Smell of ORD

Yes, the smell of ORD is sweet. After one year and ten months, despite it being a shortened term, it feels like there's freedom once more.

I went back today to dekit and to get the clearance form signed. Dekitting (where you return all your stores) took half the morning. I was almost drenched in sweat as I struggled with the field pack, its contents, and the other silly stuff that I had to return. Not forgetting my buddy's as he sweat it out in the practical lab today. After that it was almost like being in the Amazing Race as Theodore, Guo Fei and I went to collect the relevant signatures on our clearance form. The worse part was walking a couple of kilometres to this other place for 2 signatures, under the blast of the noon sun. At the end of it all, I was dripping.

Sern Hong told me (which I think he wouldn't have if I hadn't bumped into him) that he wasn't able to make it this Friday. So much for getting myself hyped to organising the "dinner".

As I lugged the duffel bag which contained my FBO, I couldn't help but think of the only other times I dragged it around - my first day in BMT, the day I left Tekong and the day I was posted to Seletar Camp. I've heard a lot of people tell me that I'll miss being in the army. I'm not sure to what extent I'll be feeling that, but I do miss my friends, and my bed (which, on the contrary with everybody else, is more comfortable than the one that I sleep on at home). I'm glad to leave the regimentation behind. I think the one thing that I detest most is marching.

6 more days to ORD. I can smell it already. I'll be spending one last night in camp (tomorrow), before trumpeting the fact to anyone who'd hear that the 2nd of November would be my last working day in camp. Friday's when we'll be having the unit anniversary at Sentosa, so I'm looking forward to a beach volleyball match or two. I'll say my goodbyes to this batch of sergents, whom I have the most respect for.

Yes. The day which I've been whispering secretly to myself about for the past 22 months has arrived. And I relish the thought of getting my pink IC back.

Out of My Elitist Face

If those words sound unfamiliar to you, or you've yet to read about David Wee and Wee Shu Min, you can do so here.

And apparently the entire blogosphere is up in arms over what she said. It was Jie Yu who first alerted me to what was happening, followed by my mom who showed me a newspaper article that Ms Wee should be saying sorry. I'm going to give my two cents' worth. If you're hoping that it's going to be nice, click the button on top-right now.

I agree with what Shu Min has said. So maybe I'm elitist. I disagree with her tone, her attitude and her approach towards this issue. However I believe what she says to be correct. She points out that Singapore is a meritocratic society, which we are. It's true, also, that almost anyone can make a living in Singapore if they want to. If we're all supporting the yellow ribbon project, what makes Derek think he'll be unable to feed himself and a family by taking on a lesser-paid job if and when he's retrenched from his beloved MNC? Okay, so Derek has his point - it's tough being in Singapore and the stress is overwhelming; the future's wrought with uncertainty and instead, the man wants a place where people "do their best and not having to fear whether they will still wake up employed tomorrow". Forgive me for saying this but... what the fuck? I'm such an idealist yet I don't believe that without fear and the drive that comes with it, people'd do their damn best in their jobs regardless of what happens around them. That's the reason why we have such a competitive economy - to be the best.

And I hate it when people use threats. Derek's one of those people. "Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left. It’s what MM Goh called “quitters”. It’s sad but true, Singapore no longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and retire graciously." The grass is always greener on the other side. I don't believe that Derek hasn't enjoyed a moment of his life being in Singapore, given the things that we have like clealiness and security. He also feels that staying in Singapore after turning 40 is a "gamble". And so moving off to a foreign country isn't?

The people who are slamming Shu Min are only using her as a punching bag. If there're so many people who disagree with what she said, and who believe that her father shares the same views and brought her up as such, why did they vote for this government when they have so much displeasure against them? Obviously because no one can do the job better. It does take an elitist to believe and take the country where it is - the best in what it can be. It's a vision that was moulded to life by hard work, and not a whole load of whining. Derek sounds very whiny for a 35 year-old.

"Is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?" He has not. Yet he's feels so strongly that the government isn't doing the right things, when compared to people in other countries who suffer from poverty (which Derek isn't). I suppose Derek thinks that it's easy to maintain that? I know - a country has to progress. However I believe that the people up there are trying their best to make it happen. It's easy to sit in front of the computer and whine about what the government isn't doing, when they're scrambling to maintain peace within the region, build connections and make deals with other countries and doing their part to get rid of the haze.

Last of all, but definitely not least, my Dad's a taxi driver. He works the night shift. He has 4 kids. His health isn't exactly in the most fantastic state. He complains, and I think he has more right to do so than some graduate working in an MNC. I just think if anyone should be slammed - it's Derek. Because he is, and I quote Shu Min, "one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner's, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it's not even about being a road sweeper. these !!^#bags don't want anything without "manager" and a name card.".

When you break it up, the girl actually makes a lot of sense. I don't have an MP for a Dad. I think what she said was reasonable. Can you accept it?

PS: Oh yeah, and to those retards who say that it's alright for Derek to have poor grammar because he's just trying to get his point across, screw you. He was trying to get it published in The Straits Times dammit.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Despite being such a camwhore (I'm trying very hard to get rid of this "title" but I don't think it'll be anytime soon) I'm not really into photoblogging. Because I believe in the power of the written language. Then again, this happened pretty long ago - 8th of October. So... photos, which I've only gotten a week or so ago from Shuming. Slowness!

Oops. Haha... But the quality's really good. Better than mine at least!







This idea was "stolen" by Zhenhui from my company mate. But I can't say who! The scandal! Anyway, the first time I tried doing something like this was in Primary 3, and I dipped strawberries into them and brought them to school to share with my classmates. Memorable. The reception was amazing too. They couldn't get enough of it.



The tree we climbed is a famous one. Check your 5-dollar note.



One thing great about being there is that it really let us escape from real-life worries. It's a fantastic feeling to climb trees. Hanging... swinging... It made me feel like a kid again.

I'm deprived of a childhood!

Abs

If there's thing I gained from the army, it would be looking after my health. Or at least they do it for me! I get (more than) sufficient sleep, devour lots of (unpalatable) food, and plenty of exercise. Especially running. But when I have lots of spare time on my hands, I find it hard to look after myself, or uproot myself from the place commonly known as "in front of the computer". I can't be bothered to have my meals on time, I watched Typhoon last night till 1AM, and I don't exercise much. I lack the discipline despite the fact that I do enjoy running and swimming.

I'm getting fat. So it doesn't seem very obvious right now, but if I continue on this way, I'm sure to get them to become the UN without even knowing it! I can't even remember when was the last time I did any cardio, until yesterday when I was sweating it out on DDR. Even then, it was only intense for the first 30 minutes. After that I became tired and got Cs and Ds for all the tough ones.

The magazines you read reflect your interests in life. I used to be the guy who bought all the UK Pop mags in lower secondary school, and everyone'd either be reading my Lime, Teens, Top of the Pops and 8 Days under the table while Mr Tan was droning on about algebra. Nowadays though the only magazine I get is Men's Health, so much so that my platoonmates would alert me to the release of every new issue every time it hits the magazine stands (because I'd buy it and they'd borrow it to read!). It was sort of like my bible for awhile, but nowdays I hardly finish reading even!

So I think it's about time I get my fitness back on track. Enough of the boozing (I still think there's going to be Irish Cream at Jie Yu's house) and late nights (did I mention I'm going to a stayover tonight). At least I need to try to make it happen! I know that maybe I'm placing too much emphasis on working on my physical appearance, but surely it's in your youth where it's the most valuable - just like wisdom is in old age. I'm not going to dress older (no, I don't need the credibility) because you realise that when you're old, you would never be able to look like you're 20 again.

Excuses are easy to make though. I want to swim. But I think it's going to rain.

JKYH Top 20 (69)

01. My Love - Justin Timberlake ft T.I. (3) 7 ***

02. Wei Wu Du Zun - Jolin Tsai (2) 6
03. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (+3) 7
04. Nothing In This World - Paris Hilton (2) 5
05. Something Kinda Ooh - Girls Aloud (+4) 6
06. I Still Believe - Vivian Hsu & Cao Ge (+4) 3
07. Be In Tokyo - Teriyaki Boyz (-4) 6
08. Lose Control - Kevin Federline (+5) 6
09. So Excited - Janet (-4) 6 *
10. Long Way 2 Go - Cassie (-2) 6
11. Lips Of An Angel - Hinder (+7) 2
12. Lonely - Shannon Noll (+8) 2
13. Rock Steady - All Saints (-2) 4
14. I Don't Feel Like Dancing - Scissor Sisters (2) 3
15. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (-3) 4
16. Far Away - Nickelback (+3) 2
17. Ting Ma Ma De Hua/Tui Hou - Jay Chou (2) 4
18. I Belong To Me - Jessica Simpson (NEW)
19. Fergalicious - Fergie (NEW)
20. Take Me As I Am - Mary J Blige (NEW)

Is it me or has Pop music got a kick back to life this week? It's been a long time since some new act came and took the scene by storm like Britney Spears did (so I'm a fan and I'll name-drop whenever I want to!), so it seems that old acts are what keep the current scene alive today. We see seasoned Pop acts who used to be part of a group (Justin Timberlake, Fergie, Beyonce), then the teen pop wave people (Christina, Jessica Simpson, Jolin) and of course those who've been around for a long time to begin with (Janet, Mary J Blige). It seems that they've flying the flag for Pop pretty well. Ooh, and the new songs I've got to introduce this week are really adrenaline-pumping. Goodness.

#1 needs no introduction, and if I do it again I'll probably get shot. I'll keep it simple and bring your attention to the fact that Justin's two songs are back-to-back on the Billboard chart. Sexyback is at #4, while My Love moves up 3 to #5. It's been a long time since anyone had 2 tracks in Top 5 territory. Billboard states, "Justin Timberlake occupies two adjacent positions in the top five of The Billboard Hot 100, the first artist to have a pair of hits in the top five since Mariah Carey occupied the top two in September 2005." I have no idea what's the next single going to be, but I guess the management's excited about how well the album and the current single is doing, so it'll be some time till it is released.



At #8 this week is probably the guy who has the most kids in the chart. If there was a chart where we'd rank the singers according to how many kids they have, K Fed can proudly say he's got 4, with the youngest one who popped out about a month ago. His album Playing With Fire drops on Halloween, 31st October. I demand ya'll show him some love because he's getting beaten up on WWE just to promote his joint (well he did get revenge a few days later). In a desperate attempt to get you to try to listen to his shizzle, Britney told me to offer you a listen to a track she worked with him on, called Crazy. I think it will eventually be a single, but if it flops, ouch for Britters. Someone says it sounds like the P Diddy/Christina collaboration. It's somewhere there. There's a rather decent performance of Privilege on youtube but I can't find it any more. Ya haters would probably tell me cos it's too bad to be on there. Bah.

Gosh, I'm at a lost. I don't know who to talk about already. There's a certain staleness due to the same acts clogging up the chart. Whatever then. New songs this week.

Moby feat Debbie Harry - New York New York. Isn't Debbie Harry someone famous? Like from Blondie? It sure sounds like. Whatever it is, it's superb! Heck, I think I'll check up on it. And I'm right! It's amazing that she's still making music at 61. This isn't by any means a very unique track, but hearing her voice again makes me feel so alive. I just can't describe it. Wow.

Gwen Stefani - Wind It Up. Hot mess, not sure if I like it or not.



Good Charlotte - Keep Your Hands Off My Girl. Another fantastic track from the band. It's the most surprising stuff they'd ever come up with. They're my favourite punk-rock band of the moment. There isn't a single from them that I don't like. Hot. The video is surprisingly sleek and grown up. The dressing included. A bit less punk, a whole lot more class.

Ciara - Promise. I know I've intro-ed it awhile ago, but this is another song which is unique. It sounds like nothing out there. Check the video out on youtube. It's a wicked Usher-ish video - groove music with nifty dance steps.

Other tracks include The Killers - Bones, Jamelia - Beware of the Dog, Mcfly - Star Girl, Amy Winehouse - Rehab, Hot Chip - Over and Over, and their first single in over 10 years, Take That - Patience, and as a mark of irony, Robbie Williams - Lovelight.

If there's anything that has slipped my radar, feel free to let me know. Till next week!

Bintan Day 02 & 03

In desperation to finish blogging about this trip as fast as I can, I've decided to merge two days' worth of content into one entry. That's not to say that it'd be short; but I'll have to cut down on the content! Anyway, we woke up rather late the next morning and it was super hazy outside. In fact, it was worse than the day before! The weather was rather erratic. The contrast of temperatures caused the camera lenses to fog up and produced dreamland-like photos of us. We took these just before having our buffet breakfast...



...which was a blast. The food was by no means heavenly, but there was great variety. There aren't photos of the pastry, which were as delicious as they were cute. They were also sinfully-sweet; something that might cause the diabetes-strickened to get a heart attack just by laying eyes on them! We ate like kings before returning to our hotel rooms to take a rest from the food marathon.



We then headed down to Mana Mana to rent snorkelling sets, and saw some animals along the way.

Snorkelling was really fun, probably because I was doing it for the first time. I enjoyed the experience of being able to look at fish in their natural environment. I realised that I couldn't name many of the fish I saw, which is what I'd probably be able to do (to the animals) had I entered a safari. Anyway, ignorance made the experience all the more astounding. It's great to have a chance to swim alongside the fish (okay, so I did chase around one for fun) and observe them doing... fishy stuff. It's no wonder they've captured the imagination of children and adults alike (think Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo) because they live in a distinctly different environment from ours. The sea water was bloody salty though, and left a burning sensation up my nostrils when I accidentally breathed some of it in. It took awhile for me to get used to the snorkelling apparatus before being comfortable with it. Heck, breathing solely through the mouth is not as easy as it seems!



After that we took a walk around the resort, in the opposite direction of Mana Mana and found this abandoned sea-sports counter, and thus took a photo of it for future reference. It was also really cold, and we proceeded to take a photo of ourselves pretending to shiver. Arhm. We then came across this part of the resort that had just been built and "discovered" two swimming pools, which were empty.



We felt like the pool was only for us! Haha... We played frisbee in the water for a bit (yeah, that's me at the deep, far corner) before I felt the urge to go to the toilet. To our surprise, while looking out for a toilet, we found a sign that said "SAUNA". That was something Sern Hong had been longing desperately for, so we went straight in there to try it out. I think I could feel my contact lenses melting! Within moments, sweat was dripping out from every pore on our skins. Hot stuff.



We mused about the exclusivity of the place and how it felt like we totally owned it. Back in SG, we'd probably get complained, and it'd be so crowded with all the kids overcrowding the pool. We enjoyed the seclusion tremendously.

When we returned to our hotel rooms to shower, we were all about to collapse from hunger. Thus it wasn't long before we were eating piping hot cup noodles in the comforts of the bed whilst watching this movie which featured Shaquille O'Neal. It was corny, but the action scenes were damn good. He was believable as this superhero because he was built like a giant and his strength... well, let's just say he didn't need special effects to lift a lady in her wheelchair (wheelchair included dammit!). My favourite movie last year, The Island, was about to be shown (why don't I have HBO at home!) but we had to go make our presence felt at the poolside restaurant.



Do not be alarmed. My camera's not spoilt despite the many accidents that happened to it (including one that was caused by Daniel on our way to Mana Mana!). There seems to be a terrifying amount of yellow in the photos, but that's just because of the lighting of the place! It was like a mini gazebo with a table smack in the middle, set near the pool. We had a pizza, which we had every right to be sceptical about because when we finally got to see it... I think the crust was of comparable thickness to paper! We then proceeded to desert, which was ice cream. That was fab. And then somehow we got cranky with the yellow napkins, because Sern Hong's wearing yellow. He did it all by himself actually!

We then went to The Pub for a karaoke session. It had an ancient selection of songs and we ended up singing things like Xuang Zhe and Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Binkini. It was a competition of whose repertoire included more oldies! Thankfully I knew a bit, even though I'm pretty much the "Popper" (i.e. guy who indulges in Pop music). I had Irish Cream again, but it wasn't as good as the previous day's! I guess it was lacking in the rum and chocolate. We were chased out rather early, and went to bed in preparation of the following day's activity.

We had our breakfast buffet again before heading down to Mana Mana to kayak. I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I guess the marathon kayaking that I did during LTC at the end of J1 really helped. I teamed up with Sern Hong, who was feeling quite sick after the breakfast. Despite his lack of participation towards the end, I loved the feeling of trashing my way through the choppy waves. It's totally different because we went headed quite far in the direction of the South China Sea and it was vast. You could see the horizon. Not gonna be quite the same if I did it at Sentosa!

We had to check out in the afternoon and so went back to pack our stuff. It shocked me that our stay ended so abruptly! When everything was settled, I went to use the internet, which was daylight robbery.



It costs a freaking 3 bucks per 15 minutes! I was thinking of updating my blog or something but as you can see from the picture, with all that distraction, all I managed to do was to try to contact a couple of people back home and to leave a few notes on my friends' blogs! Our ferry was to come at late afternoon and so we had a couple of hours to burn. We decided to return to our exclusive pool.



Which wasn't that exclusive any more as you can see. Still we enjoyed ourselves, and alternated between the sauna and the pool. I talked a lot to Sern Hong about religion and all that. It's a prickly subject but talking to him gives me a clear idea about how I feel about the topic, my beliefs and where I stand with regards to the subject. It wasn't completely pleasant, but it was something I felt I had to do. Despite me being at odds with him about it, I'm still in one piece. So.

The journey back was rather long, and tiring. We tried to get these tourists to take a photo of us in front of the ferry but they took a vid instead! We then taught Daniel how to play bridge before our tiredness caught up and forced us into slumber.



Much to my regret, I didn't buy anything at the DFS and thereafter we had dinner somewhere in Ang Mo Kio, but then that's not relevant already, is it?

Mahjong Madness

There was a comapany cohesion yesterday at East Coast Park. We were supposed to be BBQ-ing but all I did was mingle around with my platoonmates. I guess it's strange that once upon a time we'd see each other from the moment we woke up in the morning right down to the time we shut our eyes for slumber again at night. I think I'm not used to seeing them at such irregular intervals! Anyway, I'm tired of BB

After that I took a cab along with Ivan, Samuel and Guo Fei to Causeway Point to withdraw money. We had our dinner at the coffeeshop near Ivan's house. The food was decent and helped fuel us with the energy needed for the night ahead. We headed to Ivan's house and started playing Mahjong almost immediately. There were only a couple of "technical breaks" in between where we took the chance to visit the toilet, watch TV, rest our eyes and for them to settle some of their online-gaming stuff. My contact lenses irked me so much at around 11PM or so that I threw them out for good, despite not wearing them for a month yet! We pounded the tiles with gusto all the way till 630AM. The last few games were played with a bit less enthusiasm than what we had initially but it was highly entertaining, and we shared a few good laughs along the way. It's funny how many names can be associated with the characters on the Mahjong tiles. We went our seperate ways after that, exhausted.

I had a mere 4 hours of sleep before rushing out to meet David at Orchard. We had lunch at KFC and talking about our lives before bracing ourselves for a great hunt at The Heerans, Cineleisure and Far East Plaza. He got for me a shirt (as a Christmas present) from The Heerans with a hilarious string of words on it. I'll post a photo of it once I get the chance. The second shirt would be 40% off and he got for himself a brown one with a graphic design. We then made our way to Sembawang Music at Cine where he got 2 CDs. I wanted very badly to gain posession of Cao Ge's DVD, but I don't know when my next pay is coming! Bumped into Nathaniel there too. After that we went to Far East Plaza where he got for himself a 3/4 pants. I don't know if I'm the spending externality for him (as Jie Yu probably is for me!), but the last time we went out he spent over a hundred bucks too! Met Bing Xiang and his group of ODAC friends there as well. It was fun to go shopping... even though I do it all the time!

BMT-Platoon Chalet

I must admit that I was as nervous as I was excited to go to my BMT-Platoon's chalet this weekend. I haven't seen them since we passed out from BMT, and that was about a year and 7 months ago. In addition to that, I used to be this retardedly withdrawn, unfriendly person in camp. I was only close to my sectionmantes (only 2 of whom turned up). However, it all went better than I could ever imagined and I had a hell lot of fun.

We kick started the entire thing with the BBQ on Friday night. I was BBQ-ing and din't eat much. Then there was a game of Big 2, which I gladly joined. The loser of the game had to eat 3 Otahs, and 6 if he had more than 10 cards. I'm a decent player, with a clean sheet for 70% of the games. After that, things came crashing. I think it's karma, because I'd become too lucky at the beginning. I ended up losing the next 5 games and amounted to a crazy debt of 19 otahs! Needless to say, I've sworn off otahs for the next couple of months, or years, and became the butt of all otah jokes. After that there was a lot of chatting and phototaking before we packed up to the room.


There were 12 of us there and we watched this movie called The Last Castle, which ended at about 2-3AM. I couldn't keep track of the time very well. Then out came the alcohol and Beng came up with the idea of splitting up into 4 groups of threes and playing Big 2. The first drink was peach tea and tequila. My team, surprisingly, was Irvin and Beng, whom I didn't talk much to even in BMT or that day itself.

When you undergo lots of shit together, like fieldcamp, you immediately form bonds because of the hardship. Well, it seems that it's true also, that when you lose the most rounds and drink the most alcohol, the bonding's pretty strong too. We lost the first round, and had more than 10 cards. So we downed 2. The drink was amazingly strong. And we went on to lose another 6-7 rounds. We lost half the games we played, and at the end of it all, Irvin and I were quite high, despite each drinking half of what Beng drank! The distribution was not proportionate. The alcohol really got me high, and there were a couple of times when I just wanted to puke out the entire thing.

I think there was a conspiracy.

After that we were too high to play any more and Irvin and I led the way by promptly plonking ourselves on the floor with the bags for pillows and trying to sleep. Ahh, the reasons I like hanging out with an equally crazy group of guys. Card-playing, boozing, good food... Vices?

It was too damn cold and I got out of the room after a mere 2 hours of sleep (we slept at at 5AM) and found a bench, which was too uncomfortable to sleep on! I ended up laying on the deck chair and it was fantastic sleeping there till the sun rose.

There was a dunking session of YY into the pool followed by a very decent attempt of trying to get Wei Liang into the pool also, but that didn't happen because of his squirming! We made our way down to Sentosa's beach (yes, we were at Costa Sands at Sentosa).


After an hour or so, we were hit by exhaustion from the previous night's activities. The lack of sleep combined with the alcohol got me really tired. I wasn't even thinking straight at times. And the sand kept flying into my eyes when we played volleyball. This was the last photo we took at the beach just before half of them left to return to the chalet to rest.


The ones left were YY, Terence, Mu Qin and me. We played a couple of matches against other people and won (hooray!). After that Desmond and Mu Qin's girlfriend came down and we had a 6 on 6 with this other group of people. It was amazing that we managed to win the game when we were losing 23-11! It was painful to have to catch up by so many points, and even more nerve-wrecking when we managed a deuce and ecstatic, when we finally won. We played till about 3pm, with nothing in our stomachs except water. It was really the best volleyball match(es) I've been part of. It's that inexplicable high from winning and playing. I enjoyed myself tremendously.

We went back to the chalet and left our stuff there before going for lunch at Palawan Beach's foodcourt. After buying some supplies for the BBQ, we went back to the chalet. I went to sleep because I was seriously exhausted from the day's activities. I didn't realise how tired I was from the volleyball matches until my legs ached while I was walking up the stairs to the chalet!

The BBQ was a quieter affair compared to the previous day. However, the food was orgasmic. The stingray and chicken wings dripping with honey were amazing. I stayed clear of the otah though! *insert embarrassing story of consecutive Big 2 losses here* There were some small talk about girls, army and jobs.


Terence and I wanted to go back home, but as it turned out, everyone left on that day itself despite us having rented another night at the chalet. There was some money issue caused by people not turning up. We left the place at 1030 after packing up. I didn't get the chance to tell them how much I appreciated them organising the gathering and how much enjoyed myself as YiLiang, Sidney, Jasper and I took Song's car to CCK before taking the train home.

This chalet taught me to open up to people. I think I've said more stuff to my platoonmates than I ever did in 3 months of BMT. They're a bunch of fantastic people and I'm thankful for the chance to catch up with them. As Terence told me, "Just talk to people, and they'll talk to you.". I used to take a long time observing people and seeing how they're like before talking to them, but taking a more active approach in getting to know people is better because you get better understanding of them than forming opinions based on just what you see.

It was a great learning experience for me, be it towards improving my personality or skills in volleyball. Certainly a gift of an unforgettable memory the year has brought me.

JKYH Top 20 (68)

01. My Love - Justin Timberlake ft T.I. (2) 6

02. Wei Wu Du Zun - Jolin Tsai (+4) 5
03. Be In Tokyo - Teriyaki Boyz (+6) 5
04. Nothing In This World - Paris Hilton (+4) 4
05. So Excited - Janet (-3) 5
06. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (-3) 6
07. Happiness - Orson (-2) 7
08. Long Way 2 Go - Cassie (-4) 5
09. Something Kinda Ooh - Girls Aloud (+1) 5
10. I Still Believe - Vivian Hsu & Cao Ge (+7) 2
11. Rock Steady - All Saints (2) 3
12. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (2) 3
13. Lose Control - Kevin Federline (2) 5
14. I Don't Feel Like Dancing - Scissor Sisters (+4) 2
15. Something About You - Jamelia (2) 3
16. Easy - Sugababes (2) 3
17. Ting Ma Ma De Hua/Tui Hou - Jay Chou (+2) 2
18. Lips Of An Angel - Hinder (NEW)
19. Far Away - Nickelback (NEW)
20. Lonely - Shannon Noll (NEW)

This week's chart is probably the most inaccurate reflection of my music taste - possibly because I haven't been listening to any of them (cos I've been beach bumming)! That aside, it's time to feed you with news of what's going on with the music world.

At #1 on my chart this week is Timberlake with My Love. There're so many aspects of the song that are constantly being discovered in my mind. Be it the prelude to the song (which you can hear on the album or the music video), the guest rap, the falsetto verses followed by the repetitive, insistent chorus where he mentions the title again and again, everything about this track is fresh. Sexyback has been usurped on Billboard by Ludacris and Pharrell's Money Maker. However, My Love continues to ascend and this week, makes its way into the Top 10, moving up 5 notches to #8. I think it has the potential to hit #1 but not if he continues to look like this!

#3 must have come as a shock for many. The track has been grinding nerves since its release. I was rather neutral when I first heard it on radio, just surprised that the track managed to make it to the airwaves - after all, it is merely lifted from the soundtrack of the movie of the same name. The most hilarious bit is that the girls actually say Fast and Furious but it's so well-hidden under the Japanese accent that it's almost impossible to figure out! I heard it at Sentosa yesterday and I started grooving along while playing in a volleyball match. Its gotten to me on many levels - come on! What's there not to like about it!


At #12 is Christina Aguilera, a non-mover there with Hurt. I like the song more everyday, and I think this is her biggest scremer-hit yet. It does annoy me sometimes (at least Jessica Simpson has stopped yelling!) and despite the vocal prowess, her (growly) tone doesn't appeal to me. Whatever it is, she looks incredible on the set of P.Diddy's new single Tell Me. It seems that she's gone back to this Urban look, that'd be how I'd expect her to dress after coming from the Come On Over era. Not Dirrty, nor Ain't No Other Man. Anyway, Tell Me is a smoking hot song, where she uses her voice to fulfill P Diddy's musical vision (for once in a long time not her own!). And I like it. I hope she does more of it in her next album, because seriously her "blast from the past" thing is way overdone and overemphasized this time around. I love reflective lyrics and all, but there's just something incredibly hawt about her purring "I know you gonna like it, tell me how you want it." in Tell Me. Next album Christina. That's how I want it.


I prefer hard rock to lite rock. Lite would be Orson and Snow Patrol. Hard would be this week's debuts at #18 and #19 featuring Hinder and Nickelback. We all know Nickelback and their songs manage to outlast every rock act there is of late. Paperback? How You Remind Me? They make songs that you can hear over and over again and never get tired of. On to Hinder (pictured), who have been making huge waves on Billboard with their second single Lips of an Angel. Their first single, Love Stoned, went largely unnoticed by the pop scene. However with this track, they're set to become the biggest new rock act of the year. I love how it sounds - typical, but fantastic nonetheless!

And everyone wants to know who'll be rocking the charts in future weeks, so let's start with the biggest name of them all Emma Bunton - Downtown, Jay Z - Show Me What You Got, The Wreckers - My Oh My, Rogue Traders - Watching You, T.I. - Live In The Sky, Outkast - Idlewild Blue and Imogen Heap (!!!) - Headlock. Till next week!

Bintan Day 01 II

And this is where one third of my entire expenditure at Bintan Resorts went to. We were rather appalled to see that there was only a single crab for the 4 of us. It costs about 38 dollars per person but we got to taste a wide variety of food, most of which you'd expect to see at a wedding dinner. This place is rather famous, and it's called The Kelong. It's part of Nirwana Gardens. I don't know if I'd recommend it because of the steep price, but if money is not an issue, the food here is rather good.

There's this wooden walkway that leads to this bar on stilts. However the atmosphere there was lousy. The concept is good - a bar in the middle of the sea, but they really need to work on making the place happening. It's true that it's off-peak period and all, but despite the novelty I couldn't be bothered to chill out there.

There was this NATAS promotion where we'd get a 30 dollar rebate for spending 60 dollars, and so in order to split the bill into two and get rebates for both rooms, we ended up buying drinks so as to reach the amount required.



The only two things I know about the Irish are probably the Leprechauns and Ronan Keating. However I believe Bailey's Irish Cream should be the thing that they're known for! I own a bottle of it at home and this little mix hear contains vanilla, Bailey's, chocolate and a bit of Rum. Needless to say...



I got quite high on it despite only drinking about half! I think it's the rum! It tastes pretty damn good. I'm going to invite a few friends and try making it at home myself!

After that we went back to the hotel. The initial plan was to go back and sleep but seeing that it was still early we went around to explore the place a bit.



Oh yeah, and we went to the reception where the people were extremely friendly. We asked how to get the rebate and then there was this huge paper/money chase as the bill was supposed to be charged to the hotel room (when we paid by cash and were not allowed to charge to the hotel because we didn't pay the deposit) and there was this huge money-chase going on while we stoned around.

Ended off all the photo taking with one last pic in the lift. It reminds me of the pics in Thailand! I wonder what's the purpose of mirrors in elevators...

Bintan Day 01 I

A couple more hours and I'll have to make my way to the doghouse, so I'll have to rush this entry. I did try to take the dog to the vet but the vet only gave it a day's MC. Anyway, I hate the fact that I take so long to choose, edit and put the photos together, that I don't have as much time to write properly on the trip. I believe in good writing as much as I believe in good photography, although I know that the photos are probably the things that people are going to look at, be it due to laziness, or my bad writing.

The trip sort of started with dinner the previous day at Terence's house. This is the reason why I'm starting to get fat. Really.



The food was bloody good. Honestly. I think Terence's mom makes half the chefs in Singapore bow their head in shame. Although it was us cooking, she was the one who prepared the food. The marinating, the slicing and dicing... It was ready for us the moment we got there (which was at a very late time of 830PM due to our last minute shopping trip), and all that was left to do is to cook them ourselves. It's unbelievably delicious. I can't wait to go back to have another round! Just that maybe this time we'll try to get it done on our own! We owe the Chua family a bit much - including the transportation to the ferry terminal the next morning!



It's possible that almost everyone has visited the airport before, but certainly not the ferry terminal! I haven't been there before in my life! The place was less glamorous than its air-travel counterpart, and the walk to the jetty reminded me of the trips to Tekong. That was how nasty the place was. And the haze situation was bad. Atrocious, more like it. It really didn't give me the feeling that I was going on a holiday.



And we boarded the ferry that completely reminded me of the fastcraft rides to Tekong. Is it me, or has being in NS left a scar in my life forever? Oops. The trip was a long and boring one. I didn't do much there except stone. The hour-long trip felt like half a day!



It was when we reached that things started to feel exciting. The first pic is the view of Bintan's terminal, which was much more welcoming. We got through the usual procedures of getting our passports stamped and luggage X-Rayed before boarding the bus which would bring us to the hotal where we would be staying - Nirwana Gardens Resort. They welcomed us with the banging of the gong and some drink with a logan in it. It was refreshing. By right we could only check in at 3PM but the receptionist was nice enough to inform us when one of the two rooms became available, and we went to dump our things almost immediately. We decided to take a walk round the place.



It seems that the compund was humungous. There were smaller adjoining facilities which all belonged to Nirwana, and you could enjoy it as long as you were staying there. It stretched across 2-3 bays. That was how cool it was. The weather continued to stay gloomy, but we were more interested in exploring the place and planning our itinery for the day. We went to Mana Mana, which provided equipment for sea sports walked down further to this other reception for chalets. We asked what was interesting and where to go for dinner. Amazingly enough, we were recommended the Kelong restaurant, which one of our Sergeants also told us was a good place to go for dinner. We took a bus back to our hotel and for the sake of saving money, we ate the cup noodles we brought along.



On our way to the beach after lunch, we came across this giant chess set as well as a snakes-and-ladders game. We had an entertaining showdown (which I won). It reminded me of the humungous moving chess pieces in Harry Potter, and it was indeed difficult to visualise the big pictures when the biggest of pieces were about 2/3s my height!



Our first stop was the beach where we played frisbee. We didn't manage to play with the ball, other than carrying it around for show! It was too hard to play volleyball with. Anyway, there was also the compulsory bury-me-in-sand session...



Except that this time, Sern Hong was the only one to be buried! Despite the lack of sun, as you can probably discern from the photos, all of us got a little burnt at the end of the day. Ooh yeah, and we also encountered a small jellyfish, which we caught with the frisbee before releasing it to the open ocean. After that we went back to the hotel's swimming pool for a swim. There was a poolside bar where you could order and drink while in the pool. That was a bloody cool concept! I loved it, but didn't manage to try it. I saw my favourite Irish Cream being served there though, and thought of giving it a go. There was also this seperate pool where we played something like water polo. That was really cool, other than the fact that Team Jason-Daniel lost in the end!

More to come in part II.