Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Andrew



From Andrew's blog - "Well I was at BBM this Saturday and I was just so happy. Right before lunch I had the best present anybody could give me. Jonathan came back!!!...."

Hahz..bro... just wanna say.. it has been a blessing for me to have you in my life! Thank you so soooo sooooooo much!!! For all your love, faith and everything else that you have given me!

You know, its like what Julia said about meeting Nancy... I didn't realize how much i miss u... until i saw u again that saturday! Thanks for always being there...

X'mas

So i had a great X'mas Eve dinner at Aunt Agnes' with all my other relatives. Big family we've got here in California, and when it came to present opening time, everyone was going... "Wah..." But there were so many presents that everyone's Wahs gradually faded away as it got too tiring.. Lolz

Then X'mas day, had a great lunch with Rev Heng Sure, Ajahn Sudanto and the core group of BBM.
So there we go.

At night... i was forced by Sandy to accompany her to the park at San Jose to see decorations.. It was so cold! Gheez... So i sulked all the way as i didn't wan to go... luckily, there was warm, fresh made Churros to lighten up my mood! lolz

Sunday, December 23, 2007

X'mas at BBM

So I went to Berkeley Buddhist Monastery today to celebrate Xmas! Lolz... Lunch was sumptuous, and i met Andrew!!! My most beloved lil brother in the states!
So this was Andrew before I left the states in 2005.

And this is Andrew now!

He's grown so much... but still as adorable as ever... lolz..
Notice we are both wearing inner green shirts! Matching clothes by coincidence again! hahz...
So we gave each other such a big hug that Mr. Fang, a chinese doctor on site shook his head in disapproval saying that i could have further sprain my spine if i was not careful. I had consulted him on my spinal injury earlier.
Following that, Mrs Chen, another chinese medical expert walks in and the moment she saw me she said "wait... don't tell me... u injured your spine on the 3rd notch during the army?" And she did that just by looking at me... genius man... i'm so blessed to know these elders in the field...
Then David Williams shows up after lunch! So nice to see him to, used to hang out with him and sandy almost every night drinking tea, baking cookies and chatting the night away. So we went to Teance to drink tea and catch up, and even got a palm reading from a Persian grandfather there too! Hahz.
We drank for a long time there until the shop owner Winnie asked if we were free and wanted to help out. So we said sure! And she got us to help her pack tea and so the drinks were on her for the day and we even got to bring back a pack of tea of our choice as payment! How cool!
Back at the monastery, i was dragged by Andrew to sing Carols for the assembly and they even had a ginger bread house building session. A packed day full of surprises.
Carol singing practice

Ginger bread house building

Chinese orchestra performance to the assembly at BBM

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Criminal on the run

So i had a great lunch with Rev Heng Sure again today, then went down to meet my relatives at their restaurant in Mt. View. So out of the big family that i have here, 3 aunts 1 uncle and 4 of my cousins were there. And i found out from them that i have a warrant of arrest after me!
Great... so now... not only am I homeless... i am a wanted criminal by the California State Police.
When i didn't contact them earlier, they thought i was arrested at the Airport Customs and were preparing to go bail me out the moment i could contact them! Lolz!
So the arrest warrant originated from a parking fine which my sister got on my car, under my name while I was slugging my way in the army... She didn't bother to pay and it dragged until her brother is now a wanted criminal...
Its serious... but somehow i find it hilarious too...lolz... think when the case is over, i'm gonna go frame up the arrest warrant as a souvenior! Probably hang it up on the wall... Lolz
For the moment.. i guess i just have to remain in hiding until i'm sure that the coast is clear... hahz... how fun

Friday, December 21, 2007

Homeless...

Homeless... its so tough to be homeless... u're neither here nor there...

Fatigue... so tired of searching and searching... for a house, for a car, for stability...

Missing... those who have walked into my life and left behind footprints in my heart...

Fear... of the unknown, of what's to come... of the future...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

USA and Japan

So I finally arrived in US, and what better way to spend it than to have lunch with Rev. Heng Sure! Great vegan dishes & guitar sing along! Took a power nap at the monastery before having dinner with Lucy, John, Sandy and Gwenneth, who's an internationally famous pianist. How cool! Had cookies and tea after at Teance with Rev. Heng Sure and a crowd of 20 plus in the evening. So that was day 1! Assimilating back again.

Dropped by sch, but the counselor was out... and i've yet to get a place, so am currently crashing at a friend's place. Heard from many that the place where my sch's at is pretty dangerous, with stray bullets and all... gheez... scary...

Japan was pretty fun, other than my elder sister's occasional mood swings. Got to learn how to travel on the railways and practice my Jap alot. Even made 4 australian friends on the 1st day i was there!
Visited lots of temples and shrines and also all the local streets. Ran away a few times to explore the city myself too.. lolz

Also had dinner with lots of my father's Japanese customers and i was surprise that i can actually understand most of what they say! Cool. Thing is, they like to smoke and drink alot and all my clothes smell of tobacco now. Sigh...

That was not all, they brought me night club hopping too, visit all those ktv clubs... gheez... and becoz i was the youngest, they were like piling money to get me the prettiest girl to accompany me... they went a little too far when they were asking me to bring the girl out to the hotel... which means... u know... and my dad couldn't do anything as these were important customers. But of course i didn't... I must say the girls are very pretty thou... and i got a kiss from the top girl of the club! lolz... But yah... i know my limits.

Then it was disney land... with all the dolls and rides... something about the place just makes u feel happy... think its all those smily faces of Mickey and friends! Thou i think the actual person behind the mask must be sweating like hell... Lolz

Kz... really tired after so much... need to settle fast... Time's running out...schools starting soon... N i have no car, no home, no cell phone, no nothing... lolz... We'll see... Things always work out in their own ways...

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Last few nights...

So on friday, went to CSC to return my cards and met Mr. Victor there, the Bmt pool care taker. He's 60+ and his 6 pecs are still damn well defined lah... I asked him his secret... he said no secret lah.. just have to watch diet and do bridge for like 1 hour each day... siao sia...
Met Alvin Lee, Sam Wong, Marcus, Gerald and Nathaniel for dinner at Minds cafe along Clark quay and as usual, made lots of noise playing games! Lolz... we played some strategy game, then followed by slamwich, taboo and uglies again!
Got a nice singapore scenery photo fr gerald to remind me of home, and got this gift from nathaniel...

Look like us not? Lolz... Damn cool right?

Saturday... was supposed to ask my grandma out for lunch but she didn't reply my call, so i continued packing and soon it was already 3pm! In between, Aaron was trying to sell his Zoukout ticket and when i offered to buy it, someone already took it. Then Alvin said he could ask his friend who might have spare tickets... turned out to be none... But guess it was a blessing in disguise.

Went to meet Jeffrey as appointed and he was suppose to leave by 7pm but his friend also cancelled their appointment, so everything worked out perfect! We went about exploring Singapore going from Bukit Timah, to Serangoon Gardens, to Chinatown! Lolz...Thanks for spending time with me on my last night here, and showing me what a beautiful city Singapore actually is... What's even cooler was that we so happened to be wearing matching shoes and shirt! Lolz... Too bad the picture's a little blur... and my hair sux! Photographer never give advice one sia...

Red n white shoes and shirt for me... and green shoes and shirt for jeffrey! And what's more... red and green... christmas mood! Lolz... Sigh... too bad i won't be spending christmas in Singapore...
I so gonna miss all of you all!....

Friday, December 07, 2007

Busy Day

Busy day today, started of by going to the bank, meeting my "personal financial manager" - sounds cool huhz...lolz... Then had to return a book to my previous work place, headed over to look for my remiser.. settling lots of money stuff. Took the whole day.

Along the way, met Joseph in the bus, my primary 1 classmate! lolz. He said he saw me at Bugis earlier but wasn't sure if it was me, then now at Serangoon, in the same bus, we meet again! It was meant to be... He was disembarking and so he called me on my cell. Can't believe we still have each other's contacts... Thats like what... 17 years of knowing u out of 23 years of my life? lolz... about 3/4 of my life man! Other than a bit taller, he still looks the same! And on my part.. other than a bit rounder.. i still look the same! Hopefully...

Dropped by Yongchaos' to retrieve the Bintan photos and then finally met my Aussie Uncle and Aunt for dinner at around 9pm. Over dinner, met Yong Quan! my uncle who's only 1 year older than me... yeah.. he's my uncle coz he belongs to the generation above me. Chinese families follow that.

Anyway, here are some photos from Bintan:


Dinner on the first night at Pasar Ole Oleh


Breakfast at Nirwana


Late nite of Drinks, peanuts, cards and Tv... How typical...


Seriously catching up with world news...


Seriously catching up with the latest series of Sunday Times Comics! Lolz


Surfing TIme! Posing with our mini surf boards.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

12th mono...


Met up with my commanders from 12th mono for dinner today. Was expecting 3 or 4 to turn up, but instead, all 14 sergeants and 2 pcs came! So touched.. lolz... It was nice to catch up again and Lta Jeremiah asked if i preferred army or civilian life. My response was of course civilian life! But i do certainly miss the army life.
Sent Justin & Lawrence back to camp n when my car came to the gate, they still recognized the car and i received a full salute from both the guard com Sgt. wilfred and the sentry Pte. Faris. Got down to meet my other commanders and men who were doing duty... So nice to catch up again. Really miss them... but yupz... no... i'll pass on the signing on part... lolz. Leaving, we exchanged salutations again... damn.. i miss army life... (can't believe i'm saying this! lolz)

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Moving on with life...

Met my uncle and aunt from Australia this morning for brunch as they were visiting. They fly back on Saturday and SUnday, its my turn... Time flies... Was telling them about me thinking twice about going over, and their respond was that, if its something you have to do, you have to move on.
While driving back, met an old friend - a monitor lizard! lolz... about a meter long. I saved it fr being run over by my dad a few months back, guess he's here to send me off too! Lolz

Met up with Fabian, Ivan and Qizhi for dinner at this small restaurant - Portobelle... pretty cozy but a little ex. We were buddies during our advance officer course, and till now, they remain the best buddies i've made during NS.

We're a group of 9 originally who hung out together almost everyday during our 3 months course. Gabriel's busy with his store, Alvin Chia with life, Alvin Tjoe is a commando regular, Qizhi is now in NTU, and the rest of us are all flying... started with John leaving for USA in July, now its my turn. Ivan will go to Australia in Feb, so will Hairul. Fabian will go join us in the states in August... and Michael is probably in China now... A small group of 9... all scattered around the world... Thats life... we are all moving on...

Monday, December 03, 2007

Food, laughter and work


Had lunch with Samuel Teo at CSC today, and as always, when i'm with him, we eat alot - Avocado salad, Sandwiches, Fries, Spagettii, plus Grilled Chicken for him. Then walking over to Parkway, I got convinced to eat ice cream too!
Met my godmum who cuts hair there and i had another crazy hairstyle in mind which she responded by laughing n telling me to take a walk first before i decide. Went to borders but couldn't find my book, ended up buying another.. waste money man.. Then we popped over at Yakun and ate again! N i so happened to sit beside Andre's mom! lolz... was just at her house having dinner last night. How coincidental. She told me to bring her son with me to US..lolz.

Pretty fun day with lots of food, laughter and also lots of errants done. Halted my CSC membership, activated my UOB acct which involved lots of guessing of passwords and withdrawing and depositing over and over again to activate it. So weird... hahz and i postpone my hair cutting till Wednesday...we'll see...heez


Went out again to meet my best friend Nathaniel at the Hongkong Cafe for supper. THou its way past bed time, and i seldom go out after mid night coz my carriage will turn into a pumpkin... i still went ahead... lolz, coz its been so long since we met with his schedule packed with lessons and exams, and mine packed with slacking and more slacking.. lolz..okiez... not that relaxed for me as well... i had work.

But bro, its so great to see you again... And likewise, i feel really comfortable around you, so much so that i felt like a chatter box this evening... kept chattering away... hope i gave u some air time too... =P 13 years man... i've basically known u for more than half my life hahaz.. and our record on the phone is still unbroken! hahz...I'll miss u so much when i leave again man! But like i said, i'll always be there for u!

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Sun, sand and sea...

Just returned from my 3D2N Bintan Trip with Aaron, Andre and Yongchao. Turns out to be not so bad after all, despite hearing all the horror stories from family and friends. Well, the ferry ride there was horrible to start with, and day 1 was indeed pretty boring... other than swimming in the pool, there was nothing that we can do due to the monsoon. No wind surfing, no sailing, no kayaking, no fishing! No swimming in the open seas even! Gheez... So we just rot in the resort... So boring!...and food's hella expensive there...

But we decided to make our trip more interesting after that... so we borrowed a ball and played water polo, following that, decided to leave the resort to go to the local market where we got good food at reasonable prices! The adventure was just beginning...

Day 2, we woke up early to hit the gym, and after a good workout, headed for the complimentary breakfast buffet where we ate both the share for our breakfast and lunch. It was then sun tanning time while we digested our food.

The sea was still rough and though the red flag for no swimming was up, there was another signage that wrote - "Swim at your own risk"... So we decided to make the most of our trip... Getting into our surfer's gear, we each rented a body surf board and went for the waves. Aaron went for the black board saying it was "garang" and when the life guard heard that, he started laughing at him. Lolz... but we made a friend there and he taught us how to surf and within minutes, we were out into the open seas, fighting and riding the waves on our own. The life guard even extended our rental time by another hour for free.

After a whole day of exercise, we headed back to the market where Andre and Yongchao had massage, then we had dinner. Another sumptuous dinner and this time, we even had our own personal classical quartet playing songs for our table. So romantic.. hahz. The restaurant also offered us a ride back to the resort for free, and back there, we played cards, drank, ate peanuts and watch tv... how typical...

Day 3, had a heavy brunch again, then walked back to the beach where the friend we made yesterday let us climb up the lifeguard tower and look through his binoculars! Then we had another short sun tanning session, and it felt great! Bright sun, soft sand, cool breeze... Perfect environment! Soon.. it was time to leave... But this time, the ferry ride back wasn't so bad... All in all, it was a good trip.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Friends

Got alot of things done today, starting with meeting yong chao in the afternoon, then going to settle my banking stuff at ocbc and dbs, also got a new chain with a trade in and the aunty was nice to give me a discount seeing that the chain i traded in was one which i had worn since young...
Met Samuel Teo for High Tea at 4pm later, and he look so thin... i guess the accident really took a toll on him... but he really eats alot man! First we had our meal, he had noodles while i had toast... then while walking, he suggested muffins and we got 2... then walking by toast box, he got toast again! My gosh... If i follow your diet, I'm so gonna grow fat! Amazing thing is he's still so thin! But still as cute as ever lah... I call Samuel the big baby, coz he's 1.87m tall man! Yet he has a baby face... lolz
Then met Weiliang for dinner after that, and chatted for a long while... So much to catch up... Also went to Cathay N.U.M to get a singlet... they had no changing rooms, so we had to go to the nearest restroom to try out the shirt! lolz... Bought the $69.90 shirt for $49.90... lolz... another discount... why? i dunno... i guess... I'm just lucky today....
Weiliang, Samuel... I'm soooooooo gonna miss u 2 when i leave for the states...
Alritez... better start packing now... going to Yongchao's house tonight to sleepover then heading over to Bintan early tml morning!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Last day of work

Yup, today was my last day of work! Yay!!! but my boss delayed my pay... say earliest friday then pay... haiz... cheat money onez... lolz...

Received a msg from Samuel Teo today, it wrote "hey i jus realized the hospital cut the basketball shorts u bought for me cos of the accident! i loved tt shorts... hai... sorry man."

Just wanna say, nothing to be sorry about man... I already really touched that u still wear the shorts... I gave u tt shorts like in 2001 rite? 6 years man... still can fit ah? lolz! But what's more important is that you're safe! Hope you recover real soon! And you better take care of yourself while i'm gone! Broken collar bone during army and now this! BUt i guess i should be the one to say sorry... sorry for not being there for you when u got injured...

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Night with Samuel

Was supposed to go swimming with Samuel Wong today, but the skies looked cloudy... so we decided to change the plan to... as we both agreed... "eat dinner and grow fat!" lolz... But in the end I still decided to go get some laps done and while swimming, this kid in front of me suddenly struggle in the water asking for help!

I don't know what got into me, i just stood there in a stupor.. didn't do anything. The kid's father got to him first, together with the life guard after... so disappointed in myself... i could have become a hero... hahz... but luckily the kid's safe... i guess my mind was trying to grasp the situation on whether it was real or fake... Went to Serangoon Central after that to buy my favourite chocolate chip bread... always go there so much so that the aunty recognizes me. Lolz...

Met up with Samuel at 7pm as arrange, and he was punctual! Called straight away at 7pm saying "Jonathan Choo! Where are you?" hahz... dunno... i always find it funny when someone calls my full name out.. luckily i was already there.

Dinner was good, western food, thou i kind of settled for all the side dishes due to my being vegetarian. THen after that we went to AMK Hub to catch the movie - Kingdom... wasn't sure it was good at first, but turns out it was hella good! Really worth the money.

In between the movie and dinner... was 2 hours of waiting time where we just walked around amk, chatting about everything, observing this weird guy who painted himself silver, and talking about the ugly side of singaporeans...like how most will watch, take picture, and then just walk away without giving money...lolz...

Anyway, really enjoyed the night, can't believe I've known you for 7 years already... Hope our friendship will last forever! Together with Nat, Lee and Lin... mayb 30 years from now, we'll sitting at some kopitiam drinking coffee and talking about the past... lolz...

Monday, November 26, 2007


Went to West Mall today to meet up with Jeffery, finally after 3 weeks of changing dates... either he's busy, else i am... everyone's so busy these days its difficult to meet up... Yet i really appreciate all my friends who make the effort to gather once a while.
We just sat there, drinking tea, chatting and listening to music... Love doing those things... Really nice to catch up again. Then later even joined his friends Geraldine and Sharon for dinner! well.. actually only Jeff and I ate... lolz.
Question that keeps popping up is whether I'll be going to the states forever... well... I know at least for 3 and a half years I'll be there... I'll be sure to come back and visit! But just not sure how often can i do that... saw my schedule.. they don't really have much holidays. As the date of departure inches closer, i sort of begin to have doubts again.. about whether it was the right choice... to make this big sacrifice to part with everything here! After the 3 years... will I come back? For holidays or permanently? US or SG? I really don't know... seems like now i have 2 lives... which one to choose... I used to be very certain that I'll want to stay in USA... but after yesterday and today... after realizing what great friends i have here too... It makes it so hard to part... But at least its a direction in my life... and i chose to go with it for now... But believe me my friends, no matter where i am... you guys will always be with me... in my heart... I will never forget...and will always be grateful... for all the wonderful memories that you have given to me...

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Life

Went to visit my grandfather with my sisters this morning at the hospital... He just had a surgery few days back to remove a tumor... it's painful to see an elder still having to go through such pains at their age, after struggling for so many years... yet, that is part of life.. old age, sickness and death... Also learnt from Alvin that the national dragon boat team in Cambodia had a accident yesterday resulting in 5 of the members still missing in the river, all between 20 to 30 years of age... Pray for them that they are safe and also for their families who must be going through a tough time now...
On a lighter note... went shopping againg with my sisters after the hospital visit for our house... changing some things coz we realize our contractors were trying to cheat us by marking up all the prices... My grandfather is in the same line so mum's helping us sort out the prices too.
Following that, met up with Alvin who asked if i was free to hang out with some of his friends...Well, his friends turned out to be Samuel, Marcus, Nelson... but also 3 girls... Teo, Shin and D... sorry... didn't really catch your names... We went to Minds Cafe and had lots of fun playing board games there! Lolz...Played: Crainnies, Bluff, Dinosaur Bones, and i guess the most fun one was the Uglies! lolz... a game where u have to snatch monster cards and call each other ugly to win... lolz... Left about midnight... Really enjoyed the night after a long day of serious stuffs

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Long Road Home

So i decided to take a walk home from Serangoon Central yesterday... Turned out to be not so far after all... only about an hours walk. On the way, bumped into Ernest, my elementary school classmate, on one of the bus stops. Went back to my broken down home and used my broken down laptop... and chatted with Alvin Phua, who bumped into me about a month back, he said that i didn't change at all, in the 7 years that have transited since before I first left for California back in 2001. Lolz.. same look, same complexion... How i wish it was true... A never ageing me! Lolz...

Left for work at 7am this morning, and on the way there, bumped into Shuxian! a friend who shares the same family name as me. What a small world... seriously... something's going on... Been bumming into so many familiar faces these past few days... Too coincidental to be a coincidence isn't it? Lolz

Had lunch with Yong chao and was suppose to pick up our Bintan tickets after work but i forgot totally about it! I'm growing senile...the signs of ageing..sobz... lolz... anyway, walked home to Jalan Kayu from Bugis today... took about 4 hours... nothing better to do anyway.. thats my life... stopped by my god parent's house in Bendemeer and it so happened my god father just came back from surgery... so i got to accompany him and my god mum gave me a hair cut to tame my unruly hair.. its like harry potter's u know... grows in every direction.. but the harry potter in the movie has very nice hair in the later years.. lolz.. mine's still as unruly as ever...

Monday, November 19, 2007

Meetings

Went back to work today... sleepy... And more projects! I'm so tired... After work, went to Bishan to remove my stitches, while eating dinner, saw Mark Jeremy, another high school friend. Then on the way home, met James Khoo in the bus! Lolz... These past few days, I've been bumming into so many familiar faces... I guess its preparing for my departure! lolz... that since i do not have the time to meet up with anyone coz everyone's busy with their lives, so Coincidence decides to step in and help me out. Really nice to catch up again.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Finally a sunday with some sun... immediately grabbed my swimming bag and went for a swim, after that, was driving past hougang point when i decided i should just drop by to buy lunch. What a good decision it was! While coming out, the person holding the door for me was actually Alvin Tee! One of my best friend during OCS. We didn't recognize each other at first until when i thank him then i was like "hey... Alvin!" lolz... Been so long since i met him coz he's a pilot and is seldom in town and i lost his contacts when my phone crashed on me... We once went Jalan Kayu for Roti prata together till like 2am and he walked me home from there before walking all the way back to hougang himself... crazy... So we're both the same age and my good friend's married! And here i am... still as lonely as ever... lolz... Anyway, really glad to be able to meet u again before i fly and before u fly too! lolz
Went at night to St. James for dinner with my family, and guess what, the supervisor of the restaurant so happened to be Jason, one of my men during national service! Lolz.. so we had discount for the meal!
Today's my sister's birthday, but ended up, she said she's busy and will celebrate tml... oh well...Went with Aaron and Yongchao this morning to book our Bintan trip-3D2N.. not sure wat to expect, exciting lolz. Then went to pick up Royston in the afternoon to go to Tanah Merah Country Club for our company's annual gathering - turned out to be a big mahjong session... hahz... i went for a swim instead before dinner. THen rushed over to Swami home, as they were celebrating baba's birthday in advance, met many old faces whom i have not met for over a decade... And there was Arovin, whom i went to India with back in 96. I was 12, and he was 6 then. Now he's 16... how fast time flies... Then i had 2nd dinner there... I am so gonna have to watch my weight...
And in the midst of all my driving, i found this place, in between yishun and seletar, a secret link hidden among the old residence... I've lived here for over 15 years and never knew about it... Its pretty scary to drive thru alone, but the place was quiet, and it faced the sea... i never knew in the 15 years living here that i was actually so close to the sea...

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I'm sorry Jeff

Had promised with Jeffery to meet up this Weekend since weeks ago... then everything must happen on this weekend too... My sister's birthday, my company's gathering, a reunion with 2 kids whom i went to India with about 11 years ago, some prayer session... And to top it all, I have but what? 3 weeks before i fly for good? Why must everything always be like this... I'll be like left alone for a whole week.. then when i finally get something to do, everything else pops up and i have to make difficult choices... I'm so sorry Jeff... if you're seeing this... promise we'll meet before i fly... Not that the meeting was not important to me... i was really looking forward to it.. just that... Ive spent most of my birthdays alone.. so i think... even if my sister doesn't show it, its still good to have her family around on her birthday... yah... Unless you're up for meeting for just a few min? i don't mind.. =P...
Went for dinner with mom today after work even thou I was so tired... the food was great, but even better was the company... been quite a while since i met my mother.. At the end of it, she sent me a thank you message for spending time with her... then it struck me... so thats where i got it... the habit of always sending thank you messages to my friends for no matter how small a thing they've done... some people may find it irritating i guess, but i think its important to show gratitude to others for the slightess things and to show your appreciation for those around you, for nothing is permanent... Treasure what you have at the moment... And i thank you mom, for this great lesson on love...
Back at home, its still in a mess, renovation... went to use the restroom and this huge ass lizard fell right before me! Hella fat! Damn... I hella hate lizards... they're yucky... don't know why they always like to fall before or on me... happened so many times... yuckz yucks yucks!!!

Can you see that fat ass lizard? Yuckz!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Heroes

Oh, and the tv series Heroes is finally showing in Singapore.. after 1 long year... And just when i am about to leave the country... Gheez.. First saw it in the states sometime last year... Its about ordinary people, discovering extra-ordinary powers due to the evolution of men. Sort of like x-men huhz! Lolz... just that this is more real life like - no special suits. Think there're lots of writings going around in those psychic circles also that the world will be heading in that direction... True or not, who knows... Hmmz... i wonder how it'll be like to have special powers... If you can have 1 power? What will it be? I think I'll choose teleportation... so i can save on all those air tickets! Lolz

Work work...

Worked on my project till past 1am last night... Thats the price to pay for procrastination. Went back to work at 8am this morning and basically felt like a zombie... dark eye rings, messed up hair, pale face and slow movement.. i was the walking dead... And to top it all, the wound on my gums started to hurt.. The hours dragged long. My job was supposed to have ended on Oct 26. Yet now its already Nov 13, and i'm still working.. And today, my boss asked if I could extend again and work till the end of the month! I dunno... its good pocket money.. But... I'm tired..... (ok... i'm whining... lolz)
Had lunch with Royston at Bugis again, love the vegetarian laksa there! Lolz... so gonna grow fat =P... then went to STA to search for tickets to Japan and USA with what's left of my lunch time. Planning a free and easy trip to Japan with my sisters this december before I fly back to the states. Back at work, was also discussing with Yong Chao, Andre and Aaron regarding our Bintan trip online, settling air tickets with my sisters, while doing 2 different projects at the same time all in the same computer screen! Lolz... ThAT's what you call multi-tasking man!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Family time

Dad bought nasi lemak for everyone yesterday.. and as for me, i have to stick to my vermicili... unfair.. then after, brought my sisters out to shop for our house... its undergoing a major overhaul after 15 years of staying in the same place. Renovation time. Tiring process thou, chooising every single tile, from the W.C to the kitchen to the rooms, the taps, the sink etc etc. Went out dinner with dad and grandma later. Been a long time since i saw my grandmother and she's grown so much more thinner and her leg's giving her problems again. Told her that after I complete learning my TCM course, i'll come back and give her treatment!

My house is now in ruins, and other than my room, which is left untouched since i'll be gone, the rest of the rooms are reduced to rubble and here am i living in the midst of all the bricks, with no proper washroom nor kitchen... feels like living a refugee's life...


Here's our lady boss (my youngest sister) choosing the tiles

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Pratas & Family

Today, my sisters went out to buy roti prata back home for dinner! Of all days, they choose the day after i extract my teeth... so all i could do was watch and salivate as i slurp my plain congee... Now i want to go out and eat roti prata! Muz eat before i go to the states!
But it was so nice to see everyone gathered around the family dining table for dinner. Its been a real long time since we did that, since our parent's divorce, and since going overseas. We're planning a trip to Japan together this December, just us siblings... Hopefully we'll be able to get the tickets.
Keith came over today rather early today too, about 8am, and just watched Naruto the whole day as I was busy doing my research and project for work. Poor guy, when it came to dinner time, he was so tired that he just slept through dinner. But i guess it works out, coz it gave me private time with my sisters which i seldom get these days...

Sleepless in Singapore

Just lost lots of blood from the tooth extraction, so by right, i should be really tired and sleeping... but my monkey mind is running like crazy, thinking about meaningless stuff, keeping me awake and giving me another sleepless night...
Here's a rough preview of the nonsense thats running along.. Thinking about...

- Ppl u wan to be with, but don't wan to be with u...

- Ppl u wan to be with and who wan to be with u, but just don't have the time or are not in the same place...

- Ppl who wan to be with u, but u just dun have the energy to keep up with them...

- Ppl who wan to be with u, but u dun wan to be with, at the same time, ppl u wan to be with dun wan to be with u... How ironic isn't it...

- Ppl u wan to be with and who give the impression they wan to b with u, when actually they don't... how misleading...

- Ppl who are just out there to suck your life away...

- And of course, the ppl who just happen to pass by, but gives your life so much more meaning to continue living for what you believe...

Ah... the complex intricacies of human relations... in the end, all arising from the monkey mind... Why must this mind differentiate so much? How stupid... Yet i'm trapped in this ironic life myself... So which category do you fall into? Lolz

Sometimes its just so much easier to run away into the mountains and live a peaceful, carefree life... I miss CTTB!!!! Lolz...

And just when i was writing all these complicacies (no such word.. i know)... Here's my friend Gerald Tay creating a post in his blog dedicate to me... Orrhhh... so sweet... hahz... Thanks Gerald! ->

Friday, November 09, 2007

Pain...

Ok warning... Gruelsome picture following this post.. If you're pregnant or easily nauseous, please skip the picture or something liddat... Lolz...

I used to always look forward to going to the dentist... liked the sound of the drills, hahz.. makes me feel like my teeth are getting cleaned..my friends say i'm a masochist thou - some one who likes pain... lolz. But today... fear's getting a hold of me... I'm going to finally have my wisdom teeth surgery... So afraid of the pain that is to come... Why must I have 4 wisdom tooth... Its so unfair... Lolz.
And why must the sun shine so brilliantly on a day where i am bound to be stuck at home...Gheez... makes me feel so much more gloomy...

Anyway, went for the surgery which took a whole 2 hours... the wisdom tooth's out and i'm left with 4 stitches in my gums. The process was almost painless, unlike the first time i went for a wisdom tooth extraction and stupid me told the dentist not to use any anasthetic... Well... the pain came only after where I was spitting out blood for the next few hours... Then I used my own herbal lore of taking some sage powder and i guess it worked again, the swelling and bleeding stopped. Just that the pain's still there... guess i'll be rotting at home for today... recuperating from my injuries... and wrestling my computer...

There you go... the 3 white things are parts of my wisdom tooth, and the bundle of hair is what i had to give up when i entered the military... I miss my tail...

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Hugz...

Another gloomy day with the rain pouring outside and myself stuck at home trying to figure out the forex thingy, reading the news, and my laptop crashed on my twice! Gheez... and now its lagging like crazy... I'm sooo gonna get a macbook next... and can you believe it? Several schools in the US and London are banning hugging! That's insane... its become like a norm in the states to greet your friends with a hug and now they're banning it? So its ok to bring weapons but not ok to hug? What is the world coming to man... I think a hug is a beautiful thing. I still greet my relatives and close friends with a hug everytime i see them... Even gave hugs to a bunch of strangers at orchard road once who were holding signs asking for free hugs Lolz... Think this world needs more love and understanding actually... Free Hugz anyone? Lolz...
The rain finally stopped in the afternoon, so i took the opportunity and ran out for a swim! Too bad no sun... cloudy skies again...sux... but better than nothing.
Then went J8 alone to do window shopping... a very dangerous thing to do.. end up buying a $43 shirt... its quite nice... but... there goes my pay again! Gheez... i really need to start saving... But i guess this shirt is also part of my growing old gracefully plan...lolz! Need to start learning how to groom myself better... My mom always complains on how i go everywhere in tattered clothes... =P
Met up with Aaron, Yong Chao and Andre for dinner at Serangoon Gardens after that and just hung around there, reading newspaper... We're trying to find a place to escape to... Anywhere out of Singapore! hahz...

So there's Aaron and Yong Chao seriously perusing the newspaper for ideas


And here's Andre and myself goofing off at one corner =P

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Parting...

Postponed my wisdom tooth operation today... So that i can enjoy Deepavali celebrations! hahz... got invited to one of my sergeant's house to celebrate.
Also, submitted my name for the US diversity lottery today... If i get it, it means I'll get a green card... Hopefully I'll get it too... Its the next step up from my F-1 visa. Pray for me!

Also... pray for my friend! Just spoke to my good friend Samuel Teo and learnt that he is just recovering from a real bad car accident where he was hospitalized for quite a while... Seems like lots of accidents happening on the roads these days... Better start driving safe now... Hopefully he'll soon be fully recovered and up and running agian!

Been real busy lately balancing work, research, applications, packing my house and catching up with friends. Its always sad to leave a place knowing that it'll be quite some time before you come back again. THere's an opportunity cost to everything - by choosing to go to the US, i think the greatest cost is giving up the time which i can spend with my family and close friends in Singapore... But everyone has their own path to walk, and i know by doing this, I'm creating my own... And some sacrifices indefinitely have to be made.

But i promise thou, that i'll try and grow along this journey, and return a stronger and better person.

To my friends who take the time off just to spend some time with me, truly I thank you all... for making this sacrifice on your part.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Getting old...

Went to teach at Ru Lan Primary today, facilitating Pri 4 and 5 students and man was I surprised at how times have changed. In Primary school during my time, it was still black boards and flying chalks and dusters, playing marbles and catching during break... Now, they're all using computers. They even set up blogs for their projects and it was not the basic board like mine, but blogs with different blogskin, tagboards, imeem... and to think i just learn these things like a few weeks ago and these primary 4 students are typing html codes to modify their blogs... I'm behind the times man...

And to make things worst, one of the kids pointed out, "Mr Jonathan! You have a white hair!" Arghhh!!... my worst nightmare... hahz.. I guess i just have to admit it.. I'm growing old... And now i guess its time to start learning how to grow old gracefully... lolz

Monday, November 05, 2007

Working life

Late for work after sending my "son" to school... Yes... Keith stayed another night and now it feels as if i have a 15 year old son... Have to wake him up from bed, send him to school, then rush off to work... THats how a working life feels i guess.
But last night was pretty fun, Andre and Yongchao came over and so we went grocery shopping and bought pasta to cook. Keith helped me out in the kitchen. Pretty fun.
When we were just about to eat, dad came back with that lady and my step brother... Gheez.. what a spoiler... fortunately i had Andre and Yongchao there who really lightened up the mood. After dinner, went to my room, played Tai-Dee for a while and discussed our travel plans, since going to japan together now seems not possible with Aaron, our other partner in crime, having school during December...

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Straightening my life...

Yes! I'm finally gonna be straight again! Straight as in walking straight... what were you thinking about? Hahaz...
Yup... had a severe back injury some time in the beginning of the year which left me partially paralyzed on a wheel chair... When to a hospital and the stupid doctor only gave me a jab of pain killers and discharged me from the hospital... THe pain didn't go away, neither was i able to walk with my legs... Was so disappointed with western medicine...
So my mom brought me to see this Uncle who knew Tui-na, the chinese physiotherapy, and by his hands alone, he pushed my entire spine straight. Not at one short thou... took several months. But at least I could start walking after the first session with a slight slant. Hella painful process thou... Coz the spine has the entire central nervous system connected to it. Almost blacked out one session due to the sheer force and pain....
So he came to check my back again yesterday, and said it was almost back straight. Soon, i'll be normal again! Hahz...
Well after that, went out with Keith and Damian, ate at Swensons Yishun and they gave me an ice cream cone that was soft! The cone melted before the ice cream did! So upsetting.... Then went to watch Star dust! Hella good movie.
In totaly... spent almost a hundred dollars! Damn... I'm broke now... really broke... As Richard Kiyosaki will put it... I'm living the poor man's cycle... Gotta find a way to get rich! hahaz....

Saturday, November 03, 2007

The Story behind my Birth...

Today was a busy day for me, rushing all over town... Went to PS to get my bank things settled, went back to the US fortress, and once again, the sky was dark and it was pouring... Gives you that image like in the movies, everytime u see the haunted castle, there's bound to be rain, thunder and lightning... yeah... thats what i got. Hahz. But.... I got my Passport and the visa!!! Hahaz.. was so happy to see the visa! Hahaz!Then went over to Cityhall, to open my trading account... Rushing here, rushing there... By the time it ended it was already 1600 hours before i got to have my lunch.

While driving back home, i decided to make a detour to a place.... a place that perhaps held significan't meaning to my life, but i have never been to before... I have passed this place many times, but just never took the time to stop by... And i felt perhaps, today was the day, since its gonna be another boring friday night after all. Hahz... THis place is the Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary... This is the place that held a story behind my birth.... Legend has it that.... hahaz... okiez... wrong starting... Erm... Don't really know how to put it, but i just found it out recently also...

As you all know, i have 3 sisters... Well, after my 1st sister, my mom wanted a boy, so one day, she stopped by the statue of virgin mary at this specific place and prayed... And a few weeks later... I appeared in her womb... yupz... Thats the catholic story behind my birth... there's a buddhist one too... I shall save that.. hahz.

But this was not the only significance of the place. It was also the place where my parents first met each other, and also the place where my mother returned to after they separated. When my parents divorced, and my mom had to move out, she told me that for the first few months, she had frequent nightmares for she had never lived alone in her life before... And so she gradually started to go back to this place, sometimes even camping out in front of mother mary in the wee hours of the morning. It gave solace to her heart and peace to her mind...


As I stood in front of Mary, I understood what she meant... I felt like all my troubles were pushed out of the gate at that moment, and there was nothing else in between us, just mother and child.... There was tranquility in the moment. Its hard to describe the feeling... It just felt like.... felt like...felt like I've finally returned home.........

Friday, November 02, 2007

Crash

Yup... crashing... not refering to accidents, thou i almost had one a few days back, rather, the term used to represent staying over at another's place... Don't really know how staying over at a friends place got associated with the word "crash" But yah... was chatting with Keith online today and he was telling that he has been crashing at several friends house for the past few months... Kind of reminded me of how when i first came back to SIngapore, lost contact with all my friends, and my parent's marriage was falling apart... Just didn't want to stay home... and for like months, i crashed at Aaron's house... almost everyday.. hahaz... Pretty crazy... it became my second home... Thanks Aaron! hahz... Back in the days, before i left for the states, my house used to be the refuge place... Friends who ran away from their homes would come knocking at my door at 2am in the morning and they'd just stay over. Then those friends brought their home running friends and that was how i got to know new friends. HAhaz. Guess this is the Singapore's version of a vagrant lifestyle! Hahz... 流浪人! Used to do that in the states with friends as well, driving up from S. California to Oregon, Crashing for the night at friends houses along the way... Really miss those days! So yah... Keith said mayb one of these weekends he'll crash over... hahaz... he'll be the first in years to start that trend again... Think i better start packing my room then... it has several years worth of accumulated mess! hahaz

Thursday, November 01, 2007

I'm going home!....


Halloween's Day... What a day it was...Went to the fortress again today... Another 2 hours wait... the rain was pouring hard, the skies were gloomy... I waited, and waited, and waited... I waited till i had to used the restroom, and it must be then that they call for me... the interview went fast... the results?.... I was APPROVED!!!! Hahaz... God Bless America, My Home, Sweet Home.... God Bless Amer... hahaz... As my friend Jian Kai puts it, i'm finally going back "home"... hahaz
Rushed to work after this, and during lunch break, Met up with Aaron for a quick lunch at Bugis and Dessert after. Though only a short 1 hour, it was good catch up time. Back to work, had to do some research on Warrants... some investment instrument... Hella did not understand a thing of it... Formulas here and there... That was the why i choose to be a literature major... guess i can't escape numbers.
I was supposed to work for only 1 week, but this is the second week that i am working... and just received a message, my boss requested that i stay another week... Oh well, I've nothing better to do anyway... After work... Rushed to Aranda resort to celebrate Denny's birthday. Got to meet up with alot of my soldiers from 3 SIR, and see how their lives have changed after completing their service. Stayed till about midnight before leaving.
Packed day... but that was not all... I got back home... there were monsters outside my house, the neighbours were actually celebrating Halloween! Hahz... pretty cool to see that in Singapore... As i stepped in, i heard a baby's voice and then saw a baby boy in the house... I was wondering who's baby it was all the while... Until i heard his name... Then I knew... THis boy is my step brother....

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Series of Unfortunate Events...

Dang... almost got hit by a car yesterday... Today, i got electrocuted by my own printer! MY OWN PRINTER.... gheez... it hates me... hahaz... pretty crazy feel thou... my hands are still shaking now even though its been 15 mins since the electrocution.... Creates a slight problem with the locomotion of the body... Last week, by buddhist beads fell on the ground too... its an omen! A SIGN!!! Oh NO! the ENd of the World!!! hahaz... Oh well....
Was at work today, where i do research, create powerpoint lectures, facilitate in schools and mark exam papers all for a mere S$7 and hour! Cheap labour man... What a deal they've got... a Berkeley Graduate working at S$7 an hour.. hahz... so i wrote in my msn to my friend Rayson saying "Marking papers is so boring..." and his reply was "Keying codes in laptop is so sianzz..." Hahaz... both of us, once officers of the 3rd Singapore Infantry Regiment... now resigned to pathetic part time jobs... Oh wellz... that's life... hahaz... and i guess... each of us have our own difficulties in life... Own challenges to face... the papers or the codes! hahaz!
Tomorrow's my 2nd attempt at the huge fortress of the US embassy... Really... it looks like a castle from the outside... Impenetrable... Difficult to get in... yet so easily thrown out... Hopefully i'll get through this time... Wait for the news!
Pray for me!...

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

End of the World

Today, i almost met the end of the world. It was a perfectly normal day, going to work, lunch with my colleague Royston and stopping by the guan yin temple at waterloo st to offer our respects... yet at night, while on the way to Nathaniel's house, i was doing a fast U-turn when suddenly this white car came dashing towards me. His headlights blinded my eyes during the turn and my mind went into a blank for a split second while my reflexes for some reason or other moved on its own and my car swerved to the side as it turned... By some grace.. i was spared... imagine what would have happened if it had come crashing through my side of the door at 100km/hr... Now i guess most of you will say... the fact is that it didn't happen... so thats it... yes... it didn't happen physically.. but mentally, the entire experience went through my mind... i mayb thinking too much as always.. hahz... but everything has a lesson that can be learnt, and from this... I learnt about the fragility of life... that you never know when the end of your world will come... It can be any other perfect day just like the morning that i had... Thus we must really treasure every single moment of our live... and treasure every single person we know... Life is too fragile to be taken lightly.... Accord with the conditions, and experience the flow.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Road Not Taken...

Saturday night, everyone is out there clubbing & celebrating Halloween. I was tempted to go, tempted to ask if any of my friends were going... but then again, i thought twice and decided to stay home. It was a concious choice, so no complains... or maybe just a little... lolz. $20 per entry, plus the transport and all, well, it'll add up to my part time job's pay of 8 hours! 8 hours of toil ending in 3 hours of fun... I think i'd rather the money go into my bank account and then later into some investments. Suffer now and enjoy later, thats my motto! Besides, being vegetarian and not drinking, basically i'll not be enjoying the full course anyway. But yes... those are also my personal choice which i choose to stick with... I guess I have chosen to take "the road not taken," to take, "the one less travelled by..."

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverge in a yellow wood,
And sorry i could not travel both
And be one traveler, long i stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
On, I kepth the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads onto way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost [1916]

Friday, October 26, 2007

Forgotten...

Its the Friday night before Halloween and the full moon hangs in the sky. Couples spend the night together admiring the moon, admiring each other, friends go to clubs and pubs to catch up with old friends, to meet up with new onez... And here i am... sitting in front of my computer, facing my facebook which keeps letting me face the words "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage..." there is no one online on my msn list of 200 over contacts... no one to talk to... Not the first time... definitely not the last... Once again, forgotten by the world... Oh wellz... life's like that...

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Rejected...

Yah... i was rejected... but what were you thinking about? No... its not being rejcted by love... although i never really face up to those rejections... hahz...this one is bigger! I was rejected by the US Embassy!!! Boo hoo hoo... Sobz... yah... went for my visa application and was rejected after a long 2 hours wait... i only saw the person for 5 min and she said i was missing 1 document... so i have to make another appointment.. which is like 1 week away! My torture drags on... Rejected by the embassy... Dejected once again...

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Treasure...

Received a msg out of the blue last night at about 1am from a friend, it goes like this: "Hey bro, sorry i couldn't make an effort to meet u... i will always remember the times we enjoyed together. Hope that your future will be bright as ever... and i just wanted to tell you it is an honour having you as a friend... Coz friends are hard to come by... And i truly treasure this friendship! Hope to see u around soon. All the best in life... Nights!"
It's funny coz i didn't really say i was leaving or what, so i asked him why the sudden emo msg, and his reply was "Don't noe la, just find that u are a good friend and just wanted to let you noe that you've taught me some lessons in life that i now started to think about... so thanks... then at the same time like very seldom spend time with each other anymore, scared u lonely..."
After this msg, it got me thinking, that sometimes, we get so busy in life, that we forget those around us... That sometimes a simple msg of hi once a while can keep old contacts going and even light up a person's life at that moment!
And that you do not need to have any reasons before you can tell another person that you treasure his/her friendship... Or to thank another person for any simple thing he/she has done, or just for being there... Coz you never know what might happen with each passing day...
Sometimes, its better not to hold back your thoughts, as the other person may not always understand what you're thinking. Dare to do what you wish to do, to say what you want to say... For once that chance is lost, you never know when it'll come back again... Follow your heart and treasure every single person and every single moment in your life...
To my friend, I am really honored by your message, and I just wanted to thank you for your msg and to let you know that i really treasure this friendship too. To thank you for being there all the times that I have been lonely... and for even having the thought that i might have been lonely even though i seldom say it out... And to thank you for all the times spent together and all the wonderful memories...
To all my close friends out there, just wanted to take this opportunity to tell u all that i really treasure your friendship, and every minute that we ever get to spend together. Love y'al!....

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Watching the world go by...

Went to the top of this small hill in Bukit Gombak last night with Jeffrey and just sat there in the darkness, chatting, listening to songs and watching the world go by... watching the lights of each house go off one by one as people go to bed, watching each train passing by, carrying lesser passengers as it goes deeper into the night, watching the staff getting ready to close the station and watching people return home after a long day at work... the noise and lights of the city gradually dying down to the stillness of the night... Sometimes in life, we just forget to enjoy this wonderful stillness... always rushing from one place to another, from one task to another... a constant mad race for time, a mad race for things to do to fill up our lives... Many times when i went out with friends, we're always looking for something new to do, asking each other "Erm... so what next?" and yet ending up doing the same old mundane stuff like watching movies, playing pool, walking around and then later feeling bored. Yet last night was one of those nights which i felt could go on forever and yet not feel bored... We were in fact doing nothing, just sitting there, yet that doing nothing becomes a something to fill us up. Funny isn't it... the human mind. Too bad it was a cloudy night... but one star was kind enough to shine its light. So we just sat there till almost 1am in the morning...

Anyway... that doing nothing inspired me to visit my sad sad blog which i seldom visit myself... so i doubt anyone else visits... been another 4 months since i wrote again... poor thing.. abandoned once again by its owner.. hahz. Hmmz.. so what has happened so far? If you're bored and have nothing better to do, then here's more reading for u. Finally walked down the street of ORD! Yay!!! Hahz.. and i saw this street in Perth called ORD! hahaz. How interesting... Finally an operationally ready service man... which means, i can keep my army equipment to collect dust until the next call up! Hahz. But it didn't come easy... i had to conduct an 8 day field camp before i was released... so i was busy, busy, busy and then suddenly... nothing... just nothing... and the days that immediately followed dragged long... like a spirit trapped in another dimension, listless, aimless, a spectre wandering within the 4 walls of my home... There was nothing to do... no where to go... i was dying a slow death of boredom... rotting away gradually... lost in the maelstrom of existence once again... hahaz

So i got a ticket and ran off to Australia... but instead of a holiday, i was made to work! hahaz... not so bad actually lah... was helping my uncle in his exhibition at the royal perth show,
promoting his new drink called beta jooce! A health drink that tastes good and is good for the body! Contains coral seagrass which is good for the skin and beta glucan which is a polysaccharide from.... oopz... hahz... see... i memorized the script well! hahz. ALso got to meet up with Kenneth Chang, a good friend of mine whom i have not met for 6 years! And met many other people whom i didn't know but knew me! Hahaz... surprising. All in all, it has been a great trip!

Watching the World go by...

Went to the top of this small hill in Bukit Gombak last night with Jeffrey and just sat there in the darkness, chatting, listening to songs and watching the world go by... watching the lights of each house go off one by one as people go to bed, watching each train passing by, carrying lesser passengers as it goes deeper into the night, watching the staff getting ready to close the station and watching people return home after a long day at work... the noise and lights of the city gradually dying down to the stillness of the night... Sometimes in life, we just forget to enjoy this wonderful stillness... always rushing from one place to another, from one task to another... a constant mad race for time, a mad race for things to do to fill up our lives... Many times when i went out with friends, we're always looking for something new to do, asking each other "Erm... so what next?" and yet ending up doing the same old mundane stuff like watching movies, playing pool, walking around and then later feeling bored. Yet last night was one of those nights which i felt could go on forever and yet not feel bored... We were in fact doing nothing, just sitting there, yet that doing nothing becomes a something to fill us up. Funny isn't it... the human mind. Too bad it was a cloudy night... but one star was kind enough to shine its light. So we just sat there till almost 1am in the morning...

Anyway... that doing nothing inspired me to visit my sad sad blog which i seldom visit myself... so i doubt anyone else visits... been another 4 months since i wrote again... poor thing.. abandoned once again by its owner.. hahz. Hmmz.. so what has happened so far? If you're bored and have nothing better to do, then here's more reading for u. Finally walked down the street of ORD! Yay!!! Hahz.. and i saw this street in Perth called ORD! hahaz. How interesting Finally an operationally ready service man... which means, i can keep my army equipment to collect dust until the next call up! Hahz. But it didn't come easy... i had to conduct an 8 day field camp before i was releases... so it was busy, busy, busy and then suddenly... nothing... just nothing... and the days that immediately followed dragged long... like a spirit trapped in another dimension, listless, aimless, a spectre wandering within the 4 walls of my home... There was nothing to do... no where to go... i was dying a slow death of boredom... rotting away gradually... lost in the maelstrom of existence once again... hahaz

So i got a ticket and ran off to Australia... but instead of a holiday, i was made to work! hahaz... not so bad actually lah... was helping my uncle in his exhibition at the royal perth show,
promoting his new drink called beta jooce! A health drink that tastes good and is good for the body! Contains coral seagrass which is good for the skin and beta glucan which is a polysaccharide from.... oopz... hahz... see... i memorized the script well! hahz. ALso got to meet up with Kenneth Chang, a good friend of mine whom i have not met for 6 years! And met many other people whom i didn't know but knew me! Hahaz... surprising. All in all, it has been a great trip!

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Warriors...

Went to look at swords with Vince today. It was a clearance sale, but they didn't have excalibur, the sword i was looking for. The next closest one, the sword in lord of the rings, was already sold out... sighz... the store owner actually asked me to settle for some fantasy sword... but it was too dramatic... chinese ancient sword, good weight, but nahz... i was looking for the english claymore style... there was a spear too, good feel to hold it... ended up settling with an english twin sword set but for $40 and was given an short imperial sword that was already rusty and the shop wanted to throw... told them i'll polish it myself... old... but when held in the hands, the weight felt good. $10 and i could have gotten the longer version of it, regretted not doing that... nevertheless, its free anyway.. hahaz. Vince ended up buying a gun instead... coz the samurai swords they have there were not as impressive...

Talked to my taiwanese bro Mark when i got back. THe 2 of us are like crazy over swords... so now i have my officer's sword, 2 english swords and 1 chinese imperial sword... while he has a staff, a chinese broad sword, and 2 samurai swords...hahaz... When we were living in the states, we used to get up in the mornings and spar with our wooden katanas... getting bruises everywhere... Currently he's studying western medicine and soon i think i'm gonna study eastern medicine... Almost went into the whole 接拜兄弟 thingy as well... hahaz... crazy... it'll be interesting to know if we ever could what past life history we had.. hahaz - 武俠!hahaz.

Had a course outing yesterday, went to Zouk... crazy.. hahaz... my first time going there... it was for some Stuff gadgets magazine's anniversary, and John, our fellow officer was chosen to go up to perform... it was just hilarious and he made a joke out of the whole thing... but after the thing, it was not so crowded, so we made our way to phuture and went crazy there so much so that Cpt ting said he'll never see me the same way again...hahaz. Then went for supper till like 3am before heading home.. Sometimes, its just good to go let loose abit..hahaz

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Kena key appointment for one of the mission last week... 2IC for attack and OC for defence... Took 1st guards as their ex. 2IC and OC... all i can say is one word "zai!" They're movement were fast and furious and the runner gave extremely dedicated attention to the 2IC and OC.. All in all, it had been a really good learning session... but really... shag out man... had less than 10 min of sleep in the entire 48 hours...

Today started pretty slow... practically rotting at home... but later went out with alvin lee to have japanese food at Taka for afternoon tea! Service was not really good... but the food was good! Then met up with my dad's japanese customer for a while, then met up with Weiye... hahaz... Ended up being pretty happening.... Then on the way home, we went to buy the new Singapore drink - "Anything?" and "Whatever?" Hahahz.... so innovative... and we were like taking pictures with the drinks in the car at the petrol station and the uncle was staring at us as if we were sua ku (mountain tortoise)... hahaz.Also stopped by Yishun Safra to recce the place... beautiful pool! and we sat in the toy car and "tong" (inserted) 50 cents and it started moving! hahaz... i was surprise it didn't break down with us 2 big guys squeezing on a kid's game.... hahaz... FUn day man! hahaz

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Graduated from CTC yesterday! After one month of intense planning, finally it end... but the ending was sad as we would see all our fellow officers leave to go back to their individual duties... After getting our certs. we hung out at the mess till about 7pm plus before we left. Was sending Vince home when he asked if i had watched spiderman 3, i said no, so he accompanied me to watch it even thou he had watched it once already. So nice of him... hahz.. but it did felt weird going into a theater of kids wearing our green uniforms... hahz. Pretty good show! better than 1 and 2 i think... show ended at 2330 and i finally got home past mid night.

TCM meridian test today... never study... diez! used the last half and hour before the test cramming up info at TCC.... took the test... and surprisingly, got top in the class... hahaz... well... guessed i was not alone in being last minute...hahaz

Went dinner with mom and sisters in the evening, early celebration of mother's day... coz my mom had to work the next day.... been so long since we last saw her... nice to have such a reunion again. So once again, Happy Mother's Day mom!

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Went Central Mall today with my family for lunch... dang, there were about 10 japanese restaurants there... realli felt like being in japan, or japan town in the states... miss japan man... hahz... after that, went swimming with Aaron, Yong chao and Andre. This group of brothers, got to know them when i was back at my secondary school helping out in translating for the Japanese exchange students from Kitago. Know what... they're like 5 years younger than me! Damn.... i feel old... and to make things worst... i found a strand of white hair on my head today!!! Argh.... 老了... 老了... Well, went to serangoon garden for dinner after that and Haarto for desserts... they have really really good ice cream there! So we just chilled there and the chairs were so comfortable that nobody wanted to go home.. hahaz... really love those moments... when everyone just didn't want to leave... Anyway, didn't bring my brick camera.... so no pictures... too bad... but yahz, here's an old photo of my young brothers...

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Okiez, guess my blogsite needs more decoration and life... but don't really have anything at this moment to add... so i guess this post will contain some random stuff... But yah, so here are some pictures...




So this Alvin Lee, the friend i mentioned in my earlier post, the source of my inspiration to visit my sad and lonely blog which have been abandoned for the past 3 years...hahz... pretty cool blog he has there, lots of pictures and commentaries... hahz...Well, we're part of a bigger group which i just usually call the lee, lin, sam, nat group for lack of a better name... Maybe we should give ourself a group name huhz... But yah, our friendship has been ongoing since secondary school where we would often go out and do lame stuff like going to play tennis with all the equipments looking like pros only to find out at the court that no one knows how to play... and then making random videos with my "brick" camera...hahaz... And Nathaniel, our superstar friend, well, have known him since primary school... a good 14 years.. dang.. pretty crazy...



Was looking at another friend's blog and found a message i wrote for her before i left the states... didn't know i could be so philosophical... hahaz... --- http://tavenue.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_archive.html

Wind, Water, Fire and Earth.... pretty cool..hahaz... okiez... i'm praising myself here.. =P... alritez... think this should be enough decoration for the day... will try to be back to give more... yupz... try.... perhaps 1 year later ^^
Wow... its been what, 1 year since i last come to my own blog... see... said i'm never good at keeping up with such things... 3 posts in 4 years... not bad huhz.. hahaz. Well, but with inspiration from my good friend Alvin Lee, after seeing his blog, i thought of visiting my own blog and realized how pathetic it is... so i decided to add some life to it...
Steps to take, first i think i'd have to get a better camera... currently i'm using what my friends refer to as the "brick," a digital camera dating back to 2000... antique...
Hmmz... so what has happened over the past few years? well... graduated from university, joined the army, completed the officer training and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutanant, posted to a battalion as Coy 2IC, and now undergoing an advance officer course. Yupz... guess that sumz it up... nothing much happened really...

Went to my Battalion's anniversary after my course today and it was good to see everyone again after being away for more than a month. It also happened to be the ORD function for my men, the special group of people who i trained and have trained with over the past 6 months. Seeing them all going their own ways now was a bitter sweet moment. Happy that they are taking their next steps in life, yet sad that everyone is parting and going their own ways. As hugs and words of gratitude were exchanged, it made me think back on what i have done over the past 6 months, all i can say is not too bad for a start, but i guess whether i had done well or not will be left to my men to decide. However, the touching moments have once again strengthened my reasons on why i endured through the arduous trainings to become an officer. It is to be part of the change in others, to be part of the process of their metamorphosis.
So to my men, congratulations on your ORD! and thanks for all the memories and love!