Peugeot, Carousels and Everything French..

Happy New Year to all.. maaf zahir batin..

yeah.. ok.. anyway.. why do we always seems to get excited for new year when no one really feels excited abt it? just that coz everyone else is partying for a public holiday? coz therez another excuse in getting drunk and pop the champagne?

Happy New Calendar to each and everyone of my friends.. thatz more like it..

dont get me wrong.. i'm not being an ass abt other ppl celebrating.. just that i had never truly been bothered abt a new year..

anyway... greetings from Paris..

i just found out a few hours ago that i have free internet access in my room.. so here i am blogging before i forget what i did..

arrived in Paris in the early morning on 31st Dec 2005.. which is actually yesterday.. not really as cold for a winter morning as i expected.. at 7am, it was at a nice 7 degrees.. which gave hope for a nice afternoon..

slept for a couple of hours.. really.. just 2 hours.. before being woken up for lunch by the crew..

after lunch at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant here.. headed down to Champs Elysees with the set of crew.. in which the senior crew left to allow the rest of us enough time to walk around and stop at every shop.. so it was left with me, Ahmad, Shanling, Lay Li and Stephanie..



with Shanling along Champs Elysees



ok.. this store is probably like the biggest cosmetic store in the world.. so i've heard.. called Sephora.. girls would sure to love this place.. and inside.. u get model-like store assistants... gays.. and makeovers and ppl shooting pictures like those photo-shoots kinda scenes..

Champs Elysees is basically the shopping street of Paris.. where u can get all the branded items that ppl always talk abt.. and if u wanna do serious shopping in Paris.. this is one of the major places to go.. the other would be at Galleries LaFayette and Printemps.. which i didnt go to this trip..

at the beginning of Champs Elysees.. or end.. depending on how u start ur shopping spree.. is the Arc de Triomphe.. this arc was built ages back to commemorate a certain victory in war.. i think by Napoleon.. dunno.. go check up ur history books if u wanna know..



me at the Arc de Triomphe



along Champs Elysees, with Arc de Triomphe in the background..

but the really nice and strange thing abt this arc is the road surrounding it.. a roundabout..

there are abt 12 roads leading to this roundabout.. without the aid of traffic lights.. and therez no freaking congestion..

anyway... u get really good drivers over here in Europe.. reminds me of one particular time in Zurich, Switzerland.. when i was about to cross a small road.. so i was waiting for the very few cars that were nearby to pass before i cross.. in the middle of the road.. not like i was at a junction or what..

but the car that was passing thru stopped and let me and my friends cross.. and so did the other driver at the other side of the road..

if it was Singapore, none of us would even do that.. for Singaporeans to achieve the same kind of mentality like the Europeans.. no way..

we think too much of ourselves.. drivers in Europe are more conscious abt other road users.. and they dont need freaking laws and freaking signboards and freaking fines or demerit points to remind them of courtesy.. but they still do it..

i dont think we can do that here in a million years..

we went to several stores.. and checked out the Peugeot on display.. all the cars inside this store are concept cars.. which means that they might not go on production..



a single-driver concept car..



itz more of a covered motorbike, doncha think? the handle replaced the steering.. and it has 4 wheels.. more of a motorbike-automobile hybrid..



this looks like a Formula-1 car.. the engine, size and wheels are like F1.. just that therez double seats and itz plush inside.. itz really A FREAKING BEAUTIFUL CAR.

i wonder how it runs..



and i'm sure u guys would love this place.. the Louis Vuitton superstore.. but the queue was too freaking long.. and they tend to limit the amount of items that u can buy.. but they dont really need ur money, u know that?

anyway.. after going to the end of Champs Elysees, we walked back, and stopped for coffee at a cafe here..

a typical French cafe would have seats facing the street.. the French are obsessed with this.. they would sit out there and watch the ppl go by.. which is really cool.. but coz this is winter, no one is that silly to do that..

itz abt 10 degrees i think.. in the afternoon.. which is unusually warm.. but it got colder in the evening.. dropped to somewhere around 3 to 5 degrees..

got back to the room at abt 6pm.. it gets dark in winter at abt 5pm.. so itz basically nite.. and i took several hours nap..

at abt 8pm, went down to Julian's room.. and most of the crew in the set came down to have our New Year's Eve congregation.. we always find reasons to congregate anyway..

we decided not to go out for the countdown coz it was too cold at that time.. so we just hangout together and counted down in ENGLISH till 2006..

heared some shoutings from the streets from those drunks outside.. who counted down to 2006 without sobering up.. and heard some sounds of the fireworks from the nearby celebrations at Arc de Triomphe..

and so.. yeah.. we crossed over to 2006, 7 hours after Singapore..

today.. woke up at 11am, and met the crew for lunch.. after which me, and the 2 other crew, Shanling and Lay Li, went out for sightseeing..



inside the Metro train station near to the hotel, Porte Maillot..

i dunno how many times i had gone around Paris.. but i did it again..

first stop was at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.. in which u get the famous story of the Hunchback Of Notre Dame... but sorry.. no monsters here this time.. i think he died ages back..



Rivoli.. like most of the buildings in France and most of Europe, i should think that itz dated like a hundred years back.. if not longer..



a carousel near to Notre Damn.. somehow the Parisians are obsessed with Carousels..



me at the river near to Notre Dame..



the Notre Dame Cathedral

the queue was too long for us to get in, so we decided to move on to the next stop.. Monmartre..



the stairway leading to Monmartre..

Monmartre is actually located on top of a hill.. so u end up going thru a long stretch of stairway out of the Metro station, and this stairway up the hill..



the alley leading to Monmartre..

anyway.. i had been to these places several times.. and whenever i go around Paris.. it reminds me of my trip here with my mom.. one of my best trips..

Monmarte has this place called the Artist Village.. i dunno the actual name for it coz i dont speak French.. and this is where u get the famous theatre Moulin Rouge..

itz a very beautiful place.. and if any of u decide to visit Paris.. dont skip this place..



at Monmartre, with the city of Paris in the background..



thatz the church, i think.. up the hill of Monmartre..

we headed down to Eiffel Tower not long after that.. coz we had to make sure that we get back to the hotel by 7pm for a New Year's celebration dinner..



the Eiffel Tower in the background.. like as if u wont know that..



beautiful, isnt it?



a public toilet near to Eiffel.. out of nowhere.. there are several of these kinda coin-slots pay toilets in Paris.. along the pathways..



and again.. the Parisians and their obsession with Carousels..

the Eiffel Tower is beautiful by night.. nothing much but a tower by day.. and for a few minutes every hour, it will light up in glitters..

it dropped to abt 3 degrees at this time.. but i got myself fully insulated from the cold so it wasnt that bad..

Paris, on this trip.. had changed my perspective from the previous trips that i had.. itz cleaner now.. coz they decided to place rubbish bins.. in the form of transparent plastic bags..

previously, u might need to walk back to the hotel to get to throw ur rubbish.. bins were non-existant.. so ppl end up throwing things everywhere..

the French are known to be snobbish and hates anyone who speaks English.. coz of a feud that they had with the English for hundreds of years..

but surprisingly, we came across a lot of French ppl who were nice and attempted to speak English to us.. in fact, they are all polite to us and very approachable..

and the French girls.. ermz.. wow..

just that summer would be very much appreciated.. i hate rain and snow and hail and anything cold..

we got back to the hotel by 7.. and got ready for the dinner..



at the New Year Dinner at the hotel..

finished our dinner and celebration at abt 10.30pm.. and got back to the room..

and here i am..

i'm going back tmrw morning.. so dont miss me too much yah.. i'll be back to haunt soon enough..

Parles Vous Francais?

ermz.. hell no..

i dont speak French.. except for the lady marmalade one ah..

Voule Vous Couche Avec Moi Ce Soir.. ;)

ok.. anyway.. i'm heading down to Paris for my first flight after 2 weeks of reservist..

damn.. i feel so lazy to go to work.. not that i hate it.. coz i do enjoy flying.. but itz just that i'm getting too used to be home everyday for the past couple of weeks.

i'm gonna be celebrating New Year in Paris.. i dunno how many times i mentioned that.. but yeah..

i dont look forward for this flight coz itz too darn cold now.. bought another thermal yesterday.. and i am gonna prepare myself with all things warm.. so that i could go out on the streets for the countdown..

for those who wished that they are in cold countries.. imagine this..

in Singapore, u can go to Orchard Rd or Marina or Esplanade or Sentosa or wherever u wanna go.. in ur t-shirts and jeans or shorts or bermudas or bikinis in Sentosa.. and do the countdown..

in Europe or States.. u'll be as covered as an Egyptian Mummy trying to shout out the countdown, shivering in cold, breathing cold air and trust me.. itz not as nice as it seems..

but having a countdown is better than not having any... the atmosphere is different.. and for that, i'll get some pics for u guys to see..

ok.. backtrackking time..

i completed my reservist on Tuesday.. was supposed to be in Clementi Station by 11am.. and i woke up at 11am..

damn.. why issit that whenever i need to wake up earlier, i could.. but 11am?

thatz not even close to be a morning..

procrastination.. dammit..

but itz ok.. therez no rush to it and i arrived at 12 noon and got my stuffs done anyway..

i had lunch at Macdonald's at Tampines Mart..

met up with my 2 guitarists, Yazid and Azil at Coffee Bean at Century Square..

had dinner at the halal food court there in Century Square.. and met my old friend from my NPP, Amran along the way.. he now got a few kids and his wife is already so wifey like.. unlike those days when i knew him before he got married.. his wife was still very petite and pretty.. thatz what kids do to you..

i bought a pair of Emporio Armani shades.. niceeeeeee... i likeeeeeeeee...



see? nice rite?

i met a friend of mine.. we call him Ayang.. and yepz.. itz a guy.. Ayang.. wahahaha..

ok.. anyway.. this fella was my close friend during National Service.. very humble guy.. always drunk.. but he treasures friendships.. so basically.. like the kinda fella that will die to save a friend kinda thing.. dunno.. i didnt have to die so basically that is yet to be tested..

we used to sit together to polish our boots in camp.. just a group of like 4 or 5 of us minding our own stuffs while the rest of the guys are bz playing pranks on other recruits..

we were teenagers then.. and itz a wonder what life brings..

i didnt know i would end up being a flight attendant..

i dont think he will know at that time that he will end up having 3 stints in the DRC..

i think after 3 times he should realise that itz enough and get on with life..

itz a wonder.. some of my friends who reads this blog are still in school.. look around you.. ur friends.. and urself.. wonder what will happen in 10 yrz time?

lemme recall my good friends in secondary school..

my best friend in sec school, Yasser.. was a freaking talented artist.. he could draw anything.. now works for a graphic artist for MTV..

Ramdzan.. was in love with the sea.. was in the NCC(Sea), canoeing, and swimming team.. became a salvage diver who dives to bring up ships that was being sunk during the Gulf War.. i met him several years back on my flight from Sydney..

Pragasam.. went to ITE and did machining.. and is now a machinist.. lol.. expected..

most of the fellas became police officers.. dunno why.. especially those who are really really really bad.. the bullies in school.. toyed with drugs and so on.. and they are good cops now..

one fella had always wanted to run his own business, now runs a food stall..

one that we thought is gay, got a girl pregnant and is married to her..

the fastest guy in class.. wins at almost every running event that he takes part in.. is a flat footer and therefore classified as unfit during National Service..

the most popular guy in school.. multi talented.. plays the drums (in fact, he was the first and only drum teacher that i had), lead guitarist.. damn.. should watch his guitar scaling.. and at 16, wrote a song for a rock band that became a Malay top hit for 5 weeks.. a good singer (won a Karaoke contest by singing a Cantonese song), good in his artwork.. seriously good.. captain for the soccer team, takraw, held the record that time for long jump and high jump in school, won the 100m and 400m races.. and is very good looking.. is now bald and fat and a police officer..

in fact.. he won the karaoke competition for the whole of Singapore Police Force in 2002..

the most popular girl in school.. and as how my brother put it was that, half of the guys in school had a crush on her, small, petite, long haired and very cute.. is now twice divorced..

her ex-bf, who was my classmate now is a teacher, father of 2 and happily married..

and one guy.. one of the popular ones also lah.. definitely more popular than me coz i went thru unnoticed for 4 yrz in school coz i was the ugliest boy there.. is now wanted by police for failing to go for urine test as he had been in and out of DRC and prison..

wonder how u and ur friends will end up?

here comes the freeloader..

hmm.. ok.. i ended my reservist today.. going back to Clementi Police Station tmrw to return my stuffs..

so itz a matter of days till i go back for flights.. going to Paris on 30th Dec and spend the New Year there..

i need to learn how to count from 10 to 1 in French for the countdown.. but i'm not looking forward for it coz itz freezing cold in Europe now..

i'll try to get as many pictures of it as i can..

ok.. letz whine again..

i think from time to time we come across ppl who likes to freeload... and i happened to be on duty with one who has the habit of doing that continuously..

one of my troopmates..

so far, within the 2 weeks serving together, i spotted him buying cigarettes only ONCE. so when itz time for us to hide for a smoke, he'll demand for cigarettes from anyone whoz there.. especially me.. coz it seems that he thinks i'm supposed to do that..

everytime i buy a drink, he'll just take it as if he deserves it.. and drink it.. i'm not really bothered if itz once or twice.. but *ALL* The time?

damn..

there was once.. i bought nasi lemak.. and sat in the pantry to have it..

and my dear friend walked in.. apparently, he bought one too.. but from a different place..

so he opened up his packet..

eh.. got no ikan bilis.. and he grabbed it from my packet..

there were 2 cucumber slices in my packet.. and he said that he wants one.. so i said ok..

after he finished it, he took the other one..

things like this happened so many times.. so what if i earn more than him? if he cant afford to buy cigarettes, DONT SMOKE. if he happened to buy some sucky food from some sucky stall? TOO FUCKING BAD. dont buy from there again lor..

so i was left with 3 options.. to bear with it.. since itz just 2 weeks, or to tell him off... or like what i attempted to do.. avoid as much contact as i could..

that was what i attempted.. but itz hard when u work in the same shift and ended up seeing each other daily.. so itz a mix of bearing with it and avoiding interactions..

thank goodness reservist ended today.. if it was prolonged, i think i might spend twice the amount that i do normally coz i have an extra mouth to feed..

ok.. end of whining..

backtrackking time..

work, work, work.. most of the time.. 12 hour shifts are tough man.. luckily the guys i was working with are nice, normal ppl.. very pleasant team..

yesterday, i met up with Sheikhah Aljunied for a drink and ice cream at Swensons' Tampines, as i had promised her..

came across my cousins and their kids there..

went to work for the last nite shift, and after we ended the tour of duty.. had breakfast with the guys at Mei Ling Street nasi lemak stall.. the sucky one.. but convenient coz of the proximity to the NPC.

and i sat far away from the freeloader.. far far away.. but he still managed to grab my packet of cigarettes and pretended that it was his..

i slept thru the day.. and went to Jurong West to my cousin's place with my parents.. watched some DVDs, and suddenly.. i felt like eating durian..

me and my 2 nieces, Aisha and Nazira.. and my nephew, Farhan, went out to look for some.. went to Gek Poh, no have.. went to Giant, 10 mins too late.. called Beep, he dunno where to get, went to the old Jurong West, no have..

so sad.. came back empty handed..

and by the way.. I AM NOT DATING MY NIECE.

anyone of them.

as much as i am looking forward to go back to work now.. i'm just too lazy..

but what i realised was that.. while u hear other ppl complaining during reservist abt their jobs, i am the only contented one..

therez nothing to complain abt this job anyway.. i love flying, i love the company i'm working for.. and might be doing it for years to come..

dix, neuf, huit, sept, six, cing, quatre, trois, deux, un, zero!!!!!!

Paris!!!!!!!! Here I Come!!!!!!

erkz.. i wish i could stay home instead..

Of Mats and Minahs

again..

mats and minahs attracted my attention again today..

not that i saw them.. but had a conversation about them..

i had always wondered why would anyone be a mat or minah.. lack of fashion knowledge or lack of cash to buy something nice?

and they have a certain kinda look.. like those that dont pass off as attractive as the rest of the population, they end up being in that clan.. i dont think i had met even one pretty minah..

eh.. i did see 2 mats just now.. one with red hair.. at the something-link near tampines interchange..

damn.. i wonder still.. why be one?

so i had a conversation at Coffee Bean, at Century Square.. of some of her friends who are of that particular CONCEPT..

seems like itz not a matter of choice.. they just happen to be one..

and to slack around under the block doing nothing, and budgeting their expenses.. i think i'd rather stay home and whine if i am that broke..

lemme try to recall my encounters with mats and minahs..

the most recent one is with the girl who was auditioned to be our keyboardist.. she said that she can play they piano.. and so it was assumed that she can switch over to keyboards with enough practice..

and she claimed to be a Rudegirl.. and i was like.. wahh.. ok.. a rudie who plays the keyboards.. good.. now we dont need to teach the theory of ska music to her..

so i met her for the first time in Tampines to pass the songs to her for her to learn..

and i was like.. erkz.. damn.. she dont look like a rudegirl.. she's a minah!

and thus she was called Shaminah.. instead of her actual name, Shamimi..

she jammed with us several times.. and we decided that she wasnt cut out for it.. maybe in other bands lar.. but not ours.. for reasons that i shall not disclose..

and her bf.. a mat.. looks like a mat. talks like a mat. walks like a mat.

ok.. another encounter..

with a girl that had chatted with me on msn for quite a while..

and so when it comes to a time that we were supposed to have dinner.. she came down with her friend, and then we met her brother and some friends.. so we all sat together..

and i was suffocated by the presence of mats and minahs.. i couldnt understand their conversation, and i cant stand the sight of them..

so i cut the meeting short.. though one of them was still intrigued by my occupation.. i should just tell them to go to the airport to talk to cabin crew if they really need to talk to one..

sorry dude.. ur conversations are just not of my frequency.. no matter how hard i try to tune to urs, i just couldnt appreciate ur line of thoughts..

many years back.. when i was 17.. i used to have a gf for 3 days with a minah.. damn funny..

and so i asked for a breakup 3 days later..

i went down to her house for hari raya with some of my friends.. and we witnessed her parents smoking heroin in the kitchen..

and so thatz how they fucked up their lives.. by having fucked up parents..

so are mats and minahs really misfits of the Malay society?

i could forgive someone who had been a drug addict, or a thief..

but being a Mat?

gawddammit..

ok.. enough of rantings abt them today..

backtrackking time..

came back from night shift yesterday and slept thru the day..

woke up in the evening.. and went out for dinner with my parents and wily at Changi Village..

ok.. itz a nice place for briyani dam, and the satay there is good.. so if u guys run short of ideas for a makan place.. thatz a good place to go..

$17 for 4 plates of briyani and suji.. and filled the 4 of us to a point of contentment..

the same amount of money.. in Japan, would be for a small bowl of tempura-don, which can fill u for 15 minutes before u start thinking about food again..

after dinner, me and wily headed down to El Sheikh.. was supposed to meet my niece, Aisha there.. but she couldnt make it again.. Alwi and Farouk joined us shortly..

headed down for supper at Salihin, and met 2 friends of Alwi, Emmanuel and Arshad.. and sat there talking abt everything, till abt 2am..

therez a cat that gave birth right in front of my house.. just next to my bedroom window.. so i was up the whole night listening to the kitten cry..



cute kan?

but too bad lar.. i dont think i'd be keeping anymore cats.. so i have to force myself to refrain from having any interactions with the cats..

went out at abt 4pm just now.. headed down to the airport to collect my biometrics passport..

fetched my mom at 5.45, and after sending her home, went down to Tampines Mall and Century Square and sat at Coffee Bean chatting with her..

saw Efnie, Mima's friend passing by.. i dont think i could coz i saw her only once before..

and met up with my friend Siska.. after so long not seeing her.. ah.. Siska.. u look the same too.. masih macam budak kecik..

i got myself a Jabra bluetooth headset yesterday at Changi Village.. at one of the handphone shops there..

i'm in love with it..

thatz it for the updates.. better go now coz i need to wake up at 6am for my last morning shift of my reservist this year..

ok dok.. wa blah dulu..

P.I.M.P

ouch..

my ankle hurts..

i dunno why.. just out of a sudden.. while i was walking towards Starbucks just now..

still hurts..

ok.. anyway.. just got back from Siglap.. chilled out with Suhailah, Mohammad, Danial, and 2 guys whoz name slipped off my mind, Fizsa, and therez a birthday boy, who somehow remembered me coz he asked me whether i just got back from flight.. and a friend of the birthday boy, and another girl who just got back from some workout.. i dont remember her name either..

thanx for the ice cream cake.. it was nice.. but sorry we had to leave so soon..

i was on morning shift just now.. still doing my reservist..

nothing much happened.. just that i wanna say somethings abt what i just found out..

ok.. at the end of my tour of duty.. was sitting down with some of my friends, whoz names i wont mention..

ok.. there were these 2 married men talking..

abt going to prostitutes..

and take my word for it.. i had NEVER gone to prostitutes nor have i ever paid for sex.. so i'm quite dumb when it comes to these things.. and what i heard surprised me..

one fella was introducing the other to a so-called pimp.. i dunno whether he is a real pimp or not..

so he was like smsing the pimp.. asking for recommendations..

and the reply came in. and he showed it to us..

Emily. 23, blablabla, Office Worker, Bangkok.. and the vital statistics..

i didnt really read it lah.. so i was just listening to the conversation.. then came in several other recommendations..

and he asked for a pic of Emily.. and Mr Pimp mms-ed the pic..

according to my friend, therez even a website where you can view the photos.. talk abt keeping up with times.. so if u like her, u can just book her..

and no.. i didnt take down the pimp's number... so forget abt asking me for it..

i'll be working at night tmrw.. always a challenge to stay awake..

somehow i'm starting to miss my flights..

and btw.. how did Siglap gets itz name? Si Gelap?

an indian village used to be there perhaps?