Monday, February 25, 2013

The Devotion Project


Just watched the whole series of The Devotion Project on Youtube last night. There are 6 videos released so far, all created by Antony Osso, who wanted to provide role models for LGBTQ people growing up in today's society.

The 6 short films portray different types of LGBTQ couples, the challenges they face, the love and commitment they have for each other. I like that it's very real, it covers very real problems. It doesn't sexualize the community, which is a problem I feel we have. It just shows pure raw love, which is very bittersweet.

My favorite is #1 More Than Ever, where 2 veterans share their life together, from meeting at a bath at 18, from being separated by their enlistment, how one supported the other in getting his degree, the house they fell in love with together, and how old age has affected them. Sadly, one has passed on shortly after the making of this film. It's a sad yet happy story, because they got to spend 54 years of their life together, but yet it has ended. Jeanette always tells me we don't have enough time, before you know it sixty years have passed and she still has not enough time with me. I think this story struck a chord for her.

Go catch the other films on Youtube, just search "The Devotion Project". You will be touched. Trust me.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Thursday Thoughts


This is Singapore. A bustling metropolitan city, bright as a diamond when the sky grows dark, where you can walk the streets at 3am without fear of getting raped, where you can be guaranteed of a hot meal no matter the time of day, where you have no want of a roof over your head.

I can say all that, because I am privileged and fortunate to not be one of the lower rungs of society. It is true, there are others who feel frustrated and angry that the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer. I am not a millionaire, but at least I am not in debt, I can give some allowance to my parents and still eat well myself.

To say that Singapore is the perfect place to live in, no I wouldn't say that. Of course I have my own dissatisfactions with the way things are now. As part of the minority LGBT community, I do not have equal rights as my fellow Singaporeans. Because I cannot legally marry, foreigners are given precedence over me when it comes to public housing. Even though divorce statistics are on the rise, and more couples are not having babies, the government still holds fast to its "pro-family" stance. As if I do not consider my partner my family. If I were to fall sick, my partner would not have the rights to give permission for an emergency operation to be done, because she is not my family by right. If I were to die, my partner would not have the rights to keep what is ours, because she is not my family by right. What is not covered by rights, we will have to spend time and money at a lawfirm to legally protect ourselves.

But after all that is said and done, I believe with time will come change and acceptance. Therefore I seek that people do not oppose everything for the sake of opposing, but really strive to understand the problem and provide feasible solutions. As angry as I am about certain issues, the overall agenda that the current governemnt pushes may not be entirely bad. People fail to see the bigger picture sometimes. I like the ending of this article :

"When the elderly man who was sleeping in the train tunnel was asked why he didn’t have a home to go to, he said that when the government had proposed to build a nursing home next to where he had lived, he had petitioned against it." (People now are opposing the building of nursing homes in their neighbourhoods because they think that it will negatively impact their property prices.)

In the meantime, do not feel discouraged if you feel side-stepped as a minority. I love the annual Pinkdot events as it encompasses love and togetherness as a community, yes in Singapore! The turnout every year just grows by leaps and bounds, that is already saying something of our presence in this little dot. Do not turn suicidal if your parents reject you on the day you come out, because as this anecdote shows, all it takes is time and courage. Do not be angered by ignorance, the last thing you want is to be stereotyped yet again. Do not give up on yourself because society gave up on you, we now have so much to do to prove them wrong, and we will! It takes strength to be someone special, and that's exactly what we all are inside, SPECIAL.

Just give yourself time. Just give your fellow citizens time. Just give Singapore time. Everything will be OK.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Booking.Huat!

Monday made less dreary. We had our company Chinese New Year dinner at the Singapore Flyer building nearby, at Seafood Paradise. The menu was great, the service was spiffy and the portions were generous! Highly recommend for family and group gatherings! Plus we got to sit outside, facing the Gardens by the Bay (amazing view) and somewhere towards the middle of the dinner the Chingay rehearsals went by us, so we basically got to enjoy a dance show! :)


HUAT AH!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Weekend Noms: OverEasy and Manbok Korean BBQ Restaurant

Sheryl was back from Macau for the CNY week, so we arranged a quick catchup at OverEasy. Best place for Fridays, sliders and Kirin yumyum. I do have to say we are quite good at maintaining regular meetups even with everyone all over the world. I have groups of friends who cancel one hour before the meetup (zzzzzz) - those are people who I will probably not want to commit my time to either.


We had one group shot, but the waiter focused on the beer instead of the people. So we landed up looking like blurry background props for a Kirin advertisement. Not cool. HUR.


***

Sunday woke up with Maccers breakfast (Sausage McMuffin with Egg White my special order!!) And spent the next few hours mind numbingly crushing candies (Nettie on her ipad, me on my ipad, so now you know how domesticated we have become). Then I became hungry at 5pm....and Irene whatsapped me "Do you wanna Korean BBQ? I'm craving Kimchi pancake". And the rest as they say....is food in my tummy.


Burps. Have a good week ahead y'all!


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Sake-licious

Friends who get drunk together (or take care of the drunks)...stay together.


Fab4 & partners reunion dinner @ Tomo Izakaya Clarke Quay
14 bottles of sake later.."Please can I have somemore?"

Happy Valentine's Day my love(s)! May this be a testiment to our friendship (and livers).

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Year of the Sexy Snake

Chinese New Year 2013. Well I wouldn't really call waking up early to go visiting, stoning at different houses...a break. It's pretty exhausting actually. And as you grow older, the angpaos don't really matter anymore and the questions just keep piling. You only see me once a year, just stfu about me having to be married or get a boyfriend, you don't have a say period. URGH. Some snaps from the visiting...that occupied me haha.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Dresscode Angpao


Putri started a dress-up day at work. We had our very first one, Dresscode Angpao, yesterday! Impromptu photoshoots are the bomb diggity.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

B.O.Y


Funny how a pair of shoes can make you feel, change your look, alter your outfit. Am sooooo in love with my new shoes, just in time for CNY! They're super light and comfy. Best part...they only cost me $15 (^^)v!!!!!! I felt the same about my studded flats, now can I wear these babies everyday?????

Monday, February 4, 2013

Insta Updates


Gawd. Less than a week to CNY!! I "kweh shiu" with people for 10 minutes in Chinatown....and gave up. The heat, the sticky skin, the shouting, nah totally not how I want to spend my Saturday. Plus I fell sick after that fml.


My very own wax seal!! Nettie sneakily ordered it behind my back!! Chio max, now I need a reason to like...erm....write a letter? Give a present? Quick I want to use it!



Friday's dinner. Going local (or rather going Malaysian) with JiaXiangMian! Can you believe I know the jingle but haven't eaten it before. Yummy yummy 'cept for superficial tasting prawns, all was good!



Nette Koh spotting a 蕾丝边 look. Whaha I made up that word, funnies. Funny I can't squeeze in Chinatown, but I'm all for squeezing in Bugis Village until Nettie nudges me and rolls her eyes, starts complaining that her soles hurt, hoping I will get the hint that she can't stand it anymore LOL.



I remember someone overseas asking me what Singaporeans ate for breakfast. I had to pause and think for awhile, because we were going for cafe brunches so often that period...I was like "erm...bread? eggs? kaya? coffee?" TOTALLY SLIPPED MY MIND about hawker food...until I had to stinge on food cos my $$ was rather tight last few weeks, and we kept eating at hawker centres. Haha. Ok so actually, normal Singaporeans....eat at hawker centres, and we eat stuff like Lor Mee, Orh Lua and Chai Tao Kway. Go google it if you don't know what they are HAHA.

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee @ Old Airport Road (4/5 if you like thick gooey zhup), Orh Lua also at Old Airport Road (4/5 big juicy fresh oysters not that I eat them, I'm a weirdo that only eats the starch) and Chai Tao Kway at Macpherson Food Centre (3/5 for the white one, 5/5 for the black one super yums!)