What I learned this weekend

That there is nothing better than spending an entire afternoon with your best friend on her first day home after spending most of the year overseas.

That Phuture is having a really excellent sale where items may be had for as low as $5!!!

That the underpasses between Orchard MRT station and Wisma Atria, and between Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City, are so jam-packed during the current Xmas shopping madness that you literally have to shuffle your feet forward as though your feet are tied together. (That was when I decided I'm not going anywhere near Orchard Road again till after Xmas.)

That it's possible to have a beer with a chicken salad for dinner, and be perfectly all right --- but to have a beer four hours later (when the chicken salad is presumably well-digested and one's stomach is effectively empty) leads to a dramatic fainting spell of several seconds.

That T is well-practised at catching me when I warn him, "I feel like I'm going to faint."

That a quick faint is a really cool way to freak all your friends out.

That it's possible to convince a friend to throw a Xmas Eve party, just like that. (Any suggestions on how to make the party for Xmas-y and less, y'know, just about eating and getting sloshed?)

That there's nothing like transferring all your numbers over from the work phone to the new personal cellphone to make you think about all those people you don't call anymore. Writing Xmas cards has the same effect. (They're all done, by the way, but they're going to reach the US people late (sorry!). Now the trick is to actually make it to the post office tomorrow so that I can get stamps and send them all off.)

That another dear friend is back in town for Xmas!!!

That some people have a really good memory --- check out this scene-by-scene recount of Return of the King, written after only one viewing.

Happy Christmukkah, everybody!