will i am's delayed diary

With 2014 coming to a close ( yes, yes, I am aware it's already past the first quarter of 2015... ), both Nic and Tater made dinner plans with me during my last trip to Singapore for the year. Starting from the 19th of December, I cleared 8 days of leave, effectively giving me a fortnight-long rest period. Met Nic and POD first at Kok Sen Restaurant after work. Took a short walk from Cecil St. to Keong Saik Rd. Passed several familiar gay lou landmarks like DYMK and Taboo. Kinda weird seeing them in the daylight. Feels quite different. Found the place with little fuss. It was actually just opposite Taratata Bistrot , the horrible French place. Kok Sen was pretty full at 6:15 PM which was a good sign. Nic was in his post-work cranky and hungry phase, so he ordered all the favourites in jiffy. His choices were spot-on. The Big Prawn Bihun was in a tomyum -like soup with more than 6 large prawns. The other special was the deep-fried frogs. So rare for me to have frogs in a dry di

As an unrelated follow up from last year's gay-themed play "People Like Us", the producers presented "Long Term Relationship" and of course KH bought tickets. It was lovely to see so many gay lous congregate at KLPAC to catch some laughs and see some steamy action on stage. Last year we had Evan Siao, but this time we were only left with John Tan. In the previous play, John Tan played a guy who was swayed by Evan Siao's hotness. This time round, he played a flamboyant character. Must admit that his acting skills improved a lot. Much less wooden. A friend of mine commented that it was because he playing 'himself'. Haha. As the title suggests, the play revolves around a couple who had been together for years. However, infidelity, work pressure and lack of communication threatened to destroy the relationship. The story was narrated by Douglas Wong who played the super-loved tarot reader, Tata RoTata. Never a dull moment when he comes on stage. On a

Sunday was a rare day out with my colleagues ( I normally ditch them to meet my gay friends ). Went to mass at St Joseph as usual and was rewarded with the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore. Also heard about their upcoming Christmas concert ( special allowance for carols in the season of advent ) which is to be attended by 22 ambassadors and the President of Singapore. Hope The Risen Christ choir will rise to the occasion singing carols in 22 different foreign languages. Before heading into Sentosa, we had lunch at Albert Centre. A horribly hot, chaotic and stuffy lunch. Then a quick train ride to Harbour Front station brought us to Vivo City. Used the monorail to get into Sentosa. Arrived just in time to enter the SEA Aquarium as the tickets were for after 2:00 PM. Saw some kids leading a blindfolded girl into the aquarium as a birthday surprise of sorts. Perhaps they were gonna feed her to the sharks. For some reason, there was an Admiral Cheng Ho exhibition there

On my next trip to Singapore, my brother invited me to dinner. Italian this time, his all time favourite. Dined at Trattoria Nonna Lina on Cantonment Road. The restaurant is named after the owner's Grandmother, Lina. Great food. Loved the spicy crab penne and the tiramisu is a must-have. My brother likes to gauge the quality of an Italian restaurant by ordering the panna cotta. Their rendition of that classic dessert passed with flying colours. Do give the restaurant a try when you're in that neck of the woods. As I was getting ready to go out for a mall crawl on Saturday, I wished Tater good morning. Told him I planned to check out the Christmas decorations around City Hall. As luck would have it, he was free to join since his lunch date was cancelled. Following KH's suggestion, I went to Raffles City first. Not much to see except some giant Christmas baubles. Tater was oozing patience following me on my aimless photography session ( ended up with nothing much to s

Right after Sunday mass, mum and I had dinner at Restoran New Paris with my BEC committee members. It was a lunch meeting to discuss future plans and introduce the incoming president. I only stayed long enough to settle the bill. By 2:00 PM, we left for DPAC to watch Kopisusu Recham. Waze was a bit loopy that day, so got there a little late. Just 15 minutes for us to redeem the free cup of K3K Benta Kaya coffee before the show started. At the foyer was a small exhibition of memorabilia from old Malaya. The show started 15 minutes later than scheduled. The producers called it a concert play, but basically it was just Yudi singing, accompanied by live musicians. Some intermittent banter and dancing. And a light plot to lead from one song to another. All golden oldies, Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Most songs were sung dual-language with new lyrics filled in. For example, Teresa Teng's "Tian Mi Mi" was converted into "Dayung Sampan" with a Japanese vibe. Surpr