Timely reflection

What do you do when you have not been a student for more than 3 years and school starts in 5 days' time?

You start thinking of getting a pencil box, foolscap paper, and stationery, of course!

As simple as that sounds, that has been something I have been thinking about for the past week. Haha.

I want/need to get a laptop although that would seriously strain my finances for the time being. I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, when it was supposed to be months ago that I had wanted to get one. Unlikely to be a Macbook this time round, something more budget perhaps.

Everyone's been asking what do I spend my money on and I can't really put a finger to that. I'm not that broke, but I am definitely not that loaded! Maybe the definition of being well off differs for each individual.

You see money in a different light once you start working and the feeling you get is that it appears to feel really transient at times. While I am studying, I most probably wouldn't be earning as much as I am currently so I wonder how long will my savings last.

And the thing is, I am seriously not someone good at saving money. As much as I would like to, I guess it's just not in me. I don't splurge on flashy gadgets or expensive stuff, but I think I spend on many small things that can't really be seen with the naked eye. Haha.

Anyway, to the tune of the famous jingle,

It's the weekend today!

Sex or football?

Half of European football fans would seemingly prefer to watch important matches than have sex according to a straw poll sponsored by one of the backers of the upcoming Euro 2008 championships.

Source: Sex or football provokes heated debate among fans


So which is one for you? To paraphrase this debate, it would sound like...

The Hornets and the Magpies

VS

The Birds and the Bees!

Well, I can't answer this question because according to two dear friends who voted for me on Facebook, I am most likely to die a virgin.

Yup, so you get the point.

Best Ramen in Singapore!

Have you tried the best ramen in Singapore? Do you know where that is??

Let me tell you.. It's none other than at the air-conditioned eating place located at Cuppage. The ramen there is so nice, they had to keep advertising to a minimum so they won't be too maxxed out with their business!

I must have had accumulated enough good karma in my past life to have the chance to try that.
Coupled with good company and it was enough to make my day.

Trust me, it is that good.
Bring any girl there and you would have her eating out of your hands in no time at all.
=)

Family picnic 240508

What ya looking at?

Thinking, and cooking out of the box

Can you gimme some of that?

Seems like blowing bubbles is their fave pastime

Fancy a beancurd?

Haha I like the last photo especially. Kids at their angelic charming best.

I know I'm beginning to look like a paedophile with all these photos of my cousins but they are really that cute. Haha.

It was an enjoyable day out with the many families at ECP on Saturday noon. The weather was surprisingly good, considering the scorching temperatures lately. I swear it was the first time in weeks I was out in the open and I wasn't sweating!

Good food as usual was a given, with the many food connoisseurs and gluttons present.
Looks like there might be a trekking trip next Sunday so I'm looking forward to that as well. =)

Doomsday 2012... BUSTED!

Thanks to KY, I heard of Doomsday 2012 for the first time yesterday.

If you happen to be just as ignorant as me, it means that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012.

We then went on to watch almost an hour of a documentary dedicated to this conspiracy, or theory or fallacy, whichever way you want to see it. So how did the whole idea come about?

Well, it seems that many noble Oracles and prophets of the ancient times all seem to point to one thing in common in their prophecies and writings - They all couldn't predict past that particular day in time, 21 Dec 2012.

To further compound that this is not a string of coincidences, the video went on to show a whole lot of so-called experts and each of them gave their own account of every prophet in every era and their resume of spot-on predictions.

It's not that I am a skeptic but it sounds absolutely ludicrous. These Oracles may be right in their predictions, but for each accurate prediction, how many else actually got away and remained unmentioned? They probably gave a truckload of thoughts and left it on to the next generation to decipher. With each reading so abstract and profound, how accurate are the so called interpretations?

To me, it's really a case of trying hard, (really hard) to match something that has happened (911, The Tsunami, etc) to the countless predictions and then interpreting it in a way so that it all makes perfect sense afterwards.

The only part of the documentary that I thought made sense talked about the alignment of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, our sun, earth, and the large planets. That supposedly does not take place in more than 25,000 years so no one knows what could happen when the alignment occurs. Well, if something was to make me believe in Doomsday, it had to be astrological.
Read more: Doomsday 2012

On a lighter note, someone should write to Mythbusters and get them to work their magic on this.

I am looking forward to 22 Dec 2012 and I wonder what the believers have to say again when everyone lives past that day and nothing happens.

That will be the day when I can then say I have lived past Doomsday.
(If it happens, no one would survive to tell me in the face how stupid I sound in this entry anyway.)

School starts in 2 weeks time for me. When it all starts, I reckon I am gonna be so maxxed out that I won't have time for my own stuff, and that includes blogging too.

Come to think of it, a day would sound like this:

7am - Alarm rings
830am to 630pm - Work
7pm to 10pm - School
10pm to 11pm - Long & arduous journey to the east
> 11pm - Zzzzzzz

Sounds really exciting eh? Haha. Good thing is, that won't last for too long.

Anyway, today I got what is possibly the best piece of good news since forever! And no, it has nothing to do with Man Utd winning the Champions League.

It's something that I have been looking forward to since the day I made that grave mistake. And because no one else would understand how much that means to me, it will only be revealed in time to come.

Champions of Europe!

We have done it again... after close to 10 years!

I think it was the first time the 3 brothers were up that early/late to catch a football game and I am glad to say that there will be 3 happier souls for the remainder of the day at least.

There were moments when we had our hearts in our mouths, especially during the penalty shootout, but hey, that's what makes football exciting right? Haha.

Honestly, I thought Man Utd had lost it when Ronaldo missed his penalty. When John Terry stepped up to take the final penalty, my bro shouted out, "Fall down!", which then proved to be a very apt curse/prediction later on. Haha.

Like the most famous of cliches in football, missed chances really did come back to haunt Chelsea. Over 90 minutes, they were probably the better team but once again, who cares?!

Just like that fateful day in Barcelona 9 years back, substitutes were perhaps the saving grace once more. All 3 of Fergie's substitutes scored from the penalty spot so you could say it was a tactical masterstroke again.

I agreed with what Giggs said when he said it wasn't as dramatic as the triumph in 99 but it was just as sweet. The players back in 99 was just vintage and although they didnt have as much talent as the current crop, they made up for it with their unparalleled teamwork.

A pity though, there was no present David May-esque celebrations this time round.. =)

I think...

Man Utd will just about edge the game later..

I'm trying to say this from a neutral's point of view so here's my prediction:

Man Utd to win 2-1 in 90 minutes!

Just like 9 years ago when Solskjaer stuck out his leg in the 10th minute of extra time..

I'm putting my head on the line and risk ending up with rotten egg in the face but who cares..!

陳奕迅 - 預感

愛你變習慣　不再稀罕　我們該冷靜談一談
你說你喜歡　一點點浪漫　卻把跟隨我的腳步　放慢

沒有你分享分擔　我的快樂悲傷　心情天天天天紛亂
我一再試探　你一再隱瞞　是誰改變愛情原來的模樣

有一種預感　愛就要離岸　所有回憶卻慢慢碎成片段
不能盡歡　愛總是苦短　我只想要你最後的答案

有一種預感　想挽回太難　對你還有無可救藥的期盼
我坐立難安　望眼欲穿　我會永遠守在燈火闌珊的地方

我坐立難安　望眼欲穿　我會永遠守在燈火闌珊的地方

What does a plant need?

From this,


to this..

When things started to go wrong..

then to this...

I stand tall

This was a birthday present to me last year. I've been watering it dutifully and giving it more than its fair share of sunlight by the window ever since it moved to my office. Just to give you a brief idea of how bad I am with plants and taking care of them, I had actually managed to kill a cactus by over-watering it. That had been my first and last attempt at owning a plant prior to this.

Well this time round, it all started very brightly. As you can see from the first two pictures, it really blossomed nicely and I was starting to think maybe I really had green fingers.

Then, it took a downturn too fast, too drastic, and too sudden. Today, it is a pale shadow of its glorious past and its head of crowning glory has all but been reduced to a pathetic and single stalk. It saddens me when I see it in its state now.

I get even more pissed when the boss comes around to my desk and makes a mockery of it.

"What would you do if I snip it off and stick it back using scotch tape?"

before breaking out into some self-invoked peals of laughter yet again.

Deep inside, it feels as if the state of the plant is reflective of what all that had happened. I cant help but feel that its somewhat symbolic. And maybe, there's a reason why all the rest of the stalks have withered but this one stalk remains standing up strong.

Not that it is all dead and buried though. Many new stalks have been sprouting up but they all wither before long.

That day, my colleague came over and expressed concern for it.

"Swee, what happened to your plant?
You know, maybe when this last stalk dies, you will find your next girlfriend..."

That was out of the blue and I dont remember that I ever told her about my breakup.
Whatever that would mean, I hope I won't see the last of my plant anytime soon. It means pretty much to me, and is one of the few things in the office that actually has life...

Something that I need.

Saturday morning soccer (SMS)

There are times when things just do not go our way and we would end up losing every single game. It's like everything the opponents touch turn into gold and we can't even defend or attack for shit. Last Saturday was the perfect example of such a day. We couldn't even string a few passes together and were letting in stupid goals from all over the court.

I was still joking to the guys yesterday that we'd better pray for today's game, in case history repeats itself. Well, we didnt play that well but it wasn't as bad as the previous week. I was in quite a foul mood though. Perhaps it was the weather, the lack of sleep, or the lack of performance from the entire team. I'm quite a bad loser when it comes to playing football so I'll always end up shouting at my teammates when things go awry.

Just to let you guys know, it isnt personal and everything gets forgotten once the game ends. I say all that because I want to win and sometimes in the heat of things, I may sound too harsh for your liking. This is something that I look forward to every weekend and that explains my frustration. For a morning that does not happen till a week later, I do not want it to end that quickly. Probably I treat it too seriously, but I do realise that this does not carry over to other aspects of my life. Haha.

So, if I go overboard, snap me out of it and bring me back to sanity!

Pics

Standard meal after every swim

Deja Vu

Mac ambassador

Family breakfast at Mac

Me and my Ying Yong

Rendezvous at HK Cafe

Thoughts..

We gathered at Ian's house for his belated birthday BBQ last Sat, something that has been overdue for a month due to their exams.

Anyway, it was the first time I got to see Sophia, Ian's girlfriend. It turned out that she was nothing like the shy girl that he had told me about. And I mean it in a good way of course.
In fact, I am happy for him. I was still having my reservations that Ian wouldn't be himself when in her presence but it was unfounded. I think it speaks a lot when you can be your true self when with your other half and that was what I saw evidently on Sat. By that, I mean Ian was in his usual out of sorts behaviour. Haha.

Ben's girlfriend Huizhen turned up as well, and to prove a point too! I totally disagree with him when he said that Huizhen turns up more often at our gatherings than JL. Although I know it isn't true, I was quite disturbed by that comment.
Ben if you are reading this, it's nothing personal against you. It's just my train of thought.

I like BBQs and the time spent at the grill together. A time to chill out, enjoy the company of friends, and of course good food. A time to get away from everything and just abandon all your baggage.

Not quite the same photo but it was a BBQ all the same

To end this post, here's to everyone in the group..

Ys
I believe it's a blessing in disguise that it didnt happen. Everything that happened, happened for a reason. And the reason would be known when you find the next one. Your courage and magnanimity really impressed me. It isn't easy to do what you have done and I for one would not have been capable of that. So, continue from where you left off and everything else will sort out nicely.

Ky
Time to wake up and move on dude. Every failure just paves the way for a better one next time round. Since it wasn't meant to be, you would be better off not dwelling on that. You are worth much more than that so it's time to set your priorities where it matters. You've been in a slumber for too long, even the cows have come home!

Ian
I'm honestly happy for you that you are finally... attached! Looks like Uncle Love has come good and it's time to reap the harvest. Haha. Keeping it going takes effort and lots of understanding. I'm sure you will do great. All the best! And see you for lunch more often..

CS
Probably the one who's enjoying life the most at present. You and her seem like you really have got it going so don't slacken off! I'm sure you know that it wasn't easy to get to your current stage so don't let it go to waste. Good things don't just appear, you gotta work for it and make it happen. Love knows no distance! If you get what I mean... Haha.

CH
The ever present on all occasions, maybe together with me. I don't know if that is just a facade given your current bachelor status but I do not mind you missing a few get-togethers if that mean you can find your other half. Haha. Sometimes, reel life does not equate to real life so cut down on the dramas! It paints you a false picture, although I do hope it happens for you. Add a few other tricks to your arsenal other than prawn shelling and they will soon start queuing up for your attention.

Ben
The one I've known the longest, 14 years and counting. You and her seem like you have been in it for years. Although it is good that quarrels do not happen, the complete lack of it could be deadly at times too. You do not reveal much so this is just a picture I'm painting in my mind. I do hope that it is very rosy for you though. I'm sure you know better than me that a good catch doesn't come by easy, especially considering how much you went through before it all happened for you. So, keep it going! But just don't force her to support Germany.


----

I still think I miss the times when there is someone else in my life. Someone to care for and look to when things happen.

You asked me how I managed to do it, it wasn't easy. And it still is not.

In 3 hours time...

..the new EPL champions will be known..

I will be catching the game with the rest at KY's house.
Taking about that, we just met up the night before for a BBQ at Ian's house.

Updates aplenty but maybe after tonight's game. =)


Glory glory Man United!

Heal the world...

...Make it a better place.

Show some love by donating to the cyclone victims in Myanmar. No contribution is too small!

Support disaster relief in Myanmar (Burma)
International Federation of Red Cross

For a country whose government is even rejecting help from external agencies, everyone should do his/her part to help out.
If you ask me, I think this would be a wake up call for the country that is in serious need of some shaking up. Hopefully, they really would after what has happened.

I am gonna make my contribution tonight. Join me!

Source: PostSecret

To set the record straight

If you guys recall, there was a post back in Feb when I told of a story about a friend who was torn between 2 girls.
Read: Choosing Between...

I am bringing this up again because it seems that many people think I was referring to myself after all!

And I thought my credibility was pretty good.

Anyway, I reiterate,

I am NOT that guy in the story!

That guy is really a friend of mine and last I know, he remains undecided on the 2 girls. Or maybe he is just enjoying the best of both worlds.

Tonight...

...I am a Geordie!
Go Newcastle!

Well, I have always had a soft spot for The Magpies so it should be easy supporting them. But then again, it's always easy to support the team playing against Chelsea.

The sight of Drogba's incessant whining alone would do the trick.

Family day

Breakfast at McDonald's - $30

Shopping at Fox Men - $122

Lunch at Ajisen Ramen - $66

Time spent with the family - Priceless

Cliched I know, but it's true. I seldom have the chance to bring my parents to restaurants to eat because they always prefer the hawker centre, food court or nearby coffeshop. So today, I thought I ought to bring them to a nicer place and have something that they have never tried before.

Not that Ajisen Ramen is a posh or classy place, but at least it's something refreshing for them.
Although my dad was quite mindful of the price and my mum kept wanting to shove money to me, I just refused to budge. Haha.

It's a thought but I can't wait to let my dad retire and provide them with the life that they fully deserve.

张韶涵 - 亲爱的那不是爱情

教室里那台风琴叮咚叮咚叮咛
像你告白的声音动作一直很轻
微笑看你送完信转身离开的背影
喜欢你字迹清秀的关心

那温热的牛奶瓶在我手中握紧
有你在的地方我总感觉很窝心
日子像旋转木马在脑海里转不停
出现那些你对我好的场景

你说过牵了手就算约定
但亲爱的那并不是爱情
就像来不及许愿的流星
再怎么美丽也只能是曾经

太美的承诺因为太年轻
但亲爱的那并不是爱情
就像是精灵住错了森林
那爱情错的很透明

那温热的牛奶瓶在我手中握紧
有你在的地方我总感觉很窝心
日子像旋转木马在脑海里转不停
出现那些你对我好的场景

你说过牵了手就算约定
但亲爱的那并不是爱情
就像来不及许愿的流星
再怎么美丽也只能是曾经

太美的承诺因为太年轻
但亲爱的那并不是爱情
就像是精灵住错了森林
那爱情错的很透明

太美的承诺因为太年轻
但亲爱的那并不是爱情
就像是精灵住错了森林
那爱情错的很透明

----

I like this song a lot. =)

Running...

I do not know if I am too sentimental or emotionally attached but the feeling sucks when I see people leaving the company.

It's a mixture of feelings basically. I am happy for them if they are going on to greener pastures but upset at the same time because I am left without another someone to talk to in the office.

So you might have guessed, another intern left the company today.


Run
Running all the time
Running to the future
With you right by my side

Labour Day

And I'm feeling so tired because I stayed with the guys till 6am at Simpang after the game between Chelsea and Liverpool. Before that, we played 2 rounds of mahjong at ch's.


It was interesting to see the crowd being so rowdy and it was a first for me. Every miss and goal was followed by the deafening voices of the crowd. Certainly helps to build up the atmosphere at sleepy 5am in the morning!

Mahjong, soccer, maggi goreng, and good usual banter.
Good way to spend the night before Labour Day.

The government should declare more public holidays to restore some rurality to the society.

----

I'm actually very weary.
I can't wait for the next episode of my life but I am literally crawling towards it. Every passing day seems like eternity and though I know this is just a temporary phase, I am very worn out already.

I am not happy and I certainly do not try to hide the fact that I am at all. I'm just trying to maintain what I ought to do and not burn the bridge between him and me.

If I had a choice, I would not be there anymore.
I am waiting and when it comes, trust me, even getting back my pink IC is not in the same league as that!

So, I see it as a tribulation; one that exposes me to the harsh reality of the world and that some things that you never thought could happen, would happen.

To keep myself sane, thankfully there are family, friends and..
...public holidays!