The Depths Of Shallowness

Drowning, Drowning in Cynicism; Drunk, Drunk with Sentimentality; Down, Down with Love; Dunked, Dunked in Life. Desperate Discourse. Disposable Desires. Dusky Dreams. Delirium. Dignity. Despair. Doubt. Duty. Dewy Days. Divine Divide. Dump Everything that Bothers in The Depths of Defiance. 《我的快樂時代》唱爛 才領悟代價多高昂 不能滿足不敢停站 然後怎樣 All Rights Reserved ©Angeline Ang

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Tempestuous. Intense. Proud. Intellectual. Easily Bored. Consummate Performer. Very Chinese. Very Charming. Fair. Pale. Long, Curly, Black Hair. BA(Hons). Literature. Philosophy. Japanese. Law. Dense in Relationships. Denser in All Else. Brooding. Sceptical. Condescending. Daria Morgendorffer meets Kitiara Uth Matar meets Ally McBeal. Always dreamy, always cynical, always elusive. Struggling writer, artist and student, in that order please.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

还是忍不住想问,然后怎样

On the phone, more-or-less-the-gist:

MX: Do you have anything happening recently worth celebrating? It can be anything! Trivial thing also can! Just think of a reason…

Me: Er…I do have good news to share. I just got confirmed (for my job).

MX: That’s a good reason. Now we can go celebrate by going to a friend’s NEWLY OPENED restaurant!

Me: HAHAHAHA! *very amused*

Actually, MX, we can go for fine dining and not-so-fine dining anytime, with and without reasons (reasons are easily conjured!). What’s your reason to celebrate?

*

So yes, I got confirmed after the probation. I have also confirmed my ticket for the annual pilgrimage to Japan, my longest and most ambitious DIY trip yet. Yes, yes, it has been brought forward to first half of the year this time ‘cos I can’t wait anymore.

Meanwhile, weekdays are spent in the office, with weekends flitting by all too quickly in a flurry of movies, productions, galleries, spa visits and taitai shopping. Apparently, my horoscope’s best investment for 2009 is to spend directly on myself, be it travel, courses, wellness sessions, gorgeous dresses with no immediate occasion to parade them and the likes. So I’m making smart money moves my (unorthodox) way.

*

On Friday, very married April hosted us three bachelorettes at her flat to eat dabao zichar and play late night mahjong, the Singapore heartlander version of Sex and The City. It amazed me that two years have just passed like that. I do miss it, you know, the safety and security of an idealised, simple, homely life, even if I’ve always projected myself as being afraid to take the plunge, even though people and things do change.


I have always read this entry with nostalgia and fondness, remembering that I once was hopeful someone could be part of this; that my other friend has had the love of her life (break-up shortly after this), that I can be enjoying domesticity, that I have had the belief I can be part of the girlfriends'/wives' club. Except fast forward to 2009, only April is left with her happily ever after, as the boyfriend then becomes husband now.

*

On Saturday, another late night out with Shimin, with a prematurely truncated conversation because we were so tired at 2am. I think I’m only romanticising it (referring to you-know-who) because I’m convinced the reality was never that pretty, even if I felt special and exclusive, and loved. It would never have worked out, but I’m glad the eventual took a long time in coming, and we did try, in our own ways, to prolong its painful and bitter lifespan, because it made us happy, and because we were so young and taken with each other.

*

Coming to terms is only the beginning. Moving on is a clichéd.

The real question is,然后怎样。

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Bye 2008, Hello 2009

Looking back on 2008, it was the year that I blogged the least. And when I did, it was usually angsty and introspective. Yet this was the defining year that I struggled to find my footing in life, with amazing success. I also learnt to move on in so many ways. I have tried some things and failed, and discovered that it’s not me. On top of being charming and cute, I have brute will-power. What personality and determination can’t achieve, I have attributed it to external forces beyond my control and was significantly less harsh with myself. With that in mind, I managed to let go of things, of people. And I feel happier than I have ever felt before. More at peace, and that’s the really critical part. I’m learning to Live, With Myself, while learning to live better, wiser and more meaningfully.

I’m surrounded by people I love and who loved me. I have the most adorable and adoring sister. Great job, intelligent boss whom I respect and like dearly, wonderful and warm colleagues, close friends who are with me all the way, my trips with the sister to our second home: Japan, my very own 狗窝 in Singapore, beautiful dresses, accessories, bags and shoes (!), enlightened taste (!!), all the movies, concert and theatre productions I can get and so, is this as good as it gets?

Boss was asking me over coffee one day: what about love and was I seeing anyone. No, I wasn’t seeing anyone anymore. There’s no one special who asks me out (unless shopping sprees with Minxiu counts).


Is it so alarming that I’m not worrying about Love with a captalised ‘L’? Or have I truly evolved to a new state in which I’m really ready to Live and embrace Living? Maybe with the new at-peace me, I can finally attract the right kind of guys who are at least brave, smiley, and intelligent, and with veins, who have no problems telling me upfront their intent.