Consolidated Entry

It's been 6 or 7 days since my last entry. Well, where shall I start? Hmm... Well, okies. Let start on Wed. Came home from my Malay class and wanted to go onto the Internet to book tix for a movie on Thurs. Turned on my PC and notice an abnormality in my ADSL modem. The lights weren't blinking right, and I couldn't go online. Sharks... Suspected the problem to be a repeated case, which I'd previously solved. And the suspicion proved correct after a bit of investigation. Indeed, some values had been altered. I tried to reset it to factory default 5 times or so, but the values just doesn't reset. Argh... Was getting a bit frustrated then. In the end, I gave up as it was getting late and decided to sought for help (in getting the tix, that is). Lucky my close friend is still awake and helped me secure the tix. Phew...

Came Thurs and had been waiting all day to knock off and head for the movies (Ice Age 2) with a friend. Reached Taka at ard 6.30pm as arranged and went hunting for Lynn's bday prezzie. In the end, got a white coloured bag from little match gal, thanks to a recommendation. :) By the time shopping was done, we had to walk briskly to Cineleisure where our movie awaits. Was a bit late and missed a small portion of the starting scenes, a couple of minutes I guess, but it's ok. We had to get drinks else will die of thirst in there. Haha... The show did live up to its expectations, in my opinion that is. There were more hilarious scenes as compared to its predecessor (Ice Age). After it ended, we headed to Robinson's to grab my mum's prezzie and then for dinner, before making our way home. :)

Fri, as usual, is a day which one moves into down-gear mode at work. Haha... :P Merv picked me up in the morning to do a delivery. He left after that cos he's on leave. Nice rite? I stayed on at the customer's place to do the installation myself, together with the contractors though. Sigh... Anyway, that not the focus point on Fri. Fri is a special day, cos it's my mum's birthday and Lynn's too. My parents had some plans and so I went to Lynn's bday gathering at Mind Cafe. We had fun there, and I was like a child again at times. Haha... Can't image a 26 yr old like a kid rite? Hey, we all have that little kid in us all the while. :)

Yawn Monday

Boring boring Mon, made worse by the fact that there wasn't any badminton game. Sigh... No workout plus nothing to look forward to at the end of the day. Sigh... :(

Anyway, received a call in the morning, from a customer requesting for assistance in saving out some video clips for police investigation. Had to make my way there in the afternoon after some cases. At first, I thought it'll be a quick trip there, but I was wrong! Had a shock when they told me to extract 3hrs of video from a particular day. Wah... First time I had to extract 3 hrs of video. Sianz... Spent over 2 hrs there, since 1620hrs, to save them on harddisk then burn to a total of 6 CDs. By the time I was done, majority of the staff already balik rumah. :( Well, what to do, in this line, sometimes ya gain some, other times, ya lose some. That's life.

Merv met me at the client's after work, and we headed to the library to borrow some books. He borrowed a self-improvement book (IT based). Not to be left out, I, too, borrowed some self-improvement book, but it's to do with bowling. Haha... Seems like I'm really into this game. Haha... :p We headed to SAFRA after that, and had a few rounds of pool before heading back.

That, wraps up my day. Till the next blog, cheers!

Lovely Gals

Haven't wrote anything abt my other family members to date. Was trying to find some means of taking snapshots of them and post them in here. Finally, today, EUREKA!!! As for the method, it's a secret. Haha... :P So without further ado, here goes...

At the top is the oldest family member, her name's Buffy. Name was inspired by the drama, "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer". Haha... She was a street dog which my sis picked up while on her way to breakfast one morning, I think. She was in a real bad shape then. Both my mum and sis brought her to SPCA and were told that if no one came to adopt her in the next few days, she'll be put down due to her bad skin condition. So, being a true dog lover, and within our means, they decided to adopt her (not bearing the thought of putting her down). And so, that's how she became part of the family and has been in gd shape ever since, except some occasional outbreaks. Can't be helped though.


To the left, is the most manja gal in our family. Always seeking for attention and a loving hug. She was brought from a family who didn't have time to take care of her, as the mistress of the house was abt to give birth then. Name was Angie but we renamed her as Angel instead. It didn't take long before she responded to that name though. A real lovable gal whom the whole family fell in love with the moment we saw her. Very active and loves chasing her toys when we throw them around. Life was never dull with her around. She's always there to give a kiss or a gd laugh. And not to forget a welcome bark when any of us returns home. She'll be jumping with joy and at times, scratching our legs. But never never carry her the very moment she does tat, or she'll pee on ya. Haha... Guess she's always too excited and overwhelmed to see us. :D

There ya go, the additional members in our family. Till the next blog, cheers!

Mahjong Disaster

Wah... Sianz... I've lost 52 bucks at Mahjong on Gd Fri. My drawer was emptied by my parents. My sis suffered the same fate as well. Haha... Can't help it if I only managed to game abt 5 times throughout 2 rounds (east to north winds), and none of them exceeded 2 'fans'. The tiles I had that whole day were dreadful! It's either missing something in the middle or could almost play 13 weirds. Bad day at the table. I've changed seats in the second round but the end result was still the same; kept losing. No choice lah. Grew to accept that and was trying to restrict my losses. All went according as planned, until my dad 'zhi mo' 2 games of 5 'fans'. I practically flipped. Haha... Well, at least the money was circulated within the family. Joked when I told my mum tat her birthday prezzie is now with my dad. Haha... :P

That morning, I went to pay my respects to my great-grandmother and grandfather. It's a tradition that during this time of the year, chinese pay respect and clean up the tomb of their ancestors (Qing Ming Jie). However, in my case, the cleaning was limited cos there's no tomb involved. They were cremated after death and their ashes placed in urns which in turn was placed in the temples. Told my mom on Thurs morning that it's better for us to go early on Fri morning. At first she told me to leave at 8am, but I told her 7am instead. It was a gd decision. Things were carried out relatively smooth and the crowd was at an acceptable number. We were done at around 9am and even had the time to slowly make our way around the temple (Guang Ming Shan) to pay respects and offerings to the Buddhas. When we finally left the place ard 10am, when the crowd were streaming in, and traffic was getting heavy and roads congested. Luckily, we're outta there. :)

Merv and I had our bowling session changed to Thurs instead cos I've gotta play mahjong with my parents, as per my mum's request. And that was a disaster as you've already read above. Anyway, back to bowling, I scored a personal best of 181 pinfalls. Yeah! Never have I thought I'll see that score so soon. Hee... Had an average session throughout, except that bright spot. :D The average was 138 after 6 games (132, 133, 124, 181, 108, 150), which was not too bad. Have to try to maintain a certain form of consistency soon. :) Oh yes, we met one of our contractors there and shared the same lane with him too. He was what I call, a consistent bowler, mostly sparing his way. He shared some tips with me too and hopefully I can learn to add that into my game, together with my guru's (Merv's).

Till the next blog, cheers!

Gospel of Judas

I've just caught "Gospel of Judas" on National Geographic channel. It's something interesting. What if Juda Iscariot is not the betrayer, but someone who has a deeper understanding of the teachings of Jesus? Make no mistake abt tis blog. I'm NOT trying to sow discord or whatsoever here. NEITHER am I trying to create religious disharmony. I'm just relating how I feel after watching the show. I believe those who read this will understand what I mean and read it with an open mind.

So, the show actually protrayed Judas, whom in the new testaments is the betrayer, as someone who had followed Jesus' instructions. Someone who knew or understood the true meaning of Jesus' teachings and acceded to his will. Well, not exactly the show, but rather the Gospel of Judas. This gospel was written in ancient Eygptian Coptic, sometime back in 220AD, by Gnostics, or widely regarded as heretics.

Jesus actually told Judas that he will exceed all the them (disciples), for he will sacrifice the man that clothed him. This meant that Judas had to help Jesus rid of his physical flesh and to liberate the true spiritual self or divine being within Jesus.

Hmm... Just think abt it. Judas, who for centuries have been regarded as the villian, is now someone righteous and actually a hero. Unbelievable rite? Haha... Getting interesting here.

Anyway, not wanting to say more on this topic in case I may become a public enemy. Hopefully, there'll be a repeat on TV, and if there is, I encourage you to catch it. Watch with an open mind and not rubbish it, whether you are a firm believer or not. :) It's a 2 hrs show starting from how the manuscript was found and the authenticity tested to what was written in the "Gospel of Judas".

Till the next blog, cheers!

Sad Sunday

Attended CJ dad's wake on Sun nite with my mum. I've got a shock when I received the news in that morning. Though we saw it coming as his condition was deteriorating, there's still a certain amount of shock and disbelief. I guess even the most mentally prepared person will still feel somewhat shocked. It was a sad day for his family, and a great loss. :_( I could see my mum holding back her tears upon arrival at the wake. It was pretty obvious to me. Hey, she's my mum man, how could I not know rite?

All I could do tat day was to help him make calls to inform our ex-army friends, which was on his request actually. I managed to contact most of the them. Some had their numbers changed and was thus uncontactable, and the best part was one had his name changed! Well, not really changed but just added an English name, so I thought that that fella had his number changed. Anyway, we only found out when we met at the wake and the rest were equally surprised that he had added an English name, which is Vincent btw. It's ok though, at least we're still in contact, unlike some who really signed the 2 yrs contract and MIA after ORD. Sigh...

I've attended a ball game, floorball to be exact, on Sun afternoon, at ITE Simei. Was curious as to what the game was all about and also to offer some moral support. ;) It was almost the same as ice hockey, I think, with the exception that it's being played on hardcourt (indoors, just in case ya wondering). My friend's team lost 5-1 to what I feel was a more composed and organised team. They had a certain number 9, who has very gd ball control skills and sorta terrorised the defence. Haha... Think they also gave her too much respect and didn't pressure her tat much. Not sure, but it's not for me to comment, cos I'm a greenhorn. Maybe the coach had a gameplan (I'm sure he has) and they are following closely to it. Anyway, not to be too disheartened, it's a loss alrite, but it wasn't like a loss without putting up a gd fight. Gd effort! (applause, applause)

Till the next blog, cheers!

Tennis At Tampines

Had a tennis session with Merv and co at Tampines SAFRA. Only 4 of us, so we played doubles for abt an hr before calling for a break. Seems like the alcohol is still in my blood and reflexes were kinda slow. Haha... Can't really run though. May sound like an excuse rite? But it's true, the body isn't really in gd condition man. Didn't bother if the ball was in during serves or how many times the ball bounced off the court, we just played. Haha... Was leisure tennis mah, so why wanna bother so much rite? Just out to perspire a little. :)

I've got my bottle of protein at last and the regime can start tmrw. Once serving per day as a dietary supplement and additional serving when I'm having games. Hopefully this will aid in building up some mass in me. Haha... :) My target to reach 75kg in 6 mths. Humph!!!

Till the next blog, cheers!

Nite's Out

Was at Club Momo with a group of friends on Fri nite. But before that, I visited my bro-in-law in TTSH. He was down with malaria for the past week and was admitted there. Things are beginning to look positive with the platelets count going up and the parasites getting exterminated. However, he still looks kinda yellowish. If things continue to look positive, he should be discharged this Sun. Hope he gets well soon enough. :)

Back to the Club Momo topic. The live band was kinda solid! Can sing "Bring Me to Life" quite well. Not many are able to do that as it's a difficult song tat requires a powerful voice. This band pull it off quite well. :) I'm impressed, really. Sad thing is tat my friend's song wasn't sung when we decided to leave. Pity.

It was an eventful nite though. For the first time in my clubbing experience, I was in the midst of a raid. Lights were turned on and the inspectors were checking for I dunno wat, underaged entry or drug pushers. Nothing was disclosed and when we asked the waitress, she told us the the place was only raided once and that nite was the second as far as she has known. How lucky rite?

It was about 2am when Merv and his wife, Lynn, took their leave. Poor Merv, he's worked from the previous day to 4am that day. Was rushing for tender closing on Fri. It was kinda stupid and unneccesary, had the sales person brought this up earlier, instead of disclosing it last minute. Think she was afraid that the deal will go to other salesperson in the company. Sigh... I pity those who were involved in the discussion tat nite, my boss, one of them.

Anyway, tat besides the pt, the main pt was tat when we were outside the club, Lynn fainted just when the rest were making their way out. We really received a shock when tat happened esp Merv. His expression totally changed and I was also in a daze. Haven't encountered tis kinda situation before and was kinda lost. The only thing I knew was to ask the rest not to crowd ard her. After a while, she regained conscious and vomitted. I dun remember her drinking a lot though and she was sober when we were outside the club, but it was a gd thing she vomitted, cos she felt betta after tat. Phew... Merv still had to help her to the van but at least she can walk with assistance. :)

After they left I returned to the club and meet up with the remaining friends. We sat for a while before calling it a nite too. Gone were the days when we were able to stay up all nite. Now as age catches up, the stamina goes down. Haha... Just not used to those kinda days anymore.

Till the next blog, cheers!

Seminar

Went to a seminar today, organised by one of the company's partners, to showcase a wireless surveillance solution. It's a total solution which consists of the surveillance cameras, access-points, switches, ppc, SAN and NVR. Was a half-day event and was kinda sad cos of tat. Attending seminars is a fun thing! Can meet some really fun pple there and oso it's sorta gdbye to other job responsibilities for a short while. :P

Anyway, was talking to a fellow exhibitor, who happens to be as tall as me. Cool man. I'm talking to someone at eye level! :P (gonna garner lots of hate mails with this statement) The company was showcasing IP telephony solutions, and it's very interesting. Ya can have this thing to hook up to your company network and the pabx/pstn network, then make calls out, even overseas call and it sorta recognise it as a local call. Don't wanna be too complex in here, but that's the rough idea. Ya also able to switch from wifi IP based calls to GSM network calls. It's really cool! (or am I getting outdated)

IT industry is really moving at a very fast pace, and it really requires that constant upgrading or updating of skills and knowledge. Feel that I'm somehow lagging behind, which is a very bad thing. Sigh... Still too lazy and comfortable in my current position I guess. As a friend once said, if you get to comfortable at a place, you tend to be reluctant to move on. I guess this is coming true for me. :(

Till the next blog, cheers!

Saya Tak Tahu

Sigh... Malay lessons is getting more and more complicated. Even though it's a beginners' class, I seem to have difficulty in catching up with what is being taught. Cikgu is starting to speak fast and I'm like taking eternity to figure out what he's saying and compose my replies. Not too gd. Maybe it's due to the lack of practice as with any other languages. You kinda need constant practice, but I'm not. Could be due to laziness too. :p Hmm... Guess it's time to pull up my socks. Haha... Hopefully I'll do that.

Time for bed once again. Till the next blog, cheers!

Hougang SuperBowl

Received a voucher from SuperBowl for 2 free games on Mon and since Fri can't go bowling, cos we have plans to go Club Momo, we changed the session to today. Decided to pay Hougang SuperBowl a visit after much consideration, and called Kel and Angela along too. Btw, Kel also received the same voucher as I, cos we dropped our namecards at SuperBowl when we last went there. Haha... :)

The gd thing abt today's session is that I've reached a new high of 163 pts. Hooray!!! (applause, applause) :D The bad news is that my average sucks! Only a meagre of 119.4 pts over a span of 5 games. Sucky man! Actually, I think the lane has something to do with my poor performance leh. (Yah, rite! Blame it on the lane! Bad sportsman!) I almost slipped on my first throw and then subsequent throws, I was more cautious on my footing. Think that took the concentration away from what really matters. :( Sigh... Better luck next time maybe. After I get my new pair of shoes. Haha...

Time for bed. Till the next blog, cheers!

Badminton Nite

Yes! It's back to badminton Mon. Been looking forward to it since the sun came peering out of the eastern sky this morning. Was hoping that the day would go by as quickly as possible so that I can be there, on the court, playing the game. :) I really need that workout, esp since there's none last wk. Speaking of which, that break seemed to have an effect on me. Been hitting poorly and miscued on several occasions. The best part was when I was going for a smack but totally missed the shuttle cock. Argh... But the pose before the shot was worth some camera snaps. :P

Anyway, during the game, a friend got hit on the head by an on-coming shuttle. And we were all making fun of her, and saying she's tanned and so on, so not too worry, the bump won't be obvious. Haha... :P Was in a way trying to console her lah, cos she's joking that she'll be left on the shelf cos of the bump. Haha... As if the bump gonna stay there forever rite? Hmm...

Met Aellan at the court too. It's been a while since we last met. Seemed to be doing quite well, except for an operation which he underwent last yr to repair a ruptured tendon. Chatted with him for a while, whilst the rest were playing doubles. He was with a friend who called him to join his group of badminton kakis. It's really a surprise to see him there but it was nice. :)

Time for bed to prepare for another day's battle. Till the next blog, cheers!

Abstract

An abstract I wish to share:

"Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of humankind.

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of people.
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,

But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living. "

Aunt's Birthday

On a particular warm Sun nite, somewhere in the north-eastern part of tiny S'pore, a gentleman was sitting in his room, which was softly lit, brewing and sipping pu'er from his trusty tea set. His pc switched on and played soothing music from Barry Manilow's album. "Ah... This is life", said he in a relaxed mood. :)

A abstract from a novel? Haha... Nah, those novelists can write many times better than me. I'm just trying to depict the environment I'm in. Sitting in my room, lighted by my standing lamp, which is fitted with warm-white bulb, listening to Barry Manilow and sipping tea. The feeling I get is as though I'm seated in a lounge except the tea portion, that is. Haha... Should be red wine or something close. :)

Today I attended another birthday celebration. Well, not exactly a celebration, more of a makan session. It's my aunt's. We celebrated it early cos her birthday falls on a weekday, which is kinda difficult to get hold of everyone, so we did it on a wkend. :) This is a norm in my family. We prefer to have makan sessions on wkends, not so rush and chaotic. In the past, one table at any restaurant would suffice, but in recent years, the number is expanding, and we need 2 tables. Think it's gonna 3 tables in the near future. Haha...

Till the next blog, cheers!

Godma's Birthday

Seems like I'm kinda hardworking these days in updating my blog, aka my open diary. Haha... Who in the rite mind will write a diary and have it published in the web for all to read rite? Then again, I may be wrong. People can do unexpected things at times. For me, this is a gd opportunity to brush up my written English, which is kinda on a decline of late. :(

Anyway, back to the gist of this entry. Today's Aprils' Fool day, and it also happens to be my Godma's birthday. She's someone whom I have loads of respect for, besides my parents, that is. Anyway, was at one of my god-bro's place in Hougang and we ate, drank and be merry. Haha... I was sitting around chatting my god-sis-in-law. Surprising rite? I, as a guy, sitting with a group of ladies, and chatted practically anything under the sun with them. Haha... Hmm... Maybe this is when I'm more in touch with my feminine side. Haha... :P Then I rejoined the (ahem...) guys, and boys, watching the Bolton vs Man U game on the projector tv. Wow... It's really cool to be sitting in front of that big screen watching the game, which Man U won 2-1. Yeah!!! :) The crowd was rowdy, with all the "arghs" and "oh sh*ts". It been a while since I caught a game in a group. It was fun! :)

Time for bed once again. It's been a long day for me. (yawn...)

Till the next blog, cheers!

Fri Bowling Session

Henceforth, Fri will no longer be the same. It shall be known as bowling day, unless, of cos, if there is something more important to see to. Otherwise, we should be at Textile Centre's StarBowl. :)

Today, Mervyn had a miserable nite. He was bowling real bad. Kept having splits, and open games. Think his average was around 140 per game (over 5 games). Not his usual self. Perhaps he was worried abt his wife. She had a bad knee and it was giving her problem throughout the bowling session. In her second game, she retired after bowling 2 frames. :( Hopefully, she'll be fine soon.

I, on the other hand, had a reasonably gd nite. My average was 127 (over 5 games). First game was bad, scored 104 but picked up after that. Scoring 133, 128, 129, and 141 thereafter. I'm having a better feel of the game and the ball. And am throwing with more power in the latter 2 games, which is an encouraging sign. :) Have a tendency to lose my game when i exert more force, but tonite, it was alrite. Still have plenty of room for improvement, of cos. Therefore, in order to help myself improve, I'm setting a target of not having more than 4 open frames a game. Hopefully I can attain that in the near future. :)

That's all for now folks. It's getting late and I gotta be heading to bed.

Till the next blog, cheers!