You play what number one?

You Are the Individualist

4 You are sensitive and intuitive, with others and yourself. You are creative and dreamy... plus dramatic and unpredictable. You're emotionally honest, real, and easily hurt. Totally expressive, others always know exactly how you feel.

What number are you?

My last 26 minutes..

of my teenage years that is.. what were you thinking? My life?

Funny enough.. I just got back awhile ago from a wake.. My greatgrandmother's brother passed away 2 days back.. Heard that it was his birthday as well.. or was his birthday the day he was admitted into hospital?

Anyway, think death has become a very real part of my life in recent years..although i've said that before.. that similar feeling came back again tonight.. How fitting it was that I was reminded, in my last few hours of teenage life, that death WILL become a bigger part of my life as I grow up. How coincidental it was that today, as I observe the passing of a fellow human, I will be looking forward to celebrating my birthday tomorrow 21 years ago.. People come, people go.

I haven't been bloggin' much these days.. maybe the novelty of it has worn off.. ,aybe I'm just pure lazy... HAH! I 've got a list of things I wanna blabber about.. btw..

Was wondering as I was browsing through some blogs juz now... what's the purpose when people blog? To tell others' of our comings and goings? To write it as you would a diary? To gain popularity? How sincere, upfront, honest are people with their blogs? Do we wanna read blogs that show only 1 side of people? The side that we are all "supposed" to know? That "Mr Goody-2-shoes" side? whadyya think?

The cats are making out I think.. weird noises in the middle of the night.. Get a room, for goodness' sake! or dig a hole or sumthin'.

My traffic police test is up in a couple of weeks.. scheduled revisions for 27/11, 02/12, 06/12... test is on 07/12.. hope i pass.. I WANNA DRIVE!!!

Work today was pretty good.. started a fantasy league team and joined my campmate's league... although I'm already 2 games behind.. whateva.. I'd bring out the fergie in me.. had games day today.. camp-wide that is.. was raining... so played table-tennis (thrashed all).. and badminton.. and now my right forearm aches like crazy..

I've always wanted to blog this.. always forget.. I must confess.

I have a soft spot for the elderly..or at least i think i do.. I cringe whenever I hear that some ah-por (elderly lady) or ah-kong (elderly man) that are somehow someway related to me, fell down a) the stairs b) in the toilet c) in the shopping centre... ok not funny..ya but that's how i really feel.. worse still if it's my grandmother or greatgrandmother (or mama as we call her)..

There's another thing..

I have a soft spot for having "inspiration" whenever I'm in the toilet.. small/big business.. showering..shaving.. brushing my teeth.. whatever.. I will have ideas of stuff I wanna blog.. or do..or some creative ideas for my work.. or I will remember things that I might have forgotten ten minutes ago... I once said and read that the reason for my recent short term memory is that I worry too much.. Don't ask me what I worry about though.. So maybe the reason I have all these ideas and recollections in the toilet is because I truly feel at ease in the toilet.. My toilet.. My haven.

Oh and talking about small/big business.. I sorta "clinched" a deal whilst on the throne having the runs... ok disgusting.. you see.. I'm the Finance Clerk of my unit.. so I have to buy stuff and blah x3.. So recently we ran out of funds.. needed a top up.. So there I was.. struggling on my throne when I decided to call Ms Joyce.. the lady who can fund the top up... Whipped out the phone.. made a call.. explained my situation and there! $12000 in our account.. I felt good after that incident.. in both ways if you know what I mean.. Maybe it's cos' I'm an old bird there already.. got approx. 11 months to go.. before I shout that special 3 letters..

Awhile back I thought to myself..the reason why I don't go out much after work or school last time is because I hate getting home too late.. cos that would mean little time before the next working or school day.. Always fail to realise that the reason i'm home late is because i probably had fun outside in the first place.. then I would get all down and depressed.. so i stayed home a lot.. no life..but that's too dim a view and perspective for a rather momentous and joyous occasion such as today...

Going for lunch with Terry & Dennis tomorrow, whom I've known since the time we were into Power sandals and maybe even before that.. there were great times that we shared.. Dennis' head in the railings.. Rachel storming past us when we were talking 'bout her at the squash court..oops! our bicycle trips to Jurong Entertainment Centre.. with my tyres punctured on the way back.. not forgetting our football matches at the former sand pit.. with the occasional match against em' Japs.. mind you those kids few years younger than us could play well and the girls packed a rather mean shot.. but those times for another entry some other time..

Was tellin' Terry the other day.. maybe we should write a book about our lives here in Flynn Park.. after all I recognise no other place in Singapore as my home.. than this cool corner in the southwest of Singapore.. so whaddya think, FPG?? Terry? Dennis? Jon?

For the benefit of those who weren't able to be part of this amazing childhood cos' you probably resided somewhere else.. FPG stands for Flynn Park Gang.. we were also the Never Read Book Gang (Dennis and I).. and for the record.. Flynn Park did not have any pretty residents.. does not have any pretty residents.. will never (i think) have any pretty residents.. Hah!

Btw.. shout out to Leonard Hoon Bee Hoon!! who sang Kiss from a rose (with actions and the appropriate emotions) in the baby pool one afternoon.. who always shouted/cursed at/screamed at his grandmother, who was always leaning against the balcony wall, from the pool.. The supervisor once said that she had to do that cos' the wall was falling... now that I'm in the army.. I know where his quote came from..

It seems I'm having lots of fun recalling my younger days.. how befitting that this should happen on the day I turn 21.. it's 1224hrs by the way.. So maybe we SHOULD write that book, huh Terry?

I'm going to go to play captain's ball with my 2 champion teams at angela's block before having a party at the bbq pit.. celebrating my birthday with valerie.. have already made a mental not e and set a reminder to go to the Video Ezy shop to get free voucher..(birthday deal) and maybe Swensen's.. free ice-cream.. super cheapo huh? :)

Diana called me just now... chatted for awhile.. asked her whether she read my sms.. (not to be printed here of course..).. she said she could sense the sincerity and how much I meant that sms.. my response? I'm glad we chose SingTel to be our service provider.. remember that ad with the father and the daughter and how their love could travel across countries.. I'm glad mine travelled from Telok Blangah to Bukit Merah..

You know.. I actually tot of writing myself a card.. wishing myself Happy Birthday.. and signing off from myself.. I know it's lame.. it's just for the fun of it lah.. but kinda waste money... so scrapped the idea..

I'm glad i wrote this entry.. one of my favs of all time..

Thank you God, for helping me kick this procrastination/laziness out of my system.. Thank you God for preserving my life.. giving me a comfortable life. Thank you God, for choosing me out of millions to be your child..

Happy Birthday, Terence!

P.S. Those felines are still at it..

Po-Piah-Aii-yoh!

Just woke up from yesterday's popiah party at my home which was, hmm.. good in some ways and bad in others.. My mother's care group was invited over to have popiah and kueh-pai-tee for lunch.. And so the peeps came.. Audrey came whilst I was still asleep, followed by Diana and Esther, then Uncle Dennis and his family.. then Uncle Cliff and Auntie Annie.. then I can't remember anymore.. But what pissed me off was there were some people who weren't in the care group but were here! I know they were at my grandmother's invitation (who could question them, right?) but I thought it was supposed to be a care group thing?

I know Christians are supposed to be loving and all, but show some logic here.. Why not invite other non-care group members? Say.. those who are new to Angora to reach out to them; those who are usually on the periphery of church-related activities, to encourage them to be more participative? But.. who was I to comment on or question the invitation? I would be hung, brought out to be sun-dried, chewed up and spit out by her.. okay I'm exaggerating.. but something of a cold stance against me would ensue for a good 3 to 4 days..

Ok.. so come and eat.. eat and eat.. eat eat eat.. park your silly asses at my dining table and eat away.. without consideration for those who haven't eaten.. it's supposed to be popiah not a ten course dinner y'know?

I was also reminded of a particular individual who once labelled me too cheena to have possibly been in NgeeAnn's supposedly "English-speaking" Mass Communication course.. oh whateva.. the follies of youth.. how naive. Don't they know that bilingual (and i don't mean being able to just curse/swear in both languages) mass communicators are what's current in the media today? I mean just look at Diana Ser, who speaks fluent English and Mandarin whenever she's a TV journalist/news presenter for MediaWorks' news channels. Oh go on and be blinded by what you think is hip, cool and funky.. go and hang with your English group.. We'll see whether you make it pass the mandatory written test for all mass comm wannabes..

I was also told that a prominent individual in church was heard telling the "truth" about my grandmother's cooking.. In front of my grandmother, she can be heard praising her cooking; behind her back, that lady was telling others that she "had to say those things because my grandmother had put in effort... blah blah blah.. pure lie= lie, white lie= lie.. Shouldn't you have known that, Mrs "No mind of your own"? In my opinion you just didn't dare offend my grandmother.. Piss off.

I don't understand why my parents' care group members have to consistently ferry the pastor around... Granted he doesn't drive, used to have problems walking, Christians have to be nice, BUT, I have on many occasions seen how this kindeness was abused and taken for granted. Is there no bus, no taxi? That you have to rely on the fire engine or the ambulance(private joke)? It's also funny enough how some people think that young adults cannot be counted on for things like leading in ministries/feedback, whilst others in the church highly recommend we get involved in these things.. I guess some people are just different.

Anyway, Diana, Esther Chan, Audrey, Annabel and I were contented with playing Puzzle fighter on the PS2 yesterday night.. Watched Singapore Idol afterwards and The Champion concurrently..

It's down to 4 in SI.. Taufik, Sylvester, Olinda and Deaf-phne. I think Syl did well yesterday.. maybe it's cos' the genre suited him.. he should be glad that yesterday's Asian Pop genre came at such a crucial stage in the competition. Why crucial? You see, out of the 4 finalists.. we know little Daphne is the weakest. Her rendition of Penny Dai's Wo Yao De Ai sounded a lot like an 8-year old girl trying to win Jerry Yen's heart with the song.. Yet however, she like another undeserving finalist and rumoured boyfriend, Christopher Lee, has a fanbase comparable to the number of people who queued up for Hello Kitty at McDonald's few years back.. Ok.. exaggerate again.. but I'm sure their crazy pubescent fans would have dumped their entire allowance on sms and phone calls to the SI hotline voting for IDOL 1. So barring the situation where Daphne's fans haven't got enough money to keep her in the competition, it's a 2 horse-race between tomboyish Oli and relac-one-corner Taufik towards elimination.. I thought that of the 2, Taufik fared worse.. So he's my call for the chop..

I haven't been totally caught up with this entire SI fever as yet.. my sms count for MediaCorp's version of the immensly popular AI still remains at nil. However, I have no qualms dialling 1900 112 1903 or sms-ing 3 to '43657' to vote for Mr "cheena-pok rocker" Sylvester should the need arise.. I might just do that.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat passed away this week. Labelled a "significant moment in Palestinian history" by US President George W. Bush, rather I think it's a more significant moment in the revelation of the chronicles of the Bible, with regards to the Palestine people and their relations with Israel, God's chosen nation, in their quest for a independent state. Maybe I'm wrong.. But this is just my observation, be it skewed or not..

It's weird how I only tune into news channels like BBC or CNN on Cable TV only when major happenings occur around the world. There were the 9/11 attacks, the capture of Saddam and now the death of Arafat.. i'm sure there were others which have surely slipped my mind..

Okay.. joke time..

What's worse than having a pimple in 1 nostril?
A pimple in each nostril

I read somewhere the other day of a lady answering, if my memory doesn't fail me, a question from the British version of "Who wants to be a millionaire?"...

Host: Which team has players whose nicknames are the Galaticos?
British lady: Galatasary.
Terence: !?!!?!?!

Come on everybody!
I say now let's play a game
I betcha I can make a rhyme out of anybody's name
The first letter of the name, I treat it like it wasn't there
But a B or an F or an M will appear
And then I say bo add a B then I say the name
and Bonana fanna and a fo
And then I say the name again with an F very plain
and a fee fy and a mo
And then I say the name again with an M this time
and there isn't any name that I can't rhyme

Arnold!
Arnold, Arnold bo Barnold Bonana fanna fo Farnold
Fee fy mo Marnold Arnold!

But if the first two letters are ever the same,
I drop them both and say the name like
Bob, Bob drop the B's Bo ob
For Fred, Fred drop the F's Fo red
For Mary, Mary drop the M's Mo ary
That's the only rule that is contrary.

Let's try..

Arafat!
Arafat, Arafat bo Barafat Bonana fanna fo Farafat
Fee fy mo Marafat
Arafat!

A quickie...

Manchester derby up next.. quick prediction.. United to win 3-1..goals from smith, giggs, scholes...

just a hunch lah.. we'll see how accurate it is..

A combination of factors, really..

Wah.. It's been almost 2 weeks since I last put out an entry.. and I have many things on hand to write about...Let's start..in chronological order..

During the Manchester United vs Arsenal match, I remember, that as the tackles were flying in fast and hard and both teams were on the verge of a brawl, a certain Brazilian by the name of Edu, either maintained a distance from the Red Devils or sought to be the peacemaker between both teams. Strange no? Not really, you see, Edu has been linked to Man United as his contract with the Gooners runs out next June. Surely he wouldn't want to piss off his prospective paymasters, yeah? And even if Edu doesn't move north to the prospective champions, he would still have got into the good books of his manager, who these days looks like he and his team are losing the plot in the buildup to the halfway of the Premiership season. By the way, have you noticed the uncanny coincidence both Arsenal and their manager have with their names? They both start with A-R-S-E!!

On 30th October, Ah Wai, Diana's grandmother's friend who lives with Diana's family, passed away. She was 76. We had been expecting this for a few weeks already. She's been in and out of hospital that it was almost ridiculous not to have her thoughts of her imminent death running through your mind. I visited her on the Wednesday of the week that she passed on to eternity. She looked sick, haggard and had an inflated stomach. Diana said it was hard, I didn't dare to touch. She could still speak and could remember who we were. I remember as a rather cheeky (yes, cheeky) old lady who was satisfied with simple pleasures such as rice and some dishes for her meals.

She would always come round whenever I had dinner at Diana's and flash a monkey face at me. I still remember there was once I was walking out of the kitchen and she was standing at the door. As I walked past, she laid a good fiver on my ass.. I was like ?!!?!!? She was oft lonely; seldom did people speak to her, myself included, except when they needed her to do something for them, myself not included. There she would be in the corner watching television, or on the couch in the living room, being with everyone, being around everyone. You see, her family ditched her years back. Diana and I tried asking Ah Wai about it that Wednesday, but she quickly replied, albeit curtly, "Boh, boh kia." (No, I don't have kids/family.) I also fondly remember those times during my polytechnic days. I would go to Diana's house for dinner and there she would be, watching tv in her corner while we had dinner.. We would shout out her name and then pretend that we didn't call her.. Sometimes I wondered what her "blur" face meant.. Did she know we were playing tricks on her? Anyway, she's gone to a better place. To be with Jesus. Diana was regretful that she didn't give Ah Wai as good a life as she wanted to. I agreed. Yet, I assured Diana that if there was anyone who really cared for and thought for Ah Wai, it was herself.

The wake was on Saturday night and the funeral was the next day. I kept watch during the night, with Ben and then later on with Christina, Serena and Michelle, all Diana's cousins.. As I begin to grow up, I realise how painful and near death has been to me. I watched Aunty Shirley (Jennifer's mum) die before my eyes and now I see Ah Wai, a lady whom I met just three days before she died, die. If Aunty Shirley's death was real to me (umm.. I actually saw the heartbeat monitor go.. beep.. beep.. beep.. beep.........................) , surely Ah Wai's was. Like Uncle Yau Seng said in church, when someone dies, it's those who're left behind that feel the pain and heartwrench. Goodbye then, Ah Wai. I hope to meet you again someday, in paradise, where there will be no more tears, no more worries, no more pain.

As Diana might have already pointed out though she didn't need to, it was quite obvious, there was zay-roh cell group member during the wake or funeral service, barring me and Valerie and Debra. We had to be there lah.. Initially, I thought that they hadn't received my sms.. but a quick check with Valerie showed that they did.. So, what's the deal? What's the excuse? Where is that brotherly/sisterly love/maturity that we once so proudly lay claim to? That once so-called togetherness that distinguished us from the other cell? Sigh, it's all a surface thing don't you see? Yes the other group seemed childish/immature initally, but looked where they are today? Their enthusiasm to meet and go out together sets them apart from us. Like I told Diana, let's then try not to have expectations. What for? Your world will only seem smaller and you'll be more miserable..chill.

I went back to Alfa, the place where I now cut my hair, that day. The last time the lady cut my hair which was about 2 weeks back, it hadn't been short enough. She was nice enough not to charge me, except for a wash, which was good by the way. Think Diana can't wait to go there for a cut..

I went to Ikoi this monday, 1st November, for dinner. It was Ikoi's anniversary.. So there was a lot of "special" dishes served.. saw my supposed lookalike Christopher Lee (the Singapore Idol outcast), at Miramar Hotel... went there with my family, Diana and Valerie and her family, which included Debra "I-can-eat-a-lot" Yuen and Jeanette, whom I usually cheer up (actually it's disturb..) whenever she cries. I was looking forward to the good meal.. I remember thinking about it on the morning itself as I wasgoing to work.. ah well that was good.. We headed to Haagen Dazs afterwards and I had myself a Chocolate Decadence along with a great time overall..

Awhile ago, Miss Wong, the AAO (Asst. Admin Officer) of HQ SWI wanted to remove our weekend offs for duty.. She was duly supported by the ISM, SWO Jeffrey.. And so it was nearly cast in stone till THAT evening at roll call. Comd SWI/CO SAFWOS wanted to talk to us because certain NSFs in HQ SWI (the new unit that occupies the 4th floor of my unit's building; the HQ whom we're under) were taking a ridiculous amount of MCs given their short stay at HQ SWI. After COL Kuek finished with that, he proceeded onto the topic I was waiting to hear.. I still remember standing in the front row.

COL Kuek: As for your weekend duty, if you do them, go for your off. Take your duty off. I'm the Commander, I call the shots.

I was like... ??!? whaa?! Power leh this guy.. Immediately I would have gone to work if he asked me to.. Sorry to say this.. but maybe this is why he's an officer, he knows how to motivate his men. Hehheheh.. boy was I delighted.. and so were my mates!!

I went for JWOC [a course attended by Master Sergeants (MSG)] team building last friday, 05/11/2004, at Kent Ridge Park. I volunteered as it was near my place. I went for the recce the day before.. SWO Yeoh, MWO Lim and myself, we walked through the trail.. I was showed the stuff I had to do on the actual day and then.. I got to go home!! On the day itself, (which is actually the next day) I got changed and met with the driver, medic and a MSG. The minibus couldn't start so we were delayed for about half an hour.. In the end we went in a Mercedes-Benz.. well not those luxurious ones.. its kinda like a pickup.. don't know what the proper name is.. everything went on pretty okay, except for a group who thought they had to walk from Ginza Plaza to Pepys Hill... Cock. In these 2 days, I learnt a fair bit of the office politcs that are and have been going on between the Warrant Officers in my unit.. I think that they telling me such stuff shows that I'm a old bird there already, which also means I'm gonna ORD soon.. 11 months time..should be fast lah..*winks*

I was recently approached by my immediate superior MWO Tan to submit some desgins for the new 9 DIV/HQ Infantrt logo and the new HQ SWI logo.. Well.. I've been working on them.. I actually spent the whole of yesterday doing up some possible entries.. Wonder what my bosses would think of them.. I hope mine gets chosen..

I heard this phrase somewhere.. can't remember when though.. It's "terrified, mortified, petrified, stupefied by you"... hmm..terryfied..anyway.. just thought i pen it down..or rather type it down..

Oh.. btw I've seriously got to get down to packin' my room.. think i might wanna give up my couch so that my room is less cluttered.. but i might ask for a new shelf and take that wooden CD rack from upstairs.. and I'm looking for the full lyrics to the song we sang today in church... It had "You are the God, above all gods" and "Lord, please take away my hardened heart, replace it with your own"..anyone??

I was watching a show that day and one of the characters introduced me to the 3 rings of marriage. He said that "there's the engagement ring, there's the wedding ring and there's suffering."