a loss of words when his ship got in between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman? Couldn't he just command to fire? He had already faced all the weirdos on the Flying Dutchman and suddenly he froze when in battle?

If only the director could cut short those scenes where Jack Sparrow was hallucinating and being funny. Then maybe he could have time to explain and bring more depth into the story.

Seriously, I seem to be having an overdose of Jack Sparrow and his silly antics.