Sense and Shoi-bility

2006-11-07T00:11:00.000+08:00

Yo peeps.

I've moved to a new blog at Wordpress: Inevitability.

Cheers.

Constant Vigilence

2006-10-29T12:52:00.000+08:00

2 weeks of work have passed and working life has been hectic. So is that good or bad?

I guess it's so far so good. I don't dread going to work each morning (yet?) although neither do I look forward to a new day of work too. I'm suddenly exposed to a very interesting and colorful environment, and I get to learn a lot each day - so I guess that's a pro. And my bosses are pretty nice, humorous and easy to get along despite their high status. So that's fantastic too, though I seem to feel all the time that they expect quite a lot from their subordinates, and that could be stressful if I let it be.

You might have noticed that I haven't mention where I work at. Well, I can't. Cause if I do, then I can't tell all the juicy gossip and office politics that go on in there. And there's a TRUCKLOAD of those.

In fact, on my very first day of work, my boss spent a morning explaining all the politics going on in the department. She even apologized for bringing me in at such a bad time because the department is currently in a state of political turmoil. All the players there (not including lowly staff like me and all the other people who sit in the same office, of course) are rich, powerful, knowledgeable, well-respected and highly regarded. And some of them are simply trying to claw (and I mean claw literally) their way up to the top, bringing down the others standing in their way at no cost at all.

Let's just make the story short: The big big boss is the close relative of a BIG BIG BIG person in our country. And this person is so damn powerful that this person only speaks to 2 subordinates - one of my 2 bosses and this evil char bor, lets call her BD (Black Devil) for short. So you can figure out that these 2 persons are the next 2 important people in the department. I think I'm damn lucky that I work under one of them and he happens to be of the the nice ones in this war, people who just want to do their work well and find all this politics unnecessary and disappointing. BD is the current head of the department and she's evil cause she has just gotten 2 of the nice ones fired by back stabbing them in front of the big big boss.

Now being fired is scary because you won't expect people in this occupation to get fired unless they do some damn dreadful things like causing deaths of others accidentally. Morever the 2 persons were highly regarded in their field. And now every other of the nice ones are damn scared cause it could have been them too. The environment is so tense for them and they now have to watch their mouths, their hands AND their backs. Damn sian la cause they have loads of work to do aside of all this.

It kinda shocked me, and to an extent, disgusted me to know all of these because I wouldn't have expected people in that occupation to be doing childish and despicable acts like stabbing others in the back and even getting them fired by the big boss.

However life has never failed to surprise me. And there's all sorts of people in the world.

But at the end of the day, it's NONE OF MY BUSINESS.

Because firstly, I don't dab in office politics. Either I like you, or I don't. I'm probably good at pretending that I like someone and can be friendly and all, even when all I want to do might just be to set the person's hair on fire. But I don't like to do so, and I won't do so. Because I like life to be simple and things to be uncomplicated and I don't want to taint my soul. I'm not a saint but being despicable and deceitful is not my style.

I just have to do my own part well. Build a good reputation. And gain the trust of my bosses. Gives no bloody idiot an excuse or reason to stab me in the back. And whichever fucking idiot dares to do so, at least there's hope that my bosses would back me up.

Currently only one fucking bitch has been mildly rude to me and I'm not even sure if what she has done could have been considered as rude, but I am already considering catching and putting cockroaches into her drawer to give her a nice surprise. Because one fucking thing that I hate is people being rude to me as I happen to be a very polite person even if that's not how I appear to be. I won't see her often so I doubt that there will be any more of such unpleasant encounters. If there's, then she better watches out because it won't be just cockroaches. I can promise that.

Overall, I quite like and enjoy my job though I can't say the same for the politics aspect because it's tiring to be on constant vigilence and to watch my mouth, hands AND back all the time.

A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee

2006-10-13T21:03:00.000+08:00

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?"

"Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

来人！有刺客！

2006-10-12T16:33:00.000+08:00

Time is one ruthless killer.

When I was young (cue: still in primary school), time had passed so slowly for me, especially during the June and Dec school holidays. I think that I didn't really fancy holidays in the past cause I'd liked to go to school where I could play with all my friends and learn new things. I liked going to school early before the flag-raising ceremony so that I could play hop-scotch or chasing
with my friends. I liked PE lessons when I could play ball games (I think I didn't really enjoying running). I liked Art & Craft lessons when I could draw and paint. I liked Music lessons when we could play the recorders, or sometimes the triangles. I liked my ECA hours (nowadays, hell, no kid will understand what ECA is. It's all CCAs now. bah.). I loved the excursions, the Science experiments at the labs.

And when it was the holidays, there was none of this and I thought time passed too slowly. The holidays seemed to last forever. I was always like, hell, let time pass faster and let me grow up faster so that I could do more things than I was allowed now.

And then the devil must have heard me cause time never slows down since then. Don't you think that time seems to pass faster as we grow older? Scientifically, of course it never does. Time is still the same, 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year (only for normal case anyway). But I think when we get older, there's more and more
things that we need to do and want to do. It ends up that time never seems enough for some of us these days.

Time is fortunately still enough for me because I think it's always a matter of choice and I like to have time for myself and my family. But time is passing too quickly. 11 years ago, I just passed my PSLE exams with flying colors. 7 years ago, I just finished "O" levels. 5 years ago I just proudly graduated from NJC. 4 months ago I just ended my schooling life. Suddenly I'm 23 and bloody hell, next year is the bloody Year of Pig again. Bloody hell. And I'm going to be bloody 24. And then I now look at my life and wonder what I've done with it.

Or what I've not done. Seems to be a lot worse when I look at it this way. Suddenly 23 years have passed with a blink of the eye and I seem to be still at the exact spot where I've started out 23 years ago. Square One? Damn depressing cause if there's one thing that man can never change, there will be the hand of Time - like some bloody spoilt clockwork that no one can never
push back once it started moving its ass. Bloody Time.

And as much as I would like to deny, I still look back to some events in my life, some friends that I used to have, and ask myself if I've done the right thing, would things turn out differently if I've done it this way instead of that. As if it is seriously of any use because regretting is one useless piece of shit. Even if I was given a second chance, I might still have done things the same way. I would have liked to be the kinda person when asked if he or she has done anything that he or she has regretted, to be able to say proudly in that person'a face N-O, NO!

But then I grow up to realise that I'm just as vulnerable as anyone out there, as fallible and as insignificant. Not sure if this is a good thing afterall because I thought man grows up to be wiser. Am I any not wiser? Or am I wiser because there's this quote from Gandhi that goes like : "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." So I guess it's perfectly normal to self-doubt and no, I'm not going to suffer from depression. Because depressed people don't gain weight.

A weird name.

2006-10-12T14:56:00.000+08:00

My sister has the weirdest thoughts sometimes.

That day, she suddenly had this idea that 有人 sounds like a nice name. I was like, yucks you must be kidding me. That's a funny name. Your kid will curse you for life if you give him that name cause his friends are going to make fun of him in school. And she was all like, what child? I'm not going to have any children in the future. You are going to bear me a nephew and I'm going to name my nephew 有人 in the future.

I was like, siao. Nephew?! What nephew?! I'm like so left on the shelf. And even if I do have children, I must be equally siao to name him 有人 just for you. And she was like oblivious to what I was saying at all and went off mumbling how I must find someone with a surename like 梅 to marry so that my child can have a name like 梅有人 (没有人). Then continued to laugh wildly at her own joke.

Biang. How come I have a sister like that? =)

Different perspectives.

2006-10-12T14:46:00.000+08:00

I don't know about you but I love the 《无间道》 trilogy. In times when the Hong Kong movie industry was declining, and all the glory and glamour that once belonged to the Hong Kong movie-makers had almost faltered, 《无间道》 came along. Armed with the confidence to reboost the Hong Kong movie industry, it did do so. When the Hong Kong films were beginning to suck terribly in terms of storylines and plots, till the extent that even the superb acting skills of veterans like Tony Leung couldn't even make up for it, 《无间道》 saved their world. Not just with the excellent performances of the cream of the crop of the Hong Kong actors, but also with an intriguing and exciting never-been-seen-before plot and breath-taking directing. And of course, it helped that 《无间道》 is about what the Hong Kongers do best: the world of the Chinese secret society.

It wasn't just the cast (Andy Lau!!!!) that attracted me. Wasn't the secret society factor too. I like the Buddhism in the movies. I'm not a religious person but I do draw many of my principles and thinking from Buddhism. And I agree with the idea of 无间地狱 where evil-doers don't even get the luxury of dying and ending everything once and for all. Instead they have to kinda like be burnt eternally in hell. Makes anyone (probably if you do have a soul in the first place) to do a double take about doing evil.

When I heard that Brad Pitt bought the rights to the Hong Kong trilogy and was planning to do his own Hollywood version, part of me was very interested to see how the American is going to portray it in Hollywood style, and the other part of me was going to see how the stupid ang mohs are going to screw up because they can never match up to the Hong Kong version when Hong Kongers are so good at the gangster style.

So imagine my surprise when I read everywhere that Martin Scorsese (also director of "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator") did the most fabulous job of "The Departed" (Hollywood's version of "Infernal Affairs")! The movie is not only topping movie charts everywhere in USA, people even agree that it's THE movie for the year, worthy of Oscars.

And Asians agree too. Asians who have seen and understood 《无间道》 agree too. They say that the cast's equally good (I've read that Jack Nicholson's Frank Costello was even more vicious and fun to watch than the character's equivalent, 曾志伟's Sheng-ge) and the plot is even better than the original though it has kept very closely to it. *gasp* The ang mohs have utterly surprised me this time round.

I'm definitely catching the movie. In fact, it's officially released today! Might have a feedback entry after watching the moive so watch out for this space =).

A good read.

2006-10-10T19:56:00.001+08:00

I've just finished Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys". A brilliant book if you ask me. And a brilliant writer too. I first saw recommendations of his works on magazines, but hadn't really made an effort to find and read any of his books. Finally made up my mind and bought that book from Borders last Tuesday.

A really wise choice, now to think about it. I'ts truly hard to classify his novels (he's actually more famous for his comics, being the creator/writer of monthly cult DC Comics horror-weird series, Sandman, which has won him many awards). "Anansi Boys" has been a mixture of myth, some romance, a bit of dark humor and even a little of horror. Hard to classify properly but nevertheless an exciting read. The contents have little logic because there's the mythical aspect but yet everything can somehow make sense to you in the end.

Sounds fun right hahah. Get the book. It's fab. I'm going to lay my hands on "American Gods" soon after having placed a reservation at the National Library. It's supposed to be Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, and I think it won him some kinda award too. Hope that it'll turn out to be exhilarating too. =)

I'm so glad that i'm picking up my reading habit once again. I used to read sooo much but it has kinda dwindled after I went to JC. Reading is one of the most useful hobbies I think. I read this quote before that goes something like: There's no difference between a man who doesn't read and a man who can't. How true isn't it?

偶回来了！

2006-10-09T16:59:00.000+08:00

Okok I know that I haven't been blogging in a zillion years. Or almost 3 months to be exact.

Well at least now you know that I'm still alive.

Or you rather me be dead??!

Oh my heart's crushed.

haha I've not been blogging for a simple reason. Blogger has been going bonkers on me a few months back. Everything lagged seriously and sometimes my computer would just shut down itself automatically in the middle of a blog entry. That was definitely enough to drive me utterly nuts ok?! Imagine typing a long and carefully-thought-through entry halfway, and then *zaaappp* the bloody computer just shut down. Without saving the entry. Almost enough to make me take a hammer and han-dum the bloody machine ok.

So I just stopped blogging altogether. LOL.

And another reason is of course because I haven't been too well recently. Not sick as in physically. Physically I'm fine. Even the doc said so today. =) Hell, I even gained like 2 kilograms over the last 4 months after my commencement! You've seen sick people gain weight before?! But mentally, spiritually, yes, I have been a bit tired, a bit lost, a bit of everything negative. I guess graduation from school (for the rest of my life) and entering a totally different phase of my life has that kinda powerful effect on me. And I don't like to blog about negative things all the time. Is that some kinda illness actually? Because I think sometimes I tend to bottle up all the negative stuff. But I also feel that negative stuff and feelings are a bit like all the haze that we've these days, though today it's much better - you might feel better if you release it but it can make other people around you sick and uncomfortable. That's why I don't talk sometimes, I think.

I think it's more or less over now. It had been so bad that I had actually wanted to turn to religion. No offense but you know that it's bad for me when I even thought of something like that. But of course, I didn't. Because if there's something that's similar to a virtue in me, it's probably my determination. Or you can call it stubbornness too. Even in my worse times, I still think that I can do it eventually and if other people can do it, I can do. So stubborn that I can't stand myself sometimes too.

But the gloom's more or less going away now, and I'm glad. I should be happy, so I can't understand when I'm not. However, there's still this empty space, this little bit more, that I need to either fill up soon (but how? I've no idea haha cos sometimes it's not like one hand can clap) or just forget about it like how I've done so all this while. It won't completely cure the problem because one day will come when I remember it again. But that's better than having in gnaw at me all the time.

I need something interesting/exciting to happen to me soon, or else my own life is going to bore me to death. Reminds me of that commercial. I think it was the Navy. Something like "How would it be if your life was to be made into a movie". I can picture all the movie-goers slipping off into Dreamland or cursing the movie, my movie, for wasting their precious money and time.

Will my new job be the one solution? I hope so.

HPI

2006-07-23T18:01:00.000+08:00

Well, I'm sure that you've heard of the Happy Planet Index recently, especially after all that big hoo-ha splashed all over local news papers about "how unhappy Singaporeans have been calculated to be".

Now, aren't we all already accustomed to comparing countries in terms of crude riches or what they trade? Some countries earn, or are given, reputations for music, sporting excellence, food, or as holiday destinations. There are international league tables for performance on a range of issues from corruption to football. But to rank countries according to the level of "happiness" of the people?? Now this is a first.

What exactly is the Happy Planet Index (HPI)? (Source: (Un)Happy Planet Index)

HPI is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world and is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives. HPI incorporates three separate indicators: ecological footprint, life-satisfaction and life expectancy. The statistical calculations that underlie the HPI are quite complex. However conceptually, it is straight forward and intuitive.

The HPI reflects the average years of happy life produced by a given society, nation or group of nations, per unit of planetary resources consumed. Put another way, it represents the efficiency with which countries convert the earth’s finite resources into well-being experienced by their citizens. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness).

The Index doesn’t reveal the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible. The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to
produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being.

On a scale of 0 to 100 for the HPI, a score of 83.5 has been set as a reasonable target. This is based on attainable levels of life expectancy and well-being and a reasonably sized ecological footprint. Today, however, the highest HPI is only 68.2, scored by the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. The lowest, and perhaps less surprising than some other results, is Zimbabwe’s at 16.6. No country achieves an overall high score and no country does well on all three indicators.

A pattern has been discovered: island nations score well above average in the Index. They have higher life satisfaction, higher life expectancy and marginally lower Footprints than other states. Yet incomes (by GDP per capita) are roughly equal to the world average. Even within regions, islands do well. Malta tops the Western world with Cyprus in seventh place (out of 24); the top five HPI nations in Africa are all islands; as well as two of the top four in Asia. Perhaps a more acute awareness of environmental limits has sometimes helped their societies to bond better and to adapt to get more from less. Combined with the enhanced well-being that stems from close contact with nature, the world as a whole stands to learn much from the experience of islands. However, it doesn't stand true for our little sunny island, does it? Our HPI is a mere 36.1.

And now you can calculate your personal HPI as well. The questions will ask you about where you live, your health, lifestyle, and how you feel about life. The answers you give are used to calculate your own personal score on the Happy Planet Index. I did mine and my personal HPI (35.9) is about the same as our country's. Seems pathetic haha. But I think that the test took into consideration of where I live so I guess that can explain the score.

The Gossips

2006-07-22T19:16:00.000+08:00

I adore celebrity gossips. Yes, not exactly something to flaunt nor to be proud of, and I'm really not a gossip-monger. Well, at least I don't really care about REAL people's gossips. By "real", I meant people around me. Celebrities are not real people. They are so out of my league haha. So yes, their business is my business, and yes, gossip columns are my favorite part of newspapers and magazines.

Lately, being extremely free as usual (no luck with job hunting yet), these few websites have been my daily haunts:

1. Pink Is The New Blog.

2. The Superficial - Because You're Ugly.

3. Perez Hilton.com

4. Go Fug Yourself

Actually these blogs write about more or less about the same celebrities at the same time, but the interesting thing is that they will write pretty different topics on the same photographs. If you only have time for one, just read the first one. It's the best of its kind that I've ever read.

For the latest news from a more objective point of view, minus the sarcasm, read People.com: The #1 Celebrity Site on the Web.

In theirs 40s

2006-07-19T17:51:00.000+08:00

With so many delicious, drool-inducing men in their 40s still taking up male leads, strutting the screen, the big 40s don't seem so scary afterall!

First one up, Keanu Charles Reeves, or just known to everyone else as Keanu Reeves, undoubtedly one of the sexiest male actors on Earth. Despite being 42 (born on 2 September 1964). His father is part Chinese part Hawaiian and his mother is English, making him Eurasian and also giving him his unique good looks. Two of his movies are going to be released soon: A Scanner Darkly (release date: 20 July 2006) and The Lake House (release date: 27th July 2006).

Not sure if I'll be catching the first movie "A Scanner Darkly" because it doesn't really appeal to me. Yet. Anyway it is an animated sci-fi film set in suburban Orange County, California in the future. It imagines a paranoid world in which it seems two of every 10 Americans has been hired by the government to spy on the other 8, in the name of national security and drug enforcement. When one reluctant government recruit (Reeves) is ordered to start spying on his friends, he is launched on a journey into the absurd, where outsourced government contractors largely define the social construct, where identities and loyalties are impossible to decode, and where not even his girlfriend can be trusted. The film highlights the inconsistencies and ironic consequences of the war on drugs.

On the other hand, I'll DEFINITELY be watching "The Lake House" when it is released at the end of this month! Not sure if you've ever caught the fantastic Korean movie "Il Mare" (2000) starring Jeon Ji-hyeon and Lee Jeong-jae. But I caught it on tv twice in the past and it moved me everytime I caught it. Well, "The Lake House" is actually a Hollywood version of "Il Mare"! That's why I've been anticipating its release! Moreover, it features cutie Keanu!!!~ What a bonus! Lee Jeong-jae's not that bad but I'm sure that you've never even heard of him haha.

Here's the scope of the film: When Alex Wyler (Reeves) moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster (Bullock) who's writing from two years in the future. The mailbox outside their house allows time-travelling of the letters! Their correspondence turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms.

And who else is sizzling on screen this July but one of my favourites, Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"?

And he's already 43 (born in 9 June 1963).

How can anyone not LOVE Captain Jack Sparrow?

He's filthy, looks like he needs a good bath, braids his beard with colorful beads, insists on wearing that ridiculous hat of his, walks with an even more ridiculous swagger, mumbles with a heavy accent, and oh, those gold teeth of his!

He's cowardly, he lies, he cheats, he's dishonest, he doesn't care much about his crew (although in the end he did come back for his Black Pearl, but I think that he only cares for his ship, and not the crew haha) or any other people in fact.

But you will still end up liking him very much in the end.

Well, that's the charm of Johnny Depp. Any other actor who plays this role would've screwed up. But NOT Johnny Depp. He IS Captain Jack Sparrow. Even honey Orlando Bloom who looked so delicious in "LOTR" pales in comparison.

Guys really have it lucky for them in terms of the aging process. They can still look so hot in their 40s. Me? Are you kidding? I'm already fearing the big THREE. *gulp*

We all heart HOT men.

2006-07-19T16:09:00.000+08:00

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I think that it's a good idea to really learn something new every single day, well, here's a start:

Fact of the day: The first e-mail was sent over the Internet in 1971. (Source: AskMen.com)

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I think Cristiano Ronaldo is very H.O.T. No matter how guys out there boo and taunt, I still think that this 21-year-old Portugal and Man U player is sizzling hot. It's darn hard to believe that he's only 21 when he's looking like that. I look at him and see a man, not just a boy who has just kinda stepped into adulthood.

So anyway, that wasn't the main point, that day I was surfing the net for his pictures, when I came upon this website that offers some pretty cool pictures. Cristiano looked very cute in all those pictures and plenty of the pictures were nicely photshopped like this one:

So cute right?? So many hearts! And yes, he's HOT.

There were also pictures of him during trainings, on holidays etc etc etc.

Many pictures with him topless and all. Didn't notice anything funny about the whole thing until I kept seeing some pictures that, well, focused on, well, very strange things indeed! Then I read the words that followed the pictures, and the author wrote about also very strange things like "bulge" and all. hahah~ At first, I just took it that the author was refering to his muscles, but well, hmm, ya, she wasn't hahah. *blush*

Then I looked closer at the sidebar of the website which clearly featured many other male celebrities as well and saw this:

Ahhh no wonder. Then I checked up on the authors of the website and found out that they were TWO GUYS, not girls. When I see websites or fansites, featuring hot men, I always naturally think that girls own them. hahah~ I forgot that both girls AND gays LOVE hot men!

That would kindly explains all the, ahem, strange things I kept seeing on that website. Let's just say that girls and gays don't exactly focus on the same parts of beautiful men. And we don't care if a guy likes to wear it on his left, right or any direction at all!

Wallpaper Craze

2006-07-17T14:56:00.000+08:00

It was hilarious. Dia told me that her colleague had this wallpaper, which she set on her laptop in the office, of the Italian football team all topless in swimming trunks. Which of course raised eyebrows (nothing else, unless there's gays around) from everyone within the visible range, i.e. practically everyone in office. It was atrocious haha cause it is so unsuitable in a professional setting. No matter how gorgeous the footballers had looked.

I just knew that I've to dig out that pic. LOL.

Rather than waiting for Dia to ask her friend where she found that, a quick search on Yahoo solved all my problems.

And I found out that instead of the entire Italian football team, only five of them were featured in the advertisement. Ohh quite a disappointment for me! No Totti! How can they not have Totti anyway??!! Bah! But luckily heart-throb Cannavaro was one of the models in that advertisement, together with fellow team mates Blasi, Gattuso, Pirlo and Zambrotta.

And it wasn't even swimming trunks. They were in underwear la. Dolce & Gabbana underwear. It was a D&G advertisement. Underwear Campaign 2006. Geez, I didn't know that they've campaigns for underwear haha. Well, learn something new every day! D&G was the official sponsorer for the Italians during the FIFA World Cup 2006, Germany, anyway. Not their jerseys, of course. But the attires (suits) during press meetings etc. But I suspect that Dia was too embarrassed to check out the wallpaper closer in public and to ask her friend for greater details about the photo, even if she's interested haha. I'm not suggesting that she's interested haha. I would have that pic in my email inbox within 5 minutes. LOL. I'm so lecherous.

Anyway somehow I think because of the presence of Blasi, Gattuso, Pirlo and Zambrotta, the advertisement didn't look really sexy. Good bods are cool. But even better if a handsome face comes with it. God, we ARE picky, aren't we. But honestly, Blasi, Gattuso, Pirlo and Zambrotta? Err not my kind of cute. But well, D&G's really generous. The 5 dudes come in either black or white. Take your pick.

(In reality, they come in candy-colored underwear too. But I was too appalled beyond words to put the pix here.)

Black...

Or white for you??

Did your mum just catch you looking at those pix??

Well, just don't tell her that it's my site you're reading. I don't need another mum getting pissed off with me. And don't even ask me about the first one.

But haha during the FIFA World Cup period, one night when I was innocently surfing the official website for pix to add to my blog entry, my mum caught me when I was glancing through photos like this one below.

She immediately started orh-hor-ing very loudly behind me, giving me quite a startle. Not because I was guilty of anything, just a natural response to a sudden loud noise. And when I turned to look at her, she was wagging her finger cheekily at me as if I really did something wrong. As if I was surfing porn. Urgh. Parents. hahah.

"Pleeeaassseeeee." I told my mum off. I was using the computer in the living room with my sister sitting somewhere behind me watching tv, with a full access to the computer screen anytime too. And everyone else somewhere in the flat, who can come into the living room any moment and SEE my computer screen. "And besides, the guys have their pants on. Nothing to see what." My cheeky monkey mother. I think she's kinda worried somewhere deep inside her heart what we really do online every day, giving the considerable time that we spend on the net. But porn??!!! I like shirtless good-looking men with good bods. Yes. But not porn stars. Yucks.

LOANSHARKS

2006-07-16T18:16:00.000+08:00

You know that you've definitely, without any doubt of any sort at all, stepped into the adult world, when you start thinking about how to pay your loans. Yes, L-O-A-N-S. Loans. Geez, that word alone sounds so grown-up. C'mon, most adults do have loans that they have to spend portions of their monthly salaries to pay, loans that make losing their jobs unthinkable and worse than another Titanic or Poseidon sinking, loans that make them have second thoughts about grabbing that Gucci or LV bag that's already on sale. Ok, maybe the last part's only applicable to women like me. Correction: it's only applicable to people not born with silver spoons in their mouths like me.

Oh, loans. What a familiar word to most adults out there. Car loans. Apartment loans. Nowadays I think that you can get a loan for anything, anything at all. I've no doubt at all that my life will be full of loans. Loans that I'll probably spend my lifetime, working my ass off to pay off.

To start off, it did come as a pretty huge shock when my sister told me that a letter from the bank had arrived. First thought that came into my mind: The loansharks have come for me. Ok, the bank won't be too pleased to have me calling them loansharks. They didn't exactly put a gun to my head to have me get a loan from them, though neither I had a choice. I don't think that there's any chance they'll be hanging bloody pig heads outside my door or chain my door or splash paint on my door if I miss a month of payment. And their interest rate isn't as excruciatingly high. To be honest, an average interest rate of approximately 5% seems ridiculously low when you are trying to earn interest from your savings in the bank. But, when it comes to loans, 5% is too much la. My loans amount up to about $40 000. Do your Math. The interest alone's $2000! That's like a month's salary for me! And I haven't even got a job yet!! *faint*

But ok, to be fair, it's my own "fault" that I haven't find a job yet, if it can be considered as a fault. I do not want to rush into a job that I don't like. And my parents are kind enough not to hurry me about my job too. In fact, my mum gave me a deadline to get a job by end of October. I was mortified. October??!! If I'm not employed by then, I will absolutely be mortified. But I do appreciate my mum's support. It's moments like this, when something big is about to happen in your life, you are kinda lost but you are searching for the light, and then she's there for you, yet giving you ample space to breathe. She's my rock. =) And if it wasn't already sweet enough, she decided that I shouldn't chip in for the household allowance until I pay off my loan, so that I've more money to pay to the banks monthly. She's my 10-carat diamond. =) =)

And if my 10-carat diamond isn't enough, I've a smaller 5-carat diamond in the form of my sister who's also my accountant. Ok, she's in Biology but she's really good with money. We think that it's a waste that she has no interest in Economics or Accountacy. So she has calculated for me how much I should pay each month out of my salary, and how many years it would need for me to pay off everything. I told her about my wish to settle everything within two years because of the interest rate, which is technically not quite possible with my supposed salary. And she actually volunteered to lend me all her savings, which is a substantial sum that should make me feel guilty cause I've negligible savings and while she's 3 years younger, she has 50 times of my savings, at the end of the two years, to pay off the rest of the loans. Of course, I would've to return her the money, and proably more than that, cause she has her own loans too. But it's the thought that counts. It's when you are in deep shit, though logically speaking, I'm not yet in such deep shit but whatever, and your family stands by you and gives you a hand without any doubt of you at all. My 5-carat diamond.

So yes, my family's a bunch of diamonds. That's why sometimes I look at the world, look at the expensive cars that other people drive, huge houses that other people live in, Gucci bags that other girls carry, and then look at myself. And still think that I've all that I need in the world. Although once in a while, I feel that I'm lying to myself. Though I know that I'm not. You get what I mean? It's like you really have everything that you need and you know it, but somewhere inside your heart, you still hope that you can have that Gucci bag or Porche. hahah call that not knowing how to feel entirely satisfied, I guess. Or a materialistic woman.

But it's all about balance. Work and play. Family and friends. Save and spend. Or should it be "SPEND and save"? haha~ But honestly, it's the first time in my life that I've realised the importance of savings, and the reality of loans which I'm afraid is going to be of a prolonged existence in my life. But I don't see it as a burden. I've always known in my younger days that I would need to take loans to complete my varsity education. It didn't come as a shock. It's like part of my life, part of my family's life - loans, loans and more loans. People born with silver spoons in their mouths live life the easy way but learn life the hard way. People like me live life the hard way but learn life the easy way. It's all relativity.

I hear the banks calling me already. Welcome to the life of working people.

It's just too cute to be true.

2006-07-14T14:24:00.000+08:00

All girls love anything cute, soft and fluffy. That's why this website Cute Overload! ;) is my favourite of the moment.

I mean, just look at all these kittens!!~ Damn cute la.

And I think Ah-pi would love this website too...bUnniEsssss!!~

It's really cute overload! =)

:: Celebration Time ::

2006-07-13T13:56:00.000+08:00

According to latest news, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that Zidane could be stripped of his Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup due to violent conduct. - "The winner of the award is not decided by FIFA, but by an international commission of journalists. That said, FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethic of the sport."

Can I let off some fireworks to CELEBRATE pleasssee??

Cause not only does it mean that Zidane would be deprived of what he doesn't deserve in the first place, my darling Silver Ball award winner Fabio Cannavaro could get what he deserves!!~

So what if Zidane has openly apologised to "children and fans"? So what if Materazzi really insulted Zidane's "sister and mother", though Materazzi has denied doing so, in due respect to mothers? According to law, if I hit someone on the streets who scolded my mum, police would tackle me, take me to the police station and then the court would fine or even jail me. Say "sorry" also no use. Reminded me of something that 道明寺 said in [流星花园]: "如果道歉有用，那还要警察干吗??!" Or something lidat. FIFA regulations are soccer laws, aren't they.

Zidane did headbutt Materazzi.

Unless Materazzi's chest has some kinda mysterious attractive force that managed to draw Zidane's head to it violently, against Zidane's will.

No, that didn't happen and Zidane did headbutt Materazzi.

FIFA can punish Materazzi if he deserves it. Though I doubt so if he said nothing harsh about racism, religion or politics. I'm sure everyone scolds everyone else's mother or sister on the field. Why must Zidane get so angry.

So Materazzi can be punished, and so must be Zidane for his violent and menacing act. He might have been the "greatest player of his generation" but he should still be punished for his mistake. He can be forgiven by his people and fans, but he must be punished appropriately. You can't let him get away with something so horrendous just because he WAS the "greatest player of HIS generation". READ: he's a thing of the PAST. Put him in a museum or something.

So yes, please, STRIP him of his Golden Ball award. *crossed fingers*

Headbutting

2006-07-12T17:25:00.000+08:00

Muwahahaaa found this online:

G.R.A.D.U.A.T.I.O.N

2006-07-12T15:08:00.000+08:00

This is a late entry but my commencement ceremony was a BLAST!

And I didn't even want to to attend it in the first place hahah.

Ya, I dislike ceremonies. Although I like attending others' ceremonies like weddings. But when it comes to my own business, I do think that ceremonies are unnecessary and a big hassle. So yes, I dislike ceremonies.

And yes, I didn't want to sign up for my commencement ceremony because if I did, I had to decide on the sizes of the gown and mortar, order them, pay a pretty hefty price for them, collect them, learn how to wear them nicely, prepare for the ceremony the day before, borrow a white shirt to wear on that day, get all dressed up in prim and proper shirt-pants-heel attire with full makeup piled on my face on a damn h.o.t day, get my parents to go and help them decide what to wear, borrow a digital camera to take photos on that day, drag my heavy gown bag to NUS, spend money to take a cab to NUS, sit through the one-and-a-half-hour ceremony without my good friends on both sides, trying hard to make the stupid mortar look nice on my head, trying to hope that people didn't think that the stupid mortar looked stupid on my head, walking around in a heavy gown on a damn h.o.t day and sweating like a pig, blah blah blah.

But uh-huh I did sign up for my commencement ceremony in the end because afterall it's once in a lifetime (no hope of getting me back to school) for me, my parents would love to go (it's their first time but I'm sure it won't be their last) and my friends were all going. And yes, so I had to do all of those. *sigh*

And it was such a tiring experience that I'm utterly relieved that it's really ONCE in my lifetime.
And for all those who had your mummies ironed your gown and slip for you, spoilt brats! Naughty naughty! Cause it was damn damn tough to iron those! I took like an hour plus, and loadsa sweat, to press everything straight cause mine were all crumpled up in the gown bag. Hmm because I simply stuffed everything in hahah.

The gown bag's my favourite part of the entire package!

My crumpled stuff!!

My stupid mortar looked better on my Bobdog.

Ironing affair! H.O.T and sweaty!

Halfway through ironing, I discovered a pocket which I never knew existed!

After loadsa sweat, my proud work.

My prim and proper attire.

What attire is complete without shoes! But it's a headache when you have 2 pairs to choose.

And the winner is: The more prim and proper pair!

And one can't forget to bring these!! Invitation cards and attendance card!!~

And now I'm all set to go!

Even the ceremony turned out to be fun. Although I don't really know the people sitting on both sides of me well. But we still chit-chatted a bit. Afterall, this was supposed to be a happy occasion.

We sniggered at the professor who was reading out names as we went up the stage to receive the scroll one by one, and trust me, the one who did the second shift, also didn't manage to pronounce a single name correctly. I was so glad that I went up the stage when the first-shift professor was doing the duty. He was better with names and I couldn't believe that he actually got my name absolutely correct! Few teachers could get my name right at their first attempt. I guess he was good with hanyu pinyin. :-) When I was in JC, my Indian PE teacher was so fed-up with my name (he could only get my surename correct haha) that he called me S-H-I-Q-I. LOL. I thought it was funny like hell.

And we also giggled at the ridiculous-sounding names of some of the graduates. Not very nice, I know, but well, we were self-entertaining. Making a boring ceremony fun. Amused at the funny faces and actions some people made on stage (the camera was on us all the time when we were on stage). We cheered when this PRC fren took off his mortar and waved madly at the audience after shaking the prof's hand and receiving his scroll. Laughed when another PRC friend tried to bow politely at the audience but the tassel on the mortar kept getting into his face, and he flicked it away irritatedly with a dramatic wave of his hand.

Just before we got onto the stage, we wondered if we should bow. Would our mortars drop if we tried to bow? Should we bow to the audience? Would the prof get our names correctly?? Ridiculous thoughts but we had fun. :-)

And when the whole ceremony finally ended and our poor wrists were almost going to snap from the continuous clapping, gold streamers exploded from above (we honestly had a shock at the boom) and 100s of balloons in many different colors were released from the ceiling. It was hell of a spectacular sight. The next ten minutes or so we spent hitting the balloons away and bursting them. Ok, I didn't burst a single one cause I fear balloon bursting, but my parents obviously had hell of a time too as they told me proudly later that they had squeezed burst at least 40 balloons together. HA, parents.

The hall.

Balloons!

And MORE Balloonssss!!!~

To sum up, it was a fun experience and I'm extremely glad that I went. A brillant way to end years of formal education. :-)

L.U.S.T

2006-07-11T14:25:00.000+08:00

.: Fabio Cannavaro :.

Curtains fall.

2006-07-11T13:32:00.000+08:00

FIFA World Cup 2006 has ended. So has my life. Of watching, eating, drinking, sleeping and thinking football. I'm despaired. Unconsolable. Shaken. Ok, maybe not so serious. Though I would definitely need more time to adjust my biological clock back to normal, non-WC days.

One more thing that has ended with this World Cup. The international careers of many many fabulous (old) players in the world. All have ended fairly well, except for one. Zinedine Zidane of France. He had wanted to end his career on the highest note by leading France to a second World Cup win but a moment of madness in the final against Italy saw him leave the stage in disgrace. Yes, although Zidane had opened the scoring with a 7th-minute penalty and almost got a second with a flying header which Buffon nimbly flicked away, the world's final memory of him in a France shirt will be of him disappearing down the stadium steps to the dressing room, head bowed, not even casting a glance at the trophy that sat on a plinth nearby.

I was motified and, strangely at the same time, extremely amused, when I saw the video playback where Zidane floored Materazzi with a butt to the chest. And I was equally tickled as Italian players such as Buffon and Cannavaro started protesting to the officials and French players about Zidane's ruly, or should I say, bizarre, act. And not a French fan, naturally I'd applauded the referee, Horacio Elizondo's decision to send Zidane off the field.

Zidane's red card was anything but unusual. He was sent off 14 times in his career at the club and international level. Hmm seems like a vicious temper lies behind the genius. But I think he has something for head-butting opponents. Five years ago with Juventus, he head-butted an opponent in a Champions League match against Hamburger SV after being tackled from behind. What's up with the head.

A report on Brazilian television channel Globo stated that Zidane's assault on Materazzi was provoked by a "very serious" comment made by the Italian defender, according to the French playmaker's agent. Apparently, Zidane told his agent that Materazzi said something very serious to him but he wouldn't tell him what, though he will talk about it in the next couple of days.

Although neither player has yet revealed the nature of their disagreement, Fantastico, a programme on Globo, employed lip-reading experts who said footage of the incident showed the Italian twice insulted Zidane's sister as a prostitute, before then using a "coarse word" at the French player. More reliable reports, however, revealed that Materazzi had called him a "dirty terrorist", an insult based on French-born Zidane's Algerian heritage.

But I felt that no matter what mean words were exchanged between both players, a professional player should not have hit anyone on the field at all. Obviously something blew in Zidane that night and he lost it. And by that, I meant that he lost his perfect departure from the international scene as well.

Neither I do not feel that Zidane's red card weakened French chances of repeating their 1998 victory. Even after Zidane's dismissal in the second period of extra time, France's remaining 10 men still had plenty of chances to break through but they missed all the chances. They would regret it later as the Italians triumphed in the penalty shootout where Zidane's absence probably did make a difference.

But if any proof of Zidane's enduring popularity were needed, he was voted the best player of the World Cup by journalists who had covered the tournament and awarded the adidas Golden Ball, which is arguably the greatest trophy available to an individual footballer. Italians Fabio Cannavaro *drool* and Andrea Pirlo were Silver and Bronze Ball winners respectively. What a pity because, looks aside, I did think that Cannavaro was excellent this World Cup. However, perhaps being the captain of the FIFA World Cup winner team is already a fantastic reward. :-)

.: Go here to see who are the winners for the AWARDS FROM THE 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP GERMANY :.

As for Italy, I'm glad that they are world champions for the fourth time after beating ten-man France 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Berlin's Olympiastadion on Sunday, 9 July 2006. Twelve years after losing to Brazil in the first shoot-out in a FIFA World Cup Final, Italy made up for that heartbreak as all five men in blue converted their kicks to claim world football's greatest prize for the first time since 1982, and the country's 4th World Cup title. And it was Italy's first successful shoot-out in a FIFA World Cup after previous failures in 1990, 1994 and 1998.

Strangely, everything exciting that happenned in this match more or less centered around Materazzi. Really. At the opening 6th minute, Materazzi was adjudged to have illegally halted the progress of Malouda as he hurtled into the box and a penalty was given, which was taken by Zidane. Who was damn lucky. Somehow I didn't see that kick as skills of any sort. The ball rebounded off the underside of the bar and dropped down no more than a foot over the line, giving France an early lead into the match. A similar act was performed by Trezeguet later on in the penalty shoot-out. Who simply wasn't as lucky. His ball rebounded off the underside of the bar and dropped down no more than a foot before the line, rendering him as the only player to miss his penalty kick in the shootout.

At the 9th minute, Materazzi, perhaps unsettled by his role in the French goal, came perilously close to doubling France's goals - and his own misery - when he glanced a Willy Sagnol cross into the side-netting with Buffon scrambling frantically across his line. Luckily there was no own goal. *phew* Yet at the 19th minute, Italy hauled themselves level thanks to a potent combination of Pirlo’s dead-ball mastery and the aerial ability of Materazzi, as the latter gained spectacular redemption for his earlier blunder by towering above the French defence to bullet the former’s corner past Barthez. Then at the 111th minute, a trifle between Zidane and him had Zidane being sent off the field! This Materazzi guy's really something haha.

In conclusion, FIFA World Cup 2006 has been a much more exciting one than 2002, though I've enjoyed both immensely. UEFA Euro 2008 will be held in Austria and Switzerland, and of course, World Cup 2010 in South Africa, I believe. :-) Meanwhile, time to get on with our lives without futebol.

My blings

2006-07-08T01:51:00.000+08:00

More than two months have passed since the last exams of my life, and I am trying harder to find a job now. But I don't want to rush into something that I can't see myself progressing in the next couple of years. Anyway these couple of months haven't been a waste as I re-explored my interest in craft-making, which has kinda progressed onto accessory-making this time round. =)

Some of my products:

I like the pink-and-gold necklace the most. Wanted to see rose quartz instead of Swaroski crystals but rose quartz is damn expensive so being broke, I've to settle for the crystals instead. Though I think that the result's even prettier.

And the pink stones are not raisins!!! Though honestly, they had looked like raisins to me initially hahah. They are Czech stones. =) I guess they originate from Czech Republic? Urgh I won't know so don't ask me.

Anyway really hope to start a jewellery line in the future when I've enough capital, so do be my customers in the future! hahah~ I'll give discounts!

Auf Wiedersehen, Germany!

2006-07-05T14:16:00.000+08:00

I'm thoroughly glad that I managed to drag my ass outta bed this morning at 3am, after barely an hour of sleep, to catch the Italians shatter the Germans' dream. It's really like a curse: Germany has never won Italy before and this morning, Singapore time, at the FIFA World Cup Stadium, Dortmund, Germany, the curse came true again.

Yes, the German dream of reaching the FIFA World Cup Final on home soil died in Dortmund as two goals in the final moments of extra time carried Italy into the Final as 2-0 semi-final winners. Although there was no goals at all until the last few minutes of the extra time, it was a night of high drama and I was left impressed by the blue army. The Germans weren't too bad either but I'm not a German fan so it naturally made me an Italy supporter this morning. Once again, Marcello Lippi’s side defended magnificently and the superb Buffon has still to concede a goal at Germany 2006 to an opposition player. The Azzurri can now march on to the Final.

When the extra time was coming to an end, I thought that all hope was lost for the Italian team. A penalty shoot-out wouldn't be to their advantage as the Germans are well-trained for the penalties. It had appeared that a German win was in the waiting. But all the German hope evaporated instantly at the 119th minute as Fabio Grosso broke the deadlock. He curled a left-footed shot past the despairing dive of the German keeper, Jens Lehmann, from the right side of the penalty box. This superb first-time left-foot shot curled just inside the far post. Germany 0 - Italy 1. And I must say, didn't Grosso look damn high! I know, national hero now, but still, no need to get sooo high!! He was continuously shaking his head so wildly after the goal that my sis and I concluded in unison that he must be taking drugs haha. And did you see when his team mates pinned him onto the ground and all you could see on the tv was his legs and they were still flailing in the air??!! We imagined that his team mates pinned him onto the ground to stop him from giving away the fact that he took drugs hahaha. It was hilarious.

And a goal behind and just a few minutes before the end of the game, how could the hosts not push desperately for an equaliser? But a German victory began instant MI4 at one minute into the additional time when substitute Alessandro Del Piero put a 2nd goal into the German net. Germany 0 - Italy 2. Italy were through. Italy now advance to their first FIFA World Cup Final since 1994 and their sixth overall. They will face the winners of Wednesday's Portugal-France semi-final in Berlin's Olympiastadion on Sunday, 24 hours after Germany have contested third place with the losers of that match in Stuttgart.

I am so freaking glad that Germany is outta the Final, even further from their goal than it was 4 years ago in Korea. Man, sulky Oliver Kahn is definitely sulky-no-more and on cloud nine now since he has led the team further in the tournament at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Anyway putting the match behind, I remember that people always say that Italy has the most handsome men around. I look carefully at the Italian team and beg to differ. Ok, of course, the "prince of Italian football" (urgh, what a cheesy name!), Francesco Totti, is excluded. At 30, this man can never look better. Glad that he ditched his long hair this WC. But urgh, look at the rest of the team! Even England looks better. So does Spain. What a disappointment. =( But at least the Italians have style. I like all their tatoos. :-)

And I did like what I saw in the Italian captain. =) He's soooo sexy. *drool*

Fabio Cannavaro, born September 13, 1973. So cute. Exactly 10 years minus a day before me!

These days, I like my man capable, cute and smaller. A frame of over 180cm can be too overwhelming sometimes, especially when I'm short myself. But although he's not tall for a central defender (176 cm), Cannavaro is considered one of the best defenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. Cannavaro, alongside Alessandro Nesta, forms for Italian defence one of the best defences in the world. Cannavaro is especially noted for his reading of the game, an ability that often sees him make countless interceptions during games. He is also widely tipped as the best pure defender in the world. It is this attribute that has compensated for his lack of height, making him one of the finest centre-backs to have come out of Italy.

Italy had won 3 FIFA World Cup titles since 1934. Will the trophy go to the Italians this year? But who cares. As long as the trophy's NOT going to the Germans. =P

Not just BBM...

2006-07-04T16:21:00.000+08:00

I caught the Korean blockbuster "King and the Clown" with my sisters last Friday. Singapore apparently didn't think that this movie would be as popular locally as the movie was screened in probably the smallest theatre in Cineleisure, Orchard.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The entire 119 minutes were captivating. You would not find a single minute boring, or wondering if the movie is finally coming to an end. In fact, I sat through the 2 hours so caught up with the development of the movie that I didn't realise that it was coming to an end until I noticed the cinema staff (apparently he positioned himself there to inform the audience that the exit was at the back) come in through the entrance which was near the screen.

I cried. I laughed. There were moments so intense that I almost couldn't breathe. Scenes so crude that I was aghast. Bloodshed. Hysteria. Desperation. Doom. This movie is not just BBM. True that there is some homosexual content. But it's more about that. It's an honest film about people and feelings.

The film focuses on a pair of clowns, Jang-seng and Gong-gil, who perform comic plays, songs, and acrobatic tricks for aristocrats or commoners during the Joseon Dynasty in the years of the infamous King Yon-san. Jang-seng possesses a disarming self-confidence and disrespect for authority that seems likely to get him into trouble one day. Gong-gil plays the woman to Jang-seng's man in the comic skits they perform. Gong-gil also possesses a certain self-confidence and grace that turns him into an object of fascination and desire for the pair's aristocratic patrons, inclduing the King. One day, they go to Seoul and their group hit the jackpot by playing a show about the King and his lady, femme fatale, Nok-soo. But soon they get arrested for insulting the royal king and Jang-seng bet their lives to make the King laugh with their play. Their fortunate success leads them to stay in the palace and perform regular plays. As the King shows growing attraction and love towards Gong-gil, Nok-soo who is out of control of her lust and envy for Gong-gil, as the King turns his back to her, secretly plots to take Gong-gil's life.

If you ask me, everyone in this film, perhaps except Gong-gil and Jang-seng, are a bit crazy. The King has to be insane though. The King featured in this film is King Yonsan, one of Korea's most famous and notorious monarchs, who possessed concentrated power but lacked the sanity to use it effectively. He is brutal. He is arrogant. He is wilful. But somehow you cannot bring yourself to hate him. He is just one pathetic fellow who is so saddened and affected by his childhood that he simply cannot be happy. He indulges in pleasure - wine, good, entertainment, women, and even pretty boys. But he is still unhappy. I think that's super pathetic and even if you have all the wealth and power in the world, what's the use.

There is no villians in this film. There are just many pathetic fella. You can't help but feel sorry for everyone in the end.

Apart from a well-formed plot, however, the film's real highlight is the play-acting by the two clowns. Both actors are mesmerizing in their verbal sparring and their enthusiasm for performing, and one wishes there were even more of these scenes to enjoy. You just have to catch the movie. The skits in the movie were so daring, and sometimes even crude, but definitely a good laugh, especially in the conservative society of Singapore.

The original Korean title of this film is "The King's Man", which references much more directly the erotic current underlying this film. Lee Joon Ki as Gong-gil was soooo pretty that I would have wanted to screw him if I was a guy too. No, honestly. But I'm a girl who's still more interested in muscular, alpha male types compared to androgynous or outright feminine-looking boys like Lee Joon Ki, so "No No" for the actual me haha. But I can see why both the King and Jang-seng have the hots for Gong-gil. He's prettier than many girls. It's in fact hard to treat him as a guy haha. In the movie though, in contrast to his later relationship with the insane King, romantic feelings between Gong-gil and Jang-seng are strongly implied, but never stated explicitly. Don't expect any action like BBM though - this is afterall a NC16 movie without any cutting.

I'm soo pretty....

And indeed it is Lee Joon Ki as the King's man who is credited with enabling this film to sell 10 million tickets. Virtually unknown before the film's debut -- although his simultaneous appearance in the TV drama "My Girl" gave his popularity a twofold boost -- Lee has become an instant sensation, a perfect example of a film creating its own star power. Supposedly Jang Hyuk was originally cast in this role, until he was shipped off to the army after being found to have illegally dodged his military duty. I don't think that it's much of a wasted chance for Jang Hyuk as he might not be able to convince as Gong-gil. Jang Hyuk is cute, but Lee Joon Ki is pretty like a flower. The film might not be such a huge success if Jang was cast instead of Lee. I read that Lee is however trying desperately to shake off his image as a pretty boy, by taking up manly roles in his up-coming productions. Will it shock you to know that he has a black belt in taekwondo?Well, can't really judge a book by its cover haha.

My guilty indulgence

2006-06-29T14:14:00.000+08:00

Several of my girl friends have commented lately that my blog's all about soccer these days. Boring to them, I guess haha.

I've many other things that I can write about - shopping, ktv, girls' nights out, commencement, bitching (a very frequent topic, or rather, subject kept popping up lately), unemployment, suay bumping into Missus HLQ, blah blah blah. But at the end of the day (which usually ends in the early morning for me haha, and the the next "day" begins after a few hours of sleep on the same day), what's most important to me? Easy. FIFA World Cup.

I watch World Cup, breathe World Cup, eat World Cup, drink World Cup, sleep World Cup, and probably even shit World Cup.

Although I don't watch all the 3am matches (cause sleeping at 5am is really too disrupting to my day), I watch all the news - let it be 1pm, 6.30pm, 10pm, 11pm - for World Cup news and the goals. I read the newspapers (never have I been more diligent in doing so). My favourite website of the moment is the FIFA World Cup official site which I also diligently surf regularly for new articles, updates and photos.

I even have a centrefold of the newspapers, which is an excellent schedule of the FIFA World Cup, stuck right in the middle of the wall in the living room. My family ordered cooking gas one day, the delivery man saw it (the schedule's so big that it's hard to miss anyway haha) and started talking about the World Cup with us hahah. Seems that the FIFA World Cup can even bring strangers together.

After each match, I enthusiastically fill in the score and start to predict how the rest of the tournament would go. Like who will probably win this game, then who they will meet next blah blah blah.

The next couple of days will be interesting as the remaining 8 teams battle it out on the field for a place in the finals.

I am currently depressed cause I might be missing both the Germany/Argentina and England/ Portugal matches due to gatherings. Always try to arrange my appointments such that I don't miss any important match but it's not always possible. =( But well, friends always still come first. World Cup comes every 4 years. 4 freaking long years!!!!~ *sob sob*

For something that one has been waiting for 4 years, the FIFA World Cup is too painfully short. Just a month since it first started, the final will be on (Singapore time) 10th July 2am and the 2006 World Cup will come to an end. But all good things must come to an end. It's inevitable. I just hope that the withdrawal symptoms won't be too jialet.

Another Brazilian win!

2006-06-28T20:02:00.000+08:00

And another thing to be joyous about: my Ah bui is now FIFA World Cup's all-time top marksman!!

Yes, da man ought to be happy. And yes, like what Melis said, I'm an Ah bui supporter! hahah but I'm the only one who can call him Ah bui. I even tick my own sis off every time she addresses him so. heehee.

Ronaldo finally inscribed his name into football's history books on 5pm, 27th June 2006 (Tuesday) at the FIFA World Cup Stadium, Dortmund, Germany by scoring a record-breaking 15th FIFA World Cup goal in the match against Ghana, to take him clear of Gerd Muller as the tournament's all-time top scorer.

At the 5th minute of that game, a well-weighted pass from Kaka allowed Ronaldo to sprint clear of Ghana's defence. Though faced with a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, he remained cool, calm and collected. He ultimately left Richard Kingson sprawling with a clever shimmy, dragged the ball round the keeper and, with a defender rapidly closing in, flicked out his right boot to send the ball home. His 15th goal. It was classic Ronaldo. No doubt, it was Ghana's worst possible start to this match as Brazil took an early lead. But it also marked a historical moment.

His 15th goal!

Afterwards, da man reflected on the achievement: "How do I make history? It's tough, difficult, it's not easy. You need a lot of sacrifice and a lot of work. This is the product of many, many years of effort. What do I want from now on? More, more and more. I want to keep scoring, as I still have much left to give."

Yes, I would agree on that. He ought to try for more. Cause there's this bloody German fellow called Miroslav Klose who's chasing behind him at 9 goals, and who would most probably score more as his country proceeds on in this tournament. The only hope comes this Friday as Germany meets Argentina, and hopefully gets eliminated. Wahahaha. That's not my evil twin. That's just me. HA.

To read about all his 15 fantastic goals which cemented his status as one of the game's all-time greats, go to this article at FIFAworldcup.com: Ronaldo the record-breaker (27th June '06).

.: Next Brazil match (against France): 1st July 2006, 9pm, Frankfurt, Germany :.

And I like this photo! hahah Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos were flying!!!!!

They're BACK.

2006-06-27T11:27:00.000+08:00

Gotta see this brand new video, Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Lie" by the Dormitory Boys, well, in case you haven't seen it yet hahah.

Damn funny as usual. =)

Enjoy.

I ought to be sleeping now...

2006-06-26T02:05:00.000+08:00

but I just finished clearing up my stuff after watching the England match.

You see, my sis was clearing up our bedroom and as usual, ended up stacking up in a pile, all my stuff (that's why I put them in OUR room, it's not just her room *hrmph*) that she found in OUR room and thought that they should be kept in my drawers and closet, instead of under MY bed (MY bed what. shouldn't it be none of her business even though they were accumulating dust under MY bed *hrmph*) or on the shelves that we SHARE (which part of "share" does she not understand!).

hahah before you really think that we sisters are at odds with each other, my sister's stand with hygiene and cleanliness of our bedroom is actually the only thing that prevents the two of us from being buried under dust during our sleep. =) =) I don't stay in the bedroom unless during sleep, and I'm not the one with a sensitive nose, so I don't give a damn to the formation of dust balls in that space hahah.

So anyway she pushed all these stuff under my nose and asked me to, well, stuff them into my drawers and closet. Which, she already knew, are all FULL. But well, with orders from the commander, I strove to repack my stuff, so that the additional things would go in.

I'd this whole drawer which held all my letters and cards from friends. =) =) Yes, an entire drawer just containing those. And for once, I was wondering if I should just throw all those away so that I could've some new available space. I thought to myself, perhaps I would never take these out to read ever again cause I'm not much of a reminiscent person, so maybe I could just throw them all out.

Needless to say, I took them all out. Read through a few. And told my sis, urgh, I still can't bear to part with these! My sis just laughed, as if she already knew so, and told me half-heartedly to dump them all back into the drawer then. HA.

I tried to organise all the letters and cards according to individual friends or groups, and read through more of them. And then I marvelled at how much things've changed since then.

I'd quite a huge stack from a good friend whom I'm getting back onto track with lately and I'm glad how things are smoother for her now. She used to complain, even in all her letters, how despondent and depressed she is because of how her family is. How lost she felt. No meaning of life. Now she has gotten a fantastic job which she truly enjoys. She's so much happier than I remember. So I guess everyone should just hang on, no matter how sucky life seems to you now. You never know what can happen to you in life. Things can always turn for the better. Just a matter of time, I think.

Although many things have greatly changed with time, there's also plenty that has not. Such as friendship that has stretched over a decade till now. I think I might always want to keep all these letters and cards, to remember how some of my friends have stuck to me through all these times, through good and bad, thick and thin. No matter how rotten I've been. A girl like me can't ask for more, can I. HA. I hope that I will always remember to appreciate and treasure. For friendshop can be made to last, but just like food, it's perishable, unless you maintain it. It's always easy to make a friend, easy to lose one, but the hardest to keep one.

And goodness, I've also amassed a number of items that might appear to outsiders as *gasp* rubbish, but to me, priceless. For example, I've this piece of tissue that was actually a kinda letter between me and Diz. And it dates back to when we were in Sec 2. Gosh, I can't even recall what year it was exactly haha. We were at some 1/1 class gathering at Mdm Wong's place (not the old club, she was our Math teacher!) and dead bored, so I took a piece of tissue, wrote some rubbish on one side and gave it to Diz. Who funnily returned to me, with her reply (hmm equally rubbish haha) on the other side. Not even sure if she still remembered that incident, but up till today, I still have that particular piece of tissue in my possession. LOL.

Maybe when we are 80, still around and still are friends, I would frame it up and give it to you as a present, Diz. HA. =) =)

*yawn* I've more to say but time's not on my side right now. Another day! Auf Wiedersehen!

Mr Q

2006-06-24T00:41:00.000+08:00

Just caught the MTV of "Mr Q" by Jolin on YouTube.

And bloody hell, both Jolin and Edison were soooo HOT in it!

Like nose-bleeding H-O-T!

HOT!

HOT! HOT!!

HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!

O homem volta!

2006-06-23T19:03:00.000+08:00

Da man is back!

Yes, my Ah-bui is back.

Ok, you can't see him but his head's somewhere beneath the pile of fellow Brazilians.

Whatever widespread criticism or the butt of jokes in the media recently, da man (the 2002 winner of the adidas Golden Shoe) has silenced the doubters with a well-taken brace of goals last night at the FIFA World Cup Stadium, Dortmund, Germany, 9pm.

HA. Let see what they have to say now. *smug*

Last night, Brazil secured their well-deserved first place in Group F as they came from behind to beat Japan 4-1 through marvellous goals from Ronaldo, Juninho and Gilberto. But most importantly, Brazil’s samba football has finally arrived in Germany!

It was such a superb performance by the Brazilians, especially in the second half. Footwork was brillant. Passes were pretty accurate and breath-taking. And the goals were all eye-catching. But I also wonder if Japan was lousy, hence perhaps allowing the Brazilians to showcase their talents. The Japaneses were quite unorganised and dismantled. There wasn't really much of a fight between the 2 teams. It was very clear who the winner would be.

Let us look at the goals that night:

34’: Japan's Alessandro Santos played a fine pass through to the unmarked Tamada who drilled his shot high into the net to spark pandemonium in the stands. Japan's first and only goal of the night. And I was cursing how Japan had the first goal of the night. But well, knowing how the Brazilians play, offense's their best defense. They hardly defend, though I thought their defense is better this WC. Their only true line of defense is usually only Dida, and perhaps, the short-sightedness of the opponent.

46’: Just when I thought that Japan would carry the lead into the half-time break, Brazil struck. Ronaldinho crossed for Cicinho (a very well-placed header) to head back across goal, where Ronaldo ghosted into space to nod home. Da man's 1st goal!

53: Brazil's replacement, Juninho's 25-yard (so damn far ok. I thought he was going to pass it to someone else. shocked me when he was actually aiming for the goal) drive was so powerful that, even with Japan's goalkeeper Kawaguchi well placed, it dipped, swerved and sped away from his grasp.

59’: It was 3-1 not soon after. Ronaldinho sent Gilberto (another replacement) scampering through and the left-back coolly drilled his shot low into the far corner.

81’: The tournament's top scorer in 2002 finally scored his second of the game, combining well with Juan before turning sharply and curling a 20-yard shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

The star of the show was of course, Ronaldo, who scored his 13th (this equalizer header drew da man to level with compatriot Pele on 12 goals) and 14th FIFA World Cup goals to move level with German legend Gerd Muller as the tournament's all-time leading scorer. With mobility, commitment and lethal finishing skills, Ronaldo finally gave glimpses of the virtues that not so long ago made him one of the most feared strikers in world football. Fittingly, the two goals that marked his return to form were typical Ronaldo strikes. His opening party trick was a close-range header following a fine headed pass from Cicinho, and the second came courtesy of a well-placed drive from the edge of the area nine minutes from time. With a trademark wag of his index finger (I love that. It's soo cute.) the message was clear: Ronaldo was back.

Now that Ronaldo has joined Gerd Muller as the joint-leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup finals history, the record was held by German legend Muller achieved during the 1970 and 1974 tournaments. That's like damn long ago. So if Ronaldo beats this record this WC, perhaps it would also be long before another fella comes and breaks it.

Reflecting on his achievement after the match, Ronaldo said: "I'm happy to equalled the record. Scoring goals is always something I try to do on the field. It's a thrilling achievement for me and a very happy day. I hope that it's not the end of my scoring at this World Cup."

Man, I hope that this would not be his last goal too. But I guess he does have a good chance to score again in the next match against Ghana in Kaiserslautern on 26 June. And I hope that he gets back to form soon. If he still can, that is. He's better now than during the previous matches, but still quite far from 2002 FIFA World Cup. But nevertheless, as happy for him as his team mates. =) =) =)

Quero ir a Brasil!

2006-06-22T14:55:00.000+08:00

Know what does that phrase mean??

It is "I want to go to Brazil!" in Portuguese (which is Brazil's official language)!

Well, at least according to this free text translator site. HA.

No doubt, Quero ir a Brasil partly because of the country's famous football team. At least the sports was the main way I was first properly introduced to the country.

Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and has a major effect on Brazilian culture. Advertisements often feature youngsters playing football on the streets of Brazil. They are not kidding. Football is the favorite past time of youngsters that can be found playing football on the streets. I want to see that for myself. See if every kid on the streets has a football stuck on his foot. See if each of them is a Pele or Roberto Carlos or Ronaldo or Ronaldinho in the training. See if 9 out of 10 kids on the streets really play better football than a player on the England National Team. Ok, maybe a bit exaggerating. But you get what I mean.

Besides football, other aspects of the Brazilian culture are also as rich. For instance, music. Who hasn't heard of samba?! It is widely viewed as Brazil's national musical style and undoubtedly the most internationally famous form of Brazilian music. Another genre, which although isn't as popular in Brazil as other parts of the globe, is bossa nova. You might be surprised to understand that bossa nova is actually a derivative of samba. Such passionate music must have arisen from passionate people. I like passion. It's infectious.

And then there is the biological diversity! Forgive me, I was a biology student haha. Although Singapore also houses tropical rainforests, due to the necessary development of our country, our rainforests are mainly sceondary and there isn't much animal diversity. But Brazil has the largest mammal diversity in the world, with more than *gasp* 500 described species! And there's probably many yet to be discovered. Moreover, 66 of these species are endangered species and 40% of the threated taxa belong to the primate group. Our nearest cousins!!

And when we talk about Brazil, anyone, ok la, maybe just biology students, would have thought of the Amazon Rainforest. This bloody big piece of moist broadleaf forest in the Amazon Basin of South America represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and contains the largest and most species rich tract of tropical rainforest that exists! How could Singapore forests compare?! Just look at some of the animals habitating there. Soooo cute.

And lastly, I saw this in an advertisement last World Cup (2002) and it's so maginficent that it kinda stuck in my mind.

Ok, I'm no Christian, not going to embrace the religion in the future and definitely not a believer, but imagine this! Looks like a hug of 30 meters from Jesus Christ, doesn't it??

This is the Rio de Janeiro statue, Christ the Redeemer, or in Portugese, Christ o Redentor. It's spectacular, isn't it? I know that there are loads of such breath-taking statues all around the world. But somehow one like the colossal statue of Zheng Ho at Xiamen fails to attract me. I guess a religious one somehow gives the statue an air of mystery, hence increaing its appeal. Like gigantic statues of Buddha, such as those almost 2,000-year-old Buddhist masterpieces in the central province of Bamiyan, including the world's tallest standing Buddha (50m). Well, when they were still around anyway. They've been demolished by the Afghanistan's Taliban Islamic militia some years back. Urgh. What a pity.

I read somewhere that it’s frequently said that God is brazilian. The real truth is unknown, but at least a piece of him is in this statue. Towering above the marvelous city with open arms for, giving it forever a permanent hug. From one hand to the other, measuring almost 30 meters. Since it was placed on top the 710-m peak of Corcovado mountain in 1931, this figure has been one of the most famous symbols of Rio, as well as Brazil. It stands at 38 m, weighs 700 tons, and is visible night and day from most of the city's neighborhoods. From the top, the view is nothing short of heavenly. The entire city spreads out in a magnificent panorama during the day, glittering and magic after dark.

So cool, isn't it? It's like the city is always protected by Christ the Redeemer (Brazilians are mainly Roman Catholics).

I can't imagine what would we have if Singapore wants to have such a impressive monument. The statue(s) of Sir Stamford Raffles looks diminutive in comparison. The Merlion guarding the Singapore River's bigger and representative of our country, but still relatively miniature. It's like Bukit Timah Hill beside Mount Everest.

And speaking of a peak to put a statue on, Brazil has Corcovado mountain that stands at 710m. Our Bukit Timah Hill, highest point in Singapore, has a mere height of 164m only. If we put a colossal statue like Christ the Redeemer (38m, 700 tons!) on top of Bukit Timah Hill, would it flatten at the sheer weight of it all?! HA. There goes our hill then. Gulp.

Finally, O Brasil parece como um país bom. Pergunte-se quando eu finalmente terei uma possibilidade ir aí? Mas talvez necessitarei recapitulo em meu frist português, considerando que todo o mundo aí fala esta linguagem. Ou acabo de ligar um brasileiro. HA.

World Cup in Singapore??

2006-06-20T15:24:00.000+08:00

This is an amusing article I've taken off the local magazine i-weekly Issue No. 450 (15th June 2006, Pp 135). Which gave 10 funny points of what would happen if the FIFA World Cup was held in Singapore. Quite funny.

Enjoy. =)

Yet another victory.

2006-06-19T02:31:00.000+08:00

My Brazil booked their place in the Round of 16 after overcoming a tough challenge from Australia with a 2-0 win just now in Munich (Germany, 6 pm). *thank god*

It was such a stressful match for me that I could hardly breathe properly. The reason being that Brazil wasn't exactly in top form in their previous match against Croatia, and I wasn't sure how they would perform today either. Moreover, Australia beat Japan 3:1 previously. Though Japan's hardly even in the league of Brazil, I didn't think that the Aussies would even win Japan, being unable to qualify for WC for 32 years. At least Japan was qualified 4 years ago.

But Brazil still won as expected after taking the lead four minutes into the second half through Adriano, but they had to survive one or two nervy moments before substitute Fred sealed the victory with a tap-in in the 90th minute. And while their win against the Aussies isn't altogether convincing, their second victory ensures their progress to the second round, with a game to spare. It's enough. For now.

My man Ah-bui still isn't doing too well though. Continuing signs of fatigue. Maybe he can no longer do it. Just like Raul. Or Zidane. Or Figo. Seems that they are all facing the same fate. But Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira still started the match with the same team that had defeated Croatia in the first game with Ronaldo keeping his place in attack. And luckily at the 3rd minute, Ronaldo finally gave a glimpse of his magic early on, controlling the ball on his chest on the edge of the area and lobbing it over his head for Kaka to volley inches wide. Not sure if this is enough to silence the less than complimentary headlines following his first appearance at Germany 2006 though.

And just like the 1st match, he was substituted at the 72th minute for Fred. Who managed to score Brazil's 2nd goal in the 90th minute. The 1st one occurred at the 49th minute when Ronaldinho found Ronaldo on the edge of the box and the Real Madrid striker squared to Adriano who cut inside onto his left foot before striking the ball through Scott Chipperfield's legs and inside the near post.

Now I've never heard of Fred before this WC so I did some checking and found that he is a forward in the Brazilian team, with a prolific goal scoring record in his short club career. He holds the record for the fastest goal in Brazilian football history, timed at 3.17 seconds (wow that was damn fast). And he is currently playing in French champions Lyon after being courted by many big European clubs. And bloody, he's only as young as us! That makes him a year younger than Kaka. Though his looks are not at all convincing. haha.

Now Brazil only has one last match against Japan before going onto the next round. I've seen the Japs play. A Brazilian triumph should be a piece of cake.

And talking about why I like Brazil, ohh look at them. Ohh aren't they adorable??

Talking about the Asian teams, of course, my fave is Korea Republic. For their determination and never-say-die spirit on the field. I caught the match between France and Korea at Leipzig, Germany, and was estastic that they fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with France!

Thierry Henry scored an early opener at the 8th minute and honestly, all had looked bleak for the Koreans then. The French made more attempts at goal and seemed to keep the ball from the Koreans pretty much. But I knew that the Koreans would continue fighting hard and that an equalizer was very much possible. And indeed, the day was saved for all Koreans at the 81st minute as Park Ji-Sung cancelled out Henry's goal! The point salvaged here places the Koreans at the top of Group G with Switzerland. =)

England's 101 futile attempts at goal

2006-06-16T14:25:00.000+08:00

My sisters and I caught the match between England, and Trinidad and Tobago, at 12am this morning, and aptly named it "England's 101 futile attempts at goal".

Ok, to be exact, if we look at the statistics, England only made 23 attempts at goal, but honestly it had felt then like at least 100.

Come to think about, England only had 2 successful goals out of the 23 attempts. That gives a percentage of a mere 9%. Trinidad and Tobago made only 7 attempts and 3 nearly went in. Especially the one at the 45th minute when John's header looked to be going in after Robinson came out and missed another cross, but luckily for England fans, Terry managed to hook the ball off the line. If England didn't manage to put in any goal that night, and neither did Trinidad and Tobago, Terry would have been the hero of England.

And we had fun trying to decide who was the ultimate screwer of the game on the England side.

At first, it was a pretty tight draw between Owen, Crouch and Lampard.

Lets look at pretty boy Owen 1st. Just to name a few of the screw-ups he had:

6': Crouch laid the ball off for Lampard via Beckham's cute dummy and the Chelsea midfielder fired a shot at Hislop. The goalkeeper failed to hold it but Owen stumbled as he tried to latch onto the rebound.

56': A fantastic free-kick by Beckham made its way to an unmarked Owen but he guided his header wide with his last contribution of the match.

No wonder at all that the English fans started chanting for Rooney's return to the field. And indeed, Owen was switched at the 58th minute for Rooney. Not that Rooney had any contribution to the goals, but I admit that his return to the field spurred the English team psychologically and England noticeably upped the tempo. After Owen left, it was a tough fight between Crouch and Lampard for the title of the "ultimate screwer of the game on the England side". And it was so cute cause they seemed to alternate to screw up. Don't believe? Let's look at the statistics for proof.

41': Joe Cole clipped the ball to Lampard in a great position, but his side-footed volley went over the bar.

43': Beckham crossed to an unmarked Crouch eight metres out, but he volleyed well wide of the mark.

61': Beckham set up Lampard, though his flying volley attempt did not trouble Hislop.

77': Rooney linked up well with Crouch, who freed Lampard but his shot went straight at Hislop. Lampard had yet another strike 60 seconds later, this one fizzing right across the face of goal and wide.

Even the commentator of the game said something like Lampard could shoot until midnight and he would not have a goal. And at that time, it was only 6pm in Nuremberg, Germany where the match was held. Gosh, that was funny.

But of course, we all know by the 83th minute who won the title of the "ultimate screwer of the game on the England side". Cause at the 83th minute, just as Trinidad and Tobago looked set to be hanging on for another famous draw (they drew with Sweden too, unbelievable), Beckham crossed for Crouch who headed in the opener. No robotic celebration from Crouch this time and England’s enormous relief was evident. There was finally ONE goal after the 101 futile attempts at goal. And I understand Crouch's happiness. He just turned from being England's screw-up to England's hero. On the other hand, Lampard must be damn sad la. So in the end, Lampard was awarded the title of the "ultimate screwer of the game on the England side" this morning by me and my sisters.

But I must say that Gerrard's goal at the 91st minute was superb and managed to save some face for his team.

As for Trinidad and Tobago , they emerged with huge credit, if no points, for giving Eriksson's side such a scare. I don't know about the rest of the world, but they just got my respect.

The Samba Football

2006-06-15T16:24:00.000+08:00

Remember that I slept at 5am on Wednesday morning after catching the 1st match of Brazil? I had only 4 hrs of sleep before waking up for breakfast and went shopping with my sisters after that. haha kinda crazy. Which explained why I woke up at 12noon today after half a day of sleep.

Anyway like they say, the World Cup doesn't begin until Brazil plays, so *hurrays* the FIFA World Cup 2006, Germany, has finally begun!

I love the Brazilian team. For someone like me who loves a good-looking hunk anytime anywhere, my utmost support for the Brazilians always surprises people. Cause everyone with eyes will know that there's no cuties in that team. Well, that fact has of course been slightly changed by the presence of Kaka in this World Cup, but we'll talk about him later.

And surprise, surprise, my fave player is always Ronaldo since I 1st saw him in World Cup 1998. I also adore Roberto Carlos. And Ronaldinho. All who are nowhere near "handsome" at all haha.

But I really love the Brazilian team. Not only are they all world-class players, I admire their spirit on the field. They are the only ones who find it possible to smile or even laugh in the middle of the game whenever they accidentally lose the ball to an opponent or fail to get a pass from a team mate.

They are good and they know it, but they do not show it. They are not high and mighty like the English players. They seldom lose their temper and they are friendly to their opponents. They show on the field what I know as excellent sportsmanship. And when they play, they dance with the ball and moves often are unexpected. I like to watch them play. Often mesmerized by their actions on the field.

So I am happy when they won Croatia in Berlin and are temporarily at the top of their group with Australia. But a final score of 1-0 is slightly disappointing, with Kaka kicking in the sole goal at the 44th minute. A minute before the interval, AC Milan midfielder Kaka curled a left-footed shot past Stipe Pletikosa and into the top left-hand corner of the net. The win gave Brazil their eighth consecutive success in FIFA World Cup™ matches, a new record.

The Brazilian team made a total of 13 attempts at goal but a well-organised Croatia side rendered all those futile. I could only breathe easily at the end of the 90++ minutes of play, with fear that Croatia might cause a draw anytime in the 2nd half.

Ronaldo didn't look too good that day. He didn't fare too well either and was subsituted at the 69th minute by Robinho. Reports stated that he was taken to hospital in Frankfurt after starting to feel unwell after they had returned to their Konigstein base after the 1-0 win. Luckily he returned to join the squad after medical tests cleared him and he was expected to train normally on Thursday. I hope that he'll do well this World Cup too. He needs only 3 more goals to overhaul Gerd Muller’s long-standing 14-goal record as top scorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup. What an honour it will be to win this. =)

And if he goes back to form, he will rebuke all opinions and criticism on his, ahem, weight. Apparently, even the President of Brazil himself has questioned whether Ronaldo is overweight recently. I shall not protect my fave player on purpose and tell lies with eyes wide open cause anyone can tell that he is FAT. Has been so ever since I can remember. Though well, it has been a growing problem. No pun intended.

But if he can still play well with that tyre around his waist, hey I'm not complaining. And neither should anyone else.

Back to Kaka. He has been voted by a local (as in Singapore, not Germany) newspapers as the best-looking fellow in this World Cup. In case, you don't even know who he is, let me give you a short description I read in today's Straits Times, Life:

"Kaka is not a kind of shoe like Bata or some sort of spread you put on your bread like Kaya, although he has schoolboy looks which make girls go Gaga. It's the name of the player who's in superb form for Brazil at the moment."

Hmm if you ask me, while he's not the type to draw a 2nd look from me, standing at 183 cm and weighing at 73 kg, this midfielder who plays for AC Milan is definitely, with no doubt of any at all, the most yandao in the Brazilian team la. HA.

Kaka celebrates after scoring 1-0 for Brazil during the Brazil v Croatia Group F World Cup soccer match at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 13, 2006.

Today's a SPECIAL day!

2006-06-15T16:22:00.000+08:00

Yes, that's right!

It's our dear Diana's 23rd birthday!

Oh no, did I just say her age out loud?!

No fear la, dear, we are just as young. Ahem.

Anyway, everyone, lets wish Diz:

And here's a from all jiemeis!

(Seeya all on sat =D)

Ole ole ole!

2006-06-14T02:10:00.000+08:00

Urgh.

It's 2am now and I just finished watching the match between France and Switzerland.

It wasn't really exciting at all. France and Switzerland played out a goalless draw in their opening 2006 FIFA World Cup Group G match in Stuttgart, Germany. And the closest they got to the goal came was when Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta's free-kick bounced back off a post and Alexander Frei failed to convert the rebound.

But then Barnetta tried to kick the ball back into the net and sent it to god-knows-where in the end.

If you look at the statistics (well, you can easily get information off the Official Site of FIFA World Cup), the attempts at goal weren't that bad. I was quite disappointed with France though. Organisation was poor and attempts, though slightly more numorous than the Swiss, were feeble. Seriously, I look at them and tried to logic how they won the 1998 title. All I can see is that perhaps they may be repeating their tragedy at the 2002 World Cup, Korea where the French team fell at the first hurdle, eliminated after a first round in which they neither won a game nor scored a single goal.

I mean, look at them now, this draw leaves them two points beneath the early group leader Korea Republic, 2-1 winners over Togo earlier in the day.

But it was nevertheless super fun to see the referee Ivanov Valentin from Russia handing out the yellow cards.

He gave out a grand total of 8 (France: 3, Switzerland: 5) for goodness sake! Even Zidane had one, for taking the free kick before Valentin blew the whistle. So funny.

I hate it when I sacrifise my sleep and there is no goal.

But, but but, my fave team of the century, Brazil, is playing their 1st match in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Berlin, in less than 15 minutes' time!

Gosh! So excited! Oh man, I wish that they will win Croatia as expected and thrash them, say 5 goals, and make up for the previous yawn-inducing match.

Football and Brazilian life go hand in hand. Brazil have won the FIFA World Cup™ five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002). I was so sad when they lost in 1998 to France. So delighted when they kicked Germany's ass in 2002.

Ahhhh starting liao. Go, Brazil!

我的第一次

2006-06-12T12:39:00.000+08:00

I couldn't believe it when I woke up with a splitting, literally mind-blowing headache on Sunday morning.

I had a bloody hangover!

What the fuck. I've NEVER had a hangover ever before. I like to drink, I admit, but I know my limits. Once the ground starts to spin, I stop. Besides, alcohol's expensive. I could never afford to drink till I drop. Not that I would ever want to though. A drunk girl is an ugly sight. The worst situation I've ever gotten myself into was nausea and the feeling was so disgusting that I stopped drinking. Ok, for 2 weeks only. But still, a hangover? Never.

I guess the guilty culprit has to be all those cheap drinks we got at DXO on Sat night. Ok, you must be thinking, "Eeeks, DXO. So unhappening." Walau, that was what we thought too as we were making our way there. So we had the shock of our lives when we reached the entrance.

There was quite a huge crowd of young, happening-looking people hanging around there. We thought that there might be some sorta school bash and we were right. I think it was some NYP bash. The first thought that came into our minds was "wah..everyone so young..". haha instantly we knew that we had to try and look younger too. Hmm hows that possible. Eh I dunno and we didn't really do anything, but we must have looked younger than we are, cause there were very young boys picking us up that night. So damn funny.

So anyway SL's fren works there, so we got into the club FREE, without having to join the queue too (it was so cool. like we were VIPs or something haha), and had cheap drinks! We only paid 10 bucks each that night and had at least an entire jug of mixed vodka each.

Yes, that jug of cranberry vodka which I almost finished on my own would probably explain my hangover. After that jug, I couldn't drink anymore without feeling nausea, and whenever I lost at the guessing game, one of the guys had to take my punishment instead haha. Very nice fellows. Is it the 救火英雄 spirit in the guys? haha guess so.

But the hangover's worth it, I guess. I'd a fantastic time that night. The music was damn cool! The DJs were spinning tunes of hip-hop all night! I wish that we could've stayed till 6am when the party ended, but alas, our bodies were practically collapsing from fatigue. I could barely keep my eyes open on the way home.

Most paiseh conversation I had ever have:

Guy : So you are from Ngee Ann
Poly too?
Me: ??
Guy : Cause this is a Ngee Ann Poly party
what.
Me: *freaking out, thinking "to lie or not to
lie"*
Me: .... (lie or don't lie...lie or don't
lie..)
Me: Hmm nope. I'm not from Ngee Ann. I just graduated
from uni. *damn paiseh* (go away la, didi. I'm older.
你看错了.)
Guy : 84??
Me: huh????????
Guy : you are from 84??
Me: (ohhh 1984! he asking if I was born in
1984. Orhh.)
Me: (damn. wrong again. older than that.)
Me: Hmm no, older. (decided to be very frank
haha) 1983.
Me: You are from 1984?
Guy : ya.
Me: Oh so you are 22. I'm 23.
Guy : You don't look like 23.
Me: You also don't look like 22 what. You look 18.
(bloody true)
Me: (started talking to a guy friend whom I
just knew that night and was just standing beside me. hadn't talk to him at
all before that. but was in a paiseh situation now and he looked like a
lifebuoy.)
*still talking to Guy now and then*

Melis: (was talking to Guy's friend Gim Mao)
Hey, he said you look like 18.
Me: *stretched wings, flapped a bit, flew to the
clouds*
Me: 谢谢! (proceeded to shake hands with Gim
Mao. Don't blame me. I was high. Even higher after hearing that
comment.)
Me to Guy friend: He said I look like 18.
Guy friend: Too dark la. He can't see
properly.
Guy friend promptly subjected to a chain of physical abuse by me.

Gim Mao, I chose to believe you. 我相信你! Even though, everyone else said it was just a stupid pick-up line or it was too bloody dark for you to see. Ahem.

How's that for a friend.

2006-06-10T12:43:00.000+08:00

Yes, I can't believe it too. I changed my blog skin again. After barely 2 months.

But well, I'm used to my abrupt changes in taste. HA. Besides I like my new blog skin! Ahhh I'm a whore for all the blings blings in the world. From earrings to necklaces to rings to handbag charms to belts to bags, almost all my stuff screams bling. That day Dia and I went shopping for Swarovski crystals to make earrings and I was just telling her how I can just look at the crystals all day long. At the end of the trip she had to agree too haha. Swarovski crystals are bloody beautiful!! *blissful sigh*

To be fair though, I got all the blings on this site from GlitterGraphics that was recommended on Verglas' blog a while ago. =)

Although all the colors make my blog look a tad too girlie for my own liking, hey! who gives a damn when now everything blings!! *bling bling*

Slightly more than a month has passed since my last exam. Time has been fun. I'd read so many books, visited several places that I've never been to, just walked aimlessly, with a street directory in my hands, around parts of Singapore that I seldom go, explored my interest in jewellery making, spent so much time with my family. There had of course been times when I felt lost, not sure of where to go, what I really want to do. But currently I felt none of such negative feelings once more. Perhaps it's because I've finally taken the first step to find a job. Yes, finally haha. Now I just hope Lady Luck's here with me.

*deleted*

Because I made a mistake. Her explanation came in much later that night and I wronged her. Though I didn't wrong her for all the other parts. Only the part about the present was incorrect. Is she here to stay? I dunno but things are not like before, that I know. Is she still a friend? Yes, maybe but things are not like before.

"I am going to Singapore!"

2006-06-07T16:08:00.000+08:00

I don't usually read Mr Brown's blog but it did catch more of my attention after all the Bak Chor Mee hoo-ha. So I went to his blog today and found absolutely hilarious podcasts which I couldn't agree more.

I think it probably shocked, or rather, to put it frankly, disgusted, all other fellow NUS students when the 2 advertisements for NUS Business School were aired on tv. Ok, to be exact, I should be an ex student now but still, when I first saw the ads (I think I saw the angmoh one first. still it won't make any difference. the feelings were the same.), an amazing mixture of emotions came to me! I felt like puking and laughing at the same time. Damn tough ok. I could have choked to death on my own puke as I laughed out loud.

Don't be mistaken. I love the times spent in NUS. I think it's a pretty campus. My major complaint would be that they should have flattened Kent Ridge Hill a bit more before building the campus on it! I couldn't stand all the uphills and downhills! They make the shuttle bus journeys like roller coaster rides! Worse still when I couldn't board a bus and had to walk. The distance's quite short but who likes to walk uphill. They should also have put more handles on the shuttle buses so that there's something to grab onto when standing on the bus! Otherwise it's like going on a roller coaster ride without the safety bar - absolutely lethal. And it would be better if the Science canteen was a lot more bigger to house everyone during the lunch peak hours. And they could have added the POSB ATM machine at Science foyer much earlier, and not only a few months before I graduated. And it would be nicer if the tuition fees weren't so high, if 151 was double-decked, if seats at LT 26 weren't dropping off, if the Milo van came much more often, if LT 32 wasn't on a hill, if there wasn't so many stairs,.....

Ok, maybe I've more complaints than I thought hahah but still, I enjoyed myself there.

And yes, I do think that our national standard of education is high and well-recognised internationally. But the ads were too much la hahah. They were so exaggerated that they became funny. Especially the angmoh girl exclaiming "I am going to Singapore!" when she received the acceptance letter from NUS in the ad. I couldn't believe it la. Which angmoh would wanna come here when they've all those famous universities in the angmoh countries? Unless of course, they couldn't get into any of those. Or they couldn't afford to. At least the other ad was cute. "Not very far what!!"

I just realised that some kind souls put both ads on YouTube. I guess they figured that everyone else around the globe need some laugh. Here's the angmoh one and here's the korkor one.

Oh anyway back to the podcasts, there are 2 as well: the angmoh one and the kor kor one. I bet every single NUS student is thinking the exact way as Mr Brown too. HA.

"Singapore Business School: preferred by people who need to go somewhere else to be tomorrow's elites."

"Singapore Business School: preferred by tomorrow's elites who cannot afford to go overseas."

"I am going to Singapore!"

I'd food for thought.

2006-06-07T15:04:00.000+08:00

Good things don't always happen to the good.

It's true.

And bad things don't always happen to the bad only.

It seems unfair. Perhaps. But I always think that life's fair in its own way.

Perhaps life's not easy now, but you don't know what's to come for the next 50 years. They might be sweet.

Life's good now but you can't say for sure 50 years down the road.

I'm a firm believer of "Everything happens for a reason". Whether good or bad.

Bird dropping landing on your freshly ironed, clean shirt early in the morning on your way to work? It's not really bad luck. Everything happens for a reason. It's just that you might not be able to see the reason for yourself, or the reason might not be so straight forward.

Heard of the butterfly effect? The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or, for that matter, prevent a tornado from appearing). The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different. The idea here is the same: a seemingly non-significant event might ultimately cause or prevent a major event from occuring.

Everything happens for a reason. Life might be hard now but hardship grooms the strongest person. If you have been through so much, what else can't you take in the future? I think hardship also clears one's vision sometimes - one learns to appreciate better and sees the world with a clearer view.

Everything happens for a reason.

Copycat-ing

2006-06-06T21:18:00.000+08:00

Damn I'm simply too lazy and tired to type my own entry, so I'd grabbed this pretty interesting article from AskMen.com instead:

Rant: Stupid PC Job Titles

Get over yourself. That's my advice.

Job titles have gone too far. Remember the soda jerk? Well, maybe that's a little before your time, but there was once a guy who worked behind a lunch counter and we called him a soda jerk. I suppose today we'd call him a carbonated beverage specialist.

Of course, there aren't lunch counters anymore; there are coffee houses as far as the eye can see, and they're manned by people called baristas. What the hell is a barista? Let's be honest, a barista is an over-educated, disillusioned slacker who pours your overpriced coffee.

It's not clear exactly when the coffee guy became a barista, but it's yet another example of how the political correctness of the '90s went too far. What started as a movement to promote equality and understanding just spun out of control. I'm all for letting people feel good about themselves, but the kind of self-importance implied by stupid PC job titles goes too far.

1. Secretary

PC title: Administrative assistant

You remember the secretary; she probably worked for your father. I suppose we changed the title to throw the guys a bone on this one. After all, no guy wants to call himself a secretary. But I'm not so sure that administrative assistant is a step up. Now we have a job with an unclear description that is gender neutral. Is that really progress?

Better title: Coffee maker able to do light clerical work with a pleasant phone voice.

2. Prostitute

PC title: Sex surrogate

Here's the oldest of all old titles. I don't know what was wrong with prostitute. Sex surrogate is descriptive, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather be a prostitute. Sex surrogate sounds like a less-than-sexy backup plan.

Better title: A girlfriend working on an hourly rate who doesn't require dinner, flowers, foreplay, or talking about your day.

3. Porn star

PC title: Adult film star

They aren't all stars, but hey, they're hot, so we were willing to cut them some slack on this one. But the real question is: What's wrong with "porn"? Nothing. Plus, the term "adult film" is kind of confusing. For example: Saving Private Ryan , by some standards, is an adult film... a film for adults. Saving Ryan's Privates is porn.

Better title: Failed actress or model, who met some interesting people and decided, "What the heck, I love sex, so I might as well get paid for it."

4. Garbage man

PC title: Waste removal engineer

I don't think there was anything wrong with garbage man, but maybe some people thought there was a stigma attached to the title. This new title is all about self-importance. It's not waste, it's garbage. Waste is something you could have used, but chose not to. Garbage is something that you want far away from you. The word "removal" is just plain unnecessary, since it's clear that garbage shouldn't stick around. But engineer is what really goes too far. What kind of engineering is involved? None. You might as well call them waste removal accountants.

Better title: A person who doesn't have to shower before work.

5. Fireman

PC title: Firefighter

He used to be a fireman because only men were allowed to do the job. Sexism? Not if you happen to be the 300-pound unconscious guy that a fireman is pulling out of a burning building.
However, the addition of the word "fighter" makes the job sound much tougher, which is nice but unnecessary. If fire is in your job title, we know you're tough.

Better title: Always-alert super-fast driver with excellent axe and hose skills.

Nong nong ago...

2006-06-03T19:30:00.000+08:00

Ya, the last time I blogged was really nong nong ago. Almost 3 weeks ago.

Speaking of "nong nong ago", digression 1st. Which is what usually happens when I blog: I wanna blog about this thing, but blog halfway will start thinking about another thing, and the content of the entry changes almost completely. HA.

See? I can even digress from my initial digression. Hohoho.

Ok, so speaking of "nong nong ago", Singapore Idol 2 has been a blast so far! I love it right from the start showing some of the, hmm lets say, unique people in the auditions. Like Mr Nong Nong Ago. He was so earnest! That was what made his performance more bearable. Mirror Boy was funny too! Eh, though me and my sisters had a tough time guessing his sex. Yes, even tougher than hearing him sing. He is a girl la! I still can't believe that he's a boy. Unless I see his *ahem*. But wait, where is this going. I freaking DON'T want to see his *ahem*. Ok, I'll just take it that he's a boy. Couldn't stand the other two though: the Kungfu rapper and S'pore Cowboy fellows. Maybe the Institute of Mental Health is currently seeing to their enrolment liao.

Can check them out at Booting Stars. If you dare.

My fave so far?

Gotta be Jonathan Leong. I never thought that I would say this cause he is not my type, but this 23-year-old is HOT. He can seriously belt a mean tune. I love Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty, and Jonathan's rendition of "If You're Gone" was brillant. The other 6 guys that night at the Piano Show were good nevertheless, but not as impressive. I honestly only perked up when it was his turn. I'm so glad that he's in. =) =) =)

I was just reading my sis' "Seventeen" and the last page was an article on "17 Things That Make Him Sizzle". The 3rd thing on the list was "Musicians - drummers, guitarists, singers. There's just something about musicians that makes us go weak in the knees". I can foresee the heads of many girls ndding in agreement to this. Musicians are HOT. It's like a fact. And Jonathan who can sing and has a band of his own fits exactly and that makes him hot. Confidence exuded when he sings is a plus. Why must I graduate this year?! Urgh.

So guys, go pick up a guitar today. HA.

************************************************

Hmm, pondering if I should still say what I intended to when I started this blog entry. HA. Especially after the digression (or rather Jonathan Leong, or can I just call him Jon haha) which lightens up my mood. =)

Recently I met up with a lovely friend of mine. No kidding when I said that she's a lovely girl. She is the kindest person I've ever seen in my life so far. She is one person who can make me feel guilty for not doing enough for this society. She doesn't just talk about doing charity. She goes all out to do volunteer work. Sometimes I think it's a bit crazy, considering that she has to juggle between studies, family, boyfriend, friends, tuition and volunteer work! She's like busy 24/7! To the extent that sometimes she falls sick due to lack of sufficient rest. I once asked her why not to do a bit less volunteer work such that she can have more time to herself, but she never even considered it.

So I met her for lunch a week ago and something that she said to me made me at a loss for words.

She said, "我觉得你是那种随缘的人，但有时候会有一点无奈。是这样吗？你会有这种感觉吗？这是你给我的印像啦。"

I was completely stumped for words.

I errr-ed and ahh-ed for a whole minute. My eyes strayed all over the place while my brain frantically tried to do some thinking. But no thoughts came into my mind.

Finally, I just shrugged my shoulders and still couldn't say anything.

Did she see wrongly or do I really give people this kind of impression?

I seriously dunno.

Like what I said. I was stumped. And still is.

Magical Land Of My Own

2006-05-11T16:15:00.000+08:00

Enid Blyton (1897-1968)

This lady here has always been my all-time favourite author of children's books. I honestly grew up reading her books during my early years in primary school. She wrote about 40 storybooks and I can say confidently that I've read at least half of them. And it was from her books that I developed an interest in reading and eventually moved on to conquer books by other writers.

I had many of her books. I used the past tense cause I've given them away to charity homes, as well as to my Ah-boy, over the past few years. But I still have one left. And yes, this book is my ultimate favourite. That's why I couldn't bear to give it away. This morning, bored from waiting to pick up my "The Da Vinci Code" from the bookstore (it was out of stock yesterday) this afternoon and from having no book to read after finishing "The Chronicles of Narnia", I reread the old book again!

Digression: Come to think about it, it is not entirely true when I said that I've no book to read. Cause I haven't read the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy yet, which is still lying on my bookshelf, already turning yellow with age. My sister bought the entire series including "The Hobbit" ages ago when the 1st movie was released and had since finished them all. And yes, she's forever nagging me to read the entire series too as she thinks that reading is the best habit ever. I do feel that she is true and I AM trying to pick up my reading habit again. But several times I've tried reading the LOTR series and I couldn't never get past the first few chapters of "The Hobbit" without feeling bored to death. HA. But I'll bravely try again after I finish the Dan Brown book. Never say die.

And I was once again welcomed to the world of the Enchanted Wood and the Faraway Tree, along with the folks living on the tree itself. The Faraway Tree is an enchanted tree that is enormous enough for folks to live on it. And by folks, I meant no ordinary folks like us, but talking squirrels, goblins, brownies, pixies and so on! The coolest thing of all about this magical tree is that it reaches so high into the sky, into the clouds, that at the very top of the tree, there is a magical land which moves away after a few days, to be replaced by another land that arrives there soon after.

There are all sorts of magical lands. There is the Land of Secrets where there lives wise people who know every single secret there is on earth and if you go there, you can know any secret that you want to. Well, Bush will probably want to go there. Then he can ask if Iran is really hiding weapons of mass destruction from USA. PAP can go there and check if Gomez was really lying. Me? Eh I don't wanna know anyone's secret or secret about anything else. I just hope that there isn't anyone out there who is interested in my secret. *shudder* Ok la, I might as well admit my secret first: I've a phobia for butterflies (disgusting fluttery creatures! yikes!).

Then there is also the Land of Enchantments where you can buy any sort of enchantment. A potion to make you more beautiful. A spell to make the girl yours. Anything you want. As long as you have the money cause things are blardy expensive there. And then there exists the Land of Know-alls as well which houses 5 Know-alls, who are extremely wise and know everything. You can ask them anything and they will tell you the answer or solution. I've a sudden urge to ask them who will win World Cup this year at Germany. And I bet everyone would love the Land of Tea Parties where you can go up there and just eat for FREE. Yes, FOC. Singaporeans' fave la. HA. And there is simply everything delicious like jellies and ice cream and cakes. Eh, no leh, no abalone or my favourite shark's fin. I don't guess they serve Chinese delicacies yet. But they do have this machine up there that you can simply say to it anything that you want to it, press a button and then presto! you've it. 酷毙了 right? I would want one of that.

Then I started thinking wildly and thought, What magical land would I want to go to? I looked at all the Lands mentioned in the book and thought that they were mainly nice (though some were horrid) but too normal still. I would want something that is unique to me. Then it came to me.

Yes, the Land of Hunks.

Wah. Not bad right. HOHOHO.

Imagine if I had many hunks to look at. Ya, what else do you think I want the hunks to do? Feed me grapes like some Queen Cleopatra? Pole dance for me? Eh, massage me? Sounds a bit gross hahah. I just want to be invisible in a land full of hunks! You know, just like that Clay Aiken song, "If I was invisible, then I could just watch you in your room. If I was invisible, I'd make you mine tonight." hahah a bit perv. But I would just be satisfied to watch numerous hunks just doing their own normal daily stuff, like lazing around, sleeping, swimming, bathing. Opps, did I just say that out loud?! HOHOHO.

Michael Jackson wouldn't want any of this Land though. I think he would prefer the Land of Little Boys. HOHOHO.

To Narnia and back

2006-05-10T12:19:00.000+08:00

Hurrays! For I've finally finished the entire series of "The Chronicles of Narnia"! Which is a blardy big book of 767 pages consisting of 7 separate novels and weighs a ton! Not a chore to read though as all the stories are truly interesting and out of this world. It's quite like the Harry Potter series really, with all the magic and good fighting evil, except that there isn't really many magicians but more of talking animals, and things took place in old-day England.

But to tell the truth, this poor book has been lying on my table for ages, gathering dust as the last time I touched it was when the Disney movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was screened quite a while ago and I busied myself reading the first 2 stories "The Magician's Nephew" and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in an attempt to get the whole picture correct after watching the movie. As the same goes for all movies taken from good books, while the movie might be an enjoyable visual experience, the book itself is always a much clearer picture. If you have watched the "Harry Potter" movies and read the books, you'll find that the books have much more details and more characters that were left out in the movies as it would be mission impossible for the director to adhere to the book completely. In fact, for the last HP movie "The Goblet of Fire", while I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of the movie and its effects, the movie was almost a flop and almost incomprehensible had one not read the book beforehand.

Luckily these few days, all I've on my hand is time and I've finally given the book the attention it well deserves. To sum it all up, "The Chronicles of Narnia", written by C.S. Lewis, a classic of children's literature, present the adventures of children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common and the bad is always trying to harm the good, all in futile attempts, while the good eventually kick all their asses. Written by Lewis between 1950 and 1956, "The Chronicles of Narnia" contains Christian themes and borrows from Greek and Roman mythology as well as traditional British and Irish fairy tales.

In fact, "The Chronicles of Narnia" contain many allusions to Christian ideas which can be easily picked up by the reader, unless like me, you are a non-Christian who knows nuts about the Bible. I'd to read up to the last story "The Last Battle" when it gradually dawned to me that Aslan, the Great Lion, the Mighty One in the stories, might be, holly golly, God or Jesus. And that all the children from the previous stories came back to Narnia although Aslan told them that they couldn't come anymore because of their ages, probably because they have all died. And indeed, bloody hell, it was true. They had all died in a train crash and had finally been allowed entry into Narnia, which was probably Heaven. And yes, Aslan was not God, but his son Jesus. *faint*

After I finished the last page, I went to my sis who had been nagging me to finish the entire book since I'm so free, and said to her, "Walau, Aslan is Jesus ah?". My sister laughed in glee cause she knew that I would despise that type of ending and nodded her head. How I was feeling then is like eating a very crunchy and juicy big fat red apple happily and then finding a worm inside the core. Ya, I kinda felt cheated because I hate it when people try to sell me their religion, especially Christians preaching me to go to their church events. So to read a really good book and then finding at its end an ending that involves Christianity kinda sucks. Don't tell me that I'll find at the end of the last book of J.K. Rowling that Albus Dumbledore didn't die and in fact he is God himself and is just resting in Heaven.

However, after the initial shock of learning the truth about Aslan (which, to be fair, is not really an allegorical representation of Christ, but more of a literal representation of Christ, in another body, in another universe, and by another name), actually I didn't mind so much of the ending anymore as the books told a fantastic tale of adventure, colour, and mythological ideas like the Fauns, the Dryads, the Centaurs and the dwarfs. And boy, growing up reading fairytales by Enid Blyton, I love mythical creatures even though they don't exist (but you will never really know for sure). Somehow they work wonders on my soul, never failing to make me light-hearted and young, though for no apparent reasons.

And it is interesting to know that C.S. Lewis was a good friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, best known as the author of "The Hobbit" and its sequel "The Lord Of The Rings" as they were both part of the Inklings which was a literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford. Both survived the second world war and subsequently wrote brillant novels which proceeded on to take the world by storm decades later. 果然是时势造英雄。In present days, no such series has emerged, maybe except for J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. And yeah, I've read all of that so far! Up to the "The Half-Blood Prince"!

My next book? "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. I know, I know. How 2003. But well, I'm slow what. Haven't read it yet cause it had looked heavy. But the movie's coming up real soon and it kinda sparked the interest in me to read it before the movie screens. Just in case I wanna catch the movie too. Afterall, like what my sis (who had read the book ages ago) said, "It's such a hot book. Bestseller leh. Must read la or else very kuku." HA.

Tribute to Mothers' Day

2006-05-09T16:32:00.000+08:00

Mothers' Day is coming this Sunday and I thought that I'll do a tribute to all the great mums out there (definitely inclusive of my own) by posting this story that I've found online.

Being A Mother (author unknown)

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman loves you too, and she would love to spend some time with you."

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.

"What's wrong, are you well?" she asked. My mother was the type of woman who suspected that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.

"I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you," I responded. "Just the two of us."

She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up, I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.

"I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting."

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

"It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said.

"Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.

"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home.

"Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son."

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: "I LOVE YOU" and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till "some other time”.

**** The End ****

Something trivial

2006-05-07T19:16:00.000+08:00

Expect to see Mr 刘德华 going "霍霍霍霍霍霍霍霍!!" during Channel U's "SUPERBAND" show tomorrow night!

Yes, Qi;Nobe (使诺鼻) is doing Jay Chou's "霍元甲" for QF4, which I believe is recorded today. Ahhhh but I thought Brods might do it since they performed "One Night In Beijing" last QF and the falsetto was beautifully executed. I thought Bryan might perform the opera part in "霍元甲" well too. HA. But well, Qi;Nobe is also one of my fave groups in the show, and perhaps one of the most exciting. "霍元甲" should be some performance worth anticipating too.

Now everybody, c'mon, 大家一起来: 霍霍霍霍霍霍霍霍!!!

Three Taboos

2006-05-06T22:06:00.000+08:00

If there is anything that you should never discuss with me, unless of course you agree with my point of view as I'm terribly obstinate and won't listen if you think differently, there are actually three: politics, religion and homosexuality.

The first one has been getting on my nerves for the past week. Yes, I did enjoy the experience of voting and I did vote this afternoon. In fact, the poll results are coming out in less than an hour' time as I'm typing here. And I like the hype that the GE has generated among the people. There usually isn't much to be excited about in Singapore but the rallies held over the past week were well-received by the people and were crowded machiam like some superstar concerts. HA. The Hougang one was particularly spectacular. The crowd it drew was overwhelming if you've seen for yourself or on newspapers/internet. And the traffic jams it caused at the Hougang area were furious! Traffic jams at 10pm! How about that?! Maybe LTA should have put ERP there to curb the crowd and earn helluva money in the process as well.

I didn't go to any of the rallies. And damn, I don't need to. I've rallies at home every bloody day. Yes, on the PAP side, you have my dearest mummy as the spokesperson, and my dad represents the WP. Voting is secret but you don't need a brain to guess who they voted for respectively this afternoon. I bet all my neighbours know by now. And I dunno if the rallies at the stadiums started sharply every night but the rallies in my house start every day punctually the moment the news start and begin broadcasting news on the GE. Four words to describe my past week: 不得安宁. And I make sure that I never even whisper anything on the GE when I'm around my dad cause it'll only fire off his views on the current government and the political scene. Damn, I love my dad but I'll gladly save his thoughts on politics for another day. Like the day when I become deaf. *touch wood*

And politics is ugly. Fugly. As usual. The Gomez incident almost drew blood out of me. I do think that Gomez is a liar. And a stupid liar at that. But I must have seen that damn video at least 50 times on the news. The morning news, the afternoon news and the evening news ALL showed that. Repeatedly. You don't need an idiot to know what that idiot had done so you don't have to show us that video over and over again. And over and over again. Unless of course the news people think that Singaporeans are idiots. Well, some of us are, I admit.

And what's up with the suing thing? "Sue me la" is like the fave phrase in this GE. Yes, yes, our MM is a lawyer who sues every single person who slanders him and some have gone bankrupted as a result. But randomly saying "tell him to sue me lor" is so damn childish. Like those Ah Bengs who 看不爽 each other and saying 看什么看，不爽打我啦！And the sarcasm in most of the politicians when they commented on their competitors. Walau, I can't stand it. Politics is not for a hermit like me. I'm not 政治冷淡. I know who to support and why, so I do find all these rallies, speeches and stuff on the GE unnecessary and boring.

Luckily it's finally OVER. Bloody hell, what a boring week. Goodbye to the days where I flip open the newspapers to find half of it on the GE, or watch the news and spend 30 minutes listening to the same stuff.

As for religion and homosexuality, I got very irritated lately after reading Colin's and Kero's blog. In case you dunno, well, these two young boys became quite famous on the internet recently after starting this blog together, not as two good friends, but as a gay couple. I began reading their blog after funny guy Kenny Sia recommended it as "Brokeback Bloggers - definitely not for the conservatives. Personally I find it an entertaining and interesting read." They definitely weren't what I expected. Whatever I'd expected, it was definitely not two 17-year-old teenagers coming forth with their relationship. They are so open of their relationship that I'm actually quite taken aback. Come on, admit it, we are still a pretty conservative society. There are so many homophobes on the streets spewing hatred for the homosexuals (though not many of them dare to come out in the open and express such feelings. they do so cowardly on the internet as anonymous or hidden behind virtual identities.). To come forth with their relationship, I did hope that these 2 young boys, younger than my little sis, were bracing themselves for the negative comments to come.

And hell did the nasty comments come. Avalanche in fact. And when I said that I got very irritated lately after reading the boys' blog, I meant irritation at the homophobes. They were downright mean and despicable. Hidden behind their virtual identities as Blogger.com bloggers, they have been slamming hard and inhumanly on these 2 young boys, and making it sound like a "sin" to be homosexuals. By what fucking law is it a sin? If this idea itself isn't ridiculous enough, the homophobes have to pull in a particular religion and its divine laws to "support" their basis.

I have no religion. If there's any, it's the religion of believing in oneself and the good in (almost) everything. I'm brought up lidat. It's not because I don't see the good in a religion, but I wasn't introduced to and brought up according to the beliefs of any particular religion. For one, my parents are not strong followers of any religion though they do go to Chinese temples to pray. And so, I'm a free thinker. Who respects all forms of religions as long as they are reasonable. And their followers don't preach to me about their religion like some flies that you can't swat away.

But I detest it when people wrongly use their religion, their divine laws to rebut things that are "supposed" to be wrong "according to" their religion. Like homosexuality. They say that their God believes that homosexuality is sinful. *snorts* Did they ask their God personally?! Did he sit in a big armchair in his office and tell them face-to-face, to put down all homosexuals?! If he is holy, he will not do such unholy thing like condemning. Bullshit. Yes, I am very angry because I don't understand why we are all humans and they are tearing at some others' necks just because of their sexual orientation, which is really none of their business. The homosexuals are not even asking them to watch them fuck. Why are they so bothered about others' business when they should be doing more good like volunteer work instead according to their holy laws.

Don't use your religion to rebut homosexuality cause you are only disgracing your own religion which you do not truly understand but stupidly think that you do. And do not use science too. I've seen spastic people say spastic stuff like "Male by birth, man by choice", "there's no gay gene", "no one is born gay". I spent more than half of my life studying science so I do think that I know more science than those idiots. Homosexuals are born lidat. If they have a choice, if they really have, I think they would rather be born heterosexual so as to avoid being treated as social rejects by the many homophobes. While both you and they can do nothing to change their sexual orientation, why not just stand in their shoes and accept them? What harm does it do you? What joy do you get from insulting them? WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?!

Yes, I support gay rights. No gay friends but I support gay rights. To me, gays are just humans. Gay rights = human rights. As simple as that. If you hate them, just think about why. Is it a good reason? If you don't have a good reason, I'm not asking you to like them, to support their rights, but can you just not hate them?

This is something interesting I found on the internet:

Are you a homophobe? If you are, you probably use the Bible to justify your hatred of gays and lesbians.

But do you obey all the commandments of God and Jesus yourself? Here are some divine laws you probably transgress frequently:

1. You must not do any work on the seventh day, the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. (Exodus 20:8-11)

2. You must not eat pork, clams, oysters, shrimps, or rare steaks. (Leviticus 11:7,12; 19:26)

3. You must not cut the hair on the sides of your head, or trim the edges of your beard. (Leviticus 19:27)

4. You must not charge interest on loans to your countrymen. (Deuteronomy 23:20)

5. You must not pray in public. (Matthew 6:5-6)

6. You must give to everyone who begs from you; and when someone takes your things, don't ask for them back. (Luke 6:30)

Many homophobes say they do not have to live by the laws of the Old Testament, only those mentioned in the New. They quote Paul to justify judging gays. Yet Jesus himself said: "Do not think that I came to abolish the law..." (Matthew 5:17)

If you still think you are holier than gays and lesbians, here's what Jesus says about you:
"Don't pass judgment, so you won't be judged. Don't forget, the judgment you hand out will be the judgment you get back. And the standard you use will be the standard used on you. Why do you notice the speck in your neighbor's eye, but overlook the timber in your own? How can you say to your neighbor, "Let me get the speck out of your eye, when there is that timber in your own? You phony, first take the timber out of your own eye and then you'll see well enough to remove the speck from your neighbor's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5 Scholars Version)

Jesus also said:"You must love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10;27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8)

I have nothing against this religion. Just like how most homosexuals have nothing against the followers of this religion. Why do many homophobes use this religion to support their condemn for homosexuals when their Bible did not even tell them to? Here's another interesting find.

I've my own stand in many aspects and I hold on firmly to my own principles. I would be lying if I said that it's not tiring sometimes, especially when my thinkings don't fit me into the majority. But it's silly if I change myself just to fit in, isn't it? Who needs to fit in anyway? I'm one proud misfit. HA.

=== Side note ===

This is one blardy long entry and by the time I finished it, ALL the poll results were out and PAP won in my GRC as expected. I've lived here all my life so far and I would say that they deserve it.

My Bodyguard

2006-05-05T21:05:00.000+08:00

"Bodyguard" (2003), a Korean drama serial shown on Channel U every weekday at 6pm, is my current favourite drama on tv. In fact, with all the “宝莲灯”，“至尊红颜”， “郎才女貌” in which I'm all NOT interested, this Korean comedy currently is the only drama that rocks my world. So funny that there never seems to be anything interesting to watch on tv once after the exams.

The story talks about Hong Kyung Tak (played by Cha Seung Won) who is a healthy and warm-hearted guy who comes back home from the army. He has no direction in life until he enters the bodyguard profession at the suggestion of Song Il Gook, the president of KBB Security Company. As a bodyguard, his actions speak for his words, and he cannot stand still when a mishap happens. Therefore, when Song tries to ruin a politician's career with a bribe, Cha quits KBB and moves to his friend's new security company, Il Pyun Dan Shim. Meanwhile, Han Go Eun, a fellow bodyguard at KBB falls in love with the warm-hearted Cha, and rejects the love of Song, a cold-hearted guy who does anything for money. Cha's younger sister, Mya, finds a new friend in Lim Eun Kyung, a girl who moves into the neighborhood with her old grandmother. Although Cha always cares for Lim as a younger sister, Lim begins to like Cha as a guy and becomes jealous of Han. When the grandmother dies, Lim moves in with Mya's family, but also finds out that she is the illegitimate daughter of a powerful politician who is running for president. In this upcoming presidential election, Lim's father and the politician for whom Cha is bodyguarding, are at stand against eachother. Behind the scenes, Lim's father works numerous murders with Song's father. In this exciting but dangerous world as a bodyguard, Cha must not only protect his politician, but the lives of Lim, his family, and friends.

While the storyline is a ideal mixture of romance, comedy, heart-warming family ties and action, it absolutely helps that Cha Seung Won (My Teacher, Mr Kim) was in it.

It helps that he is tall (1.88m!), handsome and plays an excellent comedic role. Oh ya, did I mention his fantastic physique? And he's 35. Excellent. I love older men.

Man, I wish he's MY bodyguard. Ya, just wish on. I know. HA.

=== Side note ===
If there's anything I love about having a blog, it's the way I can put up photos of drool-inducing hunks and just drool shamlessly over them. HA. Ya, I'm a 色狼.

AskMen.com

2006-05-05T19:10:00.000+08:00

I was checking on the alpha female thingy online yesterday when I found this interesting website: AskMen.com which is a free online magazine for men, although I think that it would be an interesting read for ladies too. There are articles like "6 Things Women Want To Change About Men", "10 Things Men Think Women Like" and "9 Signs She's Not Into You". I would go check them out later. They might serve as interesting topics for my blog! HA.

6 Signs You're Dating An Alpha Female

She's on top of her dating game. She is obstinate, conceited and doesn't make it easy for you to pick her up. She gives you a run for your money and makes you work overtime on her, so to speak. But all this only makes her more appealing to you. She is, in other words, the quintessential "alpha female." The alpha female has an uncanny ability to make men chase her. Her talent is very distinct from that of the "alpha male", a man whose aptitude for chasing women is finely tuned. But the alpha female's talents are special, and consequently, chasing her might be your biggest dating challenge yet.

So how can you tell if she's an alpha female? Below are six dead giveaways along with strategies to deal with her sneaky alpha tactics. In addition to the tips below, there is only one more thing you need to remember when pursuing a woman who knows her way around the dating game: Keep your cool. An alpha female can smell fear.

1. She acts unimpressed by your romantic gestures. An alpha female is used to men chasing her, so don't be surprised if cliché gifts like flowers and chocolate don't impress her. Remember this: Her expectations are higher than most women's, so you will have to be a little more original to get her attention.

How to counteract it: Try writing her a personalized letter and leaving it on her windshield, for example. Or make her lunch and bring it to her at work. Whatever it is, be different. If she still acts unimpressed, do continue to make kind gestures, but don't go overboard. This type of woman is used to men going crazy for her, and you will stand out more if you can keep your cool.

2. She continues to date other men. Clearly, she doesn't want to commit. The alpha woman always has several men on the go and likes to keep her options open.

How to counteract it: The only way to deal with her wandering eyes is to do the same. In other words, fight fire with fire and continue to date other women until you discuss otherwise.

3. She's hard to reach. The alpha female is a busy woman, or at least she is very talented at making you believe that. She likes to have you at her beck and call and wants you to work around her schedule.

How to counteract it: Don't become the last-minute, just-in-case guy -- that won't earn you any respect in the long term. Make sure she realizes that you have your own commitments by not working entirely around her schedule. Do continue to pursue her if you think you have a shot, but be casual when you call. And definitely don't call more than twice before she calls you back.

4. She insists on paying her share of the bill. If she always insists on going Dutch, she might be pulling one of her fancy alpha tricks. Why? Because if you never treat her, she'll never owe you anything.

How to counteract it: Continue to offer to pay on dates, but if she seems adamant about paying her share, don't insist. If you want to avoid the whole awkward bill-splitting moment, tell her you'll take her to your "secret spot" and bring along a picnic to surprise her.

5. She is demanding. She continuously asks you for favors and you are eager to do them for her. Sound familiar? The alpha female is used to having men pursue her and give in to her every whim. But as tempting as it might be to jump every time she tells you to, do not allow yourself to become her puppy dog.

How to counteract it: Keep your dignity and do only what you feel is within reason. You will earn yourself far more respect in the long run if you don't jump through all the hoops she sets out for you.

6. She is sarcastic and condescending to you. If she constantly talks down to you and makes rude or mocking remarks, you need to defend your honor and fight back with equally witty comments. You never know what the alpha female might say, so you always have to be "on" and ready for verbal combat.

How to counteract it: Use a negative hit only when absolutely necessary (something mildly but not overly insulting). This will throw her off balance and threaten her feelings of control. However, if your exchanges are consistently negative and disrespectful, you're probably better off moving on; you shouldn't have to put up with her abuse.

Make one important distinction clear in your mind: An alpha female might not call you back very often and she may date other men, but she will show you strong, intermittent signs that she is interested to encourage you to continue pursuing her. Do not mix this up with a woman who is showing few or no signs that she's interested. In other words, know when to stop trying and walk away.

hahah anyone still interested in dating alpha females? Her antics sound ridiculous to me.

Alpha-ness

2006-05-04T14:34:00.000+08:00

This is so interesting. Someone just commented that I'm alpha, an alpha female. Ahhh am I? I have never thought of myself this way. Now what's an "alpha female" anyway? In the past, the term "alpha male" would have been more recognised: "applied to humans, apparently denotes physical prowess, high achievement, bullying and sexual attraction. It is not an entirely flattering term, calling to mind the aggressive chest-beating of a silverback gorilla, but perfectly describes someone who bends others to his will." To put it simply, machiam like King Kong la.

But in recent years, the concept of "alpha female", both in the human and animal social contexts, is emerging. And basically, the alpha female is quite the female version of the alpha male. So duh right? HA. If we look at the context of social animals such as the primates and elephants, according to Wikipedia, "the alpha male or alpha female is the individual in the community whom the others follow and defer to." On the other hand, in the human context, if we base alpha female on the male model, we will find her in the boardroom, impersonating his bullying and overriding ambition. Sexuality plays a big part in alpha male's success, and probably plays such a part in the alpha female too, who is likely to be a tremendous flirt and spends a lot of effort on her appearance. Now, here's where I don't fit in. Friends on closer terms would know that I'm hardly a flirt. I don't even socialise with guys in the first place. I'm kinda aloof to them. 排男 is my attitude ever since uni. It means 排斥男人 hahah. Though I think that my aloofness towards the male species might be what makes me kinda alpha too. HA.

So anyway back to the topic, there are very few alpha females of this order, since most women have had the alpha-male qualities conditioned out of them and have been steered towards nurturing roles rather than world domination. Alpha female is described to be pretty exceptional. There are not a whole lot of people trying to be like her, whereas there are a lot of men behaving in the same way, clambering over each other to reach the top of the tree. Those women who do get to the top are mavericks, hybrids and deny that they are like other women. Women do not like alpha female very much, nor do they want to be like her. Women want to be liked, which holds them back.

Well, I would like to be liked. Won't you, regardless of your sex/gender? But most of the time, I don't care if I'm liked anot. I know that my personality is not very likeable. I am close to being obstinate and adhere to my own principles closely. And by doing so, sometimes it means that I don't fit into the crowd but who gives a fuck. At least I don't. I don't need to fit into any crowd. I don't follow. I lead my own life. I don't hold myself back from doing something just cause I think that this action won't be liked by others. Neither will I do something cause I think that people will like me more if I do so. As long as 对得起天地良心，对得起父母, I'll go ahead. And if this is alpha, then well, good, I'm alpha.

Of course, there are people who see alpha female as inhuman. Quoted from somewhere: "Alpha female, like alpha male, depends on such a sense of innate superiority that she's probably not aware of her status (You mean like me? hohoho). Achievement is the focus of alpha female's life; anything else is secondary. She does not obsess about relationships. She is dominant. While she would be effortlessly talented and capable, she would need a reduced capacity for empathy, because otherwise it would derail her." Teh. Teh. Teh. All wrong. Achievements mean nothing to me. Or I would have worked myself much harder in uni to get a 1st class honours / join CCAs in uni to have a wonderful CCA record. The truth is, I don't give a damn. All my achievements so far are only based on one simple logic: I do what I like and I do best in what I like. And my relationships mean the world to me. And believe me anot, my empathy is much more than what I seem like. I'm not that stupid XX bitch who wrote an entire bloody useless entry on how it's "worthless" to to be empathetic because of some "survival of the fittest" law which she has misunderstood.

There's an theory on the alpha female which states that the model is entirely different, embodying the best female qualities rather than aping the male. And if one turns to nature for clues, the elephant society is a good example - a matriarchy, led by the biggest, strongest female, perceived as wise and kind, which keeps the group together. This model of alpha female has different qualities from the male: she shares his leadership and strength, but also promotes community. She is a woman of substance, who combines physical potency with seriousness of purpose. Motherhood is essential to alpha female's humanity: she is mature and connected. Even so, she is not hampered or compromised by motherhood in any way.

In the human context, the alpha female make an impact by the way they live their lives. In their sexual identity, in the way they construct their domestic lives, they strive to be true to themselves. If they are confrontational, it is not for its own sake, but to say: 'This is what I am.' They acknowledge their own complexities. Alpha males do not go down that route. Alpha male is driven by insecurity and fear: aware that there are many similar males climbing the ladder behind him, he clings to old-fashioned hierarchies and may soon become redundant. "Alpha male is such a male concept," says Julia Peyton-Jones, director of the Serpentine Gallery. "It's not a term you would apply to women. Women can be as powerful as men, but to call them alpha females would be limiting. On the whole, women have to be more inventive and they have the skills to get what they want without being so crude about it." Hey man, if it's according to this model, I jolly don't mind being an alpha female. Sounds wholly good to me. HA.

So do I think that I'm an alpha female? If being an alpha female means to understand yourself, to have a mind of your own, to be confident and not to care about what others think, to stand up for yourself against others, then well I am one. And anyway I don't specifically despise males. You can be a girl and if you don't have a mind of your own, well I won't think too highly of you too. But it's true that I don't like to see myself at lower ranks than males. I don't like the sexual sterotyping. Though I won't purposely compete against guys most of the time, I do find it satisfactory when my grades were better than most guys, or I ran faster than most guys in my class, or better at ball games. HA. Okok, alpha, I know. But alpha or not alpha, I do think that it's important that one knows what one is living for. Afterall, an average Singaporean lives up to 80 years. You don't wanna spend the remaining 5, 6 decades or so living like a zombie, do you? Take this coming GE as an example, those who get to vote should think clearly and carefully who you want to vote for and why. We are adults in our 20s already. Surely you can process your own thoughts properly and make your own decisions already. Sure, you can anyhow vote for one and even do a void, it's not illegal, but I'm sure that we are all mature enough to do something as simple as voting.

Anyway all these brought to my mind an old song by Christina Aguilera, "Can't Hold Us Down", so I guess I'll finally end this long post with this:

So what am I not supposed to have an opinion
Should I be quiet just because I'm a woman
Call me a bitch cos I speak what's on my mind
Guess it's easier for you to swallow if I sat and smiled
So what am I not supposed to say what I'm saying
.
.
Are you offended by the message I'm bringing
Call me whatever cos your words don't mean a thing
Guess you ain't even a man enough to handle what I sing
.
.
If you look back in history
It's a common double standard of society
The guy gets all the glory the more he can score
While the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore

Eight Below

2006-05-03T11:35:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I caught the movie "Eight Below" with my sis. My sis was the one who really wanted to warch that. I wasn't planning to watch that somehow. Just like I didn't have the urge to watch "Penguin March" in the cinema when the famous film was released quite some while ago. Although I do think that both sled dogs and emperor penguins are cute. Maybe I figured that it wouldn't be too exciting to see 8 dogs running about on snow and not talking human, nor thousands of penguins waddling about on ice though 3 of the penguins did freaking talk human language. Alas, just as I was wrong about the penguins (I did catch "Penguin March" on vcd months later), I was also wrong about the dogs.

Inspired by a true story, "Eight Below" is an action-adventure about loyalty and the bonds of friendship set in the extreme wilderness of Antarctica. The film tells the story of three members of a scientific expedition: Jerry Shepard (played by Paul Walker), his best friend, Cooper, and a rugged American geologist, who are forced to leave behind their team of eight beloved sled dogs due to a sudden accident and perilous weather conditions in Antarctica. During the harsh, Antarctic winter, the dogs must struggle for survival alone in the intense frozen wilderness for over 6 months.

The Alaskan huskies COMPLETELY stole the limelight. Not only were they lovely in appearance, all fluffy and cuddly, they were even better actors/actresses than any of the humans in the movie. And they didn't even talk. All they had to do was a look, a bark, a nod or a nudge at each other, and you knew what they were trying to imply, how they felt. It was amazing. Just watching the dogs look after each other was enough to use up a few pieces of Kleenex.

And it is especially intriguing to know that such a wonderful dog that will really work itself to death, the Alaskan husky, is not even a so-called pure breed and is not recognized by any major kennel club. It falls short of being a breed in that there is no preferred type and no restriction as to ancestry. It is defined only by its purpose, which is that of a highly efficient sled dog. In fact, the Alaskan is the sled dog of choice for world-class dog sled racing competition and none of the pure bred northern breeds can match it for sheer racing speed. A top-level racing lead dog can bring a freaking sum of US $10,000-15,000. How's that for a non pure?! But if you ask me, I would gladly keep a Alaskan husky like beautiful Maya here any day!

And the film's actually quite educational too. Shows you the breath-taking landscape of the Antartica continent and some of the local biological diversity. If there's one thing which I've learnt from watching this film, it is to never mess with a leopard seal. Like what Jerry said in the film, "they are more leopards, than seals". How bloody true. The only time when I was completely caught off-guard and had a brief shock was when the stupid leopard seal popped out from the sea through a huge hole in the carcass of the killer whale, to say "hello" to one of the huskies, Max. Except that its "hello" and the snarl on its face looked more like "I'm going to tear you apart and eat you!". Oh, or maybe that's what it was trying to say.

Sua-ku me had never known how a leopard seal would be like before watching "Eight Below". And I'm too bloody used to the cutesy sealions in the Singapore zoo, that perform at their own animal shows, can do acts and even clap their flippers. I don't think that our zoo has any seals in fact. But well, bloody hell, I would take a sealion any day as compared to a leopard seal that's no way near cute. Even a leopard still looks cute, though it might bite off my head if it is hungry.

Here are some interesting facts about the Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx):

Population: 250,000 individuals
Location: Antarctic waters
Size: Up to 10 ft long
Weight: Up to 750 lbs
Diet: Penguins, fish, squid, & krill
Habitat: Pack ice in summer, island coasts in winter

* The Leopard seal is the largest of the true Antarctic seals.
* Leopard Seals are the only seals that eat other seals.
* Leopard seals have a excellent senses of sight and smell under water.
* Leopard seals catch penguins by their feet and then beat them back and forth on the surface of the water until the penguin falls out of its skin. Then, they eat the carcass. (How svetle. puke.)

And how can I fail to mention the only true human eye candy of the 2 hours: Paul Walker.

I would also gladly take him in any day. ;P

至尊红颜

2006-05-02T21:39:00.000+08:00

“是女人霸道，还是男人无能？”

This is the tag line of the "至尊红颜" trailer.

To which me and my sis replied in unison, “是男人无能！”

Well, but this is what the 霸道女人 said. =P

My own space.

2006-05-01T16:18:00.000+08:00

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about getting a place of my own to stay in the future, say when I'm 30. Currently 23 and single, I honestly don't see myself getting married, settling down and starting a family of my own. It all seems so foreign. So that day, I asked my mum a bit awkwardly cause I was scared that she wouldn't approve, "Mummy, 以后我三十岁还嫁不出去的话，我可以搬出去自己住吗？"

Quite surprisingly, my mum replied heartily, "当然可以啦！如果你有钱的话，还可以买 private leh, 像 Annie 姐姐一样。" I should never underestimate my mum's 开通-ness. She IS the best. HA. Oh, anyway Annie 姐姐 is my cousin in her early 30s, a stunning intellectual pychologist, an ex-SAF overseas scholarship holder who spent her uni years in UK, and currently engaged to a pilot. She bought a condominium after she came back from her studies about 6 years ago, and has been staying on her own ever since as she's too used to her independent life. So cool. And another of my cousins, in his late 20s, just bought a Porche recently. All my cousins are damn cool ok.

And ya, back to my apartment, I need to start saving money when I get a job. haha ya and I haven't even start looking for a job yet.

So my apartment...I hope that I can get a condominium.

I love the facilities that come with the apartment. I guess when you are unmarried with no husband or kids to fuss over, no loadsa household chores that come with a family to do, you will probably be damn free. Especially if all your friends are married and busy with their own lives. So the facilities will come in handy.

A swimming pool will be excellent...a great way to keep fit and relax...cool to lie on one of those beach chairs at the side of the pool and get a tan too...

I hope that the gym will have a neat set of machines too, to keep me in a mean shape...30s and lumpy is a big NO-NO. People look at you, shake their heads and think, no wonder you are not married. 30s and having a body like a 20 odd-yr-old, people look at you and wonder why you are still single. HA.

And the interior of my apartment will be designed and decorated the way I like and want. Provided that I can afford it. I am a person with plenty of ideas, so many in fact that I often find it hard to settle just for one. Sometimes I think maybe it'll be cool if my home can be mod-chic, like perhaps in black and white for the entire interior design. Sometimes I find that idea bored, and think perhaps red and black would be a more dashing and happening combo. Sometimes I think maybe it's not so good to have the entire house looking so up-beat and perhaps a natural theme would be more suitable. Ahhh whatever. As long as it's cosy. It's my home afterall.

If I'm ever filthy rich, it could be the black and white theme for Jan, the fluffy pink theme for Feb since V-day falls in that month, the Jungle and Tarzan theme for March, the Hawaii beach theme for April, the Midas touch theme for May, the black and red theme for June, the Zen theme for July, the white and red theme for Aug (National Day!), the Futuristic theme for Oct, the retro theme for Nov and lastly, the hop-hop bling bling theme for Dec. And the entire cycle starts all over every year, if I don't have any more new ideas, that is.

And oh ya, if my apartment can have a lovely view from the balcony, that would be the BEST! hahah~

The most important part of the apartment would be the bedroom cause it's the place to rest one's mind and also body and the ambience is especially vital! Of cause, the living room is important too cause I love to watch TV and vcds, so I would just need a huge plasma TV screen with a Dhoby surround sound system. Quite simple what. HA.

So anyway for my bedroom, I want a huge bed for me to flip and toss whenever I have problems sleeping, without worries of falling off the bed. And I like pretty Aussino bed sheets too! Woohoo.

And ya, I'm fussy about the bathroom too. How good if I can get at least a bath tub! How cool and relaxing to indulge in a bubble bath every other day! Oh how expensive would my bills be! Ahh off track. But anyway a jacuzzi would be the most ideal la. hahahah. I must be dreaming.

If I've a jacuzzi, my friends can even join in! haha~

I can hold parties and dinners at home and invite my friends over. That should be fun.

Should I keep a cat? Eh I dunno leh. I love cats. But I know nuts about keeping one. I dunno if I would be willing to spend time on it when I could be doing other stuff. Like a bubble bath. Hmm...

Anyway don't think that I wanna move out in the future cause I'm not getting along well with my parents or my sisters. Our current flat is small and messy but all 5 of us enjoy each other's company. And despite all differences, we have managed to tolerate, if not resolve, them and we are not even close to tearing each other's throat yet. I love them and they love me. And I wanna take care of them till I die. But I don't wanna be tied to my mum's apron strings all my life. Hell, even though my mum doesn't even have an apron in the first place. But you get what I mean. I wanna understand how it's like to be alone. Because we are all alone anyway. No one can stay by your side forever. Even if I would scurry home after just one month of staying on my own, unable to stand the loneliness, let me be. At least I've tried and experienced.

十万个"为什么"。

2006-05-01T01:40:00.000+08:00

My tuition kid, lets just call him Ah-boy, loves to ask me questions. He thinks I'm a walking encyclopedia.

"老师，老师，为什么人是猴子变成的？"

"老师，老师，有些 plants 吃 insects leh...可以 meh? Eeeks so disgusting!"

"老师，老师，什么是 Shang City? " (Cos he has been watching that "迷云二十天")

老师，老师，老师，老师，老师，老师，老师 !!! That's what I hear throughout each session of tuition. Most of the time, if I can, I'll try to answer his questions. Sometimes I couldn't cause either it's too complicated for him to comprehend even if I try to explain to him, or I do not have the answer. 老师不是什么都懂的！

Recently he's been asking me this question which I'm having difficulty answering: 你长大后要做什么？

Walau, damn hard leh.

I know what he's thinking. If I didn't remember wrongly, when we were at this age too, teachers were always asking us to write compositions on our ambitions, draw pictures titled "What I want to be when I grow up". Then everyone would want to be nurses /teachers /doctors /policemen /lawyers blah blah blah. It's like everyone must have an ambition. Forced to have one. I mean, I understand the 用意 of the teachers. They want the future of the society, the children, to have dreams to work towards to. And so, the idea of the "need" to have an ambition is firmly ironed onto the brain of my Ah-boy, probably just like any other primary school kid.

How am I supposed to explain to him that things are not so simple? How many of us out there really pursue the ambition that you had when you were young? Become doctors just because you wrote down in your p5 composition that you wanted to be one when you grew up? Man, I can't even remember what my "ambition" was supposed to be when I was in primary school.

Interests change. That's one factor. A decade is an awfully long period of time for anyone to have changes in interests. Moreover, it's not like if you want, you can. Along the way of pursuing one's ambition, one might meet many obstacles. Ultimately, you might not be able to get what you want. Life's not that easy and smooth. It's not like a vending machine: you put it hard work, you get what you want. Man, sometimes vending machines might run out of your fave drink! I know of tons of people who wanted to be doctors, but how many of them are doctors now? I barely need both hands to count.

But how am I supposed to explain to Ah-boy? He'll probably just look at me and say firmly, "No, I WILL be a policeman in the future." He cannot understand at this tender age of 10 that when you grow up, things change and you change. And for me, it's even harder cos how am I going to tell him that I don't have any bloody ambition. He will probably just look at me and think that I'm pathetic.

Pathetic? HA. Ok, I admit that I never have much plans for the future. I don't like to plan cause I think that too much planning often leads to disappointment as things don't always go your way. Besides sometimes your life depends on Lady Luck. Some people get promoted because their bosses got killed in a plane crash. Some people miss the chance of a promotion because they died in a plane crash. Life is unpredictable and often not under our control. So I don't go into the details of the plan but I do have the gist. The rest I'll 随缘. Besides the grand plan of my life is just to aim to be happy. A simple 5-letter word that even my Ah-boy with his Band 3 English standard can spell, but to have him truly understand it will need at least at least 10 more years of wisdom and experience. I don't need any damn ambition; if I wanna work, it just needs to be something that I enjoy cause I don't wanna suffer for money that's supposed to make my life easier and happier when it's not.

*sigh* See. So complicated. How to explain to a 10-year-old.

本周介绍

2006-04-29T12:20:00.000+08:00

The Dormitory Boys are back.

With a new piece of work.

In case you've been residing on Kuku Island for the past months, just to let you know that they are 2 guys at about my age, namely 韦炜 (right) and 艺馨 (left la, ah bor), who are currently studying at 广州美院 (雕塑系) in China. They are damn famous on the internet, especially in China, for their brillant videos in which they lip-synch popular songs like “不得不爱” and “童话”, coupled with damn hilarious actions and facial expressions.

You have gotta see the webby if you haven't. You will find it a hearty laugh if you are as lame as me. HA. My fave's "分开旅行"。 =)

My Bar of the Moment

2006-04-28T15:14:00.000+08:00

Cyn, Dia and I stumbled upon this bar when we were en route from Millenia Walk to the Esplanade where we were planning to have some drinks 2 Saturday nights ago. Our legs were practically about to break from all the walking, so we simply decided to try out this bar instead. Glad that we made the right decision. =)

Established in 1999, Paulaner Bräuhaus is located in a unique three-storey glass building at Time² @ Millenia Walk. Customers can opt to sit back and watch the world go by at the al fresco terrace and beer garden. But we sat indoor instead as it looked quite boring outside really. Many smoking uncles. Inside was much better. The recently renovated bar interior features built-in LED lights on the ceiling illuminate the bar below, creating a slightly different mood each time the colour of the lights subtly change. Intimate booth seats flank one side of the bar while low hanging lamps strategically placed over each table contribute to the overall intimate ambience. Intricate handcrafted iron railing detailing with a brass antique finish all around the bar and brand new maple wood table tops complete the new inviting and relaxed atmosphere.

It was a truly comfortable setting. Perfect for friends doing some catching up or just chatting. It's not really a place for people watching cos many of the other customers seem older and the place's not so huge to house that many people anyway. But oh ya, it's perfect for a session of beer and soccer. They have huge plasma TV screening live soccer matches. Maybe I will go there for the coming World Cup. Hmm ya maybe. And I think only on Saturdays, there's a live band, performing excellent renditions of both classics like "Hotel California" and trendy pops like "The Reason" and "You're Beautiful".

And the freshly-brewed on the premises German beer at Paulaner Bräuhaus is finger-licking GOOD. All guys should try it out. Heineken doesn't even come close. And the beer is cheaper, I think. The two signature handicraft beers, Munich Lager and Munich Dark, are served in 0.3, 0.5 and 1 litre mugs, and the 0.5 l one only costs $14.

And if you are damn lucky like us, you might get drinks on the house too! hahah~ But we think that's because we are mei-nus. But all thanks to that free beer that I'd gotten, after having already downed TWO 0.5 litre mugs (walau that makes a full litre of beer), the 3rd mug made me close to puking. Come to think about it, THREE 0.5 litre mugs of beer = a 1.5-l bottle full of beer instead of Coke or Seasons Lemon Tea. Gosh. No wonder I felt so sick that night by the time I reached home. Now to be thinking about this, I still feel unhealthy. Drinking is unhealthy. I don't understand how some people can drink till they get drunk and puke all over the place without realising it. Quite a pathetic sight.

I can't even remember much of that night, after the 2nd mug I think. I remember saying some funny stuff to the bartender and the manager. HA. That's quite a laugh. Other than that? Not really. And now I've my friends "throwing accusations" at me for things that I don't even remember doing or saying, even things that I'm quite positive that I wouldn't say. Next time I'm just going to order Coke at a bar.

Paulaner Bräuhaus, 9 Raffles Boulevard, Time² @ Millenia Walk, Singapore 039596.

Operating Hours: (Sunday to Thursday) 11:30am - 1 am, (Friday, Saturday and eve of Public Holiday) 11:30am - 2am.

Lady Luck.

2006-04-28T14:50:00.000+08:00

The coming General Elections 2006 seems to bring my family luck.

Yesterday I was just talking about how my parents behaved like they struck lottery when they knew that they are going to vote this year.

Yesterday my daddy bought Toto when we went out for lunch.

Today he struck.

Sibei heng leh.

It's just a petty sum cos my parents are not heavy gamblers but still, considering that they strike 4D and Toto even more rare than an agile cat tripping into a drain (that day my sis and I saw a stupid cat trip into a drain through a small gap. Damn funny leh. Despite us being avid cat-lovers, couldn't help laughing at that kitty's stupidity! Tried to get it out but it was so scared in the dark damp drain that it scurried along the underground drain, howling pathetically all the way, before we could lift the concrete covering. hope that it has found another hole to come out from the danky drain.), it is still really heng.

And we received our polling cards this morning. We are sooo going to buy 4D with the numbers. *smug look*

It's final.

2006-04-28T00:03:00.000+08:00

Yes. It IS final.

My dad announced it duper excitedly to me when I slumbered out of my bedroom this noon, barely awoke and feeling slightly sick.

"We ARE going to vote!!"
(in Chinese of cause. My daddy can't speak English for nuts.)

I mumbled something that, I guess, must have sounded like a form of agreement for my dad had not carried on with his excitement. But I guess he had known from my droopy eyes and my half-dead look that this daughter of his was barely awoke. Despite having her teeth brushed, face washed, and freshly bathed. HA. Then I dragged myself back to my bed.

About 15 minutes later, suddenly it dwelled upon me. I AM going to vote.

Ta-tah! I was suddenly absolutely clear-headed! HA.

I lugged back into the living room (yes, feeling more alert now but still very tired haha) where by now, my parents were having a heated discussion about the results of the Nomination Day and the coming Election Day on 6th May. If excitement had a distinctive smell to the human nose, my house would still have reeked of it. My parents were so cute. You would have thought that they had struck a S$1 billion lottery instead. But nope, not so lucky. They simply have a chance to vote this time round. heehee. And come to think about it, that's why my daddy was sitting in front of the tv all morn. He was waiting anxiously for the results to come out, being the (cute) kaypoh uncle whom he is. HA. Me? I didn't even realise that today was Nomination Day!

I childishly teh-ed to them about what a fuss it would be to vote, though I seriously wouldn't have minded doing so cause it's going to be such an experience. But still, it is very fun to teh to parents now and then, despite being a freshly graduated 22-going-onto-23-year-old "child" with fine lines beginning to pop out under her eyes. Ok, digression. Oh anyway, my dad responded by saying that I am lucky to have a chance and that some people don't even get to vote till they die.

Ya, I guess so. I think some people would really never get a chance to vote at all all their lives if they were ever so heng. I mean, for our Presidential elections, we usually only have like ONE suitably qualifed candidate. Ta-dah, he is the President! So no need to vote. As for General elections, there are some districts that never receive challenges from the opposing parties like those led by MM Lee and SM Goh. So no need to vote for the years to come also.

But eh, my area's led by PM Lee leh. Also got people siao siao come and challenge. So people who don't get to vote this time round, no fear. Your chance might come one day too. I thought I would never get to vote until I mati. But I actually got the chance to. In fact, this is the 1st general election held since I reached the legal age to vote, and I am really going to vote. So heng sia. I am sooo going to use the serial number on my poll card to buy 4D. HA.

But these people, who so daringly come and challenge the son of my ou xiang, knowing that there is hardly any chance that they would win and that pigs might learn how to fly 1st, they all make this possible for me. Although I have never even seen their names before, nor their appearances in my district before.

Anyway the swift actions of the PAP people truly amazed me. My family went out for lunch after hearing the news about the nomination results. Came back about 2 hours later and walau, PM Lee's face and the PAP boards and banners were already all over AMK central. And then we saw them, all dressed in white from top to bottom, with ladders and a pick up, rapidly tying the boards to the lamp posts. I could swear that I heard the Mission Impossible music coming from afar. HA. Reached home and PM Lee was already waiting for us behind the door. The PAP booklet on the floor. Amazing.

I wish that the poll card could come faster too. I wanna buy 4D liao.

Fickle-Minded, Freshly Graduated Me.

2006-04-26T13:16:00.000+08:00

Yes, yes, yes. Somehow I must change my entire blog every other semester. I can't help but grow sick of my blog after a few months. Especially after I stop blogging for weeks or months. Now my old blog honestly looks "too bling for me". LOL.

And today's a scary day. I finished my final exams today. No more varsity exams for the rest of my life. *gasps* In fact, no more school for me. No more lecture, no more tutorial, no more test and exam. *throws confetti into the air*

hahah no la, I don't feel exhilarated or of any need to celebrate. This is life. Things come, and then they go. Nothing to be excited of. Or scared of. It's all inevitable. Schooling has taken up a good 16 years of my life. Wait, if I count my nursery and kindergarden schooling, that would be a grand total of 19 years. Damn, almost 2 decades.

But school has been extremely enriching and fulfiling. I've gained so much knowledge, wisdom, friends, experiences, satisfaction etc etc etc from all these years. It's like that credit card advertisement -

"School uniform: $30. School textbook: $16. School bag: $40. School life? PRICELESS."

I won't miss school cos I don't like looking back. The good memories are kept and the lessons stay. But looking back ain't going to do much. Time waits for no one. The future IS going to come. With each tick of the second hand, in fact. And I'm going to embrace it with open arms.

Here I come.