dalena | 25 | counting fancies
fmps/rgps/nygh/rjc/smu (biz)
a dancer with mosaic
working at the learning lab
4th feb 1986
dalena@gmail.com
clearing out her wardrobe



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layout: detonatedlove♥
pictures: ohhspontaneityy
stocks: _excentric_
hits:

So, it's 4am, and I really ought to be sleeping because I have to be up early tomorrow to help out with the selection of the next batch of LKC scholars. Yet here I am, addicted to my laptop - my faithful companion, always there when I need it - furiously typing away at the keyboard. I must be crazy.

--

Tonight was a good night for me, salsa-wise. I was surprisingly on form - something I haven't been for quite awhile, considering how the past few weeks have been excruciatingly discouraging for me on the social dancefloor. It's felt like I've been deteriorating rapidly - my already-bad balance was worse than ever, my following shaky, my arm tension jerky and my footwork all screwed up - honestly not a very nice feeling to have to deal with. Not just that, there was also getting yelled at by Gupson during practice, the frustration of how I look strange doing certain moves no matter how hard I try, and the sheer impossibility of incorporating body movement that does not look awkward into the dance steps.

However, tonight reminded me why I'm so addicted to salsa once again. Yay. :)

--

Tzeyi is heading off to Sepang tomorrow to race once again. While I'm truly very happy for him that his car is back and up running once again (you should see how low his spirits had sunk when he was evo-deprived and compare it to his perpetual bubbliness now), I can't help but worry, considering how he's had a 100% accident record in Malaysia so far. Since he's bought his evo, every time he goes up to Malaysia to race, he's bound to meet in some sort of mishap. And the accidents get increasingly worse. First, there was the "minor altercation with the wall" when he lost control during one of the bends at the track. Then, there was the traumatic bonnet-slamming-up-and-shattering-the-windshield incident (which I experienced firsthand, ahem). That was followed by the blowing up of his car engine early this year. With such a track record, how can I not worry?!

I suppose I'm just being a worry-wart as usual, but bah. And at least he's installed bonnet pins this time!

Not like I have any say in this matter either, anyway. :P

And there's the other matter about going up to track this time, too, which is strangely causing me an inordinate amount of discomfort and making me pretty unhappy, but I think it's just the woman in me being petty and paranoid. I shall (have to convince myself to) rise above it all! *tosses hair over shoulder*

--

This is such a random and flaky post, but, whatever. It's not like my blog has been anything remotely substantial of late, anyway. Funny how it was first created soley to record stupid quiz results (I was a quiz addict then), then it slowly became an extension of my personal diary (because typing is so much more convenient than writing), so it actually contained personal reflections, philosophical thoughts and a hell lot of contemplation.

As readership increased over the years (it all started in JC, I swear), the focus of my blog started shifting rather perceptibly. Look at it now, it seems like I'm pandering to readership more than anything else. My entries are all whimsical, happy, picture-perfect and also impossibly image heavy - why? - because people love pictures and reader-friendly posts. I won't deny that I don't enjoy the attention - I love attention - if not I wouldn't be continuing this at all. Yet a part of me is wondering, what happened to the me in this whole blogging business?

Not only am I losing my direction in blogging; I'm also losing direction in my life.

I've never been very sure about what I want, being the indecisive, fickle creature that I am - but if there's anything I'm absolutely certain about - it's that I want to be happy. (0 Comments)




Sunday was the first salsa performance ever for Jared, Crystal, Michelle and I! It was (un)fortunately held at a really strange place, at Pioneer Mall, because there was some Resident's Fair held at the field next to the mall on that day. It's all a matter of perspective, really. On one hand, I'm glad our first performance was at an ulu place because it means less embarrassment for us, but on the other hand, it's a little too far away for my taste. And the audience was not as appreciative or reactive as I'd have liked them to be.

There were two rounds of performances that day - the first was so atrocious I wanted to laugh midway through doing the shines on stage. Every single one of the performers managed to screw up at different parts, and there were six of us in total, so you can imagine how many mistakes were made in total, hmm? But, of course, it's terribly unprofessional and rude to laugh at us on stage, so... Thankfully, the second performance was apparently pretty good (well Gupson said it was "great" but I'll take that comment with a pinch of salt), which was a relief because that was for the VIPs and other various important guests.

Right, now let's get on to what you all are eagerly awaiting - the photos can do the talking on my behalf:



Introducing the performers from Attitude Dance Studio, together with uncle Gupson:




Oh, and I almost forgot about Crystal's string of happy balloons! She actually went to tell the balloon man that she wanted a string of balloons that could reach the sky, and he sportingly gave her more to contribute to her cause!



And I'll leave you with a group shot of all the performers again...



Generally, it was fun, though all in all it was a rather bad day for me (a string of unfortunate events occurred, that I shall not elaborate on), so I was miserable half the time. Performing never fails to put me on a high, so everything was evened out at the end of the day, and everything got better eventually.

After all, things always get better once you give them some time to settle, don't they?

Labels: salsa

(0 Comments)




NINES on Thursday: a night of smoke and glitter. Black and silver ruled the night, complete in our sequinned glory. The smoke-filled bar / flashing lights on the dancefloor / intense gazes met across the room / alcoholic debauchery / birthdays, dances and kisses / and of course, my red-clad charmer. :)






Dancing and mingling aside, our dear Xiayue also took his step into official adulthood amidst all the drunken revelry at DXO. The poor boy was fed an atrocious amount of alcohol, by the end of the night he was all woozy and queasy at suppertime.



Michelle's feet started to hurt due to her killer (but very sexy) heels, so she changed out in the car (to the horror of Tzeyi and Shan!) on the way to Newton. We ended up looking really odd walking around together because of the major dressing difference!



After that, a number of us trooped over to Lance's house to visit his new puppy, Max. His cat, Timber, is still as fat as ever - despite being twice the size of the little puppy, he's apparently scared stiff of Max! That scaredy fluffball of a kitty. Look at the blue eyes on this puppy!



Performance training, partying our worries away, a mini-feast at supper, followed by the session with the pets - all back to back - it left Crystal, Miche and I exhausted beyond belief. And so our eventful day finally came to a close at the wee hours of the morning. (0 Comments)




My shopping addiction has awoken once again - not that it really ever died for good. Since the end of the exams, I've managed to buy 2 skirts, 3 tops, 1 clutch and 1 lipgloss online. Do bear in mind that my exams have only ended two days ago, too...

Well, today was Bugis Day with my girls. Met Kemmy and Ziyi for a shopping spree, and oh boy did we buy a lot! With such good company for such a fun activity, the only thing complaining at the end of the day was my wallet.



I ended the day with 1 new watch, 1 pair of earrings, 2 skirts, 1 bottle of nail polish, 1 case of foundation, 1 lip balm, 1 bottle of eyeshadow and 1 cute underwear. Hail the shopping queen! *acknowledges applause*

After that, ran over to studio to meet the rest for dinner after their Salsa Beginner 2 lesson, following which, was salsa practice once again. We're so absolutely unprepared for Sunday's performance, it scares me quite abit just thinking about it.

Kemmy attempted to drive me to the studio from Bugis, but ended up getting hopelessly lost even on her way to town, haha. Well, the both of us ended up safe and sound and still whole and intact even after the whole incident. :P


Okay, well. My legs feel like they're about to fall off, with all that walking and dancing around in heels. Need sleep...conserving energy for practice and NINES tomorrow! (0 Comments)




YAY! The exams are over - no more studying for the time being. We're free to party as much as we want to now! :D :D :D

So, Monday was a little anticlimactic. After the FA paper, a bunch of us ran off to Junction 8 to have lunch and walk around a little, but we were all dead tired from mugging the whole night through so all of us ended up going home to sleep. I dropped off for a "nap" at 4pm, and didn't wake up till past 1am! How horrendous. Needless to say, I was unable to sleep the rest of the night. Took a cab down to River Valley's Boon Tong Kee with Shan (something we haven't done a long time, since we've been reliant on cars ever since knowing Tzeyi/Lance/etc etc!) to have my dinner and his supper respectively. The night ended well - with MOCHI!

The next day was spent being all housewifely. At least, I was trying to be housewifely - packing my room up a little here and there, and ironing my clothes because the laundry basket toppled over thrice on me. There's this gigantic heap of clothes just waiting to be ironed, but because I hate ironing, I keep buying new clothes to replenish my wardrobe...so, well, as for the poor overloaded laundry basket...you get the picture.

Tuesday night was Prof Pang's barbeque night. He'd kindly invited all the LKC scholars to his house for a end-of-semester-and-exams celebration. It proved to be a pretty good catch up session for us, though there were also other unfamiliar faculty members whom I've entirely never set my eyes on before also present. Well, perfunctory mingling with the other professors and the deans of whatnot aside, I managed to grab some quality time and conversation with some of the other scholars whom I've never managed to really talk to before.





It's really quite amazing - Pang Eng Fong can actually paint pretty well! So he's not only an ex-diplomat, a professor, the interim dean of the school of biz, a damn smart guy, he also can paint. Some people have all the talent and the luck. Look at his cover versions of some Monet paintings:


And well, here we are with the man himself.


Thanks for the invitation - it was fun! :) (0 Comments)






The Evo's back!

Tze Yi's suddenly a very happy boy again. ;) (0 Comments)




sheila* says:
you took him as a toy!
sheila* says:
a plaything!
sheila* says:
a mouse to be batted about before the kill!
sheila* says:
..i'm so proud

sheila says:
i would say that i actually quite like how dalena pakir sounds but i'm afraid you may expect me to suddenly pay for all your stuff

shan. says:
hahaha this is called guy's advice :P useless!

shan - undergoing bimbotism 101 (Prof: crystal goh, TA: dalena lee) says:
~crystal - marre de la pluie! says:
lesson one: never be afraid to make people wait
shan - undergoing bimbotism 101 (Prof: crystal goh, TA: dalena lee) says:
hahaha ok
~crystal - marre de la pluie! says:
has my ta taught you anything yet?
shan - undergoing bimbotism 101 (Prof: crystal goh, TA: dalena lee) says:
shan - undergoing bimbotism 101 (Prof: crystal goh, TA: dalena lee) says:
yeah she has an exceptional grasp of yr first lesson, and never fails to exhibit her knowledge in e past 6 yrs
~crystal - marre de la pluie! says:
haha ya you can take a module specialising in lateness from her

Weiming. something's missing. I miss it! says:
its like if i punch u, u punch me back right
Weiming. something's missing. I miss it! says:
so if i kiss u and u are not happy, u kiss me back! ;)

hansel - he who dies with the most toys win says:
WAH LAU!
hansel - he who dies with the most toys win says:
if i wore a 9inch skirt.
hansel - he who dies with the most toys win says:
my balls will be hanging out

.:. mich*e||e .:. says:
erm....
.:. mich*e||e .:. says:
STOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!
.:. mich*e||e .:. says:
*glare period*
.:. mich*e||e .:. says:
i estoopp you!

But of course, none of those can beat this Friendster message that I dug up:

From: MachO
Date: Friday, June 17, 2005 1:16:00 AM
Subject: Hi honey…love from macho…oooo…
Message: your profile is like a t-string...so brief,sweet,reveals
plenty and exuding a world of feminine fragrance.
may i have your msn or yahoo address to chat
with u there?
love

Like, OMG? :P (0 Comments)




Well, well, well - Sheila Kaye Pakir you've finally hit the big two too!! Welcome to your third decade of life.

...we're missing you badly here back home. Come back soon!

Happy birthday Sheil! (0 Comments)




MoS on Thursday night with Michelle & Chiew was pretty fun - progressive music courtesy of PWL at Smoove; engineer idol with lots of free drinks to boot; RnB night at the main arena, and so on. It was an excuse for us girls to get all dressed up snazzily (not that we ever need an excuse!), just let loose and dance all our worries away.

Tzeyi came along after his performance at Golddust at Orchard Towers - he arrived all traumatized from the transvestites and transsexuals all swooning over his dancing skills and eagerly hitting on him from all directions! ;p

He sure looks the part of the pimp, doesn't he?


All dressed up and ready to knock the boys out!


Outside Mos with Chiew.


Me and my Michelle.


Although I'm not a fan of house/progressive music, I have to admit that PWL spins pretty well. Despite the decent-ish music, there were really strange people at the Smoove section that night - not only were they dressed strangely, they were all dancing, oh wait, rather, bouncing in unison to the beats. They were rather entertaining, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene of "dancing" out of sheer fascination, if not anything else.

We spent most of our time shuttling to and fro in the main arena and Smoove, unable to decide which side to stay at. On one hand, we all vastly preferred the RnB music at the main arena, but we were supposedly there to support the Smoove side, so, well...I bumped into Yinquan at the cages anyhow. He had ten drinks or something and got SO drunk it was quite amusing.

At 1am, with all the strange music and strange crwod, we decided to throw in the towel and leave in search for milkshakes to indulge in. So we adjourned to Al Azhar for supper, and more importantly, to satisfy Tzeyi's sudden milkshake craving. Unfortunately, the strawberry milkshake tasted so artificially sick, all of us (save for Chiew who smartly ordered banana milkshake instead) couldn't finish our shakes.

In the behemoth of a Lexus.


Backseat action!


Obligatory parting shot.


The usual - you know where to look if you're interested in seeing more photowhoring in action.

--

Salsa practice and Union on Wednesday, MoS on Thursday, Union on Friday and I3 lesson on Saturday...when am I going to get around to studying? (0 Comments)




If you haven't heard the story about how I fell down the stairs on Monday, here's it:

I was at King Albert Park, grabbing a quick lunch with Tzeyi at Macdonalds, after which when we were walking down the flight of stairs that led to Cold Storage and the car park - I must have been dreaming or something - my foot slipped off the edge of one of the stairs, and down I tumbled.

I landed on my left side. The hard impact of bone against the cold stone stairs left me breathless in pain, and almost in tears. There was this little part of me that wanted to laugh at my clumsiness, yet the pain proved almost too much for me to bear at that point - I had to remain seated for quite awhile because I honestly felt like passing out. The pain made all the blood rush from my head and I was seeing grey, black and white spots dancing in my vision all that time.

All this while, Tzeyi that unsympathetic ass was laughing at me! I could see the conflicting emotions flitting across his face - concern tempered with amusement - and while he was semi-carrying me down to the carpark, trying to act all kind and boyfriendly, I could still see his smile of amusement. Bah!

The story ends fine, though. I ended up having to nurse a swollen ankle for a day or so, and now it's mostly okay enough for me to walk around instead of hobbling around in an unglamorous fashion. There's still this occasional throb of pain appearing in my ankle, that makes me wince.

Anyhow, I survived practice AND Union today - bad ankle and all - so I suppose I'm fine.

I'm such a klutz. (0 Comments)




The random patter calms and slows the world
Down to a crawl, as though the rain had gone
And weighed down time. I sit in a ball, curled
Against the window pane. All life's withdrawn
Back into homes, to safety from the drops:
Amazing - a cloud's tears inspire such fear.
It's rare when someone does not rush, but stops
In that barrage, as though the sky were clear,
And just enjoys the world. For comfort, though,
I'll lay against the inside of the glass
Enjoy the sounds above, the sheen below;
Enjoy this scene's repose now while it lasts.
The window blurs, the pitter patter loud;
The bliss of sleep engulfs me like a shroud. (0 Comments)




Guess who's back from Nottingham?

And guess what she brought back for me? :P



All my pretty ASOS.com items are here, thanks to Kemmy dear. Met up with her on Friday, and we had a hell of a time eating, shopping and just talking the day away. It's amazing how some things don't seem to change one bit - she's been gone for awhile here and there, yet we always manage to pick things up from wherever we'd last left them off at. Then again, at the same time, so many things have also changed meanwhile...our respective situations, and our perspectives on so many things.

Funny how things work out sometimes, don't you think?

--

I've got this serious major craving for crabs now, too. Ugh. (0 Comments)