noun - 1 a : the act of affirming b : something affirmed : a positive assertion 2 : a solemn declaration made under the penalties of perjury by a person who conscientiously declines taking an oath [3 : something you don't really need but can never get enough of.]

because i have more than 500 pictures and i can't put them all in my scrapbook and i don't want to just keep them in some cd but i have no money to get them all printed, i'm just going to post them here. 

me at the national museum of singapore.  for some reason, i can't take a picture with me standing stiff, even if the result of my "wacky" poses are usually weirder than i hoped.

me again at fort canning park.  the bench is just too big for a solo picture.  moks, where are you when i need you??? pardon the pajamas, we went straight from bed to the mcritchie reservoir for some vitamin D then straight here to look for squirrels.  don't ask why.

me and luis at chijmes - a former convent turned restaurant/bars/shops.  on hindsight, i find it weird that we're waving; i seem to confuse a video camera from a photo camera, and my habits are rubbing off on my nephew!

me and my other nephew, enzo, at mcritchie reservoir.  he's four months old, and his face is almost as big as his kuya's already.  hmm, i wonder who he got that from? heehee.

butts, anyone?

me, at the singapore botanic gardens.  no, i wasn't trying to be artistic with this shot.  i was just alone and i desperately wanted a picture so i put the camera down at a bench and made "eat bulaga" through the cracks.

so there.

it's my second to the last day here in singapore.  on tuesday, i go home.  i'm loathe to leave my adorable nephews.  they're just so cute and sweet i miss them already.

but work beckons and i miss moks and i don't have money anymore so regardless of any other consideration, i'm flying back on tuesday.

my stay here has been quite interesting.  i was able to buy the one thing i really intended to buy here - the letter stencils for scrapbooking that, weirdly, are not available in the philippines.  i got the rest i needed badly (i can actually feel that my shoulders aren't as tensed as when i came here).  i even got my vindication from a high school torture 11 years after.

most fun of all is that i got to see new weirdness.  i think i got this hobby from calvin, looking for weirdness all around.  i don't have a hobbes to share the weirdness with but this blog would do just fine.

the sign says "protected place - no admittance to unauthorized persons" in five different languages.  i guess if you don't undertsand any of those languages, the illustration in the middle will do the explaining for you.

here are pictures of some courts of the Ten Courts of Hell, a "family attraction" in the Haw Par Villa illustrating a Chinese belief about crime, punishment, and reincarnation.  (i initially thought the place would sit right well with our own pinoy stories of tikbalangs, manananggals, kapres, and the like, but man, was i wrong!)

the picture illustrates what happens in the sixth court of hell (if i remember the sequence correctly).  the "punishment" illustrated here is the cutting of the body in half - the punishment meted out to those who commit the grievous grievous sin of "misuse of books" and wasting of food.  go figure.

by the ninth court, punishment includes being flattened between two planks, having your head cut or crushed under an iron ring, having your skull steamed and getting your bones scraped and tendons pulled out.  those who deserve such punishment include smugglers, arsonists, and those who write and paint erotic literature and scenes.  serves them right, ya think?!?

good news, though, is that it doesn't end in punishment.  after a sinner goes through the courts of hell, whichever is applicable to his/her sins, he/she is given the final judgment - to be reincarnated as one of seven options: (1) a wealthy and powerful human, (2) a bird, (3) a farmer and laborer, (4) a working class folk, (5) a dragon (!), fish, crab, insect, or other sea creature, (6) a lion, tiger, horse, deer, elephant, or other four-legged animal, and (7) as one of the poor, lonely, and destitute.  the sinner then goes to Men Po, some sort of doctor who lives in hell (why???) who will give the sinner the elixir of forgetfulness, to make him/her forget his/her past life. 

the weirdness of the concept is much too much for me.  hobbes was absolutely right when he quipped, "even when you look for weirdness, you're never prepared when you see one." 

thank God it's a wonderful world.

my nephew had an asthma attack today, so we can't go to malaysia as planned.  and because i have nothing else to do (that does not involve shopping, that is, because i don't want to do that yet until my last day here), i'll just blog.

here is a picture of my first sunset in singapore - at around 7:40 p.m.!

the picture was taken at siloso beach in sentosa.  the singapore summer works just right for me - i can wake up at 10 a.m., be out of the house by 12 noon, and still have almost 8 hours of sunlight to accomplish my day tasks!  if only it weren't so hot.

i don't think i would be able - ever - to drive in singapore, what with the right hand drive cars and streets, and the fact that to be able to own a car you must be one of the top 2000 bidders for a certificate of entitlement to own a car every year.  thankfully, though, the train and bus system is efficient, eventhough absolutely confusing to a newbie like me.  here is me waiting at the bus stop. 

language isn't a problem, either.  most people know how to speak english, as i understand it is a mandatory language in their schools, singapore being a multi-cultural multi-racial country and all.  but as with any other place, i guess, there are just some signs that are open to various interpretations.  like this one:

maybe i'm just stupid, but when i saw this, i thought old woman grabbing old man's butt?

i don't know how long i can stay here before i run out of things to make fun of (or before they pass a law banning the making fun of some things?  do they need to pass a law?).  so far, the merlion's been my favorite:

this shot was taken at the merlion's tale in sentosa. 

oh, i underestimated my sister's planning capabilities.  now that malaysia's out, she managed to plan a whole day itinerary for us, so gotta go again.

i dare not review the play lest i betray my absolute lack of knowledge in the performing arts. suffice it to say that it was cool. and hot. it was goooooooood.  i was blown away by the performance - the stage was elaborately designed and the transitions from one set to another were perfectly timed.  the orchestra and the actors were always in harmony, so much so that i asked my friend if the show's music and songs were really being performed live.  i knew it was a stupid question even before i asked it but they just sounded so darn good i couldn't believe those voices weren't "tampered with".

a caveat, though.  all these are coming from a novice,  from one who actually went to an F4 and a piolo concert and applauded their singing with wonder. 

anyways, because i can't think of anything more to say, i'll just post my cute pictures here.

this is the esplanade theater on (by?) the bay.  the designer intended it to look like a giant lantern, but it looked like a giant durian instead.

now this here is the view of the singapore skyline and singapore river from the esplanade roof terrace.  i missed moks so much while i was here.

anyways, i have more pictures to post, but i have to run now.  later then.

so.  i got lost last night.  i know, i know.  i was so proud of myself for being able to go home alone using only that 512-page bus guide and bus route directory.  but because i didn't want to go through 19 bus stops again, i went off on the third which was supposed to lead straight to the back entrance of my sister's condo after i cross a bridge on foot.

well, needless to say, it didn't.  or maybe it did.  but the thing is, i didn't know what the back entrance of my sister's condo looked like!  so i ended up crossing three bridges instead of one.  sheesh.

it was already past midnight and i was starting to panic - what if there are also muggers in singapore and i have my sister's camera with me and we haven't uploaded our pictures yet and what am i gonna do if i get mugged or if somebody steals the camera and my feet hurt from walking around all day and i can't run after the thief and if i run after the thief i might need to jaywalk AND I DON'T WANT TO JAYWALK IN SINGAPORE!!!

thankfully, pinoy creativity saved my day, or rather, my night.  after having crossed bridge number 3, i saw the pacita abad bridge, which was just beside my sister's condo. 

it's hard to miss the pacita abad bridge, as it is easily recognizable from a long way away. 

i don't know what pacita abad's inspiration for the bridge's design was - i wouldn't be surprised if part of it was the foresight that some stupid pinoy would one day lose her way and would need a weird-shaped colorful bridge to get home.  in any case, i am thankful to her that i didn't have to run after a thief and jaywalk and spend the next six months in the singapore prison.

i got home eventually, and yes, on my own.  i don't know how but i still ended up at the front entrance of my sister's condo.  well, so much for my sense of direction.

i went around singapore on my own, and i was able to navigate through the city using a 512-page bus route and bus stop directory.  true, i ended up having to go through 19 bus stops instead of 3 on my way home, but still, just the fact that i got home alone - with 700 different bus numbers going through 1400 different bus routes - is a major achievement in my book.

coolness.

i'm surrounded by strange, overly (and obviously fakely) friendly people, and their chitchats are getting on my nerves.  so, after sooooo many months of not blogging, i'm retreating here to rant and whine and just be wrapped in my own little bubble.

***

i like that i have plans.  i want to implement plans.  but i'm scared.

***

i hate feeling un-thought-of.  especially when it's not true.

***

i can't wait to see my nephews in singapore!

***

why can't i write anything that has any semblance of creativity nowadays? 

***

5 hours down, 5 more hours to go at this stupid, easy-money, side-line job.  my brain has stopped functioning 4 hours and 55 minutes ago.  man, i'm earning this.

i know i haven't been blogging.  i haven't been texting much either.  sorry, too lazy to communicate.

but it's christmas, and in the interest of sending out my well-wishes (not to mention to make sure that blogdrive doesn't delete my "poor, neglected blog" before i'm able to transfer the links to a new one) here's a post:

lala, merry christmas dear sister!  so looking forward to seeing enzo in person.  i heard from baby and ghie that he's the first baby they saw who was already gwapo from birth.  they said he didn't look like a worm at all, unlike most babies who had just popped out! =) congrats!!! kiss luis for me. =)

pepot, congrats on the award!  you've certainly worked hard for it, and you deserve it.  enjoy new york!

wrigley, thanks again for the recipe! it was a hit (well, to me, at least!) kiss mikey for me, will you?  and see if he recognizes the color red already (because that's what i've tried to teach him! =))

ida, kamusta?  if not for my subscription to your blog, wala na kong balita sa 'yo a.  if you didn't love your job much, i'd say quit it. hehehe.

elena, maayos naman ang pasko namin.  masaya.  heehee. =P kamusta plans niyo?

jenny, haven't read your blog in a while.  i miss your rants.

jm, I KNOW SOMETHING!!! ASTEEEEEEG!!! happy for you. =)

to all those who greeted me on christmas and who didn't receive a reply, really really sorry.  i'm really really lazy these days.

so anyway, merry christmas again everyone!  looking forward to your adventures in 2007! =)

i finally cleaned out my in-tray today! well, yes, i just transferred some of the pending to-do's there in my "to-do's asap" folder, and others in my secretary's in-tray, but still, seeing that tray empty is sooooooo refreshing!

it's weird that it's work that gets me down (with the stress, fatigue, and all), but it's also work that perks me up - work finished, that is. 

i still have loads to do, and i still don't have time for a substantial post, but i'm on a roll here, and i thought that deserved a quick mention.

ta-ta!