Trouble in Paradise

I still find it rather amazing.. How one moment all's well with the world, everything's bright and sunny, smiley.. then with the flash and crack of thunder, a gleaming set of carnivorous teeth appear to descend over your head, noting also that the sky has turned dark and cloudy too. There wasn't even a cloud prior to this!

Ok, so the meteorological station didn't predict this, and the surface wasn't prepared for the crisis. Next thing u noe, we have land with everything on it washed away, the fertile topsoil's gone, even the roots of the plants previously are gone. nothing but newly-settled weeds now.

Was it really a disaster just waiting to happen? Sure, I alwiz felt that we should all cordon off a certain country and genocidically nuke the inhabitants away, but am i really that bad? It all coulda been avoided, but would the end still be the same? cos the problems still exist, and that IS the problem.

Kendo Camp & Nauhia

Kendo Camp

The National Training Squad for Singapore Kendo Club (NTS) had a half-stay-in camp over the Christmas weekend. Three sessions per day including morning basic practice, afternoon competitive shiai and late afternoon technique practice. What made it tough was that the Japanese senseis were always there. They pushed us to get through it. Sure it wasn't as tough as I had initially thought it would be, perhaps cos we had several guests with us, and expectations were thus reduced, but still, to have gotten through it was an achievement in itself. To be honest, one, if not the only objective I had for this camp was to get thru it. Which is why I had problems trying to identify a more worthy objective when we were asked about it during the camp itself. Still, the end was exhilarating.

So previously, where my feelings for Xmas seemed to be winding down, and it has become less of an important occasion, I now have allowed Kendo to come in to clash with it too. Ah well, make use of the holiday rite? It was a pretty good xmas, tho considering I had less presents to open than my traveldaddy, it was quite jealous-making. =P

However, I managed to let Shermy go thru MY Xmas with me, cos of the coincidence of the holiday and the camp. It was probably what got me thru the camp perhaps? =)

-----

Conversations with Shermy (aka Aslan's Rezzing scene)

So yea, Sherm and I went to watch Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe today. She utterly loved it, I tot it was a nice fantasy tale with excellent effects and fantastical sword-work on the part of the CGI Centaur General and excellent camera-work that allowed the White Queen, Tilda Swinton, to look good wielding dual swords in her beautiful battle scene with Peter.

Over dinner, Shermy had some comments with regards to Aslan's Resurrection scene, she thought that it was far too unglamourous. In the movie, it looked to us as tho dead-Aslan just waited patiently for the 2 sobbing gals to get off his body and turn their back before quietly (well almost, he broke the stone table whilst sneaking off) going over the crest of the hill to the makeup room at the back, don a new wig and strut forward bathed in the glow of the well-timed rising sun.

Sherm put forward that they could've made CGI hair grow back and him rising up in a burst of light or smtg or other.. more glamourous la!

I tot our interpretation was cute still! =)

City of Heroes, as a couple

City of Heroes has taken on a different meaning now that Shermaine has gotten online too! We've created all new couple characters who complement and support each other. This way, we no longer have to team up with other people, we can go thru the missions just the two of us!


Starting with the current favourites - Tragos (goat) and Meddlekins (faerie)! Guess which one I'm playing..?


This is the dwarven duo of Son Of Muradin and Daughter of Khuzdul, as yet unplayed yet, just keen on the character concepts.


And finally, presenting Bone Horror, my current favourite of the moment, a self-sufficient Scrapper.

a commitment

When u think u've known someone long enuff.. when u think u've been thru hell, and still want to stick together.. when u noe tht u found someone who's just perfect for u, and u can safely say that u aren't looking anymore.. then u can say the words

i love you

and noe that it isn't just a tool meant to dupe anyone..

Shermaine Ow, my silly little monkey.

State of Zen 2

Zen was put to sleep this morning. He had a decent farewell, and was carried off swaddled in a blanket, whining slightly.

He will be sorely missed.

State of Zen

Zen's in hospital now. After not eating for several days and being listless and not himself, Dad finally brought him to a better vet (as opposed to the lousy one tht said he was perfectly fine), who determined that his kidneys have failed. Apparently he was living on just one, but stones developed in his 2nd one, and thus he's having problems now.

He sits in a lonely cell in the dog ward in an animal hospital on Balestier Road now. My family visits him everyday, we all miss the little bugger. He is such a character and will be sorely missed should he be put to sleep. He's my sister's dog, and so my mom's not brought him to be put down as yet, but I think tht's an eventuality.

I can only hope for a miracle.


Update: 17/11
Zen's home since last nite, but he's still not eating, has water treatment 4 times a day (200ml of water n salt is pumped into his body, during which his body will reject it n attempt to vomit halfway thru). He has enuff energy to take himself halfway to wherever he intends to go, but loses it then collapses to recover.
The worst thing is, it hurts so much when the memories start flooding back, of his younger days, how he used to behave, his loves and his peeves, his entire wonderful character.. barely a week later, he's a pale shadow of his usual self, his skin hanging loosely over his bones, abt 3kgs in weight, prolly less now.
Not having eaten so long, and seeing him suffer silently, i just wonder when the decision will be made. I'm trying to spend much time with him now.

Confession!

SHERMAINE IS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME!

When blogs go bad..

Here's a tip for all you ppl who are thinking of blogging abt potential love-interests and what-not.. DON'T BLOG ABOUT IT!

It's an entire history for any new or current girlfriend to refer to and ask.. how come I don't get this, or how come u don't feel like that.. or I want you to feel like that with me..

GEE... It's an entire past come up to haunt u. Even a seemingly perfect relationship can get bogged down when comparisons arise and jealousies start carrying pickets and protesting.

ARGH!!!!

Sunday @ Pasir Ris Park

Here's wat we did on Sunday... Shermy and myself went to Pasir Ris park!!! Yes.. I finally got some sun! Shermy had some research to do with the mangroves there, so she invited me to join her and we made it into a fun day of cycling/ skating/ relakking by the beach. It was educational too! Mangroves come to life more when u actually noe wat's going on in there, thanks to the enlightenment provided by my dearest. I told ya she's brilliant! =)

I've begun to love Sundays a lot more from before Sherm came back to SG. They used to be sleeping-in days, where I'd spend 2 hrs sleeping after coming back from Kendo, but now, cos of the best thing in my life, I have fun-filled, active days with excellent company. =) ya, I can't stop spouting good stuff abt her.

City of Heroes

Just wanted to share these pics of the MMORPG game that I've been playing these last few weeks (tht's Massively-Multiplayer-Online-Role-Playing-Game). It's called City of Heroes, it's been arnd for a year already, but I've only just started on it. Mainly cos good MMOs charge by monthly subscription and I wasn't intending to keep paying such amts of money.. until now. well.. just for this one month... i hope.

Anyway, basically, u create a hero of a certain archetype, a predetermined skill-set path, personality and look. The design system is absolutely HUGE; u can create superman wolverine look-alikes, to robotic humanoids to ladies in bikinis if u wanted. Some time ago I posted some images of UGO Hero creator? This one's better.

For some strange reason, this game was just so addictive. What started out as a 2-week trial has escalated into a 1-month paid subscription, with possible roping in of gf Sherm as well.

So without further ado, here's wat I've been up to:


Introducing Biff Ballistic, my prime hero, of the Blaster archetype, regular sidekick to Alvin's Eldandil and Lin Tie characters.


Typical enemy creep that we mite encounter in the sewers of Paragon City. Yes, that's a television for a head..


Costume Contest!


Jay Kay, my favourite "toon", a mutant of the Controller archetype.


Red Branky, female creation of my dear Shermy. Note the pink wraparound and kitty on shoulders..


And finally, a character created out of jest, Brock Sundancer, surfer dude of the Tank archetype.

This is just so I dun get charged for a crime. Much to update, but with City of Heroes occupying my free time away from the dearest in my life, Shermy, I've not much time else to do anything at all. Man.. computer-game addiction.. and hehe.. a great girlfriend in my life. wat else do i need?

do u agree, friends?

Corny Jazz Lyrics

You are my undertow, caught in a riptide
and I am currently in love with you

hehe

pic taken off mdm Wong CH's mobile. =)

DKYHRTMKY

Shermaine and me are celebrating our ONE YEAR Anniversary! hooray! After the string of bluffs and surprises, I think she's rather satisfied.. happy, ecstatic even.. =)) So yea, and I finally got to see what all the hype about Cirque du Soleil was about - Quidam!
Fabulous! If I could but have a german wheel of my own to play with in my backyard.. shiok!

Kendo Weekend

The Hong Kong Kendo Federation and Malaysia Kendo Association swooped down to Singapore for a 3-day weekend of Kendo. My god.. wat a great time I had!! =)

D&D on Sat nite yielded this picture of my baby!


That's all for now, more later.

MERRY XMAS! HOHOHO!!!

Another big day trading Taiwan! Woot!!

Odd Announcement

My baby pounces on mosquitoes..

The past month in images

National Day @ Prit's


Eating ice-cream insect at Swenson's with Shermy


Jackie watching the telly


The return of Alicia!


Kamoka


Natsumatsuri @ Changi Japanese School


Shermaine looking like I just chewed off her head (but I din la)


Green Spot!!


All pictures other than the alicia & Natsumatsuri ones were taken off my 2-month-old Motorola Razr V3 Black mobile!

Bohemian remake

While in my van today, I was randomly cycling thru the channels as I usu do in order to get to my favourite Lush 99.5, when I happened to hear - *GASP* - the lilting sounds of the first verse of Bohemian Rhapsody!! And no, it wasn't the R&B bullshit version that someone did recently. For several seconds, I tot it was the late great Freddie Mercury singing. Being the Bohemian Rhapsody avid listener n singer that I am, I recognised soon after that it must be some boyband cover.. true enuff, I heard a second voice in the next line.. wat a let down I tot.. but before long, I was singing along as well. Who can resist the tune and wonderful lyrics rite?

Of course the operatic part was not as good as the Queen original.. I dun think anyone can beat that, but hey, the timing and melody was exactly the same (dun quote me). So yea.. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I guessed it was westlife, cos they're famous for doing covers without really changing much of the song, and I think I am rite. Kudos to them for bringing the song back into circulation! Now I can sing along once more! Bismillah!

Ohwell, Bohemian Rhapsody is one of my favourite tunes of all time. I bought the Wayne's World soundtrack way back cos it was in that movie that I first heard it. I still love it till now. ohyea ohyea!

my 3 seconds of fame

It's finally showing here in Singapore theatres.. Go watch it!

You'll see glimpses of colour that is me. that's all. haha

Ok, I'm doing this cos I got a call from the director Djinn who personally asked me to help spread the word. I also got an invite for the premiere on monday which I couldn't go for of course. GO GO!

I've got probs, but it seems I'm all alone these days. buddy is missing in malaysia, second buddy I've been prohibited from seeing. everyone else seems to be drifting. I've forgotten how to ask ppl out.

the perils of being in a relationship.

saw

This is an abfab movie! macabre, suspenseful, nail-biting, gory! When I first saw the posters, Saw caught my eye, with its dark blood n animals theme. And when I later saw the trailer, I definitely WANTED to see Saw. Unfortunately, it came n went in the theatres here so fast, I wasn't able to watch it. My sis finally came back with it this week and I was finally able to see it in its full gory.

If you've been bored by the "horror" movies from Hollywood of late, this movie will set u on edge, anticipating the next moment. Reminiscent of se7en, the premise is that there's a serial killer on the loose, known as "Jigsaw". He devises elaborate traps that result in some guesome carnage when the victims attempt to free themselves from it. Imagine, 2 men chained at either ends of a room, given hacksaws and told that one has to kill the other in order for all he holds close to be kept safe. Or imagine a reverse bear-trap in ur mouth, timed to go off in 1 hour, during which u've to find the key - which may be in your "dead" cell-mate's stomach..

So yes, I recommend this movie, along with Seven Swords, which I've not mentioned that I caught. Advice: try to leave reality behind. Anyway, off topic, the Saw DVD packaging on this was abfab! transparent casing! Oh, and when I checked out the official website, I found out that there's a sequel to be out soon too! fab!

attempting to understand 'seme' better

I wanted to post smtg abt Seme (pronounced seh-meh, without the singlish intonations) this evening, cos the topic has been in my head stewing for way too long, but i realised after trying to blog abt it, that I still dunno much abt it, despite having quested after it for the past few months!

So in the end, I'm just leaving this entry as a commemorative effort.



P.S Seme is kind of like an expression of an intention, just to keep it short. Used in kendo, so try not to relate this to anything else pls. no seme-uke nonsense frm wensi or shermy pls!

Kendo "Camp"

Kendo "camp" is over! 6 days of training, 5 days with Mr Takeuchi present, and one quite exhausted body (not forgetting the other 15 or so bodies from the National Training Squad). The sensei who made the biggest impact on my Kendo had just returned home to Japan after taking a "holiday" here in Singapore. After several months of his absence, it was quite obvious how different the atmosphere had become. I wouldn't say we started slacking, but that tension created by FEAR had been missing all this time, and the absence of tht tension was so apparent even before his arrival. Days before he came, I had discussions with compatriots abt that growing feeling of dread somewhere in the abdominal area (no it wasn't indigestion). You do not noe fear until u start kendo n meet Takeuchi sensei.

So after this week of training, and having had those few sessions with sensei, we've all been given smtg to focus on and work upon for the next few months. His parting words at the airport this evening were that when we meet in keiko in the near future, that the first expression from his mouth be "WOAH!" (as in surprise.. not dismay). I had managed to surprise him this time, so that was good. Now if I dun surprise him the next time.. and even worse, get a WOAH of dismay, tht's it for me. So there's my motivation! haha

Utsukushiku Tadashiku Tsuyoku

a waste of time?

Having the most famous and most fearsome kendo teacher (to me) visit Singapore from Japan is an opportunity that I would most obviously seize and make best use of. Even if we have keiko only once or twice, I noe that I will leave the practice having learnt smtg that I can take and use for a long time to come.

Now when given a free opportunity to get something good like tht, all u have to sacrifice is some effort to get to the venue, and some good effort at the practice, why would anyone not bother to take it? (if u've been giving good effort at every other practice, then there's no reason to fear him actually). BUT there's a particular group of people who were given this chance and even had it reasoned to them as to why it was a good chance, and YET failed to attend a single practice (considering they had TWO opportunities). The only way they would have bothered was if this teacher (who had already come a thousand miles) made the effort to come and teach them at a time n location convenient to them! The audacity!

Now this has led me to have some thoughts abt the reason as to why these people actually do kendo. I can only speculate abt their reasons (some of which are actually based on fact and knowledge of their character), and can I just say that I'm really really disappointed? Why bother to even sign up for the Nationals when u dun train for it? FOR FUN? I have begun to question a lot of things that I've been doing. I noe the reasons why I still bother with them, and I'll stick by these reasons until proven otherwise and IN SPITE OF how I may be spoken ill of by these very same ppl.

I needn't spell out who these group of people are, its embarrassing to do that actually. Kudos to the sensei who sacrifices his own time n effort to try to help them. Especially when his time could've been better spent training ppl who value him more, or better spent training himself for his grading exam.


P.S one of them had the audacity (2nd usage of this word) to question my reasons for training last week.. THAT left me so stunned, I used those several minutes to calm myself down so I din get to drag her aside n blast her for that. And here I am, giving them the benefit of the doubt as to their absence from training.. that just pissed me off in such a bad way.

Just to clarify, as far as people go, they're not a bad bunch. but perhaps there's just that little bit that is missing in them to make them good kendoka? or mebbe I'm too easily disappointed?

Quoted from a local trader's blog:

No employee will wake up early in the morning with a smiling face and say: "I can't wait to go to work!" I know of a Local who was so angry with himself when he was 5 min late for the Nikkie opening. Because he was late, he missed opportunities for 'yum' trades. That's the different mentality and attitude between a salaried employee and a business owner.

I totally agree abt the smiling face bit! =)

Wonderful Days

it was too good to be true. honeymoon ends. now come the problems.

it is so rare to hear of parents objecting to a relationship. I tot it was only so in soap opera dramas.. turns out it ain't so rare afterall, when u realise u're now the star.

I sat down today, and drew a blank. I really didn't noe wat to do. Does anyone noe how to handle opiniated traditional chinese men? How in hell am I supposed to convince him to buy a product that he totally distrusts? (no, I'm not pimping myself out, I'm just trying to draw parallels)

Shermaine's Return

For the uninformed, MY GIRLFRIEND'S BACK!! haha.. my little kempo yamazaru monkey has returned to pluck peaches on yamazaru mountain (aka Bukit Batok). =)

Can u believe that in the past 10 mths or so of our relationship, we've spent only roughly 3 weeks together?? Well.. add this past week of her return to tht then. hehe.. it's been a fabulous week. How could we have spent so much time apart? gee.. *gives many adoring smoochies to dearest*

okok.. I think this is more fluff than most of you expect of me, so I shall limit this post and leave the rest to imagination. =)

life is bliss! shiawase!

Screen Singapore '05

Screen Singapore! In conjunction with National Day celebrations, they're bringing back selected locally produced movies! Prepare yourselves to laugh at ourselves!

I'm hoping to catch Mee Pok Man, Ring of Fury, They Call Her... Cleopatra Wong, Forever Fever, Zombie Dogs, Return to Pontianak.

The Return to Pontianak was directed by Djinn who was the creative genius behind the local film that I acted in - Perth. I want to see it cos everyone referred to that movie when I hadn't even heard of it. Anyway, I hear Perth's out in the theatres now, catch it and watch for the blur and the shadow that were me (really were me - I'm listed in the credits!).

I wonder why they put "05" in the title.. there're prolly not that many other local movies for another Screen Singapore 06 or smtg is there? haha

Sin City

I managed to watch Sin City yesterday, the long-awaited movie adaptation of Frank Miller's fantastic noir comics. After reading the preview in First, I got even more impatient and committed an illegal act in order to watch it as soon as i could. How ironic, the characters in sin city wouldn't blink an eye if they had to kill in a second.

The comic was black n white with splashes of colour for effect. For example, in "the babe wore red", everything was black n white except the babe in red, of course. Similarly, in the movie, blood is sometimes white, red or black, depending on the shadows.. tht's the beauty of noir. Sin City was hardcore, and it hit u hard like a brass knuckle worn by hands hired to off u for no reason or the heavy butt of a gun whose barrel was previously keeping ur mouth open. But it was a fabulous read, and it stuck in my head for days after. The movie does the same thing. Go watch the flick. It's the best movie based on a comic that I've come across. Rodriguez really brought the comic to the screen, the mood, the feel, the imagery and the aftertaste. bloody.


"Deadly little Miho", my favourite character.


Check out this site to see how true to the comic the movie is. The cast are almost perfect, the outfits too! I was disappointed that they cast that odd-looking chick frm 2 Fast 2 Furious as Miho, but her scenes changed my mind totally! And ohyea, disappointed too that Jessica Alba's Nancy (her character inspired many artists' versions) wore a bra. In any case, director Robert Rodriguez based the script on the original dialogue with little changes, and he even replicated scenes panel by frame as in the comic. Fabulous! It prolly helped that Frank Miller himself was onset directing as well.


To get the books, check out Amazon.

Pointless

Do you know why Singaporeans don't speak up?

Sometimes, it just seems like a complete waste of time. The atmosphere is so stifling.. well-meaning intentions get shot down. Can't we see the best way to live is to conform and just do? Dictatorship for everyone!

P.S, this isn't really abt the government.

After putting up the previous post, I realised smtg.. London explosions, 33+ ppl dead, many wounded, entire developed city centre transport network halted. Significant enuff selldown in after-hours trading on a Taiwan futures contract (usually after-hours trading is a shadown of normal trading. And this selldown more than equalled normal hours selldowns). Taiwan..

2004 December - Tsunami hits Asia. many HUNDRED THOUSANDS dead, many more injured. Entire geographies re-geographed. Insignificant blip in the financial market that holiday other than the economies of those particular badly-hit countries..

Just a comparison that was going thru my head in the shower earlier..

On this day, the London Explosions..

Today, a disaster occurred in a major city that would rival the 9/11 one several years ago. How I wished I had been in the pits then, trading n scalping my fortune, by taking a position and not cutting it. Millions were made n lost that day, and in the retracements the week after. In my office, with all our live news reports, and our price feeds, and the Reuters program.. I only knew abt the tragedy when I got OUT of the office and into my van.

Today, unfortunately, CC left early, the TV which we turned off at lunch - we forgot to turn back on after, and I had closed shop for the day, sighing at wat a tough day it had been on MSCI Taiwan. The Reuters program (where we get our up to the minute live news information) of course was happily turned off in the home of the boss, who happened to be at the hospital cos his month-old kid was coughing and had to have phlegm mechanically removed from her system.. (eww).

So yes, essentially, during the whole event, I was playing my game - Guild Wars - too.. What can I say? Prepare myself for the aftershock tmr lor.. missed the move liao. sian.

Kendo robot?


Click here!

I 'yam wat I 'yam

wat's to say? I had a great month at work, I love my work. I got a new mode of transportation, which I love, and I've got new specs. The best bit? my dear gf in faraway Japan is finally returning to sunny singapore frm her exchange stint!

I have gripes, but I've become a mouse, lost the ability to bitch n moan and wax lyrical abt things online. I seem to have censored myself in a way. That's wat makes me part of the human horde of easily-controlled and manipulated drones, i guess. Speak not, break not, live not.

Why can't ppl just be happy n satisfied? muz we alwiz make ourselves upset? muz we alwiz live by emotion after emotion - happy, sad, disappointed, ecstatic, gleeful.. sure we all wanna be somewhere we're not, we wanna be someone we're not, but the blunt truth is that - we're who we are. and that individuality is smtg to be happy n proud of. I guess I learnt that from reading Popeye comics. u'd nvr have caught me saying stuff like that when I was growing up. Thank god we learn n change as we live n grow.

Men In Coats

Comedy - very good!

Did I mention Russell Peters? Even better!

Fantastic Film Festival

Anyone keen on the Fantastic Film Festival?

Check out this site for details. I'm keen on 9 Souls on Fri nite and Sunday's Hellevator and Freak Out! (7 & 9pm).

training issues

When I was in JC, I skipped a few holidays out of the country just so I wouldn't miss canoeing trainings. My mom would tempt me with paid-for trips and would ask why I din wanna go.. how strangely committed I am to things. Then later on, in NUS, I would be so committed to Kendo, especially after I became elected Chair.. I'd be there for all trainings. I rem choosing to attend a CAC camp this one year, and even tho it was supposed to be a religious retreat of sorts, I still brought my bogu, and went for trainings.
But things are a little different now in the national squad. somehow the commitment is just not there like before. Tho I love kendo, its different now.. yea I still practise at least twice a week, tho ideally I'd love to make it at least 3x. yet, the feeling is way different. I've been wondering for a while, and obviously I'm nowhere near solving it. Considering the eventual event and objective, one WOULD be striving hard at an opportunity like this. Take the Japanese for instance, so many of them would die for the chance to represent Japan in a Kendo tournament, but most of them can't even smell the chance. So me, having already one foot in the team, shouldn't I be making the best use of this chance? To improve myself faster, work harder, so that i can put up a fighting chance at the world championships?
I just dun understand the change in priorities..

More thoughts:
I guess it could be related to the whole questioning that got started from the ASEAN tournament last yr. How issit we, Singaporeans, cannot muster up fighting spirit (as in.. REAL spirit) for the sake of our nation? And when we cannot find our own reason, no other reason can move us cos it's not from within. If u observe the Thais, or even the Indonesians, you can see an intense drive in some of them. When u speak to them, u find out wat motivates them - it can even be a parable from the bible!
I'm not saying that ALL Singaporeans have no drive, but from what I've seen, I NOE we can do more, we just can't seem to do it tho. Mebbe tht's why our athletes dun do well in sporting events too. Could it be a defeatist attitude? or are we just lackadaisical cos of our social environment? Or are we just not cut out for such things? Hell, we could also just blame the gah-men.

HOHOHO!

MERRY XMAS WEEK!

someone said I wouldn't bother..

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Dax
2. Dux
3. Ducky

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. Dude
2. foOSh
3. kapwinng!

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. back
2. fore arms
3. eyelashes(!)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. nose
2. teeth
3. skinny legs

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Chinese
2. possibly peranakan
3. pig-tails?

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Getting into an accident
2. falling asleep while driving
3. inevitability

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. chuu frm poo
2. Water
3. bomb

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY NON-ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE ESSENTIALS: (huh?)
1. being online
2. doggy rabu
3. poo

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. polo tee
2. beach shorts
3. boxers

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS:
1. the Pillows
2. U2
3. Green Day

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS:
1. rotational basis.. lazy to think abt this
2. -
3. -

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. security
2. honesty
3. adoration

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
1. It is cloudy today
2. It was cloudy yesterday
3. It was cloudy some days ago

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. her lips
2. her bum
3. her eyes looking at me

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. surfing net
2. gaming
3. riding bike

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. take Il Mostro out for a ride
2. swim in US$ 1 Million dollars
3. play game

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING/YOU’VE CONSIDERED:
1. Financial Analyst
2. Traffic Police
3. Millionaire

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Japan anywhere
2. anywhere with perfect snow for snow boarding and making snow angels
3. diving at aur

THREE KID’S NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Norman
2. Larry
3. Gladys or Helga

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. bike collection
2. screw irresponsibly
3. spend a week with a nymphomaniac

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
1. I have a penis
2. I have short hair
3. I have no boobies

(hmm.. apart frm 1, I could very well be a butch..)

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I have PMS
2. I do not appear threatening
3. I have nice legs

THREE CELEB CRUSHES:
1. Ogawa chick frm Samurai Fiction
2. Steph Song
3. Brad Pitt

THREE PEOPLE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
1. Shikamaru
2. Mrs Robinson
3. Johnny Depp

Blogging for Love

I just happened to come across Digital Life today, and stopped by a page that had something about blogs. Turns out the SG blogging society has been rather up and at it.. bloggers meeting other bloggers and going out, bloggers advertising for dates, bloggers getting no dates.. Sounds dejavu to me. I guess blogging is in a sense advertising of the self. For a second I felt I was missing out on smtg.. but then I rem'd that I am contented, and that I've been thru all that before anyway. Mebbe it's just me, but nothing good ever came out of it.

*shrugs*


Recommended blog links off Digital Life:
Shattered
Sandralicious
Tripleperiod

Il Mostro SOLD!

It's a sad sad nite.. I've agreed to sell my dear beloved Il Picolo Mostro.. As of tomorrow late morning, the Ducati Monster will no longer be mine. It really is a sad parting. One that I've long dreaded and put off for way too long.. or not long enuff. I'll have one last ride tmr, and then Indy, the Indian will take over it.. Our meeting is worth a post in itself cos Indy is a really interesting guy. I guess Il Mostro's in good hands, and I'll bet he takes even better care of it than me. sigh..

Il Mostro has got to go!

I've finally gotten round to purchasing that van I wanted for the longest time now. It's a yellow Kangoo (2003)! Hopefully I'll be driving it in a matter of days. 1st things first.. I really need to sell my Monster now.. So, anyone who noes someone who MITE want to buy a cheap yellow Ducati Monster (1998), please please get them to call/sms me?

I've had this dilemna before.. to sell or not to sell.. but with the van in my grasp now, I really have no choice already.. part of the deal I made with mom. Spread the word PLEASE!

I'll upload pictures of the new vehicle soon. =)

Dog Test

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

rowf..

Where Are They Now: Old Wrestlers

My baby and I were just reminiscing abt old wrestlers this evening. In my little search, I found out some very fascinating, if not morbid information..

Texas Tornado - His shortlived career ended cos of painkiller addiction/ arrest and he eventually committed suicide in '93, 3 yrs after his WWF debut and Intercontinental belt win.

Sgt Slaughter - This ex-wrestler was a propagandistic icon for the US govt, instilling a sense of pride in youth for their country. Now has televised programs, and is involved in charity and golf tournaments. Apparently had an appearance with the late Mother Theresa.

Yokozuna - this polynesian faded from the WWF scene cos of a failed physical test. He passed away in his sleep due to heart failure. I suppose he had to have seen it coming.

Razor Ramon - Apparently this wrestler had a real bad reputation out of the ring, to quote the article, "despite his unquestioned ability, (Ramon) may only be remembered for never encountering a law he couldn’t break." Allegedly appearing at shows drunk, he was fired from WWF in 2002, and that was the end of his career.

Jake "the Snake" Roberts - In 2004, he was charged for animal cruelty, guilty of starving his pet python (which died soon after discovery). He was arrested for cocaine possession earlier this year, but apparently no drugs were found. He has just undergone hip surgery from a fall in a match some years earlier.

Miss Elizabeth & Lex Luger - She was really married for a time to Randy Savage and took up pro wrestling as a result. She later got together with Luger. She died in 2003 due to a mix of pills and alcohol in the presence of Luger, who was later "charged with 13 felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor count of distribution of dangerous drugs". He's now in a detention centre.

Million Dollar Man - He is now a spokesperson for the Sunshine Foundation, an organization that grants wishes for critically ill children, and has founded Heart of David Ministries (for which he travels the world as an evangelist furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ). He recently spoke out against the sex and vulgar language in the current wrestling product and is currently exploring the possibilities of starting his own small federation which would be run as an outreach of Heart of David Ministries.

Doink, the clown - no wonder I alwiz thought he looked different. Quite a number of wrestlers played as this moniker till 1995! Why do Americans love to see clowns fight??

Junk Yard Dog - He was fired in '90 and later brought back for various appearances. He died in a fatal one-car accident on his way home from his daughter's graduation in '98 and was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Mr Perfect - found dead on a wrestling tour in 2003. He had died of "acute cocaine intoxication".

Legion of Doom - They tried a comeback in '97 without much success and were later dropped. Hawk passed away in his sleep in 2003.

Big Bossman - passed away of a massive heart-attack in 2004.

British Bulldog - Davey Boy Smith had drug problems, after many attempted comebacks, was finally released by WWF. He died of a heart attack in 2004.

The Ultimate Warrior - legally changed his name to "the Warrior". In 91, around the time I was nuts abt this dude, he disappeared from the scene. I now noe it was cos he tried asking for more $, but was fired instead. Apparently made a comeback in 96, defeating many players, but ended the streak by non-appearances and subsequently got fired. Now selling Warrior Workout videos online before attempting another comeback.

Whaaat a ruuuush!!!

Majulah Kapo

I did a very singaporean thing today.. proof that I do have some singaporeanese in me after all. Before the last turn into my estate, I saw blue lights flashing, an ambulance, a squad car and many police men at the junction. All cos of of a smashed up cab, and a bashed-up car stuck on a traffic island adjacent to the cab.

I craned my neck to get a better view, slowing down at the same time. Damn, obstructed by lamp-posts and trees. Typically, groups of pedestrians had gathered to kapo around the junction, having small discussions. Hmm.. I had a strong desire to stop there and go kapo too.. if not for the car. I then quickly drove home, parked the car, took out my kendo equipment, took my helmet and jumped onto my bike. HAHA

I arrived at the junction, walked up to a random man, and starting plying him for info. The guy was quite an expert on the workings of ambulances at accidents. I asked if he knew if there're any casualties to which he said, "If they (the ambulance staff) start keeping the stretcher and packing up, then the situation mite not be too good." Within 2 seconds, the ambulance staff did exactly that! Mebbe the guy in the bashed car who mite also have been stuck (cos Civil Defense guys had not arrived yet) had died..

I hung arnd for several more minutes, then decided that I have had my fill of being kapo, and bid adieu to the man, and headed home.

I dun really care what Whacko Jacko does really.. and I dun wish to speculate on the truth, but this vid is just funny la.. "I didn't cop a feel - MJ" hohoho

Onigiri Love

And so, I've finally gotten down to putting my recent trip to Japan here. I would start off by saying that this trip had only 1 primary objective, and that was to spend time in Japan with my dearest, Shermaine. I did accomplish that objective, the longest time apart was prolly when we were both involved in a junior-high school kendo tournament (yes.. we were both over-aged for it).

While in Singapore before I left, I recalled feeling a sense of relaxation and smiling to myself when i recalled a miscellaneous train announcement (your typical train announcement of which station is upcoming in japanese). A long-anticipated trip it was as u can see.

So I planned the trip for Apr27-May8, got the tix, and left, this time packing some days before, unlike my usual last-minute style. The sky was over-clouded this time round, and also because I sat at the wing, I couldn't get my favourite view of the Japanese coast as the plane comes in from the sea. Using the train-route Shermaine found on Yahoo!, I made my way to Waseda Hoshien in the exact estimated time (now u noe why the JR derailment was all cos of the driver being late, and how tardiness was looked badly upon).

All I can say is - I was really glad to see my darling once again (after a 6 mth hiatus!). We spent the next few days together, not leaving each others sight except for when she went to the kitchen to cook (I put on 2 kgs), the afore-mentioned tournament, and when she went into Ueno station to purchase Justin's mochi foodstuffs. We literally lived with each other in those few days, barely apart for minutes at a time. What a great experience it was, getting to noe someone so well, and spending so much time travelling together. We agree that most couples don't exactly get that kind of opportunity much, so we were very thankful for the chance.



Highlights of the trip:
1) Sakurada Shimbashi Keiko
In the evening of the 1st day, we went to Shimbashi to practise, the dojo that Sasahara sensei introduced me to. Since I was unable to contact him this time round, I was surprised to see him there! It was an excellent reunion, he was beaming beneath his hochiew, and we had a good keiko. I met several of the senseis there again (like Ishiki), and some new ones (Fujina.. err.. Fujiwara). And somehow they paid for supper and beer once again. In any case, I believe the Sakurada ppl may make a trip to Singapore in the near future. What a treat!

2) Toyama Park Picnic
My dearest made a lunch of delicious bento which we brought to the nearby Toyama Park for a picnic. We walked around looking for a nice spot to lay out our mat. In the end we found a shaded spot in a corner with a view of the dog-owners community and soccer teams running in formation. There we encountered a dog called Haru (reminded us of haru haru ikuze!), who was so disobedient, his owner was literally chasing him around the park! We experienced kempecki, and I was so comfortable I fell asleep! =)

3) Tokyo High School-organized Tournament for Junior High Schools in Tokyo
Sherm came to practise here once with the Togoshi boys and Mr Tajima, and she was gushing abt the practice, led by Takeyama sensei. To start, it was a beautiful school, with a beautiful underground dojo. Tajima sensei put the word out that I was a mercenary kendo player willing to play for any team, and there just happened to be a Shinagawa-region junior school team who were in need of an extra player. I was introduced to the kids, and they were a really cute bunch, except the taisho, Kona who was super serious. Unashamedly, I chromed all the kids I faced. In one game, I was the only one who got 2 points off a player in an exceptional team. At the end of the game, each team bows to each other, and I noticed that my opponent had red-eyes, since he was the only one who lost in his team for that game. I quickly went over and patted him on the back giving him an earnest "gambatte!" I think he took it well.
Sometime close to lunch, we were introduced to Yazu, he was Takeyama's son. He did an excellent job of taking care of us the whole day. Furthermore, we were brought to Takeyama sensei's office to have lunch on his couch. What hospitality! =) At the end of the takai, there was godo keiko, with all the senseis who were present that day. It was fabulous! I had quite a few keiko (within the 2 sessions that afternoon), cos I kept going for the shorter lines, or looking for sensei who were standing there (technique I picked up frm various places), and was later extended an invitation to practice at Tokyo Gakuen anytime I'm in Tokyo. FAB!

4) Tsukiji Fish Market
The famous fish market with the tuna auctions! We wanted to come here the last time, but couldn't manage to arise in time, and even if we did, we'd only catch the last bits. So this time, we coincided Tsukiji with our stay at Andon Ryokan, the train schedule was such that if we were on time, we would definitely be on time for the auction. So at 4:45am that morning, bleary-eyed and yawning, we ventured out into the wet cold tokyo morning, and made our way to Tsukiji. It was a huge warehouse-like place, with the smell of fresh fish, many small trucks tht zoom abt like bikes, men (Shermy says fishmongers seem to be damn good-looking, grrr), octopi, snake-like fish being gutted, oh, it was WONDERFUL! We quickly found our way to the auction area. When we arrived, we thought we had missed the auction, cos it was quiet, altho the fish all lay neatly arranged on the ground, frozen, with their fins cut off, and gills removed. It was a sight to behold. Then we realised that the men were inspecting the fish, so came to the conclusion the auction hadn't started yet!! What an experience it was! We kept getting in the way, but we were HAPPY! hohoho.. we closed that morning sitting in MacDonald's cos it was too cold to hang arnd outside, stopped by a modern-looking temple, and were back in bed at Hoshien by 9am. Haha!

5) Meeting Shigeru & Togoshi Keiko
As per our previous arrangement, I mailed Shigeru before coming reminding him of his promise to re-start kendo again. He didn't mail me back, but when I arrived, I gave him a call, and he said, yes, he had just gone for his first keiko. hehe.. After some failed attempts to meet for keiko, we finally settled on Togoshi Junior Sch will be where we shall cross swords once again. Togoshi is the sch in which Tajima sensei is a teacher and coach for the kendo club. This has been where Shermy has been practising for the last few months too. There we met Shiggy and Yamamoto (ski instructor, swimming lifeguard), and had some happy keiko. As usual, Shiggy the comedian, was simply hilarious! And he bought us dinner at a Yakiniku place again, like the last time.

6) Tajima's Rooftop BBQ
On the first nite, Mr Tajima extended an invitation to all at supper following the Sakurada keiko that he was having a BBQ at his home. So of course, we'd go! How could we miss this? We met Maki-san and Wataru at the eki, and walked to Tajima's place. This teacher actually owns a piece of land in CBD tokyo! There he's built a 3-4 story building with roof-top space, leased the first floor to a beautician, and prolly is sitting on a goldmine! So the BBQ started abt 4pm, and went on till past 9! We had several meats, and reba (liver), and Wataru brought ingredients to make Oden! I learned that he used to be a chef and Maki-san is very proud of his cooking. ;) We had a great time talking to these other ppl who also played Kendo, apart from Wataru, and it was a great nite. lotsa beer-sloshing, meat-eating, various food concoctions whipped up by Wataru, Shida-san cooking, Shida-san concussed on the staircase, Tajima laughing beneath his moustache, an excellent close-up nite view of Tokyo Tower from Dusk till it was all brightly lit-up, Tajima's Scuba-diver joke..
Shiawase! bliss!


We did other things during this trip as well, including stays at 2 different beautiful ryokans (a modern one, and a traditional one), Casshern (all 4 parts!) & Ken, shopping in Amayeko street in Ueno & Nakano Broadway, lion-dance @ a temple (Japanese-style) and a mis-adventure of sorts in the slums of Minowa. We also discovered that I developed chlorine poisoning frm drinking Japanese tap-water. Thank GOD it was not the beer, as I initially suspected! haha!
For pictorial documentation and a good laugh of trip from May 5-8th, click to see PotetoBlog.

Shermaine and I agreed that we'd find a way to make it such that, going to Narita airport would be cos we're going for a holiday. =) Mebbe we'll both be able to work in Japan? Who noes. I've 2 years to figure out how. For now, I just can't wait for her to come back to Singapore and to me.

HAPPY VESAK DAY! HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS TOO! HO HO HO!

Japanese joke

Question: What do u call a Japanese sukebe who jumps in the water?

Ans: Scuba diver

In remembrance of me

Thinking back on the last few years, I'm alwiz glad to see how I've changed. One year, I spent my birthday hiding in my room for fear of being ravaged by indian men in my hall. The year after I held a wine & cheese session with some frens at Dempsey Rd. And last year, I had some of the old NUSKK ppl (& monkey too) celebrate it for me at Harry's, my first venture out of home following the operation. This year, I had a quiet dinner and beer with a good fren. The sad thing abt having a bad memory is that I'll prolly forget these details if it weren't for memory storage invested in these other ppl. Mebbe a camera could help too.

Ohyes, yeserday was a great trading day, best ever. Biggest birthday pressie I've ever had I guess. U mite say I was deliriously happy, for some reason, I kept thinking I was Santa. So mebbe this strategy is playing itself out. If I meet my target for the month (I've 1 & 1 day to go), then I think I've got it buttoned down. Hope I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but it's alwiz good to stay positive and forward-looking in my line of work.

And my dearest in Japan celebrated my day with me at midnite on webcam. Let's have a real celebration when I go over (hopefully I leave wednesday next week)! She got me a new Kendo zekken which I'll proudly wear when I collect it in person next week. I'll post the pic she did when I get home. Absolutely adorable I tell ya! its in animated gif format too (thks to estee)!

edit:
Here it is (minus the animated-ness)!

HOHOHO! Merry CHRISTMAS!

Stand on the Shoulders of Giants

I should have known about this when I was in NUS! Academic database searches!
Google Scholar

but then.. i'd need access to those libraries.. which i dun.

From Big J

Was looking at a fren's blog today, and I realise, I haven't really blogged properly in a long long time.. apart frm tht gripe abt work some days back. Anyhoo, here's a joke that was "told" to me by Big J, Jason "Spaz" Tupaz! Enjoy!

A guy decides to have a party where his guests are asked to come as different emotions e.g. fear etc. On the night of the party, the first guest arrives and the host opens the door to see a guy covered in green paint with the letters N and V painted on his chest.

He says to this guy, "Wow, great outfit, what emotion have you come as?" And the guy says, "I'm green with NV". The host replies, "Brilliant, come on in and have a drink.

A few minutes later the next guest arrives and the host opens the door to see a woman covered in a pink body stocking with a feather boa wrapped around her most intimate parts.

He says to this woman "Wow, great outfit, what emotion have you come as?" She replies, "I'm tickled pink". The host says, "I love it, come on in and join the party".

A couple of minutes later the doorbell goes for the third time, and the host opens the door to see two Irish blokes, Paddy and Mick, standing stark naked one with his nob in a bowl of custard, and the other with his nob stuck in a pear.

The host is really shocked and says, "Well, what the hell are you both doing? You could get arrested standing like that out there in the street. Anyhow what emotion is this supposed to be?!?!

Paddy replies, "Well, Oim fokn discustard, and Mick here has just come in despair"...

"US policy, though it may be good for their own people, is the greatest terror in the world."

Thanks to the upcoming Singapore Film Fest, I caught some short films on sat, part of the festival's fringe events. One which I was looking fwd to was entitled "Alive in Limbo", about some Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. It's good to have gained an insight into the situation, borne of a conflict that has lasted my entire lifetime.

Ever wondered what you would get if u searched for your own name? Here's an interesting find for "Dax Quah".

Thanks to Ryozan..

F1: Bahrain

And once again, I found F1 racing to be interesting! I think it has replaced my passion for MotoGP racing (which I can no longer watch on the free channels). The noses of the Ferraris were black-tipped for the race, in remembrance of the Pope who passed away tht morning. Unfortunately for them, they din even get a point, still facing engine and other problems.

The race was exciting from the very start, with several position changes occurring within the first lap, and a car not even starting! My dad's fave driver Kimmi Raikkonnen started at 7 and was able to end at 3rd on the podium with consistent driving. Perhaps his streak of bad luck has finally gone away? He was one grouchy fella in the weighing room post-race.

The man to watch last nite was Pedro de la Rosa, replacing JP Montoya for the Bahrain fixture due to an injury. He was like a mad rookie on the track, making many half-attempts at passing, powering up in the McLaren-Mercedes. He chased from the back, and perhaps was lucky when many of the other drivers (total of 7 i believe) retired due to mechanical failures, and ended the race with a 5th position, beating Webber in the last few laps using sheer power.

Before him, T Sato was driving up a storm at 8th place too till he ruined his brakes and had to retire. Looking like a rookie with more balls than experience, he got his Honda into a great position but unfortunately couldn't hold it till the end.

Bahrain track has a lower likelihood of spectacular crashes cos there is plenty of run-off around the asphalt. Turn 10 was the cause of many sharp-inhalation causing moments with ppl like M (and R too) Schumacher, R Barichello overshooting due to late braking, a tricky turn indeed. M Webber miscued turn 9 and slingshot sideways past turn 10 in one of those heart-stopping moments. The amazing thing abt it? he didn't lose his place and came right back onto the track immediately! If I could peer into his visor, I'd say he didn't break a sweat on it (but tht'd be impossible given the intense heat of one of the tours hottest stops).
Amazing race!


edit:
And speaking of MotoGP, it begins on April 10th! Hopefully tht Malaysian Channel 8 tht covers the F1 races will cover MotoGP as well.. be still my beating heart!

Just felt like airing some displeasure..

dislikes: ppl who derive joy from the degradation or humiliation of others. ppl who think they noe more than everyone else and are above being humble. ppl who are downright rude.

there.. feel a little better now. *phew*

art.com

We should start a mkyhrtdky series la..



=D

Edit: Artwork done by Ryozan! not me.. =)

D&D?

This is hilarious!

Chase

This new drama series on Channel 5 called Chase stars Utt and Keagan Kang. Once the opening credits started rolling, I realised quickly that it was somewhat familiar.. Recall the post on May 1 2004 here on Juneandtheocean - Chase, a Blueprint script by Vincent Wong, starring Steph Song and Alaric Tay (?). And so it makes sense.. the hole in the wall (ala Home Improvement's Wilson-behind-the-fence- type guy whose face cannot be seen), the grudge frm way back when, the vet, and the ad-agency setting.
Well, I think the orginal Chase was better.. this series just takes the concept and drags it out over several episodes.. they got better actors, but they made the mistake of dropping Steph Song for Linda Liao (some skinny Taiwanese singer)! What a waste.. So yea, that's my two-cents on Chase. ladeedah.

Trading woes

Of all the working people in Singapore, I would say that a large proportion of them hate their work. Most people work for a living, and with the exception of some who live for work (my ex boss), I'm no different. But I can actually say I love my work. Cos of all the possible career choices and interests I could have pursued, I chose to go into futures trading.

In other lines, once a job is secured, rewards are reaped immediately. Things like benefits, networks, and most importantly, money. So having been in this line for close to a year, how would I say things are going? Well, I have no CPF, I have no medical benefits, and for some months now, I've only been getting a small retainer fee for services rendered. My money was to come from the profit I make off trading. it's been a long long road, and the learning curve is really steep. I started actual trading in November, and I've had 3 bad months, 1 breakeven month, and I believe I'll actually be ending March on the positive side. To be honest, I had planned to be double my capital by April. I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. I guess this is when reality has hit.

My aim has been lowered, and I only hope that I'll be able to regain my initial capital soon. In fact, I had previously aimed to breakeven in April. I'm at a real low now, confidence has been smashed, I've been wondering if this is smtg I can actually be successful at. Looking into the near future, I foresee new problems arising as well, with Jem considering possibly changing the setup we have now. Going solo only raises more question marks for my future.

Despite this, CC feels that I'm doing alright. Even Jem says that he took a year to breakeven. Everyone starts out "paying tuition fees". You learn from the market. And CC's been right there with me since day 1 (Shermy too of course). He feels that I've improved, and that it's great that I am abt to end March positively. Perhaps he's right, and that I'm just upset cos my sky has been compromised for the ground, instead of a mountain-top. I'm not saying I wanna give up. I'm not a quitter, and I really enjoy trading (especially when I make money). It's the losing that sucks. And ending a day down when you were previously up that sucks even more. 2 days of that is enuff to sap all semblance of joy from me. Just last week I had the biggest day of my entire trading career too. It really bites doesn't it?

Trading is all about behaviour-modification. I've already figured out my trading strategies (which by no means are the be all and end all), and everyday brings new opportunities. I noe when to make money, and when to keep out. All I need to do now is to have the discipline to stick to my guidelines. I hope..

Ballet lessons?

Anyone keen on a 10-lesson ballet class? abt $75 in total at Xenbar on Sunday mornings. I have a fren keen to get more ppl so a class can get started. I dunno wat type of ballet it is.. dun ask me. If keen, let me noe soon.

F1 revision of rules

F1 racing has just had a new change of rules which makes the competition all the more interesting. Seeing those race cars go around the circuit is just plain boring, but when u take a strategic point of view, things just become more fascinating.

So now, they've revised rules such that u can't simply change tires whenever u want to, u're required to use the same set for qualifying and the actual race, replacing tyres only when a puncture or blowout occurs. Secondly, teams have to use their race engines for TWO whole races without changing them. With these two major changes taking effect since the last round, we now see giants like Barichello, Schumacher and Coulthard now being backmarkers, racing their hearts out, but at the back of the field! And we see the budget guys coming up to the front.. Yea, all the spoilt rich guys have been given a rule that they can't just deal with by throwing some money around.. they've been thrown into a new playing field!

I've never been an F1 fan, but things are looking more interesting now, ain't it?

Milestone.

It's been siix months since that fateful day.. when all gloom and disappointment was wiped away. It's been siix months since I left misery and pain behind. It's been siix months since my feelings started being reciprocated. I took a look back today at what has changed, and I remember everything still, tho the details are harder to recall. But I rem wat it was like before. Wrapped in my shell, looking out at a cold world, looking in with a critical eye.

Well.. things aren't like that anymore. Things that mattered in the past, when reminisced upon, I find their value questionable. Things have taken on a different context, life seems even simpler now. And it's all cos a kuso gaki kendo junior made the effort. Shermaine - the best thing in my life right now. =)



P.S. "siix" isn't a typo. pronounce it the way aussies do.. seekx. haha.. *winks at sis*

familiar..

We wear the mask that grins and lies
It hides our faces and shades our eyes,
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts we...
smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties

- P. L. Dunbar

not a gripe with god

Religion is amazing. It can really be such a tool for so many things. I'm not talking abt the macro world-moving incidents like Terrorism or Crusades now. Looking deeper, on the micro-level, family to family, intra-family.. the conflict that can arise over this is so massive. I'm not blaming God. no.. I still believe that organised religion is man-made, and man is fallible. And when u think abt all this, it really IS a tool. Its not God's tool, God has become a tool too. A tool for many many purposes, to suit many different people. Mebbe its better to start MY own church. I'll take instruction from above, and ensure that my ppl hear his word. My congregation will consist of only one member. ME. I'll be my own tool, and not someone else's. until alzheimer's takes us.

Asian Kendo Tournament 2005: A personal review

Back from HK.. I took part in 2 categories in the Asian Kendo Tournament - 2nd Dan and below and Open category.
For the 2 Dan and below cat, CH, KB and myself managed to defeat 2 Beijing teams, 1 Shanghai team, 1 Manila team to meet the New South Wales team. We saw their match earlier and went in thinking that we had the edge. but somehow, we emerged from that semi-finals the losers. Such a waste. If not everyone'd be watching Singapore fight HK in the finals. How exciting it woulda been..

As for the Open category, we met Japanese all the way. On the first day, just as we were about to board the bus for practice, a team of young university Japanese from Kagoshima came into the hotel with (get this) METAL BOGU BAGS! We got to play them during practice, and I believe Fujimoto, whom I practiced with, was holding back.. Little did I noe we would meet their junior team in the Open round-robin.. I got creamed in less than a minute by a small speed-demon. Needless to say, we would have lost tht game terribly had Terry not taken 2 clean points off his opponent! Well done - the man with the Men from Nowhere!
In our 2nd game, we faced the team from Nippon Airways. For myself, I lost hands down once again, but not without falling over myself all over the court and giving my opponent a hansoku (haha! - my minor victory). KB and I had a good laugh over that match over lunch. He vividly recalls me running towards the line and suddenly jamming brake while staring at the line. heh Needless to say, we lost that match too.

The crowning glory was when our sensei team took on the Kagoshima seniors' team. 1st match was a draw, we lost the next 3 matches, but not easily. The final taisho match was a beauty to watch tho. Enter Fukutani sensei, who recently left SG for a new posting overseas, came in at lunchtime to play this post-round-robin match. He lost the 1st point. His opponent then switched to Jodan. This created a sudden and impressive change to the game. Fukutani sensei suddenly started moving a lot more, and before we knew it, he took an arguable kote. His opponent was furious! The match went on, excitingly, with our sensei getting the 2nd point and beating that player. It was indeed the match of the tourney for me!

Later on, I had ring-side seats to observe the finals between the Osaka Uni Old Boys' team playing the Kagoshima Uni seniors' team. It was a fantastic 5 games, during which we got to see Osaka Number 1 player! I knew there was something special about him the moment he let out a girly kiai.. and when he went for his first cut, his entire cheering section let out a cheer (I got the impression that everytime he moved, he would be assured of a point). I was later informed that he was Osaka's number 1.. WOW.. I also managed to witness the Kagoshima team play a good defensive strategy, which allowed them to emerge Champions after a draw in the last match.

Have I mentioned I love godo-keiko? We had 1 at the end of every day! SHIOK! Got to keiko with many people including Hinamoto sensei, some Japanese from JAL, Manila and Kagoshima, an Osaka girl (which I din noe was a girl till I asked her for a keiko), some Beijing/Shanghai ppl, and 2 high-dan senseis. The tightness, lack of space, fear of injury due to above reasons. The charged atmosphere of over 100+ kendo players shouting and fighting at the same time! wonderful indeed!

Sin City: the movie

They're actually releasing a movie based on Frank Miller's Sin City!! I am a big fan of his breakaway detective-noir series of violence, sex and more violence. And damn, the movie looks so stylish! It's gonna join my must-see of the year, along with Fantastic Four!! Woohoo! Thank you comic fans with big budgets!

Check out ifilm's Sin City link.

Dead Meat: a webcomic

Hey there sportsfans, here's a look at what I've been up to the last few days. A webcomic for Sherm! Based on Red Meat (a real webcomic).. take a look at it. =D My dear girl has just had her birthday, and this was done to commemorate it.

In other news, I'll be away in Hong Kong from Friday till Monday. Taking part in an Asian Kendo Tournament there. This is mostly a for-fun event, and from the 2 categories that I will be taking part in, it sure sounds like I'll be having some fun alright! heh.. 1) 2nd-dan and below, 2) open category (against the high level senseis!).

See u next week!

ho hum..

Beer


?? Which Alcoholic Drink Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

In light of a certain monkey's shyness..

Vodka

my bonnie lies over the ocean

After several lonely years of chasing the wrong ppl.. just when I had abt given up on looking for that person who could mean so much to me.. a monkey *koala attacked* me and clung on. After some jousting back and forth, she convinced me that there could be something possible between us. And tho we have an ocean or two between us, for the past several months, I believe we've grown even more with each other.

THIS is what a relationship should be like.. it all feels so right! ;)

Monkey's Valentine's Package

I got my V-day package some days prior to the actual day. I had already suspected something was coming, cos the dodgy monkey seemed awfully busy and distracted on skype before then.. those mysterious snipping sounds.. and her lousy cover-ups of course. How could I NOT suspect she was doing smtg for me? I just din expect that the yellow package addressed to "Daxius Quahsan" would contain:

1) fully-poseable monkey/ duck combo. Monkey comes with button to keep hands in perpetual hug, heart shaped chestular area, and red heart at end of tail. Duck comes with perpetual smile and big head. Just absolutely adorable. Yes, I had a smile stuck on my face the entire time I was on webcam with my poo that nite. (will upload as soon as I can. the gift, not my smile)
(uploaded!)

2) V-day card tht has cute bear on front looking shy saying "suki", open it, u see the bear popping out at u (cos its spring-loaded) with a lurid expression saying "daidaidaisuki!!!". heh.. Written in the card were some miscellaneous japanese phrases tht even monkey forgot wat they were.

3) 2 mini pieces of melted V-day special strawberry-flavoured kitkat supposedly seasonal in japan. Had one liao!

4) letter on "the shirt" matchsticks design letter-paper, decorated with felt hearts and many adorable words. I do not usu go crazy over such things, as u may noe, but coming frm a gal I absolutely adore.. I just couldn't resist la.. gaga

5) an almost-empty, mostly-used chapstick for embalming lips. For me to use on my dry lips of course. Why a second-hand one was sent? Blur monkey had bought 2 new ones, but in her confusion/ excitement, had accidentally put in her already-opened, almost empty one into my package instead of one of the new ones. So sheepish monkey (2 animals in one?) has 2 brand-new chapsticks in her possession, while I have one here that I can use and pretend I'm kissing her. bleah. hehe

6) many blue strips of shredded paper used as stuffing and protective layer (I had supposed), but was intended to fall out an cause a mess in my room. Evil monkey's plan was foiled cos shredded paper had clumped together (like cat pee n kitty litter), and came out in manageable clumps. =P~

In my excitement, I sent her my gift in advance too, so our little V-day gift-exchange took place some days before, well.. we dun need an over-commercialised day that everyone else uses to decided to express love for each other! We're unique, monkey n i. heh.. Altho.. I feel bad la.. that I did not send out a card as intended early enuff to avoid the CNY postal standstill. Ahwell.. email will have to do la. ;)

Thank you dear Monyet. *chuu~*

ooh, a quiz!

muahaha.. all thanks to FHM!


Exhibitionist movie! You'd get off on letting
ANYONE and EVERYONE watch you have sex...even
small children, you sick sonofabitch! Kinky is
your middle name.


What kind of porno would you star in?
brought to you by Quizilla

Monkey level-up!!

change of post-name

as of last night, henceforth all my posts shall be signed off as "DQ". Disuquarifido. As I host a blog for my work at Samanea, I also post on the blogger we have there. We can't give the image that there's a "Dude" working in an investment/trading company! "Here, why dun u give this dude your cashola and we'll make sure u get some ching-ching in a couple of months time? Surf on rich dude!"
So.. ya. lala

A quiz i got off my poo's:


You scored as Visual/Spatial. You probably feel at home with the visual arts, maps, charts, and diagrams. You tend to think in images and pictures. You learn best by looking at pictures and slides, watching videos or movies, and visualizing. People like you include sculptors, painters, surgeons and engineers.

Visual/Spatial		79%
Intrapersonal		68%
Bodily/Kinesthetic		68%
Musical/Rhythmic		68%
Interpersonal		57%
Verbal/Linguistic		54%
Logical/Mathematical		46%

The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences
created with QuizFarm.com

I never really believe in these things cos its the me aspect that answers it. the aspect of ME that I think I am.. and as Johari window says, there are 4 aspects to each of us. This presents only the side that I think I am. Someone should create a test where a fren has to do abt us too, tht at least shows 2 sides of us out of the 4.

T-man's shinai

I got a shinai from Takeuchi sensei!!!

There I was at the pre-WKC team training, putting on my bogu beside T-man. He was trying out an unusually large number of shinais today. Initially I had tot they were the school shinais, cos he was being unusually loud with them, whacking them a bit, dropping them, etc.. And there we were moving out an unusually large number of stuff from the West Coast dojo.. Judo had just trained there this week and had left many large heavy mats and 3 rows of gi on bamboo poles in there. Yes, we had warm-up before the warm-up..

So T-man started asking ppl to choose shinais, getting comments that the shinai they tried were light and WOWEE.. and I happened to get the last shinai pushed in my direction by him!! I picked it up and INDEED IT WAS LIKE A FEATHER!!! I have never tried a shinai like tht before, no not even at the shops in japan (tho i din dare touch the uber-expensive ones la). I could hardly contain my excitement!! I turned to him and bowed thanking him after confirming with Kengboon that it was a gift (who noes rite, when he just thrusts it to u saying with his usual gruff tone "Dux, this for u!"

And I have no idea wat I'm gonna do with it now. Initial plans were to encase it in glass and display it somewhere at home (hahaha), but of course, I decided against that, mebbe I'll just save it for WKC.. =D

End of post.

a landmark day for trading

Today, I ended my first month in the black. This means I was actually able to earn money from the local bourses! I've spoken often of the learning curve, and how I started on the downtrend of it going into the lull, and hopefully I'm now on the uptrend. Trading began properly in mid-November. After 2 red months, I can only hope that this trend will continue (as does my profit consistency), and that losses will be further minimized thereafter.

Hurrah!

ohboy... done by my favourite monkey gal!

partiality towards some animals.. and ads..

Discovered while out surfing today! a flash-ad for Visa..

overnite positioning

my heart has never been so stressed before.. and i wasn't doing any physical activity! It was a trade I mistakenly initiated yesterday. I had gone in with the view that Nikkei was going to rise anyway, so I was basically bullish. But when things turned down before I could get out, I stayed out cos I figured since the view would prove to be bullish, 1 day's sacrifice could equal the next day's gain or more.
Boy.. last nite was the most awake I have been in a while. I went to bed not feeling sleepy and realised I was awake before my alarm clock went off. After breakfast, I went to catch the Business news on ChannelNewsAsia.. and my heart sank.. US markets did not do well last nite.. sigh.. Nikkei's going to open down instead. I couldn't do anything but prepare myself mentally.
After a morning of heavy breathing and deep breaths, I'm finally feeling a little less stressed. At the break, the Nikkei started trending up quite strongly. Hopefully this trend continues. I think at the end of today, I will still be holding my position. Tmr I will be justified (and wat if I'm wrong again?).
Of course I'll nvr do this again in the near future! Day-trades are safe! Overnite positions are heart-attack inducing!

duck heart monkey

the most adorable pic!! I saw it and my heart melted! and accompanying this was a 3000-word thesis on her blog.. about ME! *sigh*

johari's window

let's talk abt worldviews today. How one sees the world is a reflection of one's own worldview. If you live in your own happy world, u will see the world as a happy place. The same way if ppl to u are just pawns to further your cause, you will think everyone is doing the same to u, and be overly-cautious. This post was inspired by a class I did in HRM some years ago with wonderful Loretta.

Sometimes I wonder whether there is a need to change ppl. I noe a certain fruit who is a romantic and lives in a world of her own. I used to take apart her little fantasies, and show her the realistic version (of my version) of things. Some time ago, she told me that she didn't want to noe anymore, and that I should leave her to her own imaginings, cos she's much happier that way, and I did. To some extent I've stopped doing that. And to this day, she still carries on abt her dream boy, her incredible ideas, and things that I may or may not believe.

From another perspective, I have a fren who thinks every gal who looks at him sees smtg she wants. He thinks he's god's gift to women. and truth be known, he's not. cos I noe some of the gals whom he has tot were after him, but they were not at all!

On this topic, I think one gets a pretty good insight into a person by the monikers they give themselves. We all use MSN, we all noe that MSN nicks are customisable. Some ppl go really far. They decorate their names with icons and strange fonts that create simply wonderful patterns, while others use the cute emoticons that MSN offers and its enuff for us to take a second look. Names are important, but the way the name is used also subtly tells us what they're seeking, in putting that name up.
Say for instance, "Dude~ dating a backward obasan" is currently my nick on MSN. What does that tell you? 1) I've been using the moniker Dude for ages (I dun really care abt the implications, esp with the release of Dude, Where's My Car?, but just for simplicity's sake), and its an identifier; 2) I'm going out with an old-fashioned auntie (thereby inviting the whoever I'm chatting with to talk to me about that).

Now if I were to change my nick to "Dude~ champion eater (count my blue ribbons)", I'm prolly trying to tell u that I won alot of prizes from eating.. AND subtly, am most likely trying to brag or get some lavish praise from ppl talking to me over the internet. RIght? So ya.. your nick too, tells alot about your worldview and personality, dun u think?

So.. to u who've come this far in reading this post - how do YOU view the world? What signs have u been showing abt your character without realising it? Or worse, have u been tainted by another person's worldview without realising it? Are u living in a shell? and do u want to get out or stay?

monkey on the phone

I had the most interesting of conversations with my monkey late last nite. It was speshial.. *soppy smile* not tht our previous convers were not speshial, but last nite was an infinitely unique experience. Another first I suppose.

God we're both desperately wanting to see each other! it's terrible!! the closest I can get is to hear her voice on the other side of the phone.. sigh.. too many diversions in the way! muz break free!!! satisfaction is infinitely sweeter when the long-awaited is finally attained (so I tell myself). =/

flirting with language

a little monkey says this with alot of expression... =D

anata, ima dekakete iru..
mata ato de..
anata ni omoidashite irun yo..

In the past few weeks, I've discovered a new sound on the radio. It's perfect for soothing the mind, a little bassy, smooth.. it's Lush 99.5. sexy.sensual.smooth.

I decided to blog cos I just saw a tv ad on lush that parodies the most classic scene from Psycho - vivien leigh's death in the shower. Unfortunately the tv was on mute, but I could imagine everything happening. This scene tho, ends in the look-alike actress actually stepping out of the shower, unharmed, to which I was perturbed. Then the tag "music changes the mood - Lush 99.5" appeared and everything was explained. This is why I like the channel more and more. haha

It's no surprise then that X'ho is on the Lush crew. The man whose sundays at 98.7 I used to listen to finally found a place where he is more appreciated.

P.S the site DOES suck.. but give it a listen. =)

In the news today:

TOKYO : The billions of dollars promised by world leaders after Asia's devastating tsunamis may seem like unparalleled generosity but recipient countries should beware there is also fine print.

As governments race to top one another by offering the biggest package, much of the "aid" will arrive in the form of loans that will need to be paid back, contracts for donor countries' companies or, many fear, will not come at all.~

~The United States has pledged 350 million dollars to tsunami relief, but like Germany will still need to figure out how to find the money in its budget and in what form it will take.

According to the US Agency for International Development, just under 88 million dollars of the pledged money had been committed as of Monday.

its all a farce..

ohboy.. gaming bug bitten me once again..

A new game I had a chance to try at a LAN shop yesterday - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

You know you want to get your hands on it when u can't get it out of your mind. It even suddenly came up in my conversation with colleague CC today, out of nowhere at all. Gee..
It's violent, it's visual, it's just pure chaos in an RTS game!

In their words - "Visceral cinematic melee and ranged combat", "Cutting Edge 3D Engine", etc..
However, I predict this game would be unable to hold my interest for more than a couple of weeks tho (dun worry my monkey-thing!). I noe myself somewhat in this aspect. Too bad Jute is uncontactable in M'sia.. there're a few cheap shops I noe there. hehe