Cons+Piracy

2009-09-24T17:17:00.002+08:00

There is a certain state of mind, when it comes to blogging, that needs to be tapped into first. For some it is a sense of deep calmness. Still others find it a place to unload their semi-truths and poetic musings. For others it is the lure of attention, a prospect of focus lavished unexpectedly on them which is only the surface of the waters that beg for one of human's most simple needs. But for those who are a little apathetic, those of the facebooking generation and the guiltless downloaders, of which I am a proud member, it is the overwhelmingly powerful feeling that they have absolutely nothing better to do.

So here I am again, after a more or less complete lunar cycle's absence, not that anyone noticed. */emocorner* */snaps out of it* Sometimes I feel it's better this way, having no one around. I can trick myself into believing that hardly anyone reads this boring crap, thus freeing myself from constraints of political incorrectness and the like. Meaning I can say whatever I damn well want to, since no one is listening anyway.

But that's not the way it works of course. The only reason humans have speech is to communicate, and if communication is non-existent then what's the point of talking? I wonder if that's why some people don't talk much. They have nothing to communicate with to the world. Maybe they didn't have a chance to.

And the fact remains that somewhere, perhaps in a cute little Romanian house, or a cybercafe in Milan, or a forgotten shack somewhere along the beaches of Rio, a person sits on their armchair/stool/butt in the wee hours of the morning and clicks the I'm Feeling Lucky button and stumbles on this little deposit of emotions and (I'm stating a possibility here, not that I'm sensible enough to be of consequence, let alone lucid enough to be sensible.

Liberte! Liberte!

2009-08-26T22:38:00.012+08:00

I will readily admit, albeit after having downed (though not all together) at least three glasses of Traminer Reisling, that I am not an idiot savant when it comes to dates.

In fact, were it not for the timely intervention of one Shakti Kaur a.k.a. Shaks, the indelible reminder by whom thundered out of my phone at me one ~~drunken~~ tipsy night while I was squinting in vain to read Making Money in the hotel balcony's half-light:

"DOESN'T THE 26TH OF AUGUST RING ONE VERY LOUD BELL IN YOUR BLURNESS-STUFFED
EAR??"

As usual, such astute rhetoric from a former drama associate turned fellow book fanatic who, being a girl, is particularly intuitive in memorizing important dates and recognising my lack in ability thereof.

Audible sigh, so I set down to writing a (now belated, holy crap) birthday post for Mmi, forum associate turned MSN associate turned partner in crime, sounding board, encouraging critic, theological rant buddy, late-night companion, and all round mushroom goddess.

It may either be an unfortunate or fortuitous fact that the one person on this earth who rides the same wavelength as you can be more easily found on the net than in real life. It sounds sad, yet it's probably a blessing in disguise; most people never really know what they're like until they meet themselves.

And it's true that we're almost too similar for our respective sanities, Mmi & I; with the lame jokes, quirky asides and inadvertent slang-dropping, it's a wonder we haven't annoyed each other to merciful non-existence yet.
And for some reason -no matter where we start off with- our conversations always end up on the philosophical, edging on existential side. Yet this is where Mmina shines: For here is where she displays a remarkable amount of insight into some of Life's most depressing Conundrums.

For all our concordant trains of thought, however, for either of our open/neorotic mindsets, there exists an intrinsic difference between us: Where I am selfish, so is she selfless. Where I am cold, so is she warm. Our respective capacities for compassion lie at opposite ends of the spectrum.

If there was a prize for Person Most Like Me Without The Egotistic Bits, she'd win it hands down.

As this birthday post comes to a close, I want to say that I truly remembered, that I took the time to burn three simple yet deviously elusive numbers into my cranium, I really do; but while exaggaration is a tool of the trade, dishonesty is not: So let me apologise for the lateness, as well as probably not being around when you needed me too; I did agonise a bit over the present, since I can hardly get you anything tangible, short of sending an ugly mug over by snail mail, which would probably be broken pottery by the time it gets there, so-

Here's a sunset from start to finish, taken from last week's jaunt to Bukit Tinggi; hope you like:

Orange slide, the sky that it reflects
Sponge's pride, being dangled

Spider!

The apprehension that was caught alive
It's okay even if I don't hide it
I want to have colored dreams

RIDE ON SHOOTING STAR

With the voice of my heart, like a shotgun I kept on singing

Grunge hamster, be grown up
Lobster of revenge, bring it along

Sniper!

I'll say, "What can you see in that fringed world?"
I want to touch it before I aim for it

RIDE ON SHOOTING STAR

Searching for you, and in withdrawal syndrome
I told a lie

RIDE ON SHOOTING STAR

With the voice of my heart, like a shotgun I kept on singing

Happy birthday, Mmi~

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed cat is king.

2009-08-22T21:40:00.005+08:00

A ragged ear, whiskers

Like stalks of wildgrass

Twitch

To jarr the perfect asymmetry:

The Rogue.

A solitary eye of sable

Luminous,

To gaze out in casual fascination

Like lamps of piercing darkness:

The Seer.

A mangled visage

To shatter the illusion of the World;

Like the last living being that draws breath

Abreast

The Night.

Beating a hasty retreat from chicken rice, mundanity, and delusions of poetic adequacy, ==.

Cherries~

There I go again.

2009-08-12T23:39:00.011+08:00

It's like a disease. Everytime I write, all the long, impressive-sounding words come out. It's not intentional. I can't help myself. Slip of the mind, you know?

But it gets to the point where writing here is like painting with a brush ten times the usual size. You dip it in words and you paint on the canvas of a post - great care taken not to apply too much pressure - else the brush slips, and huge blobs of 5-6 syllabic words are painted. People are left staring, slightly in awe, but mostly in confusion at the array of colourful blotches.

When sometime later, the painter looks back on his own "masterpieces", they hardly make sense to him either.

Bombasticism.

People think it's a good thing to know almost every word in the dictionary. It's not. Sure, you impress some people in the same way, oh, a circus seal impresses us by balancing a ball on its nose. "Wow! How clever," you remark while clapping enthusiastically, because most of us wouldn't know how to juggle a ball for nuts.

Sure, it blinds the teacher to grammatical errors when marking essays. The reasoning is that a person who knows his dictionary inside-out could only have been careless when it comes to punctuation - which is completely wrong.

Unless you don't mind if your name gets spelled wrong on your tombstone;

"Here lies Gabriel Gun,
Who might've been Gan
But we're not sure.
He was quite blur
To let us write
His epitaph
With poor eyesight
and one bad draft."

But the point is this: What's the point of knowing so many words if you don't know how to use them?

On a related note, what's the point of using so many words when one or two will do?

Bugger.

Then again, there may be some use for the jumble of technical jargon jostling for space in my head. As observed by Calvin:

* * *

Stayed up for the Perseid meteor shower tonight. Then I went outside to find that whatever bits of the north hemisphere (where the stars were supposed to fall) that wasn't blocked by my house was covered in the only tufts of cloud in the whole upturned ricebowl of the sky.

Arrg. So much for some new pics. And my eyes are getting that frying-in-deep-oil feeling when I stay up till 3.

At least there's no college tomorrow.

Morning all~

See the paper faces on parade, every one a different shade

2009-08-10T15:35:00.025+08:00

I'm not sure it was worth the 4 hours frantically cobbling together what was basically a placard with holes in it from disparate pieces of paper and aluminium foil held together by glue and curses.

I'm not sure it was worth the 60 bucks admission, or exhuming that old dinner jacket from its casket under the bed, or even the application of contact lenses, which I heard were damn eye-wateringly itchy.

Frankly, I'm not sure it was worth all that fuss for a masquerade ball, 3 hours of an unfilling six-course dinner, various pleasant performances, two lucky draws (the majority of which were scooped up by the Ausmat cohort), a best mask competition, and a lot of shaky photos taken of people sans masks, all of which I won't post here to spare you the....pleasure.

But what can I say? It was fun.

The dancing especially. Some people can really bust a move. Julian and Vno, for example. If dancing were words they'd be poets. Contrast that with a guy in an old dinner jacket who skittered around the dancefloor looking like an epileptic seizure standing up. But that's okay. I doubt anyone could see through the strobe effect on the lights, flashing like a million cameras at the Oscars and half-blinding everyone in the vicinity, which was probably why they put it in the first place. No one can see how badly you dance when everyone's busy trying to keep from being stepped on by everyone else too blinded to see straight. You gotta love them strobes. If beer helps ugly people find love, strobe lights make left-footed chickens look like greased lightning.

I've been feeling a curious lack of angst recently. It's unlike my usual self, what I like to call "brooding" but more accurately described as "emo", "boring" or the classic "stoned". It's a nice feeling, this lightness of mind, though it probably spells doom for any opinion I might have left after such a dose of ambrosia. Which basically means nothing I write here anymore will be of any interest to anyone with a brain...

Why is it that all the best literary works are serious, brooding, and dark while the stuff that gives you a glowing feeling afterwards hardly get a mention? (Ok, if you can't relate to books replace "literary works" with "movies", or whichever area of geeky expertise you prefer. Excepting tanks.)

Because the former is deep, that's why; it plumbs the depth of human emotion, it propels the mind to think in widely divergent directions. Compare that with Confessions of a Shopaholic, a read that tickles you to the bone (or so I hear) but doesn't make any inroads into the human psyche. Unless to prove beyond a doubt that some women can't live without Shopping; which isn't bad or anything; just something we all pretty much knew since the dawn of time.

But it's kinda sad that more happy things aren't mentioned in the history books. There's one in my house called The 20th Century: A Pictorial History and it's full of inventions, war and famous people, but not one mention of a stirring "feel-good" event. Even beer, one of the greatest inventions known to man, isn't in it. Goes to show, doesn't it?

Maybe because Happiness is such a hard feeling to pin down; it's like a wave you crest or a mountain peak you scale; sooner or later you'll have to come down, because it's tricky to stay at the top. The concept of Happiness also differs widely from person to person - one man's beer is another man's dishwater - but the feelings of sorrow and loss, as well what we feel them for, is universal.

So in the end, chick lit will never make it into the puffin classics; likewise, people will go blind on cereal before Scary Movie gets in the running for an Oscar. But maybe fluffy, mindless fun will get the last laugh. Michael Bay himself must be in stitches all the way to the bank after the overblown, much criticized vehicle that was Transformers 2 raked in $394 million at the box office. And don't get me started on Twilight.

Wealth or fame. Fame or wealth. Hmm. Somehow, pragmatism always wins out.

Until some bright spark invents a means to live quite comfortably on ideals -

An attack of high spirits. Who do you call?

2009-07-29T13:54:00.018+08:00

The past week has been eventful in the way everyday life is: head-banging fun for me, mind-numbing boredom for the rest of humanity.

It's funny how some things never change. The world, for instance. It never changes; it just stays the same, only more so. But that's a story for another day.

In this instance, what doesn't change is Life at College, or more specifically, Life at The Little Outpost In The Jungle between two Pinnacles of Civilization (Sg & Kl) that is Sunway College JB.

Yes, nothing ever happens around here. We don't have a futsal court. Some people did turn up for our expos, though I'm not sure they really count since you could count the number of people who came with one hand. There is that Masquerade ball what came up in three weeks time 20 days ago. Odds on at least two-thirds will crumple, trod on, break or otherwise forget to bring their masks tomorrow night. And I don't have a date. Boohoo~

It's not all fun and games though. Everyday is a struggle to make ends meet, playing silly buggers in class, holding races to the mamak stall at lunchtime, skipping M'sian Studies for DotA and fooling around with the door sensors on the only working lift on campus. Mucho stressful indeed. I only hope all this effort won't go to waste during exams.

But Life at College has pretty much settled down here and had kids. What with all the rumors of couples, gangbanging on birthdays and table graffiti; it's like high school all over again. Only with cars, bad fashion sense and much, much cleaner toilets.

Speaking of cars; last wednesday, instead of his Vios, Adrian brought his venerable Wira.

The sms Prasad sent to him after test driving it says it all:

Ur car is the best car on earth man. It rocks. Sumre d oil metre nt wrk. Who needs a radio for ur car wen ur car gt AWESOME sound frm the exhaust pipe. Den pleasant perfume frm d car! Cool seats wif dusts!!Best power steerin car which turns dam smoothly..D car dam safty cz wen u lock d car frm inside it cnt unlock.Bumper is well-modified til no place to stick ur num plate!! I luv ur car bro!! Thnx for d drive mann! Sure ur vios ntg compared to d wira!*

- Prasad Unrated, July '09.

*A bit of clarification for those born without sarcasm detectors: Steering was quite heavy, turns for only 1 full revolution and a half, and gets stuck at all the wrong times. Perfume in question was exhaust fumes from the back. Aforementioned radio was missing - like a mad cybertronian dog had bitten a huge chunk out of the dashboard and ran away sniggering.

And for those you who like the pictures on this space, thank you. Sorry for none today, but vacations are like weddings - you get them every few years, once a year if you're lucky, and even when you do they're so full of a maudlin commotion that when all's said and done mostly everyone is happy, and happy mostly because it's all over and done with.

Wedding nights, on the other hand -

But that's another story.

Cheerio~

Look.

2009-07-25T22:32:00.005+08:00

It would seem an odd coincidence that nihilism and contentment, while being opposite states of being, both involve the doing of very little: If probed, neither would be remotely interested in doing anything remotely interesting. Yet the difference is in the underlying reason: the former won’t go to the movies because it is pointless, the latter because it doesn’t need to. But isn’t it funny how getting from one point to the other involves quite a flurry of activity in between?

Curious.

"Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannon ball
Where were you when we were getting high?
We were getting high
We were getting high"

I'm all for champagne against drugs

2009-07-21T20:00:00.008+08:00

And smoking.

In the earlier years I was taught the evils of this weed, indoctrined against it quite thoroughly by beloved Moral textbooks, subliminal messages in my tv and the gruesome posters they always put up outside the school toilets. In secondary school it was lumped together with the other cardinal sins: drugs, unprotected sex, criticizing the government. By association, people who indulged in such debauched practices were viewed in the same light, so hardly any of us cared to have a go -virtually all our school days were spent smoke- , scandal- and riot-free. For all the crapload of crap they crapped on us, the MoE really did a good job of safeguarding their future generations against immoral practices.

So I never really wanted to try out smoking. Curious, maybe, yet not enough to overcome my fear of addiction. But obscure memories of my grandfather lying on his wicker chair dying of lung cancer beckoning me with his voice like sawblades asking me to try pulling his finger off sonnyboy (which wasn't funny at all O_O ) probably didn't help either.

Funny then, how it seems perfectly natural for two colleagues to light up after lunch at the mamak stall, how the smoke billows out in breaths of rose-tinged pungency, how the rest of us politely ignore the smell and carry on as normal. Certainly it's not that bad. There are worse things than chowing down next to a chimnley. Like not being able to spell chimnley right. Daww

Maybe I won't mind as much when I'm older. I might even take it up like her.

If I lived that long I would try to hasten the dying process too.

In other boring news I've just seen Half-Blood Prince; and my, how stunning Emma Watson has become over the years. Too bad can't say the same for Lavender and Ginny, though Ron and Harry even it out by looking more or less like pasty-faced siew pau - Edward Cullen got no dope on this :

So I did my turn for Hollywood; and to be honest I thought it was okay. Disappointing at times but hardly boring. Camerawork was lousy. Transition between scenes were a little disassociated, weird angles, etc. Many comical moments in this one, most of which fall flat, but watch out for the Liquid Luck sequence. No customary battle at the climax (?!) but Dumbledore dies. (I suppose I should've put a SPOILER ALERT before that last sentence, but I guess it's too late now.) Acting was decent but not outstanding, yet I really expected more. Doesn't less action = more character development? Oh well.

BM translation was impeccable as usual; Dumbledore's words when he was craning into the basin of enchanted water in the cave were immaculately translated into "itu mestinya mabuk." *long exhalation of air* Makes you wonder if the decision to revert Science & Maths was a farsighted move after all....

Saving Gandalf from the nasty Gollumses

Quickie: JB Westley's Annivesary Dinner was fun. Venue was Peking Restaurant near Sutera Mall so the food was nice. The good thing about 7-course meals is they allow you to digest your food before the next course, so you end up feeling quite, quite satiated. Met with some old chums over free dinner and a show. Not bad for a church we've been AWOL from for 4 years.

Not much else of note. 'Cept I've been thinking about halting this blog. No one reads this space, and anyway it takes around 3-4 hours to write a post. Not least 'cos of all the distractions Youtube and the internet brings. =(

Until (much probably much much) later -

Part III of the Boring Holiday Photo Montage

2009-07-06T15:48:00.023+08:00

It is apparent that no one can feel 100% secure. The christians find their security in God, atheists in their self-righteousness; but where then does that leave the agnostic?

For some time now I’ve been feeling like an anchorless sampan, carried hither and thither by the currents of an uncaring sea. Should I divine my future in the stars, or scry my fate in the swirls and eddies of the water?

It’s really really cold in the ferry.

So we spent a night in Tioman. Would’ve been the standard two, if not for your typical Malaysian timing, which involves a mad rush of packing on Saturday after procrastinating about it for the whole week, leaving at 10am the next day, two hours to dock, 12pm, wait for ferry, two hours to board, 2pm, bump and grind in freezing boat, two hours to Tioman, 4pm.

Total time, 6 hours. Would've been bearable enough, if not for your typical Malaysian love of a certain spiky fruit with a distinct pong, the aroma of which enveloped us and refused to go away, not even when we got on the ferry, haunting us like a jilted lover's ghost with gastrointestinal problems.

But like everything one goes through, it's an experience. Better than staying at home playing Happy Farm on Facebook. Better than vegetating on the couch, or bumming around CS, wasting hard-earned money on b-grade action flicks you can get 10 for 3 at the completely legal I assure you dvd seller beside the hawker centre. Nope, definitely better than that.

"I dreamt I was a paper boat
who wanted to be free;
I cast off from my
harbor and sailed the seven seas

I had some great adventures,
a scrape or two, or three;
But then i found i was alone, adrift upon the sea

I relished the open space at first
As far as I could see;
The sky above,
the sea below
A perfect symmetry.

Yet 'ere I gazed upon the view
I yearned for something more
another boat
to share it with
a comrade oar in oar

I scoured the seven seas again
though all I looked around
The companionship I sought for
was nowhere to be found.

Till now have I searched fruitlessly
a futile quest it seems
Mayhap I'll always be this way-
Oh well. It's just a dream."

~Toodle pip!

insert funny quote here

2009-06-23T13:51:00.007+08:00

Hello all!

Let me start off by saying Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers and fathers-to-be out there . You may not be celebrated as much as mothers, but you fulfill a different role (or sociological niche, as my bio teacher calls it) in the shaping of your children’s future. For those who are good at this sort of thing - bravo. For those who aren’t, but keep trying anyway - bravasissimo - your effort is equally lauded. =)

(In case you think I’ve forgotten someone, I said it to him last week. [I got the date wrong, okay?])

Now that that’s out of the way. I want to say I love my camera. (Wait. For those of you who can't stand my long wordy posts, just scroll down for the pics. Don't leave a comment)

Anyway. I love my cam. I really do. I love its crisp shots, the detail you can cram into each pic (3000x2000 pixels usually) and the endless tweaking it can be subjected to, which renders the post-pics editing obsolete. Pretty much the only thing I have to do is resize the pics before uploading them.

So now that we’ve established the fact that my camera owns. I want to say that sometimes I can still be jealous of rae. Or more specifically the teeny widdle camera she totes around everywhere. You know, the kind no self-respecting facebooker is caught dead without.

Why, you ask? Because it’s so small. It’s compact. You could stick it in your jeans and people will think it’s your wallet. Secondly, as a direct consequence of this it’s unobtrusive. Meaning you can snap candids of price tags/ concerts/ unwary friends in compromising situations with relatively low risk of getting caught.

Not so with my camera. It's bulky. It's hard to carry. When you're not taking photos with it it's a dead weight. Often the fact makes me lazy to drag it everywhere, thus missing out on some good photo ops (sunrises, gatherings, etc.) Like last night I had had some some really good peach wine - light, silvery sweet with sour aftertaste - and i wanted to take a nice pic of the bottle with the food and atmosphere and all, but i didn't bring it. Who takes a camera the size of a shoebox to dinner, i ask you? Instead i brought back the bottle and took this:

Which of course isn't the same at all. This is ....dusty. Nostalgic, even. Not to mention more boring than anything.

Secondly, as a direct consequence of the first reason, my camera is very obvious. It looks almost official. When I have it out at functions people automatically assume I'm the journalist/ photographer/ student body officer. It makes heat-of-the-moment shots very hard to make. And sometimes people get offended....

Like so.

So now we've established the fact that my camera doesn't own, at least not in all aspects. But still its pretty good methinks, and its handy for taking close-ups of very small and very fast movings things.....

taking into account that this is a water droplet the size approximate of a pimple, and the time period it was on that patch of surface was probably 1/555 seconds, , due to the fact that said surface was above 100C, enough to melt clothes
as illustrated by the recent fashion statement in my lab coat.

Which brings us to the other topic of conversation, Sunway College's Open Day last sun. Though it might as well have been a closed day for all the visitors who showed up. The upside of this was that we were mostly left to our own devices (muaha), so the remainder of the day was well spent making ice-cream,

playing with faux blood,

and the taking of dumb photos.

Ah, college. =)

Part 1 of the Boring Holiday Photo Montage

2009-06-14T23:50:00.020+08:00

So two weeks ago we all went up to the Village Hidden in the Mist for the standard Malaysian holiday; though when I say Village I mean Amusement Theme Park, and when I say Malaysian I really mean taking ages to reach there..... ages to get back.... stopping along the way to go shopping.....visit relatives.... go shopping..... and take life at a leisurely pace (which is basically just bumming around.)

Ah, Genting. Recollections of this assortment of Rollercoaster Tycoon rides
are hazy, but they can be vaguely summarized by this

this,

and this.
Thus armed with such immaculate grasp of the geography, I boldly went forth and ~~got lost~~ took hundreds of photos with impunity - right up until the battery expired. (Note to self: remember to actually charge it beforehand)

So anyway, nothing much has changed between now and then; exceptions being

and

, which are those game booth things but I only had the telephoto lens with me at the time so only close-ups here (heh).

But that's just me. Other people might remember Genting for this

this,

and subsequently, this.

.

It's always refreshing to revisit old haunts after a considerable period of time has elapsed. Pull the blanket of forgetfulness away to see old things in a new light, new things in an old light, and other things missed in hasty youth.

Like the cloud bank that rolled in on our way up, the mystical beauty of which must've escaped me on previous trips since I don't remember it being this foggy.

It's even more pervasive up at the hotel, rolling in unexpectedly and casting halos on every light source in the area; where the ceiling looks like the one at Harrods. Not that anyone knows where --or what-- that is.

I must confess that out of the handful of trips to Genting, I've never once stepped foot in the indoor theme park. Not that the rides were spectacular, but the real attraction lay in the various youth-oriented clothes stores here. With some very magnanimous discounts.

Only in the Indoor Theme Park....do you get London and Paris (and Michael Jordan) cozying up against each other,

venetian boat cruises with their rather creepy boatmen....

...whose resemblance to certain ex-classmates is uncanny.
No hard feelings, Mike. In other news, Genting also has its fair share of suspicious activity: This bunch of shady-looking characters were spotted sneaking out of the arena of stars, a concert hall supposedly usually barred from public...

Might they be part of Wang Le Hom's entourage, perhaps?

Another random observation is the ah long graffiti running rampant in the lift lobbies and carparks; seen here is only a bit of it but the full scope of the blight can't be said in so many words (mine, anyway)

According to one of the staff, the workers tasked to get rid of all that never finish the job, because the industrious ah longs keep coming back to stamp their signs all over the place again, and the bloody vicious cycle continues. Think about all that paint.

There are other vaguely interesting things, of course, like the discovery of lichen(at least I think it's lichen) on tree bark; apparently it's cold enough for this

But lastly a Hayao Miyazaki moment to savour, if my below-par photo editing skills didn't ruin it so:

Really, the view was magnificent.

“No, no, no. You get your own dust.”

2009-06-11T12:42:00.006+08:00

There’s nothing like returning from an extended holiday to find the house just as you left it; the flowerpots in shambles, cat poo in the backyard, half-peeled ah long posters on every square inch of the gate. Inside, weird smells from the kitchen, frogs hiding in the bathroom (how do they get in?) and the usual layer of disintegrated matter on everything. Ah, the familiarity and comfort of home.

Then there is the ritual spring cleaning, which is very annoying for me because after a sweep of the premises there is always one little corner that I’d have missed, and I’ll be torn between

doing one more round or
leaving it alone,

and if I choose Life-Unchanging Decision no. 1 there’ll always be a spot I’d miss, mapping me back to the original problem- yet if I choose Life-Unchanging Decision no. 2, that little neurotic part of my brain will bug me like a pesky unswattable fly, weighing me down with an overwhelming feeling of Unfinished Business, and in the end I’d STILL go back to L-UD no.1, which should now probably be called Inescapable Fate no. 0.

This is why I hate doing chores.

Speaking of dust, I always thought it blew in from outside/natural shedding of dead skin cells/uncontrolled procreation of dust bunnies. But! Why do you get it even in places with no air flow/no human activity? Where do dust bunnies come from in the first place? So! I have thought long and hard over this matter, and the answer is Einstein. See, one of the side-effects of E=mc² is everything loses a bit of mass when it moves. Or something like that. (There's a lot of theorizing and equations and thingy, but they give me a headache so I won't type it down here.) In any case it just shows that dust is here to stay because the Earth has been revolving since time immemorial, and unless it stops we will never be rid of this dirty substance! Argh..

While I was scraping lizard gunk out of the mugs in our kitchen, Daniel popped in and told me there was a cockroach hiding under the sink, after which I was completely spooked, jumping at every little movement and going whoa! oh. at cicaks - yet no sign of the skittering critter.

Just so you know, I abhor cockroaches.

After that whole episode, it should be clear that such a reaction was completely pointless. Yet it is a bit like philosophy really. You get all agitated over it only to realize afterwards that all you managed to do is get worn out and all wet. In the end, it’s not about whether nihilism/dualism/polytheism/whatever is true or not. It’s how you decide to react to it. Of course, knowing me I’ll probably come back to philosophy armed with a can of Mortein. Because I just can’t leave this alone.

At this juncture I should probably say Sorry for the lack of posts recently - but I know my blog readership and have already apologised to both - so I won't. Instead, here's one of those trying-to-be-artsy-and-almost-succeeding-but-not-quite-pictures:

Just a fraction of the boring holiday photo deluge which will be up within 5 - Don't touch that X!

Pepperoni & green peppers mushrooms olive chive

2009-05-22T20:35:00.014+08:00

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to hate the afterlife humor that is so prevailent during exam week. (''We're all going to die!!" Duh, obviously.)

Frankly, I don't know why it's so chic to gush "OMGimsodead" while behind that veneer of self-deprecation you're secretly feeling you didn't do too bad. Wallow some more in fake helplessness, why don't you? The people who really didn't do well at all are easier to spot; they're the ones who look like they just got hit by a speeding bus. Far from proclaiming their newfound non-existence, they stare blankly into the distance, speaking little and answering in mumbled tones when addressed.

On a personal note, my friends are often aghast at how indifferent I seem when faced with impending doom. But. It's not that I don't care, or I don't fully comprehend the gravity of the shituation. It's like forgetting to type LOL at something obviously hysterical. I leave the mask on, so much so that it starts grafting itself to my face. Eww.

Enough of graphic metaphors.

For the past few weeks, my bathroom has been invaded by tiny frogs. They sneak in from who knows where, and every morning I am greeted with a grubby amphibian staring impudently up at me. Attempts at eviction usually result in a mad chase around the premises, resulting in the little critter taking refuge beneath the sink and an annoyed still-half-asleep teenager late for class.

Or maybe they're all the same frog. Guh.

While shuffling through Hou Ting's flogged-to-death Nano (maximum half an hour's listening time after having overcharged it for four years) I came across a very funny song. It was called
Chik 'n' Stu
and it was by a band called System of a Down. I put the link instead of the embed because Blogger is being a dick and it's too much fuss to go find a flash player the size of a litmus paper to put here and I like Ride On Shooting Star to play when I blog.

Anyway. It was a band called System of a Down and their particular brand of metal is nothing short of mad genius. While most of the songs are typically frantic guitar riffs offset by quiet introspection, it's the vocals that get the beard: Hard to describe but I always think of a skeleton in a sombrero strumming a guitar in the middle of some desert, lamenting the terrible fate of angels and advertizing billboards or whatever heavy stuff the lyrics are on about. Bemusingly macabre.

At the same time, this guy called Richard Cheese does jazz covers of heavy metal songs. His accompanying band is called Lounge Against The Machine. I'm not kidding. His rendition of Radiohead's Creep is particularly cheerful.

"But I'm a creeeeeeeeeeeep!"
"I'm a nutjob..."

Almost better than the original.

Oh, and there's a tire shop in Taman Daya called Lucky Star. Gotta bring the D60 next time~

P.S. Though I never followed it Adam should have won. His Ring Of Fire was sensually disturbing, yet disturbingly AWESOME. Kris is more boring than wallpaper and my physics lecturer combined. Meh.

Anime on crack.

2009-05-21T10:09:00.015+08:00

I'd wanted to save it for a boring afternoon in the middle of vacation but the puzzling disappearance of the modem + Daniel playing snippets of it which threatened to scream SPOILERS! any second forced me to prematurely taste this delectable spice ----

Ever had a dream that was so warped it made perfect nonsense? Twist it, splash it liberally with technicolor, put it in the spin cycle of Salvador Dalí's washing machine. Multiply that by a factor of 349 and you'll be halfway towards the spectacular chaos that is Satoshi Kon's Paprika.

The plot is intriguing: A neo-futuristic device called the DC mini has been developed, which lets therapists help patients by entering their dreams. Like all dangerous inventions with well-meaning intentions, when it falls into the wrong hands all bloody hell breaks loose. People start dreaming while wide awake; a man shot dead in a dream dies in the real world. As the line between reality and the subconscious mind becomes increasingly blurred, only a woman therapist (nicknamed “Paprika”) seems able to stop the nightmare that threatens to engulf them all.

At first watch everything seemed disjointed, sequences having no seeming connection with each other, but since it’s a film about dreams I guess that’s the idea. Or maybe because I was too busy soaking in the colorful bizarreness that assaulted me frame-by-frame to really pay attention.

I have to say, the plot is complex for an anime, and no wonder because it was adapted from an award-winning novel. Most movies are divided into 3 acts, Exposition Build-up and Climax. Yadda yadda. But it’s not often you get films with a different set of acts, like The Dark Knight (which did four), whereas most artsy shorts make up the one- and two-act category. I think.

And Paprika? Felt like 7. Sigmund Freud would have had a field day.

The ending was surprisingly anticlimactic, as the fan boy part of me was rather hoping for a showdown of the cosmos. Looking back though I guess the meat of the story was in the middle, the underlying sense in the midst of all the confusion. It was clever of Satoshi Kon to use such disjointed reality in dreams to cover up certain plotholes; one thing about Japanese anime is that many things are implied, reflecting the careful reserve of this far-eastern culture.

Now, after rereading through this post, I realise (only too late) that no-one who hasn’t seen this movie is going to understand a jot of whatever I just said.

Oookayfine.
How about a preview then?

Paprika - Opening Sequence

Enjoy~

Game Dream.

2009-05-10T15:02:00.003+08:00

I had the weirdest dream last night.

It started in a --- well, I don’t remember how it started, but the furthest back I can recall was when I was checking the rooms for my weapon. I was trying to remember where I put it, but it didn’t seem to be anywhere, not on the chairs, the cupboards, nor the long, low tables which looked like my old school lab tables. Giving up, I exited into a corridor with CounterStrike-esque decor, which was wide enough to be a room itself. On one end it narrowed down into a corridor proper which led to the mess hall; the other end was sealed off, but looking at the iron bars that blocked the hatch, I felt an irrational chill go down my spine. I quickly did a once-over, then headed in the direction of the mess hall.

As I went up the stairs, a woman came down with a worried look on her face. I grasped her arm and felt its warmth, to make sure she wasn’t a zombie/monster/alien pretending to be one of us. My in-game memory was flooding in now: We were a band of mercenaries, a ragtag crew of former soldiers fiercely guarding our corner of the labyrinth. On the other side of the hatches we guarded, monsters, demons, and other stretches of the imagination roamed the other corridors and rooms. No one knows how things got this way, but we were determined to find out.

At the woman’s bequest, I went back with her to check on the hatch. We found it still in sturdy condition,thank heavens, but when I crouched down to look under the doors, the shadow of something lurking on the other side passed across my face. Oh, great. We’re gonna have to go purging again. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. I know that was the point in this scenario, to kill the ugly monsters, but being in 1st-person mode for real, the prospect of the task at hand filled me with unspeakable dread.

I went back to the stairs, passing Daniel on my way up, who felt my arm for the tell-tale coldness of a zombie spy. Reassured by my warmth, he continued his way, hefting a big-ass projectile weapon which took both hands to hold. At the armory, the rest of our motley crew were arming up. I squeezed through the sweaty throng to pick up a gun from the rack. “Excuse me, I think I’ll have one of those .” A female team member smirked at me, but didn’t pass comment.

As one, we moved out in the direction of the hatch, taking care not to step on the fugitives lining the narrow corridors. Survivors had sometimes managed to reach our doors, usually under hot pursuit, and of course we had to take them in. What choice did we have? We couldn’t just let them be zombie feed. Now, our band has had become a byword for sanctuary, but the more refugees we took in, the tougher it was to support everyone, as rations were getting harder to come by. Also, the entourage of women, children and old people slowed down our mission considerably.

On our way out, I saw another team going down another corridor, to the hatch furthest away from headquarters. At the council a few days before, they had complained extensively about the refugee problem, but were overruled in the decision to continue taking in more people. Disgruntled, they had decided to take off, as their leader said: “To find a way out of the labyrinth!” I caught a glimpse of their expressions as they made their way out---determined and proud, no trace of fear in their faces.

After they disappeared behind a turn, we shouldered on. First to reach the hatch, I put down my rifle and leaned against the left door, nodding at Daniel who was already in position on my right. We both took out our knives, and as the rest of the squad took up their positions around the room, Daniel counted to three….. and we unbarred the hatch.

But, instead of the rush of dozens of zombies I expected, there was no one around save a few chaemeleons (human-sized, by the way) lounging about outside. I switched to my rifle and dispatched these, including one which peeked at me curiously from the top of the door. It was only later I would regret doing that, because for one, these things were pretty harmless, and another, the sound of my gunfire had attracted the attention of something far more sinister looming in the background. “oh, shi-” Daniel hurriedly rebarred the doors, but not before I caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure, a huge torso with swinging arms and a bull-like neck, which turned towards us and started its way forward.

Now, here’s where things got really confusing and chaotic. I remember Daniel shouting “It’s the B------!” just as the---well, the closest thing to it would be a troll, I guess, with a bit of minotaur gene on its mother’s side, presumably-- crashed through the doors with a terrifying roar. I remember everyone immediately opening fire at the monstrosity, which either started wreaking havoc or fixed its sights on me, can’t tell, because I’d dropped my rifle and quickly scooped up the one which Daniel was carrying with both hands. It looked like a sort of tranquilizer bazooka, and it had a dial that had a database of all the monsters in the labyrinth. I flicked the dial at random and shot the B----with it, accidentally turning it again in a panic and shot it again, with no effect whatsoever. Enraged, the B----- fixed its eyes on me and advanced, my teammates’ bullets deflecting off him like rain. Without looking back, I ran through the corridors and up the stairs, the B---- hot on my heels.

As I was fleeing, I turned the dial frantically, looking for the right dart to neutralize my impending doom. It didn’t help that I hadn’t caught Dan’s full words, which meant I had to manually scroll through the database to find a monster whose name started with a “B”. I skidded to a halt at a T-junction, then took the right passage, away from headquarters and the refugees. I heard the B----- barreling through behind me, making a huge din as it went, the fear which constricted my chest making my legs pound faster, to get as far away as possible.

One good thing --well, the only good thing--- about this was that , instead of chugging along sluggishly, my dream legs were working properly for once, and I was streaking along, past the storerooms, a left turn down a deserted corridor, and out into a huge hall. I ran pell-mell down the breadth of it, all the while hastily flipping through the entries, hoping against hope that I’d find my salvation in one of them. It didn’t help that none of the them were alphabetically ordered, but seemed to be divided into three categories: Satiate, Leviathan and Badass. I had a vague recollection of a big, fat stationary glob with tentacles that ensnared unwary passers-by, and I remember it had an insatiable appetite, hence the name; Leviathan by definition was out of the question, so I focused on the last category., scanning the list in a terrified frenzy.

Behind me, the B----- bellowed in rage, and as I glanced back (a very very bad idea) , it came into view, a gazillion pounds of incensed demon and steaming muscle. As it came into the hall, the B---- stood up properly for the first time, filling up the open space , and I realized coming here was the worst, and probably the last decision I would make. Because inside the corridors, its movement was restricted by the enclosed space; now with nothing in its way, it threw back its haunches and started to charge. Things got worse: Now half-blinded by panic I scrolled through the database, skimming through the entries before I realized I’d been looking at the descriptions not the monsters’ names, while under me the ground shook as the B---- gained on me each second.

Finally, in a split-stroke of luck, I found it: The Brumak. Like a tank, twenty tons of mindless killing machine, etc etc, didn’t recall the details as I skipped to the bottom, where the method of killing it would be written down, and at last my nerve failed me. For, just as the Brumak caught up with me, its arm swinging up and back to deal me the finishing blow, I stared uncomprehendingly at the words on the screen, which read:

“Requires at least three people to take down. Do not attempt to defeat it alone.”

My eyes closed as the guillotine struck.

The inside of a huge metal durian.

2009-05-03T17:13:00.004+08:00

Reminders.

2009-04-28T13:31:00.001+08:00

Sleeping too much actually makes you groggier than if you slept too little.
Humans aren't equal, they're just different.
I need to start reading again.
Robots and angels are a reflection of our human psyche.
Tone down the pretentious-ness. Thanks Wong.
Maturity is a change in perspective.
So is true learning.
I need to find my bodyguard partner.
Start playing badminton again.
There must be something in life that isn't all about balance. Find it.
Talk to my mom.
~~Don't think too much.~~ No, I like thinking. It gives me something to do when I'm bored.
Stop being so bored.
Avoid repeating myself.
Avoid repea....crud.
Upload Elyssa's pics.
Find the solution to unsatisfied expectations.
Think of a suitable catchphrase to round off my posts.
End on a prime number.

Observations

2009-04-24T18:21:00.001+08:00

My first week in college has been an informative if boring one. Syllabus woes aside, it's fun to people-watch, something I've been wanting to try out for some time but never got down to doing.

So far, I've noticed three archetypes of college kids:

i) the joker
ii) the reserved cool dude
iii) the nerd

Unfortunately for me, type iii) students typically abound in my class. Which means each day I have to deal with creepy midgets and droning zombies--The latter being led inexorably by our impeccable physics teacher, Mr. Kar. Some days, you can hear pins drop - and the floor is carpet.

Since then, the only source of levity has come from the two indian dudes at the back, ALE March 09's comic duo equivalent. They're funny, but alas, most of the humor is wasted on the grindstone-scraping chinese. Apparently the concept is as foreign to them as tipping.

Dad's back from his foray into ~~ahma territory~~ the supermarket, and as usual he's bought half the store. Assistance is being insistantly necessitated..... and thus I bid thee adieu~

Sophomore slump

2009-04-21T11:15:00.000+08:00

And here's day two.

For a change, I'm blogging about something that's going to happen--albeit two hours from now, but still--classes have stopped abruptly for a full day of nothing at all. Thus, we're all jaunting off to Jusco Tebrau for Cepat dan Ganas in a few hours. In the meantime, waiting for the bio peeps to finish so I'm stoning in front of the pc (my second home), getting annoyed at blogger and the world in general.

Oh, life's good.

Classes have ended--later.

Breaking my vow of silence

2009-04-18T00:45:00.000+08:00

*not that there was one to begin with...
T is with a measure of trepidation that I, Gabsicle Gatsby Monocle Sophocles Svarovsky The Nth, shall revive this long-forsaken blog at this godforsaken hour for the yet unforsaken edification of the masses.

In the undertaking of this new endeavor, I exhort to fully avail myself of the not-that-vast* vocabulary under my command, thus exhaustively conbombulating my train of thought and most likely alienating whoever’s left of my fanbase.

Still with me? No? Turn towards the nearest wall and walk towards it like it isn't there. Then come back and make me a sandwich.

A number of you (....most likely 2) are wondering why I'm been keeping mum for so long. The reason is simple: I don't blog while depressed. Why? Because you probably have had enough lemons handed to you without coming here to eat some of mine. So if I am to blog some pointless crap here, might as well blog happy pointless crap. Right?

So anyway, (still hanging around? I'm impressed. No, really. I'm not. You're either here because 1. you're stalking me 2. you're bored out of your mind. Either way, don't leave a comment.) this is the official re-starting up of my for-all-intents-and-purposes-lame excuse for a blog. Here's to future happy months of lame asides, pseudo-intellectual babble, amateur pics, horrendous use of punctuation, and of course, more irrepressible verbosity.

Oh yeah. Hands up those of you who want to know where I've been.

....

Thought as much.

*poof*

-

2009-02-26T22:39:00.000+08:00

The last day of work was……restful. Today the Divine Sprinkler of Irony must’ve broke and been sent for repairs since no predictably unfortunate twist of fate happened my way. =)

No huge crowds no fire no someone getting decapitated, which usually happens on days like this, (because in almost any instance in my sorry life you’ll find something most unfortunate happening to me at a most unfortunate time in the most unfortunate of circumstances-yeah, revel in the self-pity). Instead I got to laze around, talk shop with Johari, drink excess Ice-Blended Chocolate with excess chocolate sauce, sketch a bit, reflect on life in general.

Very fuzzy.

It was one of those contented rainy days—all you wanna do is curl up on the couch with a good and a steaming mug of cocoa at your side…. Once or twice you’d take a break, watching the rain trickle down the windowpane listening to 93.3’s crooners, or sit back on the sofa drinking in the melancholy of a Hayao Miyazaki movie.

Motley crue.

2009-02-26T22:35:00.000+08:00

Around four Danny dropped by with his more-twin-than-cuzzie cuzzie and finally, after 5 days of squinting at menus and blob-things I assumed were people ---finally, I got my glasses back. Idiot Danny. Thanks a lot for the favor when I could’ve just gone to Perling Mall to collect them myself which would’ve took like ten minutes, but nooo you had to have a great idea like all your other great ideas and have KX who was working at Eyesmate pass it to me through you but you were busy for the next five days since Monday (which is when I got them repaired) and whut the freud I was blind for the whole week, thanks a lot Danny.

==.==;;;;

2009-02-26T22:30:00.000+08:00

That night a horror flick by the Pang brothers' assistant director was on (called, terrifyingly enough, “SCARE YOU TO DIE” ) and everyone, even the stragglers in aisle 3, were engrossed in it, so powerful was the soundtrack.

Dina was doing the typical teenage girl thing—covering her face with both hands but still peeking out through her fingers, gasping theatrically and shutting her eyes whenever anything vaguely disturbing came onscreen (or when the musc approached a crescendo). Thomas treated us all to french fries and onion rings, everyone crowded round table B2 together, Mira dimmed the lights, and a makeshift cinematic experience was born right there in that little café.

*cue strings*
*from Psycho*

The movie was fun, more entertaining than scary really. It was 11 when I finally knocked off, the show sans commecials lasting about 2 hours. At any rate we all did something somewhat fun for a change. No overtime tough, worst luck.

2009-02-26T22:16:00.000+08:00

Dina asked me to draw her something to remember me by. A memento of our times together, being harried by customers, getting in each other’s way, taking turns to slurp excess blender juice (as disgusting as that sounds) and generally evoking a feeling of---what's the word--- esprit de corps?

So anywho here it is:

Spent the most time getting her pose and dimensions right, but even now it still looks weird. ~~Is it the butt cheeks?~~

Not pro at all. =(

2009-02-26T22:12:00.000+08:00

In other pics, say hello to my little friend:

Who knows how long he (she?) has been up there, weathering strong winds and bitter rain to spin patient doom for flies. Noticed him (her? it?) a few days ago in the copse of trees just outside the café but only after bringing along my telephoto lens could I catch him(dia la) in such detail. No point clicking to enlarge, fyi.

Father Gabriel

2009-02-26T11:25:00.000+08:00

E. called up at an unearthly hour. Turns out he'd tumbled from his cloud into the waves below; 'twas all I could do to pull him out of the murky depths, albeit into the same solitary boat as I.

Enough amateur allegory for today. Been keeping mum about a lot of things lately---Not least the secrets people keep unceremoniously dumping on me. Do I really look like the priest at the other end of a confession booth? Give me some respite, you cretins! Guh.

I call it "Gossamer Melancholy". Not the most poetic of titles, I know. In fact it kinda reminds me of the (insert acronym here) scan they use to look at 4-month-old foetuses, 'cept this one's in glorious technisepia. Sorry for the blurrity; I don't have tripod la. ==

Objection!

2009-02-12T10:19:00.000+08:00

The ipod is screwing up my sense of hearing.

Not in the usual sense of having my ears blasted off to Mars by lack of discretion in the volume control dept.

They're messing up my sense of pitch. It seems the louder the volume gets, the higher the pitch, and as such, the converse is also true. Playing songs at bakground noise level, I found, drops the pitch by a semi-semitone or two. Oh c'mon, that ain't so bad. Sure it's not, if it didn't also screw up my vocals and guitar tuning.

Now everything I warble is flat. >_<

Holding on to patience wearing thin..

Yesterday's rain brought a shower of fresh challenges, bungled mistakes (how does one foul up a foul up anyway?) and barbed reunions.

Daniel and the gang crashed by asking for some debate help. I told them Arena but no one could find it on Youtube; I told them Phoenix Wright but they hadn't even heard of a Feenicks, let alone played the game. So they were sent away empty-handed, but not before we made full use of the premises to lepak in high style (which in this case is as low style as possible).

Ahh, if only Kristel were here.

The a in gabs right now stands for apathetic.

2009-02-09T09:14:00.000+08:00

Headbanging to Champagne Supernova while experiencing an anaemia-inducing nosebleed = #34 on the list of weird, inadvisable, or downright idiotic things to do without thinking about it beforehand. No gory details but suffice to say the moon was painted a crimson red that night.

I dreamt I had a crick in the neck. Then I woke up to find the dream had come true. In the most excrutiating way possible. I think I need one of those neck braces you see car crash survivors sporting. It's that bad. >_<

Guh. Blue funk rules my state of mind as of this moment in anarchy... You know you've sunk to a new low when you start listening to Paranoid Android on Youtube. And you're liking it. =_=;

A smell in the form of light. I wonder if in another dimension people see smell and hear taste?

Paradise Lost looks to be a cracking good read.

Stinging repartee

2009-02-08T20:27:00.000+08:00

Subhash - come again? o_O
://Mina - Do ita shimashite~ ^^
Eric - same one i used for the pic everyone's trying to guess =P
Jo - the camera adds 10 kilos, gadget girl.
RM800 holder - hakuna matata =)
Eric - brilliant deduction, captain obvious.
.//Mina - wrong, and wrong again. xD
Wen - *devours brains*
char - really? lol
siang - comment replied.
Subhash - try again. =P
ev - why don't you do SPM twice then?

Chestbursters!

2009-02-08T19:40:00.000+08:00

"There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So.we.act.as.though.they.don't.exist!"

-The Wizard of Oz, Wicked OST

Lol.

I've come to the dubious conclusion the all evil is selfish desire, and all good that is not tainted by said selfish desire is just social glue anyway.

(I can't find a more cohesive statement than this. Sorry. I'm not a word maestro, despite assertions to the contrary)

Won't elaborate. Think it out yourself.

I've been trying to find an instance of kindness/compassion/altruism/ that doesn't fit into this description myself. Ditto with evil.

I'm still searching.

Random fact of the day:

#6 I do accents quite annoyingly. Brit, Russian, Chinapek, Jamaican, Aussie---you name it, I emulate it. Some accents are trickier though, like Irish, which always melts to Indian in my mouth. =S

Yawn

2009-02-06T09:43:00.000+08:00

Amazing what a full night's worth of sleep can do for you. ^-^

And it took me 18 years to figure this out, no thanks to 11 of them being forcefully evicted out of bed at the crack of dawn, packed off to the torture cells (yes, they are) while the rest of the civilized world was still sleeping.

Which incidentally gives me the random fact for today:

#5 Pull off my shoes and you'll notice that on any given outing I'll be wearing two different coloured socks.

Call it laziness or a maverick's propensity for weirdness, but I usually have no time before going out to be picky choosing socks at the sock box, which in any case bears more similarity to a jumble sale at soxworld (if soxworld ever holds jumble sales) than couples stuffed in one of those capsule hotels in Nippon desu ne.

Woohoo, another witch out of the wardrobe. Now it's time for some Ueki.

Till lunar eclipses play hide and seek with earwigs~

EDIT

I was gonna leave this post as it was but after 15 minutes of staring at the screen it looks really naked without a pic so--

Enjoy. You'll never guess what this is.

How random is the probability of getting a random chance?

2009-02-04T12:15:00.000+08:00

Pulled another all-nighter last night. Typically ironic that all the randomly interesting thoughts come to you when you're doing chores or in the shower or trying to sleep but sitting in front of the pc castrating your butt comes up with zilch.

So yeah, while my body was craving sleep, my brain kept me up all night. Again.

Since I'm up I might as well get some tags done. Actually it's just same the one tagged by different people, namely Stef and Grace. Two tags in a week. How's that for bad karma?

@_@

Directions: Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog or a note on
Facebook with sixteen random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the
end choose ten people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment (”you’re it”) and to read your blog. You
can’t tag the person who tagged you. Since you can’t tag me, let me know when
you’ve posted your blog/note, so I can see your weirdness.

Sixteen. Hell if I'm gonna do that twice.
IN fact I'm so lazy I'm only gonna put them up at a time, starting with this one:

#11. I always sneeze twice in a row.

Everyone seems too lazy to do this part:

+Minna (free ticket out of writer's block)

+Eric (you'll only ever be reading mags at home anyway)

+Charmaine (spread the love!)

+Esther Lian (I know you're too busy to do this but I just love to annoy =P)

+Esther Lim

+Julia

+Subhash

+The Iconoclast

Four peeps I know and four I don't. Not bad for a balancing act.

1.45pm now, time for bed.

Goodnight world!

Of Oranges And Mahjong Tiles.

2009-02-04T00:43:00.001+08:00

Probably the best part was when they broke out the peepers in volatile springs, which hardly made for good pollen riders.

Or when Spongebob burst out of the freezer singing the national anthem.

Hold on, that was me.

Yesh, I wash sloshed. Three glasses of Absolut downed with 100+ of all things. Bit of lime smoothed the tipple though stauchly refused to believe I was drunk till the telltale lack of coordination on my stumble to bed. Oh wow, I'm dru-- (!)

Later in the afternoon, the picturesque chinese mountain on my head and an amused Ash told me I had crashed spectacularly into the banister. Woot me. Spent the rest of the day nursing two headaches instead of one, bugger.

So that was Thursday night: Talking into the wee hours with Ashley the cuzzie from Ozzie, starting off with existentialism and gradually degenerating into beach huts and cheesecake. Oh the profundity.

The rest was as usual for every CNY since my conception (okay lah, since I was old enough for Power Rangers) :

Mom's side, the ~~divine~~ visitation to.

Lion Dance at the Lokes'. Shooting from outside crushed against curious onlookers made it really dark therein the exceeded exposure. Yahh, still very the camnoob. If you squint you can pretend it's not that bright. =/

Majority of the day spent playing Poker and drawing on each other's faces. With eyeliner no less.

Pics all in Ash's SLR but Becky was magnificent in moustache (and matching goatee!) Nicky got off easiest 'cos he's so good at cards. I on the other hand was everyone's graffiti wall. X/

Gramma's house was crowded as usual. Assorted footwear doffed all the way up to the porch. And that was only half of my dad's side. With odds like that you'd imagine a bountiful harvest (read:angpow moola) numbering in the thousands at least. Think again. It did use to, but that was 10 years ago...my annual windfall is now 10 times as small. Wtf? And just when I was starting to appreciate the extra cash too. (read: splurge to Oblivion)

It's one of those paradoxical things in life when you're red as a lobster from three mugs of Baileys and both thoughts and speech are impaired and its the first time you've ever played mahjong and you win 5 times in a row.

I have the most epic beginners' luck. Except when it comes to Poker. >_<

Introducing the cherubic little wonder, Christine! 4 years young & loves tickling people to bits. (though honestly she could do that just with her smile =x)

Isn't she just so perfectly adorable? =3

[ I told myself I wouldn't put up so many pics but the weak-willed me prevailed. (Ironic, much?) ]

One last one, just because. =3 =3 =3

It seems the older we get, the greater appreciation we have for young 'uns. It was a bit embarrassing and kinda funny to read people's blogs gushing over pics of their baby cousins/sisters/nieces...until I found it irresistable myself. ~~But seriously, isn't she the cutest?~~

In other news, we (insert bro here) went out with JW and her bros for drinks and a movie on Mon. And you could've told me it was so damn crowded! In the end didn't watch anything for bad schedule times so we just strolled around Kinta City and slurped IB mochas. Not as boring as you might think ;)

Later on went for the customary old auntie discussion at her house at 10; too bad had to break off at 1 'cos everyone else was turning in. *audible sigh* Usually we go 5-6 hours at a stretch and pleasantly surprise ourselves; along that lane of houses Time has a record of zooming, nay, hurtling past us with nary a murmur.

Next year will probably be the last we meet, unless fortune favors the bookish; I wonder if I could keep Hawkings, just for old time's sake. =P

Tataimaa~

2009-02-02T01:11:00.000+08:00

Ahhhhh. After a week of internet-deprived torture, I’m back. I’M BACK.

Oh my unyieldingly hard, butt-lacerating stool. How I have missed you.

Now comes the typically gargantuan task of jotting down the previous week’s events---A laborious undertaking at best. The homely feeling is abruptly cut short as the prospect of many nights’ sleepless toil looms.

But wait.

Isn’t the purpose of a blog supposed to bring pleasure to its author? Shouldn’t blogs be just another hobby to while away the time? Where did I go so far astray?

Oh yeah, that’s right. I started reading other people’s blogs. And being the impressionable creature I am, the notion of a cool, flashy and much trafficked blog really appealed to me.

Stupid, really.

Shouldn’t a blog reflect the thoughts of its author? Though it’s said there’s nothing original in the world anymore, the least we can do is to be original to ourselves.

I tried that in a bid to maximize original thought. But isolating yourself from external influences is like a bullet in the foot. How does one get anywhere without a reference point to anchor to?

Here I come up against an ethical see-saw.

In the vein of the “aggression or assertiveness?” balancing act, one must be open-minded and well-read for the stimulation of feedback thought. Conversely, by reading or absorbing so much from so many disparate minds one may be influenced into writing, even thinking like your source material. Doubly hard to resist when you agree, incidentally, with what their sentiments.

This prompts in me a knee-jerk reaction that rejects such impressionist tendencies. No one likes to sound like they’re just parroting their peers. Only problem is, it restricts subject topic and creative flair to limited instances of brilliance—Trapped in a prison of a self-imposed exile.

I fear I will be pushed up against this particular quandary many times more in years to come.

Perhaps the solution would be to take what I must from all these chaotic and conflicting voices and fashion for myself a new voice. Maybe looking at something in a different light, or offering an opinion contrary to the sea of consenting voices, just to get that oft-clichéd “fresh new perspective”.

It’s worth a shot.

*Crud. This was supposed to be my homecoming post. Bah, another ramble gone off-topic.

**Ironic that I consider this a homecoming when I’ve just gotten back from the actual homecoming that was iPoh.

***Not that either is really home in the ultimate sense.

Parley Vous Fracas?

2009-01-23T18:30:00.000+08:00

I just realised that my erroneous train of thought has arrived at exactly the same station, 3 years ago.

=/

The Gabsicle needs a fresh perspective yo~

Upd8.

2009-01-23T09:51:00.000+08:00

I leave for iPoh tomorrow and I can't frickin' wait. =)))

This past week has been hectic, stressful, tiring, chaotic, theoretic, diuretic, lunatic and so many others...Bedbugs aside, it's also been consuming, deluding, presuming and yet conversely fulfilling.

Do you find woman voice actors playing boy roles a tad annoying?

I do.

Annoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoying!

So irritating. And of all of the cheap-labour armored suits, Jimmy Neutron has to be the worst. Have you heard the screams? Like distressed yogurt in glazed formaldehyde crepes.

Don't ask.

Argh. This comp's screen is too big for my blog BG. Now there's an extra black bar where more stars are supposed to be. And the header's escaped from its moorings. Meh. It looked fine on the other one.

Looks like another revamp is inevitable...sigh.

2009-01-23T09:47:00.000+08:00

Question:
What do The Joker, a surfer dude and a coconut have in common?

Answer:
They all like to watch life go by, content to bum around and watch the world turn.
Oh wait, Heath Ledger’s Joker likes to watch the world burn, but hey, same difference right?

There is the Hippie theory---Why go through such mental hemorrhage, always trying to figure out the universe, when all you have to show for it are two bumps on opposite sides of your head where religion and science lie, respectively?

Why not just sit back, laugh and enjoy the fireworks?

To be quite honest, that thought really appeals to me. Not attempting bliss through ignorance---More like, fully appreciating everything that Life has to offer. To stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

Love. Laugh. Live. and Wonder.

For maybe our existence is to marvel at the things God has created.

(Scientists on the other hand, take marveling to the extreme and try to disassemble every single anomaly on Earth, and then some.)

Where does the atheist figure in all of this though?

If we’re the ultimate evolution of the universe, why do we derive pleasure, perhaps even feel moved by beautiful things? And I don’t mean beautiful as in Jessica Alba‘s assets, please. There’s a very simple explanation for that. =/

But don’t tell me you’ve never felt even a shrag of awe when you saw the aurora, or the vibrant hues of a wild flower, or the desolate beauty of an arid desert, or the plethora of variety in a bed of coral, or the infinite depth of a starry night sky?

I believe that it is part of the soul to be awed. To have something beautiful, something marvelous strike a chord in your heart. Even for the non-theists.

If you don’t, you probably lack a soul.

2009-01-20T08:36:00.000+08:00

***
*******
Stars............
In their multitude
Scarce to be counted.....................................
Filling the darkness...............................
With order and light.................
You are the sentinels......
Silent and sure...................
Keeping watch in the night....,
Keeping watch in the night...........

~Javier, Les Miserables

Shadows and regrets

2009-01-19T14:23:00.000+08:00

There are certain things that go on in my life, that I do not post on this blog for personal reasons. Things like he said she said, trivial disagreements, bouts of depression and frustrations. Things which may seem of little worth to the casual passer-by, but to me they are a sordid reminder of my failings as a human, and subsequently my failings as a Christian.

I'm ashamed to say that I have been ashamed of God before. Even now, the part of me that functions on cold logic denies my utter surrender to Him, because I'm in the middle of a debate within myself and I'm afraid taking sides would result in an unfair verdict.

I regularly have to take my God-centric mindset out and put in one which imagines a world without God, scary as that thought is. But who knows if my faith is nothing substantial in the first place? What if it's just an outward expression of a deeper, unexplained yearning inside? I pondered this question in Church this Sunday.

Am I just using God as my security blanket, so that my fears will be assuaged? Is He just an emotional fix, so that I can live out the majority of my life worry-less and care-less?

I came to the conclusion that I had to see how my relationship with Him reflects my relationship with people. And if that's the case, no wonder I've got Him all wrong.

Now let me digress for a bit.

This Sunday was a happy culmination of circumstance. Met up with the unlikeliest of people in church, namely Eric (the wolfman), Yao Zhong, Adeline , Ryan and Nick. The Boeys came with their parents; Yao Zhong led here by May, and Eric himself dropped by after his undang test was over. Lucky or what?

Later me and Eric said goodbye to Adeline and adjourned for lunch with May and YZ, and after that we split up, YZ and May to Singapore, Eric and me to go window shopping at Jusco.

* * * * * *

When I was young(er), I used to get so tied up over why a certain person would deliberately dislike me for no apparent reason. As far as I knew, my conscience was clear; I did not do anything to merit such animosity to myself. It was only a few painful months later that I learnt a hard lesson; that people would be enemies just because of their differences.

However, there is another kind of enmity, and that is when one has wronged the other party to such an extent that the incident will always be scarred in their memories, regardless of whether the deed is forgiven.

And that is much, much worse.

It's all too obvious, from your body language, that the memory of my stupidity still lurks under the surface. For once, I'm listening to what a girl is NOT saying, and I hear as loud as a bell that you've given up on us ever having a chance together. I've made my mistake. I've paid the price. No doubt you would be better off with him; after all, he seems to really care for you, and I honestly hope he is less self-centric than I am. I wish you two all the best.

I have resumed my periodic trawling of new clothes for Chinese Niu Year...finally got to try on a pair of skinnies and a matching converse, but after much strained negotiation with the mirror decided that skinnies weren't really my thing after all.

Isn't that just predictably ironic? =_=

Later we went down to chow at Toastbox while waiting for the wolfman's mum.
Met someone new there by the name of Tiffany, and turns out she knew me way before we even met, back at Seri Perling. Apparently my english accent is somewhat of a curio back there.
So anyway we fell to talking, the three of us, but kesian the wolfman was also a banana so half the time he couldn't understand what we were saying. Too bad for him. Hehe.

From this incident, its amazing how small our world really is. And I don't mean small in the usual sense. When people hear 'small world' they think

"Huh, everyone's interconnected, we've got planes and boats and cars, there's nothing unknown in this world anymore."

If you think about it though, not really. It's more like our world is very self-contained, meaning that its more like a series of circles of friends that radiate out from you, geopolitically speaking, until everyone really is interconnected.

Unless that's what everyone thought it meant all along. Which just goes to show I've been a self-deluded fool.

I wonder if that's true for my amateur philosophizing as well?

The heck with it.

2009-01-19T13:40:00.001+08:00

I've decided to skip the in-depth section on morals and carry on to where I left off.

So here's the next part:

I think it all boils down to one question:

Can one really create Something out of Nothing (without God)?

Haha, I'm starting with the conclusion and backtracking now. Sorry ya, bear with it.

So anyway, what do I mean by that?

I think the ultimate question to answer is just that:

If it's Yes, you can create something out of nothing withput God, science wins. If No, religion wins.

Simple as that. But, I know some are clamouring, it's so obvious you can't create something out of nothing! What are you, some kind of psychobabble-spouting quack?

Actually, it's not obvious at all. Read on to find out.

So, how do I explain this? First of all, when I stated that question I'm not just talking about the really obvious example , the Beginning of Creation/The Big Bang. There are other instances of a something being fashioned out of nothing including the existence of a conscience, human creativity, evolution(but of course) , intelligence, the list goes on.

If you think about it, intelligence could be a by-product of a system that continually makes random variations in order to chance upon some genetic mutation that'll enable the organism thrive better in its surroundings. In this case, because nature has been favourable to smarter monkeys, our forefathers' brains have evolved to such an extent that we begin to be self-aware.

Imagine some billion years ago in Africa, a chimp(we'll call him Bob) is born to his proud parents (can animals be proud?). He grows up, learns to climb trees 'cos it's in his instinct, and eats nuts and berries. One hot and dry day though, Bob looks at the sky and wonders where do the puffy white things which give rain come from? He goes through a series of similar questions based on the external stimuli around him, then finally he turns his focus inward and asks:

Who am I?

Or maybe more importantly,

WHAT am I?

This is the point which I'd like to call the Point Of Self-Realization. I dunno what philosophers call it, or if I'm dead wrong about where it is, or if it even exists.

All I know is that it all goes spiralling downward from there.

So back to the point:

Morals follow the same principle: Imagine a school of fish. Just swimming around, minding their own business, but moving as a whole. Why do they do that? To make predators think it's one massive fish. And that's the primieval instinct behind the need for social interaction: United we stand, divided we fall. Why do you think we have herds and prides and flocks?

Humans, of course, are one of the most social animals on the planet. Also one of the most socially complicated. There are rules and regulations over who presides over what and why this is so, caste systems, various '-archy's and '-cracy's. Culture plays a role in this too. And then there are the unspoken rules; the ones everyone knows and no one needs to clarify. These are what we call moral values.

Why the need for all this stuff?

Like I said earlier, people don't need morals (rather, they eschew them) when they're on a personal quest for success. And as everyone knows successful people are the most well-primed for survival.

That's where the something from nothing view comes in:

Can evolution, in its bid for genetic diversity, come up with something so intangible and so convoluted as a conscience?

If that's true, then for all intents and purposes, Nature has evolved us a soul.

Pissed.

2009-01-19T12:42:00.000+08:00

Too pissed to blog. =(

So I went bloghopping instead. And a lot of things gave me food for thought. Like how everyone's talking about 2012. Surely something is gonna happen by then. Comic strips are joking about it, people are scoffing at it. Even a pastor had a vision about it.

Wtf la..

And another thing is how I discovered some people are really worse off than I am. And these are people I actually know ~~and care about. (I thought about this for a moment. Actually, I don't really care. And it unsettles me that I could be so apathetic. Where did my empathy go? =S)~~

For the guy who has an alcoholic for a dad, and the girl who lost hers, and the boy who never even knew his---and now, for the girl whose parents are threatening to divorce and whose family is so much more dysfunctional than my own:

I'm sorry

.
I promise to be a better person--- a pillar of strength, a wise well of advice, a champion of the the oppressed.

Most of all, a Someone who Cares.

"Where does my spirit linger?
Whence has it gone astray?

Oh, my soul.
Where art thou?"

Help me God.

A Journal Post

2009-01-17T00:14:00.000+08:00

Last night was sheer hell. No matter how much I swept, wiped, sneezed, blew, the one element most vexating about my room remained an exasperating constant:

DUST.

It seems silly to think about stuff going bump in the night and dogs barking at something unseen... when there was a very real and definitely irritating demon residing in my nose.
Rawr.

Blast you, Congested Sinuses! =x(

The bane of my existence.

Another pointless Q & A session with myself.

2009-01-15T20:58:00.000+08:00

[EDIT. Ok, maybe a foreword. Man is by definition curious. He needs to know stuff. Specifically, he needs to know his ultimate purpose. Thus, in the same way, he seeks truth.]

So,

Why do we seek truth?

Because we're insecure.

Why are we insecure?

Because of our ephemeral existence. That's why we look for the eternal amongst the finite.

But why do we even strive to survive? Because of evolution? But why evolve? To survive.

If we trace this question in all of its forms back to an original question, that question might be:

From whence did Life come from, that it feels compelled to sustain itself?

If you wanna look at Life as merely a more complicated method of transferring energy, then we are the ultimate evolution of the universe.

What do I mean by this? I'm suggesting that perhaps we're just a natural extension of chemical reactions brought upon by the random displacement of particles and atoms on Earth, plus a catalyst (such as lightning) thrown into the mix at the right moment to bring forth....Life.

Okay.

Imagine a primordial soup of volatile chemicals mixing and roiling together in an almighty swoosh of complex molecules. Perhaps somehow, somewhere, an accidental reaction occurs, and the resulting molecule(the first bacterium) by chance is able to convert the surrounding molecules of chemicals into energy. Not only that, it also has to retain some kind of method to replicate itself, so that more of its kind will appear and it won't just die out.

But therein lies the question:

Why does it need to replicate?

Oh sorry, what was that? The information for replication happened by chance? Oh, so does that mean that the reason for replication serves no purpose at all? That everything happened by chance? Oh, okay.

So, if you believe that randomisation in the universe can come up with this sort of complexity, then ultimately there is no purpose for us to continue living. We're just one big accident, after all.

But wait a minute. If that is the case, why do we ~~crave~~ look for a purpose? Why do we think? Why do need to wonder about these things? Where does this need come from?

On a related note: Why do we have morals and ethics, if ~~all we need to do~~ is to survive?

Do they serve our own selfish needs? Hardly; it goes against the "survival of the fittest" diatribe which plagues so much of our world, especially the corporate one. We're effectively rebelling against the laws of nature.

In order to answer this question, we need to first understand and define the meaning of morals and ethics. Once we've done that, then only we can apply this reasoning to the origins to the need to have a purpose, and THEN we can actually discover exactly WHAT this purpose IS.

I hope you were able to follow me on that last part, 'cos I had a problem working that entire process out. Yes, my brain capacity is limited kthx. =_=

And I think I've reached the end of my tether in this post.

So next up: What exactly is in a moral?

Gabs out.

What are they waiting for?!

2009-01-15T20:05:00.000+08:00

Went out to Jusco and watched a horror movie with KX and the gang.

(Now was that so hard to type down? You're so preoccupied with making a post look 'edgy' and 'creative' that you get caught up in your own self-styled mania.)

NO pics here, since I didn't expect a full-blown outing. I just went to look at some pants, man.

At first I was dead set against watching anything vaguely horror-based, ever since I was thrown head-first into the deep end when I was 6 years old.
(>>GREAT-UNCLE STORY ALERT<<)
My babysitter's daughter had me stay over at their place....And in typical teenager fashion, she had a fascination with blood and gore.

Yeah, you know what that means.

Teenagers+late night sleepover+impressionable little kid=Horror Movie.

At the time, being the brave (read:stupid) child I was, I chose to watch both instead of just choosing one like what she suggested -- stupid, stupid, stupid. I remember the titles, but I know one was a live-action 'fest featuring a devil-incarnate guy with needles all over his face like some acupuncturist's wet dream, terrorizing the populace with an equally terrifying entourage and a Rubik's cube. The other was some period anime which in those days had quite a propensity for gore.

Thus, these two horror flicks gauged in me an indelible fear of all things horror.

After that debacle, even The Nightmare Before Christmas was scary. >_<

[/end great-uncle story]

So can you fault me then, for being just a wee bit apprehensive of going into the cold, dark cinema and sitting there with my legs curled up in front of me, just to get scared witless -- and PAY for it too? =.=

At first I was dead set on not going but in the end KX talked me over. Stupid peer pressure.

Oh well, they say you gotta face your fears sooner or later...Though I was rather hoping for the latter.

Two hours later, we stumbled out of the theatre and went window shopping. Oh, the movie? Cliched to the last drop of blood. I could list out on one hand the usual stuff:

Cute, innocent little boy, check.
Harried mother willing to go any lengths to save her son, check.
Relatives-in-law with skeletons(literally) in the closet, check.
Wise old guy who points the way, check.

Sigh.

Even the scares are cookie-cutter representations of the norm:

1.Man gets killed in the opening credits (like why does this always happen?Can they for once not have a flashback-to-an-earlier-period?)
2.The ghost standing on the sidewalk ~~looking~~ staring eerily up at the protagonist
3.An almost customary bathroom scene *rolleyes*
4.Waking dreams, rattling furniture, flesh-eating bones
5.Overworking of the soundtrack (why does every scare have to come with its own theme song?)

The list goes on, though there are some unintentionally funny scenes.... like the part where the ghost beckons the boy round a corner and the weird camera angles make it look like he goes walking in the other direction instead. So we were sniggering in the dark about how the ghost must be hanging around waiting impatiently for the boy to come and just floating there like an idiot XD.

Huh. So much for facing up to your fears =/

Well anyway despite all that, or because of it, I rather enjoyed the whole thing. Daniel still looked rather shaken by the ordeal (he also didn't feel like going but he caved in before I did ~~spineless~~)But ironically the one who was most scared was KX himself, basket.

Later on while looking for a poster of the movie to put up here I discovered that it came out in 2007 in america, like wtf this movie is so old. =_=

That night I went straight to bed and slept very soundly indeed. But the next night, just as I was drifting off to sleep...I overhaerd a few clanking sounds emanating from the floor below.

O_O

Night, all!

Afterthought

2009-01-15T14:23:00.000+08:00

Oh, and on saturday we went for the KLCC The Star Edufair. Arrived there half a day later than when we planned. That's the Gan family for you: Bringing typical M'sian timing to the extreme.

So here it is, the fair.Went for a talk first upstairs; though there were empty seats in front the (second time today) typical mentality was to clump together in groups. So there was a bunch of content with standing people crowding around at the back.

Well, whatever floats their boat.

Later we went down to the convention area which spanned a space like an airfraft hangar.... I guess, though I wouldn't presume to say I know much about aircraft hangars. (Deity, I'm rambling.)

So anyway yeah. Collected some brochures, picked up a few prospecti for 2009. Didn't see anyone I know there, since Shakti probably left on Saturday.

Oh yeah forgot to mention we arrived at 8pm so we checked into a hotel and left Aunty Kuan's golf bag for Bellamy in the concierge and I can't remember what we had for dinner like who cares anyway was thinking of meeting up with some people and I missed Esther's youth concert should've contacted her earlier crud but anyway I wasn't really dressed for going out (shorts an' all) so I guess it wasn't fated hmm I wonder how long I can keep up this stream-of-consciousness thing not long huh I guess I'll stop.

So we went for it on sunday.

Later had a poke around Sungei Wang; got a bit lost and ended up in a half-deserted poorly lit complex which only sold techy trinkets but that's ok 'cos I needed to use the gents anyway. It's a bit sad that almost everything there is girls' apparel, the cheapest stuff for guys was about 60+ and I wasn't particularly loaded at the time.

Which gets me wondering how come fashion is considered as a women thing, though I've seen enough narcissism in the guy's toilet mirror to opine otherwise.

Then I remember that it's a teenage boy phase, and most of us grow up to wear the usual suit and tie/shirt and jeans emsemble. And I infer that guys in general really aren't that into it. Function over style and all that. But where does that leave the metrosexuals?

. . .

Feel like expanding this somewhat but can't seem to muster an iota's worth of interest =.=

Teh Partayy! =D

2009-01-15T12:18:00.001+08:00

It was just as second mate postulated; the best really is for last. =)

Introducing

TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC

By far this was the most impressive entrance, with two blocks of institution curving in to make a giant ''C'', forming an almost natural square in the middle (or circle, in this case).

Ffirst of all, let me list out a bunch of reasons why I like this place:

It's spacious. Like Jusco, sans the air-conditioning.
It's got the most variety of design courses =) And the students' work is AWESOME.
It's got a lotta things going on (more on this later) and,
People here know how to LET DOWN THEIR HAIR, YEAH.

But why take my word for it? Let the pictures speak (mostly) for themselves :

Below is a snazzy performance by the Drama CCA of TP, emoting to a song from the noir musical Chicago;

Everyone is here hollering along to the live band's (totally rocking) rendition of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name"! Oh yeah.

A footnote: The colours correspond to which field they're in. (Blue for IT, Red for business admin, etc.)

When I addressed this man here I thought he was just a repairman or something....

Little did I realise I was actually talking to da big boss himself, a guy running the whole place with less presumption in his demeanour than the janitor!

Suffice to say I was nonplussed. And throughout the whole thing while I was struggling to make a witty comback he just stood there and looked at me to gauge my reaction wtf.

Lagi pressure wei!!

After an eternity all I could cough up was a feeble

"So . . . what's up?" >_<

Later on though, he graciously acquiesced to a photo, but only if I were in it as well.

~~Probably 'cos I make him look taller.~~ Ah yes, the quintessential cafeteria, complete with cuisine of neopolitan variety. And once again, I see 'Muslim' food. After getting my really cheap chicken chop (S$3 for a set!) I glanced over at the malay menu; they didn't even have hash for crying out loud.

I gotta say, TP is really big on cheers, chants, and all manner of youthful extroversion. Damn semangat wei~

Not Yet Premier

2009-01-15T09:31:00.000+08:00

But getting there, no worries. View from the entrace.

Bah, 5 minutes walk from the bus terminal. At least it's a covered walkway so the only ones with grounds for protest would be my feet.

At the end of the walkway we ascended on the escalator (the only one I've seen in any poly) to the scene before us. Yah, that's a mini-blimp over there. Powered by four really tiny engines, you know, the ones that drive cheap toy racers around their grey tracks and which absurdly was popular enough to spawn its own shounen anime....Huh.

Boring facet of architecture #3: Seems every poly has to have its own glass case for their flights of stairs. Saw this before in SP and NP, but I thought it was just a design quirk to modernify the place. Must be the same contractor. No doubt Batam will have the same staircases.

Chanced across the Japanese Culture Society whilst taking a stroll. Apparently it's so big they have 3 subdivisions:
The kimono and ~~sake-swilling~~ tea preparation club (forogt the real name)

The origami enthusiasts' club

And the anime & manga appreciation club. The girl on the left is wearing something in the Harajuku District style, I believe.

The whole place is invariably grey...Not quite the stimulating environs for creativity, but at least the greens break up the monotony.
There was a whole row of these along some of the corridors. Rates are cheap too, going at around S$3 a month. Why can't all schools have this? I accredit my slouch to you, primary 1-6, you who made us lug 5kg of textbooks up 4 flights of stairs, every single frickin' day! >=O

Curiosity unsatiated, I made a tour of one of the blocks (apparently accessible only by lift, since nary a flight of stairs could I locate)
It just so happened I was in the Design Wing, so there were quite few pieces of art, most of which I won't put up since I'm lazy and a miser. But since I'm in a good mood, I'll concede two:

Visually striking, yet it probably only took a few choice snips of the scissors to create this. Inspiring.

Looks like anime still has fans well into their early 20s...W00t, D.Gray-Man! =D

And then there was the School of Engineering.

Lake of Fire vs. Plain of Ice: Who will survive? (Half-formed idea just waiting for fruition 5 years down the road, mental note)

Later they did some performances, and Jean Danker played DFTL with the adoring crowd.
NYP's stage was way more accessible than SP's, at any rate.

Went back up to the Japanese Society where this fair maiden was sitting demurely at a table =)

And back at the main hall, a very well-choreographed dance was to be had, with individual acts taking turns to strut their stuff, and later coming together in the finale for a smashing performance. Click to enlarge.

Finally, got this one done. Can't believe it took me all of two hours to do >_<

Last up: Temasek Polytechnic!

Noisy Percussionists

2009-01-13T14:19:00.000+08:00

Yeah so the next on the list: Ngee Ann Polytechnic. (Short form is NP not NAP, only Nan Yang has a 3-letter acronym)

As I alighted from the bus, what sprawled out before me was this:

If you squint, you may be able to make out the Poly's name on the building way at the back.

So yes, Ngee Ann. Also pretty big, from what I could make out, with booths displaying talent and course-exposure halls aplenty.

As I meandered in, a cacophony of percussion beats began to assail my ears. Upon further exploration they were found to be radiating from this.

They called themselves the Barracuda. Or some such Jamaica-originated bohemian name. From where I was taking this shot the drums were loud enough to beat a tattoo into my skull. I can only surmise after a preformance they all probably go deaf for a few days. (I doubt even earplugs could stop the onslaught of throbbing bass.)

Further on into amongst the buildings the surround sound melted into some soothing if rather monotonous acoustics. The source:

Or for the not-all-that-observant, the Song Composing booth. Quite the quirky CCA for a poly. Since 'ços most people are interested in the sing a few bars and get famous part, not the behind the scenes squeezing of creative juices and only a footnote in the platinum-selling album to show for it part. Go figure.

In other news, the cafeteria is post-modern as usual...Menu here is also reminiscient of the shopping complex, with the ubiquitous local dishes and some foreign fare. Here too, malay food is called Muslim Cuisine wtf.

Wow, there appears to be a trend emerging. NP seems to be really big on music, 'ços the next thing that caught my optic lens was this-

People here apparently don't mind photographers much, ços they happily let me in to their Radio Station, where they broadcast music live from in here to around the whole campus. You can request dedications and the like, just like a real station. =) The place probably often gets hijacked though,no doubt for spammage purposes.

What strikes me when I look back at the architecture is how very neo-japanese high school the buildings are. It's like they're really big on bright and contrasting colours on some so-straight-it's-linear cinderblocks. The only exception to this rule is the auditorium,

Greek in derivation and round as a mushroom.

Some other random pics:

Spotted this on one of their feedback boards. Guess I'm not the only thorn among the roses. =)

Yet another plus point of toting a huge official-looking cam around: People will automatically pose for you, thinking their pics will be splashed all over the school mag. Ha!

Sorry for the delay...you know you feel less like doing work when there's a whole mountain as opposed to a tiny molehill. Next up: Nanyang Poly!

Supremely Premier

2009-01-12T17:01:00.000+08:00

I mean, it's been around for, like, 30 years. Despite that however, the buildings don't look too antiquarian at first glance......and second glance....waitasec, and third glance as well! Amazing what a good paint job can do for you. (....then again, how else would celebs survive?)

SP is, of course, the oldest and most reputable polytechnic in Singapore. It's named after a whole frickin country after all.

So anyway, the place is pretty big, much larger than Kolej Tunku Jaafar, which was the first and only example of a campus I've been to till now. Not much of a yardstick, then. But to give you a bit of the scope of the place, they have FIVE cafeterias spread out around the poly. Imagine having 5 normal high schools in one dunno-how-many-acres landmass. Bigger than a small town, I shouldn't wonder.

Other than that, they had an exhibition thing to showcase the first-year thru to third-year students' body of work, including projects, designs and the like.

There was also a talk at noon which was advised us not to limit our choices to a select few courses as they may not let us thru, regardless of academic aptitude. An enlightening speech on cut-off points and polytechnics in general was also on the agenda.

There were other things going on as well, including a bunch of booths on the students activities in their respective CCAs, which is like a collective unit beruniform+society+club, or anything non-academic in general.

The cafeterias are pretty extensive, with choices ranging from Western to Chinese to Japanese, or mostly similar to what you'd find in your quintessential shopping mall. One non-sequitur however is the way they label Malay food as "Muslim", although the menu is composed mostly of local delishes like Nasi Lemak, which I doubt they serve in Afghanistan. Go figure.

Oh, and they had their own McD's too. Pretty nifty though I expect it's rather immolating on the wallet.

Adrian Pang and Fiona Xie made cameo appearances. Can't really see Fiona under that cap though. =(

I must say, he's pretty hip for a father of three.

The School of Design's First-Years finishing up on their projects. This was actually off-limits to the public, but I got in because everyone thought I was one of the staff, tasked with taking pics for the school mag or something. Yay for unbased assumptions~

On a side note, people here also have an evolved sense of style, I must say, with natty waistcoats and (designer?) loafers. Very western. Of Hongkee street clothes, them patchwork demons you see frequenting City Square & Sungei Wang, there are none. Obviously the trend lies elsewhere.

Well, that's it for SP. Next up: Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Foreword

2009-01-12T15:32:00.000+08:00

Because what I'm about to post is gonna be a gazillion times longer, a gazillion times bigger than what i've ever done so far.
So much so, that I'm gonna hafta split this into four parts.
(No, it's not the answer to Life, Love and the Universe. That's KIV for now.)
It is, however, the complete lowdown on all the polytechnic's open days in singapore, plus a KLCC convention thrown into the mix.
I can feel my finger joints popping already.
For those of you wondering why I didn't do this systematically, understand that every single poly decided to have their open days on the exact same dates (8-10th Jan '09).
And since each is a full freakin' day from 9-5, plus time spent in transit (0130 hours from Tampines to Boon Lay wtf) , jams and whatnot, you can expect to find me conked out on the sofa at 3 in the morning, having exhausted every single neuron, axon and dendrite in my body.
And now, 5pm in the afternoon, the same lethargy is threatening to overcome me....
Why is everything that I love doing feeling more and more like work and less and less like a pastime?
Guh.
Tonigakku, gambatte ore ga nakcha ...~

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

2009-01-07T19:34:00.000+08:00

Ços if you stare long enough, the resemblance to an Easter Island Moai Statue is UNCANNY. Wtflol.

Introducing the Great, the Magnifique, the Aweful-Inspiring

TEOH. EU. VIN.

("Ya lookin' at ME, punk?")

Told you I'd remember!

Easy peasy, wot.

Okay, so down to the nitty-gritty:

His name's Eu Vin, or EV for short.

Exceptionally bright, and shiny too, though the majority of his living quarters is where the sun don't. (Pull up some blinds already!)

Under lots of stress most times though he doesn't show it.

Very easy to poke, especially just after he wakes up =P

Intellectual zombie from outer space, sarcasm is his preferred line of offense

Not good with travel.

Lol, so there you have it. Happy birthday dude. Sorry couldn't get you a witty tee since almost everything in Sungei Wang is girls' fashion. Unless you don't mind a top that says

I'M WEARING MY BOYFRIEND'S SHIRT

(yeah, the whole thing's irrevocably PINK)

Atb in AUSMAT. GO for it!!

Perceive, Ye Marchers Soldiering On~

2009-01-06T03:23:00.000+08:00

After traversing across many plains, sometimes skimming the surface, sometimes plumbing the depths, always commenting but never leaving the link-

Who knew?

In the space of 1/20 of a solar cycle, so many gems unearthed!

Snatched moments in time have yielded quite a harvest: Some are old links whereas others new acquaintances. All however share the same category as they line up one by one in gloriously eclectic fashion:

The Honourary Mentionables.

Hilarious adecdotes, memorable quotes, lessons in life, sarcasm, kitschy indulgences or observations apropos to the soul--this is the Stuff What Makes Good Reading. It is a nod to the good people out there who still take time to write carefully crafted posts, and also to remind this blogger that there are always more literate individuals than he.

To those whose brilliance cannot be denied, and to those whose equally radiant works haven't yet been descryed:

I Salute Thee, Proud Defenders of the Written Word!

You make me feel ashamed to think I was the cream of the crop, when I'm nought but a green head of wheat.

[On a bottom/side note,
own commentary on individual blogs
~~will~~
~~might~~
may
be posted up later,
that is,
if my mind doesn't wander
("Oi, come back~!")]

Restive Recapitations

2009-01-05T07:33:00.000+08:00

"If you really wanna be different, do everything later than everyone else."

-Procratinator's Guide to Life, Love and the Universe

I might as well get it over with.

2008 has been...Good. Better than '07, ironically. All the angsty teenage issues had pretty much been sorted out, so despite the undue stress of SPM over our heads it's been generally cruising...

Yeah.

On friday in our small groups we talked about fond memories, regrets, and hopes for the new year. The only thing I could think of at the time was ramlee burger later mmm i think I'll order two so I offhandedly muttered "Discernment" and hoped they'd go easy on the pepper.

Later we sang God Of This City 'cos Chris was feeling itchy on the guitar. And he was way over the other side of the hall with his own small group wtf. Muchos Contagious lawlz.

Pangs of jealousy on Sunday. Bubbled up, smothered, buried, resurfaced, analyzed, ostracized, criticized, threshed out and burned to the ground.
But still there.

Confusion, speculation, dissention, investigation, opposition, solution, restitution.

And now, aggravation.

Grr.

Embed cultures

2009-01-05T07:32:00.004+08:00

I was thinking in the shower about some other name when it struck me how, despite their apparent modernity, Christian morals, and sensibilities, my parents still clung to certain superstitions, though my mother vocally eschews any concept of luck. For instance, my dad stuck to taking a 016 number for me when buying a sim card, though the 014 numbers had just been added to the DiGi service. There was no difference in quality between the two, yet contumaciously he stuck to the 016, his only exegesis being “It’s a better number.” When asked about the reason perhaps being that 014 was “want to die” or “a death wish”, when roughly translated to Hokkien, he did not give a definite answer, or at least mumbled a response that was at any rate unintelligible.

A similar incident took place this afternoon when I was sweeping the hall. My mom was shifting some papers when I brushed against her feet, and, hasty apology notwithstanding, she immediately started on a tirade over how taboo it was to do that, though I was stumped as to why that was so. She goes on to chide: “ Some people are very pantang (superstitious), they’ll hantam (whack) you if you try anything like that!” I said she was doing a good impression of those people already, at which she glared at me with such intensity I feared my glasses would melt.
The way she said it though, it was as though I’d burst into peals of laughter at a funeral, though I wouldn’t mind people rolling in the aisles at mine; the eulogist might very well be Russell Peters.

Is it such a surprise, then, that I cut my nails at night with relish, or wish my peers all the best just before a paper, taking care to pat their shoulders in an exaggeratedly chummy fashion? (On the record, I used to do that to a good friend who was always first in class, and the next year he moved to MRSN.)

In any case I shall continue to to step other people's feet, just to irk some sensitive hearts out there. Mavericks FTW~

My name is url.

2009-01-05T07:32:00.003+08:00

It’s such a pain. Both my proposed domain urls, http://www.giftofthegabs.blogspot.com/ and http://www.gabbledygook.blogspot.com/ have already been taken.

What really galls me though is the way these bloggers came up with their names which seems totally random and/or accidental. None of them share my name, so if not for pun’s sake, why would they deliberately misspell the two urls?!

Unless it wasn’t on purpose which only makes it even more infuriating.

EPIC FAIL.

B.U.M.

2009-01-05T07:29:00.000+08:00

Lately my mornings have been drowsy affairs, with the inevitable falling out of bed at a vigorous 12pm. Without fail, Chinese New Year noise will be blaring from the transistor, and a civil-war spat between my sibs is almost mandatory every 9-10am.

Then it's lazing about the house, procrastinating about chores, and cycling out to get wanton mee and nasi lemak for lunch...And after that cue more bumming and stoning.

I thank God my life is so exciting.

2009-01-05T07:27:00.000+08:00

It’s interesting how, when people say they miss you, how most of the time you shrug it off with a perfuctory "I miss you too!" but whenever you’re feeling lonely you immediately think of the person who made that most loyal of declarations, even though before this they had never really factored in your Reasons For Living equation.

In light of this new juicy piece of manipulation material, I shall thus apply it by telling lots of people that I miss them…In the hopes they will think of me more often. All part of my plan for global domination by popularity, see. Of course, first they have to be able to feel lonely at times, and second, they can’t already be missing me or else I’d have a blossoming one-sided relationship. Come to think of it, t'would be a moot point anyway.

Muaha, deviousness becomes me.

2009-01-05T07:22:00.000+08:00

I wonder, what you think of me, when we pass by each other on the street; what lies behind those deep wells of clear blackness, impenetrable to my clumsy attempts to discern your true emotions behind that glassy wall of indifference. You stare at me with those eyes; an expression of distaste, confusion perhaps or even fear flitting across your perfect features. A few instances flash by, imperceptible to the common onlooker; a look of mutual understanding, perhaps, or one of things unsaid that should be said, lasting but a few illusory grains in the hourglass of time. Then eye contact is broken; we pass the other, each intent on our separate missions, the awkwardness of the moment vanishing like smoke disappearing into the night…

2009-01-05T07:10:00.000+08:00

Five minutes in my company and you’ll realize that we are about as similar as chalk and cheese.

'Cos we live in the year 3000
Not much has changed, but they burned down our mansions
And your great-great-great-great-grandson
Is doin' fine~

Pithy Excuse To Rack Up Post Count

2008-12-31T19:04:00.000+08:00

I notice that recently my posts have been longer than Uncle Instructor's face when I forget to depress the clutch.... with no short posts to balance them out, so-

Here.

A short post.

Enjoy the lack of verbosity (oops) while it lasts.

"Dance, Dance"

2008-12-27T12:58:00.000+08:00

Three performances, two in Sutera Mall (Sat and Wed night), one on Christmas day in the relatively new PKK building. Don't ask me what PKK stands for. In any case the order of performances was Girls' Dance - Skit - Guys' Dance - Kids' Dance - Carols - "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!"

The stage

The reflective column made for a good mirror

PEOPLE.

Most of the pics were lost, but the order of appearance in Sutera Mall is ~~more or less~~ the same as shown below:

Girls' Dance first,

"I Believe"

And Guys' Dance next,

"Do You Want A Revolution"

Then came the intro (without tambourine) to...

..."Hark The Herald Angels Sing",

(with tambourine + flag)

And an after-service Group Shot.

Done. ^^

Ugh.

2008-12-26T22:00:00.000+08:00

I'd thought it was merely a temporary glitch. You know, the crap that happens when the page you're viewing doesn't load all the way, all because of myriad flash, scripting or bandwidth reasons.

But a few days later, the bald truth was staring at me in the face: All my blog links, gone.

Ugh.

Now comes the painstaking relinking everyone process of, which unfortunately the time to do so I do not have, most of it being used up looking in a manner much frenzied for a college. Backtalk when I'm stressed, speak I.

So please, all of you who've linked me, drop a comment and post your link in it.
Earn my undying gratitude, you will.

Domo arigato~!

Low-key here being an understatement.

2008-12-26T19:56:00.000+08:00

The clock striking midnight and heralding the official day of Christmas was ignored by the two boys below it, so intent were they upon their task. Each had his specific role: One was the spotter, and the other, assassin. Together they had checked for the most stealthy way to go through the fortress, speed-killing every guard they came across and vaulting from poles with ease. The arrival of Christmas was beheld with nary a murmur, with only intermittent flashes of light where the prompt gave notice for the next move in a speed-kill. For all the fun old-style hacking and slashing gave one, doing it like a ninja really speeds up the level advancement.

So that's how we spent the first few minutes of Christmas: playing Prince of Persia on our dusty old Xbox. No countdown, no unwrapping of presents, no whoops of joy, no fireworks. Even the parents had turned in already.

For all of you who sent me the customary wishes via sms: Sorry, out of credit. Merry Christmas to you too.

And to all, a goodnight.

College woes

2008-12-23T12:22:00.000+08:00

And I haven't even started yet.

Looking for the right poly/uni/foundation is already so stressful....Where's all the NTN information like which course can you branch out of later, can you change courses in the middle of the semester, what shoes to wear in gym class, or if there'll even be a gym class (what am I talking about here?)

And asking other people's opinion makes for even worse brain gastric. Some say JC is good, some say it's bad; some say M'sian edu is actually the same as S'pore's, others praise Monash, a miniscule minority(I know it's superlative) champion MMU's superiority; almost all agree, however, that Anwar's takeover is never gonna happen.

This is worse than Armageddon. At least you know that one's coming.

* * * * *

One thing I'll be adamant about though--Any higher institute of learning with the tiniest mistake in English will be crossed off. Yes, even Singapore unis. Hopefully it doesn't cut too many Japanese ones out of the frame.

Like, look at MMU's front webpage:
http://www.mmu.edu.my/

I'm pretty sure it should've been mettle.

"MMU proved its metal in R&D..." What metal is there to prove? How do you prove a metal after winning a Gold and Silver? Campurkan the two? I didn't know MMU was in the metalworking industry. Astonishing.

As if it was a deliberate pun--they won something in Multimedia and Educational items for deity's sake. Like they'd put an inside joke on the official front page.

So yeah, that's MMU off the list. Sorry Naresh =)

* * * * *

On a completely unrelated note, I found out that of everyone who took the test, EV's personality is the one least like mine. Lol. ~~Guess opposites really do attract.~~

Also, my 1st & 2nd college majors are Graphic Design and Eng. Lit respectively. Like how mindblowingly apt is that? o.O

Of course, my personality results are the product of me answering questions based on self-analysis, so it could be little skewed. Bummmmmerrrr.

Found this on FB =)

2008-12-23T12:07:00.000+08:00

View Full MyPersonality.org Profile

0 50 100	%
Openness	81%
Conscientiousness	50%
Extraversion	56%
Agreeableness	44%
Neuroticism	88%

Wtf I'm neurotic. -_-;

It appears the older we get, the lamer our jokes become.

2008-12-22T12:21:00.000+08:00

Standing around with drinks in hand, the sun descending majestically in the background—what do we do?

No, not prance around under the influence of the lack of rum.

Not try to admire the rhetorical view of a heavenly body setting behind a very zhor deng house.

No, it’s crack the lamest jokes mankind has ever had the misfortune to hear.

Never before have I felt such a sudden decrease in temperature, not even when I walked out of Heathrow to a freezing blast of authentic London climate.

It all started with Yao Zhong’s declaration of lameness (“I can make any clever thing you say sound stupid!”) and everything snowballed from there. Mark pulled out a 6-minuter that left us stunned for about twice that long; the new guy, Richard, told one that had crows harking in unison. May just stood there stoning.

Can’t say I blame her.

Time. 3-6pm
Date. 21-12-08
Venue. JB Wesley

Kickstarted in classic style by "Darth" Shirley:

"I can't find my lightsaber!!"

Music provided by the Snooze Band hailing from S'pore

My table. Betcha can't spot me and my uber retarded hairstyle~

The drama presentation was actually quite moving.

Lolz, Reuben = Jesus xD

A momentous moment in history…May's actually posing for the cam! =O

And the new RM 1 million church building, which is an architectural marvel. Built on only two plots of land meant for houses wei.

Always a pleasure spotting the differences (however subtle) in people you haven’t seen in a long while...Especially those whose height ratio remains the same as yours =P
And a big thank you to Jennifer who's First Among Buddies to give me a Christmas prezzie...and what about the rest of you, eh? >_>

So, Snooze Party breakdown:

Pros: Aunty Shirley cosplaying as a Sith Lord is uber gutsy// Everyone from TS (sans EV) was there// The food! =d

Cons: No alcohol =_= // Snooze band does its job -- puts you to sleep.

Otherwise it was pretty fun. Jason took out a can of foam and sprayed the lot of us. Later on we (me, Eric & Yao Zhong) arruba’d him and proceeded to give him his just desserts.

With icing aplenty. =D

Gay dates ftw!

2008-12-21T22:16:00.000+08:00

It was a fancy dress party...

Tuxes were the norm.

You needed to bring a non-church member date, preferably of the opposite gender ...

And had to don a mask too.

. . . . .

But honestly?

Me and Dan weren't too fussed.

Gay dates ftw!

Maddening Serenity

2008-12-20T08:28:00.000+08:00

In any self-book on how to deal with people, there is inevitably a chapter (or at least a section) that tells you what to do when you're caught on the horns of a furious argument.

And of those, they advise the first thing you need to do is to stay perfectly calm and composed.

Unless you want to get a tape recorder first to immortalize anything that can be defined as slander and sue the other party for a sizeable profit, of course.

Otherwise, most of the time they'll ask you to act as though you're discussing the weather over a cuppa at Starbucks instead of, say, going at it hammer and thongs over who has to take out the garbage next.

Because according to them psychobabble blokes, calming down when you're in a heated discussion not only lets you regain sense discarded, but it also allows the other party some breathing space to calm down as well....Thus allowing both parties to talk it out normally and reach a mutually beneficial conclusion so everybody's happythankyougoodday~

But, as I find in most cases, the effect of looking/speaking/acting calmly (or otherwise exuding an aura of Zen) makes for an entirely different response. Meaning, when you're arguing with someone and your general demeanour approximates towards that of a sedated slug, they actually get more incensed. A sort of positive feedback, if you will.

(That's biology for you. Still can't forget that crap, however hard I try =.=)

An effect I'd like to call Maddening Serenity.

Our good friend Mr. O. E. Dick says:

Maddening/(root: mad)/adj. An action (in word or deed) that makes sb. extremely angry: An itch on one's body that you can't seem to locate and appease is perfectly maddening. SYN enrage, infuriate, aggravate (inf), vex, irk, inflame, etc.
Serenity/(root:serene)/noun [U,sing.]. The state of being calm and peaceful: Achieving peace and serenity through yoga is akin to finding one's Quantum of Solace...without the intense gunfights and bans by a small intensely nationalistic nation in Soth-East Asia. SYN peace, tranquility, etc.

Thus, the definition of Maddening Serenity can be defined as:

The state of being calm and peaceful that makes sb. extremely angry. [AdjN]

OR, in this context, talking so calmly and matter-of-factly that you sound as though you're explaining 1 + 1 = 2 to a three-year-old, thus belittling the other party's mental capacities and generally pissing them off.

For eg. :

Scenario:
You and your brother are sitting down watchin TV. It's your favorite show--in fact, it's everyone's fave show, including your bro--when suddenly it goes to commercial. It being the greatest show on earth, you're willing to endure patiently through the mind-numbing TV ads until it comes on again. But your dearest brother has other ideas.

You: Oy!

Bro: What?

You: What'd you change the channel for?
Bro: Why not?
You: I was watching that!
Bro: You were? Oh, sorry. *changes back*

AHEM. (Eh, wrong log.)
Scenario:
You're and your sister are sitting down watchin TV. It's your favorite show--in fact, it's everyone's fave show, including your sis--when suddenly it goes to commercial. It being the greatest show on earth, you're willing to endure patiently through the mind-numbing TV ads until it comes on again. But your dearest sister has other ideas.
You: Oy!
Sis : What?
You: What'd you change the channel for?
Sis : Why not?
You: I was watching that!
Sis : So?
You: So? Change it back!
Sis : Why should I?
You: Because if you tarry too long we'll miss the greatest show on earth when it comes back on again!
Sis : No we won't, commercials take like 5 minutes to run anyway.
You: We will!
Sis : Won't.
You: Will!
Sis : Won't.
You: WILL.
Sis : Won't, 'cos I know when to change back.
You: Really.
Sis : Yes.
You: No you don't!
Sis : I do.
You: You don't!
Sis : Do.
You: Don't! Change it back!
Sis : Oh, okay.
... *nothing happens*
You: Joo hear what I said? Change it back!
Sis : What?
You: I said change it back!
Sis : What? You just told me not to change it back.
You: What?! I never said that!
Sis : Yes, you did....Just now. You said: "Don't! Change it back!"
You: But--
Sis : Don't tell me you didn't say that. *smug*
You: Yeah, but-- *splutters*
Sis : Yes?
You:I said--
Sis : Uh-huh?
You: I--Arggh! *makes strangling motions in the air while bro looks on in amusement*

Ok, so based on that lengthy example (COMPLETELY fictional, I might add) You can see how the Sis is employing the tactic of Maddening Serenity, to great effect on the You.

IN conclusion: Acting calm and serene may not really work if you want to defuse a situation. (A suicide bombing, for instance)

HOWever, it's uber effective for driving people up the wall.

AND if you actually read through all that congrats, you deserve a cookie. =)

Of U-turns and Excruciating Numbness

2008-12-18T09:54:00.000+08:00

The afternoon was one of many firsts. With much administrations to the brakes by the instructor (he had his own set) I'd finally passed my Pre-L test! Now a week or two's waiting commences as they process my L-license and its painful photos.

[I'd forgotten to think of a happy thought when shooting. How remiss of me. Now my smile looks like it's been forcefully yanked up by invisible hands. Guh. ]

There are two procedures that for the writer's own benefit must be jotted down, owing to his unforeseen inability to recall the correct sequence steps when executing:

A turn

Stopping and restarting the car on an inclined slope

When U-turning:

About 5 secs/30m away from turn, let go of accelerator
Depress clutch, hold it and switch to 2nd
Turn on signal lights
At the berhenti sign/traffic lights/etc depress clutch and slowly depress brakes
After stopping at the white line depress clutch and switch to 1st
Keep holding on to the clutch!
When green-lighted, lift the clutch halfway while simultaneously depressing the accelerator
Make the turn, and after the car's speed is stable ( >20km/h) switch back to 2nd, and then third.
Done!

When doing the slope thing:

Switch to 1st gear
Zoom up the slope
Let go of the accelerator, depress the clutch and slowly depress the brakes
Pull up the emergency handbrake
Keep left foot on clutch
Rev the accelerator till the engine meter goes to about 40-50cc(at least I think it's called "cc")
Raise clutch till halfway while still revving
Pull up the handbrake, pinch the nub and push it down
Finally, get off that frickin' hill.

Jumblies!

2008-12-18T00:47:00.000+08:00

Who knew Facebook would be so time-consuming. Before I knew it the whole morning was gone, and it seemed like I'd only conteng'd on two or three walls..
And guess what?
43 new friends in a day!
I feel so loved now. <3

Change of plans: Helen's going as Jia Wenn's date instead. Chicken. Now I have to find someone else--and at such "looong" notice too.
Sigh. Women. *rolleyes*

Apparently my dad, whom I'm christening The Ever Forgetful One from now on, has yet again misplaced an object of indeterminedly high value. A few of them actually. And now I have to look in every crook & nanny for them. Later, he told me he also hid 2000 bucks in in-between places like the bookshelves and old travel luggage....and he'll give me 10% of the bounty if I find them.
(Tried to bargain for 25% but it was non-negotiable unfortunately) Ah well.

200 in free moola, here I come~!

Pre-L: Paralyzing Lessons In Disguise

2008-12-17T11:48:00.000+08:00

The man harrumphed irately as the youth rushed into the facility.

"You're almost 30 minutes late, boy!"

Muttering his apologies, said youth stole a quick glance at the uncle as they turned around and walked towards the kancil. He was dressed in the customary blue shirt + slacks, looked about ~~retirement age~~ 55, with a complexion approaching the colour and texture of a dried prune. They got into the diminuitive vehicle, those so-called training wheels in dusty shades of whitewashed wall, and he blinked rapidly to disperse a sudden feeling of exhaustion. He started to regret waking up at 5 to play DotA, at the time being naught much else to do in the wee hours of the morning...

As they trundled off to an unknown destination he thought idly to himself that if so inclined the uncle could stop at a deserted place somewhere, take out a parang and carve him up for the ants to pick over the remains... A passing fancy which hovered around his mind, dispersed and regrouped itself when the uncle really did drive up to a desolate area, the stretch of road which meandered down to the perkampungan. All such morbid thoughts were banished however, when the instructor instructed him to get down and switch places with him.

After the switch, the youth couldn't hide a quick grin as he got into the seat. A tiny wave of expectation rippled over him. A thought flashed through his mind like the sun on a new pair of Oakleys:

HE WAS FINALLY GOING TO LEARN HOW TO DRIVE.

....Then he sat there stoning for about a minute before realising the instructor was waiting for him to do the peripheral once-over before lift off. His mind was a blank as he tried to remember the sequence...was it wipers first or signal lights? He sat there thinking for a moment, but no help from his sleep-deprived cranium was forthcoming. In the end, he just clicked, pressed, prodded & adjusted every single dial and switch within his VFD, while attempting to do so in a most deceptively matter-of-fact manner.

After the instructor ticked his last box, he told the newbie to start the engine. With trepidation, he did as instructed. With mounting excitement, he pushed tentatively down on the accelerator, and --

With a jerk, the engine stopped abruptly.

"How," The instructor snapped, "do you expect to move without even putting the gearstick into first gear?"

The uncle rolled his eyes in derision of the young and completely blur driver beside him. He couldn't have been less amused if a skunk had been stuffed down his pants. With an apologetic grin, the noob depressed the cluth, went into 1st gear and tried again. This time, the engine revved up and roared, and under the tutelage of Uncle Instructor, the boy gradually let go of the clutch, pressing down on the accelerator at the same time.

With a jerk, the tiny car leapt forward ala Herbie. They were halfway down the track before it finally sank in.

I'M FINALLY DRIVING! (He crowed.)

* * * * *

And the rest, as they say, is History.

Just got back from camp,

2008-12-16T07:09:00.000+08:00

and what a blast it was!

Already missing everyone from Teenstreet, especially those who couldn't make it. (A ~~sad~~ ~~disappointing~~ ~~lugubrious~~ ~~disconsolate~~ ~~inside joke lol~~ most unfortunate twist of fate led both TS and YLDP to be held on almost exactly the same dates, so the latter was a no-go.)

Sigh.

Met a whole bunch of new friends, rediscovered old ones, and made my interests quite transparent to somebody.

=)

Love to expudiate further, but for all the pics they took of us in TS, not one of them is up yet. And as my dearest lil' sis Esther stated not too long ago, blogging w/out pics is no fun.

=(

In other news, I finally got behind the wheel of a

("In your dreams!", the multitudes cry)

Well maybe it was more like a kancil but still, I really have
STARTED DRIVING LESSONS ~~muaheehee~~ WOOHOO!!

Also, I'm going to annoy Rae and her recent distaste of shopaholics and boast that I got this:

An early Christmas prezzie~!

Doesn't it just exude dashing wit, charm and sophistication?

=3 =3 =3

Finally,

I joined Facebook.

Happy now?

The smell of death is in the air...

2008-12-08T15:44:00.000+08:00

..that or my week-old socks, hanging out to steam by the radiator.

Dampening qualities of early-morning drizzle. Eating bread sans anything else. Style-cramping odiousness of lil' bros. Musty rooms pregnant with long periods of stillness. And an apology for Nick. Sorry mate, I'll crash by your pad after camp wot?

That's what you get after idly skimming through Grace's blog: Unfinished sentences like clothesline hangers and slices-of-life humour.

Hmm. Maybe I'll start on EV's next. =P

The eyes beholds the epidermis, but the mind beholds the soul

2008-12-07T18:21:00.000+08:00

Or at least that's what I'd like to believe. How often are our judgements clouded by external stimuli, the insiduous propoganda of our generation?

Sometimes I wish I could just up and go live on a forgotten hillock somewhere .Since mountains, REAL ones with SNOW, are scarce around here.

But when it comes down to it, I can't. A fine specimen of well-broiled poultry, that's me.

One of the few fun things about scouring with the Karcher.

Whole World Comes Crashing Down

2008-12-06T21:29:00.000+08:00

OMW BACK from church practice we three angels fell to chatting about post-SPM institutions of EDU, and many new revelations were bequeathed upon me courtesy of apostle Naresh:

ONE Singapore's educational system isn't really all that good after all; it's just so attractive because it's too damn interactive.

TWO Malaysia isn't really all that far behind in terms of educational standard from S'pore. Getting a degree from either is about the same standard, only that M'sia is cheaper.

THREE The greatest irony of all is that when it comes down to choosing ahli pakar for jobs, the majority of employers would actually choose the M'sian ones over their own countrymen. Why? Because M'sians will get paid less for their work. If given a choice between two post-grads who are almost identical in terms of qualification, only that one will work for less, which would you, as the employer, choose? So in all actuality, the ones who get ignored are the poor singaporeans.

Go figure.

49/50

2008-12-06T16:06:00.000+08:00

Yayzorz, passed my undang exam today.

Huzzah!

Admittedly it was supposed to be easy but a lot of my friends failed the first time y' know. One guy who took the test before me came out with a fail and though he asked for a retest, there were too many other examinees waiting and he had to have his test rescheduled. Tough luck on him, but that (near) experience really jittered me up and I thus resumed my cramming with renewed vigour. And this in the context that the word 'cramming' here means not studying for the whole week and only now buying the booklet before leaving for the test. Damn suei right? Later I celebrated by going for some DotA pwnage with Daniel. =) OH yeah and I saw somebody from KK2 (even sat next to him wtf) and I bet he recognized me too, he was whispering none too softly with his associate about me and trying to work up the courage to talk to me. Like how hard is that anyway. I wasn't too interested in rejoining platonic ties with him, so I just sat back and ignored his sideways glances and tentative elbowing. Creep. <_<

The main thing though is I passed. *relief*

Credits:
+ tHe_ALmiGhTy
+ sonOfman00
+ ~^'HSpirit`^~

Pre-Parade!

2008-12-05T15:42:00.000+08:00

Some of my readers out there may be wondering exactly how I've managed to keep myself (mostly) sane while enduring my self-imposed exile within the torture gaol that was SPM. Oh, you aren't? That's okay, I don't know you anyway. Well, the answer is that every Wed-Fri, 11pm-12pm on Okto# is

AnImaNiA!

And not just any C-grade ecchi fanservice either. This stuff is NEW, same week telecast as Japan, and out of the rough of your typical shounen/shoujo manga reproductions and quintessential rom-com flicks surfaced a charming little series by the name of

which revolves around one Takasu Ryuuji, a mild-mannered boy who unfortunately has scary-looking eyes which lead to a lot of misunderstanding, and Aisakawa Taiga, dubbed the "Palmtop Tiger" for her short stature and fiery temper. These two eccentric characters share one common goal, which is to get together with their respective crushes. To this end, they team up with each other hatching all sorts of crazy plans, and as most of you can guess, hilarity ensues.

The show also displays a few instances of slice-of-life genre you sometimes find in light manga like Strawberry Marshmallow; this breaks up the usual plot twists and turns of the trade. However, where this anime stands out from the rest is its superb animation and generally weird characters; at first glance it looks like any other fluffy old romance comedy (you could spot the ending from a lightyear away) but it's tre more than that. To sum Toradora up, I only have two words to say:

Watch it.

Toradora~!

Better Late Than Never

2008-12-05T12:12:00.000+08:00

Wednesday, 26th Nov.

This

Is Rae.

Partial to ebiko, hypernonsensical drama queen and CSI fanatic.

Takes pics at every opportunity

Second home is at the mall/shopping complex/anywhere with her mates.

Hailed from KL at year start and now changing residence again to be closer to the city..... and subsequently the malls.

Met in ~~march?~~

~~April?~~

May.

Gives people cute names, and is affectionately called many of the same, herself.

Above all of that however is a single simple equation

that describes her:

RAE =
A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

but a little crazy sometimes.
=P

A Very Merry Belated, Rae-chan~!

"C'mon."

2008-12-04T21:28:00.000+08:00

Which means "Good morning!" in Vietnamese.

Argh. Too many pics snapped on the trip equals to much squinting of the eyes and more deliberation with the mind over which looks best up on a blog. Mine, in case you were wondering. No, you weren't. And, since at this point I am beyond caring which angle makes the architecture bleed glorious technicolor, which can go stick a rainbow prism up its own ass for all I care, I'll be picking random shots with peepers shut and hope for brilliance to shine through the apparent arbitration. Onwards...!

Arrived in Changi airport with maximum luggage and minimum fuss. Bagels dipped in milo was the order of that drowsy morning, with an opaque grey sky to enliven the armosphere.

Flight time was shorter than expected, a mere 1+ hour to Ho Chi Minh city across that neck of the South China Sea.

(Dan took a random slide of the arrival hall after we touched down. )

Our first glimpse of the new world paved out before us was surprisingly familiar. At first glance , it looked just like we were still back home, with the same birds and trees, same grey fencing used like the ones you see in new housing areas here, even the same arrangement of the flowerbeds in the gardens surrounding the airport. Upon second inspection, however, I began to get a more balanced feel of the place, having spotted many tall buidings reminiscent of Hong Kong when we got on the bus, and I came to the conclusion that it was a strange fusion of both the Oriental and South-East Asia.

Half an hour into the city, the bustling streets were enfused with the ambient sounds of a thriving city, intersperced with beeping toots of the scooters which dominated the roads.

There was also a curious mix of culture; an eclectic mix of old and new, as many traditional buildings gave way to soaring new skyscrapers, and dilapitated old shophouses were squeezed up alongside important-looking banks.

The alleyway that led away from the main road were were traversing enticed my mind to tread down those beaten paths and find out hitherto undiscovered mysteries; the atmosphere of old worlde realness was almost tangible in its manifestation.

Later, we went to one of the aforementioned silver monoliths for a an authentic Vietnamese dinner (don't recall the names of the dishes, sorry) but it was a pleasant fusion of chinese and local delicacies nonetheless.

These young people kindly acquiesced to a pic after much hand gesturing and bizarre facial expression on my part.
The name of the mall/skyscraper we were in.

Thus, after a hearty meal, we set off back to the hotel, turning in early for the toll of the day's exhortations weighed heavily on our eyelids, and tomorrow's account will be set ....tomorrow.

CS: The Return

2008-12-04T16:48:00.000+08:00

Another CS outing? Kinda.
Arrived at Persada to a deafening silence. Turns out we were actually a week early for this Education Fair that was supposed to be going on. -_-;

So we were just walking back out the doors when the first few sheets of rain came crashing down upon us like so many shards of glass. Resigned to either eating borosilicate chips or twiddling our thumbs, we opted for the latter and adjourned for lunch at the conveniently located KFC inside the complex.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

There must be something about CS, maybe a bomoh's curse or two, that make adolescent teenagers even more apathetic than usual. Yesterday everyone sauntered about the mall for a full hour before actually buying the tickets; the difference in behaviour today was unstaggeringly miniscule. In zombie mode we grunted at each other, made crass jokes and engaged in as much brain activity as it was humanely possible to spear a whale with a toothpick. In the end Wei Zherng and I gave up and went back together, leaving the rest to figure out the merits of being scared crapless by The Coffin against getting bored into submission by a mindless beat-em-up in Wushu.

Can't say I envied them.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Before we gazoomed off, however, I went back to the store and finally got my guitar picks!

The pink one's called Ernie Ball, which according to Mikey is a guitar pick-making company with no relation to a show named after a certain street with a hamster's staple diet for a first name, and the second one's Silver. The T btw stands for 'thin' so it's relatively easier to strum with than the unyielding metal one.

Imma lovin' them already. <3

Yeah, the post title's corny. Somebody please sue me...

CS Outing

2008-12-03T22:18:00.001+08:00

(What else am I supposed to call it? Guys' night out?)

So we, assorted humans from SN1 and 2, went to CS today to watch a movie about a bunch of vampires playing baseball to Muse's Supermassive Black Hole. Quite a trade-off for 6 bucks IMO.

You heard me right. We watched

(cue rumble of thunder as the fangirls squeee at the mere mention of that word)

There we were, thirteen *choke* tostesterone-fuelled teenage boys, all milling about outside the cinema, dunno what to watch, standing there like idiots till someone suggested Twilight and we all clutched onto that idea like a lifeboat. =_=;

Well, after strolling out of the theatre to LP's Leave Out All The Rest in the credits, I have to say the spec effects weren't that good, but the actors actually could show the required emotions onscreen. The unspoken tension between Bella and Edward was hilarious to watch.

However, I got a gripe: The Cullens weren't really very good-looking. Rosalie looked like a pussy who had been force-fed lemons, while __(woman vamp who's gonna become the villian in the 2nd movie if I'm not mistaken)___ looked rather chunky onscreen. And I kinda pictured Carlisle in my mind as maybe an Aizen Sousuke (of Bleach fame, pre-traitor status) in a doctor's gown-thingy. The one in the movie looked more like a sharper, thinner version of Owen Wilson.

A pic for comparison purposes:

And don't get me started on Edward's mug. Forget superstrength, that bloke could knock a hole in the wall with his jawline. Bulkhead, much?

The one who was the Cullen's newest member however, Jared or Bob or something, was tre funny with his pained expression whenever any human was around. And Alice is cute~

All in all though, not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Only thing is when Mike and I went to get our guitar picks the shop was closed. Out for dinner, apparently. Dang.

Oh yeah, gotta check out Twilight's non-O, ST. Any movie soundtrack with Muse and LP in it has real cred. + I hear Paramore's doing the main theme song. x3 x3 x3

Thursday's Farewell Party

2008-12-02T22:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, first up....The farewell party. Or. More correctly referred to as the cancer-inducing BBQ steamboat ~~orgy~~ jamuan.

So, details:

Here: Restoran Da He...something.(insert random chinese character)

Hen: 7-10pm , Thursday 271108

Ho: 5sn1 and 5sn2, though the bulk of it was sn1.

Hat: Crab, pork, chicken, sausages, prawn, all manner of fryable 'n' steamable stuff.
Hy: To ~~get stoned in the quickest time possible~~ have a grand ould time.

And a grand old time we had. Piccies:

>>Outdoors with 6 tables apiece. 5 peeps to a table = you do the math

> > The other side of the procession

>> From right: Bing Han, Cui He, Khai Xian, Jian Hui and the guy half cut off (lmao) is Seng Ho.

(maybe having the pics to the left wasn't the best of ideas.)Mikey got in the way while I was trying to take this shot. zzz...

The light ain't that good, admittedly, but from left is Pey Ling, some-girl-whose-name-conveniently-escapes-me, Seng Ho, Danny and Bing Han, who's acting cool again.
And finally a group shot of everyone bar Pey Ling who kindly took this one. Lighting still sucks.

To-Do List

2008-12-02T18:01:00.000+08:00

For PC:
Get admin password
Install frozen throne (keygen from downstairs pc, danny‘s cd, Patrick‘s cd)
Upload pics
Update blog (with said pics)
Start learning Photoshop
~~Join forum~~
Install EV’s games (after finding them)

Anime
Samurai Champloo
Xam'd
Myself; Yourself
Toradora!

Great outdoors:
Take driving lessons
Go out with friends
Hang out with EV
~~Celebrate Rae’s birthday~~
Buy clothes
Buy plectrum
Buy Ethernet cable
Get new theme for phone (Toradora)

Greater indoors:
Re-learn piano
Find keyboard [/]
Get used to playing guitar with pick

iPod:
Get cover art for iPod
Organize new songs into Major & Minor
Dl vids for iPod

Old PC:
Put keepvid songs, album artwork and other stuff into J-Drive
Purge J-drive
Put in songs from new pc 'n' antivirus
Purge old pc (reboot/secondary antivirus)
Install Windows Vista OS (borrow)
Put stuff back inside
Install frozen throne and GG client
Find cd (Jason) and install iTunes
Install antivirus, MSN and Last.fm

Bands to check out:
Mae
The Sickest Kids
Honeybunny

Oh, look it's my 100th post. And I used it for a to-do list. Happy 100th post to you, blog~

My eyes have peeled. @_@

2008-12-02T16:52:00.000+08:00

Note to self: Bloghopping should definitely come later.

Gargh. I wanna customize my blog!
Like Peaches' one, or Eric the Viking's. Whai can't the page background stay still, whaai?
Am I thus consigned forever to this impenetrable blackness? -_-
Another note to self: Organize links into cats, the list is getting l0o0o0ong

And now it's 5.30 and I'm too tired to blog...Sleep beckons.
Maybe I should swap times with Arielle after this.

TiLL I aM wEll aNd ResTeD,

3, 2, 1, Make Some Noise!

2008-12-02T11:17:00.000+08:00

Hola, I'm baack~

I know it's been nearly a whole week since the fall of the 'mighty' SPM empire, but these last few days have been spent revelling in the streets, swilling wine and generally getting more stoned than an adulteress. @D

Let's see....

thursday night was BBQ,

friday morning+ afternoon DotA,

saturday => hangover, and

sunday was my own dear lil' sis' bdae~

And now that's all over with, I'm reactivating my blog again! (no duh.)

Lots to catch up on....Vietnam trip, new anime, book reviews, and of course, bdae wishes to those I missed!

So much to do, so little time.....where to start?

Random vietnamese teenagers who kindly let me take a pic during dinner. ^^

Epitaph for a Temporary Departure

2008-07-17T18:58:00.000+08:00

It's official.

I'm putting this blog under cryostasis to focus on what's important.

Like my mom says,

"PRIORITIES, mister."

Though admittedly she was holding up a report card with a string of C's and D's with nary an A in sight.

*sigh* She's right though. As parents usually are. Which is annoying. =_=;

I shall leave this place with a tinge of regret--So many things left unsaid!

In the past week, I had gone to the market, got addicted to a Korean drama (Ju Mong), signed up for Chem tuition after procrastinating for so long, had wormy cucumbers, woke up at five and thought it was six, attended three birthday luches (though not all at once) and have had techno music blasting through our classroom during our exams.

And I found out, from addmath tuition class, that I am an Extreme Value. Heh.

More on that later.

Or not.

'Cos I won't be posting here anymore.

=_=

So this is goodbye.

It's been nice having you, blog.

Rot In Peace.

For now.

Let the pictures do the talking.

2008-07-10T18:28:00.000+08:00

And herre they arre!

So 'tis:

EV is positively thrilled to have his pic taken with Kim. She looks like she's dissing him though. <_<

How apt.

The Kim & I. And my shirt says I'm Not A Morning Person. So true.

Paintball firing range. Dunno who that jakun blocking our way is though.

Behold the Counter-Strike Pro. ~~I wish~~

A relatively rare snap of Rae actually taller than me (hint:she's standing on a stool)This is our REAL heights. IN YOUR FACE, RAE. xP

And now, ze Piece de Resistance:

The two of us showcasing our extraordinary ability: Flaring Nostrils!

2008-07-10T16:32:00.000+08:00

In preparing for most outings my train of thought passes through several stations.

First on the line is Enthusiasm.

Next is Doubt.

And after that, I swiftly come to the station of Indecision.

Presently, there is a fork in the tracks. Do I take the way which leads to the station of Passed Up Opportunity and the town of Sleeping In Till Noon, or the other one, down to the cities of Risk, Potential Time Wastage and High Adventure?
...
...
...
Pretty obvious innit?

CHOO-CHOO~!!

(WARNING. AgonizinglyLONG AND NOT PARTICULARLY INTERESTING(read:boring)POST UP AHEAD. No need to AVOID AT ALL COSTS ,but it's probably better if you do.)

So anyway I DID go for EV's hari koko after all. Got hopelessly lost but an Indian uncle kindly showed us the way from the Esso kiosk we stopped by to ask for directions (There, see? Not all men have such inflated egos not to ask for directions. Score one for the guys! =D) Turns out SSI ain't that far from the church where I went for BSF, which will make it easier to bomb now nyaha~> Arrived about a 1/2 hour late after it started, which was just as well really, since Rae was still lazing in bed and Vinnie had been called away to warm up for his persembahan. What was surprising though was the number of people I recognized. Zu Guang from JBwesley was there, as were two ex-schoolmates, Adeline with some Convent buds, and quite a few of EV's ninja ~~genin~~ seniors I'd seen ~~skulking around~~ in my own sch. So anyway Rae came at 9.30 --despite telling me half an hour ealier that she'd come asap-- and she brought along her sis, who looked simultaneously bored and disgruntled at being dragged here. We chatted for a bit, and EV was looking real apprehensive for some reason. Which, for reasons of privacy, I will not post why. Really. Ok, maybe a little. (Did you think I'd really pass this up?)*turns on loudspeaker* Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Teoh Eu Vin has got the HOTS for Rae's sister, Kimberley, who btw is Four Years His Senior! *dies laughing* Ahem,sorry dude. Had to get that outta my system.What can I say? I'm still childish that way. Ooh, climbling rhymer! Well anyway me and Kim were left alone with each other...um, I mean left to our own devices...uh, no...abandoned (aha, abandoned!) by both Rae and EV to fend for ourselves in the strange and unsettling world of SSI while she went for her youth meeting [which I'd thought previously was a performance of some sort till it turned out to be just your regular meeting, pfft] and he had to mind his cupcake stall. Well sure, EV was still around but his appearance were sporadic at best. We'd surmised that he was shy ~~like a stray puppy~~ though as it turned out later it was nothing of the sort. Thus me and Kim got acquainted with each other, and it so turns out she enjoys a diverse array of music, has been to France (and did all the touristy things there),and is Majoring in Politics right now, which explains her world-weary demeanour and sarcastic tendencies. Not unlike a certain someone I know. ;) So anyway we whiled the time away patronizing the stalls, and Kim had had a time of it looking for something truly MALAYSIAN after all the caucasian fare in Ozzy, 'cos the kebanyakan of delicacies on offer were, ironically enough, ang moh to a fault. However, of those the toasted marshmallows were by far the AWESOMMEST. To be sure, I didn't quite expect the entire inside of the confectionery to have melted completely into this GOOEY, MUSHY, OH-SO-YUMMILICIOUSLY FANTASTIC EXPLOSION OF TASTE. You know,sometimes it's better to be jakun. Elation at the simplest of things, it comes easier this way. ^^ Later EV on one of his sporadic appearances took us to shoot targets at the paintball stall, and I beat him 4-1 Hahar! *merciless ribdigging ensues* It was 15 pellets for 5 bucks which wasn't cheap but the experience was worth it. Not so perhaps in EV's case. =P Rae joined us afterwards and we commenced with the taking of dumb pics (as is the custom when she's around). Her dad was kind enough to send me to the nearest bus station which I am immensely grateful for other wise I would've been really late for tuition. Thanks Uncle~!

So I thoroughly enjoyed the outing.
And my train finally stops at the station of No Regrets.

It's Wednesday today, actually.

2008-07-09T07:12:00.000+08:00

I have to say, it's not very professional to put up posts four days after their sell-by-date, but lately the powers that be have decreed a blanket ban over all electrical-based entertainment, and as I'm sitting here hurriedly typing in this second-last entry the birds are chirping outside and dawn is breaking and everyone else will be up soon by which time I shall have to cabut like hell. >_< color="#cc9933">posting grounds, or anywhere online in general, after which I shall only update on the day right after SPM has finally expended its insurmountable fury on me. Provided I last that long.
---------------------------------------------------------
And now, down to business. Read this way ^

The Vitagen I'm drinking right now tastes like hospital disinfectant.

2008-07-03T17:09:00.000+08:00

Woke up with a sore throat this morning. Felt like a porcupine had crawled down my oesophagus, turned around and crawled back up again. >_<

Talked over the designs with Helen today. She's gonna sew me BLEACHIGO'S HOLLOW MASK, W00T~!

If you haven't watched Bleach, (in which case you're a very sad person) the mask looks like this:

It's gonna be the approximate size of your palm, made primarily for carrying phones around and the like, and no prizes for guessing where the zip will be. =D

OSUM, TOADILLEY.

And Jia Wenn was absent for some reason.

Spent last night twiddling with my guitar. Now I can play Just The Girl, Fallen Through and Walking Disaster!

*basks in glow of own awesomeness*

Chords for Last Good Part Of Town are proving to be rather tricky though.

Didn't have time to update yesterday, but we held a birthday party for Seng Ho who just turned 17 yesterday, HAPEE BURRSDAY DUDE. With the arrival of your new license, the roads are safe no more.

Aiiyyeee!

The good always die young.

2008-07-03T00:11:00.000+08:00

Something happened yesterday. Something grave. I'm not kidding or writing like this for dramatic effect--but after rewriting this sentence about 5 times I guess there's no other way to say it:

SOMEONE DIED AT SCHOOL TODAY.

Well technically speaking it was outside the premises. I'll keep it short:

At 12.00pm, a form 4 guy riding a motorbike crashed into a form 2 guy walking to school. The rider sustained little or no injuries; the other boy was not as lucky. I won't go through the grisly details but suffice to say he died from excessive bleeding to the head and torso or thereabouts.

I didn't know him personally but for those who did, my deepest condolences.

Let us now reserve a half-minute's worth of silence to pray for the poor boy's soul (I don't know if he's Christian or not) so that God will be merciful upon him. Pray also for the deceased's family so that they may find solace for the loss they have sustained.

Amen.

In perhaps related news Ah Kim from Church Of Praise has also met with an accident on his way to work on Tuesday morning, though he is now in the hospital and is out of critical danger, praise the Lord. Continue to uphold him in your prayers for a speedy recovery.

Random stuff

2008-07-02T19:24:00.000+08:00

Firstly, I got a nice new PEN yesterday (black) and it works a treat. I'm absolutely loving the way it draws clean lines with just the right width and virtually no spillage....oooh, I'm in heaven.

(This has gotta be the lamest post yet, blogging about pens.)

Ahem, seriously though I cannot further extol the virtues of my new table-vandalising device. Considering the fact that every other pen I have had since time immemorial has had a defect or imperfection (faulty nibs, leaks ,erratic ink flow, the list drags on), further compounded by the fact everyone else's seem to work like a charm when I borrow them --which is infuriating-- , it's a miracle I actually found one that works properly. Right up there with the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

Totally

Luvvles~! <3<3<3

The latest fad, apparently.

2008-06-30T21:30:00.000+08:00

Seems like everyone is getting into the "twist" of things. That's right, apparently the latest fad to take all of JB by storm is this here Rubik's Cube. (where's that danged TM sign?) People from school to church and beyond are getting in on this, and the bandwagon isn't getting any lighter or showing sign of stopping anytime soon.

Well, my sister brought one back from her's today, looking like the picture above 'cos her friend broke it and asked her to fix it. In the end though it was me who did it, benevolent older brother that I am, and while looking for possible synonyms for "benevolent" I came across a certain

eleemosynary

With three e's and two y's!

So anyway now I'm thinking of getting one, but it's a bluddy 30 bucks which ain't easy to come by nowadays and anyway the fuss will probably die down in a few months' time like all other fads.

Maybe I'll buy the fake one which is only a third the price.

W0ot for cheap knockoffs!

2008-06-29T01:54:00.000+08:00

And when I went for a cuppa just now a cat streaked from the back room into the kitchen and tried to claw its way out through the perspex window panels. Even after we opened the kitchen door wide open it was still squirming and swiping around in between the grill and the window. Stupid cat. In the end I gave it a nice Whack! in the posterior with a mop and sent it flying.

Chhh.
The cats behind our house are always a nuisance with their garbage-pawing and the lovemaking sounds they make every night. Though I've always marveled at how eerie the caterwauls can get; sometimes they sound almost human.

Oh, and in other news someone sat next to me in chuch on Sunday and I was grinning like an idiot for about 30 seconds wtf. I dunno how I feel about her but it seems as though I've been getting subtle hints and yet I dunno if she's encouraging me or I'm just reading too much into things. As is usually the case. Have I ever mentioned I suck at this kinda thing?

(Lately I've been writing rather overblown and verbose posts of late; sorry for the verbal diaorrhea. It's a habit of mine when I'm particularly bored, try to bear with it, can? I'll try to compress my later posts. )

Ah Be Jammin', Yeah.

2008-06-28T14:39:00.000+08:00

Jamming Session today was AWESOME.

Did quite a few covers like Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Sugar, We're Going Down, Keep Holding On, You & Me, Dance Dance, Your Guardian Angel, One Way and our personal fave, The Great Escape.

To be sure, nothing was perfect. To begin with there was no electric guitar, so we used an acoustic that had a jack retrofitted to it instead. Daniel didn't really know the bass chords so we guided him through them; Jason had quite a few off-beats and his rolls were a little slow, and as for me my strumming technique was all wrong and my singing sounded worse than a hopeless drunk on karaoke night. (it's DAMN HARD to both SING and PLAY GUITAR at the same time OKAY?)

Still though, WE RAWKED.

Had a lot of fun especially with the Jet song and the BLG songs, and we totally ignored the keyboard so it was a tight alternative sound all round ^^ Sure,we made more mistakes than a left-footed brontosaurus on the dancefloor but it was all was pretty damn hilarious. Quite a few times we lost the beat and were all trying to follow each other's lead and in the end we would fall apart in one huge cacophonic mess.

Later, we went for McD's and while eating we took some sachets of sugar and pretended to snort them up our nostrils, then we spazzed around as if we were HIGH on the stuff. And then we all collapsed in a fit of giggles and started all over again. Forgot to take pics though, what a pain.

All in all, a fun morning. Pictures and videos up soon~ ^^

Ready, Set, CRINGE!!

2008-06-27T23:37:00.000+08:00

During English, instead of doing our essays me & Daniel were humming songs, air-guitaring around ala Rocking Chicken (can't believe you still remembered that one EV) and generally spazzing out. And in the midst of that we still managed to crack a few jokes and make up our own.

I shall now inflict upon you 2 of the worst we came up with ,'cos I'm that much of a sadist. Muahaha.

Get ready for some serious cringing.......here goes:

One day, Nokia and Sony Ericsson get into a fight. After a long drawn-out battle, Sony finally plunges his Motorola Razr into Nokia and slays him. As Nokia lies dying, what are his famous last words?

......?

He says: "I'm Finnish."

.....

Don't get it? No one did at first. HAPPY GUESSING~ xP

Meanwhile, here's one for the boys:

Q:How do the French make their French Loaf?

A: They steam it.

Tadaa~!
*deafening sound of no one giving a hoot*

Anyway, in other news I'm going jammin' with Daniel and Jason at Jason's drum teacher's jamming studio tmr; hopefully we won't make people's ears bleed (that much) with our amateur playing.

Have you ever thought of something, or someone, when you listen to a particular song?

2008-06-27T17:34:00.000+08:00

Like for instance, I always think of zooming across a bright morning sky whenever the shuffle turns to Houki Boshi by Younha (The 3rd Bleach ED) Especially the chorus--a soaring infusion of power pop with heady guitar riffs and an extremely infectious tune--and I'm digressing again.

It could also be a connection to a place, like the venue for last year's Teenstreet Camp; I always think of that whenever All I Wanna Do ~ 1 a.m. comes up.

Selain itu, and this is one of the best, is when I start to imagine a picture in my mind, like a fictionous locale, or a story unfolding. Songs like Ai Ta Kokoro and Dirty Harry always put me in a steampunk world with towering skyscrapers of metal and pipes and everything is bathed in an atmospheric sepia glow.

Most songs by Radiohead, on the other hand, always brings to mind a journey or a series of events coming together, while River ~ Tatsuya Ishii sounds nothing like one, but invites me to snuggle up with a good book by the warm glow of my bedroom lamp while the rain pitter-patters outside. ^^

Sometimes my visions (or imaginings or whatever) are influenced by the lyrics; The Sharpest Lives always reminds me of a girl waiting upstairs in the dark for her boyfriend to come home, but he's lying inebriated and unconscious on the steps outside and being drenched in the night storm. Perhaps not that surprising considering it's classic MCR.

Other times I listen to songs whilst reading, and they stick. Like Pink's Fingers forever stuck to Eustace and Jill's underground sequence in The Silver Chair. And This Is How I Disappear actually quite fittingly attached to the tragic love story between the gods Ashura & Yasha in Tsubasa Chronicles. Gripping Stuff.

And now for people.
Peaches ~~will~~ is definitely Get Tangled Up In Me, while
Eric is probably This Ain't A Fashion Statement or anything else MCR-related.
Jia Wenn has gotta be Starlight, and
Helen is probably Dreamworld. (read:eccentric and off-kilter)
Esther my beloved sister has always been Tell The World ~ Hillsongs, and the kool gang (
Ikram, Mavin, Abelash and Akmal) will always be Bleed It Out.
Ikram by himself would be MIKA though. And
Jason is pure Simple Plan.

Most others, if you're not in here, it's either I know too little about you or I know too much. Erm, that sounds wrong. What I mean is that your multifaceted aspects are too diverse for me to attempt to pigeonhole it, so don't feel bad. But seriously, it's FUN to tag people with songs.

Which kinda leads me to wondering:

What song reminds you of me?

First 5 people to answer get the surplus candy I got back from London!

Iiiit's School Anecdote Time!

2008-06-27T05:39:00.001+08:00

When Eric "acquired" (more like filch, finger, hook, loot, pillage, purloin, rob, snitch, steal, swipe, take, thieve, but I digress) a loudspeaker from deity knows where and promtly commenced to do what he does best: annoy people.

And one of his victims was Michael the Beast, so called for his acerbic nature and his habit of dousing his sentences with enough expletives to blow up JB. And for randomly body-slamming people with inpunity.

Anyway, here it went:

Eric: (with loudspeaker) Micheal.

(Michael ignores him)

Eric: Michael. Michael!

(is still being ignored)

Eric: Michael !! Michael !!!

Su Yee: Turn it down Eric, you're getting too loud.

Eric: (without louspeaker) Micheal. Micheal!

(Michael still ignores him)

Eric: Michael. Michael. Michael. Michael. Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal! Micheal!! Micheal!!!

Michael: (exasperated) WHAT?!

Eric: (takes loudspeaker) FUCK YOU.

XD.

Monday, 23rd June, 2008

2008-06-25T19:16:00.000+08:00

Skipped school today for a visit to the hospital. Had to drop some.... specimens for the doctor's examining pleasure. Which apparently had to be surrendered early in the day or before noon, before it dries up I suppose.

So anyway my aunt fetched me about halfway there then dropped me by the roadside like some homeless beggar because there was a jam.

A jam.

At 9 in the morning on a coastal road no less.
Which extended all the way down to the General Post Office wtf took 3/2 hours just to sampai at the hospital. -_-

Trekked about A Thousand Miles to the outpatient clinic which was sooooo faaaar awaaay from the hospital itself, what a pain, and I'd forgotten to charge my iPod yesterday so I didn't bring it with me and I couldn't even listen to Vanessa Carlton to alleviate the tedium, crud.

Well after I finally deposited the evidence as it were, took a cab to JPJ to pay a parking fine which my mom racked up in 2004. Took my parents this long to cough up the dough (a paltry 30 bucks btw) and the one to finally get it done is me.

Surprisingly though, it took less than 1/2 an hour to sift through the paperwork, so being the good boy I was I went down to CS to have lunch and call my aunt to fetch me back and I didn't enter any of the shops or buy an Ice-Blended Vanilla Venti Caramel with Whipped Cream at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, nor did I ogle at all the cool stuff in the innercity (though there was a really suave-looking hoodie....uh, that I didn't see) and I didn't even hang around at MPH till 3.

Honest I didn't.

*snort* Yeah, right.

So anyway I called up my aunt in one of those faux London-esque telephone booths near the elevators and she told me to make my own way back.

~~Whoohoo, freedom!~~
Uh, I mean crud, how annoying.

Took a bus, but I made a slight detour up to EV's place. Meant to just drop off Rae's milk buttons, but well, I couldn't drop by without saying hi...And I couldn't just say hi without chatting a bit about stuff...And, well since I was already there it was a shame to be leaving so early...

Yeah. So when I finally left it was 8pm. And my aunt was hopping aroung like a scalded cat when I got home. >_<
So other than playing the organ and shooting the crap outta the Locust in Gears of War, we took some awesome pics with EV's new camphone. It had a nifty feature that took like 10 shots within a second so we could choose which was best later.

Choice cuts:

Guitar hero showing off his grooves. No lack thereof KAYTHX.

An uncharacteristically girly jump for EV here. He could be a Sofy BodyFit advert model.
~SOFY~
*coughsnortcough*

And a Patrick Starr impersonation. Which further cements the fact that EV looks like a man's apparatus. <_<
An Ice-Blended Vanilla Venti Caramel with Whipped Cream induced aspiration as the Anti-Mage wtf delusions of grandeur zzzzzz.

The ninja actually looks KAKOII DESU NE in this pic. A considerable feat for Eu "zombiestarfish" Vin.
The mask was a dark green shirt which later it was discovered EV had accidentally drooled on. o_O

EV is SCARY here. Like the Kung-Fu Panda monkey sensei's evil twin. Albeit with boxer shorts.

My hands are blocking each other =_=;

For even moar decidedly AWESOME pics, go to EV's blog where you can view them in all of their unfettered glory.

In your face,Me:Shell!!

The rain in Spain falls ma-ai-inly in the Pla-ain ^^

2008-06-25T16:44:00.000+08:00

Guh.

I hate being late.

Late for school.

Late for tuition.

Late for dinner.

But most of all, late for blog updates.

Especially when I am unwillfully coerced into a mini blog hiatus, courtesy of hair-yanking slow loading times, bad modem mojo, or in this case, chained to my textbooks by overzealous parents with a kiasu complex.

Pffft.

Well anyway,
Since starting a blog, I've subconsciously learnt how to carefully record down information in my ~~brian~~ brain to post up here for anatawa reading pleasure desu ne.

Which is a good thing, sure,
but whenever I don't post my mind still keeps all sorts of useless trivia and banal conversations (which seemed funny at the time), and the only avenue available to offload all that crap is ~~spazzing to bored and~~ ~~long-suffering friends~~ here.

And now I've got Hands Down ~ Dashboard Confessional stuck in my head.

Lalalala~

Of course,
this virtual MP3 player in my cranium is nothing new, only that since I imported every single song of Helen's iTunes into mine, it's been playing end without end, ad infinitum. Which here means "till the Arrival Of The Apocalypse, or at least till my burger's ready"

(Cue everyone sweatdrop! =_=; =_=; =_=; Or as EV likes to put it, zhardao)

Psychedelic font colours and loud sizes FTW.

But still, it's distracting. Got chewed out by my Chemistry teacher (God bless her) when she caught me absent-mindedly doodling on the lab tables. >_< Fallen Through ~ Skye Sweetnam. ^^

This song had me itching to try it on guitar, and after some sexperimentation* I finally got the chords WHEEE~

(It's [Gm / Eb / Bb / F ] btw. Yet another trivial piece of info offloaded ^^)

But srsly,
Helen's playlist is really awesome, out of her 175 songs so far I've favorited 35 at least. Didn't expect such similarities in musical tastes, though there are still some weird stuff there. Like, what's up with "Shut Up And Sleep With Me ~ Belle & Sebastian" ? That falsetto just reeks of gayness. *balks*

There is just too much good material to be be passed up on though. Stuff like Cute Is What We Aim For and Sum 41 is reminiscent of Simple Plan in its prepubescent heyday, while Kate Nash lends some fun guy-bashing with plenty of expletives and Rilo Kiley quirky melody lines with an underscore of Hawaiian laid-backness. Though most of these are old, almost played-on-the-turntable-antique-kind, they still pretty much OWN most radio-played songs nowadays.
(Especially now that it's rife with hordes of wannabe hip-hop pretenders. Low~ Flo Rida, anyone?)

Anyway,
it just RAWKS. Too bad about Helen's _____'s untimely demise at the hands of a pick-pocket, that kinda thing really sucks. But now I'm afriad of bringing mine anywhere else now, which kinda defeats the purpose of having one in the first place. You might as well use the computer if you wanna do what the _____ does. (Which btw is classified information 'cos it is a sensitive issue, ye ken?)

Oh, and I'd forgotten to tag people with my stolen meme, so here it is.

OUI TAG:

Eric
Eu Vin
Rae
Jia Wenn
Helen
Daniel
Ernie
Peaches!
Michy
Brendon
Mina
Esther

No shirking this one, EVRae!

*A nod to Rae's well-spotted joke on EV's blog url blooper

Cons+Piracy

Liberte! Liberte!

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed cat is king.

There I go again.

See the paper faces on parade, every one a different shade

An attack of high spirits. Who do you call?

Look.

I'm all for champagne against drugs

Part III of the Boring Holiday Photo Montage

insert funny quote here

Part 1 of the Boring Holiday Photo Montage

“No, no, no. You get your own dust.”

Pepperoni & green peppers mushrooms olive chive

Anime on crack.

Game Dream.

The inside of a huge metal durian.

Reminders.

Observations

Sophomore slump

Breaking my vow of silence

-

Father Gabriel

Objection!

The a in gabs right now stands for apathetic.

Stinging repartee

Chestbursters!

*Yawn*

How random is the probability of getting a random chance?

Of Oranges And Mahjong Tiles.

Tataimaa~

Parley Vous Fracas?

Upd8.

Shadows and regrets

The heck with it.

Pissed.

A Journal Post

Another pointless Q & A session with myself.

What are they waiting for?!

Afterthought

Teh Partayy! =D

Not Yet Premier

Noisy Percussionists

Supremely Premier

Foreword

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Perceive, Ye Marchers Soldiering On~

Restive Recapitations

Embed cultures

My name is url.

B.U.M.

Pithy Excuse To Rack Up Post Count

"Dance, Dance"

Ugh.

Low-key here being an understatement.

College woes

Found this on FB =)

It appears the older we get, the lamer our jokes become.

Gay dates ftw!

Maddening Serenity

Of U-turns and Excruciating Numbness

Jumblies!

Pre-L: Paralyzing Lessons In Disguise

Just got back from camp,

The smell of death is in the air...

The eyes beholds the epidermis, but the mind beholds the soul

*Whole World Comes Crashing Down*

49/50

Pre-Parade!

Better Late Than Never

"C'mon."

CS: The Return

CS Outing

Thursday's Farewell Party

To-Do List

My eyes have peeled. @_@

3, 2, 1, Make Some Noise!

Epitaph for a Temporary Departure

Let the pictures do the talking.

It's Wednesday today, actually.

The Vitagen I'm drinking right now tastes like hospital disinfectant.

Yawn

Whole World Comes Crashing Down