Gone paperless

2 years ago I was all gungho about being involved in club activities. It was refreshing, challenging, and gave me a sense of belonging. The energy within the committee was electric. Though not smooth all the time, the clubs are managed well enough.

As with most of what I do though, I got bored. The meetings, the logistics, the paperwork. Oh the paperwork!! I have taken on more than I can chew. Productivity on my part came to a halt. It was not doing both clubs any good for me to stay on.

And so I stepped down. It is a win-win. I can continue to like what the clubs are doing for members, and still maintain a casual, civil relationship with the exco.

I shall stick to organizing random ctivities on the fly with the motley crew I hang with. More fun in that.

And look, no paperwork!!

$trong currency

After the last outing to Drama Centre, I was really hoping that the night out to Esplanade turns out much better.

And it did indeed.

I remember I was in a cab when some Mandarin radio station deejay was interviewing one of the cast members, Emma Yong, who did her Chinese best in that interview, haltingly. My ears perked up when I heard that Singapore's queen of drag, Kumar and my boyhood Asia Bagus host, Najip Ali, are part of the ensemble in this production!

Helmed by Selena Tan of Dim Sum Dollies fame, $ingDollar promised much right from the 1st night it opened. One only has to have a feel of the programme for this musical to see that it is bank-rolled a well sponsored one, even if it doesn't make much ticket sales, which I highly doubt.

$ingDollar does well to engage the audience; with a familar setting (Geylang) , the standard stereotypes (most Bhangladeshis are muslims and CAN eat beef, as explained by Kumar's character as, what else, the foreign labourer) , and scores of ditties that poke fun at anything and everything local-centric. All this was played out with an actual live band behind, and the sets look great.

I especially enjoyed the Micheal Jackson 'tribute' which they worked in, with men who were until recently held in high regard but landed in deep shite taking their turns doing their MJ thang. Heck they even managed to work a disgraced monk into the number!

Brilliant.

The trio of Selena, Emma and Pam are good, dimsumdollying their way around. Kumar was the funny one, ad-libbing his way through at some parts. Najip Ali is the better dancer, Hossan Leong the better singer. Lim Kay Siu is the veteren, whilst Sebastian Tan... well let's just say I am not streching my neck out for his Broadway Beng production coming soon.

The musical is the a great sum of all the above talents, and worth wearing something smarter than bermudas and flip flops for.

4/5 stars!

P.S. What's with the local audience being so stingy with a standing ovation, har?!

Shooting Blanks

It has been a while since I watched any theatre/play/musical. So I was hyped up about watching "Own Time Own Target", a play centering around National Service.

I didn't understand though, how it had to be 2 hours or more for something that has National Service as a backdrop. It's been done before and seriously, there are only those few jokes you can tell about NS before it gets old.

The play made up of 2 halves, each with its own storyline (hence, Own Time Own Target?).

Part 1 was ok, with the actors taking a stab at a recent security lapse that happened locally. It did illicit some snide guffaws from me, but that was it.

Part 2 began promisingly, with the familiar backdrop of the 1st fourteen days in BMT. I could identify with the charactors portrayed, especially the Seargent (NOT the one whose only line was "CHEEEEEEBYE") who reminded me of my own whilst on Tekong.

Smiling Tiger we used to call him...

Part 2 was excruciatingly long, and too pink even for a neutral like me. By the umpteenth ditty the performers put on I was looking at my watch, wondering when all the farce was gonna end.

And how I bolted outta that exit door.

P.S. The night did end nicely, with us cheonging all the way down to Wala Wala for the last set. Now THAT is a show!!

PP..PUI!!

via Lancerlord

Better late than never...

Main and sides, originally uploaded by ahtiong73_.

It been a while since I met the motley crew for a nice meal.

It was through a casual conversation on plurk, coupled with the fact that I could not get a decent meal without burning a hole in my pocket whilst in Zurich, that I suddenly had a craving for curry fish head.

More plurking here and there, and after some googling, we settled for Ocean Curry Fish Head at Toa Payoh Lorong 8. I actually saved my tummy the whole day for this!

The thing to note about the group, some of us are fashionably late.

6pm became 7pm, meaning we settled down by 8pm. Those that got there early had ordered ahead-thankew JF and Aloe, so by the time we plonked ourselves down the table started filling up with plate after plate of delectable dishes.

Won't go into a detailed review but suffice to say all were well satisfied. The mouth didn't stop moving; we were either wolfing down the food or engaging in light-hearted banter. Not bad for $10/head.

We walked off the heavy meal...to another food area. Durians were bought this time to go with more refreshments. An eager drink stall lady had to come back to us twice for orders. Some of us had the bright idea to wash the durians down with beer. Mistake.

The gang dispersed slowly from 10pm onwards. All that food made me dizzy, and I dozed off on bed promptly.

Sunday rounded off nicely.