my.escape

martes, enero 31, 2006

[ 1085. CNY Day 3 ]

Let the pictures tell them all...

Shannon left at 11:09 p. m..

lunes, enero 30, 2006

[ 1084. Lunar New Year ]

New years are actually getting more and more routine. Routines routines routines. It's like the same cycle every year, albeit you get to meet 'long-lost' cousins that you may (or may not) have intentions to strike up any forms of conversations. Anyway, for the record i only have like a couple of cousins around my age. The rest are either still learning how to add up to 1 million, or already dealing with office politics everyday.

First up to woodlands granny's place. Met the usual cousins, uncle, auntie and beloved granny. It's the same over there, except that cousin eric's getting married this may. May 17 to be exact. But up to now i still haven't met the fiancee. Unless it haven't changed since the previous wedding i attended. Haha. Next up to corporation road granny's place. The angpow harvest is usually greater there, given that mom has more relatives there. But i was so tired out the previous day, i ended up napping there instead. So we went home at four. And then i slept. Again. lolx.

Randy and chinsin came over for a game of mj with me and my bro last night. Lost a fair bit initially, but one game of thirteen orphans recouped everything. Lost only three bucks in the end. Haha. But hor, people say if you win thirteen orphans you will get pretty suay la. But then again, i'm not pantang so i guess it's ok. Lolx.

Today... relatives visiting me. But i'm just so darn tired. And i can't wait to go out. Bleah.

Shannon left at 11:12 a. m..

sábado, enero 28, 2006

[ 1083. Aspirationsins ]

Went down to support cindy in the ntu-cac combined performance at singapore conference hall last night. I rarely say this, but it was a complete waste of fifteen bucks. No doubt it's a fund-raising event, and much hardwork has been put in for the event, but the act together was nearly a disaster. No, in case you're thinking of the worst, the program did carry on as usual. No catastrophic incidents like the grand piano falling off the stage, just that when you piece various bad works together, it really spoils your night.

Let's get a bit more organised with the criticisms. Here goes:

1) The program sheet. Program booklet was badly done. At best, amateurish. Huiyin was commenting that with major sponsors like PUB, they should well afford more effort in the program sheet.

2) turn-out. the conference hall was less than half filled. That's really sad. i.e. to say, i can infer that publicity was really badly done.

3) order of program. ahh. this i gotta eleborate a little more. they actually placed all the non logistics-intensive items (i.e. those that doesn't require much stage set-up) in the front. coincidentally, there were many of good items in the first half. at best, the modern jazz, the jam band were good. and also, they lined up almost all of its 19 member clubs to perform at least an item each, stretching the concert to nearing 2.5 hours. No doubt it's arguably a good potpourri of programs, but i seriously don't see taekwondo and wushu as a performing art to be demonstrated on stage in a ticketed performance.

4) lion dance. as quoted from huiyin (again), "those lions look more like tame cats." nuff said.

5) comtemporary dance. ok, cindy was performing in this number, and strictly speaking there's nothing wrong with the dancers. the issue was with the choreography. I seriously don't see some sense in parts of the movements...

6) classical stuff. ahh. i saw many heads nodding off and youfen was blatantly sleeping with her legs lifted on bingsheng's lap for support. half the audience were probably regular young dudes who may not know how to appreciate classical stuff.

7) emcees. it's kind of bad stage presence if you maintain more eye contact with your cue cards than your audience... and it's a fine line between chemistry of both emcees and interrupting each other. they seem to be doing more of the latter.

so all in all... the only part of fifteen bucks worth was being able to see their co and choir in action. choir was not really impressive, but co seems pretty promising, despite what yuqin was telling me. ;)

Shannon left at 10:58 a. m..

viernes, enero 27, 2006

[ 1082. Enghow ]

just a little photo that i was playing with when i was wasting my time on bso's laptop in camp yesterday. This photo was taken at somerset mrt, on our way home after cutting my hair. Yeah. I cut my hair at orchard. lolx. Anyway, cuz it was raining damn hard... and after watching narnia that day we were stranded at orchard. So we walked the entire stretch of the shletered areas stretching from borders to taka, hunting for tom's and jo's present. And then after that i decided to cut my hair lo. Cost quite a bit la, but for the new year so it's ok i guess.

Enghow's such a dear friend. He's changed over the past couple of years, becoming lamer, yes, lamer and more talkative la. But aiyah. it's good la. Thank God for someone who's there to listen to me, know what i'm thinking, and someone provide some helpful insights for me. Thanks dude.

Shannon left at 2:34 p. m..

[ 1081. Alternatives ]

compliments of hansel tan, the outgoing kokpa. =/

Shannon left at 2:32 p. m..

[ 1080. Marketing ]

Spent my last couple of days in camp, including popping down to nyp for lunch with suya and eric. That poor chap just failed his bike prac test that morning... simply by falling off the plank. Muahahaha. Oooops. =x

Ok, i went to the market this morning. Helped mom did a little chores at home, and buy some stuff for the reunion dinner. Kaoz, didn't know stuff at the market could be so costly. A few bags of pork, some fishballs and fish dumplings, cuttlefish and more set me back by thirty bucks. Alas, money's not mine la. Then went to ntuc with mom just now, blew another 60 over dollars on fish, prawns, and some new year goodies. Hehs. Shopping for groceries so expensive wor...

Going for cindy's dance performance later on. Hope it'll be good! Haahs.

Shannon left at 2:27 p. m..

martes, enero 24, 2006

[ 1079. Weight ]

Ahhh... let's be a lil himbotic today. Let's talk about my weight.

I went to take a weigh of myself today in camp. On this iscale machine that measures your body fat percentage too. Muahahaha. I lost a lil weight la. hahaha. lost about 1.2% in body fat. lolx. and i'm 57% water!! lolx! that's 30 over kilos in water weight! Muahahah. If this goes on well thru CNY... anything is possible... muahahaha...

Shannon left at 9:04 p. m..

lunes, enero 23, 2006

[ 1078. Cheaper By The Dozen 2 ]

Despite funds running low, i still when on a movie binge today with enghow, after feelin how bored this morning.

Cheaper by a dozen 2, a movie about this eager dad with 12 kids from the very young brats (like your classmates in school) to the happily married and heavily pregnant eldest daughter.About An over-protective dad who wants his kids to be forever by his side, and needs the down-to-earth mom to remind him that the kids will grow up one day. Meeting his long-time arch rival with 8 high-achieving kids at a holiday trip to the lake that they haven't visited for a long time, both dads came to a realization that no one can be the perfect parent.

Ahhh. Nice comedy and quite funny antics by those ~~brats~~ kids, if you ask me.

i once got to know this mjc guy called jeffery while i carolled at meridien last month. think he'd have just enlisted by now. anyway, was reading his blog just now, reading his reflections and his poured-out feelings about the past year. so he was a repeat student in mj. about his experiences with his fellow choristors, school life, and more. this guy's pretty depressed, it seems. was wondering if it's the typical pre-enlistment syndrome, but looking back, he didn't seem like an happy-go-lucky kind of person. there's something in his eyes that always seems to want to say more. like when i said my last goodbye to him on the last day of carolling, and found out that he won't be returning cuz he's enlisting soon. brings back some memories of how i felt when i knew i was going to enlist so early back in jc2. aiyah. just praying for the best for him now that he's in tekong.

actually to think of it, most consortians seems pretty deep. they have cliques, and some are not easy to talk to. shallow conversations, of course, always take place. "oh, the food is good ya?... the song damn hard lo!... the sops sound funny..." etc etc etc. call me cynical, call me sensitive, but i think people should learn to put down their swords and start shaking each other's hands, looking in one another's eyes, and share more than just the song. go deeper, people.

i'm going back camp tomorrow. it's a 72 hour journey from now, dudes.

Shannon left at 7:52 p. m..

sábado, enero 21, 2006

[ 1077. Rummaging Through the Mind ]

Pastor lawrence preached today. The only thing that remain stuck in my mind was the part about seeing the good in others; always giving thanks for the people around me. Instead of whining and complaining about their faults (well, others do that to me as well) why not give thanks for them. For what they have done for me, in my life. Many people flashed through my mind actually. Including people like rsm, like ltc koh, like eric, like huiyin, like mrs wong. Well. Time to give thanks to these people. And not forgetting people who are around me right now.

Went food republic at wisma for dinner today, upon the insistence of joseph. Thankfully it was better than what myself and aaron expected, cuz we were half expecting it to be just another food court with hard-to-get seats. Well, first look at the food court gave us a pretty impressive image, and hence we forgot about the complaints of having to walk so far. The food was so-so. Aaron and myself got the niu rou dao xiao mian, i.e. beef noodles, where the noodles is not machine-cut (like ban mian and the sorts) but cut manually by means of a knife. If you ask me, they taste the same. No big difference. Baah. The beef was good though. The fried oyster was good too. Aiyah, i think a little sin every now and then is ok lo. As long as i don't over indulge. But in retrospect, i think i've pampered myself more than enough this week. Urgh.

Made a few plans for the coming weeks. First i need to get my schedule in order, i'm just living day to day. It's not good. I have a few things that i've kiv-ed for so long. Urgh. Will be doing house visitation with usm3 on the third day of chinese new year. Hoping that this will be an opportunity for the guys to get together, as well as hopefully getting to know their families as well. It has provened to be a good step for many young believers actually, especially those with family objections. Will be playing badminton with sharon and company for the last time on the fifth day of cny. That one also kiv la....

Bo and myself met limin and edwin (i think) on our way back, and limin was just sharing a lil of her experience in cs. Not the first time i'm hearing things about cs, but one thing she said reaffirmed my fears: i have to be strong and confident in my values and beliefs. She was telling me that i'll encounter lots of controversial issues and discussions, and that i should not take materials that i read and receive as the gospel truth. Instead i should do a balanced research, bearing in mind that ultimately the bible is the absolute truth above all. It scares me somehow actually. Ok, maybe scare is too strong a word, but probably just fearful. Fearing that i may not hold on tightly to my bible when i get into uni. Fearing that i may be distracted. So I'm just praying that God will hold me tight as i enter this four years in cs.

Came back and did a little reading up on mom's materials for her senior teacher portfolio. Stumbled across her students' reflections on the bicultural exchange program her school had with a shanghainese school last year. Apparently her girls ran into some issues with the chinese girls. And they were reflecting how 'ugly' these girls from china got: their excessive spending habits in singapore, absolute disregard for singapore culture and adults, and their lack of interest in lessons in school. Thankfully it didn't happen to the boys. However, the response from the chinese hosts while our singaporean students were there was excellent. It somehow made me proud of these xinmin students, that even though we singaporeans may be too proud in 'bragging' that little achievements of ours, but we still have the basic respect interpersonally. As such, we singaporeans aren't always the ugliest people around. Well done, students.

Aye aye... enough of those five cents worth of blogging. I'm off to sleep. Sending tom off tomorrow.

Shannon left at 11:54 p. m..

viernes, enero 20, 2006

[ 1076. Updates, Updates ]

Ok, i haven't been faithfully updating this week, i confess. Ahh, heck with the confession. Just didn't have the means to blog when i felt like blogging, and when i had the means, i was simply lazy. Talk about timings. Hehs.

So... meanwhile, just a quick run thru what i did for the week:

monday
went shopping with eric. had the fantastic hong zao ji mian xian at bugis! bagus! walked the whole of bugis village, combed the whole of taka and wisma, and finally attacked far east before eric settled on his wants. And see la, i even got my tee shirt as a result of my recent infatuation with hot pink. Gee.

tuesday
slacked at home the whole day, thinking that i'll help mom work on her portfolio. went shopping with mom in the evening at OG chinatown, before i hit city hall for dinner myself and home.

wednesday
went badminton at clementi with bowen, tom, sharon, aaron and tim. Didn't know that badminton can be such a workout... i'm still aching now.......

thursday
went back camp for some aoe brief. haggled my way through for the availability during aa06. hehs. lunched with lionel and calvin, dinner with hansel and terry. had a good laugh over post dinner tea about their ~~breasts~~ chest sizes. watched 'memoirs of the geisha' at night with eric and ziwei too. muahahah.

today
went nyp open house with eric, met his friend, walked around the whole of nyp, watched this dance group called 'foreign bodies' groove their stuff on stage, and head off to town for dinner with chris. aye. thank god for allowing me to get the right book for her. i was really lost when i headed to borders, not knowing what to get her. the book cost a bomb, but thank god it was the right one!

and that concludes my weekdays.

talking about dance.... i was commenting to eric how big 'foreign bodies' seems to be. Alas, many youths like to dance, but apparently not many has the talent, flair and ability to dance well. Some has the build, but not the grace. Some has the techniques, but their size is an obstacle. And some simply aren't born performers. But well, i come to realize dancing is not as easy as just strutting your stuff on stage. It's about interacting with your audience through your movements, and how you communicate with people through your body... food for thought.

Well, i'm bored. nights!

Shannon left at 11:05 p. m..

martes, enero 17, 2006

[ 1075. BBQ Photos ]

Well well, the fastest i've ever taken to upload photos. Primarily because of photoshop, or rather the lack of it speeds up the time cuz i can't do anything with(out) it. Muahaha. Enjoy the raw footages.

justin (in green) garreth (in white) and myself; Acting crazy

enghow and myself; the three birthday ~~babies~~ angels (you know how i've been criticized in using the word 'babies'... humph.)

excited over the cake...?

it's blow-time! and.... terror-time by the host... muahahah...

the birthday angels yet again; joseph and friends

biznet; usm3

Shannon left at 8:33 p. m..

lunes, enero 16, 2006

[ 1074. BBQ ]

Competition is nothing but a self-delusion. Do you agree?

Actually... i don't know why am i thinking of that. But well. In a GPish manner, i'd have to disagree becuase 'nothing' is an absolute term. And we've been taught to disagree with absolute statements. Baah. A lil two cents worth on competition. Competition is actually man-made though. Think about this: you're actually not in a competition, unless you decide that you want to be part of the rat race. You may be doing the same thing, but not indulge in competing with others. Geddit? Hmm.

Just got back from Chris, Tom & Jo's 21st birthday BBQ. After a week of planning, it's finally come to pass, and a few thanksgiving point:

1) It didn't rain! Bo was mentioning that it's been raining madly for the past 2 weeks so that tonight will be a wonderful night. And so it's true! Haha!

2) There was sufficient food! Despite last minute additions by joseph... but everyone had enough food i guess.

3) The cake was good! the crowd was good! the spirit was good good good!!

Ahh... finally it's all over. God, thanks for blessing the event. ;) It's worth the effort, to see people enjoying themselves. And i was thinking, if everyone were to have a bbq, won't i be attending tons of 21st birthday bbqs this year?! Oh my goodness... i'm so gonna get ffffaaaattt...

Should start thinking of something fresh. Grrr.

Shannon left at 12:02 a. m..

domingo, enero 15, 2006

[ 1073. Tired ]

I'm like so darn tired.

And tomorrow's the big party leh. Paaar-teee. Hmmm. I'm kind of afraid actually.

God, i need you there. Be there. Please....?

----

I'm actually brooding over some household matters presently. Mom wish to move. Me too. She's been actively going for house-viewing, and sometimes when i'm free i'll tag along. It's dad actually. Mom has been wanting to have a decent discussion with him. But apparently he always come home half-tipsy from all the coffee shop beer sessions with the fellow uncles. And that has allowed ugly scenerios to surface every now and then. Like when he tries to disturb my brother, and the rest of us will get very irritated with him.

Actually i badly want to move. Having lived through my adolescence here, actually there are many memories of both kinds. And no, by shifting i'm not removing them, but it's somehow at least will keep the siansation of living in this pathetic looking house away for now. At least now that i'm much older, i'll have a more decent and weighted view on what's going into the house and what's not.

Ever since i grew older, I feel like mom's armour bearer now, especially for major decisions as such. Many a times i found myself to be doing the things that dad should be doing: making decisions for this house and trying to set things going fine at home. The only thing i'm short of doing now is to earn income for the family. Hmmmz. It'll not be long that i'll have to do that too, i supposed. If bro doesn't buck up and start finding a job. That bum just decides to pick and choose a part time job so much so that he can't even find a job now. So basically, he goes out and party late, and sleeps till noon the next day, wake up and start the cycle all over again. tsk tsk tsk.

Enough whining.

Shannon left at 12:09 a. m..

sábado, enero 14, 2006

[ 1072. Breakfast ]

I've been eating three slices of wholemeal bread with ham everyday for brunch. Gee. Is it healthy?

Shannon left at 12:45 p. m..

[ 1071. BBQ Preppies ]

Went around ang mo kio to book a cake, price some bbq foodstuff andplace some orders for tomorrow's bbq. Nothing much to talk about, cuz it's pretty mundane. Even wrote up an entire admin instructions for tml's celebration. Wahahaha.

Ahhh. Pretty tired. Woke up really late today. Like barely half an hour ago. Feeling hungry, but feeling fat. I'll let the hunger and my laziness fight it out among themselves to decide if i should eat.

Will pop down town to get tom's present later on. I'm getting broke le. 35 bucks for jo's present, 85 bucks for the cake, and probably another 30 for tom's present. Heng it's a shared effort. Muahahahaha.

Shannon left at 11:59 a. m..

jueves, enero 12, 2006

[ 1070. School Visits ]

I embarked on a universities visitation yesterday. Met tons of people, and had lots of 'lunches' and 'dinners' as a result and now i feel so ffffaaattt.... urgh. Well. It's good fun anyway.

Was intending to go down ntu only initially, but since i was free i volunteered to help bowen submit his course acceptance form to nus, and meet up with a couple of people as well. Met weiming for lunch at the arts canteen, and found that he actually wasn't doing that well. In studies, that is. Apparently, it seems very competitive in law school. I don't know about the details, but in summary i concluded that the people seems pretty snobbish and very kiasu. Ahh. Had a lil discussion about how nus seems pretty overrated. I've been hearing quite a bit about it recently, from seniors, from friends and from a few blogs that i happen to read. Had a similar discussion with garreth and wei wei as i subsequently met them in same canteen, at different times though. Wei was remarking that most things in singapore is nothing but an empty shell, and we depend a lot on branding and packaging, on image and how we present ourselves to foreigners, tourists and critics alike. Which bring to mind a gp essay question that someone once told me about. "Do tourists always see the side of a country that it's citizens see?" (Or something similar, i can't really remember.) Dunno if it's one of those local context questions in the compre paper of the gp paper or an essay question, but you get the gist of it. Forget about those linguistic tricks that your gp teach you, such as refuting all absolute questions blah blah, but probably tourists will never see a real side of another country unless they migrate. The grass always seem greener on the other side, that's what we always feel. Ingrates, as some of the older generation always call us, but i guess we have to strike a balance between knowing what we want and counting our blessings / knowing how far we've come to achieve the singapore we're in now. But anyway, in retrospect and after those couple of trips overseas last year, i actually realized i prefer life in singapore for it's convenience, for the close proximity that we have among one another, and also for its stability. At least for now. Haha. I kind of grew quite sian of the slow pace of life in that lil bit of australia and canada that i saw in 2005, though i had to admit that it was a really good break and eye-opener for myself.

Went on to ntu to visit huixiu, that poor lil girl who has been running into some relationship issues with her boyfriend. This poor soul was crying over the phone when i called her on sunday. Felt quite bad for her, thus the decision to pay her a visit at her hall as well as taking a look at the school i'll be entering this year. Hall 13 seems like a great place, though the new hall 3 & 16 seems even more alluring (apart from the pathetic $240 monthly rent). Nonetheless, it was a good time with her, knowing that she's taking another chance with jinjie la. Aye. 'Nuff said about them in case someone reads this. Lolx.

The ride home was tiring... if i had to do this everyday in the future i'll cry.

Checking out MOS tonight with lionel and calvin. So broke already... but still can't resist the temptation to check the place out. Muahahaha...

Shannon left at 4:05 p. m..

martes, enero 10, 2006

[ 1069. In Response ]

Well brother, i've been reading your blog today, and i'll just write a few words of encouragement in response to your post.

Who cares about the quality of your blog entries, actually? No, it's not an insult to your blog. I'm saying here that tt's your space; your lil haven where you deposit all thoughts, all worries and all life's little ancedotes that you don't know where else to tell. Furthermore it's a given that the 2 year green-wearing stint has generally allow one's thoughts and ability to formulate academically-sound essays to detoriate below a tolerable level. So no qualms about it, brother. Please don't allow yourself to be too troubled by it. Probably you'll be laughing at your army days entries when you're a year into university and writing essays almost everyday.

The very reason why you're still writing with puncutations, with some sense of sentence structure and paragraphing already say that you're actually subconsciously giving some consideration to the use of the language. I've once seen someone blabbering on and on, without any fullstops nor paragraphings at all. It's as if he's giving a speech where he just rattled on. But then again, people who give speeches usually sound like they are reading an essay. So well, he's just rattling on.

Pal, don't worry about how you'll perform in university for now ok? Let tomorrow worry for itself. All those crap about reverse psychology, i don't believe. Play hard now, wait expectantly for uni to begin. When we get in and share a room, we'll spur each other on to work harder ok? =)

Cheers dude! Good night!

Shannon left at 10:38 p. m..

lunes, enero 09, 2006

[ 1068. Cash Burners ]

Payday always has it's interesting ways to make it cash burning day. Went out to watch narnia with enghow early in the morning at cine, in a very much empty theatre (i like!) and i can happily stretch my legs over the seats in front without shame and worry of the someone in font. Hahah. And then, we went for cafe cartel lunch, followed by a shopping around the area. Went into taka, and due to the rain, we were simply transiting everywhere from taka to borders, as far as the sheltered walkway could bring us. Bought a new shirt for chinese new year, and two books for joseph. Still couldn't figure out what to get for tom, so we went around for ideas. Paid my library fines as well, and then finally when the rain subsided at about 6, i went back to cine to have my haircut at supercuts.

So all in all, i blew over hundred bucks today on the abovementioned. Muahahahaha...

Shannon left at 10:34 p. m..

domingo, enero 08, 2006

[ 1067. Books ]

ahh... did i ever say this? i can now proudly say that i was involved in the production of two books while i was in ns. muahahahaha...

k la. actually i'm prouder of the right one. It took me really lots of effort. on closer inspection actually the concept is like damn simple la. just repeated work. but well, who cares. i gave him the concept for most part of the book lor. =p

Shannon left at 8:52 p. m..

[ 1066. Prac ]

It's consort prac once again lor. Haha... culture shock la. Today learn 5 new songs. 2 of them by sight-singing. Lolx. And then again, my sight reading has never been good, even back in those primary school days when i used to learn piano. Haha. Always fail my sight reading in my gradings de. Lolx. But ok la. After so many years of course got improve la. Hahaaaa...

It's been raining the whole day. Feel so melancholic. Aiyoh. Only if there's someone to share this melancholy with me. Hehs.

Shannon left at 7:12 p. m..

[ 1065. Quiz ]

It's another one of those "if you got nothing to do then do this" kind of quiz. Ripped off from eric's blog. Muahahahaha. Here's the results man...

Shannon, you answered 27 out of 30 questions correctly!

Congratulations! Your score is in the 96th percentile. This means that if one hundred people took the test with you, your score would rank higher than 95 of them on average.

When we analyzed your test, we also discovered that when it comes to linguistic-mathematical ability, you measure in the 100th percentile. This score indicates you have unusually strong abilities when it comes to understanding numerical representation in words or "word problems." You're highly proficient at translating words into numbers. This can be very useful when solving a problem in real life. When people are discussing a vague problem that needs a specific solution, you're able to cut through the extraneous information to a clear answer.

Hahahaha... no wonder i'm a science student... lolx. Take the test here.

Shannon left at 10:50 a. m..

sábado, enero 07, 2006

[ 1064. 2018H ]

it's 2.18am. What am i still doing online? Hmmm.

Actually, blogging is the last time i'd like to do today. I actually didn't felt like blogging. In fact, i feel lazy.

Let's talk about something. Something sensitive. Money. Pronounced as "mah-nee", also known as cash, bills, coins, comes in the form of credits, loans, extortion etc etc etc.

Ok. It's a weekend to payday. And i'm super duper broke already. I don't know why. I've eaten into my savings. Today at least i had the decency to say no to clubbing though i was really, really tempted.

Let's just evaluate my current standing with Mr Money.

I have 550 in my uob account.
almost zero in my posb account.
mom owes me 240.
saf have yet to pay the last 10% for wallaby. that's about 330.
i have to make my downpayment for olomouc this sunday. it's 200. (set aside already, thankfully.)
blazer should set me back by 160. i think can claim 50 if i'm not wrong.

so all in all, plus i'm clearing leave... you can imagine.

i haven't bought new year clothes, but thankfully i only need a top.
i need new shoes, which i'll try to get out of my mom.

aiyoh. i need a job. that's most important lor.

k la. enough whining. i wanna sleep le.

Shannon left at 2:17 a. m..

jueves, enero 05, 2006

[ 1063. Conversationalists ]

YH said that most of the better conversationalists he has met came from acs(i). i hate to say this, but its the same for me. Hahahaha.

Shannon left at 8:06 p. m..

[ 1062. Spring Cleaning ]

Lazed at home the whole day, so i decided to do a lil house keeping. But well. As usual, i didn't know where to start, so i sorted out the entire house's stationeries. Threw a good deal of used pens and pencils. Argh. And cleared a trash bag full of trash. And ironed some clothes. And moved a few furniture around. And then i became tired and started to feel that my back is aching. So well. I stopped there and then.

The stupid weather today spoilt my running plans. grrr.

Shannon left at 5:00 p. m..

martes, enero 03, 2006

[ 1061. Just a Note ]

Around midnight yesterday when i was on the phone... i got an sms.

"Hey. I really do not appreciate it when you get all touchy with me and make fun of me when we are not even really that close at all..."

Ok, actually i forgot the actual text but that's the gist of the message.

So well, i said, "ok fine. sorry then."

The next thing that came in...

"Oh it's ok. it's not really your fault. you didn't know." bleah bleah bleah.

What the hell. Don't try to act messianic over here with me. For goodness sake you're still darn 2 years my junior, kid.

Ironies of life. Just that afternoon after consort i happened to be going back with someone else, who started bitching about her as well. Not saying i know her true colours just after a couple of months, but the lil demon in me told me that she's really a b**ch. Well. Good luck then.

(No wonder problems everywhere with people. tsk tsk tsk. And if you happen to read about this, the last thing i want you to do is to come confront me about this post. I have my prerogatives about whom i write and what i write. And dammit, what makes you think i'm writing about you too?!)

Shannon left at 9:08 p. m..

[ 1060. Mundane Day ]

It's been a mundane day. Mom had to bring back her laptop to school, so i went off to camp shortly after i woke up. Hafta finish up some promised (and overdued) work, so i set aside a day to finish them up. On the way there i already had a mental plan what i wanted to do for the day:

the aim:
to print 20 draft copies for use while the actual one is being sent to the printing center for print. the document is a 100+ page a5 sized document. The draft copies will be binded using the binding machine in the ops room.

my plan:
1) print a master copy - a4 sized.
2) use the orderly room photocopy machine for mass publication.
3) bind the darn books.
4) prepare the necessary formats and documentations for the actual document to be sent for printing.

all in all, i was hoping to finish everything by three, thereafter go down to printing center tomorrow. but well well... i was subjected to murphy's law. of all days, today.

The office printer was already malfunctioning due to the ink leaking and alignment problems. So i went down to ops room to use their printer instead, risking my neck and my ears to be nagged by msg ow for using their already heavily used laser printer. so well, risk number 1 taken... and passed without incident.

So let's go on to point two. using the photocopy machine to mass print. That's where my problem starts. The photocopy machine was behaving strangely. The clerk is also behaving strangely. Despite the darkest possible resolution we set on the photocopy machine, the resultant print all came out very light, a clear indication of the lack of toner ink. And the darned clerk keep insisting that it's not a toner issue cuz "if it's a toner problem, the display will say 'low ink'." Argh. but can't you see the product with your eyes?!?! So fine. i went to use the fax-cum-photocopy machine in ops room. I was risking my neck (once again) for using the ops room facilities. And as i was experimenting how to reduce the A4 sized document to A5 size, i tried to make things easier by trying to print a second copy from scratch, this time in A5 size. but the darned laser printer don't have A5 size as one of its sizes..!! never mind. I succeeded in using the photocopy machine to reduce the size. And there i started with my mass production, silently, hoping that no one will know. As i do it page by page, i started scrutinizing the document and i realized that the pagination all went haywire!!. So fine. I abort the plan and restarted from step 1 again: print a proper master copy, error-free this time.

So well. Waste of paper, never mind. Waste of ink, never mind. As long as ~~ssg~~ ow don't come breathing down my neck, it's ok le. So far so good. After a few stumbles i got back on track. My printing went smooth for the first couple of pages, so i handed everything to dick, who's there to help me out. I left in search of my wholemeal bread in the spec mess at 11am, which was supposed to be my breakfast and ahhh... they sold them all out. Urgh. Some morning it is. So never mind. I bought a packet of beehoon from the canteen instead and went back to office for brunch. Thankfully ssg didn't bug me too much for eating in the office, and i went on to prepare those documents to bring down to printing center while dick was working away in the ops room. Ah. problem no. 3 came. Dick called up to tell me that he's been 'chased out' by msg ow. And well, i sorta expected that to come but not so early la!!! Grrr... so i gave up trying to print the soi. i told him to pack up and come back up to office. So ok, plan for the day: FOILED.

So let's focus on the greater task. The 2nd part was done with much ease, thankfully, and even co signed my document pretty quickly. Ahhh. means no waiting and bugging hansel for the signature like before. So by 4, i took a couple of rounds around camp before hitting the showers and heading to northpoint in search of my book...

Shannon left at 8:18 p. m..

lunes, enero 02, 2006

[ 1059. December in a Snapshot ]

Heck with photoshop. Mom's laptop, complete with installation restrictions (well, it's a office laptop anyway) had proven tough for me to photoshop anything. Procrastination also helped in delaying these photos... you know me. I'm juz lazy. Simply lazy. But well... i woke up today, surfed a few blogs and decided that my photos are grossly overdued. So i'm serving these long overdued photos raw. After all, i think you should be more interested in the main dishes rather than the garnish around it.

sig plt sentosa outing

palawan beach

We went over to palawan beach early that morning, at about ten. Pretty empty, except that apparently there's another plt size / coy size outing on the same beach. Which explain the absence of gals. but heck. we went on with our volleyball games. and i realized i've totally got no ball sense at all. grrrr.

storemen

of course, sig plt includes the signal storemen! They are a crucial part of our platoon... haha... cuz if you need good equipment... you need them... hehs.

eric, myself, junie

talking about gals... chua brought his gf there, so we took quite a fair bit of photos with her. she's also a camera freak. akin me when i first bought my camera back in 2004. lolx.

view from the top

the guys are still playing volleyball. i've long given up.

eric acting stupid

eric and me

well, i was commenting to eric that he started his tour in 3da with a platoon outing, and now he ended his tour with another platoon outing. lolx. its been a good long two years la. it's time for us to move on with life le... hehs.

sheral's bdae celebration

this cute lil cat was spotted at east coast park when chris, jo, hy and myself went there to bike & blade on the monday afternoon. Since the cat decided to lounge comfortably near us and didn't run away even though i looked like a paparazzi armed with my camera, i happily snapped away while he looked away nonchalantly. Cats nowadays... haha.

we spent about 2 hours biking and blading at east coast, before heading down to carrie's workplace at fisherman's wharf in clark quay to meet sheral to celebrate her birthday. Ahhh. finally the 85ers have yet another gathering. The last extensive gathering we had was actually the chalet we did after the bulk of us pop, and trust me, that was a long time ago. hahah. So well, anyway as per any of our outings, it's just photos galore, food galore and crap galore as well.

chris and the bdae gal

me and sheral

chris and me

carrie and the bdae gal

carrie being ill-treated

the monkeys

85ers!!

wonderful bunch of people. i really missed serving back during pt days with all of them. though we were all so young back then, and now we've grown in our ways in our groups, but there's always this certain sense of nostalgia each time i see them. It's a pity that a couple of others couldn't join us there and then, but well. hopefully one of these days we can have a complete gathering.

post dab anniversary meetup

hmmm. apparently i was supposed to turn up at the anniversary to collect and award but no one told me, so i didn't go cuz i was on leave. furthermore i've already stepped into camp twice last week, and thus i felt it wasn't necessary for me to head down sentosa early on a friday morning when my platoon ppl aren't exactly beach people too. If they'd want to stay on in the afternoon i'll gladly join them. but heck. so instead i met this lovable lady at city hall instead. I was telling her in order to 'pei4 he2' her, i wore berms and slippers to city hall too. and she was strangely amused by it la. hahahaha. we had lunch at my favourite soup spoon, and i realized she has a thing for clam chowder as well... like me! hahahaha. shared a bowl of chowder, i had a sandwich, before we head for pacific coffee house for coffee since she wanted to "find a place with sofa where she can laze for the afternoon".

lady sipping coffee

ah boy drinking kopi-peng

lady want to buy new house so she can decorate her place

"take summore and i'll kill YOU!"

well well... it was a good... three to four hours chat..? but anyway. her bf came over to join us at about 4 plus, and i felt pretty paiseh cuz she was talking to me and we were like ignoring him half the time. But i dun really know him, so it's kind of hard for me to start talking to. And it seems like he is pretty quiet by nature too... so well. Did a lil casual chat here and there but nothing extensive la. They went off to lido to watch a movie after that, and i headed to borders to looked for a book but to no avail. Haha. Ended up, i read about bangkok in the travel section, and spent a good hour plus browsing through the books as though it's another public library. hehs.

usm3 countdown

ok, at least this time round the post service event wasn't as disastrous (in my opinion) as the xmas eve one. Both time we committed the same mistake: we didn't plan. But ok, we did planned to go enghow's place, but last minute it was cancelled cuz enghow's dad had to entertain some guests at home. So well. We had (yet another) steamboat dinner at fat mama's for a good two hours, before heading down to esplanade, wanting to catch fireworks. I wasn't really interested in the fireworks actually. The real me would prefer somewhere quiet and cosy, where we'll juz chill out over drinks or some food. Close, intimate, warm kind of gathering. Rah-rah celebrations is like so off for me. I hate crowds. I hate the feeling of being squeezed left right center by strangers. I hate when people impose themselves upon my space. And sometimes, i'll prefer to just quietly sit there and listen to others talk. Sometimes, i'll prefer to sit that and talk. But well. it all depends on the mood la. But crazy mad celebrations, especially in human traffic intensive areas are a definitely no no for me.

usm3

we settled at this place called "changing appetites" at marina square for drinks while waiting for midnight to come. it's a western-jap infusion kind of restaurant, and they even distributed party poppers and other partywares to the diners that night for the countdown. The drinks are jumbo in size, and i ordered this ice blend green tea which no one wanted to try. -_-" oh yes. enghow ordered the brownies which tasted heavenly la! I haven't had such wonderful brownies for a long time le. Gee. When midnight came, everyone dashed out to check the fireworks out, but i couldn't really be bothered, and i juz sat inside throughout. The place sounded like it was under arty bombardment. lolx. If only we could make fireworks without the 'boom'. Hahaha. wishful thinking eh.

Shannon left at 11:15 a. m..

gone. will i be back? i don't know. maybe i've started elsewhere. maybe never. again.