Saturday, December 31, 2005

as i write this now, its another five-and-a-half hours to 2006. dad's bought dinner. wanton mee. yea. eating outside food again. bleagh.

2005 has just gone by in a flash. its been a great year; had a great deal of fun really. had my fair share of fights and arguments of course. eventful. yea thats the word. i guess i haven't exactly been an angel the last 365 days. i might have come off as a jerk to some, or as some immature brat. if i did give you that impression, i apologise. but i do hope, that you have had a great year, and enjoyed it as much as i did. i won't forget many of the things that happened in the year. its gonna be sad parting with lots of people, but that's life. some partings will hurt of course, others simply a relief. gonna miss TMS, miss all the good people there. yea. hope 2006 brings more glad tidings for you guys! cheers!

i heard the crickets at 6:26 pm

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Thursday, December 29, 2005

chalet rocked man. no doubt about it. asshole tai-tee, daniel mak's vulgar tai-tee, bridge, blackjack, zhong ji mi ma, da-xiao... the works. shiok man. Escape was fun also lah, but freaking expensive sia. blew most of my work incentive on the chalet and activities. hai. then went for king kong, which was a blast, save for the couple behind us, who couldn't keep their damn mouths shut. its like crap lah; pay money for running commentary of a movie that i can very well keep up with myself... went Mac for dinner. cool sia, just to sit there, laughing ourselves silly. almost like when we were still in NP. almost. yea. i miss those friday nights, sitting at the kopitiam, and talking, just talking. i miss choking on my hor-fun thanks to someone's funny comment (don't test that theory, PLEASE). i miss irritating the kopitiam towkay coz of the space we took up, and the little food we bought. i miss those days man. hai...

transit's pretty cool. yea. started work in there today. no tables to buss, no dishes to wash. YEA! but my first day there was spoilt by this freaking rude english bloke. discriminated against asians in general man. scold asians coz must pay for computer usage; scold asians when the fella he's arguing with disagrees totally with him; scolds asians coz he thinks that being brit allows him to get away with anything. man, that guy's a jackass lah. and if that wasn't enough, he hit on khai, the duty manager, and insisted he take her out for a 'WILD' night out. ptui. not all asian girls are SPGs. he can take his sorry ass and his stupid "British empire rules the world" notion home! we don't need to earn the filthy bugger's money. if he thinks he can force himself and his opinion on others, well sorry, coz asians aren't as weak and puny as he thinks we are. he can't force his imperialistic views on others, no way. i'll cut his throat if i see him again, that bloody faggot...

i heard the crickets at 5:59 pm

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Saturday, December 24, 2005

its christmas eve! yea!

working tomorrow for the double pay. yea yea! then chalet on monday! ole ole ole! and football fever this whole week! OLE! OLE! OLE! so happy! got chips and chocolate sitting snug somewhere. man... i love christmas! everything i do now seems so merry!

pity then, that most of the holiday movies are B grade, or even worse. so far, found only ocean's eleven thats worth my time. the rest... hai... if only got cable, then can chiong football all night. must get cable for the world cup man, don't wanna miss the action...

christmas is a great time. hope all of you are enjoying yourselves! take care people!

i heard the crickets at 4:46 pm

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Friday, December 23, 2005

there are many reasons why i think so lowly of japs, and yesterday gave me even more ammo with which to shoot them with. there was this group of jap guys, professionals i guess, who came by to buy a drink. my colleague, sharie, had the great misfortune of having to serve them. this is more or less how their conversation went:

sharie: HI! how may i help you?
jap 1: ?
sharie: what would you like to have sir?
jap 1: ?
sharie: what would you like to drink sir?
jap 1: drink?
sharie: we have coffee-based iced blended..... etc etc....
jap 1 (points to board): the cofi... icsh... that oen...
sharie (pointing to the board as well): this sir?
jap 1: ar-so.. so.. yes
sharie: can i have your name or initial sir?
jap 1: ?
sharie: your name sir?
jap 1: ?
sharie: NAME?
jap 1: NAIME? my naime? ar-so.. so.. MASADA!

at this point, his friends laugh at him for being so slow to realise sharie was asking for his name. but...

sharie: your name or initial sir?
jap 2: ???

see? not very smart people right? so frustrating. it almost kills me to be at the counter sometimes...

i heard the crickets at 11:48 am

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Wednesday, December 21, 2005

watched narnia today. sneaks. not bad, but can't compare to LOTR or harry potter. this one didn't have the magic. but i did find one scene really poigant. the one at the train station. it was really moving, especially watching it from the viewpoint of peter. to have to grow up quickly, to take the responsibility of looking after all his siblings... no words can describe how i felt then. i wonder whether i have his courage, or the strength of mind, to soldier on, to look after others, should the responsiblity fall to me. can i be counted on, when the going gets tough, to protect my loved ones from harm?

i heard the crickets at 8:38 pm


the class bbq was great! all thanks to the food committee and everyone who helped out! around 20 people came, which wasn't too bad; just a pity there weren't more. hope everyone enjoyed the bbq!

it didn't strike me as acutely as it did yesterday, when either hanling or andrea said that it would probably be the last time the class would meet like in so big a group till results day. yea. it struck me real hard. i haven't had enough football with you guys, in the mud or sand, in fair days or in the rain. haven't played enough rounds of tai-tee. haven't gone for enough meals as a group. i mean, its ironic. i was so looking forward to school finishing, and when its finally over, i wish it hadn't. i will miss the class, every single one of you, whether i liked you as a person or not. every single one of you made an impact on my life in one way or another. in 3 months, we'll all be gone, in different directions for good. will miss you people...

i heard the crickets at 11:29 am

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Monday, December 19, 2005

As the clock strikes one
he lies awake
Into slumber he cannot fall
of no reason but of thought
Pine for her he cannot stop
forget her he wants not
Consumed by hurt
yet he minds not
Alas who shares his pain?
not of kith or kin
But of crickets
that cry his pain

i heard the crickets at 11:45 am

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Friday, December 16, 2005

well, a lot has been said in the international and local press about the death sentence, and no matter what people think, i believe that the death sentence will stay in Singapore, and should stay.

many human rights activists believe that the death sentence is just cruel, and violates rights ethics and all, but they miss the point. the punishment is there for a reason, and that is to punish people who have commited the most vile and repungent crimes. to argue that the death sentence on drug-related criminals is too harsh is laughable; drugs, in whatever form they come in, cause great harm to society-at-large. to say the offence is minor is rubbish. on what grounds does one pardon their heinous crimes? perhaps the fact that they only wanted to sell the drugs to fewer people then they are accused of, or that only a minority of the population suffers the effects of his dealings? the mention of other countries which view the offence as minor can also be ignored. look at the said countries. each and every single one of these countries grapples with drug-related problems. who can truly say that by classifying these offences as minor, the country, and more importantly, the people be better off?

the death sentence is used in Singapore to punish perpertrators of crimes related to fire-arms, drugs and murder. should the perpertrators of these crimes be let off with only a slap to the wrist, more like-minded criminals will come to view our country as a haven for their nefarious activities. to argue that these criminals are inhumanly treated in the process of execution is flawed; what then the people they were looking to harm? who will protect them, and ensure that their rights are not violated? perhaps the very activists who in the very first place argued for the abolition of the death sentence?

i do not mean to say that those on death row can be treated in the most savage and cruel manner. i do believe that these offenders, made of flesh like each and every one of us, have their rights, and must be treated in a manner that is neither degrading nor brutal. but to compromise on the safety of the majority so as to save the lives of vicious criminals, i absolutely do not agree.

the activists argue their stand without ever considering the possible effects of their very actions. to abolish the death sentence would be tantamount to giving the underworld the license to harm the very people whom the law is supposed to protect. we cannot allow the law to be exposed, and we must safeguard the peace we have enjoyed for a good part of four decades. the death sentence must stay, to punish those who commit the most vulgar and repulsive crimes... to ensure that the people we care for, our family, our friends, remain safe...

i heard the crickets at 6:31 pm


went for the bbq yesterday. thought it would be boring. as in BORING boring. well, thought wrong :) oi leonard! missed out man! met the ex-ex ncos for the first time in a long time. weison kena real bad yesterday. how jaime? solid not his? lol! played asshole tai-tee. shiok! only person to be the asshole 6 rounds in a row. lol. but quite a few rounds as king la. so kinda made up for it. the food was ok, but my throat now in bad shape. last night only the preview. still got chalet! ole ole ole! shiok!

which reminds me. which goondu told that stupid bald freak about the details for the chalet?! now the whole thing's gonna be marred. damn!

muthu's curry in little india! shiok! must go! went on wednesday to celebrate my dad's birthday in advance. really nice place. definitely must try!

now got a cold, and a bit of a sore throat. wonder whether i should call in sick. hmm... maybe i should...

today's results day. yea. hope all ya guys got into schools of your choice yea! good luck!

i heard the crickets at 12:28 pm

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Monday, December 12, 2005

now damn terok sia. thermal fogging. it now stinks like mad. and i'm almost suffocating to death. bleagh.

our guys lost 0-8 on saturday in the return leg. quite a few people didn't turn up. me (food poisoning), leonard (work) and jen (also work). well, according to wilson, the other team had excellent teamwork that day. and more or less ripped up our less-than-coordinated side. no manager, and so impossible to make changes to the team. well, if there was any consolation, we were short of two guys against their full team. so, they gave us their goalie, but the joker let in four more. kelong arh! that fella and his team all pakat sia. well, i ain't gonna stomach this loss. when's the next game brudders? must get revenge!

last night, well, bad. very bad. 1-1. and we've more or less kicked ourselves out of the title-race. sickening. the malaise that festers must be eliminated, starting in january. the deadwood has gotta be removed man. really. and i think, maybe fergie may leave in the summer. i believe he'd rather go on his terms, then to get sacked by glazer and the three stooges. and i hope he goes off on his own too. for all his hard work, he can't go off in disgrace man. no way.

i heard the crickets at 10:50 am

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Saturday, December 10, 2005

ok. i gotta admit. i'm a bad loser. really bad. my ego can't stand up to losing. lol. hmm. come to think of it. i've been that way since i was young. no matter who i lost to, how i lost, i would sulk. especially when i lost to my brother. never could accept that my brother could be better than me at a game. yea. that was my horrible attitude with losing. lol. still hate to lose of course. no more sulking though. just this terrible twisted feeling inside me. and this is just from games. wonder how i'll feel if i lost at something bigger, such as missing out on the 4D first prize by only 4 numbers. yea. hate to find out. and knowing my bad temper, yesh...

anyhow, onto other more cheerful things. isn't the commercial for Goldheart's new Celestial line just great? yea. it looks really polished. very chic and classy. just marvel at how it shines. the gloss. doesn't it just shimmer like nothing else in this world? yea. its a great car. fantastic.

i heard the crickets at 5:53 pm


food poisoning. yea. that's the doctor's diagnosis.

didn't feel all too good in the morning to begin with. had diarrhea. it kinda went away as the day passed. so i thought i was alright already. so i thought WRONG. my stomach didn't agree with dinner. so, more trips to the loo. hmm. lots of things to learn in there. like, you can hear the blender from my workplace in the toilet if its quiet enough. cool huh? must have come out looking really bad, cos khaizurah, my duty manager, insisted i go home, and leave the work to all the other fellas. anyway, by this point, i could visualise myself in the foetal position, a la the rich evil boyfriend from "The Wedding Crasher" (except that i'm not [a] rich [b] evil [c] attached nor [d] hugging the toilet bowl).

reached home looking half-dead. so i was whisked off to hospital. went through two different doctors who asked me the exact same questions, before they did something about my condition. kena injection to ease what the doctor called 'abdominal spasms'. then spent two hours in the observation room, wringing in pain. the injection wore off after some 40 minutes, and the pain came back. and it came back really hard. somehow, the pain eased towards the end of the 2 hours. and i was allowed to go home. reached home at 2.30, or thereabouts. didn't sleep well the whole night. the pain came back at night. and it woke me up several times during the night.

well. at least, the worst part's over. i reckon. at least, i guess. aiyah. whatever lah. the medicine's really horrible by the way. bleagh. some of the worst medicine i've tasted. yuck yuck!

i heard the crickets at 3:33 pm

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Thursday, December 08, 2005

i'm just shattered. we're out. out of the champions' league. out of all european competition. a totally insipid performance. ferguson's excuse of the team being inexperienced cannot be accepted. the current team has so many internationals from various countries, and we still can't come out of as weak a group as this alive?! the passing last night was lousy. shooting abysmal. benfica showed us how to play football. simple, flowing football. thats what they played. and thats the kind of football Manchester United is renowned for! where's the passion? where's the determination? the current team just do not have the stomach, the hunger. we must tear this team apart, and rebuild. but if only it were that simple. since glazer and his three stooges (read: his sons!) took over, all they have given the fans have been empty promises. where's the money he promised ferguson in the summer? there was none! glazer only took over the club for the money. and he's not gonna get it. chelsea and the rest of England and Europe are improving with each and every passing year. but with his iron-fisted control of the money-bags (anyway there's no money, he plunged the club into debt!), the club has not the finacial clout to challenge the other teams on the transfer market. this increasing lack of competitiness on the field, coupled with rising ticket prices will keep the fans away from Old Trafford. so glazer will never ever recoup his money. he has made the biggest mistake of his life; biting off more than he can chew! now we are ever closer to the horrible reality of being a glamourous club that simply are not good enough to win titles, just like the dark years of the 70s and 80s...

i heard the crickets at 11:12 am

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Sunday, December 04, 2005

singapore's got 40 golds! ole! we've hit the target! quite shiok sia this feeling, but would have been alot better if we had the football gold as well. still feeling sore about it. shesh.

tonight's the Star Awards (say what you want; you might think its silly, but i watch it for the funny acceptance speeches). i can't believe that "The Dragon Heroes" is a nominee for Best Drama. it had no plot, lousy actors and terrible special effects. just because its an international collaboration it receives recognition it definitely does not deserve. thats the whole problem with the entertainment industry in singapore sometimes. it never ever rewards the deserving, and gives credit to bullshit productions. so irritating. it devalues the bloody award. shesh.

anyway, enough of that. found this great gem of a show. "The Big House", which is on saturdays, in the afternoon. its done in a beijing-opera style, which is difficult to swallow for some, but its got a good plot, and it gives great depth to the characters. furthermore, it explores the shifting political and social changes of the late Qing dynasty. damn good show. pretty amusing to see how the whole show pans out.

frankly, whats happening on the south coast of england's a total farce. redknapp will be back at fratton park soon, and he's done the whole back-stabbing thing yet again. this time last year, he betrayed pompey to join old rivals southampton. now he's going in the opposite direction. i really feel for both sets of fans. both with useless, trigger-happy chairmen, and two-headed snakes for managers. really, i believe that the fans deserve better than what they are getting now. so its really good news that mandaric wants out of portsmouth within the next 3 years. by the way, Utd crushed pompey 3-0 last night. :D

i heard the crickets at 3:41 pm

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Saturday, December 03, 2005

Happy birthday Justine! and Michelle (tomorrow) and Tracy (monday)!

can smell curry. whoa! smells great. kinda hungry now. it just smells so fantastic. the air is now thick with the fragrance of the spices. YUM! pity its not mom whos cooking. hai. miss curry. lucky buggers. they've got a good cook. i wonder what mom will say if i suggest we hire that cook to be ours. LOL!

the SEA games football final's tomorrow. and singapore aren't anywhere near that showpiece. got knocked out on mon. so frustrating. the players seemed to be unwilling to win. every clear-cut chance was spurned. what? u fellas scared to claim credit for good football huh? no commitment. no spirit. come on man! my neighbourhood uncle football team could play harder than those sissies. ptui! frustrating. damn frustrating. bloody hell.

enough of that. joscelin yeo going for her 40th gold today. if she wins it, she'll be the most-bemedalled athlete in games' history. wish her all the best. and just like the article from the Today newspaper, we salute you, champ!

i heard the crickets at 11:51 am

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Friday, December 02, 2005

just remembered something. today's my grandma's death anniversary. my paternal grandma. its been 10 years. she could only speak teochew, and i only bothered learning my dialects recently. so i never really understood what she was saying to me. come to think of it, i really regret not learning my dialects earlier. even though its still pretty bad, at least now i can understand and give simple answers. i really regret it. i miss my grandma. i want her to be around. i want to hold a conversation with her. she'd be proud if she knew i could finally communicate with her in her native tongue. my maternal granddad too. only spoke hokkien. he died before i bothered learning hokkien. makes me really sad to never really talked to them. don't want me and maternal grandma to end up the same way. i want to tell her a joke, or grouse about school to her, in hokkien of course. don't want to have any regrets about anything. learning hokkien as quickly as i can now. to make up for lost time. hope i won't be too late...

i heard the crickets at 10:07 pm


went to school to collect the testimonial today. and had a kickabout as well. samuel brought two of his church friends along. both former RI boys. they were pretty lame guys lah. must be too much studying.

now feeling really beat. badminton yesterday, football today. i'm burnt out. and i still gotta work the graveyard shift tomorrow. shesh. earning money ain't easy, no siree.

anyway, i don't understand what all the fuss the aussies are kicking up over that drug runner is about. i mean, he's a bloody DRUG RUNNER! for heaven's sake, he could have harmed hundreds of people with the amount of drugs he was carrying. surely it isn't wise to save one so that he can harm others right? we have to set a precedent. show the world that anyone foolish enough to traffic drugs will face the harshest punishment of the land. we cannot allow our country to become a drug transit hub. to me, this isn't a question of nationality; i'm not out to see him die just because he's not singaporean. i only want to see the right thing done. and that is to execute him. if there's a singaporean who gets caught overseas for peddling drugs and is sentenced to the gallows, then i would agree with the punishment. nip the problem in the bud. kill the bloody bugger, so that he won't have the chance to do in others.

i heard the crickets at 9:32 pm

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Thursday, December 01, 2005

well, for a first day, it wasn't too bad. when it was busy, it was really chaotic. drink after drink. madness. people should learn to come in when there's no queue. give the poor counter staff a break lah. zh, leonard and jen came by at around 8. sorry guys, couldn't talk much; manager was watching. anyway, the shift passed by rather like a blur. i can only remember running around rushing out IBs (ice-blended). the rest, hmm, not much of an impression. finished at midnight. then took company transport home. got sent home last, even though my place nearest. shesh. stupid driver. so reached home at around 1.30. tired lah now. last night was rather bad. freaking cold, then all sorts of funny dreams. worst of all, i was nursing a bad stomach from two mochas and a turkey sandwich. to top it off, hungry somemore. weird stomach right?

anyway. i can't believe i turned down a job offer today without first asking about the terms. were they the same as when i applied? or better? hai. feel like crap now. shesh. the fact that my pay is peanuts (oh, wait, peanuts means 600k, so nope, its a hell lot less than peanuts) is just sinking in. hai. feeling like crap. hey people, got any ideas for adding onto fixed income?

finally said what i wanted to for a long time. didn't get the desired effect, but it isn't the point. the thing is, is that i finally got it off my chest, and feeling better for it (although that feeling didn't last long, cos it was at this point that the company called). oh well.

i heard the crickets at 5:45 pm

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Ginger & Garlic