Most probably because I have a tendency to write things I feel, yet find things I feel not safe to blog, thus not having much material to blog about. Also add the fact that I find most everyday happenings not worth blogging even though I should enjoy every minute of my life even though I'm not enjoying every minute of my life.
Hmm..I am my own shrink. How cost effective.
I haven't checked my previous post so I haven't an inkling how long since I posted (I could check rather easily but since when wasn't I a lazy type? Let's just assume it was quite a while back...) Ok, so this fat bum lazy boy has nothing to blog about except how he is trying to think positive over things that aren't so positive..Looks like I need something else to type today...
Let's talk about my habits then...
1) Small mechanical devices, shun me! - I have a tendency to destroy small devices, if that's what I should call it. For example, the remote control is usually one item that get's wrecked by me. I like to toy with the battery compartment by opening and closing the lid until a time when the lid falls off and goes missing, or the lid falls off and goes missing. Usually that happens when I'm not around but due to my constant opening and closing of the lid it tends to lose it's simple 'lock' attribute no thanks to wear and tear. Also the following things should be kept out of my idle hands; Pens with springs, torchlights, tupperwares, small toys (you have no idea how many toy cars I've wrecked.. Explains why I don't drive?) and a host of other small items which should fit the bill.
2) Laughing when I should cry - Well, not just crying, but anger, frustration, dissapointment and a host of other negative feelings. I laugh when I experience them. Not so much because I am sadistic and evil (which, I don't deny I am...capable of) but more to the fact that I've grown so accustomed at not being able to show those emotions that I channel them all into smiles and laughter. Nobody minds seeing a smile you see. They do find it annoying when I laugh hysterically at the most ridiculous mishaps so the hyena like laughter is reserved for the most improbable turn of events like erm, like, slipping and falling, a bad knock to the joints, a broken glass/plate, spilling something somewhere, misplaced keys, etc.. Things most people get to shout and scream..I laugh. Really. I do eventually or sometimes show real anger, but due to lack of practice (hehehe, yes, even showing anger needs practice) I seem to no longer be able to show a kind of anger that would worry/scare anyone off. Sad, since no one will be taking me seriously soon (if not already now).
3) Playing the Balancing Role - You see, if it isn't already obvious ( for those few who actually come back and read me rant about me..), I am actually as negative a person as anyone can be.. (Ok, I haven't committed suicide, not attempted it, so I am not as negative until I am dead..) But, when I am in a discussion or when I am talking to someone, I tend to play the other role; If you're a positive person I will throw in negative comments; If you're feeling down I'll try to help you get your spirits up (NOTE: TRY) I don't know why I do it, or if everyone else does it, but I don't seem to have a consistent stand on things. The only thing I try to consistent on is the right for each individual to decide what they want to do in life..But even that it's getting harder and harder these days to NOT attempt to influence another person to do something that I feel is right, or that the action/decision benefit myself to some extent.
4) Fixing Other's language - Well, most of the time it's English, since it's what I think in, speak with and write in. The only problem is that, my English is merely passable at best. Add that to the high number of people who dislike being corrected on the spot/email this habit have a tendency to get me in people's bad books. But I don't want to stop doing this, for I believe I'm simply doing others a service (yeah right, I BELIEVE THAT.....)
5) The number 7 - I just like it..You've got a problem with that?? (now, how do I find 7 habits of mine that won't get me into hot soup???)
Looks like I can't for the moment. I'll probably come back and add somemore habit in the future...Yeah, I like reading my own posts and would come back ot this one sometime in the future.....If I remember......
Monday, December 10, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
What???
It's been 40 days since I last posted???
Holy........Looks like blogging is beginning to lose it's appeal.. Or I just don't have much to write for myself to reminiscence. Ah well, considering how boring I am, how much could I write out of sheer crap??
Quick updates:
I'm getting a lot more work now due to my own silliness by taking ownership of a particular system at work. Hopefully it pays off by landing me another job.
Having said that, I recently applied for another job. My interviewer was a manager that shares the same first name (english name, but we're both Chinese) and made it the most stressless interview I've ever been... Too bad he isn't the final decider if I get the job or not...Even then, he might not hire me...I think he thinks I'm making a mistake...:P
Talking about mistakes, I've recently gotten to know some people via the web thanks to my Webdota activity. As always, its easy to find friends and relate to them, but it really takes an argument, a clash of egos, a sudden change of mood and opinions to really bring out what each person really is/are/were/am....I'd like to note though, to any/all those who actually read this (which, for them moment, I think is just myself), I BLOODY WELL KNOW WHAT I AM AND AM NOT AND DON'T NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO TELL ME WHAT I AM. SO STOP TELLING ME WHAT I ALREADY KNOW. It's good to get that off my chest...hahaha
Speaking of being pissed, I'm kinda pissed that Randy Orton, whom while I have as one of my permanent wrestlers which I will collect for Raw Deal but sincerely thinks the guy is too dumb to remember his lines, is WWE Champion. Dont' get me wrong, Cena's been having it for FAR TOO LONG..But Cena needs the title. Without it, his storyline sucks and dunno, I just thinks that he needs it. Randy on the other hand, with stupid Edge now in SmackDown and injured, is the Number One Heel wrestler. He doesn't need the title. He doesn't deserve the title. He just needs to continue being EVIL and dumb. Ok, so I don't like Randy as WWE Champ. Luckily, Batista on the other hand is the World Heavyweight Champ and defeated the boring oldtimer that never wants to retire..wait, sorry, not referring to Ric Flair...but Undertaker. Finally. It took 2 Batista Bombs but they were woth it...Undertaker couldn't even sit up after the first one...
Did I mention bombs??? Oh yes, I did..But I've not nothing to relate to about bombs, so let's digress.
This saturday I will be going to my 3rd consecutive saturday night concert at MPO. Unfortunately, this season started off poorly by making the Gala Concert invitational and I WASN'T invited (considering that I only buy season package of the cheapest tickets, there shoudn't be any reason why that is HARD to believe, but hey, I'm a paying customer too.. For 4 straight seasons!!!) and only went to my first concert 2 weeks ago listening to some Russian composer's pieces which were rather difficult to follow (am I or am I not making my sentences a might to long?? :p). Since then and the concert that just happened over the weekend, I haven't hard much 'good feel' after the concerts..Maybe because I was distracted...Or that I wasn't distracted (sorry, this is an inside joke for myself). In any case, this weekend's Scottish Symphony by Mendelsohn should bring be back to life...(hint Dunhill advertisement)
Bringing me back to life......If I was dead before
Needs more than oxygen.......More than Nature's Law
Though I look much alive........Still contributing as a man
I'm so much dying inside....Wish I could hold your hand
Random attempts at poetry..I suck...:P
Ok, enough random rantings..Back to reality...
Holy........Looks like blogging is beginning to lose it's appeal.. Or I just don't have much to write for myself to reminiscence. Ah well, considering how boring I am, how much could I write out of sheer crap??
Quick updates:
I'm getting a lot more work now due to my own silliness by taking ownership of a particular system at work. Hopefully it pays off by landing me another job.
Having said that, I recently applied for another job. My interviewer was a manager that shares the same first name (english name, but we're both Chinese) and made it the most stressless interview I've ever been... Too bad he isn't the final decider if I get the job or not...Even then, he might not hire me...I think he thinks I'm making a mistake...:P
Talking about mistakes, I've recently gotten to know some people via the web thanks to my Webdota activity. As always, its easy to find friends and relate to them, but it really takes an argument, a clash of egos, a sudden change of mood and opinions to really bring out what each person really is/are/were/am....I'd like to note though, to any/all those who actually read this (which, for them moment, I think is just myself), I BLOODY WELL KNOW WHAT I AM AND AM NOT AND DON'T NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO TELL ME WHAT I AM. SO STOP TELLING ME WHAT I ALREADY KNOW. It's good to get that off my chest...hahaha
Speaking of being pissed, I'm kinda pissed that Randy Orton, whom while I have as one of my permanent wrestlers which I will collect for Raw Deal but sincerely thinks the guy is too dumb to remember his lines, is WWE Champion. Dont' get me wrong, Cena's been having it for FAR TOO LONG..But Cena needs the title. Without it, his storyline sucks and dunno, I just thinks that he needs it. Randy on the other hand, with stupid Edge now in SmackDown and injured, is the Number One Heel wrestler. He doesn't need the title. He doesn't deserve the title. He just needs to continue being EVIL and dumb. Ok, so I don't like Randy as WWE Champ. Luckily, Batista on the other hand is the World Heavyweight Champ and defeated the boring oldtimer that never wants to retire..wait, sorry, not referring to Ric Flair...but Undertaker. Finally. It took 2 Batista Bombs but they were woth it...Undertaker couldn't even sit up after the first one...
Did I mention bombs??? Oh yes, I did..But I've not nothing to relate to about bombs, so let's digress.
This saturday I will be going to my 3rd consecutive saturday night concert at MPO. Unfortunately, this season started off poorly by making the Gala Concert invitational and I WASN'T invited (considering that I only buy season package of the cheapest tickets, there shoudn't be any reason why that is HARD to believe, but hey, I'm a paying customer too.. For 4 straight seasons!!!) and only went to my first concert 2 weeks ago listening to some Russian composer's pieces which were rather difficult to follow (am I or am I not making my sentences a might to long?? :p). Since then and the concert that just happened over the weekend, I haven't hard much 'good feel' after the concerts..Maybe because I was distracted...Or that I wasn't distracted (sorry, this is an inside joke for myself). In any case, this weekend's Scottish Symphony by Mendelsohn should bring be back to life...(hint Dunhill advertisement)
Bringing me back to life......If I was dead before
Needs more than oxygen.......More than Nature's Law
Though I look much alive........Still contributing as a man
I'm so much dying inside....Wish I could hold your hand
Random attempts at poetry..I suck...:P
Ok, enough random rantings..Back to reality...
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Something out of Nothing...
Is what I'm trying to do here...Yes, I have absolutely no idea what to write about but since when has that stopped me from writing 200-300 words telling absolutely nothing?
.....................................................................................
Wow, 2 minutes and still no idea....
Let's just go cheap and update what I've been doing the past few weeks or so, that should rack up some word counts...
1) Last round's WebDota I finally made into top 20 while the round was still ongoing. I previously managed rank 7, but that was a few days after the round was over and some of the ranked players either dropped or became inactive. So some achievement for me..Yay...Boo... 29 and I'm still into gaming. If word got around to the elders of my society, they'd be drilling me with all the age old sayings of life, marriage, kids and future so I'll have an earful of boredom for like, several days. Luckily for me those elders either are, well, in another plane or the only one left I don't quite give 2 hoots what he has to say.
2) Finally getting to do some project work at work and now I seem to lose interest with what I do. Maybe it's time I change environs....Maybe it's time I do something that required me to WORK 40 hours a week. I'll blog much much less since I can't do it on company time, but hey...For guys like me, career satisfaction is at good as it gets, no?
3) EPL and Fantasy Football. Since my PC crashed when my brother returned to visit from Qatar last June, I've not been able to have my own personal entertainment so I've been having to wrestle the home PC (which is connected to the internet) from my brother recently. It's a daily ordeal; Sometimes I win, sometimes I sleep..hehe, go figure. So no football manager games has forced me (yeah right, like I needed to be forced..) to join some online Fantasy Football games. Not 1, but, 2...no, 3...nope...6..I have 6 different teams in 6 different fantasy systems. (my inkling for 7 should drive me to find another team) Yahoo Fantasy Football, Yahoo Champion's League Manager, Nokia Football Manager, Premier League Fantasy Football, Soccernet Champions League Fantasy and UEFA's Champions League Fantasy. Now where do I find that 1 more???? hmmmm..I wonder if I get more busy with work will I be able to keep up with the jones....
4) House Season 3... The times when I had to sleep but didn't fell like sleeping made me watch House Season 3. Actually, it's more like I want to watch it so I didn't sleep. I still think Season 2 was the best, and the quote," Read less, watch more TV" is my favourite. Season 3 (I've not finished, by the way) is not as original as Season 2 as I feel some old themes reoccur with a slight difference of, characters? I understand from mr. Mark Rosewater (he's the Design dude from Magic: the Gathering that I like to read weekly. He has a weekly article over at M:tG.com. He writes much much better than me too) that series and sitcoms need to keep most of it's content the same and just change a little so that the audience doesn't lose the familiarity thingy, but, I dunno, it just feels like the stories are now being reused.. Having said that, House continues to be House, someone we all love to hate. Not to mention you can't beat the sarcasm...
5) What is happening to Raw Deal??? I haven't spent a single cent on the latest expansion and no longer have the urge to do it..I know all it takes is one visit to the gameshop and lo and behold, I paid rent but dunno...Am I losing that passion I have for the game? Will there be no more annual trips to Singapore for the Qualifiers? I still watch wrestling too, but even their stories are becoming tiresome these days and there are much less things that make me laugh these days. For the people that know me, finding it hard to find things to laugh about, for me, is BAD NEWS...
6) Talking about laughing at things, recently my department just grew from 2 person to 5 person team. Now, in the past my 1 colleague, being a veteran and a mother of 1 daughter, has little to bother with this madman of a colleague of hers and thus I have little need to explain my idiosyncrasies. But now I have 3 OTHER mothers in my department and my random demonic laughs now need to be explained or removed from my work environment. I am not pleased, of course, nor will I likely care...But you see, I'm still trying to write something out of nothing, so I think I got like 70 words out of this???? Hahahaha...
7) Recently on one of my friend's birthday I sent him a late late but on time birthday SMS with no reply. Now this guy I've known for over a decade, through his years when we took buses together, when he could drive but did it like a girl, then sitting on the navigator's seat while he drives half/three quarters asleep; From his girl chasing days to his chased by girls days, to him being steady for 7 years, him splitting up and him being in and out of relationships; Now obviously he should be with his significant other on his birthday, (else I'd give his significant other a good sounding or 2) so for him not to be able to reply that day is acceptable. But it took me 3 days and me calling him to find out he has no credit on his handphone. Lame. Real lame. Oh well, I guess I'm just sensitive over nothing. But damn lame..
I guess friends come and go and when the friendship has ran it's course over its useful years, it just dies away. I've never been able to keep friends for that long anyway, so I end up making new ones every now and then therefore there is absolutely nothing to complain. But it does makes me envy people who have friends from childhood all the way till their deaths....How lucky. They should cherish that all their lives.
As for me, it's not like I didn't know I'm in it for the long haul, alone. I'll get over it...I think...hahaha....
.....................................................................................
Wow, 2 minutes and still no idea....
Let's just go cheap and update what I've been doing the past few weeks or so, that should rack up some word counts...
1) Last round's WebDota I finally made into top 20 while the round was still ongoing. I previously managed rank 7, but that was a few days after the round was over and some of the ranked players either dropped or became inactive. So some achievement for me..Yay...Boo... 29 and I'm still into gaming. If word got around to the elders of my society, they'd be drilling me with all the age old sayings of life, marriage, kids and future so I'll have an earful of boredom for like, several days. Luckily for me those elders either are, well, in another plane or the only one left I don't quite give 2 hoots what he has to say.
2) Finally getting to do some project work at work and now I seem to lose interest with what I do. Maybe it's time I change environs....Maybe it's time I do something that required me to WORK 40 hours a week. I'll blog much much less since I can't do it on company time, but hey...For guys like me, career satisfaction is at good as it gets, no?
3) EPL and Fantasy Football. Since my PC crashed when my brother returned to visit from Qatar last June, I've not been able to have my own personal entertainment so I've been having to wrestle the home PC (which is connected to the internet) from my brother recently. It's a daily ordeal; Sometimes I win, sometimes I sleep..hehe, go figure. So no football manager games has forced me (yeah right, like I needed to be forced..) to join some online Fantasy Football games. Not 1, but, 2...no, 3...nope...6..I have 6 different teams in 6 different fantasy systems. (my inkling for 7 should drive me to find another team) Yahoo Fantasy Football, Yahoo Champion's League Manager, Nokia Football Manager, Premier League Fantasy Football, Soccernet Champions League Fantasy and UEFA's Champions League Fantasy. Now where do I find that 1 more???? hmmmm..I wonder if I get more busy with work will I be able to keep up with the jones....
4) House Season 3... The times when I had to sleep but didn't fell like sleeping made me watch House Season 3. Actually, it's more like I want to watch it so I didn't sleep. I still think Season 2 was the best, and the quote," Read less, watch more TV" is my favourite. Season 3 (I've not finished, by the way) is not as original as Season 2 as I feel some old themes reoccur with a slight difference of, characters? I understand from mr. Mark Rosewater (he's the Design dude from Magic: the Gathering that I like to read weekly. He has a weekly article over at M:tG.com. He writes much much better than me too) that series and sitcoms need to keep most of it's content the same and just change a little so that the audience doesn't lose the familiarity thingy, but, I dunno, it just feels like the stories are now being reused.. Having said that, House continues to be House, someone we all love to hate. Not to mention you can't beat the sarcasm...
5) What is happening to Raw Deal??? I haven't spent a single cent on the latest expansion and no longer have the urge to do it..I know all it takes is one visit to the gameshop and lo and behold, I paid rent but dunno...Am I losing that passion I have for the game? Will there be no more annual trips to Singapore for the Qualifiers? I still watch wrestling too, but even their stories are becoming tiresome these days and there are much less things that make me laugh these days. For the people that know me, finding it hard to find things to laugh about, for me, is BAD NEWS...
6) Talking about laughing at things, recently my department just grew from 2 person to 5 person team. Now, in the past my 1 colleague, being a veteran and a mother of 1 daughter, has little to bother with this madman of a colleague of hers and thus I have little need to explain my idiosyncrasies. But now I have 3 OTHER mothers in my department and my random demonic laughs now need to be explained or removed from my work environment. I am not pleased, of course, nor will I likely care...But you see, I'm still trying to write something out of nothing, so I think I got like 70 words out of this???? Hahahaha...
7) Recently on one of my friend's birthday I sent him a late late but on time birthday SMS with no reply. Now this guy I've known for over a decade, through his years when we took buses together, when he could drive but did it like a girl, then sitting on the navigator's seat while he drives half/three quarters asleep; From his girl chasing days to his chased by girls days, to him being steady for 7 years, him splitting up and him being in and out of relationships; Now obviously he should be with his significant other on his birthday, (else I'd give his significant other a good sounding or 2) so for him not to be able to reply that day is acceptable. But it took me 3 days and me calling him to find out he has no credit on his handphone. Lame. Real lame. Oh well, I guess I'm just sensitive over nothing. But damn lame..
I guess friends come and go and when the friendship has ran it's course over its useful years, it just dies away. I've never been able to keep friends for that long anyway, so I end up making new ones every now and then therefore there is absolutely nothing to complain. But it does makes me envy people who have friends from childhood all the way till their deaths....How lucky. They should cherish that all their lives.
As for me, it's not like I didn't know I'm in it for the long haul, alone. I'll get over it...I think...hahaha....
Under Attack
Non- Me related. Looks like my blog has received some unexpected attention recently. Not that I mind, since what's a blog without readers?? Erm, a blog??
So fire away with your comments if any though I'm unlikely to respond to them here since, well, I scarcely can recall most of what I post here without reading them again...
Speaking of which, I should post more now that viewership has increased at least by 30-50%...(yeah, that's how much a couple of readers is worth...This blog shucks...:P)
So what Should I write about?
So fire away with your comments if any though I'm unlikely to respond to them here since, well, I scarcely can recall most of what I post here without reading them again...
Speaking of which, I should post more now that viewership has increased at least by 30-50%...(yeah, that's how much a couple of readers is worth...This blog shucks...:P)
So what Should I write about?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Ah well....
I guess the trip wasn't worth mentioning.
Things getting busier at work with more challenges coming in. Hopefully I'll cope, but I don't , I might just break down here....NOT...
Erm, what else should I update...Haven't been involved in Raw Deal for awhile. If I don't gt back into the game I might as well as plan to quit it..But the cost would have been tremendous to leave it, not that I haven't done it before..I still have unopened V:TES packs....sigh
EPL is back and my Yahoo Fantasy Football Team is absolutely shite. I wish I could do better, maybe by picking less players on a whim and doing more research....Maybe...
The only thing that I'm happy for, as in really happy is to find a weekly futsal game that I could join. It won't be enough to keep me fit, but surely gives me an opportunity to stretch my fat-laden muscles..I so need to workout...Haha...Wait, I'm suppose to deny that...
Oh well, life goes on....Wish myself luck for the next 2 months....
Things getting busier at work with more challenges coming in. Hopefully I'll cope, but I don't , I might just break down here....NOT...
Erm, what else should I update...Haven't been involved in Raw Deal for awhile. If I don't gt back into the game I might as well as plan to quit it..But the cost would have been tremendous to leave it, not that I haven't done it before..I still have unopened V:TES packs....sigh
EPL is back and my Yahoo Fantasy Football Team is absolutely shite. I wish I could do better, maybe by picking less players on a whim and doing more research....Maybe...
The only thing that I'm happy for, as in really happy is to find a weekly futsal game that I could join. It won't be enough to keep me fit, but surely gives me an opportunity to stretch my fat-laden muscles..I so need to workout...Haha...Wait, I'm suppose to deny that...
Oh well, life goes on....Wish myself luck for the next 2 months....
Friday, August 03, 2007
50 cents...
Shouldn't have made that 'In Da Club' song...It's running through me head a lot today, or just the opening verses...
Yeah, it's mah B'day...Relatively boring so far...Which shouldn't be suprising considering how my birthday's have been for the past, erm, millenia...
Tonight will have a dinner with Roy & KE (and Hubby, hahaha), but till that happens, so far it has been a eventless birthday...
Which is somewhat rare considering my birthdays have always borne grave news....At least to me...
Tomorrow I embark on a journey up north with a group of people I hardly mingle with. Why I'm doing that? I dunno. Maybe I finally felt bored enough and decided mingling with people I hold little interest in is still better than no human interaction. Besides, having someone drive me to Penang isn't always a bad idea....
Still have very little to write about...Maybe because it's in between EPL seasons, with no international competition to sate the football appetite....
Ok, maybe will blog about the trip up north...see how first...
Yeah, it's mah B'day...Relatively boring so far...Which shouldn't be suprising considering how my birthday's have been for the past, erm, millenia...
Tonight will have a dinner with Roy & KE (and Hubby, hahaha), but till that happens, so far it has been a eventless birthday...
Which is somewhat rare considering my birthdays have always borne grave news....At least to me...
Tomorrow I embark on a journey up north with a group of people I hardly mingle with. Why I'm doing that? I dunno. Maybe I finally felt bored enough and decided mingling with people I hold little interest in is still better than no human interaction. Besides, having someone drive me to Penang isn't always a bad idea....
Still have very little to write about...Maybe because it's in between EPL seasons, with no international competition to sate the football appetite....
Ok, maybe will blog about the trip up north...see how first...
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Uber Quick Update
What I've Been Doing - WebDota, Dota...Nothing Else
What I've not Been Doing - Blogging...Duh..
What I didn't Know I've done - Nothing....No luck here.... :p
What I've learned to DO - use smileys....No thanks to WebDota..:D. :-) :-( :-< :-O X-(.....many more
What I Have Done Finally - Had a meal in Jogoya...Nothing spectacular IMHO except for the size of the buffet line....I mean lines...
What I Might Not Realise I've Done - Stood someone up...hahaha
What I Wish I Could Do - Not Have to Work..Someone give me RM 5K-10K a month please...:p
What I will be Doing Tomorrow - Trip with siblings to Taman Negara = Feed Mosquitoes
What I Forgot to do - Withdraw cash
What I Shouldn't have Done - Sign Up for Pool in my company when I suck....:-(. Also shouldn't have gotten that 1 free ticket to watch harry Potter....It's going ot be a lonesome night....:-(
What's Looking Good - my weight....It's growing...:P
What's Really Looking Good - Kiera Knightley??? :p
What's Really Looking Good and Related to Me - ?????????
What I've not Been Doing - Blogging...Duh..
What I didn't Know I've done - Nothing....No luck here.... :p
What I've learned to DO - use smileys....No thanks to WebDota..:D. :-) :-( :-< :-O X-(.....many more
What I Have Done Finally - Had a meal in Jogoya...Nothing spectacular IMHO except for the size of the buffet line....I mean lines...
What I Might Not Realise I've Done - Stood someone up...hahaha
What I Wish I Could Do - Not Have to Work..Someone give me RM 5K-10K a month please...:p
What I will be Doing Tomorrow - Trip with siblings to Taman Negara = Feed Mosquitoes
What I Forgot to do - Withdraw cash
What I Shouldn't have Done - Sign Up for Pool in my company when I suck....:-(. Also shouldn't have gotten that 1 free ticket to watch harry Potter....It's going ot be a lonesome night....:-(
What's Looking Good - my weight....It's growing...:P
What's Really Looking Good - Kiera Knightley??? :p
What's Really Looking Good and Related to Me - ?????????
Monday, May 28, 2007
Losing the Blogging Feeling...
Quick check. Last blog entry 27th April...That's one month's exodus from here...Not good.
It didn't help that I didn't have much to write about recently...There are things to write, but writing them may result in personality suicide..So I'll digress.
Now, what have I got to blog today?
A little update in my life. Last Friday my company had a bowling tournament. Ever since I joined 4 years ago, I haven't missed this annual tournament, so no prizes for guessing that I was amongst the first few to sign up. The way this noob/amateur tournament goes is that there's always a group competition (best of select number of players' points total) and best individual players. Now (Telling the story like most women would..), I've never really been a good bowler, averaging about 100 points per game with a lifetime high of maybe 180 or so..Yes, I'm le'suck in bowling...Many others as well (as you'd know later!) So as always all I wanted to do was to get 2 games of free bowling, lousy but free dinner and a chance to spend fun time at companies' expense..Oh, may I note in the past the individual and team events were seperated..i.e. "Those who are good or think too highly of their bowling" would join the individual competition, while the random others would partake in the team event. Yes, no prizes for guessing team event scores are relatively low..This year however, singles play for team as well and vice versa.
Ok, on to the event. It's supposed to kick off at 6.30pm but knowing us Malaysians, it didn't start until 7.30pm...While waiting, I had the decency to begin a chant, "we want food" to subtly hint to our organisers we were hungry..Subtly because if I was obvious I would have gone for the food directly! Food was horrible. Chicken cocktails, chicken nuggets, sandwiches of the el'cheapo type and random local pastries was what dinner would be. No refills too. (Wonder why I would complain about refills if I didn't like the food? Then you don't know me at all, hahaha!)
Back track half an hour before, it was time to input our names in the play roster. I'm commonly known as Benjamin Lam, but that night I felt like using a nickname given to me by my CCG circle, Judge Ben, so I changed my name to just initials JB. When asked what it meant I said Johor Baharu..Ok, I wasn't that keen on giving them the whole story of how I play M:tG, judge M:tG, quit it, played Raw Deal Wrestling, etc...Until I got coined the name JB. Not to mention there were 3(at least) different Benjamin's in that gaming circle and I wasn't actually big enough to qualify as Big Ben (there was a bigger Ben). The small Ben nickname obviously went to someone else.
Looking at my team's players I was quite sceptical we'd do well, but then again I never expected any podium finish anyway. Oh, there's only 4 teams in contention, so you would guess what my expectations were on not getting podium finish. Now this other team, known as Fumo Blue (mine is Conquerors while the remainnig 2 are Blazers and....and....the other team...) had this pro looking player who hits quite a strike. Halfway playing the first game (we would have 2), I noticed he was playing 2 different games and that....wait, this part of the story shouldn't be here...
FYI, on friday I had a sore thumb. On my left hand. I'm left handed. It's actually an infection which recurred despite 2 weeks ago I finished all the antibiotics the GP gave me and it receded. Well, on Friday it appeared again. It was painful too. I was sincerely considering not to play. However, looking at how my team lined up, I felt compelled to do my bit to help score some points. I figured besides a handful of regular players, most of us were either noobs or noobs. Therefore a contribution of 100 points per game (200 in total) would serve well in the team competition. So I played through the pain barrier. Literally..
Ok, back to the game. So this pro player was playing 2 games, which isn't fair at all so I complained. In more respectful and honourable situations, you'd expect the organisers to disqualify the 'cheating' team, but alas, it was not to be. All I managed was to get that other game's score ignored for team totals...bah..
My first game was ok, scoring at 122 despite no strikes.. I was still adjusting to the game and getting the right throw angle and using the correct bowling ball, so 122 is actually quite good. For the second game, the pro player I was mentioning, started off with a strike. Then another strike. Then a turkey. Then his fourth strike consecutively for that game. Then a fifth strike. Then his lane had technical issues which delayed the game for almost 10 minutes. Needless to say he lost his rhythm. he still ended up with a game high of 204.. As for me, did I mention he was bowling to my left and that he always bowls just before me? You could say I was under pressure, but the truth is I wasn't. I'm just not competitive enough to fight the big boys. On the other hand, the smaller ones, the ones who love the gutter some what, they are by feeders.
Now, as I was saying, I had a sore thumb. Add that to an unfit body, I was not throwing straight at all. I was even having difficulties sparing. Then I hit a chord. Everytime I walk up to the lane, as I carry the bowling ball, I would sing one of Evanescence's songs somewhat aloud. I would not finish singing the song, so in the next frame I would sing the next song. I do take pride in knowing 10 out of 11 songs in Fallen so I had enough songs to sing for my 2nd game. Worse comes to worse, I'd just sing the 2 songs I know from The Open Door. No problem. You'd probably not believe it had any effect, but my second game score was 184. I had 1 turkey and I believed only failed to spare in 2 frames. In those frames I failed to spare, it was because I forgot the lyrics of the next song...Haha, losing memory after all.
So I had a game total of 306, which as I mentioned earlier, with most of us being lousy bowlers, it was enough to get me 2nd place. (The pro player got first, of course!) Still not bad for an unfit, injured noob I think. Not to mention, I should play this game more often. It's fun, burns some calories and makes me look like I'm loco...I mean, nutty.
So that was last Friday..See, so much easier to blog if I had something to blog about...
Oh, I have nothing to say about Liverpool's lost in the Champions' League Final except, out of luck...
Do comeback sometime...
(Do anyone of you get what I meant by telling the story like a woman would?)
It didn't help that I didn't have much to write about recently...There are things to write, but writing them may result in personality suicide..So I'll digress.
Now, what have I got to blog today?
A little update in my life. Last Friday my company had a bowling tournament. Ever since I joined 4 years ago, I haven't missed this annual tournament, so no prizes for guessing that I was amongst the first few to sign up. The way this noob/amateur tournament goes is that there's always a group competition (best of select number of players' points total) and best individual players. Now (Telling the story like most women would..), I've never really been a good bowler, averaging about 100 points per game with a lifetime high of maybe 180 or so..Yes, I'm le'suck in bowling...Many others as well (as you'd know later!) So as always all I wanted to do was to get 2 games of free bowling, lousy but free dinner and a chance to spend fun time at companies' expense..Oh, may I note in the past the individual and team events were seperated..i.e. "Those who are good or think too highly of their bowling" would join the individual competition, while the random others would partake in the team event. Yes, no prizes for guessing team event scores are relatively low..This year however, singles play for team as well and vice versa.
Ok, on to the event. It's supposed to kick off at 6.30pm but knowing us Malaysians, it didn't start until 7.30pm...While waiting, I had the decency to begin a chant, "we want food" to subtly hint to our organisers we were hungry..Subtly because if I was obvious I would have gone for the food directly! Food was horrible. Chicken cocktails, chicken nuggets, sandwiches of the el'cheapo type and random local pastries was what dinner would be. No refills too. (Wonder why I would complain about refills if I didn't like the food? Then you don't know me at all, hahaha!)
Back track half an hour before, it was time to input our names in the play roster. I'm commonly known as Benjamin Lam, but that night I felt like using a nickname given to me by my CCG circle, Judge Ben, so I changed my name to just initials JB. When asked what it meant I said Johor Baharu..Ok, I wasn't that keen on giving them the whole story of how I play M:tG, judge M:tG, quit it, played Raw Deal Wrestling, etc...Until I got coined the name JB. Not to mention there were 3(at least) different Benjamin's in that gaming circle and I wasn't actually big enough to qualify as Big Ben (there was a bigger Ben). The small Ben nickname obviously went to someone else.
Looking at my team's players I was quite sceptical we'd do well, but then again I never expected any podium finish anyway. Oh, there's only 4 teams in contention, so you would guess what my expectations were on not getting podium finish. Now this other team, known as Fumo Blue (mine is Conquerors while the remainnig 2 are Blazers and....and....the other team...) had this pro looking player who hits quite a strike. Halfway playing the first game (we would have 2), I noticed he was playing 2 different games and that....wait, this part of the story shouldn't be here...
FYI, on friday I had a sore thumb. On my left hand. I'm left handed. It's actually an infection which recurred despite 2 weeks ago I finished all the antibiotics the GP gave me and it receded. Well, on Friday it appeared again. It was painful too. I was sincerely considering not to play. However, looking at how my team lined up, I felt compelled to do my bit to help score some points. I figured besides a handful of regular players, most of us were either noobs or noobs. Therefore a contribution of 100 points per game (200 in total) would serve well in the team competition. So I played through the pain barrier. Literally..
Ok, back to the game. So this pro player was playing 2 games, which isn't fair at all so I complained. In more respectful and honourable situations, you'd expect the organisers to disqualify the 'cheating' team, but alas, it was not to be. All I managed was to get that other game's score ignored for team totals...bah..
My first game was ok, scoring at 122 despite no strikes.. I was still adjusting to the game and getting the right throw angle and using the correct bowling ball, so 122 is actually quite good. For the second game, the pro player I was mentioning, started off with a strike. Then another strike. Then a turkey. Then his fourth strike consecutively for that game. Then a fifth strike. Then his lane had technical issues which delayed the game for almost 10 minutes. Needless to say he lost his rhythm. he still ended up with a game high of 204.. As for me, did I mention he was bowling to my left and that he always bowls just before me? You could say I was under pressure, but the truth is I wasn't. I'm just not competitive enough to fight the big boys. On the other hand, the smaller ones, the ones who love the gutter some what, they are by feeders.
Now, as I was saying, I had a sore thumb. Add that to an unfit body, I was not throwing straight at all. I was even having difficulties sparing. Then I hit a chord. Everytime I walk up to the lane, as I carry the bowling ball, I would sing one of Evanescence's songs somewhat aloud. I would not finish singing the song, so in the next frame I would sing the next song. I do take pride in knowing 10 out of 11 songs in Fallen so I had enough songs to sing for my 2nd game. Worse comes to worse, I'd just sing the 2 songs I know from The Open Door. No problem. You'd probably not believe it had any effect, but my second game score was 184. I had 1 turkey and I believed only failed to spare in 2 frames. In those frames I failed to spare, it was because I forgot the lyrics of the next song...Haha, losing memory after all.
So I had a game total of 306, which as I mentioned earlier, with most of us being lousy bowlers, it was enough to get me 2nd place. (The pro player got first, of course!) Still not bad for an unfit, injured noob I think. Not to mention, I should play this game more often. It's fun, burns some calories and makes me look like I'm loco...I mean, nutty.
So that was last Friday..See, so much easier to blog if I had something to blog about...
Oh, I have nothing to say about Liverpool's lost in the Champions' League Final except, out of luck...
Do comeback sometime...
(Do anyone of you get what I meant by telling the story like a woman would?)
Friday, April 27, 2007
What I haven't been doing:
1) Driving
2) Building Wrestling Decks
3) Updating my Resume
4) Summing up effort and courage for the.....next..
5) Composing (hmm, should really be doing this and not all those hours playing PC games)
6) Going to the movies...
I know it's an imperfect list, but I can't find a '7' that's worth mentioning...
What I have been doing, on the other hand.....:
1) Playing online/multiplayer games....Bad bad bad....But but but......(DOTA!!!!)
2) Following European Football like it's the only reason I'm alive...Ok, not as fanatical, but as bad as can be without being fanatical (i.e. I won't stay up at 3am in the morning just to catch a semi-finals match...But if Liverpool is in the final, I.....nevermind..)
3) Trying to own a house....Though bad luck has it no banks will loan me money, sob...
Wow, can't even find the fourth thing I'm doing....What a ridiculously boring existence....Not that there's anything wrong with that.....hahaha....
Random post huh?
2) Building Wrestling Decks
3) Updating my Resume
4) Summing up effort and courage for the.....next..
5) Composing (hmm, should really be doing this and not all those hours playing PC games)
6) Going to the movies...
I know it's an imperfect list, but I can't find a '7' that's worth mentioning...
What I have been doing, on the other hand.....:
1) Playing online/multiplayer games....Bad bad bad....But but but......(DOTA!!!!)
2) Following European Football like it's the only reason I'm alive...Ok, not as fanatical, but as bad as can be without being fanatical (i.e. I won't stay up at 3am in the morning just to catch a semi-finals match...But if Liverpool is in the final, I.....nevermind..)
3) Trying to own a house....Though bad luck has it no banks will loan me money, sob...
Wow, can't even find the fourth thing I'm doing....What a ridiculously boring existence....Not that there's anything wrong with that.....hahaha....
Random post huh?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Of Romantic Movies....
A quick aside....I noticed that most (if not all) the romantic movies that I find nice are actually those where the female protagonist is one with wit, intelligence and more common than not, 'strong-willed'. (shall not also highlight pleasing to the eye too!)
The funny thing is, I haven't had the good fortune to actually know such a female in my life, not so much to be romantically involved with (those reading this blog often enough should know that never happens with me) but to at least know they truly exist.
I guess they probably do in more established planes, i.e. one of the rich and famous, or one of the extremely intelligent circle. However, for folks like the me, we only get to know such beautiful creatures in the movies, which gives them an even more angelic mien since only in our dreams do they exist.
I wish I am living in my dreams rather than reality then....
On another side note, here's Evanescence's Good Enough:
Under your spell again,
I can't say no to you.
Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand,
I can't say no to you....
Shouldn't have let you torture me so sweetly,
Now I can't let go of this dream
I can't breathe but I feel...Good enough,
I feel good enough for you.
Drink up sweet decadence,
I can't say no to you,
And I've completely lost myself and I don't mind,
I can't say no to you...
Shouldn't have let you conquer me completely,
Now I can't let go of this dream
Can't believe that I feel good enough,
I feel good enough...
It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good.
And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall,
Pour real life down on me.
'Cause I can't hold on to anything this good enough...
Am I good enough for you to love me too?
So take care what you ask of me,
'cause I can't say no.
I can imagine being in this position with one of those angels.....
The funny thing is, I haven't had the good fortune to actually know such a female in my life, not so much to be romantically involved with (those reading this blog often enough should know that never happens with me) but to at least know they truly exist.
I guess they probably do in more established planes, i.e. one of the rich and famous, or one of the extremely intelligent circle. However, for folks like the me, we only get to know such beautiful creatures in the movies, which gives them an even more angelic mien since only in our dreams do they exist.
I wish I am living in my dreams rather than reality then....
On another side note, here's Evanescence's Good Enough:
Under your spell again,
I can't say no to you.
Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand,
I can't say no to you....
Shouldn't have let you torture me so sweetly,
Now I can't let go of this dream
I can't breathe but I feel...Good enough,
I feel good enough for you.
Drink up sweet decadence,
I can't say no to you,
And I've completely lost myself and I don't mind,
I can't say no to you...
Shouldn't have let you conquer me completely,
Now I can't let go of this dream
Can't believe that I feel good enough,
I feel good enough...
It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good.
And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall,
Pour real life down on me.
'Cause I can't hold on to anything this good enough...
Am I good enough for you to love me too?
So take care what you ask of me,
'cause I can't say no.
I can imagine being in this position with one of those angels.....
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Way overdue....
Ok, it's now more than 2 months since I started the Singapore adventure, so I better finish it off or even I won't remember the details.....So where were we???
After making the blunder of the millenium; head between my legs, we strolled out of the tournament area and headed back home. Our mission was to go to the Chicken Rice shop we patronised last year. Emil, Loco, Ahmad, Azmin and I decided we could walk there (actually, I was just walking aimlessly, still distraught over my own stupidity). Unfortunately, due to poor sense of direction, we ended up heading out of Suntec Complex like headless chicke...cocks..Hmm, just trying to get the gender right.
So the Anal Planner gets a little ego boost when everyone looked a little lost and I got to lead them out of trouble again. In no time, we were back in familiar territory and I basically had the whole route to the Chicken Rice shop in my mind. People should just learn to accept I have better sense of direction MOST of the time. Aftr 15 minutes or so of walk, we arrived at our destination only to find that the shop is closed. On a Sunday. Nice business decision. With that, we proceeded to the Bugis (something something, I don't recall the name) Complex to scour for food. Burger King was somehow no longer an option, Moss burger was a non-favourite and the other fast food just didn't cut it. For some illogical reason (other than being sick of Fast Food), we wanted to find the food court. Yes, food court. A place we normally wouldn't go to in Malaysia because it's just expensive hawker food.
As usual, I (ok, others may remember this differently, but this is MY BLOG, so the story will FAVOUR me...bleh!) led all of us to the food court which was jam-packed. It took us more than 10 minutes to find a seat. When we (as in me, Emil & Loco) did, we decided to toy around with Azmin & Ahmad by not directly signalling them we've found a table so they stood around looking like lost scouts for another good 5 minutes or so before they finally spotted us. Food was so-so. After food, we stopped by a bookshop and Loco bought a magazine. I don't recall the name, but it was one of those for MEN magazine. I think you can't get it in Malaysia types. Go figure. Getting back to the main floor (did I mention the food court was at lower ground?), Emil, Loco & Azmin needed to look for a money changer. While they went looking, Ahmad and I stood just inside the complex looking over the fountain area. There we spotted a teenage female probably no older than 16 wearing really revealing clothes. Now, no offence, us being all male, it should be a sight for sore eyes. But it wasn't. The problem lies with this girl wearing really low pants/skirt (I can't remember) that showed a little too much of the butt crack. Trust me, it looked horrible.
Side show aside, eventually they found the moneychanger (they took like, 30 minutes or something?) and we begin to plan for our route home. At the entrance, I had an urge to get some Moss goodness so while everyone (Ok, Ahmad doesn't smoke while Azmin is a closet smoker) was smoking outside, I lost some SGD for some rice goodness (ok, Moss(is this the right name?) isn't that nice after all.). From there, we needed to indentify the direction home, so the best person to do it was no other than myself (OK, I'm trying very hard to forget my biggest gargantua mistake here, so cut me some slack, will ya?). In no time we were back to familiar ground and the passage home was clear.
15/20 minutes later we were back to our Inn. With Ahmad and I now staying at the dorm, we got our stuff and went straight to 'book' our beds. I had this inkling they didn't note down our bookings, but I couldn't be bothered anymore and decided if they realised that our night wasn't booked, I'll kick up a super Customer Dissatisfied Storm and force them to let me stay for free. Wait, I already paid up last night....hmmmm....Luckily they didn't try to evict us.
That night we played some Big-D and because I insisted on not gambling, they didn't as well. 5 packs of expensive 7-11 bought crackers and 1 bottle of liquor later, we had enough of Big-D and returned to the dorm. Ahmad chatted up some new guest in the dorm, followed by Azmin, Loco & Emil ( I couldn't give two hoots, or I'm just shy...I think your guess is as good as mine). Midnight almost arrived and we decided it's mamak time. For some unknown reason, we decided to venture further than our comfort zone and explore the area around Little India...At 12am in the morning...Geeze, no wonder people get in trouble when overseas...Nevertheless, 5 men should be able to keep each other safe, even though we were in a foreign area, so we walked...And walked...And walked....And walked...And walked...And walked...And walked..............Ok, we probably just strolled for like, 15 minutes, but without a real sense of direction (where they wanted to go I have not been before, so I can't get to a place I don't know) it felt REALLLLLLY long....We finally reached the area they wanted to go, but somehow couldn't get the food we wanted. So we walked some more.....(you insert the walking bit here) before finally settling down on what looked like a place with Wrestling on show (not enough of it already??) and then ordered some meatballs or something and fries. Oh, they had beer too.
Some 20 minutes later, I think, 5 sleepy heads decided enough of this late night hangout, it's time to go back and sleep. I may not know how to get where we were, but I sure knew how to get back. If I was on my own, I would have reach the Inn in probably 10 minutes tops...But you know how fast tipsy sleepy men walk....Wait, if I was alone, I wouldn't have ventured so far.....Oh well..
Fast foward to the next morning. Again the first to rise (yeah yeah, who gives a shite if that's not true), I freshened up ahead of the others and after we were all done, we went over to get some bread and jam. Unfortunately we failed to buy fresh ingredients for Emil to cook for us, though I doubt he was in the mood anyway. Breakfast was a non-event and not long after we met up with Herman at Bugis station (yes, just under the Bugis complex) with of course more walking and 30 minutes delay. Next stop to no one's surprise (except maybe Emil & Ahmad) we headed towards the same 'hidden' bus station we found last year. A hop on a bus and minutes later, we were at the customs. Someone got stopped by the Customs again. Do I need to say who??
The other five of us (now is Ahmad, Emil, Herman, Loco & I) had to wait for Azmin to get closely acquainted with the Customs officers again. This time they took him to the room and he returned after awhile. (No one dared ask what happened inside. But I'm sure Azmin will tell you all about the horror stories that he experienced....hahaha...) Aside from asking him to pay for lunch, nothing else was worth mentioning. We soon reached Larkin and within seconds had tontos trying to get us to take their bus to KL. Thinking that Herman should be a old hand (since he travels to and fro KL-Singapore monthly) at identifying good busses and cheap ones too, we let him handle the haggle. He did, getting us a bus leaving very soon (which turned out to be 30 minutes later) at RM 30 and supposedly non-stop to KL too. Loco, in particular, was very outspoken in reminding Herman about this. In the end, we stopped not just to have a short break, but we went into Seremban too. if you know Loco, you can guess what he would do in response to this (No, he didn't play any counter spells nor fast effects that removed passengers...err, creatures...).
One hour late, I think, a long ride on the bus and me watching Herman play Tekken on the PSP (which looked so good I feel like buying it for myself!) we finally arrived in good old Puduraya. From there, as though we've truly had enough of each other, it was rather quick that we decided to go our seperate ways. Actually, I think I was the one who broke off from the group fast. I'm not sure what the rest did, but I tried hitching a ride with my sister who works a few blocks away ( I work there too..) to no success. I took a cab in the end.
That's the end of my Singapore Adventure. I learnt some really nasty lessons, got to travel with a bunch of guys who were quite fun if only I played my part and I'd say was quite a success planning wise. I can't wait to do this again next year. Hopefully the dwindling turnout isn't going to put an end to the Qualifiers in Singapore....Unless we can grow fast enough in KL to get one of our own??
Oh, let me remind my disclaimer. All the names are fake. Really. If you don't believe it, ask Ahmad, Andy, Azmin, Bryan, Emil, Herman, Loco, Michael Toh & NebNeb...They'll confirm these aren't their names....The TRUTH......
After making the blunder of the millenium; head between my legs, we strolled out of the tournament area and headed back home. Our mission was to go to the Chicken Rice shop we patronised last year. Emil, Loco, Ahmad, Azmin and I decided we could walk there (actually, I was just walking aimlessly, still distraught over my own stupidity). Unfortunately, due to poor sense of direction, we ended up heading out of Suntec Complex like headless chicke...cocks..Hmm, just trying to get the gender right.
So the Anal Planner gets a little ego boost when everyone looked a little lost and I got to lead them out of trouble again. In no time, we were back in familiar territory and I basically had the whole route to the Chicken Rice shop in my mind. People should just learn to accept I have better sense of direction MOST of the time. Aftr 15 minutes or so of walk, we arrived at our destination only to find that the shop is closed. On a Sunday. Nice business decision. With that, we proceeded to the Bugis (something something, I don't recall the name) Complex to scour for food. Burger King was somehow no longer an option, Moss burger was a non-favourite and the other fast food just didn't cut it. For some illogical reason (other than being sick of Fast Food), we wanted to find the food court. Yes, food court. A place we normally wouldn't go to in Malaysia because it's just expensive hawker food.
As usual, I (ok, others may remember this differently, but this is MY BLOG, so the story will FAVOUR me...bleh!) led all of us to the food court which was jam-packed. It took us more than 10 minutes to find a seat. When we (as in me, Emil & Loco) did, we decided to toy around with Azmin & Ahmad by not directly signalling them we've found a table so they stood around looking like lost scouts for another good 5 minutes or so before they finally spotted us. Food was so-so. After food, we stopped by a bookshop and Loco bought a magazine. I don't recall the name, but it was one of those for MEN magazine. I think you can't get it in Malaysia types. Go figure. Getting back to the main floor (did I mention the food court was at lower ground?), Emil, Loco & Azmin needed to look for a money changer. While they went looking, Ahmad and I stood just inside the complex looking over the fountain area. There we spotted a teenage female probably no older than 16 wearing really revealing clothes. Now, no offence, us being all male, it should be a sight for sore eyes. But it wasn't. The problem lies with this girl wearing really low pants/skirt (I can't remember) that showed a little too much of the butt crack. Trust me, it looked horrible.
Side show aside, eventually they found the moneychanger (they took like, 30 minutes or something?) and we begin to plan for our route home. At the entrance, I had an urge to get some Moss goodness so while everyone (Ok, Ahmad doesn't smoke while Azmin is a closet smoker) was smoking outside, I lost some SGD for some rice goodness (ok, Moss(is this the right name?) isn't that nice after all.). From there, we needed to indentify the direction home, so the best person to do it was no other than myself (OK, I'm trying very hard to forget my biggest gargantua mistake here, so cut me some slack, will ya?). In no time we were back to familiar ground and the passage home was clear.
15/20 minutes later we were back to our Inn. With Ahmad and I now staying at the dorm, we got our stuff and went straight to 'book' our beds. I had this inkling they didn't note down our bookings, but I couldn't be bothered anymore and decided if they realised that our night wasn't booked, I'll kick up a super Customer Dissatisfied Storm and force them to let me stay for free. Wait, I already paid up last night....hmmmm....Luckily they didn't try to evict us.
That night we played some Big-D and because I insisted on not gambling, they didn't as well. 5 packs of expensive 7-11 bought crackers and 1 bottle of liquor later, we had enough of Big-D and returned to the dorm. Ahmad chatted up some new guest in the dorm, followed by Azmin, Loco & Emil ( I couldn't give two hoots, or I'm just shy...I think your guess is as good as mine). Midnight almost arrived and we decided it's mamak time. For some unknown reason, we decided to venture further than our comfort zone and explore the area around Little India...At 12am in the morning...Geeze, no wonder people get in trouble when overseas...Nevertheless, 5 men should be able to keep each other safe, even though we were in a foreign area, so we walked...And walked...And walked....And walked...And walked...And walked...And walked..............Ok, we probably just strolled for like, 15 minutes, but without a real sense of direction (where they wanted to go I have not been before, so I can't get to a place I don't know) it felt REALLLLLLY long....We finally reached the area they wanted to go, but somehow couldn't get the food we wanted. So we walked some more.....(you insert the walking bit here) before finally settling down on what looked like a place with Wrestling on show (not enough of it already??) and then ordered some meatballs or something and fries. Oh, they had beer too.
Some 20 minutes later, I think, 5 sleepy heads decided enough of this late night hangout, it's time to go back and sleep. I may not know how to get where we were, but I sure knew how to get back. If I was on my own, I would have reach the Inn in probably 10 minutes tops...But you know how fast tipsy sleepy men walk....Wait, if I was alone, I wouldn't have ventured so far.....Oh well..
Fast foward to the next morning. Again the first to rise (yeah yeah, who gives a shite if that's not true), I freshened up ahead of the others and after we were all done, we went over to get some bread and jam. Unfortunately we failed to buy fresh ingredients for Emil to cook for us, though I doubt he was in the mood anyway. Breakfast was a non-event and not long after we met up with Herman at Bugis station (yes, just under the Bugis complex) with of course more walking and 30 minutes delay. Next stop to no one's surprise (except maybe Emil & Ahmad) we headed towards the same 'hidden' bus station we found last year. A hop on a bus and minutes later, we were at the customs. Someone got stopped by the Customs again. Do I need to say who??
The other five of us (now is Ahmad, Emil, Herman, Loco & I) had to wait for Azmin to get closely acquainted with the Customs officers again. This time they took him to the room and he returned after awhile. (No one dared ask what happened inside. But I'm sure Azmin will tell you all about the horror stories that he experienced....hahaha...) Aside from asking him to pay for lunch, nothing else was worth mentioning. We soon reached Larkin and within seconds had tontos trying to get us to take their bus to KL. Thinking that Herman should be a old hand (since he travels to and fro KL-Singapore monthly) at identifying good busses and cheap ones too, we let him handle the haggle. He did, getting us a bus leaving very soon (which turned out to be 30 minutes later) at RM 30 and supposedly non-stop to KL too. Loco, in particular, was very outspoken in reminding Herman about this. In the end, we stopped not just to have a short break, but we went into Seremban too. if you know Loco, you can guess what he would do in response to this (No, he didn't play any counter spells nor fast effects that removed passengers...err, creatures...).
One hour late, I think, a long ride on the bus and me watching Herman play Tekken on the PSP (which looked so good I feel like buying it for myself!) we finally arrived in good old Puduraya. From there, as though we've truly had enough of each other, it was rather quick that we decided to go our seperate ways. Actually, I think I was the one who broke off from the group fast. I'm not sure what the rest did, but I tried hitching a ride with my sister who works a few blocks away ( I work there too..) to no success. I took a cab in the end.
That's the end of my Singapore Adventure. I learnt some really nasty lessons, got to travel with a bunch of guys who were quite fun if only I played my part and I'd say was quite a success planning wise. I can't wait to do this again next year. Hopefully the dwindling turnout isn't going to put an end to the Qualifiers in Singapore....Unless we can grow fast enough in KL to get one of our own??
Oh, let me remind my disclaimer. All the names are fake. Really. If you don't believe it, ask Ahmad, Andy, Azmin, Bryan, Emil, Herman, Loco, Michael Toh & NebNeb...They'll confirm these aren't their names....The TRUTH......
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Learning the hard way...
Is something I try my level best not having to do. The trick is to be able to learn from other's mistakes and accept that not all things could have been done better. The problem of course is some people have a thing with wanting to prove they can be better, in which case they will most likely learn things the hard way. Unfortunately for me, sometimes you can't avoid it and learning this way surely leaves a permanent impression (not to mention the amount of people who will remind you of your mistake!)
*************************************************************************************
2 cabs and 10 minutes later, we arrived at Suntec Convention Centre. As this was my third time, I was on autopilot and proceeded directly to the tourney venue. The venue this time was smaller compared to the past 2 years; The latest expansion of Raw Deal left it's mark in Singapore with many quitting and some saying that this was their swansong before letting their cards go on cheap, which is excellent for us from Malaysia. Unfortunately I forgot to do the enough wheeling and dealing to gain from this 'sale'.
As usual, first thing we do once we arrived was to complete our decklist and register. No prizes for guessing who registered first! Just for the fun of it, the 'lovebirds' in the photo are Azmin & Andy while NebNeb is just behind that much despised Evertonian known as Ahmad.
*************************************************************************************
2 cabs and 10 minutes later, we arrived at Suntec Convention Centre. As this was my third time, I was on autopilot and proceeded directly to the tourney venue. The venue this time was smaller compared to the past 2 years; The latest expansion of Raw Deal left it's mark in Singapore with many quitting and some saying that this was their swansong before letting their cards go on cheap, which is excellent for us from Malaysia. Unfortunately I forgot to do the enough wheeling and dealing to gain from this 'sale'.
As usual, first thing we do once we arrived was to complete our decklist and register. No prizes for guessing who registered first! Just for the fun of it, the 'lovebirds' in the photo are Azmin & Andy while NebNeb is just behind that much despised Evertonian known as Ahmad.
Our final Malaysian player was Michael Toh, who thought he could drive to Singapore at 2am in the morning and play in a tourney when he arrived. It's no surprised he didn't exactly win much and dropped out after awhile; Not before convincing the Organiser to grant him the prizes for 32nd to 48th placing (he was number 49th, which is the number of players that day). We made up a sixth of the total turnout, which is our biggest yet. To commemorate this and thanks to Loco for bringing a camera, here's the Malaysian Contingent 2007!
For the fun of it, since all the names are fake anyway, from L-R:
Andy"Rowdy Piper" Putra, Michael "Batista" Toh, Emil "Ken Kennedy" Ali, Me "Mr. PPV" la, Bryan "Leader of the Peepulation" See, Lo "Stacie Kiebler" Co, Azmin "Victoria" Mohd Khalib, Ahmad " Al Snow" Farith Ismail & last and (not) least Neb "Edge" Neb...
Because I've taken so bloody long to reach this stage of the trip, I don't recall all my matches anymore. I'll try to relate what I do:
Round 1: Largest Athlete in Sports Entertainment
It was supposed to be a walkover and walkover it was. Taken out by huge new REVO manuevers, my MrPPV eventually pinned since I had limited reversals and he kept pummeling me over and over again. 3 Manager Interferes and 1 Fury of the Storm wasn't enough to handle all those collosal manuevers. 0-1
Round 2: ????
I won this match, but I can't recall who I played against....1-1
Round 3: ????
Can't recall either, but won. 2-1
Round 4: Rowdy Piper
Luckily it wasn't Andy's, else he would have known the problem with my deck. With Piper's ability, I had no other option but to let him go ahead by 10 fortitude before my Let Me Get a Shot In would be usable. After that, it was relative smooth sailing for me against him since I had manuevers he couldn't reverse. Unfortunately, again due to my lack of omni reversals, I was running out of defence and have yet to kill him off. With 10 or so cards remaining in my arsenal I got hit by a Claw which I reversed illegally with It's Great to be Back Here. My opponent didn't realise it until he hit me again with Claw; This time the spectators help us both realise our mistakes. Knowing that, a final Apply Illegal Leverage after the Claw would have finished me off, but luckily he didn't have his Apply. I won. Just (and illegaly to some extent) 3-1
Round 5: Bobby Heenan
This was a round I should have won. My opponent went first turn Pump Kick. Later he went Clutch, Apply & Boston Crab which I took all, without realising a timely Undermine the Competition would have ended his turn when he 'Applied' me and leave him with just 1 fortitude. I didn't and after recovering a bit I couldn't kill him off as he continued to recur. Enforcing Rikishi, in the end he kept on hitting me with The Brain until I ran out of reversals. I lost, quite stupidly (this is still not my worst mistake!) 3-2
Round 6: Hurrifriends
At this point I thought I've missed the top 16 cut, with Diversity rules enforced and another Mr.PPV ahead of me. Not to mention no playtest with Hurrifriends before, so I have almost no idea how to deal with this. Luckily the deck relies too much on the Manager to draw an ungodly handsize; Without it (thanks to Unscripted), the deck was doomed. Needless to say, I won. 4-2.
That was it. 4-2, 17th position and second best as Mr.PPV. Or was it? By some stroke of luck the top Mr.PPV had decklist issues and got DQed. Hearing this ( I was about to leave the premise), I quickly went to see the Organiser to explain that as the next Mr.PPV and higher positioned player, that top 16 spot should be mine. He agreed and so for the first time in 3 years I made it to the elimination rounds. Happy and nervous, I was obviously ill-prepared for the occasion and it told in my next match.
Last 16: Paul Heyman
Herman told me this is the most experienced Paul Heyman in Singapore and I should not underestimate him. With a starting hand of 2 That's Broken, I could hardly believe myself since I could search for another one with R-V-D, making it so easy for me to find my Sidewalk Slams (TB) which reverses foreign objects; Heyman's main manuever type. Knowing he will enforce Cole and over time strip my hand of reversals, I went truly aggro from get go and it was a matter of time before I had control in the match. With his manuevers easily reversed with 2 hidden Sidewalks and 1 Elbow to the Face, I hit him with one last Trademark Finisher and he had no cards in his arsenal. He is count out. I win. Then I said, "Go". My opponent gave me a surprised look while I was busy thinking how to pin him next turn. Only during his turn did I realised I had already won, but it was too late. He flipped in Duchess of Queenbury Rules and recovered from the count out. Now that he has recovered, I eventually got pinned by the most obvious way; First Blood Match stipulation. My fairytale trip to Wrestlemania was over.
I had won but in the end I lost. While me playing in the eliminations wasn't really deserved, you know what they say, "Make the most out of every opportunity you get. You never know when you'll get the next one". I didn't and thus this is me learning from the hardway. Last year I learnt to NOT go to a Qualifier without playtest; This year I learn that Count Out COUNTS!!!
Oh well. The rest finished not as good as I, though I doubt they expected to do as well as I. Higher you climb, harder you fall. Just for fun's sake, here's Loco with all his Manuevers on the table losing to the Home Team with just 2 Judo Chokes(TB) on the table. He's since promised to tear every Judo Chokes(TB) he sees in play.
Will finish of the last part of the Singapore trip in the next post. If you see me and feel like making me go all mad over you, feel free to remind me of my greatest tournament mistake.
Monday, February 26, 2007
A Little Faith...
Goes a long way, or so they say. Unfortunately, I am with little faith (if not none at all)...
We reached Serene Centre with the rain pouring on us. That Saturday, it was raining throughout the day...More drizzles, really, but still annoying for 8 men and no umbrellas. As we reach the shop, there was a weekend tournament just about to run, so several of us decided to hop in. I was reluctant to show my Mr. Pay Per View (PPV) deck, so I used my Eugene deck instead. Andy, Bryan and Azmin also played ( I can't recall if Herman did or didn't) while the rest went scouting for cards usually unavailable in Malaysia. There was a wave of quitters in Singapore, due to the disinterest with the latest expansion, Raw Deal Revolution, so some cards were going cheap (as low as SGD 2) when it would generally cost RM 30 in Malaysia. Ahmad found his 'No Gimmicks Needed' too. But he got one too early at SGD 5 when later there was this guy with a page full of them (a page has nine cards) selling at just SGD 2. Emil was also having a field day, buying as many foils on the cheap as he could afford with the Singapore dollars he brought with him. You could easily imagine him; Look at your wife/girlfriend/female friend's face after a day splurging at a discount sale for countless 'not needed' items and that's exactly what Emil's face looked like . Of course, he'll tell you he needed those cards....
It was a 4 round cut top 4 tournament. I don't recall who I played, but I do remember being killed in 1 turn by Ken Kennedy (Emil's deck tomorrow) and making it to top 4 on a 2-2 result. This result and the countless first turn victories Emil had made him confindent of his deck, a little too confident maybe, but I'll talk about that later. Suprisingly, of the top 4, 3 were Malaysians. Andy, Azmin & myself were against 1 sole Singaporean kid, but we lost. Better said, I lost to him in the Finals while Andy failed to stop him in the Semis. Feels like 4 years ago when I came down for the Lord of the Rings Singapore Qualifiers held also in Serene Centre, where I lost in the Semis. While we were playing, Loco dropped by, NebNeb went shopping, Ahmad scoured for free commons and uncommons and Emil was the happy shopper.
By the time the tournament was over it was after 7pm, getting myself another (useless) Spinner Belt in the process. Our group stayed at the magic number 8, since Loco replaced NebNeb. When we left Serene Centre, it was still drizzling. Must have been a very depressed sky over Singapore. 2 cabs, about SGD 10 and probably 15 minutes later, we all arrived back at the Inn where we dropped off our stuff and went looking for dinner. Now, unlike last year where we had a Halal Chicken Rice shop to go to, this time we had to look around the nearest shopping complex since we already had Mamak food in the afternoon (what type of food do you think was readily available in Little India?) Passing through the food court, which we realised sold pork, there were suprisingly many of us hoping to get Burger King. Luckily for all of us (me the most), there was just one located at the lower ground of that complex. Gleefully we all made our orders; I had one Whopper and one Turkey Bacon. by that time it was closing to 9pm, I think, there was no one else but us in the restaurant. Loco brought his camera and we took a group photo.
Finishing our meals, we return to our rooms/beds and began our last minute preparations. Herman helped me out with fine tuning my PPV deck while the rest were working on theirs. I was visibly annoyed when several people came over and asked me to lend them some cards; I've mentioned they should tell me earlier, not while I'm fixing my deck. I guess they just didn't realise how serious I was about doing well this year, after an awful performance last year. Once I was happy with my build (which was flawed, but I'll tell the story when I get to tomorrow at the Qualifiers), I went to the reception to check up on the bookings.
Now, I originally booked 2 room for day 1 and another for day 2, but late confirmations resulted in me calling to book the other room for day 2 as well. My mistake was that while all other bookings went through the internet (via email), my second room second night booking was not. As the result, there was NO BOOKING for the second room second night and NO EMAIL to prove it. Another lesson in making sure everything is in black and white, no matter how reliable people say they are. Without the second room, myself and Ahmad had to take the dorm for the next night and Loco and Emil had to lose the 'Presidential Suite' and move over to our room. From that moment on I no longer liked the place; Cheap it may be, but for them to be so defensive that it was my error and not theirs, they obviously need a lesson in Customer Service.
With the lodging issue resolved, I returned to the room and slept, since I expect to be the earliest to arise the next day. There's this reliability that boys on trips can't wake up on their own. That or me being the Anal Planner. I heard the boys went out later and had some drinks before calling it a night.
Snoozing for 30 minutes, I finally woke up about 7am. No surprises I was the first to freshen up (I'd like to say I woke up first too, but then they'd probably say they were awake even earlier, just lazy to really leave their beds..). After knocking on the 'Presidential Suite' and storming into the dorm to wake up the rest, we noticed Bryan was missing in his bed! Assuming he may have found a better bed elsewhere, we weren't too concerned. Eventually he was discovered (yes, discovered!) at the small sitting area at the front of the Inn. It seems he was so busy working on his deck that he slept there..(Nobody really believes him, though...I don't...Must have had a 'great time' last night and couldn't get to his bed on the first floor dorm, haha!)
Registration for the tournament begins at 9am, so by about 7.45am I was already concerned everyone isn't ready. Most of us moved ahead anyway so that we can quickly make our breakfast before moving along to Suntec Convention Centre, where the tournament was held. The lot leaving Sunday night (Andy, Bryan & NebNeb) also had to check out. Reception was to open at 8am, but not until 8.15 did the receptionist (another lady, not the nice Chinese girl, whom I didn't like at all as she was the one who insisted I made incorrect bookings) wake up and opened the reception.
I had my bread with Margerine & jam, while the rest have eggs as well. Azmin & Bryan did some omelette/pancake with bread in eggs, which looked rather yummy. But me being me, so much hassle for food just isn't worth it (unless someone is doing it for me!). This other guest at the inn liked what they were doing with egg and bread and duly did the same. Guess you'd learn things anywhere, anytime! Loco and Emil were the last to arrive there for breakfast. Loco had this coke bottle which turns out to be mixed...with alcohol. I had a sip and luckily didn't have more. Unfortunately I would make the sillest mistake anyway, sober or otherwise.
*********
Next up, journey to the 2007 Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier and to the silliest mistake in Raw Deal gaming of my life!!
We reached Serene Centre with the rain pouring on us. That Saturday, it was raining throughout the day...More drizzles, really, but still annoying for 8 men and no umbrellas. As we reach the shop, there was a weekend tournament just about to run, so several of us decided to hop in. I was reluctant to show my Mr. Pay Per View (PPV) deck, so I used my Eugene deck instead. Andy, Bryan and Azmin also played ( I can't recall if Herman did or didn't) while the rest went scouting for cards usually unavailable in Malaysia. There was a wave of quitters in Singapore, due to the disinterest with the latest expansion, Raw Deal Revolution, so some cards were going cheap (as low as SGD 2) when it would generally cost RM 30 in Malaysia. Ahmad found his 'No Gimmicks Needed' too. But he got one too early at SGD 5 when later there was this guy with a page full of them (a page has nine cards) selling at just SGD 2. Emil was also having a field day, buying as many foils on the cheap as he could afford with the Singapore dollars he brought with him. You could easily imagine him; Look at your wife/girlfriend/female friend's face after a day splurging at a discount sale for countless 'not needed' items and that's exactly what Emil's face looked like . Of course, he'll tell you he needed those cards....
It was a 4 round cut top 4 tournament. I don't recall who I played, but I do remember being killed in 1 turn by Ken Kennedy (Emil's deck tomorrow) and making it to top 4 on a 2-2 result. This result and the countless first turn victories Emil had made him confindent of his deck, a little too confident maybe, but I'll talk about that later. Suprisingly, of the top 4, 3 were Malaysians. Andy, Azmin & myself were against 1 sole Singaporean kid, but we lost. Better said, I lost to him in the Finals while Andy failed to stop him in the Semis. Feels like 4 years ago when I came down for the Lord of the Rings Singapore Qualifiers held also in Serene Centre, where I lost in the Semis. While we were playing, Loco dropped by, NebNeb went shopping, Ahmad scoured for free commons and uncommons and Emil was the happy shopper.
By the time the tournament was over it was after 7pm, getting myself another (useless) Spinner Belt in the process. Our group stayed at the magic number 8, since Loco replaced NebNeb. When we left Serene Centre, it was still drizzling. Must have been a very depressed sky over Singapore. 2 cabs, about SGD 10 and probably 15 minutes later, we all arrived back at the Inn where we dropped off our stuff and went looking for dinner. Now, unlike last year where we had a Halal Chicken Rice shop to go to, this time we had to look around the nearest shopping complex since we already had Mamak food in the afternoon (what type of food do you think was readily available in Little India?) Passing through the food court, which we realised sold pork, there were suprisingly many of us hoping to get Burger King. Luckily for all of us (me the most), there was just one located at the lower ground of that complex. Gleefully we all made our orders; I had one Whopper and one Turkey Bacon. by that time it was closing to 9pm, I think, there was no one else but us in the restaurant. Loco brought his camera and we took a group photo.
Finishing our meals, we return to our rooms/beds and began our last minute preparations. Herman helped me out with fine tuning my PPV deck while the rest were working on theirs. I was visibly annoyed when several people came over and asked me to lend them some cards; I've mentioned they should tell me earlier, not while I'm fixing my deck. I guess they just didn't realise how serious I was about doing well this year, after an awful performance last year. Once I was happy with my build (which was flawed, but I'll tell the story when I get to tomorrow at the Qualifiers), I went to the reception to check up on the bookings.
Now, I originally booked 2 room for day 1 and another for day 2, but late confirmations resulted in me calling to book the other room for day 2 as well. My mistake was that while all other bookings went through the internet (via email), my second room second night booking was not. As the result, there was NO BOOKING for the second room second night and NO EMAIL to prove it. Another lesson in making sure everything is in black and white, no matter how reliable people say they are. Without the second room, myself and Ahmad had to take the dorm for the next night and Loco and Emil had to lose the 'Presidential Suite' and move over to our room. From that moment on I no longer liked the place; Cheap it may be, but for them to be so defensive that it was my error and not theirs, they obviously need a lesson in Customer Service.
With the lodging issue resolved, I returned to the room and slept, since I expect to be the earliest to arise the next day. There's this reliability that boys on trips can't wake up on their own. That or me being the Anal Planner. I heard the boys went out later and had some drinks before calling it a night.
Snoozing for 30 minutes, I finally woke up about 7am. No surprises I was the first to freshen up (I'd like to say I woke up first too, but then they'd probably say they were awake even earlier, just lazy to really leave their beds..). After knocking on the 'Presidential Suite' and storming into the dorm to wake up the rest, we noticed Bryan was missing in his bed! Assuming he may have found a better bed elsewhere, we weren't too concerned. Eventually he was discovered (yes, discovered!) at the small sitting area at the front of the Inn. It seems he was so busy working on his deck that he slept there..(Nobody really believes him, though...I don't...Must have had a 'great time' last night and couldn't get to his bed on the first floor dorm, haha!)
Registration for the tournament begins at 9am, so by about 7.45am I was already concerned everyone isn't ready. Most of us moved ahead anyway so that we can quickly make our breakfast before moving along to Suntec Convention Centre, where the tournament was held. The lot leaving Sunday night (Andy, Bryan & NebNeb) also had to check out. Reception was to open at 8am, but not until 8.15 did the receptionist (another lady, not the nice Chinese girl, whom I didn't like at all as she was the one who insisted I made incorrect bookings) wake up and opened the reception.
I had my bread with Margerine & jam, while the rest have eggs as well. Azmin & Bryan did some omelette/pancake with bread in eggs, which looked rather yummy. But me being me, so much hassle for food just isn't worth it (unless someone is doing it for me!). This other guest at the inn liked what they were doing with egg and bread and duly did the same. Guess you'd learn things anywhere, anytime! Loco and Emil were the last to arrive there for breakfast. Loco had this coke bottle which turns out to be mixed...with alcohol. I had a sip and luckily didn't have more. Unfortunately I would make the sillest mistake anyway, sober or otherwise.
*********
Next up, journey to the 2007 Singapore Raw Deal Qualifier and to the silliest mistake in Raw Deal gaming of my life!!
Friday, February 23, 2007
And the Blind now SEE.......
We arrived early at the backpackers...There was this random white guy who was outside the entrance (it was locked electronically so we needed someone to let us in from the inside. We eventually got the passcode though). Seeing so many of us he remarked that the inn is full. The Anal Planner (a ridiculous nickname I recently acquired) retorted, "I've already made bookings..." Random white guy duly shut up. (see the advantages of planning ahead, punks??)
Getting inside, the receptionist was a 'nice' chinese girl which took Azmin less than 1 second to start doing his thing on her (no, Azmin never managed to get laid, if that's what you're thinking, There were seven of us, remember? He'll have to wait in line, haha!!)(Ok, most of that caption was untrue, so you decide which part!). We were told that check in was at 12pm, but we could place our luggage at the store. Oh, and we could also cook our own breakfast if we wanted as breakfast was inclusive. In the store were more luggage AND an insane amount of bread (loaves) with Margerine and Jam (No, they're not already ready to eat!)... Oh, did I mention? Inclusive breakfast - only bread with margerine and jam plus your choice of 3 in 1 coffee or tea bags. Anything else, buy yourself. What were you expecting from a Backpacker's Inn??
There were already a bunch of people near the kitchen, so half of us decided to look for our friendly neighbourhood spider...sorry, mamak store and the other half chose to wait and wash their eyes...Actually they waited in line so that they could use the kitchen for a free breakfast, but really, the sight all around.....hmmmm (would have used yum, but after awhile, yum became normal, so maybe not.) I was part of the group that went food hunting elsewhere; the view while nice, doesn't particularly interest me, especially if I'm hungry. So 4 of us ( Brian, Emil, NebNeb & I) went around the block and found something we could call home, a mamak store. A couple of Roti Telur's later, we were well fed. The other 3 (Ahmad, Andy & Azmin) stayed and had their first meal on the Inn.
Returning to the Inn, we were informed that we will be located at another building (the old one) and we have to wait till about 12.30pm before we could see our abodes. With a couple of hours to kill, what do some of us do? Chor Tai Ti! (they stayed off the monies though, I doubt gambling would have been allowed). Fast forward to moving into our rooms/beds, my haste resulted in me choosing the first available room only to have Emil pick up the 'Presidential Suite' of the Inn, a double bed + single bed room with attached bathroom. Myself and Ahmad shared one room (just like 2 years ago) and Emil had to wait for Loco, his roommate. The others moved upstairs where the dorm was and the bathrooms and toilet (there were 2 toilets, but the if you close the outer door toilet, you can't access the inner toilet) were too. (un)Luckily, Emil later complained that the attached bathroom had no hot water (mine had no attached bath, by the way). Once settled and accepted that you get peanuts when you pay peanuts (i.e. SGD 24 per night), we contacted our resident RAW DEAL agent/trader who's Malaysian but working in Singapore, Herman.
Funny thing is, he doesn't know Little India much. So it was quite a task to coordinate meeting up with him since I didn't know Little India myself (now that I've spent a weekend there, I would have little problem moving about). After several phonecalls ( I haven't used the public phones for awhile since I owned a mobile phone...Reminded me of my school days where I'd call my friends with a public phone for hours at one go....) we finally met up and proceeded to have lunch, which was just next door! All of us were too hungry to find anything nicer so Nasi Daun Pisang (I think..) at SGD 3.80 it is!. After lunch, Herman suggested we head to a regular Raw Deal retailer to scout at decks and maybe play in a local tournament. We all agreed and Serene Centre was our next destination.
To get there, however, we had to go on 2 cabs. Little India isn't really a developed area, much like Petaling Street in KL, so we had to walk to a nearby shopping complex to hail our cabs. Now, to think we're in Singapore, were they have laws against chewing gum, you'd think that they'd insist on people hailing cabs at proper taxi stands and not 25 metres away from a bus stop just around the corner of a road. Well, that's where we had to queue in an invisible line to hail our cabs. As if it isn't already apparent that Singaporeans are a kiasu (not willing to lose) lot, this elderly (not that old, around late fifties. Looks frail but physically quite alright) man jumps queue by moving ahead of the (invisible) line and hailed the cab ahead of us, all eight young, big and strong (ok, the strong part maybe a little exagerrated, but the big part applies to a number of us) men. How do you beat that kind of kiasu-ness??
Apart from that mishap, eventually we managed to get on our cabs and Serene Centre is next....But this post has gone a little to long, so to be continued...ok..
Getting inside, the receptionist was a 'nice' chinese girl which took Azmin less than 1 second to start doing his thing on her (no, Azmin never managed to get laid, if that's what you're thinking, There were seven of us, remember? He'll have to wait in line, haha!!)(Ok, most of that caption was untrue, so you decide which part!). We were told that check in was at 12pm, but we could place our luggage at the store. Oh, and we could also cook our own breakfast if we wanted as breakfast was inclusive. In the store were more luggage AND an insane amount of bread (loaves) with Margerine and Jam (No, they're not already ready to eat!)... Oh, did I mention? Inclusive breakfast - only bread with margerine and jam plus your choice of 3 in 1 coffee or tea bags. Anything else, buy yourself. What were you expecting from a Backpacker's Inn??
There were already a bunch of people near the kitchen, so half of us decided to look for our friendly neighbourhood spider...sorry, mamak store and the other half chose to wait and wash their eyes...Actually they waited in line so that they could use the kitchen for a free breakfast, but really, the sight all around.....hmmmm (would have used yum, but after awhile, yum became normal, so maybe not.) I was part of the group that went food hunting elsewhere; the view while nice, doesn't particularly interest me, especially if I'm hungry. So 4 of us ( Brian, Emil, NebNeb & I) went around the block and found something we could call home, a mamak store. A couple of Roti Telur's later, we were well fed. The other 3 (Ahmad, Andy & Azmin) stayed and had their first meal on the Inn.
Returning to the Inn, we were informed that we will be located at another building (the old one) and we have to wait till about 12.30pm before we could see our abodes. With a couple of hours to kill, what do some of us do? Chor Tai Ti! (they stayed off the monies though, I doubt gambling would have been allowed). Fast forward to moving into our rooms/beds, my haste resulted in me choosing the first available room only to have Emil pick up the 'Presidential Suite' of the Inn, a double bed + single bed room with attached bathroom. Myself and Ahmad shared one room (just like 2 years ago) and Emil had to wait for Loco, his roommate. The others moved upstairs where the dorm was and the bathrooms and toilet (there were 2 toilets, but the if you close the outer door toilet, you can't access the inner toilet) were too. (un)Luckily, Emil later complained that the attached bathroom had no hot water (mine had no attached bath, by the way). Once settled and accepted that you get peanuts when you pay peanuts (i.e. SGD 24 per night), we contacted our resident RAW DEAL agent/trader who's Malaysian but working in Singapore, Herman.
Funny thing is, he doesn't know Little India much. So it was quite a task to coordinate meeting up with him since I didn't know Little India myself (now that I've spent a weekend there, I would have little problem moving about). After several phonecalls ( I haven't used the public phones for awhile since I owned a mobile phone...Reminded me of my school days where I'd call my friends with a public phone for hours at one go....) we finally met up and proceeded to have lunch, which was just next door! All of us were too hungry to find anything nicer so Nasi Daun Pisang (I think..) at SGD 3.80 it is!. After lunch, Herman suggested we head to a regular Raw Deal retailer to scout at decks and maybe play in a local tournament. We all agreed and Serene Centre was our next destination.
To get there, however, we had to go on 2 cabs. Little India isn't really a developed area, much like Petaling Street in KL, so we had to walk to a nearby shopping complex to hail our cabs. Now, to think we're in Singapore, were they have laws against chewing gum, you'd think that they'd insist on people hailing cabs at proper taxi stands and not 25 metres away from a bus stop just around the corner of a road. Well, that's where we had to queue in an invisible line to hail our cabs. As if it isn't already apparent that Singaporeans are a kiasu (not willing to lose) lot, this elderly (not that old, around late fifties. Looks frail but physically quite alright) man jumps queue by moving ahead of the (invisible) line and hailed the cab ahead of us, all eight young, big and strong (ok, the strong part maybe a little exagerrated, but the big part applies to a number of us) men. How do you beat that kind of kiasu-ness??
Apart from that mishap, eventually we managed to get on our cabs and Serene Centre is next....But this post has gone a little to long, so to be continued...ok..
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Not So Blind leading the Rather Blind...(Still about the Singapore Trip)..
A little background before I continue the story about the Singapore trip. I've never been at The InnCrowd Backpackers inn. Last year me and Azmin found this place on the web, but because we had a female in the party and only had 4 persons travelling, not to mention there were no more rooms available and we had less than 3 weeks to plan for the trip...(ok, sentence structure sucks, but intentional). So this year I took the opportunity to get everyone to buy in because I was too lazy to find other lodging and at just SGD$18, it is a steal! (OK, rooms cost more, but there's a reason why you're sharing 16 to a room, right?!) Since no one wanted to do the dirty work, I successfully 'bullied' everyone into accepting cheap lodging but share sleeping area with strangers (which in the end I'm sure they didn't mind!). Ok, enough background.
We finally 'escaped' customs after the officer decided Azmin was no threat at all, despite his flirtatious efforts. Making our way to the nearest bus stop, I couldn't recall which bus we needed to take to the Woodlands MRT station. Someone had to ask a local (Azmin I think, it was a girl he asked too!) and off we go boarding the next available bus. Since we just arrived in Singapore, most of them didn't have loose change (coins) and for some reason no one wanted to ask me for some. I had like, a pouch full of coins? Anyway, we boarded the bus and frankly speaking, I was trying to recall how I got to Bugis Station 2 years ago with Ahmad alone, so my memory was rather dusty. Luckily the last destination was the MRT station, so it was easy to act like I knew it was the stop all along (though I had a feeling they already guessed I was going on hunches).
Getting off the bus, we made our way to the entrance when an important question was raised....Breakfast??? I suppose with 7 on tow, there had to be people who's been in Singapore more often than I, so it was decided that breakfast it is but not at Burger King (Have I not mentioned that I intend to have Burger King Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Supper??). So Burger King(BK) breakfast was a failure...We stepped out of the restaurant, around 70 metres away from the MRT entrance and right in front of us was a SAM (Self Automated Machine, I think) unit. Andy, who recently got a new job that had a small reference to the machine, looked on with interest. No prizes of guessing the other 6 (I knew about SAMs so I wasn't looking on like them) looked on as interested as Andy having no clue why on earth he was looking at it. After a couple of minutes, it finally dawned upon them that WE (as in Andy and I) knew why we were looking at it and it had nothing to do with the trip or that the device was cool.
Aside from BK, there were really no other options for food if they were looking for cheap ones (in Singapore, where???(you all can shoot me later)) so we finally ended up heading to the MRT without feeding. After a little indecision over which line and stop (at the MRT, because I couldn't remember precisely), we bought our tickets (again, no one asked if I had spare change). While attempting to get into the platform, a guard noticed Emil with his trolley bag and proceeded to do a random check on him. Since we had this camaraderie going on we decided to wait until his search was over, not realising our bags aren't that much smaller than his. So one 'random' check became 5 'not random anymore you stupid Malaysian travellers forcing me to do more than one check when you all should have just proceeded to the platform while I check on your friend' check. We missed the train by mere seconds and had to wait around for the next. In between, a jibe here and there over who's fault is it anyway that we missed the train.
Once on it, it was a whopping 10+ (if I recall correctly, it should be 13) stops before we reach Bugis station. Originally the crowd was ok, and NebNeb managed to get a seat early while the rest of us stood. After awhile the crowds grew and we were almost experiencing a sardine-like scenerio. I must admit though, at least the MRT had good ventilation and conditioning, so even with the crowd I didn't feel warm/hot...No pun please...After nearly an hour on the train and a change of lines, we reached Bugis station. We then had to pick either of two exits (right or left, since I cannot recall the street names) and with me not deciphering the map as quickly as they expected, they chose the exit instead.
Now, I know it's a little braggy, but I've always had a better sense of direction. Than most. It's not absolute, but close. In GURPS terms, Absolute direction was a 5 point advantage, mine would probably cost 4. (GURPS is an RPG system, in case you don't know...(Role Playing Game)) So exiting the station, I/we found out that the other exit would have been closer, but nonetheless I found the direction that we needed to travel. I did have the map, but no maps would do any good if you couldn't read it. I also find locations faster/easier when I'm moving alone and ahead, much like a scout. The problem is people tend to think that I'm being cocky by moving ahead, so at times I have no choice but to slow down (not to mention they're slow followers, so maybe I am cocky after all!!!)
15 minutes, 6 blocks or so and lots of tired legs (8 pairs to be exact), we finally found our InnCrowd Backpackers inn!!! Hooray.....
But the troubles don't end there......
(Next up, life in a Backpackers Inn...Thank god I didn't have a camera or I'll have to really control myself from taking illegal photos!!)
We finally 'escaped' customs after the officer decided Azmin was no threat at all, despite his flirtatious efforts. Making our way to the nearest bus stop, I couldn't recall which bus we needed to take to the Woodlands MRT station. Someone had to ask a local (Azmin I think, it was a girl he asked too!) and off we go boarding the next available bus. Since we just arrived in Singapore, most of them didn't have loose change (coins) and for some reason no one wanted to ask me for some. I had like, a pouch full of coins? Anyway, we boarded the bus and frankly speaking, I was trying to recall how I got to Bugis Station 2 years ago with Ahmad alone, so my memory was rather dusty. Luckily the last destination was the MRT station, so it was easy to act like I knew it was the stop all along (though I had a feeling they already guessed I was going on hunches).
Getting off the bus, we made our way to the entrance when an important question was raised....Breakfast??? I suppose with 7 on tow, there had to be people who's been in Singapore more often than I, so it was decided that breakfast it is but not at Burger King (Have I not mentioned that I intend to have Burger King Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Supper??). So Burger King(BK) breakfast was a failure...We stepped out of the restaurant, around 70 metres away from the MRT entrance and right in front of us was a SAM (Self Automated Machine, I think) unit. Andy, who recently got a new job that had a small reference to the machine, looked on with interest. No prizes of guessing the other 6 (I knew about SAMs so I wasn't looking on like them) looked on as interested as Andy having no clue why on earth he was looking at it. After a couple of minutes, it finally dawned upon them that WE (as in Andy and I) knew why we were looking at it and it had nothing to do with the trip or that the device was cool.
Aside from BK, there were really no other options for food if they were looking for cheap ones (in Singapore, where???(you all can shoot me later)) so we finally ended up heading to the MRT without feeding. After a little indecision over which line and stop (at the MRT, because I couldn't remember precisely), we bought our tickets (again, no one asked if I had spare change). While attempting to get into the platform, a guard noticed Emil with his trolley bag and proceeded to do a random check on him. Since we had this camaraderie going on we decided to wait until his search was over, not realising our bags aren't that much smaller than his. So one 'random' check became 5 'not random anymore you stupid Malaysian travellers forcing me to do more than one check when you all should have just proceeded to the platform while I check on your friend' check. We missed the train by mere seconds and had to wait around for the next. In between, a jibe here and there over who's fault is it anyway that we missed the train.
Once on it, it was a whopping 10+ (if I recall correctly, it should be 13) stops before we reach Bugis station. Originally the crowd was ok, and NebNeb managed to get a seat early while the rest of us stood. After awhile the crowds grew and we were almost experiencing a sardine-like scenerio. I must admit though, at least the MRT had good ventilation and conditioning, so even with the crowd I didn't feel warm/hot...No pun please...After nearly an hour on the train and a change of lines, we reached Bugis station. We then had to pick either of two exits (right or left, since I cannot recall the street names) and with me not deciphering the map as quickly as they expected, they chose the exit instead.
Now, I know it's a little braggy, but I've always had a better sense of direction. Than most. It's not absolute, but close. In GURPS terms, Absolute direction was a 5 point advantage, mine would probably cost 4. (GURPS is an RPG system, in case you don't know...(Role Playing Game)) So exiting the station, I/we found out that the other exit would have been closer, but nonetheless I found the direction that we needed to travel. I did have the map, but no maps would do any good if you couldn't read it. I also find locations faster/easier when I'm moving alone and ahead, much like a scout. The problem is people tend to think that I'm being cocky by moving ahead, so at times I have no choice but to slow down (not to mention they're slow followers, so maybe I am cocky after all!!!)
15 minutes, 6 blocks or so and lots of tired legs (8 pairs to be exact), we finally found our InnCrowd Backpackers inn!!! Hooray.....
But the troubles don't end there......
(Next up, life in a Backpackers Inn...Thank god I didn't have a camera or I'll have to really control myself from taking illegal photos!!)
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
What do you do when you're on a Night Train??
Playtest of course!!!!! (OK, in case you didn't notice, this is basically part 3 of the Singapore trip 2007).
Andy, NebNeb & Emil went for the bunkers (i.e. night beds). Me, Azmin, Bryan and Ahmad decided to go el cheapo and pay RM13 less for seats. Bryan and Ahmad were sharing a row, so no issues for them. Azmin happily explained that he had a cute chinese girl as company, who unfortunately alighted well before I could bother to go validate his story. My guess it has something to do with his ability to rest his head on his OWN shoulder and in the process sound like the train. In other words, he has breathing issues while asleep. (Or, he could have been naughty and the girl left him the first chance she got. It was a multiple city stop train, anyway...)
Myself, I had to share with an elderly who was about my size bar the height. Let's just say later that night I took the first opportunity I got to takeover empty seats further behind so as to allow both of us sufficient sleeping area.
Once we settled in (except for me), we proceeded to commune at the cafeteria which is located in the middle of the train. This was where 2 years ago myself and Ahmad went GOLDBerg VS FBI head to head like 7 times throughout the night. This time however, we had backup. Suprisingly there were quite a number of passengers also using the cafeteria. There was a Korean family, several other local families, some groupies and of course, us (who took up 3 out of like 11 tables). Not that we cared, though Azmin and his Diva Victoria may or may not have gotten a stare or two with her, ahem, image. Andy tweaked his Big Freakin' Machine to much more devastating success, while we faced Emil's Ken Kennedy for the first time. Unluckily for KK, my Eugene top-decked a DTTAH (Don't Try This At Home, that's a card, btw..) with a 4 card draw while Mr. PPV just looked for it with my R-V-D. We playtested for a number of hours (we started playtesting about 11pm, I think and only ended about 3am..If my memory serves me right) eventually leaving just myself and Andy still having some attention to continue playing.
Oh, did I mentioned I left my paid seat in search for a cosier seat elsewhere? By about 4am some passengers alighted of and I hostile tookover their seats. Later the officer came over and asked for my ticket again, presumably knowing there shouldn't be anyone in those seats now.
Also, did I mention that this trip was almost cancelled because we had fears over the flood situation? Actually, I was always confident the train lines weren't affected, but this NebNeb was worried sick enough to post (where else but on YFF) and question my insistence on taking the train. Almost made me tell him to sod off, but he is after all the funny looking stranded guy in the VIOS ad (I got it right this time around!!). In any case, either it was too dark (which I believe is the case) or there weren't really any flood at all down south. I had this conspiracy theory that the whole flood thing could be a Wag the Dog plot, you know, the movie which had Dustin Hoffman play a Hollywood producer who helped the US Goverment into cooking up a non-existent war to divert the public attention from the President's misdemeanors? Anyway, a little fast forward, it seems the floods are as real as it gets, so apologies...
The train was suppose to leave KL Sentral at 10.00pm and arrive at 8.20am. Despite leaving late, we actually arrived early in Singapore, which I believe is about 7.30am? Before I close of this post (which doesn't finish off the whole trip story, actually), I should mentioned that Azmin, much like me, needs to get married. That way we cease to become a danger to ourselves while we attempt to get lucky (and I'm not even talking about sex, haha!) You see, while lining up for Singapore Immigration, Azmin spotted the only youthful looking female officer amongst all the boring and old male officers available. So he swiftly moved over to that line, I presume for a closer look. 2 more persons to go, the lady actually changed shifts! So all that waiting almost went to waste, but lo and behold, yet another youthful female officer took over! (though I'm quite sure Azmin would have preferred the earlier one). Not to mention, when it was finally Azmin's turn, that previous officer was still around, hanging out for god knows what! However, Azmin's flirtatious nature got him into some inconvenience when some roaming officer (male, of course!) decides to take interest in his passport and took over. I blame his multiple visits to Indonesia, but I think the truth is he could be hitting on that officer's girl!! Haha!. So after like 10 minutes it was decided they didn't have enough to hold Azmin, so he finally got through Immigration.
As for myself, I had the arse luck of waiting behind some Vietnamese passengers, which I thought would hold up the line, only to move to another line where some Indian family's passport got extra scrutiny, making me having to jump back to my previous line, at a lower queue. (So patience isn't exactly always my virtue, ok!)
Enough about the train and passing thorugh Immigration, on to trying to find our lodging!
..........
Andy, NebNeb & Emil went for the bunkers (i.e. night beds). Me, Azmin, Bryan and Ahmad decided to go el cheapo and pay RM13 less for seats. Bryan and Ahmad were sharing a row, so no issues for them. Azmin happily explained that he had a cute chinese girl as company, who unfortunately alighted well before I could bother to go validate his story. My guess it has something to do with his ability to rest his head on his OWN shoulder and in the process sound like the train. In other words, he has breathing issues while asleep. (Or, he could have been naughty and the girl left him the first chance she got. It was a multiple city stop train, anyway...)
Myself, I had to share with an elderly who was about my size bar the height. Let's just say later that night I took the first opportunity I got to takeover empty seats further behind so as to allow both of us sufficient sleeping area.
Once we settled in (except for me), we proceeded to commune at the cafeteria which is located in the middle of the train. This was where 2 years ago myself and Ahmad went GOLDBerg VS FBI head to head like 7 times throughout the night. This time however, we had backup. Suprisingly there were quite a number of passengers also using the cafeteria. There was a Korean family, several other local families, some groupies and of course, us (who took up 3 out of like 11 tables). Not that we cared, though Azmin and his Diva Victoria may or may not have gotten a stare or two with her, ahem, image. Andy tweaked his Big Freakin' Machine to much more devastating success, while we faced Emil's Ken Kennedy for the first time. Unluckily for KK, my Eugene top-decked a DTTAH (Don't Try This At Home, that's a card, btw..) with a 4 card draw while Mr. PPV just looked for it with my R-V-D. We playtested for a number of hours (we started playtesting about 11pm, I think and only ended about 3am..If my memory serves me right) eventually leaving just myself and Andy still having some attention to continue playing.
Oh, did I mentioned I left my paid seat in search for a cosier seat elsewhere? By about 4am some passengers alighted of and I hostile tookover their seats. Later the officer came over and asked for my ticket again, presumably knowing there shouldn't be anyone in those seats now.
Also, did I mention that this trip was almost cancelled because we had fears over the flood situation? Actually, I was always confident the train lines weren't affected, but this NebNeb was worried sick enough to post (where else but on YFF) and question my insistence on taking the train. Almost made me tell him to sod off, but he is after all the funny looking stranded guy in the VIOS ad (I got it right this time around!!). In any case, either it was too dark (which I believe is the case) or there weren't really any flood at all down south. I had this conspiracy theory that the whole flood thing could be a Wag the Dog plot, you know, the movie which had Dustin Hoffman play a Hollywood producer who helped the US Goverment into cooking up a non-existent war to divert the public attention from the President's misdemeanors? Anyway, a little fast forward, it seems the floods are as real as it gets, so apologies...
The train was suppose to leave KL Sentral at 10.00pm and arrive at 8.20am. Despite leaving late, we actually arrived early in Singapore, which I believe is about 7.30am? Before I close of this post (which doesn't finish off the whole trip story, actually), I should mentioned that Azmin, much like me, needs to get married. That way we cease to become a danger to ourselves while we attempt to get lucky (and I'm not even talking about sex, haha!) You see, while lining up for Singapore Immigration, Azmin spotted the only youthful looking female officer amongst all the boring and old male officers available. So he swiftly moved over to that line, I presume for a closer look. 2 more persons to go, the lady actually changed shifts! So all that waiting almost went to waste, but lo and behold, yet another youthful female officer took over! (though I'm quite sure Azmin would have preferred the earlier one). Not to mention, when it was finally Azmin's turn, that previous officer was still around, hanging out for god knows what! However, Azmin's flirtatious nature got him into some inconvenience when some roaming officer (male, of course!) decides to take interest in his passport and took over. I blame his multiple visits to Indonesia, but I think the truth is he could be hitting on that officer's girl!! Haha!. So after like 10 minutes it was decided they didn't have enough to hold Azmin, so he finally got through Immigration.
As for myself, I had the arse luck of waiting behind some Vietnamese passengers, which I thought would hold up the line, only to move to another line where some Indian family's passport got extra scrutiny, making me having to jump back to my previous line, at a lower queue. (So patience isn't exactly always my virtue, ok!)
Enough about the train and passing thorugh Immigration, on to trying to find our lodging!
..........
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
One week before Train Ride....(Continuation for Singapore Qualifiers 2007)
.....One final mini tournament to prepare us folks going to Singapore. I played Mr. PPV and handed Bryan's Leader of Peepulation deck to some random dude because Bryan was indecisive at what he wanted to play (you'll hear later more reasons why he's got second thoughts).. I lost my first game to the Peeps deck because I, erm, cheated...Well I didn't really cheated, I just played cards that I couldn't have played in the first place. I didn't make the play-offs, but surprisingly the other deck did and it won me a title belt.
That night, Azmin, Andy and I had a little chat on what to play and we pitched to Azmin to play Victoria BASH instead of Torrie Wilson. However, most of the time at the Mamak Azmin was so preoccupied with another patron sitting next to us that I doubt he agreed with much proper thought. Admittedly the distraction was, somewhat distracting, but...Nevermind..
Later Bryan confirmed wanting to use my deck, but wasn't too happy that I demanded 50% of whatever that he won in Singapore. Azmin didn't have any issues at all, but Bryan waited until Monday and several sms before agreeing to my demand. OK, I'm not a charitable person, but that should be obvious, no?
We have opted to travel to Singapore via the Friday night train so that we'd arrive early Saturday morning in Singapore, giving us ample time to bump our way to our Backpackers Inn @ Dunlop Street. I'll talk about the Inn when I get there. Oh, there was this little miscommunication invloving Ahmad, Dawn & myself.
You see, as of Friday night (One week away from Tourney weekend), I haven't gotten confirmation from Dawn she is joining. All of a sudden, while happily enjoying Liverpool's win over Chelsea, Dawn sms me to find out the details AND this was Saturday night (I've already told everyone to confirm the night before...) Prior to that, while I was having the nicest afternoon naps, Ahmad decides to tell me that his father will not be joining us because he had a wedding to attend. I instead heard it as he was bailing out, so I told Dawn she could take Ahmad's place. Lo & behold, Ahmad rings me to tell me it was his Dad alone that won't be going to Singapore, not this workaholic who's about to leave the company in a week but still working until midnight. Eventually I had to do one more booking for Dawn who, decided to opt out on Wednesday. Too bad the cancellation agreement applies, and Dawn, i'm still collecting..haha!
Back to going to Singapore...or the lead up, actually. With less than 5 days to playtest, everyday (except Thursday, because I had to pack) I met up with some of the blokes to do some playtesting. Azmin unfortunately had a system crash in the office which could have scuttled his trip, so to make up for it he had to work late throughout the week and thus no playtesting. Emil had to juggle between home & hobby, so since hobby is taking over his weekend, he'd have to let home have his weekdays. As for the rest, I don't quite know why they didn't playtest as often (Let's not wonder why workaholic Ahmad didn't playtest at all).
Come Friday morning I decided to...131129147518. ( I can't really type that in full view as I might get in trouble). So instead of working, I packed my stuff (I slept on Thursday night instead of packing). After that and several post on the YFF (Yahoo Fantasy Football, the other thing I do at work, haha!) it's time to head out and leave the country!
Ok, enough background details. Friday night came and we decided to meet up at AmCorp (our hang out place..Everyone needs one of these places..) at 8.00pm. Azmin had his parents send him (considering his age, I'm not sure it that was boon or bane. I'll assume it's boon for now..) to KL Sentral, where the train is; Loco already traveled to Singapore in the morning because he had a gig that night; myself, Andy, NebNeb & Bryan was at the shop on time. As always, someone must be late. So no prices for getting who. By 8.30pm I insisted we make a move before we ended up missing the train too, but luckily everyone managed to get to AmCorp just before we headed off.
Then a startling discovery occurred. No, everyone had their passports. I brought along the tickets that I bought earlier on Wednesday. Ahmad, who had Andy build him an Al Snow deck, forgot to bring Al Snow's feud "No Gimmicks Needed" which was rather critical to his deck being viable. This after being reminded throughout the week to bring it. This after I was asked to bring the superstar specific cards to Andy on monday, only for him to tell me he's got everything from Ahmad. In other words, if you're looking for signs, this was it. Ahmad Needed No Gimmicks (eventually he paid SGD 5 for it in Singapore, when he could have owned one for SGD 2..So, Ahmad, what'cha gonna do now with 2 "No Gimmicks Needed?" now?). While waiting to board the train, I grabbed myself the 'supposed' Big Fish sandwich from KFC of which big it ain't while the rest got tickets and stuff. Unfortunately we were a little early and the train ended up late. So the guys decided to 'Chor Tai Ti' on the floor while waiting for the announcement to board! Here we have a bunch of, well, people who officially can't gamble playing with your usual deck of cards. At some point I must insist I wished the officers would drop by and go overzealous on them (there was no money involved, but since when has it ever stopped overzealous people?) just to get to see the drama, but luckily I'm an unlucky guy and before long it's time to board the train.
More to come.......
That night, Azmin, Andy and I had a little chat on what to play and we pitched to Azmin to play Victoria BASH instead of Torrie Wilson. However, most of the time at the Mamak Azmin was so preoccupied with another patron sitting next to us that I doubt he agreed with much proper thought. Admittedly the distraction was, somewhat distracting, but...Nevermind..
Later Bryan confirmed wanting to use my deck, but wasn't too happy that I demanded 50% of whatever that he won in Singapore. Azmin didn't have any issues at all, but Bryan waited until Monday and several sms before agreeing to my demand. OK, I'm not a charitable person, but that should be obvious, no?
We have opted to travel to Singapore via the Friday night train so that we'd arrive early Saturday morning in Singapore, giving us ample time to bump our way to our Backpackers Inn @ Dunlop Street. I'll talk about the Inn when I get there. Oh, there was this little miscommunication invloving Ahmad, Dawn & myself.
You see, as of Friday night (One week away from Tourney weekend), I haven't gotten confirmation from Dawn she is joining. All of a sudden, while happily enjoying Liverpool's win over Chelsea, Dawn sms me to find out the details AND this was Saturday night (I've already told everyone to confirm the night before...) Prior to that, while I was having the nicest afternoon naps, Ahmad decides to tell me that his father will not be joining us because he had a wedding to attend. I instead heard it as he was bailing out, so I told Dawn she could take Ahmad's place. Lo & behold, Ahmad rings me to tell me it was his Dad alone that won't be going to Singapore, not this workaholic who's about to leave the company in a week but still working until midnight. Eventually I had to do one more booking for Dawn who, decided to opt out on Wednesday. Too bad the cancellation agreement applies, and Dawn, i'm still collecting..haha!
Back to going to Singapore...or the lead up, actually. With less than 5 days to playtest, everyday (except Thursday, because I had to pack) I met up with some of the blokes to do some playtesting. Azmin unfortunately had a system crash in the office which could have scuttled his trip, so to make up for it he had to work late throughout the week and thus no playtesting. Emil had to juggle between home & hobby, so since hobby is taking over his weekend, he'd have to let home have his weekdays. As for the rest, I don't quite know why they didn't playtest as often (Let's not wonder why workaholic Ahmad didn't playtest at all).
Come Friday morning I decided to...131129147518. ( I can't really type that in full view as I might get in trouble). So instead of working, I packed my stuff (I slept on Thursday night instead of packing). After that and several post on the YFF (Yahoo Fantasy Football, the other thing I do at work, haha!) it's time to head out and leave the country!
Ok, enough background details. Friday night came and we decided to meet up at AmCorp (our hang out place..Everyone needs one of these places..) at 8.00pm. Azmin had his parents send him (considering his age, I'm not sure it that was boon or bane. I'll assume it's boon for now..) to KL Sentral, where the train is; Loco already traveled to Singapore in the morning because he had a gig that night; myself, Andy, NebNeb & Bryan was at the shop on time. As always, someone must be late. So no prices for getting who. By 8.30pm I insisted we make a move before we ended up missing the train too, but luckily everyone managed to get to AmCorp just before we headed off.
Then a startling discovery occurred. No, everyone had their passports. I brought along the tickets that I bought earlier on Wednesday. Ahmad, who had Andy build him an Al Snow deck, forgot to bring Al Snow's feud "No Gimmicks Needed" which was rather critical to his deck being viable. This after being reminded throughout the week to bring it. This after I was asked to bring the superstar specific cards to Andy on monday, only for him to tell me he's got everything from Ahmad. In other words, if you're looking for signs, this was it. Ahmad Needed No Gimmicks (eventually he paid SGD 5 for it in Singapore, when he could have owned one for SGD 2..So, Ahmad, what'cha gonna do now with 2 "No Gimmicks Needed?" now?). While waiting to board the train, I grabbed myself the 'supposed' Big Fish sandwich from KFC of which big it ain't while the rest got tickets and stuff. Unfortunately we were a little early and the train ended up late. So the guys decided to 'Chor Tai Ti' on the floor while waiting for the announcement to board! Here we have a bunch of, well, people who officially can't gamble playing with your usual deck of cards. At some point I must insist I wished the officers would drop by and go overzealous on them (there was no money involved, but since when has it ever stopped overzealous people?) just to get to see the drama, but luckily I'm an unlucky guy and before long it's time to board the train.
More to come.......
The Road to Vic...I mean Singapore Raw Deal Qualifiers
Ok, the weekend came and went and gave me nightmares. That don't mean I won't shoot myself here just to put things on record. Having said that, I'll do my usual thing and provide an in-depth recollection of my trip down under (ok, not that far under, just Singapore) and the misadventures that I had. Oh, less I forget, this story relates very much to Raw Deal card game and WWE (you know, the wrestling programme..)
Disclaimer: Names mentioned here are not their 'real' names to protect their sensitive lives and dignity (obviously I intend to diss anyone and everyone I could think of), not to mention to avoid lawsuits that's being brought upon many bloggers...
On to it!
err....where do I start???
Ok, about 4 weeks ago I got an SMS from Fiezan that the Singapore Qualifiers were to be held on 28th January 2007. Now, Fiezan, who's a resident tournament organiser and probably amongst the top 3 in terms of Raw Deal card collection size, have consistently....failed...to make...the EVENT...TWO YEARS RUNNING ( the Qualifiers began in 2005) and since last year has shown much promise that he would pass the red tape of being a government servant wanting to visit another country having to need the Minister's approval to go. I didn't believe him at first, but eventually the tournament details were posted online and I had to believe it now. With that, the planning for yet another ROAD TRIP began..
The usual suspect of last year confirmed to go. That's myself and Azmin. He's also a two time tripper (with the most recent one, we make it 3 for 3). He had some slight problems at work, but got lucky anyway and managed to get leave approved (we planned to return on Monday, so a day's leave was crucial to our plans). He did however, had some other problems that cropped up that prevented him to actually focus on playtesting his deck, but that's another story....
Nex to confirm was the other top 3 collector (one could say he has the most, but I must protest), Emil. The past 2 years I wasn't really sure where he was, but from the first to now, this dude got married and have a baby girl, so I guess that somewhat explains why he was non-present the last 2 trips. But he is confirmed this time. So that makes 3.
Oh, in case you don't read the bias, I OBVIOUSLY think I HAVE the BIGGEST RAW DEAL card collection amongst my peers...But then again, I am HHH...I mean, bias...
Then word got out that I was willing to 'sacrifice' my own time to make the logistic arrangements and 'recruiting' road trippers. For awhile, we had about 10 persons saying they wanted to go...Alas, in the end we had 8+2...(Why plus 2? Find out later)..
The other road trippers were (in no order since I can't be bothered to think of one..)
Andy - Went the first year. Second time gave a miss because he had trouble getting leave (actually I think he just had jitters playing in a big tournament, but I can't prove it...). This time around he was determined to make it, even to the extent of sacrificing leisure by returning Sunday night and working Monday morning. Now this is determination, unlike a certain someone I'll diss later on, haha! Oh, he's well known as the Pirate, who'll con any which way to win....Quite unfortunately that didn't help his performance much on Sunday..
Ahmad - Went first year, missing second year. Now this guy practically gave up wrestling for better nights in the office (He sleeps there...). So when all of a sudden I'm informed he wants to go, I was quite surprised. But he was an excellent playtest partner during my first trip, so having him around couldn't be anything but fun..Of course, midway he informs his DAD wants to come along , so he could shop in Singapore (no, I don't think the game appeals to middle-aged men, yet). Fortunately a wedding cropped up and Ahmad was home free (for the moment).
NebNeb - Now this guy's been overseas the last couple of years, so this turns out to be his first (hopefully not his last). Not much I can say about him, though I do admit now I wasn't convince his Edge was tournament viable (bleah!)
Bryan - "I want to go". "I can't go because of CENSORED reasons". "I may be able to go because I may have a sponsor" (I can't tell who the sponsor is because I'm sure us being MCPs I'll get killed in the soonest future...). "Singapore Online!" Those were some of the things that he said in the build up to the trip. Other than that he has a New Year's Resolution of staying single. I don't know why anyone would need a resolution to do that. I've been single all my life!
Loco - He was there last year, but not the first. For those who read last year's edition, we had a spat over some things. There was a spat this time to, but is was leading up to the trip rather than on the trip itself..
Lastly there's Michael who decides to be superman and drive to Singapore Sunday night (so he isn't really part of the Road Trip) and Herman, who's a resident in Singapore but recently been helping us out (Ok Emil, so he helped me out a little more with the Fifth Year Anniversary card....Jealous???)
Oh, there was Dawn, who went the first 2 years. But things came up and she decided to cancel within 72 hours from departure date. I still aim to collect the dorm bed booking fee, since I can't get it refunded!
If you're wondering about Fiezan...Well, let's say he's got more than just red tape wrapped around his perfectly shaped body (they say round is a shape too, correct?) I think he's also got Green, Blue White & Black tape on him...Wait, that's Magic: the Gathering colours....Nevermind...In the end he's A NO SHOW....
(Continues to ONE week before we leave...)
Disclaimer: Names mentioned here are not their 'real' names to protect their sensitive lives and dignity (obviously I intend to diss anyone and everyone I could think of), not to mention to avoid lawsuits that's being brought upon many bloggers...
On to it!
err....where do I start???
Ok, about 4 weeks ago I got an SMS from Fiezan that the Singapore Qualifiers were to be held on 28th January 2007. Now, Fiezan, who's a resident tournament organiser and probably amongst the top 3 in terms of Raw Deal card collection size, have consistently....failed...to make...the EVENT...TWO YEARS RUNNING ( the Qualifiers began in 2005) and since last year has shown much promise that he would pass the red tape of being a government servant wanting to visit another country having to need the Minister's approval to go. I didn't believe him at first, but eventually the tournament details were posted online and I had to believe it now. With that, the planning for yet another ROAD TRIP began..
The usual suspect of last year confirmed to go. That's myself and Azmin. He's also a two time tripper (with the most recent one, we make it 3 for 3). He had some slight problems at work, but got lucky anyway and managed to get leave approved (we planned to return on Monday, so a day's leave was crucial to our plans). He did however, had some other problems that cropped up that prevented him to actually focus on playtesting his deck, but that's another story....
Nex to confirm was the other top 3 collector (one could say he has the most, but I must protest), Emil. The past 2 years I wasn't really sure where he was, but from the first to now, this dude got married and have a baby girl, so I guess that somewhat explains why he was non-present the last 2 trips. But he is confirmed this time. So that makes 3.
Oh, in case you don't read the bias, I OBVIOUSLY think I HAVE the BIGGEST RAW DEAL card collection amongst my peers...But then again, I am HHH...I mean, bias...
Then word got out that I was willing to 'sacrifice' my own time to make the logistic arrangements and 'recruiting' road trippers. For awhile, we had about 10 persons saying they wanted to go...Alas, in the end we had 8+2...(Why plus 2? Find out later)..
The other road trippers were (in no order since I can't be bothered to think of one..)
Andy - Went the first year. Second time gave a miss because he had trouble getting leave (actually I think he just had jitters playing in a big tournament, but I can't prove it...). This time around he was determined to make it, even to the extent of sacrificing leisure by returning Sunday night and working Monday morning. Now this is determination, unlike a certain someone I'll diss later on, haha! Oh, he's well known as the Pirate, who'll con any which way to win....Quite unfortunately that didn't help his performance much on Sunday..
Ahmad - Went first year, missing second year. Now this guy practically gave up wrestling for better nights in the office (He sleeps there...). So when all of a sudden I'm informed he wants to go, I was quite surprised. But he was an excellent playtest partner during my first trip, so having him around couldn't be anything but fun..Of course, midway he informs his DAD wants to come along , so he could shop in Singapore (no, I don't think the game appeals to middle-aged men, yet). Fortunately a wedding cropped up and Ahmad was home free (for the moment).
NebNeb - Now this guy's been overseas the last couple of years, so this turns out to be his first (hopefully not his last). Not much I can say about him, though I do admit now I wasn't convince his Edge was tournament viable (bleah!)
Bryan - "I want to go". "I can't go because of CENSORED reasons". "I may be able to go because I may have a sponsor" (I can't tell who the sponsor is because I'm sure us being MCPs I'll get killed in the soonest future...). "Singapore Online!" Those were some of the things that he said in the build up to the trip. Other than that he has a New Year's Resolution of staying single. I don't know why anyone would need a resolution to do that. I've been single all my life!
Loco - He was there last year, but not the first. For those who read last year's edition, we had a spat over some things. There was a spat this time to, but is was leading up to the trip rather than on the trip itself..
Lastly there's Michael who decides to be superman and drive to Singapore Sunday night (so he isn't really part of the Road Trip) and Herman, who's a resident in Singapore but recently been helping us out (Ok Emil, so he helped me out a little more with the Fifth Year Anniversary card....Jealous???)
Oh, there was Dawn, who went the first 2 years. But things came up and she decided to cancel within 72 hours from departure date. I still aim to collect the dorm bed booking fee, since I can't get it refunded!
If you're wondering about Fiezan...Well, let's say he's got more than just red tape wrapped around his perfectly shaped body (they say round is a shape too, correct?) I think he's also got Green, Blue White & Black tape on him...Wait, that's Magic: the Gathering colours....Nevermind...In the end he's A NO SHOW....
(Continues to ONE week before we leave...)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
It's Time For the Great Singaporean BASH!!!
For those who don't know, the heading is a parody ot a RAW DEAL wrestling card...
It's the time of the year again, where I make my trip down to Singapore and try to get a free trip to WrestleMania....
This year suprisingly the travelling group has increased (last year was 4), but I'll give the details as I write it over 2 centuries and several posts...
I'm also planning on using a most unorthodox deck, one that I am most proud of to pilot...
On other note, I'm a couple of weeks to finally getting my own insurance coverage, which will mean more commitments in the very near future...Yes, I DON'T have a personal insurance now, nor am I keen on anymore...
Also, i'd like to officially announce here that one of my 10 things to do is now accomplished...Which one exactly??? Go figure, haha...
In addition, I'd like to congratulate Liverpool for winning 2-0 against Chelsea at Anfield! Woo Hoo!!!! (and condolences to Man United who lost to Arsenal twice this season...Muahahahahahaha...)
Lastly, consideriing I haven't posted for a while, again......At least I still do, and aim to continue doing so fore.........ve...................Better not commit to the impossible...
It's the time of the year again, where I make my trip down to Singapore and try to get a free trip to WrestleMania....
This year suprisingly the travelling group has increased (last year was 4), but I'll give the details as I write it over 2 centuries and several posts...
I'm also planning on using a most unorthodox deck, one that I am most proud of to pilot...
On other note, I'm a couple of weeks to finally getting my own insurance coverage, which will mean more commitments in the very near future...Yes, I DON'T have a personal insurance now, nor am I keen on anymore...
Also, i'd like to officially announce here that one of my 10 things to do is now accomplished...Which one exactly??? Go figure, haha...
In addition, I'd like to congratulate Liverpool for winning 2-0 against Chelsea at Anfield! Woo Hoo!!!! (and condolences to Man United who lost to Arsenal twice this season...Muahahahahahaha...)
Lastly, consideriing I haven't posted for a while, again......At least I still do, and aim to continue doing so fore.........ve...................Better not commit to the impossible...
Would you believe it???
For a couple of weeks I couldn't sign on to my own blog because my company barred the site. My company has this firewall thingy that basically helps it's employees from visiting 'bad' sites; somehow my blog ended up being BAD....
At last, they've come to the realisation my blog is relatively harmless....I guess i'll stick to not naming my company less I get blocked off again..
Updates next post!
At last, they've come to the realisation my blog is relatively harmless....I guess i'll stick to not naming my company less I get blocked off again..
Updates next post!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The whole new year.....
So I spent 2 weeks (one each year) doing nothing but being sick and playing PC games....
NeverWinter Nights 2 is sufficiently addictive, though at some point I felt the first installment was better...Then I realise I can get all my followers to stay put (and out of trouble) while my main character tears through the city...It doesn't help the fact that my PC (as in personal computer, not Player Character) is becoming obsolete, so displaying more than 4 moving objects in pretty good graphics is more than my system can handle. Hence why it was key to be able to ask all my companions to stay home while I go hack'n'slashing...
Wait, this is about the new year, not about my NeverWinter 2 experience...(will try to put up a different post later....way later...)
Hmmm, I didn't go to any X'mas party because the stingy part of me realised that spending RM50 for booze to bring to the party when I rarely drink so that I make up for the 'entrance' fee wasn't worth it. Last year (2005) I went to the same party (ok, not the same since it's another party held about a year apart, but same host and location) and stayed until the next day afternoon. What did I do? Drank a couple (no beers, as always), endure some amounts of cigarette smoke, lousy music selection (I obviously have differing taste compared to the host and his peers) and after that, slept on the floor. So all that isn't really worth RM 50, really. And no, i didn't really got to know much new people because, well, it may be my fault for not networknig but that's just how it is...Any surprises I gave that party a miss in 2006??
There was another party for the new year that I also gave a miss. It was suppose to be a reunion of sorts as a lot of the people I used to work with (all have since left the company I'm still stuck in) as well as having a number of people still working with me (nobody works for me, so with me is the only term I can use). There was the lure of good food, but again as with most parties, there is an 'entry' fee that I wasn't too keen in paying. So I conveniently forgot about it too...
Suffice to say I am not a party person. I don't mix/mingle well, don't hold proper conversations (less you're as sick and sarcastic AND talk about weird topics like me, it's unlikely you'd find me worth talking too), don't get drunk (others insist I have, but they haven't the slightest clue) and don't do funny things to get people's attention. So as much as a party bores me, I bore parties too. You could say me and parties, mutually exclusive...
And 2007 took over. No new year resolutions, other than a need to get fitter than what I am now. Tennis is something I'm planning to do, since a court is conveniently placed inside my Apartment grounds...All I need is another player, 2 racquets and a good number of balls. Tennis balls. I have the racquets and balls. If only that friend of mine will turn up as regularly as I hope. Any other takers?? Thursday nights are tennis night....
Some people continue to query when I'm going to start driving....Well, if I don't own a car, how shall I drive? On the range?? I wished they'd stop asking, as my answer will always be that I have no car to drive, and thus no need to know how (even if I eventually may or may not know how to, that will still be the answer). Until a time if you see me on the driver's seat and actually steering a car away, I DO NOT DRIVE.
For those who have been reading this blog for the past couple of years, my yearly trip to Singapore is coming up. It's brought forward this year, on Jan 28th, so I'll have yet another story to tell, and hopefully it won't take me 2 months to wirte it. Still better than a bloke I know who went to England and NEVER completed his story...bleh..
Lastly, before I close of my first post this year, I've come to a realisation............... That I have no realisation.....Haha....Life is good, and Life goes on...(Splinter)
NeverWinter Nights 2 is sufficiently addictive, though at some point I felt the first installment was better...Then I realise I can get all my followers to stay put (and out of trouble) while my main character tears through the city...It doesn't help the fact that my PC (as in personal computer, not Player Character) is becoming obsolete, so displaying more than 4 moving objects in pretty good graphics is more than my system can handle. Hence why it was key to be able to ask all my companions to stay home while I go hack'n'slashing...
Wait, this is about the new year, not about my NeverWinter 2 experience...(will try to put up a different post later....way later...)
Hmmm, I didn't go to any X'mas party because the stingy part of me realised that spending RM50 for booze to bring to the party when I rarely drink so that I make up for the 'entrance' fee wasn't worth it. Last year (2005) I went to the same party (ok, not the same since it's another party held about a year apart, but same host and location) and stayed until the next day afternoon. What did I do? Drank a couple (no beers, as always), endure some amounts of cigarette smoke, lousy music selection (I obviously have differing taste compared to the host and his peers) and after that, slept on the floor. So all that isn't really worth RM 50, really. And no, i didn't really got to know much new people because, well, it may be my fault for not networknig but that's just how it is...Any surprises I gave that party a miss in 2006??
There was another party for the new year that I also gave a miss. It was suppose to be a reunion of sorts as a lot of the people I used to work with (all have since left the company I'm still stuck in) as well as having a number of people still working with me (nobody works for me, so with me is the only term I can use). There was the lure of good food, but again as with most parties, there is an 'entry' fee that I wasn't too keen in paying. So I conveniently forgot about it too...
Suffice to say I am not a party person. I don't mix/mingle well, don't hold proper conversations (less you're as sick and sarcastic AND talk about weird topics like me, it's unlikely you'd find me worth talking too), don't get drunk (others insist I have, but they haven't the slightest clue) and don't do funny things to get people's attention. So as much as a party bores me, I bore parties too. You could say me and parties, mutually exclusive...
And 2007 took over. No new year resolutions, other than a need to get fitter than what I am now. Tennis is something I'm planning to do, since a court is conveniently placed inside my Apartment grounds...All I need is another player, 2 racquets and a good number of balls. Tennis balls. I have the racquets and balls. If only that friend of mine will turn up as regularly as I hope. Any other takers?? Thursday nights are tennis night....
Some people continue to query when I'm going to start driving....Well, if I don't own a car, how shall I drive? On the range?? I wished they'd stop asking, as my answer will always be that I have no car to drive, and thus no need to know how (even if I eventually may or may not know how to, that will still be the answer). Until a time if you see me on the driver's seat and actually steering a car away, I DO NOT DRIVE.
For those who have been reading this blog for the past couple of years, my yearly trip to Singapore is coming up. It's brought forward this year, on Jan 28th, so I'll have yet another story to tell, and hopefully it won't take me 2 months to wirte it. Still better than a bloke I know who went to England and NEVER completed his story...bleh..
Lastly, before I close of my first post this year, I've come to a realisation............... That I have no realisation.....Haha....Life is good, and Life goes on...(Splinter)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)