7 days to enlistment!

Hi everybody!

its 7 days to enlistment, 7 whole days, actually potentially 7 awesome days because i have my birthday party this sat! and even though its a small group (of friends) i'm hoping that many people will stay over and we'll have a rocking party!

a little on an adrenaline high, cuz the past 1.5 weeks have been the most fun 1.5 weeks ever. maybe because i know i have to enlist so soon, so i'm cramming every last bit of enjoyment i can into them, so let's take a look at what we have done to date!

Tuesday, 18th Nov:
after the physics paper, Varun, Marcus and I went bowling, with Eugene and Raghav there too. Tampines Safra is a really nice place to bowl, and there's the pool tables, reminded me of that time with the angel-mortal thing. haha

then lunch at seoul garden with Mrs. Ang and the class. she's like this Mommy taking the whole "family" out for a meal, Mrs Ang's just great it will be sad to leave TJ :(

but it didn't end there! after that we (Rag, Var, Mar, Gene, Me) headed over to Kenneth's place to (play with fire/Barney) plant potatoes and onions! i wonder how they are doing, i know the onions are shooting, but the potatoes cannot see...

then Dinner at Pizza Hut@Siglap, with a trip to Video Ezy ment i finally got to watch Be Kind Rewind, as i got the DVD and watched it that night!

Wednesday, 19th Nov:
Hm, i know it was fun, but i can't remember what i did... haha so many things went on!

Oh... Wednesday.... it was THAT day. ECP, lala, getting wet, sticky messes anr unravelling them. yes yes.... what an interesting, beautiful, Jack/taugay kind of day.

Thursday, 20th Nov:
Raghav was due to come over in the evening on thursday, but in the end it was too late... the morning was nice and relaxed, but dinner was to celebrate 266, HengHwee's PSLE score! right! so instead shifted the raghav thing to monday next week. Dinner at Crystal Jade was nice! the ramen was too nutty for my taste, but the ribs were GOOOOOD, haha!

Friday, 21st Nov:
I loved that day. My parents took leave for November/Dec, cuz we were to go to China for a last long family trip in a long time (due to NS) but since it was cancelled, we decided to have a holiday in Singapore :)

the morning started with Indian Breakfast in Little India (the Thosais wer YUMMM) then decided that we were going to spend the afternoon/evening at East Coast Park and go cycling! so the whole jin-gang, my family, and gramps and grandma, all left for ECP. Grandpa, Dad, Mat, Heng Hwee and I went cycling at east coast park, going to all the jetties (and me thinking about wednesday) and just having fun exploring ECP. Mom and her mom went library, to join us later for Dinner near Tanah Merah ( is that Simpang Bedok? very chaotic >.<)

Saturday, 22nd Nov:
the second day of holiday-ing in Singapore, woke up to a lazy Saturday morning, a slow breakfast and then off to watch Madagascar 2. Actually i was more like a chaperone to Mat, HH and her friend, but the movie wasn't too bad, funny, and will.i.am's travelling song is a really nice track in that movie

Sunday, 23rd Nov:
enlistment draws near and this sad fact is starting to set in, hence we went to John Little's to get a few amenities for army and gking-gking ( i don't know how to type it, its dialect for mom's brother's wife) bought a BIG Elmo for Chewy, since he lost his previous one. after going back home, i finally touched the Wii for the first time in ages! and Rayman Raving Rabbids is an AWESOME game, but really tiring to play >.<

Monday, 24th Nov:
Raghav finally came over, but i think i was not as good a host as i should have been, sorry mate >.<, but you know why... haha. and i got an early Christmas present!!!! JACE VS. CHANDRA DUEL DECKS! WOOO! WOOOOO! only people who know my love for Magic will get why i'm going gaga over this, and really the decks are awesome to play, i can go round after round against my brother, its that awesome. Made a deliver. Somewhere Out There.

Tuesday, 25th Nov:
although his birthday was all the way back in Nov 5th, we finally get to celebrate the guy (who i think) puts the "brother" in "1e'brothers" "brothers united" and all the "brother-hoods" i've had in TJ. Glad to know you Marcus :) hope you had a good party :) (oh and thanks germaine for sending me home! haha) the party was wicked fun, both barbequeing (mmmm...banana marshmallow straweberry chocolate boat dessert.... *the Homer drool* Achhlaachlaachaaa...) and the game Gavin brought, Bloodthirst i think, wicked fun, bring on Sat!!!!

Finally today,
Wednesday, 26th Nov:
after thinking about doing something for SO LONG we finally settled for having lunch at Cafe Cartel, and then when our plans for Settlers Cafe became ruined by urban redevelopment, we played Risk at my place! haha marc was hilarious, but a gentlemen (though loud and whiny, but gentlemen nonetheleast), and the alliances were CRAZY, i'm glad you guys came over, even though its so far >.< haha (shoutout - Hui Min, Marc, Kenneth, Zhong Ting, Karyn and lunchbuddy Kerry!)

like i said, the past week + has been lived up to the max, and there's more to come! so excited! haha

For Good

Yes this blog is still here.

Hi everyone, tomorrow shall be the last day of school, and farewell concert. and saying goodbye to everyone, and starting the pure mugging stage, and... so many other things beginning and ending.

almost don't want to think about it. part of it has settled in, yet part me seems like i'm in denial, that i'll just happily see everyone again next week. i don't think it ends here though. i want to see these people again, and i will make sure i do, be it a charity event where we can go do stuff together, or a gathering, or something. anything.

i'm not one for putting everything down to my blog, but if i did there is so much to list. putting down a few to think about when i look back on this post

1) Orientation 05 Iniziatone
2) orientation 06 Voyage
3) TASC (hehehe! always makes me giggle)
4) Floorball
5) Mardi Gras
6) Temasek Idol
7) national day, staff day
8) oneeey'ohfive
9) Brothers (penguin, chicken rice, the A class)
10) Temasek Academy :)

i love everyone in TA, because everyone has contributed to my growth, no matter how large or small.

sounds so terminal, and i don't want it to be so. but the truth is i won't see some of these people again, but to all i want to send them this song "For Good" - "Wicked" Musical

The Magician

You are The Magician

Skill, wisdom, adaptation. Craft, cunning, depending on dignity.

Eleoquent and charismatic both verbally and in writing,
you are clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things so just by speaking them aloud. Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the slight of hand and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

never thought of me this way... its quite fascinating really, and i am at the point in my education where i need to decide what i intend to create of myself. but first, off to start my weekend's work.

i've got ubuntu on my com now, all my windows stuff are gone (accidentally reformatted it >.<)

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras was AB FAB (Absolutely Fabulous) , and i want to thank everyone who made the day special. it's so much more different to be just walking around (though i didn't do much of that due to gate duty...) in everyday clothes, compared to donning the whole costumed outfit, and playing a character larger than myself (no pun intended of course!). but the other great thing was seeing all the other people i know dressed up and soaking mardi gras all in. i can't comment about the performances, not having watched any of them, but walking around taking pictures made the whole night worth the sweltering sauna of a suit!

Half the fun of Mardi Gras was also getting the costume. thursday at the costume shop may have been the best day i've had this year, once eugene, kenneth and i reached Masquerade, we were bouncing of the walls trying on the many cloaks and hats and costumes, fighting each other with plastic swords and light sabers, and laughing at the weird things costumes do to people when they put them on.

even friday when i went again with wendy (meeting Joey and Joel there, and joined later by Zhong Ting) it was awesome playing with all the props, and watching others "get into character". its these times that will always linger up in the noggin, to pull out and reminisce. "We were here before..." check it out on eugene's blog for a little list we came up with! but yeah, it would not have been even half as fun without going to the costume shop with all the friends. :)

the words escape me. when i think about how much all of us has gone through together, even with the investiture over and everything going towards the big A's, its the people that matter the most now, and man am i gonna miss them when all of this is over.

Mardi Gras, the photos speak for themselves, but to try and sum it all up, my word would definitely have to be MAGIC, not the "your supposed to bend the spoon!" kind of Verella magic. but the joy of having amazing friends, family there to see and support, and having the wackiest costume to go around parading in. this mardi gras was absolutely awesome, thanks to everyone there :)

p.s. thanks mom and dad for helping make this possible (more than just funding, the support too!) and thanks for being there

+++

totally unrelated
we just want to have someone to be special for and be special to, it makes life have that extra spice, the chilli of life if you must.
i can't eat very much without chilli, it has just been that big part of food. i almost have withdrawal symptoms when i go on long periods without it. and i kinda miss talking to her, but yet i don't want to. like others i want the "specialness" though at the same time it is very much liberating without. still, it never hurt to wait for something good to come along, i just hope that i find someone to talk to soon, the kind of talks that make you feel good, and that everything is right.

=) its been a fun run this week, a lot to think about.

+++

Remember when it rained?

Do i like the rain because i like the rain? or because... it's raining

So much to Grow...

i've been thinking about myself quite a lot recently, and what life probably has in store for me. i just enjoy this video so much. craig is really good, and i hope to be like him one day. - and for some strange reason, as i think and type this out, i have a scottish accent in my brain. -

i've got so much more to grow...

The man with the big rimmed glasses

I hardly ever think about it, but I guess its also I never really knew that much, and only recently come of age to understand it better. I’m on an MRT on the way to meet Saloma, and I see this old man with large specs, those with the square frame, which I guess quite a few people of that generation dons. with his hair a brilliant white with streaks of his youth once passed, he reminded me of a fellow, that I sometimes just forget to think about. (the fact that he stands in the MRT, while people pretend to sleep, doesn’t make me very happy either)

Its funny that one of the biggest things I remember about my paternal grandpa was his squarish almost oblong-ish spectacles. I think it was his reading glasses, because most of the time he doesn’t wear specs… I think. But he was a very softspoken man, not the social person my maternal grandpa was, which is why at times I fail to remember all the times he was around.

I remembered playing the favourite grandson well, I always greeted him, and was very caring about him, but apart from that, I never really got to know him. As in really know him. I knew he co-owned a provisions shop which we often frequented, but it closed down a number of years before 2003, couldn’t keep up with the growing rent or something. Now that is real history, and we still have the store sign, nicely touched up, waiting to find a space on one of the walls at home.

I’m not sure if regret is the right word in this case, because I sincerely wished that I could live this few years of my life with him still around. In the past 4 almost 5 years, I discovered so much about myself, and a kind of person I want to be, and knowing that, I wish he could have been part of this.

Seems weird to talk about him that way, I mean if he hasn’t been big in my life, I don’t really have to say so much, but at the same time I think that he did have some part in molding me, and I wish that he had molded more. Teochew. That has been a tipping point for me. In the past year plus, I have learnt more teochew than ever, that was because I wanted to communicate with my grandparents, maternal side that is, and the family just uses it so much, that I don’t want to be left out. Admittedly my teochew still is extremely weak, but I just feel so much closer to my family, especially my grandparents, when I speak to them in teochew.

I’ll continue more about this soon, hopefully. For now, i have come to realise I miss my grandfather, and that I am very grateful for him in my life.