Just Another Random Sunday

Eric Banana kept up the momentum from last week by going for not one, but two yoga classes this morning. Actually, attending Sunday morning yoga classes really boils down to having discipline and not allowing oneself to invent excuses, or conjure ailments for that matter. Hopefully Eric Banana will not be forced to break his routine anytime soon.

In addition to his usual Yin class, Eric Banana decided to do a Hatha class this morning to derive some yang energy. Geez, was it "yang"? Eric Banana thought they said "young" :P It has been a while since he did a Hatha class, considering his ATL headache. Okay, technically it's an ankleache but you get the point. Today, the yoga instructor talked about the fourth chakra - the heart. It was the first time that Eric Banana has seen a yoga instructor draw and write on the mirrors in the yoga studio. Cool! She even shared an interesting phrase with the class - "What makes us human is the strength of the heart." In case you are wondering, she's not quoting any great yogi. Not unless you consider John Connor a great yogi :p

In a way, Eric Banana is glad that he went for two yoga classes today. After all, he did gobble a fair bit during buffet dinner at Zhou's Kitchen in Jurong Point last night :s And that is a fine (under)statement. Then again, whatever benefit that was accrued through the two yoga lessons today was swiftly vapourised by lunch time, no thanks to Ichiban Boshi. For the record, Eric Banana categorically denies having consumed any tempura ice-cream. AstroBanana did scale down their dinner portions though before they start to balloon so much that it's enough to fly them to the skies.

The shopping malls along Orchard Road were impossibly crowded today, not surprisingly so since the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) has started. AstroBanana did not chance upon anything they fancy. It could be because they were half-hearted about plunging themselves into the heart of crowds gone crazy.

Anyway, AstroBanana cannot believe that their long weekend has zipped past so quickly :( They are already looking forward to their next break, however short it might be.

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Prawn Noodles Bliss

After nearly three years, Eric Banana finally got to doing his first Pranayama/Meditation class. While he feels that Pranayama is generally beneficial, he doubts that he's going to lose 15 pounds in a week through intense pranayama practice (a benefit extolled by a yoga instructor some time back) anytime soon. Especially not when he ate this right after his class:

Yup, Thye Hong Fried Prawn Noodles at Food Republic - yummy!

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Eternity Ring & Perpetuity Ring

While AstroBanana were gallivanting in Orchard this afternoon, they decided to make their way to Tiffany to collect their engraved wedding bands. Okay, enough with the mystery - so what exactly did AstroBanana engrave on their rings?

Well, they decided that simplicity is the best. Instead of the full wedding date, they opted to include only the year - 2009. Playing with the timeless theme, she chose "ETERNITY 2009" while he went for "PERPETUITY 2009".

"Eternity" is synonymous with "perpetuity" - both words represent infinite duration or existence - but in Eric Banana's mind, there is an added twist. Sitting on Astro Girl's finger, the "eternity" ring will remind her that love lasts forever. The "perpetuity" ring on Eric Banana's finger will probably remind him of the same thing but let it not be forgotten that "perpetuity" also means an annuity payable indefinitely. Oh, and isn't there some truth in it? :P

On a separate note, AstroBanana are glad that they decided to collect their rings today. It turns out that their favourite Tiffany sales rep Dorothy's last day is tomorrow. If they have gone some other day, they would have not been able to see her again. As usual, she attended to them with a ready smile. As they watched her tie the white ribbon expertly around the famous little blue box, AstroBanana realised that it was the last time they will see her do it and actually felt a little sad. Nevertheless, they would like to thank her for all the great service and assistance she has rendered them and wish her all the best in her future endeavours. From AstroBanana to Dorothy: "You will always be in our memories."

AstroBanana Have Received Their First Wedding Present!

Their wedding may still be over four months away, but AstroBanana's first wedding present has already boarded a plane from New York and flew itself to them in Singapore, courtesy of Eric Banana's junior, Chee Sin. Thanks dude!!

The present is a bronze-like statuette of two mermaids holding a clam shell that has dried flower buds on it:

Too Much Of A Good Thing Is Bad

While Eric Banana adores Japanese food, he has arrived at the conclusion that having too much of it within a short period of time, say four times within a week, is a baaaaad idea. Talk about food fatigue!

It started with AstroBanana going to Shimbashi Soba at Paragon last Saturday. They both ordered the Paragon Soba, which comprises warm tempura soba and chilled oroshi soba. Eric Banana prefers the Paragon Soba to the usual set meals because whenever he goes to Shimbashi, he would rather place his focus on the soba - and nothing beats trying both warm and chilled soba in one go. Oh well, who needs an excuse to be a glutton anyway? :P Tally: one time in one day.

Two days later, Eric Banana bought his intern lunch at Shinobu Dining (the former Yuzu-Shimizu Japanese Restaurant) at PSA Building. Surprising, there wasn't much of a lunch crowd. Tally: two times in three days.

On Thursday, AstroBanana finally got to trying the food at Wasabi Tei - which is located at Far East Plaza - with DGT after several postponements. DGT was right - the food was really good. However, there is always a queue, the waiting time is fairly long, the place is small and cramped (not to mention the food smell that lingers on one's clothes after the meal), and the service is so-so. To Eric Banana, the eating enviroment plays a big role when he wants to enjoy a meal. Tally: Three times in six days.

Yesterday, AstroBanana met Celine, Joel and Song for dinner at Sun with Moon at The Central. It was a belated birthday celebration for Song and an early birthday celebration for Celine. The original plan was to go to Ma Maison instead. However, when Eric Banana called to make a reservation on Monday, it was already full :( Strong dinner crowd despite the recession. Tally: four times in seven days.

Eric Banana thinks he will stay off Japanese food for the time being before he starts to develop japfoodphobia :|

The Ultimate Flotation Device :P

Eric Banana doesn't know what's wrong with him but when he read that a recently-recaptured fugitive swam across the Straits of Johor using an "improvised flotation device", the only thing that came to his mind was this:

AstroBanana Get Their Bean Bags!

Okay, Eric Banana knows that this blog entry is way overdue but here it is!

It all started with Eric Banana browsing idly on shopstyle.com one night. He was about to go to bed when he spotted a nice black-colour Ralph Lauren Large Polo Player Canvas Tote Bag and decided that he must have it:

Oddly enough, Ralph Lauren itself doesn't carry the graphite/silver combination but Macy's does so Eric Banana ordered it from Macy's through ComGateway instead. Yay? Well, not exactly. A few days later, Eric Banana found out that Macy's rejected the order for unknown reasons. Hmmm, Eric Banana has used ComGateway to make purchases from Banana Republic and Kate Spade without any hiccups so he is not sure why it did not work with Macy's. Kena snubbed!

Sorely disappointed, Eric Banana tried to look at other sources. His Internet search pointed him to blog shops and sprees but he did not feel assured enough to make a purchase. Well, the scaredy cat is not about to pay good money to buy counterfeit products. Eventually, his web idling led him to L.L.Bean's website. He spotted a few bags which he thought look okay and decided to make a purchase from there instead. Commendably, L.L.Bean accepts international credit cards and ships orders to countries worldwide. Okay, so International Airmail takes two to four weeks but hey, who's in a hurry anyway? There is an International Express option as well but it costs more.

Anyway, AstroBanana's "Bean" bags arrived last Saturday. Hurray!

Here's what Astro Girl bought:

It is a red-trimmed L.L.Bean Boat & Tote Bag made in Maine using heavy-duty 24 oz. cotton canvas and signature double-layer base and handles. Its reinforced flat canvas bottom and overlapped seams double-stitched with nylon will not rot or break. It is so tough and rugged that it can stand on its own. Astro Girl went for the Medium size (12"H x 13"W x 6"D) and opted for Regular handles (6") and a zip-top (not depicted in the above pictures). Oh, don't underestimate this bag - it was featured as a "must-have" in either The Lucky Shopping Manual or The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style (Eric Banana cannot remember which book he saw it in - both books are currently with Astro Girl.)

In addition, Eric Banana gave her a charming Leaping Labs Boat & Tote Bag as a lil' present:

It is a variation of the regular Boat & Tote Bag but has a screen-printed graphic that wraps around the tote. It comes in Large size (15"H x 17"W x 7.5"D), and has regular handles (8") and an open-top.

As for Eric Banana, he ordered two large zip-top Hunter's Tote Bags:

The Hunter's Tote Bags are made from a tough 1,200-denier polyester shell with a thermoplastic interior coating that is both highly durable and highly water-resistant. Its overlapped seams double-stitched with nylon won't rot or break. An extra layer of polyester reinforces the bottom. The Large size measures 15"H x 17"W x 7.5"D. The colours Eric Banana picked are Advantage Max 4 HD and Olive Drab. Only the first one has arrived - the second one is still on the way.

The best thing about the four L.L.Bean tote bags? Well, you can buy all of them for the price of the Ralph Lauren tote bag :P

5 Months To Go!

9 May 2009.

One month passed really quickly - there are now only five more months before AstroBanana's big day. Eric Banana has more or less finished shortlisting the wedding music list. Now it's over to Astro Girl for review. Eric Banana has also begun to gather his wedding dinner guests' mailing addresses. On Thurday, they went back to the bridal studio to revalidate Astro Girl's wedding gown choice. Today, they brought their wedding bands back to Tiffany for engraving. As for what will be engraved on their rings, it will be revealed when they collect their rings.

June will be a busy month for the couple with the food tasting, second fitting/trial make-up and bridal photoshoot. Eric Banana was originally supposed to travel on business so he was shuffling dates and rescheduling appointments pertaining to their wedding preparation. As it turned out, he does not need to travel after all. However, they plan to change the photographer for their bridal photoshoot so they still need to reconfirm the dates.

Gowns Redux

On Thursday evening, AstroBanana went back to My Bridal Room for Astro Girl to try on *erm* even more gowns. Well, it's common for a bride-to-be to cast doubts on the wedding gowns she has chosen and whether it is really the best of them all. Abbie had to go off early that day so another coordinator, Linghui, attended to them instead.

Five wedding gowns later, Astro Girl decided to try on the one that she chose originally. (Haha, she actually didn't recognise it at first.) And guess what? Her choice remains the same. But this time she is more convinced that the wedding gown is the right one. Previously she was simply giddy from the euphoria of trying 21 wedding gowns in one go.

As for evening gowns, Astro Girl tried on a couple but did not change her mind about her original choice. She did pick one of the evening gowns she tried previously for the photo shoot though.

All this while, Eric Banana kept mostly quiet. He felt that Astro Girl's original choice of wedding gown was an excellent one. Then again, he was quite tired from work that day.

Without a doubt, Linghui must have been thinking, "讨厌, 这对男女真麻烦!" (read: "Oh what a delightful couple. I adore them to bits!") Ok, that was just a joke :P She was very professional and helpful. AstroBanana would like to thank her for her help :)

Grilled Chicken Foldover 2004 - 2009

Today was a stressful and frustrating day for AstroBanana on the work front. It must have been particularly so for Astro Girl because she actually suggested going to McDonald's for dinner. Wah~! Nothing extraordinary, you say? Well, in the past 25+ months that AstroBanana have been together, Eric Banana has never heard Astro Girl agree so readily to settling for a McDonald's dinner. Not today. Today she just wanted something "sinful".

And nothing is more sinful than what McDonald's has to offer. It used to have some semblance of a "healthier choice"in the form of the Grilled Chicken Foldover but somehow Eric Banana could not find it on the menu just now. A quick check with the website confirmed that it has been taken off the menu. Silently but surely. Hmmm, so much for a so-called "milestone". It's true! The McDonald's Singapore website lists the introduction of the Grilled Chicken Foldover in Dec 2004 as a milestone. But apparently the Grilled Chicken Foldover saying bye bye wasn't milestone-worthy enough.

Anyway, Eric Banana has always wondered why it's called the "foldover" instead of the "bendover" since they essentially mean the same thing. He would have loved to hear people say, "And I would like to have the Grilled Chicken Bend-Over, please~" to the McDonald's cashiers and see the latter try to maintain a straight face. It does sound kinda wrong though. Oh well, at least McDonald's has decided to stop pretending that it offers healthier alternatives. After all, Singaporeans don't go to McDonald's for healthier alternatives - they just want their fattening burgers that scream S-I-N-F-U-L out loud. Actually, most people don't even go there for the burgers - think french fries and ice-cream instead.

Pulled ATL :(

Following his acute arthritis attack a few weeks ago, Eric Banana has been on the road to recovery - even managing to make his return to the yoga studio - until he was derailed again on Monday :( He knew the pain will only escalate if he delayed treatment so he decided to see the doctor. Pinpointing the exact pain spot, the doctor concluded that Eric Banana must have pulled his ATL. Huh? Simi ATL?

For reasons unknown to Eric Banana, he did not ask the doctor what ATL stands for, except that it's an ankle ligament. A quick check on Google revealed that ATL stands for anterior talofibular Ligament, which is the most frequently sprained ligament in the ankle.

Sigh. Eric Banana has decided to abstain from yoga and running for the time being although his doctor said that it is fine to engage in those activities. Then again, his doctor never thinks any ailment is serious. To him, everything is "small matter". Until a patient actually lies face-down on the floor without any sign of life, it will be classified as a "small matter". The eternally-optimistic doctor. It probably pays to think positive because the doctor looks damn young although he is not damn young. Either that, or botox works wonders :P

Hmmm, Eric Banana can do with some mutant healing factor right now.

Half-Burnt Labour Day

Yes, it's a public holiday in Singapore today - Labour Day - but Eric Banana's perfect grand plan to sleep until the cows come home did not quite materialise, unduly disrupted by a conference call that was scheduled at an unearthly 8:30 a.m. Wah, siao ah? (read: "The sanity of it all amazes the poopoo out of me.") Guess the grand plan wasn't that perfect after all.

Unwillingly but certainly, he dragged his donkey back to office this morning, his eyes merely two slits on his face. And it certainly didn't help that the conference call eventually overran by an hour :( Thankfully, his boss decided to be merciful and delay the work to be done until Monday, which happens to be a proper, wholesome working day too. Sounds healthy huh?

It seems that a curse is developing around Labour Day for Eric Banana - at this time last year, he was happily roasting his Labour Day over a campfire in the mountains of Taiwan, courtesy of an ill-timed SAF100. This reminds him of the curse of Valentine's Day a few years back, when he would be inadvertently forced to spend it in some foreign land every time 14 February came around.

Anyway, Eric Banana is moving to another role at work, which promises to be an absolute excitement *yawn*. In addition to a whole new world of tidal wavy work, he also gets to keep some of his current work. In short, it's a losing proposition - 1.x job for 1 pay. Hopefully, he will dig his way out of this sometime in the near future. Oh well, it's better to have 1.x job than no job during such hard times. Better to be "entrenched" than to be retrenched.

One big plus though is that his travel geography has been upgraded from "regional" to "global" again :) *whee* It's been too long since Eric Banana travelled anywhere on business.

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