I'm in a New York State of Mind

Yay! I just broke the news to my mom and dad yesterday that I would be spending Christmas and New Year's Day in New York and they said ok! Imagine just me and a buddy of mine from camp who's gonna fly there from Hawaii spending about 10 to 12 days in NY! The Big Apple! Now, to get them to contribute funds towards my holiday there... :) I think they finally see me as being grown-up. Finally. Since I turned 20, I realized that they do not bother me as much with their many many queries eg. Where have u been? Who were u out with? What time is it now? Sigh. I guess... I've really finally grown up. :)

Now to the nitty-gritty details... How should I get a cheap ticket to NY from Singapore? I thought of taking the SIA non-stop flight to NY but it's like $2000++. There's a cheaper alternative with United, costing between $1200-$1400 that has 2 flights... One stops over at Japan for 2 hours... The other stops over at France for 12 hours. Sigh. But if my friend is flying to NY from Hawaii, he will most likely stop over at Japan rather than France on ANA or JAL. Sigh. But France!!! That's like the dream vacation place! :) Paris, Charles De Gaulle airport... i mean Aéroport CDG. Sigh. Anyone else knows about cheaper alternatives, sms or tagboard me k? Thanks!

And I've planned to watch so many Broadway shows. Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic theater. Wicked at the Gershwin theater. Avenue Q. And whatever else is there... :P Sigh. I can just imagine me at the theaters... gushing and gasping at the rising chandelier at the start of the prologue of Phantom. And screaming when it falls. And gasping again at Elphaba flying with her broomstick at the end of Act 1. Wow... I can just see it.

And snow! Snow! A real white Christmas! With ice skating! This will be the very first time I will ever see snow. Fake or real. It's really the first time. And I'd really love to see the huge Christmas tree at the Rockefeller center... Wonder who will be there this time? Last year was Beyoncé I think. I wonder who it will be this time... And New Year's at Time Square with that big ball descending... That would be damn cool. :)

Will update after I get my itinerary planned and once I have got my fingers on my plane ticket. :P

Found this witty parable on http://www.everything2.com

Very thought provoking.... Though I'm not sure what thought it provokes... Lol. I just realized that Sesame Street was what most of us grew up with... And I think I owe most of my English vocab to that show... :) what do u think?

8. Ernie and Bert were at home. Ernie was standing before a blank canvas wearing a smock and a beret and holding a palette and a paintbrush, as though painting. 9. Bert approached Ernie and asked Ernie what he was doing. 10. "I am finishing a painting," he replied. 11. "But what have you painted? I see nothing," said Bert. 12. Said Ernie: "It is a picture of a cow eating grass." 13. "Where is the grass?" asked Bert, pointing at the blank white canvas, 14. to which replied Ernie, "The cow ate it." 15. "And where is the cow?" asked Bert. To which Ernie replied 16. "Why would the cow hang around if there is no more grass?"
Sesame 6:8-16

Reunion!!!

This is out to all you RJC peeps! :) There will be a huge batch reunion (class of 2002-2003) on 25 June at the new RJC campus at Bishan. A committee's already formed for this thing so all they seek is your support and presence at the above event. I'm definitely going for this one!!! :) I better apply for leave very soon. edit: Just checked. It's a Saturday! :) I definitely need to go see the others - the guys and the gals. Been like what? Nearly 2 years already? sigh....

For more info: visit the following sites... :)

http://rjc2003.tripod.com/

http://xantheus02.blogspot.com/

See all of you RJC people there on 25 June 2005!

Lame lame show...

Wah lau... Eye For A Guy 2 really really sucks. Every guy is really treating the stupid show as a game with a prize at the end - a European trip with Denise. Not as a chance to know Denise better at all; I doubt she will actually hook up with any of the guys after the show ends. Sigh. Anyway, there seems to be discordant tone throughout the show... the natural Singaporean accent tinged with a bit of Chinese stuck out like a sore thumb and fumbled through everything... those with accents (I still haven't figured out who has which accent) just sailed through. Sigh. I have got to learn an accent soon - probably British since it sounds so refined or American since it's so streetwise. :-) There's still hope then - perhaps a fake accent will help.

I Miss The Past

I went to West Mall today to get my ranks sewn on my no 4s today in the afternoon. Bloody expensive I must say but well-worth it since I simply could not be bothered to go to Beach Road, so far away. Especially important to have the ranks sewn nicely since I have CO parade on Monday morning. Avec ma soeur. And an umbrella. When I went out of my house, it was raining damn heavily. The umbrella was a necessity but when I arrived at West Mall, the rain had either stopeed or it hadn't even rained yet. The walk around West Mall with me sis drew stares... Unnecessary stares at my trusty umbrella. I think they were all wondering why I was walking around with an umbrella on my hand. It rained just now for God's sake... Maybe next time, I'll paste a board on my umbrella - "It was raining just now" just to explain the presence of this ramrod straight stick clenched around my hands. Sigh. The things people do when they have nothing else to do.

Anyway, had the opportunity to have a very small lunch (more like a snack) avec ma soeur at McDonald's and ordered drinks and fries. Ordinary yes. But when I poured out the fries from the red box thingy, the quantity appalled me. It was large-sized yes but the quantity did not justify its price - it was more like for medium fries. I remember a time when the large fries filled up half the tray, now it's like a quarter. Sigh. This downsizing was also apparent at Long John's which I went to on Monday, KFC and even Burger King! Sigh... Albeit in different manners. Long John's chicken and fish - they are like 1/3 the original size now. Bite-sized I might say? A terrible pity since I loved Long John's - I guess I won't be there as often as I would like to. KFC? It's the chicken. I remember a time when the chicken was so huge that you wouldn't be able to finish a 2 piece chicken meal alone... now even the thighs and breasts are what... kinda small. Pity. And the burgers - the Colonel's and Shrooms burgers are damn pathetic... You can finish each one in like 2 bites. Sigh. And Burger King - who can deny that the burgers have somehow shrunk save for the Whooper burgers? A huge pity since I remember a time when their marketing campaign used to feature the sizes of their burgers as the main attraction. And I would always leave Burger King feeling totally full.

And now all of that has changed. I totally understand the fact that businesses are finding it hard to survive in a more volatile market controlled by major and expensive currencies like the US dollar, British pound (which I still think is insanely expensive) and the Euro, but is there a better way to solve this rather than downsizing their own products in order to cut costs? A price hike would be worse off I understand because I would never pay more than $6 for any meal at a Fast Food restaurant but... sigh. I miss those times when Fast Food was so filling. Now it's just like a snack, albeit damn unhealthy. Now I will eat Fast Food like prob once or twice a month.

I miss this. I miss that. I miss so many things. I miss school. I miss wearing the school uniform. I miss my classroom. I miss HOMEWORK of all things. I miss morning assembly. I miss being late for school. I miss lectures. I miss all my BMT friends. I miss all my course mates. I miss all my school friends. I miss being the only child. Sigh. But the good things was that I had ma soeur to complain to today. That was nice. And she told me to get a girlfriend. I should - I know. So that I can talk over anything in the world with her - I think that would be my motivation - to just have someone I can talk to about anything at all at anytime I would like. Provided that she can tahan my eccentricities and nerdy exterior. One of my raison d'êtres for university. Hmm... My ultimatum? If I can't find one during Uni, I shall remain a bachelor and have my own pad somewhere in the city. Or overseas. Whichever is better. :)

That is to say that I basically really miss the past. Reminiscing makes me cry sometimes. Just last night I found myself tearing a bit when I looked through some of my BMT pics. I've lost contact with so many of them - sometimes totally forgetting their names. It's the same with some of my school friends. But missing the past is just like mourning over spilt milk. Useless. Futile. What can I actually do other than just imagine what the past was like? Dream up a time machine?

Reflection

I have invaded someone's privacy and I'm truly sorry that I've done so and have caused intense discomfort to the person. I am sorry. This is meant for the person who has strived to find this blog. :) No hard feelings?

Anyway, I went to Jurong Point today with one of my best buddies from camp (how many best buddies can one have? Isn't the term 'best' already superlative? Lol.) A simple dinner. A simple walk around the premise. But I will try and cherish more outings with him - he's going away soon though he refuses to tell me when. This makes me sad - people going away after they've completed NS. Acquaintances who will start a new life when they leave the army. Though I hope that we all still communicate with each other after we've all left the army (I must admit something though: once I leave the freaking army, I'm gonna get a new no the day I get out ;) Friendships are to be treasured. That's my strong belief - one that has gotten me through years of my life. :)

A Whirlwind...

A rather lengthy update guys on 2 rather hectic days - filled with fun and joy at meeting friends, some of whom I've not met for about a year plus.

On Sunday, some of my department mates coaxed me into watching Install at Cathay Cineleisure which I decided to go for, although I had just been there the day before watching Beauty Shop. Great outing... Nice to keep up to date with department mates and how they feel about NS - just like me. The hatred is something we share in common I believe. ;-) The movie left a bitter aftertaste... I'm not sure because of the weird storyline (about a 10 year old boy and a 17 year old girl who pretend to be a sex chat goddess online) or the fact that it burned $8.50 of my money and I didn't enjoy the movie at all. But I didn't really mind. It's the fact that I was with my friends out enjoying myself on a weekend that was the purpose of the day.

There's a strange feeling inside when you're with friends for a change, and not alone walking the lonely Boulevard of Broken Dreams of Singapore sometimes. I always wander around Jurong Point and sometimes Orchard alone when no one can accompany me on my purposeless walks. It feels weird. As if people are staring right through you and dissecting you there on the hard tarmac floor, seething inside with some distaste towards my unattractive dress code or the way I walk. Call me paranoid or insecure... but that's what I am. A bit too self-conscious I must admit. But the walk along Orchard Road made me realise that my life is made up of just 4 things: y family, my friends, my books and Phantom. :-) Important things I hold dear to my heart.

And on Monday yesterday, I decided to go for the annual RJ Symphonic Band concert. Very well done concert with all the pieces done superbly but the main purpose again was not the concert itself - it was meeting up with some really old school friends and supporting them for their alumni performance. People like Andrew, Lionel, Gary, Weibin, Edison, Ibnur and Ichwan - good buddies of mine during school and till now, some of whom have known me for nearly 6 years liao, since Sec 1. It was a very nice feeling to finally actually see them face to face since I had not seen many of them ever since NS began and how they have all changed! NS really does that to you - no matter how much you abhor the bloody thing, no one can admit that the experience has not changed them for the better. What NS has mostly done for me though is this - I have made so many good buddies whom I will never forget for a very long time and I would probably never have met and made friends with if not for NS.

Which reminds me that one of my best buddies brought a cake to camp yesterday morning that he and his mom made for my birthday, a very chocolatey cake which I totally loved. It was really important for me to share my birthday with all my camp mates because I felt that I owed them so much for being a great friend to me, for lending a hand or a listening ear whenever I felt depressed in camp. Thanks so much guys! And gal! :-) You guys are the best!

So here's to all my friends past and present (both from school and all I've met through NS) -THANKS for being such a great buddy! :-)

And finally - HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Can't believe I'm finally 20. No more 'teen' attached to my age. Woah. 20 years passed by just like that. And about 12 years of that was spent in school. What's another 4 years of education compared to 12 years?

A Trip Down Orchard Road

Hello everyone... Just came back 2 hours ago from Orchard after watching a movie at Cathay Cineleisure with one of my bestest buddies ever. :) --> Beauty Shop. Very funny movie with Queen Latifah, Alicia Silverstone and Kevin Bacon.

Queen Latifah literally carried the whole movie on her shoulders. Luckily she had enough pizzazz and well-timed humour to carry it through... The whole movie would have been totally stale if not for her presence.

And Alicia Silverstone was totally cute in this movie. Her Texan(?) accent was so cute... and her hair was funky throughout though I thought when she first appeared in the movie was the cutest ever- two ponytails on both sides from the top of her head, very Baby Spice ;-) She was so loveable in the role! I totally couldn't resist always looking out for her - she sounded and looked so innocent though when she talked to the others, it showed that she knew more than they thought she knew... :P Things like sex and that sort of thing. And her dance at the night club. Damn sexy. And damn funny. The other ladies were like shocked when they saw her gyrating on the dance floor!

And Kevin Bacon... Hmmm. Not sure what to think. He was supposed to be this gay guy from some European country, Sweden I think. He looked the part. He acted the part. But I'm not sure if he was believable enough. I'm pretty sure a swish of the hair and the nose thing he did in the air maketh not the gay man though I may be stereotyping a bit here. Sorry if I offended anyone. But the movie's a good and satisfiable movie.

But be aware of the plot. It's very thin. It veers on serious issues such as inter-racial relationships and the importance of family relationships but simply skims over them. You're never actually shown how they actually feature in the movie and how they're solved because they issue is gone before you even get to think about it. Anyway, watch the movie. The lingo was a bit difficult to understand but once you get a hang of it... It's just a laugh-fest most of the time. :)

And I finally found my beloved Avenue Q Original Broadway Cast Recording! At first, I wanted to buy it at HMV but couldn't find it. So I bought it at Borders instead where I received my first birthday present from my buddy! Thanks! :) Deception Point by Dan Brown... :) You've gotta love Dan Brown. The plots he concocts are like mind-numbing! Like Da Vinci Code. That is a hoot of a book. It became the talk of the world and it now has books discussing the things inside Da Vinci Code! Well imagine that... Another novel explaining a novel. Sigh. :) And Avenue Q is a total blast! Though I have to be careful when I listen to it loudly in my room. The words like "fuck" and "dick" can be clearly heard so I have to be kinda careful around my parents before they start questioning what the heck I actually listen to. "Schadenfreude", "If You Were Gay" and in fact every song in the soundtrack is just superb! :) Can't wait to watch it if I manage to go NY with some buddies in Broadway! Watch Phantom as well and Wicked!!!

And anyway, Orchard is a very interesting place to be in during weekends. Can observe a lot of strange going-ons. I love eavesdropping on people's conversations when I'm like caught in a sudden crowd like at a traffic stop. Strange discussions ensue and I love listening in on their accents... and try to determine whether they are fake or not. Many teens now love adopting strange accents ie American or British and some of them are really totally fake. Like when they start using sentences beginning with "like" and ending it in the same vein. Or when they start bitching about someone they really don't like.

Also, the dress code is still kinda difficult for me to emulate. I'm still not certain what street fashion is... but 2 peculiarities stood out like a sore thumb today. There was a group of teens at the mrt station dressed like total punks with their leaher jackets and leather pants and their mohawk hair cuts. They looked totally ridiculous. I'm not even sure if what they wore was real leather... if it was even leather! Anyway, they would have just died in the heat that has sweeped over Singapore recently. Another one was a couple. The girl was ok but the guy... He looked like a girl with a pink shirt and a girl's plastic hair band. And it didn't help that his hair flared up above his head and he was carrying this big bag on 1 of his shoulders... those kind that girls like to carry their thingies in. Was probably his girlfriend's. Lol.

Anyway, that's all from me till tomorrow where I shall be at Cathay again to watch Install with about 2 or 3 more good buddies of mine from camp. See ya till then! :P

A Cool New Blog...

This is a super cool new site. It's called PostSecret and that's what it basically is. Anonymous people send in their postcards with their secrets on it and send it to the address given. The premise is alluring and tempting. Confessing a secret to the world anonymously, getting it off your chest and no one knows who you are. And it is posted on the site. And some of the secrets are kinda shocking but some really hit home. Some are too close for comfort. Seriously. Maybe I'll send in one soon...

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