Say It (Over and Over Again)

Say it over and over again, over and over again,
Never stop saying you're mine.
Say it, ever and ever so sweet, ever and ever so sweet
Just like an old valentine.
When you say I love you, the same old I love you,
They whisper in stories and plays,
You can change I love you, the same old I love you,
To oh such a heavenly phrase.
So say it softly and gently and then, over and over again,
Never stop saying you're mine.

I Remembered 5, But There Were 4, in the End We Saw 3, I Understood 2, and I Liked Only 1

My princess and I went to watch Samuel Beckett's short plays at Esplanade on Sunday. I remembered that they would perform 5 short plays, but it turned out I was wrong. There were only 4 little sequences, with 10 minutes break between each of them. Since we were 5 minutes late, we missed the first one. So far, every theater performance started 10 minutes late in any country I've ever been, including Singapore, only this one had to start on time.

The first play we saw was in Mandarin. It was the same concept, about a middle age woman and her very old mother, as the last one, except that one was in English. That the latter was in a language I understood, didn't help in getting the meaning. Being an avid fan of modern dramas, I was suprised that I had no idea what Beckett wanted to say. Probably, I got rusty during the last 8 months. Luckily the third play was really good and unique, we enjoyed that one. It was the story of a love triangle, performed in a very grotesque way.


The rest of Sunday was about shopping. I bought two pairs of jeans. Since I gained almost 10kg in the last two months (my friends claim I look so much better now), I had to do this emergency shopping. I also bought a pair of bermudas, and about a dozen shirts. I really enjoy shopping with Sylvia, she has a good taste.

We had lunch at Carl's Jr. A few weeks ago, the first time I ate there I thought it had the best burger, but this feeling was gone. It was okay, but I didn't find it that special. But I still find Spinelli special. In the evening we had some cakes and iced chocolate there. I can't get bored with it. The strawberry sponge cake was really good. Yummie!

Prince of Insufficient Light

Alex told me today that my nickname reminds him of Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light. He is the ruler of Lower Heck, the lighter version of Hell, in the Dilbert comic strips. He punishes people for minor infractions not worthy of damnation in hell, such as using copier paper for the printer or stealing a chair from another cubicle.

For those who are curious how I got this nickname, the story follows. My princess, an avid blogger, uses nicknames on her blog. When she was thinking about mine, she came up with this one. She's a fan of the Dracula stories, and a part of my family lived in Transylvania, furthermore, I had long hair when I was around 18. Now you wonder how I looked like? Here's a photo.

Two Months

I met my princess two months ago, so we had a proper anniversary celebration on Wednesday. I arrived with red roses, she was waiting for me with chocolates from Chocz. We had our dinner at Spagheddis, just like two months ago. I like that place a lot, they have really nice tomato sauce. Afterwards we bought tickets for the musical Notre Dame de Paris, which will be shown in November, and headed to the park outside Esplanade. We were walking, talking and kissing in the cosy darkness. Okay, we were mainly kissing, but we were walking and talking some as well. These two months we have spent together seem actually a lot more than that. We know each other really well and enjoy each other's company a lot. Every second we spend together is amazing. I'm really in love with her.

I started to organize the birthday party for Sylvia, which will be in two weeks. I called her friends. Most of them I haven't met yet but they are really nice people. I will invite a few friends of mine as well, most of them she's alredy met. I can't write more details now, as the rest should be a surprise for my princess.

On Thursday I had dinner with Nath. We went to The Soup Spoon, the pumpkin soup was terrific. Then we had ice chocolates at Spinelli. I became an avid Spinelli fan eversince Sylvia introduced me to this delicious drink. Actually, Spinelli's iced chocolate became number one, overtaking Max Brenner's thick dark hot chocolate.

Friday I met Pei Pei, Sylvia's friend. I joined them at Brewerkz after work. The food there is rather average and overpriced, but they brew very good beers.

Saturday I met Dorothy, a first-time film director, whom I help with her business plan. I really like the project, I believe it's going to be a great film. Then I met my princess after she finished work at 6pm. We had dinner with her family. I like these gatherings, especially that I miss my own family a lot. After dinner I had to finish some work, but I had a terrible headache, so I was very slow with it. My princess gave me pills and a neck massage, which eased the pain. We started to watch Monty Phyton's Holy Grail, but we fall asleep after 20 minutes. I like that film a lot, I can watch it anytime. It's hillarious.

On Sunday we went to see the grandparents. We had lunch together at a hawker center nearby, then we watched old photographs. Ama is really nice, I wish I could speak Hokkien, because now Sylvia has to tell me what Ama is talking about. Grandpa is a funny old man, joking all the time. Afterwards we went to IKEA, but we didn't buy anything except for some cakes. The almond cake there is really. Afterwards we went to my place and watched Amelie. I have seen it twice already, but now I wanted to show it to my princess. She enjoyed it. This is the first film we actually watched recently, the last few were either terrible, or we were too tired to stay awake.

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

Wednesday was the 41st anniversary of Singapore's independence. They celebrated with four days of fireworks. I saw the one on Thursday from Nathalie's office. Great view on the bay from the 13th floor. Then I saw bits of the show on Friday from Nathalie's new apartment. Even better view, as she lives on the 28th floor, but the fireworks was blocked by some of the office buildings.

Friday was Nathalie's house warming and farewell party. It's not a contradiction though. She moved into this new apartment with her boyfriend, and she leaves in 2 weeks. She will spend the next four months on the French campus.

Sunday I met Winnie, one of the girlfriends of my princess. She's a really nice girl. She was the first one we invited for Sylvia's birthday party. Her birthday is on 4 September. Since it's a Monday, the party is going to be on 2 September. I will invite most of her friends, and some of mine. I planned it as a surprise party, but after a while I realized that I don't know the names and contacts of most of her friends, she always mentions their nicknames. In the end I asked her to give me a list of the people she wants to invite.

Today I played tennis with Ruben. It was great to play after a year or more. My swings are really rusty and it's really tough to play in the heat and humidity. Next time I will bring at least 3 liters of water, extra sets of towels and another shirt.

The Princess and I

Happy Together

(The Turtles)

Imagine me and you, I do
I think about you day and night, it's only right
To think about the girl you love, and hold her tight
So happy together
         
If I should call you up, invest a dime
and you say you belong to me, and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together
         
I can't see me loving nobody but you, for all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies will be blue, for all my life
         
Me and you, and you and me
No matter how they tossed the dice, it had to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together
         
I can't see me loving nobody but you, for all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies will be blue, for all my life
         
Me and you, and you and me
No matter how they tossed the dice, it had to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together
         
Me and you, and you and me
No matter how they tossed the dice, it had to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together, so happy together
How is the weather, so happy together
We're happy together, so happy together...

Crepes, Focaccias, Coronas

Last Saturday I went to see my princess again. I met her after she finished work. We headed to her place, where the king and queen were awaiting us with a hefty dinner. They always feed me well, I just can't keep the pace. Afterwards we headed to the jacuzzi, spent about an hour talking and kissing in the water. Then we started watching the Lady in the Water, but we both fell asleep after a few minutes.

Sunday I threw a pancake party. My princess and I prepared about 60 crepes, and cooked a Hungarian stew to fill them. We also made the French version with ham, grated cheese and white pepper, and the delicious banana-nutella ones. Nathalie baked amazing garlic and onion focaccias. In the country of terrible toast breads, her focaccias are worth more than a brunch with free flow of champagne at Raffles Hotel. Sen and Jordan brought some Guiness and Heineken, Ruben a few bottles of Coronas (easy for him as he's the regional manager there), Eric and Cara a bottle of red wine and Suruchi some fruit juice. The guys were telling funny stories about the French campus where they spent 2 months earlier. I really appreciate these gatherings with my friends, and I miss those who left for France, especially Alex. The pot lucks are just not the same without them. The other day we had drinks at the pool, without Tristan something was missing. And in 3 weeks Nathalie too will leave for four months.

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:

O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Little Prince of Darkness

A Weakness Discovered

I discovered today that I am not patient enough. So I have to change this as soon as possible.

The Prince as a Working Man

I started my internship yesterday. I do consulting work for small and medium-size enterprises on mergers & acquisitions, fund raising and strategic issues. Really interesting and creative work. In case I set up my own business later, which I hope to do, I will benefit a lot from these skills. I learnt many theories at my MBA courses, worked on cases and assignments, but now I finally put them into practice.

I just can't stop thinking of my princess. And not seeing her for the last two days was very hard. I need to kiss her daily, otherwise that day can't be complete. Luckily I will meet her tomorrow after she finishes her work, and also on Sunday. Sunday I will throw a pancake party for my friends. I like doing pancakes, especially throwing them up into the air. I hope my excitment won't stop before finishing 150 of them.

Princess Sylvia Rose

Ghost

MOLLY: Do you love me, Sam?
SAM: What do you think, Moll?
MOLLY: How come you never say it?
SAM: What are you talking about?
MOLLY: You say "ditto". It's not the same.
SAM: People say "I love you" all the time. It doesn't mean anything.
MOLLY: Sometimes you need to hear it.

Five Days of Paradise

Saturday: I met the king and queen. I brought them different types of fruits. (I bought durian and gave it another try. I still don't understand why it is considered a fruit. It's terrible.) We talked about family, school, work and sports. Then we went to a really good hawker center to have plenty of food. It seems that the parents like me, but of course they are super worried. In the night I went to celebrate Varsha's birthday. I was really tired so I didn't stay too late.

Sunday: We had lunch at my favorite hawker stall near my place, they have the best coffee pork rib in town. Then we watched the Saw on DVD. Although I read great reviews about this show earlier, it was disappointing. In the afternoon I met ama (grandma) and grandpa. Really nice people. Unfortunately ama doesn't speak English, and I can't speak Hokkien (yet). But she seemed to like me. Afterwards we went to Holland Village, because I wanted Sylvia to taste the profiterol and the triple chocolate mousse at Di Paolo. I have never ever seen someone having orgasm while eating desserts.

Monday: My princess cooked for me. Yummie! She prepared delicious spaghetti with tomato sauce, butter prawns and some vegetables. Later she made iced kopi (the local coffee). She was so sweet. In the evening we headed to Sen's birthday drinks.

Tuesday: We went to Suntec City to a professional photo studio to have our pictures taken. It was really funny, and I like two of the photos a lot. We can collect them in two weeks time. Afterwards, we met the king and queen for dinner.

Wednesday: I had the best burger so far this day at Carl's Jr. Then we watched a film, Dragon Tiger Gate, which I enjoyed a lot. We met my princess's friend, Dawn. She was so sweet, when Sylvia left for a few minutes, she told me: "If you bully her, I will hunt you down!" Then we continued chatting.