A collision and trainwreck of words. Asian female living in tiny multicultural Island - Singapore. Investing in love, travel, food, friends and family.
And so for the first time since the being in the industry, I've taken leave to spend time at home and help out at home for the festivities, include the weekend and office closure on Monday = 5-freaking-days. Kinda feeling all grown-up. Little did I know how "Nazi" I'd get this year. While my sister-in-law, very graciously-so, kick-started this... tradition of buying new clothings together for the family last year, I went ape-shit nuts and got my nephew, niece and myself clothes to be tailored from 2 Saris (bought by my mum and aunt for me). Got similar coloured Saris for Sis-in-law, Aunt and Mum. Dad's got a new shirt and Brother's weaselled out of it claiming he's got enough of blue shirts and no way he's wearing a traditional top....well, it'll probably take me another 10years before I can make a miracle like that to happen...I just have to keep trying with him. It's Family, you keep trying and never give up. My nephew though, whole other universe of class and style. That boy (although he dragged his foot initially) instructed the tailor on what he wanted and I went in to rescue the collar and neckline cutting. My boy's got style yo! My niece was also reluctant to wear a skirt & top set, that pretty girl is a crossbreed of tomboy and sibeh-feminine-girl, but she's in love with her tailored set as well (think she knows she doesn't have much choice). It's taken me a total of 5 trips to Little India, which I very affectionately call "The Black Hole" (not-so-private joke), this is more than a couple of past years accumulated, but this family's been in need for some festivities spirit. I LIKE!
"We going to smurf it out this year!" Replacing the my white scarf with Gold.
Today was the first day I've been home. Mum actually let me sleep in till noon (yay!) and then this hot-piece of demoness arose only to start 'barking orders': THROW, CLEAR and CLEAN the damn house. I've been 'bullying' my Dad getting him to clean the windows at the very least and shoved all his stuff scattered around the hall into his room. Made Pineapple tarts with Momma and discarded heaps of hers and Dad's magazines, 2 tables and I'm going to rid of a couple of things without them knowing, they probably didn't even realise they have it. HOARDERS, they are! Tomorrow's got painting walls, mope & sweep floors, help Mum clean her shit from the room and her atrocious kitchen (it's a very nice and big one but dear lord...), harp at Dad (for fun atleast) and my precious room to be tidied. Already have 3-4 large bags of clothes to be given away as well! SPRING CLEANING rule of thumb: If you haven't used it in a year, throw it away! You can always buy a new version if you ever need it. Looking forward to tmr night for some winding down over wine with Mum & Aunt and then... Saturday (Diwali)!!
Music has always has been something I turn to... for everything actually, unless I desired absolute silence and go into "coma" phase therein shutting the world out (yes it happens!!) And when I like a song - it's on repeat for a couple of hours or days... weeks sometimes. An ex-colleague, CK, used to complain and bitch (AIYOOO!! NOT AGAIN!!!) when I had Adele's "Let the Sky Fall" (OST of James Bond version) on repeat while trying to "let them hear" the difference when songs have full orchestra instead of studio sounds. He even started to hate one of the songs he liked (okay I'll admit I was being obnoxious for that one). This mind always seeks the sweet symphony of classics and melodies to calm it down. It also tunnels its way into the language and race I was born into - Tamil. Somehow, the impact of these songs are always atleast two-folds more... the lyrics, the way the words are carefully spilled and so inline with the melodies, the tune that wraps one in a warm embrace keeps you safe... just breath-taking and magical. Makes you feel like floating sometimes. Oh, never try to do a direct translate of them! It's the beauty of the language (or maybe I'm bias). There's only 1 song that's made me cry and it's in Tamil, they've made me get goosebumps and feel like I've lost the "love of my life". I melt like warmed butter under the influence of the right music, or feel heartache/shatter or in some cases - dance like a crazy crackwhore. I'm that lunatic that suddenly smiles and eyes start twinkling when the right song is playing. You might also notice how my legs will be twitching or strained until I find a corner to do a simple twirl, sway, spread my arms and feel the wind. Can't help it! In the sweet recess of tonight and the absence of other humans, my current wave pleasure comes from the harmony by a rising (at a very rapid pace) composer, the lyrics are minimal yet impactful and sung in the most soothing and soft manner, yet strong and with open vocals at the some points. The starting is really sexy - makes you want to stretch out and just wait to receive the song... A perfect calming blend to soothe thee mind. Erm, but the song is about getting your dreams "dissolved"... Tadah - Kanavae Kanavae from Tamil movie titled David (it has a "killer" soundtrack btw) and this movie has an assortment of artists collaborating which is not the norm for this specific industry. This one: the music is and sung byAnirudh Ravichander and written by Mohan Raj. This track was used in bits - more of a background score, only amplified at certain points when needed. Anirudh... he's done yet another spectacular job and captured the essence required for a soft, subtle shattering track. No idea how to explain nor elaborate, it's just brilliant. Ah.. I love it!
Here's the track against a fanmade video hosted on YouTube:
Other songs I've had on repeat this month:
Counting Stars by OneRepublic
Bedroom Hymnsby Florence + The Machine (OST of Gatsby version)
Sail by Awolnation
All Star by Smash Mouth (hahahaa classic?)
Going to pack up from office and head home... to dream.
I bought this campaign! It had me swept away and pleasantly surprised at the open invitation plus cultural exchange angle. Wanting to find out more, I did email the couple about having my team over for dinner and got rejected due to overwhelming responses. Which actually is a very good thing, so I'm kind of surprised by the backlash that they're having now.
Kudos to NTUC FairPrice, Havas Worldwide Singapore & actual couple Dana & Sefan. Here's the actual video on YouTube - An open dinner invitation to Singaporeans: Let's share a mean together...
"From: Dana C <danac.stefanm@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Let's share a dinner together
Date: 20 August, 2013 11:53:48 PM GMT+08:00
Hey Reka! :)
Thanks for all the love and support and replying to our dinner invite!
We’re really sorry we haven’t been able to get back to you earlier. We have received overwhelming responses and have since held the dinner over the weekend. We will be sharing videos of the dinner we hosted on our YouTube channel.
We wish we could have everyone over for dinner but because our home is quite small, we had to limit the number of people that came over.
Thank you once again for encouraging us with your interest. We hope to see more people do the same. :)
Danke schön!
Sincerely,
Dana & Stefan"
Oh wells... We're still in the office cracking things up, love Lottie Reed.
