Lime and Lots of Greenery

My lips hurt after all that lemonade.

*Tip: Never drink acidic juices when your lips are cracking.

I wonder how my male counterparts are doing in camp. They should be adjusting to the clammy environment by now. After all they survived the 2 weeks of confinement missing everyone like crazy. I have heard about the premature reporting hours, the sleep-early-you-need-all-the-energy-next-morning lights out rule, the rush to wait and wait to rush movement, five minute dinners (I wonder if they served lemonades as a form of rare treat?) and the FHM daily "diary" they take turns to fill up (who looks at those pictures anyway, very pathetic). Good thing these young men get to book out on Saturdays and book back in on Sunday (I know what you are thinking of and yes I couldn’t agree more). Last Friday at Pasir Ris, there were green suits everywhere. Note that while you are clothed in the number four, it automatically prohibits you to sing in public or perform extreme multi-tasking. It’s like a dress code with the tie and leather shoes and you can't bring your cat. Basically, you should never draw attention to yourself, or your balding glory.

Of course I noticed. Even friends from old schools started appearing out of nowhere and you can tell right where they are or how they are doing just by looking at their new hair cut. I wonder; were the single-hued servicemen once made up of contrasting personalities suddenly branded similar by chopping off their colourful wigs? Suddenly the look-alikes were circled out from the rest of the population. And if you ever happen to saunter along the bus terminal at Pasir Ris on a Saturday evening, judging from the size of the “book outers”, you could think they are taking over the world because they are everywhere blending into the trees and shrubs. They even attack Mac Donalds.

Anyway I have nothing against NS men, they keep the country safe (:D thank you) and despite the traditional confusion I experienced initially, I did manage to recognize a few of my long lost polytechnic school mates with their caps on or not. Sometimes when you forget to keep in touch with them, it is nice to know at least you will never be stunned for conversational topics the next time you see them (:p).

Subsequently I will ask them if they serve limades. Or lemonades.

Defiantly Unacceptable

A good friend of mine just came online though the msn network. As usual trust him to always come up with desperate nicknames of historical infatuations (oh god, totally passé) which he would unknowingly publicize to the whole world (or people in his contact list anyway) his loss over yet another great young woman and how he thinks it’s his fault again and so forth. Pity.

This season, or the month of June (I am betting it could well extend all the way till July), he addresses another uninteresting area. We are discussing about his lack of life aspiration, or, his desperation to cling on to one which had presently slammed their doors right at his face. Like most of my flying club kakis, my friend Tom (I couldn’t think of a more interesting nick) kills to be a pilot. And they are never satisfied with any ordinary light aircraft or transport carrier pilot, but a jam packed kick-ass fighter pilot, the godly F-16s. Obviously, you know the tough medical screening these A-listed wannabes have to sit through. Failing to hear a single VHF or UHF which stands for very high frequency or ultra high frequency respectively meant an instant disqualification. So what I wonder? You should be mature enough to not beg for a flying career if you are not cut out to be one. It’s like, a chicken trying to fly. Grow up Tom, get a good paying job or better still, develop the full potential of your paper qualifications, whatever else options that makes you happy. Being stubbornly single minded and inflexible will get you no where. And you still question if you are top notch material when you can’t even think straight and save yourself. Besides I have always thought of those fighters as snobbish individuals. They speak to you in a high and mighty manner because they presume you know that they are the first-rated residents. Right whatever.

Sometimes someone should knock some sense into these thick headed people. I am not going to deny I am not one too, but at least I save myself from humiliation soon enough and I do not tolerate myself to wallow these unfortunate escapades for more than a week. Christ, move on brother!

Addiction or Obsession?

I read these couple of guys in Digital Life a week ago about losing sleep over the confiscation of their iPods and cell phone respectively, part of a silly challenge. One couldn’t live without his miniature music database and I mean, he practically couldn’t breathe. The other substituted his aircon remote control for his cell phone because he, “simply had to hold something,” while watching the TV. It was only when the “cell phone” was awfully quiet for about half hour that he realized, oh right, it’s just his remote control (buahaha :D, sorry I had to add in this).

I think I am addicted to my notebook. I could sit in front of the wide LCD screen all day and stare at it. Or, I can walk around the room and enjoy the ultra high frequency sound waves the system is emitting. The basic pleasures in life.

Not losing out to the guy with the remote control, I have a ridiculous stand-in too. I play the piano. Except sometimes, they become my virtual keyboard, computer keyboard. It’s like an extension. My concept is really uncomplicated (it really is :D). White keys are known as alphabetical keys. Black keys are known as numerical keys. Sharps are referred to as the spacebar and flats will be my backspace. Each note I play will be like entering into Microsoft Words. Now, here comes the grand finale, when I am done playing the “piano”, like always I will replace the cover over the keys, a parallel reaction I experienced when I close the lid of my notebook after shutting down (total coincidence :]).

I wonder how many of us out there have substitutes to things we have but are refraining from overly excessive usage. Right now I am trying to save my electricity bills from electrocuting everyone in my humble home, so I limit myself to 3 hours daily (it should help, I have calculated my new theory :p). So after checking my emails, school mails whatever and typing out this entry, I should have a good 1.5 hours remaining. And you never know what will happen tonight when my brother comes home and we have our usual LAN party. So alright, time for some instrumental entertainment already.

A Rendition? Hardly.

Thanks to the bunch of chocolates I ate yesterday, I am down with a serious sore throat today and for the next few days. This is annoying because then I would be restricted to only healthy dietarian food. Not that I hate salads and oil-less meals, I still think, damn those infectious chocolates. A few more days later will be the official big release of Initial D The Movie. Coincidently, I have a couple of calls from friends to hang. As much as I like going out with good people, I will murder anyone who intend to trick me into watching the Taiwanese singer in action. Come on give me a break. What was Andrew Lau thinking of when he delegated the rapper the leading role of Fujiwara? I don’t have enough time to tell you what is wrong with the arrangement. So here is my very brief analysis. First, he does not bear any resemblance to the young big eyed cartoon character. Next, in movie and in reality, he does not exhibit Fujiwara’s confident yet humble nature. Last, what is with that dreadful side parting? Can someone who is fair headed fill me in?
For most of the posters that you see in and out of theaters of the cast, you might have noticed that very some with “Fujiwara’s” head resting on the side door of his Toyota 86. Pretty cool, though definitely a very bad impersonation of the non-slacker good looking character. You can check out the website too, it’s almost like his bones are really frail because he is always leaning onto something. Anyhow, here is a nice picture of the character.	The original Fujiwara Takumi
Don’t get me wrong, I do not hate that multi-talented entertainer. I just cannot find anything to like about the performer and I definitely cannot see the connection between him and the well-liked anime character. I am currently watching Initial D Forth Stage if you must know. I like Fujiwara and Ryosuke, who has a sense of extreme judgment. Needless to say for the chap who is acting as Ryosuke, again a very bad impression. And I thought Ryosuke is supposed to be older. So to all my female friends out there who are ready to marry Jay anytime (and a very small minority of the opposite species better known as JC look-alikes), here’s a tip if you are planning to catch the movie, “Don’t watch the anime series at all, trust me (:p).” And to all fellow Initial D fans and the rest of us out there, do what you always do (:D), concentrate on the cars and of course, the action packed dogfight.

The Unpardonable Excuse

I received my package yesterday (never ask me what it contains or what it is about), thank god it finally came. As expected were there heaps of orientation paper work and financial contracts to fill up. Why can they not adopt the point-and-click way? I do not mind even true false questions, I always thought they were ludicrous; why bother asking such an extensive question if we can only choose one of the already restricted two options? Hey, at least they are smart enough to mail the package such that it would arrive on a Friday, which means that you have over the weekend to browse through carefully, which also means that you would have to come up with a better excuse if you forget a scheduled event because you are supposed to have memorized the dates and made a note to your already crammed up calendar.

Firstly, I do not own a nice looking hang-on-the-wall calendar. The only one I have was a credit card size mimic from Perlini Silvers. It was really attractive with the orange and black theme contrasting perfectly and it was dated 2004. I never part with it because it was, as I mentioned, very good looking and it was printed on a very hardy material and you don’t just throw away good quality paper do you? So the opened package sits on my writing table, I expect to leave it to some other member of higher authority to study. Of course I have already jot down those vital dates someplace. Coming to think of it, now where is that piece of life threatening notepaper?

Ok found it. So now I have to relearn the tactics of organizing and management. It sounds so boring. It’s a Saturday afternoon and I should be allowed to sit back and chill. The hours seemed countable when your dearest company is in camp. Perhaps I should start hating something because then, hatred can give me a purpose and something to think about in my mad life (:D hoho!). Alright, check back later.

The Way We Were

I hung out with dear Anna yesterday. As we comb the downtown streets going into shopping malls one after the other, it suddenly dawned to me that the last time we hung out was, a year ago. How is it that we never have time for each other anymore? If you think growing up together would make a difference, you are so wrong because we are practically re-discovering each other yesterday.

As we sip cocktails in IndoChine yesterday in the dimness and exposed to very bad music, I realized it was almost midnight. A norm for me I assure you but for someone like Anna, it was alarmingly odd. For a girl who grew up in a strict family (they gave up eventually), she experienced unreasonable curfews unlike fortunate teens who were granted visas to camp outdoors and return only two days later. Perhaps I did contribute vaguely in her apparent shift in character but still, it takes a lot to re-shape the concept of it-is-ok-to-party-till-the-wee-hours in a person whose life had been carefully mould for 23 years! I missed her ridiculous spectacles and her silly curfews that made up our childhood. I missed the old Anna.

Do I enjoy the transformation? Possibly. As always the saying; we never change as we grow older, just becoming more clearly ourselves. So maybe this is really Anna under the fake Anna. And right now, I just have to re-adjust my beliefs and learn to deal with the new stranger.

Monogamy

I was just speaking to Anna (not her real name of course) awhile ago. As I hung up, I realized she had committed the cardinal sin; she had forsaken her girlfriend for her new boyfriend. Just to recap, she is practically engaged to all time steady. His name is Kevin (not his real name), he was from a good family and he adores Anna. Like any other couple, heaven was spending their nights strolling lazily on the sands along Esplanade or stocking groceries from shopping malls or having dinner at each other’s places and, you get the picture.

And just like other twosomes, there were many portholes in the relationship. Kevin (as I was advised) became increasingly irrational and unbearable to the slightest things. It drove Anna crazy and grippingly, she took to the likings of a stray cat. She worked at a successful interrelations project where she met this incredible hero. And yes like a stray cat or a very lost and vulnerable kitten, she fell right into the open arms of the bigger cat name, why, Harry. For weeks, the wrong combination met for lunch, dinner and yes, the “should-not”, and they were happy, keeping the entire secret operation under wraps. It was only when Harry had to return to his homeland in Timbuktu that she realized the deal was over. And just like a rubber band, Anna swung back into the arms of Kevin who unfortunately, could never smell a rat. But that was ok because Anna decided to end her agony; her heart had taken off with the big cat, the day he left.

For me the idea of seeing another man would be like trying to fit another outfit into an already overstuffed suitcase, Anna was happily dating another man like it was the most natural thing in the world. Is it that some men have another version to monogamy? With possibilities almost everywhere, I wonder; has monogamy become too much to expect? I asked my man who shook his head, and smile. Well. In a city of unlimited options, sometimes there is no better feeling than knowing you only have one (:D).

Debut: The 2nd Time Around

Ok, it’s not exactly a debut since I destroyed the previous blog with malicious intent. In the midst of frustration and a stupid mouse click, yes, you have guessed it; everything’s gone with the wind.

Perhaps I should have been more tolerant, a half hour more would have saved all my months of artistically influenced works (I bet they were anyway). In any case I am definitely looking on the sunnier side, those were really old chapters and I can certainly do without them. Right. New things come, old things go. I should be allowed to say that because it is common delusion that you make things better by talking about them or rather, bogging. And yes, I am feeling better thank you.

As a blogger, I understand it is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember. Of course, I am no Hitler and I am never the offensive type, but I believe soon I will encourage the birth of my own opposition party (:D). My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime and Lord of The Rings. I just cannot understand the saga, or is there?

Anyhow I should be pleased. It is my debut after all, time to keep those journals in check.