unparalleled patience

Bunch of gamers 2: greedisgood9999999999

2010-06-29T02:08:00.001+08:00

DISCLAIMER: No such MMORPG exists. Terms used in this post are purely metaphors. Sorry for the potential missunderstanding caused.

I've managed to level up a little since the last post. My current predicament seems worse than I had anticipated.

My decision to get into "human trafficking" wasn't such a good idea. In theory it should increase your cash on hand. But everything works exceptionally well in theory.

Consider it as a back door method of obtaining cash, and it's a rather unpopular move amongst those who know its existence. Some say it goes against the principles of the MMORPGs. But i assure you its legit. For now.

One major problem i failed to realise is that the currencies obtained through "trafficking" is far less... say... recognised. Now that simply translates to using my very limited cash and effort to obtain something that is unwanted by most fellow players.

So to increase the recognition of the currency a player has to increase the number of players involved in this field of "vice". But my recruitment drive turned out to be an investment with zero returns. And it seems to have produced a backlash. One that I refused to see coming. My cash pool has been reduced and it seems that I'm getting condemned to less-exp rich maps. Away from the confluence powerful pools where I should be seeking. Levelling up has become more tedious.

But I "human traffic" no more. I finally understood that it'll do me more harm than good. Way more harm. If I continued I would no doubt be flooded with the doubtful currency and I would have been taken further from my true supposingly harmless objectives.

Now more cash strapped than I ever had been in my 13 years of MMORPG-ing, I fight to retain my already unsecure membership of the "morphines". Throwing my last reserves out didn't seem to help. My resources thrown to the "khat" crew is too involved in the arms "smuggling" to offer help.

So to sum it all up, "human trafficking" sucks. And my remaining levels are gonna be harder to obtain. Way harder.

Bunch of gamers #1: gaming isn't as easy as u tink!

2010-05-24T22:49:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer: No such MMORPG exist. The content of this post is purely fictional and the references to illegal activities are metaphors, i apologise for any misunderstanding caused.

This MMORPG's tough. Way tougher than I thought. Especially this expansion.

Everyday, we fight hard to level up. Its boring. Its routine. But its necessary. We just want to hit the max level and move off to the next expansion. Last expansion was so much easier. I could do party quests with my old gaming comrades to help me level up better.

Leveling up sounds easy. But trust me it isn't. Here we role-play as drug dealers. Every time we complete an assignment we level up. Our assignment comes regularly and there's no way we can reject it. Sometimes we get a hard-earned assignment boost which we can use to complete an assignment or part of it. But sometimes we get caught by the cops and is sent to the other server to do corrective work order.

Cash is very important. Since levelling up is almost ensured, cash is THE FACTOR that differentiates you from that other dealer. Rich dealers are powerful. They have better, more abundant resources that make the assignment easier. A lot easier. They like to pool their resources and get even richer. Sometimes when they got caught they can bribe the cops so that they don't need to do CWO at another server. Poor smugglers are left to fend for themselves. They get left out of resource pooling, get pushed around by other richer dealers and sometimes forced to owe them favours. When something goes wrong poor dealers usually get blamed, even if its not their fault; and once in a while they get framed. I empathize with them, assuming I'm not treated like one by those richer than me.

Some rich dealers are nice. They try to bail the poor dealers out. But some poor dealers get into so often their respective guardian angels aren't simply there to protect them, or feel that the cash needed to do so is simply too much. Fortunately i seldom need to be bailed out, or I'll like to think of it that way. I'll try too help the some of poor dealers as much as possible, in hope of them helping me in times of need. But I'm not rich. I just have barely sufficient. Ever more so since I lost quite a bit of cash due to my injury and mess I made.

It's easier to level up if you can find the right "drug" to "deal". Party-goers love "ecstasy" and those who "deal" it are the richest. "Opium dealers" are rowdy and not as rich as they want to be, so they try to use their voices to trick others in think that they have more cash then they actually do. The "khat dealers" are so poor I actually think they needed charity. "Ice" gang's rich too. But they're real irritating. Especially to the "heroins" who are not that rich but loves to compete with each other for purity of drug. I once was with them but I'm trying out "morphine" now. I can't get my "heroin" "pure" enough to compete and my resources are too different to be pooled with them, since they're more interested in purity than earn cash. I think "morphine's" much easier to handle but I'm trying hard to pool the resources with them. But I fear I'm late since they're pool is rather established.

Fortunately I'm about 3/4 of my way to max level. Most of the cops are pretty used to the bribes and are organising less patrols. But there a huge patch coming soon and we are uncertain what is going to happen in the last quarter. We are expecting big changes in the assignments are given and the way we level.

There's rumours that the 2 servers will be increased to 4. Some of the players from my server 2 might be moved to the newer servers. I hope the "morphines" don't get spilt up. Its really sucks to half your potential pooling-mates to another server. I already lost a few good potential pooling-mates.

I hope the patch is for the better and allows for better pool. To max level. To the next expansion. To pooling.

YAN CHAOOO KENG!

2010-03-12T19:53:00.005+08:00

Nope that's not what my name truly means; nope that's not a recognised nickname; and nope that's not what I've been up to in camp.

Unfortunately that's what almost everyone in camp thinks. Well if your camp mate has taken 47 days of excuse running, marching, jumping, in total, on and off since a month ago (inaddition 1 day mc and i was just given 30 this morning) you would. Now take my vocation into consideration. Here in FDS, more unfit men will mean the same amount duty more harshly spread over the remaining, already strained manpower. Then take the cause of all this is into account: my folly; a miscalculated jump over a drain when I didn't actually need to cross it. Brilliant.

Here's the truth: I can't run for long distances. At distances beyond say 500m my ankle starts working up. Anything above 2km requires a kick scooter. As much as I need the status to ensure a recovery, I want to be able to carry out normal duty. Not physically-slack-mentally-tiring hiding in cctv room duty. Especially when someone who draws pay (not allowance) decides to feel important and remind me to stare at the sacred screens, or watch someone who draws allowance (like me) play doctor and prescribe "remorse" to "speed up" my recovery. Not that my physically weak body doesn't produce any of its own.

What can i do anyway? The damage to the shift has been done. All I wanted was to be excused from physical training and a specialist referral to ensure I'll return to duty fitness asap. (referral wasn't given because MO say I was already recovering on my own) But when I returned I was declared useless because I can't give chase when needed. So we are 1 able bodied man down and 1 useless man up. And we have enough useless men already.

I'll like to think most people in camp see me as being reserved and responsible. Responsible is definitely gone now. Even if they consciously know its not entirely my fault, their sub-conscious mind is rewriting their impression of me. And if you like to play doctor and is reading this, yes i'm writing to ease my ever insufficient guilt, so feel free to give me reviews and that same prescription that I'm gonna malingering on.

Edit: Para 3, expressions; Para 4, referral

Speedpost #5: Opera Mini

2010-02-25T13:02:00.002+08:00

Testing: yanchao is making a blog post frm his mobile! Opera mini rules!

Movies Review #5: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

2010-02-18T22:10:00.003+08:00

Movie Buddy: Chun Ing & Ting Zhe

Genre: Fantasy Thiller

Synopsis: Yes... A very long name; but it pretty much summarises the story. Someone stole lightning and Percy Jackson has to get it back. He was a high school student believe to have stolen Zeus's master lightning bolt and when mythical creatures start coming for him, his true identity unveils: the son of Poseidon. He must find the lightning bolt before Zeus's deadline is up to prevent a war between the gods.

Plot 1.5/4: Great concept. The idea of ur-friend-beside-could-be-a-demigod(half god half human) is definitely cool. Camp half blood, where half-gods trained to hone their special skills, is great. Nice bits of humour is placed all around the movie. (like the ipod touch's coolest "app") Then the flaws start to come in once the search begins. (spoilers)

Feel 2.5/4: The movie has pretty good CGI. The monsters look real enough. The sets look good too. But i actually hoped for a battle between a god or 2 but nope, didn't happen. But i went out of the cinema pretty satisfied. And by the way, Maserati rules (after Lamborghini)

Replay Value 1.0/2.0: The fights where quite all right. Pretty much the only thing worth replayed.

Grand total: 5.0/10
Other scores: 4/5 insing.com | 49% Tomatometer

Spoilers: Percy Jackson CONFIRM cannot go OCS. He's accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt and has his mum taken by Hades and all he could think of was going to hell and beg for his mother. The script did not "cut the title" (wen3 bu4 qie2 ti3). More than half the time after leaving Camp Half Blood was spent looking for 3 pearls. Shouldn't there be some investigating somewhere? And the last pearl was in e roulette. And they found the keys to the Maserati!! Never easier. And notice: Percy always gets water. But some parts are quite well woven together, like the ancient coins and Medusa's head.

Final Say: A good break from all the usual fantasy. Not spectacular but still enjoyable.

Movies Review #4: Bodyguards and Assassins

2009-12-21T22:14:00.005+08:00

Movie Buddy: SIS (today!!)

Genre: Kung-Fu Thiller

Synopsis: The film transports you back into Hong Kong 1906, when she's still under British rule. Revolutionary Sun Yet Sen is arriving to HK to meet up with 13 rebel factions in order to organise a united effort against the corrupt Qing dynasty. The Qing Imperial Court sends assassins to eliminate him to protect the throne. Li, a rich businessman, played by Wang Xueqi, is unwilling to play a major role in the revolution but is secretly funding it at first. When Chen, played by Tony Leung, the leader of the local resistance and Li's long time friend is captured, he decided take over his leadership role. The movie mainly showcase the unwillingness of Li to aid the cause and the effort put in by the resistance to defend Dr Sun.

Note: the score break down has been revised to 4 for plot, 4 for overall feels (includes acting) and 2 for replay value. Total stays unchaged at 10.

Plot 1.0/4: The movie can be broken down into 2 parts. The first half would be drama about Li struggles on how much should be involved in the revolution. The cliche part. Li finds out his son is taking part in revolutionary activities behind his back and blames Chen, who is his son's tutor. When Chen is captured by Qing agents, Li leads the resistance as suspected. The second half is practically "attack and defend the convoy" where almost all the actions end up. The well placed fight scenes, and a few tactical surprises (though some tactics are ridiculous) from both sides are the few saving graces of the plot. It's common knowledge that Dr Sun survived it, but timely deaths of some unexpected characters is the only thing that squeezes the movie into the thriller genre.

feel 2.5/4: The fight scenes were unexpectedly messy and short. Probably meant to depict the chaos in battle but director Teddy Chen overdone it for some parts, giving the thought of "wadda hell did he juz do ta him?" I didn't really see much strong revolutionary spirit in some of the more crucial main characters like Chen. Dr Sun, our all important principal of the movie appeared for only say... 3 minutes in total? Just enough to show that he was actually planning with the 13 faction representatives and say his famous inspiring words. He lack the Lenin-like persona he deserves as one of the greatest revolutionaries. However, points for Wang for melding into his character, Li, well, showing his insecurities as is participates in the revolutionary activities and the worry for his son.

Replay Value 0.5/2.0: As mentioned the fight scenes aren't that great. The super stellar cast isn't that much of a help either.

Grand total: 4.0/10
Other scores: SC Reviews 2.5/5 (insing.com)

Spoilers: Plot flaws are everywhere. Li obviously will fail his sit-test (test in BMT where one is tested for his leadership skill and tactics to see if he can go OCS). He knew that 3 shops where leased to unknown vendors one day before Dr Sun arrival and he didn't change the route of the convoy and instead asked them to rush through the area. Oh wait, the Qing agents knew about the route too!! Begger Liu, Mr iron fan and the most skillful fighter of the rebels stalls half a platoon size worth of assassins for 15 minutes with 5 mins of fighting. He is pretty insulted by giving him a less than 30secs to get completely pwned by Qing agent leader Quo after artfully clearing the pawns. A very anti-climatic death for a brilliant fighter. Old Mrs. Sun's house only has one face and one entrance (or Quo men don't know how to flank) Quo could throw a bamboo pole through a iron lined rickshaw, miss the passenger (who could be Dr Sun) , killing the rickshaw puller.

Final Say: Another flick which adds on to the list of lousy plot all action Kung-fu movies. Watch as a last resort.

Sat for SATs on Sat

2009-11-10T16:01:00.004+08:00

If you couldn't get the title by any chance, I took SATs (for US college admissions) last Saturday. If you wanted to know why I took the SATs, I honestly don't really know. Maybe its to substitute my lackluster A'level results or maybe it was just to please my parents.

I wouldn't say i did well for it. Completing a short draft essay in 25 mins isn't as easy as it seems if you were trained to write an 800-word essay in 90mins for the last 2 yrs of your much missed student life. Sadly I'm expecting both my essay dices to roll 4, and I'm lucky, 1 of them might roll a 5 and save me. I couldn't really see how I could squeeze in "strong critical thinking" like my GP essays (which gave me plenty of time and space to do that). The time constant pretty much prevented me form formulating a good plan.

The rest of the writing section should be fine. I trained quite a little for sentence replacement. Maths was quite fine too. But i risk not getting the full 800 due to some thing over looked. My greatest weakness would be from critical reading. I was never really good at compre passages, and I always use my essays to tide me over.

Results are projected to be slightly above 2000. Its definitely not good enough for me. Knowing the fact that I can retake easily probably made felt more at ease than my A's. It unlikely that I'll retake it, I need to find a real good reason to do it.

Meanwhile, priorities will remain to figure out which degree course to go take. (and convince that faculty to accept me)

An trip on a 1.5 tonner....

2009-10-30T19:04:00.003+08:00

I can't tell you where we went. I'll love to try and play it cool and reply, "if I tell you, I'll have to kill you." But that would be too corny. So I'll be frank and maintain, "If I told you, I'll get charged."

I cant tell you what I'm gonna do too. They officially call it ops, and leaking of any information might cause national embarrassment. We call it saikang + guard duty+ outfield.

Yes, outfield. That word never fails to bring back memories for NSF like us. But this outfield is different. It wasn't scheduled.

Of coursed we weren't pleased when we heard we were chosen for this task. The word pretty much robbed us of our spirits. Few like being forcefully taken away form the comfort of civilisation and brought to the terror of the wilderness, especially when we are the guardians of edge cutting technology.

Still, our vessel of terror stared mercilessly at us with its weathered headlamps. The stores were heavy. So were our hearts. But driven by curiosity, and with the hope that this would end soon, we were ready to set off.

As the tonner drove out of camp, we waved good bye to our comrades left to guard the base. But looking back, it felt like we were wishing them good luck -- having fewer men for duty wasn't a good thing for the shift. There're would be less men to fill the same amount of positions, thus less rest time for each of us.

Its a rare chance that the chosen few of us get to leave the base but is not gonna be as simple a walk in forest. The familiar humps the tonner went over seem to distract us form our worries and to encouraged us to take a look at the green pastures of SCC.

It wasn't long before we hit the expressways. The steady wind came in at just below 50. It ensures that i always knew where i was facing relative to the front. I can see artificial netting on my sergeant's helmet rustled softly with the wind. (it was the only helmet with the older version camouflaged netting) Every time a large vehicle passes by, the warm wind would strike the side of my face, together with the distinct smell of diesel.

Some of my comrades tired to get some eye shut while they still could. But it was a tough job and they pretty much gave up. The tonner wasn't exactly comfortable, and the roads were definitely noisy on the "slow" lane.

Despite the speed limit, we managed to reach our destination "in good time". As the last buildings disappeared form our sight, gradually and reluctantly accepted our fate. We are no longer blur-looking recruits nor the conveniently-blur trainees. We are operationally ready men.

Tinktoomuch Speech #2: My Late Grandfather

2009-10-07T16:32:00.001+08:00

Good evening to all. As some of you know that my grandfather has passed on last Saturday evening, 260909, due complications arising form diabetes, heart and cardiac disease.

He was 80 years old.

I wouldn't say that I'm very close to my Grandfather. Since he seldom spoke much. But through his few words I could sense his care and concern for his family. And no doubt i would miss the regular doses of these few words.

I usually met him on Saturday evenings. My maternal extended family will always meet up at my grandfather's place on Saturday evenings, which explains why i usually detest going out on Sat evenings.

Of course the gathering consists of the get-together dinner. The children (under age 35) are banished form the main table to the smaller "kids" table in the living room. We enjoyed this -- it gave us the best possible view of the television. Dinner, was great, for as long as I can remember. My grandmother was a great chef, and together with family warmth, it tasted better than anything SFI can whip up. Pity that my Grandfather couldn't enjoy a few dishes of hers during his last days, due to his health.

After dinner we would retreat into my grandparents' very large bedroom to enjoys the joys of the air-conditioner. I used to sleep in that room before I entered primary school. It was usually quiet, save for the sounds of the television, but on Saturdays the room will come to life. This is mainly due to my grandma, my aunt and my mum. Put 2 sisters and a mom together and they can talk like they haven't meet in years.

My Grandfather would sit firmly in his arm chair, ignoring the surrounding noise and concentrate on the TV. I would too be trying to ignore the noise, but i have to admit I'm not yet as capable as him. My brother and my cousin would do the same. This was how we spent time together. Just staring at the TV.

Last Saturday, I went back to visit my Grandmother. As my Grandfather was a man of few words the noise level in the house pretty much stayed the same. But the house felt emptier. There was 1 less person the have dinner with, 1 less person to stare at the TV with, 1 less person to bid goodbye to.

Now I would have to visit my Grandfather at e Kong Ming Shan Crematorium. I do miss my late Grandfather, and I'll pray for his departure. But most importantly, I'll pray for my family to have the courage to accept his death, especially my mum. And I'll definitely do my best in my future studies and help take care of my family members.

Rest in peace, Grandpa.

Tinktoomuch Play #1: Lightsabre Saga Part 1

2009-09-20T10:17:00.013+08:00

Setting: Before the galactic civil war, in the Jedi temple

Characters:

Masters: Adi Gallia (known for his ability to solve conflicts, thus is asked to investigate this matter)
Apprentices: Vin, Nen, Thew, Chow

The 4 apprentices were sent on a training mission a few days back. During the mission a training lightsabre was lost. The 4 now sits in the waiting room.

Chow: Thew, your punishment will not be to great, expulsion is highly unlikely.

Thew: *sighs* I know. I just hopes that Padawan Wei doesn't get involved. (Wei is the Padawan in charge of this faithful practice.)

Adi Gallia arrives, the apprentices rises to greet him. His returns the greetings.

Gallia: Thew, come in first.

Thew remorsefully follows. The rest of the apprentices return to their seats. Vin looks worried.

Chow: Vin, you should worry least. You did not touch the lightsabre that was lost.

Vin: Yes, but i have a bad feeling about this.

Nen: Our mistake should not be as grave as those done by apprentice Win.

(Win was sent to the reflection room. Preparations were being made to expel him from the order.)

Chow: Fear not. Most of the punishment will fall to Thew.

Vin: *sighs* Yes.

The 3 apprientices return to their solemn looks. Nen tries to keep his mind away by reading the books placed in front of him.

One by one, the apprentices where called in to give their statements. When this is done, Gallia emerged and told us the story that was pieced together.

Gallia: According to all your accounts, apprentice Vin and Nen was on watch for the first shift. Thew takes over from Nen, but Nen fails to handover the lightsabre to Thew. Chow comes to take over, and when after Vin leaves keeps the lightsabre into his pocket. Thew and Chow keeps watch until the the batch of apprentices come. Chow produces the lightsabre but Thew can't produce his. Padawan Wei is informed. After a through search of the area the 5 of you are still unable to find the lightsabre. That is all, am i right?

All 4 apprentices nod in agreement.

Nen: Master Gallia, what will our punishment be?

Gallia: As this is a result in direct negligence of Thew, he will most probably receive disciplinary training. Chow on the other hand will get more chores, for failing to remind Thew to check for the existence of the lightsabre. Nen and Vin will most probably be free from punishment.

Nen: *smiles* (in a cheerful voice) Thank you, Master!

Gallia: *sighs* If all of you were more careful, this would not have happened.

Chow: Agreed. And you would not have need to do investigate this issue, Master Gallia

Gallia: Yes, glad you all know. Dismissed.

The 4 apprientices left the room. Thew being the saddest.

*end of part 1*

Disclaimer: All events and characters are 100% fictional and the playwright apologises in advance if there is any form coincidence arise form this play. This play is inspired by 100% random events form 100% random people at 100% random locations.

Tinktoomuch Speech's Master Post

2009-09-19T11:29:00.002+08:00

By now most would have read my speech to bid farewell to my cousin. This section of blog will be dedicated to expressing my appreciation, well-wishes, or displeasure to notable individuals or groups. It will be written as if I'm making an speech (i agree the 1st attempt was not prefect). So sit back and listen/read, and its too boring, DON'T SNORE.

Thank you all.

Speed-post #4

2009-09-15T19:12:00.002+08:00

Stacy has responded to the Farewell Stacy speech on 23 AUG. Click here to view. And to stacy: have fun =)

Speed-post #3

2009-09-15T18:55:00.002+08:00

Yanchao joins facebook due to pressure form NY 0713 n other ppl. Fortunately, he finds it quite useful, esp to communicate with his 2 overseas cousins. He is now playing mafia wars.

Mizuno Wave Run 09

2009-09-15T18:36:00.006+08:00

Many of u kno tat I participated in the mizuno wave run 16km on sun (13 sept). I convinced kwek to come along even though he wasn’t tat willing. Yanchao, being lazy, participated because it was at nanyang polytechnic, very near my hse.

The race wasn’t bad. Neither was it good. But on the whole we still enjoyed the race. I took abt 2:15 hrs while kwek too abt 2. Actual timings will b out by 18 sept. I kinda liked the running singlet, mayb bcuz its red. (link to mizuno wave run website) But I joined it because I needed something to train 4 since my stamina is decreasing since BMT.

Mayb it was just me, but I cld onli maintain joggin for the 1^st 5km then I told kwek to PS me. Since then the route was full of reasons to slow down:

· Nice familiar scenery, slow down by 10%

· Nice aroma form Sembawang Hill food centre, slow down 20%

· Uneven terrain, slow down 30%

· Upslope, slow down 40%

· Everyone else walking, slow down 50%

· Clusterf**k at narrow pavement or other bottle necks, slow down 75%

· Cute looking race marshal/passer-by, slow down 100%

· Nice girl overtaking, slow down, move to the side, then speed up to keep up with her

· Nice girl out of breath n stops before u, slow down to her pace to give her “invisible” moral support

· Cute looking helper at water point, stop completely n beg for lotsa water.

Come to think of it, I just wanted to walk.

Like all races, there r times when u r displeased:

· Some guy overtakes u even when ur pushing urself hard, vulgarity x 1

· Some guy shoves u aside when he tries to overtake u, vulgarity x 10

· Some guy suddenly stops in front of u, vulgarity x 100

· KWEK CAME LATE, vulgarity x 1000

· St Nicks has no students, since it’s a Sunday, vulgarity x 10 000

· Some walking/driving out of NYP, showing off the finisher medal when ur still running, vulgarity x 100 000

· Some cute “girl” in front, speeds up to overtake, then finds out she has e green tag, ie women’s veteran, vulgarity x 1000 000

· Some guy took New Upper Thomson Road instead of Old Upper Thomson 9while was significantly shorter n easier to run on), vulgarity x 1000 000 000

· NO MORE H-TWO-0 AT END POINT, VULGARITY X 1000 000 000 000

· ONLY 5 WATER POINTS YET THERE IS NO WATER AND/OR H-TWO-0 AT SOME WATER POINTS AND THE END POINT, VULGARITY X 1000 000 000 000 000

However there are some interesting points of the race:

Its fun watching other ppl during the race, esp when they’re walking. I saw this young couple (abt my age) tgt. The girl was obviously out of breath, but the guy looked like he could go on for another 16km after e race. Guy looks irriated. Guy offers girl water. Girl shakes head. Guy offers girl hand. Girl takes hand. Couple start running. Couple stop running. Guy gives up n walks with girl.

But when have to walk, depite all ur efforts to tell ur legs to continue, WALK IN STYLE. Put on a pair of nice sport sunglasses n walk lik ur entering the wresting ring. At least u look better than tat sweaty dog that just overtook u.

We got some moral support too. There was this nice aunty who was a race marshal, waving her marshalling flag cheering us on: “jia you! jia you! jian kang! jian kang! (healthy) We need more senior citizens lik her.

There was another senior citizen, an old uncle who looked like 70. He was a participant. Well he over took me a few times n I rmb him with e H20 bottle. His spirit is commendable. Most ppl his age cant complete 16km on wheel chairs.

The run also reminded me y sports cars r unpractical in S’pore. Sprinters can sprint all they want, only to find slower runners like me catch up when they’re forced to stop at the next traffic junction.

The last leg of the race was in NYP. I wanted to push for the remaining leg of the race but I was too tired to keep up. I saw familiar faces that had somewhat the same running capabilities; some of them slightly resemble my real life friends.

When I reached e end point kwek was already there. Much to my dismay there wasn’t any more H2O left. Had to survive on NEWater. After a shower at my place we went to New York New York at AMK hub 4 lunch. Spent quite a bit but it was worth it.

To end this I wld lik to thank Mizuno n Vgo corporation for making this event possible, for coming up with an efficient baggage system, and H-TWO-0 for believing that we do not need that much isotonic drinks.

My Civilian Wife

2009-09-06T16:20:00.001+08:00

Some of u might know, my com is dying. My hard disk is creeking. my graphics card has thrown me a blue screen, which pretty much signifies e begining of its death. NFS lags on low settings. Videos often jump a few seconds. I uninstalled heroes V n red alert 3 the 2 most grahically demanding games on e com (C drive was filling fast). My PSU feels lik its running out of power, cant even provide enough power 2 read my aigo MP5 (or 4) player tat i need 2 buy a double USB cable (wadeva u call it). My entire last dismount was spent backing up data (i burnt lik ard 15 dvds worth of stuff, so is worth lik 60GB) i'm hoping that it will last till late oct, so tat i can juz upgrade to Windows 7 straight(rumoured releas date 22 oct). mayb i shd consider a mac, since dad might hav problems using 7 anyway. e price of individaul parts r dropin real fast too.

Comex is next week (10-13 sept), so i'll be on recon. if all goes well i'll probably b gg 4 a white box (ie custom) again. N i'm sure dad's gonna get his tech guru frm his company 2 build it (sry ykm but i think my dad's e 1 payin so he's e 1 deciding who to employ, but i tink srsly rather hire u, cheaper n easier to kao bei). e onli "parts" im keepin is probably my razer diamondback gaming mouse, saitek eclipse II gaming keyboard, my HP Photosmart 2610 ink jet printer, n mayb my creative 4400 inspire speakers.(1 of e only few things tat was with me since i bot this com nearly 5yrs ago)

Now i try not to do too demanding stuff, tat means watchin anime n blogging n web surfing n stuff. mayb i'll install DOOM 2 (yes TWO not 3), a game tat runs on win95, which is extremely mentally challenging n extremely pixelated.

Honestly i quite a nostalgic person. i'll definately miss this com. but its dying, n its too backward to upgrade. It parts r running out(im running a P4), n my PSU cant support anything more powerful anyway. so might as well change e whole thing. mayb i can consider using e casing as a storage container lol.

Tis might b e last time im blogging frm tis com. So if i suddenly "disappear" it probably means im "remarrying", so i'll apologise in advance.

Com, u've served me well.

PS: sorry tat i slammed on the keyboard when im feelin fustrated when im losing repeatedly in certain games. I kno its painful. I felt it too. My eclipse isnt cheap.

Tinktoomuch Speech #1: Farewell Stacy

2009-08-23T20:23:00.000+08:00

*walks to stand with a soft smile*

Good evening to all.

Few would know that I had a cousin (my father's-sister's-daughter) about the same age as me. About 2 months younger to be exact. In fact I seldom mention about my family to you all; expect you might have heard about my relatively nonsensical aunt. Sadly, my first official mention of my cousin would be for me to bid farewell to her.

When we were young, just after we were squeezed into the same primary school and class (Pei Chun Public, 1k'97, 2k'98, 3k'99), we were placed in to a competition by our parents. A competition we were vaguely familiar with. A competition of my-kid-is-better-than-your-kid. Round 1 was pretty close. At the end of primary 1 I came in 5th. She came in 2nd. The loss to me was simply losing to chance to shake hands with some school board director and a book prize. As for our parents, i wasn't sure, but it barely disturbed the pair of cousins who continued to play Lego (with stacy's brother).

I remember only beating her once, by a narrow margin in the 1st term of primary 2. It did trigger a small sense of pride in me, but i was more concerned with something else: Lego. Then she took back her lead at the end of the year. And since my parents didn't say much about it we continued playing Lego.

On the forth year of primary school, we separated into different classes. She was in the better class of course. The best class in fact (4L'00). I went to the 3rd class(4K'00). Maybe it was because she played less lego. It was then when the signs of competition begun to surface. I bucked up a little, but was no where near her blazing trial. I climbed the 2nd class in primary 5 (5B'01), while she remained comfortablely in 1st (5A'07). Much to my comfort our class didn't change in the last year of Primary school, if not i would have squeezed into her class and became 4th form the last. I could bare to leave my classmates too. It would have been more interesting that way, because when her father comes to fetch us from school there were 2 class monitors in his car.

Then came the Boss level. Its called the PSLE. Stacy, brilliant as usual, was 5th, in School. But Dear Yanchao, as usual, never seem to be able to do well in major exams. He was 5th too, *chuckles* but 5th form the last his class. I didn't even make it to special stream.

So the cousin went to RGS and I went to Anderson Secondary. We pretty much stopped playing lego by then. Not at least in our trio. Coincidentally, the 2 school were territorial rivals before and the blue pinafores lost to the greens. I would then achieve lackluster 11 points for 0'levels (by ANDSS standards, since average was 9) and i became an NYJCian.

Our competition pretty much ended last year with the A'levels. Being a "normal RJ" student she got 4As. As a "not-so-normal" NYJCian i had no As. And to top it off she obtained a scholarship to New York University, where she would pursue environmental studies and Mathematics (my most hated subject). Honestly, till now I still have my head in the clouds as to where i wish to go, locally of course.

Not doubt she's the more academically inclined of the two of us. Her victory was beautiful, and she definitely deserved it. By now i am somewhat numb to the expected losses. I am more disappointed with myself not being able to reach my full potential than losing to my long-time friendly rival. It would be hard to deny that didn't envy her academic achievement, and have to agree that scholarship holders are quite respected in our society.

This morning my brother and I paid her a final visit. We played a little mahjong and chatted briefly. My youngest aunt's farewell gift was interesting, a calender with older pictures of us kids when we were young. Very nostalgic. It only dates till August next year so she has to come back next year to get the next edition.

My brother's and my gift was well, Lego. To be exact, it was a Lego figurine handphone charm of Sandy, the beaver in spongebob in a space suit. She was pretty surprised when she received it, and I haven't told her the reason for the present. (I told her to read my blog post in NYC.) Lego is for the time we spent together, the 3 of us (with her brother); Sandy was because she was going to a foreign land to study, like Sandy.

I end this speech my thanking her for everything she has helped me in, (especially for the tips on SATs and on getting my driving license), and the happy times spent together. I hereby wish her good bye, good luck, good grades, and I sure hope she did not give a lecture to the pilot or any member of the air crew about why air travel is bad for the environment until he/she feels so guilty/irritated and causes the plane to crash.

Thank you all.

*Bows and leaves the stand*

a BUG's life #2

2009-08-08T15:55:00.002+08:00

Other ants think we hive guarding ants have good ant life. We do not go form jungle colonies or do pathfinding. We got no ant big walk (24,28,32,72km) or do ant playground (climb wall climb rope). Some ants oso think we like colony guarding ant. Colony guarding ant have good life. Some guard from moon-fall to sun-fall. Other work 1 sun-cycle then rest 1 sun-cycle.

Our duty cycle is actually 2 whole sun-cycles or 3 whole sun-cycles. Duty starts just after highest sun then end 2 or 3 sun-cycles later. Say duty start on the 1st sun-cycle of the 1st week-cycle (1S1W). small drone ant want us to check-in by SF4W. (SF= sun-fall,1900; 4W= 4 watches, ie 4hrs. Since 4W is written after SF, it means 4hrs after sun-fall, ie 1900+0400= 2300) Small drone ant want us to do power training so that we pass the Insect Power Performance Test or whatever it stands for. After that if no big ant or old ant or old big ant got dung to throw at us then we can go buy kitchen. Kitchen sells food fit for insects. If have dung then lick feelers.

Before duty cycle start the not-so-big ants will tell us who guards which part of the camp. Then we will get our ant-cannons. Then we will start our duty cycle (mount). We will go take over duty team (shift) 1. I am from duty team 2. When we take over duty team 1 they are always very happy. Then we must guard for 2 sun-cycles. Guard until highest sun of 3S1W. Then Duty team 1 will take over us. Then they will become sad. Once we return our ant-cannon we must listen to big ants talk. Then we can check out. Sometimes big ant ask us to clean our ant holes or throw more dung at us. If all goes well we can leave by 4WSF (4watches before sun-fall,1500). If cannot we lick feelers again.

Normal ants check out 2 times every 2 week-cycles. We check out 3 times every 2 week-cycles. But our check out time very short. Sleep 1 moon-fall then must check in the same sun-cycle after sun-fall. So we check in on 4S1W. Not enough time to see butterflies. 3 sun-falls later we check out at 1S2W. (week-end mount, ie weekend burnt guarding camp) Then check in on SF-2S2W (tuesday of 2nd week after sun-fall,2300). Then we check out on 5S2W. Then we will be very very very happy. Because we have 2 sun-cycles outside because it the end of the week-cycle. Enough time to see butterflies. Enough butterflies to see. Then we check in on last sun-fall of 2nd week-cycle after sun-fall and everything starts all over again.

PS: in case u are confused, juz remember i'm not free on alternate week-ends, not free = in camp frm thurs-evening to mon aftn. And to those bastards, esp chuen, who keep asking me out to eat, drink, shit, shop, watch harry potter/emma watson on wk-ends, pls note that if im out this wk-end means i'm in camp 4 the next wk-end.

a BUG's life #1

2009-08-03T23:23:00.003+08:00

We are ant guardians of a hive. Oppressed guardians. Every day and night we must ensure the right bees enter the hive. If not the big ants will come after us small ants.

In the day, we must ensure that we look sharp and alert. Because thats when the big bees come in. If our feeler hats are worn not nicely, or our pincer-cannons are not "on guard", the big bees will come and tell us off when they come in. Or worse. Tell our drone big ant about it via intra-hive mail. Then the drone big ant will tell the not-so-big-but-still-quite-big ant, and he will come after us.

In the night there are few big bees around. But not-so-big ant will try to come up with scenarios that will "threaten" the hive. Then we small ants must "protect" the hive. We are already very tired in the day. All of us will have to participate and we have less time to rest. Then the next day we must look sharp and alert for the big bees.

The big ants are sometimes very clever. They came up with a way to punish us small ants that made us very sad. If we are not up to standard during duty, they make us do more duty after our duty cycle, while other ants can go home. When a fellow small ant get cycle extensions we usually quite sad for him. He can't go out out to see the butterflies. Pretty butterflies always raise our spirits. If he gets extensions he usually only have enough time to rush home to get a short rest before we need to report back to our hive again.

I hope i will not get extensions next cycle. In fact, i don't want to get extensions at all. But not-so-big ant is getting stricter. We just want to finish all our duty cycles and go back to our dragonfly life. If not-so-big ant is nice to us we will definitely put in more effort for duty. But not-so-big ant doesn't understand that.

the hunt is ON.

2009-08-01T14:10:00.003+08:00

Most of the girls of my '90 JC batch i kno are gg to b scattered into 3 safari zones (namely nus, ntu n smu) and become game to subtle but quietly starving hunters. Some of those hunters have not fired a single successful arrow, either because they r too unskilled to challenge the game they target, or they r unconfident to even fire the 1st shot. Of course, these type of hunters do not pose any threat to the game, even if the hunters launch multiple atks. However, the game, esp the more supposingly innocent rabbit type, shd beware of highly capable hunters that moves on frm game to game quickly, pulling out his arrow once form her heart once he's done feasting. Hunters would prefer gazelle type game for their prize worthiness, so gazelles will need to take lots of evasive measures to prevent getting hit by the wrong type of hunters. But tats not all, hunters shd b extra careful if they decide to challenge lion type game, known for their majestic beauty, which can harm the hunter if his arrows cant subdue his target in time.

To all the hunters: good hunting and dun take more than ur rightful share. To the game: May the right arrows stay in ur heart for as long as possible. Pity i'll b guardin my airbase n i cant enjoy the carnage. but once i'm out, i cant guarantee that i'm free frm bloodlust.

hope ur in the right sights...

H1N1 Continued

2009-07-29T16:23:00.000+08:00

In e end, i didn't go 4 e test. cldnt get it done at e polyclinic. if i reali wanna do it need 2 go TTSH or some other hospital. then i convinced mum i didn reali need 2 get tested cuz i was alreadi recovering well. i'll probably b gamin full swing by tmr, if i can cut back on my set of super drowsy medication tat is.

H1N1 Suspect

2009-07-28T21:07:00.002+08:00

As of 280709, Yanchao is a official H1N1 suspect case. He had reported flu-like symptoms (which include cough, running nose, sore throat), fever and headache. And tmr, mum's gonna drag me 2 get tested 4 h1n1. I did duty with someone who was later tested positive, thus i'm a suspect.

For those whom i came in contact with i in the past wkend, i apologise for the worry/distress/probable illness. (i tink i hav notified most of them).

For those that are stuck in camp doing duty, i apologise 2 all of u for, "PS-ing" u all during a period of limited manpower.

Just in case, here's some info abt h1n1:

Common Symtomps:
fever (>38), running nose, cough, sore throat, body aches (yes i hav all, info frm MOH website)

Tips to lower chances of getting infected:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Dispose tissue ASAP.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Stay home if you get sick and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

(i know they sound very familiar, form http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/)

Well, i'll keep u guys updated, if i hit e jackpot.

Speed-post #2

2009-07-21T17:44:00.002+08:00

Dang... Long John Silver's Breakfast French Toasts doesnt come with maple syrup anymore. It now comes with the more viscous Australian honey, and it doesnt taste as gd =(

19

2009-07-16T19:14:00.001+08:00

well a little belated happy birthday to myself. As a few of u kno (most of u dont), tat my bday was on e 5th of this month. For those who didnt, i dont blame u all, cuz i hav to apologise tat i might hav not rmb it.

Like all Birthdays i hardly receive much presents n well wishes. Thanks to Kwek 4 his Creative EP-510 earphones, cheryl n gz for wadeva u all hav planned 4 me (sorry i cldnt make it), my uncle n aunt for the T-shirt, my parents 4 e cake, and all those who wished my happy birthday(cant reali rmb u all).

To be honest i'm a little envious of those who received quite a bit of "attention" on they're bdays. It just appears tat they have a circle of friends tat r more "caring".

But come to think of it, i'm not reali tat "caring" too am i?

Tagged #3

2009-07-10T22:04:00.006+08:00

Culprit: Chuen (6mths ago)

Rules: Put down facts about yourself, the number of facts will be based on your age. Then tag 5 other people.

Simple, straight forward and time consuming lol. im 19!!! continuing this tag is optional 4 all.

1. Loves Tea. Those type where u make ur own using tea leaves or tea bags. ready to drink types doesn't usually taste tat well. best tea in my opinion is long jin (direct translation "dragon well" drank by Chinese emperors n executive ministers in ancient China, n is now a cash crop) other teas i drink include earl grey, Ceylon, Pu-er.

2. Prefers Quality over Quantity. wad's e use of spamming if wadeva ur using doesnt achieve its goal? N when it comes to games lik Heroes V, i prefer factions lik dungeon that has expensive but powerful units, rather than necropolis with cheap n easily accessible units that hardly does damage n drops lik flies. As for food, 1x big packet of lays beats 2x pringles cans anytime. (explains e long jin part earlier lol)

3. Loves Bimbos. cause they're damn fun 2 be made fun of. N they're NOT gf material.

4. Probably e least willing person to buy a car when i enter e work force. not reali worth it in S'pore. hopefully i can work somewhere near my home so i can cycle or smth. or mayb a 2nd hand car lol

5. Likes sports cars too. wld obviously own 1 if i become damn rich. probably due 2 playin games lik NFS lol. Current dream car: Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Superveloce.

6. Used to like e army atmosphere in sec sch days. Loved e camaraderie, order n discipline. Then things wasnt so nice after i enlisted. Mayb its due to e movies ive watched, lik band of brothers, n e book i read, by Matthew Reilly. Never loved to sudden changes in plans, esp since my character type fears e loss of stability. Sudden triple blasts (fall in FBO in 3min) n turnouts aren't exactly entertaining.

7. Love 2 get things organised n i never seem 2 b happy with e way i organise stuff. mayb tats y my stuff is always in an organised mess lol.

8. I love board n card games. its always gd to take a break frm e com. Mind cafe rocks!!! used 2 play WWE (ran a Lita deck) n pokemon collectable card games n knows how 2 play yugioh. come to tink of it, even near brainless games like flux is fun.

9. Loves Strategy. nothing beats havin a good work out 4 the brain. RTS (CnC) n TBS(Heroes V) r my type of games, not to mention hitman too lol...

10. I wish to write novels. most likely wld write fanasty or sci-fi. but a act seem to get a proper storyline up but i'll keep trying =)

11. Loves reading novels. prefer reading fantasy, sci-fi n thrillers. Favourite authors are Matthew Reilly (thrillers),Timothy Zhan (Sci-fi, Star Wars), Micheal A. Stackpole (Sci-fi, Star Wars), Eion Coilfer (Fantasy, Artemis Fowl), John Grisham (thrillers). In that order.

12. Thinks Star Wars is better than Star Trek. Star Destroyers beats Klingon Warbirds hands down.

13. Likes bright coloured stuff, esp red n orange.AA. prefers wearing bright coloured T-shirts. (Yes i have 4 red shirts excluding cls tee) but come to think of it if i've a car i'll probably get it painted mild dark orange lol.

14. Very unique wardrobe line-up. Some of u might hav heard tis but my wardrobe is made of mainly 3 parts of somewhat equal parts: 1) clothes bot my 1st aunt tat i almost never wear. 2) clothes bot my 1st aunt tat i wear (usually bot in my presence). 3) other shirts bot by me or in my presence.

15. Dont like going out alone. Since i enlisted i dun hav much time out so i rather use e time outside e hse 2 catch up with friends. i oso cant shop for clothes alone, cant seem to buy stuff. N by right, i only go to AMK hub, J8, Thomson plaza n sim lim sq alone. shopping any1?

16. Loves running. All thanks 2 chuen who convinced e whole class 2 run 4 nike human race last yr. mayb i'll join std chart half marathon lol.

17. for some unknown reason when i want to type "cant" on msn is comes out as "can". pls understand or pretend to thanks.

18. Tinks LEGO rocks. the lego chess set looks damn cool ($299), not to mention millennium falcon collectors edition ($999). Rmb to buy 4 ur kids in e future!!

19. i cant cycle. YET.

Ps: sry i too so long to post. big post ah. must tink n plan 1. cannot anyhow release info.

Speed-post #1

2009-06-17T19:48:00.002+08:00

Thanks e new toy i "koped" frm kheng meng, i found my cousin's blog.

Ps: speed-postin is fun!!! mayb i shd go tweet!!!

6 months of service: reflections of on course in NS.

2009-06-12T18:19:00.006+08:00

Anxious, curious. and with a little bit of hope of getting into command school, REC Y C HUANG was enlisted into BMTC school 2, Raven Company on 11 Dec 2008. He was then "indexed" as R3207 ( Platoon 3, Section 2 Bed 7), and since began his unwilling transformation to be a soldier.

Exactly 6 Months have passed. In this 6 months i probably learnt more about myself that i did in any 6 months of my life. The scenes of my most memorable moments seemed unforgettable: being a basket case during field camp, leopard crawling for my right to eat lunch (and shout "I am very very hungry") at SIT-test, caught sleeping in file by PS Ruzaini (i claimed by eyes were very dry), caught "sleeping" by Raven COY OC (when i was wide awake, but looking down) during his field camp feedback session, the unforgiving amount of dirt to dig for my shell scrap, carrying the endless number of sandbags during Steel War (while some of my platoon mates activated their "eye power", n i had 2 admit i used it too), IA during M203 and section live firing, TWO's super commando 20 push-ups, the feeling of achievement to sit in an emplacement (MY SECTION'S EMPLACEMENT!!), Raven COY game's day chain reaction team (i wa in it) gets wild card, the 1st tekong book out, sergeant declares "216" (PASSING SBJ!!!!), 1st early book out due to passing of ippt, completing 24 click route march, SAW living firing, days at 2PDF, getting my beret.

Past this 6 months, i actually feel tat I've had an increase in stress tolerance. I found myself "kan-cheong"spider-ing less and more calm at surprises like turnouts. In FPC i understood why I didn't get into command school: my relaxed style of doing things just isn't meant for SAF.

One thing i should do less is avoid stepping on ulu ulu landmines that isn't meant to be stepped on. (U'll figure out what landmines are as you read along) Somehow i apper to be able to avoid the well placed, most likely to ganna 1s. Those idoit oso dun step 1 i go step. Well.. honeymoon's over. The land mines are now fully armed. The guard has to be on guard.

It is also the 1st chance that i get to get out of my cocoon and see people from different backgrounds, attitudes and believes. There's people who places a land mine before him, warns people not to step on it and why shouldn't they do so, and steps on it himself. Some appear to have a ultra-sensitive metal detector to weave his way out of the land mines, but somehow constantly reminds you that ur metal detector isn't just up to his standard. But the best is still those who steps on a land mine and take eons to register the pain.

NS told me in a way that i might not be as good as i want to be at some stuff, but could be better at some stuff that i dinner. (but i've a feeling its more of the former.) For the rest of the 18 months, i shall seek for greater self improvement. Perhaps i'll be reading self-help books or takings SATs.

The RSAF's 9 core value's are: LOYALTY TO COUNTRY, LEADERSHIP, PROFESSIONALISM, FIGHTING SPIRIT, ETHICS, CARE FOR SOLDIERS, DISCIPLINE, SAFETY, TEAM EXCELLENCE. (1 full water drink up!!)

PS: the flow of this post is srsly screwed up cuz i'm juz letting my thoughts flow freely on this issue. sry but considering you the dear reader are able to register pain form landmines, i take it tat u understand this post.

thanks for everything. always.

A Good Bag of Chips

2009-06-04T20:11:00.007+08:00

Some of u might known that, lik chuen, i can use/eat a gd bag of chips almost anytime. But when i say chips i dun necessarily mean the big 3 (in my opinion) Ruffles, Doritos n Lays (includes kettle cooked).

This is the 1st bag of chips i bot tats imported from Korea. I got it frm Hanaro Mart after a visit to e TCM practitioner (along upper thomson rd shop n save). It owned by a friendly Korean couple but their business has not been very good. The "BIG SALE 15%-20%" appeared to be there for mths.

I practically cant read anything on e bag, save the "hot natural ridges". the only hints of the flavour of the chip was probably the "HOT". As i opened the bag of chips the familar aroma of baked potato filled my nostrils. The chips resembled ruffles, with its ridges, but it did not have the strong scent of flavouring like the big 3.

I stepped into the mart out of curiosity. It wasn't anywhere near shop n save, but it has enough imported korean goods to keep the average browser busy for quite a while. Everything ranging frm kimchi to instant noodles were present. I had a chat with the lady boss of the shop, despite her limited command of English. She sounded to me like i was the 1st costumer here in days. She recommended me this bag of chips, but refused 2 sell me alcohol (it was shoya i tink), because for Korea does not allow under 21s to drink. A hint of disappointment there, but i know i'll get my chance eventually.

As i placed the 1st piece of chip into my hungry tastebuds, i found out that despite thier looks, they tasted very different form ruffles. They were lightly salted, unlike ruffles which spams salt, n was frimer and harder to the bite. To my surprise the chips tasted sweet after a couple of bites. This was definately a good bag of chips.

The bag of chips isn't very large, just about the size of twisties. I finished half the pack in less than 10mins despite my efforts to control my jaws, then i kept the rest 4 my equally chip-loving brother. I am definately going back for more Korean chips soon, when my wallet permits.

Come to think of it, maybe i'll get a bag of kettle brand 1st.

FYI: the bag of chips cost $2.50 after discount. UP $3 i tink.

Movie Review #3: Star Trek

2009-05-17T16:16:00.005+08:00

Movie Buddy: Chuen (16th may)

Genre: Sci-fiction

Note: Expect a few reference to other Sci-fi movies/shows

Synopsis: The United Federation of Planets (includes Earth and the Vulcans [humanoid alien with pointed ears] and other sentient species ) are that war with the Klingons. The movie starts with a huge Romulan vessel appearing in front of USS Kelvin, the ship whom George Kirk was first officer to. (Think star destroyer vs Princess Leia's ship in star wars IV opening scene) Heavily out gunned, George stays behind to buy time for the crew and his wife Winona Kirk to escape, dying in the process. 25 years later, James T. Kirk (George's son) was eventally convined to join the Federation's Starfleet and began his encounters with Spock (a half Vulcan, half Human). When the Romulan vessel reappears and threatens the home planet of the Vulcan's and the rest of the Federation, Kirk and Spock has to learn to set aside their differences and work together. (Click here for Wiki article on Star Trek)

Plot 2.5/3: A well-developed plot, the movies slowly unfolds itself and a logical manner to let the audience learn about the sudden appearance of the Romulan vessel and its plans for revenge. Though there isn't any twist, the storyline should be captivating enough to please hardcore fans, though it might not follow the original storyline. The only downside is that the movie requires an alert mind to follow, and some contextual would also be useful.

Acting 1.5/2: The acting quite good. James T. Kirk(Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) portrayed the necessary emotions of rivalry and anger. But it just feels that the 2 fresh faces need more experience, which I have no doubt they'll obtain.

feel 2.5/3: The effects are brilliant. Humour is sprinkled in at pretty much the right places. The torpedoes and space battles are way cool, especially the anti-projectile guns on USS Kelvin, beats The Arch Angel in Gundam Seed and Seed destiny hands down (but they're anime lol). The Federation ships have the "wow, its awesome" factor in them, and the Romulan vessel, like Star destroyers have intimidating an intimating aura, which is a plus point. But i have to complain once more that the space battle scenes end took quickly, (good things should last longer). Ships loses their shields and gets destroyed too fast. And shortly after the movie, Chuen said that we should get the OST. Couldn't agree more.

Replay Value 1.5/2.0: As there isn't much twists and surprises in the movie, there is hardly hardly any "element of surprise" to lose. Come to think of the I wouldn't mind watching it for the battles and effects, and the storyline is still quite good for a replay.

Grand total: 8.0/10
Other scores: DAILY MAIL (UK) 5 stars, “Far the best of the 11 ‘Star Trek’ movies.”,
Ben McEachen, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (UK) 4.5 Stars, “Diehard Trekkies should dig this prequel as much as those aboard the USS Enterprise for the first time.”

Improvement/Spoiler: This movie is about "high-tech coolness". Spock's ship containing the Red Matter is actually (and currently) physically impossible (its tail is spinning in only 1 direction and by some physics law the front should spin too). But who cares? It looks cool. However, when the USS Enterprise arrives at Vulcan, the 6 Federation ships are already transformed into debris, where USS Kelvin could hold off much longer despite being alone and 25yrs earlier in technology? (Yes i want the space battles) And why cant dear Nero just go save his home planet when he travels back in time, but instead goes on to destroy Vulcan. Spock could also just ignite the Red Matter when he was being captured, since it probably was hard to figure out want Nero wanted to do, (Maybe they needed the storyline lol)

Final Say: Must Watch for all Sci-fi fans. Non-Sci-fi fans should go get aww-ed by the effects and the concept of Star Trek and become a Sci-fi fan.

Movie Review #2: Horseman

2009-05-03T16:23:00.009+08:00

Movie Buddy: SIS!! on 2nd may

Genre: Thriller (detective)

Synopsis: Dennis Quaid plays professional detective Breslin, who's too tied up with work to spend time with his 2 boys after he lost his wife. He is assigned to solve a series of gruesome murders, where e victims are hanged by hooks n tortured to death. The movie begins to climax when Kristin Spitz (played by Zhang Ziyi) decides to tell Breslin more about her relationship with her late adoptive mother. The horseman refers to the group conducting the killings who liken themselves to be 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Plot 1.0/3: The concept is fresh, borrowing the idea of the Apocalypse form the bible. But somehow the pieces of the puzzle doesn't quite naturally fit together. Though the ending feels somewhat correct, it just doesn't really pleases the audience.

Acting 1.5/2: The acting was quite alright on the whole. Zhang played her role well, but can explain why it feels a little unnatural once in a while, and obviously not gd enough to be the joker form the dark knight. The rest of the cast pretty much did a good job out of what their roles could offer.

Overall feel 1.5/3: The basic feel of a detective thriller story is there, but the way the clues are forced together makes the movie feel very artificial. Only the few well positioned twists and surprises kept this movie barely afloat. The ending just doesn't give the "Ah! I should have thought of that" feel when the mastermind is revealed, which is a must have for movies in this "make it or break it" genre.

Replay Value 0.0/2.0: it seriously hard to watch movies like Horseman when you know every twist and nothing comes as a surprise. There was no desire of watching the movie again to retrace the clues after the film to see what you have missed out. And nope, Zhang isn't meant to look pretty in this film.

Grand total: 4.0/10
Other scores: Today 1.5/5, Straits Times Life! 2/5

Improvement/Spoiler: The movie's off to a promising start, but the ending is a tad too disappointing. Breslin's son being the mastermind isn't too hard to guess, especially if you have watch quite a few movies of this genre before. The over-highlighted scenes of Breslin ignoring his sons gave it away. The clues seemed forced, and Breslin "gets it" from out of nowhere, and the director fails to hint properly that his son was the mastermind. Maybe things like him pouring over religious texts would help. Breslin's discovery of his son's white "cove" after 3 yrs just doesn't feel right.

Final Say: Great concept and an amazing start, but a poor series of events brought the movie down. Perhaps only if you're a great fan of Zhang (Or you're bored of seeing her as a pretty ancient chinese warrior princess).

Movie Review #1: X-men origins: Wolverine

2009-05-03T14:13:00.007+08:00

Movie-buddies: Force Protection Course SBAB (FPC) 09: Daryl, Keng Wei n THE Scamperer on 1st may

Genre: action (comics)

Synopsis: Prequel to the X-men trilogy, this movie is obviously about how wolverine came about. The tricky part to this movie is that everyone knows Logan's gonna become wolverine of the shiny adamantium claws, so there cant b much surprises here.

Plot 2.0/3: The plot is somewhat simple, save for an unexpected twist of stryker true intentions at the end, which can be quite corny for some.

Acting 2.0/2: Hugh Jackman readily transforms into wolverine, and he appears to be meant for this character. Schreiber did a gd job too as Sabretooth, successfully portraying the brotherly btwn the 2 actors. The supporting roles did their job well too.

Overall Feel 2/3: The movie did its job of revealing how wolverine came abt, today paper claimed that it clashed with the oringinal comic strips. The actions scenes are great but they seem to b over in a jiffy, leaving e audience with e unsatisfied craving of clawing battles. The presence of other mutants (esp Gambit) did brighten up e movie quite a little. Some parts of the movie just doesn't fit into the movie very well.

Re-play value 1.0/2: The movie's greatest selling point is the audiences curiosity on how wolverine got his adamantium and why he lost is memory. Once tat curiosity is satisfied, there's hardly a point in watching it again. Unless you love actions sceens so much.

GRAND TOTAL: 6.5/10
Other review scores: Today Paper 3/5, Straits Times Life! 3/5

Improvements/Spoiler: Some parts of the movie just doesn't feel right. Y didnt walker tell logan he saw sabretooth and decided to challenge him alone. And towards e end, Prof Xavier appears out of nowwhere n guides e mutants to safety.

Final say: An enjoyable watch but nothing really spectaular. The battle scenes are great but it'll be better if they're longer.

Edit: Replay value has been increased from 0.5 to 1.0. Thus Grand total is now 6.5/10

Tinktoomuch Movie Review Master Post

2009-05-03T13:05:00.003+08:00

I'm sure not many of you know it, but I love the big screen. Nothing beats the ambiance of being in the cinema, with surround speakers booming around you and screens the size of buses (not to mention the lighting n seats). Though I know I'm late, but movie reviews are must-haves for every movie-loving blogger. So to my village-sized group of faith readers and readers-to-be, I guarantee you'll never read a simple score + 2 liner comment from me (like kwek's).

THE BREAKDOWN:

Movie-buddies: yc's rule of movies #1: never enter a cinema alone
Genre/Synopsis: (no spoilers here)

Score Breakdown:

Plot (max 3): how well the storyline is developed. High scores given to captivating openings, gd build up to climax(s), and appropriate endings.
Acting (max 2): how well the actors meld into their roles. high scores given to gd portrayal of emotions, chemistry btwn lovers/family members (if any). Animated films will b rated on how realistic e characters expressions are.
Overall feel (max 3): how gd you feel after watching it. Include factors like effects, realism, camera angles, how well one connects with the roles, and any other factors that do not fall under the 2 above categories.
Re-play Value (max 2): How much the movie deserves to be watched again. (to kwek: Emma Watson does not add to this score)

Grand Total: 10

Improvements/Spoiler: How I would improve on the movie. this part will be in a colour with less contrast with e backgrd colour. highlight to read.

Final say: the BOTTOMLINE.

ENJOY!!!

beingin of the new re-vamp.

2009-04-30T22:34:00.003+08:00

Time srsly flies. i wanted to do tis a long time ago after the A'lvls but didn reali had e chance. till now u shd hav known my blog isnt "fully operational", n i'll try 2 fix tat ASAP

Things to do (incomplete in red, complete in green, in most likly order of execution):
Blogskin (design by den)
Set up book n movie review guidelines
ADD links of friends
write reflections abt BMT n FPC (e current RP course i'm in now)
add more stuff to side bar
Add more pics (esp those i took lol)
tidy up labels categories 4 posts

i tink i'll hav more time now provide FDS stop burnin my time during weekends. i lost 2nd may n most prob will b losing 10th may. fortunate i'll still hav a couple of stay-out left so wait n b entertained!!

After a long blogger's mental block...

2009-04-12T12:40:00.005+08:00

Sry guys (esp kwek who wanted me to update abt NS to prevent his a%$ frm getting screwed by his sergeants) for the past wks i cant convince myself to type. My mind's drained frm e smu n ntu apps. Juz took a tour of a few other blogs of 0713 guys hu's enlisted n onli chuen's not posting, but km n hh isnt reali doing so veri often too.

Well im quite happy to have passed out frm BMT. I do miss my buddies frm raven 3 01/09, Section 2 or not. Just met up with a few of them, but i had e feeling that i not reali tat close to them anymore. (dont ask y) Hope ting wei's coping well, he's gg thru a lot of shit in OCS and every reason to emo. 3 wks in n he's alreadi got 2 confinements, cuz he got e sec com job, but now he's out n enjoyin with a few of my bunkmates. Mayb i shd hav went.

My new posting as at Sembawang Airbase Field Defense Squadron ("high-class" regimental policeman) isn't exactly slack. There is not yet any physical trng outside 5bx, but or trng on discipline is emphasised. we had to stand still 4 long periods of time under the sun, and during our 1.5 hr long stand by area/bunk. we still have foot drills n a lot of lectures. but e serious stuff r abt 2 start soon. wad irritates us trainees is tat the Training Warrant Officer (TWO)wun tell us the plan for our course. n we only can guess when we'll pass out. but after that things shd b a breeze. shift life passes by quickly n gives me time to study 4 my SATs, mayb learn 2 drive.

well hope i survive another week to book out again. my TWO's commando "level 1" push up regime isn't exactly enjoyable, which left us with lightly trembling hands as we ate our lunch. makes us wonder how r we gonna get thru e next levels. but it was GOOD trainin. n we were told to bring our parade boots in. lots more ker kiri/kana n esp blakang pu seng comin right up!!

Though i'm sure u'll never read this, but thanks for giving me the chance to open the window. Guess i'm still distracted.

YC's quick guide to BMT

2009-01-01T21:31:00.006+08:00

Barely survived 3 wks of BMT, yanchao nobly decides to write all u ppl guide so u wun suffer so much. (hopefully less than i did)

typical NS day:
reveille(click 4 definition): 0530 (i wake-up at 0515)
fall-in for 5BX+run:0545 (5BX: 5 basic exercises, jumping jack, high jumper, squat benders, crunches, push up)
breakfast: ard 0615 then admin time
1st Parade (to mark attendance n 4 ppl to report sick) abt:0730
1st morn lesson slot: 0745 (mostly lik PT)
2nd morn lesson slot: (most likly lecture or arms/foot drill. once in a long while might get gym)
lunch: ard 12 + admin time
1st aftn slot (lecture or admin time)
2nd aftn slot; ard 1530 (more PT)
dinner: ard 1800
RO (4got stand 4 wad, but its to tell u wad to expect tmr): sometime after dinner, admin time after tat
lights out:2215, and they mean it. u'll hav SOS (Screaming Officers and Sergeants) patrolling e corridors

PT:
Combat PT 1: exercises used as warm up for heavier exercises. only done once a day if required. shd wear u out a bit when juz starting out.
3 movement drills: done immediately after CPT1 (laterals, verticals, shuttle sprint) very easy to do, very useful n very tiring.
after that u get things like:

ability grp run: get paced by sergeants according to ur 2.4 timing. jog 4 a certain period of time.
30:60: interval training, sprint for 30sec, slow jog for 60sec
Strength training: dumbbells drills n medicine balls(3+ kg balls where u throw n pass ard)
CPT2: exercises with e pull-up bar. usually Veri easy oso. but i still cant complete without being assisted.

if got 2 PT slots u'll do e generic warm-up. tat 1 very simple 1.

tips: do e exercise properly, like having 90 degrees for both legs for lunges, cuz e sergeants will get all of u to hold it there until every 1 is correct. n if u ever get e gym, u'll have to fight 4 e machines. 1 platoon 50 ppl share lik 3 universal machines.

THINGS TO EXPECT:
tons of physical training(esp e PTP ppl)
vaccines
overcooked veggies
doing 100+ push-ups a day
getting tekan 4 stupid reasons
vulgarities (i tink it happens worldwide)
water parades, b4 n after exercises, drink 500ml, expect more than 4 a day.
sudden surprises lik: suddenly ask u fall-in in smart no.4 (uniform) in 10mins, or fire drills(fall-in within 2mins with alot). if e difference in lights out n reveille timings is more than 7.5hrs expect something to happen

things to do:
execute given instructions fast, esp when travellin frm place to place
practice water parading urself
train hold-it-down positions for exercises lik lunges n push-ups(up n down)
train up on stamina n pull-ups
learn to carry heavy loads n walking long distances
Drink up,esp e night b4 road marches (u will b easily dehydrated, recommended in take in tekong: 6-7 litres a day)
bring ur own medication, n report sick only 4 genuine cases (the med officers readily give status, ie do light activities only, no PT. if u take too much they ask u stay back on weekends for remedial training ur problem)
U can bring in battery operated handphone chargers, lik e 1 me n kheng meng have
buy extra stuff for display purposes ( lik e 1st aid dressings) frm e mart in tekong. its usually cheaper there
learn to shout n echo n sing. mouth never open=tekan
sound off when u do something wrong. u'll usually get a lighter punishment.
do OTOT(own time own training). concentrate on ur weaker stations of IPPT
bring an MP3 player, hp not allowed after lights out but MP3 are. make sure it DOES NOT have in built USB ports, thus my shuffle cannot bring
bring things to clean up, lik magic clean wipes. veri useful during area cleaning

well basically tats it... will add if i think of more stuff... N i'll try to stay alive... TO RAVEN COMPANY!!!!!

My First Book Out

2008-12-25T11:05:00.003+08:00

It was mixed feelings when i stepped out of the SAF ferry terminal. Being the first batch to wear the new pixelised camo uniform, it was a sense of pride; with it a sense of accomplishment, for surviving the grueling first two weeks of BMT. The atmosphere of joy for regaining our well-deserved window of freedom did well to liven our spirits, but the hard fact that our adjustment period has just ended is too hard to ignore. Being in the PTP batch means I'm physically weaker than my enhanced counter parts (coming in next jan), thus we'll receive tougher physical training. I dare say my first two weeks was more stressful than my two weeks of A'levels. I need to book in later today at 2030 or risk confinement, and I honestly don't want to go back. But I have to. As the reporters took pictures of us while we stood still in our neat files, the light rain pelted against our Jockey caps. None of us moved when they fired away their DSLRs (i was standing the first row, but i think the Straits Times featured platoon 2 of my RAVEN company while i was in platoon 3), showing of the best, disciplined side of the new recruits. But for me it was more than giving a good public image: it was a sign of resignation and the sense of duty to serve my country. I'm no longer a civilian. I'm a soldier.

Ps: i wont b surprised if some SAF or MINDEF personal stumbles upon this blog, so i have to tink carefully abt what to share up here. Guys gg in juz rmb to train up on stamina, carrying heavy loads, hold it there positions for lunges and push-ups (up&down).

BYE PPL!!

2008-12-11T10:16:00.007+08:00

well im reportin to NS in 3 hrs. thx to all in 0713 tat sent me off!!!

N thx to my friends:
frm PCPS 6B 02: denise chen, cheryl ho, shermaine ng, guo zhong, kelvin kwok , kang yan
frm ANDSS 2/4 04:ming yu, james kang, philip, cheryl tan
frm ANDSS 4/2 06:jerico, yap weimin, darren, andy, lester n gang
frm AND Art club 03-06: xin wan, ming hui, vanessa
frm IJC 0712D PAE: ming xuan(gg in tmr), zheng xiang(alreadi in)
frm NYJC 0713: kwek, km, jiao wei gang, chuen, jc, amos, huixin, john, huijie(PW!!)
frm NYJC NYPS 07-08: boss mdm shin, james khor, hong siew, sean, steven, sarah, wanyu
special mention: SIS hwee li, amanda chng frm maths n phy tuition cls, lin rong frm phy tuition cls, n my pen pal (and distracion and she whom i cant mention)
N last but not least my family members

bye ppl!!
Ps: if i missed u out i'll add u in when i'm back... i'm obviously in a hurry...

From Changi Airport

2008-11-29T01:00:00.002+08:00

Yo this is Yanchao Blogging frm CHANGI AIRPORT!!
im at some ulu ulu boarding gate D49 tat's 10min walk away frm terminal 1. My flight's in abt half an hr so i'm obviously doing this to kill time.
if u all ever have e chance, u shd use the oto "big foot" massagers in e airport provided free. damn cool.
well bye!! will be back on e 6th.

Summary of post A lvl's (pre tw trip)

2008-11-28T14:43:00.003+08:00

well i'm less than 12hrs frm my flight to Taiwan, and i admit i havnt reali been blogging these few days. cant seem to b in e mood n mom keep asking me to pack my room. so here's a little somethime to keep u all a little busy this few days while im off.

Basically my A lvls were quite all right. though i tink i cant get an A for maths n GP. i tink i still have a reasonable chance for my chem n phy to do so. econs, as always is abt luck. the harder qns r those weird questions u nver seen b4 in TYS n past yr prelims n only ppl with strong concepts can handle.

our 1st outing was after our chem p1 on the 14th the guys went to sim lim square to purchase red alert 3. We had to go ard in circles a little, in e end gad, hh, amos, gh, jr, had to settle with $54 each. spent the next 3 days playing it despite phy p1 on e 18th. Apologises to hh n gab who cant play the game cuz the graphics card cant handle it.

The cls went to kwek's hse then THE CAGE. of course i didn score any goals n i dun tink i have that many gd shots lik the last time, but i definately did enjoy game. but i was pretty careless tat day leaving my nike yellow polycarbonate water bottle at the cage n my cell phone at liesure park KFC. got both back fortunately.

next was chalet 19th-21th. i dealt with the snacks but i wun say that i did a gd job. apparently my clsmates did lik Oregon fresh seaweed flavour lik me n john did. nothing happened much on e 1st day, except tat cindy, ck n me tot km how to play majong. n i only won 1 out of the 10+ rounds we played. at noght we watch american pie 6:beta house, borat n e 1st part of Zohan. interesting. the next morning we got chased of of arcade cuz we were wearing our cls n other tees n shorts, which has letters NYJC on it. too strict i believe. in e aftn was tat crazy bike expedition lead by chuen(as expected) that we didn make it back in 4 hrs.(the rest went escape theme park) partially be cuz i was very unfit n john had to make extreme effort to paddle me back. THANKS JOHN!!! i'll see it as a reminder tat i need to train up more for my incoming NS. N we had a veri decent dinner at fish n co express. (highly recommended). As for the 3 or more very bored souls (gab, huijie n cheryl) who went ard painting ppl's toe nails n powering ppl's hair. DO NOT DO TAT AGAIN.

We celebrated my maternal grandfather's 8oth birthday on sat. no pic tho, was busy eating n i gladly let my more experienced uncle do the job. On sun went to temple, sry cant join the gym guys.

mon n tue was quite boring. except my bro went 4 KFC breakfast on mon. the honey biscuit rocks!!!(must try!!) but e breakfast platter still loses to macs n bk's. the egg was in pieces not lik macs nice big rectangle which tasted much better. but kudos to the orginal twister that my bro ate, which is much nicer n more worth it that my platter.(student breakfast at $4.50 but no honey biscuit)

on wed i went to mind cafe with jr, chuen, jc n wei liang. played whose the boss, n i got second (tyco de) n the veri experienced jr got 1st. tried to play ticket to ride Europe version but ended up playing uno instead. i won due to luck lol.

sry i didn wan to go sitex on thurs. juz dun feel lik gg out of the hse..
as 4 red alert 3 i done with e the soviet campaign (natasha will call back) n half way thru the allied campaign. n if u ever have the chance, meet yuriko. A cute school girl cum empire-of-the-rising-sun infantry commander who wipes out infantry with a force wave special ability, spins armoured vehicles to shreds, if u do not kno, pulls ur proud kirovs (zepplin heavy bombers) from the skys.

well gtg now, need to mop e floor b4 mom gets back home. hav fun!!

Tagged #2

2008-11-26T22:10:00.008+08:00

By denise. AGAIN.

I tag:
kwek, chuen, jc, e other 2 anyhow.

Rules:

I. People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves. You may alter the question to fit you. ie. sex of subjects involved.

II. Tag 5 people to do this quiz. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. Do you have secrets?
Yes. (under my bed mattress there is... NOTHING!!!!!!!!!)

2. Would you fall in love with a blind girl?
unlikly

3. Do you enjoy going to school?
no but beats NS.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
buy a nice high rise condo, cars: Lamborghini n hybird cars, monster computer n games, canon camera & lens fleet. then set up my own investment firm n donate profits to charity n research (like OLPC).

5. Will you die for some stranger?
if i dun hav time to tink, high chance. if i hav time to think, the chances decrease drastically proportionately to tinkin time until it tapers off at ard 5%

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
den's answer that i agree with: being loved when you're loving that someone that doesn't like you. but if i have to choose, i'll take being loved, so long as tat some1 is not obsessed with me.

7. List out your 15 favourite songs.
i srsly dunno... but i'm tinking of the Red Alert 3 sound track.
for those who play, its the soviet song played when u 1st enter the main menu.

8. If the person you secretly like turns out to be a lesbian what would you do?
*tears* n keep quiet. mayb pray tat she turn back to heterosexual?

9. Is there anything that will make you extremely happy?
finding my confident. one that understands me like e back of his hand. but come to tink of it, something close will do.

10. What makes you pissed off?
ppl who blow their trumpets too loudly 4 their own gd.
insensitive ppl who dun care abt others' feelings.
ppl who tink they're always correct n ignore others' views.

11. How would you see yourself in 10 years time?
A more mature me, one that is able to see the big picture.

12. Who are currently the most important people to you?
family. friends in LEAF lvl 4 n above.

13. What is the most important thing in life?
not to regret living it

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
single n rich (its easier to get married than get rich right?)

15. What is your favourite colour?
RED for Mother Russia!! (i shd play less red alert 3)

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
only after the initial stages

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
Den's (koped) answer that i agree: "the one who loves me back"
juz give them n myself some time, n the winner will emerge. (n u might dig out some bad stuff abt 1 orboth of them)

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing the someone has done?
forgive yes, forget no. no way i'm gonna get hurt by the same way twice.

19. What CCA are you in?
photog!! paparazzi in training. watch out Micheal Jackson!!! wad r u doin to tat little boy?

20. What type of person will you fall in love with?
i see that person then tell u can?

Great Game Rush

2008-10-31T23:34:00.003+08:00

Hang in there ppl!! A's is gonna b over soon!!!
And after A's (and 0713 chalet) it time 4 some hardcore gaming!!

YANCHAO PROPOSES THE GREAT GAME RUSH:
When: 14 nov (tentative, yes aft chem paper 1)
Where: sim lim sq's famous game shop (dunno wads e name)
What: find e boss, buy games n try to get bulk discount and/or economics of scale
Who: Yanchao ( Command and Conquer: First Decade, confirmed, mayb sth else)
ykm (Orange Box, tentative)
Chuen (Spore, tentative)

PS2/3, Xbox(360),Wii, software (anti-virus etc.) and other cool tech toys(gaming mouse,keyboard available)

Anyone interested TAGGG!!

Ps: pls help me ask ard to help sell my grad ball tickets thx...

NS enlistment.

2008-10-29T21:48:00.005+08:00

As some of u may know dear Yanchao (QC, uncle, grandpa or wadeva u r approved of calling me) is EXPECTED to turn up at BMTC School 2 in pulau tekong on 11 dec 08 at 1pm.

This letter reali came quite late. i was only given like 6 wks notice? N poor yanchao has to cancel his Melbourne/Adelaide coz its scheduled frn e 5th to e 17th. Supposed to escape frm e stressful/competitive/highly politically correct Singapore for 12 days with juz my family n relatives (we were supposed to be free n easy), n some Aussies tat dont even know my name. I was wondering if we got go to some billabong/ripcurl warehse...

After that watch tons of anime (bleach, gundam, GITS), TV shows (Heroes, Simpsons, friends, beauty n e geek), movies (Madagascar 2, hopefully Max Payne) read 4 hrs straight a day (STAR WARS X-WING SERIES!!, Matthew Reilly, John Grisham, n any other bks recommend by credible readers), sign up 4 mind's cafe membership n go every members night, play sports (badminton,soccer ,squash? thanks to 0713), play com (Hitman, NFS, C and C, Heroes V, warcraft III, Gunz(a little childish but still fun) MINESWEEPER), play xbox 360 at kwek's hse (i kno u wanna play crimson skies), work n earn $ to pay for tech toys (PSP, new mp3, new 20-inch LCD monitor(or 22-inch, frame rate muz fast fast 1) new bag new clothes new shoes (THREADLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), play RISK (with chuen n mayb JC?) , take photograph (with my photogs, kwek might wanna come too, got james to teach u how to get e most out of 13fps), Eat fried chicken (with mr lau n photog ex-co) , .................................................

All based on e assumption tat mindef will give at least 2 mths of advenced notice. so i tot i was gg in in march (with weiliang) Blame me 4 not passing NAPFA. this i had to admit. but shdnt they give me more time to prepare my last days of freedom?

New tentative timetable:
18th nov: official end of A's
19-21 nov: class chalet
(will b getting Command and Conquer: First Decade ard 18-21, sim lim any1?)
23 nov-5rd dec: (taiwan trip: mum srsly wans family time b4 i lose my freedom. i dun reali wanna go but i respect her wishes will need to sell D&D ticket)
11th dec: *tears* no freedom. no hair. no GIRLS (enlisted tomboys doesnt count)

Tagged #1: thank u DC

2008-10-03T23:16:00.010+08:00

Thank u Denise Chen (got tagged, n i'm obviously being sarcastic)

Pick your birth month (sorry i had no idea where November went)

→ Copy to your blog
→ Strike out anything that doesn’t apply to you
→ Bold the 5 - 10 things that best apply to you
→ Tag 10 people from your friends list
→ commenting is optional (rule added by me, my comments in purple)

Yanchao tags all 0713 official bloggers that are born in JULY (kwek, gab, sohee), chuen, ykm, weihan. The other 4 anyhow.

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic. Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. ~~Secretive.~~ Difficult to fathom and to be understood. I AM A COMPLEX MINDED INDIVIDUAL!! Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. ~~Tactful.~~ Friendly. Approachable. Emotional ~~temperamental~~ and unpredictable. ~~Moody.~~ Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. You had no idea wad happened to the guy that tried 2 ruin my reputation. Forgiving but never forgets. ~~Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things.~~ yanchao *hearts* spongebob, simnpsons, scary movies series, stand-up comedians u get e hint Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Therefore, after much scrutiny n considerations, i conclude tat kwek is a duck. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. one sweet per person, nothing more!!!! Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. chuen looks lik a gay, acts lik a gay n therefore is gay. Hardworking. ~~No difficulties in studying.~~ Loves to be alone. yah!! juz me n my *fill in the blank*Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. ~~Never looks for friends.~~ looks for potential friends n waits in front of them. Not aggressive ~~unless provoked.~~ Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt ~~but takes long to recover.~~

ORIGINAL JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Converse warehouse sale

2008-09-24T23:25:00.006+08:00

For those idiots lik chuen who wanna go to the CONVERSE WAREHOUSE SALE
juz click on the link.
i'll most probably NOT b gg.
Information provided my JERICO of andss 4/2'06!!!

the CAGE

2008-09-19T22:31:00.003+08:00

Went to the cage at kallang with the boys of 0713.
honestly i wasnt a good goalkeeper or a good soccer player.
but i was definately a good photographer =P

Kwek(right) and his friends, Nicky (left) and Dong Lin (centre, act cute buay cute one)
[Sry abt e netting, who ask u all stand there ;P ]

CLASSIC for Dung-man

Ok here's a more glam shot

chuen moving in for the attack

Dong Lin: DO NOT touch my ball(s)

Kwek: Steven Chow!!!! I wanna join KUNG-FU SOCCER II
(u owe me $100, no charge 4 e rest)

if ur shots are not here, it probably needs "further processing", or u are in a same team as i am. (or juz plain useless. lik e whole string of jie yang's pics dunno doing wad at KFC. waste my batt.)

Going to cage after A's is a gd idea. N if kwek get his Panasonic Lumix FZ-28, i'll show u e wonders of 13 frames per second.

Response to the tag: "DAED BLOG 5!"

2008-09-19T22:03:00.006+08:00

Just a GENTLE reminder:
I called myself QUALITY CONTROL DEPARTMENT HEAD (QC Dept. Head) for good reasons.
i'm determined to ensure that that only well-thought out posts reach this blog. (tags n comments can be nonsensical for all i care)
posting for the sake of posting is really pointless.
i seriously dont care what you have for lunch if all ur gonna say is it was not bad/edible.

That is the main reason y i havnt been posting for the last 6/7 seven weeks.
but now i have a bit of time after the prelims and the all important "INSPIRATION".

But i do apologise to all the readers that have been constantly waiting for updates.
6/7 weeks IS too long.
N i have to apologise for not linking to ur blogs even though u may have linked mine.
I still looking for a new skin, but i guarantee u i'll link u all after i do.

Thanks for understanding. if u don't i'll most probably ignore u =P

PS:
ykm: u reali did spelt it as DAED, yes i kno tis a typo considering ur typing n ur anti-ghosting keyboard.
yanyu: i'm soooo glad ur not in photog...

Happy B'day!!

2008-07-27T15:00:00.003+08:00

Sry to post so late but happy belated birthday to Sohee n Gabriel and happy birthday to Adenline.
Sry i didn get u all presents bcuz im cash strapped.
and lucky too all of u Cindy wasnt ard 2 make ur faces creamier...
n btw adeline.. Huijie is quite a good friend. (go ask her y urself)
more info at ykm's post

28 things most girls dont know‏

2008-07-25T23:29:00.006+08:00

HEADS UP GIRLS!!!

Hey i received this email a while ago. n i tink i'll share it with u all. (note my comments in purple)

--Guys hate sluts even though they have sex with them!
(oh yeah..you're not 'popular' if you've slept with more than 6 guys..you're a HOE)
Well... not exactly true in our Asian society

--Guys may be flirting around all day but before they go to sleep, they always think about the girl they truly care about.

--Guys go crazy over a girl's smile.
We are usually not that despo

--Guys will do anything just to get you to notice him
We reali are usually not that despo

--Guys hate it when you talk about your ex-boyfriend or ex love-interest.
Only if the guy likes u... i tink...

--Boyfriends need to be reassured often that they're still loved.

--Don't talk about your guy friends to your boyfriend.

--Guys get jealous easily.
not me.. i tink i'm magnanimous..

--Guys are more emotional than they'd like people to think.

--Giving a guy a hanging message like 'You know what?!..uh...nevermind..' would make him jump to a conclusion that is far from what you are thinking. And he'll assume he did something wrong and he'll obsess about it trying to figure it out.
Hear that girls? thats one of e main reasons that make u all so damn irritating...

--Guys are good flatterers when courting but they usually stammer when they talk to a girl they really like.
bloody hormones...

--A usual act that proves that the guy likes you is when he teases you.
hmmm.... then alot of guys likes alot of girls...

--Guys love you more than you love them if they are serious in your relationships.

--Guys think WAY too much. One small thing a girl does, even if she doesn't notice it can make the guy think about it for hours, trying to figure out what it meant.
*hands up straight into the air*

--Guys seek for advice from girls not other guys. Because most guys think alike, so if one guy's confused, then we're all confused.
who ask you all so "sophisticated"?

--When a guy asks you to leave him alone, he's just actually saying, 'Please come and listen to me.'

--If a guy starts to talk seriously, listen to him. It doesn't happen that often, so when it does, you know something's up.
we have feelings too you know...

--If your best guy friend seems to avoid you or is never around when you're with your boyfriend, he's probably jealous and likes you.
but i also means e guy dunno how/dun dare 2 jio girls

--When a guy tells you that you are beautiful, don't say you aren't. It makes them want to stop telling you because they don't want you to disagree with them.

--When a guy looks at you for longer than a second, he's definitely thinking something.
"wow look at her thighs.. So fat!!!" -- chuen

--Guys don't like girls who punch harder than they do.
guys dun punch hard bcuz they're nice

--A guy has more problems than you can see with your naked eyes.

--Don't be a snob. Guys can be intimidated and give up easily.

--Guys talk about girls more than girls talk about guys.

--Guys hate rejection, but they hate being led on even more.
OK i was enlightened.. for those like me who didn't know what being led on is, its the girl pretending to be interested in the guy thats wooing her. Well if i end up being the unlucky guy, I'll make sure she becomes unluckier. (Get another guy to lead her on? lol)

--If you are going to reject a guy, just do it. Don't say they are like a brother or just good friends, it just hurts even more. Tell them that you aren't interested in a relationship and they will respect you.

--Guys really think that girls are strange and have unpredictable decisions and are MAD confusing but somehow are drawn even more to them.
All thanks to procreation

--When a guy sacrifices his sleep and health just to be with you, he really likes you and wants to be with you as much as possible.
and it takes alot of courage to confess his feelings!!! u know wad i mean...
eg. "i reali tink ur a b*tch n i'm not telling you cuz ur gonna b*tch abt it"

Well girls, i await ur rebuttals.

LEAF!!!!

2008-07-22T21:18:00.006+08:00

Level of Emotional Attachment of Friends ratings (LEAF)

To the few lucky ones who know me well enough, you will know that I adore classifying the things around me. Being an important part of a teenager's life, friends play a huge role, therefore deserving unique attention.

Level 1: Banana Leaf
Friends that I most probably will not be emotionally closed to. Like the banana leaf, they are good to be around with. However, once there is hardly any reason for this friendship to continue, the leaf is discarded.

Level 2: Maple Leaf
Good people to be with, most of my friends should fall under this category. Maple trees are good ornamental trees, which goes to say that i really enjoy being with these people. However, being deciduous, this friendship is sadly not expect last beyond the time where our common identity is taken away.

Level 3: Tea Leaf
For friends that I feel closer to than those under the Maple Leaf. Friendships with those under the Tea Leaves are expected to last longer, just as tea leaves are dried and kept. Though being able to last longer than Maples, the friendship will still be diluted if not well-maintained.

Level 4: Pine Leaves
Friendships under the Pine Leaves are really expected to last, as seen from its evergreen nature. There is a high probability that Pines have a secret or two of mine with. They are pals that I feel relatively comfortable spilling out to.

Level 5: Weeping Willow Leaf
Friends under this Leaf are friends that I am dying to have. Like the name implies, they'll be the first ones that I'll contact when I feel down. Only those that truly understands me well, is sensitive to my feelings (yes i'm a sensitive creature), opens himself/herself up easily to me, and have a host of other qualities will end up here. Needless to say such friends are very hard to come by, and i really hope I'll be lucky.

Special mention: Pruning
This term is introduced just to fit in this classification system. It is where lucky (or unlucky) selected candidates are being "trained" to advance their LEAF rating. I'll only comment that i need to fine tune my methods.

Thank you for reading this product of having been thinking too much!!!

Ps: If you are reading this, your rating should be relatively good. But to prevent unnecessary distress and ensure my safety, you might never know your rating.

NPPO (non photography photog outing)

2008-07-13T17:35:00.004+08:00

for 7 july: postponed for more than 8 months our 1st NPPO finally occurred. Tho it felt lik a pilot project as only 6 ppl (boss mdm shin, wanling, hong siew, wei kiang, yudhi and me) went, we certainly did had our fun.

we went to suki sushi for buffet lunch. but it apparetnly wasnt a eat-all-u-can buffet. we ordered 10 plates of salmon sashimi n only 3 came. it was bad considering that we came when it juz opened, n sat there dying of boredom 4 2.5hrs... lucky i ordered others lik hamachi n tai but i still didn eat my worth. Yudhi had lik wad? 14 salmon sushi? thats practically all he ate while boasting about himself n bolstering his ego. wanling ordered all of e fried stuff. all e wad funny funny fried salmon skin, salmon ball(dont try this, its bad). n wei kiang was so bored he had a shot being a food artist.

got potential?

we went to arcade a while.. didn play much... e gals played the bball game. then we played e air disc game or wadeva u call it. guy vs gals. somehow the machine cldnt keep track of e scores but i tink we won ;). i tried playin e daytona 2 there but it reali sucked. Gear 3 was missing. n e steering was biased to the right. so i came in 39/40...

watched get smart after that(hopefully movie review coming up soon). a pretty gd 1, (better than hancock), n has many funny moments... lucky yudhi didn make too many comments when i was sitting beside him. heng.

I didnt expect boss mdm planned i pleasant surprise at the end of the movie. she got e other 2 pay 4 my movie ticket.. so cheapo yanchao saved $6!!! THANK YOU ALL!!!(esp boss mdm who paid extra)

just after the movie we meet hh, weiling at cini lol... they had PAE 0720 cls outing at sakura. weiliang must be veri happy bcuz sakura was a real eat-all-u-can buffet. "eat-all-u-can" is a very important phrase 2 me right now. then we went paradiz play pool but i left early juz i dun wanna b home too late.. so any1 wanna top u can tag!!

Birthday and post mid-yrs celebration

2008-07-06T23:22:00.005+08:00

Sorry i have not posted for days.long post ahead. So here's the activities for the past few days:
2/7: end of mid-yrs:
We had a decent birthday celebration huixin's (1/7) and my (5/7) birthdays. we were supposed to have it on 1/7 but huixin suddenly run off for tuition. And her excuse was: she feared Cindy smearing cake on her face. So i did the job for Cindy. lol. but Cindy had more on face. i had the most.. watch out kwek. The cake is not bad (wld hav preferred black forest) but it wasn't finished. 1/4 went into the bin *tears* later i get a few ppl boycott your cake then u know!!!
(more info at ykm's post)

Next the boys went 2 play basketball. Apparently Amos n Jiacheng decided that basketball was not a good idea, tgt with ykm, we went 2 Minds' cafe!!! We didn lik the idea of playin in e hot sun n risking heat stroke (a few boys complained of headache, a sign of dehydration), and rushing home to get a quick shower to wear nice nice, and ykm has 2 miss the movie.

Our 1st game in minds' cafe was Tickets to ride: Europe version. A simpler version will be the US version but Europe is not complex enough for me (i love complex strategy games, n dun care if i lose). And my friend guo zhong did pretty well playing the German version (most difficult version) on the first try. I had a bit of birthday luck and i won the game. all my cities were over-lapping and i went on to complete the 4 mission. And seriously we should have played the train stations. Right Amos?

See those little red trains on the board? They helped yanchao win!!

Next we played castle keep. i heard gd recommendations abt it n it wasnt as gd as i tot so we changed game... We played some Da Vinci Code Mona Lisa game where we had to bid for paintings n to see who got the most valve with the gems hidden in them. Hehe i won e 1st round (due to luck again) n thank 2 my 11 eleven white gems (r they diamonds?) then chuen appeared out of nowhere n screwed my luck. Lost badly 4 e 2nd round.

i wanted 2 play citadel but we ran out of time. n chuen became a free rider cuz he didn need 2 pay...

We hung out at adidas grand cathey b4 watching the movie. chuen wanted some1 2 thrash fifa at then kwek came lol. lost 2 kwek again lol. n that table soccer was fun too, juz tat we got thrashed by veterans form fairfield medthodists?

we watched hancock. but it was not worth the money as its is short, n has a full-of-potential but highly under developed plot. had its funny moments though. will come up with a full movie review soon.

Went Cystal Jade 4 dinner. i ate plain dry noodles n drunken chicken(weiliang's idea, shared with weihan n dunno who else) total only $5.27 plus tax and charges lol. ultra budget. n not full... n i missed e beef brisket noodles... *drools*

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3/7: gym outing (and to kwek's hse)
Sorry guys i didn to kwek's hse cuz i didn want my mum 2 complain abt me gg out of the house so often. but gym n playin sports is sure ok 1. went with weiliang, weihan n kwek 2 e gym. expected more ppl though.

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4/7: Badminton outing
12 of us boy went.. not bad since it was juz enough to occupy 3 courts each playin 2v2. n we saw tis bunch of uncles (easily over 60) playin n they're zai. i wanna b like them when i'm old lol, still up n active. reminds me of susan toh n her roger federer lol. We definitely had fun n i need 2 brush up a little on my technique. Had late lunch n a hard time deciding what to eat. I love beef noodles!!! so glad i didn go 4 pepper lunch. queue damn long. n weiliag got scolded for buy pepper lunch n eating at our non-pepper lunch table. n chuen cldnt resist the smell of buttered rice on the piece of japanese hi-tech equipment, despite claiming that pepper lunch express is a waste of $$. (btw from dictionary.com, hi-tech:technology requiring the most sophisticated scientific equipment and advanced engineering techniques, as microelectronics, data processing, genetic engineering, or telecommunications) Went to arcade for a short while playin nth but daytona. N we were so evil as to team up against a stranger n bang him up pretty bad... N chuen flew on e cheapo arcade flight sim cuz he put e token into e wrong slot. Jiacheng muz hav tot he CMI.

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5/7: Outings with family

We had Bak Kuet Teh some where in balester 4 lunch with my family from my father's side. my cousin juz came back frm studyin in melbourne n we had a nice chat with her. N bro was eager 2 find out if she had an ang moh boyfriend. (she hav oso wun admit) it ink i might come up with a food review section lol

After maths tuition (yes i kno damn sad...) i went dinner at novotel. it was my maternal grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary!!! lol n my grandpa gave my grandma flowers, lilies n other small small dunno wad flowers but pretty nonetheless.ROMANTIC lol. Dinner was ok 4 an expensive restaurant... but expensive (nope aint putting the price here). 1 of the managers asked me 2 get married quickly n hav kids so i can be lik my grandparents... ignored him.

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6/7
didn go anywhere except physics tuition. but i bout a bottle of barcadi breezer peach illegally e day b4 n shared it with my bro. barely affected me (4.8% alcohol content only) but ppl only drink tat 4 taste not 2 get drunk lol. juz a small celebration upon reaching 18. i wanna watch m-18 movies lol.

no questions

2008-06-30T17:55:00.006+08:00

no questions please.... thanks..

Happy Birthday (The Click Five)

Hey you
I know I'm in the wrong
Time flies
When you're having fun
You wake up
Another year is gone
You're twenty-one

I guess you wanna know
Why I'm on the phone
It's been a day or so
I know it's kind of late
But Happy Birthday

Yeah yeah whoa
I know you hate me
Yeah yeah whoa
Well I miss you, too
Yeah yeah I know
I know it's kinda late
But Happy Birthday

So hard
When you're far away
It's lame but I forgot the date
I won't make the same mistake
I'm so to blame

So now you know
Don't hang up the phone
I wish I was at home
I know it's way too late
But Happy Birthday

Yeah yeah whoa
I know you hate me
Yeah yeah whoa
Well I miss you, too
Yeah yeah I know
I know it's kinda late
But Happy Birthday

It's not that I don't care
You know I'll make it up to you
If I could, I'd be there

Yeah yeah whoa
Yeah yeah whoa

Well I miss you, too
Yeah yeah I know
I know it's kind of lame
But Happy Birthday

Yeah yeah whoa
I know you hate me
Yeah yeah whoa
Well I miss you, too
Yeah yeah I know
I know it's kind of late
But Happy Birthday
To you

*stares blankly in space....*

Apollogies

2008-06-17T19:11:00.003+08:00

sorry i cant get the my blog skin up properly. N since MYE
s coming i dont reali have time 2 settle it.. I'll get it ASAP. thanks for understanding.

What if NYJCians formed Singapore's government?

2008-06-03T22:15:00.004+08:00

To the tune of NYJC's school song:

Like the blazing sunlight (Like the rising fountain)
We wear white to show we're clean (Our ardent hopes reach to the sky)
But the people aren't convinced (But the fountain stands alone)
Because our pay increase (Thought not you and I)

(Chorus)
For together we lead (For together we plan)
Together we rule (Together we build)
We hail the MM like our dad (A firm foundation is our stand)
The flats we upgrade (United our cause)
Hong Baos we give (Forward we march)
So the opposition cannot win (Our college's name proclaim)

Like the Western countries (Like the Graceful palm tree)
We build a nation strong and free (We stand together strong and free)
Yet if you try to insult me (Yet the palm tree stands alone)
Be sued for defaming (A lonely sight to see)

(chorus)

Come to think of it... its not that hard to imagine ;)

Ps: I'll let u all know if i receive a lawyer's letter.

94 minutes of hell...

2008-06-02T22:14:00.005+08:00

ya ya... we, the proud lions in red lost to Uzbekistan.3-7 some more. and i would have cursed and sweared like hong hao if my mum wasn't around. i turned on the TV at around the 60th minute only to see the score at 5-2 against us... very disappointing... And the last Uzbek goal shouldn't be there. but kudos to Lionel Lewis (is tat how u spell?) he did a great job defending the space between woodwork despite the defense... Wait.. What defense? And player no. 12's teammates are in space when his attacking(sorry i don't know his name). We really really underperformed, and the Uzbeks played well. they deserved the win.

And I seriously don't we can get past Saudi Arabia.

SPA/PW notes recycling ceremony

2008-06-01T20:43:00.003+08:00

Attention 0713:
We all kno that we all have a lot useless SPA/PW notes a home. so y not lets all bring them to sch on tue from econs and dump them into the recycling bins 2 help dragon hse earn some points n give chuen hwee some face. n do a little 4 our environment...

yanyu's fail pretender issue

2008-05-28T19:09:00.008+08:00

If u do not know about what is this issue all about, here's a summary(in chronological order):

yy said "how to improve my grades? my grades aint gd." during lunch with the us(yy, km, hh, amos, hazel, me)
yy overheard kheng meng mentioning to me that she is a "fail pretender"
sms-ed km about the issue
km replys that she got too worked up over the issue
yy brings issue to blogosphere
agruments on yy's tag board
chuen comments on his blog
km's response

click on the links to get a clear picture(in the order posted)

Well, honestly i too do not remember what is said and i replied. This shown that we did not view that statemnet seriously. I have to agree that the damaged has been done, and i sincerely apologise for that.

On the other hand, can't exactly put the blame on km entirely. We all know his (n most of our) dislike towards these "fail pretenders". We see them as, heavily result-focused, some more extreme ones being labeled having no life or having nothing other than results. If we ponder for a moment we all will agree that yy does not deserve to be given that label. However, if we ponder a little more, we find that by making the statement, "how to improve my grades? my grades aint gd." , is rather misleading despite the harmless intentions. Esp when the one making the statement result is an average C grade (my tuition teacher said ave C for blocks= potential A'level triple A grader), it suggests that those that have done worse, are relatively hopeless and are not doing anything about. This borders what a "fail pretender" will do as he will always claim his results are unsatisfactory. But i emphasise that we all know yy does not have such an intentions and such effects are accidental.

As for km i think that he does not really means what he says, and he probably made that statement as he was irritated with yy at that moment. And along the lines of her "being too obsessed with perfection" does not equate to "fail pretender". yy i hope u'll understand. N i feel that u should not have brought this to the public/blogosphere as it might damage ur friendship. N as 4 the students in Singapore, i;ll have to agree with chuen.

Happy Birthday Yanyu

2008-05-23T22:37:00.006+08:00

u saw e title. the boys were very safe today cuz we all ran 2 eat oiishi, in fear of the imminent danger frm e cake smearing queen. n we had a hard time lightin e candles... i went 2 turn off e fans n i forgot 2 turn them back on. no1 noticed anyway. n the cake was very nice. EXCEPTIONALLY NICE.
(for picture and more info go 2 ykm's 1st mid yr post)

ps: e pic abit LQ... hehe...

N to my "happy-swearing fan club members" : "imitation is the sincerest form of praise"-- STEVE JOBS!!!! (when Microsoft rolled out vista with distinct elements highly similar 2 the MAC)

Who said slugs arent pretty?

2008-05-23T21:55:00.009+08:00

well, i tot slugs are those ugly slimy squishy things u get 2 eat on fear factor...

click 4 larger picture (1024x786)

With a flip of its skirt, Hexabranchus sanguineus can flee danger by taking to the open sea—a skill many of its cousins lack. Known as the Spanish dancer, the species is a giant among nudibranchs; some grow to a foot and a half, on a diet strictly of sponges. When not flashing its contrasting mantle colors to distract predators, the animal is actually camouflaged in its habitat.

Built to feed exclusively on corals like this spindly gorgonian, a translucent 1.7-inch-long Phyllodesmium iriomotense houses its branching digestive gland within tentacle-like cerata—outgrowths the animal can shed if under attack. This species is one of the few colorless nudibranchs.

a nice gentle reminder of y i joined photog.

from NAT GEO website<<<<<<<< click to see more =)

Out of commission

2008-05-23T20:56:00.005+08:00

Sry 4 not posting 4 a long time.. As many of my classmates know, i was sick.
i was down with fever n food poisoning. dont ask me wad i ate. i dont know too. N there was a very long queue cuz there was only 1 clinic open in e area (i was sick on vesak day). well the next 2 days was spent slping, n eating porridge with choy sum, with occasionally toilet visits (to expel waste frm top n bottom). finally got back 2 sch n wed after missin a day's worth of lessons..

definately not part of my plans....

SPA skill A extension session #2a&b

2008-05-14T21:41:00.005+08:00

SPA skill A extension session #2a(mon 4pm at lab 2): well dear yanchao didnt reali study well for SPA again... i tried reproducing e missing parts (half copied, half frm memory). apparently mrs lim wasnt pleased n she wanted me 2 re-do it 2day(she said i was "normally not like this" mayb she shd c me during physics). i tink i dragged chuen in too but lik he said "no pain, no gain"

SPA skill A extension #2b (3pm aft assembly tdy): well tis time i obviously studied n so did chuen. but for some unknown reason i took 75mins... take off that 15mins n i'll probably lose half my marks. chuen made it on time tho, but while he has speed i have e accuracy. i think he got twice as many mistake as i did, but not enough 2 lose half his marks...

Honestly i believe that mrs lim has put me under the "trying but need help" category. but honestly i shd b under the "not trying and need push" category.

well come 2 tink of it... no pain no gain rite?

Escaped!!

2008-05-09T22:14:00.003+08:00

well lets juz say escaped no end by a hair... ie on the dot... got 14/30...
n juz cleared phys too on the dot again (18/40). quite a big plunge... n if i get 14/30 for maths im reali gonna laugh... come 2 think of it... its quite possible since i screwed up complex no. part, but e rest was ok... mrs lim kindly reminded us that midyrs is 48days away. *claps*

SPA skill A extention session

2008-05-06T22:03:00.005+08:00

As u know the 5 lcuky 1s, me, weiliang, weihan, jieyang n huixin, had 2 stay back at 4 to complete the SPA skill A ytd. we joined class 0726 in their SPA session, they had the same fate as us.
Actually those in their class who failed the recent chem org test had a pretty much worse fate than us. as soon as they tried to get their script cleared, those who failed it got their paper back. they were EXPECTED to give reasons for their failure before they could leave. part of the "reason" includes the fully completed org chem reaction web(yes e super-messy 1). N trust me, e atmosphere was tensed.
This could be what's gonna happen to the potential no-enders (honestly i feel quite guilty being 1). Mrs Lim is a good teacher and all the more we shdn't disappoint her. yes i know idle engines are hard to re-start, but since we ruled the chemistry skies for promos, lets do it again 4 mid-yrs n beyond.
And to weiliang(if ur ever gonna read this): don't be complacent n study "a few days before the SPA" to save time. n dont be stupid to mention that in front of e teachers again.

Reasons for this blog

2008-05-02T22:04:00.003+08:00

Sorry i didn't post for quite some time (was busy like all of us) n the lousy blog skin.
Just to tell u why i created this blog, here r the reasons i can think of so far (in order of importance):

1. to express my views. Those who know me well will know i think alot (sometimes too much) and like to express myself. i feel that i have interesting views about the things and people around me and i do wish to share them with all of you. Also it'll help me to bring people to me viewpoint for certain topics.

2. Support the class culture. Well many in my class has a blog n i been pressured to join
this group. its undeniably a pretty good form of communication am i right?

3. learn html source codes. whats better than some good hands on practice?

1st post!!

2008-04-18T21:21:00.002+08:00

Testing, attention pls!

honestly i can't believe i actually created a blog! i wasn't a proud supporter of blogging from the start until i realised its usefulness.

Just a tiny preview this blog will be more about my perspectives, though i'll add in some of the specks of my life that's interesting. So sit back and wait for my blog to get on track. (It will take some time)