It's Raining...

Hiking to Mt Faber

2012-01-29T22:20:00.000+08:00

Listening to: 胡夏 - 那些年

This morning is a very tiring yet fun day for me. The worst part was getting up 7am on a Sunday, but once I washed up, things feel better.

Getting on a train at YCK, changing trains at Bishan and travelling to Labrador. Just to wait for Johnny and MX to reach before going to the Forest Walk. Ok, so we did have breakfast at BK before moving out. =P

I still can't believe that Johnny, who said he doesn't want to have bf, ate the Breakfeast!

BreakFEAST

It's like the mother of all breakfast! Croissant, omelette, sausage, hash browns and half a tomato to fill in the vegetable quota! But since he does work out, I guess it's alright. xD

So we managed to set off at 10:45am and I have to say, I totally didn't know that the walkway was made up of metal GRIDS! Not only can we see through the stupid walkway while a hundred metres off the ground, the grids were not even fixed to the bridge properly! So while we were walking on the walkway, the grids were like rattling and shifting around. I just stared straight ahead for the entire 30 minutes on the Forest Walk. What a crazy concept.... >_>

The next part of the hike was the Henderson Waves. This part was really nice as the bridge was not only very tall, it overlooks Keppel Bay and Mount Faber. The tall condo raised far above the trees, and sparrows were swopping just infront of the scene. Really a fantastic view!

The vast expense of greenery isn't something we see everyday in Singapore!

Mount Faber was actually easier to hike as it was all downhill from there. So we walked from the forest right into the megamall, Vivocity! Although nature is the best, the feel of air con on sweaty skin feels like redemption from hell! xD

Anyway, the weird thing is that we saw Albert while walking around. It's such a coincidence when the rest of us was talking about him on Friday. It seems like he's working at OCBC marketing credit cards. While it's not a bad job, it's weird that so few of DIT0104 are actually working in the IT industry. We range from working in the army, in IMH to working as a football referee... o_o

Anyway, after the walk around, we had lunch at Seah Im Market. I forgot what we talked about but I guess it's mostly just chit-chat while eating except the part where Johnny was advised to show his fun side to his crush which I agree. I made the same mistake years ago, only being a person's emotional bin. Which is wrong! It's the easiest way to get friend-zoned. So Johnny, do your stuff. Get the girl laughing! ; )

We went home relatively early since the hike really drained our energy. And MX wants to do it again next weekend.... =_=

Classmates Meeting at City Hall

2012-01-28T11:17:00.000+08:00

Met up with a few poly classmates yesterday. Had lunch with Shujun and JY as our offices were quite near so it's really convenient. It wasn't such a big deal since I do msn with Shujun every morning at work so I'm quite up to date with what's happening with her life. Namely her new-born nephew and the elder niece whom she spends a lot of her time with.

Junyuan is still the same. Tall, doe-eyed and handsome. And he wants me to join him in getting a degree in IT. I'm quite agreeable since almost everyone now has a degree but I have no idea if I can sustain actually studying part time for the next 2-3 years.

Dinner was spent with Daniel, MX, Johnny and Junyuan. Daniel has opened a new training school for financial courses recently and he seems to be able to talk well so I hope he'll succeed.

It's good to see and know that everyone in your class are doing well even though it's been seven years since we graduated from school. I'll be sure to go to the next gathering as well!

First Post of Year 2012

2012-01-26T17:52:00.002+08:00

Reading my past entries, I can't believe that I was so fun-loving when I'm writing. I think it has something to do with my perception of the world when I was 26 and young. Everything was so rosy and bright.

But I'm so much more mature and experienced that it's difficult to sound funny again. Even my love for reading is diminishing. Used to be able to finish at least one book a week, but now it's more like a month before I return a book to the library.

The dragon year started 5 days ago. It was not a bad start, visiting my grandmother with all the relatives eating reunion dinner. And going visiting Ming Xing and her eldest sister with Johnny.

Looks like the three of us are still single at the start of 2012, even though Ming Xing had a hidden relationship last year. Johnny also had a turbulent time with his love life but I still think he has a good chance when his crush don't mind keeping in contact with him.

I guess my love life was the most boring in 2011. No progression at all. Not even a girl to chase after. But career-wise, it wasn't a bad year. Learned many new telecommunication subjects and the bonus from Singtel really boosted my savings.

Hopefully this year will be more exciting. (Lose my virginity for example... xD)

Let's have a great 2012!

Yume wo Kanaeru Zo

2011-05-19T22:15:00.000+08:00

I was flipping through my cds lately and found this cd with a Japanese drama inside called Yume wo Kanaeru Zo about an elephant god whom appeared to an out-of-luck office girl.

I was instantly hooked to this drama because it's a really funny show! The way the elephant god, Ganesha, interacted with the office girl, Hoshino, was really whacky! Ganesha promises to help Hoshino find happiness by giving her tasks to do which improves her attitude tremendously.

And Hoshino is really a very loveable girl whom shows her feelings by being funny and making bad puns. I think the latter was the influence of Ganesha though. xD

Well, the show is really practical in the sense that even though the story was really good, it still manages to give good advices to everyday people on how to live well and not be so shallow.

In this case, I enjoyed the journey that Hoshino undertakes to improve her life. There are many lessons to be learned in this enjoyable show. Definitely gonna keep the drama for a long time! : D

Being Sick & Weak Is A Big No-No!

2011-03-30T11:03:00.000+08:00

Had a raging fever on Sunday morning and thinking I'll be alright after a good rest, I was kinda irritated that I was still bed-ridden till 7am the next day. It was a lousy night, tossing and turning on my bed at 4am in the morning for what felt like an eternity only to find out that only ten minutes had passed.

I thought exercising is good for the body! How did I managed to get sick after going to the gym at least twice a week and playing badminton every weekend for the past few months?

Well, even after getting MC on Monday, I'm still feeling the after-effects of the fever today. Bouts of dizziness and dry coughs. How pathetic.

This feeling of weakness and suffering ends today. This evening, I'm gonna go to the gym and do some light jogging and weights no matter what. The period of rest has come to an end and I should do some recovering before I turn to mush again.

What does not kill you, will only make you stronger!

Badminton Blues

2011-01-09T23:04:00.001+08:00

Went for badminton yesterday again with my ex-colleagues and it was a grueling session because of one person. That person is a friend of Nairice whom she invited, Siew Lee.

It was the first time we met her and she's some kind of hyper-active Energizer bunny. HY has booked the badminton court at HP clubhouse for 4 hours and she was always egging someone to play badminton. So yea, I didn't get one full minute of rest through the 3 hours that Siew Lee played on the courts. And her playing style is... "unfriendly" meaning she smacked everyone with her shutter cock at least once. Ouch! x_X

Her personality came out even more when we were in Queenstown shopping centre, we were just standing around talking about where to go next and she was just going, "Can we go now?", "Why are we standing here?", "Are you done talking?". xD

I think the group was kinda pissed after that as they were quite cold while we were playing pool at Mt Faber Safra. But I think that was the wrong attitude, you shouldn't be bias against someone because she's hyper. (She really is, she practically was skipping back after HY dropped her off at her block later at 11pm...) And the important thing is that she isn't arrogant or some kind of mad-murderer insane. xD

The thing is, I feel that Siew Lee has the right attitude that I'm trying to cultivate. It's that kind of friendliness that the book I brought to increase my self-esteem recommends. To make meeting new friends easy by choosing to like them instead of thinking negative thoughts of how they might not like you. And it makes it easy to interact with Siew Lee because she has that kind of energy that is welcoming!

So yeah, I think I would enjoy meeting her again if she comes to badminton session with us next week again. : )

Sick.

2011-01-04T19:53:00.000+08:00

Today wasn't a good day. I feel sick, dizzy, tired and hot the whole day at work. But being positive is important, so the good thing about today is that I had brunch and lunch with my colleagues and they were quite nice about everything. xD

Ok, I think I need to go lie down.

A Self Helping Book

2011-01-01T23:11:00.004+08:00

As part of my new year resolutions, I went to Kinokuniya on New Year Eve to look for a self help book and yes, there was quite a selection of books on how to increase your self-esteem and how to gain confidence in life.

So I browsed through the books and finally found one that is suitable for me. The title of the book is Be More Confident and is part of the Teach Yourself series of self help books. I guess it's something like the For Dummies series, a set of books to teach all sorts of subject to the reader.

The first chapter list down what kind of negative thoughts a person should avoid. For example, one kind of negative thoughts I should avoid thinking is "They're better than me". This occurs when you convince yourself other people are superior while you focus on your inferior qualities.

So there is an exercise recommended to help you prove that you are as good any anyone else. Which is to list down ten fine qualities you possess, write it down on a card and read it everyday! Well, I'm gonna follow that exercise and list down ten fine qualities that I possess here! : D

1) I'm a good listener!
2) I'm willing at look at my faults and improve.
3) Loves reading. Knowledge is power!
4) I'm independent.
5) I'm not afraid of hard work. > D
6) I'm a sweet-natured guy! = D
7) I'm not a superficial person.

Shit, I can't think of any more. I'll update this list when I can think of more! : D
(Halfway there!)

Weird Singtel Training

2010-12-28T23:08:00.000+08:00

Yea, had to go for this Singtel induction training today. It helped that the lady conducting the training was very pretty and cheerful xD, but she had the whole class of 40 plus middle aged people stood in a circle and did some weird exercise to wake us up. Hello, it's 9am! Everyone's awake!

That was only the start, the lady next had us tape a white piece of paper on our backs. Yes... weirdo... And made us walk around the room introducing ourselves and make other people write what they find out about us on the paper on our backs. So I put on my fake smile and went around talking to new hires from other departments in Singtel! 8D ... And so this was what I found on the paper on my back after the session was done.

1) Living at Yo chu kang, Friendly kind (this was my Filipino colleague... =_=)
2) Friendly & Nice (colleague's friend)
3) Approachable
4) Circuit engineer @ next door! Technical person
5) is not married yet. from NYP. (I can't remember who wrote this but this is a damn weird thing to write...)
6) very chattable guy. cool =) valercia
7) cycling as hobby
8) likes badminton

Okay, these are quite okay if you only had 1 or 2 minutes to talk with someone. Very superficial but yea, I wrote some crap on the papers at other people's back too so it evens out. xD
After that, we watched some video where there was this segment the voice-over was talking about the communication devices over the years.

*shows series of old phones, pagers and finally the black color brick-like cellphones*
Voice-over: And these cellphones are so sturdy that they are known to be used for self-defens-*cuts off*

HAHAHA! xD

And this is some commercial video about Singtel! xD

Okay, so the rest of the day was spent with more lectures, activities and looking at the various ladies from other departments attending the course. xD

Don't ask me why! : P

2010-12-23T22:48:00.000+08:00

Had dinner with MX just now and talked some crap before she has to go to her shop at Cathay. While walking to Cathay from PS, she asked me how come I never asked her how was her day and show some concern for her in a jokingly manner.

And I replied in a jokingly manner that I did! 7 years ago! But now that I think about it, the real reason is because whenever I do ask about her day, her reply would be either "问这么多做什么？" or "Kaypo!" Well, to tell the truth, I've never considered it rude because she's just that way. xD

In most cases, I guess it's the attitude that determine if you are a friend worth knowing. If you're arrogant or just the kind of person that have an ulterior motive while pretending to be a friend, it's pretty soon that people will start avoiding you like the plague.

After saying that, I'll start improving my attitude! Pride is an issue I have that leaves me unapproachable and afraid to do things that will make me a laughing stock.

I've never been able to confide in anyone because I feel that showing strong emotions is a weakness. Showing or even telling people about my tears, rage, pain or despair is not an option, only making known what I hold important. But could it be that because I don't show any strong emotions, I'm portray myself as less of a person and more of an empty shell. Recently, I'm beginning to think I'm really ... nothing. Not a real person, a clone, a lesser being.

So yea, I've also decided that being emo is unbecoming of an 26 year old and instead should focus on being a better person then before. Since I know where my problem is, I will do something about it! xD

It's not gonna be easy and there's this balance of sharing my thoughts, retaining my "me-time" and being offensive with my words. I'm sure I can do it though, I'll make this my new year resolution! : P

[Movie] Confessions

2010-12-20T01:18:00.000+08:00

Confessions is a crazily morbid Japanese film about how two students killed their teacher's child and how the teacher took revenge. The movie is formed up of a few confessions starting with the teacher's confession to her class about how she found out about who was the killers and how she spiked their drinks with HIV. It lasted only half an hour.

The other confessions was from the view point of a female student, the killers and one of the mother. So yea, mother-child relationships was quite an important theme in the film. The most impressive scene was when the killer discovered he has blown up his own mother and was screaming in despair when he found his clock whose hands turn backwards! As the seconds turn back, all the fragments piece themselves back, even the mother! D:

Well, it's definitely a depressing movie about revenge on 14 year olds, despite the fact the YS was giggling at some parts of the movie in a theater full of people who were feeling disgusted.... xD

Techie at Work

2010-12-12T02:40:00.000+08:00

As requested by YS, I'm gonna blog at this time of 1.45am! Well, yesterday (Saturday), started out as a normal enough day. Feeling only a little body ache from the fever the day before, I felt well enough to plan for an outing to Sim Lim Square to get a new hard disk for my computer since the current one has been making lots of odd noises and hanging up these few days.

So after I reached Bugis and took a little time to visit the library, I reach Sim Lim Square and picked up a price list. It's shocking that a hard disk is so cheap nowadays! Less than $80 dollars for a 160GB harddisk and here I am using my 80GB harddisk from years ago! Well, I picked up a 160GB 2.5 (why 2.5 for a desktop? I dunno, should have brought a 3.5) harddisk and a dvdrom (mine is kinda faulty) for just 103 dollars! And that was all my techie work for yesterday. xD

After that I went walking around Orchard shopping for clothes and got a call from MX while having dinner. It seems like her sister stood her up when she were supposed to meet her to go watch shopping. So it was in a bad mood that MX stomped to the McD that I was eating at and threw her handphone near my tray, nearly hitting my burger. xD

Not willing to provoke the erupting volcano and share the fate of Pompeii, I kept mostly silent while she ranted and swore. After 15 minutes and a call to her sister, she was pacified and her thoughts turn to the Tag Heuer watch she has her eye on. Well, that was when I was recruited into her "watchhunt". xD

Well, that part of the day went rather well and MX got her Tag Heuer watch in the end. After that, I volunteered to accompany her back to her company's shop at Cathay where she has to close the gate and because we had some time, we went to the basement and drink tea while chatting.

The conversations was mostly about her job as the retail manager, her many trips to parts of Asia for work and the people she met during those trips. It seems like hard work and there are alot of responsibilities that she has to take up. But her horizon has opened out and the people she met has been good to her, so I think she's probably satisfied about her current job situation.

We also talked about our ex-classmates and my new job. Well, our opinions may differ in the aspect about our ex-classmates but I'm sure she wouldn't hang out with Johnny so much if he wasn't good enough of a friend. xD

There was also some dialogue about her current love life but those aren't something I should post on a blog. xD

So when the time reached for her to close the shutters, I bid goodbye and left for home. It's been an enlightening talk with a ex-classmate and friend that I've known for nine years. You're still not that old, MX! Go out and see the world! xD

Lion Heart!

2010-12-08T22:29:00.000+08:00

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon

“It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is the most painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you feel.”

New Colleague

2010-12-01T23:44:00.000+08:00

I've been at my new workplace for training for two weeks now and I have to say it's quite exciting and boring there. Exciting because it's an entirely new experience for me and I'm learning hell of a lot of stuff! And boring because the place is filled entirely of old men whom has been working in Singtel for decades...

Except for this other guy who has been in Singtel only a month before I went in. He's a Filipino who worked as an SA in HP Philippines before he came here. Well, he's a nice guy and about 2 years younger than I am.

As it is, today I was standing beside his desk when he suddenly ask me, "This is nice, right?". I glanced over and got a a shock when I saw him browsing a website with scantily-clothed women! But then he said he wants to get one for his girlfriend and I realize that it's actually an online website that sells women lingerie and 'costumes'. xD

Well, he's living with his Filipino girlfriend who has been in Singapore for a year working as a nurse in the General Hospital. Lucky bastard! xD

[27112010] Pompeii, 8q, Megamind & Esplanade!

2010-11-29T21:05:00.000+08:00

Saturday was the most fulfilling day I had in quite some time, thanks to the company of a certain friend! xD

I met YS in the afternoon at 2pm at Orchard as she wanted to get some magazines and a book for her brother. After that was the event that I was looking forward to for some weeks but never had the chance to go to! It's the Pompeii exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore, which is showing the exhibitions of artifacts from the unfortunate Roman city of Pompeii and the cast of people who died buried in volcano ashes!

The first sight when we went in was the plaster cast of a dog, lying in such a way that there was no doubt it's death has been painful. This dog has been dead almost two thousand years, but we can imagine what it's last sight was of. After that was more fascinating artifacts of Romans: statues of Venus, murals on walls, figurines of Gods, and more casts of dead Romans, including a couple, one whose which last act is to protect the other lying on the ground.

After that most excellent exhibition, we went to the 8q near SAM, where they were holding an exhibition on Japanese contemporary arts. We didn't get what most of the exhibition was about but it was still interesting enough, especially this one room with computer designs projected on the wall, which suddenly changed as we were still looking at the patterns. It was quite freaky. xD

By the time we finished looking at the exhibit and had our dinner, it was time to watch Megamind! It was a great movie about a person who adapted to his strengths after being outcasted. The movie try very hard to be funny and it really succeeded in that! It's proven by YS sitting beside me, she was laughing at every thing, even those that no one else in the cinema think was funny.... >_>

After the movie, it was still early so we took a walk to Esplanade, where we found a place near the waterfront to rest and talk. Well, I'm sure YS will pull through, it's not the first time she had problems and she always managed to find confidence in herself to come out stronger then ever! xD

So nearing midnight, we took the circle line where she dropped off before I continued on towards Bishan. Alas, it was already 12.30 when the train reached, so I walked home. Well, this was a journey I took dozens of times so I know it's just an hour walk home. Just right for a ending to a perfect Saturday night! xD

Goodbye Layheng!

2010-10-13T15:18:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of my colleague, Lay Heng. As a part of the server team in our project, Lay Heng has been a very valuable member, excellent friend and a great senior to me. His incredible positivity has helped me through in many difficult situations. That was why the current command centre team plus Eujin, Choonseng, Jeanette, Stella, Nairice, James and Jinyan had a big party at the K-Box at Mount Faber.

After the 14 of us cramped into the room, the manager of K-Box upgraded us into a great room with the karaoke system with 3 big LCD screen, a POOL TABLE, a PS3 and a computer! After that, everything turned into a big party where there were people doing everything at once. Singing KTV, playing pool, playing PS3 and PC, drinking, TCSS and a very special interest in the activities that Layheng and Jinyan were engaging.

Layheng and Jinyan met for the first time officially last night but Layheng already has his eyes on her since about 2 years ago when he saw her at a company function. Since Stella is a colleague of Jinyan, she was specially brought ago to meet Layheng. xD

As it is, they hit it along very well! As only Jinyan has not been in the ITSS project, she only knew Stella but Stella was busy playing pool most of the time. That's when Layheng was encouraged to spend more time with Jinyan so she would not be bored. > D

Even after the event ended at 2am, Layheng was nice enough to volunteer to escort Jinyan back. What a gentleman! xD It could be the start of a very good story here. A fitting going-away 'present' for Layheng. Good luck! Both for your next job and with Jinyan! > D

3 Still-Singles

2010-08-27T18:00:00.000+08:00

So last night was spent hanging out with Johnny and Mingxing at Cineleisure. Dinner at Sakae Sushi was not bad and talk was mostly on work, which for Johnny means finding the right job and for MX, the opening of her company's bouquet store in Cineleisure next month.

After that, we went to the Old Town Coffee for some tea and coffee before MX had to go look at her store's renovations. There, the conversation turned to the question of fidelity in a relationship. This thing came up because of a friend that we know that has forgiven her ex when he was involved in a court case of bringing an underaged girl to a Hotel 81 a few years ago.

As usual, the 3 of us has very different views on this question of being loyal to your partner. While MX has this weird notion that all people are unfaithful and she would close one eye on any affairs her partner have, she could not forgive SJ's ex because the girl he tried to take advantage of is underage.

Johnny's logic is more understandable. His stand for not forgiving SJ's ex is because he had did something wrong while still being attached to SJ. Johnny feels that if he had done it while being single, he would be doing a lesser wrong.

While I agree with the both of them to a certain extend, I feel that that everyone has something that they regret doing and should be given a second chance. Sure, he did something bad and screwed up SJ's life but since SJ can forgive him for that one transgression, it proves that she feels that he can be trusted again.

After that, the other topics discussed was more or less about what we expect of future wives and husband. Looks like Johnny plans to get married after 33, which I think might be a bit late for him, since he's already financially sound. And MX admitted that she's feeling the pressure of getting a partner since she's already 26 this year.

Oh well, since they already have plans, I'm sure they'll do fine. It's not like the world is lacking singles anyway. xD

[D&D] You can't Stab a spider.

2010-08-09T19:47:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, Stab, Chris, Jac and Piccadilly went off in search of the the kidnapper of Star, who had disappeared during her performance. Studying the note that the Raven left after spiriting the dancer away, we quickly deduce that the next place we should search is the graveyard of the warforged, an abandoned train yard near the coal mines where the fire recently started.

But before going to the graveyard, Jac suggested we went to the Canith guild house to see what we can find out about the giant spider construct that was rumored to be haunting the train yard. Well, our curiosity got the better of us and Jac was captured in an escape scene which was in stark contrast to the fun shopping expedition the lousy cow and warlock were doing while we were trying to escape with our lives.

Jac came back alive a few hours later and refuses to tell the rest of us what happened after he got captured, but we could heard him sobbing while taking a shower.... : X

At the train yard, we couldn't see very far due to the poisonous haze from the fire but we could hear something creeping ever nearer to our party. A group of weirdly shaped warforged lurched from the haze to stop us from going further and attacked us with mechanical weapons which spits fire and explosives!

But these old, rusty buckets couldn't stop us for long with Jac's boosting dragon song and were dispatched quickly but apparently they wasn't what we heard as after that a warforge riding a HUGE spider-like walker skittled out and tried to blast every thing with fireballs while flailing about with it's titanium legs.

Of course, he couldn't touch me at all with my extremely fast, superman-like evasion/reflexes. Heh! > D

And the warlock's elritch blasts weakened the construct sufficiently for my meteoric knife to shut down the spider permanently. Unfortunately, we was not able to save Star. Finding another note from Raven in the mouth of her flayed body, we found out that our party was the target of Raven all these while and our base is the next target!

And Raven prepared explosive runes that day. xD

Good Luck James!

2010-07-08T21:48:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was James's last day in ITSS and to wish him well, we all went to Bugis's Fish & Co after work for dinner! It was my first time eating at F&C and the portions are huge. =_=

After dinner, the whole bunch of us actually went to the arcade. Yeah, and we saw some guy played the basketball game and got a high score of 844! He was like some kind of machine throwing balls after balls into the basket. My colleagues went to try and even with two of them playing one machine, they could only get a score of 400 plus. xD

Overall, it was a fun enough evening. And since my RT ends today, I'm going full ahead from next week on my studies and will finish it by Sep. That will be my resolution!

[Tagged] What Kind of Angel are You?

2010-07-08T16:01:00.000+08:00

Tagged by Yansin to do this quiz. xD

You Are a Guardian Angel

You care deeply for your friends and family. Like a Guardian angel, you take protecting them seriously.

Besides guarding the ones you love, you have your eye out for all of humankind. You are very compassionate.

You are a natural caretaker, and you are very interested in social justice. You want to make the world better for everyone.

While you are responsible and conscientious, you are also light hearted. You are easygoing and even quite funny.

What Type of Angel Are You?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Down and Out

2010-06-20T21:00:00.000+08:00

I wonder why I get affected by how people treat me badly. I read self help books before and they all say that if you want people to respect you, you have to respect yourself. And hey, I treat myself quite well.

So how come I have to take crap from people?! Now I have two choices, either stick to what I've said or just overlook this small matter. Either way, I still feel offended. Some people just ain't worth thinking about.

The Orange Tabby

2010-06-12T21:35:00.000+08:00

There's this orange stripped cat in my block that's been wandering around the corridors for quite some time. Orange Tabby would just be a normal cat if he has just lounge around the void deck like Serious Cat does.

But no, what Orange Tabby does is that he likes to patrol about the corridors at all times of the day. I'll be at home watching TV or playing my PC when he'll just walk past while looking inside. There have been times when I leave for work early in the morning to find that cat walking the corridor.

He isn't the first cat to do so, but he is the first who constantly patrol the corridors! I wonder what's so interesting about the rooms that he has to climb at least eight floors everyday to walk around.

The old cat who unflappable from before hasn't been seen for some time. Serious Cat is still being serious at my void deck. The cat who sleeps on vehicles is still around near Blk 636. So is Serious Cat's sibling. (same black, orange, white design but without the serious eyes)

I wonder where they all came from... so many cats around. +_+

[D&D] Eberron's Elementals need more paid holidays.

2010-05-23T22:31:00.000+08:00

Just my luck, I was just minding my own business a few days ago, taking a walk and checking out the nice houses in Sharn when I almost hit by a flying guard! It seems like there was a jailbreak on the streets but a fragile thing like me would never think of being involved in that kind of risky business!

But being the nice, street-friendly Stab, I had to see if the guard was alright. Unfortunately, the guard was already dead when I reached him. Tearfully, I spoke a prayer while searching his pockets for any thing he might want to pass on to his family.

There was alot of noise and explosions but in the end, I was arrested with this brunch of misfits and was cursed by the guards. Such injustice in this world! D:

It was one hassle after other as I had to help the nun, the monk, the paladin (brunch of do-gooders) and a warlock (totally gay) into helping this noble find his missing silver statue in order to get rid of the 'curse of injustice'.

A clue that was found was that there was an orphanage in the slums that we have to scout out and these do-gooders had to pick me, the only person who cannot fight, to go alone! >_>

I used an 'alter self' spell loaned by the ~~bitch~~ nun to change myself into a bugbear and went off. At the orphanage, I sneaked in through the window and managed to find out that Victor (detective) was in cahoots with the escaped prisoners to kill the noble and as I was trying to search the building for the noble's daughter, I was discovered!!

Without wasting any time, I dived through the window amid crossbow shots from the crazy assholes and was followed by a murdering gargoyle! Diving for cover to escape the pursuer, I went into two bugbears' house and came out a half-orc using the alter-self spell.

The gargoyle actually went up to me and asked if I saw any bugbears! Being the honest man, I told him about the two bugbears in the house and walked away. Well, it wasn't really my fault the house was exploded and the two bugbears killed, right? O_O

Well, I managed to get back relatively unharmed but the crazy group wanted me to be the decoy for the noble the next day! I agreed for the greater good I would be doing. (and half of the warlock's loot and first pick of any weapons we find) *sigh* I'm so soft-hearted.

The next day at the train station, acting as the decoy, I was almost killed by the exploding trains while the rest of the group were chasing after the would-be murderers. I was shot at with an arrow and a message for the noble. Then the do-gooders had the 'bright' idea to fight the two large air elementals released by the explosions!

Well, the fight went badly but it was lucky that one of the elementals was released by a compulsion spell by the nun and the other one was already badly wounded. We triumphed at last and hopefully, we'll storm the orphanage with an army and finally finish this mission and get this curse removed! =_=

勇气不是天生的，是一点一滴累积起来的

2010-05-20T23:10:00.000+08:00

Just saw this line on the TV showing the drama '败犬女王' and wow, it's like a light lit up in a part of my brain just like that!

"勇气不是天生的，是一点一滴累积起来的". People aren't born with courage, it is what you experienced in life that slowly build up your courage! That hits the nail on the head with me, being the timid person that cares too much about what other people think of me and not willing to experience new stuff.

So yes, if I don't try, I would never learn! I will overcome my timidness and my over-bearing moral compass to try experience as much as I can while I live! : D

Friday Night Fun

2010-05-16T10:25:00.001+08:00

Friday night came and my colleagues had planned to celerate Shan Shan's wedding next month by ... going to Le Bar again... =_=

But Shan Shan finally succumb to her flu and had to go home and rest instead so we had to find other things to do. Which was playing pool!

It was fun and we played till 1am in the morning. But when we stepped out of the pool centre, we discovered it was raining.

Actually I knew it was possible when I had stepped out for a walk near 12am. I needed a breather and walk around the building till I came to the Guan Yin Temple at Queen's Road. Even though I am not a religious person at all, I remember how my friends and colleagues had said that this temple is quite famous.

So I put my hands together and made a prayer.

Empire State!

2010-05-06T15:33:00.000+08:00

Met with up Johnny and MX yesterday after work for dinner. The Empire State Burgers restaurant was situated in Iluma and it had a nice western theme with big comfortable chairs.

But the main thing was the food, beef burgers and pizzas. The beef burger was huge. IT WAS REALLY BIG! And only for $12.90!! Great for hungry, beef-loving cheapos. No, that's not me because I couldn't finish either the burger or the fries. (nor am I a cheapo : P) And the pizza was really cheesy when it was warm, and it was a huge rectangular pizza too, despite the fact that when we asked the waitress how big was the pizza....

MX: How big is the pizza?

Waitress: Like this... *gesture a small circular shape*

Us: Orhhhhhhhh....

*Huge rectangular pizza arrives*

Orson: *wtf..* >_>

Well, it was worth it though. The total bill came to about $66 for the three of us. And the topic around the table was actually online matchmaking websites. MX and Johnny was all for it as they had some friends who actually managed to know their current hubby from such websites.

It could be worth a try for them but I have doubts about it. It does sound like a weird way to do matchmaking, but I guess people have done it before, just from a different media, like newspapers or magazines.

Oh well, good luck to the both of them anyway. xD

[Movie] IP man 2

2010-05-02T21:02:00.000+08:00

Wanted to watch a movie today and decided on Ip Man 2 since my colleagues want to watch Iron Man 2 this week.

Well, I guess it's as good a movie as the first one. Any movie with Donnie Yen would be good since he's teh man in martial arts movies! xD

When he was fighting with Summo Hung on that table, their fists were so fast that it was a blur. You always read about how someone punches were a blur and I've always taken that description with a pinch of salt, but after that movie, I know that it's possible after all!

Well, let's see if Iron Man is better then Ip Man. xD

A Week Blog

2010-04-26T11:39:00.000+08:00

What did I do this week?

I watched a black and white Italian movie about a sad man. I got abrasions on the bridge of my nose. I went for the company luncheon and saw lucky people get prizes. I watched a sadistic movie about kids in costumes getting beaten up. I went to Le Bar and got plastered. I went to Yuling's house and was loved by her cat. I played Wii and danced like a raving rabbit.

It's not enough at all. I need more. Maybe trekking in the Amazons. Sailing the seven seas. Fighting bears. Loving cats. Challenging the gods!

Yea, sounds good.

[D&D] The Great Prison Break!

2010-04-18T23:07:00.001+08:00

We have accomplished our main mission! The King of Garamon has been captured to prevent him from being brain washed by the evil regent Lady Hermione. But because we have no party leader, we spent like half an hour discussing what to do with the young king.

The druid wants to question him, the halfling wants to rob him and the gay mage wants to rape him. Being the voice of reason, I suggested that we bring him to jail break the one person that he trusts, Lady Lucida, from the nunnery of Times New Roman.

Then we got Ramen joining us on the ship and getting into a fight with the druid. But as what they say, fighting is a good way of knowing each other! : D

After THAT misunderstanding was cleared up, we had to vote to see who would power up the ship. But as even that was taking too long, I used my meager sorcerer magic to power it for 8 hours before the gay mage took over. : P

Reaching near the nunnery, the druid and the knight went off to distract the guards while the gnome, the halfling and the king went to rescue Lady Lucida. But even that didn't go well, as the druid attacked the guards while Lady Lucida was about to be assassinated by demons!

The mage teleported me to the king and while Lady Lucida did well with her make-shift holy forking symbol, the stupid king was hit unconscience by the 3rd round. I'm so ashamed to lose to this guy in the tourney... =_=

Well, in the end though, the king was healed by the halfling and .... he ks-ed the demon.... =_=

But he was stabbed just after the battle ended by another nun and the adventure continues next week!

[Movie] How to Train a Dragon

2010-04-18T11:10:00.001+08:00

Went to watch How To Train A Dragon at Orchard yesterday after work. It's a Dreamworks animation about a Viking boy who managed to befriend a legendary dragon who was wounded in an attack.

After that, the plot was about how the Viking boy learned more about the dragons, stopped them from attacking the village and gets the Viking girl! There were lots of funny moments and I like how the Vikings doesn't mince words. Heh. xD

Well, after the movie I went to Nee Ann City and I remembered hearing that green and grey are the color of this season. As it is, Giordano are selling khakis! So I brought some. Then I remembered that I only have black clothings, which doesn't go well with khakis at all. So I had to buy some light colored clothes.

So I walked about Orchard Road and got lucky at the Fourskin at Heeren, which sells lots of clothes at reasonable prices so I got a shirt. Walking out of the shop, I realised that I only have a pair of combat boots and my formal shoes, which are both black in color.

Heeren did not have much shoes for sale so I went back to Ngee Ann City. There were some slip-ons which look nice but does not have my size, which is about 8 US. Having shopped for 2 hours straight, I was ready to go home since it's already 9pm. But then I saw this converse shop at Wisma which sold some nice sneakers. So I tried some and found a pair of nice sneakers.

Heh, so yeah. It's the first time I've shopped for so many clothes in one go. And it all came up to less then 150 dollars. Heh, I could get used to this shopping thing. > D

It would have been a perfect day if I had managed to get tickets to Verdi's Requiem though.

[Dream] Dilapidated Shopping Mall

2010-04-14T10:18:00.000+08:00

This is what happens when I sleep early. I get all sorts of weird dreams and last night I had another dream that doesn't mean anything.

I was dreaming of this very modern glass building which was supposed to be a mall but no one visits because of it's shape. The shape itself doesn't really look all that bad to me, just glass blocks stacking on each other at angles but it seems like the general opinion is that the building is unstable and is bound to collapse anytime.

So, I was meeting up with this friend (whom I was msning before I went to sleep) to visit this mall and it wasn't that empty at all as we were taking the lift with this one man. The thing that stuck me about the lift is that it had no buttons to the fourth floor and the ground floor was actually the 3rd floor.

So we went to the fifth floor where it seems like it is a canteen and supermarket for the poor and homeless. All the people there were dressed in rags and I don't even want to know what they sell there.

So I walked around for a while till I saw my friend again and we took the lift back to ground floor with an old lady. The old lady was telling us something but I can't remember what she said.

Love yourself if you want other to love you eh? xD

Battle of Bards 2

2010-04-11T08:53:00.000+08:00

Today is the second time the D&D gang went to KTV and it was quite fun! But I noticed there is an distinct difference in what songs will be sung when you go with different groups of friends.

Going with Jason, Joey, Elric and YS, the songs that are played are mostly English with some Japanese and older Chinese songs. There wasn't even one time where a Jay Chou song was played! That is a miracle in itself. xD

Wild Night at Le Bar

2010-03-28T01:04:00.000+08:00

Friday evening after work, I was ordered to go dinner with some of my colleagues before meeting the rest at Le Bar at Prinsep Street.

Well, I had thought it would be a small affair with some of the closer guys drinking a glass or two and chatting a bit. I was wrong =_=

Dinner was at Bugis with LH, Choonseng, James, Seng Han and Jeanette. We took our time as we had to wait for KvN as he had class till 10pm. Choonseng had to meet his wife so we were only five people when we reach the bar.

Then MuiCheng and KvN arrived and we went in. It looks like a classy place from outside and it even has a KTV system. After taking our seats, I was a bit shocked when Muicheng brought two bottles of cognac immediately. Maybe because out of the 8 people there, I was the only one who have not worked with her before and couldn't tell she was a drinker. xD

After that, the people from the office started coming. Bel and Shan shan arrived before Hanyong and Eujin came along. But the surprise has to be Nairice. I didn't realise that she would be interested in coming to a bar. o_o

Anyway, I started drinking cognac on the rocks and after the first 3 glasses, I became quite tipsy..... xD

While going to the toilet, I suddenly had had an urge to vomit and went out the back door in time to do a spectacular Merlion! I didn't realise that so much bodily fluids can be projectile out of a body without dying! xD

Even after that, I could not stand straight and had to cool myself down by walking around. Fortunately, most of the guys came out after me and accompanied me for a time. Just talking, smoking and telling me not to lie down because I won't get up if I did. xD

After a while, we went back in to sing, drink, play games and talk. It was 3am before we separate and went home. I have to say, such large gathering of colleagues in a bar is a first for me, but I can understand why some people are drawn to it. Once a certain amount of alcohol is imbiled, anything would seem funny. Including the inability to keep still. xD

Hmmm, I think I would like to do it again. Excluding the vomiting. xD

[You] Left and [Nothing's] Right

2010-03-26T11:23:00.000+08:00

While sleeping this morning, I woke up at around 3am and started going into a half-wake slumber mode. In this mode, I can remember what I was thinking about in the few seconds I woke every now and then.

And I was actually thinking was that why all the guys are unfaithful and all the girls are sluts. It was not a good sleep. And I'm not sure why I would think such bitter thoughts.

Is it the media? With all that recent news about Tiger Woods and Jack Neo's infidelity. Or about the murder case at Sentosa Cove. Or just all the casual sex you can find on TV and even in books. Or is it from my own experience in life? The many relationships gone ugly that I know of.

It's disheartening and difficult to talk about. Maybe the 'now' that's what important. Living with abandon, making full use of the short time we mortals have to experience as much as we can.

I'm becoming such a cynical person. Nothing seems to be right anymore.

Serious Cat Vs Black Raven

2010-03-16T23:27:00.000+08:00

Today while walking to the MRT, I saw the cat with the serious eyes lying in the middle of the pavement again. Just when I was about 3 meters away, suddenly a big raven dived from nowhere at Mr Serious!

Luckily Mr Serious ducked in time so Black Raven missed his head but because of the direction Black Raven was diving, I was directly in his flight path!! D:

I wanted to say, "I dived to the left to avoid Black Raven and give it a spinning back kick!". But that's so not realistic at all. The truth was that Black Raven swerved to my right to avoid colliding with me and well, Mr Serious was glaring at the direction Black Raven had flown when I looked at him after that.

It felt like something important had happened before my eyes. The Cat Clan and the Raven Clan will be drawn into the flames of war again....

Happy Birthday Silcyn!

2010-03-15T22:51:00.000+08:00

Today was a normal day at work, with one exception. I found out that it was Silcyn's birthday! : D

So yea, I wished her a happy birthday and was asked if I was free to have dinner after work. Being asked by the birthday girl, I couldn't possibly say I have to go shopping for shirts and specs and thus isn't free. It wouldn't feel good if it was me.

So yea, I met Silcyn at Ion and had dinner there. We catch up a bit and I found out that her sister had just gave birth to a baby boy on the 10th March. So now Silcyn has a niece and a nephew, an auntie twice! xD

After dinner, we went to Ngee Ann City because Silcyn wanted to get a gashapon of Edward Elric and she really got it on the first turn! Now THAT'S birthday luck! xD

It was also there that I saw.... Domo-kun!

And more Domo-kun!! xD

And that was the end of the day for us! Just going home on the MRT and reading a japan fashion magazine Silcyn brought for her sister who's undergoing confinement after the birthing of her child.

Have to go shopping tomorrow. Otherwise I won't have enough shirts to last me for the week....

Self Help Books? o_o

2010-03-15T11:40:00.000+08:00

While at the library yesterday, I was browsing through the non-fiction section when I saw this book called "He just not that into you". Since it had a movie based on it, I thought it might be an interesting read. And boy, I was so wrong.

The first scenario the book talked about is actually that when guys say they do not want to ruin a friendship by going into a relationship, they are actually bs-ing. And that really makes me angry. What does the book mean when it say any guy would risk a friendship to get some action? I bet this sexist author doesn't have much friends, the bastard. I just stop reading after that first page and went to get another book.

The second book that caught my interest was called "Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti". This is a more interesting book even thought it is a more theocratical book that quotes a lot from the Bible. It gave me insight to how differently the male and female thought processes are.

Yesterday I didn't pick up the phone from her because I slept early. Only to find out that today that yesterday was a bad day for her. It sucks but I really can't do much. I can't even console properly. I wish I was a better friend but there was a time when I had wished she wouldn't treat me as a emotion dumping ground.

But after experiencing what you are going thru now, I know that I can't just ignore you when you're in depression. It wouldn't be human of me. You were right though, 'but empathy only brings you so far.'....

Happy Birthday MX!

2010-03-10T11:42:00.000+08:00

Yo MX, happy birthday! Now that you're a year older, time to get going and start living! xD
Have fun and don't ever get stuck in one place eh? xD

Today didn't begin well for me, I woke up and went about the usual business of brushing my teeth, washing my face and brushing my hair. When I walked out the toilet, I was wondering why the sky is still so dark. I mean, yeah, it's raining but it should be around 7.15am already.

So I went out and look at the clock only to discover that it's only 6.15am.... That sucks. I looked around the living room and think.

"I can't go back to sleep. I've already gel my hair."

"But it's raining, a great weather to sleep."

"What if I can't wake up on time for work?"

"I'm still sleepy..."

"Fuck..."

So yeah, I was standing in the middle of the room stoning for a few seconds before deciding to read the newest novel I borrowed from the library. It's a sci-fi book recommended by my NS friend, Alan.

After reading the book, I can understand why Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is such a legend among sci-fi geeks. It's really a great book which shows how the military tries their hardest to make a six-year-old child grow up to be a genius commander by BREAKING him.

And Ender passed all the tests given to him. But the tests never stops, it just get harder and harder. It's such a heart breaking scene to finally see Ender give up near the end. And you can forget that he's only ten at the point he goes into command school by the way the cadets talk and act.

Although it's only a thin novel, this book is certainly one of the hardest to put down since a long time ago.

[Movie] Summer Wars

2010-03-07T23:46:00.000+08:00

Summer Wars is like all the Studio Ghibli movies that ever came out, a story which makes you feel for all the characters, then a tragic subplot appears, before the main actor finally got the determination to lead into the final climatic scene!

Although this movie isn't a Studio Ghibli project, it's still pretty well done. The moral of the story would be that everyone has to stick together in time of danger in order to defeat the enemy!

Okay, it's late. And I've spent too much time listening to someone talking about the guy who dumped her. It's time to sleep, I'll blog more about this movie tomorrow.

Condolences

2010-03-06T11:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday night, I went with my colleagues to another colleague's father funeral. It seems like Hanyong's father succumbed to his illness after a long fight. Hanyong has been bringing his father in and out of the hospital for a very long time and I guess that Hanyong didn't want to prolong his father's suffering either.

Condolences, it was for the best.

[Game] Mount & Blade

2010-03-02T15:26:00.001+08:00

Mount & Blade is a first person strategy action cum shooting cum horse-riding game. That's quite a mouthful eh? xD

And the best thing is that it works. The whole gaming experience works as it advertised, you could govern an entire country. You could command an army. You could ride around on a horse and use a lance to punch a hole in your enemies, use a sword to slash away at them or use a bow or crossbow to hunt them down.... on a horse!

While there are limitations, like all your infantry are grouped as infantry, even if they are mixed group of spears, light infantry or heavy infantry. The pace while you're in a battle is fast, demanding that you manage your armies even while you are in the middle of the enemy formation, trying to slash your way out or leading your cavalry to smash their archers.

It does not help that my Ardenian infantry are armored men carrying two handed swords while the viking-like Nords that I'm at war with are specialized with archers and javelins carrying heavy axes. Without shields, my army have to rely on the terrain to avoid being showered with arrows, javelins and throwing axes which could be quite punishing. And my small cavalry unit is unable to overrun their large amount of ranged troops.

It would be almost impossible to storm a Nord castle with the amount of archers they have but the Ardenians shall prevail in the end. For the Emperor! (that would be me) xD

[D&D] Jackie Chan Dungeon

2010-02-28T22:18:00.000+08:00

The Fontia Adventuring Company continues to explore the castle ruins in the Vast Swamps this week.

Well, we came upon this door with a lock that requires Medallions to open! Being naturally curious and yet unable to blast open the door, we were left with the choice of finding the medallion in various secret rooms in the castle.

After being baked in an oversized oven, avoiding traps, killing monsters and getting our hands on 9 of the 10 medallions needed to open the doors. We strike a deal with a dragon to open the door with his remaining medallion.

After which he attacked us, leaving the mage frozen, the gnome in some other plane, and the paladin flying like a kicked tin can. Well, that left the halfling and the dog. And predictably, it was the dog that saved us.

The dog dragged the skin of the dragon from some magical circle which was supposed to keep it alive. And well, the dragon disintegrated and we spilt his horde among the rest of us. But looks like the ruins have nothing to do with the snake, Sseth.

Lucky for him.

[Movie] Wolfman

2010-02-24T00:07:00.000+08:00

After work, I went to watch Wolfman with KvN, Layheng and ShanShan. I have to say that while it's a classic horror movie, my colleagues does not seem to like the movie at all.

I said Wolfman is a horror movie because while it has some action scenes and gore, most of the movie is about making effects that causes the audience to jump in surprise. Like the main actor waking up to the lycanthropic boy crawling up his bed only to wake up and find it's a nightmare AND then having a were-wolf suddenly jumping into the screen AND THEN AGAIN waking up to find that THAT was a nightmare too. I mean.... yes, I'm not a horror fan and I had to force myself to watch the screen when these scenes come up, but it wears thin after a while. It's like those Japanese horror flicks which the music heralds the appearance of the ghost and I cower in my seat waiting for the horror to jump out from anywhere.

Well, but it wasn't really that bad a film. It had a storyline and although lycanthropy wasn't really explored in detail, I am quite satisfied that it's not a total waste of time to watch.

After the movie, the lot of us went to Marche to have dinner before going home. Hmmm, I guess it's kinda fun to hang out after work with colleagues once in a while.

The Lightning Cat

2010-02-20T11:27:00.000+08:00

Yesterday while walking home, I passed by a large tabby walking in the opposite direction. When he looked up, his eyes flashed lightning blue.

It's so cool! xD Made me remember the cat whose eyes shone an evil red and the verse it reminds me of.

"And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!"

I wonder if the two cats are ancient enemies. The Devil Cat and the Holy Cat.... ok, so no cats are ever holy. Maybe the Lightning cat, pet of Poseidon! xD

[Movie] The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus

2010-02-16T20:09:00.001+08:00

I watched The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus at Bugis today and I have to say although the cast was excellent and Heath Ledger was fantastic in his role as Tony, the movie fell flat in their ending.

I mean the devil didn't want to win? And he exchanged Valentina's soul for Tony's? I was thinking about this weird turn of events from Bugis to Douby Ghout and it would make sense if Tony's soul was the target of the devil all along. But why would he want the soul of an already damned man?

If only this movie is an adaptation of a book, then I could just read in the book what's missing in the movie and understand exactly what exactly the movie is trying to say.

But Heath Ledger was really good. There's some kind of saying, that an work of art becomes priceless only AFTER the artist is dead. Maybe this applies to acting too. Hmmm....

200- Pound Beauty

2010-02-15T11:36:00.000+08:00

I was watching this movie on the TV yesterday and I have to admit that it's really good. The actress, Kim Ah Joong is really beautiful in that doe-eyed way and whenever she looks uncertain, it really looks very endearing. And her rendition of Maria is great, with a husky beginning and a explosive chorus.

But the plot itself is kinda of weird. Hey, she got a full body plastic surgery so now, that great voice and personality is in a hot package. Why would she want to keep it a secret and pretend to be another person? Is it such a stigma in Korean to have plastic surgery?

I admit I did shed quite a few tears while watching this show, more because of pity for Hanna than anything else. Not being able to tell Sang-jun who she really is, not being to see her father, only being able to watch Sang-jun from afar when she was fat, falling out with her best friend, not being able to let Sang-jun touch her for fear of him finding out about her plastic surgery.

Oh well, watching such a movie is nice once in a while. Helps me clean my eyes. xD

Post Number 401

2010-02-12T12:38:00.000+08:00

The day before, I was summoned (again) to help out the sister of one of my friend to fix up a home router in her house. I'm fine with helping her out since I know her sister too and well, it's not really something difficult to tell the truth.

But after helping the MingJia to set up her router, re-imaging the notebook for Eve (another sister) and agreeing to check out another notebook which has no audio and actually looks to be infected with something that stops applications from connecting to the internet, I was packing to go home when Mingxing looks at me and says that I'm cheap. When I asked why, she says it's because that I still help her out when she treats me so badly.

That was said in jest of course. Mingxing isn't that bad a person even though her it's true she can't say anything nice usually. But it kind of stuck a tone with me, shouldn't I be more careful of what I agree to help to? Even though it might be a simple matter to help out a colleague or friend or even lend a listening ear, I wouldn't want to be seen as a push-over.

I mean, even Yansin tells me to "Be a man." once in a while. Does that mean my mind is easily changed? It's hard to strike a balance between being someone I want to be and being someone others expects me to be.

I want to spend time alone doing things I like, but at the same time, society expects me to spend much of that time to do some herd activity or socialise or risk being labelled as a loner or anti-social person.

Only if life is like a game of The Sims, every aspect of your life is represented by a bar that empties and fill up according to what you do and relationships with other people can be seen as a number that increase or decrease with each interaction.

Won't everything be so simple then??

CNY & Vdae 2010!

2010-02-11T09:35:00.000+08:00

Happy CNY and Vdae! What will you be doing on the 14th of February this year? Celebrating with your bf? Or with another guy?

Me. I'm planning to go out and relax on the beach. Probably lie down near the sea and while taking a tan, read this manga called Voices of a Distant Star. Maybe the manga will leave a book-shaped whiteness on my burnt and slightly charred body. But that's okay, it won't be like I bare my body much.

I'll fall asleep right there and when I wake up, the sun would be setting and the world will go on as it does every day, regardless of the little drama that goes on in every mortal's short life.

I'll live to see another day, another sunset and another drama. This short life of mortals, they rush into everything, hoping to experience as much as possible before they disappear. I lack this drive, this urge to dive into the unknown. Something will happen.

The world still turns and turns and turns.

[D&D] The Vast Swamp

2010-02-07T10:53:00.000+08:00

Yesterday's adventure started off with the party deciding to chase after the mayor whom we heard had a tower in the Vast Swamp. What's a mayor doing with a tower? Is he some kind of Elminister-leveled mage or something? These adventures just keep getting tougher and tougher!

Reaching the swamps, we got into the ... boat with lots of names and went off adventuring! After a while, the rogue and druid joined us and things got kind of really messy after that. There was vines trying to eat us and a stone snake apparently did something to Az the Sodomizer to turn him into a snake worshiper.

Oh, and I peed into the swamp where the druid and mage dived into! : D

But then Az became some kind of were-snake with special powers and it's getting so creepy. We discovered just how creepy when he calls upon the snake to rain goo down on me. =_=

But oh well, we found some ruins that seems to be enchanted and had bodies of clumsy barbarians who died quite recently and in increasingly mysterious ways. Looks like the next session will be as crazy... o_O

Back for the Weekend

2010-02-05T21:03:00.000+08:00

ICT is tiring. In the menial way. Injuries are aplenty. Dirty and sweat is unavoidable. And all of us have to run around everywhere to set up camps, secure areas and operational headquarters.

Yet, it is a change from sitting in front of a desk, typing away at a computer for half the day, everyday. Dust and dirt, attacks in the night, manning a road control point, gun fire through the night in the distance. All these can't be experienced in normal day to day work.

So much in so little time. And the people I meet in the army. I have so much to blog about...

But the time when I'm in bunk lying on my bed wasn't spent in vain either. I get to reflect alot and from this moment on, I'm gonna make my year a productive one. Studies will be topmost in my mind and nothing else will matter, not even you.

[Music] Ruk Tae Doo Lae Mai Dai - Potato

2010-01-23T09:32:00.001+08:00

While I was looking for MP3 in my sister's com, I found this gem of a song. This is a good example of how good music transcends all language bounderies. : D

Title: Ruk Tae Doo Lae Mai Dai (The True Love I Couldn’t Take Care Of)
Artist: Potato

Your love… the voice that tells me you’re worried hand that touches my forehead the days I’m sick

Every scene, every episode never fades however long ago they occurred
And every scene, every episode keep on emphasizing the thing that I’ve become since I lost you

That I’m an idiot, more than anyone else, having true love, but I couldn’t take care of it

I realize its value, but it’s too late, hurt, however much I thought of reversing the story, I can only dream

I put back together the old picture that was once torn apart

But will our paths cross again? Or should I accept it?

Because every scene, every episode, never fades however long ago they occurred

And every scene, every episode keep on emphasizing the thing that I’ve become since I lost you.

Through Thick And Thin

2010-01-20T21:59:00.001+08:00

You know, I was chatting with Shujun on msn this morning and I brought up the subject of improving myself appearance-wise and well, she said I'm too thin and need to eat more.

I know that's not the first time someone said that to me but hey, I thought girls like to be thin! Shouldn't it be a good thing that I look lanky? Apparently not!

There are many reasons why my weight have not changed since secondary school, much of it could be my metabolism, which I can't control anyway. xD Or it could be because I don't keep regular meal times. I eat only when I feel hungry and when I don't, I've known to take one meal a day for a month. xD

And the other reason is because when I feel like I'm getting a tummy, I'll go exercise. Ok, maybe I didn't exactly chose to go exercise but I had to go for RT. And I went for cycling at times too!

So maybe I'm not buff and muscular and stuff, and I did think of gaining weight too. But well, it's not that easy. So yeah, I think I should improve on the more important stuff first! : D

I'm sure I can make something out of myself! xD

Mango Dollies @ Esplanade

2010-01-15T23:15:00.000+08:00

Went to the Esplanade after work today to catch a poetry reading/singing by a duo called Mango Dollies. Usually one of the ladies would sing while playing the guitar and the other would read poetry. And well, while some of the poems does strike a chord with me, most of them goes over my head.

There's a poem called "What a woman wants", "Blues", a poem about why she is beautiful and a poem about men. xD

"Some men are too small, some men are too big. But the worst is some men don't have it at all!"

[D&D] Investigation into an arms smuggling!

2010-01-09T23:01:00.000+08:00

Today in Faerun, Az found out that the merchant that was giving us a lift to the nearest town is actually an arms smuggler! We should have just told the town watch and leave it to them.

But nooooo, I'm the only one who did the sensible thing and when I came back with the watchmen, I see Az poisoned and Sandwich being mobbed for murder! I finally had to bail them out of the watch with my Paladin status, my dick, genital warts and my left breast at risk. =_=

I don't know why I bother when they treat me like a slave. But I guess being a paladin means doing the right thing all the time. Someday, they WILL become evil and I won't have a choice but to battle them. I'm sure of that.

But at the time, I hope the sailormoon cleric will be around to help me! xD

[Movie] Avatar 3D

2010-01-05T22:10:00.000+08:00

Watched Avatar yesterday at Cineleisure and it's a hell of a ride! While the story was cheesy and not much to say of, the scenery in that movie is EXCELLENT! Especially when you're watching the movie with a 3D glasses!

The new world of Pandora is so exciting and wild that I cannot but feel like exploring every inch of that world. The floating mountains are especially awe-inspiring, as is the flora that gives off light when touched.

It is a world where adventures can be found in abundance! But the theory that the guy with the biggest bird suddenly becomes as popular as a god is doubtful. *glance down*

[Hyruii's Diary] First DragonHawk Ride!

2010-01-03T20:21:00.001+08:00

Went exploring at Silvermoon today. Saw a dragon hawk service outside the city and chose to try taking the ride to the Ghostlands.

I swore I nearly vomited at how the dragonhawk flopped up and down the whole ride. I have no idea how the bloody elves managed to choose such a creature to ride. I rather try to ride a goblin-made 'Cata-Splat!' than a dragonhawk again...

Damn bloody elves... : (

2010, the first day of the new year!

2010-01-02T23:41:00.000+08:00

I watched Sherlock Holmes with Yan Sin in the afternoon today. The movie was great, it was established in the first scene that it's not based entirely on the books by making Dr Watson to be a sexy, fighting man played by Jude Law. xD

The next scene show that even Sherlock is a mortal that makes mistakes and have character flaws such as arrogance and is a drug user. But all these makes Holmes and Watson to be very memorable characters with very good chemistry with each other!

While they are very affectionate with each other, the whole "We-fight-but-we-love-each-other" act between Holmes and Watson is, for lack of a better word, gay. Yes, it's so obvious that they want each other and that Holmes is jealous of Mary. xD

Well, after we had dinner at Pastamania, I went home after walking Yan Sin back to her block. Heh, it's kind of fun to hear her talking about all sorts of things. I should learn to communicate better so other people can feel as comfortable like I do with Yan Sin.

Quest for Immortality

2009-12-27T21:08:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I went to the National Museum of Singapore to visit the exhibition "Quest for Immortality". It was at the same place where they had the 'Greek Masterpieces" exhibition. There was less artifacts this time round but it had the same classy settings and best of all, photography was allowed! xD

Most of the artifacts shown was carved out of coarse stone like granite or made of clay and some even of wood. While these artifacts are not as finely carved as artifacts made of marble, they are still part of an important ancient civilization which placed much emphasis on mystical ways like worship, magic and spirits!

The disappointing thing about the exhibition was that there wasn't any actual mummies on display... if you do not count the mummies of the cat and the birds. xD

And the exhibition looks small but after that when I came out, I realized that more then an hour and a half has passed by! Well, it's a good experience for me. I will look out for any such exhibitions again!

Christmas Eve Gathering

2009-12-26T10:06:00.004+08:00

There was a Christmas Eve gathering at Vivo for DIT0104 class mates. The people who went were the usual, Shujun, Johnny, Sameer, Junyuan, Daniel, Jasmine Tang, Jasmine Darn and her bf.

As usual, Sameer has the most stories to talk about and he's as funny as always. I can still remember how he describe his cat when she went into heat. Classic! xD

Everyone looked the same, nothing much has changed except that Dan and Jas are going to ROM next month. Junyuan has changed jobs. Yuling got married on the 23rd.

And I think I need to start blogging more. I'm so back on entries. xD

10 Thing I Hate About You

2009-12-23T17:15:00.003+08:00

I hate the way you talk to me,
And the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car.
I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots,
And the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick,
It even makes me rhyme.

I hate the way your always right.
I hate it when you lie.
I hate the way you make me laugh,
Even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when your not around,
And the fact that you didn't call.
But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you,
Not even close,
Not even a little bit,
Not even at all.

~Kat's poem from "10 Things I Hate About You"~

[D&D] Ser Gingerbeer the Pious Templar

2009-12-19T21:58:00.003+08:00

Today is the debut of Ser Gingerbeer, a character in D&D which I created all on my own!

Well, what happened today was that we had to help Az the blood mage to escape a deal that he made with a demon. To do that, it seems there are two ways about it.

One is to turn Az into a lich, which I think isn't a good idea as being undead isn't really a good thing in the Forgotten Realms. The mage probably would not survive long and I'm not sure how the party will react to an evil character. xD

The other solution is to kill the demon with which the contract was made. This is a better option and we can continue with our exploration of Faerun without any stigmatization from the general community.

The only reservation I have about this option is that we'll have to go to the demon's planar to kill it and it's unknown what we will encounter there. The 3 of us might not be enough to defeat a demon of that size yet.

There's only about 90 days till Az's soul is forfeited. Will we make it in time? The adventure continues...

I want to scream and I have no mouth.

2009-12-17T15:22:00.003+08:00

I'm at work and yet I'm blogging. Why is this so? Because I'm suddenly restless and feel like screaming out what I cannot say. It's so crap that when you have something on your mind and that you can never never never say or forget.

I'm also sick of work. I thought it would be better after the migrations and things become more peaceful but that's not the case. There's something very wrong with me.

There's so much stuff that I want to do now.

- Cycle around the PCN.
- Visit SAM 8Q.
- Visit the Bird Park.
- Go to the Egyptian exhibition.
- Sleep on the beach.
- Read 'Inside The Dome'.

And just distract myself from every freaking problem that's plaguing me. I feel so uptight all the time. Maybe I should add taking a massage to the list.

[Movie] Feng Yun 2

2009-12-12T00:04:00.002+08:00

Today, I met up with Jason, Joey, Bob and YS to watch the movie, Feng Yun 2. This movie is about how Feng and Yun defeat a bad guy and then fought each other.

The movie felt rushed and compressed. Nothing is explain clearly, like how the bad guy came about. And minor characters appear and disappear abruptly all the time.

An good example is Nicholas Tse, who played the bad guy's son. He appeared briefly to snatch a dragon's spine then just disappear when the spine is broken! There's this sweeper in the movie and nothing is explained on why was he there or how he knows martial arts! And nameless, a hero, after teaching Yun some skills, he was left standing with a nose bleed and was never mentioned again!!! And the worst part, he made up a stupid word just to name Yun's skill!!! He really should die.

Oh well, it was a bad movie. Not the worst I've seen but still quite stupid.

Goodbye Ah-ma

2009-12-06T20:57:00.002+08:00

My paternal grandmother passed away on Tuesday night, 1st Dec 2009. She was 77 years old and was in quite a bad health the last couple of years because of Parkinson's Disease. She had to sit in a wheelchair and her fingers were stiff, twisted and shaking.

But I remember the days when she could still walk and talk normally and that wasn't that long ago either. About three years ago when I was in the army, she even stayed at my house for a few weeks and she had no serious health problems. She even gave some advice when I was ironing my clothes. xD

But at the funeral, I wasn't particularly sad. It was probably because I wasn't close to her, and visited her only once a year during CNY. Most of the time, I don't even know what she was saying as I do not understand Cantonese.

But yes, I will remember my grandmother as she was in good health, praying infront of the altar when we visit her in my youth. I'm sure she will find happiness where ever after life she has gone to.

Touch of Love

2009-11-28T00:25:00.002+08:00

Oh. Today, while walking to the bus stop in the rain after my Botanic Garden visit, I saw this girl inside the bus stop talking on the phone. When I neared the bus stop, her boyfriend rushed into the bus stop dripping wet. I guessed that she was waiting for him to come out of NUS, which was nearby.

But the touching thing is that when her bf reached the bus stop, she already had a tissue ready to wipe his face. It's such a gesture of pure love that my heart warmed for a moment. It showed me that love can be expressed through ways that does not involve intimate acts. It's been so long that I've seen anything like that.

Well, it does give me hopes that pure love does exist. I'm such a naive person. xD

Singapore Botanic Gardens

2009-11-27T22:47:00.005+08:00

Today was a day that I had all to myself. Such freedom is really kind of intoxicating. xD

Things didn't go as planned but as I was by myself, I could just do what I want without any fuss. The plan is to visit the Singapore Botanic Garden today and well, I got lost. xD Actually I didn't get lost, it's better to say I followed my instincts on where the garden is instead of looking at a map and accidentally stumbled to the garden. xD

It's a great place to spend an afternoon. It was so peaceful and there's a large pond with 2 pairs of large swans, giant catfishes the length of my arms, turtles and other pond life just swimming around leisurely. > D

Moving on after visiting Swan Pond, there's this white pavilion at the top of a hill. A couple was taking wedding pictures with the pavilion as the backdrop. And some kids were reading in the pavilion itself. As I walked around, a cool breeze blew and yellow leaves fell from the trees around me... it felt sooo right.

Walking down a path halfway across the garden, there was this open area where an open amphitheater stood among a pond. Infront of it, people were having picnics, walking their dogs and having fun. But just as I was taking a picture, drops of rain fell from the sky and everyone started to run for shelter! Except for a gentleman who was playing a tune for a lady... xD

Not wanting to continue the walk in a wet weather. I chose to make a trip to Chinatown to sing at the K-Box there as I thought it would help me express some of my repressed feelings. After 3 hours and two mugs of beer, I left the place feeling just as the time I went in.... I guess singing alone doesn't really help at all.

As my face was red from the alcohol, I decided to take a walk to Orchard to let myself sober up. The leisurely walk was very helpful and I felt much better when I reached Kino. The time spent at Kino was even better! The Wheel of Time book 13 came out, looks like it's the last 3 books. Stephen King also has a new book called the Dome, about a village that was suddenly imprisoned by an invisible dome. That is not an uncommon storyline but I'm very interested on how Stephan King, a horror writer, would portray the village and what kinds of event will go on inside the dome.

Looks like December will be a good season for publishers and readers alike! xD

End of the Known World - 2012

2009-11-24T23:36:00.002+08:00

Today I went to watch 2012 with my colleagues after work and I have to say it's quite a movie. It's like riding on those theme rides. Except the theme here is complete upheaval on Earth.

Expect incredible scenes of destruction where whole sections of the earth rain down from the sky. If you ever use Meteor Rain in fantasy war games, this is probably what it'll look like.

And like the theme park rides, you won't ever get into a crash or killed by any, ANY, falling buildings, volcano debris, earthquakes, tsunami, car crashes. Even if millions of people are dying when the entire USA falls into the sea, you would probably be on the only working plane in the airport.

The deus ex machina in this movie is ridiculous. Think of a plane crash in Tibet and then suddenly within seconds, helicopters carrying animals (giraffes, elephants etc) a la Noah Ark comes soaring across the mountains.

Or a crazy guy in the Yellow Stone Park having a secret map to the ships that is meant to save the rich and wealthy.

My advice is, just enjoy the thrill ride, the thinking can come later. : P

you do not belong to me

2009-11-18T21:49:00.002+08:00

Out of Danger
by James Fenton

Heart be kind and sign the release
As the trees their loss approve.
As the leaves must learn to fall
Out of danger, out of love.

What belongs to frost and thaw
Sullen winter will not harm.
What belongs to wind and rain
Is out of danger from the storm.

Jealous passion, cruel need
Betray the heart they feed upon.
But what belongs to earth and death
Is out of danger from the sun.

I was cruel, I was wrong-
Hard to say, hard to know.
You do not belong to me.
You are out of danger now-

Out of danger from the wind,
out of danger from the wave,
out of danger from the heart
Falling, falling out of love.

This is a poem from this year A's Level Lit told to me by Yan Sin. I feel it's really good in the way that's it simple and yet convey such strong feelings. But the last sentence felt out of place....

Thank you, MX!!

2009-11-14T21:59:00.004+08:00

THANK YOU MINGXING FOR CELEBRATING MY BIRTHDAY WITH ME!!

There, I've posted it. Don't complain anymore, MX. xD
But seriously, Friday evening was one of the best birthday of my life. After celebrating my birthday together with my colleagues in the office, I went and met up with Johnny to Ion Orchard to have dinner. MX has said earlier that she would be busy and would not be joining us but it was all a trick. xD I admit I was disappointed when she said she won't be free a few days before but when I met up with Johnny, his acting was so bad that I knew that she would show up and she did! xD

Well, she had wanted to treat me something good. So we went to this fancy restaurant at the level 3 of ION but it was fully booked, so I had to force her and Johnny to go to this braised meat burger place at basement 3 instead. It taste like crap but it's cheap and I was more comfortable in this commoner's setting so yeah. xD

After that, we went to Cineleisure's K-Box to sing songs!! It's my first time really singing and it felt great! I sang really badly but it's alright because Johnny was as bad! xD

It felt really good to be able to sing out those songs that I like. I'm not a vocal person so it's something akin to letting my emotions out. And the best thing is that I had lots of fun with my friends! MX even had K-Box bring a cake into the room and even though it's my second cake of the day, I enjoyed it more then the one I had in the office. xD

We sang for a few hours till 1am in the morning before going home. It was really fun. I want to go sing again! xD

Thanks Ming Xing and Johnny for celebrating my 25th birthday with me! xD

And thanks you guys from the office who celebrated with me! (Choonseng, Layheng, Cherhong, Hanyong, Mervyn, Aini, Benny, Vincent, Hanafi and Nairice!) It's not me who brought up who's the youngest in the group! And Nairice is only a few months older, so she's just as guilty! xD

And thanks for wishing me a happy birthday!
- Jason (DM!)
- Izu (YS's cousin)
- Catherine (Wushu Cat xD)
- Anqi (Sushi roll? xD)

Today was a great day too but that's for another post! : P

Happy Birthday Takuya Kimura! xD

2009-11-13T16:20:00.001+08:00

Takuya Kimura is exactly 12 years older then me. xD

Anyway, I recieved more bdae well wishers during the day! Thanks guys & gals!

- Daniel (Da niu)
- YanSin (My Kyouya-senpai xD)
- Cherhong (Colleague)
- ChoonSeng (Team Leader)
- Silcyn (Congrats!)
- Mingjia (MX's Er jie)
- Dith (The green thing xD)

Happy Birthday to Me! Yay!

2009-11-13T09:08:00.003+08:00

Well, early in the morning and I'm older by a year today. This is the third year that I'm posting thanks to well-wishers in my blog and you can see that the list of people is different from 2 years back. But then again, there are still some people whom has been in this list since a long time ago! xD

Thanks to
- Joey (Chibi)
- Eujin (my boss)
- Sesh (erm, ex-poly friend's ex-colleague xD)
- Johnny (the gf seeker)
- Alan (NS buddy)
- Dinah (GVSS buddy xD)
- Shujun (Yozzz)
- Sheena (online friend)

Thanks guys and gals. Even though it's Friday 13th, I'll suck all the bad luck away from you people! xD

Fear & Fright

2009-11-07T23:08:00.002+08:00

Less then 12 hours after the declaration that social interaction is unnecessary, I've fallen into the trap again by going to Escape Themepark with some people.

Well, it was a short trip but there was some memorable rides that I have to blog about. The first one is the most innocent go-kart ride. Even though we had to queue for like 30 minutes, the ride was over in about 3 minutes. xD But now I have a good idea of what it feels like to actually drive and it's feels really really good! It's so nice to control a machine that brings you around with no effort at all, it's like a dream come true for a wanderer! xD

The second ride was a vehicle too. But this vehicle is something I will never want to ride again in this lifetime.... the Dreaded Viking Ship!!! D: It was still alright at the beginning but when the ship swing to a 90 degree angle at about 8 metres above the ground....my legs started to shake and when my friend asked me why I'm not screaming and aren't I frightened, I screamed back, "OF COURSE I"M FRIGHTENED!!!! BBBBWWWWWWWWWARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!!!!!"

Pathetic, but when I walked off the ride, my legs were unstable, my arms were sore from grabbing the safety pole and my legs were sore from me trying to glue my legs to the viking ship when I was hanging at a right angle looking down at certain death. O_O

I vow, the next time I see a Viking ship will be the day I hug the stable, excellent Mother Earth for my life.

The last thing I went to is the haunted house. I feel it's not really scary though Sesh told me it's because I was at the back. But there's a good reason for that. We were following a pair of young girls but they scream at everything that moved and even a few that didn't that finally they asked us to go first. So Sesh and her friend walk past and I was about to follow when the two girls suddenly huddled together behind Sesh! xD

The two girls were so cute in that while they were so scared, they were also obviously having the time of their life screaming bloody murder at everything! xD Sesh also said afterwards that the two of them were grabbing on to her even though she didn't know them at all. So cute! xD

Well, after that we parted way and I went to the National Library to read Watchman. It does not answer the question of "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", "Who watches the watchman?". Instead, at the end of the comic, what the 'villain' did was accepted as the best solution while the 'hero' died. It's hard to understand what this comic is really trying to say as it deviates from the Watchman quote...

It wasn't as wasted day as I had more then half a day to do my own stuff but seriously, do I have a sign on my face saying "Sucker" or something like that? Why does people think I am such a disposable person, to use when they need and to throw when they don't? At least I do know I have good friends too, as shown in the way of a link posted on my Facebook by Yansin to cheer me up! xD

[Movie] My Girlfriend Is An Agent

2009-11-06T23:57:00.003+08:00

Heh, nothing like a great movie to drive away all the blues! My Girlfriend Is An Agent is an all out comedy about two ex-lovers who are agents. The childish way that the two of them act is so hilarious! xD

I haven't laughed so hard in a long long time. I really enjoyed this movie as it's good wholesome fun, where every situation entice laughter from everyone. Even during fights with the bad guys.

This movie really gives me motivation to enjoy myself. Kept me out of the blues and made me look forward to Saturday, when I'll go to the library and finish that Watchman comic book. : D

Let me be free of all the troubles these few DAMN FREAKING UNLUCKY WEEKS KEEP GIVING ME! I'm happier without all these social interaction which gives NOTHING BUT PAIN AND WORRIES!

I vow to be myself, and not change to try be someone I'm not. I'm Orson, the wanderer. That's who I am.

Halloween! Eye Opener o_O

2009-11-01T10:36:00.002+08:00

Yesterday night was Halloween and for the first time, I joined in the revelry and went out with Jason & Joey to the Asian Civilization Museum for an event! While Jason and Joey was dressed up in elaborate costumes from the Victorian era, I was made to dress up like a priest. xD

Fortunately, there was ALOT of people in costumes that day in ACM, if even most of them are kids dressing up as witches, killers, transformers, spider man and angels. This was my first time in the ACM and I have to say I am impressed by it's size and the number of artifacts in the building.I'm planning to go back another day and carefully walk through the exhibitions again! : D

The rain dampen the mood abit and we were stuck in the ACM till almost 8pm but we managed to get to Fullerton Hotel and took a cab to Clark Quay.

Dinner at Clark Quay was pizza and many people looked at Jason and Joey when they walked past although the next destination was even weirder. There's a Halloween party at Butter Factory and the crowd was MOSTLY costumers. You could see police girls, dominatrices, sailor girls, nurses and all kind of costumes that I would never thought I would see outside the bedroom. xD there was also friends of Joey and Jason who wore costumes from Star Wars, Jedi & stormtroopers. We did not go inside though as the queue was very very long.

After sending Joey to the MRT, we waited for Dith at the Merchant Hotel where she's attending a wedding dinner. The waitress who served the drinks to us was exceptional in that she tried to make small talk.

As Jason had gone to the restroom, the waitress was asking me if we was going Halloween partying. I said no, that we were just walking around. The waitress then asked : "Walking around dressed up like that?". xD

I just said that Jason was joining some costume contest and then she said that she was want to say that the costume Jason was wearing looks very good. I told her she could tell that to Jason when he comes back from the toilet. xD

After Dith joined us, we went to Loof to take a drink and talked for a while before going home.

Halloween is really a happening night for Singapore, I would never have thought night time is such a good time to hang out with friends. xD

Jason Mraz? Unlucky!

2009-10-30T21:30:00.002+08:00

These few weeks are the most unlucky for me ever! Not just at work but in my personal life too. Just today, I didn't managed to get the Blueberry Cheesecake from Bakerzin's even when I went to the branch at Novena in the rain.

Tomorrow and next week will be another grueling period for me at work, struggling to finish work that seems to be at odds with me every step of my way. I admit my colleagues are having just as much problems but my personal problems are almost enough to overshadow my work.

I mean, the worst they can do at work is to fire me, and I have enough savings to last a long time. My problems outside work is affecting me much worst. I wonder how long it will be till I feel the fresh breathe of freedom again.

Monster Mania @ Vivo

2009-10-23T23:07:00.002+08:00

Today, Jason has an event that he co-organized as an NTU event. The event was held at the open air theater at the top of Vivo City. The people who attended was treated to a Godzilla movie which is quite funny in that oldies way. xD

It was a great event though YS and I had to go off early because she have to study.

This is the only picture I took of the event : P

Sunday, My Day

2009-10-18T21:41:00.002+08:00

Today started off as badly as Saturday morning, as empty as ever. It was like my life is just a whirlwind of confusion. And it was raining too. I decided to go back to the office to settle some work, thinking that it would keep me occupied, lessen my burdens and maybe bring some sort of order into my life again.

It worked a little I guess, but then I got lonely. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was in the office alone doing work... but luckily, Yan Sin was online! She's really a life saver, I could not believe how much better she made me feel that three hours she spent accompanying me online when she could have been studying for her impeding A's.

It's like a cloud lifted when Yan Sin replies to my MSN. xD My mood got so much better that I just planned right there and then what I'm gonna do after I get out of the office. Her advice of not moping around was right. It may be a temporary reprieve but I'm gonna make the most out of it.

So after getting out of the empty building, I went to Vivo and straight to Page One to get Honey & Clover Vol 6! Then I got a ticket to Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (3D) and went off to Carl's Junior to get myself a huge burger with great fries! I spent about and hour and a half just lounging and reading about Honey & Clover's fantastic story about the love rectangle of Mayama, Yamada, Rika and Nomiya, Takemoto's trip of self-discovery, and Hagu-Morita-Takemoto angle.

It's late now and I should sleep. I'll blog about the movie tomorrow. : D

Kopi-O, Kosong!

2009-10-15T21:28:00.002+08:00

I had no idea a cup of large coffee in the morning can keep me on through the whole day! : D

But I'm starting to feel hungry now, I guess I need food at least once per day anyway. Wonder where I can get food now though.

It started off as a bad day and gets increasingly worse. I've been caught up by some work that just take up my time in this busy period at work. I wonder when this nightmare will ever end. I might be reduced to working everyday till very late and even coming back to work in the weekends.

It's Deepavali? I don't feel happy at all. *sigh*

Friends without Reason

2009-10-12T21:22:00.002+08:00

I've been acting out of sorts these few days. I'm thinking too much and feeling down for no reason at all. It may be that I'm getting old, after all I'm going to be 25 soon and I have so much things that I have yet to accomplish.

But everything is not that bad, at least today I know that I have a friend who thinks I'm worth knowing! I ranted a bit to Yansin today and I'm happy to know that she feels that I'm a good friend. It really feels good to hear that I'm worth something to her even though I'm older and not as good looking as other people. I have to admit that I'm even quiet and boring and I have lots of other defects.

I still remember when we went to Suntec last year to wait for Jing and Alfred and it was quite awkward as we had not much to say to each other.

Yeah! If Yansin thinks I'm a good enough friend for her, I'm quite sure no one else have cause to complain! > D

Ramen

2009-09-30T20:49:00.002+08:00

Heh, I owned Natalie a meal as she treated me, Almund and MX to ramen today after work. I was advised again to apply for a passport so I can join them to go eat and shop in Malaysia. While that is actually a good idea, I'm simply too lazy to actually do anything about that. xD

Even though MX's family members are all very nice people, the one I would like to see the most is Angel. Angel is a very cute girl who's quiet and yet friendly. She let me touch and stroke her all I want while she just quietly sits there. Heh heh, I would like to spend more time with her! xD

NS Call Up / RT

2009-09-22T21:47:00.002+08:00

My whole day today was spent on National Service starting with my call up in the morning. I was summoned to Yishun Safra for my unit's cohesion day. What I did there was to watch the unit play some water sports, some bowling and had lunch before being dismissed.

After that, I just had to wait till 5.30 pm when I went to the nearby Khatib camp for my RT. 2 hours of running, it was both tiring yet exhilarating. Being forced to do exercise has it's advantages, no matter what grumbles you may hear from your friends. xD

But in between the two events, I was at Northpoint shopping center and I had some weird, unspeakable thoughts. Unluckily, I managed to check my thinking and prevented degradation into a pervertic aberration of nature. I shall elaborate on this next time...

I was just watching a documentary on TV called Destination Truth. It was so exciting watching the crew going on-site to different locations around the world and explore the places which are rumored to be homes of monsters and ghosts from the safety of my home. xD While all the episodes of the series is inconclusive, it is nevertheless very entertaining. It has been quite some time since I have been so captivated by a TV program.

[D&D] 4th Ed D&D Day

2009-09-21T12:09:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I went for this D&D Day event at Orchard Point with Jason, Joey and YS. The organizer was good in my opinion, everyone had a seat, notes, figurines, pencils and stat sheets in minutes and we are ready to go!

As for the game itself, I had more fun than the others as my character is a fighter and I had some good rolls in the beginning. The rest of the game is spent doing battle with dark dwarves, Minotaurs, a giant and General Grievous.

As it was, the encounter took a very long time as the monsters had a very high hp and were quite intelligent too. Luck and whim of the DM was what kept the party alive till we finished the game. That particular game was quite battle orientated and none of the spells were used for puzzle solving. As it is, I guess I'll stick with v3.5 till a more balanced system comes out.

Nightmares

2009-09-08T10:42:00.002+08:00

I had the worst sleep of my life last night. Sleeping early was a bad choice I guess, as I had more time to dream, resulting in MULTIPLE nightmares in one night. ALL the things that were bothering me came to me in the worst way possible in my nightmares.

I won't elaborate but there was at least 3 nightmares that I remembered. One was about my father, one was about bugs and the last was about being a substitute. I think I had one about my job too. The bug nightmare was not all that uncommon, I had nightmares about those since I was young. But the rest was pretty upsetting.

It's true that these nightmares aren't the worst I had before, where I would wake up wide-eyed and drenched with sweat. But the difference is that while those nightmares are about impossible scenarios like being chased by unknown entities, these are about real-life problems that's been bugging me blown into worst-case scenerios.

I have no doubt that there's no problems which could push me into the deep end, like the Indonesian kid in NTU or the couple lying down on the train tracks. But unfortunately, it doesn't mean I don't have any problems either.

I need more time alone. While being with friends and colleagues does help with my mood, it's the time spent alone that I am able to do reflections on myself.

[Persona 4] Catchy Game!

2009-09-07T10:38:00.003+08:00

Silcyn introduced me a PS 2 game which no doubt some of you might know straight from the video. Persona 4 is a RPG by Altus which has a very hip-ish theme. I mean even when two detectives are discussing about a murder case, you can hear a girl in the background singing in a very rap-ish way. xD

But I am hooked to the story. While it is confusing, the storyline goes very deep. I had to play through two hours of story before I even get to the first dungeon. But the details are astonishing, like the glasses the characters has to wear to see better in the fog in the TV world. While it has no impact on the gameplay at all, it was integrated into the story very nicely. And you can see from the opening video that they used it very well in a ipod commercial way. xD

Very catchy game, I've only played it for 2 hour plus but I'm using my PS 2 again because of this game. : D

[04-09-2009] Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit

2009-09-05T13:10:00.002+08:00

I went to the Dead Sea Scroll exhibition at The Art House after work on Friday. I made the sudden decision because it was a boring day at work and I didn't want to spent the evening at home staring at the computer.

The exhibition was quite popular, the number of people that was viewing the exhibition on a Friday night was beyond my expectations. But my guess is that most of them are church goers as I heard them discussing about the bible and their authors here and there. I do not follow a religion and as such, it was my first time hearing about people like John Calvin & Martin Luther, who were translators of the bible at the time when only Latin or Hebrew Bibles are avaliable.

The title of the exhibition is misleding though, as the exhibition focus on the scriptures found among the scrolls when in fact, most of the writings are of other subjects such as astrology, trade and even inventory of items.

The scriptures are fragments of writings before they are compilied into the book that is now known as the Bible.

The good news is that this isn't a propaganda exhibition as the focus is not on the content of the bible but of the book itself. There was no preaching at all from the guides. In fact, the guides look like academics not unlike John Langdon, presenting facts in a crisp and scientific way.

After the first room where the scrolls and fragments are exhibited, there was two more rooms. One about the different versions of the bibles and the next on the people who translated the different versions of the bible. Yes, this exhibition is about the history of the bible from the earliest found source, the Dead Sea Scrolls, to the most popular book in the world today.

I went in there with an open mind so I was able to see the value of this exhibition even though it was not what I had expected. While I not definitely not a Christian or Protestant, I was still able to gain some knowledge about the complex history of this book. The written records are surely the foundation of civilisation!

Pictures have been uploaded to FB but I will select some nice pictures to post in the blog too.

Nokia 6600i

2009-09-02T23:25:00.003+08:00

I lost my phone yesterday while going to RT at Khatib Camp. While it's true that my mobile contract has expired and based on the norm, it's time for me to change a phone.

I don't really like to shop so I have no intention of changing phones but I guess I have no choice. The bad thing is that I've lost all my contact numbers. *faints* It's true that I don't contact most of the people in my phone book but now I have to input all the numbers that I DO use.

Oh well, at least I do not have any pictures or videos in my old phone that would make me appear in the newspapers. xD

Fallout 3 & 'Blood and Gold'

2009-08-27T11:04:00.002+08:00

I'm hooked onto two things lately. One of them is Fallout 3. Yes, I've completed the game once before but as the game is free for anyone to modify, I have added a mod that completely changes how the game plays out. More places and quests are opened to be explored. New creatures and enemies. So many things that can be done, it's what I would want to be, an explorer of dangerous lands.

Outside of the game world, I'm got a book that I just can't put down. It's Blood and Gold by Anne Rice. Vampires are always thought to be emo and gay, and Twilight is a book that I've regretted that I've ever picked up but strangely, Anne Rice's books are very interesting compared to that trash.

Blood & Gold is about a vampire from the classic Rome era whom has been tasked to take care of the Queen and her consort. The mentioned Queen is not a normal mortal but the first of the blood drinkers. So we see how Marius survives the ages and how the era changes. It's good, not as action packed as Blackwood Farm but just as immersive.

Reading books is something I have no words to describe fully. It opened up so many worlds and characters for me to explore. I love books! : D

Aquariums!

2009-08-20T17:52:00.003+08:00

A Whale Shark at a viewing gallery at Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, USA. Phew, what a view! The world is so big and there are so many things we cannot see even if we travel around the world every day of our life. Things like books and the Internet can widen our horizons so much. It might not compare to being physically there but it's still awe-inspiring. : D

Ostrich

2009-08-20T09:23:00.002+08:00

Picture of one of the ostrich in the zoo. You can see from the wing and the butt that it's feathers are dropping off. Molting? But it's still cute and I like it that such a big animal is so non-aggressive. It's just walking around it's enclosure and once in a while if you move too near, it'll turn it's head to look at you and give this, "Hmmm, what is this?", look and continue doing it's stuff. xD

STACC

2009-08-20T09:12:00.000+08:00

Oh, And I saw Dith at the Toy fair. : D

[D&D] Of Giants And Kobolds

2009-08-15T22:02:00.002+08:00

Today was quite a leisurely day in our game, we beat off ghosts, ghouls and giants. It's the G day! And I didn't know there was kobolds who are priests... with lots of magical items...

It seems we are getting nearer to the dragon's horde though. With enough money, we can rule the world! Bwahahahahaha!

And after the game, we went to Suntec to see the toy fair. It was really crowded and all the drawings of the artists are really unique. But it was more for otakus and toy collectors type. The animal plushies are really nice though, you could tell they were of good quality, though the price tag was really good looking too. xD

[Movie] UP

2009-08-10T19:43:00.003+08:00

This is really a 5 star movie. One of the best that I have ever seen. It is heart-warming, cute, funny, touching and exciting in equal parts!

The first part of the movie is about storks and clouds. While it had nothing to do with the main story, it is a good animation about friendship and how important every one is. The dark cloud may be making the dangerous animals, but without him, the world will have a lot more disappointed (animals) parents.

The main story started with a life of 2 kids and in the first 15 minutes, shows them enjoying life till Ellie left the world without fulfilling her dream of living in Paradise Falls.

After that is a story of how the old man go through an adventure to fulfill their dream. The part which the old man flips through Eilie's book to find pictures of them left me tearing. This is definitely not a movie just for the kids. It's to let us realise that material things are not as important as the memories that we have and the life we have ahead of us.

This movie is so good. It's utterly perfect. I can't think of anything to criticize about this movie. The scene of the old man thinking about lowering the kid to the buildings and accidentally dropping him still make me smile. xD This movie is something I want to remember for the rest of my life... : )

Dead Beat

2009-08-09T12:05:00.003+08:00

It's been such a busy time for me, especially at work. I'll won't be in the office much, going around to do UAT test on the new servers. It doesn't help that the backup software is utterly crap. It's pulling our schedule to hell.

At least I had some kind of fun yesterday, going to the zoo to look at the animals with Shujun and her colleagues, MY and Sesh. The shows are quite good, especially the shows about seals and the one on elephants. They are very well trained and seemed able to do anything but fly. xD

I have been to the zoo before but that was donkey years ago, when I was still in my primary school. It's really an eye opener looking at the various creatures that we will not be able to see in our busy life in Singapore. I can see how they would dominate our world if we are not so inventive.

The polar bear is especially memorable. It's a staggering 3m when standing up and a whooping 800kg in weight. It could easily crush any human standing before it. The manatee is an aquatic mammal which is not much smaller then the polar bear but being called the 'sea cow', it's gentle deposition is a direct contrast to the meat eating polar bear.

The white tiger paced along it's enclosure as thought it's waiting for a chance to leap across and have it's fill at the human buffet snapping pictures of it. The ostrich... let's say the picture found on the Internet I am about to show you is not uncommon when facing an ostrich. They really look at you like that....

These mega fauna is so impressive, and the fact that we could observe them in a safe environment is cool. : D
I'll post pictures when I got them from the Shujun.

Do You Know This Song?

2009-07-29T09:34:00.002+08:00

"Masquerade, paper faces on parade. Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you.

Masquerade, every face a different shade. Masquerade, look around, there's another mask behind you"

What does cakes have to do with postcards?

2009-07-27T21:08:00.004+08:00

Heh! Got to try out a mini roll when Shujun was visiting her sis and grandmother just a few blocks away from where I live. Thanks Shujun! xD

Look at the cream, it's very nice! I think she got 48 rolls, that's about 800g of cream rolls. I wonder how she's gonna finish them... xD

This is a picture Johnny took on Sunday. We were supposed to be posing with our back to Celia while holding the postcards but that lady giving the thumbs up at us took our picture from the front and walked away... =_=

Guess which one is me! xD

Trip to Jurong Bird Park! & National Stadium

2009-07-26T23:02:00.003+08:00

This morning was spent at Jurong Bird Park as Shujun had free passes from her company so 4 of us including Johnny and her col, MY went to spend some time exploring the place.

It wasn't that fantastic as we were kinda rushing for time so we did not really look at some of the exhibits. But those that we saw, the bigger birds and the parrots were the most impressive. There were bald eagles and a pair of Himalayan Griffon Vultures, which were HUGE! Hunching at the top of the cage, the pair of griffons was observing us, making me feel like I was the one on exhibit instead of them. I have no doubt that the pair of them could have snatched a small goat or a big dog off into the sky.

And there was the parrots & macaws. These birds are quite big as well but much more colorful than the vultures. It's hard to believe that birds can have feathers that looks like a rainbow. Such is the beauty of the macaws that they are not hard to imagine flying around a waterfall in a fantasy jungle.

The owls are kept in a dark building and we had to spot them in their enclosure. There was alot of penguins too and the way they dive and swam in the water is so graceful that you can't imagine that they would walk in such a wobbling way on land.

There was also the flaming red flamingoes, the big pelicans, the ostriches, pairs of lovebirds (they really cuddles in pairs), the attention-loving swans and many more species that I couldn't name.

I think I shall go there again next time but alone, so I could study the birds at my own leisurely pace. The sights were really eye opening and amazing. I look forward to my zoo trip. xD

After lunch, I had to go with Shujun and her col + her friend to the National Stadium to help Shujun's buddy to give out postcards for her company. Apparently, there was a match between Liverpool and Singapore. There was alot of people and almost all of them were wearing red. It was okay as it was just for 3 hours and we were paid. But that buddy, Celia, was not really someone I would trust alot. Maybe it was the way she talks and what she says but it's just a feeling so yeah, I hope I'm wrong.

So that was the end of my weekend. Mostly good and I had fun, but tiring in a way too. Back to work. *sigh*

[D&D] Of Gods & Clerics

2009-07-26T21:25:00.002+08:00

The D&D on Saturday was a serious event where we started our first adventure in Faerun, with quite a good result... considering I was nearly killed. xD

One of the things we had to do to gain favor was to catch bandits who were attacking caravans. That was an easy job what with the bandits being commoners who were disgruntled with the current king for not paying on time for jobs done for the city.

The other mission wasn't as smooth as we had to find a arsonist cleric going around blowing up farmers. He wasn't hard to find but being a high level cleric of some bad-tempered, violent god, it wasn't so good for us.

But we won in the end, and then we are stated for another fight next week! Heh.

Shocking News!

2009-07-23T22:55:00.002+08:00

Today was a shocking day for me. I found out that SJ's ex was involved in a court case which does not bear well for his personality. It was a shock as most of our classmates know him from a long time ago and he had always been a very friendly person. The worst part is that the incident happened while SJ and him were still together.

Although they had parted ways last year, SJ still feels that he is innocent and he had reason for pleading guilty. I'm split in my decision on whether I should gave him the benefit of the doubt. On one hand, I believe SJ judge of his character and they were together for somewhere close to 7 years. On the other hand, even though he was innocent, there are some things that should not be done.

I'm not gonna take the moral high ground and judge his actions. I just hope this thing will not affect SJ too much. I know she's easily disturbed by other people's opinion but this case has not much to do with her.

On a brighter note, saw MX's sisters' wedding pictures and videos when we had dinner. It looked so fun, especially on Natalie's wedding day when the groom was being so random with the veil. xD Too bad I was busy at work and could not be his 'brother' that day. xD And MX was telling me about how she helped out at her mother's food stall last week and short changed an uncle by $10. She was so amused by that incident that she was practically tearing. I was afraid she was going to cry or something. xD

Oh well, we shall see how it goes for all of us.

Congrats To Natalie again!

2009-07-20T00:11:00.002+08:00

Oh yeah, this is a picture of that time I went to help Ming Xing's with her sister's wedding dinner. Natalie & her hubby looks very good that day but then, all people should look radiant on their wedding. xD

[D&D] A Whole New World

2009-07-19T23:44:00.002+08:00

Looks like in yesterday's game, we overstayed our welcome at Fontia and went off into a whole new adventure. We were supposed to be ambushing the bad guys in Fontia when we found a portal that leads to other worlds.

So we randomly jumped into a world and well, it's Faerun. Cormyr to be exact. So we are now playing a Forgotten Realm adventure. xD

Yes, world of Elminister, Drizzt, Artemis, & Cale. Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate & the Underdark. A whole new world and it's ours to explore! It helps alot that we're all much higher levels and able to take on the tough personalities that is so previlant in FR.

Yes, things are taking a nice turn. : D