There..I'm on YouTube. Your Turn.

I never turn down a ‘sensible’ (i.e. within certain limits) challenge or dare. It’s my competitive nature (of which I am very) and the result of my over-abundance of competitive juices (which normally lies dormant until I get put into a sports situation).

So, I and SOME PEOPLE (you guys/girls know who you are) were talking about various things, and we ended up talking about dares, and silly stuff. Such as me posting a video of myself on YouTube.

“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Damn…don’t say that.”
“No seriously. You wouldn’t dare. You don’t have balls for it. You are not a very big size guy anyway so your balls also not very big hahaha”
“Heck, now you getting personal man! Fine, I will do it, and then I get to dare you on something else!”
“You won’t dare!”

Apparently, some people, after knowing me for many years, still don’t really know me. If you think I am not capable of it, and given the task is a sensible non life endangering and criminal one, I will surely go for it.

And thus I’m gonna go for it even [WARNING:EXCUSES COMING UP] if I have been quite sick and coughing badly and lack of guitar practice and most likely will make several mistakes. So… here goes! You suckers… I win. Now its your turn. [Disclaimer: I really been out of practice and I made several mistakes haha and went off pitch too but fuck you!]

That’s me, with my rendition of Oasis – Don’t Look Back in Anger.

And...you said I wouldnt dare to do one in Chinese too right? Well, I know my Mandarin sucks, and I can't speak/pronounce it well/cant read/write it...but the Mandarin song is coming..

Christmas!!!

Listening to ... White Christmas

And, in continuing with our yearly tradition and ritual, this year was no different - we went to a friend's house for a bbq cum gathering, met up, exchanged stories, had fun, and exchanged gifts nicely wrapped (with a capped budget of course). Its a fun thing. And, with this group photo, thus endeth Christmas 2006!

Thats me in the white shirt in the front row on the extreme right.

Happily exchanging/haggling/trading presents.

Y' know...Christmas always brings back lots of magical memories...having gone to a British school my whole life, where the teachers and traditions were predominantly Christians, this season of cheer was always respected and highly prioritized. One of my earliest and strongest memories of Christmas was dressing up for the school play in Primary Two...and I had to go to Parkson's to find a bell. Ahh...school held many nice memories of Christmas...of fat jolly Santas, snow capped chimneys, everywhere white as snow, all the lights dim, and in the kitchen, the fireplace with real logs crackling inside, the lights dim, the Christmas tree in ther corner, with cotton on it, and the lights twinkling silently, and presents underneath.

Ah..Santa delivering presents when we are asleep. This is when we sneak up and remain awake to try and catch a glimpse of Santa squeezing down the chimney and stuffing gifts into our socks..


Before he hurries off on his reindeer to deliver presents to other children..


And we'd used to write to him...


There! The stocking with presents!

Santa himself! The prototypical jolly, round, rosy cheeked St Nicholas!

What is Christmas without the requisite Chistmas tree? [courtesy of JB's house heh]

One of my fav kid's books is Raymond Briggs' The Snowman. Encapsulates some aspects of the magic in the air...but I guess us being in a tropical country, everything snow is but a figment of our imagination.

Unfortunately...Christmas for me has also always been associated with something that carried an air of tragedy around it, but yet I have til this day, never fully grasped. For it was on Dec 30th 20 years ago that my Dad passed away, and I remember many hospital visits, emergency incidents, and walking in/around/out of the hospital, and seeing small Christmas trees in every corner, twinkling silently, with cotton on the branches and wrapped boxes underneath. That image, is forever, for me, inextricably linked with Christmas. I was just 4 back then, but I can never forget that feeling of beautiful, magical Christmas decorations mixed with impending tragedy as my hand was clutched by some adult as we hurried towards the emergency for me to say goodbye to my dying father.

Dating - Flaunt your flaws!

Speaking with an older, wiser man the other evening...

And well, since I am going through a .. ahh .. um .. i guess the loveydovey days are over. So its time to consider the future.

And future also involves finding a suitable, right and proper girlfriend right?

So I was asking this friend.

K, how did you know, how do you know, that the girl you are dating, is THE one for you, the one you want to be with for the rest of ur life?

You just know. You just know.

I don't get it. It can't be you just know. I need precise information here. Is it something like..maybe I have been dating other girls, and then, this one, has something about her different?

Yep.

What kind of different?

You see right Alex, nowdays, people go about it all wrong. When they start dating, in order to seem attractive, they right upfront display their best qualities. When you are dating, and seeing each other a few hours at a time, a few times a week, it is easy to display only your best qualities. So the other person becomes attracted. But what happens when you are together long term, or married? Then you see them all the time. And inevitably you cannot sustain only showing your best parts.

So you are saying that is when the flaws in the person becomes obvious and is no longer hidden and comes to the surface?

Yes. And when that happens, people cannot tolerate or take it. And then, unhappiness ensues. So what you should do, is right upfront, show all your bad traits. And if you find a woman who can take it, and still accept you in spite of your bad traits, then you know you have a keeper. And on her side, things can only get better.

Whereas if I showed her my best parts right up front, later on, things only can get worse, right? Once she starts seeing my flaws.

Exactly. So what you all young people now must do when you are intending to get started in rships, is display your flaws. Both parties. And only when both parties can accept, or can compromise and tolerate the other's flaws, THEN, we have something to talk about. Otherwise, the rship wouldn't work.

Hmmm...makes sense, K. Makes sense. Thanks.

Another thing...When you are still dating, you must test her, put her in situations, see how she responds, and whether her response is OK. For example, if you forget to call her when you say you will, and she overreacts, you know you don't want a woman like that. And if you are aggressive, and efficient at work, and you want someone who doesnt think slowly at home, you must consider that as well. Or else you will get impatient with her.

Wah..thanks K. V wise.

Hmm...then how like that? We all cannot go out meeting people digging our noses, farting. burping, revealing our perverted minds and gargling our mouths and then drinking that liquid right?

Aiya...

I guess we just have to balance this out. But theres some truth in it. Right upfront, people will tend to show their good sides, maybe not necessarily to attract, but more like, dignity and not to repulse. Hmm...as far as I am concerned, 2 words can effectively summarize up everything: BE YOURSELF.

And f*ck the effort/need to put on a show. Settled!

Wah...raunchy!

So, the other night, we got an invitation to attend a partay. Well, being the [actually deep inside] shady characters that we are, we arent likely to pass that one up!

A lot of the girls there were models...which suited me just fine.

Because we were seated at the VIP table, quite a lot of these girls came over to mingle and sit around..they were mostly of the Cantonese speaking variety, which is fine, but, they tended to gossip and stuff.

Some of the girls were dressed quite simply...

Then, when the bunch of girls seated at our table left, ONE of them remained seated next to me. And it was later pointed out to me that she had been looking in our direction the whole night and that was prolly a strong hint that it was OK for us to make a move. Well, hey, that guy is way sharper than me. I myself wouldn't have noticed. She must have thought, damn, what a bozo! But its ok...though she was pretty...I wasn't interested. Not a good place to meet girls.

While others came in dresses..

I tried not to take too many blatant/closeup/perverted shots of the people...just a few random ones here and there..and certainly none incriminating me! Not in the mood to run around picking up girls...nor taking pictures with girls...it WAS a tiring day at work...everyday is a tiring day at work!

Lucky draw time

Interesting dressing..

Some of the guys there acted like shameless hounds...


Long hair..nice shoulders..tanned skin...gasp.

Why when girls get together, must talk about hair products, facial products, who got good or bad skin, shopping, prices, etc etc...booring!!!

More shoulders..tanned skin..long hair..

Anyway the night was not too bad..and it wrapped up with a female strip tease dancer...wah quite an interesting and entertaining watch!

Here's another.

Saya Anti Rasuah [Tidak]

Listening to...Welcome to the black parade - My Chemical Romance

Really good song huh.

OK...a most interesting happened. So yesterday, for official work reasons, 4 of us trudged along to Taiping. Somewhere around Merang (or was it Berang?), we were pre-warned, there would be a speedtrap, so slow down. But guess what? Haha, yea, my colleague, was caught speeding so we were pulled over. The cop came. Usual la, the whole bribe thing.

Funny thing was, after we gave him the $, he even volunteered to provide extra value added services, telling us further down at which point there would be another trap, so be careful. Haha..what a good police force we have! Now THATS customer service.

Some other funny stories...

- I was stopped and requested for a bribe by a cop wearing a "Saya Anti Rasuah" badge...(might as well have said "Saya Tidak Anti Extra $"
- A colleague said her boyfriend didnt have $ on him when he was stopped, and the cop offered to, and really did, escort him to the ATM.
- Once, when stopped for speeding, I immediately paid up, and the cop, who was impressed by my efficiency and all, even praised me: wah dik, u manyak sporting ah!

In a way, I feel that cops shouldnt be taking bribes for traffic offenses. Seriously. That will just fuck the roads up more. And people shouldnt offer. But when it comes to speeding on a HIGHWAY, like the North South, and when I am caught for 121kph, and also 127kph, I am glad that we have this system for us to escape. Coz otherwise, it would be so unfair - anything below 130kph is really slow on the highway anyway, and I was caught for 121kph! So...for certain instances...bribery really is a good thing.

A birthday, durian & the national crab obsession

Its been a while since I last saw my second sister. Either I'm too busy working, or she is away working. As an air stewardess, you can correctly assume we don't meet up much. So, I'm wracked with guilt because last night was her birthday and I totally forgot about it, so engrossed was I with work. And to top off the guilt riddled night, she gave ME a present for MY birthday last month! Talk about double layered guilt! Have you ever kept reminding yourself ok ok, so and so's birthday is in X days, and you keep remembering right up til the day itself and you forget! Yup, one of those times..


We asked the maid to take some shots for us, but being inexperienced with the camera, her hands kept shaking, haha, so in the end I resorted to the timer. As you can see, its a v incomplete family photo, with 2 other sisters still overseas, and with an aunt, grandma and a cousin instead. And my mum. And my maid. And thats me, the only thorn among the roses (extremely dubious description of aforementioned family members).



It has been asked of me, "eh Alex, how come, you and your sister look so different wan? I mean..one so pretty and the other so.. ahh..umm..ehh..nvm..."

Thanks la beb.

Anyway, it was a strange combination of a birthday..we had a cake and...

Durians?!

Which was quite nice actually..nothing comes to mind as quite so appropriate for the term, acquired taste. As we were leaving the restaurant after dinner, the sellers in their vans badgered and harassed us no end..

Here boss! What you want? You want sweet or bitter? D24? XO? We got FIVE different types...outside sell 18, we sell u 14RM. Come and try boss!

Wow...since when did durians evolve into 5 versions, plus got XO one some more?! What the hell does XO mean anyway!?


So we went to Fatty Crab for dinner. Well, that place is supposed to be good right? Well first of all. Bad service. Second of all. Pricey as hell. Third of all. Only 4 choices of food to choose from.

So whats with the national obsession with crabs? Personally, I'm totally neutral. In fact, I lean towards the negative side. Because, there is so much trouble involved for some tiny pieces of tasteless white meat. So whats the point? And the crab is so bloody lan c. Have to go through such lengths for a taste of its meat. Never! So, obviously, I'm not such a big crab fan. Nevertheless, to entertain the sister who came back for a few days on break from her stewardess job, I tagged along and fake smiled through a mouthful of tasteless white crab meat. Still don't understand why so many people were sitting there, sweating, hammering away, using the clamp to break shells, sucking, digging, fighting, for a few pieces of meat here and there. Such heavy investment for so low returns. Where's the joy?

Ok. Still coughing like a madman...it sucks that everyone else is clearing leave, on holiday, etc, and HERE I AM stuck going back to work. Life IS fair!

Clear your leave!

U know wat sux?

When everyone gets to clear their leave or take their leave at year end but I can't.

I've got 10 days left, and "work commitments and needs were such that I couldnt afford to take leave" does not cut it as a good reason to bring forward my allowed 5 days.

Meaning: I lose my 10 days leave. Forfeited! Poof! Or, I can just do the irresponsible thing and clear as many days as possible from now til Dec 31st, thereby guaranteeing a CLM (Career Limiting Move). Great!

There goes my ideal bachelor day: waking up to a sunny morning, going for a run, come home, read the papers, shower, have breakfast, drive off to Borders, sit at Starbucks with a nice cold drink, a good book, and nice music. Run off to the gym for a while. Etc etc...

Instead I can look forward to waking up at the break of dawn, go to work, stay stuck in there, appear 12 hours later into the twilight dazed and confused, get home and its night already, not much to do.

So moral of the story is: next time, fuck it, dont be an idiot, JUST TAKE UR FRICKIN LEAVE!

F*****... and Hurting. But not Broken. Never.

*Warning: Self Indulgent Overdramatic Emo Post. Pls Avoid if you are those 'mature' types.

---

Listening to Dashboard Confessional - Vindicated [lyrics] - highly recommended.

---

He stands in the shower.
Staring at the fingers on his left hand. Staring, feeling no pain. His fingertips.
The skin is red, cracked, blistered, splotched and damaged.
He cant help wondering if that is what his heart looks like if someone opened his chest and removed the heart out.

He just spent the last hour banging out his frustrations and emotions on his guitar, using it like it has never been used before, manipulating it, twisting and turning the strings, strumming pulling and shouting for all he's worth, trying to rid himself of these emotional demons that torture him and that he does not know how to eject from himself. This is the first outlet that springs to mind. He plays songs that reflect their love journey, in chronological order:

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
A Shoulder To Cry On - Tommy Page
Dying Inside To Hold You - Timmy Thomas
Amazed - Lonestar
Quando Quando Quando - Marino Marini [lyrics]
The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice

The memories are really hitting in earnest now. The emo hits hard. The tears start to fall. Unable to hold back anymore, he goes into full emo mode:

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2
Hate Me - Blue October
C'mon Through - Lasse Lindh
Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance [Lyrics&GuitarTabs]
Vindicated - Dashboard Confessionals (5x) [Lyrics] [GuitarTabs]

Spent, tired, and having expunged SOME of those demons, he turns his thoughts on the future.

1) Investing in a relationship is the most high risks high stakes form of investment. If you lose, you lose more than $. You lose yourself, your soul, your direction, your dreams, your time. But if it paid off, the dividends will complement and boost yourself, soul, direction, dreams, time.

2) If you invest 10 units of resources into a rship, you might, if it failed, end up losing all 10 units. If you invested it into something more tangible, like a career, if you got fired, at least your experiences and skills will ensure your returns are definitely more than 0 units.

3) But I am an idealistic fool. Dream on, invest on, I shall. I will continue to believe. For I believe if you invest 0, you get 0. If you invest something, at least you have that chance that it will turn out right. Ultimately, nothing is guaranteed, the least we can hope for, is that chance. For without chance, there becomes an absence of hope. And when you are in darkness, and there is an absence of hope, then there really is no point living. And if not, well, nevermind, love is not about investments and returns. If you enter into a rship without giving it your best shot, ultimately, it is a self fulfilling prophecy - in your reluctance to commit for fear that it will not turn out right and thus your desire to self protect, you unwittingly hurl n condemn it to doom right from the start. The analogy I can think of is this: if you want to win a race, you give it your best shot, and be damned if you did lose. If you decide to run at half mast, to prevent yourself from being hurt in case you gave it your all and lost, then, as the law of self fulfilling prophecies go, lose you definitely will.

4) So when a big chunk of your past, present, and what you based your entire future and dreams on becomes permanently altered, thus leaving you in a state of emo hell, what do you do? Some guys become permanently damaged. Some guys' true colors show - they decide to be jerks and be mean to all girls. Some guys decide that facts are facts, take a look at themselves, try to honestly assess yourself and take this as a chance for a major self revamp/major overhaul self improvement bid and move on with life.

5) Work hard. Take care of health. Make time for other things, the finer things in life. Do things for spiritual health. Be ambitious. Plan your career, make sacrifices, and make it work. Save. Lastly, most important of all, give yourself a timeframe to indulge in bouts of depression and let loose the f***** up emo [ala the mad crazed guitarist as mentioned above] and once the timeframe is used up, be so sick of these bouts, that you grow up, become more stable minded, and are ready to have closure and move on and leave the baggage behind.

Lets get married!

I have attended Christian weddings before.
I have attended Malay/Muslim weddings before.
I have attended Chinese weddings before.
I have attended Indian/Hindu weddings before.
I have attended non-religious based weddings before.

But yesterday I experienced for the first time a dual language, Indian-Christian wedding. Theres a first for everything in life. But it was funny to hear the pastor say stuff in English, and then, with the same intonations n highnotes, repeat it (I presume) in Hindi/Tamil. So he says something in English, and half the church laughs (the English speaking half I presume). Then he says something in Tamil/Hindi (the translated version I presume) and the other half of the church laughs. The Tamil/Hindi speaking half, I assume. The funny part is...they tried to outdo the English speaking half by laughing louder. After a while this sort of became a ping pong contest to outdo each other haha and soon the laughter grew to be disproportionate to the joke. What an experience!



Back during my first few years with my gf, the idea of marrying and being with and only with my gf was exciting. It didnt scare me at all and I could never understand why bachelors had such commitment issues and why my friends sweated profusely at the mention of 'marriage' or anything remotely associated, such as "see that baby so cute!" or "next time our house must have a baby play room from ikea ok?" or "im thinking of a bareback wedding gown" etc.

Of late, I am slowly starting to see their viewpoint. This has nothing to do with being married per se, but more to do with worrying about who to marry and whether she is right for me and I am right for her. Because, maybe because she has changed, it makes me doubt or wonder about our suitability for each other. But whenever I attend weddings nowadays, it makes me feel all warm anf fuzzy inside, and v happy for and proud of the groom for some strange reason though I don't really know these people except from work.

And it makes ME want to marry and start thinking hmm what songs to play and what to do at MY wedding. 1 thing is for sure - no grand ceremonies please. Just a simple get together among close friends n family, forget bout relatives except for uncles aunties n cousins, a real small gathering. Maybe have it on the beach, some kind of afternoon luncheon at the beach, with a live quartet playing some slow jazz music n good wine all round as the sun sets...and to cap it off, I could pick up the guitar and strum out a song in dedication. Haha..

Anyway...back to the wedding. Weddings alwiz makes me feel warm n fuzzy inside. Good feeling. But Christian weddings, with their solemnity, the exchange of vows and everything, just really cements things, and makes me feel truly I am a man now, a husband, and have to really change and be a better person. I think during quarrels or whatever, when times are tough, those moments in the church, comes in pretty handy to to remind us of our feelings that day n help us control what we say or do and to remind us of the vows we exchanged. Touching indeed. But somehow I kept thinking of Jerry Maguire when the pastor was saying like vows..and do u dorothy promise to take this man as your lawfully wedded blah blah..sickness n death..blah blah...haha...i could so imagine the bride there grabbing the mike and in a half crying voice sob out i do.. yes.. i do...


But I must say the whole thing smacks a little bit of patriarchism. The emphasis of MAN over WOMAN is constantly highlighted. Anyway just to share, pastor highlighted 3 important things to observe for a successful marriage.

The 3 'C'.

No, not the Singaporean version.

The Brickfields Tamil Methodist Church version. Companionship. Compatibility. Commitment.

End of an ERA

Listening to...The Carpenters - Solitaire .. (& their Best of Album)

*[Youtube videos attached] below

You know how you associate certain songs/movies/whatever to certain periods in your life?

Say for example, you would associate the smell of chicken porridge to memories of you as a kid sitting at the dining table having ur chicken porridge bfast b4 going to school. While Mummy combs my hair back ala Calvin-taking-photographs-with-exasperated-Dad style while maid wears my socks for me (look, only for a while as a very very young kid ok? I eventually stopped being so spoilt) while the driver prepares the car to take me to school.

Or, Puff Daddy's I'll Be Missing You brings back memories of high school everytime you hear it.

And Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit reminds you of the dances (Halloween, X-mas etc) held at the school hall and of solitary moments in ur room headbanging to this new discovery, this wonderful grunge sound you never heard b4.

Or fried chicken wings makes you remember lining up for 20 mins just to buy an overpriced, overgreasy and undersized piece of wing from the school canteen.

Or Friends evokes strong nostalgia of nights spent sitting on the couch watching it with your best friends and having a laugh/cry/emotional moment (eg when Chandler proposed to Monica).

Yep, I'm sure we all have such triggers. Recently, something sad happened that triggered me back to my life as a uni student in volatile-weathered Melbourne.

Peter Boyle is dead. To the uninitiated...Peter played Raymond's dad in Everybody Loves Raymond. For a year or so, I was very obssessed with that show, and never failed to watch it. It came on after Simpsons and followed on with Frasier (another favourite). Ray and Debra's rship mirrorred in many ways me and my gf's, and we had a fun time gorging ourselves while laughing our heads off on the sofa watching the show and waving greasy fingers at each other saying YAH THATS SO YOU. Yep..so many evenings with Everybody Loves Raymond, and now, to officially close the chapter on that, Peter is dead.

All of which made me reminisce a bit...I miss watching Friends on the couch with my buddies. I miss laughing at their Foosball antics, at Phoebe's cat song, Joey's blurness, the annoying cleanliness of Monica, the occasionally irritating cuteness of Jen, and Ross' long cucumber face. I think I just miss the times when we were all younger and hung out together. Coz eventually Friends got a little too sickly sweet and yucky for me.

This is a video we took in younger/happier times, during one of our holidays back in KL, at HG's place, where we attempted to do a poor man's cover version of Joan Osbourne's If God Was One Of Us..thats me on guitar, HG on drums, JB on piano, and a ventriloquist on vocals.



And this is a short photoalbum JB made herself, a time when we were less stressed, less bogged down, not yet needing to face the realities of life...just simple 20 year olds, carefreely n selfishly indulging in happy activities, unaware to what was to befall us.

Sick but Finally...Home!!!

Listening to...Diana Krall - If I Had You

You know, I'd been planning on going Singapore for the longest time...had each day planned, where to go, what to do, down to what clothes to bring, and had a number of people/family I wanted to visit. But all my plans were d a s h e d when I (remember, I was on my 2 days MC as I departed KL) came down with the most wretched cough ever unfairly wrought on a good decent human being. I blame Kumar, for HE was the one who went down with this disgusting retching cough cum sore throat first. Anyway, working in close proximity with such a virulent virus ensured I was given my share of the spoils, and lo n behold, not long after arriving in Spore, this mystery violent coughing fit rendered me helpless, dashed all my plans, caused me to back out of Zoukout!, and spend my nights after work lying down resting. Great. perfect holiday. No wonder I do not feel like I took a holiday, I do not feel rested.

Anyway, sad as I was I was in good spirits as I headed home...until I hit Spore Immigration where for some retarded reason there were a SHITLOAD of people with the same brilliant brainwave of coming down all at once to Msia. There were a huge number of buses there, a shitlong queue, and it took us 2 hours just to clear both immigration n customs for Spore n Msia. Thanks la...

Look at the mass of human tidal wave.


Things were more humorous at the Singapore Immigration toilet, when this man stopped me from entering toilet A and asked me to go toilet B instead, saying A was bursting with people inside. I watched amusedly as he stood guard n redirected everyone from A to B. Just like a proper toilet warden...u can see his hawkeye dedication to his job, eagerly waiting for the next urgent guy to rush to the toilet just to point him to 1 a little farther away..hahaha..


Still, luckily I had the scannable passport or I'd have to join this steaming jam packed mass of homosapiens..


Ahh...our Second Link looking nice indeed in the hot December sunshine..


On an otherwise for the jam tranquil & peaceful day, I could almost imagine dugongs lurking n frollicking jus under the water's surface, grazing on sea grass. Then I saw a peaceful sight...a small sampan, lonely in the ocean, as its occupants bonded over fishing...made me wish I was on the boat, and reminded me of the time I was in Cairns..


And then...searching for our bus was a nightmare, as there was a shitload of buses and we had no idea where our bus was..

Seeing other ppl board buses made me grow increasingly annoyed at where was MY bus..


Finally I found it, and had an uneventful journey back. Upon arrival, I helped out a Sporean family, who expected to be let off at Times Sq but found themselves at B'sar instead...and then got accosted by a guy trying to exchange a stapler for some $.

"Please pity me...I need some money... here I give you this stapler...be a kind soul...I am not those normal bad ppl...I just need some money to take bus"

Problem was, he looked acted moved talked dressed like a drug addict. Anyhow, I pitied him and told him to keep the stapler and dug into my pockets for the 2 or 3 ringgit I knew I had in there somewhere...I proceeded to give him RM5 (i know i know, its a con, i know, but wtf, i couldnt just WALK away n feel no tinge in my heart man) and then quickly cabut...

Soon enough... I was home..ever had that feeling when u've been away from home for some time and when u finally see it, everything, for a little while, is just a little bit strange yet familar? Anyway..room sweet room! I MISS HOME! SO GLAD TO BE BACK!

* Great to be in KL, with own car. I just got home! No need to worry about last MRT la, dbl surcharge la etc etc.

Working in Singapore

I'm back! Home sweeeeeeeet home...KL...the sweet scent of air pollution, the stirring sounds generated by countless smog generating buses (that in other countries would have easily failed DOE emissions requirements) and the jams have never seemed so welcomingly enticing! Well ok, I lied, not the jams, hell no, baby.

The week spent working in Singapore was certainly memorable indeed. For I got to talk to many people regarding my future work-in-Singapore plans, especially with regards to the local branch of the MNC I currently slave away for, my options, and got some useful insights. Hey, for a young man, tis never too early to start planning ur career and having some sort of vision! Tis never a folly to have a plan and an ambition, thats wat I say.

Anyway, among the things I found out, is that

1) I hate (ok, just SO not used to) public transport. So inconvenient compared to my accustomed-to-a-car lifestyle. So when I'm there, I got to own a car.
2) Its relatively cheap to BUY a car - but it is a killer to own and maintain one, to the tune of roughly $1200/month.

So...that will be tough. I had to wake up super early, just to spend 1 hour to get to work. And another hour to get home. Wah...

1) Leave home, walk to MRT station approx 15 mins.
2) Take MRT to Jurong East, approx 10 mins.
3) Take MRT to Admiralty, approx 30 mins
4) Take cab to Senoko Loop, 10 mins

To go home...

1) Take cab from Senoko Loop to Admiralty MRT station
2) Take MRT to Jurong Point
3) Take MRT to local station
4) Either take a bus then cross the road n walk home (5 mins) or just take a cab.

Usually I am so knackered I just take the cab.

I also notice that S'poreans put in as much time as work as their M'sian counterparts. V unhealthy. The manager I worked under arrives by 7am, and leaves ard 11 plus to 12 at night. DAILY. WTF?!?!?!?!?!

Another thing I notice...Sporeans hardly talk to their colleagues..they are v serious bout work, and are so focussed on it they just basically ignore you unless there is a business related thing to talk about. Otherwise, u are like invisible. I have learnt that it is nothing personal.

With this work culture and the extensive reliance on public transport, my enthusiasm for working there has been somewhat dampened.

Ahhh...sweet mystery of life..

Hah!

As regular readers might know, I’ve planned it such that my 1 week attachment with our branch down here in Singapore coincides nicely with my leave. Time for a (in my biased view) well deserved hiatus, and time away from work, from Malaysia, just chilling. At the same time, I am here to work as well so… no big deal I guess. Lots of (as usual) observations & remarks…but I will hold my tongue. On my first day, I strapped on the backpack, threw in a bottle of water, a shirt to change, sunglasses, disc man, etc, loaded my trusty camera, made sure I had extra batteries, and went off to Boat/Clark Quay where I waited for my friend (who worked in one of them nearby banks). So…gallivanting and snapping away merrily, I came up with a few pics to share…nothing fancy or award winning. Here goes!

#1 - Some guy stoning blatantly as he looks blankly into the river..
#2 - Doesn't the backdrop look fake, like a painting superimposed..?


#3 - Gazing at this, I can picture how Singapore river must have been/has changed, over the last 100 years..but the junks still remain...


#4 - Singaporean Art. Well, unrefined, non artists like me will never appreciate this kinda art..

#5 - Trying to make use of the environment to form some sort of natural frame but wanting the overhanging leaves to be a 'soft' frame..


#6 - Trying to see if I can make the other buildings look normal while the 2 on the sides lean in towards each other..optical illusion, no?


#7 - Haha something funny...saw this guy doing this...wonder if he is praying to the River God...River god river god, please, grant me my 4d wish..


#8 - Lunchtime waitresses looking pretty..they were pulling and enticing male passersby to go in and grab a boo, no i mean, beer.



#9 - No reason...trying to compose this pic to form some random angles into some kinda design...


#10 - A self indulgent shot...thats me holding the camera.



#11 - And later as we trundled along Orchard, the companion couldnt resist the thick slab of yam ice cream sandwiched between 2 fried wafers...and a little boy who eagerly came up wanting a bite too..


#12 - Saw them setting up and preparing the stage for the Lime Sonic Live Music show...I think we have better talent, no offense, and there were a shitload of YOUNGsters sitting about...gosh...youngsters r so free..


Oooh...its getting late...off to bed now!

Spectacles drop on ground

You know how sometimes, our expectations of a certain movie show, based on a certain actor in it, is X? Like, perhaps, from the actor's previous films or whatever, we expect the same stereotyped stuff...? Or if someone becomes a star in one field, and has a certain image, then when she switches over to a new genre, we expect the product to suit that image, e.g. Britney, from pop song to Crossroads, and Paris, from her that show with Nicole Richie to her that pop song thats played to death on radio...

Well, after a bit of self searching I decided to not be judgmental, and just try Wendy's Girls Out Loud show a try. Who knows what it might hold? I mean, don't straight away categorize people, dis em, and discard em, right? Even though her blog is quite superficial and all...so i watched her show.

And my spectacles dropped down. Or so to speak, using an old Chinese figure of speech.

It was funny! I felt myself cringing/pitying/laughing etc alternately...

Ok, some comments...Rozz is a funny girl, pretty as well, quite witty, and generally has her own attractiveness and can stand on her own. The dance instructor looked good too. However, I cant believe the Steven Lim guy! Geez is this guy for real? Does this person really exist? I mean, first he gives her a card - of himself. Then, he sings a song for her out of tune and way too loud in a restaurant til he has to be told to piped down coz ppl r complaining. Aiyo...brother... don't you have any friends? Some more self proclaimed most handsome in Spore and US! Then the guy whose name is Chelestier...coz he likes Chelsea and Balestier...aiyo...ok nvm. So he wrote a dating book. But you could see right off the bat Rozz was controlling him all along. Poor guy. And dude: continuously saying "it has been scientifically proven blah blah" on a first date is. not. cool. Not like I am a uber date meister but this guy supposedly WROTE a book ok so should at least have some moves right? And it doesnt help that the filming was done while he had this enormous zit on his forehead. Poor guy...but at least he better than the Steven Lim la.. that guy i think his hopes for landing a gf in the near future is poof! gone.

And the blind date instructor...SHE herself is, ok lets see how to put this, not very aesthetically attractive la purely from a visual point of view...and when Rozz and Wendy asks her bout her blind date experiences...I was laughing like mad. Rozz: "Have you been on many blind dates?"

Hmm..to be blatantly truthful, in today's shallow and superficial world, unless she dates extremely mature guys who knows what they want and are willing to go beyond looks and looks alone, i think she would not have much luck going on non blind dates. thats the truth and a good friend would suggest tips on how to make herself more presentable just for her own sake so she can feel better bout herself. then Rozz asks so what if you se the blind date is ugly? Then the instructor, saying it kinda passionately (hmm..?)"WELL NEVER tell her you are ugly!" ... wah no need so passionate right... personal experience meh? Aish...and lastly...the cringing Wendy video-cum-meet-ex crush scene..haha the poor guy looked trapped and stared into the camera and said uh..pretty much whatever was the smart thing.

All in all, an entertaining episode, purely from the perspective of non mental stimulating, pure entertainment sit there n stone n laugh. Spectacles fell off indeed!

Wild Wild Wet 2

OK, received a barrage of emails and some comments inquiring about this Wild Wild Wet place I visited yesterday and posted up...so out of the deep kindness of my giving & generous heart, I have linked to their site from here.


It really is quite a good idea for a HOT ASS SUNNY day...there were a few muscular looking guys and a few good looking girls as well with very healthy n fit bodies hmm...of course i didnt take pictures of them to post up here la wat la u ... i have some dignity ok. but again of course, there were your fair share of aunties uncles ..


Its not hard to get there...Pasir Ris MRT station. Grab a connecting free shuttle bus, that runs every half hour. Entrance is like SGD$13.


After the intense heat, it felt great to be hosed down...here i am, a happy boy.


Ahh the transient nature of life...walking around afterwards, I saw this dead half eaten decomposing fly, couldnt resist a close up shot. Have another one with more lurid details but hey, some of u might be eating. =)

Wild Wild Wet

At.. Wild Wild Wet...(clutching some mashed potatoes and KFC nuggets. Note how the colorful background makes it seem like a painted scene)

Yesterday was a HOT day, so, on a whim, we made a spur of the moment decision to go to a water theme park to cool down, yep, like elephants hosing off. A short ride later, we were at Wild Wild Wet, somewhere on the other side of the island, at Pasir Ris.

First impressions: Sunway Lagoon! Brought many many memories of my adolescent juvenile days, of many a school holiday spent racing down water slides, out gladiating each other, daring each other to do stupid things on the rides, as teenaged boys are wont to do, such as standing on roller coasters, or going hands free. Yes, stupid teenage boys we were.


I remember when Sunway Lagoon first came out... and these slides were damn popular... and then a few hush hush reports came out of people being injured...that the slides were not attached properly and over time, the connecting bits became loose/nails were exposed etc and the people racing down the slides got their skins/flesh sliced by these parts...bone exposed...nobody died, but serious injuries were rumored to have been inflicted..


Then, this attraction seemed to have a lot of people lining up for it.. so we were like OK lets check it out..


So we tried out the ular-lah...since it is so hyped..unfortunately, it was a tame affair...I got the feeling that in Singapore, safety is set so high, that thrills are compromised. For one, this ride never had any element of danger coz we caromed s l o w l y down..


But this bugger was not bad...was similar to the toboggan ride in Sunway Lagoon...doesnt look like mucho from this angle but trust me, its got its thrills. perhaps the most exciting attraction in the whole park. the friend who sat facing me said that when she looked down, she couldnt see my face..so vertical it was.


For another angle..


The tidal pool was way too short. As in the tides were active for a short while, then, there was another interval to wait... no good. But it was hilarious...people grabbing onto the wrong people, little boys flying into me, girls grabbing onto me, some mother being capsized, some malay kid firing a watergun at me, some kid paddling with his eyes shut serenely then some guy fell and sat on his face...people falling over...I tried to stand on the circular float n take the waves like a surfer only for the laughing surfguard to tell me "oi friend, dont la, climb down!"...


Seriously though, the queues were way too long. We wanted to go on this ride thingie but the queue was just not worth it.


So I just snapped a photo of the underneath of this funny looking contraption.


What I WILL give to the management though, is the colorful and nice designs...look like graffiti.


At the end of the day..tired and prepared to go home...