Madonna took to the stage this weekend. And woah, she is indeed the ultimate pop diva.

In a bid to avoid the crowd, I was at the carwash the Thursday before Chinese New Year. Responding to my look of surprise, they told me that I was too early, and hence no increase in fees. Eventually, we had to make do with water stains as it poured through the festive period.

For years, my family has dined out on CNY eve. I was never satisfied with the service. The Paradise group even made me stand for two hours and served dinner at the incredible timing of 10.30pm the year before. The longstanding theory would be that restaurants are understaffed and overbooked during this period. I have a simple solution. Don’t take in orders which you can’t handle.

Gim Tim @ Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 surpassed all expectations. There was a simple but comfortable enough tentage outside the actual premises, with fans and mobile aircon units. Everyone looked cool and collected despite a full seating, and they looked really happy to be working on CNY eve, totally unlike grumpy waitresses at other places. Bravo, Gim Tim!

It was back to the square table with a vengeance. My last game in 2011 was on 9 June. How was that remotely possible?! I made up for it with six days of mahjong in a month. That’s excluding the obligatory games with family and colleagues during CNY visiting. This is the only time of the year you’ll see me doing 5cent-10cent bets with a maximum rate of $3.20 for five doubles. Heh.

I was back on air on the first day of the CNY, and resumed work on the third day. Never mind I couldn’t catch up on sleep. There were the various meet-ups with colleagues that week, and the annual lion dance in Radio Building.

I read that people in China travelled hundreds and thousands of miles to be back with their families for CNY, and on Facebook, I saw updates from friends returning from all over the world. I think it’s something that we really ought to appreciate, and a tradition that should be passed down to future generations.

G. offered to buy dinner after going through a most prosperous year of the Rabbit. I vetoed her “Expensive = Good” idea and settled for a more reasonably priced dinner for thirteen at Beng Hiang. The suckling pig was amazingly good, as with the really tasty traditional dishes like prawn balls, buns with braised pork and Hokkien noodles.

I was cautious enough the entire week, constantly reminding myself not to gorge because there would be more food – main courses and assorted snacks- waiting. I only fumbled at Beng Hiang, leaving with a full and satisfied tummy.

J. made those customised tarts. Sweet.

The queues weren’t as long as I expected. A lady approached me as I was waiting to pay, and informed me in a most joyful manner that I was entitled to receive eight bowls for buying eight cans of abalone. I was stumped momentarily, “Huh? What do I do with eight bowls? I don’t need so many bowls!” I politely declined and immediately heard gasps all around. Ah, it must have meant, “Got free gift why don’t want?! Stupid ah?!”.

As I approached the counter, the cashier displayed a look of panic and called for her colleague. Apparently I could receive a bag for every two cans purchased- which meant I could walk away with four bags. Uh huh. Well, I don’t need those bags too.

Come on, I just want my abalone. Hurry already.

As she packed my stuff and glanced at the figures, she further announced that she was going to give me four $25 vouchers based on the total amount spent.

What?! More freebies?! I was slightly horrified.

“But I only have three vouchers here. You wait a while ok?”

Right. I didn’t turn that down. Hahaha.

P/S: A gift is defined as ‘a thing given willingly to someone without payment’. Hence the word ‘free’ is redundant. Say ‘gift’, not ‘free gift’.

喜欢「步步惊心」的「丁爷党」党员，举手！

Yup, the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, Instagram, and the rather promising Path (note the deliberate omission of Google+), forever changed the way content is shared.

He churned out seven entries within fifty hours, something which I could easily parallel if not for the fact that I’ll be away for a while.

I had to clarify earlier this afternoon that I’m not “always on leave” ok? Rewind to the last quarter of the year. Full attendance for October and November. And in December, I was absent in the first week for Resonance. Then it was two weeks of “National Service Leave”, followed by a week in Beijing. Regardless of how much fun I had with my listeners, it was still technically a working trip and recorded in the leave system as “Outstation”. So. This is my first “Annual Leave” since September.

The original plan was to do NOTHING at home for a week.

And then, I realized I couldn’t sit still.

So my itchy fingers did some clicking, and I got myself an air ticket to Hong Kong within minutes. There were some complications with the accommodation though. It took at least six people to make multiple calls before they managed to secure a corporate discount for the hotel. This is what happens when you make bookings less than sixteen hours before you fly.

And it’s not that I’m “always travelling”. It is afterall, the first trip of the year! Haha. Lunch and dinner appointments have been made for the next two days. WOOHOO!

My Facebook feed is full of pictures of little children. Some of them are going to kindergarten/ preschool/ nursery/ whatever for the first time, while others are attending a new primary or secondary school. Hey, no one took any pictures of me when I went to a new school!

Hi kids, this is your Uncle Cruz. Have fun ok? You will probably forget what’s printed in the textbooks years from now, but you will always remember playing catching (or whatever’s trendy at the moment) before, during and after lessons, friending and unfriending people, getting into scuffles, or perhaps intruding into toilets meant for the opposite gender. You might want to refrain from buying up all the food in the tuckshop, cos you’ll be so tempted to bring home the entire stationery store. There’s no need to explain to your parents why you need 200 mechanical pencils, 500 highlighters, and 800 erasers. They will totally understand.

And parents, stop fretting. We went to school and we survived. The real horror awaits when they graduate.

很肯定的，不只我，很多人都喜歡「那些年，我們一起追的女孩」。無須巨星雲集的大場面，或是眼花繚亂的電腦特效，大家都說：“真是感動！”

看電影，不就是看故事嗎？藉由螢幕走進另外一個人的世界，看著另外一個人的故事，感受另外一個人的喜怒哀樂。做電影，有時簡單一點也不錯。我要的是情節。謝謝。

當然，每一個行業都要講數字。有廣告拍，恭喜。

I love the drink. I love the brand.

And I love their holiday campaigns. From the red trucks to the polar bears, and of course, for teaching the world to sing.

This year, Coca-Cola brought smiles to Joe Marie Ballon, Leonie Villanueva, Joey Doble and their families. And that joy is felt by millions across the globe. Brilliant CSR effort by this esteemed company. Mad applause!