"Brilliant" is such an English word. Just imagine... when the word is spoken, it has such a high-cathedral sort of feel to it. Like 'brih-lih-ih-urnt'. Now if we imagine the word being spoken American style, it'd probably sound something like 'bree-lee-errnt'. If it's spoken Singaporean style... it could even change to 'breee-eee-ern'.

And there ends the afternoon rant.

"Brilliant."

So delightfully British stiff upper lip.

As more people know that I'm going off to Vancouver and the US for about two weeks (my longest vacation yet!), the first thing they all ask if it's a business trip. Then they assume it's a family vacation. Then they react with some level of 'stun-ness' when I reply that it's pretty much a solo trip. But, dear reader, if I haven't updated you about it yet... please don't panic. At the moment, I'm not going to be spending any of the nights without a friend nearby. Ok, there're a couple of nights but those are in the plane so... yeah... not too bad la.

Anyway, I guess the main question is why I'm going on this trip. The simple answer is "to get away from things". I know it's expensive... (it turned out more expensive than I thought) but I really love to travel... soak in the atmosphere... see and experience how the people there live. It's really not about the sights. Just ask Jan for my to-do list in NYC! No Empire State Building, no Statue of Liberty... But rather, Harlem, Brooklyn Bridge, and a whole lot of mom-and-pop shops! Seriously, my ideal travel trip involves ambling down the streets, taking in the smells and the sillhouettes (of trees and buildings) and just seeing the beauty in stuff.

But i digress. So why this trip? It's been a crazy year, very unsettling, and with many added responsibilities. I feel extremely unrested. And when your eyebags/eyerings extend below the lower border of your specs frames... something's got to give. I've thought of just taking long leave and just staying home... but not this time. I've got to get away from the folks at home too. Been driven nuts by a couple of them... nah the nut that stays next to me is still ok. She's the resident nut so she's fine. And well, Melbourne... no close friends there. Vancouver, I'm got Mighty Ears Bern! NYC I've got Jan (who's gotta fly up hahaa). So yup.

I'm really really excited about it! Looking forward to catching up with Bern, Jan and Lionel over dinner... and loads of other stuff.

But till then... some Westside story updates! Watched the movie version of the musical and what else can I say other than... that it's a CLASSIC! Leonard Bernstein's score for the musical has become so popular, it's just WOW. I spent quite a bit of my time going "hey, I know that song..." and "so THAT'S where that song came from!". Btw it was really a hilarious night because Sophia started conducting to some songs... that made Jun, Steph and I dissolve in laughter. yes we were an amusing bunch. the guys in our group can testify to that.

Well, because i enjoyed it so so much, I'm going to post up some videos of the songs from the musical that i really love! Love music by Bernstein & lyrics by Sondheim!

I think I'm too nice. Or perhaps too insignificant. So much for being lunch buddies. Sure, we're labelled together as lunch buddies. But when the push comes to shove... I do check in when I'm going out to buy food. But too many times it's happened that when you go out to buy food or ask someone to buy, I'm forgotten. My lesson from this? Can't depend on people that you call your friends. Maybe I should be even more active in widening my lunch circle. I did... but that was because there were the interns in my extended team and we would all lunch together, interns and perm staff. But now the dynamics have changed. It's alright, I'll figure it out myself. Well maybe I'm just so tired that I'm ranting. But anyways. Time to go buy lunch. I'll have the newspapers for company.

Had a really interesting conversation in Gwen's sis' car yesterday. It just showed the difference between girls and guys.

Yong Chang asked Zai how the car is, and they were talking about how fuel efficient the Suzuki is. Gwen and I were just pretty much silent. Gwen was trying to absorb the maps (Zai refused to let her drive haha) and I was pretty much lost. Somehow, it came down to something like this...

yc: why did your sis choose this car?
gwen: eh dunno? but she had to drive to her workplace...
yc: issit because fuel efficient?
gwen: ya that's what she told my parents
yc: but sure got other reason right?

gwen: erm hahaa
yc: i think must be because it's red and cute like a toy car
gwen: probably heh
yc: if i were a car salesman right, i'd just say "miss, i got car here. cute cute model, and... got RED! super duper cute! u want?"
.
.
.
yc: girls don't choose cars for features one lor... like the way you all choose laptops. you know what features or not? just cute only right then take
gwen: haha i chose my laptop coz it's light
me: me too me too! and i still don't know what size screen it is. just small.
yc: SEE???

Oh well. So now that we've established through a very small sample size yesterday that girls and guys tend to choose their cars and technology stuff differently... So on that note, haha. Yes this girl here has her favourite cars too! Even if she can barely identify car logos... except for the Mercedes and Mitsubishi... Serene and Mei Kuen did a little carpark test on the way back from lunch the other time. WAHAHAHAHAHAA. I had ummm... let's see. 2 out of 10 or 15 correct? Yup. Only the Mitsubishi and Mercedes I could identify and describe. The rest... muahaahaha. BUT that's beside the point. This girl has her favourite cars too! And they're her favourite because they're er... small, colourful and erm... cute.

Herbie from the movies
A Volkswagen Beetle (what model don't ask me)

The Mini Cooper!
(Image Copyright Serious Wheels. Again, don't ask me what model!)

Imagine a black white canvas.

3 sillhouettes across the breadth of it, with 3 different captions.

The first, "I run for presidency" - Barack Obama
The second, "I run for sexy legs" - John Travolta Either Tracy or her mum from Hairspray (2007)
The third, "I run for my life" - Mas Selamat

And then, in bolder words at the bottom.
"But I'm special. I run for charity."

Imagine if this were on a T-shirt. Wow. I'd love to have one like that!