Close(r) cousin's wedding dinner tonight. I think I've already attended more than 30 wedding dinners in my life. I think in 2010 I've had 4. Thankfully the people getting married around this time are those whom I know and actually talk to. Tell me about it man, I think in about 50% of weddings that I've attended, I don't know both the bride and groom. I like wedding dinners in the sense that it's not just a social gathering (not so social for me cause the only people I wanna talk to are merely 2 tables in the entire hall) but it makes you appreciate your friends, your family and everyone else who matters to you. One huge turnoff about wedding dinners - having to address the different seniors in different terms I don't even know. I usually mimic after my brother (due to my lack of recognization skills and memory for names) and when I miss what he address them, it just gets awkward.

But yeah, wedding dinners, they get you thinking about what you're going to say when that one day you'll be standing on the stage and addressing the entire hall of people who've been in your life. The hall itself is already a selection process, the required tables of family and some elders you hardly know, and then in the remaining tables you can afford, your friends - who to pick, who to exclude. Sad, but that's the way life rolls.

Relatives like to question about girlfriends - I'm not yet the age where they pressure you for a girl's name as your wife-to-be, so it's really just a casual topic (phew), but it gets me thinking. How happy you'll be when you find that perfectly right half for yourself, standing on the stage in matrimony, facing the person who's going to bring so much happiness to your life you can't wait another second to be married. And then, slowly, watching your past and present fit into bits of people standing at different tables, watching, clapping, smiling. At times I struggle because I don't know if novels / movies romanticize love too much, such that it has become an almost impossibility, as if a miracle, a match made in heaven, and that people attached now are really just... you know... (to put it crudely) trial-ing or... having low expectations of relationships - which really makes me cynical about relationships. I mean, the media's got me thinking that a perfect half would be one where you can't find flaws in - not in the way that she / he is perfect, but that her / his flaws are to your liking, and there's just nothing you could pick out on that person. Given my standards in such, I think I'll stay single my entire life. Or maybe, on the other side of the deep, vast sea, you lovebirds have the exact same feeling the novels describe, it's perhaps just personal, different, but still perfect, then great for you.

Shit, why am I thinking so much?

Anyway oh yeah, watched Eat Pray Love (2010), and I've a few quotes worth sharing. I mean, they aren't exactly enlightening nor would they provide any sort of revelation, it's just apt in my life, and I think they are worthy of appreciation. Some, are obviously taken out of context, so you wouldn't get to fully understand what it refers to. Firstly: "The sweetness of doing nothing, dolce far niente".

"Did you get my email?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't call sooner"
"Why didn't you?"
"Cause if I didn't respond, we were still in a conversation, and I'm still in it."

Additionally, some cool things I'd like to share. I got it from Tzuhsiang's as usual, and come on, can you guys please sign up with me and do this together? Say, on Bras Basah / Illuma's long escalator. I think it's real meaningful: putting a smile on people's faces. Esp when everyone in Singapore's so stressed up with school / work in the bloody rat race. In another perspective, this would totally make my day if I saw this somewhere.

And yes, I was talking about wedding dinners and appreciating the people around you and me. So here's to you, reading this, whether I know you personally or not, whether you are an auto-bot doing massive advertising on my tagboard or not, I want to thank you, my friends, for every moment we've spent together. Let's go out together, okay? I'm extremely grateful for all you friends who've kept my entire December so bloody busy, and I'm saying that with 0% sacarsm. I love this life, and I'm thankful that all of you kept me from the loneliness of my home. Now I feel like an ingrate to my parents cause I realised I've either been out or on the computer for the whole of December that I'm awake. Hardly any family time, so yeah, that's going into one of 2011's resolutions - to help out with chores and spend time with family. Yep, yep.

I got rejected. By SPRING dude, not by a girl. For a while I was thinking whether I really wanted it or not, and then after that I felt like hey, I really wanted it. It's always like that isn't it? Just like the House Comm run, and yeah, here I am feeling that dejection I got after I didn't get promoted from a nominee to a committee member at HC. I guess it's experience built up that I'm feeling rather okay with it already, though its been only around 3 minutes past. Optimistically speaking, I guess failure's still an important life lesson I took away from this.

I always have this urge to find out why exactly I don't get selected - for HC, for this. But I'll never know the answer huh. I got some hints here and there from teachers and seniors for HC but not gonna get that for SPRING.

Anyhoo, I take solace in the fact that some people who were real good didn't make it through, which is really kinda mean, but the guy who sent out the rejection email forgot to hide the mail recipients with whatever BCC function there's supposed to be, so too bad. Can't help this kind of behaviour huh? Anyhoo, I'm over it already. At times I kinda thank having a blog to splash every trouble on, I mean, it's not even about the readership, it's like just this thing, this site, this place.

P.S. My bro's watching Beyonce's I Am... tour on the opposite screen and I'm totally distracted. The scenes are fucking emotive I so bloody want to go for a live concert now. I hope the Killers come to Singapore real soon.

Today was working at Harbourfront again. After Friday I was extremely thirsty for deeper exploration since the other side of Reflections at Bukit Chandu seemed to lead somewhere else, which I didn't have sufficient time in my one-hour lunch break on Friday to explore. So today I fled for an early lunch to continue my adventure (hehe). The whole Harbourfront site is like a great nature treasure trove, and it just gets better as I explore deeper. Kent Ridge Park was actually behind the museum, and it was love like woah. Walking on the canopy walk, tall trees surround and block out any discomfort from heat, the crickets, in a volume almost deafening, tears you away from civilisation and reminds you of how much you've stepped into nature. Thank you Ministry of Environment for creating / preserving such sites. And then I looked at the signs and saw Hort Park in one direction, and Southern Ridges on another. My heart flutters a bit. I never knew these were so darn close to my workplace.

So I spent the hour trying to locate the Southern Ridges, but I couldn't find it and 50 minutes into the break I ended up at Hort Park's gardening spot - which was lame. Okay, so Southern Ridges mission failed, but I have trust it'll appear on the sequel on Lunchbreak Adventures 3 on the 27th. [Yes, turns out my employer doesn't need me as frequently as I wanted. My job's a once-a-week thing] But anyway, I took a couple of photos with my phone just to show you the awesomeness of it all, so you don't think I'm just being a loony nature lover. And please be reminded that these are taken with a phone, which I personally say only transmits 10% of the beauty in any captured scene. Although, I'd admit I did a real quick Photoshop retouch on the photos.




Other than my adventures, I've something else to talk about. (Real chatty these few days huh?) My opinion is that if you want to appreciate life as a teenager, go take the 8am train. This morning on the way to work, I look at everyone packed into the 8.15am carriage from Serangoon MRT towards Harbourfron, and I felt so dispirited. You see the same, emotionless face stuck onto everybody's head - no smiles, no gestures, no words exchanged. It only hit me when I saw this woman who was on the same carriage as me, at a 10 o'clock direction, leaning beside the pole. It was the same woman I saw on Friday morning - standing on the exact same spot from the pole, at that - and I don't recall her face, but the thing that caught my attention was the same pair of thick, shiny Dior shades stuck ostentatiously above her forehead. I actually saw her again. Maybe the other ten around me were also the same people on Friday. I realised how monotonous and repetitive the adult working life would be. I fear.

Plus the past few days of Timbre / Indochine / clubbing has made me realise the importance of youth. A thirty-something will probably lose the luxury of being anything related to "cool", and with that image lost, you start to behave likewise. You can't find random girls in Timbre for a photo just cause you lost a game of Indian Poker, you can't dance without feeling awkward, you shy away from attention and keep a low profile just cause that's what adults do. And so all you people out there, go out and do crazy things before you grow too old to do anything wacky. Have fun now so you wouldn't have to rush your bucket-list when the world is going to end. By the way, I'm (completely) not a believer in 2012 or any religious estimation of the end of the world. But even so, the world could end anytime and I'll happily say I've no regrets. So be inspired by me and start living your life! Thanks, I'll take the credit for your happiness.

I was just thinking on the bus home that the local musician community step out to promote local music. I was thinking about how cool it would be if they sang live on public buses. I mean, you can't get bands with drum sets and all to do that but acoustic singers and musicians with simple instruments, performing on the top level of double-deck buses. It could be this one day event to promote local music, a collaboration with SBS and performance on designated buses. I like the whole idea of bringing music close to the heart of ordinary Singaporeans, to fuel their interest in the local art scene. I think it's cool that the whole thing is mobile, fans could board the bus when they want, while ordinary people going from a place to another could actually get to understand and appreciate local talents - you know, since everyone on buses are listening to their MP3(s), why not make the music come to life, performed in front of you? It's obvious that not all genres suit everyone, but then those uninterested could just move to the lower deck to continue their undisturbed travel. How interesting uh, someone should suggest this to the National Arts Council. I will be on Inch Chua's bus. Okay fuck I gotta stop this I'm becoming way too fan-boy-ish for my own good. P.S. I visit her Facebook page almost everyday to check for updates, and yesterday I posted a comment on its wall and now I feeling like slapping myself for it.

Plus sorry Suwen & Wenxin - you guys are overseas but - I'm not going to be able to design your wedding planning company's website anytime soon. Hey, don't laugh, they are really serious about it. I think the one-year hiatus from designing web templates have drained all my creativity away. I was just trying to start on something simple a few days ago, but I didn't experience any "stroke of genius" or inspiration so I couldn't. The first thing I start on after a hiatus is always extremely sub-standard so I'll not try to start on your wedding site first huh. I'll need loads of stock images though. I'll start on my blog first. Not that I'm selfish or anything, but as experimentation. I'm going to simplify this blog template cause I still think it's too much. Sick and tired of it.

Speaking about designing - don't any of you regret going to JC? I was just talking to my brother about it the other day and we realised how useless JC was compared to our peers at Poly. Instead of studying for the math and sciences I could have done modules on flash web templates, graphic design, use of Adobe Illustrator and Dreamweaver and Indesign which I've to try to pick up from scratch after the A' levels. I could have been a master at such things, and then I'll probably be able to earn my holiday-income from those. Sucks, huh. I mean, after-all if you enjoy what you did in Poly, you're probably going to score well and you'll still end up in Uni anyway huh. Ugh, stop complaining.

I'm satisfied. I've been having quite a fulfilled life the past few days. I've seen many whom I haven't seen for months, and yeah, I stopped having those days where you're at home and have no idea what to do. I like what I'm working as now. It's quite boring, working at this company which does import/export on screws, buying screws from China and reselling them to other firms in neighbouring countries or Singapore firms. My jobscope's either to weigh and package screws, or to paste labels over them. Once in a (long) while carry a few boxes here and there but that's really all. Brainless stuff really, which is good cause I could think about things, and I'm the kind who can actually enjoy / appreciate time alone, so I'm cool with that. Plus there's aircon and 98.7 so nothing bad. I'm the only teenager working there though, it's filled with adults and honestly we don't have much in common to talk about but hey they are real nice to me. Plus it's 9 to 6, flexible cause I go on days when I want to (or days they want me) and it's $7.50 per hour. I've done 2 days of work last Thursday and Friday, so I hope they crave for manpower in the next few weeks so I could work as much as possible. I sure hope it's not going to be a once a week thing.

Plus hey on my Friday lunch break, guess what I did? I actually visited a museum lol! In a one-hour lunch break, I had lunch within 10 minutes, and explored the place. I mean, I didn't know there was a museum up the hill, but I love nature so I naturally trailed into the hill, and found a museum at half-way to the top. Reflections at Bukit Chandu, plus (have I mentioned?) students, under MOE's art education plans, have free entry to all museums. So I stepped in for 15 minutes, took a look around and went down the hill. I was feeling amused the whole visit cause I was like - I must be the only person who's weird enough to visit a museum during a 1 hour lunch break at work. I may actually visit it again if the old people don't drag me along to lunch with them again (like Thursday, which was pretty awkward).

Yeah, and on Saturday I managed to squeeze in family day with dinner with Liqin Angell and Yuting, Liqin went home after that but the three of us went around Clarke Quay to look for pubs with a live band singing Christmas songs. Couldn't find anything with a decent live band, but we ended up in Indochine and hey there was a live band! Some guy with shoulder-length hair (I think?) and a very MILF singer with black leather leggings and all, with a very Duffy way of singing - which is a good thing, btw. They took requests and it was awesome. I forced Duffy songs on her. Haha, nah she was very willing. Volleyball farewell today (Sunday) and tomorrow I'm going back to visit Wushu training with some J2s, 09S65 at night, which is great cause they are almost everyone I've wanted to meet since after A' levels. Tuesday back to work, and I'm surprised how everything fits in so perfectly.

Anyway do listen to the original composition by Inch Chua and Nathan Hartono. A really good mid-afternoon chill out tune. I can't wait for the next time Inch Chua's going to perform, she's going to NZ in Jan though, so that may unfortunately be a long time. BOOHOO.

SPRING's assessment centre today was surprisingly (very) delightful. I mean, I thought it was damn great fun man, hit it off well (extremely) with my group mates and we had chemistry yo. The rest of the to-be-scholars there were a real good chat as well. This is possibly one of the times I had fun while doing something to work towards my future. You know, other than having fun clubbing and getting wasted. P.S I think I'll need at least $50 of drinks to get wasted - which I'm never going to afford - anyway, you guys should totally try this drink called Kahlua, it's Baileys-like but better. A sip of it can make you feel... happy. Really, Wenxin and Suwen both stands up for it.

Back to what I was talking about: I mean, who knew a scholarship assessment could be so enjoyable? People tell me such assessments are usually filled with RJ/HCI elites who shoot you down or others who really just try to impress by talking a lot (of nonsense) but today was totally different. I think I forgot about how I'm supposed to display leadership skills and all but the entire group discussion was just extremely natural. In the 3rd round they presented a case topic which I was already passionate about so that felt great. Instead, through the AC today I actually want to join SPRING a lot more. Would be nice to have these other people as colleagues huh.

So yeah, today was pleasant. I mean, I will no longer have Ke$ha blasting into my ears at clubs and having a semi-transparent SPRING presentation pushing me to stop playing and get to work. Also, because I tanked the entire presentation in the past 2 days (and slept at 3am yesterday) this is a huge contrast. Like it's 50% of the "end of A' levels" feeling. And a small thanks to my bad attitude towards studying for 1.5 years of JC, I just received a mail of $250 for good improvement from mid-years to prelims. Plus DBS finally sent me my PIN number activation after waiting many grueling days ever since I re-applied for a new ATM when I lost [then returned] (and deactivated) my previous one a while back.


Just for laughs.

Went to VJC's post-prom a couple of hours ago. Actually scrape that, cause I think there were about only 40 VJC kids and the rest were a mix of NJC peeps and VS guys and random weird ang-mohs who hang out on a Monday night. Indochine was quite pathetic. The dance floor's about the size of the room I'm in right now (your average bedroom) and the place was just really small. Lack of crowd, lack of whatever's supposed to be VJC's post-prom.

And plus I thought a rookie like me would be easily drunk enough to dance while feeling the high, but drinking others' coupons - possibly more than 4 coupons of Vodka plus whatever else didn't cut it man. The most I felt warm cheeks but that was all. Okay great I'm finally feeling sleepy, I should get to bed now.

What a difference a day makes, twenty four little hours brought the sun and the flowers where there use to be rain.

Jamie Cullum's What A Difference A Day Makes.

I'm feeling exceptionally great with myself right now. Many little small happy things make a really happy me. Satisfied, mostly. So the day started at 12pm when we woke up at Daniel's house. That's first - hanged with Phoenix yesterday and it was great, haven't met up in full for a while, great talking to Wenx. But yeah, this time we didn't sleep with Daniel's power blinds so we could get up at 12pm.

And then I got 2 boxes of contacts today. Finally, I did it, though it's without my mum knowing cause she's all "NO, NEVER!" about getting contacts. For years. BUT WOAH, it was fresh, the feeling. After I struggled for a minute or two of putting a piece of soft lens on my eye ball, I looked out into the vast sea of people in Hougang mall, not bounded by that rectangular frame, the smile uncontrollably breaks through my suppression at my ends. I was smiling weirdly at nothing. But yeah, that's like my greatest achievement today.

And before that I also went to my mum's tailor's house at Buangkok to have two pairs of my jeans altered. So instead of wearing them with low confidence, or worse throwing them away, I now have 2 pairs of jeans that I can actually wear. Previously, none. So that possibly saved me $69.90 on a pair of Topman jeans I set my eyes on when shopping with Suwen yesterday.

And today, I kicked Singapore's public system in the face today. I mean, I finally got to make full use of the distance fare. After it's been scamming me for months by getting me to pay 58cents for a direct bus from home to school - of course, after a while I learnt to make use of the circle line - but still! And yeah okay, I know right, this is so measly. But hey, I went from Daniel's house (Pasir Ris) to home at Serangoon, took a poop and bath, went to Buangkok to make measurements for the 2 pairs of jeans, and went to Hougang Mall to get my contacts and it was all capped at 58 cents. I got 2 free trips, thankyouverymuch.

Of course, I'm really happy and all, but it's not all good news. In 8 days since Wednesday the 27th, I've spent $247.40. Luckily I've taken out a large (costly) portion of my to-do list, so the rest of the weeks should be a lot better. I hope.

Oh yeah, and today timing for things were perfect for me. Going back from Hougang to Buangkok, I missed bus 27 at the interchange and ran through a shortcut and managed to catch it at the next bus stop. And before that, when I came out of the bus from Buangkok to Hougang, I saw quite a crowd outdoors at Hougang Central, so I walked towards it and turns out Sezairi Sezali was going to start playing. I sat through his two songs and left after he stepped down from the stage. Quite unfortunate though, there wasn't really a visible crowd who was interested in his music, he was playing and the old MPs were just chatting and socializing downstage. Most of the crowd were old folks who didn't understand what he was singing anyway. I mean, I get that the event was to promote racial and religious harmony so maybe he wasn't the focus, but the sight is just... a bit sad. And the sound system outdoors with merely two large speakers didn't do him any justice. Makes you ponder huh, Singapore Idol and all that effort.

Close(r) cousin's wedding dinner tonight. I think I've already attended more than 30 wedding dinners in my life. I think in 2010 I've had 4. Thankfully the people getting married around this time are those whom I know and actually talk to. Tell me about it man, I think in about 50% of weddings that I've attended, I don't know both the bride and groom. I like wedding dinners in the sense that it's not just a social gathering (not so social for me cause the only people I wanna talk to are merely 2 tables in the entire hall) but it makes you appreciate your friends, your family and everyone else who matters to you. One huge turnoff about wedding dinners - having to address the different seniors in different terms I don't even know. I usually mimic after my brother (due to my lack of recognization skills and memory for names) and when I miss what he address them, it just gets awkward.

But yeah, wedding dinners, they get you thinking about what you're going to say when that one day you'll be standing on the stage and addressing the entire hall of people who've been in your life. The hall itself is already a selection process, the required tables of family and some elders you hardly know, and then in the remaining tables you can afford, your friends - who to pick, who to exclude. Sad, but that's the way life rolls.

Relatives like to question about girlfriends - I'm not yet the age where they pressure you for a girl's name as your wife-to-be, so it's really just a casual topic (phew), but it gets me thinking. How happy you'll be when you find that perfectly right half for yourself, standing on the stage in matrimony, facing the person who's going to bring so much happiness to your life you can't wait another second to be married. And then, slowly, watching your past and present fit into bits of people standing at different tables, watching, clapping, smiling. At times I struggle because I don't know if novels / movies romanticize love too much, such that it has become an almost impossibility, as if a miracle, a match made in heaven, and that people attached now are really just... you know... (to put it crudely) trial-ing or... having low expectations of relationships - which really makes me cynical about relationships. I mean, the media's got me thinking that a perfect half would be one where you can't find flaws in - not in the way that she / he is perfect, but that her / his flaws are to your liking, and there's just nothing you could pick out on that person. Given my standards in such, I think I'll stay single my entire life. Or maybe, on the other side of the deep, vast sea, you lovebirds have the exact same feeling the novels describe, it's perhaps just personal, different, but still perfect, then great for you.

Shit, why am I thinking so much?

Anyway oh yeah, watched Eat Pray Love (2010), and I've a few quotes worth sharing. I mean, they aren't exactly enlightening nor would they provide any sort of revelation, it's just apt in my life, and I think they are worthy of appreciation. Some, are obviously taken out of context, so you wouldn't get to fully understand what it refers to. Firstly: "The sweetness of doing nothing, dolce far niente".

"Did you get my email?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't call sooner"
"Why didn't you?"
"Cause if I didn't respond, we were still in a conversation, and I'm still in it."

Additionally, some cool things I'd like to share. I got it from Tzuhsiang's as usual, and come on, can you guys please sign up with me and do this together? Say, on Bras Basah / Illuma's long escalator. I think it's real meaningful: putting a smile on people's faces. Esp when everyone in Singapore's so stressed up with school / work in the bloody rat race. In another perspective, this would totally make my day if I saw this somewhere.

And yes, I was talking about wedding dinners and appreciating the people around you and me. So here's to you, reading this, whether I know you personally or not, whether you are an auto-bot doing massive advertising on my tagboard or not, I want to thank you, my friends, for every moment we've spent together. Let's go out together, okay? I'm extremely grateful for all you friends who've kept my entire December so bloody busy, and I'm saying that with 0% sacarsm. I love this life, and I'm thankful that all of you kept me from the loneliness of my home. Now I feel like an ingrate to my parents cause I realised I've either been out or on the computer for the whole of December that I'm awake. Hardly any family time, so yeah, that's going into one of 2011's resolutions - to help out with chores and spend time with family. Yep, yep.

I got rejected. By SPRING dude, not by a girl. For a while I was thinking whether I really wanted it or not, and then after that I felt like hey, I really wanted it. It's always like that isn't it? Just like the House Comm run, and yeah, here I am feeling that dejection I got after I didn't get promoted from a nominee to a committee member at HC. I guess it's experience built up that I'm feeling rather okay with it already, though its been only around 3 minutes past. Optimistically speaking, I guess failure's still an important life lesson I took away from this.

I always have this urge to find out why exactly I don't get selected - for HC, for this. But I'll never know the answer huh. I got some hints here and there from teachers and seniors for HC but not gonna get that for SPRING.

Anyhoo, I take solace in the fact that some people who were real good didn't make it through, which is really kinda mean, but the guy who sent out the rejection email forgot to hide the mail recipients with whatever BCC function there's supposed to be, so too bad. Can't help this kind of behaviour huh? Anyhoo, I'm over it already. At times I kinda thank having a blog to splash every trouble on, I mean, it's not even about the readership, it's like just this thing, this site, this place.

P.S. My bro's watching Beyonce's I Am... tour on the opposite screen and I'm totally distracted. The scenes are fucking emotive I so bloody want to go for a live concert now. I hope the Killers come to Singapore real soon.

Today was working at Harbourfront again. After Friday I was extremely thirsty for deeper exploration since the other side of Reflections at Bukit Chandu seemed to lead somewhere else, which I didn't have sufficient time in my one-hour lunch break on Friday to explore. So today I fled for an early lunch to continue my adventure (hehe). The whole Harbourfront site is like a great nature treasure trove, and it just gets better as I explore deeper. Kent Ridge Park was actually behind the museum, and it was love like woah. Walking on the canopy walk, tall trees surround and block out any discomfort from heat, the crickets, in a volume almost deafening, tears you away from civilisation and reminds you of how much you've stepped into nature. Thank you Ministry of Environment for creating / preserving such sites. And then I looked at the signs and saw Hort Park in one direction, and Southern Ridges on another. My heart flutters a bit. I never knew these were so darn close to my workplace.

So I spent the hour trying to locate the Southern Ridges, but I couldn't find it and 50 minutes into the break I ended up at Hort Park's gardening spot - which was lame. Okay, so Southern Ridges mission failed, but I have trust it'll appear on the sequel on Lunchbreak Adventures 3 on the 27th. [Yes, turns out my employer doesn't need me as frequently as I wanted. My job's a once-a-week thing] But anyway, I took a couple of photos with my phone just to show you the awesomeness of it all, so you don't think I'm just being a loony nature lover. And please be reminded that these are taken with a phone, which I personally say only transmits 10% of the beauty in any captured scene. Although, I'd admit I did a real quick Photoshop retouch on the photos.




Other than my adventures, I've something else to talk about. (Real chatty these few days huh?) My opinion is that if you want to appreciate life as a teenager, go take the 8am train. This morning on the way to work, I look at everyone packed into the 8.15am carriage from Serangoon MRT towards Harbourfron, and I felt so dispirited. You see the same, emotionless face stuck onto everybody's head - no smiles, no gestures, no words exchanged. It only hit me when I saw this woman who was on the same carriage as me, at a 10 o'clock direction, leaning beside the pole. It was the same woman I saw on Friday morning - standing on the exact same spot from the pole, at that - and I don't recall her face, but the thing that caught my attention was the same pair of thick, shiny Dior shades stuck ostentatiously above her forehead. I actually saw her again. Maybe the other ten around me were also the same people on Friday. I realised how monotonous and repetitive the adult working life would be. I fear.

Plus the past few days of Timbre / Indochine / clubbing has made me realise the importance of youth. A thirty-something will probably lose the luxury of being anything related to "cool", and with that image lost, you start to behave likewise. You can't find random girls in Timbre for a photo just cause you lost a game of Indian Poker, you can't dance without feeling awkward, you shy away from attention and keep a low profile just cause that's what adults do. And so all you people out there, go out and do crazy things before you grow too old to do anything wacky. Have fun now so you wouldn't have to rush your bucket-list when the world is going to end. By the way, I'm (completely) not a believer in 2012 or any religious estimation of the end of the world. But even so, the world could end anytime and I'll happily say I've no regrets. So be inspired by me and start living your life! Thanks, I'll take the credit for your happiness.

I was just thinking on the bus home that the local musician community step out to promote local music. I was thinking about how cool it would be if they sang live on public buses. I mean, you can't get bands with drum sets and all to do that but acoustic singers and musicians with simple instruments, performing on the top level of double-deck buses. It could be this one day event to promote local music, a collaboration with SBS and performance on designated buses. I like the whole idea of bringing music close to the heart of ordinary Singaporeans, to fuel their interest in the local art scene. I think it's cool that the whole thing is mobile, fans could board the bus when they want, while ordinary people going from a place to another could actually get to understand and appreciate local talents - you know, since everyone on buses are listening to their MP3(s), why not make the music come to life, performed in front of you? It's obvious that not all genres suit everyone, but then those uninterested could just move to the lower deck to continue their undisturbed travel. How interesting uh, someone should suggest this to the National Arts Council. I will be on Inch Chua's bus. Okay fuck I gotta stop this I'm becoming way too fan-boy-ish for my own good. P.S. I visit her Facebook page almost everyday to check for updates, and yesterday I posted a comment on its wall and now I feeling like slapping myself for it.

Plus sorry Suwen & Wenxin - you guys are overseas but - I'm not going to be able to design your wedding planning company's website anytime soon. Hey, don't laugh, they are really serious about it. I think the one-year hiatus from designing web templates have drained all my creativity away. I was just trying to start on something simple a few days ago, but I didn't experience any "stroke of genius" or inspiration so I couldn't. The first thing I start on after a hiatus is always extremely sub-standard so I'll not try to start on your wedding site first huh. I'll need loads of stock images though. I'll start on my blog first. Not that I'm selfish or anything, but as experimentation. I'm going to simplify this blog template cause I still think it's too much. Sick and tired of it.

Speaking about designing - don't any of you regret going to JC? I was just talking to my brother about it the other day and we realised how useless JC was compared to our peers at Poly. Instead of studying for the math and sciences I could have done modules on flash web templates, graphic design, use of Adobe Illustrator and Dreamweaver and Indesign which I've to try to pick up from scratch after the A' levels. I could have been a master at such things, and then I'll probably be able to earn my holiday-income from those. Sucks, huh. I mean, after-all if you enjoy what you did in Poly, you're probably going to score well and you'll still end up in Uni anyway huh. Ugh, stop complaining.

I'm satisfied. I've been having quite a fulfilled life the past few days. I've seen many whom I haven't seen for months, and yeah, I stopped having those days where you're at home and have no idea what to do. I like what I'm working as now. It's quite boring, working at this company which does import/export on screws, buying screws from China and reselling them to other firms in neighbouring countries or Singapore firms. My jobscope's either to weigh and package screws, or to paste labels over them. Once in a (long) while carry a few boxes here and there but that's really all. Brainless stuff really, which is good cause I could think about things, and I'm the kind who can actually enjoy / appreciate time alone, so I'm cool with that. Plus there's aircon and 98.7 so nothing bad. I'm the only teenager working there though, it's filled with adults and honestly we don't have much in common to talk about but hey they are real nice to me. Plus it's 9 to 6, flexible cause I go on days when I want to (or days they want me) and it's $7.50 per hour. I've done 2 days of work last Thursday and Friday, so I hope they crave for manpower in the next few weeks so I could work as much as possible. I sure hope it's not going to be a once a week thing.

Plus hey on my Friday lunch break, guess what I did? I actually visited a museum lol! In a one-hour lunch break, I had lunch within 10 minutes, and explored the place. I mean, I didn't know there was a museum up the hill, but I love nature so I naturally trailed into the hill, and found a museum at half-way to the top. Reflections at Bukit Chandu, plus (have I mentioned?) students, under MOE's art education plans, have free entry to all museums. So I stepped in for 15 minutes, took a look around and went down the hill. I was feeling amused the whole visit cause I was like - I must be the only person who's weird enough to visit a museum during a 1 hour lunch break at work. I may actually visit it again if the old people don't drag me along to lunch with them again (like Thursday, which was pretty awkward).

Yeah, and on Saturday I managed to squeeze in family day with dinner with Liqin Angell and Yuting, Liqin went home after that but the three of us went around Clarke Quay to look for pubs with a live band singing Christmas songs. Couldn't find anything with a decent live band, but we ended up in Indochine and hey there was a live band! Some guy with shoulder-length hair (I think?) and a very MILF singer with black leather leggings and all, with a very Duffy way of singing - which is a good thing, btw. They took requests and it was awesome. I forced Duffy songs on her. Haha, nah she was very willing. Volleyball farewell today (Sunday) and tomorrow I'm going back to visit Wushu training with some J2s, 09S65 at night, which is great cause they are almost everyone I've wanted to meet since after A' levels. Tuesday back to work, and I'm surprised how everything fits in so perfectly.

Anyway do listen to the original composition by Inch Chua and Nathan Hartono. A really good mid-afternoon chill out tune. I can't wait for the next time Inch Chua's going to perform, she's going to NZ in Jan though, so that may unfortunately be a long time. BOOHOO.

SPRING's assessment centre today was surprisingly (very) delightful. I mean, I thought it was damn great fun man, hit it off well (extremely) with my group mates and we had chemistry yo. The rest of the to-be-scholars there were a real good chat as well. This is possibly one of the times I had fun while doing something to work towards my future. You know, other than having fun clubbing and getting wasted. P.S I think I'll need at least $50 of drinks to get wasted - which I'm never going to afford - anyway, you guys should totally try this drink called Kahlua, it's Baileys-like but better. A sip of it can make you feel... happy. Really, Wenxin and Suwen both stands up for it.

Back to what I was talking about: I mean, who knew a scholarship assessment could be so enjoyable? People tell me such assessments are usually filled with RJ/HCI elites who shoot you down or others who really just try to impress by talking a lot (of nonsense) but today was totally different. I think I forgot about how I'm supposed to display leadership skills and all but the entire group discussion was just extremely natural. In the 3rd round they presented a case topic which I was already passionate about so that felt great. Instead, through the AC today I actually want to join SPRING a lot more. Would be nice to have these other people as colleagues huh.

So yeah, today was pleasant. I mean, I will no longer have Ke$ha blasting into my ears at clubs and having a semi-transparent SPRING presentation pushing me to stop playing and get to work. Also, because I tanked the entire presentation in the past 2 days (and slept at 3am yesterday) this is a huge contrast. Like it's 50% of the "end of A' levels" feeling. And a small thanks to my bad attitude towards studying for 1.5 years of JC, I just received a mail of $250 for good improvement from mid-years to prelims. Plus DBS finally sent me my PIN number activation after waiting many grueling days ever since I re-applied for a new ATM when I lost [then returned] (and deactivated) my previous one a while back.


Just for laughs.

Went to VJC's post-prom a couple of hours ago. Actually scrape that, cause I think there were about only 40 VJC kids and the rest were a mix of NJC peeps and VS guys and random weird ang-mohs who hang out on a Monday night. Indochine was quite pathetic. The dance floor's about the size of the room I'm in right now (your average bedroom) and the place was just really small. Lack of crowd, lack of whatever's supposed to be VJC's post-prom.

And plus I thought a rookie like me would be easily drunk enough to dance while feeling the high, but drinking others' coupons - possibly more than 4 coupons of Vodka plus whatever else didn't cut it man. The most I felt warm cheeks but that was all. Okay great I'm finally feeling sleepy, I should get to bed now.

What a difference a day makes, twenty four little hours brought the sun and the flowers where there use to be rain.

Jamie Cullum's What A Difference A Day Makes.

I'm feeling exceptionally great with myself right now. Many little small happy things make a really happy me. Satisfied, mostly. So the day started at 12pm when we woke up at Daniel's house. That's first - hanged with Phoenix yesterday and it was great, haven't met up in full for a while, great talking to Wenx. But yeah, this time we didn't sleep with Daniel's power blinds so we could get up at 12pm.

And then I got 2 boxes of contacts today. Finally, I did it, though it's without my mum knowing cause she's all "NO, NEVER!" about getting contacts. For years. BUT WOAH, it was fresh, the feeling. After I struggled for a minute or two of putting a piece of soft lens on my eye ball, I looked out into the vast sea of people in Hougang mall, not bounded by that rectangular frame, the smile uncontrollably breaks through my suppression at my ends. I was smiling weirdly at nothing. But yeah, that's like my greatest achievement today.

And before that I also went to my mum's tailor's house at Buangkok to have two pairs of my jeans altered. So instead of wearing them with low confidence, or worse throwing them away, I now have 2 pairs of jeans that I can actually wear. Previously, none. So that possibly saved me $69.90 on a pair of Topman jeans I set my eyes on when shopping with Suwen yesterday.

And today, I kicked Singapore's public system in the face today. I mean, I finally got to make full use of the distance fare. After it's been scamming me for months by getting me to pay 58cents for a direct bus from home to school - of course, after a while I learnt to make use of the circle line - but still! And yeah okay, I know right, this is so measly. But hey, I went from Daniel's house (Pasir Ris) to home at Serangoon, took a poop and bath, went to Buangkok to make measurements for the 2 pairs of jeans, and went to Hougang Mall to get my contacts and it was all capped at 58 cents. I got 2 free trips, thankyouverymuch.

Of course, I'm really happy and all, but it's not all good news. In 8 days since Wednesday the 27th, I've spent $247.40. Luckily I've taken out a large (costly) portion of my to-do list, so the rest of the weeks should be a lot better. I hope.

Oh yeah, and today timing for things were perfect for me. Going back from Hougang to Buangkok, I missed bus 27 at the interchange and ran through a shortcut and managed to catch it at the next bus stop. And before that, when I came out of the bus from Buangkok to Hougang, I saw quite a crowd outdoors at Hougang Central, so I walked towards it and turns out Sezairi Sezali was going to start playing. I sat through his two songs and left after he stepped down from the stage. Quite unfortunate though, there wasn't really a visible crowd who was interested in his music, he was playing and the old MPs were just chatting and socializing downstage. Most of the crowd were old folks who didn't understand what he was singing anyway. I mean, I get that the event was to promote racial and religious harmony so maybe he wasn't the focus, but the sight is just... a bit sad. And the sound system outdoors with merely two large speakers didn't do him any justice. Makes you ponder huh, Singapore Idol and all that effort.

emails: chew.bolong.2009@vjc.sg (main) / bolong02@hotmail.com (dominated by junk mail)
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bolong
mobile phone: yeah you wish.