Eh, I actually planned for today to be spent at home and watching TV and doing nonsense online, but it turned out to be quite random and spontaneous. Hahaha! That's the kind of excitement that I want! Why can't everyday be something like today? I want to be surprised, with unexpected things and sudden changes of plans and huge upsets. But no one shares the same spirit with me. So sad =(

Anyway, I was supposed to meet Yurong for breakfast! But I woke up at 11am, and I thought breakfast was all but over, but we ended up arranging to meet at Plaza Singapura at 1pm. For breakfast. How silly. Anyway it was Hot Tomatoes Express, whatever that was, she ate mushrooms and mushroom soup while I had olive rice with meatballs and sausages. COOL. Then Yurong had to go meet her friends at Minds Cafe, but it started raining real heavily and she couldn't walk there. So began a funny incident of how she bought an umbrella but decided to take a taxi there instead and she wanted a refund on the umbrella but it wasn't possible so she exchanged it for chocolates and sweets for the same price, which will conveniently be presents for her friends!

Then I made up my mind beforehand that today shall be a Starbucks day, but the Starbucks at Plaza Sing was fully occupied so I walked around aimlessly for a while, before going to Cathay's Starbucks and was delighted to see that it was quite empty! And I spent 2 hours over there trying to write some random thing. Then I got tired and went window shopping at Cathay, which hasn't got a lot to shop anyway, then Yurong came back to return me my camera (I lent it to her), and then it was home.

I've decided. Coffee Bean is waaay better than Starbucks! Starbucks does everything sweeter and their coffee has a funny taste to it! And their selection is dastardly limited. Okay they just don't have what I like, so Coffee Bean has my kudos points.

Oh oh! I simply must share this!

Tooty is a lovely fairy
She loves eating chocolate cookie
Her wings huge her legs sore
Oh how much she I adore!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! So cute right! It really brightened up my day! Thanks!!

Random photos, yet again.













I don't know the girl in pink, neither do I know the girl in the shirt which has a "peanut" word in it, nor the one in black polo tee. Hee hee hee!

I've got mosquito bites on my neck and face and a bit on my arms! So terrible. My face is itchy!! For your information, if you happen to see me, those bumps on my face are mosquito bites. Why would mosquitoes want to bite my face??

Yar. I was doing orderly duty in camp yesterday. With my sergeant Remus. The day somehow just slipped by very quickly, partly because we were watching movies and I was teaching him how to play guitar and talking rubbish. Then I couldn't sleep at night, because of the darn mosquitoes. Only managed 4 hours of sleep!!

And today, I came home and plonked onto the bed and fell asleep promptly. Then I had time to go for lunch with my mum, and then to Bishan library for a while. Then I just came back from youth service. It was some thanksgiving thing, with testimonies from people and writing dedications for people and song dedications and pizza and stuff. And Matthew's unofficial farewell. So sad.

Okay. This post is rather short and stupid.

Shi Hui if you're reading this, remember to find the mass dance video! Tammy and mine. And you contributed a little too.

Here's my cell group. Just four of us, all serving army dudes. Whoops it's more like three of us are, but Ben had his ORD a long long time ago. HAHAHA this is really random.











Okay. My face still very itchy! Sleep!

I really don't know how I should categorise my feelings right now. Okay, it's Christmas once again. Everybody knows I get miserably dolorous at around this time of the year, because I'm such a loser who just cannot get over certain things. I know the past few Christmases has been kinda stupid for me, largely because I chose to skip most of the celebrations or I refuse to be happy or I do things half-heartedly just to show that something has been done. Like, for instance, I got into a major quarrel last year with someone over the stupidest reasons, and it's never been resolved ever since.

This year, I'm glad to say that it wasn't that dramatic. In fact, I'm surprised that I've had a very enjoyable and memorable celebration this year. Maybe it's because the year flew by so quickly that I barely realised that Christmas was approaching until five days before. This year really ended too early, too soon. But in any case, this year is Shannon's 4th death anniversary. A long enough time frame for it to be still significant somehow.

Is it okay for me to still be upset over everything? Or should I just whack myself on the head for being so stubborn.

Okie I'm not going into all these sob inducing stories. I think I've been emo quite enough for the past few years already. I shall talk about what I did on Christmas Eve instead.

I started my Christmas Eve adventure by going to Qiling's house first. Jaslyn arrived a little while after me, then Chiew Yee. There was much commotion about Qiling's choice of a new toaster for Jas as a gift hahaha. Then I left her house to go "rescue" Tammy at town cos we were supposed to meet up to go Christmas shopping. But after I reached there, Tammy told me sheepishly that she was still at home because she overslept. So I hung around for a while before she arrived, and we came up with brilliant shopping tactics that saves time because we were in a frantic (okay not-so-frantic) rush. Oh at town I met Celine, who was pretty in pink, and Cheryl, who was there with some other choir people that I know too cos they're singing at Takashimaya. COOL. And while getting Christmas red hats from these two girls along the street, they tried to flirt with me.

We wanted to be in time for Christmas carolling because this year my youth group decided to go sing carols at people's houses again. How funky. Qiling and Jas decided to join in the fun too, so we all met up at Bishan MRT before going down to church. And there began our carolling quest to six different houses! Had a great time. At each house there was great food, great people who hosted such a large group of us, and taking into consideration that we didn't even know what songs we're singing or whose houses we were going until that night itself, I thought we sounded great and it was awesome.

I got rejected by a girl! Okay she's 8 years old, she's Jaime and I've never met her before in my life. But apparently her family attends church services regularly and they signed up for the carolling session, and their family was the first house of the night. Anyway, in the midst of singing I smiled at her, then after that she came up to me coyly and offered me drinks! So I went to disturb her then I asked her to take a photo with me and she said "wait long long"!!!! Oh gosh such impudence. And the whole time we were there, she kept trying to bully me by stepping on my feet.

Went to David Chan's house too, and Kat and Daniel's new apartment, which was quite disastrous because they asked for a song that nobody really knew how to sing, and a distorted version of Twelve Days of Christmas. Was at Uncle Bee's too, and the last was Uncle Richard and Auntie Adeline's place. I like Auntie Adeline she's the funkiest mum I've ever met.

After all of that, I went back to Qiling's house! Oh Jas and Qiling left halfway to go meet up with Chiew Yee cos they were planning a sleepover. I'm just there to drop by and say hi. They were in the process of doing some facial peel mask thing, then we talked rubbish until it was almost 4am before Chiew Yee drove me back home. Got lost at Ang Mo Kio area because we exited wrongly off the expressway hahaha.

And barely after I reached home, I was up again to go for a Christmas day breakfast with Eleanor! Then I went for Christmas service with Shi Hui as my accessory partner hahahaha. OHHHH Jaime was like sitting on the opposite block in the auditorium, so throughout the service we kept making stupid faces at each other. I'm telling you she likes me! Yup okay, after service there was the usual gift exchange, which I felt kinda terrible because I only wrote cards for a small amount of people but I got gifts and food and cards from people that I never got anything for. OKAY next Christmas I'm going shopping.

Went to Novena Square for lunch with one huge group of people. Some went arcade, but I obviously couldn't stand it so I went walking around with another group. Oh went to Donut Factory too, and my eyecandy from there wasn't working there! Okay I don't know if she's still working there or whether it was just her off day or whatever. Oh yar I remember her name she's Sylvia, but I'm so sad that she wasn't there. Sigh. Then after loads of failed shopping we went back to church and sat about aimlessly haha. And after about an hour? I got home.

Yeah. That's it. Thanks to all the nice nice friends that I have that made this Christmas so fun.

Photos. There's some more which I didn't put up over here. You can click HERE.


Jas and Jaime. I think Jaime is so cute la!


Tammy, Qiling and Jas. What would I do if these great friends weren't in my life.


Yurong too! I like this shot hahahaha.


With Ming Hui, who doesn't need me in his life anymore hahahaha!






Auntie Adeline!


Attack of the cabbage-faced monsters.


And lastly, this is pure priceless! Qiling's philosophy of life!

The past few days were spent largely at home staring into space, or doing junk on the computer, or trying to read. Lingered quite a fair bit at Bishan Library too. Trying to search for nice books to read, as well as ripping off the free wireless surfing using my iPod Touch to spend meaningless time on Facebook. Spent some time at Bishan's Coffee Bean too. I found my favourite drink off the Coffee Bean menu: THE ULTIMATE ICE BLENDED. It's one of those drinks comprising of the heavenly mix of chocolate and coffee and whipped cream. Ahh I think it's uber fattening, but let's not go into that. Yeah! In my opinion Coffee Bean beats Starbucks, because I prefer their variety of drinks, and they don't have the arrogant branding swagger of Starbucks. Eh okay that's a side issue.

Today, I got lost in Ang Mo Kio. Didn't know how to get from AMK Library to AMK Hub. Stupidest thing on earth. Met up with Joel and Yurong to go town, because Joel's due for his Lasik operation. Waited in excess of two hours with Yurong and Joel's mum, even though the operation was supposed to take fifteen minutes only. Hahaha that's because there was a public conference thingy about Lasik at the very same clinic, and Joel's ophthalmologist happily ran out and gave a half-hour talk before going back to his work. Yurong did buy some tops for Christmas presents too. Joel's parents gave us a ride back to J8.


Joel's bionic eyes!

Ahh okay I'm updating again. This week has been one big blast, as literal as it is physical! Demolition range was the coolest thing ever. Everyone got to ignite the I-chain (which is this basic gunpowder wire that you connect to a detonator and explosive), and I wasted like 5 or 6 matchsticks trying to get it to burn, but that was probably just a bee sting compared to all the other explosive charges we fired that day. I got my hands on a 33kg ADM (Area Defence Mine), which can basically blast everything within a 15om range. It's stressful when you're the firer who is going to press the button to ignite that brutal explosion. I think that was a cool $15000 piece of equipment that I blasted. Sherwin got mightily upset because he didn't get to fire his PLC (Projected Line Charge, consisting of a hundred grenades) because of external interferences. But he's the only guy who fired I-chain twice hahahahahaha. Then he went and scrape off the skin off his chin and required stitches. Silly bird droppings haha.

Went to Jalan Kayu to eat with my sergeant Kai Gui on Tuesday night. Wasn't planning to leave camp actually, but he was hungry so I just went to fatten myself with prata. Then I had orderly duties yesterday, which was outright awesome because everyone's at the battalion will-to-fight and the next day is a public holiday and thus no one was in camp. Heh then there was some rig maintenance which me, Kai Gui and my PS settled in about 2 hours.

Yup yup, I won't need to go back camp until next year! Whoopeedo. Oh wait I have another orderly duty on 27th, but it's okay for me. Ask me out!!! I'm trying to find every reason to get out of house.

Hmm, I really didn't realise it, but Christmas is in 5 days! November and December crept by so sneakily that without knowing it, I'm less than a week away from Christmas. Well I'm not complaining, because I can't wait for 2008. And, for those of you who know my adversities in the past Christmases, I am quite pleasantly surprised that I haven't been as emo as I was last year, or the previous, or the last previous. End-of-years are traditionally not a good time for me to do anything, but this time it feels different. I feel like I should do something. Sigh, maybe time really heals all wounds. Not that I don't want it to heal, but it's also not that I want it to heal either. Aargh I don't know what I want.

Okiee. Have a nice holiday people. If you've got nothing to do, reach for the phone and call me out hahahahahaha.

Okay it was quite a dramatic week. First I had a fever which hit 39 degrees, and I went to TTSH for the first time in my life to see a doctor. Okay that's old news because I blogged about it already. The second major thing was even more terrible. THE WHOLE SELETAR CAMP'S ARMY INTRANET SYSTEM GOT SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF ME. How cool is that. And you must understand that you cannot do anything on the computer if you don't have access to the intranet. And still I managed to shut it down for almost a whack-ass 24 hours. HAHAHAHAHA. All I did was I wanted to use an USB thumb-drive to transfer some files, but I didn't know that the thumb-drive contained a virus, and the computer auto-scanned it and quarantined the virus into the main server, and so one day after my ignorant act the whole camp couldn't log in into the system and thus all the clerks and admin people got to knock off early because no one can use the computers. What's even more worse was that the thumb-drive was unauthorised (it was my PC's), and I illegally used someone else's card without permission. So that effectively made things even more troublesome.

So after a huge fiasco which involved investigations and reports, I am now facing a 14-day SOL (which just means I'll be confined in camp for 14 days). Then I got my PC into trouble for the thumb-drive, and I got the person whom I illegally used the card into trouble too. Oh. And then they decided that I should do the eCyberSmart quiz just to make sure that I know my computer security.

Okay that's that.

On Thursday I went down for a recce at Poyan Range! We're going there for a demolition live firing on Monday. Kinda cool. Then it was nights out on that night too, so I got Tammy out to for dinner and we talked like nobody's business. Then on Friday I had a crash course for the demolition lessons, because I missed it when I was down with fever. It was easy to pick up the drills. Now I'm going to fire this ADM (Area Defence Mine) which is a really huge demolition charge with a gigantic explosion.

And today I went out with Edmond to Vivo! I have a new wallet ah hahahahaha it's the same one which I first saw three months ago, then I regretted not buying it but I haven't been back to Vivo since then, but I finally made up my mind to get it today. Went to Coffee Bean to sit and relax. Then after that we went down to corps for an early Christmas party! It was supposed to be an invitation for Sherwin, but he had guard duty today. Then after going through FIVE other friends who all couldn't make it or didn't want to go, I finally reached Edmond quite randomly, so yar the invitation fell to him hahaha. Party was funky, food was good, atmosphere was good. And after the party, I went to J8 with some church friends for Coffee Bean (yet again, but I didn't order any drinks this time), and then went home with Biru and Kenneth.

That's it!

I just watched the film adaptation of Dr Seuss' The Cat In The Hat! Don't tell me that I shouldn't be watching it because it's meant for kids and toddlers. Hahaha I watch whatever I want and whatever I wish to! Okay here are my thoughts on it. I thought that the show did injustice to the original book version. It was quite horrid when compared with the actual storybook, mostly because it didn't quite capture the elegant fun, which I personally felt was the essence behind almost all of Dr Seuss' work. But it redeems itself for it's whimsical setting and almost-cartoon portrayal of everything. It's colourful and over-the-top and too-immaculate-to-be-true! I have a discreet liking for nonsensical things like these hahahaha.

And that's not all. Dakota Fanning is one of the leads! Okay I've got a thing for her since I first saw her in I Am Sam (check out my archives in November 2005), then subsequently in War Of The Worlds with Tom Cruise. I think she's one of the most precocious and talented young actresses, not just for her cutesy abilities. But Mike Myers in the show was too much like, Austin Powers. Can't watch the show properly without getting distracted by his annoying laughter and snorts. And I thought the adult themes and swearing and innuendos shouldn't have belonged in a kids' show. And, the whole movie reminded me strongly of WILLY WONKA, WILLA WONKA, THE AMAZING CHOCOLATIER hahahahahaha!

Came down with a super high fever which peaked 39.2 degrees yesterday. It was kinda terrible, with a very bad headache and sore throat and muscle aches. So I took a trip to Tan Tock Seng Hospital at around 8pm last night. The doctor assessed me, decided that my fever was still too high to go home, so she gave me two pills of some medication I do not know, which miraculously brought down the high fever in 45 minutes. Then there was some big boo-boo when I realised that they spelt my name wrongly on the registration slips (and subsequently for all the other documents, such as my prescription and my medical certificate), so I have to wait a short while for them to change my surname from "LOU" to "LOW".

I've got 2 days out of camp to rest, recuperate and recover. Which, in my opinion, is both a good and bad thing. Good thing being 7 consecutive days out of camp since last week! Bad, because that means I'll miss the demolition refresher package. Eh we're going to some demolition range next week to blow up some charges! Isn't that cool I want to blow things up.

Now my temperature is back to a more normal range, although there's still a slight fever. And I've got a bad sore throat, so I can't swallow properly. Sigh.

I'm blogging from my iPod Touch!!! Oh my gosh this is the coolest gadget ever!! Okay it's a pain to type because the keyboard is way too small, but it's cool and that's all that matters. AWESOME!! Shall end here, cos it took 15 minutes just to type something this short.

I have a new computer!! And it is all thanks to the tremendous effort and help from Kai Jie! Whoopee he was totally awesome!! You see, my old computer (like, 5 years old) had some problems with the CPU fan system, and I kinda decided that it needed an upgrade anyway since it's running out of memory and slow and laggy. Actually the crunch was that the old computer would automatically shut down every half an hour or less than that, because the thing overheats. So I called Kai Jie who said he can help me build a new one from scratch, albeit reusing my display monitor and keyboard and mouse and stuff like that.

And so began our adventure! Went down to Sim Lim Square today, did an initial scouring of the place, then Kai Jie helped identify all the components and funny weird peripherals that I weren't even familiar with, and then buying all of them. After we got everything we came back to my house to fix it all up. Golly it's fun! Okay I've never done anything like that before, and computer hardware isn't my cup of tea so I just sat in amazement watching him fix everything and listening to him explain everything too. Whoaa.

Total cost? Slightly more than $800. Total time spent? Two hours to get the stuff, another two to fix it all up. And I learnt a lot more about computers than I ever did in my whole life. If you ask me about programmes or software I still can figure them out, but I'm a complete hardware noob. And therefore, the point is, I was supremely impressed with Kai Jie today because he's absolutely scintillating. You've really gotta witness it for yourself haha. AWESOME OH GOSH HE SHOULD JUST GO DABBLE INTO A NEW RANGE OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS AND NAME THEM SOMETHING LIKE, 'KJ'.

Thanks man.

Off, off you lendings.
Come, unbutton here.
I think I'm going crazy,
because my name is Lear.
(The meter stinks, but at least the rhyme's not queer.)

by Kai Jie

Eh okay. The book is Ursula, Under, written by this author named Ingrid Hill. On the cover page there is a sticker that says "Recommended by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife". What's special (to me) about this book is that I've taken 3 entire months to read it. Yeah a lot of people have been asking me why they keep seeing me with the same book all the time, to which I'd retort why can't I take my own sweet time to read my own book!!! So here's to all of you bitchy whiny people who cannot stand the sight of me clinging on to my Ursula, Under: I'VE FINISHED THE BOOK AND I'M MOVING ON.

And for the sheer amount of time spent on one single book alone, I feel that it warrants a reasonable recognition on my effort. So here's a book review in all its glory. To begin with, the book ain't that thick; it's only 400 plus plus pages in total, but the font is tiny, and it takes me about 15 minutes just to read 5 pages. On top of that, I didn't really discipline myself to read it religiously everyday, and it's not as if I have a lot of spare time to begin with, which explains why I took so long.

But it was time very well spent. The plot in itself is a highly ambitious attempt for a fictitious work, but the author managed to pull all the strings together and made it blend so seamlessly that it's nothing short of flawless. Basically the story is about this little girl named Ursula who fell into an old mine shaft. That's the main story. Then it proceeds on to branch into the ancestral family tree of Ursula. So we have sub-stories on various characters throughout the ages, all of which are directly involved in continuing the vast family from fading into oblivion, and culminating in the birth of our little Ursula. Geddit so far?

What's really remarkable is how the author brought to life each separate character's history, and still managed to link them all up. The ancestors range as far from Chinese to Finnish, with different occupations and family backgrounds and does not differentiate between the prosperous and the destitute. All of them face the common difficulties of trying to survive in an era where disease and death are all common due to the lack of medical breakthroughs. And trying to ensure they have offspring for the next generation. And dealing with the violence of not-so-civilised humanity. Each of their story is a test of endurance and an outstanding feat by itself already. And you have to link it all up and equate it to come to the conclusion that Ursula is too precious to die from her fall into the mine shaft, because she is the precocious result of numerous heroes throughout history.

Being a literature-sucker for good prose, I thought the narration was impeccable, precise and simply fantastic. If you're a stickler for lucid English sentences with all the narrative stylistics, this book is for you. And the author's choice of being an omniscient narrator is perfect, because it provides as the constant and all-knowing linkage throughout the story's timeline, with all the subtle nuances of irony, and the gentle reminder of all of human beings' instinctive thoughts and reactions and sentience and methodology of the way of life.

But there were times when I thought the prose tries too hard to please. It can become slightly verbose, and that is where it works against itself because it is too gaudy. Actually if I were to be polite, I'd use the words "extravagant" and "lavish", which sounds more high-class hahahaha. But I felt that it was more like a poor attempt at rhetorics. It's too pretentious.

And the plot. It becomes irritatingly common and predictable after a while.

But outstanding depiction of all the stories, related or unrelated, that had Ursula as a character in it. Again, those scenes resemble more of scripted TV serials because they try too hard that it loses it's realism, but it redeems itself by being sugary-sweet and tugs at the emotions of the reader. That is, unless you're so impersonal and have a heart of stone, you'll almost certainly side on Ursula's side and wish her all the best.

Yeah. BIG BROWNIE POINTS to Ingrid Hill for a brilliant book, although I wish it was less naggy (so that I can finish the book faster) and not so fake-ish. Superb writing though; it ought to earn a place in some Literature class for tone and tension and stylistics and character analysis and narrative techniques, and so much more.

Sigh. This whole week has been kinda emo. For a lot of reasons. Ryyan Spenser passed away on Wednesday, after getting into a motorbike accident a week and a half ago. It came as a huge shock, because last I heard he was getting better. But that's probably the clearest indication of the brevity of life. You never know when something terrible is going to happen; and you won't know if tomorrow will ever be there for you. Okay granted that I wasn't very close to Ryyan, but still he's a friend and the loss saddens me. I don't do deaths very well. Never did, because it shakes me up emotionally just to think of one less person living and breathing in this world. And so most of the people from my company went down for the wake and funeral service yesterday. Poignant and plaintive. I skipped the cremation at Mandai because I didn't feel very right about it. And I probably cannot handle it anyway.

Okay. On a much brighter note, I finally passed my IPPT! The only station that is hindering me thus far is standing broad jump, which I think is the stupidest crap ever. I don't think jumping is an indication of your fitness level! But what the hell I finally passed on the dot, after trying for so long. And then we went down to Nee Soon for our live-firing range. I'm a marksman at heart. It's a long story, but the gist is, I've hit 22 out of 28 rounds (that's the minimum criteria for marksmanship) but this probably will not be an official record in my NS life. Because the conduct of the whole thing was so screwed up and some results weren't captured and I didn't get the same result during those reshoots, so I can't do anything but accept it as one of those common inefficiencies of army. But there were $200 at stake too! Okay la I don't need the money desperately and besides it's a bonus anyway. But still there's a tiny chance of hope, because I still don't know my results yet and there might still be a miracle.

Had dinner at Qiling's house last night. Jas was there too. It was a pleasant coincidence, no less, because my mum and my sister went to Malaysia to visit some relatives and attend a wedding, so there's only me and my dad left at home and my dad's busy with his work so I needed to settle dinner on my own. Then today I went J8 with Yurong and Douglas for lunch. Went to corps to hang around and play bridge (Tammy joined in) after that.

I finally made up my mind about the World Vision adoption. I'm going to support this 10-year-old girl from Bangladesh by paying $45 a month. At first I was hesitant because I didn't know if I will be able to cope financially. I mean, it's okay for now since army's paying me regularly every month, but what about when I get out of army?? This is for an indefinite period, and I didn't feel that it will be very responsible for me to back out. But now I'm going to leave it all in God's grace to provide. And this gives me an added reason to stop spending so much and start saving up.

Sounds pretty cool eh! I'm like a "daddy" for this little girl. And I'll be able to write letters to her, and if World Vision is planning some trip to Bangladesh I can go along and meet her. Ooh! I can't wait to get started.

Yea, I guess that will be all for now.

Here's a silly thing I did today: I went to pluck my eyebrows!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Joel's going for his prom, and as with all prom-related things he wanted to look good, so Biru introduced him to this beauty shop somewhere at market. And I tagged along because I've never plucked my eyebrows before and I thought it'll be a good idea to try. There's gotta be a first time for me somewhere someday!! So now both my eyebrows feel kinda twingy and numb.

Anyway, for those of you who yet know, I've got a new iPod Touch!! Got it off some broadband internet promotion with Singtel. I swear it's the coolest gadget ever. Now I'm adding songs to iTunes and trying to configure all the small small things.

Going to be leading worship with Biru this coming Friday for youth service! Hahaha once again it's been a long time since I led, so it's kinda exciting. I realised I get excited easily these few days.

I'm currently into Gil Elvgren! For those of you who don't know who he is, he's this American artist who did a lot of pin-up paintings, of which most included girls with sexually provocative poses or in lacy underwear and such. I think he's excellent! Here's one of my favourites:



Oh okay. I think I should go.

The fun activity for today is going to Changi Airport! Priscilla and me both wanted to go to the new Terminal 3, and so we met up and went hahaha DUH!! Oh okay before that I met Chris Ngoh who was on his way to Expo for church, so we both shared a cab since we're both heading in the same direction. Anyway T3 was spacious but there weren't a lot of people. There's only some shops open for business only! T3 has ugly carpets too. But it's quite cool la. Then we headed to T2 and T1, had lunch at Popeyes, and got the biggest thrill with the "zoom zoom zooms" (airplanes!) and with the Skytrain. Oh saw Khairul there! What a way to meet him.

Then we went to Suntec cos Pris had to get her stuff for Standard Chartered. Met Elaine (from Sentosa) there! And Tammy too. Then I went back to Bishan after that for Yurong's birthday celebration at Swensen's. Joel and Tammy were there too! We did stupid stuff like trying to squeeze all 4 of us into a small seat at Macs.

It was a fun day. And now I'm home.


Poster that fell off some wall.


AHHH retarded.


Koi pond, without the koi yet.


Chloe Chloe!!


Powder Room for "little girlie necessities" HAHAHAHA.


Giant banana split.


What I want for Christmas: a pretty girl!


With Pris at some sunflower garden.


Trying to do the swan love thing.


Yurong, Joel, me and Tammy at Swensen's.


It doesn't look like it, but it's squeezy!

Rest of the photos here!

Allow me to be bitchy and whiny and girly just for this post.

I WANT TO CRY!!!!! I didn't really get to celebrate my birthday for this year. Heck, I didn't even feel happy in the first place! I was stupidly stuck in camp on my birthday. I wanted to apply for an off day or something, but my off and leave balances were like just enough for the end-of-year block leave. And on top of that, there's the mind-draining NCC camp for this week! My Platoon Commander (PC) is the one conducting for the whole camp duration, and I'm PC's runner so in any case I need to assist her anyway. And I tell you, it's terrible!!! Okay the executions and operations of the entire four days was pretty co-ordinated in the Cadets' view, but as with most things, the behind-the-scenes logistics were crazy. We were short of manpower, so I had to go into the gas chamber and be smoked by the tear gas again!! Then it was a mad rush preparing all the stores for the different games and stations. And my PC is kinda haphazard and messy, so I have to run many many many errands for her. And my love-hate relationship with signaling is back. And there were probably a million things we could do better. And they needed emcees on the campfire night, so Nigel and me got the shitty job. And Nigel ditched me alone halfway! Do I look like any emcee to you??? AND IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I'M RUNNING ROUND THE CAMP FLUSTERED AND GOING TO DO STORES AND RESCUE PEOPLE SINGLE-HANDEDLY AND DOING PAPERWORK THAT EVENTUALLY GOT REJECTED AFTER IT'S 75% COMPLETED.

Weh. I really got very dejected midway. The whole day everyone's wishing me happy birthday, but I felt like telling everyone that I'm not happy at all. But okay la here's a big big thank you to all of you who sent messages and greetings to me. Hahaha if I want to make myself feel popular, I would have listed down all the names of those who messaged me, but I don't wanna do that. And thanks too to those who cheered me up slightly by saying I did a good job for the whole NCC camp and for good emcee-ing (THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT) and for whatever else. Wow my PC sent me a "good job" message and it suddenly made everything so worthwhile. And for the NCC Cadets too! Wacko bunch of people, and there were five girls! I liked Chloe best because I think she's the cutest, but she's only Sec 3 so what the hell.

Okay. End of bitching. Here's a quick summary of the week before, of which I failed to update this blog. I went out for a 3 day outfield exercise which was an integrated one with some reservist thingy at Murai reservoir, Lim Chu Kang area. It was kinda alright, nothing outstanding, except that I got "misplaced" once on the first night and was stranded for 3 hours. Oh I made new friends, Islamuddin the driver and Gabriel the signaler. Actually being PC runner makes me privvy to a lot of contacts in well-placed areas. Ahhh.



Eh okay that's all. I shall go treat myself to a proper celebration this weekend. But before I end, this is what Yurong posted on her blog:-

HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY GUAN YOU!
I think Guan You is one of the most secure and spontaneous guy that I know.
He happily wears pink socks, eats preserved papaya peels and has a fetish for curly haired little girls. Oh, and he thinks Bukit Timah is one of the heartlands in Singapore.
With all this fluff( heh) , you would think he is one of those spacey guys with his head in the clouds. But you'll be pleasantly surprised. For one, he watches Steven pinker's lecture on the clean slate, a philosophy/cognitive science lecture, during his free time.

alrights. happy birthday again. haha.

From Rong: help me say HAPPYBIRTHDAY CURLYHAIRFETISHMAN.

ok. I shall go message him now.

And yup, without realising it I've plunged straight down the calendar boxes and arrived at November. Wow. Time really flies if it wants to. At least, on a slightly personal level, November always holds a few promises for me. It's my birthday month, my Junior Soldier month, my Clean and Green month. It's quite near to the end of the year, so it's a time for reflection too. Something along those lines hahaha. And November has been associated with rain since time immemorial, and I kinda like rainy days because it's not-so-gloomy and perfect-for-sleeping.

So this blog entry shall be about rain, and the November rain. Nope it's got nothing to do with Guns & Roses. It's been only a week half into November, and already I've been caught out in the rain four times so far. All four times, I was stranded somewhere and I've got to go somewhere else, so I had to run out to be soaked. It's not a very nice feeling. Given a choice I would rather stay in bed and snuggle up in my blankets, or I'll make coffee and read a book. Or if I'm stupid enough, I'll go to some super duper air-con place and freeze myself.

But nothing will beat the freakish thunderstorm in October for this year. Was in camp at that time, and we were supposed to have training, but it escalated into some tornado (okay I'm exaggerating) and poured like crap, and we got drenched thoroughly even under shelter, and on the long way back in the 5-tonner truck the rain splattered in everywhere and no one had a dry spot on their shirts. Later on, I realised that the thunderstorm uprooted a tree and another got struck by lightning, not to mention a whole lot of other carnage.

Yet, still, for sheer ultimate helplessness and my most drenched and wettest ever rain experience, it has to be litter-picking at MacRitchie reservoir when I was still in secondary school. We were in groups and we had to comb several trails for litter in the bushes, along the boardwalk, stuff like that. Halfway through it poured like nuts, complete with lightning and howling winds. And the nearest shelter was a million miles away cos we were on one of the more obscure trails. So the decision was to keep going in the rain till we reach shelter. Okay I think there were four or five people in my group, and we had a small umbrella, but it wasn't any use at all. The stupidest, or most commendable, thing was that we continued picking litter for almost an hour in stupendously heavy rain! Until we reached shelter, when the rain decided to stop too. Utterly drenched to my underwear, and my fingers turned soggy pink, and the wind blew across the water and BRRRRR.

That said, I think umbrellas and rain coats are kinda pointless for me. That's because when I'm caught in the rain, I don't like getting my feet wet! Umbrellas only keep your head dry. Rain coats mostly end slightly beyond the waist and that's about it. Your upper body will stay dry. What use is that if you have soggy waterlogged shoes! Blah. The Japanese invented tiny umbrellas for shoes hahahahahaha I should get those.

Ohh. I saw a rainbow today! Two, in fact. The first one was gigantic and bold. The second one was more faint and less distinct. Awesome! That's one thing good about before or after rain; you might get glimpses of rainbows.

Maybe I'll write a poem about November and rain. It's so not original. But let's just try. Meanwhile, I look forward to more rainy escapades which, I suppose, is kinda inevitable for the month of November and December.

Deepavali, and I went out with Atiqah! The plan was to wear something Indian-looking and go eat some Indian cuisine, but I couldn't find any Indian-looking shirts at home. So sad! Although Atiqah wore some bright pink top which, she claims, is a mixture for Deepavali and Hari Raya. Anyway we went to Bugis. Ate at Raffles Hospital's Banquet, then went shopping around Bugis Junction. I finally bought a pair of flip flops which I liked! Hooray for me.

And the short week in camp ended with some healthy lifestyle day for the whole of the Singapore Combat Engineers formation units. So that means all the SCE units came to our camp for a 6km run. We didn't run; we did water points and marshalling and tentages. The worst thing was, there was a thunderstorm that lasted through the morning. But it's okay, cos I met Zi Hao and Kenneth from my BMT platoon at Tekong! Awesome to see them again. Then I met these two guys named Gregory and Wei Qi, who were both from Catholic High in the same batch with me. I never really talked to them before back at school, but I vaguely remembered their faces. And the funny thing is, so did they! Hahahaha facial familiarity clicks so well. Ah haha that made me feel slightly popular, in my own right.

Okie. That's all.

I initially wanted to write something abstract and obscure, but I think the effort to squeeze out something like that and still make it an excellent prose will probably kill me.

And thus, I revert you to my drones of my mundane life. With occasional bimbotic outbursts.

I slept like a pig and woke up super late today. Went to J8 with my family for lunch at the food court. Which I thought was quite fun because it's been ages since I last ate at the food court there, despite going to J8 at least once almost every week. Then after that my mum bought me a new pair of jeans! And my dad went to apply for a new internet subscription plan which involves a new iPod Touch. OH MY GOSH how cool is that!! Then we all went to Coffee Bean to sit and chill. It's kinda crappy being there again in two consecutive days.

After all of that, I went to meet Priscilla! She was bored and wanted to find a reason to get out of house, so we went down to Novena Square for fun hahaha. I think it's super funky over there la there's so many interesting things and nice stuff which I want to get but I don't want to blow a big hole in my bank account. Heh okay I was trying to find colourful mosquito repellant patches with smiley faces on it! I saw some of the kids the last time I was at Sungei Buloh wearing those patches and I thought they were the coolest thing on earth. But I couldn't find any! Oh oh there's a new Donut Factory outlet over there too! My gosh it was the first time I didn't see a super long queue at a DF outlet so we hopped right in for donuts! I'm so happy hahahaha this is something unexpected. And I got myself a new eyecandy she's working over there and her name's Sylvia (I peeked).

Haiya basically Pris and me just explored the whole of Novena Square. Oh I bought this huge yellow bag that had duckie prints on it! It's irresistibly appropriate for me! Only thing is, the bag's kinda weird. As in, it's not a normal bag it's more like those kind of tote bags. I'm trying to think of a way to make it seem fashionable enough for me to carry it out without looking homosexual. And I got new magnets! Oh oh oh by the way I'm collecting magnets now if any of you see some nice funky cool awesome weird magnets (in that order of preference), help me get it and I'll pay you back or something!

OKIE. Here's a random picture, courtesy of Yurong!

Alright here's my weekly update. Had my first IPPT in more than 2 months. Golly of course I didn't pass because I still can't jump far enough (although I set a personal best) and my 2.4km run timing is worst than ever. Raahhh. Then yesterday we got to book out early because there was a barbeque at one of Changi's chalets for the people who just or are going to ORD in November/December. Kalvin drove me, Rajesh, Xiang Long and De Hua down. Stayed there for an hour half before we all couldn't take it anymore. Blah it's kinda difficult having some army gathering when you already eat, sleep and train with people you see almost everyday of the week. I left for Friday youth service after that.

And today. It's Clean & Green Singapore's opening launch today! And they chose to do the jamboree thing at Bishan Park!! Awesome right it's like just next to my house. So my parents and I decided to go down to take a look. Hmm I really miss my Green Link days. I used to be involved in the planning of these kind of events, or at the very least volunteering for booth work. Now I'm taking in the sights and experiences as a member of the public instead. Okay la it was quite interactive, but I thought there were fewer exhibitions than usual. The funniest thing was seeing secondary school girls wrapped with leaves! Hahaha!

Then I went down to Beach Road to get some army stuff, then I hopped over to Concourse just for the fun of it. There's so many cool party stuff there!! Then I went to J8 to walk around and to go to the library and then I sat at Coffee Bean for 2 hours reading, before going for dinner with my family.

Okie. Here's some pictures from Clean & Green.

Breakfast with Khairul this morning! We had Macs at J8, then we went to Coffee Bean and that picture above was me and my mudpie. And shopping after that, which resulted in a million silly things which I wanted to buy.

Yesterday was "catch up with friends" day! I messaged Christine Koh cos I haven't seen or talked to her in a long time. Then there was Eileen too! And at night, Suting called me out of the blue and we chatted on the phone for quite long. To be honest I had to think for quite some time before I could remember how I met anyone with the name Suting.

I'm terribly unfit! I forced myself to run 5km this morning to build some stamina. And I did chin-ups! I realised it has been at least 2 months since I last went near a chin-up bar cos I couldn't grip it with a severely injured finger. My golly I couldn't even do one decent pull now!

Oh. I lost weight too. I lost like 4kg in the past 3 months. I don't know why or how because as far as I know of, I've been eating and sleeping regularly enough.

I'm trying desperately to finish the book that I've been stuck at since August. "Ursula, Under", by Ingrid Hill. Don't get me wrong it's a lovely book, but I just can't seem to find enough time to finish it.

It's amazing how the human mind works in terms of perceptions and emotions. You and your friend can both be, say, watching the same TV show, but both of you might arrive at conclusive thoughts and feelings which are vastly different. That's the magnificent profoundity of the intellectual capabilities of a human being's brain. Each and every person walking and breathing on this earth right now has the ability to think for himself and to have an unique opinion of his own. And it is scary to think this way, that we all have an inimitable and unequivocal mind of our own.

Multiply that by a few million times to see the bigger picture. It is therefore no wonder that there has been so many historical clashes with just mere words alone. I'm not even starting on theological disagreements or ideological or morals or gender or religion or any of that yet. Eh okay actually they are all related, aren't they? There is a quarrel in the first place only because there is a disparity between what people were thinking. And since you always have a choice to choose what you want to believe in, that's how you get wars and crusades and campaigns and protests and such.

And so it is with relish that I recently began to realize the significance of how different things can stimulate and engage your brain. You know how it goes when you read a book, and it reminds you of something? Or how you are listening to a song and it spawns an entire thought train process, of something, anything, or even nothing at all? It's that kind of thing that frightens me. After a while, when you start to think that there must be some things that does not require you to have any emotions at all, you come to the epiphany that there is no such thing. Every single event is a trigger for some sort of feeling.

That's why I think the word evocative is sometimes misused. If you say literature is evocative, you're trying to convey the message that there's so many thoughts and feelings going through your mind that you cannot possibly pinpoint a particularly specific emotion. But that is not true, because EVERYTHING is evocative in its own right. Even the simplest of all sentences can evoke feelings miles and light years that can render themselves with alarmingly abstruse and recondite clarity. I'll list one example: "Jesus wept." That is the shortest verse in the Bible, but the implications behind the grammatically-correct sentence are still powerful.

I recently bought a new album. Vienna Boys' Choir! I saw it at HMV the other day, and it was a largely impulsive decision to purchase it. I'm lost for words as to how best I should describe it. The closest is still "virginal", which me, Khairi and Jeffery Angus decided a long long time ago (refer to entry dated 22092006). It's like, multitudes of angels singing in chorale. Child-like. Wonderfully splendid. Engaging the heart, soul and mind all at the same time.

And in that album is the song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", originally from The Wizard of Oz which dates back several decades ago. The song's simplest of simplest lyrics reminds us of all the hopeful retreats that we all long to have. I don't know about any of you, but doesn't it sound a bit too plaintive and melancholic? Like, despite all the wishes and dreams, it is painfully sorrowful in the way that none of those dreams could ever be in reality. It's a bit like my pursuit for idyllic pastures theory, isn't it? Deep down you long for it but it will never be there for you. So sad!!

I genuinely believe that it's a song powerful enough to make you cry. Yeah I already did, when I heard Connie Talbot's rendition of it a few months back with Faith on her laptop. It's on Youtube! Then now there's the Vienna Boys' Choir one, which is also symbolic enough given their lofty voices. But I still like Connie Talbot's one! Every note of her singing is tugging at the taut strings of my mind, and it's turning into a boggling topsy turvy of amazement and wonder.

Alternatively, if none of those appeals to you, you can always opt for Salad Fingers' one. HAHAHA that's if you're mentally unstable and need something disturbing.

And here are the lyrics, for my easy reference and for yours too.



"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Today is the stupidest day ever. By right today was supposed to be an entire day off from army for me, but they reduced it to half day instead because according to the schedule there was some safety seminar that we have to attend. And so I went back camp in the afternoon, only to find that the seminar's cancelled, and they've got nothing for us in replacement, and there wasn't dinner for us, so they sent us out for a nights off. Weh!! I could have had one whole day off! Eh okay la the rest of my platoon had fun with games, but I was helping my PC do her NCC Camp things again. I feel used. Like, doing so much admin planning that I'm not even supposed to be touching when I'm not even a commander. RAHH. I WANT TO GET OUT OF ARMY THEY DON'T SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND I DON'T SEEM TO KNOW WHAT I'M DOING IN THERE TOO!!!

On the brighter side, my day was saved by breakfast with Yurong! We went KAP to relish our A'Level studying days hahaha, and I heard my hated train song again, and we went Cold Storage (how low can you go!), and we went looking for DVDs to watch at Video Ezy but didn't get anything, and we went to the KAP basement carpark to hunt for the MacDonald's van! Oh oh we ate sushi too hahaha I can't seem to get enough of sushi. And on an equally bright side, I went out for dinner with Eleanor! I asked five different people whether they wanted dinner, but they all weren't free for the evening. Well okay it was kinda last-minute, but I felt so sad cos no one wanted to have dinner with me!! But thank God for wonderful people like Eleanor who just rushed out of house the moment I asked her out. She really rushed out okay she was in some ugly faded pyjamas top and messy hair!!! Heh but she still looks effortlessly pretty I don't know how or why. We went Ang Mo Kio for dinner. Chicken chop was good.

Alrighty I gotta go off back to camp. This sucks.

Here's an existential rant on everything about me that I feel will go a long way towards validating my imprints on this earth. Okay maybe not everything about me. But it's somewhat about me. Me and my character traits. And what the hell I didn't even come up with half of this adjectives and descriptions! It's what the people have been saying about me. Which, in my opinion, just goes on to prove my point that there is no way you can "know yourself best", because you can never know yourself best when your friends (even the least acquainted ones) sees the real, outer you, and knows you best.

Alright here we go!


What they say: I'm relationships / commitments phobic!
Who said that: Chiew Yee, Qiling, Jaslyn, my mum.
What I say: Hmm. I haven't noticed it myself, but on hindsight I realised that it's probably quite true! I mean, it didn't take very long for me to reflect on past relationships or failed friendships to see where the link is. And the more I sift through my personal history with The Opposite Sex, the more I get what they mean about me being afraid to commit to a certain planned future. Let's face it I'm not the kind of guy who likes getting tied down, or being bonded to something, or anything idealistic. In a sense I wouldn't say that is healthy, but hey if you've been through what I've been through, you would find it hard to commit to anything too! I'm serious about that. Try going through what I've been through, and if you come out a different product then I'll emulate from you. Okay or maybe my biased mindset is just stuck on "all things are fleeting and ephemeral and there's no point creating a alliance with anything".
My conclusive retort: What they say is quite true. But but but, I don't shun away from all commitments! Generally, as a guideline, I dislike long-term plans with PEOPLE, but if it's anything non-animate, it's okay.


What they say: I'm highly indecisive!
Who said that: My parents, and three-quarters of the people that know me
What I say: Yeah yeah I know that has been one of my vices that breaks me as a human being. I've been told that I can't make snappy decisions in my choices, which ranges mostly from what to eat and what to wear and where to go, that kind of thing. I've been scolded at, for my inability to come to a definitive conclusion about my thoughts and feelings. I've been told that I take too long to arrive at decisions. I've been told that I'm too easily influenced sometimes by alternative views, and that results in my indecisiveness too. But I put it down to my easy-going nature. Here comes my "plastic bag theory": be a plastic bag and let the wind blow you everywhere! So, do not fret about what to eat, because you'll eventually be blown to some restaurant!
My conclusive retort: Be a plastic bag! But don't just put me down as some freak who can't make up his mind. I've made some of my wisest choices through indecision. Slow and steady wins the race. Sometimes the long mulling times adds precaution and perspective.


What they say: I trivialise and downplay all things dull and mundane.
Who said that: Sherwin.
What I say: This is the first time I've heard of such a remark! Sherwin claims that I find almost everything insignificant of my attention, and I don't bother remembering the finer details of, say, a conversation. In short, I tend to forget little minute details like passing remarks, small incidents, my friend's sister's age and name, etc. etc. And whatever that is supposed to be significant, it's just normal happenings in my eyes. Okay yar sometimes I do forget such things, but are you telling me that everybody remembers them!! I mean, I can't possibly remember every single small detail of a minor argument, or something like that! And he also said I trivialise great, life-changing events! Cos I lost his beret for our passing-out parade for our course, and I didn't see what the deal was all about until he said that it was a significant moment to him (when it obviously wasn't to me! Parades?? BAHHH).
My conclusive retort: What crap!! Sherwin's being ridiculous. I'm not unobservant, and I certainly do not trivialise all things. On the contrary, I think I've got one of the keenest observations ever! The poetic observance of details, the implications of things, the ability to appreciate certain elements, and the acute sense of hindsight and foresight. It's more like you ain't got my style you momonie!


What they say: I'm easily satisfied!
Who said that: Ben Ng, and most recently, Priscilla.
What I say: Here's another thing that I don't notice about myself, but the moment they said it and I thought of it, I realised that it's highly true. My pursuit for enjoyment lies in objects or activities that are actually very simplistic by nature. If it's something that I want to do, and I've just completed it, I'd feel very happy. Like, for instance, eating sushi! It's never something that I know that can't be attained. Rather, it's always the small small things that keeps me happy and contented. But that can be a bad thing too. Because I'm so easily satisfied with the bare minimums, it takes a lot more to get me angry. Instances like, bad customer service, I will tend to overlook it. That's why you won't find me in forums bitching about rude people, or writing hate letters. It's more like, I want to congratulate all 2734 of your hotel staff for outstanding service, then I'll proceed to the next twenty different hotels and do the same.
My conclusive retort: I think everybody will find it extremely easy to pacify and placate me! Brownie points for my future girlfriend. But don't ever ask me out for like, gourmet sessions. Because I eat almost everything edible, and it takes exceptionally horrible food to make me gag. Even if it's average-tasting, it'll be nice to me.


What they say: I will make a good leader!
Who said that: The whole world!!!!!! (hahaha I can't remember who)
What I say: Nah I do okay only. I know if I try and be humble then I don't befit all the occasions when people entrust jobs-of-importance to me because they think I'm trustworthy and reliable enough to complete it. Whenever I feel like crap, Eleanor starts listing down every major thing that I've achieved. That's what I like about her, because she's frank enough about such things and she makes you feel good about yourself. In my opinion I think she makes a better leader than I am, but I'm side-tracking hahahaha.
My conclusive retort: Okay let's see. My greatest abilities all revolves around planning and execution of something major. I do motivation somewhat okay, I've got some whack-ass creativity when I decide to use it, and I speak well enough and I write good enough too. So put me in some form of planning and co-ordination and I'll get things done for you.


There you go! I've got one more actually, but that's about me being weird and silly, and I don't wanna write about that hahahahaha!! Cos I know I'm weird and silly sometimes. Why doesn't someone say I'm cute instead?? Hee hee hee!

And it's breakfast with Yurong tomorrow! Then I'll be booking in back to camp. Don't miss me guys and girls!

(x) been in love
(x) shoplifted
( ) been fired
(x) been in a fist fight
(x) snuck out of your parent's house
( ) been arrested
(x) gone on a blind date
(x) skipped school
(x) seen someone die
( ) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico
(x) been on a plane
(x) love someone or miss someone right now
(x) lain on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
( ) made a snow angel
(x) flown a kite
(x) built a sand castle
(x) gone puddle jumping
(x) played dress up
(x) jumped into a pile of leaves
( ) gone sledding
(x) cheated while playing a game
(x) been lonely
(x) fallen asleep at work/school
( ) used a fake id
(x) watched the sun set
( ) felt an earthquake/tremor
( ) been through a hurricane
(x) touched a snake
(x) slept beneath the stars
(x) been tickled
( ) been robbed
(x) been misunderstood
(x) danced in the moonlight
(x) liked the way I look
(x) witnessed a crime
(x) questioned my heart
( ) been obsessed with post-it notes
(x) squished barefoot through the mud
(x) been lost
(x) been to the opposite side of the country
( ) swum in the ocean
(x) felt like dying
(x) cried yourself to sleep
(x) played cops and robbers
(x) recently colored with crayons
( ) sung karaoke
(x) paid for a meal with only coins
(x) done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) made prank phone calls
( ) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) danced in the rain
( ) written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) been kissed under a mistletoe
(x) blown bubbles
( ) made a bonfire on the beach
(x) crashed a party
( ) gone roller-skating
( ) glued your hand to something
( ) got your tongue stuck to a flag pole
(x) kissed a fish
(x) sat on a roof top
(x) screamed at the top of your lungs
( ) done a one-handed cartwheel
(x) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours
(x) stayed up all night
(x) didn't take a shower for a week
( ) pick and ate an apple right off the tree
(x) climbed a tree
( ) had a tree house
(x) are scared to watch scary movies alone
( ) believe in ghosts
( ) have more than 30 pairs of shoes
(x) jumped into a pool/hot tub/lake with all your clothes on
(x) been told you're hot by a complete stranger
( ) broken a bone
(x) been easily amused
( ) caught a fish then ate it
(x) caught a butterfly
(x) laughed so hard you cried
( ) cried so hard you laughed
(x) cheated on a test
(x) cheated on a lover
( ) have a Britney Spears CD
(x) forgotten someone's name
(x) French braided someone's hair
( ) gone skinny dipping in a pool
(x) have had a fantasy over someone you love as a good friend
( ) sun tanned naked
( ) ran naked in the rain

Ooh this is kinda cool. Like, you know, kinda cooool.

Eh arh erm okay here's what I did on Saturday and Sunday! Which is also yesterday and today! It's jam-packed with cool funky activities, with cool funky friends, and with cool funky incidents! Ahhhhh this is my idea of a perfect weekend! Oh oh oh here we go!

Saturday, 20th October 2007

Went out with Khairul! We decided to go Marina Square to catch a movie. We chose Superbad! I didn't know it was rated M18! I thought all along that it was just some simple innocent movie, but hell it wasn't!! Hahaha the stupidest thing was Khairul didn't know it was M18 too, and he didn't bring any identification stating his age. But he had his SAFRA card which has his IC number. Hmm the movie's somewhat like a precocious prodigy. That's like the best I could describe it. I mean, it's vulgar and crude and crass in its own right, but deep down it's a bit nostalgic and moralistic and humane also. Whack-ass funny! Okie. Then we went to Carl's Junior for some food, walked around a bit, blah blah doing nothing.

Ohh I must mention this! There was this small mobile thing thing in the mould of animals at Marina Square, and it's safe enough for kids to ride on top of it and let them steer it around. You know what I'm talking about?? Haiz never mind it's just one of those rides thing thing except that you can drive it around. Anyway, this girl that was steering this huge smack-ass donkey drove straight into me!!! Then I was super shocked so I tried to push it away but I realised that the donkey crap thing wasn't as light as it seemed, and the little girl ACCELERATED SOME MORE oh my gosh I was pushed back into this directory sign and she still didn't stop. Then her mum panicked and stopped the girl. And that was how I escaped from sinister girl and evil donkey.

Sunday, 21st October 2007

Went for Sunday service in the morning! First time I did in months. I'm either on guard duty for the past few Sundays, or I couldn't wake up on time, or I'm lazy, but for today it took massive resolve to wake up early.

And after that I went to Ang Mo Kio to meet up with Priscilla! Whoopee last time I saw her was months ago too. Our adventure for the day was to hunt down some obscure sushi restaurant and go for sushi buffet!! Oh my gosh I've been wanting sushi buffet for the longest time! We found Suki Sushi, but it was 99 cents per plate, but it's okay too cos in the end I didn't really eat a lot too HAHAHAHA. So, good thing it wasn't buffet. Then we went exploring at AMK Hub! I was trying to search for magnets for my locker, but it somehow ended up with Priscilla getting a Mickey Mouse water bottle meant for kids. Okay I did get a small shovel truck magnet. And we went to eat ice cream at Andersen's! Eh I ate most of it and she just watched. We saw an elephant mascot for UOB too!! HAHAHA that's just like about the silliest thing ever. OOH I bumped into Jia Mein and Linus over there!! Then Pris left for home, while I went further up AMK Central to buy dinner home for my mum and sis.

And conveniently after dinner, Sing Hun called me to go out for a drink with her! Eh drinking as in drinking, not drinking! As in, nothing alcoholic! So we went to Thomson Plaza and there was some Thai eatery and I got coffee cappuccino while she had lime juice. Then we spent the next hour walking around Thomson Plaza aimlessly, then we walked down Upper Thomson Road aimlessly, walked one big round aimlessly, before taking the bus home. Then I walked her in halfway to her home, which is also Tammy's home, and wow I like the condo's scenery!! There's junipers planted by the side of the walkway and there's some fountain thingy and the whole place looks enchanted in the darkness.

Ahh that's not all. After I came home I talked to Chiew Yee on the phone! Okay I just put down the phone goodness knows how long we talked, but I think it was around two hours! Her phone kept dying. Haha we haven't done this in a long long time.

Time that I started this entry: 23:30pm. Time, after me typing all these, and interrupted for two hours after I started talking to Chiew Yee: 02:34am.

Howdy. Here are some pictures. Then I'm going to be needing some sleep.


The elephant man for UOB! Pris helped me take this hahahahaha.


Belgian Choc Chip at Denmark's.


Drinks with Sing Hun!


The kids go crazy with elephant man. He's the elephant god!!!!!

And with the end of this week, I've also finally reached the end of my Bridging Pioneer Course! Whoopee. Although my role is kinda muted, blurred and strange, all three at once. You see, there was the boat package, then rafting, then anchorage. Technically speaking I'm supposed to be able to do all three, but my original section assignment was anchorage. But now that I'm my PC's runner, I don't know if this is permanent or whatever or whatsoever. I don't know what's my full job scope. Wah forget it la.

Anyway, we had a 3-day outfield exercise which acted as a summary for our ending of the course. Okay strictly speaking it's 2 days and 2 nights, but it lasted over the duration of 3 days. Oh gosh the terrain was stupid it was clayey mud, so when it rained (which it did) everything became sticky mud. I was PC runner, so throughout the whole exercise I spent half my time sitting in the land rover to manage the radio comms set. Which left me with very little sleep on both nights cos I must report back every hour and the stupid phone kept ringing and a million errands. And then I have to carry the heavy signal set everywhere I go. And I have to read all the documents stamped with RESTRICTED or CONFIDENTIAL, know all the groupings and taskings, know what is going on, blah blah blah.

And when we came back on Wednesday, it was maintenance of all the stores and vehicles. But my PC made me plan this NCC camp thing because she's conducting it and she has a million other things to do, so I have to come up with games and plan an Amazing Race styled treasure hunt, all from scratch!! RAAHHH. Give me washing and greasing any time. Pure headache just trying to refer to old documents for safety plans, and it's even more of a headache trying to come up with the proposed games!

That's it. I'm three-quarters into being operationally ready. Yeah the most significant (and most stupid) thing was me cutting my own finger, so deep that I can't do a million things and so that was maybe why I became runner too. But my finger's looking a lot better now! For the first time I see a stretch of unbroken flesh across the tip of my finger, when previously the cut seemed like it didn't join up. Look out Guan You's gonna be back now that his finger is largely okay hahahahahaha.

And I went church for youth service today! Been at least a month since I last went, due mainly to later book-out times for the past few weeks, and fatigue. New addition to my small cell group, and we talked about the unlikeliest of things.

Heck I'm lacking a deadly amount of sleep! Slept like a total of 4 hours for the 3-day exercise, and even when we got back there was the NCC camp thing to plan and vehicle maintenance. I want my sleeeeeep!!

Sorry. Bimbotic post.

I'm going to share with you a random thought that I had over the course of this week. And the topic's about weather, which is interesting in itself without overdoing the geographic aspects. Okay here we go. This week has been largely cloudy for almost every day, except for one or two potential thunderstorm that didn't quite make it, and one freakish thunderstorm that tore huge branches off trees and uprooted several smaller plants. And I was caught in that freakish thunderstorm, so I was thoroughly drenched for one day. Anyway, the thing is, I started thinking about how it would be really cool if clouds are essentially (and really) faeces of angels! HAHAHAHA! Wouldn't that be awesome! Those fluffy white things you see in the sky are actually gigantic lumps of crap! That would combine clouds and angels into an unassailable relationship of celestial artistic harmony!

Hahaha that's what you get when I become overtly philosophical, to the extent of ludicrous and crass stupidity. And I was happily congratulating myself for such an idiotic thought, when someone asked me what if it were to rain and we were caught outside with no shelter? Wouldn't we be drenched in the water that issued from the clouds, which are also angels' faeces!!! HAHAHAHA okay that sounds a bit disgusting imagine getting caught in flying diarrhoea HAHAHAHAHA!

Okay. That was my playful moment of silly indulgence.

Now time for another matter. Since I published the "Samantha" poem two weeks ago, it's as if all hell broke loose. Hahaha is this what you call controversial poetry?? I've got two different friends who came up to me and informed me that they both have another friend with the same name Samantha, whom is a ballerina no less. Blee. Coincidence?? How many Samanthas are there out there who practices ballet (because I don't think the two real-life Samantha ballerinas are related, or the same person). The first friend accused me of being secretly in love with her Samantha friend, which I have no idea how she even looks like in the first place. The second friend said she and her Samantha friend read the poem together and were struck speechless and uncomfortable.

So once again, I didn't write that based on anybody I know of, and I certainly am not in love with anyone!! Samantha was just a convenient name for my own sake. Why a ballerina? Because I'm impressed by the way they move with effortless grace. And as for why I'm writing about stripping a girl, it was just for pure experimental basis. It's not meant to be explicit or pornographic or erotic! There's a deeper meaning behind Samantha, and if it's anything it should be more sensual than sexy.

I don't understand the outrage. Since no girls in my real life would allow me to strip them without crying "rape", why can't all of you just allow me to strip another, albeit in an imaginary poem! RAHHH!!

Here's Samantha (II) to shut all of you up. I think I like this one better. And if I'm in the mood, I'll keep adding on to the Samantha series.



Samantha (II)

She's asleep, dressed
in a gown with tiny butterfly prints all over
the pink fabric;
her favourite colour
and a representation of hope.

On the brown couch that I was sitting on too
she rested her tired head on my laps
thinking
dreaming
of fishes swimming against the current,
her hair messy and askew
in the manner that happens when we all
lay our heads down.

Awed at the way how she mastered
the art of being graceful in movement
and in stillness.

Transfixed, at how her inhales and exhales
of her toned tummy
sustains her
while awake and asleep,
the wonderful mechanisms of her body,
of feats she'd never imagine.

One would stand back and wonder
if God took time aside to craft her
specially,
her beauty seemingly
endless, eternal
encased in just that splendid moment.

I reached for her hands
clasped together daintily
as if she were never asleep
and caressed it gently.

Samantha
in her sleep
dreams of reaching her hands (with mine)
into the water
to feel the fishes,
to feel them tickling
like baby birds waiting for worms.

All the while
the fishes continue swimming against the current
in pursuit
of the immortality that they believed
at the end of the river,
which Samantha endearingly told them of.

Another fulfilling and fun day today! Went to Beach Road this afternoon with Kay Hwa to get some army stuff for my summary exercise. I don't know what the hell are "arc of firesticks" and "umbrella pins" cos I've never seen or used them before, but Beach Road has everything remotely related to army so I've got those items. Ooh we met Shi Yao and his girlfriend there! And my PC (platoon commander) too! Haha kinda weird. Oh did I mention I'm my PC's runner now? Crap I didn't even know until she just revealed it two days ago. It's something like a personal assistant. My first assignment was to do up a map which took me 4 hours to complete. Blee.

Anyway, I digress. After Beach Road, I went down to Boon Lay to meet up with Jaslyn, Kai Jie, Chiew Yee and Qiling! Khairi invited us over to his house for Hari Raya again, so we all gladly took up the offer. Chiew Yee drove us there. And it's glorious food all over again, just like last year! I think I prefer Malay and Indian cuisine much more than my own Chinese cuisine. Seriously I should just marry some Indian girl. Ooh and Khairi's friend Jonathan joined us too. And this little boy started grabbing my hand just to wish me Selamat Hari Raya! Hahaha awesome I love little kids.

Then we all left for home, but I accompanied Qiling to go cut her fringe at Yew Tee. She's got jet black hair now which ranks as a first in our friendship hahahaha. And I bought donuts for my family from a shop over there, but my mum says it's darn sweet. But Qiling enjoyed the cheese one like she just tasted the best thing on earth! Bah never mind.

Then when I reached home, I came out for dinner with my family cos my aunt visited in the afternoon. Excluding my dad who's still at Kuala Lumpur and will be there for the next 2 weeks.

Photos!