Tetris/Brick game/Block game..

Did u get it??

The 5 characters are from the game tetris..

Locker or wall?

Latest addition to the 'either or' series of questions! Locker or Wall?

For those who are keen to find out more..gimme ur answer & i'll tell u the qn in full..heh..

3rd entry in a nite..

Hmm..maybe it's to compensate for the lack of blog entries lately..this is my third one within 20 mins..

Some things have come a full cycle already..one of my first blog entries was on MsK's birthday..a year ago..& guess wat it's her birthday again today..shall i sing a bday song..? nah..anyway, i also remembered she called me in London during my birthday last year..& this year, it was my turn to call her..in SA..so many things happened in this 1 year hor..

Let me introduce..

Mr I : The aristocrat of the group. Super-efficient. The only one who can clear four lines at once.
Mr O : The, er, square. Stubborn to a fault, he cannot be turned.
Mr T : The opposite of Mr O, he swings either way.
Messrs L and J : The twins can clear three lines each.
Messrs S and Z : Commoners who have lived together for so long that they look alike.
Sounds familiar?? I'm sure you know them..it might be quite some time ago since you last saw them..but am pretty sure u've met them at least once before..

Still can't figure out what characters are they..? Hint : I got their profile from Digital Life..

The nite i got sprayed with toilet jet..

Just when i was lamenting about how boring my life was..had a rather interesting nite wif a few frens yesterday..
There were 4 of us..including the 2 JMs..one back from UK & the other back from NZ(rem wat i said about my frens are all over the world)..we met up at this cosy little place in Gillman Village..the food & drinks were not too bad..but wat was more interesting was..the toilet system..

The NZ JM..whom i just realised, has this thing for 'checking out toilet flush system' everywhere she goes(think she must have mixed with sheep too much, brain all gone woolly)..'there's the tap system, the sensor system, the pull system, blah³..' giving me a 2-min overview on toilet flushes..and there she was..inspecting the toilet in the restaurant when she found this button next to the toilet bowl..'wat's this?' 'maybe it's the toilet flush?' someone offered helpfully ' flush? i don't think so..' & the next thing we knew, a jet of water sprayed straight out from the toilet bowl onto the 3 helpless frens standing outside the cubicle..

'WAT WAS TAT?' we demanded..'u see? i knew it wasn't the toilet flush! it's for washing ur a**h***!' and NZ JM happily pressed the button AGAIN..& we got sprayed on AGAIN..& to think tat we were standing some 3m outside the cubicle..imagine the force on ur a**h*** when u're sitting directly on the toilet bowl..@_@

Ok..enuf about the NZ JM..we'll talk about UK JM now..she's been away in UK for the past 3,4 years? maybe the london bombings had gotten to her but we thought it was rather morbid when she revealed she has the habit of glancing at the orbiturary when flipping thru the newspapers..at the grand old age of..27++

Anyway, we decided it's time she be 'singaporeanised' again..why do we say so? When i say a 'dinosaur & tissue' supper, u'd know(or do u not too) tat i'm referring to the milo drink & the tissue prata..And even though it was only recently tat i've gotten the official definition(from the authoritative kopi tiam down the road) of tissue & paper prata..but at least i know, & of cos eaten, them before..but UK JM has never in her 23 years in Sg heard about the existence of tissue/paper prata.& when.we tried to get her to guess wat a dinosaur was..giving hints like it's a 'power' version of milo..all she can come up with was a lame 'red bull'..sigh..someone get the lady a dinosaur please..

My my..i really do have some interesting frens..

summary of my not-so-interesting week

Wow..din realise it had been a week since i last blogged..

Was i really tat busy? hmm..ya lah, ok-busy lah..but also not no-time-to-eat busy..Lazy? Never denied this..hmm, think it's more of there's nothing 'blog-worthy' recently..

Let me recall the week tat passed..wed - office, thur - office, fri - msia, sat - msia, sun - msia, mon - work, tue - work..tat's about it lor..nothing particularly worth mentioning about the msia trip too..except tat i ate like a pig(even this is not news to frens..i think)..Oh, the resort we stayed in sedili has got fantastic views of the south china sea though..can sit on the deck chairs(made of bamboo, first time see) and nuah away the day kind..best thing is, it's facing the east, so it offers a chance to see sunrise over the horizon..i did make an effort to wake up early to catch the sunrise..but alas, the sky was a tad bit(oh, getting influenced by this phrase) cloudy..so all i managed to see was some orangey hews behind the cottony backdrop..hmm..i'll be back..even if it's just for the half-chance of seeing a perfect sunrise..

And of yes, how can i forget last nite..a simple dinner wif meng at chinatown ended up being a 'mail-drop exercise' around my estate..hmm..waiting for hours for appts..helping to pack office..free labour..think she must have saved my life before in my previous life..

Yup, tat's life..at least in this life..

2 weddings and a funeral..

Remember the movie '4 Weddings & A Funeral'? Think it was some 10 years ago..in fact, more than tat..since i remember i was in sec 4 when i caught the movie..(opps, unwittingly let out my age liao)

It was my fave movie for quite a while back then..anyway, as far as i can remember, Hugh Grant met this lady(Andie MacDowell) at a wedding.. 3 more weddings & a funeral later..he decided she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with..

In the past 1 month or so..i've attended 2 weddings & a funeral..while i did not meet the love of my life on any of these occasions..i did sort of decide wat to do with my life..for the next 2 years at least..

And coincidentally during this period, no less than 5 pax had asked me about my plans for the future too..must say i'm quite touched at their concerns..it's frens like these tat u can really claim 'mei you bai jiao'

The latest 'function' i attended was tat of my lao shi's funeral(if u had followed my blog, u would realised this)..where the one thing everyone remembered about her was her passion & dedication to music..

Now..wat do i want to be remembered for when i die..& tat should guide me into my future..

Tribute to Wang Bin Lao shi (1954 - 2006)

Had gone down to the wake with wei last nite..we were slightly baffled by the fact tat compared to the rest of our teachers, we felt relatively close to wang bin lao shi..it's like, she taught us music only once a week(or so i think) during our lower-sec days..it's not tat much..if u're comparing with other subjects like english or maths(i shan't mention chinese cos i think wei will have an adverse reaction if i do so) where u see the teacher almost everyday(or so i think again..i really dun rem much about lessontime in sch..)

In any case, wang bin lao shi did leave a deeper-than-most-teacher impression on me..despite the fact tat i'm not the most musically-inclined student(hey u, stop sniggering) nor a choir member(though i think i did attend a few choir sessions before..aiya, was hanging out with quite a few choir members then mah)..wat i remember about her most were her larger-than-life size..her booming voice..& of cos, her passion for music..

Did not really have much news of her after i left sch..so it was a bit of a shock to receive news of her passing away last weekend..When we took one final look at her yesterday, she had lost weight since our school days..apparently from the chemo treatments for her liver cancer..

May lao shi rest in peace..

wang bin lao shi

Received news tat my music teacher in sec sch has passed away this afternoon..condolences to her family..

crushes

I finally have some time for my fave activity - read the papers..(wat did u think i was gonna say? have crush?!)

Was rather amused with this Life's article..& coincidentally, i just read a blog on crushes too..

'The whole of my being would be..concentrated on the existential plane of sharing time-space with such a wonderful person..Crushes may come in many shapes and forms..but they all share a characteristic of distance..they represent the gaping gulf over which we must leap to reach our desired selves and lives..
Whether you confront a crush depends on how much you want a particular dream to materialise..And whether your answer to such a confrontation is yes or no, the foregone conclusion is that if their worlds are the ones you wish to belong to, then you alone must have the courage to get there - with or without them..
Re-reading my communications with an ex-crushie had me roaring with laughter for five minutes..Even i thought the me of yesteryear sounded like a wild, deranged stalker..'

Hmm..when was my last crush..?? Well, tat's for me to know..& u to find out..hahaha :Þ

The day after the race..

Yes..Team SA had survived the race..& as a team, we managed to complete the race..though i think we barely managed to avoid coming in last(2nd last)..but as snowman puts it so rightly, we aim to complete not compete..we're afterall, all virgin adventure racers..

Just wanna say a big THANK YOU to all who had shown their support to Team SA..particularly to our 'sponsor' ou xiang..who not only delivered our bikes early in the morning but also went round the route taking photos of us(though i wished she hasn't taken so many of me in the waters)

The post-event report will come after i come back from my dim sum 'carbo loading back' session with the alumnis..

Campus Superstar

Just finished watching the post-campus superstar celebrations episode..quite enjoyed the series actually..though i did not catch every single episode..it's easily my favourite among the many reality contests recently..wat superhost..superidol..din make any effort to watch them..in fact the only episode of superidol i watched was the finals when i was having my latenite dinner with meng at a kopi tiam..or maybe cos CS is a singing contest..so i can relate better..since i often receive 'comments' about my singing too..??!!

Was watching the CS finals along with a tired ms chan last nite..while i had no grouses about the overall champion..was just a tad sad for my personal favourites(told u i'm a semi-fan liao) - adriano & geraldine..just find tat adriano's more entertaining & geraldine more 'sud' lor..

Anyway..think the other reason why i like this programme is tat i personally feel the contestants are genuinely enjoying themselves & u dun find it condescending when they say 'i dun feel sad about being eliminated or i'm just glad i came so far' sort of stuff..the contestants being teenagers, seem so true & somehow, u believe them when they say they will treasure the friendship & bonding among them..whereas some of the adult contestants in other contests just appear so 'fake'..

Ahh..the innocence of the young..sigh..

the race

Yes..our race..let's start from the very beginning..shall we? it's gonna be a long blog..so grab a cuppa & make urself comfy..

Left home at 0630 to cycle from my place to the bike deposit area..reached 5 mins later & instructor was already there..got our bikes from ou xiang..was asking her for the rest of our stuff when she let out a big 'OPPS!' Apparently, she had packed all our equipment into a bag & left the bag..AT HOME..

But no worries, we had 2 hours to our flag-off and there was ample time for her to drive home & back..so instructor and i just sat at the carpark & ate our breakfast while waiting for our team member 10 to come..10 reached just before 0700 & we just sort of indulged in each other's excitement & gan-chiongness for a bit..

Shortly after, ou xiang returned with our stuff & we started distributing our equipment..camel bag - check, power gel - check, gloves - check, compass - check, blah³...once done, we deposited our bikes & went down to padang for registration..

It was the SOP at the registration counter..check in bags, body marking, etc..(oh, the bibs..pink! so 'tak-match' with my attire) Of cos, there were the usual good luck hugs & hi-fives all round(aiya, most of the officials are 'ga ki lang' mah) With time to spare, we even went for a warm-up run..

The open categories got flagged off first..some of them looked real pro..& we jokingly commented, in terms of gear & outlook, we're among the top..no matter wat, we'll not lose in terms of 'sey'..

Aha..it's our turn for the flag off..baaahhh..airhorn sounded & off we went..we had to run from our start point at padang to prince edward rd where we had deposited our bikes earlier..it wasn't exactly tat far but i got mild stitches 5 mins into running..i always had this dilemma..i'll get stitches without fail, if i eat anything within 3 hrs of running..but boh bian, if i dun eat, how am i supposed to last thru the race?

Anyway, we got to checkpoint 1..where our first challenge was to inflate the balloon & twist it into a sword..we spent 5 mins searching for our air pump & a good 10 mins inflating the balloon..in the process, we must have burst 4 or 5 balloons & scolded twice as many f***..

Tat done, we took our bikes & cycled to mt faber..on the way, 10's bike chain came off & she the youngest, in terms of cycling age, managed to put it back on her own..well done! Continued to cycle to the foot of mt faber..we could cycle or push our bikes up(we chose the latter option), checked in at the second checkpoint & continued on foot to the top of the hill..was panting quite a bit when we got there..but the task, shading the letters of 'ADVENTURE SINGAPORE 2006' off murals on the wall was relatively easy for us..

Made our way down to collect our bikes & this time, we had to cycle into Sentosa..did a sudoku at CP 3..decided to combine efforts with a few other teams(from diff categories obviously) then ran off to the rope stations..

As we didn't have our own harnesses, we had to queue up for them..waited about an hour before it was our turn..getting some rest & chatting with other times in the meantime..first up was the rope ascending..since only 2 members needed to do it, we decided to let 10 rest cos we needed her for the swimming section..so i went up first..was 3/4 up when 'BOK!' i had hit my head against the ceiling..my vision spun for 2 secs..but thank goodness for the helmet..if not, i think my IQ score would drop 20 points(i had hit my head too while trying out the traverse on sat)

Instructor came up next without much difficulty & together with 10, we made our way to the abseiling section..as mentioned in my earlier blog, we agreed instructor will be the lead when it's running time, 10 to be THE(one & only) swimmer in the waters..so i'll be the first in all rope course..abseiling was a breeze for us..each taking no more than 10 secs to abseil 3 storeys down..

Time for traverse..it was slighly tougher than the tryout at padang cos it was further & so the rope sagged a bit towards the middle & we were actually skimming on water surface half the time..the last 10% was really a test of arm power which thankfully all of us had..

Done with the rope station, we went back to collect our bikes & cycled back to prince edward rd..from there, we were to get to fullerton..it was 1+pm & the sun was out shining in full force.. the run there was quite a killer, at least for me..but i would think instructor had no problems sprinting off..

We sort of knew we had to get into the waters at fullerton..true enuf, we were supposed to jump off the sidewalk ledge into the open waters underneath..take a look at 2 pictures placed on the walls & answer a few qns on them..sounds simple right? but dun forget, 2 out of 3 are non-swimmers!

As promised, we(meaning instructor & i lah) did not make a fuss over jumping into the waters..like we said, jumping into the waters is not a problem for us..the problem only begins after we jump in..*o*

It must have been quite a scene when all 3 of us were in the waters..with 10 trying to hold on to the both of us & yelling out instructions 'lie on ur back! open up ur arms! thought i told u all to practise kicking on ur bed last nite?!' (we did not forget our sense of humour even in the waters) Even ou xiang who was there couldn't help but to scream at us too 'keep left keep left!' All the while, instructor and i can only reciprocate with 'am i doing it correctly? am i moving in the right direction?' Think we were easily the noisiest team around.. :Þ

And for the last 10m, i was actually hugging onto the safety canoe who veered me towards the merlion steps..In any case, 10 lived up to her words and managed to push/drag/shove us to shore..applause applause! *as ou xiang commented over lunch today, we, rather than the waves, were more of a hazard to the other teams, & apparently quite a few teams had to swim a big loop just to avoid us..hahaha

With the most challenging part(for us) completed, we continued the last section of the race..running back to padang..all the way asking 'how do i look? is my hair messy?' (rem..'sey' is very impt to us) We had one last task to complete..& tat was to climb up the rockwall..& only one team member need to do so..

Since 10 has already done so much in the waters..the choice was between me or instructor..she has more 'arm power' while i had slightly better technique..so we settled for the fairest method of deciding - scissors, paper, stone. Instructor's scissors cut thru my paper & off i went..there was actually one point when i was just holding on to the grips using my 2 arms with both feet dangling in the air..a big no-no in rockwall climbing..but wat the heck, it was the last part already! Used watever strength i had got left in me and reached for the last grip & finally, Team SA had completed the race..

Dunno dun care wat our timing was..we were just glad we managed to finish the race..congrats to us to thank you to all..

Races..

Being caught up in the race fever recently..

There's the Amazing Race asia edition where i've been talking about joining for the longest time but only got down to doing the necessary the day before..& only to realise there're quite a lot of documents to submit..not exactly mt everest..but at least a mt kk..esp when my teammate's currently at 'the other end of the world' right now..literally.. Ushuaia to be exact..

Anyway, the conclusion is..i did not sign up..*.* i accept the blame for all these last minuteness..already got nehhed by my well-meaning frens(who were so looking forward to directing my audition clip)

And then of cos, there's the Adventure Race happening tmr..& yes, i'm really participating in it despite my non-swimmer status(it's not an april's fool joke) Together with instructor & 10, our confidence level has fluctuated quite a bit..from the initial 'we aim for top 3' at the very beginning..to 'ok lah, top 5, at least still got prize' after the first training session..to 'let's just try our best' after the 'a lot harder than tat time' rope ascending earlier today..

Oh well..we'll know our results in..another 14 hrs or so..hopefully..