My fifteen minutes

Yes. It was me. I was the one on TV last night.

For those who saw me and messaged me, thanks! I wish I had seen myself. If only Norah Jones hadn't chosen last night to have her concert in Singapore, I would be at home watching myself on TV.

So here's the low-down for the curious -- those who did not see me, but know others who saw me, and wondered what the deal was. Well, on sunday, I auditioned for Antakshari, a very popular musical game show on Zee TV. They were here for the Singapore special episode.

The audition went fine, but I don't think I'll make it to the next round. I was a nobody there, one of many hopefuls, some of whom were very very good. I was happy to just be there and audition before Annu Kapoor (he's the show's very popular host, and he knows every single Hindi song that there is in the world, making him the idol of Antakshari freaks like me).

Annu Kapoor heard me sing. That was enough for me.

I was happy just being contestant number 59.

But looks like something grander was in store for me. A reporter from Channelnews Asia happened to be in the audition room when I was singing. After I was done, he asked me if he could interview me. Wow! Double wow! Well, I was interviewed and they showed it on TV last night, and this morning. As I said, I could not watch it, and soon I forgot all about it.

But this morning, I was in for a surprise. Seems a lot of colleagues had seen me on TV. Even one of my authors sent me an email saying, "Saw you on TV. U look good on camera. Got potential. Will vote for you if there is a voting system." But sadly, she can't vote, as this competition works differently. But it was incredibly sweet of her.

Later, my colleague and friend Starbreez discovers that I have been quoted on the Channelnewsasia website. Big hoo haa happens.

Guy from Marketing I barely know, talks to me for a full five minutes.

Lady from Customer Service yells from her cubicle, "You celebrity already, ah?"

At the company pot luck lunch, the boss walks in and hollers, "So did you guys see her on TV last night??"

From being just contestant number 59, I was elevated to "the-one-who-was-on-TV".

Ok I will admit it.

It felt good. Real good. :)

Knowing Norah

Norah Jones. Child-woman. Voice of velvet.

Is it me or is jazz depressingly beautiful?

Sentosa comes alive!

"What's there to see in Sentosa?" I always wondered. You can't blame me. After zillions of being the tour guide for very-excited-relatives-visiting-Singapore, yes, I admit, I was bored of Sentosa.

Until last night. A few of my friends and I drove to the place at ten in the night on impulse. And suddenly, Sentosa was a different place. We rolled up our jeans and waded into the water. Just standing there, talking about how we were getting a free pedicure, felt so good! As I stood there in the water, explaining the exfoliating effect of sand to the very interested guys, I could not help but smile to myself. Guys are funny -- they love to talk about girly stuff. They hate to admit that they do.

Then the most amazing thing happened! We saw many moon jellyfish washed up on the shore! And they actually glowed in the night. I had never seen moon jellyfish on the beach before. Scintillating!


This is how it looked like when captured by one of my friend's mobile phone camera...


... and this is how it is really supposed to look like!
(Image courtesy NOAA image library)


Everyone's fat outside office hours

"So everyone is fatter than they look in the office, eh?" my friend Starbreez exclaimed at our first tennis game a few weeks ago.

She was right.

There we were, sans the formal wear, sans the delicate shawls in which we wrap ourselves against the air-conditioning in the office, sans the make-up that makes us pretty, sans the high heels that make us elegant.

There we were, sweaty and ugly and fat, in our T-shirts, shorts and shoes, running around with tennis racquets in the most unelegant manner possible.

Yes, outside office hours, everyone is fat.

But it's the people you're willing to show your 'fat side' to, that matter the most.

It's the people who have seen your 'fat side' that are your real friends.

Close friends are like...

A compilation I made in the bus on the way home.

Close friends are like Gmail. They give you all the space you want, but don't sign you out even if you ignore them for a while.

Close friends are like cabs. You can call them at 3 in the night, and they will be there.

Close friends are like Singlish. Not always correct, but you feel understood.

Close friends are like lifts. They may take long, but if you have pressed the button, they will be there to fetch you.

Close friends are like GIRO-linked MRT cards. They will always have value, and they will never let you down.

Close friends are like mobile phones. They convey messages even when they are silent.

Humbled and how

One car.

A 15-minute journey.

Jazz music.

The realisation that I was travelling in the car with three of the most special people in my life.

And I fell silent, humbled by the pricelessness of that tiny moment.

What a beautiful feeling.

Breaking slides

"You got break slide under microscope before?"

My tuition kid suddenly asked me.

After my standard reaction of "Huh?", which was partly to buy time in order to figure her words out, I said, "No, I have never broken a slide under the microscope."

"But my Biology teacher broke one once." I remembered.

"What? Really???? You mean teacher got do like that one? Hahahaha!" She squealed with delight.

It set me thinking. What was so funny about a teacher breaking a slide under the microscope? It's easy to do, you just need to lower the coarse adjustment knob till the objective lens hits the slide, and crunch! There goes your valuable slide along with your valuable cells! Easy.

What was it then that amused the kid so much? Why did she think that it was unacceptably funny that a teacher should break a slide under a microscope? It scared me a bit actually. To think that I am part of the "people who can't make mistakes because they are grown-ups".

Tutoring is such an enlightening experience. It not only gives me insights into what goes on inside the head of an 11-year-old, it also makes me sit down and think of myself as a grown-up! It's amazing how kids really look up to grown-ups. They think that we are perfect, and that we always know what to do and what to say. That we always know the answers to all their questions. That we can never make mistakes. That we know exactly how to live our lives.

Scary.

When deep inside, we are often just as clueless as they are.

Hopscotch!

Hopscotch is here! The much-awaited-by-me travelogue finally released tonight! You can catch a sneak preview here. Plans are to cover Cambodia, Goa and London, as those are the only trips I have loadsa photos of!

I feel so much better today. Could be the travelogue. Could be the badminton. Could be the late night chat with my friends.

Exhausted from the game, excited about the travelogue and energised by the chats.

Sayesha is ready to sleep.

This and that

Met the Cambodia bunch for dinner tonight. It's amazing how friends can cheer you up so instantly. Last night, I could not get myself to sleep as depression set in about the day when my friends will go their own ways. Today, after meeting them, I was glowing. But I know tonight I will have trouble sleeping again.

They say "Friends are relatives you get to choose yourself." One of the rare occasions when I actually agree with what "they say", whoever "they" are. I often imagine "them" as this bunch of smartasses who, with much authority, once sat down and made a list of things for the world, that will forever be punctuated with the words "they say"! And we will all live our lives saying what "they say" without knowing who "they" are!

Dinner was at Aiwo, a place that serves carb-free food! No bimbotic reasons for going there, we just wanted to check out what on earth carb-free food was all about! Well, turns out, healthy food CAN be tasty! What a revelation!!! I actually ate eggplant! And lady's finger! And horror of horrors, I actually ate and enjoyed broccoli without getting the usual creepy feeling -- that I am a giant who's uprooting trees from the earth and gobbling them up!

The Cambodia snaps are out! All 800 of 'em!! Yeay, now I can start full steam work on the travelogue! I am still trying to think of a name for the blog though. Reflections? Footprints? It's annoying how I can't get started till I finalise the name! It's just like writing one of my short stories, I can never start writing the story till I decide the names of the characters, even though I know exactly how the story begins and ends!

Sigh... here's to the end of a day of mixed feelings...

Depressed in Singapore

I came back from my Cambodia holiday last night.

:(

No, actually, I meant :( :( :(

Enough said.

(ps: New blog coming up on Cambodia memoirs!)

For name's sake

I met my namesake yesterday. She is this person in the office who keeps getting emails meant for me, and forwarding those emails to me is one of her daily 'To-dos'. I am very very grateful, because I were her, I would have snapped by now! Imagine getting emails meant for someone else on a daily basis?? I had been trying not to meet her, because, ah well, I hate people who have the same name as me. I really hate them, serious.

So yesterday, when the cup of gratitude spilleth over, I offered to buy her lunch. In my heart of hearts, I was hoping she would be this nasty person which would make it easy for me to hate her! But no, she turned out to be very nice! Sigh... you cannot not like her. Anyway, I was honest and told her that if she had had my surname as well, I would have had no choice but to kill her. She took it well. But I still wish her name was something else! :(

A few days ago, I had googled myself, and to my horror, found this site that listed this person who not only had my name but my surname too! It was an exam results list. And no, I never took that exam! The next time I google myself, I am not gonna click on that site. Denial, denial denial! I am the only one! Muahahaha!

I suppose it is human nature to want to be "the only one of that kind"! I wish everyone in the world could have a different name! Sayesha, now thou shalt not laugh at people who have strange names. They have the edge that you don't!

Targetting tennis next!

Played tennis today for the first time in my life, pretty much sucked at it, but it was damn fun! It was a doubles game, but Starbreez and I were there only to provide comic relief. Hopefully the status quo will change, and I will actually pick up the game soon! Can't wait for the next time!

Suddenly life is getting very "sporty"....