Wow... almost a week since I last posted. Not that I didn't want to post, but it's really been quite busy leading up to the Investiture.

Last week was pretty much taken up with doing up the backdrop with the prefects. We estimated that it took almost 175 man-hours to do the backdrop. That's calculated by taking the number of people working on the backdrop and multiplying it by the number of hours we took. Some people wonder why spend so much time on something that is used for less than an hour! I dunno. Personally, it's just the sense of satisfaction I get. I think the backdrop added a big element to setting the overall atmosphere of the whole event. On top of that, I'm sure the prefects who spent the time doing the backdrop also got to enjoy working together. Was the end result worth it? I certainly think so!

Last Saturday was the rehearsal. Before that, I found this irresistable offer for a Tapwave Zodiac. Rushed down to Funan Centre to get it before returning for the rehearsal. You can see the Tapwave in the next post. Anywaez, rehearsal was long... tiring... and then we spent almost 6 hours completing and putting up the backdrop!

Sunday was block orientation. I kinda felt bad that I wasn't more involved in the planning this year. But with PI the very next day, I really didn't have much energy to think of much else. The Block Council put up a pretty interesting programme with a video intro + ending somemore! It was very funny. The Block Dance was also quite cool. It was really weird with all kinds of unorthodox steps (including some from FRIENDS!!!) but it all came together very well.

Which brings us to today. It was really quite fun. From the intro to the dance, it all turned out quite well I think. To the prefects, thanks for putting in all the time to practice and make sure everything came together so well. I've heard of prefects who were really practicing the dance steps very very very very hard so that they won't let the board down. I think it all paid off in the end. Hope everyone enjoyed the post-PI party. I know swimming is not everyone's cup of tea. Hope everyone (swimmer or non-swimmer) enjoyed themselves anywaez.

Now, it's back to concentrating on some school stuff (and playing a bit of Pirates!).

See my next post for my beautiful Tapwave...

I can finally play Pirates!

After some emails to both Atari and Securom, they finally sent me a patch which has solved the stupid CD-Rom problem. The game now loads smoothly. Ain't email cool?

But, it's gonna be a few days before I start to really play it. With Prefects' Investiture round the corner, thingshave been gaining momentum these last few days. But to be honest, things are going quite ok. It doesn't seem to be as... panicky.... as the last two years. Maybe I've kinda gotten used to the routine... it is after all the third time I am doing this. But on the other hand, I think the people taking charge of the PI have also been putting things in place quite nicely. So maybe that's why things are less worrisome.

By the way, here's a riddle for you.... 'In basketball, where does le ball go?' ('le' as in classy french slang)

Give up?

Answer: le ball goes to le net! LOLZ

Don't get it? Nvm...it's really quite funny.

I haven't been watching any movies. So sad. Have been wanting to watch stuff like Aviator but there just aren't any free afternoons these couple of days. Must try to catch it before I go into withdrawal symptoms. I'm also looking forward to watching Constantine (starring Keanu Reeves). The trailers just started on TV the last few days. Doesn't look too bad, though I must admit it looks very much like Matrix! haha... guess Keanu Reeves really does have a very limited acting range.

Good guys dun always win

I am SERIOUSLY irritated.

After thinking long and hard, I decided to buy a new PC game. I don't buy many PC games cause they can get extremely addictive.

Anywaez, I bought the new Sid Meier's Pirates cause I thought I'd try something different then the usual RTS-type stuff. The reviews were also pretty good.

After happily unpacking the disc, going through the whole installation process... imagine my horror when I tried to start the game and a stupid message like 'Please insert ORIGINAL disc...visit (some stupid securom site) for more details.' appeared on my screen.

It's totally irritating. After almost an hour of searching for answers, I found out that there's this stupid copy protection software by 'securom' in the CD. Unfortunately, some DVD drives have problems reading this copy protection thing. Hence... it thinks my disc is a fake! Ironically, if I had bought a pirated game.. I might not have had this problem. SIGH. Now, I have to wait for the techinical support to get back to me... and hopefully, the problem will be solved.

Can't believe this. So much for supporting copyrights....

Reunited

Reunited and it feels so good
Someone found you and he did some good
He returned you to me
My nokia, precious baby,
My life is com-plete a-gain
'cause we're reunited, hey, hey
(adapted from the song 'Reunited' by Peaches and Herb)

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Yepz, someone's found my phone! I must admit some mixed feelings.

I'm glad cause my phone's back. But I'm a little sad cause I was all prepared to go buy a new phone today! Looks like I might just have to delay my plans for a new phone.. sigh...

Good bye dear phone...

Today is a sad day. Today, I have lost a dear friend. A friend who has been by my side (especially my ear) for more than a year. My dear friend called Nokia 6800.

Funny thing is, I don't even know how I lost it. Was it stolen? Did I drop it? Sigh.. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

Well, this seems like an excellent opportunity to write another gut-wrenching poem.... in memory of my phone...

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RING RING my phone rang
With every ring, my heart skipped for joy.
BEEP BEEP my phone sang
I was glad for I knew there was something there to read.

But now, there is silence.

RING RING my phone rang
Is it my family? My collegues? My friend?
Beep beep my phone sang
What message or news await my eager eyes?

But now, there is nothing.

The silence is deafening.
Where there were rings, there was now silence.
Where there were beeps, there was now silence.

My phone is gone.
Gone where? I know not.
Good bye my phone.
I hope you won't rot.

With love
Go to the phone heaven above.

Good bye trusty friend.
Until we meet again.

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*sniff*....

An Ode...

I've been looking at some blogs, and it seems that there are quite a few poets going around...

Lest I be branded shallow, I've decided to post a poem of mine own.

Enjoy.

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Dark.
The night is.
Sleepy I am now.
Why can't I sleep?
Is it because of you, my computer?
Or you my TV?
Or you my magazines?

Damn you!
'Damn' again I say.
Your images seduce me.
They move and attract me.
I am unable to sleep.

Why don't I sleep?
Do I not need to wake up
in the morn for school?
Do I not need to teach
those who try to act cool?

Yes I must!
Yes I shall!
Sleep come quickly.
I shall sleep now.
Amen.

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Hope the poem moved you.

Thank you.

Sleep & Eat & Sleep & Eat...

I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I do love the 5DWW.

During the school week, it's kinda hard to get anything more than 5 hours of sleep a day. In fact, I think my average probably works out to around 4 hours. Once Saturday sets in... it's luxurious to have 8 to 10 hours of sleep.

Got up today at 11am... after a blissful sleep of about 9 hours. Slacked around in bed, watching some TV and then decided to rest a little more. Crawled into bed, and next the next time I opened my eyes, it was already 1.30pm. Decided I needed to eat some lunch, so I kinda dragged myself outta bed to cook some rice and heat up some frozen meal. I love those microwave rice-cookers. Takes about 13 minutes to make a nice plate of freshly cooked rice. I think the smell of the fresh rice is almost heavenly. Together with the Teriykai Chicken, I would say that lunch was pretty satisfying.

After lunch, I watched about 3 episodes of CSI. Great show. But somehow, I still felt kinda tired. I think I might be coming down with something. Body aches like the onset of flu and my stomach's acting up a little. Sigh.. can't afford to fall sick now. Next two weeks are gonna be 'exciting'. So, I took some Vitamin C and crawled right back into bed. heh. Slept for another hour before going out for dinner with my tutors.

Had a delicious meal at Fiesta Sushi restaurant in Toa Payoh. Really like the variety of sushi they serve there. The set meals are pretty good too. Had a Chicken cutlet curry set together with a smorgasbord of sushi (none of the raw stuff.. hate those.). Pretty much stuffed!

Well, it's almost 2am so it's like time to sleep again. Hope the flu-ish feeling will not get worse.

Sounds like a fruitful day eh?

Party's Over

We had JRIC today. A few things crossed my mind:

1. Sec 1s appear to be very happy.
2. The lit-up badge was very cool.
3. The break-up badge was also cool.
4. Sec 1s can't/don't cheer very well.
5. Short speeches are great!
6. Keep-on-moving dance is fun.
7. I'm getting quite good at pinning badges.
8. Soft music can mess up preceedings.
9. Some people do not know that DHM's name is spelt 'Magendiran' and not 'Maghendran'.
10. Party's over, lessons start tomorrow. SIGH...

Soccer mania?

Heh... Singapore beat Indonesia 3-1!

I think that's pretty significant. Why? Firstly, it's rare for Singapore's soccer team to reach the finals of any competition... sorry, it's sad but true. Secondly, it's the first time I've watched a full soccer match for a very very long time. I can't even remember when was the last time.

A long time ago, I was a fairly die-hard Singapore soccer supporter. That was when Singapore was still in the Malaysia League. I went to almost every home match. I actually travelled up to KL to support the Singapore team in the historic Malaysian League finals in 1994 where they won both the league and and cup double. It was an experience I don't think I will forget. But when Singapore was kicked out of the league, I lost interest. The S-league was just plain boring.

I enjoyed supporting the Singapore team. Maybe it was nationalistic pride, I don't know. But the truth is, I never understood how to support other soccer teams. Believe me, I tried. For a while, I tried supporting Newcastle but somehow, I couldn't find the same fervour which I had when I watched Singapore play against all the Malaysian teams.

Back to the point, Singapore won tonight! I was telling my brother before the match that it would probably be 'rigged'. I thought that with everything that is happening in Indonesia right now, the soccer team might be inclined to not try so hard to win. Yes, I know that's quite cynical of me... but no harm right? Who knows, if the opportunity arises, I might just decide to join the crowd at the National Stadium next week to support the Singapore team!

Lovely, lovely sleep!

After 3 days of orientation camp, last night's sleep was a totally blissful experience. I dunno about you, but it's situations like this when the 5DWW makes total sense and is a welcome relief! It was wonderful to crawl into bed, knowing I wouldn't need to wake up early for some meeting or activity or whateva!

It was great getting to know the guys in my class. I also enjoyed getting to know some of the PSLs better. Personally, the two 'infamous' songs and the dance were my favourites. Always enjoyed a good mass dance... ever since my JC days! yes, yes, I know it was a long time ago. But I think the 'student-council-blood' in me is still going very strong! haha!

Talking about that, I think it's a hard fight to decide which was a more exciting time in my life; Seconday School or JC? Both were really interesting but in such different ways. maybe i shouldn't bore anyone with nostalgic moments. Ha... perhaps it's just the post-camp syndrome.

The new screen can also be rotated to portrait position. This means I can view an almost full-size A4 page while editing it! No need to scroll up and down to see the whole page anymore! Wow... my thanks to the people (or person) who actually tempted me to make this purchase. It is well worth to S$409 to get the 17 inch DVI LCD monitor!

My new toy has finally arrived. Words cannot express my excitment. Just take a look ath this wonderful dual screen setup! Enuff said. Enjoy..

Guilt-ridden

It is done. I have caved in and succumbed to the temptations of the pure (or semi-pure) evil one. I feel so guilty.... sigh...

Temptations... again

I hate some people... I'm not naming them (or HIM), but I do hate them. It is evil to tempt others with lovely 17 inch monitors going at super-tempting prices. It is unkind to show others that 19 inch Ultrasharp LCD monitors are going at S$677. Sigh. I hate some people.

Meet the Fockers

MTF is a really funny show. Caught it today with my brother and it was hilarious. If you're looking for a comedy to start the new year, this should not be missed.

I also caught Kung Fu Hustle the other day. HIGH Points: Good effects. Undoubtedly, because of an American company backing him, Stephen Chow was able to put in a HUGE amounts of effect shots. And the standard of the effects was pretty good. All the swirling and jumping and kung fu shots were pretty well done and quite impressive. Was the show funny? Yeah... it had the requisite Stephen Chow moments: the sexy ugly gal, the nerdy guy, the obnoxious bad guys, the gay character.. There were also LOL moments. Quite funny. LOW points: I think Stephen Chow was so happy with the extra budget that I felt he went overboard with the effects. At some point, I started thinking 'Oh no... more of the same?'. The story was also weak. Not as interesting as Shaolin Soccer.

On the whole, KFH is quite good. Personally, I think Shaolin Soccer is a better movie.

With the new school term starting soon, KFH and MTF will help to bring the year to a hilarious end. Catch them if you can.

Christmas Chaos

Woke up today and decided to go watch Phantom of the Opera. It's one of my favourite musicals and I thought, what the heck, let's give the movie a shot, despite it getting like 1.5 stars or something from 8 days (or was is Straits Times? Nvm) Anyway, the movie started with some fake yellowish-old-film type scenes... and went on to show an auction scene in an opera theatre, pretty much like the musical. So, ho-hum... no big deal. But just as I was letting my apathy catch hold of me, the familiar PTO theme started playing. And the movie scene started getting 'colourised'. I tell you... I could feel chills down my spine. It was really quite good. The CGI together with the haunting tune really went along well. To cut a long story short, I did enjoy the movie after all. For those who've heard or seen the musical version of PTO, it's pretty obvious that the singing in the movie version can't match up to it, so don't even bother hating the movie because of it. Taken on it's own merit, PTO: the movie is not a bad musical movie. If you hate musicals, please don't watch this. You'll be bored stiff.

After the movie, I decided to take a risk and go down to Orchard Road to get some stuff and feel the Christmas atmosphere. I knew that transportation would be crazy and crowds would be scary but decided to try anyway. I wasn't wrong. It was a crowded mess. But I must say that STPB, together with the group of churches, did do a decent job of 'christmastazing' Orchard Road. The decor and the atmosphere, did feel a little more christmassy then usual. Of course, it was expected that the whole Christmas thing did feel more commericalized as well. Well, to all those who might read this blog, may the true spirit of Christmas touch your lives.

On my way back, I went past J8 and saw the Grant-a-wish booth set up by some students from NUS. I thought it was a very nice idea. They had collected wishes from children from different family service centres and then put it up on a board. We could then look at the wishes, then if we wanted, go and purchase the items to fufill the wish of the child. Interesting items. There were requests for Billabong wallets, school bags, an addidas soccer ball, discmans and gameboys. There was even a request for a 6-inch thick mattress for someone's baby. Well, maybe it was my conscience or something, but I decided to get some of the items for the children. There was another lady there who also decided to purchase bicycles for the children. Hope the few items I bought brought some christmas cheer to someone.

To everyone who reads or visits this blog, in the spirit of the season, here's wishing you blessed Christmas!

WOW!!! Looks like I was suckered into buying the Sony PSP! This picture was posted on eBay of the SORNY PSP. Looks even better than the Sony PSP! I can't wait for it to be launched.

Anime Overload

I've spent the last two days catching up on some Anime watching & DVD watching. Think my eyeballs are like tired from the visual overdose.

First, I finished watching through CSI Season 3 which I had borrowed. I realised that it was difficult to watch more than 3 or 4 episodes at one go. The stories were interesting but I think after 3 or 4 episodes, the gore just starts to get to you. It's just very depressing to watch murder after murder, autopsy after autopsy. Kinda makes me scared to visit Las vegas again. I've been there a couple of times and they've been quite fun. But CSI makes it look as if a murders happen all the time there. The cast of CSI are pretty good. I've tried watching CSI: Miami and I think it really pales when compared to CSI. I'm looking forward to watching CSI: New York. I think the cast sounds promising.

Next, I finally started watching some of the Anime which I had piled up. Started with RahXephon: The Motion Picture. I think this is a pretty interesting Anime with a SciFi/Fantasy element. Basically something to do with ancient civilizations, giant robots, music harmonics, alien possession, etc. Sometimes, makes you wonder how the Japanese can come up with these storylines! Anyway, I think the movie is pretty good. There was a lot of human drama, and the finale was almost tear-inducing. It was one of those 'OH NOOOOO!!! IT CAN'T BE!!!!! HOW COULD THEY!!!!' kind of endings. I've not started on the VCD TV series of RahXephon yet, that might be more interesting.

And finally, I finished watching episodes 9 to 24 of Full Metal Alchemist (xb, if you are reading this, shaddup). I've not been so hooked on an Anime since Evangelion. The story in FMA is really engaging and deals with some very thought-provoking and emotional themes. The animation is top-notch and the humourous parts really make you laugh out loud. I can't wait for the next few episodes to be released. However, I must say that the english subtitling is really bad; the grammar is terrible and the names keep changing. The main chracter is Edward but it's translated as Edowardo. Another character was named Siren (I think) and it wass translated as Thilian. heh. But well, it's better than no subtitles/mandarin subtitles.

Ok... less than two weeks to go before the start of the term... Must persevere and finish watching more stuff!

Went to Sim Lim on my weekly visit... (during the holidays, almost twice weekly), and I found two of the game shops displaying a PSP in their counter. I overheard them speaking to a customer who was examining the PSP and apparently, they were selling the PSP for over 800 bucks! I paid about 420 bucks for mine. Wow... talk about a price hike! Makes me even more glad that I bothered to line up for it in Japan.

Catching up on movies

I've been catching up on the movies which were released while I was away in Japan.

First, caught National Treasure at Suntec Eng Wah cinemas. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Digital Cinema is really great! As I sat there watching NT, I'm just awed by the sharpness of the picture, the cleaness of the image (no scratches or funny wriggly lines) and how vibrant the colours were. Even the subtitles are sharp! I don't know how anyone can choose to watch normal film over the digital versions. For those of you who aren't too sure what Digital Cinema is all about, you can take a look at this link: http://www.dlp.com/dlp_cinema/dlp_cinema_digital_cinema_101.asp

Back to National Treasure. Before I say anything else, I have to say, I enjoyed the film. It was nice to watch a treasure-hunter-type show pretty much in the same spirit as the Indiana Jones series. There was sufficient action and the special effects were ok. However, I find it a little hard to accept Nicholas Cage as an Indiano Jones type character. The downside of this film is that it's pretty obvious that it's a Da Vinci Code rip-off. It's trying to capitalize on the current craze over the Da Vinci Code book. There are references to conspiracies, cover-ups, and of course ancient groups of people like the Knights of the Templar and the Free Masons. It's all loosely tied together with a flimsy storyline, but like I said, it was all a pretty good package. Watch this film.

The other film I'd watched was Ocean's Twelve. I had high expectations for this film as I had thoroughly enjoyed Ocean's Eleven. With the same cast and the same director, I'd thought things would probably be at a similar standard to the first movie. On the upside, watching the cast interact was fun. This big cast really do have chemistry working together. You can see that they are having fun throughout the movie. I was however, disappointed with the story. It didn't have the slick heist in the first movie and the twist at the end of this one was really quite contrived. Kinda like an easy way out to tie everything together at the end. There wasn't really any major heist through this movie too. Just a few small ones which aren't really impressive to watch. Don't watch this film if you expect a smart storyline. Watch it to enjoy the chemistry of the cast.

That's it for now. I'm looking forward to catching Blade Trinity, Alexander and The Phantom of the Opera over the next few days.