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Originality my arse. World wide web, go figure.
Friday, February 29, 2008

If I were not as mature to know that things in life weren't fair, even in the humble household, then I would now be ranting on about the biased fucked up shit that runs in mine. But no. Forget it. There's no use complaining because my parent's mindset won't change from their rigid bias.

So f that.

I feeling crabby now. Because I'm exhausted, from three days straight of sports at 2+ hours each, with little rest of 5 hours give or take. Recently almost all my lectures have put me to sleep, a worrying trend that may see to poor results. Futhermore coupled with this nonsense I have to put up with my family, I don't see much escape except in school, out of CCA and lectures.

Whiling my time away doodling is about one of the most relaxing things I could do, so that gives you an idea of how degraded my entertainment has become.

It's the 29th of February. No, I am original and did not copy anybody's crap about posting for the leap year. That aside, before some arsehole comes along and says I ripped material off him thought it was on the internet and free for EVERY GODDAMN PERSON ON F*ING EARTH, oh f. I can't be bothered. I thought I'd write lots, upload some pics, but forget it. I'm pissed.

Goodnight. Hope you had fun on this extra day. Once in four years.

What a lousy way to end it then. Going to bed angry.

penned by joel at 10:28 PM

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smile my arse
Monday, February 25, 2008

Just a sidenote. Comments about my 'posed' smile are irritating. Goddamn it I can't smile any other way, unless I contort my face and force it into a muscle pulling yank to show my teeth.

That 'posed' smile, FYI, is my only natural smile that I can come up with. If I pose with my teeth showing, it's highly unnatural, and very uncomfortable. So no, I can't smile any other way. >Y

penned by joel at 5:35 PM

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ah finally

The only day in the past two weeks that I've actually returned home at a civilised 3pm. How quaint, to be able to unpack my back without the pitch blackness engulfing my room, and Joseph, in his dreary slumber.

This update brings you images from the Singapore Airshow, a highly anticipated event that led to somewhat disppointment. Thankfully, under the Aerospace Induction programme islandwide for instituitions, I had a discounted rate of $10, rather than the robbery of 20 that Joseph and the rest got for their poor money's worth.


The weather there coulda been better, but at least the Sun wasn't in full blast, hidden partially behind the clouds as we squinted up for a better view. Travelling at Mach 2, the F16 is Singapore's widest fleet of interceptors. Agile and capable of 9G turns, this head turner is used widely in over 20 different countries. The F-15 on the other hand, recently purchased, goes at around twice the cost of an F-16, (29-30 million), and can achieve up to Mach 2.5. Just for a comparison, The Airbus A380 flies at a mere 0.85 Mach.


Scramjets, the fastest technology has to offer for airspace, fly at a maximum of Mach 15 (prototypes), while working ones are at 12. Launched from a rocket assisted ramp of vertical ascent, they can boast travel of Australia to Los Angles in two hours. cue *whoa*


Here ya go, picture montage.




Ah this was a second too late, or not I'd have gotten the 6 F-16s in a priceless shot. ):



The T-50 Advanced trainer jet with a swivelling jet stream. Awesome! Lol.



The green giant, Airbus 380 has set new bars in avaition costs towards the suppliers, and my, the pilot was one skilled dude to manouvere this hunka carbon at such tight turns.



Some jet trainer, cant remember the brand, but it's formation flying was spectacular, with them no less than 3m apart from each other, it takes lotsa nerve to maintain formation and still keep an eye out for your partners.



An amazing close-up shot of the Black Knights, not all of them, but it was zoomed in to 12x, and one of the best shots in my camera that day.



Preparing for the fan formation after a sharp 360 degree turn from striaght up, to straight plummeting. Kewl. :D

Dinner was at East Point, a claustrophobic mall that saw to the many heartlanders satisfaction. Nothing was of interest there, except for the $7 i blew on FPS games there. A real testament to seeing if you're gaming was as good as in reality when taking aim. Of course, just without the exhaustion of running around with a 3.8kg rifle. (tried a SAR21 M203? it's a whopping 5.3, I ached under it's weight when trying it at AOH)

Cheers for another time. And this post was to show that no, I do not blog about only the girls. But on another note, I'm estatic, Cheryl made it into TPJC! She called this morning while at Meridian's orientation, and the bunch of us were high. But then i guess you wouldn't wanna know the details, so I'll spare the lot.

Cheers! :D *overjoyed*

penned by joel at 4:01 PM

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the past week
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Here's what I've been up to for the past weeks, sleeping over at Sabrina's for Saturday and Sunday, started with tennis from the second photo. I didn't bother to include Valentine's day, but it was still an enjoyable day. Went to watch Juno, a loosely tied movie but with a plot we can easily relate to. The soundtrack was refreshingly creative, worth a shot youtubing.

The day of the results, we exchanged some farewell cards, should we have parted ways, but luckily three of us four got in. Cheryl's appealed in but pending the results. Sigh. Here goes anyways, with pictures to sub for some content I may lack.



You say I post too much about the girls? Well fine, I printed this picture and wrote some postcard liket hing, gave it to those in the picture whom I still keep in touch with. I.e. mark, ben and yi chen. 'Cept I haven't met Yi Chen yet, to pass it to him.



We played about two hours of tennis, an exhausting but thoroughly fun round. This was taken by Sab's sister, Trina, who's just as fun as her sis. :o





Dessert at some Hong Kong restaurant, one of the horde that have overtaken Singapore. Not too bad, an ice shaved dessert with fresh fruits, sweet, albeit a commonly spammed concept.





Saturday night, just before we were about to watch a movie then turn in. We went to bed by 3am that night, only for me to wake up at 7 the next morning from my irritating body clock. Sigh.





En route to Sab's church on a Sunday morning. We didn't plan prior, but only found out later that Cheryl and I were wearing same brands, Esprit tops, swatch watches and Fox bottoms. :Y



Blacks and white. The University of Newcastle free dry fit tee we got from attending a talk, was not bad. The design and the versatility of using the shirt was a compensation from the boring talk we were put through. Heh.
-

An impromptu plan on Tuesday, we decided to go over to my place to cook dinner, after Joseph screwed the badminton plans upside down. So here's what we came up with, the food I mean.


Appetizer, Japanese cold soba noodles and dipping sauce. This was a bit of a cheat, since it was ready made and easy to prepare, but what the hey, it was still yummy.



Main course number one, grilled cheese and mushroom sandwich, with ham, cucumber, buttered lightly and another slice of cheese. On the side? A golden ommelette with mushrooms, bacon, and slices of onion. In all honestly, it was the best ommelette I've ever cooked, and the best sandwich I've ever made. Friends around can make you lots more motivated to be a perfectionist.



Main course 2, the finest dish we cooked up, bacon and mushroom Aglio Olio. Our first time, stir fried with lots of cloves of garlic, onion and who can forget chilli padi. One potent and awesome dish that I'd cook anytime for my family. The aroma's good enough to whet your appetite, just ask Joseph.



Dessert, a colourful combination of cucumber, raisins, apples, parmesan cheese and italian dressing. Interesting concoction, spontaneously by Sabrina.




Combine allt he courses of the meals, and multiply by three, and you get a feast fit for a roman king. As you can infer, some ingredients repeat themselves often, and that's the whole crux of budgetary expenditure. We stretched our dollar to an extent I didn't know possible. Isn't it gastronomic? Japanese, Italian and something club sandwich-y. Part of the joy was gobbling it, but majority came from the preparation. A daunting task but sure worth the effort. :)




Grub's up! It was no easy task gobbling all that chow down. All mouth watering and all in huge protions. Thoroughly satisfying though, because by the time we got down to eating, it was 6pm. We started out at 3. Cooking's not for the impatient.


We went over to East Coast Park shortly after dinner, the allure of sunset was a plus, including the convenience of just heading out the back gate of my estate to the tranquil seaside.





Soon this will be crawling with canoeists or up market food and beverage outlets, so for now let's really appreciate it's true value. A more or less pristine seaside as compared to the intoxicating over charged Sentosa.


Artistic? I hope so, nowadays I try playing around with the colour, it may be that of a beginner, but a start to some skill at least. End of Monday.




We took this shortly after bubble tea at the nearby frequented outlet, passing by the homely letters of Tampines JC. I asked the security guard to snap this shot. Lol. (Friday last week)







An interesting end to the evening, we played around with the shadows, finally striking upon the idea of taking some kissing scene. :D I took this with Shermaine. The proximity of our faces were so close, it was titillating for a moment.

I got home at around 9, too tired to upload and just in time to make up for my 6 hour rest. At least we didn't go through PAE without one outing. Ah, the sense of belonging to TPJC. It's there, but I couldn't be bothered for some segments of the orientation. Only the talks, mass dance and choir auditions, that I skipped. The mass dance, I had a slight interest in, but I was feeling really crabby then. Cuz while some know the results of their JC appeals, Cheryl hasn't, and I know I'd be miserable if she didn't get into TPJC.

Hope this post was worth the delay and wait for you.

penned by joel at 6:14 PM

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infuriation
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I was just about to post an extremely long post on the past few week, in all honesty, but the arrogance and utterly rigid thinking of my dad has left me fuming like mad.



Have you ever had a path so well thought of, or an idea so well developed, only to have your parent come and completely diss it to the point of making you look extremely stupid and criticize you like a pawn?



I had a subject combination in mind, H2 geog, maths and econs, and H1 physics. I won't bother to elaborate, but he simply said that it was a combination with NO FUTURE, and I was stupid for choosing such.



Please give me your opinions, and I hope you aren't too dissed by my infrequency.

penned by joel at 8:07 PM

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IMPORTANT!
Sunday, February 17, 2008

DISREGARD THE AUTRALIA UPDATE. SOMETHING IS SCREWY WITH MY COM. JOSEPH CAN VOUCH, PLEASE DO NOT GET PISSED. AS SUCH, I CANNOT FUFIL THE PROMISE OF UPDATING BY THIS WEEK. SORRY. ASAP.

penned by joel at 3:39 PM

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Apologies
Monday, February 11, 2008

My sincerest apologies to those of you irritated for waiting. I have been at it for two days now, but things keep getting in the way of me finishing my post. Rest assured, however, it'll be well worth the wait. I threw a dash of humour, a generous scoop of pictures, and an assortment of opinions.

Down under was a memorable break from the usual Chinese New Years, and I can assure you the post'll be up by the end of the week. Really, that's a horrid promise, but I've got plans from Wednesday onwards up till Sunday that could stretch into the night, and the homework pile isn't getting any thinner. Throw in fatigue and the early mornings, and you've got a really delayed deadline for this long due post.

My bad, and I look forward to hearing your opinions soon. Happy Lunar New Year!

penned by joel at 9:59 PM

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Australia08
Sunday, February 10, 2008

First of, I would like to express my own disappointment that I could not have done this earlier. An ambitious post thrown in with the lousy timing of the stress and packedness of JC. Well here it is anyway, I'll be doing others later on Valentine'd, perhaps Chinese New Year, too, but please be patient ok?




The Blue Mountains, with a meandering maze of plateaus in the backdrop.






The pristine blue mountains, aptly named for the chemical substance released by the dense eucalyptus trees of the temperature rainforest.




A wonderful candy we picked up in the Leura Mall. Mind you their mall is not a large shopping centre, but due to the abundance of space, it's a long broadwalk of shophouses, selling the rang eof goods and services a typical mall would offer. A refreshing view compared to the typical claustrophobic constraints of a multi storeyed complex. Back to the candy, Simpkins, a hard candy sweet in a metallic canister that Zheng Wen would be reminded of Ricola. Simple, yet tasty and long lasting, this S$6 candy was sure worth the buy.



Fairmont Resort





I mar the beautiful picture with my image... heheh...























One of the steepest railway lines in the world, the track can at its peak, incline at 52 degrees from the normal.







Many people say this looks like Bukit Timah reserve. I say they should be shot.




























I also don't know why Joel took a picture of this. Utterly randomness.









Click Five.


The Mist.









Flight of the ducklings.



















The Fish Market, a seafood haven for those lovers. I am not much of a fan except for prawns. Don't know why, but I simply cant get enough of those crunchy critters of the sea. King prawns, mega lobsters and eye opening crabs of proportions you'd raise an eyebrow at, in this market of fishy whiffs. They don't come cheap either, but sure beats the miniscule shrips you get in Spain. A gamut of sea critters and fishes, and it's all laid out colourfully for you as you tour the premises.










Every major country has a Chinatown, and Sydney is no exception. The extent of their grasp and influence knows little bounds. This Chinatown, however, had a slight sleazy feel, disgusting me. The lanterns and festivities, however, for the Lunar New Year there, was a homely feel from what I missed in Singapore. A home away from home, with the warmth from good ol' chinese food.



We tried the ang moh palate there, to little effect of awe, but to much of bore. Plenty of tastless meats and preserved goods, with the exception of seafood. It seems their imagination knows many bounds, and sauces mean little to them. Thai and Chinese remain the top for my spicy loving palate, and I won't mind if you beg to differ. For those of you who haven't travelled or tasted much, trust me you're not miising out on much, and there's nothing quite like homely ol' Asian fare. :)







A candid shot of my dad, the image of a carefree holiday back where we were several years back. The choopy sea rocks the ferries bobbing, looking at it can easily get the faint hearted seasick. The promenade was lined with palm trees, a scene of



People come to see the Opera House, but Joel wants a seagull in the picture. Talk about missing the forest for the trees. -.-





















The many urban scapes of the not-to-be-missed Sydney Harbour, some with the famous Opera House and it's vast plaza before it, some of the twisted metal forming the heavily plied Sydney Harbour Bridge. One of the attractions are the Bridge walk, a titillating walk metres above sea level, precariously on the curved top of the bridge. Not for the faint hearted, seeing toursists scale it from even metres away, you can feel the fear they must have thumping in their hearts. The wind so relentlessly threatening their step. Dammit we didn't go for it. D:



The final few pictures fall under the urban sprawling city, littered strategically with skyscrapers and an efficient metro.






On our way past the many lanes, to the Queen Victoria Building. For some breakfast, as the service apartments don't provide meals with their rates.









Queen Victoria Building, an upper class shopping centre in all its Victorian splendor, a grand retail building that saw us to Saturday's breakfast in a quiet Asian eatery, tucked snugly away in one corner. A strong prawn whiff of my decision of their Ipoh hor fun sent me quickly regretting the choice. Their Roti Chennai, Malaysia's version of our Roti Prata, was not too bad, price aside. If I recall correctly, it was a whooping S$7.50 for ONE plain prata and curry. Deathly.



A art photpgraphy gallery on the upper floor featured brilliant works of a local self-trained photographer. Stunning panoramic images that struck nostalgia and desire, inspiration and warmth. Purchasing any of his works was a mere dream, with his pieces at exorbitant prices. A shame it was, but I'd like to do something of a similar calibre in future, for leisure.






The flea market at The Rocks, the first settlement down under where hordes of convicts were sent to, to create a population and grow a new world for crowded ol' Britain. A novel idea, whereby convicts were later released after serving terms for their petty crimes, and then sent off with land to prosper in this new world.












En route to Sydney International Airport, what looks ike a Boeing 777 touches down. A slighly warmer day, it was, and this was taken in the wee 7am, when we had to wake up at 5.30 for the airport shuttle. My gosh even holidays don't escape from the early morning commute dawhn undah. :D














-







A memorable vacation, albeit a simple and short one, but a memorable one nonetheless. I arrived jetlagged and in fatigue, back in sunny home sweet home, owing to the short sleep the last night. It felt good, however, to be back home. I badly missed some people while I was gone, despite it being only 5 wet days.










I bet Zheng Wen woulda loved the Blue Mountains, though I've been there before, age was a barrier to unlocking the few recollections I had to this area when I was a wee little lad. Geography struck me in many locations of this mountain range, chunked with valleys, plateaus and countless layered Sandstones that stretched as far as the eye could see. Temperate rainforests caked the dense valleys, and there were plentiful houseflies that daringly hung on tight while you swatted them irritably away.










Not a perfect locale for a geography field trip, untouched landscapes of New Zealand would trump it hands down, but it no doubt got me wishing I had one overseas before. It's the trip away from home when I think it's really when you get to know your friends. Their personal lifestyles are

penned by joel at 4:35 PM

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