How can driving a car be so complex?

if you haven't guessed yet, i just had my first driving practical lesson today (barely an hour ago, in fact). i'd rate the experience as a little rocky, mainly due to my inexperience. it was my first time in the driver's seat, so i guess it's natural to be a bit confused and kan-cheong. learnt how to get the car to move, turn, and brake. still a bit hard-footed on the pedals though, and it's partially due to a fear of the car stalling whenever i lift my feet up. the proper feeling comes with time, or so i'm told. probably need a few more lessons to gain that confidence. encouraging thing is the car only stalled once, as opposed to 10+ times on some of my friends' first lessons. lucky my instructor was nice, encouraging, and most importantly, un-fierce. that helped to put me at ease quite a lot. he was telling me that he's had a pretty good first-time pass record, and i'm hoping i don't mess that up for him. besides, i come from a family of good drivers, so with genetics on my side, i can't be that far off, right?

now that i've had first-hand experience behind the wheel, i think i can better understand why my uncle and aunt are worried when my cousin drives (he passed his practical test about 4+ months ago). heck, i think i'd worry for my passengers when i'm driving. it also helps me to be more forgiving about other drivers' mistakes, regardless of whether i'm in their vehicle or not. so now i'll be less inclined to say nasty things when the driver of a vehicle i'm in jams the brake, or when someone stalls his/her car in the middle of the road. because for all i know, that person could be me in the future. of course, i'll bear this in mind and be nicer to learner drivers after i get my license. but...that's all in the future, so i'll only do it when it happens.

running's started already, but it's not quite what i imagined. decided to go running at night instead, seeing as 1) i'm not a morning person, 2) there's less human traffic at night, and 3) everyone looks better in low light conditions. it took me close to an hour for the entire session. deducting time for warming up and down, i'd say the time actually spent running the 5.5km route was 35-40 minutes. seems like i've deproved since NS (duh!). well, have to keep the momentum going. hopefully i'll be able to regain NS-level fitness, or better.

Minor update at 10:00pm

came back from my ex-company's ORD function about half an hour ago. it was nice to see most of the people again...not so much for a certain few. had a pretty enjoyable time catching up with some of them, especially one of the old medics, whom i wasn't expecting to see. didn't really talk to every single person though. just wasn't feeling that energetic.

going to that function/dinner has helped to straighten out my thoughts regarding that particular problem which has been giving me trouble since earlier in the month. my new insight: don't brood over the impossible. no matter how much i convince myself otherwise, things won't happen. i'm better off directing my energy into more productive pursuits. so...i'll drop that particular train of thought here, or at least i'll try to. it'll definitely take a bit of time, but i'm confident i can shake it off.

well, i'm glad that this revelation came about at this time. i was planning on maybe doing something potentially awkward during one of the coming weekends. lucky that crazy idea's been flattened. talk about good timing, huh?

speaking of timing, the CoH servers just came back online. guess i'd better go join the rest of the gang.

-random thought of the day: Driving is fun, but kind of scary.-

Going...going...gone. ladies and gentlemen, the new year spirit has just left the building.

this new year has been nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the whole hospitalization thing, that is. as per tradition, we went to my first paternal uncle's place for lunch yesterday, where we met up with almost everyone from my dad's side of the family. seems like the number of kids present keeps increasing with each passing year. so far, the oldest of my nephews and nieces is 15 going on 16, and the youngest is...9 months old? something like that. there are approximately 9 others between them, which makes 11 total. at least that's what my aunt has told me from her calculations. personally, i lost track of how many people should call me "uncle" about 8 years ago! at least i can still recognize all my cousins and their spouses, though we typically only see each other at that gathering for that one day each year (unless we meet at other family functions like wedding dinners, or bump into each other on the street). it was interesting to hang out with the kids, even if some of them are less than half my age. makes me feel young.

one of the more interesting pieces of news i heard while visiting was that one of my nephews just started primary 1 at cat high this year. and after confirmation with several other people, we've determined that he's only the second-ever cat high boy in the family (yours truly being the first. so cool!). though i can't really do much now, seeing as i wasn't from the primary school side, i may be able to help him a little when he starts secondary school 6 years later. this is, of course, provided that (1) he chooses and gets into cat high again, and (2) some of my old teachers are still teaching in the school. but that's looking quite far into the future already, so i'll just stash that thought away until the appropriate time.

while chatting with one of my friends on facebook just now, i was commenting that i expected to get less money this year, what with the bad economic situation and all. boy, was i wrong. my total haul this year (assuming i don't receive any more red packets this CNY) is $934, which is close to a 1.5X increase over last year. of course, this is largely due to a $500 red packet from my aunt (the same one who did the calculation of how many kids are in the generation below mine). completely stunned me when i opened it. it's the biggest red packet i've received so far in my 20 years, 3 months, 10 days and 11+ hours or so of life. guess surprises do happen. as for what will happen to the money, most of it will be heading to the bank. have to exercise self-control, especially now that i'm (STILL) jobless. maybe i'll buy something for myself to round the number down to the nearest ten or hundred, but that's it.

seems like as i get older, my appetite decreases more with each passing CNY. i vaguely remember eating way more at reunion dinners back when i was 10 or 12. i suppose it's for the best after all. have to watch the intake these days. all in and no out isn't good for health.

something's still bugging me. it dates back a few weeks to the 3rd of the month. i'm not going to post what it's about or anything potentially disastrous like that, and neither will my past posts give a leading clue to what it is. think i should call the person involved and tell that person exactly what's on my mind. if i do do that, there'll most likely be one of 2 outcomes, none of which are really in my favour. oh well. what to do? maybe my need for inner peace will eventually win out over my reluctance to step into the deep end.

right now, i really should be sleeping. after all, i do have plans to run tomorrow morning. will probably do it a bit later than the SOP in army though...start at 7:45 and end around 9 (or earlier if possible). hopefully i'm not rusted beyond salvaging.

-random thought of the day: I'm thinking of going back for a judo training session...-

Fatigue has claimed 2 victories over me, all in the space of less than 12 hours. its first victory was over my urge to blog last night, which i am able to compensate for now. the second victory over my motivation to run will be a bit more devastating, in the sense that i'll probably have to work doubly hard to convince myself again. if i know myself as well as i think i do, i'm guessing i'll start running by the third day of the new year (or maybe even sooner). either way, i will DEFINITELY begin by this week. can't afford to delay it any more.

my tiredness caused some funny dreams again. there were a couple of them, but the one i remember most clearly involves me, a friend, and some SJI judo juniors in a training camp sort of facility. can't recall all of the details clearly though. only thing i'm sure of is that the friend who was with me has zero judo background. odd. anyways, i figure it's best not to question my dreams when i'm tired. it's good to keep a record of them though. that way, i'll have some preparation in the (unlikely) event they come true.

this CNY has suddenly become less festive than before, especially with my cousin's sudden hospitalization on friday. it was kind of a shock to hear the news from my aunt. apparently, he had a fit (literally) and sort of fainted, sustaining a cut near his right eye on the way down. i wasn't there to witness it, but i bet it must have freaked out those who saw it, even more so because he's always been pretty healthy and fit. we'll never really know what exactly happened, since there were no immediate eyewitnesses and the most reliable source (my cousin, the patient) has a gap in his memory which spans over the time he lay down on his bed to being sent to the hospital, which completely blocks out the fit part. anyways, the information i have says that the worst is over. been to visit him twice so far, and he's his usual self, complete with sense of humour and all. some of the anecdotes i've heard about the whole incident include him telling the nurse that he was 16 years old when he was admitted to the hospital. the scary (but sort of funny, now that he's in stable condition) thing is that he's actually 24. so it's like he gave himself a 1/3 discount on age. probably had a tangle in the neurons/synapses at that point in time.

so, yes. this year's CNY is significantly less jovial than usual. not that i mind, by the way. my CNY mood normally hovers around lukewarm (like "oh wow. CNY." kind of reaction), so no big loss for me. can't really say the same for the family and relatives though. only foreseeable downside to this entire thing is i won't be able to break in my new mahjong set just yet, not when my cousin's supposed to be one of the first few people who get to experience it. oh well. it can wait until he gets better. after all, playing mahjong isn't just restricted to CNY days.

recently, i've been plagued by throat and gastric problems. i'm guessing that irregular mealtimes and sleeping hours are the main culprits behind it. of course, eating out a lot more often probably plays a part in that too. almost makes me miss the cookhouses in the various camps i've stayed in. (...NOT!) but in all seriousness, i do have to practise better maintenance of my bodily systems, ie. digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems. after all, i'm only 20! only a quarter (or a fifth, if i'm really lucky) of my lifespan has passed! what will i rely on in future if i screw my body up now? food for thought, isn't it?

when i began this post, it was chu xi, or the eve of the new year. certain traditions are still observed, like gathering for reunion dinner (which we did at my aunt's place), and shou ye (at least that's what i think it's called), when children stay up as long as they can to give their parents long lives. for the record, it's 4:50am now (and thus, officially chu yi), so i think i've observed that tradition pretty well, no? only thing i'm wondering now is how i'll keep awake when doing the visiting rounds tomorrow later, and whether i'll oversleep and miss the visiting completely. it shouldn't be THAT drastic, but i'll have to watch myself, just in case.

the clock just hit 5am. i suppose i'd better squeeze in a few hours of shut-eye to ensure i don't nod off in mid-conversation with relatives. wish me luck with that!

-random thought of the day: Happy CNY to all my readers!-

Even though CNY is only a bit more than 2 days away, i don't feel the festive spirit at all. maybe it's because i don't appreciate the 2 (or 3?) days' break that the working and schooling population get, considering that i don't belong in either of those categories.

my gastric flu's gone! thankfully it wasn't as serious as expected. no vomiting or anything nasty like that, though a tiny bit of queasiness comes back every now and then. i think the reason for this particular bout of illness not being as bad as it could have been is because of the honey water. apparently, the honey i used has some amazing biochemical properties. can't exactly remember everything my aunt told me about it (that was over 4 months ago!), but the bottom line is that it's very good for health. and i suppose the fact that there's a bit of barley and lime in there helped too.

now that the horrible bug has left my system, it's time to seriously begin working on that running plan again. going to begin on sunday morning, since saturday mornings are otherwise occupied. i suppose i'd better start resetting my biological clock too. i've been sleeping at close to 4am and waking up around 12+pm for the past 2 days. needless to say, i won't be running on sunday morning if i'm still asleep, right? so, better get off to a good start. in fact, i'm going to (attempt to) sleep by midnight today, in order for me to get my 7 hours of rest.

i can never understand how women can repeat the same story over and over again, and sometimes to the same audience! ever since the whole "lying maid" spectacle in december, my mum has told the story no less than 6 times over the phone with me in earshot. who knows how many more repetitions were done outside of my presence? it was pretty tolerable the first 2 times, but after that, it just got boring (and increasingly annoying). but well, i guess it's justifiable to want everyone to know about it...serves as a warning.

as mentioned previously, i got a samsung omnia! i've more or less figured out the essentials of the phone, like calling and sending SMSes, along with some other enhanced features, like connecting to the internet and some of the more PDA-ish aspects. i won't deny it's a cool piece of equipment, but the change-resistant part of me is sort of wishing i got more of a phone than a PDA. oh well. nothing i can't live with. i do have a few little issues with some of the displays and text input methods, but i'll adapt.

the boredom from slacking at home has forced me to go blog-hopping. i notice that my friends don't really update as frequently as i do. obviously, it's because they are (1) in camp, (2) working, (3) studying, or (4) otherwise using their time more constructively than i am. i REALLY need to get a job/life. anyways, back to the topic if my friends' blogs. reading some of their archives is kind of entertaining, especially when you see them type in alternate caps (something which i absolutely loathe, and thankfully, have never deliberately done) and hybridize english and chinese (eg. i went to do it le!) back when they were in secondary school. i don't mean to be mean, but i can sort of understand why the english standard is slipping. then again, a blog is an informal setting, so i suppose it's ok to write less-than-perfectly. should be harmless as long as it doesn't carry over to school/work life.

maybe i'll head out later in the evening to mail my omnia's warranty card. could use some fresh air. well, as fresh as the air gets in bishan on a friday evening, anyway. might help me straighten out some of my thoughts.

-random thought of the day: I'm trying to learn the Ancient Language (from Eragon).-

Didn't begin my running plan today after all. was (and still am, actually) down with gastric flu. seems like i caught it from my sister, or maybe it's the other way round. there's not been any vomiting yet, and i really hope to keep it that way. fortunately, the worst of it has passed (i think), thanks to several doses of charcoal pills and honey water, not to mention sweating it out on the sofa the entire night. hopefully the situation will improve by tonight. if not, then it's a trip to the doctor's for me.

yesterday was a pretty historic day. despite being sick and generally in much pain, i actually stayed up until about 2am to watch the US presidential inauguration. it was pretty entertaining watching Obama deliver his inaugural address (and trip over his lines while taking the oath!). i must admit, he's a really good speaker. not to the extent of sending chiils up my spine or anything, but he managed to stir up the crowd several times. should be interesting to monitor how the US will develop under his leadership.

decided against getting the HTC phone after all. no doubt it looks great, but it lacks in the user-friendliness department. so, i decided to get the omnia instead. i'm still fiddling around with some of the controls and settings, but it's mostly set up and ready for use. still need to transfer a few more ringtones and perhaps some wallpaper over.

guess i'll leave off here...have to wait for the file transfer to complete. in the meantime, i'm going to whip up more honey water. damn gastric flu bug.

-random thought of the day: Being sick sucks.-

Coaching plans are pretty much at a standstill, as i've found out earlier in the afternoon. it's mainly due to some changes within the sports school, and long story short, it's led to a delay in the entire process. earliest we'll hear anything is most probably after CNY, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

i suppose that i should double up my efforts in seeking tuition assignments since there isn't much development on the coaching front. but, as i've also acknowledged in the previous post, now is probably not the best time to broadcast my intention, especially since CNY is just around the corner. horrors. looks like i'll be income-less for another couple of weeks at best. worst case could be until i start university, but i'm not even going to think that.

with my income sources temporarily dried up, i don't suppose it would be a good time to get a new phone or learn to drive, would it? and yet, i plan on doing both. for driving, i'll be starting on the wednesday of CNY week, which is the third day of the lunar new year. hope that's going to be an auspicious start. i've decided to learn under my friend's uncle for a trial period of 2 to 3 lessons before i make any commitments. if that doesn't work out, i can approach my ex-classmate's dad too.

as mentioned in the previous post, i'll make a lst of what i think are important qualities in a phone. looks don't really matter much (though you wouldn't catch me using a glittery pink phone. not in this life, anyway). basic features i need include calling and SMS functions (duh!), an alarm, and a calendar/organizer-like thingy. mp3 playback would be nice, though video playback is optional. a good camera never hurt either. internet...not REALLY necessary. GPS function would be a plus, especially when i begin driving. sadly, both phones meet my basic requirements, so i guess it's time to look at the extras. HTC has word processing, which could be useful if story ideas or blogging moods strike me while on the move. but its camera loses out to the omnia's because there's no flash and it's supposedly sub-par despite being of the same resolution. i hear that HTC requires payment for the GPS feature, so that would be a big demerit if it's true. i'll have to ask the starhub guys about it when i'm making my decision tomorrow.

i'm pushing running back until wednesday morning. going to give myself another day to recover (and sleep in). decided not to use the bus 410 route just yet, if at all. second thoughts have brought to mind the fact that i'll be sharing the sidewalk with a few hundred kids from no less than 3 different schools, all trying not to be late. instead, i'm going to run to ang mo kio MRT station and back home, which is a total distance of approximately 5.5km. sounds manageable. giving allowance for crossing traffic junctions, rusty form and other potential delays, target completion time is 50 minutes. the whole thing (inclusive of warming up and down) shouldn't take more than 90 minutes. according to some calculations, 5.5km in 50 minutes requires a speed slightly more than half that of pass timing for IPPT. hopefully my fitness has not become cui below that standard even after such a long period of inactivity. i'll find out on wednesday morning.

Busy, busy...

well, not yet. but that's the general direction in which my life is heading. finally, things like dates and times are materializing! guess it's about time it happened. ok...now, in no order of priority, these are some of the things i need to do:

- make a trip to the salvation army
- get my new phone!
- area cleaning (it never ends)
- commit to a driving instructor
- secure that job offer
- re-broadcast tuition requests
- plan an exercise schedule
- do some new-year shopping
- (maybe) get a haircut

let's elaborate on a few (maybe all?) of them. salvation army and area cleaning are pretty self-explanatory i guess, but for those who don't see the link, the story goes like this. phase 1 of my area cleaning was done around mid-december last year. in the process of that round of cleaning, i cleared out all old clothes with the intention of giving them to the salvation army (or the karang-guni man, whichever came first/struck my fancy). sadly, i lost momentum and the cleaning stopped after phase 1. phases 2 and 3 are still in the works, and i suppose a good place to start would be to get rid of the 2 bags full of old clothes, hence the planned salvation army trip.

getting my new phone is quite self-explanatory too. at present, after reading several reviews, i'm leaning heavily towards the HTC touch HD. will be going down on tuesday to check it out and consider other options. i'm foreseeing my savings target shot to hell. *reminder for next post: come up with a list of qualities my ideal phone should possess. maybe that might help me reach a solid conclusion.*

speaking of heavily, a few of my friends have been rather brutally honest in telling me that i've gained weight since my ORD. and i can't say i haven't noticed it myself, either. so, i'm going to practise one of the few useful things which army has taught me, which is to have enough discipline to go for a run every alternate morning. so far, i've plotted out my intended route on google earth (by the way, i'm using the bus 410 route to start with), and found out that it is about 8.45km, give or take a few hundred metres. after around a month and a half of slacking, there's no way i'll be able to take on 8.45km in one shot. thus, i'm going to do progressive training (yay SAF) and start with a more manageable number, like 4 or 5. probably will begin on that plan in a few days' time, after i'm confident my immune system can take it.

new-year shopping isn't that really big a deal. will probably buy some stuff that i really need (like a belt) and that's it. not going to spend unnecessarily here, especially after the phone plans.

as for my jobs, there are some new developments on the coaching thing. my boss won't tell me whether it's bad or good news yet, so i'm meeting him tomorrow to find out. hopefully the job's secure. if that fails, i suppose i could always fall back on tuition. i think i made a mistake in sending out the request for tuition assignments in december. i mean, it's the school holidays! who in their right minds would be thinking about tuition!? so i'm probably going to re-broadcast after CNY, in hopes of a more favourable response this time. i mean i can't get a worse response (seeing as my last response was zero), so there's no chance of even greater disappointment.

lastly, driving. i'm at quite a loss, actually. i have 2 driving instructors in mind. one's my ex-classmate's dad, and the other's my friend's uncle. dilemma dilemma. i'll have to choose by the coming tuesday. really want to get my license ASAP.

well, i'll end off here. sleep calls.

-random thought of the day: Have to blog about the birthday celebration.-

As i was glancing through some of my older posts from 2003 and 2004, i had (and still have) this sudden urge to delete everything before 2005 and sort of start anew. it's mainly because my 20-year old self finds that my writing as a 14+/15+ year old is pretty embarrassing. actually, deleting those "offensive" posts is pretty possible, thanks to blogger's new import/export tool. i can even keep them (privately) for remembrance's sake. only little disadvantage i can see right now is it'll cut my post count by about half, and certain events like my 500th post will not apply any more. so...pros and cons i guess. either way, i'll reach a conclusion before the end of the month.

i think i've figured why i'm down with a cold. believe it or not, my conclusion is that is has something to do with my hair. allow me to explain. now that my hair is longer, it takes more time for it to dry off completely. and since i'm not the hairdryer type, the water stays on my head. thus, my head is at a lower temperature for a longer time as the water slowly evaporates off, being hindered by the hair and all. end result: a cold. does it make sense? alternatively, there's the traditional chinese old wives' tale explanation that leaving your hair wet results in "head wind" (or tao-hong. incidentally, i suspect that's how the expression came about.) and that causes a cold. there should be some truth to one or both of the explanations i guess, but i'm not sure which one.

now, in other news, i think i've more or less settled on my choices for a new phone. it comes down to the HTC HD, or the samsung omnia i900. i've eliminated the iphone from the list as (1) it's singtel-exclusive and (2) it's SMSing features are reportedly lacklustre. there's a higher chance that i'll go with the HTC, though it would burn a big hole in my pocket, and send my wallet to the ICU. perhaps i could try to pass it off as my belated birthday, christmas and advance CNY present combined? of course, the $200 discount voucher from starhub would make things a bit easier too. definitely have to discuss it with a few more people before the confirmation.

by right, i'm supposed to attend my JC classmate's birthday celebration later today. but, with my nose feeling like the causeway at peak hour, i'm having second, third and fourth thoughts. it wouldn't be good to pass on the illness to others, and i suppose staying at home to recuperate should be somewhere close to top priority. i suppose i may go down for a bit, but it's still uncertain.

-random thought of the day: Need to get better soon...-

Final theory is over and done with! it was a pretty common sense-ical test, but there were some questions which required fact regurgitation, mainly on demerit points and insurance. lucky i was reasonably sure about the answers. to be honest, i think i got the easier selection of questions in the test bank, seeing as i remember doing few of them (around 3 to 4 questions) in the basic theory paper too. still, a pass is a pass, so i'm not complaining.

my nose is still blocked! makes me want to shove an ice pick really hard up both nostrils. worst thing is, i can feel a scratchy feeling starting up in my throat as well. from past experience, i'm going to be sick for another 2 to 3 days minimum. sian. funny how this almost never happens in army. hope it's nothing serious, especially since there's been a tuberculosis scare in the family recently. then again, everyone else tested clean, so what are my odds? doubt i'll be that suay.

you know, i enjoy slacking as much as the next guy. but, contrary to my beliefs, i guess there is such a thing as too much slack time. who would've thought? i really want to start on my next job, but my boss says the green light hasn't been given. oh well. i suppose i could spend my free time constructively, by getting a head start on driving, or by making the most of my (newly-renewed) CoH account. but first, i'm due to meet a friend at J8 in about an hour's time. better go get ready.

-random thought of the day: Need to call a prospective driving instructor...-

My nose is running...and i haven't caught it yet.

this is quite a bad time for me to be under the weather, as i have the much-mentioned final theory test coming up tomorrow. can't really concentrate on studying with the "choked sink" feeling somewhere between my nose and brain. hopefully it clears up soon.

in case i haven't said it sufficiently, final theory's tomorrow! well, in about 22 hours anyway; and i'm still not 100% confident. then again, i rarely am, unless it's something i'm really good at. i guess i shouldn't worry about it too much. worst case is i fail, and spend another $6 to retake the test. of course, there is that little matter about the 6 week waiting time between tests too. but i'm not going to fail, am i? *touches wood*

well, guess i'd better go pop a couple of flu panadol and try to read up a bit more for driving.

-random thought of the day: Is it really necessary to memorize every single fact?-

Cat High did well in the O-levels! in fact, they were featured in the 10pm news. though it's been 4 years since i graduated, i still felt this great surge of pride when i saw the news. they say it's the best result in the past few years, but isn't that what they've always said every year since around 2005? still, i have to give credit where it's due. 5 guys with 10 A1s each is no mean feat. makes me feel a little...envious. then again, O-levels is a thing of the past for me, so perhaps i should let go of that train of thought. anyways, from the news program and the email i just got, it shows that my score from 4 years ago is still (narrowly) below the school's MSG. maybe they'll beat it next year.

like i said earlier, it's been 4 years since i've graduated. it's quite hard to believe that the red name tag has completed yet another cycle in the school. amazing how time flies, isn't it?

this is actually a pretty pointless update. just wanted to spread the good news around a bit. now that that's done, time to go back to theory revision.

-random thought of the day: I'm not confident for final theory!-

Something's making me feel a little strange. funny thing is, it only started about 5 minutes ago. i'm guessing that it could be the fact that i'm once again at my computer at home, and that people can look over my shoulder and see everything on my screen. loss of privacy, which is especially serious in this case since i've mostly been on a laptop for the past 2 weeks. guess i need to re-acclimatize to people looking at my monitor every now and then. either that, or i may have to do some furniture tai-chi. must give that some serious thought.

for those who haven't figured it out yet, i decided to take a break from my cousin's place and come back home for a change of environment. of course, the fact that my final theory test is in 3 days (and not 4 as i'd originally thought) did play quite a major part in that decision too. figured it'd be more productive to study for it at home.

i was just asked whether i permed my hair. how WTF is that!? for the record, i haven't done anything to it since mid-november last year, so it's longer (and perhaps bigger) that it has been in the past 2 years. but why on earth would i perm my hair?? talk about traumatizing. i think i'll have to get a haircut soon to avoid any more hairy situations (pun fully intended). heh.

-random thought of the day: I've memorized Wakko's America!-

Haven't started off a post with a video for quite a while (in fact, i think this is the first time). so, might as well, right? it's a funny story how this happened, actually. initially, i was thinking of Shallow Hal. yes, that really old movie that taught people not to be purely fixated on outside appearances. there's one part in the movie where Hal goes to the peace corps headquarters to find his girlfriend, and there's this guy sitting on the porch, playing the ukulele. i searched for the song on youtube (and found it, too!). after listening to it for a while, i sort of began thinking of hawaiian music in general. so, i went to search for a song which i heard during the ending credits of 50 First Dates...and it's found in the video above! it brought back some fun memories, especially of those in pulau tinggi back in the JC days.

since i'm already on a musical note (pardon the pun here), i'd thought it would be a good time to post something which i had meant to put up exactly 2 weeks ago, on christmas day.

Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas is
You ... yeah

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
(and I) Don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
(ahhh) Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you...You baby

Oh I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
(and I) I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
(ahh)I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do
Baby all I want for Christmas is you
You baby

Oh all the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere (so brightly baby)
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air (oh)
And everyone is singing (oh yeah)
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need -
won't you please bring my baby to me...

Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see my baby
Standing right outside my door
Oh I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You oooh

All I want for Christmas is you baby... (repeat 2 times & fade out)

contrary to what most people would be thinking, this song is not dedicated to a person. well, not in this case, at least. i'm dedicating it to my IC, which has finally returned to me after a 2-year separation period. kind of late, i know, but hey, i did say i forgot about it.

and speaking of my IC, i finally went down to lavender to get the photo changed. this idea has been in the works for quite a while, actually. it's just that i never had the correct motivation (or the time, or the money) to go down and get it done. it feels kind of good to get that out of the way, considering i've been promising myself that i would do it since...oh...2004? only little issues are that it burned a $60-shaped hole in my pocket (you know, i think the price rose. i remember it being $50 a few years ago), and the date of issue isn't as nice as my previous one. but i can live with it i guess. worst case i'll change it again after my income starts coming in.

in a bid to rid myself of distracting thoughts (like those from last saturday), i've started writing a bit of original fiction. well, it's more like half-fiction, considering that i'm basing certain things off of real-life experiences/events. i've done a paragraph or so at present, and quite frankly, i'm half-inclined to scrap the whole project. but, i figure i should give it a fighting chance and get the first chapter up at least. then i can delete it off the face of the planet if i get negative reviews. have to see how it goes, i guess, but one thing's for sure. nobody whom i know in real life will ever read it. and even if they do, i doubt they'd make the connection.

-random thought of the day: I REALLY need to get started on final theory revision!-

Not doing much exercise for the past month after ORD has more or less killed my fitness completely. i found that out the hard way when i went to run with my cousins at east coast park. running 10km's nothing new to me, as i've done it more times than i care to remember in camp. but for some reason, running at east coast felt way worse than running in camp. took me way longer to complete the distance too. guess i should have followed the whole progressive training thing and started with shorter distances.

as a (painful) reminder of my kay kiang-ness, i'm aching in funny places. it's mainly concentrated in the lower body though, which i suppose is to be expected. oddly, i only started feeling the aches in the evening. it usually kicks in much sooner than that. hopefully it goes away soon...i still have quite a lot of walking to do tomorrow.

my final theory is approximately a week away, and guess what? i haven't started studying for it yet! got to love that last-minute mentality. though i know that it'll sort itself out, i guess a few nights of studying wouldn't hurt my odds, right?

-random thought of the day: Have to get up earlier than usual tomorrow.-

Idyllic. yes, that's the word i'm looking for. one of its meanings is "simple and carefree" (courtesy of dictionary.com), which is a good way of describing my life now. then again, i guess it depends on how strictly we adhere to the definition. life is simple i guess (how complicated can sleeping and slacking be?), but not exactly carefree.

ever since saturday night, i've been preoccupied with a really stupid, bo-liao, and to a large extent, kam-gong and close to impossible thought/scenario, which will never see the light of day on this blog. sad thing is, no matter how much i convince myself that such a thing is impossible and dismiss it from a rational point of view, something inside me keeps telling me not to give up and just give it a shot. guess my analytical scientist and romantic dreamer sides are in conflict. wonder which side will win here?

maybe i should just forget it (temporarily, at least, if not permanently) and focus on other aspects of life, like going running at east coast tomorrow! i wonder how i'll fare after not running for close to a month? guess i'll find out tomorrow.

-random thought of the day: Annoying.-

The past 2 days have (unexpectedly) been pretty entertaining. had an impromptu pool outing with my cousins and their friends on friday, where i lost almost every single game i played. guess my skills deteriorated WAY more than i thought. one comforting thing was that i xian chou-ed in friendly company, so there aren't any bad consequences (none that i can see at this time, at least).

saturday morning was spent at turf city as usual. this is quite surprising, seeing as (1) i'm staying at my cousin's place in marine parade, and (2) even if i wasn't, our group's usual means of transport was unavailable. luckily for me, my uncle's office happens to be in turf city's vicinity (who knew? i always thought it was in jurong...), so i caught a lift from him as he was going to work. see? classic case of boat straightening as it reaches the bridge. guess it was rather coincidental that part of the morning address had to do with tian shi, di li and ren he, ie. appropriate conditions for things to happen. it's fortunate that i went down for the gathering, since i didn't miss out on hearing our retired chinese teacher make that particular address. he usually only delivers this kind of "lessons" on special occasions. to think i wasn't really interested in his class back when he taught me in lower secondary!

the second part of saturday was pretty interestingly-spent too. went home to bishan after turf city to say hi to my computer and create a character in CoH (one thing bad about staying at my cousin's place is that his computer can't handle CoH without the graphics setting being turned down to the barest minimum, which is not good for character creation at all). after that, i went to return my library books and took bus 58 all the way from start to end (ie. from bishan to pasir ris) to attend an army friend's 21st birthday celebration.

being at pasir ris interchange brought back some memories, mainly those from BMT and of booking into tekong from that very place. got a little cheap thrill from seeing some army guys booking in that night (which is kind of sad, really. i mean, booking in on a saturday?). was tempted to wave my IC around a bit and scream "ORD LO!", but scrapped that idea in the end. after all, i was in their shoes/boots once, so there's a sense of fellowship/ sympathy/ understanding there.

anyway, i digress. back to the main story. looked up the locality map, and found out that pasir ris park was a walkable distance from the interchange. managed to get there using my amazing topo/map-reading skills, and located the place without incident. only thing is, the event was scheduled to start at 6, but there were very few people there (and no sign of the birthday boy) at 6:20. decided to wait for a bit (until 7pm, to be exact) before calling to find out what happened. turns out the organizer hadn't even left home! so, went to sit by the sea for some quiet time. did another round of thinking, enjoying the sea breeze and some other stuff for another hour and a half (!) before the key people showed up.

initially, it was rather awkward since there was only me and one other guy from the "army" group. the rest of the JC, secondary school, primary school and other miscellaneous groups seemed to know each other, so i guess it was 2 of us on our own for a while. it did get better when more army guys showed up, including an old spec who's in NTU now. brought a bit of CJC tradition to the celebration by doing cake tribal paintings (well, just a line really. wasn't going to be mean and get him really messy) on the birthday boy's face. sadly, my kind intentions were wasted since the army guys did the honours of giving him a cake mask. and, as is the norm with big birthdays, we got the birthday boy drunk off his ass. it was pretty entertaining, since he started talking...and talking...and talking. probably shouldn't reveal what he said here (or anywhere, for that matter), but it was...interesting to hear. got myself a little drunk in the process as well. funny thing...i think i can rationalize better with myself when i'm drunk. only problem is i tend to rationalize out loud, and there's no "mute" button. so, others may end up hearing what i don't want them to. guess alcohol makes people talkative. it was kind of fun to watch an almost-completely wasted guy worry about my transport arrangements back home. nice to know he cares i guess.

speaking of transport arrangements, it was way past midnight by the time i left, so not much choice except to catch a taxi home. the fare went up to $18(!!!) due to the surcharge. i wasn't expecting pasir ris to be so far from marine parade too. oh well. have to deal with this unexpected expenditure in the future budget plans. got home at 2:30 or so. my cousin was nice enough to stay awake to open the door. KO'ed almost immediately and woke up today feeling a little not-all-there. luckily that's worn off, and i'm more or less back at 100% condition.

this birthday thing has actually got me wondering about how i'd like to spend my 21st birthday. yes, i know it's not for another 10+ months, but it never did hurt to plan early, right? somehow, i don't foresee myself throwing a big party like my friend here (too much logistics). besides, the last time i had a birthday party was on my 10th birthday, and ever since then, i haven't really seen the need for one. of course, no party = not nearly as many presents, but it's the tradeoff i guess. then again, maybe i'll get a tao-hong fit and decide to organize one myself. who knows?

-random thought of the day: I miss my computer!-

First post of the year! as tradition has it, i'll outline my resolutions and goals for the upcoming 364 days.

- Get my driving license by May 2009.

- Pass all driving theory and practical tests on the first try.

- Not get into any accidents after acquiring the license.

- Keep in reasonably good shape by consistent exercise.

- Kick a bad childhood habit.

- Survive in university (and get into the top 20% of my class).

- Be more outgoing/self-confident.

- Engage brain before mouth under all circumstances.

that's all i can think of at this time. i'll update again if any more are important enough to add on.

after yesterday's post, i don't really have that much to say. so, i'll end this post on a positive note by saying that 2009 has started well, and i'm sure it'll only get better from here.

-random thought of the day: Sounds like thunder outside...-