Sunday, Jun. 01, 2003

Classic

Nothing much to update for Saturday.

Chose to stay at home cuz I'm super broke, as usual. Played with my nephews and watched more tv and surfed more internet. What else is new?

Ok, don't talk about what's new. Let's talk about what's old. And something old that I have is a "classic" photo of me and my poly friends. This was taken almost 6 years ago. Wow time does fly that fast before you know it.

Taken at Billy Bomber's at Holland Village, we were all celebrating Ida Nuryati's birthday. She was the first person in our class who had a birthday in July, so somehow we all decided to celebrate it together. We all just knew each other for a few days (or weeks, correct me if I'm wrong), so this birthday celebration was a conscious effort by all of us to get to know each other better.

I can still remember, all of us sitting at the balcony, sharing some food together, and forcing Ida to eat gross mixtures of them as birthday punishment haha. We actually passed a note to the whole class, inviting anybody who is interested to celebrate together as a class, but only this number of us turned up after lecture.

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My Poly Year One classmates. Back row, from left, Jamie, Ida, Jason, KY and me. Front row from left, Susan, Mona, Sha, Lauren and Lisa.

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I think to a certain extent, now none of us look like we were in the photo. It was so long ago, all of us looked so kiddish, young and naive back then. Looking at it, we all have definitely grown, in terms of appearance and outlook in life.

I'm glad to say that this bunch of friends in the photo I'm still in touch and close with. Well, at least more than half of them I'm still close to. Only maybe Jamie, Ida and Lisa I havn't interacted with for a long time. Though I know that Jamie is still in her Singtel job, Lisa is now graduating from NIE and teaching Malay soon and Ida, I think, have left Singapore and married an American? The rest I'm still good friends with.

Sigh, how time flies, not sure whether you guys will be embarrassed looking at this photo or you will feel nostalgic and shed a tear, but honestly, this is one of my favourite group photos that we took. Cuz it showed how much we've grown and changed over the years.

Cheers to the years that passed by...and let's cherish the years ahead...

posted at 12:04 a.m.

Saturday, May. 31, 2003

Scanning

Felt a bit restless in the morning. Both KY and Jason got calls for interview for the Borders part-time shelver position. I applied together with them. But looks like I'm the only one who didn't get the call. Sigh. Jason said that they are still calling for shortlisted people in the next few days. Well, I'll just see whether they'll call me, though I really doubt it now.

At the spur of the moment, after my Friday prayers, I decided to go over to Jason's house. My main intention there was to use his scanner, I have been meaning to scan a lot of my photos I take with my friends and loved ones, so that i can keep as soft copy and store in my comp. So, now since I'm so bloody free, might as well, ask Jason for help.

Actually it was the first time I went to his house. It's quite far, over at Hougang, had to take train to Yio Chu Kang and then take another bus. But actually it's quite easy to go there. In my 6 years of friendship with him, I have never been to his house. And neither has KY. Well, that's cuz he has never invited us...

I like his house, minimally and simply decorated. And especially his room. Gosh, if only I can decorate my room like his, or also like Liz's, where I can put pictures and posters and postcards anywhere I want. Hell, there's a reason why I don't really put posters in my bedroom walls. Cuz my parents don't like it. I tried to put a Janet Jackson poster on my closet door, but her big boobs that were jutting out of her tight dress were not to my older brother's or my parents' liking. Too offensive for them. Whatever...

Scanned a lot of photos there, though Jason's Photoshop had a bit of problem starting, always hanging. So some of the photos might appear on this blog of mine. You'll never know. Now I have to find more websites that can host those pictures for free.

While scanning the photos, me and Jason played Magic cards again. Played three rounds, and I won two of them. Against the person who taught me. Well, Jason, you asked for it right, you see now even with the new deck of cards you created, I'm undefeated, hahaha.

Left his house after 7pm. Actually thanks for your hospitality and the trouble man. Sorry if I was a bit of a nuisance. I hope I can buy a scanner soon. One of the things on my to-buy list.

Tonight was the premiere of The Amazing Race 4. The husband-wife team was eliminated. So far so good. I have my favourites already. Hope they go far. A lot of interesting pairs this time around. I can sense some Flo among them. Gosh no! There's a pair of old fogeys air traffic controllers, a girl who just can't stop cursing (I think that's Amanda), a team of professional clowns and a married gay couple.

But I think the Miami models/dancers, Tian and Jaree, might be a redux of the legally blonde team of Amazing Race 3. Now what are their names? I totally forgot...

posted at 12:28 a.m.

Friday, May. 30, 2003

Six Feet Under

Haha, I can say that I have watched every episode of the new seasons of Charmed and Friends on Kazaa, even before most of Singapore and before Ch 5 screens it.

Both of these favourite shows of mine have ended their respective seasons runs in the US. And I have watched their season finales. Both very good, though I'm more disappointed with the Friends 9th Season Finale than with the Charmed 5th Season Finale.

This 5th Season of Charmed have emerged as one of my favourites from the show. And the developments in the finale are certainly directing the show to another direction for the next season. Which I'm not gonna ruin it for you guys who have not watched.

Meanwhile, although a lot of things happened in the Friends 9th Season Finale, but the cliffhanger left me controlling myself from puking and cringing. Sucks, why must the writers go that way. This show is turning into a freaking soap opera. I'm not gonna say anything too, but let's just say that I have invested on a couple of the characters' relationships, but the stupid writers have to throw this stupid curveball. Stupid, stupid. Oh well, Phoebe is still my favourite, that's all I will say!

Anyways, even though I was over at KY's place on Tuesday night, I managed to programme my vcr to record Six Feet Under's 1st Season premiere episodes re-airing on HBO Asia. They're gonna show the 2nd Season starting July, so they're refreshing us viewers before that premiere.

This is definitely an opportunity for me to record this show, cuz when I first subscribed to HBO Asia, Six Feet Under's run had already ended. So I was able to watch the first 5 episodes thru Kazaa. So now, that they're re-airing it, finally I have something to look forward to on Tuesday nights. Six Feet Under has become one of my favourite new dramas. Too bad, HBO Asia has censored a lot of controversial dialogues and scenes. Sickening.

Oh well, I can still watch on Kazaa, but sometimes the download takes too long...

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One my favourite new shows, in its 3rd Season in HBO US, Six Feet Under.

posted at 2:32 a.m.

Thursday, May. 29, 2003

Wishlist

Had a long sleep till around noon after yesterday's night at KY's.

Actually he asked me to follow him to an employment agency at Jurong, after he got a call from them. But I declined, too freaking tired.

Sigh, didn't do much today. Have no idea why Channel 5 showed Miss USA Pageant just now. Like it had anything to do with us. I forgot that Bachelor had already ended last week. Oh well, not like I followed it every week. I did watch C.S.I. on AXN Asia though. Another great episode. And of course Buffy on Ch 5. But wasn't really paying attention to the episode. Apparently the musical episode would be next week. Looks like I miscalculated.

Sigh, being broke makes a guy like me wish and dream for unattainable things. No, stop going that dirty route. I'm talking about buying DVDs. DVDs of TV shows to be exact. So that I can get rid of some of my old VHS tapes.

Okay, have come up with a list of TV show DVDs, that are must-buys for me, once I get a job and have enough money. Sigh, when will that be? Some seasons of TV shows are not mentioned cuz obviously they are not on sale yet.

DVDs (all in complete sets and have been on sale): Friends (Seasons 1 to 3 - American edition), Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Seasons 2 to 5), C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation (Season 1), Ally McBeal (Seasons 1 and 2), Frasier (Season 1), Cheers (Season 1), Six Feet Under (Season 1).

DVDs that I hope the TV show producers are clever enough to release: Survivor (all seasons, duh!), Charmed (Season 1, rumoured late this year), Smallville (Season 1, rumoured fall release), Six Feet Under (if released, will it even pass the censors here?)

DVDs of TV shows that I want to borrow from friends: SEX AND THE CITY (Season 1). *ting ting, oops, I mean, hint hint, you know who you are, hehe...

posted at 1:37 a.m.

Wednesday, May. 28, 2003

JIK Magic

Just came back from KY's house after a long night of games and fun and craziness.

Met up with Jason at my neighbourhood and took 187 with him to KY's house. Brought along my broadband modem and a bunch of MDs and other stuff there, while Jason brought his Magic cards. KY is intending to get broadband, but his computer is using AMD, so it might not be compatible with any broadband modem. So he needed my modem to try on his computer. Don't ask me, what is AMD, beats me.

We listened to our Final Year Radio capsules and Radio Drama that we did in poly, using my MD player. Brought back a lot of memories and laughter, listening to how fascinating or amateurish our production was (depending on how you wanna judge it, haha). Unlike other groups whose radio capsules revolve around sports or movies or music of the week, we created a character, Jacob Gold, a fictitious archeologist who travelled around the world trying to solve mysteries, such as The Philadelphia Experiment, The Big Foot, and the lost ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman.

Every week, Jacob Gold had a mystery to unravel and tell in the capsules. Meanwhile for our Radio Drama, we expanded the plot and every character in the capsules and made a full-blown epic out of it. We were laughing madly listening to our voices and talents in the capsules and drama. Jacob Gold, the lead, was voiced by yours truly, while KY was Agent Black, Jason - Agent Red, Mona - Princess Dadawa, Joanne Tan - Agent Blue, and Teresa was Jacob's secretary, Phoebe Halls, among others.

It was fun reminiscing the experience of doing the capsules, especially the drama, 3 years ago. How me and KY had to stay overnight in Radio Heatwave office just to finish up the editing. How Jason and KY was not seeing eye-to-eye over some plot changes in the drama. How fun it was to record our talents' voices and ourselves, trying to so-called act out the characters. How after the whole project was completed, we all felt relieved and satisfied.

Among our talents, honourable mentions have to go to Mona who voiced Princess Dadawa convincingly and Shaun Tan who voiced our German villain, Dietmar. As for my own portrayal of Jacob Gold, let's just say I still cringe every time I hear my voice. The three of us are kinda interested to resurrect and expand this project, even after all these years, maybe make a webcomic out of it. But it's all in the planning stage, don't know whether it will fall through.

Jason taught me and KY to play Magic cards. Well, it's very hard to explain how the game goes, but seriously if you start getting the hang of the game, you will get bloody addicted. And especially when you play with the three of us who have high competitive spirits, even playing against each other things could get ugly. Well, not until we get into fist-fights, but we will form alliances with each other to thrash the third person.

I'm proud to say that I learned the game quite fast, and was able to win a lot of rounds, beating even the shifu. KY still needs to brush up on his Magic skills. But most of the time, me and KY formed an alliance to attack Jason. But too bad, only Jason owns such game cards. Actually, if you havn't played Magic, we can teach you guys if we meet up one day for a gathering. You'll surely get hooked.

Thanks to Jason for teaching us the game. He has been collecting the different cards since 5 years ago, and it's a damn expensive hobby. And because me and KY enjoyed Magic so much, me and Jason decided to stay overnight at KY's house. We were not intending to initially, but eventually, I went home for awhile around 8pm to shower, take dinner and bring extra clothes and returned to KY's place.

We played Magic till 4 to 5 am, before sleeping for awhile. Jason and I left KY's place around 8 am just now. So at the moment, I'm feeling extremely sleepy. Enjoyed the night with my buddies. Hope to do this again in the future, haha.

First personal photo of the week, this photo of the J.I.K. (Jason, me, Kok Yong) was taken at our first poly chalet at Costa Sands Pasir Ris Resort, in May 1999.

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From left, me, KY and Jason, the JIK.

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Sigh, looking at the photo, even after 4 years, after collectively completing 7yrs and 4mths of NS, having 2 girlfriends, months of unemployment post-NS, numerous of ups, downs, good times and disappointments and Sept 11, Iraq war and SARS, the three of us are still very good buddies. And we still all look the same...

posted at 9:13 a.m.

Tuesday, May. 27, 2003

Heatrash

Quite an uneventful day today. So freaking boring and hot! I just can't stand this weather anymore. Strangely I'm developing rashes due to the heat. No they're not at the obscure places, just my right arm (the area between my palm and my elbow). Kept telling myself not to scratch but just couldn't help it.

Now my ceiling fan is on all the time full blast. Still, everytime I get out of my bedroom the air suddenly becomes humid, and I will start to perspire and feel sticky. It's unbearable. Really need air-con now, dammit!

Did I mention that my tv broke last week. Yup it did, and so now I'm using my parent's bedroom tv. I thought that my father would send my old tv for repair, but instead he went to buy a new tv set, Akira flat-screen 21-inch tv set, similar to the one I'm using now in my bedroom. But the new set he bought is gonna be put at their bedroom. Now I feel bad that my old tv screwed up. My parents wouldn't need to waste money buy a new set.

Tomorrow, Jason and I are going over to KY's house, to start on our small personal project, listen to our old radio capsules and radio drama MDs that we did back in final year poly Mass Comm using my MD player. Also Jason's gonna teach us how to play the the Magic Cards Game. Havn't played before, but he has a huge collection that he will bring over.

Initially they are supposed to come over to my place, but KY requested us to go to his house instead. And I'm gonna bring my broadband modem to his house for him to check out his computer's compatibility with external broadband modem.

Honestly, I'm quite lazy and tired to leave my house. This heatwave is annoying the hell out of me and making me even more irritable and cranky. So most probably me and Jason will not be staying overnight at KY's place.

But we'll just see what we're gonna do there tomorrow...

posted at 3:37 a.m.

Monday, May. 26, 2003

Reloaded

After the planning and hullabaloo of the last few days, eventually I watched Matrix Reloaded with just KY alone just now, on a Sunday, of all days.

Liping could only make it late afternoon, so she couldn't join us. Me and KY both felt too lazy to go all the way to town to watch, so Naz also decided not to join us. We watched at nearby Westmall...

Stumbled upon Jason over there for awhile with Joanne, they were on their way to a friend's wedding. KY managed to transfer his handphone line but didn't get to trade-in his Nokia 6510 for a Nokia 7210 for free cuz apparently even though a customer service personnel said that the promotion is still on, that wasn't true.

Walked around the mall before watching the show. I agree with what most people said. The show is chock-full of action and visual effects, it's definitely more fast-paced than the first movie. I think I enjoyed the movie slightly more than KY. Cuz he was kinda bored by it and we both agreed that the show gives us a headache. But the plot is quite confusing, laughable and sucky at the same time. Oh well, who watched Matrix for the plot, I ask you?

But like the first movie, the only thing that impressed me was the visual effects. I watch these shows for the entertainment value. Mindless way to past the time. After so much fighting, the characters' shades were still intact on their faces...But this kind of movie still doesn't really blow me away. Cuz there's too much CGI involved. Might as well I go watch Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within or The Animatrix...too computerised and the effects at times looked so fake.

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Matrix Reloaded starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving.

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I will definitely watch Matrix Revolution, opening end of the year, just so as to complete the whole trilogy. But wonder whether Monica Belucci will have a role in there...Carrie-Anne Moss is definitely cool, but there's not enough eye-candy in this show for me...

After the show, we went to Lot 1 for awhile as KY needed to buy his father a pair of pants. And I brought him to the building next to Lot 1 where there's a huge Popular Bookstore before going home.

Didn't get to vacuum my house. Shall do that tomorrow...now I wanna go and sleep.

posted at 2:32 a.m.

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