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I have to hand it to Obama. I’ve begun to see him in a new light after catching him on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was laid-back and offered honest opinions about what’s being reported and happening in the presidential race now. His continuous efforts to portray a down-to-earth image of himself and almost like a regular man on the street appear to be paying off.

I’ve always admired and looked up to Hillary Clinton. She’s indeed a role model for women all over. However, Obama promises not to be a laggard in the race up to the White House. Jon Stewart asked Obama what he thought of Hillary Clinton as an opponent and he was very respectful towards her. He said she is a very smart and capable woman but pointed out that people may want someone who’s more active in the local community rather than in Washington alone which is clearly him of course. Hmmm, as a world citizen, I would prefer if the President of the United States had a clearly defined foreign policy and didn’t alienate the world in his/her agenda. Hillary appears to fit the bill for that. On her official website, Hillary says that "The next president’s most urgent task will be to restore America’s standing in the world to promote our interests, ensure our security, and advance our values." I like her notion that America needs to "start engaging our enemies again." I guess this is following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton and doing something different after America’s miserable military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I am not sure exactly what Obama’s stand on foreign policy is. To me, they’ve been pretty vague and generalist so far. He also risks doing a "Kerry" by being wishy-washy on certain topics. For example, he initially said (during the CNN debates) that he would meet without conditions with leaders of renegade nations and then recently blundered by saying he would "unilaterally bomb Pakistan if actionable intelligence placed high-level al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and President Musharraf would not act". Ok it’s good he recognises that Musharraf ain’t a saint like Bush’s been naive enough to think and that it’s highly possible that Osama and gang could be stashed away under Musharraf’s blessings. However, he’s pretty much committing international political suicide at a time that America actually needs Musharraf. The Hillary camp has been quick to pin all this on Obama’s lack of experience.

Jon stewart brought up this issue of inexperience as well. I thought Obama responded very well:

Jon: (on topic of inexperience) Have you thought of running a smaller country first?
Barack: (obviously in jest) No, but I did think of invading a smaller country first, like say Grenada?

Haha that was a good one.

Jon stewart himself later said, hey Hillary has been in the senate only a few more years than Obama and her years as First Lady doesn’t exactly go into the resume does it. Hmmmm, well I know I’m biased towards Hillary but she’s very much unlike other First Ladies. Barbara Bush and Laura Bush both stayed in the background while Hillary partcipated actively in politics. As her web-page states, as First Lady and U.S. senator, Hillary visited more than 80 countries and met countless world leaders as America’s representative. In the Senate, Hillary has continued to promote America’s interests through her work on international affairs.

I definitely liked Obama’s comment on his GOP competitors. He called them "decent candidates". Jon Stewart called it the "worst back-handed compliment ever". LOL. Honestly, I cannot disagree with Obama. I don’t think the presidential race has ever had to contend with two Democrat forerunners rather than the traditional GOP vs Dems. The Democrats are on a roll - they’re controlling Congress, have many governorships and are smirking after the GOP bungled with Iraq and Katrina. The nearest contenders appear to be Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Frankly, I don’t know anything about Romney and the only things I know about Giuliani stems from 9/11. And Giuliani does seem more like a Dem rather than a Republican, esp with his not-so-pro-life stances. Well well well it’s gonna be an interesting lead up to 2008. I hope for Obama’s sake he gets his act together if he wants to remain a strong competitor for Hillary whom I sincerely hope will win and become the first Female president of America. (Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

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Ok I am not dead….just been awfully lazy to update! Thanks to lali, ida and bab for reminding me to UPDATE!!!

Ok, let’s go by months haha…

JUNE: Birthday celebrations.

BIG BIG shoutout and thank you to all my lovelies for the birthday pressies and celebrations:

- Bab & Cl: More than the usual hoegardens thanks thanks soooo much.

- Ks & Hynz: My usual dearies; truly beats working.

- Day & Tby: Thanks a bunch for a great time out as usual.

- Jx, Kw and Pj: Looooooong time no see but thanks a lot for the night.

I only have pics from the night with Jx, Kw and Pj though: Place called P.S.Cafe @ Dempsey Road. Nice place - only Kw can come up with these places:

 

Proper pose

 

No pose

 

My pressie. Btw, the Zara dress is gorgeous!

 

MoS

JULY: Azlin’s Wedding!

The bride and the groom

 

Cedarians Rock

 

STILL JULY: GRADUATED from my Masters!!! Me with my lovely parents and fav prof - Prof Tan!

AUGUST: NOTHING. Was supposed to go Tioman for Diving but it got cancelled LAST MINUTE. Sooooo sorry to Tby for letting you down and you having to go alone. Was supposed to be me, Tby and Hynz and in the end only Tby could go. Sighzzzz……. Other updates?

- Dating scene: Managed to cut off all contact with R (Finally!) but Al called me recently and said he’s coming down from Seattle soon so can we meet up. I claimed to have turned into a lesbian but he says it’s just "casual meet-up, no hassles". So I told him friends is ok but nothing more. I’m quite tired of all this relationship nonsense. I’ve changed a lot over the past one year. I’m no longer the girl who wanted to be in a perfect long-lasting relationship. It’s funny how one year changes so many things - it’s dramatically changed the priorities I have in life. I say it’s a good thing.

- Work’s rather slack. Thank God for what’s known as "lull period" in our industry. I’m also looking forward to September cos it’s training time….again. Hahaha love love love the off peak season.