Not so long ago, I was all excited about going back to school. The stationery shopping after a full decade was fun. Haha. Then, I had problems managing my intensely hectic schedule and called it quits. At the urging of my course mates, I re-registered myself the next semester.

It’s been three and a half years!

The time-juggling feat hasn’t been easy. While I breezed through some modules effortlessly, I had a hard time reading some of the stuff chucked in my face. But it’s been pretty enriching and enjoyable, especially since I took two electives that were not related to my core subjects.

In Modern Chinese Literature, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Chin Kwee Nyet- a former radio and television news anchor. I could have sat there all night listening to her perfectly enunciated Mandarin. A term later, I was totally intrigued with what I learnt in Singapore Sociology. And it’s been really satisfying churning out wordy essays- something which I haven’t done in a long time.

Even before I clear this hurdle, I’ve been looking at courses for the next academic year. Heh.

Two papers this week, then two more the next. And I’ll be done!

Don’t be mistaken. The Book Café serves more than eggs. It was a pure coincidence that all of us ordered breakfast at 6pm this evening.

It’s been more than four years since I last popped by. Full marks for its atmosphere, and thumbs up for the excellent service. The Rösti on my Prosciutto (available on weekends and public holidays only) was done to a perfect crisp, and the best I’ve had in a while. Delish!

I’ve been hanging out at J’s place lately. Meet my new friends.

1) Tristan- Male golden retriever. He’s huge. He stepped on my toes a couple of times, and it was rather painful. Haha.

2) Tiny- Male poodle. Very noisy. Can’t stop barking.

3) Red- Female poodle. She’s pregnant at the moment.

4) Isolde- Female husky. She came up to me, rested her paws on my chest and looked right into my eyes. The other time, she was howling at me in a corner, and I pretended to nod in acknowledgement. It was almost like we were having a private conversation. Hahha.

The thought of keeping a pet has never crossed my mind. Until now. I really like the big dogs. Unless I move, I won’t have space for a golden retriever or husky. So I’ll have to contend with driving 70km to and fro and seeing my new friends once in a while.

Update: I received their SMSes, calls and emails all within two hours of sending the above letter. They were quick to react, but surely they could have kept to one single channel of communication. And I’m highly unimpressed with their recovery procedures. They called me ‘Miss Teng’ the first time, and ‘Mr Tan’ in the follow up email. The lines in uppercase, “PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL STRICTLY FOR EMAIL RECIPIENT ONLY” at the top of the email was totally uncalled for, in my opinion.

Industry insiders say that individual agencies hire telemarketers on their own, which makes it impossible for the corporate office to track down this person.

Case unresolved, but closed for now.

No one goes through primary school without using those four words. No, it cannot be a stormy morning. Flash floods didn’t occur in Orchard Road when we were in school. The picture has to be all bright and cheery. And of course, the protagonist has to be Xiao Ming.

After a brief affair with Path, and an even shorter fling with Pinterest which lasted a mere five minutes, I’m back on Instagram. Just in time to witness a surge of followers after they rolled out the Android app.

Coffee choices are limited at 6 o’clock in the morning. Imagine my joy when I was told of the 24-hour outlet at United Square. My partners take turns to buy coffee. Heh.

I merely wanted to activate my new credit card- by making the first transaction online. The previous card was terminated after they discovered a fraudulent entry of S$4.95. I cannot explain how I managed to buy things from three different websites in twenty minutes. I need want a travel journal when I head to Europe six weeks from now. And of course, it has to be from Moleskine.

It’s less than two months to this exclusive tour presented by Chan Brothers Travel and Y.E.S. 93.3FM.

Building first began in 1248 on what eventually became one of the finest ecclesiastical edifices in the world and the epitome of high-Gothic cathedral architecture in its purest possible form.

The scale of Cologne Cathedral is evident from its two mighty towers. Completed in 1880, they dominate both the city and the surrounding region. At the time of its completion in the 19th century, the cathedral was the biggest building in the world. The design of the west side was truly groundbreaking. It has the largest exterior surface of any church in the world, said to be around 7,000 square metres, and is flanked by two huge towers, each rising to a height of 157 metres. The cathedral houses a wealth of important art treasures, including colourful stained glass windows that bathe the church interior in a mysterious light; the Ottonian Gero Cross (around 980 AD), the oldest large-scale sculpture in the western world; the shrine housing the relics of the Three Kings (1190-1225), an outstanding example of Rhenish goldwork; the altar of the patron saints of Cologne by Stefan Lochner (around 1450), a masterpiece of the Cologne school.

From GNTB.

The famous Manneken-Pis remains the emblem of the rebellious spirit of the City of Brussels. His wardrobe counts more than 800 suits. Manneken-Pis was at first a fountain that played an essential role in the former distribution of drinking water since the 15th century. The system was well-known in all of Europe. Towards the end of the 17th century, the statue became more and more important in the city life. It was also a survivor of the bombardment of Brussels in 1695. Since he lost his main function in the network of water conveyance of the City in the 19th century, Manneken-Pis gradually became an image and symbol of Brussels folklore, the joy of the inhabitants and their capacity of self-mockery.

From Visit Belgium.

I can’t wait to embark on this 10-day trip to Europe. We’ll be visiting Holland and France too. Won’t you join me too? The full itinerary can be found here. Or you can call Chan Brothers at 6212 9660.

哎唷。那天只是說說而已。呵呵。我說我們「找一天」來比一比。沒想到大家那麼認真，行動那麼快速。

簡直就是「以卵擊石」、「飛蛾撲火」、「雞蛋碰石頭」。

18寸的「熱狗王」，還有一堆薯條。錯，是一整座山的薯條。非常恐怖。

請收聽4月4日星期三中午12點，家發、嘉蕙主持的「933午王午后」 。

Thanks to Wheels and Wieners.

I’ve been in the world of Radio half my life, and people have been asking this the entire time. Let me answer the question once and for all. Heh.

5: 15 A.M. The iPhone blasts a Jay Chou track. I hear that multiple times before the radio comes on at about 5:20 A.M.. The alarm clock rings at 5:30 A.M.. And a morning call at about that time.

5: 30 A.M. I reach out to turn everything down before snoozing for a while more. (Accidents happen sometimes.)

6: 00 A.M. I finally get out of bed and shower once I hear the National Anthem. Occasionally, I mumble to myself, “Why do I have to get up so early for work? Why am I not a billionaire?!” The babble intensifies on rainy mornings.

6: 10 A.M. I’m usually out in ten minutes flat. I don’t brush my hair cos it’s going to be messed up when I put on the headphones anyway. I wear whatever that is on top of the pile and walk out of the door with a 800ml bottle of tap water. I once wore the same t-shirt three times in two weeks, and people wondered aloud if I require help. I shrugged, “It’s a miracle that I can get to work punctually. It’s too much to ask of me to dress up at this ungodly hour!”

6: 25 A.M. I get a Coke from the vending machine. And I freak out if the machine is empty. Hundreds of thousands of listeners depend on me to wake them up, and I can’t do it without the caffeine!

6: 30 A.M. I slide in and do the birthday segment. 80% of the time, I turn to them and say, “I’m not fully awake,” though most of the nation can’t really tell.

(Yes, the morning show starts at 6: 00 A.M.. My partners are in the studio by then. People in their 30s get such a privilege.)

6: 45 A.M. Andy, our colleague calls for breakfast orders. “Yes! Anything! Thanks!” That’s what I say on a daily basis. He either buys a sandwich or beehoon with a fried egg and some luncheon meat. Or chee cheong fun. Or mee siam. And some fruits. And coffee, of course. I activate my Standby Breakfast Buyers if Andy’s on leave. They usually come in after 9: 00 A.M..

6: 50 A.M. I shuffle through the materials and finalize what we will do in the next three hours. I look through the playlist and replace soppy ballads with power dance tracks. No, we shall not get all sentimental in the mornings. The priority is for everyone to wake up and get to work on time. On a relatively high note.

7: 30 A.M. The food arrives in the studio and we eat in between talksets. I usually finish within 20 minutes. That, and the Coke has caused me to burp on air- twice.

8: 00 A.M. Fully awake by now. I totally enjoy the adrenaline rush from doing Singapore’s number one morning show. The interaction and spontaneity is priceless. I want my listeners to go to work feeling all energised. Some things in life suck, but no one can deprive anyone of a happy morning.

9: 50 A.M. Show closes. I pack up. The studio looks like a war zone after a four-hour shift. We then briefly discuss what to do the next day.

10: 00 A.M. I head to the production suite for a recording or production. And the occasional meeting, either with the programme director, or with clients. I only complete whatever that is necessary for the day- eg a trailer that is airing within the next 24 hours. I do all other non-essential production on Saturday nights, when there’s no one hoarding the production suite, and just so I can get off work early on weekdays.

11: 30 A.M. I’m out of Caldecott. If I have a lunch appointment, I head home slightly earlier to shower and, erm, dress like a civilised person. That’s when I shave, ’cause I don’t have time to do so at 6:00 A.M.. I rarely head out to lunch straight from the office. If I do, it would have to be at some deserted or low key place. There is this chicken cutlet I love at Toa Payoh. No one bats an eyelid when I turn up totally un-groomed. I skip lunch sometimes, if I’m really sleepy. (I pledged to exercise more regularly. I went swimming a couple of times, and I hope the frequency will really pick up.)

2: 00 P.M. I’m out for meetings, running errands, or doing commercial voiceovers the rest of the time. But I have to nap. It is a must. I will bite if I do not sleep in the afternoons. Period. I shower and go to bed thinking, “Which other (legitimate) job in the world allows me to do this?” I don’t have an answer after all these years.

6: 00 P.M. Maybe that’s not really a nap. Sometimes I sleep more in the day than at night. I probably belong to the U.S. time zone.

6: 30 P.M. My phone is on silent mode when I’m asleep, but at least I reply messages and return calls the minute I’m awake. People are usually quite understanding about my sleeping hours. Haha. It’s the last semester of my part time course. I do lectures twice a week- if I do not oversleep. Or I could be at a movie preview. Or dinner with friends. I do not usually attend PR events, unless I have to, cause I’m rather lazy to dress up. I used to host a lot of events on weekdays, but not anymore. It would take a lot of convincing to revert to that kind of madness.

10: 00 P.M. I look at my emails, and sync my devices. And it’s a massive round of reading and show prep for the next day. I turn on either the television or radio, but it’s mostly background listening. I spend about one to two hours on the reading- either on the MacBook or the iPad, though it could be reduced to thirty minutes if I’m out. I hardly do fiction nowadays. It’s usually all news and current affairs- things that I talk about on the show. And I look at the regional indicators to keep abreast of the latest music trends. That explains why I do not like to go out at night- because I have a morning show to do the next day. It’s not just about the waking up. It’s the preparation that goes into a show. And contrary to popular belief, I do not play mahjong on weekdays.

11: 00 P.M. I think I’m at my creative best at this hour. Most of my trailer scripts are drafted at night, along with other show ideas. I used to blog and edit pictures at this time. But because I’m on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms during most of my waking hours, the blogging has taken a backseat.

1: 00 A.M. I take yet another shower before checking that the various alarms are in place. I’ve done the morning show for eight and a half years, and I’m still nervous about oversleeping. Really.