Afraid of the Dark

"So what would you tell a friend whose father just passed away?" Terence gave me a look that suggested that he was deep in thought, a rare sight for the joker who'd more likely be seen sucking on an imaginary lollipop (use your imagination) just to get a few laughs.

"Say 'I heard about what happened from friends. I've come to pay my respect to your Daddy.'."

In mere seconds he found that words that I had been so desperately searching for that I turned to Bailey's last night. Ever since I received the call from Sam informing me of the bad news, I couldn't get it out of my head. I felt bad that I wasn't able to go to the funeral with the rest of the army guys in the afternoon because of work commitments. After further contemplation, I decided to drop by after work and return to town to join my colleagues for the supper I promised them.

The unfamiliar bus ride to Chua Chu Kang MRT station was a huge pain accentuated by the duration of the journey itself. There wasn't much to distract me other than a bit of drama caused by a muscular teen clad in a green singlet chiding an uncle for not moving to the back of the bus, and music from my mp3 player. Eventually I got to CK and took the train to BB before switching to a bus. That was when I started to panic a little and wonder what kind of awkward situation I'd be forced to face alone. With the address and directions given, it was surprisingly easy to find my way to that particular void deck. My heard started racing and my hands became ice-cold as I quickly looked at the people in attendance in a fruitless attempt to find a familiar face among them. After circling the area once, I decided to pass time by watching the action on the basketball court before making another attempt at searching for my friend.

Cowardly behavior, I know, but I couldn't bear to give him a call or ask the people around for him. Adapting the wait-and-see tactic was probably as effective as an ostrich hiding its head in the sand when there's danger, but I guess that's just the way I am. I was thankful for a phone call that took my mind off the stress of actually being there.

"Hey, you're here." With a quick jerk of my head to the source of the sound, I was so taken by surprise that I almost dropped the phone. Hastily, I ended my phone conversation and looked at Mike. Dressed simply in a white T-shirt and a black jacket, his eyes were puffy but nonetheless gave me a look of welcome.

"You came alone ah?" I mumbled a few unaudible syllables which suggested something to that effect, before mentioning that Ken was unable to make it due to his lessons. He gave a small nod in response to the incoherent rubbish that came out of my mouth. Without another word, he led me to where his father laid. Initially I was at a complete lost as to what I was supposed to do. I stared deeply into the portrait and observed a minute of silence, paying my respects the best way I knew how.

He went to get some food and offered me some. I insisted that a soft drink would suffice and despite being as hungry as I was, I didn't have the appetite to stomach anything. Contrary to my 101 imagined scenarios of how the encounter would be like, we sat down and had a chat, during which we laugh about our pathetically underpaid jobs and updated each other about our lives in general. After awhile Eric and his BMT friend came, which I took as a cue for me to leave. I asked meekly if I could give "white gold" and he led me to write in the book where I jotted Ken's name alongside mine and passed him the money.

Ken happened to drop by my place earlier in the day and offered his share once he heard about it.

I told him I had to go.

"Thanks for coming," he said in a voice full of emotion.

"Take care," I said, as I gave him a pat on the shoulder, and left.

I left knowing that I've done my part, showing support for a friend. I was never specially close to Mike, but he was one of the few who remained neutral as relationships between the people in my bunk started falling into pieces. I will never forget his small but memorable and enerous treats such as Meiji's milk and chocolates that he brings in during book in. The fact that his cupboard was beside mine also gave us chance for interaction. He'd try (despite countless failed attempts) to throw his gutters into the cupboard from his bed, and I'd be there to pick them up when they didn't make it. Also, I'd make exclamations of how he changed out of Smart 4 to snoozing atire almost immediately after we came back from lunch, when in contrast, I hadn't even taken off my socks!

He's a righteous guy who isn't afraid to speak out when something's wrong. He's responsible all the time and never shirks from undertaking the shittiest of tasks.

Yes. I'm full of respect for the guy.

These thoughts ran through my head at bullet speed during the short walk to the bus stop. Whenever death strikes someone (or those affected), I'd have a huge mental wrestle with the demons in my head. If anything, I'm most afraid of death, which is why I've been trying to get myself to experience life to the fullest whenever I can. Surrounded with dark, murky thoughts, I stared up at an info-advert. With startling coincidence, it started with the words -

Death.
A user-friendly guide.
I acknowledge the sensitivity of the issue and will remove the entry at the request of relevant parties.

JKYH Top 20 (Three)

01. What Goes Around (Comes Around) - Justin Timberlake (3) 3***

02. All Good Things (Come to an End) - Nelly Furtado (2) 3
03. I'm Coming - Rain (NEW)
04. Fill My Little World/Never Be Lonely - Feeling (+5) 3
05. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado (-2) 3
06. It Ends Tonight - All-American Rejects (-2) 3
07. Love You So - Natalie (-2) 3
08. Break It Off - Sean Paul ft Rihanna (+6) 2
09. Can't Catch Tomorrow - Lostprophets (-3) 3
10. I Wanna Fuck You - Akon ft Snoop Dogg (-2) 3
11. Dangerous - Ying Yang Twins (+9) 2
12. The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore - James Morrison (NEW)
13. Lithium - Evanescence (+6) 2
14. Patience - Take That (-7) 3
15. Land of a Thousand Words - Scissor Sisters (-2) 3
16. Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani ft Akon (+2) 2
17. Knights of Cydonia - Muse (-7) 3
18. Bones - The Killers (-7) 3
19. Catch You - Sophie Ellis Bextor (NEW)
20. In My Bed - Rain (NEW)

Oh yeah Justin, I'm waiting for that damn video to come out. Probably the rest of the world too, since your single is still languishing outside the Top 10 on Billboard, and My Love (#1) just got out of there - which is probably your first time in 6 months that you haven't got a track in the Top 10. Enough of Sundance, appear on TRL and premiere the video already! I know I sound nasty, but that's what every desperate fan sounds like. I can't be expected to watch the performance live in Paris a hundred times and still feel satisfied (despite it being brilliant), when I hear you're making out with Scarlett Johannson on this one! Hurry up already!



I need to get the Rain obsession out of my system. It's amazing watching him live - unforgettable in fact. Elaborate stage set-ups, complicated dance moves and a whole lot of stage presence was what Rain brought to his concert in Singapore. I wasn't very impressed with the lead single off his 4th album initially but after seeing it live, it's a totally different experience. I can't seem to get enough of it! I've heard it on repeat for about 30 times yesterday! Since he's packed up and gone, this will be the closest that you'll ever get to see of the performance. 2nd single In My Bed also makes a debut in the Top 20 this week at #20. More on that song, next week.

At #19 is the long-awaited return of Sophie Ellis Bextor. I'm giving a shoutout to her because I'm so glad she's back! That cool, groovy voice of Murder on The Dancefloor is missed! This one's not bad, but I'm looking forward to more. You never miss a good thing till it's gone, and she's been gone too long!

New tracks of the week include Mika - Grace Kelly, My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words, Keane - A Bad Dream, Norah Jones - Thinking About You, John Mayer - Gravity and Chantel Kreviazuk - All I Can Do.

Sentosa Express

It was very last minute. I wanted to go to Sentosa on my off day, yesterday. And then Wee Lee came online and asked if I wanted to go swimming. And then I suggested that we made our way to the beach instead. I'm really thankful that he's game and delighted with his company. We took the Sentosa Express for the first time and it led us straight to the beach station, which had trams to to Palawan and Siloso. Brilliantly planned, super convenient. It's fantastic to not have to wait for a bus and ponder about which one to take!

But it was kind of weird to stop at the Waterfront Station when it's only going to be opened in 2010!



We settled down just in front of Cafe del Mar, the newest beach club that's located on Silosa Beach. It was also featured in Life! last Friday. It is my goal to become a frequent customer there. It's kind of "fantasy" that Sidney shared with me, to go in and order your "regular" like you're some big shot! As I remembered reading, entry to the beach club is free . However the posh setting is rather overwhelming, and you'd definitely feel the need to acquire a drink to earn yourself a place in the posh settings. Yeah, if you look closer, there's actually a bed-like thing with cushions on stilts. It looks insanely gorgeous - you have to see it to believe it.

We finished our McDonalds breakfast before chilling out in the sea. The water was freezing cold, and the sun only came out once in a long while (but me, being easily tanned, got a bit burned!).



Despite the overcast sky, the weather was good enough for a day at the beach. Usually at around noon, the sand would be roasted to temperatures that would make standing on it unbearable for bare feet. It was really relaxing just being in the sea, getting tossed about by the waves and just talking.

I think my photography has improved due to having a limited capactiy as I spoiled the other memory card! I've stopped cam-whoring that much, and taking pictures that actually mean something!

Anyway, we locked our stuff and rented a bicycle after that. I carried along my backpack (which, after repeated trips to Sentosa, smells of the sun, sand and sea), which contained my camera and other valuables. All for the sake of buying a drink and taking photos of the scenery which I had missed out on capturing the previous time I took the jungle trail with Jie Yu.



We cycled to Palawan, and then made a U-turn once we made it all the way to the end of Tanjong beach. We each got a bottle of Gatorade at the 7-11 on Palawan beach. I like the way it's constructed. It gives the place an updated version of a kampung. Okay, imagine that, just way classier. The place gives a good view of the sea and is a fantastic place to chill out as well.

We then made our way to the very end of Siloso beach which was where the Underwater World was, and also where the Jungle Trail started. We made a steep descent to the Lost Civilisation, which was rather deserted after the removal of the monorail. It was really 'lost' in a sense that it was forgotten, and I was in awe as we stood for a moment to admire the picturesque view at the opposite side.



Something I wanted to kick myself for not being able to capture due to my stupidity of not bringing a camera along the previous time I came on the trail!

I'm aware of how cloudy it looks - I was equally baffled by Wee Lee's confidence that it wouldn't rain - and it didn't!

After we returned the bicycles, we went to chill out at the beach again. It was so cooling and comfortable that I almost fell asleep! We then made our way to Vivocity on the Sentosa Express (yeah, it's 2-way!) and did a bit of shopping. Apparently there are some very impressive pieces of apparrel at Puma - a brand I've always overlooked. Wee Lee left home for dinner while I met Ryan, who just came from work.



The amazing thing about Vivo is that after all the hectic shopping and squeezing with the crowd, you can take a break and slow things down by heading outside and enjoying a bit of the scenery and the breeze. That's why I think Vivo is a brilliant piece of architecture that focuses not only on the fast-paced money-sucking uber-materialistic art of shopping, but it also gives you the opportunity to enjoy the moment with the company you're with, in the amazing ambience.



We went into almost every shop that sold guys' stuff and got some pretty good ideas of what we were going to get for Chinese New Year. Having said that, I've got a mini-shopping trip with Wee Lee to Malaysia in two weeks. That would certainly be fun.

I thoroughly enjoyed my off day, and I'm so glad it wasn't wasted.

As Mak would say, Live It Up!

Dear Rain

Dear Rain,

Your concert kicked off with a huge bang - brilliant displays of pyrotechnics timed to precision with your complex dance moves. I particularly loved the song you kicked off with - It's Raining - and wondered if you would be able to better it since I'm not very familiar with the rest of your works. But you kept it coming, be it the cheeky smile, demanding for louder cheers in exchange for taking off your sunglasses, or just flexing your famously well-muscled torso while being drenched by an overhead shower.

I was in awe of your singing too. It wasn't that amazing technically, but it was in tune and emotionally charged, especially In My Bed. The songs did come alive with your live singing - something I see as a huge bonus when tonnes of young acts mime their stuff like nobody's business.

They say that heroes are a reflection of who we want to be. They are our ideals of perfection. But you showed me that pain is not a weakness, and your determination to keep the show going was glaringly evident. When you clutched your arm in the middle of the furiously high-tempo choreography of I'm Coming, it casted some doubt in my mind if you would continue with the insane dance moves you did in the MV. Your right elbow was dressed in a painfully obvious flesh-coloured bandage. But you didn't once let your voice quiver; the look on your face was one of calm and cool. After another perfectly-excuted dance sequence, you held on to your arm again and again at intervals. My respect for you as a person and a performer multiplied a hundred-fold.

I left the concert entertained by the seemingly-endless pyrotechnics, awesome dance music and slick dance moves. I was impressed by your efforts to communicate with the aundience in complete English. You impressed upon us that this was the result of combined efforts of an entire team, and plenty of hard work. It's very easy to dismiss your success as a consequence of a whole lot of hype, but I think otherwise after being in attendance of your concert. I feel that I know you. You're a man who has his priorities right, with virtues and principles to match. The Asian qualities that are inspiring and lacking in many entertainers (yes, Britney I'm talking about you) right now are the things that I've gained from watching your performance.

May we meet again.

Yours sincerely (awed),
Jason

Drive By

I did an insane amount of shopping yesterday but it was probably due to the company that I had.

Shuming.

We went for lunch at Yoshinoya after she arrived fashionably late (thankfully I had my mp3 player, I need to give it a name!). After that we went to shop mostly at The Heeran. They've got some really good stuff there, and I think I'll be doing something to my wardrobe just before I enter Uni. I can't wait to get my ass in there really! We picked out a pair of slippers from Flash and Splash, and I got one for myself because I was wearing really ugly sandles! I think going shopping with Shuming actually brings focus to the shopping. That's how amazing it is. We then received a call from Zhenhui, who was renting a car at Ang Mo Kio. Shuming and I walked to Dhoby Gaut and took the train to Harbour Front, where we got Green Tea before taking a bus to PGP.

On the bus I acutally took out my wallet, and it was right there in my hand, but I forgot to scan my EZ-Link card. The bus driver actually barked viciously at me, and all I could do was to look back apologetically and scan my bloody card.

Zhenhui at PGP but parked at the wrong end of the car park so I helped to drive it out and brought it to a potential parking lot! Yeah, I haven't drove in too long, and it's really cool for Zhenhui have so much faith in my driving skills. Which is notorious, by the way.

After a bit of chit-chat, we left for dinner and made it in time for the last order.



Oh yeah, it's as good as it looks! We were the last ones left in the place, and there were so many people waiting for us to leave so that they could clean up the place. When we went downstairs, we saw the infamous Ikea toy snake priced at $1.90 (originally $7.60, the guy told us that they ordered too many!). And Shuming felt that she had to have it. So I came up with a dollar while Zhenhui dug out 90 cents. Ecstatic about our value-for-money purchase, we went down to the basement and camwhored with it.



Yeah, there was this nice little set up too. Obviously we took a whole lot more.



Did I mention that the camera's a T10, and Shuming owns it? The photos are fantastic... totally unlike the display set that we have! Shuming then drove us back to PGP. We had another good look around her room and uploaded the photos. And then we were bored so we started to play bimbo songs, and take videos of us lip-synching with the snake. I'm fearful that it'll appear on youtube in the near future. Yeah. Zhenhui drove me back home, and by the time I reached my doorstep it was already 1AM! Haha...

Oh yeah, and here's a sign that hangs in Shuming's room. So which one do you think you are?

Yong Hong's B'Day

I headed down to a bungalow in Pasir Ris to celebrate Yong Hong's birthday on Monday. It came as a pleasant surprise that the 5 of us managed to squeeze into a cab and the driver was actually very agreeable with it! Bing Xiang, Hong Sheng, Yu Ting, Vanessa and I spent $3.50 altogether, as opposed to calling another cab, which would've costed us double! I was late as I came immediately from work by train!

We presented YH our 'initial' present - 5 bottles of Vitamilk, which was the official drink for our 2003 OCIP Thailand trip. I was quite stoned because I was tired and felt a little out of place. Anyway, after the candle-blowing and song-singing, we drank the Vitamilk, which is what you see in the pic up there. It's a significant drink for us, because it represented great times, adventurous spirits and brilliant friendships. I'm quite shocked that 4 years have passed since then, and that time made us grow apart, for what we have is a mere shadow of what we had. But all of us treasure that period of time where all we had was each other, in a foreign place, and working towards an unselfish goal.

That's why we're willing to meet up and make it all work again.

Thinking of it makes me nostalgic, and really sad. But I guess that's just how it is.



No matter how badly I want it back.

JKYH Top 20 (Two)

01. What Goes Around (Comes Around) - Justin Timberlake (2) 2**

02. All Good Things (Come to an End) - Nelly Furtado (+16) 2
03. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado (-1) 2
04. It Ends Tonight - All-American Rejects (+2) 2
05. Love You So - Natalie (-2) 2
06. Can't Catch Tomorrow - Lostprophets (+3) 2
07. Patience - Take That (-3) 2
08. I Wanna Fuck You - Akon (+3) 2
09. Fill My Little World/Never Be Lonely - Feeling (+6) 2
10. Knights of Cydonia - Muse (-3) 2
11. Bones - The Killers (-1) 2
12. Lovelight - Robbie Williams (2) 2
13. Land of a Thousand Words - Scissor Sisters (2) 2
14. Break It Off - Sean Paul ft Rihanna (2) 2
15. Beware of the Dog - Jamelia (-10) 2
16. Tell Me - P.Diddy ft Christina Aguilera (2) 2
17. Smack That - Akon ft Eminem (-9) 2
18. Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani ft Akon (NEW)
19. Lithium - Evanescence (NEW)
20. Dangerous - Ying Yang Twins (NEW)

I'm on strike until I can acquire some new songs properly. And when the music industry is keen on giving us the good stuff. Right now, I'm just disappointed.

KC

So on Sunday (I realise that it happened 4 days ago but I've been busy so there!) me and Madeline finished work and we headed over to Sony Paragon to see what was keeping Bernard. He was busy doing his redemption stuff and we hung around and did dumb stuff like playing DJ Max while waiting for him. When he finally got off work it was almost 1030PM. We took a train followed by a bus in the chilly night to our supper place in Bishan.



I was amazed at how a simple and ordinary dish like this tasted special because of the circumstances we were in - cold, tired after work, but in the company of great people.



Of course a couple of coffee shop uncles stared at us, but it was really rather deserted by the time we did this. Wee Hong also ordered a couple of fried chicken wings which Bernard couldn't eat because of his state of health! We chatted into the night but cut things short as it became late. It was by sheer luck that Bernard and I managed to catch the last train heading west!

Next week - Roti Prata!

All Good Things

Work has been really really weird recently. I've had the fun of selling stuff and people coming down to visit me. But after the Christmas/New Year season, it seems that people aren't keen on buying big-budget electronic stuff, despite the promotion being better than before. It was fantastic of Kenneth to stop by on Sunday and to buy earphones and speakers. He got A-list service. From yours truly. Well, he did walk out with 140 bucks worth of Sony stuff!



After that the few of us went to Bishan to enjoy Kuay Chap. More on that the next entry.

Ooh, and I've had my fair share of unpleasant encounters with customers. One who claimed that she will not talk to me because I didn't call her back. If only she knew how busy we were and the circumstances that we were in.

And another, who asked, "Which country am I in?"

Now that is freaky.

Terz B'Day

I have no idea why the photos have a weird tinge to them that I can't edit. And then there's me with a alcohol-induced lobster-red face that just looks unnatural. But the birthday boy did some drinking as well, which was why he looked like this when we were about to sing him his birthday song!



Now that's an amazing cake! He took turns to take photos with the various groups of people who turned up - secondary school friends, JC classmates, relatives, colleagues, and us army guys.



The cake was fantastic and we ate a lot of watermelon in our lame attempts to dilute the alcohol in our system. Does it even work that way? Anyway, being the incorrigible alcoholics that we were, we found some other excuse to sneak back upstairs where the vodka was kept.



We did try to keep ourselves sober with a few more group photos.



But temptation won in the end and we started going a little crazy. Anyway, the photos are pretty much self-explanatory. That's GF and me drinking. Chris, holding on to mp3 player that he owns (and I use) till I pay him 200 bucks, and Theodore stuffing me with a marshmallow!

The cool thing about hanging out with army buddies is that you know they won't judge you because they've seen you go through every shit. Literally. They've seen your worst (likely to be the sight of me naked in the shower), and also probably your best. And you tend to enjoy spending time with them because it's a given since you've tried entertaining each other during the most monotonous of times. I don't know if I put it across well enough, but it's amazing mucking around again and being crappy. Despite the meanest jokes, there's a sense of genuine brotherhood with them, something I really appreciate and cherish.

Ooh, and I didn't write anything too exciting on Terence's guest book! I think I'll have to make up for it by wishing him properly on Thursday!

JKYH Top 20 (One)

01. What Goes Around (Comes Around) - Justin Timberlake *

02. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado
03. Love You So - Natalie
04. Patience - Take That
05. Beware of the Dog - Jamelia
06. It Ends Tonight - All-American Rejects
07. Knights of Cydonia - Muse
08. Smack That - Akon ft Eminem
09. Can't Catch Tomorrow - Lostprophets
10. Bones - The Killers
11. I Wanna Fuck You - Akon
12. Lovelight - Robbie Williams
13. Land of a Thousand Words - Scissor Sisters
14. Break It Off - Sean Paul ft Rihanna
15. Fill My Little World/Never Be Lonely - Feeling
16. Tell Me - P.Diddy ft Christina Aguilera
17. Irreplaceable - Beyonce
18. All Good Things (Come to an End) - Nelly Furtado
19. I Think We're Alone Now - Girls Aloud
20. This Ain't A Scene, It's An Armsrace - Fallout Boy

Knowing me, the big Justin Timberlake fan, it probably doesn't surprise anyone that the new year kicks off with the third single from FutureSex/Lovesounds - What Goes Around (Comes Around). I believe that most would have already heard the single version, but if you haven't got the album version, you'll be missing out on a huge chunk of the song. In my opinion, the most intense part is when JT dishes out sweet revenge and proclaims that, "And now you want somebody, to cure the lonely nights. You wish you had somebody that could come and make it right. But girl I ain't somebody, I'm out of sympathy. See. What goes around comes around." Brilliant stuff. The man has also kicked off his tour title FutureSex/LoveShow and I'll be getting the pictures as they come in. I wonder if he'll do an Asian tour. I'd fly out to see him!



With an album that's full of potential singles, it's no surprise that Nelly Furtado stakes claim on not one, but two positions on the Top 20. At #2 is Say It Right, which I believe to be as brilliant as its predecessors Maneater and Promiscuous. It's simple yet arresting. It certainly helps that it has a wicked beat, and team that up with Nelly's soulful vocals - you get a hit. At #19 is the current single in the UK, All Good Things (Come To An End). It is co-written by Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin, and I must say it's a really addictive tune. It sounds like it belongs to the soundtrack of The OC. Haunting... and sweet.



I'd like to think I'm at the forefront of pop, so it's lovely when people come along and surprise me with a track that's brilliant, and that I'm blatantly unaware of. I guess the reason she wasn't on my radar was because she performed poorly in the charts, with her album not getting a placing on the Billboard 200 (even K-Fed made #151!). Her first single What You Gonna Do was pulled after a few radio adds, and this is her second single, which didn't chart either. However, if you're still into bubblegum pop with a mean beat, Love You So is a song that'll get you on the first listen. I was introduced to it by a sixteen year old... so... But I don't believe credibility comes with age, so I'm just kidding.



Last artist I'm going to feature this week is Muse. They are performing in Singapore on the 16th at Fort Canning, which is next Tuesday! I love their music but I haven't listened to the album and neither have I found the cash to attend their concert! If you do, I demand a writeup on it! Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole were two of my favourite songs from last year. This week's #7 is Knights of Cydonia, a bloody long 6 minute track that features the music of guitars that sound like galloping of horses. It's refreshing to hear.

And the new hits that'll be making a showing in the coming weeks are Ghosts - Musical Chairs, Jarvis - Don't Let Him Waste Your Time, Eric Prydz - Proper Education, Jet - Rip It Up, U2 - Window in the Skies, McFly - Sorry's Not Good Enough and Evanescence - Lithium.

Initial R

I finally took my mp3 player out for a run yesterday. Yeah, I make it sound like a dog or something! I couldn't decide on a route and seeing that the traffic junction showing red on the path I had initially planned to take, I ran towards Sembawang.

I wonder if I was pushing myself too hard. My legs were still aching from work. Yeah, I'm still not used to standing 7 hours a day despite having already done so for the past 2 months. It was a breeze getting to Admiralty, but by the time I reached Sembawang, I was more than prepared to give up. I was quite disappionted at my state of physical fitness, and it was only the fear of disappointing myself further that kept me going. I was going out of breathe, my stomach hurt, and my legs refused to take bigger strides. Eventually I ran out of steam when I reached Admiralty again and walked the remaining distance back home. The noon sun didn't make things easier.

I remembered that back then, in the army, I'd get this crazy runner's high after such a run. But mostly I felt exhausted, in pain and dehydrated. Well, that'll teach me to make better preparations for my next run! There're just things that I took for granted then and have to take care of myself now. Yeah, it's a pity that there wasn't a water point along the way!

After half an hour I more or less cooled down from the run and camwhored a bit. I know I look horrible but it's only to be expected after all that running! Yeah, just to celebrate my first run with my sports mp3 player - NW-S203F -



I've checked the distance I ran and was amaze that I actually did 8km (already excluding the walk back from Admiralty), and that the total distance was 10km, something I felt that used to be comfortable with, and enough to give me the kick. The estimated distance on the mp3 player was rather accurate too!

I think I've finally found a training route!

The Small Things

I had breakfast and chatted about my past with a friend at Delifrance, Pragon.

Surprised another with Starbucks Iced Mocha. With caramel. I didn't know it would cost an additional $1.20!

Went to work for 8 hours or so. I handed in another time sheet in hopes that the next pay will come in full, and from today onwards I'll hand it in monthly, so it either gets processed together or not at all. I'll never have to worry about any piece missing ($350!).

Supper at Newton was fantastic and relaxing. I've learnt that one of the greatest joys of life is enjoying good food. And that's why we all gather around some meal or another.

Maybe simple and fulfilling is how I want to live my life.

Don't Let It Pass You By

You know the times when you promise yourself that you'll live life to the fullest, but it just moves too fast before you get to make changes to it? I'm feeling that way. I spent the same number of hours working as I do sleeping, and the rest of the 8 hours that's left are spent preparing to go to work, or winding down from work. Heck, I even get too lazy to cut my fingernails. And no, I won't show you proof. It's gross.

If anyone has any good tuition deals out there, you get 50 percent of my first month. Yeah, I'm that desperate. Despite being up to here with work, I need to find something that's worth more of my time. In dollars.

Of course that doesn't mean I don't dedicate my time to other non-monetary concerns. Sidney has gotten his new sports watch and I've got my mp3 player - we're going to go for a run tomorrow morning. Provided that the weather is good of course!

Ooh, and Wei Hao has agreed to stay hostel with me.

Now you know why I need money. And lots of it.

Debbie's Surprise

So on Wednesday night, Jie Yu and I met at Raffle Place MRT station before making our way down to Tampines. It was raining, and too expensive to hail a cab, so we were left with the only viable alternative - bus 29.

We got off at the wrong stop, walked in the wrong direction, but luckily enough, one of the guys working there gave us a ride in his car to the chalet. For that we were eternally grateful. It would've taken us 20-30 minutes to get there on foot! On the way he told us of how he was retrenched by SIA and how he had to put up with this job which had no leaves (sick or not), benefits, and terribly long working hours. I think I shouldn't complain about mine.

Anyway, when we arrived we got to catch the video that Debbie's dad made for her, which was real sweet. We munched on food and caught up with one another. And then it was time for Debbie to open the present we got for her.



And then we took a class photo.



We're a bunch of colourful people. Anyway we hung around some more before taking even more photos, but the one with the guys didn't turn out too well, so I've decided not to post it, even though I've uploaded it already!

In case you're wondering what my shirt says - CAM WHORE everyone's a model, I'm a star on my own blog.

Tomorrow I'll update on the fantastic movie that is Confessions of Pain, which I caught last night at Lido with my army buddies. Hopefully.

A New Year

I spent New Year's eve working. It was the end of the roadshow and we had a lot of KFC! After that I rushed down to Jie Yu's place, where there were games and drinks. I realise that alcohol really adds life to the party. Especially since/Even though I'm not the one drinking! I had a quick nap while Jie Yu's cousin played Mahjong with him, Yong Xiang and Timothy. I substituted for him at 3AM, due to his need for sleep for the day's activities. We played one round, and though I ended up losing, I think I played rather decently for a beginner! I need more sessions.

After that YX and Timothy left and Jie Yu and I went upstairs to get some food. Apparently there was no shortage of them, and we started with the crayfish. I was also having bee hoon, but my best friend decided that the highlight of the meal couldn't possibly be common so he just wanted me to emphasize that. I had 3 crayfishes. It was bloody good. The stingray and mutton soup was amazing as well. We talked about life in general and the year ahead. We're both looking forward to starting school so NTU/SMU - watch out!

I had a mere 2 hours of sleep before rushing out to work! I can't believe I made it through the entire 11 hours of work, and still had the energy to go out for supper after that. We celebrated the public holiday the same way we celebrated Christmas - cam-whoring.



It started with one. And then we just couldn't stop.



We used the T10 and the clarity was amazing. I did a bit of editting to the photos by blurring out the background and bringing the focus to us.



It seems that the only photos I take nowadays are at work! But not to worry - there're many 21st birthdays coming soon, and it definitely gives me the opportunity to cam-whore record precious memories in the form of photos!

Wen Xiong, Bernard, Wee Hong and I went to Newton for supper, and the food was good. I think I'll spend more money on good food instead of other stuff. Live to eat - yeah! Stingray, chicken wings, oyster omelette and sugar cane galore! Definitely memorable.

What a way to start the new year!