i cant believe this... ex-georgia tech nomar garciaparra moves to chicago cubs in a shocking deal!
he's been the idol and symbol of boston red sox for so long, its gonna be so hard to accept that this has happened...
oh my cousin's gonna be so sad.. and my jersey's wasted!!!
Saturday, July 31, 2004
sick of packing
jeez, i havent blogged for sometime...
lets see... friday wasnt much... the same old packing again... the vacuum back sure helps a lot.
my forced me to go grocery shopping for the barbeque at noon, and it was very tiring, coz it was a lot of heavy stuff that i intended to get on saturday instead. sometimes its just so difficult to convey my opinion coz nobody seems to listen. im doing everything in my own pace, everything's planned in my head and im forced to change those plans coz of external conditions. makes me furious. and certain events that led to last night didnt help either. those fuckers, who the hell do they think they are. but i had a fun dinner at a family friends place on friday night. the two kids there were very energetic and it was quite funny to see them run about endlessly.
i guess as days count down to the day of departure, everyone becomes rather short tempered. everyone seems to be getting into an argument every now and then over trivial matters. so much so, i just dont say anything anymore, coz it just seems to make everything worse. plus with some reunion thing thats been planned by my relatives, its adding on to a heck of expenses, as if it wasnt bad enough. and funny thing is, initially we are all resistent to them all, but you find out like a day later that we're giving into it anyway.
anyway, i just hoped that everyone had a good time at the barbeque, my only regret is that i didnt get to spend enough time talking to people, since i was by the fire most of the time. its funny since it was meant to be a farewell thing for me. felt quite bad for chahat, srabs, paulina, cipto, hazril, kim and siyan who dropped by, but they seemed to be in their own corner, since they didnt know many of the people that were present that night. but if everyone had an enjoyable time, then the purpose has been served. we definately managed to keep the fire going this time, and although we cooked a lot of food, i guess the fire was way too strong, so many of them consumed burnt food or something...
junwen, all the best in brunei...
and everyone, thanks a lot for coming, im not sure when im coming back, hopefully next year, but even if i dont, i sure hope that everything goes well for whatever you guys do. im really gonna miss the times we spent with eachother, as years go on from now, the time we get to spend will be getting shorter and more toned down, these times will never come back.
going to another family friend's place for lunch and then see what else there is to pack.. im mostly done on my part, but there's always something last minute from members of the family that just ticks me off.
lets see... friday wasnt much... the same old packing again... the vacuum back sure helps a lot.
my forced me to go grocery shopping for the barbeque at noon, and it was very tiring, coz it was a lot of heavy stuff that i intended to get on saturday instead. sometimes its just so difficult to convey my opinion coz nobody seems to listen. im doing everything in my own pace, everything's planned in my head and im forced to change those plans coz of external conditions. makes me furious. and certain events that led to last night didnt help either. those fuckers, who the hell do they think they are. but i had a fun dinner at a family friends place on friday night. the two kids there were very energetic and it was quite funny to see them run about endlessly.
i guess as days count down to the day of departure, everyone becomes rather short tempered. everyone seems to be getting into an argument every now and then over trivial matters. so much so, i just dont say anything anymore, coz it just seems to make everything worse. plus with some reunion thing thats been planned by my relatives, its adding on to a heck of expenses, as if it wasnt bad enough. and funny thing is, initially we are all resistent to them all, but you find out like a day later that we're giving into it anyway.
anyway, i just hoped that everyone had a good time at the barbeque, my only regret is that i didnt get to spend enough time talking to people, since i was by the fire most of the time. its funny since it was meant to be a farewell thing for me. felt quite bad for chahat, srabs, paulina, cipto, hazril, kim and siyan who dropped by, but they seemed to be in their own corner, since they didnt know many of the people that were present that night. but if everyone had an enjoyable time, then the purpose has been served. we definately managed to keep the fire going this time, and although we cooked a lot of food, i guess the fire was way too strong, so many of them consumed burnt food or something...
junwen, all the best in brunei...
and everyone, thanks a lot for coming, im not sure when im coming back, hopefully next year, but even if i dont, i sure hope that everything goes well for whatever you guys do. im really gonna miss the times we spent with eachother, as years go on from now, the time we get to spend will be getting shorter and more toned down, these times will never come back.
going to another family friend's place for lunch and then see what else there is to pack.. im mostly done on my part, but there's always something last minute from members of the family that just ticks me off.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
newcastle finally gets butt...
so for a bargain 2 million pounds, newcastle secured the services of long time manure, nicky butt for the next 4 yrs. newcastle's moving forward in the right direction. it looks promising, offloading the oldies with young blood. robert might head to espanyol, but tts not much of a concern.
will it finally be for alan shearer in his swansong season? he's just 28 goals away from becoming the top scorer in the history of newcastle, i hope that takes place next season.
so an update from yesterday, i started a mass packing, first my clearing my table of all the things i need to bring over, and then the clothes i probably wont wear for the next couple of days. i didnt expect that it'll be that much stuff, i still need a lot of necessities for residence hall room, so im kinda worried how i'll bring so many things and whether i'll get to store it or not. after that was done, i went to queensway to meet catherine, lorraine and rayvin. didnt really get to meet the teachers i wanted to say bye to, since cat was rushing off somewhere else. so we left for bugis, for her to check out the cute guy she spotted at an optical store. we had a small meal at delifrance and then i went to holland village with lorraine for a short talk. she has this way of having the right answers to my doubts about the future and it really felt nice to have someone give a realistic and assuring opinion about my queries. today, woke up early, coz we had to go back to gleneagles for the medical checkup analysis. it seems i need to increase my 'good' cholestrol and convert about 7 kgs of fat into muscles. that should start once im in university. i just hope the campus food will not be that fatty that i have to start going to a gym on a daily basis. i read in a magazine that atlanta was the 7th fattest city in america, with chicago being the 2nd. so you all can imagine how i put on so much visible weight in 3.5 months there. i came home, packed for a short while, then went to return the dvds, while at the same time talking to junwen. for the last 4 movies i could rent, i rented the spanish apartment, kolya, the tears of paradise and kandhahar. i thought i could borrow 5, which i usually do, so i wanted the get league of extraordinary gentleman, but since i had watched that already, i passed that. i knew i couldnt pass on the 4 movies i rented, coz ive had my eyes on those movies for sometime, if i left without watching them, then the name would probably keep surfacing in my mind and irritate the hell out of me that i didnt get to watch it. later, i went to junwens place coz he wanted me to check out 'talking cock' and its really a cock show. first 3o mins or so was pretty funny, but it just got lame and draggy after that. much like SNL, where the first 30 to 40 minutes is really funny, then it degenerates into more commercials and short skits. i was gonna meet cat, lorr and mr. roland tan at hv later, but i realized it was cancelled when i reached there. so i had to go to orchard to meet lorr and have dinner. a lot of things she say is super hilarious, i kinda wish i knew how it'd be like to be her, but at the same time, i feel im better off just knowing the things that happens in her life. but absolutely hilarious stories. then cat joined us and we continued talking. it was raining, after quite some time. felt nice to feel the cool wind, but was worried at the same time about this saturday. deja vu, it was the rain that made the bbq a wasted gathering. but this time hope it wont be the same. and for the first time that i can remember, i think i suffered a minor case of claustrophobia, coz there were so many people at the bus stop and the warm wind kinda made it real stuffy. i waited for like 25 mins for the 174 to appear, and it was no better during the bus ride. i was on super alert mode, looking from side to side with the slightest thing i could notice, and the people squeezing in and the lack of airflow didnt make things better. but at least i didnt suffer a panic attack and pass out.
k, i kinda wrote all that in a rush, its pretty messy and brief, but i guess that's how most of my entries are.
will it finally be for alan shearer in his swansong season? he's just 28 goals away from becoming the top scorer in the history of newcastle, i hope that takes place next season.
so an update from yesterday, i started a mass packing, first my clearing my table of all the things i need to bring over, and then the clothes i probably wont wear for the next couple of days. i didnt expect that it'll be that much stuff, i still need a lot of necessities for residence hall room, so im kinda worried how i'll bring so many things and whether i'll get to store it or not. after that was done, i went to queensway to meet catherine, lorraine and rayvin. didnt really get to meet the teachers i wanted to say bye to, since cat was rushing off somewhere else. so we left for bugis, for her to check out the cute guy she spotted at an optical store. we had a small meal at delifrance and then i went to holland village with lorraine for a short talk. she has this way of having the right answers to my doubts about the future and it really felt nice to have someone give a realistic and assuring opinion about my queries. today, woke up early, coz we had to go back to gleneagles for the medical checkup analysis. it seems i need to increase my 'good' cholestrol and convert about 7 kgs of fat into muscles. that should start once im in university. i just hope the campus food will not be that fatty that i have to start going to a gym on a daily basis. i read in a magazine that atlanta was the 7th fattest city in america, with chicago being the 2nd. so you all can imagine how i put on so much visible weight in 3.5 months there. i came home, packed for a short while, then went to return the dvds, while at the same time talking to junwen. for the last 4 movies i could rent, i rented the spanish apartment, kolya, the tears of paradise and kandhahar. i thought i could borrow 5, which i usually do, so i wanted the get league of extraordinary gentleman, but since i had watched that already, i passed that. i knew i couldnt pass on the 4 movies i rented, coz ive had my eyes on those movies for sometime, if i left without watching them, then the name would probably keep surfacing in my mind and irritate the hell out of me that i didnt get to watch it. later, i went to junwens place coz he wanted me to check out 'talking cock' and its really a cock show. first 3o mins or so was pretty funny, but it just got lame and draggy after that. much like SNL, where the first 30 to 40 minutes is really funny, then it degenerates into more commercials and short skits. i was gonna meet cat, lorr and mr. roland tan at hv later, but i realized it was cancelled when i reached there. so i had to go to orchard to meet lorr and have dinner. a lot of things she say is super hilarious, i kinda wish i knew how it'd be like to be her, but at the same time, i feel im better off just knowing the things that happens in her life. but absolutely hilarious stories. then cat joined us and we continued talking. it was raining, after quite some time. felt nice to feel the cool wind, but was worried at the same time about this saturday. deja vu, it was the rain that made the bbq a wasted gathering. but this time hope it wont be the same. and for the first time that i can remember, i think i suffered a minor case of claustrophobia, coz there were so many people at the bus stop and the warm wind kinda made it real stuffy. i waited for like 25 mins for the 174 to appear, and it was no better during the bus ride. i was on super alert mode, looking from side to side with the slightest thing i could notice, and the people squeezing in and the lack of airflow didnt make things better. but at least i didnt suffer a panic attack and pass out.
k, i kinda wrote all that in a rush, its pretty messy and brief, but i guess that's how most of my entries are.
'So Weit Die Füsse Tragen' and 'Das Experiment'
i managed to squeeze in some time between meeting with friends and mass packing to catch these two german films.
the first one, 'So Weit Die Füsse Tragen,' also known as 'As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me' is a spectacle. arguably one of the best movies ive ever seen. i mean, forget matrix, gladiator, lord of the rings, last samurai, etc, etc, this is one heck of a magnificent movie. its about a german prisoner who was transported to siberia to mine. he somehow escapes and makes the whole trip from end of russia back to germany - by foot. its just a great tale, and i cant believe that its based on a true story! its like... 14000 km???? seriously, the scenary and the focus on human struggle puts 'cast away' to shame (and i thought cast away was a pretty good film too!)
the end of the movie, where the guy was reunited with his wife and daughter, i really wanted to cry. i mean after like 6 or 7 years, he finally manages to see them after going through so much. at the end of the movie, i felt as though i actually went through that ordeal, coz the focus on the extreme weather conditions and the obstructions were captured very well.
clearly, on top of the list of excellent/perfect films, in my eyes.
the other one, das experiment was also pretty interesting, it shows how experiments can just go oh so wrong at times. basically people are attracted to the offer that they pretend to be prisoners and guards for 14 days, for 4000 marks. but obviously, it all goes haywire. it moves very slow, but the last half and hour is very interesting.
so those two movies were feast for the eye. truly magnificent films.
alright, gotta go make lunch... heading off to meet friends later on.. i shall update at night..
the first one, 'So Weit Die Füsse Tragen,' also known as 'As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me' is a spectacle. arguably one of the best movies ive ever seen. i mean, forget matrix, gladiator, lord of the rings, last samurai, etc, etc, this is one heck of a magnificent movie. its about a german prisoner who was transported to siberia to mine. he somehow escapes and makes the whole trip from end of russia back to germany - by foot. its just a great tale, and i cant believe that its based on a true story! its like... 14000 km???? seriously, the scenary and the focus on human struggle puts 'cast away' to shame (and i thought cast away was a pretty good film too!)
the end of the movie, where the guy was reunited with his wife and daughter, i really wanted to cry. i mean after like 6 or 7 years, he finally manages to see them after going through so much. at the end of the movie, i felt as though i actually went through that ordeal, coz the focus on the extreme weather conditions and the obstructions were captured very well.
clearly, on top of the list of excellent/perfect films, in my eyes.
the other one, das experiment was also pretty interesting, it shows how experiments can just go oh so wrong at times. basically people are attracted to the offer that they pretend to be prisoners and guards for 14 days, for 4000 marks. but obviously, it all goes haywire. it moves very slow, but the last half and hour is very interesting.
so those two movies were feast for the eye. truly magnificent films.
alright, gotta go make lunch... heading off to meet friends later on.. i shall update at night..
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
seacrest out... and nicky butt-s into northeast...
seems 'on-air with ryan seacrest' is going off-air. i just read the article about it being a relatively creative show, but not too successful in terms of rating.
i enjoyed watching that show everyday while in chicago, coz seacrest is a very engaging host. but alas, in network shows, its all about ratings. luckily its not the end of seacrest, he still hosts idol and AT40. its not the last time im gonna hear 'seacrest, out!'
newcastle's agreed a 2.5m pound deal for longtime manure nicky butt. after medical, he's all set to be a toon player. this season, all 3 signings have been pretty good, milner, kluivert and now, butt. but its nothing compared to how the top 4 teams have been preparing themselves. the gap between is still too big to catch up. but its a good step for newcastle anyway.
i enjoyed watching that show everyday while in chicago, coz seacrest is a very engaging host. but alas, in network shows, its all about ratings. luckily its not the end of seacrest, he still hosts idol and AT40. its not the last time im gonna hear 'seacrest, out!'
newcastle's agreed a 2.5m pound deal for longtime manure nicky butt. after medical, he's all set to be a toon player. this season, all 3 signings have been pretty good, milner, kluivert and now, butt. but its nothing compared to how the top 4 teams have been preparing themselves. the gap between is still too big to catch up. but its a good step for newcastle anyway.
movies roundup
over the past couple of days, ive caught 'to end all wars,' 'le papillon,' 'antwone fisher' and 'girl with a pearl earrings.'
i wonder if i missed out any that i watched, but didnt list it here.
to end all wars was a pretty gripping drama which is based on a real story about a scottish soldier surviving as a P.O.W. during the world war ii, building the death railway and such. they filmed the the way the victims suffered and gritted through the whole ordeal pretty well. a very good film.
le papillon was interesting too, but like with jeux d'enfants, i didnt really see a big deal about it. its pleasant, thank goodness it lasted for only about 80 minutes.
on the other hand, antwone fisher would probably be listed in one of the best movies ive seen category. though the movie moves very slowly, i think denzel washington did a superb job in slowly uncovering a totally unknown character, into such a inspiring story. and to think that it was based on a true story, its just amazing.
just finished watching girl with a pearl earrings, it was too artistic for my liking, much like 'swimming pool', so i didnt actually appreciate it that well, but i thought that the way they concentrated on little details and facial expression was very well done.
ive got two more german films 'the experiment' and 'as far as my feet will carry me.' after watching that, i really have to watch the three movies ive delayed watching because these big name movies tempted me to watch them more.
was out with rachel and hafez yesterday. i had to go get a CD bag to get all my CDs. i had a hard time choosing between a big one, which holds 144 CDs and another compact one, which carries 120, but more expensive. in the end, i got the 144 one, since at my last count, i had about 100++, and soon enough, i knew it'd fill up. true enough, after slotting everything, i had 128 CDs. as i was arranging all the albums i own in alphabetical order, i realized i owned CDs i am so ashamed of owning. i guess i wasnt really thinking back in those days, like scatman jones, aqua and the spice girls... god.. how could i be owning them...
on sunday, it was just another day, as i said. even though it was my birthday, i went through the usual sunday routine, going to the wet market and help my mom get vegetables and meat, and then the grocery after lunch. but dinner was great, at angus house at taka, its a usual birthday dinner ive had for past couple of years. its always kinda embarrassing when the staff presents a cake while the automated piano plays the birthday tune.
one more week til i leave... jeez, i seriously gotta start packing.
i wonder if i missed out any that i watched, but didnt list it here.
to end all wars was a pretty gripping drama which is based on a real story about a scottish soldier surviving as a P.O.W. during the world war ii, building the death railway and such. they filmed the the way the victims suffered and gritted through the whole ordeal pretty well. a very good film.
le papillon was interesting too, but like with jeux d'enfants, i didnt really see a big deal about it. its pleasant, thank goodness it lasted for only about 80 minutes.
on the other hand, antwone fisher would probably be listed in one of the best movies ive seen category. though the movie moves very slowly, i think denzel washington did a superb job in slowly uncovering a totally unknown character, into such a inspiring story. and to think that it was based on a true story, its just amazing.
just finished watching girl with a pearl earrings, it was too artistic for my liking, much like 'swimming pool', so i didnt actually appreciate it that well, but i thought that the way they concentrated on little details and facial expression was very well done.
ive got two more german films 'the experiment' and 'as far as my feet will carry me.' after watching that, i really have to watch the three movies ive delayed watching because these big name movies tempted me to watch them more.
was out with rachel and hafez yesterday. i had to go get a CD bag to get all my CDs. i had a hard time choosing between a big one, which holds 144 CDs and another compact one, which carries 120, but more expensive. in the end, i got the 144 one, since at my last count, i had about 100++, and soon enough, i knew it'd fill up. true enough, after slotting everything, i had 128 CDs. as i was arranging all the albums i own in alphabetical order, i realized i owned CDs i am so ashamed of owning. i guess i wasnt really thinking back in those days, like scatman jones, aqua and the spice girls... god.. how could i be owning them...
on sunday, it was just another day, as i said. even though it was my birthday, i went through the usual sunday routine, going to the wet market and help my mom get vegetables and meat, and then the grocery after lunch. but dinner was great, at angus house at taka, its a usual birthday dinner ive had for past couple of years. its always kinda embarrassing when the staff presents a cake while the automated piano plays the birthday tune.
one more week til i leave... jeez, i seriously gotta start packing.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
the big two-oh
ive turned 20 as of this day.
im not a teenager anymore, im considered an adult from this day.
its no longer walid, but mr. neaz. it sounds weird to me.
no more 1 as the first figure of my age.
but its no big deal, coz it feels like any other ordinary day to me. i stopped caring for my birthday couple of years back. but its because of the people around me who make an effort to celebrate for me that still makes me keep track of my age.
considering the amount of fun i had, i'd rather be 18 forever. but then again, its not possible. most teenagers die to be older, but ive reached a stage where i die to remain young.
went out for dinner with junwen and junli, and we walked so much, felt real nice for me. from bugis to city hall, to suntec, to millenia walk where we filled our stomach full at outback. then walked to esplanade, fullerton, to the CBD, then back to city hall for a coffee, then lazed around while we waited for junli's relatives to pick her up. nice way to usher in the new decade. though we didnt do much, i felt like i was relaxing after a long time, with good friends. felt real great about it.
was surprised when i reached home that couple of my family friends were downstairs. supposedly they were at my place, on their way back home, but they wished me happy birthday anyway.
shout out goes to other people born on this day, notably my cousin naheen (how coincidental, albeit not of the same age), my neighbour ashwin and my favourite 'friends' character matt le blanc (joey)... happy birthday guys!
im not a teenager anymore, im considered an adult from this day.
its no longer walid, but mr. neaz. it sounds weird to me.
no more 1 as the first figure of my age.
but its no big deal, coz it feels like any other ordinary day to me. i stopped caring for my birthday couple of years back. but its because of the people around me who make an effort to celebrate for me that still makes me keep track of my age.
considering the amount of fun i had, i'd rather be 18 forever. but then again, its not possible. most teenagers die to be older, but ive reached a stage where i die to remain young.
went out for dinner with junwen and junli, and we walked so much, felt real nice for me. from bugis to city hall, to suntec, to millenia walk where we filled our stomach full at outback. then walked to esplanade, fullerton, to the CBD, then back to city hall for a coffee, then lazed around while we waited for junli's relatives to pick her up. nice way to usher in the new decade. though we didnt do much, i felt like i was relaxing after a long time, with good friends. felt real great about it.
was surprised when i reached home that couple of my family friends were downstairs. supposedly they were at my place, on their way back home, but they wished me happy birthday anyway.
shout out goes to other people born on this day, notably my cousin naheen (how coincidental, albeit not of the same age), my neighbour ashwin and my favourite 'friends' character matt le blanc (joey)... happy birthday guys!
Friday, July 23, 2004
health checkup and the rest of the day
woke up early in the morning, coz i had to go to gleneagles for health checkup. ever since my dad's episode, he's not leaving anything to chance, not even us.
so the test was quite interesting, they took my blood pressure, then couple of blood samples, then it was the hearing test. and then, eye check, its different from the ones i had gotten used to at paris miki, coz this machine puffed air right to the eye after it checked the eye power. but the one after that was the worst, yet so cool. this machine focuses on your eye and then suddenly, flashes a light so bright, for like 3 or 4 seconds, that afterwards, you go blind for the next 10 minutes on one eye. but the results are so cool. they actually take a side view of your eye's blood veins. as if my eye was cut into half. while my right eye was recovering, i went to do my ECG (dont ask me what that stands for, they plugged couple of cables over my veins and then recorded the pulse and such on the graph) the one after this was the highlight of the day. i stood on this machine and held two tubes, with a button, that supposedly sent weak electricity through my body, to determine my body composition. it could tell how much fat i had, how much water i had and how much muscles i had. sad to say, 25% of my body is made of fat. yes. out of 65.5kg, 16kg was fat. how embarassing. i need to convert some of those fat into muscles, but thats coz ive not been excersizing as much. i need to lose about 6kg of fat, to be at the normal level. i took a chest x-ray, and then the doc did couple of reflex tests on me, and at the same time pointing out that my thyroids were too big, but concluded its probably due to my neck muscles that it looked inflammated. the last item was the threadmill. it was ok, but coz i didnt warm my muscles before it, my calves got so tough when i started running, it started to give a lot of pain. i finished normally, but the calves were so painful. and i didnt feel right, especially when they took out like 3 tubes of blood from me only 2 hours prior to the threadmill test.
so it was a fun experience. but at the end of the day, when we had to do the payment (it'll later be covered by insurance) we payed 2k for the three of us. i remember my dad stating a simple line that made me think about affordable medicare: 'how much is one's life actually worth?' i mean, simple checks like that cost 600++, its evident its affordable only to the riches. im touching this topic again, following last night. its scary to think that its the wealthy who can afford medicare, while the rest suffers and cant prolong their life.
went home, started watching mystic river. watched only half way through, coz i went to NP to meet hazril and kim. there, met his friend Ahmad, who i think i got along pretty well, coz we were sharing jokes and laughing in no time, he's pretty funny guy. we left for peninsula plaza with kim and siyan, and we had dinner at sakura restaurant. i thought it was japanese, but it was supposedly thai-chinese. anyway, food was great, i had my favourite kang kong and fried rice. i wasnt exactly too full, so i got myself two bars of the kitkat chunky and a drink to top it off. we went near the esplanade area, along the singapore river, and talked for a while before heading back. it was a very nice evening spent. oh, and hazril and kim, thanks a lot for the present, i sure like it a lot!
so got home and resumed watching mystic river. it was a gripping tale, i must say, with a surprise twist (like any other.. well, these kinda movies needs a twist) god, i love mysteries too. especially ones like this.
grr... im not gonna be able to see my cousin who's gonna fly from atlanta to virginia. coz im reaching around 5, while she's leaving around 2. grrr... as if things werent unconvenient enough.
wanted to watch whole nine yards, but realized its too late. so i was blogging here. and now that im done, im off to sleep, and rest my eyes that has been made sore by the contact lenses, once again.
so the test was quite interesting, they took my blood pressure, then couple of blood samples, then it was the hearing test. and then, eye check, its different from the ones i had gotten used to at paris miki, coz this machine puffed air right to the eye after it checked the eye power. but the one after that was the worst, yet so cool. this machine focuses on your eye and then suddenly, flashes a light so bright, for like 3 or 4 seconds, that afterwards, you go blind for the next 10 minutes on one eye. but the results are so cool. they actually take a side view of your eye's blood veins. as if my eye was cut into half. while my right eye was recovering, i went to do my ECG (dont ask me what that stands for, they plugged couple of cables over my veins and then recorded the pulse and such on the graph) the one after this was the highlight of the day. i stood on this machine and held two tubes, with a button, that supposedly sent weak electricity through my body, to determine my body composition. it could tell how much fat i had, how much water i had and how much muscles i had. sad to say, 25% of my body is made of fat. yes. out of 65.5kg, 16kg was fat. how embarassing. i need to convert some of those fat into muscles, but thats coz ive not been excersizing as much. i need to lose about 6kg of fat, to be at the normal level. i took a chest x-ray, and then the doc did couple of reflex tests on me, and at the same time pointing out that my thyroids were too big, but concluded its probably due to my neck muscles that it looked inflammated. the last item was the threadmill. it was ok, but coz i didnt warm my muscles before it, my calves got so tough when i started running, it started to give a lot of pain. i finished normally, but the calves were so painful. and i didnt feel right, especially when they took out like 3 tubes of blood from me only 2 hours prior to the threadmill test.
so it was a fun experience. but at the end of the day, when we had to do the payment (it'll later be covered by insurance) we payed 2k for the three of us. i remember my dad stating a simple line that made me think about affordable medicare: 'how much is one's life actually worth?' i mean, simple checks like that cost 600++, its evident its affordable only to the riches. im touching this topic again, following last night. its scary to think that its the wealthy who can afford medicare, while the rest suffers and cant prolong their life.
went home, started watching mystic river. watched only half way through, coz i went to NP to meet hazril and kim. there, met his friend Ahmad, who i think i got along pretty well, coz we were sharing jokes and laughing in no time, he's pretty funny guy. we left for peninsula plaza with kim and siyan, and we had dinner at sakura restaurant. i thought it was japanese, but it was supposedly thai-chinese. anyway, food was great, i had my favourite kang kong and fried rice. i wasnt exactly too full, so i got myself two bars of the kitkat chunky and a drink to top it off. we went near the esplanade area, along the singapore river, and talked for a while before heading back. it was a very nice evening spent. oh, and hazril and kim, thanks a lot for the present, i sure like it a lot!
so got home and resumed watching mystic river. it was a gripping tale, i must say, with a surprise twist (like any other.. well, these kinda movies needs a twist) god, i love mysteries too. especially ones like this.
grr... im not gonna be able to see my cousin who's gonna fly from atlanta to virginia. coz im reaching around 5, while she's leaving around 2. grrr... as if things werent unconvenient enough.
wanted to watch whole nine yards, but realized its too late. so i was blogging here. and now that im done, im off to sleep, and rest my eyes that has been made sore by the contact lenses, once again.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
bowling for columbine
i just watched bowling for columbine, it's a documentary, so everyone thinks that its dead boring, even i thought so, but this was one heck of a great show. i watched this as i kept in mind that this was more or less an one sided, biased documentary, but hell, it conveys the point so well.
now i really want to catch fehrenheit 9/11. michael moore did a fantastic job, a real eye opener. i know i said some time ago that i was disillusioned about the 'american' ways, well, after this, im questioning that statement, coz this gave me more questions to ponder about.
its astonishing, that this only touches on the topic of arms. it was unbelievable when they succeeded in convincing k-mart to stop selling bullets from all of their chains, and also discovering that corporations like lockheed martin supports firearms and some of these governmental decisions actually pump money back into companies.
i was excited that a big and renowned company like lockheed martin would be one of the potential employers for georgia tech graduates, but now, im seriously going to think twice about working in a company that will be associated with dealing in firearms like that, even if i am going to be working in the technological side. its a scary revelation.
side-tracking... watched hellboy, since it was one of the dvds i rented this afternoon (also got whole nine yards, to end all wars and mystic river) i thought the movie would be bad, but it wasnt that bad, just a anticlimax ending. im glad that i picked up mystic river, one of the major movies of last year that i missed, i still have to catch cold mountain, monster and big fish as the big name movies i missed out on. frida, which i watched this morning, was pretty interesting, very artistic, not the usual kind of movie. but it makes you think about art appreciation. my question is, it seems that nowadays, its mainly the wealthy who seems to know how to appreciate 'true' art. as everyone would say, its a bunch of shit, since its usually only to show off their wealth that they buy art pieces for astronomical prices. i just found it funny to see during the movie that when they have art exhibition, all the attendants were rich businessman, politicians, etc, etc. well, im not complaining, since it kinda helps these artists who really have a tough life starting out, its to somewhat compliment their struggle and determination. but sometimes its nuts how established artists do not need to put in any effort or imagination coz people will buy their pieces anyway. ive heard of this artist who suffered something like a writer's block or some sort and published an empty canvass, which sold for a price we all can just imagine. it takes an established artists to publish such 'abstract' art, but not for a nobody, who could be thinking of the exact same thing as this established artist...
anyway...
ripped couple of my dad's CD collection today. instead of copying them into individual CDs, i piled them together as MP3 files (although on 92kbps) and managed to squeeze in about 12 CDs (actually 13 or 14, some were double CD compilation) worth of songs into a single CD-RW CD. if i want to, i could transfer them to individual CDs at a later time, but not now. among the ones i copied were michael buble, jamie cullum, bond, nat king cole, kenny g, luther vandross, etc, etc. the modern jazz crooner collection is more or less done, i need to get hold of harry connick jr, renee olstead, norah jone's 2nd, diana krall, steve tyrell, josh groban and lizz wright. ok, tts actually quite more than just a few...
having my physical checkup tomorrow. so technically im on a detox from junk food. well, who am i kidding... im not.
now i really want to catch fehrenheit 9/11. michael moore did a fantastic job, a real eye opener. i know i said some time ago that i was disillusioned about the 'american' ways, well, after this, im questioning that statement, coz this gave me more questions to ponder about.
its astonishing, that this only touches on the topic of arms. it was unbelievable when they succeeded in convincing k-mart to stop selling bullets from all of their chains, and also discovering that corporations like lockheed martin supports firearms and some of these governmental decisions actually pump money back into companies.
i was excited that a big and renowned company like lockheed martin would be one of the potential employers for georgia tech graduates, but now, im seriously going to think twice about working in a company that will be associated with dealing in firearms like that, even if i am going to be working in the technological side. its a scary revelation.
side-tracking... watched hellboy, since it was one of the dvds i rented this afternoon (also got whole nine yards, to end all wars and mystic river) i thought the movie would be bad, but it wasnt that bad, just a anticlimax ending. im glad that i picked up mystic river, one of the major movies of last year that i missed, i still have to catch cold mountain, monster and big fish as the big name movies i missed out on. frida, which i watched this morning, was pretty interesting, very artistic, not the usual kind of movie. but it makes you think about art appreciation. my question is, it seems that nowadays, its mainly the wealthy who seems to know how to appreciate 'true' art. as everyone would say, its a bunch of shit, since its usually only to show off their wealth that they buy art pieces for astronomical prices. i just found it funny to see during the movie that when they have art exhibition, all the attendants were rich businessman, politicians, etc, etc. well, im not complaining, since it kinda helps these artists who really have a tough life starting out, its to somewhat compliment their struggle and determination. but sometimes its nuts how established artists do not need to put in any effort or imagination coz people will buy their pieces anyway. ive heard of this artist who suffered something like a writer's block or some sort and published an empty canvass, which sold for a price we all can just imagine. it takes an established artists to publish such 'abstract' art, but not for a nobody, who could be thinking of the exact same thing as this established artist...
anyway...
ripped couple of my dad's CD collection today. instead of copying them into individual CDs, i piled them together as MP3 files (although on 92kbps) and managed to squeeze in about 12 CDs (actually 13 or 14, some were double CD compilation) worth of songs into a single CD-RW CD. if i want to, i could transfer them to individual CDs at a later time, but not now. among the ones i copied were michael buble, jamie cullum, bond, nat king cole, kenny g, luther vandross, etc, etc. the modern jazz crooner collection is more or less done, i need to get hold of harry connick jr, renee olstead, norah jone's 2nd, diana krall, steve tyrell, josh groban and lizz wright. ok, tts actually quite more than just a few...
having my physical checkup tomorrow. so technically im on a detox from junk food. well, who am i kidding... im not.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
in n out
so its final; dutch striker patrick kluivert signs for newcastle on a 3 year deal (last night it was thought that he was on a year long loan deal, but its no more)
its a delight, since newcastle's been dry on the goals last season, now the thought of shearer and kluivert upfront makes it very interesting.
on the other hand, inspirational servant of 7 years, gary speed, went off to bolton for 750k. its a big loss, he was one of the most hardworking and talented players (he holds the record for most number of premiership games played so far) newcastle had in the recent times. i guess bobby's reshuffling the squad for a younger touch. with james milner as a future supplement and quite possibly, we can expect nicky butt to sever his 12 year relation with man utd to come over to the north east...
watched 'the four feathers.' you can liken it to a mixture of 'the gladiator' and 'cast away.' captivating performance by heath ledger, but again, it lacks factors that should have blown me away. nearly, but not enough.
started watching 'frida' for a while, but stopped it since dad wanted to watch 'marked for death' i didnt continue watching it, since i lost interest as the story progressed. shall have breakfast and then resume 'frida' after which i will go return them and get more dvds.
its a delight, since newcastle's been dry on the goals last season, now the thought of shearer and kluivert upfront makes it very interesting.
on the other hand, inspirational servant of 7 years, gary speed, went off to bolton for 750k. its a big loss, he was one of the most hardworking and talented players (he holds the record for most number of premiership games played so far) newcastle had in the recent times. i guess bobby's reshuffling the squad for a younger touch. with james milner as a future supplement and quite possibly, we can expect nicky butt to sever his 12 year relation with man utd to come over to the north east...
watched 'the four feathers.' you can liken it to a mixture of 'the gladiator' and 'cast away.' captivating performance by heath ledger, but again, it lacks factors that should have blown me away. nearly, but not enough.
started watching 'frida' for a while, but stopped it since dad wanted to watch 'marked for death' i didnt continue watching it, since i lost interest as the story progressed. shall have breakfast and then resume 'frida' after which i will go return them and get more dvds.
housing assignment
i finally got my housing assignment at tech.
im pretty happy and excited, than ever, that i got my 1st choice housing, which is at Glenn, which also means I got into the Freshman Experience Program. My room number is 242. My roommate seems to be an older student (probably a sophomore or a junior) who participates in the program to help us get adjusted to the surroundings faster. His name is James, I have not called him yet, but ive emailed him about my current situation.
talked to my cousin this morning, i think as my dad suggested, it would be better for him to come over the weekend when im free. but now knowing that i would have a georgia native as my roommate, i am convinced i will settle in rather quickly.
i need to start packing...
im pretty happy and excited, than ever, that i got my 1st choice housing, which is at Glenn, which also means I got into the Freshman Experience Program. My room number is 242. My roommate seems to be an older student (probably a sophomore or a junior) who participates in the program to help us get adjusted to the surroundings faster. His name is James, I have not called him yet, but ive emailed him about my current situation.
talked to my cousin this morning, i think as my dad suggested, it would be better for him to come over the weekend when im free. but now knowing that i would have a georgia native as my roommate, i am convinced i will settle in rather quickly.
i need to start packing...
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
weekend update
i guess i didnt exactly blog about what i did over the sunday and monday.
since i came back from the council bbq at 1 am, i kinda woke up late on sunday morning. another trojan infected my pc, which i cant remove so far (backdoor.Trojan, if anyone knows any info to remove it, please do leave me a message) so i spent the next few hours going through message boards to see what i could do.
seeing that all methods were very tedious (and mostly out of my knowledge) i gave up.
my mom suggested we go drop by the thai embassy since they were having the food festival, so we went down in the afternoon. hot, but pleasant weather, great food made the afternoon seem pretty good.
went home, and then collected the dvds to return. i got an exchange for fan fan la tulipe, even though it was in a vcd version, i needed to see only the last 10 minutes, so i didnt really care. since the movie was so good, the ending really didnt matter, but it was just to satisfy my insistence that i see through the whole movie.
then we went to pasta fresca for dinner. since i ate my lunch at the thai embassy kinda late, i couldnt really eat much pasta. but being back at that place along 6th avenue is always pleasant. reminds me of the past couple of years that ive been there and all. back when the owner himself, mr. salvadore would serve us himself, and that time, when i was rushing for the FA Cup final, and we were gonna take out, he intercepted a pizza that was meant for someone else and told me to eat it there, coz he thought that we'd still make it in time for the match (which we did) and such... good memories. business has really flourished since then, we hardly see him now. even the spaghetti doesnt taste that good as time passed, but the atmosphere is still the same, a place i really enjoy going to.
dad didnt go to office on monday, coz it seemed to be a holiday in japan (the company follows japanese calender as well as singaporean ones) so he worked from home. in the evening, we went to the fullerton area, since my mom wanted to take pictures. the background lighting was pretty nice, so i took some pictures of the business district and the esplanade area, it should come out nice if i were to print them out.
then we went to newton circus for dinner. gosh, i cant recall the last time i went there. surprisingly, the guy who always served us drinks remembered us. we had the usual things, and it brought me back memories of the time when our relatives came, coz we would eat there.
so the past few nights have been memorable, or rather, very nostalgic. doesnt help the fact tt i keep thinking about when i have to leave.
on the way back, renewed membership for rentals, so that i could continue to feed my cravings for world cinema. i only rented one foreign cinema this time, which was bon voyage (was watching til just now, but i had to stop since hasib wanted to watch smallville) i still have about 30 mins to go, but my, its another excellent one, very very interesting the way how different characters all get tangled up. i also got frida, the four feathers, my big fat greek wedding (i didnt find it as nice as everyone made it sound) and my dad got a steven seagal movie marked for death.
i am so going to get the couple of the ones i noticed the next time round.
i had to wake up pretty early today, coz jonas wanted me to talk to one of his seniors who also does the forever living network marketing. i understood the system much better, but i still have no intention of joining.
went to see chahat for lunch later on. we initially intended to go out today, but she had her off day yesterday instead of today, so we settled for a short lunch.
i went to HMV to check out some CDs, looks like they're on a major renovation. but i managed to listen to some. i managed to check out a jazz artist i saw when i went to see king arthur, named renne olstead, and my, she's one heck of a good singer! a very good find, i have to get her CD. and then i was shocked to find out later on on amazon.com (i usually check the reviews there before decing to buy any CDs) when i found out that renee is only 14! i thought she was 28 somethin by the pictures and the voice! if you thought joss stone was good, renee olstead is better!
sports update... its old news, but its fantastic that ralf schumacher is driving for toyota next season. and nakata signs up for fiorentina, that was a surprise. double deals for nicky butt and patrick kluivert for newcastle is expected by this weekend. sad news is that gary speed might be on his way out. butt is a good replacement, but im not really sure about kluivert, he's demandind and doesnt work too well with others.
on the other hand, 3 out of the 4 teams i thought will make the semis in copa america made it. well, had paraguay not won against brazil, i think i would have seen all that i anticiapted; argentina, colombia, brazil and mexico. now instead of mexico, its uruguay. i think it should be argentina-brazil final. good stuff expected. asian cup, slow start, but number of surprises so far. but its still too early to tell. i hope it will somehow be an iran-japan final.
im trying to check my hall assignment... i guess it works by Eastern Time than the computer clock. that means i gotta check after midnight, or most probably tomorrow morning. im very anxious if i got the freshman experience program or not.
okay, i gotta get back to finish off 'bon voyage'...
since i came back from the council bbq at 1 am, i kinda woke up late on sunday morning. another trojan infected my pc, which i cant remove so far (backdoor.Trojan, if anyone knows any info to remove it, please do leave me a message) so i spent the next few hours going through message boards to see what i could do.
seeing that all methods were very tedious (and mostly out of my knowledge) i gave up.
my mom suggested we go drop by the thai embassy since they were having the food festival, so we went down in the afternoon. hot, but pleasant weather, great food made the afternoon seem pretty good.
went home, and then collected the dvds to return. i got an exchange for fan fan la tulipe, even though it was in a vcd version, i needed to see only the last 10 minutes, so i didnt really care. since the movie was so good, the ending really didnt matter, but it was just to satisfy my insistence that i see through the whole movie.
then we went to pasta fresca for dinner. since i ate my lunch at the thai embassy kinda late, i couldnt really eat much pasta. but being back at that place along 6th avenue is always pleasant. reminds me of the past couple of years that ive been there and all. back when the owner himself, mr. salvadore would serve us himself, and that time, when i was rushing for the FA Cup final, and we were gonna take out, he intercepted a pizza that was meant for someone else and told me to eat it there, coz he thought that we'd still make it in time for the match (which we did) and such... good memories. business has really flourished since then, we hardly see him now. even the spaghetti doesnt taste that good as time passed, but the atmosphere is still the same, a place i really enjoy going to.
dad didnt go to office on monday, coz it seemed to be a holiday in japan (the company follows japanese calender as well as singaporean ones) so he worked from home. in the evening, we went to the fullerton area, since my mom wanted to take pictures. the background lighting was pretty nice, so i took some pictures of the business district and the esplanade area, it should come out nice if i were to print them out.
then we went to newton circus for dinner. gosh, i cant recall the last time i went there. surprisingly, the guy who always served us drinks remembered us. we had the usual things, and it brought me back memories of the time when our relatives came, coz we would eat there.
so the past few nights have been memorable, or rather, very nostalgic. doesnt help the fact tt i keep thinking about when i have to leave.
on the way back, renewed membership for rentals, so that i could continue to feed my cravings for world cinema. i only rented one foreign cinema this time, which was bon voyage (was watching til just now, but i had to stop since hasib wanted to watch smallville) i still have about 30 mins to go, but my, its another excellent one, very very interesting the way how different characters all get tangled up. i also got frida, the four feathers, my big fat greek wedding (i didnt find it as nice as everyone made it sound) and my dad got a steven seagal movie marked for death.
i am so going to get the couple of the ones i noticed the next time round.
i had to wake up pretty early today, coz jonas wanted me to talk to one of his seniors who also does the forever living network marketing. i understood the system much better, but i still have no intention of joining.
went to see chahat for lunch later on. we initially intended to go out today, but she had her off day yesterday instead of today, so we settled for a short lunch.
i went to HMV to check out some CDs, looks like they're on a major renovation. but i managed to listen to some. i managed to check out a jazz artist i saw when i went to see king arthur, named renne olstead, and my, she's one heck of a good singer! a very good find, i have to get her CD. and then i was shocked to find out later on on amazon.com (i usually check the reviews there before decing to buy any CDs) when i found out that renee is only 14! i thought she was 28 somethin by the pictures and the voice! if you thought joss stone was good, renee olstead is better!
sports update... its old news, but its fantastic that ralf schumacher is driving for toyota next season. and nakata signs up for fiorentina, that was a surprise. double deals for nicky butt and patrick kluivert for newcastle is expected by this weekend. sad news is that gary speed might be on his way out. butt is a good replacement, but im not really sure about kluivert, he's demandind and doesnt work too well with others.
on the other hand, 3 out of the 4 teams i thought will make the semis in copa america made it. well, had paraguay not won against brazil, i think i would have seen all that i anticiapted; argentina, colombia, brazil and mexico. now instead of mexico, its uruguay. i think it should be argentina-brazil final. good stuff expected. asian cup, slow start, but number of surprises so far. but its still too early to tell. i hope it will somehow be an iran-japan final.
im trying to check my hall assignment... i guess it works by Eastern Time than the computer clock. that means i gotta check after midnight, or most probably tomorrow morning. im very anxious if i got the freshman experience program or not.
okay, i gotta get back to finish off 'bon voyage'...
Monday, July 19, 2004
i missed them commando boys!
i totally forgot that the three commando boys (allan, lionel and victor) left for taiwan last night. they will be coming back on the 8th, which means i wont get to see them anymore.
good thing i met them at least once, its better than not having met at all.
only pity would be that i didnt get to spend that much time with allan.
i managed to sms allan and lionel last night, so it wasnt that bad. hopefully i will get to come back here next year and see them. lionel might come to philly, albeit in 2 years, but that is convenient in the future.
i just bought the ticket that will get me to atlanta for good from orbitz and also the return ticket for the december holidays. dammit, that 2 way tickets cost US$224. but its a ticket to the new chapter, so i cant complain much about it. so im leaving for atlanta from chicago on the 10th august, 1330 hrs Central Time. its a 2 hrs 15 mins flight. approx. 600 miles (1000km) distance.
good thing i met them at least once, its better than not having met at all.
only pity would be that i didnt get to spend that much time with allan.
i managed to sms allan and lionel last night, so it wasnt that bad. hopefully i will get to come back here next year and see them. lionel might come to philly, albeit in 2 years, but that is convenient in the future.
i just bought the ticket that will get me to atlanta for good from orbitz and also the return ticket for the december holidays. dammit, that 2 way tickets cost US$224. but its a ticket to the new chapter, so i cant complain much about it. so im leaving for atlanta from chicago on the 10th august, 1330 hrs Central Time. its a 2 hrs 15 mins flight. approx. 600 miles (1000km) distance.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
things dont quite go right
yesterday was quite messed up.
i reached home about 1, that i mentioned earlier, so when i woke up at 10, i felt real tired, not coz of the late night, but rather, coz of the contact lenses. i really should stop wearing them. my body feels fine, but its my eyes that feels like its not been rested for ages.
anyway, i thought there'll be a cricket gathering of some sort (found out from nolan later that there actually was, but i think i would not have gone even if i am informed) but since i hadnt got any news about it, i suggested to my dad that we go watch king arthur. after spending some time on the pc and then settling lunch, we went to tiong bahru plaza (somehow with my dad, we always go there, i dont question why, less crowd, easier to get tickets, ive got nothing to complain)
i had been waiting to see king arthur. but when i walked out of the theatre after the show, i kinda left going 'is that it?' there isnt much, just good (but not excellent) battle scenes, over-courageous portrayal of king arthur by clive owen, and that's probably it. its nothing like i anticipated. it was quite disappointing, coz i cant even say it was very good. its just an ok movie.
left for great world city after that coz hasib wanted to get some CDs. i initially didnt plan on getting anything, but since this was a store that had good collection of chill out and lounge music, i was tempted to get some good compilation. but none of them was that good, they have double CDs, but very few outstanding songs, hardly the case for compilations. instead, i continued my tradition of getting greatest hits packages and unplugged/live CDs by getting the Boyz II Men hits collection and both the corrs and alanis morisette MTV unplugged. next one might be the jay-z unplugged, gotta look for more.
we decided to have dinner there, and had one at this super high class sort of japanese restaurant. you can tell that its not some ordinary restaurant the moment you enter the place, and my dad said its one of the two finest restaurant there is best for japanese food in singapore. even the items in the menu was very much different from the ordinary restaurants ive been to. very traditional japanese style. i hadnt been to such places in a long time, so it took me sometime before i could decided what i wanted to get, coz the usual items i tend to order were not available there. sad to say, the food was brought to us pretty late. i think we were there for more than an hour, and i think we spent about 30 to 40 minutes waiting for what we ordered. that was probably the only downside, but food was excellent. i hadnt had such a satisfying meal for some time too.
but then while waiting, and looking at the decorations and the ambience, i started wondering, is this what fine living means? how do we define a fine life, fine food? very expensive, but small portion of food in this kind of place? where people seem to want to eat in that specific place rather than wanting to eat the food? i could not come to an answer. my dad said that in these cases, worry about what you're eating than the price. but i think it outrageous that big executives are dining and paying half a grand and are satisfied, because they simply can afford it and not bother about what they're eating, so long as its at some high class place. i detest that kind of thing, as you can very well tell. but as my dad said, i just worried about enjoying the food and not let the waiting time or these questions bother my apetite.
by the time we left, it was close to 9, i intended to go to pasir ris for the council bbq and staying over (even though i wasnt going to stay over) and i thought that i'll be leaving an hour earlier. i thought since its so late, should i even bother? but then i wasnt in a rush, so i decided to go anyway. dad dropped me off at bugis, and i made my way there by the train. luckily, i didnt have to wait too long for the bus that took me to the place from the station. the number of people staying over were more than the usual, and i met kenneth, vincent and andy, for the first time since i came back. and i managed to talk to nolan a little more than the previous times (for once) we talked about the hidden story of king arthur that i didnt know about, that lancelot and guineviere was also attracted to eachother somehow and that it was supposed to form a love triangle. i kinda thought so during the movie, but it wasnt obvious, so learning that was a pleasant surprise twist to how the story would have turned out like. i think it would have made the movie more interesting if they concentrate more on the love triangle, like they did in troy.
by the time i arrived, everyone was pretty much in the settled down, starting to just talk mode already, so i didnt think that i'd stay that long. soon enough, people started leaving, and people started playing cards and the rest was watching eugene's band of brothers dvd, so i thought it'd be better i leave.
took one of those cab rides that seemed like an eternity, while different thoughts swirled around my mind. like how it'd be like when i come back here the next time and such.
i guess i'm getting into that mentality that i was significantly older as compared to 5 months ago. back in the last few days, i was going out non stop, really enjoying time. now its like, when im out, im out very late, and it feels like a lone ride back into an empty apartment kinda situation.
wonder how things will turn out when i settle in atlanta. 2 days til i find out my room mate. roughly 2 weeks til i leave. uncertainty beckons.
i reached home about 1, that i mentioned earlier, so when i woke up at 10, i felt real tired, not coz of the late night, but rather, coz of the contact lenses. i really should stop wearing them. my body feels fine, but its my eyes that feels like its not been rested for ages.
anyway, i thought there'll be a cricket gathering of some sort (found out from nolan later that there actually was, but i think i would not have gone even if i am informed) but since i hadnt got any news about it, i suggested to my dad that we go watch king arthur. after spending some time on the pc and then settling lunch, we went to tiong bahru plaza (somehow with my dad, we always go there, i dont question why, less crowd, easier to get tickets, ive got nothing to complain)
i had been waiting to see king arthur. but when i walked out of the theatre after the show, i kinda left going 'is that it?' there isnt much, just good (but not excellent) battle scenes, over-courageous portrayal of king arthur by clive owen, and that's probably it. its nothing like i anticipated. it was quite disappointing, coz i cant even say it was very good. its just an ok movie.
left for great world city after that coz hasib wanted to get some CDs. i initially didnt plan on getting anything, but since this was a store that had good collection of chill out and lounge music, i was tempted to get some good compilation. but none of them was that good, they have double CDs, but very few outstanding songs, hardly the case for compilations. instead, i continued my tradition of getting greatest hits packages and unplugged/live CDs by getting the Boyz II Men hits collection and both the corrs and alanis morisette MTV unplugged. next one might be the jay-z unplugged, gotta look for more.
we decided to have dinner there, and had one at this super high class sort of japanese restaurant. you can tell that its not some ordinary restaurant the moment you enter the place, and my dad said its one of the two finest restaurant there is best for japanese food in singapore. even the items in the menu was very much different from the ordinary restaurants ive been to. very traditional japanese style. i hadnt been to such places in a long time, so it took me sometime before i could decided what i wanted to get, coz the usual items i tend to order were not available there. sad to say, the food was brought to us pretty late. i think we were there for more than an hour, and i think we spent about 30 to 40 minutes waiting for what we ordered. that was probably the only downside, but food was excellent. i hadnt had such a satisfying meal for some time too.
but then while waiting, and looking at the decorations and the ambience, i started wondering, is this what fine living means? how do we define a fine life, fine food? very expensive, but small portion of food in this kind of place? where people seem to want to eat in that specific place rather than wanting to eat the food? i could not come to an answer. my dad said that in these cases, worry about what you're eating than the price. but i think it outrageous that big executives are dining and paying half a grand and are satisfied, because they simply can afford it and not bother about what they're eating, so long as its at some high class place. i detest that kind of thing, as you can very well tell. but as my dad said, i just worried about enjoying the food and not let the waiting time or these questions bother my apetite.
by the time we left, it was close to 9, i intended to go to pasir ris for the council bbq and staying over (even though i wasnt going to stay over) and i thought that i'll be leaving an hour earlier. i thought since its so late, should i even bother? but then i wasnt in a rush, so i decided to go anyway. dad dropped me off at bugis, and i made my way there by the train. luckily, i didnt have to wait too long for the bus that took me to the place from the station. the number of people staying over were more than the usual, and i met kenneth, vincent and andy, for the first time since i came back. and i managed to talk to nolan a little more than the previous times (for once) we talked about the hidden story of king arthur that i didnt know about, that lancelot and guineviere was also attracted to eachother somehow and that it was supposed to form a love triangle. i kinda thought so during the movie, but it wasnt obvious, so learning that was a pleasant surprise twist to how the story would have turned out like. i think it would have made the movie more interesting if they concentrate more on the love triangle, like they did in troy.
by the time i arrived, everyone was pretty much in the settled down, starting to just talk mode already, so i didnt think that i'd stay that long. soon enough, people started leaving, and people started playing cards and the rest was watching eugene's band of brothers dvd, so i thought it'd be better i leave.
took one of those cab rides that seemed like an eternity, while different thoughts swirled around my mind. like how it'd be like when i come back here the next time and such.
i guess i'm getting into that mentality that i was significantly older as compared to 5 months ago. back in the last few days, i was going out non stop, really enjoying time. now its like, when im out, im out very late, and it feels like a lone ride back into an empty apartment kinda situation.
wonder how things will turn out when i settle in atlanta. 2 days til i find out my room mate. roughly 2 weeks til i leave. uncertainty beckons.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Rapture
went to see the SAJC dance concert last night.
since two of the guy were still in their camp as i went out of the place, i had to get roses for the dancers as well as some light food for the guys to consume before we headed in. turned out to be a real mess. i had received 4 tickets from jessica via hui via weifen, and turned out, 2 of the 4 thought it was being held next week. so i had to wonder how i could make use of the 2 tickets. turned out jaime's sister wanted a ticket for a friend, so one was settled, but the other one was left. talk about poor scheduling. i took the super long walk from the MRT station to the kallang theatre, and amidst all the current JC students walking together, i could not help but feel that i was out of the JC system completely. why? the way they talk, the way they dress, the way they think, it all seemed so immature to me. and its a funny feeling, because i was exactly like that only about 8, 9 months ago. and over that time, ive evolved into someone very different.
luckily, glenn had gone in first and reserved for us a pretty good seat, unobstructed by anyone, but the walking crowd. the first thing glenn told me when we met was 'oh my god, this is so JC!' imagine the irony. the fact that i knew the layout of the place and the councillors on duty, i managed to squeeze past all the questioning and directions to find where glenn was. winfrid and jaime reached right on time as the MCs opened the show.
the dances were pretty good, the number of the dancers keeps increasing year by year, so it seems theres a lot of substance. one thing all of us agreed was that the music's much better this time, but i could not shrug the feeling that in terms of the dancing, this year's could not equal the last year's one. last year's was a blast, smashing success. this year was good, but not as good.
congrats to the alumni, probably the only reason why i went to see the concert, especially to hui, jessica, cynthia, candance and dewi. other notable mentions go to kala and jeremy. fantastic performance, that i cant deny.
but as always, there's a downside. after the performance, everyone went mad to pass the flowers and congratulate the dancers, and it turned out to be as long as the whole performance. by the time we boarded the bus off the theare, it was 11 plus. we had dinner at a muslim stall nearby the station, since most of us (adeline, winfrid, jaime, glenn, cynthia and jeremy) wanted pratas. by the time we were done, it was well past 12, so since winfrid, cynthia n i live around the same area, we shared a cab.
i met couple of people ive not seen in a long while. although i saw thash, he was on the upper level, so i couldnt say hi. and if some of you remember, the two girls i picked on for crashing in first 3 months last year, yes, i saw them too. thanks to chahat, they remember me vividly, which is in turn bad for me, coz i feel a lot of guilt for playing pranks on them. but they didnt seem to see it that way, one of them giving me a shockingly cheerful hi with a gentle push and the other, a simple smile and a nod. funny how things turn out.
the physical test this morning was re-scheduled. i just fixed the computer from a irritating trojan, i notice the difference in speed, but with the trojan gone, i dont have to worry about the navigational obstruction anymore.
since two of the guy were still in their camp as i went out of the place, i had to get roses for the dancers as well as some light food for the guys to consume before we headed in. turned out to be a real mess. i had received 4 tickets from jessica via hui via weifen, and turned out, 2 of the 4 thought it was being held next week. so i had to wonder how i could make use of the 2 tickets. turned out jaime's sister wanted a ticket for a friend, so one was settled, but the other one was left. talk about poor scheduling. i took the super long walk from the MRT station to the kallang theatre, and amidst all the current JC students walking together, i could not help but feel that i was out of the JC system completely. why? the way they talk, the way they dress, the way they think, it all seemed so immature to me. and its a funny feeling, because i was exactly like that only about 8, 9 months ago. and over that time, ive evolved into someone very different.
luckily, glenn had gone in first and reserved for us a pretty good seat, unobstructed by anyone, but the walking crowd. the first thing glenn told me when we met was 'oh my god, this is so JC!' imagine the irony. the fact that i knew the layout of the place and the councillors on duty, i managed to squeeze past all the questioning and directions to find where glenn was. winfrid and jaime reached right on time as the MCs opened the show.
the dances were pretty good, the number of the dancers keeps increasing year by year, so it seems theres a lot of substance. one thing all of us agreed was that the music's much better this time, but i could not shrug the feeling that in terms of the dancing, this year's could not equal the last year's one. last year's was a blast, smashing success. this year was good, but not as good.
congrats to the alumni, probably the only reason why i went to see the concert, especially to hui, jessica, cynthia, candance and dewi. other notable mentions go to kala and jeremy. fantastic performance, that i cant deny.
but as always, there's a downside. after the performance, everyone went mad to pass the flowers and congratulate the dancers, and it turned out to be as long as the whole performance. by the time we boarded the bus off the theare, it was 11 plus. we had dinner at a muslim stall nearby the station, since most of us (adeline, winfrid, jaime, glenn, cynthia and jeremy) wanted pratas. by the time we were done, it was well past 12, so since winfrid, cynthia n i live around the same area, we shared a cab.
i met couple of people ive not seen in a long while. although i saw thash, he was on the upper level, so i couldnt say hi. and if some of you remember, the two girls i picked on for crashing in first 3 months last year, yes, i saw them too. thanks to chahat, they remember me vividly, which is in turn bad for me, coz i feel a lot of guilt for playing pranks on them. but they didnt seem to see it that way, one of them giving me a shockingly cheerful hi with a gentle push and the other, a simple smile and a nod. funny how things turn out.
the physical test this morning was re-scheduled. i just fixed the computer from a irritating trojan, i notice the difference in speed, but with the trojan gone, i dont have to worry about the navigational obstruction anymore.
diagnosis
I am....
"Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken."
true... true...
"Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken."
true... true...
Thursday, July 15, 2004
cheer up everyone!
i did one of those blog hopping that i dont really do often, but rather, time to time.
and you notice something very striking. almost every single blog that i go to talk about the author's worries, depression, paranoia, problematic life, unhappiness, hurt, anguish, etc, etc, add all the negative feelings you can think of.
now, i question, are these authors really feeling that, or is it just a trend that everyone follows in blogging?
coz i think its all just a fab. i mean how can everyone be so depressed in blogs and then you see them in school or outside, they are enjoying life, smiling, laughing and such?
do we really have to resort to such methods to start a blog, or to make people read and then worry, which might make us feel that there are people who actually cares and thinks of us?
has our lives become so sad? i dont for a moment believe those that might claim, 'i'm pretending to be happy on the outside, but im actually suffering from the inside' crap.
why do you all need to put up a front to seek attention? by doing that, you are being hypocritical from the very beginning, and whats so ironic is that that is the very attribute that you so hate when others do it. so why are you all doing it?
i think its all due to the fast living that we all have and seek. because of that, everyone does what everyone else does and so on. its all a fab, so dont fake it.
its just a message im trying to convey. if you dont agree with what i say, then you can just leave, dont leave any comments saying 'you think you're so smart you know everything?'
but if you observe that trend in almost every single blog, you gotta wonder... dont you all think?
its not that hard to be happy. stop setting such high expectations, stop expecting so much out of others, be content with what you have and what you can realistically get. you shouldnt be so sad or worried if you do exactly that, and you feel like everyday will be good.
listen to lenny kravitz's 'california,' maybe it might help.
and for some real hard soul singing, 'let love rule' by who else but lenny.
and you notice something very striking. almost every single blog that i go to talk about the author's worries, depression, paranoia, problematic life, unhappiness, hurt, anguish, etc, etc, add all the negative feelings you can think of.
now, i question, are these authors really feeling that, or is it just a trend that everyone follows in blogging?
coz i think its all just a fab. i mean how can everyone be so depressed in blogs and then you see them in school or outside, they are enjoying life, smiling, laughing and such?
do we really have to resort to such methods to start a blog, or to make people read and then worry, which might make us feel that there are people who actually cares and thinks of us?
has our lives become so sad? i dont for a moment believe those that might claim, 'i'm pretending to be happy on the outside, but im actually suffering from the inside' crap.
why do you all need to put up a front to seek attention? by doing that, you are being hypocritical from the very beginning, and whats so ironic is that that is the very attribute that you so hate when others do it. so why are you all doing it?
i think its all due to the fast living that we all have and seek. because of that, everyone does what everyone else does and so on. its all a fab, so dont fake it.
its just a message im trying to convey. if you dont agree with what i say, then you can just leave, dont leave any comments saying 'you think you're so smart you know everything?'
but if you observe that trend in almost every single blog, you gotta wonder... dont you all think?
its not that hard to be happy. stop setting such high expectations, stop expecting so much out of others, be content with what you have and what you can realistically get. you shouldnt be so sad or worried if you do exactly that, and you feel like everyday will be good.
listen to lenny kravitz's 'california,' maybe it might help.
and for some real hard soul singing, 'let love rule' by who else but lenny.
es eh, es eh!
jeez, i wonder how long it has been since i woke up at 7 in the morning. ages!
anyway i went to SA for the 26th council stepping down, as well as to catch up with juniors and teachers.
first, congrats to 26th.. though i didnt know them that well, there have been couple of individuals ive seen grow, and i think they did a fine job through their term.
and talked to mr ong, who just cant stop being funny. he made me laugh till a point, both merrilyn and i had to massage our cheeks coz it was getting painful.
and then we talked to ms chia for a while. oh, one warning, although im not surprised, teachers know we all have blogs and what we write. and this doesnt go only to councillors and all, it goes to all SA students, so dont say i didnt warn you.
its a case im familiar with, she said there's growing problem of students insulting teachers in their blog, and when confronted, they say 'its a private entry, i should be able to say what i want.'
but then again, DP makes a good point. our blogs are published on the world wide web, so its technically not private, since its for the whole world to see. and even if that being the case, we do have the option to make it really private and then put password access to it, but very few people actually do that.
subconsciously, whether you all agree or not, we all actually want our friends and strangers to see what we want to say. i cant deny that, coz part of me wants others to read about what i have to say too. but of course, with everything, there comes expected behaviour.
so one of our friends has gone through this problem before, and another one will be in trouble, not because of defaming, but coz of the type of comment.
its quite scary eh, i bet those current SA students never thought that DP would be reading their entries. and as i promised DP, i am gonna say nice things about her, even though ive done that previously.
as i convinced kim and serene who were also there today, DP is a wise person and someone who we all can talk to. initially, i did not know that DP was like that, but i found out much later on, i hoped that i only knew it sooner. she knows a lot of things and she's one person who has made a direct impact on me while schooling in SA. i guess its a pity that not that many people in SA realizes that she's arguably the best person to talk to in SA.
anyway, only downside to today would have been that i did not get to see mr. mannan. next time, perhaps.
we spent quite a bit of time in SA today, realizing and admitting that we did indeed miss the SA life. it just cant be compared. given the choices i would really want to relive the whole 2 years again, even though i could probably not ask for anything better, maybe just my A Level grades, which doesnt really matter anymore at this moment.
funny enough, like true former students and budding adults, somehow we started talking about marriage and stuff. about who will be married by 2010 or 2014, and such.
i was doing my rounds today, so headed off back to QSS with jonas. he has become somewhat a celebrity, since almost all the teachers recognized him. SA seems to have sent a mail stating that jonas scored 3 distinctions and won a prize (which is a rarity in QSS, so gotta understand)
it was nice to talk to mr low after a very long while, and couple of other teachers as well.
i am just starting to realize how old we are. i am going to turn 20 in 10 days time and i really am seeing the changes in me. but i dont wanna have it any other way, even though i think it has been shitty, i am at a far better position that many others would have been and im very grateful for that. as new experiences pile up, it does make a significant impact on me.
and recently, ive been talking to dad about my possible choices while i explore the engineering discipline. i am going to keep my options open to anything and everything, but most notably the obvious choices which are chemical, computer, electrical and mechanical. the rest i would want to check out (actually i changed from computer to undecided/undeclared for the very reason that i will have the option of giving these a shot and considering the following) are aeronautical/aerospace, biomedical, materials, industrial/systems.
DP commented that if i were to come back to singapore as an expat in the future, she will have to make sure that i am rooted firmly to the ground and not go astray, coz she thinks i will be a magnet for SPGs. i laughed off at that.
but she makes a good point, in terms of career. i will have to stay there til i get my citizenship, which might be 6, 7 years from now. and then if i want to, i could try out in the world bank or the IMF, maybe even UN, using my japanese language proficiency to travel around. that plan seems very appealing. but then again, i could do the same with IBM or Intel or microsoft too. i remember my dad telling me that he once considered to work for UN, and ever since then, which was quite long ago, the idea has been pretty exciting. but then with the problems now... its a put off.
4 more weeks til university begins. i cant wait. 5 more days til i find out who my room mate will be. or whether i get into the freshmen experience and the dorm that i wanted.
by the time i came back, it was almost 5. since it was a super hot day (tryin to dress in casual/not casual style was a mistake, after realizing it is a super hot country afterall, and my body seems to have completely adapted to being at 15/16 degrees in chicago) i took a shower, took a short nap and continued watching master and commander.
i did not get the point of the movie. at the end, i was left thinking, so what was the show about? there didnt seem to be any plot. all i can say it that they just happened to take a particular moment of a sailor's life, kinda thing. i remember utkarsh telling me it was a bad show, and then my aunt said it was good. i say it was pretty bad. very complicated, no apparant storyline, etc. maybe camera and effects were good. but that's about it.
and then after dinner, i watched the monsoon wedding. kim told me this morning that it was a very good show and i do totally agree. its the best indian-themed movie ive ever seen. and me not being an advocate of bollywood cinemas, that's a rare thing for me to say. almost everything was perfect, i loved it. and soon, it will be something i will probably have to go through or something, even if not, i know the race that i belong to conducts things in a very similar manner, so i could really associate myself with what was going on. i think this goes straight into one of the finest movies ive seen (since ive been sayin one of the best all the time, i decided to just categorize under finest and best, instead of saying that over and over again)
im thinking of renewing the rental for maybe another 15 sets. there are couple of czech, german and iranian filsm i saw there that i wanna catch, but i'll see how that goes.
tomorrow's the SA dance. cant wait to see hui, jessica, cynthia, dewi and candace do their thing.
anyway i went to SA for the 26th council stepping down, as well as to catch up with juniors and teachers.
first, congrats to 26th.. though i didnt know them that well, there have been couple of individuals ive seen grow, and i think they did a fine job through their term.
and talked to mr ong, who just cant stop being funny. he made me laugh till a point, both merrilyn and i had to massage our cheeks coz it was getting painful.
and then we talked to ms chia for a while. oh, one warning, although im not surprised, teachers know we all have blogs and what we write. and this doesnt go only to councillors and all, it goes to all SA students, so dont say i didnt warn you.
its a case im familiar with, she said there's growing problem of students insulting teachers in their blog, and when confronted, they say 'its a private entry, i should be able to say what i want.'
but then again, DP makes a good point. our blogs are published on the world wide web, so its technically not private, since its for the whole world to see. and even if that being the case, we do have the option to make it really private and then put password access to it, but very few people actually do that.
subconsciously, whether you all agree or not, we all actually want our friends and strangers to see what we want to say. i cant deny that, coz part of me wants others to read about what i have to say too. but of course, with everything, there comes expected behaviour.
so one of our friends has gone through this problem before, and another one will be in trouble, not because of defaming, but coz of the type of comment.
its quite scary eh, i bet those current SA students never thought that DP would be reading their entries. and as i promised DP, i am gonna say nice things about her, even though ive done that previously.
as i convinced kim and serene who were also there today, DP is a wise person and someone who we all can talk to. initially, i did not know that DP was like that, but i found out much later on, i hoped that i only knew it sooner. she knows a lot of things and she's one person who has made a direct impact on me while schooling in SA. i guess its a pity that not that many people in SA realizes that she's arguably the best person to talk to in SA.
anyway, only downside to today would have been that i did not get to see mr. mannan. next time, perhaps.
we spent quite a bit of time in SA today, realizing and admitting that we did indeed miss the SA life. it just cant be compared. given the choices i would really want to relive the whole 2 years again, even though i could probably not ask for anything better, maybe just my A Level grades, which doesnt really matter anymore at this moment.
funny enough, like true former students and budding adults, somehow we started talking about marriage and stuff. about who will be married by 2010 or 2014, and such.
i was doing my rounds today, so headed off back to QSS with jonas. he has become somewhat a celebrity, since almost all the teachers recognized him. SA seems to have sent a mail stating that jonas scored 3 distinctions and won a prize (which is a rarity in QSS, so gotta understand)
it was nice to talk to mr low after a very long while, and couple of other teachers as well.
i am just starting to realize how old we are. i am going to turn 20 in 10 days time and i really am seeing the changes in me. but i dont wanna have it any other way, even though i think it has been shitty, i am at a far better position that many others would have been and im very grateful for that. as new experiences pile up, it does make a significant impact on me.
and recently, ive been talking to dad about my possible choices while i explore the engineering discipline. i am going to keep my options open to anything and everything, but most notably the obvious choices which are chemical, computer, electrical and mechanical. the rest i would want to check out (actually i changed from computer to undecided/undeclared for the very reason that i will have the option of giving these a shot and considering the following) are aeronautical/aerospace, biomedical, materials, industrial/systems.
DP commented that if i were to come back to singapore as an expat in the future, she will have to make sure that i am rooted firmly to the ground and not go astray, coz she thinks i will be a magnet for SPGs. i laughed off at that.
but she makes a good point, in terms of career. i will have to stay there til i get my citizenship, which might be 6, 7 years from now. and then if i want to, i could try out in the world bank or the IMF, maybe even UN, using my japanese language proficiency to travel around. that plan seems very appealing. but then again, i could do the same with IBM or Intel or microsoft too. i remember my dad telling me that he once considered to work for UN, and ever since then, which was quite long ago, the idea has been pretty exciting. but then with the problems now... its a put off.
4 more weeks til university begins. i cant wait. 5 more days til i find out who my room mate will be. or whether i get into the freshmen experience and the dorm that i wanted.
by the time i came back, it was almost 5. since it was a super hot day (tryin to dress in casual/not casual style was a mistake, after realizing it is a super hot country afterall, and my body seems to have completely adapted to being at 15/16 degrees in chicago) i took a shower, took a short nap and continued watching master and commander.
i did not get the point of the movie. at the end, i was left thinking, so what was the show about? there didnt seem to be any plot. all i can say it that they just happened to take a particular moment of a sailor's life, kinda thing. i remember utkarsh telling me it was a bad show, and then my aunt said it was good. i say it was pretty bad. very complicated, no apparant storyline, etc. maybe camera and effects were good. but that's about it.
and then after dinner, i watched the monsoon wedding. kim told me this morning that it was a very good show and i do totally agree. its the best indian-themed movie ive ever seen. and me not being an advocate of bollywood cinemas, that's a rare thing for me to say. almost everything was perfect, i loved it. and soon, it will be something i will probably have to go through or something, even if not, i know the race that i belong to conducts things in a very similar manner, so i could really associate myself with what was going on. i think this goes straight into one of the finest movies ive seen (since ive been sayin one of the best all the time, i decided to just categorize under finest and best, instead of saying that over and over again)
im thinking of renewing the rental for maybe another 15 sets. there are couple of czech, german and iranian filsm i saw there that i wanna catch, but i'll see how that goes.
tomorrow's the SA dance. cant wait to see hui, jessica, cynthia, dewi and candace do their thing.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
finally, 'Fanfan la Tulipe'! and etc...
finally watched fanfan in the morning, it was pretty funny and entertaining, but alas, i dint get to see the end, coz there's a punched scratch point on the dvd that makes it impossible for the dvd to continue reading. i think there's only about 5 or 10 minutes, but cant help it, i hope they have replacement dvds to exchange, if not i gotta try to fast forward and wait with the vcd.
and then i went to holland village to meet jonas, hazril was still quite busy. i met and talked to kamini briefly for a while. didnt expect to bump into her, but yeah, i did. who can you not bump into when you go out.
went home, after being told that we would be having dinner at a thai place. since i still had time before leaving, i thought i take a short nap, only to wake up and realize we were not going. so after dinner, i started watching master and commander, but left it at half point, coz i needed to talk to hazril.
i gotta go now, gotta wake up early to attend the 26th's stepping down.
im wondering when was the last time i had to wake up at 7...
and then i went to holland village to meet jonas, hazril was still quite busy. i met and talked to kamini briefly for a while. didnt expect to bump into her, but yeah, i did. who can you not bump into when you go out.
went home, after being told that we would be having dinner at a thai place. since i still had time before leaving, i thought i take a short nap, only to wake up and realize we were not going. so after dinner, i started watching master and commander, but left it at half point, coz i needed to talk to hazril.
i gotta go now, gotta wake up early to attend the 26th's stepping down.
im wondering when was the last time i had to wake up at 7...
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Monster's Ball
indeed, halle berry deserved that award for a very captivating performance.
i was very intrigued by the southern accent. when i went to my brother's high school for the introductory tour, the ESL teacher told me that i might pick up a 'southern drawl' after going to georgia tech, and listening to the distinctive southern accent, i couldnt imagine myself speaking like that.
but the movie was pretty okay, i wont say it was excellent, coz the ending left me in a limbo. i was quite shocked by the way heath ledger's character was dismissed, and the way halle berry's character responded when she found out what billy bob thornton did previously.
it was more interesting drama than a good movie.
returned the dvds shortly after that and got the last 3 of the rentals; fanfan la tulipe, master and commander and the monsoon wedding.
i was very intrigued by the southern accent. when i went to my brother's high school for the introductory tour, the ESL teacher told me that i might pick up a 'southern drawl' after going to georgia tech, and listening to the distinctive southern accent, i couldnt imagine myself speaking like that.
but the movie was pretty okay, i wont say it was excellent, coz the ending left me in a limbo. i was quite shocked by the way heath ledger's character was dismissed, and the way halle berry's character responded when she found out what billy bob thornton did previously.
it was more interesting drama than a good movie.
returned the dvds shortly after that and got the last 3 of the rentals; fanfan la tulipe, master and commander and the monsoon wedding.
Monday, July 12, 2004
california
this must be like the 10th time in a row that im listening to the song by lenny.
it has such a happy look back in the past feel to the song that i just love.
from the lyrics, its pretty evident that its one of those reflective songs. like he was talking about his life 20 years ago when all seemed good and didnt have to worry about so many things.
only if i could relate to this, and then think about the 'good times when i was younger,' this song would have been more appreciated.
but its a very cheer up, dont worry about anything else kind of song. just what i need.
california... california... california love...
only difference is that im heading to the dirty south. as outkast says it, southernplayalisticadillacmuzik... whatever that means.
dirty south baby, dirty south...
will get a peek of the dirty south with monster's ball tomorrow.
ive been blogging way too often these past 2 days.
it has such a happy look back in the past feel to the song that i just love.
from the lyrics, its pretty evident that its one of those reflective songs. like he was talking about his life 20 years ago when all seemed good and didnt have to worry about so many things.
only if i could relate to this, and then think about the 'good times when i was younger,' this song would have been more appreciated.
but its a very cheer up, dont worry about anything else kind of song. just what i need.
california... california... california love...
only difference is that im heading to the dirty south. as outkast says it, southernplayalisticadillacmuzik... whatever that means.
dirty south baby, dirty south...
will get a peek of the dirty south with monster's ball tomorrow.
ive been blogging way too often these past 2 days.
jeux d'enfants and osama
i guess i had set a pretty high expectation for love me if you dare (jeux d'enfants), primarily because ive been watching excellent movies for the past few weeks. turned out this fell below what i expected. i really hate to say this, but i think i found taxi 3 more interesting than this. once again, what kept me from just stopping to watch altogether was the main actress, whom i found vaguely familiar, only to realize she is the girl from taxi 3. she is pretty, i give you that.
it was supposed to be a romantic tale, im not sure if it was because of my lack of romanticism (is there such a word?) or what, but i didnt see anything that was romantic, other than the two continuing to game eachother. sure, the way they ended back together was original, but i just didnt feel it. but it was pretty interesting, especially the way they showed the flashback of their moments. that was probably the only part i liked.
im such a sucker for brunettes right now, well, i guess i always have been.
and then i just watched the afghan movie titled 'osama.'
i think it was pretty captivating, and i probably shouldnt have seen it, coz it made me feel real sad to think that it still happens. its about a girl, whose father was killed in the war, trying to make a living under the taliban regime, and as everyone know, girls were not allowed to learn, nor work. so having no choice, she pretends she's a boy and tries to work, gets forced to go to the islamic school and suffers from all sorts of humiliation, torture, etc. it was very hard to watch for me, and even though the taliban has effectively been overruled, i still think that the things they showed takes place at this very moment.
i hate it when islam is portrayed like such a radical religion. im in no defense, since it is like that, and it makes me more determined i will never be so absorbed or ruled by religion like that. never. i cannot describe how sickening it is, since im at no position to speak about it, due to my lack of understanding of the religion, but its sad that its these extremists that make the religion look so harmful around the world.
this movie was pretty serious, and it opened up my eyes to a whole new situation, one that is of pretty shocking content. but im glad that i watched this, just at a wrong time, now im feeling so angry and sad, im at a loss of words to express how i feel right now.
it was supposed to be a romantic tale, im not sure if it was because of my lack of romanticism (is there such a word?) or what, but i didnt see anything that was romantic, other than the two continuing to game eachother. sure, the way they ended back together was original, but i just didnt feel it. but it was pretty interesting, especially the way they showed the flashback of their moments. that was probably the only part i liked.
im such a sucker for brunettes right now, well, i guess i always have been.
and then i just watched the afghan movie titled 'osama.'
i think it was pretty captivating, and i probably shouldnt have seen it, coz it made me feel real sad to think that it still happens. its about a girl, whose father was killed in the war, trying to make a living under the taliban regime, and as everyone know, girls were not allowed to learn, nor work. so having no choice, she pretends she's a boy and tries to work, gets forced to go to the islamic school and suffers from all sorts of humiliation, torture, etc. it was very hard to watch for me, and even though the taliban has effectively been overruled, i still think that the things they showed takes place at this very moment.
i hate it when islam is portrayed like such a radical religion. im in no defense, since it is like that, and it makes me more determined i will never be so absorbed or ruled by religion like that. never. i cannot describe how sickening it is, since im at no position to speak about it, due to my lack of understanding of the religion, but its sad that its these extremists that make the religion look so harmful around the world.
this movie was pretty serious, and it opened up my eyes to a whole new situation, one that is of pretty shocking content. but im glad that i watched this, just at a wrong time, now im feeling so angry and sad, im at a loss of words to express how i feel right now.
confirmation of departure
okay, its set. im leaving for chicago on 3rd august, 0700 hrs on united via tokyo. united! good lord, its gonna feel so bad, SQ was so much better coz you can forget about fatigue and time by just watching movies on demand non stop, but not on united. so i better get some great novel to accompany me to go along with it.
i'll only have a week to recover from the jetlag and do the final packing before i leave to atlanta for good on the 10th. i'll need to fix that ticket.
so yeah, i have 3 weeks more. im looking forward to it, but at the same time im dreading it.
lenny kravitz's 'california' is awesome. he totally nails it with his 30 sec solo.
did i mention he produced, arranged, wrote and performed the whole album? not forgetting he played all the instruments on almost all of the songs in his new album.
i'll only have a week to recover from the jetlag and do the final packing before i leave to atlanta for good on the 10th. i'll need to fix that ticket.
so yeah, i have 3 weeks more. im looking forward to it, but at the same time im dreading it.
lenny kravitz's 'california' is awesome. he totally nails it with his 30 sec solo.
did i mention he produced, arranged, wrote and performed the whole album? not forgetting he played all the instruments on almost all of the songs in his new album.
just random songs
and by accident, i happened to notice on mtv that lenny kravitz released a new video named 'california' which sounds pretty good. i thought that the next single would have been 'baptized' which sounds pretty cool. and usually after a rock type, they go with a softer sound, but that doesnt seem to be the case this time round.
and then i saw a video by an artist by the name of the street's 'dry your eyes' which i really liked, coz its the kind of music i like, soft rhythms and smooth rap. i call that a good example of jazz-rap. so far its always been the roots or a tribe called quest, but i think im gonna explore more of this guy's music.
and then i saw a video by an artist by the name of the street's 'dry your eyes' which i really liked, coz its the kind of music i like, soft rhythms and smooth rap. i call that a good example of jazz-rap. so far its always been the roots or a tribe called quest, but i think im gonna explore more of this guy's music.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
bollywood/hollywood... and related thoughts
i went back to the rental store after helping mom with the mega grocery shopping, and im happy to have come back with what would be quite a good set of movies to keep me occupied during the nights when im not out. i decided to get bollywood/hollywood coz i thought my mom would like it, since she's a hindi movie junkie, and also the highly-acclaimed afghan movie 'osama', a french movie ive been dying to catch 'love me if you dare (jeux d'enfants)' and a southern drama which got halle barry an oscar 'monster's ball'
so far, ive only watched bollywood/hollywood and i must say im not that impressed. i remember wanting to catch this coz it came out shortly after the whole americanized indian movie craze that started with 'the guru' and i was supposed to watch it, only to change my mind for some other one. im glad that i made that choice then. it had a pretty good storyline but it kinda bored me. i was never the person who embraced the whole sing/dance and then the over dramatic plot of indian movies. the only thing that held me from going to the computer to go online was the main actress, who seemed so mysterious to me. much like the main actor, i thought she was hispanic, but she turned out to be east indian afterall. but yea, very mysterious eyes.
ironic enough, i could end up in the same situation as what they portrayed. but i'll be damned if my parents were to recommend someone who looked like her. its a path i wouldnt want to take, but given the circumstances, it might be better off for me.
sad to say, i would have wished there was more excitment in my love life, coz as you all know, my love life has never been exciting. it couldnt be helped, coz i was basically always on the move, and sometimes i never knew where i could be heading to at one moment in time. so while watching this movie, i kinda related it to myself and saw how it could turn out for me.
its funny to think that back in secondary school days, my best friend and i would talk about such things but nothing really happened for either of us. four years on, he's attached to his girlfriend for 16 or 17 months after couple of flings here and there, whereas i had practically nothing for the 4 years.
and then i think about the time where i was out with a friend who suddenly popped the question about whether i would mind dating an indian. at that moment, i reflected on all of my past crushes and realized that i had never taken any interest in anyone who was completely indian. well, maybe not quite. but then again, its not like i dismissed indians completely, it just so happened that all those who i took interest mainly happened to be of mixed background. i reiterated the fact that for me, because ive always grown up in a foreign environment, i do not see people by race, but as a person. so its not the matter of me not dating an indian, but it just so happened that i didnt come across a person whom i took interest in who happened to be an indian. so dont get me wrong.
ive talked to couple of people about this whole must-marry-someone-of-your-race issue and its been comical at times. sure, by all means, if that person is right, it wouldnt be of any problem, but as i said, ive not come across such situation previously.
but it doesnt quite seem like i will be dating anyone soon. i would be heading back on 3rd august, and then just a week later, settle myself down in atlanta. most probably i will have to go back to illinois a year later. and then of course, i will be mugging, hoping to secure a high paying job in some MNC, work for couple of years, hopefully get ot move around, and if possible, get a master's degree, and then get back to work. how am i expected to maintain any form of relationship, ay?
so i guess it'll be convenient to leave it up to my parents, they'll shortlist people that they like, and i'll see which one of those i might like. i guess its better that way, if i were to get someone foreign to my parents, then that person will be overburdened with super high expectations of my parents, which would be problematic in the long run.
but as i said over and over again, i wouldnt have to bother with this issue for a very long time, by the time i will have to think about it again, im sure my parents will ring me up and say something along the likes of 'walid, you have to consider about marriage now' or something like that.
but its nice to imagine about what could potentially happen time to time. its definately not pleasing, but at least i can be mentally prepared.
i had a weird dream, again, on sunday morning. its one of those touchy feely kind of dreams. i was in some situation where there were lots of people gathering, something like an orientation, and then i was sitting down, like all the other people, when i felt two hands slowly reaching for me from my back. at first im caught off guard, but i slowly realize what is going on. for a moment, i contemplate whether to push those hands away, since there are so many people and they could see (at this moment in time i assume im not just one of them, but like in orientation, a student leader or something equivalent) or i have the choice of taking those hands in mine. i happened to choose the latter. and then it became interesting as both of us rearranged our finger positions slowly like two people who are not used to touching eachother. and then once we felt comfortable, we were holding our hands pretty tightly, clearly indicating that neither of us wanted to let go of one another. and as always, when i turn around, during the dream i recognize who it is, but when i wake up, i can never remember who it is. all i can say is that its definately someone i know, someone im clearly familiar with, but i have no clue who it is.
look how deprivation of intimacy leads me to dream about. im not complaining, but i thought it'd be nice for me to be in those situation once in a while. oh well, i cant ask for anything. but the dream was nice, pleasing.
okay, get back to the real world, and realize its not gonna happen anytime soon.
im gonna take my lunch now and then watch 'love me if you dare (jeux d'enfants)'
so far, ive only watched bollywood/hollywood and i must say im not that impressed. i remember wanting to catch this coz it came out shortly after the whole americanized indian movie craze that started with 'the guru' and i was supposed to watch it, only to change my mind for some other one. im glad that i made that choice then. it had a pretty good storyline but it kinda bored me. i was never the person who embraced the whole sing/dance and then the over dramatic plot of indian movies. the only thing that held me from going to the computer to go online was the main actress, who seemed so mysterious to me. much like the main actor, i thought she was hispanic, but she turned out to be east indian afterall. but yea, very mysterious eyes.
ironic enough, i could end up in the same situation as what they portrayed. but i'll be damned if my parents were to recommend someone who looked like her. its a path i wouldnt want to take, but given the circumstances, it might be better off for me.
sad to say, i would have wished there was more excitment in my love life, coz as you all know, my love life has never been exciting. it couldnt be helped, coz i was basically always on the move, and sometimes i never knew where i could be heading to at one moment in time. so while watching this movie, i kinda related it to myself and saw how it could turn out for me.
its funny to think that back in secondary school days, my best friend and i would talk about such things but nothing really happened for either of us. four years on, he's attached to his girlfriend for 16 or 17 months after couple of flings here and there, whereas i had practically nothing for the 4 years.
and then i think about the time where i was out with a friend who suddenly popped the question about whether i would mind dating an indian. at that moment, i reflected on all of my past crushes and realized that i had never taken any interest in anyone who was completely indian. well, maybe not quite. but then again, its not like i dismissed indians completely, it just so happened that all those who i took interest mainly happened to be of mixed background. i reiterated the fact that for me, because ive always grown up in a foreign environment, i do not see people by race, but as a person. so its not the matter of me not dating an indian, but it just so happened that i didnt come across a person whom i took interest in who happened to be an indian. so dont get me wrong.
ive talked to couple of people about this whole must-marry-someone-of-your-race issue and its been comical at times. sure, by all means, if that person is right, it wouldnt be of any problem, but as i said, ive not come across such situation previously.
but it doesnt quite seem like i will be dating anyone soon. i would be heading back on 3rd august, and then just a week later, settle myself down in atlanta. most probably i will have to go back to illinois a year later. and then of course, i will be mugging, hoping to secure a high paying job in some MNC, work for couple of years, hopefully get ot move around, and if possible, get a master's degree, and then get back to work. how am i expected to maintain any form of relationship, ay?
so i guess it'll be convenient to leave it up to my parents, they'll shortlist people that they like, and i'll see which one of those i might like. i guess its better that way, if i were to get someone foreign to my parents, then that person will be overburdened with super high expectations of my parents, which would be problematic in the long run.
but as i said over and over again, i wouldnt have to bother with this issue for a very long time, by the time i will have to think about it again, im sure my parents will ring me up and say something along the likes of 'walid, you have to consider about marriage now' or something like that.
but its nice to imagine about what could potentially happen time to time. its definately not pleasing, but at least i can be mentally prepared.
i had a weird dream, again, on sunday morning. its one of those touchy feely kind of dreams. i was in some situation where there were lots of people gathering, something like an orientation, and then i was sitting down, like all the other people, when i felt two hands slowly reaching for me from my back. at first im caught off guard, but i slowly realize what is going on. for a moment, i contemplate whether to push those hands away, since there are so many people and they could see (at this moment in time i assume im not just one of them, but like in orientation, a student leader or something equivalent) or i have the choice of taking those hands in mine. i happened to choose the latter. and then it became interesting as both of us rearranged our finger positions slowly like two people who are not used to touching eachother. and then once we felt comfortable, we were holding our hands pretty tightly, clearly indicating that neither of us wanted to let go of one another. and as always, when i turn around, during the dream i recognize who it is, but when i wake up, i can never remember who it is. all i can say is that its definately someone i know, someone im clearly familiar with, but i have no clue who it is.
look how deprivation of intimacy leads me to dream about. im not complaining, but i thought it'd be nice for me to be in those situation once in a while. oh well, i cant ask for anything. but the dream was nice, pleasing.
okay, get back to the real world, and realize its not gonna happen anytime soon.
im gonna take my lunch now and then watch 'love me if you dare (jeux d'enfants)'
Saturday, July 10, 2004
at the airport
i went to the airport with my cousin, who was leaving on an earlier flight as when compared to maddie and kuan sian, so i was with him for a while, before he decided to go in coz he had to claim the GSTs incurred inside.
as usual, everyone was at swensens, but in a proportion like never before. we seemed to occupy at least a quarter, if not, near half of swensens had everyone taken a seat there.
i was actually amazed by how many people turned up for maddie, but if you think about it, she's one of the very few who actually maintains contact with almost everyone she knows, i mean how many of us still keep in touch with their primary school mates or worse, secondary school friends? i keep in touch with like less than 10 people from my secondary school on an occasional basis, and none from primary school, mainly coz it was too long ago for email or others to kick in.
there was around 60 plus people? plus the council guys for kuan sian, we hogged the section of the airport so bad, people had to walk in between us to get through.
and i think it was a big mistake to cheer for kuan sian in the middle of the airport, another one of our jokingly suggested ideas being actually carried out but the airport was clearly not the place for that kind of thing.
looking at how maddie was getting so emotional made me think about how i will have to deal with my coming year. unlike maddie, i probably wont be coming back here four months later. i might not even make it back next year, as suggested by my earlier entry. plus, the next year will be a whole lotta evaluation like never before, since i will have to contemplate transferring to urbana-champaign, as well as securing some sort of aid, if possible, a scholarship, which will have to be touched on as early on as from january.
i cannot see how the next year will turn out for me, this time, i really cant. so its worrying in a sense, but im gonna do my best to make it turn out right for me.
but as kuan sian and maddie explores their own horizon, i wish them all the best, and i might not see them again for a long time, but i hope to see them again in the near future.
as usual, everyone was at swensens, but in a proportion like never before. we seemed to occupy at least a quarter, if not, near half of swensens had everyone taken a seat there.
i was actually amazed by how many people turned up for maddie, but if you think about it, she's one of the very few who actually maintains contact with almost everyone she knows, i mean how many of us still keep in touch with their primary school mates or worse, secondary school friends? i keep in touch with like less than 10 people from my secondary school on an occasional basis, and none from primary school, mainly coz it was too long ago for email or others to kick in.
there was around 60 plus people? plus the council guys for kuan sian, we hogged the section of the airport so bad, people had to walk in between us to get through.
and i think it was a big mistake to cheer for kuan sian in the middle of the airport, another one of our jokingly suggested ideas being actually carried out but the airport was clearly not the place for that kind of thing.
looking at how maddie was getting so emotional made me think about how i will have to deal with my coming year. unlike maddie, i probably wont be coming back here four months later. i might not even make it back next year, as suggested by my earlier entry. plus, the next year will be a whole lotta evaluation like never before, since i will have to contemplate transferring to urbana-champaign, as well as securing some sort of aid, if possible, a scholarship, which will have to be touched on as early on as from january.
i cannot see how the next year will turn out for me, this time, i really cant. so its worrying in a sense, but im gonna do my best to make it turn out right for me.
but as kuan sian and maddie explores their own horizon, i wish them all the best, and i might not see them again for a long time, but i hope to see them again in the near future.
Vindicated
i swear i'm right....
and don't tell me otherwise.
------------------
Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of which has caught my eye
And roped me in
So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated
I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
So clear
Like the diamond in your ring
Cut to mirror your intentions
Oversized and overwhelmed
The shine of which has caught my eye
And rendered me so isolated, so motivated
I am certain now that
So turn
Up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall forever
Defense is paper thin
Just one touch and I'd be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip against the current
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
Slight hope
It dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption...
and don't tell me otherwise.
------------------
Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of which has caught my eye
And roped me in
So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated
I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
So clear
Like the diamond in your ring
Cut to mirror your intentions
Oversized and overwhelmed
The shine of which has caught my eye
And rendered me so isolated, so motivated
I am certain now that
So turn
Up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall forever
Defense is paper thin
Just one touch and I'd be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip against the current
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
Slight hope
It dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption...
A tribute
so maddie and kuan sian is going off today...
a short tribute...
i got to know maddie through the clique, of course, and she's really been one heck of a funny person, and the only one who gave me a call name, so she keeps calling me in that unique 'vhaarrllleeed' sense. but throughout the time that ive known her, she's been real sincere. dont think i'll see her for a long time from now, but im really looking to seeing her the next time.
and the man kuan sian. he's the ultimate ah beng joker from the council. we forged ties since we were both from neighbourhood schools and also as foreigners, wow, we've had so much gone through between us. even though we're not exactly that close, i can definately say that we've spent quality time talking to eachother over the 2 years, mainly crapping about nothing, and making fun of everything, but its really been a pleasure to know such a frank guy.
i forgot to mention, i might not be in singapore that much anymore. i realized my green card expires when i turn 21, which is next year, and from then on, i will need to obtain a visa to get here, and god knows if there'll be an embassy nearby in atlanta and how long that might take. so the best im looking at is this winter and next summer. two more visits at the max, two of which seem pretty unlikely, maybe next summer, but most likely not this winter. well, by then, almost everyone will be super crammed in their own scheduled, so there'll not much to look forward to, i guess...
a short tribute...
i got to know maddie through the clique, of course, and she's really been one heck of a funny person, and the only one who gave me a call name, so she keeps calling me in that unique 'vhaarrllleeed' sense. but throughout the time that ive known her, she's been real sincere. dont think i'll see her for a long time from now, but im really looking to seeing her the next time.
and the man kuan sian. he's the ultimate ah beng joker from the council. we forged ties since we were both from neighbourhood schools and also as foreigners, wow, we've had so much gone through between us. even though we're not exactly that close, i can definately say that we've spent quality time talking to eachother over the 2 years, mainly crapping about nothing, and making fun of everything, but its really been a pleasure to know such a frank guy.
i forgot to mention, i might not be in singapore that much anymore. i realized my green card expires when i turn 21, which is next year, and from then on, i will need to obtain a visa to get here, and god knows if there'll be an embassy nearby in atlanta and how long that might take. so the best im looking at is this winter and next summer. two more visits at the max, two of which seem pretty unlikely, maybe next summer, but most likely not this winter. well, by then, almost everyone will be super crammed in their own scheduled, so there'll not much to look forward to, i guess...
No Man's Land
just watched this movie, hasib told me it was boring, but frankly, i thought it was pretty good. it somehow combined the elements of the bosnia-serbia front line action as well as UN's handling of the issue together with how the press mishandles sensitive topics like these.
and yeah, they combined english, french and serbian interchangeably and that make it more interesting.
all n all, it was a gd experience, coz it gave me a little insight into the stereotypical way of how UN seems to, but doesnt really handle crisis like these and how the press would do anything to get their story (well, who doesnt know that)
should return that soon enough, to get back more dvds. or should i just satisfy my craving for french films and just get the vcds...?
and yeah, they combined english, french and serbian interchangeably and that make it more interesting.
all n all, it was a gd experience, coz it gave me a little insight into the stereotypical way of how UN seems to, but doesnt really handle crisis like these and how the press would do anything to get their story (well, who doesnt know that)
should return that soon enough, to get back more dvds. or should i just satisfy my craving for french films and just get the vcds...?
Friday, July 09, 2004
quick summary
ok i changed my mind, i feel better after that outburst, so im gonna continue.
where did i stop the last time....
ah. wednesday. more or less a family day, sorta. i cant exactly recall what i did, but i know my headache still has not gone away (even as im typing this right now) whenever im in the car, or eating, or at times, just randomly, it bugs me. i seriously start to wonder whats wrong. anyway, back to wednesday, late but light breakfast, a little of copa america, when i watched for a while, argentina was 4-1 up against ecuador, which became 6-1 at full time, (saviola bagging a hat-trick) and then we went to this place near china town for lunch at this indian store. food's excellent, and there was a german couple on holiday and it was clear they shared the same opinion too. as they were leaving, this afro guy was going 'goooood foood' and then when he left, he said bye and thanks to the people there, as they were returning to germany that night, and said that it had been a pleasure having lunch for the past couple of days. very nice of them. and then, my dad, being always the easy to talk to kind of guy, found out that two of the people came from his homeland, mednipoor, if i spell it correctly. so obviously they clicked and started talking about lots of things.
im ever amazed by my dad's ability to get people's attention, and even if he's a stranger to them, he can fire up a conversation like he knew the people for some time. its one ability i would love to pick up, but have not been too succesful. i guess i'll polish it up as i spend time in america, almost everyone's super friendly and easy to talk to there, i noticed.
we went to little india for a while, coz hasib needed to get new batt for his hp. i saw couple of CDs for sale at 5 bucks, and after looking through the pile, i found two albums, one by Digable Planets, an old school jazz-rap band, which is pretty gd, and the collaboration of Jay-Z and R. Kelly's The Best of Both Worlds, which would have been a commercial success had it not been for R. Kelly's underaged sex lawsuit, which effectively prevented him from promoting the album. its pretty ok though, not bad.
then i met junli for light and early dinner, before she headed off to NUS for her dance. we mainly talked uni stuff, since we were together for roughly an hour, but we did manage to squeeze in little updates as well.
i went home, intended to catch dogville confessions, but decided not to, and then went to serene to return the dvds and rent 4 more. this time i picked 'The Recruit' (cool espionage, but doesnt quite make the cut, impressed me enough though) 'Taxi 3' (pretty funny, eye-opener, but this falls into the category of typical european film thats notorious for being a little too boring and flat) 'Head of State' (thumbs up to funnyman chris rock, i just love this jokes, but it was a so-so movie) and also a serb-croatian film called 'No Man's Land' which i probably will watch tomorrow.
played one on one monopoly with hasib til like 1 AM, i eventually won by a staggering amount, but hey, when we play with only two players (dont know why we did that, too bored?) there's always the poor and the rich. i lost the previous time against koustav, but nailed this one against hasib.
thursday... i was looking forward to it, since i was gonna watch mean girls. chahat had somethings to deal with in the morning, so we met a little later than we hoped to, but i guess it turned out for the better. while waiting, someone tried selling me those tickets for discount at some restaurants and usually i would just refuse it, but seeing that this person's shift was ending and she had only sold like 4 tickets after such a long time (noticed by the number of torn sides that she was showing me), i decided to just buy the ticket. i guess my mom would wanna try some vietnamese food anyway. and then some discount for dr.marten's, i might need some leather shoes. plus, she was a pretty sincere and nice person, so i kinda gave in in the end.
since we couldnt get tickets for an earlier show, which i was not surprised, since it was the opening day, but i was surprised at the fact that they werent showing that frequently. so as usual, we walked around orchard talking about all sorts of things. it is just super nice to talk, especially when it doesnt seem to end. i dont share that with a lot of people, probably hazril and chahat only. yeah, so then we watched mean girl, finally.
i must say, SNL's Tina Fey did a good job at scripting the movie, coz it was funny, and not lame, and unlike other usual chick/bimbo films, this had proper substance. jokes were not stupid/slapstick funny, but really something to laugh at, and we were laughing for most of the movie, which doesnt happen that often for me. so yeah, this is one hilarious movie everyone should catch, and even though i wouldnt wanna pay for it, i'd love to watch it again. and lindsay is hot girl!
but somehow through the movie, i realized i was laughing at some bits which i thought was funny, but noticed the others werent laughing. did they not get the joke or is my sense of humour different? then i thought about the joke, i guess it wasnt actually relevant to singaporean type of joke, so maybe thats why i understood some jokes and the others didnt. not trying to say anything, but it is weird when you notice things like that at times.
yeah... and then today, initial plan was to reformat the pc and get new router, but catherine called me, and since i hadnt seen her for almost like a year and a half, i decided to go meet her. and it turned out just so great. even though we hadnt seen eachother for so long, we talked about a whole lotta stuff and i truly enjoyed myself. winfrid joined us for while later on, when we were at PS, and then he and i went to SA together to see couple of people, including some teachers. hands up to Wayne, Lionel, Jwu Mei, Adrianna, Jonas, Peter, Perry, Halim and others who won prizes. i guess it ended very well with that ever enthusiastic old boy who sang the college song with so much energy, it makes you wanna sing along so loudly and proudly.
met couple of teachers too, as well as the 27th council, who seem like a fun loving bunch.
will be going to the airport to send maddie and kuan sian off, as they start a new chapter in UQ. mine's not that far away. might delay the departure to 1st Aug, gotta see the availability of the tickets.
my cousin should be coming tomorrow morning, so for now, signing off.
where did i stop the last time....
ah. wednesday. more or less a family day, sorta. i cant exactly recall what i did, but i know my headache still has not gone away (even as im typing this right now) whenever im in the car, or eating, or at times, just randomly, it bugs me. i seriously start to wonder whats wrong. anyway, back to wednesday, late but light breakfast, a little of copa america, when i watched for a while, argentina was 4-1 up against ecuador, which became 6-1 at full time, (saviola bagging a hat-trick) and then we went to this place near china town for lunch at this indian store. food's excellent, and there was a german couple on holiday and it was clear they shared the same opinion too. as they were leaving, this afro guy was going 'goooood foood' and then when he left, he said bye and thanks to the people there, as they were returning to germany that night, and said that it had been a pleasure having lunch for the past couple of days. very nice of them. and then, my dad, being always the easy to talk to kind of guy, found out that two of the people came from his homeland, mednipoor, if i spell it correctly. so obviously they clicked and started talking about lots of things.
im ever amazed by my dad's ability to get people's attention, and even if he's a stranger to them, he can fire up a conversation like he knew the people for some time. its one ability i would love to pick up, but have not been too succesful. i guess i'll polish it up as i spend time in america, almost everyone's super friendly and easy to talk to there, i noticed.
we went to little india for a while, coz hasib needed to get new batt for his hp. i saw couple of CDs for sale at 5 bucks, and after looking through the pile, i found two albums, one by Digable Planets, an old school jazz-rap band, which is pretty gd, and the collaboration of Jay-Z and R. Kelly's The Best of Both Worlds, which would have been a commercial success had it not been for R. Kelly's underaged sex lawsuit, which effectively prevented him from promoting the album. its pretty ok though, not bad.
then i met junli for light and early dinner, before she headed off to NUS for her dance. we mainly talked uni stuff, since we were together for roughly an hour, but we did manage to squeeze in little updates as well.
i went home, intended to catch dogville confessions, but decided not to, and then went to serene to return the dvds and rent 4 more. this time i picked 'The Recruit' (cool espionage, but doesnt quite make the cut, impressed me enough though) 'Taxi 3' (pretty funny, eye-opener, but this falls into the category of typical european film thats notorious for being a little too boring and flat) 'Head of State' (thumbs up to funnyman chris rock, i just love this jokes, but it was a so-so movie) and also a serb-croatian film called 'No Man's Land' which i probably will watch tomorrow.
played one on one monopoly with hasib til like 1 AM, i eventually won by a staggering amount, but hey, when we play with only two players (dont know why we did that, too bored?) there's always the poor and the rich. i lost the previous time against koustav, but nailed this one against hasib.
thursday... i was looking forward to it, since i was gonna watch mean girls. chahat had somethings to deal with in the morning, so we met a little later than we hoped to, but i guess it turned out for the better. while waiting, someone tried selling me those tickets for discount at some restaurants and usually i would just refuse it, but seeing that this person's shift was ending and she had only sold like 4 tickets after such a long time (noticed by the number of torn sides that she was showing me), i decided to just buy the ticket. i guess my mom would wanna try some vietnamese food anyway. and then some discount for dr.marten's, i might need some leather shoes. plus, she was a pretty sincere and nice person, so i kinda gave in in the end.
since we couldnt get tickets for an earlier show, which i was not surprised, since it was the opening day, but i was surprised at the fact that they werent showing that frequently. so as usual, we walked around orchard talking about all sorts of things. it is just super nice to talk, especially when it doesnt seem to end. i dont share that with a lot of people, probably hazril and chahat only. yeah, so then we watched mean girl, finally.
i must say, SNL's Tina Fey did a good job at scripting the movie, coz it was funny, and not lame, and unlike other usual chick/bimbo films, this had proper substance. jokes were not stupid/slapstick funny, but really something to laugh at, and we were laughing for most of the movie, which doesnt happen that often for me. so yeah, this is one hilarious movie everyone should catch, and even though i wouldnt wanna pay for it, i'd love to watch it again. and lindsay is hot girl!
but somehow through the movie, i realized i was laughing at some bits which i thought was funny, but noticed the others werent laughing. did they not get the joke or is my sense of humour different? then i thought about the joke, i guess it wasnt actually relevant to singaporean type of joke, so maybe thats why i understood some jokes and the others didnt. not trying to say anything, but it is weird when you notice things like that at times.
yeah... and then today, initial plan was to reformat the pc and get new router, but catherine called me, and since i hadnt seen her for almost like a year and a half, i decided to go meet her. and it turned out just so great. even though we hadnt seen eachother for so long, we talked about a whole lotta stuff and i truly enjoyed myself. winfrid joined us for while later on, when we were at PS, and then he and i went to SA together to see couple of people, including some teachers. hands up to Wayne, Lionel, Jwu Mei, Adrianna, Jonas, Peter, Perry, Halim and others who won prizes. i guess it ended very well with that ever enthusiastic old boy who sang the college song with so much energy, it makes you wanna sing along so loudly and proudly.
met couple of teachers too, as well as the 27th council, who seem like a fun loving bunch.
will be going to the airport to send maddie and kuan sian off, as they start a new chapter in UQ. mine's not that far away. might delay the departure to 1st Aug, gotta see the availability of the tickets.
my cousin should be coming tomorrow morning, so for now, signing off.
an outburst; rat race
ive been bloghopping, only to be dismayed by those who are gunning for the big time, with fat scholarships and boasting about the big name universities that they're going to.
usually, im not concerned, but it just so happened that two or three nights ago, i saw a lot of those blogs. at that instant, i snapped.
so forgive and pardon me, but im about to do a howard dean right here.
as i much as i hate to admit it, we're all in a fucking race that we cant quit. its inevitable; im in the rat race too. so i dont give a hoot where you're heading. im gonna take it one at a time, amherst, harvard, mit, caltech, brown, carnegie mellon, berkeley, vassar, upenn, princeton, stanford, columbia, john hopkins, wesleyan and all the sumbitches who are concerned, i will get there, goddammit, i am in the freaking race too and i will get there, whether it'll be from georgia tech or urbana-champaign, i will see you all at the last lap, and count me on doing that, YYyyyyYEEeeeeAAaaaaaRrrrrrrrrrrRRRrrRGGHhhhhHHHHHhh!!!!!!
hmmm, sorry for the sudden outburst, but that felt so so good.
oh sorry for the lack of updates. our router died, and coz this pc needed serious reformatting, i couldnt blog. im too tired now, i just came back from SA's college day and watched 'The Recruit' so im gonna fill in the details of the past few days tomorrow.
usually, im not concerned, but it just so happened that two or three nights ago, i saw a lot of those blogs. at that instant, i snapped.
so forgive and pardon me, but im about to do a howard dean right here.
as i much as i hate to admit it, we're all in a fucking race that we cant quit. its inevitable; im in the rat race too. so i dont give a hoot where you're heading. im gonna take it one at a time, amherst, harvard, mit, caltech, brown, carnegie mellon, berkeley, vassar, upenn, princeton, stanford, columbia, john hopkins, wesleyan and all the sumbitches who are concerned, i will get there, goddammit, i am in the freaking race too and i will get there, whether it'll be from georgia tech or urbana-champaign, i will see you all at the last lap, and count me on doing that, YYyyyyYEEeeeeAAaaaaaRrrrrrrrrrrRRRrrRGGHhhhhHHHHHhh!!!!!!
hmmm, sorry for the sudden outburst, but that felt so so good.
oh sorry for the lack of updates. our router died, and coz this pc needed serious reformatting, i couldnt blog. im too tired now, i just came back from SA's college day and watched 'The Recruit' so im gonna fill in the details of the past few days tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
reflection
the more i play this song in my head, the more i am convinced that this part speaks of me. or i think it applies to me.
Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
my headache has not gone away. its not strong as last night, but its still there, bothering me.
Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
my headache has not gone away. its not strong as last night, but its still there, bothering me.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
what da deali yo?
all these while that i used blogger, i didnt have much complaints. until recently.
pages wont load, it takes ages to publish, you just cant sign in at times.
because of the upgrades and such, is blogger too succumbing to what lot of other service providers go through?
i prefer reliable service more than the number of options of functions or special services available. not like how yahoo! or friendster is at most times.
pages wont load, it takes ages to publish, you just cant sign in at times.
because of the upgrades and such, is blogger too succumbing to what lot of other service providers go through?
i prefer reliable service more than the number of options of functions or special services available. not like how yahoo! or friendster is at most times.
running mate
so john kerry picks john edwards as his running mate. well, i guess there was not much choice in that, howard dean was clearly off and the rest of the candidates r not up to scratch. the only other option would have been al gore as running mate, but that would be running imagination a little too wild.
so its kerry-edwards against bush-cheney.
i still say we all lick bush and dick for 2004.
so its kerry-edwards against bush-cheney.
i still say we all lick bush and dick for 2004.
copa america
i only saw 15 mins of the peru vs bolivia match on the first day of copa america, and i can say i saw more excitement in the match than greece's quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals combined. and i also saw a magnificent goal, which put bolivia up by 2 goals (i missed peru's stunning come back to draw, sadly due to breakfast) with a wonderful piece of skill where a player went on one on one with the keeper at the left edge of the penalty box, where the player than flicked the ball behind to catch the keeper off guard, and then score from the tightest of angles, from quite a distance, almost near the edge of the box.
wonderful. and this was between the modest teams. i cant wait to see mexico, argentina and brazil come into action.
wonderful. and this was between the modest teams. i cant wait to see mexico, argentina and brazil come into action.
a good talk but a bad headache
we all had breakfast as a complete family, after a very long time. not just me making my own breakfast and eating while reading the paper and such. dad is getting better and he's more or less back to his normal ways, except that he's not going to work yet. he's pretty much on the laptop most of the time though.
met chahat later on today. been wanting to go out with her for quite sometime, but with her dad's episode and also the fact that she had to work, it had been delayed time to time.
but i think i got a lot out of myself today. and its good, coz chahat's a bengali too and almost all of the time, we go through pretty much the same thing and we understand eachother's position. so it was a major case of catching up and talking today, and in the end, i felt so much better, coz i found out much later on, unexpectedly, that i was quite sure of my own standing on certain things, which happened by accident. like i just realized certain things, just like that, when i hadnt even thought about it. maybe i revealed certain things that i didnt really reveal to anyone else. and as a result, i suddenly felt like i knew why i did certain things better than i did before and such.
so i guess it was very good for both of us today. i always like instances where i can just be honest and say the truth, and then get some opinion in return from someone who actually understands and knows me very well.
she had to leave to give tuition later on, so we parted. we should be catching 'mean girls' on thursday, but i am more keen on catching 'super size me.'
i realized i have this very bad headache since i got on the bus that took me home. and it stayed there all while i was watching dogville and it hasnt gone yet as i am writing this. i have a very bad feeling about this, i havent had headache this bad for a long time, so long i cant recall. i thought i'd throw up tonight, but so far, i have not, and im doing everything in discomfort so far. i had plenty sleep from yesterday, so tiredness cant be it. but whatever it is, its very bad.
maybe i should just call it a day and have a night's rest now.
met chahat later on today. been wanting to go out with her for quite sometime, but with her dad's episode and also the fact that she had to work, it had been delayed time to time.
but i think i got a lot out of myself today. and its good, coz chahat's a bengali too and almost all of the time, we go through pretty much the same thing and we understand eachother's position. so it was a major case of catching up and talking today, and in the end, i felt so much better, coz i found out much later on, unexpectedly, that i was quite sure of my own standing on certain things, which happened by accident. like i just realized certain things, just like that, when i hadnt even thought about it. maybe i revealed certain things that i didnt really reveal to anyone else. and as a result, i suddenly felt like i knew why i did certain things better than i did before and such.
so i guess it was very good for both of us today. i always like instances where i can just be honest and say the truth, and then get some opinion in return from someone who actually understands and knows me very well.
she had to leave to give tuition later on, so we parted. we should be catching 'mean girls' on thursday, but i am more keen on catching 'super size me.'
i realized i have this very bad headache since i got on the bus that took me home. and it stayed there all while i was watching dogville and it hasnt gone yet as i am writing this. i have a very bad feeling about this, i havent had headache this bad for a long time, so long i cant recall. i thought i'd throw up tonight, but so far, i have not, and im doing everything in discomfort so far. i had plenty sleep from yesterday, so tiredness cant be it. but whatever it is, its very bad.
maybe i should just call it a day and have a night's rest now.
Dogville
anyone who wants to see acting at its very best should catch this show. i cant exactly call it a movie, coz its more like a theatre production which happens to be filmed so that it closes up on a character and follows about.
it is truly nicole kidman at its best too. its set so well. instead of having houses and furnitures and such, all that the movie has is a huge black stage, with white lines tt indicate the boundary of houses and where things are, and at the best, a single furniture or a table, with its residents doing their own things within their boundaries as the movie progresses.
and the so-called plot of the movie, of how they tell the story by chapters, much like kill bill, is very convenient.
although its very long and at times very dull, its of sheer quality.
i didnt quite get the ending, maybe because i was suffering from a bad headache. but even then, i thought this was one of the finest movie ive ever seen. i know i say tt quite often, but when i do, i really mean that it is indeed a great movie.
it is truly nicole kidman at its best too. its set so well. instead of having houses and furnitures and such, all that the movie has is a huge black stage, with white lines tt indicate the boundary of houses and where things are, and at the best, a single furniture or a table, with its residents doing their own things within their boundaries as the movie progresses.
and the so-called plot of the movie, of how they tell the story by chapters, much like kill bill, is very convenient.
although its very long and at times very dull, its of sheer quality.
i didnt quite get the ending, maybe because i was suffering from a bad headache. but even then, i thought this was one of the finest movie ive ever seen. i know i say tt quite often, but when i do, i really mean that it is indeed a great movie.
Monday, July 05, 2004
greece, an argentinian film and The Bourne
spent the monday just resting, after coming back from watching the euro 2004 final at a neighbour's place. came back about 5AM plus, and i had to do quite a bit of important admin stuff by waking up at 8AM, but since i find it so hard to sleep, i didnt get enough rest, and was feeling so freaking messed up for the rest of the day.
honestly, i am actually furious and disappointed with the result, purely because the greeks won in a way that isnt reflective of what football is about. but as the saying goes, the best defence is the best offence, they cleared proved that right. knocking off the defending champs, france, and then dismissing the clear faves for this yr, the czechs and finishing off by winning against the hosts, again, i guess greece had all the elements to win. but i am no advocate for boring football. i really hoped that figo and rui costa would have gotten the championship that they so deserved, but that's how it goes, nothing can be changed now. so welcome greece, the 2004 european champions.
so yeah, it was very tiring, woke up, quick breakfast and went to the bank to retrive quite a sum of money and then transferring by hand to another nearby bank. i know, i know, you can do that all electronically, but we needed it to be done immediately, as in right before our eyes, instead of the computer telling you that the transaction is complete, but actually is still in the process of being handled and administrated. for reasons that i cant reveal, this had to be done, not for me though. after that, mom needed to get stuff from clementi, i had to help her carry things, so i had to go, no matter how sleepless i was. so by the time everything was done and i was back home, it was already noon. i couldnt go to sleep, it would just distort my biological clock, so tried to make do by watching the dvds i rented. i started off with an argentinian film named 'El Hijo de la Novia' (Son of The Bride) which was pretty interesting, but a little draggy at times. but it was a feel good kinda film ultimately, makes you re-evaluate your current position in life and all. and then my brother and dad both wanted to watch 'The Bourne Identity' right then, so i couldnt say no, plus, i badly wanted to catch the show. I was proved that it was a mistake for me that i didnt catch this in the theatres when i was reading the book, because this version is very different from the book. the book was written in the early '80s, but this version was set in a very modern time, which brought a sparkling side to the story. i know there is an older version of the same movie, and now i feel like trying that one out, coz i know that it will not be the same compared to this.
i cant wait for the sequel, the bourne supremacy to come out, which will inevitably lead to the third part, the bourne ultimatum.
i rested for a while after helping dad out with a couple of things, and then decided to watch dogville, but found out it was somewhat uncompatible with my dvd player, so i watched 'A la Folie Pas Du Tout' again. yeah, i liked the movie enought to watch it all over, even though i knew what was gonna happen. and i could ogle at Andrey Tautou all over too.
after that, i was back to sleep, after what seemed like a pretty long day with my brain in hyperdrive.
honestly, i am actually furious and disappointed with the result, purely because the greeks won in a way that isnt reflective of what football is about. but as the saying goes, the best defence is the best offence, they cleared proved that right. knocking off the defending champs, france, and then dismissing the clear faves for this yr, the czechs and finishing off by winning against the hosts, again, i guess greece had all the elements to win. but i am no advocate for boring football. i really hoped that figo and rui costa would have gotten the championship that they so deserved, but that's how it goes, nothing can be changed now. so welcome greece, the 2004 european champions.
so yeah, it was very tiring, woke up, quick breakfast and went to the bank to retrive quite a sum of money and then transferring by hand to another nearby bank. i know, i know, you can do that all electronically, but we needed it to be done immediately, as in right before our eyes, instead of the computer telling you that the transaction is complete, but actually is still in the process of being handled and administrated. for reasons that i cant reveal, this had to be done, not for me though. after that, mom needed to get stuff from clementi, i had to help her carry things, so i had to go, no matter how sleepless i was. so by the time everything was done and i was back home, it was already noon. i couldnt go to sleep, it would just distort my biological clock, so tried to make do by watching the dvds i rented. i started off with an argentinian film named 'El Hijo de la Novia' (Son of The Bride) which was pretty interesting, but a little draggy at times. but it was a feel good kinda film ultimately, makes you re-evaluate your current position in life and all. and then my brother and dad both wanted to watch 'The Bourne Identity' right then, so i couldnt say no, plus, i badly wanted to catch the show. I was proved that it was a mistake for me that i didnt catch this in the theatres when i was reading the book, because this version is very different from the book. the book was written in the early '80s, but this version was set in a very modern time, which brought a sparkling side to the story. i know there is an older version of the same movie, and now i feel like trying that one out, coz i know that it will not be the same compared to this.
i cant wait for the sequel, the bourne supremacy to come out, which will inevitably lead to the third part, the bourne ultimatum.
i rested for a while after helping dad out with a couple of things, and then decided to watch dogville, but found out it was somewhat uncompatible with my dvd player, so i watched 'A la Folie Pas Du Tout' again. yeah, i liked the movie enought to watch it all over, even though i knew what was gonna happen. and i could ogle at Andrey Tautou all over too.
after that, i was back to sleep, after what seemed like a pretty long day with my brain in hyperdrive.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
a la folie pas du tout
i just watched this french movie tt i rented, which features andrey tautou.
oh my god.
it has such a fantastic plot, something i totally did not see it coming.
i guess sometimes its better if you watch something without knowing too much of whats going to happen.
i only read the description on the back, and also had read previously that it was a very good movie, that's all. i think im glad that i didnt know too much, coz if i had, it would be as captivating.
the movie starts off with andrey tautou getting ready to meet this person, someone who's married, who had a wife who's pregnant and such, it does seem like its the guy who's screwed up. he hardly meets her, keeps promises that he cant keep, and stood her up for a trip that they were supposed to have. by the half of the movie, he's clearly the asshole and she's so heartbroken. seeing andrey tautou like that, i felt like hugging her, coz i know her as a beautiful, innocent, simply girl that i saw in amelie.
then, the movie takes a turn. this time, it rewinds and sees everything from the guy's point of view. shockingly, i found out that she doesnt know him at all! as everything progresses, its evident that she was imagining everything, while this guy knew nothing. she came up with the trip herself, but she doesnt realize, coz in the end, she's a mentally sick person.
what a twist! and in the end, she gets admitted to a mental hospital, only to be released few years later, after she cons them into thinking she understood that she was living in her world tts in her head, which is not a reality. but then, as a cleaner is cleaning up her room, he finds a portrait of the guy made wit all the medication that she supposedly had taken over the years.
amazing, just amazing.
i was deliberating whether to reveal that bit about her being sick, coz i would strongly encourage everyone to catch this, but if you know the plot, its gonna be a dead boring show.
this is the difference when you watch a good show that you dont know much about. but then choosing the show is so difficult, coz if you know its good, inevitably you know the plot too. but this being some foreign movie that i hardly knew, this was possible. not exactly possible for a hollywood show. the only movie that i was totally taken aback was probably the sixth sense, where in the end, bruce willis was actually a ghost.
but this was fantastic. and i so love andrey tautou more than ever. just 2 of her shows, but the way they portray her, its just amazing.
oh my god.
it has such a fantastic plot, something i totally did not see it coming.
i guess sometimes its better if you watch something without knowing too much of whats going to happen.
i only read the description on the back, and also had read previously that it was a very good movie, that's all. i think im glad that i didnt know too much, coz if i had, it would be as captivating.
the movie starts off with andrey tautou getting ready to meet this person, someone who's married, who had a wife who's pregnant and such, it does seem like its the guy who's screwed up. he hardly meets her, keeps promises that he cant keep, and stood her up for a trip that they were supposed to have. by the half of the movie, he's clearly the asshole and she's so heartbroken. seeing andrey tautou like that, i felt like hugging her, coz i know her as a beautiful, innocent, simply girl that i saw in amelie.
then, the movie takes a turn. this time, it rewinds and sees everything from the guy's point of view. shockingly, i found out that she doesnt know him at all! as everything progresses, its evident that she was imagining everything, while this guy knew nothing. she came up with the trip herself, but she doesnt realize, coz in the end, she's a mentally sick person.
what a twist! and in the end, she gets admitted to a mental hospital, only to be released few years later, after she cons them into thinking she understood that she was living in her world tts in her head, which is not a reality. but then, as a cleaner is cleaning up her room, he finds a portrait of the guy made wit all the medication that she supposedly had taken over the years.
amazing, just amazing.
i was deliberating whether to reveal that bit about her being sick, coz i would strongly encourage everyone to catch this, but if you know the plot, its gonna be a dead boring show.
this is the difference when you watch a good show that you dont know much about. but then choosing the show is so difficult, coz if you know its good, inevitably you know the plot too. but this being some foreign movie that i hardly knew, this was possible. not exactly possible for a hollywood show. the only movie that i was totally taken aback was probably the sixth sense, where in the end, bruce willis was actually a ghost.
but this was fantastic. and i so love andrey tautou more than ever. just 2 of her shows, but the way they portray her, its just amazing.
european film mania!
oh, it seems that while we were gone in naperville, my dad extended the DVD rental plan, and he asked us to go rent some movies, since he hardly has time to watch that many. YES, im gonna indulge myself on the european films i missed out on!!! so many, ooh, im gonna take a shower and leave for serene center right now. european films, here i come.
vindicated
very gd set of words from a song from spider-man 2 soundtrack by dashboard confessional.
oh, a interesting note, it seems that the creator of spider-man is very particular about the dash between spider and man, supposedly he went to conferences to stress the importance of that dash and such. so yeah, from now, i too will include the dash, coz if u think about it, it makes sense. its spider-man. so its spider-man.
"I am captivated, I am
Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
So clear"
oh, a interesting note, it seems that the creator of spider-man is very particular about the dash between spider and man, supposedly he went to conferences to stress the importance of that dash and such. so yeah, from now, i too will include the dash, coz if u think about it, it makes sense. its spider-man. so its spider-man.
"I am captivated, I am
Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
So clear"
a good party
it was only a week since i last attended a gathering of friends, but due to the episode of my father being hospitalized, it seemed like it was months since i attended a last gathering.
woke up pretty late in the morning, so i had to go off to the hospital, but my dad was already settling the payments and ready to leave. so we all had lunch at home, after one whole week, and everything is set to go back to normal.
i left pretty soon after, to meet denise and koustav for a short while, since my class wasnt meeting up today. they were gonna watch spider-man 2, which i had watched already, and i needed to get a present for jennifer's birthday, which was later on.
as denise and koustav left to watch the show, i unexpectedly met, or should i say, saw, a person i didnt quite expect to see here. brings me back all the memories of this particular period, where seeing her in the same bus in the morning about 4 years ago would be a frequent topic of conversation between me and hazril for days. i could say she was my first ever crush, and its funny to think that she has no idea who i am, just another one of the many strangers who were walking around in cineleisure. there were occasions where i thought she did recognise who i was, but that was almost 2 yrs back, i look pretty different now, since i put on weight on my face too, so i wasnt surprised that she didnt recognise me. afterall, its been a long time since i last saw her.
but it was euphoria to the max. i quickly messaged hazril, only to find out he was right there in cine as well. as i went up to look for him, i bumped into mike and his girlfriend, which was a neat surprise. and then i met hazril, kim and 2 more people i havent met for a while. so i went off wit hazril for a while, while i got jennifer's present, and talked for a very short while before heading off to bishan for the party.
i can say i truly enjoyed myself last night. i think it was coz the people who were present all knew eachother very well, since most were council people, and we have this bond tt we formed over the council years, i think tt contributed a lot to the fun we had, because we could talk to anyone and everyone. so obviously it was a blast of a time, since so many turned up, and we had tons of joking and talking.
as we get older, our gatherings and parties degenerate to more talking kind of fun. it was clearly evident last night, but if its gonna be like last night all the time, then its something i look forward to, coz while i was heading back, i had this very comfortable satisfaction all around me.
my time here gets better and better...
woke up pretty late in the morning, so i had to go off to the hospital, but my dad was already settling the payments and ready to leave. so we all had lunch at home, after one whole week, and everything is set to go back to normal.
i left pretty soon after, to meet denise and koustav for a short while, since my class wasnt meeting up today. they were gonna watch spider-man 2, which i had watched already, and i needed to get a present for jennifer's birthday, which was later on.
as denise and koustav left to watch the show, i unexpectedly met, or should i say, saw, a person i didnt quite expect to see here. brings me back all the memories of this particular period, where seeing her in the same bus in the morning about 4 years ago would be a frequent topic of conversation between me and hazril for days. i could say she was my first ever crush, and its funny to think that she has no idea who i am, just another one of the many strangers who were walking around in cineleisure. there were occasions where i thought she did recognise who i was, but that was almost 2 yrs back, i look pretty different now, since i put on weight on my face too, so i wasnt surprised that she didnt recognise me. afterall, its been a long time since i last saw her.
but it was euphoria to the max. i quickly messaged hazril, only to find out he was right there in cine as well. as i went up to look for him, i bumped into mike and his girlfriend, which was a neat surprise. and then i met hazril, kim and 2 more people i havent met for a while. so i went off wit hazril for a while, while i got jennifer's present, and talked for a very short while before heading off to bishan for the party.
i can say i truly enjoyed myself last night. i think it was coz the people who were present all knew eachother very well, since most were council people, and we have this bond tt we formed over the council years, i think tt contributed a lot to the fun we had, because we could talk to anyone and everyone. so obviously it was a blast of a time, since so many turned up, and we had tons of joking and talking.
as we get older, our gatherings and parties degenerate to more talking kind of fun. it was clearly evident last night, but if its gonna be like last night all the time, then its something i look forward to, coz while i was heading back, i had this very comfortable satisfaction all around me.
my time here gets better and better...
Friday, July 02, 2004
whats been going on
i think its safe for me to disclose what's been happening in the past week, in case you dont know.
my dad was hospitalized, because he had couple of arteries that were causing him pain in his chest. its not a serious case, like one that needs a bypass surgery, but at his age of 55, its not something you should neglect.
he had few treatments to enlarge couple of arteries on tuesday and wednesday, and he's much better now.
it took me by surprise, obviously. i happened at 2AM last saturday, i didnt even know, til i saw my mom open the door while i was watching one of euro 2004's quarter final's at 4AM. it was unimaginable shock, to hear that my dad was in ICU, because he goes through tests to detect these things rather often.
chahat's father recently went through a major surgery for his blockages, and i think my dad took that to heart, a little too seriously.
but its all good now, he should be discharged later on today, and he will take the next few days to rest at home.
the reason i didnt disclose, as i said previously, is coz my extended family might come across this and being overseas, it might complicate the situation. well, funny thing, it already has. somehow by the world of mouth, the word got across to my relatives in brunei, and as you all know, when it travels by mouth, some information gets added, to sensationalize the whole thing. so probably to my relatives, its a super serious operation that includes a bypass surgery and such. that's always the case when word spreads around.
my dad knew that if his family were to know it in bangladesh and other countries, they would start getting paranoid, since my dad's brother passed away not too recently. so i had to keep it under wraps, which was to no point, since my relatives got to know somehow anyway.
but all's good now. he started walking on thursday, he will be at home today, he'll get plenty of rest and he should be back to normal in no time.
but it was an episode that kinda taught me certain things, especially as im getting older, i have to learn to accept that if these things are to happen to the relatives i know, i have to learn to deal with it and such.
im sorry if i couldnt meet some of you, but i dont need to explain, this needed far more attention than going out.
my dad was hospitalized, because he had couple of arteries that were causing him pain in his chest. its not a serious case, like one that needs a bypass surgery, but at his age of 55, its not something you should neglect.
he had few treatments to enlarge couple of arteries on tuesday and wednesday, and he's much better now.
it took me by surprise, obviously. i happened at 2AM last saturday, i didnt even know, til i saw my mom open the door while i was watching one of euro 2004's quarter final's at 4AM. it was unimaginable shock, to hear that my dad was in ICU, because he goes through tests to detect these things rather often.
chahat's father recently went through a major surgery for his blockages, and i think my dad took that to heart, a little too seriously.
but its all good now, he should be discharged later on today, and he will take the next few days to rest at home.
the reason i didnt disclose, as i said previously, is coz my extended family might come across this and being overseas, it might complicate the situation. well, funny thing, it already has. somehow by the world of mouth, the word got across to my relatives in brunei, and as you all know, when it travels by mouth, some information gets added, to sensationalize the whole thing. so probably to my relatives, its a super serious operation that includes a bypass surgery and such. that's always the case when word spreads around.
my dad knew that if his family were to know it in bangladesh and other countries, they would start getting paranoid, since my dad's brother passed away not too recently. so i had to keep it under wraps, which was to no point, since my relatives got to know somehow anyway.
but all's good now. he started walking on thursday, he will be at home today, he'll get plenty of rest and he should be back to normal in no time.
but it was an episode that kinda taught me certain things, especially as im getting older, i have to learn to accept that if these things are to happen to the relatives i know, i have to learn to deal with it and such.
im sorry if i couldnt meet some of you, but i dont need to explain, this needed far more attention than going out.
Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community
Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community
im at no position to speak about this issue, but all i wanna say is, finally!
it takes an established person like Bill Cosby to express these messages without causing any problems.
without a doubt, that man is to be respected.
im at no position to speak about this issue, but all i wanna say is, finally!
it takes an established person like Bill Cosby to express these messages without causing any problems.
without a doubt, that man is to be respected.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
euro 2004 final matchup
so its back to where euro 2004 started. portugal vs greece. will portugal amend their only mistake so far, or will the greeks go for a super upset?
its unimaginable to believe that prior to this year's euro, greece had not won a single match in the finals of a major competition. and when they did it, they go all the way to the final match.
amazing script for a movie.
but i honestly think that it'll be portugal's night come sunday. (monday, for us)
as for last night's match.. czech's battle ended the moment pavel nedved limped off with injury. i mean the whole team revolves around him, without him to navigate the team, the team was in tatters. greece maintained control and like they did against france, punished the czech's with a set play, which took a long time to come, as a silver goal.
it'll be an exciting final, a first for both teams. host nation's joy, or a prelude to a great athens olympics? the greek's unexpected surprise is working well to curve the attention from its poor preparation for hosting the olympics.
but it'll be a perfect finale for figo and co's 'golden generation' of '91. so as ive done all along, im backing portugal.
its unimaginable to believe that prior to this year's euro, greece had not won a single match in the finals of a major competition. and when they did it, they go all the way to the final match.
amazing script for a movie.
but i honestly think that it'll be portugal's night come sunday. (monday, for us)
as for last night's match.. czech's battle ended the moment pavel nedved limped off with injury. i mean the whole team revolves around him, without him to navigate the team, the team was in tatters. greece maintained control and like they did against france, punished the czech's with a set play, which took a long time to come, as a silver goal.
it'll be an exciting final, a first for both teams. host nation's joy, or a prelude to a great athens olympics? the greek's unexpected surprise is working well to curve the attention from its poor preparation for hosting the olympics.
but it'll be a perfect finale for figo and co's 'golden generation' of '91. so as ive done all along, im backing portugal.
time really flies
back just few months ago, i was waiting for the day that i will touch back in singapore so that i can see my dad and get to meet my friends again.
its been 3 weeks since i came back and before i knew it, its passed so fast.
and it's just another 4 weeks before i leave here, maybe for good. to begin a new life, at a totally unknown place. new challenges, new people, etc.
four or maybe five years from now, i'll be contemplating the end of my schooling life, as i begin my working life. god knows how i'll be feeling then.
its been 3 weeks since i came back and before i knew it, its passed so fast.
and it's just another 4 weeks before i leave here, maybe for good. to begin a new life, at a totally unknown place. new challenges, new people, etc.
four or maybe five years from now, i'll be contemplating the end of my schooling life, as i begin my working life. god knows how i'll be feeling then.
portugal, spidey and the 2 incoming magpies
okay, so hats up to portugal for making it to their first ever major international finals! i think the final will be such a good match. everyone thinks the czechs will win tonight, but frankly, im okay with either sides, i am secretly hoping for a greek surprise.
after visiting dad, i thought of catching spiderman 2, since tickets are easier to get in the morning than in the afternoon. so got hasib to come along and caught the show, its pretty good, im not surprised that the straits times gave it 5 stars.
it was quite a sight to see so many JC students flocking about at 12, but then again, they are catching the show right after their exams. quite sick to see so many, but i forget that just a year ago, i was just one of them, squeezing in time to catch movies in middle of exams. so i guess i know how it feels to be them.
but then its not nice when a group of SA students see you and once one of them recognises you, they start whispering 'isn't that our senior from last yr?' n all and suddenly you notice few heads looking in your direction. not nice. seriously. like some sort of minor celebrity kind. i dont think i made that much impact on the juniors though.
oh, bumped into suhanniya yesterday. she says she's also leaving for down under this sunday. this is like the nth person who's heading there.
side tracking... long time man utd midfielder nicky butt is seriously poised for a move to newcastle, as a replacement for aging gary speed. and young striker james milner from leeds. that's one good news at least. he might surprise to be a good enough replacement for shearer.
k im gonna get some sleep before the czech vs greece match...
after visiting dad, i thought of catching spiderman 2, since tickets are easier to get in the morning than in the afternoon. so got hasib to come along and caught the show, its pretty good, im not surprised that the straits times gave it 5 stars.
it was quite a sight to see so many JC students flocking about at 12, but then again, they are catching the show right after their exams. quite sick to see so many, but i forget that just a year ago, i was just one of them, squeezing in time to catch movies in middle of exams. so i guess i know how it feels to be them.
but then its not nice when a group of SA students see you and once one of them recognises you, they start whispering 'isn't that our senior from last yr?' n all and suddenly you notice few heads looking in your direction. not nice. seriously. like some sort of minor celebrity kind. i dont think i made that much impact on the juniors though.
oh, bumped into suhanniya yesterday. she says she's also leaving for down under this sunday. this is like the nth person who's heading there.
side tracking... long time man utd midfielder nicky butt is seriously poised for a move to newcastle, as a replacement for aging gary speed. and young striker james milner from leeds. that's one good news at least. he might surprise to be a good enough replacement for shearer.
k im gonna get some sleep before the czech vs greece match...
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