oh noes..

i got a psp addiction :

ever since i went home on friday, i've been hooked on my brother's psp.

every. waking. hour.

i'm currently trying to complete Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology before i book in again.

i'm so glad i didn't buy a psp for myself!

i think there were only 2 other instances when my addiction to gaming (YES I USED TO GAME REGULARLY! believe me.) led to disastrous outcomes - that is, my school test results. haha. one was during p4 (starcraft). i was on my way to being thrown out of gep coz of my results lol! oh, another time was during my sec sch days, i think sec 2-3. what game was it, i'm slightly ashamed to reveal.

pokemon

so much for games. many times, i wiped out (deleted) the games from my computer, only to re-download it again a few weeks later - lame. yea, i tried to kick the habit. thanks to exam-anxiety, i succeeded in pulling myself away from the likes of gameboy emulators and random computer-related distractions (MSN!!!), enough to secure my grades. muahaha :X

addiction really sucks, you know. i wonder if smokers and drug addicts who want to quit feel something similar. i asked a few smokers (by the way, a side comment - i only know an aquaintance outside of army who smokes and that's an ex-classmate) if they wanted to smoke. those few said they were introduced to it by friends, and if they could re-choose between taking the first puff and not, they wouldn't.

one of them asked, if i were to be given $50 for taking a puff (just one whiff), would i be tempted to do it? haha, i said yes, because i think a whiff would not get me hooked to smoking. that guy told me i was wrong.

this addiction thing is, to some extent, the same for any kind of addiction, i suppose? drugs, porn, gaming etc... mentally, the mind grows alarmingly weak and parasitic towards the guilty pleasure. ok, not exactly parasitic, but you get what i mean.

okays, that's all for now...

please don't stop the music

things i did today:

1. listened to music on computer and mp3 player (guess what songs.)

2. got invited (and subsequently, attended) to a church youth group session. yup, there was the rock band...

to top it off...

3. watched nus jazz band concert (which featured a couple of stunning instrumental solos - i want to have that pianist's hands! - and a decent rendition of RESPECT and chain of fools!)

the concert was qte worth watching, although the brass section has slight intonation problems... and trombones - ok forgiven, having played it before and i know how hard it is to pitch perfectly plus to be in tune with everyone. plus, they play pretty quick notes, so it gives more room to sound out of tune since the very moment the note is 'attacked' out is always a bit pitchy. but there's this zai trombonist (the one with the only rusted trombone).

i think the most zai (don't include the professional guest performers) were the pianist and one of the trumpeters. there was a pretty decent sax player too. i did not like another sax player. the player's very pitchy and not stylistically stunning either. eee.

and the singing! ok la... they generally should try to sound more resonant and less shrill. but the one who sang the aretha franklin songs was rather good (esp for a chinese). she could add more zing to the renditions with more variations in tone and phrasing/articulation, though.

speaking of listening to music, i realise i'm missing out on a LOT of genres of music! on the other hand, it's hard to force myself to listen to other sorts of music and ignore my favs.

anyway, today was a happy musical day~

:)

the orphanage

this movie is shit scary!!! i was squirming in my seat most of the time... even my movie partner who's apparently a regular horror film watcher (both films we watched are horror flicks) succumbed towards the end haha... it deals with more than just horror, though. the unconditional love the mother gives to her son and the things she went through to find her missing son is something to think about...

ok, this is one of the scary imageries that haunt the show right from the start:

...

...

...

... (here goes...)

wah lau eh!!! it's so gross and creepy. oh, the face behind that mask... AAAAARRGH!!!!

...

...

...

...

go watch.

on another note, i've gotten round to liking HEART STATION... i don't know why! :)

update

ok, after a second listening today, i decided the album isn't that bad after all. the arrangements are actually quite fresh, just that the overall tempo of the song is too slow for me to appreciate it the first time i heard it.

argh, why must the album be inspired by, of all tracks, boku wa kuma??? i like mature hikki more... haha. (her recent photos are so kawaii it's a bit disappointing to me)

i like her voice. but i'd like to hear it in the high range more often, like in her previous albums.

must crank up the bass on your speakers to enjoy digital in its full glory.

rolling stones japan rated the album 5 out of 5?! (take that, ayumi)

prisoner of love sounds like automatic (chord progression and style).

or maybe i like the album now because i'm hikki-obsessed. hmm...

utada hikaru

rated: 6.5-7 of 10 (enhui, i agree with you totally...)

it's a very understated album. a bit europop...

have you listened to europop before? i'm sure you have... yea her tracks are very europop-ish (e.g. take 5); celebrate sounds like it's in the style of sophie ellis-bextor. but the abrupt ending of take 5 is freakish. take 5 and gentle beast interlude sound psychedelic, reminds me of beatles' strawberry fields forever.

the tunes are pleasant (oh man, JUST pleasant?) just that i have issues with the arrangement and production of the album. it's undoubtedly very utada-flavoured, but little about it shines... rather bland and simple (especially the tracks without a strong bass).

think the audio equivalent of her hikari pv...

it's not sucky, but not the standards you'd expect from her. the songs - especially from the first half - are rhythmically weak (i mean unattractive). i can feel it coz i'm the type who will wriggle to the music if it's good. you know, like shake your booty kind (haha)

i think she's playing around too much with her logic pro (music creation software for mac) sound effects that it has become a prominent part of her music. like the generous amounts of echos and reverb (nijiiro bus) i'd like more acoustic arrangements, thanks...

(major exception to the above: i like the arrangements for gentle beast interlude and celebrate. esp gentle beast, it's somewhat provoking)

speaking of singer-composers, i like shiina ringo and imogen heap, both of whom i feel are very zai.

not to mean that her album sucks la. it's just too laid-back for me. oh i like the RnB elements in the later half of the album. (prisoner of love very first love era)

maybe the album's opening should be responsible for the overall impression of the album. a nice starter, but not wow. aiyah, nothing here is worthy to be the A-side of a hikki single, apart from flavor of life and to some extent, beautiful world.

anyway i still wish for her album to perform well. wonder how it'll do in the japan market. i hope her english album will be better, or that she'll take a sabbatical leave and compose 1 song per year. i mean, it did well for her, didn't it? (colors, darega, be my last are good stuff)

***

i'm still wondering if she has had plastic surgery. comparing her 10-year-old photo to her present one (check out her official blog), she DOES look very different... but if you compare photos between consecutive albums (e.g. compare her 10-year-old pics to her cubic u era, then cubic u to first love etc) they look quite similar lor.

but i have this niggling suspicion that she cut open her eyes. dunno leh. but hor, my eyes do look significantly rounder than in the past... no surgery done! i think it's a matter of forcing to open your eyes regularly instead of letting your muscles sag.

BUT! her childhood pics had no double eyelids!!!! *horror*

gloats: but i do! (much to the envy of a few females, including cca mates and teachers, who stared into my face - i don't know why - and discovered the folds on my skin)

on the other hand, maybe she used eyelid adhesive to achieve the double eyelid...

it's qte significant to me 'cause i <3 her for her natural beauty... ahh! what if she got botox-ed? :(

***

anyway, went to LAN with derrick, jeremy yeung, charles, david and kai loon. dota tower defence damn fun! i like the idea of elemental attacks and merging different elements to forge new types! i must find the game...

ok [i'm] getting very longwinded now... need sleep. 2 days of consecutive duty is draining...

3 more days!!! *slurrrrp*

bmt

i chatted with my ex-recruit of this batch...

cliff says:
so... how's ur blk leave so far

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
hmms..quite okayy! haha

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
i did 5bx with run myself this morning

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
at 5am..

cliff says:
-.-"

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
then after tt went to the gym with my brother

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
lolls

cliff says:
you're kidding right, the first part

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
erm

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
nope

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
i really did tt..

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
:)

Love me - that's all i ask of you says:
hahaha

ZOMG 5BX AT 5AM!!! i think he misses bmt already!

***

come to think of it, i think my time spent presently (as an instructor) is more memorable than when i was a recruit. perhaps it's the greater interaction between people now than last year...

batch no. 2

while being notably more troublesome than one can ever imagine (they're not that terrible, just outstandingly unmotivated), they turned out to be fine in the end :)

i couldn't to find time to say anything substaintially thoughtful to them because of really, really bad scheduling and my own time management. they looked expectant every time i stood in front of them today, but... aiyah... no mood to say what had been on my mind. oh well, at least alston and gary did 'close the chapter' the night before...

i'm prudent with my emotive language. i really don't like to say 'i will miss you' or 'i like this' because there are few things i'll miss or like.

so, when i say i'll miss you i really do mean it and it doesn't come with hugs and kisses and pretty flowers. it's delivered in staid times new roman font, black.

*cue for reader to awwww*

haha, i sound like a pimply emo teenager. actually, i am la (especially the pimply bit, as i'm sure many will readily testify at the expense of my ego).

-.-"

movie sneaks: rule no. 1

(WARNING: spoilers ahead)

went with wee jian to west mall just now to catch a midnight movie on a whim. zhanhong was supposed to come too but we presumed him dead (touchwood) or knocked out by fatigue since the time he booked out with me :p

all the best to your journey to become a pti!!! woots~ (and i'm pleasantly surprised to know the whereabouts of my other recruits, like pedro [zomg ocs crossover!], boxun, randall [company best pt!], lavin [wonder how he's feeling now haha], helmi [pti!], axel and peter.)

don't know if you guys know about the existence of this film (it's called rule no. 1), since it's shot by local director kelvin tong. beneath the attention-seeking advertisement "rule #1: there are no ghosts" that makes it seem like a 1-star budget horror flop, it's a bloody (no pun intended) good, thoughtful film that is worth watching.

by the way it stars shaun yue, ekin cheng and guest starring our local fiona xie (something to please local men, i suppose, but little skin is bared in the movie - too bad.)

it's rather arty in the sense that it uses a lot of cinematic techniques, such as the tainting of the screen at certain times to denote the presence of the ghost. i liked the scenes with the unknown police boss eating his meals piggishly while talking with sgt lee (shaun yue). and the similarities between the blow-up dinosaur toy and the divorced wife (note their colour and actions).

the plot is very simple, but it's narrated so morbidly beautiful. simply put, sgt lee had to investigate the cause of a string of strange deaths and it turns out to be all connected (guess how.) however, the plot receives a severe twist and the viewer shall be bewildered and stunned at the very end.

the best part is the character development of the two leading men! the dilemmas and struggles they face with their loved ones or objects of fancy (i.e. women.) shaun yue is a credible actor.

actually a lot of stuff whizzed through my mind during the movie and after the movie as i dicussed with wee jian (like, afterthoughts and analysis of the movie a la personal critique) but the thoughts disappear as they emerge, so that's about all i have to type about the movie as of now (i'm sleepy and i'm supposed to run 5km tomorrow at 7.30am on the other side of singapore. damnit.)

back to the movie. for other's reviews:
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/review-of-kelvin-tongs-rule-1/
for what is known as "hua1 xu4" (trivia) in chinese:
http://8.mediacorptv.sg/around8/interviews/view/1075/1/.html

rule of the day: you must watch this movie!!!

trivial and sweet things

i met up with my mep-mates for lunch at ps cafe (demspey road, not too far from botanic gardens). besides the usual bunch of zhengyi gareth huimin and yiwei (who appear for gatherings faithfully), i met zhizhong chuanen dominic (long time no see!) and kwanrui :)

the dynamics of interacting with your ex-classmates and your randomly met or NS friends differ so greatly. with my ex-classmates i can say most impersonal stuff and some personal stuff, and spit non sequittors ad libitum (the slightly more intellectual side of me) and not be relegated to the corner of the room. but the only topics i can speak with my NS friends are NS-related, like how the recruit did this or that, or the sispec training, or the screwed up colleague should be handled, OR games and sports related, think psp games and soccer. therein is a social gap of sorts.

but i digress.

anyway, the demspey cluster of shops sells quite an eclectic range of things, mostly food and beverage, frequented by lots of westerners. the prices are quite steep, too. my brunch cost me S$20 (cheese and onion flan, probably one of the better dishes) but it's rather good stuff.

if not for the weekend crowd (you must come early - seats are very limited), i think the ambience and customer service would have been lots better. the waiter looked rather pissed when we tried to move a furniture to join 2 dining sofa sets together - reason being the (already weathered) floorboard would take a beating if care was not taken to move the furniture.

(rating: 3.5/5)

but the coolest part of the outing was the music played in the background in the cafe!!!

mozart and haydn classical string quartets!!!

and how embarrassing and sad it was, that all of us couldn't recognise our set piece the moment it was played (K465 4th movement). the memory of the works evaporated with time, it seems!

"sergeant mummy's" end of 2nd bmt batch

i've been christened 'sergeant mummy' by this batch >:( it sounds ambivalently derogative and sweet.

i shan't be this nice to recruits anymore!!! man...

oh, how's everyone been doing??? :D

regarding the end of a bmt batch, everytime this happens i feel reluctant to let them POP. ok, this batch wasn't promising at the start, but after some whipping, they've become much better (at least they're decent now). they're passing out in 2 weeks time, rather quick, i must say...

anyway, my promised photos of malaysia:


some people in my extended family having a dinner in a sucky restaurant in taiping. there isn't much anything good to eat there, actually.


this is a snapshot of sleepy taiping. no, that isn't a ghost on the left (picture taken from behind car window)


town centre of taiping. see why my brother hates going back for chinese new year reunion.

but, for the peeps who can't get away from the internet, we've found a cafe with wi-fi!


it sells decent stuff. example:




a roadside kopitiam nested in a kampung, closed temporarily for the holidays.


another view of the town centre. it's actually crowded during peak periods.




i'd have loved to shoot melaka more, if i could stay longer. above is the famous famosa chicken rice ball stall in melaka. many asian celebrities have eaten there and shot photos with the stall owner... by the way, it's located on jonker walk (a touristy place which locals also do drop by at times). at night the buildings are lit with red light, very nice.

too bad i couldn't stop to snap stuff, was whisked off in search of a hangout jaunt to drink and listen to music by my dad (my idea), BUT he just HAD to invite one of my uncles and his ex-colleague around. they highly reccomended this cheesy outdoor kopitiam-pub with getai-standard singing. totally ruined my mood. URGH!!!!

in the end, my week-long malaysia trip wasn't as relaxing as i thought it'd be, i don't know why. i'm still stressed about work right now, maybe i have an obssession with making sure recruits' and my own friends/colleagues' welfare (meeting their demands and needs, basically) are taken care of and so i dig my brains out figuring what's best for everyone. the whole problem is mystified and compounded by a very messy scheduling. bah.

in spite of that, i'm still mentally sound, just troubled, that's all :) think things will clear up this month!

eh, utada hikaru's heart station is out! go listen to it. ok fine, to be objective, the average listener will find this a so-so attempt. but i <3 her, no matter her size.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPo7_25dS9I)

busying myself with work and books. i don't know how far am i in achieving what i want, but the true way to happiness is to do away with expectations and desires, isn't it. sounds quite tempting, but i don't want to end up living like a pauper =\

if only our youth could be prolonged indefinitely.