Wow. I watched Sweeney Todd with SL and Joyce yesterday night. Wow. It's a really scary movie. Okay. Not scary. Gory.

Sweeney Todd is a horror musical. I only liked the latter part of it. Really. That's what drew me to watch the movie. The singings. :P It's rather gory, with all that killings. Kinda graphic, for me la. I know la. Some people would scoff and say "You ain't seen nothing yet", but eww. Gory. I was like, practically hiding under the sweater (and it's not even mine!!!) half of the time.

The plot is rather dark and twisty, with the main theme of revenge being the theme and motive of the whole story plot. Well, without me spoiling the plot, let's just say that it is hardly a happily ever after. Well. Maybe for the two characters. Maybe. I would like to imagine anyway.

I really love the songs and the singing in the movie. Great voices by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. I really love their duet "My Friends". And their other duets are great too. And OMG. Okay. ALL the songs are so nice!

LOL. Small coincidence or not, Sweeney Todd has three actors/actress in the Harry potter movie. Alan Rickman plays Prof. Snape in HP and Judge Turpin in ST; Helena plays Bellatrix LeStrange in HP and Mrs Lovett in ST; and Timothy Spall plays Wormtail in HP and Beadle in ST. It's rather refreshing to see the HP actors/actress in this dark dark movie.

Oh yes. Another actor who caught my eye was Jamie Bower, the one who plays Anthony in the movie. He's like, one year younger than me, OMG. But I feel that he has so much raw talent as an actor. I would like to see him in more movies. I am sure as years go past, he'll be a much more polished actor. I can see the potential in him.

Overall, I rate this movie 3/5. For the songs and the singing. And the slightly twisty dark plot. In the first time since a number of years, I went to Chinatown with my parents to 买年货. I haven't done that in such a long time.

Things certainly changed a lot. Now, Chinatown CNY shops are so... commercial. And similar. I mean, really. You see shops selling almost all the same decorations. You see so many shops selling those new-fangled Taiwan muah-chee sweets ("Come try come try! No harm trying! Eat all you want; buy all you want!!!"). I don't know. Last time, I remember the shops were much more unique. *shrugs*

Crowd-wise, well, it wasn't THAT crowded. Given that it is a Sunday, but it was also raining at the same time. I think the rain dispersed the potential huge horde of people away ba.

The only thing which interest me was the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown. I was fascinated by the tooth relic, and the museum itself. I went in there to look and explore around for 30+ minutes.

I was disappointed. I didn't get to see the actual tooth relic itself. It was encased in a gold stupa weighing 400+kg, and they only let the public see it during Vesak and CNY. But I learned a lot of the old Buddhist histories and their myths and practices. It was a pleasant learning experience for me. :)

Oh well. Maybe next time I won't go to Chinatown for CNY shopping. Heh. I just went out with Gloria, WQ and Joyce to have a simple dinner at Woodgrove's Botak Jones. We ate, and we chatted a lot till 10+. It was a very enjoyable experience.

Actually, this event was inspired by mine and ZC's chat yesterday. Yesterday, after work, me and ZC went for dinner at CCK's Lot 1, and we spent almost 2 hours just talking to each other. We talked a lot, jumping from one topic to the next, and I really enjoyed the experience of getting to know ZC more, and of course, indulging in my favorite past-time, talking.

That experience made me wanna organise just a simple get-together dinner with my friends, and just, talk. And I did. We also talked about a lot of things, and from the chats, we kinda understand each other a little bit more. :D

LOL! In both events, if you compare about our initial topic and our last topic, you would have never guessed how we managed to link those together. But we did. The process itself is very enjoyable, and on both nights, I went home very happy.

So, thank you, my friends, for talking to me. You guys made my days. :D

(Oh yes. If you wanna know about our Botak Jones experience, go to WQ's blog. I ain't gonna parrot what he said already. :P) As you know, in games, one right guess means you are in, and a wrong one means you are out.

In this challenge, you were asked a rather simple question: "Which ASG member did not finish their ice teh tarik?", without knowing who went to drink teh tarik in the first place.

Will the following designers contestants please step forward?

Kim Seng, Shuet Ling and Pei Ying. Congratulations. Your scores have qualified you into the next round. You may leave the runway.

Now, the winner. Congratulations, Wen Qiang. You have not only provided the correct answer; you have managed to guess correctly the ASG members who went to swim as well. You have won this week's challenge, and that means you will have immunity for the next round. You may leave the runway.

That means we won't have anyone to eliminate this week. Oh well.

So, obviously, the answer is:



Ayiah, to tell the truth hor, it was kinda easy to guess. Even more easier if you knew who went. That's why I never disclosed which cats went to swim. But, wouldn't it be a big surprise if the person turned out to be someone else? Like, me? :P

To recap a bit, we went to swim on Sat evening. It was a kinda last minute thingy, when everyone suddenly said they were free to swim after all. So, yep. We went to swim.

After that, we went to eat dinner at another place, before going to the Teh Tarik House to drink ice teh tarik as refreshments. We spent like an hour there drinking and talking. :D What fun!

Oh yeah. In case you cats don't know, Joyce got a new pair of specs. I tried it on, and the cats said that the specs fit me rather well.



Does it fit me? :P Okay. So I went swimming with 3 ASG cats today. After that, we went to drink teh tarik. I want you all to play this VERY FUN guessing game!!



This picture represents the end state of the ice teh tarik the 4 of us drank. My question is: The only non-empty cup belongs to which member of the ASG?

Of course. You are supposed to guess without knowing who went to swim.

Have fun guessing, and I'll reveal the answer soon! :P

P/s: Those who were there, please do not spoil this game, k? :D You know, SL told me recently that I have changed. She said that I became less "generous", and more "petty", and small things seem to set me off easily.

After writing and reading the two latest posts, I am forced to agree with her. Those two incidents, while the in past, I would have still be angry, but I wouldn't be that angry. I realized that I was spitting with fury when I wrote those posts, and frankly, it scared me a little.

I would have never been that confrontational in the past. At most, I would have just bitched to my close friends about it. I think, that chalet incident in December has changed me.

I think it's because I realized that it's time I should stand up for myself, and not let myself get bullied/pushed around all the time. Seriously. People, even close friends, push me around, and I am letting them.

So, I decided not to let them. But, with that, came this very short-tempered KY. And it was very automatic defense mechanism. These days, even the smallest things can set me off.

I am scared. I don't want to be like this. However, I don't want to go back to my old self where people can just step over me whenever they feel like it. I am trying to reach a middle-ground here. I don't know how to. But I am trying.

To those whom I have offended with my temper these days, I am sorry. Really. I am. I should have handled my anger in a more positive way.

I am trying. I must get this loud and clear. I am picky about my food, and I stand by it.

ASG people know. They know how picky I can get. They know better than to mess with me when it comes to my food.

There are things I don't want added to my food. Things like spring onion (and many more). I abhor it. I shun it. I HATE it. I don't want it going ANYWHERE near my food. Not even to touch it.

An incident on Friday has left me fuming with anger. People didn't respect my wish not to have spring onions and fried onion heads going anywhere near my noodles. They made fun of it, and they think it's trivial, and my order was in danger of being polluted with those nasty things. I was boiling inside (I didn't want to create a scene when my superior is there).

"Where got people like that one??? You can always take it off later!!!" Those two sentences are clearly, horribly, WRONG.

Firstly, I "am like that one". If you go out with me to eat, I will always make special requests to my food to the wait staff. As a consumer and a customer, I have every right to dictate what I want to put in my mouth. Every. Single. Right. And if that right is violated, I will not hesitate to unleash my wrath.

And no, I can't just "take it off". MY FOOD IS POLLUTED, FOR GOODNESS'S SAKE. To you people who eat garnishes everytime, of course you wouldn't understand how I feel. To you, I am making a big fuss. But to me, it's a matter of life and death. I think that it is a matter of great transgression when my food is polluted with the foul-tasting garnishes.

I was boiling that day. And still am now. Food is a very sensitive issue to me. So, I hope you understand that, and don't ever try to mess with my food orders. Ever. Being an organizer of events certainly does sucks. You have to co-ordinate everyone in the properly, and ensure the smooth execution of the event. A successful event does gives the organizer a certain sense of pride and satisfaction. At least his/her efforts didn't go to waste, after all. That's probably why I like to organize outings/events. Usually.

What I hate most is the asking part. Maybe my temperaments are not suited to be asking people, chasing them for answers. I do admit, I am very impatient. I expect people to give me an answer, fast. I don't understand dowdiness (sms-es are supposed to be fast and instant), but I understand that people sometimes don't look at their phones till later in the day due to work/study reasons. I understand that.

However, when I clearly messaged people at the start of the day to give me answers by the end of the day, given such a huge time-frame, I don't know why people still can give me replies one day late. Even though I said their replies are urgently required by the end of the day. I don't understand.

Or, worse. None at all. I think it is eff-ing rude of people NOT to give me a reply. I took the time to message and type in all those things, and people just simply, DON'T REPLY. Or worse. Replying to another party, thinking that "oh, since I replied to XXX already, why for reply to KY?". I think that it is very rude, and it really did piss me off. I mean, come on. You could have replied "I already told XXX, and my answer is yes/no. Get the details from XXX.", or a one-word "yes/no", I will also be happy. But by not replying me, you are not respecting me as an asker, and did not at all respect the asker's need for an urgent reply. Moreover, I did not, in my message, say anything about "you can reply to me or XXX". None. So, I do not understand why someone cannot type a simple reply to me. I simply do not understand at all. Is typing a short message so difficult that the effort kills you? I believe not. And also, imagine how pissed you would be if you are the organizer, and you know of your friend's reply via another person. It is damn zek ark, and some of you will agree with me.

I really do wish these kind of stupid nonsense won't happen again. I suffered too much of them already.

But still. I continue to be the "asker". Perhaps I am a masochist, who enjoys suffering through all these pain and anger and angst. Or perhaps, I would rather be pissed and angry and get a reply at the end of the day. Ha. I hate it!!! My migraine is back, and I don't understand why.

I was not stressed these few days. At least, I don't feel stressed. My migraine comes to attack whenever I feel stressed in the past, but now...

All I know is that my head hurts. A lot. Stupid migraine.

I wonder if I have a tumor in my brain..... I just called The ASG cats who are in KL now (they are having dinner now, for your info)!! OMG I MISS THEM SO MUCH! I can't wait to hear all their stories in detail once they get back! It looks like they had fun, and I am glad they did! :D

Apparently, they planned to go back to KL this coming December. I shall see about how it goes first (aka, do I have enough moolah??).

Talking to the ASG just now made me realize something.

Besides the ASG, I also have my air force friends with me.

This is dedicated to them: the inner circle of friends I have made and chose to surround myself with. Khooty, Colin, Leslie, ZiChao, Yao Feng and Edwin. Thank you. Thank you so much for being part of my life. Thank you so much, for being who you are, for being there for me when it matters. I am truly, truly blessed to know you as friends. :D

This is a post about friendship, and this is dedicated to the friends who are near and dear to me. Time really flies, doesn't it? Another year has just came and gone. 2007 left quietly at the stroke of midnight today, and 2008 came, with fireworks and bangs and shouts, ready for us to experience another year in our lives.

Looking back at 2007, it has certainly been quite eventful. It has its high, and its low. Certainly, I enjoyed the happy moments. As for the sad moments, I would like to believe that I grew and learned out of them.

In 2007, career-wise, it is one hell of a roller-coastal ride. I got posted into my squadron in January, and it took me 4.5months to be a qualified Flight Line Crew. The biggest break for me came in late May, where I was attached out to 143SQN, home of the glorious Phoenix. I am glad it happened, because that's where I really experienced and discovered the humanity of working life in the Air Force. I was very very happy there, and that is the high point of my career thus far. I was posted back to my own unit in August, and bumbled along until now.

However, I have to give credit when credit's due. I have to thank my own SQN for all the hardship, because I realized I became more assertive. I learned how to face up to all those challenges, and I like to think that I grew stronger. I also have to thank 143, for training me to be more independent in my work. Due to lack of manpower, sometimes they don't have luxuries like spare men like my own squadron can afford. So, I became very independent, and I learned how to do a lot of things myself; a lot of servicing and maintenance jobs that I probably wouldn't care for myself to learn if I remain in my own SQN. So, I am very proud of the fact that I can confidently say, "hey, if nobody's free to help me, never mind. I can do it myself", unlike some useless spineless idiots that I know. So yes, that's one big learning experience for me in 2007.

In friendships, I have certainly made and cemented a lot of friends.

I have grown much closer with some of my air force friends. Some, I can truly say that they are my close friends. Khooty, Colin, Zi Chao, Yao Feng, Edwin, Leslie; I have built very strong friendships with them, in our special own ways, and I am glad I got to know them in my life. May our friendship continue after our air force days! :D

As for ASG, we got stronger than before. We had and survived through 2 ASG chalets, which means 5 days and 4 nights of living with each other. We had our own ASG blog, and we even have our very own ASG polo t, a concept that was in discussion for one year until its fruition in December. We just celebrated our 7 years in this December's chalet, and our friendship just grow stronger by the days. I am glad I still have the ASG with me, even after secondary school. You gotta admit, not many people still go out regularly with their secondary school friends, and it takes a strong bond of friendship for us ASG to survive 4 years after secondary school. People of ASG, you rock! :D

I believe that 2008 is an exciting year to come. In 2008, two events I have been really wanting for would come true.

I will be ORD-ing this coming April, something I have been looking forward to since the dawn of time. I mean, I never wanted to go to NS in the first place, so ORD-ing to me, is a sweet sweet dream coming true. 110 more days to ORD. It will come soon.

Another dream come true for me is that I am going to enter into the next phase of my education: university. I have been looking forward to that day since I got accepted into NTU's Nanyang Business School, and it is finally gonna come true for me. 8 more months to go! :D

Of course, I am also looking for a job. I am looking into tuition. I need a job that can sustain me into my university years, and as I see it, I am not the waiter nor the sales assistant type. Besides, I love to teach... I am looking into teaching secondary school chemistry, but right now, I shall have to revise upon my chem work. It has been 2 years since I touched chemistry, but I believe I still can grasp the concept back, once I do some revision... We shall see.

2008 sounds like a year filled with wonderful potential. I can't wait to step into this whole new journey! :D I spent the last day of 2007 with my friends. I can truly say that I really enjoyed myself that day.

In the morning, some of the 26th went to Colin's house to watch movies and have fun. In the morning, Colin, Khooty, Edwin, Leslie, Kelvin Pang, Ming Hui and Eugene met up first to watch the first movie, Bridge To Terabithia.

The movie was touching. I can feel for Jess for going through all that. It certainly would have devastated me to experience what Jess did, so I totally can empathize. It's a good show that portrays very accurately the classroom scene and how children can cope and "defeat" their nightmares through the powers of imagination. This is, most certainly, one of my favorite movies this year.

Halfway through the movie, our ordered lunch arrived. We ordered pizza, garlic bread and chicken wings. Here's some photos showing us eating. :D





After watching the first movie, we all played Citadels. I introduced the game to them, and I think they all had fun playing it. It's a nice game after all. :D



After the game, Yao Feng arrived. We all took a photo, in celebration of the year to come, for 2008 is the year of our ORD! :D



Leslie and Edwin then left to meet their friends, and the rest of us settled down to watch Zodiac. The movie was about a long search to find a serial killer in the late 1960s in the US, who named himself Zodiac. The movie's pretty okay (save for the killing scenes), but it got kinda boring and draggy at the end. It's just an average movie, in my opinion.

After the movie, everyone left except Khooty and I. The three of us are going to the Chevrons' Countdown Dinner later on, and we went to prepare for the outing. Except Khooty. Who didn't do anything. :P

We set off from Colin's house at 6.50ish, and arrived there at 8.20. We were kinda late though. Everyone has been seated already. So embarrassing.

The dining experience is quite okay-ish. The emcee is funny and hosts well, and he sure knows how to make the audience have a good chuckle every now and then. The food is once again, typically wedding dinner banquet food. God. How many times have I eaten shark fin this year? I think 2007 is to "make up" for all those years that I haven't attended a wedding dinner, "make up" for all the shark fin that I didn't have over the past few years. :P We escaped at 11pm, because the thing is starting to get boring, and we wanted to watch the fireworks at the Marina Bay area. (Seriously, the magicians were really grating on our nerves.)

Here's a photo that someone helped us take at the banquet. :D



We originally wanted to go in front of The Sail to watch the fireworks, but due to time constraints and a bit of lost directions, we went to somewhere near One Raffles Quay and 老巴杀. We were behind the cranes and The Sail, somewhere parallel to where ASG was watching. We only made it just in time for the fireworks.

The fireworks were beautiful, but then again, fireworks are always beautiful and spectacular. However, I prefer the fireworks I watch during the National Day period. That was much more spectacular and with much more "bang". :D Still, a good show nonetheless, and I am glad I am watching it, and spending my first minutes of the new year, with Khooty and Colin. :D



After the fireworks and much frantic calling via jammed networks, I managed to meet up with the ASG in 老巴杀. (Thanks, once again, to Khooty and Colin for accompanying me to wait for ASG there. :D) Our supper wasn't really that fantastic, but at least the hungry cats ate something.

I only managed to reach home at 3+am after all that eating. It has been a very fun day that I certainly won't forget. :D

And here's to ASG, here's my part of the ritual that I didn't manage to complete: HAPPY NEW YEAR ASG!!!!!!!!!