The backwards entry

Eating the equivalent of a bowlful of Cocoa Krispies after midnight cannot be good for me, even if I try to deceive myself about the amount I'm eating by scooping up slender handfuls at a time. It's all Stellou's fault.

I shouldn't be hungry, because we had a decent-sized dinner at Bumbu's that cost half of what last night's (admittedly larger) spread at PhoChine (warning: the link takes you to a potentially annoying Flash display) set us back for. But maybe I didn't feel as satisfied as I usually do after a Bumbu meal because of the bizarre music-and-dance display going on immediately outside the restaurant's glass walls. I believe the practice is referred to as "line dancing" in some local community centres --- eh, sorry, community clubs now --- but there is much I still don't understand about it. Like why do aunties want to line-dance, or dance at all, to Backstreet Boys music? And why do so many of the female dancers have to wear pink T-shirts? And why does the entire spectacle (there's really no other word for it) take place in the middle of Far East Square, thus discombobulating nearby diners, bystanders, tourists all?

A-ha! A quick Google search for Far East Square turns up the little-known fact that a) there is a Country Line Dance Association (Singapore) (!!), and b) that these "free jam sessions" have been going on for three years but they will start charging for them come February. But that still doesn't answer my questions about aunties or pink T-shirts.

On the flip side, I now understand why people were dancing so weirdly at Zouk the last time I stuck my head in there. They learned those snazzy moves at line dancing class!

Before dinner, we had a nice quiet afternoon at Gallery Hotel for the opening of the second installment of "Glimpses of Light", featuring photography from recent Mercy Relief trips to tsunami-hit areas. Darren Soh's pictures from his trip to Sri Lanka are up for two weeks; Terz will get his run in four weeks' time. I was really struck by some of Darren's portraits, so pop by the hotel if you'd like to take a look. The exhibition is on the second floor of one of the circular buildings outside the hotel (the one that's not Ego's and not Moloko), and will run till 11 February. Watch this blog for info on Terz's exhibition, once details are finalised.

(I just had another two mouthfuls of Cocoa Krispies, ostensibly to fuel the composition of a witty and eloquent blog entry.)

Last night, we were at Wine Bar, even though I was totally not dressed for it, but I would like to thank the following girls for making me feel better about my pedestrian outfit:

• The one clomping around in knee-high black stiletto-heeled boots;
• The one in a tight black top that had wings of black fabric hanging over the front, sufficient to disguise a gravid belly;
• The one in the slinky green-blue dress of metallic shimmer, with her hair bunned up like a schoolmarm; and
• The one in a skirt more often seen in Sunday School than in the environs of Zouk.

Gosh, I must be channelling Spirit Fingers' Fashion Roadkill of the Day series.

This weekend is all about spending lots of time with Terz's Mercy Relief teammmates and not so much about doing all the marking I brought home with me. (So much for resolution #3, although I've stuck to the spirit of it by not actually declining any social invitations on account of having to mark on the weekend.) I shall probably pay for this enthusiastic procrastination some time in the wee hours of Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Other things to accomplish this week:

• Stop procrastinating and purchase an iBook and iPod already, dammit! --- I've revised my earlier Mac mini purchase plan, in view of the fact that with an iBook, I can sit on the couch and check email, or blog in bed, or surf the web from the bathroom. No, really.
• Embrace the inner auntie and make the pilgrimage to Chinatown already, dammit! --- Anybody want to come? I think it will be next Saturday night, so that I have Sunday to recover and make resolutions about never doing it again.