Zhenhui and Shuming

A pictureless entry, because I look atrocious today and I've been accused of being very camwhorish lately! I'm sick of seeing my face already.

Okay, maybe not! Just be prepared to be assaulted with images of me another time.

I met up with Zhenhui and Shuming today at Compass Point. I'm damn lucky for the fact that there's 161 which going directly there. We bought a couple of groceries and lunch to Zhenhui's house. After that we accompanied Shuming to the car park where she drove her freaking car to tutor some kid. Zhenhui and I watched The King and the Clown. It's a complicated movie, but I loved it for respecting the audience's intelligence and showing how real life inspires theatre and art.

While waiting for Shuming, we decided to watch Desperate Housewives. ZH's still in the halfway through Season 1 and I enjoyed watching those particular episodes again. It's even more hilarious watching it with someone else. Anyway, Shuming came back and we wanted to watch Brokeback Mountain, but we ran out of time. We decided to go out for dinner and Shuming drove us to Kovan where we had Sakae Sushi.

The most valuable thing was our chat there. It's a great feeling to know that at least for this moment in time, we value each other a lot. It's nothing short of a miracle that the three of us became friends. After all, I was only in AJC for 3 months, yet they're closer to me than others who've spent so much time with me during my JC years. We also discussed the future, and I think for the first time, I'm actually serious about teaching tuition. However, I've got to restore my skills at Math and English, two of the subjects that've been my forte for the longest time. We had a great discussion about people in general too. Dealing with superficial people and human politics took up a big chunk of our conversation. Each of us has our own ways of dealing with them and with the sharing came learning from each others' experiences. It also strengthened the bond between all of us.

Simply amazing.

After that Shuming managed to get ahead of 161 just in time for me to board it! That was the coolest thing ever! Haha... I've got respect for her driving skills man! Hope to meet up with them soon.

JKYH Top 20 (56)

01. Is It Any Wonder - Keane (3) 8

02. A Public Affair - Jessica Simpson (+3) 5
03. Jia Zhuang - Jolin Tsai (3) 8
04. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake (+4) 3
05. Stars Are Blind - Paris Hilton (-1) 7
06. Me & U - Cassie ft Ray J (+3) 5
07. Deja Vu - Beyonce ft Jay-Z (-1) 6
08. Unfaithful - Rihanna (+2) 5
09. X - Liberty X (-2) 5
10. Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera (-8) 6
11. Now I Run - Shannon Noll (2) 4
12. No Tomorrow - Orson (+1) 2
13. Over My Head - The Fray (-1) 8
14. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (+1) 4
15. So What - Field Mob ft Ciara (+2) 4
16. Faster Kill Pussycat - Oakenfold ft Brittany Murphy (+4) 2
17. Voodoo Child - Rogue Traders (NEW)
18. Call On Me - Janet (NEW)
19. Rudebox - Robbie Williams (NEW)
20. Mr Q - Jolin Tsai (-6) 7

I've got to say that it has been a very exciting week for music.

We've got huge American artists like Justin Timberlake, who's at #4 this week with Sexyback, and Janet Jackson, who's at #18 with Call On Me, releasing the music videos to the leading singles off their new albums. It's also quite a coincidence, considering that both artists were involved in the humungous scandal named "Nipplegate" by gossip rags worldwide. Justin does a very sexy spy video which you can see here. I honestly didn't quite understand the video, and my favourite parts were perhaps just the making out. And then we have Janet, who calls upon the favour of Nelly for the shooting of the video. Not to be confused with Eric Prydz's Call On Me, Janet dresses in Oriental styles with dramatic costumes and make-up, showing off her toned bod. It's pretty much a snooze fest, but if you have the hots for Janet, you can see the video here. I like Janet. I just hope that her video'd be more interesting. The single's doing fantastic on Billboard, taking a huge leap from #63 all the way to #25.

Speaking of Billboard, the Simpson sisters are making huge waves there, with Jessica's A Public Affair, which is #2 on this chart, jumping 8 to #30 and winning the title of Greatest Sales Gainer. Ashless Simpson's new one is likely to debut on my chart next week, and has already impacted on BB at #28. She has the highest debut of the week.

New songs that are going to pleasure your ears soon come in the form of Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober, Scissor Sisters - Don't Feel Like Dancing, Jamelia - Something About You, Nina Sky - Suga Daddy, Pink - U and UR Hand and George Michael - An Easier Affair. It'll be interesting to see if these acts, who've had moderately huge hits in the past, try to repeat their success. Ultimately it'll depend on whether the audience likes them - which means all of you! I want to know the reactions to the new songs if you have any!

Celeb Watch - Britney Spears

Volleyball at Sentosa

My legs are still aching.

I met up with Sidney at 8AM yesterday (who said that weekends were for waking up late and sleeping?). It was an hour' train ride to Habourfront MRT. With effect from now I'd like someone to be able to drive me to that silly island whenever I want to go! Anyways, we chatted, and it was like we met yesterday, when the last time we met was actually in Dec last year! We had chickenrice for breakfast while the others came strolling in, late! Terence, Desmond and Mu Qin came one after another. At the beginning it was kind of difficult for me because I was kind of antisocial in my old platoon (and still am) but it didn't take long to break the ice.

We played a lot of volleyball, and took a hell of a long time to warm up! But after that I enjoyed myself, because it took my mind off everything. I'm not troubled or thinking a lot, it's just that under the intense heat of the sun, my brain could only think of whether I looked cool while playing, and to hit the ball that was flying to my territory! I think I needed a bit more water breaks though; it was freaking hot although it did rain later that day.

Its been a long time since I felt so at one with my body. I don't know how to describe it, just that there were moments where I felt fluidity in my movement (doing push ups doesn't exactly feel that way) and just letting myself go and reacting to the situation. There just isn't any time to think when the ball's flying real fast. I used to be quite the klutz when it came to sports and looked awkward playing anything, and volleyball's the only thing I've put so much time and effort to making myself look like I can play, if not, play decently.

In short, I enjoyed myself a lot and it was also thanks to the great company. We played with other people, something that I'm deathly afraid of, but still enjoyed tremendously.

After that I met Ryan at Orchard and we went to watch The Lake House. It's a fantastic movie and I don't understand how the reviews rated it that lowly! More on it another time tho'. While waiting for the movie to begin, I ate Taco Bell. I love the food there; reminds me of my RV-times when there was actually a Taco outlet at JEC. Kind of miss the cinnamon fries; they're non-existent already.

We walked all the way to Suntec (which probably explains my legs aching, and on top of that Friday's 14km run wasn't exactly a walk in the park), stopping for dinner at PS. We had noodle omelette for dinner and it tasted bloody good. I was craving for it ever since the last time I ate it with Mak. Oh, there were these 2 kids and their mom who snatched our seats from right under our very noses. I wasn't pissed when we got other seats - Ryan was. However, the more I thought of it, the more repulsed I was at their vulgar behavior.

We finally made it to our destination - the Esplanade. I like visiting the place every couple of months to look at the gigantic art displays. They present unique photo-taking opportunities as well.



This being the month of National Day, red and white were used to signify democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. It was simple and easy to understand. We sat there for quite awhile, resting and looking at the pretty lights before going home!

Another tiring, but fun-filled day.

Sentosa Again

I'm exhausted today. Exhausted from having too much fun. I went to Sentosa in the morning with Terence, Muqin, Sidney and Desmond (not in the picture). After that I met Ryan in town and we went to watch The Lake House, which was bloody fantastic. More on it tomorrow. I need some sleep!

Sentosa Solo

I was begging for off yesterday just to have a break from camp. However the CSM stopped us from booking out yesterday as we came back from range and he felt that we required rest and that it wasn't appropriate to book out at such a late timing.

Bah.

Determined not to spend the rest of my time rotting in front of the computer for the entire day, since the off was hard-fought for, I decided to go to Sentosa myself!



The weather was bloody good, and I suppose the only thing I could complain about was that it takes damn long to travel there from Woodlands. And locker there sucks big time. Other than that, it was a worthwhile trip! There must've been some genius who made the island what it is today; instead of leaving it to rot.

A cycled for an hour. A group of girls saw me as I was pushing my bike up a slope, and they burst out giggling. Then one of them chided them by saying, "Never seen a guy before ah!" It's probably due to fact that I didn't have my shirt on.

Oops.

Anyways, I went back and forth from Palawan to Siloso, and I think I know the place quite well already. Being very broke, I bought an iced coffee from Koufu - that foodcourt-ish place instead of Coffee Bean! It was a poor substitute. Also managed to catch the parrot show, which was rather entertaining. And I got a fab tan too! Wooohoo!

I realise that I was contented with spending time with myself, being alone, but not lonely.



I'm kind of excited about going back again on Saturday with a bunch of friends. Hope that it'll add to the fantastic memories that I have on Sentosa!

Secret

Was inspired to do this from http://community.livejournal.com/sgsecrets/. Anyway, I wrote this a couple of months back. Quite a few actually. It's not the way I feel now.

How do I feel now?

Contented.

Bangkok Day 04

Woke up in the morning and lazed around quite a bit before it was decided that Sern Hong and I would go for breakfast in the hotel. This time, we had the Asian breakfast set. The fried rice tasted pretty good but little did I know that it wouldn't be the last I saw of it!

The tour bus came at 9AM. My stomach was hurting very badly, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong. It gradually worsened during the long ride to Dream World.



Upon reaching the place, we had to wait as our tour guide helped us to acquire the tickets. When we entered the place, I had an urge to go to the toilet. The feeling was quite horrible. I can't believe my day would be ruined just because of something trashy that I ate. We all came to the conclusion that it was probably the cockles from the previous day's seafood stall. I was trying my best to enjoy myself; after all I paid 48 bucks already!



We took the cable car to the other end of the amusement park and the first ride we took was kind of like a rollercoaster, except we were attached to the ride at the top ie hanging off the railing. I tried the ride despite feeling nauseous, hoping that the adrenalin rush would replace the feeling of being unwell. I remember that Madonna's Hung Up was being played. Heck, it was playing almost everywhere we went in Bangkok.



I'm quite impressed that Terence managed to take a couple of photos during the ride itself. After the reasonably entertaining ride, my face was pale and I was already breaking into cold sweat. Anxiously, I rushed to the toilet. For the next couple of hours, I was alternating between throwing up and having diarrhoea. It was kind of crazy. I am grateful for the condition of the toilets over there.



We went to KFC so I could take a breather and the weather was kind of hot so the airconditioning was a huge relief. I drank plain water this time round while the rest of them had lunch. Due to the thirst I think I ended up drinking too much too quickly. After I said that I'd wait for them in the KFC while they went to the rest of the rides, I visited the toilet and threw up again. In the end it hurt so badly that I went to the bench outside to lie down. SH came and I went to wait at this huge splash place. It was crowded and there was a lot of eye candy around, and plenty of people getting wet. I tried to sleep but my brain just wouldn't shut down. I went back to the KFC again and they came back to look for me. I was finally able to drift into sleep.

When I awoke I felt much better, and there was nothing left in my stomach to expel too. Determined not to waste my money, I went for another ride. This one resembled a washing machine and it was really thrilling. It spun like a swing, and the seat itself could rotate 360 degrees! Cool stuff. After that we took quite a lot of pictures, since that was the only other thing I could do. We entered this "Giant's House" place... and it was really amusing.



There were humungous boots.



And not the forget the Giant's geese which lays golden eggs. Didn't manage to steal any of them though! We let our imagination run wild and took a lot of wacky photos. There was also the huge utensils and this gigantic table that I had to do a small jump and a chin up just to reach the side! And then there was this cage...



... but I can't remember what the giant keeps in it. Boo.



There were plenty of other photo-taking opportunities like this one, as well as the 7 Wonders of the World exhibit. Fantastic stuff. We came out pretty early and it was had to wait for this couple to come out before we could move off. I bought cotton candy and loved it. I think it's my favourite sweet. It's a pity that I don't see it very often. Oh, and since it sort of melted in my mouth, I figured that I wouldn't be vomitting it out! We alighted at MBK instead of going back to the hotel because it was kind of late. I was feeling a lot better.

It might've been the anticipation of shopping. Hmm.



And this time we started from the bottom floor. All of us managed to buy a couple of bags and they looked pretty good. This was taken in the middle of the bustling shopping centre. Surprisingly, there were a lot of foreigners for a Monday, much more than when we came by during the weekend! We had a meal there too (I didn't eat!). It was pretty late by the time we reached back to the hotel. We wanted to go to Siam Square or something but it closed the same time as MBK. It's kind of sad that the shopping centre closes so early!

Ooh, and it was the day of SH and his watch saga, but I guess that's a story for another time. In short, he bought this watch for 1000 baht (originally presented to him for 1400). However one of the stalls in that building was selling it for 250baht and he felt really cheated. He went back and slammed the salespeople and they returned him 500 baht. And that was after a heated row!



This was all the stuff I bought at MBK that day! Wooo!

Celeb Watch - Justin Timberlake

JKYH Top 20 (55)

01. Is It Any Wonder - Keane (2) 7

02. Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera (2) 5
03. Jia Zhuang - Jolin Tsai (2) 7
04. Stars Are Blind - Paris Hilton (+1) 6
05. A Public Affair - Jessica Simpson (+4) 4
06. Deja Vu - Beyonce ft Jay-Z (2) 5
07. X - Liberty X (2) 4
08. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake (+2) 2
09. Me & U - Cassie ft Ray J (+2) 4
10. Unfaithful - Rihanna (+2) 4
11. Now I Run - Shannon Noll (+2) 3
12. Over My Head - The Fray (-4) 7
13. No Tomorrow - Orson (NEW)
14. Mr Q - Jolin Tsai (-10) 6
15. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (+1) 3
16. Who Knew - Pink (-1) 5
17. So What - Field Mob ft Ciara (2) 3
18. Forever Young - Youth Group (-4) 8
19. Maybe - Colin's Appendix (2) 9
20. Faster Kill Pussycat - Oakenfold ft Brittany Murphy (NEW)

It's really the battle of the titans as the higher ends of the chart sees a battle roaring between teen idols with the likes of Christina Aguilera at #2, Paris Hilton at #4, Jessica Simpson at #5, Beyonce at #6 and Justin Timberlake at #8. It'll be quite exciting to see which of these will be able to reach #1; or will they all be able to peak at the top spot in quick succession?

Haven't got much music news to update this week, except the release of the videos of all these titans and the fact that they've been whoring their new songs at every avenue available! This wave's going to bring exciting surprises, you can be sure of that!

Music Makes People...

Where do I begin? I truly enjoyed myself today because there were great people and music! Hence the title of this entry.

Kickstarted the day in camp, and booked out as quickly as I could. I was still kind of tired after yesterday's 15km run and asked Ryan if he wanted to go KLunch instead. Thankfully, he had no problems with it and we spent our early afternoon there. For the first time, I think the number of fast-paced tracks equalled the slow ones! It was quite amazing to alternate between the different moods. It was also one of our most diverse singing sessions. I found a lot of English songs that I could sing too. What disappointed me most though was my flop rendition of Everytime. I realised that I couldn't sing the verse properly due to a crapped out throat which was straining from trying to reach the high notes of other songs. I enjoyed the session thoroughly as I think we've conquered more musical ground. And they let us sing for a longer time too. Both of us were better than usual.

We were torn between taking the bus and the train, but chose the train when 105 went past us and we didn't have much time left. Before that, we stopped by at 7-11 to buy some drinks and batteries for my camera. I idiotically bought the wrong ones earlier!

We were a tad lost in SP, and it was only my second time there. However there came the sound of singing and music so we went towards it and found the place easily! There was still a bit of time before King Kong Jane came on, so we sat down at one of the benches and chatted for awhile. I was kind of excited that even my ears became red. Hmmm. It was only after the soundcheck and a faux starting of the first song alerted me to go find a seat in front of the stage.



The photos are kind of crap because I took them as an afterthought. I was too busy enjoying the performance.

We scrambled in just in time for Take Me Out. I realised that I should've found a place earlier. Haha... Overall it was real tight, and Colin was bursting with energy, and armed with a massive stage presence to boot. The Mickey Mouse singlet and cap was damn cool too. He was every bit the seasoned performer. The rest of the band were on form too (although I think I did spy a misplaced note during Wake Me Up When September Ends!) and I was thoroughly impressed by the near-perfect renditions of all the songs. I sang along to the numbers I were familiar with like Franz Ferdinand's Do You Want To. Dani California, Hemorrhage, Last Dance With Mary Jane and Time Is Running Out (my other fav) were very well done and impactful too. I did get lost during one of the songs though, can't remember which one it was! Of course the highlight for me was This Boy, a song I first heard performed by them at the National Vertical Marathon 4 months ago, on the 12th March! I loved it! It really made my day.

I don't know how to describe the performance enough to give it justice but I think how much I enjoyed it was written all over my face!

Colin was nice enough to come talk to me and Ryan after his performance. I'd probably have been too starstruck to go talk to him! It was great to finally get a chance to talk face to face. Anyway, they'll be performing at IMM next Sunday and I really hope that I'll be able to see them again even though I've got other commitments on that day already! Maybe Britney's Crazy again? Haha... And you can check out King Kong Jane's official website here.

After that our plans were messed up thanks to some particular individual, so we decided to go to Swensons before going home.



And it certainly was the right decision! It perked me up. I think ice-cream really makes people feel good. It's kind of expensive but really worth the money. Both of us really enjoyed tasting the 8 flavours of ice-cream. We also learnt that cherries look better than they taste. Simplying experiencing the sweet and cold sensations on the tastebuds was a great joy. I was just flooded with endorphins after that.

Ahh... A whole lot of music today. Something that I can't live without; something that I'm strongly connected to.

Simply fantastic.

Stacked

I've been having an insane time ever since I returned from Thailand. I haven't been able to take a breather yet and come online and settle all the things I want to. It's probably the reason why I haven't been leaving notes on your blog and all. The schedule's been really cramped for some reason, and I've got my priorities in life! Also, its about time that I meet my old friends already! Argh!

Eh, I spent the last weekend watching Pirates of the Carribean 2 twice, and the first one on DVD. I've become a big fan of the movie. I'll rant more about it another time to do it justice, because I believe it deserves an entry by itself. And a lot of photos too.

In fact I haven't been blogging about my life for so long (other than the Thailand trip) that I don't know what to blog about. I remember that I usually complain about my army life, but there isn't much to complain about seeing that my ORD is in coming in a mere 3-4 months! I can finally count the months in one hand! And time is passing relatively quickly as well. There's a lot of duty coming up for me, but there's an equal amount of payback. I've also been doing quite a lot of writing. It seems that my standard of language has taken a beating recently so I've just been writing for the sake of it.

Even when I have nothing substantial to say.

Like now.

Anyway, my life's a party like never before and I love it. I love the care, concern and attention from everybody, and the way it feels to give it back. To have the means of making others happy and enjoying their company, and making people feel wanted. It rocks that the feeling's mutual. It just makes me feel so blessed. I have no troubles on my mind, just thinking of how I'm going to enjoy myself, and stay happy. There's a certain sense of simplicity about everything, that it makes me feel enlightened. I do things my way, and am only concerned about the people who give a damn about me. I don't care what others think, because there's just no reason for me to bother.

These days, nothing much's on my mind. Things aren't complicated. Army, working out, watching movies, listening to great music and spending time with loved ones.

That's what my life's about.

Bangkok Day 03

First of all, I just had to share what the A&W breakfast looks like. I know its been a long time since any of us have seen it, but this is just a look at its magnificence. Where the hell did it go in SG? And the worst part of it is that I didn't eat there despite living so near that place! This sole picture of the very nearly extinct A&W food was taken by Daniel and Terence as they went for breakfast that morning! Sern Hong and I had ours in the hotel. It was the American Breakfast set which was almost the same as what is offered in Delifrance - only not as good! After that I went to the LAN shop to get in touch with the people back in SG. Got to talk to my sister, Jeffrey, Junior and Wee Lee. Also tried to get in touch with my buddy but he didn't reply!

While I was srufing the net, SH went to get his haircut. it was then that I checked soccernet.com only to find that Portugal lost 3-1 to Germany. I was distraught. Anyway, there was some kind of misunderstanding and I couldn't find SH at the time we agreed to meet. There were 3 barbers along that particular stretch of road. I walked up and down the street about 5 times till I was sweaty and tired and my patience wore thin. In the end I went back to the hotel, only to have him arrive less than 5 minutes after me! I went for a long shower as there was nothing good on TV.

When we all finished washing up, it was kind of late already, in fact too late to attend the church service that SH wanted to go to. In the end we went ahead with it anyway, but entered the wrong church. The church was rather grand by its standards and I went in for the experience, since I've never been to a church in my life, only to have seen the place numerous times on TV.

After that we walked about and then there was this guy who could speak Chinese and he introduced us to this Thai massage place called Happy. He helped us get a pretty good tuk-tuk price for travelling there. Upon reaching the place, we found out that they actually charged almost triple than that of other places! We sat there and were stunned. We didn't know how to reject them since we were there. After a long while they finally reduced the price to 700 baht (which was still daylight robbery since you can get it at other places for about 300). Daniel and Terence decided not to do it in the end, while I agreed to go for the experience with SH.



I had the female masseuse while SH had the guy (who had make-up on!). Anyway we took a room where we were beside each other. I felt vulnerable while she was massaging the inner thighs and she did brush against my bits but only in the most professional way. My favourite part of the whole thing was when there was a warm scented towel placed on my face and she proceeded to do a facial massage. During the whole thing, SH gave me a look that told me he wasn't really enjoying the whole thing.

After the massage, where the male masseuse asked blatantly for a tip, we went out and tried to find our way to MBK. He came out, gave up directions and conveniently smacked my bum as we said goodbye.



We walked and walked and became so bored that we asked someone to take a photo for us!



Anyway, we did more shopping at MBK and had lunch at the foodcourt. This time round we managed to get a couple of jerseys for people at home. I was unable to find M for Portugal or Cristiano Ronaldo so I ended up empty-handed. Other than that I can't really remember making other purchases other than an orange Billabong sleeveless.

When we returned to the hotel, we bumped into the people who were helping us make our beds. It was only after asking them that we realised that the bottled water was complimentary and we didn't have to drink the gross water from the 6l bottle!



After that we cam-whored a bit...



...okay, we cam-whored a lot in our new clothes before going for dinner as it was still early. There was no decent movie on television!



We took a tuk-tuk to Chinatown and the driver drove us around before. He had this permanently cheeky smile plastered on his face. We walked to this roadside stall selling seafood. It actually had an indoor dining area which we went to have our meal. Despite its looks, the food turned out to be very lousy. We managed to get more dishes at a total price equal to that of the previous day's Chinese restaurant but the half-fucked food didn't leave us satisfied. Down-hearted, we went to take a walk.



However, there was nothing much to see and I wasn't hungry enough to taste the desserts available at the roadside stalls. There was this one shop which we passed by that gave us pork floss to sample. We walked on while eating, only to realise after walking about 50m that it tasted fantastic and we just had to turn around to get it. It's with much regret that I realised that my selfish materialistic side made me scrimp on buying good food products there. I truky had no idea what to buy from the place and also I had no space left in my luggage. After walking the main road, we branched out to one of the smaller ones. Sern Hong bought 2 pairs of monthly contact lenses at half the price of a single pair that's sold in SG! Outrageous.



The smaller streets were dark and we couldn't even see the wares that the people laid out on the floor to sell. Then there were homeless people laying on the steps of already-closed shops. I wonder how the shops manage to stay open when hardly anyone walks past that place and there obviously seems to be more people wanting to sell stuff away than to buy them. After awhile we became tired and decided to make our way back to the hotel. But first we went to 7-11. There was this guy who seemed to bump into all of us seperately and smiled in a very friendly manner that did not arouse my suspicion till the rest told me about their experiences.

When we reached the hotel, I got the chance to watch Love Actually and I'm appalled that I didn't manage to watch it in the cinema. It was a brilliant, distinctly British film. I've come to realise that certain flavour satisfies what I want to see on screen! It has become one of my favourite movies ever!