Fans of Takuya Kimura.  Brace yourself.  For this is the Takuya Kimura you’ve never seen before.  Without a head of complete hair.

That’s Takuya as a blind samurai in his upcoming movie Bushi No Ichibun which is slated for debut end December in Japan.  This is the third and final in the trilogy that started with ‘The Twilight Samurai’ and continued with ‘The Hidden Blade’, all written and directed by Yoji Yamada.  Sounds like a George Lucas’ Star Wars production eh?

I admit.  Takuya’s looking unattractive and I’m disappointed.  But let’s face it.  As a samurai, he’s supposed to be good with his sword, not his hairstyle.  At least he’s looking the part of a samurai and not just the usual handsome gorgeous Takuya Kimura.  Already many critics have scoffed at Yoji Yamada’s lead casting choice and it’s therefore of utmost importance that Takuya is able to come off with nothing but a great performance here.

Man, let’s show them what you’re made of!  

For those who wants to get used to Takuya as a samurai without a complete head of hair, go watch the 1-min version here.

I don’t know about the other mummies but I can never bring my son out on my own without getting stressed up and all exasperated.  It’s not so much that he is a difficult child but I just don’t have the physical strength, energy and sometimes patience to handle him by myself for a couple of hours in public. 

My husband however, is able to bring my son out on his own without problems.  He has done it a few times already and usually, they were just car rides or short walks of no more than an hour.  Today however, father and son ventured a little longer on their own.  

I had to go to the SIM open house around noon and had originally intended to make my own way there or at least make my own way back.  My husband decided that he could send me there, head for lunch with the boy and come back to pick me up later.  Although I was slightly apprehensive, I went along with the suggestion.  Of course, without first reminding him of the dos and don’ts.  I wasn’t that worried about the boy’s safety.  What concerned me was that he might wear out his dad’s patience because the boy can occasionally, be difficult.

In the end, it all went well.  As a matter of fact, more than well.

They came back to pick me up after two hours and Gavin was excitedly waving to me from his seat when he saw me and he even had something in one of his hands for me.  

RED CARNATIONS!  

Ho ho…both of them must have been at the florist’s admiring some cactus and decided to buy the flowers for me.  A very small stalk no doubt.  But the thought is big enough to make me smile for the rest of today. 

Have you had one of those days?

Where you feel totally wrong with the attire you’ve put on only because the earlier one you picked out the night before was wrong and as a result, you hurriedly chose an assemble in the early morning which is still totally wrong.

Where you look in the mirror throughout the day and your hair is not quite right and you thought it’s due to the bad haircut only to realise that you’ve used the wrong hairdryer in the morning and only then you realised that you’re having a bad hair day.

Where it is that time of that month when you’re bleeding like a stupid swine but still have to work one full day with your feet on the ground.

Where you realise some people are not receptive to what you’re saying because the information is too high level for them and they only have their low level mentality plus their stupid boss who nominated them to blame.

Where you are struggling to smile and grit your teeth at the same time because your damn feet hurts from the stupid shoes you’re wearing and you realised people are checking out your toes and you wonder if it’s because the colour is wrong.

Where you have to lug a few big bags and still struggle to take the public transport because you hate taxis all of a sudden.

Where you’re smack in the middle of a train with a few dozen people but have no one to talk to because you don’t know any of them and they smell like crazy cows to you anyway. 

Where you come back home to realise that you have no dinner only because you cleverly ask the maid not to cook your meal early in the morning before you left for work.

Well, that was my gloomy day.  An average day gone not quite wrong but neither right. 

The only bright spark was coming home to a happy boy who greets me happily with a chirpy “mummy mummy” and babbling non-stop about cactus.   And to be able to rant here in my private sanctuary listening to Michael Buble.

Except for the head, I eat just about every part of the pig.  Tail included.  In fact, I’m quite a hardcore pig’s tail fan! 

When I was staying with my mum, she’ll cook this dish about once a week in black bean soup for me.  But since marrying and moving out, I haven’t had much chance to savour this tasty dish again.

It’s not difficult to cook the pig’s tail but it’s hard to buy it because it’s never available at the supermarket.  But now that I’m going to the wet market about once a week, I am able to buy it again. 

So this week, I remember to buy a bunch and yesterday, I made pig’s tail soup with peanuts, black beans and red dates.  Dip in while it’ steaming hot, and it’ so satisfying.  I especially love the fat part.  The fatter, the better!  Oink oink…

Despite the flaks it’s been drawing from many quarters, Imedeen took out a full-page ad in Today’s Life Section of The Straits Times to mark the opening of their first beautique. 

Looking at the full-page visual, I have to say it’s fabulous.  That was actually the first impression I had when I first saw it on the Net too.  The digitally enhanced photograph is really flattering to Zoe Tay.  Probably the better ones amongst the lot she has done after giving birth. 

Let me however qualify that I’m not a fan of Zoe Tay.  Was once, but not now.  I think she’s just an-over-the-hill-cannot-make-it-already-but-still-trying-so-hard-ah-lian-jie.  That being said, I’ll still give her credit when it’s due.

As for the ad concept, while I wouldn’t say it’s great, but I do think it’s kind of naughty and nice.  Apparently though, many didn’t think so.  The ad unleashed an avalanche of criticisms the minute it was launched.  From saying that it’s too provocative or not classy to insulting Zoe being clueless or that she has a sick sense of humor.

I was particularly tickled with this comment taken from The New Paper:

Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Business lecturer Adrian Er, 31, agreed: ‘Swallow is a term that we never use in advertising, especially beauty ads, because of the negative connotations. The ad may be trying to be clever, but it’s not delivering its message well.

‘The guys will get the joke, but you’re selling your product to the ladies. Advertisements (should) be sexy and sensual, but not offensive.’

Really?  I’m one of their target audience, and I certainly don’t think it’s tasteless and offensive.  On the contrary to what Adrian has said, I find it sexy and sensual.  Like I said, naughty and nice.  And seriously, never doesn’t mean cannot right? 

But I do have to fault Imedeen for trying to carry the word “swallow” too far even though it’s novel, fresh, clever, teasing, blah-blah-blah in this context. 

According to their International Communications Manager,  “Our aim with the campaign is to encourage those secret Imedeen swallowers to come out and talk about how great the beauty benefits truly are.” 

Sheesh.  I may have swallowed your product before, but I don’t need to be quoted as an “Imedeen swallower”.  Let Zoe be your one and only official Imedeen swallower for all I care.  But not us hor.  NO. THANK. YOU.