Batman Begins

Sunday, November 25, 2007 -

(A close-up shot of a self-potrait I drew myself.....haha....pretty good likeness.....got my whole attitude down pat.....the whole picture is posted right at the back of this post......)

It's that time of the year again.......time for my annual Birthday post......with the usual pictures, exclusive commentary, reflections for the year and where I thank a whole list of people.....haha...

So I'm officially 23 Years old as of today........the youngest one among my Secondary school friends and the oldest One among my Poly mates......well at least for another couple of months anyway......

How do I feel???..........OLD!!.........Older then I should.....haha...I almost feel shy reading comicbooks and fake comic Newspapers in public places nowadays........the key word being "Almost".......need another decade or so before "Almost" becomes "Definitely"........hahaha

Anyway I celebrated my birthday with the Poly gang on saturday the 24th of November and on my actual Birthday on monday....I just had a simple dinner with my folks and handed back home to cut my cake and catch a movie together.......haha

Well......here are some Photos from my actual Birthday......with me and my Folks.......after we had dinner together......nice,quiet,low-key affair just as I like it......

Me and my Parents.......that cheese cake they got from Sweet Secrets is some tasty grub......haha...

I noticed I left my specs on the TV after realizing that I could'nt focus properly on the camera in front.........always glancing away from the centre like I'm doing some impersonation of Stevie Wonder and Ray Charle's love child......hahaha

AND.......Blowing out the candles.......after I did that I was back in my home clothes watching HBO....faster then a speeding bullet.......

Next up are the photos of me and the gang took on the 24th of November........we went to Outback steakhouse and I know folks are too polite to tell me so.....but Damn did the restaurant I pick suck some serious hairy-ass donkey balls......haha....My bad......my sincerest apologies for my lack of culinary foresight.....haha........Outback? I should take the chefs out back in the alley and gun them down.....haha....

My juniors and some of my army mates told me that the food there was supposed to be good.....I sincerely fear that they were comparing the food from the restaurant to SAF cookshouse food because your definition of good food changes after you've been eating SAF food for 2 years.....haha.......food from any damn place is considered good if we were to classify SAF food as normal food.......well anyway......everyone makes mistakes so I'm not going to blame them......because I'm sure they're not going to blame me as well when I phone in an anonymous bomb threat that will keep them confined in camp till after Christmas....for their delightful recommendation......hahaha

So Anyway talk is cheap.........Here are some of the pictures taken of the gang and me on the 24th with a bonus director's commentary track by yours truly......

First of all.....we'll start the picture parade with a tried and tested, old Favorite:

Felix doing that thing he do.....haha.......The Blurry Effect perfectly complements Felix's expression and reinforces the dangers of drug abuse.......

Wenjun......

Huiling......

AND.....the both of them together in black...My all-time favorite color and the constant shade of color expression on my face.......haha

Two clowns clowning around.......as always

The two of us re-enacting the day when Felix forgot to send me his completed part from one of our projects...notice me giving him the evil eye...haha

Huiling and me....and Felix's decapitated hand giving me the mickey mouse years I always wanted..haha

Wenjun and me... when she's around me....I seem to always have the weight of the world on my shoulders..haha

And Gerald and Me...her expression leads me to believe that she's going to embarass many a indonesian waiter before the night is through...

Wenjun and Huiling after I told them that the theme for the Christmas presents this year is "Lockets and Sweets"......hahaha

The three girls together...yeah....Friends forever and all that jazz....hoho

Aand next up is rare photographic evidence that I do have more than one facial expression nowadays....

I can't figure whether this is my "Jolly" or "retarded" face........probably a bit of both..haha

My "Kiam Pah" face......

Me showing some teeth for once......the weird thing abt my teeth is that my front 4 teeth are unaturally straight.....all lined up in the same line with no even the slightest gap without the aid of Braces......my mum said they look more like dentures...

Blowing out the candles on my cake.......I forgot what Wish I made....all I know is that last year's wish did'nt come true....nor the last ,last year.....and the year before that,etc...haha

Me cutting the cake......it actually tasted pretty nice.......with the rum-soaked base and boysen-berries....but after eating my Huge share of the cake....I found out that There IS such a thing as too much of a good thing...

My Chocolate Birthday Plaque which I promptly consumed.....

Snap shots of the gang having their cake and eating it too...

First up is Felix......who ate surprisingly moderately during dinner and had problems finishing his steak....

Gerald.....who scrapped out all the cream from her cake and left a huge wad of cream on her plate that I think seriously turned off the indonesian waiter who collected her plate from eating any cream-based food for the near future....haha

Wenjun.....who spent much of her time convincing people to swallow sizzling hot pieces of steak and explosively-hot deep fried whole mushrooms......haha......she convinced to Felix to stuff the super hot Mushroom while she shot photos and videos of the whole process.....haha....and he did it....TWICE!!

Huiling...who ate a bigger piece of steak and left a much cleaner plate then Felix by the end of dinner.....

Me with my boat load of presents this year......which nearly completely obscured me from view.....I kinda reminded myself of Gwenyeth Paltrow's head in the Movie Seven......

The Collector's Edition Batman Monopoly which Wenjun and Huiling got me.....

I got a good laugh when Wenjun and Huiling asked me whether I really DID like the present because they could'nt tell from my expression......never underestimate how neutral I can still look even to people who have known me for years....hahaha...I doubt My expression would be any different if they had gift-wrapped Angelina Jolie, dipped her in honey and sat her at my feet.....hahahaha..... cos that's the happiest I can look....call it facial paralysis or poker face syndrome.....haha

Haha......If I had my hands on this board game when I was younger....I would never leave my house or allow my parents to leave the house!!haha....my dad would have needed to break the board in half if he wanted me to stop bugging him...haha

So anyway I told them that I did really like this unexpected gift but Wwenjun said "Like" was not enough....she wanted me to "love" it.....so I did....all night long...and now the playing board are stuck together by something that shall remain unspoken.....hahaha

The first present from Gerald and Felix.....which paved the way for the most challenging gift-unwrapping I have ever encountered in the past two decades.......haha

As Galactus is my witness, I swear there were like 10-12 layers I had to unwrap to reach the final present within......haha......its a cleverly designed package designed to drive its receiver mad...haha....I had to cut through all the layers with a steak knife and best of all.....after tearing through 5 layers of tape and brown paper, the 6th layer was Orange-ish paper so I thought I finally reached my end goal....but no such luck...after that orange-ish layer came off it was another 4 layers of brown paper and tape before I uncovered a message taunting me that I was not even halfway there!!....Haha....

This is another pic of me still trying to unravel it hahaha......wah lau.......It was mentally and physically exhausting and when I finally reached the present within......I was seeing stars......Literally!!

And this was what was inside.......a glass bottle of stars and a custome made Batman key-chain within the bottle....the problem with the keychain is that it kinds of give away my true identity behind my crime fighting alter-ego...haha

This is the black Adidas shirt from Felix and Gerald......its black and has a skull on it so I guess there's no excuse for me not to wear it....hahaha.....well I 'll wear it soon....its casual and seems pretty much like something I would wear to school

They also gave me a deck of Sin City cards which I saw at Bugis Junction....Its cool......there's different pin-ups and panels all drawn by Frank Miller there are enlarged or shrunk into playing card size......

Here's a sample of some of the cards......Frank Miller's black and white artwork is cool.....very iconic and stylized.....the art really pops out.......When I have the time....I'll try to arrange the cards in sequence of story just for the heck of it.....haha

Here's a picture of Hartigan and Marv from Sin City relaxing and playing a nice game of cards during their break time.......haha

This is the Jack Kirby Fourth world Omnibus Wenjun and Huiling gave me........its cool stuff.....it collects four different titles drawn by Jack Kirby in chronological order in terms of their date of publication and it contains some of the very first comics I have ever read from the 1970's.......I grew up on these comics...

Jack Kirby is the artist who co-created or created the entire Marvel Universe...he created and drew The Hulk, X-men, Fantastic Four, Captain america, Iron Man, The Silver Surfer, The avengers, The mighty Thor..........the only major character he did'nt create was Spider-man...anyway he did'nt make one cent from any of his creations since Marvel considered him a hired hand.....so in 1970 he moved to DC (Batman,Superman,etc) and created his Fourth world saga...

Its called the Fourthworld because he wrote, drew and edited 4 monthly titles on his own featuring different characters but were all interlinked into one big saga.......he did 4 books a month.....artists nowadays can barely draw a book a month and be on time......anyway i loved this series since I was a kid after reading some reprints here and there.....

But all 4 of the titles were cancelled in the mid-70's due to poor sales and Jack Kirby produced a total of 55 issues and never got a chance to finish the big saga where the main character(featured on the cover) would face his father in one final prophesized battle.....and ever since I found out I've tried since I was 12 years old to draw my own version of the conclusion of the saga...I used to fold A4 paper in half and do my own mini-comics on it but I gave up and the closest I got was when I was in Sec 3 till sec 4 and I drew abot 35 pages to the 50 page conclusion I wanted to do.......I have all the art.....the last 10 pages were done in pencil only though and I think I've shown it to Wenjun,Huiling,Felix and Gerald....alas I never did finish it due to my O'levels and that was 8 years ago.....

Anyway here's a picture of the Omnibus with a drawing I did in 1999 featuring the main Character Orion...

I've already started reading this hardcover.....should be done in a couple of days......hahaha.....they even printed it on the old newsprint paper that old comics are printed on rather then glossy paper for a more authentic feel...Kewl....

Next its the Batman Black and White statue designed by the top artist in the industry.....Jim Lee....Its my fifth statue from this particular line of statues......hahaha....come Chinese New Year, I'll add my sixth one when the Frank Miller B&W statue comes out.....hoho.......this is the shot of the statue box with the piece of artwork the statue is based on..

Here's a Close-Up of the statue.......

Another close up.....at an angle similar to the artwork on the box.....

And.......Here's my entire collection of Cold-cast Batman Black and white statues......all of them are based on the artwork and designs of my All-time Favorite Batman artists.....Brian Bolland, Mike Mignola, Alex Ross, Steve Rude and now......Jim Lee.........I got the Steve Rude BW statue from Wenjun and Huiling last year.....the one with the cool swishing Cape........anyway the Jim Lee one is pretty solid.....Batman Crouching with his cape flaring outwards......haha.....I think they look quite impressive lined up together........the same character intrepreted in so many different art styles......

And even MORE Bat-Goodness next....hahahaha.....

The Collector's edition Batman Monopoly from Wenjun and Huiling...haha.....based on the artwork of the most popular Bat-artist for the past decade....Jim Lee.......I once contemplated buying this board game or the Sin City one myself when I saw it in Bugis Junction back when the Government still paid my wages......haha....but I figured who was I gonna get to play it with me?

But I DID get to play the game this time.....hahaha.......the group spent Almost 4 hrs playing Batman monopoly at a cafe in Cineleisure......though sad to say that despite being the one who used the pewter Batman figurine in the game.........I lost the game....BAD!!Haha.......while everybody was buying property......I was going to jail for the 4th or 5th time.....haha....by the time I got out.....I was paying everybody cash for practically every time I threw the dice....haha.....I did managed to buy a batmobile and Penguin Ice Lounge at the end......and eearned a tidy sum of less then 200 bucks in total from the others through fines......while personally shelling out a good 300-400 bucks every time I made a complete round on the board....hahaha,.....and to top it off this Batman served more Jail time then the joker,two-face and catwoman put together!!!haha

There should be some damn rule stating that the player in possession of the Batman figure has immunity and cannot lose the game....since technically The whole game is named after him!!hahaha........Its not Bat Signal Monopoly or Catwoman Monopoly or Joker's freaking chattering teeth monopoly......Its the Godamn batman monopoly!!hahaha....

Well ok......even though I lost.....it was still kind of fun....there'sreally nothing quite like 5 individuals above 21 years old playing a Batman-related game in a very public place.....so thanks for indulging me in the game...hahaha......the last time I convinced others in indulge in a Batman related activity I had to bribe my cousins with the promise of free drawings...haha

And I'll be damned if the artwork featured on the box doesn't look familliar.......hhmmm......the problem is that there has been hundreds of artists who have drawn thousands of Batman drawings for the past 6 decades........it'll take like some Bat Historian to identify a single image out of the thousands......

Oh well I'll give it a try........if my memory serves me correctly........I think this image was taken from the 3rd panel of the 17th page of the 614th issue of Batman........just a random guess.....

Why.......YES IT IS!!! ........A Lucky guess??!!....or just too much comic-reading??!?....haha...anyway.....The art from the Monolpoly packaging was actually a single panel in Batman#614 blown up to like 20 times the size............ featuring a pissed off Batman preparing to lay the smack down on Joker......said issue is of course comfortably tucked away in my filing cabinets...... though I do own the story in both Hardcover and tpb form too......haha

The Monopoly Board itself.......that particular image of Batman running is actually a blown-up version of one of the Batman covers drawn by Jim Lee...and despite there being 700 over issues of Batman published over the past 60 years......let me try to guesswhich issue that drawing was printed from.....its really tough.....hoho.....hmmmm.....Batman#615???

Why YES IT IS Again!!!.....OOoooo I'm good.....hahaha....and whatta do you know?! I do own that issue!!!Hahahha.....here's a shot of the cover courtesy of the private Collection of Barry Tan.....

Here's an interesting fact that is kinda neat and useless..........hahaha...both the statue and the Batman Monopoly were inspired by the artwork of Jim Lee, who's this Korean millionaire that's one of the comic industry's top artists....anyway he has only drawn 12 issues of the regular Batman comic and all the artwork featured in both gifts were taken from those issues....

The interesting thing is the first time the whole of TB31 discovered that I had a Batman fetish was when my laptop was chosen to be used for a class presentation and I had the Cover of an issue of Batman set as my wallpaper which was projected like 20 times the size in front of the whole class......which resulted in much snickering and awkward silence on my part....haha....anyway the cover was drawn by the same Jim Lee and that first issue of his came out on the very same month I started my first term in poly.......hahaha......more then 5 years later...things come full circle...bet you did'nt know that bit of trivia...haha.....and Yes....its true I do chart my years and months according to the publication of various Batman issues....

Well.....Next up are actually my favorite things to receive during birthdays.......the birthday cards.....haha...I love getting them and its always fun to read whatever comments are written......I probably have kept every single card made out to me for the past 15 years in my drawer......I like glancing through all of them once awhile......reading the comments and stuff......

So......this is the card from Gerald and Felix........written and colored by Gerald......cos if I know Felix and I DO know Felix......he can't do such fancy lettering nor coloring.....haha....and the little message there foreshadows the most difficult gift-unwrapping session I have ever gone through........since....well.....EVER!!

This triple gate-fold card is from Wenjun and Huiling.......detailing the "Do's" and "Don'ts" of Birthdays which I can confidently say I did'nt follow at all.....haha

Their Hand written birthday messages......"Bestest, Bestest Friend" and "Many best wishes".........hoho......awwww nice bit of lying there by the dynamic duo......hahaha.....

And lastly..........Here's the full picture I drew........Nobody that I know can draw or are even interested in drawing.....so I usually draw cards and pictures and give them to friends but usually I don't receive much drawings from anyone.......so every year I try to draw myself a picture for my own birthday on my own birthday to make myself happy.......they're usually very rough drawings........for my personal pleasure...

The previous one I drew last year was when I was working in camp from 11pm of 25th November all the way to my birthday on the next day at 7am......and for this eight hours I drew every DC and Marvel Character I liked on an A4 piece of paper....almost 30-35 characters all very roughly drawn....with this two large candles and 2 small candles in the background.............(which one of my super-gay Pass office colleagues told me looked like four A4 sized schlongs....diao.....)....anyway Its still displayed on the Bulletin board of Pass office now I think....haha...

So This is the full picture I drew myself this year.............I think its suits me well.......I was born in the year of the Rat so I drew a grumpy, hairy,disgruntled Rat giving the finger Salute to anybody that's unlucky enough to get in his way.....haha

It really captures my good side I think....it's a symbolic drawing of me in one of my better moods....hahaha....me being my usual cheerful self.....haha

Anyway that's about all the pictures for this birthday-themed post........Another year past, Another Birthday, another year older...haha...I think everybody gets less enthusiastic about their birthdays with each passing year........I was an early bloomer......I stop being enthusiastic about pretty much anything since I hit puberty....haha

Ok maybe let's not be so extreme and say that everyone becomes totally unenthusiastic about Birthdays as they get older......people just become enthusiastic about different aspects of their birthday as the years go by....

Back when I was a kid.......it was all about the presents........my Birthday was the one day in the year my mum would take me to the neighborhood toy Store "Jo Xin" (Not Toy'r R Us mind you!!) in Jurong West and buy me anything I wanted.......

I would get excited right at the beginning of november and spend hrs going through that same bloody Kenner Toys catalogue while lying on my parents' bed.......though that store did'nt carry 80% of anything in that catalgue.......hahaha......but even though I had free reign.....I made some pretty bad choices......haha.....my Dad would offer to get me some gameboy or Computer game consoles which were pricey back then.....and I would tell them that I just want a $8.90 Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle figure: the Foot Soldier and a $10.90 Cobra commander from g.I Joe with talking back pack.......and I would be so damn happy with those......hahaha.....I thought I made a helluva good deal....haha

I remember My Brother wanted a 16 bit Sega game console with 4 games for his birthday in October and when it came to my turn a month later...I told my dad I just wanted a Spider-man: Maximum Carnage game catridge so i could play my game on his console.......I ended up getting that Game catridge of the game which was pirated and had to request for my dad to buy me a red-colored Sega attachment so that I could play my fake game on the game console........I had to slot the red attachment on the catridge slot and then attached my game on top of it before I could play because it was pirated.......hahaha......and I was so happy abt it...hahah....dumb kid...

Now of course we look forward to different things......when you're a kid...you would love inviting everybody and having a big birthday party.....when you get older you just want a small,nice gathering.........I think the thing I look forward to now is having some nice company and the actual gathering itself.......the gifts are mostly secondary......though of course its an added bonus that I do derive a lot of pleasure from... and i'm not being Facetious when I say that, I do mean it.

Its the crux of the whole event for me personally........no point having kick-ass gifts if the actual company sucks like or you're not with people that you actually like being with...like if you have a big party and your mum or dad's colleagues or friends who you don't know are invited bearing nice expensive gifts......which did happen a long time ago I think but I did'nt mind it back then.....

Yeah........this is a little known fact but this gatherings and special events are what made things easier when I was in the Army........I remember the week of Christmas 2006.......I was in my full uniform,helmet and bag under the block we stayed at, drenched completely in sweat in 2.30 am in the morning.....another turn-out cum torture session from My superiors........and I was running around buildings, doing crunches, pumping, emptying my waterbottle and refilling them repeatedly and when my officer had us remain in push up position with my face 1 1/2 inch from the carpark floor.......and I told myself, in a few more days I'll be out in the company of friends and having fun bitching and chatting.......all this shit would be over and it'll be all worth it......just bear with it till the end of the week.......and I did........and every subsequent week, when I was turned out night after night and wondering how did I ever get so lucky........I just think about my weekends or gatherings and I would psyche myself up........kept me positive throughout my trainee days......

SO to conclude my yearly Birthday post........I would to thank Wenjun, Gerald, Huiling and Felix for my Birthday celebration and all the Birthday presents.........they were lovely......and of course for effort put in the entire event itself.........not just this year but for the past 4 years.......not counting our first year( since many people claim I was making myself more invisible then Jessica Alba in Fantastic four back then...haha).....but anyway I complained and bugged my way to getting a birthday celebration out of all of you by year two and as they say the rest is history....haha

So.......THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Yup....the closest I can come to emoting is by expanding and bolding my fonts.......its still more expressive then my facial expressions though...haha

So thus endeth another year and post........6 mins before my birthday is officially over to boot....haha.....well.....Good nite one and all.

4:15 AM

Sunday, November 11, 2007 -

It is Officially OVER.

After 1 and 1/2 months of exams preparation and studying.........finally the whole damn thing is over and done with on friday....... I must have gone through each subject 7 times from start to finish....and I'm glad as hell.........I kind of regretted jumping into Uni before I even ORDed from army cos it was like jumping from one 2 year comittment to another.....with no break in between.....

The first few weeks of University were more relaxed without project deadlines and everything but all the rest time was for the naught since I had to alternate between school and army for those few weeks and by the time I was officially out of the army.....My projects were all due, plus mid-terms and then the final exams......so after almost 2 1/2 years of hustle and bustle.......I finally reached my long awaited break........honestly that night I finished my exams was the best sleep I had in ages.......was damn good...........felt so free and unburdened for the first time in 2 years when I woke up the next day.....

The next two weeks will be a nice period of detoxification...........I'm gonna be working out every day, relaxing, reading or watching some of the stuff that I haven't previously had time for........I'm going to sleep early and most importantly I'm gonna sleep peacefully.........the two years of grave yard shifts have effed me up pretty bad in some ways......mostly physical,I'm constantly exhausted during the day, I don't sleep well at night........and I wake up periodically through the night........or when I hear any sounds......cos let's face it that was what I was trained to do for two years......I walk and talk with a certain weariness........from now till the end of november.....its gonna be working out every morning, jogging every day, controlled and planned meals, earlier sleep time, lesser stress, more relaxation......... so I'm hoping this two weeks can help undo some of the damage from the two years.....hahaha......looking forward to it.....

I went to Changi with my parents for dinner today and it was to me, very much like coming full circle.........the car passed the ferry terminal where I would be at EVERY sunday, scanning my 11 B and taking the slow bumpy ferry ride back to Tekong for another week of training........wearing my goofy jonkey cap, carrying my field pack with a completely down-cast look on my face.......every week without fail.......I would be so goddamn-happy on saturdays when I booked out and so bloody bummed out less then 24 hrs later when I had to book in the next day.....hahaha.....passing the terminal sure brings back some fun times....hahaha....

I don't think I'm completely out of my army mode yet though, putting an M-16 and asking me to guard 14 hrs alone in a spot wouldnt be too much of a stretch even though I ORDed exactly 2 mths ago......could still do it......with no problem at all.......then I look at my 11B ID card and see the "NS Men" label pasted over "NSF" under my current Military status.......and I know......I know I've served my 2 year term and that I can close the chapter on that phase of my life now...

Well I'm going to write a good,long post about my reflections on my time with the military within this few days now that I have the time...........but rather then go through specific events again and all the stuff I've done.....field camps, route march and whatever.....I don't think I wanna do it in that kind of straightforward,detailed and verbose manner.......which would make the post longer and dryer then the dead sea scrolls....haha....I would just like to specifically talk about my feelings or opinions about the whole thing........the kind of fundamental changes that these period has made on me.......like to critically dissect myself and look at everything with a fresh perspective.......help myself make sense of things to be honest.....well in my next post anyway....

One thing though.........I honestly think that the whole affair has been a positive one.......despite the ass-load of shit and pricks I've met or kow-towed under......despite getting shouted at by everybody from the canteen aunty to construction site foremen to firemen to colonels......despite working ungodly hours and coming back and sleeping on bed sheets stained yellow and brown with the sweat of god know how many people...........I think the whole experience wasn't a waste of my two years....haha.....honestly.......I think I'm more positive person now.......hahaha.....

After having a shit load of problems happening on a pretty much weekly basis for 2 years.......I don't stress myself, engage in hysterical behavious like some of my army mates ALWAYS do or curse and swear at the whole world for the bout of bad luck..........I just kind of anticipate the fact that bad shit is always going to happen no matter what and get started with my game plan on how to pull my ass out of the fire............hahaha.....I think that's great...... when I know the shit is going to hit the fan but I'm rational and ready for it......hahaha......

Damaged the roof of a car? Chicken Feed!.......LapTop flew off the bloody table and is in pieces? No problem!......Letting a drill bomb in the base while working with a semi-retard? Hey...it ain't the end of the world!......Having a new Government policy passed down about active NS guys not being able to study using their leave 2 weeks before my school terms started and 7 days before the $6000 I had already paid would be forfeit?? Hoho......Bring it on!!...........hahaha......I remembered all my colleagues that were enrolled in NUS, NTU and SIM were running like chickens with their heads cut off when that bloody policy was past down a couple of weeks before everyone was going to study.......but I had these crazy calm and expressionless look on my face thinking "Bad things happening during the last minute AGAIN??.....you worked 2 effing years in this base and you're actually surprised by this...HUH??!?!"........haha....

It was hilarious.....so much bad shit had happened to me for like months upon months up till that point that I WOULD have been surprised if thinsg went well........people thought I was insane....when I told them these matter would eventually be resolved and not to worry too much.......and it did......after some blackmailing, puppy dog eyeing........I did start my school term as orginally planned after all....sure it was three times as hard for me to do so then most people I knew....but it did finally go according to plan ......hahaha.....I had no doubts about it in my mind....none at all......that I could have pulled an ace despite the shitty deck of cards I was dealt with......haha

Ah well.........the complete Reflection of my experiences will be in the next post.......for now......its time to relax.....I've finally hunted down the movie, Chopper with Eric Bana and I rented Ridley Scott's Aalien plus the Bruce Almighty flick..........and I bought the 3 disc Gladiator ( my favorite swords and Sandals movie......more then 300 even)extended edition with Russel crowe and Joaquin pheonix that was on sale at HMV and I got the all new Director's cut of Troy with 30 mins of additional story, nudity and violence......hahaha.......and I can finally read the art of Barry Windsor Smith artbook I bought 2 mths ago..........I sound like I'm semi-starved of any entertainment.......hahah...but you know....we should enjoy the small pleasures we get out of life.....no matter how small....haha......ok that's it for now.........going to turn in early today........morning jog for me tommorrow.........So this is me signing off.....

4:50 AM

Friday, November 02, 2007 -

Hi Folks.......another quick update from me........I just finished going through my Market Research notes for like the 4-5th time in preparation for my MR exam on monday so I thought I'll blog since I finished earlier then expected today..........that and I'm bloody irritated staying in my living room because of that moaning pair of cats under my block that are deep in the throes of their passion.......goddamn man......4-5 times a week I can hear the cats making the loudest moans I have ever heard.....I live on the bloody top floor in my block and I can still bloody hear them.......MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOWWWWWREEEEEOOOOoooow.......REEEEEEEEEEoooooow I swear these two cats probably has a better sex life then my whole block put together or the entire Bukit Panjang for that matter.......hahaha.....I think I'm gonna hire Germaine or someone to blow at them during their lovemaking and piss them off.....hahahaha.....Germaine if you're out there can you help me take care of these two cats....don't kill them.....just make sure their eyes can't open and they don't move at all.....you know....put them in one of those "hovering between life and death" comas all your hamsters end up in....hahaha

Alright..........enough talk about...puss.....err...cats......this whole month has been studying,studying and more studying...........I think one whole month of studying is probably a bit too long for me.....the 2-3 weeks in ploy was just nice........well anyway I think I got my groove back.......I think that I'm almost back to my oldself again as far as memorising is concerned.......

If you're my neighbors or my family members you can hear me shouting nonsensical words throughout the month of october......that's how I memorise my stuff......if there are 12 atrributes or points in the slide, I just take the first alphabet and make my own nonsensical words....

Knowlege
Ideas
Perceptions
Order of presentation
Lifestyle
Attitude
Norms
Interests
Likes/dislikes
Activities

AHA!! .....KIPOLANILA!!.........you can hear me exclaim make-believe shit like that all the time at home...........COBLANIGA!! WWEFUABITO!!!! CABKIPME!!!..........I sound like some tribal chief doing an ancient war chant all day long or something.....freaks my parents out.....The worst is when the words don't sound good when its read out loud like CRBLLNRR.........those don't have a nice ring to them so for those kinda words that don't sound good I make low growls and animal noises like......CRBLLNRR will be broken into a series of growls like CR-BLL-N-RR..........that's even worse because instead of sounding like a African tribesmen.....I sound like some down-syndrome patient with speech impediments who can only communicate through a series of blinks and noises........hahahaa

Only one subject proved quite a handful, buyer behavior.......the notes are one ring-file worth and it would be practically impossible for a normal human being to memorise everything..........but I did manage to memorise everything once through, line for line.......that was the first week of studying.......fast forward to the 4th week, I found that because of the sheer amount of info...I could'nt hang on to what I've learnt.......Anyway I only had 4 days before the test and if I had it my way I will just plough through the notes learning everything.......but then this time was too much so i wised up.....I started highlighting important stuff and internalizing stuff.......not memorising but internalizing stuff............so anyway I think this new, "smarter" way of studying worked out pretty well in the end..........I was so frustrated using my old way........so I guess old dogs can learn new tricks too.....hahaha

I'm looking forward to having a short break after the exams...........its been really tiring, after two years of army I jumped straight into University without any break or rest.........I think I'm going to relax and train up for the last two weeks of November.....rest and detoxify myself....do whatever recreational stuff I wanna do....and starting December, I'll either work part-time and start taking driving lessons...........after army....I just need to be on the go.......I can't burn 2 months at home enjoying life and reading comics and watching DVDs like I used to............I think my lifestyle habits have had some major changes since then.............I could afford to burn a week procrastinating back in my poly days.......now I think its better to maximize my time........make something out of it....Not like I'm getting any younger.....hahaha

Speaking of that.................after my BB exam on tuesday, I went with Felix to Bukit Panjang Plaza for some food and to chat a while.......and I met my old english teacher, Mrs Maddhu..................so damn nice to meet her again.....the last time I saw her was 7 years ago when I got my o'levels results.......I absolutely adore meeting old faces....y'know people you were on good terms with but haven't though about them much at all for many years......its always a pleasant surprise......

I know I'm infamous for mocking teachers......in fact its one of my major in U...ahahaha.....but I've never mocked this particular teacher, Mrs Maddhu..............she was an awesome teacher man.......patient,nice, soft-spoken and well-tempered.............you'see me and those secondary school friends that I was closest with....we were a bunch of slackers and kinda rogue-ish but we kinda had our own code of "Ethics and principles" as well..........hahaha....unbelievable but true.....the nicer and more patient the teacher is, the more we respect them and don't mock them......the fiercer they are, the more intolerant they are about our antics.....the more we'll hound them.......hahaha....my class drove 2 teachers mad in our 4 years there so when I mean hound...I REALLY mean hound...hahaha.....one went to IMH and never returned to class the other took a long leave of absense...like 2 mths...haha

Anyway I remember her getting pissed with the class only once, and it was a funny incident.......haha......she assigned us some homework or assignment that was difficult to do and If I remembered correctly....like 90% of us went to school without doing the English assignment so hwen Mrs Maddhu got to to class.....she told us without any hysterics that If We're not bothered to do our work then She would'nt be bothered to teached us....so with that she took her bag and stormed out of the classroom's front door.......BUT immediately after walking out of the class she came back in through the back door of the class..........so everyone was wondering what the hell was going on? Why did she walk out from the front door and walk in straight again from the backdoor?!...........hahaha.....turns out that when she stormed out, My Principal, old black boy Gopal Saminathan was doing his rounds around the school and walked passed the corridor so she was taken aback and went straight back in to the class.....hahaha.....EVERYBODY burst out laughing at her....hahaha........and then well she decided it was better to stay ...hahaha

Anyway it was great to see her again.............she looked exactly the same as 7 years ago....whenever my sec school friends and I meet, we always talk about her when we discuss about our old teachers......we don't go back on teacher's day anymore because my school is just so radically different now.....everything is so proper and all the students are meek as mice compared to the kind of havoc we wreaked.....hahaha......but she was very nice to us and we'll always remember that.......and treat her in kind..........well she said that she can't believe its been 7 years since we last met......and that its been a long time and I spent 10-15 minutes with her....updating her on how some of the guys are doing now.........where I'm studying now.....blah,blah...

She can't believe that my friend Sakthi, who was once this laidback,smart-mouth slacker who would tease and mock every teacher he could get his hands on would end up being a teacher himself now................how time flies and things change.......we had a good laugh about that.....and I wished her well and thanked her and told her it was a pleasure meeting her again after all this time......

Its strange how things have turned out isnce secondary school...........my entire concept of time between secondary 3-4 and now is just kind of a blur........it wasn't all that long ago to me in my mind......but goddamn, the facts says otherwise.........its been a solid 7 years........holy hell thats long......I don't even know whether I have changed much since then.........or Am I a completely different person now? I'm still full of crap and laid back but on the other hand I am much more responsible and disciplined now..........I don't have the kind of energy now though............when I look at some of my old friends, they kinda behave and talk the same but there's something different about all of us........our eyes, they look more tired and weary...........I don't see that same mischievous spark and wild abandon in any of us anymore....even the most playful and wilder ones have all been kind of tamed.......some of them are even married with kids.......hahaha....its mind-boggling.....

I remember going to Ngee Ann poly with Felix for lunch a few months ago........and there was this Singh guy sitting in front of us and I recognized him..........its was the little Singh Boy who lived behind my father's bicycle shop........we used to cycle and play together from 4 to 6pm everyday......I was primary 5 or 6 and I think he was in Primary 3.........that small kid with his two front teeth missing and his hair in a ball was now a 1.8m-ish tall full-grown Singh with a full turban a completely bearded face...........there's no mistake, I remembered his face......it was surreal man..........haha

At this age, its weird.........you're not too old neither are you that young.....you're kind of making the transition from teenager/young adult to a full fledged adult..........there's a bit of childish-ness mixed with cynicism and weariness..........all sort of existential questions are popping up.......you can no longer let your hair down as freely as you used too, there always some kind of weight or issue you're carrying around..............but on the other hand you realise all this is a necessary progression everybody goes through...........either adapt or die....either shape up or be left behind in life.......and you start wondering what can you do to succeed and stand out from the others....to prevent yourself from becoming some wage slave......chances are only 10% or less are those that really attain some level of notable achievement in life.....the rest are all the same.... just studying for the first 1/4 of their life, working for the next 1/2 and succumbing to the ravages of old age and disease in the last 1/4..........if that's all there is to it....then its all just kinda bizarre....hahaha...... wow.......really optimist and go-getter I am eh?hahaha

All the exams stress plus all these heavy contemplation is making me a certified grouch....hahaha....I've been watching seasons of seinfeld and comedies like Hitch, As Good as it gets, the Wedding Singer and About Schmidt to perk me up........haha......Hitch was quite touching and funny and As Good as it gets is one of the most well-written romance comedies ever......Jack Nicholson and Helent Hunt are awesome in it.......its about her this single mum/waitress makes a eccentric, sarcastic old grouch with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder want to be a better man in life....nice stuff.....

Well..........enough of the heavy stuff,......speaking of bizarre.......yesterday was bizarre, I went down to town to pick up my comics and I reached home around 7.30pm and then there was this old indian lady who called my house, demanded to know who call her, screamed at me and kupped my phone.....damn man.....it was insane and I did'nt even know that Bangla beeyotch..... this is a rough script of how the conversation went:

Unknown Indian woman:" Hello.....who called me??"

Me: "Hello who is this?"

Unknown Indian woman:" I want to know who called me, your house number is on my ID......who called me?"

Me:" I don't know who called you, I did'nt call you and there's nobody home now so I don't know who called you.....who're you?

Unknown Indian woman: Your number is on my ID.......where do you live, go ask your housekeeper and other family members.....somebody called me...tell me your parent's name....."

Me:" I'm not going to tell you anything.....there's nobody home now except me so I can't ask them anything....who're you?"

Unknown Indian woman : "I'm Nelly....I'm sure somebody called me from your phone ,its in my ID!!"

Me:" I don't know any Nelly, there's nobody here and I'm the only one so I don't see how anybody here could have called you."

Unknown Indian Woman: " THEN WHO CALLED ME....DID THE DEVIL PUT YOUR NUMBER IN MY ID???wWHAT IS YOUR NAME, GOT GET YOUR HOUSEKEEPER!"

Me:"...............maybe he did......I don't have any housekeeper and I'm not going to tell some unknown person ANYTHING."

Unknown Indian Woman: "OK DEN THE DEVIL PUT YOUR NUMBER ON MY ID LAR......YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE EDUCATED......YOU'RE A REAL RASCAL YOU!!!!

and she hung up on me.

OOOOOooooooooooooooo.....I'm a weal wascal.....I'm a weal wascally wabbit.........If She's Nelly then I'm Lil' Bow wow......Bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay get off my phone BEEYOTCH!!!.........Nelly sia..... Well If your second name ain't Furtado...I don't know you and I don't wanna know you fool!!!! Nelly Nelly bo belly banana fanna fo Nelly, Fi far fo smelly,Nelly!!!!

Damn man.......crazy indian lady............I just hope she's not one of my mum's senior citizen friends that go for the same handi-craft course as her......hahaha.......otherwise its going to be awkward......haha....oh well maybe she forgot to take her medication....I recommend 2 tablets of cyanide a day after meals, drink lots of battery acid and two spoons of patented nitro-glycerine..........lucky I like indians and old people......otherwise I would have let fly the tamil expletives......"You pundak......cannot locate who called you ar??....den call woonberde-woonberde-woonberde and ask the police for directions you kunji munji para chee sunni!!!hahahaa

Well folks...........that's about it for this update...........exams are finishing next week.....den I get to rest for a while then its my birthday...........another year older......whoop-dee-freaking do.......hahaha.........well maybe it'll be fun.....haha......

The last and final time I was excited about my birthday was probably when my mum got me a Ice-age build it yourself T-Rex skeleton toy with miniature caveman plus an action figure of Krang, the pink brain from Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles.................I could'nt sleep a week before my birthday......hahaha......and when my parents bought me the Thundercats mini-race set with hand-controlled vehicles and tracks....I knew I was honor-bound to provide for them for the rest of their lives ....hahahaha....

Back then anything makes me happy....50 cents magic tricks like x-ray glasses, fake blood, fart gas capsules and dinosaurs that grow in water made me gleeful as a pig in mud....Now? You could invite me on stage with david blaine,david copperfield and the re-animated corpse of harry houdini and I'll be like " Ok....thats nice......tell you what why don't you just saw me in half and let's call it a day?"........hahha.....well alright enough crap......that's about it, Till next time then......

8:29 AM