Anticipating

I had a rather weird thought when I first saw the NTU letter on the table at 6AM in the morning last Thursday. "Woah! This is it! My parents will never be able to ask me to study harder to get into Uni any more!". It doesn't mean that they won't nag though. They're already changing it to, "Study hard else you won't be able to graduate!". It never ends.

Anyway, I was delighted to receive the thing, but it just meant that I had some personal admin stuff to do. Till now all I've done is to read the "Admissions Handbook for Freshmen". I didn't understand everything, but it certainly made me aware that there's going to be a lot to pay for when I enter! Also, the fact that I've received the package made the fact that I'm going to NTU in 1.5 months seem more real. It's finally happening! And I don't even feel ready for it yet. I don't feel ready to be sociable and meet new people. I don't feel ready to move out of my house and to the hall. I don't feel ready to study. It's freaky.

I had a discussion with a group of friends awhile ago about first impressions. Human beings are weird. We all know that it isn't accurate to judge by first impressions but we do it all the time. And so our discussion revolved around what kind of person would you want to be seen at. My friend said that he'd try out the geek chic look - get a pair of cool specs, act shy a little, try to hook some girls with it, and then drop the pretense to present himself as tanned knight in shining armour. Okay, that wasn't exactly what he said, but you get the idea! In the end it didn't really work and he was cool just being himself.

Oh, then there are the camps to join. I can't make up my mind, but I'm sure I'll get around to joining one of them. It's kind of confusing when there are so many choices, but I've narrowed it down to the Union Orientation Camp (22nd - 28th July), NTU Sports Camp (23rd - 29th July) and Freshmen Overseas Orientation Trip (16th - 21th July). Currently I'm kind of leaning towards FOOT but due to the dates clashing with my office work, tuition and happening 2 days after my Taiwan trip, I'm still considering.

Some advice would be greatly appreciated!

Who's the Bimbo?!

Me: Hey guys! Wanna go out for dinner next Friday?

Shuming: Hey. Who's this? Sorry, I lost my phone and contacts!

Me: Gosh... *throws shoes* Wait... You free or not? You have to trust the fact that you might wanna meet me. Well, us.

Shuming: Yingheng. Must be you. I dun have other bimbo frens... Haha...

Me (Gives up and acts bimbo): That's like, how disgusting la! There wasn't enough lines to even make a guess! Ew! And I'm not sure bimbo's a compliment. Anyway, can or not?

Shuming: I'm fine w that, just tell me what time and where... Can the other guy in our relationship make it? Haha... (Fish Leong's zhui wu gu de di san zhe, most innocent third-party comes into mind. I burst out laughing.)

Zhenhui: Ok. No prob.

Me: Easier than I imagined! Significant other has agreed. more details next wk. Whoever backs out I tell ur mother u bluff me ok. cya nxt wk!

Shuming: Okiedokie bimbo... cya soon!

-_-"

Soundaholic Presents

To be honest I'm not really motiveated to post anything on music because there isn't anything good being released lately, unless you count the shizzle that I'm too lazy to hear yet. I don't know how Trent manages to update his blog everyday about celebrity gossip, but I suppose it's because it's bringing him the big bucks. Anyway, there's still music to be introduced.



Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned
It's getting confusing for everyone because it seems that this track is the fifth single to be released as a single from his hugely successful sophomore album Futuresex/Lovesounds. Sexyback, My Love, What Goes Around (Comes Around) were the first three. Then Summer Love got released onto US radio, but despite the long wait, there has been no video for it. All of a sudden, the video for Lovestoned was released this week, with news that it will be the next single in the UK. Lovestoned is one of my personal favourites partly because of how the song evolves from something groovy and nasty to something trippy. I was really excited to watch the video because the original track's too damn long, and I wanted to know how much of the track they'd keep intact! Thankfully, most of it's still in there! The video's pretty simple and you can view it here.



Sophie Ellis Baxtor - Me and My Imagination
On the first listen, it sounds like a track that'd be really suitable for a circus act. On a second listen, the track is unable to save itself. It's harmless, pleasant to listen to but therein lies its fault. What happened to the spirit of the insistent one-track-mind that was her previous single, Catch You? It's about as cheesy as Take Me Home, minus all the cool. She's going to have a big trouble with her comeback if she's releasing such singles. The break didn't do her good, and if her next single's going to be this crap, make no mistake, it'll probably be the last you'll hear of SEB.



LFO - Summer Girls
There's no third new song this week because I'm keeping the good stuff for next week! Nah, I just couldn't find anything worth introducing. Maybe you guys can give me a tip or two? Point me in the right direction? In the meantime, it's Summer so what better way then to take a listen to LFO sing about Summer Girls, NKOTB and Chinese food that makes them sick? It was also creditted to making giving A&F a boost in sales due to the lyrics about them liking summer girls wearing Abercrombie and Fitch. The song was their third single and was nominated for Billboard Music Award for Top Selling Single of the Year in 1999. It's certainly a song that brings back some pretty good memories, so take a listen to it here.

Read My Mind

Last night I was still reeling from the fantastic conversation I had with Guo Fei while he drove me home. I don't know what triggered the verbal vomit from me, because I usually need a good dose of alcohol to become this chatty, but I guess a good combination of long-time friendship and the right topics just got me into a chatty mood. I've been thinking about a lot of things lately and it felt really good to share it with someone who understands.

It was quite an armified outing yesterday as Samuel, Guo Fei and I met up for dinner at the Asian Kitchen at Vivocity. It's a rare occassion that I actually paid for the meal, because I owe Samuel one for introducing me the job that I'm doing and GF just because he's there. =P The real reason just won't look right in words so I won't bother. Guo Fei was late and so Samuel let me read one of his essays which I must admit was pretty impressive, but not unexpected of him. He got an A- for it (which he says he's going to find the lecturer/tutor to find out what he lacked because it sounds weird to be the-student-who-got-A-MINUS for English!). I felt the essay really showcased a different side of him that I was pretty impressed by. But because he's usually such a joker, I couldn't help but burst out laughing while reading it. It was impressive though, so a big thumbs up for him. Seems that he's doing really well at SIM.

Anyway, the food there was really good and we had a good time swapping stories about our lives, which are turning out to be really, really interesting. Haha! We then settled for coffee at Pacific Coffee, talked some more and happened to see our ex-OC, Mr Tong YC. He shook hands with us and we discuessed running, his job, and marathons before he went off to meet his friends! We also made arrangements for next Saturday's Sentosa outing by SMS-ing a few people, called up Kenneth to scold him for being MIA and surprise Max with GF's "unknown number"! We then headed to this restaurant where Jian Hui (my BMT-platoonmate-turned-39-sce-company-mate) was working at and coincidentally, Tong was there having his meal!

It was a surprisingly short trip from Harbourfront to Samuel's place, while the same could not be said for the trip to Woodlands! Along the way we covered topics like friendship, the feeling of entering Uni in a month, a motivational film he watched (and I brought up Britney, but I can't be arsed to explain why) and of course, driving. After the entire conversation I felt enlightened, inspired and challenged. (See Samuel, it's a technique to use '3'. I know because I always do. How's this compared to your 'distraught, devastated and utterly depressed'? =P )

Blading

I went blading for the first time in my life at East Coast on Monday with Fukang.

He knew how to blade and obviously, being my first time, I didn't.

The thing I realised was that how much the experience was a metaphor for our friendship of almost 7 years. He gave me support when I was about to fall, helped me up when I was down and he waited patiently while I was trailing behind. After we graduated from secondary school, we must've met each other about 10 times, but everytime we do, it's as if time had stood still.

He's not smiling because he was having a fever that day. Or maybe he thinks the serious look works for him.

I was pretty much drenched in sweat within the first 10 minutes I was on roller-blades. Probably out of nervousness and the intense struggle of keeping my balance.

It was thrilling. Despite my discomfort I gave it my best shot. There was blood. But I've grown. I'm no longer the person hiding in the corner. It's not something to boast about but I feel that I'm more confident in my own skin, willing to try new things and I'm more afraid of not having attempted than facing failure.

It was just a simple blading session at East Coast but I've gained so much.

When was the last time you tried something for the first time?

P/S: I've just listened to Stranger for the 150 millionth time and I'm about to throw up but for some reason I can't stop. It's satanic.

Soundaholic Presents...

Hilary Duff - Stranger
It's amazing and I never thought that I'd say this but I think Hilary Duff (or Fluff as I like to call her) is finally making good pop music. I used to hate her a lot (but then I used to hate Britney way back during the BOMT years). I mean, who the fuck actually thinks Why Not, So Yesterday, Come Clean and Wake Up are actually good songs? I think she's doing a pretty good job picking up where Britney left off. Okay, so she's not exactly there yet and I don't think Stranger is anywhere near the standards of Toxic, but when there isn't anything better on the airwaves and this is the best there is, I'll take it! With Love was funky enough (to reach US Dance #1) with its cool futuristic beeping all over the place while Stranger has a minute bit of Indian influence. It's got a great catchy melody and I guess that's all that matters. If the third single is anywhere near this good, I think I need to get the album.

I deserve to get shot for saying that.



Enrique Iglesias - Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)
Would you go for longevity or being the hottest stuff for the moment? That is essentially the difference between Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias. The 2005 comeback by Ricky Martin only managed a dismal #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 while the latest offering by Enrique, Do You Know (Ping Pong Song) is currently at #33. The Ping Pong part of the song is stinks of cheap gimmick, but his voice more than makes up for it. Yes, I miss the voice that gave us Bailamos, Rhythm Divine, and fine, Hero (for all you romantic nuts out there). I don't know what's all the fuss about his dick size though. There were reports saying that he was unsatisfied with it because it's too small, and then recently he's been quoted to say that it's big.

Damn Enrique, I understand. It never stays the same length all the time, does it?



Timbaland ft Keri - The Way I Are
I love Timbaland and all the shizzle that he's produce, but when he makes an album all about himself, it becomes a bit of an overkill. However it's saved by some gems such as the second single after Give It To Me - The Way I Are. The beats are smokin' and rhymes are flowin'! His heavily vocoderised voice contrasts with Keri's smooth pipes to make magic happen. I was thinking real hard whether to feature this song, but I've got a sneaky feeling that it could probably blow up all over the charts after the success of P.Diddy's Last Night. "Baby if you strip, you could get a tip, cos I like you just the way you are..."



The Cranberries - Promises
Okay, and then there's the song that I've got to recommend from the past. I know I pick songs up real randomly, but this one's one of my favourites from the Cranberries. Promises packs enough punch to come close to being as hardcore as Zombie, yet starts off soothingly as if it were Animal Instict. The track was the lead single off their 1999 album, Bury The Hatchet. Every second of the song is delicious, from the haunting verses to the intense chorus. I love singing along to the yodelling. Wow. Take a listen here.