Millenia Rink at Tampines after work today for some Roller-Hockey under the cloudless star-filled sky. I told Abel over New Year I would join him and it turned out to be sooner than I had expected. Managed to scrunge a pair of Skates from Guoyang. It was fun. I picked it up pretty easily even though it must have been at least 10 years since I last played. I guess the things you learnt when you were young and fearless, you don't lose that easily. The only blemish, on what was otherwise a great evening (or night) was the incident halfway through,when one of the guys fell and cut his chin and had to be sent to CGH.

After the floodlights went out, I went for supper with Abel at Geylang. Abel rode his bike, I drove. In life the people you meet, they teach you to see things in differently; they leave indelible influences on the way you view the world. There were no lots nearby. In the past, I would just have taken a risk and slot the car in illegally by the side of the road, to save myself the walk. But something's changed. I decided a walk through Geylang at its most bustling time wouldn't be so bad. In fact I found it interesting. The different eateries, crowded with colourful people. The street walkers with their cleavages, hanging around the alleys, the aroma of durians etc etc. Thank you for showing me that walking can be very enjoyable.

and sometimes, things happen, and you find that you just can't make yourself big enough to make things right again

This week I seem to be on a mayday craze ha, after hearing news about their concert. Here is a MV from their Final Home Concert which is so infectious.(Watching it will make you want to go for the concert too!) I think there is a mayday song for every different person. This one just reminds me of someone. If I had to choose one to describe myself, I would say 人生海海. What's yours?

The year of the pig is a bad year for gambling for me. After soccer, I went over to Dongting's place for his yearly "open-house" and proceeded to lose $15 on ban luck. It was a good thing that I'd set for myself a $15 loss limit. The food was really delicious though, perhaps enhanced by me having played a soccer match in the rain before that. I was famished!

One way in which we can do our part for the environment and a more sustainable future is to cut down on plastic bag use. The next time you go grocery shopping, bring along your own reusable grocery bag, Ikea stocks some pretty cool ones, like the one I am carrying in the picture.

Anyway, I have just got news that Mayday are coming to Singapore in March, to do I hear a Concert Promo! I really hope its a concert promo. Now that I am working, I will be able to afford front row mosh-pit tix. I feel excited just thinking about it!!!


Here's an old fashion kickass Rock-n-Roll tune from their latest album. Can't wait to hear them play it live.

I rode out of the CTE tunnel last night to explosions in the sky. A rumbling shower of colours, which caught me by surprise. I was lucky. I had gone to collect my bike, and was late for the get-together at Brewerkz, but I was in the right place at the right moment with the right view.

There's a guy on my msn list(I won't mention his name), and his nick, everyday of the week is a countdown, "5 days to the weekend" or "3 days more" and this morning his nick is "Monday coming" and I just think he is sad sad sad. What kind of a life is this, where you keep counting down, waiting for another day or moment to come ? An eagle soaring in the blue sky, the cool breeze on your face on a hot day, the pink flowers in the divider along the highway waving at you, your favorite song playing on the radio; Look hard enough and you will find wonder in seemingly ordinary moments.

A week back, I was in a discussion, in which someone who had graduated from NUS during the sixties, lamented the state of the Student's Union today. And I agree with him wholeheartedly. The Union back in his time and my dad's time, was involved with national issues, had real power and voice, and like other student unions in Universities across the world, aimed to drive social change. Ask any student today aboout NUSSU and what it is about, and they will tell you, Bash lor, Fundraising lor , Bazaar lor. The term student's union has become inappropriate with the evolution of the organisation into an event-organising club. NUSSU I guess, is a clear reflection of the political apathy now the norm with young adults in Singapore.

Oh yeah, I was clicking around on random blogs, when I chanced upon one which is either exaggerated writing , or the person is extremely sensitive, because the meaning of Lambast :

1. to beat or whip severely.
2. to reprimand or berate harshly; censure; excoriate

Happy Birthday Rachel! But I won't reveal your age haha.

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World. Heroes is my show of the moment now, as I wait for the latest Prison Break Episode to spawn. A Lion just made it's rounds through the Office, Dong Dong Dong Qiang. Chinese New Year lasts 15 days.

Say No! to Being Cool. Say Yes! to Being Happy. That's the title of the album and what made it catch my eye. Here's the microwave song. Softlightes.

"We had days in the sun, but they added up to none, it's just the fate of the atomic age."




It's everywhere on the news, Climate Change, a flood here and there, a winter without snow in Moscow etc etc, and yet frighteningly, very little concrete action is being taken. I fear that we are acting too slowly, too late, and what right do I have to lament this, when I for one enjoy my air-conditioning, I for one enjoy my carbon burning motorcycle cruises.

And so the ice caps will continue to melt, and we should all prepare our rubber dinghys, just in case.

Here's a song to perk everyone up. Voxtrot.




Walking back to the forum after lunch, I said to Liangting, "It doesn't matter even if I were to die of an accident tomorrow, because the most fun part of our lives are behind us, working life is the rest of our life, and it's pretty much downhill from here." I guess this kinda sums up my mood for the morning and the week. This doesn't mean I am suicidal or anything or that it's really what I feel inside, just one of those spontaneous random rhetorics which comes up whenever the sun seems to have gone out of your life.

My newest cousin. Everyone seems to love the hammer.

Dammit, I woke up and remembered another person who is also a "kiu mo."

Dammit, in a couple of hours, well actually about 7 hours, I lost the entire of my first day's Hongbao takings at Mos's place. $105 dollars. Lost $60 on In-between and $45 on Mahjong. After 2 hrs of In-Between, I was shell-shocked by my losses >_< but managed to recover for Mahjong although it would have been better if I hadn't. But I guess that's Chinese New Year Gambling for you, and at least the money is lost to good friends. It was really a cool get-together. Abel came to visit after like 5 years of not seeing him, We were the best of friends when he was still living a block away, we would just blade around, have dinner together, share our music and all, hang out every other day, and the best thing was that even with the years apart there was no ice to break, we were immediately comfortable with each other and we promised we would meet up more regularly. i guess I am the point of contact for everyone, like I mentioned before, the glue which binds everyone together. But sometimes I get really lazy. Rongjie came too, altho he didn't gamble and if we missed anyone it would have to be the 2 amigos, one in Wollongong and the other freezing his ass off in Ithaca. Halfway through, the greatly arrogant goat arrived with a fat stack of $50 dollar notes, haha I can call him that cos he doesn't read this page, and I am sure everyone will agree, but he's a good friend too(we were bus buddies in Marist since pre-primary), at least to me, maybe not the others. I am quite sore about losing $45 to Niao Liang the fat 'Kiu Mo' though. I can't believe it, if you know him, you will know why I am pissed. Grr!!

The other pictures are of my cousins, and there's one in which we tried to pose like the Garden State DVD cover.

I am gonna put aside all the unhappy thoughts and wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!!
Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Dammit, my winning streak in mahjong came to an end, after Wanxin's call. Too distracted. She had to read it to me when I have decided I won't anymore. She says its not like me to say something like that but I tell her it's true. I have always had a petulant streak.

I refuse to be drawn into any war of words. Say what they want. If people can jump to wild conclusions without even bothering to clarify things, I don't see why its my duty. And I stand by what I said, people CAN be more original. Btw, Southpark is really funny.Cartman just cracks me up.

"I want something else to get me through this semi-charmed kind of life and I'm not listening when you say goodbye."

------

Driving home through empty roads, with Frou Frou on the hifi, ~ Imogen Heap's soft whispery vocals, is just relaxing, even if my shoulder still hurts after last night's episode with the bike. I need to go to the gym more often and build up those supporting muscles!

Everyone on the 6th floor got 2 bottles of wine from Prof Shih today for Chinese New Year. NUS Centennial Wines ha. Then in the evening I drove as fast as I could through rush hour traffic to get to Balestier ITE to play 20 mins of a friendly game, Katong vs some division 2 team. We won 4-2, and I think I did pretty well.I still have alot to learn on how to cope with the physical game, but I am adapting better. I should be credited with half a goal, after all the 4th goal came after I pressured the defender into a poor back pass which went into his own goal.

On another note, I do think people can be more original. I mean I did introduce her to lomography. I guess I am selfish in some ways, but who isn't. And this is my blog so I can write whatever I want. I should think twice about sharing the good things now. At least, I have decided to heed my friends and stop reading.

I will sign off with some cryptic words from the song by Devotchka.

"And you already know how this will end."

My 300th post, on a thursday morning, I have got half the day off and I am going windsurfing!! But I am already late for that.

Skipped training for a night out in Chinatown with Josephine.Actually, it completely slipped my mind. My shoulder still hurts anyway. We got each other 3 dollar watches for Valentine's Day Ha.

The original boyband, oh how the years have past.

On the bus home tonight, I remember there was a time when I really enjoyed the long bus rides home, past Lornie road, along the catchment area; I think about how life seems to be rushing us by, like the markings on the road fading into a blur as the bus speeds along. I was telling Gwen earlier at dinner how my blog entries seem to be getting shorter because I have spent so much time writing stuff at work, I don't seem to have any juice left when I get home, so I need a bus ride, alone on the bus with my ipod to get the thoughts running. Had lunch with Rongjie who's back in Singapore and today he's just decided to hang out at the Central Lib today with his laptop. We've known each other for how long, like since we were 12? So there is this sense of familiarity which never seems to fade even if we havent seen each other for months. The highway curves like a snake, the sea of headlights you see everyday while you are driving, you realise are actually quite pretty, in this mtv of my life.



Youth Group - Forever Young
Let's dance in style let's dance for a while,
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies,
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst,
Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Let us die on let us live forever,
Don't have the power but we never say never,
Sitting in the sandpit life is a short trip,
Music's for the sad man

Can you imagine when this race is run,
Turning up our faces into the sun,
Praising our leaders getting in tune,
Music's played by the mad man

Some are like water Some are like the heat,
Some are melodies Some are the beat,
Sooner or later they'll all be gone,
Why don't they stay on?
It's hard to get without a cause,
I don't want to perish like a fading voice,
Youth is like diamonds in the sun,
And diamonds are forever,
So many adventures couldn't happened today,
So many songs that we forgot to play,
So many dreams swimming out in the blue,
Let them come true
Forever young I want to be forever young,
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever
Forever young, I want to be forever young,

It's just 30 mins past noon, yet we've already been around Singapore. A fishy Sunday morning, with goats and beautiful blue skies. (not forgetting the snaite)

My eyes open to patterns on the ceiling.

I know I am a writer of sorts now and the pay is ok and all. But what I really want to do is to be able to write lyrics like this.

Third Eye Blind. Motorcycle Drive By.

Summer time and the wind is blowing, outside in lower chelsea.
And I don't know what I'm doing in this city,
The sun is always in my eyes,
It crashes through the windows, and I'm sleeping on the couch,
When I came to visit you,
Thats when I knew that I could never have you,
I knew that before you did,
Still I'm the one who's stupid
And there's this burning, like there's always been,
I've never been so alone, and I've never been so alive.

Visions of you on a motorcycle drive by,
The cigarette ash flies in your eyes, and you don't mind, you smile,
And say the world doesn't fit with you.
I dont believe you, you're so serene.
Careening through the universe, your axis on a tilt, you're guiltless and free,
I hope you take a piece of me with you,
And theres things Id like to do that you don't believe in,
I would like to build something, but you'd never see it happen
And there's this burning, like there's always been,
Ive never been so alone, and i've, Ive never been so alive,

Wheres the soul. I want to know, new york city's evil.
The surface is everything, but I could never do that,
Someone would see through that.
And this is the last time, we'll be friends again.
And I'll get over you ,you'll wonder, who I am.
And there's this burning, just like there's always been,
I've never been so alone and I've never been so alive.

I go home to the coast. it starts to rain, I paddle out on the water alone,
Taste the salt and taste the pain. I'm not thinking of you again,
Summer dies and swells rise, the sun goes down in my eyes, see this rolling wave, darkly coming to take me, home.

Friday after work, Chinatown with Nerine was great fun. We only got there, famished at 9pm after going round in circles trying to find a carpark lot, finally we settled for SGH and a 10 mins walk. You really need to go there to jostle with the crowds, take in the sights and the sounds, for the Chinese New Year feel. We saw an inflatable piggy which we decided to buy for miss piggy(her zodiac sign) Wanxin. Have to go back to the office tmr 830am so this is where I will end. The photos should show more . I am sleepy.

Mulling over the right words to use, my mind wanders and I suddenly remember the M1 Fringe Festival is upon us. I want to check out the photo galleries at the Esplanade and the Singapore Art Museum. But I need to find the Time. Time Time Time, I have sold my time to NUS.

In this new found freedom, life is simpler. I work from 9-6 and after that I strive to make the most of the few hours before sleep. Yesterday was soccer at the Cage, 9-1130 pm. Today I went for dinner with Josephine at Ikea Tampines. I got a pretty cactus to grow on my workdesk. We both felt like having a drink, so it was down to timbre to chill with the live band. U2's With or Without You and Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved were excellent. Got slightly high and drunk, but no school to worry about tomorrow.

Some songs grow on you. Motorcycle Diaries, by Wu Yue Tian, I didn't really like at first, but I have listened it 5 times in the last hour already. As the name suggests, its actually about one of my heroes, 'Che' Guevara. Spend some time to pore over the lyrics and you will realise they are really well crafted, based on the real life journey he took with his uncle, through Latin America. I can almost imagine Che singing them in mandarin.


横越过南美洲 一万两千里的贫穷
我骑著 狂妄的 一股冲动
无垠的大地啊 种不出一个梦
只看到 那无数的 饥饿的孩子 和 绝望佃农

呜 谁在等待英雄
呜 我把左轮瞄准无情天空

谁愿意和我 一起写一个传说
你还梦不梦 疯不疯
还有没有当初 浪漫温柔

印地斯的天空 千年没有出现彩虹
失业的 老人在 弹著斑鸠
谁露宿在街头 谁却住在皇宫
日记上 写满了梦想 我决定要用 这一生背诵


呜 谁在呼喊自由
呜 我用生命挑战宿命宇宙

close your eyes, everything is fine, everything is light.

see you in the morning light where the birds sing with the sun.




Video to start the day off. Olivia, I hope you feel better today.
Simian, go build that snowman before the winter is over.
Yasa, I hope you have really stopped smoking, or at least cut down.
Susan, enjoy your free day. Kaori, hope you had a good sleep.
Gwen, Gym soon eh.

And now I am gonna go make some milo at the pantry.

2nd day of work. This seems like a good place to work, but it's still work. Anyway I just love this picture. So much so, i have made it my desktop wallpaper. By the corner, it reads:

Let the world change you......

and you can change the world.

We are ASEAN CHAMPIONS!!!! Well done Singapore.

I think on a certain level, I wish I could be one of the bikers at Yishun Dam, racing each other down the long straight stretch, not even bothering with the helmets. Living solely for the moment. We could only watch. It's a beautiful place nonetheless. We are the privileged ones, with our higher education, our "brighter" futures, we know more about the world, George Bush, Iraq, Global Warming, Idi Amin, Uganda, John Maynard Keynes, Bernanke, Tony Blair, Che Guevara, Robert Capa, these are names familiar to us. I know I am lucky, but on some level, I wish I could be them for a day, or two.

我骄傲的破坏 我痛恨的平凡
才想起那些是我最爱 让盛夏去贪玩
把残酷的未来 狂放到光年外(而现在)
放弃规则放纵去爱 放肆自己放空未来
我不转弯我不转弯

让定律更简单 让秩序更混乱
这样的青春我才喜欢
我要我疯我要我爱就是
我要我疯我要我爱现在

Woke up this morning, five hours of sleep, stuck in that limbo between still feeling sleepy but unable to sleep anymore. So i decided to clear out the old notes from school. Do you believe in signs? As I was looking through a pile of old documents, something caught my eye, a post card from Myanmar, Mingalabar, sent on the the 17th of June, "MRAUK-U." An ancient capital city is a growing destination in the Rakhine State, Myanmar. The happiest way to visit the ancient city is by cart. And it just shouted out to me to pick up the phone and make that call.

It's late, my writing isn't gonna be very coherent.

3am at Yishun Dam, pretty bright lights, strong breeze. We parked our bikes and watched as the biker gangs race each other down the long straight stretch. Friday turned to Saturday as we sped through the deserted kampung roads in JB. The thrill of speed, the rush of adrenalin on the last Friday night before I enter the working world on Monday. Before meeting up with Terence to go into Malaysia, I caught Babel with Martha, Olivia and co; A movie which gets you thinking; complex, heartbreaking and in some ways, weird(esp the japanese segment of the story) . A portrait of an interconnected world, in which every little action we take, sets in motion a chain of consequences.


Delicious brownie with ice cream at Pluck in the afternoon. And we made friends with a group of JC kids who happened come into the ice cream parlour. We gave them some advice, or rather shared our experiences with them, and in return they introduced us to this cool movie cafe with the cosiest most comfy couches where you can watch a movie on a big projector screen with all your friends.

That will be all. I am tired.

The National Geographic Magazine is a treasure trove of knowledge.

Save the Key Largo Cotton Mouse

"A cotton mouse is truly the least among us, but shouldn't we show consideration to all creatures? Or do we alter our behavior only when it's convenient, or when money isn't a factor? We live in an age where we are drilling for oil in the last, best places - when citizens allow laws to be passed that actually lower the quality of water and air. We vote based on prices at the gas pump.

Against this background, I know that a little mouse isn't a big priority. It's a battle to get anyone to pay much attention. But since the fate of humanity is tied to the rest of the Earth's species, I have to try. Everyday, I teach my children to care for the natural world, because it's humankind's gift to imagine the future and to implement change."

Joel Sartore - Wildlife Photographer.

Morbid Thurday

http://adoseoflight.com/overdose/xiaokang.html
Not an ordinary photo gallery. It will send a chill down your spine.

On the way to Ikea with Wynne for lunch this afternoon, we were wondering what the jam was about. 15 mins later, we found our answer. Black plastic covered the body in the centre lane, a brown pool of blood, white and blue slippers. Policemen looking lost and radioing for answers.

Euphoria, Pure unadulterated happiness. Each time Singapore scored. I jumped up and down and then we hugged each other, me and Edmund. The atmosphere in the stadium was fantastic, Kallang Wave; Kallang Roar. You have to be there to know what I mean. There was everything, goals, good football, drama and controversy, when the Thais almost walked out after Singapore were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute and the whole stadium started booing and shouting abuse at them. We bid goodbye to the grand ol'dame, the National Stadium, fittingly with a deserved 2-1 win. Here are some pics.

Where is all this wind coming from? It's been such a windy week. On Monday I tried to go windsurfing before going down to NUS to meet the people from the President's office, but the water was too choppy with a real gale blowing. It had been raining non-stop since december with floods and landslides and then suddenly they turned off the tap and then the wind swept in. From the little bit that I know of Geography, I surmise that with the rainy season coming to an end here and the sun agreeing to come out again, the air heats up and rises up and the cooler air from around the the region rushes in.

The weather's getting all weird lately , the last couple of years , El Nino and all and I can't help but think it all has something to do with Global Warming. These are the alarm bells but we are failing to heed them or rather we are trapped by the inertia and our own selfishness. The other night on Animal Planet, I watched in horror at images of an emanciated Polar Bear, unable to find food because of the melting ice in the Artic. It just depresses me, as much as seeing those pictures on her blog. And the helplessness of it all, knowing there is nothing that you can do.

"I was very happy when I was young." That was because I didn't know too much. It's like, the more knowledge you acquire, only serves to depress you and perhaps our human self-centredness is a design which allow us to function without breaking down in despair when we see how wrong the whole world is. And so I will forget all of this or hide them away when I make my way to the stadium and if the Lions win, I will be happy and everything will seem right again, at least for awhile.