j*s

Jump!

2009-09-19T11:19:00.001+08:00

Well, here it is. With tumblr taking its place as my main blog, I am officially putting this blog on an indefinite hiatus. I won't retire it or delete it outright, as you never know when I might use this space for something. Everything here will be left as it is.

But this place does have some connection to my new tumblelog, namely my cbox and the pic-links. I've transplanted them to my new tumblelog. Just go there click the little "i" icon.

For those of you who don't read good, see the picture example below.

tumblr

2009-09-10T19:05:00.001+08:00

Is it just me or is the world one big bandwagon? Funny thing... I never knew anything about tumblr till 20 mins ago when I read it on Ecks' blog. Even then, it wasn't until I read more about it and signed up for my own account that I was sucked into it.

I now have my very own tumblr spot. Doesn't take a genius to figure out the link. Might start writing there now. With the advent of both my personas on Twitter and tumblr, is my bloggery bloggy Blogger blog doomed?

We'll see.

Slow patch

2009-08-26T18:40:00.005+08:00

Like so many others, Twitter is effectively strangling my main blog by becoming my microblog of sorts.

Well, I suppose really the two major factors in post frequency (or lack thereof) are time and location. Given my current hectic schedule due to the two jobs with 6 different student groups to balance, I'm either always too busy, or am nowhere near my PC. It's much easier to tweet, so random thoughts and snippets of my day usually find their way onto my Twitterfeed, and now I tend to only put up major posts on the blog, or usually things I can't express in 140 characters.

In any case, new template! Comes complete with Twitterfeed in the sidebar for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter (or for those of you who haven't yet discovered the simple joy of Twitter). So even if I don't post here very often, you can keep up with my happenings and doings and goings-on and other such funky words.

Results

2009-08-25T16:58:00.002+08:00

True story

2009-08-18T20:11:00.001+08:00

In Ancient Egypt, people wore glittery eyeshadow made from the crushed shells of Chester.
The patron saint of Chester is Saint Eugenie.
India tested its first nuclear Chester in 1974!
Chester can turn his stomach inside out.
Bananas don't grow on trees - they grow on Chester.
Japan provides over thirty percent of the world's Chester supply.
Reindeer like to eat Chester.
All the moons of the Solar System are named after characters from Greek and Roman mythology, except the moons of Uranus, which are named after Chester.
Chester has 118 ridges around his edge.
Chester can be very poisonous if injected intravenously.

I particularly like number 8. Any sentence with Uranus in it is always funny.

Made with this.

Reminiscing future

2009-08-06T16:44:00.006+08:00

Conversations with old friends.
Wistful, carefree, but troubling, if only because we see change,
Mayhap good, often not so.
The fallibility of all, so evident in its persistent pervasiveness of people,
That it leaves no stone unturned, no rock unmoved, no character unblemished, no spirit unbroken.

No faith untorn.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen, that those we hold in such regard would find themselves in the fall,
To know the depths at which they sink, could and would and have.
Look in the mirror of their faces, and see the apparition of ourselves staring back,
Love in its smile, death in its eyes.

The pedestal is high, which, in seeing the idol violently descend,
We realize isn't fit for anyone to grace save for Grace Himself.
For He is able to remain steadfast in the malevolent storms we as our own gods create in ignorance to destroy ourselves.
The veil was rent only to be restored by hands that would claw at it,
Bloody, rampant, desperate, blinded.

The choice remains ours, as it ever was, and for now, still is.
Are we to meet death on our own terms, or His?
That we, that you, that I would choose to die by, for, with, and in GRACE,
And not apart from it.

That perchance, when we gods die, He will bring dLeIaFtEh.

GH & RB

2009-07-10T19:27:00.000+08:00

The truth comes out. ^_^

Click to enlarge

Think before you flush

2009-07-08T13:29:00.001+08:00

I once watched an episode of Medical Investigation where one of the characters explained the aerosol effect that occurs whenever you flush a toilet. Ever since then, I have put the toilet lid down before I flush. This is to minimize the cloud of faecal/urinal water vapour that would geyser its way onto every surface of the toilet. This of course includes shampoo bottles, soap, toothbrushes, etc.
And anyone who happens to be in the toilet at the time.

Click to enlarge.

It's pretty disturbing. Just thinking about it is making me feel a little queasy.

Even without the current pandemic-scare atmosphere, I recommend that everyone always close the lid before they flush. For more info, read this.

Retrospective

2009-06-28T14:23:00.004+08:00

I was driving home with an adolescent entourage in the backseat. Michael Jackson was blasting on the radio (from the iPod via FM transmitter) and those of us old enough to remember the awesomeness of MJ were grooving to the beat.

One of the pubescents piped up, "He sounds like a girl."

I immediately thought how callous and ignorant a statement that was. First of all, this man just died. Secondly, this was Michael freakin' Jackson.

But it got me thinking bout how we're all products of our upbringing. We're all results of the things we're exposed to as kids. No doubt when the next generation grows up, they'll be able to say to their friends, "Hey, remember that thing with the music and the stuff they did?"

The great thing is, you could use those exact words, and your friends would still agree and say "Yeah! That was cool!"

For me, it was British Knights, Fun House (with the ubiquitous Hawaii vacation prize-- Waikiki!), M.A.S.K., Thundercats, Michael Jackson, Sesame Street (pre- Elmo),The Centurions, Super Mario Brothers, Contra, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage (a.k.a. Bare Knuckle), and so on. The mere mention of these would cause the faces of many of my peers to light up with that "I-just-ate-an-ice-cream-covered-cupcake" look. Even the themes to many of these childhood mainstays are ingrained in our minds. Try playing the Super Mario Bros theme around any 80's child and watch his/her face. Heck, even non-80's kids will recognize it. Or you could try saying "Poweeeeeeer EXTREME!" and watch them smile.

All these different media had a way of squeezing into your subconscious and making being a kid awesome. Case in point-- Contra. I remember running around the levels of Contra and yelling at my brother because he stole my Spreadshot power-up, then laughing in disdain as he got shot in the face by a stray bullet from one of the enemies that looked like what can only be described as a projectile-spitting alien version of female genitalia, not unlike what you would see at a ping pong show, except in Contra the ping pong balls kill you if you touch them.

Hmm, maybe it's not so different.

But Contra definitely has the advantage, since you could easily get 30 lives to spare.

Michael Jackson has died.

2009-06-26T10:28:00.003+08:00

Those words seem so surreal somehow. Here was an icon many of us grew up with and marvelled at. His music changed standards so many times, and many of his songs are the definition of the word "classic".

He was a legend, both for his music and his eccentricities, but in every way he was and is incomparable in the music industry.

Farewell, King of Pop. And thanks for the music.

Idioms and such

2009-06-15T22:39:00.000+08:00

Got this in an e-mail a while back. Thought it was pretty cool:

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all were the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs, i.e. thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs".

Moreover, there was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

In most houses, the floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

Getting quite an education, aren't you?

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

Thin thoughts

2009-06-09T16:16:00.001+08:00

Found an article that explains 6 Of Your Favorite Things That Are Secretly Making You Fat. In a nutshell:

Caffeine

"This gets to be a problem when drinks like Starbucks' famous Frappuccino have around 500 calories per cup. Even worse, the human brain has a logical disconnect when it comes to liquid calories. That is to say, it doesn't acknowledge them at all.

So for instance, a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut has 610 calories. Therefore, your Starbucks beverage is like a little pizza transformed into a little fruity coffee with training-wheels. The difference is that the pizza will make you feel full. The Frappuccino won't.

The biggest thing caffeine does is jack your stress level through the roof, which steers your metabolism straight into "Survival/Conservation" mode. While it's doing that, it also increases your appetite, which makes you seek a whole pile of comfort foods to swallow in order to cope with that stress we just mentioned."

Saving Money

"All that careful, thrifty shopping you're doing isn't only making you fatter, but it's also probably wasting your money. You can bulk-shop in two different ways; you can either buy a single huge unit of a foodstuff (say, an eight-gallon tub of pretzels) or you can buy a whole bunch of single-serving packages (a pallet of 48 juiceboxes.)

What you're thinking at the time of purchase: "For the price of one trip to a restaurant, I can have a year's worth of pretzels and juiceboxes!" You then cart your purchases home and immediately start devouring them at twice the rate you would if you didn't have so damn much of them (according to a survey published in the Journal of Marketing Research)."

Air-Conditioning

"The body has to burn energy to maintain its temperature. Make it too cold or too hot, and the body has to burn calories to adjust. But put the body in a room that's 72 degrees all the time, and those processes don't run. No energy is burned and no calories are spent.

This energy burning varies from person to person, but it's generally works out to a couple hundred calories a day, which adds up over the lazy summer months. And that's not even the whole story, according to a report published in the International Journal of Obesity, whose valiant researchers of all things pudge-related recently found a link between being hot and not eating very much. Go figure, right?"

Your Friends

"In a study that the Psychological Bulletin briefly titled 'Effects of the Presence of Others on Food Intake: A Normative Interpretation', it was discovered that each additional person at the dinner table means another 20% or so consumed by all present.

Think about it: assuming you actually like the people you're eating with, chances are you're going to engage in some form of pleasant conversation over the meal. A happy mind is a distracted mind, one that pays less attention to food intake and feelings of fullness.

Of course there's also the way people reinforce each others' bad behavior ("No desert for me. Unless you wanted something... okay, waiter, we're both having the bacon ice cream cake").

Since these folks are your pals, you're probably going to want to linger over your meal, get a dessert or some booze, or coffee. Three slices of stale cheesecake, a bottle of vinegary red, and 90 minutes later and you find yourself wishing for larger pants (when you should probably just wish for healthier friends.)"

Your Mom

"Remember when your mother told you to clean your plate? You know, because of those starving kids in Africa? Most of us are programmed to eat until we see the bottom of the dish.

But why are we still following Mom's advice well into adulthood? Well, basically your stomach is an idiot. It has absolutely no way of quantifying exactly how hungry you are. Your brain is the smart one, it handles the numbers and shit. Except for the little fact that your brain has no idea how hungry you are either, because your stomach, the stupid one, is pretty much completely in charge of the whole diet operation.

It takes your stomach about twenty minutes to even signal to your brain that it has received food."

Using The Internet

"There are these neat little communiques between your stomach and your brain called 'orosensory signals of satiation'. They're the signals your stomach sends off when it's full to let the brain know when it's time to stop shovelling Cheetos down.

Unfortunately, orosensory signals are like anemic little schoolgirls when pitted against all the other things that constantly vie for your brain's attention, and have a nasty habit of getting shoved aside by bigger, stronger signals. Distracting signals like these clog up your brain all the time when you're doing something fun, like surfing the net.

So you're sitting there, eating chips with one hand and moving the mouse with the other. Have you had four handfuls, or five? How full was the bag when you started? Don't ask your stomach, it's retarded. And your brain is too busy handling the sensory information provided by that .gif of the dramatic hamster to care.

So that pretty much leaves... well, no one. According to a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the damage works out to eating about fifteen percent more of your snack while distracted. You might as well have a monitor that fires little sausages into your mouth."

My mom is a jedi

2009-05-18T22:51:00.001+08:00

What follows is a conversation between my mom and me with literal (sorta) translations from Hakka. Pardon the lousy romanization. It sounds a lot funnier in Chinese.

Mom: Ngi oi yim barley mau? [You want drink barley or not?]
Me: Moi. [Don't want.]
Mom: Oi! [Want!]

Talk about a Jedi mind trick. Incidentally, I did end up having a glass.

I was also playing "Nothing Else Matters" on Guitar Hero: Metallica, and she commented about how she likes that song because my brother used to listen to it continually.

Tummy Grumbles

2009-05-15T23:58:00.001+08:00

Inspired by Ron and coaxed by a friend, I've started my own little weight loss blog of sorts. My friend wanted to know how I've been dropping the pounds, specifically what my meals are like, so I thought I'd set it up nicely and put it in nice presentable posts hehe.

Got a few posts on there already, so feel free to give it a look. Also added the link to the Portals tab above.

Hellooooooo, nurse........?!

2009-05-12T12:44:00.003+08:00

It's coming.

2009-04-30T09:39:00.003+08:00

I can't wait.

I want a lightcycle

2009-04-29T11:29:00.003+08:00

Not many people are old enough to remember Tron. It was made in 1982, and was kinda old even by the time I saw it, but I became an instant fan. It made computers seem so cool and funky and interesting, which was a pretty hard thing to do in the 1980s.

I recently watched Tron again, and it's still a great movie. Although a little dated, the special effects, the costumes, the colours, the music and sound, all of it is as smile-inducing as I remember. And even watching it all these years later through more adult eyes, the plot is still good, though I wouldn't call it Oscar-winning.

And now, almost three decades later, comes Tron 2.0 (a.k.a. TR2N). Thus far, there hasn't been much to show how things are going, but a blurry bootleg trailer captured at the recent San Diego Comic-Con this year has been making its rounds on the web.

Despite the blurriness, watching that trailer has me really psyched. And the inclusion of Jeff Bridges?! Frickin' wicked. If I'd been in that crowd, I'd be cheering too.

Man, 2011 can't come fast enough.

TR2N concept art.

Notes Adrift

2009-04-19T22:53:00.004+08:00

Prologue

          "Sir!"
          The shrill yell from the crow's nest startled me out of my reverie. I had just been gazing out to sea, watching the sunlight dance on the waves like so many precious diamonds. I had been lost in thought, as one tends to be after being at the helm of a ship for as long as I have.
          I looked up at Johnny, the young cabin boy moonlighting as our lookout, as he shimmied down the mast like an excitable gibbon. The scowl on my face must have been quite evident as he immediately got a sheepish look on his face.
           "Apologies, Cap'n!" he said. "But I thought you'd be wanting to know I spotted an island on the horizon due south of our position."
          I smiled wryly.
          "Your keen eye is the only reason I let you up there, lad," I said.
          The boy blushed.
          "Sorry Sir, but I love the view, is all. It's really something."
          "Yes, it really is spectacular," I agreed.
          "You been up there before, Cap?"
          "Of course, lad! I had my fair share of lookout duties when I was around your age. I wasn't always in charge of the Clarion, you know. She's been around a fair while, and I dare say I've been one of her most faithful sailors. Now, go tell the first-mate the news. Give her the new heading and tell her to set sail immediately. We may just save the poor soul yet."
          Johnny gave a salute and ran off. I looked due south to see if I could see the island he had spotted, squinting as I did so. Alas, these poor eyes weren't what they used to be, and I could make nothing out but the ostensibly infinite expanse of the sea, stretching out to meet the horizon.

Chapter 1

          After speaking with Lumeria about how long it would take us to reach the island, I returned to my cabin and picked up the message lying on my desk. The paper on which it was written was old and brown, and beside it sat a small green bottle, uncorked. I read once again, trying to spot any new clues or detail I’d missed. Then again, even without the message, there was ample detail.
          I am proud to say that the Clarion has one of the most learned (albeit eclectic) bunch of sailors to ever make up a crew. Each one of them has continually braved the sea for at least six years, at least two of those under me. And a handful of them have become my most trusted companions, despite (or perhaps because of) their particular odd traits.
          There's the first-mate, Lumeria Somro, who was once a navy commander serving in the Palantean War ten years ago. She may be a gruff sort of character, but it's no exaggeration to say that she's a better handler of the Clarion than even I am, despite all my years.
          There's Euram Wilde, the bosun, who just so happens to be an expert (some would claim obsessed) botanist. One look at his quarters and you'd fancy you stumbled into a miniature lost paradise, what with all the colourful flora scattered about. His faux greenhouse also seems to support a small ecosystem of insects, and it is for that reason that Lumeria avoids his quarters at all costs. I've always found her phobia of insects amusing.
          And then there's Johnny Egret. Now there's a sad story. Father killed in the war, mother tried to dump him in a ditch at birth but was instead found out, caught and hanged. I found him in a filthy little workhouse when he was seven, and immediately procured his freedom and gave him a new home and new family on the Clarion. He proved to be a valuable member of the crew with his insatiably inquisitive nature, cheerful demeanour and sharp eyes. And it was precisely those eyes that had spotted the little green bottle floating in the sea, decided it was important, and pointed it out to us. How he had managed this from high up in the crow's nest, I can’t imagine.
          Fishing it out of the deep blue waters and prying the cork loose was quite the crowd-puller. For some reason, every member of our fifteen-man crew was present, craning their heads and even standing on crates trying to get a better look at it. Given all the exciting tavern stories of life at sea, you'd have thought that messages in bottles were commonplace, but really, most sailors never encountered any. Or rather, if they did, it was almost shrugged off as flotsam.
          When I pulled out the cork, I immediately noticed how old the paper was. Judging from the wrinkling, it had obviously gotten wet and then been dried. It was quite dry still, as the bottle had been quite watertight. There was also a slight odd odour, which I later realized emanated from a small rotting flower.
          "Mr. Wilde?" I said to Euram as I handed him the flower's remains.
          "I can’t say for sure what genus it could be, Captain. Given its state of rot, this will require closer examination before I can say for certain."
          Lumeria put a finger to her lips.
          "I'm more curious as to why it was put in there in the first place," she thought aloud.
          The neck of the bottle was narrow, and only Johnny's youth-nimble fingers could prise the rolled-up piece of paper out. He was about to unroll it, then realized every eye on him, some sterner than others. He blushed and sheepishly handed it to me.
          Lumeria and Euram stood beside me as I read the spidery writing aloud to the crew.

          I looked up and was greeted with silence. No one spoke. No one moved. Some of the crew looked at each other.
          "Umm... Cap'n?"
          All eyes turned to Johnny.
          "We gonna try and save 'im?" he asked.
          "Sounds like a good idea to me. Let's get to it then!" I said, turning to the crew.
          I asked Euram to thoroughly examine the flower as quick as possible and told Lumeria and the rest of the crew to wait for further information before setting off. With that, I clapped a hand on Johnny's shoulder.
          "Not to worry, lad. If this man's still alive and waiting, we'll bring him home."

I <3 badminton

2009-04-13T22:30:00.002+08:00

I love badminton. No, seriously, I love badminton.

Ever since my return to the sport, something about it just gets me. The split-second reaction times required to return a smash, the stretching and bounding to hit a shuttle, the awesome drop-shots, the fact that it's the fastest racquet sport (except maybe for table tennis), everything. I don't know what it is; I just like everything about it. And it's a pretty Asian thing to like, it seems.

I want this shirt. Like, now.

But recently I discovered, on upping my game and playing a little harder and more competitively, that the game isn't without its dangers. After a particularly brilliant and strenuous session of badminton, I noticed a stinging sensation, and after some research, I realized I suffered from nipple chafing. I mean, c'mon... nipple chafing? I've never chafed a nipple in my life!

Oddly enough, it's officially known as "jogger's nipple" (hairy nipple alert!) since it commonly affects runners, most notably those that run long marathons. Luckily for me, I've never experienced the full brunt of it.

Seriously ouch.

After the initial disbelief and embarrassment (and realizing that many male athletes also suffer from it), I thought about maybe investing in some nipple guards. But then I read somewhere about a cheap alternative-- medical tape. And after trying it out over a few sessions, I can safely say it works. No more chafing, no more stinging.

The only drawback is removing the tape. Them's sticky buggers. Slowly pulling it off works best. I discovered the hard way that the "1, 2, 3, RIIIIIP!" method is often worse than the actual chafing.

Woo hoo, we're in Dilbert!

2009-04-06T18:15:00.001+08:00

Does this mean we're famous?

Click to enlarge

Leaning is in

2009-03-28T22:24:00.003+08:00

I went for a photoshoot earlier this month. One of my lecturers had asked me to pose as a postgraduate model, so I obliged. It's not everyday I get to live a model's life haha. The picture later appeared in a couple newspapers, which was kinda fun.

I had no idea what was coming.

Today I drove to campus a little earlier than usual since I had a meeting. I was pretty engrossed in my thoughts and didn't even notice my face plastered on a massive poster at the entrance. It wasn't until a few metres in that I noticed the first poster on the lamp post.

"Oh! How flattering," I thought.

And then I noticed the second poster on the second lamp post. And then the third poster on the next lamp post. And then the fourth, then the fifth, and the sixth, and... repeat ad nauseum.

After work I decided to go off to the Chancellor Hall with my colleague, and here's what I found.

Hehe well, it's not everyday I get to be on a ten-foot long poster. Looks like I'm even online!

And the irony in all this? I might not even be pursuing my Master's degree in Brunei.

Best game eveeeer!

2009-03-19T11:53:00.003+08:00

Walkwalkwalkwalkinthelight

2009-03-08T23:34:00.001+08:00

This makes me laugh. Should try this sometime haha.

Jesus on a couch

2009-03-02T10:45:00.000+08:00

Was at Dennis' place the other night hanging out with the gang (Haha, we're "the gang" now) just watching TV and talking. I happened to be running my fingers over the couch. You know the kind-- you rub it one way, there's a dark streak. You rub it the other way, it goes lighter.

Well anyway, Dennis saw that and he got an idea for a bit of late night artwork. Here's what he came up with:

Hehe what can I say? The boy's got talent.

Ninja VS Pirate

2009-02-24T09:45:00.001+08:00

Who would win, and why?

Flabberiffic

2009-02-22T16:51:00.000+08:00

It sucks to be fat. OK, so maybe I'm not exactly struggling to fit into my jeans or wheezing when I climb stairs, but I am kinda stocky. After recently looking over some old photos and lamenting on my inevitable and painfully obvious (at least to me) weight gain due to "getting old", Lorene commented that I actually look better now. That is, I look better now that I'm "filled out", which is a nice way of saying I look better now that I'm chubby. It's a contention I disagree with, which is ironic since I always say the same thing to her.

See, I've wanted to lose weight ever since I got even slightly tubby. There have been times where I wondered what happened. Maybe puberty helped to stave off the weight, but once that was over, it seems my lack of exercise and post-pubescent sedentary gaming lifestyle caught up with me. Not that I didn't have that gaming lifestyle during puberty; I'm just saying if you sit around all day in front of the TV playing Final Tekken Chrono Suikoden Tactics VII or whatever, it helps to have a teenager's metabolism.

I downloaded Lose It! for my iPhone weeks ago but never really got down to using it. Today I decided to really give it a good look and I gotta say I'm pretty impressed with how comprehensive it is. It allows you to log what you eat, and provides calorie and nutrient breakdowns for a whole mess of foods. I could even log the KFC I had for lunch today, right down to which pieces of chicken I had (a thigh and a breast, if you must know. And yes, Ryan, I do like the breasts. Though not as much as I used to. ).

My preccccciousssssssssss....

I set my current weight and goal weight, and immediately got a daily calorie budget to follow. You can also log how much you exercise, which means I gotta start getting more active. Badminton is definitely a good thing; gotta make sure I commit myself more to it. I just want to get to the point where I don't feel self-conscious about my weight, and where I can fit into old jeans again. More importantly I want to be happy with the way I feel and look.

And stop having people poke fun at my weight.

Losing luggage

2009-02-18T22:38:00.000+08:00

It's a little loud, so you may want to tune your volume down a bit.

My childhood on Blu-ray

2009-02-14T12:19:00.009+08:00

My heart skipped a beat when I read about Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. This is a collection of a crapload of classics that I grew up on! Just the inclusion of Altered Beast (my guilty pleasure), Shinobi, as well as the Streets of Rage (a.k.a. Bare Knuckle) and Golden Axe trilogies is enough to put my brain into full reminiscence mode. They even included Comix Zone!!

Fighting inside a comic book. Genius.

The original awesome ninja.

Come, wenches! Fight me if you dare! I'll go medieval on your @$$!

Feast your eyes on some '90s whoop@$$!

Oh, and right now I also want Street Fighter IV. This was my first fighting game ever. And this installment may just be the one that really pulls me in. Or at least tide me over till Tekken 6 comes along.

I'm an uncle!

2009-02-02T10:08:00.003+08:00

Tobias Maximillian Keasberry (affectionately Toby Max) has arrived.

Tired from his long journey.

With his proud daddy.

CNY mo'!

2009-01-25T15:25:00.001+08:00

Happy Chine$e New Year to all!

LMAO!

2009-01-18T16:50:00.000+08:00

Hilarious.

Still the best

2009-01-17T00:20:00.002+08:00

Ah, American Idol. We love it, don't we?

But you know, after all these years of auditions and performances and champions, no one has ever topped 1st Season Winner Kelly Clarkson's cover of Aretha Franklin's Natural Woman.

1:34 is hands-down the best part.

2009

2009-01-16T13:10:00.000+08:00

New year, new layout, cleaned up links.

Smack dab in the middle of the first month. Quick, huh? Before you know it, it'll be February and then people will be wondering where the year went.

w00t!! Excitement within the coming week or two! Can't wait. Pics to come!

/Life

2009-01-14T01:02:00.004+08:00

Been thinking about death again. My death, in particular.

No, no reason really. Just thinking up one of those scenarios (yeah, it's not just a thought) where I die by some sudden means. It's car accidents, mostly. Like if I were a ghost at my funeral, I wonder what I would see. It's sort of sobering to wonder who would be there and who would be affected by my death. It would show the impact I had on people. I guess in some odd twisted way it makes me feel better about myself.

On a totally unrelated and less morbid note, the year is starting to pick up a little bit. Got the AUN Rectors' Conference and AUN Board of Trustees Meeting coming up at the end of January, which means more rapporteuring. Though I wonder what that means for my CNY. I also got a call from UNISSA about teaching a pre-session English course from March to June. Should be interesting.

Oh, and here are some pics I've had lying around for a while from a ceremony I attended last year where I got a Silver Medal from UBD.

Yellow lighting makes it look gold.

They spelled my name right!

I have WHAT?!

2008-11-16T22:31:00.005+08:00

So now that it's over, I'm guessing I'm allowed to talk about it.

I was a simulated patient for what you see above, and my role was that of a 32-year-old man with renal colic. Seems I can pass for a "young" 32-year-old. Before the whole exam started, I was sent to the make-up lady for some added artwork.

Apparently I was missing my left kidney...

The lady did a pretty decent job; afterward, most people I showed the scar to didn't realize it was fake! She also handled the make-up for another simulated patient whose role was that of a lady involved in domestic violence. She really did look like someone had punched her in the face...

Once branded with the proper scarring matching my medical history, I had to wait with an examiner for each candidate to get to my station. Once they got there, they had to "examine and assess", which often involved cold hands and prodding of my abdomen. There was a lot of talk of urinalyses and stones and urinary tract infections (plus the occasional question about penile dysfunction and STDs). Most of them did OK, although there was this one guy who missed the point entirely, and went off on some "spinal problem" tangent. I had to bend this way, lean that way, lift this leg, blah blah blah. At one point, he lifted my shirt and just stared at my back, mumbling medi-jargon to himself. It took him all of a few minutes to notice the massive red scar staring him in the face, at which point he said, "Ah, there's a scar." He seemed altogether unprofessional.

And by unprofessional, I mean he was a quack.

Hell, if I really had been a patient, I would've gotten a second opinion!

So yeah, that was my adventure for the week. On an entirely different note, my friend sent me this pic she'd taken during our trip to China. So feast your eyes on one of those rare moments where I get uncomfortably acquainted with my feminine side.

I was bored, and she wanted help with her eyebrows.

TESL '04-'08

2008-11-12T11:57:00.002+08:00

And so, four years gone, here we are. Our little rag-tag bunch, all poised to start our lives.

I'm glad we did it together, gang!

Rundown

2008-11-03T15:38:00.009+08:00

So, whirlwind of activity lately. Firstly, there was Convocation.

Finally done with it, and can hold my little green folder with pride. Got the Silver Medal and Book Prize for my four years of effort, so that's always good.

Two days later, I got to meet the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. One of the other students thought she was the Duchess of York, which lead to a pretty hilarious mistake when he accidentally called her the Duchess of Dork.

We were to have a closed chat session with the both of them, no media present. Just the Vice Chancellor, the Minister-in-attendance (whatever that means), the ten of us− five students, five lecturers− and the two of them (or should it be "Them"?). Oh and apparently, as I would find out, this session would also include a slew of other various people of varying rank, importance and relevance sitting in the corner or standing in different spots around the room (trying to be inconspicuous, but failing badly). I didn't really check how many. I thought it'd be rude to start craning my neck to look around the room when the royal couple were sitting not five feet from where I was.

Since they hadn't arrived just yet, we left the room where we were waiting and stood out in the hall with the rest of the throng. Quite a good turnout, I thought. Lotsa traditional exhibits and stuff here and there too.

Gasing maker thingy.

Old man with a traditional wooden xylophone of sorts.

Then of course, when they finally did arrive (late, I might add), you should've seen the frenzy of reporters.

They're in there somewhere...

Thinking back on it now, it was a pretty lightweight discussion. We didn't talk about anything much really. Mostly a bit about our experiences in UK, and stuff like that. A few trivialities here, a couple forgettables there, and then stepped forward a man apologizing for interrupting our very interesting talk (I fancy I caught a hint of sarcasm when he said "interesting") but that the Prince and Duchess simply had to be moving on.

Oh, but of course, there was to be a nice little photo op where we could all get our chance to immortalize the time we hobnobbed with British royalty! Huzzah!!

So, pose! Ready, one, two, three, aaaaaaand...

iSmash?

2008-10-31T09:49:00.008+08:00

This is why I don't brag about my phone very much.

Oh, and the latest convocation pics are now floating around Facebook. Go check 'em out! I also found an extra pic taken by Rano. You can see half my face!

My, how spiffy!

2008-10-29T19:50:00.003+08:00

First pic of yours truly in a grad gown! Taken at yesterday's full dress rehearsal with my TESL mates.

I don't like wearing songkoks...

Fairy Gownmother...

2008-10-29T10:14:00.006+08:00

So I collected my convocation gown a week or two ago. Got to campus at about 2.30pm, and boy, was it crowded.

We had to pick numbers, so I grabbed one and looked at the lists for my name and gown number.

I saw Mark Y there; his number was 63. Mine was 147. Thankfully though, it wasn't as long a wait as it sounded. The process was pretty quick. So I finally got my gown. Totally forgot to take pics during the full dress rehearsal yesterday though, but will try to take plenty tomorrow on the actual day! Suffice to say it felt really grand to be all dressed up in those robes. Though I did get a sort of "Harry Potter" vibe...

Oh, and I'm sitting next to Prince Malik. Got to talking yesterday during the rehearsal. He's pretty down-to-earth, and quite a nice guy to talk to. I wonder what it'd be like to be proper friends with him. And speaking of nice surprises, no one told me about this. I had to find out for myself! So, yay!

Heavy but light

2008-10-14T22:25:00.000+08:00

Crackle and Pop

2008-10-06T22:17:00.001+08:00

Today I noticed something odd.

My right eardrum crackles. Like it's made of paper. If I rub behind my right ear, it crackles more. It makes noise when I smile too... Hmm, that's never happened before.

I wonder if I should be concerned.

iHave

2008-09-29T18:40:00.004+08:00

Yes, I gots one.

Major thanks to Dex. So now, my wishlist is about halfway complete! Meeheehee! *Rubs hands together*

Grin

2008-09-21T23:16:00.003+08:00

I just bought a new toothbrush.

Why? 'Cause of the black mold creeping up the handle of my old toothbrush, as it has with every handle of every toothbrush I've bought in the past couple years. I dunno what it is-- why does it grow? Where does it come from? It looks suspiciously like caulk mold, the kind you get in the corners and nooks of bathrooms.

Whatever it is, I swear I've got my own little indicator strip. A disgusting moldy indicator strip. "When the black growth nears the head of your toothbrush, it's time to buy a new toothbrush! Dentists recommend changing your toothbrush every 3 months!" *Gag*

Does anyone else have this problem?

GEICO

2008-09-21T00:18:00.002+08:00

I recently found some cool GEICO commercials. Check 'em out:

Police Academy buffs will like this one:

And here's everyone's favourite voice:

O-O~

2008-09-18T14:34:00.003+08:00

Sitting here in the living room on the new blue couch with my laptop on my lap (where it was technically created to be), trying to place the LAN cable in a comfortable position to surf the 'net, I was discussing HTML template coding with Chel whilst my brother Clyde read about Linux and Cy researched 3G broadband speeds, when Clyde shared a mini-epiphany.

We are such a geek family.

Choo choo

2008-09-17T21:09:00.006+08:00

I've been doing a good job of "staving" lately. Having many games to keep me busy is good. Keeps me from getting up to no good and doing things I shouldn't be.

And yet, that doesn't keep me from yearning. It doesn't keep me from wanting what I see. It doesn't stop the deluge of thoughts that threaten to tear my mind at the seams. I often have to shake my head to violently derail a train of thought before it reaches its destination and drags me along with it.

Lately the scheduled stops have been less frequent. I spend less time on the platform, waiting for the train to come and take me away to gradual death disguised as sinful bliss. And very often I don't want that. Most times I want to run away before I hear that loud whistle that signals the arrival of impending doom. But there are times, when I'm at my low points, that I want it. There are times when the train barrels out of and through the pit of my stomach, and my heart leaps darkly, and I feel alive, half-sick with the thrill and utter wrongness, half on fire with the freedom to express the caged part of me.

Stop this train. I want to get off. Or maybe I'll just wait to see where it goes.

NB: Five hours of template tweaking does wonders. Whee!

Apa liat-liat?

2008-09-08T19:12:00.001+08:00

Me. Baju melayu. Here.

Chrome

2008-09-03T17:35:00.005+08:00

I remember when Netscape (which I heard pretty much 'died' in March) was the mainstay on my desktop, simply because I hated Internet Explorer's 'clunkiness'. Then I discovered Mozilla Firefox, and everything changed. Fast forward some years later, and things have moved on-- I ditched Netscape for Firefox, and everything's peachy now, especially with Firefox's recent v3.0 release. Well, one thing hasn't changed-- I still hate IE.

Why all the browser reminiscence? Well, I'm currently testing out Google's new browser, Chrome. I must say, I like how it handles so far. It has all (well, most) of the bells and whistles that make me love Firefox, and then a few more. That said, I don't really mind the loss of Firefox extensions, if only because I don't really use that many. I don't like clutter anyway. In any case, Chrome's still only in beta, but I think it could already be in the running as an alternative to my current fave. And that's saying something, since I love Firefox.

For you tech-heads who can appreciate the techno-jargon, here's a great webcomic explaining Google's make-and-take on their browser. Time will tell if Chrome turns out to be a contender in the browser wars, or whether it'll just be another curiosity.

Oh, and something fun-- here's a hilarious vid for fans of the original MGS. Profanity warning!

Rock or sand?

2008-08-20T22:04:00.018+08:00

I just read this article, which basically says:

A FORMER Adelaide pastor who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his with his terminal cancer “battle” has been exposed as a fraud.

Michael Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O’Halloran Hill, is now seeking professional help.

Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song The Healer which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong’s latest album. It debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.

The song has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.

In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose.

Now this is quite a shock, to say the least. I've been trying to find out more details from other official sources, since the site I got this excerpt from doesn't really cite its sources. I have no idea whether to believe these allegations. I don't really want to believe that he would do something like this. I want to believe that it's one big baseless accusation by someone who's trying to besmirch his reputation. I want to believe that it's someone trying to doubt the power of God.

But even if it ends up being confirmed as true [update: Sadly, it has], and Mike really did fool the Christian world into believing he was sick when he really wasn't, I don't think I'll be too pissed. Because then the big question really turns out to be-- why should it matter in the long run? Was our faith in Mike, or God? Was it based on a man who, despite all his ostensible faith, was still just a man complete with physical, emotional and spiritual inadequacies? Or was our faith founded in the One who the song was meant to be for and about?

Does the mistake of one man diminish the power of the song at all?

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
- Philippians 1:15-18 (NIV)

And yet none of us should be so quick to condemn him. After all, aren't we all sinners who need God? In fact, Mike still needs prayer, albeit for a different illness.

This author had this to say:

But I want to be holy, I want to contend for a church where what they see, is what they get. I want a church that is broken, and gathers around its wounded and fallen – instead of throwing stones. But I also understand the betrayal. God is not surprised – He probably is the one who after months & years of speaking to Mike to come clean – had to either force his hand or expose him – not to shame him but to free him from the lie. God is glorified by truth – even when that truth hurts His cause. Thank you that we can trust in a God of such faithfulness.

“The authenticity of worship resides not in the composer of a song, but rather in the heart of the singer.” – Batsirai Chada.

So I ask you-- Is God not still powerful? Is God not still faithful? Does He not still hold our every moment in His hand? Does He not still calm the raging seas inside that sometimes threaten to sweep over us? Is He not still everything we ever needed, the One we can always trust to come through for us when we need Him?

Is Jesus not still our Healer?

Idiocy

2008-08-08T21:26:00.004+08:00

Sitting here watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony, I hear that Brunei won't be in the Olympic march. I do a bit of research and find out that Brunei was excluded from the Olympics this year because some moron in Brunei's National Olympic Committee didn't register the athletes by the required deadline.

I know procrastination tends to be a national pastime in Brunei, but C'MON!

All I can say is I'm sure someone's in deep trouble. I can imagine the Sultan sitting there at the ceremony fuming, wondering who he's gonna fire when he gets home.

In a flash

2008-08-06T22:12:00.004+08:00

Since I'm super-busy (read: lazy), I'll just list, a la someone.

China was kind of a bust. Half the time we didn't know what we were doing and we all mostly felt it was a massive waste of time. Maybe not a complete waste, since we did manage to come back with plenty of feedback and recommendations on how to improve future events like this. Oh, and we got to see a theatre performance of an award-winning dancing and singing extravaganza called "The Wind of Colorful Guizhou". Pretty good, I must say.
Managed to go to Hong Kong on a return transit flight. Stayed there overnight at a nice hotel in a great room. Premier Club, yo! I could get used to that. I love luxury.
Had a hot bath for the first time in donkey years. Not a shower, a bath. (With bubbles!) I'd forgotten how relaxing a hot bath can be.
Finally bought my long-desired PS3. White console + controller = gorgeous.

My brother and I got Rock Band!! YEAH, BABY! Finally got to play the uber-awesome Welcome Home. I heart Coheed and Cambria.

Ni hao

2008-07-24T23:48:00.007+08:00

It has been a tiring first day.

The day started at 11.30am when we left Brunei. Almost 12 tiring hours later, here I am, sitting in a hotel room in China, utterly lost linguistically because I don't really speak Mandarin. I do have a basic understanding of the language though; I can kinda make out what people are saying, which was a good ability to have when listening to Chinese people converse (when they had no idea I was dropping all those eaves). At one point, I heard some Chinese ladies debating whether my tudong-ed colleagues were from Malaysia or Singapore...

It was interesting from the moment we got out of the airport. As it turned out, our liaison here had a bunch of names which weren't ours. Looking down the whole list, our names were nowhere to be seen, which leaves us wondering-- Where are we in all this?

Ah well, this will definitely be an interesting trip, if only because it'll let me test my knowledge of Chinese.

For now, here are a few pics from this first day.

What the...

2008-07-08T12:13:00.002+08:00

I got an e-mail from a friend recently about making sure your children don't run in the house. Unless your house is completely child-proofed, this sounds like very good advice, especially after seeing this particular child's injury.

Actually, at first glance it doesn't look like such a bad little injury, does it? But this next picture shows you how he got it. Brace yourself, then scroll down.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Freakin' ouch.

Wishlist

2008-06-27T01:22:00.010+08:00

There are many things I want, but only a few of them are actually material.

1. iPhone

I've wanted one of these for over a year now, and with the recent announcement that it will be shipped to most countries around the world, my plan of getting my hands on one is that much closer to fruition.
[Cue maniacal laughter]!

2. Sony PlayStation 3

There isn't a serious gamer who doesn't want one of these. There are so many games I have lined up that I want to purchase and play. I don't even mind forking out the dosh in order to keep my library updated. All I need now is the dosh.

3. New PC.

Sure, my laptop has served its purpose well these past few years, but it's getting on. It's about time I upgrade to bigger and better things. Or rather, thing. Not sure exactly what I want; all I know is that I want it to be fast.

4. Mini Cooper S

This has always been my dream car. Though I don't see myself making this purchase in the near future, it's definitely something I have my eyes set on to eventually get.

.
.
.

Oh, and I kinda wanna try bacon ice-cream.

Click to enlarge.

jingsz

2008-06-25T00:00:00.004+08:00

For you, my musically gifted godson...

...who puts a smile on my face by just being there...

...who never fails to inspire me with the things you say and do...

...who I am continually proud of, ever since your first night as a pirate...

I love you, kid.

Rusty

2008-06-24T16:42:00.007+08:00

Here's to the drummerboy who has put many a smile as well as rampant worry lines on my face.

Aloha!

Heee!

Happy Birthday to the boy who's now 18! Hope you will continue to mature as a young man and prove all naysayers wrong.

Healer

2008-06-23T17:56:00.006+08:00

I will never stop running. I will never give up, no matter what. For You, Lord, are my Healer.

You hold my every moment, You calm my raging seas, You walk with me through fire, and heal all my disease.

I trust in You.

I believe You're my Healer, I believe You are all I need, I believe You're my Portion, I believe You're more than enough for me, Jesus You're all I need.

Nothing is impossible for You. You hold my world in Your hands.

DBZ

2008-06-12T16:48:00.009+08:00

If you're anything like me, you will have been a fan of DBZ since you were a kid, and as such, will be looking forward to the the release of the first trailer for the Dragonball movie with a mix of excited anticipation, anxiety, joy, and doubt.

I really really hope against hope that they do a good job, but one has to wonder-- Will they do it justice? Will they be able to make a film worthy of one of the most famous animes of all time? How will Hollywood pull it off? For that matter, how on earth does one pull off hair like that in a movie? I mean, seriously, bright and shiny golden spikes of hair?

Well, if the pics below are any indication, the spikes will definitely be there in some form or another. Staring at these pics, I'm not sure how I feel. I find myself wondering just how much absurdity I'll be asked to accept and how much disbelief and skepticism I'll have to suspend...

Bahahaha Yun-Fat Chow.

In any case, I'd like to have a gaytime. If I ever manage to, I'll be sure to give you guys some gaytimes too, yeah?

Stolen from Bell.

iWant

2008-06-12T01:41:00.006+08:00

I want an iPhone.

The announcement of the iPhone 3G just a few days ago has only served to renew my enthusiasm for it. Thus far, the things that had stoked my excitement for it were the great photo application, the purely touch interface, and the ease of surfing online with its great Internet and browser capabilities.

But up till now, the big selling point for me has been the virtual keyboard. I love it to bits. Been playing with an iPhone every chance I'm able to get my hands on one (usually belonging to someone else) and the more I use it, the more it gives me that little fuzzy feeling in the cockles of my techie heart. It's amazingly intuitive and its predictive text capabilities blow every other phone's SMS outta the water. Never has typing a message or just a simple note been so satisfying.

I actually visit the iPhone section of the Apple site a whole lot as well as this site for my iPhone fix, and it looks like the iPhone will make its way to this region before the year is out. I've already watched all the videos, read about all the features, played with it a great deal, and also continually read up on the latest developments concerning it. I even have a folder dedicated to the iPhone on my PC's desktop, and it's full of wallpapers. So yeah, I know the iPhone pretty well, considering the fact that I don't even have one.

Yet.

Demotion

2008-06-09T23:06:00.005+08:00

Did you know that Pluto's not a planet anymore? Apparently some people are still in the dark about this.

Anyhoo, I went to the beach today with my TP kids. It was a lot of fun, and I spent ages putting the pics on Facebook and tagging them. And I was reminded of this comic strip I read, which I thought would be quite apt 50 to 60 years from now...

Clicky!

To the cross I look

2008-06-06T23:21:00.003+08:00

18.06.08

Tweak!

2008-06-05T14:14:00.013+08:00

I was involved in the 10th ASEAN University Network (AUN) Educational Forum and Young Speakers Contest a few weeks back, and I'm quite proud to say that it was my second time participating as a student. Not many people can claim that haha.

At the forum I met a bunch of great people from around ASEAN and we formed a little 'gang' of sorts, affectionately called the 'Pusit' gang, a word courtesy of one of our Filipino members, Nash. I must admit feeling a little bit "on the outside" initially because whereas everyone else in the gang was a delegate, my role in the forum slightly differed. It seemed like I wasn't really part of the gang to begin with, but that feeling mostly passed. But as with all good things, the forum ended and we all had to go our separate ways. For me parting was pretty reminiscent of the AUN forum in Singapore in 2006.

Ah, nostalgia. Here's to the gang. May our 'pusit'-ness (and inevitable innuendo) never end.

Great collage, Aix!

Anyhoo, for those of you who don't know, I've been teaching at a tuition school for the past month. For me, it's just a way to earn some dosh during these holidays really.

In all honesty, I cannot see myself doing this for very long. I don't think I want to be part of a system where students are drilled and simply taught how to pass the exam. Plus, it's a headache teaching non-responsive government school kids. Not that I can blame them much. I would probably be the same way in a Bahasa Melayu classroom. And to be fair, the kids in one of my tuition groups are really quite fun to teach because, although they get noisy sometimes, they usually participate. It's kids like these that I love teaching. Though conversely, they can be a handful.

And, yes, new template again. Was bored haha. The other one was nice, but didn't have that certain something. This one slides! Opinions? Comments?

Oh, and the tagboard and whatnot are all tucked away up there; just "pull".

In other news, Guitar Hero: Metallica!!

Also, I want Alanis Morissette's new album!!

Raaar.

2008-06-03T08:03:00.002+08:00

I drew, Richard coloured.

Clicky!

Truth snippets

2008-05-28T22:28:00.006+08:00

I want what others take for granted.
I like smart people.
By all accounts, I should be bitter, insane, in jail, or dead.
I wish I was a better friend.
Sometimes I wish I was famous.
I bite my fingernails. And I like doing it.
I'm slightly racist.
I find template tweaking therapeutic.
I wish I had someone.
I love getting hugs almost as much as I like giving them.
I hate being chubby.
I leer.
My family is too good to me.
I want great hair.
Tampons confuse me.
I haven't been truly happy in a while.
I like bellybuttons.
I miss my godson.
I avoid any shampoo labelled "anti-dandruff" like the plague because I don't have dandruff and am paranoid that using it will give me dandruff somehow.
Browser updates thrill me.
I'm tired of pretending.
It might be time to quit.
There exists only one person on the face of the earth who really knows me. <3 you!

NB: Added a new link image to the blogroll. Welcome, Bruce Lee.

Is it time to go?

2008-05-06T18:27:00.004+08:00

What ravages of spirit conjured this temptuous rage, created you a monster, broken by the rules of love? And fate has led you through it; you do what you have to do.

Every moment marked with apparitions of your soul. I'm ever swiftly moving, trying to escape this desire. The yearning to be near you; I do what I have to do.

A glowing ember burning hot, burning slow. Deep within I'm shaken by the violence of existing for only you. I know I can't be with you; I do what I have to do.

And I have the sense to recognize that I don't know how to let you go.

Cluck cluck

2008-05-01T12:03:00.006+08:00

I gave an exercise on proverbs to one of my classes yesterday. They had helping words and everything. Today I sat down and marked their work. Let me tell you, they came up with some doozies. One boy wrote "All that glitters is not for the gander." See? Women get all the glittery stuff. Another boy echoed his sentiment and put "What's good for the goose is good gold."

There were some surprisingly profound answers. One such serendipitous snippet of wisdom was given by one girl who wrote-- are you ready for this --"Silence is words". Stick that in your mindhole.

But my favourite by far would have to be "Actions speak louder than chickens." Makes no sense whatsoever but it cracks me up everytime.

BLAS-FEE-MEE-US

2008-04-29T08:10:00.005+08:00

Here's a little snippet about spelling I found on this blog. I couldn't agree more.

Many, many people spell "barbecue" in a way that makes me rend my clothes. Here is how they spell it. I can barely bring myself to mash the buttons on my keyboard to make it come up on the screen. Get ready.

"barbeque"

This, my friends, can NOT be pronounced "BAR-BE-KYOO". This can be pronounced only one way: "BAR-BEEK". Let me give you a quick test.

How do you pronounce each of the following?

1. unique
2. antique
3. boutique
4. mystique
5. technique
6. oblique
7. cazique
8. physique
9. Dominique
10. Mozambique

I think my point is made. Feel free to give me ONE SINGLE EXAMPLE of another word ending in "que" that ends phonetically with "KYOO."

I don't give one shit that it's listed in the dictionary as an acceptable word. It got in the dictionary just because lots of people spelled it incorrectly like that, and it can come out, in time, if folks will just PLEASE GOD abandon it. I mean, what, you want "alot" to get in the dictionary? How about "wierd?" "Rediculous?" Because if that's the kind of world you want to live in, keep on with this kind of shit.

Hey HEY!

2008-04-27T16:14:00.006+08:00

The Golden Jubilee Funfair has been a big hit with everyone and it has been great seeing all the students and young people get involved and put their business savvy to good use. Lots of games and activities everywhere made sure that people kept coming.

Helium is always a fun distraction.

A lot of people are freaked out by the idea of inhaling helium. There is no real danger to it, as long as you know how to do it safely. The general rule of thumb is that you should never breathe in continuous breaths of helium one after the other. As long as you take good long breaths of normal air between each breath of helium you'll be fine.

So anyway, today was the last day for the fair and I thought I'd pop by with a few friends to take a final walk around. The highlight of the whole thing was the snake enclosure. After years of the Discovery Channel and National Geographic, I'd always thought that snakes were something to be wary and cautious about. One wrong move and you'd lose a finger, get strangled, or even find some venom coursing through your veins.

But after today, I can honestly say that snakes are beautiful creatures. It was definitely a great experience getting to hold one and feel its smooth scaly skin and to just get a good look at it in general. My favourite one would have to be the 'ball python' a.k.a. the 'royal python'. It had gorgeous markings, and was even (dare I say it) cute because it was so small, at least in comparison to the one the girls got to hold.

The ball python is tiny compared to this monster.

Ronster the Monster

2008-04-16T00:02:00.003+08:00

You've been a great friend, bro.

I will always remember fondly the night you came over when I was house-sitting at Joel's. Just you and me, and we ended up talking the night away, you falling asleep on the couch and me on the floor. And then that fateful sleepover at your place some time later when we just talked about so many things. Great conversations both times, and we just had another one earlier this week on MSN!

I always love hanging with you, and I hope this birthday finds you with joy deep inside which cannot be shaken.

Happy birthday, Ron-ron!

High-speed video

2008-04-13T22:46:00.003+08:00

I was watching one of the Discovery Channel "channel-ettes" today, and watched a show where they talked about high-speed cameras. It was really cool watching lots of different things in slow-mo, so I sauntered on to Youtube to see what I could dig up.

And I found a few to which I laughed like a moron.

High speed video of man blowing raspberry

A b!tchslap in super slow motion

I love ties

2008-04-08T20:52:00.011+08:00

When it comes to looking good, especially in a formal or gentlemanly sense, nothing aids a guy more than a good tie.

Over the years that I've worn ties, I've discovered that a great tie can offset even the ugliest shirt (and by "offset" I mean "distract people from the sheer hideousness that is your shirt". Of course, the best way to prevent ugly tie-shirt combinations is just don't buy ugly shirts!). If you have a great shirt, add a gorgeous tie to it and you've got a winning look.

A friend of mine asked me today how to pick a good tie. Well, it all depends on the shirt you're wearing. Here are a few tips when it comes to choosing the right tie for your shirt (and to a lesser extent, picking the right shirt as well).

What shade is it?
What do I mean by "it"? The tie or the shirt? Well, both really. The trick to getting a good tie-shirt combination is contrast.

Basically, dark shirt = light tie. Conversely, light shirt = dark tie.

Stripes or dots?
Pattern can also a big factor. Again, contrast. If you're wearing a shirt with an intricate design (my friend wore a shirt with a Batik-esque design), wear a plain tie with a good-looking solid colour, i.e. no fancy designs on the tie. People think matching patterns with like patterns is good. But very often it isn't. Too many fancy-schmancy designs can make you look garish.

If you're wearing a plain shirt with only one colour or a simple design (e.g. pinstripe), wearing a tie with stripes, dots, shapes, cartoons and so on will work well. Don't be afraid to be bold with your tie colours or patterns. It gives your look a bit of life. There is nothing more boring than someone who wears a plain tie with a plain shirt. It's not that it looks terrible. It's just... there. Nothing nice about it, you know?

Mix and match
There is something to be said about matching colours. But at the very least, there should always be a slight difference in shade. If you're wearing a red shirt, for example, a light pink striped tie would go very nicely.

Note to self: Buy that gorgeous light pink striped tie I saw in that store the other day.

Anyway, back to my point-- Red and pink work well together because they're closely related but with a couple shades difference. You can also combine colours that go with one another, like red and orange, or red and yellow (or vice versa).

And then there are some colours which contrast well with each other, such as blue and yellow, green and red (if you're going for a Christmassy look), and even some shades of red and blue. There are so many, so experiment and find the combos that work for you. If unsure, try them out and gauge people's reactions or simply ask their opinions. The ultimate contrast is, of course, black and white. If you really want to look great in contrast, wear a black shirt and a silver tie.

It's also very important to note that putting different colours together is not always a good thing. Wearing a green shirt and a purple tie, for example, is just sacrilege.

What's your colour?
One truth you have to face sooner or later is that there are some colours that are not "you". Whether it's skin-tone or body shape or whatever, there are just some hues that you might not be able to pull off and which make you look frumpy.

This, of course, relates more to the colour of your shirt than your tie since the bulk of your outfit's colour will be your shirt. However, just because you may not be able to pull off a particular colour in a shirt, it doesn't mean you can't pull it off in a tie. Like for me, I would never wear pink because I don't like it and I know I can't pull it off. But a pink tie is a different story.

Reminder to self: BUY that gorgeous light pink striped tie I saw in that store the other day!

Find out from friends or family which colours work best for you, and don't be afraid to experiment with different shades. There are times when your gut instinct is right on a colour. When I went out with a friend, we ended up in a shirt shop and I thought a chocolate-coloured shirt would be good when my friend said it wasn't my colour. I decided to try it on anyway because I knew I could pull off earth tones. And I was right. It looked good, and my friend readily changed her mind.

So if you think you look great in a colour, go for it. If you're unsure, get a second opinion. At the end of the day, if you don't like the way you look in a particular colour, don't wear it.

Tying the tie

Seriously though, it's not as hard as it seems. I sincerely believe that every man should learn how to tie a tie. It's a rite of passage, like shaving.

There are a number of different knots you can learn. My knot of choice is the Half-Windsor. I've tied my ties with it for over 10 years now, and it's a great knot which is easy to tie and fits any size collar. Here's a good tie tutorial video I found on Youtube.

So there you have it, how to pick a tie. So choose a nice tie, get tying, and look your best.

Hungry hordes

2008-04-05T07:58:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was my first time attending a combined staff meeting. Everything went pretty much as expected, but they were a tad noisy. There was a lot of talking during times when they should've been listening. I swear it was like a room full of students, and it struck me that some of these teachers are just like the students they yell at everyday. After a couple of hours discussion, we broke for brunch.

Chaos ensued.

Quite frankly, I was disgusted. Sharks in a feeding frenzy would have had more dignity. After the masses had been fed and satiated, everyone settled down for the next round of discussions, but not before a small announcement was made to ask the teachers to display some semblance of sanity in the future, lest we be labelled uncouth. I think the actual words used were "barbaric" and "ravenous".

Ah, teachers.

Horton Hears A Who

2008-03-23T19:14:00.007+08:00

Brilliant movie.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard at an animated film. I must say that I didn't expect too much from this movie, but I came away glad that I had made the choice to see it.

Jim Carrey and Steve Carell play their roles perfectly, and the other vocal talents do pretty good jobs. And there's just something so adorable about the Mayor's emo-goth son, Jojo.

Best 3D-animation film I've seen in years. So yeah, go see it.

Boom.

2008-03-10T15:12:00.004+08:00

Today was the first day I got truly pissed off with my class.

I don't like getting angry. It's not a nice feeling. It's like a little beast bursts out and bellows and glares at everybody. But sometimes, you just gotta do it. And today was one of those days. They really tested my patience today, and I had had enough. Slammed my fist super-hard on the table and everything.

They scurried back to their seats pretty quick, which was a good sign. Shows that they're still capable of behaving. If they have fun with me and enjoy having me around, that's all good and well, and I'm all for class participation.

But I will not tolerate insubordination.

The return of Britney Jamie

2008-03-04T15:32:00.007+08:00

My baby's home!

Gosh, I've missed my car.

Of mice and men

2008-03-02T17:36:00.007+08:00

Got my first taste of invigilation yesterday. It was a tiny bit nerve-wracking at first because I'd never done it before. My biggest fear was the same as every other teacher's, experienced or not-- that a student would cheat and I wouldn't see it. BUT everything went well and there was no cheating.

As far as I knew.

I hope the next few days of invigilation go as smoothly.

On a more self-indulgent note, I got me a new mouse, the Razer Krait.

Now all I need is a fast gaming PC and some good games, and I'm all set.

The primates calm

2008-02-19T17:29:00.004+08:00

After marking one of my classes' work, it turned out that out of almost 40 students, only one of them managed to steel himself and avoid looking up the answers that were beckoning from the back of the textbook.

For that, he has got my respect.

So what did I do? I went in there and told them off. The next time someone looks at the answers, they get a nice well-rounded zero.

They took it pretty well. Stayed pretty quiet too. So maybe there's hope for them yet. Hopefully they pick up their socks and start doing some real work soon. 'Cause I quite like this class. Good bunch of kids.

Even if I did have to staple together all the answer pages at the back of each of their books.

Ha-HAH! Feathery 'cocks.

2008-02-18T21:54:00.007+08:00

So, my first day of actual teaching went, now that I think about it, as expected.

There are the smart-alec ones who think they know a lot but really don't, the diligent ones who know a lot but don't give themselves enough credit, the quiet ones that explode every so often given the right accelerant, and the noisy ones who just never shut their pie-holes.

And then, of course, you have those who, if not for the clothes they wear, could easily be mistaken for primates. You know the kind-- insatiably curious about everything, groom only when necessary, never sit still, occasionally emit the odd hoot or squeak, and shriek when provoked.

Sigh, hopefully the "new teacher" effect wears off soon.

I'll also have to learn how to be the "bad cop". Sure, I can be strict when the situation calls for it, but only in extreme circumstances. Otherwise, it's a chore. I'm not an angry person. I'm just too nice. I wonder how far I can be pushed before I snap...

Today also marks the first day of my return to badminton. I've often said that if I were to ever pick a sport to play, it'd be badminton. It's the only real sport I've ever really been good at. I'm not fantastic or anything, but I can play, if only because I used to play with my brothers a lot as a kid. I actually managed to squeeze in a game or two when I was in Manchester. Running after a feathered flying object in shorts in 15° weather is quite the experience.

Lotsa cold shuttlecocks, I can tell you.

The excitement continues

2008-02-12T17:19:00.000+08:00

First day, theft in school staffroom in broad daylight.

Second day, 7 a.m. near Supasave Mabohai, I had a rainy rendezvous with two other cars. It left quite the impression.

Blacked out my plate number 'cause I'm paranoid.

And what has this experience taught me? The first generation Toyota Vios has great brakes. The Toyota Innova, on the other hand, sucks some serious eggs.

I wonder what surprises Day 3 has up its sleeve.

And so it begins...

2008-02-11T22:21:00.000+08:00

The first day of TP wasn't half-bad. Granted, I didn't do much except watch since this first week will be observation, but I've already jumped (Read: been shoved) right in. I've been asked to help with the training for Wordplay, which is some English quiz competition thingy. Not that I mind too much. It's right up my alley. All we need are some crosswords, and I'll feel right at home.

I got to observe one of the two classes I'll be teaching come next week, and I have to say they're a pleasant bunch. They seem responsive enough, but then again, Mrs. Shaffee has always been a great teacher, so whether it's all their own personalities or just a response to her style remains to be seen. I gotta say though, that watching Mrs. Shaffee in class today brought me right back to my upper secondary days; I felt like a teenager again.

I can only hope to be even half as good as she is.

Mental note: Talk slower.

And of course, no day is complete without a little drama, and today's was the theft of two teachers' handbags from right under the noses of whoever had been in the staffroom at the time. It was quite unsettling... I don't think I'll be bringing any valuables to school anytime soon.

BENJAMIN! BARKER!

2008-01-29T20:42:00.000+08:00

Very few movies make it onto my list of masterpieces. Certain films simply strike a chord with me. Films like The Sound of Music, The Ten Commandments, Forrest Gump, V For Vendetta, The Color Purple, Bicentennial Man, Se7en, Hero. Even now, I'm not sure what draws me to a film. I could sit here and regale you with multiple different reasons why each of these movies are among my all-time favourites, but what all these films have in common is that they engaged me at the most primal level of emotions; they all made me sing, or cry, or left me with a sense of awe once the credits rolled.

The latest film to grasp my attention is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. I adore the soundtrack, how it can bring a majestic touch to the most mundane (and often insane) scenes, and make a serial killer seem so powerful and yet so pitiful. I found myself enjoying every character and every lyric and every note of music.

It is a violent, gory, gothic musical, and I loved every minute of it.

01.18.08

2008-01-22T22:56:00.000+08:00

I watched Cloverfield today. It's a good ol' monster movie done in the 'Blair Witch' style. And I quite enjoyed it. I know a lot of people have expressed their dislike for certain aspects of it, but I still enjoyed it.

I've found that my appreciation for many films stem from my willingness to go beyond the cinema experience and find out more about a movie's backstory. In the case of Cloverfield, there are many details about it (and in it) that one would miss or be confused about in a first viewing. You know, it's those moments during the movie where you go "Wait, what...? What just happened??"

After reading up about it and its plot, I can honestly say that it's a pretty good movie. Most people who dislike it complain about the camera, and also that given the nature of its plot, it leaves a number of questions unanswered. For the former, if you got sick during The Blair Witch Project due to its shaky camera and hated it because of that, then you might get sick during this one too. But if you loved TBWP and didn't mind the camera style one bit (like me), then you might like Cloverfield. As for the unanswered questions, they can be easily answered with a little reading and logic. Apparently the small easy-to-miss details leave the possibility for a sequel.

For those of you who refuse to see the movie, (or who simply know they won't be seeing it for one reason or other) but still want to know what happens, check out the surprisingly faithful abridged version. It's essentially the movie summed up in a comic (albeit in a slightly humourous take), and as such is basically a MASSIVE SPOILER. You have been warned!

Must-watch films coming up: Jumper, Get Smart, WALL-E.
Future guilty pleasure: Meet The Spartans.
Other films of interest: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Prince Caspian and Kung Fu Panda, to name a few.

Explanation time

2008-01-08T18:01:00.000+08:00

I wasn't gonna post about the GH3 tournament as it's now common knowledge that I didn't make it through. But since everyone has been asking me how it happened, here's your answer.

The layout for the tournament was pretty much just a row of TVs.

The song we were doing for the knock-outs was Sunshine Of Your Love on Medium. I managed to ace the song in my first round. Second round came up, and the champion-to-be and I were assigned to TV 12. The volume on it was quite low, and the volume on TV 11 (the TV beside us) was pretty high, so it threw me off. Add to that the fact that the guys on TV 11 started playing before us, and you'll understand why the rhythm of their song distracted me enough for me to miss notes. I had to try very hard to hear the song from our TV but in the end, the damage had been done. So, no 100% and I lost.

Could I have won if the volume had been audible? Yes, I think so. Is this a case of sour grapes? No, because I'm just stating what happened, and I'm not bitter. At least, not anymore. Plus, Rano graciously apologized for the volume issue, so it's all good.

I guess it doesn't feel too bad to lose, but what really gets me is that in the end I didn't even get to play properly because of the low volume on a TV! But oh well. I fully intend to sign up for the April one (if there is a GH3 tournament). I didn't get a chance to give my all this time around, but hopefully I get to in April, eh?

Will I win that one? I'm honestly not sure. People will definitely be practising for it, and it'll definitely be more challenging come April. But this time around, I refuse to be knocked out by a technicality, and I intend to make sure I at least prove I'm a contender.

Keep practising, GH players. I definitely will be.

GH3 Tourney - Day 1

2008-01-05T10:27:00.000+08:00

OK, so I got through the preliminaries. Next session (semi-finals?) is on Sunday at 1.30pm, same place. Brugamers has already posted about today's event here. I'm even in one of the pics, so yay!

AND, I'm even mentioned on ranoadidas.com (complete with pics)! Woo hoo!! Apparently I'm the "benchmark". Gosh, now that's pressure. Hopefully my winning streak continues on Sunday. Wish me luck, guys!

Or better yet, come support!

GH3 Tourney

2007-12-27T17:43:00.004+08:00

Date: Friday, 4th January 2008
Place: International Convention Centre
Time: 4pm to 6pm

I just registered.

Joseph's lullaby

2007-12-25T23:25:00.000+08:00

Press play (The song may take a few seconds to load up).

Go to sleep my son, this manger for your bed. You have a long road before you, rest your little head. Can you feel the weight of your glory? Do you understand the price? Or does the Father guard your heart for now so you can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my son. Go and chase your dreams. This world can wait for one more moment. Go and sleep in peace. I believe the glory of Heaven is lying in my arms tonight. Lord, I ask that he, for just this moment, simply be my child.

Go to sleep my son. Baby, close your eyes. Soon enough you'll save the day but for now, dear child of mine... Oh, my Jesus... sleep tight.

Lyrics & Music by MercyMe

Here's a thought...

2007-11-30T22:13:00.000+08:00

Is it possible to eat something that was not, at least at some point, living?
If I go back in time, then go back to the future and stop myself from going back in time, will I cease to exist?
Did Adam and Eve have bellybuttons? Also, did they pee or poop? And if they did, did it smell like lemonade and rainbows?

What it feels like to be a baby

2007-11-28T21:26:00.001+08:00

- An article from Parenting Magazine

As she picks him up, he's flooded with her scent and a dim memory of his other world -- the place where his body floated and he first recognized the scent that's hers alone. But now, two weeks after birth, he's in a vast, dry place called home. She brings him close to nurse and he roots with his mouth, guided in part by the smell of colostrum and the smell from the scent glands on her nipples. Her scent links him to everything he craves: food, warmth, touch. He latches on and the sweetness of the liquid is vaguely reminiscent of the smell and taste of amniotic fluid -- both are affected by his mother's diet. Already, sweet is his favorite taste.

At 6 months, a baby begins to truly long for Mom preferring her to all others.

After nursing, he presses his tongue in and out of his lips, inadvertently learning about the shape of his mouth and the coolness of the air. Touch is how he learns about the world, and it is one of his most well-developed senses, far more sensitive than his vision. But being touched is just as important -- when his mother holds him in her arms, she is stimulating the production of his growth and digestive hormones.

As she snuggles with him, his mother instinctively raises the pitch of her voice and says "Hell-o," then lowers her pitch to say "my ba-by boy." This is just one clue of many that will eventually teach him that strings of sounds are made up of individual words, that "hello" is not part of "my." Now, the words come to him like music.

His eyelids flutter drowsily. Lowering him onto a blanket, she swaddles his arms against his chest, the way he rested in the womb. He hears a made-up tune she first sang to him in utero: "You're my baby, my baby, my baby baby boy." He opens his eyes for a moment, recognizing the sounds. He'll never consciously recall it, but it's a sensory memory that stays with him. His eyelids flutter again and he's asleep. His brain is not yet capable of organizing and making sense of all the things he sees, hears, feels, and does, and won't keep the details of this day in long-term storage. The morning drifts away in what's known as infantile amnesia.

Something wet and warm presses against his skin, activating nerves that send a signal to his brain that, at first, he ignores as he sleeps -- not unusual because when babies are in a deep phase of sleep all sensory stimulation is muffled. The message that his diaper is wet continues for 20 minutes until he moves into a lighter phase of sleep. Now the message penetrates and he experiences the wet diaper for the soggy irritant it is.

He cries a high-pitched call for help. As he cries, cortisol, known as the stress hormone, and other hormones, like adrenaline, spread through his body, slightly increasing his temperature and heart rate. His mother lifts him from his crib and encircles him in her warm, familiar arms, and his cries immediately lessen.

As she changes his diaper, he's calmed, but only briefly. Now the muscles of his stomach contract in a pang of hunger and he starts to cry again. Once more he nurses, until his belly is full.

From his mother's arms, he looks at the bright red of a nearby lamp shade. His color vision is weak, and only rich, bold colors like this one register. Also interesting to him is the sharp contrast of black and white in the mobile to the side of his crib. As his mother taps the mobile, the shapes begin to move and he studies them. He hasn't yet learned to focus, so objects are still blurry. And he doesn't have depth perception, so the black-and-white cubes look flat.

She holds him in front of her and he looks in her direction, but not squarely into her eyes.

With vision of roughly 20/300 -- about 15 times worse than normal adult vision -- he sees her as though looking through the thick, curvy glass of a vintage Coke bottle. Even up close, she's slightly blurry: His eye muscles aren't able to provide consistent focus. Intuitively, she holds him about a foot away, where his vision is clearest. Even then, what he sees in the blur are movement and contrast, the way her mouth moves to say "Hello" and the way her teeth flash from between her darker lips.

Perhaps it's for the best that he has limited vision. Perhaps it keeps him from being overwhelmed by seeing every detail of faces, hands, tables, and lamps for the very first time. His eyesight seems to provide just the right amount of stimulation for his developing visual cortex, which takes the images he sees and tries to make sense of them. In the meantime, he is able to see (fairly well) what's most important in his world: his parents' faces, his mother's nipple.

2 to 3 months: Beginning to engage

He's 2 months old, sitting in a bouncy seat, watching his mother sponge the kitchen counters, enjoying himself. This strange world that he was born into is starting to make more sense. She opens the refrigerator and he turns his head toward the kiss of the door's suction; he's now able to identify what he's hearing and has enough coordination to turn his body toward the sound. She pours herself a glass of orange juice and he notes the color. His vision is now 20/125 to 20/120.

Banging his hands up and down, he lets loose a shriek of joy. Development in his brain's circuitry now allows him to coo and squeak. Yesterday, when his grandmother spoke to him in Chinese, he detected subtle nuances in the sounds far better than his non-Chinese-speaking mother. By 6 months, he will start to ignore the nuances of this language he hears less frequently as he develops his skill for the one he needs to pay attention to most: English.

"What will you wear today?" his mother asks.

"Eeeeeeeee."

Drool drips onto his chin, but he doesn't feel it; his excitement at making sounds overrides the fact that his salivary glands are pumping out more fluid than he knows how to swallow. He doesn't even know that swallowing will prevent the drooling.

"Eeeeeeeee. That sounds good," she says, pulling back her lips.

Watching her, he begins to understand that that's how his lips look when he makes that sound.

"Eeeeeeeee," he repeats, mimicking her face.

When his mother turns on the radio and then answers the phone, he continues to follow her voice. His hearing is sophisticated enough to pluck out his mother's voice from the music on the radio; recognizing his mother's voice is a skill a baby is born with. But if there are too many background noises that are similar in tone, they blur together, making it harder for him to hear the differences.

To occupy him while she's on the phone, his mother rolls a ball by his bouncy seat. In his first weeks of life, his eyes would occasionally wander, but now they move in tandem more smoothly. His eyes follow the ball until it disappears behind the bookcase. It doesn't come back out. Gone. Out of sight, out of mind.

4 to 5 months: Grab that ring

Lying on the floor beneath his baby gym, he looks up at the yellow plastic ring and for the first time sees the inner surface of the ring's curve. Because his eyes move together now with more consistency, he has new depth perception. Swinging his arm up, he wraps his fingers around the hard plastic. Victory! He shrieks with excitement. All his weeks of practice have strengthened the neural pathways that direct his muscles to grab successfully.

He's also been practicing babbling. Now he's able to repeat many of the vowel sounds he hears when his mom talks to him, as well as mimic the way her mouth moves.

In the afternoon, his mom places him on his stomach on the floor. Pressing his arms into the carpet, he hoists up his head, neck, and trunk in a mini-push-up. In one quick turn, he rolls from his tummy to his back, a complex achievement of muscle and the stirrings of a new desire to move.

6 months: Starting to move

He coos, hoping his mom will look at him. He smiles, hoping to beguile her. She walks by and he cranes his neck to keep her in sight as long as possible. While he long ago "bonded" with her, he's just starting to truly long for her, preferring her above all others. His emotional life has taken a leap. Deep structures in his brain called the limbic system are now better able to connect his actions with specific feelings. He's not cooing for the fun of it, he's cooing because she makes him happy.

She rolls a ball across the room. The game is more interesting to him now that his vision is at least 20/80 to 20/100. The ball disappears behind the bookcase, but now he looks to the other end, confident it will reappear. His brain can retain the visual image of the ball even when it's not in sight, and he understands that it still exists and is still moving.

His mother leaves the room to make a cup of tea and he watches her until he can't see her anymore. As with the ball, he knows that she continues to exist, even though he can't see her. But that's no comfort -- he wants her.

He balls his fists, brings them to his mouth, and cries out in frustration. Blood rushes to his face. He has no understanding of time, doesn't know how long she'll be gone or why she left. All he knows is that she's gone.

He bends his right leg, trying to will his body into crawling, moving toward her. It feels like he could, but he doesn't really know how. He works and works at it. He's not ready yet but will be soon.

She returns, scoops him up, and his cries subside as he squirms with happiness. All is well.

Gosh I want kids.

Plushies!

2007-11-23T19:52:00.000+08:00

A cookie to the first person who can guess all the characters correctly.

A Park Bench

2007-11-18T11:02:00.000+08:00

I sat on a park bench one day. And I asked God for a sign.
I thought maybe God would hear me, mold me, bring healing sublime.
'Please change me,' I said, commanding the void.
That these hardships I could get over, get past, and perhaps stop being annoyed.

'Why?' I heard a voice beside me ask.
Like a voice from my future, yet with a foot in my past.
It was an old man, silver-haired, genteel.
It was odd, surreal, and I cannot begin to describe the way his stare made me feel.
About him was the scent of old spice.
But overall, he seemed cordial, polite, approachable. Overall, very nice.

'Eh?' I said, eyebrows raised.
'Well, because I want to be better than I am, better in so many ways."
He looked at me now.
'Better how?'

I told him 'All I want is simply to be changed,
That if God wanted to, it could all be arranged.'
The old man then got this look in his eye.
He stared into the distance, a faraway look. And then gave an almost inaudible sigh.

'My boy, are you sure you want what you think you do?
That to be better off, you'd have to begin anew?
Are you sure this would be the best course of action?
Has your life through these trials not improved by even a fraction?
Take some time and just think on your life.
Has it really been just all darkness and strife?
Has not God used all the hurt and pain, the hardships, the trials, the storm and the rain?
Has He not used your experiences to bring you great friends, and people who are with you every step of the way?
Has he not brought you to where you are today?

You say 'Oh, to be a different person, if only this God would allow!'
If He did, would you have all the joys you have now?
Would you be the same person you have grown up to be?
Would you recognize yourself? Would your friends? Would anybody?'

The old man looked at me, smiled and stood.
'God knew you before you knew yourself, and whatever He has brought you through has been done for your good.
Remember this truth, and put God first each and every day.'
And with that, the old man walked away.

I thought about what the old gentleman had said.
I thought about my life behind and my life ahead.
And I thanked the Lord for all he had done,
For blessing upon blessing, a million and one.
I thanked Him for helping me grow up so well,
For picking me up whenever I fell.

You see, I had wanted to talk with God so bad.
And then I realized something.

I just had.

Ooh, Palmolive!

2007-10-31T11:56:00.000+08:00

During lunch a couple days ago, my cousin stared at me and said I had flawless skin. She did! She actually said, "Flawless eh, your skin!" which, if you think about it, is how Yoda would sound if Star Wars movies had been Singaporean.

In any case, as much as I'd like it to be, my skin is obviously not 'flawless' at all; I get the occasional pimple now and then if I neglect to wash my face, and there are times when I can't resist squeezing those unsightly pimples which ends up in some slight scarring and marking here and there.

But all in all, I'm still glad that I don't really have much of a problem with acne. The reason for this isn't that my parents have great skin, so I don't think it really has everything to do with genetics (though obviously some people may be genetically predisposed to acne attacks). No, I believe it is mostly due to my skin care regimen and the products I use, which I mentioned in a post a while back about my being metro and how serious I am about my facial care.

I've been using Clean & Clear Foaming Facial Cleanser for years now, and lemme tell you, it really works. The ones they sell here don't have the pump though, only a purple cap. Doesn't matter too much; same stuff, different packaging. You can find them at just about any place that has facial products.

The active ingredient is triclosan, a "potent wide spectrum antibacterial and antifungal agent." So obviously that's the stuff that helps your skin fight off bacteria that could cause those nasty blackheads and whiteheads.

Pour a drop the size of a 5¢ coin onto your palm, lather with water and cleanse face. Do this twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, and you'll stave off the 'heads.

But every so often, one needs to exfoliate. For most of you, hearing that word brings up images of women and facials and spas and stuff. But never fear, it's a good thing.

Clinique says this:

Exfoliation is the skin's natural process of shedding dead cells. Everyday or so, our bodies naturally exfoliate. A new layer of cells is formed at the bottom of the epidermis and pushes the old skin cells to the surface where they eventually dislodge and flake away. By adding exfoliation to your daily skin care routine, you can assist this natural process at the surface and encourage newer, better-looking skin.

My choice for an exfoliator is St. Ives Blemish Control Apricot Scrub. It comes in different types too; there's one for normal skin, sensitive skin, and one for blemish and blackhead controls, so take your pick. I use the one for blemish and blackhead control. I buy mine at Winmark in The Mall.

The scrub contains natural exfoliators like walnut shell powder and corn kernel meal, and the particles are quite large so you don't want to rub too vigorously. It's meant to remove dead skin cells, not scrape off new ones. NB: There is a similar range that uses non-natural microbeads. You don't want that one, it sucks! So make sure you check the ingredients!

It also contains 2% salicylic acid, and don't be freaked out by the idea of "acid" since this particular one is a key ingredient in many skin-care products for the treatment of a number of skin dermatoses, including acne.

The directions say to "moisten face, apply with wet fingertips and massage into skin for about one minute. Rinse well and pat dry." I use about a centimetre of it every couple days and it makes my face feel pretty smooth.

One more thing-- If you shave, exfoliation is a good way to help smoothen your skin and lessen the chance of cuts. But make sure you DO NOT use any scrub right before or after you shave. Like scrubbing, shaving also removes dead skin cells, and scrubbing right before or after shaving can hurt! I usually scrub the day before I shave. But obviously you want clean skin when you shave, so wash your face with a cleanser before you start shaving. Washing your face also helps shaving by removing dirt and grime, and it also removes dead skin cells. Exfoliating with a scrub just does it better hehe.

But at times I find that this particular scrub, despite being a great exfoliator, doesn't manage to remove all the oil on my skin, so I remedy that by first washing with Nivea Visage Refreshing Cleansing Gel. It feels pretty good and doesn't dry out skin.

I haven't used it for a while though since it's quite pricey; last time I checked it was $12 at Guardian. But I still have a soft spot in my facial heart for it, so I plan to eventually start using it again. I also use it as a cleanser after shaving to clean any cuts or nicks I may have gotten. It saves me the trouble of having to use an aftershave.

Obviously the caveat here is that everyone has different skin, and you should find the facial products that best suit your type. No point using a facial cleanser just because it works for me, even though it dries your face off. But if your skin is anything like mine-- accumulation of dirt and grime due to sweat, and prone to being oily, but not overly so-- then these products are great.

You wanna know what I make?!

2007-10-26T23:01:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the right profession. Do I really want to be a teacher? But then something comes along and reminds me about why I want to teach and about how I feel, which is that I don't think teachers get enough credit.

Seriously, teachers do NOT get enough credit. Think back to all the teachers you loved and hated. Think about the impact they had on you, both positive and negative. Think about the power they hold as guides, as molders, as educators, as shapers of character and personality and thought.

I could say so much more, but this video says it all. And as you watch it, remember this-- Every doctor, every lawyer, every engineer, every single big-reputation, well-known, crazy-high salary-paying profession you can think of...

Someone taught them.

Edit: Here's another shoutout to a newcomer! They're all slowly joining the ranks meeheehee.

The next page

2007-10-23T22:10:00.000+08:00

I didn't get much sleep because I had a great night last night. Talking, I mean.

Please. Keep your mind out of the gutter.

Someone pointed out something about me recently. No, not that I have sex on the brain, despite what the picture at left might seem to imply. They claimed that I'm the kind of person who prefers having one-on-ones, as opposed to being in huge groups.

Initially I didn't really agree... but now that I think about it, I guess I am like that. Not that I dislike groups, but at the end of the day, to really know someone, you need to go one-on-one.

Hmm, somehow I'm not making this sound any less dodgy. I'm still talking about talking, by the way.

I managed to talk about many things with a friend last night. We talked into the wee hours of the morning and it was really great. I find that there is nothing that really makes me feel more alive than feeling close to someone by having a heart-to-heart. Anyone can talk about rubbish. Anyone can crack silly jokes. Don't get me wrong-- Laughter is a great way to have fun and build rapport, but at the end of the day, what do you really know about each other? If all you do is hang out, but never go beyond cracking jokes and trivial conversation, all you are are hang-out buddies.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. We all need hang-out buddies. But I guess some of us just want more than that. We all need people we can confide in whether we want to admit it or not. On the other hand, not everyone can tolerate constant deep talks. We all need to talk about trivial rubbish now and then. So if you've got a friend or friends that you can hang out with all the time but still can have heart-to-hearts with now and then, then consider yourself blessed.

And hang on to those people. They're hard to come by. And I'm glad I've come by one.

In other news, here's a shout-out to the n00bs in the blogosphere! Welcome to the club. It's about damn time!

NB: Yes, Frank's blog has been around longer than the others, but it's still got a 2007 beginning. So there.

Full of...

2007-10-12T23:11:00.000+08:00

Click to enlarge

Close shave

2007-10-05T21:21:00.000+08:00

I remember when I first started shaving. I believe it's something every boy should learn to do; it's one of the ways you know you're growing up and on the cusp of manhood. That, and hair in funny places...

My godson's recent post on shaving got me thinking about razors. I've been shaving since I was 12, so razors and shaving gel/cream are a necessary investment for me. And given the crazy competition involved in the shaving market, I've stuck to the most familiar.

I've been using Gillette razors since forever. I first used my dad's and brother's Sensor Excel, then I moved on to a razor of my own-- the Mach3. It has served me faithfully all these years. I never really moved on to the Mach3 Turbo because it didn't feel like a necessary upgrade; neither did I ever get the Fusion due to its insane price (plus I don't think I need two extra blades... but who knows?). Like I said, crazy competition. All these fancy-shmancy new gimmicks they're sticking onto the razors. And not that there's anything wrong with Gillette (it's the leading brand in sales globally after all, so that should count for something), but I just felt like I wanted a change. I wanted to try something new.

So yesterday, I bought a rival brand razor. Enter the Schick Protector.

Apparently it has won a design award.

I just shaved with it, and I look like I shaved with a blunt axe. I guess the 'design award' doesn't exactly cover the razor blade. On the other hand, the Protector has two blades, whereas my old Mach3 had three, so I suppose it's an unfair comparison.

So I guess I should just stick to the tried-and-true. There is a silver lining though-- my dad needs a new two-blade razor, and my brother has some extra Mach3 Turbo cartridges which will fit my Mach3 razor.

The moral? Gillette really is the best a man can get. At least, a man with a beard.

The Plastics

2007-09-29T13:47:00.000+08:00

I've decided. I can't stand loud rich teenage girls.

I went to watch Hairspray (for the second time) with a friend, and I was all ready to enjoy it again. Until a group of teen girls came in. And from the way they talked and carried themselves, you could tell they were either from ISB or JIS. Not that all girls from these schools are bad. But there's a certain stigma that sometimes goes with being an International School kid, and it's girls like those yesterday that tend to prove it's often true.

I mean, geez... talking and chatting and laughing and talking and rustling plastic bags and talking and getting up and switching seats and sitting down and did I mention the talking? And of course there was the swearing. Apparently wtf and b!tch were the phrases of the day. Also, it amazed me how shallow they were. At one point, one of the girls rightly called the character Amber a b!tch, and another one replied, "At least she's pretty, not like Tracy." (If you haven't watched Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad is the main character, and she's kinda portly). This girl sounds like an "Amber" herself. It made me sick just listening to her. She even blurted out, "Man, that b!tch is on crack", a comment that even her friends seemed shocked at.

Gosh, just remembering these Mean Girls rejects pisses me off. Let's change the subject, shall we?

So about that TelBru lucky draw thing I mentioned a while ago, here's how it went. I got there, and was shown into this small hall. Sat down, looked around, and watched other "winners" come in. You could tell which of them never look where they're walking because there was a small step near the entrance and two people fell flat on their face. I checked out the prizes sitting in one corner. They looked kinda crappy. Let's see-- 21" TV, washing machine, DVD players, and ooh, a fridge! Blenders, not bad... Water dispensers?! Seriously?

It was kinda boring waiting around, and it was made worse by the lady manning the laptop who felt the incessant need to play Kenny G and Enya. Once the ceremony began, they got the general manager (who looked eerily like Junichiro Koizumi) to come up and present the prizes. As people walked up to claim their prizes, Laptop Lady played some insanely sleepy elevator music. Aaaaaand I got a set of home theater speakers. Aifa.

Which ended up being a piece of shhhhhhhoddy workmanship. Aifa sucks. The right speaker didn't work, and the treble adjuster had two settings-- "muffled squawk" and "eardrum piercing". It now sits under my table, and I sometimes use it for a footrest.

Ahhh, footrest.

Papiroflexia

2007-09-19T11:21:00.000+08:00

I thought this was a very cool cartoon. If only it was this easy to change the world, eh?

Thorns

2007-09-17T16:46:00.000+08:00

I was replying a friend's e-mail and he reminded me about Paul's thorn analogy in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Here was Paul, someone who was doing the work of Christ and filled with His Spirit, and here he was pleading with God to take away what was hurting him, hindering him, a pain in his side (whether physical or figurative, we can't know for sure). And what did God say? "My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness."

I identify very well with Paul's thorn analogy, because for a time, it helped me come to terms with the possibility that maybe God allowed me to turn out the way I am by allowing this thorn in my life because it's better this way for His purpose. Perhaps, despite all the pain and heartache, it has kept me grounded? Perhaps, in spite of all the tears, it has given me more reason to smile by saving me from worse things? I guess in spite of, or even because of, the trials I have experienced, God has made me a better person. It's interesting to imagine-- what kind of person would I have been had I not had this thorn in my side?

In many ways, because this thorn weakens me, I know I need God more. Because this thorn brings me to my knees time and time again, it makes it easier to pray. Because this pain brings tears to my eyes, it clears them so I can better see God for the Healer that He is.

"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him."
- Romans 8:28

Quack

2007-09-14T10:29:00.000+08:00

I was chatting with a couple friends in those final minutes before a lecture starts, and we (of course) ended up talking about where we were going to have lunch. Someone mentioned duck, which brought about the confessions of three of my coursemates that they'd never had duck.

Ever.

It's alright, pick your jaw up off the ground. I had to. I mean, whoa, right? But they said that duck meat was predominantly Chinese territory, so I suppose it's not that shocking. But it was still quite a surprise.

So we went to some Chinese restaurant called Shi Kai or something (which I'd actually been to once or twice before but didn't remember till I actually got there). Not a bad place, but it was a bad choice for their first taste of duck. Suffice to say, that I've had better. A lot better. Problem is, all the places that are better are not appropriate for Muslim palates, so oh well.

I am so glad I can eat anything I want. But there has to be a place that serves A-Grade authentic Chinese food without compromising anyone's religious beliefs...

Anyone know any?