Took this a couple of days ago when I was still in crutches and on the back from seeing my doctor. Not sure why I had the urge to take a pic of this Scotts Tissue Dog's ..uh...'behind'... Well to those who uh.. .migh enjoy this... uh.. have fun? To those who don't I apologise for scarring you with this explicit pic.

Here's a curious picture I took a day or two ago. Apparently, this person (who head has been blacked out to protect his identity) was trying to select cabbage. It might be interesting to note that this is in relation with a series of events which show a sudden.. obsession with all things leafy and tomato-ey. From salads, to cabbages, to creepy cherry tomatoes arranged neatly with celery in 'cute' tupperware... I wonder if this might be the awakening of an inner herbivore with this person. Any thots any one?

IT IS HERE!

Yesterday, I did it. I walked (yes... WALKED! something which we really should not take for granted) into a Home Theatre shop in Sim Lim Tower and after about half an hour of demos and considerations, I've upgraded by old EPSON EMP-30 projector to a brand new SANYO PLV-Z3 projector. The Epson has served me very very well for almost 2 years, but it was really time to move on. And when the saleswoman gave me a super sweet trade-in deal, I knew that it was time for the Epson to retire and make herself useful to other masters.

I will not bore you with the details, but I like to compare this upgrade to a upgrade from a 1 megapixel camera to a 2 megapixel camera. It's like changing from Win 98 to Win XP Home Edition (not quite Pro edition yet...).

It was supposed to be delivered on Saturday, so imagine my surprise when I received a call earlier in the afternoon on Friday that they would be delivering on Friday itself. Once the Z3 was set up, I could not wait to load in a dvd and I must tell you... the differences were just jaw-dropping. The images were bee-yoo-tee-fool with the vibrant colours and added depth. I started loading DVDs after DVDs just to watch a scene or two. I went through scenes like LOTR: Battle at Pelennor Fields, Star Wars I: Pod-racing, Finding Nemo, Prince of Egypt: Parting of Red Sea, Star Trek First Contact: Enterprise fighting Borg Ship, Pearl Harbour: Attack on the USS Arizona.. and many others. And with each DVD, I knew my decision was a right one.

And all this using a normal S-video cable! The projector is capable of High Definition (HD) pictures so I must admit I am now thinking of getting a HD-compatible DVD player.

Yep... no regrets... at all... and in case you've not gotten the hint... the Z3 is really awesome!

IT IS DONE. (and I"m pretty darn glad it is!)

Wow... here's the Star Wars Edition of the Sony Ericsson Z500a... doesn't it look totally cool?! The phone may not be very good.. but the images are.. OMG - Gorgeous!

Wow... Nokia has release pictures of their new N70 phone which looks a little like the 6800, but has a 2 megapixel camera. Looks like I just might have to decide between the SE K750i and the N70.

I just can't get a break... (part 2)

Yeah, as the chinese saying goes, 祸不单行, or calamities don't strike alone. I can't think of a more apt example then what's been happening to me.

Monday, the gout in both my feet improved so I could actually start hobbling around with crutches. On Tuesday, I could hobble a bit without crutches so I was pretty much looking forward to going back to school on Wednesday. Then, on Tuesday evening, I suddenly developed a high fever of about 39 degrees. Sigh. I had apparently caught some viral infection in my intestines coz they kinda hurt too.l Much of Tuesday night was spent sponging myself and trying to get my temperature down. Some time later in the evening, I passed out a kidney stone. I don't think I'm gonna give the details here coz I know roughly who are the people who read this blog... anyway, the stone was probably the reason why I had the infection.

Well, this morning, I woke up and found that my temp had gone down to normal. So, I decided to risk it and go to school. It wasn't too bad. Finished my 4 lessons and then came home to rest. I'm kinda runing a slight fever now... hope it comes down coz I really can't afford to miss anymore lessons. Sigh... talk about not being able to get a break.

**WARNING**
This is certainly not for the weak of stomach.

If you click the link, you will view gratituous scenes involving faeces. I have no idea what the song means, so if any of you have a translation, I would love to have it.

If you like cute but dirty things, pleace proceed. If not, please skip this post. Thank you.

hmm.. this is believed to be the design of the new Xbox - the Xbox 360. Must say it looks much better than the old Xbox. Still think it's pretty stupid that they are naming it Xbox 360 instead of Xbox 2 coz Xbox 2 sounds like it's older technology compared to PS3. Maybe Xbox might really have a good chance to topple the PS3! Oh no!

Just found a pic of the new Superman costume for the upcoming movie to be released next year. For those who don't know, the new actor is Brandon Routh, a relatively unknown actor. Must say, the costume looks quite good!

Simple things in life

Today, a few people brought some cheer to the otherwise dreary day I was having.

First off, I managed to get a new old chair to roll around my room. You see, since I pretty much can't put any weight on any of my feet, my only mode of transport has been a really old and broken office chair which I use to roll around my room. The chair has served me well over the last few years, but it's really coming to pieces. More than once, I almsot slipped off the chair coz its hinges are pretty much gone. Well, this afternoon, estate office said they could give me a one of their spare old chairs. A student helped to roll the chair all the way to my block. And now, I'm safely mobile in my room again. Thanks!

Secondly, my mom dropped by to get lunch for me. While I'm in my room, my only source of food is pretty much frozen stuff or stuff which my assistants in boarding help me to buy. Well, my mom bought lunch and she helped me to buy my ever favourite 'Aw Chai Tau Kway' (or Black carrot cake to the dialectly challenged) from the Serangoon Gardens market. This has been my favourite ever since I was a kid. Since I moved into RI Boarding, I've not had much chance to eat it often. It was certainly a treat!

Finally, some teachers dropped by for a chat. It was good to hear what's happening in school and basically talk about anything under the sun. Thank God for friends, right?

Well, it's been a better day. Feet are still painful, but guess they are improving. Wonder how long more to go before I can go out.

Here's a pic some of you might appreciate. Introducing... the Amazing Bean Bag with fingers!

I just can't get a break..sigh

Well, this is a first.

It appears that as my right foot is getting better, my left foot seems to be gatting a gout attack too! This is a first time. Right & left foot at the same time. In the past, I could still roll around and hobble on my 'good' foot. So now, if my left foot gets any worse, I wonder how I'll get around in my room? Crawl using my hands and dragging my foot behind? Sigh. Dun ask me why and how cause I simply don't know. It sure brings cheer to me, knowing that my left and right foot are taking turns to cause me pain. SIGH.

On a positive note? hmm.. not sure if there's one. Guess I ought to be thankful I still have feet.

Oh... to stand on own two feet again....

Missed school today. I'm really quite sick and tired of this leg problem. First off, it didn't feel like a gout attack. When I saw the doctor, I could still hobble on the foot. Doctor said it looked like a strained tendon. So, all I can do is rest and let it recover slowly. That's fine, I guess. But then this morning when I woke up, the pain seemed kinda different. Felt more goutish. That kinda freaked me out a little. I took my gout medicine and just crossed my fingers that things will not worsen.

It's 2.30am now.. I'm not sure if the pain is better or not. I'm almost afraid to go to sleep, coz I'm not sure how it'll turn out when I wake up. Sigh. Really hope it's not gout. I can't afford to miss two weeks of lessons, especially with the common tests right around the corner.

And what's more... I'm supposed to go buy my new toy! Sigh sigh sigh sigh sigh.

Well, hope everything will be better tmr.

Die. Leg pain. Dunno whether gonna get another gout attack.

Sianz. Hope not. Otherwise gonna miss many many lessons with Sec 1s... Sure die, cannot finish CT syllabus.

Worse still.. cannot go buy new 'toy'.

Hope by tmr, the pain will be gone....

It's only week 4. But it feels like it should be the end of the term. Not sure why there is this 'I've-had-enough' kinda feeling. Maybe it's just the deadlines that are on my back. Top of which is having to finish setting the Common Test papers.

Today, got angry with another of my classes. Dunno why this is becoming increasingly frequent. It's not as if I enjoy being angry. To some extent, it's this helpless feeling that nothing I say seems to get through. I really can't understand. How difficult can it be to just not talk for a couple of minutes??? Dunno lar, maybe it's me. Maybe it's them. Maybe it's just the planets in the wrong alignment.

Had some fun today going into a Sec 4 class to teach a bit of Physics. It's been about 16 mths since I stopped teaching a Sec 4 class. Teaching lower sec boys is quite interesting, but sometimes, it's refreshing to do some Sec 4 stuff. Haha.. irony is, if I were teaching Sec 4s, I would probably be thinking how relaxing it would be to teach the lower sec classes. Grass always seems greener on the other side.

Found a link tonite which brought me to a cool video of a choir group singing Nintendo theme songs in acapella! Tried sharing it with another guy, but the game music was lost on him. If any of you are hardcore gamers, you might want to check out the video. You can find it by clicking here. It's a streaming video. If you want the full downloaded version, drop me a note and maybe I can arrange to transfer to you via MSN.

Worked on the Friendship chains with the prefects until about 9.30pm. Here's a sneak peek for those who're checking this blog before Wednesday. I think it looks pretty good! Really appreciate everyone who played a part in putting the whole thing up!

PSP coming to Singapore!

Wow... this is a really aggressive move by Sony. In only 6 mths after the Japanese launch, and 3 months after the US launch, they will apparently be releasing the PSP in Singapore on 12 May. This is quite significant because Singapore has often been at the tail end of Playstation products.

In this aspect, Microsoft has been very successful with the Xbox in Singapore. There is a constant release of games and they are very reasonably priced, often $15 to $20 cheaper than the Japan or US versions. Microsoft has also maintained a very high profile by promoting the Xbox at every PC fair and having lots of advertisements in local magazines.

Well, hopefully Sony has decided to pay a little more attention the the local market.

So, should you get a local version, US version or Japanese version? For those still considering, as far as games are concerned, there are no differences. You can play PSP games bought from any country on the PSP. The only problem is movies. Movies sold in the US or Japan will not be able to be played on the local set. Actually, up till now, Sony hasn't revealed what movies the local PSP can play. So, if movies are not your concerned, then I would probably wait for the local PSP. It's targetted to launch at S$455, a little more expensive than the US price. But it will at least be covered by a local warranty.

Even though I already have a Japan set, I'm eagerly waiting for the Singapore launch! It's really quite exciting!

For those wanting to know more, visit Sony's official site at http://www.sony.com.sg/psp/.

I finally found the tray yesterday (Friday). Went to this supplier of kitchen/catering goods in Chinatown and found that they had the stupid trays. So, that's the end of one saga - The Quest for the Metal Trays. Wonder if it's worth making into some movie.

Last night, I watched a DVD which was really freaky. Not sure if any of you caught the show SAW when it came out in the cinemas. The strange thing is, in the cinemas, it was rated R21. On DVD, the (apparently same) uncut version is only rated M18. Shows the consistency of the censors.

Anywaez, SAW is a totally screwed-up show. It's gory but it also plays mind-games on you. Basically, it's about this fella who goes round putting people into situations where they have to kill others in order to survive. What's the big deal about that? Well, in the main story (*dun worry, no spoilers*), we have two guys, each with one foot chained to pipes. They are given saws and a time limit. To survive, they had to either shoot each other or if they like, saw off their foot to escape. That's totally screwed up! In another scenario, a guy as put in a corner of a room and the pathway to the door was obscured by a maze of razor sharp barb wire. He had a time limit before the door was sealed. So, the poor fella basically had to struggle his way through the wires... you get the picture... Those aren't the worst. I wun even start on the girl with the iron braces...

It's not really an A-grade movie. No big stars and not really very glizty like a big hollywood production. But I think it was quite a good movie.

After watching the show, I admit there was a feeling of unsettledness in my guts. I mean, it's one thing to watch a gory show. It's another when you have to watch people struggling with killing others in order to survive. I think that's the real brain-screwer. Imagine you are in a room with a ticking bomb and an axe. The doorway is blocked by a guy chained right across. The only way to escape is to use the axe to hack the guy blocking the door. What would you do?

A tale of a tray

Today, I shopped for 4.5 hours to look for a stupid metal tray.

I started off at 5pm at the concourse. Took a cab to Mustafa Shopping Centre at Serangoon Road, thinking it would be easy to find a metal try there. But.. no.. they didn't sell it. So I walked down Serangoon Road to Tekka Market, looking out for stalls that sell metal stuff. No luck. Decided to try something more up market, so I took a cab to Orchard, Paragon, where there's a Metro, remembering that they had a household goods section. Guess what, they had apparently closed down that section a long time ago. So, I crossed over to Takashimaya to try my luck. Nope, no tray there either. Actually, they had one, but it was too small. So where to next? I decided to try Seiyu at Bugis Junction. Their household section wasn't too bad. I took a can there, but... no luck. None there too. Maybe OG at Albert Mall opposite Sim Lim had it.... so I walked over. Again, no luck. It was already 8.15pm. I was hungry, but I needed to find the stupid tray. So I decided to go all the way back to Ang Mo Kio coz I remembered there was quite a good household shop next to the S11 food court. I tried to take a cab. Took me almost 45 mins. Sigh. By the time I got into a cab, it was already 9.00pm. Made my way to Ang Mo Kio, guess what? Right... NO LUCK. Went to the ultra-neighbourhoodish Four Seasons shopping centre for my last ditch attempt. NO LUCK AGAIN.

It was by then, already 9.30pm. I was tired. I was hungry. I decided, it was time to give up.

One would think it would be easy to find a stupid metal tray in Singapore. One would be wrong.

Wouldn't you say I had a meaningful day?

I'm not a casual music listener. You rarely see me with ear phones listening to mp3s or radio programmes. When I have my ear phones on, it's normally coz I'm playing some PSP or GBA game. Guess I've never been much of a music listener except when I need some noise, example, when I'm marking or studying for some test/exam (in my student days lar...).

Sometimes, when I hear someone I really like, I'll follow the artist for a while. A couple of years back, I really liked Alex To when his song '情人' was super popular. Then I bought a couple of his albums, but that died out in less than a year. I also liked Lee Hom for a while coz I first heard his song 'Julia' which was really catchy. For english songs, I thought Robbie Williams has got pretty interesting songs. Really liked his 'Rock DJ'. Caught my attention the first time I listened to it.

Last night, I was tossing and turning in bed. Maybe it was coz half my nose (ie. one nostril) was blocked or maybe coz there were things going through my mind (like how sucky the last few days had been). As I laid in bed, two songs popped into my mind. Don't ask me why. They just did. So I got up, turned on my computer, went on the net to Soundbuzz.com and purchased the mp3s. Soundbuzz is really convenient and I think the prices are reasonable. Anyway, the first song was "Angels" by Sarah MacLachlan. The chorus was really nice. I wanted to blast the song through my lovely MX5021 but had to control myself coz it was like 3am in the morning and the boarders were already asleep. Maybe it was becoz of my mood that the song was exceptionally comforting.

" In the arms of the Angel far away from here.

From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear.

You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie,

You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here."

The other song was kinda weird. Dun really know why I was thinking about it. It's "19-2000" by Gorillaz. I first listened to the song coz it had this really cool flash animation. Furthermore, the song had a computer-game-like rhythm. Very fun. Like I said, dunno why I suddenly thought of that song. Maybe I should introspect a little more and see if I can find the reason.

Since today has not been particularly pleasant, I decided not to blog about the day.

Instead, I shall write about the wonderful statement which Mr Bob Parr (ie. Mr Incredible) made when he was arguing with Mrs Parr (ie. Mrs Incredible). For the blur, Mrs Parr was making some statement about how Mr Parr never made time to go for his son's school functions, like when his promotion ceremony when he was moving from like primary 4 to primary 5. And Mr Parr simply replied about what kind of society have we become that we have begun to celebrate mediocrity.

Mediocrity is a scary word. For me, it's a word which I'm really scared of, but at the same time, it's a word which can be spelt 'stress-free'.

I've always been scared to be mediocre. I think it's something which I've tried never to be since my secondary school life. In whatever projects I have undertaken or responsibilities which I had been given, I have very rarely been satisfied to be mediocre. I've always believed that if anything deserves to be done, then it deserves to be done well. So, personally, I'm quite annoyed when I see others being satisfied with medicore efforts.

This has been both a bane and a boon.

Bane: you become a very critical person who tends to pick on others' performance. Nothing ever seems good enough. And sometimes, this can make others scared/annoyed /irritated with you.

Boon: it pushes you to greater heights. It ensures that your efforts are always you rbest, always 110%. So, the results are often fairly good, coz I can't settle for second best.

Well, that's why I'm scared of mediocrity. But like I mentioned earlier, many times, mediocrity is also something I wish I could settle for. It would certainly make things so much more stress-free. If I was willing to settle for second best, not to make things overly difficult for myself, and just do what is normal/expected, then I can envision a pretty easy life. No need to think of new ideas, new ways of doing things. Just repeat what was done earlier, and keep repeating it... ad nauseum. (heh, I like that term, 'ad nauseum'.) If I could do that and be satisfied with a mediocre performance, I 'd probably have much less stress.

Well, for now, I think I'm still quite scared of being mediocre. Maybe I need to find a balance? But if I find that balance, would it still be a state of mediocrity? heh.

Well, until then, I'll still agree with good-ole Mr Parr: 'What kind of society have we become if we've begun to celebrate mediocrity?'. Nice!

It's 9.15am.

And yes, the day is officially off on a sucky start.

Hooray.

Here's something that can brighten up my day... the Sony Ericsson K750i with a 2 megapixel camera! That's really very cool. I'm quite in love with the 1 megapixel camera in my nokia 6670 and I'm definitely excited to think about the quality of a 2 megapixel phone.

Funny kind of day

Today has been just 'one of those days'. Some might simply say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe I was just feeling a little down in the dumps coz I feel a hint of a cold coming. One nostril is blocked and my throat is kinda sore. Maybe that contributed to a crappy kind of day.

Funny isn't it? How one's mood can so simply affected by how one feels.

One thing that gets on my nerves is when people got behind your back to complain about you. I mean, if there are things to say, have the decency to say it to the person's face. I think it's a totally cowardly act to act as if everything is ok in front of the person, then go behind the person's back to his superiors to say otherwise. I won't really give any more details but I get very pissed when people do things like that. Ok.. deep breaths... happy thoughts... H27 in my room... :P

Plenty of 'fun' stuff coming up over the next few weeks. I'm quite looking forward to it. Yah.. sure.

Maybe a good night's rest will get me out of this crappy mood.

New Pics!

Just uploaded some pics from my class' mini-party today. Click on the link on the right to take a look.

New Photo Album!

Just added an online photo album at exzekestence.myphotoalbum.com

Not sure if it's the best place to do it, so if any of you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears!

Until then, feel free to click on the link on the right and take a look at a few pics which I've uploaded.

Oh yah, and I decided to lengthen the Tag Board too. Always thought it was a little short. I'm not really good at fooling around with the code, so I'm taking little baby steps here. Be patient with me!

In the news again

Found out that RI was in the news again, this time over the fact that the school does nothave a soccer CCA. It's really interesting to read the various points of views... from the coach to our Headmaster to former soccer stars from RI.

In case you missed the New Paper article, here's the online link.

Took this photo at Toa Payoh central. There was this large group of people doing some linedancing thingy. In many ways, it looks like a mass dance, except I think it's just footsteps and no hand choreography. Really don't know what to make of it. I mean, there's this group of people, probably in their late 30s to 50s, dressed in different outfits, some fairly skimpy..a few scary! There was a guy, probably in his early forties, wearing a fish net t-shirt! OMG. The dances looked interesting, but I can't imagine myself joining them! Maybe it's this 'beng' feeling or maybe it's the 'Ah Soh' feeling. It just feels wrong. But they do dance quite nicely. Many of them are pretty good at their steps. Haha.. maybe it's time to act like I'm in my thirties and join line dancing!



Oh yah, I took this photo with my Nokia 6670. Really like the megapixel camera on the phone. Maybe I'll be able to post many more pics from now on since I have a camera with me most of the time.

Here's my second-hand S65. Quite a nice phone. Reminds me of Star Trek! haha...I think that's one of the reasons I bought it. Well, time to let it go. Anyone interested?

Haha... looks like whenever term starts, blogging is reduced to the weekends. It's not that I don't check my blog everyday, guess it's just laziness that prevents me from updating my blog.

Well, the week wasn't too bad. A fairly good start to the term, I think.

A few highlights...

Went for my medical checkup on Monday to see if there are any new stones in my kidneys. It was good to hear that everything looked clear. Just last Saturday, I had gone to my family doctor to get the results of my blood tests. It was excellent to hear that everything was quite normal except for my triglycerides and uric acid. No problems with anything else. So, things really brightened up.

Maybe it's the good health results or maybe it's the delay in getting the Optoma H27, but this week, I was bitten bad by the handphone bug. I was reallyquite tempted to just get another handphone to try it out. After much struggle, I confess I gave in to the temptations and bought a second hand Siemens S65. It's not a bad phone, but after trying it out for a couple of days, I've decided that I didn't really like it. Guess I'm really too used to the Nokia interface. So, now I"m trying to sell it off at not too big a loss. Hmm.. should I try out the Sony Ericsson S700i? heh...

The other thing which occupied my time was the Japan World Expo trip. Had to spend time confirming the itinerary, the price, preparing the materials for the students... It really reminded me of my job when I was with Ken-Air when I had to plan tours, prepare travel brochures, etc. I met up with my old boss who will be handling the tour for us. It was nice to meet them again. And the thing is, the team working with her, was largely unchanged. I think that's really commendable coz I think it really shows what a good manager/leader my old boss is. She's one of the persons I look up to as a model of a good leader. Sure miss those days!