Friday, November 03, 2006

Bye-bye Singapore, Hello Cairo!!!

Right. So where do I begin? This has all happened so bloody fast!!

On Monday, I got an email from AIESEC in Cairo, saying there was a TRAINEESHIP on offer, for 2 months, web-designing for a huge international telecommunications company in Cairo [yeah I dont think its wise to display what company I am with!] ............. and would I be able to fly down for it asap? I did the phone interview on Wednesday, got accepted that very night and today I confirmed my flight for Monday morning!!!!!!!!!

I cant believe it, I'm actually going to Cairo!!! I haven't even managed to get over my jet lag since arriving in Singapore and I am already leaving! lol! Sorry, Singapore, looks like job-hunting here will have to be put off for now! .....All these months, searching and waiting for the right traineeship, and hoping it would be in Cairo.....and it's all worked out all so suddenly!! I am really all so very overwhelmed!

Right so I have a billion different things to do at the moment, so can't write a long, rambling blog entry about how bloody excited and ecstatic I am about going. But! I will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible.

ALL, and I mean, ALL of you have to come visit me! We'll go camping in the desert! We'll go play hide and seek around the pyramids! We'll do everything! Yaaaaaay!!!! :D

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feline princess at 6:00 PM

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What's that behind you?

Location: Singapore

The other night, Xeina came over and we got rented out some DVDs to watch. The first one was The Exorcism of Emily Rose. And now I am totally creeped out after watching it.

Our house is kinda big. It's spread out over 3 floors, and my bedrooms on the 3rd floor. And it's just me, mum and dad living here. Mum and Dad go to sleep at like some ungodly hour of 11pm every night, and I stay up all alone until 6am every night, due to a lethal combination of regular insomnia, jet lag and a generally nocturnal disposition. Leaving me all.alone.in.the.middle.of.the.deadly.night.

I also have an unusually unhealthy imagination. Combined with a sadistic desire to scare myself silly, and then regret the consequences, my every turn in this house is filled with dread, espeically since watching Emily Rose.

Why am I even admitting this to the world, I do not know. I'm 22 year old admitting that sometimes, I'm still a little scared of the dark. Isnt that just ridiculously mind-blowingly stupid?

I know though, that, after a few days, when the images from this movie have slowly ebbed away out of my mind, I will resume normal activity in our house, without constantly staring too deeply into every dark corner, and imagining that the hair on the back of my neck are standing.

But I really sincerely believe sometimes, there are things to be afraid of. Perhaps, not in my own house, but in this world, definitely.

I liked the film, Emily Rose. It handled the concept of the spiritual world in an interesting manner, for a spook film. It displayed the debate between scientific and spiritual explanations of the occult, which, instead of deadening the world of spirits to the viewer, made it seem all the more scary. And the ending was most fascinating. The girl who eventually dies, believes that her death will result in a positive ending, which is that if, because of her, some people start believing in the devil, how can they not believe in God? Which is so true. Apparently, it is a true story, and many now revere this young lady's grave like that of a saint's.

This movie portrayed the possession of Emily Rose by something truly and purely evil. Not a human evil. Not the kind of evil that kills hundreds in a country during a genocide, because of something like racism. But a pure evil, an evil existing in mere opposition to goodness. And the thing is, I got even more spooked when I recalled an event that occurred in the home of my mother's bestfriend. And scarily enough, the details of this real life event mirror the movie a bit too similarly.

Basically, my mum's bestfriend, Aunty Jasmine had just hired a new maid from Bangladesh to live and work in their family apartment. One day, she started acting really crazy, threatening them, saying she had poisoned their dinner and so on. They got totally freaked out, and called a bomoh (a Malay priest who specialises in Exorcisms), and the next day he was told to come to their flat. Apparently, when he tried doing so the next day, he kept getting lost trying to find the flat. They lived in a HDB block of apartments, which btw, are the most common form of housing here in Singapore. You just dont get lost. You'd have to be stupid. In the film, as well, the Father who was meant to do the exorcism the next day, kept getting spooked out the night before, as though 'they' were attempting to stop him from doing the exorcism the next day. Anyway, the bomoh came, did the exorcism, and aparrently, found that there were 3 jinns posessing her. (Jinns are what Muslims believe in, instead of ghosts, spirits etc). In the film, Emily Rose had 6 demons inside her.

This is my mum's bestfriend's story. So it's quite close to home. But at the same time, I always think, heck I've never seen anything myself...so why act like such a scaredy cat? Or am I speaking too soon? Gulp.. :| [Nevermind that we grew up in Singapore reading a healthy dose of 'Singapore Ghost Stories', and I spent all summer last year listening to Javed Bhai's Jinn stories when he was visiting us here, my imagination is running to timbuktu......]

[I think....when you are also bored, and sitting at home, waiting to find a job.....your imagination runs wilder than it normally would!!!!! (I shall take solace in that!)]

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feline princess at 5:42 AM

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

watch this and you will never ever need a man in your life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GWPOPSXGYI

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feline princess at 5:10 PM

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the next chapter begins.

Location: Singapore

My dear darlings in London and the rest of the world,

I arrived in Singapore day before yesterday evening. The weather is sweltering hot, my skin is permanently moist and the air is polluted with haze from indonesian fires. I am currently still immensely jet-lagged, and trying to settle in to being back. It's a bit different this time, because I'm probably going to be here for awhile, so I'm enjoying slowly unpacking all my possessions and decorating my room with them. It feels wierd because I suddenly have triple the amount of space that i normally had the last 3 years in university. I have the entire 3rd floor of our new house to myself, giving me 2 bedrooms and a balcony and my very own bathroom to spread my things out all over. My own bathroom! I can't remember the day I ever had my own bathroom. Actually, I never did...and It's pretty cool. I can leave my toothbrush and towel in there! Yay! I am very much in 'decorating' mode...I cant wait to spruce up my little corner of the world.

The food is good obviously. My ma must be the best cook in the world. I've had her pilao and chicken korma 4 times today. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and nightcap. Yup. And I've forced my parents to allow me to chauffeur them around in our Jeep while they run errands. Feels amazing to be behind the wheel again. Even with mum yelping in the backseat everytime I change lanes. Ha! I love driving! Now all I need to do is muster up the courage to drive around alone on Singaporean streets. I haven't been back in a year, and already I don't recognise our neighbourhood. It's gonna take some getting used to.

I must say life is easy here. As much as I hate to admit it, the standard of living is better, everything is cheaper, and this city runs so smoothly it seriously puts London to shame. The admin is so much more efficient, technology here is light years ahead of London (we got the equivalent to the Oyster card and congestion charging years ago), and frankly, when you can have an amazing meal for a mere 80p, your life is inarguably less stressful. And yet, its not enough.

i miss London.

Damn that scene from the airport will probably haunt me for awhile.

But I hate goodbyes, I just dont do them (as of today). I've probably had too many of them in my life, so from now on I'm gonna just give goodbyes the finger. I have decided the world is an immensely small place, and so long as climate change doesnt push up airlines fares, I'm gonna be okay. And my last week in London confirmed this even more so, because I realised I may be leaving an amazing city behind, but I dont need to let go of the main reason that made living in London the best 6 years of my life: the people. It was a bit of a paradox this last week. Not really wanting to call up or meet friends and family because doing so just made it glaringly real that I was leaving, but at the same time, the hugs and kisses I got from everyone and the effort they made to come see me, and make me feel better that this is not permanent, left me alot more reassured that this isnt as big a deal as I am making it to be.

And the best part of coming back: I'm finally looking for a job (and not having to worry about work permits)! Nothing has popped up yet, but I've already made some phonecalls, and things are looking hopeful! Will keep you guys posted. Fingers crossed!!!

ps: If you miss me very much, which you better do, you can keep texting me on my UK mobile number...I always keep it on me :D I also have a new Singapore number, it's on facebook.

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feline princess at 4:59 PM

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