One day, someone by the name of Saint Valentine decided that it would be a most wonderful business model and to public service, to find a day that shall boost the economy irregardless of whether there is a bull run or a bear day. So thanks to him, all of us decades down to road continue to splurge and try to outdo other alpha males in ways more than one to see who can single-handedly boost the economy.
Pathetically, I am one of them. If Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith hadn't won the 2002 Nobel economics prize for their studies on irrational decision making behaviour, I would have been well on my way to publish something to that effect. Look, it doesn't make sense to buy flowers and book restaurants at a premium price on every 14th of Feb, but that just happens.
I bit the bait willingly, knowingly and most hopefully. Calling in Pietrasanta Italian Restaurant at Portsdown Road (at Wessex estate), I was told, almost unusually that I should arrive either at 6 pm or 8.15 pm, but not in between. I decided for the former anyway.
It all didn't seem to start off well even before the dinner. I suggested to Goodest Fren that we meet at Clementi and take a taxi to Labrador Park since the street directory says it's close nearby and I wasn't sure if the taxi driver know where Portsdown Road is. The taxi driver was still not clear of where Labrador Park was and made such a huge roundabout that by the time I realised it's not going to work and that perhaps I should try giving him the exact address instead, Lo and Behold! He knew where Portsdown Road was! Saying that it's near Buona Vista, he drove us there. I must have kicked myself because I shouldn't have been so presumptuous and should have told him the exact address before being a smart aleck. Never mind. Treat it as Lesson Numero Uno.
When I arrived promptly with goodest friend at 6, we discovered we were the first to arrive (You know about my occupation hazard that stresses on punctuality). As it turned out, the usual menu didn't apply. They had a standard V Day menu, so it's across the board. Not that we mind, but I just find it disconcerting that they should have two time slots. But being the first to arrive may not necessary means we would be rewarded. You know how the system works. The more efficient one gets penalized.
For some strange reason or so, we were not allowed to change tables despite my request. C'mon, no other guests know about it. Second, other tables with guests who arrived later were served first. What vexed me was when we had to wait 45 min between the appetizer and the main course!! All because they tried to synchronize everybody as late comers were served late, AND we were one of the last to be served.
This was consistent for the coffee and the dessert, to the extent that I had to personally request the waitress time and again (did I mention that we were sitting at the entrance which was not what we wanted and they just couldn't have missed our empty table). Roling my eyes, Goodest Friend was trying to be more assuring but clearly we were on the peripheral.
Goodest Fren even said once she saw this guy behind me raising his hand and telling waitress 1 something about the food. When waitress 1 went to tell Waitress 2, Goodest Fren overheard her murmured "Alamak" with a most sian look.
And yes, we were the last to leave. Thank you very much.
This despite that like the Nan Hwa Ching fish head steamboat, serving the bill was impeccably fast within 20 sec. And all this shit for $130.
Overall, the experience was mediocre at best because the waitresses there were just so inattentive and unorganized. The only thing that cheered me up if only slightly was when Goodest Fren said she quite like the food and the rustic surroundings. But I felt that they have squandered away the good endowment of what the black and white houses and greeneries have on this restaurant. We agree that in future V Day, we would be better off going to have buffet at a typical downtown restaurant and at least we can eat to our hearts content. For picturesque and remote expriences, leave it to non-V Day. Leson Numero Dos.
Still feeling peckish, Goodest Fren and I decided to go to Clarke Quay TCC to have our drinks and some fried calamari. Chatting through the remaining of the evening, we finally agreed that despite all that had happened, it was still quite a memorable one.
And oh, should you decide to patronise the restaurant and the nearby Cicada (which I think is even more fantastic) during non-peak hours, take to Buona Vista MRT, and then take 191. Cicada and another one up the hill are great watering holes, ut take note, the last bus leaves on the early side of 8, so be prepared to cab.
P.S. Incidentally, Sunday Times page 14 just clarified that it should be Saint Raphael whom singles should be praying to and not Saint Valentine, who is more of a patron for attached/married couples. St Raphael was the one credited for solving the crisis of lonely hearts.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Fish head steamboat. Must chiak!!
Lelong lelong!!
All ahn tees, ah sohs, ahn kers, and ah cheks.. Must share with you one very nice place to chiak, lim and tok cock sing song.
The place is..... drumrollll......
Nan Hwa Chong Fish steamboat. And the venue??
No, not Hwa Chong Junior College. But very good try... Any body out there wants to try??
If you got it right, it's within a kopitiam. You can choose the type of fish you want into. Got snapper, grouper, pomfret, etc. Then can order side dishes. We ordered pork chop and also clams. Very sedap!
Well, actually the exact location I also dun noe... But can tell you it's very close to Bugis MRT. Aiyah you noe lah. I always liddat one. Noe how to walk there but cannot name the road. But if you want directions, just take the MRT exit that says to Sir Stamford Raffles Hospital, then you walk out and turn right. Then walk all the way till you can see a row of shophouses. Beside the shophouse got this very big mosque. Walk up the road, and at the corner you can see already lor.
Anyway, I went with Goodest fren and Goodest friend's girlfriend - E. Miss E and goodess fren really like the fish stock, and you know what? Even as we were eating, this uhn ker came and out a reservation sign on our table, then say aiyah you know our place very famous one so that's why after you all leave, this place kenna chok oredi. But no hurry lah, can order for them to add stock.. but sometimes they very slow. Take a long time.
Only thing that is fast is call for bill lor. And this time, it's not even I call for bill. I was talking to goodest friend that we should call for bill, and this ahn ker quickly turn his head around and say, "Mai dan huh??"
Wah lau, super efficient leh.. Everything within earshot pertaining to mai dan he can hear. Other things like call for add soup pretend only.
All ahn tees, ah sohs, ahn kers, and ah cheks.. Must share with you one very nice place to chiak, lim and tok cock sing song.
The place is..... drumrollll......
Nan Hwa Chong Fish steamboat. And the venue??
No, not Hwa Chong Junior College. But very good try... Any body out there wants to try??
If you got it right, it's within a kopitiam. You can choose the type of fish you want into. Got snapper, grouper, pomfret, etc. Then can order side dishes. We ordered pork chop and also clams. Very sedap!
Well, actually the exact location I also dun noe... But can tell you it's very close to Bugis MRT. Aiyah you noe lah. I always liddat one. Noe how to walk there but cannot name the road. But if you want directions, just take the MRT exit that says to Sir Stamford Raffles Hospital, then you walk out and turn right. Then walk all the way till you can see a row of shophouses. Beside the shophouse got this very big mosque. Walk up the road, and at the corner you can see already lor.
Anyway, I went with Goodest fren and Goodest friend's girlfriend - E. Miss E and goodess fren really like the fish stock, and you know what? Even as we were eating, this uhn ker came and out a reservation sign on our table, then say aiyah you know our place very famous one so that's why after you all leave, this place kenna chok oredi. But no hurry lah, can order for them to add stock.. but sometimes they very slow. Take a long time.
Only thing that is fast is call for bill lor. And this time, it's not even I call for bill. I was talking to goodest friend that we should call for bill, and this ahn ker quickly turn his head around and say, "Mai dan huh??"
Wah lau, super efficient leh.. Everything within earshot pertaining to mai dan he can hear. Other things like call for add soup pretend only.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Curious cases always attract curious audience. It is with this that Goodest Friend and I devoted our Saturday evening to Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette and the unexpected Tilda Swinton.
Cleverly woven into the movie are events, things and characters of no seeming import. The clock and its maker, the war, the hummingbird, the captain......
By the time you realise the enormosity of it all of their place in the show in retrospect, you might have sucked in a big lump of air in sheer marvel and only to expirate these air with a gasp of WOW.
More than just curiosity and it certain does not kill the cat, three-legged or otherwise, the movie was deeply invoking. Despite the straightforward storyline of Benjamin being born old and then grow younger as he ages, he is nonetheless not immune to dealing with internal conflicts that are so familiar to the audience. The fact that he is aging backwards makes the confronting of all these dilemmas even all the more pronounced – of seeing loved ones aging and passing on, of responsibilities constantly shifting as the years wear on, of second-guessing what the other woman might be thinking, of listening into his own world what it means by sacrifice. Not that he would have been spared all these had his aging not been reversed. At the very least, it won't be of a greater magnitude than what we would normally experience.
At the end of the show, the audience clapped. What else would you have expected anyway, from this wonderful Case of Benjamin Button.
Cleverly woven into the movie are events, things and characters of no seeming import. The clock and its maker, the war, the hummingbird, the captain......
By the time you realise the enormosity of it all of their place in the show in retrospect, you might have sucked in a big lump of air in sheer marvel and only to expirate these air with a gasp of WOW.
More than just curiosity and it certain does not kill the cat, three-legged or otherwise, the movie was deeply invoking. Despite the straightforward storyline of Benjamin being born old and then grow younger as he ages, he is nonetheless not immune to dealing with internal conflicts that are so familiar to the audience. The fact that he is aging backwards makes the confronting of all these dilemmas even all the more pronounced – of seeing loved ones aging and passing on, of responsibilities constantly shifting as the years wear on, of second-guessing what the other woman might be thinking, of listening into his own world what it means by sacrifice. Not that he would have been spared all these had his aging not been reversed. At the very least, it won't be of a greater magnitude than what we would normally experience.
At the end of the show, the audience clapped. What else would you have expected anyway, from this wonderful Case of Benjamin Button.
Friday, February 6, 2009
4th day at Taiwan: Alishan 阿里山國家風景區
We arranged with 高山青大飯店 a bus tour for sunrise, and we did a stop-over in many interesting locations. Early in the morning when we crept out of bed and waiting at a reception, we heard a loud Americanised accent "It's so damn early", to which another voice replied "Don't be so dramatic". Half expecting a kirin to appear (the one making a comment about being early), we instead saw two girls coming down.
We later learnt that the girls had met while studying in the States, and the kirin like voice was from Yokohama. She understood no Mandarin and relied on her friend and her friend's family members to translate. Along the way, exlamations like "Oh my God!" spewed forth her mouth whenever she saw frost, a sea of clouds, etc etc that led me and SL LLG to believe she definitely isn't doing a geography major, or have done any form of geography in schools for that matter.
The coach driver spoke Hokkien (閩南語) most of the time, and while I have belittled SL LLG's knowledge of this dialect, all this condescendence evaporated when he was to my great amazament, explained to me how he heard the guide explaining that there was a particular tree that was touted to be 2000 years old officially, was actually 4000 years as this tree was wrapped around by the 2000 year old tree. Thus the 4000 year old tree was trapped inside.
One of the stops we made was to view the Couple Tree (夫妻樹). The sun-rising watching exercise was almost a ritual to all. We did not really expected it to be such as eye opener. If you do not believe what the fuss is all about, I suggest you watch this video in youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFYFG4qAHKg
I could not upload the video I took, so that is the best you can get.
After that, we had breakfast as arranged by the hotel. We wandered around and took some pictures. After that, we went to Seven Eleven to buy some beef instant noodles and coffee. We decided to have that as our pre-sunrise breakfast. Night fell and we had our steamboat dinner at this restaurant to the left:
Climbing up, you will get to the train station.
We ordered bamboo shoots and roasted boar meat as side dishes. Very oishii!
Asia's tallest Starbucks to imbibe in coffee. What could be more carefree than just sitting there, chatting and talking. But we were quick to remind ourselves that whatever we gossip, the gods are nearer to us now that we were higher in the mountains, so we had better cut some slack in what we say!
Seems like the only clients coming here are likely to be Singaporean. Where we were seated, across the table, some Singaporeans populating it were spouting pidgin Chinese-Eng with our own beloved accent
We later learnt that the girls had met while studying in the States, and the kirin like voice was from Yokohama. She understood no Mandarin and relied on her friend and her friend's family members to translate. Along the way, exlamations like "Oh my God!" spewed forth her mouth whenever she saw frost, a sea of clouds, etc etc that led me and SL LLG to believe she definitely isn't doing a geography major, or have done any form of geography in schools for that matter.
The coach driver spoke Hokkien (閩南語) most of the time, and while I have belittled SL LLG's knowledge of this dialect, all this condescendence evaporated when he was to my great amazament, explained to me how he heard the guide explaining that there was a particular tree that was touted to be 2000 years old officially, was actually 4000 years as this tree was wrapped around by the 2000 year old tree. Thus the 4000 year old tree was trapped inside.
One of the stops we made was to view the Couple Tree (夫妻樹). The sun-rising watching exercise was almost a ritual to all. We did not really expected it to be such as eye opener. If you do not believe what the fuss is all about, I suggest you watch this video in youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFYFG4qAHKg
I could not upload the video I took, so that is the best you can get.
After that, we had breakfast as arranged by the hotel. We wandered around and took some pictures. After that, we went to Seven Eleven to buy some beef instant noodles and coffee. We decided to have that as our pre-sunrise breakfast. Night fell and we had our steamboat dinner at this restaurant to the left:
Climbing up, you will get to the train station.
We ordered bamboo shoots and roasted boar meat as side dishes. Very oishii!
Asia's tallest Starbucks to imbibe in coffee. What could be more carefree than just sitting there, chatting and talking. But we were quick to remind ourselves that whatever we gossip, the gods are nearer to us now that we were higher in the mountains, so we had better cut some slack in what we say!
Seems like the only clients coming here are likely to be Singaporean. Where we were seated, across the table, some Singaporeans populating it were spouting pidgin Chinese-Eng with our own beloved accent
5th day at Taiwan: Alishan National Parks 阿里山國家風景區
We spent our second day at 阿里山. As we did the bus tour the day before, we decided to take the train. The schedule is kind of special. There is only one train up, and the same train down for the entire day. It is really meant for sun-rise watching.
We took this train!
At a chilly 4.30 am, SL LLG and I made our way to the train station which was located just above the restuarants vicinity. It was already chock-a-block by the time we arrived, but we managed to get our seats. The train was those of a quaint type and sitting inside it brought you back to the 1940s. When we finally arrived at our destination, many passngers wasted no time to take pictures. That was when SL LLG and I got separated.
A picture I took after getting off the train
What made it confusing was that there were two viewing decks. SL LLG being the elderly one decided to settle for the lower one, while those healthy, hearty and colourful characters of a heath had no trouble climbing up winding path that led to a higher viewing ground. There were many Hong Kong and mainland tourists climbing up too, judging from their conversations.
At the upper viewing ground, there were a few pavilions.
All waited with bated breath as the announcement that the sun was abut to make its debut. Though I had watched it the day before, it was still quite an excitement. After taking a video and some pictures, I made my way down and reunited with SL LLG. On the way back, he shared with me how the guide at the lower viewing ground told them lots of interesting news - like the sun will bounce up and down five times (Lu Lu in The Noose. Remember her?? yah.. will unhesitantly quip Bounce bounce ball 小球球 had she were there), or that global warming will make the growth of plants in the Alishan area used to make wasabi very expensive ion the years to come. In addition, going to Taiwan to watch sun rise in April will require them to be there at 4+ am!! But they will be compensated by the blooming cherry blossoms, etc.
Feeling spent, we returned to have our breakfast and decided to spend the time sleeping because there is essentially nothing to do. When we wake up, we whiled our time away (this is a luxury in retrospect and I wonder when is the next time I can use these words). When we woke up, we went to view a performance by the aborigines (原住民) in particular the Tsou tribe (鄒族).
The 鄒族. Due to the Hans influence, the tribe might go extinct since the total number of individuals were in the thousands.
After that we walked around and decided to buy some stuffs. That was when we formulated the great Alishan mathematical conundrum, and even though ShiLong LLG had receive his Mads degree in Camb!tch, he did not manage to provide the least easiest step. Allow me to recount. Ready for the story sum? Here goes -
SL LLG and I dealt with our Taiwan finance in an easy way. One of us will first pay for everything using our own NT2000, and when that runs out, the next one will take over, and so forth. We called this the Shared Account system. We keep this Shared Account in a different wallet compartment from our own personal account.
While buying some 土產, I realised my personal account is not enough. At that time, I had already put aside NT2000 as Shared Account. So I told SL LLG I will pay first using the shared account.
To illustrate with some numbers, say I wanted to buy coffee powder which cost me NT 500. I had only NT100 in my personal account. So I decided to pay the remaining NT 400 using the Shared Account. As I later remarked that I will return NT200 to the Shared Account, SL LLG pounced onto me and remarked - seems like your maths is not very good. Can you spot the problem? It is rather apparent now as the way I phrase this problem has somewhat make it easy to spot the mistake, but when you are involved, it was strangely confounding.
Nevertheless, SL LLG offered an almost circuitous solution involving transfers betweeen Personal Account to Shared Account, and then also giving him x amount of money. In all that perplexng explications, I finally understood where I was wrong. However, I managed to come up with an easier solution - Just treat the NT400 as a loan from the Shared Account. All I have to do is to pay back that NT 400. The CamB!tch-educated SL LLG was surprised at how this elegant solution had eluded us. We agree on one point however, that the laid-back, insouciant days of vacation in Taiwan had cause our mental faculties to be decidely blunt.
The carpark. Above there were many reaturants. Still further up, the train station.
Once while strolling to pass the time, I lamented how the dearth of activities in Alishan made this place extremely boring if you are staying for 2 days. Sharing with him my business proposal, I said I will set up an Internet cafe and KaraOk. Sl LLG eyes were gleaming when I asked him what would his business proposal be. Without any sense of shame, in an almost unhesitantly manner, he quipped, "I will exploit the 原住民 living here, pouring drinks in KaraOk and performing dance, singing, accompaniment for clients, making sure that a trip up Alishan is worth their time!"
When night fell, we decided to try a different steamboat restaurant. The eagled-eye me happened to spot a quiant looking restaurant and suggested to SL LLG we should dine there. The interior decor was wood-based so it gave us a hark to the past kind of feeling. We picked a far end of the seat, and enjoyed the stew and conversations, eavesdropping on what another table of Singaporeans were talking in gusto to a Taiwanese guide.
Still not quite done with Asia's tallest Starbucks, we went back there again and had our drinks before making our way back to the hotel to pack up our stuffs.
We took this train!
At a chilly 4.30 am, SL LLG and I made our way to the train station which was located just above the restuarants vicinity. It was already chock-a-block by the time we arrived, but we managed to get our seats. The train was those of a quaint type and sitting inside it brought you back to the 1940s. When we finally arrived at our destination, many passngers wasted no time to take pictures. That was when SL LLG and I got separated.
A picture I took after getting off the train
What made it confusing was that there were two viewing decks. SL LLG being the elderly one decided to settle for the lower one, while those healthy, hearty and colourful characters of a heath had no trouble climbing up winding path that led to a higher viewing ground. There were many Hong Kong and mainland tourists climbing up too, judging from their conversations.
At the upper viewing ground, there were a few pavilions.
All waited with bated breath as the announcement that the sun was abut to make its debut. Though I had watched it the day before, it was still quite an excitement. After taking a video and some pictures, I made my way down and reunited with SL LLG. On the way back, he shared with me how the guide at the lower viewing ground told them lots of interesting news - like the sun will bounce up and down five times (Lu Lu in The Noose. Remember her?? yah.. will unhesitantly quip Bounce bounce ball 小球球 had she were there), or that global warming will make the growth of plants in the Alishan area used to make wasabi very expensive ion the years to come. In addition, going to Taiwan to watch sun rise in April will require them to be there at 4+ am!! But they will be compensated by the blooming cherry blossoms, etc.
Feeling spent, we returned to have our breakfast and decided to spend the time sleeping because there is essentially nothing to do. When we wake up, we whiled our time away (this is a luxury in retrospect and I wonder when is the next time I can use these words). When we woke up, we went to view a performance by the aborigines (原住民) in particular the Tsou tribe (鄒族).
The 鄒族. Due to the Hans influence, the tribe might go extinct since the total number of individuals were in the thousands.
After that we walked around and decided to buy some stuffs. That was when we formulated the great Alishan mathematical conundrum, and even though ShiLong LLG had receive his Mads degree in Camb!tch, he did not manage to provide the least easiest step. Allow me to recount. Ready for the story sum? Here goes -
SL LLG and I dealt with our Taiwan finance in an easy way. One of us will first pay for everything using our own NT2000, and when that runs out, the next one will take over, and so forth. We called this the Shared Account system. We keep this Shared Account in a different wallet compartment from our own personal account.
While buying some 土產, I realised my personal account is not enough. At that time, I had already put aside NT2000 as Shared Account. So I told SL LLG I will pay first using the shared account.
To illustrate with some numbers, say I wanted to buy coffee powder which cost me NT 500. I had only NT100 in my personal account. So I decided to pay the remaining NT 400 using the Shared Account. As I later remarked that I will return NT200 to the Shared Account, SL LLG pounced onto me and remarked - seems like your maths is not very good. Can you spot the problem? It is rather apparent now as the way I phrase this problem has somewhat make it easy to spot the mistake, but when you are involved, it was strangely confounding.
Nevertheless, SL LLG offered an almost circuitous solution involving transfers betweeen Personal Account to Shared Account, and then also giving him x amount of money. In all that perplexng explications, I finally understood where I was wrong. However, I managed to come up with an easier solution - Just treat the NT400 as a loan from the Shared Account. All I have to do is to pay back that NT 400. The CamB!tch-educated SL LLG was surprised at how this elegant solution had eluded us. We agree on one point however, that the laid-back, insouciant days of vacation in Taiwan had cause our mental faculties to be decidely blunt.
The carpark. Above there were many reaturants. Still further up, the train station.
Once while strolling to pass the time, I lamented how the dearth of activities in Alishan made this place extremely boring if you are staying for 2 days. Sharing with him my business proposal, I said I will set up an Internet cafe and KaraOk. Sl LLG eyes were gleaming when I asked him what would his business proposal be. Without any sense of shame, in an almost unhesitantly manner, he quipped, "I will exploit the 原住民 living here, pouring drinks in KaraOk and performing dance, singing, accompaniment for clients, making sure that a trip up Alishan is worth their time!"
When night fell, we decided to try a different steamboat restaurant. The eagled-eye me happened to spot a quiant looking restaurant and suggested to SL LLG we should dine there. The interior decor was wood-based so it gave us a hark to the past kind of feeling. We picked a far end of the seat, and enjoyed the stew and conversations, eavesdropping on what another table of Singaporeans were talking in gusto to a Taiwanese guide.
Still not quite done with Asia's tallest Starbucks, we went back there again and had our drinks before making our way back to the hotel to pack up our stuffs.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Apprentice and the Dowager
This is a tale about an apprentice and a dowager set in the Chink dynasty. While the best-intentioned SL LLG may have warned the apprentice that there lies a Dowager who breathes down the neck of anything called Humans different from her own kind, the apprenticen had already heard of this proverbial Cixi even before he started in January.
It does not require one to be a politics wunderkind to know that to engage in any form of confabulation with THE Cixi, tactfully diplomatic or otherwise, is akin to walking with a time bomb. And yet to use a time bomb as an analogy would have been fallacious, for the Dowager's modus operandi is never as straightforward as an explosion in front of its victims, preferring to claim the victim's life only after taking a circuitous route and boomeranging those who are even vaguely connected to the target.
That was exactly what the apprentice encountered. While taking a stroll in the expansive imperial gardens, the hapless one was accosted, almost being pounced on, by the DOWAGER. To say that the apprentice has dug his own grave would be gravely (no pun intended) immature, an accusation that stems from the dearth of experience that Dowager will not be called Cixi if she had been less sneaky.
When asked how much practice the apprentices had attended hitherto, his reply that it was one almost quickly led to the gathering of the darkest yin clouds on the Dowager's head. Without any signs of disapprobation except to advise the apprentice to do a lot more, it seemed that there was no further room for any parley of necessity.
It wasn't until the next two days that the apprentice realised that the Dowager had sent her missives to inform everyone about the apprentice's perceived misdemeanour, irking all but those who felt the Dowager had created not just a storm in a teacup, but more aptly a cyclone Nigris in a sewing thimble. What set the apprentice at ease was the level of empathy and support these people had garnered for him, with SL LLG being one of the most ardous apologist as evidenced in the sms exchange between the apprentice and him:
THE APPRENTICE: That @#$ sent emails to Mr A and Miss B that I should be doing more. Luckily they were most understanding towards me.
SL LLG: Humph! She is a Micro Manager Best Kept in A Miserable Manger.
THE APPRENTICE: I imagine what she will teach her children when she tells them Aesop Fable - The Dog in the Manger. She will arm-twist the moral of the story by concluding "The b!tch's right in sitting on the hay, for at the end of the day, she will have the final say, yay!"
SL LLG: Never realise you could write such poem about b!tches. You are indeed a Bard with a capital B.
THE APPRENTICE: If I am really a Bard, and if I may add on to your poem, it would read,
She is a Micro Manager Best Kept in A Miserable Manger.
But still pose a Menacing Danger,
To Even the Mightiest Ranger!
SL LLG: Aiyo, you should out this in your blog.
Alors.
Voila!
It does not require one to be a politics wunderkind to know that to engage in any form of confabulation with THE Cixi, tactfully diplomatic or otherwise, is akin to walking with a time bomb. And yet to use a time bomb as an analogy would have been fallacious, for the Dowager's modus operandi is never as straightforward as an explosion in front of its victims, preferring to claim the victim's life only after taking a circuitous route and boomeranging those who are even vaguely connected to the target.
That was exactly what the apprentice encountered. While taking a stroll in the expansive imperial gardens, the hapless one was accosted, almost being pounced on, by the DOWAGER. To say that the apprentice has dug his own grave would be gravely (no pun intended) immature, an accusation that stems from the dearth of experience that Dowager will not be called Cixi if she had been less sneaky.
When asked how much practice the apprentices had attended hitherto, his reply that it was one almost quickly led to the gathering of the darkest yin clouds on the Dowager's head. Without any signs of disapprobation except to advise the apprentice to do a lot more, it seemed that there was no further room for any parley of necessity.
It wasn't until the next two days that the apprentice realised that the Dowager had sent her missives to inform everyone about the apprentice's perceived misdemeanour, irking all but those who felt the Dowager had created not just a storm in a teacup, but more aptly a cyclone Nigris in a sewing thimble. What set the apprentice at ease was the level of empathy and support these people had garnered for him, with SL LLG being one of the most ardous apologist as evidenced in the sms exchange between the apprentice and him:
THE APPRENTICE: That @#$ sent emails to Mr A and Miss B that I should be doing more. Luckily they were most understanding towards me.
SL LLG: Humph! She is a Micro Manager Best Kept in A Miserable Manger.
THE APPRENTICE: I imagine what she will teach her children when she tells them Aesop Fable - The Dog in the Manger. She will arm-twist the moral of the story by concluding "The b!tch's right in sitting on the hay, for at the end of the day, she will have the final say, yay!"
SL LLG: Never realise you could write such poem about b!tches. You are indeed a Bard with a capital B.
THE APPRENTICE: If I am really a Bard, and if I may add on to your poem, it would read,
She is a Micro Manager Best Kept in A Miserable Manger.
But still pose a Menacing Danger,
To Even the Mightiest Ranger!
SL LLG: Aiyo, you should out this in your blog.
Alors.
Voila!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)