Doodling!

This week is a week of in-house courses at work where we are learning about the ins and outs of the editorial process and what not. Of course, not ALL the lectures are interesting, and I usually am able to get some doodling time in. Here are two of my sketches:

It started off with me just wanting to draw a pumpkin head (for the Halloween season and what not you know?), but it became this full-fledged 'abomination'. I am quite pleased with it though. Alas, I still suck at drawing hands. 

Strange hibiscus-looking flower. Don't ask, I don't know why I drew it also.

Drawing shenanigans aside, I did have quite a good weekend. I went to Sentosa with PY JUST to have lunch at Cafe del Mar. Total waste of money, but the food was good, and I enjoyed myself. That's most important I guess. Here's what I ate:

Somewhere at the beginning of the meal.

AFTER.

Alright, signing off...Time to get back to work.

=)

The Joys of Creative Writing

Please click on the post's title for a funny read. =)

Breakfast & Dogs

I KO-ed and woke up at the strange time of 3.44am today. It felt good and yet surreal. I did not really know what to do with myself, so I played Bejeweled Twist, hung up my laundry, and when the sun came out, I made myself some breakfast:

The eggs were my proudest creation I think...I loved how the white was firm and slightly runny, and how I managed to maintain the liquid integrity of the yolks. And they're so pretty too yes? =) The picnic ham was just a must add, if not the plate would have looked too empty. Topped everything off with a light sprinkle of black pepper and the teensi-est bit of salt. I had a good breakfast. 

---------------------------------------

On a side note, there was something that I saw on a book in PageOne at Vivocity, that I have been meaning to post up, but keep forgetting to do so. Here it is:

Native American elder:

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil.
The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog, all of the
time." 
When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied:

"The one I feed the most."

This is one of my favourite parables. And when I saw this on the cover of one of the books in the store, I just HAD to take a photo of it. Something to remind to feed my 'good dog' more and 'bad dog' less.

Time to start work! Meetings to go to today! Wheee.... =)

The Effects of Boredom

When you're extremely bored at work, this is what happens.


http://christmascarolscootermagic.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-origami.html

A Great Weekend!

Yesterday had to rush some work the entire day, so it was industrious and somewhat satisfying. Heh. So now, I have some time to blog! Mwahahahaha. Here's what I did over the weekend. I must say it was pretty shiok.

Saturday

Tuition in the morning.
Coaching in the afternoon.
Gaming and dinner in the evening!

I went over to Melvyn's place to play games and have dinner! He made warm tomato salad & chicken stew....very nice. Before that I also pigged out a bit on the homemade hummus and doritos...yummy yummy. Unfortunately, I only took a picture of the stew, but I assure you, everything else was super good and HEARTY! I must remember to get the recipe from him.

Chicken Stew with Foccacia

After dinner, it was a nice evening session of bitching at the VMA '09 show, warm apple pie, and Runebound! It was this role-playing broad game that I've never played before. It was pretty fun, except that I didn't win. I think it's because I picked a character called Sahla the Shaman...confirm lose right?

Sahla the Shaman

Looks complicated huh? It is. But it was quite fun, and I guess my imagination and inclination towards things like these help. Eventually, it was too late, and instead of going ahead with the initial plan of playing GuildWars, we all just went to bed. Oh! I did manage to get a game of BlazBlue on Mel's PS3 in! Shiok also that one. (My English is so terrible...so fun!)

Sunday

Tuition in the morning (different kid).

Drafting Magic with Isaac in the afternoon.

Coaching in the evening.

Dinner with friends!

Drafting was fun. Isaac and I played two-man draft - trust me, it's not as simple as you think it is. There's a different kind of strategy and thinking behind two-man drafting. We drafted both M10 and Zendikar. I won the first draft, but lost the second! Died to Bloodchief Ascension! WTF lor...it's not a card to be underestimated. It can swing games man.

Dinner was DAMN good. First it was Sun & Moon at Wheelock.

Sashimi!

Then we went to Dempsey for dessert! (PS: Paying a PREMIUM for good dessert is both painful and pleasurable at the same time. Ouch - Mmmmm....)

From top:

STICKY DATE PUDDING

APPLE CRUMBLE

STRAWBERRY TWIST - THINGY

YUZU LIGHT CITRON CHEESE CAKE

Of course there were drinks all around and lots of conversation and laughter. I enjoyed myself that night and I'm glad everyone else did too! =)

Now, the next milestone is pay day! Then I can start clearing all the stuff I need to clear! Yay!

Have a great week everyone.

Operation: TWS

It's not often I get the chance to coordinate an elaborate covert ops exercise from the comfort of an air-conditioned office. It all started when I saw this particular tweet by Vicki, and found out about the TANGS WAREHOUSE MOVING OUT SALE. So I sent the news to some other colleagues of mine via trusty Gmail, and before I knew it, I was coordinate a shopping trip during our Friday lunch hour.

After elaborate correspondence over Gmail chat, we decided that we should have an early lunch in the canteen upstairs. After a quick lunch of highly affordable economic rice, and fruit that tasted vaguely of other fruit (imagine a papaya with a mango aftertaste = mapaya/pango and watermelon with a tinge of pineapple = waterapple? / pinemelon?), we grabbed a cab from the main road and made our way to the sale.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as packed as I expected it to be, and the very friendly orange signs along the way made it easy to identify and locate the 'warehouse' which 'hosted' the sale. In a nutshell, I felt the sale was more suited for aunties and ladies. The selection of things for men just weren't enough. I ended loitering around the super affordable Sanuk racks, and looking at the tiiiiinnnnnnnnyyyyyy Timbuk2 rack. In the end, I DID spend some money on some things (actually, I think I spent the most amongst the girls who went with me...lol). Here's the breakdown of the damage:

The big-ass orange plastic bag all the stuff I bought was placed in. =)

Two pairs of Sanuk slippers: SGD$38.00

(one for me, one for a friend)

Box of Japanese chocolate sandwich biscuits: SGD$4.50

(Birthday present for a colleague)

Nabisco Cream Crackers: SGD$5.90

(For my increasingly frequent 'cracker + something' sessions with Jo-Ann)

Gummibears for a friend: SGD$5.00

(I think I got ripped off on this one)

Timbuk2 Messenger: SGD$89.00

(I'm going to trust that the PINK in this bag is what's going to make me stand out in a crowd. It's just more fun to have a colour combination that I think very few people would actually choose)

GRAND TOTAL: SGD$137.40 + SGD$5.00

(the Gummibears were bought after at a secret location that we did not notice until after we'd all paid for our stuff)

Today's operation was quite fruitful actually. I shall be on the look out for more warehouse sales from now on. Seeing as how my workplace is in such a godforsaken place already, I might as well make the most of it and find excuses to get affordable deals like these during lunch hour. =)

Till the next mission!

Signing off.

I love my brother!

I was having a conversation with my brother, and it was really funny.

Here's how it went:

Me: Yo, watcha doing?

Bro: Oh, I'm TUMBLR-ing...

Me: Huh? What's that?

Bro: It's like Twitter, but like blogging style.

Me: Oh I see.

Bro: OH! Have you heard about this thing that this guy said about Youtube, Twitter and Facebook?

Me: No. What did he say?

Bro: *announcer type voice* In the near future, users of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook will be able to access all three on a brand new collaborative platform called YouTwitFace.

Me: *laughs like a madman*

That was it...YouTwitFace...Classic man... Damn Funny.

=)

Stupidity

I was at lunch, and was waiting for the canteen uncle to finish preparing my lunch (I ordered Chicken Cutlet...heehee). So I was standing there, waiting there with the rest of the hungry office workers. It was exceptionally crowded today because it was raining and no one really wanted to head out to eat.

So there was this group of girls who were waiting for their fish and chips, and while doing so, they were trying to prepare chilli sauce for themselves. So they took the dainty little plastic saucers, and began to squeeze the sauce into the dishes. After awhile, the sauce got stuck and refused to come out. Of course any sane, commonsensical person would know that it's because there is a bubble of air stuck between the chilli sauce and the mouth of the bottle. So the most logical thing would be to give the bottle a good hard shake and trying squeezing again after that.

This nincompoop of a girl, kept struggling with the bubble of air, and in the end, she concluded that the bottle was "spoilt".  IDIOT. All this while, her friends who witnessed the entire thing, obviously displayed a greater lack of brains as they backed away from her attempts to get the sauce out of the bottle as though they were afraid that the red, plastic squeeze bottle would explode or something.

-- 10 minutes later --

The SAME girl finally got her fish and chips, and asked the uncle for mayonnaise. Now, the uncle does not understand English, and he says so, and asks her again what she wanted. And she replied (adamantly at that) with the SAME request, in English. She did this a total of three times, and if it wasn't for the auntie who came out from the kitchen and happened to notice the self-righteous girl getting slightly irritated at this entire thing, I'm sure the idiot of a girl would continue asking for the mayonnaise and not even care about the obvious communication gap.

Haiz... People really ARE that STUPID.

I need...

...to be STRONGER.

Exciting Weekend Ahead

I am excited about the coming weekend.

I am going to be doing SOOOO MANY things. =)

1. Giving intensive GP tuition to my Indian kid from 730am - 11am! Woots!
2. Playing for two events at a Zendikar Launch Party
3. Coaching my client who just arrived in Singapore.
4. Attending a TCC Preview to represent Coaching.
5. Heading home to have celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with my mom.
6. Giving tuition again to my tuition kid from 9am - 1130am! Double Woots!
7. Spending the day tanning/swimming/reading at a pool or a beach.
8. Having dinner at VERVE, which is NEAR my home! Hurhur.
9. Going for an important meeting, that I can't wait to give my input in.
10. Going down to ZIRCA to support my friend who's in Mr Singapore! YAY! So exciting!

*rubs hands together gleefully*

PS: Watch out for my geeky, and totally incomprehensible report on my Magic morning! Yay!

~BORED~

I am so bored.
I AM SO BORED.
I aM sO bOrEd.
i Am So BoReD.
I Am So Bored.
I aM sO boreD.
I Am So BOREd.

I am so bored that I am trying out other ways to type the same sentence, over and over again.

Life's great.

PS: Miffed that I'm missing the Zendikar pre-release tomorrow. CCB! =(

Wish I had more time with her...

I was in the middle of a Chain Revolver combo courtesy of my favourite gunner babe from BlazBlue, Noel Vermillion, when my mobile vibrated. I checked it, and it turns out that I actually had tuition in an hour's time. So upsetting can? I thought I could have one more round of combo practice in the arcade before heading off to do my market research. =(

I ended up buying the books before rushing to tuition. So now I have about 5 Primary 1 Grammar Practice/Activity books to look through. Spent $34.57 on them...must claim back from the company.

I am thinking about what to do with that ONE remaining token still sitting snugly in my right pants pocket. I wanna play!

Argh!

Food, just Food...

Spending the day with L normally equates to the consumption of waistline-unfriendly amounts of food. This happened last Saturday. Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

I just love food. Heehee.

Love this song...

Watched Sayang Sayang that day on Channel 5. I really like this song....A LOT.

(The video has an annoying Channel 5 advert for 2 secs in the beginning, but overall, the video and sound quality of this video is the best I've found so far.)

It's Time For Sayang Sayang


There seems so many things that lie before us
There's just so many things we want to do
But let's just stop and pause
For just a moment cause
We should do something special...me and you

It's time for sayang sayang
It's time for sayang sayang
Caring for one another 
Family and friends
It's time for sayang sayang
It's time for sayang sayang
As we go walking together, hand in hand

The time that we all love is here to treasure
A very special time of the year
These days we're sure to find
These days of yours and mine
We'll share them with the ones we hold so dear
(Hold so dear)

It's time for sayang sayang
It's time for sayang sayang
Caring for one another 
Family and friends
It's time for sayang sayang
It's time for sayang sayang
As we go walking together, hand in hand

As we go walking together, hand in hand

I am...

DAMN SLEEPY!

Fun Weekend!

I did many a great thing this weekend...

Friday
- went to do market research on competitors and began to marvel at how quickly I was able to identify the problems with the brand i.e. poor product placement which would probably indicate poor marketing relationships, poor on-the-ground awareness which is leading to CONTINUED sales problems.
- met some new coachees, and found them absolutely interesting and cool. *excited*

Saturday
- JB Day!
- Had yummy lunch.
- Had very affordable haircut.
- Shopped for -ahem- certain things related to technology.
- Had yummy seafood dinner!
- Felt fat after that... mwahahaha.
- Grateful for the company though.

Sunday
- MAGIC CUBE DRAFT!  :) So many good cards to choose from! Spoiled for choice sia...heh.

-----------------------------

I sense that today is going to be a slow day... I can already feel the drudgery pulling at the edges of my consciousness. *yawnz*

An Inspiration!

Interesting Stuff at my Workplace.

 

Platter of expensive, absolutely amazing roasts. Burned a hole in the pocket, but it was still worth it. =)

 

Funky taxi. I've never seen one like that before. Maybe I'm just ignorant. 

 

This is the first time I've seen a lucky draw being held in a coffee shop. The prizes (not featured here) were actually below the banner. But some of the prizes looked a little dubious. LOL!

Excited about the weekend + Uber quick rant

Let's rant first... here goes:

cue rant...

Just because you don't have a life and I seem to be 'happier' does not give you the right to give me stupid ass looks every time you see me do something that jars on YOUR sensibilities. If you are so unhappy about it, either come and confront me about it OR ignore me.  So choose one or the other.

Don't stay in some fucked up place where you're OBVIOUSLY unhappy, or you OBVIOUSLY have something you want to say, but you just aren't saying it.  It's okay if you want to remain a constipated excuse of a human being for the rest of your miserable life, but not when it makes you sneaky and makes you give off this eternal air of suspicion that projects itself onto just about everyone around you. Sadly, seeing as how that's probably going to be the way things go for like...ETERNITY, I guess I'm just going to have to put up with you. But mark my words...one day...I will snap, and when that happens, it's NOT going to be pretty. Because you WILL lose, in every aspect.

Some people are just so fucking repressed...gosh...and uncertain about themselves. I hate people with no opinion. It's like they don't have a stand about things in life at all. Sheesh... like PLEASE, give me something to respect about you man. I implore you...

*inhale*
*exhale*

end rant...

Now that that's out of the way, it's time to talk about more exciting things!

I will be having a short day trip to the land which is truly Asia tomorrow! Errrr...essentially, yeah. That's all. Loads of shopping and seafood dinner at night. Mwahahahaha!

Vonda Shepard - Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow

For some strange reason, this song has been stuck in my head since morning.
I just can't seem to stop humming the tune.
Weird.

OMG OMG!

This is what happens when you don't read to the end of the interview, BEFORE posting something about it.

When I got to the end of the interview between Fantasymundo and Patrick Rothfuss, I discovered that he actually gave a sneak peak into the first six lines of the sequel!


On his first hand he wore rings of stone,
Iron, Amber, Wood and Bone.
There were rings unseen on his second hand,
One blood in a flowing band,
One was air all whisper thin,
And the ring of ice had a flaw within….

Forgive me for being such a fanboy... =)

*nods in agreement*

From an interview with Patrick Rothfuss, on his experience with facing pressure on producing an excellent sequel to his novel, The Name of Wind.

About a year ago, Tim Powers said to me, "A book is late once, but it's crap forever." 

Nice. I like.

Can't wait for the sequel...

*rubs hands together in anticipation and the cold of the office*

I like cooking.

It would seem that the only time I get to blog these days is that little bit of free time in the mornings, before everything swings into high-gear. ANYWAY... the past weekend has been fun for me! It was a weekend of creative expression (sorta), and time well-spent for myself.

I cooked a lot this weekend. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself...from the grocery shopping to the food preparation to the actual cooking of the food and serving it, and of course, the EATING! (Unfortunately, no pictures though...no quality camera at the moment, maybe COMEX might come to my rescue? Heh.) I made quite a few dishes over the weekend, and these were mostly recipes I stole liberated off Tastespotting.com. Here's what I cooked:

1. Bacon Corn Chowder

Verdict: VERY GOOD. It's a semi-blended soup, and extremely flavourful, and probably a year's (or two) worth of sodium in a single serving. It was the first time I blended soup! An amazing experience, I tell you. My blender is now my new best friend! Hee.

2. Seafood Baked Rice

Verdict: The seafood wasn't the freshest thing alive...so no-go. BAD...threw it out.

3. Bacon and Pea Soup

Verdict: I prefer the corn version. The peas lend to it a thicker, but more grainy texture, which isn't removed via blending. Plus, it wasn't the bright green I hope it would be. Maybe I need to use FRESH PEAS next time...I wonder where to get those man...

4. Spinach & Cheese Spaghetti

Verdict: Just nice for my tastes, but a little too bland for the common palate. I couldn't find feta cheese in FairPrice, so I use mozzarella instead - NOT flavourful enough. Next time, I shall remember to chop the spinach up better, and use feta instead.

5. Honey Chicken Drumlets

Verdict: Super easy way to cheat with chicken, and especially if you have a sweet tooth (I'm not referring to myself) - just douse the damn meat in the usual marinating stuff: soy sauce, salt, pepper, chinese rice wine, BUT add more honey than is the norm. Voila, you now have a dish that's more like CANDIED DRUMLETS. Lol! But it was still yummy. Hee.

I'm already thinking about what to cook next already....mwahahaha.

Weekend Bliss!

In order of occurrence...

1. The Proposal - It's so right...things should be like that.

2. Meeting - Productive and quite exciting.

3. Catching up with old friends - Priceless

4. Weston's 1880 Cider - Absolutely HAWT! One of my new favourite drinks!

5. Making up - Always nice. =)

That was my weekend, in a nutshell. Hee! =)

Psyched!

http://www.comexshow.com.sg/

I should right?

Great Friday Morning!

Let's see...

1. Woke up on time.
2. Decided to wear a PINK T-SHIRT just for the heck of it to work.
3. Watched animes on the bus ride to work (this was super shiok... i.e. satisfying...mmmmm...)
4. Came to work and greeted all my colleagues happily.
5. Went onto tastespotting.com to get my fix. (I'm an addict, I swear)
6. Logged onto Twitter and saw an important update on GuildWars2 Concept Art! *excited*
7. Spent about 15mins going through the lot and downloading it!
8. Blogging about my wonderful morning!

I'm feeling happy this Friday morning. And love seeing SMSes from important people...mwahahaha.

Ciao!

Blogging

As you all can see, I have been fiddling with the various features (widgets, template, etc) on Blogger.

It's been quite fun, tedious, but fun.

I have ported most of my old stuff over from my previous layout (links, old significant posts etc.) I just have one gripe left.

I think the blog is a little too 'skinny' with only two columns! Does anyone know to how 'insert' a third one on the left? I'm quite happy with the current skin (albeit one of the ready-made templates on Blogger), but I just want that third column!

I would go online and Google about simple HTML-ing, but I just can't be bothered. (yes yes, lazy me)

On a side note, I really do hope that my application does get through...it would be so exciting if it did!

More challenges, more manoeuvres, more excitement!

Mwahahaha... 

An Epiphany...

I was reading The Name of the Wind on the bus when this hit me:

An excerpt from The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~

"Master Elodin?"

"Yes?" His eyes followed a squirrel across the road and up a tree.

"I still don't understand about names."

"I will teach you to understand," he said easily. "The nature of names cannot be described, only experienced and understood."

"Why can't it be described?" I asked. "If you understand a thing, you can describe it."

"Can you describe all things you understand?" he looked sideways at me.

"Of course."

Elodin pointed down the street. "What color is that boy's shirt?"

"Blue."

"What do you mean by blue? Describe it."

I struggled for a moment, failed. "So blue is a name?"

"It is a word. Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the the fire itself."

My head was swimming at this point. "I still don't understand."

He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating." He lifted his hands high above his head as if stretching for the sky. "But there are other ways to understanding!" he shouted, laughing like a child. He threw both arms to the cloudless arch of sky above us, still laughing. "Look!" he shouted tilting his head back. "Blue! Blue! Blue!"

~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~

This was after the moment young Kvothe came into awareness of his own powers and abilities. A truly amazing moment. Makes me remember and connect back to a time so long ago. It's important to remember certain things...they hold within them endless perspectives and avenues to tap into them time and time again.

Excellent Sunday!

Let's see...

What did I do yesterday...

9am - 12noon = Tutor-ed the brother & sister in Sembawang

1pm - 4pm = Trained/Coached two people for event preparation

5pm - 6pm = Slack at Raffles City Starbucks

615pm - 815pm = Sat at the Comics Mart on Level 3 and did the following:

1. Dug through the Magic common box. Shiok!
2. Chatted with the guys there about Magic.
3. Made a new friend.
4. Spent $17.50 on 3 packs + 50 protectors to play two-man draft.
5. Won the draft and first-picked a FOIL Empyrial Archangel! Shiokness!
(Here's the picture)


I think it's worth quite a lot...should be enough to cover my costs. But then again...it's so damn pretty! Argh! Pretty pretty pretty!

9pm - 10pm = Dinner with A

Then I head home and that was that....nice nice. =)

Great Day!

GuildWars 2

Whew...my first ever off day, and I just started my day on the right now. I'm super excited right now.

Information on Guild Wars 2 is finally out! And I just watched the freaking trailer!


Official Website
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/

Official HD Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em0Sd60iI2w

I am so so SO So sO SOOOOO EXCITED! (Argh, I know I've said that a few times already, but I just sorta can't stop)

I'm definitely going to be playing a Sylvari character, and best of all, it's going to be FREE ONLINE PLAY (like the original GuildWars)!

No crappy WoW business model that totally pisses me off! Hahahaha.

Here's the concept art!



Nice right?

Alright, enough of the initial excited energy has been properly channeled into this post. =)

Have fun everyone!

The best things truly are worth waiting for.

The Name of the Wind

It's been a while since a novel (or any book in fact) had the ability to keep me giggling/laughing for a good whole minute, ALOUD.

=)

On a totally unrelated note, I just want to say that I love the ambiguity of anaphoric referencing. LOL.

Damned it be to meddling strangers! Hah hah!

Overheard on the MRT...

Dragonboater A: "I thought 'pre' is 'after'?"

Dragonboater B: "No. 'pre' is 'before'."

Dragonboater A: "Not 'after' meh? I thought it's 'after'."

Dragonboater B: "No, it's 'before'. 'Post' is 'after'."

Dragonboater A (muttering to himself): "Hmmm....'pre'..'pre'...'Prepare'...yeah, should be 'before'."

Dragonboater B (to Dragonboater C): "Actually, is it 'before' or 'after' ah?

Dragonboater A: "Wah lau! I thought you say you know?!"

At this point, I decided to stop listening to spare myself the laughter that would have inevitably killed me. Fortunately, I arrived at my stop already...so all was well. Does too much physical activity really do this to a person's brain? I remember once, I heard that some other dragonboater didn't know that raisins came from grapes...

I'm glad the dragonboaters I know aren't like that. =)

Work Work...

3rd day of work...

It's been pretty relaxed thus far.

People have been nice, work has been nice, place has been nice (enough).

Still got quite a few food places to explore, and I am thankful for friends who are just as new as me.

I get to use an eMac (yes yes, it's not an iMac, but it's good enough), so I foresee myself getting converted pretty soon.

Just that there are so few games on Mac! Argh.

Having an internet connection that allows me to use Gmail is great as well. Can Gmail chat...

That's the way to go in my company. Hehs.

I just hope they hurry up and complete the construction ASAP. I really REALLY hate walking amongst half-finished concrete. It certainly sucks big time. :(

PS: I am updating this blog too because there are certain important people who need to know how I am doing in life. (it's not YOU Su! lol...I'm referring to my RELATIVES...OVERSEAS. Hah!)

At your request....

I am writing this post because of the dire lack of updates (and sufficient bitching from my lovely EL friends).

As such, here are the updates surrounding my life & random thoughts:

1. I have found a job at a publishing house in the East (God Bless my long and boring travel time) and I start work on Wed!

2. I am contemplating what to spend money on when I get my first paycheck (I wanna buy something techie! Like a PSP/PS3!)

3. I miss my friends, and am wondering how in the world am I going to start making time for them again.

4. I don't get why blogging and Twittering and 'social-media-ing' are such big deals.

5. I am thinking of remodeling/redecorating my house...it's getting BORING.

6. I wanna get a bigger bed! I feel like a big kid stuck inside a baby cot.

7. I am beginning to appreciate the differences I have with certain people, and I am glad that we share the common goal to WORK THINGS OUT, such that everything can keep moving forward. Love y'll.

8. I am currently at tuition and am leeching off their internet connection (I am such a cheapo).

9. I am sick of trying to think of something to write, so yeah...suck it!

And that...

was that...

Authenticity

If you can't be real, so be it.

Don't come and try to absolved your myopia by according it to an entity that no one can actually see.

So don't come and pretend to be something you're not, it's just plain annoying.

Lunch at Fish & Co.

Just more food pictures...make everyone hungry...MWAHAHAHA!

Seafood Noodles!

I was in the middle of training today when I received an SMS from my tuition kid's mother. This is what it said:

德禹七点上课，那么六点半你可以到我家吃海鲜面吗？

(Teyu's class with you is at 7pm, so would you like to come over at 630pm for seafood noodles?)

I wasn't able to make it at 630pm, but she insisted that she would leave a portion for me anyways. So when I arrived at the place at around 720pm, this was served to me...



Prawns (3 medium sized ones)
Squid (approx. 1 medium sized squid in rings)
Salmon (2 small fillets)
Cockles (I think I ate about 10 of them)
Silken tofu (half a standard supermarket block)
Taiwanese rice noodles (she said they brought them over from Taiwan, but they just looked like plain noodles to me)
Shredded ginger (garnish)
Minced coriander (garnish)

The soup was basically water, and a little salt.
Everything else was flavour from the seafood!

Amazingly simple and yummy!

=)

I is happy!

And now I know how to cook a simple seafood noodle soup dish, that's practically foolproof. Mwahaha.

PS: I LOVE the old school metal spoon!

Veggies Rock!

Yay-ness!

*pouts*

I wish I had more clarity, so that I am able to create more clarity for those I truly care about...

Quote of the Day

Dancing is the manifestation of a horizontal desire in a vertical form.

(Heehee... *snigger*)

GUILT

is fun and easy to spot.

*bleah*

Change

Shifts.
Progress.
Forwarded areas of life.

This is what happens when you deal with evolution.

It can be scary, it can be fun, but you will never ever know for sure what you will be getting with everyday you walk the path of evolution.

As I learn more about myself every single day, I just am so thankful for this life that I have.

Even as I am writing this, I know it's all crap, and I know it's actually true, all at the same time.

I love talking nonsense, or am I?

*snigger*

Infinity

Seeing Infinity in a flower.
And Eternity in a grain of sand.

When both come together...that's that...and that's all there is...and nothing more.

They were all around her, and I saw her face amongst them.
And that's all there was. I am glad that the last image of her I saw. Her portrait, everlasting beauty; captured in a single frame.

She held on to her Consciousness to the very end...

And I will always remember her spirit and tenacity.

Bastard Children

Something Xinwei shared with me:



Damn funny lah... ^_^

Sure-fire ways to make me jealous...

Just send pictures that look as good as these...

PS: Just so you know...these were definitely HOME MADE...

Picture1: pancake/flapjack/hotcake thingy with a wedge of peach, fresh cream, maple syrup and a sprinkling of cinnamon and spice.

Picture2: a homemade quiche taught by a French girl...

I am so jealous...I wanna learn how to make quiche from a French girl too! Wargh!

In all so many words...

This is how my Dad says, "I Love You"...

I guess I suddenly was present to how he insisted that he prepare food for me even though I arrived home unannounced and he had not actually prepared my share. I tried to fight him off, saying that it was okay that he did not prepare my share, but he insisted that I take some anyway, and made sure he prepared a plate for me.

I only thought about all this as I was eating the chicken chop, and suddenly, there it was again...that tingly feeling inside...it's been awhile since I felt that tingly feeling...

Food prepared with love really tastes different...but you have to want to taste it, or at least be present/aware to what is plain to see....you really have to...

^_^

Won't be around from the 27th to the 30th of this month...

Byebye ^_^

Boot Camp!!!

Dear Folks,

I will be away from the 24th of Feb - 2nd of Mar! I will be uncontactable for the most part, but if you really need to contact me, just drop me an SMS yah? I will try my best to reply you.

Take care and have a great mid-term break! ^_^

Love,

a reminder...

It was such a dark and scary place, but I knew it was somewhere within me. It was cold, and I could not see anything. I opened my eyes and looked around, there was nothing. I heard a voice that told me to go deeper into the darkness. I did.

As I looked into myself, I found a tiny light. It was like a flame, or a round glowing orb, or a wisp of glimmering smoke, or something...it was just a light. I realised that was me. It was my light. So small, so weak, so fragile...never knew it looked like that. Strange.

I then looked up, away from my light, and all there was darkness. Wait...there was something more. There were dark shapes around me, in front of me, all around me. They looked slightly humanoid in nature, but I wasn't sure. I squinted, searching for a confirmation of sorts, but all I could make out were fuzzy lines, and auras almost non-existent.

Then an epiphany struck me! They WERE people, and they were all dead. There was no light in them...all of them...dead, zombies that you see in movies...vacant, empty, emotionless...it was scary...VERY VERY SCARY.

I was filled with a sadness, and I did not know what to do...with the amount of work I had done, and the things I had seen, my light was only that much...that weak, that fragile...and these people totally have no light, no hope, nothing. How was little old me going to be able to ignite their light?

I don't know...it hurts, it's daunting, it's freakishly hard...I don't know...

A voice near my light asked, "What are you willing to sacrifice to fulfill your dream? Everything?"

Another voice near it answered in a trembling (yet with a determined undertone) voice, "Yes."

Of Ponies, Kway Chap & Menotti

I had a great time with John tonight. We were having one of our usual meet ups after a long while type thing, and I was a little late. By the time I arrived at Raffles City, he was already at the bed linen section of Robinsons. Now, I have always found it slightly weird for two guys to be together at the bed linen section of any departmental store. The salespeople just tend to stare and whisper a lot...but then again, I don't really care...at some strange level, the attention is sorta nice. Wahaha.

So I reach the wagons where there were many designs of bed linen on sale, and spot John almost immediately. He was fawning over this particular design with ponies on them (the packaging actually said 'Trojan Horses' but the idiot insisted on calling them ponies), where the ponies came in many different designs. There were rainbows one, grassy ones, ones that looked like sheep...well, you get the idea....I think. So John goes on and on about how the ponies are so pretty and cute, and how he wants to get them for his room in Newcastle and I sorta joined in the fun and talked really loudly about how I hated the ponies and the banter between us (I'm sure) scared the sales boy a little. He probably has never seen two guys talk so much about bed linen...wahaha..

All that fun over and done with (Mr Siow spent $100+ on the bed linen..sheesh), we headed to get some hawker food cos' he's leaving and I think he wanted to stock on local Singaporean food before he leaves for about a year or so. We had Kway Chap and a side of roasted duck meat too. Shiok lah... it was the stall near Bugis. Not too bad...only spent $11.70 between the two of us.

After that, we head down to Menotti's for drinks and dessert because I'd never been there before (to the horror of Mr John Siow). According to him (or his expression at least), my not having been there was apparently quite blasphemous. Ah well, I totally fell in love with the place. We had hot chocolate, lemon meringue tart thingy, and this mousse thingy called Canolli. Freaking good sia...everything was exceptionally yummy. I know the desserts all go for half price after 9pm, so all of you reading this, get ready for invitations to join me at this splendid place soon yeah?

To John: I had a great time tonight. Please take care when you are over there, and don't forget what we talked about yeah? You will be fine, more than fine. Gambatte ne!

SHOUTOUT!!!

I hate not having a laptop/desktop!!!

ARGH!!!

It's been awhile...

Hi guys...it's been a long while since I posted anything. What to do...my desktop 'exploded' and for those who know...my laptop is about as reliable as, well...my desktop that exploded. Needless to say, I have been struggling to survive, and am doing pretty well so far. My mom has the intention to buy a new laptop for me (dunno why also, but she offered to pay half, and to pay the full cost first...amazing stuff). This is the one I'm currently eyeing (yes yes, I know it's a Dell, but somehow I seem strangely attracted to it):

Dell XPS M1530

It's supposed to be a gaming laptop lah...so I can finally return to my GuildWars! Wahahaha....anyway, we should be going shopping this weekend. Wish me luck!

Alright, here's what I really wanna blog about.

For those of you who know, I've been involved in writing a book (www.pickmeup-book.com), and being Chief Editor hasn't been easy. It's really been a stretch for me, and all of it for charity. Yesterday, while I was assisting at the ECI headquarters in Joo Chiat, the Make-A-Wish Foundation CEO came down to pay us a visit, and wanted to see what we were doing and to thank us for our efforts.

As she shared with us how she got into this foundation, and described the process of 'wish granting' for the kids with life-threatening diseases, I really began to see how my efforts are going to pay off, and I began to see how this book is going to benefit these children who do not have the ability to make wishes happen for themselves. She shared one story with us.

11 year old, Joseph has leukemia, and has to stay in the hospital most of the time. Because of this, he longed for a laptop, so that he could stay connected to the world, and his friends via the Internet. Simple wish to grant yeah? Well, the whole point about wish granting is to create a magical experience for the kid in question. Now, the volunteers who had been working with Joseph also know of his love for cooking, but he never has the opportunity to do so. So one of them took the initiative to collaborate with Four Seasons Hotel, and arranged for their head chef to have a private cooking session with Joseph.

So they took Joseph to the hotel, led him through the grand entrance, and all the way to a function room where there was only a mobile kitchen top set up, and a dining table. As Joseph entered the function room, he was amazed to see his parents (who were supposed to be working), two of his best friends, and his medical social worker who referred him to Make-A-Wish. They then handed him his very own apron, name tag, and chef's hat, and immediately the head chef worked with Joseph,. teaching him how to prepare a four-course meal for his parents. He did so, and then sat down to dine with them. It was a magical experience for him...

And they presented the laptop to him as well, of course...

This story really touched me. I was imagining what it would be like to be Joseph, having one of my greatest dreams/wishes/fantasies granted. Amazing stuff...I'm glad that we chose the Make-A-Wish Foundation as our beneficiary....it's just so freaking cool...

That was enough to keep me going for the rest of the race. Thanks Debbie for sharing that amazing story...

It's almost time for my 2pm lecture. School just seems so...well, boring, when I'm doing something meaningful. But I know I need to get my foundations well set up before I go running all over the shop. Yeah, I am tired, and I'm learning how to function with low amounts of sleep and what not, but hey, if I grow bigger and better with this experience, who knows what's to come? I shall continue with my lectures in school, and if I can create a few miracles along the way, why not? Hahaha.

I'm loving it... ^_^

Pick Me Up Book!!!

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/322497/1/.html

http://pickmeupbook.wordpress.com/

Check it out guys! And support our cause!!!

(I think I look terrible on TV...should've styled my hair...LOL)

BLP

I will be away from the 1st - 4th.

If there's anything urgent, contact me on my mobile ok?

Gonna miss all of you...

*excited and scared*

LOL