merry christmas.. to you!!

and so.. yet another christmas.. so before i start.. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! yupz!! hope that everyone had a really great time.. eating as much chocolates and log cakes as possible.. singing the loudest carols, without the neighbours complaining.. drinking loads of glühwein, though we don't exactly have that on this side of the earth.. wait, any warmed red wine will actually do.. and being stuck along orchard road/ vivocity or wherever else and in some fake snow-foam party.. but whatever it is, hope that everyone had a good christmas..

on the other hand.. i had an eventful line-up till christmas eve!! boy!! it almost sucked the air out of me, not to mention that i had to go back to school to top up solvent and to keep the hplc column.. and here goes..

decorations on friday were just plain cool.. it's just reminds me of the excitement of seeing what we or others have designed, materialises.. and do not tell anyone of what i did to the ceiling boards in the church function hall.. *angelic look*.. and suren did a really pretty work with the flowers on the walls!! eunice and huiran did a really great job with the rest of the hall, which ain't an easy job.. elizabeth can cook!!! chocolate fondue!! and how we all learnt of each other's dirty little secrets during the ice-breaker games.. despite the tiredness, it was pure fun on saturday evening.. =)

then came sunday morning.. a truckload of thanks to aunty bock chin and uncle mark.. and richard and priscilla.. and the kids as well.. nothing would have happened, if it won't for all their help.. despite the craziness, the chaos and maybe bits of ill-discipline.. it's all in the name of fun!! love the kids loads.. and i hope that this love will not fade away.. =)

and i was late for candlelight service coz i went shopping for a new pair of shoes at queensway shopping centre.. and i overslept and couldn't wake up for christmas service this morning.. so i spent a lazy morning and early afternoon at home.. watching tv, tidying newspapers.. and literally sleep.. although i should feel guilty about skipping christmas service but it was a good break.. a little slow-down that i need.. but the crap thing is, i finished all the tv serials that i've been watching during this holidays..

first up, there was band of brothers, which i failed to complete few year ago.. but i finally did this time round!!! =) though there were loads of guts and intestines and blood.. and next up, there was grey's anatomy, whereby the whole hospital is just sleeping with each other!!! oh gosh.. but i really do hope that meredith ends up with derek in the show.. and it also reminded me why i cannot be in the medicare profession.. gawh!! stuck on tv!! and not to mention, this japanese serial which i borrowed from gek koon.. gawh!! it's been ages since i watched japanese serials and i really do miss them all.. and crap, holidays are ending soon..


and channel 5 was screening love actually yesterday evening.. and it's actually the 3rd time that i've watched this movie.. once with adeline in dec 2003.. another with nitya on the london cable channel on christmas eve 2005.. and on christmas eve 2006.. cheezy, though keira knightley is really pretty.. and bill nighy is just totally a comic effect.. and rowan atkinson is just the critical humour factor required.. and colin firth actually looked better than hugh grant, though hugh grant looked so good in nottinghill.. and the main line that stuck with me throughout the whole movie was, it's christmas and we tell the truth during christmas..

and yes, time flies.. it's been a year since i attended christmas service at the westminister abbey and trying all means to take a photo of our nation's founder, sir stamford raffles.. though i still failed.. gawh!! time really does fly when we are having the most fun..

on a sidenote.. received a really wonderfully made and pretty christmas card, which i have absolutely destroyed already!! i ought to throw rocks at myself.. now i have to rely on the powers of scotch tape!! gawh!!! it's just so nice to know that somewhere out there, i'm still on somebody's mind..

once again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! =)

diamonds are a girl's best friends..

well, perhaps not for me.. yet!! i do not have the financial capabilities to substantiate a lifestyle involving that of diamonds.. too much at the moment.. but i can substantitate a lifestyle of shopping.. let's see, i came home with bags full of products and i literally just threw them on the couch and sat in front of the television for the next 1 hour.. THAT's how much i've shopped..

mango's having their annual pre-christmas sale.. and the place is unfortunately packed with ppl.. mummy thinks that it looked like some factory-outlet sale, plastered with 'mango' outside the store.. robinson is having a purple theme this christmas, with 'cirque de noel'.. and it has really unique christmas trees in the store down at raffles city.. go check it out.. it's quite a sight.. pretty in fact!! =)

one big major spot at raffles city was marks and spenser.. shoot me man!! i really love the store!! too many lovelies to not be taken notice of.. the food was the main draw, definitely!! and there were all the body care gift bags.. whoo!! pretty is an understatement!! and then i stumbled into the shoes and accessories section and boy, i fell in love with this pair of black heels!! it costs SGD59 bucks.. but i was so reluctantly to part with the money due to the charles and keith vouchers which i had.. and there was this really pretty scarf, which costs SGD49 bucks.. a BIT too much on the high end.. and i even spotted my marks and spenser clutch bag in this year's christmas stash!! though it was released as uk's last year's christmas stash.. bwahahahha!!

a long cruise down citylink with occassional stops at charles and keith and vnc, but i realised that this season of shoes is not as pretty as the previous.. well, let's talk about the mango sale.. i realised that i can never buy anything nice or to my great affinity when there's a sale.. clothes are thrown all over the place and there's just mountains of clothes everywhere.. and the racks are all packed and the store is all packed too.. and there's a very high probability of having the person next to you, buying and wearing exactly the same top or dress.. fashion disaster that every girl will want to avoid...

zara was much better.. no sale = no crowd!! i love 'no crowd'.. i spent quite a fair bit of time in there.. selecting, commenting, trying.. and then the cycle repeated itself.. stumbled upon quite a few lovely and pretty knee-length skirts, and some even went well with the combination that mummy introduced!! but then again, if buying clothes is an investment.. buying skirts are just equivalent to investments that have collected dust.. so period about me and skirts..

and finally, i went back to charles and keith.. and settled for a pair of black heels.. but after having a favourite chosen, one can't help but keep comparing with that of the latter.. gosh!! my thoughts were wondering off to that pair in marks and spenser.. but oh wells..

and now, you must be wondering, why am i so free and so rich to embark on a shopping spree?? i took 'leave' from lab and decided to have a day off.. and wandered myself off to town for a guilty shopping trip.. and yes, lucky me have quite a fair bit of shopping vouchers at hand, at almost all the shops mentioned in my post.. but the crap thing is that they all expire next month!! and who in the world will have time to do a shopping spree when sch starts all over again.. not to mention, design 2 with fyp thesis and whatever else.. insanity will rule when the semester starts again..

well, my brain is kind of fragmented now, so thoughts ain't flowing out sequentially but sufficient to make some logic here.. so make do with my bimbotic post.. skip it if it bores you.. and oh, titanic is screening now on rtm 3!! btw, i'm eyeing a pair of adidas sneakers.. great!! more money flowing off to somewhere..

end of AY06/07 semester 1

and yes, end of the semester and once again, we had our traditional, literally, class gathering to go eat somewhere again.. so far, we have gone for dim sum buffet.. for marches.. and now, finally a steamboat session, located somewhere in bugis..


thanks to kelvin for leading the way to the restaurant.. and to all of you who came!! i had much fun and i really hope that you all did too.. well, and i really do believe that karkit is receiving some commission from the toilet paper company, for doing an advertisement for them!! yupz, so where shall we go next for our food sessions??

the disastrous part of the dinner was that, we, somewhat, were unable to remember the fact that the exams are over.. coz our conversations were peppered with terms related to chemical engineering.. even the distillation column came into the picture... kendrick's right.. if this was to go on any further, we are all banned from going to eateries that deal with anything that boils and heats up within our line of vision.. oh wells, occupational hazards.. =)

well, dessert fell apart.. camy, zhenxian & me ended up at bugis street to do much shopping and trust the girls, in a 2-hour interval, much can be covered.. oh my goodness, bugis is like some hidden treasure for inexpensive but fashionable shopping!! not to mention my stash of goods from tiong bahru market earlier in the day.. we shopped till 11pm!! man, i must say that it was much tempting to stay till even later, if it's not for the fact that we have church the next day.. and yes, i'm gonna go back to bugis street for more.. my mum was like, are you trying to buy the whole place down.. *laughs*


on a sidenote, tangs has one of the prettiest christmas catalogue for this season.. and gosh, i must say this again.. it's REALLY pretty!!! but the things in there are really expensive as well.. though i must really say, i don't exactly mind spending the type of money on the shoe collection from tangs studio.. coz they are really pretty!! and i saw this pair of red heels in there for 69 bucks.. tempting but need to check it out before any decision is made.. meet me in my impulsive state and i'll just buy it off the rack.. hmm.. i need to go tangs!!

'mommy!! it's over!!!'

that was taken from GAG.. and yes, it's all over.. one more semester down and only one more to go.. hmm, stuff about intellectual property just keep getting stuck in my head, so i can't help wondering if some of the stuff on this site is actually a violation of copyright laws.. but that's besides the point.. so another semester gone.. and i'm not exactly sure if it's a good thing or not.. oh wells.. the holidays are here.. so enjoy while it last..

and crap, what holidays!!?? when majority of the days are committed to returning back to lab to do my fyp.. gosh.. final year students.. wait, correction!! final year students from the faculty of engineering, science and architecture.. arts, law, bizad ppl do not have experiments to do.. they only have theses to write, well, provided they do not take independent study modules.. wait, correction no. 2!! law ppl don't have to do all these crap.. so look who's complaining about holidays being short??? tell that to a year 4 chem engin student, and he or she can tell you truly, what does 'short' exactly mean... to think that the due date of the thesis is faster than we all can believe it to be.. oh gosh!!

joanne's off to jakarta, then egypt for christmas!! how exciting can that get!!! i mean, staring at the pyramids for christmas.. well, if she actually does that.. suren's going off to myanmar for medical trip.. well, let's see what i have to do?? actually, there's a lot to be done.. youth christmas.. children's christmas.. fyp.. monthly meeting!!! oh gosh.. gonna get a headache soon.. so tell me.. what holidays??

and humph!! i don't care.. no matter how hectic things are, i'm gonna start watching band of brothers.. =P after all, it's the holidays.. i get to wake up late.. and i can hearing someone calling.. BORDERS!!

happy feet!! *WHEE!!!* i watched the movie!!! it's a totally feel good movie.. and it's a happy movie, which is very much in need in a crazy time like these.. but i'm even more insane to watch it now, when the exams are like next week!!! but.. but.. i need a break?? come on, there's mech design, bio-cat and engin pro driving me nuts for all the projects and presentations.. i'm surprised i still can typed them all out here.. and engin pro has been really REALLY driving me nuts for the past few days.. stupid intellectual property!!! stupid professional engineering codes... GAWH!!!

anyway, it's a really cool movie.. and they even use real professional tap-dancers to simulate the tap dancing of the penguins.. and huge jackson's memphis is just so totally him.. so is nicole kidman's norma jean.. but i really love robin williams!!! he's just so good and so hilarious.. and throughout the whole show, it just kept reminding me of mrs doubtfire!! i miss that movie.. my vhs died long ago.. and hugo weaving still sounds as evil as agent smith.. even steve irwin had a cameo as the sea elephant.. and yes, mumble is so very much an elijah wood.. =)

and boon sent this a couple of weeks ago.. i feel so OLD!! not to mention that i saw the youths coming from their prom night just this very evening, all dressed up in daniel yam and what nots.. the funny thing was the boys' attire.. oh wells, enough said.. anyway, louis asked me during lunch, so what do you think of acjc? hmm, it perhaps has become a school, whose culture is so much different from that when i was there.. but all in all, there were good times and there were bad times.. we all can only now look back and say, i was there while it lasted.. so here's the video.. acjc mass dance 2002..

to be thankful for...

my weekly post.. great.. this is turning into a habit again.. there's much that i wanna post about but i don't exactly know where to start.. too much has been happening.. or rather, nothing eventful has been happening, just mini hick-ups.. hmm.. rev. thomas was saying that, we are always thinking of what to share during a time of thanksgiving.. but shouldn't we just be thankful that nothing happened? that nothing big or small happened that turned our lives upside down.. shouldn't we just be thankful that all is calm??

just a few things running through my head..

firstly.. a wave of nostalgia.. went blog-reading during my 2-hour intervals this afternoon and read off cherie's latest post.. *laughs*.. i feel so honoured to be one of the 2 people who got mentioned.. wait, if i am actually mentioned that is.. but she mentioned about our council exstallation song - gustav holst's jupiter.. and in the evening, i happened to go past indochine at wisma atrium and the live band was actually playing - train's drops of jupiter, which was the theme of my seniors' night.. everything seems like some long ago memory but it seems yet just like yesterday.. to all the friends who have stood by me from the days back in acjc till this day.. though i do not see you all often, or even talk to you on msn, but thanks loads.. thanks loads for everything..

secondly.. the Lord's little goodness.. there are traces of His goodness everywhere.. sometimes they are slightly more obvious, other times, they are harder to be spotted but they are everywhere.. not going into the details, but both camy and eunice found back what they have lost.. it just reminded me how God's protection is even on small little things like thumbdrives and handphones..

so what's there to be thankful for?? a lot of things.. even in uneventful, peaceful weeks.. there are loads to be thankful for..

the spray dryer..

oh, you stupid compressor.. what in the world is with your regulatory function?? why can't you just simply function for the entire period of time when i'm using the spray dryer?? why must you make me run up and down that stupid flight of stairs and get moments of shock from the loud noise and the sudden gush of air!!??

and after much a struggle and much a fight, i'm finally done with the spray dryer.. no more looking like some lab freak wearing a lab coat on weekends and staying till after office hours on weekdays, just to use the spray dryer.. i really do hope that i've seen the last of the spray dryer.. oh pretty please!!!??

updated on monday 11.08pm.. i broke the bloody evaporator.. great!!! no more spray dryer.. now, go away!!

cool poster, that came in the form of a magnet and made available in the co-op.. creation of 2 guys from florida.. and that even resulted in an entry in wikipedia..

i couldn't help but find this poster a classic and hence, was laughing the entire day.. gek koon was desperately trying to find one about girls to counter the statement but unfortunately to no avail.. andrew tried to counter the statement by coming up with some 'girls are evil' equation but we eventually managed to trace the root/ source of all evilness.. go check out more of this series if you are that bored..

impulsive buy?? investment buy??

so is it an impulsive buy or an investment buy?? i can't exactly decide where to catagorise my buy into.. well, before you start scratching your head and wonder what in the world have i bought, i'll spare you the trouble and tell you here.. i've fallen prey to the marketing scheme of borders.. and being on its email list doesn't help either.. not only had i make use of the 30% discount voucher from the papers, i've used another 30% discount voucher for a 2nd book.. and now i've got 3 more vouchers with me.. one for 20% discount off books.. one for 20% discount off cds.. another for 15% discount off book prize winners.. oh gosh, it is detrimental to my pocket but rather good to satisfy my want of a growing book shelf..

and yes, where was i?? on a book, which i could not catagorise.. and yes, so i couldn't catagorise it.. it's not a romance book, which i absolutely and voluntarily move away from that section of the book store.. it's not a deep, thoughtful book, which i've recently started to purchase loads of.. it's not my 'john grisham-robin cook' books, though i was very much tempted but see, being in hard-covers just ain't that attractive to me..

so it's a book, which perhaps i will not have a use of in the near future or perhaps ever.. but of course, i do hope that i will use it, considering the amount which i spent on the book!! so perhaps, as of now, i'll just shelf the book somewhere and classify it as 'well-kept secret'.. and dig it out someday to just read it once through.. otherwise, i'll just regard it as a collectible and leave it as that..

nothing to blog about.. or rather, nothing and no time to blog about anything coz time has been taken away to enjoy the wonders of youtube and the e5 computer lab.. well, thankfully that that's a periodic phase..


so here's what youtube has been offering me for the past weekend and almost of the entire week.. goong: princess hours... enough said and go watch it on channel u instead.. youtube's loading ain't that good either and yes, what a bad time to get addicted to youtube as well.. sigh.. but anyway, because of this serial, the korean drama community in church is expanding!! bwahahah!! hmm.. there better be some means of control soon though.. but like what cindee and me agreed on, please take these dramas at face-value.. even if there's a moment of slipping into the fantasy world, do wake up after a while yeah?? cool..

design 1 hasn't been really kind to all of us though.. it was insane when there are groups camping overnight in school to get the stupid hysys file to converge.. and not to mention that this stupid software generates different results upon different runs of the simulation.. and there seems to be absolutely neither a theory nor a basis for comparison behind this software but a matter of 'try your luck and see how it goes!! if you are lucky, you get it done on the very first try.. otherwise, thank you for your participation.. please try again..' till now, i still can't decide if i'm incurring a sleep debt somewhere..

sunday school was a mess.. i confess.. i didn't prepare like what i hope to do but just really thankful that at least it went alright.. just can't believe that i pulled off 'the pillow' craft.. hmm, really wished that i had my camera with me, so that i could have taken a shot of all the pillows.. they were really cute and adorable.. not to mention that my class has really sweet and marvellous kids.. if eunice loves her older kids, ranging from pri. 6 to upper sec.. i love my nursery kids.. for all their innocence and truthfulness.. for all their simplicity and honesty..

ich glaube, dass du es nicht lesen wirdst.. aber danke.. ich kann nur 'danke' sagen..

this wasn't even the publicity poster used for its singapore run.. but i just did it.. i just went for my 5th production of the year, over the course of 8 months.. oh gosh, expenses have to be cut somewhere, so that such expenditure can be funded for.. well, other means will be to have ppl finance it for me as belated presents and what not... *wishful thinking??*

so, tick tick.. BOOM!! an anticipation of an excitement.. of something to come.. or perhaps a fear to come.. it's like walking through the fluidity of matters and not knowing what to expect in the whole situation.. so when will boom be?? and yes, it's the life story of the late jonathan larson, writer of rent, which i unfortunately missed coz i was not in singapore..

the actors and actress were just great.. having a really good way of handling technical hick-ups.. voices were just there to bring the house down.. and yes, 3 persons to pull off the entire production of 1.5 hours.. and yes, it even had an autograph session to end off the whole night.. so my very first autographed program!! well, there's others of which, i will want the autographs for too.. but.. oh wells..

first time in the victoria theatre.. coz perhaps it's just a small-scale production by fiction farm.. but the funny thing was that, it seemed like some corporate night.. or some social night.. but yeah, a little out of place.. but who cares, i paid the same price for the tickets as all of you did, so i'm equally entitled to my share of the production..

the haze was totally hideous yesterday and on friday and thursday as well.. i tot that, well, i can't see jurong island so it's bad.. but then again, i couldn't see e5 properly from lt6 at 3pm on thursday afternoon!! now, tell me what's horrible and insanely terrible.. goodness gracious!! and yes, an all-time high record of psi index of 143.. i couldn't even see the merlion from the esplanade waterfront.. staying indoors seems like a better choice..

the phantom of the opera is coming to singapore.. again!!! *SCREAM*.. after 11 years.. argh!! who cares about price now.. after missing snow.wolf.lake, i don't wanna do another regret again.. so humph!! i'm gonna 'bribe, bluff & lie' my way through to get my ticket!! bwhahahhaha!!!

on a sidenote: i finally got to eat haagen daazs after so-so-long!! and yes, summer berries and cream.. yummy!! memorable and memory-pricking.. oh, but i finally moved away from the midnight chocolate cookies.. which i could still remember, feeling that coldness but enjoying it loads on the streets of paris.. but it's ice cream and me.. enough said..

kelly clarkson - breakaway

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreamin' of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray

Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed I could breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get on board a fast train
Travel on a jetplane, far away
And breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
I won't forget all the ones that I love
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging round revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me
But, gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye, gotta
Take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway

Breakaway
Breakaway

doubt..

doubt.. it killed all my confidence.. what am i left with now?

well, before i launch into all the 'ooohh & aaahhh' about forbidden city.. i must say, this is one thing that singaporeans can truly be proud of.. so shoot me man, promoting national pride here.. and trust me, one can even learn about national education as well.. well, more explanation on that later..

watching forbidden city for a 2nd time, felt like a visit to an old friend.. well, although the previous run was so long ago, but the highlights cd served its purpose, so i do remember bits and pieces of the songs and all..

for the very first time, i was in circle 1, though it was on the side but who cares.. after having gone for 3 productions, all involving kit chan, i finally saw her slightly more upclose, rather than some spot running across the stage.. and there's r j rosales as well and i've seen him in 4 productions.. but i must admit that it was pretty weird to have him act as a chinese.. and definitely hossan leong & sebastian tan, who played the ever-entertaining scribes.. hmm, just a silence sense of ectasy in seeing them slightly more upclose.. and yes, i won't deny that i'm a supporter of dick lee's musicals.. well, at least i can say that i've 3 of his many.. who cares if he botoxed his face or whatever, he's talented..

oh, there was this entire fleet of primary school kids on circle 2, occupying close to 5 rows worth of seats.. and before i go on further, i went to this production with my aunt.. and man, it's really a different league of intepretation.. not only was this a history lesson, but perhaps not that correct, it was a subtle hint of power of print and media etc... the ethics that one may come into run with, when the truth is pitted against what sells papers.. oh well, so there you have it.. national education.. hmm, i really do think that this production is slightly deep for these kids, but the teachers will now have the role of doing a proper debrief for them, such that the essentials are retained..

absolutely on an 'oh-no' state.. as of now, i've gone for 4 productions this year and i just have this crazy crave to go for more before the year draws to an end.. but gawh!! where in the world will the money come from man!! goodness gracious.. production-addiction state!!

a huge thank you..

just a big thank you to all of you who have made this day extra special...

to xingyi & peijia.. it was a really great surprise!! and i was greatly surprised.. love the chocolate cake loads.. so rich and thick.. talk about getting on chocolate high.. for all the trouble that you both went to, just to get me the cake.. thanks loads babes!! and to reen.. thanks for an early greeting and the pretty little card!! these 3 babes have really been 3 wonderful reasons to be in the class i'm in for the past years.. to jianz.. for having the thought of buying a cake but complained that there's no candles.. to cheewei.. who wanted me to pick something from her bazaar stall.. and much much more.. i'm biased!! sue me then.. but i love my class!! =)

to florence... for the mail that got eaten by the post office somewhere in bedok but to be delivered on time.. pretty purple card with a disclaimer stated.. thanks for the many 154-bus trips, ice-cream and mudpie session, west coast park outing and soon soon!! a kite-flying session.. wait till i get my hands on that..

to ade.. and i tot you forgot.. though this gift is the most 'un-me' gift of the year.. but it's really interesting, just that i have absolutely no idea what to do with it.. but thanks for enduring subway with me.. =)

to eunice, margy, huiran, jo and suren.. thanks for the 'surprise-jasmine' session.. love it loads.. not to mention the rich cheese cake.. but i'm still not cheezy!! thanks for the many years of support and love.. let's age with grace!! =)

to nitya.. the one and only card that i look forward to each year..

to eufo and gek koon.. lab will be terrible without you two.. even if we have to resemble pck's king kong & ah goon, who kept going for tau-hui break, but thanks for all the bad fumes, the terrible and boring engin food, the smokey environment and all.. =)

to the many others who have made this day as it has been.. once again, thanks!!

no. of movies watched: 1.. no. of durian eaten: erm.. from 2 boxes?? no. of macdonalds outing: 1 packet of large fries.. bmi index: i'm within the acceptable range!! woohoo!! *applause*



it was a girls' night out.. yupz, with beautiful shoes, clothes, bags and make-up.. with posh dinner arrangements and a cool trip down the streets of champs elysee in paris.. yeah well, the devil wears prada.. i think any girl will kill to have the wardrobe, which was featured in the runaway office.. *breathe*.. and yes, anyone will kill to have the job of the glamorous stage.. but all at a price.. quoting miranda priestly, everyone wants to be 'us'.. and lose your soul to the big political fashion world there.. well, there are 'miranda priestly' everywhere, not just in the fashion industry but in every industry.. well, that aside, it was a great girls' night out..

sunday was leeying's farewell.. that girl!! flying off this coming saturday to do her masters.. and we surprised her with a singapore lion stuff-toy!! well, you better carry him all the way up the plane and down and finally to your room and hug it every night!! we will miss you babe!!

well, am i working too slow or what? spent the whole of yesterday conceptualising the display boards for nias and it's only done till 2004.. there's still 2005 and 2006 to go as well.. *breathe*.. but the highlight of the day, was uncle jeam's stash of durian!!! yummy!!! we had the really sweet ones to the slightly bitter ones and the totally, completely, terribly bitter ones.. huiran couldn't bear to finish the last one.. and we were so sure that we would lose our voices today.. but thank God, we could still talk and sound real normal!! yummy!! i want more durians..

gawh!! time is flying!!!

no. of efforts on trying to curb my eating indulgences: numerous..

had my 1st mid-term of the new semester and man, it seriously felt bad & terrible.. not to mention that i had to constantly remind myself, that i have to somewhat and somehow score for this exam and it's not just a simple pass.. argh!! i need to get back to the norm of this system again.. on the other hand, no more 6-8pm lessons anymore!!! yahoo!!! that means that i can be on time for cell.. well, almost.. i'm just hideous!!

it's only the start but i'm starting to lose sight of the aim and the purpose of my fyp.. but colin did made a really good point, the whole project has to be integrated into the big picture and that way, it really does motivate on to go on.. hmm, i just have to find that big picture and put everything into place..

oh, florence and me checked out west coast park on sunday evening.. and boy, it was really great.. not to mention that i got to see part of psa at work.. up close.. darn!! where's my camera when i needed it most.. and yes, we were conceptualising an idea of a kite flying competition and guess what? yours truly has just been arrowed to organise a kite flying-cum-bbq gathering!! oh man, i need to convince uncle mark to come and help with the cooking.. if uncle weng kong can come, it will be the ultimate bbq!! we will have the best smelling pit in the whole park!!! we will promise to take care of abraham.. =) *laughs*.. now it's just to pick the perfect time to have this whole event..

big pour down!!

no. of chocolate indulgences: lost count.. no. of big pour down days taken note of: 2.. no. of weeks into sch: 3.. no. of weeks that felt like a holiday still: 3.. no. of kids populating the streets: uncountable coz it's the sch holidays again!! *gawh*

it's been a long time since i got to hear the 12 o'clock bell chimes, which the govt plays every month to signify the 1st day of the month.. so it just felt kinda good to hear it again.. that aside, this week is finally THE WEEK when it rained so hard.. well, it hasn't rained for a while or has it rained that hard for a pretty long time.. so when it was pouring cats and dogs, it just felt good.. but wait, it will only feel good, if everyone's indoors!! who would want to be out that getting all wet and resembling much of a wet chicken!!?? and great, the most unglamorous things had to happen on this very fateful day as well.. and they just had to happen in a series of 3.. oh wells.. that aside.. too unglam to be mentioned..

this was a week of mtg old friends and seeing them after such a long long time.. justin's back!! and i'm such a great friend by helping him save so much money on his text!! *quick thank me again!!!* chiu weng is still as evil to me as usual.. and after quite a number of years, i saw chin choong and ying jie again.. well, i couldn't recognise ying jie coz he has this big yellow/ golden hair.. hopefully it doesn't degenerate to jootz's burnt-bush colour from a couple of years back.. great to be talking rubbish and being all green with envy of their hyp room.. just like mein onkel's honours room..

oh, it's teachers' day today!! woohoo!! happy teachers' day to all who's applicable of the title.. =) and i discovered a nice place to look at sentosa in the evening/ night, without having to get on the bridge to sentosa.. oh yeah, just get some insect repellent prepared.. just in case..

quoting the words of prof. tan's words.. there's still 273 days and it will be all over.. *gawh*.. and on a sidenote: sometimes it really feels that painful to see the same image but in a different setting.. and i can feel my heart aching.. oh wells!! =P

here's a photo from some time back.. sean said that i will eventually land myself into a vicious circle.. camy said that i'm an 'united nation'... but i don't really care?? some have already gone home, while some are going home soon, while some have still some time to go.. but i miss all of them.. in big ways and in small ways.. i just want to say 'thank you'..

a final pack-up..

weight: unknown.. due to the recent bouts of tummyaches.. no. of shopping indulgences: finally!! at the count of ONE!!!.. no. of bag-indulgence session: numerous.. no. of chocolate indulgences: just finished up with kakaocreme.. started with rum & raisin.. *yummy*.. no. of lunch/ dinner appointment: 4..

an accidental spill-out of winterwear wardrobe, resulted in a big pack-up in my room.. well, it was very much needed anyway.. it's just a matter of time, before i need to get everything in place.. anyways, in doing so, my room has resumed to the way it was approximately a year ago.. with only one last small plastic bag worth of items to be put away..

as i fingered through the things around in my room and hidden in the cupboards and in blind spots, every single item seem to tell of a little bit of my life at each pt of time.. photos may fade.. stuff may yellow.. memory may fail.. but when something comes into one's line of vision, memories do return..

nostalgia.. but that aside.. just learnt of something that leeying's gonna do.. hmm.. i'm in much admiration of her courage and decision though.. it's really really a quantum leap of faith.. made me wonder much about boon's 'light at the end of the tunnel'-statement..

nus university hall..

well, something that i wanted to post but kinda forgot all about it.. anyways, i was that bored and i was way too early for lecture so decided to check out this place.. which i think, resembles a tat too much like that of the amercian embassy along holland road.. and there's just something absolutely not right with all the new structures and buildings in singapore.. somehow, they always have some futuristic 'space-craft' located at the top of the building.. oh wells.. anyways, what i really like is that of the following...


sue me!! i was that bored.. but what really struck me was the interior design of one of the admin blocks.. yupz, these pillars that stretch through a couple of levels actually left an impression on me.. could really enjoy the feel of 'space'.. which was a really good thing.. i mean, for a school that is cluttered with buildings and engineering faculty being so overpacked on a hilltop.. it's nice to have something like that around in school..

and after spending quite a fair bit of time tracking down the architect of this work, here it is: rsp architects planners & engineers.. and i realised that they actually did ucc as well.. wow.. check them out.. pretty cool but very futuristic impression..

school has started!!

weight: unfortunately, it's on the rise.. number of familiar faces saw in school: somewhat countable but thankful for them too.. number of times that old chang kee has tempted me: 2 times and counting.. number of days have past since school as started: 4..

school has officially started.. and well, everything has started rolling again.. snowballing rather.. hmm, it's really good to be back in school.. well, one truly appreciates what the adults mean by, school days are still the best..

it is good to smell the weird smells that each place in school carries.. to see familiar faces, though it's really much lesser than that more than a year ago.. yet, it feels strange all over again.. the mad rush everywhere.. unfamiliar faces and you suddenly realised that you are one of the oldest around in this institution now.. gawh!!! gone were the days when freshman still sounds that fresh..

thankful for making friends in unknown lecture classes.. and to even stumble upon my sec. sch classmate, whose name i unfortunately mistook for another.. total, utter embarrassment.. thankful for catching up with ppl all over again.. classmates, sep friends.. whoever man..

well, perhaps a little depressing, coz one year from now, it will be another decision-making time.. a bigger one perhaps.. but before that comes, here we are, having to brave through yet another year.. perhaps we may hit a pt, whereby we want to kill each other over project.. perhaps there comes a time, when we want to destroy some property in school.. but well, it's tough but we have gone through 3 years.. so give yourselves a pat on the back and look on ahead..

so, welcome back to school!!

the first day of my holidays!!

weight: oh gosh.. don't ask, it's complicated.. chocolate indulgences: further increased up the scale.. no. of fireworks seen: 1, while the other fell apart.. no. of appts with tall and desirable guy: 1.. [hmm, shall let mr. designer's ego inflat a little and girls, if you need the contacts, msg me yeah..]

that aside.. today is the first day of my holidays!! woohoo!! come on man, give it a 3 cheers!! =)


bevor ich andere sage, musste ich die folgende sagen.. scheiße!!! ich war spät, deshalb habe ich ein bisschen des film nicht gesehen!! gawh!!! nicht gut!! aber das film ist sehr gut!! jawohl.. die musik ist ganz gut und man kann wirklich die ganze laune fühlen.. sehr schön, obwohl die handlung sehr traurig ist.. aber das ist ein gutes film!! wenn du zeit hast, musst du das film sehen!! und ja, ich muss von wikipedia lesen, über was ich nicht gesehen hast.. oh oh!! und ich habe die uni, ludwig-maximilians-universität münchen, im film gesehen.. ja, ja, ich kann sagen, dass ich dort war.. nicht in 1943 aber in 2006..

yupz, so that's almost how i spent the first day of my holidays.. though i gave rag a miss.. hmm, on 2nd tots, perhaps should have gone, then could have seen ppl and see margy!! miss that babe loads.. and yes, who can forget about foodie!! dim sum buffet!! eat your hearts out man!! don't give a hoot about the weight, as long as i'm happy man.. and food makes me happy.. oh, did i mention that i intend to stuff myself with loads of food over the course of these few days?? jawohl!! who cares about weight.. let the slimming sanctuaries take care of that for me.. *laughs*.. when they come along that is..

borders is having it's 30% newspaper-cutting offers again!! gosh!! and i'm an idiot when such moments come.. and borders is having a slogan of 'have a bookshelf that others will be jealous of'.. oh yeah, i love that slogan but such a lifestyle can only be substantiated if i have the financial means of financing it too!! though i do not deny that my bookshelf is expanding as well.. hmm, i've yet to find a good coffee joint, where i can sit down and drown myself in a book for the entire day.. well, tampines mall sounds really cool but man!! the distance will be enough to kill me..

fireworks with a french theme, just did not work out coz of the crowd and the fact that i don't like crowd.. mr. designer can testify to that fact.. well, but at least i can say that this year i caught the national day fireworks.. right outside the national stadium and standing in a really good spot, with great company to enjoy the wonderful showcase of colours.. hmm, i shall let the photos do the talking then.. when i get ard uploading all of them, with appropriate commentaries..

the bridget-jones way..

weight: exploding on the scales.. chocolate indulgences: 4 times and counting.. junk food counter: in desperate need to visit the supermarket for replenishment of stock.. shopping sprees: unfortunate figure of -1.. visit to the beach: close to a perfect zero-score..

the title of this post says it all.. you all know which book i am currently digging into.. teaches one to blog, bitch, swear.. well, mainly to bitch.. well, let's try out how this new feel fits with my blog..

surprisingly and tiring week.. goodness gracious.. talk about having the wind taken out of you.. break ain't much a break and was zooming off to so many places.. cool stayover on friday, throw in a crazy session of 'madagascar', which sent us into a frenzy and waking the occupants of the house up.. but i'm lousy!! i was the 1st one to knock out..

that aside.. guess what have i been up to?? freeloading!! oh yeah.. with much much food and all.. excellent food, which i was awesomely treated to.. oh yeah, wonderful experience of freeloading.. the whole experience lasted for more than a week.. but shoot me man, for i have the fortune of eating and tasting it all!!


1st up, we had the wonders of singaporean delights.. cheepeng & aunty amy being the instructors and advisors of this session, it's no wonder that we had such wonderful food!!


2nd up, we had food hailed from the land of genghis khan!! oh yeah, the land of mongolia, whereby it's a little hard to picture ppl from there coz it's so far away and the climate is simple close to an artic-challenge..

let's see what we had here!! potato salad, which is a fission of russian & mongolian cultures.. carrots with mayo.. and it totally did not taste a tat like carrots!! and most importantly, the national food: buuz!! there's 3 variations: beef with vegetables.. beef with potato.. beef with rice.. schmeckt sehr sehr gut!! die mongolische mädchen können sehr gut kochen!!


3rd up, we had food hailed from the land of the rising sun!! what you see in the picture has one missing dish, which was food hailed from kazu's hometown.. doesn't that looked like some dish on a japanese restaurant's menu?? oh yeah, they were that pro and good!! my gosh!! and we had diy-maki rolls too!! yoshie single-handed organised the whole dinner and the rest of the japanese chipped in and helped in all sorts of ways.. well, i was late so i only got to see the end of the preparations.. now, how can the commercial japanese food beat this homemade one!!??


taku was in town during the weekend.. on a stopover to bangkok.. yeah, devin's back too.. to finish up his final semester at smu, with exchange in nus.. uncle jeam joined us coz he hasn't seen taku for a long long time.. debbie will be off to china for a mtg this wednesday.. and both uncle bernard and debbie will be off to the states in the very near future.. great friendships, great memories and stories that came about in a really weird way but will go a long long way..

and yes, we had vegetarian food for lunch.. what a change!! meat that isn't meat but taste totally like meat.. seafood that ain't seafood.. but well, it compliments my 'see-food' diet so no complains.. great food, with great company.. a tired but well-spent day!! =)

all he had to do, was to just point and click.. and yes, michael newman's life went haywired in the end.. well, fast-forwarded, skipping all the things that he wanna miss and getting to what he wanna get to.. so much for a universal remote control but it ended up controlling mic's life!! and yes, work vs. family/friends... find the balance and stay away from the remote control.. not everyone gets a 2nd chance like mic did!!

well, not a movie i would have caught if it didn't come for free.. and my ticket flew away.. went on a mini chase to get the stupid ticket back.. oh wells, and yes so i successfully watched the movie.. and yes, big underlying theme!! family/friends should take precedence over work.. an erroding social knowledge that has been pushed to somewhere behind the back of the brain..

on a sidenote: wenn man nicht mehr weiter machen kann, braucht man jetzt wirklich eine pause... aber leider gibt es keine zeit.. warum gibt es keine zeit?? zeit ist immer da, aber es geht immer.. es wartet auf niemanden.. das ist schade, weil in das leben des jemandes, es viele schöne erinnerungen gibt, geht die zeit leider immer.. oh scheiße!! ich brauche eine pause.. eine kurze pause?? aber ich denke, dass es nicht genug für mich ist.. eine lange pause?? aber es ist unmöglich!! *gawh*.. ich brauche einen großen urlaub!!!

... what if you found the one you were meant for... but you lived 2 years apart? ... how do you hold on to someone you've never met?


the poster is done as such, coz he was indeed living 2 years apart from her... and they never met.. well, they did.. or rather, he did see her and he knew how she looked like.. but she didn't... she didn't know who he was.. but he belonged to a part of her memory 2 years later, when she recalled the incidents 2 years ago..

wikipedia was supposed to save me from tearing but it did not.. i can honestly tell you that your heart just cringed up... when you see keane reeves standing by the window, looking at the fireworks in 2006.. when you see sandra bullocks finding the book 'persuasion' under the floor boards..

and indeed, how can one wait for someone he/she has never met.. but he did... he waited for her.. 2 years seem like a long time but he said "i'll wait.. and we'll meet.. tomorrow.. 2 years from tomorrow.." oh man!! i just love this movie, even though it has received bad reviews.. it's so much like casanova.. a classic that i will love and will want to buy the vcd to watch it again and again.. fine!! i'm pathetic when it comes to such good tear-jerking movies.. =P

and it has a good promotional theme song.. 'somewhere only we know' by keane.. oh man, great song with a well-made trailer.. sue me for being biased!! =P

on a sidenote, how did i end up watching this movie? well, you see... all my brilliant plan of watching helen, the baby fox fell apart.. well, the movie was sold out with only one seat left.. so after much delibration with yoshie, sei & florence, and while racing against time too, we decided to settle for the lake house.. well, guessed sei was the only one who was bored through the movie but was too nice to complain.. gawh!! yoshie and me were in the 'no!! oh no!! it's can't be like that' mood.. well, we never talked through the movie but could sense it coz she was seated next to me.. and yes, we were in the front row!! front row.. thank God there's no volcano lava flowing down on me this time round..

oh gosh!! i love the lake house.. now, i wanna watch the original korean version of it.. il mare..

the most blog-worthy wedding..

well, i've been to 4 weddings since i got back.. and each of them is special in its own way and definitely significant too.. all of them belong to close friends of mine.. but the one, which i went to on sunday evening, was the most blog-worthy..

some dialogue played out not too long ago...
price of nokia 6100: sgd 200
price of singtel sim-card: sgd 30
price of phone call to china: sgd 2/min
BUT look on uncle bernard's face when debbie picks up the phone: priceless..
for everything else, there is mastercard.


isn't it a pretty sight to see uncle with debbie? and the funniest thing that debbie told us was that, she has heard so much abt us and we have heard so much abt her.. but we only finally met a year later.. and although uncle's the groom, he was still calling the shots during the dinner, reorganising all the sitting arrangement and all.. debbie was like, oh wells..

hmm.. this picture would have been more complete, if the other 2 lovebirds have been here, instead of being stuck in indonesia.. miss them loads but no worries, i'll definitely be seeing much of them in 2 weeks' time.. and there's abang franky and abang taku.. much to say but shall not do it here..

yupz, so happy for uncle!! and yes, his american visa is finally approved so the real wedding bells are gonna be ringing from afar!! and uncle still refuses to ship us over to the states.. but anyway, CONGRATULATIONS uncle & debbie!! =) God bless you both on this journey ahead!!

goodness gracious!! so much has happened over ther past week and there's so much that i want to blog about.. but hmm.. events are supposed to be in order of precedence but i'm gonna skip that this time.. and arrange them according to importance, which will definitely be the immediate post that one will read about..


jack sparrow is back!! oh yeah.. and he's still that loveable pirate from the 1st installment.. well, at least one sequel that doesn't leave one scratching his/ her head upon leaving the theatre.. one classic example is matrix reloaded, where there were just too many questions dropped throughout the 2 hours.. and the only baffling part of this, is perhaps, if elizabeth swann has somewhat fell for captain jack.. and yes, as keira knightley said, elizabeth's character has just grown darker.. anyways... my gosh, the pirates from the flying dutchman reminded me of the orcs.. they were that disgusting.. but thank God for a light dinner prior to the movie..

and yes, i just found out that wikipedia actually does spoilers for almost all the movies even screened in theatre.. my gosh, the synopsis of this movie was actually given to the detail.. right down to the scene after the credits.. so perhaps it's a good site to visit prior to any tear-jerking movies.. well, to prevent the tears from flowing during and after the movie..


and yes, i managed to catch cabaret too.. with fei xiang, emma yong etc. in it too.. but throughout the whole performance, it just failed to strike a chord with me.. i left feeling that this production is much a 'forgettable'.. strong cast like rj rosales was actually casted as part of the ensemble!!! that, itself is pretty much a mistake.. kinda disappointing though esp. since much was said abt the film-version.. fei xiang is good.. but i can't help but worry about his safety, esp since he was prancing ard the stage at his age!!!

mr designer said that i'm biased coz this entire production is set in germany.. but nope, when a production doesn't leave an impression, it just doesn't.. the only reason why i can remember this production, coz i have the programme sitting on the table next to me.. but another reason is, coz i watched it with my phantom blogger, who's finally back.. and now unfortunately gonna go for a wisdom tooth operation tomorrow.. oh wells, i've nothing much to comment abt this actually..

and yes, on a really bimbotic and klutzy sidenote, my favourite pair of purple slip-ons, which has been with me for a period of time and purchased from my favourite shoe shop i.e. vnc, finally gave way on sunday morning!! on the way to church!! oh gosh, i was debating if i should go home and get another pair of shoe, then cab my way to church or just simply buy a new pair.. and oh wells, i chose the latter..

now that the world cup is over.. unfortunately that is.. kind of weird not to read about soccer news anymore and to see that long string of ppl outside singapore pools every day.. and don't try to psycho me into epl or what italian seria a and what not.. i'm holding on to my word of euro 2008.. anyways, so i need a new form of entertainment right??? and yes, i found them once again in the form of television but oh yeah, all my tear-jerking korean dramas again.. so here's 3 of the latest which i have completed..


yeah, and it was a sad love story.. everyone just cried from the start till the end of the entire show.. a bitter ending.. happy??? well, it depends on how you view it then.. anyway, the original lead actor, song seong hun was only showed in the trailer coz he had to return home for national service.. that's besides the point.. but i thought that the trailer was really well done..


my name is kim san soon.. yet another comical serial recommended by nolly.. well, for the entertainment factor and it's all about the love relationship between an older lady and a younger guy.. enough said.. no prizes for getting the ending correct..


well, this just got voted to be another of my all-time favourite!! save the last dance for me.. and boy, the lead actress, eugene, is just so pretty!! oh my gosh!! *faints*... and this is a really really awesome serial.. this one gets the run for my tears man.. *gawh*.. it's just so sad!! talk abt pulling at one's heart-strings.. anyways, go watch it now on channel 8, then you will know what i am talking about..

here's my precious find from the great singapore sale.. but it's not that great after all.. oh yes, well... as what florence and me will call it to be: investing for the future!! *gasp*.. isn't it absolutely sweet and cute!! so here's bumble-bee baby bootees for junior!! and the label at the back of the packaging says, one size fits all.. but anyways, really absolutely adorable bumble-bee baby bootees!! *muackz*

end of fifa world cup germany 2006

and yes, after entertaining the world for the past 1 month.. world cup 2006 has finally come to close.. with 2 matches and 4 teams, and with france and italy vying for the coveted spot of world cup champions 2006..

saturday ended with a bang!! with schweinsteiger scoring 2 goals!! oh yeah, a match without the superstars.. ballack, friedrich & mertesacker were all benched coz of injuries.. so many 1st timers got to play, which i tot was pretty good, coz everyone on the team played at least once during this world cup, except for the 3rd goalkeepers.. and yes, oliver kahn came back for the very last time to be the goalkeeper of the german squad and captain as well.. oh yes, though portugal had possession of the ball for 57% of the match, plus an unfortunate old goal by petit, germany won!!! oh yeah, they are 3rd for this tournament.. much an acheivement for a team, who was said to be put in an easy group, such that they could qualify for the round of 16.. but they went to send sweden and argentina home.. but to lose to the italians.. but they picked themselves up and went on to take 3rd place..


kahn had to take 2nd place as choice of goalkeeper for this world cup.. but he did the most gracious thing and went on to encourage lehmann!! and yes, this is his last international match.. figo, pauleta & kahn are officially hanging up their boots.. and *sobs*, neuville may not be playing for south africa 2010 coz of his age!! *sobs*


a very happy but confused coach at the moment.. who brought this team from nothing to something.. oh yeah, a once-upon-a-time national player as well: jürgen klinsmann.. i will want him back as coach too and see this type of soccer-playing style repeated in 2 years time..


one of the 2 teams which i supported for this world cup: germany.. and the other is the hot favourite: brazil.. and i tot that germany would have made an early exit.. but brazil threw in the shocker first.. i'm still convinced that uncle mark was trying to trick me.. but oh wells.. and germany ended the whole campaign with a thank-you party at the fan-mile in berlin, with a turnout of over a million ppl... and wearing an adidas t-shirt which said, 'danke deutschland' and printed in the national colours.. and teamgeist: 82 millionen.. ganz schön!!

and yes, to the finals at last.. i must say that, my stamina is only successful for one match.. consecutive matches just totally kill me.. and yes, so i was drifting in and out of sleep during the final showdown between france and italy.. hmm, as much as i would have expected the italians to win, i really wanted the french to win..

the match started with a pretty but risky penalty kick by zidane.. but materazzi did an equaliser that just stayed that way through the full 90-minutes and into 2 extra time of 15-min as well.. and yes, i admit!! i fell asleep 10 mins into the extra-time play and woke up just to watch the last penalty shootout by the italians.. and for the record, i always, no fail, but to fall asleep during the finals of soccer matches, namely euro 2004 and germany 2006.. the only final, which i managed to watch successfully, was that of korea/japen 2002.. but i always manage to wake up in time to see the golden goal scored.. well, as for the italians, i'm not sure if the word 'golden goal' seemed appropriate.. esp. after learning about the reason for zidane head-butting materazzi.. so like the paper said: materazzi's mouth.. although some still think that zidane doesn't deserve the golden ball award but honestly, he does.. he was the inspiration for this team, that played so badly during the group stages but still managed to oust korea out of the round of 16, which i was fuming over.. and brought the team all the way to the finals.. so credit should be given to this guy!! esp. since he came out of international retirement for this world cup!! and it's almost justified why he head-butted materazzi.. never insult ppl's family!! so there goes zidane's 2nd brush with the world cup trophy.. and yes, he is hanging up his boots as well..


and yes, here's the azzurris hoisting up the coveted world cup trophy.. i stayed up till 530am to watch this scene, something which i love to see every world cup.. and yes, that marked the end of fifa world cup germany 2006.. the baton has already been passed on to the south africans, in preparation for 2010..

so.. no more late nights.. no more heart attacks.. no more neighbours shouting in the middle of the night.. no more uncles at coffee shops till 6am.. both legal and illegal betting companies will take a good rest for the moment.. and yes, it will all repeat itself in 4 years' time.. but for me?? don't be surprised if i end up finding ways and means to watch euro 2008.. *laughs*..

and the flame got snuffed out..

as of today, the world cup has been pretty much too heartbreaking, too eventful.. let's see, nakata is quitting soccer for good.. roberto carlos has called it quits with the national team... beckham stepped down as captain, quite emotional actually.. and so much more.. and yes, oldies like zidane and figo came swinging back in action.. esp zidane, since he bowed out of the scene 2 years ago after a disaster campaign in lisbon during euro 2004.. so perhaps, he should be the one bagging the 'golden ball' award?? and frings got suspended from the semi-finals coz of his brush with the argentines..

but nothing can be as heartbreaking as having 2 goals scored in the last minutes of the 2nd extra time of a match!! gawh!! talk about being shell-shocked.. coz that was exactly how i felt at that very moment and the day after as well.. everyone knew better than to talk to me that day and mr. designer just had to go, forza italia.. i'm just surprised no chairs were flying around.. arpan had to call all the way frm canada to do damage control.. gawh!! but i really believed that it would go into penalty shootouts and the germans will definitely have the advantage in the whole affair.. but nope.. quoting the straits times, the italians 'huff, and they puff, and they blew the germans down'.. oh gosh, i couldn't quite sleep after the match was over.. and it was as though the whole nation just went silent..


and this was how it looked like across the whole of germany, along every fan-fest that is present in each state.. even in paulaner brauhaus in singapore.. it was so hard to watch the last moments of this game.. with many of the players ending up in tears.. it's as though the water dam has just collapsed.. there was even a shot of klinsmann having to pull odonkor up to his feet.. it was just heart-breaking..


eine sehr bittere pille... und sie fahren nicht mehr nach berlin.. zum hotel aber nicht zum olympiastadion.. man kann nur 'schade' sagen.. aber es gibt noch das spiel um platz drei zu spielen.. aber leider werden 3 sehr gute fussballspieler nicht mehr spielen, weil sie weh tun.. aber oliver kahn wird spielen.. wer wird gewinnen? weiss ich nicht.. man wird um 3 uhr sonntag frühmorgen wissen..

so france will play against italy in the world cup 2006 finals.. and yes, the 4 french guys will most likely be sighted as latecomers on monday morning, or perhaps not even appear.. hmm.. both are equally good teams, considering how the french came back with much force, after a disappointing start to the group-games.. and it will be good for zidane to leave with a great addition to his comeback from retirement.. so place your bets.. no money involved.. give your vote.. just stay away from the betting companies, both legal and illegal.. there's no need to lose your home over world cup.. else there won't be any more to lose when south africa 2010 comes along..

brilliant idea!!

keisuke was a tour-guide... and he travelled the world.. hmm.. i want to travel around the world too, so maybe i should go become a tour-guide too!! plus, since i love talking so much crap, might as well channel that energy for some good..

idea?? oh yeah!! =)

a weekend of history..

it was a weekend of history.. so much pain, tears and ouch!! it hurts man.. let's give a rundown of the quarterfinal matches.. but a disclaimer first, before any chairs come raining down on me, it's just my personal opinion!!

1. it was indeed a repeat of euro 2004, whereby england and portugal had to end their big tie, with penalty shootouts.. and beckham was not part of the penalty shootout due to injury.. and all the powerhouses just couldn't get their shots right.. rooney got sent off for rude behaviour.. why does it feel as though that it was a disaster in making?? and i fell asleep during the match.. again!! it has to be something to do with the country involved.. anyway, as much as many ppl did not wish for england to qualify for the semi-finals.. but it was just really upsetting to have them exit this way.. and yes, portugal is into the semi-finals.. and perhaps deco will play...

2. the last quarterfinal match was played at 3am back home.. so i was soundly asleep in my bed.. but what the world!! what the world did brazil do, to repeat the faults of france 98!!! argh!!! i bet, the whole world nearly fainted upon hearing that!! i was like, uncle mark, you are bluffing me right!!!! and he went, i bet with you odds 1:10 that it's true!! *faint!!!* so now what?? will i get a day off if france wins?? but amongst us all, we are just hoping that portugal will do something and deny france of its entry to the finals..

3. germany vs. argentina was one of the many matches, whereby one sees the lagging team fighting so hard to get themselves back in shape and in the running for the contended spot.. the beautiful header by klose put germany back in the run.. and yes, yet another penalty shootout.. putting additional pressure on lehmann, who did a beautiful job in his position.. as much as germany is a good and improving team, argentina really put them to the test and made them looked like a mess on the field.. but it was good play between both.. but as mentioned before, one team has to go home and unfortunately, argentina had to be the one to lose out in penalties.. though italy 90 was due to a goal during the match.. oh wells, enough said, and so germany will meet italy on tuesday night!!


and the photo of the weekend is this shot between lehmann and kahn.. so yes, kahn was overlooked as the no.1 goalkeeper and lehmann took his place instead.. but prior before the penalty shootouts, kahn spoke words of encouragement to the very-much-stressed lehmann.. and yes, this was the shot taken after the end of the match.. so perhaps, this world cup is indeed all about, making friends..

beauty partnership

that's exactly what these 2 guys did!! klose and podolski.. and klose is still the leading contender for the 'golden shoe' award.. with ronaldo still a goal behind.. and yes, deutschland hat auch das viertelfinale erreicht!! but sweden was really disappointing during the match.. it's as though they lost their fighting spirit!! oh my gosh, it was really disappointing to see that happen.. but anyways, germany got it!! sehr schön!! so they are gonna play the first quarterfinals against argentina tomorrow evening.. and goodness gracious!! it's gonna be so heartbreaking.. coz it's like a final of its own!! 2 powerhouses and 1 has to end its journey tomorrow.. *gawh!!*

it's stupid but somehow, every single match that england has played, was just plain BORING!! i never failed to fall asleep during any of the england matches, though i was no way near tired!! and yes, david beckham had to come to save the day.. and the camera was actually focused on victoria beckham, prior before the shot!! right.. and yes, no miss at last!! so no more slippery grass from that of 2 years ago.. but this is gonna be like a repeat of history, whereby portugal will play against england in the quarterfinals!! it's so like that of euro 2004.. but with portugal winning 5-4 in penalty shots.. so we shall see..

and what was truly irritating is the fact that france qualified!! everyone was like, WHAT!!! and of course, a truck load of ppl lost their money to all the bookies and authorised betting companies.. but there were those who betted on france and won loads.. coz the odds were too high!! but goodness!! they qualified!! but the fact that they are gonna play against brazil is gonna be quite a sight to watch.. a repeat of france 98.. hmm, but don't think that ronaldo's gonna run a tummyache again..

and anyway, ronaldo just broke the record for being the top goal-scorer for all the world cup matches!! but he actually resembles more of a ball himself now.. hmm... time for some weight-losing..

oh yeah, do check out the adidas +10 advertisements.. oh man, it's so extremely cool!! i always love the adidas ads during all these important soccer seasons.. anyone recall 'the road to lisbon' from 2 years back??

on the sideline, so sue me for being fat and claustrophobic!! i'm sorry for occupying 2 seats on the sbs buses then!! =P

just passing by..

it's been a pretty emotional week.. deutschland hat das achtefinale erreicht!!! jawohl!! ganz spannend!!! the rest has to be typed in english coz my german is just bad yeah!! yupz, germany came out tops in group A and is gonna play against sweden tomorrow evening!! sehr interessant!! aber nicht so gut für das schlechtes herz.. and yes, klose is just so good!! and not to forget podolski!!! his goal was just beautiful.. 3 passes and into the goal post it went.. oh yeah, oh yeah!! but i still like that goal put in by frings in the opening match!! talk about pretty!! i can just go on forever actually.. but shall move on..

and i seriously think that it was mean to have eucador attacking ballack during the 2nd half of tuesday's match!! it was utterly ugly and plain blatant!! i mean, it's tough to lose but hey, it's all about fairplay here.. so get a grip man!!

but it muz have been a heartbreaking moment for england when owen was severely injured and had to be flown home immediately for treatment.. that left crouch aka 'mr giraffe', as good as without a mentor.. and definitely for japan as well.. it must have been more than a heartbreaking session.. esp. since they had the misfortune of that last 8 minutes of the match against australia.. and to have to play with the powerhouse, brazil, yesterday evening, which just confirmed their seats on the flight home.. it's even more painful to watch.. but one muz really give credits to kawaguchi for all his marvellous saves of the oncoming balls.. and yes, ronaldo finally came back from his pluto-planet and decided to put in some good play yesterday evening.. and eventually scoring 2 goals, putting him on an equalizing position with gerd müller, in the total number of world cup goals scored..

yupz, with s.korea as the only east asian team left with chances for the top 16 playoffs.. hmm, if my energy does permit me, you will still see me online at 4am..

but you know what? i didn't mean to go on and on about world cup on this post.. it was actually meant for something else.. but i digress.. and yes, you will say, what's new?

somewhat, i went past many places which have somewhat been a part of my memories from 2003.. hmm.. was making my way down to wei & cindee's place, when i had to take a long long bus ride to bedok interchange.. it then reminded me of that silly senior-junior bbq session at east coast park during o-week.. and in any case, it ended up as a dinner session for kel li, edwin, peijia and me..

simei seemed somewhat familiar, before i realised that i have been there twice!! once was to changi hospital to visit andrew with the rest of the ac folks.. and another was to the condo estate nearby for kel su's 21st.. and to think that, all of the above happened in the year 2003.. when a-levels were still fresh in our minds.. when freshmen orientation brought in so much fun.. when we started the nightmarish and stressful days of chem engineering but just to learn to get through these days too.. and to think that so much have changed over these 3 years..

so time flies yeah.. even 'passing by' seems so foreign.. and according to einstein, somewhere along the river of time, just somwhere behind that bend round the river, that scene still exists.. but we will never return to it.. jack finney's 'from time to time' is just all about imagination..

silly things one thinks about when there's too much time on hand [installment 4]

statement/ thought of the week.. comments are very much welcome.. unfortunately the comments link is missing in action somewhere.. otherwise, just tag yeah.. opinions are very much appreciated... so here goes:

is it better to work in an area where cat fights occur too often or to work in a place where testosterone-level is at its maximum?