Finished!

Wow... I can't believe it... I finished Shadow of the Colossus! According to the save file, I took about 12 hours in total to destroy the 16 colossi. It's a thoroughly enjoyable experience from beginning to end! I guess to some people, 12 hours is way to short for a game. But honestly, I think it's fine. I'd rather spend 12 hours totally immersed in a game than play a game for god-knows-how-long and then find myself losing interest in it halfway.

The ending is really sad. I won't spoil it for those of you who might be playing it, but it's a little unexpected but at the same time... expected? I know I don't make much sense... If any of you have completed it, I won't mind discussing the weird ending with you.

Wo1... 12 hours... completed... this must be a record for me. With the holidays around the corner, I've got a few games to catch up on... this is looking mighty fine!

Shadow of the Colossus

Wow, this is one heck of a game! I bought it on Friday as I'd been reading very good reviews about the game in magazines and websites. So, after school, I rushed down to my regular game shop to get it before rushing back for Boarding Formal Dinner. Oh yah, here's a pic of the Token of Appreciation I received for my 5 yrs of service as a boarding master. Phew. Can't believe it. 5 years.



Anyway, back to the main topic. I LOVE THIS GAME! If you have a PS2 and you are looking for a game with a difference, give this one a try. Firstly, there are no enemies to kill! No coins to collect! No secrets to unlock! The game is basically about how you want to save a girl and in order to do it, you have to kill 16 Colossuses (actually.. Colossi...). So every level is like a big boss battle. And it's basically about finding out how to kill the colossi.



The graphics is really good. Although I think it would have been awesome if this game came out for the PS3. It's pretty obvious that it had reached the limits of what the PS2 could do. But nevertheless, the atmosphere is fantastic and the feeling of how large the colossi are is just amazing. Take a look at the pics below, you are actually that little character at the bottom of the screen. And the huge monsters are the things you have to kill!



I think one of the things that I really enjoy about the game is how it makes you feel as if you are really climbing up this huge monster and trying to find the weak points so that you can kill it. It's almost like one of those things you often imagine when you watch those monster shows as a kid. Like, how on earth do I kill the gigantic monster!?

Of course, those of you who re looking for HALO-type frag-fest will be sorely disappointed. No shooting or killing here other than trying to take down the Colossi. So, if you are looking for someting different, give this one a try. It's burned up about 5 hours of my life and I've killed about 5 colossi. 11 more to go!

JUBILATION!!!!

IT IS DONE!

New Earbud Headphones

Here are my new Earbud Headphones: The Panasonic RP-HJE50

First off, it kinda scares me that those inner ear things really do stick right into your ears. I mean, what if they come out when you try to remove them?!! They'll be like stuck in your ears lor. I tried tugging on them a little before inserting them. Ok lar, quite firm. And they come in three different sizes, so you can pick the right size before sticking them into your ear canal.

When I first inserted them, the first thing I noticed is how they cut off most of the ambient sound! It's almost like wearing earplugs. So you basically don't hear much of what goes on around you and the music is pumped directly into your ears! It might sound cool at first, I found it a little disconcerting after a while because just like ear plugs, you soon realize that you are able to hear your own breathing! heh heh... so in between songs, or when you cough, etc, you do hear a hollow ringing in your ear. It felt weird.

As for the sound itself, I'm not much of a sound critic, so as far as I'm concerned, the sound was ok. I think the absence of ambient noise made the sound a little purer and clearer. But as with most earphones, the sound was kinda thin and didn't have much punch.

On the whole, an interesting experience. But after listening for a couple of minutes, I found myself getting a little disoriented. I think I'm not really used to having things stuck in my ear canal. Maybe it's just my mind playing games on me, but I think I probably won't use them that often. Maybe they'll be very useful when I'm taking a flight. Will try them the next time I go overseas.

Status Update 3

Today has been another good day so far! Had invigilation and some other things to attend to in the morning. Started marking only around 12.30pm. By about 2.30pm, I managed to do a fair bit of marking in between of some chit chat with teachers to keep me awake.

Took a break to go down town for a walk. Thought it was well-deserved in view of my decent levelof self-discipline. heh heh. Bought some 'inner-ear' earphones (I think they're officially called Earbud-Headphones) coz I've been dying to try a pair since I saw them and the new Popular at Bras Basah complex were selling them at about 40% off. Then, went to Funan to see if there were any new games and then had dinner before heading back.

Came back and continued marking at about 8pm. I am proud to say, I've finished all the Sec 2 physics and have started on the Sec 1 physics CT. :-D

I shall endeavour to finish the Sec 1s by tomorrow evening. IT CAN BE DONE!

New gadgets to tempt me (part 2)

Here's another one that caught my eye. It's the new Nokia E70. It's similar to my favourite Nokia 6800 but uses the Symbian OS. Supposed to be launched early part of next year. Oooo... tough choices! Click here to find out more.

New gadgets to tempt me

Wow... Look at this thing of beauty. It's the new Sony W900i. I love my K750i, but I have to admit that this walkman phone is quite breathtaking. Luckily it's only due out at the end of the year... makes me feel less guilty for wanting to upgrade again... See more pics here!

Status Update 2

It's 2am. I'm proud to say that progress has been good. Started marking at about 5pm. Took a break here, a nap there... but by 2am, I have completed a little more than 30% of my total load.

Hmm.. I think there might actually be a chance that I will finish it all by tomorrow night! Then I can also have Thursday for some fun!

Actually, I dunno why I'm posting 'Status Updates'.... I think it's more for me to push on to complete all the marking... Sorry for boring you my life.

Status Update 1

It's 10.45pm. The going has been tough, but satisfactory. I hope to go on for at least another 2 hours.

I must press on...

Tuesday, 5pm. And so the marking begins.

Gloomy day

Today was just one of those days.

From the late morning onwards, it was totally overcast and rain rain rain rain rain.

It really dampens the mood, dun you think?

Was intending to go out todae, but basically vegetated at home. i think for all you ct-muggers out there, the dreary mood must've made it 10 times more difficult to mug. You have my sympathies.

2 more days. Test papers will come in. No life until they are marked. Sigh.

Caught Flightplan starring Jodie Foster today. I like her acting very much although her recent movies are not really fantastic. They're quite good... just not fantastic. So when I knew she was starring in this movie, I decided to give it a shot.

Flightplan is about this mother staying in Berlin who just lost her husband. So, she decides to bring the husband's body back to the US together with her daughter. After boarding the plane, she goes to sleep. When she wakes up, she can't find her daughter and nobody on the plane appears to remember her coming on board with her daughter. So did she board with her daughter? Or did she imagine the whole thing? Is she crazy? Or is there some conspiracy?

The first quarter of the film is a little slow moving as it tells the back story. However, when she discovers that her daughter is missing, things get a little more exciting. You are kept guessing if she really brought her daughter on board or not. Here, Jodie Foster is excellent as the worried and half-crazed mother. But I think it's too similar to her last major role, which is in the movie Panic Room. I must admit, this is not an 'action-a-minute' movie, so don't go thinking you are gonna see plenty of action. The story is not too bad and the twist is fiarly unexpected. At least I didn't expect it lar. Maybe some of you might be smarter in guessing the ending.

A few good movies coming up... so are the holidays... great!

But of course, all this will take a break from Tuesday when the lovely CT papers come in. Sigh.

(Oh yah, some of you have been asking what the hopeless movie I watched the last time was. Thought I wouldn't dignify the movie by naming it, but guess I might as well tell. It's Deuce Bigalow.)

Yepz, all's quiet and well. I'm gonna have this for just another few days until 18 Oct when all my test papers come in.. Then, it'll be my time to slave over the papers while the students have their fun.

As far as I'm concerned, I think I should simply enjoy this while it lasts.

I watched a really really REALLY hopeless movie today. It was a total waste of 90 minutes of my life. I had hoped it wasn't as bad as the reviews said they were. After all, I enjoyed the first movie and thought it was really funny and interesting. This time round... it really was boring and obnoxious. The jokes just induced cringe after cringe. Sigh. What a waste of my time.

Oh yah, columbarium had fried 'bee-tai-mak' for breakfast this morning. It was fantastic! Only $1.00 a plate somemore. Excellent!

Pre-CTs

These few days have been relatively calm. Everyone is kinda in Pre-CT mode. Students are busy mugging... teachers are busy completing their marking... and everything seems to slow down.

Sometimes, I wonder if this should be how school life should be. Peaceful... slow... quiet.... heh. Life in our school moves at really breakneck speed. In fact, once the CTs are over, the entire engine seems to be jump-started and things move into 1st gear in no time.

Well, until then. I have a couple of dayz of peace. Papers come in next Monday and I'll have to spend the next few days marking until my hands drop. So exciting. yah. sure.

Such is the life of a teacher.

So, how shall I spend the next couple of dayz? Have plans to catch a musical, maybe Peter Pan. The newspaper review wasn't too bad. Sounds interesting. I'm not a huge Peter Pan fan, but I think the story can be quite magical. Will see if I can actually make time for it.

My food review? Today I didn;t get to eat at the dining hall. When I went over for lunch, the students were busy buying food and by the time I tried getting some food, there was pretty much none left. Sigh. So no dining hall food review today. Instead, I made my way to the columbarium for lunch and had a decent Nasi Lemak meal there. Quite good. $2 for rice (huge portion) with a luncheon meat, a fish cake, the mid-section of a chicken wing, and an EGG! I think it's pretty reasonable and tasty too. (Heh, might be scolded for recommending columbarium over dining hall, but I do think it's more value for money than Dining Hall's.)

One more day, then CT starts. To the students who read my blog, Relax & enjoy the ride. heh. All the best!

Wow, I don't think I have ever eaten so often in the Dining Hall since the beginning of the year! I'm nt sure how many people read this blog, but here's my honest opinions on the food I bought.

This morning I decided to buy some breakfast from the Dining Hall. They open the first stall (snacks and paus, etc) from about 7am to sell food to those who need breakfast. So I took a look and found that they had some fried beehoon. This brings back warm memories of the bee hoon from Oodles of Noodles which I at almost everyday. So, I decided to give it a try. Of course I ordered it with an added portion of Chee Cheong Fun! However, when I turned to add the sauce, I found that they had changed the sauce to the BROWN type!!! Sigh.. so normal. No more special already. But ok lar, CCF still tastes decent. As for the bee hoon, I was quite disappointed with it. Firstly, the quantity. It was really little. Such a difference from Oodles of Noodles! I mean, the styrofoam container was not even half full! Sigh... where got enough. Taste? Not too bad. Normal lor. BUT I was disappointed that there was nothing to add! No egg, no nuggets, no fried wantons! So the bee hoon was extremely boring. If they are not gonna add extra stuff for me to order, I think I will not eat it anymore.

Next was brunch. Today I ordered the Nasi Lemak. Didn't add any ikan bilis coz I dun eat them. So, I had a generous portion of rice, one barely cooked sausage, one fried chicken wing and three slices of cucumber, all for $2. If you ask me, not really worth it. I think it was closer to only $1.50. Or at least add a slice of omelette lar. To be frank, the Nasi Lemak was not bad. The chili they supplied was quite tasty so I liked the rice with chili. The chicken wing also tasted fairly good. THe uncooked sausage? Not bad, but then again, how wrong can a sausage go? I've given feedback on the price. Hope they lower it or maybe add a fried egg to the Nasi Lemak.

So.. again, food not too bad... but just not complete. Hope they continue working on it. Tomorrow.. hmm.. Mee Rebus? We shall see... stay tuned for further food updates!

BAYLEY RULEZ!

Oh Yeah... highlight of the day... BAYLEY IS CHAMPION HOUSE!

I think this is due in no small part to the excellent synergy of the House Exco. Congrats!

(To members from other houses, my sincerest apologies for any mocking you may have received from me... but... Bayley RULEZ!)

Super-Spicy

I looked around the dining hall today, trying to decide what to have for my brunch. Would it be the supersafe briyani (which I know tastes pretty ok) or should I be adventurous and try something else...

Well, as I was deciding on my course of action, I decided what better way to start of my meal than with two yummy spring rolls. Hence I headed to the first stall (which was virtually queueless) and purchased two crispy spring rolls... YUMMM!

As I munched on the spring rolls, I decided that I would try something different and go for the mee siam. It seemed quite popular and the pot of mee siam soup was like 3/4 empty. I purchased it and found my way to a table where my form class boys were sitting at. I took one mouthful of the piping hot mee siam... and... OMG... it was S.P.I.C.Y.!!! Now, to my blog readers, you must understand that I am not a chilli-eater. I don't mind food which is a little spicy for the taste (like the chicken they serve with the briyani). But I really can't take super spicy food. Well, I gave up after that one mouthful and looked for someone to give my mee siam to.

Don't get me wrong. I think the mee siam tasted ok. But it was really too spicy. If I had continued eating it, the dining hall would have made a fortune from me buying drinks to extinguish the flames on my tongue.

After successfully giving away my mee siam, I made my way to the ice cream stall for a cooling icy grape. Oooooo... the icy chill of the popsicle on my burnt tongue was pure heaven....

I've told the chef that the mee siam should be made much less spicy so that people who like chilli can easily add more. Until then, I'm staying away from the hell-bowl.. heh heh.

Less than a month... & Food Fun!

Can you believe it? In less than a month, school will be over. Yeah, until then, plenty to do, but the fact is, in less than a month, things can wind down a bit. Just a wee bit.

Last week was the first week that we had to get our food at the Dining Hall instead of the the school canteen. Here's what I miss most (in order):

1. Laksa from Oodles of Noodles
I found out how much I loved them only about 4 weeks ago... sob... so sad I didn't have more time with them before their demise.
2. Deep Fried Wantons from Oodles of Noodles
These babies were like droplets of heaven. heh.
3. Wanton Noodles from Oodles of Noodles
This one has been quite a staple of mine. Loved it ever since they started selling it.
4. Fruit juices from Cafe Delight
Sigh, sure gonna miss 美人汁.... and siew mais...
5. Briyani from Kampung Istimewa
Yes, the favourite of almost everyone. Who can forget that thick yummy sauce the chicken drumstick came with..
6. Mee Rebus from Kampung Istimewa
Another one of my faves. Always with extra noodles of course!

Well, after one week at Dining Hall, here are the ones which I think will be my new faves:

1. Spring Rolls
Yes! Definitely the 'wantons-of-the-dining-hall'. I tried them on Tuesday. They were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Of course, if you ate them later in the day, they'll be a bit chewy, but other than that, their really quite good.
2. Chee Cheong Fun
I love CCF. You really can't make a mistake with them. And as long as they are heated up nicely, they taste great. I love it that Dining Hall sells them and I love it that they use the red sweet sauce, not the brown one. Some people mock me that the red sauce is just colouring. I dun care lar. To me, they taste better! Unfortunately, if you go too early, the CCF can be a bit hard (esp at the edges).
3. Briyani from Muslim Stall
Of course, this can't compare with the Briyani from Kampung Istimewa. But on it's own, I think it's really not too bad. The curry was not as thick, but tasted pretty decent. Of course , can't really go wrong with the papadums too.

OK, so far, those are the dishes I've tried which I think were not bad. My comments above are strictly personal...

Finally, to all who have not tried, please drop by to buy an Icy Cool Grape ice cream. They're absolutely yummy! :-P

Oooo... Sony just announced the DSC-N1, the latest 8 megapixel camera with a THREE-INCH TOUCH SCREEN!!! Woo hoo!!! Looks like this is gonna be my next big buy!

A day without my HP, weird but in a nice way...

Today I left my handphone at home.

I must say that it was a liberating experience.

I was virtually uncontactable from 7am to 9pm. Wow. The feeling was disconcerting but contradictingly calming.

I admit, the convenience of a handphone is wonderful. But I think it has also become a crutch; a tool to fall back on when we do things last minute all the time.

Maybe I should seriously consider getting rid of my handphone... heh...

Identity Crisis

I've just finished reading DC Comics' Identity Crisis, a 264 page hardcover collection of last year's hit comic mini-series. Although at times, the dialogue boxes are a little hard to follow, on the whole, the art & the story are pretty good. I've always been a sucker for good art. Though this isn't on the level of George Perez or Michael Turner (two of my more favourite artists), Rag Morales and Michael Blair did a pretty good job in showing some gritty realism in the world of superheroes. It's the first time I've seen a rape scene in a mainstream comic book, but honestly, it wasn't graphic coz there wasn't anything visual. It was more implied but equally repulsive. The emotions of the various superheroes and characters are captured superbly and very often, you can feel their loss/panic/frustration.

As for the story, Brad Meltzer crafts a pretty tight tale of how fear can change the mightiest of superheroes. It's heartwrenching to see the difficult decisions made by some of the superheroes, especially when the lives of their 'all-too-human-non-super-powered' loved ones are concerned. The deep dark secret harboured by some of these heroes almost make them as bad as some of the villains they try to fight. The story basically starts with someone dying and how this affects each superhero. It keeps you on the edge as you try to figure out who's the murderer as well as who's the next one to die. Each scene is really emotionally alive and you can't help but feel the pain that each characer goes through. The ending, I must admit was a surprise. Of course, there are a few threads left hanging, so I'm looking forward to future repurcussions.

I love comic collections cause I can read them as a whole without having to wait month by month for each issue to come out. Identity Crisis is one of the best I've read recently. Highly recommended to all DC comic fans out there.

I love movies

I love movies. I really do. Watching a movie is really like a wonderful escape into fantasy. But of course, if the movie is c*@p, then it could be a visit to hell...

I can't wait for the renovation & installation works for my sitting room to be complete. Then I'll finally have a proper home theatre setup! Quite exciting. Can't wait to load up a movie and just enjoy the full boom of the subwoofer and the swirl of the surround speakers. Shiok! Just another month and it should all be setup.

Today, I decided to catch up on movies. I think the last movie I watched was almost a month ago. Sigh. So sad lor. I used to catch at least one a week. Now I haven't even caught one in the last month. I went to GV Grand at Great World City, always liked the cinemas there. If only they were Digital. Well, the nice thing is I found out that HSBS credit card holders get one dollar off every ticket. That means, weekend movie watching is $8.50 instead of $9.50. Quite good!

I caught Tim Burton's Corpse Bride first. Quite nicely done. Although the movie was only about 80mins long, I think it was just about right. Any longer and it could have gotten boring. I was reading a review which said that somewhere in the middle, it could get tiresome because there was no clear sign where the movie was headed. Actually, I thought I pretty much figured out the movie after the first half hour. The stop-motion animation was nice and the grey tone of the whole movie was quite fitting. But I must admit that the gruesomeness of the theme got ot me after a while. All the skeletons and dead people dancing and singing... can get quite disturbing. But then again, it's typical Tim Burton. This film is pretty dark but I think I personally preferred his earlier film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Thought that was a better movie.

After TBCB, I decided to catch The 40-yr old Virgin. Since this one's rated M18, I guess most of you (ie. my blog readers) would not be able to watch it. Must say it was quite funny. There was this whole waxing scene which was really hilarious. I think waxing is really cruel. I pity the poor women who go through it. But for a hairy guy to undergo waxing? OUCH! Guess I can't say much else about the movie coz I'd pretty much have to get into M18 territory, so to keep this blog PG, I guess I can only say it's pretty funny, so watch it when you come of age. heh.

There are a couple of other movies I'm hoping to watch, The Myth being one, The Brothers Grimm, Night Watch, and maybe even Dark Water. Don't think I'll have time this week... so maybe next weekend!

Mad Mad Week

This has week has been mad. And the scary thing is, I don't expect it to get any less mad until maybe... mid Nov.

It was so mad, that I actually tried what some of you guys do.. sleep in the evening that get up later to work through the night. On Tuesday, I slept from 8pm till 12 midnight, got up, had dinner, bathed and did my stuff still about 3.30am before giving up and sleeping again until 6.30am. On the whole, not bad, 7 hours of sleep!! But frankly, it screwed up my body clock. Was pretty out of sorts for the next two days. I guess I'm really too old for this. I remember in JC, there was once I attempted an all-night mugging. It was quite funny. I prepared a nice big flask of coffee.. laid all my notes and books on the dinner table... and started piah-ing. I think I lasted till about 4am before giving up. Nowadays, no way can stay up whole night liaoz. Really getting old...

Back to the mad week. We had Prom Day on Tuesday morning. I've always thought Prom Day was a very meaningful ceremony. Though it could get a little long, I think it is important to have this significant handover of leadership. I think it also serves as some form of inspiration for the junior boys as they see the sec 3 leaders taking over from the Sec 4s. Tuesday was quite a mad day. After school, there were like a hundred places I had to be! From phototaking with board, with class, with department, to contact time to meeting with prefects... sigh.. it was really a mad rush from one thing to another. So when the stuff ended at about 4pm, I just sat and wanted to stone. Really, literally, totally stone.

Wednesday was out-of-sync-day coz of my supposed all-nighter (which ended at 3.30am, but nonetheless still an all-nighter to me). We had the Van Project launch. Thought the video was excellent. And I think it did make some impact on the students. Great job to the video crew!

Wednesday night was almost an all-nighter too. Had to finish some work until almost 4am then took a 2.5hr sleep before school. Worse thing? Had 3 lessons the next day. Took all my mental energy to pull me through that day. Then had to settle ice-cream sale. Had to receive fridge, settle stock, etc. Then a teacher gave an excellent idea of asking other Form Teachers if they wanted to give their class an ice cream treat for Childrens Day. While the idea was great, it meant having to organise the orders. More work. Nvm, it's for good cause.

Then finally today, Friday. Things finally took a bit of a slowdown, but it's temporary. I've got a ton of stuff to do this weekend. Nvm, one thing at a time.

I know, life isn't any better for you students. You have my sincere sympathies. At least often, I have a choice. If I choose not to do, at most face the music lor. Dun like.. at most quit lor. As students, cannot quit. Have to do means have to do... sigh. I've always believe there's more to life than work (and study). I guess it's really a question of priorities, of what we think is really important.

For me? Life's too short to be swamped only by work. Don't you think?

Excellent Games

Wow... it's the fourth quarter of the year and the game companies are starting to release the good stuff. Below are the three games that are sucking up my time... The first two belong to the Burnout series- Burnout Legends (for PSP) and Burnout Revenge (for xbox). If you like arcade driving games with plenty of destruction and amazing sense of speed, then these two games are for you. The third game is Virtua Tennis (for PSP). The original Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast was a real addictive game. I remember spending many hours challenging my friends to Virtua Tennis. The PSP version has good graphics and the gameplay is typically simple to pick up but difficult to master.

It's good to finally see games of a decent calibre coming out on the PSP. So far, PSP games have not really met expectations. Death Jr & MediEvil were potentially good games which unfortunately bombed. I'm still hoping for a decent platformer to be released soon. Until then, there's Burnout Legends & Virtua Tennis to keep my PSP busy!

Concert @ Esplanade

Had a nice evening out with the class at the Esplanade. It was a nice end to an otherwise sucky day. We left school punctually at 5.30pm. I think I'm very glad that the class was so cooperative. We had to leave punctually coz we wanted to have enough time for dinner, and everyone played their part in being on time. Nice start!

We arrived at Esplanade at about 6pm and went over to the Marina Food Court for dinner. Had a lovely dish of charsiew/roast pork rice... the charsiew was succulent and the roast pork had very crispy skin. YUMMY. I predict I will return this weekend for a seond helping. Dinner was fun. Plenty of talk about taugays. Well, here's a pic especially for Nini. Hope you enjoy it.



After the charsiew, roast pork and pizza, most of us were quite filled. But there was still dessert! So Yiyi bought a bowl of ice kachang and over 10 people were digging into it!!



After dinner, we had a leisurely walk to the Esplanade. I was hoping for a good concert. It's been a long time since I've gone for a real concert. Took a class pic at the concourse in the Esplanade.



As we took our seats in the concert hall, I was again awed by the hall. Managed to sneak a photo. Sorry.. dun report me... but the hall is really very impressive and as far as I'm concerned, I think the acoustics are very good.



The Royal Copenhagen Chapel Choir was pretty good. They sounded very nice. However, the reportoire for the night was really pretty heavy, consisting of only classical pieces and none in english. So it was a little hard to follow everything. But I must say that the story teller was fantastic. As I listened to her, I understood how some people can be professional story tellers. She was animated, but not in an 'in-your-face' kind of way and she really captured my attention. Throughout the concert, it was fun trying to see who were the 'sleeping beauties'. One student slept and started to snore... quite audibly.. heh. Ok, I'll confess, I did almost nod-off at one point in the concert, but I managed to keep awake. :-P

After the concert, we walked past the concourse again. Snapped a pic of the lanterns that they had hung there. They were supposed to be lanterns made by primary school students. It was a very nice sight.



On the bus on the way back to school, the boys were hilarious. So much energy! Kept singing Haagen Dazs songs. Heh. Sorry guys, don't think you were powerful enough! Try harder next time.

Yeah, so that's how the night went. For the 1Q guys, you can find the pics I took here.

Weird Daez.

These past few days have really been disconcertingly calm. It's a freaky feeling that it's a calm just before a mega-storm. In some ways, the rain started falling last night, and there was some kind of storm today. I wonder if the worst is over for now.

I've had to deal with different things this week. Many of them involved dealing with different people. Perhaps because of that, I was kinda emotionally drained. It's not easy trying to engage people. And interestingly, I find that many people were also emotionally off-balance this week. Dunno leh, maybe it's some alignment of the planets... or some distortion in the earth's electromagnetic field... or subliminal programming over tv... or wateva. I find many people getting agitated by different people all around. Weird. Maybe it's just the 'coming-to-the-end-of-term' stress. For me, these last two days have also been frustrating as my back was giving me a really hard time. Dunno why it acted up but it was really hurting and I couldn't stand for long periods of time. Usually the pain eased up as the day went by, but it wasn't the case for these two days. That probably added some fuel to the bomb...

Anywaez, today was bad. The morning started really badly. Some teachers tried to give me a surprise, but the surprise really backfired. I flipped out and gave it to them. Throughout the day, I've been trying to decide why I reacted like that. I think it was a culmination of things. But I think they were shocked that I was so pissed. Maybe that also teaches me to be careful when trying to play a 'sabo' on someone. The best of intentions can easily be misconstrued by others.

Well, the rest of the day was spent brooding over my outburst.

In the evening, things got better. Went with my class to the Royal Copenhagen choir. I'll blog that separately. So that's it for this entry.

Spend, spend, spend

Today was a crazy day of spending. It was quite incredible. I hadn't planned it, it kinda just happened. Maybe it was really retail therapy after a really stressful week. Having payday just 2 days ago probably contributed to it. So let's see what the damage adds up to:

Ordered my new Home Theatre system. Finally decided to go with the Mardaunt-short genie. Had to pay a deposit, so upfront, paid up $640

Then I went to Funan to see if Burnout Legends for the PSP was out. It was my lucky day! The stock just arrived in the morning. So, I spent $84 on it (after a $5 discount). As I walked off, I asked if Winning Eleven for the PSP was released. They told me it was. Although not a huge soccer fan, I know the WE series is pretty good, and I Wouldn't mind trying it on the PSP, so.. what the heck.. I bought it. Cost me $70.

After some lunch, decided to drop by Gramaphone opposite City Hall MRT. Was kinda hoping that Advent Children would be available. Well, it wasn't (sadly but thankfully), but instead, I saw the original Battlestar Galactica series for sale at $89 (thankfully but sadly). Quite a steal considering that the usual collectors' edition costs about twice of that! So, buy lor.

I knew Kinokuniya was having a 20% sale, so I decided to take a look to see if any new trade paperbacks were out. On my way there, went past bras basah complex. Saw the watch shop where I usually get my Casio G-shock watches... was reminded that I had recently (as in yesterday) lost my daily-wear digital G-shock, so I decided to get a new one... Chose what I considered cheaper but decent one (solar-charged!). There flew $98.

Well, the day was not over. Went to Kinokuniya at Bugis, didn't see anything much but as usual, with a 20% sale, it's a little too good to let go. Happens once every few months only. So, got myself a Conan trade paperback (by Kirt Busiek, who is generally quite good) and an Empire magazine. Saved about $5 from the discount, but spent about $26. heh. After that, I went down to Bugis basement foodcourt for some tea-time snack and to rest & play by new Burnout on PSP. Found that they had a new Roti Prata shop at the food court! Not too bad lar, cost $3.00 for a Cheese and sausage prata and $1.30 for a teh tarik. Wasn't fantastic, but a decent afternoon tea.

After my snack, it was already about 4 pm so I decided to go home. On my way up the escalator, remembered I wanted to look for a wallet to keep all the discount cards, membership cards, etc. My current wallet was exploding with all the cards. So, went upstairs, browsed a little, a purhased a card wallet and some socks & stuff. Spent about $43. After that, decided I had really better go home before I spent any more money.

So total damage.... $1050!!!

Please don't think I do this all the time... ashamed.... but I must admit.. feels good! :-P

Complicating

Just thinking, aren't human beings complicated?

Had three experiences today, all highlighting how we can be so complicating. Yeah, it's 'we' coz I think I'm most certainly personally included in one of the experiences.

I really ought to rethink how I react to things. I should make things less complicated instead of adding to it.

Not that I can succeed in doing it lar. But better to have hoped and tried then to have never attempted at all, right?

Life is so unfair!

Wow, as expected, this week is really challenging. As usual, plenty of stuff due, plenty of new stuff to do and plenty of stuff to prevent you from doing anything else. heh.

So, why is life unfair?

Sigh, three exciting new things are happening but I can't indulge in any of them. This is really frustrating. Firstly, the release of the Gameboy Micro. It was released on Monday, but there's no way I could make my way down to see it. I guess I won't get it yet (heard that the transformer is not available yet). I'm quite keen to wait a couple of days more and hopefully get my hands on a US version. Actually, I'm quite regretting buying a japanese PSP instead of a US one. Now I want to buy the US movies, but can't coz the region coding is wrong.

Second exciting thing? Burnout Revenge was released yesterday. I bought it when I went for dinner at Thomson Plaza. I managed to play a little yesterday and it was really good. But sigh... there's no way I can spend anymore time on it. There are just too many things happening. And there's no way I can in any good conscience spend time playing it. So now, I can only look at the game casing and imagine myself playing the game. Yeah... i know.... i sound pathetic.

Third? Well, kinda related to second thing. I think Burnout Legends for the PSP is also out. And according to reviews, it's just as good as Burnout Revenge for the xbox. I am so dying to go and get it from Funan. But no way lor. Thursday is impossible.... Friday is lagi more impossible.. .which leaves Saturday. So, my only glimmer of hope? Rush down after PTM and hope there's still stock!

Yeah, I know, I sound shallow. Maybe I ought to have more meaningful pursuits... heh... yah.. sure...

To buy or not to buy...

Sent a mail to a video game shop and found out that the expected price for the Gameboy Micro in Singapore is S$215! Wow... that's quite expensive considering that it's supposed to cost US$99 which works out to about S$170. The Japanese price is 12000Yen which works out to be about S$183.

How? To buy or not to buy? Tough decision!

Home Theatre Shopping Part 3

I went for my weekly Sim Lim visit today and decided to see if I could see any speaker deals. Not too bad, managed to visit 3 shops. At the first shop, I saw the KEF KHT2005.2 again. So I thought I might as well see if the demo would be better. However, they were busy with another demo so I decided to come back a little later.

Went to another shop in level 2. They had quite a nice range so I asked the salesguy to recommend something. He looked kinda bewildered then brought me into a demo room. They had the Mordaunt-SHort Genie there but with a different amp. So I asked if I could listen to it. He then fumbled around with the amp but in the end, there was no demo! It was kinda weird. I wasn't sure if he was gonna let me listen to it or not. Anyway, although he had other speakers, like harmon kardon, onkyo, etc, etc, I didn't get to hear anything. I think he wasn't really sure what to do. But the good thing I got from this shop was that the M-S Genie was actually cheaper than wat the Adelphi shop was offering me... almost $250 cheaper! I mean, with this $250, I can buy a better amp lor. Now I dunno how.. to go with less-pro shop but cheaper, or go with more-pro shop but more expensive. sigh.

So I went back downstairs to listen to the KEF speakers. I must say that this time, the demo was much more impressive. Much better than the shop at Adelphi. Maybe it was the demo clip, maybe it was the amp they used. I dunno lar, but basically, the KEF sounded good. The salesguy then recommended I try the Mirage Omnisat Micro. They looked really cool, as you can see from the pic below. And they are omni-directional speakers. The speakers were quite good too, but I think they weren't better than the Jamo or the M-S Genie.

Mirage Omnisat Micro

The last shop I visited was selling a package with Energy speakers and a Marantz amp. The shop was ok, the salesguy took the time to work out an estimate cost for me and also showed me quite a long demo. The speakers were ok. At first, the volume was a bit low so I was a bit disappointed. Later I asked him to up the volume and the sound finally kicked in. On the whole, also pretty good speakers.

Energy Act6

Well, I think I've pretty much made up my mind. As in, I'll probably go back to Adelphi. I guess I'll go to the more-pro shop. I'm already spending over $3k on this, no point being stingy on a $250 and end up having a lousy job. I think the more-pro shop is also including the cables in the price. I'll probably drop in again, maybe tomorrow, to take a look. Well, I think this Part 3 probably ends my Home Theatre Shopping Chronicles. Now on to purchasing and installing!

New Temptations

Wow, Sony and Apple has released their new MP3 players. And both are them look really good. Sony has released their new Network Walkman, NW A-1000. I love the OLED screen which is flush under the surface of the player. The colours available are also pretty cool. Dimensions: 65.2 x 104.2 x 21.4 mm and weighs about 182 g.

At the same time, Apple launched their iPod Nano. While I am generally an iPod hater, I must admit the iPod Nano looks fantastic. How they managed to squeeze everything into such a thin, slim form is just inconceivable. Dimension: 89 x 40 x 7 mm and weighs about 42 g!!!

It's a good thing that I'm not really into listening to music everywhere I go. These two items are beautiful enough to make me want to buy both immediately! Like I mentioned in an earlier post, my next purchase will probably be the Gameboy Micro. That will be release on Sep 13 in Japan.


Sony NW A-1000

iPod Nano

Home Theatre Shopping Part 2

On Thursday, I finally found time to continue with Part 2 of my home theatre shopping. After some stuff which I had to do in school, I made my way to Adelphi again and spent about 2 to 3 hours there.

My verdict? I think it all boils down to service. I experienced such varying standards of service in my 3 hours there. I started off with this shop selling Klipsch speakers. As I walked into the shop, the two salesmen in the shop didn;t really acknowledge my presence. It was kinda irritating. It was almost as if I was interrupting their conversation. Well, I walked one round then I approached one of the salesman to ask for recommendations for a HTS (home theatre system). He said I could consider the Klipsch and Onkyo speakers so I asked for a demo. He sat me down, put in a demo disc and let me listen to the Klipsch. Ok, it was quite nice, though not mind-blowingly wonderful. So after listening to the Klipsch, I asked if I could listen to another different set of speakers. The salesman then had the audacity to say, 'If you like the sound from this one, no need to listen to others.' I was really shocked lor. I mean, what kind of business is this? I then asked some meaningless questions and left the shop, thoroughly disgusted by the service.


Klipsch Cinema 6 Speakers

My next visit was to this shop selling Jamo speakers. Wow, the service was totally different. When I walked into the shop, the lone salesguy immediately asked me how he could be of assistance. When I told him that I was looking for a HTS and gave him my budget, he politely ushered me into the demo room and proceeded to let me listen to the E700PDD speakers. The speakers were really quite good! I loved the rumbling and it was really quite a moving experience. The effects were crisp and clear, though I thought the speech could have been a little better. Anyway, after the first few minutes of listening to the demo, the salesguy started explaining the speakers to me, telling me about their construction, the features, etc, etc. When I left the shop, I was seriously considering the Jamo speakers. Such is the power of excellent service.


Jamo E700PDD Speakers

My friend had recommended that I try out the KEF speakers. At first, as I looked into the shop window, I kinda wondered if I could afford them. The shop looked a little too upmarket. Anyway, I finally went in and again, the salesguy was quite friendly. He sat me down and let me listen to the demo. For the KEF, I found the demo quite limp. He showed me a dogfight scene from X-men 2. Frankly, I found it noisy and the sound was thin with not much of a kick or oomph. After the demo, the saleguy explained some things like which amp I could consider. On the whole, a nice friendly guy, but I think it was a wrong choice of demo and the speakers maybe weren't really optimized. The KEF were supposed to be very good... but I couldn't get that from the demo.


KEF Speakers

The final stop I made was at this shop displaying the YAMAHA brand name. I thought I might as well give it a try coz at this point, I was getting kinda tired and was thinking of going home already. Well, the salesman was also friendly, but I think he didn't know what he was really doing, other than switching on the amp and letting me listen to the speakers. To add to that, the HECO speakers (sound a bit cheapo, but I found out later that they are actually some German brand) were in a sad state. THey looked old. THe subwoofer had a ugly scratched surface and looked lousy. Although I must say the sound was decent, the lack of professionalism, the poor setup, really turned me off.


Heco Speakers

So, after two trips to Adelphi, what have I decided? I'm actually considering either the Jamo E700PDD speakers or the Mordaunt-Short Genie speakers. I realized that one main reason was that both shops had taken the time to explain things to me and their demo setups were really good. THe other shops either had poor service or poor technical demos. Quite a waste. I'll probably think on it for a couple more days before making a final decision.

Ahh... here's the new toy I am looking forward to. It's the new Gameboy Micro. It basically takes the Gameboy Advance cartridges but it's ultra small. The dimensions are 10cm by 5cm by 1.7cm... that's like the size of a standard handphone lor! And the screen, though small, is supposed to be so sharp and clear that it's the best screen on a gameboy ever! The Gameboy Micro is due for release on Sep 13 and will cost about US$99. Heh.. Can't wait.

Today I went to Adelphi to start doing some serious shopping for my new Home Theatre System. I only managed to visit one shop but I can already see that I'm gonna have a pretty hard time deciding over the next couple of weeks. The first pic below is that of the B&W MT20, the first system I heard today. It was really quite nice. The sound was crisp and the the surround was fantastic. The speakers themselves looked really cool. But the speakers alone cost almost $2600. I asked to hear something less expensive and was shown the Mordaunt-Short Genie speakers (the second pic). When I heard them, I thought I really liked the sound. It was less crisp and had a nice full sound to it. Maybe the earlier speakers had a higher treble setting. Anyway, I'm not exactly a expert at hearing stuff, so I can pretty much only go for what I feel lor. The Genie speakers cost $1700, a whopping $900 cheaper than the B&W.

Actually, a couple of days ago, I went to the shop where I had bought my projector. They had offered me a neat package but the speakers and amplifier were like not very branded lor. I'm sorry, but after some consideration, I think I'm quite a brand-junkie. I don't think I'm gonna be happy if I save a few hundred bucks and got a 'brand-less' system... sigh... I know, I sound a little shallow.

Well, I hope to go visit a few other shops in Adelphi. My friends have recommended I listen to some Klipsch or KEF speakers. Quite fun to go shopping for a Home Theatre system, but it's sure gonna hurt my wallet...

Superstar Discussions

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post your tag concerning Kelvin Tan Wei Lian's victory over Kelly Poon.

Frankly, I know there'll be no end to the discussions. It's all a matter of opinions and everyone is entitled to his won. It's like the eternal argument of which is the best: the PS2, Xbox or Nintendo Gamecube?

So, my take on it is simply this.

Did Wei Lian win coz of sympathy votes? Maybe. We'll never know why people voted for him. Did he being blind play a part? Yes I think so too. Does he have a good voice? While it is arguable if he has the BEST voice, I think most would agree that he does have a good voice. So did he deserve to win Superstar? To me, yes (heh, coz I'm a Kelvin supporter lar!). Ultimately, he managed to garner over 340 000 votes. As reported by Mediacorp, Wei Lian consistently has got more voters who voted fewer times whereas Kelly had fewer voters who tend to vote many more times each. Hence, Wei Lian does have more fan support than Kelly. And I think that while his voice is able to move many of us, the more important fact is that he also does serve as an inspiration to many. Maybe that's unfair. But hey, if kelly can make use of her 'mobility' and beauty (both physical characteristics) to sway voters to her side, why is it unfair that people can be swayed coz of Kelvin's physical characteristic of being blind?

OK lar, like I said, I think there will be no end to this discussion. This is my two cents worth lor. For those who disagree, sorry lor. Feel free to take it up in the Superstar Forum in Channel U website.

Term 3 Week 10

Wow. 3/4 of the school year is over.

This term, has been a real ride.

The phrase that comes to mind is 'Fast & Furious'.

That's how the events & activities came. One after the other, unrelentingly. From Youth Week, to the Ultramarathon to National Day to Elections to Teachers Day... wow, that works out to one major event every two weeks. And we've not included the little minor events that occur throughout the term.

For those who are thinking of becoming prefects, not to scare you, but the prefects were involved in every single one of those in a major way. I can't imagine how that would have affected their school work. I know it's never said enough, but in hindsight, I must again say that I really appreciate the efforts put in by the prefects to serve the school.

Well, at the end of this Fast & Furious term, things are just taking a slight slowdown. I'm glad for the week break. It's not gonna be a holiday. More like a chance to catch our breath. Already, I've got stuff to do everyday in school. But I guess at least there's no need to go school at 7.20am everyday. Shiok.

Oh yah, I'm very glad for Wei Lian. He WON!!! I know Kelly did better than him in the finals lar... but I still stick by the fact that Wei Lian has more vocal talent than her. So, I'm really glad substance won over style. Can't wait for his CD to be released!

Anatomically Correct Statues

I love going to Kinokuniya. It's probably the best bookshop in Singapore right now. Together with the fantastic 20% sales or even normal 10% discount for members, I think they offer one of the best deals in books and magazines.

But that's not the topic of this post.

Today, after browsing at Kino, I decided to walk over to HMV at The Heeren. So, I took the lift down to the 1st floor and then decided to cut across the main atrium in front of Ngee Ann City. It's not my first time walking across it, but I guess I never really paid attention until today.

Well, I saw the two lion statues and thought, hmm.. nice... then as I walked past the first one, I kinda noticed something sticking out between it's legs. I thought, hmm... probably some lights to light up the lion in the evening. But then, when I walked over to the second statue on the left of the door, I realized the 'thing' was missing. That's when I realized, the two statues were actually anatomically correct! Hmm... it's kinda disturbing.

I must apologise to those of you who might be offended by this post. It's not my intention to post statue porn. But I was really quite surprised and thought it was interesting enough to share here. (Click on pics to see larger pics)

Lion on the right of the door (male lion)
Lion on the left of the door (female lion)

New Pics

Just uploaded new pics from today's pre-Teachers Day event! Take a look by clicking on the link on the right.

We had the launch of the Golden Man Awards for Teachers Day today. I am super-impressed at Weijie and Wenhao for being so sporting in being the Golden Men for the morning flag-raising, recess & lunch. Great job guys!

Sad day

I am sad.

I went supermarketing today. Thought I would give myself a treat so I bought a nice big bottle of ribena to bring to school so that I can have yummy blackcurrant goodness for my tea break.

Well, I got home and decided that the yummy blackcurrant goodness could not wait. So I opened the bottle and made myself a nice cold cup of refreshing ribena. I placed the bottle in front of the microwave oven.

I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

Later at night, I decided to cook some rice for dinner. I took my microwave rice cooker, put in some rice, washed it, drained it, put in some water then sealed the rice cooker. Then I put the rice cooker into the microwave oven. Forgetting that my bottle of ribena was in front of it.

Sigh.

It was a pretty sight. Thick gooey purple liquid all over the floor. The splatter pattern reminded me of many CSI episodes. Glass shards everywhere.

Well, had to spend the next 30 to 45 mins clearing up the mess. That was exciting. very.

Sigh.

I am sad. No more ribena.

Wow, can't believe I've not updated for a week. This week has been pretty crazy. The thing that's taking up a huge chunk of time is the Teachers Day celebrations. Heh, stupid me thought that I might be able to sit this one out and kinda just slack, but things have a funny way of turning out exactly OPPOSITE of the way you hope it would be.

Been in school until 10plus for the last two nights. So every night when I reach home, all i wanna do is just vegetate. Tonight, left school only around 11.15pm. Saturday's not gonna be much better. I'm guessing somewhere around 10.30pm. It's fun lah... but it's really tiring.

A few exciting things happened this week. Unfortunately, they're kinda unbloggable things. Sorry!

Oh ya, I bought Wei Lian's single last week. I think it is very very good lor. Heard Kelly's single coz a fellow teacher prefers her... (so poor taste lor!). I really think Kelly is not very strong. Next Thursday is gonna be interesting. Will the audience go for sound? Or will they prefer a pretty face? Quite exciting lor!

Wow... end of term is coming pretty fast. If you think about it, it's like 6 or 7 more weeks to the really nice long vacation. Woohoo!!!

Maybe something more exciting will happen tomorrow. I shall endeavour to post some pics soon. Been a while since I put a cool pic. Sigh...

Wow....He actually won!

I can't believe it. It was almost impossible for him to do it, but he actually did! Weilian actually beat Junyang to get into the grand finals! It's really quite unbelievable. I'm sure Junyang must be devastated but congrats to Weilian for being able to make it all the way!

As for the females, I was kinda rooting for Xinhui cause I think she sings better. But the honest truth is that her fashion sense sucks. So Kelly gets into the finals. Not my first choice, but I'm quite ok with that lar.

So now we have Weilian vs Kelly. It's gonna be a very interesting grand finals. Weilian is really not your typical superstar. But he has a voice which is just plain magical (when he uses it properly lar!). Kelly is more your typical star... good looking, nice image, decent voice. Can't wait for September 1st! Talk about an exciting Teachers day!

A little bit of excitement

A little bit of excitement today. Received an sms around 10am from a friend telling me that this blog was mentioned in Today. My immediate thots... DIE LAR! I'd just given a talk on blogs on Tuesday and suddenly on Wednesday, my blog was quoted in the newspaper. Found the article and was quite amused that the writer had said that I was a Rafflesian 'student'.. A friend of mine said that I ought to write in and demand a correction. Heh.. like I would want it published lor! Imagine the correction: We apologise to Zeke for the error. It should have been a Rafflesian 'TEACHER' and not student... I think it's worse lor! Well, there goes my 10 seconds of fame.

Today was really quite busy. It's like one thing after the other. On top of preparing for 3 different elections, had to prepare lessons, attend meetings and do rehearsal for Boarding's 10th anniversary dinner. On top of that, still HAD to watch 绝对Superstar (definitely non-negotiable!). Phew. Now it's already 12.25am and I've just gotten started on doing some stuff. I think I'm getting too old for this. Looks like things will go at breakneck speed until the end of the year. Talk about a marathon.

Tonight's 绝对Superstar was a bit of a letdown. Both Weilian and Junyang were sick and couldn't sing/perform at their peak. It's really one of those things lor.. fight all the way to the finals then fall sick! I think the judges were a little unfair towards Weilian. I personally thought his last song was better than Junyang's. Nevermind... keep fingers crossed. Maybe, just maybe, Weilian might actually enter the grand finals!

very tired.

only abt 10 weeks to go before the end of the year. But already quite burnt out.

Last two nights didn't help coz had to stay up late to do stuff. Maybe a good nite's rest will make things better.

Stupid aching back doesn't help. Maybe ought to go see some physiotherapist.

"In the arms of an Angel fly 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 an Angel; may you find some comfort here"

Angel by Sarah McLachlan

I think I'm an American Idol junkie. Three of my favourite songs (in order) are:

1. I Believe (by Fantasia Barrino, American Idol 2004)
2. Angels brought me here (by Guy Sebastian, Australian Idol 2003)
3. Inside Your Heaven (by Carrie Underwood, American Idol 2005)

I love blasting 'I Believe' through my Altec Lansing MX5021 speakers. Sometimes, I just need that kind of assurance and motivation. Like the words say,

"I believe in the impossible
If I reach deep within my heart
Overcome any obstacle
Won't let this dream fall apart
See I strive to be the very best
Shine my light for all to see
Cause anything is possible
When you believe yeah"

The other song which I've been listening to extensively again is 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan.

Think I'm obviously going through some down time...

Ho Hum...

The last couple of days have been fairly non-eventful. There was English Feste on Thursday and Friday so there pretty much weren't any lessons for the whole of last week. Maybe it's the normal case of the idle mind being the devil's workshop. When things are in a wind-down mode, the mind usually starts using its resources to think of stuff you would otherwise not think about.

Not that there aren't things to do. Coming up are the Head Prefect selections, Teachers Day celebrations, Boarding School 10th Anniversary celebrations, RIPB elections, etc, etc. So there is plenty to do.

Anywaez, what have I been thinking about? Hmm.. I guess the main thing is where I am heading in the next couple of years. I've almost completed 5 years in RI. To me, that's quite a lot of years. I'm obviously not getting any younger, so are there things which I want to try and do which I have still not done? Live life without regrets. I believe in that. I think it's important to be true to ourselves and pursue the dreams we have. Do I stay in RI? Do I seek other challenges? Hmmm... plenty of questions, no answers.

Other meaningless random thoughts in my mind:

Presidential Elections. Just heard over the news, no elections coz no one else is getting a certificate of eligibility. Heh.. I just find it so funny. We're probably the only country with the longest serving non-elected elected president. heh. I was reading a blog where the writer was ranting about how silly it is that in our supposedly educated and clean/corrupt-free Singapore, we cannot even find two people to stand for elections for our presidency. That's quite true isn;t it? It's like saying, in our country of over 3 million people, we only have ONE person who is willing and eligible to be president.

Protest outside CPF building. The other big news all over the blogging community. Apparently, 4 people were having some kind of silent protest outside the CPF building. They were asking for more transparency over how the govenrment uses our CPF and other sources of funds. Well, the police sent 40 'riot-police' to disperse and stop the 4 people from protesting. I'm not sure, but I don't think there was any report about this in the newspapers. Maybe it's just not newsworthy enough. I'm not gonnabe political about this. The only comment I want to make is, 40 people to stop 4 people? Sigh... talk about overkill.

Just what is newsworthy? One of the recent hot news is about that fella who swam across the English channel in about 12 hours. Plenty of newspaper and TV coverage. From what I gather, many people have done this but he's the first Singaporean to do it. They even showed him on TV as he climbed out of the water and waved his school flag in triumph. Ok lar, I guess it is quite an achievement. Flashback to 2 weeks ago. We had Dr Tan, going 24 hours around a track to break a Guiness World Record, with over 1800 students supporting him through the 24 hours, with 2 ministers dropping by to support & encourage him and there wasn't even a mention over TV. In the newspapers, there were brief mentions which were hardly near the coverage the english channel fella had. Hmm... so what is newsworthy?

Stargate SG-1. I'm kinda hooked on this old sci-fi series. When the Stargate movie first came out, it wasn't very well-received. It was kinda slow and not very exciting. But I personally enjoyed it and thought the premise was very interesting. Well, the movie actually spawned a TV series which also wasn't very popular. But in the end, it actually lasted 9 seasons! That's pretty good for a show that wasn't very popular. Anywaez, I bought the DVDs of Seasons 1 & 2 last year when I was in the US (cheap, 2nd hand!) and I finally got around to watching them recently. Must say they're quite good! Not on par with Star Trek, Buffy or Battlestar Galactica, but still highly watchable and reasonably interesting.

绝对SUPERSTAR!

Yay!!! The four best singers got into the finals! Wei Lian and Junyang for the guys and Xinhui and Kelly for the gals! Dunno how many of you follow the show, but I think the 4 of them are really good! Lucky the other two didn't get in.

Saw all the girls crying for derrick on tv... heh.. my friend said they were crying coz they dunno how to pay for all the SMS voting bills... :-P

Pretty Sucky National Day....

yeah.. I've been quite quiet over the national day break. Actually, I was kinda looking forward to it, but things just didn't seem to go my way.

On Monday, we had the celebrations in school. That didn't end too good, so it was kinda like a bad omen to the start of the 3-day break. In the morning, I also received some bad news. Originally, I was supposed to get a ticket to go for the NDP. I was kinda looking forward to it coz I'd never been to a NDP at the Padang. The last one I went was at the National Stadium quite a few years ago. So anywaez, I spent Sunday afternoon looking for a red shirt for the NDP and spent $20 to get one in the end. On Monday, just after the school's celebrations, I received news that I won;t be getting the ticket. THat was quite disappointing. So, 2nd bad omen in less than 2 hours. Sigh.

On Monday afternoon, I accompanied some of the prefects and the M'sian visitors to the Istana. Quite ok lar. I wasn't overly excited coz it wasn't my first time meeting the president. I had participated in some chit chat session with the president some time last year. And dunno leh.. I've kinda reached the 'he's-just-one-of-us' kinda state. So it wasn't terribly exciting.

So how did I spend the National day break? Sigh. I was so looking forward to catching up on the movies which I'd missed while I was on MC. But the fates decided otherwise. My body decided to have mini-gout attack party. The pain started first at my right knee, then it got better, then it spread to my right foot, then it got better, then it spread to my left foot, then it got better... by then.. it was already Wednesday afternoon. So how did I spend my National Day break? On my chair, ice-ing my mini-gout attacks... and hoping it won't get worse. Sigh.. exciting eh?

Two things that I can talk about. Firstly, the National Day Parade. I thought this year's celebrations were quite boring. Actually, every year seems to be a repeat of itself again and again. I think the organizers need to find some way to make it fresh. I hated the idea of 'mini-celebrations' throughout Singapore. Thought it was kinda silly. The fireworks were nice. There were some interesting ones this year. Saw this circular one with a star in the middle. Very cool. I think next year maybe should just pay a couple of hundred bucks to get a room at the Swissotel and see everything from the comfort of a hotel room!

Secondly, I hobbled to GV Great World to catch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not a bad show. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are an excellent pair. The oompa loompas were not too irritating and their dance numbers were decently fun. I had hoped to catch Seven Swords on the same day but decided not to aggravate my mini-gout attack, so went home to rest.

So there it is... my exciting National Day break. Hooray. Sigh.

A sad day in History... I wonder how many Singaporeans know it.

Got up this morning, watched some cartoons, surfed some internet, then popped by to Orchard to go for the Kinokuniya sale before walking down Orchard to see the students busking & raising funds for MINDS. Got home, took out the stuff I bought at Kino, switched on the TV and kicked back to relax on this Saturday afternoon. Surfed around the TV channels before stopping at CNA as I noticed something about Atomic bombs being reported (must be the physics teacher in me). It was then that I realised that today was the 60th anniversary of the release of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

As I watched the report about the memorial ceremonies going on in Hiroshima, I wondered how many people in Singapore actually realized that today was the day when more than 140,000 people in Hiroshima perished at 8.15am. I, for one, had forgotten. I mean, to be frank, I don't really think about it every year. But as global citizens, I think such a date would be quite signifiant wouldn't it? I mean, in a flash, the temperature in Hiroshima city went up as high as 4000 degrees celsius. I don't think we can comprehend how hot that really is. We are already complaining like mad when temperatures in Singapore hit 30 degrees.

Quite a few years ago(I'm thinking around 8 to 10 years?), when I made my first visit to Japan, I made it a point to start my journey at Hiroshima because I wanted to see how the city had survived the A-bomb. It was quite an experience, being at the A-bomb memorial park. There was an air of solemnity and calmness in the park. I visited the A-bomb museum where I saw the horrors of the A-bomb detonation and how there were people who are still suffering from it today. It was a visit I never regretted. I strongly encourage those of you who are even remotely interested in Japan to make a trip to Hiroshima. You will not regret it.

As I watched the news report over CNA, I think that maybe we ought to make it a point to remember dates like this. I think the dropping of the A-bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki are definitive moments in history. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in a flash. World War II ended. A whole nation was changed. The whole world was affected. It does make my cartoons, shopping, strolling seem just a little insignificant today eh?

For those who would like to take a look at the Peace Park and Memorial Museum, here's the link.

Here's the new Zen Vision from Creative. It's looking pretty good, able to be play a wide range of files from WMV to DivX, and of course, able to function as MP3 player and picture viewer. The estimated price currently is US$400. It's not announced in Singapore yet, but I suspect they'll launch it at the September PC show. I must say it's looking mighty tempting!

Things have been better today. For one thing, I think my temp basically stayed between 38 to 39 degrees.. But when I first woke up this morning, I was on the verge of a shiver attack. I dunno if any of you have felt it before, but it's this horrible feeling that with every breath, you just feel like shivering uncontrollably. Well, like I said, things got better, I started sweating it out which for me is always a good sign.

It's been a frustrating day. For the whole day, I had a fever which ranged from 38 degrees to 40.2 degrees. At times, it felt as if my brain was being fried! I really hope this eases up tomorrow. I dun think a persistently high temperature is good for my system. As I type this, my temp is 38.6 degrees, which is pretty low compared to the 40 over degrees which I've had to endure today.

Awake & sober

Woke up this morning after an uneasy night of rest. I guess it's hard to sleep knowing that I'm due for a surgical procedure. Got up at 6.30am and made my way to Tan Tock Seng Hostpital. My appointment was at 7.30am.

It's interesting... the things that went through my mind as I made my way to TTSH. Of course, the thought that something could go wrong is probably the strongest. How did I overcome that? Appeal to higher powers lor. It sounds wrong, but it's basic human nature I guess. While I know I'm not exactly a on-the-ball-on-fire type of Christian, I do still know that despite my shortcomings and inadequacies, God still watches out for me. I mean, what if I really were to die? Sometimes I think about that, but then I start thinking about how I may be a little too tied to enjoying life. It's just one of those tough questions. Actually the answer is pretty simple. I just choose not to see it.

Anyway, arrived at TTSH and reported to the Day Surgery ward. I must say that all the nurses are very nice. It's nice to go into the pre-op room and not feel pissed with the staff. There were plenty of good mornings... smiles... 'how are you's...

Well, the first thing I had to do was put on this hospital gown. I hate this part coz the gowns are always too small. Dun understand why they can't just spare a little bit more cloth and make a bigger gown for people like me. So I'm stuffed into this gown, like a bachang and it was obviously way too short. Had to use a blanket to cover my bottom half, otherwise, free viewing for all! So anyway, after testing my blood pressure, temperature and asking a ton of questions.. I was left to wait for the op.

They wheeled me to the prep room (the room just next to the op room) and there I waited for 20 to 30 mins. Apparently, the anaesthetist was late. sigh. Had to sit there, waiting for dunno wat.. and at the same time, trying to keep calm. Like I said, the waiting times are also the times when you tend to start thinking of all kinds of stuff.

When the anaesthetist finaly arrived, things moved pretty quickly. They wheeled me into the room, transferred me to the op bed, and stuck a needle in back of my hand (I beleive they call it a life-line). The anaesthetist simply said 'first we'll inject some medicine to prevent vomitting'.. then 'now take deep breaths' as the nurse put the oxygen mask over my nose and mouth. Then, he basically said, 'Now, you'll be going to sleep.' I dunno, I dun think I even heard the end of that sentence. I was out.

The next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room, after about an hour or so in the op room. As usual, my throat hurt. As far as I know, after I go to sleep, they put a tube down your throat to help you breathe (eewww!). Of course, more so than my throat, the next thing that kinda scared me was that I would have to start passing out the stone fragments which they had crushed. Apparently, there was a uric stone blocking my kidney flow. Hence, they had used a laser to break it andnow, I simply have to drink plenty of water and pass it all out. Yes. It is quite painful. I shall not elaborate just how painful it is. Take my word for it.

Well, after resting for another 2 hrs or so, I went home with my sis. The one thing I can feel immediately is that my back no longer hurts when I stand. When the kidney was blocked, it was swollen so I really couldn't walk standing straight without experencing pain. Now the pain is dramatically reduced. Great! I've now got to simply rest, and drink plenty of water to flush out my system. Running a low-grade fever now, it's kinda expected coz the body had just undergone some trauma. Looks like much resting and sleeping over the next couple of days...

Thorn in the flesh...

Gonna go for another day surgery tomorrow. Two Fridays ago, I felt that something wasn't very right with my right side. There was a dull pain which was kinda like the one I had a year ago on my left side when my left kidney got blocked. I was also running a fever which went up and down between 38 and 39.7 degrees. So, I spent the following Sunday and Monday undergoing various x-rays and tests and the verdict? There was some blockage in my right kidney, and it was a swollen. So, I managed to get an appointment with Tan Tock Seng to see a specialist for last Friday. The specialist was new to me coz my old one had left to go into private practice. Anyway, he decided that it would be best for me to undergo a day surgery to remove the stone. I'm not gonna go into details coz I think it's too much of a reality-tv for posting. Well, simply put, I'm gonna be put under GA (general anaesthetic) where I basically go to sleep while they do whatever it is they're gonna do.

So, it's a week's mc for me as I recover from the op. Sorry to my three Sec 2 classes. Have to leave you guys at the last week of the module. I'm sure you'll have fun with the relief (as I know most classes always enjoy having a relief)...

Check back if you want to find out more after my op tomorrow... that is unless I'm too zonked out to post.

Parady of National Day Song

Heh.. Singaporeans also very free. Here's some guy who took the effort to do a different music video to the new National Day song. Frankly , I find Taufik a little irritating to look at in the video. Rui-en.. ok lar, but she't not really a big star yet, so I'm kinda surprised she got such an honour to record a national day song. Well, download this file, it's quite funny. The author used scenes from some chinese movies as a background.

Click here to get the file.
(I'm trying out this online hosting place.. sorry, no other place for me to host the files.)

Of marathons and other stuff

This is gonna be a busy weekend with the marathon thing held over Saturday and Sunday. I think it should be pretty exciting and festive. Let's see how things go. Maybe I'll take some pics.

Tonight was drama feste. Bayley, Buckley and Hullett put up their plays. Nah, I'm not gonna post my comments on the plays here. It won't be nice to any of the houses. I think on the whole I did enjoy myself thought the two emcees did take a swipe at me, using me as the object of their jokes. Ok lar, since they really didn't do anything real, I guess it's not worth taking any offence. Personally though, I thought it would have been nicer to have the emcees to be from RI rather than for them to be old boys from RJC. Don;t get me wrong, I have nothing against the old boys. I just thought that the emcee thing was always a great opportunity for the RI boys to have some fun and do some improv. Kind of a waste to see this opportunity being taken away and given to the JC boys.

Went for dinner after that at the Kopitiam near Catholic High at St 22. The dessert stall there is really good. Give it a try if you haven't tried it. They use super-fine shaven ice so it's really shiok to eat the ice. The ice kachang is really good! Also had the hokkien prawn mee. Not bad lar. Was quite hungry so I guess everything would taste better than they actually are. heh heh.

Can you tell which is the chimp?

Here's a pretty challenging task. Please take your time to make the decision. I trust it may be a hard one for many of you.

Can you tell me which is the chimp in this pic??

(Answer: It's the one in the book! Did you get it right?)

The more you spend, the more you save!

This has got to be the highlight of my week!

One evening, I decided to go to Ang Mo Kio central to have some Century Egg Porridge at the S11 there. I've not been feeling well and my appetite's been a little off, so I've kinda been surviving on good century egg porridge. Anywaez, after the porridge (which was really good!) I decided to go to Laser Flair for a look. It's kinda like my usual 'walk-a-bout-circuit' everytime I go to Ang Mo Kio central. And that was where I had the find of the week! Laser Flair had brought in a few box sets of some anime! I was quite excited... it's rare to see so many Anime box sets at one shop. The next thing I noticed was one of the sets of 6 DVDs (Infinite Ryvius) was only going for about $71!! Without hesitation, I purchased it. The other two box sets were going at about $150 each so I thought I'd go home and check out the prices on Amazon first.

When I got home, I found that Infinite Ryvius was literally a STEAL at $71. On Amazon, Volume 1 was already going for S$75!!! And each DVD after that was going for about S$45!! Which basically means, if I'd ordered the same set from Amazon, it would have cost me $300!! And Laser Flair was selling it at $71! OMG. I had literally saved S$230!

I then checked the prices of Witch Hunter Robin and Argentosoma, the other two boxed sets. According to Amazon, the Witch Hunter Robin set would cost S$214 and Argentosoma would cost more than S$270. As Laser Flair was only selling them at $150, I would be saving PLENTY! I immediately asked my friend to help me purchase the two box sets.

So now, I am the proud owner of three new Anime series! And altogether, I'd saved over $400!! I think that's something to be really pleased about. Here's my proud new DVDs!

My brother introduced me to the infamous Crazy Frog video. Apparently, it's the first ringtone to become No.1 in the UK charts. Usually, No.1 songs are converted into ringtones, but in this case, the opposite happened! It's incredible how something so silly can be actually bring in millions of pounds to its designer! If you want to download/view the video, you can click here and see if the video is still available. I suggest you right-click and save the link rather than click it to wait for it load.

It's Friday again. This week really zipped by. I think it was becoz I was busy reading Harry Potter until Tuesday nite. Wednesday, I went to watch The Island with my brother. Thursday I had two meetings in school followed by a dinner appointment. Friday, I had another meeting until like 6pm. So here I am, after a week of reading, meetings, movie-viewing, eating and of course... working lar!

I'm quite keen to restart reading Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix, or OOTP as I think it's lovingly called. I really don't have many recollections of that book. But must admit, I'm a little scared. Kena hooked then sure die. Again no time to do other stuff.

The Island was ok lar. But a few parts were a little slow. Ewan McGregor was ok. But I don't understand why Scarlett Johansson was chosen as the lead? OK, I know I'm not the right person to say this, but I think she looked kinda pudgy in the movie! Her face was roundish and I really don't think she was very appealing lar. The story is ok, though the ending was kinda predictable. Michael Bay is the director. He did stuff like Armageddon & Pearl Harbour, so you have a pretty good idea how we filmed this movie. It had a few 'Armageddon' moments. Quite amusing to see those.

The meetings on Thursday and Friday were quite killer. Actually Thursday was not too bad, two not-too long meetings. But Friday.. phew! It was a 4 hour meeting. Really long. Sigh, dunno lar, I know long meetings are generally not effective. But I am guilty of holding long meetings sometimes too. Maybe they are a necessary evil?

Today was also Dialogue Session. I think it was not bad, but it's a real pity that we only have about 25mins for the whole thing. But what to do? Can't seem to find other suitable slots. I mean, some questions were really good, and I know many of the students were dying to ask more questions about blogs. But there was just insufficient time. See lor, must continue to look for a better time to hold it. I think a slot of 1 to 1.5 hours would be just nice.

Well, the weekend is here at last. Shiok. Maybe I do live for weekends! :-) Last weekend kena burned coz of Open House. Next week is seriously going to kena burn coz of the marathon thing. (It's meaningful lar, but still.. sigh...).

Oh yah, I finished reading the first three books of Dragon Quest: Warriors of Eden. Not bad. Like reading an RPG game! die lar.. kena hook on chinese comics again. I had stopped reading chinese comics for many years. Used to collect stuff like the whole Dragon Ball series! Now start again.. sigh. Sure spend money and pile up books all over my room.

OK, the weekend has started for 1h 15mins liaoz! Yay!

Mission Accomplished!

All 607 pages. Finished. Quite an accomplishment for me. Yes, I know some of you finished it on Saturday afternoon, but for me, doing 607 pages in 3 days is quite impressive already. So of course, one can't help but discuss the book. So, for the benefit of those who have not read the book, I will use a lighter font (can't find the exact colour to match the background!) to type my thoughts so that those who are really interested can read them. Oh yah, if you are gonna use my tag board to say something related to the plot, please start with *spoiler* as a courtesy to those who have not read the book and who don't want to know the story. So here goes:

**** SPOILERS ****
Severus Snape
I guess I half expected Snape to be the bad guy. That was obviously why JK Rowling had that discussion in the beginning between Snape and the two women; to cast doubt as to whether Snape was really serving Voldemort or serving Dumbledore. Of course, I was kinda irritated when someone posted on my Tag that Snape was the obvious bad guy before I even finished half the book....

Dumbledore Dead?
Hmm, if you ask me, I don't think so. The ending with the phoenix, the white tomb, etc, kinda hints that he'll be back. So, my bet is he's gonna resurrect some how.

Teenage Angst
I think JK Rowling tried too hard to make Harry and his school mates more grown-up. While i have nothing against it, I found it out-of-place that suddenly there are all these 'rude hand gestures' begin shown here and there. I felt it didn't seem to flow well with how they had been portrayed in previous books.

BGR
haha.. I guess JK Rowling had to show that Harry, Ron and Hermoine are all full-blooded teenagers. All the kissing and hugging and longing... haha.. a little overboard lar.

Half-blood Prince
Haha.. I guess when it was revealed that Snape was the half-blood prince, the title of the book made plenty of sense. I'll admit that I didn't guess that Snape was the prince. So I thought that was a neat little revelation.

Better than Book 5?
Kinda hard to decide. To be frank, compared to the first 4 books, I have very little impression of the Order of the Phoenix. I think I'm gonna re-read that soon. Perhaps then Book 6 will make more sense. Comparatively, I think books 1 to 4 are better than 5 and 6. If I really had to choose, I'm inclined to think that book 6 is a little more interesting than 5. But then again, after I re-read it, I might change my ming.

Movie
I think this is gonna be a really difficult book to make into a movie. There are so many flashbacks so the movie would be one long history lesson. But I guess the ending, starting from when Dumbledore and Harry enter the Cave to his death would make for pretty heart-pumping action. I can picture a pretty exciting fight between the teachers/students and the Death Eaters. But Daniel Radcliffe & company will probably be too old to play Harry Potter by then. Wonder who they'll get to replace them. It's gonna be hard to find good replacements. After all, all the actors have already left strong impressions of how each character should look. Can you imagine anyone but Daniel Radcliffe acting as Harry? Kinda difficult.

Potty over Potter II

Up to page 380...out of 607 pages.. not bad, only 227 more to go! haha, with luck (& lots of commitment) I might just finish the book tomorrow!

Potty over Potter

Yep, I've finally started on the Harry Potter book. It's quite a sinful pleasure actually. There are other stuff to do, but I'm committed to try and finish the book in the next few days. heh. If only I had that much commitment to the other stuff I do.. (uh.. not that I'm not committed to other stuff... I am... it's just that compared to my commitment to finish reading the book, my commitment to other stuff might seem to pale.. gotit?) So anyway, I spent a good part of this afternoon reading it, and managed to complete 130 out of 607 pages. Woo hoo!

Rant

Ok. I usually don't rant. But just have to get something off my chest.

I cannot understand why sometimes, people can't just make their unhappiness about something known. I cannot understand why they prefer to keep it quiet, thinking that through some miraculous form of telepathy, I am expected to understand and know what is bugging them.

Instead, they prefer to let the things seethe and eat away at them, then over a seemingly meaningless and small thing, they just blow up and make a huge mountain out of the proverbial mole hill. Then I'm left wondering why on earth did that blow up occur when the thing was so insignificant anyway?

So, I'm to blame? I refuse to accept that.

No way. There's no way I am going to accept blame for something which I am unaware of. At the very minimum, I could have been told of the situation and the need for me to make some adjustments. It's not as if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do. I think I've done what I've needed to do and done it to a reasonable extent. So on top of all this, I am expected to fit into YOUR schedule as well and I am supposed to telepathically know your schedule.

I think that's crap. Pure crap.

So now, I'm to be the 'bigger man' and forgive the other person? I don't think so. I believe the bare minimum would be an apology and then we can discuss how we can proceed.

(OK, let me make this clear. This rant has got nothing to do with any student. It's just me letting off some steam.)

It's Open House tomorrow so there was plenty of activity going on this evening in school. I was helping to pack the packages in the meeting room. I must admit there was something strangely therapeutic about repetitive actions. It was basically take paper-take paper- take paper-take booklet- take brochure-file, then repeat and repeat and repeat. Quite mindless but uncannily enjoyable. I think the closest occupation I can think of that does this would be working in a photocopy shop! Sometimes, I do wonder how long I would last in a so-called mundane job like working in a photocopy shop. I know I often crave challenges, but maybe, just maybe, it would be fun to work in a less-exciting job. heh.

My grandfather (who has long passed on), used to own a coffee shop in the Yio Chu Kang area, near Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre. When I was a kid, I remember helping out in the coffee shop, taking orders, serving drinks, preparing chee-cheong-fun and selling paus. At that age, it was really quite fun. It was family-run, so we did everything from clearing the cups, serving the drinks, washing the cups and dishes and scrubbing the floor at 1am in the morning. I managed to 'help out' sometimes during the holidays. Maybe that's why I often have this urge to work in a Starbucks or Coffee Bean! Might be fun to bark out orders: "Grande Cafe Latte!" (with a fake american accent!).

Who knows, I might still be able to make my wish come true!