I need sleep

Met up with DM Tsung after work today for a game of badminton. About time I get some exercise as well. All day cooping up in the office cubicle is bad...

WEek's been pretty crazy. Sleep schedule turned upside down beginning with Butter Factory last friday lasting till 4am, then meeting up with my fellow OCS friends who graduated from the US as well on Sunday till about 1am. Then celebrating Kenny's Birthday on monday till 3am, watching movie with dad on wednesday till 2am... and on top of all those, waking up at 6am everyday for work...

I seriously need sleep.......

Butter Factory

Brought some of my colleagues to Butter Factory on Friday, currently the hippest club in Singapore. And I managed to get VIP entrance. So we could avoid the 2-3 hour long wait outside. Learnt how to play the drinking game, and because I didn't drink alcohol, basically downed 4 entire cans of red bull. Super hyped up after that. Danced till 3am before leaving, and couldn't sleep once I was home.

Saturday, met up with Wendi and Sunny at 2pm, went to catch the movie "The Proposal." Really Good Movie! Really funny. Lol. Definitely recommend. Love all the Sandra Bullocks's movie. Then we walked along the Singapore river before splitting ways as I had to go for dinner with my family.
Had dinner at a Belgium restaurant - Brussel Sprouts. Expensive place man. And not much for me to eat, so basically I had salad, fries, and cheese, cheese and more cheese. So fattening...

Ooh and today, I found out that Fiona Xie went all the way to USA to film my grandmother and our family there! Argh, why did I come back to Singapore early! Lol. I think they're doing some documentaries about Singapore families living overseas, and ours was one of the big ones.

Fun after Trial

Had a wonderful dinner at Goodwood Park Hotel last night with clients and the lawyers. We were celebrating the end of our 4 weeks trial. The conversation still hovered over the trial subject, however it was filled with laughter from discussing the various personalities, various peculiarities, the blunders and the scoring points. Individual's facial expressions and "quotes of the day" were the most laughed about. It was a very interesting trial for me, especially being the first trial I am ever involved in. The long hours of hard work was all worth it.

Workin on it

You know you're working for too long in a firm as an intern when you get clients and other lawyers calling in looking for you and asking if you're the lawyer in charged of the case....

Childhood friends

I remember I had a childhood friend from Thailand way back when I was like 5. My dad was in Thailand doing some business then, and so I hung out with the local kids. Despite not knowing each other's language, we had lots of fun! That's the only reason why I remembered. Like for example, the gold leaves that was supposed to be placed onto the Buddha statues? Yeah... we took it and pasted it all over ourselves. Much to the displeasure of the adults I guess. Lolz...

Then I had a pen pal from South Africa when I was 12, and I lost contact with him too. We met when I was traveling through India then. In a christmas play, I was chosen to act as Jesus, and he was chosen to act as one of the saints. Lolz

Then I had lots of pen pals from Japan when I was 14. We used to write letters to each other all the time. Until the invention of the internet which destroyed it all. The anticipation of receiving an envelop with foreign stamps in the mail box no longer exists.

People come, and people go. How many of them really stay? But to those who have stayed on through the years, I'm really thankful that we're still in contact. And since coming back, I've been meeting more and more of my childhood friends... Classmates from first grade in primary school. Lets get together sometime yah?

Once and officer, always an officer

One of my soldiers from my Officer days 2 years back called me up today. He signed on as a regular in the army and things have been really tough lately and his morale was extremely low, so he just wanted someone to talk to and so he called me. I must say I'm really surprised by the call but at the same time, honored that he'll think of me as someone he can turn to and talk things out. So I stayed with him on the phone for almost an hour. Well, I'm glad to be able to be of help.

Some people are just, for a lack of a better word, "Boh Liao" (Have nothing better to do)
They want to talk to u, get offended by what you say, yet still want to talk to u and engage in an argument.... =.=...
Seriously man... they should get a life...
I know... I'm a lawyer in training... but I get enough training to argue in my job. I don't need more when I'm home.

Monsters, ghost and spirits of Singapore

My door bell rang at close to 11pm last night and when I opened the doors, I found myself facing an empty street. There was no one there. Then I told my sister and some friends and they said, maybe its nenek koropok. I've heard of that name before and asked who's that? Well apparently she's famous among the younger generation as an old lady who goes about selling rotten crackers called koropok and if u don't buy it from her, she curses u. Nenek is malay for grandma/old lady.

Back when I was living in the kampung (malay for village), the famous scare was also an old lady called Hu Gu Po. She's described to have only 2 front teeth and would lure small children with treats and then after that eat them up. I remember once when I was thrown out of the house for being naughty, I was threatened that I shall be fed to Hu Gu Po. And Hu Gu Po dislikes red color. That's why our old home in the kampung was always decked in red cloth to keep her away.

Then there is the famous Pontianak. A female malay vampire who preys on young virgin men. She appears in a beautiful form first to lure you then when she gets u into a corner, reveals her true form with face all torn up and teeth sharpened for the kill. Pontianaks like to hang around cotton trees and usually to give a high pitch laughter that sounds like a screech in the middle of the night. Back in our old kampung, my grand mother told me she used to hear the screams of the pontianak. In their beautiful forms, they sing and once when i was in army training on an island, we heard a lady singing in malay in the wee hours of the morning. It was a forest out there and no known habitants other than us. Everyone was warned to stay close and not wander about. Stories of the pontianak is still very much alive especially on the island of Tekong.

The Banana ghost is a female spirit who lives in the banana tree. With a red string, u can actually trap her and she'll appear before u granting u a wish. However u must remember to release the string the moment the wish is granted or else she will possess u. My grandma knew of a neighbour who got possessed by the banana spirit.

The coin spirit is very much like the Ouija board in western countries. Many of us used to play it in our primary school days. However you must always ensure that it is sent back to the home spot before releasing your hand. Or else u set the spirit free and who knows what havoc it will cause.

Then there is the oily man. I forgot what's his name in malay. A man/ghost who's totally black in color so that he's camouflaged and he steal things and sometimes rape young women, yet no one has been able to catch him because he is so slippery and always slips away in any situation.

The Natos are basically nature spirits and one has to be careful of the green face onez especially. They are the fierce ones and will not let u go easily if u anger them. People who piss by trees or on the roadsides must always remember to ask for permission first, lest you're pissing on a spirit's home.

Then of course, there's the general ghosts. All the others that dun fall into the previous categories, bascially fall into this category. Stories of them are the most abundant. Too much to say here.

Back to the door bell ringing, apparently what I heard is that it is two little boys who go about around midnight selling ice creams door to door. Its not the first time they have come to our house. Human or ghost? Nobody knows... There's a whole other world out there....

My name is happiness =)

Received a msg from a friend saying that he's feeling down and needs a dose of happiness.

So I replied, u wan me to be there?

Which he replied... if u want to.

Which I took to mean a yes... oh wellz, I guess i can change my name to happiness now. Lolz

Close my eyes

I close my eyes
the music plays
the wind blows
the silence stays
I close my eyes
and open my heart
I feel the breeze
The music starts
~jozhade

Busy

Haven't been updating much. Life's been really busy as a paralegal. But I guess, its better than rotting at home. Boss has decided to start paying me. Amount is small, but better than nothing. And I've been asked to stay on till the end of the year. Getting to meet lots of clients now as well. Takes up alot of after work hours but they're really interesting people. Watching my pupil-master do cross examination in the trials is indeed an eye opener. Also I'm going around much more and getting to meet lots of big important figures in society. The high life. Got invited to some high class concert tml in the old parliament building... would really prefer to be hanging out with sunny and wendi... but oh wellz... its a special invitation and i should "feel honored" to be one the guest list. Not really one who likes dressing up... i'm already like in coat and tie from monday till friday. Now its the weekends too? =.=... guess I better get used to this kind of life. Sometimes I really miss the simple life i had while in america, the mountains, the temples, nature, and my friends. Good thing now thou is that, at least now, I have a direction.

Cold Heart

I'm a product of an age desensitized.
Gone are the days of love and sacrifice.
Guided by my frozen heart, I walk my path,
Discarding the hopes and pains of the past.