Wednesday: After fixing up Daniel's new pc, went over to Sarpinos' Pizza for dinner. Was rather amused that they served ice water with a straw...
Then its off to 6th avenue to have nice ice cream. Had the 2 favour combination of rum & raisin and cheesecake. Yum...
Thursday: Did not go for the lunar opening on tuesday but thanks to nightlife.sg, I got to go down on thursday. The place is really happening. Live band, MTVs of Utada Hikaru, Jay Chou, S.H.E, Wu Bai and Namie Amuro... What more could I ask for...
Friday: Hanging out with the guys on friday night at the usual place. Picture taken of me and Eugene. One of those random shots with Herbert's digicam...
Saturday: Decided to be a good boy today and help with cleaning of the mirrors in the house. Pays to be tall to be able to reach the top part of the mirrors...
One really nice piano piece I always remember because of the cat named mosses. Interestingly enough this song is written on how Joshua Kadison was dealing with the break-up with the actress Sarah Jessica Parker.
Never knew he was together with Sarah Jessica Parker and the song was about their breakup until I went to google the song. lol...
The Serenity Prayer is most probably something you would have seen many many times in bookstores, on posters or even in books.
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
This is the original one written by Reinhold Niebuhr in the early 1940s. It was later also used but the United States Armed Forces.
And as I look back at the past events during the week which was an emotional roller coaster ride, I guess this something that I can take heart in.
To have the serenity to accept the way things are and events that will happen or have happened. Something that struck me during Sunday's message from the pulpit was the fact that sometimes at our level, we always wonder why things happen to us at the wrong time at the wrong place. And its usually because we fail to see the bigger picture.
To have the courage to know what needs to be changed in my life. From the way I look at situations, how I treat people to even my priorities in life now as a student and later on as a working adult. Sometimes I can be so unwilling to move from my comfort zone to not realise that its not the best thing to do. And this is where I really need to change.
To have the wisdom to know what to change and what not to. I think this is the most important part as we can end up trying our best for something that will never work out no matter how hard we try when we could have put that energy into something better or we can end up being lazy and just leaving everything to work itself out. I do not think there is a sure way to find out which is which but I know it is a learning process that builds up over time.
And if I might add one more to the Serenity Prayer for myself, that would be the strength to move on. I always find myself having emotional baggages left behind that somethings make things hard to move on. Either a grudge against someone making it hard to work with the person again, or a failed relationship/friendship that makes it hard to want to start new ones.
Well its a start of another new week and it looks like I got some stuff lined up for me. Getting back onto the track for my jogs once my flu clears up, the opening of some asian fusion place, fixing up Daniel's new pc and watching the newcastle match against arsenal and my results coming out.
Hopefully I will remember all that I have gone through in the past week and put them to good use.
Well instead of just posting the pictures here, I decided to try out the blog video function. Played around with some photo settings, quick edit of a song and out comes a photo story. Not a very clean cut now as it was an experiment but I guess still acceptable standard for a try out. :D
"Our house in Boise, Idaho, backs up to a park with a walking track. You can see most of the path from our kitchen window, and because of that I’ve learned to recognize people by their walk.
There’s a lawyer from down the street who’s always in a hurry, an elderly man who trudges slowly by, a woman who strides with purposeful steps. Each has a characteristic gait...."
This passage somehow struck me as I was doing some soul searching over the week.
When was the last time your friend said something like : "Oh that must be . I can tell from the way he/she walks...". Now look at it in the same way but towards our individual character. We all have some particular traits that people can associate with our character and the way we do things. From how we deal with difficulty, how we handle success or even how strong our determination is.
And just like the author of the passage, how then would the people around us associate our character or even our lives with? "Cheerful", "Determined", "Always There When You Need Her/Him"? Or "Pessimistic", "Hopeless", "Insecure". What do we want the people around us to associate us with?
I myself sometimes wonder what do the people think of me after "walking by" their lives. Whether positive or negative, I guess I cannot really do anything about it now. But I know that I still got my life ahead of me(if my maker allows) and as the saying goes : "Better late then Never..."
Kinda like the music video for this song. No special effects, no fancy setups. Everything just done simple and a cameo to round things up. Add a smoothing voice to a nice love song and you definitely got my attention.
Think he has got a new fan in me. :D
Anyway Thursday was spent relaxing at home and catching up on my sleep and processing the 70 plus photos I took at Clarke Quay. Still very noob at this whole post production thing(opps or is that meant for video production? haha). Oh well still got another week plus to experiment. Hopefully next week got something else interesting that I can bring my digicam for a spin.
The evening was spent out at Junction 8 with Samantha and Eddie. Yesh, finally got to see my "mother" from TP again. Ok for those who dunno, Samantha is my I-Guide Senior from TP. Me and Eddie used to call her "mother" cos go out with her means have to eat our veges if not will kanna nag from her... haha... But we know she has our best interest at heart. :D
Dinner was at the food court cos other places were crowded. Than it was off to coffee bean to chill out and chit chat. A BIG THANK YOU to Samantha for the treat. Haha next time I get my first pay check than my turn to treat :P
Had lots of fun there chit chatting about anything and everything. But thats a story for another time. ;)
"With a drinking buddy like Li Bai, Tang Dynasty's most celebrated and Legendary poet, how could the moon ever be lonely in his famous "Drinking Alone Under the Moon", Li Serenaded the moon..."
*Also known as "Drinking Alone by Moonlight" (月下獨酌, pinyin: Yuè Xià Dú Zhuó)*
Well fast forward to the 21st century Singapore and while I dun think you can find another guy such as Li Bai, the moon doesn't need to feel all lonely. Or at least along Clarke Quay as lanterns have been lighted along the river side in remembrance of the moon.
And with this, I decided to take my camera for a spin there. But knowing the crowd is going to be a problem, I decided to go there later before meeting up with the usual supper group. Hopefully at a later hour, there will be lesser people and I can get clearer shots.
First stop was to SLS area and than to the nearest bookstore to check something out. While Bugis' Kino was no where near the size of the one at Taka, I managed to find what I was looking for ahead of my planned schedule. Having about an hour or two to burn, I decided to join the group at Bugis for coffee.
TCC's Nutello... Looks big right?
Well not so big after all... haha...
Group shot at TCC...
With the caffeine in my system, I went down to the main event for the night: The lanterns at Clark Quay. Had fun playing around with my camera settings trying to get a nice shot. Unfortunately, my hands are not as stable as a tripod so some shots did not turn out nice. But overall am happy and managed to get about 70 shots.
Just another night along Clarke Quay...
A bridge on a bridge...
I have no idea who she is suppose to be but just take lah...
And the traditional lanterns...
Guess its been awhile since I went out by myself to do something. And I sure did enjoy myself with nothing to worry about other than getting my stuff done. Should do this once in a while.
After my photo taking, it was back to Bugis area to meet up with Randy,Aaron, Derick, Junwen and Daniel for some pool. As usual I got beaten at almost every game I played but it was more the fun joking here and there that I enjoyed. But at least I picked some pointers here and there from the regulars.To end the night out, we headed to Lavender for supper.
And so ends another day of my 2 week break. Feeling a lot better now. Lets hope its because I am really getting over it and not because I am just chucking it to the back of my mind again. Left over emotions are never a good thing.
Convinced of my deception I've always been a fool I fear this love reaction Just like you said I would
A rose could never lie About the love it brings And I could never promise To be any of those things
Chorus: If I was not so weak If I was not so cold If I was not so scared of being broken Growing old I would be... I would be... I would be...
Blessed are the shallow Depth they'll never find Seemed to be some comfort In rooms I try to hide
Exposed beyond the shadows You take the cup from me Your dirt removes my blindness Your pain becomes my peace
[Chorus]
...frail
Day 2 of my 2 week break. Feeling a lot better now. But yet the news of the passing still lingers on in my mind. I was never close to Serene or Andrew or the family. The closest I got was having Andrew teach me in Sunday School. But I guess the news is as shocking to me as everyone else. I still remember talking about it over the dinner table last night. So many questions were raised but no answers could be found.
In this day and age with medical science advancing so fast, could such things still happen? Didn't the doctor do anything about it? When was the last time you heard that something like this can happen?
Reminds me of how life can be so frail sometimes. In the end it really does not matter. All the achievements in life, all the money in the bank, the fancy new sports car or even that flashy new handpone. It does not really matter once you are gone.
And after the trial by fire, what would remain that would be of worth? Well thats a question that I think I am going to need time to think through. Maybe I will never get the answer during this 2 weeks of break. But better start thinking now then when its too late.
Like the lyrics of the song goes:
Blessed are the shallow Depth they'll never find Seemed to be some comfort In rooms I try to hide
Its time to stop hiding, thinking I am still fine...
Well gonna get a hair cut later and try to clean up my room a bit. Think its been long overdue that I did that. Spend some time alone to reflect on things. Maybe if my flu gets better, head down to Clarke Quay to take photos of the Lanterns. And just maybe meet up with the rest after that to chill out and unwind.
"Into The Night" by Santana Featuring Chad Kroeger
New song fom Santana with Chad Kroeger on Vocals. Also nice to see a music video with happy ending. Or rather what looks to be one. Although a bit fairy tale that before he can jump off, a dove lands near him, gets his attention and goes off to a window of the place a girl is at to direct his attention there.
So nice right? Hopefully one day a dove will also land at my window to catch my attention...
*Note : start of a very long post. Gonna recap 5 days...*
Anyway time to do a recap of the happenings in my life over the weekend.
Friday:
Due to me not going for the Orange party to study at home on Thursday and the fact I actually was ahead of schedule, I managed to clear up Friday's revision so it was unofficially a day of rest for me.
Met up with Elliott first and than Herbert at PS for dinner before going down to a wine place to try out something new. Its a new thing to me to have a Hibiscus flower in my champagne. Suppose to drink it first, let the Hibiscus settle in and drink it again to taste the difference. Also you can eat the Hibiscus after that. And its meant to be eaten whole. A very interesting experience overall for me. Also helped my sister collect name cards in case she would use them for her work or something. Thanks to Elliott for putting me on his guest list for the event.
Pics from the event:
As with every friday night, it's Viva La Fridays over at Double 0 and thats where we were headed to next.
Music was good as there are all Jazz remixes. Once again there were dance performances on the floor and they never fail to amaze me. Maybe my standard is not high but hey I enjoyed them and thats all that matters.
Got to know Eugene better that night and also was introduced to Melissa formally. The last time I met her was at the fashion show at Butterfactory but did not get to talk much. HuiRong and Leanna was there as well and the three of them kept disturbing me on my dancing. I said it once and I will keep on saying it. I cannot dance for nuts, haha... And it did not help that my legs were aching from Thursday's evening jog where my ego got the better of me. :P
Definitely enjoyed myself more as I had no school the next day.
Group shot time...
And a big thanks to Vincent for all the nice photos... :)
Saturday:
"Attack of the Flu" was the main theme for a lazy Saturday. The flu hit hard and fast without giving the defenders a chance to react. Haha, yup the flu hit me the minute I woke up and a tissue paper was never far from me. Yet I still managed to push on and to clear up the last few remaining tutorials left for revision.
Things were going well for my revision plan. And moral was good concerning my paper on monday(only to be dashed but thats a story for later on). Met up with Elliott and Herbert for supper at the usual block 401 coffee shop.
Wanted to sleep early but even the flu medicine could not stop me from tossing and turning in bed. The feeling that its not going end the way I want it just couldn't go away.
Sunday:
The slight drizzy made it hard to get up but eventually I dragged myself out of bed. 3 hours of sleep give you a grumpy Kenneth in the morning(which took about 30mins to disappear). Looking outside at the wet condition, I told myself it was the worst start to me getting back on the roads.
Yup finally after so long, I decided to get myself back on the roads and driving to church for morning service was a good way to do it. So I thought until I saw the roads and realised that I only got 3 hours of sleep.
It was tempting to speed as we were going to the coffee shop next to church for breakfast. But I remembered what my driving instructor said, "Whenever you drive, you are not only responsible for your own life but also the lives of those in the car and the others on the road". While I did fall to the temptation of the accelerator, overall other than one part where I was over the speed limit(aiyah straight empty road mah...), it was a smooth safe journey.
My cousin showed my the picture of the running shoe he recommend to me to get to replace my worn out DS Trainer. Looks not bad lah. If only it came in blue colour. But also means is gonna cost me another $120+. Ouch... think I should stay home more often liaos.
Rest of the day was spent doing revision and re-revision to make sure I know the formulas by hard. Of cos knowing Kenneth, I just had to go do something stupid. Well my earlier post is all about it so if you want to get a better picture go read it.
Slept very very late as I was once again tossing and turning in bed with IT weighing heavily on my mind.
Monday:
Went to school in the morning for my last paper. Moral was abit high as I felt that I did enough revision to pass this module comfortably. A Pass is all I want and a Credit which might be possible is a bonus. But Murphy's Law hit me right on and it was one of those rare moments that I did not even have to start reading the question paper to know the outcome. The aura of dread that filled the exam room was rather overwhelming. All that I studied and revised and memorised and worked so hard for only accounted to 6 out of 60 marks. Dunno where I am gonna get the other 24 marks to help me pass this paper.
My classmate even went as far as to comment that if he ever sees the lecturer come back to SG to teach again, he will make sure he leaves as a Donald Duck from the initial Micky Mouse.(Explanation : The lecturer always likes to say each example is as easy as Micky Mouse. As for the Donald Duck, think of skin colour. Racist? Well I dun think everyone will be so angry if he replied our question to what is the exam paper gonna be like with more than just its gonna be 8 questions.)
Went home after the paper without any appetite that I had to slightly force myself to get lunch. Tried to cheer myself up by turning cheats on in my usual conquer Europe game so I go charging into the enemy's town militia with hordes of fully armored knights. Well it helped abit but still feeling like crap.
A nice peaceful town hiding behinds its walls...
If the cannons dun do the job, the guys behind will do it
There goes the neighborhood...
Dinner was at AMK Hub's Fish & Co. The occasion was to meet up with Lincoln(My ex Bible Study Group Leader) for his belated Birthday dinner. No pictures were taken even though I brought the camera. But I guess thats usually what happens when its all guys after a long day of work/school and so on. But it was good catching up with everyone. The usual jokes and army/school stories were the topic for the night. Also managed to have a little talk with Derick on more serious things in life(Guess both of us agree on somethings and maybe its time for us to have a change of environment).
Still wearing my Jersey(Yeah I wore my Newcastle Jersey the whole day like a die hard fan), I waited for the Newcastle vs Derby Match. Hoping that it would be a good one to end my horrid weekend. Well not going to comment much. The game speaks for itself. Derby deserved the win.
But just wanna mention a word of thanks to everyone who in one way or another sent me a word of encouragement.
Tuesday:
With the Derby defeat adding more fuel to the fire of disappointment over the weekend, I woke up to the official start of my term break. And to add matter's worst, the Flu decided to do a counter attack. Not as bad as the first round but bad enough for me to reach for a tissue paper every once in a while(kinda irritating as just before I was about to blow the enemy's walls with my big huge cannon, I had to pause the game and reach for one).
The only good thing is that it stopped me from going for my usual evening jog. Good cos I seem to have injured my left knee slightly. Dunno from where also but there is a small nagging pain there. Would have gone for the jog even with it but my training to become a section commander in the army(which due to my ankle injury I did not complete) taught me that the flu and exercise do not mix.
Well to add to the rather down feeling of the day, I just found out that a church friend just passed away while delivering her 2nd child. Kinda sad as she would have everything going for her. A nice family, active in church and a fulfilling job as a teacher. My condolences to the family. Seems like there was some complications and the water bag flooded her lungs. The baby is still in ICU now.
I guess one can never be too confident about life. Anything can happen at anytime. Which sort of gives me some encouragement as well. In the sense that you will never know when its time for God to call you home and yet here I am sulking about how lousy my weekend was. Of cos I am not expecting myself to snap a finger and get out of the depressing mood but rather not to start the whole pity myself thing.
Like mentioned in an earlier post, I will get myself out of this down and out feeling and just get on with life. 2 weeks of holiday is too short to waste on feeling sorry for myself.
And that wraps up my weekend recap. Have not figured out with to do what my 2 weeks yet but I am sure I can come up with something.
Back from my last paper. Studied rather hard considering its suppose to be a maths topic and we all know how well Kenneth hates maths. Anymore going though of the formula examples, tutorials and assignments and I can memorise the questions as well.
But as Murphy's law states(credits to Wikipedia) : "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong" (or, alternately, "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way" or, "Anything that can go wrong, will," or even, "If anything can go wrong, it will, and usually at the most inopportune moment").
Well I guess I can go on and blame it on the fact that everything the tutorial talked about and the assignments seem to be about are the maths part. And to my disappointment, I find out that it carries only 6 marks out of the whole 60 marks. Where I am going to find the rest of the 24 marks I also dunno. The other questions dun seem to make sense if you would to follow the trend in the tutorials and assignments.
And the possibility of retaking this module is very very high. I wish I can blame someone else now to make myself feel good but I can't. Have to learn to take it and deal with it. After all this is a degree course. No more spoon feeding like poly and the bridging liaos.
Also many thanks to all the well wishes from everyone. No worries, I give myself a week or so to get back on my feet(or I can get drunk on friday and a hangover will help... :P). If I can survive failing the pilot test after nearly killing myself for it, failing my driving test twice(one which spark off my dislike for taxi drivers) and so on, I can survive this.
Ok I am supposed to be sleeping, but just for the record sake : "Good Game, Kenneth". Haha I see history repeating itself once again.
Too good to be true, Told you so, Hiyo I though You would have known better and What were you thinking are most probably the questions and statements going to be directed at me again.
And I am not talking about my paper in 8 hours 50 mins time. I just had to go do something like this when I know I got a paper later. Haha, Kenneth so you.
No I am not being emo now(ok check back with me later on this) but rather being my version of realistic.
I guess I can identify with this post:
Have you ever had a time in your life where you're at your lowest, and every second passes like an eternity? A disaster or tragedy simply makes life stop. It falls in that interval, when you're caught between moving on and stopping forever. Tense moment, when it feels like the world has ceased -- all it does is wait for you to *do* something. And all you want to do is go away. So you're finally introduced to the cold, harsh reality of living. What do you do next?
Feels like only yesterday when I first felt that awful gripping feeling of helplessness and just wanting to it to go away but it will just not. Haha...
Kk its late and I need my sleep. Will update the happenings over the past few days tonight or something.
Nights World, Kenneth :|
*And once again for the record : This is how I trash/let things out of my system.*
Finally found the original version by New Radicals and the music video for it. It was later covered by Mandy Moore and Jonathan Foreman for the soundtrack of "A Walk To Remember" where I first heard it.
Anyway its finally Friday and a sleepy one as well. Had to rain in the morning making waking up a bit harder than usual. Well today is sort of rest day for me as I managed to clear up more than I expected for my revision having finish the scheduled tutorial ahead of time.
Got an event to attend in the evening which I will post more tomorrow or something. Also managed to catch the 3 goals from the England Russia match and looking forward to tidying up my hard disk as I got lots of junk left from this term's studies.
Well just an interesting picture I came across:
Dun be too happy after taking the photo with that pretty girl that you forget to check and self own after that. lol.
Just a quiz I did just for the fun of adding something to my forum signiture:
Beautiful song mixed with some touching scenes from the movie "The Notebook" based on a book with the same title written by the same person who wrote "A Walk To Remember". The next book that is on my hoot list after my exams. Kinda weird that I only get the book after so long but like Narnia, something must spark my interest and I guess its the song and the video.
Anyway its another brand new morning. England beat Russia 3 - 0 and I mean to be back to my usual self. Revision is going well and hopefully I can get be done with everything before my paper on monday.
I know that some of you are wondering how come if I am suppose to be busy studying, still got time to do blog post everyday, watch soccer and still got time to conquer Europe in Medieval II Total War.
Well for one, I hate maths, dislike it and asking me to go on for hours doing maths problems is not for me. So what I am doing now is to break up my periods of revision and do something else in between. Thus its like 2 hours of maths and maybe 1 hour of forum reading or gaming and its back to revision. This way I dun get tired of my revision so fast and yet there is still this sense of urgency to finish up my other revision sets before the paper on monday. Its one paper that I will be happy with a pass and a credit will be a bonus.
And of cos, having my silly but adorable Kenny around the table while I do revision means never a dull moment. Just some shots I manage to get while fooling around with the camera.
In case you are wondering, the leash is there as a deterrent for him to know where he can move around and where he cannot. Not that the chair is gonna be enough to stop him anyway.
*Added in later on* Something cute to share: I think this is what friendship should be about.
A post on it:
scally the top one is a female hamster...she helping the male hamster she love (middle hamster) to give the flower to the female hamster (bottom) whom the male hamster like...
then the top female hamster = sacrifice her love to the male hamster
=(
If really like that than quite sad sia. Anyway I guess forumers still got some hope after all lah. Not all stupid bo liao post after all... :D
*Updated for the night* Well I was suppose to go to the party at St James but I realised that I might need more time to finish up my revision(what prove this formula here and there) and (Sorry Elliott) told Elliott that I would like to give up my place for someone else.
Well my apologies to Elliott again, in the end I finished abit earlier than usual(Seems like I am getting the hang of all this entropy and what H(X;Y) thing) around nine plus and ended up having supper with the usual people like Derick, Aaron, Daniel, Benny and Randy. Also good to see Junwen again and his old witty comical self. Guess I needed to go out and destress abit after being couped up at home for 4 days and the laughter with old friends can do wonders.
The Tim Sum spread was ok but the fellowship was the best(Ok my standard went up after having HongKong Tim Sum :P).Good to know everyone moving on with life and I guess its time for me to start moving on as well. After this term is just 3 more terms and I will grad in June.
Also learnt more about car insurance and how to getting a smaller priced car for a start will help to bring down the price later on when I can afford a bigger one.
Overall I feel alot alot better from the start of the week I guess. Sure I made some moves that were questionable and might not seem the best for the situation but it was done with good intentions from my side and needed to be done for me to move on and look forward.
And as the song by Switchfoot goes : "We were meant to live for so much more". Life is what we make it out to be.
KK thats my daily blog post for today. Its off to dreamland and sweet dreams is something that would be nice tonight.
One of the better remixes to the song by Angel City using Robert Miles' "Children" as the background music. Video arrangement is good and it does help that Kingdom Heart 1 & 2 has very good videos to use.
Anyway its another day of revision ahead. Woke up late today cos was rather exhausted after my evening jog yesterday. Think I push too hard again... lol. Didn't help that the blister on my toe broke as well. Haha... the feeling of determination to complete the distance coming back to me again from my army days.
Not feeling so emo today so I will take it a good sign that the evening jog yesterday did me some good. Gonna try and finish up more revision later after lunch.
In remembrance to those who lost their lives in the 911 World Trade Center Attack. And to those who did not shrink away from their duty to help with the rescue operation and lastly to those who lost loved ones in the attack.
My Heart goes out to you. It is never easy to lose a loved one no matter what the situation is.
One Down And One More To Go. Two Months Since Then. Three Moments Of Weakness. Four Times I Nearly Gave Up. Five Minutes Is All It Took. Six More Modules Till I Grad. Seven Days Till The Next Paper. Eight More Chapters To Go. Nine More Months Of School. Ten more Days To Prepare Myself.
"The Night That the Lights Went Out in NYC" by The Ataris
Ok I should be studying now but I just can't. Something has been distracting me for the past month and even now when my exams are just around the corner(tmr is my first paper), I still cannot fully concentrate on my revision. Sure I have gone through my notes and tutorials but how many percentage of it is staying in my brain?
Usually I would go for a jog to let it all out and hopefully I would be able to focus back but at this time of the night I had to do something else. Thus the video above. Yup its my first video on youtube and was done in under an hour. Not very polish but gets the job down. Always liked the song but never found a music video for it. And with the limited time I allocated myself, choosing a movie that I am familiar with(although I still dunno where my book went to) would do the trick.
As with the song, sometimes we never really realise what we have until its too late. Sometimes its right in front of you and yet you choose to look elsewhere. And in this society now, it is all too true. A person's worth is determined by what the person has archived or the material worth of the person. And his or her character is pushed down the ranks. And by this yardstick, we keep looking and looking. Failing to realise the one who has always been there in front of you until its too late. And by than even by wishing on a falling star would not help you.
Take away everything a person have and the only thing that remains is his or her character and how strong or weak it is. That is only going to keep the person going rather than the money in the bank, the looks and skills possessed or even that flashy new car or condo. Looks and skills will disappear with age, material possession can come and go with the world so volatile but a person's character will see him through.
Something which I still find myself lacking in. Maybe its the rainbow after the rain for me for still being a student with nothing in a environment where everything else matters. I am rather broke again, have no flashy car and have no looks to add. What I can only depend on is my character to see me through until I grad. And I got to make sure that character continues to improve when I enter the working world where materialism rules.
Yet I am thankful that there are people around me who are good examples to follow and of cos there are those that help me remember what a bad example is. Looking back at Saturday evening, it was definitely a lesson to remember. From getting to know someone with a strong will(if you dun call that strong than I think you need help in the brain), working with a goal in mind to even my own parents who could have spent the time alone to enjoy and relax(which no one can argue against for they earned it) but yet still "shared" the fun. If I turn out wrongly next time, I think I only got myself to blame.
Anyway, saturday evening was spent at the hotel InterContinental Singapore. My sister got a complimentary one night stay there from office and passed it to my parents to use(The perks of working in the media I guess). Having been voted 'Singapore's Leading Hotel' at the World Travel Awards 2006, staying at any room would have been an experience but it did not stop there. My parents got to stay at the one of the two Executive Suites.
From the moment you enter the suite, to checking out the bedroom, I was left speechless. "Big" is an understatement and "Comfortable" would be an insult to the place. I think having a BOSE radio in the bedroom says it all(For those who dunno, BOSE is an expensive brand of sound entertainment equipment). And having a dedication over the radio just tops its all(A big thanks to Elliott).
The name on the radio says it all.
My parents could have just relaxed and enjoyed it all but instead the whole family and extended family was invited over to enjoy the place as well. That meant going up and down(You need the access card to get the lift to take you to the 16th level) to fetch everyone. And did I mention the view from the window is breath taking? Yup thats the executive suite for you.
Part of the extended family. Always fun to have around :D
Too bad I dun have a DSLR and wide angle lens to capture the whole national library
Having said all this, its kinda sad to also see people around me treating things that are not important as the real deal. Well its kinda sad and I hope they wake up in time. Learning from other people's mistake is always better learning from your own I always say.
Well hopefully making that video and posting this blog would take my mind back to my paper tomorrow. This feeling of distraction has to come at the worst possible time but I am glad that I stayed home on Friday to try to do some more revision(which alsoe ended up with conquering part of europe). Who knows what would have happened and I know for sure it will not help me with my paper tomorrow.
Hopefully whatever refining my character has gone through would help me move through this "trial" which sooner or later I would have to face. And at the end of it all, I would come out stronger and better. I am never one to like changes to my all so comfortable daily routine of doing things. So maybe this would also help me open up more.
Yup thats about it. Its gonna be a busy week ahead with my first paper on monday and my next and last paper on the 17th which is a maths paper. Which also means staying at home for even more revision since I am never good in maths.
This year, the Games Convention Asia 2007 was held at Suntec Level 6 and since admission is free(Wonder if I would have gone if have to pay), being an avid gamer myself and of cos I had friends there, I decided to take time off my revision to pay the event a visit.
Went there on Thursday alone before meeting up for Dinner at Taos. Unfortunately I reached there after 5 thinking it will close at around 8pm, but it closes at 6pm which left me around 45mins to walk around. My mistake was not to go there early as it was rather empty and I could walk around without having to squeeze my way through the human traffic.
Saturday was better as I managed to spend more time walking around with Herbert and Elliott who joined us later. And of cos I managed to take more photos while walking around with the 10TACLE Studios Lanyard(Thanks Casse). Kinda like the badge for mine.
Also met up with HuiRong in her "superwomen" costume manning some Asiasoft golf game booth. There her job was to look pretty and stamp the card for the freebies that the visitors can collect. Of cos I did no bother with the freebies. I think my "freebies" were worth so much more.
Iris was also there cosplaying as a human priest from World of Warcraft(WOW). Somehow in my WOW days, I do not remember the priest in my guild wearing like that. But hey if they were as pretty as her than maybe I wun curse and swear so much when they dun do their properly[Imagine a jack of all trades class(me) healing so much more than a pure healing class(priest)].
The booths there were mainly showcasing new or upcoming games. Although I wish they would get more powerful computer for the game Crysis. The game was lagging as the computer could not cope with the huge demands the game had. Companies like Sony and Nintendo were there as well, showing off their respective consoles and portable game devices.
Overall the event seems lacking as compared to those you read about on the internet but I guess it can be considered a good try as Singapore is not yet at the same level as the rest.
With Miss "Superwoman" HuiRong
Photo with Casse @ 10TACLE Studios Booth
With Iris cosplaying as a WOW priest
More of the event pictures I took can be seen : here
Received A Call while at butterfactory about a dinner meeting on Thursday from Ming. Decided in the end to join them as I was feeling kinda bored.
Cleared my revision for the day earlier and decided to head over to the games convention at Suntec first before going down. More on that in the other blog entry(Blog Posting by Event).
It seems that Ming told me the budget is 20~30 and I happily went to draw $20 from my already very broke bank account. To my horror, the dinner was 28.90+++. Thankfully using credit card got discount so it rounded to about $30 per person.
But to his credit, the place chosen had good atmosphere and the food was presented in a very attractively "Zen" manner. The attendance for the dinner was good fun as well.
Shai was suppose to join us as well but he went to PS to do some shopping so it was me, Ming, Lynette, Audrey, Felicia and Eddie. Dinner consist of a 7 course(yes 7 course) dinner. Some course had a choice(like you could choose the type of soup you wanted) while one or two was fixed(the grilled mushrooms).
Took lots of pictures of the food for the presentation and dish for my sister in case she would want to do a review there or needed ideas(Must balance abit after the Bangkok trip). But I won't post all the pictures here as there are alot of them. Just the ones that I felt was interesting or good.
Prawn with Curry Sauce(I think :P)
Group shot of the guys
And not forgetting the gals
2 of the many types of tea available
Chocolate Dessert for me(I just love chocolate stuff)
All I can say is that while it is abit pricey for the average student(like me), it is kind of worth the money. And of cos the service there was good :)
A nice fan made movie that I happen to come across back than using "Lips Of An Angle" by Hinder and FF7:AC Movie. Original Video : here
Anyway it seems that in those short 3 days that I was away from Singapore, some guy gave new meaning to one of my favorite army songs : "Purple Light". Yup if you were following the news, a CPL rifleman took a SAR21 with ammo out of camp. And reports indicated that he wanted to carry out the second verse of the song.
Booking Out, See My Girlfriend. Saw Her With, Another Man. Shoot The Man, Rape My Girlfriend. With My Rifle & My Buddy & Me...
Guess I know why my platoon was advised to change the last 3 times to:
Broken Heart, Back To Army. With My Rifle & My Buddy & Me...
Well while I fully agree what He did was stupid. I kinda feel sorry and sad for him as well. One more month to ORD and you go and do something stupid like this. Is it worth it? I really dun think so. But hey, I think I can sort of sympathise with what you went through.
*The follow section is purely fictional and based on my own experience of situations that happen around and to me.Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely by chance.*
As Weston looks at his M16S1, all zeroed for combat shoot at the shooting range, memories filled his mind...
"Hey WeiKang, what are you looking at?" "Oh its you Weston. Its a letter from my girlfriend asking me to work hard to pass my ippt so I can come out for the next 2 weeks." "Wah so sweet sia, I wish I had a girlfriend like that too. Than maybe I can jump the extra 4cm to pass my SBJ. But actually you are fit mah. Just need to run abit faster during your 2.4km." "Haha Weston, I also want to but everytime the last part I feel like giving up." "Ok WeiKang, tomorrow's IPPT is the last chance to get the 2 weeks break. I will help you clear your running."
"Ok recruits, this is your last chance to get out of this island for 2 weeks. Make sure you do your best!" Towards the last 300m of the 2.4 run... "OEI~! Dun stop hor WeiKang. Last 300m liaos you dare to give up here?" Weston Smacks WeiKang on the back. "Come on, 11mins only, you got 1 over min to clear this last 300m. Don't give up. You can do it..."
"..And lastly, Recruit WeiKang. Congrats to these people. You are now a civilian again for the next 2 weeks. See you back here for training again once the BMT phrase starts."
That was BMT for Weston. He never understood what it meant to be in a relationship going into army but felt that he should help his friend pass the ippt and go out of that horrible island and spend some time with her. Even though he did not make his best timing, he felt it was the right thing to do. So many stories that did not have a happy ending came out of that island.
"Hey Weston, heard you going in next week ah?" "Hey KaiSiang. Next week going to be a soldier liaos. But I guess while I am not looking forward to it, I also dun feel scared or anything." "Well I guess its because you are going in single. I remember I was so afraid that I might lose kelly to some other guy in the university during the first 3 weeks that cannot come out. " "But ok mah, she is a good girl, always waiting for you to come out. Even went to see you during the visitation day" "Yeah I guess I was fortunate. I had a bunk mate who was not. On visitation day, his girlfriend came and the rest of the bunk thought they made a cute couple. But in the end before she left, she pass him a letter." "Wah so sweet, love letter ah?" "Imagine his horror when in the letter, she said that it was over between them. She needed him to be there for her but all he can do is weekends. So she got together with another guy from her class in poly." "Ouch sia, I feel for him. Must be super heartbroken..." "Yup, he wanted to sneak out and confront the both of them. But with our section commander, we manage to help him get over it during BMT..." "I guess if its yours, its yours ba..." "Yup you are right Weston. Well dun worry too much lah, I think you will be fine"
Bang~! The last figure 11 went down to the shot of Weston's round. If there was something Weston enjoyed, it was going for range. It was like the arcade to him only this time its real.
"Wah Weston, keep this up for the night shoot and we should all get marksman" "Don't worry lah, Darren. All I have to do is imagine some guy's face on the target and I will surely hit it." "Haha, just make sure it is not my face can liaos..." They both started laughing.
"Don't be stupid lah Weston~! People like her should go and die or something. !@#$ lah I tell you. Just because she cannot be with her BF during his OCS days mean must break off and find someone new who can spend more time with her. Than now that her ex pass out liaos, she dumps you to be with her ex? Bloody !@#$%... Think what? happy can spare tire other people who have more free time ah?"
Weston just looks at his injured forearm. He did not know which was causing him more pain. His forearm or his heart.
"Aiyah dun mention it liaos, JJ" "No no no... Cannot... I see you everynight on the phone with her. Get new line for free incoming so can talk to her. Sometimes forget that I also need to sleep and talk to her. And when you two finally become couple this happens. I know it means I will get more sleep but as a friend, I think your happiness is more important than my sleep." "What to do, now all I can be is some admin specialist if I kanna out of course. Her bf is officer leh. Somemore is going local university. All I have is just a diploma." "Kaoz... no wonder you over push yourself lah. Haiz the minute I saw you miss a step and fell from the balancing beam, I know GG liaos. But still cannot like that lah. Nvm, tmr booking out we go Double 0. There got alot of girls, the drinks are cheap and music not bad" "Haiz you also know I good boy one don't go clubbing one..." "Wah go double 0 never jio me ah, you all forget Eugene is the Double 0 member ah?" "You not here mah, kk tomorrow book out we bring Weston to Double 0 to help him forget his troubles ba..."
Double 0, the NSF place as it has cheap drinks, ok music and the usual crowd of girls. For any NSF regardless or rank, $16 for a jug of drink that can last the whole night is good stuff.
"Enjoying yourself Weston? Come on lah, relax abit and drink up. Tonight the music is good sia. Next time must come with us hor JJ..." "Yeah loh Eugene. Think we must make it our mission to help our friend overcome this stupid @#$%^$ of a girl and hook him up with another better girl"
Outside while JJ takes a smoke while the rest are resting their ears from the loud music, a couple walks towards Double 0. "What the @#$%~!, since when she also go Double 0 one? Eh Weston did PeiShan ever tell you she go clubbing one? I thought you say she is good girl one? Wah that no good lying (Use your own imagination of words here)." "Huh, she said that girls go clubbing is to get touch one..." "Hehe, no worries lah, tonight is special event. They confirm cannot go in one. See dun worry, Eugene is here thats why you all on the invited list."
"Sorry miss, tonight we are having an event. Only those invited and their guest can enter."
"Hiyo, some people no brain one. Or maybe face put too much make up so thick skin. Event on also still want to come in. Some people have no brains. Opps I forgot, usually dun go clubbing on. First time ah?" "Do you have a problem with my girlfriend, punk?" "Sorry ah, my name is Eugene not punk. No problem with her. Just talking to myself. Hey PeiShan, you wanna dump this guy here and go in with Weston? He can bring in one more person since he is on the invited list? Nevermind about that guy, spare tire him or something loh..."
Before Eugene can carry on, JJ and Weston drags him back into double 0.
"Wah finally its over sia. I knew it was going to be tough but good thing it was fun." "Yeah loh, especially the part where we all act like rambo and chiong through the forest to get to the check point. Haha the hunter camp at the road din know we take short cut"
Weston can only smile to himself after hearing his trainees as he pushes his seat back and turns his reading light off. It was the end of a tiring 3 week overseas exercise. But it also meant that its almost time to say goodbye to the army and move onto the next part of his life.
"Eh Weston you still can sleep ah? Not excited on going back meh? I cannot sleep leh. Just imagine, in 2 weeks time we ORD liaos. Cannot wait to start school sia. The pretty girls, no more wearing green..." "Haha, you ah JJ. Never change one leh. Remember dun get me involved if you start trying to jio some girl in class hor." "Aiyah if class dun have than we go Zouk loh. Mambo night very happening leh." "Hiyo, Eugene ah... You whole day think of clubbing only right?" The 3 of them laughs...
As Weston drifts off to sleep, memories both bitter and sweet filled his mind. It was a eventful 2 years spent in the army. The friends he made back in BMT who still meet up once in a while. The look on WeiKang's face when he announced that he and his girlfriend are going over to UK to study. The time when his 2 friends help him get over PeiShan and encouraged him to push on and get his 3 stripes. Talking to his friend KaiSiang about relationships and how army makes or break them. And with that he is deep in sleep.
*End of story*
Well I been wanting to write something like that after hearing all the stories out of army and I guess the unfortunate story of CPL Dave sparked it off. Its really kinda sad to see a broken relationship causing someone to lose his sense of reasoning and logic and do something to ruin his life like that.
Minimum of 5 years and 6 strokes of the cane. Plus a tarnished record that will come back to haunt you. Is it really worth it? I know losing your girlfriend to another guy is bad enough, but to lose her to another girl must really what made him break. The family also quite poor thing sia.
Plus from the report and the pictures floating on the internet, the girl and her butch friend also rather young sia. Well someone please remind me not go get a girlfriend under 19 or something. As much as I do not think I am mature enough for a relationship yet, I also dun think these girls are as well.
Ok enough ranting for today. Need to clear up my tutorials for my paper on monday.
Cheers, Kenneth ;)
*Disclaimer : Everything here is written from a bias(my) point of view. Of cos I do not know what went on the other side but based on my experience its usually like that*
* Warning, blog post will be heavy on bandwidth due to pictures. But in this age of broadband, should be ok I think...*
Good afternoon gentlemen, hope you had a good nights rest and we will now carry out the debrief for Operation Grand Diamond.
At 0810 Hours, 021022007, Operation Grand Diamond commenced from Changi Airport Terminal one. Area of operation is Bangkok, build up point in Hotel Grand Diamond. Objective of this operation is to obtain recon data about the shopping in this place.
Ok ok, enough of the military thingy. Couldn't help it as this is my fourth time back to the country of Thailand. Only this time its for a short holiday and not like the rest. The feeling was abit werid as for the last 3 times when I went to Thailand, it was during my liability as a Singaporean male. Yet this time I am going there for a holiday. From Terminal One to the taking Thai Airways, the familiarity was there.
Anyway this time, the place that we were staying(Parents, Sister, Junyuan & Me) is a 4 star hotel called Grand Diamond. Not really in the heart of the shopping area but still within walkable range. After all, if you are going to be shopping the whole day, what is abit more walking right?
Care for Egg and Sausage Sir?
Arriving at the new airport...
First up after putting down the bags and changing into berms was to explore the shopping center next to the hotel. Its called Platinum Shopping Center or something. With 1500 over shops, kinda owns our very own Far East at orchard road. Most of the shops were targeted at ladies as they are the ones who enjoy shopping more than the guys. Did managed to scout a few shops selling guys stuff as I was thinking of getting a new shirt or two.
Lunch was at the food court upstairs. Unfortunately due to my hectic schedule last week(refer to previous blog entries), I was found lacking in sleep and was abit moody during lunch time.
The hotel bed is so nice and comfortable... what am I doing out here...
After lunch, we took a walk to the next shopping center with a good and cheap Japanese restaurant which my family ate at the last time they were here(I was somewhere else in Thailand ensuring trainees report on time). The shopping center was call "Big C". Its main store a hypermarket like Giant or Carrefour with other small shops here and there, a cinema on the top and one floor for eateries.
Nothing like good ice cream to give you the extra energy...
We spent quite a while moving around and looking at the shops there. Even found a weighing machine and had fun checking out our weight. The only reason being is that it cost just 1 batt to weigh yourself. Convert that to Singapore currency and it will cost less than 5 cents.
5 cents to check your weight...
Ok so without my shoes and other stuff, my bmi would be around 74kg / 1.80m / 1.80m = 22.84. Phew still under 23 :P
Than it was off to the Japanese Restaurant for dinner. Maybe it is because we were eating at Singapore time, which is one hour ahead of Bangkok time, the place was rather empty. The food is rather cheap and we kept ordering stuff. As I did not have lunch, I was feeling rather hungry and helped to clear up all the food. While I have tasted better, considering the price for each dish, it is not bad overall.
I think I better not weigh myself later... :P
After a nice full dinner, we walked to the new Central World to take a look. It is more of a up market shopping center with shops of well know brands. Much like going to suntec or taka. But of cos, it always doesn't hurt to just take a walk inside and enjoy the aircon.
The new Central World shopping center
Why does this brand look so familar?
After that, our legs decided for us that its time to head back to the hotel to get some rest. It is going to be another long day tomorrow.
After a good nights sleep(8~9 hours at least), it was time to check out the hotel's breakfast spread. While it is not as good as the previous one my family stayed at, yet to someone who eats combat rations the last time he was in Thailand, I could not have asked for more.
East meets West
I feel like a kid again eating cereals...
A shot with my sister. A good night sleep does wonders...
Next off it was to the Jim Thompson House Museum. A bit mountain turtle me but I did not know Jim Thompson is also a brand until much later when my sister told me. Could not take much pictures as there is to be no photo taking during the tour and is only limited to the garden and the exhibitions. You can read more about him here
The entrance to the garden. Looks like something out of lost world...
The Jim Thompson House Museum
An optical illusion at one of the exhibitions...
Lunch was at the next shopping center, MBK center. Not much pictures to take there as it was another super big far east style shopping center. I think after this trip, I dun think I wanna go to far east liaos. The stuff over at bangkok is about the same and yet so much cheaper(of cos IF next time got gf who wanna go there than no choice). Lunch was once again at the food court and this time having a good nights sleep, my appetite was there.
Beef Ball Noodles... Thai Style I think...
After more shopping(of which I got myself a new pair of jeans...yay), we headed off to Siam Paragon which is another new shopping center. And yes its another huge shopping center with up market brands. And the best thing is that it is connected to 2 other shopping centers. Something like taka and wisma. The food level is huge and it us very long to decide what to eat with so many types of food. In the end, we went to a place with "safe" food. In the sense that its a no brainer choice to what to order. The place serves western style food and it did not take me long to decide to have steak. Its been a long time I had steak so might as well.
Tea is served by the pot...
Which is a two in one type of thing. The cup is below the pot... kinda cute...
Steak:check, Fries:check, Vege:che... ok why so much vege one... :X
After a nice dinner, it was time once again to head back to the hotel. On the way back, we entered Central World again. This time we decided to walk the whole length of it. I guess Bangkok is really trying to move up slowly as the stuff the shops there sell are rather up market. Things like Armani and sony vaio laptops can be found on sale. And with so many shops in this huge shopping center, I guess the brands are either confident the locals have more spending power now or that there will be enough tourist that will come by. And I think for RAOUL, its the latter. Yup I got myself a RAOUL shirt(So that can look more presentable when taking photos with pretty girls :P).
lol... just couldn't help but take this photo...
My first RAOUL shirt... hehe :D
To finish off the day, we went to have dessert at something that is no longer available in Singapore. Its been a long long time since I had Root Beer, Waffle and Curly Fries at A&W. Guess must be all the walking that made me initially hungry. And I nearly got owned too by the Waffle meal. But I pressed on and conquered it.
A&W Waffle Meal includes Root Beer in Frosty Mug, Ice Cream Waffle and Curly Fries(which came latter thus in the background)
No I will not get owned by this...
I came, I saw, I Conquered...
And so ends day two of Operation Grand Diamond. Headed by to the hotel and got some sleep.
