Barffie The Whine Connoisseur

Inspired by Pat Law‘s post, I will make a list of 10 things I am awfully thankful for. 2010 has been good to me so far and I hope 2011 will be even better.

1. My husband

How could I not mention him? He is the foundation of my sanity. Without whom I would never be happy in life. Thank you.

2. My cats

Their furriness and naughtiness keeps my heart pumping at a peaceful rate. It’s always good to go home to them and squeeze them after a stressful day out.

3. BarfMobile

I have been whining about the expenses incurred for the 2nd family car.. but I wouldn’t be able to do so much these 2 years had I not gotten my own ride.

4. My ex-colleagues turned friends
These talented ex-colleagues have encouraged me all these years. They had faith in my abilities and kept me going when the going got tough. I needed those, really.

5. Cat Welfare Society
Together with some like-minded folks, we have managed to bring CWS out of the gloom. I am happy to pass on the baton to these passionate ladies and continue to help the cats out in the streets. When I was feeling like the lousiest human being around, it was encouraging to know that I was there to keep the Society from shutting down. That played a big part in rebuilding the confidence in my capabilities.

6. This new job

It’s a new beginning at somewhere unfamiliar. New challenges ahead! I needed the pay raise as well. Hahaha.

7. The Gold
It could be a lucky shot. Or something. But I’m damn happy to get it anyway.

8. My friends
You know who you are. Hehehe.

9. My family

The family trip didn’t end up too well, but I believe that all of us will get back together as one again. We need each other because we are such a small, tight-knit group.

10. My health
Thank you, my body for not giving up on me like you did in 2009. I resolve to maintain you to the best of my abilities in 2011.

—

So that was my not-so-eloquent list… and here’s me.

It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over by Lenny Kravitz

You Get What You Give by New Radicals

Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve

You know you are getting old when you find that songs that were released more than 10 years ago still sound the best.

My first Promax!

My acceptance speech went something like “Hi, I’ve worked 9 years and I finally got to hold one of these of my own.” Cue thunderous applause which was frankly quite surprising and very humbling.

I thanked SingTel for the opportunity, and the ex-manager for allowing me on stage to collect the award in person, even though I have left the company. I didn’t thank my husband and the designer because I got too nervous by that point.

I am so proud that I have finally achieved this milestone in my career… FINALLY AHHHHHH… and a Gold award some more! I am sincerely thankful for all those who have given me invaluable encouragement and kicks in the butt when I needed them the most.

For all those hopeful promo producers who toiled year after year, but simply lack the luck to receive such a recognition just like I had been… I wish your turn will come soon.

Cheers!!!

Latte relaxing on a chair.

So we brought her in to Animal Recovery Centre at Greendale Avenue where they have a more comprehensive suite of diagnostic facilities.

She didn’t have a fracture in the leg, but a sprain in the hip area. Yeowch.

The doctor prescribed lots of rest and some painkillers. She hated the jab of course and hisssssssed to high heavens.

When we were home, she happily walked out of the carrier and rubbed our legs. She still walked with a limp but you know she was just better. We were so glad it’s something minor… it scared us quite a bit!

We gave her lots of TLC and alone time in the room, so the other naughty cats couldn’t try play with her or annoy her.

She’s much better today and we supposed she will fully recover soon

You know I love my cats to a fault. And the one who always get away with nonsense around me, is Latte.

When I got back from Seremban, hiding in the room to refrigerate myself, she jumped on the bed like how she usually did, but my head was in the way. So her foot accidentally scratched my face… but I could never be angry with her.

Yeowch.

While waiting for the scratch mark to heal… Latte had another mishap.

She was trying to jump up the shelf to reach her food bowl, we put it up there so she could eat in relative peace without the other cats stealing food from her. But she didn’t execute the jump properly and tumbled down the shelf, seemingly hurting her foot in the maneuver.

Poor girl hissed and limped away to hide in a box, and got quite upset indeed.

We will be bringing her to a vet tomorrow, I hope it’s just a torn ligament or something not as serious. Our usual vet does not have the X-Ray facilities and stuff, so we will be bringing her to another clinic.

Shucks.

Seremban!

Ok I will blog about this when I am less overheated. Somehow sitting in the car I got too “heated up”.

Thanks Haha for bringing me there!

TV time is a luxury.

Have completed the 6th and the final essay. SUCCESS for the first semester so far! Woooooooottt!!!

However, 5 more semesters to go and 10 more modules to kill!!!

Soon it’ll be the next semester, and back to scrambling for time for my assignments again. Zzzz.

<陈绮贞-鱼>
我坐在椅子上 看日出复活
我坐在夕阳里 看城市的衰弱
我摘下一片叶子 让它代替我
观察离开后的变化
曾经狂奔舞蹈 贪婪地说话
随着冷的湿的心腐化

带不走的丢不掉的 让大雨侵蚀吧
让它推向我在边界 奋不顾身挣扎
如果有一个怀抱 勇敢不计代价
别让我飞 将我温柔豢养

我坐在椅子上 看日出复活
我坐在夕阳里 看城市的衰弱
我摘下一片叶子 让它代替我
观察离开后的变化 曾经狂奔舞蹈
贪婪地说话 随着冷的湿的心腐化

带不走的留不下的 我全都交付它
让它捧着我在手掌 自由自在挥洒
如果有一个世界混浊的不像话
原谅我飞 曾经眷恋太阳

带不走的丢不掉的 让大雨侵蚀吧
让它推向我在边界 奋不顾身挣扎
如果有一个世界混浊的不像话
我会疯狂的爱上

带不走的留不下的 我全都交付它
让它捧着我在手掌 自由自在挥洒
如果有一个怀抱 勇敢不计代价
别让我飞 将我温柔豢养

原谅我飞 曾经眷恋太阳

We went to her concert last night at Max Pavilion and for the first time that I have paid for concerts, we got the most expensive tickets. I’ve always liked her lighter songs like 让我想一想… and always thought that her audience would be the kind that would sit down and listen respectfully and daintily, or something.

Little did I know that they were like what RX described. They were so HIGH. She didn’t have fancy costumes, just her band, some props, and a fantastic LED background which provided a dreamy, fantastical backdrop to her music.

<陈绮贞-太多>
喜欢一个人孤独的时刻 但不能喜欢太多
在地铁站或美术馆 孤独像睡眠一样喂养我
以永无止尽的坠落 需要音乐取暖
喜欢一个人孤独的时刻 但不能喜欢太多

喜欢一个喝着红酒的女孩 在下雨音乐奏起的时候
把她送上铁塔 给全世界的人写明信片
像一只鸟在最高的地方 歌声嘹亮
喜欢一个喝着红酒的女孩 但不能喜欢太多

喜欢一个阳光照射的角落 但不能喜欢太多
是幼稚园的小朋友 笑声像睡眠一样打扰我
我们轻轻的挥一挥手 凝结照片的伤口
我喜欢一个阳光照射的角落 但不能喜欢太多

喜欢一个人孤独的时刻 但不能喜欢太多

Her lyrics of her newer songs were what struck me after a few listens prior to the concert proper. So lonely. So empty. Musically rich and melodic. I would like to be that emo but the fact that I am happily married sort of disqualifies me from emoting about being lonely. Hohoho.

He never knew who she was, except that I liked her songs and would sing it in the KTV where everyone else would listen politely but would never sing along. The machine in the KTV didn’t have much choice anyway.

<陈绮贞 - 躺在你的衣柜>
你的毛衣跟着我回家了 我把它摆在我的房间
它曾经陪你走过几条街 它曾经陪你喝了好几杯冰的咖啡
陪你远走高飞拍照留念 也曾经静静的躺在你的衣柜

你的毛衣跟着我回家了 我把它摆在我的房间
它这样覆盖了我的冬天 它就要刺痛了我最敏锐爱的幻觉
陪你远走高飞拍照留念 天热了静静的躺在你的衣柜
我的冬天就要来了 我的冬天就要来了

你的身体跟着我回家了 我把它摆在我的房间
它曾经被你暂时借给谁 它现在静静的躺在我的衣柜
天热了静静的躺在我的衣柜
我的冬天就要来了
我的冬天我的冬天

Always felt that there was something beyond the lyrics of the song. Only after some reading that I realised that it was about a girl who killed her philandering boyfriend and hid him and his sweater in her wardrobe. Quite the story, I’d say.

He did like this song quite a bit though. That would be musical influence by me. Ho ho!

<陈绮贞-小步舞曲>
天空突然下起倾盆大雨 恋人在屋檐下相偎相依
移动我的脚步轻松躲雨 人潮拥挤握住湿热的手心
再也不愿想起不快乐的旋律 呼吸这一秒的空气

还有多少回忆藏著多少秘密 在我心里翻来覆去
什么叫做爱情 还有多少回忆藏著多少秘密
在你心里我也许只是你欣赏的风景

夜晚静静等著电话响起 时间躺在他去年寄来的信
空荡的风叫我播放著舞曲 旋转这一秒的孤寂

还有多少回忆藏著多少秘密 在你心里我也许是你轻快的游戏
还有多少回忆藏著多少秘密 在你心里我也许只是你缓慢的练习
音乐响起我一个人演出重覆的舞曲

Some of us called out several times during the night for this song in particular. Love it. I enjoyed the night tremendously with many of her fans, people who appreciated her songs, her voice and her writing.

There isn’t many Mandarin artistes left that I would support in this manner. The only other one would be Faye Wong, perhaps. Or A Mei, but somehow I’ve never struck up the heart to purchase her tickets.

Anyway, concerts are a great experience if you can afford it. I have to pick and choose quite carefully, but yeah, it was darn worth every penny last night.

Broken shoes. Bah.

I bought a pair of heels sometime back from a warehouse sale. I liked the design but found the toe box a little too narrow, plus it was a pair of 3 inchers, so I seldom wore them. I got a shoe expander recently and happily stretched the pair of shoes out to my satisfaction. Then, the unexpected happened.

The toebox got torn out of the soles and broke, so I couldn’t repair them anymore. So now I am back to wearing slippers. Plus I’m headed for a nice dinner later with the boy, you know!

Oh well. Hope I have time to go get a pair of replacements later. B.A.T.A. is Buy And Throw Away lor.

I am so glad that the results for my assignments seemed pretty positive right now. Looking forward to getting official good grades for the first 2 modules… and I am sure darn glad that I got 2 down, and 8 more to go!

After this whole ‘furthering my studies’ shebang, I will definitely be going on a good, solid vacation.

But of course, I’m jumping the gun here. MORE HARD WORK FOLLOWS!