Avatar of Woe

Just came back after a hectic day, after many hiccups, that is. Firstly, I was told that somehow, they did not have my matrix card. So I ended up waiting at one corner to take my photo. As I was staring into space, a familiar guy came into view. I found out that he was Ian. What a small world. Apparently, he knew Whitney and Yanfen as well.

15 min later, a woman beckoned me to come forward to collect my card. Somehow, they had found my misplaced card, saving me the trouble of taking another photograph. I hate taking photos. (the pissed off photo in my matrix card can testify to that, which I later found out that I had submitted two years ago).

Waited for 80+ppl to submit their documents. I felt like I am in a polyclinic. After that, I went up to browse at the laptops, before going up to the matrix fair, showing my pissed off photo to the guards to show my irritation. Went back twice just to find the booth. Even though the seniors were in maroon shirts, I missed them completely as their signboard was barely visible.

Later found out that the system had not registered my card. Had to walk all the way back to the counter for them to scan again, which they had failed to do so for the first time. This time, my face expression matched those on my card.

Went back to RI to deposit a SPA group project back to my (old) pigeon hole. Took the bus 88 home, which never fails to make me sleep. By the time the bus had made its way back to the interchange (even overtaking a noob 88 bus driver in the process), I was the sole passenger left.

Since all the bridges have already been burnt, the only way is forward. There is no one to blame except myself, for the poor performance at the past crucial moments. Then I would rather not take the trials. Save me the trouble and time. The most cruel thing is to raise people's hopes just to crush them.

I can understand if mere mortals have reneged on promises, after all, they are humans like me too. I can forgive people if they commit trespasses against me, but for you..

Show me your greatness then.

Bao Jia Wei Guo

Honour and Passion. That's the name of the new Chinese drama serial at 9pm. One of my friends commented, "This is **** propaganda". I am slightly amused by the translation, which is a bit off the original title. "Cookhouse food is nice!!!", so says Felicia Chin. Yeah. I agree if you eat the cookhouse (chicken rice)...for the First time. If I have her as my officer, man (actually any man)I will go through fire and hell for her!!!!(like real)

Some lame joke of the day: What do you get if you have a polyjuice potion that has bits of Dumbledore, Snape and Harry ? :D

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Had been raining/drizzling for the whole day, which felt like I was in a natural air-con.

AO kindly sent me an online version of the latest book, which even overwhelmed my mundane online existence.

Without revealing spoilers, all I can say that Book 7 is the best book out of the whole series, simply because it is pure action from the word "Go", like being kept on the edge of a roller coaster. Every major places are visited in this finale.

By the time I have finished reading at nearly 3am, I was left a satisfied man. Note: The Epilogue is quite interesting, I must say.

To Horlland at NUS: Part I

One fine day, Teck Beng, as usual, was clicking on his flyff hero, wandering around the virtual town when there was a call from the real world. "Eh, want to follow me to NUS or not", a gruff voice was heard. Without hesitation, Teck Beng replied with a meek "yes," as he had expected that the voice won't be please with a no for no reason.

"Ok, meet you in 2hours time. Help me find out the route to NUS." Being the diligent army boy, Teck Beng meticulously planned a route to sector D, otherwise known as NUS. "Hmm, let's see ah, this should be the best possible route. Ginway will be SO PLEASED," as Teck Beng thought to himself, with a smug grin. He had even meticulously wrote that every single checkpoint he would encouter along his perfect route. Of course, Murphy had a strange way of playing with fate.

At 1530hr, Teck Beng was unusually punctual. He leaned against the lamppost, expecting a car to come by and pick him up. Ten minutes later, he recognised a familiar face slowing down. Though the face is familiar, the hair is not.

As TB sat comfortably in the driver commander's seat, Gin Way commanded him not to sit down and lobo, but instead, being a signal vocation that TB was, to help him recce the way. "Wah, your street directory so outdated ah!? I use mine better!" as TB dug out the contents of his bag, which included an umbrella, a water bottle, a street directory and a map that any Geog teacher would be proud of.

"How my hair? Cool or not? (to TB, it appeared more like an ! instead). Do I look like a Japanese rocker? (!) " "Eh yeah" as TB glanced at his hair for a moment, then hurriedly studied the coordinates in fake concentration. (Although it kinda looked unkempt as TB's little voice thought inside).

"You not going by this way ah?" TB suddenly realised that Ginway was going by another way. "Yah, that way also can, go by Jln Eunos" Gulp. Teck Beng tried his utmost best to plan where was the vehicle going. After a short while, he steadied himself, trusting 100% in Ginway's driving skills while attempting to come up with another route.

Along the expressway, Teck Beng pondered to himself, not realising his surroundings too carefully. "Hmm, ok, you should go by Exit 15A through CTE" "Need to keep left or not?" "What?" "Need to keep left or not" "Eh...ya" To TB's horror, by the time he said yah, the sign Exit 15A was just to his left. "Eh, I think you miss the exit liao" "@#$@%", plus a few other forgettable words Ginway exclaimed.

"Ok never mind" TB said, trying to calm himself and Ginway. "We can always go by AYE" TB stared intently on the outstretched map in front of his lap. All seemed fine until the vehicle arrived near Margeret Road. "Eh, hurry up leh, tell me whether to keep left or centre" For a moment, TB's mind went blank and he softly said "Eh I dunno hold on.." "@#$@#$@$#@#$@#$!" Ginway immediately went to the nearby carpark and stopped his car for the moment. He grabbed the street directory and stared at it with him. "We are at this part now," TB pointed to the primary school next to him and on the map. "Eh zhun bo?" "Yeah" "So i go by this way lah" Ginway pointed to the road on the map. "Yeah"

Thus, the duo resumed their course, until TB realised that the place that they are going to involves a flyover to AYE that says "U/C". (@#$#@#$, TB thought to himself) Praying against all hope that it is constructed, TB closed his eyes and crossed his fingers for a moment. "Ah see, got to AYE sign..good" Ginway exclaimed, while TB heaved a silent sigh of relief. "Any more screwups and I will be outta the car" TB thought to himself.

Feeling slightly confident again, TB looked at the map again. This time he said, "Ok when you reach South Buona Vista Road, turn left and then turn right. Should be able to enter NUS liao" "Ok" Finally, TB can sit back and relax. "Turn left ah?" "Yah"

Both entered into a small narrow road. The moment TB said yah, he had a little sense of premonition that grew in intensity. He looked at the map and looked at his surroundings again. Weird. Why are there plants all over? The road had appeared seemingly correct, which was straight ahead.

"Turn left or stay ahead?" "Stay ahead". Later, he asked again, "Left or right?" "Right" They drove along until...they hit a dead end. Literally a dead end. They had followed a truck all the way to a dead end, where the lorry is busy unloading stuffs. "@#$@#$" GW exclaimed. Only much later did TB found out that the place he had just visited was the IMCB complex. To make things worse, Ginway had to reverse his car on a downslope with drains along the side. If he was careless, the both of them could spent the whole night training the muscles lifting the car (outta the drain, 500 kg each for a one tonne car)

Thankfully, heaven decided to be a little kinder. Shaken by his screwup, TB kept quiet as Ginway made his way back. "Should be the other path" tb said in a low voice. Ginway followed him...and ended up on some residential hall's carpark. "@#$@#$@$" was the response, "THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THAT I REVERSE TODAY !@#!@#!" as Ginway drove his car upslope and away from the hostel.

"Eh, you better be correct this time ah" "...yeah.." The only logical option left was an upslope road before they even came at the fork, at least, that was what TB had thought.....and both of them ended up at a carpark. By now, the reader would have known the response...

"Knn, I drive myself lah" Very soon, both ended up on the correct way as they sped past NUH. "Eh where are we now? Got see any big green field or not" Ginway asked his companion after some time. To his horror, TB realised that they went past the mark! To get past the field means that they had skipped a couple of Science Drives already! "Reverse!" Fortunately, this time, TB was correct. "Ok, after you see Medical Drive that road then turn right, then should be able to reach..."

"What talking you?"as Ginway looked to the right as TB was talking halfway. "Isn't that the Co-op bookshop?" The big words highlighting its presence was unmistakable. "Oh ya hor " "Wah lau, follow you ah, confirm horland again !!!" as Ginway went to the nearby carpark and stopped his car....

To be continued...

Nightmare at ECP

Feeling dreary, I decided to take a nap after a trip from Toa Payoh HDB Hub. Had an unsatisfactory lunch of dan bao chao fan (egg-wrapped fried rice) at a costly $4 which any Tom, Dick and Harry can come up with.

Hmm. What is this place? It looked strangely like my old neighbourhood at Tampines. The place was deserted. As I walked across the field to the fence at my old primary school, I noticed that there is a gaping hole at the fence. All I remembered that after crossing this fence, I was chased by ....gasp vampires! I was wondering like wtf is happening? I kept on running, through the various HDB blocks. Even though I could not see its form, I knew it(or maybe they) was/were nearby; and if I tripped and fell, I would be gone. Maybe that is why I could not sense any soul around me, all of them have been sucked dry.

Somehow, I managed to find a car and drove like hell to Changi Airport. As I was driving, the scene became hazy and less distinct. I could only feel adrenaline pumping and my breath heavy, trying to escape from the nightmare that is drawing ever closer. I stepped on my accelerator and dashed across the ECP....I had figured that the only way to escape is to hop on to the plane...that is, if there is anyone left to pilot it...

"Wth is going on?" As I woke up, I realised that it was a nightmare. 5pm. The ordeal had lasted for 3 hours. Strangely, I was not even aware that I was dreaming in the nightmare. Immediately I hopped up from my bed and stared at the MSN screen, too dazed with a throbbing headache to boot to do anything. Geez, why is it so similar to the bloody nightmare I had a few years back, as I wondered to myself....

Greed is Good

Just read today's papers. Today is the 40th anniversary of NS; in a not-so-distant past, I was part of the compulsory service. ("Do not use force, it is too aggressive, say Service"-From Hot Fuzz).

Watched Hot Fuzz with Damien and Junda, before he left. A comedy/action film with over the top violence near the end of the show. Quite a nice show to watch.

Meanwhile, Ginway is back from Australia. Looks like Junda and Ginway are destined not to meet.

As I am typing this, there is a huge buffet being organised downstairs. Courtesy of our maintenance fees, we were entitled to one round of food. Being a true blue Singaporean, all the residents do what they are best at: queuing up. And when we reached our turn, we do what Singaporeans also do best: pile as much food as our hands can humanely carry. I look with amusement as I saw a committee member tick off a maid for piling up food. "You take so much, must think about others queuing up. What if they no food how?" If it is like that, he would have to scold every single resident already.

Supposed to write some testimonial. Urgh. I can't imagine they are going to put it up with my mugshot to boot. So troublesome.

It is said that many people play the game Second Life to live the dreams they never had. It is quite interesting to study the market forces online, to see the supply and demand situation; and of course, how to make your virtual cash grow. When a purchase is made, one wonders if it is going to be a long-term asset or it is gonna be devalued.

If only estate is as simple as that.