The Day I Talk About Helping Strangers

I was on my way home from dinner with Wang Hao today and I helped a cerebral palsy guy onto the MRT. Contrary to my misconceptions about the majority of Singaporeans, the people around me actually gave way to the wheelchair-bound man while boarding the train. I guess that for every rude and discourteous piece of shit out there, there is somebody with a heart.

Helping that man onto the train sent my mind into deep thought about helping people who need it. I realized that for too long I've been absorbed in my own selfish needs and wants, and I haven't been giving as much as I used to.

Coincidentally, Wang Hao and I were just talking about getting involved in community work again once we got out of the army. It's been long overdue and I think it's time I started giving back again.

The Day I Think Aloud About Love Triangles

I don't understand how some people can be in a three-way relationship and think that it's perfectly normal.

It's not.

The Day I Celebrated My Birthday

My 20th Birthday was a BLAST!!!!

Actually, any birthday after last year's horrible nightmare of a "celebration" would be great. Oh, I can so vividly that fateful day. A little more than a year ago, I was stuck on a little island called Pulau Tekong doing my very first field camp. I was wet, cold, tired and to top it all, down with a nasty nasty flu. Fast forward a year into the future, I'm happy and contented with status quo.

The past week was really Birthday week. Kenrick and Timothy (3rd Feb), Samuel (6th Feb), Marilyn (7th Feb), Gloria and Terence (8th Feb), Jevon (9th Feb), Me (10th Feb).

Anyway, I went for Jevon's party at Sentosa on Friday. Met lots of new people and had quite a good time there mingling. Sadly, I got a little too intoxicated and "Merlioned" in the impeccably clean toilet of his suite. Ah, the cons of drinking too much.



My only photo with the Birthday boy looking less-than-amazing in my drunken stupor.


Had a cozy family dinner with my parents at Manna Korean Restaurant at Amoy Street on the eve of my birthday cos it was the only time during CNY when we weren't visiting or had any visitors over.



The Korean spread



At Amoy Street with Mummy after dinner. The night view was amazing!


My relatives came over for lunch yesterday and we took the time to cut the Birthday cake in their presence. It was a small but jovial affair, just uncles, aunties, grandparents and cousins. If only those in Indonesia had come to Singapore for CNY.



The two women who have seen me through my childhood: my paternal and maternal grandmothers.


In the evening, I went to St James Powerhouse for a party together with my DB mates and Emmanuel (who brought Rayner along). I must say that the music was pretty disappointing but I had a great time nonetheless cos IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND AIN'T NOTHIN' GON'A MAKE ME RILED! Was high but thankfully not drunk. Bumped into Bryan and Charles there (surprise surprise!) and hung out with them as well.



Bryan, Me, Raphael, Emmanuel, Rayner (sorry but half your face was out of the photo)



On the podium with Bryan and Raphael


It was a wonderful Birthday adn I'm pretty sure I'll make the coming one (the BIG 21ST) the most memorable one of my life.

Sometimes when you have no expectations, you can be pleasantly surprised when things turn out to be really good. =)

The Day I Talk About CNY 2008

I'm feeling really emo today and I don't know why. Must be the lack of sleep. Yes, that's it.

The time of the year has come again where little children are the happiest people in the world while their parents fret about moolah and formalities. Yes, the Lunar New Year descended on us early this year and I'm here to talk all about it.

Back in the day when we were mindless little spawns of our parents, the Lunar New Year meant lots of candy and a bountiful heap of cash in little red packets. Now, it's just one of the seasons in a year. I guess the childhood allure that the celebrations once had for me has been lost along the way while growing up.

The only good thing about CNY is probably the gathering of relatives that we seldom get to meet due to our time constraints at school and work. It's always nice to sit down and talk with a long-forgotten (ok, maybe not long forgotten, but almost) relative. That and the ang pao's, of course. Even though money can't buy me happiness, it can buy me a whole lot of stuff to make me happy. Heh. Hehe.

I was pretty sad this year though, cos I realized that it's probably the last CNY I'll be celebrating in Singapore for at least the next 4 years. Ah well. 人生无不散自之宴席; People come and go. And I just happen to be the one who will be going away.

I shall make full use of what's left of my time in Singapore and not leave with any regrets.

The Day I Go CD Crazy

The past week has been pretty mundane because after awhile, you realize that work is basically more or less the same day in day out. The only interesting thing perhaps is what I noticed when I got myself heap loads of CDs.

Been on a DIVA craze lately and out of the five albums I bought, only 1 was not from a solo female artiste (the 5th CD's "Devils & Angels" by Mêlée). The four ladies are namely Leona Lewis, Delta Goodrem, Alicia Keys and Celine Dion. What spiked my interest after actually sitting down with the records was the similarities of their CD covers.

Here are the album covers:


Leona Lewis' "Spirit"


Alicia Key's "As I Am"


Delta Goodrem's "Delta"


Celine Dion's "Taking Chances"

Now let's see all four together:



Seemed as though it's the latest trend to volumize your hair and smack a front shot of your big mug on the album cover. Ok, maybe not so for Celine. Well, I can fix that.

Here's Celine before:



And here she is after:


Ta-dah! Fixed. Don't we love conformists? :)

Now let's take a look at all the big faces together...



Ok, enough about the album covers. Let's get into the details:

Leona's "Spirit" was good, as expected. Her hard work on it has finally paid off and she's got quite a few gems in the album that are probably going to become number 1's, namely "Homeless", "Better In Time", "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Footprints In The Sand". However, I find it rather disturbing that "Here I Am", which Leona co-wrote, sounds eerily reminiscent of Mariah's "Hero" (which Mariah co-wrote). Take a listen and you'll know why. Girl, It's time to break out of the "Mariah" shell and be yourself!

Alicia's "As I Am" was passable and not as amazing as her "Songs In A Minor". Her two singles "No One" and "Like You'll Never See Me Again" are catchy and radio-friendly, but besides that, the only other tracks that match up are "Prelude to A Kiss" and the feminist-fuelled "Superwoman".

Delta's self-titled third album was surprisingly good. She's tried out many genres in this new record and her tone of voice sounds as sweet and clear as ever. I can't really put a finger on which song I like best. But if I had to, I'd say it's "Believe Again". "Believe Again" is a very Kylie Minogue-ish dance track complete with her coos and vocal acrobatics, not very Delta but it was very well-done anyway.

Celine's "Taking Chances" was a huge disappointment. Other than her title track, most of the album was full of country and rock songs that didn't really suit her style. Her saving grace came in the song "Skies of L.A.". It's a very plain, simple song that can be easily overlooked, but Celine did a wonderful job in putting a tangible touch to the song's underlying emotional message. Overall it's one of her worst albums but I'll give it to her that she at least experimented with different genres (but the results were "ermmm...").

Going for training now. Here's wishing y'all a great Lunar New Year in advance! More updates after CNY (and my Birthday)! =)

Lotsa love!