Golden Bowl

well, as expected, i dint do too well at the bowling league yesterday, i only averaged 154, the lowest among the four of us. i guess i just need to built up familarity with the alley; i hate those lanes. Victor's has so much better lane conditions. from the looks of it, i think its going to be really hard for me to break 200 over here. Loy was by far the best player we had, although he dint had the highest scores, but he really impressed me with his predictable sparing. its really amazing how effortlessly he manages to clear all those spares. both ken and rick were impressed too. i hope i do better next week, if i get to play again.

anyhow, we have now come to the last day of the year. in retrospect, this year hasnt been much for me. i spent the first half of it on my attachment. it was kinda busy so i dint really do much besides that. aside from my weekly bowling sessions, i dint really have much of a life outside office hours. things dint exactly perk up once the attachment was over. School started and i sorta wasted away the entire term. i guess i was lucky to scrap through with Bs and Cs.

as for the new year. hmm... i resolve to expand my social circle more. that means i need to get to know more bank babes from Surfers(u read my blog! so u know what to do!^_^) as well as more bowling babes from ken and rick!

heh heh.

i also resolve to improve my bowling average to at least a 170+. its not easy but i think it is achievable. maybe a new ball might speed things up.using the same ball for about 7 years means its about time for an upgrade.

on a more serious note, i hope i can finish my degree smoothly. it has been a long and ardous journey, and now that its finally nearing completion, i hope for there to be no surprises.

Light headed?

well i went and had a hair cut yesterday partly due to the IPPT AWOL thing, but also because long hair is getting really hot for me to bear with. for those who don't know, i have shoulder length hair. but the very fact that i have somewhat curly hair means my hair sorta curls up at the ends and tickles my neck. anyway now that i have short hair, my head feels really light. Wooo.though i think the hairstylist sorta screwed up my hairstyle. i mean, its ok, PROVIDED i style it the way he did, which involves some deft hands as well as liberal amounts of hair wax. and i have neither the time(cos i'm a lazy SOB) nor the skill to do it.

anyway i've just gotten myself involved in a bowling league at an alley at marina south. its on fridays and i hope i can spare the time to participate on a regular basis once the new semester starts. i just hope i dont let my team down. hahaha. cos it seems that i am the weakest link.-_-"

 

Where's the snow?

So today is christmas, but it feels the same as yesterday. Or any other day for that matter. i guess christmas has never been a special day for me. as for this year, its very much a lonely christmas. my mother, sister and brother are spending christmas in taiwan and my father is on a trip to penang. i dun really mind the whole house to myself, in fact, i dun really mind being alone at all. i sort of like being by myself. as a matter of fact, i dun like crowds. things are so much simpler when there are lesser people involved. i guess i'm not much of a people's person.

anyway, normally on a sunday, i'll be bowling with some people at marina south. i almost never know who will turn up. for me, i always go down and see if there's anyone there that i know. although lately, i've been bowling with the same ol' people. come to think of it, i've been bowling there for more than 8 years now, on an on-and-off basis. so why am i not there now? cos its bloody christmas, thats why. about 4 bucks per game, thats why.

Eve of the eve

well, subject registration today went without a hitch. this was in stark contrast with last semester, where a split second delay in clicking the "Submit" button results in failure to register a subject. i was more than ready for a similar scenario this semester; i was literally waiting for the clock to hit 1230hrs. my finger was hovering on the mouse button at 1229hrs and right at the dot, submitted my registration when the server clock turned 1230hrs.

Only to discover what i've did was totally unnecessary. there were tons of vacancies available this time round. as a matter of fact, there was about a hundred slots for each of the subjects i'm taking left AFTER the whole subject registration excercise was over. needless to say, i wasnt feeling very smart after that.

anyway, i caught the disney flick, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe just now with my regular movie buddies. it was quite a good film, sorta like Lord of the Rings, but without all the heavy stuff. i especially liked the part where the phoenix came in, even though it was only for a few seconds. c'mon, more of these and the witch's army is as good as gone. the centaurs were really well-done too, they came across as really powerful and majestic, especially when the lead centaur draws both his swords and charge headlong into the heart of the enemy in a futile attempt to take down the Queen of Narnia.

And clocking in at close to 2.5 hrs, this is a movie thats really worth the ticket money, a stark contrast to Chicken Little, which was basically a waste of money. ironically, i liked the fish more than the chicken. they should have a spinoff movie starring the fish instead. i bet that'll sell. anyway the time now is, would you believe it, 0400hrs. I am not feeling very lucid now.

Quote of the day: Don't tap the glass, they hate it when you do that.

We will, we will charge u...

i received a letter in the mail today that instantly spoilt my day. it was a letter from my reservist unit informing me that i have been charged with AWOL for failing to take my IPPT in the last work year. i have to be present at HQ 9 SIB on the second week of Jan in full uniform to answer the charge.

well, thats a bummer.

Amazingly, the first thing that came to my mind was actually this; " oh greaaaat, now i really have a reason to cut my hair, i wonder how i would look with short hair". the second thing that hit me was, " oh shit,I AM BEING CHARGED?!?! NO SHIT. YOU DON'T SAY... what's gonna happen now?"

Being a somewhat exemplary soldier(heh) both during my NS as well as during reservist trainings, the concept of being charged for an offence is kind of alien to me. sure, i was in one of the most notorious infantry units at the time, where we had some guy being charged for some offence any other day, but i was always the guy going, " oh, he got charged, thats too bad, hope he gets out soon...oh when is he coming out? so long? thats kinda sad, i hope he pulls through, etc.." i was always the bystander, never part of the action.

Needless to say, i did what any normal person in my shoes would do. Try to find out what happens to people who defaults on their IPPT. what i found out was this. practices differ from unit to unit but generally, the defaulter has to pay a $50 fine for the first offence, and then attend some 4 weeks, maybe more, of compulsory remedial training AND THEN, take the IPPT.

its kind of a relief that the punishment isnt too severe, but all the searching for answers and asking of people is enough to make me break into a cold sweat already. there's a lesson to be learned from this. you can screw with anyone but u can't screw with the Singapore government. they have the power to give you sleepless nights and endless dreams(nightmares) if you piss them off>_<.

Cleared!

well, i got a new phone today, the SE K750i. It replaces my temperamental Nokia 7610. i haven't really used the phone yet, as its still charging its mandatory 8 hours, but from what little time i've spent playing with it, its got to be one of the most feature-packed phone i've ever used. i spent only 98 bucks, after trading in my 7610. its about time i changed, my nokia was hanging every other week and i am increasingly getting impatient with its slow loading times. Symbian, for all its wonderfulness, doesnt really cut it for me.

anyway my results were out yesterday. to my relief, i managed to clear everything, got Bs and Cs but i dont really mind, because thats one more step closer to finishing this phase of my life. i can hardly wait. studying isnt half as fun as working, though for all the working people out there, the reverse must be true. people are strange creatures. We like to look back at what could have been, instead of making the most of what's happening now. despite what everyone thinks, people seldom seizes the moment. we instead lament its passing.

now i dont know what i'm talking about.

Oooook, subject registration is on friday; dont really know what subs to take, though i more or less have a clue. i've learned from the last semester that its never really good to take advice from my contemporaries. taking subs which everyone is taking is not always a good idea.

Quote of the day: Carpe Diem?

Subaru!

Well, there was a major screwup this morning. my neighbour asked me yesterday if i could help him out; he needs two more guys to represent his company for some sort of a bowling tournament. Being the helpful neighbour that i am, i naturally agreed. Woke up at 8am in the morning, dragged my feet downstairs and we went all the way down to marina south. Only to find out that the tournament IS NOT TODAY, BUT TOMORROW. oh well. that would mean i have to go through the same agonizing routine tomorrow morning. i hope it really is tomorrow.

anyway, i managed to catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be-opened Subaru showroom at Toa Payoh. One of my friends is contracted to do some audio stuff for the building and i was invited to go have a look. well, renovation is still in progress as i type and everyone's working round the clock in an effort  to make it before the Monday opening. anyway, first impression of the place is Motorimage has really put a lot of thought in how everything's gonna be laid out.

the first floor showroom has a comprehensive display of all the models under the Subaru marque, as well as an area exclusively for car audio(this is where my friend comes in). there is also a speciality area for Prodrive. the whole complex consists of 6 floors, with the 3rd floor reserved for a workshop and a dyno machine. offices are on the 5th floor and the top floor is some sort of a safari area, supposedly engineered to test and showcase Subaru's much lauded AWD capabilities.

i was particularly impressed with the fact that there is a mini-cinema on the premises. as far as i know, there isnt any showroom out there with this facility. i wasnt particularly impressed with the sound system;it might be because of  the a/d/s active subwoofer employed, one which i felt was the Achilles heel of the whole package. Bass wasnt tight and was kinda dispersed and had a not so focused feel to it. but i guess that could be because everything's not settled in yet.

anyway these are some pics i took with my hand phone camera. i kinda like the new facelifted impreza, it looks nicer in the flesh than in print.i also received an invite from subaru in the mail today regarding the new premises. maybe i should pay a visit again on opening day.

Price War!!

today was a fantastically busy day, because of something really interesting that happened yesterday. The story's like this, a few car audio companies(lets call them conglomerate A) decided they have had enough of one other company(lets called them AE, heh heh), and decided to wage some sort of a price war on the latter.

they brought in one of the main brands that AE is(was, now) carrying exclusively, and decided to sell them at LESS THAN HALF of the price that AE is selling. if u know your economics, its obvious that in a price war, the only party that gains in the end, is us consumers=), and as a consumer, this naturally aroused my interest.it was a pity i got wind of the whole thing only around 1500hrs today. i made a few calls, and naturally, all the good stuff were all sold out. me and a fren of mine went to bukit batok,called places in Geylang, Toa Payoh and another one at Ubi, before we learnt there were 2 amplifiers left at one place in Serangoon. needless to say, we rushed down and snapped up those two pieces, which incidentally, also happens to be the last two.

i dint really care much about the amplifiers, for the obvious reason that i've already gotten mine; but i was reasonably interested in the speakers, which costs about a third of the price i can get at AE, and i could use some new and better speakers than the Focals i have now. now i'm waiting for new stocks to come, and hopefully i don't get played out.

IMO, its really cool when companies and distributors decides to get personal and put pride and 'face' over monetary gain. i mean, we people get to sit back and watch the onslaught, and if we're lucky, know the right people and push all the right buttons, we might get some kickbacks too. i'm really waiting to see how the whole episode will unfold.maybe there will be a twist tomorrow, u'll never know...

matlab day

tis a boring day, today. i was at home all day reading the matlab manual. sad to say i wasnt as productive as i would have hoped. there were tons of stuff i had to read regarding interpolation through multirate filters. half the time, i don't even know what i'm reading. any matlab gurus who might wanna give me a hand, now would be the time to send me an email=)

i have about 3 weeks left before i am required to submit an interim report and till now my progress has been about as fast as a grandma bouncing uphill on her head. it doesnt really help matters that my supervisor is kinda nonchalant about everything, maybe he thinks i'm really good and have a clear direction of what i'm supposed to do(that is sooo not the case>_<).

well, i've just finished watching the amazing race a while ago. man, i get an adrenaline rush just by seeing the 3 families rushing for time. it was kanchiongness down to the last minute. jerry bruckheimer is one incredible choreographer , i'll give him that. u know, this is about the only reality show i enjoy. Survivor is kinda running out of places to 'survive' in, the bachelor and bachelorette series were full of crap, and the model show? its just an excuse for people(me) to ogle at scantily-clad ladies in provocative poses^_^

Anyhow, i dont really dig the spate of 'contest-like' shows on tv recently. Sure, Project Superstar was kinda cool, but thats cos it was the only one at the time. it dint matter that it was preceded by the Idol thingy, point is, it was THE ONLY ONE at the time. now we have like, what, two at the same time? The waves of success can only be ridden on for so long, then its going to take much more than that to pique our(my) interest. but then again, i'm not much of a tv person, so i guess its not really that big a deal;)

First post

Woah. haven't been in Friendster for ages and now changes are all over the place. i dint even know friendster has a blogging function . As a matter of fact, i forgot all about friendster until i checked my email (its a hotmail account, which is my designated "ignore" account, haven't checked it for months) for some photos of a recent gathering i went to and chanced upon a friendster notification

it turns out one of my friends added me on Friendster way back in October and i had no idea. so i logged into friendster and i couldnt find the accept new friend button so i searched for her name and sent her a request. well, better late than never i suppose. anyway that's that i guess. so here i am, in awe of what friendster has changed into and i've spent about the last hour looking at friends and their friends' profiles and trying to add them as friends so they can become my friends too *snigger*.

anyway, for those who know me, i'm still in NTU. yeah. still there. yep. long service award. as another semester draws to a close, i realised my circle of friends is rapidly receding like Nicholas Cage's hairline. well, that cant really be helped i guess, given my erm,not too outstanding "academic capabilities". anyway, i'm supposed to be busying myself with my FYP this hols but i cant seem to find my focus. i search for stuff, read stuff, but somehow i feel that i am not on the right direction. anyway, things will work out somehow. i think.

anyway, went for Surfer's(Joseph) ROM reception @Raffles Hotel last Sunday. was quite an event though it was kinda tough in the beginning, we were all peering through squinted eyes in the blazing sun during the ceremony. the food was great and both the bride and the groom looked fabulous. it was kinda funny at one point when we had THREE joesphs at the same table; 3 acknowledgements for one hello. anyway i guess its a good thing the wedding dinner is gonna be next year; gives time for a poor student to save up=)

well, i guess that is pretty long for an inaugrual post. cant really think of any other stuff to put down, i'll try to update on a regular basis but it could be hard, i don't even maintain my offline diary regularly.

Quote of the day: A man is not complete until he is married. After marriage, he is finished=)