PECKPOST

Well on Saturday I went out with zh and libun in our usual meetup every few months to re-celebrate all the beautiful places in Singapore. We watched Ninja Assassin which was pretty damn awesome.





















rains body is pretty damn awesome too.

It's definitely a guy-guy kinda show with a lot of stylized violence and excellent choreography. I don't expect most girls to like this. It's kinda like expecting guys to dig The Notebook or The Devil Wears Prada. But it's one of the underrated action flicks of the year. I mean wtf man dem ninjas blend in the shadows. THEY ARE ONE WITH THE DARK. And rain really looks the part. You can sort of feel the physical effort in his performance. It's epic.

On another note wally and I have cooked a few times at my house since we ORDed. I initially wanted to put up pictures but I'm lazy to find the cable so that'll have to wait. Out of the 4 times we've cooked, one has turned out not so well, 2 of them not bad and 1 mind-blowingly tasty. It's a useful skill to acquire I guess though I admit sometimes my maid is doing some of the chopping.

Today I tried out L4D2 with one of my army friends. It's just an awesome party game. Now you can hold melee weapons and normal weapons at the same time and there are more types of messed up monsters to deal with. There's nothing more satisfying than taking an axe or katana and slicing down line after line of zombie attacks. The chainsaw is by far the most imbalanced weapon in the game but it has limited battery so you don't get it too often. I basically sawed the witch to death which is precisely how they should die.

From the first mission you can tell Valve has put a little more thought into the co-op of the game. There's a tactical dimension to it now. But if you ask me if I'm gonna buy this game, the answer is probably not. Things aren't fun anymore if you take it too seriously (well logically speaking ppl who buy the game aim to get really good at it, have proper tactics to beat expert mode etc.). It's only fun when shit happens all over the place and the tank stomps all over everyone and people are screaming and going batshit in the LAN shop because they're not sure whats happening. I dropped the f-bomb so many times today I felt guilty after.

After that I went home to run. I ran longer today coz zh said I should run at least 30 minutes. Felt good.

LIPPOST

Im off to australia to eat me some kangaroos!

Last time i was there i drove over one! Although it was already dead!

:D!

On a more serious note have an interview on monday for a 6 month job at PWC. Good time to farm some cash and get some experience hope they dont pay me too little. Im nearly able to book my driving test woohoo hope i pass the first time so i dont look like a loser :(.

On yet another note peck looks like a loser when i put a bullet through his head using my trusty thermal scope. twice. in a row.

So today I met up with the geog boys for lunch. It was great to see all of them again and to talk about stuff with army finally out of the picture. AL couldn't stay for long because he's interning somewhere but the rest of us went to island creamery for dessert. We talked about too many things to describe really, ranging from awesomely banal to intellectual and serious. And for some reason wally asked the staff to microwave the tub of ice-cream we ordered. By the time we got to the bottom half it had become a sort of decadent broth. Thx wally.

Also Rayna conveniently reserved some seats for his concert next week just before we go to HK. While I've never been a fan or connoisseur of classical music I don't mind filling up comfy seats in an air-con atmosphere for 5 bucks while still giving a friend a vote of support. My track record for sleeping in these types of concerts is pretty enviable. Anyone remember 120th Mozart Anniversary? Because I don't I wuz asleep.

Well when I got home it was already about 7 (we talked for hell long). I didn't feel that hungry then so I ran on the treadmill while watching the replay of fed-murray. After which I decided to mind-rape myself by watching Silent Hill. Well usually I don't watch horror flicks because honestly they scare me shitless but I've always liked the design for Pyramid Head in Silent Hill so I watched anyways. Hmm lets just say I felt spiritually disturbed and deleted it soon after.

Mm so here I am waiting for the Inter Barca game. It's a big game. If Inter win they could knock Barca out of the champs league which would be sensational. If they draw everyone will say fair result, and if they lose everyone will say whats new. Pretty much the first 20 minutes will tell me the direction the match is headed towards.

Anyway I took my first driving lesson today. I'm taking 3A aka Auto aka I HAVE NO SHAME. It's just plain easier for psychomotor-disabled people like me and my dad also recommended auto because he hasn't had the need to drive a manual in like 10 years? I was reading an online car forum which had erupted into a heated and unintentionally hilarious debate about whether men who take 3A instead of manual are pussies and fail in life. The MCPs really came out in full force that time.

I gotta say for me it's 20% pussying out (as in, I automatically assumed I would find it impossibly difficult) and 80% a logical cost-benefit analysis. But then again one neutral guy made the point that girls don't really care if you drive 3A, they care whether you actually have a ride and what ride. And they would look at your probably financial status rather than your driving license. Fair point I thought. But I don't have girls, money or a ride so this fair point does not apply to me. Touche.

Anyway back to the driving lesson. It was fine really. I think the old man knows what he's doing even though I get a sense that sometimes he's making me go through the motion.

Update the next day: Inter lost. FML.

Twilight wasn't too bad ya know? As in the plot is pretty thin but even I got momentarily sucked into the romance between the main leads. And if I can get sucked in, then how much easier was it for the millions of female teen romantics to get sucked into the Robert Pattison vortex? Ah I now understand the hype.

PECKPOST

So yeah. I caved in and bought modern warfare 2. All that shit 1 week ago about being reluctant only applied when I was not in the presence of the game. I saw it at Plaza Sing and my mind got raped immediately. It is some voodoo shit man. Well truth is I've been DYING to play the game and my loyalty to the pro-ded server PC community eroded like a danish butter cookie soaked in milk in the wake of the game's release. Imma traitor I know. Im tainted. Don't touch me yull get my disease.

Anyway Lip and I went to Sim Lim today to look at new phones. I had narrowed it down to 2 options - that being the Nokia N72 or the HTC Hero so I was looking for working models that I could try out. The Nokia N72 looks slick and the interface is really friendly but I still have reservations about the qwerty keyboard. My fingers are damn fat (like F A T) so small keys aren't best suited for me. Like if I type hi on that phone it'll probably come out as ghjuio. There was no HTC hero to sample on the spot and the bottom part looked pretty ugly so I took it off my list. So now I'm thinking whether to buy the E72 now or camp till first quarter of 2010 to see what new models come out. I'm leaning towards the former since my old phone currently makes me suffer much indignity. After that Lip came over to play some mf2. I think he played till his brain stem got fried.

LIPPOST

Oh wow its back time to hijack it again! Grats to peck for ORD mine's coming in.... exactly 1 month-1day! Although i'm clearing leave already so it doesn't really make much of a difference. Yea i'm one of those that "go batshit" when i have so much time. Like my sis who's finished her exams now she claims all she does is "wander around the house like a zombie". I too kinda feel like the L4D zombie before i'm aggroed by 4 pesky survivors wanting to blow my head of. Just sort of ... flopping around.

But yea at least got a few books (does anyone else think slaughterhouse-5 is A LITTLE TOO WEIRD) to occupy myself with (peck u have to return me my krugman one). And a new phone which i can use to update this blog with gasp. 2 years of non colour, half-band, non camera 0.2 inch screen phones really set me behind in terms of technology so now with my new e71 im like oo i can do this.

anyway i realised 2 years of army has given me a PITIFUL amount of moolah so like peck next year will get a job to farm some cash before i head off to UK.

and since im lazy to give you a list ill put it here, you'll probably check this more than go online. I command you to locate the following blurays when you go to the US:

Rattle and Hum - U2
The Police Certifiable - .... The Police
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood Live at Madison Sq Garden
Bring on the Night - Sting
Something to be Tour live at Red Rocks - Rob Thomas

Nothing should be above 25 USD but i'll give yo more details before you fly. Thanx! In return i offer you free viewing of the abovementioned concerts when you get back dis time you bring the nachos.

Woot yesterday I finally watched the last film in the Park Chan Wook 'Vengeance' trilogy Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. While I don't think it came close to being as awesomely unpredictable as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance or as mind-feckingly intense as Old Boy, I suppose it was the most arty farty of the 3. Which means I didn't like it as much. Also the pro/antagonist was played by that actress from Jewel in the Palace. I..I just can't look at her without picturing her chopping some herbs or something.

Hmm something isn't right with the world. I always thought my mum was the one consumed by korean drama serials. She was the moth being drawn towards the flame. Then she decided to pull my dad down this slippery slope with her. Well played mum, well played.

Let me give you a little bit of info about my dads background (pre korean serial):

- He sleeps at 9, max 10 every night
- His favourite movie star is steven segal, and distant second russell crowe
- He has dabbled in korean drama before, but never on a regular basis. There was once he found a particular one about a woman and her sewing factory particularly compelling but that's an aberration.

Then this came along:




















If I'm not wrong this smash korean hit show East of Eden was showing every Saturday night (oh yeah I remember now. That's coz I couldn' watch any EPL. My dad wouldn't even agree to tape the show. He nided to watch East of Eden).

Then he bought the entire serial from a dvd shop.

The shit really hit the fan last week. My dad and mum were averaging SIX to SEVEN 1 hour episodes a night EVERY NIGHT. Average ending time? 2 to 3 AM. It's like I'm playing COD4 at 1.30 am and suddenly my mum calls me from downstairs and asks me if I want some maggi. How surreal is that?

Turns out my dad is a korean drama tank and East of Eden episodes are his steroids. It's a vicious cycle of doom. The man has no limits and he is on roid rage!! He's been the one telling my mum to tank with him. It's like my mum will be like "it's 1 am raymond tomorrow morning I nid to do an IMPLANTT AT SGHHH!!" and he'll be like "one more" and my mum will fall for his old school charms and acquiesce.

Sunday: My mum said she felt like collapsing LOL. Said now she knew how people could die from gaming. I was like mum dat has no link.

Tuesday this week: They KOed at 8pm

Wednesday: They went out for dinner, came back and hijacked my highly anticipated viewing of Step Up 2: The Streets

Well I think they'll be nearing the end of the series soon. I'm glad that they've found something in common that they both enjoy or could enjoy well into their retirement. But other than that I am highly disturbed and feel that we should purchase another TV effective immediately (we have only one, thats not right).

PECKPOST

It feels great to ORD. Some people really go batshit when they get their freedom back but for me it was more like a load-off-your-chest kind of feeling. Army has been a useful, colourful but ultimately arduous experience. It tires you and makes you listless. I think 'wasted' is the appropriate adjective haha.

Then again I survived 22 months! And I think I'm better for it. I made lots of great friends and had a good boss. I met a lot of different people that I hadn't been exposed to before. It was a well needed mental break from the burnout that was A levels (albeit a damn fugging long one). Over time my priorities also sorted themselves out - haha that generally that happens when life sort of forges ahead without you. My relationship with my parents improved too. I'm not a delinquent by any measure but without the stress and responsibilities of school you really got more time to just talk and do stuff with them. My mum and I have the most frivolous conversations sometimes. Army also pushed my limits of tolerance and exhaustion. I think I'm calmer when put in times of immense stress. I've also become even more chilled out (if I could get any more chilled out, that is)

Then again this doesn't distract from the fact that I think it's been a waste of my time and life. The time to character-building ratio is low while the brain retardom to time scale is not surprisingly high. A lot of the time you're just simplifying yourself to get your point across to regulars who are stupid, but yet arrogant and completely self-assured. Army politics sorta mirror the real world (to what extent I don't know). It's frustrating because everyone needs to suck thumb no matter what shit goes down and some of the time the direction and source of the shit is arbitrary. I've also grown distant from a lot of my older friends, especially the girls and of course there's the feeling of being left behind as others enter uni and you are stuck in this 2 year limbo. These are some of my regrets and disappointments. They do make you slightly jaded.

Lol enough rumination on the topic. There's too much to put into words. Or more like I'm lazy to think or recount them. I got my pre uni schedule roughly planned out already

Now till 3 Dec: Read some shit, get my brain cranking. Watch some movies. Cook shit with Wally and catch up with friends. I'm still considering buying COD Modern Warfare 2 though I'm on the reluctant side. Infinity Ward really massacred the game for PC multiplayer by taking away dedicated servers. It's also 80 bucks, which is a ripoff. I might give it a pass, though before that I might unleash a heart-wrenching wail of anguish and cry like a baby. -teary eyes-

Dec 4 - Dec 8 - I'm going HK with the geog boys cept AL because AL is a maggotron who pangseh us coz he needs to go to some conference in France where he will learn how to catch criminals and crackdown on life in general. Still should be fun. IN FACT SHD BE MORE FUN WITHOUT AL.

Dec 9-10 - Uh I don't know.

Dec 11-28 - I'll be going to USA with my mum and dad as well as my aunts family. My sis and her boyfriend have offered to drive us around (damn gracious of them) so we'll be going to quite a few places like Disneyland, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas etc. I'm pretty excited about this trip because firstly, I get to see my sis again and secondly, I've never been to US, and thirdly I haven't gone on a big, long holiday in a faraway land for a long time. Then again the budget is tight so we'll probably eat like hotdogs and burgers everyday. Mmm ang moh food. Me favourite.

From Jan to roughly March or April I'll be going on internship at some accountancy firm. I don't know what to expect of it and I hope they don't expect anything of me coz I am an accounting noobhead. Then from then on I'll enter uni for early semester.

There are other side things that I want to accomplish in that time, namely:

- Retrieve my brain from the abyss

- Learn Hokkien. Nothing feels right when everyone around you can speak and converse in it and you can't. It makes me feel like homg I have lost my roots :( Ken I actually call myself a real chinese? :(

- Refine my language. I really got to tone the vulgarities down. I sorta went out of control in the last 3 months of NS and I was really throwing out the f-bombs. Not cool.

- Get spiritual. I'll try on this. No guarantees. Apparently sometime earlier in a moment of weakness I told my mum I'd get closer to God after ORD. Time to pay my dues.

- Driving lessons. I'm not crazy about this even though my parents said I could have a car (1st hand or 5th hand I don't know) but if I have time I'll schedule it in, maybe on the weekends.

- Get marginally fit. I'm getting pwned pretty badly atm. My body is stiffening up like a corpse after working out.

Man I'm done here for the day. It's late and I'm going to sleep. I'll just post up this vid of Aziz Ansari on Letterman talking about Kanye West and Jay Z. Hilarious.

Aziz Ansari on Letterman from Aziz Ansari