Counter-Strike

Met up with a friend for an hour of Counter-Strike in the cyber cafe and I was my normal self as noisy as could be. I just cant contain my emotions, nervousness when being spotted by an enemy I would yelp out in excitement. I love playing LAN games, its either I team up with my friend or I try to kill them, virtually of cos.
There was once, however, I almost killed my friend, literally. Let's call this friend of my 'Pointer'. Pointer would make sure he's playing in the same team as me. If I'm a Counter-Terrorist, he would join me in being a CT. The problem is, times when Pointer gets killed prematurely and starts 'floating' around and watches the game in first person mode, he would track on me and scans the area for my enemies. When he spots an enemy heading my way, Pointer starts coming over to my screen in my face and points out excitedly where the enemy would appear. He would tap on my computer screen exclaiming 'Enemy coming! Enemy coming!'
He doesnt realise he's blocking my view with all that tapping and pointing. When I finally yanked off his fat fingers, enemy had long arrived and next moment I'm lying on the ground with my killer enemy walking over my lifeless body. I wanted so much to club him with my optical mouse.
In another experience, it was a girl friend of mine who was game enough to attempt Counter Strike for the first time in her 23 years of life. We started smoothly from home base, charging towards enemy quarters, someone from my team threw a flash grenade by accident and it blinded everyone tempoarily, my girl friend got all excited, thought it was an attack by the enemy, started sweep-shooting across the area with us being in her fire range. I died while still in home base.
And yet another girl friend of mine, tried out this game also for the first time....nope I didnt die in her hands by similar freak accident. This girl couldnt take the close-up first person view of the gameplay, within minutes she felt sick, dashed to the toilet and vomited. Not long after, we had to go home cos she was too sick to play. I had to drag myself away.
Playing games with fellow friends is like having some kinda relationship with them, sometimes you just wanna kill them but most times you just end up being killed by them.

A Tribute to My Childhood Idol

Posted these pics before quite some time back. But I wanna post it up again.
That's it, I'm popping down the store and see if I could get my hands on the DVDs. If I'm not mistaken, I thought I saw a "Superman" Trilogy being sold. It was retailing at $99.

Man of Steel returned to Dust

My favourite actor passed away. Whenever anyone ask of favourite actors, my peers would have 'Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt' and the likes. Mine was 'Christopher Reeves' and I remember I was once laughed at for it. B'cos Reeves was not considered the 'IN' thing. Hardly anyone would have seen the few Superman Movies he starred.

But I unashamedly proclaim he was my favourite. I loved the Superman Movies that had him in it. Co-incidentally I happened to update a website of mine with his picture last night. When I was vacationing in Hongkong approx 3weeks ago, I bought "Somewhere In Time" with him starring.

From Superman the Movies to Somewhere In Time, Reeves come across as someone really gentlemanly. His every move and the way he speaks was cultured and calculated. I
t's quite a shock really, died at the age of 52.

Somewhere In Time was a really sad sweet movie. This movie is about experiencing a really passionate moment of your life and then realising you could never have it again. I bought the VCD and watched it after I came back from Hongkong.

To end, I post the lyrics to the soundtrack of Superman, The Movie

Can you read my mind
Do you know what it is that you do to me
I don't know who you are
Just a friend from another star
Here I am like a kid out of school
Holding hands with a god
I'm a fool
Will you look at me
Quivering
Like a little girl
Shivering
You can see right through me
Can you read my mind
Can you picture the things I'm thinking of
Wondering why you are
All the wonderful things you are
You can fly
You belong in the sky
You and I
Could belong to each other
If you need a friend
I'm the one to fly to
If you need to be loved
Here I am
Read my mind

Desire of Ages

We caught the movie "Passion of Christ" yesterday. It does make you cry. Well, maybe if played on telly it might not but in the theatre where it feels you're right there, it just very well might.

I did and so did strangers around us. Its not a sign of weakness, it's the ultimate strength given to humans.

I feel people watching this movie could cry for different reasons. Christians knowing the story, cries as we are shown a graphical representation of what He have gone through for us though keeping in mind there might be exerggerated scences played up for theatrical reasons. Dramatized or not, one thing's for sure, it sure was helluva painful. We're talking about the treatment reserved for the vilest criminal here so you cant say it couldnt have hurt much.

Non-christians cry when they are shown a human being treated in such a cruel way. Whether they believe in Christ or not, these forms of punishment were real and you gasp at how cruel Man can be towards each other.

So I went reading up about this Roman punishment called 'Crucifixion' to try gain more insight of what they subject the Human body through and came upon this article which gave an account of what Jesus's body went through from a medical perspective.

http://www.thecross-photo.com/Dr_C._Truman_Davis_Analyzes_the_Crucifixion.htm"

The four Gospels in the Bible: Mark, Mathew, Luke and John recorded the events leading up to His death but none presented it in such a manner.

Random Ramblings and Nicoll Fell Yesterday...

Lousy day at work. Past issues not handled carefully came back to huant me. Digging back to History is a pain and realising i could have done it better was a real "Grrrrr" at myself.

Anyway, I had a discussion with my colleague yesterday. She too felt that there's a change to Singapore nowadays. More things are happening to our island with the latest being the collapse of Nicoll incident.
I feel we are slowly losing our "Blessings". As a young country, we started off with government policies that were strict , honest and efficient and I would say the blessings were abundant as a result of these. We were doing relatively well, and most importantly, we felt safe.

These days it seems there's a little signal of movement towards more 'relaxed' regulations. Bar-top dancing has been allowed, changing of laws towards oral-sex and homosexuality laws etc. What the government relaxes, the public will indulge, especially so for a mass that's suddenly exposed to their new-found freedom. As people gets more and more morally degraded, so will the protection of the Holy Spirit withdraw. Disaster like a devouring wolf will be happy to follow.

I'm not perfect myself, but as I witness these turn of events, it brings a shudder to think there will be more to come.

Common Sense aint so Common nowadays

It was fun! Had an afternoon of sea-water and hot scorching sun. Together with the church youth, we filled up 9 kayaks and fought waves and splashes. The tide was up and it was choppy at times. It struck me how tough a simple act of getting my kayak out to the water was. Prompted by my ever faithful rowing partner to get on the boat first, the idea was 'get-on-and pedal-out-to-sea'. I got on the front...wave came...kayak rocked threateningly, I saw sea water getting nearer to my face and was tipped over the minute I climbed aboard with legs dangling up. Never mind, try again, got on and pedaled with all strenght I could muster. The bit of water fight and joining up of all the kayaks was highlights to otherwise normal pedalling and sun basking out in the water. Life jackets given were useless, torn zippers, flat and worn.. We fastened it best we could by tying nylon strips attached to jackets. There's no doubt if a huge wave were to sweep us over, our oversized jackets would simply be washed over our heads.
It was only an hour and a half but it felt like forever, so does the weight I feel resting on my arms now. My guess is tomorrow's gonna be even worse, for all I know my armpits might ache as well! Right now as I type, I've got 3 pieces of Salon Plastered on my shoulders. They do offer some relief, let's hope they stay 'relieved'.
I thank the Lord for keeping us safe and as Faith said, '..give us Wisdom that we may have the wits to stay safe..' Isnt it incredulous? That sometimes we have to pray for common sense to watch out for ourselves? Like my lecturer once said "Common sense is not so common nowadays" so we'd better not take it for granted.

They Could Have Just Said 'No' The First Time

You know that previous entry I blogged about? That super-hero who dived off the towers? Well, our neighbouring country had banned the episode entirely, with or without cuts. They axed the program knowing we axed the sensitized shots. I had this feeling they didnt even wanna consider taking back on that episode the first time they reviewed the program. The embarassment must have stung so badly the first time, they felt the whole incident should be just swept under the carpet. No more Extremists Ep.1. It's banned, no more mention, no chance of airing in that part of the world. The way I see it, decisions like these would only worsen the extent of bribery within the country.
On the contrary, if they would accept the cuts, review the episode again and find the program to be 'clean', let it go on air, wouldnt that give you an impression the officials know bribery is wrong and that they wouldnt want that act to have more exposure then it should by airing it and yet at the same time have the right frame of mind to let the 'clean' shots pass.
It takes more of a gentlemen to go over an ugly episode to find it cleaned up and allow passage then closing up of the mind and throwing the whole program out altogether. Brushing it off gives the feeling they dont wanna deal with it. In other words, doesnt that equate to closing their eyes to bribery? Now how would that help the country?
Let's throw the angel off abit and zap back to the moment the bribe took place. Actually the whole success of Felix leaping of the towers hinges on whether he could actually bribe someone. He wouldnt be able to make it on his own without the cash bait. That guy actually took a whole hour getting around the building looking for the right exit. He needed an insider. Now, if you were that someone he actually approached with the 1000 US Dollars, some clown comes to you with all these money and tells you, you can have it all just by letting him jump off the 88th storey, would you take it?

*I'm not targetting at any one country, bribery is a universal problem. As long as there's Humans, there's bound to be mischief. I'm just being bittter cos I'm not that fella who was being approached.

Look Ma! I can fly!

We had to snip some shots of this guy taking a leap off the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Renowned B.A.S.E jumper Felix Baumgartner, shot to fame with some of his famous highlights: The dive off Christo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro and Petronas Towers in KL.

Out of curiosity I did some research and discovered B.A.S.E is an acroynm which stands for Building , Antenna, Span and Earth - the four types of fixed objects utilized for foot-launched skydives instead of the usual parachuting from a plane. This would mean launching off from lower altitudes as compared to sky-diving and that being the case, a reserve parachute is useless. If the first parachute fails on the jumper, that's it. Talk about extreme sports.
So what's the big story about some guy who decided he wanted to jump off the right arm of the statue of Jesus Christ in Brazil or the free-falling from the Petronas Towers? Turned out, most BASE jumps are not legalised. Applying for permit would take the kick out of it so they claimed. Naturally our little snip-snap yesterday was prompted by potential legal consequences if we went ahead and aired the Petronas jump in KL.

Austrian borned Felix Baumgartner bought himself a business suit, glasses and pretended to be a businessman as he walked into the commercial twin towers with his faked ID cards. With 1000 for bribes, he got to the 88th storey, parachute in his suitcase and with a little camera, he filmed himself launching off from a window-washer crane. 8 seconds of free-fall from the world's tallest building then in 1999. The best part was watching him land on the ground, did a victory sign, rolled up his parachute and walked away from it scout-free!
From the $1000 bribes and fake ID cards, it's little wonder the Malaysian authorities would demand such clips be edited out. It's outright an embarrassment!

Reading through internet posted articles on Baumgartner, I was quite amused he made a remark about the jump off the statue of Christ that goes with the line of thought that he would be fine since he was jumping off the Right arm of Jesus. I'm sure fellow Christians would be able to know why. =)

Cant get enough of the man? You can read more about him and his adventures at http://www.felixbaumgartner.com/gross/

A trip down Chinatown
Started our day with breakfast den came back and moved my hamster into his new home - an aquarium tank.
Later in the afternoon, we had Chicken Rice at Boon Tong Kee before getting down to Chinatown for a feel of 'Chinese New Year'. There was this shop which goes by the name of 'Chinese Heritage...something' and apart from being retail, they had this section decorated in the most chinese retro possible decor serving light snacks, eggs and toast. What caught my eye was this Chinese tear-away calendar hanging on the wall. Its year read 1962. I miss those tear-away chinese version calendar. Tmr I'll try shop around for them. My parents told me shops that sells joss sticks and incense etc might sell them.
Tonight I downloaded the song that caught my fancy while listening to Gold 90.5FM. It's a jazzy slow lazy number soothing to my ears..

MISTY - Johnny Mathis

Look at me
I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree
And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud
I can't understand
I get misty just holding your hand

Walk my way
And a thousand violins begin to play
Or it might be the sound of your hello
That music I hear
I get misty the moment you're near

You can say that you're leading me on
But it's just what I want you to do
Don't you notice how hopelessly I'm lost
That's why I'm following you

On my own
Would I wander through this wonderland alone
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat from my glove
I'm too misty, and too much in love.

Mere 3 days, 2 nights
It was end of the year, with some vacation leave to clear, my friend sugested I follow her back to her hometown in Malaysia for the vacation. We took the night bus for the journey to and back. Did I mention I would stay away from Malaysia if I could help it? Its the same reason I wouldnt settle down in Australia even though I was there for 3 years. I'm uncomfortable with the idea of being the minority. All it takes is a different skin tone and language to set u apart from the rest. Throw in a history of hostility between the two countries, and u wouldnt go around flashing that bright red passport of urs. Once crossed the border, I feIt vulnerable and I could say I was afraid. I dont have the power of language. They dont speak English. Ask me anything, I would appear like a dumb duck. I depended on my friend and she gladly took charge. It was 4am when we reached Trengannu. We were the only 2 to alight as the bus's final destination is furthur up. The plan was to reach and call her dad who's at home expecting our call. 4 public phones- 3 not working with the last only for emergency calls.Great. 4am in the dimly lit canteen with not many pple around - malays and looking at us. We comtemplated waiting till her dad came but that could be another hour or so. She decided to ask the driver for his mobile and made the call.
Her suburb's at Kemaman. At daybreak, her brother brought us around. Had breakfast at this small scale hawker centre. If there's any rating of cleanliness like they do in Singapore, I would think most stalls there would display a 'D' or 'E' rating. But it's ok cos I ate and there was nothing wrong.
Being in a small town, everybody knoes each other. We would travel around and she'll see friends walking around doing their thing. As we eat, she'll tell me stories about the hawkers or customers whom she'll have heard stories from. It's nice in a way having pple who knoes of ur existence but like she say, once u do something wrong, the whole town would know of it.
Tmr the pics would be developed and I'll try putting some up in this blog and blog my journey through.

Bedsheets, towels, winterwear...I got them all back

My friend Sara is back for vacation. I left some stuff with her over in Melbourne the last time I was there. Bless that woman brought everything back for me. Not seen each other for quite some time but when we get to talking it feels comfortable. Mostly catching up with each other's lives. Evelyn has been back for ages but till now has yet contacted me. Jenny will be back on the 22nd. Christmas this year must be special cos everyone's back home =)
Listening to El debarge 'Who's holding Donna now" and Enrique Iglesias "Sad Eyes" on alternate repeat. This 2 great tracks always bring back memories. Feels like I left a part of me behind in Australia I wish you knew me then.

Small people with great big identities

My company celebrated some cultural unity event today at the raffles convention hall. We were joined by overseas colleagues from all over the world. I went with the idea it would be more like a seminar talk where people sit in rows but it turned out to be more like a wedding banquet layout. Seated in round tables there were food of all sorts, toys and presents. All activities relates to cultural diversity and its benefits. I saw Taiwanese,Hongkies,Chinese nationals,South African,Australian,British,Americans,Japanese,Korean and Thai all in one ballroom celebrating. You know how they always promote harmony among races and the likes. We know it, we know how to sing songs that echoes it, we grew up with it but our personal experiences lacks exposure. Until we experience it ourselves, we cant truly claim we know about it. In the evening I walked away feeling pleasantly humbled. It was a familiar feeling that I've not been acquainted with for a long time.

Through primary and secondary the ratio of local to foreign classmates I had was approx 1 : 3. Let me see, there were the Malaysians, Indonesians, Filipinos, Thais made quite a population and a couple of Burmese, Koreans and Americans. Being a mission school, most of them were children of Pastors. My best friend was a Malaysian, my favourite singing buddy was from India and the Burmese was someone whom I would have political debates with. Most times it was friendly, occasionally it would get a little more heated and that was when she started complaining about the government here and the kind of fees and charges she has to pay just for being a foreign student. I can sympathise with her but at that point it just irks me. But it never got to the level where we stopped talking.

One Chinese New Year when most have gone back to their country for holiday,this British classmate of mine stayed behind and I invited her for a stayover so that she could go visiting with me and experience how its like to celebrate our new year. When friends bunk in together they usually talk the night away right? I forgot how it started, we were lying on the bed in the dark and we found ourselves talking about French kiss. Now I must remind you that I was at my 'exploring stage' then, I heard about the term but I din know about it. Like what it actually means. She was shocked at my ignorance, she proceeds to explain what the mouths were suppose to do and having done that she shot me with a You wanna try it?. She looked serious and ready. I was too shocked to reply. I gave her the Chinese New Year celebration experience and she gave me the most unforgettable moment of my life:"Huh??..No thanks.." I lost contact with most of them now. Graduated and gone back to their countries. I feel lonely sometimes, as if I misplaced a stage of my life cos most part of my growing up were with these people and I dont even know where they are. No one can tell me things like "You remember how we used to dig real deep holes in the compound and cover them with cupboard and leaves just so that others can fall into it?" cos they're no longer around.

Today's a Public Holiday
My mom has gone on a little China vacation with my aunt. Having just typed that last sentence, I made a dash to the kitchen. I left the kettle on the fire and forgot about it till now. Half the amount have been boiled away. If only Im more kettle conditioned like my mom.
For lunch I brought dad to sakae sushi. He liked the chawamushi, green peas and the heavenly saba shioyaki (i tink its jap for grilled insert name fish). Grilled fish is really so yummy. Salmon sashimi is another of my personal favourite. The fattier the salmon the better! I like eating out with my dad. He's quite adventurous. He calls me his 'makan khaki'. I foot the bill of course since Im working now.
For dinner, my brother's girlfriend came over and cooked for us. She wanted to let us try her pasta which was really sweet of her. Sakae was good, pasta was delicious but I still want my mom back fast!

It's the Indian New Year
In view of tmr being Deepavali, we decided on an Indian Restaurant downtown. Mamtaz Mahal Restaurant.
Once past the doorway, I din feel like I was in Singapore anymore. Statue elephants, godlike wall fixtures, intricate tableware, table-lit candles, thick accent waiters, even the air I inhale felt indian! The only weird part was, in that cosy little restaurant, not one customer of indian ethnic could be spotted. There were the angmohs and the chinese but none dark-skin. I wonder why.
So I was trying to digest the menu consisting of Bold indian letterings and small english prints right beneath it and with what seemed forever we settled on: Tandoori Chicken, some veggie curry, 2 Naan, and being a tea-lover, one Masala Tea.

I guess its standard practice they serve appetizers just like some peanuts or pickled vegetables in Chinese restaurants, here we found ourselves some spiced crackers and a tray of spices to go with it. In the tray there were 4 compartments each filled with some green puree, yellow puree, orange and red puree. Being adventurous I tried all and only 2 caught the fancy of my tastebuds. The other 2 were strong not foul but strong-in-a "i can skip that" way.
Having served up all our dishes, the table was full! The appetizers itself was a whole tray and the masala tea I ordered came along with a pot for refill and 2 containers bearing 2 different types of sugar: usual white and granulated brown sugar. Dining there is in itself quite an experience. You feel creative. You put together different spices getting different taste and a sense of satisfaction if it's pleasant. To sum it up, both the tandoori and the curry veg were fragrant and the naan heavenly. Im thankful there is diversity in this world.

Had a bad fall from a cycling trip cos I thought I could fly

Great, a 5 cent coin size of the bandage is stuck fast to my dried-up wound. I cut away as much of the excess as possible leaving a patch of white among a whole blog of dirty-red. Yanking it out would mean fresh wound and possible reinfection again. I was advised to wet it thoroughy with Dettol hoping dried blood would soften releasing the gauze but its an ordeal to me.
Whenever I see the bottle of Dettol, I get clamy hands and wet feet. Have you tried washing out a fresh wound with the big 'D' solution? It hurts like a bitch. Beginning of the week sees my wound freshly-raw, refusing to dry up. I bought myself a bottle of powder antiseptic thinking I could get away with it and skip the 'D' washing. It was not to be. Each time I remove my bandage, more ooze seeps out. My dad took a look, and set the dreaded bottle on the table in front of me. I let out a whimper, "...dont want la...." but I know it's really essential. If let alone, gangrene might set in and it's goodbye to my leg.
Each night he would dilute the solution with a bowl of boiled water. Using gauze swabs he washed and cleared out as much pus as possible. The worst is when he removed dried up pus leaving exposed raw flesh then pour the solution over it...
I have zero tolerance for pain but I went through with the cleansing episodes with as little yelps as possible. I got to see another side of my father though, somehow, as insistent as he is of me going through with it, he was actually quite 'afraid' of hurting me. It takes alot of nerve and steel for someone to get deep into another's person's wound and clean it up for them. Though you're not physically hurting yourself but doing the act gets you all tensed up as well. You find a wave of really uncomfortable aching sensation sweeping through the lower half of your body, concentrated on the feet. That's how I feel when I witness the pain of another person. I sense him being quite uncomfortable whenever the pain got too much and I cant help but go 'argh...'
Man, they conjure a tough image for me, it seems they fear no pain with all the reckless activity they get themselves into. However, put them in a situation where they have to deal with their daughter's wounds or their wife being in labour, they turn to jelly..

5 strips of turkey bacon and an egg.
At this time of the night
Why do I always feel so hungry at such weird hours.
Dad thought I was eating pork
"Whats that??" *frowning*
"Turkey"*meow face*
We dont eat pork.

Made myself whole pot of tea in the morning
I'm struggling to finish it (cup and a half more to go)
Mom would give me a earful about wastage if I dont
If I do, I'll be struggling to get to sleep....great
These days I wake up to jittery mornings
Longing for this company to call me
Went for interview last week, lady said I had good chance and if selected would call me this week
2 days and still no calls...
I wanna work! The first pay I receive, I'm gonna get myself a Playstation 2!

And then there are the sucky days..
Feel sad today and I dont know why. As Im typing this now, this is how I feel. Maybe it's "More than words can say" which I've put on repeat. Emotional suicide isnt it? Gets all my spirit down and Im mopping around with why Im feeling so. Then you say 'simple. Turn it off'. I know that. But somehow somethings making me not click that stop button. I'd better go watch some TV..

The Naked Pappy

Inspired by Jamie Oliver's 'Oliver's Twist' cookshow aired on Channel 5 Mondays to Fridays, I dug out the BBQ pit and attempted to recreate the 'Wimbledon' episode where he whipped out grilled fish kebabs and grilled vegetables to follow. I drove down to NTUC, bought asparagus, australian eggplant (the fatter ones), zucchini, lemon and some essentials for the barbie. I was frustrated by the lack of mint leaves at the supermarket, so goodbye to the 'glass of lemonade spiced with mint bubble' in my head. Anyhows, slapped marinade (olive oil, salt, basil,lemon zest) on the fish, I took note it was noon when I began my adventure. Pit set up, fish, onions and zucchini skewered Oliver's style, I was on high!
Now, a little background, I live on the 13th floor in a HDB flat. I was unsure whether having a BBQ was legal, u know, lots of smoke and smell. I dont know and dont wish to know either. All I know: Oliver! Grilled fish kebabs, Grilled vegetables! Woohoo!
To play things safe, I thought I would just make a small fire so for one its easier to clean up and it shouldnt be heavy on smoke. Boy was I wrong! Flame + Charcoal = Lots of smoke, who cares how little charcoal there is! Result? Low heat and hazy kitchen. My food was slow to cook but hey my spirits werent crushed.
About three quarters of the cooking, my mom came home from tuition, alarmed by the amount of smoke that greeted her, she rushed into the kitchen 'Whats on fire!' There are reasons apart from the obvious that has my mom in such a panicky state, a story which I will leave for another blog entry. It was about 6:30pm when Im done. You should have a clue by now how weak that fire was.
Well, I must say my fish kebabs ran out rather fast, portions of the grilled vege is still on the table....Any takers?

My new phone!

Saw it on Cleo and told myself I Must get my paws on this! Love the sound when i spin the dial. Cant page though but who cares =)

Morning, NOC, whoever your trying to reach is away which is why im on the line and you probably dont wanna talk to me cos I'm a new staff and I know nuts what you'll be talking about so please end this call or stay on the line and be ignored.

So friday was my first day. HSBC clerical shit I mean stuff. Processing of Loans blah blah.

+
.workplace's in town so distance aint a problem
.my uni fren Lisa's there-

-
.messy work with papers everywhere. they've got papers instructing u how to fill up papers. And maybe other papers on how to read the papers that tells you how to fill up the papers.
.people not very friendly.Most times you're just 'see-thru'. And they should really learn to shake hands properly, the trick is to curl your fingers around the other person's hands. Not just stick to theirs.
.whole place's real quiet. No music, not much talking. You fart that's it.