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!

Church Camp 2007: Day 1

After being postponed for a year, we finally went for our church camp at Tanjong Puteri Resort. I only managed to join the group on Tuesday morning due to work commitments on Monday.

Getting there was quite a bitch. Got played out by the stupid flyover outside Carrefour (that is FINALLY complete after taking forever) along the Tebrau Highway. So after getting lost and braving some unexplored territory, I finally arrived (with my friend Isaac in tow who probably almost puked in the car!) at about 8.30 in time for Morning Devotion! Yippee!

After breakfast, we broke into groups to do our stuff. I handled the youth to share about the Power of Praise: what it can do and why we should do it (this is my own unofficial title for the presentation lah). It was really fun sharing with the youth and in the midst of doing so I obtained fresh revelation about P&W that I never knew before.

Lunch was buffet with the usual spread. I chowed down quite a bit of salad since I had been pigging out quite a lot the few days before. After lunch, we all headed back to our villas to prepare for the corporate games out in the field, under the scorching hot sun!

As a bystander (and supposed referee who didn't do much), it was hilarious watching the teams play the games. R&R time followed but I didn't have much time to rest with the night session still left unprepared. I put together another simple presentation entitled Who Am I?: Realising your full potential & putting it to good use. With that done, I had barely enough time to catch a quick nap before dinner happened at 6pm.

Not one to complain, but dinner was quite horrible so I didn't eat much. It was hilarious to watch Desmond tease the waitress about having kambing soup instead of the planned 'egg drop' soup.

After dinner was back to the villa with the youngsters again. This session saw them doing a SWOT analysis about themsleves and pairing up to find out certian things about their partner that nobody knows about. The results were surprising, funny and mind-boggling all at the same time.

Topics we touched on included (but not restricted to): benefits of boxer shorts, dangers of eating too much junk food, gays and tranvestites, clubbing, passing gas after eating certain foods. We all had so much fun talking and sharing that we didn't even realise that time had gone by until Uncle Larry and Auntie Teresa came back with their snoozing kids. I didn't have time to finish up what I had planned!

Ending the session with a prayer, everybody returned to their respective villas to do their own stuff. Me, I showered, had a short discussion with Auntie Esther about the following day's corporate games, went through the meditation verse and decided to sleep after not being able to decipher the meaning.

It sucks to be sleepy.

Toy report #1

Like all women who can't resist handbags and shoes in a sale, I couldn't help but part with $55 of my hard earned money as this offer was too good to pass. And the uncle in the shop telling me 'This is my last pair' didn't help much either.

Jumping on the whole TRANSFORMERS bandwagon, I grabbed these two buggers off the shelf faster than you could say 'More than meets the eye'. Made by Japanese toy company Kaiyodo, this is a new range of super poseable action figures called REVOLTECH. Other figures in the series include the robots from EVAGELION, Trigun, Revy from the anime Black Lagoon (who gives Lara Croft a run for her money with her, er, 'weapons of mass destruction'. Heheh!), the police robot from PATLABOR and other such similar gems. They are ball jointed at the appropriate places, which gives them their super poseability.

I have been resisting the temptation to buy one of these little babies as they don't come cheap; they normally retail for $30 each. Damn evil, then, of the uncle to offer such an irresistible bargain! These little guys also come with interchangeable hands, heads, etc, so that, like clothes, you can customise them according to your mood. Megatron comes with an extra head featuring his trademark evil grin. Optimus, well, doesn't have much facial expression to speak of so he only comes with one head.