29th February 2008

Leap Day

Today comes once every 4 years. The Leap Day. Whoever is born on this day will never celebrate their 21st birthday. And can celebrate their birthdays only once every 4 years. To me, well, that sucks.

A local romance movie was made around Leap Day. It's titled 'The Leap Years'. From what I was told, it is quite a tear-jerker. Catch it if you have a soft spot for romance movies.

Well, I'm not much of a fan of romance movies, but I do appreciate beautiful songs. And that movie has a beautiful song in it. The title is weird though. It's called 'Merry Xmas Mr. Lawrence'. Check out the music from the following YouTube video:

Beautiful song, isn't it?

Updates on Manhunt for Mas Selamat

They haven't found him. The public is in no imminent danger. We still don't know how he escaped. Where is The New Paper when you need them?

28th February 2008

Life Is A Game

If you asked me now on how I view life in general, this would be the answer.

Life is a game. Learn the rules to go around them. Play hard. And have fun, because you live life only once.

Think about it. We were meant to die from the day we were born. Our time here is limited. So why not have lots of fun while we’re sticking around, right?

When I view life as a game, it means that there are goals to reach in a competitive environment. These goals can be big and small. Some times they are set by the environment. Most of the time, they are set by me. The goals can be long term or short term. And they change from time to time. Variety is the spice of life.

To make attaining these goals interesting, there is competition. Competition brings the best and worst out of a person. If I’m not competing with others, then I’ll compete with myself. This is so that I can do better and be a better person.

In a game, the outcome is win, lose or draw. In a winning situation, victory is sweet. The wonderful feeling of accomplishment and achievement is indescribable. However few people savior their victories, which is quite unfortunate. What’s the use of having victories if you don’t enjoy them?

Worst are those who belittle their own victories.

In a situation where you lose, don’t focus on the outcome for too long. In other words don’t dwell on your losses. Look back at the process that you went thru and learn something from it. It is not a total loss if you can learn from your mistakes. Experience is the best teacher.

In the rare occasion where the outcome is a draw, take it as a life experience that might serve you in the future or something to share about with the people around you. Who knows, others might benefit from our experience. Sharing is caring after all.

So take it easy. Life can be complex or it can be simple. The most important is to play the game and have fun doing so. Of course, it’s not all fun and games if you don’t put in effort. Everything comes at a price.

Singapore Most Wanted Man Escapes Detention

What the fuck? When I first saw this news I immediately checked my mobile phone to see if I had a missed call from my unit. Who knows, I might be activated to look for the prisoner, Mas 'Scofield' Selamat. After all, thousands of policemen are looking for this fellow.

Mas 'Scofield' Selamt does Prison Break! 

But it is amazing, isn't it? We're renowned for our top notch security, being the country with a very low crime rate and a safe city to be in. Yet the Most Wanted Man In Singapore manage to escape detention. You just got to say 'Wow! How the hell did that happen?'

How the hell did he escape?

Was it black magic?

Did the guards just let him go?

Can he walk thru walls?

One thing's for sure: hell has broken loose.

On the plus side, Mas Selamat has given hopes to all the inmates at the detention facility. Now all of them are thinking 'Yes! There is hope! We can escape!'

All I can say is: we're pretty much fucked now.

All I can wonder is: this is what we're paying our civil servants top dollar for? Bottom dollar security?

27th Februrary 2008

Early Start But…

Today I did it. I reached office at 9.00am. This was my personal target for this week. Hooray!

However, one thing I realized about coming in early is that the hours are longer! In addition to that, time seems to be passing oh so slowly. Argh!

26th February 2008

Lifespan of clothes?

Clothes. We were born without them but we have to go through life wearing them. We change clothes as our bodies outgrow them. Once our body stops growing, we change clothes to keep up with style and fashion. All to feed our narcissistic needs.

Thus the lifespan of our clothes is at our whim and fancy. But what constitutes an average lifespan of clothes? Some people keep wearing their favourite clothes year after year after year. Even when such clothes are out of fashion, they still keep it around. Others who don’t have such attachments to clothes change their clothes every other week. Then there are those who wore their clothes once or twice and never wore them again.

So how long should you keep your clothes?

This question came to mind because my wardrobe is about to burst. There was a lot of addition to my clothing collection in the past 1 year, more than there was in the past 3-5 years! This is partly due to the fact that I get good deals on apparel under Timberland, and partly due to the ability I have to spend. The result of my expanding collection is that I am running out of space for my clothes. But I don’t know if I should get rid of some of them or just get a bigger cupboard.

My cupboard is about to burst... 

There are clothes that I wear often. Then there are those that I’ve not worn in the past 2-3 years (maybe even more!). So should I get rid of them or still keep them around?

Decisions, decisions.

24th February 2008

It's Never Enough

Whether we realize it or not (most of the time not, since ignorant is bliss), it's in our nature to desire for more. No matter how much we have with us, we always want more. Enough is never really enough for most. Thus it's rare to meet a person who can honestly say he/she is happy with what he/she has. Almost never.

I'm pointing this out because I wished for 3 day weekends. Friday should be a weekend as well. That way we have more time for a short holiday like the one I just had this weekend. Somehow weekends are never enough for me. But rest assured that I'm like many others.

Enough is never enough. 

23rd February 2008

Outdoor Adventure in Ipoh

We reached Gopeng, a town at the outskirts of Ipoh, at about 5.30am. That's earlier than our anticipated time. Feeling hungry, we started to look for a place to eat. As luck would have it, we bumped into a local that pointed us in the right direction. After much walking, we reached a hawker centre! Some stalls were just opening up. Good for us!

The hawker centre is pretty small, and at every corner there is a Wan Ton noodle stall. Talk about variety. The only Muslim food available to me was 'roti prata' so I had that.

Around 7.00am the guides from the company that was organizing the activity for us met us at the hawker centre. After settling some admin stuffs, we were on our way! First stop: Caving.

Caving

After about half an hour drive, we reached our destination. Surprisingly the cave that we were going to explore was hidden from view by the thick jungle growth around it. We were told that we would start cave trekking from the top and will eventually arrive at the bottom of the hill. Sweet.

For this activity we were equipped with helmets. Most of us had torch lights as well. After the preparation, we were on our way.

The trek to the top was not that difficult (phew!). The entrance to the cave looked pretty impressive. Here the guide told us a bit of the history of the cave and what we could expect. In summary the cave have very little bats in it, is not as big as another cave, was used by the communist as a hideout and has a small cave filled with crystals in it! Unfortunately access to the crystal cave will be limited to five people only due to the difficult nature of getting into and out of the cave. More on that later.

As we walked in, our guide shared with us a bit about stalactites and stalagmites that could be found in it, and the type of creatures we can expect to encounter. It was pretty damn dark inside. If it wasn't for the torches, we would definitely have plenty of difficulty going in, around and about!

The soil in the cave was pretty loose, so moving around was a bit of a challenge. In addition to that, there were loose rocks as well as wet rocks (water seeped thru the rocks). The guide informed us that there is always the chance of stalactites falling to the ground. So there was plenty of danger around.

We explored cave after cave after cave. Actually there is only one cave in the hill, but it has many sub-caves and many entrance/exit points. Thus it felt like we were going in and out of a lot of caves.

Eventually we reached a cave entrance that was quite small. Here, the guide told us that this entrance lead to a cave filled with crystals! We were of course excited to hear that. Eventually Rae, Junliang, Desmond and myself were able to go into the crystal cave, along with the guide. The guide told us that we would have to pay close attention to his instructions as it was possibly a dangerous trek. In fact he himself has fallen and gotten injured while leading another tour group into the cave. The reason why only few people could go in was soon to be revealed to us.

First, getting to the entrance was tricky as it involved a bit of climbing, but there wasn't a clear foothold to step on. In fact Rae slipped and fell on her first try to get up (she was the first to go up). Luckily I was spotting her and caught her as she slipped, else she would have gotten some serious injury.

Then, trekking in the cave was not easy. The ground was uneven. There were some wooden boards/planks/poles for us to step on, but the guide told us not all can be stepped on! This made movement slow in the cave. To add to the difficulty, the further we got into the cave, the more cramp it became. Anyone with claustrophobia would get a panic attack or even die in there. Good thing that we wore helmets too, as our head kept banging into the rocks protruding from the walls. Eventually we abseiled down this narrow trench and ended up in the crystal cave!

The crystal cave was beautiful! There were crystals everywhere, embedded in the walls, ground, stalactites & stalagmites. Our lighting made the crystal shine and sparkle. These are not those expensive gems though. They're mainly quartz crystals. I tried to pull one off a stalactite but gave up since it was firmly stuck there. Instead, I took some from the ground as souvenirs (as well as to show the rest).

After a while, we made our way out. That's when I realized how dangerous caving can be. As we made our way out, there were times when we could not make heads or tails of the right way to go. The guide was the last to leave the crystal cave, meaning we were the first to exit. I went what I thought was the right way, but it turned out to be the wrong way! Lucky the guide was around and close to us. Else we would have ended up lost or injured or both!

When we finally made it out, we shared our experience with the rest before continuing on our journey.

The next stop was into this cave that was used by the Communist as a bunker of sorts. Besides seeing 'marks' left behind by people who visited the cave, we saw writings and symbols that were left behind by the Communist guerrillas.

The mark of a Communist in the cave 

The area that we went to was very, very spacious. In fact, it's like one huge mansion! We could have a party in the cave that could easily fit up to 200 people! As we walked, we didn't know were going in circles till we reached the exact place that we came in from. Eventually we took a different turn that led us to the exit of the cave, as well as the end of our caving journey.

We emerged from the cave dirty, sweaty, smelly and above all, satisfied! :)

Rafting

After caving was done, we had our lunch before heading to the starting point of our rafting activity. We were given a briefing on the safety of rafting and what to expect in the next two to three hours. For this rafting activity, we were split into groups of 4. My group members were Rae, Yuxuan and Eugene. Each group would have a guide. Our guide was called King.

After carrying our rafts into the river, we were on our way! The current in the river was quite strong! We were doing some capsize drills and I tried to swim back to my raft but couldn't! All my efforts seemed to be in vain as I wasn't moving despite swimming very hard. That's when King threw me a line and pulled me close to shore. At least now I know what to expect!

Once drill practice was over, we were on our way! We paddled and steered thru the river, with the rapids pushing our raft in all directions. At times the raft would rise, at times it would dip, as it goes thru the rapids and rocks. That added to the fun of the rafting activity.

Shortly after we started, we had a pit stop. At this pit stop, we got to experience body rafting! Basically a guide will push each of us into the middle of the river and let the current push us down the river. It was quite fun! And almost painless too as we avoided the rocks while going thru the rapids.

Body rafting!

Thereafter we reached a part of the river that was slightly calm. That's when all hell broke loose as we took turns to pull and push each other off the raft and into the river! At one point, a group from one raft jumped into another raft and threw everyone in it overboard. At another instance, two groups combined effort to capsize another raft! It was damn fun!

The last pit stop, we reached a part of a river where there was a branch overhanging across the river. Some of us climbed up this branch and jumped into the river. I was the last to do it, and yes, it was damn fun too! Hahaha...

Eventually the rapids carried us to a point which marked the end of the activity. I think we were in the river for about three hours, but somehow it seemed too short! Time's always short when you're having fun. Haiz...

Wet and Wild! 

One thing's for sure. We plan to come back in November or December to go thru the rapids again! This time it will be more exciting as it will be the monsoon season. The speed of the river would be faster and it's volume will be more. In other words, more excitement!

Let me know if you're interested in joining. ;)

Night in Ipoh

After the rafting, we made our way back to our hotel to wash up and get ready for dinner. Dinner was splendid as we indulged in one of Ipoh's famous dish, 'tao geh chicken' with another famous dish, Ipoh 'hor fun'. Ate so much that there wasn't enough room for desserts! Hahaha...

After that, some of us went to check out the clubbing scene in Ipoh. I went along with the clubbing gang. Well, needless to say we had a lot of fun. Except when it was time to go back. That was when we learnt that there was no midnight cab in Ipoh!!! Fuck! But we managed to get help from one of the clubs who arranged for a cab to take us back. In addition, one of the locals agreed to give us a lift back to the hotel as well.

We reached the hotel tired, but happy.

All in all it was a great trip and a memorable one for the SIM-ODAC Alumni. =)

Oh yes! Check out more pictures of the trip in my gallery! 

20th February 2008

Mood Swings & The Erratic Mind

Since I woke up this morning I haven't been in a good mood. And through-out the day my mind has been rather erratic. My mood swings back and forth too. During these times I tend to keep to myself more, though I will react to people as if everything is normal. Even when it's not.

Some times I wonder if it's good to stay away from people during my mood swings. But then we are social creatures. We need to mix around. Thus isolation is like a punishment of sorts.

Anyway our mind goes through thousands, if not millions, of thoughts, ideas and memories in a second. Thoughts move so fast in our mind that at times we get lost in it or overwhelmed by it. When everything goes smoothly, things appear crystal clear to me. And at other times, they are all blurry. Today, it was all blurry.

My body feels tired with all the haphazard mood swings and constant thinking. Some times I try to drown my mind out with music. Other times I try to find an off or reset button.

But one thing is for sure: my mind is trying to tell me something. However it is something that my heart disagrees on. And so the battle rages on.

Fuck.

18th February 2008

Dumb Blonde vs Fifth Grader

Whether you know her or not, the blonde in the following clip is one of the finalist of American Idol and one of Simon Powell's favourite (yes favourite!). Check out the clip below to see how smart she is. ;)

17th February 2008

Weekends are supposed to be a time to rest and indulge in some leisure activities. However this weekend I may have over-did it and now am having a lack of sleep. Damn am I sleepy...

Anyway at the moment I'm learning to form patterns on my 4x4x4 Master Cube. Will show you what I've learn if we meet. ;)

14th February 2008

Happy Birthday to Celestine Ng Shi Hui!

Stay cute and true to yourself!

Passing Moments

One way to look at life is as a series of moments. One moment going to another to another to another. Each connecting moment holding different values to different people.

And we remember life as moments too. Our memories serve us by recalling moments that excite us, thrill us, sadden us, intrigue us and so on. Each moment forever etched in our memory.

One particular moment in life is when a woman appears most beautiful to a man. There are many ways for that to happen. Like when she smiles at him, when she walks close to him or when they hold hands. Each of those moment have it's merits.

But to me, the time a woman appears most beautiful to a man is when she appears at the time when he is missing her the most. That's when she  is a sight to behold. A sight for heart that have been yearning to see her again.

Life is about passing moments. Treasure the moments as they appear.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

13th February 2008

Happy Birthday to Yuxuan!

Stay cool and fun-loving always!

Do you find the above picture visually appealing?

Or at least find it 'stylo'?

There's plenty more from where that came from.

Check out Jing's website by clicking here.

All I can say is I am impressed with his works.

Respect to this dude.

3rd February 2008

Low Morale

I am in a fucking low morale. This morning I discovered a horrific tragedy.

I had lost my digital camera. My beloved Fuji F30D.

I do not know how it could have dropped. All I know is that I lost it in the area of Holland Village, where I was yesterday to hang out for supper.

Life fucking sucks at this point in time.

And it had to happen just before I was bound for my Thailand trip. When I would need the camera the most.

Chao Chee Bye.

I don't really feel like going for the trip any more, but since I'm flying off in a couple of hours... just gonna have to drag my sad ass down to the airport and just go along with the program. Haiz...

Fucks. How I lost it is still a mystery to me...

1st February 2008

Happy Birthday Chermaine!

Edison Chen Sex Photos Saga

Today I caught up a bit on the current affairs and learnt about the talk of the town, which is the sex photos saga of Edison Chen.

As you may have known already (the following is for those who don't), this handsome dude had his private photos splashed & shared all over the Internet recently. The photos were of him and/or other female artistes having sex together. Lots of nudity and kinkiness. Very nice.

According to the resourceful people, Edison had slept with quite a number of Hong Kong celebrities. The power of good looks. Lucky bastard!

Unfortunately for them, he took their photos and videos and had stored them in his laptop. This laptop was sent for repairs and their contents eventually ended up with the World Wide Web. Ouch.

Now everyone (with access to Internet) can see how Gillian Chung and Cecillia Cheung looks like in their birthday suits, thanks to Edison Chen.

There are some lessons to be learnt from all this. Here's what I've learnt:

 - If you're thinking of filming or photographing while fornicating, don't.

 - If you're going to film or photograph your sex act, at least make sure you look damn good in front of the camera. That means deleting the ugly shots.

 - If you're thinking of keeping them in your computer/laptop, don't. Keep it in a portable hard disk that you lock up in a safe.

 - If your laptop containing your private collection crash, learn how to fix it yourself.

 - If you still want your laptop fixed, at least take out the hard drive.

 - If you don't know how to take out the hard drive, burn the whole laptop. It's not worth it having the pictures and videos land in the wrong hands.

 - No matter how sorry you are, your scandalous photos will still get spread all over the Internet and a lot of people will be so fucking pissed with you that you wished that you're dead (that way you'll join them in wishing that you were dead. After all, if you can't beat them, join them).

- Lastly, trust no one with your private collection. No one. Not even yourself (especially if you don't know how to fix laptops/computers).

To E.C: Thank you for the pictures that you have unwillingly shared with us. All the best to your future endeavors. ;)