`daron.

The time is now

2008-09-27T17:29:00.007+08:00

I've considered moving for a really long time now and perhaps this may possibly be the best decision I've ever made. Pictures load faster, contents are easier to manage and the layout is 99.9% of what I dreamt it would be. So at exactly 4 long years and 9 days, I'm graduating.
Literally moving on, I present to you the next big thing (font size as well).....

daronang.blogspot.com

and it only gets better...

2008-09-05T20:25:00.001+08:00

ANGINPERTH.BLOGSPOT.COM

2008-09-05T20:02:00.002+08:00

Today's The Day

Before I leave for perth in a couple of hours, here is the scene down @ vivo city on wednesday night.

lovebirds for life.

wonder if she took a picture of me?

The next time someone tells you that you possess a DJ face, take it as a compliment. I shook hands with the main actor 'tai zi' in the film at the after party at st james. A rising star to be?

honestly, this is a bad picture.

HAHA HOLLYWOOD SEE THROUGH!

"It is not that I'm biased, but I rate it 5 and a half star!" - Harris Ang, NS men.

home away from home.

hopefully we get the internet connection sorted out at our apartment. Stay tune to anginperth.blogspot.com

2008-09-01T00:37:00.010+08:00

i-have

More than a year of drooling and waiting is finally over.

I FINALLY HAVE MY VERY OWN iPHONE!!!

The applications that i've downloaded so far are pretty sick. there's facebook and palringo (aka MSN) which is a whole new experience when you use it on an iphone. I haven managed to sync my contacts to my new number yet and I guess I make take a couple of days to settle my contact list before I do an sms blast of my new number. The old one will still be in use till Jan 09 but till then, I pretty much have as many smses in both phones combined than my fingers can ever type and virtually unlimited outgoing calls.

on a different note, I'm working for a full week right before my perth trip(nick! 5more days!).

speaking about days,

On wednesday, I will be attending the movie premier of 'The Days' (YES! 'The Days' is finally coming to a cinema near you) and the dress code is glamorous and I was saying how do you define glamorous?

I am very much a tee-shirt lover if you know me well but tee shirts aren't really meant for the red carpet so I'm having a dilemma of what to wear for the day (haha you have to allow me one pun). I'll most probably go easy on top with a simply black shirt since I have work on the day (last one I promise) itself.

Anyway, 'The Days' is officially screening on Sept 11 (how timely)

Join their facebook group if you are interested. The last I checked they had like 1,500 members.

I will finally see bro again after what has been like years and I do hope our meetings aren't just limited to events. After all, he is my brother and I see him like what? once in every 2-3 months?

visit anginperth.blogspot.com for the build up to the perth trip.

2008-08-25T21:20:00.013+08:00

Haji Lane loses hip cult status

High rentals, poor business force shops to move out, as teens make it their hangout

By Zaidah Rahmat
Section: LIFE! - LIFE NEWS
The Straits Times (Singapore)
August 23, 2008 Saturday

It was the epicentre of cool three years ago. But now, Haji Lane in
Kampong Glam has turned into a virtual ghost-town at night after
several shop tenants moved out in recent months.

Rising rentals and a slowdown in customer traffic are to blame, say
owners of its string of more than 40 fashion and lifestyle boutiques,
secondhand shops and cafes.

Out of 16 shop owners Life! spoke to, 10 were affected by rental hikes.
Many say their rentals have doubled from about two years ago.

Ms Eileen Fam, 32, owner of boutique Lola, relocated to Kandahar Street
in May after her landlord doubled the rental of her 750 sq ft shop to
$7,000 a month. 'It was too much. Landlords don't take into account
that we get more people who browse than buy,' she says.

She is now paying about $5,000 for a 1,000 sq ft shop at Kandahar Street
where she is enjoying better sales.

Haji Lane, once a sleepy back alley with textile shops and warehouses,
received a severe injection of hip in 2005 when brands like Commes des
Garcons set up shop there.

Almost overnight, a rash of chic, independent shops opened there,
selling everything from limited-edition shoes to retro fabrics and ice cream.

Mr Ridhwan Ghany, owner of CD shop Straits Records, moved out
in January last year when his landlord wanted to double the $2,000
monthly rental for his three-storey unit.

'Landlords think business is booming just because of the media hype,
but it's not true,' he says. He has since moved to adjacent Bali Lane,
where he pays about $1,700 for a 650 sq ft shop.

Other shopowners lament the watering down of the street's cult status
as it gained publicity.

Fashion stylist Steven Kong, 34, who closed his boutique-cafe Lipstick
Bandit recently due to poor business, says: 'The area became too
commercialised. Too many shops moved in and the area just was not
pleasant anymore.'

Mr Javier Tan, 30, owner of fashion concept store 3, has noticed an
influx of teenagers to the street. 'Many customers feel the youngsters
who hang out here are killing the culture of the place, turning it into
another Far East Plaza,' he says.

'It's no longer exclusive. We're seeing fewer and fewer of the older crowd these days.'

read further (the optimist)

stlife@sph.com.sg

Comments i've read (I have no part to play in these comments)

"going there isnt as pleasant as before already. last time, i and my gf used to shop there without getting stared at or the what you called style checked. but now, too much kids starring at you and when you stare back to them, they will call you rude. wtf!"

"everything is spoilt by bengs n lians. they freaking act cool in EVERYTHING. these are just one of the many rubbles in their wake. u buy skinny, they mass buy, u see liao also sian dont wanna wear alr. u go where, they also flood there, nobody wanna go already. they make everything nice look stupid."

"and the countless number of kiddos going there for sheesha,
totally turn off.
hopefully ann siang won't turn out to be like haji lane"

"when myself and my colleague go there after work, wha we wear giordano tee, also can kena style check, stare like we owe em money. Bagus."

2008-08-25T03:22:00.005+08:00

something fishy

moments like these are so hard to emulate and recapture.
fisheye pictures taken during the ubin trip. beautiful sights ahead.

photos by nuo

2008-08-23T01:35:00.008+08:00

blast from the past

just like the old times.

to achieve what zen achieved, I believe he lives by this.

in-sync

lately, kat's been trying hard to lose the dawn yeoh sweety image

both events happened on consecutive thursday btw.

charmaine knows jade seah. yeah, the one that said fark on live tv.

2008-08-18T01:17:00.010+08:00

four-ever

for as long as i can remember, the closer 4 of 9 cousins shared relatively common interest throughout our childhood days. Disregarding my tantrum throwing days in the earlier years of my life, I can still vividly remember heading over to nick/melis' place at simei on almost every weekend. (I still do now and the only difference is that they shifted) Before playstation was invented, nick had the classic super nintendo which was like the King of Console games at that time and if you had it you would remember games like donkey kong, top gear 2, toy story, street fighter, godzilla, bust a move, JOE AND MAC, megaman and well, they list never really ends. but unfortunately, these classics never stood the test of time. In fact, everything the 4 of us did together ended briefly like for instance the couple of keep-fit regimes, bowling which sustained a couple of years, mahjong and cooking (mainly because 3 of 4 contributed to eating only). Instead, we formed a strong alliance throughout these years and this is quite applaudable because not many people I know see their cousins week in week out, let alone hang out together.

so here's presenting the fantastic four (with harris being The Thing of course)

@ Miss U Cafe on national day showing the same love our country has for imported goods. hints the table-tennis team. hints the soccer national team.

as mentioned two post ago, with one foot already in perth, it was seemingly sensible that the 4 of us met up to discuss pretty much everything from accommodation (apartment confirmed!), food (melis' must gos), houseparty (?), budget to even laying ground rules like keeping the toilet seat decently clean for melis.

proving yet again why we call our dear cousin harris fag

bottom left!

we topped off our night with a feast down the road at where else but simpang

The information to follow is courtesy of Nick. If you haven already noticed, the indian waiter who possesses the bullet speed ability to rap all of his menu in a snap at simpang has already left for india to get married. we, in singapore, will miss you.

all pictures here
pictures by melissa

2008-08-13T22:54:00.018+08:00

southpaws

They say everyone was born right handed, and only the greatest overcome it.
Yesterday was Left-Hander's Day, not that it is of any importance but being a leftie all my life, I figured I should dedicate a small part of this space to it (rach and every leftie i know this is for you too). We, the unique bunch may only make up 10% of the world's population but what we lack in numbers does not hinder us from being the better handers. the world may force us to live with right handed designs by default like bowling balls or mugs with prints that never face the right way when we hold them with our left hand to scissors that the left hand can never hold comfortably. but what we lefties can comfort ourselves is the proven fact that we think quicker. I may be putting a stick into the hearts of almost the entire nation with my comments but in your face right handers!

last thursday, we raided CHIMES for 3rd uncle's birthday celebration (not to be mistaken for chijmes)

I can already picture this same picture in a different country. wont be long i say. wont be long.

this substance is toxic and I mean it in a positive manner.

If you are keen on hearing the bee gees classic staying alive come to life then I suggest a trip down to CHIMES. The aging dude that night had so much breath in him that he did the song, all voiced like the bee gees, effortlessly and flawlessly. During the course of the night, I was sadden to hear a horrible rendition of cupids chokehold aka my favourite song played in the pub.

Uncle mentioned that hotel california will be a song that will last through generations to come but one song 'the night Chicago died', even though i didn't get to hear it, had such a ring to the song title that it kept repeating itself in my head the whole night uptill supper.

It was never really nice hogging on to the pool table considering the vast amount of luck, or lack of from the people I played with because I won all three games on the count of them sinking the 8-ball in the wrong pot or sinking the white ball when only the 8-ball was left on the table.

we rocked the quiet estate of kallang bahru right after where i learnt from nick that mutton chop actually exist, and worth trying. for 5 bucks, you pretty much get a decent chunk of mutton, fries, a sunny side up egg, tomatoes and cucumbers for the vege lover topped with a whole deal of mayo and chilli.

DETOX

eye the iphone.

on friday, I hopped onto johnson's new ride, which will be back on the streets again soon, to marc's neighbor's dim sum stall yet again only this time with more people. discounting the one that took over their previous outlet near st hilda's, dont you think it is near impossible to find any decent dim sum stall around these days.

not only is the exterior sleek, the red trimmings on the seats + thumb drive enabled music + the familiar smell of new leather made the ride a one to remember. Johnson sure knows how to live it up.

just in case you're drooling all over in front of your computer screen longing for a hot piping siew mai right now and you don't want to spend the amount you do at din tai fung, this dim sum delight is located down the road along tampines polyclinic. you'll never miss it once you are down that stretch.

the overrated place after lunch with calvin, marc, rox and almy.

calvin 'attached' tang.

not my cup of ~~tea~~ coffee.

almy accompanied me down to town to s.clique where he had a 2-day stand up for subcrew promo I just couldnt miss. you know the feeling of regret whenever you miss something you wished you had been part of. I cant make up any of it at the moment but i'm sure you had your fair share of such a feeling somewhere along in your life. think about it. would you let a rare opportunity pass or would you go for it when you have the means to. case in point, I made sure I didnt regret this time round.

almy is dope!

It really feels great to be a marketing student at this moment because the holidays unofficially starts today! exams what?

2008-08-10T02:44:00.004+08:00

sunat!

with one foot already in perth, it was seemingly sensible that the 4 of us met up to discuss pretty much everything from the accomodation (apartment?), food (melis' must gos), houseparty (?), budget to even laying ground rules like keeping the toilet seat decently clean for melis. i'm gonna crash real soon because i have a match to attend to tml (with the focus on the word 'attend') so i'm going to end off with some of this week's events and i'll do the full post about it some time during the week. have a great week ahead mate because i know i'll have one. all pictures after the jump.

mask painting/submission (here)

and 3rd uncle's birthday @ katong chimes (chivas overload) on thursday. (here)

not forgetting my 080808 (here)

more when i find the time again this week.

also, i miss shanice like crazy. thankfully shes only gone for the weekends. she'll be back tml.

2008-08-06T00:04:00.003+08:00

Forever young

It is interesting to note that the bus stop a couple of steps from home has often or always developed itself into a place where guys converse about business. i remember a couple of months back having a conversation with cheong about him planning to buy a kangoo singlehandedly. hopefully he is still financing his dream well. But the latest conversation was with nick about his supper club. I cant disclose much but our conversation revolved mainly around the silver spoon fed and the average joe like us.

honestly, it is always difficult surviving on minimum ~~wage~~ allowance having to worry about overspending losing out on dinner thats why i work, or at least so a month ago. I also recall brandon mentioning that buying labels just contributes to hiding your insecurities. I do buy and i do have insecurities and i frankly do agree with his statement. but I dont burn my saturdays in the past just for an extra plate of hokkien mee. It always feels like an accomplishment owning something new that i know i laboured for. in short, I handle my own finances and i buy what i want. pleasing yes.

back to last sat.

last sat melis treated us to dinner and now i feel terrible because melis wanted to feast jap.

seeing nick's rosewood tee by the hundreds reminds me that i should start asking sis and weihao about the date of their next road trip to malaysia.

the following night, we rocked grapevine

Sheena, harris' friend, joined us as well.

if it really does fall into place, the next time you see the four of us together in a picture will be in perth mate!

pepper, sheena's dog is as quiet as a mouse (wait are mouse quiet?)

this at least deserves one picture by its own

fag will always be fag.

i'll take life as it comes.

2008-08-04T23:04:00.005+08:00

it is crunch time and i have to make my decision shortly. what seemed like a pleasure having the luxury of going on a vacation during the upcoming holidays now seems like a real fuss to deal with. On one hand i have the proposed bangkok trip with the crew and on the other, i have melis' graduation ceremony cum ultimate relaxation cum clubbing(?) trip in perth. i know i know i could very well go for both trips like what i did in 2006 with back to back Korea/Hong Kong. But times are changing and financial issues are always going to be a major setback. To please everyone i could just very well go for all of them and survive on bread and butter alone (cartel ones will do.) i only have less than a day to decide and everyone is pressing me to make my decision but i'm in an ultimate dilemma right now. Either of each is a rare opportunity like what rach says so i asked her what would she do if she were to be in my shoes. she didn't answer and i didn't want to force an answer because i have to decide for myself ultimately. in one paragraph i've already used 3 ultimates and here is the fourth one.

its time to make my ultimate decision...

2008-08-04T21:44:00.000+08:00

decent recent

July featured some noteworthy notable events including a stay over at each of marc's and my place in a bid to complete the project due the following day, another round of stay over at granny's place for a couple of nights because my laptop decided it wouldn't turn on, potluck at bernie's place which most of the crew were late and also crashing french lecture to catch an award winning film about a father and son's journey to mecca (trailer here)

in july, we were model wannabes.

johnson was no match to the incredible hulk

but most of july was spent like this and the vicious cycle lasted for approx. 2 whole weeks.

'dawn yeoh' finally got pissed off with the paparazzi in july and decided to give the finger. a case of bad nail polish or bad attitude?

kat's a nice girl really

in july, i also decided to dedicate my nights to the sch. Marc and I also dreamt big during our night 'adventure' by cracking out heads to list out '10 things that you can only do after school hours'. So far we are at #3 or 4 but we'll get to 10 someday.

spending an extensive period of time in the school campus isn't that bad after all so long they feed us well. if u haven tried the chicken chop @ mensa then you haven tried chicken chop at all. (+ carbonara too).

The fifth birthday celebration of the month. happy birthday charmaine.

I went down to terry's place one sat evening to celebrate jas' belated birthday with some of my sec 4 classmates. KZ is still as cute as ever and obviously i'm not that tall either.

over @ bernie's place for the potluck. i notice that the older you get, the less hype your party becomes. across the pool, there was a 16th birthday party filled with balloons and even a projector. ours just had the main essentials of food and more food.

the t-shirt says rampit, not armpit.

I thought my chickens would be a big hit.

ok maybe this one looks like armpit

chok had an interesting find the other day.
If M.A.D were to add chok (aka Nick), we would successfully become DAMN!
but this is MAD as it is below.

is nuo dreaming?

(see more)

2008-07-15T22:43:00.007+08:00

~~uber~~ ubin good time

about a month ago, we started a small discussion at changi V about a trip out of town. as time passed, the plan seemed to be heading for a freefall with all talk but no action taken. so after some uncertainty & skepticism, we managed to form a solid gang of six, albeit marc not attending even though he was present at changi V's discussion, to head down to singapore's lesser known hangouts on 8july.

the rest of the hangouts are second best compared to this.

nuo was completely oblivion to the home surprise we had for her that night. we had it planned before and during the trip to ubin.

with all our worries, problems, stresses and issues set aside for a day complementing the lack of the hustle and bustle of daily life in the city, this was truly a sweet, sweeeeet escape.

and once we started jumping, we never ever did wanted to stop.
so we never did.

we kept jumping

and jumping

the rain didnt really bother us

because we rested

and kept jumping again

and again

and again

all the way home.

wow, what a week!

2008-07-12T23:46:00.005+08:00

double delight

Hard to believe! I can still vividly picture Marc's and Nuo's 17 birthday the previous year @ billy's & cartel. in round 2 of birthdays where both parties shift a little closer to the legal side(for M18 movies at the very least), special attention was paid to the surprise factor.
the thing is, with 4 surprises (including this 2) signed, sealed & delivered to the respective birthday boy/girl this year already, they are vast approaching to being condemned to being a cliche. wont be long before we start parachuting with coloured smoke emitting from our jet packs writing happy birthday in the sky or attempt to arrest them and put them behind bars just to liven up the surprise.
maybe that'll do good as a surprise.

anyway, heres to the birthday duo
(all pictures of marcus' and yingnuo's birthday here and here)

7 july dude.

dawn yeoh?! i thought i took with kat?

jasmine missed her former sch days i guess

hi jasmine. u turn 18 too!

miao miao is really funny here

at every birthday, it is a common practice for the birthdayee to give an individual speech to every individual. this birthday was no exception.

the crew present two nights later for nuo's home surprise. credits must go to miao, nuo's mom and bro for being such awesome planners.

driel is one fearless boy.

i was rather close to that creature too.

i must mention that nuo's place has the coolest reptiles i've ever come to witness. i dont know how to even go about mentioning the star-shaped turtle/tortoise. but of them all, i still love max for maximum, current and all time world record holder for being the most outstanding plus size dog!

max~~imum~~ stole all of the limelight. this is the starving JR btw who gets his share of the pot stolen yet again.

mr teh tarik really serves great tea. but the upcoming act was even greater and i'm glad i caught it on video.

'she is khoo yingnuo and she is finally 18. she is very happy'

once again, happy 18 to Yingnuo and Marcus! stay smiley as always.

i rest my case

and they all lived happily ever after.

2008-07-09T01:32:00.005+08:00

5 signs that you are still dwelling in a holiday mood

1) you have more foreign currency in your wallet than local.

2) you spend 1/4 of your week overseas*

3) the only microsoft program that you are using for the past two weeks isn't microsoft word but microsoft office picture manager.

4) you sacrifice lessons to head out to THE hippest yet unknown hangout location ever created &

5) you managed a total of 700 pictures in the space of only 9 days!

influx of pictures storming your way right here soon!

2008-07-06T00:35:00.005+08:00

crossover

greetings from our neighboring country

nick claims that for the past couple of years, the men have been working on this crop of land. till now, we see no results and deep down we understand why.

they found us instead

where to get such a bargain these days. even diesel, the most affordable petrol, hit the $2 mark/L for the first time ever yesterday. it is getting expensive to live by the moment.

day trip to malaysia with nick, sis, weihao and aunt alice better known as 'gu gu'. the jam at the causeway was the only minor setback(damn the singapore custom) but when we were through, it was all smoooooth flowing like my beancurd skin with ginko nut for dessert at citysquare. my sister had her wedding photos sorted out right before lunch and i'm reminded once again that i have to pen down plans with nick and harris about the suit to tailor for the wedding. i guess i'm feeling the jitters more than the bride and groom added up together x 2 but i genuinely demand myself to be more-than-well-prepared for this big occasion.

notably the ang family's first of 9 weddings (expecting all cousins to get married), i foresee the wedding bells of this upcoming wedding to ring among the family for a significantly long period of time.

thereafter we crossed over to

(totally intended.)

it was like falling in love all over again. not that i needed too but the sense of touch does wonders and truly cuts the line between buying and not. not to mention the service. i felt like a king, even if it was for a brief 20mins.

so i gave in again like always, not once but twice.

i promise not to break the bank anymore. only till august when they restock that is.

now this is really suspicious. john terry and ryan giggs featuring in a celcom ad?

considering the returns from todays 8 hour long day trip, i would gladly visit our lovely neighbors again relatively sooner than expected.

hats off to friday btw.

she is dope.

and the icing on the cake on the last day of this gorgeously fruitful week.

2008-07-03T01:03:00.008+08:00

SOUL-garden.

SUNDAY

the first to surrender was weihao.

melis, this section is solely devoted to you only! we miss u here in sg!

look at how near we are on the world map! aussie is only a thumb-to-index-finger length away!

harris ruled the world for one sunday.

now for the real deal. texas holdem is not for the faint hearted. join me @ facebook.

euro finals at nick's with the occasional texas holdem involved.

MONNNDAY (starting to sound like craig david in 7 days)

marcus in naruto land

kat in model land

sam in her own land

marc was at it the whole time.

sam sam looks washed out again.

now this is funny

john little sale (with lots of pun intended)

i swear by my lyle & scott slacks. these fit the best and they cost a fraction of designer wear.

TUESDAY

marc was the original.

dope food!

and you know what happens every tuesday at gelare!

i couldnt contain my excitement (kat, remember banana walnut?)

the banana walnut girl.

we were _______ on wednesday,
and on

THURSDAY
miss cool and more of marc.

3G = God, G_____, Good friends = bernie.

jasmine?

our part time classmate calvin. he is like doraemon. only difference is that his magical pocket comes in the form of a bag.

probably kat's worst nightmare

sam being her usual self.

there is always a first time for everything.
and yes, those are eye holes.

thank you sui, i trusted my face to u. your turn next week

tim

and his lovely vans era shoes.

and also, linteng found his long lost brother @ ehub before watching zohan.

finally and most probably the most shocking picture to date

does nail palace ring a bell?

2008-06-27T00:40:00.004+08:00

break-even point

Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open

mom's door gift from a product launch event today had me gasping for quite a while because you'd always expect door gifts to be pretty random, redundant and mostly impractical.

i'm guessing the only reason it came free was the fact that it was released a year back in sept 07. you know the thing with technology. one day u are new in the market, the next day you are out.

and so, like a baby out from the mother's womb, i, presumingly a doctor in this context, brought the camera out to see the world and these are the first few winks it took.
the best part is that i get to keep it of course.

back to the drawing board, literally.

2008-06-23T01:18:00.006+08:00

ultimate showdown - spain vs italy

time check 1.20am. just about an hour and a half to kickoff. in this entry, i'll be doing a case by case analysis between these two teams vying for a spot in the semi-finals at Vienna.

just so you know, i am totally biased.

the custodians - Iker Casillas Fernández vs Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon

no winners between either of these keepers. both of them are world class keepers.

SPAIN 0 - ITALY 0

defenders - Carles Puyol vs Christian Panucci

puyol may have lost some pace lately but with the absence of nestum-nesta and cannot-play-cannavaro, italy's defense is notably porous. in comes panucci who is not a natural centre half and as shown in the picture, he knows the direction of the exit path for italy.

SPAIN 1 - ITALY 0

playmakers aka midfielders - Xavier Hernández Creus (Xavi) vs Andrea Pirlo

this is by far the easiest one. no debates at all. pirlo is suspended for picking up a second yellow card in his previous match which means we wont get to see him launching inch perfect balls for toni to chase. no offense to one of the best playmakers on earth but pirlo can kiss his ring all he wants in the stands. and so the winner hands down, up, left & right is xavi of spain.

SPAIN 2 - ITALY 0

the strikeforce - David Villa vs Luca Toni

just like the picture suggest, villa will celebrate after scoring yet another hat trick while toni will bury his face in his hands in desperation. lets not forget about torres. if one doesn't hurt you, the other will.

SPAIN 3 - ITALY 0

and so with my totally biased analysis, i predict the score tonight to be 3-0 in the favor of the spanish team.

2008-06-21T01:24:00.005+08:00

reap what you sow

ever since marc took understanding theatre as his cds, i've been suspecting/noticing/observing his actions day in and out. yes, we all know him for his theatric actions which he displays on a regular basis but this one is the bomb. he puts the E for enthusiasm in Theatre and even does it while he is asleep!
wonder if they have a name for this?

le sleeping beauty?

guess the good side we can see from this is that he is going to score an A for this sub.

pictures by samsam aka samansarii's blog.

2008-06-15T01:03:00.007+08:00

M & A MIA

life at this very moment revolves around 3 issues. Getting the hang of not snoozing the alarm at 7, maintaining the decency of the visual outlook of the store and also reassuring myself that my trousers will certainly never do a replay of the classic scene last sat.

in short, i get a sneak preview of adulthood and witness the struggles of the married, unmarried and uncertain.

in short-est, as in so short like the number of seconds it took for one-ball-robben to score holland's third goal against france, i'm working.

before i alienate anyone with any more football terms, here is life at-the-very-moment.

storeroom fit for human usage. i even have my very own locker now, or at least for the moment.

bapestar ben went shoecrazy

classic eye-liner shot.

and proving once again that i wore my tie absolutely accurately the other day @ tp for an award ceremony is roberto donadoni aka manager and former international player of italy, or the Azzurri so to speak.

now this is a rare find. a factory defect.

probably THE dirtiest magic mop you'll ever find after a couple of rounds around the store.

lately,
i've been in search of tasty treats and i'm smiling from ear to ear after day one of my hunt.
imma chef now too.

cooking has never been so satisfying until i found this pre packed goodness from soup spoon. just 2 simple steps. heat. & eat!
the portion fits nicely for two so weihao got the other half of the share tonight.
i can finally shrug away from my maggi mee status and say i can cook, because yan can too!

and yes, haagen dazs earlier today.

i must be the happiest ~~kid~~ dude on earth.

ahh life.

2008-06-10T19:43:00.014+08:00

tailor made

Two months ago, i mentioned about zegna(zay-near) undergoing a major renovation in time for their upcoming sales this june. Two months on, after a full 14hrs worth of re-merchandising, system testing and ironing, the shop is once again up and going at full gear. and did i mention the magnitude of the new shop? zegna is outrageously huge now!

the new tie display is breathtaking

i found st'hilda's tie in the midst of packing in the stock room. hmm i always thought it was 8bucks, not 250.

they even sell pjs now!

the most unique version of a tie you'll ever find.

and for the last 4 hrs of work, i was cooped up in the tailor room ironing all the shirts on display. the only consolation i got was the fact that i was the first to get my hands on the new 19 thousand dollar ironing machine. it irons the same btw.

speaking about tailors. i want to thank uncle song, not that he'll ever read but still, for sewing my trousers. on sat, my new working trousers from river island which i had them cuffed and altered at tailor May in may(pun not intended) tore right from my butt crack all way down under on the first working day it was worn. i guess i paid the price for having it altered to a slim cut trousers. ben and riq witnessed the absolutely hilarious scene and thank god i brought along my old pair of trousers.

for all of the pre-renovation and post-renovation pictures click here and here

work aside,

my post-exam celebration took me all the way to city hall for an exceedingly reasonable dim sum buffet @ peninsula's excelsier hotel with brand, marc, nick, kat and sam.

for a nett price of $16.20, i'm guessing this is one of the best deals you can find in town. and to have food served on a consistent basic to our table, i cannot find any fault with the restaurant.

i wouldn't mind having a low-keyed, modest and totally plan free holiday because a holiday is not a holiday if you have plans. The idea is to be free. Other than work, i'm hesitant to make any plans because i fancy the idea of being free. BUT if I were to consider all of the project meetings & trainings, two weeks seems pretty short for any idling. One plan, against my idea of wanting to plan-free, that i truly hope will come to surface will be the little mentioned pulau ubin trip.

i think i'll nag at M&A to plan once they return because they'll be fresh from their vacation.

happy holidays and happy 7 month shaNICE.

2008-05-29T23:59:00.001+08:00

how to suck at shopping.

need i explain any further?

HOW TO SUCK AT SHOPPING from Bobby Hundreds on Vimeo.

video taken from thehundreds.com . i would do anything just to be there.

2008-05-29T23:58:00.003+08:00

what if?

these days, we tend to ask for more and more and expect even more and when things turn out the complete opposite of what you pictured in your fantasy, you sink even deeper. gone were the days of simple carefree life without having to put much thought into our actions. now, every action we take, or rather every wrong action we take, may just end up altering the desired path of the lives we always hope to lead. now, everything we see on tv and go "where got such coincidence, only on tv than will happen" happens from love, life, friendship, hatred, disaster and death.

on monday, i had the simplest of dinners with nuo, rach and marc @ changi V and this was one occasion where the simplicity of it spoke volume of the friendship.

i always knew my ideas were the brightest.

rach claims this picture she took is a good as the default pictures you get in your phone. i think it will be damn cool to own one of these just for leisure activities.

OMG fat face! nice teeth everyone!

you could derive from this picture that i'm the harmless one of them all because all 3 of them choose to point at their victims.

rach gives the finger.

and i've hardly mention anything about sch.
so i present to you the 'cool as fcuk' lecture crew as captured by calv's webcam.

this was not planned.

where's rach & linteng?

2008-05-26T00:24:00.017+08:00

risk it all

the funny thing about work lately is that i cant quite figure out who needs who more, or most. phil almost, till the point he did it, cancelled my work yet again for the week but back tracked and called me up again to slot me back in after deciding the shop was short-handed for the day.

sunday was family day as per normal and unplanned but most of the crew were present (even melis on skype too!) over at granny's place and the dudes consisting of harris, nick and weihao aka soon to be brother in law settled that we should spend our evening having a good old, old school bonding session and what other decent stuff can 4 guys do together other than going into war conquering the entire world within a day. so we're generals for a day. i led my troops out into battle with pride but got kicked in the ass so hard that i had no where to hide.

and these were taken with harris' aka whorre aka fag aka chef aka harris boy's(family joke) 5mega pix(are you serious?) samsung phone. woo thats a mouthful to mention

nice cap nick!

blackies totally outnumbered!

nick is the king of the world today for risk and he gets to enjoy the wonderful nougat treasure inside.

just last night i had supper at geylang because hualun drove and we had a total of 9 people in a 5 seater car(driver included) and man was it packed like sardins in a can. just imagine how tightly packed the car was! funny edwin just got his motor license so he was tagging behind with his 4k vespa.

also, on thu, i skipped my arty farty lesson to town with ben. we were at ambush & surrender and it was also my virgin trip there which made it that much more difficult to resist the clothes, shoes(!) and bags they had to offer. i can guarantee you that i could have spent my entire 1/2 month's pay right there if not for some rationalisation.

i'm still sane dont worry so i'm definitely capable enough to differentiate the needs vs the wants.

and this beauuuuuuty right here is classified under a 'want' even though i think i need it.

Visvim's Logan Elk Lo features nice buttery elk leather and a suede toe box. Visvim has always been known for their simplicity and these Logans are no different. They come in three simple colorways including brown, black and white.

i could sum all these up with one word. DAMN DAMN NICE! ok thats three.

these pictures seriously dont do justice to the beauty of this footwear. these shoes above are so brilliantly crafted that my hokkien accent is starting to show. really the chio lor!

photos and captions by hypebeast.

and fri, i met shanice for the entire afternoon. silly girl is sleeping earlier than usual tonight because she has a major life changing paper tomorrow.

and it is back to school again tomorrow after a 4-day long holiday. great.

2008-05-19T00:47:00.012+08:00

arty farty

ok first things first. phil canceled our work for the entire weekend which came as a huge blow to both ben and I because we solely depend on our weekend labour to support our insane buying habits. instead, we spent the entire saturday in what i call the third installment (hopefully many more) of our dope outing. ben had his sights set on pretty much everything he wanted over at cathay's what's good and we were expecting (though it never happened) a huge crowd (since it was a sale), kinda like those that you'd have to stand in line of a retractable queue stand just to get into the stall.

and you know all the rules and regulations of photography in an art museum. i was lucky on monday to smuggle away with a few quick snaps after reviewing my selected art piece for the art review in two weeks time. these pictures worth a million bucks to me now.

sui was a step quicker and she chose the piece that i could clearly relate more to.

my new friend tim from the same u-art class and I had a blast poking fun at sui before/during/after her tongue piercing, warning her about the mishaps that could and may happen but that brave woman got hers done and i was being as supportive as i could so i got my cartilage done up as well. it was seriously hilarious every time she swore cos she sounded like she had a really non-existent tongue.

a couple of weeks back, and a continuation of the previous entry, the gang had dinner and sher brought us to her sacred 'fake jetty'.

classic MAD and international gay day. you'll never see this happening ever again. never.

beauty is in the beholder of the eye. nuo agree with me?

step designer for a day every thursday.

sher!

NOW everyone shout together, wait for the cue, ok now! BERNIE!!!!

is it me or does this look like we're of the same size?

while vmay poses sweetly for the cam, rach on the other hand, with her pump fist action, reveals her happiness when food is drawing near with every step.

and miao miao dominates the first photo at the 'jetty'

but then decides everyone should be in the picture too. thumbs up to her!

the closest i'll ever get to an SLR unless i switch minds and decide i'll rather buy a cam instead of clothes.

coolio!

everyone!

dont need no alcohol to get everyone literally high

so silly every action

credits to vmay and sher for the pictures.

since driel didn't join us after dinner,

on another night, i got the most exclusive pictures of driel which you may never find elsewhere. better than edison. this is the other side of him you hardly see!

told you this is better than edison!

this month of may also marked my 6th with shanice. just like her name suggest, this girl is nice!

superman & little miss splendid?

there were a couple of birthday parties recently like

yao wei's 21st a couple of months back

and ying wei aka beach partner's 21st birthday last month

just a few moments ago before 11pm, lin teng texted me and this is the link

"Please switch OFF all ur handphones 2NITE. According to Metro TV, there will be a BIG RADIATION WAVE circulating thru the handphone towers at 11PM 2nite which is very DANGEROUS to humans. Pls inform ur friends NOT 2 keep their phones with them. Please FORWARD. Rgds"

after discovering it was a hoax, this was the follow up conversation with him.

20/5/2008	11:01:06 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team	anikwan	oh my god
20/5/2008	11:01:09 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team	anikwan	we so gullible
20/5/2008	11:01:10 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team	anikwan	haha
20/5/2008	11:01:20 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team	anikwan	guess no matter how old u are u are still afraid of death
20/5/2008	11:02:11 PM	anikwan	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team So gullible... LOL!	yup death is smt everyone is afraid of regardless of age
20/5/2008	11:02:43 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team So gullible... LOL!	anikwan	i'm just afraid of the people i will leave behind
20/5/2008	11:03:01 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team So gullible... LOL!	anikwan	if i die
20/5/2008	11:05:07 PM	anikwan	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team So gullible... LOL!	true true
20/5/2008	11:05:11 PM	anikwan	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team So gullible... LOL!	at least now we know its safe
20/5/2008	11:06:08 PM	Lin Teng - Roronoa Zoro 草帽 team So gullible... LOL!	anikwan	ha

and like we need any further reminder, life is seriously precious. need i say anything else?

being rather future forward, if i could actually choose a place to settle down in the future i'll definitely choose the largest city in the state of California which is home to the staple and home depot center and where david beckham (not that i'm a big fan of him because he was ones a red) resides at. where else but LA!

stussy and undefeated side-by-side!

not to mention the hundreds store which is one of my dream destination.

and this may be one of the few rare occasions where i can escape from the soon-to-be hectic sch life to post an entry. project deadlines are like sneaky time bombs where you have to discover in time before it is due to blow. man sch is a real bummer considering the other things i can be doing instead like slogging at work for an extra pair of shoes or a 'dope cap'. thank god i have good company in school. that includes you too kat even though you din reply to my birthday wish to you.

2008-05-09T02:55:00.004+08:00

can't let go even though its hard to hold

before dinner today, M and A did something pretty amazing which may potentially put david blaine out of business. see for yourself.

till now, i still cant help but to question the fact sometimes. the realness of it is hard to swallow but like what janice said to me the other day over dinner, only time can heal all wounds. i hope its true.
the previous entry wasn't meant to defame or tarnish anyone's reputation but i just wanted to set things straight. i hope by now that everyone is back on track with their lives and moving on well. this sun will be mother's day celebration and the day will serve as a strong reminder of the closest being we have in our lives. but really, everyday should be mother's day because they are the ones who deserve the best as well.

2008-05-05T23:31:00.004+08:00

pls be reminded everyone that yx's life is not to be played around in your blogs like some kind of story that you planned in 5 mins where you describe the whole incident like as if it was a composition. and trust me, it was badly composed as well. horrible! everyone is grieving over the lost of our dear friend so i ask kindly of you to be respectful. at the very least, respect yourself.

and this is NOT 'God's wake up call' or whatever you call it!. do you know how hard is it to lose someone you've been so close to once before? not to mention her family and her best-est friends who are struggling harder than me to move on with their lives? please be mindful of everthing that you've typed.

i respect the countless number of entries from different blogs offering their condolences to yuan and i also hope you guys will stay strong as well, xx and sher especially.

be strong everyone.

2008-05-02T02:59:00.004+08:00

we are weak, but you are strong

yuan, i know its really selfish of me to say that i want you back again like the old times,
but i have to say that i'm really missing the times i spent with you and the rest of the clique even though our last meet up was probably almost a year ago. i have been going through all the pictures we took back then these couple of nights and it really hurts to know that for the entire year one of poly, we never had a decent conversation, meal or meetup with one another together with the rest of the clique. i blame myself for not reaching out to dragging you along to any one of our entire year of meals with the rest. i always thought you were doing fantastic in nyp so i was never worried about you. yuan, i dedicate this post entirely to you because i really want you to know the massive amount of people who love and care for you. yuan, if you could still remember our 'mc hotties' gang and i'm sure you still do, deep in my heart i've kept a special place for you and you will always always be my mcsexy! =)

cheers to your life in heaven my dear friend.

2008-05-01T02:54:00.004+08:00

all the love in the world for you only.

thank you for being such an wonderful friend. thank you for all the sweet memories from slogging our butts off at coffee showcase washing the humongous soup pot to the stint at meritus mandarin chatterbox restaurant serving non-stop from morning till midnight for two full days. thank you for the endless joy that you have brought to my life. thank you for explaining the term oxymoron to me by saying "daron is handsome" which really hurt me for a moment back then but it was really all in the name of fun. thank you for the silly time when we danced and lip synced to the latest hits back then especially 'so sick of love songs' which has generated more than 12000 views on youtube (we're famous!). thank you for portraying the life of a christian which i've always respected you for. thank you for letting me know that life doesn't have to be complicated and that God should always stand as number 1. thank you for being you. thank you from the bottom of my heart. thank you very very much.

in loving memories of our dear friend yuan xiang. thank you for being a blessing in my life. =)

2008-04-27T10:29:00.004+08:00

double or nothing

chelsea maintain their 4 years unbeaten run on home soil and did it in pretty awesome fashion beating manchester united(who?) 2-1 at the bridge. in the last part of the highlight, mystery man sheva aka the $30million flop, finds out that his true position is actually between the sticks.

IN YOUR FACE MANCHESTER UNITED!

next up, liverFOOLS at the bridge but i can already smell victory for the blues!

2008-04-20T14:58:00.004+08:00

my favourite animal is steak - Fran Lebowitz

yesterday the family which included aunt alice, granny, nick, harris, mom, bro, marie and I were down at Bi Feng Tang @ century square for lunch to celebrate bro's birthday which was on the 13. it wasn't really much of a celebration, more of a lil fancy lunch and get together because occasions like these come by rarely as bro is consistently busy with shooting (see previous entry). i just watched a vid a couple of days back on yao ming taking a pledge to never consume shark fin's soup again and there i was yesterday devouring two bowls of it because nick doesn't like it.

so mother's day came pretty early for mommy and i went down with her to paragon to buy the longchamp ~~handbag~~ totebag. obviously, the lady who didnt serve me well wasn't there and she better be thankful for that because the bag in white was out of stock (something which i've grown accustomed too this and last year). we took a risk and braved the heat down to centrepoint's robinson where they had a small longchamp corner. mom was so distracted with other things that it took a few tugs to get her to our destination. it was all smooth sailing from then on because they had it in white and mom didnt want to wait for any sales since i was paying for it. a whopping 186 bucks for a canvas bag but mom liked it so i'm pretty much happy with it too.

now for the yummy part.

inspired chef harris showed us why he will soon be a executive chef after army is done.

kinda reminds me of jamie oliver

you can never find a bigger portion of steak in any restuarant

the feast for four

a whole chunk of mushroom in every mouthful

and seriously sinful treats

the only person we missed was of course melis who is in aussie and we know she never misses out on occasions like this. so till you come back melis, happy studying and stay safe in aussie!

time for school!

2008-04-19T11:17:00.002+08:00

The Days

good things are meant to be shared with the world. so heres one.
the days movie opens this september so go watch!

with the entire family watching the trailer last december!

and one of the few good men behind the movie.

remember, september 2008!

2008-04-17T02:15:00.012+08:00

green with envy.

who says canvas shoes must be in boring white? check up ben's FP shoes!

if i hadn't gotten my tigers i would have snapped this up instead!

staying on the same line, today was my virgin trip down to the lesser known Fred Perry boutique down at ann siang

the forbidden fruit is always tastier, but never consider taking even a nibble because once you bite, your soul is sold to the devil! thankfully, i managed to escape from the clutches of greed by resisting all things good over at ann siang, mainly the beige polo which was seriously the best polo i've ever seen!

i honesty believe with today's experience that the world is pretty much a superficial one. considering how retail staff despise 'feeling' people who come in, make a mess and never buy (i know how they feel), i would expect the sales girl (around 20) to not serve us over at ann siang's fred perry boutique.

not only did she serve us with such enthusiasm, she even approached me and said and i kid you not. "err where you get your bag from ah? how much?"

truely shocking!

for the records, i've never been approached by someone this way, better yet, a teenage girl!

but why!? just because i carry a porter day pack makes me someone you would want to approach and talk to?

of course i replied her politely like how i do to strangers and i sincerely told her everything i could like who and how i got it. i really dont blame her for anything because she was seriously so kind from the beginning to the end but honesty speaking, what does it take to make people want to talk to you, treat you better, and most importantly, serve you when you are in their shop?

is it designer wear?
is it drop dead gorgeous looks?
or is it just a plain sincere smile when you enter a store?

and maybe because i'm only 18, the lady at longchamp paragon sounded pretty unwilling to show me the white le pliage handbag i plan to get for mom. if i see her again come this weekend when i bring mom down to make the purchase, i'm seriously going to be a tough nut customer and i promise so!

what ben said was absolutely true. if you walk into a dope shop casually dressed, no one will give a shit about your existence even if you are filthy rich. on the other hand, if you are decked in pretty much everything dope, like a pair of tiffany dunks and maybe a supreme box tee, people actually serve you like they idolise you and smile as if they've known u since forever.

i am still pretty much the same old daron. but having worked till my heels started hardening like stone(NO JOKE) i rewarded myself with a porter bag (and seriously too much of other stuff) and look how much different sales staff are treating me. like i said, this is horribly superficial

ONE MORE EXAMPLE!

more than a month ago, when i was at porter international, a sales lady started to approach me after like about a brief 3min look in their store. the rest couldnt be bothered.
i stress, couldn't be bothered!

but today, before meeting ben, with my porter bagpack, i tried entering the store to kill some time and true enough, not one but two(!) sales staff immediately started doing what i call the 'lurk behind the prey and pounce when the time is right' tactic which is basically to stand close to the customer and serve him once he starts touching a product.

this is truly a horrible sight in our society and i admit
i am also a culprit of such a malicious act. (HAHA SO EDISON LIKE)

i believe now that everyone deserves a fair chance, china chinese especially who deserves better treatment even though they barge into our store and treat it like a 3 for $10 pasar malam sale. fair enough, as hooligan as they sound, they are the ones buying.

of course the feeling was rather satisfying when i had strangers appreciating the things that i carried but this is just not right. sadly, what we see of people is only of the exterior and not whats in them. looks may bring you far but ultimately, if you dont have the brains to match up with your flawless looks shown by miss south carolina, people suddenly start to despise you.

it is not exactly a good comparison but you get the point.

it takes time to truly know the inside of a person and first impressions dont count! and this is what i'll be taking with me come this monday when i meet new faces in class.

now that was a handful. i started out with only an entry about ben's shoes and look how much more i've written.

so after watching almost a week of nba highlights on youtube for no particular reason, the tp website finally showed itself and it is another nervous moment with every click drawing closer towards the timetable icon.

looking at only the top section of my timetable, i am smiling from ear to ear because half the time my earliest lesson starts mid way through the day! awesome!
i can even watch champions league on wed nights and still have ample sleep for the following day's lessons!
the only downside is of course i'll have no more excuses to be late anymore!

heres wishing everyone on this page a
happy whatever-is-remaining holidays and dont judge people by their exterior!

2008-04-16T00:19:00.003+08:00

there goes the neighbourhood

we sold our souls for a month and today was a day we deservingly redeemed it back.
and the timing couldn't be any more perfect. my daypack and ben's rare subcrew cap (rated the best subcrew cap) was ready for collection on the same date.
ben may come off to some as a typical beng. but honestly speaking, there is no one better that you can find if you are looking for a filial son, an honest friend and a underground label fanatic!

meet ben with the most offensive, most sought after and definitely most eye-catching cap of all time! (with over 30 people on the waiting list in only one store!)

not for the faint hearted.

by subcrew

the man of the moment edison has one too! how fitting aye.

not only is he over the moon with his latest addition to his dope collection, i am too, also over every moon on the planet because i accumulated enough (together with ben's shoes) to officially become a lifetime member of the two fredperry shops! 10% off for life! how can i not be happy!

round two tomorrow!

2008-04-15T12:28:00.004+08:00

victims of love.

just like me, your angry bone may have been triggered when you saw taiwan celebrities criticising the way we speak english. known for their 'this is a book, that is a dog' english standard, you were definitely furious when you saw them laughing at us like there is no tomorrow. but after today, i raise my white flag and concede because the future for singapore looks pretty bleak considering this. and you thought singlish was bad.

this is no better

this is pretty amusing

heartbreaker! reminds you of a song doesn't it.

on a totally different note, alvin ng from superclique is the man! or in this context, hiies thee manxxz!

only in singapore!

2008-04-08T00:37:00.009+08:00

once bitten, twice shy

contrary to the title, ~~i will be attempting to buy directly off the net again (for the records this would be the second time) instead of going through the local dealer.~~ sis has already agreed to using her credit card (way too kind beyond my expectation) and ultimately it is the savings i get from bypassing any middlemen that has prompted me to chose this less traveled path.
hopefully everything goes smoothly and my porter day-pack will arrive in no time!

so now, this phase right here, is the most no brainer part of the whole transaction. i call it the waiting game. i have the whole of my rare-tueday-offday set aside just to wait for a single email reply. but i know something horrible is just around the corner after working for only 2 days before another offday. the company is squeezing me dry with a solid 6day work week to end off the whole working phase of my life. horrible.

oh and there was a model casting at our store today. 8 male models from diva models had a mini competition among themselves. adrian ivan and kerry cromer were like the roses among the bushes, the raisins in a bun or you could even say the cheese in your prata. They were destined to be chosen. kerry, who was the first to try, was so impressive that you could feel the sourness from all the vinegar in the air around you and you could sense the inferiorty (if there is such a word) among the rest of the models.

words just dont depict the epic showdown right in our store.

visit kerrycromer.com to see his works.

shit this is sounding insanely gay.

2008-04-05T23:55:00.004+08:00

vandalism at its best.

2008-04-05T23:17:00.001+08:00

super-clique

i'm on the verge of hitting the first and only month of work in 2 days time and as clicheish as it sounds, time seriously flies when you're truly having fun. it does feel like groundhog day everyday for the fact i see the same faces on the train in the morning, the same patrons when i'm buying coffee and even the same customers!

in all honesty, my virgin online shopping experience was a horrible one. i swore to myself that i'll never buy off the net ever again (tees especially) mainly because of sizing problems which i'm very particular of. but a promise is only but a promise. i think i'm in safe hands this time round if i really do decide to give a green light on the purchase because the dealer is a local and most importantly, the trade is in cash, not credit.

i did a little enquiry on a porter bagpack late last night around 2 and to my utmost surprise, they replied in less than 8hours.

their reply

to them (which i typed in my most sincere and friendly manner)

the hype

with the sff 08 going on and fashion shows right outside the store every night at 7 boasting brands like bananarepublic & gant, i cant help but to mention this.

the whole idea of a fashion show is for the public to ogle at the models and/or clothes which should be the case but paragon's fashion show sadly comes off as a failure. and failure is an understatement. there are people consistently complaining about the vaguely transparent wall which was set up along the sides which in my opinion, makes no sense in a fashion show. so the only good seats are actually on level 2 or only if you're one the few invited guests invited on the other side of the wall.

which brings me to the point that my sister is the best! as requested, she brought back a whole stack of fashion mags from her office just for me!

with so many to choose from, i dont know where to begin.

in the march issue of men's folio, z is featured!

accompanied with a healthy does of the store's spring/summer collection

one last thing. i'm proud to claim the fact that i sold a couture tie at 320 to a middle-income china man who hasn't got a clue about our brand, explaining to him how 70% of the tie is hand finished all in the chinese language! and what an experience that was!

2008-04-01T22:18:00.012+08:00

cleaning up my closet

last monday marked the start of the store's four month expansion plan and boyyy was i part of the 'great' project.
half the store is now officially closed!

life is really too short to do a post on a rare off day midway through the week so pictures of work and everything about it from the supper we had in the store itself to pantry rules, doorstep delivery and honestly, everything i can snap at during work are all here or here.

all done secretly on a measly 2m.pix phone so bear with the quality.

the only reason there is a song playing in the background is solely because the store plays it everyday!

2008-04-01T22:17:00.003+08:00

Minesweeper: The Movie

"that clock is going to keep ticking until it reaches 999.
what happens then?
nothing. you just suck."

if u have ever played minesweeper on your pc(i'm sure you did), you should be able to get a good hard laugh at this vid by collegehumor.

2008-03-19T23:48:00.009+08:00

supreme

i would say the influence around me has been somewhat positive of late. apart from various ft-staff which should have their mouth washed with a whole bottle of listerine each, the rest of them are pretty much decent and humorous. foul-mouth staff aside, ben lu's lifesaving quote has been and will be my key survival weapon in the past week, now, and in near future. he says "we're selling our souls for a good cause" and i absolutely agree with it. i swear by this simple quote which gets me up and going each and every day.

sounds really gay but now that he is moving to the temp booth in scotts selling ZZ only, i will be without a partner for the remaining month be it in travelling to work tgt, frustration release, and talks about underground labels which we are totally into.

really really gay.

since i'm at it, i thought i would mention that i really dig this supreme tee which i think i heard is virtually impossible to find in singapore.

credits to wherever i got these pictures from.

this tee is a great hit in LA.

and one last thing. i was thinking real hard about this.
riq mentioned that we're "the only leading men's wear" which i totally agree without a shout of a doubt after working for a week but then again, how can it be possible that we're "the only leading"?
i even goggled it to be sure and there really is no such thing as the ONLY leading men's wear.

enough.

if i dont pull the handbrakes right now, i'm bound to crash at work tml. still feeling a little groggy from the party @ changi to celebrate lester's bday which we played completely silly games to finish the alcohol and ben got so drunk and we all knew it because he started imitating an aeroplane's movement.

cheers.

2008-03-15T00:35:00.002+08:00

my work is a game, a very serious game
- m.c. escher

and umbrellas retail at 600 bucks. ela ela to that!

2008-03-07T04:31:00.009+08:00

4:30

"I was doing a lot of late night shoots and would normally still be up at 4:30 am.
I realised that this is a very lonely time of the day,
in fact I think probably the loneliest.
It feels too late to go to sleep yet at the same time, too late to be awake.
I’ve heard a rumour that the suicide rate at this time is apparently the highest."
- royston tan on his film 4:30.

you wouldn't believe me in a million years if i'd told you the time right now is 4.30 in the morning.
lately, i got myself into this cycle that completely opposes the cycle which you would deem normal. i like the early early mornings better because they ooze such peacefulness and calmness which u hardly find in the afternoon, sg especially.
today, 7march 08 is the final day that i can embrace humanity. simply put it, relax.
ok work isn't all that depressing.

i guess this spells a brief halt to this page.

cheers!

2008-03-05T15:52:00.003+08:00

the history boys

Arsenal became the first English team to ever beat AC Milan at the San Siro and sent the reigning European Cup holders crashing out of the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat. Goals from Cesc Fabregas(wonderkid) and Emmanuel Adebayor sealed the win in a game the Gunners dominated.

chelsea tonight!

2008-03-05T03:42:00.009+08:00

it don't get no better than this.

working @ zegna(hopefully soon): $6.50/hr
bus fair down to town for the interview: $2.20
seeing my overly skinny idol kelly poon & narrowly escaping getting knocked down by fiona xie's car all in the same week....
PRICELESS!

i know it isn't of any good to make a spoof out of the mastercard ad but i was keen to emphasize the fact that i saw two on-screen babes right before my very own eyes.
it isn't everyday these things happen aye. ben, my pri sch friend and stb college tells me he sees princesses, the real ones of course, with bodyguards, lining up her kids handling them pieces of $100 notes to shop @ toys r us and local celebs like chenhanwei & annkok v often during work. well, if my bearings are accurate, my stb working place will be a vantage point for celeb hunting (stevenlim not included)

anyway,
champions league soccer night tonight right in the comforts of my own room.

witnessing 22men whose only sole purpose is to place the ball at the back of the net has always been my fantasy. haha!

the only downside is of course the chinese commentator who sounds like he is on drugs. he moans to kaka's every bursting run down the flanks and calls senderos a timebomb to arsenal's defense!? and just like how a baby cries in disappointment whenever he is denied a new toy, the cheena commentor screams like a mad man running lose in singapore(pun intended) whenever a player misses a pass. still, a pleasure to listen to.

credits to JT, not john terry of course but janice teo for the live streaming link!

2008-03-03T05:16:00.005+08:00

the numbers of hope

i can still remember 5-6 years back when my late uncle turned to God at the last few moments of his life. The whole scene of a pastor entering my grandma's place really shocked me back then but it was my uncles last wish and my grandma conformed to it.
looking back, i can only guess that my late uncle had lost all hope in his life with the compounding illness taking a huge toll on him and my granny. why am i even saying this you might ask?

well, i had a neutral relationship with my late uncle so i didnt knew much of him. BUT only till today did i realise his decision to turn to God at the very last moment of his life. He found hope!

enough said,

leap day @ marcus'/rach's church aka hinghwa methodist church

showing some love to the dude. shanice wont be happy to see this. just kidding

similarly, marcus wont be happy to see this. not kidding

ok just kidding.

so whats holding you back?

ps: interview @ zegna tml!

2008-03-01T12:12:00.004+08:00

S-INDIA-PORE

Spiderman, eat your heart out cos you are no longer the friendly neighborhood spider!

close up

and seriously, this was how close they were.

perfectionist

work as usual.

but the funny thing was really, my conversation with them.

"EH aunty! aunty! off your aircon. aunty! off aircon!!"

apparently, they thought i was a half naked aunty in the morning and the aircon generator outside was burning them. at that moment i really felt that THEY deserved better. SO in a rare instance, i dragged myself out of bed to switch off the generator switch in mum's room.

cheers to them!

ps: wonder if they offer part time.

2008-02-21T19:34:00.012+08:00

and there's hearts all over the world tonight
with you - chris brown

It is really an inappropriate time to do any update considering the fact that i have another 3 papers to account for in the next week. But it is only saturday, technically sunday which means i can afford to splurge another couple of hours more on other totally non-study related matters before the real work sets in. It really bothers me that I can never update this space fast enough before I get inspired to do another entry.

that said, i present to you my v-day.

pictures, although a stand still of time, does wonders. take this two below as an example.
never view things solely from your own perspective

but also take time to listen to what others have to say because they see a different picture altogether.

anyway, i think i have a future in photography

JJ

and this game right here involves physical action

which sometimes includes physical pain as illustrated by poor nuo who is struck in the head by driel who, in an attempt to gain his man-pride back after losing one too many games to the girls, forgets about the people behind him. Hence,

I was not spared either.

part two of wii-ing on youtube

driel shows much emotion @ 0:31 (ps: he rarely shows it to marc and I)

rach barely makes it into this one.

and the trio namely bernie, vday/may and yanling got their lil friendship tokens the next day which included a sock, chocs and a could-have-made-us $2000 richer 4D ticket derived from their b-day.

not this trio

and we also gave them ourselves...

in the form of a picture as seen above.

i also managed to meet shanice before the v-day event @ rach's place and although the amt of time we saw each other wasn't ideal, i still managed to spend a good deal of time with her. quality over quantity i say.

and the picture of v-day goes to the lovely duo of brillant...

synchronization of NOT smiling at the camera. so scandalous.

2008-02-16T00:32:00.006+08:00

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
- Jane Howard

3 good men.

it all started out @ harris' place on wed night after towning with marc that afternoon. charades is officially the family's game since xmas last year and i foresee this game will stay for long in the Ang family.

I couldn't help but to walk past nick/melis' old place @ simei because that was where most of my childhood memories came from.

I was the class monitor back then in kindergarten.

and where is harris in this picture?

nick blaine ang and his amazing card tricks.

and like i was saying before, sis struck the big ONE this time.

and we all wanted a piece of it, even if it was just a picture.

and this was supposed to be done on the week of my birthday. i thought they forgot all about it.

i'm guessing it was harris' idea but the rule was simple.
everyone gets to drink one while i get to drink 5 cups of tequila shot

and i'm guessing the shots weren't that strong because i was still going strong after the 5th cup.

anyway, my soccer matches are starting soon. lets just end off with all the pictures from wed, thur and saturday.

the family game.

THURSDAY!

cousins for life

that night, we took a walk down memory lane looking at photographs of our younger days.

and bro finally makes it

SATURDAY @ noble house restaurant.

after lunch,
melis and I headed down to my bro's crib in katong to borrow his Wii set. and by saying borrow, i honesty mean returning him on the same day. HOWEVER, bro left early that night so the set is accidentally at my place now.

in his small little beetle which at times nearly caught up with the big boys.

but as seen from the other car, it never does.

the filming location of the movie 'becoming royston' where royston falls off while tryin to save his video cam.

everyone welcomed the wii. i really mean everyone!

so that wraps up this whole festive season. cant wait for 09 when sis is officially married!

2008-02-12T02:12:00.001+08:00

shes leaving on a jet plane

my my. it had only been a blink away since melis mentioned her plans of flying to aussie to further her studies.
so before i do a complete cny post, i shall dedicate this one to melis because she's leaving in about 19 hours time.

i guess 6months isn't that long off and with webcams situated in all 4 households already, we'll still be seeing lots of you these couple of months.

so

like how an aussie would say,

have fun mate!

2008-02-09T02:02:00.000+08:00

I do

I may have smashed my own record during this years chinese new year red packet collection, but sis is really the one who struck the big prize this time round.

SIS IS ENGAGED!

cheers to a happy marriage!

2008-02-06T01:19:00.000+08:00

A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute.
He may not seem such a good friend after telling.
- Arthur Brisbane

i speak only the truth.

TOPMAN trunk underwear aka boxer is the greatest man-made gift to any guy who takes time to take care of himself.
he who wears them wears love around and below his waist and is a true brother to his brother down under.

go get them. they come in all sizes to suit your ahem, size.

2008-02-03T23:59:00.000+08:00

when you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself
- Oprah Winfrey

this joyful month of celebrations has finally drawn its curtain and february looks set to bring upon great stress. It will be an appropriate time to whip up a dish of discipline when the study week comes in 2 weeks time. Feb use to mark the start of a new academic year with the hangover of the dec holidays slowly fading away and sch work starting to pile up in stacks.
This will be the first of 3 years that feb will mark the end of an academic year and i honestly think this system works better.
U get the feeling that u are just starting out when in fact, it is already ending. wonderful!

and i'm already at it with my revision. *disclaimer: i am not sleeping in this picture.

oh who am i kidding.

this was 2 weeks ago hours before the accounts pp.

so looking forward to the end of feb!

2008-02-03T23:49:00.000+08:00

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it
- Sir Winston Churchill

the dawn is breaking,
a light shining through

other than jap in two weeks time, thursday was the last presentation of the sem.
and i couldnt be any happier

looking back
last week was rather fruitful after all.

aside from the painstaking efforts to finalise both the POM and marketing project, i seriously think this week went pretty smooth like heineken.

anton manages to leap himself into this picture.

and zen finds time to invade everyone else's pictures.

the least i could do that day was to reward myself with my 'default food' as lin teng would call his yong tau hu in ITAS.
my 'default food' happens to fall in the amazingly cramped design canteen and the name of it requires a whole lot of skill to mention.

my 'chicken cutlet with nacho cheese and mushroom cream sauce add nachos on the side!'

trust me, you'll feel a tinge of heaven after eating it.

catherine with a C.

the highlight of the day also included meeting melis at jups to transfer photos before she flies of to aussie to further her studies and most prob club every night.
so for the next six months, i'll be missing my everything-also-steady cousin
melis, or er-jie which i should be calling you (eeeeeeeeee), do enjoy yourself and party hard down @ aussie!
i'll be mailing you pictures of your fav ou-lua, sting ray, hokkien mee and prata from time to time!

a little back tracking.
so on tuesday, i headed down to town with nick from tp, linteng, weiqi, gan and yongxiang which is basically most of my class guys for a hopeful shopping trip. i know the disappointment of not getting a shoe far too well. i've been down that road for a long long time now.

HOWEVER, i stress the word however,
I. finally. managed. to. buy. a. pair. of. shoes. that. day!

gan also bought a pair himself, but a size too big.
I tell you, love is blind.
this is a clear example of that. the shoe may be too big for him, but the love he had for it covered all flaws and he ended up going home with it. cheers!

and since it was tuesday and we were in town, how could we miss out on the opp to dine @

GE-LA-RE!

speaking from experience, do not, i repeat, DO NOT try to save the one dollar difference ordering the small waffle instead of the large because as the name mentions, small is really small and large is really, well, LARGE.

friday had a lot of potential to be an awesome day but hurricane katrina chose none but this day to turn up right here in singapore. so linteng said again and i quote once again:
"when we got project, every day is bright and sunny,
when our project is finally over, it rains..."

we had about a brief 10mins of soccer before mother nature raped the entire outdoors.

nvm, the ronal'daron', peter 'teng', 'nicholas' anelka, 'nicky' butt, 'marcus' bent will wait patiently for the day to come. so tuesday 5/feb, u better be sunny.

that night, I went for yao wei's 21st @ downtown pasir ris where we all hid in the room to give the big birthday army man a surprise. my accumulated nights of sleepless nights took a toll on me and i was KO-ed when things were starting to get exciting over at the next room gambling away.

fastforward to the very next day(saturday) where i finally went out with mum + sis and weihao along the way for my last shopping trip where i settled everything for the first day of CNY.
mum's really impatient when it comes to waiting and if it weren't for sis who i suspect mom favours more then me, i wouldnt have bought anything under mom's expense.

and then the journey to the west begins.
down all the way to coach's place @ boon lay by train.
thankfully x1000000 i was in town so the journey was cut by half in the sense that i was already half way across singapore from where i stay right here in tamps.
i thought it would be rude to visit empty handed so basically i combed the entire boon lay interchange just for oranges.

ha! orange hunting.

the v first thing coach wanted me to see @ his place was his weddings photos which filled an entire wall space of one room. no joke.
i should have snapped a picture of it but i was too busy flipping though about 50-60 pictures of him and his wife.

almost everyone was there and it was so crowded that i could only find space on the floor to watch man city against arsenal which i promptly a bet to ah ye because arsenal won the first corner kick.

ironically, i think sunday was the best day in this fruitful week because i made history.
i had to recuperate from all the sleepless nights and oh yes i did today! i spent 3/4 of the day soaking the clean air conditioning in my war-zone room chilling to whatever tune that was on the radio with snacks left in the room the previous night. i only left home @ 630 for dinner at grand's place.

it is still pretty hard to digest the crude fact that the main exams are effectively 3 weeks away.
no i'm not going to touch any of my notes this coming CNY.

i made a promise this year that i'll vacuum all of the pineapple tarts that i can find. and i guess i need a warm up so i'll just have to polish the tarts at home first before the actual day itself.

i'm halfway through the ones at home already.

happy CNY!

cheers!

2008-01-27T23:50:00.000+08:00

i'm open, you're close.

shopping with nick and his friends yesterday(Saturday) down @ town and one of nick's friends is actually my senior back in shss. i've been finding a grey pair of jeans since forever and i finally got one just in time for the new year.

nick bought everything in just one afternoon which is pretty amazing considering the amount he had to part with.

cine's Fred Perry was a major disappointment and it just goes to show money doesnt buy you everything. i thought 2008 will bring me a lil good fortune (i dont believe in luck btw) but another shoe that is out of stock clearly tells me that things dont just change in a year. they happen over a period of time.

this picture just dont do the grey justice do they.

if my only buy is a pair of shoe this coming week, i'll walk into ppl's house with my shoes on during chinese new year visiting. and i mean it.

2008-01-27T12:08:00.000+08:00

What I go to school for

last week was a special week full of significant events. in a week full of celebrations, this was THE week to look forward to. with school this term being such a drag, this (last) week was certainly a relief.

I turn 18 this week!

last tuesday which still feels like yesterday, 'The people' which i like to refer them as + janice which i managed to get her to walk over, or maybe because yanjun was around settled at my place to multi-celebrate 3 birthdays which were on 3 consecutively fridays.

vmay's on the 4th, raping rach on the 11 and mine on the 18.

history speaks for itself. my place has nv been a party venue thanks to the 'lets make a dining table for 2' designer. the house was revamped in a couple of weeks and even though it is not the biggest of houses you'll find, but i can assure you that it is the coziest (literally warm-cozy).

I still cant quite figure out how a designer can be such a failure by placing a big rock wall in my house blocking whatever air movement theres left. that said, the 'segregation' which he likes to call it is still pretty sleek even after all these years.

the people came over in diff groups and based on memory alone, i think they all reached before 745 as to the planned 630. M&Y and miao was the earliest.

my mom has never seen my friends and she always presumes i'm out there doing no good.
man just that one night alone changed everything!

friends help friends do the dishes.

mom likes all of them. she just finds M rather loud.

we turn 18! happy 18 rach and vmay!

A just wont budge from his seat to help out with the cleaning.

the rock wall i was mentioning a lil earlier

miao miao's the funniest

zha bor.

again, miao miao's the funniest

ta bor

this is the normal-est picture that we took tgt. u wont want to see the rest.

this was indeed a good bonding session and my speech to them was also recorded in vid.
damn shameful dont want to reveal.

i fully agree with M when he said this group of friends is a big blessing. I know i can always count on M in which his advices are always right, but i hardly listen. actually, i can count on each and everyone of them!

i see them almost everyday which is really what i go to school for. the friends.

THURSDAY
if my calculations are accurate, it has been more than half a decade since we last visited the long stretch of East Coast Seafood Restaurants. Aunt Alice thought it would be an appropriate place and i couldn't agree with her any better.

with an array of choices, we finalled settled for LONG BEACH

they claim to serve the best chilli and pepper crab but all i know is the sauce is powerpacked!

the food, or whats left of it.

man dont the peanuts look tasty!

u know how u can never trust a waiter, or waitress in this case to take a group photo for u.
but in this instants, i think she did a great job!

if i were to open my 'DA-REN' restuarant one day, my employees will definitely go through basic photography lessons.

sadly, bro was busy and couldn't make it. i seriously have no idea to what he has been doing lately. mom tells me he is apple's spokesperson. if that is so, wont i get my iphone for free?!

and after today. i'll never forget the equation cake + cousins = pimple.

and so i thought that would be the final straw and this week would end that way with a project submission right smack on the actual birth date.

and so i thought.

@ 12midnight. the surprise!

they claim i knew it all along and was all dressed up for it but pictorial evidence would tell you clearly that i was already in my long sleeve all these while.

everything happened so quickly and the cold hard reality of a project due within hours soaked in.

so yes. the very first hours of my birthday was spent on finding an 'oli-go-poly' article for micro. M stayed over which helped a millon because we took turns taking power-naps. i didnt sleep until at least 5.

i missed lessons altogether because i needed a bit more rest. and it doesnt really help that i was suffering from severe tongue and lips ulcer and my whole mouth was swollen since monday.

and i think i might be wearing the cardigan my sis bought, for CNY. my shoes will set me back another 140 and by then, i'll be eating paper. anyone tried foolscap before?

presenting 1b16's hunks

lanky linteng

good-voice gan

F4 yongxiang

sleepy chok who continues to sleep throughout the time spent in the lib.

and last but not least,
you'll never be fitter than this guy cos he is the one and only body builder in theclass,
mighty ~~fat~~ zen

and i've officially dumped 'cam-whoring' out of my dictionary. like what harris mentioned the other time, "why be a prostitute in front of the camera?"

mind you,whore is effective a prostitute if u didn't notice.

we just love photo taking. simple.

to top off the awesome week, the usuals of me, kwang, ken, hw and des + jas headed down to sentosa on sat. friendly match teamed with a person i virtually met that day + long john silver dins on the top lvl of vivo and an insane top lvl catching which always disturbs kinky couples was a perfect outing.

and so i thank all the people involved in all of the celebrations above namely
(i'm not good at this so i hope i got all the names in)
rach, driel, marcus&yanjun, miao, bernie, vmay, yanling, janice, nuo
mom, sis, melis, nick, harris, aunt alice, ah ma, paul, felice, weihao
kwang, ken, des, hw, jas, vince and wc.

and all of the wishes through other means especially shanice for the call @ midnight!
you all know who you are and i thank you for it! i remember replying everyone who made the effort to wish me and seriously, its these little things that makes me feel blessed!

not forgetting my bro through facebk.

its times like these that make you think "why sulk and moan about life".

so anytime when i have a bad day or just need a lil cheering up, this entry will provide me with a gentle reminder of how blessed i am.

the crude reality of school life meetin project datelines the following week was a badly timed post-party event that took place.

so once again, thanks a million guys! you rock!

2008-01-22T01:38:00.000+08:00

YOUTUBE MADE ME A STALKER

other than gaming into the wee hours, ~~rushing to get any project done on the week that it is due~~ and lately learning a new magic trick each day after being influenced by nick and weihao, i've been watching multiple videos on youtube.

duh! nothing special leh.

wait.

subconsciously, i've been a fan of this singer that i'll shortly introduce to u.

my fan status was reaffirmed once again a couple days back after hearing her sing my fav 2 songs, as if she had done it for me.

Mia Rose's full name is Maria Antonia Sampaio Rosa
and she was born on the 26th of January 1988. (just 2 years older!)
Currently living in New York,
Mia is now taking steps to launch a solo career
and try to carve her own way into the world's eye and Entertainment Industry.

she has certainly caught my eye(or whatever there is of it) and this is the song that literally blew me away. ('literally' is used in this context due to recent 'blowing' matters)

Miaarose singing Heaven

6,757,032 views and counting!

if u loved it, you should hear these two too.
if u didnt like it, u must be tone deaf! (which obviously i'm not but stil trying to prove) marcus disagrees with me but seriously i beg to differ. we both agree shes hot and everything but I still think it is the voice that makes her stand out.

Miaarose singing I dont love you by MCR,

singing things i'll never say by avril

I've subscribed to her on youtube, added her on facebook and saved her official site under favourites. i blame youtube for all of the above.

miaarose!

2008-01-21T03:03:00.000+08:00

blessing

just last monday, the HP service centre tech support staff called and they said they will be coming down to my place tomorrow(monday), as if like an ambulance, to collect my laptop for servicing.

Hows that for good service.

that said, i will be without my laptop during the most crucial period of time where project submisson dates are coming in at light speed. I will most prob head down to grandma's place to camp for a few nights to satisfy my lower order needs and also to keep grandma company (more like disturbance).

and here is a lil preview of my birthday week. a million more pictures to come in a jiffy.

Tuesday! @ my place celebrating vmay's, rach's and my birthday all in one go.

Thursday! @ East Coast Long Beach Seafood Restaurant with the family.

That night, Friday 18jan! @ 12midnight. woah!

Not forgetting PROJECT submission on my birthday

and sentosa on Saturday with kwang, ken, hw, des and jas.

so like rach would say and i quote "thank you for everything".
in this case, thanks everyone for everything including the wishes, the celebrations and the presents.

more when my laptop is out from ICU.

2008-01-08T02:45:00.001+08:00

labour pains

coincidentally, this is the 9th month into buying the current laptop that i'm using.
comparatively, this month is THE month that my laptop is experiencing severe 'labour pains' in the form of crashing and having an abnormal high fan spinning rate.

time for a trip to the A&E if u know what i mean.

2008-01-03T02:18:00.001+08:00

Oh, 8 already?

forget about lousy old resolutions that are easier said then done and often or always include immeasurable things like saving money or being happy. i must admit reflecting is always good, but I often fall into the category of 'dwelling' rather than 'reflecting'. i too always wish i could have done things differently in the past. well, 06 & 07 had what i would say, the most 'what if I had done it that way instead'. we would always love to think that a new year represents a new start but in reality, it does not really work that way. well, you could give yourself a second chance, but can you be sure others will mirror the same thing back to you?

so, NOT citing it as a resolution, i declare 08 to be the year that i'll free myself from the past mistakes starting from 05 and to stick faithfully to my forward looking mindset which has started to show itself more towards the end of the year.

well, we all hate speeches, long or short.

This is year

2008!

for a few years counting, putting the 2-seater sofa into consideration, my house has never been a ideal place for any parties or gatherings. things certainly do change faster than i can adapt and now the once cosy-for-two living room has turned into a party palace.

and these are the real BESTIES. my sis' friends 13 years and counting.

besides my family, brenda(extreme right) is the only one who has watched me grow up since young. till now, she still calls me 'didi'!

grandma and aunt alice also popped by to join in the fun

for the first few moments of 08, all of us had to wear these.

my sis is known for her superior management skills and her birthday party was no doubt an evidence of that. she had all the activities planned out flawlessly. like patrick from spongbobsp would say we 'partied till we were purple!'.
so once again, a blessed 26 birthday sis!

2008-01-01T22:39:00.000+08:00

crashing start into the new year

for the 4th time already, my laptop crashed and i must say that i haven been a good owner thus far. ever since dropping it about 1 meter high, the com has been performing rather abnormally, hanging in between games and of course, showing the blue screen. I did a brief search on the net and all they say is this is the 'blue screen of death'.
actually, the thing i'm more worried about is my data. my poly docs are really impt and i cant afford to lose them. damn!
thanks to technology, my ipod will now officially be my back up media.

2008-01-01T16:01:00.001+08:00

Top 10 11 Men of the year award (by 98.7fm)

once again, he has done it.
we forgive him for not spending the last moments of 2007 with the family.

This years top 10 men of the year award include steve jobs (ceo of apple) for his apple tv, 'new' ipods and of course, the iphone. Other celebrities include timbaland for his wonderful masterpieces which u already know like 'apologise' (toooooo latee....) and 'give it to me' (sexy never left).
So i was lying in bed, thinking, man it's new years eve and i really want to snooze a lil longer. case in point, i didnt went for sch and trg and only woke up at 4.
I heard this on the radio while i was in bed and managed to record it only on new years day when they replayed it just when i turned on the radio.

there. watch it. or rather listen to it. listen out for the names randy ang and nicholas chee right after timbaland.

way to go bro!

2007-12-31T15:08:00.000+08:00

where secrets are all exposed

down to New York New York for bernie's 17 birthday dinner(finally!).

been reading so many reviews the past afternoon in search of a suitable place. NYDC was among the choices but A said and i quote "there dont have proper food".

TEH!!! (bernie haha!)

service at NYNY was dismal. The waitresses were unwilling to serve us water when we didnt order anything. talk about good service in sg. NYNY must belong somewhere in the pit.

BBB!

we all know marcus for his impromptu jokes and awkward moments, by this is by far his best skill yet.

I know, x3 the size.

for a change, we didnt get bernie a cake.

thank you bernie and rach for the card AND

I feel like a star wearing them.

and eating a total of 4 cotton candies does you no good except giving u a strange tooth ache like as if all your teeth are falling out.

Happy birthday bernie. we know your secret now.

thanks to everyone who made it down namely
"thanks for everything" rach,
"plaster" marcus,
"beside myself, i like you best" yan jun
"name 3 things you regret doing" adriel,
and "all the third letter of your names(guys) is an R" birthday girl bernie!

I feel a tingling sense of accomplishment for so called organising this dinner. everyone helped of course.
maybe it was the amt of ppl that made it rather manageble.

one more party to go and this one will be something i have to worry about.
my sis' birthday/new year countdown party. isnt it just awesome to have your birthday on the 1st of jan! I dont have to do any of the planning though, just packing. My room is still in a mess and
there will be a lot of guest coming to my place later.

OPERATION "throw everything into the wardrobe" starts now!

and a BIG shoutout to shanice!
HAPPY birthday to you too.
till now i still dont know how you managed to erase all of your birthday pictures, but there will always be another chance to snap more pictures with your NEW camera.

2007-12-29T23:40:00.000+08:00

MY Last Christmas

(sung to the tune of Last Christmas) full and accurate lyrics here. song here

Last night, I dismantled my com.
But the very next day, mom gave it away.
Next time, to save me from tears,
I'll keep my laptop away from her

Last night, I dismantled my com.
But the very next day, mom gave it away.
Next time, to save me from tears,
I'll keep my laptop away from her

Once bitten and twice shy
Luckily I kept the CPU, but you gave away the monitor
Tell me mommy, why didn't you ask me?
Well, you are always like that
It doesn't surprise me

unHappy post-Christmas
I dismantled it and kept it
WithOUT a note saying "dont throw" which I should have done it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you promised not to do it again,
I know you'd fool me again

Last night, I dismantled my com.
But the very next day, mom gave it away.
Next time, to save me from tears,
I'll keep my laptop away from her

Last night, I dismantled my com.
But the very next day, mom gave it away.
Next time, to save me from tears,
I'll keep my laptop away from her

grey colour indicates original lyrics

2007-12-29T14:27:00.000+08:00

i kept my word in 07

spot on!

putting the rainy season into consideration, this is by far the coolest period of time in Singapore. Hence, this is OUR version of the winter season.
and if spring cleaning was supposed to be done in spring, why is the family rushing to get the whole house cleaned and painted during winter?
by saying family, naturally I was dragged into the whole ordeal of cleaning and painting.
it was a pretty daunting task to pack THE room.
I'm accustomed to the clothes on bed, books on floor look
and now everything has to be in place. and of all time, i chose to do it at 3 in the morning. so i finished at 5 and now I have more reasons not to leave the room at all.
other than the new wireless connection, my bed is right beside the study table(where my laptop is right now) which leaves me no choice but to stay in bed all day. I should consider getting a mini fridge or simply unplug the one in the kitchen to my room.

with a new room layout, living room sofa, light bulbs & a new coat of paint.
07 literally ends in style.
i'm still left with my own room to paint though.

I will miss the ball marks i made on the wall.

2007-12-27T03:40:00.000+08:00

and a happy new year (the real deal)

for the records, xmas in 2005 was spent @ nick/melis' place doing smt totally outrages.

like the banner states, it was a 60's party and what a swinging good time we had.

in 2006, it was in HK!!

xmas 07 was a rather conventional one considering the ones above. BUT that doesnt mean the fun factor was any lesser.

let me take you back to the eve of the eve of christmas eve. (SATURDAY)

modelling outside LV waiting for the lover birds H&F

christmas shopping @ town with melis&paul and harris&felice

the day didnt end just like that.
back to nick/melis' place for soccer (watching) AND

thats the 'and.'

melis is a chelsea fan too!

I knew i had to have photo evidence in order to prove that i really sincerely made the choco delights which I now name them as. (tgt with paul, nick and melis)

nick and I carefully slotting each piece into the jar. i suck at this part so in the end i got melis to help me with it. her nimble hands got them done half the time i would have taken, and a million times neater.

and now for the REAL DEAL.
the xmas party itself.

I have no idea to whether other groups or families do the same thing but just like the new year, my family counts down to christmas.

meet harris. le chef.

the dinner

whatever food item that isint in the container as seen above was all whipped up by le chef harris and felice. the food is so good that my malay accent is starting to show. SEDAP LA BAGUS!

there were many mini games played after dinner but there was one game that stood out so prominently that it surely goes into the 'i will remember that for the rest of my life' category.

charades!

CHICKS vs DICKS

and we got it all on video. this is just one of the many we took.
in this clip, the guy team was guessing 'sony BRAVIA hi-def colour television'.
we came so close, only missing out on the word BRAVIA.

and of course, we lost

till now, we still couldnt figure out why.

we were all complaining to gugu (aunt alice) because her xmas tree was seemingly getting smaller as the years go pass. obviously we've out grown the tree. thing has it that gugu is getting a new one next year! cant wait for 08 already.

everyone who turned up.

harris will regret this shot in the future when he looks back at it.

the adults had their fair share of laughter after their failed attemp to take a serious looking shot.

and the next few shots are funny

nick, felice and harris came out tops in the ugly/funny face making competition so they had another go @ it.

the countdown!

and perhaps the only thing the family celebrates xmas for anyway

and out close cousin bonds started way way back. u hardly or never find us crying anymore. I know i use to be a terror but the one thing that never slipped our minds was the fact that we managed to put harris to tears after 'kicking' all his counters back to their base in LUDO.
10++ years down the road, it comes back to haunt him.

for the rest, u had to be there to understand.

07 successfully draws to a close and 08 seems like a great year and i cant wait to plunge into it.

well, actually theres more things in line before this year offically ends.
shanice's birthday party is this sat and boy have i not seen her for such a long time. she doesnt know it but i miss her like crazy!
jin lian is going too so i'll get to see her as well.

ber ber bernie's birthday is also coming up!!

and my sis' birthday too!

so 07 will end with 3 birthdays that will surely leave me eating dirt in 08.

till then, happy ~~dirt eating~~ holidays!