Monday, February 27, 2006
So I watched Munich with Feli on Sunday.
It was a rather nice show. Not jaw-dropping, eyes-glued-to-the-screen nice, but still pretty good. Better than "War of the Worlds", certainly. I quite like this kind of serious shows; feel like it's more worth the money. But of course from time to time one also needs a dose of brainless humor, or boy-meets-girl kind of romantic comedy.
I expected more violence in the show though, given it's M18 rating (Feli was NOT checked! No comments on the Ez-Link card photo *ahem*). I guess the director was more focused on the tension and moral dilemmas. Incidentely, I think one must never forget to turn the handphone to silent mode during movies, if one wishes to avoid the embarrassing moment where the whole theater is dead quiet in a moment of all-seriousness, and then hearing 'message for you darling!' (think Edna Mode from The Incredibles) coming out from your handbag. Yup.
It's Monday, start of a new week. Choir practices on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Driving on Thursday. Who says I have no life!? All I need is more activity during weekends.
Weekends. More activity.
In case nobody realised, that was a shameless plea for a date. Haha!
{/5:02 PM}
me
Saturday, February 25, 2006
I have less than 10 contacts in my handphone now, including my mom, dad, sisters and boss.
I think it's nice. All those people that I have long wanted to delete are no longer there.
Serving extra now in the office. Just some cleaning jobs. Pah. Boring as hell. Not to mention my whole Saturday is GONE. And there's NTU concert today! The kids are guest singing 3 songs! The dance for Janger is so nice la! Damn I was super impress by the dancers last evening. Hope their performance tonight goes well!
Well at least I've got a date tomorrow =D
Ok gotta go clean the toilets now!
{/11:14 AM}
me
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
I lost my phone. On the bus.
Bleh.
So. If you want me to have your number, please either tag me (-->), or sms me.
Thanks!
{/10:07 PM}
me
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Choir prac today. Bright and early in the morning from 9 to 12. Luckily I slept (relatively) early last night.
I was almost late, because I went down to 6th avenue to get some coffee before going to NJ. Can't be helped - coffee is essential!
In any case I was hardly the latest to arrive. Many more were streaming in in 2s and 3s. Teachers starting collecting money, which took a good 40 minutes. Unbelivable, that simply collecting cheques can take so long. Nobody seemed in any urgency to start the practice.
I don't really understand the philosophy of Miss Lim and the teachers. They seem to subscribe to the "less is more" mentality. I would have thought that, given the "lesson" we had in Bremen, they would have learnt. Personally I believe one of the chief reasons why we didn't do well in Bremen was because we had too little practices, and towards the end the teachers and Miss Lim kept trying to keep practices less and less because they were afraid that we would tire out.
To me, hard work pays well.
Anyway I was rather uncomfortable during practice. I must say that most of the people were rather nice people. It's just that there's still this gap between us, which I hope to remedy soon.
It's the singing I am more concerned about.
Now, we didn't sound bad necessarily. But, anyone who knows me well enough knows that in choir, I simply cannot allow myself to just stand there and sing while not caring about the music of everyone else. So, I shall make a list of things that I don't like, so far.
1. I think generally everyone needs to be more focused towards the competition. Granted, it's still 2 months away. But speaking from experience it's really not too early to start being serious now.
2. Need more sectionals, I think. I'll have to try to make it for Wednesday sectionals.
3. SCs really can afford to do more. Both Cherie and Dewei. It's not how they conduct that I'm concerned about. It's the way they take the combined sessions. When I standing there singing can pick up twice as many mistakes as the SC, surely something is wrong somewhere. Currently they like to sing through the whole song, then make some general comments at the end, like "Sops need to be more musical" or "Tenors have split notes", then make us sing through the whole thing again. It really is not very helpful. I agree that singing through the whole song helps, and is necessary to get used to simply singing the whole piece through. But not now. Now we need to be stopped when there are mistakes, so that we can actually revise and remember and take note of the weak passages, and make sure we get what Miss Lim wants, which is the whole purpose of practicing with SCs when Miss Lim's not around anyway.
4. Need longer and more practices. Enough said.
Well well..it seems like I'm bitching about SCs again. Sometimes I think I just have something against SCs. I didn't like what Stef and Liting did, and I don't like what Cherie and Dewei are doing now. But it's not like I'm against them personally. Or that I hate all SCs. Remember Bingzhu from Huachong Voices? Now HE is what I call a really good SC. Conducts well and clearly, gives good musical advice, commands the respect of the rest, not boring in front, jokes around in good humor, strict enough when necessary. The best I've ever seen.
Everyone has a part to play. It's a team effort after all. I hope I can at least manage to bond relatively well with the rest of the singers before the trip.
I WANT TO WIN THIS TIME DAMNIT!!! =D
{/12:15 AM}
me
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Valentine's Day ain't that bad. There was some consolation towards the end of the day.
I seriously cannot stand reading blogs written in anything other than proper English. For God's sake, the shift key is only a few centimeters away, so use it! It's not that troublesom to capitalise your sentences. And "..." is an ellipsis, while ".........................." is just a stuck "." key. And not to mention, all the short form and internet slang people use. Gah. I'm not asking for Nobel-Prize-for-Literature-worthy posts, just complete sentences with proper puntuations and spelling. Of all the blogs I read (not many), I think only Chinyaw and Timo writes properly. Kudos to you two!
From now on I will boycott all blogs (bar a select few =D) not written in proper English.
It feels terrible to have to adhere to a bedtime. I haven't had that since lower secondary school, where my mom just gave up on me and my elder sis. We two are the certified night owls of the family. 2, 3am nights are rather common for us. Now I have a tyrant (is there a feminine form of the word 'tyrant'?) breathing down my neck and compelling me to go to bed by 11:30pm. =( Haha... But I really do appreciate the concern.
I feel like a bum these days. Haven't exercise any at all. Had not had any badminton games for 3 weeks or so. Very unhealthy for a DM patient like me. Anyone up for any outdoor activities?
I'll leave you all with this super nice a cappella worship song!
Wonderful Merciful Savior
Praise & Harmony A Cappella
Wonderful merciful savior
Precious redeemer and friend
Who would have thought that a Lamb could
Rescue the souls of Man
Oh You rescue the souls of Man
Counselor comforter keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost our way
Oh we've hopelessly lost our way
Chorus
You are the one that we praise
You are the one we adore
You give the healing and grace our
Hearts always hungered for
Oh our hearts always hungered for
Almighty infinite Father
Faithful and loving your own
Here in our weakness You find us
Falling before Your throne
Oh we're falling before Your throne
You are the one that we praise
(You are the one that we praise)
You are the one we adore
(You are the one we adore)
You give the healing and grace our
Hearts always hungered for
Oh our hearts always hungered for
{/10:32 AM}
me
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
So it's Valentine's Day today.
Excuse me while I wallow in sadness, loneliness and self pity.
On the other hand, I'm rather glad that I do not have to spend half my NS allowance buying gift and going on a date with my partner.
I'm positively tired of running around chasing this elusive dream of Love. I shall henceforth endeavor to focus my energy on more important things.
"For the pagan world runs after all such (earthly) things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." Luke 12:30-31
Taking a page our of C.S. Lewis, from The Four Loves:
"There is no escape along the lines St Augustine suggests ('This is what comes,' he says, 'of giving one's heart to anything but God. All human beings pass away. Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose. If love is to be a blessing, not a misery, it must be for the only Beloved who will never pass away.' -St Augustine, Confessions IV, 10). Nor along any other lines. There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in a casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the danges and perturbations of love is Hell."
And furthur into the chapter:
"God is love. Again, ;Herein is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us' (1 John 4:10). We must not begin with mysticism, with the creature's love for God, or with the wonderful foretastes of the fruition of God vouchsafed to some in their earthly life. We begin at the real beginning, with love as the Divine energy. This primal love is Gift-love. In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give. The doctrine that God was under no necessity to create is not a piece of dry scholastic speculation. It is essential. Without it we can hardly avoid the conception of what I can only call a 'managerial' God; a Being whose function or nature is to 'run' the universe, who stands to it as a headmaster to a school or a hotelier to a hotel. But to be sovereign of the universe is no great matter to God. In Himself, at home in 'the land of the Trinity', he is Sovereign of a far greater realm. God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath's sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a 'host' who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and 'take advantage' of Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves."
{/9:39 AM}
me
Monday, February 13, 2006
I'm going to Verona! It's confirmed!
I hope it will be worth it. 7 days is rather short, I think, for the 2.2k pricetag. But it's Italy, damn it.
I'm paying for the trip myself, so it bloody well better be worth it.
I can't help but few a little apprehensive about the whole thing. Obviously I'm not as close to the people as I was when we went Bremen. Heck, on bad days I even get confused with who's who among the year twos, let alone the ones. (Clarification: year twos as in the old people, and ones as in the new people.) And it doesn't help that I really feel dwarfed beside Timo.
Well. The songs are nice, the people are (so far) great, I don't foresee any major issues. The only thing lacking is the presence of MR ANG. OMG. I really miss having him around in choir. And I'm sure I'll miss him in Verona.
Anyway, flight's on 19 April, Monday night. It's pretty confirmed so I don't think there'll be much changes. And after careful considering I've decided NOT to take leave on that day. Must save for December, haha.
So who wants to come and send me (us) off!?
Wheeeeee Verona here I come!
{/1:34 PM}
me
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Yesterday night I came to the conclusion that I cannot effectively persuade people to blog more often if I do not do so myself.
Obviously. Must set example myself first, right? If I myself blog once per fortnight, how can I ask others to blog more? Kind of like the fat doctor asking the patient to exercise more, right? (That's a real life example, by the way.)
So I've changed my blog skin yet again. I kinda like it. Switching back to a Christian-based skin feels exceptionally good.
Uhh... I shall blog a bit on CNY. Considering my previous post that may seem a little off chronologically, but bear with me.
Every time CNY comes it's like a massive congregation of aunties and uncles and cousins. I'm rather blessed with large familes on both sides. My father has 2 brothers and 2 sisters, and they account for the 11 cousins that I have. Now in line with Chinese tradition, cousins on the father's side is further divided into "tang2 xiong1 mei4" and "biao3 xiong1 mei4", which basically refers to kids of the sons and kids of the daughters respectively. Admittedly, I can only considered to be close to my cousin Vincent, since we are both boys of similar ages (I'm one year older). The others are either too young (lower secondary, preschool) or too old (married, university).
Which is why it's rather weird to see all of them gathering at Ah Ma's house on the first day of CNY, as is traditional. We don't really have to pretend to like each other, because we do, to some extent anyway. It's just that I personally have never took any initiative whatsoever to maintain a closer relationship with any of them than courtesy requires. But it's all good, though. We did the usual, ate mian4 sian4, offered joss sticks, played black jack and ate all the CNY goodies. And collected ang baos.
There was something new this year, though. My oldest cousin and his wife brought along a pair of puppies. And they were adorable (the puppies, not the couple). The pair basically ran around the house pawing people, and combing the floor for food scraps. They were even wearing cute doggie clothes. All in the name of the Year of the Dog.
I forgot about the reunion dinner. We had it at this "Fatty Weng Restaurent" at the Badminton Association. Food was rather good, but given the S$688+++ price tag, that's to be expected. Cousin Grace, who is same age as my sis, had her boyfriend along. Interesting. I think my sister is going to be left on the shelf unless she outgrows her childish ways soon. Haha. Anyway, reunion dinner with 29 other people is rather re4 nao4.
After the obligatory gathering at Ah Ma's house in the morning, we went separate ways to visit our respective relatives at mother's side. For us, we went back upstairs to our home to wait for some aunties. A large family at my mother's side too; she has 6 sisters and 1 brother. A pity that both grandparents are gone, one long before I was born, the other days before I was born. Since there are so many aunties we call them by numbers according to chronological order. So the eldest would be "da4 yi2" and then "er4 yi2" and "san1 yi2"(my mom) and so on. So we went to da4 yi2's house and proceeded with the routine: eating CNY goodies, and playing black jack and mahjong.
Although I have less cousins on my mother's side, I'm much closer to them as compared with the cousins on my father's side. I have no explanation. I do know, however, that I like my aunties and uncle better on my mother's side. Because they are generally nicer people, and we do not have that large of a generation gap in terms of our thinking and ideas. And they are so much fun, always. 3 small kids, two of them primary 4 this year and one just starting primary 1. The 2 older kids are rather naughty now. They have this territorial game that they like to play together with the small one, where they occupy the room (no matter whose house they are in), and thereafter whoever steps in to "their" room would be the "monster" and be, if lucky, thrown out violently, or if not, "killed". They use to be, er, less violent, in the past. 3 more cousins, my si4 yi2's kids, unfortunately we are not close to them. Or rather, they are not close to us, and are seldom seen in gatherings. My da4 yi2 has 3 daughters, youngest of which is my sister's age, now a trainee air stewardess with Emirates. The eldest is an accountant and has her own firm. The middle daughter is dirty linen which I do not wish to wash in public.
Whenever there are family gathers such as during CNY with relatives on my mother's side, I can't help but think of my cousin Derrick, who would be 2 years younger than me. He is dead, and he is and will be sorely missed.
And so the first day of CNY is just same as past years, filled with eating junk food and gossiping and fun-natured gambling. I don't know how others spend their first day of CNY, but I'm really happy with the way MY family spends it. =)
The second day is pretty much the same as the first day. On this day we have our "traditional" steamboat dinner with mother's side. The past few years this dinner has always been at my place, but this year we had it at my jiu4jiu4's place, since it's a new house. And so, it was more eating and more gambling. Not that I'm complaining. Hahaa..
On the third day I had some friends from NJChoir over for another steamboat. Lunch. Sort of like tuan2 ruan2 fan4 between friends. When I first thought of hosting this gather at my house with a steamboat lunch I had in mind a certain individual whom I was rather sure would not be having any sort of reunion dinner with her family this year, as is other years, as far as I know. I thought this would be sort of a replacement for that, albeit an inadequate one, but still, better than nothing. It was too bad she couldn't make it for the lunch. It was nice seeing old friends. We ate, we watched crap on my computer, we sang karaok. After they left my parents came and picked me up to go to my qi4 yi2's house for, what else, more food and more gambling!
I just love CNY =D
Speaking of choir. There is a chance that I may be going to Verona with the choir after all. With Timothy. Now we are just waiting to see if they have enough people going. If they don't then we'll be able to fill the slots. Hopefully will get to go. The trip is rather more popular now due to a little price slash (it's now in the regions of S$1,900 for the kids, with a S$200-S$300 subsidy from the school, or so I heard). Miss singing under Miss Lim.
NTU and NUS concerts coming up! Anyone interested??
Until my next update (hopefully soon.. Inspiration, please strike me!)....
God bless everyone!
{/9:57 AM}
me
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Hospital trips have always been lessons in patience.
Trying to avoid waiting for too long, I actually went 1 hour earlier than my appointment time. Got to go to the private children's clinic again. It's a wonderful place; stronger aircon and generally cleaner environment. Still it doesn't make me any less uncomfortable to be strolling down the corridors wearing my number 3 and have all the small little kids staring at me.
A 20 year old really has no place in KKH.
Check-ups are usually dreaded because I don't really do all the things that I am suppose to. Like check my blood glucose religiously. And recording the values down. And watching what I eat. And exercise regularly. And probably many more that I have long forgottened. I know I am suppose to be responsible for my own health. So sue me. It's an irritating life, that of a diabetic. Especially the sugar checks. Screw it.
Sometimes I have the wild urge to just neglect my insulin intake for a week or so. Then I'll probably hyperglycemia and faint, then I'll get sent to he hospital and stay there a week for monitoring and counselling. That would mean one week of MC, which sounds pretty good.
Yesterday's check-up had the added stress of knowing my blood and urine test results, on top of the usual HbA1C. Relax, I'm 100% healthy still, or at least as healthy as a diabetic can get. 7.3 for HbA1C, which is 0.4 better than 3 months ago. Considering all the food I ate over CNY, that's pretty comforting. I only saw Dr Fabian for 5 minutes. Other patients take like half an hour. Oh well. They are all small kids so I guess their parents have all the never-ending questions for the doc. That's why I say it's a test of patience. 90 minutes of waiting with nothing to do? Torture. Even the little kids are not that entertaining, at least not yesterday. No fights, no loud crying, no argument between mom and boy, nobody pooped their diapers, no drama, no action.
The only good thing that came out of the check-up? I got to go home early.
O level's results this friday. A level's next friday. Bwahahah. Good luck kids. Please try to refrain from jumping off the tallest block of HDB flats you can find, no matter what results you get. Remember to thank your teachers.
As Eugene's nick says, D-Day is coming.
Or rather, V-Day is coming. =(
Valentine's Day is a sad sad day for guys like me. We get to see all those couples being lovey-dovey to each other, guys planning romantic dates and giving thoughtful (=expensive) gifts, cuddling their lover under the moonlight while whispering sweet nothings. Making out, getting laid, and displaying their affections in public. We single guys look at all that and swear vehemently that when WE get girlfriends we would not do all that just becaused of some commercially hyped occasion like Valentine's Day. Instead we will spend the day play DOTA at the local lan shop with our buddies. We would not be slaves to our partner, buying 99 roses and having expensive dinners.
But, the sad, sad, sad truth is that we WILL do all that. We will spend our entire NS allowance for the month on a bunch of roses and chocolates and teddy bears, and beg and borrow to afford that expensive candlelight dinner. We will carry your shopping bags and pay for your skirts and shoes. All that and more, just to make our girlfriends happy. The only problem is we are still single and (very much, in fact desparately) available. *cue tears* And yes, we are jealous of all you couples. So excuse us while we spend 14 Feb at home with the computer, and animated pixels in the shape of a sexy female night elf mimicking pole dancing.
Boo hoo hoo, nobody loves me.
It's back to buying roses and presents for mom and sisters again. And they don't even appreciate it. &^*#$&*(.
{/12:35 PM}
me
