Rest

Come to me, all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

The past few weeks have been really depressing. Had another disagreement with my parents so we aren't talking to them now. Penny and I just have so much to deal with at the moment that we decided it's best for everybody that we leave them alone for now.

Our finances are becoming a strain on us. Again, this month I've compromised on my tithing to pay our bills. Guilt stricken, I keep crying out to God to forgive me for 'robbing' His kingdom. I've got so much to do at work, what with the new product launch in January, keeping up with all the paperwork and with dance rehearsals (for our marketing conference in Jan 2008) coming up.

Haven't been sleeping well either. The slightest noise keeps me awake at night (there's a lone bird that keeps chirping at night) and I had to put on ear plugs to go to sleep. But that didn't help much too as the sound of my own breathing was amplified a hundred fold within my ear canals. By the time I got to sleep, the birds (all of them, not just the loner from the night before) started chirping and it was dawn again.

Prayed to God two nights back and told Him that I was really drained and all I needed was some good quality sleep. For the first time in two weeks, I fell asleep without ear plugs. I woke up to the sound of chirping birds and the purplish sky outside the window. I thought to myself 'Wow, what a beautiful day!' (though the sky turned dark later in the morning and rained for the next two days; I'm sure this was God's way of motivating me). For some reason, that depressive feeling was gone. Not that my problems had gone away; I knew we still had bills to pay, I knew there was still shit to clear at work. But somehow I felt a heavy burden being lifted from my shoulders and felt so much lighter and happier.

All because I serve an Almighty God.

My soon-to-be new hobby

Been feeling restless these few days. Couldn't keep still for 5 mins and had to keep getting out of my seat to stretch myself, walk to the washroom, etc. Probably the stress is getting to me, which also explains why I can't sleep at night.

I thought that maybe it's time I did some exercise to purge out all the pent up steam that has been accumulating. Then I remembered parkour, something that I've always been intrigued by but never had the chance to explore further on.

Parkour originated in suburban France and it can't really be considered a form of extreme sport or categorised into any other form of sport. Made popular by movies like Yamakasi, The Great Challenge, B13 and Casino Royale - where 007 runs after this African guy. Basically, traceuers (particpiants of the sport) run (duh), jump, hop, somersault their way through obstacles like buildings, stairs and other variety of inanimate objects in their everyday environment.

Founder David Belle couldn't have summarised it better when he said "Martial arts train you for the fight, parkour trains you for the flight". The original intention of parkour was to train the body to move in the fastest, most efficient way in times of an emergency. However these day it has evolved into 'free running' where traceurs take to the streets to execute more elaborate and complicated moves.

You can check out the video here.

Apart from capoeira which I've been wanting to try out (cos I've got long legs which always don't seem to fit anywhere), I think free running would be quite wicked to try out. I reckon you would require a decent amount of upper body strength, which I would like to believe I have since I was capable of 22 pull ups within a minute in my prime (of course, that was 10 years ago).

I'm sure, like capoeira, there is already a small group of people already practising it here. Now my mission is to find le traceurs du Singapoeur.

Being on fire for God

We had a guest speaker, Pastor Loh, on Sunday who spoke about being on fire for God. He made a very good point, quoting Revelations 3:16 which says: "So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth". Either we are hot or cold, anything in between is unacceptable to God.

He went on to talk about why Christians today are becoming lukewarm in their attitudes towards God, getting distracted by worldly desires and the burdens of this fallen world. I couldn't help but think about myself, how I get so wrapped up in worrying about the things of this world than His kingdom. Overwhelmed by guilt, I said a silent prayer asking for forgiveness.

It's difficult to have faith and BELIEVE when things around you that can go wrong just go wrong. As i prayed, I remembered Lamentations 3:27 which says: "It is good for the man to bear the yoke while he is young". Which probably explains all the shit we have to go through in our life as God prepares us for bigger and better things.

I continue to pray that He gives me renewed strength everyday to fight the battle and forge ahead.

This Is The Day... Vel's graduation concert

All the hoo-ha and anticipation finally led up to this day. We were all so excited; changing Velouria, making sure her hair was all in place, putting on make-up for her (only to realise later that our enthusiasm was uncalled for as their teachers actually tied her hair and applied make-up all over again backstage).

After handing her over to her form teacher, we all milled into the concert hall and were all chatting and laughing, snapping our cameras and watching the Powerpoint slideshow (showcasing photos from activities that the students were involved in) over and over and over again. We were all straining our necks to see if anything was going to come out from the side of the stage.

Finally, at 5.30pm on the dot, the MC (a horrible one at that, kept getting all the names wrong) came on stage and went through the usual pleasantries. This was followed by a thank you speech from the Director of Grace House, Ms Isabel Ng, and the Head of Children Ministry of Grace AOG (can't remember her name but she was quite a character though - 'I love children and the children love me' is a line I'm going to remember for a looooong time).

Then came the graduation of the K2 kids. Their entrance could rival any banquet first dish presentation, with all the fanfare and marching. What really touched us was that Ms Isabel Ng actually prayed for the children after they were all presented their certs.

Then the concert proper began. The first item was of course with Velouria's group singing 'It's A School Day'. It was quite a mess (but a cute one) with all the kids more interested in identifying their family and friends in the audience. It was a good preview for the next few items coming up as the audience (us included) lapped it all up and clamoured for more (parents were all rushing to the front to get pictures of their kids).

There were more items in between but I think what caught everyone's attention were the Playgroup kids. These were children between the ages of 2 & 3 who were not eligible to go to N1 yet. It was a joy to see some of them running all over the stage (much to the teachers' dismay), some just froze and forgot what they were supposed to do, while others just freaked out and cried. It was a blast!

Then Velouria's group came out again. They were decked out in beach gear, with the girls in a fake hula grass skirt made from raffia and plastic flowers. This time they did a very reggae rendition of 'See The Works Of The Lord'.

But what topped it all was the finale item when ALL the kids came out and sang 'This Is The Day'. I believe this was the one that the kids trained really hard for as all of them were screaming out all the words at the top of their lungs (even for the Mandarin version!).

In the end, though we were all famished we all left smiling, satisfied that all the wait was worth it. This Is The Day indeed...

Electronic is evil

After having fun with the electronic drums for some time, I realised that this was a very basic set which had its limitations. Couldn't do any cross stick shots on the snare (i.e. hitting the rim of the drum with the stick) or bell shots on the ride cymbal (the roundish part that where it is screwed onto the stand, giving the cowbell kinda sound).

Sucks. Electronics and the digital age are all evil, so the acoustic drum set still rules. If only I can fork out somemore money to get a drum techinician to look at the drum set in church. The drums there are in a sad, sad state. Heck, even I feel sad just hearing the flat thump they give off whenever I whack them.

Growing old

I hate to admit it. But we are all growing old and it's scary.

Just today, one of my RSAF ex-colleagues, Peter, called me up to tell me his wife is expecting their first kid in February next year. Being the blur sotong that he is, obviously he's getting worried cos he's not the parenting type (honestly, none of us ever are till we get our first kid; it's one of those baptism by fire things).

So there we were yakking away (me teasing him mostly) and he said something along the lines like, "Wah, last time we meet up is to go dancing and drinking, now we have coffee to talk about kids". Yes sir-ree! We certainly have come a long way!

Next thing we know we'll be talking about where to hold our kids' weddings.

Shite... It really is worrying to realise you're not getting any younger. It's just one of those aspects of life that you never really bother about until it just falls on you like a ton of bricks out of the blue. Then you start thinking about how you are going to see your kids through to university, will you be able to retire in Florida, will you live long enough to withdraw your CPF, etc, etc.

But it's okay, as long as I can age with style like Sean Connery... :P

Going electronic

So there we were on Sunday at FairPrice Finest (the atas NTUC targetted at the ang mohs, situated at Bukit Timah Plaza), grabbing some stuff to bring to Tua Pek's house since we had been invited there for dinner by his new Korean neighbour who was doing all the cooking. Then we saw an ad on one of those lelong notice boards that are commonly found in all these ang moh places (they seem to have an affinity for lelong-ing their unwanted stuff). It read:'TDK Electronic drum set for sale. I paid $3000, you pay $500'. Only an idiot would refuse this offer.

So we called up the owner, viewed the thing and ended up paying $800 for it. Yes, it was more expensive than the original price but still a lucrative deal. And it was a Roland drum set, no less, with an amp and headphones, some 'Drumming for Dummies' guide book and an instruction CD.

I know how badly our church needed a new drum set. The current one we're using has been there for ages, all worn out and rusty. One of the cymbals had even been cracked by an overzealous drummer. :P

Ps Don had been talking about getting an electronic one for the longest time. But cost had always been a deciding factor that held us back. Financial obligations aside, I think this was an opportunity presented before us to help build God's sanctuary. So I just grit my teeth, signed the cheque and shoved everything into my car.

Digital equipment always have cons when compared to analogue ones so it will take some getting used to, but I think we're gonna have a great time with this new toy.

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Rockstar rocks again with Manhunt 2

Finally! After so much hoo-ha with the censorship boards in UK and various other countries, Rockstar has finally received the green light to release the highly anticipated sequel to the gruesome stealth game Manhunt! Not before slapping it with an 'M' rating, of course.

For the uninitiated, Rockstar is the publisher of various other notorious games that have changed the gaming world and made everyone sit up and take notice. For all the wrong reasons unfortunately. After the mildly successful Grand Theft Auto III, they took the free roaming gaming environment to a whole new level with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. But this it did with a lot of flak as gamers took on the role of a gangster bent on revenge after being framed for a drug deal gone wrong. A pissed off gangster, lots of guns, a strip club and the ability to jack cars, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the potential mayhem that ensues. Much like the negative publicity that plagued comic books way back in the 1950s, parents were worried, teachers got upset and Readers' Digest even ran an article about the dangers of video games highlighting a boy who shot his parents (or friends, I can't remember) after playing GTA: Vice City.

Manhunt was no different. Players took on the role of a serial killer on death row due for execution who, by some twisted plot of a deranged madman, gets captured and thrown into a reality snuff film where other equally deranged lunatics are out to hunt him down. His mission was simple: to survive and get to the guy who put him there in the first place. This awesome game, while gruesome, offered players some really solid stealth action gameplay which required more thinking and strategy than your average 'point-and-shoot' games. It again received flak for its gruesome killing tactics, among them stabbing an opponent's eye with a shard of glass, whacking his head open with a baseball bat (like a pinata) and sneaking up behind a guy and beating him to a pulp after wrapping a plastic bag over his head.Wonderful!

But at the end of the day, we all have to remember that it's all just a game. It's this same exact reason why we play video games in the first place, to thrust ourselves into an environment where we can do things we know are impossible to do in real life.

Time to kill! Virtually, of course.

Cracked cymbal

'Praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.'

Psalms 150:5

Sunday's praise and worship was really rocking. I think I just went nuts the moment we played Open Up The Gates. In fact, I was so engrossed in playing that I didn't even notice the crash cymbal was cracked! That's a first for me, never cracked a cymbal before. Guess I took Psalm 150:5 a little too literally.

Also, other firsts on Sunday - first time I cried while playing (the worship was that good) and also the first time I dropped my drumsticks while playing (apparently nobody noticed the abrupt break).

I hope this never happens again, save for the crying. It's good to feel the Holy Spirit moving so freely.

Xtreme Singapore

I had the chance to be in the thick of the action of Xtreme Singapore on Saturday. We had gone in with Mountain Dew as the official drink (the high caffeine level is meant to get your heart pumping, thus the linkage with extreme sports... or something like that) so I was there to make sure everything was in place and that the event company we hired was doing their job.

Before the event even began, Murphy's Law caught up with the organisers. The electricity supply screwed up so they couldn't start the registration without the laptops and printers to do the necessary paperwork. For us that meant we couldn't turn on our chillers. Fortunately, I had prepared cooler boxes and some packs of ice so we could still chill our drinks. And it proved valuable as the day wore on with the sun blazing down mercilessly on us.

Our sucky sales aside, it was full steam ahead once the event went underway. It's amazing the amount of talent some of these kids have. There were three main groups: BMX, skateboard and in-line skates. It brought me back to my skating days - getting chased by the police for crossing the road on our decks, getting our names taken down for sitting on the steps of the War Memorial along Queen Elizabeth walk. But back then skating was a sub-culture. Kids nowadays are so blessed, with proper skate parks to go to and government backed events to showcase their talent.

I sat on the floor below the box-jump ramp to take some photos of the flying kids. I didn't realise I was sunburnt until I reached home and realised I was cooked like a lobster when Vel said "Daddy, why your face so red?".

If the stuff that kids can do are anything to go by, I'm definite the finals are going to be a blast. I'm soooo looking forward to that.

Thank God for work

As cliched as it sounds, time really does fly when you're having fun. It's been almost a month since I've been at my new job. There's so much to attend to everyday that I don't even notice the minutes flying by. Almost got cross-eyed with all the reports to compile too! There are daily reports to look at, weekly reports to analyse and monthly reports to prepare for our meetings with the principals.

Faster than I can say 'housekeeping', my table is starting to become a mess. I've got tons of documents sitting in my in-tray (segregated into Work In Progress, KIV, Recycled Paper). I don't even know what my drawers are for, they are still empty at the moment save for the top one which is full of half-assed stationery (dried up markers, staplers that don't work, half eaten erasers, etc) left behind by my predecessor.

I've even started a little pantry of my own - consisting of a tin of Jacob's cream crackers (since I always have the munchies being the gremlin that I am), my favourite Monmilk which I replenish every Monday and my supplements (can't afford to burn out).

Now all I need are some photos, toys and posters to personalise my space.

It sucks to have sore eyes

If there's one ailment I hate more than anything else, it's conjunctivitis. As a matter of fact, I hate it so much that I can't even spell it right!

We decided to come home earlier on Sunday afternoon after church to take a nap instead of milling about outside (Penny was still having a fever). Mistakedly excited by the thought of catching Constantine on Ch 5, I woke up in the evening and BAM! My eye was puffed up and red and itching like crazy. Worse part was the tearing, it kept getting on my lashes which in turn kept rubbing on the lenses of my spectacles. This is one of the most irritating sensations in the world, I assure you. And to make things worse, I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses so I couldn't take them off.

I later realised that Keanu was only on at 10pm, so I spent the whole evening in bed watching bits of Bourne Identity on Ch 5 and Disovery Travel and Living on Ch 16, all the while dabbing my eye with tissue and trying to remove the tons of eye wax that kept forming. Finally, I decided to throw in the towel and went to bed, unable to bear with the irritation of keeping my eyes open.

Monday morning was worse - I couldn't even open my eyes as all the tears had dried up and stuck my lashes together! So I decided to call in sick. It sucks to have sore eyes.

Tua pek's 33rd birthday

After putting off our little barbie due to the unavailability of our favourite Pit #76, we finally got down to it on 22 Sept. It was a bloody hot day but praise God for the fine weather He blessed us with closer to the evening - no sun, no rain and LOTS of wind.

We started off the evening at about 5.30, me starting the fire and getting my fingers singed to a nice pinkish colour in the process, Penny putting up the hammock we bought from Ho Chi Minh ages ago (much to Velouria's delight, she spent most of the evening lounging there). My mum prepared all the food as usual, with chix wings, pork chops, satay, kebabs, sotong, crabs and even whole scallops still in their shells. The whole merry troupe (my bro's friends - Jason, Sharon and Masuka-chan, and then my bro and abang Elfie) arrived at about 6pm so we started the session quite early.

Penny wasn't feeling very well so she spent most of the time lying on the straw mat, enjoiyng the live worship music from Pit #75. She even had to give her favourite crabs a miss and only downed a few roasted shitake. Apart from that, she was burning sparklers with Vel.

Towards the end, we lit the birthday 'bun' that my mum made for my bro. Birthday cakes are so passe and we didn't have enough time to order a agar-agar cake for him (our original intention was to get him one in the form of Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants since he bears such an uncanny resemblance to the silly starfish). Only one section of the bun had filling in it, so the rest was used to make garlic bread since my mum had forgotten to buy bread after preparing the spread (getting old).

We were all quite stuffed as the night wore on. I decided to call it quits after downing my fourth can of Pepsi Twist. It's been quite a while since I had so much carbonated beverage in me. We cleared up and decided to call it a night.

JT's hilarious Emmy Award winning music video

Heard so much hoopla about this that I just had to check it out. This is the Emmy winning skit that Justin Timberlake did with Andy Samberg on Saturday Night Live. A crazy gift idea with a hilarious MTV to boot. Reminiscent of those cheesy early 90s boyband videos (think Colour Me Bad), you will dig this if you loved the Pop Goes My Heart MTV from the movie Music and Lyrics. My favourite part of this video is where they give you instructions on how to make your own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA

Unemployment phase: end

It's the last day of my unemployment phase. Penny is in ORD mode, so she skips work and we decide to spend some time with Velouria. We started our day with our favourite retro coffeeshop in Lengkok Bahru to have our favourite fishball noodles.

We topped that with kaya toast on bun bread (which Velouria finished almost half of it) and washed everything down with kopi-o and teh-c. The place is hot, cramp and smelly (right next to a rubbish dump, no less), but we still love it.

Our only hope is that it stays this way and is spared the 'transformation' into a swanky foodcourt that plagues the HDB heartlands nowadays. They are just too clean and bright and somehow the pristine condition of such foodcourts seem to affect the flavour of the food.

The next stop we planned was Qianhu, but we were diverted by a phone call to Orchard where Mike and Ellis are currently putting up. So we popped by, chit chat for a while, although most of my time was spent lending my expertise to Ian to help him solve his Need For Speed: Most Wanted on his PSP. We had lunch despite having eaten earlier and, being the pigs that we are, topped that with fish crackers, potato chips, butter cake and a donut.

We headed off to Qianhu after that with Ian in tow. We grabbed some fish (small ones) from the tanks with Velouria just terrorising them mostly with all that swishing of her net in the water. Finally, happy with our catch, we proceeded to the koi pond and bought some feed for the kids. They had fun watching the greedy fish respond to every little manouvere they executed.

We picked Justin and Natalie on the way home for them to all chill out at our place. I left them with my PS2 and proceeded to take a nap before my tuition. After I returned home, they were still at it! By then they were cracking themselves up watching Homer run around in his briefs and running pedestrians over in The Simpsons' Hit and Run. Amazing stamina, these kids. Vel fell from the bed and hit the floor with a loud thud which I could hear even from the living room with the bedroom door closed. It obviously left her with a huge buah duku on her forehead. A hard lesson for her to learn after ignoring all my 'no jumping on the bed' warnings.

Mike came to pick Ian up, Justin and Natalie made their way home too. Zapped of all our energy after so much activity, we just crashed into our beds. What a day.

Goodbye holiday, hello corporate world

As much as I enjoy the comfort and satisfaction that household chores bring me, it is time for me to bid adieu to my life as a professional bummer. Come Monday 10 Sep I will begin the next chapter of my life as Assistant Marketing Manager at Yeo Hiap Seng, an endeavour I approach with trepidation and uncertainty, having the knowledge that I'll be working for a market leader in the industry.

I thank God for the much needed rest that He has blessed me with. Now with that same heart I ask Him to bless me in my course of work and also to keep me sane amidst the insanity of the consumer goods industry (they don't call it 'fast moving consumer goods' for naught). I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that my journey here will not be as short lived as the last.

I'm sooooo looking forward to having my own desk to work on, having expensive lunches with media owners and having tons of free samples. And of course, drinks at discounted prices...

Dessert of the week: Lizard Cake

Woke up early on Sunday morning to prepare for church. I needed the oven to toast some bread so I proceeded to remove the plastic container which my mum-in-law had used to prepare some kueh earlier.

And horror of horrors, there were not one but TWO lizards inside. My mum-in-law had, with her typical auntie mentality, left the cover slightly ajar for fear of the kueh turning mouldy. How she deduced such a thoery still baffles me. The lizards were so nicely positioned that anyone looking in would have thought that they were placed there on purpose as decorative ornaments, like those silly little Spidermans, Pikachus, Doraemons and what nots so commonly found on cakes nowadays.

Anyway, I figured that Lizard 1 had gone into the container out of hunger/curiosity/just for the sheer fun of it. Lizard 2 in turn got stuck trying to rescue his friend from the evil clutches of the gooey kueh.

I imagined the conversation would have gone something like this:

L1: Mmm... Kueh... Let's go get us some...

L2: No, wait...

L1: Alamak! Why so sticky one?! Can't... move... my... legs... L1, heeelp!

L2: Don't worry, I'll get you.... Oh, crap! Now I'm stuck too...

L1 & L2: Heeeeelp!

Of course, my mum-in-law freaked out upon discovering the presence of the lizards violating her beloved kueh and threw away the whole chunk. Me, I just sniggered with delight at the sight of her squirming.

Marketing guru says... #3

There are good ads and there are bad ads. The good ones will make you laugh, cry and leave a lasting impression in your head. The bad ones, obviously, will make you go 'Aiyoh? What on earth was that about?!'.

Examples of the former: the new McDonald's 'Serving you great moments, anytime, anywhere' campaign. I think they ripped the 'KFC moments' campaign but that's another story for another day. The emo TVC shows different people engaged in different activities throughout the day, all involving McD products and some in a McD restaurant. Tugs at my heartstrings and makes me wanna cry. Brings back memories of the McD in World Trade Centre (the old one facing the sea, the site where the Cruise Centre sits presently) where I used to hang out with my buddies after 'house practise', when the Cheesburger was still $1.20 and a small soft drink cost only $0.90. But the real reason why I wanna cry is because I recall an occassion where we ran after the bus to go back to school and dropped my soft drink. Half my lunch gone in a whiff. Major bummer.

Examples of the latter: 987FM's 'Live life dangerously' campaign. Or 'on the edge' or whatever. See, it's so bad I can't even recall the tagline. The cringe-worthy TVC has this guy walking down the street with a boombox on his shoulder and almost gets the antenna entangled onto some power lines hanging overhead. Then the tagline comes out. Maybe I'm just dense or maybe I'm not the target audience (i.e. the 'cool' and 'funky' crowd), but I totally don't get that at all.

Then there are others in between. They are neither good nor bad, but rather just make you scratch your head. Examples would include the Axe Oil bus ad. Makes me wonder who approved that creative. It never fails to give me a headache whenever I see it. But perhaps that's the whole idea, to link the bus ad to headaches. On that note I would say that ad works.

Another exmaple would be the Sheng Siong TVC. The 'All About You' tagline reminds of an old Hokkien evergrenn Long Si Wee Tio Li. Translated it mean 'it's all for you' or 'it's all because of you'. It's one of those heart-wrenching songs about unrequited love (but then again most Hokkien oldies are) that is always a hot favourite among senior citizen recreation clubs on karaoke nights. Given the target market of Sheng Siong, I would say this one works as well. Though the cheesy acting on the TVC makes my hair stand.

*MORAL OF THE STORY: if you got something to say, make sure you say it right so that people will remember it! Ask anyone about the old Ribena TVC, they'll tell you 'My mother said it's good for me'.

3.47% ain't so bad

Just as I was whining about my slim chance of getting a new flat, I found out my 4676 queue number wasn't so bad after all. Was having a chat with my friend Clif about this whole hoopla, who also submitted his application. It went something like this:

Clif: So you receive your HDB number yet?

Me: Yah. Damn jia lat, got 4676 leh. I think this time round also xiong duo ji shao one (literally translated from Mandarin it means 'breast much, squeeze little', a crude way of depicting yourself stuck in a situation where the odds are stacked greatly against you).

Clif: Eh? Buay pai leh! I got 10,000 plus leh.

Me: WTF??

I don't know what scared me more. That he got a '10,000 plus' queue number out of 10,200 despite submitting his application earlier than mine. Or his nonchalance about the whole thing suggesting his epathy towards our so-called systematic government.

Our 3.47% chance of getting a new flat

Penny and I were overjoyed when HDB released another batch of flats for sale last week. Elated, we filled up the online forms and duly paid the $10 'admin fee' to get in the line.

Today, we received an email saying we are 4676 out of 10,200 applicants. And we thought we had some priviledges due to the fact that we are first time applicants and had a senior citizen living with us. The exact contents of the mail read as follows:

'About 10,000 applicants have applied for the 354 flats offered for sale. Applicants with queue number 3001 and above will be informed of their selection appointment if there are flats still available before their turn is due.'

No shit, Sherlock. There are only 354 flats available for 10,000 applicants, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the units we singled out would more probably than not be taken up even faster than I can say 'gobbledygook'. Not to mention that overnight these people have earned $100,000. Looks like they've got their bonus covered for the year.

Bollocks.

Top 10 things that still amaze me

1. Criss Angel - Creepy guy who freaks me out more than Freddy Krueger. I've seen illusionists and I've seen illusionists, but this guy is a SORCERER!! Those are not illusions!!
   
   
2. For all the millions (or billions) he's worth, Donald Trump still can't get a decent haircut. Or a nicer wig.
   
   
3. Why Geekus Maximus Bill Gates can't get a trendier pair of glasses. Why does he insist on sticking with that geeky pair? Does that make him look more credible?
   
   
4. Why is the CTE always jammed up? Are the numerous ERP gantries helping the situation?
   
   
5. People who cold call me and tell me that I've won a prize and I need to go down to their office to collect it. Hello?? Didn't anybody tell them that doesn't work anymore?
   
   
6. Kids who go around hawker centres selling donation tickets for 'charity'. Sorry, but once bitten, thrice shy. Regardless whether it's genuine or not, these poor kids only have one person to blame - T.T. Durai.
   
   
7. Why people still insist on whining after buying poor quality pirated DVDs from friendly peddlers who go knocking from door to door. Hello?? They are called pirated for a reason! It's akin to eating at a roadside stall and complaining that there's a fly in your soup.
   
   
8. People who just ignore those tissue sellers at hawker centres and continue on as if they're invisible. Is it so difficult to just look up and say 'No thank you'?
   
   
9. Why Singaporeans can still go to Sentosa every weekend and 'chill out' on the beach. What's there to do there? Swim among the waste discharged from the many ships parked out further in the sea? We are a sad bunch, us Singaporeans.
   
   
10. The girl I saw on the news crying when she got her hands on the latest Harry Potter book. I mean it's a great story and all, but come on lah, it's just a fictional story! I didn't cry when the credits from Star Wars Ep. III started rolling!

Unemployment phase: week 1

One week into my unemployment phase and I'm bored to tears. Most of the time last week was spent sending Vel to the Chinese physician to seek treatment for her mor dan (or URTI 'due tot a viral infection' to the Western doctors who didn't have a rat's ass of a clue as to what was actually afflicting her).

My throat started to itch on Sunday after church (too much singing perhaps?) and yesterday I came down with a fever. I promised Penny I wouldn't watch Flashpoint without her, so I popped SPL into the DVD player to get my Donnie Yen fix. The guy is smoking for his age!

Head was spinning this morning as I headed off for my meeting with the job agency. Came home and tried to take a nap. But some people just have to pace back and forth just outside my room to yak on the phone.So I woke up and headed off to Excelsior Shopping Arcade to try my luck at Drum Resources. They were finally open! Picked out a few pairs of sticks and a bag to chuck everything in. After a 12 year hiatus, I was ready to rock and roll again! Praise the Lord!

Headed off to Cerebos for my interview despite my pounding head. Don't think the interviewers thought very much of me as I was mumbling and slurring incoherently throughout the session. Thanks in part to the lozenge I was sucking on as my throat was REALLY hurting. The session only lasted for about 30 mins, so I guess they probably couldn't wait to throw me out.

Went to church to jam with the team and got a chance to warm up my new gear. My head was still spinning so I screwed up quite a bit. Hope I can get my act together by Sunday.

When I got home there was only one thing on my mind: paracetemol.

So long, farewell and goodbye...

It sucks to be retrenched. Somehow, it just feels weird to be asked to leave not because you’re incapable of carrying out your tasks, but because the company is screwed up and had to close shop just slightly less than 2 years after its inception.

The whole office was abuzz with excitement since the beginning of the day. We all knew what was coming. I was busy packing my stuff (my beloved toys especially, placing them back into their original packaging) and I didn’t realise I had so much junk to clear! Unknowingly, the office had become like a second home to me and when I first joined the company, I could see myself staying on for quite a while. Little did I expect that the 'a while' would only last a mere 1 year and 11 months.

I was the first to get the letter, so when I came out of the room, I put on a MediaCorp Star Search worthy performance and pretended to cry, 'Wah lau eh! Teow pok liao ah!' (means to get axed or fired in Hokkien). It cracked everybody up. Funnily enough, the people who were asked to leave were the ones laughing and joking. I guess we felt more relief than anything else that we were all being pulled out of a shithole.

The ones who really cried, however, were those who were asked to stay. I'm sure they could see the huge pile of mess that they would have to clear in the days to come before the company FINALLY decides to call it quits (the phones were already ringing non-stop with calls from stores that did not receive their bread for the day).

God knows when will that be. But I'm really glad He pulled me out so that I won't be around to find out. It's really sad and disappointing that it had to end like this. We were capable of so much more, if only the management had more foresight. But it was definitely fun while it lasted.

God's voice

Couldn't sleep on Saturday night thinking about the imminent 'termination' coming along. Like the words in Cats in the Cradle, there are 'planes to catch and bills to pay'. Despite the Bible telling us that worrying is as big a sin as any (click here to read in context), I couldn't help but worry as I tossed about my bed. Thoughts that went running through my head included (but not restricted to) how to pay our bills, how to buy the air ticket for Estella (our helper) to go back home at the end of the month when her contract ends, how to pay for Vel's school fees next month, am I going to compromise on my tithing again?

I thought, 'Hey no point worrying, maybe I'll get up and surf the employment websites and see if there are any openings'.

Eyes half closed, I dragged myself out of bed at 11.45pm to turn on my PC. For some reason, it didn't work. Sure the CPU came on with lights blinking and all. But the screen was blank. I tried it again for another 3 times. Didn't work.

I joked to myself, 'Heheh, maybe God is telling me to go to sleep 'cos I'm drumming in church tomorrow' which I was SOOOOO looking forward to.

So I turned in and said a little prayer before I slept. I told God to take away all my burdens so I could just stop bloddy thinking and go to sleep! Soon enough I dozed off.

And then it came, a voice which sounded like mine but yet it wasn't. So full and reassuring. So comforting like an old friend you hadn't met in ages. It sounded so close like He was sitting on the bed next to me, talking into my ear.

I can't remember the exact words, but He said something along the lines like, 'Don't worry, everything will be okay. If you trust Me, I will set things right for you. All you have to do is believe'.

Then logic took over and I woke up with a start. I remember thinking, 'What the f**k?! Who was that?! I thought I was sleeping?!' I didn't give it much thought as I was already stoned. A quick glance at my watch revealed that it was already 12.30am, so I just plonked my head back onto my pillow and went back to Snoozeland.

Next day, woke up as usual at 7am all hyped up. Went to church and rocked the house with the worship team (although I screwed up a bit here and there, don't think anyone noticed. Ha!). Headed straight home after service 'cos Mummy was at home with Vel who wasn't feeling well.

After gobbling down my lunch, I remembered the PC and grumbled to Penny 'Computer spoil again, blah, blah... KNN, just had it repaired, blah, blah...'. When I turned it on, it worked just fine. I rebooted it twice just to be sure it wasn't a fluke.

I wanted to cry.

Same s**t, different day...

I've said it once and I'll say it again, office politics suck. A few months back, some colleagues of mine quit when they got wind that their head was on the chopping board by someone higher up eager to cover his own ass (read more about it here). Apparently now the WHOLE FREAKING OFFICE is on the chopping board. Well, not exactly the whole office because the company is still under some cotractual manufacturing agreement so my guess is they'll maintain a skeleton crew till that contract is over.

But this move is, again, the brainchild of that same person. Now the Singapore office is being made the scapegoat of the company's downslide ever since our crisis last year. This move, I reckon, is to restore the shareholders' confidence that the company is indeed making plans to climb out of the red.

Bastards.

Good 'ol days gone by

Came across this old man selling eggs at Boon Keng market. Probably fresh from the farm and still warm! Just a simple set up and his 'stall' was bustling with people. Stalls such as these are reminders to us of days gone by and how simple life used to be. Other treasures at the market are a retro stationery shop (with glass cabinets no less!) and a retro Chinese barber with faded posters of Liu Wen Zheng, New Kids On The Block and other retro pop idols on the walls and that spinning red/blue/white thingie outside the shop. Awesome!

Speaking of retro, we were at Steeples the other day after our usual Saturday swimming session. Nobody does burgers and milkshakes like they do. Had a Teriyaki Burger and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake. We had a marvellous Waldorf Salad as well.

For those who are sentimental (like us) and miss the good 'ol juicy, handmade beef patties and milkshakes reminiscent of 1950s American diners, go to Steeples at Tanglin Shopping Centre (they are tucked away in a little corner on the 3rd level). The place is small and the Auntie at the counter may give you the 'take it or leave it' kind of face, but like all good things it's always worth the wait. Even the menu is still written in chalk!

Top 10 things that irk me to no end

1. People who STILL refuse to turn off their handphones during a movie. The audience at a movie should all just gang up and throw a handful of popcorn (since we won't be able to finish it in one sitting anyway) at the next guy whose mobile rings during the movie.


2. Road hoggers doing 70km/h in the extreme right lane on expressways.


3. Aunties driving Maseratis, BMW M5s, Mecerdes SLKs and other fierce, exotic cars doing 70km/h in the extreme right lane on expressways (this one not sour grapes, I'm fine with a cool looking uncle driving a Mercedes S600 Turbo).


4. People whose hands are too heavy to flick their signals on when they want to turn. Either that or their cars are too cheap and didn't come with indicators installed.


5. Cars with HID / Xenon headlights. Regardless whether it's factory fitted, it's still damn bloody glaring to look at in the rear view mirror. Whoever allowed it on the roads (LTA?!) should be strapped to a chair, with toothpicks holding his/her eyelids open and two super-duper, Ah Beng WRX-esque Xenon headlights shining straight into their face.


6. 'Interviewers' on Orchard Road asking me 'Hello? Are you Singaporean? Would you like to...' Arrrrgh! Talk to the hand.


7. Companies calling 'on behalf of XX Bank' to offer me credit cards, 'special interest rate' personal term loans and other different manner of financial bondages attempting to burden me for some good years of my life.


8. Insurance companies calling me to introduce their 'new policies' to me. Hello? Even if I really needed ANOTHER policy on top of the numerous I already have, would I talk about it to a stranger over the phone?


9. Bank tellers who are ALSO selling insurance policies over the counter, which probably explains why the queues are always so damn long! I just want to replace my bloody passbook, so just replace it so that I can get out (x-refer #7 for MY policy on insurance policies).


10. Companies making sucky toys and ripping all the poor kids (or parents??) off. Some examples of bad toys: Transformers, G.I. Joes (Hasbro should be shot for both). Some examples of good toys: anything from McFarlane, Ben 10 (some of them retail for $9.95 but are such good fun to play with!).

So long, dumbass!

My nap on a lazy Sunday afternoon was disrupted by my vibrating phone with an incoming SMS. It read: 'Rennie, u seem to be busy so i decided 2 change tutor. Cd u do last tuition 2moro? I will pay. Sorry.'

Without giving it much thought, I just replied my acknowledgement and went back to sleep. I guess my student's mum was finally tired of my constant rescheduling of the lessons and what not. Honestly, I don't blame her. I would be pissed too if I were her because the boy ain't gonna sit around all day waiting for me to turn up!

Funny thing is, I was just asking God the other day how would I be able to cope with all these extra tuition jobs if and when a new job opportunes itself? If I had to travel, would the parents be so kind as to let me off as and when I wanted? How do I break it to the parents that I would not be able to teach their kids anymore? But that's the amazing part about the awesome God that we serve, He sees your heart and answers your innermost prayers.

It's been a gruelling but satisfying 6 months. Since the first lesson when I turned up clothed in my reservist gear (and probably freaking the parents out in the process) to the time when he came back with the astonishing results for his mid-term, I must say it's been a blessing and a joy to have imparted some of my knowledge to someone else. I just hope and pray that this knowledge I shared has made a difference in his life, which he will put into practical use somewhere down the road.

I can't take all the credit, though. Kevin is a smart boy with a good brain in his head, although sometimes he chooses to channel that intelligence elsewhere. Like cooking up stories as to why he never did his homework, bargaining for an extra 10 mins to finish up his Ben 10, etc. He has taken well to my teachings and though he has idiosyncracies which make me want to strangle him sometimes (like cutting me off halfway to ask me really bo liao questions), I have to admit he has come a long way from when we first started.

Like the song goes:

'It's closing time, a new beginning always comes from some other beginning's end'.

This chapter of my life has ended and it's time to move on. So long, dumbass. You will be missed...

Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS really roooocks!!

Just saw the new Michael Bay TRANSFORMERS movie and I must say it lived up to all its hype and it REALLY ROCKS!! BIG TIME!! I was sceptical about a live action TRANSFORMERS movie at first since I'd grown up with the Japanese toys, the Marvel comics and the Hasbro toys that followed. But the Dreamworks team pulled it off really well and this movie actually works. Unlike Spiderman 3 and Fantastic Four 2, which had very poor pacing and run-of-the-mill storylines, this movie kicked ass from the start with a Decpticon attacking a US Army base and watching all hell break loose as the humans first encounter the TRANSFORMERS.

While the robots mainly stole the show (literally!), Shia LeBouf did an amazing job of portraying Spike, the quintessential insecure teenager trying to find himself in a cynical world. And Megan Fox was, well, just another walking push up bra advertisement. Although the relationship between Spike and Bumblebee were not fully delved into, there was a strong vibe that this was the beginning of a very strong friendship which would probably extend into the sequels (of which I'm sure there will be, given how the movie ended).

And the robots done up by ILM were, WOW, amazing!! Although insufficient screen time was devoted to the Decepticons (like Bonecrusher who came out looking scary and shit, only to get sliced by Optimus a mere 5 mins later), getting an eyeful of the Autobots was good enough. You could make out every nut, screw and bolt moving and turning as if these were real, living organisms. Kudos to the folks at ILM for an amazing job!

After OP gets whacked left, right and centre by a seemingly more powerful Megatron, how they killed the Decepticon leader just made me go 'Huh? That's it? What the...?!'.

But the ending, which left me squealing with delight (like the fanboy that I am), promises of a sequel (or two) to come cos there are so many things left unexplored. Where's Soundwave and his evil litttle cassette thingies (more importantly, how are they going to make cassettes relevant in the 21st century)? Are they going with the Headmasters in the sequel (that'll be fun!)? And will Megatron be revived as Galvatron?

So many questions left unanswered... Can't wait for TRANSFORMERS 2!

Toy report #2

Still fooling around with my REVOLTECH Optimus Prime and Megatron mentioned in my earlier post. These things are so much fun! Very good for a little stress relief at the office! Just makes me want to buy the rest of the series. I imagine all the robots having a battle on my office desk! Haha! How to get any work done like that?!

On the same note (toys, not tummy aches), just went to Taka's toy department on Saturday night and as usual, they were clearing the overstocked items. All TMNT were 20% off (still no Leonardo though I was tempted to just buy the van), LOST figures from McFarlane were at $10 each. For some reason they didn't have the Shannon figures left; probably snapped up by all the pervs since she's only dressed in a skimpy bikini.

I ended up with the LOST Hatch Boxset (a steal at $20!) and the Flinstones Drive In Movie Boxset (another streal at $15!), both from McFarlane.

This Todd McFarlane is an evil one, I tell you. He keeps making all these wonderfully crafted toys, of which I'll always find lelong-ing at Taka. Next up, he's gonna make a couple of action figures and vehicles from the video game HALO.

How liddat? Got kid to feed at home and so many toys to buy??

Church Camp 2007: Day 2

Woke up at 7am for a quick jog before Morning Devotion. It cleared my head quite a bit for the games that I had planned for the dinner that evening as well as the meditation verse (Mark 9:49-50). By the time I went back to the villa, everyone was up and about. So I took a long shower, made my hair and when I came down, ALAMAK! Everyone was waiting for me to start the villa devotion. I quickly settled in and we all prayed and sang some songs together before proceeding to the function room again for sharing of the day's meditaion verse.

After that was the usual breakfast where I chowed down some fruit, a salad, half a dozen chipolatas, a sunny side up, baked beans, milk and a bowl of cereal. I had to gobble that down in less than 20 mins because I had to go back to the function room to help Auntie Esther with setting up for the next corporate game: the Paper Aeroplane Factory.

At about 10am, people started milling in for P&W. Somehow, this morning's P&W seemed different; more powerful and moving than the previous day's. I had this sudden compulsion to cry so I just let the tears flow. Perhaps the sessions that we had done proved to be a motivating factor for all who participated? It was great to see everyone singing and shouting with no inhibitions!

We started the corporate game at about 10.30am. Auntie Esther had tasked me to MC the whole game as she had to tabulate the scores. Again, the memebrs were broken into men, women and youth. It was great fun tekan-ing them and watching all hell break loose as they scrambled to get their planes made and delivered. All in all, it was a very fun, insightful sessions which the youth won in the end.

Lunch was after that, same old buffet food again. I started off with the usual salad before moving on to attack the roast duck. Desmond, as usual, couldn't help but whack the crabs. The desserts were yummy too, with cream puffs, brownies and other forms of delectable pastry. Couldn't eat much as most of the breakfast was still in my stomach.

Headed back to the villa to get my socks before heading to the bowling alley. Couldn't get my form right as I couldn't find a ball that would fit my big knuckles nicely. How I miss the Superbowl at SAFRA Mt Faber! After getting an embarassing score of 101, I rushed back to the villa to make preparations for the night's games. Managed to finish it in under an hour and a half before heading for a nap. Could feel my head pounding already.

Woke up at 6pm and headed for the function room. It was HUGE and provided me more than enough space for me to tekan everyone again. Haha! I proceeded to place on all the tables the props needed for my games later. I was shaking with excitement, I couldn't wait to unleash my nonsense on everyone! Bruhaha!

We didn't start the dinner until about 7.30pm when everybody was seated. We started off the dinner with a closing speech from Ps Don followed by the presentation of trophies to the winning team from the bowling session. I kicked off the night with the Fake Bingo game to get everyone riled up. Fortunately the crowd were so enthusiastic about completing their score sheets to realise that they were all doctored to enable EVERYONE to win. Ha!

The food, surprisingly, was the best we had so far. I conitnued with the Jigsaw puzzle game which saw everybody clamouring to put the pictures together. We carried on with the lucky draw, with myself winning an Electric Kettle (2nd prize). It sure seemed odd to receive a lucky draw prize at a dinner I'm MC-ing!

I called representatives from each table up on stage to share about what they had learned from the camp. After they were done with their turn, I thought it was only fair that I shared my view too. As I did, I suddenly felt really emotional and started to break down when I addressed my 'speech' towards the youth, the usual hoopla about how they had so much potential waiting to explode. But this time, I really meant it and I felt so much for them. A bunch of enthusiastic youngsters wanting to be taken seriously, bursting at the seams with so much energy, but yet were equally misunderstood at the same time.

I ended the night with the Pop Quiz game, where only one table (Ps Don's) got the Snuffleapagus question right. We gave away prizes to the winning table (Thomas') of which I was a part of. For the second time that night, I was receiving another prize, this time an NTUC voucher.

After laying hands and praying for me, I made my way home at 10pm with Uncle Desmond (he hitched a ride 'cos he also had to go back to work the following morning).

By God's grace and divine protection, I finally reached home at 11.30pm. What a day!