the last stand

Saturday, definitely a blessing which brought much relief to my hectic week. Didn't get much sleep, including running a 18 hour sleepless marathon on Thursday through a cold night, then boring lectures, comical french and dreamy tutorial classes. Sure drilled the dreadiness feeling into my gut.
Friday was alright, it was Campus Care Network Day in school, which only signifies the transformation of students into salesgirls and hawkers peddling their goods for the good of the world. For my class, our idea for the noble cause was the selling of fish balls. And boy, it turned out that Singaporeans are a big fan of fish balls after all. Sold all of it within an hour. But it's sure an unpleasant day for me. Oh well, for charity's sake, it was worth it.

Then came Saturday. ooh wee~~ what bliss. A day to relax.. like FINALLY. anyway, i was quite happy when my god bro Mervyn (thanks man) invited me out for a movie: X-men: the Last Stand.

I was thrilled. I don't know but I am quite fascinated by their supernatural powers. I especially like Mystique, her shapeshifting ability is amazing.
Anyway, the movie was, how can i describe, so powerful. I was wowed over by the spectacular effects of the mutants and their destruction (of bridges and vehicles that is). Apart from the electrifying stunts, the storyline bowled me over. Quite sad at some points, I was quite heartened and touched. The gaze in Jean's eyes.. so powerful yet so vulnerable...

The movie left me a haunting impression, one of the vulnerability that is human, yet a beast inside all of us which will fight for what you hold sacred. Be it rebellion or war, there is a battle to be won, to liberate ourselves in this world or within our soul. In Jean's words, "save me..."

The Last Stand, are you ready?

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B ....... U ........ F ....... F

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or simply

Big

Ugly Fat F*cker

BUS-tard!

If there is one thing all poly students hate, the grand prize would go to waking up early to catch a bus at rush hour to school. If you are lucky, like me, you would only have to do this treacherous journey weekly. If not, like my previous semester, you got to perform this terrible task four-times weekly. Woah.. that's like more than the times Saudi Arabian Airlines flies to Singapore or... more times than Singaporeans getting laid a week (or a fortnight for some or for others, a lifetime). haha...
Anyway, back to the Long March polytechnic students have to endure in one semester of their poly-life or another (or all if unlucky). The students, turned GI Joes and GI Janes, will have trudge their way up a transportation vehicle, fish out their EZ-link cards to tap on the dirty blue reader upon entering the hell gates, and try to find a space to breathe; all the while jostling with office ladies, salesmen, factory workers and aunties on their way to another mahjong match. And the situation doesn't get any better, every stop the bus makes, the vehicle becomes more and more like a giant red sardine can on wheels as shoals (should I say hordes) of people squeeze their ass in; adjust your book and the next person will get mutilated by paper cuts, move your foot, someone's toes will be endangered, and fart.... the end of the moving sardine can.
Anyway, what won the trophy was my trip on bus 72 to school yesturday (18 May 2006). The bus stop at Hougang Central which I took my bus was so filled with people that the human lifeforms spilled unto the pavements and the surrounding grass patch as everyone waited impatiently for the bus 72. Finally, we caught the sight of a double-decker bus 72 and alot of kiasu people scrambled for position, ready to battle their way up the bus.
Well... one thing about this bus stop is that it lies after a T junction, hence buses can come from a straight direction (like the bus 72) or they make a right turn to the bus stop (like 80, 87 etc). So his highness, bus 72 that everyone so awaits was stopped at a traffic light. Then another double-decker bus trodged towards the bus stop from the right (cant remember the bus number). So with positions ruined, people scrambled up and down the bus stop, predicting whether the bus 72 would stop behind the current bus or will the current bus leave and 72 takes its position. So when the second double-decker bus came, a number of people (including this really kiasu nurse) practically raced up the bus. Unknowingly to them.... it wasn't bus 72, it was bus 80A!!!
The bus 72 was still stuck behind at the traffic light. Well.... this does proves it doesn't always pay to be the first.
Lesson learnt: Number 1 doesn't equivalate to winning.
So when the third bus came, I checked if its 72 (can't be too sure, can you?) and got up, with a wide evil grin on my face. I wonder how long before those people will realise their mistake? Anyway... the joke's turned out to be on me. Read on.
Whilst on the bus staring into space, sitting next to an office lady, and whilst the bus hobbled its way along old Tampines Road, when it was about to depart from a bus stop, the whole bus system shut down. My heart sank. Was it going to be a bus breakdown?! Noooooo........ What's worst than fighting with a bus-stopful of strangers to go up a bus is to fight with a busful of pissed-off fellow passengers to go up another bus!
However, lady luck was with me (or the bus captain) at that moment and he managed to restart the system and the bus continued its way.
Then... as it tried to turn out of another bus stop after a passenger got off, the system crashed again. Like the previous time, TVmobile shut down, the air-con turned off and a busful of dissatisfied customers groaned. Only a few was happy that they will be late for lecture and had no qualms about showing their enthusiasm or foolishness (one can always sleep late and be happy he/she is late for class rather than to express his/her joy of missing lecture to a broke-down bus and her army of angry passengers which would surely endanger their limbs). Finally, again the bus started moving, though people could be heard considering (loudly) if they should take another bus.
Then as it went into another bus stop,
again.
and again.
and again again.
and again again again.
Altogether, it broke down six times. However the capable bus captain manage to get that old metal lady on her way each time, except for one bus stop, the bus went down twice.
I was suspecting it might be related to the exit door, as I can hear the door trying to close when the systems went down. Perhaps it was a short circuit or something.
And... I was right... when the bus finally reached the bus stop where most students get off to transfer another bus to school, the driver refused to open the exit door so everyone had to exit through the entrance instead.
Well, 6 breakdowns would suffice for some of the students to flag down the more reliable form of transporation, with the $2.40 handwave, get to school safe and sound. I preferred, like most of my fellow sheep, to await the one form of transportation that I am forced to depend on every day.
And reliable as it was, I was only about 5minutes late for my lecture. Pretty much thanks to the transport system that sure can reboot her way pass 6 crashes. Some good hardware indeed.
by the way, the lucky number was 9037, need I say more?

snow-capped

I am usually not into reality tv programmes like American Idol and The Apprentice. Partly because of the cruelty in extinguishing the flame and dashing the hopes of each contestant with a single "you are fired" or "the person leaving us tonight...." or "the _enter_number_ th person leaving Survivor _enter_location_ is...." Yeah, said with that much indifference and so little respect to a person who had came so far in pursuit of his/her dreams.
And partially also because of the evilness of the producers to manipulate the characters of people through computer editing and censorship, to show what they want to show, for the sake of suspense/tension/plot and viewership ratings.
And this comes from a retired hardcore Survivor fan who practically worshipped some of the castaways (contestants). But tired of enough backstabbings and sad goodbyes, I said my last au revoir to reality TV. It's way too cruel... But shoutoutz to Christa Hastie I STILL LOVE YOU!!!!!! You are my hero!!!!
Well... hardened by these inert views, it finally took me enough boredom (Sloth Mondays) to tune in to Channel 5's So you think you can dance.
Immediately, a wOw with a "O" mouth painted my face. These people are so talented. They sure can shake their booty better than fish know how to swim. I was astounded, that's astOunded with the open ^O^. Anyway, the jaw-dropping motion encompassed art, beauty, grace, talent and not to mention steamy heat! HOT~!
My favs has got to be Snow and Ryan. Both are just damn talented. If superman could dance, both of them will thrash him off his panties. Or should I say any one of them.
Anyway, reality shows never fail to disappoint me! Wonderwoman Snow was sent off. A great pity considering her amazing talent. (ok, i agree that the other contestants were good but everyone's entitled to their favourite). Well... take a look at her sleek dance moves.

She sure swept me off my feet.
So sad... Snow has fallen...
And again, frost and coldness thug at my heartstrings...
What can i say?
REALITY TV no more!

of crabs and j-subculture.

Whats the best thing to do on a lethargic Monday morning dyed with a sad hue of blue?
.....
....
...
..
.
*Bling!*
Blog about your weekend of course!
anywayz.

DAY 1:
Mine started off by sleeping late, a tiring week at school the past few days sure didnt help to ease my desire for some good forty winks.
When I awoke, I was surprised to see a pailful of crabs near the washing machine. And when you see angry crustaceans so bondaged up and pondering on their fate (or lack of) you think: a chilli crab feast. This time, its for my whole family on my maternal side, like my cousins and uncles and the whole family tree.
Anywayz, my dad told me there were 10 crabs (all males. pity those guys. the next time they get laid is on a plate smothering with chilli crab sauce) which costed like a whooping $100 (5kg of crabs). That's like $20 per KG. Apparently the store came highly recommended.
However, my maid, let's call her "Maria", counted the crabs later... she found only 9.
9? This could only mean one thing. A crab on the loose!
And the first thing we did was to look under the tables and chairs and of course, the WASHING MACHINE. Even the toilet was not spared. But no crab was visible. After searching high and low (or rather low and low), we looked at the crabs again and thought, we don't really see any difference in the quantity. Could it be my dad's miscalculation? After all, I personally cant differentiate the crabs, they all look as handsome as the next.
So the only way to find out the truth was to weigh the crabs on the weighing scale. If its 5kg of crabs, we are safe, if not, perhaps one was really doing a Nemo breakout. But to our horror, the weight of the remaining crabs was only 3.6kg. That's 1.5kg of crab missing. Even if a crab was missing, no way its going to be the Crab King himself. Immediately, I thought CONNED! The crab seller shortchanged us $30 worth of crabs.
When my dad came home and my sis awoken (yeah i sleep like a pig but nothing compares to her), we argued over the serious issue of crab-cheating. Issues ran from rigged scales to bad recommendations, all centering around the dishonest crabmonger (think: the elections=> crap-monger Gomez). Claws shot out as tension rose, no doubt my sister's and my "proffessional" analysis of the situation was less than comforting to my dad's dilemma (as he was the one that bought those crabs).
Anyway, we decided that the scales were indeed rigged and we were going to complain the next day. In the meantime, my dad went to pick up my mom and grandmother to go to the voting booths to do you-know-what and my sis and I sprawled on the floor, watching TV. While my dad was gone, some movement caught my eye and I caught sight of a crab tiptoeing across the floor, near the table. It was a surprise and I immediately call for assistence. "Target spotted! Target location acquired!"
Soon the escapee was tossed back into its pail with its fellow brethren. Weighing the crab, it was around 400g. So I guess we were "only" cheated of 1 full KG of disagreeable crustaceans.
When my parents got back, however, they brought in a plastic bag. Guess what was in it? Apparently my grandmother had found a crab in the car! Apparently, it had escaped whilst my dad was driving back home.
So now we had like 11 crabs. Weighing the crab, it was also 400g. Realising that she "only" cheated us of 600g, our opinion of the honesty level of the crabseller was restored.
Anyway, the crab feast was alright. Thank goodness my mom bought extra roasted chicken, because the crabs were not quite enough for my greedy family. It was a good meal I guess, and a good end (pun not intended) to the pail breakout drama of the determined yet delicious crustaceans.
DAY 2:

Had to wake up earlier because I was going to the Japan fair at Plaza Singapura today. I was looking forward to the event after reading it in the newspapers the week earlier. It's gonna be great. After the quick lunch which I barely had time to finish (waking up earlier for me doesn't really mean morning-early), I was jumping into my dad's car as he was going to drop me off at the nearest MRT station. However, something stopped me in my tracks.

I FOUND ANOTHER CRAB in the car!!!!

Boy, how many of these guys are there? But this one is dead though. Starting to turn alittle reddish too. But giving it a whiff, my nostrils sensed the crab is still edible.

Throwing the carcass to "Maria", I hurried off to catch the performances at the fair. I was looking forward to the J-Pop Style Street Dance Show. It was going to be cool. One of the best stuff about J-pop is the funky and sleek moves of J-dance. Just check out the Kattun "Real Face" vid I have a few entries back.

Anyway I was early and I noticed quite a few girls dressed up in cos-play attire. Not too spectacular but a few did look quite Japanese. Walking pass them, I could rule that stereotype out. 100% Singaporean~ But quite a few looked really cute; kawaii ne. I guess they are part of the Japanese Anime Costume Show which was scheduled after the dance performance.

The dance was awesome. The guys did know their stuff and boy did they strut it. Blending the cool dance moves with polished team effort, they were amazing.

I couldnt really grasp their names but 2 of them are from Japan and 1 is a Singaporean. They apparently had just met each other on Friday and hastily trained hard to put on a stellar act that day. The older guy, apparently, works with Namie Amuro and other J-pop acts and is training DAWN YEO. That's Dawn Yeo with the plastically configured tupperware for a face. The one in green is a Singaporean who trained overseas I guess and the other Japanese guy has been training since he was 16. The guys rounded up their act by doing individual dances. Way smooth.

After the act, it was the cos-players' turn to bring it on. Their cutesy act began with individual girls prancing, skipping, hopping to left and right of the stage before all of them appeared to dance a choreographed act. Some of them look really bubbly. Here are some photos:

After their performance, one was interviewed by the Host (this really funny "girl" in a hilarious

costume). She described cos-play as dressing up as a character you like, and imitating their moves and estimated there are more than 100 cosplayers in Singapore. (I did caught an eyeful of 2 of them in the audience... goth sweethearts... really scary... yeah coz the guy had as much makeup as the girl.)

After the show we could take more photos with the cosplayers before they changed out of their (so we were told) $1000 outfits.

That's me with the pretty ladies. =]

Here are some other photos I took that day:

me with the dance-masters

My fav airline!!! JAPAN AIRLINES!!!!
Yeah and magically whilst on the way to Marina Square, my shirt changed. The day was so hot and I wonder why.....

Just passing by...

Yep. this post is exactly what the title so summarises. My first two weeks of Poly Year 2 just passed me by.
It hadn't been a great start but I can't complain either. I got into the two CDS of my choice, French and Problem Solving Techniques, both which, so far, I have enjoyed thoroughly.
Though French is almost like Martian language to me. I am (currently) committing my heart to embracing la langue de l'amour; the language of love. Not without help of course. Which comes in the form of an Italian "stallion". Normally, I understand Italian men are stereotypically dark, handsome Italian stallions, however this one looks more like Daisy the Bovine next door. A tad too eccentric too. (Daisy with Mad Cow Disease?) Anyway, he tagged me with a French name, Eric, which is cool with me. Anyway, French class was fun, and boy, was I lucky. My good friend Jolene (you can check out her blog under Jolene) is in the same class with me. It's almost like finding a mermaid on the beach! I was pleased as punch.
But what really punched me hard in my gut was Daisy Italliano's suggestion that we should roleplay in French with the inclusion of French culture. ie 4 pecks on the cheek if you were to greet someone. What a cheeky old man. Thank god I wasn't the one roleplaying, 'coz the two GUYS doing it had to kiss each other like 3 set of 4 times? Way too weird for me. I am Asian and damn proud of my chinky blood. And chinks dont kiss kiss their fellow chinks like the French. (we do french kisses though but you get what i mean). Asian pride's the way dude.
Anyway, my second CDS is problem solving techniques. Most of my classmates are from Engineering school. (it is held in Engineering campus after all) But my teacher is fun and interesting, so are my classmates, I enjoyed myself though it was a straight 3 hour long tutorial. Nothing beats having fun and learning new stuff at the same time.
I look forward to a new week.
Way to go.
Way to go.