Finally found a new place!

我觉得我最近很市场在我blog写了很多我的reflections。我今天写这个post用汉字因为很久没用了。有时候如果我很早出门我会拿新加坡的“我报”看。报上有很多个汉字我因该会读的。。可是我看不明白。我觉得。。。过了几天后，我这个post我也看不懂了。咳～　我打这个post我也觉得很累。我得常常用我的汉字。

Anyway, I should stop with my Chinese writing. It's very tiring and tedious to type it out. In addition, I have a limited character library of 600 or so (maybe lesser..).

Finally I have found a new place to stay. This time, am moving nearer to the city - staying at Farrer Park. Taxi drivers have been telling me how strategic the location is. Mainly because I'm just a short distance away from Orchard, Bugis, City Hall, Toa Payoh and plenty other major locations. This new place is about 5minutes walk away from Little India. According to taxi drivers, during weekdays, the area is relatively quiet and not many people. However, come Sunday, the entire street will be crowded with Indians on a Sunday.

Maybe after moving there, I can return to my Chennai days. Daily morning (*bobs head left and right*), I will eat Masala Dosa (Dosa = Thosai in Singapore. Thosai = original Tamil pronunciation. Dosa = modern Tamil - kinda like Taminglish) and South Indian coffee. Every night can go Anjappar (Chettinad restaurant from Chennai that opened its branch in Singapore last year) for dinner! Oh.. I missed Anjappar - though I WON'T want to have it everyday (like when in Chennai) but it would be nostalgic to go Anjappar again. If only there is a Zara restaurant here that charges the same price as in Chennai.... how wonderful life would be...

I'm quite excited to be moving soon. Staying nearer to the city means that I'll have time to explore the city? Or will I continue to be a hermit? hmmmm.... I need a change, this move will provide a good platform for change.

Ps. The famous BKT stall that rejected HK Chief Minister Donald Tsang is nearby here. Gotta try it out one day to see what's the hooha about.

Another post after a long time.....

I am blogging less and less these days. Either I can't seem to find the time for it or when I have time, I don't have to mood for it. Basically.. Work is crazy when deadlines are sometimes unreasonable or set such that the customer's interests are placed first ahead of personal health/welfare. I don't mind working long hours if my efforts are recognised and I am rewarded significantly. I'm sure that most of you, my readers are wondering if I have been recognised or rewarded accordingly. Basically ... I am happy with what I'm doing for the moment. Engaging clients, understanding their needs, implementing stuff which they are able to appreciate fully. For me, the joy in IT work is not technology - it is the excitement of managing people and negotiating feasibility of their requirements. If I'm left to focus on being a core-techie (receiving instructions only), I would've rot (read first paragraph) BUT I am able to live with it somehow too (maybe because of my piggy nature).

I've been reflecting on certain issues recently such as where I am headed. Interestingly few days ago was my 1yr anniversary of returning to Singapore. Time seem to fly when I look back. However, looking at myself, I also wonder what have I gained over this past year. When in India, I was so keen to come back to Singapore to start a new life. I was empowered in India with experience and awareness of the changing world. As I spend hours reading up on current affairs and financial news, I realised that I was quite limited with what I could do in India (unable to apply what I learnt). I was frustrated at the situation so I kept looking ahead to my return. I read plenty of self-help books preparing for my return to Singapore to claim my place.

However, after my return, I've changed... Situations changed, I adapted to the situation conveniently - laziness, procrastination, sloth.... the evil deadly sin. It doesn't help that I had too much freedom for 3 months. Why did I succumb to these? How did it happen? I think one main reason was because I was a dreamer.... and am still a dreamer. CY continues to dream of a better life without making an effort to achieve. Dreaming how life would be IF etc etc etc happens. I have always been a dreamer since I started to think about my own future in secondary school. I visualised myself coming to Singapore. I visualised myself achieving the impossible in A levels. Over-dreaming has led to complacency in believing success without putting in effort. Time to set my foot down and make a stand where I want to position myself for the future.

On a site note, you would've noticed the strikethrough "basically"s in the first paragraph. I did it on purpose as I would like to erase the word from my conversation (I gave up in 2nd para as it was too tiring to fit in an "unnatural" word). Ironically when I wrote this post, I had to force myself to use the word "basically". At first I thought that "basically" comes natural to my way of conversing. I suppose that it isn't. Hence, I shall try to avoid using basically or any other similar words before I start a sentence.

What a busy week

So much work that never seems to end. I went back to work on Monday and was choking reading emails that accumulated over 1 week of holiday. Daily I am working 12-14hours. My Singlish has been Indglish-nized. I tried to recall what happened the past week but I can't remember what I did from Monday to Thursday. Everything was just blurred... All I could remember was that I was working and working. I don't even remember what I worked on. . Only stuff on Friday and Saturday was clear. Today I took rest at home although I'm suppose to be at work....

Another long week ahead.... Hopefully this week can clear all the pending stuff.

Long Sabbatical or..... so I would've liked it to be

I know I have not blogged for quite a long time now. This time, for almost 2 months. I did plan to take a short break from blogging when 2007 started. However, the short break turned into an evil curse of procrastination/laziness.

Anyway, some quick updates. I went home last week and boy~ was it refreshing. At the same time because I went home, I have work piled up waiting for me to complete. I forsee myself disappearing for the next couple of days..... Hopefully things will turn out well.

Will update more another time.

Welcome to 2007!

2006 has been quite an eventful year for me. Plenty of ups and downs. Plenty of happenings and idleness (unbelievably idle - imagine from morning till night not leaving the house sitting in front of the pc). However, I felt that I have been drained of a lot of my "youthful energy" (maybe because of the idleness - even going Salsa was a struggle. But once I get there, my energy level goes up). Everyday I wake up struggling to get to work. In the afternoon, I have a hard time staying awake after lunch. During the weekends, I'd rather stay at home do nothing than go out. This is sooo NOT myself.

For 2007, I shall make it a point to keep my energy level high at all times through:
1. Sufficient Sleep (which at times is hard to get in Singapore - either work or play)
2. Healthy Eating (this is also a goal I set last year but somehow I failed in following)
3. Keeping the mind active (need to read more - Singapore is an amazing place where all sorts of information is easily available printed or online)

Happy New Year Everyone! May everyone be well and happy; healthy and strong always. 2007 is gonna be a GREAT YEAR!

X'mas party

Last Friday went to a Christmas Salsa party organized by one of my salsa classmate - Jade. She's a jewel designer :O .. You can visit her company's website to learn more - Club Jewel . She was kind enough to invite us to her home at Holland Village to have the Christmas party. We danced all night till we were all tired out.

On a side note, from the party, I found 3 factors that might sweep most ladies off their feet
1. Jewels and clothes (that Jade designed)
Most of the girls were just "stuck" in her office trying out the various precious stones, clothes and accessories. Since it's Christmas and most have their end-of-year bonus, shopping was also on the agenda.

2. Chocolate cake
NOT JUST ANY chocolate cake. IT WAS AWFULLY CHOCOLATE! Why hasn't anyone introduced this to me before?!?!? A bite into the cake, I so shocked by the smooth "chocolaty texture" and the creaminess. Some of the guys who were like me (see Awfully Chocolate for the first time) quickly asked for the store's location. AC has an interesting business concept - NO display, ALL white shop, 3 items on menu -> Chocolate cake, Banana Chocolate cake and Rum & Raisin Chocolate cake. Awfullyyyy chocolate.... I awfully want more...

3. An intimate dance
Not really salsa though. Although salsa can be very intimate but most people don't go into a deep level of intimacy during the dance. The dance that I'm refering to is Bachata. I find that Bachata is a very mesmerizing dance to watch. I've been recommending this dance to a few of my friends who are already attached. Singles... well, unless sufficiently open-minded. Hahaha.. I myself feel that I am not ready to dance Bachata very intimately with any girl from the dance floor.....yet. =P Anyway, salsa is good enough for now.

Rainy Singapore

Tonight is a very wonderful night. It's raining heavily outside but being here in the comfort of my room is just... heavenly. Recently, it has been raining quite often in Singapore. I don't like going to work in this kind of weather but I suppose I have no choice. I realised that this year will be my FIRST year that I don't have a long Christmas/New Year break. Previously, school holidays would've been covered through this festive season. Although I have been working since last year, I did fly back to Singapore on Christmas day and had a good two week break until January. So, what's in-store for Christmas this year? .... Another realisation -> Christmas = New Year is coming -> Current Year ending -> OMG!! How time flies!

Anyway back to this rainy topic. Rain, more rain, I've lost my blogging mood again.. Hmm.. Don't know what to blog about. Had this amount of rain poured on Chennai, the city would have been left paralysed. I'm sure I'd have to swim to work.

Many people today have complain of the bad weather - heavy rains = stay indoors. Most of my salsa classmates today were all unhappy with the rain. As for myself, I had already planned to go home from work early today. I've been coughing quite a lot recently. It is very irritating. I've tried the usual "pi pa gao" but doesn't seem to help much. Today trying out another supposedly more effective "pi pa gao" with additional herbs which are better for the lungs, etc. Hopefully this will help.

The Most Happening Wedding Ceremony of 2006!!

2 weeks ago, the whole bunch of us left from PGP to attend the wedding ceremony of our good friend, Ah Loon. 26th November this year is supposedly the most auspicious day for the current lunar year of the Dog. Next year's most auspicious day would be sometime in March according to Ker Ying whose sister is working in the hotel industry. One would have to book the restaurant or hotel many months before to hold the event on the auspicious day.

This is actually the first time for most of us to attend a friend's wedding. The experience is very different and more personal. The restaurant's ballroom exterior looked very factory-like and not "grand" as its name suggests. However, when we got inside, we had a pleasant surprise. Ah Loon was dressed up in white (白马王子?) and all smiles greeting us at the main entrance. We arrived relatively early for the event at 630pm. Somehow, as a tradition for most Chinese wedding ceremonies, invitation is for 630pm but dinner will only start at 8pm. (Singapore although most still have this issue but there are some families who have tried to changed the system by putting a note to thank people for attending the ceremony on time in their invitation cards - it worked most of the time as reported by Straits Times a few years ago.) So, we sat and waited patiently for the event to start; enjoy the free flow of red wine while chit-chatting.

When the event started at 8pm. The lights were dimmed and the couple had a grand entrance with confetti and smoke from dry-ice.

For the couple, we gave them a LOUD and loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong yam seng. 3 GREAT Cheers! Our voices took the beating the next day but it was worth the happy event.

Ah Loon was flushed red after so many drinks with people in the room.

Near the end of the event, someone suddenly suggested that we do a group song for the couple. I'm not sure whether they were daring me to go up to make the request or drunk. Hahaha.. I know I was abit drunk and I agreed to go up to the stage without any hesitation. So,...

Loon! LiJuan! Look here! 朋友我永远祝福你。。。

We took photos with the couple - guys group and girls group. Unfortunately I do not have the girls group photo with the couple so I'm not able to post here. It was a grand event. After the dinner we had a mini fun session outside the hall while waiting for our transport to come. It was definitely a lot of fun attending the dinner. Of course, CONGRATULATIONS to the couple!

Blogcrastinator

I wanted to update my blog as often as possible but I rarely find free time.... or should I say... I spend my free time lazing around or DoTA. Other than that also partially I'm rarely home... starting to be more of a "chiongster" but a healthier one -> go to salsa club which has less cigarette smoke and less ear-damaging-music-volume.

Looking back, I realise I've been dancing everyday since Friday. Friday night, went out to Union Square -> Danced a lot and came back quite late because I missed the last train heading West so I took the last train heading East then changed to the North without reading the sign (which said that the last stop is Kranji)... Blur blur I slept until Kranji when suddenly the MRT driver blew his whistle; a guy sitting next to me tap me to wake me up and got off at Kranji. Unhappy I had to find a way back from Kranji at about 1245am. No bus except 160. Took that until it passes near enough to my place then had a long walk back.

Saturday, had my make-up lesson as I had missed last Sunday's lesson for attending Loon's wedding ceremony (that reminds me... I need to blog about this too... hehehe... I'm really lagging). During Saturday lesson, I surprised the girls from the class as I smoothly guided them through the moves taught that day. Due to the extensive club trainings I have learnt to break free from my instructors voice and feel the music myself thus making learning salsa alot easier. I can see the amazement on the face of one girl who suddenly felt enlightened learning the new moves as I led her well... Hahaha *proud*

Then Sunday class.. dance some more, yesterday went to Union Square again, practise dance some more.. today went to Union again.. dance some more... tomorrow I have invitation to some salsa dance session with a group "fresh meat"... am considering whether I should go or not. blah.... I think my blog post is very random today, whatever I think of I just poured out everything. I'm in a super sleepy mode too. I need sleep~ 1,2,3, ,5,6,7 *zzzz*

Some reflections

November 2006 is ending, soon it will be December and then another new year will be here. Time seem to fly so fast when I think about what happened over the past year. Last year at this time, I was struggling with the rainstorms of Chennai. I would post weekly updates on things that happen in India . I am glad that I have done so too. Since I don't have a personal diary or logbook, this is my only account of events that happened previously. Reading them brought back plenty of memories which are quite interesting and that shaped my change.

2006 has been quite an eventful year. Before I wait until December 31st to make a check on whether I have achieved my goals or not, I will do a quick reflection and plan for 2007. Some time ago, it was quite funny when I think about my current situation. As in few weeks ago, I suddenly woke up to a realisation that I'm no longer a student. I realised that I no longer enjoy December holidays nor do I have long semester breaks. My "work calendar " starts in April and end in March (based on financial year and when I am given more paid-leaves =P. But not long ago, I am still looking at life as if I'm still following the NUS academic calendar. I am sad that I no longer have long holidays.

Previously I wrote down 3 "simple" new year resolutions. Of the 3 changes I set, only 1 - Exercise regularly is being followed till end of year. Eat healthily? Well, I tried but failed. Not easy when too busy with work and food from hawker center is so unhealthy. Once in awhile I would do my own cooking - steam everything =P but that was before I moved into this new project. I only did cooking between July to early September. After that, got too busy and too lazy to cook. Continue learning? If it was on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is least achieved to 10 as satisfactory, I would say I have only done a 3 or 4. I haven't been reading as much as I would have back in India. But learning other skills, maybe..... which brings me to Salsa again. Hahaha...

For the past few blog posts, I have been talking about Salsa. But it's because there's so much to say about it as I'm currently very into it. It is quite funny that my friend has been asking me to take up salsa since June or July but I hesistate. In August or September, another friend has shown keen interest and asked me to go take up lessons together with him as well. I hesistate another few months until finally agreeing that I need a kick-in-the-butt and be dragged to lessons. I told him to just force me along and ignore all my reasons for not wanting to join. I am glad that I made that resolve. Although a few days before lessons begin, I was again feeling against joining. However, I went anyway and now my feet can't stop moving.... kinda. Hahaha... Lessons are fun. Going to salsa club is even more fun but takes lots of courage to dance with girls who are better than me. I'm not implying that I have the courage because so far, all the dances in the clubs that I had were with friends who asked their friends to volunteer to be my training partner. It is super embarassing on the first few occassions that I keep making mistakes. But as I progressed further, I can feel extra padding on my face making it feel thicker especially after Friday's session. Hopefully I can gather more courage to just dance with any girls in the club. Don't care what they think, ignore their plea for rollercoaster-turns, ignore their pleas to lock arms and focus on basics. They'll have no choice but to follow.... and I might lose another dance partner but what the heck, I need to practise to reach their level. =P

(p.s. hey ppl, I recommend joining salsa too!)

I'm back!

I bought myself a new pc last Saturday. This time a desktop. Hopefully the burglar won't think of coming back for this. (Touch wood. *cha-go-ba-hao*chapzhu*). Anyway, it feels quite different to be having a desktop again after being so used to having a laptop around. I can't bring my pc anywhere I like anymore. Oh well, I've traded off convenience and portability for power and performance. =P

After I set up my desktop, it blocked my usual walking path in the bedroom. Because of this, I accidentally kicked the bed support twice on the same foot! The toe was still fine after the first kick.. the 2nd kick, just made it turn red and immediately swollen. It was darn painful. A little unbearable too. I think the bone might've cracked. Abuthen ha.... despite of the injured toe, I don't know whether I'm crazy or just so enthu, I went for my Salsa lessons yesterday.

Initially, I thought that it would be fine for the toe since I'm wearing a shoe, everything is covered. However, my leather shoe was not comfortable at all. Exepcting it, I brought sandals to change just in case. I tried to walk out abit but I could not walk far without feeling pain. I limped from my HDB unit to the next then gave up. I changed to sandals and travelled to the studio. I changed back into my shoe and ... danced. This proves that dancing with pretty girls can take the pain away. LOL ... but after that I can feel my toe hurting again. I couldn't walk far so I changed to my sandals after limping all the way to the bus-stop. My sandals never felt more comfortable.

Hmmm.. speaking of salsa - After this 3rd lesson, I realise that my basic turns from lesson 2 suddenly become so rusty or my partner's turning is rusty. I can't feel that smooth palm turning but more of her grabbing my hands then I get stuck or I grab her hands, she gets stuck. Not only that, when the instructor lets us to "free-style" at the end of the lesson, I have to spend more than 10s thinking of my next move. Execute 1 then think another 10sec for the next move. The girl I was practising with "free-style" yesterday quite bu-shuang me. 90% of the time we were just basic-stepping. She voiced her dissatisfaction at my "fan-shu-ness" (potato-ness). Oh well.....

Another update after soooo long

Well, this time I have an excuse. It's not easy to write blog posts without a computer and internet connection. Although previously I said I wanted to post about changes in my work and lifestyles, after more than 2-3weeks, I can't seem to "pen"/type out what I had in mind back then. I suppose I should've kept a diary or something so I could recollect my thoughts and reflect on those issues later. Hmmmm....

Updates from me - The IT guy without a computer is like fish without water? Well, I did have initial withdrawal syndromes. It's like restless nights, nausea, occassional vomitting and not forgetting uncontrollable spasms...... Kidding! Of course, by now most of you should already know to read my posts with a pinch of salt. Just in case, I'll clarify that I did not experience those symptoms :). Let's maintain the status quo (whatever that means. I think I abused the term.... will check out dictionary later. Been hearing the term 'status quo' very often these days from the news, at work, tv shows...). Anyway, not having a computer ain't that bad. All that happened is that I no longer can spend my nights defending the Frozen Throne or the Tree of Life owning my opponents while they sleep. I don't get to chat online very often and I've been deprived of all my animes in this "Golden Anime Season". But then again, I've not been disconnected that much. I'm still able to access news from the office and read my emails.

Life really isn't that bad without a computer. Over the past 2 weeks, so much has happened. I've started my Salsa lessons. In fact, I have just finished my 2nd beginner class today. It is a lot of fun to lead my partner front, back, side and then turn her, then turn some more, if not enough, turn her again till she can't take it =P. Everyone in the class is enjoying themselves as we all laugh at our mistakes as we learn. I'm sure it will be even more fun as the lessons progressed because I'll learn more variations. Before I think too far, I need to work on my basics and following the rhythm. Quick-quick....slow. Quick-quick....slow. Quick-quick....slow.

Who stole my cheese?

I came home yesterday night feeling very happy with the wonderful night drizzle. While walking back, I was thinking of a blog post about – “Who moved my cheese?”. I wanted to post about changes in my work and lifestyles. However, I was stunned and horrified by the opened windows and grills of my rented HDB unit.

I looked into the house and immediately saw that the bedroom doors were all opened. The inside was all messy. I rushed into the house already knowing that my laptop is definitely gone. On entering my room, I found my luggage bag pulled out from the cupboard. My table was messed up - Laptop definitely missing. I went over to the table hoping that they’ll at least spare my external hard disk drive…. But no… they took my drive while leaving its pouch behind (b*******!). I went over to CY’s room and discovered that his laptop was also gone. So, I frantically searched for the police hotline. I was wondering whether I should call 999 or 995 or maybe the police station number if I do have. Anyway, after a short dilemma, I just dialled everyone’s favourite MRT station number – wun-be-der-wun-be-der-wun-be-der. The operator on the other side answered “Police emergency”. Again I was stunned. Is this an emergency? Will I be fined for abuse? (What the hell was I thinking???). Anyway, I told them my issue and the officer just said that he’d dispatch someone over.

The police came about 30mins later and I described to them my statement. They did some dusting for fingerprints. I’m not sure how much it would help. I always felt that in reality it is not like what they show on TV where criminals are caught immediately after their fingerprints are known. I lost my precious white Macbook which I recently repaired a logic board problem! Grrr… Other than that, I lost my red bag, camera as well as a bag of 20c coins. My housemate lost his laptop, bag, Malaysian IC (!!!), driving license (!!!), cologne and some RM. Interestingly although they ransacked my bedroom; they dragged out my luggage bag, they did not touch my Indian rupees although it would’ve given them a nice S$50.

Ah well as my initial intention to write about “Who moved my cheese”, yea… this is one good example as well. My cheese has been taken away and I’ll need to find new cheese. ZzZzZz

Goodbye St. Michael's.....

News Article from Borneo Bulletin

I am saddened to hear that my alma matter has finally succumbed to financial difficulties. This issue has been there for quite some time ever since I entered secondary. I had so many fond memories of the school. It used to be one of the most prestigious school in Brunei to study in. The boys of St. Michael's School winning academic and sport competitions over and over back in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those were the days when it was a very proud thing to say that I'm from St. Michael's. By the time I'm in Secondary 4, the student population has dropped so significantly that there were only about 25 students in my Sec 4 class - Arts & Science students combined. In addition to that, our school facililties have also deteriorated with lack of facilities. We had to borrow lab equipment from our sister school for normal practical sessions. At times, we had to "save" by having everyone watch the teacher perform the experiment and that's it. For the exams, we had to sit for it in our sister school as we did not have the necessary equipment.

It is quite strange that this all-boys school would suffer while the sister all-girls school is still flourishing. I suppose parents still prefer to send their daughters to all-girls school compared to their sons to an all-boys school. As the newspaper reported, some parents are clearly unhappy with the merger. I wonder if this merger would last or simply disappear after this current batch of students graduate. It makes me as an old boy (usual way of refering to SMS alumni), what should I be doing now? What can I do for the school or should I bother? It is a disturbing thought that I just acknowledge the school closure without feeling much sympathy. Perhaps, I'm just not sure what to feel at the moment.

I wonder what the other old boys think of this situation? Maybe they have no idea what is going on. I do know that alot of them are highly successful professionals in the US and UK. Before this newspaper report, I did not even know that Brunei has a high ranking Chinese 2nd Foreign Minister who is also an old boy. This makes me feel that I should do something to follow my fellow old boys in their glory ...... and more specifically for my own sake.

~ Veritas Vincit ~

2 Interesting Videos

Light View on Singapore History


Original song by Billy Joel with a collage of pictures and lyrics

Here's a wiki-explanation of this song: We Didn't Start the Fire

Long absence

Yo! Minna-san!!! CY-desu~~~~! HOOOOOooooo~!

It has been almost 3 months since the last post. Many of you had been wondering where are my new blog updates. SAY! SAY! SAY! I've not updated mainly because I can't seem to find a good topic to blog about. Now, since it's been a long time so I have an excuse to update it. Hahaha... =P

Now, for updates on CY happenings:

1. Java 2 1.4 Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP)
Over the past 2months or so, I've been preparing for the SCJP exam. It was quite a funny experience to be doing Java again after being exposed to TPF (Assembler). (Warning: Technical Stuff. l33t? w00t~) I was able to appreciate some of the subtleties that was taken from granted especially on optimization of code and memory allocation. The most interesting part was I felt like an expert when it comes to bitwise operations and logically operate on them. Had quite a good training in Chennai on these. Back in Chennai, one of my TPF trainer's wife is a Java programmer so he told us that TPF can do etc etc etc. We play with memory and stuff such that but when his wife tells him all about Struts and Object Orientation, he just goes "wow~!".
Anyway, I took the certification exam on Aug 31st at Informatics Computer School (Jurong east). I am quite surprised when I went to Informatics. When I got there, my first reaction was "Where am I? Am I still in Singapore?". I had to look behind me to see where I walked from to confirm that I am still in Singapore. Hahaha.... There's so many Africans around that I don't think that they are from any one country in Africa. It must be quite a diverse population there. Interesting but strange as I don't see many people with dark skin around shopping centres.

2. Salsa?
Recently (maybe not so recent), one of my colleagues has started (completed) learning beginner salsa. So, he's been asking me to try it out and go dancing at the clubs. I feel interested but at the same time a little hesitant. I went with him to one of the salsa events to have a feel of how it was like. This happened about 2 months ago. We went to Hard Rock Cafe on their Salsa Thursday? At that time, my friend usually goes to another salsa club and it was also his first time there. We were there to check out how it was like. I find that the place is quite nice and not many people smokes. There are still some but it's not like when coming out of the place, you find that your clothes stink of smoke. Anyway, this place is filled with "experts". Quite a lot were doing advance moves, twisting and turning that I am just in awe watching them. I can't dance in such a place yet... will just feel paiseh in front of so many Pros. Now, recently I forgot how it started but I have gotten the interest of another friend to Salsa. He's also had no dance experience like me and is very very keen to go. Hahaha... Most probably this coming Tuesday, we'll all head out to a "beginner level club" to get a better feel of how it's like and then take a course.

3. Night Cycling
Ah, this was quite a fun event. There were 8 of us who went for this event organized by the PGP gang. Credits to Jenfi for planning to route out. It isn't easy to find the roads and we had to change the routes along the way as the originally planned route is impossible for a group of first time night cyclers. The original route was almost covering the whole of East, Central and West of Singapore. It was planned for like from ECP to Changi Airport then to Bishan then to Upper Thomson Road then to Holland Village? to West Coast park to CBD to Katong and back to ECP. Scary.. Hahaha.. Anyway, we did first cycle to Changi Airport and then to Changi Village for supper. This is the first time I saw planes taking off from Changi airport other than being inside the departure hall. I just love seeing planes take off. I don't know why but I just enjoy seeing them take off (as one of the AIESECer alumni put it - Penguin effect - shall explain more of this "Penguin effect" in next post.... qua.... depends on my mood and inspiration ha :P). Thinking about this, I sometimes curse my poor eyesight else I might've been a Captain? Don't know... Hahaha. Seems fun. Oh well......

Hmm....It seems that I've posted quite a long post here. I shall stop here to allow you all to digest this long post.

A New Beginning

Finally... after 4 long months, today I'm having some good directions. Hopefully with this first step, I'll regain my motivation which I had and start chasing my dreams again. YEAH!

Captain Jack Straw's compass

Yesterday I went to watch Pirates of Carribean 2. I've not seen the first episode so I have no idea what happened then. The thing that struck me was the magical compass that will point to the direction of what you seek the most. I'm guessing that in the first movie, Captain Jack was led to some valuable treasure successfully. *Minor Spoiler alert (in "invisible" ink)* - "In this one, the compass seems broken. Jack is shown as if he knows what he wants the most - Key to Dead Man's chest.... but the compass points in all directions indicating that his heart is not set and he isn't sure what he really wants." .

It would be nice if I had such a compass but it just strikes me as well that it might not give me a heading at all. The other day I was talking with a friend at Taka, it was weird that he hit me with the same question that slapped me hard and woke me up in Dec 2004 (@NLDS Singapore). My friend was reflecting on a situation that happened to him at that exact location few years ago and he was pondering on then and now. Anyway, the question was phrased differently but the answer to be given is the same. It has minimal impact compared to NLDS. After 1 n 1/2years of thinking, no answer yet except maybe I was given a shock and charged with motivation that lasted for more than a year. Now I'm wandering again, drifting along with life, swept from side to side.... Where's my heading I ask?

Need to set an aim for myself.

Determination. Courage. If it is to be, it is up to me.

Of French football & my conspiracy theories

This world cup has been quite an interesting one. The weak teams were cleared in the group stages (no surprise there) and the big teams (expected to win - Brazil, Germany, England) were all wiped out before the semi-finals (except Germany). I was half-surprised (after miracle 1 - against Spain and 2 - against Brazil) that France won last night's semi-final match against Portugal. The band of gOLDen men whose average age is in the late twenties? I'm not very sure about this as I did not do a research on them so this is purely speculative. It is interesting to note that they were struggling through the group games. Although they have not yet won the World Cup, I am predicting that they would.. this year.

I was never a supporter of the French football team but I would like to see them win this one. The main reason is because it will be the ultimate retirment dream of one of the best football players in the world - Zinedine Zidane aka The Magician. The strange thing is that... I have not personally often see him play (for reasons that I don't usually watch Real Madrid or France matches). But the wonderful things I've heard about his skills and some video clips that I watched, it is really a wonder how someone is able to control the ball with such grace and strike with precision. Of course, I don't doubt other footballers ability as there are many others who are of equal or maybe better. Here's a clip on Zidane. He has this particular turning move that fools people chasing him down often. On a side note, Zidane actually belongs to the minority in France as his parents were both Algerians. I remember reading somewhere back in December during the racial riots, Zidane was asked to play a role in urging for peace (I could be wrong).

As for France reaching the finals, I have 2 theories that I thought of. One is that the French coach is a very cunning man. He creates a ploy for other teams to think that France is weak in the group stages. Once out of the group stages, they unleash their true power. Another is that related to Zidane and that football is controlled by money. The teams lost on purpose because they were paid well so that the movie will depict Zidane as the greatest footballer of this era. Of course, these are just theories so don't quote me. On the other hand, France might've just been lucky or they enjoy the winning charm of being the underdogs. France defeat to Senegal in 2002 was shocking. I think they've made a good rebound.

Lets watch and see what the final result of this world cup would be. Italy or France? Who do you choose?

Happy 23! =P

2 days ago, the PGP gang came over to celebrate my birthday. The night before, I slept early so I could catch the WC match at 3am. When I woke up, I had a nice surprise seeing the "posters" sticked at my door by my housemates. As for the night celebration, it was a little unexpected although during the day people were occasionally dropping hints that they'll wanna overturn my house. Nice surprise. =P Hadn't had pizza for a long time so ordered 4 extra large pizzas for 10 people. There was also an initial debate on the size and number of pizzas to order. End of day, the four pizzas were cleared and plenty of "snacks" (pringles, mixed nuts and fish crackers). Thanks for the wonderful celebration! :D