It always happens with DCFC: either you adore Gibbard & Co. or you don't. I belong to the former; love spinning those indie-pop tunes. Their new album, Plans, won't be due till next month, but i gave "Soul Meets Body" (the supposed first single) a spin and i'm pretty wowed. I guessing the rest of the album will be this good, even though they've jumped ship from Barsuk to Atlantic, and i'm seriously placing my bets on this one.

Tracklist
1 Marching Bands of Manhattan
2 Soul Meets Body (mp3)(mp3)
3 Summer Skin
4 Different Names For the Same Thing (mp3)
5 I Will Follow You Into the Dark
6 Your Heart Is An Empty Room
7 Someday You Will Be Loved
8 Crooked Teeth
9 What Sarah Said
10 Brothers on a Hotel Bed (mp3)
11 Stable Song

Buy · Plans

Labels: For Your Aural Pleasure

I woke up this morning, looked at myself in the mirror, and yelped. Right smack in the middle of my right cheek was this tiny glowing pink growth, no more than half a centimetre in length. It had sprouted overnight, like a seed to a plant, only thing it was much less pretty and not green to match.

Thankfully it wasn't green.

Like Mauna Loa, i sensed it was spewing fumes and threatening to erupt at any moment. I cussed, squinted, shifted from my left to my right profile and back again, and then gingerly poked the spot. Finally, summoning enough courage, i decided to count the many pimples on my pockmarked face, desperately wishing the total sum would be less than a hundred.

One, twoo, thwee... no, wait... patches?

Totaling the number of bumps on my face was an arduous task: it was like a painter's canvas gone awry, with splotches of pinks and reds all over. Letting out a sigh, i comtemplated pasting those little band aids on my face and possibly donning those John Major-esque shades before heading out. But heck, I don't want to risk looking like an Egyptian mummy, thanks.

Hot in the City

The Chinese population, by and large, believe that food has its own characteristics. A typical chinese meal consists of rice and a few dishes -- usually vegetables, meat, fish and soup -- to ensure there is balance between what we label "heaty" and "cooling" foods. Yes, food can be broadly divided into 2 categories, heaty (like fried food, chilli) and cooling (like watermelons), each with differing effects on the body as a whole.

That's at least what my parents/grandparents believe. Dad affirms i got my pimples as a result of indulging in "heaty" food. I choose to differ. I would gladly give my life up for a few more durians. When i dropped by my grandma's the other day, she chuckled, "Girl ah, take care of your face, haha, a lot of pimples on your face ok.. Ah, if you don't take care now, you will suffer in future. Look at the big pimple here (points to my left cheek).."

My grandma has pretty bad eyesight by the way.

Pimple Planet

That brings me back to an old schoolmate of mine. Let's call him Q. We dubbed him "Pimple Planet" -- he suffered from a bad bout of acne -- cos his face looked like the craters of the moon. Q always laughed at the fact that he'd enough oil to spare lest the earth's oil reserves ran out one day.

Poor man.

Skincare

Here's a simple face mask recipe derived from Jacelyn Tay's health programme, A New You.

Manuka Honey & Rolled Oats Mask
1. Grind 2-3 scoops of rolled oats.
2. Mix the blended oats together with a heaped spoonful of manuka honey. You may, of course, choose to use other types of honey, but manuka works best in this case as it has antibacterial properties. Make sure your manuka has a good UMF grade.
3. Apply the mask on your face, taking care to avoid the eye area. This is where your skin is the thinnest and thus, most sensitive. If you think you might have a possible allergy to honey, simply apply a bit of the mixture to the underside of your arm, and let it settle for a while. Observe your skin's reaction.
4. Let mask settle for 15-20 minutes.
5. Massage your face before washing off. The mix of rolled oats and honey helps to exfoliate & moisturise your skin.

Singaporeans are encouraged to display the National Flag during the National Day celebration period (the month of August). There are of course, a couple of guidelines to adhere to whilst displaying your flags ourside your HDB flats. I wonder what happened to the occupants of the house (see above), this is the 2nd year in a row that they've displayed their flag on the flipside.

Ah! My eyes are killing me!

I was making my way home late last Sunday when a man coming from the opposite direction stopped me in my tracks and asked me for the time. I had no watch on, so i fished in my sling bag for my handphone. I was about to whip it out when this stranger began to murmur in a distant, somewhat dreamy voice, "Today is Sunday, tomorrow is Monday hor."

"10.30," I replied gruffly and walked off hastily before he could respond. I wondered why didn't he stop to ask that couple who was only a mere metre ahead of me.

Fast forward to Tuesday. It was pouring the whole morning and I was stuck at home.

My sis came home in the afternoon. She wasn't her usual self. She started yelping the minute she barged through the door.

Some guy had tried to approach her while she was making her way home, armed with an umbrella and an excuse to shelter her from the rain. He didn't even make an offer really -- all he did was to run up and hold his shield (his umbrella, sorry) high above her head like some dumbass knight in shining armour. My sis did turn down his help ever so politely, but she reeled back in horror when she realised the umbrella was a premise to chat her up.

"Can I be your friend?"

"No," my sis retorted.

"Why?"

"____________!!!"

(insert a politically correct reply here. Or some other nonsensical reply you can come up with, such as:

1. Aiyah, go call those 1900 hotlines ah, many girls for you to jio!

2. Go buy a mirror, better it be a 照妖镜 (zhao yao jing; a magical mirror which reveals the true form of a demon). If you can see your own reflection, come and be my friend!)

The cracker finally relented and walked her all the way to our lift lobby. He waved goodbye while my sister jabbed repeatedly at the elevator button, hoping the lift would quickly haul her back home.

After relating her story, mum suggested we girls deliver a swift blow to any man's nether regions as a form of self protection. The youngest sis recommended a pair of sharp scissors as a vital weapon -- like a protection whistle of sorts, only better.

What honestly petrifies me is that this weirdo in both cases fits this rough description: Tall (around 1.7-1.8m in height), young (approximately 20-25 years of age), of large body build and bespectacled. I'm not trying to set off police alarms here, but if a perverted dude like this actually loiters around our bukit merah/tiong bahru area, please help spread the word. Tell your sisters/girlfriends/female friends to be on the lookout. You know, a little civic mindedness actually goes a long way.