Oh Snap!!

Kuantan

2011-03-27T21:48:00.003+08:00

Kuantan - my hometown. If there's anywhere that you can find both development and decaying buildings along a street, this is it.

While Kuantan is currently undergoing development, truth to be told, the town has never quite garnered the development momentum that spurred Kuala Lumpur into the metropolitan it is now. In fact, everywhere you go, you'll see empty buildings, some badly needing restoration.

There aren't that many modern skyscraper in the town, there is no crazy traffic jam that you get during rush hours in KL, and everyone is just moving at a much slower pace. Certainly, if you're looking for a city life, you won't find it.

But if you're looking to relax, Kuantan is the perfect location.

I look forward to seeing you again Kuantan.

Serenity

2011-01-09T19:16:00.004+08:00

Lovely little place which brings you away from capitalism, materialism, and commercialism... isolating yourself from the external voices telling you what you should be doing and how catastrophic it is if you have failed to achieve anything noteworthy by now. I need that, most of us do - if only just to find my true north, if only to just let myself think.

It's ridiculous, ridiculous how failure is exacerbated to the point that ANY failure is intolerable, and it's equally unfortunate that the notion has been internalized in me. It'll take a while but I'll have to reverse this, or else I can't just keep peace with myself.

Flowers

2011-01-04T10:36:00.003+08:00

The...
Flowers...
They...
Beckon!!
Plants...
Will...
Rule!!!

What a flowery new year.

Life in Technicolour

2010-12-22T23:00:00.002+08:00

Right, new year resolution - people are starting to reflect their year 2010 and make resolutions for year 2011... I never did subscribe to the idea of new year resolution, probably due to the fact that I was too drunk to decide on any resolution whatsoever in the past few new year eves anyway.

This year will be a little different, my new year celebration that is. I'll be hiding away from civilisation, spending some quality time with family on Cameron Highlands. Having some time away from the hustles and bustles of the city may do me some good as at times I found myself being too caught up in the pace of city life.

If there are any remaining posts to be made this year, most likely they will be pictures... so this effectively ties up all my worded posts this year.

So while it may be a little early, have a merry christmas, happy new year, and may your year be one in technicolour. ;)

Who...

2010-12-04T21:58:00.003+08:00

am I?

23 years old and I still haven't figured myself out. Or maybe I've been staring at the truth for the longest time but too afraid to admit it.

Moving on

2010-10-24T18:15:00.002+08:00

And so we have a closure to our university life. Everyone's moving on.

Colourful life here I come!! =D

The Web of Life

2010-10-06T00:39:00.002+08:00

A beautiful mess.

Sometimes...

2010-09-26T20:38:00.002+08:00

I forget why I lug my big bag with my camera gears in it and run around.

Ever since I've graduated, I found myself being caught up in life until I've forgotten why I started doing some things in the first place. Photography is one of them:

But looking at these photos, and all the photos I've taken previously, I am reminded why I fell in love with photography in the first place. It's the stories that the photos paint, the emotions that the photos bring out, and the beauty in each and every one of them that makes me personally attached to them.

Of course, ultimately, I want to travel and go to beautiful places, to places with interesting culture, be it metropolitan city, be it secluded rural village, be it a no-man's land and capture the sceneries and cultures in their purest form. To do that, I'll need to become better and better in photography. It's my dream, and from today onwards, I pledge to devote and commit myself to this dream,
because why limit ourselves when sky's the limit?

And here I share my dreams with you fellow readers... if you see the panel on the right, you'll find currently it's filled with 2 different locations in the world. In due time you'll see the list getting longer and longer, and one by one, I WILL go to these places and experience them in their entirety, and bring them back to you through my photographs. This, my friend, is my promise to you. Until then... I'll see you again. =)

2010-09-25T01:10:00.005+08:00

Like all good things, the trip in Australia had to come to an end too.

Naturally, we just couldn't let it go without making the final bang - we just had to go to Melbourne city one last time before departing from Melbourne to go back to Malaysia.

Once we touched down in Melbourne from Sydney in late afternoon, we took a bus into Melbourne city with our luggages and dropped our luggages in Pinky's room. Pinky had to meet her friends so we went for dinner ourselves:

Pho

Spring roll

Elaine's seal of approval™

After dinner we walked around in the city and immersed ourselves in the night city scenery.

And there was fire show at Crown Casino!!

Feel the heat!

Well, some warmth in the winter always welcomed. Once the fire show ended we went to a local bar and watched live performance:

Elaine and Pinky

After the tiring but satisfying trip to the city, we hurried back to the airport:
and then made our way back to Malaysia.

So guys, when's our next trip? =P

Sydney 2

2010-09-20T23:04:00.009+08:00

Among the things we can't miss in Sydney, we were told, is Bondi Beach. And among the things in Bondi Beach that we can't miss, we were told, is a small restaurant called Hurricane.

Good food + potentially lots of pretty girls in skimpy clothing, do we really need any other reason to go there?

And so we set off!

Once again, we were told that the whole journey(from Richard's place to Bondi Beach) would take approximately 3 hours to walk. What we weren't told was that the time estimation was based on Australian walking pace... which was FAR slower than the walking pace in Singapore. Anticipating that it would take THAT long to reach Bondi Beach, we stopped a while to rest.

Apart from 1 girl who seem to have a knack to camwhore.

After about 1 hour plus since we started our journey, we made the second pit stop. Then some wireless flash goodness kicked in:

Emo

MORE Emo

When 2 people emo, the emo doubles

With about 2 more hours to go before we could reach Bondi Beach(or so we thought), we decided that time was running out and took cab right away to city. Here in comes a shock: cab fare was crazy expensive in Sydney and the meter jumps like literally every 5 seconds!! We were eye-ing the meter nervously whenever the cab stopped at a traffic light, using all our might to will the traffic lights to turn green.

It took forever to reach city and after we hopped off the cab, we went to Paddy's Market! It's similar to Victoria Market in the sense that it offered a wide variety of things ranging from food to souvenirs.

Glasses too!

We then went to another side of the city and got another view of both Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Needless to say, mischief always prevailed:

After that we met up with Richard and Adam for dinner. Now remember just now I talked about Bondi Beach being 3 hours walk away from Richard's place? Turned out we were just about half an hour away from it when we were at the second pit stop!! HALF AN HOUR!! I demand my Hurricane and scantily dressed beach girls!!RAWR!!

*cough* Anywayyyy, for dinner, we went to Lowenbrau.

First there was pork knuckle.

Then there were beers.

Finally there was fun.

Alas, all the good times had to end - that night was our final night in Sydney, and as much as we loved it, we couldn't get enough of it. This would not be the last time, Sydney. ;)

Sydney

2010-09-19T15:52:00.008+08:00

The last series of our trip in Australia!!
Due to the lengthen time we spent in Tasmania, we ended up with only 2 days in Sydney. 2 days... 2 DAYS!! Not enough, definitely not enough in hindsight.

Moving on, we flew from Launceston to Sydney in the afternoon. A kid was making such a ruckus in the plane that all of us felt like just going up to the kid and slap him for being such a nuisance. That's one full hour of ruckus being made by the kid and it really irritated all of us because we badly needed to nap.

After arriving in the airport, we took a taxi to Richard's place. Then Richard brought us for some light snacks before we went out together to meet Adam for dinner.

Japanese food for dinner!!The restaurant was operated by Japanese and the food was authentic Japanese. Loved their ramen!

Boys spotted: Adam, Yi Wang, Richard and Dee

Full and happy, we went out for a walk at Darling Harbour before we watched our first ever musical broadway performance(well, about half of us actually since Yi Wang and Yen Ping have watched some Disney musical before).

Wicked the Musical.

Wicked told the story from the witch's point of view in Wizard of Oz, giving background to all the other characters and most importantly, why the witch did what she did. It was a brand new experience for me and I enjoyed EVERY single minute of it. The songs were flawless, Glinda was played to perfection (albeit her high pitched voice got a bit annoying at some point) and Elphaba had the most powerful voice among the cast. I would, without a single doubt, watch it again if given the chance. ;)

The next morning, we went to the Sydney Fish Market for some of the freshest and juiciest seafood we've ever tasted:

After that my stomach felt a bit funny but fortunately nothing major in the end. Must've been the amount of raw food that I ingested.

We explored the city and after a fair bit of walking, we went to Lindt to try their chocolate cakes and drinks:

Hot weather + Ice cold drinks = Bliss

Good stuffs!! Price even better!! Then again, it's supposed to be higher end chocolate product outlet, so price was naturally on the higher side. No complaints though, the stuffs were good.

We then did the touristy things:

Sydney Opera House

Harbour Bridge

And a little bit of not-so-touristy things too! =P

Dinner was at Pancake on the Rocks.

Very, very, VERY sinful

Yi Wang with his overly exaggerated hand gestures knocked over a plate that the waitress was holding when she was serving us, thus delaying the arrival of the heavenly sinful chocolate pancake. Obviously we didn't let him forget about it for the following few days. =D

Finally we watched a light show and called it a night:

Tasmania - Launceston

2010-09-18T20:13:00.010+08:00

Oh lord... I still have yet to finish blogging about the trip to Australia. Time to get the Tasmania portion done and then there'll only be Sydney left!

Alright, so on the 4th day morning we left Bicheno, the Super Dead Town™, and drove to Launceston - the other bigger town in Tasmania. We spent almost the entire morning and half of the afternoon driving before arriving in Launceston.

On the whole, in Tasmania, we generally see older buildings being maintained and used as shop lots, unlike Melbourne and Sydney.

What's interesting was that they have these road side cafe layout that gave out a quaint and relaxing feel, rather than our usual mamak-overly-casual style that we could usually find in Malaysia:
If not for the freezing condition I wouldn't mind sitting there and get a cup of coffee.

We went into the Old Umbrella Shop and saw the evolution of umbrella since its inception:

By the time we came out and explored the town a bit more, dusk came and we were greeted with this magnificent sight:

Such pretty colours, makes me appreciate dusk even more than ever.

The next day we went to Sheffield, the mural town. Back in the 1980s, Sheffield was facing a rural decline and the local community were desperate bring the town back to life again. They then decided to embark on a project to paint murals around the town as a form of attraction to people visiting. The first mural being commissioned was one painted by Gustav Weindorfer:

The first ever mural!!

It's interesting to see all these murals on virtually every wall in the town, and all of them were nicely done too.

And not all the murals were on the wall too!

Us being us, we fooled around as usual:

And we don't limit ourselves to murals on the wall.

Our next destination:

Let's just say that we felt extremely cheated by the word 'longest'. We were half expecting the chairlift to bring us to the top of a hill, what happened instead was we were brought to a platform on the same level on the other side and we had to climb the hill ourselves.

Regardless, we always SMILE for the camera. =D

Legs dangling in the air.

The recently graduated ones.

We cooked dinner for the night!!

Dinner for the night - well done steak, coleslaw, mushroom soup and apple... a satisfying meal. =)

Tasmania - Wineglass Bay

2010-09-11T10:44:00.012+08:00

Day 3 in Tasmania: We checked out of our backpackers hostel in Hobart and drove to Freycinet National Park.

A long drive and a lunch later, we were greeted with this:

Looks like there's a group of people running around naked in the national park.

Before we started our climb to Wineglass Bay Lookout, we had to leave our contacts on a log book at the entrance along with our log in time. This would help them to keep track of the people who were still in the park and ensure that at the end of the day, no one would remain in the park.

Then we climbed these:

and found time to take in some views along the way:

Many centuries and few hundred rounds of pit stop later, we reached the lookout point:

And so a monkey sat and lookout from the lookout area...

and he found the legendary bay that looked like a wineglass.

We stayed a while to catch our breath while some of us camwhored:

A happy prisoner who had more than her fair share of free curry rice.

A frantic prisoner who didn't realise that he could easily climb out of the cage.

After that we drove to some other parts of the park and found this:

Being near to the sea always made me feel that I could dump all my worries and uncertainties out, very therapeutic and relaxing. My dream house MUST be beside or at a beach, if only just to be near the sea. ;)

The non-couple version of standing at the edge and taking in sea breeze.

People of all sizes.

Sea wide sky empty!

Then we went to yet another spot in the park, and took some photos that are... different from usual:

The super shiny Rolex.

The emo.

The "you-know-this-is-bound-to-come-out-at-some-point"

After that we fooled around a bit:

Tales of a dog peeing and a dog kicking.

The following requires no narration:

The sun was setting soon so we went to our backpackers in Bicheno.

Bicheno was a very very small secluded town(so secluded that there was no mobile phone coverage there!!) and when the sun was setting, it's dead. We spent the whole evening and night in the backpackers entertaining ourselves with card games and boozes.
Dinner was from a nearby mini market, but in the end, it's always the company that mattered. ;)

Tasmania - Hobart 2

2010-09-10T21:50:00.013+08:00

The next day we journeyed to Port Arthur. I was struggling to stay awake in the morning (clear evidence that I'm never a morning person) and thankfully still managed to keep everyone alive while driving. =P

And it was along the way that I experienced the coldest temperature throughout my whole life up till that point... -1 degree celcius at sea level. Rolling down the window was akin to inviting knives to pierce my face over and over again. It's probably nothing to those who have gone to UK or Russia before but it was a whole new experience for me.

Anyway, we reached Port Arthur only to find out that we needed to pay around 70AUD just to get into the town area. What a ripoff!! ~~Being the cheapskate we were~~ We had budget constraint so we decided not to venture in, instead we had breakfast there and went to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Center:

A happy and a screaming Tasmanian Devils.

To make a point on how cold it was then:

Ice forming on the wooden handrail.

Now before I continue, I think most people would think of this when I say Tasmanian Devil:
Now throw that image out of your head... NOW!

The REAL Tasmanian Devil was nowhere as cute... in fact they were quite grumpy and freely bared fangs at each other. According to the worker there, the more they bare fangs and growl at each other(between a male and a female Devil, that is), the more likely they are closer with each other and hence the higher chance they would mate in the future. That's like saying the more my girlfriend show that she wants to bite off my head, the more likely she'll have sex with me. Twisted eh?

A Tasmanian Devil when it's not grumpy.

Tasmanian Devils when they see food.

Tasmanian Devils have really really bad eyesight and hearing that they are not able to hunt at all. They are what we call the scavengers, basically they will look for dead carcasses and eat them as food. When it comes to dead carcasses, Australia will never be short of them... just the journey from Hobart to Port Arthur and then to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Center, we saw at least 5 of them on the road.

After that we went to feed the kangaroos:

An old kangaroo this...

The kangaroos had a relatively peaceful life until...

One impostor came to steal their food...

and another impostor came to steal their love.

After feeding the kangaroos, we went for their bird show. While not having as many audience as you would get in Jurong Birdpark's bird shows, it's still an enjoyable one nonetheless.

First there's the parrot who would do well as debt collector, though it could only pick out shillings from our hands.

Then an owl that... was somehow still awake in the day.

A falcon that couldn't fly due to broken wing but would've totally ripped your head otherwise.

Showing its beautiful side... it's always about the angle baby.

And finally the bird flying through wide open legs show!

After the bird show concluded, we walked around a bit more to kill time.

Cutest ever Wallaby!!

We then proceeded to Cadbury factory and had a tour. We learned some of the processes involved in making chocolates...
and bought a handful of cheap cheap CHEAP chocolates from their in-house store!!

Every Cadbury lovers' wet dream.

The final agenda of the day: Mount Wellington!!

And we're all at the pinnacle!!

What better place than a chilly, windy place to propose to your girlfriend?

Our final picture at the highest point in Tasmania before we scrambled back to our car for warmth. Good fun it was.

Tasmania - Hobart

2010-08-27T22:27:00.011+08:00

There were some changes made to our air ticket to Tasmania and we ended up spending the whole night in Melbourne airport.

It's like one of those things that you must do when traveling with a bunch of friends, cliched as it may seem. We woke up at around 4.30am, groggily walked to the check-in counter and waited to board the 6am flight.

By the time we reached Hobart at 7.15am, we were so sleep deprived that we almost wanted to throw ourselves on our beds and sleep after checking in to our backpacker hostel. Nevertheless, we persevered and took bath to freshen up. Little did we know that the bathing woke us up even more than we expected: You see, the hostel was using a centralised water heating system so when 2 or more people bathed at the same time, there would not be enough hot water and instead of getting a constant stream of hot water, we had to jump in and out of the stream whenever the water turned cold unexpectedly. It's like fencing with the water, and boy did that wake me up.

After our breakfast, we went to Richmond. It's a small town that housed the oldest bridge in Australia - the Richmond Bridge.

Just like any other stone bridge.

Truth to be told, that was about the only attraction the town had but there were some ducks:

We fed the ducks.

But Elaine couldn't resist.

After that we explored the town, figuring how ridiculous it would've been if the town only had bridge and ducks as attractions. We weren't disappointed:

We found a Hobart town model which showcased how Hobart was like when it was first established many umpteen years ago. To keep us interested, they made a treasure hunt game and had us looking high and low for some of the things that the miniature people were doing:

Like falling off from a tree:

Hiding behind the haystack and kissing:

And this was how their public toilet look like:

That said the sanitary condition of the toilet was still MILES better than the ones you could find in Malaysia, though you'd probably freeze your ass using it during winter. If there's anything I learned throughout this trip, is that warmth is severely under appreciated by people who are from tropical countries.

Eventually we made our way back to Hobart and had awesome dinner in Balls and Chain:

The free flow salad bar - taking care of your tummy should you find that the main course is not sufficient.

Steak and wine to end the day - perfect!

Melbourne - City

2010-07-18T02:27:00.007+08:00

We've decided to dedicate the final day in Melbourne to the city area itself. Hailing from Singapore, we'd certainly want to see how different it is city life in other countries compared to Singapore.

The streets of Melbourne.

The day was meant to be free and easy... which meant that we slept in and woke up at 9am(surprising, considering when in Singapore, sleeping in would mean waking up at lunch time). Yi Wang found a few possible walking routes in the city and asked us to print the maps.

Girls hard at work printing maps.

After that we headed out to pick up the rest and returned the car(also a little matter of a fine we received the night before).

Our tour guide of the day - Pinky, was already at the car return center waiting for us.

Tour guide and one of the tourists.

We first went to the Melbourne Central Station to see the preserved clock tower.
The more appropriate description should be the CLOCKLESS-clock tower though. Because that's what it really was, just a tower without any sign of clock on it.

We also made a brief stop at the Victoria Library and did what tourists usually do:

Why take picture of course!!

Being the ever diligent tour guide she was, Pinky already had a brunch place in mind. And what more appropriate than showing us at the same time what made Melbourne... well, Melbourne!

The back alleys filled with shops and cafes!

We had our brunch in this cosy little shop(no clue what name it is though) which served awesome awesome egg florentines(with nice and crisp bacons too)!!
Despite looking rather small in portion, the brunch was very very filling and we all walked out full and happy.

What really struck me was how well they preserved and retained their old buildings in the modern setup. The old buildings had seamlessly integrated into the modern city and rather than standing out, they became a part of the city... only to be noticed when one really pays attention.

Okay they actually do stand out a little.

It helped too that they have some really pretty buildings:

While most of their buildings do not stand out too much, the same could not be said about their transports. They have
trams
and horse carts to chauffeur you around. The tram was somewhat expensive, the horse cart VERY expensive. But it was still a novel experience to see horse carts going about among the cars in the middle of the road. Wonder if I will have the money to take the horse cart the next time I come back to visit...

Before long we arrived at the Federation Square,
apparently a place where many people chill out and relax at.
And picnic too!! Beware of watchful birds though, they might steal your food.

During our walk, we found a pretty city view:
with ugly cars distracting us from the view.

Then we started our little park walk:

with their fair bit of statues:

along with a Wai Seng!

We were then greeted by these Arnold lookalikes.

Arnie!!!!

It's no coincidence that they were in military uniforms and held weapons. After all, we were arriving at the War Memorial Building.

"Do Re Mi Mi Re Do"

The war memorial is a... memorial for all the Australian soldiers involved in all the wars in the past. It's their way of ensuring that the sacrifice of the fallen soldiers does not go unnoticed.
Something special about this plague: There's an opening on the top of the building and once every year, the sunlight would fall on the word "Love". How cool is that?

We went to the rooftop and was greeted by this rainbow from an earlier drizzle:
as though it's telling us that the rain was over and good days were coming(how fitting for a graduation trip).

But rain again it did and we had to retreat into a museum. There Wai Seng found something he loved:
Clearly he has a thing for saggy boobs...

Melbourne - Phillip Island part 2

2010-07-07T23:17:00.006+08:00

Shortly after visiting the Koala Conservation Center, the drizzling became heavier. We had no choice but to retreat to a sheltered place - The Amazen Things.
It wasn't in our plan initially because we wanted to go to the Nobbies to see seals, also there was another issue of time constraint since we only had about an hour to spare before the penguin parade.

The Amazen Things brought back the kids inside us with all the mazes and quirky funsies. First we were climbing on a slope,
which supposedly distorted our sense of balance though I personally didn't experience anything unusual.

The slope also meant that we could perform some gravity defying illusion, like this:
That's a Michael Jackson move right there yo!!

After that Wai Seng got thoroughly confused by this big big lollipop:

After that we went on to the mirror maze and boy do I love mirrors!!

Sadly from the pictures above, Elaine and Wai Seng didn't quite share the same sentiments as I did. After about 5 minutes of walking and probing, we found our way out of the mirror maze... except Yi Wang:
~~We had to break the glass and haul him out of the maze~~He joined us shortly after finding his way out of the maze.

And then we got hungry:
Like... really really hungry...
that we didn't get disgusted seeing our friends' heads being served as food.
But Yi Wang didn't mind his head being served as food at all judging from his brilliant grin.

We fooled around a bit longer to kill time before running back to our car and sped our way to the Penguin Parade.
We had to be at the beach roughly one hour earlier before the penguins came up the shore. Why? We had no idea at all.

For the penguin parade, we weren't allowed to photograph the penguins because they were afraid that the camera flash would scare the penguins into confusion and as a result the penguins wouldn't be able to return to their nests.

So we could only satisfy with camwhoring while waiting for the penguins to come back. The staffs came down later and I had to keep my camera.

Do not be fooled by the pictures above, we were freezing our asses off from all the chilly winds blowing from the sea AND we had to endure that for the whole hour before the penguins came up.

My advice: If you ever go for Penguin Parade, bring those mask that terrorists use to protect your face and ear from all the chilly winds. The cold from your face and ear would eventually spread into your body so it's probably best that you minimize the area of your skin being exposed to the wind as much as possible.

That said, there were a few heroic souls who went there with only short sleeve shirts (that's the only layer they're wearing) and short pants. They must be Eskimos.

After the Penguin Parade, we ate pizza in the car and then drove back to Melbourne City and called it a night.

Melbourne - Phillip Island Part 1

2010-06-24T22:33:00.025+08:00

I found that last entry is unbelievably long so for this and the following entries, I will break them down into parts so that the reading won't be too long and cumbersome.

Anyway, picking up from where we left, we drove a long long way back from Great Ocean Road to Melbourne City. There were several discoveries along the way:
1) Their expressways are nothing like the expressways that we see in Malaysia or Singapore. The expressways only have one lane for each direction and rely solely on reflectors to light up the road(no street lamps at all).
2) Their truckers drive either REALLY FAST or REALLY SLOW.
3) No matter how fast Australians drive on the road, they will obey all the speed limits in suburban and city areas.
4) It's much easier switching lanes when driving in Australia compared to Malaysia.
5) Parking in Melbourne City is FREAKING EXPENSIVE - we're talking about 2 AUD an hour AT LEAST here. Luckily we managed to find the cheapest parking lot in the city and paid a flat rate of 5 AUD after 6pm.
6) Some parking spaces only allow you to park for 1 or 2 hours max. Talk about inconvenience...
7) Hook turn. I literally went WTF when I was first told about it.

So we reached Melbourne City at night and met up with Myn Wee and Terence(who are awesome hosts and helpful in every way possible) for dinner. We went to this Greek restaurant(forgotten the name) and all I remembered was that I had meat, LOTS of meat.
Meat platter - every carnivores' wet dream.

After dinner we went for dessert and hot chocolate at San Churro
The hot chocolate was gooooooooood. If you ever go there, get the thicker hot chocolate - very very rich and sinfully delicious.

And this was our dessert - Chocolate and Churros. Churro is also known as the Spanish Donut.

After dessert we decided to call it a night and get some rest. The next morning we went to Queen Victoria Market for breakfast.
Queen Victoria Market(or Victoria Market) sells a wide variety of things. It can be divided into four main parts: poultry, meat & seafood; fruits & vegetables; cooked food & pastries; and finally souvenirs.

We sat outside and enjoyed some sunshine(and great light for photos too).
The little red riding hood and uhhhhh... the big bad wolf?

There's also a legally blind(or at least close to it) singing his rendition of Enrique Iglesias' Hero, earning a fair bit of shillings from passersby.

After breakfast we began our journey to Phillip Island.
There was one problem though - it was raining on and off; and the mood was generally gloomy in Phillip Island(not to mention my mood too thinking of the prospect of exposing my camera to potential downpours).

Regardless, we were already in Phillip Island and determined not to put the day to waste. First stop in Phillip Island: Churchill Island.

Churchill Island was the first European settlement in Victoria. Here we saw the first house built and its expansions.
That was the first home... more like room because that really was all. The table and the fireplace were all within one room. And a whole family lived in it, a WHOLE FAMILY!! We would've moaned and whined if someone else is sharing room with us... how pampered.

This was the device they used to tell time:
A sundial, which relied on sunlight to generate shadow that would point to the numbers to indicate the time. And if it was rainy day, like the day we visited, there's absolutely no way to tell time unless you're rich enough to own a watch.

We also visited the farm to get an idea on the activities they did to sustain themselves.

Then we had lunch at a fish and chips restaurant in Cowes. The fish they served were very fresh and received Elaine's seal of approval. She was even happy enough to pose for an advertisement shot:

After that we proceeded to the Koala Conservation Center to find...
Koalas!!

But a big one found Yen Ping:

Koalas are generally a lazy bunch... sitting and hanging about on tree trunks and tree branches. Apparently their diet consists of about 1kg of leaves per day so they have to conserve as much energy as possible by minimising their movements. Their lack of motion makes them hard to spot.
Yi Wang and Yen Ping trying hard to spot one.

And then Yi Wang found one:
He was immediately infected by the motionless Koala and induced to sleep.

Then we found one sitting around rather than hanging about on the branches:
Motionless as ever.

Then the rain got heavier and we had to run back to shelter. The rain was also the reason we visited the following place. Stay tuned to find out where that is. ;)

Melbourne - Great Ocean Road

2010-06-21T16:15:00.062+08:00

It all started somewhere in the middle of October 2009 when Wai Seng sent us an email to tell us about a promotion from AirAsia. One look at the list of destinations and Melbourne immediately caught our attention - it was dirt cheap flying there in June 2010!! The promotion was going to end very soon so we sprung into action right away and promptly booked the tickets, figuring that even if we end up not going there the losses would have been minimal.

What followed were a few months of procrastination and some frantic last minute planning as June approached. We managed to finalize everything and do all the necessary bookings just a few days before the trip started.

Without further ado, the characters:

The two girls - Elaine and Yen Ping

Yi Wang

Wai Seng

and yours truly

On 3rd June 1.10am we boarded the plane and flew to Melbourne. There were of course people who were fast asleep...
and then there were 3 of us.
We couldn't sleep for the most part of the journey because the seats were uncomfortable. Then again we paid very little for the airfare so this was a form of compromise. For all the lack of sleep I was rewarded with this:
First of the many stunning views that I would get throughout this journey.

We touched down at Tullamarine Airport at about 11.20am(Australian time),
rented a car,
and hit the road right away.
Little did we know then that we were witnessing the rise of Queen of Snooze rivaling even Nobita:
As the trip went on, we got progressively amazed at the amount of sleep Yen Ping was clocking in. At one point we were betting on how many minutes it took for her to fall asleep right from the moment she entered the car - we got even more amazed at the actual result.

Regardless, the coastal drive was awesome - we were feasting on the scenery along the way:
which was a very very refreshing change from all the trees and hills you get when you drive long distance in Malaysia.

We stopped along the way to camwhore a bit...
and found time to play with some random dog.

But the Great Ocean Road was a VERY LONG drive so we had to stop at Apollo Bay to spend the night. The sun set at around 5.30pm so we were basically driving in the dark for about 2 hours before we reached the backpacker hostel in Apollo Bay. Apparently many suburbans and small towns in Australia were so safe that they didn't feel the need to install street lamps in their residential areas, resulting in dodgy looking residential areas at night. When we first arrived at the hostel, we felt that the place was ultra dodgy and were wondering if we made the wrong choice choosing that hostel.

Fortunately we were directed to another branch within the same town, which was closer to the coast and rather well-lit. This was the first of the many backpacker hostels we stayed in:
The shops in Australia generally close earlier(compared to Malaysia and Singapore at least) so we quickly went for dinner after checking into the hostel.
That was our first proper meal in Australia(McDonald's Cheese & Bacon burger and water DO NOT count as a proper meal). After dinner we retreated to our hostel to shower and get some well deserved rest.

Then we set off again the next morning. First stop: The Twelve Apostles.
Breath taking... we stood there awe-stricken, taking in as much of the scenic view as we could. The chilly breeze was forgotten, the morning sleepiness was driven away and we did what we do best:
A proper one with a proper background.
A proper one with a proper background using PHONE.
A proper one with a not-so-proper background.
A classic sunglasses reflection shot.

And then entropy kicked in for some of us:

That's when we realized that we had exhausted all the scenic views available to us there. So we moved on to the next stop: The Arch.

But we took a wrong turn along the way and ended up in a town - as a result we were semi-lost. No need to worry, we resumed once again to what we do best:

We even brought in another important member to camwhore with us!!
(The car was the important member in case you haven't already seen the obvious)

We went back on the road and finally arrived at
the mother of all archs - The Arch.

Due to the limitations of the lookout point, we had to be contented with using the sea as our background.

And the final stop for our Great Ocean Road journey: London Bridge

Yi Wang learned from Elaine and started to emo.
He became suicidal and wanted to jump off the rail.
At the most critical moment Yen Ping appeared and had Yi Wang swooning at her.
They did a Titanic pose, Yi Wang became happy and all was well again.
~~I had no one to do Titanic pose with =(.~~

Where were we?

2010-06-20T13:00:00.013+08:00

Ah right, new layout to symbolically mark a new beginning for me, and the fact that I'm getting a bit bored with the black background. Having said that changing layout is quite a bitch. There are still some tweaks for the current layout that I'm hoping to implement but first I need to learn how to modify the codes. Now that that's out of the way let's get to the main point of this post...

Right, so I've been to Australia for my graduation trip and back from it... with about 2000+ photos sitting about waiting to see the world(I've uploaded about 400 of them on my facebook if anyone bothers). Anyway, the pictures would need to undergo some post processing before I upload them here so for now I'll just upload the unprocessed version as a sneak peek before filling you up with details in the following posts.

The fun people whom I traveled with:

Melbourne:

Tasmania:

And finally Sydney:

3 destinations, 2 weeks, no idea how many posts to paint the story.

Next post: Melbourne. =D

Aussie

2010-06-07T19:13:00.002+08:00

Melbourne
Great Ocean Road: checked
Phillip Island: checked
Melbourne City: checked

Tasmania
Richmond: checked

4 more days in Tasmania and 3 more days in Sydney.

I'll die photoshopping the pictures for the trip after this =P.

This is...

2010-05-18T23:32:00.003+08:00

slightly unnerving - a few rejections and not a single interview call up, nevermind job offer.

I hate to admit this but it does put a dent a bit on my confidence.

Is it my credentials? Is it my resume? Is it my virtually non-existant achievement(if the comment that achievement = winning competitions/awards is to be believed)?

I have friends asking me to take it easy and not rush into a job. Well, I'd really hope to get a job soon so that firstly, I'd feel more settled and secondly, I don't need to take money from my mum again. But I guess I really have to take it easy now, don't I?

Chins up.

4 years

2010-05-08T01:28:00.010+08:00

We had stupid days:

We had mischevious days:

We had disappointing days:

We had days laughing with each other:

We had sleepless nights completing projects:

Garang Infantry - the boulevard of OUR broken dreams

In short, it has been a ride with mixed bag of emotions:

With friends who will stick with you thick and thin:

It has been a pleasure.

T-14

2010-04-29T21:11:00.003+08:00

That's how long more left for this phase of my life.

As it is now, I just feel like I couldn't wait for the day to come any faster. I'm not really sure how I would feel on that day itself though, ask me again on that day.

Leaving that aside, I am thinking about what I want to do with my life. Truthfully, I think I'll feel rather lost because I have been getting a little bit too comfortable with the studying life. At least there is more or less a more concrete target for me when I am studying. Next phase of life? I'm not so sure.

As it is now I'm keeping my options open, it may be a 9-5 job(though realistically working in an MNC in Singapore, it's likely to be longer hours than that), it may be a technical job, it may be a managerial job, heck, it may even be something totally unrelated to what I'm studying. Come what may...

But I think there is something that I would definitely want to be at some point within my life - a professional photographer. After all, it gives me absolute joy and satisfaction taking photos like this:

I am aware that as it is now, I am lacking in skills so I have to improve myself as I go along... hopefully picking up freelance jobs along the way.

I guess for now my plan is to get a job, hone my photography skills and develop my own style during my free time while being on the lookout for freelance jobs. Oh and also get more gears. =P

Let's see how this little dream of mine turn out after years down the road.

Contract

2010-03-10T07:05:00.003+08:00

When social contract no longer becomes a social contract:

Picture shamelessly ripped from Elaine without consent.

And suddenly being a janitor with absolutely no career prospect becomes an attractive option.

In a world of their own...

2010-02-10T00:53:00.002+08:00

Questions

2010-01-31T18:43:00.006+08:00

Am I happy with the way things are?

Am I afraid or do I genuinely not want it?

Do I really need it now?

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm missing the big picture... the more important things that I need to take care of first.

I have always made mistakes of trying to achieve too many things at once, maybe it's time to take things one by one.

Leaping into the year 2010

2010-01-05T04:37:00.009+08:00

31st December 2009 couldn't start any less eventful with me having barely slept the night before while awaiting my bus ride at 7:45am. After about 1 week fooling around in KL I once again bade farewell and returned to Singapore.

The only difference - this was my first time spending new year's eve in Singapore. The initial new year's eve celebration plan fell apart and I was rather sure that I would be sleeping through the whole celebration (due to the severe sleep deprivation during my time in KL) until Patrick promptly messaged me.

The Patrick Face™

Two plans were proposed:
1) Shop and countdown in Vivo City
2) Countdown in our favourite bar Wala Wala

I wasn't that keen on Vivo City because I was very tired and the less walking the better for me. However Wala Wala wasn't that much attractive either because there were only two of us. As far as bars go, the more the merrier.

Heck, at least it beats spending new year's eve all alone - so off to Wala Wala we went.

Along the way we decided to call Yi Wang along, since he also came back on that day and he has always wanted to go to Wala Wala. The only trouble was that he had company and as a result:

It's fated Yi Wang, it's fated.

Wala Wala, the ever business opportunist, implemented a cover charge of $30 per person on that day. So we ordered a bottle of red wine to waive off the cover charge.

The only alcohol consumed that night.

The band that performed that night was The Reverie. We were half expecting The Unexpecteds to perform since they usually did their gigs on Thursdays and Saturdays. Alas, it was not meant to be. This would not be the last time, Wala Wala.

The Reverie

Patrick thought that the vocalist sounded like Bryan Adams. But to me, his voice reminded me of Rod Stewart. Regardless, the lead was excellent and they served up their renditions of Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall, Use Somebody, The Man Who Can't Be Moved and more. Every now and then, everyone sang along with them. Those unfamiliar with the lyrics would bob their heads or shake their bodies according to the rhythm.

There was no countdown. We were so engrossed in the music that we didn't realize it was 2010 until someone popped the confetti.

And so 2010 was here.

Kambing Sesat

2009-12-18T01:09:00.001+08:00

Mbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

Will be returning to the theaters when it's done eating grass.

Red Head

2009-10-28T06:18:00.003+08:00

Expressions

2009-10-16T11:10:00.004+08:00

心理障碍

2009-10-11T14:34:00.002+08:00

与妈在电话聊天，她说下个星期下来探望我...但是需要个伴，因为她但心可能会过境时会有问题...没有个伴会手忙脚乱。

妈：找不到人陪我下来怎么办？

我：没问题的...你不清楚还可以问问在机场的职务人员，他们会很乐意协助你。

妈：这样应该没问题吧？只是问问下就可以了...

我：对啊...妈，你其实可以的，什么事都做得到，就是心理障碍搞到你这个不敢那个不敢而已。

妈：那好吧，如果找不到人陪我，我就一个人搭飞机下来吧。

我：不用担心，你不会有问题的。

说真的，我也得反省下...口口声声告诉妈她的心理障碍阻止她做事，其实我自己也一样被我的障碍打败了无数次...还没鼓起勇气就败在自己的手下。以后要好好告诉自己，还没尝试就不会知道结果，我怎么输也好，就是绝对不可以输给自己。

Family

2009-10-10T03:15:00.007+08:00

Hold me up, I want to know how's it like seeing things from your view!

I don't recall sitting on my dad's shoulders as a child. Perhaps my parents deemed it as dangerous... perhaps my parents were afraid that I would cry and thrash around when being put into an unfamiliar place... perhaps my parents just didn't do things like that.

Things change... people change... I wonder what has changed in my family. But one thing's for sure, like any other family, the love never stops.

It's just you and me...

2009-10-06T01:29:00.001+08:00

In need of a break...

2009-09-22T13:31:00.000+08:00

But there's no more Vodka left. =(

A lazy day...

2009-09-12T21:45:00.004+08:00

A slow slow day...

End

2009-09-07T23:22:00.005+08:00

Year 2007: MAE Club 26th Management Committee

Year 2008: MAE Club 27th Management Committee

2 years of ups and downs, running about, skipping classes, slavery... and it ended tonight. I'm officially relieved of all my tasks.

A part of me is relieved that I can finally concentrate on my priorities once again. Another part of me will definitely miss it. Funny how I always couldn't wait for this day to come, and when it arrives... I'm a little sad.

Regardless, this is a phase of life that I will have to bid farewell to. Time to move forward and focus on other more important things.

Time to let go...

A month that has been...

2009-08-31T10:22:00.004+08:00

First and foremost, a happy belated birthday to Yi Wang and Shaun!

The birthday boys!!

Wishing you two a smooth year ahead and getting what both of you want. =D
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of birthdays, how can I miss out the other important birthday? Happy birthday Malaysia!!

The Lao Jiaos who gave us the best sketch performance we have ever seen, making their final Bang before leaving NTU.

Thanks Elaine and Sein Chyi for cheering me up that day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAE Club Election has officially ended yesterday night after the vote recounting session. Here I would like to thank everyone who helped out and to the MAE Club 28th Management Committee, all the best!!

Now it's time to take a step forward...

10th August 2009

2009-08-15T11:30:00.006+08:00

And I'm 22 years old... grown old, but not grown up.

Thanks guys!!

Very apt of them to get Tom and Jerry cakes for me. =P

It's my final year celebrating my birthday in NTU. If anything this is probably the last time so many people celebrated my birthday for me, because as we know, by August 2010, most of us here would be out of NTU, probably busy working. Everyone would have his or her own commitments.

I never wanted that night to end, I never wanted the next day to end as well... because that night and the next day are reminders of how many people loved me as a friend despite all the troubles I have brought them, despite all my flaws, despite what an ass I could be at times. For that, I couldn't thank you enough.

It's probably very silly of me to ask for all of us to stay close because let's face it, in the future we will have our own commitments, we will have our other halves, we will have other more important people in our lives if we haven't already have them now... so all I will ask for is this: for us to come out together from time to time and meet up and for us to always keep in touch.

As for me? I will cherish that picture above... because for all I know, it might just be the last one we all take a photo like that.

Farewell

2009-08-05T01:57:00.004+08:00

I'll freely admit: This holiday hasn't been a happy one.

Face hidden to avoid potentially traumatizing graphic

And it was a tough period to go through as well.

I was lost, I was scared, I was lonely. I didn't expect it to be so fast... probably because I wasn't there most of the time to witness it.

I am not the most expressive person, nor am I talkative, in hindsight perhaps I should be.

I want him to watch me graduate, I want him to watch me setting up my own family, I want him to grow old with mum, I want to sit with him and laugh about how much of a nuisance I was when I was a baby, I want him to watch both his boys succeed in life and know that we couldn't ask for a better father.

Alas, the final moment came as swiftly as it went.

I will remember all the promises I've made to you, I will treasure every little thing you've done for me, I will remember what you've said to me and I will always be proud of you.

Goodbye my one and only father.

Am I...

2009-06-18T10:47:00.001+08:00

heartless?

Or am I heartless?

A night of...

2009-06-03T22:16:00.005+08:00

Annalakshmi, jumping about and walking on stones in Chinatown.

Kicked off the night by having dinner in Annalakshmi.

Good news is that on weekday nights they serve ala carte instead of buffet. Their ala carte are way better than their buffet. Oh and their menu is much much better this time, considering they have added explanations on what the dishes are instead of just the name of the dishes. Likewise the staffs are more than helpful in explaining how the dishes are supposed to be mixed while throwing in recommendations.

The dinner in full view.

A small walk in Chinatown food street while snapping some pictures here and there.
Should I reach for the lantern or should I go for the moonlight?

Last but not least, jumping and monkeying around on the overhead bridge!
Totally oblivious to the quizzical stares and amused glances.

An extremely tired night but had a whole loads of fun... awesome night!!

The past week...

2009-05-26T21:24:00.008+08:00

consists of endless report writing, my first ever Singapore flyer experience, going to Clarke Quay and Mount Faber while working, lots of geek talk over one dinner and my first time lurking in 4 malls in the same day.

For the sanity of those who may or may not stumble upon this blog, I shall omit the report writing part.

Singapore flyer experience:
It was Suk Kwan's birthday. And I had absolutely no reason to miss the celebration because once upon a time she had took the pain(and lots of effort) to tell me when her birthday is.

Pink Wan was the main organizer for the celebration and she suggested Singapore flyer, something different from the usual "dinner & birthday cake" celebration combo(and the fact that the Singapore flyer is having student rate promotion in lieu of their 1st anniversary helped too).

The result:
Night view of Marina Bay. Wish that you're here to see it.

The night view was awesome. Just too bad that 40 minutes was too short. We couldn't get enough of it. Definitely worth the 10 dollars(and maybe a teeny-weeny bit more, but not the usual rate of 30 plus dollars).

Clarke Quay & Mount Faber:
It was a good getaway from the everyday office life(then again I've gone to Cathay Cineleisure and Science Centre during work so I guess it wasn't THAT bad). Oh and it's free and easy too since it's more like an education trip than actual work. It felt like a mobile lecture session, which I miss a little since I didn't have any after I began my internship.

There was one thing that caught my attention though: when we were in Mount Faber, I saw a Johor car passed by us. As we were leaving Mount Faber, I saw that same car parked in the middle of the road and the couple inside were making out. Driving all the way from Johor to Mount Faber to make out... on a weekday morning, looks like they really have plenty of time to spare.

On Friday night I was in my cousin's place for steamboat dinner. And I didn't realize how cute my nephew(because I have no better word and it would be weird to refer to him as my cousin's son) is until my cousin told us about his little phone conversations.

About 1 or 2 weeks ago, my nephew picked up a phone call. It was his first time picking up a phone call so naturally he didn't know what to do. He didn't get any information about the caller(might not have spoken anything too, to the dismay of the caller) so my cousin asked whether the caller was a boy or a girl. To her amusement, my nephew didn't know that too, so she left it at that.

So the second time my nephew picked up a phone call, his immediately asked "Are you a boy or a girl?"

4 shopping malls and a pair of dead feet:
Was in Tampines to try out Manpuku. Manpuku is a Japanese village restaurant and like Shokudo in Raffles City, they give you a card like this:
and then you go around and purchase food using this card. Only when you decide to leave the place then you'll pay the cash.

Tried Moonlight Oku(basically Japanese style pancake), the taste reminded me of takoyaki - a little bit sourish and a small hint of sweetness. After that moved on to Butter Miso Corn Ramen... DON'T ever order that. Just don't.

We then proceeded to try their cakes and parfaits. For the cakes, four words: Too much whip cream. For parfait we picked Matcha Parfait, which in my opinion was nice. Love the green tea flavoured ice cream.

Tried Teadot after about 3 hours of shopping. They serve a wide variety of teas, from the standard ones to the quirky ones. Their staffs were kind enough to throw in recommendations too when we were pondering over which tea to pick. I had Royal Earl Grey Tea, might have been my limited taste bud but it tasted awfully like our beloved Teh Tarik. Might have something to do with the caramel that they've added in.

After that we proceeded to Vivo City and they were having Nissan exhibition there. Halfway through the exhibition they even invited people to perform dance. But any performance pales in comparison to this:
The latest addition in the Nissan Fairlady Series - 370Z!!

Everyone was vying for the chance to sit in the car. When I finally got to sit in the car, I was sitting beside a stranger and suddenly things became awkward. Both of us knew very well that we're just going to be in the car for less than 5 minutes, both of us knew that we were just in there to experience how sitting in the car felt like. And yet the universal law of awkwardness dictates that we should feel awkward sharing a tight space with a stranger even though it's only for less than 5 minutes. Maybe I just don't like sharing space with people whom I don't know.

Finally we went to Chinatown for dinner and dessert before we called it a day.

My limbs became lifeless the moment I reached my room and it remained that way until Monday.

There's no...

2009-05-13T23:55:00.002+08:00

such thing as a good timing for telling bad news.

The only difference is whether you are given hints before receiving the bad news.

More often than not, the bomb is dropped on you and you're left clueless and shocked beyond words. At this point, you either let tears take over and cry it all out or you are so angry that you just had to get away before you lose it.

In the end, you'll realize that while you're part of it, it's not about you. Suddenly your feelings do not matter as much anymore... sure, you may get emotional or cry from time to time, but it's no longer about you.

People say...

2009-05-05T00:09:00.005+08:00

that you won't know that something is precious to you until it's lost.

That the pain is unbearable when you lose that precious something.

But the pain is already unbearable now.

Stop

2009-04-29T22:16:00.002+08:00

Stop over think things.

Stop giving excuses.

Stop procrastinating.

Stop perpetuating those useless negative thoughts.

Stop fearing.

Just stop...

Because it's absolutely important that I stay positive now. It's time to find the best of myself, accept it, and become better.

Because I realize nothing is permanent, nor will the people around me be around forever. I couldn't appreciate this fact back then, probably still haven't fully appreciate it now, but the weight of the words are starting to have an effect on me.

For all I know, this might even be my last chance.

7 days at a glance

2009-04-14T00:47:00.009+08:00

Day 49, 7th April:
Night time is the time I do my laundry...

Day 50, 8th April:
A little greeting from this insect harboring itself at my vanity shelf. I used the word vanity for lack of better word. =P

Day 51, 9th April:
The night before me departing back to Kuala Lumpur. Had a small birthday celebration for Wai Seng, and this was our dessert - Yogurts of some flavours that I have absolutely no clue about + fruit loops + honey stars + some chocolate cereal. Tastes strange... in a good way. =P

Day 52, 10th April:
Spent the WHOLE day just to get back to KL from Singapore. I absolutely didn't expect that there would be so many people going back through Larkin. Arrived at Kranji station at 9am, I was quite confident that I would reach Larkin at around 10am and be at home at about 2pm. Oh how wrong I was... the queue was unbelievably long... so long that the queue could cover the perimeter of the MRT station. Nevermind, I should reach Larkin at about 10.30am the latest.

I was wrong again. The frequency of the bus was so horribly low that I spent a good 45 minutes stuck in the line before I actually boarded the bus. Still, it's just 9.45am, I should still be able to make it to Larkin before 11am.

Little did I know that's just the beginning of the agonizing long wait that I would have to endure just so I could start my journey back to KL from Larkin. What followed was an excruciatingly long wait at Singapore custom just to board the bus, and then got stuck in a traffic jam at the Causeway bridge. By the time I reached the brand new Johor Bahru custom, it was already 12pm! So much for reaching Larkin at 11am. Now I was praying hard that I could at least reach home before the sun set.

JB custom was flooded with people anxious to go to Malaysia - another half an hour burned. At this point, any hope of reaching home before the sun set was virtually destroyed. Nevermind, I wasn't going to turn back at this point now that I've come this far. I reached Larkin at 1pm, had my lunch and boarded the 1.30pm bus. In the end I reached Pudu Raya at 6.30pm. That was how I spent my Friday, all because I've decided to go back last minute. No more last minute rash decision of going back like this... ever!! That said, I must thank my traveling partner who endured the 2 hours painful long wait between Singapore custom and JB custom with me. Thanks, even though you're not reading my blog.

Went to Sunway Pyramid for dinner and they were having figure skating competition. I repeat: TELEPHOTO LENS BADLY NEEDED =(.

While I was at home, I realised that my beloved A350 somewhat kaput-ed. =(

So no camera for me until it is repaired. =((

And no photos for 11th and 12th April. But to make it up... I'll post more photos for 10th April. =P

So what was I doing in Pyramid?
Dinner in Sushi Zanmai!! Spider Temaki hohohohohohohohoho....

I can't get enough of Inari Tuna. Give me Inari Tuna anytime!! Yeah I have a sort of weird taste to like this kind of sushi. =P

Dragon Row and some sushi set that was under promotion. Don't remember the name. Nothing spectacular... edible... can pass...

Capped off the night with playing wireless flash in my room.

Saturday was spent playing with wireless flash as well but the pictures are not with me. I think I'm starting to get addicted to wireless flash. =S

Came back to Singapore on Sunday. A very tiring weekend. And stupid me for not bringing back earphones...

Day 55, 13th April:
Exam nights in NTU. Studious students stroll back after a day of struggling with studies. Taken using my phone. And it's going to be this way until I get back my A350.

Phew... long entry.

Good luck to the exam takers. =P

Obviously Awesome's Sufficient In Showing...

2009-04-06T21:49:00.011+08:00

just how breathtaking the concert was, or was it?

Awesome... couldn't even begin to describe it. The elation I felt throughout the concert was so immense that it overwhelmed me... words were beyond me then. Although at the end of the concert, my hearing was compromised for a while(my brother's words came into mind: Why pay so much to inflict permanent minor ear damage on yourself?), my legs were so worn out that I would've crumbled if anyone so much as nudged my knees a little, my throat was burning, my wallet had a big hole in it, I was in cloud nine. And I believed that everyone who was at the concert would have felt the same. Evidence of Don't-Look-Back-In-Anger-Hangover® was apparent as I heard people still singing it out loud even long after the concert had ended.

Without further ado... pictures!! Taken using Jacqueline's camera. =)
Liam and Noel Gallagher - the lead singer and the lead guitarist. The crowd went nuts when Oasis came up the stage.

Gem Archer and Andy Bell - the rhythm guitarist and the bassist. The drummer Chris Sharrock took the stage later.

In the beginning, they were playing mostly songs from their new album - The Shock Of Lightning. The crowd wasn't that familiar with their newer songs so it took a while for us to warm up.

And then they played Wonderwall. Everything was set loose as the familiar tune kicked in. The very scene of the whole stadium singing as a whole along with Liam sent shivers down my spine. To watch it in video is one thing, to be there experiencing it is another whole new level. From time to time as they played the familiar tunes - Morning Glory, Lyla, The Importance of Being Idle... the crowd serenaded along. But none could compare to Wonderwall... until Liam left the stage and Noel took over the stage as lead singer, and sang:
Don't Look Back In Anger!! In Jacqueline's words: The crowd went ballistic!! Everyone sang at the top of their very own voices. Noel could just stop singing and we would not miss the beat at all, and he actually stopped at the end and let the crowd take over the final few lines before he sang them!!

We managed to find time to camwhore a bit in between too. =P

They ended their gig with I Am The Walrus... Liam walked over to our side and stood there after he finished singing while letting Chris work the crowd with his highly energetic drumworks. Chris' final climatic drumworks marked the end of the concert, leaving the crowd wanting more.

Bloody awesome concert!! And that's an understatement.

Before I conclude this entry, here's the accoustic version of Don't Look Back In Anger, wonderfully done by Noel:

----------------------------------------
Day 47, 5th April:
Someone felt compelled to cover Liam's crotch area while I was taking the photo.

Day 48, 6th April:
Aftermath of Oasis concert - my bleeding wallet and having to resort to instant noodles for meals. =P

Oasis

2009-04-05T16:30:00.003+08:00

Can't wait!!! =D
-----------------------------------------
Day 46, 4th April:
A youth percussion band - Strikeforce performing for Easter Celebration. It's a whole load of fun watching them perform, the fact that the music they play had a distinctive samba feel to it made it all the more playful and cheeky. Suk Kwan told me that they've performed in last year's NDP, which I happened to watch. Too bad I won't get to watch them perform in NDP this year.

Lame

2009-04-04T00:29:00.005+08:00

De Zien - says:
*u sound like u have something to say to me

Anthony says:
*nope
*i dun:P

De Zien - says:
*lame

Anthony says:
*well
*i learn from the master

De Zien - says:
*X doesn't lame ppl that way

Anthony says:
*no, he doesnt

De Zien - says:
*indeed
*so saying that u learn from the master is evidently inaccurate
*because the master doesn't do it that way

Anthony says:
*well
*the master i learnt from isnt X

De Zien - says:
*then?
*no Y doesn't do that either

Anthony says:
*he does it better than either of them

De Zien - says:
*oooh?
*then i must shake his hand
*and salute to him
*pray tell
*who is this lame meister

Anthony says:
*he is not easily seen
*you need special tooks
*tools

De Zien - says:
*like?

Anthony says:
*a mirror

De Zien - says:
*gosh it IS very hard
*how am i supposed to shake his hand and salute to him WHILE i'm holding the mirror?

Anthony says:
*he's doesn't do handshakes

De Zien - says:
*he doesn't?
*what a haughty fellow
*i dun wanna see him liao
*hmmpf

Anthony says:
*lol
*enough laaaaaaaaaaaaa
**faint*

Some names have been changed to preserve their identity and subsequently, their reputation. I know mine has been ruined long long time ago. =P
----------------------------------------------
Day 45, 3rd April:
A small little gift... and I gobbled up most of them in the short span of 10 minutes. Now the only things left are a packet of instant noodle, a packet of milo 3-in-1 and a packet of coffee powder. Thanks for the gift!

April's Fool...

2009-04-02T23:06:00.005+08:00

passed by uneventfully.

The rain complemented this gloomy period...
------------------------------------------------
Day 43, 1st April:
It was raining... but the mood couldn't have been better for some Jazz tunes (yes it's slowly turning into an addiction now). Shame that the room itself didn't have the atmosphere that matched the Jazz tunes so I have to settle with this photo instead. It was taken after the rain stopped, droplets freshly deposited on the leaves, the only evidence left of the rain.

Day 44, 2nd April:
~~I was emo-ing and wanted to slit my wrist but was too stupid to realize I WASN'T slitting my wrist...~~ Got cut while I was frantically keeping my laundry right before the rain got heavy. I think the only way I won't get such silly injuries is to not move at all for the rest of my life. Ouch!!

A few...

2009-03-31T23:09:00.014+08:00

observations I have made:
1) Mosquitoes love me a lot
2) The girls who catch my attention on MRT usually alight at Clementi
3) The older a woman is, the more likely is the woman to wear translucent clothing with spaghetti straps
4) I love jazz genre songs, especially those sang by amorously soothing voices. (Youtube Stacey Kent - So Nice if you want to know what I mean)

Brace for a very long one here...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 33, 22nd March:
Fooling around in Patrick's room and ended up being a model for his wireless flash experiment. Credits to Patrick for this nicely taken photo.

Day 34, 23rd March:
A gun!! Nah, it's just a ray gun that is used to measure the temperature of a spot that you can't reach. This is one of the instruments that we used for our project at work. (Yeah, we were that bored at work that we took pictures of our instruments.)

Day 35, 24th March:
The overexposed fish cake. Had lunch at Race Course Road and saw this fish cake at the stall, which smells really really scrumptiously nice. Bought one and ate it... oily to the very core but who cares? It's nice!!

Day 36, 25th March:
MAE Exam Welfare package. Needless to say that's when we would take as many goodie bags as possible from the leftovers. This time we have quite a few nice and handy items in our bags. =D

Day 37, 26th March:
A new member in our arsenal of instrument for our project. Lux-meter they call it, and it's used to measure the light intensity of wherever you are. Not so fun though if you're outdoor and the sun intensity is rising and falling like a wave.

Day 38, 27th March:
Note the time in the picture. ~~Rubbing it in while I still can.~~ Pretty self-explanatory. Anthony probably wanted to strangle me at that point, and possibly at many other moments too throughout this semester. =P

Day 39, 28th March:
Earth Hour! And we were at Jurong Point hanging out. A queer little programming error resulted in the line shown at the display above. Nonetheless it amused the mechatronics geeks who were present. =P

Day 40, 29th March:
Ate a few pieces of Royce chocolate which Patrick helped me to buy while he was in Suntec. Very very good, probably one of the best chocolates I've ever tasted. But I'm having sore throat now. =(

Day 41, 30th March:
More drawings to look at and get confused. Still not as bad as the previous ones I had so I guess I shouldn't be complaining.

Day 42, 31st March:
Which brings me to this... currently chugging down the pastiles and the lozenges to soothe my throat. And I'm still spitting blood.

And tomorrow is April's Fool Day. Happy April's Fool Day?

A long looooong day...

2009-03-22T22:13:00.018+08:00

Yesterday has been a very long long day. I was out of my room since 10am.

First I was in SMU to have a discussion for an event. The event had to be brought forward due to some unforeseen circumstances but it's no issue for me because I will be around during that period anyway.

It was enlightening to hear a few members talk and I think I'll really like it working with them.

After that was lunch at Tanjung Pagar. It was a very very long lunch, so long that I left the place at 5pm.

Which brings me to MAD - Malaysian Alumni Dinner. It's the first ever held by Malaysians in NTU, initiated by MSA and AMCISA. I was there to help with photo taking:
The emcees.

Cute girl welcoming the guests.

~~Photographer A~~ Patrick the photographer.

Photographer with Nikon D300.

The receptionists.

Giving speech as...

the crowd listened intently.

Of course there were performances:
Siew Ping the pianist of the day. The pieces performed were Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel(oh sooooooooo cliched) and River Flows In You by Yiruma.

Choir which puts up a very wonderful performance. Love their Malaysian Medley.

The I-have-no-idea-what-instrument-they're-playing trio.

The management committee put up a dance performance to cap off the night.

It has been quite an experience for me to be a photographer of the event. Thanks Patrick for inviting me. =)
------------------------------------------------------
Day 32, 21st March:
The I-am-Bobby-Leong story.

I was holding this name card when one of the committee members, Yan Xin, walked over. Upon seeing me holding the card, she scrutinized me and then asked, "Is the name card yours?"

I decided to have some fun with her and said, "Yes indeed... you're looking at Bobby Leong now."

She looked at me in disbelief for a while, unable to believe that the person standing in front of her was a wedding photojournalist(of course, I am not Bobby Leong anyway). She then said, "If you're Bobby, then you must have more name card... can I have one?"

Cue random bullshit which involved me saying that I only have one left and had to resort to taking the photo of my name card in case people want to get more details about me(and I showed her the photo!). Naturally she didn't believe, but from then on I became Bobby Leong. =P

Ouch!

2009-03-20T23:21:00.005+08:00

Day 31, 20th March:
I suspect mosquitoes like to attack me in packs... while I'm sleeping and defenseless!!
-------------------------------------------
I don't see it happening now
I don't see it happening in the future
I want to walk away
And you won't miss me at all
It's probably time to move on
It's time to say goodbye.

I shudder...

2009-03-20T01:12:00.004+08:00

at the way some people let the law and procedures cripple themselves so much that logic is beyond them.
-------------------------------------------------
Day 29, 18th March
My Industrial Attachment is bringing me to places and this is my latest adventure. =D

Yes, they're paying me to walk around in a mall the whole day.

Day 30, 19th March
Buying shirt in Jurong Point. Patrick presented us a unique pose when we asked him to take a photo in that shirt. Alas, that's not the shirt that was bought.

Still, a good laugh is never overrated. =)

At some point...

2009-03-17T22:09:00.004+08:00

you realize that you have no one whom you can truly confide in.

When you realize that you hesitate a lot because you feel that you'll be a burden to them.

When you try to talk with them but found nothing to say to them.

Sometimes it's so lonely...
-------------------------------------------------
Day 27, 16th March:

The book I've picked up recently. Should be enough to last me about 1 or 2 months given how busy I am lately.

Day 28, 17th March:

The only purple among all the whites... is it the odd one out or is it shining above the rest? Taken right outside my room... probably swept away by now.

Jane's Birthday Celebration

2009-03-15T23:24:00.012+08:00

Dear Jane:

The following pictures depict what we were doing before we popped by to your room:
Gabriel: Can I not listen? I promise I'll be good boy

Gabriel was covering his ears to block off the voices upon information overload(read: Yi Wang nagging) from his little conference.

Wai Seng and Zhi Sin were totally focused on the game Wai Seng's playing. Iris was doing her assignment.

Yi Wang was ~~telling story about his life~~ giving his valuable opinions in his conference.

Elaine was somehow camera-shy... rare occasion that.

As for me... no cookies for guessing correctly what I was doing. =P

Elaine: Uuuuh... my hair is so beautiful!
The birthday cake - Cookies and Cheese Cake!! Bought from Bakerzin, highly recommended.

Happy Birthday Jane!!
----------------------------------------------------
Day 26, 15th March:

A happy Jane after our sort of perfect timing surprise. =P

When you...

2009-03-14T21:17:00.006+08:00

can freely express what you think and open up to a person whom you've met just twice, you feel good. And I felt bloody good on Thursday. The chat lasted longer than I expected... it helped that we shared some common interests.

A friend made. =)
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'm really sorry that this has happened but for the past few days I was either too busy or too tired to update. I can't make any promise on not repeating this because let's face it, it's still a long while more before 365 days are up and I won't know what's going to happen along the way... I'll try to minimize this as much as possible.

Day 22, 11th March:

We stay hard longer!!! One of those days when I browse through old pictures and I found this. Taken quite some time ago in Holland Village.

Day 23, 12th March:

Crazy day rushing to finish tendering for a project. We were at Marina area to submit tender... this chair is the chair I sat on when I finally could sit down and rest for a while that day. After that went to Tanjung Pagar Railway Station but they didn't have Pisang Goreng anymore by the time we reached. =(

Next time... next time...

Since I've been depriving you guys a little... I figured I'll post 2 pictures for Friday. =P

Day 24, 13th March:

Hello Spidey!! Was midway through a task that required me to stare at a drawing with a blinding array of air ducts when I spotted this little spider running around on the drawing. A nice little distraction.

Performing in an MAE event... "All day long I can hear people talking outloud. But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd~"

We sang When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating.

Day 25, 14th March:

Editing pictures for family... and realized that this is probably our first actual family portrait that we will consider hanging in our house. Love my family. =)

Not quite..

2009-03-12T07:29:00.003+08:00

as boh liao as I thought I would be... for this week at least. Almost every night I'll have things to do.
Needless to say I'll be working in the daytime.
------------------------------------------------------------
Day 21:

A whole stack of dividers that I've stolen from work. =P

Nah just kidding, actually the dividers were discarded because we used printed tapes for the labeling... the rest of the documents had to be filled out manually. So yeah, the day was spent manually filling out forms for the project. Jeez, why don't they don't accept our printed forms?

It's alright...

2009-03-10T07:33:00.006+08:00

to make mistakes, but it's a cardinal sin to repeat the mistakes.

I must've sinned horribly a lot then.
-----------------------------------------------
Day 19:
Picture taken by Elaynne..Tengkiu Elaynne for being the guest photographer of my little project. =D

Dinner @ Can 16... before me rushing to a meeting that lasted about 5 hours. Stupid me for forgetting to bring a jacket along and I ended up shivering for the most part of the 5 hours.
-------------------------------------------------
Day 20:
Are you a young top boy? Call that number!!

Saw this while I was in Clementi MRT toilet... don't have the time to call to amuse myself even more. =P

The beat goes on

2009-03-08T17:33:00.012+08:00

NTU Concert Choir.

The third time I'm attending in three years. Only this time I'm finding more and more people to support.

Yi Chin shot me a "Don't-you-dare" stare. Stare ignored, my own fate awaiting to befall. =P

I have a confession to make, I have always not been able to appreciate the first half of the performance... it's always the second half that I'm waiting for. This time round it's no exception.

Their musical was fun to watch, and I love it that they were thoroughly enjoying themselves putting up their show. Their enthusiasm and joy were infectious and I truly felt it when I was watching.

Picture taken by Yi Wang... of his SP. =P

My personal favourite. =D

Eugene!! Thanks for putting up such a wonderful performance.

I ended the night having supper and then...

ice cream!! Pukka Ice Cream near NUS. It was not bad, but I still prefer Tom's Palette because they offer a whole lot more variety of flavours.

-------------------------------------------------
Day 18:

Same shirt, same size... coincidence? Not really... we were in JP in the afternoon and ended up shopping in G2000. I wanted to get different shirt but there was no other shirt that could match the pants I bought that well. So yeah, we were partners for the night. =P

Candle light

2009-03-07T00:42:00.005+08:00

Day 17:

Dinner at Ooster. Felt that the table was too long and it became 2 groups instead one whole group having dinner together.

It's raining...

2009-03-05T22:33:00.005+08:00

It's cold outside,
why don't you come on in?
We can break the ice over a bottle of drink

I had my reasons to feel the way I do
A whole bottle of reasons
I wanna share that drink with you...

----------------------------------------------------
Random: Stupid picture taken during FOC outing.

------------------------------------------------
Day 16:

All by myself...
Don't wanna be all by myself...

It's just my rice, my frozen green tea accompanying me for dinner. Unfortunately none of them will live through the dinner session to accompany me after that.

FOC Outing

2009-03-05T00:16:00.023+08:00

Chun Zhen still haven't recovered from the aftermath of the night before.

Aren't we all familiar with this scene? Waking up at 6 or 7am, still half awake and just board the bus to Sentosa. Picture taking is always inevitable on the bus:

Suyun trying to flag down a cab in the bus by flashing her leg.

Anyway, we reached Sentosa at about 10am and proceeded to

Cheer!! As you can see, Patrick was happily leading the Apple Cheer... an apple a day keeps doctors away...

And of course there are games!

Carrying people over a string, and then...

jumping over the string yourself!!

How do you tell your fellow friends "safe sex" in Korean?

Sean trying to tell us that he's working out in a gym.

And we still managed to find time to take jump shots in between games. =P

Ah Chai was too shy when facing my camera and used a tissue paper to cover his face.

Getting wet is imminent...

Forfeited after losing in the Secret Code Number... the game in which you have to say a number within a predetermined range, and avoid the number that the host set in the beginning.

Patrick shitting whip cream while waiting for the ultimate loser in the Secret Code Number.

We also had games for couples...

I ended the outing with Patrick, Jacqueline, Chun Zhen, Carmen and Terry in...

Bikini Bar!! =D

Beer(which caused me to have rashes btw)!!

While we're sitting around chilling and drinking beer, we spotted...

and the girls' reaction...

Somehow the girls' facial expression implied *I've seen so many wee-wees that they no longer amuse me*.

----------------------------------------------------
On a totally unrelated note... people have been viewing my Flickr photos without leaving comments. C'mon guys, leave some comments... good? bad? I should pay you medical fees for causing your eyes to incinerate in your eye socket? =P

Day 15:

Programmers meeting... which turned out to be a snack tasting/camera lens testing/studying computing/studying maths session. We definitely have the attention span of a goldfish. =P

There's so much...

2009-03-03T22:10:00.003+08:00

more to life that it's just not worth committing suicide no matter what mistakes you have made.

But I guess people just wouldn't stop in their own path of destruction and think a little.

The gloomy clouds in the evening echoed the mood in NTU yesterday. But life goes on...
-----------------------------------------
Day 14:

My 28mm f2.8 Minolta Lens is here!!! And this is an experiment shot using it. =P

Now I shall wait for an even faster lens. =D

Random

2009-03-02T23:44:00.005+08:00

What better way to entertain yourself? See below...

De Zien - says:
*poke*

X says:
*pokes back*

De Zien - says:
*jumps to avoid*

X says:
haha

-------------------------------------------------
De Zien - says:
aftermath of the stabbing incident?

De Zien - says:
*points to nick*

Y says:
*digs nose*

De Zien - says:
*runs away screaming like a little girl*

Y says:
*chases de zien with big booger stuck on pinky*

De Zien - says:
*sees a fat pole and hides behind the pole*

Y says:
blek

Y says:
malas nak main with you

Y says:
childish
-------------------------------------------------
On a totally unrelated note, I'm going to collect my 28mm f2.8 lens tomorrow!!
Woo hoo!!

Day 13:

Another day in Meiji production factory (remember the Hello Pandas in Day 10?) servicing and cleaning the filters of the air cond units. Will be heading to Panasonic tomorrow. =)

One week

2009-03-02T00:36:00.009+08:00

It feels hassling for me to keep on taking out my CF and upload the pictures into my computer. So I'll do it on a weekly basis... but of course, if you prefer that I do it on a daily basis, feel free to drop me a comment. I don't bite. =)

Day 6:

"Are you looking at me?"

Day 7:

Bench in park... playing with the one-third rule. =P

Ya lar I know lar I cheated... didn't have anything of interest to put for day 6 and day 7 =(.

Day 8:

While waiting for 2 friends in front of NBS office... I lied down and caught this interesting shadow effect. Starburst shadow effect!!

Day 9:

My new bling bling boots that can ~~poke a hole through your stomach~~ protect my feet from all the nails and screws.

Day 10:

Guess where I've been? =D

Day 11:

Lychee Martini + Tobasco Sauce = Going to Heaven

But I wouldn't want to do it again...

A fun and crazy night in Orchard and ended up sleeping at 4.30am.

Day 12:

FOC outing. The best shot I've got throughout the whole day in my opinion. Sebastian helped to fling Ivan over the string.

Will elaborate more on FOC outing some other day. =)

Lost!

2009-02-22T23:07:00.003+08:00

"Excuse me."

I looked up from my stupor.

"I want to go to Tanjung Pagar, so I board this train and switch at Raffles Place?" she asked.

"Yup."

"So I'm guessing you're not local?" I probed a little, because she doesn't sound like a local....

One wrong train ride. One question.

That's all it takes to know a person.

Interesting day today indeed...

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 5:

By mistake I ended up in Raffles Place. Since I wasn't in a rush I walked around a bit and spotted this small park (for lack of better word), did some shots and this is one of them.

I think these are what I should be looking for: non-routine and spontaneity.

Unexpected

2009-02-22T02:22:00.003+08:00

In this place..

You forget who you are

You throw your worries away

You sorrows seem so far away

You take off your mask

You dance all you like

You sway all you want

You're in this small little room, hiding from the big bad ugly world

In this place... you are you
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 5:

Another splendid night in Wala Wala. I've always liked the band performing there on Saturday nights - The UneXpecteds... but tonight, for singing Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, I love them even more. =D

Accept

2009-02-21T00:05:00.004+08:00

Day 4:

Flower right outside my room. Not on macro mode though... will try macro mode on it some day. =P
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I had an epiphany... well actually, it's more like acceptance than epiphany because I've thought of it quite some time ago. But recently I'm able to accept it and beginning to explore the other side.

I guess I'm just not interested in certain things and probably won't excel in them any time in the near future.

Do you have a girlfriend?

2009-02-19T21:49:00.002+08:00

He asked.

"No," I said.

"Is that a no in Singapore only or in Malaysia as well?"

"No in Malaysia as well."

"What do you think about girls who are a few years older than you?"

"I'm okay with them I guess."

"How about I introduce you to one? She's just got back from studying in Australia... so she's about..."

"22 or 23 years old?" I suggested.

"Yeah, around that age..."

I nodded my head slightly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 3:
Mentos - used to be unable to live without it. Bought one today, couldn't stop myself from keep popping them into my mouth... finished the whole box in about 1 hour...

I'm a Mentos addict.

Stuck in a rut?

2009-02-18T22:09:00.002+08:00

Day 2 photo:

If there's anything I'm guilty of right now, I'm guilty of bottling up everything to myself...

A photo a day keeps the brain awake

2009-02-17T00:05:00.003+08:00

"A little less conversation a little more action please...," so sang Elvis Presley.

Time to sort myself out and make some time for things that I really want to do.

Photo of the day:

It's the time that I'm supposed to sleep everyday but somehow I never do. =P

A boy...

2009-02-12T22:33:00.002+08:00

wonders what it's like leaving the world.

Will there be any pain?

Is it really going to be a light at the end of the tunnel?

Will he feel the strangely eerie sensation of watching himself on his death bed as his soul floats away?

Will people around him mourn? Will they cry? Will they miss him?

Humans are such funny creature, only after they've lost do they truly know the value of what they've lost. Regardless, he feels that his passing probably won't matter much. Who will feel his absence? He is but a little insignificant human, a passing facet of everyone else's life.

Will someone be welcoming him on the other end? Or will it be yet another lonely affair?

He sat there for a very long time, pondering and pondering... in the end, he decided to go out and play.

Of partying after exams...

2008-11-26T23:11:00.002+08:00

Not in a good mood now...

I've been thinking lots of unnecessary and stupid stuffs that I wish for once there's a "switch off" button for my brain. And people having post exam party and open air karaoke obliterating Cranberries' Zombie at ADM doesn't help...

Suffice to say that a lot of my problems were quite self inflicted and my mind's a mess... I really need to take a break from everything... I don't know how long this mental mess is going to last but it's scary. I'm tired of pretending that everything is fine for me, at least as far as my mental state goes.

Sorry Elaine, you don't deserve to read this post especially on your birthday... I'll make a post specially for you once I feel better... but right now is just not the time.

For everything else, there's Lowyat...

2008-11-23T17:19:00.004+08:00

The wonders of MS Paint and lots of free time:

Demi Cinta

I've been looping too much of the same songs for my own good lately... there's even one time when I was practically listening to only 1 song the whole day. And I'm still looping that song quite frequently now.

I need help. =P

Things that...

2008-11-07T02:22:00.003+08:00

I notice during exam periods:

I nap more than I sleep
I sleepwalk... nay, sleep un-snooze my phone without fail everyday
Which makes me hate myself after waking up from what is supposed to be a nap
Ulcers and pimples always come in a package with exams
I can remain inside my room and only my room for 3 consecutive days without going crazy
I trash talk even more than ever
I dream all sorts of weird dreams

And they say hurdles bring the best out of you...

If you believed what I said in my previous post...

2008-10-31T21:55:00.002+08:00

you'll find out how full of shit I am when you chance upon this post... presumably 1 year later.

But hey, I'm fine with it... it's not like I'm gaining any readership as far as the current situation goes... just remind me about this post if you do bother to run up to me and tell me that I'm full of shit 1 year later. Of course, if you read this post today and decide to run up to me to tell me that I'm full of shit, I more than welcome you to do that.

As of now, I'm deep in thought about a lot of things... things that I have been asking myself over and over and over and over again ever since I don't know when... good, because I can finally sleep in peace at night knowing full well that I have a brain... bad, because I should be spending all these time drowning myself in books and projects.

It's not November yet, but I shall take the opportunity here to first wish my one and only, lovely elder brother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! It's about 2 hours too early but I don't care... in view of your 26th birthday, even though you're probably busy celebrating it with your girlfriend and won't read this any time soon... I shall say that I'm glad to have you as my brother because:

1) You're quite full of shit as well
2) That's it actually

=P

Regardless, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NG DE WAY!!! HOPE YOU HAVE A BLAST CELEBRATING IT!! =)

Back from hiatus before more hiatus ensues

2008-10-30T01:39:00.002+08:00

After a long time of not updating, my blog is feeling a like toy thrown away by a bored child.

You guys have probably declared me dead or disappeared from the face of the Earth already given the 7 months of no updates at all.

But all I want to say now is.... WOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!

(And we're treated with more hiatus =P)

5 albums

2008-03-31T02:09:00.005+08:00

So... 5 albums which you listen to and there shouldn't be any compilations or soundtracks.

Quite a challenge I must say Elaynne, considering I rarely listen to the full albums, if not never.

Anyway, here are the few albums that have a few songs that I like in each of them... I guess that's the best I can do currently. =P

Without further ado... let me present to you... (note that the order does not reflect my preference)

1. Colbie Caillat - Coco

Soothing voice, relaxing tunes... how can I not love her songs?

2. Yanni - Reflections of Passion

I think this album is my first ever original album.

3. Yanni - In Celebration of Life

And the Greek composer wins again.

4. Evanescence - Fallen

Emo songs... I know

5. Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing

I have trouble picking between Surfacing and Afterglow because I think both albums are just as excellent. In the end, the song Angel in Surfacing moves me more than Fallen in Afterglow(both of them are the songs I like best from the albums) so I go for Surfacing instead. She's easily my favourite female artist. Love her voice, impressed with her voice control, especially in Angel.

So there, tag completed. Now I shall go back to my individual music hunting...

And then it happened again...

2008-03-31T01:50:00.002+08:00

Yup, that same guy called me at 5am again...

Once again I was in half-awake state answering his questions groggily...

Once again he asked me if I wear underwear to sleep...

Once again I was jerked awake by that question...

And then I cut off the line...

And this happened on a Saturday morning...

I have a feeling that the next time he calls he'll be weeping and wondering why I cut off his line...

Bizzare

2008-02-26T22:33:00.004+08:00

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I can't sleep and I'm bored."

"Oh..."

"It's so hot now, do you switch on your air-conditioner to sleep?"

"Errr... no, my room doesn't have an air-conditioner."

"So you're just relying on fan?"

"Yeah."

"Won't you feel hot then? Do you leave the windows or the door open?"

"Windows yes, door no."

"Oh... it's so hot that I don't wear anything to sleep even though I'm in air-conditioned room."

"..."

I was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

"Do you wear anything at all to sleep then? Since you don't have an air-conditioner..."

"Erm, I still wear tee and short pants to sleep."

"Oh my, how could you stand the heat?"

"Erm..."

"Then do you wear underwear?"

*Awkward silence*

Why the heck did you want to know if I wear it to sleep?

"Yes..."

"I'm telling you, wearing underwear to sleep is baaaaadddd."

That's when I knew I''d have to cut off the line like... RIGHT AWAY!!

"You know what, I'm feeling very sleepy now so I'm heading to bed."

"Oh okay, sleep well."

This conversation took place 5am in the morning. Some freak woke me up in the wee hours to tell me that wearing underwear to sleep is bad. What the...

CNY eve...

2008-02-07T03:36:00.000+08:00

One week ago if you told me that I would be spending my Chinese New Year eve with 2 Americans whom I barely knew I would've immediately grabbed a thermometer and checked your temperature.

Well, that's exactly what I've done.

See, all the canteens were closed(or at least the canteen nearest to my hall - I'm a lazy bugger) so there I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus while dawdling over what I should get for dinner. Then came two peculiar looking guys - a Caucasian and a Chinese - and the Chinese spoke with an accent that I've never heard of virtually in NTU. They asked me if the bus service was still on, I answered them and paid no attention to them after that.

"So why aren't you at home having reunion dinner with your family?" the Caucasian asked. I explained my situation to them and then we started to chat. Apparently both of them - Ian being the Caucasian and Mason being the Chinese - were on a holiday.

Ian, from New York, is a seasoned traveler and has traveled over 20 countries while Mason, from San Francisco, hates traveling. And Ian is of the opinion that to truly know a place, one would have to talk with the people in the place. So in that sense I'm lucky that I've met them by coincidence.

Before we knew it we were in Bugis having dinner together, in a Chinese restaurant. Ian, who had been to China, decided that he could make some good use of a few Mandarin words he had learned there but ended up confusing the restaurant staffs more. Mason on the other hand couldn't speak Mandarin. I intervened at times to offer appropriate translations.

The food was good, the company was better. I had fun although occasionally I could offer nothing more than an awkward smile at their remarks.

After that we went to Holland Village and had a drink in Coffee Bean before we called it a day.

Thanks Ian and Mason, you've brighten up my day! It's little wonders like these that makes life so much more interesting.

All in all, a happy CNY eve. =)

Jeff Dunham

2008-02-05T00:45:00.000+08:00

CNY is here but I probably won't be celebrating it as much as I would like to because it's going to be hell after CNY for me... fate has it that I can't quite escape from books and studies even during holidays.

On a lighter note, I am hooked to ventriloquism lately... or rather, stand up comedy mixed with ventriloquism. And the maestro behind this is... Jeff Dunham - who's probably the best stand up comedian cum ventriloquist.

His famous creations include Walter (grumpy and sarcastic old man), Peanut (a woozle who constantly argues with Jeff), Achmed the dead terrorist, Jose Jalapeno on a stick and Melvin the superhero.

This is definitely not to be missed!

Elaynne's 21st

2007-12-10T13:27:00.000+08:00

I've almost forgotten about the existence of my blog... that's how busy I am currently.

It's 3 weeks late(sorry Elaynne!) but I owe you this one. Happy 21st Elaynne!!

Elaynne + her present + a certain Wangi's hand

We managed to surprise the former FOC Assistant Chief Programmer!! That's no small feat ok? =P

But of course, just a birthday surprise isn't enough to summarise our dearie Elaynne's 21st birthday. Due to the lack of pictures, I shall hand it over to Elaynne and Jane to do the narration.

What do you expect me to do?

2007-11-17T14:53:00.000+08:00

"How do you study ?"

It's a perfectly fine question if you ask once. It's perfectly NOT fine if you ask for every damn subject. And it's even worse if you do it now because you're a UNIVERSITY STUDENT.

It annoys me, how the heck did you get to university when you're asking this kind of question now?

Regardless, here's my answer... this is a sure fire method to score A+ in every subject that you take. I don't want to do it for every subject because it'll arouse suspicion. So pay attention...

First you MUST read your notes while you're standing on your hands. You must make sure that all your blood is flowing into your brain so that your brain can get maximum amount of oxygen and thus your brain will function better. Once you're done reading your notes... DON'T do your past year papers, not yet at least. You'll need to pray to Jesus/Allah/Guan Yin//Albert Einstein (if you're free thinker) to bless you with their wits and their brains. Hands off the past year papers, it's still not the time yet. Once you're done praying, you'll need to look for divine signs from the Gods/smoke weed and down a whole bottle of vodka AND tequila(for free thinkers) to know that you've inherited their brains and knowledges. That's when you start doing your final papers.

There, simple and easy. If vodka and tequila are too expensive, you can use beer as alternative... effect may not be as good though.

What about past year papers you ask? Nah, they're just useless... just a means to increase other people's pressure. Whenever your friends ask you if you've finished your past year papers, just say that all of them are so easy that you've answered all of them using your feet with your eyes closed.

But the notes are unorganized and you don't see a connection between the chapters you say. Ah, then I'll let you in on a little secret... actually the reading notes while you're standing on your hands part... I said it so that I can have a little laugh while watching you pulling it off. It's totally unnecessary... why would you need to read the notes when you're going to inherit God's brain?

But you're a free thinker you say... you can't inherit God's brain because you don't believe in God. Fret not, Albert Einstein will rise from the dead and provide you with his rotten brain. I believe his rotten brain is far more superior than your brain, you just need to be able to stand the stench... and the maggots that come along with it.

But...

No more buts! Do what I've told you and you'll be on your way to your road of eternal glorious distinction!

I'll see you in Woodbridge once you graduate.

Helpless...

2007-11-10T20:19:00.000+08:00

Alanis Morissette - Ironic

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic... don't you think?

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think?

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic... don't you think?
A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

------------------------------
Gary Jules - Mad World

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Mad World
Enlarging your world
Mad World.

------------------------------
That's exactly how I'm feeling right now.

Acquaintances or Friends?

2007-11-05T20:25:00.000+08:00

Heck, I don't know myself.

I'll be blunt, there isn't much to talk about between us, if there's any at all.

I've been feeling uneasy about this for quite some time... but seems like there's no one I can really confide to.

So this is how loneliness feels...

Dawn...

2007-10-30T15:21:00.000+08:00

When was the last time I watched the sunrise? To immerse in the soft silver rays and cool morning breeze, to listen to the birds giving their first chirps of the day? I long to throw away the burdens on my shoulders and live for that moment, even if it's a fleeting one. Alas, it's not meant to be, lest till I finish meet my final hurdle, which is looming and lurking in the shadows...

At this point, I should probably take it easy. Ambitious my aims may be, but there are times that I need to let off the steam, step back and look; and realise that there are so much more to life than my goals. Some may not agree with me, but being able to sit idly and immerse yourself into the surroundings is a blessing. Sure, society progresses, life becomes more hectic, people become more competitive, corporate ladder is getting more and more difficult to climb, meritocracy and capitalism are the main philosophies adopted by advanced nations in the globe... there are just so many reasons for us to deprive ourselves from the goodness life has to offer us.

Are people really evolving or devolving? Are we so obsessed with chasing fame and success that deep inside we are but an empty shell? Did we spend so much time on soaring towards excellence that we have no time to spare to truly live? And as cliched as this may sound... are we merely existing rather than living(and making your mark in the history doesn't necessarily mean that you've lived, it can only prove that you've existed)?

That said, I am by no means suggesting that we should stop seeking improvements in our lives. Rather, take some time off the pursuit of excellence and relax. After all, life is so much more than that.

So, when was the last time that you watched sunrise?

Sneaks in, looks around, then sneaks out

2007-10-19T18:07:00.000+08:00

Deadlines, deadlines, more deadlines.

And now I'm on the verge of being free of deadlines... maybe not.

Deadline in the form of exam is coming soon, oh the joy!

OBS

2007-10-03T00:16:00.000+08:00

If not for this:
Outward Bound Singapore - To serve, to strive and not to yield

I think I would've gone nuts during recess week. In case you're wondering, I didn't go back to Malaysia during this break. Instead I stayed back and had my eyes practically stuck to the books all the time.

27th September:
We arrived in Pulau Ubin at around 10am. Then we went through the standard things - ice breaker, separated into groups (Eng Soon, Gandhi, Rajaratnam), surrendered our valuables to the instructors. I was assigned to watcher (or group) Eng Soon. Each watcher was led by an instructor.

Eng Soon. They rocked simply because I was in there. =P

After lunch, we went jungle-trekking. Eng Soon separated itself to 3 teams so that it could find all the checkpoints in the shortest time possible. Alas, we only managed 3 out of 10 checkpoints, no thanks to the fallen trees that further complicated our routes.

Billy fanning himself with our money while he's hanging halfway up in the air. Life's hard up there, I know...

We then went to our next destination - our camp site. When we reached the campsite, the other watchers were there already with their members concentrated on the debate on which kind of leader is the best leader.

Dinner was rice, canned mushroom, canned curry chicken and canned sambal ikan bilis cooked by... US! Gandhi had the time of their lives concocting funny names for their recipes such as Gandhi jump over the wall and Tiger swim across the river.

After that we pitched the tents and prepared to sleep.

28th September:
We built 2 rafts and rowed back to the headquarters. Our raft were on the verge of breaking apart when we were halfway rowing at the sea. Thanks to our rowers (and lots of hands of the non-rowers holding the raft together), we managed to row back to the headquarters in one piece.

And we arrived at the headquarters just in time for lunch! Everyone practically wolfed down the food... after a long and hard process of building raft and rowing it for around 1km, any food is bound to be heavenly.
The inverted tower behind us brought us yet another challenge of the day - how to invert it back?

Next up is the vertical element... in simpler terms - climbing.

This activity basically fostered trust between each and every team member as we had to leave our lives in the hands of our teammates. They were responsible for controlling our safety ropes and bringing us to ground safely when we slip or once we're done climbing the tower.

I had more fun climbing then bringing people down to their safeties though. =P

Then we're practically done for the day... no more activities at night, only discussions and planning for next day's activities.

29th September
The final day of our stay in Pulau Ubin. We had a self-reflection and sharing session in the morning before the commencement of the day's activities.

We were supposed to play mini-games like these:
Jump!

Walk!

to collect points so that we can buy materials to make:
A harmless little ballista that costed us probably close to 5000 points.

And we used it to launch:
Humpty-Dumpty with straws and masking tape.

Unbreakable egg!

When we were done with making the launcher, Christopher proceeded to present our Code of Arms to the instructors.
Christopher: It's time to show my blow water skills!

followed by our warcry, which goes something like this:

"Yenadei kuchi kuchi ma ma! MAE! MAE!" x3

Never quite understood its meaning. Then we launched Humpty-Dumpty, which didn't break when landed. And that concluded our activities, and basically our stay in Pulau Ubin as well.
OBS: 27 - 29 September 2007.

And so we're once again back in the concrete jungle of Singapore, back to our lives. But I'm sure this OBS is etched in our memories, never to be forgotten.

Election, Merdeka and Toy!

2007-09-09T17:29:00.000+08:00

Election

My first ever experience in preparing and going through an election.

Yeap, that's me right there...

First we had to go through election rally in which each candidate would have to make a speech and answer the questions from the audience. Making the speech wasn't that overwhelming, considering the audience consists of the previous management committee and the candidates only.

To quote my previous Publication Director, "Aiya, it's a Friday night lar, who wants to come? I got better place to go and better things to do lor..."

Nevertheless, it's a procedure made necessary by SAO so we had to comply.

On the following Thursday, an election was held.

I've only prepared flyers and smile to pull the votes. And to be frank, it's not an easy job to stand around the election booth for hours smiling and "haunting" the voters so that they would vote for you.

I do pity the voters though, since they almost always get swarmed by candidates who stuffed flyers onto their hands before they could even blink their eyes. There were a few voters who eluded us by sneaking past us to the booth while we're not paying attention. I must pick up the skill someday, it might just come in handy. =P

Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) I emerged as the winner in the end. 70% vote, quite a landslide victory I say. Thanks for the support!

Merdeka Night

Held on the night one day after our Independence Day by MSA, this is by far the best Merdeka Night ~~because I did not just one, but TWO awesome dance in it~~.

Everything was fantastic that night, the crowd, the emcees, the performances, the food... everything!
Rokkuguh Dance! Lots of effort was put in to perfect the dance and it's perfect! =D

Rokkuguh Dance Team! Great to dance with you guys, look forward to more performances together if possible.

3 hunks, 2 babes and 1 monster king.

The response was very good, shame that it had to end at 11pm as all the lights would be switched off.

And I've just got myself a new toy....

Hehehehehe... Elaynne, next time there will be no more excuse of me not taking enough pictures with you. =D

2 weeks in a glance

2007-08-19T10:57:00.000+08:00

1st week

National Day Parade!! For your information, Singapore's National Day is on 9th August... and their preparation for the National Day is no small feat either. The performers have been practising countless times so that it would be perfect on the actual day itself.

Me on the other hand went to my cousin's place to watch the NDP. The wonders of television... I get to watch the whole parade without having to squeeze myself among the sweaty and stuffy crowd. Sure, I may not be able to experience the atmosphere or take pictures, but I certainly didn't feel like wearing the lion mask and waving Singaporean flag... besides I don't have a camera.

After watching the parade, my cousin and her family celebrated my birthday. They've prepared a coffee chocolate cake which was very nice. The kids didn't like it though... they have yet to appreciate the taste of coffee.

10th August - my birthday!! But there's a replacement class at 4.30pm... haih... totally wasted my effort of freeing up my schedule on Friday after 1.30pm. Since everyone was busy(myself included), I had organized an impromptu dinner at Swensen's and probably disrupted many people's plans... sorry about that guys!

The ice-cream cake!! Love it!

My free ice cream!! Hahahaha.

Supper followed next... and I was promptly ponded after that... in front of Chinese Heritage Center. Lai Fai and Joe involuntarily got ponded as well. =P

One glow in the dark tag, one Arsenal pencil box and one..... TRANSFORMERS TOY!! You cheeky Sunway peeps!! XD I certainly didn't expect that... haha.

Next is the present from Adrian, Elaine, Jane, Ken Shaun, Shaun and Wai Seng...

Tadaaaa!!! The front! Seems like banana is an in-thing now...

And messages from each of them are imprinted on the back! A very nice gift I must concur.

Thanks everyone for the wishes, celebration and the gifts!!

2nd week

ECA fair on Monday and Tuesday... and Boardgames Club has Betrayal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We quickly went over to the booth and found out where we could buy the game. Guys... prepare yourselves, there'll be a lot more gathering once we get the game. =D

Thanks Elaynne for telling me about it.

Apart from that, I also had dance practices for the performance on Merdeka Night. And I'm happy to say that we've basically learned all the dance move and able to dance to the song in 2 practices!! As for the revelation of the dance... you'll find out on Merdeka Night itself. Hehe...

Oh and I'm running for the Publication Officer position in MAE club... so if you have any friends who are in MAE school, please tell them to vote for me on coming Thursday... many thanks!!

FOC

2007-08-05T10:15:00.001+08:00

As promised, here's a full account on MSA FOC 07/08... from my point of view. Before I begin...

Programmers' identity - Bandana which we donned on proudly throughout the camp!

Day 1

This was the day the freshies arrived... being the nice and kind seniors, we were all set to give them a warm welcome by waiting for them at the bus stops which were designated as drop off points.

And so I was stationed at the Hall 2 bus stop with Yoke Hwa, Ka Hong, Siew Li, Ping Ting and her AMSISA mates. The first batch of freshies were supposed to arrive at 7.30am but they turned up at 8.55am. We were worried about the second batch arriving before we were done helping the first batch to check into their rooms because we're shorthanded. Fortunately most of the first batch checked in when the second batch arrived at around 10am.

By 1.40pm the final batch of freshies arrived. We brought them to lunch first because the hall office was closed for lunch. I'd inadvertently revealed to the freshies about the tradition of Hall 6 people ponding birthday boys/girls AND the fact that my birthday is around the corner. Now one of them is trying to figure out where exactly I stay in the hall so that he can pond me on my birthday.

Nevermind that... we were done helping all the Hall 6 freshies to check in by 2.45pm and I went to Hall 8 to talk cock sing song with whoever's willing. That's where my new roomie came into the story. He was without a room when he arrived and sent to Hall 6. The lady in the hall office then assigned him to my room and that marked the end of my single room deluxe suite.

After that we gathered at Hall 3 function hall for the opening ceremony of the MSA FOC 07/08. The freshies, now assigned to their respective orientation groups (OG)

which were Famiglia, Tarquinius, Kazoku, Genos, Lanza, Philia, Porodica, and Sulale. These names were consistent with the theme of the camp - Ohana.

After that each group conducted ice-breaking games, I was assigned to Porodica and played a few games with the freshies before leaving to prepare for the intergroup ice-breaking games.

That night itself Lanza freshies experienced their first ever Seven Wonders.

Day 2

Administration work in the day time and more games at night. The 4 games conducted were Pass the Precious, Thou Shall Not Pass, Human Pinball and Pick the Cups Game. I was stationed at Thou Shall Not Pass game and it was a nerve-wrecking game. The freshies were so excited that it was practically as though we're watching 2 factions at war.

Some of the guys were basically kneeling and praying as though they've scored in the World Cup final whenever their group nicked a point. It was a very comical scene. All of us laughed and screamed our lungs out as the game progressed.

Day 3

Combined games! I was basically cheering Porodica until I got tired and slacked with Yi Chin and Elaine at the shaded area. After that each group painted a portion of the Malaysia map allocated to them and we took a whole MSA group picture with the map. Up till now everything was still relaxing for me since I didn't need to run around.

Next up - Unspeakable Truth, Unbreakable Egg... each group would have to use straws and rubber bands to build a protective structure around the eggs. Hall 6 suddenly became much noisier than it was as it was the venue where we dropped the eggs.

Here comes the tiring part... PHOTOHUNT. I was assigned to Famiglia and they probably had the best sense of direction. For every destination, they've picked the shortest route and managed to find 6 locations before we had to end things earlier for... ~~SP Walk~~ Ghost Walk.

There was a lot of walking to be done as I was the first usherer, and Shaun also wanted to take photo with me after his convocation... so I was practically running back to LT 2 pavilion every time I guided the freshies to the holding place.

Joe and Wai Seng are now part time workers in a Japanese factory.

Once I was back in my room, I immediately went to bed out of sheer fatigue.

Day 4

Lost Day!!

From what I've heard the freshies had a lot of responses watching the video. Yi Wang's self-promotion obviously worked! I was in charge of City Hall station and conducted the Pass the Message game. All the groups that played the game had failed miserably as the message got distorted after each person passed the message using the cups. Lanza freshies had even concocted their own message halfway through!

We had lunch in Marina Square before the guys headed to Fort Canning Park to kaypoh. We stopped by at Picnic Terrace to witness Lanza(again!) playing the dot dot dot game. Unfortunately the rain got heavy and we had to stop all the programs for the day in FCP.

So what did we do while stuck in FCP waiting for the rain to subside?

CHEER FIGHT!! Needless to say, programmers, who were thoroughly outnumbered, weren't even close to being the loudest... I dare say we're the most spirited ones though. We all had a good time cheering our hearts out(in exchange for a hoarse voice).

We made our way back to NTU for dinner. Barter system was incorporated into the dinner so that we could get more interactions between groups. But some negotiations were plain ridiculous. In the end, Porodica settled with cheering, dancing and singing to get all the cards they needed.

Day 5

I missed all the dunkings and a good whole chunk of the day's programs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sniff*

I stayed in water for too long and got hypothermia. But I was back and kicking for SP games!!

First off was the SP revelation... it was too obscene. Too many guys strip half naked, which isn't always a pleasant sight.

Flame of Love - we were basically squirting water at anything and everything that had a flame on it. After the game was done, we gathered at LT 2 pavilion once more to watch the sketch performance by each OG. Porodica snatched the win with a convincing performance that cracked everyone up.

After that we presented the best OG, best male & female freshman awards. Then we clubbed till 4.30am... where many guys decided it was time to strip half naked... AGAIN!

Final words

Sorry for the lack of pictures... will post them up once I get hold of them. But if you want to have a sneak peek - my dear ACP will gladly show you.

I haven't had the chance to formerly thank all those who were there when I had hypothermia so I hereby thank you first... you know who you are.

And finally, thanks everyone... programmers especially, for making this FOC an unforgettable one!

And so it has ended

2007-07-29T10:29:00.000+08:00

Yeap... it has ended. FOC that is.

While it's a relief that I'm finally getting the sleep that I've been deprived of for 2 weeks, I certainly didn't want it to end so fast. To me, everyday of Senior Camp and FOC has been thoroughly enjoyable one, all of us are high in spirits everyday. Sure, there may be clashes, impatience and misunderstandings along the way but we, the programmers especially, grow to understand each other better, melt the boundaries and are comfortable around one another.

To all programmers,

Joe Lam, Lai Fai, Wan Xin, Elaine Lee, Elaine Tam, Boon Cheng, Danny, Jia Ning, Wee Ping, Wei Jian, Wai Hong, Kim, Yi Zhen, Yen Yah, Pey Shan, Hui Ling, Sai Lei, Wai Seng, Ken Shaun, Cin Huang, Gabriel, Jeeva, Leler and Shermaine...

it's my pleasure knowing and working with you. We share the joy and pain together, going through meetings after meetings and sleepless night after sleepless night. The frustrations we experience during Senior Camp have only made us more resolute to make the FOC a success, and boy it is a great success despite having minor glitches here and there. I'm sorry if I've offended any of you when we're working together.

Thank you for giving me one of the best memories ever!

Taiping

2007-07-13T16:45:00.000+08:00

Pardon me for the lack of good pictures. Apparently Yi Wang has most of them and I have yet to see him online.

So it was a memorable 3 days 2 nights trip. Why would I say so?

1) The rented car looked like it could breakdown any moment soon. The wheel alignments were practically non-existant, the seat couldn't be adjusted and the radio knob would fall off if you pulled a little. It's not an exaggeration to say that we were literally in a Milo Tin. Then again, that's probably what you would get for the rate of RM80 per day. No cookies for knowing who's driving it. And the girls were having negative comments on my driving skills... sigh.

2) Watching Wai Seng and Weng Keong demonstrating a Dare feat that Justin was supposed to pull off when they were playing the Truth or Dare game. Wai Seng was playing a female role during the demonstration.

3) Playing Mafia until almost 4am. Safe to say that Yi Wang = selfish doctor.

4) Most of us walked up Maxwell Hill (or Bukit Larut)... a whooping 10.5km journey to the hill top. We started at 3pm and when we were about 1 or 2 km from the hill top, it started raining. It was dark and the wind was blowing hard. Needless to say almost everyone was dejected and by the time all of us arrived at our lodging, it was around 7pm.

5) The water heater was spoiled!! Luckily we brought a multipurpose cooker for steamboat purpose so we used the cooker to boil water for everyone to bathe. By the time everyone finished bathing, it was already 10pm. And we still haven't had our dinner.

6) A little bit of background... our lodging consisted of one huge living room, a small kitchen and four bedrooms. And since it was creepy at night in the bedrooms, all of us agreed to move the mattresses into the living room and sleep there. Beneath one of the mattresses on the bed however, lied a photoframe, with the picture facing down. I believe most of you, if not all, are familiar with those haunted houses on the hill top stories. That's basically what was in most of our minds when we found that photo frame. ~~I immediately shat in my pants and ran out of the house, screaming along the way while rolling downhill as I was sure that was the only way to get down the hill real fast.~~ We all decided to leave the photoframe be and slept uneasily through the night. Turned out the picture in the photoframe was the portrait of the Menteri Besar of Perak. Scared ourselves silly for no apparent reason.

And so we went back to Selangor on 7th, thus concluding our trip in Taiping.

I'll be looking forward to more trips in the future with you all.

It really isn't like anime and movie...

2007-07-08T21:31:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder how it felt like to be in a car that was spinning out of control?

Recalling every single good/bad thing that has happened in your life? Mentally saying goodbye to the ones you love? Thinking about what was to happen next? Panic? Fearing death?

None.

In that split second, there wasn't any rewind of my life in my mind... it was just blank. My emotions were surprisingly numb. I didn't scream, I didn't tremble in fear, I didn't close my eyes as everything vividly unfolded in front of my very eyes. I was shockingly calm, as though I was willingly surrendering my life, waiting to see how my afterlife would turn out to be.

I only instinctively knew that I didn't want to say goodbye to everyone. Alas, one can never be too sure in a life and death situation.

All I can say now is that I'm relieved that I've walked out of the incident with only a slight swell on my head. Thinking back, it's a truly terrifying experience, knowing that in that split second you could well be on your way to the next life.

To my love...

2007-06-30T21:39:00.000+08:00

It's been 2 and a half years, very wonderful 2 and a half years indeed.

Do you still remember the first time we had our ride together? I was very nervous indeed, being absolutely clueless on what to do. What I did know back then was that we'll definitely form a bond, how I wished it was an unbreakable one.

But you've always brought peace and helped me to relax. For that I'm truly grateful. I wish I could do more for you.

As time went by, I've grown to love you even more. You're there with me every morning when I was trapped in the traffic jam as I drove to college.

Slowly, I was immersed in this illusion that this bond would be an eternal one... I would make sure of that if I had to. Alas, circumstances would not allow it, and now you're leaving. Heartache indeed, but I'd have to let you go. I can only wish you luck and hope that you'll live well with him.

And I thank you for all that you've given me.

And finally, goodbye...

My brown Iswara, which has served my family well for 13 and a half years. I'd love to go out in a ride with you again.

When I was 18...

2007-06-25T22:42:00.000+08:00

2005 that was...

Let's just say that the concept of time when it comes to music in my mind is practically non-existent so I'm relying heavily on the list given in this website to complete this tag.

I do remember fondly tuning into Mix FM whenever I'm driving to keep in touch with the latest hits(which is probably why I've never paid attention to when the songs/albums were released). Among the tunes which I bobbed my head to include:

Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
Lifehouse - You and Me (not so much of bobbing my head really... in fact, it'll be very weird for me to bob my head when I'm listening to this song)
Nickelback - Photograph
Madonna - Hung Up
Kelly Clarkson - Since You've Been Gone

Green Day's songs are just loud, nuff said.

Lifehouse is soothing (also reduces my driving speed significantly).

The rest are catchy.

Suffice to say that my taste in music is a weird one... =P

Chocolates!

2007-06-12T22:50:00.001+08:00

Last week I've received a nice little box of chocolate from a friend:

Ducd'O!! I've never heard of it... maybe chocolate lovers can enlighten me a little?

These are basically 4 of the 9 chocolates available in the box. 2 dark chocolates, 2 white chocolates...

The remaining 5, all of which are milk chocolates. The smudge on the paper can only mean that the chocolates are so good that the paper wants a piece for itself... or is it?

Well, I'm here to find out.

The bottom right one doesn't look appealing... then again, I probably should've expected it when I left the box on my table for days before putting it into my fridge.

And so in less than 5 minutes time, I popped each and every one of them into my mouth...

They say that Belgian dark chocolates are the best, or at least chocolate lovers shouldn't die without trying them... and my verdict? Slightly bitter and slightly sweet, I suppose it's not too bad. At least it is appealing to my taste buds (I don't quite like bitter things, except for durian that is...).

Next are the white chocolates. Frankly speaking I don't know what I should expect because the last time I tasted white chocolate, it tasted more like solidified thick condensed milk and sent me into a diabetic paranoia frenzy. So honestly, I have no idea how a genuine white chocolate should taste. The white chocolates tasted sweet, but there's no hint of milky taste at all. The taste didn't particular strike me as being distinctive... candy-like perhaps.

Finally the milk chocolates which are... milky.

My personal preferences... mocha praline truffles from dark and white chocolate categories and vanilla from milk chocolate category.