Cracking

i think im cracking up soon.
the stress is immerse this time, nothing like i had before.
there was no way i was going to be able to avoid this.
people can be so senseless when giving out tasks.
im getting easily irritated and flashes of violent thoughts.
i will persevere and get past this.
i will not crack under stress. never.

Retribution

it's funny how im actually faithless, or rather "godless", but i still believe in fate and retribution.

fate brings things or people together, good and bad.

while retribution is all bad; and i always remind myself that whatever goes around comes around. but well, shit happens, sometimes i forget to remind myself and i do something real bad/evil/heartless to people. i said something really hurting to someone almost a year ago and the day that retribution comes knocking on my door has arrived.

i never realized how words can hurt someone so bad that they can actually turn so cold, even to a point that you feel like their heart just died and can't feel a thing anymore. but now, i don't blame that person for doing that to me when i said those words, because right now, i am getting a taste of my own medicine.

my heart turned cold when i heard those words and although things are getting much better now, but there is still a void that i need to fill up. a void to be filled up, so that things can go back to the way they were from before. or will things ever be the same again?

i wonder...

Smack Talk Pays Off (well, sometimes)

they always say, with the rank goes the ippt gold award.

that's what happens to 2LTs that have stayed in unit long enough to stop training like they did during their time in OCS and my coursemates who are with me in the unit are no exception.

one by one had fallen after taking their, "dethroned" and shamed by peers who presented them with the silver award. before i knew it, i was the only 2LT left among the group that hadn't taken ippt yet and i always go yapping that im training to get "platinum" when they ask me why im still delaying my ippt. they just can't wait to get their grubby hands on my left arm and "dethrone" me.

although i was smack talking them, deep down inside, i knew that there is a chance that i might not be able to get my gold again because i haven't tried running 2.4km since i commissioned. the only running i did were only sprints and endurance.

and came the day that i had to take ippt. i score full points for all my static station, and when the 2.4km run came, i was actually nervous, thinking about how the guys will "dethrone" me straight after the ippt. the thought actually followed me throughout the whole run and with the fact that i did so much smack talk, i didn't dare to slow down. haha. good thing i hit a good timing even though i haven't ran for a long time and managed to prevent a catastrophe from happening.

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME GUYS! MAYBE NEXT YEAR!! MUAHAHAHAH!!!! :p

Macbook *worships*

once again, im stuck in camp on a weekend for the second week running doing duty (no, i didn't get any extras, if you're starting to think that asshole :p haha.).

i'm practically just sitting/lying around doing nothing apart from surfing the net, listening to my ipod or reading my book. so i decided to do a little read up on the laptop that im thinking of buying. MACBOOK!!



was initially thinking of getting the Macbook Pro like a few months back when it just released, good thing i didn't needa get a laptop until after June, if not i would have totally missed this.

*geek talk*

what's damn cool about this range of Macbooks is that you can easily change the RAM and HDD by removing a few screws that Apple has put into the shell of the Macbook. in another words, you can just buy the low-end Macbook and soup up the HDD and RAM on your own. all at a lower price!

isn't that tempting or what.

check this out

*end of geek talk*

the black one looks super sweet. mmmm..

The Da Vinci Code

Met up with peter on wednesday to catch the gala premiere of "The Da Vinci Code"; tickets which we got from joining the codebreaker race last weekend. we reached marina square pretty early, we ended up looking for somewhere to have dinner and found this:

Xin Wang Cha Chan Ting @ level 1 of Marina square. it serves mainly dishes that you can find in those small HK eating places and it's pretty interesting. not to mention that it's quite good as well.

ice milk tea

it says soup noodles in the menu, but im sure it's instant noodles. haha

but nonetheless, it's still good.

some dim sum to go along

this is good stuff

after dinner, we headed straight to the cinema at 2100 hrs for the 2120 hrs, thinking that we're early, only to find this:

the queue started from the usher point

down the walkway

and turns around, past the toilet towards the candy bar

guess it didn't help the fact that it was free seating, so everyone was rushing to be the first to get the best seats.

now on to "The Da Vinci Code", i thought it could have been better, considering that i've already read the book like twice, some of the more interesting codebreaking parts of the book were either shortened or left out entirely.

don't get me wrong, i still thought this show is good, but just a word of advice, if you haven't read the book, don't read it, watch the movie first.

overall, it's still a good movie, only that the chemistry between tom hanks and audrey tatou wasn't exactly very evident. i would give it a 7/10.

Inability

has it ever hit you that your inability to do something puts yourself in a very difficult and sometimes unpleasent situation.

you feel trapped, tired and wished you could have done something earlier so that you wouldn't end up in a proposition that might seem disadvantageous to you no matter how you look at it.

for me, it was my inability to express what most people put as a very unpleasent feeling; anger.

my inability had caused myself to get stepped over, mistreated and to a certain extend, taken advantage of. i guess this time, everything just fell in the wrong place at the right time, almost choreographed, one after another in perfect sequence, so perfect that i can't get time to gather myself so that my anger that i loath so much wouldn't appear.

people at work, people at home and even people at play. i've been trying very hard to not be such a nice guy for very long, but no matter how much i try, i just commit the same mistake, soften up and let people climb over my head.

i need to retaliate. i will savour every single second of it. let it work. i've had just enough.

Da Vinci Codebreaker Race

peter sms-ed me while i was still in korea asking me if i wanted to join "The Da Vinci Code Breaker Race" and i agreed not really knowing what was going on.


and there i was standing infront of the stage shown in the picture above. apparently, peter had cracked 4 codes that were presented on tv, radio and there we were joining 150 more teams in the race.

rules were simple, crack the riddles given through sms, navigate and find the riddles that were in the SMRT line, first team that stands on the finishing podium (below) wins a 7 day 6 nights trip to Paris where the "Da Vinci Code Trail" is.


we were doing quite well at first, but i guess sometimes no matter how good you might be, luck plays a certain part to success. for us, luck was our down fall. one of the answers that we sent out on sms got stuck somewhere in hyperspace and the reply that we were waiting for never came and we were stuck. missed 3 trains and i instantly felt our chances withering.

despite what happened, we still decided to try and complete the race.

although we didn't win anything, but we still get to watch "The Da Vinci Code" before anyone else this wednesday at GV Marina! MUAHAHA! :p

Korean Essentials

just came back from a week in korea! it's a great place to be, although things there are pricier than what i would have expected. Thought i would just come up with a rough guide on how to survive a trip in korea. Here goes:

Getting Started

1. First and foremost, you have to know that you are dealing with the korean won. although not as many zeros as compared to the lira or rupiah, for some funny reason their $1000 note is almost the same size as their $10,000. typical exchange from a bank would be 1SGD to 500 won.
   


2. Equip yourself with an Ipod (preferrably video) or any mp3 players to survive through the ridiculous bus rides that you might encounter (and with the tour guide babbling through the ride if you go on a tour like me). The longest trip that i encountered was almost 4 hours when i went up Mt. Maisan in Jeonju.

   



3. Bringing a pair of shades, cap and bottle along. As much as korea is cooler than singapore, when the sun comes out, you're gonna need those things.


4. Mositurizer! If you have skin as bad as mine, it is a must. If you have smooth and silky skin, i couldn't care less. So bugger off! (sense the bitterness? haah)


5. 3G phone and only 3G phone, normal GSM phones won't work. For you to call your loved ones at home or to get yourself out of the wilderness when you fall off a mountain when you're climbing it (koreans for some reason, love mountain climbing. they even have branding climbing sticks for god's sake).
   


6. A book would be useful.


7. Learn some korean, or at least write some of the more useful phrases on a piece of paper, like "good morning", "how much is this?", "you are beautiful", "can i show you the way into my pants?".


8. Bring a camera!! Something you must not forget with poster girls running all over the streets in Seoul! But well, seriously, korea has all the nice mountains and stuff. all worth taking. (heh)


9. Load up on all the chicken you can get your hands on before flying to korea.

   
   this is all you'll get for meat over there. PORK!

   
   


10. Bring your narcissist self along. You can use yourself when you're bored.

    
    narcissistic self at work

In Korea

1. Always! and i do mean always, ask for a map the first time you talk to your hotel receptionist. it could save you a lot of trouble.


2. If you're not in Seoul, Daegu or any of the more commercialized cities, you can forget about speaking in english. Try a language called sign language or when negotiating prices, you can try the "pen, paper and number" language. Worked wonders for me.


3. Korean people are naturally friendly, so at least learn how to say "Good Day" and "Thank You". It'll brighten up your day.


4. As friendly as they are, while in a shopping or crowded area, don't bother apologizing if you run into anyone, by the time you turn around, they're gone already. Koreans always seem to be in a rush. I think it's in their blood. hah.


5. Weak Bladder + Long Bus Rides = Drink Less Water


6. Expect lots of vegetable over there. The ratio of meat to veg there is probably 1 : 5.
   
   This is as much meat as you're getting
   According to the tour guide, they take meat 3 times A WEEK. While we, take meat 3 times A DAY.


7. If you know that you're going shopping the next day, and you're really out to shop, rest well, the shopping centers open til 5am in Seoul and Daegu. You have been warned.

Picture Whore!


at the KTX (bullet train station) with my sis


bullet train


welcome to the biggest hyundai car mart in ASIA! (nah, it's just Everland's carpark)

how my meal looked like every single day when i was there


sleeping, da chang jing style