Me, You, the Universe

2011-10-06T12:46:00.000+08:00

This quaint little thing called life..

Post History

2011-04-27T19:37:00.002+08:00

Just read my old posts in this blog. Funny how you go "OMG, did I really post that? Was I ever that immature?" But then again reading those posts provided a good gauge of how your behaviour was back then. And you thought you were mature then, hell no.

One day I'll read this line again and smile to myself.

"Hello future me!"

Best Regards,
Your Past Self

2011-03-05T11:15:00.001+08:00

You pricked me with a pin. Ouch!

Weird Dream

2010-07-02T13:32:00.003+08:00

What better dreams can you get than scaling down your aunt's house lookalike (14 storey HDB) for the past 3 nights (worth of dreams) using just your arms? (Actually I just didn't remember about this part until today when it popped into my head, only then did I realise I've been dreaming about this for the past few days.)

Well here it is! I remember with rather astounding clarity on the floor plan of the place. So a bunch of my friends and I are cooped up in this weird place with straw on the floor. (See picture below). Apparently we're all rather happy about this place except for the rather cramped conditions here. Bumped into V at the room with weird jail bars and she was quite dao, and me being quite shy as usual. I was chilling lying on some beanie thing on the straw floor. Later on I decided to meet her and went over to the girls' area and the scene somehow shifted (or I forgot what happened next) to the outside of the compounds. I was on a ledge with someone with the only way into the compounds being the hatch. We attempted to get in the hatch but the CCTV caught us and promptly fired lasers are the other guy and fried him. I think I managed to enter the hatch.

And then there was a looping dream about some hugging and white angel wings which I cannot remember because I was too focused on remembering the floor plan that I totally forgot to recall that part. I do remember something looping the last night too (probably a Hive from Starcraft II exploding and then reappearing over and over again non stop). I think I'm inching closer to lucid dreaming, since I can now remember dreams with so much more clarity than in the past, though I have no way of controlling myself in the dream yet. Floor plan of the compound is below.

Loosely Bound

2010-01-14T01:05:00.003+08:00

A week and a day more to go, before I'm removed from these binding things many refer to as shackles of freedom. To me perhaps, they aren't shackles. Rather, they are barriers, that limit your path of progress for a certain period of time. For the bulk of these two years, I was aiming for the day this barrier would disappear. At first, the barrier seemed tall and mighty, with no end to its existence in sight. Almost two full years later, this barrier of mine is almost gone, and many things have passed since then.

Many say that it's the people that make up a place, a society, an organisation. Well, no doubts to that. For when I leave where I am now, I will no doubt miss the people and the culture (the good, the bad, the quirky and the ugly). But perhaps the very place would be missed as well. Perhaps it's different in my case, for I saw the end stages of it's construction right up to its infancy and now its childhood. Like a parent, blood and sweat have been shed in the growth of this wayward giant of a building. The time spent beautifying it, ridding it of its teething problems (its still growing up), understanding parts of it in detail, and many more certainly have not been easy. And that is why now, at this point in time, when I finally am ready to take my leave, do I experience a bittersweet pang. No doubt will I miss the corridors, the large rooms and all the problems that came with it.

Then there's the culture of the place. Even though the culture (and the people) rears its ugly heads many a time, it's part of its identity (though all those ugly heads have no excuse to learn to be more beautiful). Surely, I will miss the fast-flowing information that passes through that place daily, without ceasing.

For someone so inexperienced as I am, I have experienced much in these two fleeting years. Yet there is so much more to experience, so much more to learn. The white building on top of Gombak will surely be missed.

Elvis has left the building.

Remember when..

2009-10-12T22:14:00.003+08:00

A sudden wave of nostalgia just hit me, it hit me so hard I suddenly felt a momentary loss, like something was ripped away from me, and then it was gone. It reminded me squarely, squarely of Sec 3/3. It's really sad that I'll never be able to go back to that time and place again.

What exactly hit me was this:

I was in the class 4/3, a sunny afternoon (I'm guessing it's about 12-1 pm). Commonwealth's sec 4/3 class in 2005 was situated at the lone block in the old Jurong East St 24 campus. We were on the third level and there were trees tall enough outside the windows to provide some shade from the glaring sunlight. They were rustling in the breeze. Oh boy was the breeze good, it was windy, cooling and comfortable even though the day was hot and sunny.

I was on the left side of the class. Looking out of the windows to the left were the two trees, there was the road that sloped upwards, the grey bricks that made the road. The white carpark lot markings, the cars parked there, the kerb - all too memorable to forget.

Looking to the right across the grey class tables and the blackboard (and the notice board) at the left corner of my eye, were the shiny brown anodized aluminum windows, and outside of it, is the walkway and the bridge that links the blocks together. It was really glaring outside there (can you feel the heat already?) but this only accentuates the bright red colours of the railings, those thick metal ones. (No idea what metal it's made of, I'm no civil engineer). Behind the bridge, there's more greenery from trees in that direction, and then a green field and behind it the HDB flat. Slightly to the left, across the bridge is the other block, where the other classes were situated. Class 3/3 (or was it 3/4?) is there, the walls slightly darker in hue because less light entered that way.

It's amazing how just one momentary flashback could evoke such vivid memories of the past, not to mention it's been about 4 years already. I can't even begin to describe fully what's really in that flashback, but remembering it just takes me back. It makes me nostalgic, back to the times when we actually donned on that blue uniform looking all young and immature and ready to go. Going back home at 1 pm or 2 pm, those must have been really good days. Wandering around Westmall during lunch, that's merely half the day gone for us nowadays.

Come to think of it, there happen to be songs which I dearly remember being belonging to that time period. S.H.E.'s Superstar album being one of them that defined my Sec 2 and Sec 3 life. I'm sure everyone else has songs that they would associate with a period of their lives. How beautiful, how nostalgic. I'd go back and relieve those sunny Sec 3 and 4 days again if I could.

Email pranks by David Thorne, Epic Win!

2009-09-02T21:08:00.008+08:00

Remember the spider mail prank which I posted last year? Well this dude (David Thorne) did another two more pranks. Hilarity!

Spider mail post can be found here!

The ducks in the bathroom are not mine

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 10.16am
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

Thankyou for your letter concerning pets in my apartment. I understand that having dogs in the apartment is a violation of the agreement due to the comfort and wellbeing of my neighbours and I am currently soundproofing my apartment with egg cartons as I realise my dogs can cause quite a bit of noise. Especially during feeding time when I release live rabbits.

Regards, David.

From: Helen Bailey
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Pets in the building

Hello David

I have received your email and wish to remind you that the strata agreement states that no animals are allowed in the building regardless of if your apartment is soundproof. How many dogs do you have at the premises?

Helen

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 1.52pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

Currently I only have eight dogs but one is expecting puppies and I am very excited by this. I am hoping for a litter of at least ten as this is the number required to participate in dog sled racing. I have read every Jack London novel in preparation and have constructed my own sled from timber I borrowed from the construction site across the road during the night. I have devised a plan which I feel will ensure me taking first place in the next national dog sled championships. For the first year of the puppies life I intend to say the word mush then chase them violently around the apartment while yelling and hitting saucepan lids together. I have estimated that the soundproofing of my apartment should block out at least sixty percent of the noise and the dogs will learn to associate the word mush with great fear so when I yell it on race day, the panic and released adrenaline will spur them on to being winners. I am so confident of this being a foolproof plan that I intend to sell all my furniture the day before the race and bet the proceeds on coming first place.

Regards, David.

From: Helen Bailey
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 9.43am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

David, I am unsure what to make of your email. Do you have pets in the apartment or not?

Helen

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 11.27am
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

No. I have a goldfish but due to the air conditioner in my apartment being stuck on a constant two degrees celcius, the water in its bowl is iced over and he has not moved for a while so I do not think he is capable of disturbing the neighbours. The ducks in the bathroom are not mine. The noise which my neighbours possibly mistook for a dog in the apartment is just the looping tape I have of dogs barking which I play at high volume while I am at work to deter potential burglars from breaking in and stealing my tupperware. I need it to keep food fresh. Once I ate leftover chinese that had been kept in an unsealed container and I experienced complete awareness. The next night I tried eating it again but only experienced chest pains and diarrhoea.

Regards, David.

From: Helen Bailey
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 1.46pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

Hello David

You cannot play sounds of dogs or any noise at a volume that disturbs others. I am sure you can appreciate that these rules are for the benefit of all residents of the building. Fish are fine. You cannot have ducks in the apartment though. If it was small birds that would be ok.

Helen

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 2.18pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

They are very small ducks.

Regards, David.

From: Helen Bailey
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 4.06pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

David, under section 4 of the strata residency agreement it states that you cannot have pets. You agreed to these rules when you signed the forms. These rules are set out to benefit everyone in the building including yourself. Do you have a telephone number I can call you on to discuss?

Helen

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 5.02pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

The ducks will no doubt be flying south for the winter soon so it will not be an issue. It is probably for the best as they are not getting along very well with my seventeen cats anyway. .

Regards, David.

From: Helen Bailey
Date: Monday 25 May 2009 9.22am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building

David, I am just going to write on the forms that we have investigated and you do not have any pets.

Helen

Jeff and his magic spandex pants

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Wednesday 8 April 2009 10.22am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Membership Renewal

Dear David

This is a friendly reminder to let you know your gym membership expired last week. Your membership is important to us and we would like to take this opportunity to show our appreciation by offering you a 20% discount on your membership renewal. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

All the best, Jeff Peters

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 April 2009 1.37pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Membership Renewal

Dear Jeff,

Thankyou for your friendly reminder and the kind offer to reduce my membership by twenty percent. I own a calculator but I could not work out how to do percentages on it so have estimated that I save around $372.10 off the normal price of $420.00 - Please confirm that this is correct and I will renew my membership immediately. Also, do I get a Fitness First sports bag with towel and drinking bottle included in the price? I own my own legwarmers and headband.

Regards, David.

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 10.01am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Hello David

How did you come to that amount? Our half year membership fees are actually $460 but with the 20% discount as an existing member your renewing membership fee would be only $368 for the six months saving you almost $100 off the normal price. We are not Fitness First so do not have those bags.

Cheers, Jeff

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 10.18am
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

Do I get free shipping with that?

Regards, David.

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 12.48pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Free shipping with what? The $368 covers your membership fees for six months.

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 April 2009 2.26pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

By the power of Greyskull that is a lot of money but I admit to being in desperate need of increasing my body strength. My ten year old child often turns the taps off in the bathroom very tightly and I have to go several days without washing. I feel bad constantly having to ask the lady from next door to come over and loosen them for me, what with her arthritis and limited wheelchair access to my apartment. To be honest, I originally joined your gym with full intentions of attending every few days but after waiting in vain for someone to offer me steroids, I began to suspect this was not going to happen and the realisation that I may have to exercise instead was, quite frankly, horrifying. My aversion to work, along with the fact one of your employees, Justin, was rather rude, telling me to 'lift this', ''push that' dulled my initial enthusiasm of becoming muscular and I stopped attending.

Regards, David.

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 9.17am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Hello David

Not sure how to take your email, nobody here would offer you steroids, it is illegal and none of our staff would do this. Justin is one of our most experienced trainers and if you found him rude while he was trying to be helpful and just doing his job then there are plenty of other gyms you could look at joining instead.

Cheers, Jeff

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 10.02am
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

Yes, I have noticed that there are many gyms in my area. I assume the low qualification requirements of fitness trainers means that there is an over supply of these buffed but essentially otherwise purposeless professionals. I knew a guy in high school who couldn't talk very well and collected sticks, he used to call the teacher 'mum' and during recess we would give him money to dance. Then sell him sticks to get our money back. He went on to become a fitness instructor so I view gyms as kind of like those factories that provide a community service by employing people with down syndrome to lick stamps and pack boxes. Except with more Spandex obviously.

Regards, David.

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 10.32am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Go fuck yourself.

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 11.38am
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Dear Jeff

I was, at first, quite surprised at your response; one minute you are inviting me to renew my membership and asking me for money, the next insulting me. After doing a little research however, I have learnt that mood swings are an expected side effect of steroid abuse. As another side effect is a reduction in the size of your penis, this gives you understandable cause to be an angry person. I have also learnt that Spandex contains carcinogenic properties so this does not bode well for yourself and your shiny friends. If I woke up one morning and my penis was a quarter of the size AND I had testicular cancer, I would probably take my anger out on those around me as well. There are probably support groups or websites that could help you manage your problem more effectively and picture based books available on the subject. When I am angry I like to Listen to music by Linkin Park. The added angst and desire to cut myself works similarly to the way firefighters fight forest fires by burning off sections, effectively canceling each other out and I find myself at peace. As you guys usually listen to Pet Shop Boys or Frankie Goes to Hollywood, this may be worth a try.

Regards, David.

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.04pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

DO NOT EMAIL ME AGAIN

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.15pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Ok.

From: Jeff Peters
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.25pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

Is that you being a smartarse or agreeing not to email me again?

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 April 2009 1.32pm
To: Jeff Peters
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Membership Renewal Due

The middle one.

2009-08-26T18:27:00.009+08:00

Five minutes ago..

I was walking to the lift, there was a mother and her child standing in front of the lift. They were clearly waiting for the father, who was probably parking his car. The child is probably just 7 years old? Judging from his school uniform and size of course. And he had a large cast on his left hand. So since they were blocking the way I tried to be nice to them and attempt to walk in to the lift from an acute angle from the left side.

The mother saw me and told the boy, "Let uncle go first."

Let uncle go first.
uncle
uncle
uncle

What the hell do I look like an uncle to you?! I look 16, not 46! Blah.

I think it's my clothes.

2009-08-11T20:34:00.003+08:00

NS for adult new citizens not practical

I REFER to last Friday's letter by Mr Michael Ang, 'Make English and modified NS a must'.

National service (NS) is not merely a rite of passage for young male Singaporeans. It was conceived with a specific objective to build up a citizens' army to defend Singapore militarily. This objective remains true today.

It is tempting to argue that foreigners should do NS as a price to pay for Singapore citizenship because many view NS as a liability borne by Singaporeans. However, NS functions as part of a wider framework of the war-fighting doctrine of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), as well as Singapore's national development. Manpower requirements, including those for conscription, must be meticulously identified and implemented.

Many foreigners coming to Singapore are in their late 20s or older. They are already economically productive and can immediately contribute to Singapore's economy. It makes little sense to disrupt their activities for two years. Whatever social networks they have developed would also need to be rebuilt.

Having modified NS is feasible only if it fits in with the overall requirements of the SAF and complements its capability. It is a waste of resources if it exists only to make some people 'serve their duty'.

Furthermore, the largest army corps is the infantry and this is where the SAF needs the most people. However, studies in other countries have shown that the specific kind of fitness needed for infantry soldiers, involving a combination of agility, stamina and tolerance of sleep deprivation, starts to degrade from the late 20s onwards. This is why armies across the world have a lower maximum age to join the infantry.

Xiao Fuchun

My stomach just churned while reading this. This argument here is so riddled with meaningless arguments that I feel sick just reading it. I really wonder why did ST even publish such an article. Anyhow, let's analyse this letter.

National service (NS) is not merely a rite of passage for young male Singaporeans. It was conceived with a specific objective to build up a citizens' army to defend Singapore militarily. This objective remains true today.

Indeed, National Service was started to defend Singapore from external military threats, no doubt about that. Obviously the objective remains true today, otherwise why are we even going to spend an approximate amount of S$11.45 billion on our defence budget this fiscal year, this is a 6% increase in spending over the last year, and more importantly, this is despite the fact that we're currently in a recession and that our economy is still projected to grow at a rate of between -4% to -6% this year? Clearly, military deterrence in the form of a highly advanced, professional and well-trained army is paramount to Singapore's progress. As such, I do feel it's rather redundant for the writer to state that the objective remains true up till today. Anyway that point aside, naturally NS being the rite of passage for young male citizens is a subsequent result of the conscription, and without much doubt, it is something that many will look back upon with fond memories.

It is tempting to argue that foreigners should do NS as a price to pay for Singapore citizenship because many view NS as a liability borne by Singaporeans. However, NS functions as part of a wider framework of the war-fighting doctrine of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), as well as Singapore's national development. Manpower requirements, including those for conscription, must be meticulously identified and implemented.

I won't dispute this paragraph because it is rather accurate. Besides, there is certainly no easy solution to include naturalised citizens for NS. The most glaring reason would be that forcing NS on new citizens of Singapore would undoubtedly chase away many potential talents that would otherwise bring in relatively large economic benefits to Singapore (besides the fact that their loyalty to Singapore isn't cemented yet, unlike people who were raised here from birth or at a young age). Being a nation where manpower is our only resource that we can effectively rely on to sustain ourselves, doing so would be tantamount to digging our own graves. Also, even if the duration of their NS is shortened, that would be a blatant and overt act of discrimination between the citizens and those that were newly naturalised.

Many foreigners coming to Singapore are in their late 20s or older. They are already economically productive and can immediately contribute to Singapore's economy. It makes little sense to disrupt their activities for two years. Whatever social networks they have developed would also need to be rebuilt.

This is the main argument of the writer and reading it makes me feel nauseous. Stating that people that are in their late 20s or older are "already economically productive and can immediately contribute to Singapore's economy" shows a blatant lack of knowledge on NS. One of the main features of NS is that our civilian armed forces has a relatively large pool of reservist personnel who have to report back to camp every year to ensure that they are still competent in their soldiering skills. Having to go back for reservists and/or in-camp trainings every year already disrupts the activities of those who are already working and therefore economically productive, so is the writer implying that reservists have little sense to exist going by the same logic? Furthermore, the loss of two (or two and a half) years of time which would otherwise could very well be devoted to the completion of education for young Singaporean men would also make little sense because going by the writer's argument, then effectively, two (or two and a half) years of economic productivity is lost for every person that is enlisted in the NS. Isn't that a great loss to our nation's prosperity?

Of course things do not work out this way. In reality, the security and stability brought onto Singapore by those who serve NS reap in many benefits, among them economical, to our nation. But if things are implied this way, then shouldn't the young Singaporean men, who are bound by duty to serve and protect their country be also duly rewarded with it, since it is certainly not fair for foreigners to just waltz into Singapore, become naturalised citizens, and reap the benefits of the Singaporeans' hard work. And this is especially relevant because one of Singapore's main objectives is to bring prosperity to our nation, i.e. HER VERY OWN PEOPLE WHO HAVE GROWN UP AND LIVED THERE FROM YOUNG!

Having modified NS is feasible only if it fits in with the overall requirements of the SAF and complements its capability. It is a waste of resources if it exists only to make some people 'serve their duty'.

I've stated my points about modified NS above, that there is no easy solution to this and hence not feasible unless an ingenious plan can be crafted to accommodate both naturalised citizens and the "born-here" citizens.

Furthermore, the largest army corps is the infantry and this is where the SAF needs the most people. However, studies in other countries have shown that the specific kind of fitness needed for infantry soldiers, involving a combination of agility, stamina and tolerance of sleep deprivation, starts to degrade from the late 20s onwards. This is why armies across the world have a lower maximum age to join the infantry.

Infantry, is but only one part of an army. With the coming of the 3G Army, though fitness is still of great importance, it can be compensated to an extent by technology. Giving the reason that "agility, stamina and tolerance of sleep deprivation, starts to degrade from the late 20s onwards" is merely an excuse to try to exclude older naturalised citizens from serving NS if there is a need for them to. Don't forget that those doing reservists are also "from the late 20s onwards". Furthermore, the SAF is always in need of more manpower to serve in the NS, we are not like the bigger nations who have the luxury of having enough people of the right age to voluntarily join the armed forces. Simply put, we are pressed for manpower and having slightly older people serve in the SAF is better than not having anyone join at all.

Furthermore, having young Singaporean men serve two (or two and a half) years of NS in the prime of their lives also creates another problem. These people could be taught in institutes of higher education, where at that point in life, they are at maximum potential to absorb and learn things. So doesn't that make NS a jarring disruption to the education of these young men and possibly also dening them of using the best time of their lives to further their capacity for higher learning? In this case, shouldn't we all the more reward those who serve NS instead of giving them a disadvantage to naturalised citizens who according to the writer's views, are not suitable for NS due to their age (and thus are free to reap all the rewards that the homegrown citizens have created for them)?

I sincerely hope the writer isn't a foreigner because as it is, the argument is already very narrow and only serves to show his ignorance. If he is a foreigner or a recently naturalised citizen, then I sure hope he gets a good public backlash for all that he has said because it's easily tantamount to putting naturalised citizens on the pedestal as if it was their given right all along (and thus implying that homegrown citizens are second-class and doomed to play second fiddle to them even though we have contributed so much more to the nation).

Alright that's it I'm out, I haven't written an argument for a long time and I think some points are rather messy over there, but whatever, I think what I've just written speaks of how flawed and narrow this writer's letter is.

2009-07-28T00:04:00.001+08:00

I didn't know playing cards could be that fun. No money involved at all of course.

Life's simple pleasures indeed.

Weird Dreams

2009-06-22T00:15:00.002+08:00

Perhaps I should start calling myself Morpheus, for I really remember the oddest dreams that I dream of. Well, last night was one example of an odd dream, but it's rather embarrassing that I would not want to blog about it here.

Well let's just say this, today's Father's Day, and it has something to do with father. Or at least I'm in that role as a father, of a baby boy, and yeah, the mum is, well er, nevermind.

I'm off.

2009-06-11T22:26:00.002+08:00

Just read through the summary of Brave New World and several character analyses. In that dystopian society, happiness is everything; above freedom, emotion and passion.

It sure gets you thinking huh:

Is happiness everything?

2009-06-02T23:24:00.001+08:00

I'm not lazy or a sleepyhead, I am just fatigued from combating my rheumatoid arthritis.

Away..

2009-06-01T23:27:00.003+08:00

I haven't been here for quite a while already. Honestly, there hasn't been anything really interesting to talk about. Oh the weather, yeah, it's really humid and hot these days. And with me in my nerdy self now, yes, humidity does increase the perceived temperature. For example, it's a hot day of 33 degrees, but it is also a very humid day, you will thus find yourself feeling a degree or two hotter than the actual temperature of 33 degrees. This is because (lol, I love doing these nerdy stuff) the heat loss from the body via moisture is decreased as the atmosphere is more saturated with water molecules. The opposite applies, if the air is dry, you'll definitely feel cooler than the actual temperature. And that is also why our air conditioners don't exactly feel the way cold (temperate) counties do.

Right, I realised I have just rambled on an entire paragraph on something all of a sudden. But truth be told, nothing much has been going on these days. Driving? Yeah, I don't like my instructor, he yells at me for every single little thing I do. It's totally demoralising. I'm paying him good money to teach me how to drive, not to get yelled at. It's no wonder why I want that manual license right now. All that effort I put in (including enduring his yelling, which I am only at the 50% mark) better pay (no pun intended) off well i.e. I don't wanna get some lousy tester who purposely fails me because he has reached the quota or just because he doesn't like me. Either way, I can't wait for August 19 to come.

In other news, I do get bored travelling from Bukit Gombak to Kovan every day to and fro. It's a 1 hr plus trip every time so I really do get bored on the bus sometimes (not to mention I have to like, wake up early). At any rate, I got sick of the bus this evening because it was so hot and stuffy and there was heavy traffic so I alighted at Bishan (tch, could have alighted at Toa Payoh and I'd have saved an additional 10 to 15 minutes) and took the new Circle Line. When I went to the Waiting Area, I was like "Woah, awesome man, this looks so spacious and looks like the airport". And truth be told, it was really spacious. There were 5 escalators down to the platform area which you can imagine how big the place would be. Had a nice ride to Serangoon and then transited to Kovan. Ah, the walkway in the Serangoon station was nice too, bigger and better than some airports you see overseas man. Anyhow, I reached home earlier than usual, so that's all good.

Alright, this is me signing off now, since there ain't many other things to mention about, 8 months to ORD isn't something very near either. So yeah, will update in time to come.

Oh and Kareen, if you're reading this, I know blood tests suck, I've been taking them once every so often for years already, and the dreaded feeling of that piercing needle hasn't gone away yet (though I can look at the needle piercing into the skin now without any fear). Then there's also that aftereffect of feeling giddy if too much blood is drawn. But hey, think positive, after all there are many worse things in life. Don't give up, the light is still shining as brightly as ever! :)

2009-04-22T23:34:00.002+08:00

Tonight I went to church to attend the service for the late Rev Dr Timothy Tow. Indeed we are blessed to have him around and done so much. Without him, there would be no Bible-Presbyterian Churches in Singapore which practise Biblical Separation and keep to the faith of the Lord. The example of his life is an example and inspiration for me to keep the faith and to spread the Gospel. Indeed, though it is sad that we have lost such an individual, we should also be happy that he has returned to the arms of the Lord.

Thank God that my uncle had nose cancer, thank God for that.

My uncle was diagnosed with nose cancer in the 1980s, before I was born. Back then, he was a non-believer. But, afflicted with this disease, the medical expenses would be a heavy burden onto his family, but he also accepted the Lord. Things definitely changed for his family then. So my aunt decided that she would raise children for the extra income. It was no coincidence that both my parents were working then, and they needed someone to take care of me when I was born. So I was raised in my uncle's house ever since I was a baby. Growing up in a house with strong Christian values, I surely became a Christian in heart by God's grace. And even more so, that when I was young my uncle's cancer went into remission. It was only until I was older, 4-5 years old that he had a relapse. No doubt the last days of my uncle's life was one of pain and suffering, but he did not fear death, for he surely drew closer to God during the last days.

Praise the Lord, for he saved both me and my uncle by giving my uncle cancer. Who would have thought that the cancer would actually be a good thing? God works in mysterious ways incomprehensible by us, for His ways are higher than ours, what more do we need to do but to put our complete faith in Him, love Him and defend His Word? No doubt the arthritis that I have has a purpose that I cannot see at the moment. But with God, everything is possible. Amen.

God will take care of you,
Through every day, o'er all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

Balance

2009-04-20T23:25:00.003+08:00

How do you balance your disease with exercise? For me, I do want to exercise and do workouts sometimes. But the pain in my joints, especially wrists and elbows does not allow me to have a proper schedule to workout. In fact, well, at least one joint or the other will hurt most of the time so it's rather impossible for me to do push-ups or do chin-ups or do weights. I'd say, so far I have been able to work around these problems by applying force on another angle so that it doesn't hurt as much, but well, it really get frustrating when you want to exercise but cannot because of the pain. It does suck when your wrist is so weak from the stiffness that turning a door knob or typing this entry now makes it hurt and it takes some effort to change the angle of your hand so that your wrist doesn't hurt as much. Much less applying 50 times the force on push-ups or weights.

I hope things don't go worse than this though, because I can't imagine how bad things are gonna be when I'm much much older.

In the end, the quality of life one has is still far more important than those ambitions or material wealth that one has. After all, those goals are far away as compared to this pain which is ever so close to your heart.

2009-04-15T23:43:00.003+08:00

Point taken. You can't give in every time. If you do, you'll just be taken advantage of and the other party will start to become complacent from it. It's been one year working at the place that I am now. Regardless of how efficient I am, I am no doubt the youngest, the most junior, and at the bottom of my place. So what do you do when others request things off you? Of course you have to know that they are older and more senior than you, but often, things end up in a way such that they push some form of work to you when clearly they are being the lazy ones because it's precisely their job to do that work. What do you do? You have a choice of politely declining to accede to their request, or you can just say yes. Saying yes will do two things, although it improves their relationship with you, they are more likely to think that you can be easily taken advantage of, and of course they will do the same thing to you in the future. That and you get more work to do, which only ends up in frustration because you start wondering why did you agree to do the work in the first place.

Of course, it's also pretty hard to say no just because you are at the bottom. So what I need now, is to learn how to say no to certain requests and prevent them from taking advantage of you.

Perhaps I will take another year to learn to impose myself on those who are superior to you. Being a good leader means that there is a need to show authority when necessary, even when there are people who are higher up than yourself. (In a diplomatic way of course.)

There is still much to learn about public relations and people skills, I thought one year of experience was sufficient, how wrong I am! I've barely scratched the tip of the iceberg.

2009-03-31T23:10:00.002+08:00

Nerf, Fishing, Street Fighter 4, Moved to my new place. Effing far from Gombak man.

Nothing much's happened lately... Was thinking of taking up Golf lessons eventually when I have the chance. And of course to find a driving instructor at my new area.

Hmm, whether I can take golf lessons or not remains to be seen, wonder whether my joints will last me that 18 holes even if I'm qualified to play.

2009-02-28T11:52:00.001+08:00

As of late I've been going over to a friend's house to play Guitar Hero/Rock Band. It's surprisingly fun and addictive, and I'm getting better and better on the guitar.

The drumset is still horribly hard for me though. Well, karaoke and LAN should have included Guitar Hero and Rock Band in their entertainment list as well. It's awesomely fun to jam with friends over a game.

2009-02-22T23:41:00.002+08:00

And so I deserve to be called a dreamer. I think all the NSFs working at my place (the ASAs to be exact) know that I love to start the day with a mail message with "I had a funny/weird/sweet/cute dream last night." And I'm more than willing to bet that they will be going "Oh, not again" in their heads right after I've said it. This is very akin to Christopher's narcissistic posts that usually talk about himself anyway. Yes, I do get very irritated by those posts sometimes. I mean who cares if you got a pimple on your hand? Big deal! Apply some cream and get on with your life, you're a guy for goodness' sake, but I digress.

Anyway, I do seem to remember my dreams more often as of late. (I'm one who believes that you dream every night, it's just a matter of whether you remember it when you wake up after that.) So yeah, I come to the conclusion that even if you think of your sweetheart right before you sleep, you rarely do dream (and remember) about her. Fortunately what happened was that I did remember I dreamt about her last night.

So before I forget totally about that dream, I better pen down some parts of it. So yeah, I dreamt that we were in a clothing boutique. Well, it isn't exactly a big one, but it sold everything and anything ranging from jackets and coats, to shirts and dresses, to footwear. So anyway she was there with a bunch of people who are supposedly her friends. She also had a guy friend there which looks familiar to me but I have no idea who he was then (and now I can't even remember how he looked like because it's already been 14-15+ hours since I woke up this morning.) Apparently this guy also knew me as a friend. So anyway I was giving some advice to this friend of mine who came with me. Yeah, he's my online friend whom I've met for lunch and gaming quite a few times. (Hello Damien). I was giving him advice on what to buy when her guy friend came up and talked to me, after that he left the boutique after saying bye to the bunch of us. And then I was walking around the store browsing and eventually decided to sit down on the chair, which was actually a semicircular sofa which could seat like 5 people. Damien was sitting down there already, and beside our sofa was her sofa where she and her friends sat and chatted and laughed. And then I bumped into this relatively young (20+) angmoh woman with uh, a buzzcut (don't ask me why) and blonde hair and she fell down. I know I helped her up with my right hand and as I lifted her up I felt that sharp shooting pain in my right wrist thanks to my arthritis. (What a way to dream about my arthritis.) Her friends immediately went "Waaaah", as if to taunt me or something. I had no idea whether she did the same. After that I proceeded to sit down on the sofa with Damien.

I didn't know what happened after that, but apparently everyone left the boutique because school was about to start. So we all boarded the bus and headed for school. Along the way I pressed the stop button and wanted to alight but I decided against it since the girls' group with one guy (dunno where he appeared from) didn't alight. Anyway they all alighted at the next stop which was reminiscent of the Buona Vista MRT stop. Except there was no MRT construction and everything was grassy and nice like back when I was in primary school, though the MOE building was there. I also alighted and said bye to Damien, who didn't really seem like him anymore and wanted to head to school. But the group invited me to have lunch with them for some reason and we were suddenly in a restaurant. So I picked a spot and sat down and ate. And then eventually I made my way and sat beside the other guy in the group and was also sitting beside her. (There was an empty chair there.)(Chair was those red cushion with metal legs and frame type, the lightweight kind.) It felt really good sitting beside her, lol, but anyway I was picking the food from there so I decided to sit there. And then I woke up rather naturally because it was 10.30 am in the morning and I normally wake up at this time.

Well, quite a cute dream, but it was worth noting we were all wearing our ACJC school uniforms after we boarded the bus and she still had braces on. I can't remember what we were wearing before that but I knew I wasn't wearing my uniform. This is actually one of the more normal dreams I've dreamt about. Unlike the more bizzare ones that I normally dream where things really switch abruptly and have no consistency and link at all.

Hmm, I think that's about it for my dream last night, it's probably boring since it's so lengthy and all. But I rather do it because I really should start a dream journal and record down all those wacky dreams that I remember in the morning. Well, this was rather plain but I felt that it was rather simple and sweet and very different from the dreams I normally have so I'm putting this down.

Heh, till the next dream.

2009-02-19T22:57:00.002+08:00

It seems that my appetite and interest for economics and politics have been whetted ever since I've been posted to where I am now. With constant information flowing though the place, it's quite impossible not to be bombarded with information related to the economy and the politics behind it.

What a pity I no longer have a chance to take GP again, I think I'll be able to write more beautiful essays with my current knowledge, even if it requires me to write off the bat.

On the other hand, I start to fear the time when I am no longer working there, and after that I'll probably start to lose track of current affairs. I definitely need to find a way to supplement myself with current affairs, i.e. live feeds and updates of news around the world.

Well, won't say any more pertaining to work stuff.

Toradora!

2009-02-14T00:16:00.003+08:00

I'm no avid anime watcher or anything. Through the course of 1 year, watching just one or two series is enough. So yeah, you people out there who assume I watch anime like everyday, go home and drink milk from the fridge or something.

That being said, I can discern a good storyline from those that are rough and unpolished. And, with me being such an impatient guy, I don't really like those shows where the storyline goes all draggy and roundabout and stuff. Neither do I like shows which keeps jumping from scene to scene every other 5 minutes, where's the fun in the show when 5 minutes ago, you were watching a cheerleader fall down from 25 metres high and then regenerates, and now the scene changes to a mother who goes crazy half the time because she has an inner self, to a psychic painter who has a problem with his life. And then you have to tune in to the next episode to find out more about them for 5 minutes each. That's just boring.

Now, on to the main point of the anime I'm about to introduce:

Toradora!

Now here's the excerpt of the plot from Wikipedia:

Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Takasu Ryūji who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent, so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryūji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class with his best friend Kitamura Yūsaku and a girl he has a crush on, Kushieda Minori. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Aisaka Taiga—who just happens to also be in his class, and is a good friend of Minori.

Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate to snap at people. After meeting Ryūji, she takes an instant dislike of him. Taiga comes from a rich family, but she has moved out to live on her own due to family issues. She is coincidentally living in an apartment next to Ryūji's. When Ryūji discovers that Taiga has a crush on Yūsaku, and Taiga finds out about Ryūji's affections towards Minori, Ryūji suggests that they cooperate to win the objects of their affections. Taiga exploits the fact that Ryūji will do anything to get closer to Minori. She makes him her personal servant, getting him to do all her household chores (cooking and cleaning). Taiga spends a lot of her time over at his house, so much that she could almost be considered a member of his family. Since Ryūji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he has opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not see. The two also try to help each other improve the way people view them. However people they know from school start to become curious about their strange relationship and rumors begin to spread about them behind their backs.

Genre: Love comedy

Love comedies are surprisingly simple in plot, I mean, it's all about relationships ain't it? What's great though, is that relationships are always something close to our heart. For we interact with other people daily, and by their appearance, actions and behaviour, we form relationships with them.

The story starts off simple and straightforward, but eventually as you start to learn more about the characters and identify with them, the story starts to get deeper and more complicated. This is all well as the pace of the story is just nice and the progression can be seen gradually but surely. And of course, once you reach the point where you are close enough to feel for the characters, the plot twists, and you feel that heart-wrenching dilemma situation, or you go "aww, so sweet" as the events unfold.

Perhaps I'm exaggerating, as I'm probably a sucker for love comedies. But the anime, coming from an actual Japanese novel, can't be too shabby anyway. Well, this makes the entire series well worth watching, it's on Okto on Thursdays at 11 pm, but I suggest you watch it from the start because it's goood.

Can't wait for the next episode to come out, I'd love to see how the story progesses from here. And I definitely would love watching it if the novel was remade into a JDrama love comedy series.

2009-01-28T00:38:00.003+08:00

Drat, holidays are finally over. But thankfully the charm about start-of-the-week holidays are that you can look forward to the holidays the week before AND enjoy the short work week after the holidays are over. Better than a Friday holiday anyway.

So I somehow managed to down 1/3 a bottle of red wine on New Year's Eve because no one wanted it, and I felt slightly dizzy after that. Wine didn't taste too good anyway, it felt kinda rough, but I thought it was a waste to throw it away so I drank it all down in the end, lol.

And now after all the holidays are gone, I'm suddenly feeling hungry. Maybe it's because of all the eating of all the tidbits throughout the day that perpetually keeps you on a decently full if not bloated stomach, so much so that I think my stomach now feel deprived of food all of a sudden. Or maybe it just wants some Famous Amos chocolate cookies.

Well at any rate, it feels good to have my English birthday fall on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. For one, you get the extra special feeling you don't normally get on such occasions. And it's such a rare occurrence anyway, because the next time my birthday falls on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, it'll be year 2028, and by then I'll be like what, 39 years old already?

So in any case I'll be modest and say the next time my birthday falls on Chinese New Year's Eve will be in 2017, 28 years old, not that bad, and I'm likely to be not married yet, so can still receive extra angpaos. Muahahaha!

2009-01-28T00:16:00.003+08:00

They say blood is thicker than water. I can't agree any more with that. I realised that everytime I visit my blood grandmother, there's this sense of yearning to be closer to her, even though she doesn't know my name, doesn't recognise my face, and only knows me as her grandson after I identify myself as such. Granted, I do get angry that she doesn't even know me, and I have to introduce myself to her year after year during Chinese New Year. But the strange thing is that I still feel a sense of closeness to her and her family. Although this is not to say that I am not close to my adoptive grandmother. I am definitely closer to her as compared to my blood grandmother, for instance. And I definitely won't be ungrateful to her for all that she has done for us.

On the other hand, there's this special kind of closeness that I get when I'm around my aunt and her family who brought me up when I was young. This special feeling is something I experience more often when around them than around my family. Of course I'm not saying that I'm further away from my family or anything, it's just that there's something special, that little extra that I feel sometimes when I'm around them. How puzzling, for this directly contradicts what I feel in the above case.

I can't say much except for the fact that my family life is unique, and I don't feel shortchanged from it. On the contrary, I think I should feel blessed that I'm able to experience such a myriad of family ties and bonds. Chinese New Year is indeed unique and important to me for it gives me time every year to ponder over family bonds such as these.

2009-01-27T01:28:00.003+08:00

Been a long time since I last posted. Many things happened, a holiday to Malaysia, start of a new year, interview offers from UK, things just rush by.

In fact, I felt that this year's Chinese New Year came by much faster than previous years. No idea why, but the last Chinese New Year felt like just a short while go. Maybe it's because of the monotony of work (and NS life). No wonder people always say that time flies, just a flash and it's the next year already.

Oh well, but regardless, Chinese New Year holds a greater importance to me and my family than other holidays. For one, it's one of the rare times the whole family gathers together. And although not everyone is that close to each other, I enjoy the sense of gathering of a family, and the house becomes a noisy and lively place. Some may not like the buzz, but I say, such liveliness in a family once in a while is good for the heart as it is good for the head.

I do hope I can get closer to my relatives, I think such simple pleasures in life such as being together does matter alot in life. Doesn't it?

2008-12-10T22:32:00.002+08:00

Darn braces, I'm taking alot of damage in my mouth thanks to them.

Can't eat again, just like when I put on those orthodontic spacers, which hurt after 1 day, and then there was 4 teeth extractions, which left my neighbouring teeth a little shaky. And now braces, front teeth hurt, uncomfortable and ulcers as well.

Go away pain.

2008-11-10T00:47:00.002+08:00

I watched High School Musical 3 twice, what the hell?!?

And uh, half-day on Tuesday thanks to medical appointment. Took Wednesday off. And on Thursday boss is treating us lunch, so effectively it comes a half-day too.

Joy to the world, I've finally got a short week.

2008-11-09T01:56:00.004+08:00

Now that, is what I call, epic.

And hooray, Arsenal kicked Man U outta Emirates Stadium, that oughta show who's boss.

2008-11-02T11:49:00.001+08:00

Zzz, my dream came true, Arsenal lost to Stoke.

Zzzzz. Horrible.

2008-10-30T21:41:00.004+08:00

+

=

2008-10-28T22:15:00.006+08:00

给我一首歌的时间

雨停下的天空灰的更加老旧
你说你不懂为何在这时牵手
我晒干了承诺灰的更加懵懂
就算做事做错也只是怕错过

在一起走分开了走
是不是说没有做完的梦最痛
你若退后我能承受
在最后的出口在爱过哪儿才有

*start of chorus*
能不能给我一首歌的时间
紧紧的把那拥抱变成永远
在我的怀里不用太多失眠
如果你想忘记我也能适应

能不能给我一首歌的时间
把故事听到最后才说再见
你送我的眼泪让他留在雨天
如果你怀疑一心的依然勇气当作鄙夷
*end of chorus*

被淋湿的天空灰的更加老旧
你说你不懂我为何在这时牵手
我晒干了承诺灰的狠冲动
就算做事做错也只是怕错过

在一起走分开了走
是不是说没有做完的梦最痛
你若退后我能承受
在最后的出口在爱过哪儿才有

*chorus*

你说我不该不该
不该在这时候说了我爱你
要怎么证明我没有说谎的力气
请告诉我暂停算不算放弃.
我只有那一天的回忆

*chorus*

你说过我不该
在这时说爱你
要怎么证明我没有力气
可是暂停却算不算放弃
我说我不该不该
不该在这时才说爱你
要怎么证明我没有力气
我只有一天回忆

2008-10-28T21:04:00.002+08:00

My early childhood. Nostalgia floods...

2008-10-25T18:30:00.006+08:00

If there's one poignant thing I've learnt from the experience in relocating building, that would be the peoples' characters.

I think the most important thing here is that I've gained immense respect and admiration for the movers. No doubt they don't have high qualifications, but they're definitely are damn well educated. Not book-smart, but everything else. Through them, in just a short period of like 1 week, I've learnt more important things about life than what I've learnt in school for the past 10 odd years. The kind of teamwork, tenacity and level of street-smart they display is exceptional. I salute them for this.

Juxtaposing these "lowly-educated" workers with the supposedly highly-educated officers working in the building. I can only say one thing, I've lost much respect from them. These people are either living in their ivory towers of ignorance, thinking they are all high and mighty, when actually they aren't. So what if they can do these highly important stuff? I can do them too once I learn. But can they do the things that the movers (and myself) do? I doubt it. All I saw from most of these people are their inflexibility, which can be so bad it becomes stupidity, and just makes me want to scream at them, "Can't you use your fucking brain to think? You get a damn degree for what?"

Heh, not only that, they're aloof, for whatever reasons I cant fathom. They're also selfish, demanding and lack compassion, not to mention they're rude.

Ah I wonder what our education system is breeding? In theory, these people should be highly capable and effective and have sufficient EQ and IQ to handle other people. But reality shows otherwise.

Absurd!

2008-10-21T23:16:00.008+08:00

为什么这时候忍心离我而去..

说好的幸福呢

你的绘画凌乱着
在这个时刻
我像气氛纯白的白鸽
甜蜜散落了

情绪莫名的拉扯
我还爱你呢
而你断断续续唱着歌
假装没事了

时间过了走了
爱情面临选择
你冷了倦了我哭了
一开始都不快乐
你用卡片纸写着
有些爱只给到这真的痛了

怎么了你累了说好的幸福呢
我懂了不说了爱淡了梦远了
开心与不开心依稀数着你在不舍
那些爱过的感觉都太深刻
我都还记得

你不懂了说好的幸福呢
我错了泪干了放手了后悔了
只是回忆的音乐盒还旋转着
要怎么停呢

怎么了你累了
说好的幸福呢
我懂了不说了
爱淡了梦远了
我都还记得

你不懂了说好的幸福呢
我错了泪干了放手了后悔了
只是回忆的音乐盒还旋转着
要怎么停呢

Jay still wins, I still like his songs. Sorry no translation because I'm too lazy to do so.

2008-10-15T22:44:00.002+08:00

I dreamt a sweet long dream, I dreamt that you were emotional, angry, but I hugged you, and all was well.

In other news, a big burden off my chest finally, no more UCAS applications to think about for now. I can finally start my driving lessons, which I have been putting off for weeks now.

Remind me to call my prospective private instructor, it's been way overdue, I should have learnt how to drive by now.

2008-10-14T23:55:00.003+08:00

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Picasso (From Mei Ping's personal message.)

A thought a day to ponder, and thou shalt be wiser...

2008-10-12T21:11:00.000+08:00

I love the freedom my injected knee gives.

Yay!

2008-10-09T23:18:00.001+08:00

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	58%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	62%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	38%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	34%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Humanitarian	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Avoidant	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Family drive	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Physical Fitness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Honor	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Thriftiness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality test by similarminds.com

Quite accurate I would say, 70% there.

2008-10-09T22:33:00.002+08:00

With tired feet and a mildly stabbing back pain near my left kidney...

Hey, even I get injured in the line of duty you know. I just hope the back pain doesn't turn out to be something worse, it's been hurting for about 1 week already.

2008-10-08T20:17:00.020+08:00

Hell month's started. Can you believe I'm taking over a month to move some documents to another office 500 metres away? Pretty insane with all the security procedures around, and packing my own things ain't no cakewalk either. No wonder Dr Toh said that house moving is a "mini-tribulation" of sorts. What more an entire office with like what, about a 100 times the size of a house? Not that I'm complaining though, at least I get lotsa experience on that, next time doing logistics will be that much easier. Good eh, at the expense of salary, I learn many new things in life, so effectively my 2 years of NS ain't just a waste.

Anyway, I had to wake up real early today to get to SGH to see my joints. You know, rheumatoid arthritis. Went there late anyway, I was supposed to reach there at like 8 am to take blood test so that the results will be out by the time I was consulted by my doctor, which was at about 9 am. Anyhow I reached there at 8.45, MRT in the mornings are horrible. And then there was this zzzz queue of people taking blood test which got me real sian. I mean, the queue is virtually absent when I go there to take blood test in the afternoon. So, after waiting for 20 minutes, with my name still not processed yet, I got irritated and asked the cashier to check if my name was there. And then she asked if I was serving NS, I said yes to that and she said I'll process your application first. Great, got shortcut because I don't need to pay and process those troublesome fees, just pay through the CSC which were deserve it wholly and deserve even more anyway.

So yeah, blood test as usual, nothing much, except I forgot to ask her to teach me to draw blood, lol. And then it was off to see my doctor. She came back from her course and the clinic was empty so I was first to go in. Anyway after a few checks and some exchange of words, we concluded again that my left elbow still can't bend fully, and now my right wrist can't bend fully. And my right wrist is really weak, I can't really overpower my 10 year old brother with it, because there's always a tight pain whenever some pressure is applied, same case for me when I do bench presses, same pain which doesn't allow me to carry too heavy weights, not that it's practical to carry that heavy weights considering my size anyway.

Then she suggested that I uh, draw out the synovial fluid from my right knee, which was swollen. I didn't know that, because my knee was already like that since I dunno when, quite long already, almost a year? (Must be BMT, it's a torture for me to stand for long periods of time, it's really painful for me.)

So anyway here's some information of the synovial fluid in an adult knee joint, taken from Wikipedia (I just copy pasta'd from the source).

Classification of synovial fluid in an adult knee joint

	Normal	Noninflammatory	Inflammatory	Septic	Hemorrhagic
Volume (ml)	<3.5	>3.5	>3.5	>3.5	>3.5
Viscosity	High	High	Low	Mixed	Low
Clarity	Clear	Clear	Cloudy	Opaque	Mixed
Color	Colorless/straw	Straw/yellow	Yellow	Mixed	Red
WBC/mm3	<200	200-2,000	2,000-75,000	>100,000	Same as blood
Polysegmented neutrophil %	<25	<25	>50	>75	Same as blood
Gram stain	Negative	Negative	Negative	Often positive	Negative

Yeah so, she was talking to me about being a doctor and how the results were nonsensical and don't really reflect the skill in being a doctor. Which is true, because medical courses require alot of manual skills anyway. So being a book-smart person doesn't mean you can handle it. Unlike me, because I know for myself that I can handle manual stuff anyway. Gives me great satisfaction for me to fix up a cupboard and it's shelves anyway, but I digress.

So she took out this uh, really long needle which looked scary, don't think it was large but the length is definitely way longer than those used for blood tests and that was the scary part. She sprayed like some numbing thingamajic on my leg, which I believed was those typical sports spray to relieve pain, only stronger. So anyway my leg was numb in an instant after that, and she JABBED MY KNEE. I couldn't see how deep the needle went because I was lying down anyway, but all I felt was this super acidic feel, something like a super strong lemon juice. The feeling was totally numbing and sour. (I do get these kinda feeling when I hit my joint accidentally, and even then I'm already holding it in pain, the sour-acidic feel. But this was much worse.) She drew out like one and a half full syringes of synovial fluid, which was clear and slightly golden brown. Mind you, the syringe was the large one, about 6 ml. So yeah, she effectively drew like 9 to 10 ml of synovial fluid, which is like 2.5 times of the normal amount going by that table. Anyway I just found this on wiki so yeah.

Arthrocentesis is the clinical procedure of using a syringe to collect synovial fluid from a joint capsule. It is also known as joint aspiration. Arthrocentesis is used in the diagnosis of gout, arthritis, and synovial infections.

She poked in like 4 ml of steroids into my knee after that, which I forgot what steroid it was, and injecting a liquid into the body ain't non-painful either, there's this shocking pain when the fluid first enters the knee.

After that I went back to office, with me limping because my right knee became swollen and numb. And I had to limp around because today's Day 2 of Hell Month.

Okay, I'm weally sleepy now because it has been a tiring day for me and I think I walked too much already, even after that uh, painful knee jab which I don't ever want to experience again. But hey, for the first time in a long long time my knee is not swollen and actually doesn't feel hot. Although it's still slighly numb and painful.

Ah, Day 3 tomorrow, I'm so not looking forward to it, I just wanna sleep, sleep, sleep.

2008-09-28T22:19:00.002+08:00

@#&^$%@! Curses that Massa had to be unfortunate with the refuelling, and for Raikonnen to crash at the end. Now Hamilton is 7 points ahead of Massa, and McLaren have overtaken Ferrari in the Constructors' Race. Raaaaaarrrr, I want Ferrari to WIN!

Oh well anyway, let's backtrack to yesterday. A pretty good weekend I have to say. Went to the showroom at Toh Guan Road, and there was like some awesome laksa there. They gave a fair bit of prawns too, and it only costs $3 per bowl, so worthwhile! Anyway we went there to source for suitable interior designers for our new flat, which is at Kovan, bleh. I'm actually quite unwilling to leave the west, I mean, it's been my home for the past 19+ years you know, how can I just go to the east like that? It feels so foreign and far away. =(

But actually, looking for interior designers and designing the new flat is quite fun actually. I think we spent hours there.

Then we went to IMM for dinner, and there was this huge long chain of cars waiting to enter the carpark, apparently because there's 3 hours free parking at IMM. No wonder the place was so full. So Dad did a cool thing, he drove past the long queue of cars, and then when he was far enough on the other side of the entrance, he U-turned and entered the IMM compound from the opposite side of the two-way lane. How cool is that, same road, but all you have to do is be smart and use the other lane and you can cut short the queue. That left me saying "Noobs!" as we drove past the long queue of cars. To the amusement of my bros. XD

Yeah well, we went to another interior designer there, and before we knew it, it was 8 pm already, and I gotta say, the whole place was fully packed, every restaurant we went had people queueing outside. So we wandered around until we settled on Baystreet 21. Food was okay, nothing special really.

Today's also been quite a wonderful day. Though I spent quite alot today. Geez, I really need to cut down on food expenditure man. Almost everything I spend on is on food. Was late for church, but today's topic was really inspiring and awakening.

Our time is truly in the Lord's hands.

Went to Hansang Korean BBQ Restaurant after that, okay food, not too special actually. And then we (the SGSB III crew) went to U.d.d.e.r.s Ice Cream after that. Awesome ice-cream la. The Rum Rum Raisin (or Rum Rum Ruuu as said by Damien) was really solid man. Add chocolate to that and you have a fantastically <3ing tasty ice-cream. Love chocolate + alcohol man, it's really tasty. Chocohol, chocohol, chocohol love. MmmmMmmm.

Then I came back to watch F1, blah, and Hamilton had to be lucky and my Ferrari had to lose points here, bleh.

Oh well, back to work tomorrow, I'm definitely looking forward to Wednesday.

2008-09-28T00:09:00.002+08:00

Elebits, a game launched for Wii in 2006. According to the game, Elebits are small creatures that serve as an energy source for the world. Elebits power literally everything, from televisions to automobiles. The name "Elebits" is a portmanteau of "electricity", for their electric power, and "bits", for their tiny size. In Europe and Australia, the game was released under a new moniker, Eledees, which is phonetically similar to LEDs. The player controls Kai, a ten year old boy who hates Elebits and is envious of the attention they receive from his parents, a pair of Elebits researchers. When the game starts, a powerful lightning storm has caused an unexplained power outage while the Elebits are nowhere to be found. Kai's parents leave him home alone in order to investigate this strange phenomenon. Kai, blaming the Elebits for the lack of electricity, takes possession of his father's "capture gun" and uses it to attempt to capture the hiding Elebits.

The short version of the ending theme song is also found in Beatmania IIDX Gold, one of my favourite songs there, with me scoring consistently high on it.

The twilight is twinkling the town tonight
Streetlamps blink their orange
Lighting the smiles of you and me
Taking me back to memories

Walking the pavement we once shared
Someone's calling my name
Nothing stays the same

The black night when you left I couldn't smile (I couldn't smile)
Then just for a while I dreamed of
You coming back to dry all my tears (Coming back to dry all my tears)
I swallowed my fear of losing

You my friend I may never see again
But I'll keep on hoping
Tears will turn to smiles

Heart to heart, if only all my dreams come true
Smile to smile, laughing just with you
Look up and touch the very same stars with me
Friend to friend, doing anything we can to share
Hand to hand knowing that you care
I'll wait for you no matter what the future may bring

The autumn reminds me of bravery past (of bravery past)
How long do friends last I wonder
Waiting to see you smiling again (waiting just to see you smile again)
My special friend I remember...

When I feel that I am not alone
When I feel you closer
Then miracles are born

Heart to heart, ever since the time I first met you
Smile and shine, knowing that you're mine
Hold on and dream the very same dream with me (come dream with me)
Friend to friend, we can share our special destinies
Hand to hand knowing that we'll be
True friends that smile together so faithfully

(Heart to heart... smile and shine... come dream with me... friend to friend... hand to hand)

The key we share
The courage to believe
Even in the darkest night we will be all right

Heart to heart, gonna free ourselves from any fright
Smile to smile, come on and shine your light
Look up and touch the very same stars with me
Friend to friend, think of all the love we have to share
Hand to hand, we're not afraid to care
Let's shine our smiles all over the whole universe

(Heart to heart... smile and shine... come dream with me... friend to friend... hand to hand)

2008-09-25T19:06:00.002+08:00

Remind me to bring a book and a pair of sunglasses on my next visit to the eye centre.

First, the wait was horrendously long, I reached there at 8.30 am and only completed the stupid eye check-up at 11 am, which lasted merely 5 minutes. Not to mention the chairs were uncomfortable and the place was packed, bleh.

Second, those eye dilation drops are terrible, blurred my vision but that's okay since I'm myopic already. But the moment I stepped out of the building it was like:

"Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggghhhh, LIGHT! It's too bright, everywhere is glaring and white it hurts us, we hates it!"

Yeah, need a pair of sunglasses with me, along with someone to accompany me or else I'll be staggering to the MRT like I was today.

2008-09-21T21:13:00.001+08:00

I'm going broke...

2008-09-18T21:42:00.002+08:00

One fine afternoon, the handphone rang during lunch break:

Me: Hello?
Chan Hei Wai: Harlooooow
Me: Hei Wai? Oo 你找我有事吗？ (Mainly because I've been speaking more Mandarin lately and so it just flowed off my tongue) (For the rest, it's" Anything's the matter?")
Chan Hei Wai: Wait! You are not.. KUAN HUI! Kuan Hui never speak Chinese one. Who are you?
Me: -.-
Me: Hahaha, I'm Kuan Hui.
Chan Hei Wai: No! Kuan Hui doesn't speak Chinese? Where is Kuan Hui?!?
Me: ...
Me: Okay okay, I'm not Kuan Hui, I kidnapped him
Chan Hei Wai: Okay call you back later.

Bwahahahaha, Hei Wai's still as funny as ever, so random and sudden I was taken aback in the first place. Oh well, good we had a nice talk over the phone yesterday, plotting Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea's downfalls. Bwahahaha.

2008-09-17T22:47:00.001+08:00

You say you wander your own land
But when I think about it
I don't see how you can
You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Says everybody's changing
And I don't know why

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same

You're gone from here
And soon you will disappear
Fading into beautiful light
Cause everybody's changing
And I don't feel right

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same

2008-09-14T22:24:00.004+08:00

You know, the balcony at my place looks outward towards the west. So during evenings you sometimes get to see a spectacular sight in the sky. The beautiful clouds in a fiery sky of red. It's even more beautiful when you look at it in person.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

2008-09-14T21:28:00.002+08:00

Relativity, it's weird. (See my previous post.)

Anyhow, I guess the past few months warped my sense of time out of me. On one hand, I'm feeling whoa, time really flies, it's already been almost a year since I last graduated from JC (and took those A Levels of course), and already been about 8 months since I enlisted. Things have been really busy at work, considering sometimes I was wishing I had more work time. Yet, on the other hand, I've felt I've done so many things in work, and outside, that life is totally different, and challenging in a different manner, that I'm surprised only eight months have passed by. I felt like it was an eternity since I enlisted, went through BMT, and did a vast array of things at my workplace that I can't really keep track of what I've done.

On the other hand, I'm trying to settle my UK University Applications now. And that is merely one problem down, if I ever do get offered a place there. The bigger problem, is getting the means of funding for my education there. I mean, doing a Medicine/Dentistry degree in the UK ain't no walk in the park. Besides having to stay there for 5 or 6 years, there's the tuition fees, accommodation, food, entertainment, and many other various stuff I need to account for. This easily exceeds half a million in SGD. Now, trying to find that amount of money in two years ain't exactly a walk in the park. You'd either have to have a miracle happen, a windfall or something, or a scholarship from some place, which is definitely very unlikely for me. Nevertheless, there is still no harm in applying for the universities, at least it's one problem down, and all you need to do is solve the bigger problem.

Actually, I've been hoping for a miracle to happen, my stubborn self has been thinking about it every day, hoping for that miracle to happen. Well, only God can decide. I can only do so much, the rest is up to the Lord.

He who believeth, the Lord will provide. I need to strengthen on my faith, it's still weak and fragile.

2008-09-14T15:07:00.001+08:00

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity." - Albert Einstein

More to come later...

2008-09-07T18:40:00.003+08:00

TOKYO - It is a recent Sunday afternoon inside the offices of adult video broadcaster Paradise TV. Two enthusiastic female voices can be heard counting from behind a pair of covered booths: “Ichi, ni, san, shi, go!”

The entry flap of one booth is labeled with the kanji character pronounced ushiro (behind) and colored pink, the other is yellow and marked oppai (breast). Outside is a line of five men, each of whom is eagerly awaiting his turn to grab (with both hands) the bare buttocks and breasts of two adult video (AV) actresses five times for 1,000 yen - with all the proceeds being used for research to prevent the spread of the HIV virus and AIDS.

More here --> http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2008/09/03/adult-video-broadcaster-holds-24-hour-aids-telethon/

What can I say? Well done Japan. Really, they can think of anything and everything, it's scary.

2008-09-04T21:08:00.003+08:00

You know you're turning into a workaholic when...

- You want to stay back after working hours to complete your work.
- You are unable to stay back and work overtime because you have an appointment which you'll have to rush after work.
- You skip dinner as a result of the appointment.
- You come home at 10 or 11 every weekday.
- You derive pleasure from having work piled up on your desk.
- You come home and your boss texts you about work, you happily reply back.
- You think about the proper procedure of work for the next day.
- You are in actual reality grossly underpaid and overworked yet you hardly mind.

Alright, I made my point, but I'm definitely not a workaholic, or else I won't be here blogging about this. (Though sometimes the above does apply to me.)

2008-08-26T23:56:00.001+08:00

Ahahaha, this is funny stuff. It's a little offensive with some curse words though, but if you can get past that it's material that's Made of Win.

2008-08-23T19:51:00.004+08:00

Dinner and Dance was fun! I went there as a nerd math student and got really paiseh when I carried a nerdy bag and a giant lime-green calculator. But it was worth it, got the 2nd best dressed table award, and a couple more prizes for going up on stage and being a participating table.

Anyway it was really funny (and a little scary) to see the officers, who are already in their 40s or 50s dress up in MGS, RGS, Hwa Chong, ACJC uniform. And of course, some people got really excited seeing those officers in their 20s wear their JC uniform. Anyway, here are some pics:

2008-08-21T22:53:00.002+08:00

I need to stay away from Bugis,

everytime I go there money flies outta my wallet at an astounding rate.

2008-08-12T00:33:00.000+08:00

I close both locks below the window.
I close both blinds and turn away.
Sometimes solutions aren't so simple.
Sometimes goodbye's the only way.

And the sun will set for you,
The sun will set for you.
And the shadow of the day,
Will embrace the world in grey,
And the sun will set for you.

Pink cards and flowers on your window,
Your friends all plead for you to stay.
Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple.
Sometimes goodbye's the only way.

And the sun will set for you,
The sun will set for you.
And the shadow of the day,
Will embrace the world in grey,
And the sun will set for you.

And the shadow of the day,
Will embrace the world in grey,
And the sun will set for you.

[Guitar solo]

And the shadow of the day,
Will embrace the world in grey,
And the sun will set for you.

Half Life: Full Life Consequences

2008-08-07T23:26:00.004+08:00

You know, I always get really tickled when I watch this. But before you watch it, READ THIS FIRST so you'll understand:

Half Life: Full Life Consequences

Anyway the context is that fanfiction authors are real suckers for perfect English. So basically if you have poor grammar, poor expression, poor vocabulary, poor spelling, you really get stepped on and mocked at by these authors. And so if you put yourself in their shoes and watch the video, it becomes highly entertaining.

2008-08-03T16:16:00.002+08:00

You know, it's really odd to read and hear stories of people suffering and slogging it out in NS, while I am in a totally different world. It's like people experiences just jump out to me, and I want to feel those experiences, those feelings of wanting to give up in the middle of tough trainings, those feelings of buddies looking out for each other and pushing each other on, the low morale when you book in, knowing that there's a tough week ahead of you, and the high morale when you book out. Sure, these feelings may not be the nicest at times, because they're very mentally testing, some would even call it mental torture. At where I am now, I experience things totally different. It's a hectic working life, where I go to work everyday, trying to complete task after task just so that things can move on smoothly at where I work. Looking back at the past 4 months I've been here, it's already been one hell of a ride. The scope of things I do is really wide, and I can proudly say I've learned many things which I otherwise wouldn't have learnt if I was somewhere else. But because I learn these things, I will never get to experience comradeship and going though tough times together. In fact, I'm all alone at where I am now. Talking to people who are about 2 to 3 times your age everyday isn't something I have experienced just a mere 4 months ago. And of course, even if you can talk to them, the things that you talk about are totally different from things that I would talk about say to someone around my age, or even a close friend.

I say, there's a certain amount of solitude where I am now, I don't have people of my age going through the same thing telling me, a little more and this task will be done. No, I'm fending for myself in the real world, and it seems like in the span of 4 months, I'm already forced to grow up as quickly as possible (no wonder I think I start to see some tiny wrinkles at my eyebags).

I don't think anyone who hasn't experienced what I go through now should say anything about my job and the things I do. That's just hasty judgement and comparisons between his vocation and inaccurate assumptions about my job.

It's not always an easy thing to be alone, that's probably why the feeling of buddies looking out for you is more sweet than bitter.

2008-07-30T20:09:00.004+08:00

One of my colleagues at work delivered her baby yesterday. So today we drove down in Casey's car all the way to the East. East Shore Hospital to be exact. So we eventually managed to find our way there during lunch time and went to visit her. Meh, her baby weighs 4kg at birth. I'm sure he'll turn out into a tall and large-sized adult, ahaha. So anyway before that we were waiting to enter the ward, and then I saw this dad carry his baby and walking around, trying to pacify the baby. Though he must have felt really proud to be a father. It jolted my senses, and made me think about my feelings and emotions should I become a father sometime in the distant future, and holding a living, breathing life that's your very own child. It must be a wonderful and proud experience, well that's what I think it is. Thinking of the Lord, I think I'm blessed to feel this way right now, because I think I just understood a little more about our wonderful life that our Lord and Father gave us in this world.

Anyway, so the officers in her department came, and the rest of us guys were on cue to leave the hospital. So we said our goodbyes. Well, we won't be seeing her for the next three months, and I think she'll get her good rest in the meantime. And when she's back, there's this new building ready for her. :)

It was about 1 pm after we left the hospital, and boy were we all hungry. So in search of a place to eat, we drove around in Casey's car. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately?), there was no space to park the car. So we just drove on, and then Casey spotted something awesome: Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House. Yeah, we were so gonna go there to eat there. So as we passed the stall, we saw the place packed worse than sardines. Anyway we found a place to park (albeit illegally beside the road) and trooped over to the store. The prawn mee was AWESOME man. The prawns were so fresh and huge and juicy, and the soup was so tasty, even the $5.50 bowl I ordered wasn't nearly enough to satisfy me. Actually $5.50 was your normal sized bowl, so yeah, the price is a little steep, but who cares if the food is worth it? I'm definitely going back there again to eat, I mean, prawn mee that beats the one in Newton? Oho, it's definitely goooood.

Well, what a good lunch it was, and well, midweek is over. Yay! I'm so looking forward to the weekends.

2008-07-28T22:37:00.001+08:00

Feeling nostalgic. Took a look at the Primary School page in Facebook, and suddenly time brought me back to those days. Those days long past where I was made fun of, yet where I learnt many things, both cruel and nice about life. Ghim Moh Primary School's gonna close down and merge with another school by next year. And I must resolve to go down there one last time and take a good look at my alma mater before it disappears for good.

It shall happen soon, for if I drag any longer, I'll be too busy during the end of year period to do much then.

Bummer!

2008-07-23T21:16:00.005+08:00

Just when I wanted to sign up for the Nike+ 10k run registrations closed. Totally uncool dude. =(

Anyway, let's cool down and listen to Buble.

Another summer day
Is come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aerorplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believe in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
And even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel alone
Oh, let go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all right
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home

2008-07-21T22:33:00.002+08:00

The Dark Knight, AWESOME movie!

First, I just have to say that Heath did a really fantastic job as The Joker. In fact, I don't think anyone could have done it better. Basically, The Joker's portrayal as an insane, psychotic, killing madman was there. Throughout the movie there was this dark and tense atmosphere which just kept persisting, reminding you that The Joker is out there, ready to blow anytime, like a time bomb. In fact, whenever The Joker appeared, the tension was there, especially when he took out the knife, you ask yourself "Is it gonna do it? When is he gonna do it? How is he gonna do it?"

Second, there wasn't as much action as expected from such a movie. But the issues explored, such as moral dilemma, or whether the Law really metes out justice, or how strong really are a person's morals, made the joker character even more psychotic, and the movie more dark. One one hand you have an insane individual who kills for fun and entertainment, and on the other hand you have normal people, whose morals can be broken in an instant. In one scene, The Joker threatens if a certain person is not killed within 60 minutes, then a random hospital in the city will be blown up. And there you have it, people who would never have killed anyone in their life, would rush to murder that certain individual, even though he's also innocent, and not even an enemy.

Third, Batman wasn't really the most important character in the movie. He definitely played a reduced role this time, as if The Joker took away his spotlight (which I believe it to be so). Anyway, he's still badass, but not that badass anymore. Not like a saviour to Gotham City which can overcome all problems, but just a hero who is also faced with the same problems a normal civilian faces. I guess that was why the movie was more tense and dark anyway.

The movie left a deep impression in me, especially Heath's potrayal of The Joker. The show's definitely not for the younger audience, but those who are older and are able to understand the more complex issues posed in the movie, which makes it awesome.

TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN

2008-07-16T23:17:00.004+08:00

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, it cannot get anymore epic than this. I haven't been watching anime for a long long time, but this really takes the cake. It's so awesome and epic and cool that I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms just by not watching it.

Definitely a MUST-WATCH!

2008-07-13T22:25:00.003+08:00

I seem to have been going on a restaurant spree as of late. Not good, it's hurting my pockets so I think I will be storing up some money for a while or so.

Well, it's the end of the week, a decently good week I guess, though the amount of work in the office seems to be unending. Kudos to Nicole for organising a class outing. Not easy to get people to go for a gathering you know, alot of planning, SMSing, last minute changes, things cropping up, etc. Well basically getting 5-6 people to turn up would be quite difficult already, imagine getting a whole class to do so. But still, it's the effort that counts anyway.

It hurts alot to give up your dreams you know, especially knowing that you can never achieve that dream again in your life. Your brain tells you "No choice lah, no money how to go overseas to study?" Yet your heart years for the other, albeit in a selfish and childlike manner "I want! I want! I don't care!" And so, there's a dilemma, an internal struggle, should your heart rule over your head? Or should your head control the unbridled passions of your heart?

I pray, O Lord, show me the right path.

Together Forever

2008-07-08T22:50:00.005+08:00

If there's anything you need
All you have to do is say
You know you satisfy everything in me
We shouldn't waste a single day

So don't stop me falling
It's destiny calling
A power I just can't deny
It's never changing
Can't you hear me, I'm saying
I want you for the rest of my life

Together forever and never to part
Together forever we two
And don't you know
I would move heaven and earth
To be together forever with you

If they ever get you down
There's always something I can do
Because I wouldn't ever
wanna see you frown
I'll always do what's best for you

There ain't no mistaking
It's true love we're making
Something to last for all time
It's never changing
Can't you hear me, I'm saying
I want you for the rest of my life

Together forever and never to part
Together forever we two
And don't you know
I would move heaven and earth
To be together forever with you

So don't stop me falling
It's destiny calling
A power I just can't deny
It's never changing
Can't you hear me, I'm saying
I want you for the rest of my life

Together forever and never to part
Together forever we two
And don't you know
I would move heaven and earth
To be together forever with you

2008-07-06T20:01:00.004+08:00

Sometimes in life, you encounter with not so pleasant people. What happened to me on Friday was something not very pleasant either. That day, I was supposed to run an errand out of office to get some food for a function. That being said, I found a driver to ferry me there to get the food. So we headed to Bukit Panjang Plaza and Toh Yi Drive to get the food, after which we got back to office. As the food was for the function, you would expect me to be carrying quite a large number of things, and so I was. I carried 5 full plastic bags of food, inside contained various boxes and stuff. Then as I walked into the building, and along the passageway, I dropped one of the packets, it must have slipped my fingers then, was carrying too many plastic bags already. That's no matter, what irked me totally was there was one guy there standing nearby who just stared at me as I struggled to pick up the plastic bag with my already full hands. Thankfully one of the NSFs came by and help me pick it up, or else I'd be struggling more over there. And as if I wasn't enough, he stood in the MIDDLE of the damned passageway staring at me as I walked past him. I actually had to turn to the side and squeeze my way through him to get past him. Like hello, both my hands are FULL with things and you're standing there blocking my way like a dummy, are you blind? Or are you just retardedly low on your emotional quotient?

You would probably say, her, you're an NSF, of course people are gonna treat you like that. But I say no, I am not wearing any uniform, so in no way should you assume I'm an NSF but a staff working there. And since you are also a staff there, that gives us EQUAL standing as colleagues working here. If I was wearing the uniform, I wouldn't have said anything. That person is probably an intern (who is on scholarship) or a graduated scholar serving his bond there already. Now that brings me to my next point, about scholars. You know, scholars should be wary of this, this thing I call 'Scholar Scum Syndrome', or SSS for short. It's when they think they are greater than the world and therefore they can look down on other people and boss them around. You know what? I think I can damn well do their job as well as they can. Being a scholar doesn't show you how capable one is in facing the world, it just shows one excels in whatever he studies. It's not an entitlement for one to think he's greater than other people when in reality, many are equally, if not, more capable in doing whatever task has been given to him.

I do sincerely hope that anyone who becomes a scholar doesn't catch this SSS disease (Yes, it's a terrible plague to humanity). It isn't only unhealthy, it also lowers your EQ and your ability to interact with the different types of people in the world. I respect those people who are sincerely down to earth (even when they hold high positions or/and have high status) and can understand all types of people in the world. Though I'm not there yet, I'll strive to join the ranks of one of them.

Society dearly needs some progression, and these people (the down to earth ones, not those with SSS) are the key to this progression.

2008-07-05T01:05:00.006+08:00

My 100th Post! Yays to me, myself and my blog! *Pops champagne*

Anyway I'm bored and happened to chance through a random blog which had pictures of Hirano Aya. Her Stairway to 20 Photobook totally caught my attention.

Wahlao, so cute la! Okay, now I'll go listen to some of her songs. =)

Oh and I didn't know why I had this craving to go to the airport and just run run run in the wide open spaces there, I wanna be young again!

2008-07-02T00:10:00.000+08:00

French Mayor Bans Dying

The mayor of a village in southwest France has threatened residents with severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them.

In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village of Sarpourenx that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish."

It added: "Offenders will be severely punished."

The mayor said he was forced to take drastic action after an administrative court in the nearby town of Pau ruled in January that the acquisition of adjoining private land to extend the cemetery would not be justified.

Source: Reuters

Now this is what I call really odd.

2008-06-30T23:35:00.007+08:00

Found this off LC's blog, and it whetted my curiosity enough to bother playing around with it.

Here's the source: http://aethereverywhere.com/discuss/showthread.php?tid=71

And here's the deal:

Your Debut Album

1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
If you want to do this again, you'll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.

3 - Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days" http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Put it all together, that's your debut album.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*DRUMROLL*
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tadah! My Debut Album:

Band Name: Buol
Title: And Ultimately Societies Together
Cover:

What an odd combination of random stuff. o_O

ESPANOL!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-30T04:43:00.004+08:00

SPAIN!!!!!

So I was right, the Spanish really did have an edge over the Germans. Basically from what I see, the Germans didn't really have any bite against Spain. They kept losing the ball when it mattered, right up to the last second. Castillas didn't really had to work that hard to secure his clean sheet. On the contrary, it was Lehmann who was defending wonderfully for Germany, and I'd say he did well to keep the scoreline at 1-0, though he still slipped a couple of times by not catching the ball properly. Still, that was great goalkeeping there.

Poor Fabregas, he didn't really had many chances there due to all the marking, but he still did great.

Poor Ballack, getting a cut in the eye, which could very well have affected his performance, but he did well defending and attacking. Sad for him to keep losing the finals and semi-finals. Gotta pity him.

And Torres, he was excellent. His pace and killer instincts are definitely top notch, that, coupled with his height, make him a great striker. He could have easily gotten a 2-0 scoreline, given all his chances, if not for the Germans' luck. His pace in front of the goal was amazing, always beating defenders to the ball and almost scoring, as well as that header which hit the post.

Well, great match even though it's just a one-goal game. Loved every moment of it, because both teams played beautiful attacking football and I support them.

Hell, it's about time for Spain to win something.

2008-06-27T12:51:00.003+08:00

A Germany and Spain Final! This Euro 2008 has been awesome, the shocking last minute fight back by Turkey, Hiddink's resilient Russia. Spain's amazing passing game (though Argentina is still more amazing). And down to it all, both my favourite teams in the finals!

It would definitely be fun to watch Lehmann's antics in the finals, as well as the magic that is Fabregas. Monday morning's match is a must-watch game.

Well whoever wins on Monday morning, I'll be a happy person to watch the fantastic finals on a big plasma screen, wahaha!

Football is indeed the beautiful game.

2008-06-24T20:02:00.002+08:00

She calls me baby, then she won't call me.
Says she adores me and then ignores me.
Jenny, what's the problem?
She keeps her distance and sits on fences.
Puts up resistance and builds defenses.

Jenny, what's the problem?
You leave me hanging on the line.
Every time you change your mind.

First You say you won't, then you say you will.
You keep me hanging on, and we're not moving on.
We're standing still, Jenny. You got me on my knees.
Jenny, it's killing me.

She needs her own space. She's playing mind games.
Ends up at my place saying that she's changed.
Jenny, what's the problem?
I'm trying to read between the lines.
You got me going out of my mind.

First, you say you won't, then you say you will.
You keep me hanging on, and we're not moving on.
We're standing still, Jenny. You got me on my knees.
Jenny, it's killing me. It's killing me. It's killing me.
Jenny.

First, you say you won't, then you say you will.
You keep me hanging on, and we're not moving on.
We're standing still, Jenny. You got me on my knees.
Jenny.

First, you say you won't, then you say you will.
You keep me hanging on, and we're not moving on.
We're standing still, Jenny. You got me on my knees.
Jenny. It's killing me. It's killing me. Jenny.

Hmm I wonder why this song suddenly popped into my head and got stuck there after interacting with this person called Jenny. Guess my job does take me far and wide.

On a side note, I think this MV is one of the more interesting ones I've seen, in my opinion.

2008-06-23T18:41:00.003+08:00

Back home, so tired. Dunno why my arthritis flared up on both my ankles, especially the left one, now it's all swollen and stiff and painful if I apply pressure on it, the pain was really hurting me during my walk to the new building. Sucks I had to go there when my ankles hurt. You know, the pain is caused by stiffness, let's say for example you bound up your feet really tightly so you could only bend your ankles a little, yeah that's how I feel, totally stiff. So when I actually walk, I need to bend my joints and apply pressure, and since it's stiff, I cannot bend and my ankles start to hurt. The worse thing is that the more I walk, the stiffer it becomes and the more it hurts. Oh well, glad I'm at home and resting now, trying to fight the pain does take its toll on the body, I feel tired now, as with every time I try to fight the pain this way.

Anyway I think my rash spread to my whole body already. My arms were very red this morning, looked like a cooked lobster man. Dunno about my legs as I was wearing long pants. And I was also told my face was quite red also, especially the T-zone and the area under my eyes. And it's still so itchy, especially my right hand, which is still very red. Blah, I wonder what caused it. And I don't have the mood to post pictures right now since I'm so tired and hungry and itchy and well, basically in all sorts of discomfort. =(

2008-06-22T23:18:00.001+08:00

Argh, I suddenly have rashes on my body and on my neck, and it really itches! Dunno how I got it.

Man this sucks, I look like I'm some eczema kid now. Bleh... not to mention it itches damnit!

2008-06-21T23:55:00.004+08:00

So, what's with people and the Rubik's cube recently? There seems to be some kinda subtle buzz around it. I mean I've been seeing stores selling cheap versions to decent quality ones of the cube. And so one day my bro brought back this lousy one buck Rubik's cube. Decided to play it, so far I've memorised how to complete one sight without consulting any algorithms, and I know how to continue, but I can't be bothered to remember the next part of the algorithms so forget it.

Well at least I can complete the first side of the cube, which incidentally requires the most thinking and the least steps of algorithms to settle. What fun!

Oh well, maybe one day I'll get to remembering all those algorithms to let me complete the cube. Right now I wanna learn driving but I'm still too lazy to get a private instructor.

Blah.

A Typical Weekday...

2008-06-19T21:41:00.002+08:00

This is by no means an accurate timetable of what I do at work. Due to the nature of my work, my work day can vary a lot, so I'll just to try to display roughly what happens in a normal day:

0710: Mum wakes me up, then leaves the room. I struggle to get up and get out of the bed. Curse sleep inertia!
0715: I finally roll out of bed. Takes alot of willpower to do that you know.
0716: I wash my face and dry it, and then I walk to the table, grab a couple of slices of bread, and then continue walking to the sofa. Plonking myself down on the sofa, my eyes are probably closed again as I chew on the bread.
0725: I finally finish my bread, and then I go back to my table to drink down my cup of milo.
0726: Back in my room, I tidy up my bed, as I'm more awake now. I also stone a little on my bed as I'm still sleepy.
0730: I go to the bathroom to have a bath and to brush my teeth, and wash my spectacles and watch.
0745: Finished using the bathroom, so I'm back in my room changing.
0755: Puts on shoes, and get out of the house. On my way to the bus stop now...
0806: Reaches the bus stop after over 10 minutes, is sweating and feeling very warm already.
0808: Bus arrives, gets on bus and enjoys cool air-con.
0818: Bus reaches where I want to alight. Almost everyone alights, and then I walk to work
0825: Just entered my office, I'm sweating again. Darn cursed walk up the hill makes you sweat on a good morning.
0830: Has already turned on my workstation, unlocked my drawer, and done various other things.
0835: Phone rings, tells me that there's two faulty lights at some rooms in the building, and that one of the lights is blinking and very irritating. I entertain the person and tell her I'll get it fixed as soon as possible. After putting down the phone, I quickly call the hotline to get these stuff repaired. Telling the operator everything she needs to know anyway.
0840: Hmm, nothing to do at the moment, so I take some time to open Reuters and read some news. Preferably some football, and then some news.
0900: Getting a little sleepy from seeing tiny fonts and reading news. Boss comes to office, and she has some work for me. Here, key in this list of new personnel into our database. Bleh, boring work to key in long lists of names.
0945: Still a long way to finish keying in the list of worker names. Boss asks me to notify the MPs and RPs of a group of people who will be entering our compounds to do some work. I send them a notification form via email.
1000: Phone rings, the lady from the security clearance department is on the line. She starts scolding me for some mistake I made in some excel file, and that it hampers her progress in clearing people into the compound. I get irritated, the list was over three hundred people long and all I made was a tiny mistake.
1005: Colleague asks me to send over some invoice over to the next department, I take the document, and go to the other department, which is quite far away from where I am.
1025: I'm back at my cubicle, some forms have just arrived, and I sign them before giving the forms and letters to the respective people.
1040: Colleague asks me to deliver some invoice again.
1100: Boss asks me to contact some contractors to arrange some dates to repair some stuff.
1115: Phone rings, light faulty at some room again, so I have to go report to the hotline.
1145: I'm finally done with the workers list! Time for lunch. I go and ask my boss what she wants to eat. After thinking for quite some time, she gives me quite specifically what she wants to eat.
1155: I'm at canteen with the fellow NSFs, eating lunch and suaning a specific person.
1240: Lunch and chat done, bought food for my boss and we go back to office.
1250: Back in office, pass my boss her food. Then I go to the unclassified PC to facebook a little and some MSN.
1315: I'm suddenly very sleepy, I go back to my cubicle and sleep.
1345: Boss laughs very loudly, I wake up and see what's going on. She tells me to go back to sleep.
1400: Lunch break over, time to get back to work. Another phone call comes in, faulty lights again.
1430: Nothing to do in the past 30 minutes, besides minor stuff like signing things that come in, and passing documents to others.
1445: I'm supposed to deliver The Business Times to the head of my department. I bring it over to my chief clerk, who settles things. Then I talk with him for a while. He suddenly chucks me a box of old papers, "Here, help me shred this." Me being the nice guy, helps him to do his work.
1515: Boss calls, asks me where I am as I am supposed to visit the new building. I tell her I'll be right over.
1540: I'm at the new building, donning a blue engineer's helmet, looking at the floorplan of the new building, and walking through the new building's hallways.
1630: Back in the office, boss and some other people are gone for meeting, so I'm the only one left there to answer calls. I do the usual stuff: clear forms and letters for people, deliver invoices, sign stuff, notify MPs and RPs, email people to chase them for their things, take stock of stationery in office, help people photocopy things, print things, fax things, extracting invoices, filing and many other things like assisting them with MSWord, MSExcel.
1700: A little free time again, read some news and then a little facebook.
1730: Knock off! Close and lock all the cabinets, and then I pack up and it's time to go.
1738: A little late today, so I walk fast to the bus stop.
1745: Bus came just in time, good day today.

Bleh well, that's roughly what I do in a normal day. Of course, site visits to new buildings can be replaced by introducing the new building to other staff members in other departments, or replaced with arranging extra chairs for a function as well as booking the room for that function. Or, I can be asked to make a trip down to some industrial area to buy some hard to get stuff such as high quality coffee beans for some important meetings, or I get to go down to my recreational club to take stock and inventory tag some equipment. The range of things I do is HUGE, there are many other things within my job scope which I haven't mentioned yet. So you can see I'm like my department's Personal Assistant, as well as having my own defined role in clearing outsiders to enter our compounds, and also as a logistics person.

All in a day's work.

Bublé-fied

2008-06-16T22:05:00.002+08:00

You're a falling star, You're the get away car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.

And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.
You're every song, and I sing along.
'Cause you're my everything.
Yeah, yeah

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

2008-06-14T12:04:00.003+08:00

Rough week of running around non-stop doing things.

Fell sick yesterday, knew I was gonna be hit with fever when I felt my body "twiching", if that's what you call it. You know the feeling where you feel like an electric current jolts parts of your body? Yep it's that. Then, the whole of the afternoon my body was aching and I was freezing in my office despite two air-cons being switched off.

Came home, slept 1 hour, ate dinner and then went to see doctor. He said my throat was very inflamed. 38.7 degrees fever, that sucks. And then I came home, took medicine and curled on my bed to sleep for like 12 hours.

Reminds me of the time during BMT where I lacked the sleep and stuff, no wonder I couldn't recover even in four days at that time. I mean my fever's already almost subsided now considering I didn't have that rubbish treatment I got for a pretty high fever I had in BMT.

2008-06-13T00:09:00.002+08:00

恍惚的我又踢掉延长线的插头
Huang hu de wo you ti diao yan chang xian de cha tou

不记得歌词还是一直hmm hmm hmm hmm
Bu ji de ge ci hai shi yi zhi hmm hmm hmm hmm

心情在膨胀再不找人说会发疯
Xin qing zai peng zhang zai bu zhao ren shuo hui fa feng

但朋友手机不是没接就是不通
Dan peng you shou ji bu shi mei jie jiu shi bu tong

help me!i'm in love!

(中文是) 救命!恋爱了
(Zhong wen shi) Jiu ming! lian ai le

想穿的上衣要出门了才搞失踪
Xiang chuan de shang yi yao chu men le cai gao shi zong

红色的圆点裙子穿起来像瓢虫
Hong se de yuan dian qun zi chuan qi lai xiang piao chong

约七点偏偏弄到六点五十才走
Yue qi dian pian pian nong dao liu dian wu shi cai zou

红灯们列队欢迎正在迟到的我
Hong deng men lie dui huan ying zheng zai chi dao de wo

help me!i'm in love!

救命!恋爱了
Jiu ming! Lian ai le

不想过星期一二三四
Bu xiang guo xing qi yi er san si

就快转到你出现为止
Jiu kuai zhuan dao ni chu xian wei zhi

从现在开始倒数计时
Cong xian zai kai shi dao shu ji shi

睡觉也不停止
Shui jiao ye bu ting zhi

woo yeh~~~

幸福的预感随着阳光照进窗口
Xing fu de yu gan sui zhe yang guang zhao jin chuang kou

也许明天就会有意料外的突破
Ye xu ming tian jiu hui you yi liao wai de tu po

赶快收拾起脸上很痴呆的笑容
Gan kuai shou shi qi lian shang hen chi dai de xiao rong

怕太得意了好运就会离我远走
Pa tai de yi le hao yun jiu hui li wo yuan zou

2008-06-10T23:56:00.002+08:00

Germany wins, Holland trashes Italy...

and I'm left satisfied with such results.

Hope Germany wins.

2008-06-10T00:14:00.007+08:00

Because I remember...

.... and I don't ever want to forget.

2008-06-06T22:24:00.003+08:00

Ahahaha! It's finally the weekends. What a long week it has been, but it was fun. New intern at our place, and she's the super high-flyer of sorts, being Hwa Chong SC President and studying at UPenn sure is no small feat. So things at work have become more busy, due to important things which I must not disclose. (Well it's top secret after all, so yeah.) But I guess that helps time pass faster while at work, and you get a sense of fulfilment after you've completed all the loads and loads of request you get all at once.

Yesterday was definitely a fine day. Good ol' Christopher came back from overseas, and brought back.. Krispy Kreme at my request! Ahahaha, love it! So somehow my stomach was feeling quite hungry at 4pm so the bunch of us NSFs just ran up to his desk and attacked the doughnuts. I picked the chocolate one of course. (I'm me, I love chocolate.) And yeah, I was totally enjoying the sugar rush while eating that tasty food. OMG SUGAR RUSH! PLEASE CAN I HAVE ONE MORE? Too bad I could only have one though, what a pity. I'd have finished off the box in a short time if I was restrained.

Went out with Sarah after work to watch a movie. At first we wanted to watch Kungfu Panda, but somehow all the shows were over for that day. So we were left with Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and Sex and the City left. Well, I sure didn't know on what to watch then. I was thinking of Prince Caspian but Sarah had already watched it twice. (Okay what's the deal with all the girls going crazy over Prince Caspian and watching it more than once? >_>) So yeah, that was ruled out. We were left with Indiana Jones and Sex and the City, and I wanted to watch a movie. So somehow we just chose to watch Sex and the City just like that. Lol.

Overall the movie was pretty good. I mean at least there is comedy and a not-so-predictable romance in there. But well let's not spoil the movie too much, though there are morals of the story (or movie) to learn from, like for example: Just as a break up can occur all so suddenly in a movie, a patch up can occur that suddenly too, and that's something really hard to imagine, a couple patching up just like... that. Yeah, like... that. Well, you get the idea.

Had dinner with Sarah after that, but you know what was the highlight of the night? She was reluctant to watch Sex and the City just because its M18 and she felt I'm too immature and too er, young to watch it! Well yeah, the thing is I'm almost a year older than her. So I was pretty surprised by that answer. Oh and her reply was because I look really young and small-sized so she thought that way. So okay fine, I'm pocket-sized (pun intended) and I look like a kid, bleh. But well I guess I'm totally fine with that comment. I mean this is the third time someone has said I'm young in some way or another, so YAY. (See one of my previous posts for the other two occassions, heh.)

Yeah, well, great week I say. But some things really suck now, like for example the lack of HOLIDAYS? It really hurts not to have June holidays anymore, so public holidays are really precious (as are the MCs and leave days).

Annnnnnnd, someone still hasn't set a good date to have dinner with me because she is too busy (during the holidays -.-). Or should I call her Ms Busy? :)

2008-06-04T21:25:00.005+08:00

Quote of the Day:

"I'm the epitome of laziness."
- (Referring to Kuan Hui by Kuan Hui himself)

2008-06-03T00:15:00.002+08:00

Phew, today's definitely tiring. Because I'm finally taking over my upperstudy full time. And somehow today was flooded with so many requests I could hardly remember to do all of them. (Actually I forgot to do one request but never mind, that was a small matter.) I really wonder why the requests flood in all so suddenly. Like within a span of 15 minutes I get over 5 different things to do, and then because I haven't completed whatever has been given to me previously, I have to force myself to remember more details on what to do next.

Oh well, I guess that's Monday for you. But amazingly work makes time pass faster, before I knew it it was already time to knock off, so yeah, as compared to some days where there's really nothing to do, like you just sit there and stone in front of the workstation or reading news articles (which gets really tiring after 23847238473289 articles).

Oh well, hope tomorrow's more slack as compared to today, and I don't like my new seat as well. It's too exposed to many people and I don't really feel good. ~_~

Oh well, one day down, four more to go.

Is deliriously happy... almost

2008-05-28T22:36:00.003+08:00

Well you see, in the past week I've gotten comments about my age by people. A random friend told me I'm the type of person who never grows up, though I retorted by saying people are young at heart, he said I exhibit it to a greater extent than others. Then just yesterday at work, this supervisor who met me for the first time immediately commented about me. "Wah so young ah? How old are you? 15? 16?" I was pretty much surprised by what he said, because I must have looked much much younger than my upperstudy (bwahahaha), but to be compared to someone who is 15 or 16? Wow that's on another level already.

So yay, I look young, and act young. Makes me really happy to hear that. Ahahahahah.

2008-05-27T13:03:00.001+08:00

Lunch break at work now. And I'm suffering from a terrible back ache.

*Groan*

2008-05-23T00:27:00.002+08:00

610 days to ORD, bleh.

Courtesy of my upperstudy Chua Wei Ming reminding me about his ever-approaching ORD date.

2008-05-22T21:01:00.002+08:00

So Manchester United won, just like how Italy won 2 years back. Don't really feel anything about it, I hate too see them win, but at least Chelsea didn't have to win any Champions League title before us. I would love it if it was a draw, sadly there's no such way it can happen, meh.

Song stuck in your head? I sure do!

2008-05-20T01:07:00.001+08:00

I saw fireworks from the freeway
And behind closed eyes I cannot make them go away
'Cause you were born on the fourth of july, freedom ring
Now something on the surface it stings
I said something on the surface
Well it kind of makes me nervous
Who says that you deserve this
And what kind of god would serve this?
We will cure this dirty old disease
If you've got the poison I've got the remedy

The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.

I won't worry my life away.

I won't worry my life away.

I heard two men talking on the radio
In a cross fire kind of reality show
Uncovering the ways to plan the next big attack
They were counting down the ways to stab
The brother in the be right back after this
The unavoidable kiss, where the minty fresh
Death breath is sure to outlast this catastrophy
Dance with me, because if you've got the poison,
I've got the remedy

The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.

I won't worry my life away.

I won't worry my life away.

When I fall in love I take my time
There's no need to hurry when I'm making up my mind
You can turn off the sun but I'm still gonna shine and I'll tell you why

Because

The remedy is the experience.
This is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend
The rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.

I won't worry my life away.

I won't worry my life away.

I won't and I won't and I won't

2008-05-20T00:22:00.003+08:00

What a day. It's really nice going out with good ol' buddies like Haikal and David, even though we keep doing the same things everytime, like going to JEC and eating KFC and then playing LAN or pool. It's become something routine I guess. Apart from that, I think we never cease to poke fun at each other over anything and everything we can think about, and then laughing it off. What great friends I have!

Anyway, so I bought a new mouse because my old mouse kept shutting down on me. And then I found out it wasn't quite compatible for my old mousepad because it was too shiny, so I got my bro to buy a matt mousepad. Hope the roughness says and it doesn't get shiny, and it'll be a good 100 bucks spent on both mouse and mousepad.

And groan, tomorrow's back to work, though it's good because this week's just four days long, but then holidays won't come until August, that sucks. Oh well I do have a driving test and a medical appointment coming up, so I'm kinda looking forward to that, so I can escape work, lol.

And now to sleep...

So I dreamt...

2008-05-19T11:37:00.003+08:00

... that I was riding on a motorcycle. What a weird experience. But that tells me one thing, it's cool to drive.

Not on a bike though, on a car man... a cool car.

2008-05-14T22:52:00.002+08:00

Okay so that day I promised a food review. Unfortunately we didn't get to go to that restaurant, how sad. I wanted Italian food that day, but never mind. So this was the story:

As I was preparing to leave home to get to the restaurant at about 11, which is called Bistro 103, my upperstudy called, saying that the chef there injured his arm and as a result couldn't serve us. =(

Poor guy hope he gets well though. So anyhow things were in a real mess because there were like 15 of us going and the sudden last minute (or should I say last hour) change was totally unexpected. So after some confusion we decided to head to Vivocity again, and went to eat Sushi Tei. Nothing impressive there, though their sushi was pretty good. The oyaku don which i ordered had a large serving which kept me full throughout the afternoon, though it didn't taste good, bleh. Well other than that, I think I got a good treat there, so thanks Wei Ming and the other upperstudies!

Oh anyhow this is Bistro 103 on HungryGoWhere:

http://www.hungrygowhere.com/restaurant_details.php?urlname=bistro_one_zero_three&offset=10

As you can see they have pretty high ratings, though we didn't get to taste it ourselves.

Yesterday we went to our private recreational club again. Did some gym and jogging there. Easy run, but I really enjoyed running past all the private houses. Gives me motivation to own one of these houses in the future though. I'm money-minded you see, so running past these houses really gave me pleasure. Bwahaha. Played football (or rather futsal) with the guys and poor Jasper sprained his ankle. Well, partly because he has brittle bone that's why I think the sprain was so bad. The ankle swelled till the swelling had the diameter of a tennis ball. Scary. So we brought him to the doctor later on, and he got off with a nice long break till next Tuesday. Good for him, and hope he gets well soon. Well now we know where to go if we want a doctor who is nice enough to prescribe decent MCs. But I'm not telling anyone here.

Today was Jun Dar's birthday, so, it was lunch. Headed to Jack's Place and had a nice meal. Ah, love these meals, love food, though it can really take a toll on my wallet. Oh well, nothing much to look forward to now, besides Vesak Day. Because after that it's going to be a couple of dry months ahead without any holidays. Groan.

2008-05-12T20:11:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I was the enemy of Manchester United, I sorely didn't want them to win the Premier League. It was Chelsea's side I'm on yesterday. Today, things have changed. Good for Manchester United that they won their 17th Premier League title, one short of Liverpool's 18. But at any rate, I'm with Manchester United in winning the Champions League, not because they play beautiful football or anything, but because Arsenal cannot be the last of the Big Four to get a Champions League Trophy.

Yeah, Chelsea and Arsenal are London rivals, and no way do I want Chelsea to win the Champions League before we do. So yeah, do something good and win a Double Manchester United, because next season we're getting both those titles from you guys. Ahahahah.

2008-05-09T10:17:00.002+08:00

Ahahahah, I just passed my Basic Theory Test! Actually the thing wasn't hard at all, got me worrying over nothing man.

Ah well, now I have only 8.5 days of leave left this year to take, sucks man, I don't think I can go for a long holiday anymore this year. Well we'll see, I think my boss should be nice enough to give me some off for my work, kekeke.

Anyway later on is the ORD Treat from the upperstudies, treat treat treat, looking forward to it later on. Look out for a food review later on by me, if I ever get to writing it that is.

2008-05-07T23:26:00.003+08:00

It weighs me down. It's heavy, the future expectations of me drag me down real bad. I don't think I can ever forgive myself if I don't earn enough money in the future and get some kind of status.

Time to go overseas, I cannot fail now.

Che.R.Ry

2008-05-05T00:18:00.004+08:00

Tenohira de furueta sore ga chiisana yuuki ni natte itanda
emoji wa nigate datta dakedo kimi kara dattara wakuwaku shichau
My hands trembled, that is because of the little courage I developed
I was never good with emotions, but anything from you made me excited

henji wa sugu ni shicha dame datte dareka ni kiita koto aru kedo
kakehiki nante deki nai no
"It is bad to reply right away", I heard it from someone
But I can’t bring myself to deceive you.

suki na no yo ah ah ah ah
...I really like you ah ah ah ah

koi shichattanda tabun kiduite nai deshou?
Hoshi no yoru negai komete CHE.R.RY
yubisaki de okuru kimi e no MESSAGE
I’ve fallen in love. You probably haven’t noticed, have you?
In the starry night, filled with wishes, cherry
With my fingers, I’ll send you a message

sakura ga saite iru kono heya kara mieteru keshiki wo zenbu
ima kimi ga kanjita sekai to juu byou tori kaete morau yori
The cherry blossoms are blooming. But right now I'd rather exchange 10 seconds of my timebeing in this room, to get to know what you're feeling

hon no ichigyou demo kamawa nainda kimi kara no kotoba ga hoshiinda
usou demo shinji tsudukerareru no
I don't mind even if it's just one line. I wish to have words from you
Even if it's a lie, I'm still able to continue believing it

suki dakara ah ah ah ah
....Because I like you ah ah ah ah

koi shichattanda tabun kiduite nai deshou?
Hoshi no yoru negai komete CHE.R.RY
yubisaki de okuru kimi e no MESSAGE
I’ve fallen in love. You probably haven’t noticed, have you?
In the starry night, filled with wishes, cherry
With my fingers, I’ll send you a message

amaku naru kajitsu ga ii no
naigenai kaiwa kara sodate tai ah ah ah ah
The sweetest fruits taste the best
I wish to get to know you more, starting from casual conversations... ah ah ah ah

koi no hajimari mune ga kyun to semaku naru
itsumademo matte iru kara haru no tsumetai yokaze ni azukete MESSAGE
The beginning of love I felt as if my heart 'twitched'
Because I will wait for you no matter what
The message that filled the cold night with winds of spring

koi shichattanda tabun kiduite nai deshou?
Hoshi no yoru negai komete CHE.R.RY
yubisaki de okuru kimi e no MESSAGE
I’ve fallen in love. You probably haven’t noticed, have you?
In the starry night, filled with wishes, cherry
With my fingers, I’ll send you a message

2008-05-03T23:38:00.003+08:00

You know, today I was browsing through Youtube, and I chanced upon a clip that really brought me back to the old days.

Yamakasi, a French movie about a group of people who aim to move from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, otherwise known as Parkour or l'art du déplacement. Anyway I shan't go into the details of the movie, but it's a great one, so watch it if you can. I highly recommend it.

Anyway to the main point of this post. I watch Yamakasi back in Secondary One where our History teacher, Adrian Chia showed it to us every now and then as a reward for the class. I remember we being twelve and thirteen year olds then, we were enthralled in such a movie, complaining every time our teacher had to stop airing the movie as his lesson was over. But that aside, being young and active (lol), we converted our recess time into playing a catching game we dubbed Yamakasi, or at least some of us did. Though the essence was just catching, I think the term 'Yamakasi' then brought new meaning and fun to the simple game called catching. I remember us playing it without fail every recess, and since our class was located at a quiet corner on the ground floor of one of the blocks of the school, it was real fun. Not to mention the school is built on a hill so you could basically run up and down the hill to access different levels of the school. Those days in Secondary One were definitely fun, I don't think we really had any cares about studies then or about our futures then. Sure, occasionally we may think about the future, but usually it's only a passing thought as the future then, was merely a distant entity.

Also, that was how I got my name Aids anyway. And it stuck onto me pretty darn well, becoming more or less like a second name to me already. Yeah, sometimes I wonder why it's aids and not some other disease though. Not to forget besides that, we used to go to school very early in the morning to lock our class doors. I can't believe we duplicated the class door keys so bad that there were duplicates of duplicates of duplicates. Practically half the class had the class key then, even though there should only be one in existence. So anyway we loved to get to school as early as possible, lock the doors from inside, and then stick the key into the keyhole so that no one else could open the doors (yeah, everyone had the key, so locking the door from inside out was quite useless). Oh and I still remember the window panes getting removed because some people wanted to get into the class through the window.

Those really were the days, and to think that those days are long gone already, and that we're at the crossroads to the future, making big decisions at this period of time. Miss those days, and I'll gladly keep them as sweet memories of the childish and stupid things we used to do way back when we were younger.

2008-05-01T19:43:00.003+08:00

You know there's always something about Liverpool and Chelsea that make me dislike them. They really play some less interesting football. I dozed off so many times watching this morning's match because they were playing so slowly. Good thing I woke up just in time to see Drogba's clinical first goal and Torres' goal as well.

It's too bad Liverpool lost, I was somehow silently rooting for them. But it doesn't matter, I just hope Chelsea crushes Man Utd in both the CL and Barclay's. Muahaha, then I'll be satisfied.

And I guess all fingers are going to be pointing back at Riise for his stupid own goal last week, if he hadn't actually own goaled, the game this morning would have been totally different, though Liverpool was lacklustre anyway, poor passes, meh.

Oh well, we Gunners will return next season, definitely!

2008-04-29T23:09:00.002+08:00

Been sometime since I last posted. Boy, things are sure monotonous these days. Really miss those days where you can just sit around somewhere and just talk about anything and everything with friends.

Work hasn't been very nice of late. Apart from the increasing workload (for some reason or another), I get a taste of office politics. It really is very unpleasant when someone in the workplace picks on you and reports you to your superior even though you know you have done nothing wrong. In the end you are forced to apologize to that person for some wrong you actually haven't committed. That just happened to me today, and I don't think I'm very happy with it. It takes alot to swallow the humble pie and even though I've done it and things are resolved (or at least they look resolved and calm on the surface), there's that bitter after taste left in you.

On the plus side I'm actually very happy my department has a specially catered recreational 'club' of sorts for us to use at no extra cost at all. Of course it's not exactly a club since you don't need to register or pay to get in. It's just an entitlement to everyone working in my department. The club's located in a nice place, complete with trees and landed property. I think I'm starting to fall in love with that place because it's just so secluded and so few people actually go there, such that there's that stillness there. Exactly what I want from my future home anyway, away from all the hustle and bustle of urban life yet at the same time easily accessible. I used the gym there, yeah, it's decent sized, but of course no way as large as ACJC's one. I think that gym's gotta be the largest one in Singapore anyway.
Went for a run also, pretty tiring and a sign that I haven't ran ever since the day before I enlisted, which was, on the 24 of January. Maybe this will get me doing some running and jogging again, heh.

After that it was a long long ride home from where we came from. Saw some JC students on the bus. That, and the bad events in the day, put me into a pensive mode, thinking of life, the past, the future, and of course about today. I always ask myself when someone has done something bad to me. Have I done something wrong myself in the first place? Why do I always feel so strongly whenever these kind of things happen? Do I have too much pride? Do I want to impress people every time? Or is it something else, something deeper that makes me unable to fathom it at this point in time. I hope I can find the answer to that, and the answer to my emotions soon.

On a brighter side, after I changed bus along the way to 106, it was packed! Someone caught my attention though. It was this girl from ACJC. Most likely J1 this year, because I haven't seen her throughout the whole of last year when I take 106 to college. One glance and I found her pretty cute. Of course, that piqued my interest because that's my junior, and a cute one to boot. Unfortunately the bus was rather packed and there was a guy blocking her throughout most of the ride so I couldn't get a good look at her face. Eventually though I got the chance, the guy alighted the bus (yay!) and I was standing beside her. Got a good look at her and I'd say my judgement was pretty accurate, she's cute. Cute looks + petite size was all that was needed to fulfil that criteria anyway. Eventually she sat down with me standing near her, and the file on her hand was on her lap, so I managed to see her name, Valentina. (I can see Wesley with an evil grin of sorts now.) Too bad she wasn't my junior by one year or the same age as me. Grrr.

Ah well, that's about it for today. Tomorrow's Wednesday, and I doubt I'll be staying up to watch Manchester Utd against Barcelona. Though I'm rooting for Barca. Go Barca! I'd be content as long as Man U doesn't win, heheh. And beyond that, Thursday's a holiday so there's more reason to go to work tomorrow, though I don't like the prospect of going to work at the moment. I hope and pray that things turn better tomorrow, and I'll treat today as a lessoned learned:

Be more careful when interacting with others, especially when they're out to get your blood.

Mmhmm...

2008-04-14T00:58:00.002+08:00

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal

Lost to a penalty and a free kick. But I gotta admit that free kick by Hargreaves was darn well strategised.

We'll be back next year.

2008-04-09T20:46:00.001+08:00

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal.

Darn.