Her Pandora’s Box

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

My father stands and will forever remain as the heroic figure in my life. Every few days of every week of our lives, my father sits with me in our stuffy little kitchen and we talk, and we talk, and we talk. Our voices competing with the noisy old fan of no good and the smell of his ciggarette in the air. We talk about life, how our day went, what our problems are, we share our good and bad news, we throw ideas, we self-reflect, we laugh, sometimes we argue, sometimes we even cry but most times, we say good night feeling refreshed and inspired.

I love my father very, very much.

For years and years my dad tells us that he has nothing in his life but his two children and that he wants to see them grow up, be sucessful- be happy.

While he was courting my mother, he likes telling her how he dreams he will sit with his children and listen to all the amazing stories they want to share with him. Someday, he said, they’ll tell him how they want to conquer heights and pursue big things in their life.

Just lately, he tells her with eyes drowned in pride, how his dream came true.

And did i mention he likes being his childrens’ bestfriend? Days when i come home unhappy, he likes saying, "what’s wrong? You can tell me. We’re friends right?"

Today, I am feeling alright and I brought home a new idea to share. And like always, he fuels it with his every support. I am burning with enthusiasm, my head exploding into a psychedelic mess. I am ready and about to take another leap in my life.

Dad is a disarmingly charming character, ever so passionate about fatherhood. He braves odds fearlessly and tirelessly, just because. My father is the force and spirit that guides me back onto that path whenever i go astray. One day, whenever that day comes, I will be the parent that he is.

His wisdom- food for my soul. As long as i live.

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

Happy August! Sounds wrong doesn’t it?

Yesterday, the lunch gang, as i’ve introduced to you, went out for drinks after work. We were taking forever to decide on a place to go which eventually narrowed down to two: Ice Cold Beer or Loof.

Over MSN that afternoon, we were in a speedy, colour-blinding window of 8 chatters taking hours to agree on just one pub. So Fii had this hilarious voting list up on the whiteboard of our pantry. We were to individually move to the pantry, tick against the bar of our choice and pass the marker over to the next person.. IN AN ORDER. Here’s it.

Ice Cold Beer won the votes. But for the record, we went to both.

All of us at Ice Cold Beer, Fii behind the camera.

If you haven’t been to Loof-
Loof is a gorgeous bar up on the roof of Odeon Towers. It boasts a semi-futuristic, very pretty interior. I’d say yes to its ambience. However, I hope it was just yesterday but the service was pretty damn horrendous. We waited for over a half hour for every round of drinks and the floor staff had a yucky attitude.

Most of us ordered Mojito and it was sloppily concocted. On a separate note, the lamb racks were soooo good. If you happen to give it a go and try it, I suggest you shut you eyes while you chew on its tenderness. Two points for that! Wrapping up, everything on the menu was pricey and we burnt our pockets. Yes, it matters.

A toast to the best work buddies in town. I am going to miss them.

Kenneth, who is still bartending at Balaclava, famous for his notorious alcoholic expertise- taught us how to drink the BlowJob.

How to- Get hold of the shot glass with the whole of your mouth, tilt your head and get everything to slide in.

And this is how wrong it looks. Oh this is Kenneth by the way. 

And of course, the very yummy lamb racks.

A great night out with my lovelies.

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

There’s been a plethora of good events in my life as of late.

Last Friday, there was a Pizza Party in the office and starbucks with the lunch gang afterwards.

Ahh.. a good time to introduce my little lunch gang to you guys.

This is Fii, he’s a food thief and my dear old friend.
Alas, this is the lunch gang, with Kenneth behind the camera. Brenda and I. Brenda is a MAJOR Hello Kitty fan and an absolute sweetheart.

I went on a camping trip last weekend to unwind and i had a great time. Nothing beats having your best friends on a gorgeous, breezy night by the beach. There wasn’t much apart from junk food, company and heaps to talk about but it was all that I need for a good time.

Lunch time’s over, I’ll see you in abit!

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

Good morning! Just some pictures from SUP’s launch.

Please meet Jacky. The man behind SUP.

Also, Aaron the Great, his beer and the crowd that was forming.

The store. (www.supclothing.com)

My lovelies: My brother, Aaron and the ladies that he pimps.

And finally, the crew.
(Pictures by Mr36)

Come say hello if you’re in Haji Lane next time.

Have a gorgeous Thursday!

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

There’re tidbits of love around you if you choose to notice. Perhaps if we bothered to be a tad less oblivious and ignorant to these little surprises life has to offer, things wouldn’t seem so bad.

Is this the same angsty Maria we’re talking about?

Email this morning was from Jennifer:

Jennifer: You have BF today? Would you mind having sandwich?

Me: I mistook BF for boyfriend right before I linked it with the word sandwich. Gee.

I’d looove to! What are you having today? Chutney again?

Jennifer: Hahahaha, I guess as much. I used chutney in place of butter, as I couldn’t wait for the butter to melt early in the morning.

I hope you like rocket leaves though. Enjoy..

Jen makes just about the best sandwiches. She’s got the tendency to err on the side of awesome. So my breakfast was roast beef and cheese sandwich with a whole load of rocket leaves in between. T’was delicious.

And these are the lovely things that makes it hard to go away. Yes, I am upset.

On a much lighter note, got a text from a friend late last night. He got it through at an odd hour.

Hey Maria. How are you? I’m doing great. I’m watching Batman at the moment and i can’t help but notice you look like Rachel Dawes. How’s the paycheck?

Because i am not mad about movies despite the hype for this one, I had to tell myself that there was no need to get all flattered. I haven’t a clue who was playing Rachel Dawes, to begin with. I googled it up and learnt it was no other than.. Maggie Gyllenhaal.

I laughed so much and was all over the floor. If there was any feature at all that we shared, it’d be that we’re awfully not photogenic. Hahaha! Thanks though, she’s absolutely gorgeous and I’m thrilled but i personally don’t think so. Nah..

Overall, a good day for mails.

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

Pressed for time tonight.

I’m organizing a trip to Indonesia (as a volunteer) to help build a home for some very unfortunate families struggling to survive without shelter. Expect to get active in doing some serious fund-raising here and much physical work there. It’ll be an experience, i’m certain. Not to mention that the fruits of your labour will be explosively rewarding too. With that said, if you’re keen to be part of this, please get in touch with me: by any means possible. I’ll try my best to fulfill your every informational desire at this point (since its a relatively fresh project).

p.s this project is supported by an existing, local charity organization and not exclusively by me. Reach me and i’ll tell ya’.

My friends are putting up a tiny reunion gig and it’s going to be more of a party than anything since its a private event. Kinda. I grew up with these kids so i’m coming to relive our lost, musically amateur moments of naked adolescence. But hey, we were considered cool in school then. (Hahahaha)

Here’s what I mean: the boys in 2004, during our school concert

And here they are now:

6th Avenue Production
In Collaboration With The Bastard Records
Presents

THE SALLYS x SALLY’S REJEX

A Reunion Show

A mixture of genres, we’ll be playing songs back from 06′ to the newer ones of ‘08. Friends we meet through the shows, producers and organisers we have worked with are encouraged to come!

Date:
2nd August 2008

Location:
MUSIC GARAGE
64B Queen Street
(Bugis Street Market)

Duration:
7pm Till Late

Cost:
$8 per tix
100 tickets only (It’s a private show.)

Extras
Food & Beverage Provided
MTV Snippets Of The Band
Preview of The Sallys New Album

I do hope they’ve got pizzas. I’ll see you there.

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

Have a lovely weekend, everybody.

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

I promise you, this is the cutest, homourous and most creative article i’ve ever read in my life. Written by one of my favourite blogger and writer, Joanna Goddard. I enjoyed a damn good laugh from it. Read about our little lemonade entrepreneurs here.

Great news. I’m rolling out to a new site in a couple of weeks. I was contemplating between this cosy, intimate, simple, somewhat private space with one that doesn’t deny me of, the least, embedding videos? Not that I have much to share but you’ll never know what you’ll EVER want to share. Stay tuned folks.

I get my dose of excellent poems at softblow. It’s good stuff all year round, i think you’ll dig.

Busy looking for a driving instructor and i can’t wait to start! I’m 20 and haven’t got a driver’s license. Shame on you, Maria. I’m two years too late. Wish me luck.

Of late, i’ve been planning what i want to do to occupy my time while i’m out of a job. I even wrote out a list! I have a list of recipes to try, good books to read, new projects to work on, friends to catch up with, driving school to attend.. (the list goes on)

I’m also going to start scrapbooking! I own this huge drawer of all things i considered sentimental (like letters from primary two). I need more storage space in my room but i refuse to throw anything in that drawer away. Scrapbooking’s the answer.

Everyone knows i love getting crafty.

Most of all, I miss dancing more than ever now. I just want to get into my pointe shoes and work a gazillion pliés to sweat and start toning up.

Three more weeks to go!

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

Its my last month in the office and it’s breaking my heart. I’ve finally tendered and thought that it’s time to move on. Its clear that i’m not such a domestic person. When i got injured (and other fuck reasons) and left Lasalle, i drew out my own version of a masterplan. Plan A was to utilize a year as best as I can. I told myself that it was best to work on a diploma that was not Arts/Dance related, just because. Also, I figured, some serious work experience would help propel me towards getting the desired, better job. As opposed to: getting a job i hate because I don’t have a choice, they want work experience.

I’m starting work on my graduation project and should be done in a month, or less, i think. Apart from that, I’ve worked for a year here in Elsevier, so i’m letting it go since it was something i planned to be only temporary. It’s been great.

I’m pretty much done for now. Figured i’d bum for abit- like maybe go for a short trip out of town, work on some articles, do some volunteer works. Well, something like that. In no time, I’ll be hurtling back hunting for another job, this time, more specific to my diploma. So far so good.

Speaking of which, my relationship with Yasin sees through another year. We’re 3 years old. Since we fashioned Bali for our birthdays, we popped the chill pill and stayed put. We went camping instead. We loooove camping out (with lots of junk food). We were chatting the entire night, which is very typical of us. Childhood stories, friends, plans and stuff. It may not be anything much, but a friend and i share a running joke that a good conversation is probably better than sex. Yes/No?

Moving on. I was frowning and felt extremely awkward staring at two weding invitations on my desk. Both said, ‘Maria & Partner’ on the envelope. Not too long ago, it was my family that’s invited, not specifically my ‘partner’. There were TWO invites. Both were my friends. Not much older than me. Eeek! There’s another running joke between me and my dad that i’d like to share, which goes like, "you know you’re getting old when the wedding invites starts coming in."

Wait, how old am i again?

I find marriage a very sacred, self-less and noble commitment in life. But it scares me just almost equally. I’m never thinking of settling down too soon. Too many dreams to pursue, for one reason. And too little time, for another. But that’s just how i see it. Well, that’s for another time and another entry.

Have a good lunch! (I sure did)

Dear Sugarplum Fairy,

My head is still spinning from last weekend’s madness. I had too much fun.

SUP’s launch was a really cosy one and the humble Jacky, also owner/designer of SUP, was as welcoming as ever. Thanks for inviting! There were sooo many friends and familiar faces that i got dizzy trying to absorb whoever was there. So catching up got a little complicated after about a half hour and I resigned to standing at one spot and enjoyed my drink instead.

When the guests left, we ‘reopened’ the store for an after-party. That’s where the fun started. It was insane.