Housewar(ming) Party

D's friends had a celebratory housewarming party yesterday. And although I only sorta knew two people out of the thirty or so that rocked up, I had a really good time. The girls filled the house with toy soldiers, 'shot' their guests and plastered speech bubbles on the walls for guests to scribble on.

Bang Bang you are dead


Our hostess, posing as a 'Shot' victim. Shot guest must drink a foul concoction formulated by Bartender Dave

I found that as the night wore on (and the drinks took effect) lots of profound and diverse insights started to surface.

Salutations

Instructional (hygiene)

Romantic

Instructional (Erotica)

Philosophy (Existentialism)

Internet memes

Portraiture

Mathematics

In all, it was great fun and very well thought out. Lots of booze -- some of which was explicitly intended to Relax. There was even a yellow box, in keeping with The Rules pertaining to smoking according to the National Environment Agency, shown here, modeled by D.

... And let the partying begin!

2007 is off to a rousing end, filled with lovely get-togethers with friends old and new.

Caught up with Jules, Oli and Wong tai-tai after a long bout of anti-socialness at R's sweet little crib in Siglap. Love these old walk-ups, they're so full of character.
We gorged ourselves on dip, black pepper crab, turkey stew, pasta salad, chicken wings and lots of chocolate. Very nice, I approve!

Ollie and I


Jules and I


The gang


Our kind host

In case I don't get around to it on time, Happy New Year!

Some things to think about...

My 2007 Retrospective:

What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
I ran my first 10km run ... and didn't die!
Sat on a bunch of rollercoasters and scary rides -- many of them alone -- as part of 'experential research'

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, most of them, apart from going to Vietnam. But I did get to travel to Sydney and it was wonderful to be back again.
Yes, I always make New Year Resolutions. Nerd Girl likes lists and ticking them off when she's done.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
No

What countries did you visit?
Sydney, Brisbane, Malaysia (In the middle of some sea near Mersing)

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
More travelling, more running

What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
30 November. Because 30 November is the birthday of Lumpkid, my third kidney, who turned two this year

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Running my first 10km, in 1hr and 24 minutes -- although I didn't train, and walked most of the way :P

What was your biggest failure?
Failed to save enough to have a nice long holiday (damn you peanut paying job!)

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I bashed a couple of toes and I swear I fractured them and now they are rather wonky. My R ankle was strained for a couple of months after the GE run. I got a scary-sounding 5-month cough that turned out to be Acid Reflux

What was the best thing you bought?
L'occitane Honey range -- shampoo, honey water and comfort cream: it's really really soothing after a day at work

Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Where did most of your money go?
Urm, household expenditure :(

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The CURE!!!! In concert! In Singapore!!

What song/album will always remind you of 2007?

Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder?
Sadder I guess; it's been a draining year.

Thinner or Fatter? Richer or poorer?
Hahah! Much FATTER! I think I stacked on 7kg :P And woe! Poorer!

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Laughed, hang out with friends, relaaaaxed, gone to the gym

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eat chocolate, snap at people, be a grumpy-poo

How did you spend Christmas?
Chilled at home, watched a movie

Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes, I fall in love every day ..with D (so how many points baby? hur hur?? smooth right?)

What was your favourite TV program?
I didn't watch any TV :X

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Probably, although 'hate' is a strong word.

What was the best book you read?
The Kite Runner

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmm..Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra probably

What did you want and get?
A digital camera (for Christmas, from my brother and D)

What did you want and not get?
Washboard abs (I think it was miscommuncated as: jellybelly tummy instead)

What was your favorite film of this year?
Ratatouille, 300, Beowulf

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was fishing out at sea at a Kelong! I turned 26.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A bigger paycheck, a bigger bonus WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE!

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Pretty much the same, wore lots of flat shoes and tights. I'm getting old and my feet are always sore now, so no more heels. Dresses, belte high-waists, fancy earrings.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I had the astounding luck to meet/hear/interview: Al Gore, Jane Goodall and Mohamed Yunus this year

What political issue stirred you the most?
Climate change and the idiots who refuse to do anything about it

Who did you miss?
Brian, Redzman, Spencer, Daniel B, Bunny, Chrisanthi... and loads more people

Who was the best new person you met?
Heehee, Clairebear (my bitch and w(h)ine companion)

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
Sometimes passion is not enough!

Merry Christmas! ... pass the fork!

As per tradition for the last three or four years, held a Turkey Dinner with friends on Saturday, complete with two gobble gobbles and lots of other luscious treats. Spent 2.5 days slaving in the kitchen but it was worth it!
Lots of food, lovely company, beautiful friends and champagne -- four bottles of it, wine, whiskey and laughter. :) Merry Christmas my lovelies!

Calamari Salad


Roast garlic


Turkey #1 with apple and sage stuffing


Eggplant gratin


Orange-ginger glazed ribs


Honey-garlic roast pumpkin


The Spread

Was kinda too busy eating and gossiping so I didn't have time to take photos, but we girlies did manage to pout for one:

And the best part of Christmas dinner -- leftovers!!!

Mashed potato = potato croquettes (Oishii!)


Leftover Feast: Potato croquettes, ribs, pumpkin and turkey salad

Love this clip! Especially since I was born with toes for fingers and all left toes at that!

2007 is winding down -- in a sorta rollercoaster kind of way, filled with numbing lulls and bouts of frenetic drama. I'm looking forward eagerly to the coming year -- it'll be good to have a psychological reboot to my system.

And to help, there's been a ton of Media parties to attend, shmooze and down free intoxicating liquids. :) I likey. Went to an Amex Plat 'private party' last night and had quite a ball. Because I was told I could bring friends, I did... seven of them! Sometimes I need to (ab)use my media perks.

Meanwhiles, I'm in the midst of preparing for Christmas Feasting, and had a mild case of "you eated my cookie?!" this morning. Two weekends of crazy baking to hoarde cookies for guests and parties have turned me into a cookie nazi. To make up for the drama, I made more...

Biscotti :) I love biscotti. The last batch I made about two weeks ago failed. I changed the dough recipe to try for a more buttery taste, but the lot crumbled on me as I sliced it for the second bake. I was quite upset, but D and my Bro (the official taste tasters) said the flavour was excellent. Of course, I use lemon zest, ginger and -- the special kicker -- szechuan pepper!

And for my brother, who loved the last (structurally unsound) batch, I made oat and honey clusters again.

Ooooh. And these were taken with my nifty new Fujifilm Finepix Z5 Digital Camera -- an early X'mas pressie from D and my brother!

I finally managed to get around to reading The Kite Runner. And it was the most heartbreaking and compelling book I've read in a long time. Tragedies sometimes have a way of being too contrived, but there was something genuine in Hosseini's tale of friendship, childhood and a lost homeland.
And the line to clinch it all: For you a thousand times over...
Oh God, I wanted to bawl.

The best part is that I have an invite to the preview on Thursday, which I am aching to go for. I will cross my fingers and toesies and hope that I get my off-in-lieu for Thursday so I can be certain that I'll make it, rather than sit in the office and get shot by those random 730pm arrows where I have to call 49 random people and get told off by press secretaries.

//edit: The Kite Runner (Movie)

The movie confirms by long-held belief that The Book is Always Better (okay, sometimes. Rare exceptions include Sin City -- which deviated naught from the book, and well... nothing I can think of now off the top of my head). While it was a really poignant and watchable, the movie -- being a movie -- failed to flesh out any of the characters sufficiently to give any real depth to the story. :( But keeping the book out of it, the movie was quite moving and cinematically beautiful, though it felt truncated at times. It was also a startling reality check that succeeded in depicting the way conflict and fundamentalism ravaged Afghanistan. The gem of the show was the childhood friendship between Amir and Hassan, and the little boy who plays Hassan was a prince.

I'd suggest you catch the movie and then read the book.

Did some of my X'mas baking yesterday :) Made a nice bunch of gingerbread cookies and some yummy but structurally unsound oatmeal and cranberry supposed-to-be -like-brittle, but -out-to-be-like-chewy-granola cookie-things. My lousy excuse for a camera is dead as a dodo -- some charging issues... so these are awfully grainy mobile phone shoots of Saturday's labour:

Gingerbread aeroplanes and oatmeal/cranberry mess


Oodles of gingerbread shapes


D's idea of romance is to craft my name... in gingerbread...


And he HAD to make a cookie dedicated to Samwell...

Was very very tired with sore feeties after the whole day of baking -- but managed to have a lovely dinner date with D at Thomson Plaza where we had some cheap and delectable Thai food at Jai Thai Cafe.