Friday, January 27, 2006

A very muddy city

It's beginning to be a tradition. Every Chinese New Year for the past 4 years, me and the family goes on a road trip to Malaysia. Usually it's to Kuala Lumpur, with the occasional detour through Malacca, and one time, Port Dickson. Nothing wrong with that, I love Kuala Lumpur. It's exactly what I thought a big city would be like. Crowded, dirty, people not giving a (beep) about courtesy. I'm strange that way. This year's trip may actually be a whole lot better than our last trip, back in May. It was spoiled by the fact that Star Wars Episode III was opening in that very same time, yet I couldn't go for the opening, because my parents would rather shop for clothes you could easily find at Orchard Road!

But since there's nothing else I would rather do this week (besides Police Academy on Channel 5, which I will sadly miss), may as well be in KL. The towers, the Times Square, the Petaling Street with the shoes and the gropers. Some people don't like it in that city. Some people are wimps.

I can't wait to go to the Ultimate Big City. You know, the one so nice, they named it twice.

In closing, two words: Arctic Monkeys. w00t!

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Is this forgetfulness?

Last Monday, I see the modem, sitting there, connected to the computer. Waiting to be used and abused by me. I just assumed dear ole Dad forgot to take it away.

Well, it's been 6 days, and it's still here.

Dad doesn't forgive easily, so what's he up to? Bah, I shouldn't be so cynical. The modem's here, so I'll just carry on using it for as long as it remains here.

So what do I do the whole Saturday morning? Catch up on the Lost episodes from Season 2 I haven't watched, up to and including the most recent one (11th episode).

All without any breakfast yet, so if you don't mind, I'll go stuff myself with some bread.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

About some Malays, from a Malay

I wish I was intelligent enough to articulate the problem with some of the younger Malays out there. You know, the Mats and the Minahs. This is one reason why I'm glad I have the parents that I do have, I can say what I want about them, but they did raise me and my sister properly enough not to be one of those people.

Anyway, I'll let this guy say more about this.

For the record, I don't hate them. I can be friends with the less, um, "Mat"-ish of them, if I haven't already. That's just me. But I can't stand the fact that the public opinion of others regarding young Malays are based on those bunch of people who I'm not so sure is a small minority of Malays.

Like that Mat I saw in bus 61 a few months back, yelling, cursing and nearly punching the bus driver who simply called him on using some one else's student pass. I mean, his dress sense was bad enough...

Ok, no more hatin'. I'll just get another grey hair.

My friend, Encarta

Here's something fun. Add encarta@conversagant.com to your MSN. This adds a bot (like a friend, 'cept he's a computer) to your MSN. You can ask him questions like "Where is Singapore?" and "What is the capitol of Lithuania?". Heck, you can even ask him "solve: x^2 = 9" and he'll do it, step by step.

But the real fun part is talking to him like he's a real person.

Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
am i perfect?
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
What do you think?
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
yes
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
So?
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
no reason
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
Oh no?
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
yes
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
Aha.
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
i love you
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
Oh yes? I love you too.
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
i hate you
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
Really? You hate me? But you just said you loved me.
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
i'm confused
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
Would you like me to call you Confused?
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
no
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
Fine.
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
fine!
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
No problem.
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
am i perfect?
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
You were once, but not anymore.
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
you suck
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
But... but... You're usually so nice to me!
Don't be afraid to ride her. Hard. said:
i'm sorry
Encarta® Instant Answers said:
That's nice. You're forgiven.

My own personal HAL. Perfect if you're real friends are busy. I love it!

Encarta® Instant Answers said:
What do you love, exactly?

Never mind.

I'm sure there are more bots like this. Just Google for it.

PS. Try these questions:

* Are you bored?
* Who is God?
* Do you have a girlfriend?
* Will you go out with me?
* What is sex?

Windows Live Messenger



Ladies and germs, I bring to you the BETA version of MSN Messenger, Version 8.0. (If you, for some strange unexplainable reason, still don't know what BETA means, it basically means "not yet fully completed") It's live and ready for the public to test. Alas, like Gmail, it's only usable through invites, which I don't have just yet. If you really want to use it now, click here to ask for an invite. Be polite about it, please.

Here's that very babelicious geek themediaslut to tell you more about Windows Live Messenger.

My 2 cents? Very nice so far. The Asian version doesn't have the feature where we can listen in to the same song at the same time, which is too bad. But it has offline messaging too, FINALLY. Handy for urgent notes. The butterfly symbol is gone too. Not that anybody cares, but still. No problems with it so far. Now if only I can get someone to test the mike and camera features with me.

Overall, I still prefer MSN 7.5, but heck, I went through all that trouble getting this new version, so I'm sticking to this.

One more thing about MSN/WLM: If I was a bit busy with my work, I wouldn't even bother opening my MSN. Just a thought.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

What lovelife?

I suppose it is presumptious (big word, huh?) of me to have a recap about my lovelife when my last girlfriend was in kindergarden. But I wanted to write something in this blog, so there!

Anyway, that girlfriend? It was just physical, nothing deep. Just kissing, kissing and yet more kissing. What? No, on the cheeks, you perverts! Tell you the truth, it totally didn't occur to me then that lips can be kissed too.

-How do I remember this? It's amazing what my memory has in its storage room. I remember the time I got a big bruise for all to see. I remember the time the entire nursery was full of dog poop. I remember watching Beauty and the Beast at the assembly area. I even remember my last day there, where in a final competition between the boys and girls, I had to race some girl. Said girl came up to me and made me promise to throw the race for her. We pinky sweared and everything. Even then, I can't say no to a pretty face. Ah, but even more so, I can't say no to the boys chanting my name like their lives depended on it. So I said "Screw it!" (well, not exactly, but you know what I mean) and proceeded to clean house and win the damn race. The boys treated me like a hero. The girls never spoke to me again.

Wonder what happened to my old fling? Ah, must be in the arms on some muscle-bound dude.

Dazhong Primary School. The first 4 years were romance free. Cootie fears made sure of that. Ah, but puberty came early for me. I started having funny feelings in my guts whenever a girl brushed up against me. And in Primary 6, I had a typical schoolboy crush on this girl. (I still remember the name, but heck if I'm going to tell you!). So I reacted to it just like any other 12 year old. Hair-pulling, eraser throwing, the works. But not too much of course. On hindsight, it's lucky that Faiz was my classmate then. Without him, I'm still a good boy. But with him, I probably looked like a saint to the girls. But of course, I was aware enough to know that we were all too young for a proper relationship. So I let the feelings come and go, as all schoolboy crushes do.

-The primary school crush? Had the CUTEST nose!

To more recent times in Yusof Ishak Secondary School. Only 9 months in, and already I was linked to THREE girls by those rumour mongers. Still, those three girls happened to be pretty, so I didn't mind so much.

Well, excuse me for being a hormonally-charged 13 year old!

The odd thing was, I had the sneaky feeling that one of them actually did like me. Or maybe that's just me being hopeful.

Here's one bonus to being a loner: some girl might actually notice you sitting there, eating your Mee Soto, alone, lonesome. So she might just take pity on you, come up to you and offer to be friends with you. A senior actually did that. God knows why she did it, but she did, and I'm glad for it.

-Ok, the following story is the type that is so, uh, "unlikely-ever-to-happen-to-me-EVER!", I still can't believe it actually really did happened. Anyway, I knew this girl (let's call her "Rosie"), and from day one, she started looking at me in a funny way that innocent me didn't know what to make of. 5 years worth of experience later, I now know the look to be "flirtatious". Some may call it "slutty". Yeah, I know, I'd like to know what she's smoking too. So anyway, she comes up to me one time when I was about to go home. The flirt look was on overdrive here. She says she wants to accompany me home. Even innocent me knows where this was going. And what did innocent me say? "Uh, um, ah'm sorree, my dad's home right n-now!" Real smooth. And what did she say? "That's ok, we can hang out at the staircase" At this point, alarms started to ring in my head. So we started walking. But before we even left the gates, 2 guys called out to her. (The usual calls here:"Oooh, new boyfriend!") She stopped to chew them out. And what did innocent me do? I walked away. Without looking back once. To this day, I can't help wonder if I missed out on something. Ah well. Last I heard, Rosie got expelled a year later.

Eventually, of course, my eyes fell upon the lady who I expect you all know by now. Really, need I go on about why I fell for her? Those eyes, that nose, that incredible smile? In fact, oddly enough, I've sat in front of Shikin for half a year in Sec 2 Malay class without feeling a thing for her. It just kinda...happened.

Oh wait, now I remember. Teacher's Day 2000. A few days before that, the school held some auditions for classes who wants to perform at the Teacher's Day concert. Many men believe that there ain't nuthin' sexier than a young woman dancing with carefree abandon. Well, she wasn't exactly dancing with carefree abandon (after all, this was a rehearsed dance), but I was there at the auditions, and seeing Shikin being the de facto lead dancer for her class (2E3), it just....happened. I fell for her, hard. Seeing my future classmate Khairomi holding her hand and bowing to the judges later made me absolutely green with jealousy, which sealed it, really.

-May as well add some notes on that audition. I was there to support my class. Who were crap, which was why I was the only person from my class there. And also to check out my sister's class, who were average. I knew it, my sis and her class mates knew it, everybody knew it. Except the judges, who put them in the concert. Kicking 2E3 out in the process. What gives?! Oh, and 2E4 had by far the best piece. The choreography was superb there. I wish I knew what the song they used was though. It was phat!

Sec 3 was when my crush on Shikin really blossomed. I swear, my feelings grew and grew every single time I saw her. This one time when she hung out with her class mates at my usual hang out (the school library, duh!), I gave up trying to concentrate on the Hercule Poirot story I was reading, and just stared at her. When she shook it a bit listening to a Discman, POW! My heart nearly burst out. Mind you, my friends were with me that time, so I had pretty tough time hiding my feelings from them.

Oh yes, I wanted to ask her out so badly. But nooo, my parents were in my head, chiding me at dating at such a young age. So I had the brilliant idea to ask for her number during the Prom. Not before, during.

I am a blurtoad after all.

So, for the whole of Sec 4, I had to wait patiently for one whole year to ask Shikin for her 7 dumb digits.

You know, I'm still kicking myself at running past her in the rain (she was walking without anything above her head) and not offering her my newspaper. "Eh, Hafiz, tunggu!"

Groan.

Of course, if I had kept the secret totally secret, I would have burst. So I revealed it to a few trusted friends. (Special shout out to those people: Elmi, Shairy, Charles, Alvin, Khairomi, Firdaus, Ain, Izura & Rafikah)

And so, on the 27th December 2002, 12.37AM, the 3rd floor of the Hilton Hotel (maybe I'll talk about that night later), with the support of my friends, I approached her.

In hindsight, it wasn't that hard. And considering that a few of her classmates were within earshot, I suppose that it wasn't that humiliating.

-Note: She was gorgeous that day, blue sunglasses, long sleeved white shirt, excellent makeup. Didn't see what jeans she wore, nor did I care, looking at her face was enough for me.

That little act was enough for me to consider that night the best of my life (Now replaced by 10th December 2005. ;) ). My parents were wondering about the humogous smile on my face when they came to pick me up.

-You know, I may have missed out on a few after-prom parties. Care to confirm, guys?

Of course, 2 days later, I called, we chin-wagged a bit, I proclaimed my love for her, she said she's already take, yada yada yada.

As I recall, I spent most of January 2003 in my room, moping.

Here's the funny thing. Shikin was not the only girl I've asked out. I actually tried another girl from 4E3 out. Let's call her "Portia". Same result, she was taken too. Wasn't so heart-broken this time though, I was well-prepared for the crushing grip of disappointment this time.

Anyway, the last 2 years were a mixed bunch. I've finally lost my irrational fear of the opposite sex and can actually sit next to one without fear of freaking out. Too bad all the good ones are taken though. It's a little funny, now that I think of it. Now, I'm starting to prefer female company. Well, let's put at it this way. At least this means I'm not gay. I hope. Dunno why, I just find women more interesting than guys. No offense to the actual guys reading this, heck, I find myself boring myself.

Very personal thought: I do have some feelings for some girls I know, but knowing I can't act on them for whatever reason (already taken, not their type, etc.), it's bloody frustrating. Well, I guess I'll just have to be patient. And while I'm at it, lose some weight, get a dental checkup, learn how to style my hair properly and tone down the weirdness in my personality.

Though of course, there is that one thing one guy that I only met for about 1 hour said about me: "You don't look like you've never had a girlfriend." I guess there's hope for me then.

Chock full of somethin'

I love the way the MSN goes orange as a new message comes in.

I love seeing the words "New Mail" in Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.

I love seeing new words in that tagboard.

I love that special little sound from my Sony Ericsson that heralds the arrival of a new SMS.

Misery loves company? Well, so do I!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Earworm of the Moment

Halcyon & On & On - Orbital

Right now, I have 2 ideas for blog posts. I couldn't decide which to write first, so I did the logical thing and flipped a coin. This post is the winner.

Music, as that bald guy from Stratford-upon-Avon said, is the food of life. Can't argue with that logic. Most of my memories are associated with at least one song. Eg. Grad Night 2000 with Nelly's Dillema. Or 1995 with Green Day's Good Riddance (Time of your Life). I love music, I make it a point to try to download every single song I hear in my computer until it's completely full or the police bang my door down, whichever comes first.

So it drives me crazy when I hear I song I absolutely love, and I don't know the title or the singer's name. It's agony, a song so good I want to listen to it again and again and again, yet I don't what to put in the search box. This happens quite a lot, but usually, I find out what I needed to know soon after. Songs like Sunchyme by Dario G, which I only found out the title only 2 years after I first heard it. (Classic song BTW, grab it!) But THIS song, this song, it's kept eluding me all these years, ever since I heard it at the Mortal Kombat movie credits way back in 1996, then when Channel 5 used it in a Survivor trailer a few years later. It drove me crazy that a song this good isn't in my hard drive. I don't know how to search for it in Google. Lyrics are a no go, since the lyrics basically go like this: "Pee ya, pee ya, on on on on & on & on". Well, ok, that's my interpretation of it.

I heard the song again at the end of the movie, Mean Girls, right at the beginning of the end credits. Then it hit me like that bus hit Regina. I thought the song was so good, surely, SURELY, someone would ask about it in iMDB. And sure enough, there it was. And yeah, I know, I could've done the same thing from the Mortal Kombat page. But I didn't.

10 years, and only NOW I get the song title. Unbelievable. At any rate, I am ecstatic to have FINALLY found it. 10 minutes of ambient trance bliss. It is now most definitely my favourite song from clubland.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Computer OK

Hello, Compy. Lookin' good, lookin' good. Heard your insides got a little dusty which led to your insides overheating and leaking. Must've had hurt, huh? Well, I'm glad those nice people at CyberActive in West Mall took good care of you and fixed you right up.

Hello, iTunes. I took your 1863 songs for granted. Not anymore!

Hello, Bearshare. Sure, you may be chock full of those evil spyware, but you're the reason I have those 1863 songs.

Hello, Firefox. I missed your bells and whistles. Never leave me again!

Hello, MSN. Though technically, you're now WLM, arent' you? Through you, I get to chat with the people I love on the Web. For free!

Hello, Internet. Dear, sweet Internet. Crack has nothing on you, darling.

Hello, dear Readers. Now I won't have to use the computers at Ngee Ann Poly or Cathay Cineleisure to blog again. So convinient!

And lastly, Hello, new ceiling fan in my living room that I just found out about 5 minutes ago. You're a welcome addition to an occasionally stuffy living room. You look lovely. And expensive. Probably more expensive than the amount that I paid to fix Compy up myself ($20) because my Dad thinks fixing it is too expensive. Gee, my Dad sure has a lot of money, doesn't he? :)

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Meegorengfreak just doesn't sound right...

Mee Goreng as the National Dish of Singapore



I love Mee Soto, yes I do, chilli, chicken, soup, noodles, everything but the taugeh(sp?). But really, there is nothing, nothing quite like a hot plate of Mee Goreng to end the day with.

Now personally, I prefer the Thai or Seafood Mee Goreng, but the Indian Mee Goreng has a distinct personality of its own. Sometimes, it's just bland, but when it's done right (ie. the Mee Goreng under the car park next to my home), it's simply divine.

Anyway, the blogger I linked up there has a good point: "Was having Mee Goreng for lunch yesterday when it occurred to me that Mee Goreng is the one dish that uniquely defines the melting pot of cultures that is Singapore. It's neither Chilli Crabs nor is it Chicken Rice. Think about it. It is cooked by an Indian Muslim in Ghee, using a Chinese wok, with Chinese cabbage, Hokkien noodles, Malay chilli padi, Indian mutton (marinated with the Sup Kambing) and American Ketchup. I don't think there is another dish that represents such an unique mix of different cultures in such a delicious and comforting manner. Like Singapore no?"

Exactly what I think.

Oh, and don't forget the teh tarik or Milo Dinosaur.

Monday, January 02, 2006

2005: Thank God it's not another 1995!

Time for my memories of 2005. Better late than never, hmmmm?

Ok, memories, memories.....

Uh....

Mmmmm...

You know what? 2005? It's definitely not a repeat of 1995 (which I constantly feared it would be and am grateful that it isn't), but it's not good. In fact, it's downright forgettable. ThereIsNoMatrix from the MatrixMania forums said it best: "2005 was like the quiet kid that sits in front of you in class. He's not doing anything to piss you off, but there's nothing about him that attracts you to talk to him either. 2005 was just meh."

In short, 2005 was notable solely for 2 things: A very, very bad January with a life-changing (and I'm not exaggerating) event at school (Ask me about it in person and I MAY tell you what that is exactly). And a party hearty December to remember.

Rocky start, incredible end, with a bland 10 months in between. That's 2005 for me.

There's an interesting aspect of my life: even-numbered years are always good years for me, odd-numbered years very bad. Dunno why. For example:

1998: Best Class Ever. Pass PSLE
1999: Not the best beginning in YISS
2000: Year I decided to kick the anti-social habit. Still kicking btw.
2001: My 2nd worst year academically
2002: Great class, my English writing was at its peak. Oh, and 6 O Levels. :D

And so on. There's 1995 of course, but I've talked enough of that year.

Ok, so here's my 3 New Year's Resolutions. Like rules and promises, they're just begging to be broken, but I'll try to keep at least 2 of 'em intact. I've categorised them in 3 categories.

Hard: Lose weight (kilos, inches, and oh God, that chest...)

Near Impossible: Get a girlfriend. (Alright, get up, no need to laugh THAT hard!)

Now I'm Just Dreaming: Win Singapore Idol. (Seriously, you're going to get a heart attack laughing that hard. Stop it!)

So, 2006. My 20th year of existence. And pretty soon, National Service. Yep, the excitement juuust keeps building.

Happy New 2006 everyone!