I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
When I first started blogging in 2001, I always thought that it was just an outlet to vent and basically talk about my day. Blogging wasn’t big back then, but existed within what we called the “teen web scene”. Within this “scene”, blogging was big – although it was mostly filled with angst-filled teenage whims and ramblings. It was totally different back then as compared to now.
I received my first comment in November 2001 and it made me shout aloud with glee. It was the “wow, there are people listening to me?!” kind of feeling, and it just spurred me on to write more.
So, write more I did. I started writing about my day in full detail, emphasizing on the funny and interesting bits. The number of comments and readership grew. Soon, I began to spot a few familiar names appearing over and over again in my comments. Out of curiosity, I checked out their sites and was hooked.
We became blogging pals, familiar to one another on the web but still strangers offline. Some were based in Singapore and some, overseas. They knew almost every bit of information about me (thanks to my blog entries). Likewise, so did I.
One thing for sure, I didn’t expect back then that we’d actually meet in real life.
Dayna, Cherlynn, Terry and I meet regularly now. And just last weekend, Chien Yee from Brunei happened to be in Singapore and we all decided to meet up.
First stop, Chinatown. Terry, Chien Yee, Dayna and I.
This is possibly my second gathering with my fellow Singaporean bloggers – Dayna, Cherlynn and Ivy. (Actually, I’ve met Dayna and Ivy last year at a phone launch but that wasn’t a “gathering” gathering, so it ain’t counted, eh? (;)
Terry was supposed to come too, but fell sick at the eleventh hour. Apparently, Ivy claimed he sounded like an old man when he phoned her. Get well soon Terry, and we wish you were here!
The day started off with Ivy arriving at Relax Bistro (located at level 2, 313 Somerset) at 1.10 p.m. to find none of us around … even though we were all supposed to meet at 1 p.m. Oops. We eventually had a full crowd only at 2ish.
The food there was awesome. Pretty reasonably priced too. They also have some mad awesome drinks and desserts. (Think drinkable tiramisu and dark chocolate. Mmmm.)
Bewildered Dayna flanked by Ivy’s mushroom soup (left) and my dark chocolate drink.
It so happened that I discovered the happening of a flea market in the near vicinity earlier in the day, and everyone was in agreement about spending the afternoon there. Gee, I hadn’t done any proper shopping in weeks and a flea market is the best way to begin if you don’t want to burn a hole in your pocket, aye?
The selection of stalls at the flea market was decent, but the crowd management was pretty bad. Tables and chairs were scattered everywhere and it was hard to make out a distinct ‘path’ through the stalls. Cherlynn and I were separated from Dayna and Ivy at one point, and we had a hard time re-locating one another. Calls were missed due to the booming music (hoo, boy!) and it was hard to make one another out in the huge sea of faces. (People were starting to look like one another – that’s how badly the crowd boggled the mind.)
Cherlynn, Dayna and Ivy and I, post-flea market.
The above picture was taken at a slightly quieter section of the flea market which we spent the most time at. Of course, shopping loot was aplenty … but you can’t see them in the picture. That’s what carrying big bags are for. (;