. . Fasting Month . .

Yeah, I know. I haven't been blogging for quite some time. Well, there's not much to blog about anyway. Most of the time its the same old stuffs. A quite from a friend " Same shit, different week".

It has been 5 days since the muslims started fasting this year and it seems like time is moving very fast. Already it's going to be a week and left with 3 more weeks. Anyway, it's still too early to feel the holiday mood. Hari Raya will be celebrated on the 1st of October, Wednesday, and I've already booked to take my leave the whole week. Hehe. In consideration of the half-day workday on the eve of Hari Raya, I'll be taking 3.5 days of leave for the whole week.

Hopefully The Boss would approve my leave form. It's not that I've been taking so many leaves from work. I still have a lot of leaves to clear for this year. Hehe.

Saturday today, and I don't really have any plans. It's the fasting month and I would rather stay at home than go out. I guess I'm too lazy in a sense.

Anyway, I was thinking of creating a new blog. A better blog with less anonymities and more colour! More into the stuffs that interests me. More into my life. And less like a storybook. Like it is right now. Still thinking about it. Thinking more into the approach and execution and also looking into other blogs. For some people, " I am not copying" anybody or anything. I just want to inject more purpose into a blog rather than just words and few pictures so that I can reach a wider audiences.

Hmm. Still thinking about it. What say you?

. . Forget! . .

Oh gosh! I forgot that I haven't blogged for a long time. I mean, I know I have a blog. Just that I kept forgetting to post! Hah!

Ever since the time my computer died on me, I'd stopped blogging. I did picked it back. But I guess it didn't last. Well, so many things had happened in the last couple of weeks.

Things like, 2 weeks ago, Syn came back from Dubai; we *me, Trixx and Syn* had dinner at Marina Food Loft before we head for chill out and satay at Glutton Bay next to the Esplanade. Bry dropped by and had a good catching up.

Hmm, other than that I don't really seems to fully recall. But today, I met up with Trixx at Downtown East and had some Korean style barbeque dinner. Was quite good, though Trixx thought it was just ok. *She didn't like the rice there though, right Trixx?* Hmm, maybe next time can bring Frecky there for dinner.

Downtown East new *eHub* mall was still having some major contructions in but some areas are fully done up. There's also a cinema there. But strangely, it felt like it was not fully utililse, or should I say, there were not many patrons there. Hmm, maybe it's a weekday night so not so packed. Or that it its still under constructions.

Wonder if the place going to be a flop.

. . Olympic . .

Didn't have anything much to do today, Monday, and also last weekend. Was an off day today from The Company in lieu of the public holiday on Saturday. Stayed at home and watched the Olympic Games on TV.

Saw the Games Opening Ceremony last Friday and was very proud for the Chinese People for an awesome/fantastic opening. Was really very, very good. The fireworks show was simple inspiring! I joked with my younger brother that the Chinese didn't had to import those fireworks 'cause they invented them! Hah! Most probably they bought those fireworks somewhere down the streets. Heh! If you didn't catch the ceremony, see if you can find it on YouTube or something. It's simply can't be missed.

Caught some of the Games in these few days and alreay lots of World Record had been broken. It's very inspiring to watch these finest atheletes fight it out in the sporting arena. It's not everyday to watch these kind of spectacular sports in action!

Maybe I'll pick up a sport. Like Archery! HAH!

. . New Computer . .

It has been nearly 3 weeks since my old computer died on me. Well, actually, I'm not sure yet which component of the hardware which failed on me. Anyway, I am on my new computer right now and I still have a few more programs that I had yet to install.

This is my new setup.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz 6MB 1333MHz LGA775
Gigabyte EP45-DS3 Intel P45 Chipsets mainboard
Asus GeForce 9600GT Black Pearl 512MB DDR3
Western Digital 400GB 16MB HDD SATA2
Corsair PC6400 800MHz 1GBx2 DDR2
Sony 20X DVD Writer SATA
Cooler Master eXtreme 550W PSU
Cooler Master Elite 330 Black version

I actually had this new computer delivered last Sunday. Yeah, delivered to my home as I bought it on a local online shop. But had some hardware problems with the new computer initially. My new PC kept having random crashes and bluescreens of death. Wasn't sure at that time what was the problem.

Told my colleague L10 about this and he offered to help check my computer out. He came over on Tuesday and tried to help search for the fault *if any* and also to help see if I did set up the computer properly. I am not a really knowledgable on this computer hardware stuffs and I needed help.

Went through a lot of different situations and steps to reinstall the operating system *OS* to the old harddisk. Long story short, we were not able to reinstall the OS and were facing frustating obstacle.

He also was stumped over what was wrong and didn't managed to find the fault. He was sure though, that it was a hardware problem. Myself, I wonder whether my old computer had a virus and had contaminated this new computer *as I had installed the old harddisk to the new computer*.

The next day, while at work, I was even considering of getting a new fresh harddisk to install but L10 advise me to consult the guy from the shop that I bought the computer from. I listened to his advice but decided to have one last installation trythat Wednesday night.

During work that day, I managed to researched on computer crashes and installation of OS. And that night, I tried some of the procedure that I read up on. I followed a simple basic setup for the computer and finally managed to installed the OS! Was so happy that night!! On closer inspection, one of the RAM that I took out from the motherboard was actually faulty. The RAM's cover *heatsink, I think* was not properly aligned to RAM itself the and I think this made the memory unstable when installed and thus the random crashes. This also prevented the OS from any proper installation. Called up the shop and going to have it replaced.

Anyway, it took me a few days and today to get my computer to what it was. Did managed to backed up my stuffs and data before the OS reinstallationbut had to reinstalled a lot of programmes *as I formatted all the harddisk during the reinstallation as we thought it was harddisk problem that causes the initial problems* . And it really took a while.

But it was worth it.

*Today, Saturday, is Singapore's 43rd National Day. Wishing all Singaporeans a Happy National Day! Have a great long weekend!*

. . F##ked Up Computer . .

Today is Sunday, and I'm using my younger brother's laptop right now as my long serving computer is down. Switched it on and there's nothing on the monitor. Think the harddisks is gone.

Was using the computer yesterday, Saturday, transfering my photos from my recent visit to the Jurong Bird Park on Friday. Completely transferred the photos, and when I plugged in my external Harddisk USB *for my back up copy* the computer suddenly freezed.

There was no keyboard and mouse response so I thought I had to hard reboot it. So the next moment when I restart the computer and it didn't response *nothing on the monitor screen*.

Fcuked up computer.

Lucky I copied the photos and not "cut & paste" the photos. And all that my other photos had been backed up. But there were some stuffs I think that were not backed up.

Hopefully the harddisk is not the problem *maybe the chip or the motherboard problem* which then I could still reuse the harddisk and back up my other stuffs.

But if it's the harddisk problem, then all my stuffs are gone. Haiz.. Another bad luck strucked.

What's happening to me?! I'm so frustatedly fcuked-up.

Think I need to wait til I get a new computer.

. . Jurong Bird Park . .

Today Friday, took leave from work. Woke up to a great sunny morning and had a tiring, but overall great day at the Jurong Bird Park (JBP).

Trixx had free passes to the JBP today and she invited me and Wei2 *thanks for the invite Trixx!*. I asked Frecky along too as she is not working today. Was wonderfully surprised at the JBP as it had been ages since my last visit.

Had been having thoughts that there is not much to see at the JBP. Only birds. But I was surprisingly wrong. There's a lot to see there! Well, a lot of birds, but there's a huge variety of birds there.

Reached the place a 'lil before 2.00 pm and met Wei2 at the entrance. Trixx was already there as she reached there earlier. Going clockwise through JBP, we came across owls, cranes, beautiful hornbills *my favourite!*, cute kingfishers, kookaburas, toucans, eagles, vultures, ducks, flamingos, the huge pelicans, the graceful swans, penguins etc etc.

Oh my gosh! It was such a great trip. Me and Frecky also went to the "Birds Of Prey" show at 4.00 pm and was greatly amazed. I especially like it how the Falconers made the eagles flew just a 'lil above our heads, at where we were seated. I forgot how beautiful these birds are. Seeing them on tv *like those wildlife shows and National Geographic channels* are so much different from seeing them up close.

And then there's this awesome, faboulous, fantastic, Lory Loft, where it's actually a huge, HUGE, HUGE bird cage that visitors can venture into and have a close experience with the Lory birds. There was like hundreds of them when we were there and they were feeding noisily. But then it's alright 'cause they're so cute!! *can't believe I'm saying this*. They were flying around pass us, some flew over my head and one actually flew and rested on Frecky's shoulder. Hah! What an experience!

There were some other cages that visitors can venture into also, but it wasn't as awesome as the Lory Loft. There's also this huge birdcage that has the tallest man-made waterfall. Hmm, wasn't as what I expected and not as exciting as the Lory Loft.

There was a glass exhibition for the penguins *but not as big as the ones at the Zoo*. There's also a small corner near the extrance, where they put up caged some macaws, cockatoos and also mynahs. These birds can talk! Hah! *Hello!? Ni Hao Mah?!* Hah! Had a great time trying to make them talk! But not as fun as at the Lory Loft.

I love the Lory Loft! Hah! Left the place all tired, sticky, dirty but definitely satisfied.

What a great day! ☺☺

. . Hancock . .

Simple work day on Thursday. Work had been not much since I've been working straight with The Boss. Not much things tro rush. Well, maybe the workflow haven't picked up yet since the move. But anyhow, I'm definitely not complaining.

The Company new office is still under a lot more renovations. Works for the 1st level and 3rd level is still not complete and even small stuffs *like the conference room and pantry area* on the 2nd level is not fully complete. Think need a few more weeks til The Company is fully complete and up and running.

After work on Thursday, went to meet Frecky at Suntec for a quick dinner and movie "Hancock" starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bates. Was actually a "not bad" kind of movie. Least the storyline is more or less original. Hollywood had been re-imagining, re-make and also been basing after novels/comics so much movies these days that it's kind of refreshing to see a movie that's quite original.

There's a great twist to the movie Hancock, about how Will Smith's character Hancock got his superpowers and where he came from, so I'm not going to review on the storyline. Overall, I give this movie "3 and a half star" *out of 5*.

Go check it out.

. . $1,000 . .

It rained the night before. Got up to a wet Wednesday morning and quickly got out of bed. Didn't actually woke up on time so had to rush the shower. Before I stepped out of the house, looks like the drizzle had stopped. When I had worn my other shoes, *wanted to dry out my Adidas shoes that was wet out the day before* the rain started again. "Another bad luck day?", I thought to myself. Changed back to the Adidas shoes as it was more worn out. Reached the carpark and the rain stopped. !#$%^&*

Go ahead. Laugh. It's not funny to me anymore. Anyway, after that, the whole day seems alright. No bad luck whatsoever. During lunch time, our *2nd level* office set out to the nearest supermarket to topped up on our pantry stock. The nearest supermarket is Cold Storage located at the basement of China Square Central.

Bought a tremendously lots of stuffs today. Altogether there is around 22 staffs on the 2nd level. But that doesn't mean that we can afford to buy a lot of stuffs. I think a few of my colleagues are very oblivious and decided to splurge on pantry shopping. I only took a few stuffs. After I saw that they were piling food on 3 shopping carts, I stopped taking any more food. It was scary the amount of stuffs we bought today. So much so that the billed had to be splitted.

Ah San volunteered to pay the 1st $800. Yeah, was that much! After that, the rest of the stuffs I volunteered to pay. Why I volunterred? Because the rest didn't bring cash/credit card/NETs card to the pantry shopping. Can you believe it? Frust! Ah San paid around $800 while I paid around $270. That totalled to more that $1,000!!

Later received an email from the accountant saying that we spent a ridiculous amount of pantry and that some items were too expensive to be considered a basic pantry stuff. Funny this accountant. He was there at the supermarket also and he did nothing to stop anyone from buying the expensive stuffs. I think The Boss will flip when he sees the bill for the pantry. No wait, I think he will do some triple somersault or something.

I think the pantry budget will get stripped down after this.

. . Bad Luck Tuesday . .

By Monday, saw that the toilet is done. Well, not exactly fully done. But can still be used. After they had install the wash basin over the weekend. Some wall cabinets were also installed over the weekend. Some in the level 2 office, some at the pantry. Other than that, nothing else. Thought that they were going to fix up a new wall shelvings for the books and magazines. But not yet I guess. Nothing much about work on Monday. Same ol' same ol'.

Today Tuesday, is my bad luck day. Started in the morning when I walked out the front door. Weather was looking bad. So I figured I left home a bit earlier so I don't have to ride fast. Started to rain when I was wearing my raincoat. Already felt bad luck when it started to rain. The moment I ride out of the carpark, into the main road, the rain got heavier.

It got so heavy that I had to stop a few blocks away from home and take shelter in another carpark. It was so heavy that in less that two minutes that I rode out from the carpark, my shoes were already drenched. Another reason I stopped was, *another bad luck* that there was a small hole in the underside of my raincoat pants. Since the rain got heavy, I'd already felt that the underside of my denim jeans were slowly getting wet! Had to almost wait out for 45 minutes before I rode off again. This time to the nearest bike shop to get a new raincoat.

Another bad luck was at the bike shop itself! The new raincoat cost me a whoopping $32 *the auntie there initially tried to sell it to me for $38*. There goes my money. Think can definitely get cheaper somewhere else. But I had no choice. It was still raining and I had to get a new raincoat pants. Wore the new raincoat pants *while my jeans was still wet* and rode to work.

Got to work late *had informed Shironu earlier that I'll be late 'cause of the rain* but had a nice surprise when I reaced office. The new chairs have arrived. Yay. Least that was something, one thing, that was good today. But while helping around and stripping off the plastic covers off the new chairs, suddenly I realised that my ring was gone! Shucks! The ring had been quite loose since yesterday, and today, suddenly it came off. Or did I misplaced it? Well, one thing for sure, I couldn't recover it. That's another bad luck there.

Work was ok. No bad luck or what for work. Before leaving the office, we were briefed of the new alarm system that was installed today. Last time, we had to key in number codes to unlock the main door. Now, we have card keys. Flash it and the main door unlock. For the 2nd floor office, they've installed motion sensor detector. Last to leave the office have to armed the detectors before going off. As usual. We've also installed security cameras overlooking at the main stairs and also the main entrance that lead to the elevator. Yeah, we have an elevator.

But it's not up and running now. Even the main entrance is still under renovations. A lot still not done yet. A lot of things are still in boxes. Haiz. If it was up to me. A lot of stuffs would be cleaned up by now.

Left the office and saw that my bike is dirty. Not sure what it was, but looks like plants *seedlings?* that fell from the tree overhanging the motorcycle parking lots. Haiz. And the dirt wasn't easy to clean. Another bad luck. Definitely need to clean my bike this weekend.

Detoured to Queensway Shopping centre after work to get a new ring. Felt so different without that ring on my right hand middle finger.

Hope my luck gets better tomorrow.

. . Wanted . .

Well.. Seems like I have beem too lazy to blog these past few days. Thing is, nothing much happened at work. Just the normal usual stuffs since Wednesday up to Friday. Still lots of renovations to be done to the new office.

Last I got to know, there will be a few renovations to the 2nd level this past weekend, Saturday and Sunday. Not that it involve me anyway. Been relaxing at home the last weekend. Just slacking and watching the TV. Nothing much to do anyway.

Last Thursday after work, went to catch the movie "Wanted" at Vivocity with Frecky. Was a good movie. Based on the comic book novel by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones *which I recently bought and read*. There's so much different from the comic. Maybe the only same thing is 2 of the main characters and that's about it. *spoiler here* { In the comic books it more about superheroes and supervillians that we're all known about. And that the main character was taken in to take revenge for his supervillain dad's murder. Well, that almost the same storyline as in the movie. 'Cept that for the movie, it's about a group of secret assassins. Well, least that's more believable than superheroes }

Anyway, both the comic and the movie rocks! Hah! It's one of those storyline which would take situations to the extreme. And the movie took along the comic's harsh visual depictions of people getting shot at in the head. Hah!.

If you've yet to see the movie. What are you wating for. This is the kind of movie that comes along once in a long while. "Wanted" gets *4 Stars out of 5* from me.

Well, back to work tomorrow. We'll be getting our proper chairs by Tuesday as what The GM said. Hopefully, a lot of the renovations are done during the weekend.

Especially the toilet.

. . Seems Good Overall . .

Nothing much to blog these past 2 days. Had a fairly good day yesterday, Tuesday. No projects bogging me down. Nothing to rush actually. Got things to do definitely but doesn't seems too rushed or what. Just a normal day at work.

Actually, these few days at the new office seems good overall. Even for today, Wednesday. There's still a lot of renovations to do for the new office. For my level, level 2, almost everything is done. The toilets *for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level* is still not fully done. The contractors have install the toilet bowls but no wash basin to wash hands. So still have to use the toilet at the attic. Least have toilet.

Pantry area for all 3 levels is also not done up yet. Still have a lot of boxes of stuffs unpacked yet and left stacked at the pantry area. Reasons are that the toilets are not fully done so that part of the area might be affected if renovations in the toilets are ongoing. So that will have to wait.

For level 1 and 3, still have a lot more stuffs left undone. Basically, the air-condition in these 2 levels are not full up yet.

Well, tomorrow will be the same normal day I guess.

. . Moving Day . .

Today, Friday, is moving day for my office. Reached the office quite late; reached at 10.20 am actually. Most of my colleagues were already there, some were at the new office already.

Well, not much to do today. Did some final cleaning up of the fridge and also some of the stuffs there. Received a call from The GM instructing us to "walk around" first as the movers will only arrive to load our stuffs in the afternoon. Well, no problem with that. Actually, that was what I was planning also. Hah!

After much discussions, me, Khai and Im, decided to put our stuffs at the new office first and then make our way to Orchard Road. Hah! Yeah, we were planning to go there. Upon reaching the new office, Khai and Im was having some stomach problems, therefore I had to wait for them. They went to use the toilets at the mosque *which was located directly opposite our new office* as the toilets in our new office wasn't ready yet.

Not ready as in there was nothing at all in the toilet. Not even a wash basin. Nevermind. There was a lot of people moving around in the new office. Contractors, staffs, movers. Chaotic!! 1st floor renovations wasn't even 50% complete. 2nd floor *which I'm situated at* is at least 50 % complete. Some of my colleague and even The Boss, had set up their computers.*edited* 3rd floor and attic is also not even 50% complete. I think the contractors were swearing under their breath as we all were moving around "disturbing" their work area. Well, we had no where to go also.

*edited*.

As it was already late morning after, me, Khai and Im decided to perform our usual Friday Prayers at the same usual place, near Amoy Food Centre. After we had our lunch, I managed to persuade them to follow me to Kinokuniya Ngee Ann City as I was looking for a comic book. Found it!! It's titled Wanted. Bought the hardcover copy! There's a movie out that was based on this comic starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and also Angelina Jolie. Can't wait to to read the comic and watch the movie! Woo hoo!

Anyway, our stuffs from the old office were moved over promptly around 4.15 pm. The movers did not finish moving all the stuffs so they went back to finish moving over the rest of the stuffs. By that time, it was 6.00 pm. Which was time for me to leave. Hah! Didn't even unpack my stuffs that was already there. At all. Hah! I didn't really care. Don't know why.

After I left office, went to fetch Frecky for a quick dinner at IMM.

. . All Packed To Go . .

Didn't do anything much yesterday, Wednesday, as I was still on my second day MC. Stayed at home the whole day. Watched TV, played some serious time GTA IV, and having some sleep in and out. Been taking the medicine, *'cept for the cough syrup* but still get drowsy here and there. And taking the antibiotics makes me hungry every two hours. Very hungry.

Been eating soups, bread and porridge since yesterday. Mom cooked rice porridge with chicken yesterday and it tasted nice *with added fried shallots and soy souce, of course*. Ate that for the whole day.

Today, Thursday, went back to work.On reaching the office, I quickly opened up the Photoshop software and started doing up this aerial visual. Few days ago, *edited* they need to submit the visual by today. Had missed out on it the last 2 days *which I asked Syun to help me a lil bit at, before I took it over today*. After some exchanged messages *edited* the deadline will be extended 'til next week.

Well, one of the reasons that the deadline was extended was that The Company is actually closed for today and tomorrow. Well, it's moving day and 2 *out of 4* offices are moving to the new office. The other 2 office *which one is my office* will move today. So the thing is, no work could actually be done and submitted within these 2 days.

Since the 2 offices that is moving today have all their computers unplugged and all their stuffs all packed into boxes. And also that the internet connection in the other 2 offices had been unofficially cut off too early *should be cut off tomorrow*, then we can't even send out anything to any clients.

So, after lunch, all of us from our office s-l-o-w-l-y packed our stuffs. We've already tagged our stuffs so that the movers will know which boxes go where. Lynn had mapped out the tags to the places. Anyway, since there was nothing much to do, all packed and ready to go, we left the office promptly at 6.00 pm.

And since Frecky had worked on the morning shift today *did I mentioned she's now part-timing at the Zoo / Night Safari*, she was free to meet up for dinner. Went to fetch her from the Zoo and then we went to BPP for a simple Swensen's dinner. As I was still not feeling that well, a simply pasta meal was enough to fill my stomach *I was hungry though 'cause of the antibiotics*.

Tomorrow, I'm going to slack the whole day at work.

. . I Hate Being Sick . .

Didn't blogged in yesterday, Monday, as I wasn't feeling too well and was thinking of sleeping in early. But in the end slept as late as few days before.

Was having some cough at work and also my stomach wasn't feeling quite well. When I got home, seems to be a bit worse. I thought that I might be having some problem with the bowel movement. Decided to drink a packet of cold Milo.

Big mistake. Almost suddenly after I finished the packet. My stomach bloated. And I was in pain. tried to sleep it out then thinking that I might get better after a good night sleep.

Wasn't so. Woke up Tuesday morning at around 5.30 am, feeling very cold and shivering. Even though I was only using the fan, not the air-conditioner. Felt damn feverish and sick and I hate being sick! Went to consult the doctor around 8.30 am and got a 2 days MC.

After I informed The Company about my MC and passed instructions to the guys back in office, I went back to sleep. Spent the whole day in and out of sleep.

One of the things why I hate being sick is because I hate the feeling of not being able to do things. Not being able to eat properly and the stupid constant drowsiness.

Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow.

. . Zohan . .

Another entry 3 days overdue. Hehe. Well, wasn't much to blogged about Friday. Same ol' same ol' at work. Managed to rushed the deadlined visual by 5.30 pm. After that I was free. Didn't had any plans so went back home straight.

Saturday was a bit different. Managed to run some errands and got to hang out with my good buddy EC for dinner and a movie.

Was a good sun shiny day, the weather was great and all. But then again, was too hot to go out riding in the early afternoon. After a good short game of GTA IV *which I didn't touch for quite some time*, head out to the motorcycle workshop by 5.00 pm. This is my 4th oil change for my new motorbike. Went to the same place as the service there is very good. The mechanic even helped to tighten my bike chain as it was a bit loose. Can really feel the difference riding the bike now. No wonder it felt very weird riding the bike these few weeks.

Anyway, after the oil changed, stopped by to Funan Digital Mall to checked out some stuffs. There were some stuffs on sale. But as usual , most of the stuffs that were on sale were not really new models or something like that. But still, it's quite a good deal. Left the place soon after 7.00 pm as I was planning to meet EC around 8.30 pm for dinner at Jurong Point Fish & Co.

Had a good dinner with our usual Seafood Platter for 2. And as usual, we cleaned out the pan. Hah!Also this is usually the time we catch up *gossip* even though we're just in different departments at work. Haiz. Been having a few incidents at The Company *not involving us*. Not really going to state here. Quite sensitive.

After that heavy dinner, we went to catch the movie "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" starring Adam Sandler. Was quite a good movie. But not what I was expecting. Adam Sandler's movie usually have a good moral theme at the end of the story. Same with but there was a lot more slapstick comedy that I think is not of Adam's usual movies. But still, there was quite a lot of laughs. Most favourable Adam Sandler's movies; "Click", "Little Nicky", "Happy Gilmore".

Sunday is a relax day. Didn't really did much. Woke up to a wet morning but was all good. Had a really good sleep. Good good. Haha! *go watch Zohan to get this joke*. Really didn't do much but just play games, watch tv, and slacked all day.

Was a really good day. Hah!

. . Wasn't Up For Grab Anymore . .

Just a normal Thursday today. Got a new render to rush for tomorrow deadline. Was promised to passed it to me in the morning but I only got it at noon. Nevermind. Nothing else at work 'cept for this visual.

Received an email in the morning stating that the "Item # 16" *the CPU with LCD monitor and keyboard* wasn't up for grabs anymore. Seems that The Company sub-branch *or the other department* wanted to use it when they recruit a new staff. Sounds logical. "Shouldn't have listed it in, in the first place," I thought.

Oh well, what to do. Don't think I want to bid /grab any one of the other CPUs. They looked really old. I'll rather buy a new one than to get an old one for free.

Seems more logical in a sense.

. . Item #16 . .

Another relaxed Wednesday yet again. Well, I'm not really complaining. I'll rather have a relaxing day at work then stress out with deadlines. Hah.

Not much work. A few amendments including a simple replacement for the "photo-realistic" visual that I did before.

Today, Lynn sent out an email stating that The Company is giving out the unused stuffs that won't be move over to the new office. Free items up for grabs are some huge photo frames, some CPUs, computer monitors, TVs, some computer peripherals and etc etc. Any staffs who wants these stuffs can just request for it through her. If there's a more than one staffs requesting for a particular item then the staffs will need to draw lots. Hah. Items not cleared will be donated to the Salvation Army.

I had already requested to grab this CPU "Item #16" that she listed together with an LCD monitor and keyboard *as 1 item rather than separate*. Well, not sure how old this CPU that I requested for is but it looks newest than the other CPUs that was on the list. Hehe. I just want to see if the graphic card installed in the CPU is better than the one that I'm having.

Most probably I won't be using the keyboard but can try to hook up the LCD monitor with the one that I already have. Hopefully no one else will request for it. If not, will have to draw lots. And I hope to get it. So that I can intergrate it with this computer that I'm currently using.

Fingers crossed!☺

. . Online Videos . .

Was an alright Tuesday today. Did some work after lunch today. Well, but like yesterday, was watching online videos 75% of the time at work. Hah.

Well, wasn't watching YouTube but some online videos from a gaming website called Gametrailers. Was a good site with lastest gaming news. Have all the latest game trailers from almost all the platforms consoles, handhelds and also PC.

Also, the internet at work is certainly much better than the internet at home. Don't know why but the last time I watch the online videos at home, from the same gaming website, the video streaming was a crawl. Was so darn slow. That's why I watched it at work. Hah!

But anyway, it's not always that I "eat snake" at work. Last week when I had the "photo-realistic"project at hand, I did it with full concentration. Well, ok, not that full. If I have no project at hand *which was very rare* then I'll make myself busy with either Photoshop research and/or videos.

More videos than Photoshop research actually. Hah!

. . "Wants" & "Needs" . .

Another relaxed Monday, today. Didn't have anything to do at all today. Was waiting for new renders that were supposed to be passed on to me. But was updated that the renders had some slight changes and that it will only be ready late Wednesday.

After work, went down to Vivocity for a 'lil while to check out something. Just found out recently that there's a new version of Wacom Tablet. Well, how new I do not know actually. But I only recently found out. It's called Bamboo Fun. It's a less sophiscated version of the Intuos 3 and it's more targeted to home / hobbyist users. A small A6 sized Bamboo Fun cost around SGD 190 and a medium A5 sized one cost around SGD 300. Think I might get the medium one.

The small one only comes in white or grey color while the medium one have black *woot!*. Still, I'm going to wait first. Not going to buy one right now. Soon, but not right now. I still am using a small Graphire 2 version that I bought quite some time ago. It's small but very useful.

There's a lot of things that I want to buy lately. Wanted to upgrade my PC, wanted to buy iPod Touch, wanted to buy a PSP, wanted to get another LCD monitor. Haiz. So many "wants". But as always, I would consider whether the "wants" outweigh the "needs".

A friend during my National Service once said something like, "Always think about the things you need more than the things you want." Or something like that. That saying was engraved in my brain forever. Will always think about what I need and what I want. Like, do I "need" a PSP? Or do I "want" a PSP? If I have a 'lil extra money at hand, then maybe I'll get the things that I want. Hah. I'm not earning a lot, so I seldom splurge my earnings. I seldom even shop for my own clothings. Hah. But once in a while, I do get the things I want.

I think I better upgrade my computer first. Least I can always build up my portfolio on a faster computer.

. . Short + Sweet . .

Had been quite a busy weekend for me. On Saturday, went down to NAFA *Campus 3* Studio Theater to catch week 2 Top 30 of Short + Sweet Singapore.

Spent that Saturday morning reading up newspapers of previous days before. Hadn't been reading the newspaper of late. So since I hadn't much to do anyway. Met up with Frecky that afternoon to have our early dinner at Plaza Singapura before heading down to NAFA.

The show started a bit later than 8.00 pm actually but we had good seats so it's not that bad. As warned by my colleague, who's directing one of the short plays that day, to get the front or the second row seatings as after the second row seating, you can't really have a good view of the floor stage.

Some plays were comedies, some were dramas. Overall all the 8 short plays were very good. The final play, a special invite, by the winners of the Melbourne 2006 Short + Sweet Award was very very good! *No wonder they were past winners.* In the end, after the 2 hours show, we were to vote for the best play which we like. Of course, we went there to support my colleague's play. It was a good play anyway, so that's what we voted.

Today, Sunday, woke up quite late. Was waiting for my secondary school friend , Krak, to message / call me as we planned to head down to our old friend, Hailie's wedding in the afternoon. Actually, I messaged him the day before but he said he needs to confirm with my other friend, Ayie, before he confirms anything. "Sure, anything," I thought.

Anyway, he was extremely late when he set the plan to meet at 12.30 pm. Me and Ayie, had reached the wedding place on time, and had to wait for him for 1 hour. Haiz. All this while and he seems like never changed since we known him. Anyway, we met up with the few other guys, Shuk and Dil, there and had a good chat. A lot of my secondary school mates are already married or getting married. Hmm, something for me to think about. Hah. As usual, the famous question popped up, "So when is your turn to get married?" Hah! I guess I might never know the answer.

Left the place and got home pomptly before 3.00 pm. Saw that my younger brother * who got home last Friday * was preparing his stuffs for his first book-in that evening. Asked him if he needs a lift to the Academy. Initially he said no need. But after a while, he said alright. His camp is so near, that's why I offered the lift. If he was enlisted to the army, forget about giving him a lift. Hah! Need to travel the whole length of this small island, if he was. Anyway, the whole trip was about 15 minutes only. That's how near the Academy is.

Just got news from my colleague who directed the short play for the Short + Sweet Singapore, that her play got into the finals. There will be a finals show at the Esplanade at the end of this month. Hmm, might head down to see if free.

Haiz, busy weekend. Hopefully won't be a hectic work week.

. . Happy Be-Early Birthday Dude . .

Didn't had anything much to do yesterday, Thursday. Just the usual, go to work, get home. That's why I didn't blog in yesterday.

Well, actually today, Friday, wasn't much different. Finally finished up my "photo-realistic" visual. The GM approved it by the afternoon and then there wasn't anything for me. Had a birthday celebration in The Company today. Have 7June babies this time, as some colleagues are new to The Company. One of the June babies is my good buddy/brudder EC a.k.a atticbeng *Happy Be-Early Birthday dude*.

Didn't really go off from office early. Had a short chat/update with Lynn about the stuffs that needs to get done before we move to the new office in exactly 2 weeks time. Got to know where I'll be sitting. I'll be seated in front of The Boss. *Gasp!* Hmm. looks like I have to keep coming to office on time when we move to the new office. Haiz. Initially, I'm suppose to head a group of Kan and Syun. But now it seems that Syun will be helping out with The GM on his branding project. So now it's just me and Kan. And we'll be solely be doing The Boss' projects.

Kay will be turned to head a group replacing Ah San from her group and Ah San will be promoted to QC our works. Hope all this reshuffling will work out. Anyway, all of us will be under one roof. So I guess, that's quite a major boost to the workflow.

Lots of stuffs to move from our office. But mostly of the stuffs in my office right now won't be transferred to the department that I'm in. It will be moved to a different department. So sad. It was me and Frecky that went out and choose the sofa, coffee table, fridge, pantry cupboard, shelvings. Lots of stuff that I went out to buy for this office! It's alright I guess. Think I'll most miss will be the sofa. *Sob, sob*

Tomorrow evening will be going out to see a collection of plays and one of them is directed by one of my colleagues. Had been to her play before last year, and was a new experience for me back then.

Can't wait for what's in store tomorrow.

. . New Side Mirrors . .

Not much happened today, Wednesday. The work day usual routine. Still am on the "photo-realistic" visual. Think had completed around 60% - 70%.

Went home after work around 8.45 pm after the usual Photoshop Meeting. Nothing much for the meeting, just Kan and Kay giving their presentations. At home, after I'd my dinner, I went down to the carpark to fix my new side mirrors.

Quite a feat fixing the new side mirrors. There's a few nuts and and the screwings are a bit puzzling. 'Cause there's a few threading thats can turn clockwise and also anti-clockwise. Hah. After fixing both the side mirrors *which took me about an hour* , still looks a bit funny. And the mirror really are too small. Went to look at my elder brother's motorbike side mirror *he only fixed on one side*. Damn. His looks nicer. The way he positioned his mirror was what I wanted it to look like on mine. It's alright. Maybe I reposition mine some other time. For now, just let it be like it is. Or maybe I buy a new bigger one. This one looks a bit too small. Haiz. .

Feel so tired today.

. . CDA . .

What a long day today was. Was on leave from work today, Tuesday as I went to send off my younger brother for his National Service enlistment to Civil Defence Force.

Woke up early and reached there around 8.30 am. Was a good trip. Got to see the kind of equipments that they would use during their training, their dormitory, the canteen, etc, etc. Never been into the Civil Defence Academy (CDA) before so was quite excited to see the training facilities. Got to say that the facilities there are all good. They even have washing machines and dryers. Hah! Two iron and ironing boards in each domitory too! Lucky people.

At the canteen, they showed us the kind of food that they'll be serving to the trainees during their training. Looks very nice! Wonder if they showed that on that day itself only. Hah! But I was assured by the instructors there that that will be the kind of food that will be served to the trainees. Lucky people.

After the oath-taking and brief presentation by the Commander there, we had a few minutes to meet up with my brother for a short while. Basically, just to recollect his handphone charger, *as charging of handphones there are not allowed* and we took back some of his personal clothings. Initially, he packed a few more sets of clothes extra as he was expecting to be in camp for a few weeks before his 1st book-out. As this is his Physical Training Phase, it means that he will do nothing than just exercise training for the first few weeks.

But as it turns out, the camp training doesn't continue over the weekends! This means that he will have his first book-out this coming Friday! Just a mere 4 days later!. HAH! I remembered when it was my time, ages ago, when I was enlisted to the Armed Forces, I had to stayed back in camp for almost 4 weeks before my 1st book-out?! I booked out and was excited to see HBD flats! The bus ride home was like an experience long forgotten. And seeing a girl was like I'd never seen the female species before! Can you even imagine how that was like?! Hah! Lucky people.

Anyway, after the whole thing ended and we said our best wishes, the family head to the cemetary *which was just a stone throw away from the Academy* for a brief visit to my late dad's grave. Pulled out the weeds, cleaned up the grave a lil bit, the normal stuffs. Went home promptly after that.

In the afternoon, went up to meet Frecky. Accompanied her to LaSalle as she had to attend to some personal stuffs there. After that we went up to Sim Lim Square, *which was just next to LaSalle* to look out for a Wacom Graphire 2 Tablet. Hmm, couldn't seems to find the smallest size Graphire 2 tablet. Saw a new edition of a Wacom Tablet called Bamboo Fun. Think it's more for a personal/non-professional use.

We went to alot of places today. Hah! Just going around look look see see. After Sim Lim Square, we went to Beach Road. Bought myself a small "pouch-like" side bag. Then head down to a bike shop at Rowell Court and bought new side mirrors for my bike. Lastly went to Bugis and had dinner at some seafood restaurant.

The service there wasn't that good. Maybe it was just me, but I felt that I wasn't treated/served as well as the other patrons there. First I had to asked for my iced water. Then the manager came by and recalled our orders wrongly *luckily she checked first*. Then when I was having my pasta, I asked for some parmesan cheese. That didn't came. It's ok. No harm done.

After we had our dinner, I asked for the bill. The staff acknowledged and went to get it. 10 minutes went by and still no bill. I really felt like standing up and just walk out of there. Nevermind. I went to the cashier counter and wanted to pay the bill there and then. But I was told to take a seat first and the bill would come shortly. Okay. I did that. Moments later, that same staff and the rest of the staffs were busy attending to a group of patron that was having a birthday celebration for one of them.

I gave her a pissed-off look. She came by, apologised and said she will attend to my bill shortly. That was when I nearly blew it. Hah! But instead, I told her off sternly that I had been waiting for the bill for quite some time. She then asked some other staff to attend to me. I didn't want to wait for her to come back to me, so I went to the cashier counter. When she saw me standing there, she hasten a bit and fumbled with the bill. I signed the receipt and I walked out. I wasn't being agressive or what. They forgot about me and attended to the other patrons. I'm a paying customer too and I want my service the same as what they served the other patrons.

That's all.

. . Monday Morning Blackout . .

Riding past the office when I reached for work, saw Im standing outside. I shouted out to him, "What happened? Blackout?" Hehe. Yeah, Monday morning was greeted with a blackout at the office. He couldn't went to the back of the shophouse to fix it as he was the only one there. He's usually the first to arrive at the office, with Khai usually. But today, Khai was late.

Anyway, suspected that the blackout happened sometime around Saturday morning as that was when it was raining heavily. Checked the refridgerator and it wasn't cold at all. All the ice-cream had melted and so was the ice too. Well, good luck to the one that's taking over this place. We're moving out in 2 weeks time.

Not much at work. Was focusing on the "photo-realistic" visual that I started last Thursday. Think managed to finished up around 40% overall. Still got long way to go. But also have a few more days to deadline anyway. Finished work a bit later and left around 8.30 pm *to do up the visual as much as I can*.

After work, headed down to Borders at Wheelock Place for a short while. Was really interested in this travelbiography book by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman titled "Long Way Down" *I actually bought the book before but haven't finished reading it* and was hoping that Borders was selling the DVD version. It's about them traveling from the north tip of Scotland down to the southern tip of Africa, on the motorbike. Woohoo. Saw the 1st episode of it on cable TV and couldn't wait to see the rest of the show. But I guess I have to purchase for the DVD online.

I'll be on leave from work on Tuesday as I'll be "escorting" my younger brother for his enlistment to National Service. He'll be enlisted to the Civil Defence. As was my elder brother and as was my late dad. But I wasn't. Guess I'm really the odd one out huh. Anyway, never really been inside the Civil Defence Academy, so I'm kind of excited myself to send him off.

My younger brother is all grown up.

. . Catalunya . .

Was a restful Sunday. Woke up late 'cause slept late the night before. Wanted to switched on the tv and couldn't. Just then remembered that the digital set-top box was spoilt.

The night before, while I was watching TV, suddenly the image switched off to the tv's blue screen. Hmm, means the tv is not spoilt. Checked and saw that the digital set-top box was switched off. And it wasn't responding. Well, I guess that was a sign for me to go to sleep. Hah!

So woke up this morning to a spoilt tv is sucky. Hah! Confirmed that the set-top box was spoilt. Called up the customer service. I would say that the service was good, seeing that it was a Sunday and the guy on the other line was very helpful. Eventually he said that if he were to send someone down, it would only be possible on Monday. What!!? Which means that I won't be able to watch tv for the whole day like that!!!

Another way, was for us to do an instant replacement at the customer service center ourselves. Which means we have to get down to the service centre at Vivocity. Haiz. For the sake of tv. I sacrified and promptly head down to the center. After I had my lunch that is.

The service there was very fast, for replacement of set-topbox that is. The replacement was done at the infomation counter itself. It was a really immediate 1-to-1 exchanged. Just like the guy on the phone said. No queuing. No queue number. No waiting. Was quite shocked at how quick it was. Anyway, after that decided to walk around for a short while. Got home promptly and set the emm.. set-top box.

Basically watched the tv the whole day. Hah! And also nap on the sofa. Hah! Woke up from the nap around 7.00 pm as my elder brother switched the channel for MotoGP! Another exciting Live race! This time in Spain : Catalunya Circuit. Exciting exciting race! Can't wait 'til The Malaysia : Sepang Circuit race. Anyone out there want to tag along? It's going to be in October and I'm sure it's going to be loads of fun! Lucky I did the set-top box exchanged this afternoon. Or else, I would have missed the race.

After the race saw the movie "D.O.A : Dead Or Alive" on Star Movies. Hah! What a funny show. It's a game-adapted movie and it's like the "Streetfighter" movie that starred Jean-Claude Van Damme. The storyline is weak. Overall, its a movie you'll watched once and won't want to watch it again a second time.

That's it. Going back to work tomorrow. Haiz.

. . Kung Fu Panda . .

Was raining most part of the Saturday. Had to delayed meeting up with Frecky 'cause of the rain. Eventually we met up at Jurong East MRT at around 4.00 pm.

Hah! Decided not to ride that day as I was afraid that it would rain again in the evening. Haven't been taking the MRT for quite sometime. Hah! But it's alright, I guess. Kept wanting to turn back home and get my bike. 'Cause the weather was getting better while I was on the train. Anyway, we were quite early when we reached Great World City and decided to get something to eat and windowshop around.

"Kung Fu Panda" was just excellent! Very good show and a must watch. The animation was great and the fight choreography was just awesome! Think 3D animation have reached a new level. With great storyline and even better animations like these really separates them from the rest. Still, I think the best storyline animation goes to "The Incredibles".

But I think that some characters did not get enough screen time and dialogue. I think the Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper characters didn't get explored as much. Especially Monkey, which was voiced by Jackie Chan. Think he said a few lines only. Bah!! Was expecting him to have a better character build up for monkey. Think there's too many main characters at one time. But like I said, overall, was a good and entertaining show. Do stay back after the credits *which was fun to watch anyway* for a short stinger.

After movie, went straight back home. It didn't rain. T_T"

. . Friday Is A Weekend . .

Yeaterday is Friday. And for me, Friday is a weekend. I've always told people that the moment I woke up on a Friday, I switched off. Hah!

Didnt't do much work yesterday. Had work to do, but I the mood wasn't there at all. Did a 'lil bit of work for the "photo-realistic" visual that was handed to me the day before. Think I did around 10%? Still got long way to go. The GM and a colleague Lynn, was busy preparing stuffs, tagging the equipments and all the stuffs in our office. The move is in about 20 more days. Anyway, almost everything will be move to the new office. 'Cause, back then, when we moved into this office, there was nothing at all. No furnitures, nothing. All had to be bought. And now all will be move over.

Finished work promptly at 7.00 pm. Went out to Great World City for a short while 'cause I need to look for socks. Hah! Anyway, I've already booked movie tickets there for Kung Fu Panda showing today. Just want to check out whether the parking there is still free for motorcycles. Well it wasn't necessary, but I really did want to get new pairs of socks and Great World City is just so near. Less than 10 minutes bike ride from the office.

Got my socks. Got home.

. . Mugello Circuit . .

One of the best Sundays today. Didn't do much at all today. Woke up to a wet morning again. Went in and out of sleep before waking up late morning. After that, started up my GTA IV.

Played some serious time on the game. Finished up around 5.00 pm. Hah! Yeah. Been quite some time since I spent that amount of time on a game. I even skipped my breakfast and lunch. Was feeling hungry in the early afternoon but the hunger passed after a while. Was planning to go for a run but was feeling hungry so, once again, I put it off.

After dinner, had an "unexpected evening nap" *hehe* and woke up promptly around 8.00 pm. My elder brother's "shouts of excitment" woke me up. He was watching the Live broadcast of MotoGP.

Basically, MotoGP is a motorbike race. And it's actually quite exciting to watch. *Maybe others might not think so* Anyway, I joined him in watching the broadcast. Was quite a good race. *This leg of the race took place in Italy : Mugello Circuit* Quite exciting. Most probably me and my elder brother will head down to Malaysia this coming October to catch the future leg of the race. We'll see.

That's all for a boring, restful Sunday.

. . Prince Caspian . .

Woke up late yesterday, Friday, as I was on leave in the morning. Didn't do anything but just slacked and watched TV. Had a "reservists" ceremony that was held in the afternoon.

Reached the place at 3.00 pm on the dot. Changed and promptly head to the auditorium. They had a practise for the award receivers and after that, we had to wait for the Guest-Of-Honour (GOH) to arrive. The thing is, the GOH is scheduled to arrive at 4.15 pm. Stupid right? Made us to reach there at 3.00 pm but the event starts only after 4.00 pm. And I was there only as audience, just to fill up the auditorium.

The whole ceremony actually zipped through and it even ended before 5.00 pm. Haiz. Anyway, after the whole thing ended, I had a quick munch at the reception *I was quite hungry* and quickly made my way out. Reached home before 6.00 pm. Next time, I come at 4.00 pm for any such future event.

Today, Saturday, woke up to an angry wet weather! Was raining quite heavily. Was planning to have a picnic but eventually had to cancelled. The rain subside soon before 12.00 noon but the sky looks grey. Nevertheless, made plans with Frecky and decided to catch The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian.

Went to Marina Square but there were quite a lot of people queuing up at the Box Office. Decided to check out at Eng Wah Cinema at Suntec instead. Luckily, there weren't much people there and we secured good seats.

The duration of the movie was quite long. There was some moments in the movie that I didn't really understand. Well, it's like, "Why is it like that?" kind of thing. There were a lot of sword fights here and there. And I also felt that there were a lot of redundant things that I believe could be cut off from the movie. Basically, I believe that the movie was quite draggy. Frecky, on the other hand, said that some events had to happen to bring the story forward and somewhat complete the story. *Or something like that.*

Well, I don't see it. Anyway, if you're a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, then you'll probably love the movie. I believe, that if you like a certain movie, you'll understand that movie more than most people do. If you don't like it. Basically, you won't really understand it.

Take the Star Wars Episodes and whatever in its "Universe" *animations, comics, games, toys*. I totally understand the story and what not. While some people don't really understand why Star Wars is like that.

Maybe, the Force is strong in me?

. . 113 unread e-mails . .

Ahhh.. Back to work. Well, not necessary a good thing. Wasn't really in a "back-to-work" mood this Thursday morning. After I reached there, *I reached there quite on time actually* realised that I should have taken today off. Anyway, switched on the computer and launched the email programme. Hah! 113 unread e-mails. Haha. Actually there were a few more that I've yet to read but it was marked as read. *Hm, who read my e-mails?* Anyway, most of the e-mails were staff movement notices. Got those deleted without the need to read them anyway.

There were some e-mails regarding some company outing some time in July or August. A choice between An Amazing Race "knock-off" or a Laser-quest like shootoff. Hmm, well, I didn't have any preference actually. Both activities sounds quite interesting. We'll see how it goes. And oh! An e-mail notice to tell us to report to work on time at 9.30 am on every workday and to report to the head *which I am one of them* if anyone is coming in later than that. Hah! I'm one of those that comes in later that 9.30 am almost everyday! Hah! Hm, I think they imposed this rule as some people had came in to work way past 10.00 am and there are one or two that consistently came in later than that! Well, hmm, I think I'll come to work as my usual time. *I'd told The Boss my reasons why I usually come in after 9.30 am* and maybe come in much earlier in some days to balance out the days that I come in after 9.30 am. We'll see.

Work was alright. Kay, who covered my duties when I was away, said there wasn't anything much that day. Nothing that he can't handle. So that leaves me with nothing to do. Well, almost. Mei, came soon after and passed me some amendments. Lucky. If not, I'll be bored the whole day. Passed one to Syun as she had finished what she needed to do as I will be on leave on Friday. That leaves me to rush 1 amendment for today. Managed to finished it just before 8.00 pm.

After work, went down to *a certain photography club* situated near the city area to collect my photos that I'd submitted at the end of my basic photographic course that I took last year. Me and 3 other colleagues signed up for the course last year February as The Company was willing to subsidies the course fees. Was a good course overall, as the intructors was well learned and we were getting alot from them, but there were some stuffs that could be improved on *the club's* management part.

First they made a mistake *I think* on the submission date for our photos submissions. This then made them not reviewing our photos on the same time with some others who submitted earlier. This made us not getting the certification of the completion of the course on time. *Which I think was quite important as the 4 of us took this course under The Company's accounts and I felt having the certification would prove to The Company that we did not waste The Company's money* Even though The Company did not chase us nor expect us to show them the certification, personally, I would rather have the certification in my hands. Which, I only get to collect it today. Haiz.

Will be on leave from work tomorrow. There will be a *reservist* ceremony in the later part on the afternoon tomorrow that I was "invited" to. Didn't want to go to work, then leave from work half-day to attend the ceremony, which is held near my home. I'll rather go to the ceremony from home.

And not go to work that day. Hah!

. . Indy Jones and the Tons of E-mail . .

Oh gosh! Hah! It's nearly a week since I last blogged. Well, could say, reservists duties was really tiring me out.

Last Friday, did the day shift for my reservists. Could say that the job that day was quite interesting. A lot of encounters. Keep receiving calls here and then. Was good experience overall.

On Saturday, as usual, did the night shift. Was the last night shift before I finished the whole reservists period. Was quite pleased that I wasn't chosen to do the static station. Had done the static station the previous 2 night shifts. That night, I followed around with the other colleagues. Was quite a good experienced for that night also. A lot of encounters.

Finished the shift promptly on Sunday morning. As usual, I crashed on my bed the minute I reached home. Hah! I accidentally slept in with what I was wearing that day. Already took the towel and wanted to use the shower but decided to lie on the bed for a while. Haha!! "For a while" was like a few hours, as I woke up a few hours later. Well, didn't really do anything much also for that day. If I remembered, I wanted to go for a run but it rained in the evening, so had to cancelled. *Hah! Excuses.*

On Monday, an offday, went out to catch "Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull" with Frecky. Was really surprised to see that there was a lot of people out and about on that day. There was even a long queue at the cinema box office!. WTH! Well, it was the start of the school holidays *right?* but what the *toot!* are the adults out and not at work?! It's a freaking Monday! Not Saturday nor Sunday. Anyway, lucky we had good centred seats. If not. I'll be pissed. *Hm, seems like I'd not been pissed for quite some time*

Woohoo! Was great to catch Dr. Jones back in action! The movie was great! Well, until the last part that is. Hehe *WARNING! SPOILER HERE* >What were they thinking? Aliens with crystal bones!? *Thus the crystal skulls* Aliens and archeology?! WTF!? It's like, an action movie turned out to be a science fiction movie right at the end.< Well, thinking back. Since the story was penned by George Lucas, *creator of the Star Wars universe if you dont know him* I guess that the movie ending was acceptable. The story is actually quite good and they keep making references to the previous "Indy Jones" movies, which made it feel like a continuation of the past movies rather than something new. If you had not caught it, what the hell are you waiting for?!

On Tuesday, did the last day shift for the current reservists period. Was actually quite a boring day. Spend most of the time not going out. I was partnered with this guy who I had partnered with on my first day shift. He's not lazy. It's just that he's quite laidback 'cause he's been doing this full time for the last 8 years and that he is just waiting to finish up by January next year. Hm, I guess there's nothing to comment about that. Finished up promptly and bid them all farewell and all the best. Won't know if I ever going to work with them ever again.

Today. Wednesday morning, woke up very early as I had to attend my IPPT test. Reached the Academy on time at 8.30 am and as soon as I reached the place, it started to drizzle. Slowly the drizzle started to get heavy and for the most of us that had reached the place on time, was kind of happy that it rained. Well, I know I was happy. Was really wanting for the IPPT test to be postpone as I hadn't really trained for it and I was expecting to fail. Or at least a pass.

When the In-charge arrived. He told us that they expected the rain to last some time and that the test would be postpone. *Hurray!* We all went to the canteen to get our breakfast and soon after, the rain stopped. Hah! Of course, the test wasn't continued and I was happily tucking into my Nasi Lemak with chicken wings. Yum!!! But still had to get back to the HQ to dekit our stuffs after that. Reached back home before 12.00 noon. Had a good afternoon sleep as I was still quite tired and cleaned up my room after that. My room is always messy when I had reservists duties.

Well, have to go back to work tomorrow. Haiz. Sure will have tons of e-mail to clear.

. . GO! Speed Racer! GO! . .

Oopps.. I did it again. I guess during this reservist period, I kind of not having the time to really blog. Hmm, I guess it's all due to the fact that I'm either too tired to blog it at night *after day shift* or I'm on the night shift. Let's see if i can recount back.

Monday, I was on day shift. Was a better day shift than the previous one. Maybe 'cause I was partnering with a different colleague that day. He's more "on-the-job" that day. Was a good experience anyway.

Tuesday morning til late afternoon was spent lazing around the house and playing GTA IV. *Have I mentioned that this game rocks!?* Set off from home around 6.15 pm to start on the night shift. It was alright. Nothing much on the night shift as I had to do static station as the previous night shift. Got back the next morning and slept from 9.00 am til 3.00 pm.

On that Wednesday afternoon, around 4.30 pm, meet up with Frecky for dinner and movie. We went to catch Speed Racer! GO Speed Racer! GO! Haha! As usual, during the weekday around this time, there wasn't alot of patrons and there were less than 20 people *I think* in the cinema with us. The stupid counter at the Box Office printed out couple seats for us initially *which was not what we wanted* and also was quite stupid 'cause there were 2 other couples in the same row, to the left and right, and the whole other seats in the cinema was empty. Hah!

We decided to move to the centered seats *which i remembered asking for, at the counter* before the movie starts. The girl that printed our seat tickets might have been a bit deaf. Cute. But definitely a bit deaf. Anyway, not much of a problem as the cinema hall was around 90% empty and we could just sit anywhere we like actually.

The movie was actually great. A bit long, but still good. Was a good visual treat and the treatment/concept to the movie was refreshing. Hmm, wouldn't say that the concept was new but it's definitely quite different from the usual. Definitely a must see.

Today Thursday, is another off-day. Just relaxing and slacking. Going to play some GTA IV later on. *Hah* Better prepare my stuffs for tomorrow first.

4 more work days til the end of this reservist.

Hopefully.

. . Cousin's Engagement . .

Last Friday went to reservists for the night shift. It's the first time that I did the static station for the night shift. *Well the static station is only at night anyway.* Well, the place was quite deserted and there was nothing much to guard or what. Just that our presence was needed there during the night. That's all.

Came back home from night shift on Saturday morning. *So Saturday is considered an offday.* Was damn tired. Not so much feeling sleepy but more to tired. After I settled down at home, landed on my bed around 9.00 am and slept til 2.00 pm. Was quite groggy when i woke but i figured I had enough sleep. I didn't want to wast all my offdays on sleep only. Hehe.

As usual, I watched some tv and played some serious GTA IV. That's it for that day. Nothing much really. Was quite tired to go out or what.

Today, on Sunday *another offday*, woke up quite early as I planned to go for a run. But, hehe, I changed my mind. Hah! Can't seem to pull myself away from my soft smelly pillow. Hehe. Played some more GTA IV *this game is the shit ya'll*, before I headed to my aunt's place around 4.30 pm.

My cousin was getting engaged today and my mom, his dad, his step-dad, and my eldest uncle was to form the engagement party to his girlfriend home. I didn't planned to follow but since I was already at my aunt's place, I figured I just follow them. Well, my elder followed too so I took to the backseat on his car.

Was a small scale engagement event. Nothing big at all. That's what my cousin wanted anyway. *FYI, he's 2 years my junior.* Had some exchanged of gifts from both parties, the "putting on the engagement ring", and some light food. After that we made our way back. Some people, well most people, would sometime makes their engagement event very grand. Some even as grand as a wedding. Hah! Actually, this engagement event don't have to be grand. As long as the intention is pure and both parties agreed to the engagement terms, that's all is needed.

Anyway, after that, we all made a quick stop at my aunt's place before we headed to Al-Azhar eating place at Bukit Timah for dinner. Actually most of us were quite full from all the food. At my aunt's place. At my cousin's girlfriends place. But we wanted to celebrate my cousin's belated birthday so we went anyway.

We had quite a spread. Lots of food! And by the end of it, I was very very full. Well, actually, I always eat til I'm very full. Hah! The food was ok, and the ambience was good. Lots of patrons there. Will definitely make my way there again some other time.

Tomorrow will do my day shift again for reservists. *No Vesak Day Holiday for me.* Wonder what I'll be doing tomorrow?

. . Good Work-Week . .

Having quite a good work-week this week. Nothing much to rush. Means boring days at work. Finished up the view that I had been doing last 2 days, on and off. Was quite satisfied with the work I did. Given a better time allowance like this, I believe all my works in the future can be as good as the one I just submitted. Or even better. But time, as always, is usually not enough.

Tomorrow will be the sixth day I'll be coming to the office for this month. Well, that is until I finished my reservists that starts next Monday. Will be coming for 1 more day before the month ends. After that, I guess The Company would be quite busy preparing for the move. Currently, the schedule to move to the new office will be end of June. We'll see how that goes.

And oh! It had just rained! Thank God! It hadn't rain for so many days the grass are dying.

Just hopefully it doesn't rain when I'm on the road.

. . Most of the time . .

Hmm, maybe I should just blog once every two days. Hmm. Nah. I think I'll try to always blog daily unless nothing much happened on that particular day that deserved to be blogged of. Hehe.

On Monday, we went pantry shopping at the NTUC Fairprice Supermarket. As blogged before, we usually bought a lot of stuffs to last us for around one and a half months. But this month, we kind of spent lesser than last month's. Hmm, maybe 'cause they are lesser staffs who went shopping that day. So few items are left out. I think. Spent $100 less than last month.

Today, Tuesday was quite boring. The usual stuffs at work. I'm working on this view, that I'm trying to achieve a more realistic approach to the style. The Boss had commented that our standard of works are declining and that our competitors are gaining on the standard that we had achieved. We are, as acclaimed by The GM, "the leading local company" doing what we do. Yeah, I'll like to think that too. 'Cause, on most Saturdays' newspapers, when developers advertise their current properties, most of the time, you'll see our works. Most of the time.

Anyway, I've always keep to a certain professional standard to all my works. Just sometimes, when I'm pressured with too much work to handled, or stressed, that my standard would drop.

Well, I need to get it back up.

. . Shift : Faction . .

Was a good rest weekend. Didn't do much on Saturday. Wanted to go out initially but I decided to stay at home and play some GTA IV instead. Hah! Really spent more that 6 hours straight on that game. Was a good time spent. Hehe.

On Sunday, I decided not to stay at home. Decided to go get those riding gloves that I've been wanting to get. So I went out after lunch and head out to Jalan Besar area. Well, actually I parked my bike at Tekka Mall. *Yes, I parked there before when I had that Communication course a few weeks ago.* Well the parking space was sheltered and it was free, so I reckon that's the best place to park my bike. And it was located in between the Jalan Besar area and Sim Lim Square. Best!

Walked over to the Jalan Besar area where most of the motocycle shops are located. Managed to get these pair of riding gloves from this local distributor shop. Well, it wasn't what I was looking for. The one I was looking for; Fox Racing brand; Dirtpaw, didn't have the colour that I was looking for. So I got something else from Shift Racing brand. Model; Shift:Faction Glove (pictured, but different colour).Got it in Black/Grey. Still as nice! And looks as cool! Cost around the same price as my old pair of gloves.

After that, I took a walk past the Sungei Road roadside bazaar. If I could call it a bazaar. Those makeshift sellers that lay out "antique" stuffs. Hey, people still buys those stuffs man! Saw an old Sega console and also a MicroGenius console. Also saw an old printer, and old radio and portable CD player; all that I used to have. Hah!

After the walk pass through, reached Sim Lim Square to look out for hardware stuffs. Well I'm not rushing to get my computer upgrades so I reckon I check it out slowly. Man, most of the stuffs there had price drop. 1GB thumbdrives going for $10?! Can you believe it? Last time, a set of *maybe 5* new floppy disks cost more than $10!! Collected a few of those advertised setups prints and will go through it. Going to see the which shop is giving the best options for me.

After a few rounds of walking, decided to get back. Was feeling quite sleepy and tired. Don't know why. After I got back, I fell into a short nap. Haha!

This month I'll be having my reservists starting mid of the month. Duration for around 2 and a half weeks. So for the whole of this month, I'll be coming to the office for only 7 days. Hah! Woo hoo!!

But, for now, back to work tomorrow.

. . Iron Man . .

I AM IRON MAN! Hah! Caught the much anticipated Marvel's comic-to-film adaptation on Thursday with Frecky. Was quite a good show. As this is Shellhead's debut movie, it seems that the movie was squeezing a lot of information in just one show.

Anyway, I think that it was really a better adaptation, if compared to Fantastic Four and/or HULK. A new Hulk movie is coming out soon *starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner* and its supposedly expected to be better than the previous Ang Lee's version. Back to Iron Man, think they had a very good cast of actors and reviews evens said that Robert Downey Jr was the perfect actor as Tony Stark as Robert's personality and life's experiences mirrored that of Tony's. I just like the fact that they made the movie! Hah! Reel life Iron Man is just so cool. I love the armoured suit! *I sound like a hardcore fanboy!*

Personally, I think that comics-to-films are just cool. Think that it's not easy to convert what long history of those comic characters already had into the reel world accurately. What may be successful in comics might not be successful in movies. If it was easy, I also can do. Hah! Well, I can't wait for those upcoming comic-movies coming soon!! *The Incredible Hulk & The Dark Knight*

Nothing much happened on Friday. Was a slow day. There were less than half of the total number of staffs in the office today. *Not counted the other offices* There was me and three others. Quite quiet at the office. Hah! Didn't had anything much to do today so I promptly left the office at 6.30 pm.

Was thinking of walking around Sim Lim and Jalan Besar area tomorrow. Want to look computer hardwares to upgrade. And also looking for a new riding gloves and other stuffs that I might be able to "pimp" my bike out with. *Haiz. Looks like I'm going to overspend again this month.*

But see if the weather is not too hot to go out. It's really really very very hot these few days.

Global warming is real.

. . GTA IV . .

Another relaxing Wednesday. Wasn't much to do also. But still got stuffs to work on. Just some minor amendments here and there. Finished them as fast *ehem* as I can.

Been looking through some computer hardwares online these few days. Been thinking of upgrading my computer. This computer is already more than 3 years old. Been playing with the thought of getting a whole new computer altogether *without monitors/keyboard/mouse etc etc*. There's this local online shop that had configured a good set up and was thinking of getting it. But the cost was a lil bit over my $1000 budget. And I already have casings, dvd drive and some other stuffs that I don't need to change that is in the configurations. So, was also thinking of just getting the ones that I need and just replace those with what I already have. My colleague, L10 suggested that I get the whole new one but still retain my current harddisk. Hmm. Still thinking.

Anyway, after I got home, went down to the gameshop for a while to look out for a Xbox360 game that was just launched a day ago. Got it! Hah! It's Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) and it had received a very good review! Been looking at all the screens and videos of this game before it was launched and I agreed that the game look awesome. Can't wait to start on the game.

On that thought. I think I'll go start it up right now! Hah!

. . Like No Tomorrow . .

Wasn't much to blog about work the last 2 days. Same old same old. Been feeling kind of low lately. Smoked a lot on Monday. Smoked like no tomorrow. Stress. Stress. Hah! But kind of resolved the problem later on. Well, not really resolved. But not feeling that low already.

Anyway, Tuesday was an alright day. Smoked less than Monday. That's all.

See how tomorrow.

. . Crazy . .

Wasn't a really fruitful weekend. Slacked and rotted at home most of the time. On Saturday, took a long walk to clear some of these stuffs in my head. Walked from my home to my old place. Crazy. You know, to the Old Jurong Green Market. Yeah, I walked. Took around 40 - 45 minutes. Crazy. I wasn't in the mood to ride my bike.

Almost everyday I rode my bike and sometimes I took the route that I walked that day. Usually I just sped by the place. But having taken a slow walk through there, things really look different and I do noticed some stuffs that I wouldn't noticed if I had rode my bike. Sometimes, you need to slow down to appreciate the view around you * cheybah!*

Anyway, after I reached there, I took a bus back to Boon Lay Bus Interchange. Sat at the upper deck just to get a different perspective of the route I had taken. This Super Double Deck Bus. think it's a new bus. Or maybe just that it's been a long time since I took a bus. Was this new double decker bus with the green/yellow seats. Looks very nice. When I reached the bus interchange, decided to walk around Jurong Point.

Saw that the construction of the extending mall is near complete. Well, not really. But looks like the mall/new bus interchange could be estimated to open within this year. The condominium on top of this extension is still at a very new stage. Still long way to go.

Reached home around 5.00 pm plus. Walked around for more than 3 hours. Crazy.

Sunday. Had thought of going back to the office and do some work. Crazy. But, I decided against it and stayed at home instead. Been a long time since I had to stay at home for 2 days consecutively on a weekend. Used to, back then, all the time. Now I think it's happening again. And I hate it.

Again I slacked and rotted at home. Napped in and out on my bed. Crazy. Caught a Stephen Chow's classic funny movie on Channel 8. Played some games. All to clear my head. But I guess it's going to take more than that. Don't ask me what's in my head. It's something personal and I don't want to spell it out here.

Went out for a run in the late evening around 9.00 pm. Crazy. Managed to run a steady, 3 rounds than the usual 2 rounds. Quite surprised. Still managed to do 8 pull-ups after that. Crazy. Well looks like the daily morning push-ups are quite working.

Intend to go to work early tomorrow. Crazy. See how.