Adventures away from the concrete jungle

The past weekend has been quite eventful and exhausting nonetheless.

12th Feb was the Safari Zoo Run which dear Aloysius asked me to gatecrash since he didn't have a running partner and we're both animal lovers ^_^
I had to admit though that we weren't prepared, I got the timing confused, thinking that the run starts at 3.30pm (5pm instead). As usual we're running late again....
We had trouble getting a cab (which is the usual case during weekends) during which, we spotted a Filipino couple decked out in 2XU gear; so obviously going for the run. We bumped into them again at the orang utan enclosure haha.
Mandai Zoo isn't exactly accessible nor centralized, and there's only 1 long road leading the way to the entrance and the other lane was closed (for the run) and the sun was blistering hot. The cab fare came up to about $14 and we were traveling really light, I only had an arm pouch and between us we only had a measly $26!
The road was congested so we decided to alight and walk the rest of the way, the weather didn't help and I wanted to kick myself for not bringing a bottle of water (hydration is vital during a run).
The exclusive Safari Zoo bottled water sells for $3 (500ml), that's daylight robbery!
We endured and boycotted the obvious ploy to monopolize drinking water at a secluded location.
After finding out that the run kicks-off only 2 hours later, I got a ticket and we set-off to the zoo (again) =)
It was Aloysius' second time and my umpteenth time; previously I brought him here too in 2008, and on that day I actually got my 1st digital cam (on the spot at AMK hub) just especially for his special excursion =D

Stretching

Back to the present day, we were looking forward to the adorable otters! But they were in a drowsy slumber from the afternoon heat, sigh.. although I could still smell them haha
We also saw the Penguins, Orang Utans (the adorable little ones were struggling when trying to swing around the trees and one fell smack on the wooden ledge), Tigers (the same angry one pacing around in his corner, I think he's up to something), a lone Crocodile as still as a wooden log, pink Flamingos, the Gibbons weren't home =(. There were Elands and Rhinoceros with gigantic poo, Zebras with their alluring stripes, so uniformed and perfectly patterned.
Then spotted Giraffes gettting close to some people on a bridge and we ran there, and it's feeding time! How lucky =D The giraffes are huge and fascinating creatures and their heads are as big as Aloysius torso and you can feed them for just $5 and they're just next to you haha. Aloysius couldn't resist so he stood beside them although there were quite intimidating since they're the tallest land animals. They were stretching their long tongues out to gobble the carrots and he got a lucky lick from a Giraffe =D

It started to drizzle and soon it was pouring and we had to run to the nearest shelter which is the Cheetah enclosure. 3 lazy jungle cats lazing by the glass pane in the sand while everyone was looking at them. It's just 1 inch of glass seperating us from the fastest land animal.

 We weren't the only ones seeking refuge from the very unexpected change in weather conditions. There were tourists and crying babies and the rain got heavier, I would have felt better without the company of so many.
While Aloysius was captivated by the giant cats and I was looking out into the open, watching the Zebras feasting in merriment despite the rain, their tails swaying in a pendulum in front of their shapely striped bums haha. It's a strange scene.
The rain didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon but everyone with their brollies and ponchos made their way out. We were about to go when I noticed 2 of the cats lowering their heads in unison, a keeper had entered their enclosure with a broom. This didn't seem right, I thought he was there to clear out something, but he approached them and the cats growled. He got closer and just shooed them off with his broom, 1 human vs 3 cheetahs?! My heart almost skipped a beat when we witness this right in front of us. The cats retreated and the keeper had shooed them off, presumably for their feeding time. He was muscular and armed with a domestic weapon but these are wild animals! This was something...
We made a dash out to the next shelter but the raindrops got heavier before we reached Ah Meng cafe. It was packed with runners who were stranded.
There was hardly any 3G reception, we couldn't see the animals and we're surrounded by just people..arghh..
I was getting restless, I don't like to sit around and wait, so we tried to make our way again after the rain subsided.
We finally reached the entrance and there was a snaking Queue. You can take the girl/boy out of Singapore but you can't take the singaporean out of a local. So naturally we joined in the Q hahaha, and we asked the friendly girls in front of us, and they were just as clueless. They found out that it was for the water bottle, but there wasn't any water. We were severely dehydrated so I grabbed some 100plus from the tents outside, we endured for 2 hours for this, oh my..
Slowly, it turns out we were the last few in the Q and they gave (only) Aloysius the finishers' medal?
The rain has ceased and we heard a few runners crossing the finishing line. It turns out that the run for the Mens' Open has started and they thought he was the 1st few finishers?! hahaha
It was too late to start running, so we went back to look for the rest of our animal friends.
There were so many deja-vu moments when we kept passing by the Ah Meng Cafe, the Orang-Utan enclosure and the 7KM mark! Yet I still felt lost...

We looked for the Giant Tortoise, the swimming Crocodiles, the Komodo Dragon, Squirrel Monkeys, the Sleeping Snakes, we caught the last bit of the Sealion show, who was just adorable and playful, and he's pretty  huge ;)
We found a brave Pelican sitting on the edge of the Sealion pool, who was apparently oblivious to the gawking humans haha.

We eventually reached the other end of the compound where the kids zone was.
There were horses in the stable, and we were surprisingly closed to them, it seemed like they could leap out anytime. Candy was the only one that stuck her head out of the railing to graze on some of the stray hay and she gave us a shock when she let out a huge snort haha. They're really huge and beautiful animals.
The Ponies didn't look happy though, there was one that was looking so emo and standing so still with her hoofs closed together.. hmmm and most of them were cramped in 1 stable with alot of poop...poor things.
Next door, the Goats were chewing non-stop on the metal railing, which I bet doesn't taste good at all, but they couldn't stop and everyone was trying to pat their heads. I doubt Goats are friendly creatures though.

While looking for the Kangaroos, we heard screeching and a keeper was crouched in the bushes and there was a small portable cage. I thought was catching a creature on the loose, then we saw him holding the neck of a flying squirrel with it's 'wings' all stretched out. I was confused, he placed it on the trunk and supported it with a rod, then he let go while it tried to clamber up then it lost it's grip and fell! Then he carried the fella to another tree and this time it went up to the branches, but it's back was facing the ground and it fell again! Smack onto the ground, the poor creature was petrified and still hurt. Yet, something new we saw today, wow!

Sadly, the Monkeys, Baboons and giant Orang Utan were no where to be found, so were the Elephants, but the sun was almost setting and it was time for the nocturnal animals to reign.

It's been a long while since I spent a day like that with Aloysius, just walking, far from urbanization and close to nature, it was a really good day although it didn't go as planned. Life is always full of little surprises ;) 

February

The month of love is here..
It was a recent revelation that I realised my typo for February, I used to spell it as I pronounced, i.e. without the extra R.
Anyway this is just a regular dose of randomness..
Happy Chinese New Year my (fictitious?) readers! hahaha :)

Why does it have to binary?

Are humans such simplistic creatures that it's either one or the other?
Does someone have to be wrong for another to be right?
Why do people don't always mean what they say?
And why are the painful memories the ones that we must forget but we have to remember to protect ourselves ?

Why?

does it have to happen? sigh...

Paulo Coelho wrote this story:

A rose longed for the company of the bees, but none would come to her.
Even so, the flower was still capable of dreaming. When she felt all alone, she would imagi­ne a garden filled with bees that came to kiss her. And so she managed to resist until the next day, when she opened her petals again.
“Aren’t you tired?” another rose asked her.
“No. I have to go on fighting.”
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t open up, I wither.”


I have to keep fighting....

2012

Hurrah it's the start of the new year, a time for new beginnings and to work on our resolutions.
But folks, this means that 2012 is looming ahead....

 Coincidentally, I just watched the eponymous movie (again) while at the hair salon.
Even so, I still teared at the emotional scenes, very much to my embarrassment, since I was helpless in the chair.
With rollers in my hair and wires attached to each, so I looked like an alien myself.

Back to my point, there had been recent reports by a US-based scientific agency: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) claiming that 3 giant spaceships have been detected en-route to Earth with ETA 2012.
Fact or fiction?Either way, we can scoff at it or be well-prepared, uh-huh.
Well, I thought it would be handy to document these (useful) survival tips from 8 days in case we ever encounter an alien invasion:

1. Forget the video cam (as seen in Cloverfield), I can't sit through this movie by the way (along with Quarantine and Blair Witch), my face turned green and my head was spinning argh!And may I add, as seen in Skyline (the lead actor armed himself with a camera after his friend got sucked..what?!) too! (extremely lame movie, that I endured with butt vibrations at the state-of-the-art 4D movie theatre in Incheon, pity that it's wasted on this show. 8 days says: Seriously - it's the end of the world. Your supposed Oscar-winning footage of an alien invasion won't even make it to America's Funniest Home Videos if all of civilisation is wiped out. So gather what you need and make your escape in helter-skelter fashion, instead of lugging around a video cam like those folks in Cloverfield, ridiculously trying to capture every moment of the last day of your life
2. Look for Allies (as seen in Transformers) If there's anything the Transformers movies taught us (besides the fact that Megan Fox looks hot) it's that everyone has an enemy you can use against them. And the enemy of thy enemy is thy friend. If not for Optimus Prime and his Autobot pals, Shia Lebouf and the rest of the human race would be toast courtesy of the Decepticons. Bottom-line: Suss out the rivals of evil alien invaders, befriend 'em and bring 'em to the party.
3. Anything Can be a Weapon (as seen in District 9) What an everyday item is to us could be Kryptonite to alien nasties. Remember invaders defeated by the common flu in War of the Worlds and ETs undone by water in M Night Shyamalan's Signs? Try a can of coke, your own fart or play Justin Bieber's music - just get creative. You can even make a few alien friends by offering them something they can't resist.. like cat food. Hey, it worked in District 9. After forging alliances, destroy 'em when their guard is down.
4. Trust No One ( as seen in Species) You never know what form an alien can take. Be extra wary if someone starts behaving oddly, even if he's your husband. Especially if he's an astronaut. Just ask Charlize Theron in The Astronaut's Wife. And guys, if an uber-hot babe suddenly finds you sexually irresistible despite the fact that you still live with your mum, have no life and play video games 24-7, chances are she's not really of the same, um, Species.
5. Find the Motherload (as seen in Independence Day) All aliens have a ginormous mothership that they report to. At least according to Hollywood. Find the damned thing, figure out a way to infiltrate, and then mess them up big-time from the inside. This is especially effective if you're Will Smith.
6. Hang Out with the Right Folks (as seen in Aliens) Make friends with people most likely to survive an invasion: A military hardhead, some gung-ho security guard, a Sigourney Weaver-type dominatrix, a down-and-out scientist whose alien conspiracy theories no one bought. These guys will form your ragtag team that'll take out the mothership. Oh, and don't forget Will Smith.

Dream Log

I didn't recall falling asleep, although I vaguely recall dreaming. I was so conscious of the timer that I set for the air-con, almost counting-down the 2.5 hrs until it shuts off. It didn't happen though.

Here goes: the memory is in bits and pieces.

I was seated in a row, seemed like some sort of class, I was all the way to the end (right). I felt like I was much younger.
All the kids had cutlery and food and they were passing down some food and it reached the boy before me and he finished it. I was confused and disappointed. Although I remember it was just beancurd and beansprouts haha.
There was a code mentioned.. something with 37.. arghh.
I seem to be on a trip, heading to some rural area, looks like a village.
We were assigned a resting place on the left side.
There were giant iguanas blocking the path, although it seemed like some sort of obstacle course.

We were supposed to jump on an elephant's back, I couldn't seem to do it right on the 1st try, so I jumped again.

Dreamsigns in the above dream, with Dreamsign Categories:

1. Seated at table - Context
2. Passing down food - Action
3. Heading to a village - Context
4. Giant Iguanas - Context
5. Jump on Elephant - Action

Am I getting this right?

My List... of 2010

It's always the case, year in-year out. When X'mas creeps in on you slowly and New Year's Eve is just around the corner and Bam! it's a new year.. just like that!
So you take stock and start to question your achievements and milestones.
Well, here's mine:  

1.  Ride on the Flyer with Aloysius.. Thanks to ShanHong ( I think this happened this year? haha)
2. (Co)organised a birthday bash for my Aloysius
3. Threw my own birthday bash too (with a theme too mind you haha)
4. and turned 3 decades old!
5. Kawaii hair makeover
6. Fainted (twice!) ermm
7. Started my blog (yay!) and rekindled my love for writing
8. Got on Facebook (double-yay!)
9. Beat all the boys to their game at Fantasy BPL heheh
10. Got our very own home at Punggol Emerald
11. New cosy desk at work.. love it =)
12. Had fun at a corporate dinner & dance for the 1st time =)
13. Brought Aloysius to meet my Dad finally...  (and grandma, uncles, aunties and cousins too)
14. Made some dear friends =D
15. A Halloween party finally with the bunch... great job to Sebast for dressing up as Akasuki.. and no...cat ears and whiskers drawn on your face shouldn't allow you free entry into the club =P haha
16. Upped my social-initiative
17. Improved my smiling technique in photos (oh how terribly fake I looked before..arghh)
18. Went to Korea!
19. Clubbing in Korea .. M2 .. ermmm haha
20. Experienced the prettiest snowfall with Aloysius... wow!
21. Tried Ski-ing for the 1st time!
22. Had a terrible fall from that... arghhhh
23. A sweet proposal from Aloysius *Muacks!
24. A lovely diamond ring <3
25. Saw a drunken Korean
26. Noraebang-ing
27. Got on the thrill rides at Lotte world. I swear it's terribly terrifying and nothing would make me get on one. But Poor Aloysius is a thrill-seeker.. so... I had to snap my eyes shut and grit my teeth and scream all the way, although I got pretty emo about it, sorry =P
28. Eating meals off the floor (with proper utensils).. a very humbling, communal experience haha
29. Swimming on top of the world at MBS SkyPark Infinity Pool (thanks to Jason).. it's fabulous except for the stares from the tourists lurking around at the public area....
30. And during the last 30 mins before the strike of 12, I finally went to P.S.Cafe.. Thanks to Shengjie =) ( I know I'm a little slow hahaha)

This is all I could muster up for now.
These memories will stay with me forever, hopefully it helps by immortalising them in cyberspace haha.
I wish to keep learning and growing and have a list year after year.

Cheers to more thrills, spills.. and parties!