I have returned.

Entries to the "identify/caption this photo contest" (see two posts below) will cease to be accepted... whenever (when I start publishing my travelogue, probably some time on Sunday).

Send in your entry before it's too late!

YAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Agagooga's coming back todayyyyy!!!!!

1) i'm back in singapore!

2) i don't have a mobile phone... left my panasonic hp charger in melbourne... anyone got a spare handset i can borrow? (note: if i haven't contacted u yet, this is the reason. call me at home or drop an email! esp if you've changed yr contact number within the last year)

3) singaporeans have a strange obsession with Utt. I saw him on some channel 5 drama last night.

4) Nigella Lawson's "Forever Summer" isn't as great as I'd expected.

5) Went shoe shopping (= and got runners!

6) Speaking of which, a comment in the newspaper said that singaporean guys are boring slaves to fashion trends. Opinions anyone?

7) My cousins are coming down from KL this saturday!!!

jan thank you for yr msg! digging up yr phone no. now... got it somewhere.... see u soon!

Identify (tell me where this was taken and what this is) and/or caption this photo. The best entry receives a prize (if feasible).

Note to self: I don't have exams, so i should be considerate to others and not send long emails detailing my imminent return to singapore OR hold them up with long MSN conversations about turtles living in sewers and DAT classes. Really.

I've got 15 hours to pack my room, clean my house, do all the pesky domestic chores, hand in my RIPE forms ... and sleep. Guess which one takes precedence. =P

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Should i actually be bothered to do all the nitty gritty domestic humdrums? given that they only use the apartment to catch their 8 hour/7 hours/6 hours' sleep and they may not even care ... hey, for all i know, they might know i blog here and might be reading this this very moment! ha how about that? if you're reading this could you give me yr opinion in the comments box? or better yet, tell me in person. haha! yah!

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Oh God don't let this be what happened last year... i almost had a heart attack when i had 2 minutes to runtothebanktomakeadepositandrunback

"Simple. sleep now and wake up on time and DON'T DALLY."

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Queen victoria market in melbourne, Australia has a new stall of nuts, muesli and dried/dehydrated fruits! It's in the upper shed, row K i believe, nearer the meat section than the opposite side (queen st? the end with the pub and nando's) ... they have the most amazing range of things including vegetable chips (which i should get at some point for my bro). And i saw dried strawberry pieces as well!!! Most of them cost abt AUD$22.40 a kilo .. which is reasonable considering 20kg of fresh fruit usually yields 1kg of dried fruit. Try it try it try it! The muesli mixes look tempting as well.

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Next project: black and white photos of melbourne. Pub at QVM (for chink!), a long-exposure one at NikeMelbourne (where else?), a breadtop shopfront, the weird signs at the wing cheong alley in chinatown, maybe a long one down a stretch of lygon st, crown casino (in the day or at night?). I'd like a shot of docklands from a bird's eye view... half constructed. The river yarra at dusk, with all the bats (do i have an obsession with bats?) . A tram trundling to a stop at the end of the line. The state library, with its retinue of public speakers on a weekend afternoon. The unsheltered homeless on swanston and russell sts. Rude waiting staff in chinatown. The parks in and around the city - botanic parliament fitzroy flagstaff carlton princes. My buddies and my friends (the parks i mean). Would this be the concluding chapter of my foray into place poetry?

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"Grumbling" and the Popular Will / My Favourite section of the Penal Code / I hate Factory Outlets

"What is amazing about the dismissal of "mere grumbling" and "complainers" so fashionable in Singapore's political discourse is the inversion it has effected, so that the structures that should be the temporary servants of our will are regarded as the ultimate reality, and the living intentions and sensibility of the people - our vital consciousness - seem to us hollow illusions. The two need not be divorced: it is only violent suppression that has caused their divergence."


"But just for amusement and the general edification of other posters...my favourite section of the Penal Code, s. 509

Word or gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
509. Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

So guys (what about the transgendered?) can't get insulted? Or are we i.e. males suppose to be so hot-tempered that we get provoked with the slightest insult in which case we plead provocation? =)"

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And now this hour finds me at a Tanger Factory Outlet cluster in Kittery, Maine, for the 5th shopping trip in 9 days (and 8 full days). (insert familiar refrain). This trip will probably be rounded off with 2 days in factory outlets near New York (for a minimum of 7 shopping trips in 13 days [12 full days]), but - thank god - I will be doing more interesting and less repetitive things in New York itself at that juncture.