Thursday, December 22, 2005

22 December 2005

Argh...my pledge to keep a record of my life for every single day of this month has been ruined for I am unable to recall the happenings of the past five days. I am disappointed and to some extent...almost lost the motivation to blog anymore. Does anyone know what I did for the past five days? If yes please tell me.

Today, my family would "celebrate" the er...festival is it? which my parents and grandparents name "guo dong" and we go about this by making Tang Yuan. I and my sis have been helping my grandmother roll out the different coloured dough into hundreds of little balls year after year and this year would be no exception. It was very satisfying to see five different small coloured smalls (size of a small marble) dumped into hot water one by one and then of course the finished product: All balls dunked into a large bowl of "tang shui" which was delicious. Adding to the fun of eating the tang yuan would of course be the myriad colours seen in the bowls.

Shortly after the making and the consuming of the Tang Yuan, I went down to Marina Bay to meet weng, dinie and shu xie to go bowling. i didn't fully approve of the idea when it was suggested and even when I met them there, at the Mrt station, it was the same for the place was far from home and Marina Bay was a place of beach and forest, with the bowling alley and seafood centre seemingly being the only buildings in the area. The bus 400 had 20 min intervals.

Still I was amazed when I arrived there, mainly because the alley was huge and quite crowded with people, eliminating my fears of being the only group there. Games there are also cheaper than East Coast by 50 cents! I managed to bowl well enough to satisfy my expectations, even with an injured middle finger (woah I must have been bowling wrongly at East Coast), though my scores never improved...constantly maintaining around 100 :(

When Shu xie left early, the three of us went to play pool which was charged by game and so we cheated by catching the balls before they entered the holes, though twice we accidentally let the ball go in and had to put in more money for a new game. Eventually we managed to play 4 games at the cost of 2 (should have been at the cost of 1). I have never played pool before until that day...and its not as easy as how I see people do it on television. Its very difficult to master.

Posted by The Inflamed at 11:55 AM

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

20 December 2005

Games? Oh dear.....

RULES OF GAME: 1. post 5 weird/random stuffs about yourself 2. at the end of the quiz list the names of 5 people who you want next to do this and leave a comment "you are tagged" in their blog and tell them to read your blog for rules

5 things weird about me:

1. (Dammit I just realised that I am late for an appointment. To all reading this I shall post again later BB!!

Posted by The Inflamed at 12:18 PM

Thursday, December 15, 2005

15th December 2005

Let's just say Aeon Flux has a very unexpected storyline. Entertaining and quite interesting. Kind of like the Matrix in terms of action and I Robot in terms of the location and technology. I wouldn't say its $7 wasted.

Then me, Tsung and CJ went to have lunch at Seoul Garden...again the indecisiveness outside the restaurant...haha. In the end I put my foot down and said we would eat there and so we did. 2.5 hrs lunch took lol. This was unexpected. I was thinking 1.5 hrs at most. Tsung has a surprisingly good appetite while CJ had unexpectedly poor appetite....he like finished 1 hr b4 we did lol. Then sit around, stoning and talking nonsense.

Near the end, a large group of VS guys came in lol. But all like very dao...I'm not that close of any of them except Dinie who did greet me.

Posted by The Inflamed at 6:51 PM

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

14th December 2005

The day sailed by...as peacefully as monday, with nothing very eventful unless you counted me and my cousin getting thrashed by two Terran AI in a game of Starcraft. In the afternoon, I planned the next day's activities with CJ and Tsung who wanted me to contact more people for the movie Aeon Flux. After a terrible and unnecessary long debate (no one wanted to decide and all said "anything"), we decided to go for the early yet not so early movie at 11 am.

I managed to contact Foofy and his reply for not being able to go was: Tution. Lol. Who has tution after O levels? I convieniently forgot to ask him which subject.

Posted by The Inflamed at 6:40 PM

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

13th December 2005

Ah ha, change of plans. Bowling has been postponed from Monday to Today! Went once again through the usual weekly routine...down to East Coast bowling alley where I once again tried my hand at the Soos style. J was late by 45 mins and I and Soos played two whole games before he arrived. The Soos style isn't working out for me. I have decided to do it my own way and simply use force and try to hit straight. Works better at any rate. Also a ten pound ball, I decided, will be better suited for me then the twelve or thirteen pounders I always used when doing the Soos style so that the ball wouldn't curve too much. I ended up playing 7 games...haha...shocking. The middle finger of my right hand hurts something awful.

Ah...Mr Soos had persuaded me not to watch Saw II anymore which I was supposed to today. So in the end, our plan to catch a movie after bowling was cancelled. Still, J was adament that we should watch a show today and thus we decided to head on towards Tampines and see if we could find a movie to watch. Met Dinie outside the Bowling alley, at Macdonalds with his godsister making a shell necklace. Was quite amazed to see him there as he had rejected our offer to come bowling, saying that he had something on. So then I knew.

We had lunch at Mac and played several rounds of chess in which J, who self proclaimed Chess King, lost a match against me and one against Dinie...who is one of the most pro malay at Chinese Chess in VS. Soos left swiftly even before I and J departed for he grew bored watching us play for he had little skill and interest in chess. Besides, he had to return home ere the hour grew late for he needed to pack and ready himself for his flight to Japan the very next day.

So me and J went ourselves to Century Cineplex and saw that the Sneak Preview of King Kong was on at 10.30 that night. So I thought...why not?

Movie went really great. I didn't expect any less from the guy who directed Lord of the Rings. It was kind of like Jurassic Park...but oh, so much scarier and full of suspense. Many people laughed throughout the show, though I found little to giggle at. It was just too thrilling for once the people landed on the island, there was hardly time for you to rest. It was just one thrilling scene after another. The way Jackson portrayed the scary scenes and dark times...It reminded me of Lord of the Ring's Shelob's Lair and The Paths of the Dead. It was really fun and the storyline was really great. Good graphics too.

Then we left the cinema at 1...which was quite packed by the way and the rain lashed down upon us outside. Fortunately, I had thought to bring an umbrella. We awaited for cabs on the wrong side of the road and many passed us by on the other side. At least 5 in 2 minutes. Finally one of them from the other side turned over and provided us with transport back.

It was 1.45 in the morning and the wind was chilly. Somehow though I felt that my shivering was not because of the weather. It was the movie and its nerve shattering talent, coupled with a deserted night.

Even after I reached home, I was still too shaken to sleep...more from the excitement and thrill than the scare. So just before I slept, I watched Friends...haha to calm myself down more so than anything else. Ah everything seemed normal again...a normal night...with nothing eventful when I watched Friends and heard the laughter of the audience. Night certainly is a much more fun time to do stuff :)

Posted by The Inflamed at 6:14 PM

Monday, December 12, 2005

12th December 2005

Today was an average day, doing average things. Mostly Starcraft and Friends. Went cycling for 40 mins down at the park. Bad news is they are doing some sort of construction work, setting up drains along the park lanes. Its great because the park always floods on rainy days and levelling the land and adding drains may reduce that. Still I had much diffculty cycling that day...trying to navigate a new route to go along...

Posted by The Inflamed at 6:05 PM

Sunday, December 11, 2005

11th December 2005

I awoke at mid morning this day and almost immediately, went on to play starcraft. Today would be the day of the early christmas party for my aunt who is leaving soon and this party I name it the "Fake Christmas".

So my family of four approached Melville Park, several huge towers of baige named after crystals, surrounded by a garden of different plants and trees and enclosed in a large ring of fencing which had a concrete base and a row of metal spikes on top, with several horizontal bars slashed across.

I had expected to spend the day there bored, lying on the couch of stoning in front of the tv, forcing myself to watch the programmes there in order to get rid of the awkward feeling of standing around and doing nothing. Well that day turned out to be quite an interesting one.

First of course I had to fry those beancurd skin rolls which I had a hand in helping to make the day before. Following that of course was the lunch...it was neither miserble nor spectacular. Then of course came the watching of Friends which is quite popular amongst my family. At last managed to watch the last few episodes of season 7 (I had lost the disc). Then also I watched alot of anime, including Inuyasha(Swords of an honourable ruler), Bleach and something called Rozen Maiden I think, which I thought was quite boring. By the end of this, dinner time was drawing near. Most of the food was similar to what we ate during lunch. Then played Free Parking with my cousin before the early opening of presents from my aunt.

In between the watching of anime...about the time when I was watching Bleach, they wanted to play this game...where a pile of items...sweets and tissue paper as lousier prizes and towels, plush toys and hand held fans etc as the better ones. Then everyone took turns to roll the dice and different combinations of numbers were entitled to different prizes. My grandma won the highest of all prizes...a $20 ang pow...haha...together with a great many other things. Me I won so many packets of tissue that I cannot count, plus er...a toy, a Darlie toothpaste and a toothbrush.

I and my sis bought her an aromatherapy lamp and in exchange I received a book entitled, "How to Breathe underwater" by Julie Orringer. The book was on my christmas list.

Posted by The Inflamed at 5:44 PM

Saturday, December 10, 2005

10th December 2005

Ok, today I will have to begin a recount of two fairly large events which kept me entertained for the day...so I shall make a bold attempt to summarise it in such a way that the length of this entry will not exceed the previous one.

Tomorrow would be the day that my family would be having an early christmas celebration for my aunt who is leaving for Xiamen in a week. My family's contribution to this party is some sort of Beancurd skin roll with minced pork and prawns. So there I was, the whole of this morning, shelling prawns and water chestnuts and rendering aid in the making of the stuffing for the rolls...terribly tedious work. Then of course there is the cutting of beancurd skin which NTUC sold in the size of a tablecloth and then came the seasoning of the stuffing, the wrapping, the steaming and the frying. I am sure that it was at least 2 hrs work. Besides, I was glad to have learnt something new.

Following that busy morning, I went down to Chinatown with my family to see Mrs Lee aka Gem woman, who as you may very well know, keeps a gem or crystal shop, selling stones of all colours and forms. Now since young I have been interested in these stones...because well...they are colourful and they come in nice shapes. But I dared not pursue my interest for then...what did I know? Then because of some fortune telling business, my family begins to take interest in these crystals for they apparently possessed a certain energy or power. Anyway I had myself mezmerised by this beautiful green glass orb...when I was told by Mrs Lee that it held no energy at all and was simply pure glass -_-... I was crushed, crushed for a brief spell like telling a girl that I love her and not having heard it back. My head was in a sudden whirl for I thought that I had found the perfect crystal...haha...such a twit I was. I spent the next few hours searching and looking up the crystal bible for the benefits certain stones would bring. I should say right now that I am collecting stones for their beauty and their sparkle under the light and not for any belief in the energies of stones...just that since I'm gettin it anway, might as well know what it may be able to do. It is blasphemy to speak ill of the "Sacred Crystals" in my house. They are seen as some godly charm of power...like the One Ring of Sauron. I ended up getting a cluster of Smoky Quartz crystal...I think I shall be writing a poem on it soon....haha...

Posted by The Inflamed at 9:21 PM

Friday, December 09, 2005

9th December 2005

This morning, I awoke just past the early hours of dawn, just as the sun began to smile across the blue skies, just before the light of the moon faded and the stars were no longer seen. Today I awoke early to help my sis prepare her lunch for she was to go on a 20 km hike around Singapore. Secondly, I was to meet my grandfather at the Singapore Expo today and I wished not to arrive late. Apparently, John Little is holding up some Mega Sale. Whew!

Ah but I do not usually bear much love for shopping, perhaps at times like these I may indulge in window shopping to while away the seemingly infinite time I seemed to possess these few days. I gazed into that panorama, dotted with people and carts laden heavy with their wares, stacked in such high piles that it seemed as if a puff of wind would send everything onto the floor with deafening crash. So many things and the space looked as if it were larger than a football field, still I knew that inside, I would not last an hour.

Still the sudden urge to window shop drew me a slight grin across the face as I thought of spending the next half an hour or so milling about in things of all sorts, from utensils and cutlery to clothes, wallets, shoes and even bed lining. I somehow had the suspicion that many of the things sold there were not of high demand enough to sell at higher prices and could only be gotten rid of at these "Clearance sales". Still there were things which grasped my attention and I found myself browsing through pillows and games. It has been a while since I went shopping without an agenda and still I found myself entertained for that thirty to forty minutes. I came, later than most shoppers and left earlier than they did.

I passed people with trolleys laden with goods. I passed running children with their parents hollering after them. Still I think that which amazed me most were the cashier counters. Pardon me if such a sight may seem unimpressive to some, but I have not seen so many, save at NTUC supermarts and yet here had even more.

If memory serves, I recall seeing a huge row of cashiers extending almost the entire length (or width, I'm not sure...the place appeared sqaure to my eyes) and more impressive were the the queuing stations. Long lines in which people were expected to queue in were woven by plastic chains connected to metal poles and I have only seen such a network of queue up lines set up at Bus terminals.

Within the queue, close to the counters, the management staff had cunningly set up great carts of wallets, ties, hankerchiefs and many other things, in a final desperate bid to tempt shoppers into purchasing several more items before they paid for their goods and left the Mega Sale for good.

Now I have no liking for crowded places which is why I loved my little trip down to the Expo today. Even though there were many people, they were split up and scattered over the entire area, on average leaving fewer people per metre square. I had the liberty to move about as I wished, without having to squeeze into small gaps between people and constantly hearing the words "Excuse me" escape from my lips. It was a good Friday morning and many potential shoppers were fortunately stuck up in their offices with their bosses keeping their noses to the grind stone. Perfect.

The queue lines were empty and the cashiers looked bored and filled the absence of bustling activity with chatting, joking and laughing. I was thinking then, that it would have been a rather nice place to work as a part-timer. I am however, not foolish and am well aware of the fact that it would not be a slack job during the peak hours.

With all that is said and done, I departed from the Mega Sale with my grandfather. He had earlier commented that there were few desirable items and nothing to be purchased which was a statement of considerable irony for then a man strode past us, pushing a large cart stacked to the brim and even underneath, with goods.

I placed the shopper's paradise behind me and drew out my book, "To Kill a Mocking Bird". Then I began to read.

Posted by The Inflamed at 10:53 PM

Thursday, December 08, 2005

8th December 2005

Ah it was in the midst of noon when I awoke from deep slumber and hurried to carry out the day's chores. I had planned the day's events ere I slept the day before and now having lost most of the morning in dreamland, I proceeded on to work, desiring not to waste anymore of those precious seconds. With a touch of old familiarity, I began to swiftly sift through the pile of unwashed clothings and pick out the coloured onces, tossing them into the washing machine in which water cascaded down like a waterfall. I left the machine and headed straight for the vacuum and vacuum round the entire house, hindered by objects too large to fit down the pipe, causing the machine to splutter and choke. Chairs and tables and narrow spaces gave me hell as I navigated my way around them. I would have wished to mop the floor then, had the lunch bell not chimed thrice and my stomach was growling too much to resist the thought of food. I made a simple meal of pork omelettes with rice and then took a break for the day for my sis' friend was due to come any minute and wet floors, I supposed would greatly hinder their accessiblity. I settled down to read after having hung the washed clothes up to dry.

By 4 in the afternoon, I went down to cycle for a couple of hours at the park, stopping now and then to help my sis collect "kindling" in large NTUC plastic bags. It had rained earlier in the day and the pavements were swathed in mud. These "kindling" were meant to serve as some sort of firewood or kindling during her guides camp two weeks ere the end of the holidays. It was oddly satisfying to see those large bags filled swiftly with slender green-yellow or brown twings and reminded me of days back when I would descend upon the park in times of great need and collect bags of dead leaves for photographs and first-hand research for my O level AEP paintings.

And so the day passed quickly, busier and more fruitful than most and so many days there are to come and so many things I would have myself do. It just shows that boredom which hangs upon the thick boughs of trees need not be plucked if not desired. One should take it upon themselves to find ways to make their day more meaningful and allow one's life to pass through the years without it being laid to waste.

Posted by The Inflamed at 10:32 PM

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

7th December 2005

Aww crap...yesterday, despite reminders, I forgot to return the rented VCD "Dumb and Dumberer" to the shop and received a one dollar fine for its late return. Following that, I gathered new ingredients for another type of Baked fish which I experimented with today, this time leaving out none of the ingredients, even though I felt that some of them seemed weird. Ah...such excellence! It was the best baked fish yet! Still there is great room for improvement...shall not add so much cheese in the future. Adding paprika and lemon with pepper, together with sliced button mushrooms might do the trick. Shall experiment again this weekend. I'm getting a little tired from eating all this dory fish. Found a whole range of spices today while grocery shopping and I believe that if experimented properly, I could create different flavours with the different combinations of many seasonings. Ah...perfect.

Posted by The Inflamed at 7:36 PM

6th December 2005

Ah...another glorious day of boredom where I wake up late, in the early afternoon and began slacking my way through with games and msn. Nothing much happened and my msn messenger is dying. Oh I finally did my second experiment of baked fish with recipes procured from the internet. Er..because of my inability to get my hands on two ingredients, namely Paprika and Ground black pepper, the fish, I suppose didn't taste as well as well as it should. It was however good enough such that I didn't have to throw it away in disgust.

Posted by The Inflamed at 7:32 PM

Monday, December 05, 2005

5th December 2005

Once again, on a monday morning of the hols, I go bowling at East Coast with J, Dinie and Soos. It wasn't as bad as the last one and I believe that I'm slowly getting the hang of the Soos' Style. Afterwards, I was forced to watch a movie at Tampines (Saw II). However, at TM, queues were long Saw II wasn't featured there. So we watched Chicken Little at century square...a great mistake. The show wasn't fantastic at all and the only attractive bit of the show is how Walt Disney portrayed this little "Fairyland" in animation. Yet, after having watched countless other animations, what I would love to see would be a unique and innovative story, not one that is lame. Mr Soos did a little "blind men's act" with a pair of strange looking glasses (Like sunglasses but with holes) and had dinie lead him around Tampines, earning him many furtive glances and strange looks. It did get boring after awhile...probably because he could nagivate so damned well and avoided anything and anyone in his path so much that I suppose no one truly believed that he was blind.

Posted by The Inflamed at 7:14 PM

Sunday, December 04, 2005

4th December 2005

Through an entire night spent chatting and reading, I find myself waking at 1 at noon, having slept through most of the morning. Ah...already I knew the signs...it would be another day spent on games and words. It would be a fell day, filled with meaningless activities and a hyper-active me, since after having read of the great tales and accomplishments of others, I have deemed myself to be one of the lesser folk and my self esteem is falling ever so swiftly, like a rock down steep mountain slopes. I have done few of the things I had planned to ere the holidays began. I have been given the task of preparing the christmas dinner for the coming christmas and yet nothing have I devised for it and though time is on my side, the motivation is not. 101 different dishes I have to experiment and I have done none save 1 which failed to meet my expectations. People too are changing, becoming crappier as they plunge deeper into the holidays. This blog too will die with my spirit soon enough...and all will be cast into darkness and lost. But for as long as I still draw breath, I shall strive to maintain it, lest it becomes a wastage of hours long spent. Alas for me! I will take each day as it comes.

Posted by The Inflamed at 8:23 PM

Saturday, December 03, 2005

3rd December 2005

Today wasn't as bad as yesterday's. I did get kinda bored in the morning, then the thought of really sitting down and listening to some new songs struck me. It is always a pleasure to dig out several hundred of mum's cds and attempt to listen and like new songs. This time I really sat through and read the lyrics of several new songs not heard of before, sent to me by an msn friend such as "I'm sorry, I don't love you no more" by criag David and "Stick with you" by Pussycatdolls. Not bad at all I gotta say. Then I went back to singing some of my personal favourites such as "Copacabana" and "Save tonight". Old perhaps...but hey, they're good and I was influenced to like them. Also I attempted some of the harder ones which I still can't do...shall we say Adam Rickette's "I Breathe again." Spent a fairly pleasant day searching for lyrics, english, cantonese and chinese. Was fun.

Posted by The Inflamed at 11:43 PM

Friday, December 02, 2005

2nd December 2005

Awoke real early this morning...and rather late too. I was due to meet my aunt and cousin at the Simei Mrt station. We were to go Bugis later on...shall we say for fun? Haiz...it wasn't at all! Kinda boring you might say. And my day ends with the playing of X-men. I need to get a life.

Posted by The Inflamed at 11:38 PM

Thursday, December 01, 2005

1st December 2005

Several weeks ago, i painted a school wall, changed its colour from red to gray to hang my art pieces for O levels marking. Today, I went back to aid the cleaners in reverting the wall back to its former colour. Instead, I had a nice long chat with this aunty at school who was supposed to be in charge of the painting. She however, seems scared that my helping her with the painting may get her accused of slacking and getting fired or something...she kept persuading me to attend to my own business. Twenty minutes I spent there talking and waiting and then I left for home. Then I met this uncle at the busstop, who complained about how Pow Chew (VS ex-principal) refused toi allow him to sell uniforms in school. Ha! I sure learnt alot that day...but ended up missing several buses. Eh...anyway after he started to nag at me about the wall painting, my liking and respect for Pow Chew is decreasing. My dislike for him, however, has not yet amounted to match those of others I know. Whew...the VS co-ed issue has made him out to be one unpopular principal. Wasted the rest of the day wearing out my fingers on Rise of Apocalypse