The Time of My Life

Fate Decided

2008-06-07T23:52:00.003+08:00

Yup accepted pharmacy over accountancy. Its not that I dread that accountancy is boring but they usually don't have much of a work-life balance when they finally start work. My bro is one of those sadly...

Parliament passed a bill regarding continued training for pharmacists last year. Reading the transcript of the motion putting forth the bill gave me some reassurance that I didn't make a bad choice.

Over to other news, I'm posting out of my current camp soon over to Jurong. Stay out but seriously far from my house. My superior told me it isn't far as long as its in Singapore. -_-"
Didn't fall sick this week though, which is a miracle considering the fact that I sleep so little and my immune system sucks. So I'm happy haha.

Oh yes, regarding the previous post, I think should apologise for my bluntness. But then, haven't I always been like that. Old habits die hard haha.

Pondering

2008-05-22T21:55:00.003+08:00

2 months into my course at OETI. Feels like forever in here. Somehow, fixing machines isn't my thing. Oh well.

I'm still pretty confused as to which uni offer i should accept though. Was pretty ecstatic after successfully getting to NUS pharm but Qixiang just had to share with me some bad news. Hope it doesn't come through. Now i'm seriously thinking of studying accountancy at Boonlay University. :X

Floating on a flyaway tonight
And I'm sweeping through the skies in speedy fly
Leaving all the dreariness behind
To another space another time

Waiting

2008-03-07T09:29:00.002+08:00

Okay just 4 more hours to go. Just came back from camp with most of my bmt stuff and which is kind of crazy since they all weight just about as much as me. Don't know what to expect back at my former jc. I'm not afraid and i feel strangely detached from everything. Guess this calm comes with believing that there is a higher power up there.

Goodluck everyone.

Sick

2008-02-23T19:41:00.003+08:00

Fever sucks. Painful infection sucks. Staying at home and not going out on a book out day sucks. Sleeping and waking up every hour or so sucks. Eating medicine sucks. Sitting next to people who cough without covering their mouths sucks. Falling sucks.

Went for 3 different saf interviews this week. Interestingly, the band, the music and drama club and saf counselling centre called me up. Burnt tons of money on taxi fares to these faraway camps. But i do hope that it was worth it. The parade band sounds enticing.

Into the last 3 weeks of BMT, i hope i survive to tell my tale.

Counting down the days to ORD

2008-02-16T11:57:00.002+08:00

Yes i know, i know, its being quite long since i last blogged. SO many things to talk about haha. This should one very very long and brooding post.

Yes I am through confinement and plus 1 week. Haha 4 more weeks to go. I must say the recruits in PES A and B have alot harder than us in PES C. To give you an example, I'm exempted from running, marching and jumping, stairs, hand grenade etc. etc. But then the sergeant can find alternate ways to make us suffer. Like make us clean our bunks again and again and again until you cant find dust anywhere (even under the cardboards and the obscene corners in the window grills) for just enough for the sergeants to do an inspection before the beautiful Tekong air dirties everything again. Apart from that, I'm a certain IC (no names mentioned here, in case i get charged) which gets me f***ed most of the time. Very stressful yes.

Then there is the vulgarities. Almost every sentence is spoken with an f*** or a c**** or many other of those wonderful profanities. Its like a "la" or a "lor". Yes, crazy, luckily i vowed to leave all my crap back on tekong ferry terminal before im shipped back to mainland singapore.

I book in tomorrow at 6.30p.m. which means i have essentially less than 24 hours to slack...

TO BE CONTINUED

Prologue

2008-01-24T01:27:00.000+08:00

I'm going into the army tomorrow. Damn excited la. Cannot take it. I heard that training and lodging facilities for PES C recruits like chalet la. Really much go see and experience man. But i heard that the bathing toilets in training school 2 got no door de, die. Haha, meeting up with Kheng Ming before turning myself in. (Okay i sound like im guilty for murder or something) My senior tells me that I have a chance of joining the SAF band. OMG. They play at NDP!!!! That has always been a secret wish of mine. Hope I pass the auditions.*Prays* I heard that they have this really sick exercise in army called the Bhudda Clap. See what you do is that you clap your hands straight above your head repeatedly. It may not seem like much, but i'm sure infinite counts of 4 will make you beg to differ in no time.

Anyway, I watched another documentary on the 9-11 "terrorist attacks" and other associated attacks. Rather depressing stuff really. The worst thing is that these documentaries actually MAKES SENSE. The 9-11 official report really has huge discreptencies regarding the collapse of World Trade Centre 7 by not EVEN MENTIONING IT. If you are interested in finding out you can go look up in the internet for the documentary. Its called Loose Change.

By the way, CLOVERFIELD IS FREAKING AWESOME. You should watch it. Seriously. I swear I had trouble breathing throughout almost the whole movie. Too exciting. I think a sequel is very very possible. Warning though, not for the light headed. The movie is a like roller coaster ride, the shaking film can make you puke.

Oh yes, I have to say goodbye to my hair. Its slated for destruction. The Indian barbers are gonna cut it all off once i reach Tekong. Alright its time for me to say my goodbyes for a long time to come. The next time you will hear from me will be during CNY. Till then, sayonara.

"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely"

Change-Something i have been avoiding

2008-01-18T00:29:00.000+08:00

Many things have happened of late. Got to take up many different jobs. Met many interesting as well as frustrating people. Got to see the myriad of colourful characters that Singapore has to offer. Spent many sleepless nights thinking about my future and the possibility of us. Sorry that I'm talking in such an abstract way, its just that my mind is a Möbius strip right now. Just 7 days before I pack my backs off to a sunny island off the coast of Changi.

Listening to this song called Breakable by Ingrid Michaelson. I find it really profound but maybe its just me. Of course every individual is entitled to his or her own views and beliefs, so i don't suppose it matters whether you agree or not.

Went to watch Body #19 and American Gangster. The former sucks but i highly recommend American Gangster. If you haven't watched it, i suggest you do. Yes? My man.

New glasses, new friends, new life, new found wealth, now all I need is a change of mind.

Busy busy

2007-12-19T02:04:00.000+08:00

Tired.. Alot has happened thus far. I got a job at Singapore Expo as an office clerk (aka SK warrior). Office hours, don't ask me how much I earn, haha. Anyway, I have been starting to get worried about my health. Guys aspire to grow vertically but I'm starting to grow horizontally!!! So I have taken it upon myself to work off those excess calories running around my estate. Its great to have a running partner as crazy as I am. If you ever catch two guys running around the Tampines/Simei/Par Saris area at 1a.m. in the morning, its most probably me and Darryl.

Haha, my brother lent me his army running clothes, and the funniest thing happened yesterday when I came across an army recruit who was wearing the army logistics one. The thing was that my brother was a commando back then in the army and whoever wore their running clothing commanded great respect. So along came this bespectacled guy who can hardly pass off as fit running in commando fatigues. By clothing i outranked him! He just stared at me with disbelieving eyes as he trottled pass. I swear he may have even slowed down for a closer look. Haha.

Oh shit i got to work tomorrow. Chao!

YES!!!!

2007-11-23T23:15:00.001+08:00

Haha two years of hard work (ok not so hard work) have finally come to fruition. Not a single test to study for for the next 3 years or so hahahahaha. After some crazy few days or of gaming i have decided to pen down a list of things i want to do during this long break. Its always good to write down what you want to do because most of us would simply waste away what little time we have doing mindless, repetitive tasks, like playing games for example. Haha so here goes:

1) Clean my room.
Okay my room is in a state of emergency right now. Bio notes in maths files, econs notes lodged within GP notes and blah blah blah.

2) Get a job.
Young, energetic and inexperienced labour for hire! Gotta make some money if my quest for world domination is every going to see the light of day. Kidding..

3) Get a life.
Need to mix around with people more, especially with people of the opposite sex. I have been around guys for like 99.9% of the time. Starting to feel gay already.

4) Get another blogskin done.
This blogskin is like so yesterday? Its been so long that I designed something meaningful, i think my skills are all but gone. Gotta photoshop more often. =/

5) Level my bandit to lvl120
Took up maple recently again. Its a good method of passing time especially with friends. The fourth job is out already people! Its time to pull up your socks and start grinding!!!

6) Get acquainted with my trombone again
I miss band. Really. Alumni practise starts in December, whee.

Alright, the holidays doesn't seem that boring anymore. But my mood is blemished by the largest ucler i have ever had in my life. Argh, its getting bigger. I swear that if it doesn't stop growing im going to become one big breathing ulcer soon. Not a very pleasant thought.

Vicious Cycle

2007-08-24T20:22:00.000+08:00

I did some research on the war on terror and was confronted with certain questions. Why is there a war on terror? Is this war even on terror? Are we creating more of this so-called terrorists with our actions?

Did you know Osama Bin Laden was once a CIA operative? In fact, Ali Abdul Saoud Mohamed the one person who made the September 11 attacks possible worked for the CIA, FBI and American Armed Forces. A triple cross of unimaginable proportions. The US should really rethink its strategies, before yet another calamity overtakes them.

Notice

2007-08-12T21:01:00.001+08:00

Missing Graphic Calculator

It apparated! If you do see a graphic calculator please tell me about it.

Found it, Leonard took it by accident.

090807 National Day!

2007-08-09T22:26:00.000+08:00

Sian didn't manage to get any tickets for this year's national day. The balloting for tix was such a hushed up affair and the 18 and above requirement really complicated things. Anyway Marina Bay was facing a huge overcrowding problem even at 2 in the afternoon. With a seating capacity of 27000 (half of which were already taken up by civil servants, foreign ambassadors, ministers blah blah blah of course... -_-" ), and half of Singapore there, red could be seen from the Merlion to the Padang. So as I and a group of old classmates were parting this modern red sea while trying to get closer to the promenade, an occasional yelp and yell could be heard as one would throttle on another's foot.

Well there were activities lined up at the esplanade poach to entertain ndp viewers who were not so lucky. And one of them was a military band performance. I couldn't see a damn thing. Aiya, this is what happens when Singapore's national average height is so much higher than your own. So living up to the mood of Bourne Supremacy, we decided to try to inflitrate the Esplanade and get onto the roof. (Incidently, Esplanade's roof boosts one of the best views of the promenade than any other place in the area.) As expected, the place was swarming with policemen and the like, of course we were chased off.

Somehow the multitude of people being there puzzled me. There was no way they were going to be able to witness anything. The only thing they could see, were the fireworks. And 6 hours of wait for 4 minutes of fireworks?! That's pure kiasuness. I guess this is a side-effect from a lack of entertainment in metropolitan Singapore. Ok I know the fireworks were fantastic, but do you know that every firework display costs in the range of millions of dollars? Somehow I suspect that this year's fireworks were way better than last year cos the government saved a substantial sum from the lower number of goody bags given out. So we complain about the higher gst rate, the increase in road pricing, the building of extravagant buildings and bridges, but not the withdrawal of currency from our circular flow of income to create a bunch of fancy sparks. Nice.

Ok la, I may be a little too critical about the whole ndp affair. Ndp does bring together the people. Just look at the amalgamation of people from the different races coming to together to celebrate the Singapore miracle. 42 years and counting, lets all hope that Singapore continues to shine on rather than just be a brillant brust of light in history and fade away into nothingness as many other city states have.

Old/new school

2007-08-08T19:17:00.000+08:00

I went back to my old school today. Or should I say my new school. Looking at the sorry state of a certain junior college in Singapore (not mentioning any names here, hehe. :P ), my old school looks more like a luxury resort. Ultra chic lockers and a study cafeteria completes this modern image.

Just check this locker out. They look good enough to be the backdrop of a fashion shoot! This certain jc's lockers contain more than mere books and the daily necessities of a hectic jc life. I was recently horrified to find a termite nest lurking in one of the lockers under under one of my unfortunate friend's. (For more information about a free tour of the interesting and often disgusting sights and sounds of this certain jc, please contact me. Kidding, haha!)

Anyway, other than visiting this national monument of modern design, I went to see my former teachers. Interestingly, secondary schools are facing not shortage of teachers but rather an EXCESS of teachers. Enough to maintain classes of 20 in fact. NIE should really do something about this, especially with the recent windfall of more than 300 MOE teaching scholarships given out.

Now for the most delectable part. My former bio teacher asked me whether I was attached! Funny she asked. Well let me make this loud and clear.

This is not the time for relationships.

Yes thats right, I said it. What is 3 months compared to a whole lifetime of opportunities? Well, I made my choice. As of today, I'm giving up many of the things I love to do for the time being. One of which are computer games. (All but one anyway, cos maple is such a pain in the ass to reinstall, not that im a fan of it anyway. LOL.) As for blogging, I won't be writing unless I have something really pressing to talk about. Haha, as for now, godspeed!

Takes Life. Seriously.

2007-07-31T19:18:00.001+08:00

Notice that the above sentence has been punctuated at a most peculiar place? My life feels like that now, punctuated at the wrong places by moods of monotony. But there are friends aplenty and the new dexter series! Well they help to liven the mood up, no matter how insignificant. It is the small things in life that keep me going on now. Just this morning while I was rushing to the carpark to get a lift from my dad, a freaking cute cat started following me! Haha, I WANT A CAT. NOW. :) I think they are the cutest creatures on earth.

I was at a loss at the interchange just now. All thanks to the government's continued efforts to build a world class transportation network, they have decided to make Singaporeans' lifes so much easier by naming multiple bus services with the same number with different colour coded plates. To matters even better, they have even included user friendly, idiot proof signs indicating which buses stop at the interchange and which buses don't. Being so well informed about these improvements I must have been crazy to even consider asking the first world information counter which bus service to take. But just like any security-seeking a.k.a kiasu Singaporean, I did. With a calm, reassuring voice, one of the attendants pointed me to the right service. With all the trust I have placed the public transport system, I was sorely mistaken. Instead of heading towards my destination, I horrified to know that the bus went in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION. I think a public inquiry is appropriate.

Punctuations. I should carry on with the next sentence.

A Good Day, Finally

2007-07-24T23:06:00.000+08:00

Its official, for the first time in one and a half years, the guys of 3006 finally went about playing lan. Haha, it was a heck of a fun time. The choir concert was good too! Too bad there was a real lack of support, what a pity.

Good Riddance

2007-07-15T11:13:00.000+08:00

Don't rekindle something you put out in the first place.

Ramblings

2007-07-11T18:12:00.000+08:00

Much has happened over the last couple of weeks. First the mugging, the impending exams and then the final revalation. No i didn't do well. Niether am i going to talk about how much more i could have or should have place into my preparations. What I would do instead is to reflect upon how I got to this point of my life instead.

It has become clear to me that my life has taken a drastic turn for last then favourable circumstances. Perhaps it had been my own doing that I, in my inability to control my adolescent tendencies, got myself into a relationship that ultimately dominated my life for the better part of my first year in jc. Aside from an inefficient use of time for less than laudable activities, I neglected friends, family and school. I would like to apologise to the all my peers out there reading this post for my inadequacies in the past year.

I had always been living in a dream, a perfect world which will never exist in the real world. How stupid was I to believe in such a thing as true love during this period of my life. In a way, though I’m reluctant to admit it, she was right. We are still young, there are still countless people to meet, to cherish and to love as we live our lifes. As for those very few individuals that believe that they have found that perfect someone, I send out my warmest regards. For me, at least for now, it is the end of the road.

To some out there, this post may seem like a mere irritant conjured by the infamous Nelson Lee, so that he can pretend to be that so-hurt-inside-little-boy. On the contrary, I’m writing this post to finally embrace my mistakes and transgressions. Those of you who know me well, I have a knack for defending myself. Denial it seems, has clouded my perception till now.

Okay, okay, this may sound like a suicide note but rest assured that I'm perfectly sane and fine, at least for the moment.

I've had enough of this parade.
I'm thinking of the words to say.
We open up unfinished parts,
Broken up, it's only love.
But it will never be.

Aeria Gloris

2007-06-30T11:55:00.000+08:00

"Inner Universe" by Origa / Shanti Snyder / Yoko Kanno is a beautiful song.

With lyrics in Russian and English, the song is about longing, nothingness, love, and an incredible sense of motion within.

The most repeated phrase in this song is 'Aeria Gloris', which means 'heavenly glory' in Latin.

How did I stumble upon this song? I'm an anime fan.
(Anime is Japanese style animation.)

One of my favorite anime series is "Ghost in the Shell". This series features a very detailed world with deep and developed characters. The story moves on several fronts at once: philosophical, political, technological.

The main focus is, in my terms: polarity integration. Integration of flesh and machine, consciousness and body - ghost and shell.

The series maintains a delicate balance of identity in every aspect.

My favorite scene is not directly part of series, but part of the intro to the series - the intro while "Inner Universe" is playing:

The main character, an adult woman with a fully cyborgized body, has a restless sleep. She dreams about a deciding moment of her childhood:

Due to an accident, she has been recently cyborgized. (All of her flesh, except for her brain, has been replaced by technological counterparts.)

It's a beautiful morning, and she is holding her favorite doll in her cyborg hands.

But, she can't control her body well... Her fist clenches, and she crushes her favorite doll. The woman wakes from her restless sleep with an out-stretched hand; a sense of longing.

This event leads the child to become the woman she is today: an epitome of balance, precision and delicacy - a goddess in one form or another.

Aeria Gloris... Aeria Gloris...

Here's one interesting thing about heavenly glory:

Aeria Gloris doesn't exist by itself.

Aeria Gloris exists only as a descending motion, revealed to its ascending counterpart.

AHHHHHHHHH

2007-06-19T21:37:00.001+08:00

I have spent entire days stuck in my room, look through bio. Stoning isn't getting me anywhere, ahhhhhh! I haven't even started econs, ha. I'm gonna dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Wait a minute, I'm sure that there are tons of people out there who are panicking too. Oh well good luck to all, cos my luck just ran out. :(

thoughts

2007-06-13T00:12:00.000+08:00

Have.. to.. photoshop....

Its been awhile. Just my photoshop and me. :)

wasted time

2007-06-11T14:31:00.000+08:00

It seems that all this extra time has been wasted. Haven't really settled down to do any serious studying. Guess I'm still trying to come to terms with myself. I must get over this phase of my life. Its not like its the end of the world. I will persevere, I will push on. I WILL TRIUMPH.

On a side note, I think i better write bigger from now on. Wish me luck.

evil lyrics, haha

2007-06-06T23:42:00.000+08:00

Never Again(Excerpt)

Does it hurt
To know I'll never be there
bet it sucks to see my face everywhere
It was you
Who chose to end it like you did
I was the last to know
you knew
exactly what you would do
Don't say
You simply lost your way
They may believe you
But I never will
Never again

Never again will I hear you
Never again will I miss you
Never again will I fall to you
Never
Never again will I kiss you
Never again will I want to
Never again will I love you
Never!

Truely evil lyrics. Kelly Clarkson at her very best.

I'm back!

2007-06-03T01:51:00.000+08:00

Okay okay i know, I gave up blogging. But guess what? I changed my mind! Anyway, life has a fantastic way of changing from one extreme to the other. Previously I was too pre-occupied with god knows what (one can only hazard a guess) and now I'm just too unoccupied that even something as senseless as blogging has caught my attention.

Great, the JCTs are around the corner and there are just 3 weeks left!! Not only have I not started on any serious revision, but i just found out that i LOST MY ECONS FILE. The last time i saw it was in a cyber cafe (shit why was i in one to begin with?). How much worse can life get? Awesome!

Penguins!

2006-12-10T01:10:00.000+08:00

I went to Kheng Ming's house Along with Leonard and Hao Jie, yesterday for some much needed entertainment. One of the many games we played there really strike me out as awesome. The designers of Winning Eleven, a popular soccer game among fans around the world had placed a special ester egg in the game. Worldclass players are seen running across the pitch in what else? Penguin suits! Haha, its hilarious to see them lose their footing and tumble. I had more than my fair share of laughter. If this could happen in real life.

Epilogue

2006-11-11T21:51:00.000+08:00

Let's get something straight.

If you've done your job right, you have nothing to fear. If you've made honest but noncritical mistakes, and admit it and help remedy the situation, you have nothing to fear. What you should be afraid of is the consequences of covering up. Do i make myself clear? So cut the nervous chatter and tell me. What went wrong? What should I be aware of?

Indifference

2006-10-24T00:49:00.000+08:00

I played dota with a GP teacher today! Mr Celvin Tan to be exact. It was extremely amusing, for I could not get any of my friends to play with us at first. But once they heard that he was a GP teacher, vacant player slots were filled almost immediately. Guess they wanted to exact revenge on him for their poor GP grades. Haha.

It turns out that Mr Tan is actually very good at dota! In fact, he was one of the better if not best heroes of my team. It was almost surreal to see him owning the sourge at one point of time in the game. I shouldn't tease him too much from now. (Oh no, all the noob pet talk i gave him before the start of the game)

Even teachers can be almost like us. Hmm, maybe Ms Goh plays dota too? I guess it wouldn't hurt to find out...

Nothingness

2006-10-21T20:27:00.000+08:00

Its been a long while since I went out with my old classmates. My secondary school days were wild and innocent and I finally got to immerse myself in a figment of a past long gone but not forgotten. I'm glad that so many of them are doing well in their respective jcs as well as polys. Leaving me to wonder whether my present circumstances is due to a lack of afford or motivation on my part.

It has happened before, but this is definitely the first time I manage to dissociate from the present for so long. Kind of reminds me of the Zen state of mind that monks attain during meditation. Where tranquility, peace and freedom reign freely. Escaping from reality it seems, is quite an effective way of maintain one's sanity.

Reprisal

2006-10-19T22:13:00.000+08:00

Its a cruel world. I see people crumbling all around me, and watching them being washed away by the never ceasing tides of life. Fate, as it seems makes life so much harder sometimes. Yet distressed as I may be, I feel that we should never let it overrun us. Take conform in the fact that there will always be a better tomorrow so long as you are willing to lock down all your fears and insecurities and just push on. Draw strength from within yourself with the certain knowledge that those that live in your memories had tried their best and had lived life to the fullest. As such this is a declaration of war, a reprisal against a secular yet wholly realistic world.

Just push on. Just keep pushing on.

Damn.

2006-10-17T21:08:00.000+08:00

Just got back biology. Totally crap. Oh well. When will the haze ever go away?*cough* Arghh, does anyone realise that the haze makes everything look brighter and glaring? I guess it should be due to the diffusion of light by the dust particles. P10, I'm going to exterminate you one day.