Saville Row?

The last week has been quite a flurry of catching up for me. The strange thing is, its catching up with all the same people.-_-'. Had dinner with Sock and a few friends a few days ago; one of the rare occasions when she's back in Singapore so I couldn't really find it in me not to go, and just yesterday, Sam asked the guys out for some chilling at Balaclava, a place that Brauns once snidely remarked that I will be spending a lot of my time there in future(i don't think so lo).

And then we still have a BBQ thingy planned for tomorrow at Sock's place. It seems 2006 looks like a somewhat good year for the class of 97s8 to get together, or what remains of it. We didn't meet up as much in 2005, 2004, or any other year. Strange thing is, we only seem to want to meet each other and hang out only near the end of the year. I would very much have preferred it if we could have spread out our meetings more consistently throughout the year.

Anyway, today was the first time i went to a tailor. A friend of mine, due to start work as an intern next week at a big foreign bank told me it would be a good idea to shop for workwear together, and he has got a contact of a very reliable and outstanding tailor, of whose services, he is planning on making use of. Now, my impression of tailor-made clothing is quite skewed. I've always thought that people who custom clothes are people with extreme dimensions, or people with weird tendencies or really irrational dress sense, not your everyday salaryman looking for a decent shirt for work. I guess I have a new opinion now.

Anywyay, you can say today is my first introduction to haute couture in its simpliest form. There is the quintessential tailor, with his tradmark measuring tape around the collar,spectacles on his nose bridge, rolled up shirt sleeves and well-spoken English with an accent that i find it hard to place. And catalogues and catalogues filled with all sorts of different materials. As a matter of fact, I was momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer choices of cloth available at our disposal. Anyway, the tailor, whose name was Daniel, was quite a character. There was this young lady who was giving him instructions on how exactly she wants her outfit; the shape of the button-holes, how the pocket's gonna be, etc. Daniel took everything in silently and then said in a stoic voice, " Girl, I know nothing, only fashion".

Well, I didn't know what that was supposed to mean but I thought it was something incredibly corny to say. Though i guess its always reassuring to have someone who knows what he's doing. Anyway, both of us found it prudent to start with 2 pieces each, just so we can find out if he really is suitable for us, and considering one shirt costs us about the same as what we would expect to pay at G2000, I think its not that bad a deal. Now what remains to be seen is the end-product, whether our dear Daniel(not the cat) can really walk the walk as well as he can talk the talk.

97S8. Its been a while.

Yesterday was fun. It was the biggest turnout for our college gatherings as far as i can remember. The highlight for me was the appearance of Chunde aka Axl aka Wayne, an ex-classmate that i have not seen since college graduation. A fact which serves to remind us all of our age, considering that was 8 years ago. We were all curious as to how he seemed to have vanished these few years, despite our best efforts to get a hold of him. Turns out he changed his number and it so happens that none of us have the new one. If it weren't for the fact that Celine accidentally bumped into him one fine day, I don't think I'll even have the chance to catch up with him.

Anyway of the 20(or so, i think) people in our class, 14 were present. Not a bad turnout at all. Everyone was busy digesting information of what everyone else has been up to and that was enough to keep the evening entertaining. Its interesting though, despite everyone not seeing Wayne after such a long time, there weren't any feelings of awkwardness or unfamiliarity at all. It was like we last saw him 8 days ago, instead of 8 years. In fact, Wayne later remarked to me that he was initially apprehensive about coming but was glad that everyone got on so splendidly. In fact, he was so sorry he had to leave early, due to an unavoidable company function.

Anyway, we had dinner at Brewerkz and apparently that proved to be quite an evening for the ladies since all of them decided to retire for the day. The rest of us adjourned to St James Power Station for a second round of drinks and catching-up. We talked about loads of things, from Junxian's impending wedding, Wayne's disappearance, to me and Shouqian's both finding employment at the same time. Unfortunately, we had to wrap the session up early since most of them have work the next day, else i think the management will be hard-pressed to get us to leave the establishment.

Anyway, Christmas is coming. Very obvious, considering the torrents of rainfall I've been seeing the past few days. Other places have blizzards, we have floods. And falling tree branches instead of mistletoe. Instead of sleighs, we have stalled taxis. Not much reason for cheer in this yuletide season. In spite of this, i guess the local people have lost none of their fervor in commemorating the occasion.

Well, I don't particularly think of Christmas as a special occasion, I'm just glad of the opportunity it provides; a chance for me to get to meet friends who has been too busy to just sit back, relax and just talk about old times. Its also a good time to recap, and think about the trials and tribulations of the past year, and look forward to what the future has in store for us.

Anyway, I've been a good boy this year. I hope Santa brings me some pleasant surprises!

Looking to the future.

Woot. Its been about a month since my last posting. I've been kinda busy. Moving house is really quite an ordeal. Even after shifting everything to the new place, the effort required to get everything in its proper place is mind-boggling. And in my case, its not your normal house-moving. Whys that? Because for whatever box i unpack, there might be a need for me to box it up all over again come next year, when our old place is all reno up. That's right, my change of address is not permanent. And that is precisely what makes things a little bit confusing.

Anyway, the initial situation was that I have cartloads of stuff, and i have no idea where to put them. I'm faced with some sort of an anomaly at my new place. Even though in floorspace, this new place is quite a bit bigger than our old flat, it seems we have lesser space.0_o. For example, my room is slightly more than half the size of my previous place. On the flip side, the balcony here is like 4 times the size of our previous one. talk about priorities.=/.

Anyway, now i'm fairly well settled in, with most stuffs that i need at my convenience and most stuffs i don't need jammed packed into every nook and cranny i can find in my confined quarters. After about 2 weeks of living here(if u discount the additional 1 week of unpacking day in day out), I'm more or less used to everything. the only down side is each unit only has one parking space. And ours is not for me. So now I am resigned to parking my car at a place where it transforms into a really sorry sight every time it rains. Which is a daily occurrence if you look at recent meteorological conditions.=(.  I can see no way around this and i guess i need to schedule a polishing session(any lobang?) once i depart from this location for good.

Anyway, readers of my nondescript blog would have known that since graduation, yours truly have been searching night and day(well, more or less) for a job without much fruition. Well, i'm glad to say the exhausting search has been over. Moi has finally found employment. The company in question has extended an offer and most probably, i will commence my duties at the start of the year. Its ironic that this job offer is the first application i sent, dating back to the first of September. Most of the ones in between didn't really work out. It was either i got "regretted" or i didn't like what was being dangled. What really did it for me for this one was was the entire interviewing process, although that very process took about 5 weeks, I'm really impressed at the thought and effort shown in the whole process, as well as the people i have the opportunity of interacting with. Although that is no less what i would expect from such an established company in the business. Well, I'm actually kinda psyched up about it and i guess i will post in more detail once more concise arrangements are made known.

Or u can ask me=)

Shifting.

This has been a gruelling week. My whole family was literally shuttling to and fro the old place and the new, trying to bring all our stuff over. Its strange, I don't even know we have so much stuff, until we empty everything that we can empty. Now the old place is getting empty but the new place is filling up.lol. Even at this moment, I'm basically typing this amongst a pile of boxes, hoping the wireless will hold before i hit "Submit".

This week has also been the first time in a really long while that I had the chance to sit at the back of a lorry and make horrified faces at passing cars, while pointing at their tyres. Although that was the only fun part. We made about 6 trips with full loads on a Cabstar and we still have stuff left over. Even as I am typing this, my mum is still at the old place trying to figure out how many of her precious plates she can bear to throw away.

Due to the mountains of stuff we had, its obvious we had to throw some away. We're not gonna decorate the new place with 16 year old antique chairs. especially ones where sitting on them is a challenge in itself. We threw out so much stuff that the rubbish dump guy actually got fed up and told us we need Town Council clearance in order to proceed further. We nodded sheepishly, told them we'll get to it, and then on the same night, me and my brother began "Operation Covert". We waited till the dead of night and then stealthily bring our old furniture down to other blocks. Thats right. We threw our stuff at the rubbish areas of other blocks. And we managed to spread it out evenly. So by the end of the day, the whole estate looked like every block have someone who's moving out.lol.

Really dumb thing to do, right?

Well, our main aim was just to avoid the ire of the rubbish guys. though i guess with the overnight appearance of so much debris, they'll pretty much narrow it down to us anyway.=/
No big deal though, since we'll be out of there by Sunday. And by the time we got back, i think it wouldnt really matter anyway.

Anyway, its good to take a break after all that packing. After a week or so of moving stuff everyday, my back is starting to hurt a bit and i'm beginning to feel the drudgery of repetitive cleaning and clearing. I guess i'll just finish up this post, surf the net for a while, and then i guess its back to the much dreaded "Operation Clearup".

Me! Me! Me!

Have you ever been in a situation, whether its at work or at home, when you're facing a computer and there's nothing much to do? And you're kinda sick and tired of the games over at Popcap.com? Sure you have. For some people(like me), its really a daily occurrence. At times like these, www.youtube.com is your best friend.~snigger~ One very good way to waste time is to just get there, and search for "Banned TV Commercials". What comes up is basically enough to keep you entertained for quite a while. You get funny commercials, sexist commercials, racist commercials, and commercials that doesnt seem like commercials. While some of them(especially the racist and sexist ones) are understandably banned, some are so interesting and funny that i don't get how they can be offensive. I guess ad agencies and tv stations don't exactly get along huh?

Anyway, its really interesting how efficient and connected our country is. My vehicle insurance is due this month, and for the past 2 months, I've received no less than 3 different calls for insurance renewal. And I have no idea how these people got my contacts. My internet subscription contract is expiring soon and now i've got a call from some lady offering to renew my subscription with Starhub with some free gift. And even offered to change my plan to my new address, since i'm moving soon.

Are we having too much competition in Singapore? Its amazing the lengths sales people go to to secure that extra sale.  I had some acrylic done for some car stuff and when i wanted to make some amendments to the size, the guy just came down to where i am, took the piece back, and delivered it back to me the next day with my changes. With no extra charge. Apparently, I can make changes as many times as i like. The guy will just do it all with no extra charge. And to top it off, I'm not exactly your big-ticket customer.

I guess this is all very good if you're the customer. With everyone jumping around just so they can get your attention. But it will really suck if you're the one jumping. But i guess there's not much anyone can do about it, its really a natural progression of a highly competitive society. Though i guess if you're stuck doing the jumping, its just a matter of time before u get really good at clearing heights.

Irasshaimase! Irashai! Irasshaimase!

Don't you just love the Noel Hampers commercial? I thought it was simply brilliant. Although I have a lingering feeling that the version we see on prime time tv seems to be an abridged version. I just think the two secretaries behind the bosses have some role to play. Though i don't see them doing anything. They're the ones actually ordering the hampers right? Anyway, its one of the coolest local commericals I've seen in a while, right after the Double A series.

Anyway, we were out celebrating Jiajie's birthday(Happy Birthday!) yesterday. Now, I don't normally go restaurants that much so i could be misguided. But i think Kuriya's at Raffles City has one of the most efficient staff I've ever seen. I have waitresses peering at my teacup every nanosecound and retreating disappointed every time they see that I still have tea in mine. Two waitresses clamoured to wipe our table almost as soon as some drip manifested itself and the one who succeeded seemed genuinely glad she got to do it.-_-"
Anyway, the food wasn't too bad and pricing was quite reasonable for a penny-pincher like me. Though i personally don't like going to either Japanese or American-styled restaurants. The former has nicer food but always seemed to end with me feeling half-full at the end of the meal while the latter makes me feel like I'm filled up to my throat. I personally think the Carl Jr's meal is a set meal for two. Attempting to polish off one SuperStar burger by yourself is tentative to a self-invitation to stomach explodititis.

We adjourned to a neat little place at Punggol Park after that, although due to some slight misadventure, we took quite a bit of time getting there. Quaint little place, sorta like a bistro/cafe that overlooks a body of water. looks quite picturesque at night, due to the hazy reflection of the HDB blocks in the water, sorta looks like an urban Taj Mahal. Food wasn't too bad(i heard) and it presented an ideal location for the cake cutting. I can't remember where i got the cake but its a mocha marble cheesecake. And i thought it was the tastiest thing i've had all evening.^^

Anyway theres this local motorshow going on now, and in the past, i will be there in an instant, checking out the rides and the babes. But in the recent few years, i really can't be bothered. It seems the show is becoming more and more akin to a mega car showroom rather than a showcase of each company's tour de force. As for the babes, from pictures I've seen online, it seems half of them are the same ol' people you see at almost any other event. I guess we're still a long way off from attaining a status even remotely near the levels of events like the Tokyo Autosalon or the Osaka Automesse.

Sing your way home. Please.

Been a while since my last entry. Didn't have nothing much interesting happening, been busy preparing for interviews and with the looming house moving. But most importantly, i didn't really feel the urge to write anything. Oh well.~shrugs~

Anyway, i remember this time last year, its Project Superstar again. Time for more self-deprecating narcissistic people who all seem to think they have perfect pitch.(read my entry last year to know how i REALLY feel about the contestants;) I don't know but it seems that this year seems to have a better crop of wannabes compared to the previous one. We still have the kiddo/uncle variants who think they sound like JJ but in actuality sounds like Mickey Mouse(can't avoid 'em);  but somehow, i feel the overall quality seems to have been raised up a notch. Though i think the judges seem to favour candidates who possess one common trait. The full baritone voice types. you know, the "warm" sound, rich and deep, with an ability to raise it up an extra octave when needed. While i do admit most of the contestants sings very nicely, I can't help but feel everyone sounds the same. They're all gunning for more or less the same image, singing more or less the same type of songs. Most of them even look more or less the same.>_<.
Seems after the first contest, aspiring idols have figured out the knack of picking songs that the judges like. It would be refreshing to see someone who got through using a Theresa Teng or Cai Qin song though.

Now its time for a gripe. I have a sister and she's quite a few years younger than me. As always, when that happens, some communication problems are inevitable. On the flip side, i guess its also good to know the opinions of the younger generation. Anyway, I've realised one thing as she gets out of her teenage years and enters the realm of adulthood, and I can only say young people nowadays expect more respect than they give. And sometimes, its hard to justify this expectation that they have. Now, I know I'm not the best guy to say this. I'm not exactly a yesman at home, and sometimes i disagree with my elders for all the wrong reasons. But even someone like me knows she needs to work on her attitude. Pity she doesnt think so.

Now i am aware this is not reflective of the behavioural patterns of this particular demographic, but i think its not that far off from the truth. I see this in my neighour's kid too. Its not the disregard of authority that jerks my chain. that i can take. we all have that phase.  I just don't like it when they seemed to do the inflated ego thingy. Maybe its not as bad as i made it out to be, maybe this is all just the constipated ramblings of someone whos more than halfway approaching the big three O. Well, in any case I've said my piece and i guess thats all that matters to me.

Anyway, never written for so long and suddenly it seems like i've got loads to write. its sort of like going on for a few days without taking a crap and then suddenly unleashing the fury(Malmsteen anyone?). lol .

Sawadee Kap!

Was in Bangkok over the weekend and it was quite a trip. I do wished it was longer, so we could have went more places and not come back with vivid memories of fatigued feet. All the same, we made the right choice of staying in a service apartment instead of a hotel. The place we stayed in was furnished even better than a decent hotel and we had a pantry, washing machine and two big rooms to boot. Since there were 6 of us, it costed each one of us about less than 40bucks per day. And we still got a buffet breakfast every morning. An unbelievable bargain. The only bad experience I had was the seemingly unavoidable delays associated with taking budget airlines. We were late about half an hour prior to leaving Singapore and had to endure a close to 1 hour delay on the trip back. The latter i can't complain much because we were in part, a contribution to the delay.>_<.

Anyway, this is my first time to Thailand since army days, and thats like 6 years ago. Things have really changed a bit since then. I don't even recognize the airport now. Its this entirely new place and sports a really futuristic industrial design. The only let down was the inadequate lighting and the cobwebs. Yes. There were actually cobwebs on the ceilings and some of them span 2 metres or more.0_o. Either they have really big spiders in Thailand, or they have a serious insect problem and we're looking at the solution without even realising it. Anyway, i don't even remember seeing taxis coming in so many colours. No Skytrain back then too. Well, in spite of my inadequacies, it was a great trip. I just wished i had bought more money. One particular purchase already wiped out half of what i got. though its the one purchase i am immensely satisfied with. heh.

Looks just like the real thing. ~snigger~

Anyway, i was walking on the street today and i saw this little kid. Ordinary roly poly primary school kid. Nothing special. Except he has a name tag and it says "Giggs Teo". Well, i'm no soccer fan but even a clueless soccer dude like me know where that came from. I think the parents have just taken their football obssession to a new level. I mean, its gonna turn out all well and dandy if the kid's a soccer fanatic as well but what happens if the little kid has a vendetta against anything round? He's just been stuck with a name he'll hate for the rest of his life. He's gonna have to endure life-long puns and wisecracks about Giggsy Boy. Good luck if he's a Liverpool or Chelsea fan AND goes to a Man U match. Why do parents torment their kids so? I bet there is no better way to make a kid feel special in kindergarten other than with a lame name :S. I hope people out there reading this and feels the urge to give their children exotic names to not get any funny ideas. No Sharapova Wong, Schumacher Ong or Woods Tan please. These things can really scar a kid for life.

Here, there, everywhere.

Was on the lift yesterday and there was this man with his kid. Small kid, i would say 6 or something. The guy's probably 30s or so. We were in the lift and the kid just walked over to me and being the nice and friendly guy that i am, i waved and smiled, tried to play along and stuff. And what happened next totally spoilt it for me. The guy said " Boy-boy, come here and don't disturb UNCLE "
Oh boy. now i know women aren't the only one to get uptight over their age and appearance. Really sian half when stuff like that happens. i guess at this rate, i'll probably have to respond to calls of "Grandpa" or "Ah-pek" when i hit the big 40. I'm going to pre-empt everyone and call myself

Anyway, I'm moving house sometime in the next couple of weeks and the past few weeks have been filled with a shitload of packing. i've junked stuff in my room in the past few days that i don't even know i had. So far, i've packed most of my stuff into 10 large boxes. And I haven't even gotten started on the clothes. The interesting thing is half of the boxes are filled with books, papers, notes and other academic stuff that I think aren't really needed anymore. Problem is I just can't seem to want to throw them away.>_<. Now due to these cardboard mountains, i don't really have much space to walk around in the room. Though the situation isnt much better everywhere else in the house. we have boxes everywhere, empty boxes, full boxes, half-filled boxes....I'm really amazed how my mother managed to find so many empty boxes for us to use in such a short span of time. Not complaining though. i probably need another 10 boxes or so for my stuff.>_<.

Your Highness, please watch your step.

Tried to organise a guys night out yesterday with some friends, wasn't really successful since one particular friend decided he couldn't afford the time off for some relaxation. As a matter of fact, he was still in school at about 8pm ON A SATURDAY, in some lab doing some programming stuff. I hope he starts to take things easier and not work himself to the bone. I know studying's tough but still, there are times when too much can be non-productive. Though on a side note, i wish i had that sort of dedication when i was in school. Maybe things would have taken a different turn. -_- .

All the same, that wasn't going to get in the way, so i met up with Brauns, Lizhen and Sam at Holland Village for some drinks. Met Kelvin, who I haven't seen in a long time as well as Shan Shan, who i think i have seen only twice(or 3 times?) too. Turns out i wasn't the only one asking people out. Not a bad thing though, its always better when there's more people. though i had a hard time keeping a conversation going, considering there was this live band(which was quite good btw) performing, so everyone's just cupping ears and shouting stuff just to be heard. Consuming obscene amounts of beer doesnt seem to help matters too. One thing that i felt was really ironic was the fact that we were indoors, in a crowded environment with almost no ventilation, and still, we are probably breathing in better air then the people out in the open. Thanks to the haze, its sorta like a giant yellow box out on the streets.

Anyway, one of us was obviously kinda high before the evening was through( we finished at about 4am), which was kinda entertaining for me. Although he did seemed to make one of the ladies feel a bit uncomfortable with some inane topic, It wasn't really a big deal. Emotions always run high when the alcohol level goes up and we're all big-hearted enough to take friendly gibes in our stride. Actually, I was really banking on him to drive for me since halfway through, i've felt i've had a bit too much but on hindsight, i'm really glad that idea did not manifest since he seemed to be in a much more advanced state than I am. though he really seems to be doing a commendable job of holding it, i guess he must have had some wild times where he came from. i do hope he didn't get a raging hangover when he wakes up this morning.

Anyway, one of my friends loaned me a CD with some tracks he had pulled out from somewhere and there's this really really nice song that i really really need to know its title. I have no idea whats the name of the artiste, whats the name of the song, nada, zilch, zero. no information about the song at all. The strange thing is, my friend has no idea too. i've uploaded the song here(right click and save as). Please do have a listen and if anyone out there knows the song or the artiste, do leave a message or send me a mail or something. That will really be helping me out.=)

So clear now..

Yeah! THE HAZE IS GONE!! At least it seems that way from where i am. Look at the marked difference compared to two days ago. Anyway, I'm really glad the haze is on the retreat. For some wierd reason, i get headaches now after my runs. And i think the haze has something to do with it. Cos its only for the past two weeks or so that i've got this problem. Never really had any headaches or migraines before that. I just hope this isn't a temporary illusion.>_<.

Anyway, just came back from my favourite cousin's wedding. This was the first time in my life attending a wedding where i couldn't find a place to park. The dinner was held at the Swissotel and when i reached Raffles City at about 740pm(fashionably late), i was greeted by a "CARPARK FULL" barrier at the carpark entranceO_o. Good thing i still didn't managed to miss anything. Anyway, everything went rather smoothly, albeit a bit on the slow side. We weren't even halfway through the dishes after 10pm. Though i liked their thank-you speeches, very humourous and heartfelt. They had the nicest re-entrance though, striding in accompanied by a live acapplla rendition of Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E. I guess they're probably soaking in the atmosphere in a suite on the 67th floor at this very moment.^^

Anyway, had my IPPT yesterday. Haven't went for any IPPTs for more than two years and the only training I can count on are just my weekly runs. Nevertheless, I thought I wouldn't do too badly. In fact, I even told a friend of mine via MSN that passing was a certainty and that I was looking at at least a silver. I couldnt be more wrong. 2 years of inactivity can really take its toll on me. I only managed 5 pullups and 35 situps.>_<. Thats about just enough for a pass. Anyway, just when we were about to have the 2.4km run, the PTI informed us the PSI had just reached 101. It was later to go up to 130 after my run.

Anyway, thats not the weird thing. You know there's this big timer board that shows everyone's timings? When i finished my run, the timing of some guy AFTER me was 12:01. After some unbelievable panting, i went for a drink and after that, looked at the timing board again. Some guy just finished with a 13:40 timing. So i figured i clocked about 11:50 or so. Guess whats the timing on my result slip? I got a 12:40. Thats like a whole minute off. Anyway, i really couldn't be bothered rectifying this obvious slipup, since i figured i already screwed up my pullup and situp, I'm not going to do better even if i got a 10min timing. I guess I've got to be contented with the 100 bucks. Still not too bad for 1.5 hours of work.

On a foggy day in London town..

Well, the haze is here. I realised its been so for a few weeks already but yesterday was the day it actually sunk in for me. Went for my weekly run the day before and i really find myself breathing harder than normal. I don't know whether its really that bad or if its just in the head though on the flipside, if I'm breathing harder, that would mean i'm working harder right?

All the while, i just thought the scenery was just a bit more blurry than usual. So now we have PSI ratings of 50, 70 and we can see its kinda bad.  I remembered a couple of years ago when the PSI went up to the high 200s. I think it went up to the 400s or more for our neighbouring countries. I can't believe how we even went through that. I guess that shows how people are. Give us enough of something and eventually we'll just get used to it and take it as if its nothing.

Anyway, this is a picture of the view from outside my home. You can just about make out some murky shapes in the horizon that vaguely resembles buildings. The thing is, on a clear day, you can see A WHOLE ROLL of HDB flats and office buildings. And its almost all the way to the incinerator that can be seen on the right hand side. Maybe I should have taken a picture back when the PSI was absurdly high. Chances are maybe i cant even see the roads in the foreground.

Anyway, i do hope all the haze come to an end soon. Although i guess we shouldn't be complaining that badly, since we don't get it as bad as other places like London or New York. At least its still called haze around here, what they have, they call it smog. And they aren't caused by people burning stuff.

Now, its time for Prison Break!

Forgot but not forgotten.

Went for Larry(hamet!) and Joyce's(lilies!) wedding yesterday. This had to be the first wedding i've ever been to that had the shortest speech by the groom. Ever. It lasted all of 5 seconds and goes(ends) something like "Thank you for coming". Really chop chop. In fact, it ended before i even know it began.>_<. The food was great, particularly the dessert which was kinda difficult to eat. Guests would know what i mean. i did met an unexpected friend that day; one of my primary school friends(ya, primary school) who happens to be Larry's ex-colleague. Talk about 6 degrees of separation. We talked for quite a bit and I have a confession to make. Clearly, he remembers my name, but I just can't remember his for the life of me. And we even went through 1 year or so of NS together.(First and Foremost!)

I know its "Shao-something" though. LOL.

Anyway, of the few people who read this blog, its kinda obvious i like to talk about movies, tv shows and weddings. the latter can't really be helped considering the alarming frequency of occurrence ever since I started writing this blog. Today I'm going to write about something different.

Book Review!! Well, I've just read this book entitled A Man with no Talents: Memoirs of a Tokyo Day Labourer by Oyama Shiro and I think its an interesting read, despite being kinda short at way under 200 pages. Anyway, i wouldnt really call it an autobiography since the story starts when the protagonist is in his 40s, and only chronicles in detail the period of time between 1999 till 2002 or thereabouts. Not much, you would say?  Apparently the book happens to have won some literary prize in Japan. Anyway, the plot is about this geezer talking about a period of his life spent in the slums of Tokyo, what led him there when he was seemingly destined for the life of a normal salaryman, and his experiences and reflections surviving every day.

What really made it for me was the fact that the writer readily admits he's a loser, a social misfit who has a seemingly disability to coexist with people. He acknowledges he has problems and accepts the fact that he's pretty much not good at anything else. He quit his job because he knows he has a depression problem and interestingly, finds solace only when left alone to his own devices. I like to read about his encounters with the different day-labourers and bunkmates, the exchange of opinions, and most importantly, his "analysis" of everything that comes his way as well as the mundane things he does to ensure he has enough to last him through to the next day. I can kinda identify with the guy though, sometimes you're just so powerless to handle things that happens around you. Different people have different ways of dealing with situations like these and Oyama Shiro shows us one version of what could have been if one just yields to opposition unquestioningly.

Anyway, its a good book( though still a far cry from my favourite, Sophie's World). Though I can't figure out why i found it under the Business and Finance aisle instead of non-fiction.

Tip of the day: Larry, remember to wear red when Joyce wears green on your honeymoon and vice versa. And always hold hands. Its more fun that way.

Watching Miami Vice should be a Vice.

Well, caught Miami Vice yesterday and the only thing good i have to say is i'm sure glad the ticket costs only 7 bucks. Jaime Fox(phenomenal in Ray but forgettable in Stealth) didn't really set the pace as the level-headed partner while Colin Farrell didn't really cut it as the smooth-talking brash kickass cop. Heck, I was expecting Gong Li to show more skin than that(that was the main motivation btw,lol). The worst part is, the plot was totally bland and i feel, a little bit disconcerting. So what happened to the leak in the Fed? Who exactly is the leaker? Does it even matter? The ending also leaves a lot to be desired. Seems like this has to be the worst show of this year for me.

Anyway, am watching Prison Break as i am typing this at the moment and i think this is one good series. Though its not really enough to displace CSI as the reigning champion on my list, it comes pretty close. Its amazing the amount of thought Scofield has put into his operation even before he enters the damn prison. Every step along the way, the bugger's got everything all planned out. Except for the occasional screwup, the guy's a genius. Its really very engaging to watch. No prizes for guessing what i'll be doing every Thursday night 10pm.

Anyway ever realised the number of ridiculously obvious questions people ask everyday? You meet someone at the bus-stop and they go "waiting for a bus?". You're eating and they go "Eating?". You go to the toilet and they go " peeing?"

you get the idea.

I'm sure you do this sometimes too. Its really unfathomable. When i do it, it hits me like the next instant how stupid i can get. Anyway, why am i bringing this up? Its just that i've gotten too many of these questions today from my parents that its really getting on my nerves. Well, i get them every other day but its especially bad today. Damn, I've got to get a defence mechanism up against stupid questions.

Quote of the day: Who's that lady in the double A paper ad? She's hot.

Run Forrest, Run

Well, I didn't get through that interview. Didn't made it to the second round. Oh well. I guess thats one more off the list. Can't really say its a bad thing cos the job seems essentially like a glorified helpdesk position. Though i don't feel particularly good either because if i got rejected, that would only mean i screwed up the interview. well, i guess i need to put more work on my interviewing skills. I thought I had it down pat; turns out i was wrong.>_<

Well, i guess its back to the drawing board for now. Damn, I hate the waiting game.

Anyway, its been a while. Didn't really felt like making any entries because there's just nothing happening. LOL. Its times like these when there's loads of time, but you just don't know what to do with it. I think thats kinda ironic but then the opposite always seemed to be true too. There can never be enough time when there's tons of work to be done. Case in point: lab assignments and anything even remotely academic. I'm spending most of my time just thinking about things. I guess there's something in me thats resisting the urge to do anything constructive and i guess that can't be good. Procrastination has never been known to result in anything productive.>_<.

Oh, I just remembered i have less than a month to take my IPPT. Faithful readers of my blog will recall the somewhat harrowing experience I had a long while ago with regards to this four letter word. I don't think I can get away with it as easy this time. Can't really say i forgot about it cos i'm a student who's overwhelmed with schoolwork(well, good thing they believed it). I guess that would mean i've got to book a date sometime between now till the mid of October. This also explains why I've been running quite a fair bit recently. Though i guess i'm quite ok with the running part. Its the jumping part that i always screw up. I can never seem to get the knack of it. I've got this really unsightly gait and i think thats whats always doing me in.  Ah screw it. Its all good if i don't fail the damn thing.

How come no Mercs?

Went for an interview yesterday and it was the first time i'm sharing an interview with about 50 people. Its really like a recruitment event, it starts with some presentation of what the company does as well as how its employees are like. We then break into groups of 5 and were subjected to a sort of informal group interview. I thought i did quite well, though there was one other lady in my group who was phenomenal. She had loads of experience, worked overseas, worked at Citigroup, had a scholarship,etc. I guess we're all screwed if even she doesn't get the job. Though i'm kinda puzzled why someone with her credentials will want to get an entry level grad job.

Though there was another lady in my group(I was the only guy) who was the complete opposite. She couldn't speak well, didn't express her opinions often enough, and sorta faded into the background as the session progressed. I guess I'm in luck if she manages to get through to the next round.

Anyway, one point of interest was the interview costed me 14 bucks. Cos thats how much it costs to park for 2.5 hours in a carpark inside the CBD.>_<. Can you imagine how much the session parking would cost??? I guess that might explain why i saw 1 Aston Martin, 3 Maseratis,1 Jaguar XK8 and a handful of BMW 6 series on my way up. And i was only up to the 4th level. Rich buggers.

By the way, I think i need to expand my wardrobe. All the shirts I have are of the solid variants. Maybe some stripes would be nice. Heck, I'm even open to the idea of polka dots. or maybe some other eclectic design. Its times like these when its good to be a guy. At least the shirts and the shoes are about all i need to worry about. I only need pants to cover my legs, don't have to worry about what colour stockings to wear, and i don't sweat it if people comment on the hair on my legs. Though the downside is, women can use their feminine wiles to their advantage over guys all the time. And the strange thing is, we fall for it, every time.

Even when we know it.>_<.

It's a Sony

Well, I finally succumbed to technology and got myself a fancy mini-radio. Really cool little gizmo, has radio, has flash storage, fancy OLED display, has a 3 minute quick charge, can work as a USB drive.... OK, I know, I know. I was up in arms against these fancy gadgets just a few days ago. But i must add i got it purely because it looks really cool and IT HAS RADIO. The latter being the primary reason. anyway, here's a pic of what i'm talking about.

Mine is in the exact same colour since i dun think the rest of the teeny-bopper colours suit me. anyway, since its flash-based, i figured its gonna be just fine for activities with loads of movement like jogging. I tried it out just now and its really good. At least I know I'm not going to regret the 139 bucks I blew on this one. At least, not yet.

Anyway, caught the Korean horror flick, The Host yesterday. Didn't think it was a good film. Don't really understand how its the best selling Korean show over the weekend. The only redeeming feature was the monster though you get to see it barely 15 minutes into the show, and the novelty sorta dies down really quickly. Anyway, It looks like a cross between a trout and a frog and is really realistic. Thats about it actually, as the plot development is just screwed up. The whole dysfunctional family thing didn't really take off. They were too cohesive and wasn't that convincing to me. Though the part where the lead character starts to jabber when he was forced to undergo a trepanation was hilarious, further compounded by his expression when the whole deed was done. Helplessness at its peak if you asked me.

By the way, just got another wedding invite. This further confirms my theory that there's something about this year. Well, at least this one is something to look forward to, since i've never been to the four seasons hotel. Ha.

i just want my radio.

Went to Jurong Point for my much delayed haircut a few days back. Now i have short hair! Though I don't like having short hair. I have a big face and short hair makes my head look bigger than the watermelon it already is. Somehow I feel that i look better when I have hair covering my ears. I have no idea why. Well, I've got an interview coming up on Monday and i guess people are not gonna take kindly to me if i looked liked Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

Anyway, i thought that since i was in a shopping centre, (i don't get out much.>_<) i might as well shop for a pocket radio. Since the one i'm using for my jogs is starting to screw up. The battery will die after just 30 minutes. Almost on the dot. I'll be running halfway and then all of a sudden, my earphones will magically become earbuds. Well, its about time i looked for a better replacement, and i figured with Courts and Harvey Norman under the same roof, it shouldn't be a difficult task right?

WRONG!
I can't find any pocket transistor radio in the whole of Jurong Point. And you wanna know why? It seems the closest alternative I can find is some mp3 machine with 5/6/7/1million GB storage that has inbuilt radio. I don't need some fancy $199 high-tech piece of equipment that beeps and have some fancy lights. I'm not even prepared to pay that much. I just need something that does radio. Just radio. It seems that the mp3 thingy is really everywhere now. Can't even get my hands on something thats considered "old school". On a side note, i see those mini mp3 players everywhere. they come in all shapes and sizes, the cigar type, the lighter type, the Ipod type,etc. i won't be surprised if mamashops carries some. its like the invasion of the mobile audio accessory.

I guess its inevitable. though all these technology is a good thing i guess. everyone wants something thats smaller, lighter, better, faster. though i do feel there are things that are just fine the way they are and you just simply can't/shouldn't improve. Ever tried emailing a handshake?

I'm not right but are you?

Something really unsettling happened to me today and i've just got to get it off my chest. Was on MSN with a friend of mine and we were having a discussion about HIDs. He's thinking of getting HIDs for his ride and we were more or less talking about general stuff, like where to install, whats the difference between 5000k, 6000k, etc. Everything was going on quite ok until one part, which i should try my best to recreate.

K> So, do you experience any washout effect with your HIDs when it rains?
Me> Well, yellow light always penetrates rain better than white light.

Can't remember the exact sequence of the conversation after, but these two statements were like the fuse that will ignite the blast that was about to follow. Basically, I talked about some facts which i feel he should know(and which i think he most probably doesn't). My friend proceeded to tell me that most people don't appreciate beating about the bush and to stop being so defensive and telling him stuff that he already know. Well, I don't like being disliked, so i guess that must have been quite a "wtf, hold on a minute" moment for me. and you know what made it worse?

ME> Well, I'm sorry if you find my information irrelevant to you.

That sorta made him lose it. In retrospect, I'm aware it sounds a bit sarcastic, but that was the furthest thing from my mind. I really meant that, for what that meant. It wasn't a snide remark, in fact, it wasn't even tongue in cheek. it was something like "shucks, so u dun need that?", rather than "excuuuuse me for butting in". Apparently he didn't felt the same. What i couldnt bear was the fact that he had to keep on harping on his age and experience as bywords for wisdom. Kept on giving me stuff like, "i've been there, done that", "u got to self reflect", "don't be so stubborn","don't insist you're right", "you're still young", "things you don't know",etc. I don't know about you, but i find it really ironic that he's telling me to accept that i am too stubborn and defensive when he's sorta like forcing me to accede to his opinions. to top it off, Its double irony when this friend in question is only a few years my senior.

Anyway, I'm not a "conflict person" but it seems my every attempt to placate him seems to make him think i'm doing my utmost to insist i'm right and he's wrong. He even said something like this, " Here i am trying to correct you and you're being sarcastic?" His last message to me was this.

K> I think this is going nowhere. If u still think you are right, then you're right.

Its ironic again, that this statement came just after i texted back that right or wrong wasn't even an issue in this particular discussion. I'm sad that things had to end that way but i really feel losing your cool in a discussion/argument only serves to reinforce the point the proponent was making. sometimes, people get mad because they cannot accept the fact that the other party makes more sense.

Well, the whole situation started because he was asking me for MY help and for MY knowledge. Turns out the end result was I was not of any help, and i was now the culprit of irrelevant information. Looking back, its true that i didn't gave him a straightforward answer. Maybe I should have saved myself trouble and heartache and just gave a yes or no answer. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to "act smart" and volunteer unrequired information. Maybe I should have just said i didn't know. So many maybes eh?

This episode really makes me feel that we really ought to make an effort to communicate with people better. words are really like double-edged swords. The same sentence can convey feelings so different from what they originally intended. And its really hard to convince people otherwise once the damage has been done. Although people might not show it, this no doubt have left an irrevocable mark on their impression of you, however hard they may try to deny it. One other thing I realise from this, and its really hard for me to accept it, is that (some)people don't think much of you if you're poor/rich/young/old/jobless/idealistic/u get the idea. In my case, being young doesn't mean you don't know the world is pragmatic. Being young shouldn't deprive you of the right to assert your own opinions. And being young, doesn't meant you know any lesser. And you know what? I don't think I can even call myself young anymore. But i don't(at least, i try not to) judge people who're younger. Because I don't think thats the way it should work.

There. I've said it. Quite a lengthy post. But even if there's only one other person who have read my entire posting and agree with or understands what I've said, I'm glad. I can't think of any other better non-destructive way to vent my frustration other than this. Now that its all out, I guess i don't feel half as bad=)

Quote of the day: The older ones aren't necessarily the wisest, while the foolhardy ones aren't always the youngest.

Hello, CSI guy...

Today's last episode of CSI was kind of a letdown. I was expecting top-notch quality, seeing it was supposed to be directed by Quentin Tarantino. I like how Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and the Kill Bill series turn out, so I was kinda looking forward to today's 2 hour special of one of my favourite tv shows. There wasn't any fancy moves or some slick cinematography, not much of the "Tarantino effect" either( u know what i mean..). There was a few scenes that I felt was interesting. The part where Nick dreamt that he was dead was hilarious, with the coroner going " un, does, tres!" and then proceeding to cut him up. "Would you do the honour of the Y-incision?" "SUrE!!" Everyone started going zanny while taking out Nick's heart(He's got a good heart!~guffaws~) and all his innards. All this, while Nick looked on quizzedly at the hole in his chest, wondering why the good doctor's high on crack.

Though I didn't like how the villian went out. From the way it was going, you'll think it was like a Saw doppelganger. The signs are all there, Taped instructions, gun to end his life, diabolical  death traps, only one way to live,etc. deja vu, anyone? I could have expected Jigsaw to pop out any moment when i saw the part when Grissom pushed the button to get a live feed on Nick's condition(Saw II, anyone?)

Well, drama review aside, went down to the driving range in the morning with the intention of getting some early exercise. Turns out they close for maintenance every Tuesday; doesn't open till 1230hrs. Oh well, doesn't really matter, since i've got a session lined up with the guys tomorrow evening. Sorta went around the island today with a few friends looking for performance parts today. Don't know what came over them though. I was there just for the ride, since all the stuff they were looking at were pretty hardcore for me. I don't need 6pot brakes or ball-bearing turbos. In fact, I don't even care if its twin scroll or not. Maybe i'm a wee bit interested in a brake upgrade though i don't foresee that coming anytime soon.

In any case, I don't think the locally available Mazda3 is a good platform for heavy-duty mods. Its not like in the US where they have 2.3l mazda3s and people mod them to kingdom come; with all the suspension bars, forced induction and what-have-yous. Over here, we have this 'tiny' problem with the authorities, who don't look too kindly at our attempts to be "fast and furious". Anyway, even if we could, I don't think there's anyone available locally thats good enough to blueprint or bring out the mzr engine to its highest potential(well, call me a cynic).

Maybe things will change in time to come, but u know the old saying, " the more things change, the more they stay the same"...

What do pictures do for you?

Just finished watching "One Hour Photo". Man, Robin WIlliams really outdone himself with this one. He's really a class act, I've never seem him in a bad guy role, he's always the comedian, or at most, some strange robot. I like films like this, especially with such an engaging performance from one of Hollywood's most endearing thespians. The film is about photos and really question the significance something so ordinary can mean to an individual. Some things the protagonist said in the movie really makes for some food for thought. the stuff about pictures confirming your existence and that nobody(well, outside the art world anyway) ever takes photos of the little things in life, when these are the stuff that really makes up everyday life. One quote that was particularly memorable was that nobody takes a picture of things they want to forget. If you've watched the show, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the way he delivered his lines; the tone, the mannerism, the expression, really makes you stop and think for a while.

Anyway, I've got a bone to pick. Why is it that some job application processes like to ask questions that are really hard to answer? Stuff like "Name one event that has changed your life" and " Give an example where you motivated others to achieve more than what was possible", etc.. Its basically like a story telling competition here. C'mon, we're not writing a novel here, how many people do you know had had some life-changing or near-death experience? The strange thing is, it seems perfectly acceptable to make up some awe-inspiring event. After all, who knows whether you're lying? They weren't there when it happened. I could be the Count of Monte-Cristo or one of the three musketeers and no one will be any wiser.

In any case, I guess its good excercise for my inactive brain cells. I haven't been using any grey matter since graduation. well, not much anyway. My mind's getting a little rusty and some imaginative writing might not be such a bad idea after all.

Damn blades

Brauns finally got around to sending those long awaited convocation shots to me so now, at long last, my convocation picture collection is complete(i think). Actually, these are just the same pics, but with different people.^_^ Anyway, the last few pics were quite spur of the moment though, we just suddenly thought it would be a neat idea to just drive up Nanyang Hill and take pictures there, so thats what we did. As you can see, we don't really have award winning choreography skills, so we just arrange the cars this way and that and that was about it.>_<.

I liked the pic with the SAFTI tower in the middle though. that was brauns' idea. heh.

Anyway, as i was telling ah bao, LOOK AT THIS!!!!^^
here's the link to the photo album again.--->CONVOCATION PICS!

Well, went for my weekly golf game this week with high hopes, since one of my uncles just gave(loaned) me a full set of his old clubs. I was getting kinda bored using one of my aunt's since female clubs are just a lil bit shorter. Was really eager to test out the irons as well as the 3 and 5 woods( never used those before). Unfortunately, the irons weren't of the cavity-backed variant. They were blades and were mightily unforgiving. Almost all my shots were grounders. You've really got to hit the ball just right. A few of the regular golfers there tried my clubs and commented they were really hard to hit. The local pro tried my 7 iron and immediately said the clubs are good but you've really got to know how to flex its muscles. Told me this is not a good set to start with. The ironic thing is, all of them took the club, took a swing, and ping!...ALL of them hit fantastic shots.-_-"

I guess thats about torn it then. I don't really got much of a choice, except buying a brand new set. Which will sorta defeat the purpose of getting this one from my uncle in the first place. I don't want to repeat what i did with bowling when i first started out; buying all(almost) the best equipment with the false hope that they will improve my game when that's the last thing i should be worried about.

Oh well, golf lessons anyone??

Regretted?

Well, it has been more than a month since i sent my first application and i haven't got any reply except for one. Its ironic that this solitary reply i got came within 3 days. I can't really recall exactly what it read but i distinctively remembered the line "Your application has been regretted". Isn't that something? The company has just rejected you while trying their best not to make you feel bad:-| There were a host of other "we're sorry we can't hire you" stuff before that, but i guess it doesn't really work, does it? Kinda too politically correct, if you asked me. A simplier "I'm sorry you do not fit our requirements" would have sufficed. Well, its blunt, but at least both parties will not harbour any illusions that things are gonna work out.

Anyway, just got word that another friend of mine is tying the knot soon and he is actively looking for restaurants at the moment. Being quite a noob(never been married^^), i was astounded when i heard from him that most established restaurants/hotels require an advanced booking of at least a year before the actual date o_0. Well, its actually a good and bad thing i guess, you get to collect another year of red packets but you've got to plan everything around the wedding dinner date. I don't know, but just thinking about it kinda makes my head hurt a bit.

Anyway, found this really funny clip on the net and i thought i should share it with as many people as possible. I like humour like these, its very universal and you don't even need to understand what's being said to laugh at it. whoever did this did a fantastic job of making it look almost as if it were ripped directly from the movie itself.

Well, here it is:Darth Vadar being a jackass

erm. I do hope you people who do click on that link has the good sense to avoid the suggestive links on the right.
 

Pure BS

uWent for the International Sight and Sound exhibition at Meridien Hotel yesterday. Never been to an hi-fi convention before and it was quite an eye-opener. For starters, SACDs were going for 30 bucks for two! Damn, I would gladly pay 30 bucks for ONE. Those china CDs, by that i meant CDs made in China by Chinese artistes, not Chinese versions of international releases for the Chinese market(those suck btw),were going for 13 bucks a pop, and at close to closing time(7pm), people were looking at placards proclaiming "buy 3 get 1 free!" and there were signs that were like $19.90, $18, $16 bucks! Even DSD-mastered CDs were going for 16 bucks apiece.0_o

Now I feel like such a moron, buying CDs the way i do; when I should have just waited for this sort of event and just splurge. More returns for the same expenditure. The proverbial bang for the buck. Its a good thing I got a free LPCD for the entrance fee, so I didn't exactly come back empty-handed. It was a good thing too that the LPCDs and XRCDs weren't going for a song(pun intended), else it would be a really head-banging experience for me.

As for the exhibition itself, it was a field day for the hifi addict. It was auditons galore, everyone was clamouring to give auditions, hear auditions, explain about auditions,etc. I was really lapping up the atmosphere. There were the 100inch plasmas, 5digit turntables,5 feet high speakers, loads of tube-amplified goodness, and did i mention the cheap CDs? I was really impressed by the Pioneer "pure malt" bookshelves. These babies sound really good for the size(can't say the same for its price). Supposed to be made from century-old whiskey barrels. I'm sure the Pioneer marketing people have reached a new epitome, when they can somehow sell a speaker made from oak barrels and call it "smooth and rich, aged to perfection".

And they're not describing the whiskey.

About studying...

Went to Andy's place for house warming today. Its strange that almost all the housewarmings i go to occurs in the Punggol/Sengkang area. I know the flats are new and they have a lot built there but how come people like to stay at the extreme end of the island? I think the roads will get really jammed up when EVERYBODY goes to work in the mornings. Anyway Andy took some pics of everyone, and what better place to showcase his home then on my humble blog.^^

Yep, everyone was getting comfy. Had quite a good time talking crap about impossible audio setups.^^ Look at the scenery in the last pic. I guess its quite a spectacle living on the 16th floor. You get a nice breeze and a great view, even though its all flats outside. Come to think of it, Andy's place is like a nirvana for people with voyeuristic tendencies.^_^

Anyway, my sister's exchange student friend returned to Taiwan yesterday. Come December and it'll be my sis's turn to go to a foreign land. Must be really cool to study overseas. Come to think of it, we didn't have such programs back when I was in college. There're loads of stuff that we didn't even had access to back when we were still at tertiary level. Heck, now if you study hard enough, you can even skip O levels. I guess being in these direct intake thingies would mean you're incredibly smart, and it'll all work out fine if you did well later on, but what if you screwed up somehow while you were in college?

I wonder what'll become of these so-called elites then, if they caught pneumonia before the A levels, fell into a sewer,etc. Bam!no cert. You're just a PSLE grad.>_<

And that counts for peanuts in results-based Sillypore.

Maybe things don't work like that(haha, i would think not). But sometimes, I really wonder, with all the enhancements and tweaks to the local education system, are the young people nowadays really having it better? I look at my sister when she comes home from school everyday and it seems that its anything but that.

What month is this again?

Had a small gathering with Xinyi, Jiajie, Limei and Brauns on Friday evening. I was under the impression that we were supposed to discuss the impending Hongkong trip. turns out we spent most of the time talking about anything but that. Once again, its amazing how uncountable the number of stuff we can talk about. Anyway, in all likelihood, i guess there isn't going to be any coordinated trip after all, seeing everyone has some work commitment one way or the other. Its actually next to impossible for everyone to take time off together. Its hard enough finding time off to gather together to discuss details, and that only takes an evening. Oh well, I thought it might be fun; last time we went overseas together was about 3 or 4 years ago. I don't know about them but I thoroughly enjoyed that experience.

Anyway, i managed to obtain some of the convocation pics from various sources. Its not complete and i expect to be able to put up more pics from time to time so do check it out occasionally. ;) Friends who wish to put up their pictures alongside mine(and who also happens to read this entry) can send them to me via relentlesspursuit@gmail.com or through MSN Messenger, if i happen to be on your list.
Well, the pictures are all uploaded here.

By the way, its the Chinese Seventh Month now, as people in Singapore might know. one question that has incessantly been on my mind is "why are there TWO Seventh Months this year?" Apparently one of my friends knew the answer, and as though anticipating people will ask this, launch into a very, shall we say, indepth explanation regarding the mystifying workings of the Chinese calender. I was impressed, but still didn't really know what the hell she was talking about(sorry Xinyi). I guess I didn't realised you can get this technical regarding days and dates. I was reassured though that in spite of this, we only "commemorate" this occasion once. Thats quite a relief. Imagine if we had to go through Qingming twice?

Made in Taiwan

Well, the past weekend has been quite a flurry of activity. And I don't even mean the convocation. My sister got involved in some student exchange program and so for the next two weeks, we're going to have an exchange student from Taiwan living in our home. As the day drew near, everyone got really panicky as to how the house looked. We were perennially cleaning this, clearing that, trying to make everything as uncluttered and as orderly as possible.  It would seemed we were determined to present an artificial and fantastically wholesome image to my sister's foreign counterpart. hahaha.

Anyway, it went without much of a hitch. The exchange student arrived at our place on Saturday, and she seems nice enough. its a good thing my sister managed to get along very well with her. they had loads to talk about, so much that i even began to wonder whether the exchange student thing was just a ruse to get her school friend or something to stay at our place.>_<

Anyway, i know thats not true cos she has this unmistakable Taiwanese chinese accent. which sounds really nice by the way.

As for today, went for golf again and i think i'm getting the hang of it. I'm not missing as much as the first time and i even managed to hit a close-to 200m drive using a 3wood. Man, the sound, the impact, the feeling of satisfaction is soooo intoxicating, and i'm still only just a novice. I can now totally understand why those old men can stay at the driving range and whack ball after ball with careless abandon without any regard to the time. It is that addicting. though one reason i find this fun could be the company, it would be kinda boring if it were just me there. maybe i wouldn't hit any better since there won't be any suggestions or criticisms. sometimes, people really do make all the difference.

Closure

Today was convocation day. Was really interesting seeing everyone wearing the graduation gown and hood, though it really surprises me on the alarmingly large number of people who couldn't care less how they look. Now thats really strange because they are never going to have another opportunity to wear something like that again. And they don't give a rat's ass that the left side of the gown is lower than the right? that their tassel is on the wrong side? that the hood is all screwed up and sloopy? In front of so many people, the least people can do is to make themselves more presentable. And that is hard to do?

Well, the whole ceremony went without much of a hitch, though there was a little drama when some guy's mortarboard fell off when he took a bow. One interesting thing was, one of the pro-chancellor looked suspiciously like Lee Kuan Yew, while the other one was a deadringer for the late Ong Teng Cheong. I was floored for a moment and for just one instant i instantly felt so very important; that the MM himself would be present to present my degree to me^_^

Anyway, took a gazillion pics today. I was practically scouring the refreshment hall for any body i know; so i can waylay them to pick pictures with them. some people were so in demand that i literally had to "book appointment" for a snapshot. >_<damn i hate beautiful people. though the unfortunate thing was i forgot to bring a camera. It was a good thing Brauns was kind enough to be my camera-man for the day. he took most of my pics. So now all i have to do is wait for him to be online, so he can send them all to me. heh.

Besides taking pictures, today was also an excellent day for networking. I've learnt much about my friends' recent movements, as well as the various jobs they've applied/received, I've also gained some good guage of the current market sentiment regarding employment for CE graduates. No wonder there were a few HR agencies people on the prowl today.

swingtime

Sorta got cajoled by my neighbour Bernard and his friends to join them for their weekly golf session a few days ago, and i must say, this is quite an interesting sport. I've only seen golf on television before, never actually had any first-hand experience with the sport, so i guess i was a little looking forward to it too. We went to a public driving range in Taman Jurong and i was surprised to realise that golf can actually be cheaper than my bowling hobby. All you need are some clubs(a half set is more than sufficient for the novice) and you're off. the place is free and the balls are cheap.

Anyway, they all took it easy on me, knowing it was my first time on a driving range. Aw Yong took time to explain the basics of the sport; the posture, irons and woods, what the numbers mean, etc..
Bernard loaned me a 9-iron, and explained that this is probably the easiest club to get started. Well, i practiced adopting the right posture and had some trial swings and stuff like that, and then i thought i was ready to hit some balls. I lined up my first ball, swung, and promptly missed. well, i thought i got that one covered, seems i have much to learn.

Anyway, Bernard was hitting >200m drives almost all the time(which was really amazing to me), Mike and Aw Yong weren't slouches either. but what was really amazing to me was the fact that there are quite a few old people at the range and they were hitting balls with no effort at all. Its like they just swing and the ball just takes on a life of its own. I was also impressed most with Mike's equipment. the bugger's got a big bag with some fancy clubs, but what really stood out was this lean mean driver with a fantastically light shaft; all of them who tried it drove the ball further then their own clubs.

Well, this is fun, and i expect it to be better once i get better at it. i guess thats when i'll enjoy it more. Right now, it is quite exasperating not being able to even hit the ball every time. and i need to work on the grip as well as the posture. though i'm glad to say that at least the swinging motions are more or less similar to softball, a sport that i have more experience with. In fact, Bernard thought i was playing baseball when he first saw me swinging the club. i guess i've got to start working on reducing those body movements i've built up swinging a bat.

That being said, i can't wait for the next session. hopefully, it'll be more fulfilling than the first.

Quote of the day: An albatross, an eagle and a birdie, more than just birds;)

Iron Chef

Had a BBQ session with my neighbour Bernard and friends yesterday evening. It started kind of awkwardly because it was all his friends. But that wasn't a big problem at all, thanks to my boisterous and amicable nature(heh heh!), we were soon getting on splendidly^_^.

though it was the first time i've ever seen such a interestingly cute BBQ pit. it has never been more challenging cooking food over something so small.

well, its hard to gauge the scale from the picture but 6 wings covers more than half of the wire mesh already. Anyway, one interesting incident that happened was, there's this guy who insisted on putting everything on foil("Its healthier lah"). Needless to say, this run contrary to our idea of a BBQ. Meat over open fire, thats the whole idea right? nothing better than carcinogen-laced charred-grilled meat.

Anyway, we had the last laugh since all the stuff we cooked over the foil all weren't cooked thoroughly. Anyway i feel we're all in for an "unhealthy" evening anyway, the moment we decided to have a BBQ session. not much way you can get food thats nice and not grilled when you're BBQing. in any case, i think that defeats the whole purpose of the activity anyway.

Anyway, this is like the dunno how many times some one has remarked that i looked like Austin Powers(groooovy, baby!), especially with my specs. the thing is, i have no idea whether its an insult or a compliment.-_-" What's more important is I don't think i even look remotely like him. the specs, it has got to be the specs(nods).

Seefood=(

Andy, the guy who got first in the Alpine ICE competition a few days ago gave us all a treat today. Sort of in celebration of his win. It was the first time i have ever seen someone rake up a close to $400 bill at a coffeeshop. Everyone tried to guess how much the bill was and nobody even came close.>_<

Anyway, i would have enjoyed the meal more if i haven't been plagued by this annoying cyst in my eye. I didn't touch any of the seafood or the spicy stuff despite all my friends encouragement that one or two isnt gonna hurt. I don't know why but it seems i always have this problem. when the weather gets hot or when i get sick, BAM! my eye starts to get screwed up. people who know me for a while would have seen me with a cyst in my eye at some point in time. Now i wonder how long this one will last. Its giving me a hell of a neuralgia in the face, and i'm drinking so much water now that i seem like someone trying  his best to get incontinence.

the worst part is i've got to endure the endless tauntings from people who always seem to think this condition is bought on by excessive viewing of "questionable" material.

To answer all the people who have, erm, expressed concern, I DID NOT PEEP AT ANY FEMALE UNDRESSING OR IN THE MIDST OF RELIEVING THEMSELVES. To this day, how this conclusion came about still eludes me.

Anyway, received in the mail some of Jasper's(EE23!) wedding pics today. well i have been to a few weddings but i have got to say his is the one i will remember for a loooong time. Anyway, these pics arrived by REGISTERED MAIL and you can see the painstaking work they've done to make it as unique as possible. Can you imagine they've got to do this individually for EVERYONE who came to the banquet? i really marvel at their creativity as well as determination to make this experience a memorable one both for them and as well as for every guest. Either that, or they've got a REALLY good wedding planner.

Anyway, here's a pic of how the photos came. It came binded in a small about A3 sized booket, rivet-binded and contains four glossy photos, one of which was a shot of me with the happy couple. A DVD of the entire event was also included and attached to the last page.

Now is that cool or what?

Ice Ice Baby....

Was at this Alpine ICE competition today, to lend support to 3 of my friends who took part. We don't really get much car audio competitions in our neck of the woods, so i was looking forward to getting a chance to talk to people and have a look at what type of setups are in vogue now. Anyway, this competition was unique since i think its the first one on our shores that has a mobile Ipod category. 2 of my friends were in the open category and one other guy was competing in the Ipod category.

Andy got top spot in the Ipod category(now thats a big trophy) but it was a shame my two other friends didn't get top three placements. I've heard their setups and i think they've got about the best thats possible in the market now. Oh well, i guess there's always one mountain higher. Now i'm dying to know the offical rankings, so at least i'll know how they fared compared to the rest. I've got this lingering feeling they just missed the top three.

Anyway, for non-competitors like me, the highlight of the day was when all of us got a chance to have a look at all the different setups and installs. I even managed to audit a Mini Cooper S who i must admit had one hell of an install. I was shocked when the owner let on that the interconnects alone were worth a whooping 6 grand. The sound was quite impressive though i didnt really connect with the subwoofer bass, too "raw" for my liking although its easily the nicest one i've ever seen.

The pic speaks for itself, really...

Anyway, there's more of where that came from. althought it isnt much and the quality is anything to shout at. well, you can't expect SLR performance since the pics were taken with my trusty handphone cam. Anyway, Its all uploaded here.

I didn't take pics of ALL the cars, just the ones i feel that really set themselves apart from the rest=) One thing i've noticed is that all the major soundshops have really raised the bar in terms of installation, workmanship as well as creativity. I see metal, veneer, paint, piano finished wood, even leather being used. There's a larger plethora of equipment being used too. In fact, i think the top three were all using different speaker models, quite a marked difference from before when its always the same speakers hogging the spotlight. its all quite a refreshing change and I'm really looking forward to the next big competition. Who knows, maybe i just might find it in me to participate=)

EH. Got ticket anot?

Collected my convocation gown today. Collected Chingwei's too. I have no idea about his sizes so i took the liberty of choosing a "safe" size. Met up with a few friends I have not met in a long time too. There were Quek(Hello army boy!), Jeremy(ORD lo!), Evelyn(wah.systems analyst), Justin(Yes Sir!) as well as Ah Bao(evil as usual) to name a few. I also must not forget PIERRE, who i have not met for a really loooong time. His name deserves special mention because one of the first things he said to me after so long was that he enjoyed reading my blog.^_^

Actually I almost never made it back to campus today.
It all started in the morning at around 1000hrs when i was still dead asleep. my cellphone rang and the conversation went somewhat like this.....

ME       : (yawn)Hello?
?????     : Eh. You got extra ticket anot?
Me       : Extra ticket? what extra ticket? Who is this?
?????     :Me lah. Guojun lah. Convo tics...you got extra anot?
ME       : Oooh. Extra ah? don't have lah. I also need two what. not tomorrow collect meh.
Guojun : tomorrow your head lah. Today collect gown lah. I just checked the website yesterday lah.
ME       : Shit. Sure anot. what time?
Guojun : wah liew. from 9 to 11 lah.wah lan, you still asleep ah??
ME       : yeah. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. ok ok. thanks leh. heng you call me sia, else jialat.
Guojun : yah lah.yah lah. eh. you know who don't want their tics let me know hor,ok?
ME       :Hor, ok ok....

And so by some strange twist of fate(well not really, but i've always wanted to use that phrase), it was all thanks to Guojun that i even knew today was the day. its strange though, because i distinctively remembered the collection date was supposed to be tomorrow:-| Anyway, we talked for a bit more but that was about the gist of the whole dialogue. No prize guessing what the bulk of the conversation was about most of the time.(Hint: it has something to do with tickets)

Anyway, i did some spring cleaning after that and i am amazed at the amount of crap i have. I threw away about 6 shoeboxes filled with miscellaneous papers. that was not including one colossal stack of notes that dates back to my secondary school days. I also decided it was time to junk my prized paper bag collection.

The latter did made me held back a little. When i was younger, i enjoyed collecting those nice glossy paper bags. Over the course of my entire secondary school period, i have amassed quite a sizeable collection. There were bags from Armani, D&G, Gaultier, Versace, Ferre, Moschino, Valentino, Aigner, Gucci, Cartier, etc. some i got for free, and some were acquired through some purchase. Some labels i even have paper bags from different season's collections.
you name it, and if its branded, more often than not, i've probably got it( i meant the paper bag). It was dumb but i was quite the mindless brand name follower then>_<(well, youth is always a good excuse for irrational behavior!)

now i've realised i've probably got no use for them, considering they have been collecting dust for the last 8 years or so, so now they are all showcasing their designer chic at the neighbourhood rubbish dump. Well, who knows, if they're lucky, maybe some fellow paper bag aficionado will come along and give them a better home=)

LOST

Was talking to one of my friends the other day when it suddenly came to us that he was from the same NS unit as i was; 1 SIR. Only difference was he was wearing those olive green uniforms and there were still Israelis in the army when he enlisted. That was in 1983. I enlisted in 1999. It was interesting to know someone from the same camp, although there were about 16 years between us, since we could talk about places both of us are familiar with and which miraculously, had not changed at all in these 16 years. I can tell it was really nostalgic for him, as he relived to us his days of conscription. He seemed to have been quite the party boy in the army, most of his antics i shall not describe, lest it becomes study material for enterprising young men awaiting enlistment, but i shall let on that they mostly involves visits to the medical centre. ;)

Anyway, something kinda embarrassing happened to me today. I was sending a friend home today and she lived in Yishun, we were around the paya lebar area and i HAVE NO IDEA how to get there from where i am. it dint really helped that she wasn't very road savvy either. well, i just tried to go in the general direction and fortunately, we came to a point where she recognised the surroundings and it was all good from there.

However, it left quite a indelible mark on me. I think its quite humiliating not to know the way around a country thats not even 40km by 20km. i'm no good with roads and i think i'm screwed if i ever had to navigate through another gargantuan housing estate. thats one thing i guess i have to work on. i never really took the time to find out how to get to where from where. i'm OK in the west but i'm just no good everywhere else.>_<
i've always thought that for every place i don't know how to go, there's always the good ol' trusty street directory.

Though i seem like such a klutz, if i have to do that all the time...

Go Italia!!

Went to HMV today and got some cheap CDs. that's actually a misnomer because you can never find "cheap" and "HMV" in the same sentence. Its kind of sad that the only time when its feasible to get CDs from HMV is when they have some sort of a sale going on, like today. I mean, who pays 24 bucks for a normal CD when everyone knows that you can get the same thing for $18.90 or $19.90(sometimes even $16.90!) at a Music Junction or Gramaphone?  And the thing is all the rare export records go for 80 bucks and up-_-". they know no one else stocks those so they just jacked up the prices to kingdom come.

This sucks but whenever HMV has a sale, most of the time they have some drastic reductions. Its not uncommon to see  prices like $8.95, $5.95,etc.. Today was such a time. i bought 4 CDs for about 37 bucks. I don't know about you but thats a real bargain to me. that works out to about slightly more than 9 bucks per disc. Woot.

Anyway one album i bought worthy of mention is a bossa nova album by a Singaporean simply named Olivia. I've never heard of her before but apparently this is like her 3rd album. Anyway, for some reason, i've never thought much of local music; the last local album i got(and i liked) was Dick Lee's "Transit Lounge", and that was like 6 years ago if i remembered correctly. Somehow, i never warmed up to the likes of Corrinne May, Sun Yanzi, etc. i liked Tanya though, she has a unique voice.
Anyway, it helps that she looks kinda cute too.^_^

Anyway, now i'm waiting for the World Cup Finals. It sucks that Germany isn't in it. I was so sure they were going to get in. I don't really think the Italians play any better though it is disheartening to see how the Germans just collapse and stop fighting after the first goal, even if it is in extra time. Brazil on the other hand were kinda screwed up. All the same, i have the feeling that the general sentiment out there goes out to the French but i hope the Azzurri can pull it off. It has been a while since Italy last won the Jules Rimet trophy. Maybe it'll happen today.

Go Deutschland!!

Went for my cousin's wedding a few days ago. It sounds unbelievable but i only knew her name was Deon(cool name btw) on Saturday. All my life, i've known her as "Hong Hong jiejie". yeah, it sounds really corny, but thats how i address her everytime i see her. though I have no idea when was the last time i saw her before the wedding; i guess it was about 3 or 4 years ago. now that seemed like a long time. Anyway, going to weddings is fine, but its a whole different ballgame when you're somewhat related to the married couple.

The people asking you when is it gonna be your turn effectively doubles.

Well, that is just a general observation; didn't really happened to me, since the bulk of the people there are from my mother's side and i don't really have much of a chance to see them regularly, so i wasn't bombarded with queries about my marital status. Though i did found out that TWO of my older cousins are in fact, going to tie the knot later this year(not to each other). One is gonna be in September and another one is probably going to happen a month later. This, coupled with Edvan's(Batman!) impending wedding would mean i will have to go through another three yamsengs.

Well, i don't know whats so special about 2006 but it seems like a lot of people are getting hitched this year.>_<

Anyway, as i was telling a few friends of mine before(APNN!rem?), there are always two things you MUST do at any wedding.

FIRST->congratulate the blissful couple on their union.(this is very important)
SECOND-> enquire about the complimentary parking coupon. (you CANNOT not do this)

these are like the SOP of attending weddings.lol.

Anyway, the world cup has been in full swing for a while now and now there's only 4 countries left. As a matter of fact, i am making an entry now because its 0245hrs and i'm waiting for the 0300hrs match between Germany vs Italy to start. It's starting to seem like this just might be Germany's year, though i'm kinda sad teams like Brazil and South Korea didn't get in. England deserved to go home though. They didn't really looked like they were aware football is a team game.

Anyway its actually kinda hard for me to watch the world cup, considering i don't have cable tv at home. A friend of mine told me about this player thingy(thanks surfers!) at http://www.viidoo.com/ . Its actually a streaming player but it's a great tool for people who don't have cable tv. i can watch the world cup in a few channels(in Spanish if i really want to), and when there aren't any matches or when its halftime, i won't get bored with baseball at Sportscenter or those taiwanese variety shows. only downside is the size of the screen is fixed and it lags sometimes, but i guess its a small price to pay considering the damn thing's FREE.

Do the write thing

I was clearing stuff from my desk today when i stumbled upon 3 worn-out A5 sized notebooks i've tucked away for a long time. woot, my old journals. you see, i started the habit of keeping a journal way back in 1999, when i just got out of BMT and was posted to this crummy looking camp at Guillemard Road. Back then, my first thoughts were something along the lines of, "thats it, gonna have to spend the next 2 years of my life in this dump, i wonder what sort of stuff awaits me". And then I thought that it would be such a pity if i did not record what would happen to me in this next 2 years(blogging was quite unheard of back then).After all, you only go through NS once. I thought it would be an interesting idea to look back and reminiscence about it in the future, when i'm all old and wrinkly and could do with some bedtime reading.

So i went out and got a book and decided that from then on, i would keep a journal and update it with my thoughts, reflections and experiences. It was quite a religious affair for me; i would make entries regularly, or as often as i could. i remembered there was one time i even brought my journal out into the field with a ziplock bag just so i can "capture the moment". i guess i was convinced my creative juices would flow better if i'm writing about it while i'm soaking it in. Anyway, i was still making regular entries up till maybe 2004. After that, i guess i got lazy. i now make an entry about once every 3 days or so.>_<

That being said, i always wondered why speaking decent english is not a problem for most people, but typing it seems like such a major hurdle. maybe its just me, but i just can't seem to tolerate people using bad grammer when instant messenging or in online forums. i don't appreciate the pervasive use of internet lingo either. i mean, emoticons and simple expressions are fine, cos i think they add spice to a conversation, but i find it especially hard to swallow when i have to decipher messages that look like they're some colloquial leet speak. people like them, because they make the words shorter, ergo, lesser time to type. But really, how much time do u save from a few letters anyway? Is keyboard fatigue taking that big a toll on your fingers? i've always wondered about that.

Quote of the day: The pen is mightier than the sword, but collapses under the sheer weight of the internet.

Dae Han Min Gook!

Woot. It has been a while. couldn't really make any entries cos I've been in Korea the past week. for a country with the highest internet penetration rate in the world, it's kinda ironic that it sure is hard finding any computer terminals to access the net for free. managed to find one in a tourism office in the Insadong antique market area but its tough having to jostle for a turn with ten thousand other people updating their blogs so i just gave up.lol. damn, they even charge you for the plastic bags around here.

anyway Korea's a great place, friendly people, fantastic weather. u can walk for miles and not drop a sweat, makes me wonder how great it would be if we can have reservist training in Korea during the autumn.^_^ i can totally see myself coming to the Korean countryside for a holiday every June/July. tranquil surroundings, cool weather, nice scenery and not a sound at night. not really very exciting, but thats my idea of relaxing(yeah i know i very boring>_<)

anyway, these past 7 days in Korea has led to me to compile my very own Top Ten list.(don't you just love Letterman? )well, its not really a top ten list, just a list of ten things, haha.

1) They(we?) drive on the wrong side of the road.
2) Korea men are built big for Asian males.
3) Korean ladies are unbelievably beautiful.( you know those babes you see on Guess Guess Guess? you can see gals of those calibre on the streets by the bucket loads)
4) Most korean ladies have fantastic hair.(refer back to subpoint 2)
5) You are screwed big time if you can't speak Korean in Korea.
6) On the other hand, u can get away with most stuff with just "annyong haseyo" and "kamsa hamida", and then speak some English.
7) You are also screwed big time if you are allergic to kimchi.
8) You have to look really hard to find a record store in Korea. i couldnt find any in the whole of the Dongdaemon area and i am sure i looked really hard.
9) Koreans have a few Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo models that are exclusive to Korea. Korean automobiles account for more than 90% of the vehicle population in Korea. Its really hard to see a Japanese or an European marque.
10) Koreans are fantatically devoted to their national soccer team. we were still seeing entire match replays and reports of the Korea vs Costa Rica match for 4 days after the match ended. in fact, you can always see something on the Korean national team at some channel at any time of the day. Furthermore, every employee in every shop, store, toilet, etc around the country is wearing that Red "Korea Again" tee.(i got one too^^)

tada! there you have it.
anyway, now that i'm back and the trip is out of the way, i've really gotta spend my time trying to get some employment. i haven't really done much in this department for the last two months and its kinda starting to bug me.
wouldn't want to be the only one left behind though>_<.

Quote of the day: Time's a wastin'.

Good Riddance!

The day has finally arrived. Though not as dramatic as I thought it would be, considering everything happened when i clicked on the words "Examination Results" on the screen. Actually results were supposed to be announced tomorrow but everyone knows the results always comes out a day early. I thought it would be cool if its tomorrow though, cos then the date would be 06/06/06, not something you would forget in a hurry. Furthermore, i liked those numbers too as they hold some meaning to me. anyway there wasnt much theatrics, since there was only about a 2 second period of anticipation and apprehension before the results materialised before my eyes.

well, it wasnt too good and it wasnt too bad, I got all Bs. Actually, i'm relieved i got a B for the openbook paper(i know i screwed up), but kinda pissed i got Bs for the other two. oh well, no biggie i guess, considering it was sufficient in my case to just pass all papers. All As wouldnt have made a difference anyway.

The most important issue is that I can finally close the page to the longest chapter in my book. There were ups and downs(mainly downs), but i'm glad to say that i've came through, although not in the manner that i would have hoped for. I wasn't really a studious guy, but i would like to say i dint exactly slack off either. why things happened they way they did, i cannot fathom, though i believe everyting happens for a reason. its good to know these (seemingly unfortunate)series of events will only serve to make me a better and more sensible person.

anyway, now thats said and done, there is a more pressing issue at hand. I am the only person I know who still has not sent out a single job application yet. Every mother's son(or daughter) around me has at least went for one interview already and some have even had job offers. Now, i know I'm not beneath most of them in terms of ability or even resume writing talent, so if they can do it, i sure as hell can too. i hope i can at least get some replies before i fly off for Korea next Sunday. I have no idea why most people around me wants to go overseas but for the record, its a reluctant trip for me. I din't even plan the thing and i have no idea what am i supposed to do there. the only thing i know is we're going to the jewel in the palace film site, or something along the lines.

The worst thing that can happen is when some company replies to my application and can't contact me cos im not in the country; to make things worse, they can't get me cos i'm in a place where GSM don't work and i dun have a 3G phone. I have a feeling high anxiety isn't going to be enough to describe how i'm gonna feel.

anyway, nothing i can do about it, i'll worry about it when it happens.^_^
now i just need to get started on writing the next chapter of my life and for the life of me, i can't wait to see what happens next. As they say on the radio,"Good Night, and Good Luck."