On the BOOKSHELF. Hubba hubba.

Singapore says suspected JI leader escaped from toilet:

Wong Kan Seng, Singapore’s minister for home affairs, told members of parliament that Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from the toilet of a police detention facility, in the middle of a posh residential area, on Wednesday afternoon.

I’m trying to think of posh residential areas with ‘police detention’ facilities within them — considering the only posh areas I can think of are in Bukit Timah, I’m quite crap.

So malu*, lah. But surely there are very few places to hide? Unless he has an accomplice! And they are hiding with the monkeys on Bukit Timah Hill?!

Ah, it was in Whitley. ‘Still at large’, eh. Must be hiding in CJC. Hehe.

* Embarrassing.

Age
50s or 60s, I reckon. He’s got liver spots on the backs of his hands.

Hair
Thinning. He’s beardy, too.

Signature move
Running across Princes Street, then up North Bridge.

Why he’s cool
He’s always reading a physics magazine or paper. Looks brilliant and fragile. Until he speeds away once off the bus.

What this proves
I love geeks.

This is bloody amazing — a staircase that doubles as bookshelves.

• watched Jonathon Ross while trying to log on to a Second Life event I helped organise (but my Internet connection kept kicking me out)
• did a bit of clothes-moving
• sat through yet another domestic (I swear my life is Coronation Street / River City plus The Truman Show — on steroids)
• helped Neil clear the what was once the ceiling from the floor (with all the dust and dirt, Neil had that Russell Brand eyeliner look)
• went out for Neil’s sister’s birthday dinner (given that Neil was away at a work dinner and she professes to h— me, it should beg the question why I had been summoned to even just make up the numbers) and drinks at the local (where the mobile disco starred the worst deejay in the world)
• made a new necklace / choker / bracelet (I really need something round to shape my jump rings)
• had tea / dinner at Pizza Express
• did the weekly shop as Asda (but was interrupted halfway when the fire alarm went off and no fewer than three fire engines arrived, but I think it was a false alarm)
• half-watched Collateral while surfing the Ingterneck
• finished The Siege

… it costs less to drive into the city centre and pay for parking than it does to make a round-trip on the bus.
The singularly bizarre thing about living here is the government bangs on about being ‘greener’ and all that bullshit, and they don’t even make a real attempt at sorting out something that would ease motorway and road congestion if done at least half-right.

… a person who has never liked cooking anything spends what little free time she (me) has looking for recipes on the Internet to try at home.
Because I never thought I would get tired of potatoes, but I have. I am freaking tired of mashed potatoes and chips and powdery croquettes. My current thing is beehoon in clear vegetable stock with extra vegetables and Neil cooks a central sharing plate of chicken something or other. Then I eat crisps for dessert. Okay, I’m not entirely off potatoes.

Movies watched while in-flight
1408 (should not have watched it ‘alone’), The Jane Austen Book Club (meh, okay but not as good as I’d hoped), Superbad (tragically possible), Atonement (waaaaay better than the book, and this is the first time I have ever said anything like that)

Movies watched in the cinema
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Johnny Depp can sing?!), Away From Her (so, so sad), Juno (excellent, highly recommended)

Food consumed
wonton noodles, kway chap, chicken rice, prata, raw fish (the traditional one, not the nasty Chinese New Year fakery dish), carrot cake, prime rib at Black Angus, seafood with crispy noodles, dim sum, Indonesian food, steamed fish, popiah, Sri Lankan crab, chwee kueh, bak kwa, ba kueh (bai guo in Chinese)

Books I tried to read but had to give up
Atonement (if the plot had plodded any slower it would be going backwards, I’m not getting this love for Ian McEwan), Northanger Abbey (ran out of time)

Clothing bought (yes, I’m a bad girl)
Two pairs of black trousers (from Giordano, the old stalwart; did you know in Far East Plaza my thighs are too big for a size Large?!)

Shoes bought
None — this is an unprecedented event. Somewhere else in the universe, there has been an earthquake. Or something.

Number of bead shops visited
Four — three in People’s Park Centre and one in Holland Village (that’s closing down, boo)

Most unexpected moment
Being asked for ID when buying tickets for Juno, rated NC16 (there is no freaking way I look under 16)

Number of times I laughed with Penelope at the line dancers at Zouk (and said silly things)
Too many (and too many gin and tonics, too)

How long it took Topaz to come over and touch Neil with her paw and bat her kitty eyelashes after she smelled bak kwa and spotted a piece in his hand
About ten seconds