Archive for March, 2006
Soph’s FAQ
Posted on March 31, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
Because I often get asked the same few questions, I’ve decided to compile my very own FAQ (read: Frequently Asked Questions) and consider directing question-askers to my blog in future…
Q1. So how’s married life?
A1. It’s great. We’re really enjoying ourselves, and I actually get more freedom now that I’m married, ironically. We’re really lucky in that we’re still living with Y’s parents and don’t have much to worry about at all besides work and what-to-do-for-supper, and I’m so glad I have wonderful in-laws (otherwise I wouldn’t be living with them and saving heaps of money).
Q2. When are you having kids?
A2. Not for another couple of years. Sometimes I tell people not until we backpack through Europe, but then I have no idea when I’m going to backpack Europe, if ever. In the meantime, we’re hoping for twins when I finally decide to have kids. (No, twins do not run in both our families, we’re just going to have to pray really hard).
Q3. Are you still working at Marie France?
A2. No, I left late last year and am now with hot magazine. And it was Marie Claire, by the way.
Q4. What do you do there?
A4. Movie reviews, interviews, celebrity gossip, beauty pages. It’s heaps fun!
Q5. Why did you decide to get married so young? (Select answer a or b)
A5a. Why not?
A5b. The same reason why older people decide to get married.
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A Week Gone By
Posted on March 27, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
I hadn’t noticed that it’s been a whole week since I blogged. Very odd, especially since last week wasn’t deadline week and the bosses were away on Thursday and Friday. But no, according to my pen and paper organiser (no fancy palm pilot/Dopod for this little piggy), this is what I have been up to.
Tuesday
Had an early press conference in the Bukit Bintang (i.e. city centre) area. The joyful occasion? To announce the 10 finalists of Malaysia’s Chinese reality singing competition - Project Superstar. You know, the whole judges, voting thingamajig. Think Idol except the entire thing is in Mandarin, there are five judges who are all nice, and the contestants keep calling the judges ‘teacher’. Literally, as in ‘Thank you, teacher’ after every comment. It’s almost horrifying. As are many of the performances. But it’s alright, having been forced to cover, and hence, follow the competition for the past couple of weeks, I’m quickly adapting to it all. And Jessie, be prepared, there’s a good chance I’m dragging you with me for the final.
Wednesday
A very fruitful day indeed. I had my stitches removed (no more icky black threads in my mouth!), got my Aussie PR visas inserted into Y and my passports and did some banking errand… all before noon! I seriously felt so productive by lunch time, going in to work was almost an anticlimax.
Thursday
An early phone interview with Milla Jovovich which turned out to be not-so-early when her schedule got pushed back by 30 minutes. She sounds really nice, though initial Internet reviews of her new film Ultraviolet have all but stomped it to tiny little pieces. I’ll just wait and see for meself.
Friday
An Ice Age 2: The Meltdown press screening and smuggled-into-theatre buns and McDonald breakfasts isn’t a bad way to start the day at all. Then it was a spot of lunch before I got insanely lost in some industrial area/Subang trying to attend an event. I was almost traumatised, I swear. Then I finally arrive like way late, and it turns out the map I was given was wrong. Wrong?! By the time I got back to the office, it was near 4.30pm and I had yet to spend an hour at my desk.
Saturday
A(nother) wedding! This one was pretty nice… great locale, good food, wonderful couple! I’m becoming a real sucker for seeing people walk down the aisle. At some points, I almost think I’m going to turn into one of those sobbing guests at weddings. God, I hope I never.
Sunday
We spent the entire day doing our Amazing Race audition video. Yep, Y and I are auditioning. So are J and G but they had the foresight to make up their minds a lil’ quicker. As of Sunday we were sitting at probably a 1/5000 chance of getting in. By now it’s probably a 1/7000 or more for all we know. But because we’ll never know what could be if we didn’t try, and because I simply couldn’t stand knowing I deliberately passed up on the opportunity and did nothing, the video is done, the forms are filled and everything should be on its way to Singapore as I speak. Fingers crossed!
So if you made it this far, you’re probably wondering why I’m giving you a day-by-day report of my past week. Well, three reasons.
Numero Uno: It’s 6.50pm, I’ve completely lost my momentum to do work and thus refuse to type another word of my Milla interview. Numero Dos: I haven’t blogged in a week and I do like blabbering gibberish in a space I call my own. Numero Tres: This isn’t what every single one of my weeks is like, but it’s a good idea of what I do in my job. If you’re thinking it’s a lot of fun and feel the infant urges of jealousy, don’t. It’s all a trade-off.
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Two Secs
Posted on March 20, 2006, by soph, under Web Stuff.
Some in-work entertainment:
http://www.bozzetto.com/Flash/Life.htm
Will blog more when I can.
p/s: I am in an office of compulsive junk-food eaters.
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O.F.F. D.A.Y.
Posted on March 16, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
I figured since I forgot to bring my tooth back for viewing and photography purposes, a picture of the stitches in my mouth will have to do. For some reason, they look a lot ickier (is there really such a word?) in a photograph than they do in my bathroom mirror. But since I’m trying to incorporate more pictures into my posts, here you go.
I got an unexpected day off today. We were very kindly informed by post last week that the relevant authorities would be doing some electrical work around my office area, and that we wouldn’t be getting electricity between the hours of 10am to 7pm. So we packed in a late night yesterday and got ourselves a free Thursday.
I’d initially planned a packed day of errands and meetings, from visiting the Aussie High Comm at 8am up till my Jazzercise class at 6.30pm. But I never was too good at sticking with plans. Y woke up with food poisoning this morning so somewhere in between getting him to the clinic and back, I decided to push Aussie High Comm to next week, and while I was at the pushing business, I decided a visit to the bank would have to wait too. I know I know, very remiss of me. Well at least I got all my meet-ups done.
And by the way, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games are on if anyone cares.
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little black stitches
Posted on March 16, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
Note to self: When the nurse says do not rinse your mouth too often because it will cause the wound to bleed, what she really means is do not rinse your mouth at all.
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Okay so maybe I don’t hate all dentists…
Posted on March 11, 2006, by soph, under It's a Girl's Life.
It’s done. After just an hour in the dentist’s chair and three hours of feeling as if my right cheek was the size of a papaya, I am pleased to announce that my last, pesky wisom tooth is forever gone, and I am beginning to regain some normalcy. Well, except for the nagging suspicion that my jaw - although no longer the size of a papaya - is now sitting somewhere around baseball status.
I suppose you could say I was prepared for worse. I woke up this morning thinking that I was going to be given sleeping pills and allowed to sleep through my procedure. On Thursday, the dentist had explained (again) that he was going to cut open my gum to get at the buried wisdom tooth that had stuck itself between my molar and the end of my gums. There wasn’t enough space for it to so much as peek a hint of enamel. Then I was to get some cosmetic contouring, which basically meant he was going to shave bits of the edges of my crooked teeth so they don’t look so crooked because I Am Not Getting Braces.
So I arrived for my appointment, a little late I confess, and after some waiting, the nurse gives me the sleeping pills. About 20 minutes later, I was only getting a wee bit drowsy and starting to worry that I wasn’t going to fall asleep in time before the doc starts cutting. Then I’m called into the room, put into the chair, and the next thing I know I’m being jabbed with one of those massive needles only dentists use. To the doc’s credit, it barely hurt, and my shut eyes meant I couldn’t see the needle.
Minutes later, there’s all this noise and water and miniscule bits flying through the air - which I figure was the whole cosmetic contouring thing going on - and that really didn’t help the fact that I was (still) trying to fall asleep. I opened my eyes occasionally to make sure everyone knew the sleeping pills hadn’t exactly kicked in and would they please not do anything which demanded that I be unconscious.
When the doc finished with all the noise and moved to the back of my mouth, I knew he wasn’t going to wait. It’s a good thing I don’t know what the fancy term for ‘knife’ is - and that my eyes were firmly shut at this stage - because in no time at all, he’d cut open the gum and was wrestling my tooth out of its blasted hiding place. I could feel my jaw (and mouth) getting increasingly sore from all the tugging. Then he said the blessed word - ’suture’, which I know means thread, or needle, or both, which meant he was gonna stitch me up and it was over. And it didn’t hurt! And I was still awake.
Later on, while paying the hefty bill - justified by the fact that my procedure was ’surgery’ as opposed to ‘wisdom tooth extraction’ - Y commented that I wasn’t asleep, and the nurse said, “Oh we only gave her half the dose because she didn’t need to be asleep for it.”
Now she tells me. After I’ve been trying so hard to dose off. I’m pretty sure the pills had some teeny sedative effect though, because I actually forgot to ask to see my wisdom tooth! The last time I had three out, I brought all three of them home and took pictures of them. Which you might remember. Damn.
It felt shitty - thanks to the yucky blood-soaked gauze taste in my mouth - for a while, but now that it’s been six hours, I’m overjoyed. Half my face no longer feels numb, and I can actually open my mouth. Which is great cos I’m really looking forward to dinner. I’m on porridge tonight, but I remain optimistic that I will get ice cream later because ice cream is ’soft food’. And I’m starving.
On the way back, Y said we should have taken before and after pictures of my crooked teeth, which I agree! We totally forgot. And we were planning on filming the procedure and sending it on as our Amazing Race audition tape, but Y got lazy in the end. I am however, NOT taking pictures of my swollen jaw. I hope it goes down tonight because I do not need to walk into church tomorrow looking like I’m hiding food in my right cheek.
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Ten Things
Posted on March 9, 2006, by soph, under Movies Music TV.
1. George Clooney won Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. I liked Syriana, but I can’t say I’m thrilled to bits about watching Good Night and Good Luck. Mainly because it’s in black and white I think. First impressions count. (Psst! Good Night and Good Luck is George Clooney’s directorial masterpiece. He was nominated for Best Director as well but lost out to Ang Lee.)
2. Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress at the Oscars. I absolutely cannot wait to watch Walk The Line. I was rooting for Joaquin Phoenix - who is also in the movie - but he lost Best Actor to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
3. Crash won Best Picture at the Oscars. This one is seriously good stuff. It was a nice surprise to hear it being called when everyone had just about resigned themselves to Brokeback Mountain clinching Best Pic.
4. Check this out: March 20th is Steak and BJ Day. Notice how it only applies to guys who made Valentine’s Day special for their ladies. A very sweet, considerate man must have created this. If it was, in fact, a man who did it.
5. Y and I have just received our Aussie PR visa grant letter. In other words, we’re now PR. Finally! Don’t ask us when we’re migrating, we don’t know yet. Ask us if we will be migrating. The answer is yes.
6. I’m going to the dentist Saturday morning to get my last wisdom tooth out. And to do something called cosmetic contouring. And to get myself a good dose of General Anaesthetic so I won’t be able to tell you anything about the procedures because I don’t want to know either.
7. I want to join The Amazing Race Asia! Saying it is one thing, doing the audition video is two things, actually getting in is three things. For more details, go here. I really want to join The Amazing Race Asia!
8. I think George Clooney is really cute. Enough said.
9. If you still read my blog, Happy Birthday Gideon!
10. My sister is going for a(nother) fencing competition this weekend, and I’m going to miss out on the live action because see item number 6. I still cannot imagine her fencing, but the last time I actually made it to a tournament (and didn’t get to watch her because she had err, fought her last round), it looked pretty cool.
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What Is Jazzercise?
Posted on March 5, 2006, by soph, under Getting Healthy.
It did dawn on me sometime on Friday night that I might have neglected to properly explain what Jazzercise is (okay, so I didn’t explain it at all), and just when I’d forgotten again (on Sunday), thanks Dave for reminding me.
The way I explain it when people ask me is this: It’s a cardio workout to music using a mixture of aerobic moves and dance steps from hip hop to cha cha and some kickboxing thrown in. Then we have resistance/strength training and stretching, also to music.
But don’t just take it from me. Check it out yourself here. It’s heaps fun. The fact that I lasted at it this long is testament to that. I, who get easily bored, who has never even bothered attempting to join a gym, who once tried tai-bo while I was in Melbourne and lasted one class (because I got bored). I won’t even mention my one attempt at Yoga. Oops, I just did.
Meanwhile, the weather here is simply sweltering, and the intermittent downpours we get barely jiggle the humidity and heat gauge. Right after the rain stops, we go back to the same horrid heat. (’horrid’ is a new word I’m trying to incorporate into my everyday speech; no more ’sucks’ from now on.)
And in case anyone is interested, tomorrow’s the Oscars! My office will be faithfully camped out in front of the telly (while juggling work) all morning, if only because we’re doing an Oscar special in our upcoming issue, which by the way the deadline for it is tomorrow evening. How thrilling. Have I told you how much I love my job?
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To do or not to do?
Posted on March 3, 2006, by soph, under Career.
For a while now, I’ve been thinking about getting certified as a Jazzercise instructor (yea, those of you who think I don’t even work up a sweat, laugh). Some moments I’m actually serious enough to download an application form; other moments the fact that I considered doing such a thing is but a fleeting memory and a wisp in the wind. The latter usually occurs when I’m in the middle of a class, sweating my way through leg-lifts and just knowing there is no way I’m ever going to be able do last through it, let alone do it with a smile on my face.
Anyway, the option is still open, and the opportunity to audition (so they can make sure we’re actually coordinated and rhythmic souls) is coming up in April. This is it: should I do it or should I not? And just to add the little moolah factor into the equation, it’s going to cost me USD500. Yay or Nay?
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I’m heading down to Melaka tomorrow for the hitz.fm birthday bash. We’re the official magazine so I guess I’ll be sweating it out there between the hours of 3pm to midnight. Please feel free to come visit me. Just bring yourself, I got the sunscreen.
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I know I keep saying this, but there’s some really good stuff here at Think.com. Check out in particular, the feature article on racism - In Living Colour - and read the comments. Oh and the links are cool too.
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So… Jazzercise? Yay or Nay?
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Runny Nose
Posted on March 1, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
After religiously huffing muck out of my nose for two days, I am now officially sick and tired of, well, huffing muck out of my nose. I think the last straw was when I sneaked a sip of Y’s chocolate milk last night, and realised with a mixture of horror and disappointment that it tasted like cold, thick plain water. In other words, it was completely tasteless. Ugh!
I am confident that this ridiculous behaviour on the part of my nose will stop soon.
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