The Return to R.I

Yes. Blogspot finally loaded after one day of fruitless refreshing, complaining and whining (plus occasional cursing) ala Singaporean style. It was interesting reading the local forums. "Who cares about what happens to the people in Taiwan. The main thing was MY connection is down" one had quoted. "Then what you expect? Singaporeans leh? You think because of the quake they will say ' Oh, I wonder how many people/victims have suffered? Let us go and help them' " was the response. Sounds very similar to the "Get out of my elite, uncaring face", the comments which the father apologised, twice.

Met Alvin Ong at Bishan MRT. Fares increased, as usual. And so was my waiting time. Hence I arrived 5 min late. The Meng Nan looks imposing in his towering stature, clad in black T-shirt. Went to S-11 to order Qiu lian ban mian. Still the good old same $2.50. Zhengxian and Zien later joined us after they horlanded to PIE jurong.

The weather wasn't as kind to us. Hence, it started to rain after Alvin Ong has done his business and during our noodle-eating. Alvin Ong and I had brought our mini-umbrellas, so it wasn't that bad. Hence, we made our way to R.I, avoiding dangerous-looking puddles and speedy drivers.

It was 1pm. As expected, civilians take their time to chomp their food, so we were told to wait for 1hr. Meanwhile, R.I was in the midst of some construction work. Mud and cement was everywhere, so we decided to rest at some...place for one hour, which zx commented was perfect for soccer. Zx accumulated some good karma by helping a fresh student find her way to Moor, while I nonchalantly stepped on some geography project. So much for karma.

Entered the freezing air-con in the general office to sign the job contract for relief teaching. Finally, when it was all done, we found out that some idiots have taken our open umbrellas left to dry. Cursed the thieves quite horribly before proceeding to zx's car for a ride to J8.

Hence, 6 months of relief teaching is about to begin.

"Class, remember to hand in your bio assignments and put them in my pigeon hole. Any problem remember to call my extension." in a mock rehearsal of things to come.

The whereabouts

Was wondering where everyone had gone to over the past few days. Zhengxian had called me to contact a few people for a movie. Was surprised to see the dismal response. In the end, it was only zx and I loitering around near the arcade at Plaza Singapura.

Had no response from Alvin Ong, though I only knew that he went on a holiday to Taiwan a few weeks later; apparently Zhengxian had forgotten. Meanwhile, I did not even know that Ivan; he's really a mysterious man. Eddie is still recuperating from his operation.

Can't believe that I lost 3kg over the past two weeks. This is so NOT good. It's time to go back to 4 meals a day instead of the usual three. Enough of grinding and more of eating until I hit 55kg or 60kg

"....lo Eddie..next time you can tell people that you have been through many ops in the army..." an interesting conversation involving Eddie's battle scars during a hearty Johnson duck dinner.

Flag of Our Fathers

An interesting movie I must say. It is not all glorious behind the heroic image we associate with the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima.

It was drizzling as usual. Had enough of staring at the computer screen and sitting on my chair, so I decided to accept Zhengxian's invitation for a movie. Since the Curse of the Golden Flower is not out (what a corny name; plus the fact that it receives quite a number of criticism regarding tangtalising women), we decided to watch the highly-acclaimed show.

Walking past the Whitesands, or rather, the Bluesands, since it is now all blue, is a hassle. Students and people of all kind cunningly wait at the side of the walkway and ambush a hapless passerby for donations and surveys. All it took was just a wave of my mighty hand to swat them away.

Many days cooped at home have made my hair a fashion disaster. Like a cockerel in the making, I was released from my coop to breathe some fresh air. By now, war movies have little impact on me, since Brotherhood, Band of Brothers and etc had bombarded me with disemboweled limbs, headless corpses, bloody necks before. The usual. The poor soldier got shot in the neck. The medic rushes in and says "...dun worry son, you gonna be alright", while fumbling through his medikit and telling a lie at the same time. Either this or "think of your girlfriend/mum at home, I'm sure you will meet her..." And the poor chap ends up dying anyway.

Might need a lesson on empathy soon. Though I must say that the hara-kiri of the Japanese shocked me a bit, with intestines flowing all over the place like a butchery. Sometimes, they must learn that life is more important than pride. Life first, face last.

Cut Off

2 years came and past. Soon, it was time for my internet provider to offer me a change of plans. It was touted to be faster than my present broadband speed, with an upgrade from 1.5 to 5Mbps. Hence, the day before the SingTel man came, I was cut off from the rest of the online world.

It was tremendously boring. No MSN, no Flyff. As a last resort, I replayed my Heroes V custom games, happily thrashing the AI; cheated my way through the Frozen Throne just to see the ending cinematic.

Had so much time that I could actually manage to read the papers and persuade my couch potato body to exercise. Dug through my old textbooks to recollect any knowledge that I had gained during my JC days. Alas, that proved harder than I thought.

On the day itself, I passed the time by attempting a few DoTA games with the AI. Finally, the SingTel man came at 1730hrs. Better late than never. Now, my black router is sitting in my cupboard collecting dust, which is replaced by a brand new white one.

One more day to end of this week. 3 more days to the end of my patience.

Badminton

Once again, I venture out of my house at the invitation of Zhengxian. Once a week exercise is always useful, no matter how insignificant it might be. Otherwise, I would really become a couch potato, playing Gpotato games (really, thats what Flyff is under). As you can see, due to the two broken racquets I had, and the lack of exposure to the game, I started as a newb. I was even berated for wearing sandals!

The Yishun Sports Hall is really atrocious. Discarded shuttlecocks lay all over the place, with a sunken net that is less than ideal for a proper game. A lively turnout, as Ken Toh even came! While he talked to me about FreeLancer, I talked to him about potatoes.

Empty fuel means no energy. Hence, after 2 hours of fast and furious swatting, we went to eat dinner. After which, I went to get a new handphone.

The 2nd Encounter.

Paid a visit to Matthew Sng's condo. This time, the badminton hall (though with only a court) was much better than the trash we played in. The participants were different too. Eddie could not make it, as he was nursing a fever. Matthew (of course), Alle le, Alvin Loke and Ong graced the occasion.

After several games of badminton, some proceeded with tennis, while others continued with basketball till the sun sets. After which, we went to Beauty World for a Johnson Duck treat. -.-''
Zhengxian had remarked how the stall looked familiar, which Matthew pointed out it is. (since one was already at Ghim Moh). Added several grams of fats to my body that day, lard, skin and all, glorious fats! Eddie joined us later from Sim Lim. He happily detailed us about his operation when (luckily) we had finished eating. Broken jaw, tube feeding for 2 weeks, 10000 bucks for treatment. Definitely not my cup of tea. The 10k can last me and Thng for a long time. $200 a month--->50 months=4 years 2 months!

Mount Elizabeth Hospital. We shall all go visit Eddie one day and proceed to Orchard afterwards. Maybe eat a whole duck there too. *evil laugh*

Lame Joke of the day:
A man had a dog named Minton. He would train his dog to fetch a ball whenever he was in a park. One day, the dog refused. Immediately, the man said "Bad Minton"