Sunday, Apr. 06, 2003

Double Trouble

Mona had commented that my recent entries had been very sweet, in fact too saccharine sweet. Oh well, woman, sorry about that, I'll try to tone it down haha...but I agree, ants were creeping up my comp when I typed them haha!

Had a very enjoyable and wonderful picnic today. A double date. Me and Ina with Jason and Joanne.

Picked her up around 3pm at her flat. Then we took train all the way to Bedok and then a cab down to McDonald's East Coast. Supposed to be there by 4pm, but we all reached there later, as expected. Though Jason and Joanne were there slightly earlier.

I guess, Jason and Joanne had been waiting for years for me and her to hook up, just so that we all could double date. Jason is one of my closest buddies and Joanne and Ina are close friends too. So this combi makes sense. I'm predicting more of such outings in the future...which would be cool. And looks like Jo and Ina have each other now to turn to if either me or Jason gives them problems. Expected la...

We went to the breakwater at the beach in front of McDonald's. Sat down there, chatted while trying to play 21 with my poker cards, though none of us could concentrate. Ina brought some tuna sandwiches and we also shared the crackers we bought earlier. Though I had wished that it's sardines instead of tuna. Ina is the second person I know who swears by tuna, after Kok Yong at least.

Am I the only one who thinks tuna sucks. Anyone else who thinks so too, please raise up your hand! Especially the smell and the taste. I swear I could have puked back in Gold Coast when in our hostel, I was enjoying my bread with jam while Kok Yong had to ruin the air by eating the bread with his can of tuna haha. Ewww. Sorry, I just don't like the smell or taste of tuna. I honestly always feel like vomitting, at the sight of it.

Still remember those nights when I did overnight BOS duty in SIW and for dessert, we had to eat tuna sandwich. Yucks. But still Ina had taken time to prepare them for us, so I just ate them. Not badlah. Still prefer sardines. Though I only ate one sandwich. Anything for you dear...

I brought my MD collection and my speakers, so we were listening to J-Ho and Robbie Williams. The breeze was really nice, the weather was not so hot, quite shady, probably cuz the whole day it looked like it was gonna rain. Thankfully it didn't.

We lazed around there, till 6.45pm, where we then took some photos with her camera and then left the beach, took the underpass and then a bus to Newton Food Centre for our dinner.

Over there, the four of us shared satay and stingray, though I was pretty full just by eating my Mee Hongkong. Ina and Jason feasted on their cockels (I think there's another name for it, I just can't remember what it is now).

It's funny cuz the four of us noticed, that today, we seem mismatched. I wore beachwear with my boardshorts and t-shirt and hoversack, while Ina wore a top and jeans. While Joanne wore shorts and tank top, Jason wore shirt and jeans. Seemed very opposite...

Had a great laugh talking about poly times. Jason just had to bring up the hilarious Dragon Breath and Pulau Hitam/Black Hole stories (Mona, Ting, Sha and Lauren would know what I'm talking about haha), and we all couldn't contain our laughter and had stomach cramps, especially after eating all those food.

After dinner, we went our separate ways. Jason sent Joanne to her bus stop and then took a train home, and I took the same bus with Ina to send her home. We live pretty near so it's quite easy and accesible for me to send her and then go home.

Had a great time just now guys. We should do this again some other time...

posted at 2:41 a.m.

Saturday, Apr. 05, 2003

Cweepy...

Woke up very very late this morning and rushed to go for my Friday prayers.

Strangely, my mother actually recommended to me not to go to the mosque, since it would be crowded and as a means of precaution to avoid SARS, but I still went, cuz I don't want to skip it. In a way I wanna pray and thank God for the good fortune that I received this past week. Plus, I'll be going out for the next few days, so I don't want them to think that, "If go out to town can, but go mosque to pray also cannot"!

Another great episode of Survivor: The Amazon was aired just now. This time around, Mona, your favourite castaway this season, Dave Johnson is out. The rocket scientist. All cuz he was a physical threat. Too bad, around this peiod of the game, the stronger players are always targetted. I respect the way he played the game, but I guess he's on thw rong alliance, I tell ya, Roger is just jinx!

I'm expecting both Rob and Deena, who have been clearly portrayed to be the masterminds this season, to be faltering very soon. Noone can get that cocky, except for Brian Heidik for Survivor: Thailand. Plus I have read quite concrete internet spoilers of the final four...so...

In Christy's words..."Matthew is cweepy, cweepy, he's cweepy..." Christy's so cool! I like Matthew too! I definitely am rooting for him, he's just misunderstood in my opinion. Nobody should bring either Christy or Butch to the final 2, cuz they might as well don't turn up for the final tribal council. They're too nice...

Just finished talking to Ina. Tomorrow, we're going on a sorta double date with Jason and Joanne. Sure to be a lotta fun. Can't wait!

posted at 12:39 a.m.

Friday, Apr. 04, 2003

Cloud Nine

I slept till 11 am once Kok Yong, Liz and Liping left my house and immediately after I completed the previous update.

Was supposed to start reading the research materials for Kok Yong's and my parts for our MTV Clone High PR project, but somehow I just didn't have the mood. Instead, I just relaxed, surfed the net and basically nuah-ed myself away.

My brother came in the afternoon, with my sister-in-law and their 3 young sons in tow. Spent time playing with them and read the papers for the day. Also talked to Ina for awhile on the phone.

Went off earlier today cuz I wanted to meet her for dinner before heading for school. Went to McDonald's at the Bukit Batok East CC near her house.

Dear, I'm really glad that we had that talk. In order to have an honest and open relationship, I believe I need to know your side of the story, cuz I don't want to act unfairly towards you. And I need you to know my doubts and insecurities about the situation cuz I care for you and I don't want to be fooled and neither do I want to fool you. At least now, my doubts have been clarified and this air of uncertainty around me is slightly cleared. Thanks for understanding Dear. And yes, I can't wait for Saturday.

Now, don't you worry, cuz there's noone for me now except you. Let's take this one step at a time, enjoy and seize the moment. Love you...This still feels like a dream for me, and a lot of things are a bit too overwhelming right now, but thanks to you, I'm feeling at ease.

After meeting Ina, went to Westmall to help my sister return her overdue book at the library there and rushed to school, taking 61.

It was lesson as usual for Pamela. She gave us exam tips and pointers to take note. All, except Nat came today. Liping was visibly exhausted from yesterday night's movie marathon, while me, Kok Yong and Liz were pretty alright, considering we already had our rest.

SIM will be closed from tomorrow till 14 Apr as a precautionary measure against the SARS epidemic. Well, it's about time. I have no idea what sparked this decision, maybe cuz Ngee Ann Poly is closed for a few days and due to SIM's close proximity to Ngee Ann, it followed suit?

But we were all bummed, especially Naz, about this break, cuz we were all looking forward to attending next week's classes cuz they would have been our final two in SIM. We just wanted to get this last module over and done with! But now, looks like we have to wait for 2 more weeks for our last class and our exam is being pushed forward to early May. Oh well, this measure is for our own good.

But the deadline for our MTV Clone High PR project still stay, so I'm predicting a busy and hectic week this coming week, both in my school life and personal life, cuz our group is nowhere close to completion of the project. We still have a long way to go, with very little time. Guys, guess we need to buck up.

We talked to Pamela for awhile regarding our doubts for the project and then headed on home. Chatted with Ina for awhile on the phone, before I went to shower. Don't know why, but I felt breathless and tired when I reached home. Coughed a bit in class, but I hope it's nothing serious. And Dear, hope your ankle recover soon k.

Was intending to sleep immediately after I showered, but I couldn't resist watching the recorded tape of American Idol 2 (which was shown while I was in school). A few days ago, news broke out that Corey Clark is being disqualified for some criminal charges a few years ago. Apparently he was not guilty, but still he failed to reveal this history to the American Idol producers. Disqualification or otherwise, I couldn't really be bothered by him. Never liked him in fact, so I'm quite glad he's out.

This week's genre is freaking entertaining. Disco yay! Special Guest judge was someone from Earth, Wind & Fire, I can't remember his name though. But he was togged in typical disco fashion. Luckily without the afro.

All the contestants did shine except a few. My bets are, repeatedly, still on Clay, Ruben and Kimberley Locke. However, this week's contestants who have the lowest votes were Kim Locke, Carmen Rasmusen and Trenyce. I have no idea why. I still maintain that Kimberley Caldwell and Rickey Smith performed worse.

Trenyce sang I'm Every Woman by Chaka Khan, but Whitney-style and Carmen sang Turn The Beat Around. She's damn cute and I like her performance this time around. But the one that takes the cake for me was Clay's Everlasting Love and Kim Locke's rendition of It's Raining Men! Power!

Out of the bottom three, Kim Locke was safe. Just when I thought that it would be so sucky and unfair if either Trenyce or Carmen were to be sent packing, Ryan Seacrest announced that noone will be eliminated this week, due to the Corey Clark fiasco, and that this week's votes will be brought forward to next week.

Thank God for that. I'm really getting used to this final 8. We wouldn't find anyone better to fill in their slots...

posted at 12:30 a.m.

Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003

Fright Fest!

Before I move on any further, I wanna give my shout outs to all my friends, who have been supporting me all this while in my mission, telling me never to give up and giving me valuable advice along the way.

Special credit has to be given to Jason, if not for you, I wouldn't have anyone to urge me and kickstart and motivate me to go on with it. And also, to Lauren and Mona, remember the advice you gave me in the MRT after Chicago? I didn't believe you guys then, but now, everything you said turned out to be so true. I know I can always count on you guys!

Of course to all my other close and good friends who have been persuading me and advising me all these years, if I didn't mention your name, you know who you are. All of you, my friends, I still hold dearly and have a special place in my heart. Of course to you Ina, for making us happen, dear!

Woke up yesterday morning still in utter disbelief of the previous day's events. But I definitely felt something different, at least emotionally. Somehow I couldn't stop smiling. SMS-ed her good morning and told her how much I have missed her already.

But I wasted no time to set what I planned to do for the day. Yes, I spring-cleaned my room. Yup, lots of shifting of cupboards, dragging of tables and vacuuming of every cranny in my room, (well almost every cranny). My room was getting too dusty and since the SIM gang were staying overnight for our all-night horror movie marathon, I thought this was the best time. Spent almost two hours vacuuming my room away, perspiring and tired after it's all over.

Chatted with her on the phone for awhile before I took a shower and got ready for the gang's arrival. Dear, sorry couldn't see you today cuz I've already made plans. But don't worry, we still have plenty of time in the future, take things easy.

Naz couldn't make it today cuz her parents didn't approve of her staying overnight at someone else's place. Kok Yong came the earliest followed by Liz and Liping later, bringing snacks to share. Liz borrowed a bunch of vcds but we only managed to watch a few.

The girls and me took dinner first prepared by my mother, while Kok Yong fiddled around with my computer and downloading some stuff off my Kazaa. And I asked Liz's help to solve some problem sums that Nazmi earlier asked me to. You can count on her to solve them correctly as you know, she's a teacher...

Shortly after First Touch ended, we started our horror movie marathon. First on the set list was Pet Sematary, Kok Yong's choice of movie, though I recorded it off HBO Asia yesterday. I took out mattresses and pillows for them to keep themselves comfortable. The tape was a bit fuzzy and jumpy (have to blame my vcr or the tape I guess). This was the first time for both me and Kok Yong since we watched it when we were in primary school. I couldn't remember much of the story, so it was good to watch it all over again.

Verdict for Pet Sematary: Fairly scary. Both Liz and Liping have never watched this before. They summarised that the movie is about how dumb men can get. Well, whatever. We all find the good ghost with part of his head chipped off, Paschal, the coolest in the show. And the baby is scary too. Liz couldn't stand the gory slashing scenes.

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

The first movie for the marathon, Stephen King's Pet Sematary.

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

Second on the set-list was Indonesian horror movie, Sundel Bolong, filmed in the 80s if I'm not wrong. This was my choice for the night for us. Bought the vcd on Monday in Geylang. I was traumatised when I watched this when I was a toddler. I usually don't dare to watch this alone, but somehow with their company, it wasn't that scary. There were no English subtitles, so I had to translate the movie's dialogue to the gang, albeit pathetically and rather inaccurately. Heck, I myself couldn't understand a bit of the Bahasa Indonesia in the movie.

Verdict for Sundel Bolong: Satisfactory. They didn't really find it scary, maybe cuz it was filmed in the 80s and the quality of the movie is less than impressive, especially, the so-called visual effects. My bad translation didn't help either. But they agree that the actress acting as the Sundel Bolong is ugly and the scene at the roadside satay stall was disgusting, scary and unintentionally amusing, especially the part where the maggots were falling of her intestineswhile she was drinking the soto soup.

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

The Indonesian horror movie that we watched, Sundel Bolong.

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

Next up was The Shining, the Stephen King-adapted movie directed by Stanley Kurbrick. Liping's choice of movie for the night. This was when I started becoming bored and tired and dozed off, especially around the end of the show. So I didn't really know what was going on. The show was led by the legendary Jack Nicholson. It's another 80s movie and tonight felt like the evergreen horror movie night.

Verdict for The Shining: I have no idea. Scary? Well, at least that's what Liping, Kok Yong and Liz said. I watched only halfway before my eyes gave way.

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

The 1980 Stanley Kubrick-helmed horror movie, The Shining.

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

Last on our set list, Bangkok Haunted. Finally a recently released horror movie. This time, it's Thai, had English subtitles, and was Liz's choice of movie. The movie revolves around 3 or 4 horror stories woven together. I watched the first story before I concussed again. The rest did stay awake till the end of the movie though.

Verdict for Bangkok Haunted: Very Scary. In fact, maybe scarier than the earlier 3, at least according to the rest. I wouldn't know cuz, once again, I only watched halfway.

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

The Thai horror movie screened in S'pore last year, Bangkok Haunted.

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

Our marathon ended around 5 plus. I have already been fast asleep, so after Bangkok Haunted, the rest followed suit. Was woken up by my father for my dawn prayers around 6 plus. By then I was quite awake, so I just waited for the rest to wake up, especially Liping who had to go to work.

Liping, Liz and Kok Yong freshened up and then left my house around 8am just now, sharing a cab to their destinations.

Overall, the all-night horror movie marathon was fantastic, we all enjoyed ourselves. Sorry guys if I hadn't been a good host, especially the fact that I slept earlier than you guys. We were all supposed to be awake throughout all the movies, but somehow I was the only one so tired and bored with The Shining and Bangkok Haunted.

Strangely, Kok Yong who was not feeling well a few days earlier due to headache and the person we all know who usually sleeps early and whose bedtime starts around 10 to 11pm, was very much awake till the end of the marathon. As for me, the insomniac, I failed to deliver. Shame on me haha!

posted at 8:45 a.m.

Wednesday, Apr. 02, 2003

Rollercoaster...

It's been a great day, a rollercoaster ride of emotions and a whirlwind of surprises. I'm still in utter shock and absorbing what has happened today slowly...

Was woken up by Jason's phonecall telling me to call her back since she's been trying to get me since dawn. I immediately called her to ask her what it's about. She wanted to meet me immediately cuz she had to tell me some stuff.

Went to McDonald's at Bukit Batok Interchange, and waited for an hour for her to come but she didn't turn up. So I felt like I was stood up. Tried calling her handphone but it's off, called her house too but her family said she was resting and sleeping.

Went home a bit flustered, honestly thinking that this was a twisted April's Fools joke. Took a short nap and woke up again to watch tv around 2 plus when she called. She had a lot of things to say to me, so she told me everything briefly on the phone.

We then met at Westmall Delifrance. She told me everything, about her feelings, her desires, her current status and future plans. I was in utter shock, listening to everything she said. Never had I imagined that it would come to this day, that someone I've always liked and loved all these years, would love me back. The whole time with her I was in cloud nine. And to think that she has actually liked me since poly, the first time she heard the news from our mutual friend, that I have feelings for her.

But all these while, she has been waiting to hear it from my mouth, and refused to confront me about it, until now. She just couldn't go on bottling up her feelings anymore. She just had to confront me. And I'm glad she did. Cuz I never had any idea and all these while, I felt my efforts were futile cuz she never gave me the impression that I'd have an ounce of a chance, and everything she did felt like her strategy to repel me away. But now I know it's otherwise.

From Westmall, we went to Jurong Point to have dinner and then I sent her home. Dear, I'm sorry if it appears that those three words seem elusive coming out from me. I'm still in disbelief, that this is happening. But I hope you understand that I'm not looking too far into the future yet, cuz I've always been a laidback guy and I don't like to rush into things and be hasty with my decisions. So please take our journey one step at a time. You know I'm still overwhelmed by the day's happenings.

My dream has come true. So now, let's take each day one at a time, before either of us freaks out with this reality. Cuz dear, I'm still absorbing the fact, that yesterday I was single, today I have you. Ina, I love you and thanks for loving me too...Gosh, even typing this, I'm shivering in disbelief.

Yes, my friends, I'm finally taken...

posted at 1:59 a.m.

Tuesday, Apr. 01, 2003

Dream On

Before I go on with my update proper, I just wanna share with you guys one of my favourite Aerosmith songs ever. The lyrics are very inspirational and meaningful! A huge hit for them early in their career, even Eminem has sampled it in his latest single, Sing For The Moment.

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

Presenting, Dream On by Aerosmith (performed by Aerosmith, written by Steven Tyler)

Every time that I look in the mirror / All these lines on my face gettin' clearer / Fffffff... the past has gone / It went by like dusk to dawn / Isn't that the way / Everybody's got their dues in life to pay

Yeah... I know nobody knows / Where it comes and where it goes / I know it's everybody's sin / You got to lose to know... how to win

Half my life's in books written pages / Live and learn from fools and from sages / You know it's true / All the things come back to you

Sing with me sing for the year / Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear / Sing it with me if it's just for today / Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

Well... sing with me sing for the year / Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear / Sing it with me if it's just for today / Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away... ahh

Dream on... dream on... dream on / Dream yourself a dream come true / Dream on... dream on... dream on / And dream until your dream comes true

Dream on... dream on... dream on... dream on / Dream on... dream on... dream on... aaahhh...

Sing with me sing for the year / Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear / Sing it with me if it's just for today / Maybe tomorrow good Lord will take you away

Sing with me sing for the year / Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear / Sing it with me if it's just for today / Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

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

It was raining rather heavily before I left my house but I had no choice, I had already made plans to meet Nazmi and Md Noor at Geylang Serai in the afternoon. Undoubtedly I was late, cuz I was waiting for the rain to subside, but still I didn't want to make them wait, so I just left even though it was still raining.

Felt miserable while waiting for the bus, cuz I was drenched terribly. The new reconstructed bus stop in front of my house had a flat roof, instead of the older kampung-looking bus stops, thus my track pants and polo-t was all wet cuz the rain was very heavy and the strong wind was blowing towards my direction.

It was like a torrential storm cuz once I took the train and reached Jurong East MRT, the sky was damn clear. Finally reached Paya Lebar MRT and headed to Tanjong Katong Complex where Nazmi and Md Noor were waiting for me. My mission for the afternoon was to find and buy the vcd of an old Indonesian horror movie called Sundel Bolong. I didn't know where else to find except Geylang, and since I'm never a fan of that place and have not been there for 5 years, I asked them to accompany me.

We scanned the whole area from Tanjong Katong Complex to City Plaza then down to Joo Chiat Complex and finally to Malay Village. I was amazed to find the abundance of Bollywood movies as compared to Malay movies. Thanks to both of them, I finally found Sundel Bolong vcd at an obscure shop at Malay Village, and it just cost me $11.90. However, it doesn't have English subtitiles, so it's up to me translate to my SIM gang when they watch it over at my house on Wednesday night.

We then left Geylang Serai and took the train to Orchard Cineleisure where I accompanied them for dinner, before heading off for school. Since I was in town, I called Nazrana and met up with her at her workplace bus stop and went to school together.

Pathetically, only the both of us were present for class. Kok Yong is under the weather, Liping was feeling sian to go to school while Nat and Liz had other appointments.

Pam taught us a few lessons from the textbook, and she was quite funny actually, but Naz was visibly bored with her lecture. At the end of class, I approached her asking for her job offer. Disappointingly, she said that the zoo is under-cutting their staff, so our resumes are still under her review. Ok, fine, I get it, you don't really want us, so let me find some other jobs.

Today I only ate lunch. Was intending to take my dinner once I reach home, but after lying on my bed while watching Peter Pan on Disney Channel just now, I immediately collapsed. So now, in the middle of the night, I just finished showering so, I'm going back to sleep. Sweet Dreams!

posted at 2:26 a.m.

Monday, Mar. 31, 2003

Aerosmith's New Groove

Sunday is usually family or rest day for me. So did nothing much, except the usual slacking my life away.

Woke up just in time to shower and watch The Emperor's New Groove on Disney Channel. I remember watching this back in NS during the first week of my posting to SIW. Watched it with Ben Sua, Nash and Pow Pow, midnight movie at GV Plaza. Hilarious show, but I couldn't remember most of the storyline cuz I actually slept for awhile in the theatre. That's NS life for me, back then I was too used to sleeping early and I would get tired if I don't. But now I'm an insomniac most of the time.

The Emperor's New Groove, a great buddy story, the animation is not revolutionary cuz the movie was a last-minute change made by Disney. They were intending to make a traditional musical animation along the likes of Aladdin and Beauty & The Beast and even had Sting compose a bunch of songs for it, but in the end they scraped the idea and out came the end product, The Emperor's New Groove, which is a masterpiece by any standard, in its sharp storytelling and fast-paced adult humour.

I like the theme song performed and written by Sting, My Funny Friend & Me. And the villain in this show is hilarious as hell, Yzma. David Spade was the voice behind Emperor Kuzco and the llama, he's freaking hilarious in the movie, and even off-camera. Thanks to Disney Channel, I finally managed to watch the whole show, especially the scenes which I missed in the theatre. And relive the Disney magic.

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

Disney's animated feature, The Emperor's New Groove, released in 2000.

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

Now I just hope they show other earlier Disney classics like Robin Hood, The Jungle Book, Sword In The Stone and The Black Cauldron. Or have they actually been shown? No idea, cuz this has only been a week since I subscribed to this channel.

While my father is in Jakarta witnessing my cousin's wedding, my mother went to Jurong Point just now with my sister and my niece. Leaving me alone at home, vacuuming the house as usual.

I also finally caught, MTV Icon: Aerosmith. Have been quite a fan of them, though I never bothered to buy their CDs. Watching that tribute, urged me to go and get their Greatest Hits. Hmm, maybe one of these days, when I finally earn money. They are no doubt, icons in the music world right now, despite their many personal and group problems.

My favourite songs from them are Cryin', Crazy, Dude (Looks Like A Lady), Dream On, Jaded and of course I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing. And I have always had a crush on Liv Tyler...Steven Tyler's daughter.

Steven's voice has always been powerful and consistent. Heck, even at his current age, he still amazes me with his flawless rock voice, especially during their medley performance on the show. Aerosmith rules!

posted at 1:00 a.m.

previous - next