Straight from the Horse's mouth

2006-07-25T09:49:00.000+08:00

.: In transit

It's amazing how things can change within a month, week, day, hour, minute... whatever. It just takes a moment, and suddenly things will never be the same again.

Work's been kinda interesting/fun, but the irregular hours have been a pain to deal with. It also means I can't plan for anything more than 2 weeks in advance. It does free me up for some nice days, but I end up having to work weekends - sundays included. Which really sucks. Oh well... what to do.

On a different note, here's a question for you guys.
What do you get when you put roomful of Chinese, Norwegians and Scots together? A night of non-stop yamseng'ing :) Went for the most enjoyable/lovely wedding function/dinner/chill out session over the weekend. It was small, intimate and most importantly, full of joy and love. Congrats again M&A - you guys were made for each other!

2006-07-07T21:38:00.000+08:00

.: SG redux

First week at work is over! It's been quite the eye opener being brought around SG like a tourist - I can't believe there are so many things that I've not seen/realised about this tiny island... it's really something! Next time you have guests/friends over from overseas - ask me! I should be able to tell you nice places to go to :)

My fellow bumboaters have been a great bunch to be around with these past 5 days. I'm also really touched by the warm welcome that many there have extended to me over the week - I even won a pair of tickets to Coldplay... BUT I didn't get to see the email till past the collection time, so they were given away :( Oh well, I'm sure there'll be next times lah!

Will be stationed at the faaaar eastern side of SG for the next 6 weeks... so if you're going plane spotting/arriving in SG - feel free to drop by and say hi yah? Don't forget to bring your foreign accent too ;)

2006-07-02T23:50:00.000+08:00

.: On hiatus...

Seeya in a bit.

2006-06-21T23:33:00.000+08:00

.: Bigger

God is bigger than
the air we breathe
the world we'll leave

2006-06-18T14:44:00.000+08:00

.: dotdotdotquestionmark

Dog

Pig

Mango tree

You want it. You know you want it.

2006-06-12T00:48:00.000+08:00

.: Best.

Just got my first speeding ticket and I'm now 8 points and $170 out.

Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.

What a way to end the week. Oh well... I start work this week - how exciting. Now I'm just hoping I make enough to pay for the damn fine by the end of the week.

2006-06-02T17:23:00.000+08:00

.: To squeeze or not to squeeze, that is the question

Private estate security guards - one of life's mysteries to me. What on earth do/can they do to make an estate any more safer than without them? Most of them are old, overweight, and far too grumpy to be able to pose any threat to would be car scratchers/thieves/general intentful evil doers. The young ones are just... useless.

I suspect it's just a ploy by the govenment to boost employment rates.

Anyways, the dilema I'm facing with them at the moment is whether or not I should wait for them to raise the barrier before I ride into the estate, or whether I should just squeeze through without bothering. This started because of this super grumpy old man who refused to raise the barrier if I didn't bring my bike to a complete standstill. It happened once, twice and now I just ignored him altogether.
Today the head security guard was manning the barrier, and he too didn't raise the barrier. This has never happened before. I moved forward and thought about squeezing through, but I decided to wait for him to raise the barrier - which he did. But not before asking me "You cannot squeeze through?"

Now - how should I respond to this? By right, it's the security guard's responsibility/duty to control the entry of vehicles into the estate. But they don't seem to be too interested in bikes... but then again, just because I ride a bike doesn't mean you don't raise the barrier for me to enter right? It's like I'm sneaking into my own estate. How stupid is that.

Oh well. This waiting for a job must be making me think too much.

2006-05-28T14:07:00.000+08:00

.: Me, a red dot promoter?

I've got in to the second (and final) round with the STB! It's been the only ray of light amidst all the gloomy clouds of rejections/not hiring now/no replies...

Speaking of which, don't you just hate those replies which go "We've carefully considered your cv blah blah... it's extensive blah blah... you're obviously very capable blah blah... but you're not suitable for the job - which also happens to be the equivalent of "We've just wasted our ohso precious time looking through your resume which is of no use to us, so forget about even thinking of resending your resume/cv for our consideration again"

Well, I'd rather those than the no replies actually. How hard is it to send out a simple 1 paragraph email out to applicants to tell them that they're not suitable? Or sending out a notification email that your CV has been received by a human and isn't floating around in the database limbo of please-hire-me emails? Oh well.

Back to the hunt.

2006-05-23T15:21:00.000+08:00

.: Back (and in 1 piece too!)

Good news - After 350km up to kota tingi, down the coastline to desaru and back home, I'm back!

Bad news - I can't believe we went up with the powershot without a memory card. I took it out the night before to download whatever was on the card to free up memory, but when my dad packed it in the morning, he didn't notice that it was taken out (I left the memory card slot cover open for a reason...) and packed it without the card. Oh well... at least we had a little ixus that afforded us some shots on the trip.

Ok, enough talk. Here's some pics!

Ok, so maybe there are not that many photos... I'll remember to pack the camera myself next time.

2006-05-19T23:52:00.000+08:00

.: Gone riding...

Will be riding up to Mersing tomorrow with dad - Chris will be riding pillion with me. Should be fun - the east coast of MY is really pretty and once you get to the seaside towns, the seafood is fantastic (d'oh). Sun, sand and sea(food). Mmmm :)

Pics to come soon!

2006-05-18T23:17:00.000+08:00

.: Salt water tastes salty

Was supposed to go sailing with Sam and Jason yesterday, but we ended up at East Coast Lagoon doing... don't laugh...

cable wakeboarding.

Yup. For 2 solid hours.
And for the life of me, I couldn't get past the first bend on the course. It's pretty much like riding a bicycle into the wall everytime you come to a corner - not a pretty sight. Well, considering that it's my first time trying something like this ever, I guess it ain't bad that I managed to stand up and make it all the way to the first bend. Must remember to use better sunblock next time tho :p

2006-05-17T18:18:00.000+08:00

.: Sidekick for a day

I've found the answer to the age old question of... "why do superheroes wear their underwear on the outside?"

Before I give you the answer, let me alude to this little nugget of irony - if underwear is worn on the outside - it then becomes overwear, no? Or is it over-underwear?

Okay, enough of the suspense already.

So, the answer to the question is...

A: So that they can change it easily when it gets wet!

2006-05-10T00:25:00.000+08:00

.: Yes yes, I know I haven't posted in awhile... :p

Sorry to all who've been dropping in and not finding an update in a while. I guess this post is long overdue huh?

Well, I'm bumming again. Yup, bumming. Yes, you heard me correctly the first time - I'm BUMMING. Is that really so hard to comprehend? "So I'm an oil trader/Ibanker/consultant... and what are you doing?" "Bumming" "Sorry, what was that again? I thought you said bumming."

Yes. Bumming.

Anyways, working on my CV and cover letters started out as a real chore. Now that I've sent out a dozen or so, it still feels that way :p Well, at least it's going somewhere now. No one's gotten back to me yet though... come on, I know that there's someplace, somewhere that's reserved for me. Dear Lord, won't you open the door to that place soon? Or is this one of those tests of patience and trust?

All this waiting is also a real PITA. Now that I'm jobless, there's so many things that I wanna do like take up bass classes, go to luthiery school, or take up a part time job as a barista :) But then I worry having to take off to go for interviews and then it just becomes so leh cheh... maybe I'm just making excuses for myself. LAZY!!

One curious thing to note - ever since I started reading this guy's blog, this past month or so has been something of an epicurian escapade... :) Here's some of the places that I went to recently

Canele@Robertson Walk - the place that produces the pastries for the Les Amis group
Taste Paradise@Mosque St - You MUST go there some time to try the cod, carrot cake and black pepper lamb cutlets
PS cafe@Harding Rd - Sunday brunches don't get better than this... not counting my ohsofabulous french toast brulee special of course ;)
Epicurious@Robertson Walk - nice place, nice service, nice food
the Black Pig@Liang Court - ok, was there a little more than 2 months ago, but the shabu ramen is so good it's wrong not to make some mention of it :p

Places where I hope to go to soon...

Sin Huat@Geylang Lor37 - my cousin (who gets to eat at the best restraunts around the world...) highly recommends the garlic prawns and the famous crab beehoon. The 1h wait is kinda daunting though
This teochew restraunt that was featured in the recent episode of the food show with Gurmit and Michelle... I have no clue what it's called, but I do know that it's in keypoint@beach rd, and that it has fantastic looking orh nee :)
Graze@Rochester Pk - I'm in two minds about visiting this place. I hate the hype and the prices, but on the other hand it's a really nice place and the food doesn't look half bad. Well, I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a Courduroy & Finch experience

If you've read up to this point, you probably realise that there's a serious lack of new pics... I need to pick up my camera again! There's even a Holga lying around the house which hasn't been used yet!! The humanity!!

2006-04-20T22:48:00.000+08:00

.: as the sojourn draws to a close...

It's been an interesting month and a half now working over at Pong's, but the time for that seems to be coming to a close as the end the month draws nearer. Dear Lord, what is it that you have in store for me?

2006-03-17T09:26:00.000+08:00

.: She's here!!

Woohoo! :) Thanks dad!

2006-03-16T09:10:00.000+08:00

.: An evening with friends

Attended the Pat Metheny Trio concert last night with Chris, Koky and Shu Ming. The concert was mindblowingly AMAZING! Pat Metheny, Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez brought the house down! Best. Ever. Dinner before and supper after was equally enjoyable too :) Thanks for the great evening guys - looking forward to our next outing already!

On a less happier note... I lost my cashcard. AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bloody hell... I need to invent a cashcard that completely screws up an IU unit, leave it around for some @$$h0le to steal, and laugh at him when he needs to pay $150 to replace his IU unit.
Bikers who steal cashcards from fellow bikers... shame on you.

Anyways, if all goes well I'll be picking up my new (to me) supaaaafoooooouuurrr!! :D Pics to come soon ;) Woohoo!!

2006-03-15T10:35:00.000+08:00

.: Yakult

I don't know why, but like a splinter buried deep, this Yakult memory has come back from the past to bite me.

6 bottles of Yakult
$5 wrongly spent
1 beating I'll never forget

Was it necessary?

2006-03-13T09:24:00.000+08:00

.: Come alive!

Sunday was great! I really enjoyed leading worship in the morning with Ash, YorkYing and Lala - For some strange reason, things just seemed... comfortable :) The fact that everyone played great was a bonus ;)

Playing at Ignite was really refreshing - the Spirit was really moving in that place! The one thing from the message that hit home was this...

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17 (italics my own)

So my friends, step away from the voice of condemnation and into His abundantly freeing grace :)

2006-03-08T10:26:00.000+08:00

.: Dreams

I've been waking up really tired these past few days 'cos of these dreams that I've been having. Last night's one was particularly engaging... In fact, there were 2 consecutive dreams if I remember correctly.

Dream #Satu : Lord of the Rings-esque
I was part of some group trying to defeat some evil being, but each of us kept failing and I soon had to run and hide to prevent myself from getting captured. This entailed lots of running, swinging through trees, scaling buildings and jumping through windows. I finally found myself a room that I could shut myself into to just hide. End dream.

Dream #Dua : The Fugitive-esque
This one was literally just a lot of running. Running to escape from someone who was trying to capture me for something I didn't do, or for being someone I wasn't. Or something like that.

Some big bald man was chasing me. The strange thing about this dream was that it was in the third person at first. Goodguy was running away from the badguy and managed to get a group of alligator like things to distract him. But when that happened, he just stupidly stayed around to watch badguy fight off the alligator things - which he did with relative ease, and got caught soon after. But when that happened, the scene replayed itself and I became Goodguy.
I was cleverer this time (thanks to the 3rd person view before) and knew what to do not to get caught. Instead of watching the bad guy fighting his way out of the alligator things, I used the opportunity to run as fast and far as I could while he was being distracted. I ran and ran and ran... and ended up in this 2 storey building which was just a staircase that led to nowhere. With badguy in hot pursuit, I could only wait at the top of the stairs, hanging from the ceiling for badguy to come in so that I could drop myself down on his head to knock him out. So I waited and waited... and badguy came in, and...

I woke up.

I'm exhausted.

2006-03-07T16:53:00.000+08:00

.: Take a break

Have a kit kat.

2006-03-06T22:49:00.000+08:00

.: Running empty

It's finally begun! I've started exercising again!
Today's jog/walk/crawl was rather painful. For the first 15min, I could feel my @$$ boinging around, a step or two behind me trying to catch up with the rest of my body. As I passed the familiar sights, I tried to pace myself to finish the jog within the 30 minutes I used to take. But as the uphill came up, things got a little too painful and I ended up walk-jogging the rest of the way home. I just didn't have the fitness to draw on to finish the run without stopping.
The dismal state of my physical fitness is partly due to the state of physical inertness I adopt at work (I tell you, there's money to be made in a treadmill operated PC), partly because I've been eating a little more than I should, and mostly because I've just been a lazy bum for the past half a year or so.

It's painful (for lack of a better word...) running an engine dry. In more ways than one.

Times of refreshing
Here in Your presence
There's no greater blessing
Than being with You

2006-03-06T00:21:00.000+08:00

.: Rescue

You are the Source of life
I will not be left behind
No one else but You
I will take hold of You

I need you Jesus
to come to my rescue
where else can I go?
There's no other name
by which I am saved
You've captured me with grace

I will follow You

Jared Anderson
© 2003 Vertical Worship Songs/ASCAP

2006-03-03T16:07:00.000+08:00

.: Love ver 0.2

We love, because HE first loved us.
To expand from there - we love, when we have received HIS love... and to go one more step further... we can only love, after we have received HIS love.

I think I'm overdue for a major filling-upping.

2006-03-02T15:25:00.000+08:00

.: Come together

Things are coming together somewhat at work now. The sun's peaking out from behind the clouds already :) Just need to nail down some details before the exciting part starts!

Anyways, the guy who I was supposed to buy the bike from has backed out from the deal 'cos someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Oh well... back to the hunt. My only consolation is that the Suzuki GSR400 may be coming in end of this month!
She's a beaut! :D Whaddya think??

2006-02-25T00:21:00.000+08:00

.: "love" ver 0.1

A looooong while ago, I posted that I'd say something about what love is to me - but I didn't. It's probably because I felt inadequately acquainted with the notion... but I'll give it a shot now. From what I hear, it's supposed to be some kinda butterfly thingie that you feel in your stomach. Well, those butterflies have either gone extinct, or my gastric juices are just too deadly.

I've been brought up in an environment where love is that 1 extra mark I didn't get.
Where love is that one extra hour I didn't put in to practice my piano.
Where love is the one more thing I'm not.

Love became the one more thing I had to do to be good enough.
Became the thing I would never be good enough at.
Became the person I can become.

Love is a chore.

Recently, my outlook has started to change somewhat... I've been hearing things like "Love is, in spite of" (thank you Mrs Ken Lee) and how love is really something that springs out from the bottom of your heart, just because.

I still don't feel anything.

I think I need a heart transplant. Any donors out there?

2006-02-24T12:13:00.000+08:00

.: Being Difficult.

Am I?

2006-02-23T10:54:00.000+08:00

.: Running blind

I've started working! Well, kinda... It's more like lots of coffee and banging-head-against-wall right now, but I know it's going somewhere! It's like one big jigsaw puzzle. We started off by dreaming/thinking/researching up the bajillion idea pieces. Now we're putting them together to see if they can form a picture that will hopefully bring in the $$$ :) The pieces have started to fall in place and if God wills, we'll see some results within the next 10 weeks.

Bike hunting has been pretty fruitless... My dad and I have decided that the best bike to buy right now is a used Honda Superfour, but so far most people want too much for too old a bike, or are just pushing their luck to see if they can recoup the amount they've spent modding the bike - which by right, doesn't add any value to it at all... unless of course it's a full Yoshi exhaust system. Which someone actually did have, but was only willing to part with at the beginning of APRIL... I don't know about you, but I think posting up something for sale that's only available in 2 months is quite KS. Oh well, back to the hunt.

By Divine appointment, I've suddenly been roped in to play for one of the nights at the Ignite conference. I'm really excited about it! Great speakers, great topics, great worship... I'm certain those 3 days will be a powerful ministry to all attending :) Hope to see you there!

Oh, and I just came across this interesting link - it's an Interactive Johari window which lets people attribute certain adjectives to you. I know I don't know half of what people think of me... so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask that you take a minute to tell me what you think about me. I'll post up the results in a week for everyone to laugh at :p

2006-02-07T23:56:00.000+08:00

.: whatever and ever, amen

Sometimes I just feel like... whatever. Mediating/diplomacy can be so taxing sometimes. Sitting in the middle of things trying to tell everyone that the world just doesn't happen to revolve around them is no fun... won't you guys just grow up? Not to mention some of the negativity always rubs off on me. I just can't stand it. I hate being moody. I AM NOT AN UNHAPPY PERSON BY NATURE!!!

I think one fine day when I get so tired of everything, I'd just disappear *poof* Gone.

Ok, rant over.

On a more positive note, I passed my class 2a!! Woohoo!! Supafooourrrr baybee!! :D
And here's a nice sunset I managed to get pic of

Have a great week!

2006-01-27T15:54:00.000+08:00

.: Another one of those meme moments...

I've been tagged by my dear friend Brandon... so I guess you guys just have to put up with this meme for now.

4 jobs you've had in your life
Waiter
Prisons HQ Comms
Project manager
I where got so old one...

4 movies you could watch over and over
Fight Club
Shawshank redemption
Cinema Paradiso
Taxi (the Luc Besson one)

4 TV shows you love(ed) to watch
CSI
ALIAS
Transformers
Pinky and the Brain

4 places you've lived
Telok Kurau
West Coast
Alexandra
Lim Chu Kang camp II

4 places you've been on vacation
Spain
USA
Sweden
China

4 places I'd rather be
Maldives
Spain
New Zealand
Some obscure island with white powdery beaches, surrounded by clear blue waters teaming with fish and coral

4 of your favourite dishes
char kway teow
orh ni
chicken rice
konlow/wantan/bak chor mee

4 websites I visit daily
Boing Boing
Drawn!
design*sponge
Tomorrow.sg

4 tagged
PEW - just because :)
mingying - to add more fluff into her otherwise cheemological writings
Pong - just so that he gets down to writing something again...
Serena - to get her to spend more time away from her car, thus reduce the chances of her getting into another accident ;)

2006-01-26T11:51:00.000+08:00

.: Golf

After 500+ balls, a few blisters and tearing my third finger apart at the base of the nail, I've finally found a way to grip the club without killing my fingers. It actually feels good to hit the ball now :)

2006-01-24T01:04:00.000+08:00

.: Passions, needs, wants...

If a passion of mine happens to tap into a need I have, but at the same time is about glorifying God... should i go ahead with it?

2006-01-23T19:02:00.000+08:00

.: Yellow fingers...

Thanks to the 2000++ pineapple tarts Chris and I have made :p

2006-01-11T11:13:00.000+08:00

.: Horses in space

The past few weeks have been like a state of limbo for me... apart from starting to play ball again, getting my class 2A license (for bikes under 401cc), and picking up golf seriously (there are two blisters on my hands to prove it :p), I'm not too sure what's happened, what's happening, and I'm more clueless about what's gonna happen next.

Sometimes, I wish life had a big flashing neon "GO THIS WAY" sign.

Anyways, my mom recently passed me this book called "Paul & the Self" by J.Knox Chamblin - it's a book based on Paul's letters in the bible, to read (she thinks I'm spending too much time on the computer... which I've been doing much less of now that I'm laptopless). The chapter on pride got my attention, especially since I highly suspect that I'm guilty, like BIG time on this. Here's what I learnt from the chapter.

Pride is essentially competitive - it gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. This results in the proud person loathing the people on top of him and despising the people beneath him. Furthermore, in striving to prove ourselves better than everyone else, we inevitably exaggerate our own importance... which explains how we can be so full of ourselves that we effectively kill our ability to experience/understand God. We see nothing but ourselves, hear nothing but our voice.

Pride breeds misery, resentment, jealousy and alienation.

We need to see ourselves as we truly are before we are able to see God as He truly is.

On a lighter note, we had panna cotta with balsamic strawberries and blueberries for dessert last night! Absolutely fabulous stuff :)

2005-12-30T13:29:00.000+08:00

.: Men and mice

Christmas has come and gone, lotsa alcohol has been consumed and pudding/custard devoured, but somehow things just didn't feel as festive as they did before. Oh well, at least there was the OC camp before that which was a blast! Thanks to everyone of you who made it happen by organizing it and for just being there :)

Apart from that, I've been running around with a Pentax *ist D courtesy of Chris' mom who bought it for her family. I've always wondered what was the draw of a digital SLR, now I know and I'm nearly hooked... next in line to try out is the Nikon D70! Any Canon EOS users out there? :D Anyways, if you're bored enough you can check out some of the photos I've taken over at my Flickr photoset :)

Just got back from Lt Ken's wedding (I'm still kicking myself for not bringing a camera). He's one of those guys who were born to be leaders - well loved and respected by everyone... and for good reason too! Honest, encouraging and always giving people his 110%. First to get ready and last one to hit the showers. He's truly a great guy.

But these NS reunions make me a little sad/awkward sometimes, especially when I think back to the times of when I could be such a jerk; foul mouthed and bad tempered, always complaining and shirking away when I could... I sure gave Christianity a bad name. I wish I could rewind the tape and play it all back again.

Anyways, back to the more positive stuff.
You could tell from the dinner that this wedding was between children coming from families of God, character and virtue. Great men and women who've brought up their children to rise up above the crowd. This was truly a match made in heaven :)
Ken and Chanel - I wish you God's abundant peace and joy, but most of all I wish you His infinite love. I am honoured to have met the both of you :)

2005-12-14T13:52:00.000+08:00

.: Hot!

I've just eaten the single most hottest piece of whateverthing in my life. It was a really small cut of green chilli from a yong tau fu stall that looked perfectly unhot. Little did I realise that biting into it would set my mouth on fire, turn on the faucets in my eyes and pretty much burn everything else... tongue and lips included. They were so sore after that I could barely finish my meal.

But now that it's in, I worry even more about it coming out. God have mercy :p

2005-12-14T01:11:00.000+08:00

.: So what happens now?

Wow - It's almost been a month since I last posted... and Christmas is next week. Where did all the time go to? No Christmas shopping done or even planned yet. Guess it's gonna be home-baked goodness for everyone this year then.

Just got back from Fraser's hill yesterday - it was quite a pleasant trip, apart from the white knuckle drive up (and down) the 1 lane road that was pretending to be a 2 way carraigeway. I'm still wondering how we made it up in one piece, considering that a 20m drop off the edge of the road was less than a metre away from us and people were constantly overtaking slow and BIG vehicles on blind corners... Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Cars falling off ravines aside, the idea of being unemployed is still taking a little time to settle in. Now that I'm finally out of school... what happens next? There's so many seemingly random things I wanna do before starting work - like learning music production/writing, how to craft guitars/basses, getting back into shape, picking up golf (gasp!)... and the likes. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure what I want/what I can do in the working world... So how? I also dunno.

It's getting late. Shouldn't think so much. Need to pray a little more.

2005-11-29T00:48:00.000+08:00

.: Staring unemployment in it's face...

Yup. Finally. Another 10h from now and I'll be officially unemployed.
Ready or not World, here I come!

2005-11-20T00:24:00.000+08:00

.: PeraMakan

I just realised that I don't have any pics of Chrisbaby on my blog... so here's a pic that was taken at dinner today - it was kong kong's 93 b'day!

Ain't she the cutest? :D

She also just remarked that her face is getting sharper. Hmm... maybe I've been rubbing my face too much on hers... like iron sharpens iron? :p

2005-11-16T20:39:00.000+08:00

.: Blue skies

Blue skies smiling on me
Nothing but blue skies do I see
Blue birds singing a song
Nothing but blue skies from now on

2005-11-15T21:11:00.000+08:00

.: Financial accounting... WHY???

I hate financial accounting.

It makes perfect sense when someone else does it.

It makes no sense when I do.

^#$$%!@%%!#$@#%#$@%%^!@#%$!#%^$@^%#^!#%$!$^@$^%^#$%^!#$!#@%@$#

Excuse me. It's the stress talking.

And the fact that my paper is this saturday. Sigh.

2005-11-08T00:22:00.000+08:00

.: Exams... sigh

The exams are approaching in just 2 weeks.
Waitaminute... did I just say 2 weeks?

Oh boy.

And thanks to projects and papers, I haven't even started revising yet.

As Chris put it so succintly... "the tail's getting longer"

2005-11-05T20:09:00.000+08:00

.: Running Free II

Ouch. I don't remember my calves being so sore... ever.

It rained on thurs morning so JWang called off the usual run. An hour later the skies cleared up - but thanks to the law of lethargy, I was too tired to get out of bed again, so I skipped the run and told him I'd join him at breakfast :)

Feeling a little slobbish, I decided that it was a great opportunity to run the short distance between my house and the market barefoot. So with slippers in hand, off I went!

It started off very pleasantly; the ground was nice and cool and there was a refreshing breeze blowing because of the early morning rain. The first thing I noticed was that my running style changed automatically to suit the absence of shoes. I was bounding away, landing and pushing off with the balls of my feet - my heels barely touched the ground. That made the run feel much easier. Lighter.

The next thing I noticed was... well, there wasn't anything else to notice. But I did get a lot of it from everyone else I passed along the way. There were even these 2 aunties who were so tickled by my barefootedness, that one of them even took off her sandals to show her friend that she could do it too!

By the time I reached the turn into the market, my toes were feeling really sore as they were not accustomed to pushing off all 75kg of me off rough bitumen. But more sorer than my toes were my calves... I just didn't know it yet.

Now, I've walked 40+km with load, jogged 21km, played basketball for 4h straight... but never ever did I have calves as sore as I do now, after 15min of running barefoot. They are so sore, it's not even funny... well, maybe it is - to those watching me walk down stairs, but certainly not to me.

I must say though, it was quite fun... until the next morning :)

But don't let that put you off! You should try it someday too!

2005-11-04T15:54:00.000+08:00

.: The essential EM EE | 5 arbitary and bizarre bits about myself

1) In primary school, I fell real sick for 2 days after drinking 6 bottles of Vitagen because I wanted to win a lousy foam aeroplane... which only cost the equivalent of 2 bottles

2) I've had my driving license for 4+ years now, but I've been driving for 10

3) Thanks to KLam, I was stuck with the nickname mapiku for the greater part of my primary school days

4) My middle toes are as long as my big toes

5) I collect wrapping material... lots of it

Hmm... who to tag...

Edit: Chris just reminded me of this completely and utterly random thing which I just have to include... so

6) I did a cameo as a prison officer once on "Crime Watch", while I was doing my internship at the MHA

Yah... how bizarre is that! :D

2005-11-01T22:19:00.000+08:00

.: It's that time of the month again...

Sigh. It's that time of the semester again where all the schoolwork that I've pushed into the cupboard of procrastination has just burst out onto the floor of panic.

It's amazing how every semester when this time comes around, I tell myself - "next sem will be different. I'll be on top of everything and there'll be no stress." Yah right. Only difference this time is that there's no next sem, which is kinda disappointing 'cos I'll never get to fulfil "being on top of everything". But then again, I'll never have to write another one of those annoying papers again!

But for now, it's pressure cooker time. One more final presentation and one more stupid paper which popped out of the blue today... I can't believe I wasn't even aware of it. Just to illustrate how blur I was, I walked into my 1000h class today when the lecturer started to talk about some kinda extension for some kinda paper.

CW> enters class and takes his seat
Lect> "Ok, so do you guys need an extension for the paper?"
Class> "Yah..."
CW> Looks quizzically at classmates...
CW> "Paper? What paper? You mean we have a paper? Waitaminute - a paper for this class??"
Class> "See! We definitely need an extension!"
Lect>...

End of the story - there's a paper due in 2 weeks. That really sucks.

It doesn't help that the TR project is like dragging itself over broken glass and 20 grit sandpaper. If you're a teammate reading this - I truly am apologetic about how things have turned out so far. I guess our only consolation is that it's almost over :p So chin up! One last presentation to go through and we're done with it!

And then there are the exams to study for... sigh. I don't even know if there's enough time to study for them >_< Oh well. Financial Accounting. Bah.

Akan datang...
5 completely bizarre & arbitary facts about myself.

2005-10-27T15:07:00.000+08:00

.: Running free

Good day ladies and gentlemen. Please allow me to introduce you to the Vivo Barefoot™.

Source: terra-plana.co.uk

It's a shoe designed to facilitate barefoot walking - all there is in between you and the granite is 3mm of kevlar and TPU.

Running barefoot has been something that's always fascinated me. It's great for strengthening your muscles and ligaments, corrects posture, and is much easier on your joints.
I remember that for some time when I was in sec school, I used to run around the estate barefooted... but everyone thought I was crazy :p I stopped running eventually, but it was due more to a lack of discipline (and an excuse to buy fancy shoes) than anything else.

Now that I've started running regularly again - I'm gonna go barefoot again!

What about the shoe? Well, it's for those who want to experience walking barefoot, without, well, going barefoot. Also a great conversation piece and I hear kevlar is good for stopping bullets ;)

Source: terra-plana.co.uk

Anyone wanna join me? :)

2005-10-27T00:02:00.000+08:00

.: Time is a many spledoured thing

I've learnt something today.
Time isn't spent "together" with someone unless it's spent alone.

Another rule to add that to the quantum physics textbook of life.

2005-10-24T23:05:00.000+08:00

.: Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me

"...keep me where the light is. Just keep me where the light is"
- JM, Gravity

During the seminar I attended last saturday, the speaker Robert Brenner, brought up this point which seemed to speak right to me - Accepting God's grace and love humbly is the best way to affect godly change in you. Feeling sick and guilty about yourself and not ever being worthy of His love is from the evil one.

Now that I think about it, it also ties in with what was said on sunday about how godly repentence leads to salvation and no regrets, but worldy sorrow brings death (2 Cor 7:10).

I'm not too clear about my thoughts on this, and I'm no theological student so please bear with me. I'm just thinking aloud here...

What does it really mean to accept God's grace humbly? Since grace implies that it's something we don't deserve completely, the pretension-less acceptance of grace must then come from the complete realisation of our unworthiness... surely that must be divine.

Now I say divine because I think it's next to impossible (or at least really, really hard) for man to truly fathom his spiritual brokenness and poverty in it's entirety. Maybe I'm speaking for myself here, but how many of us have had "sackcloth and ashes" moments? I know the first thing I do when I've done something wrong is to justify it. If that doesn't work, then I try to justify it somemore. If that still doesn't work, then I'll just sweep it under the carpet of "better forgotten" memories...

Anyways, you get the idea.

Whatever the case is, I'm still learning day by day what this whole thing means. When I finally figure it out, I'll let you guys in on it. Till then, it's a daily leap of faith :)

2005-10-20T23:51:00.000+08:00

.: Thanks Marcus!

Lookee what I just picked up after dinner! It's an epiphone dot that Marcus t-loaned to me :D Plugged it in the moment I got home... and it sings oh so sweetly :) Now to learn how to play like John Mayer :p

More pics!

I'm gonna find out how she sounds in a band setting this saturday :) Woohoo!

.: stuck in a moment

2005-10-19T23:44:00.000+08:00

stuck in a moment
Originally uploaded by chernwei.

Ever get that feeling of impending stickiness coming upon you? It feels as though you're about to get sucked into some quagmire of stagnant time where you seem to drown in this collective pool of time that's slipped through the cracks...

Yup. I can feel it creeping up on me already.

Latte anyone?

2005-10-17T22:42:00.000+08:00

Here's a pic of mini-marionette marvelling at my unstirred latte, sitting striatedly in my new bodum™ thermo-glass :) I am such a sucker for these beautifully mouth-blown glass thingies :p
On a different note, it's funny how different people respond to criticism in class. Some just take it on the chin and thank you for pointing out the error so that they can improve the next time.
Then there are those who take it in the gut and keel over and look as though it's the end of the world for them.
But the most annoying are those who take it like a personal insult. They defend their point (with their "oh-I'm-so-academically-objective" tone of voice) to the bitter end as though admitting that they could be wrong would kill them.

Anyways, thanks to one of these characters, today's evening class was a lot more lively than usual... It was really funny 'cos no one - and I mean NO ONE, talks during this class. He managed to get the WHOLE class going.

He deserves an award :D

.: Hues of Blue and Pink

2005-10-12T17:27:00.000+08:00

hydrangea
Originally uploaded by chernwei.

Scootered down to H.V. to pick this up for Chris since something's been getting her down lately... think it'll brighten her day?

It better :p
I rode home single-handedly 'cos I had to hold it in the other... I've also come to realise that riding scooter + bouquet in hand = lots of stares. Lucky never kena stop by matah :)

p.s. For the aspiring botanist, it's a hydrengea

2005-10-08T20:05:00.000+08:00

.: I'm Google-able!!

Cheap thrill post - I just got an email today about some quirk in the google "I'm Feeling Lucky" search. Type in "failure" without the quotes and see what you get :D

Out of complete narcissistic curiousity, I typed in "chernwei" (also without the quotes...) and hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button just to see where it'd lead me. Well, guess what.

It brings you right here :D

Thankyou, thankyouverymuch.

2005-10-08T09:15:00.000+08:00

.: More Than Conquerors

It's amazing how God works for the good of all those who love him, even though through our limited capacities we sometimes we feel He's doing just the opposite. But the things that have been happening over the past few weeks have been incredible.

'Tis the season for breakthroughs :)

When I did my QT today, I automatically flipped to the passage in Romans 8:28-39 (it wasn't intentional, I just openend the bible and lo and behold it was staring at me with my previous pink underlines...) and the things mentioned in there spoke to me greatly - it was like a confirmation from Him that it's all going according to His plan, and that He has made us "...more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Let me repeat that for you.

...we are MORE than CONQUERORS through HIM that loved us - Rom 8:37

Conquerors over what? Over ANYTHING that can seperate us from the love of Christ.

So be encouraged dear brothers and sisters - the fight is already over. We've won. We just need to remember to claim on that :)

2005-10-04T23:27:00.000+08:00

.: OUCH

I've sprained my ankle. Like completely sprained my ankle. Like absolutely completely sprained my ankle. Like extremly painfully absolutely completely... you get the idea.

Gonna see the sinseh tomorrow. Not looking forward to it... and somehow, the idea of "counter-spraining" is starting to sound fishy to me.

I really hope the sinseh isn't pulling a fast one :p

2005-10-01T21:02:00.000+08:00

.: 2 Men and an Umbrella

1215h: "Hey cherns, my mom needs her card back today" "Today? Like, without prior
notice today?" "Yah, today" "Sure."

1600h: So I leave for Paragon to return Mark's mom her hyatt card I borrowed for Chris' birthday. It looks like it's going to pour

1630h: I reach Paragon and return the card. Thanks Mark's mom :)

1635h: It's pouring

1639h: I open my tiny foldable umbrella (which was only enough for half of me...)

1640h: "Hi" "Hi" "Hi" "Hi - can I help you?" "Hi, yah - are you going towards the Heeren?" "Nope" "Er, are you going towards the Heeren?" "Well, I'm not - but I guess I could" "Ok, thanks" "You do know that this umbrella is only big enough to keep our heads dry right?" "Yah, I don't want to get my hair wet"

1645h:We get to Heeren. Wet. "Thanks - It was nice meeting you" "No problem"
No problem? Note to self - I need to rethink my farwell lines.

Oh, some more extra useless information is that Mr can-I-share-your-umbrella is an NTU undergrad in mass comm who's had just gone for a photo shoot for some Osim advertisement.

What a random meeting.

Something tells me that I'll be running into him again.

ANYWAYS

When I met up with my some of my YMLC group members during the week, we were joking about our expression of God's love - and that's got me thinking. Since we all have different "love languages", what's mine? I'll save that for the next post :)

Akan datang - Love Is.

2005-09-29T22:49:00.000+08:00

.: Self-absorption

There seems to be a proliferation of these people around SG lately... must be the weather. Looks like we could learn a thing or two from China.

How to tell that you're a SAP (Self-Absorbed Person) by Aieam Ruud

The lift test
You walk into a lift, stand right in the middle and refuse to budge when 14 other people are trying to get in

and then refuse to step aside when the 14 crowded people try to get out

and when there are already 15 people packed in there, you still forcefully squeeze yourself in

and then make disconcerting noises because no one made space for you

The smoke test
You smoke very obliviously next to 15 other non-smokers

and it happens to be right under a NO SMOKING sign

and have no qualms telling the person who asked you nicely to smoke somewhere else that "you'll smoke any damn where you please"

and then blow smoke in the fella's face

The carpark test
You wait for a space on a one carraigeway road oblivious to the other 15 cars behind

and then park really near the adjacent lot so that other cars don't have enough space to park next to you

and when they do, you scratch their car, open your door into their car, or reverse into their car because "they asked for it"

and then take your time coming out of the lot (picking your nose, touching your face/hair/b@lls... whatever it is you do in there), while leaving the poor driver who's waiting in complete suspense about whether you're really coming out or not

and then wonder why the 15 cars waiting for you to get out are so impatient

If you read this and identify with it strongly, then I say to you... REPENT! Or alternatively, you could always take a long walk off a short plank - 20 storeys above ground.

2005-09-29T09:30:00.000+08:00

.: A new song in my heart

Met JWang for a run at 0645h today, had breakfast, came home, washed up, made myself a latte with my new espresso machine, sat down to do my QT, and picked up my guitar. Then this song came to me :)

I praise your name Jesus
© 2005 mahchernwei

I praise your name Jesus
You are the Christ that died for me

I praise your name Jesus
You are the only one I'll seek

I praise your name Jesus
You have risen from the grave

Let me walk with You
All throughout my days

Now I need to figure out how make an .mp3 recording and find someplace to upload/host it... :p

Ps 40:3 (NLT)
He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be astounded.
They will put their trust in the LORD.

2005-09-27T23:06:00.000+08:00

.: The BIG puzzle

It's interesting how things just happen sometimes - it's like watching a bajillion piece jigsaw come together in a completely random way...

You get little bits and pieces just falling all over the place that start forming archipelagos of weird looking scenes and half bodied creatures reminiscent of a Dali painting. Then they start getting bigger... and by this time you're thinking that you've finally figured out the big picture, but all of a sudden these pictures join together and morph into something completely different from your genius prediction, and then you're all confused and banging your head on the wall again.

I haven't figured out the rest yet - I'll let you know when I do.

2005-09-26T09:37:00.004+08:00

.: of Coffee, new friends and toys :)

Sunday was great. Spent the day with Chris walking around Taka 'cos she had a $100 voucher to spend. While we were there, they had a household fair going on at the basement (and a mayonnaise making competition that I'm still kicking myself for not participating...) - and they were selling all kinds of cool stuff... including espresso machines!! Being the sweetheart she is, she wanted me to choose a coffee machine so that she could buy it for me and my family (insert *AWWWWW* here).

We spent a total of 6h(!) walking around, and around, and around... so that I could make up my mind on one, and in the end we walked off with the first one that we came across :p It's a Delonghi EC 410B. Did a little photoshopping with this pic to highlight the free 3 boxes of illy coffee that Chris bargained off the sales dude :) I must remember to take a pic of the coffee that this baby can make... good stuff! Coffee anyone? :)

We then proceeded on to meet Daniel - he's from HK, he's superfunky and he's got BIG hair. I got to know him through TalkBass - the internet still amazes me with it's ability to connect complete strangers from distant lands.

He was swinging by our tiny island to attend a conference (it's called the Breakthrough conference... or something like that :p) at the Covenant Evangelical Free Church, along with 50 other members of his church!

Anyways, we had a blast chatting at the Selegie tau whay shop - I'll invite him over as a guest bassist at the OC the next time he comes by SG :D

And this is a little something he helped me buy :) MY NEW BASS TOY!! Well, soon to be added to the equipment list of the OC... but IT'S STILL MY NEW BASS TOY till then :D For those who care to know - it's an EBS microbass II. Bass days are here to stay :D

2005-09-26T09:32:00.000+08:00

.: Ps 89:1

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness
known through all generations

And may it ever be so. Amen.

2005-09-24T23:02:00.000+08:00

.: I am that guy...

I am that toddler who was enjoying the surf and sand before it became a fashion/lifestyle statement.

I am that boy who wanted everyone to be my friend, but was too shy to do anything about it (but I did share my biscuits with some of you).

I am that boy who got his ear pulled by the discipline mistress for throwing back a brick that you threw at me.

I am that boy who has been taking the bus and mrt by myself ever since I was primary 3, and wondered why everyone else thought taking public transport by yourself would either get you hurt or kidnapped.

I am that boy who got himself trapped between the MRT doors while trying to run into the train at the very last moment.

I am that non-expat kid who got dragged along to go trick or treating with you and always wondered how could a holiday exist where kids had the "right" to act as hooligans and extort sweets from adults who were probably thinking the same thing. I still wonder why anyone would be so stupid to give sweets to kids dressed in bad costumes armed with toilet rolls.

I am that brother who fought with you so often and never understood why other brothers could ever do things together or get along so easily.

I am that brother who's still learning.

I am that teen who spent a large part of his secondary school days playing soccer before, during and after band with 2 left feet. Thanks for introducing me to basketball.

I am that teen who was invloved in so much sh*t outside of class that it's a miracle that I never spent a night in a police lockup.

I am that kantang brat who made you wonder why someone like me would want to try to act like a born and bred ah-beng like you.

I am that son that you caught at 0400h in the morning after sneaking home from doing those things that I shouldn't have been.

I am that son who's still learning what it means to be one.

I am that boyfriend who broke your heart so many times that now it's held together by sticky tape and God's grace.

I am that boyfriend who is sorry and wants you to know that he really loves you.

I am that man who hopes to stand in front of God one day and hear him say "well done, my good and faithful servant".

I am that man. I am that teen. I am that boy.

2005-09-22T22:56:00.000+08:00

.: Uni students, toilet seats and piss-stains

If the uni students of NUS are supposed to be the future of SG, I really worry about the piss-tinted future that we're in store for - if the abundance of piss-stains on toilet seats in NUS are anything to go by (there was once when there was a POOL of piss on the FLOOR next to the cistern... but that's another story for another day). I'd even bet my bottom dollar that if it wasn't for our Special Ops Cleaning Force that operates around the clock and cleans the toilet every half-hour, the situation would be far worse than it is now.

If you're a male uni student in NUS reading this - this is addressed to YOU.

Don't get me wrong here - there's nothing to be embarrassed about (well, maybe a little) not being able to shoot on target 100% of the time. But for crying out loud - CLEAN UP YOUR @#$% YELLOW MESS ONCE YOU'VE MADE IT. You only need to apply a little downward pulling pressure on the toilet roll, tear off whatever number of squares you need to protect your hand from touching your own piss, and wipe. If you don't, the next guy coming in with a stomachache will end up doing the Ma Zhan and that explains the mystery sh*t stains on the sides of the cubicle.

If you're one of them piss bandits - read this and repent. BTW - In case you didn't know yet, wiping off your yellow stains won't give you AIDS, make you less handsome or give you Bad luck (yes - I AM challenging your intellectual/social capacity now).

If you're not, give yourself a pat on the back and buy yourself a drink. You deserve it.

2005-09-22T12:57:00.000+08:00

.: Stuck in a moment with you

Stuck in school 'cos of the rain. It's heavier than cats and dogs. More like dinosaurs and whales. Oh well... I guess it's not so bad, considering I didn't have to ride through it to get to school :) Thanks God.

I just finished the most productive group meeting in my 4 1/2 years in NUS. We were supposed to come to dicuss some financial accounting project - but one of my teammates came prepared with the answers to ALL the questions. This kinda thing happening is like having a $100 dinner at Mortons and having a complete table of strangers pick up the tab for you - which is never. So that's made my day :)

Had lunch with the other teammate who's from China, and I've come to a conclusion - Chinese from China are really polite. When I speak chinese to chinese SGeans, they either a) burst out laughing or b) burst out laughing harder. In either case, they'll just ask me to give up and talk to them in engrish. Chinese from China on the other hand, have never told me that before. In fact, they almost always labour on with the conversation, trying to make sense of my horrendously broken (and vocabularily challenged) mandarin while at the same time, COMMEND me on my command of the language. Or maybe it's just their way of making fun of me... :p

Anyways, have an audition for a band later. I've never played in a band outside of church and I'm a little nervous about it. Wonder how it'll go.

Akan datang: I am that guy
A literary meme inspired by MercerMachine and his post that started it all.

2005-09-21T23:31:00.000+08:00

.: transparency...

Came home thinking that I was gonna blog about pantang beliefs and T-junctions... but when I got home, MY LAPPY WAS MISSING!! The closest pic I had to a missing lappy is a pic of my transparent lappy... so here it is

Have to be up by 0640h tomorrow for a jog. Later all

2005-09-21T11:06:00.000+08:00

.: kopi cham milo

I have come to understand what makes a GREAT kopi shop. It's not just about the quality of the kopi you get for your $.60, it's not even the skill or number of times of which the kopi uncle/auntie pulls the coffee through the blackened sock.

It's all about how much thought goes into making that cup of whatever it is you're ordering.

I could go into the technicalities of the difference between "techne" and "logos" and how it applies in this context, but I'll spare you the details. Just know that the next time you go to a kopi shop and want to put it to a litmus test, order a cup of "kopi si gao cham milo" - translated into english for the kopi-linguistically challenged just means "thick coffee with carnation milk mixed with milo".

The normal kopi uncle/auntie will just give you a dirty look for making them look stupid and say something along the lines of "Ah? Kopi cham milo? No such thing lah!", and when you leave the line, they'll give the next ah pek in line "the look" along with the obligatory sigh of "xiao lian..." which loosely translated means - youngsters nowadays...

The GREAT kopi uncle/auntie will ponder the complexity of what you've just ordered, and after having drawn upon their years of pulling coffee and how youngsters nowadays order the weirdest things, will mix a great cup of cafe mocha ala kopitiam. And they'll know just how much more to charge you as well.

I should've taken a pic of my cup of kopimilo today, but I didn't. I need a k750i :p

2005-09-20T21:28:00.000+08:00

.: Whoever said that shoes made the man...

...obviously never bought sports shoes.

Lemme introduce you to my new ball shoes. They're big, red, white and rather hole-y. They're also quite comfortable to wear. I paid about a hundred bucks and some for them. They're supposed to help me run faster, jump higher and cut harder on court. They even look the part... Boy, was I ever wrong.

I showed up at game today brimming with energy, ready to whoop @$... but I DIDN'T WIN A SINGLE GAME!!! There. I said it. I DIDN'T WIN A SINGLE GAME!!! I still can't believe it. I think I'll say it again just to convince myself that I just got back from ball day WITHOUT WINNING A SINGLE GAME!!!

I won all my games last week with my battered old trusty pair of Nikes, but I didn't win a single one with these spanking new pair of Adidas.

Someone owes me a refund.

Ok, enough about that. Back to the regular scheduled program.

1 x bowl of meepok
1 x really sweet cup of green apple juice
1 x cup of teh tarik
1 x bottle of orangina
1 x peanutbutter green waffle

All that was eaten by urs truly during a very extended lunch with Pong today. It was a great time of laughs, sharings and vision (in about that order as well). I'm beginning to truly understand the meaning of "having liberty" in the Spirit - and no I'm not referring to things said/done while in a drunken stupor (insert *groan* here). If you believe in Jesus, know this - He knows your plight and has heard your cry; He WILL set you free.

Now, if only that applied to whipping @$$ on court as well...

2005-09-20T08:37:00.001+08:00

.: Light makes light...

For with You is the fountain of life: in your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

I read this during QT today, and I wondered what it meant. How do you "see" light? What is this "light" in the first place?

The more I thought about it, the more it didn't seem to make sense. Then I decided to think about it converesely, that without His light, we see darkness - then it dawned on me. His light illuminates His will/path for us - the way of righteousness and of life, the path that leads to life everlasting with Him and away from eternal condemnation. It's no wonder why people not in His light always seem a little lost - it's because they are! They can't see where they're going!

Two things I took from this short verse

I'm reminded even more of the fact that we are little "lamps" of God's light, held out in the darkness of this world
That I need to make a conscious decision to see things in His light, and not that of the world

That's about it for now! Next up - Shoes shoes shoes! If you thought that shoes only belonged to the domain of women... you thought wrong! :)

2005-09-19T22:33:00.000+08:00

.: Of Little dogs and New beginnings...

A rainbow, a hawk, some black and blue/tooth and nail... it was a great day today :)

Had my first meeting with my dad and his partners! It was pretty cool - my brochure was misunderstood for the first hour or so, but when things warmed up a little everything fell into place quite nicely. I'm quite excited about this little venture thingie :) Can't wait for things to start happening!

Had dinner with Chris at Siglap today - the satay was decent, but the peanut sauce could be improved. I remember it to be thick and pineapple-y the last time we ordered it, but this time it was a little watered down and wasnt't that good. Oh well. At least the pork satay had nice fatty bits! Yumyum... but that isn't what I really wanted to talk about.

What I really wanted to say was that when we went for a walk after dinner, we walked past this couple and the lady was holding on to this little dog. For the life of me, I still wonder what's it with people and carrying pets around... I mean, the dog wants to walk for crying out loud. That's why you take it out "for a walk" - if you're carrying the dog while you're walking, you're taking the dog out "for a carry"... insane. Maybe that's why the dog licked me as we walked past them - it was a lick of help! The poor guy was trying to tell me, "Help! I really wanna walk, but these wierdos just won't let me! Won't you try to talk some sense into them for me? I try to tell them and bark, but all they do is just make cute faces at me and say "ooh, isn't that cute? He wants to be loved more!" and then they carry me around even more!". Yup, I got that all from just one lick. I think I should be a pet owner...

I almost forgot! Went with Chris to a lovely little wine shop today at Rail Mall and left with these :)

To the visually challenged - they say "To new beginnings, and sweet days ahead!" :)

2005-09-18T19:46:00.000+08:00

Ok, this is my first post. Woohoo :) Have to go now. someone is chasing me to upload photos so that she can post them on her blog...