Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Family

Was invited to keith's party today with his family and close friends. And sitting round the dinner table, it really felt like one big family! Home cooked food is always the best, especially when eaten with family. Then we played computer games in the room till late before his mom came in to say good night and told us not to play too late. That feeling is soooo nice.. the feeling of family.......

A simple video to let u all ponder about... Treasure family...

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Lost in dreams

I close my eyes and dream,
a life thats on the brink,
people cheering on with drinks,
with laughter and songs to sing.
I ask them what it means?
They just continue to sing.
Amongst the songs and screams,
I can't comprehend the links.
I open my eyes and find,
a blank computer screen.
No one online it seems
I continue on with my dream.
~jozhade

Friday, September 04, 2009

Hello and Good Byes

Met up with Meiqi and Edwin for dinner on Wednesday night. My fellow interns at the law firm. They're done with their internship and preparing to leave for the UK. Soon everyone will be going on their own ways and we took a picture with Meiqi's polaroid camera. It came out really nice.

Thursday, I met up with an old friend. My primary 1 classmate. It weird how we got back in contact. He sent a msg to the wrong number and thats how we found each other. Lol. Then another time, we bump into each other in a bus, and the 3rd time in the train so we said we should meet up and catch up. 18 years man.... We've known each other for 18 years and this is the first time we're going out of supper together. Pretty cool. Lol

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Its the year two thousand and nine,
I'm turning to twenty five,
in less than a month's time,
one quarter of my life,
time passes by,
soon its out of sight,
blink of an eye,
its happening in the mind,
should I try and get high,
dance, dance thru the night,
or take off to the skies,
go, go, outside,
or look inside, living on hindsight
I'm moving like a mime,
humming out a rhyme,
breaking out of line,
no, its not a crime,
looking out for signs,
picking up a dime,
trying to live life,
I think I'll turn out fine.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

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.......

Sunday, August 23, 2009

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.

Friday, August 21, 2009

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.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

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....

Monday, August 17, 2009

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?

Friday, August 14, 2009

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.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

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.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

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....

Monday, August 10, 2009

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

Friday, August 07, 2009

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.

Saturday, August 01, 2009

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.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Hard work pays off

Had to stay over night yesterday to prepare for the trial in chambers today. Basically stayed till almost 2am preparing documents. In the midst of it, one of my friends who was working in the vicinity called me to step out of the office for a few min, so I went down to the lobby and there was a bag of sandwich and a cup of orange juice for me... Soooo sweet... Ok. I'm touched... Lolz

Our hard work paid off and today the tide changed in favour to us! We were so happy and I was brought by one of the lawyers with the other interns to lunch at the Masonic headquarters in Singapore. Then after that, the lawyer in charge of the case said after the case is over, I can go give myself a big treat and the expenses will be all on the firm! Nice! Lolz

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Flow

Went to town after work to get new shoes as the ones I was wearing is tattered and torn. Bumped into a fellow Jonathan at Paragon while changing shoes. Supposed to meet my banker Kenny after, but he got held up by another client, so I was just hanging around town aimlessly till I got another message from a friend asking if I was in town. I ended up hanging out with him and his friend. Funny how things flows. At least I didn't go to town for nothing.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Always full of rubbish

A friend insisted on meeting me for lunch today despite my having only 30 minutes to eat as I had to rush back to office do finish off some work.

15 minutes into lunch and he says "Ah, feel so much better now." Reason for meeting, he was feeling down and needed someone to talk to. So I asked him why me, and his response was because I'm always full of rubbish. Talking to me makes him forget about alot of things. =.=..... I wonder if I should take that as a compliment. And he's definitely not the only person who does that. I know of alot of others. I think I should consider being a counselor as another alternative to my career path.

And I got to chat with my classmate from primary 1 (1st grade) today. We got connected back after so many years when I bumped into him on the public bus one fine day. And I can't believe it... he still remembers sitting beside me in the school hall in 1991 and watching me practice folding paper origami while the principal was up front talking. Yeah... I was never good at paying attention... Lolz. I don't fold papers anymore... but now i have the habit of rolling them up. Lolz

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Blog updates

My home internet has been sucky lately... so haven't really be updating. But lots of stuff has been happening lately.

Starting with coincidental meetings, in this week alone, I bumped into 2 friends from elementary school at train stations - Joseph and Jialing, saw Nathaniel at Suntec, saw Joshua at Bugis and got invited to his band's stint next week, saw Mahat at Cine... hmm who else..

Then I met up with Sunny and Wendy who are back from the USA, met up with Fabian who's back from the US as well, met up with Ivan from Australia.

Attended my cousins' wedding, met up with my cousins from USA.

Got "promoted" at work after only being in the company for 3 weeks. And might finally start getting paid.

Did Jap homework till 4am last night, went for Jap class at 8am this morning,

And I've got concerts and events planned out on the 25th of Jul, 30th of Jul, 31st of Jul and 8th of Aug.

And constantly going in and out of the subordinate and supreme courts.

Pretty good schedule. Lolz. Its tiring but I love it! =)