A very nice Boxing Day

An outing with my best is always really relaxing and totally no-holds barred. I cannot ever recall one that wasn't. Perhaps some in our more formative years but those never affected anything, I'm sure.

Dispensing with the philosophical verbiage, I went out with her today for breakfast and lunch (if you can even call it that). I met up with her - late - at AMK station. Sorry best I thought I could make it in time but in the end I had to cab there which cost me a whopper. Anyhow I got there and we took the train down to Suntec where the first place we headed to was the carpark. Yes the clever woman thought going down this particular flight of stairs led to the Fountain Atrium but no, it led to the carpark at B2. Smarty.

We shared breakfast at Subway which involved a hearty helping of exactly half a tiny bun with even half a smaller egg inside with the works, in Subway-speak. Can't complain - it was good. Looking over and seeing Carl's Jr open, we promptly shifted our asses over where we ordered a box of beef fries and set about destroying their serviette dispenser. After that we walked around for a bit while we decided whether to makan at Tony Roma's, (what's that other place with ribs?) and Carrefour. Yes.

Here comes the fun part. We went to Carrefour and after some deep deliberation which involved detailed calculation about how much face we would lose while eating, we decided to get some ribs. Bad choice. We didn't know where to eat them and in the end headed to the nearby Starbucks, bypassing our original plan of eating at the Esplanade. We had to order something in order not to get kicked out of Starbucks so Amy got us to share passionfruit tea which was sour as hell. Then we headed out to prevent XtR3me eMB4rrA5m3n+ from eating our ribs. I mean the ones we bought. Suffice to say that while chowing down we felt supremely uncomfortable, more like lions munching their latest kill than proper civilised humans having lunch. Unfortunately we had to hurry because she had some study time with her friend so we had to cut short our outing. You owe me 2 hours, woman ;). Gosh, the fun we had.



To digress, in recent months I think I've undergone something of a revolution in friendship. I've known more pals, gotten to know some of my old friends much better and for all intents and purposes have made friends with them all over again. Call it discovery? I could name a few like S, J, L, A, Y whom I'm grateful to know and be friends with. Without alienating the others in any way I think I should make a special mention about J. J's been a friend of mine for some time now but I've never really talked to her. Recently I've been spending some time with her and I think she is one fantastic person whom I regret not knowing better before. She's a good ear, understands you well and has the ability to brighten your day no matter how dark it was. Her friend S is one nice character too. I am getting to know her better now but I think she'll be just as engaging a pal as J.

Seems like 2007 is going to end on a good note.

Highly accurate translations

A picture speaks a thousand words, and so I shall let the ones below do the talking.

Enjoy =D


What, now we're policing them?



And the hall of sadness and sorrows too



Nike, eat your heart out



LOL!


I'm sure enzymes and primary school kids make a fantastic couple


talk about health and safety warnings


you can't beat the Chinese now


Indeed!


Imagine that, one whole district gone







and for the kicker...

seriously now!

Merry Xmas y'all!

It's that time of the year again, where a certain Monsieur Claus and his merry band of reindeer send gifts to deserving (where the hell is mine) children around the world and who gets to eat cookies and drink milk at every port of call. Fat bastard.

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

Nothing beats the Christmas atmosphere this time of year. It's an indescribable feeling that just gives you a sense of well-being and joy. Of course the presents play an important role too :P. But somehow this year, things look a little different for me. In the past I've always wanted to spend this day with friends, going out to party with them and make merry. It's strange then that this year I would have liked to spend it with a certain someone. I'm not referring to any particular person but I do have someone in mind. Nah, I'm just fantasising. It'll probably not come true anyway, even though she's the first girl in a long time whom I've felt so strongly for and for whom I willing to do anything. Not exactly anything, a wee bit more than what a normal friend would do.

Maybe, just maybe.

Well enough of the sentimentality and Merry Christmas once again and a Happy New Year!

Back in the USSR

Aiya wanted to type an abstract and typically verbose post about my trip to China and my thoughts on it but my mind isn't allowing me to.

Anyway, I'm back!

Landed at about 1730 today after much delay at both the Chinese and Singapore side. Man, you have no idea how is it like to be able to breathe fresh air again and ride in taxis that are Rolls-Royces in quality and ride comfort. The drivers here are angels compared to those maniacs over in Zhongshan. Of course give me a week or two and the grumbles will come back, but hey it's an improvement. I'll never look at Singapore the same way again.

As for those quintessential pictures of those rubbish English translations you all crave...heh heh heh. Let's just say they're coming ;)

A little bit of Monica on my mind...

So I went back to the place where my mum's dad was born, which was a good 3 hour journey from Zhongshan and its environs. It was a pretty uplifting and insightful journey, perhaps the most meaningful in all my time here (besides eating and getting fat. I've just gained 3kg. Honest.) I took quite a number of pictures of the house that my granddad used to stay in. We met up with a few of my mum's cousins too, who were all - quite honestly - pretty ancient but damned active people. The mum of my mum's 7th cousin is 88 and she's still walking around like some kind of Olympic pro. Fantastic stuff.

Actually what I really wanted to talk about was something that happened during dinner. My parents and I walked into this upscale restaurant next to my hotel because we had no idea where to go makan. Honest to god we didn't expect that it'd be so expensive because duh we hadn't stepped in before. First thing that greeted us on the menu was abalone: 600 yuan. Tea (some special kickass kind): 12000 yuan PER CUP. Yes that's right. My dad nearly fell out of his chair. But nevertheless they had some cheaper dishes and we ordered those.

Well to cut the long story short, the waitress who was serving us tea was a fine specimen of a female as any. Oh my lord she was as fine as a hot cup of tea and a good book on a rainy day. She was so demure and sweet, had the cutest dimples, the most beautiful face and had features which were a perfect blend of aquiline and subtle. A face so enchantingly hypnotic that it takes the phrase "her bewitching beauty" to a whole new level. And oh she had a body to die for too. If your friends have told you that they've seen the most beautiful girl on earth they're talking complete rubbish because I have. She made everyone else in the room look like Cruella even though they all were pretty too. But this girl, goodness. She wasn't just pretty - she was beautiful. She just lit up the room in the brightest sense of the word. Truth be told I wanted to have her number so badly I devised at least 5 ways to go about it while my parents argued about some inane thing over the table. Here are a few.

(Stay behind while parents pay the bill, grab number, go.)
(Pretend to go to toilet, grab number, go.)
(Ask from one of the other waitresses, grab number, go.)
(Ask in front of parents, grab number, and die.)
(Obviously there were more ways I devised but they cannot be mentioned here due to graphic content. Just kidding.)

I cannot even begin to fully describe her enchanting countenance. It was so spellbinding that it left me looking at her almost every chance I got. Which I thought was a good thing until she started looking at me too, with which my inflated ego took to mean that we had something going. Hardly, I think. Oh well, she smiled at me too.

You gotta have a dream.

The Venetian. (Hint: it's really nice!)

Oh and just to inform you guys again that I cannot see my own posts and hence can't see my tagboard....

...and hence cannot see the looks on your faces when you hear that I've just been to The Venetian (read: newest and most elaborate casino in Macau).

Ain't I evil, ain't I evil.

Suffice to say The Venetian is so, so beautiful. It's massive too. At a staggering 3000 rooms, it's one of the largest hotels in Veni-, sorry, Macau. On the bus heading to the hotel, I caught sight of it from a distance and the awesome sight of it just bowled me over. Pictures don't do it justice and neither do my ridiculous descriptions, so I'll leave you to your imagination and Google to discover just how ginormous it really is.

Inside, it's no different. A simple hotel-style entrance greets you with a front desk and concierge, but that's just a facade, a prelude to a whole world of opulence and ZOMG money. Yeah sorry for the lack of a proper superlative. You go up a flight of escalators and you come into a shopping arcade, full of upscale brands like Franck Mueller, Massimo Dutti and others which I can't remember. Then, in the distance, you spot an incredible sight. A sight so astounding it just makes you stare: a casino so large it spans nearly one football field, if not two. Baccarat tables are spread out like jam on toast and slot machines are liberally sprinkled around the floor. Walking around it just makes you stare at the sheer size of the place. Incredible la.

I've obviously saved the best for last. On the way back to the hotel, we took a cab because all the buses had ceased operation for the day. The ride could only be described with one word: petrifying. The taxi driver was nonchalantly eating melon seeds and even had the time to throw them out the open window while gunning his Volkswagen Jetta down the arrow-straight highway at 130km/h with three terrified passengers inside. I think I gripped the door handle so hard it deformed. And that wasn't even the half of it. He dashed across two reds and took corners at a full 100km/h despite the ancientness of his vehicle.

Don't ever complain about Singapore taxi drivers ever again.

China day 3

Ok so I didn't update yesterday cos I was too busy talking online to friends.

Really really.

Not flirting with China girls.

Really really.

Anyway, today wasn't much fun at all (and it still isn't). The only bright spot is that I made it out of the hotel (more on that later) and that I didn't get killed by some taxi driver hell-bent on usurping Michael Schumacher's record 7 F1 World Championships. The taxi rides today were quite sedate to say the least, and I made it to wherever I was going safely and comfortably in one piece. Oh and best is in Hong Kong now so I might get to see her (and Janis) when I go there. Hope so.

Stupid mum got pissed at me today simply because I didn't wake up at 0700 and 00 secs so she screamed at me and that pretty much set the mood for the rest of the day. Safe to say I'm still not talking to her. She refused to come out of the room in the morning when we were supposed to go to Macau and instead left me and my dad in the hotel restaurant each nursing a cup of coffee with me stuffing my face with continental breakfast.

What's new.

I went to the (quote) Former Residence of Sun Yat-Sen (unquote) which is in some godforsaken place with some equally godforsaken name in China. Doesn't matter about the location because it is the only one of its kind in China. It's a pretty sprawling place, with replicas of several objects Monsieur SYS (nice name) used to use. For the uninitiated - and trust me, I was one too until I was done with this place - Sun Yat-Sen is the founder of the modern Republic of China. He overthrew the Qing dynasty and set about building up his version of democracy and equal rights for all, with the soon-to-be infamous General Chiang Kai-Shek as his right-hand man. To cut the long story short, his little Bohemia of freedom and equality to which he strived so hard to build was royally screwed after he died, when a certain man called Mao Zedong and his merry band of Communists wrested power from Chiang Kai-Shek (who acceeded to the throne of power after SYS died). CKS was forced to run - together with his party the Kuomintang, or KMT - to Taiwan, where he still is today. Not really 'cos the fella's dead now, but you can imagine what it's doing to cross-strait relations in the present.

Should be going to Macau tomorrow if mum lightens up. I hate it when she pulls one of her damned ridiculous tantrums for no freaking reason at all and just gives everyone hell. Sometimes I have absolutely no idea what the hell's wrong with her. It seems like she WANTS people to get angry just so to spoil the happy mood of the holiday. I don't care man, I'm gonna do my own things and she can keep on getting angry till the cows come home. Wanna talk, fine. Don't wanna talk, even better.




Can't stop thinking about it. It stuck with me the whole day today and I just can't get it out of my head. And boy is it a good thing.

In China

The strangest thing about here is that I can access blogspot's Dashboard page and type all this out but I cannot access my blog or any others themselves. Strange, maybe China blocked them. Stranger still that they didn't block the Dashboard page. Hmm.

One thing I've learned - no in fact, the FIRST thing I learned - while in China is to fear for your life while crossing roads. In Singapore, you have errant taxi drivers and mad pedestrians. In Guangzhou, you have ERRANT taxi drivers and MAD pedestrians. Gettit? Here, it's a free-for-all on the roads. To help you see a clearer picture of the daily traffic situation, imagine a street scene with all the rules about pedestrian safety, overtaking and basic road courtesy all thrown out the window. Replace them with utter havoc where all road markings are completely and delightfully ignored and you have yourself a typical Guangzhou road. It is that mind-bogglingly chaotic.

Today was pretty sedate. We didn't do much and we ended up just going to the hotel, grabbing lunch, walking around outside and then having dinner and then back to the hotel in which I'm typing this now. GZ's pretty chilly around this time of year, with temperatures ranging from the mid-20s to the mid-10s. It's no bad thing - I could do with some cold after all that nonsense weather back home. Tomorrow should be a more exciting read.

Love all :)

@ Where planes live

Yes, a very inane post indeed. I'm sitting at T1's Coffee Bean drinking an ice blend. Flight's at 0810 and I'm going to the gate just about soon. It's SQ805 to Guangzhou (yes yes I'm going to Hong Kong after that) and for those aviation buffs out there, it's a B777-200. Short range plane, nothing to crow about, but since the flight's only a coupla hours long I don't think that matters.

What's on my mind now is something that might seem rather morbid to some of you, but it's quite relevant. For AMMP these past few weeks our lecturer has been showing us video clips from Air Crash Investigation on the National Geographic channel and it's quite shocking in the least to see the final moments of a plane's final struggle and its plunge toward certain death. For once, I actually have a slight fear of flying. But I guess it's quite unfounded: the aviation industry has one of the, if not THE highest standards of safety to be found anywhere. It's just media hype that plays up the severity of aviation-related incidents and also that same hype that plays down the severely stringent (to the point of anal) safety and maintenance procedures the industry has to undergo.

It's 100% safety out here.

Silly me, really

The stupidest person award has to go to me.

I had just bought a pen from Popular and was holding my change of a dollar and receipt in my hand. I walked out of the shop and proceeded to fold my receipt and throw it in the dustbin outside.......


.......together with the dollar.

The minute my hand moved toward the dustbin my brain immediately lit up and screamed at me "WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR DOLLAR YOU $^^@%#$". Too late. You know those instances where your hand muscles simply move faster than your nerve conduction velocity? This is it. The second I heard the coin clink against the steel wall of the dustbin I knew I had just thrown money away, literally.

On a lighter note, I'm heading to HK and Guangzhou this Saturday so I probably won't be blogging unless I find a decent internet connection. Flight's in the morning so I'll have to wake up real early.

Who wants presents, last call for sucking up.

Coming up...

Haven't blogged for a while so a nice short entry here would do justice to all you starving readers out there who want to suck every living juice outta my private life :D.

Went out with best for lunch yesterday. I was feeling kinda generous since I hadn't seen her for so long so I treated her to lunch at Swenson's. Shan't talk about it here because I'd dilute the quintessential fun and laughter that always accompanies our meetings so I'll direct you to read it at her blog. And she definitely captures the moment better than I would have.

For the first time in a long time - in fact, for the first time - I have been party to a PR event. Ogilvy International had invited two of us down for their 'champagne and strawberries' informal media PR night and NTT and I got the lucky seats.

Exiting Raffles Place station, I realised that not only did it have like a million exits all pointing towards different directions, I also had completely forgotten to download the map of the area into my phone. Cue aimless walking and fruitless searching for damn near 15 minutes before I had a brainwave and followed the numbers on the buildings to 35 Robinson Road, The Ogilvy Centre.

Lest you people think this was some boring event with equally boring people sitting around doing nothing but talking tech, you're right. It was really full of people talking tech, but I honestly can say it wasn't in the least bit boring. I personally met the co-founder of Nuffnang ads Cheo Ming Shen or Ming for short - a fast talking and highly engaging guy, Brian Koh, Ogilvy's resident Digital Influencer (god I love that job title), DK from ping.sg who also attended Tech65's 50th bash and a host of other people whom I'm glad to have met. They were all highly engaging and sincerely interesting to talk to. Despite my age gap I surprisingly found it easy to talk to them, held my own well as I did. It wasn't easy at first, being the youngest there and having these IT professionals sitting around with glasses of champagne (I drank 2 btw) and having discussions about stuff so deep it made the Mariana Trench look like a wading pool. Slowly I made it into the conversation and I did manage to eke out a response or two.

By the end of the second glass I was really quite tired and knocked out from the long day and my eyes began closing. Luckily we ended our discussions and long debates at 9ish and headed home, but not before taking a tour around the fantabulously well-appointed Ogilvy offices. Damn it was a fun time, honest.

On a more jovial tone, I'm going to Hong Kong! Yes, on the 15th I shall be boarding a flight to HK and Guangzhou for fun and sun in the uh.........polluted air of HK whatever. Anyway point is I'm gonna have my first proper holiday in a long, long time. I'm going to visit my sister there and I'm also gonna have some fun myself. So don't miss me for I'll be back on the 23rd for some more fun.

Who wants a present this Christmas from me from HK better start sucking up now.

Thoughts 2

As you can see this entry is rather short. But how short it is is nothing compared to how long my previous one was before I deleted it and replaced it with these few lines. The original post stretched into 5 paragraphs each the length of the Mississippi and was full of emotion. Perhaps a bit too much :P. Nevertheless I decided that I wasn't ready for such an emotional declaration and hence decided it best not to be said.

Riddle

A closed shell I lie,
An opened one I usually am.
I know of no boundaries,
for I explore with ease.
I have lived many years in the shadow of accomplishments,
unheralded,
but forever faithful to serve should need be.
Knowledge and information are my watchwords,
which I manipulate with ease,
Never tiring, never ceasing.
Power is everything,
without it, I am nothing.





What am I?

Thoughts

The rain.
Who'd have ever thought it could be so relaxing to feel it, so therapeutic to walk through, so conducive to sedate thoughts and pedantic steps? Whenever I'm walking through rain, I always think of myself as some sort of army special forces person. You know in those military-themed movies, they invariably contain a scene where those blackened-face, menacing army special forces heroes are crouching in the jungle, eyes down the barrels of their weapons, sweeping their surroundings, rain pouring down on them, but never flinching, primed and ready to attack some target. They're always all muscular and deeply tanned, conditioned after years of mental and physical training. Besides being in rain as they are, the sad truth is that I have nothing else in common with them. The notion that I'm as fit or clever as them is completely rubbish. I'm about as far away from being a special forces soldier as George Bush is from being eloquent.

As they said, you've gotta have a dream.

Quickie

Hooray! Tech65 has officially turned 50! No not that old you blithering idiot, 50 as in podcast episode 50. To be quite honest there was no real and absolute sense of elation or ecstasy for me, possibly due to the fact that I wasn't in from the beginning like Jerrick and Daniel and that it was a Saturday like any other. We had our 50th megacast at our beloved Geek Terminal and boy were there plenty of people who turned up to listen to us spout our typical Saturday drivel. Naturally I knew damn near none of them there except for my group and Mike Cheng who previously was on an episode of 65Bits. Whatever the case, we had great fun there and were given an insight into the world of entrepreneurship by Bernard Leong, chair of the NUS Entrepreneurship Society and a guy with a lot on his plate, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Cheers, team, here's to many more returns of the day. Next up, 100th!

If you were wondering why I have not yet done a new post is because I had been waiting for the arrival of my new laptop which literally arrived at the last minute on Friday night, just in time for Saturday's podcast. A big, hearty thank-you to all who have expressed concern over the demise of my ex-electronic wife, whose innards are probably being destroyed as we speak. Once your wife dies it's hard to remarry, but in this case I beg to differ. My new one is literally the all-powerful. It's the Acer 4920G. Google that and I'm sure you'll agree with me that this iz da bomb, babehh. It's running on Vista and it's far smoother than I had anticipated. The only real qualm I have is about Acer (again). Acer's engineering division has always had a penchant for overlaying their proprietary interface over a completely proper, WORKING Windows interace, especially in the areas of power management and wireless connectivity. The thing is that you have to set both the Acer's and Window's system to exactly the right values so that they don't clash and give you a goddamn headache every single time you boot. I now have the wireless cutting out every time I boot when it's originally connected, which means I have to double-tap the wireless toggle button to get it back every time. What a complete annoyance.

Oh well school's back in full force and so are the projects. The next one up is my GEMS project, already underway in fact. Suffice to say I need to call upon the powers of Mr. Coffee and Adobe Premier Pro to get it all done before this Wednesday comes.

Give me strength.

This day in history

I sort of remember something that happened on this date this time last year, but I can't recall what exactly. I guess I'm left to reminisce about it and keep trying to wonder what it was. In the meantime, I think I shall do a once-over on my past entries. Ready for a long and gloomy post? Read on, me hearties.

I think it might be me, but has anyone noticed that my blog entries - except for the occasional upbeat and merry-sounding one - sound morose, downcast and exceptionally moody? After intense scrutinizing of the grammar and poring over the syntax with a fine-toothed comb, I can confidently say that despite my best efforts or lack thereof, I have managed to produce every single blog entry with just that slight shade of moodiness liberally sprinkled all over it, like a cream cake with just that hint of a dash of dark chocolate powder all over it. Intrigued? So am I.

Recently this past year, I've been party to some events: some really uplifting and exciting and fun, some however deeply depressing and mostly energy sapping. Suffice to say the depressing ones have made me somewhat of a changed person, and since they do happen more often than the happy ones, you can see which way they steer me in. You could argue that unhappiness naturally follows unhappy people and vice versa but I beg to differ.

I believe I have been blessed with the good ability to see the other side of things and their intrinsic factors and as such see the perspectives that most may not be able to, possibly due to prejudices or perhaps a simple lack of proper judgment. I am in no way demeaning others who are maybe less complex (ok let's face it, screwed up) in their thoughts and actions, it could simply be our individual upbringing that has given us different windows to see out of. Oftentimes I have helped others - friends, mostly - to see a side of circumstances that they were unable to, and subsequently complementing their overall stand on the subject, but never swaying their final decisions. I suppose some of us are able to see the big picture more times than others, and in a way it's good to convey that knowledge to your pals too - if they can stomach it.

But what happens when you do? When you have a God's-eye view over everything, you see the good, the bad and the ugly, exactly like how God sees it (no religious connotations here). And doesn't that sadden you in some way? You'd have to be a fool or incredibly blind not to feel at least a certain sense of cheerlessness in the situation. And inevitably, after a long period of time of repetitive listening-to-friends-and-helping-them-with-heartaches, you start to slowly feel a little less hopeful, a little less buoyant. Listening to your friends' problems and naturally having some of your own axiomatically induces a certain amount of melancholy in you. It is this slow creep of despondency that makes one a mournful and disconsolate person.

I've been trying to change my mood of late. Where possible, I'm always on the lookout for the brighter side of things, to see where others might fail to see and to help them see the heartier side of it all. Because when you see happiness, you're a happy person.

Ready for the ride?

This week in words

So the exams are over and so too, I hope, the dreadful incident that prompted that entry below. Won't say no more.

Outing with Jerold and Patrick was the first proper outing I've had with the guys since a long while, and it was fantastic all the way. Although Gilbert wasn't there cos he's busy being an Asian in Florida, we're still gonna meet up on the 7th for some real gaming action plus staying over, but that's something for another time.

Best came to visit yesterday at work. I was so surprised, it just bowled me over to see her standing there. It took me slightly over 4 seconds to recognize her and stumble backwards, cos I was squatting on the floor, counting stuff. That visit sure brightened up my day no end. It was just so nice to be surprised. Sigh :)

Had to help the Sabster and Lina with their debate, and that brought back so many memories during secondary school, where I had my debates in class, and the immensely tiring and headache-inducing preparations we had to make. Truth be told I would rather have not been in that debate, if I hadn't been chosen. I was stuttering so badly it sounded like I had the shakes bad. Ah well, that's over now, ha ha.


I'm not the pheasant plucker, I'm the pheasant plucker's son. I sit here plucking feathers till the pheasant plucker comes.

Try saying that without ending up saying "pleasant fucker" with every sentence =D

Untitled

I don't know what to say, do, or think.

These past few days haven't been easy for me because of the exams, and now this has just been dropped into my lap. For the first time in a long time, I just broke down and I didn't stop. I wouldn't care a second if somebody else said it, but it was you who said that to me, and that just made me stop.


I'm not going to say it wasn't my fault that I did that. I really do deeply apologize. I overstepped a line there which I didn't see, and I accept any kind of ill-feeling you have toward me. It should have been common sense to me but I obviously lacked proper judgment at that time, so I ask you to forgive me. What made it so unpalatable to stomach however was your utter directness in telling me that. Told nicely, I'm receptive and will understand. But the manner in which you said it was simply too much for me to take. It was harsh, direct, and accusing. I'm your friend, close friend, not your enemy. You talk to people you don't like in that manner, to people whom you distrust or don't fancy. I understand you, even when you don't say it, so why the sudden change? I cannot help feeling that your words mean something much deeper, and I can't help thinking in that way too. If you want to talk about it, I'm most forthcoming. But if you don't want to, that leaves me completely perplexed. Please, give me some time to talk it out with you. I need that time. It'll mean more to me than anything else right now. If I could have things my way I would turn back the clock to a time before it all happened. But I can't.

Please, help me help us.

I'm over it

Yep as you guessed it, Math paper was over and I'm over it. Same feeling as my old math paper. Two papers, separated by 6 months, geared toward the same goal: making my life as fucking miserable as possible. BUT NO YOU DICK DON'T GIVE UP, IT'S NOT THE END YET!

Kind of got hot-headed toward Best last night, really feeling bad about it. I got a bit frustrated over why she was so moody and bottled up about those things, and I guess I just flared when she gave me a tersely worded answer. Hope she's all right - she hasn't replied my email which I sent last night. The last thing she needs is me adding to her problems.

Changing gears, literally, I think I need to get back to my driving, pronto. I haven't been behind the wheel for quite some time now ever since e-learning week and that disastrous attempt at directional-change. I hope to get some roadtime after my exams are over.

Bloody Acer. WHERE THE HELL IS MY LAPTOP!

Wanting you to be wanting me,
No that ain't the way to be,
How I feel, read my lips,
Because I'm so over it,
Moving on, it's my time,
You never were a friend of mine,
Hurt at first, a little bit,
But now I'm so over it

Examinationings

So it is here.

Analogue Comms Systems (ACS) - today, 1730-1900
Maths - 1030 - 1200
Circuit Analysis - 0830 - 1000
Physics - 1030 - 1200
AMMP (Aircraft Materials Make Pots, or something like that) - 0830 - 1000


Hooked onto Katharine McPhee's Ordinary World. Such a tuneful melody, coupled with the fact that a seriously pretty chick is singing it. What's not to like?

Monday blues

Argh...

I hate Mondays.

I hate hating Mondays.

It seriously sucks hating to hate Mondays.

And if you understood all that then you're smarter than me.

*

On a more serious note, I don't think I'll be posting anything this coming week. Exams are around the corner and I really need to hit the books hard, which much of late I haven't been doing. Might be adding in an arbitrary entry here and there if I have the time and gumption, I reckon, but don't expect much. I'm really on the edge now, seeing that the tests are so close. I WANNA GO 3RD YEAR LA.

obviously I'm not getting the full picture here.
exactly what's preventing you from doing that?
you're not exactly being an angel here.
I know how I feel about you now.

Work rocks on a Friday

So Calendars test was fine and I got through it in one piece. I got a donut from Audrey and a rainy day at work. Bear in mind that I'm typing this at 0019 so my thoughts may be a bit manic and very straightfoward. It's me at my best.

Work was fine today till something happened. Something that stunned me speechless. And those who know me well know that I can't shut up easily.

Let's first start off with the usual disclaimer that this entry in no way demeans or decries Section 377A of the 11th chapter of verse 15...whatever.

We were changing shifts at work, right, when the next person comes in. Now I've been wanting to talk about this person for a long time. Imagine a man. Now imagine a girly man. Now imagine a woman. Now imagine a girly man trying to be a woman. Now imagine that man actually SUCCEEDING in being a woman. Truth be told I absolutely cannot be certain whether he or she is male or female or both. No Adam's apple but has boobs, no bulge in pants but has womanly behaviour. Right. So anyway, he/she comes in, soaking wet cos it's raining outside and he/she isn't wearing a bra. No further elaboration needed, and that's just the start.

So me and the Indian girl are done with the cashiering duties and the Hemale (let's not make it too obvious, shall we) is standing around, looking kooky and generally being a nuisance, which is forever the case. We're done and all 3 of us step outside for a puff and some beer. Naturally I partook in none of those vices, just minding my own business and tapping away on my Palm, being very businesslike indeed. We shoot the shit for awhile and we're off, the Indian girl and I. We chat for a bit cos we're headed in the same direction and we suddenly realise we've forgotten to count the cigarette packets, as is the practice. So I volunteer and go back to the store in the rain.

Stepping in, the Hemale calls out to me and asks Hey what u doing? I reply with a friendly "Oh nothing, just forgot to count the cig packs. But I'll be done in no time."

Hemale: "Cannot leh, my shift already. I have to fill it in. "
Me: "Oh then you help me la, ha ha."
Hemale: " Cannot la, you must treat me"
(at this point I'm already in the office in the backroom)
Me: "So what kind of treat you want?"
(thinking back I should NEVER EVER have said that, and I was getting very jumpy at this time)
Hemale (with seriously creepily sexy voice): "I dunno leh. What you want to treat me?"
Me: "Ha ha I also dunno man."
Hemale: "You show me what you have la."

Uh OK, I'm a very open and understanding person and I understand that you have the sudden urge for hardcore gay sex or to see my private appendages, and I also understand that I want to get the fuck out of there as fast as humanly possible. I mean, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, standing in the office face to face with a braless tranny and being asked whether I wanted to show it off isn't my idea of fun. So naturally I mumbled some rubbish and hightailed it out of there as fast as my legs would allow.

Just came home all shaking and shivering. And it's not due to the the cold rain.

Tomorrow's a holiday!

Yay it's a holiday tomorrow = sleep in late, and possibly - repeat, POSSIBLY - getting a new phone. More on that later, I promise :D

I've gotten the new Gmail layout! OK not exactly a new layout cos it looks exactly like the old one if anything, but several things have been spruced up. It could be just me but I THINK that it has been slowed down a bit. Not too sure, also more on that later.

I've finally chosen my FYP. That's Final Year Project in poly-speak. What it is, basically, is a year-long project you perform together with your group in Year 3. It's going to demand a lot and basically will take up the bulk of our time in Year 3. I'm doing it together with Audrey and Weller, minus Mr Tay Yiming because he obviously is way too smart and so obviously has to be separated from the rest of us peasants.

I might be doing something on OLEDs, which stands for Organic Light Emitting Diodes. This project apparently requires some R&D to be done, plus some training which apparently is so serious that I need to cancel my China trip to train in school. What that means is that both Audrey and I have to cancel our respective overseas trips and perform our industry attachments with the school. In short, my attachment = training in school in preparation for the project. I'm OK with canceling my China trip - at least I haven't paid yet - but I'm thinking more about Audrey. I know her Philippines trip means a lot to her and I'm just that bit worried that she mightn't be comfortable. Hope I can talk to her about it...hmm.

MST's coming up. STRESS STRESS STRESS. ICH HABE STRESS.

On a Tuesday, I....

AMMP mechanical! Mein Gott I have no idea how I survived that. Drill holes here, round an edge there, chop some shit off...jesus it was hard work. Audrey and I worked like crazy over that little piece of aluminum - drawing lines all across it to make sure our holes were drilled properly and that the sheet could be bent to tolerance. I think it has been the hardest I've ever worked over a piece of metal...if ever. But I'm still looking forward to the next mechanical lab session. It's great fun, seriously: Audrey and I work like a good team.

Oh well. Next up is some damn thing to do with screwing. Uh, screws. It damn well better be interesting.

Got a truckload of stuff to do later, might as well get started now. Seems like the workload is never ending and the stress ever increasing. Mid Semestral Test is just around the corner and some studying needs to be done. Scratch that - make that A LOT.

Feel like typing some sorta thoughtful and typically insightful post *again* but I simply haven't the time to do that. Maybe when Saturday comes, or when I'm done with work on Friday at night, so all you lovely people out there can take it easy and read my equally lovely entry through the weekend.

Hey there Khalilah

Oh God this video just cracks me up no end whenever I view it. Listen to the lyrics, sung to the tune of Plain White Ts's Hey There Delilah. This is just so fucking funny, if you'll pardon my french.

Plain White T's, eat your heart out. This version PWNS you.

Randomity and the E-Learning week

*cracks knuckles, wiggles fingers* aaaahh. Feels so good to be doing a randomity post; haven't done one for a while now.

School's starting tomorrow, and the E-learning week's drawing to a close. To be quite honest it has been the most useless week ever. The concept in itself is fine: to be able to study from home and pace yourself out. BUT come on SP, most of us would rather go to school and do some proper studying than get bogged down by tons of computer games and stacks of food lying around at home. Or is it just me?

Work yesterday was in short, chaotic. I have realised one thing: the longer the hours, the more calamitous the cock-ups. The first few hours were predictable harried because I had forgotten how to do some cashiering procedures and I had to relearn all of them in the grand space of 5 minutes. Worst cock-up came at the 11th hour, literally at 2300 when I was about to knock off. This woman came in and bought some stuff, and I proceeded to scan them. She handed me her Nets card, after which I proceeded to tap the button on the register to signal she was "Nets-ing it!" or whatever. Problem was: there was no Nets terminal at the register I was working on. Cue frantic button pressing, a system hang, a complete restart to the computer and one black face. Total cock-up time: 15 minutes. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my parents, sisters, uncle..................

Whatever.

Results of McLaren's appeal to the FIA regarding the apparent technical misconduct of BMW and Williams will be known next week. I'm hoping that nothing will come of it because it will be a sad day for motor racing if Lewis Hamilton won on a technicality instead of on his own merit. If both Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg get penalised and demoted, it would mean the rookie taking 4th, effectively bringing him up in the points and winning the World Championship. Kimi would be devastated. Cross fingers, really.

Acer has called with some really heartening and delightful news. Turns out that my repair costs are now a tick more than what was previously quoted. So instead of the princely sum of 500, I'm now paying a staggering 718. That's damage to the keyboard, motherboard, video card and some cabling for you. I've said it once and I'll say it again: how the f*** can a 5 buck latte wreak so much havoc on a $1800 laptop?

if the future looks bleak, don't fear,
for another chance will always be here.
cling to whatever last vestiges of hope ,
because that's your boat,
if you think you can do it, you probably can,
for the strength of the human mind,
renders you to all but the truth blind,
but if you despair,
then be prepared,
for the person who ultimately does choose,
is the person who stands in your shoes.

E-learning...help....me....dying....

Yeah let's see you try to survive e-learning week, punk :(

Today's driving wasn't bad at all. I got back that ex-Air Force guy whom I had as instructor a coupla months back. He really isn't strict in the absolute sense of the word; he's just really thorough and wants things to be done properly, not wishy-washy, and I can think I can allude that manner to the way he dealt (yes, dealt) with me during lesson today. He practically criticized every move I made during driving. Oh well, I think I was really wasn't concentrating. I hadn't had lunch before that, ha ha. Don't blame me man. But thanks to him, I really know where I'm going wrong now. Directional-change is hell, let me just say.

I just wanna say a big SORRY to Joyce for not being able to attend her birthday dinner tonight. For those who know me, you know my mum doesn't exactly allow me out to dinner with friends, especially not now since I haven't exactly been very studious. Hope next Friday's meeting is enough to pacify her. I really feel extremely bad about not going, not least of all because she invited me, but because she made some arrangements with someone to do something, details of which I shall not mention cos it's private, lah. So sorry, Joyce. Dinner's on me Friday.

Just Thinking Back...

Alert: this is not an emo post


Just listening to that song brought the very slightest prick of tears to my eyes. I still remember how it felt like to be together then. I think I can, because she was my first true significant other half. How times have changed since :) I remember everything like it was yesterday, even down to what I was wearing. That song just epitomized the very feelings I was experiencing then. True by Ryan Cabrera is it.

How Amy and I have grown since those years. We're the closest of friends now, as some of you may know. We go out every now and then, and for some reason, after a long period of silence, we simply just start from where we left off. I don't believe in coincidences and I honestly think she's a God-send. Bear with my apparent mushiness here but I do mean it. She ranks right up there with all my close friends - Cat High or other - in the category of "If-I-hadn't-met-you-I'd-have-not-been-me-now". These are people I'd be willing to give whatever it takes to keep the friendship strong and burning. We're all human and we needs friends to rely on at some point in time, and she's one of them I'd pick any day. Any day. How the times, both past and present, have catalyzed and forged our friendship to what it is today.

I wouldn't trade it in for the world. Not ever.

Song

""Alanis Morrisette - Ironic

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic ... don't you think

Chorus
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought ... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
'Well isn't this nice...'
And isn't it ironic ... don't you think

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

It's a traffic jam when you're already late
It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic... don't you think
A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think...

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out""




Isn't it strange how life is so contradicting at times. Sometimes it hits you in the back of the head where you can't see it, yet other times it gives you a pat on the back and tells you "job well done". Sometimes it helps you, sometimes it ditches you. Sometimes it lifts you up, sometimes it lets you fall with no intention of ever helping you up. Sometimes it smiles, sometimes it cries.

Sometimes it's awful, but sometimes...it's great. Absolutely great.

Today! Ha.

"Hello. I baked cookies with the EXCLUSIVE Ms. Amy today.
She's a natural at baking, I swear. The cookies tasted FABulous and she sure brightened up my day.


And no she doesn't owe me any money. I owe her $$.
I need to return it to her as soon as possible, remind me.


YEAH RIGHT.
Amy here, like whatever, cause someone's too lazy to blog.
BOO."


Yes thank you Miss Ling. She blogged that for me but I'm now here to make it sound that much more subtle and not so in-your-face yes. I did bake cookies with her today and I did indeed burn half my damn kitchen doing that but it was all proper fun. Thanks best :)

Driving was fan-f******-tastic today. Now I can move off on a slope properly and not stall anymore! I think at this rate I'll usurp Lewis Hamilton in no time and surpass Schuey in good order. OK I exaggerate, because I did stall once and that was because my foot wasn't depressing the accelerator whereas I thought it was and I conveniently took my foot off the clutch. Boom. Engine died. But despite that today was seriously smooth driving. I think I've really gotten the hang of the whole clutch-shift-declutch-accelerate thing. It's so natural to me now.

Wait till tomorrow's lesson comes, ha.

Acer still hasn't called me on the status of my repair yet, which could possibly mean either a) the tech passed out due to expired coffee fumes or b) it's all black inside, no racist joke intended. I think it could possibly be due to the fact that I remembered giving them the wrong password to access my computer. Oops, sorry Acer. CALL ME.

Aiya, wanted to type some introspective, philosophical and typically boring post here but guess it'll have to wait for another day. It'll make this long post even more boring and dry than it already is.

ARGH LAPTOP WOES 2.0

So there we have it. Mum's decided to repair my Acer at the grand(father) cost of a stately $500, give or take a few tens, reason being a brand new laptop (much as I'd love to have one MACBOOK) is still way more expensive than getting mine repaired for that sum. Byebye Inspiron, byebye Portege, byebye Vaio, byebye Ferrari.

And my bloody driving lessons are seriously expensive. To date I have spent damn near $1272.64 for all lessons and theory tests combined. If anyone wants to start to learn driving, well, consider that. But never mind. Lewis Hamilton's dad took on two jobs to support him through karting. If Lewis Hamilton can make it to Formula 1, so can I.

I think.

Next week's e-learning week, yay! I'm planning on going to study at Burger King at Thomson Plaza. Yeah, a first for me since a) I rarely study and b) I don't go out to study, cos I think it's distracting and doesn't make you productive. But I think I might have been wrong there because I've been to that Bk outlet and it's really nice to be there. Hardly any crowd during lunch and there are always few people about when it's not. A near-perfect setting for me then. So if any one of you wants to keep me company, you know where to start looking.

Acer, Acer, Acer. By the time I'm done with you my combined train fare will be more than the repair costs.

Have I got news for you

Yes laugh all you like - at my red uniform and name tag which both read 7-Eleven. Which is exactly where I'm working now, cos I feel like earning some spare cash on the side.

First day was both stressful and exciting. I have never done a cashiering job till now and I like to think that I've gotten the hang of it rather quickly. *Item comes, flash it at the laser barcode reader, bag it, tell the customer the cost, take his money (w00t), repeat the amount given, punch the appropriate buttons, give him change from the till, close it, give him everything*. Sounds easy yes.

Nope.

Predictably I think I screwed up around 3 times, resulting in several embarrassing moments. This lady came in and bought two cigarette packs and I ended giving her more change than needed. Lest you think I'm running 7-11 4 K1D5 1n N33D, I sure as hell am not. I swear I punched in the correct amount and all, but perhaps it was in the heat of the moment that my finger slipped on the screen - strange as that may sound - and hit the wrong number. But no matter, because after nearly 15 minutes worth of frantic sawing back and forth about prices and change, I got it right. Other than that unfathomably stupid ballyhoo, things were smooth.

It's nice to work a 1800-2300 shift on a Friday night because you get to see all the sorts of weirdos that walk in to buy something or other. I think the most common sight was of people buying either liquor or cigarettes or getting drunk while doing both. This guy who came in at about 10, was the strangest. He was well dressed, but shuffled his feet as though unsure of where to walk next, which was probably exactly what he was thinking. He smelled like a thousand bottles of Jim Beam and he spent nearly half an hour in the store, buying the oddest things. And he didn't buy them in a bunch - bit by bit he did it. First came the sweets, then the bread, then the Panadol Menstrual tablets, then the ice cream, then the newspaper. I haven't the faintest idea why he bought the Panadols but I assume he had some otherworldly use for them. When I told him that he had mistakenly handed me his bank transaction receipt together with his money, he just gave me this huge grin stretching to Mars and walked, sorry shuffled, away. And then there was the woman and her two guy friends who damn near bought the entire store.

Talk about odd.

Next shift's on the 2nd at 7 again. Hope I don't screw up too much man. Guys, pay me a visit, y'all.

It's a long day...yes...

Kinda pissed off for no particular reason, cos my head's about to explode from this stupid headache of mine, so this entry will be short before I short.

Had lab practical today and we learned about cable ties and all that, i.e. how to tie cables together and how to clamp them to the fuselage, which essentially was some sheet of perforated metal in the lab. Dominic and I did it together cos it was pair work. We started at around 4 and only ended slightly before 7 because he had mistakenly thought that the cable lacings were to be cut closer to the knot but in reality weren't supposed to be. So we had to do 3 more cable lacings just to please the lecturer. Oh well, not like I had no fault in it all too :P my cable lacings were so loose they might as well have not been there.

Gonna pay a visit to Acer for the last time tomorrow (hopefully) to get back my destroyed laptop, unrepaired. I'll be going to Sim Lim to get an evaluation from one guy whom I know there and see whether it's worth it to replace the mainboard or just chuck the whole thing and get a new one. Cross fingers really.

Quiz!

Kind, yearning, playful, you are The Boy Next Door. You're looking for real Love, a lot like girls do. It might not be manly, but it's sweet.

We think the next three years will be very exciting and fruitful ones for you. Your spontaneous, creative side makes you a charming date, and we think you have a horny side just waiting to shine. Or glisten, rather. You enter new relationships unusually hopeful, and the first moments are especially glorious. If you've had some things not work out before, so what.

On paper, most girls would name the Boy Next Door as their ideal mate. In the real world, however, you're often passed over for more dangerous or masculine men. You're the typical "nice guy:" without just a touch of cockiness, you're doomed with girls. A shoulder to cry on? Okay, sure. But never a penis to hold.

More than any other type, Boys Next Door evolve as they get older. As we said, many find true love, but some fail miserably in the search. These tarnished few grow up to be The Men Next Door, who are creepy as hell, offering backrubs to kids and what not.

Oh well. Now you know why my relationships don't last long :P and I always end up having the girl I like passing me over for the dragon-boater.

And I swear I haven't any idea about that 'horny' part.

Untitled

But why cry over it? It's not like it was a bad thing. You couldn't have known. Stop those tears, boy.

Tilly Tuesday? Hmm...

Guess the only thing weighing down my mind right now is exactly how much it might cost to repair my laptop. Even unofficially, the tech quoted me these figures:

motherboard - $300
cpu - $700

doesn't take a degree in rocket science to figure out that that's gonna be one hell of a bill. Haven't the foggiest idea how my parents are gonna react to it but please please please, for the love of god, just let only the motherboard be screwed. I can live with $300, but not $1000...-melts and dies.

So I've decided to work at 7-Eleven to try to pay off that hefty sum. No really, I have. I was having my hair cut today when the lady doing it and I had a chat about working part time. I swear it was the most psychic conversation I have ever had because on my way home - for some reason - I walked into my neighbourhood 7-Eleven for a bag of chips, and a sign on the wall advertising for staff caught my eye. Couldn't be freakier. I promptly signed up on the spot and now I'm gonna be working there part-time. Say yay for extra moolah, babehh.

So the Kimster's the Man of the Moment now. Well I'd say that was a superb race he drove. Nary a foot wrong. A heartbreaking seventh for Hamilton in a race which saw him with gearbox problems and screwed driving. Not that he drove badly, but I guess things weren't meant to go his way at the very end. No doubt he put up a heroic fight to come in 7th as he did, but it just wasn't enough to win the championship in his rookie season, which would have made history right there and then. No worries Hammy. Next season.

Next season.

Singing the blues on a Monday...

Yeah yeah. I saw what you typed to him about me. I'm 'eeyur' . Well tell you what, honeybun: I don't give a flying fuck what you think about me. In fact, I don't care how you even look at me. This diatribe - no means an admittance that I care - is a reflection of my disposition towards you. Obviously my acts of civility towards you have gone absolutely unnoticed. What's a guy to do?


Stayed back late today - after a hilarious Monday, which saw half the lecture theater empty for AMMP lecture - to help Lina and Sab with their CRS essays again. I think obviously my previous effort wasn't of much use because they came right back with errors all over my sentences, which obviously says a lot about my wonderfully deteriorated language :(

Booking in my TravelMate with Acer service at Jurong East tomorrow. Right now I'm hoping that I can come up with some kind of devious scheme to get them to repair my laptop without me having to shell out any considerable sum, especially since such an accident is definitely NOT covered under any kind of warranty, no matter how generous.

That's my Monday, actually. Pretty neat, huh?

On a Sunday, I....

So my computer's still not booting up...annnnnd I'm gonna be dead for tomorrow's math quiz. YM has kindly lent me the use of his laptop, which is great. A big thank-you to all who have expressed concern over the demise of my electronic friend. Strange isn't it, that we now express the same level of concern we do over an electronic gadget - a non-living, inanimate thing - as we do over an actual living, breathing human. I wonder..... :)

Last race of the season and I'm staying up till 12 to watch it. No prizes for guessing who I'll be backing. It'll be close, 3 drivers in contention for World Champion not since 21 years back. If I were alive back then I'd have definitely rooted for Mansell. He's just such a fantastic driver.

Can't help feeling just that little bit something for you..
But should I? Once bitten, twice shy..
Maybe I should try..

Coffee + laptop = certain death

But I swear it was a complete and total accident.

So there I was at Geek Terminal, helping with the filming of the Creative Aurvana X-Fi headset that we had had in our possession for some weeks. We had just finished and were talking about some stuff, deciding on a certain something which I can't recall. Daniel then asked to borrow a laptop, and since mine happened to be nearby (I didn't look, but I knew. Duh.), I conveniently turned around to grab it......

.....but didn't quite make it there.

My hand, traveling at a blinding rate, promptly came into contact with Fari's tall latte glass, the contents of which were unfinished. I never actually saw the glass fall, but it obviously did because the next minute it had unceremoniously dumped its contents all over my computer, which was on at the time. PSSSSHHHH. I cannot describe how loud my utterance of vulgarity was but it did turn heads everywhere in the place. Daniel and NTT promptly set about helping me mop up the sodding mess with a million paper towels while I tried desperately to hold back tears of anguish and frustration welling up inside me (just kidding). I think if I could I would have just shouted F***F***F***F***F*** the entire time. I couldn't believe my complete and utter stupidity.

I have just taken apart the computer to get at the keyboard and have already cleaned it up. However, it's still not booting up. The lights come on, the fan whirrs, the harddrive spins, but nothing happens to the screen. I think I might have short-circuited the motherboard or something equally important inside. NTT told me not to touch it for at least a week but I really can't go without it for school use. I MUST get it to work or I'll be screwed for the quiz with which I must use a computer. I'll have to book it into Acer's service center at Jurong East to get it all sorted out ASAP. I just hope I haven't really caused the death of it by shorting out some sort of important circuit. If I really have done that, I haven't the faintest idea what I'm gonna do.

On a Thursday, I...

So there I was, dragging myself out of bed on a bright sunny Thursday morning to set off for school. Obviously I had no business going to school at 7 in the morning on a Thursday, but I did promise Lina and Sab that I'd help them with their CRS write-up, so I did just that. Digressing, I'd say that my language has markedly dropped since the days of secondary school and the beginning of poly. But retaining that hope of reverting to my former glory days isn't far from my mind, for if I keep practicing language, it'll eventually come back to me. It's all about the oiling. 

School was the dreariest affair ever recorded in human history ever. I even managed to sleep during Prakash's Physics lecture. Correction: I slept AFTER his Physics lecture. Bloody hell. The lack of proper sleep really does catch you unawares at times. Again, a dreary affair ensued after that for AMMP practical. I got pissed off because I couldn't get the damn wires to strip to tolerance, i.e. I was supposed to get a little peek of 1/32 inches of bare wire away from the metal head. I kept getting it JUST right, which wasn't supposed to happen, and I had to redo all the damn heads again.

Dinner was fun with Sabrina and Lina (rhymes!) at Bugis, after much deliberation and argument and huh-why-are-we-not-going-(fillintheblanks). Two very chatty and extremely amiable girls, I'm sure you'll agree. I had to cab home from Novena because I was bloody late in going home and I knew my mum would scream bloody murder if I wasn't back soon. 

So here I am, writing my blog, trying to stay awake, but slept like a log.....

What...?

Gosh, I guess I have to say I never saw this coming. I admit that I did get a shock. I mean, I never took her for the sort of person who'd take to such a vice. She's decent, she is. But why? What could possibly be the reason? I have to fully admit that I do not enjoy company around people who take to such a vice. It's utterly and absolutely reviling. I grew up with the firm teachings of never even comtemplating going near that dastardly SOD and I'm not about to break that imbued moral. I cannot help but just feel very sad for her. I don't think I'll be able to talk her out of it: I haven't been in proper contact with her for some time now. I just passionately hope that she'll come to her senses and please, please not do it anymore. 

I'm....Bad to the Bone

On the day I was born, the nurses all gathered 'round
And they gazed in wide wonder, at the joy they had found
The head nurse spoke up, and she said leave this one alone
She could tell right away, that I was bad to the bone
Bad to the bone
Bad to the bone
B-B-B-B-Bad to the bone
B-B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-B-Bad
Bad to the bone

I broke a thousand hearts, before I met you
I'll break a thousand more baby, before I am through
I wanna be yours pretty baby, yours and yours alone
I'm here to tell ya honey, that I'm bad to the bone
Bad to the bone
B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-Bad
Bad to the bone

I make a rich woman beg, I'll make a good woman steal
I'll make an old woman blush, and make a young woman squeal
I wanna be yours pretty baby, yours and yours alone
I'm here to tell ya honey, that I'm bad to the bone
B-B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-B-Bad
Bad to the bone

Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. I LOVE this song!

Thoughts P.2

Why do I try so hard to be smaller?

Weren't we all born to stand up, stand out?

Hitherto I've been letting myself down,

My visage, a veneer of a smile,

No less a forced grimace

Why?

So that I can let you stand out,

At my expense?

Why so many a time others have succeeded,

Where I have encountered perceived failure,

Is it I?

Assiduous avoidance is not the solution.

It is time I let myself shine through,

BECAUSE I AM WHO I AM, AND I AM PROUD OF BEING WHO I AM.

Thoughts

When the time comes, will you be man enough to stand up for freedom?

When the urgency arises, will you be brave enough to shoulder arms?

When dawn breaks, will you fight alongside your brothers?

When the light fades, will you be the peoples' beacon?

When the bugles sound, will you defend what's yours?

When the defining moment approaches,

will you do what's right?

Nope, didn't go.

So I ended up not going out with best. It's a long story, don't wanna say it (hint: parents), but it's none of her fault, only mine. I'm just feeling like I've deeply disappointed her. I had already promised her nearly a month back that I'd bring her out, yet this stuff happens on the exact day and exact time. Fate couldn't be any more cruel even if it had tried. Mood: deeply downcast. Hope I can make it up to her.

Is it me or does it seem like more people are writing highly 'intellectual' posts nowadays? An abstract fictional story here, a musing there with a smattering of politics thrown in for good measure. I think it's high time I stepped up to the podium and let people know that still inside me lies a burning desire and dare I say it, passion for good writing. I used to be able to write many a good essay, having inspiration just hit me like a bolt of proverbial lighting and translating it into a ream of ideas and smooth prose. The enjoyment was deeply fulfilling. 

But now (yes fellas, you can start sentences with 'but' now. The language is evolving, no joke) it isn't easy for me to write as well as I did. Ideas simply evade me, inspiration shys away and even vocabulary, once rich, has now descended into the dark realm of mere adequacy and oft-incorrect usage. A constant sense of dread hangs in the air as I attempt a piece of writing, fearful of the thought that I could have, should have written it better but HOW, HOW. I constantly second guess, fret, pore over written work, fearful that somehow, somewhere there has been a sentence that has been untouched by divine power and somehow, somewhere I can make it whole again. It is a never ending game of the how. But pieces should never veer into verboseness and verbiage, no matter the cost, no matter the idea. Balance must be struck.

On a Saturday, I....

Strangely, that didn't come as a complete and utter shock to me. I think some part of me knew it all along. Remember, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Take a look at them if you don't believe it.

Standard Saturday. Podcast in the morning at Tech65 HQ, birthplace of Tech65, whereitallstartedblablabla, aka Jerrick's house. I have just one word to say about his 360: SWEET. Graphics were simply too amazing to speak of. OK a bit of swakooness but heck, it's not like I've owned a single gaming console in my entire existence here on earth. Famous last words "Macs never crash".Yeah Right, Jerrick. His MacBook went bonkers and had to be restarted, resulting in the loss of 30-odd minutes of podcast, which meant we had to do it all over again, which also means that Macs do suck sometimes like Wintels. It's all about circuit boards, baby. All the same.

Gosh I think my Saturday just ended. Booooooring. Oh yeah, still have one more thing to accomplish.

That card.

Upcoming

I'm bloody hungry now.

Just came back not too long ago from accompanying ________ to buy _______'s _____. Fill in the blanks as you please. ________ wasn't too convinced with my explanation for dropping off at Outram Park but aiya, it'll all be revealed very soon.

Sunday's a good day - gonna bring Amy out for lunch and some walking about. Haven't seen her in a long time, seriously pleased to be able to. Hope my wallet can stomach the day man, I've been seriously skimping on lunch these past weeks but NO IT HASN'T WORKED. I haven't the foggiest idea where the bloody hell my money has gone. I get my allowance at the start of the week and by Wednesday half of it is gone. What the hell.

What else what else...ah yes the Tokyo Motor Show. It's running as we speak, plenty of concepts being launched there, especially Mazda's concepts. I haven't any idea who designs Mazda's cars but it sure as hell isn't a human. My god I mean, just LOOK at the designs recently: the Hakaze was fan-F******-tastic. Some design elements were carried over to the RX-8, which I think was just inspired.

Ferrari joins A1GP. Yes it's a bit like Michael Schumacher announcing that he's gone on to host The Price is Right, which is probably the most retarded form of entertainment I've ever seen, but there's more to it. For the 2008 season, Ferrari has been contracted to design and build the engines and consult on the manufacture of the new A1GP car, according to topgear.com. The new A1GP car will sport the legend 'Powered by Ferrari' on its flanks. Nice touch, eh. How many people can have claimed to have driven a proper Ferrari, even in A1.

I want to drive one.

Randomity and school so far

"Staying alive...staying alive...ah ah ah ah staying aliiiiiiiiiiive.."

Oh yes. Randomity. School's been really rather many a happy occasion for me, chiefly not least because some niggling problems have been solved, getting a really heavy burden off me. And oh, some other things too. But no matter if I can't list them all off, they've really helped to make my week a deeply unforgettable and enjoyable one.

Just downloaded Crazy Train and I couldn't remember the name of the mad rocker until Renhao popped up and told me Ozzy was to blame. I kept thinking Marilyn Manson or someone with that sort of rocker-ish name, because a refrain from Manson's version of Sweet Dreams appeared in that song. The Hey Song's now in me harddrive as well! I've heard it plenty times in dance movies and the like, you know, cheerleading films, etc. Such an enjoyable piece.

Oh and I went out with Joyce and met her friend Peiying as well. Haven't seen Joyce in a proper long time, and boy she still hasn't changed one bit. Dinner was at Mos Burger then it was off to a bit of a walkaround at Toa Payoh central. Her friend's quite chatty actually, despite me having the impression of her being quiet at first. Maybe it was my stupefying presence that she dared not speak in fear of me not understanding. We walked around, or at least I attempted to tag around, looking very much the proverbial third leg (grins) but I thoroughly enjoyed their company, as I hope they did mine. Walked around to Toa Payoh park where we had a good chat and Joyce had a good shat. I admit I was surprised at my ability to converse with Peiying rather smoothly. I mean, whatcha expect of my female-dealing skills after spending 10 years in a monastery?

School's in for another long day tomorrow, I'm prepared.

Shit where's my bag?