*Note*
If you haven't seen the previous blog post about the video, scroll down and read it first!! Then SMS either Candle or me with your reply...
Onwards with regular blog programming......
One lesson I learnt from my mother is the power of words.
Never underestimate the power of the spoken word. Never think that what you say will have no effect on the listener whatsoever. Never dismiss the words that you speak to another.
I learn this lesson from her almost every weekend morning, when I wake up before she does. Because my morning can be going fine, all hunky-dory, I could even be in a good mood, until she wakes up.
And her first words to me are never 'Good morning' or 'Have you eaten?' but more like 'Get that room of yours tidied!' 'Bring in the laundry!' 'Always know how to enjoy yourself!'
And then, my mood for the entire day is spoiled.
What makes it worse is that my brother gets a different response from her. With him, it's 'Do you have any clothes for me to wash?' 'You want some breakfast? Eggs? Tea?' Jules says this is due to the whole NS thing, that mothers will fret about what the Army is doing to their precious offspring.
My reply to him was that that may be true enough, but it didn't exactly reduce the suckiness of the whole situation.
I'm past the point where I want a semblance of a relationship with my mother any longer. Nowadays I'm contented if she was to just leave me alone for the rest of my life. I don't want to hang out with her, I don't want to talk to her, and I don't want her to attempt to make conversation with me either.
I just want to lead my own life myself, and I don't want her to force herself into it, because the results always end in trauma for me.
Just leave me alone.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
I'm wondering how many of you remember the days.
You know, the days of Uni gone by, when we had 4 hour lunches in the canteen, 12 hour project meetings, and then chucked it all out the window during the long hols from May till late July? Yea, those days.
Do you remember how it all started? How some of us stayed overnight at the Bizad faculty working on the Rag float with a huge purple genie, and hung out more and more after that? Do you remember all the things we said, the jokes we cracked?
Do you remember the holidays to Taman, KL and Redang? Do you remember the Curse of the Batcave? The shopping in KL? The toothpaste we put on the guys on the bus?
Do you remember the Promo project, and the insane hours we spent on that project in various locations, including NUS, Bishan, and Sixth Ave? Do you remember the equally [or more] insane hours we spent on that project? Do you remember the insane amount of blood bled on that project, and the Seoul Garden payoff at the end?
Do you remember Redang beach? Do you remember its white, powdery sands, its clear blue seas, and us pretending to be seaweed in the water? Do you remember the love dramas that developed plots along those trips? [and don't pretend that you don't!]
If you do, Candle and I need YOU.
We are trying to create a sort of time capsule video. The purpose of this, is twofold. One is to capture all the precious and embarrassing moments for all posterity, another is to help those who can't do so, remember. This is because we believe that such memories should not be lost. [even those that you prefer would rather be forgotten]
For this, we are trying to get all of us together at my house to interview you and tape you on everything you can remember about the shared history we've been through. Your payoff for this, would be the CD with the video on it, and as usual, lunch at my house, and Happy Hour if you so feel like it. -_-!!!
The details are as follows:
Venue: My House
Date : Dec 16 [Sat]
Time : 12pm
SMS/call Candle or I by this Friday to confirm whether you'll be able to come so that we can do the arrangements quickly as possible.
We really wanna do this, so we hope you can reply and confirm ASAP! C'mon guys!
You know, the days of Uni gone by, when we had 4 hour lunches in the canteen, 12 hour project meetings, and then chucked it all out the window during the long hols from May till late July? Yea, those days.
Do you remember how it all started? How some of us stayed overnight at the Bizad faculty working on the Rag float with a huge purple genie, and hung out more and more after that? Do you remember all the things we said, the jokes we cracked?
Do you remember the holidays to Taman, KL and Redang? Do you remember the Curse of the Batcave? The shopping in KL? The toothpaste we put on the guys on the bus?
Do you remember the Promo project, and the insane hours we spent on that project in various locations, including NUS, Bishan, and Sixth Ave? Do you remember the equally [or more] insane hours we spent on that project? Do you remember the insane amount of blood bled on that project, and the Seoul Garden payoff at the end?
Do you remember Redang beach? Do you remember its white, powdery sands, its clear blue seas, and us pretending to be seaweed in the water? Do you remember the love dramas that developed plots along those trips? [and don't pretend that you don't!]
If you do, Candle and I need YOU.
We are trying to create a sort of time capsule video. The purpose of this, is twofold. One is to capture all the precious and embarrassing moments for all posterity, another is to help those who can't do so, remember. This is because we believe that such memories should not be lost. [even those that you prefer would rather be forgotten]
For this, we are trying to get all of us together at my house to interview you and tape you on everything you can remember about the shared history we've been through. Your payoff for this, would be the CD with the video on it, and as usual, lunch at my house, and Happy Hour if you so feel like it. -_-!!!
The details are as follows:
Venue: My House
Date : Dec 16 [Sat]
Time : 12pm
SMS/call Candle or I by this Friday to confirm whether you'll be able to come so that we can do the arrangements quickly as possible.
We really wanna do this, so we hope you can reply and confirm ASAP! C'mon guys!
Saturday, November 25, 2006
I may just need a PDA. Several times I've thought of something blogworthy, and then because of work/play/whatever I was doing at the moment, forgotten it in the next instant. Then when I'm finally sitting in front of my laptop, I realise that I have nothing to blog about.
*Sigh*
On the bright side, school hols are upon us. *yay* The bonus for civil servants has been declared *yay* I'm thinking of [finally] going to Bangkok if I can get a flight out. *yay*
My life suddenly feels... stable, like I've finally surpassed all those of levels of Maslow and then gotten myself too comfortable at one particular level. Like a true blue cat, I've plunked my butt down and lounged languidly in the sun.
This is bad. I'm getting old. *Sigh* One day I'll wake up and find out that I:
Have a beer belly
Live on Pringles and beer
Watch endless reruns of Days of our Lives
Something like this:
But you get the idea I think. If you wake up one day and you look back at your week, and it's been nothing but work, home, work, home, friend, boy/girlfriend, work, home I think it's time you did an auditing of your life.
I realised I'm like that. Lounging around doesn't quite suit me. Sure I can pull it off for a day or half, but after that I get itching. I've tried staying home on a Sat night and I couldn't get used to it. I tried to read, but couldn't last more than 5 pages. I went online but no one was there, and I finished all the blogs. I even started pacing up and down my living room and that's when I knew sitting down for too long wasn't for me.
Even now, after my tuition has ended, and my evenings are suddenly free, I find myself at a loss as to what to do with myself come dinnertime. Home is not an option because my mother doesn't always cook. Where to go then? Friends are not always free to meet up. I can't watch movies or read every night.
*itch itch itch*
I need slightly more activity in my life, other than just going out to the libraries or the shopping centres. I need some mental and creative simulation, and actually create something rather than just admiring other people's works. I need to be more like this:
On the prowl. Rowr.
So please, if you find yourself free on a weekday for dinner, [other than Lindy Thursday] or if you find out about some exciting new thing in town, or even way out of town, and you have no one to accompany you, tell me about it. GET ME OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE.
[but please don't bust my wallet while you're at it]
*Sigh*
On the bright side, school hols are upon us. *yay* The bonus for civil servants has been declared *yay* I'm thinking of [finally] going to Bangkok if I can get a flight out. *yay*
My life suddenly feels... stable, like I've finally surpassed all those of levels of Maslow and then gotten myself too comfortable at one particular level. Like a true blue cat, I've plunked my butt down and lounged languidly in the sun.
This is bad. I'm getting old. *Sigh* One day I'll wake up and find out that I:
Have a beer belly
Live on Pringles and beer
Watch endless reruns of Days of our Lives
Something like this:
But you get the idea I think. If you wake up one day and you look back at your week, and it's been nothing but work, home, work, home, friend, boy/girlfriend, work, home I think it's time you did an auditing of your life.
I realised I'm like that. Lounging around doesn't quite suit me. Sure I can pull it off for a day or half, but after that I get itching. I've tried staying home on a Sat night and I couldn't get used to it. I tried to read, but couldn't last more than 5 pages. I went online but no one was there, and I finished all the blogs. I even started pacing up and down my living room and that's when I knew sitting down for too long wasn't for me.
Even now, after my tuition has ended, and my evenings are suddenly free, I find myself at a loss as to what to do with myself come dinnertime. Home is not an option because my mother doesn't always cook. Where to go then? Friends are not always free to meet up. I can't watch movies or read every night.
*itch itch itch*
I need slightly more activity in my life, other than just going out to the libraries or the shopping centres. I need some mental and creative simulation, and actually create something rather than just admiring other people's works. I need to be more like this:
On the prowl. Rowr.
So please, if you find yourself free on a weekday for dinner, [other than Lindy Thursday] or if you find out about some exciting new thing in town, or even way out of town, and you have no one to accompany you, tell me about it. GET ME OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE.
[but please don't bust my wallet while you're at it]
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The DF has finally taken a step forward and gathered up the guts to meet some of my friends!
Ok, admittedly, he met the Turtle and Jules, both of whom were already familiar to him from JC, and I had to do some pleading on my end, but I like to think he's finally taking baby steps on his own. :p
After all, how long has this friends issue been going on? Almost as long as we've been together. -_-! And he's never voluntarily met up with ANY of my friends till now, as most of you keep reminding me. -_-! It's also been a sore point with me, because
1. I could never understand what was so hard about him sitting down to have a meal n chat with my friends [all of you being the wonderful, charming, sadists that you are]
2. I had already gone out with him n his friends on several occassions, and emerged with no visible scars. What's so hard?
So granted, it's a small step, but I like to look on the bright side and think that it's a baby step in the right direction. :)
Anyway, it turned out to be so entertaining for him, what with Jules and Greg spilling out embarrassing anecdote of me one after the other. I swear, I've NEVER seen him laugh so much with his own friends yet. -_-!!!! When he heard about some of the stories, he was laughing so uncontrollably he turned speechless and his face turned red, while I was getting ready to mangle Jules for it.
So 1 point for the DF finally. :) Now to work him up to meeting the REST of my friends....... WITHOUT him getting scars.
Ok, admittedly, he met the Turtle and Jules, both of whom were already familiar to him from JC, and I had to do some pleading on my end, but I like to think he's finally taking baby steps on his own. :p
After all, how long has this friends issue been going on? Almost as long as we've been together. -_-! And he's never voluntarily met up with ANY of my friends till now, as most of you keep reminding me. -_-! It's also been a sore point with me, because
1. I could never understand what was so hard about him sitting down to have a meal n chat with my friends [all of you being the wonderful, charming, sadists that you are]
2. I had already gone out with him n his friends on several occassions, and emerged with no visible scars. What's so hard?
So granted, it's a small step, but I like to look on the bright side and think that it's a baby step in the right direction. :)
Anyway, it turned out to be so entertaining for him, what with Jules and Greg spilling out embarrassing anecdote of me one after the other. I swear, I've NEVER seen him laugh so much with his own friends yet. -_-!!!! When he heard about some of the stories, he was laughing so uncontrollably he turned speechless and his face turned red, while I was getting ready to mangle Jules for it.
So 1 point for the DF finally. :) Now to work him up to meeting the REST of my friends....... WITHOUT him getting scars.
With the end of Friday's workday, I took a deep breath, sat on my chair, and thought to myself: All done.
Over the past 5 months, I've graduated 30 lower primary children and 2 O level students. I think I can safely say that my labours for now are over, and it's time for my turn to enjoy, and reclaim whatever's left of my humanity.
The hard part is letting go. Even now, sometimes I walk by, see something, and immediately think of how I could use it in the classroom. -_-!! And not to mention there's another class and another load of students to prepare for next year. -_-!!!!!!!
But for now, I'm happy to simply look forward to my dance, my books, my comics and my life. :)
And for the work-weary out there, check out the movie A Good Year. Other than the tempting message that it would be cool to quit your job and take up a vineyard in France, there is also the wonderful footage of Provence to ogle over.
Bring me there. Now. Sigh.
Although I have to admit, Russel Crowe's character in the movie was earning disgustingly pornographic amounts of money before he made the decision to quit and move to France. Not to mention with the pound and the euro being what they are, and the distance between the countries... I suppose for us it'll be kinda like moving to a more expensive form of Malaysia. -_-!!!
But don't tell me you aren't tempted by the idea: Quit your job, take all your money, move to a breathtakingly picturesque country, and live your life there with the love of your life.
*Sigh* Excuse me while I wallow in self-pity now at my life........
Over the past 5 months, I've graduated 30 lower primary children and 2 O level students. I think I can safely say that my labours for now are over, and it's time for my turn to enjoy, and reclaim whatever's left of my humanity.
The hard part is letting go. Even now, sometimes I walk by, see something, and immediately think of how I could use it in the classroom. -_-!! And not to mention there's another class and another load of students to prepare for next year. -_-!!!!!!!
But for now, I'm happy to simply look forward to my dance, my books, my comics and my life. :)
And for the work-weary out there, check out the movie A Good Year. Other than the tempting message that it would be cool to quit your job and take up a vineyard in France, there is also the wonderful footage of Provence to ogle over.
Bring me there. Now. Sigh.
Although I have to admit, Russel Crowe's character in the movie was earning disgustingly pornographic amounts of money before he made the decision to quit and move to France. Not to mention with the pound and the euro being what they are, and the distance between the countries... I suppose for us it'll be kinda like moving to a more expensive form of Malaysia. -_-!!!
But don't tell me you aren't tempted by the idea: Quit your job, take all your money, move to a breathtakingly picturesque country, and live your life there with the love of your life.
*Sigh* Excuse me while I wallow in self-pity now at my life........
Saturday, November 04, 2006
lack of posts. Yea I know. Blame it on any one of the following:
1. Work
2. Tuition
3. Dance
4. Wanderlust that compels me to leave the house and go walking around the whole day
5. Fatigue from feeling compelled to blog
6. Lack of inspiration
7. Auditionsea
So aren't you glad I managed to wake up at 530 on a Saturday morning, giving me enough time to go for breakfast with the folks, and come back in time to read blogs, watch MTV, and blog before recess has even started? X( I swear, this body clock thing will kill me in the long run. It's unnatural to be waking up this early on a Saturday morning of all things!!!
*Sigh* Help me, god...
On the other hand though, it's pretty refreshing to have a Saturday where I don't have to rush out much LPs, no tuition, no Jap, just one glorious Saturday morn and aft where I can do what I want, and not be constrained by a schedule. Where I can finally just, take the day as it is, one minute at a time. Enough time to eat, blog, read email, and still go out.
Hm. Maybe I could get used to this Saturday morning thing.
1. Work
2. Tuition
3. Dance
4. Wanderlust that compels me to leave the house and go walking around the whole day
5. Fatigue from feeling compelled to blog
6. Lack of inspiration
7. Auditionsea
So aren't you glad I managed to wake up at 530 on a Saturday morning, giving me enough time to go for breakfast with the folks, and come back in time to read blogs, watch MTV, and blog before recess has even started? X( I swear, this body clock thing will kill me in the long run. It's unnatural to be waking up this early on a Saturday morning of all things!!!
*Sigh* Help me, god...
On the other hand though, it's pretty refreshing to have a Saturday where I don't have to rush out much LPs, no tuition, no Jap, just one glorious Saturday morn and aft where I can do what I want, and not be constrained by a schedule. Where I can finally just, take the day as it is, one minute at a time. Enough time to eat, blog, read email, and still go out.
Hm. Maybe I could get used to this Saturday morning thing.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
There are days.
There are days where everything goes wrong.
There are days where everything seems designed to make you go insane, where even the simplest things seem beyond you, where even so, you have to grit your teeth and bear whatever nonsensical lemons life decides to throw your way, because there's nothing else you can do about it, where you go home at the end of the day, and you feel tired and drained out of all life and blood there was in you at the start of the day.
And then you meet your friend and one good line manages to lift your spirits and end your day on a good note.
Insurance agent: "Do you have any disorders or abnormalities?"
Friend: "Yes, I have an abnormality, it's just... I'm abnormally handsome. I have to go for an operation to uglify myself and make myself look more normal."
Insurance agent: ".... Wh-what?"
I'd rather not name sources on the Internet but I think most of you know there is only one guy who has the balls to come up with a line like that. ;)
There are days where everything goes wrong.
There are days where everything seems designed to make you go insane, where even the simplest things seem beyond you, where even so, you have to grit your teeth and bear whatever nonsensical lemons life decides to throw your way, because there's nothing else you can do about it, where you go home at the end of the day, and you feel tired and drained out of all life and blood there was in you at the start of the day.
And then you meet your friend and one good line manages to lift your spirits and end your day on a good note.
Insurance agent: "Do you have any disorders or abnormalities?"
Friend: "Yes, I have an abnormality, it's just... I'm abnormally handsome. I have to go for an operation to uglify myself and make myself look more normal."
Insurance agent: ".... Wh-what?"
I'd rather not name sources on the Internet but I think most of you know there is only one guy who has the balls to come up with a line like that. ;)
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
This is what happened to me: I go for a long, long movie drought in which I watch NO movies at all, and then suddenly, over the weekend I catch 3 movies. -_-!!! I don't know whether you can call this a Reclamation of Life, but...
A Shinigami [Death God] drops the Death Note onto Earth. Any names written within the book will die within 40 seconds of a heart attack. A narcisstic megalomanic genius picks up the book with intentions of killing off all the criminals in the world and creating a new world order in which he is God Supreme.
What a great plot premise, no? You really have to read the manga to appreciate the intricacies and plot twists and turns of this manga. My more barbarian friend may disagree with me, but I feel it is this which makes the manga truly stand out from the rest of those on the market, not to mention the novelty of the plot, whereby the main character is a kind of villian, rather than savior.
All this, to me, is lost in the movie.
To me, this movie is another reminder why I should never watch book-movie adaptions. [bleargh] Because in almost every movie in which I have read the book before, [most notable example being Harry Potter] I have been bitterly disappointed by the lack of depth in plot and character in a movie. Face it, a 2 1/2 hour movie is just not enough to truly do justice to a good sized book, let alone a manga whereby the storyline runs over 12 volumes!
Suddenly, the characters become more 2D, an irony since they are obviously 3D characters adapted from a 2D book. The plot becomes more shallow and brainless. There is no 'mindfuck' in watching the movie, [the term 'mindfuck' being attributed to a certain swingin' fren overseas] and hence there is no mental titillation. There was nothing to excite me about the whole plot and I ended up getting pretty bored halfway through the movie. Like, kill someone already.
Manga is better
Part of the problem is also that I've read the entire frickin' series. I know how he did all his tricks, I know how the plot will develop, I even know how the frickin' thing is gonna end. What on earth is there to look forward to for me then???
And there's a part 2 even. *swoon* I'm not sure whether I should spare myself the agony, or just watch it for closure.
"Hey! I'm sorry I said Christian Bale was cuter than you, OK???"
Interestingly enough, the 2 movies that I watched with him on Sunday had the common theme of deception in their scripts.
The magicians of The Prestige are essentially liars. They make you believe that they are capable of performing amazing magic, where actually, they just rely on props and showmanship to deceive you for that moment. The policemen and gangsters in The Departed are just liars, since a mole is basically that. He lies about what he is, in order to conceal what he truly is.
To him, these were both movies that left a bad aftertaste in the mouth. [his exact words, not mine] They are not feel-good movies, and even their endings may not be pretty. I feel at least that the Prestige had a pretty good twist at the end, which somewhat acted like a sort of prestige for the film. Actually, it seems that the whole film was meant to be played sort of like a magic trick. You see an ordinary object, and then the magician does something to that object. But the part that truly amazes you, the audience, is the part at the end, where he brings the bird back from where he made it disappear, and that is the Prestige. In the same way, the twist at the end was such an unthinkable ending, that it really was a Prestige in a sense.
The Departed was based on the movie Infernal Affairs, which yes, I had watched before, but somehow I didn't suffer the same boring deja vu I had while watching Death Note. I did know how the plot was going to proceed and how it would end, but the western adaption of the film was so different from the original HK version that it became entertaining to watch on its own, if only for the colourful characters that peppered the film. It just shows, Hollywood has a certain skill in adaptation. [probably because of a lack of creative scriptwriters... hahaha]
If you have to watch them, I say go for either the Departed or the Prestige. I liked these two better, even if it didn't have the happy endings that he wanted. :p
Death Note
A Shinigami [Death God] drops the Death Note onto Earth. Any names written within the book will die within 40 seconds of a heart attack. A narcisstic megalomanic genius picks up the book with intentions of killing off all the criminals in the world and creating a new world order in which he is God Supreme.
What a great plot premise, no? You really have to read the manga to appreciate the intricacies and plot twists and turns of this manga. My more barbarian friend may disagree with me, but I feel it is this which makes the manga truly stand out from the rest of those on the market, not to mention the novelty of the plot, whereby the main character is a kind of villian, rather than savior.
All this, to me, is lost in the movie.
To me, this movie is another reminder why I should never watch book-movie adaptions. [bleargh] Because in almost every movie in which I have read the book before, [most notable example being Harry Potter] I have been bitterly disappointed by the lack of depth in plot and character in a movie. Face it, a 2 1/2 hour movie is just not enough to truly do justice to a good sized book, let alone a manga whereby the storyline runs over 12 volumes!
Suddenly, the characters become more 2D, an irony since they are obviously 3D characters adapted from a 2D book. The plot becomes more shallow and brainless. There is no 'mindfuck' in watching the movie, [the term 'mindfuck' being attributed to a certain swingin' fren overseas] and hence there is no mental titillation. There was nothing to excite me about the whole plot and I ended up getting pretty bored halfway through the movie. Like, kill someone already.
Manga is better
Part of the problem is also that I've read the entire frickin' series. I know how he did all his tricks, I know how the plot will develop, I even know how the frickin' thing is gonna end. What on earth is there to look forward to for me then???
And there's a part 2 even. *swoon* I'm not sure whether I should spare myself the agony, or just watch it for closure.
The Prestige and The Departed
"Hey! I'm sorry I said Christian Bale was cuter than you, OK???"
Interestingly enough, the 2 movies that I watched with him on Sunday had the common theme of deception in their scripts.
The magicians of The Prestige are essentially liars. They make you believe that they are capable of performing amazing magic, where actually, they just rely on props and showmanship to deceive you for that moment. The policemen and gangsters in The Departed are just liars, since a mole is basically that. He lies about what he is, in order to conceal what he truly is.
To him, these were both movies that left a bad aftertaste in the mouth. [his exact words, not mine] They are not feel-good movies, and even their endings may not be pretty. I feel at least that the Prestige had a pretty good twist at the end, which somewhat acted like a sort of prestige for the film. Actually, it seems that the whole film was meant to be played sort of like a magic trick. You see an ordinary object, and then the magician does something to that object. But the part that truly amazes you, the audience, is the part at the end, where he brings the bird back from where he made it disappear, and that is the Prestige. In the same way, the twist at the end was such an unthinkable ending, that it really was a Prestige in a sense.
The Departed was based on the movie Infernal Affairs, which yes, I had watched before, but somehow I didn't suffer the same boring deja vu I had while watching Death Note. I did know how the plot was going to proceed and how it would end, but the western adaption of the film was so different from the original HK version that it became entertaining to watch on its own, if only for the colourful characters that peppered the film. It just shows, Hollywood has a certain skill in adaptation. [probably because of a lack of creative scriptwriters... hahaha]
If you have to watch them, I say go for either the Departed or the Prestige. I liked these two better, even if it didn't have the happy endings that he wanted. :p
Monday, October 16, 2006
It's almost back to hostel days, as Yenn prepares to stay over for the next 3 nights at my house, due to an inefficiency in deployment over a nationwide marking exercise. :p Currently her laptop is beside mine as she maples and I blog.
Yup, back to hostel days, except that tonight the room is much, much bigger, and the food better as we just came back from a ChompX2 dinner. :p
The break from the kids is proving good for the two of us. We were just about reaching that point when we were dragging ourselves to school and she was spamming my hp with "My life sucks"-type SMSes, so it's just about time we spent some time away from the kids before the exams started.
Man, we almost sound like a married couple in that last sentence.
The only problem now is that for some reason, the lag is much worse for her during her Mapling sessions, though my blogging and surfing sessions seem just fine. Considering her possible future [as evident in that South park episode in her blog] as a gamer though, I'd say it's just as well for her. >D
So how has life been to me so far? Other than how my kids seem to be going utterly insane towards the exams, it's good to see that some time is finally clearing up. One tuition kid has just ended his exams so I've stopped him for now, and I finally have more time on Saturday afternoons. *phew* Only 2 more kids to go for now...
The dance is going as well as before, though I haven't been able to go for a proper Fling in weeks. -_-!!! I have been to some events at the Library@esplanade and the change of venue is proving refreshing, though the faces are just the same ones transplanted from Fling. -_-!!!!! Considering another jazz dance course in Nov if I feel up to it, and not too fat... :p
And speaking of dance, who's free on Fri and Sat night?
Other than that, it's been a smooth, eventless life so far. Funny how everything just seems so... settled... right now, like, nothing happening, little hiccups here n there but nothing that is beyond my ability to handle, or chuck aside to a convenient corner of the mind....
Hopefully not the calm before the storm..........
Yup, back to hostel days, except that tonight the room is much, much bigger, and the food better as we just came back from a ChompX2 dinner. :p
The break from the kids is proving good for the two of us. We were just about reaching that point when we were dragging ourselves to school and she was spamming my hp with "My life sucks"-type SMSes, so it's just about time we spent some time away from the kids before the exams started.
Man, we almost sound like a married couple in that last sentence.
The only problem now is that for some reason, the lag is much worse for her during her Mapling sessions, though my blogging and surfing sessions seem just fine. Considering her possible future [as evident in that South park episode in her blog] as a gamer though, I'd say it's just as well for her. >D
So how has life been to me so far? Other than how my kids seem to be going utterly insane towards the exams, it's good to see that some time is finally clearing up. One tuition kid has just ended his exams so I've stopped him for now, and I finally have more time on Saturday afternoons. *phew* Only 2 more kids to go for now...
The dance is going as well as before, though I haven't been able to go for a proper Fling in weeks. -_-!!! I have been to some events at the Library@esplanade and the change of venue is proving refreshing, though the faces are just the same ones transplanted from Fling. -_-!!!!! Considering another jazz dance course in Nov if I feel up to it, and not too fat... :p
And speaking of dance, who's free on Fri and Sat night?
Other than that, it's been a smooth, eventless life so far. Funny how everything just seems so... settled... right now, like, nothing happening, little hiccups here n there but nothing that is beyond my ability to handle, or chuck aside to a convenient corner of the mind....
Hopefully not the calm before the storm..........
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Talking Cock In Parliament
In lieu of many blog entries not done, [life been too boring, sorry], here are some videos I found of the Talking Cock in Parliament event I attended in August. It took me one HELL of a lotta effort to make sure they published correctly, so WATCH THEM!!! Esp the Ruby Pan and Hossan Leong ones, 'cos I think they're the funniest. :p For the other, just watch it for the Candy guy making the Candy line.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
A White Death
With the blogging of the Bintan trip, I forgot to blog about the other disaster that struck me after I came back. [yea, not a very good week for me overall]
My Shiroi Creative Zen was playing music for me on the way to work, as usual, when suddenly it hung, and refused to go any further.
I had encountered this problem before, and luckily Creative now has a service center at Marina Sq so I headed there after work to get it fixed.
Where, I found to my profound, abject horror, that to fix the problem, the entire hard drive would have to be reformatted, resulting in the total loss of all the mp3s i had in the player.
I swear, my heart just stopped then and there when the service guy told me those fateful words. Like, the player is only about 1 year old????
Unfortunately the problem was such that there was no way to fix it without erasing everything.
And total loss? We're talking about 1068 mp3s here. [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
Hence, now I have to drag out my CD collection box by box and start retransferring them into Shiroi again, CD by CD....... -_-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh god, I feel like my baby just went to the brink of death, and was narrowly saved by a long, nerve-wracking, operation.
Monday, September 25, 2006
There's bit quite a bit of drama over these few days, so here's fodder for this dusty ol' blog.
I went to sunny Bintan over the weekend with DF and his group of friends, but even a seemingly simple trip almost didn't happened due to some stupidity on my part.
The ferry we were supposed to take on Fri was supposed to leave at 8. I left work early, went to buy some Children's Day pressies with colleagues, and then rushed home to bathe, quickly pack and then take a taxi to Bedok MRT to meet him.
At 1830, I realise that I left my passport at home.
After I made my heart start beating again, I tried calling home to see if my dad or anyone was home, but no one. I quickly ran to get a cab and rushed back home to get my passport. But sooooo many things went against me.
Rush hour traffic slowed down the cab. Mom called, only to berate me for being such an idiot. All the while I prayed fervently that I would just get through the traffic to reach the ferry in time.
Now when I'm in action, I don't think much. But when I'm not doing anything, like just sitting in a cab, I have nothing to do but fret. And I fretted all the way from Bedok to Bishan and back, almost crying in the cab, thinking of how mad he would be, thinking of how my mom was thinking of what an idiot I was, but not thinking of a way to help, thinking, thinking, thinking too much.
To cut a long story short, I didn't make it. 15mins to 8, he called me to tell me that the ferry gates were closing and that we'd have to scrap the trip.
After trying so hard, praying so hard all the way, to be told that I couldn't make it after all...... my heart sank all the way to my toes. I was that disappointed, that I couldn't make it, that I had disappointed him.
I rolled into the ferry terminal to meet him, and we took the cab back to Bishan.
To his great credit though, he was surprisingly upbeat about the whole thing. He was all normal and ok, and he said it was alright, that if I wanted to go all that much, we could just book a ferry for sat morning. I said later that I thought he'd be mad, or upset, and he said,
"It's not what you do, it's who you do it with."
When we left each other night, I looked at his receding back, and thought: That's a good man I chose.
Anyway we went down on sat morn, snorkelled a bit, lounged around, walked around, and before u know it, it was time to go back on Sun morn :p But he was talking about what we could do the next time we went down, just the 2 of us, so I'm keeping my hopes up ^_^
I feel like my stock is slowly appreciating in value, though I'm not getting much dividend returns... hahaha
I went to sunny Bintan over the weekend with DF and his group of friends, but even a seemingly simple trip almost didn't happened due to some stupidity on my part.
The ferry we were supposed to take on Fri was supposed to leave at 8. I left work early, went to buy some Children's Day pressies with colleagues, and then rushed home to bathe, quickly pack and then take a taxi to Bedok MRT to meet him.
At 1830, I realise that I left my passport at home.
After I made my heart start beating again, I tried calling home to see if my dad or anyone was home, but no one. I quickly ran to get a cab and rushed back home to get my passport. But sooooo many things went against me.
Rush hour traffic slowed down the cab. Mom called, only to berate me for being such an idiot. All the while I prayed fervently that I would just get through the traffic to reach the ferry in time.
Now when I'm in action, I don't think much. But when I'm not doing anything, like just sitting in a cab, I have nothing to do but fret. And I fretted all the way from Bedok to Bishan and back, almost crying in the cab, thinking of how mad he would be, thinking of how my mom was thinking of what an idiot I was, but not thinking of a way to help, thinking, thinking, thinking too much.
To cut a long story short, I didn't make it. 15mins to 8, he called me to tell me that the ferry gates were closing and that we'd have to scrap the trip.
After trying so hard, praying so hard all the way, to be told that I couldn't make it after all...... my heart sank all the way to my toes. I was that disappointed, that I couldn't make it, that I had disappointed him.
I rolled into the ferry terminal to meet him, and we took the cab back to Bishan.
To his great credit though, he was surprisingly upbeat about the whole thing. He was all normal and ok, and he said it was alright, that if I wanted to go all that much, we could just book a ferry for sat morning. I said later that I thought he'd be mad, or upset, and he said,
"It's not what you do, it's who you do it with."
When we left each other night, I looked at his receding back, and thought: That's a good man I chose.
Anyway we went down on sat morn, snorkelled a bit, lounged around, walked around, and before u know it, it was time to go back on Sun morn :p But he was talking about what we could do the next time we went down, just the 2 of us, so I'm keeping my hopes up ^_^
I feel like my stock is slowly appreciating in value, though I'm not getting much dividend returns... hahaha
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Because, er, you never know what profound effects for humanity there will be, if we can make teh tarik in space. Imagine, instead of sucking up dry liquids from an airtight pack, astronauts can make fresh, floating teh tarik in zero gravity. They don't even have to aim the cups properly, just let the liquid mass bob along in space until you scoop it up in a cup. Let's all make teh tarik in space.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
I caught a few opening minutes of the Singapore Biennale last night.
Firstly, a gripe. If you're advertising to the open public that the event starts from 1800h onwards, then kindly let the public see something at 6!!! I was there from 6 onwards and the only thing going on was some laundry lines with balloons on them being installed. All the main [and I'm guessing, finished] installations were kept away in a tent with entry only for VIPs and media.
Phwargh! Organization sux!
Anyway, soon enough I managed to catch this installation:
Notice the words on the front of the Supreme Court? The artist had a long list of sayings and [possibly] propaganda flashed onto the facade by a high beam.
Which creates an interesting effect doesn't it? The grandness of the project lends it a V-for-Vendetta kind of effect, its sheer magnitude somehow lending it more gravity, especially when using a solemn old building like the Supreme Court as a background. You kind of believe that there has to be some kind of truth to such large, glaring words, and that they have to have some kind of power or truth behind them. Until you read lines like this:
for those who can't see clearly, it says Disorganization is a kind of anesthisea or something spelled like that
Clearly something I can identify with, considering the state of my room and my desk at work. And the next one is something interesting too:
I thought this one was interesting though. It makes you think about the words that come from important and seemingly all-knowing people and places. Do the words have more meaning and power because they are against the Supreme Court? What if they were flashed against the UOB towers instead? Or the Esplanade? And if you were standing there, reading the words against the Supreme Court, would you have more belief for these words?
In the words of goldfish, this is one mindfuck awright. :)
For more info, go to the Singapore Biennale website. The theme for this travelling exhibition is Belief, so many installations will be held at religious places all over Singapore. Check it out, take a look, and maybe open your minds a little.
Firstly, a gripe. If you're advertising to the open public that the event starts from 1800h onwards, then kindly let the public see something at 6!!! I was there from 6 onwards and the only thing going on was some laundry lines with balloons on them being installed. All the main [and I'm guessing, finished] installations were kept away in a tent with entry only for VIPs and media.
Phwargh! Organization sux!
Anyway, soon enough I managed to catch this installation:
Notice the words on the front of the Supreme Court? The artist had a long list of sayings and [possibly] propaganda flashed onto the facade by a high beam.
Which creates an interesting effect doesn't it? The grandness of the project lends it a V-for-Vendetta kind of effect, its sheer magnitude somehow lending it more gravity, especially when using a solemn old building like the Supreme Court as a background. You kind of believe that there has to be some kind of truth to such large, glaring words, and that they have to have some kind of power or truth behind them. Until you read lines like this:
for those who can't see clearly, it says Disorganization is a kind of anesthisea or something spelled like thatClearly something I can identify with, considering the state of my room and my desk at work. And the next one is something interesting too:
I thought this one was interesting though. It makes you think about the words that come from important and seemingly all-knowing people and places. Do the words have more meaning and power because they are against the Supreme Court? What if they were flashed against the UOB towers instead? Or the Esplanade? And if you were standing there, reading the words against the Supreme Court, would you have more belief for these words?In the words of goldfish, this is one mindfuck awright. :)
For more info, go to the Singapore Biennale website. The theme for this travelling exhibition is Belief, so many installations will be held at religious places all over Singapore. Check it out, take a look, and maybe open your minds a little.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Ironically, it was a few bad incidents on Teacher's Day that made me wonder why I became a teacher.
In the end, after all the trinkets, stationery, and artificial flowers received on 31st Aug, the true Teacher's Day present came this morning, the Teacher's Day school holiday which incidentally is also a prelude to the one week Sept break.
However, the body clock being accustomed already to one term of school, I woke up at abt 7, still early enough to make it down to school for flag-raising *_* Except this time, I lazed in bed about half an hour longer, then fixed breakfast, surfed some blogs, and now I have MTV on while my laptop is on my lap.
This is the real Teacher's Day :)
Later on, I'll decide what to do in the afternoon, and what to do for the rest of the week, [I might even think about some lesson plans for the next few weeks. Eek.] but for now, I'm content to laze the morning away. *Ah* Now I remember why I joined this line. :p
In the end, after all the trinkets, stationery, and artificial flowers received on 31st Aug, the true Teacher's Day present came this morning, the Teacher's Day school holiday which incidentally is also a prelude to the one week Sept break.
However, the body clock being accustomed already to one term of school, I woke up at abt 7, still early enough to make it down to school for flag-raising *_* Except this time, I lazed in bed about half an hour longer, then fixed breakfast, surfed some blogs, and now I have MTV on while my laptop is on my lap.
This is the real Teacher's Day :)
Later on, I'll decide what to do in the afternoon, and what to do for the rest of the week, [I might even think about some lesson plans for the next few weeks. Eek.] but for now, I'm content to laze the morning away. *Ah* Now I remember why I joined this line. :p
Monday, August 28, 2006
Work, extracurricular activities, [mine, not the kids'] and the remnants of my social life are catching up with me.
What with the tuition, and the social life, my weekdays and ends are almost always completely booked up. :( And that is not a mere brag. Some weeks I find myself running from school to home, only to bathe, and then get out again to tuition/dance/friends whatever.
I'm not complaining though. In a way, it's very satisfactory to come home, late, but psyched from getting out, sometimes, just for the sake of it. Even if it's just to laze somewhere with a cup of tea and a good book, something I could do very easily at home as well. :) If I had a wireless-enabled PDA, I'll probably be blogging and surfing the net outside as well.
I think I'm just one of those people who need to be doing something. Even if that something is not very much at all.
Anyway, the past week in brief:
Thurs: Talking cock in Parliament. An event organized by the TalkingCock people, where several friends of the founder get together to talk about their Uniquely Singaporean experiences. Witness the woman who reminisces about how going to a more privileged secondary school suddenly makes her feel ashamed of her humble upbringings. Or how the other performers jibe about MPs, Singlish and accents.
The one highlight of the night, however, had to be that gay guy who came dressed in a brightly coloured vertically-striped shirt, lamenting that it made him look like a candy store, and that "You can call me Candy. I'm always hard and you can lick me anytime."
-_-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fri: Dinner with Yenn followed by some light shopping, in which I buy a pair of great shoes, which bust on Sunday afternoon. -_-!!!!!! Later, Krynn joins us and gets so red-in-the-face by the drinks at Fish N Co that she earns sly, knowing glances from the waitresses on the way out. Heh.
I end the day with a peaceful jaunt through the books at Borders.
Sat: Womad rocked, but not as much as last year, despite the great picnic dinner with roast chicken, chip n dip, and juice. A bit too much reggae maybe? But Jimmy Cliff does some real good reggae... Full of meaningful lyrics...
Sun: The DF and I watch The Devil Wears Prada. I'm glad this was one book I never read, because I rather enjoyed the movie with the hard-as-grit Dame Bitch Miranda Priestly, and the aspiring innocent Andy. And the fashionwear in the movie is to die for.
Watching the movie did remind me of one point of myself though. I guess the whole point of the storyline was whether you were willing to sacrifice everything for what you wanted, love, life, family, everything. It reminded me again why I should never aspire to top management positions. Because I was never quite raised with that killer instinct that Miranda Priestly demonstrated so effectively in the movie. And I could never treat people with that same disdain as she did, crushing them under her feet.
However, on the flipside, you never know quite what you are capable of till you actually did it. So how would you know?
Maybe the real challenge is knowing just when it is you're getting sick of it, and want out. Something I'm glad I'm not quite feeling about my job right now. [certainly I do not have $40,000 in the bank]
What a week! Thankfully my tuition kid has cancelled for the week, and Fri's a sch holiday. *peace sign* Here's to the upcoming week........
What with the tuition, and the social life, my weekdays and ends are almost always completely booked up. :( And that is not a mere brag. Some weeks I find myself running from school to home, only to bathe, and then get out again to tuition/dance/friends whatever.
I'm not complaining though. In a way, it's very satisfactory to come home, late, but psyched from getting out, sometimes, just for the sake of it. Even if it's just to laze somewhere with a cup of tea and a good book, something I could do very easily at home as well. :) If I had a wireless-enabled PDA, I'll probably be blogging and surfing the net outside as well.
I think I'm just one of those people who need to be doing something. Even if that something is not very much at all.
Anyway, the past week in brief:
Thurs: Talking cock in Parliament. An event organized by the TalkingCock people, where several friends of the founder get together to talk about their Uniquely Singaporean experiences. Witness the woman who reminisces about how going to a more privileged secondary school suddenly makes her feel ashamed of her humble upbringings. Or how the other performers jibe about MPs, Singlish and accents.
The one highlight of the night, however, had to be that gay guy who came dressed in a brightly coloured vertically-striped shirt, lamenting that it made him look like a candy store, and that "You can call me Candy. I'm always hard and you can lick me anytime."
-_-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fri: Dinner with Yenn followed by some light shopping, in which I buy a pair of great shoes, which bust on Sunday afternoon. -_-!!!!!! Later, Krynn joins us and gets so red-in-the-face by the drinks at Fish N Co that she earns sly, knowing glances from the waitresses on the way out. Heh.
I end the day with a peaceful jaunt through the books at Borders.
Sat: Womad rocked, but not as much as last year, despite the great picnic dinner with roast chicken, chip n dip, and juice. A bit too much reggae maybe? But Jimmy Cliff does some real good reggae... Full of meaningful lyrics...
Sun: The DF and I watch The Devil Wears Prada. I'm glad this was one book I never read, because I rather enjoyed the movie with the hard-as-grit Dame Bitch Miranda Priestly, and the aspiring innocent Andy. And the fashionwear in the movie is to die for.
Watching the movie did remind me of one point of myself though. I guess the whole point of the storyline was whether you were willing to sacrifice everything for what you wanted, love, life, family, everything. It reminded me again why I should never aspire to top management positions. Because I was never quite raised with that killer instinct that Miranda Priestly demonstrated so effectively in the movie. And I could never treat people with that same disdain as she did, crushing them under her feet.
However, on the flipside, you never know quite what you are capable of till you actually did it. So how would you know?
Maybe the real challenge is knowing just when it is you're getting sick of it, and want out. Something I'm glad I'm not quite feeling about my job right now. [certainly I do not have $40,000 in the bank]
What a week! Thankfully my tuition kid has cancelled for the week, and Fri's a sch holiday. *peace sign* Here's to the upcoming week........
Friday, August 18, 2006
This is funny. And should make you want to quit your job.
Some observations from Lindy class:
1. Beware of the shirts you wear, innocently snitched from your brother's wardrobe.
"Can I see your shirt?"
"Sure."
"Hey, isn't that the name of the nudist beach in Australia?"
"What?"
"Hahaha! I wouldn't have known it of you!"
"It's not mine! I got it from my brother's wardrobe! I swear!"
"Yea sure!" *wink wink*
And later with other partners,
"Manly beach. Heh."
.................................................. -_-!!!
2. Fast Lindy songs are hard. Slow Lindy songs are harder.
With fast Lindy songs, you fly by each beat and triple step in a blur, swooshing around from A to B and pulled around by your partner as if you were a shot put ball at the end of a string.
With slow Lindy songs, you feel like you're doing a Lindy Tai Chi.
Example of a medium Lindy beat:
Rock step triple step rock step triple step
Example of a fast Lindy beat:
rostetristerostetristerostetriste
Example of a slow Lindy beat:
Rooooocccckkkkkkk sttteeeeepppppppp trrrrriiiipppplllllleeeeee sttttteeeeeppppppp
'Nuff said.
Some observations from Lindy class:
1. Beware of the shirts you wear, innocently snitched from your brother's wardrobe.
"Can I see your shirt?"
"Sure."
"Hey, isn't that the name of the nudist beach in Australia?"
"What?"
"Hahaha! I wouldn't have known it of you!"
"It's not mine! I got it from my brother's wardrobe! I swear!"
"Yea sure!" *wink wink*
And later with other partners,
"Manly beach. Heh."
.................................................. -_-!!!
2. Fast Lindy songs are hard. Slow Lindy songs are harder.
With fast Lindy songs, you fly by each beat and triple step in a blur, swooshing around from A to B and pulled around by your partner as if you were a shot put ball at the end of a string.
With slow Lindy songs, you feel like you're doing a Lindy Tai Chi.
Example of a medium Lindy beat:
Rock step triple step rock step triple step
Example of a fast Lindy beat:
rostetristerostetristerostetriste
Example of a slow Lindy beat:
Rooooocccckkkkkkk sttteeeeepppppppp trrrrriiiipppplllllleeeeee sttttteeeeeppppppp
'Nuff said.
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