It was an awful start to the weekend.

Revelations. Disclosures. Leaks. Things I don’t really want to know.

One could sink into despair and sing ‘Wa Meng Tee, Wa Meng Tee‘… Or one could choose to paint the town red.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. But it doesn’t matter. The 流沙包 will heal you. Dim Sum at 12pm. Set.” – H.

I know I can always count on H to come up with some nonsense to crack me up.

The turnout was great. A day before the launch of ‘Seoulful Living‘, I texted Liyi and Junwei, “It is going to be a hit. Everything about the second book is better than the first. Even the host too!” Hahaha.

Before a quick trip back to the office to do something, we walked around Orchard Road to kill time. Retail therapy works. All the time.

I first interviewed René Liu in 2002 and she left me feeling really intimidated. She was maintaining eye contact with Liyi the whole time and whenever I popped a question, she would turn and give me a look which I interpreted as “Why are you asking such stupid questions?” When I finally saw her again in Jun this year, she was really nice! It’s either that I don’t ask stupid questions anymore, or that she’s decided not to give that look ever again.

About 4,000 people attended René Liu’s first concert in Singapore. The first half of the show depended heavily on graphics and lavish props. The show really began only after she took her heels off. It was such a riot as she appeared in her Superman-inspired outfit. And she was gorgeous, humourous, and sensual all at the same time.

In between imaginary sighs during her classics like 我等你 and 成全, I was clutching the songlist (yes, I receive rundowns at the start of most concerts) and hoping that things would speed up a little. “Oh no. Will we have time to listen to (the second last song) 后来？”

I thought I had the perfect plan- booking tickets to a 2340hrs screening. The frequent concert goer in me didn’t expect René’s show to last that long. And because J and B were waiting at Marina Square, we couldn’t afford to be late.

“We’ll need to walk to the carpark, drive, find parking, walk up, get tickets, get drinks and pee. We have to leave by 2320hrs.” Virgos are meticulous planners. Hahaha.

I was utterly shocked when René started singing 遇见 at about 2315hrs. Nooooooo! (It’s a lovely piece, really, but) The song wasn’t in the rundown! It was time for 后来！We left the stadium reluctantly.

“Maybe we could still hear the first bit if we walk slowly!” But no, she sang 爱的代价 after that. Argh.

In Confessions, Takako Matsu plays a teacher whose daughter was murdered by two students in her class. Minors in Japan are legally protected, so the two teenagers went away scot free. The grieving mother announces that she was quitting her job, not before revealing the identities of the duo.

The movie is highly engaging. The first scene took about 30 minutes to uncover the crime, then took another hour to expose more secrets and twists in the form of monologues (ie confessions) by the main characters. A little disturbing, but very cleverly crafted.

We left the theatre at about 2am. I was hungry, but I knew it wasn’t wise to eat at that hour. I hadn’t done supper in weeks, and I was trying to keep things that way. “Fine, let’s all go home and sleep.”

I grimly announced on the CTE moments later that I would go to the drive-thru. “Do you mind if I take 1 (of your 6) nugget(s)? Or are you that hungry?”

“Of course you can! Good things (read: fats) are meant to be shared!”

It was close to 2.30am by the time I reached home. Town-painting mission completed.