a day off in September

Since our salaries got cut, we were entitled to one extra day off each month. I used my allotment for September last Tuesday.

First order of business was to visit the Bedok Polyclinic. I went to the poly to get a specialist referral from a GP (general practitioner). I arrived at the clinic a bit past 9AM, saw the doctor at 12 and was finished by 1PM. I got the referral and an appointment with a specialist. 

I was starving when I got out of there so I went straight to the hawker centre and got myself a plate of charsiew barbecued pork and roasted pork on rice. Yuh-mee! Sweet, tender charsiew paired with salty, crispy roasted pork belly is heaven. I know it could take me there easily as well so I try to limit eating this dish to once every two weeks or less. Food here is divine but deadly.

After I devoured my $3.50 lunch, I stopped by the fruit stand to buy a slice of papaya then ate it on my way to the bus interchange. I then took the 30, which is the fastest way I could get to Vivo City. At 1:30PM, we were on our way and by 2PM, I was at the mall.

I leisurely made my way to GV Cinemas. Didn't need to sprint. I had more than enough time to buy my tickets for The September Issue. The movie wasn't going to start until 2:40PM so I went to Page One first to browse the magazines and design and photography books. I checked out the Lomo cameras too. I'm inspired by beautiful things. And the smell of new books. And the crispness of magazine pages. I can spend hours just browsing every single shelf there. I kept looking at my cellphone though because I might stay too long and miss my movie.

I gave myself 10 minutes to laze at the cinema lobby, and around 2:38, two minutes before showing, they started letting people in. When I got in the theatre, there was only me and a lady. And we were sitting beside each other on the same row! I found it weird that my husband wasn't beside me. We've been watching movies together for four years. This was my first time to watch a movie on my own. Ever. I then thought that maybe if George or Marge were here I could've dragged them with me to watch what goes on behind the scenes of Vogue. If they were not interested in Anna Wintour, they'd at least be interested in the editorial process and the overall operations of a behemoth publication. I missed my girlfriends.

I initially found it strange to not have someone to share my side comments and opinions with or to laugh with, but after a while I realized, it was okay. Probably, one of the reasons cinemas are dark is for the audience to not feel self conscious. They can cry when they're touched, laugh at funny moments, hide their faces with their hands when they're scared.



But RJ Cutler's The September Issue didn't make me cry. What it did was was humanize Anna Wintour for me. I always thought she was this distant, cold and intimidating editor. Well, she is all that (and a talented and diligent one at that) but she's also a mother whose weakness is her children. I loved seeing her light up when she was with her daughter Bee Shaffer.

I also saw tiny cracks on Anna's chilly exterior when she was asked what her siblings think about her job. She said they find it "amusing" while smiling a seemingly uncomfortable smile. Being an editor of a fashion magazine might just be too frivolous for a family of more serious professions (a sister is with Public Services International and her younger brother is political editor of The Guardian).

Grace Coddignton and Anna Wintour

Fashion is definitely not silly for Anna Wintour and Vogue's creative director, Grace Coddington. If Anna is the brain of Vogue, then Grace is its heart. She has an amazing talent for translating concepts into stunning photographs and even Anna herself recognizes Grace as a genius.

These two women balance each other out: Anna sees fashion as a business while Grace sees it as an art; Anna likes putting celebrities on the cover, Grace can live without them; Anna is fasyon, Grace (who used to be a model) has wild hair and wears shapeless dresses and flat shoes. They don't agree all the time but they balance each other out. And that dynamic is what drives the documentary and perhaps, Vogue itself.

I left the cinema feeling satisfied and nostalgic about my short stint at Prestige. Then I remembered why I left and I wasn't so nostalgic anymore. Haha.

Since it was just a few hours before 6PM, I decided to wait for B so we could have dinner before going home. We then enjoyed an umami-rich (of the natural, non-Ajinomoto kind) meal at Sushi Tei - IMHO, the best place for affordable sushi, ramen and sashimi here, IMHO. Nothing like good food and even better company to end the day.