::: Not perfect. But ideal. :::

Onward!

This blog is relatively nice, but just this while there's been an avalanche of random comments made by spammers. So, I'll probably relocate my weblog...!

Recce

I actually am not very knowledgeable on jargons like this, but anyway, due to an upcoming launch event, our team goes 'recce-ing' for suitable places to hold the event. I only went to look at those shortlisted ones. At the end of the day, we weren't perfectly satisfied with any one of them, and by serendipity I managed to spot another spot, but yet to be considered because we don't know whether it can be rented in the first place.

Anyway, here are the contenders:

Red White & Pure @ Vivocity

Apparently, this place fitted our requirements of 'futuristic zen' feel. Though my team commented that it looked 'whiter' the first time round. There are two floors, the lower one being retail space cum restaurant selling indulgent high tea menus and desserts; the upper level holds a yoga studio and relaxation areas. Problem is, the rental fee is high, plus there's not much customisation that can be done because of the tenant's restrictions.

Phuture @ Zouk

We wanted a futuristic theme, so since this place already has such a name...actually, the place itself doesn't look as nice as it looked in the picture; we came at daytime, during non-operational hours and it sort of resembled a storehouse (probably because the air-con wasn't turned on, plus with all the yellowish lights all over). When they turned on some of the operational lights, I'm reminded of the pub in Star Wars where Luke first met Han Solo? Chewbacca? I can't remember; anyway I don't really know Star Wars except for the Episodes II and III which I watched (featuring Hayden Christensen who looked kakkoiii as Anakin Skywalker)

Muse Bar @ National Museum

This place looks chic enough, but not enough of futuristic element that we wanted. They have no spotlights, and those orange pillars! It's more colonial-meets-chillout vibe; I saw the Clicquot loveseat designed by the famous Karim Rashid here - it costs like about 10K USD



Anyway, after various discussions we still couldn't decide on a suitable venue; although out of these 3, my preference would be Muse Bar - yet all the same it doesn't look futuristic enough and not very versatile either.

Was going to do some window shopping after looking and Red White & Pure when this jewellery shop caught my eye. It has kind of a mod look, and turns out that all the mirrors in the shop are LCD screens. So all of us (who're going home by that time) gathered there again and made queries about whether that shop's available for rental. We don't know yet, apparently the owner wasn't in (a French by the way - the store sells European costume jewellery averaging at about 1,000 dollars each). No pictures yet, unless we manage to decide on our venue and actually hold the event there...

Will be going to recce some more places again tomorrow. Recce-ing places is fun, deciding on a suitable venue isn't.

Outside work, am reading a lot, since the library borrowing quota is doubled for this month (OMG I sound like such a bookworm!! Actually I read more manga and magazines). A lot of Gabriel García Márquez (his autobiography is really interesting, very much like the surreal tales he's well-known for), some detective novels as always plus some books on general knowledge just because I can borrow more books.

Still watching Heroes (towards the end of Season 1 - it's already concluded in US), Prison Break (both Season 1 & 2 - Wentworth Miller is so hensem - everyone I know agrees), French Open and Jacky Wu variety shows. Will be watching Shrek3 this weekend (Yay!) - Going to know the results of my 模擬テスト this weekend too, though. Abo-sensei is a bit too majime.

A lot of people on holiday now - me want to go to Jakarta and take some time off work this month if possible.

Tennis

My favourite tennis player, Rafael Nadal, won the third consecutive ATP masters' title on clay in Rome yesterday, and recorded history as the first man to accomplish that feat. James watched the game with me yesterday, but we both thought the semifinal was waaay better than the final with Gonzales (James only caught the last set of the semifinal match between Nadal & Nikolai Davydenko, but it's already so riveting).

AP Photo: Winning the championship in Rome, ATP Masters 2007

The semifinal game was a match in which Nadal really struggled (he stated that the mental part was really gruelling too, since Davydenko played brilliantly and deservedly won some of the neutrals' backing during the match); such that you couldn't predict how the match would end; the score was 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 Nadal. After watching that game in which there was tension written from beginning to end, I decided (and James too, after seeing the final set) that even if only for once, we have to buy tickets to catch a live Nadal match on clay.

Looking back, what made us support Nadal in the beginning (he was still ranked 51st then) was the fact that we didn't really favour Andy Roddick and wanted Nadal to beat him; Nadal was the first tennis player we saw who wears funny (and a very round 八月十五) - his fashion sense has gotten much better now; left-handed and played like he's no strategy except to return every ball that comes to him (of course in reality he's an intelligent player, just that the way he plays seemed as if his main game plan is to chase all attacks, even when it seemed improbable that he'd return play - I guess this never-give-up attitude is what gained him a lot of fans.) Plus, like my brother said, if he decided to pursue other sports, he can consider doing a cameo for Matt Hardy (of WWE - see the resemblance? haha).

I initially joined the tennis club in junior college; in fact, six of the girls in our class did, but later we dropped it in unison because the seniors gave very bitchy vibes (according to us), and that was when my bag got stolen. Bad memories. So now the racquets in our home are just gathering dust. Should practice some time.

Sabar subur

I think I lead a very, very laissez-faire life. So much so, in fact, that my body's natural daily calorie-burning level stands at a mere 1,300 calories...gimana sih ga bisa makan banyak2 gitu. Hikks......My dad also once mentioned that my pulse rate is very, very calm. Not to mean that I'm a calm person (well I normally am), but that I'm very mo siat & soak(a.ka. lethargic).

Fumes

I hate the fumes let out by public buses and the heat that accompanies it. I know it probably can't be helped, since it's so large and all, plus one double-decker bus equals many many cars which would total up to more pollution...this affects me even more if I I'm wearing better apparel ( bimbotic, yeah, but..)

This morning while on board the bus I came across the Virginia Tech shooting news...well, I know it's easy for me to look at this with an observer's eye, but still, it's really disturbing, this surge of assasination everywhere. Just days after I read on the newspapers about terrorist cells in my home nation formulating new structures to target top diplomats, moving away from just mass bombings.
More reports from MSNBC

There are just too much dirty exhaust fumes now, be it in the form of gas pollution, or in the more alarming form of trails left by fatal gunpowder. And that's not counting the invisible fumes let out by the gazillions of us who're fed up with one thing or another at some point in time.