Last day of work

Work ended today with a bang.

Unsuspectedly, at the start, Cherrilyn was around.

2 minutes later Alicia turned up.

3 Currie Hall people in one shop is a recipe for havoc and mayhem.

And so it was, with pies being cooked as if there was no tomorrow, and of course experimenting with all flavours, and concocting up our own unique pies to sample.

PANDEMONIUM AND CHAOS.

But undiluted fun. Not to mention a totally relaxed day of work.

















frankensteinian acts in the kitchen

















mutant pies

















refusal to acknowledge guilt
















Cherrilyn preparing the mutants

















mutant pies completed

















mini mutants and me

Pictures

After opposite sex




















pizza with isabel
















dimsum with steff
















after exam indulgence




















yum cha
















broadway pad thai
















wilson, li shya, athena, weihao, donn, han

















gaying is an integral part of casual photography

















shiro RX7 a'la Ryosuke

















more interesting signs

To You

i saw an angel, of that i'm sure

Those who know this are few, but if you know this you will be thinking that im crazy. Yeah yeah, perhaps i think too much...........

she could see from my face, that i was F$%%^king high

Have you ever had the feeling of 'sparks flying'? When you look into someone's eyes and just, er.........

melt? explode? drown? ok whatever you like

I saw your face in a crowded place

Flipping through my camera made me think of her. I would think of a hundred possible scenarios, a hundred ways of getting to know her better, to share my thoughts, my world with her, but alas.

you're beautiful it's true

Memories are beautiful. As much as i regret at least trying to get to know her better, a friend of mine said something to me that i felt made sense. Would i really want to get to know her better? Or would it be better to preserve her memory as it is, as it has been, as it always will be, in this way? Isn't this perfect image of her the ideal thing to cling on to? What then, if i were to find out something about her that would disappoint me?

But its time to face the truth. I will never be with you

I guess thats what it will always be. A perfect memory of the perfect person. Etched forever in my mind, that is how she will be.

And i don't know what to do. Cos i'll never be with you.

How is one to define what emotion is? Is this what they call 'love at first sight'? If it isnt than i dont know what the term means anymore.

I loved you from the moment i set eyes on you and i will carry it with me forever. I might see you again, i might not. Would there be a difference? How could you possibly fathom that out there in the world there is someone who really likes you a damn lot? The answer is no. You would never remember me, and i might not even recognise you.

At the end of the day it is two things i cherish. You, and more importantly the memory of you. As striking as your beauty the memory will stay. For some time.

Reminiscing again

My neighbour is flying off tomorrow morning. How time flies. It seems only yesterday that i was here in Currie all alone, before everybody flew in. Now the end of the semester draws near, and everybody is saying their goodbyes. As i discussed with Snappi yesterday night, i really wonder how much of this experience i will take back with me to Singapore, how many of these friends will really be relationships that will last. I wonder.

I flipped through the camera and saw images from months past. The bits that caught my attention were the pictures i took before, way before flying over.

I remember rushing like crazy on skates, dragging two weaklings along as we hunted almost futilely for treasure, but finally finding a treasure in one of the organisers, namely Ms J****.

I remember pigging out like crazy over all kinds food, and rushing like crazy to get my "book" printed before i flew off.

I remember photographing my brother as he dressed up in an insane costume, waving the house's chopper around like Freddy, Jason or Michael Myers.

I remember the tony tony chopper wallpaper on my workplace desktop, and the people who were constantly complaining. Sadly most of my ex colleagues have already left the organisation.

I miss so much of the life i used to have back in singapore. People may say that singapore is a small island, that there is pretty much nothing to do except food, movies, shopping and pool. The difference is in the company. One may have the world to yourself, but without the ones you love sharing it with you, it is nothing but a hollow conqueror's crown. On the other hand, being stuck on a small red dot with the ones who are closest to you can be an experience that cannot be replaced.

My mind's a mess. Nostalgia, dread and above all, longing.

A song going through my mind now...........

二分之一的爱情

喜欢雨中抱你紧紧的感觉
世界只有我们没有谁
希望可以拥你入睡的喜悦
天知道这是仅有的安慰
长长厮守的缠绵
以为是纷飞的错觉
害怕清醒的泪水
抹去所有你的画面
我知道这是二分之一的机会
你说爱他比我还要更多一些
我仍然愿意不顾一切
只因我真的真的不要这样分别
我知道这是二分之一的机会
感情不是真心就可以换得回
我真的真的害怕伤悲
爱你的心 求你真的了解
我知道这是二分之一的机会
痴痴等你的心 唤不回

歌手：周传雄

The difference between calling a cat neow or neko

I shall illustrate my point with an illustrative analogy here:

Different languages have different ostensive definitions of what a cat is.

English- Cat
Chinese- 猫
Japanese- "neko"
Hokkien- "neow"

So, if i say: "You are a cat", it has the SAME meaning as "你是一只猫”


That getting cleared up, let me illustrate my main point.


I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts course, majoring in Communication Studies.

1. Bachelor of Arts course, majoring in Communication Studies.

The locally offered course at NTU is a Bachelor of Communication Studies.

2. Bachelor of Communication Studies

Polytechnics in Singapore offer a Diploma Course in Mass Communications.

3. Diploma in Mass Communications.


Easy enough to understand?


Good.


Now inequalities. 1 and 2 are NOT EQUAL TO 3! Why the f#$% do people keep saying mass comm mass comm? GODDAMMIT. Mass comm mass comm. Mass comm mass comm. IT IS NOT THE SAME. NEOW=CAT BUT MASS COMM IS NOT COMMUNICATION STUDIES YOU NUMBSKULLED HICKS.

"Oh he's in mass comm"

"Oh you are in mass comm right"

"Hows mass comm? Easy or not?"

A DIPLOMA IS NOT EQUAL TO A DEGREE. IT IS NOT THE SAME.

How come people can distinguish between kopi and teh but cannot differntiate between MASS COMM and COMMUNICATION STUDIES? People know the difference between System 7 and Quick Pick but cannot make this simple distinction.

Furthermore, to the Japanese, the phrase is bastardized in meaning, used to denote THE PRESS. REPORTERS. So to the japanese- "mass comm"= reporters

Do i look like a F$%^KING reporter?

Pek chek.

To my friends!

To those who have suffered at the hands of anonymous vandals making utterly insignificant comments on their blogs or tagboards.

I feel your pain. The previous post is dedicated to you all.

Stay true, express freely.

Cos pricks are all around.

Anonymity

................is a spell you can cast on your troops in the online game UTOPIA to make your troops identity remain anonymous.

Which also translates as something that many individuals take for granted, in this age of obscurity, where it is so easy to hide behind a nick or simply a tag of "ANONYMOUS PERSON". or "SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU".

Well then, Mr/Ms Anonymous? Since you obviously KNOW ME, which is evident given that you know of my blog's existence, then why not post using your REAL name or nick? Why not be identified? If it is something that you are dissatisfied about why keep your feelings to yourself? Share it with the world! Why am i being ridiculous? Or Biased? Come on! Tell me LEH.

Tsk Tsk

Thats taking things for granted isnt it? Tagging like this and leaving comments on people's blog is basically making a statement, that which simply means you are wanting to attract attention to YOUR action, and you are in essence not accepting about ant possible reprisals to that action. In other words, you are saying that :

1- YOU have a right to post the comment
2- YOU do not want your identity to be found

Which tickles me. Why then, Mr/Ms Mysterious Individual, do you NOT want to be found? Especially if you "KNOW" the blogger? Are you afraid of living up to the responsibility of making such statements out of the blue, without any justification or argument?

As the chinese say- 敢做就敢当. Sheesh man. If you can use the Internet then i am under the assumption that you are at the bare minimum, capable of rational thought and some semblance of responsibility. Why not let us know who you are? Share your opinions wont ya? AWWWWW

You can't. You won't. You are very much satisfied with the level of "security" the internet gives you, isnt it? Please. To me you are just like a small kid nicking sweets from the pick and mix in the supermarket. Sneaky and utterly childish. IF you have the guts to post then have the guts to own up. If not then shut your bloody trap up because nobody needs childish responses and comments about what people's opinions are. Just the kind of individual you are isnt it? Goes to show what kind of upbringing a person has- utterly spineless and gutless. You can't even have the GUTS to express an opinion freely.

I mock your perversion of anonymity. I laugh at your incapability to live as a reasonable human being who dares to live up to the consequence of action and reaction.

Nobody's moral standards are perfect. Who are you to impose your moral standards on others?

Oh i am forgetting. DO you think that you are in a position to impose moral standards on anybody? Come on! Tell the world who you are and we can discuss this. If not you are just another faceless, gutless individual shouting out to be heard in a sea of noise. And nobody is paying attention to you, really.

Dare to post own up la. Pussy. Gutless. Spineless. Bo Ji. Hum ji. Useless.

I think self gratification would be a better way of spending your time instead of such petty trivialities. You sick fuck you.

That which is gone

But a sliver of hope hangs in on
the repeated views of times past.
Shut is the door of ages ago
of which there was so much trust.
Despair drives one into the arms
of memory turned to dust.

I looked today, and what i found-
The corpse of a bright light that shone
It still clung on to the smoke and mirrors
of that which was gone

Somehow the present fails to achieve
Like water through a sieve
The strains of melody, the waves of hope
Are chilled in the wake of what once was.

As the days pass the emptiness swells
Time is but a measured unit
Of endless night and freezing day

I look forward but my eyes are blinded
Trying to run with feet binded
Trapped in the minotaur's maze of
that which is gone

colin2007

Geek gets chick

Miss Universe covets US acting job

TOKYO - NEW Miss Universe Riyo Mori is hoping to land an acting job with the popular US-based TV show, 'Heroes'.

She is now back in her home country after winning the beauty pageant in Mexico City last month.

But Japan's newest star said she won't be able to savor her homecoming for long.

'I'm only here for a week, then it's back to New York' and a tour around the world, the 20-year-old dancer said in an interview on Monday.

Ms Riyo said she is hoping to devote herself to her new role and become a spokeswoman for AIDS issues.

She is also looking for a possible role on the TV series 'Heroes', which is aired by NBC.

The network has rights to the Miss Universe pageant.

Ms Riyo said her role would be 'Yaeko', a love interest for one of the main characters.

Her beauty pageant win caught Japan by surprise.

The only other time Japan has won the pageant was in 1959.

Then, Akiko Kojima became the first Miss Universe from Asia.

Ms Riyo said she was encouraged to enter the competition by her grandmother.

She intends to open a dance school after her year-long Miss Universe stint.

She has been dancing since she was four. -- AP

..............................................

Holy crap man. Masi Oka gets Miss Universe as a co star? Every man's dream come true!

Some guys have all the luck.

费玉清 is a monster

Freaky person. Decades pass and his voice still retains its qualities. CREEPY

And the mtv to 千里之外. At 1.14 he suddenly pops put of the curtain and assaults us with his singing. You can almost hear him shout "surprise"!

Beware, the immortal maestro will suck ur blood dry!!!!

CIVIC CIVIC CIVIC

the newspapers this morning was filled with killer deals.

Lancers ranging from 6k up. and at least from 97 onwards. OMG.

Not to mention the 94' civic going for 4500.

i am so tempted to rob a bank now. ARGH.

and an interesting deal- a second generation '96 Dodge Viper going for 150,000. Whopping price. But then again i have never seen one before except in pictures and shows. Talk about need for speed!

Mambo yo-ah-yo

No smoking in clubs from first july! Wow. The economy must really be booming.

Which is really good. Don't see the point on smoking in clubs anyway.

Are cigs cool?

Or is it the act of puffing out stuff from your mouth?

Say i could like swallow some ice and puff out water vapour too!

I would be cool literally and figuratively!

So i say- distribute ice cubes for smokers to vapourise. Better still...MINT flavoured ice cubes. Or any other flavour for that matter. That way you can be sure of a clean taste whenever you french kiss that stranger. How cool is that?

I should market this- flavoured ice cubes to make urself look cool. A substitute for cigs.

Cant wait to go back and check out smoke free clubs.

Drunken cat prancing to banarama. Yea i could live with that.

Superhuman

If you could have the ability to do anything what would the one thing be?

I like the idea of bending reality. Changing anything and everything.

But then after a while it wouldn't be fun anymore. Being omnipotent might become a pain in the ass and a bore.


I guess the most powerful ability, the one i would like most to have would be the power of persuasion. Imagine that. To make you do whatever i want you to do.

Beware! For i am powerful!

V V V V V

Watched V for Vendetta again a few days ago. It still strikes me as potently as it did before.

Hugo Weaving does an excellent job of narrating V's lines, and he does the alliteration of the phonetic V words with such gusto and finesse that i am impressed all over again. Excellent. Although nowhere as good as the graphic novel itself, it is an adaptation that is commendable in its own right. My favourite quote from the film-

People should not be afraid of their governments- governments should be afraid of us.
-V

After all, is not government but a mechanism? Its the fundamental principle behind governing that it all boils down to- if government were not voted by the people in the first place, it would be impossible for governments to perform. It is something that governments should never forget, in the course of everything. We create you, we gave you life. Oppression and fear of expression should be the least of our worries, eh?

I read the various articles in the newspapers about varsity blues and this morning something struck me. Why feel so strongly about such a thing? It's not as if anything will change. If you read the dean of admissions' reply in the forum page today, you will find that it is a carbon copy of what anybody can find in any admission booklet or even on the admission website itself. He make no light of anything, but reiterating points which are already known to everybody, points itself that are being challenged.

Additionally, the selection process of some faculties, such as Medicine and Law, includes interviews for candidates shortlisted based on the UAS. Any 'S' papers or fourth or subsequent A-level subjects are not considered when computing the UAS.

Because of components such as General Paper and Project Work in the UAS, it is possible that a student with three As may not be admitted to a course of study while another with two As and a B may because of different performance levels in General Paper and Project Work.

-Associate Professor Tan Thiam Soon
Dean of Admissions
National University of Singapore


Well, he is just repeating himself, isnt he? Every A level student can tell that these 2 paragraphs are the 2 paragraphs of total BOLLOCKS. Not considering S papers?

MAI HAO SIAO LAH

It is so damn ridiculous that i want to laugh. Literally.

What is transparency? Here is one example of transparency. The Australian Admission system.
A level grades are considered on a scale of 5 to 1 points. An A, being 5 points, and an E, 1 point respectively. Thus, based on such a calculation of points- admission criteria are thus created from there. This allows for people to gauge themselves and to know where they stand. For example- how can you define who does better? a person who gets an ABC or a person who has BBB? using this method of calculation both of them score the same points. There is no such thing as 'preference because of an A', because both students' grades even themselves out.

Grats

He got it.

NUS business sponsorship.

In response to all the recent hubbub about getting good grades and not being able to get into courses of choice, i use him as an absolute example.

He is not from a prestigious school

He does not even have perfect scores

He worked his ass off from secondary school all the way to JC, to his A's to give him the results that he has today. He has always been conscious of the fact that the cohort is a competitive one, and has worked hard bearing this in mind.

Somehow, when you see someone close to you succeed, its an overwhelming feeling of pride that that person is able to achieve what you can only dream of getting. The feeling is totally indescribable. You just feel---happy!

And it lightens the burden off my parents, the burden that I HAVE CREATED. Goddam man.

2 Pieces of News, 2 Cents- No 2

Getting anime illegally online? Beware Japanese animated cartoons distributor sending letters to culprits warning of legal action

By Chua Hian Hou

PRICES of anime DVDs here are the world's lowest, but fans of these Japanese animated cartoons prefer to get them online - for free. Now they may land in the soup because a crackdown has been launched, and they are the targets for downloading these English-subtitled cartoons through file-sharing networks. Local anime distributor Odex, which brings in the DVDs from Japan, has sent out letters to culprits it has identified as having downloaded these 'fansubs' using the Internet and peer-to-peer systems like BitTorrent. 'Fansubs' are the works subtitled by bilingual fans of anime as a service to the community of non-Japanese-speaking anime fans. Odex spokesman Stephen Sing would not say how many legal letters have been issued. A copy of one such letter obtained by The Straits Times announced that Odex would take legal action against the alleged downloader unless he settled the issue. Odex did not say what constituted a settlement. The letter to this particular alleged downloader - a SingNet subscriber - came attached with a three-page listing of alleged downloads. Mr Sing said that Odex, together with the Anti Video Piracy Association of Singapore, had no choice but to take legal action, because 'pirates' here download more anime files than any other country except the United States, which was 'ridiculous, considering our population'. Anime fansubs, around since the 1980s, used to come in video cassettes, but the Internet and BitTorrent have made it cheap and easy to get hold of the cartoons. An anime fan here, who declined to be named, said the community was downloading fansubs because original anime works were of poor quality and overpriced. Mr Sing's counter: 'Perception problem.' Focus groups, he said, have been unable to differentiate fansubs from its DVDs when played back on a 42-inch TV set. Mr Sing added that on a per-DVD basis, prices here were the world's lowest, and that even when Odex bundled three DVDs for a $9.90 trial offer, fans did not bite. In the US, the price of a two-DVD set costs between US$15 and US$20, depending on the anime title. The anime fan was dismissive of the crackdown and said it would not stop fansub piracy. The community is tech-savvy and will find ways to continue downloading without getting caught, he said. Under Singapore's Copyright Act, users found guilty of 'wilful' and 'significant' downloads face fines of up to $20,000 and up to six months behind bars. The Act does not specify what constitutes a significant number of downloads. .......................................................... An interesting article. We are seeing a repeat of history. It was like this with Napster, and now the crackdown is happening to Anime. As it so happens, i was actually reading up on Napster last night, and while it remains a controversial issue, there is actually a bright spark. It may have led to the spread of music piracy and blatant online pilfering of music, but in the end there have also been bands who have benefited from it all. It was a platform for many unknown bands and seeming unpopular musicians to have an easy avenue to showcase their work. Certain bands have reported successes by utilising these file sharing networks to spread their music. The irony with clamping down on japanese animation is this- its popularity in countries all around the world is at an all time high. Names like Naruto, One Piece and Bleach are well recognised as mainstream, popular anime. The success of these series is not only isolated to certain countries, it is a world wide phenomenon. With it, many companies have jumped on the marketing bandwagon and have considerable made lots of money through products like action figures, tody, the comic books themselves, and softcopy DVD's and VCD's of the various series. As far as these series have come, these series are considered to be a commercial success, as reflected by their popularity. This popularity is also not just confined to the younger audience- institutes of higher education have considered japanese animation itself to be a significant field of study, with respect to analysing screen cultures and their socio-cultural impacts. But we must not forget the basis behind the success of these anime series. The very people who are responsible for bringing this phenomenon to the world, are those who have painstakingly taken their time to provide subtitles for the various series, and to distribute them over the internet. It is thru these downloads and fansubbing groups that anime has such a high appeal. To even crack down on such so called "illegally distributed" versions of japanese animation would be, in short, to bite the very hand that feeds you. Legal action is something every person dreads. If even watching animation in this way is considered illegal, then the ramifications of this will be a significantly lower fan base, and a definite decrease in popularity. If ANBU and Anime-One did not perform their fansubs of Naruto, in all honesty it would not have been the commercial success that it is today. Neither would the chinese comic books becomes such a popular hit. Face it, we are all human. No one wants to buy anime and come out disappointed. Downloading anime on a weekly basis is just akin to following the series itself as and when it is released in japan. And lets not forget the fact that there has already been one crackdown so far on anime. Out of this, a list of licensed and unlicensed anime series have already been released. Why the sudden fuss now? This situation has to be assessed. Most likely, there is something deeper behind this crackdown. Perhaps the problem lies internally- that local servers are finding the excessive downloads made by users a problem as it causes network congestion? One possible reason i can think of. Another possible reason? That there just isnt a market for buying so called "original" anime dvd's and vcd's. What to do? No business to be made from selling "cheapest original dvd's and vcd's in the world even when compared to america", cannot cry woh. So call police bring the black and white in LOR This is so typically Singaporean it disgusts me.

2 Pieces of News, 2 Cents- No 1

Birth-swap Msian man files suit over religion

KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN man mistakenly given to Muslim parents at birth has filed a claim to be legally recognised as a Buddhist, the New Straits Times reported on Saturday, amid an ongoing row over religious recognition.

Mr Zulhadi Omar, 29, was registered as a Malay Muslim at birth. But in an incredible chance meeting, an ethnic Chinese couple approached him in a shopping centre in February after noticing his similarity to his real father.

Mr Zulhadi said his lawyer had filed the suit on Friday after Malaysian authorities failed to respond to a written request for his name and religion to be changed on his birth certificate and identity card.

DNA tests have confirmed Zulhadi is the biological son of Teyo Ma Liong and Lim Sik Hai and not his registered Malay Muslim parents.

'On the day that I was born, a woman named Lim Sik Hai also gave birth to a baby boy at the same hospital,' The Star newspaper quoted Mr Zulhadi as saying.

'I was registered a Muslim based on an error at birth. I should have been named Eddie Teyo, son of Teyo Ma Liong and Lim Sik Hai, and a Buddhist.' The move follows the controversial refusal of Malaysia's top secular court to allow a woman who converted from Islam to be legally recognised as a Christian.

The court on Wednesday rejected a request by Lina Joy to have the word 'Islam' removed from her national identity card after her conversion, saying an Islamic, or sharia, court would first have to recognise her conversion.

Ethnic Malays are defined as Muslims from birth. Renouncing the faith is one of the gravest sins in Islam and is rarely allowed by Islamic authorities. -- AFP


The idea of an islamic state is interesting. In fact, the idea of having a religion as something national itself is an interesting idea. True enough, it may be a consensus of the majority of the country's population, but face it- in some ways it constitutes an absolute realization of what Mill describes as a "tyranny of the majority". Inevitably it is impossible to come to a universal agreement on beliefs. Beliefs are what differentiate us as humans just like fingerprints or our voices. To make everybody bound to popular belief, is to infringe on the very sanctity of our persona- to question how we think and act. If truly there is such a thing as benevolent governing, this should not be the case.

Moving out

I cannot see myself living together with any of the blokes on this floor.

Somehow, if i sit at a damn table and i can count thirty seconds of absolute silence when conversation should very obviously be occurring, then there is no point in me making the extra effort. Everything looks peachy keen but i know it is different. I will never be able to tolerate living with any of these people under one roof. If that is the case, then why even make the effort to go further?

Moving out with other people will be so much better. I may hardly know them, but there are a few things i am sure of:

1- They will obviously consume less
2- They are obviously neater
3- Making concessions for them is easier
4- I can see myself making the effort to open up

F$%^ it man. I'm not moving out with any blokes. Period.

The definition of a friend

I admit that at times i can be a very easygoing person. To me, most of the time 'anything goes'. It is also relatively easy to make me change my mind about a certain something. I dont give a shit about a lot of things but when things strike me they really hit me hard and my head goes all the way into it.

But seriously, actions speak louder than words.

How can i get to know a person better if i cannot get my ideas across?

How can i be friends with people who very obviously are not listening when they appear to?

In a nutshell, i think what summarises this f$%%king shebang is this narration between Marla and the Narrator from Fight Club:

The Narrator: When people think you are dying then they really really listen to you instead of just....

Marla: Instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.


I lent you my bowl. The only damn bowl i have. And you bloody mixed it up with the bowls in the dining room. Ok perhaps its only a BOWL, but it really goes to show how you treat me, how you view me as a person. You obviously do not have much respect for my belongings, so why the hell would you have respect for me as a person? Pfft.


I really want to cuss now.



I give up.