Hahaha.. literally no mood to work cos I will be having off on Fri and Mon. Really counting down to the end of day.. =p

My life had been plain and monotonous for the past few weeks, nothing really exciting happened =p It is now mid 2008 which means 1/2 a year had gone by without me even realising it.

My frequency of postings also went down tremendously =p probably because my life has become detacted from the usual people who used to frequent here that I see no point in boring them with some of my QQ rants =p

I have tons of photos which I took but dun have the motivation to upload them.  

Suddenly I've lost all motivation to dance... the costume is epic failure =p design fail, colours fail.... =p

OMG... I dun think I want to be photographed in it at all....

face masked to protect the innocent

Strangely, this year's National Day song is not out yet =p it's like less than 2 mths to the actual day already. We will be having extra performances for students this year so it's gonna start full dress very soon... 

So exciting!

With the nice discount from the Union benefits (50%), I bought tickets for the Singapore Flyer for my family. If not for the discount, I dun think my family will spend $30 pax just for th ride. Of course, the discounted pricing only allows daytime usage but I think it is okay cos it is better to take photos in the day =)

The view is very nice but i think it will be better once all the development around the area is completed. =) 

We booked the 4pm slot and when we reached, there were little people. We manage to have the whole capsule to ourselves... hahaha.. A private capsule cost $1500. Hahahaha.. so we are only paying 1/10th of it and enjoying the same privacy.

It's quite exciting to see all the development going on around the place, the IR, the F1 track, the new Marina park, the new Dam, etc etc

Even managed to catch a little of the NDP rehearsals =p.

After the ride, there is a promotion where u can use ur used tickets to have 3 chances to kick a football into the goal post. And my brother won 2 more tickets.. hahaha... 

Then we had dinner at this Popeye Fastfood restaurant that sells Chicken like KFC. Not bad =) 

=( So sad... want to cry...

Today is suppose to mark the end of my WLS10 cutover but it seems like some issues had crop up with regards to some printing. Anyway, have done my part and my colleagues will be trying to solve that problem. Boss said to give us a few days off before the start of the Oracle migration.. gosh...

Originally planned to go to Aus in July but I think Corina din manage to get the tickets, it wun be happening I guess, since we will miss Ivan's holiday period by then and there's no point going anymore.

Feel so tired now, both physically and mentally...

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."
~ Benjamin Franklin

Had been rushing between the 4 terminals to conduct trials the whole week. I feel like I am working on shifts... was fun though, to listen to the planners face to face and mapping those names to the helpdesk calls...

Lotsa of new faces. Very young planners, esp PPT. Probably just came out of NS even and they kept the place alive with those army hokkien talk... hahahaha... but of course.. some are like too playful to be seriously working. Can see from the job assignments. The more 'guai' looking ones do all the planning work while those more 'kiam pa' kind do printing or sending plans to vessels etc...

I realised that I did not get myself a gift this year....

I think I shall do some shopping on Friday since my leave is approved...

Wow... I missed like so many days of Blogging =p Had been an extremely busy month and I am too tired to even download the huge amount of photos accumulated.

Work wise, had to rush out some major cutover and testing. Well, it's about 90% over and I think I want to apply leave on Friday to enjoy a long weekend... hopefully will be approved. This month, we also get our bonus and I think most people are very happy. I am wondering if I should get a new camera.

Personal life wise, celebrated my birthday with several good friends over several meals... Thanks! for both the food and for reminding me that I am not young anymore (omg, the candles can be blinding) =D Felt so sinful thinking back about the meals and I think that's probably why my tummy feels funny recently. Some little girl in NDP called me Uncle constantly!... grrrr.... I think I will avoid her from now on... hahahaha...

NDP is also a challenge this year. Finally completed all the dance steps and we are now rehearsing on the actual movement of the various formations. Stressful but fun. Dancing is such a great workout involving every part of the body, so much so that every part of me aches on Monday.

For Volleyball, nothing much changed except that Ben and Yongjie can join us regularly now.. hahaha.. had some very good games on Sat too. Unfortunately, once my NDP starts their combine rehearsals on Sat, I probably have to miss the games until Aug... Enjoy as much as I can now bah...

Regain 1st place in the Puzzle competition organised by PSA Club last Sat too. =p Lost out to Chiow Lee's team last year by 3 mins so this year we put in extra effort to practise during lunch.. hahaha... organised by Aik Hiang.

It is a do or die mission, since so many people know we hold practises during lunch, if we lose.... it will be so MALU... hahaha... so it was sweet victory that we beat Chiow Lee's team by almost 10mins...

We know it will be close fight cos the photographer was moving to and fro between both our tables. I stole a peek at their table and they have completed most part of the puzzle too. The pressure started to build up when people started gathering around us. From there, we know we have a chance... hahaha... so exciting and pure happiness when we fit in the last final piece, 1hr 20mins 27secs.

Gaming wise, my Shaman is doing very well =p the Guild is zerg'ing the new content and the Bosses are falling like bowling pins =p Recruited a few good raiders recently..

Yesterday night, I got my 2 piece Tier 6 Set bonus... Woot! =D Well, I bidded with very high DKP to win the piece.. hahaha... but the bonus is worth it. 10% reduction to Chain Heal mana means I can last longer without running out of mana during a long Boss fight (~10mins). Get to use the Epic gems from the Guild Bank FOC too =p

Hopefully we clear Black Temple by May and then we can proceed with Sunwell! Will be difficult since Illidan is almost a 20mins coordinated fight and will probably require lots of practise and determination...

An interesting forwarded mail from Kang Ni.

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the
 scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

 He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead
 for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

 After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of
 the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it
 was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

 When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch
 that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate
 looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as
 he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

 When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

 "This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

 "Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

 "Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."

 The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

 "Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.

 "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

 The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and
 continued the way he had been going with his dog.

 After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came
 to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had
 never been closed. There was no fence.

 As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree
 and reading a book.

 "Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you have any water?"

 "Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."

 "How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.

 "There should be a bowl by the pump."

 They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an
 old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

 The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then
 he gave some to the dog.

 When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was
 standing by the tree.

 "What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

 "This is Heaven," he answered.

 "Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road
 said that was Heaven, too."

 "Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope.
 That's hell."

 "Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

 "No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave
 their best friends behind."

 Soooo...

 Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without
 writing a word.

 Maybe this will explain.

 When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what
 you do? You forward jokes.

 When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

 When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know
 how, you forward jokes.

 Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still
 important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what
 you get?

 A forwarded joke.

 So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent
 just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and
 your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a
 smile.

 You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime

Zhiyao and his family will be posted to the US for 2 years. Ailian organised a lunch with them at mushroom pot. Nice, and quiet place, the food is not bad also...

Maybe we should organise a trip to US to visit them in a year's time =D Will be the 2nd V.Team trip since the Genting one =p

After the lunch, we initially headed for the new Kallang Leisure Centre for Bowling but it was too crowded. We went to Zhiyong's place for Mahjong, Boardgames and Video games instead. Played a 1 vs 1 monopoly with Owen, won him in the first game and decided to let him win the next =p Actually he's a nice boy =p despite me trying to let him win, he also try not to let me lose.. hahaha... like asking me to be careful not to step on his house lah etc ... maybe he is afraid I wun play with him once I lose.. hahaha...

monopoly with Owen...

mahjong gang vs boardgame gang

saboteur and citadels
 

The other people were playing Saboteur. This is quite a popular game with my colleagues recently also. They play it during lunch everyday. The other game is Citadels which we played once in Bintan. It is also quite interesting.

After that, Zhiyao treated us to dinner at a coffeeshop near Zhiyong's place. 

the funny mother and son =p

KMT advert for Taiwan Presidential Elections. Quite an emotionally charged one that makes you want to go out and vote =p using key election words like "Change" and "Preparedness".

Gives you the impression that everything is ready and it is really up to you to make the difference by voting the "change" of a better future. There are also many visual to reinforce the numerous points, like the many scenes where people raise and clench their fist in determination to impress upon the people the fact that the future is in their very own hands, the many horses to signify Ma Ying Jiu, the scenes of weather to signify incoming changes. I particularly thought the praying scene was very subtle =p Seems to be praying to the deities but it can also mean to the viewers a very humble thanks for your votes.

I guess even if it attracts a few percent of the electorates who cannot decide who to vote is already money well spent =p

Power of the media... 

The music comes from LOTR. 

This is the first time I am actually interested in dramas (the 偶像剧 kind) produced by China =p

My parents was watching it and what caught me was the theme song =) Hahaha... cos I vaguely remembered it as a super old song in the era of like 林凤娇， 秦漢， 林青霞 movie period.. you know those dreamy taiwanese love-trage-dramedy.

Then I found out that is was actually a remake of an old series by the name  "一帘幽梦". Now I'm quite interested to see how close is it with respect to the old series? 

this is a chart on the characters played by the old and new series

The story is about a love triangle (what's new) between 2 sisters, a childhood guy friend and a family guy friend. In summary, the elder sister and the childhood friend is thought to be the perfect couple since young and the elder sister always take this guy for granted. The younger sister is the more sweet and innocent one, but always thinking that she is inferior in every sense when compared to her sister. 

Soon, the younger sister's carefree and unassuming personality attracted the childhood friend and the friend professed his love to her, she is caught in between because she know that her sister was expecting the guy to marry her. In come the suave charming family friend who became the solace soulmate to this younger sister while she is caught in her dilemma to accept the childhood friend's love. Obviously, the family friend eventually won her heart.

Anyway, cut the long story short, on the day when the childhood friend wanted to end his relationship with the older sister, he unfortunately got the older sister into an accident and she lost one of her legs. He held back and decided to marry her instead.. thus starting another whole string of love tragedy =p

The dialogue is very touching and well written, I'm quite sure some of you can pick up a line or two to charm your ways around girls or even better, use them to beg for forgiveness when you do something wrong.. hahaha... comparable to your 琼瑶 quotes...

The very nice part is the love story between the family friend and the younger sister. Filmed in France, it really depicted France as the ultimate romantic city of love =D 

Nice tune... sounds familiar? Cos the recent Raintree movie (The Leap Years) used it =)

In Feb, we had our first briefing for NDP 08 at Kallang CC. Kinda nice to see the familiar faces again after 6 mths =D After 2 years of participation, I think I am starting to know more people. In my 1st year, I was mainly hanging around with my YEC friends. In the 2nd year, since I joined alone, I started to know the younger participants better. Now in my 3rd year, I am getting to know the aunties and uncles better =D

Anyway, for those interested, this year's NDP singer is Sun Yanzi again =p hahaha... year in year out, Kit Chan and Stephanie Sun just rotate... Hopefully can see her up close =p

We were suppose to start our rehearsals earlier this month but it was postponed to last week. Meaning we have less than 10 weeks until the combine rehearsals in May. No pyrotechnics this year. Instead, we will be playing drums.

It was auditioning for the first training. Having given only 1hr to learn the dance movements, we had to audition in small groups after that. Stress.. had to memorise them in such a short time, and for non-dancers like me... very difficult.

Sample of the audition moves

This year's music is arranged by Iskandar and it is very upbeat. I think the aunties and uncles have problem moving so quickly =p but I admire their passion and determination. They just kept practising and practising in that short period to memorise the movements... trust me, it is difficult to remember everything after a few demostrations but they did it =D

Everyone passed the audition, I think for those who really have problems coordinating are tasked to carry props instead. Nevermind lah, at least no one is left out in the parade.

When they announce the results, it's like scenes you see from the American Idol =p People just kept  screaming... the young ones lah =p The older aunties and uncles were just relieved that the wait was finally over. Initially, it was pretty grim cos this year, they are only selecting 360 people compared to the 400plus last year. Due to the enlarging of the area in front of the grandstand for F1 racing, more than 1000plus seats were removed. This means that there will be fewer NDP tickets to go around. 

There will also be an increase of NE shows from 2 to 3 and the preview will be just 4 days (used to be 2 weeks in advance) from the actual NDP parade, meaning to say that it leaves very little time to make changes should the preview is not as good as expected. Also, if the preview is cancelled due to weather, there will be no make-up session but goes into the actual parade instead.

getting audition tags... like IPPT

queuing for auditions...

waiting for results... stress...

For those who enjoy the PC game, there is a web-base version =) More trading and building stuffs

I am on the Delta Server, Location is Beyios [38:17], City is Stormwind

http://www.ikariam.org/

This is a pretty nice series =) Simple, heart-warming and funny... at least until now, none of those usual Mediacorp 'epic' family betrayal, adultery and hard to believe plot.

With mostly veterans actors leading the way, the acting is good and I think even the younger actors seems to be acting better =D I predict this series will win some awards in the next Star Awards... hehehe...

The good thing is MobTV have sneaks for the next few episodes... and I finished them already.. ugrh... wish they would upload the whole series.. hahahaha....

I think I spent like the most money on toto in my entire life this year...

My whole floor pooled money to buy the special Toto 328 package which you can buy online and select the Outlet you want the tickets to come from. Quite a good idea cos you do not need to queue and still get it from the place you want.

It's quite funny what people say to convince others to participate =p and the best one I heard is... What if you dun buy and we all won? You will be the only one left in the dept!!!! Horrors... that is like the best motivation to join in so that all of us can 'leave' together.... hahahaha...

Of course, one colleague said we should not leave cos by then we will not be afraid to do any kind of projects anymore! =p We can commit to all sorts of deadlines and all sort of requirements.. hahahaha...

Go Go Go... 10 Million... HERE WE COME!

So is Renci going to become the next NKF? .....

Stay tuned I guess.....

They have some very nice items =D

I love the backdrop and how they 'slow-mo' the actions for the audience to feel the 'impact' of the stunt =p

激情爬竿
They are like anti-gravity... hahaha

花式篮球
Must have practised for a long time.. need to do all those
stunts and then dunk the ball somemore.
If you learn about relative velocity, you know how hard
it is to aim and shot accurately while in motion

飞天
Very beautiful dance... like 仙女 in heaven, esp with the
very nice backdrop and visual effects..
The music sounds like something we always hear
in our very own NDP parade.. hahaha..
while people do the mass display.
Anyway, I think one of their leg is anchored to the ground,
else how they do those anti-balance stunts without falling?
With the smoke effect, it's as if they are floating in the sky dancing...