Augmentations of the Auditory Kind.

Thrusting my state of mind into pockets which were surprisingly capacious, the iron grip of rigidity unclasped and I found myself scourging for music by unsigned artistes.

Confiding intimacy with pilfering caresses of the emotions, Josh Woodward has disbursed so munificently a plethora of free and legal downloads on his website. (Yes, all his albums and lyrics are generously available!)

Acoustics and piano sets calculate on the shades of Lifehouse, Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson. However, Josh Woodward has yet to bear the rosy harvests of his predecessors and remains a reclusive unknown.

Give this one a listen.

A liberal faculty of mind may just tip you over! =)

Ships (MP3)
The tide is on the brink of extinction
The sky is on the verge of collapse
The birds and the trees all are falling like leaves
The memories are floating away

The cabins on the shore are abandoned
The streets are just a river of dust
The ships on the bay all go sailing away
And they won't be back here again

Pssst...Did You Know That Mich Is...

....Loved?
....Cherished?
and
....Happy?

Hmmm, nope.

Mich isn't Happy.
Mich is very Happy! =)

Mich Is Listening To...

1. Lifehouse - Storm (Acoustic)
   
   How long have I been in this storm?
   So overwhelmed by the ocean's shapeless form
   Water's getting harder to tread
   With these waves crashing over my head
   
   If I could just see you
   Everything would be all right
   If I'd see you
   This darkness would turn to light
   
   And I will walk on water
   And you will catch me if I fall
   And I will get lost into your eyes
   And everything will be all right
   Wverything is all right
   
   I know you didn't bring me out here to drown
   So why am I ten feet under and upside down
   Barely surviving has become my purpose
   Cause I'm so used to living underneath the surface
   
   
2. Lifehouse - From Where You Are
   
   So far away from where you are
   These miles have torn us worlds apart
   And I miss you, yeah I miss you
   
   So far away from where you are
   I’m standing underneath the stars
   And I wish you were here
   
   I miss the years that were erased
   I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
   I miss all the little things
   I never thought that they’d mean everything to me
   Yeah I miss you
   And I wish you were here
   
   I feel the beating of your heart
   I see the shadows of your face
   Just know that wherever you are
   Yeah, I miss you
   And I wish you were here
   
3. Lifehouse - Breathing (Acoustic)
   
   I'm finding my way back to sanity again,
   Though I don't really know what I'm going to do when I get there.
   Take a breath and hold on tight,
   Spin around one more time,
   And gracefully fall back to the arms of Grace.
   
   'Cause I am hanging on every word you say,
   And even if you don't want to speak tonight
   That's alright, alright with me.
   'Cause I want nothing more
   Than to sit outside Heaven's door
   And listen to you breathing,
   It's where I want to be.
   (Yeah) Where I want to be.
   
   I'm looking past the shadows in my mind into the truth and I'm,
   Trying to identify the voices in my head.
   God, which one's you?
   Let me feel one more time what it feels like to feel alive,
   And break these calluses off of me,
   One more time.

~~ A song is a pillow to lay your heart on. ~~

Change.

Things that I want to change :

• Phone - my old trusty Sony Ericsson k800i (the first 3G phone of SE's cybershot camera phones) has been with me since Oct 2006.
  
• Camera - My canon ixus 750i did a kamikaze at One Fullerton last month.

Things that I need to change :

• NoneMy phone's working fine and it's quite hard to beat the functions embedded in the Sony Ericsson k800i. The 3.2 megapixel camera's good enough for fun & random shots, sending SMSes is a breeze, it stores a tonne of my mp3s which I blast in the bathroom while showering (thanks to its speakerphone mode), I read the International Herald Tribune on the train, Google is at my fingertips (which I use religiously!) and yes, I even blog on my phone.

By now, apparently, most phones are equipped with these, save for the lack of the mandatory 3.2 megapixel camera. Suffice to say, the push factor is sorely lacking.

• Ditto for the camera. It's still working in perfect condition, notwithstanding the dent in the rim of the lens.

Things that I don't need but have changed :

• Designer togs - Calvin Klein sweater, Armani blouse, Guess T-shirt & 3 pairs of Guess shoes and a load more which elude my memory at the moment. (No thanks to the ongoing Great Singapore Sale)
• Bags - One Louis Vuitton, one Gucci and one Longchamp are coming right up when Vern returns from her conference in London/Paris.

Things that I must and will change :

• You - It's been too long and I'm not waiting, lingering around for you to cast your attention on me for a fleeting moment.
  

I used to live for You. Not anymore.

You.

I hate You.

You should have remained as that distant figure fleeting by from time to time.

I don't know what motives You had/have.
Common sense tells me that You've been talking.

Would I have been happier without You in my Life?

The answer is a resounding Yes.

Of Nothing.

Pastor D. Kuek is a figure embedded since childhood. It scarcely occurred to Mich that the boy with the loose T-shirt and bermudas had come of age till D took to the pulpit with his maiden sermon yesterday.

It (the sermon, not the aforementioned figure) rattled Mich, albeit unexpectedly.

Strongly accented by the theme of Turning to God, the accompanying verse punctuated in good measure. It registered an epiphany, a spiritual flash that manifested a realization.

Exodus 14:14
14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.Taking thought with myself, I drew a circle in my brain within which to unravel this mysterious play of circumstance.

The only thing I had to do was Nothing.

Suddenly, it all made sense. =)

On a completely different note, as if to reiterate this notion, Mich had watched Kungfu Panda the day before, upon which "The Secret Ingredient is Nothing" was the hardy perennial.

Now, how about that?

God works in mysterious (and amusing) ways indeed!

"If I am taking cognizance of what is offered me by my senses I do so but to bring the results within the circle of my reason....The right hold I had taken of my reason drew me to something so important that I was obliged to cling to it to save myself from falling."
-- [ The Mystery of the Yellow Room, by Gaston Leroux ]

Two.

Different Worlds.

Sunrays and Saturdays.

I wish You
Sunrays and Saturdays
Perfect starry nights
Sweet dreams and moonbeams
And a love that's warm and bright.

Sunrays and Saturdays
A friendship strong and true.
Oceans of blue
And a room with a view
To live the life you choose.

Love this song that's embedded on my blog currently.

It's been too long and I'm not going to wait around anymore.

Daniel's Treat.

5 June 2008
Thursday

Daniel gave Mich a generous treat.

Food, Food, Food!
Daniel had an Unagi set while Mich settled for a Teriyaki Chicken Set.
In addition, Daniel ordered Sashimi, Shishamo & Tempura Sweet Potato. (Did I omit anything?)

After dinner ( and drinks @ Killiney ),
Daniel sent Mich home in his car.
Thanks for everything! =)

Mich'$ Tue$day

3 June 2008
Tuesday

Finally, Mich had the time to trot down to her hairstylist and eyelash perming specialist. ( and got a earful from each of them, I assure you! "The last time you came was -pause- before Valentine's Day! -cue shriek at the hair salon- )

3pm - Haircut @ Twister, Monsoon
5pm - Eyelash Perming @ Face Bistro, Holland Village
7pm - Dinner with Vern & Ting

From Mich :
Diamante bracelets for everyone. =p

From Ting 's trip to Disneyland & USA:
Mich - Fairy Candle in Aromatherapy Oil (Very pretty bottle!) & T-shirt
Vern - Flower necklace & earrings set & boyleg shorts

Laughs + Food + Drinks and of course, pics, pics, pics!

Ritz Carlton, Greenhouse

Ritz Carlton, Greenhouse
31 May 2008 (Saturday)

Food : 2 / 10
Service : 2 / 10
Menu : Changed without notice, which led to disappointment.
Overall Experience : 3 / 10

It was meant to be a double birthday celebration as Ting & Vern are born in May. Expectations were high as Ritz Carlton is a renowned 6-star hotel. Alas! Save for the cake from Ritz Carlton, we weren't too pleased nor impressed by the experience at Ritz Carlton.

What was promised over the phone as reservations were made did not flesh out in reality. The menu was changed without notice, which meant that Ting & Vern were sorely disappointed. The array of food did little to titillate the taste buds. In fact, the skin of the dumplings was thickly-laden with a generous dose of flour, the calamari had an identity crisis, the fish was cold and devoid of taste and the desserts were as exciting as, say, chewing on a Mentos.

That aside, the service was shocking with a capital S. Missing cutlery raised a few eyebrows and following that, drinks were not served. We watched as a male staff stopped midway while serving our ice-cream and shoved the scoop at another male staff instead, uttering "Your turn now" and these words remained clanging in our ears.

The saving grace of Ritz Carlton was its cake. Prior to that, we scarcely had the mood to take any photographs. Despite the unpleasant culmination of events, we spent 4 hours at Ritz Carlton!

( Aside : Many pictures were taken. I owe myself a tonne of photographs to be uploaded for past events. Here are some of the shots from yesterday. I do hope I'll be able to upload everything by the end of the week! )

Chick This Out. =(

Grab a hanky.

You'll need one as Jamie Oliver demonstrates the culling of male chicks, a common practice in the industry. This is done in the presence of a live audience .

Warning : You'll be watching male chicks die en masse in a dispatching chamber with increased levels of carbon dioxide. The entire aphyxiation takes merely two minutes or less. =(