Thinking

Sometimes when you're by yourself, you just think of people.

And wonder if they're thinking of you too.

Maybe I've just spent a bit too much time at home this weekend.


Hello, you, how was the rest?
You made it through, but nevertheless
I got you out on a wire.
You be love and I'll be a liar.

Tell it all and fill up the air,
But make a loud cause nobody's there
And nobody's there
And nobody's there

Stop, turn, take a look around
At all the lights and sounds.
Let them bring you in.
Slow burn, let it all fade out,
Pull the curtain down.
I wonder where you've been?

Make it new,
but stay in the lines.
Just let go,
but keep it inside.
Smile big for everyone,
Even when you know what they've done.
They gave you the end but not where to start;
Not how to build, how to tear it apart. So tell it all and fill up the air,But make a loud cause nobody's thereAnd nobody's thereAnd nobody's there
Thanks to my buddy for introducing this song to me, which I think is way better than their 'good' single Ocean Avenue. This is Yellowcard's Lights and Sounds.

Spider-man 3

Are your spider senses tingling yet? Slated for release on May 4, 2007, the first promo picture of Spider-man has just been revealed. So what's so special about this picture, you might ask. Well, apparently his suit has been changed to a completely black one, which seems to signify that Spider-man will be heading to a new direction in this next installment. It has been confirmed that the villain for this one will be Sandman, who isn't exactly the most famous villain in the series, but his profile would be getting a shove into the limelight after his feature in this installment. As his name suggests, he is able to turn his body into sand-like substance.


Probably my favourite super hero ever, Spider-man is the one to look out for as it'll combine blockbuster action-packed scenes with an occasional touch of romance and comedy.

Can't wait for it to be released next year!

Pic of the Week

JKYH Top 10 (34)

01. Sorry - Madonna (+1) 6

02. All Time Love - Will Young (+1) 4
03. When I Think Of You - Lee Ryan (+4) 4
04. Huo Yuan Chia - Jay Chou (-3) 5
05. Don't Forget About Us - Mariah Carey (-1) 7
06. Whole Lotta History - Girls Aloud (NEW)
07. Check On It - Beyonce (-2) 8
08. Shake That - Eminem ft Nate Dogg (+2) 3
09. Shan Hu Hai - Jay Chou (NEW)
10. Lights and Sounds - Yellowcard (NEW)

What a week!

Before I begin, let me just say that my computer has become non-functional, and now I'm sharing this one with 3 other siblings. It needs Photoshop. And all my other important documents like links and PHOTOS (the horror!) are gone. I'm considering getting a new one, but this computer seems to work just fine, other than the fact that I've got to build up my database from scratch. It serves as a bloody reminder for me to backup all the files that I have as well. I was quite distraught at the fact that my computer is... not functional any more and that affected me updating this blog. ANYWAY, on to the important stuff.

It was a crazy week where I failed my SAF driving test for the 3rd time on Monday. It was really heart-wrenching to have to go through another 200 minutes of driving just to be eligible for the 4th test. I passed on Tuesday, the last person to have done so. Everyone was having their graduation debrief while I was twiddling my thumbs in the training shed and wondering what I should say to the major in charge of the camp if I failed the test, again. When I passed it that day, I was choked with emotion because of the work I really put in to passing it. It might not have been a big deal for some people, but the Saturdays I burnt and the offs I had to forgo and seeing everyone complete it ahead of me, and constantly feeling down and out really took its toll on me. It all paid of in the end and for that I'm grateful.

I had to book in on Wednesday after completing 150km of driving and that was insane. During the last 50 km, I was totally zoned out. When I reached back home, I wore this pair of jeans that I've always worn to camp. I bought it for Sec 4 prom. I was stunned when I could barely put it on! I took my weight the day before and I was heavier by 2 kg, and now I know where it went! Oh man, the bloody jeep course made me... FAT. Time to work those running shoes already. I had to buy khaki pants from Causeway Point as well. I considered getting a new pair of jeans, but held back because I was trying to save money.

Returning to camp was a rather weird experience. It was still my bunk and everything, but it felt different. There were the platoon 4 guys who joined us, and then there were people who took off... etc. I just don't know how to describe it. However, I think the chemistry in the new platoon is working out pretty well and I liked it! Had a bad sore throat these couple of days which resulted in me being a little reluctant to talk at times. And the ulcer. Boo. And did I mention that guard duty SUCKS?

Will talk about that more when I get back from my grandparents' house later!

Looking Forward

I know I said that I wanted to write an 'essay' kind of thing every month, well here goes the one for Jan. I've put it off long enough!

It is February already, and it seems like the new year celebrations happened so long ago. However, there is much of it left ahead to make a difference and to make those resolutions come true. Looking forward and working towards targets which have been set can make the difference between living a life allowing things to happen by chance and the thrill of chasing after beautiful dreams. No doubt things might not have gone the way they were supposed to in the past 1 months, but there's still a long time to go into making the days count. The satisfaction of looking back at the past year knowing that ambitions were achieved is what will provide the motivation for making the next year an even more meaningful one.

Taking charge of life might seem tough. In fact, we most often blame our demise on situations and others instead of taking apart the factors causing failure and reflecting on them. It is true that some things are indeed out of our control (like serving NS), so the next best thing would be to make the most of the situation. Steal time in between duties and waiting to plan a meaningful weekend, or read a book about your favourite hobby, be it drumming or soccer. It is daring to be different and trying to make your life something you'd be proud of that is important. There might be a chance that people might think it's weird that you're not taking the opportunity to rest or something, but they can have their own opinions and you're entitled to yours. Taking practical action along with a plan is the key into making things happen, instead of passively waiting for the good stuff to come your way. A half-hearted plan carried out with maximum effort will definitely yield more results than a gem of a plan without any action taken on it.

Make every day count and celebrate the little victories that lead up to the big ones. From the mock IPPT to the real ones, from little tests to the huge exams, milestones are the things that keep you on the right track. Perserverance is important because it allows you to deal with negative feedback. Don't wallow in self-pity and take everything with a pinch of salt. Never look at failure as being unable to achieve something. Instead, see it as having done something the wrong way, and then altering the plan and working on it continuously till the ultimate goal is achieve. This requires a bit of self-confidence to overwrite all the negativity but since when have you been wrong about anything? If it's humanly possible, there'd be no one who'd be able to do it better than you.

Last but not least, we've all got to take a look at what we really want in life. Getting good grades, tonnes of money, a car or a new phone might make us happy, but at the end of the day, anything whose worth can be given a price in numerics will not be the the things that will bring the most joy. Think it over real hard, because a fully committed intention to make things happen suggests that you consider your efforts a worthwhile investment.

The year is still young. If you want to look back and be proud of what you've become, start now by looking forward and work on unleashing the potential that's inside.

Replyin'

mingy: i koped ur photos!!! mine i'll upload later k... and i want the rest of them that u didn't post!!!
Oh yeah? I know... saw your blog. Utter laziness! Imagine my... surprise when I saw all the photos on your blog was the same as mine! Boo! Haha, at least you got to see the better ones from my camera, haven't seen any from yours!

dan: i tink the movie is called Bruce Almighty... good movie u hav taste *winkz*
Haha, if you're talking about Fun With Dick and Jane... it was really not that good. But Bruce Almighty was quite funny.

Nana: Aiyos, dont be sore la. Haha, V'day is not fun also what. You can treat me as your sis and gf... buy me gifts lor. Wahahha
Haha... Yeah lor. How to not feel sore when the day is dedicated to people like you and your bf! Haha, enjoy arh!

Liang Hong: ahahahahahahahahaha pretty pretty bABe. the one at the top...
Whoa... say you want to do, and you really did it.

Jeffrey: take it wasy will ya. im sure u deserve some1 better nxt time. =)
I'm taking it easy! =)

mbies: thanks for being so fast and efficient! haha. you like our newly appointed our J3 n J4 class rep. *no e for below post. typo*
mbies: /start sympathy dont worry about your driving test... you must have learnt alot from the test. process is more important. /end sympathey
I've decided to leave the spelling error there for all to see! Haha! Yeah, I don't know if being the 'newly appointed' class rep is going to be a good thing or not. We'll see ya!

Sid: Failure is not defeat just delay.JiaYou bro!
And I'm still jia-you-ing, trying to pass the test. TOMORROW! =0

sanji86: You must have damn enjoyed your new yeAR! good fashion sense ar. Well done! haha.
Haha! I don't have good fashion sense, and all the clothes that I wear are damn cheapo stuff. Thinking of getting a pair of Levi's though. Hmmm...

fi5h: Haha..I enjoyed myself also!!..haha..anyway i find it weird..not e tag..but u guys are all decked out in.. *scratches head* i dun even know what to call tat
It's called chinese new year clothes! Haha!

Sid: Ask me update blog N u urself MIA for a few days.Hahaz.SIanz.feel like going back into my 'manhole'.Update bro!
I don't know why, I spend bloody long updating a single entry, so can't update too much!

bert: "some very expensive, high-tech, film-mode-camera. With the detachable lens and flash, super-professional-camera kind"- SLKs my friend, SLKs
Thanks for the info!

Jeffrey: Glad that u'r enjoying ya CNY as well =)
mingy: i love the fact u n ur bros where practically dressed the same. smashin'!
I loved CNY. A well deserved holiday in the midst of all the madness! Too bad it'll be a long time till I get such a break again! On the other hand, I still have almost 10 days off! That'll be many 4-day weeks!

I Not Stupid Too

Ooh, just can't get down to writing a proper entry. I've been kind of MIA and all those one-liner entries are not my style. However, all I've been thinking of is passing the FUCKING driving test. There's hardly a momemnt where things like "clutch", "gear", "instructor", "directional change", "biting point" or "public road" don't appear in my mind. I'm obsessed. I can't live properly, enjoy my television, listen to Britney, without thinking about driving. It's haunting me. I have to pass it on Monday. I'll be returning to camp later than the rest of the guys as it is. WTF. In all fairness, I didn't deserve to fail.

Yesterday I took a bus to Toa Payoh with Edwin. He's a very animated, lively and friendly guy, so it was kind of cool talking to him. Yep.

After that I went to meet Mak at Causeway Point. I decided that I wasn't going to go home to change out of No. 4, so met him straightaway. We were deciding between The Fog and I Not Stupid Too. For some reason, he seemed to want to watch TF more, as he mentioned in the SMS he sent me earlier that morning. However, after we bought our food (I got Katsu Don. I'm counting down the days till I can return to camp to get my teeth in it.) he asked me to guess what movie he chose in the end.

I think we've watched more than 20 movies together. That's an underestimate I think. And we've never watched a horror movie before. I seemed to remember him telling me that he prefers watching light-hearted and entertaining movies more than one that'd just scare the daylights out of him. Well, not that he isn't brave enough, but he doesn't see the point. Also, since I wanted to watch INST, I had a feeling that his taste couldn't differ that far from mine, because we watch movies together all the time! Haha! I had a great time talking to him about my failure at driving (someone to share my bitterness at driving with). He's leaving for Brunei for jungle training on Monday, and I think he'll have a helluva adventure there.

So on to the movie - I Not Stupid Too. I'll kick off by saying that it's a 10/10 and I haven't seen such a good movie in a very very long time.



The characters depicted in the movie are able to relate to people across all age groups and uniquely enough, Singaporeans. I didn't know parents of this country were all so typical and predictable. And that's how it was able to make me feel for the plot, and its characters. This movie packs together many subplots, in fact, so many that you don't know what's going to get thrown at you next. It is a tiny bit preachy at times (as stated by many movie reviewers), but that is only a very minor fault in this movie.

If you're a parent or a student, it will not be difficult for you to understand the influences that affect the actions of a child and vice versa. The very feeling of being misunderstood is strongly put across in this movie, and will shock many adults at how their assumptions about children, despite their abundance in life experiences, can still be inaccurate.



Of course, one of the things that made me tick was the fact that Cheng Cai (played by the fantastic Joshua Ang, OK, the entire cast was brilliant by the way) got expelled from school because of fighting. And his Dad put in a lot of effort into finding another school for him. I won't reveal what he did but it sort of reminded me of my plight, when I was transferred from River Valley High. Of course, transferred is a nicer word to use (I usually tell people I was kicked out) but after seeing the situation that Cheng Cai and his Dad was in, I realised what happened to me was no different from being expelled. My mom helped me find schools, printed out copies of letters and faxed them to many Secondary Schools in the area etc. etc. I was never overwhelmed by grief, just disappointed, whereas my parents were... devastated. Sort of.

The one fact that I cannot understand is how the movie is able to combine the elements of comedy and drama so well. Upon watching it, I'd laugh at the funny moments, yet it did not take away the seriousness and sadness of the situation. There were many a time when I'd be laughing and at the next moment, immersed in the pain of the son who misunderstood his dying father. It's insane.

The cinematography (if it can be called that) was unique too. As the two main characters ran as they stole a granny's necklace...


... they see their loved ones appearing along the walkway, telling them that they have to do the right thing. It is kind of like Macbeth seeing apparitions caused by his conscience coming to haunt him. Of course, to match the sombre mood of it all was a hilarious ending (to the subplot) when the granny exclaimed to the police that she made a prank call because she was bored. You've got to go watch it if you want to know why she decided to help the boys in the end. It's so random that it's hilarious.

The movie is very intense for me because I haven't been able to forget my days in school. I struggled a bit with Chinese too. I have parents who place a lot of emphasis on studying. I have a blog (so does one of the main characters, who won a blogging competition) through which I express myself. I use the phrase "lame shit". What impressed me was that Jack Neo, in spite of me thinking that he was over-hyped, did do his research and added elements that connect the young audience strongly to the characters.



The whole host of characters boost the movie into blindingly brilliant status - the busy parents, the gangsters, the kopitiam ah-soh, the ang-moh-trying-to-speak-Chinese principal, the old-fashioned Chinese teacher, the grandmother who knows the teen lingo "so lame", the ex-convict father, hormone-raging-porn-watching teens, the overbearing boss... The list goes on.

Of course, there's no doubt Jack Neo's at his best when he dropped a few hilarious hokkien lines in the script along the way. Combined with the 'universal' themes of giving praise, feeling misunderstood, love, acceptance, money, and human relationships, this movie is definitely charged with enough content (and a rather pretty Jing Jing) to make your time and money spent watching this movie, worth it. So... I think this one's a must watch. I've watched many movies recently, but none of them inspired me to write a review, except this one! So... you get the idea.

After that I was on my way out of Causeway Point when I saw my buddy! Turns out that he had guard duty. Talked to him about a couple of stuff, like what was going on in camp and everything. It seems that a lot of things have changed and I'll have to get used to all of those stuff when I get back. It's a bit rubbish, but ORD is crawling nearer by the day, and I'm looking forward to. I don't need to try very hard to get to ORD.

Unlike some silly test which I try very hard yet...
Images courtesy of http://www.inotstupid.com.sg/inotstupid2/main.htm

JKYH Top 10 (33)

01. Huo Yuan Chia - Jay Chou (3) 4

02. Sorry - Madonna (2) 5
03. All Time Love - Will Young (+4) 3
04. Don't Forget About Us - Mariah Carey (2) 6
05. Check On It - Beyonce (-2) 7
06. Be Without You - Mary J Blige (-1) 7
07. When I Think Of You - Lee Ryan (+1) 3
08. When I'm Gone - Eminem (+1) 6
09. Fa Ru Xue - Jay Chou (-3) 10
10. Shake That - Eminem ft Nate Dogg (2) 2

Pic of the Week

Take A Stand

Brace yourselves for X-Men 3, released Worldwide on the May 26.

V-day

I'm just sore at the mere fact that it's Valentine's Day. Boo.

Staying Till Late at Orchard

The three of us met up yesterday just before Zhenhui leaves for Thailand on the 13th. This is my second time typing this entry, so it's going to be shortened. I can't believe my IE failed me!


Anyway, Zhenhui and I met at 530PM as Shuming had to be home to entertain her guests. We took a walk around Orchard Road, raking our brains to find some worthy programme. We checked the Karaoke spots, all of which were bloody expensive. In the end all we did was go shopping at Heeran HMV before going to Cineleisure for dinner.

I had Katsu Don for dinner, because I haven't eaten one in a very long time. I miss the canteen food in 39 a lot! The food I'm currently having in the jeep course falls way below camp's standard. Be it SFI or the canteen. Yes, I'm complaining. Anyway, it tasted very good; almost made me feel as if I was back at 39! Haha... its unique smell and taste really got to me. The first thing I do, when I can, is to go back to camp and enjoy a huge plate of Katsu Mee. So there.

After that we went back to Orchard MRT to wait for Shuming. On the way there, we visited Espirit. Also, Zhenhui shared an incident with me about his convoy movement. There was a bus in front and the whole convoy stopped behind it. Zhenhui thought that they would overtake it and thus signalled right. The vehicle behind decided to follow suit but without waiting for Zhenhui to move off, he overtook! In the end he had to wait for the vehicles which were originally in front of his to overtake until he was back to his original position. It was a hilarious scenario!

When Shuming came, we made a trip down to Paragon as she wanted to buy a present for her friend. It had been a long time since I went there. Once inside, I think she decided the air con was too cold for her and she wrapped a shawl around her.


Both this photo and the one I took with Zhenhui were taken at the Paragon. Anyway, we decided to go walk around some more and went back to the Heeran. The unique shirt I saw at the shop beside 37 degrees is GONE! I will now have to go hunting for it. It's almost impossible to find. Damn. I've decided that if I ever see it, I don't care what colour (except pink) or design it is, as long as I can afford it, I'll buy it. BOO.

Moving on, we had quite a good time looking at clothes and stuff like that. It's been a real long time since I went shopping myself, but recently I've decided to restrict myself a bit. I hope to go overseas twice this year and that'll add up to a costly sum of money. I must save! Haha, on the other hand, the Levi's jeans looked bloody impressive. The shops were all closing and we left to have Coffee Bean instead. That was when we started taking all kinds of weird photos (which are in Shuming's camera, she's going to use it to blackmail me soon. I looked super SILLY.) We also had a chat about what was going on with us recently and how we felt about certain issues. I had Ice Blended Mocha. I never seem to be able to try something new. Ever since my then-best-friend treated me that on my 14th birthday, I've been a Coffee Bean fan, and only of that drink! Haha!

So after finishing our drink, we walked around and had nothing to do. In the end, someone suggested a fabulous idea - midnight movie. We caught Fun With Dick & Jane, which in my opinion wasn't a very fun movie at all. I've never been a big fan of slapstick humour and I thought the movie where Jim Carrey played God was more hilarious. Can't remember the name of that one already. Okay, so Fun With Dick & Jane was pleasant and enjoyable (to the point of blandlessness) but it was nice to see a happy ending in the end.

Although I didn't think highly of the movie, it was still a great way to spend time with friends and to stay out late. We walked toward the 7-11 outside Taka and started taking all sorts of weird photos. These weren't exactly the ones, but it's a rough idea of what we were doing. Faux modelling. Versus mannequins. It's a tough fight because they were headless and able to look so nonchalant about it.


The mood of Orchard Road is very different at 1AM in the morning. It's not crowded, but you still get a sense that it's a place of big business, that it's a place of commerce, riches and class. It's not Causeway Point. The feeling of quiet glamour. Ironic, I know, but that was exactly how it was. Quiet but still speaking volumes about branding, style and status. (Is it just me or do I like to describe things in threes? See commerce, riches and class above.)


It was the fact that there was hardly nobody around that we took photos with all the window displays. And that there was space for us to put the camera and set it on timer to take the trio photo without having to worry about someone running away with the camera, or walking pass and ruining the photo. I bought Pockey and Shuming bought green tea from the 7-11. We sat down at the fountain outside Taka, which looked like a pool of dark, tar-like liquid in its stillness. We continued chatting and chatting, till I saw Kian Wai walking pass with his Odac friends, which was when I also noticed Bing Xiang was also there! Said hi to them (should've bloody taken a photo together) talked to them for a bit. They were on their way to watch a soccer match.

After that we went around looking for a toilet. The paragon's one was closed and we used Cineleisure's instead. It was about 220 AM or so that I caught the bus, and I fell asleep unknowingly. When I woke up, I was already at Marsiling and feared that I had overslept my stop. Luckily, I hadn't!

I only got to bed at about 330AM, and woke up at 8!

Here's a bit of things I'd always tell people whenever they see me in the jacket thing that I was wearing. Yeah, the one in the photos. It looks kind of funny and I used to be more hesitant about wearing it out, but I did it anyway. My mother had it in the box and wanted to throw it out just recently. There was one day where I suddenly was looking for this piece of clothing and asked her for it. Thank goodness that she hadn't thrown it out yet. She's thrown one too many articles of clothing that had sentimental value to me. Including my lower Sec class T. Boo. Anyway, I bought it back when I was in Sec 4 at Sun Plaza's Bossini.

I know it looks like something the papparazzi wears to put extra lenses for their cameras or film. It even looks like something those fisherman would wear too! Yeah, I've heard it all. Anyway.

I thought, when I saw it I knew I had to get it because I was inspired by a certain singer who wore it in his video You Ji Huai...


=P

JKYH Top 10 (32)

01. Huo Yuan Chia - Jay Chou (2) 3

02. Sorry - Madonna (+1) 4
03. Check On It - Beyonce (-1) 6
04. Don't Forget About Us - Mariah Carey (+2) 5
05. Be Without You - Mary J Blige (+2) 6
06. Fa Ru Xue - Jay Chou (-2) 9
07. All Time Love - Will Young (+3) 2
08. When I Think Of You - Lee Ryan (+1) 2
09. When I'm Gone - Eminem (-4) 5
10. Shake That - Eminem ft Nate Dogg (NEW)

Sending Angeline to Brisbane

I'm having a grand headache. As such, I'll try to come up with a nice and short entry despite the limitations. Another of which is the fact that my camera did not take many good photos yesterday. So here're some of those which could make it on my blog.


Jie Yu, TWJ and I were rather early yesterday so we went to the Burger King at Terminal 2. I took a hell long time to finish my burger (about 1.5 hours or so) because after about 40 minutes, everyone started coming in. It was bloody cool that all of a sudden, one corner of BK was flooded with 03S10Aians. Yvonne came, and then Jun Qi followed by Si Zhen, Har Har, Puay Leng, David, Ming Boon, Sabrina and Connie. The last to turn up was Wee Lee! I hope I didn't miss anybody out there! Anyway, it was great to see all of them again and we started chatting about tonnes of stuff. Highlights include some Psychology textbook, Economics, Men's Health, me calling David a guy's guy (!!!), and a very cold line by Jun Qi which made us all fall off the chair.

Puay Leng reacted to a situation by saying, "Shou Bu Liao!" meaning, "I can't stand it!" And guess what Jun Qi said? "Shou bu liao jiu qu jian fei zhong xin!" (If you can't slim down then visit a slimming center!)


And this is the effort put in by Ming Boon, with contribution by David using my fantastic idea! Okay, so it isn't very original because lately I've been "sentimental" (to quote Terence), so to create emotional impace, I've been thinking about using graphics, which MBies is so pro at doing. Not forgetting our advisor David, who changed the font of Bon Voyage and also pointed out that TWJ's name was spelt wrongly (which she blatantly left unchanged). Oh yeah, and everyone did their part and wrote a nice message for her. Arhm, it's not worth as much as Tiffany and Co's but it's the thought and effort that counts right!

We sat at BK and chatted till the cows came home and before we knew it, it was 10+ PM already! Being the smart guy that I was, I went to recce and found that she was going in at Rows 7 & 8.


Yeah, see, it says that in the second last line. SIA, Brisbane, SQ255, 07-08.

Thus, I went back and got everyone to troop down to the place. To quote Yvonne, there were many colonies of bacteria people, waiting around there to say their goodbyes to family and friends.

It took quite awhile before Angeline Tan made her grand appearance in front of us. Pek Har presented her with the card on our behalf, as we decided earlier due to the fact that she was our J2 class rep!


Angeline was a bundle of energy as usual, and I suppose it only compounded the level of excitement for her when she dashed around to talk to the people who came (her very own "Amazing Race" to quote David).

We stood there for some time and saw many familiar faces, like people from the council. Her family, primary schoolmates and secondary schoolmates and best friends were there too. Anyway, we took a class photo (what's a gathering without a class photo), by one of her... relatives? who was using an SLK (right Bert?). Of course, we also used my digicam, which was kind of weird. It was as if there was a face-off with the bigger and better camera. Well, the only one that anyone'll get to see for quite awhile...


... is this one! Haha! Though there were other more powerful cameras around (like Jie Yu's LUMIX!), but only when it's taken with my camera that everyone'll get to see the photo ASAP because I bother to upload!

After that when we were about to go, we had a rather hilarious session to say goodbye. All of us stood in a line (kind of like criminals) and told her that we were going off. So she hugged each of us (LOL at Connie trying to get hug in front of her turn!) as we said goodbye and wished her all the best for her studies in Brisbane. She's studying Speech Therapy by the way.


After that we had a photo-taking spree (with tonnes more available on Jie Yu and Jun Qi's camera), and this is one of the guys. We tried desperately to make it not have the classic look of the one we took during Chinese New Year which resulted in other hilarious consequences. I don't know what hand sign I was putting up (it was supposed to be an energetically clutched punch-fist-into-air), but maybe it'll gain popularity and everyone'll start using it before long.

Anyway, with the cam-whoring came a sudden memory of a photo which TWJ and I took in the August of 2004!


Which of course led to a re-enactment of the moment. I think we've both grown and look pretty different in the space of two years.


Or is it just my cheapo camera versus this new one? Anyway, we had Swensons after that, but all the girls left except for Ming Boon and Sabrina. I treated them to an Earthquake (but David and Wee Lee stashed me some money!). The company was great - how we all squeezed together to enjoy our ice-cream. A very unforgottable moment. After that we rushed to take the bus. Sabrina and Jun Qi's bus came first. While waiting for our bus, we tried to sing a bit of Hua Yuan Chia, and failed. Practise! And then Wee Lee and I left in 858. Chatted to him on the bus in my half-asleep state. I was surprised I sounded coherent (to myself at least!), and reached my void deck at about 1250AM! Was so exhausted by the fact that I had to wake up at 515AM to go to camp today.

Anyway, I failed my driving test. *cue sympathetic comments*

Pic of the Week

My family at the Singapore River.

Driving Test Tomorrow

This week was a rather good week of driving. I'm at my peak, and won't be making any more silly mistakes. I just hope that I'll be able to react to situations which I haven't faced before. Today, I was didn't drive, and that made me rather worried. My lesson'll be pushed to tomorrow instead, after which I'll have my driving test.

It is of paramount importance to me that I pass. It means everything. All the platoon one guys who are in Group B, that's me, Guo Fei, Kenneth and Zhicong have all gotten 50 for the Highway Code MCQ, passed HSP on the first try and then all of us passed parking yesterday as well. I barely made it with a timing of 9mins 58seconds, 2 seconds short of the time limit. But I followed all the procedures and did everything nicely. Tomorrow'll be the grand finale. Once the test is completed, there's nothing else to worry about. However, if we fail, we'll have to come back for training on Saturday and then take the test next Monday. HELL NO. I think all of us, including Chris, will be able to pass with flying colours tomorrow.

This blog awaits my good news. Also, when I pass, I'll be delighted and not be worried while watching the Grammy awards which is on tomorrow. Arhm, Queen Madge is performing, along with Kelly Clarkson and a whole host of other people, so I won't be giving that up!

We were all released late today and I was super pissed. Thank goodness for DDR, my de-stressing machine.

In other news, I'm rooting for Lincoln in Super Idol! Hope he got through tonight!

Chinese New Year - Chu Liu & Chu Qi

I haven't been updating the past few days because of the utter madness of the course. It's stressful and all that shite. I'll write more on it when I have the time. My IE just decided to give me an error just when I finished typing all on it!

After booking out on Friday, I went back home before going to Mr Cheng's house. It was a very long bus ride to Bedok. I have no freaking idea why it took that long, but it was probably because it was rush hour. Anyway, I reached Bedok at 8, which was half an hour later than the time we planned. But they came at around roughly the same time. I had dinner at home already, so I went with Yu Ting to buy drinks while they went to get KFC takeaway.

It's been a long time since I've been to Mr Cheng's house that I totally forgot the way. They started eating while I went to bai nian to Mr Cheng and returned him the 400 bucks that I owed him! It's great to feel that the burden has been relieved. It wasn't totally saved up by me, so I'd still have to return money to my parents now. Anyway we watched TV (which was fab because all of a sudden I'm addicted to the new HK serial about lawyers) before playing some random card games. We actually started playing Blackjack without money, and then tried to play other more interesting games. In the end though, the only game that could involve all of us was Blackjack and we started gambling! Haha, my luck wasn't too good at the beginning so I betted lesser, which was the wrong choice. I won 50 cents in the end!

We decided that it was time to go and took a few group photos.


This one being the best of them all. Bing Xiang, Anthony and I shared a cab home. I think we only do this like once every year! During the rather long ride, we had a chat about more army stuff again. Also, we thought of having another Rigel gathering sometime when Anthony returned from India, this time to Sentosa. He'd also be gathering info for our little trip to Genting this end of year!

Yesterday, I had to go back to camp for jeep course. I just cannot understand why there's stuff on a Saturday. And another very stressful driving lesson.

I came back home and prepared to meet Si Hua and Sequeena. We were going to go each others' house for visiting. We started off at Su Hua's house which was in Sembawang. Sad to say that I got there late, because I was a bit busy burning the CDs of photos for them and preparing to go out. I always underestimate the time I need to get out of the house!


We went to her place and exchanged greetings with her very-friendly-parents. Did I mention that the ang bao (and the one given by Sequeena's parents) was quite big too? I never get to keep more than 10% of my ang bao money, so forgive me for being so excited. I've only OPENED 3 this year. From Ming Boon's parents', Si Hua and Sequeena. BOO. Anyway, Si Hua's Dad even cooked a meal for us. And it tasted really good. We were quite grateful for their hospitality. Delighted in fact.


We went to take a look around her house and took photos in her room and her sister's room. Her sister was nice enough to take photos for us, so we were lucky to have a couple of studio-looking shots at her house! I haven't been there in about two years and it has been renovated with sofas and everything. Totally different from what I remembered.


After that we had a helluva time playing this game called Simpsons' Road Rage or something on PS. It was a no-brainer, but highly thrilling and creative game. It involves many missions such as trying to find back lost items in a given time, crashing and trying to break down someone else's vehicle before he reaches a power plant, and helping Lisa deliver her homework to school before the principal arrives.


Hilarious and highly entertaining, it was what caused us to leave late for my house. Not that there was much to do at my place! We took 962 and there was no one at home. It was kind of embarrassing that my parents didn't leave any ang bao for them. Anyway, they took a quick look around my place and we put the CD (which I burned for them) into the DVD player and viewed all the photos we took during the past year. Brought back a lot of funny memories.


After that we took a couple of photos, and we had to use timer to take all of us together because even though my brother reached home. He was busy being obsessed with his game. I also gave them a special viewing of Jay's Huo Yuan Chia video! Haha... We then waited a bloody long time for an SMRT cab (because we had some voucher), but gave up eventually and took another cab to Simei!


We got to meet our all time favourite pet - Xiao Bai! He was quite jumpy and excited to see us (okay, maybe just Sequeena) at the beginning but after that he calmed down and SI Hua and I were less afraid of it. We haven't exactly been around animals all our lives (except fishes). We got to eat some very good Ba Gua there, and also saw our photos from prom and and others, from the year of 2002. It was kind of shocking to see how much we've grown. There were quite a few photos which we wanted to burn away and not let anyone see because if they did, we'd die of embarrassment.

Sequeena then shared with us her photos from her recent Thailand trip and of course, a bit more about Jimmy. After that we took a few photos in her parents' room and her room!


We also dug out a little something which we wrote in the past and it got my laughing like mad when I read it out loud. I haven't laughed that hard in such a long time. Reading it was like taking a step back to the past... It's amazing how we managed to capture our hopes and dreams and thoughts of that time in mere words.

Both her parents' came back and we had the opportunity to wish them a happy CNY. It was also funny how Sequeena's mother came and asked me and Si Hua whether we were (still) dating! When we've never even done it before!

After that I got sleepy and just concussed on the floor. I didn't realise how unconsciously deep in sleep I was until they asked me if I was tired. I can't even remember what they were doing when I was lying on the floor!

Eventually reached home at about 1230AM, for a second time in two days. While I walked home, a sense of dread filled me as I think of how little time I have before going back on course again.

What the fuck.