Kinshen's Thoughts

Changed

2009-07-25T22:32:00.003+08:00

http://www.chankinshen.wordpress.com

Pondering

2009-07-23T00:21:00.003+08:00

What actually starts us moving, and stop procrastinating?

Awesome!

2009-07-22T01:31:00.004+08:00

I've just received a comfirmation email about my approval for the IAEP trip to Tokyo this September, awesomeeeee!

19th, a year wiser.

2009-07-18T23:51:00.002+08:00

I've grown another year older, perhaps a year wiser. Birthdays to me are perhaps one of the most important days in my calender, and i really look forward to spending it with my family and friends. This year was another great birthday celebration that i had, and many thanks to say about.

The day started out with a birthday lunch treat by cousin keeve & family. Brought me to Rider's Cafe at Bukit Timah area, which has this very colonial and rustic feel to it. The food was excellent, especially the calamari rings, which was awesome! Thank you Keeve & MT for the treat, and if calysta & carina is reading this, thank you both adorable little girls for the drawn cards as well!

Thank you Keeve & family! :)

Went home for a short nap before meeting Ahern, Yaping & Joanna and Junction8 for dinner. So actually i thought that we would be heading to some kinda restaurant or cafe to eat, but Ahern said food court, so we went there with a little "disappointment" in me. Was actually feeling quite "sian", than we went down to get beers from the supermarket before heading to my house for mahjong.

And here's the fun part, i opened my door and than went to my room which the door was apparently closed, and the next thing i knew; party poppers going around, and almost everyone in the clique was in my room shouting happy birthday to me! I was really shocked, a better word pleasantly surprised. I didn't expected this to happen, i thought that it would just be the four of us, i didn't expect to see giebert holding the cake, xinjie, weisheng, annie, meiling, charmaine, zhenhui to start opening the party poppers, it was really a great surprise. And to think that my mum was in this as well, she knew that my friends were coming to give me a surprise but did not even let out any bit of the information.

with the happy surprised face! haha!

back to the old school 1 & 2! :D

time for some cake on my face....haha!

So we had a fun time playing mahjong, card games, singing songs, having pizzas and cakes. And thanks once again for the wondeful gift you all gave me, right now i'm so hooked to "Together In Electric Dreams", i keep replaying it, haha! So we took lotsa photos, before they all left at about 11.30pm.

chuaweisheng teaching us some card games

buddies

the zhar-bors! haha!

thank you all! it was really a great night spent :)

That was how i spent my 19th, a great lunch and a pleasant surprise. You know it's when it comes to times like this when you start to realise that you have a such a wonderful bunch of family and friends who are there for you to celebrate with you, and of course i know that they will always be there with me no matter what, no matter when. And i'm really glad to have such a bunch of people around me, thank you people, love ya'all man!

Pre-19th Celebration With J's

2009-07-17T23:09:00.000+08:00

It started out with a treat by j's at kenny rogers roaster, the marcroni&cheese were superb by the way

than we proceeded to catching some "ang-kong-kia" at those drop coin machines and were nearly hooked on it, too bad no photos of that!

headed for some pool action after that, and it was a nice time laughing at all those miss cues and miss shots, and betting on the overall winner, lols

took lotsa photos, which is all on fb

and with that concluded by pre-19th celebration by the J's, thank you guys for this treat and i really had a great time last night, Thank you :)

Time For Some Laughter

2009-07-16T23:16:00.008+08:00

Lessons From My Life So Far...

2009-07-13T22:52:00.009+08:00

1.) I don't believe in the word interdependence, i believe more in independence, as much as i'm trying to make myself adapt to the latter, it's sometimes a major jumpstep. The former it's often filled with paradoxical mindsets and beliefs that sometime could be so mind-boggling, so perhaps it's just best to count on yourself.

2.) Don't solely believe whatever people say, trust your own instincts, i used to take things as it is or spoken for, and i guess i was pretty naive/ dumb in a sense to just believe whatever people were saying, and perhaps were taken for a ride. I think it's one of the best lessons that i learnt, and one quote i love about this topic would be "talk is cheap, indeed it is."

3.) Family & friends form a very important circle in life, as much as i would like to be independent, i do not mean not having a social life, in fact i feel that family & friends are one of the best things one could ever have in life, they give us warmth and love that we all lorn for. They give us the kind of support and encouragement we need when we are at our darkest moments. As i get exposed to different environments, i learn to treasure people around me more, although i know i could still improve on this area.

4.) Everybody changes, everything changes, we sometimes might lament the fact that things around us are changing, and we often do not like to step out of our comfort zone, but the fact is and will be that everything will keep on changing, and that's how we improve, so change might be good/bad, it depends. But it's a kind of thing that we can't stop, we can only adapt. So, it's important to learn to adapt to different situations/environments.

5.) Just be happy, think positive, I think the world is complex enough with all that is going on and all the kind of situations that is happening around us. If we could just be less bothered with peoples' perceptions, and just focus on what we are doing, i think we would all be a much happier lot, although after saying i this, i know it takes a long time to be able to accomplish this feat.

Money Makes The World Go Round

2009-07-12T21:12:00.004+08:00

So this is the summer transfer season for major soccer leagues around the world, and we have been seeing record-breaking transfers week after week, with the most eye-catching club to be of course, Real Madrid, which the term "economic downturn" appears not to be in it's dictionary after splashing huge amounts to secure signings of C.Ronaldo, Kaka, Abidol, Benzema. I was pretty shocked actually, to see the amount of money being spent on these players, and question to myself sometimes, are they really worth the amount?

It goes back to the same old topic that money is the root of all evil, and everyone would want a chance to earn big bucks, who wouldn't right? I've just read news online about a possible £40m transfer move for Chelsea's skipper John Terry to Manchester City, which could see him earning a possible £250,000 wage a week. I've been a Chelsea fan since like 3-4 years ago, and to me John Terry is far more than just a player in the club, he's the skipper, one of the best central defenders in the game, the most influential player in the club and basically he's like a pillar of the club. I really hope that he would stay in Chelsea, he's been one of my favourite players in the club with the likes of Lampard and Joe Cole.

It's really funny sometimes, to see how much clubs are willing to splurge and "poach" players with enormous transfer bids, hopefully this John Terry saga will end real soon, and i hope to see him wearing the Chelsea jersey again during the 09/10 season.

Eighteen Chefs

2009-07-11T23:22:00.000+08:00

Nestled under a quiet shopping corner at yishun, this newly-opened cafe Eighteen Chefs has a very interesting story behind it's name. It's basically a place where it's run mostly by ex-offenders and delinquentas who were given another chance to change their lives. I thought that it is a very interesting concept to come up with, giving other people another chance. The whole concept of this cafe reminds me of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, which has about the same philosophy in mind as Eighteen Chefs.

Okay, enough about the philosophy of the shop, the interior of the shop looks somewhat very modern and clean, it has very nice photos on the walls, with clear lightings which makes the place looks very clean and bright. The service staff there were excellent, no complains about the service staff, from the very friendly and bubbly service staff at the counter, to the attentive server, they basically showed really good service quality which is lacking in some big food-chains. The food however was nothing to be wowed about, but considering the economical prices of the items there, i thought the taste was still fairly okay. I had this chicken saussage baked pasta, the only part i liked about it would be the cheese and the chicken saussage, the noodles were abit on the "soggy" side, and could have been better if it was "al dente". The meal which cost about $6.50 comes with a main dish, ice lemon tea and a scoop of ice cream, very cheap i would say.

And i would be sure to come back again, given it's wonderful dining experience with the great service staffs at hand. It's located opposite Northpoint, beside the movie theatre's ticketing office.

很想说

2009-07-09T12:04:00.002+08:00

A Simple Conversation

2009-07-07T21:13:00.003+08:00

It was just a simple phone call after a long time, yet the feeling is really nice and heart-warming. No need for any cover-ups or hiding, i could just speak my mind with you. It made me realised that even when everything seemed to have gone wrong, there's still you around, thank you.

Too High To Scale

2009-07-06T21:04:00.001+08:00

All of us have expectations, be it for ourselves or others. And more than often, when we seemed to have failed in these expectations, disappointment always follow suit. It's a funny thing actually, you set an expectation that you can't achieve, and you get demoralised, you set an expectation that is easily reachable and you deemed there's no challenge, so what's the scale, is there really something that's so hard to scale, or is it about wanting to or not wanting to scale?

Tickle Of The Day

2009-07-05T17:23:00.003+08:00

‘男人最多话的时候，总是他醉之后；女人最多话的时候总是在她结婚之后。。。’ - "Just Love II"

Muar's Durians & Skudai's Seafood

2009-07-04T16:47:00.003+08:00

Had a one day trip to Muar for durians and seafood dinner with mum and aunties. The journey up was about 3 hours drive, stopping halfway for breakfast before proceeding to the durian farm. I know everyone is going gaga over durians now as it's in season. The durians we had were "average" only, not exactly that fantastic although it's still much better than the ones you find in singapore.

"D24, Mao Shan Wang, i think is all available in there"

After lunch, headed to this place for some local products shopping, before heading back to Johor where had a shopping break at Bukit Indah, which is somewhat like Vivocity. Anyway, saw peow hia & tang-sao there, such a small world, haha! After the shopping break, headed to this like kelong at skudai for seafood dinner. I think that among the whole trip, this dinner would be the highlight of everything. The seafood they served were fantastically fresh, which included prawns, crabs, lalas, sotongs, kangkong and chicken. I loved the crabs, it's such a long time since i had such fresh crabs, which tasted really sweet and nice. The occasional sea-breeze makes it quite a pleasant dining experience as well. Headed back to Singapore after dinner.

cousins, aunties & uncles

Dumb & Dumber-er

2009-07-03T16:15:00.001+08:00

I'm starting to find that the school's management has a serious problem in dealing with crisis. Either they are so adamant about their method and think that it's correct or they simply don't care what the students' views are, which is simply so looking at the current situation.

So now besides the plan to not quarrantine the whole school, they have implemented "measures" which they think would help reduce the cases in RP. Firstly, they have introduced compulsary measures to bring thermometers to school, those without one, either get one from the school or simply get sent home. Alright this makes sense as it monitors whether one has fever not, so not too bad a measure. Next, they want to seggregate the different level of years by imposing a "curfew" on break times, which simply means we have different times to go have our meals by different years. Which i think it's a totally "dumb" move. I mean how can you ensure that there will be no contact in between the levels, there's sure to be a reduction, but it doesn't makes sense really, it seemed as though we are like confined in a prison.

Well, i think for now i've given up hope for the whole school to close for a week, and i just pray that the virus be gone soon, if not i wonder how many more of such gimmicks to be have to put up with before we could return to our normal lives as students.

We All Can Play A Part

2009-07-02T21:07:00.003+08:00

I was surfing the net the other day when i got to chance upon this blog, ourfeistyprincess. I think for those who actually read the Sunday Times would have gotten to know about this charity soccer match in aid for this little girl called Charmaine.

She's been diagnosed with Neroblastoma which is a form of cancer and is quite fatal. Reading her stories about her diagnosis, how she underwent chemotherapy and treatment, it's really sad. I saw her photos before treatment, and how jovial and carefree she used to be. Children at her age are supposed to have fun, enjoy the outdoors, have the candies and basically lead a carefreee and happy life. But there she is with needles prick into her skin, and losing her hair at such a tender age. And going through such ordeals isn't easy, furthermore she's such a young girl.

Maybe this just struck us that anything could happen anytime, and we should really not have any regrets in life, if we feel like doing something just go for it, we only live once, if not now, than when? Also if possible, i think we should all do out part and give back to this community to help those in need.

Reactions

2009-06-29T13:05:00.006+08:00

The H1N1 flu pandemic that is spreading everywhere around the world is indeed worrying, and more so since it's spreading locally in Republic Polytechnic.

At first, when the management decided to quarrantined the 4500 year 1s, i thought it was a reasonable thing to do, as those infected intially were all from year 1s, although i had the thought that wouldn't the virus spread around. But at this stage, about a week later, the cases in RP has jumped from 2 initially to a whopping 54 now, which makes up about 10% of the total cases here in Singapore.

Isn't that a credible evidence for school to be stopped temporary, is there a need for cases to keep increasing till we reach the tipping point before the entire school is close. It's as though we wait for something to happen, before we take action, rather than precautions. Yes, i understand that there's more to it than merely closing the school. But as it seems, our school seems to be a breeding ground for H1N1, and the cases increase day after day. Who knows when we will get infected, and if we really are, is the school going to be liable for the medical charges that we incur, or if we are infected and the virus spreads to our family, is the school going to be liable as well.

Most people have the common perception that students will often find excuses to "stop school". Yes, i don't deny that, i'm sure most of us as students will one way or another have thought of this, but when it comes to a health situation like we are talking about it now, where viral infections is spreading rapidly, it really gets to the jitters of one.

Personal Judgement

2009-06-29T00:55:00.002+08:00

There's always a lie to every truth, and a truth to every lie, at the end it's your own judgement that matters.

Think For A Moment

2009-06-28T01:36:00.005+08:00

‘人生能有几个十年...’ - "Rosy Business"

Food For Thought

2009-06-27T21:37:00.006+08:00

" We are meant to feel hunger, to fight to be full " - Unknown

Michael Jackson, A Legend Gone Too Soon

2009-06-26T22:47:00.006+08:00

1958-2009

"We are the ones who make a brighter day, so start giving" - MJ's "We Are The World"

Revenge Of The Fallen

2009-06-25T18:34:00.010+08:00

The talk of the town, Transformers, Revenge Of The Fallen. Almost everyone is rushing to catch it, i just did as well and it was a disappointment. I've got to give plaudits to the spectacular and amazing cg effects we see on screen and perhaps also to Megan Fox's & Isabel Lucas for lightening up the screen with their "drop-dead" gorgeous looks. Besides that, i think the movie is just purely confusing and cliche.

I was having huge expectations for this movie, given that Michael Bay did a pretty decent job in the prequel with all the nice and stunning vehicles with accompaniment of hinges and knobs. But this time round, i think he was too focused on creating the "WOW" effect that he totally neglect the story plot. It was plain too simple, and predictable. And there were too many "distractions" that came into the show as well, for one moment i even thought to myself that i was watching a display of United States defence capabilities. Overall, i did not quite like the movie, although i got to admit that that the machines and vehicles were cool and stunning, and that Megan Fox is hot, amazingly.

No Boundaries

2009-06-24T23:06:00.002+08:00

"Just when you think the road is going nowhere

Just when you almost gave up on your dreams

They take you by the hand and show you that you can"

Catch You When You're Weak

2009-06-22T23:03:00.003+08:00

It seemed that there was a panic in RP today as rumours were going about that 2 students had actually contracted the H1N1 virus, and the whole block is being quarrantined, which turns out that only the affected classes were though. It's pretty scary now though, although majority of us are "praying" that school will close because of this, but to see the virus affecting people in the school, and you yourself studying inside which might pose a risk, it's really kind of scary.

Anyway this H1N1 virus is really causing alot of problems. Remember about the Japan IAEP trip i talked about in previous posts, we were told that Japan is currently under the list of heavily-affected countries of the virus, and if by mid-july, japan is still in the list, the trip will be cancelled. Looking at the situation now, which means there's a high chance of the tokyo trip being cancelled, gawd.

Just visited the doctor awhile ago, down with the common flu and fever. And the whole clinic is like prepared to fight a war, we had to don masks and declare temperatures and travel history and stuffs. It doesn't really help the situation with "attitude-problem" nurses mending the counter.

简单就是，美

2009-06-21T23:17:00.003+08:00

"The simplest explanation is usually the right one" - Occam's Razor

However, we as human beings love to complicate matters. It seemed that everything in this world is very simple and clear cut, but we choose to read more into things, therefore coming up with our own forms of asumptions and deductions.

And more than often, we tend to believe in those so called "truths" that we build up through our various kinds of assumptions, and one thing leads to another. We might complain sometimes that things to do not go well, or that life is full of obstacles and stuffs like that.

If we take a step back and think, and look at the things and people around us, perhaps things are not so bad & negative that we thought they are afterall. If we stop having all these assumptions and "false thoughts" and focus more on the truths and facts, we would perhaps find it easier that life is so much better and meaningful.

Thinking Out Of The Box

2009-06-21T01:23:00.005+08:00

I've just finished another episode of House M.D. And i got to really give this show a big thumbs up even though i've only managed a mere 2 episodes out of the entire 5 series which is still ongoing.

I'm pretty assured that in the coming days there would be more from me to share about this series, but i would just like to share a quote "Dr. House" said in the previous episode i watched, he told a lady who thought that she was about to die, and wants to die at home as she feel that in that way it gives her dignity. He said to her "We can live with dignity, but not die with it".

It really sets one thinking after the show about our perceptions and how they change over time. We all have credos and famous quotes that we live by, but often these quotes and credos would change in accordance to what you really feel about. And a plus point to watching this series is perhaps being able to link back to my academics, with all the anatomical & medical terms that they are using in the show. So i highly recommend it to all who wants to kill time to watch this drama, it's really worth the watch.

House M.D

2009-06-20T17:08:00.007+08:00

"i've found out that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last you should ask" - adapted from House M.D

Art-piece On My Staircase Landing

2009-06-19T17:00:00.005+08:00

What next, "pig-head" or "colourful-paints"?

Advanced Annie's Day

2009-06-19T00:18:00.005+08:00

Physics module today was pretty alright, optical fibers. Had anatomy UT after that which was pretty much a killer, totally had no idea what were they asking about, just praying for moderation to pull up my grades.

Anyway met up with the clique after school at yio chu kang to celebrate annie's birthday. Went to eat at this vegetarian restaurant at coronation plaza, miao yi. The food was as widely acclaimed on the net, which was very good. We had mock fried oysters, curry chicken, hotplate beancurd, and xiao bai cai. The mock fried oysters were very good and tasty, it doesn't really lack the taste of the authentic one. The price of the food there were pretty reasonable as well, about $15-$20 per person, and they have good and polite service staffs to attend to you as well, overall it's a pretty good dinner.

"mock fried oyster"

"hot plate beancurd"

After dinner, walked over to Serene Centre, and had Island Creamery ice-creams for dessert. It's filled with people on a weekday, had some trouble finding for seats at first, anyway share 2 tubs of cookies'cream & nutella, chatted and joked before we took photos and left for home.

"happy birthday in advanced, annie!"

Beautiful Mistake

2009-06-18T23:56:00.004+08:00

i thought i had understood you, but it seemed nothing of that sort
it was all perhaps nothing, but a beautiful mistake.

Gossiper

2009-06-15T21:33:00.000+08:00

A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor.Within a few days the whole community knew the story. The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended. Later the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage.

"Go to the marketplace," he said, "and purchase a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road." Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.

The next day the wise man said, "Now go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me."

The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay, the wind had blown the feathers all away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand. "You see," said the old sage, "it's easy to drop them, but it's impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip.

It doesn't take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.

by: Author Unknown, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul

Not Much Progress...

2009-06-14T20:43:00.004+08:00

It's mid-june already, time flies and half a year has already passed by us. Time for me to update on my ny resolutions, and it seems that i'm just sitting on it most of the time. Nothing really much changed, and it's not good to see such results, i got to do better.

1.) Cultivate a good sleeping habit (早睡早起)

- i'm still sleeping at late hours, around 2am daily
2.) Take care of my health, cut down on oily/greasy/fried food items (although the temptation is so hard to resist, haha!)
- i just had oyster omelette last night for supper,haha!
3.) Work hard on my academic grades ( been slacking all these while, time to put in some effort into studying, although i wonder when will i lose the momentum again)
- grades wise, not too bad. But still could aim to be better.
4.) Procrastinate No More ( I guess i procrastinate too much, as in really too much..i've to start doing it right now instead of wait, wait, wait)
- it's really a habitual thing...
5.) Take part in voluntary work ( I wanted to do it this year, but missed the chance, hopefully next year i would be able to embark on it )
- i did not fufill this promise yet again...
6.) Be more accepting & forgiving ( I guess it's a process we all need to learn at some point in our lives)
- forgiving yes, as to being more accepting, it depends i guess...
7.) Build a better relationship with mum & brother ( I need to be more tolerant towards mum's nagging )
- brother's alright, still having a "cold war" with my mum, pfft!
8.) Build meaningful friendships
- so far so good, as to how meaningful they are, depends on the long run.
9.) Continue to maintain the good ties with my group of social circle & friends
- perhaps one of the best among the 10 lists, still as close as ever
10.) Make financial plans for myself ( i'm a dummy for financial planning, and it's time i do some proper work and research, if not i will just squander away all my money some day)

- have started on some saving timetable, boils down to whether i'm able to commit to it

Looks like i still have alot of work to do to realise this goals, sometimes i really wonder it's so much easier to say it out than to do it, and usually it's the latter that's more productive and effective. It's time for some reflection and get started again on this goals, i still have another half year to go, if i really work on it, by december i think i should be able to see some decent results, hopefully.

Back To The Old School

2009-06-12T23:39:00.001+08:00

Had a secondary class gathering bbq over at weisheng's place in the evening. And it's really nice seeing all those old familiar faces and chatting up with one another. Ordered the food from bbq wholesale, and it's quite nice and pretty convenient, saves you the hassle of marinating and buying the food yourself.

Anyway, chatted with one another about each other's life and school stuffs, than the guys headed for a game of soccer before dipping down to the pool for a swim. There wasn't much fanfare about tonight, it was solely the food, the great company and the old memories, wonderful!

4E2'07, nostalgic memories

Waterboys 2009! HAHA!

Technology Brings Us Closer?

2009-06-10T23:52:00.000+08:00

"Kor-kor" called me last night at about 1.00am from Denmark, and he was telling me about his grumbles about the luggage and he's on the way to Amsterdam. It's been such a long time since i heard his voice, haven't been webcaming with him for like a month or so already. Talked for quite awhile last night, and i really envy him now, going to all the places around europe. And within a blink, it's been five months since he left, and he's returning back real soon. At first i thought i would have the "missing" feeling of him not around at home and stuffs like that, but with the webcam around, i think it really helps alot in terms of communication.

Indeed, with advancement of technology like the internet helped us to pull people-people closer, the world is like a smaller place. However, i was thinking that such tools might help us bridge gaps, on the other hand it might widen ties too. As a "virtual" world surrounds us, it's hard to imagine whether the person we're talking to is showing real emotions, we have emoticons to aid us, but is it surreal or real, it's really up to one's guess.

orchard road, chomp chomp

2009-06-08T23:08:00.000+08:00

Went out with sharon and kerman in the afternoon. Orignally, we were supposed to go bowling, however we decided on window shopping instead, so went to orchard road to 'gia-gia'. Stopped by far-east for some light snacks before continuing on the orchard belt. Went to bishan to meet huiyan, headed for the arcade to kill some time, and i successfully caught one of those soft-toys with that machine. haha!

"that's the cute-little pinky softie" that i caught with the new owner！

Ahern finally came after waiting for him for a long long time. circle-lined to serangoon, and we took a wrong bus to chomp chomp, all thanks to the "ah-neh" at the newspaper stand, detour-ed back the same way, and finally got the right bus. Reached chomp chomp, and it's swarming with people. Had the usual stingray, carrot cake, satay, sugarcane juice. The chats and jokes went on as the food got inside us. Was uber full, so suggested that we walked to sharon's ahma house to "坐一下', haha, before training home at about 11pm.

ahyan like act one "style" only! HAHA!

三个臭皮匠

the grass is often greener on the other side

2009-06-07T23:02:00.003+08:00

Was sorting out photos in my lappy awhile ago, where i came across the hongkong album and the beautiful victoria harbour's night view. It's been almost six months, and yet i'm still missing the place very much, the nice chilly weather, the awesome galore of food choices and the spectacular views from the peak. I was just telling my friends that if given a chance, i would want to stay in hongkong for a period of time, say about a couple of years, and just experience the life there.

I really love travelling overseas alot, i think it deepens one's perspective into matters and there's a common chinese saying, "行万里路，胜过读万卷书'. Indeed, i've been fortunate enough to been to quite a couple places since young, and i would say that each trip brings about a whole new experience and the way you see things, it really just broadens one's thoughts about a particular subject or whatsoever, and it brings about new insights as well.

"Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong"

w45m bowling, window-shopping

2009-06-04T23:57:00.000+08:00

Met up with w45m-ers, headed to marina square's long john for lunch first. Than after, went for a game of bowling. It was really fun playing bowling after such a long time, and the "kick" is still there. Anyway, shopped around suntec city & marinia square after bowling before training home.

p/s : Sorry manda, didn't give you a call, because we did not stay for dinner, so thought that you wouldn't come as well, will meet you again soon alright, haha!

w45m-ers!

that's a spare on the way, whoots!

rantings, or whatever you call it!

2009-06-02T21:55:00.013+08:00

Thanks for your "wonderful comments" that have spoiled my almost perfect day. You know up till now, the anger in me still hasn't subsided, and i swear that if you want to play this game than bring it on, i will be waiting for you.

I quote you saying, "you watch out hor" - So what are you planning to do if i may ask, if you're trying to pick a fight, i would kindly decline, for i don't want to see your face get bruises again and land up in the police station again. Seriously, i wonder did you even think before posting that, in what position are you fit to ask me to watch out, and you get angry over me putting my arms over my buddies, look here alright, i will tell you straight in your face that i'm still going to do that, and if you're unhappy, so be it.

Look, we're in the 21st century, stop being so "old-fashioned" and think that when a guy puts his hands over a girl, it means he's interested in him, i've known her for almost 10years, and we're more like brothers and sisters, you know i feel really sad for her to think that you've such little trust for your own girlfriend, pfft!

To be honest, i've tolerated with you long enough, and all the nonsense that you're creating, be it directly or indirectly, and all the stupid excuses you give to prevent her from going out. I've taken all that down. So, stop all your fcuking nonsense, and get a life!

[edited at 03/06]

The more i talk to you and want to get a clarification about the matter, the more you make me feel that you're such a jerk, a downright idiotic "jabroni". You could actually lie about an incident, make up this "wonderful & beautiful" story about how so and so met you and agreed to your conjecture, and luckily i got it clarified, if not i would be accusing another wrong person.

I'm not sure whether you will read this. If so, let me tell you this; I totally abhor and despise people who use money as a form of discrimination against others. So what if you're well off, you think i really give a damm about your money, it isn't earned by you anyway. The way you said that about my friend really pissed me off big time. So what if he's not as well off as you, at least what he has now, is earned through his own honest means. He's down to earth, and i don't see anything wrong with that. So don't come and tell us that he's a poor kid and needs peoples' treats.

You're really a very "funny guy", you lose out to us in making clear and concise statements and you start making personal attacks. Let me tell you straight in the face that i'm not abit embarrassed about having retained in secondary school. What's wrong with that, people make mistakes in life, and i can tell you that i've one of the most memorable school experiences during my "retained" year, so what's there to be ashamed about.

And i warn you not to make anymore false accusations or start anymore "nonsense" of yours. If you dare try any insults or about my loved ones, i promise you that i will give you the meaning of what is a "poor kid". When i say it, i will mean it. Don't try to act like some pussy and hide behind a girl's skirt all the time with all those small actions. Pfft!

Sorry readers for the above "highly-energetic-angered" post, and i hereby apologise for any content that may be deemed insulting or inappropriate.

Shiqi's & Raymond's Advanced Birthday Lunch

2009-06-02T21:40:00.003+08:00

Met up with w45m-ers in the afternoon for a surprise birthday lunch for shiqi at Swensen's originally. Changed location to Cafe Cartel instead due to the unpleasant service attitude of staffs at Swensen's. Anyway, we reached the cafe first, and when shiqi saw us, she was kind of shocked i guess, haha! Soon after the rest of the girls came, and we chatted along lunch, brought up those good old days in class, and we all still remembered the "river of love" and the 8 "scandal-pairs", haha! Raymond and me sneaked out halfway in the pretence of drawing money to get a cake, got back and celebrated for Shiqi, and then we sang for Raymond as well, without the knowledge of him knowing though, haha! Shopped around Marina Square after that before leaving for home to rest as i was abit sick.

It was really a great day spent with w45m-ers, although there wasn't really alot of us, but we still had a wonderful time reminicing all those good o'days and just catching up with one another, which was just brilliant, see you guys again on thursday, hopefully. haha!

happy advanced birthday kopi-soh & raymonddd!! haha!

w45m-ers! :D

bonding session, j's

2009-05-31T23:16:00.002+08:00

Met up with j's for game of table tennis at bishan sports hall in the afternoon. It's really nice playing "ping-pong" after so long, and it brings back all those memories of primary school days where i used to stay back after school and play with friends outside the sports hall. After the game, we headed for lunch at Subway, ahern and jielin left first while the rest of us headed for mahjong at huiyan's house.

It's a great thing that the circle line is finally opened, it just cuts short travelling time by soso much, the travelling time from my place to huiyan's place before the opening of the circle line would take approx. about 40mins, now it just takes at most 20mins or so, awesome man! haha!

Anyway, mahjonged, talk cock, keep disturbing them with my "wonderful" vocal chords, haha! Headed down to dabao dinner, and went back up to watch "bai wan da ge xin". Played awhile more after dinner, "cam-crazed' awhile before heading home at about 10pm.

ahquah, ahseng, ahkong, ahyan

check out my geek specs yo! haha!

together forever!

I watched this taiwan variety show, ‘天才冲冲冲’ online when i got home and i swear it's fcuking hilarious. I almost laughed till i teared, especially during the segment where the celebrities were asked to "bi shou hua jiao", haha! It's 100% laughable material!

Champions!

2009-05-31T00:53:00.004+08:00

Chelsea F.C, 2009 FA Cup Winners!

Wondergirls Again, "Local Flavour" This Time!

2009-05-28T23:36:00.000+08:00

Ole Ole Barca!

2009-05-28T04:45:00.001+08:00

Ole Ole Barca! Brilliant goals from Eto' & Messi that denied the red devils a chance of defending their UEFA title! The devils were too complacent and never controlled the game, although they had a more superior choice of team. Great job Barca!

"Your desire to win, will determine the result" - Unknown

The Unknown That Wants To Be Known

2009-05-26T19:20:00.005+08:00

“Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance.” - Adapted from Keeve's blog on the "Curious Case Of Benjamin Button".

Indeed it is so, and today's incident further proved my stance that it's really so hard to ignore. I'm not sure whether it's directed at me or not, hopefully it's just my over-sensitiveness on the run, but more importantly, i just felt so "helpless" in a sense that when i got to know about the incident, i was really very demoralised and moody, i told myself to stop those thoughts and just focus on what's being there, but it's just so hard to get back on form. It just made me think that we people nowadays are not so "strong" as we would like to be.

I guess i'm a person with a strong sense of "intuition", which could be both a good and a bad thing, being able to sense situations and adapt quick enough or on the other hand pick up "wrong signals" that people may send. I really hate it, but it's part and parcel of life i know that there are always people who will try to pull you down, and it's up to you whether you want to put up a fight.

Mundane Schedules & Systems

2009-05-22T23:55:00.000+08:00

School's been tiring for the past week. I'm not sure why, but i just get really tired by the time i reached home. The modules are really cranking me up big time! I've had my first UT for the semester on tuesday, and hopefully i will breeze through it. Class-wise, it's been pretty alright, i've got some really nice talkable and fun groupmates. Anway, i signed up for the IAEP trip to Korea & Tokyo in september. Hopefully, i'm able to pass through the interview and be selected for the trip, and that would be really awesome!

RP just sent my mum a letter this week informing her about the 4 days that i did not go to school over a period of 3 weeks. I thought that they only do it if it's consecutive 3 days, i just find it really loathesome for them to do something like this, we're allowed to take leave for 2days per module, and i haven't even crossed that boundary so as to speak, and i just got a warning letter from the DM stating that i did not declare my temperature. Yeah, i did get the email about temperature taking exercise, but there wasn't really any action taken done, i didn't know that we were supposed to do it ourselves, and now i got a warning letter, great uh!

Charmaine's Day

2009-05-20T23:19:00.004+08:00

Happy 18th in Advance, Fats2! Had a clique celebration birthday for Charmaine at Fish & Co Ang Mo Kio, Charmaine was made to stand on the chair, while all of us sang the birthday song for her! Anyway, hope you liked the gift and card we got you, and it's been really great knowing you! 3 years have flew by just that, and you've been a really awesome buddy through these years! You're still my sometimes "late-night phone chat buddy" who always lift my bordem through the nights!

Anyway, here's wishing you to great health, wealth and all the best in your studies and lastly cheers to many many years of greater friendship! :)

Happy 18th Fats2! :D

Goodbye Guus!

2009-05-18T22:17:00.002+08:00

Watched last night's 2-0 victory over blackburn with brilliant goals from malouda and anelka. And with that match ended, it was also caretaker manager, Guus Hiddink's last home game. It was understandable why the whole crowd at Stamford Bridge were cheering on "Guus Don't Go" from the 2nd half, he has done a fabulous job at Chelsea since the day he took over from Big Phil.

Players who weren't seemed to be performing were gradually returning to their best forms, with the likes of Didier Drogba & Malouda, which had pretty disappointing early season runs. I really respect Guus way of managing the team and the way he plays his game, i think of the most prolific examples of his tactics would be the "never say die" attitude. He's not afraid to make changes, and will change if there's a need, and this could be shown by chelsea's great winning records wins since he came and take charge.

I guess the best farewell gift for the great manager would be of course, to mastermind a victory over the toffees and win the FA Cup.

(Thai Cover) Wonder Girls "Nobody"

2009-05-16T17:17:00.003+08:00

This is the thai cover of the Wonder Girls song "Nobody". Check out the video, it's brilliantly choreographed, and it's awesomely funny. Perhaps it's all in their genes afterall, given their most popular trade of the thais.

The Fear - Lily Allen

2009-05-14T22:47:00.004+08:00

"I don't what's right and what's real anymore

I don't know how we're meant to feel anymore

When do you think it will all become clear"

Racquets & Laps

2009-05-13T22:30:00.002+08:00

Had a game of badminton with Xinjie & Kerman at Bishan Sports Hall today. It's been such a long time since i hit the racquet, or rather being engaged in sports. I had a really fun time playing badminton today, although it was pretty tiring, given my poor form of stamina, i still enjoyed the game thoroughly and i wouldn't mind playing it every week. I even got to know a pair of fellow shuttlers who were friendly and funny, played a doubles game with them, although we lost all 3 games, but they gave us some pointers and tips on how to improve the game, and even told me about stuffs to eat to improve stamina, which i thought was really of nice of them.

Went for a swim after the game, did a couple of laps followed by lazing around the pool, got myself some of the afternoon sun, before washing up and joined weisheng for a late lunch before heading home.

Don't Forget The Lyrics

2009-05-12T22:13:00.005+08:00

king kong, gracey noob & basket chan were in a room singing songs

It got a little bored, so they found some extra "self-entertainment"

and still continued singing after that! haha!

Blue's Sweet Revenge!

2009-05-11T00:57:00.001+08:00

I guess most Blue's fans will remember that Arsenal broke Chelsea's undefeated home record in the 08/09 season back at Stamford Bridge, tonight's 4-1 Victory against the gunners served up as one of the sweetest revenge! Thanks to great goals from Alex, Anelka & Malouda, great job!

Loved Ones

2009-05-10T21:32:00.010+08:00

Gave mum a mother's day treat to dim-sum breakfast yesterday morning from Nam Kee at Thomson. And happy mother's day mum! Coincidentally, today is my dad's 2nd year death anniversary.

Time flies and it's already been two years since he left. Each time i look at the family portrait taken, i'm always reminded of all the fond memories i had with him, and i know i've said these many times, but he's really a wonderful and great dad. Whenever i'm outside, and i see the bonding between a father and his child, i would often get flashbacks of the time my dad and i used to had. Be it swimming during children's day, cycling beside him while he was jogging or even just lying on his lap while he's reading the papers and etc. At times, i would tell myself if dad was still around, i would finally be able to drink with him, i would share with him about my school happenings like i used to and he would tell me about the current affairs happening.

Lastly, i think one should really start to treasure the people around them, and show them in action. I think many of us just say how much we love and treasure so and so, but we're just now showing it. It's time for us to perhaps, take a little time and think of the things our parents or loved ones had done for us, and it's time for us to reciprocate them.

Friday's Dinner Gathering

2009-05-08T23:51:00.000+08:00

Anatomy module today was pretty interesting, we actually dissected chicken bones to see the inner parts of the bones and the tendons between the muscles and the bones. And i did a fairly complex dissection of the chicken that it wasn't really that visible to see the tendons, haha!

Anyway, after school went home and rushed for rj before heading out to cityhall to meet the clique. Went to Aston's for dinner, and it was swarming with people, waited for about 30minutes for the queue and the food to be served. The food was abit disappointing, the chicken steak was just mediocre and nothing really "wow" about it, heard from ahern though that the steak was really good, that's what they're famous for afterall. Had a game of pool after dinner before taking the last train back home.

Agony

2009-05-07T10:49:00.002+08:00

Last night's game was perhaps one of the most heartbreaking games i watched since the 2007/08 champion's league final. Michael Essien did a terrific volley in the first quarter and gave chelsea a slender 1-0 lead against barcelona. The referee did a poor job, we had multiple valid claims for penalties, but were all ruled off, including one obvious handball on pique. And then barceleona seized the opportunity and had an equaliser, in the 92th mins.

I still feel the regret now, that we were so close to the final and were ruled off due to bad referee-ing. It was really a bad night, i thought i could celebrate and cheered, but it's okay, we played a beautiful game, the players were on great display of football and we put up a real fight against the "best team in the world". I guess we could now only focus on the FA Cup, and will be back next season, stronger & we will!

This incident perhaps sums up one of the most frequently used quotes of all times, "Life is always unfair".

Happy Hour at Liquid Kitchen

2009-05-05T23:59:00.004+08:00

Material Science today, didn't really had a mood for school today. Wasn't really in the "studying mood", had a nice team but left them during 2nd break and went to snooker zone for pool with Kerman.

Went for happy hour at liquid kitchen thomson at night with the guys. Played cards and watched soccer replays, crapped and joked through the night. Went for supper before heading home. Anyway, i really find that liquid kitchen is a nice place to hang out for a glass of alcohol, it's not very noisy and crowded, and it's a pretty cosy place and has wonderful service staffs as well.

poseur! haha!

"happy three friends"

Decisions

2009-05-03T01:20:00.002+08:00

I'm starting to realise about the importance of decisions we make in our everyday lives. It's as though our lives were being held by decisions; if it's a good one, we get ahead smoothly, or else we take the consequence and live with it.

It's really important in learning to make the right decisions in life. Although i can't say that i'm fully-equipped with that skill, but i believe that i'm on my way to it. I was telling my mum the other day that i admire coporate big-wigs that make decision based on benefits, and how they could actually put their emotions aside and just get on with it. It's really something that i would love to master, i think that sometimes i might get too emotional in my decision-making that will actually affect the whole result of how i want it to be.

I made a wrong decision just now, and pretty regretted it. Although i lost abit of moolahs, but i guess it's a lesson well learnt, that it isn't good to be a nice guy all the time. There are times where we should toughen our stand and just go with what it should be, even though if people disagree, as long as you think it's right, stick with it. Time will prove it all i guess.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-05-02T23:57:00.000+08:00

Caught X-men Orgins: Wolverine at Golden Village Marina. Basically, it revolves around the life of Logan and how he grew up and became wolverine. There's also the inclusion of his brother, sabertooth. The plot was pretty simple and straightforward, i thought that the graphics in the show was totally brilliant. It just goes to show how much technological advancements can help one enjoy the show experience. Although the cg effects were good, i was still hoping for more intense fight scenes like the previous sequals of the X-men series. Overall i think it was a pretty good show although i had some reservations at first given the poor ratings by some internet reviews about the effects and stuffs, but it was unfounded pretty quickly, and i enjoyed the show thoroughly.

Responding

2009-04-29T23:33:00.002+08:00

I'm an avid fan of the reality tv series "Survivor" and even after more than 10 seasons, i'm still hooked on to it each time it's played on television. I love to see the way the contestants battle out with one another to be the winner, and you could see how each of them respond to each situation posed.

I remember a quote somewhere, "Respond not React". I gave it further thought and true enough, most of the times we are all reacting to situations rather than responding. When people get on our nerves, the most immediate reaction would be to flare up at him/her or an exchange of verbal abuses. The correct response though might be to ignore, but we often let our feelings overrule the brain. I guess it's time we take some time to think of the situations we're in, and start to respond instead of reacting.

"Only the fittest survive, and the smartest wins" - Unknown

"Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire

2009-04-28T23:57:00.001+08:00

Friendship

2009-04-26T22:48:00.003+08:00

I remember a couple of months back, i was having this conversation with friends on the topic of friendship, and how our views on this actually evolve through the years. Remember those days in primary school where we used to catergorise our friends in sections like "Best Friend, Good Friend, Normal Friend", coming to think of it, it's actually pretty hilarious.

Than we move on to secondary school years/tertiary education years, where we start to develop a more stable and rigid kind of friendship, and i'm glad to say that i've met a really wonderful bunch of people during this period. "Jongkers" and the class clique when i retained back in 07, w45m-ers, it is really amazing meeting people in your life who would be able to share the joys and sorrows, comfort you in times of need and cheering you in times of difficulties.

Though said that, i've met my fair share of bad experiences of friendship as well. I wouldn't really consider them bad friendships, but i would just say that it's the experience. Because without these people, i wouldn't know how practical the world is, without these people i wouldn't know how one could actually blindside in a way, yes i was pretty pissed at times of those moment, but thinking back now, i'm really glad to have seen and met these people for they taught me a valuable lesson in life, and that is the matter of trust. Where some of us place it too easily on people to get it lost in the end. But now, my take is that "Love everyone, trust a few"

You know sometimes it isn't about how much you say you would do but rather it's more of what you do. And it could be just a simple phone call, to hear the other party's voice that someone is willing to listen you and that actually warms your heart. And i would just like to say, thank you guys for always being there for me, being my late night phone chat buddies, my walking home companions from school, my activities parters, my support and trust, once again thank you guys!

Mandai Zoo & Overnight Mahjong!

2009-04-26T15:25:00.005+08:00

Went to the zoo yesterday with the guys thanks to free tickets from Giebert. Well, it's been a year odd back since i visited it and it's more or less the same, i guess the only new attraction that i noticed would be the boat ride, or maybe it's there long ago just that i didn't notice it. We had lotsa fun taking photos around and disturbing one another. I especially love the animal show for the seal, it was very cute! The animal actually did a couple of somersaults and kissed the audience, splashed the audience with water and basically interacting with us.

Outside The Splash Amphitheatre

After that, we went home to get bathed and changed and had our dinner. Around nighttime, Kerman, Weisheng, Xinjie came to my house for overnight mahjong session. We started playing at around 10pm and ended at about 7am, breaking halfway for some light drinks. It was superbly energy-draining, by this morning all of us were like zombies with our eyes half-closed, but the good thing is i finally broke my 100% home-record loss, and gain my first home win! lols!

Unfounded

2009-04-24T23:53:00.000+08:00

School these past two days was pretty awesome actually! The initial skepticism about the worry of not being able to "click" well with people in class were actually unfounded pretty quickly these 2 days. Anatomy module yesterday was something new & interesting. Doing this module without a biology background indeed has it's disadvantages but i had a pretty fun group to work with and we managed to churn out the problem in due time. Today's chemistry problem was alright and again the people inside the group were equally awesome! We spent more time chatting and discussing about entertainment news rather than on our ppt, but it was still an added fun and motivation, to have people you can connect with in class. I guess that makes the whole meaning of going to school an added "punch"!

Boozing At Home

2009-04-21T23:59:00.000+08:00

I had tuesday blues, applied physics module and the first problem was already so dry. I can't imagine how am i going to survive another 15 more of such modules. And the faci's high expectations make it even more tedious. Gosh.

Kerman & Ahern came over to my place at night for a sleepover/drinking session. The menu for the night included Absolut 100, XO Cognac, Heineken, Chang, Breezer. And we were basically all playing number guessing games, and kept mixing the drinks, although we knew that we could get drunk easier that way, but the mixed drinks actually tasted quite nice afterall with the exception of the beer. Crapped till about 4am, before we all headed to bed, and they left in the morning.

Chan's minibar

Routine

2009-04-20T21:04:00.002+08:00

The usual morning rush, with the accompaniment of "Morning Express". And i just realised that it's been so long since i heard their familiar voices which often accompanied me to school. Met up with grace at woodlands and went to school together with kerman. First day of school was pretty alright, had nice groupmates to work with, and the class looks pretty alright as well, hopefully it will be as a blast as w45m-ers! haha! And time seemed to have passed very quickly today, and before you know it, it's end of the class! And this routine continues, hopefully it does not get too mundane.

Into The Finals!

2009-04-19T02:27:00.002+08:00

It was once again a great comeback fight from the Blues as we defeated the Gunners 2-1 at Wembley. Went to watch the match at liquid kitchen with Weisheng & Mok and it was a pretty drab match actually, the referee's decisions were actually pretty dubious at times. The goals were brilliant though, after being 1-0 down by a theo walcott deflection, we came back with a brilliant malouda goal and a drogba finisher! And here we meet again at Wembley at the Finals! Whoots, Chelsea!

drogba, the final touch!

Clique Gathering Kbox Marina, Aston's

2009-04-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

Had a kbox session again today, with the bunch of secondary school gang and went to marina square for the singing addiction. We were pretty much crazy in there, we kept singing all those "super oldies" like "dui ni ai bu wan" and people kept looking in the room, were practically making a fool of ourselves. Followed by the singing session, we went to Suntec for dinner at Aston's. I've heard of how good the food is here, and today i actually tried it myself, and given the reasonably cheap price of the food items, i think it's pretty worth the price and the taste is not bad as well! Trained home after that.

@ Aston's

@ Kbox Marina

Catch Up With W45M's

2009-04-16T23:29:00.006+08:00

Met up with w45m's peeps and had a kbox session, followed by dining at prata house thomson before chilling out at Eskimo. Had a nice catching up session before the new school term starts, and reminiced the good o'days we had at w45m!

gracey noob!

w45m's

Tuts My Barreh!

2009-04-15T23:55:00.002+08:00

Chelsea For The Win!

2009-04-15T09:31:00.005+08:00

Watched last night's 2nd leg match between Chelsea & Liverpool and it was one of the most entralling and exciting matches i ever watched.

We were 2-0 down, Drogba & Alex equalised, than we were 3-2 leading by Lampard, followed by a strong comeback from Liverpool, they were leading 4-3, and finally a last minute strike by lampard gave us the equaliser, the win and the meeting with Barce at the Semi-Finals.

Frank Lampard

Gathering @ Ahern's

2009-04-12T23:41:00.001+08:00

Had a short gathering over at Ahern's house, followed by dinner at Taste Of Thailand, and the food once again proved to be reasonably cheap and good. We headed back to Ahern's house for cards and the girls did their nails. Chatted, played around till about 9.30pm before leaving.

J's

No More Regrets!

2009-04-10T23:59:00.000+08:00

I've come to those moments in where you start to lament almost everything that had gone wrong in your life, those little regrets, those great memories, and basically a recollection of everything. I wouldn't say it's a bad thing, although it isn't very great either.

As i grow older, i start to realised some stupid mistakes i made in the past, and how foolish i could be at times, as in really foolish. It's like you can only live to regret as much as you would like to rectify it. I tend to let my heart rule over my head and this is where things start to go wrong, you get the wrong idea about someone, you start to accumulate negative connections with that person and it becomes a misunderstanding, by the time you realised it, there's already a barrier, and no matter how much you rectify, there's always a sense of "awkwardness".

I actually told myself sometimes, that tomorrow i would live my life as though there's no tomorrow, i would do what i want to, what i need and what i should and i would not let anything hold me back. But in actual fact, it's really hard putting all those words into action. Just take a classic example of having a crush on a girl, you know at first you developed a liking for her, than you got close to her, but you're afraid of asking her, fearing to get rejected as well as losing the friendship. I'm starting to realise that all these while, i've been stopped by all these fears/ negative connections that i'm not actually progressing much.

To be honest, i think i can't really be bothered much, in a sense that from now on, i think i would just do whatever is right, whatever that should be done and whatever that needs to be done. I've just had enough of all these "crap". Alright, i know that this post is pretty random, but i feel much better writing it down, hopefully i would be able to fufilled it, and i'm sure i'm able to!

Beautiful Game!

2009-04-09T04:35:00.004+08:00

Liverpool 1 - 3 Chelsea

Ivanovic was just pure brilliant!

Marley & Me

2009-04-08T03:35:00.003+08:00

I've just finished watching Marley & Me, it's really a wonderful movie about the relationship between dogs and humans and the lessons learnt from them.

I particularly like two scenes where Marley is being let loose to roam about the beach and into the sea, the other being where Marley is being laid on the living room and the family members just gave their last words to Marley, it was touching, emotional at the same time i think it sets us thinking.

Indeed this movie has brought about a change as to where a dog may lie in our hearts. In some cases, a dog may be just a pet/playmate to be with us when we want to them around, to others a dog/pet may be like part of the family, someone you can't live without, something you've developed emotions for.

I loved ths quote by Josh right at the end of the movie "A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart, and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"

Zheng Fa's Steamboat @ Novena

2009-04-05T21:16:00.001+08:00

Went for steamboat with the clique at Zheng Fa's at Novena. Have been hearing praises and the variety of food there from friends and wanted to gave it a try.

Indeed, it was not disappointing. There was a huge array of food items, from poultry to meat items, to seafood, they have basically anything you wanted in a seafood. The best part is you could actually bbq/teppanyaki your food items, you could put the items you want, say prawns and bring it to the bbq station and the chef will do it for you and serve it to you when it's down, i think that's a pretty good thing, it saves you the trouble of having to wait. The seafood was very fresh, it's the freshest seafood i had for steamboat before, honestly. The prawns were springy and there's "texture" to it. The crabs are also very good. Overall it's a nice and great meal, ohya! The chocolate eclairs there are wonderful as well!

So if you're looking for a meal which is filling yet fun, it cost about $25 per pax, it's worth giving this a try!

Genting/ KL Escapade

2009-04-04T12:41:00.003+08:00

Came back yesterday from the Genting/KL trip with Kerman, Xinjie & Zehao. It was pretty fun throughout the whole trip although i once again missed out the theme park, but it was fun nevertheless.

on the coach towards Genting

The first day, we woke up super early and boarded the coach towards genting at about 6.30am. Reached Genting at about 2pm, had to wait for our turn to check-in the hotel. Killed time meanwhile by playing pool. Checked in, rested awhile before taking the express coach to Kuala Lumpur. Went to shop and eat at Petaling Street. I just loved the whole "street market" culture in KL, where you can haggle prices and the food in there is superb as well, tried this "Fried Pan Mee" which is absolutely brilliant, and of course the famous beancurd, is great as well. Bought some alcohol back to the hotel, got changed and went for bowling. Played for about 15 minutes, than there was a sudden blackout, and we were all evacuated, the bowling alley had a short circuit and it caused a fire. There was heavy smoke outside the alley and the smell was horrendous. Went for supper at Pizza Hut before heading back to the hotel for drinks.

the chilly weather outside

Next day, we all slept till super late, by the time all was up it was already 12pm, so didn't make any sense to play theme park, since we saw most of the rides not moving as well. So we went to play pool again, played till the evening, and went to the mushroom farm for dinner. I think the people there must have thought that we're creatures that come out from the "7th month". We ordered super truckloads of rice, 11 bowls for 4 people. And we ordered about 6 dishes, and they were all very nice especially the "boar's meat", it was very good. The weather was chilly there and we loved it, so stayed awhile, and took some photos before heading back. Went back to the hotel room to slack, and we did stupid things like wrestling, making stupid noises and stuffs like that, it was superbly hilarious. Went to the pub located at Resort Hotel at about 12am for some drinks befored we went for our movie. And the drinks at the pub was horrible. I had a magarita, and it tasted more like passionfruit juice. Anway, after that we caught a movie, The Shinjuku Incident at 1.30am. And by the time the movie ended, we were all practically like zombies, tired and shag.

dinner @ mushroom farm

Third and final day, we woke up early to beat the crowd for the buffet. But the buffet was absolutely disgusting, the beehoon i had was abit spoiled, the sausage looked uncooked, the baked beans was alright, and that's all i had for breakfast, the rest of the buffet dishes look so unappetising, so therefore i told myself that's going to be the first and last time i'm eating there. The food totally spoiled my morning and i even had the runs after that. Went back to the hotel and pack up, Kerman and Zehao came to our room, and Zehao was totally tired and he went to sleep again, so the three of us did stupid things again, we imitated videos, created MVs, talked cock and stuffs. We checked out at about 12pm, had lunch at the bus terminal before boarding the coach back.

hotel room

Overall, it's a fun trip with friends, great escapade from the hot and humid weather of singapore. One thing is that Genting had changed so much since the influx of PRCs. The whole Genting alley was all so smoky and smelly, even with the non-smoking sign on, people just disregard it and smoke, terrible.

Genting/KL Escapade Album

Food Glorious Food Malaysia Album

Great Vocals : "Rin On The Rox"

2009-03-30T23:11:00.000+08:00

Shima @ Goodwood Park Hotel

2009-03-28T22:56:00.006+08:00

Went for Teppanyaki dinner at Shima, Goodwood Park Hotel. The location of the place is pretty quiet, tucked right at the end of the hotel.

The food was absolutely delicious, it's one of the, if not the best teppanyaki dinner i had before. We had tiger prawns which looked really huge, and of course it tasted great, with the mustard sauce. We had sweet onion, which was not very common on teppanyaki i believe but it tasted well as though. We had other normal dishes like terrayanki chicken, beansprouts, scallops with cabbage, i guess the most special dish would be the fresh oyster. The chef simply pan-fried the oysters, dish out a little sauce, and there you go, fresh succulent oysters to the bite.

Overall dining experience was great, prompt and helpful service staff, Chef was jovial and communicated with us through the meal, and even helped with the type of sauces to go with what type of food. Taste wise was excellent as well, fresh ingredients in compliment with great cooking skills. Perhaps the only "flaw" would be the pricing of food, it's a pretty expensive meal, costed about $600+ for 6 people, which averages out to be about $100+ per pax, but given the good quality of food and great ambience, i think it's pretty worth a splurge occasionally.

More photos HERE

A "Bleak" or "Bright" Future

2009-03-28T02:26:00.002+08:00

I was browsing through some admission criteria to NTU's and NUS's School Of Engineering. And somehow, the prospect of the future hit me hard. In a sense that, i'm pretty afraid now that what will i do or become if i do not get into a local university.

I'm not actually quite interested in the semi-conducter industry, the reason i chose Material Sciences was because i know that NUS's has module exemptions on this course. And hopefully i'm able to get in. But given my current Year 1's GPA, i really need to work very hard during the remaining two years to work out something for the future.

And although the future might seem exciting, it does seem scary at times. Given the bleak economic situation now, and the electronics sector not doing quite well, it made me ponder whether my choice before to go into DMTS was a correct one. But hopefully this wake up call would make me strive harder in the future to work towards my goal.

Have a Break, Have a Laugh!

2009-03-27T12:40:00.001+08:00

Rihanna's Umbrella in Hokkien - from Chestnuts by Stages

每天爱你多一些

2009-03-25T23:15:00.002+08:00

Got accquainted with this song by chance on Youtube while i was browsing other songs, and i just fell in love with the whole melody and the tune of it. And sometimes life is really a contradiction, there are things that you tell yourself to give up and stop, but somehow it's easier than done. And yet there're time where you regret not taking action. Taking chances, i wish i had.

Everybody's Changing

2009-03-23T22:14:00.003+08:00

Recently, i was pondering over this topic about changes, and how people might lament or cheer over this word, and of course the subsequent emotional fluctuations it brings about.

"Eveything in life is temporary", a personal message i got from one my peers. And indeed, in this time and day, nothing is certain in this world and changes are everywhere. I guess man progress through changes as well, be it physically or emotionally. As a kid, we used to not worry over anything and just take the whole world as a playland, however as we gradually grow older, the perception of the world changes, it's not a playland anymore. Yes, we still have fun, but we start to be more wary of one another, we start to have different perceptions of people & the way we view things changes as well

I believe most of us will not like changes, when things get really nice and comfortable, a change would mean to disrupt the whole process of how things might be all good and well-laid. But thinking otherwise, changes matures us a person, in how we view things and makes us adapt. I guess the best example would be the one semester, one class system in RP. At first i was pretty apprehensive and not supportive of this idea of having to change classes every semester as i thought it was a chore to make new friends every semester and i would have the worry of would i be able to bond and such.

But thinking now, it's not a bad thing afterall, you get to meet so many different kind of faces and people. You get to experience different people's habits and working attitudes, and you learn to accomodate and accept. That's one important thing that i've learnt. Although sometimes we do get unwanted situations like office politics, i guess being exposed to such situations at a age when we're still schooling gives us a headstart in what's installed in the future, and not be so naive and ignorant about things that are happening around us.

分分钟需要你

2009-03-21T04:10:00.000+08:00

I've just finished watching the 40-episode 家好月圆, which is a sequel to and has almost the same cast acting in 溏心风暴.

And my same few words as my comments to the prequel, it's a wonderfully directed drama. Basically, the whole drama revolves around a word, love. It's about yet another family drama, however it seems that i'm like glued to the series. I've got to give credits to the cast of the drama, they did an amazing job in portraying each role, and somehow i really "hate" the villians in the show.

I found this snippet of a clip from the drama, it's about this scene where the whole family cheers the daughter up, and it's just so filled with warmth and love. It really did touched me when i first saw it, and it's really very sweet.

Honesty

2009-03-20T02:48:00.002+08:00

I guess most of us value honesty as an important virtue in everything that we do, or in any decisions that we make. In fact, we judge people and value friendships/relationships on how honest and open they are.

But somehow, i feel that the most dishonest deeds i've done to is actually to myself. It's like i've been lying to myself all these while. It's sort of deluding, i've lots of time during this holiday perod, and you know when a person has time, he starts to think. And it's like i'm just not living my life the way i wanted it to be.

I paint a beautiful picture of how my life would be each time people ask me about dreams and aspirations, but somehow it's so hard to get the colours on this painting. Obviously, i know that life is coupled with ups and downs, and i know that today by writing this down is just an outlet to release my emotions, but somehow i'm still pretty disappointed with myself in some areas of my life.

The funniest fact is that i know where my mistake is, yet i seldom rectify. It's like a "burning-candle effect", when there's the passion & motivation to do that something or work on something, i get very focused and give my 100%, but once the flame is off, i become lazy, and just get things done the quickest method.

Well, i really hope by writing this down, i'm really able to achieve something that i want to, i want to come out with a list of things that i want to do and i will do my best to fufill it. I guess ultimately, the main beneficiary would be myself.

Sex Sells, Perhaps The Beer As Well...

2009-03-16T02:37:00.000+08:00

Was youtubing, when i stumbled across this advertisment. It's superbly hilarious. And it just brought me to this fact that sex still sells. It's a marketing technique that has been used over decades and people are still attracted to it, the allure that draws people to it really makes wonders.

There's Always "What If"

2009-03-15T01:50:00.004+08:00

We can't always be too sure about things in life, there might be instances where a surprise might take you out of nowhere.

Be prepared, to win & to lose

Barbeque@ Jielin's

2009-03-14T00:30:00.003+08:00

Went to takashimaya in the afternoon with kong, find evelyn for lunch at work. Followed by meeting chun hao and we went to the IT Fair. It was swarming with people, but better than the previous times that i've been to, which was totally stuck! Anyway, got myself a 8GB SD card for the camera.

Went to jielin's house in the evening for the barbeque, finally it was another outing that all of j's. attended. Had a nice time catching up with one another and old secondary school classmates. Thanks to jielin & weiliang for taking the time & effort in setting up this gathering session, and cheers for more great years of gathering to come!

three musketeers! haha!

ahquah, miss zhuang, ahyan

kong, liang, seng, loh!

company for the night.

好的也吃，不好的也吃

2009-03-10T23:57:00.007+08:00

Haven't been feeling the best of health these days, down with a bout of flu and persistat coughing. Perhaps it's due to the weird climatic changes in the weather, where it has been a mixture of rains and ultra-sunny days these couple of day.

Anyway, i've been killing much of my time through watching hongkong dramas. And now i'm watching this show called ‘溏心风暴’It's basically about this family, and their scuffles and stories that may arise through jealousy, betrayal, and of course about the harmony of the family. It's really a very good show, although i've not watched finished, but from the show, indeed i've learnt a couple of lessons and i just love one of the quotes from the show, ‘家和万事兴’.

‘溏心风暴’

Indeed, in a family there are bound to be problem and scuffles that might arise, but i truly and firmly believe in that harmony breeds wealth and harmony breeds happiness. I'm really glad and happy that i've such a wonderful family. I've got loving parents, a brother who i always quarrel and squabble with but i know he will always be there if i need him, i've got a bunch of wonderful uncles and aunties, who dote on me like how they dote on their own sons, a bunch of great cousins who always used to bring me out when i was young and still care for me and of course a bunch of nephews and nieces who never fail to cheer me up whenever i see them with their actions and cute voices.

In the past, i really emphasize alot on tangible items, i always wanted more money, i always wanted the best gadgets and the best items to show off, in fact i'm sure most of us are guilty of that. Although i can't say that i'm not into tangible items now, but at least i realised the fact that the best tangible item you can get in your life is love. Love is often interpreted as a "boy-girl relationship", and less often as love from family and friends. Perhaps i've not gotten into a relationship before, that's why i could understand the meaning of love from family and friends. You know, they've become such an important piece of my life that it really feels empty and sad to lose any of them.

A quote that i try to live by as much as possible, although i still believe i could do better in this sense. ‘珍惜眼前所有，不要留下遗憾’.

"Homecooked" Gathering

2009-03-09T00:36:00.004+08:00

Met up with ahquah, ahyan & ahern in the afternoon at buangkok. Went to NTUC for some grocery shopping. And i just realised that grocery shopping could turn out pretty fun as well, we had fun time choosing all the ingredients for the pasta and side dishes, and got the stuffs before heading to ahyan's place.

so happy with Kinder-Buenos!

Started preparing for the dinner, ahern helped with peeling of the prawns, quah & yan helped with toasting of the chicken and making the dessert and washing, and i did the pasta. It was pretty fun cooking with friends, although we did all get sweaty and hot, but the laughter made up for it.

preparation of pasta ingredients

having fun in the kitchen

If Chan Can Cook, So Can You! haha!

And so we got everything done and up by about evening, and it was decision-making time. From yan's mum and brother, the pasta tasted not bad uh, haha! Although i feel that it could be better, hee, but at least it was edible, so efforts not wasted! hah! After dinner, we watched ‘家有喜事2009', and it was stupidly hilarious, there isn't really a plot to the movie, but the way they dance and the way 吴君如 acted in the movie was really funny. Cabbed home after the show with ahern.

I swear it taste better than it looks! haha!

Let It Go

2009-03-08T13:40:00.004+08:00

I know I know I know
I’m gonna start living
Today I’m gonna keep on walking
I’m gonna hold my head up high
I’m gonna leave it all behind

Singapore Entertainment Awards

2009-03-07T23:52:00.003+08:00

Went to the Singapore Entertainment Awards at the Marina Bay floating platform with Grace, thanks to tickets from Joanna. Anyway, the queue there was pretty long, we waited for about 20 minutes or so, before clearing the queue and gotten inside the venue.

The performance was pretty awesome, there were songs from Show Luo, Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Chen Qi Zhen, Olivia Ong and much more. And i got to admit that it was really entertaining watching the whole awards thingy, and the presence of Luo Zhi Xiang really brought up the whole crowd to optimum noise level, the screaming was non-stop when he was on stage, and he did two songs, which was really nice as well. And Olivia Ong looks really gorgeous in person, i did not manage to take a photo, but she looks really pretty. The whole performance thing ended at about 11.00pm

gracey gian

there was pandemonium in the crowds when he appeared

stefanie sun yan zi!

aska yang singing "yang cong"

Went to meet Xinjie & Zhenhui for supper at Upp. Thomson Road, had a short catch-up with them before heading home.

Lack Of Creativity

2009-03-07T16:40:00.002+08:00

I read an article online this morning titled "NTU staff found hanged", and my reaction was shouldn't these people display more creativity, even if they want to end their lives. I believed we've have all heard about the news that a student stabbed a professor at NTU and committed suicide last week, and this week we have this case, i'm just starting to think that people nowadays really lack in creativity.

Take the "shoe incident" for example, which originated from this iraqi reporter who threw it at former president of the United States, it was repeated at Oxford University, when chinese premier Wen Jia Bao visited the college.

And i thought i could put my chinese to good use by summing up these incidents with a proverb, 人云亦云; which simply translates into following what other's do without one's own opinion.

First Day At Work

2009-03-03T23:54:00.002+08:00

Alright, so it was a change of working environment from the past school buildings and students to basically just a room with a communication device, the telephone. I've started my first day of work as a telemarketer for ERA and it's pretty interesting i would say, based on the first day that is. I've made over 100+ calls and through these calls, and basically chatted up with different types of people and i would say that it's really a blended mixture.

I had my list of super-nice callers, who even though rejected the call, but did it in a nice way, i also had my list of arrogant and idiotic callers who rejected you even before you finished the sentence, well i admitted i used to do this when i had such calls, haha!

But overall, it was pretty nice, it's a more challenging task as compared to my previous mundane job, as you get to speak to different types of people and adapt and accept accordingly, and basically turning calls into opporunities. I want more commission, haha!

我知道你很难过

2009-03-02T21:22:00.002+08:00

我知道你很难过
感情的付出不是真心就会有结果
别问怎么做爱才能长久
这道理有一天你会懂
我知道你很难过
昨天是恋人今天说分手就分手
别问你的痛要怎么
解脱多情的人注定伤的比较久

What A Nice Goal!

2009-03-01T22:44:00.003+08:00

Lampard's 90th minute header against Wigan was absolutely brilliant. I actually thought that the match would end in a draw after kapo equalised in the 82nd minute. But i guess that's what they meant by "never quitting till the end", the kind of belief they have, and the goal was just such a memorable one!

Clique Outing

2009-02-28T23:28:00.000+08:00

Met up with buddies at Cityhall in the afternoon, and was supposed to go take the flyer after mr bird came up with this brilliant idea of having free tickets, we cabbed since it was raining, and only to find out that the free tickets have all been redeemed. So we were left with having dinner at Popeye's. Slacked a'lil while there before heading towards Marina Square.

Got tickets to New In Town, played pool in the meantime to kill some time. And the movie overall was pretty hilarious, although it was abit boring in the beginning, and there was a abit of crude humour, but overall it was a "feel-good" movie, i mean it just talks about the whole point of love and work, and buiding relationships.

credits : charmaine

It's What You Don't Know That Hurts

2009-02-27T00:22:00.002+08:00

Basing things on assumptions is one bad habit that i've and that i've accquired a sharp sense of intuiton through the years. I usally jump into conclusions very easily, i take a part from what i see, and a part from what i think it is, and i form a story, and sometimes things just ain't what it's what i thought it was.

But speaking of that, sometimes things like that could really hurt us, it sets our imagination at wild, and we could think of all the possible reasons in the world that whats wrong, and what's happening. We come up with the most ridiculous conclusions in the world, and most of them are just basless. Sometimes, i just get really sick and tired of all these 未知数 in life that i just don't take a pro-active step sometimes.

"想要把你忘记真的好难, 思念的痛在我心里纠缠"

Karaoke Session

2009-02-25T23:29:00.001+08:00

Went kbox with ahquah, ahyan & jialan at Cineleisure. Lunched at the japanese fast-food at the basement of Cine, and coincidentally saw zhuang & weiliang.

Had a nice time singing songs, mostly oldies for my choice, and finally my craving for kbox is like satisfied, lols. After that, we saw Vanness Wu, for some promotional event for his movie at the atrium stage at Cine, and the fans were like crazy i swear, they were shouting as though they were had just struck lottery, and i think i was damm bad, i kept giving stupid answers and comments to the questions posed by the compere.

Went for dinner at AMK with ahquah and wenkai before bus-ing home.

company for kbox-ing.

jialan & huiyan

ahquah

ahquah & jialan

Monday Blues

2009-02-24T02:16:00.002+08:00

Things did not went particularly well today, i was woken up by the large noises of the drilling and constructions outside the block, they started works at like 8.30am, and the noise is terrible. Forget it, met Chang for breakfast at LJS, and the meal was horrible, regretted buying it.

Then, went all the way down to service my mobile in the afternoon, as my mobile can't send out sms. And was told by the service staff that the line was not under my name and i could not change the SIM card. Reasoned awhile with the staff, because the other time, i did a phone verification and i could get the SIM card, and he made me did a wasted trip today.

And, i just had a tiff with my mum, i think i over-reacted abit, and somehow the emotions in me just blew off, sorry mum. And it just spoiled my mood for the entire night, well, how pathetic my monday could be yeah, hais.

Doing It With Heart

2009-02-23T03:08:00.003+08:00

I wonder does the brain function better at night, at least it does for me. Time-check now is 3.08am and i've finally sorted out certain thoughts in my mind. All along, no matter what things i'm doing, i'm always keen on the end result, perhaps that's partly to blame for the strong emphasis on academic excellence in the education system here. And, i would always try ways and methods to win, and sometimes at the extent of the word happiness, it being that although i might win, it will not be a happy win.

I'm sure most of us have that experience before, but just awhile ago, something came to mind. I was thinking that as long as we do something that we love, and we do it with our heart, it doesn't really matter whether we win or lose. Because even if we lose at the end, we've won in effort and we've did ourselves a great job by experiencing the true experience. I think i've said this before in one my previous posts, that winning isn't everything. And after having this feeling, it really feels good, and clears away alot of unwanted doubt and uncertainty in me.

And this "enlightenment" came at a pretty good point in life, i was just searching for some answers, and i think i've got the most valuable and precious answer and that's doing it with heart, and doing it happily.