Cactus Story

2010-05-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

Chapter 3: Longest 10 minutes

"Everyone memorized your part? Remembered the presentation sequence?" Tina went on and on while running through the slides and her cue cards. Just 10 minutes left to the presentation, I need a damn break, Lee thought. He excused himself and went outside to grab a hot coffee from the vending machine. Lynette was there. Right there at the vending machine, waiting for her tea to be dispensed. Dressed in her long floral dress, she seems to give Lee that invisible adrenaline jab that he so desperately needs. "Lee! Are you ok? You look like you're really sick" Lynette put her palm on Lee's forehead to check for any fever, but she doesn't know that is what will cause a possible fever.

"Ugh...I'm fine..th..thanks" Inside, Lee was screaming at himself for stammering. "Its just the late nights, and Tina's sense of perfection, but I know its all gonna be over today" Lynette laughed, and to Lee, that was as good as a double shot espresso. The moment of euphoria was over when Mrs Andrews walked past the pair, straight into the classroom. "Here we go" Lynette dumped her drink and gave Lee a pat in the back.

Lee's group lucky draw-ed themselves to be the 3rd of 4 groups to present.

It has to be you....

2010-04-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

It has to be you..

Chapter 1: Lynette

And there she was, in her pink tank top and skinny jeans. Her short boyish hair tucked behind her ears, and her smile is simply dazzling. Her squarish, black rim glasses were too big for her petite face, but it just made her look like the cutest nerd you will ever encounter. Lynette, 22, 1.6m, is the girl of Lee's dreams.

"You're literally drooling" Brandon stated, as-a-matter-of-factly in his low and deep voice. Instinctively, Lee immediately wiped his mouth with his right hand and threw a dirty look to Brandon.

"Can't you see I am examining the prime female human with full attention? Jeez, you always have to spoil everything Bran". Lee shoved his books hurrily into his black Adidas sling bag, took a last glimpse at the "Prime Female Human" and left the classroom.

"You gotta stop fantasizing about Lynette you know? Any more oogling and her boyfriend's gonna come after you" Brandon reminded Lee as he caught up with him at the lift lobby. Lee didn't like hearing that, but he looked at himself in the reflection of the glass lift doors. His hair is in a mess, probably not cut for half a year, his dress code of Hang Ten T-shirt, Giordano jeans and Converse sneakers screams NERDY! Standing at a very average 1.68m, Lee's skinny stature can hardly be considered "Masculine".

The lift doors opened, Brandon and Lee managed to squeeze in with the rest of the student crowd. Just before the doors close, someone pressed the button in attempt to catch the lift. When the doors opened and Lee saw Lynette smiling awkwardly, his initial "cursing the person who press the lift button" thought bubble burst almost too abruptly. Lynette squeezed into the lift, her back pressing against Lee's chest, and the lift door closed.

The 5th to 1st floor, 30 seconds lift ride was almost too much for Lee to handle. This close contact with the girl of his dreams is something that he never thought would EVER happen. He could literally smell her shampoo and see the baby hair running down the back of her neck. The lift doors opened without warning and Lee was pushed out of the lift before he could comprehend what just happened. Lynette turned back and smiled, "Bye guys! Catch you tommorrow!" and left hastily. It took Lee a long time to catch his breath and made Brandon stop his teasing.

Lee, Brandon and Lynette were all classmates in the local Polytechnic, studying Bio-Sciences, Junior Year. Lynette was crowned Paegant Queen during Freshman year and it is a well known fact that she has no lack of suitors. She plays in the Table Tennis school team and is next in line to become the team captain. Well tempered and sincere, The ONLY ONE thing that is so annoying about Lynette, is her hunky Dragon-Boating boyfriend, Ray. In Senior year of Business Management, Ray is a over achiever. Top 10% in studies, dragon boat main roster, Executive committee in Student Council, hunky, handsome (part time modeling), and is rich. His presence alone has made many of Lynette's potential suitors back off due to low self esteem.

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A chat window popped up at the lower right of Lee's Facebook page. It was Brandon, "Are you stalking Lynette?"

"NO!" Lee typed, closed the chat window, and quickly left Lynette's profile page. Is it so obvious? Am I being freaky to her? Lee cannot help but worry that he would appear as a psycho to her. His other Tab on his web browser, was Ray's profile page.

Nope, Lee is not gay. Lee is what others describe as the typical "mouse potato" - similar to couch potato, just hooked to poking his nose around the virtual world. As he scanned through Ray's profile, seeing his photos of partying, huddling with Lynette, dragon boating, Lee can only dream of leading such a life in SIMs 3, newly installed.

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Chapter 2: Tigress

Thunder cracked the sky and rain followed shortly. The school library, canteen, study benches were jam-packed with students rushing to complete their projects near the end of yet another unadventurous semester, at least for Lee.

"Staring at the rain wouldn't help us finish this on time!" Tina scowled at Lee. He was momentarily lost in the serenity and the plitter-platter tempo of raindrops on the rooftops. The scene sort of reminded him of the episode "Hard Rain" in Left 4 Dead 2.

Tina wasn't really the kind of girl who is popular with guys - and girls. She's short, about 150cm, fiesty and is a "Superwoman"who would stop at nothing to score good grades. Lee was sort of "recruited" to her project group, apparently because Tina likes how good Lee is with Photoshop, Java, and a couple of programmes that would add points to a project presentation.

Its not like Lee didn't feel thankful that his grades this semester will be well secured, besides, Tina is cute - when she is not putting on that stressful face. Other project grouppies ,Kendra, a muscular netballer, and Ace, a race car enthusiast, are also the "Elites" of the course.

8pm. Lee should be home playing DOTA with his friends online, but nope, he is still at the bus stop waiting for a ride home after a brain mashing project session. To make things worse, the cause of majority of his headaches, "Tigress" Tina was the only with him at the stop. It was truly awkward. 2 people, whose only common topic is the project they have been slogging on, meets after the project and realises they have nothing to say.

I have to clear this damn awkwardness! Lee cleared his throat. "So, erm, you heading home?" Tina looked at Lee's direction for a moment, as if looking for who just spoke to her before she managed a reply. "Yeah. Home for dinner, and research. I'm so gonna get eyebags by the end of this semester." Silence again. Lee didn't know what else to ask, and he don't want to risk having a more severe headache.

The bus came and both of them got up. It wasn't really crowded, at least he would get a seat, Lee was glad. As he dumped his tired bum onto the seat, he noticed that Tina sat right infront of him. Really, Tina scores well in the looks department. Her hair falls just below shoulder length, shiny and smooth. Despite being vertically challenged, she is rather well-endowed and she's got the dominatrix stare from her big eyes that would humble anyone who dares stare at it. Lee blinked and shook his head hard. Is he too tired? Or is Tina starting to look really good? He convinced himself it was a mixture of the former, and his week long deprivation of eye candying on taiwanmodels.com

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Brandon almost couldn't recognize his best buddy on D-Day. Messy would be an understatement to describe Lee's hair, and the local lingo Giam Cai "Salted Vegetable" can be what is said about his usual Hang Ten T-shirt. "Bro, you look like hell. But come on, its D-Day, its the day we hand up the damned project, present it to the tutors and its HOLIDAYS" Lee just couldn't register the fact that it is finally going to be over, after the deeply intense online discussion and criticism by Tina which just ended 2 hours ago.

The class was surprisngly noisy today. Project groups were all clustered together, creating a symphony of yawning, furious keyboard mashing for last minute amendments and the chatter of presentation rehearsals. "Everyone got it? Lets go all the way" Tina looked 100%, and Lee just can't figure how. Kendra and Ace both looked pretty worn out as well, but one can see they are well prepared.

2008-04-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

super long since i posted an entry. 5th May 2008

Internship is long over, and I have vowed to never work as a waiter again. Ever. It was time to pursue my chef dream and so did I. found a trainee position at a high end burger joint - Relish. you can check out reviews on it on food forums such as hungrygowhere.com

my first day was extremely "eventful". I slipped and fell hard on my butt, i cut 2 fingers and I broke the microwave plate. there are times it was so hard that I questioned my passion for cooking and food. "was it all worth it? study so hard, get good grades, but lower yourself to do such a low-paying and tough job"

as of today, I confirmed it was all worth it. I knew nothing when I first started, though my team was 2nd place at a junior chef competition (i do not claim credit for the victory), slowly i learn the art of a "knife".

- Respect the knife, get a few slashes and you'll be much better.

Its true. i was scared of the knife to start with. i'll end up going up with at least 2-3 cuts on my fingers daily, until the major one, i slashed my third finger so bad it required 2 stitches. given 2 days mc, i ignored it and went back to work straight after receiving the stitches. after that hard slash, i "felt" the knife each time i use it. its a kind of weird feeling, as if the knife has tasted your blood, it wun do it again.

i started to enjoy insanely busy periods unlike how i was afraid of it at the start. and seeing improvements in myself is definitely worthwhile.

Chefs are creatures that feed on the heat, the knife wounds, the burns, the sweat, the anger and the adrenaline, and want more and more of it. At this point of time, I feel I am such a creature.

2008-02-09T03:20:00.000-08:00

9th January 2008

I decided that I should finally update my blog. SIP is over, had some favourable assessment results, now have to write the final research paper and its the end of school.

Already started work at Relish, a burger cafe, branch of Wild Rocket. Feels super noob in the kitchen, cannot even "slice thinly". gonna work real hard. winning 2nd in the chef competition dun mean a thing now.

I start like a blank piece of paper, but mark my words. one day i will achieve something. pics of burgers will be uploaded in my next post, i hope. they're pretty

2007-10-11T18:06:00.001-07:00

12th Oct 2007

Time surely flies, its already been 1 month of SIP and i have alrdy spent 2 weeks at Top of the M already. There are actually more trainees than full timers at Top M, so luckily i didnt feel left out thanks to the friendly Shatec trainees. So far i have only done food runner and only for the past 2 days i am assigned to running stations beacuse a newer trainee came up. It has been fun at Top M so far, the revolving really makes me very confused sometimes. Oh for those who wonder, it takes 2hrs 10mins to turn one full round.

Recently I am also on the hunt for part time chef job at Meritus in the morning, so i can go Top M in the afternoon. I am determined to wanna work in the kitchen to get the "feel" of it. Oh ya, here is some ridiculuos news.

Mandarin's F&B would soon be undergoing major renovations. The entire Chatterbox area would be refurbished to a new shopping arcade. SO they decided to close down Top of the M and move Chatterbox upstairs for 2 years while waiting for constructions to finish. I cant believe they actually wanna move Chicken rice upstairs, its really sad, taking to consideration the history of Top M. many guests are confused and sad when they hear this as well.

Now for some good news. If you're having off days you can come and eat at Top M for lunch as they are having 30% off for everyone from now until 14th Dec. 2 course meal at $28, 3 course at $38 and 4 course at $48. Try the rib eye or sirloin steak, they're huge.

Last piece of good news, at least for me. Since my attachment to Top M is initially until next year, which is now impossible since it would be Chatterbox already, I am unsure of where i will be posted to. I went to HR to ask Rebecca about it and i insisted i DO NOT want to stay at Chatterbox. She asked me if i REALLY want to go Culinary, and i said YES w/o hesistation. I told her about my "qualifications" and she seems to agree to put me in the kitchen AT LAST! WHOOPEEEE!!! but i better not be too happy in case she goes back on her words.

2007-09-15T05:12:00.000-07:00

15th Sept 2007

SIP has finally commenced. I'm attached to the f&B dept of Meritus Mandarin, supposedly only to Top of the M, their Italian fine dining restaurant. But somehow, my first 2 weeks ended up at Pine Court, their Cantonese-Fusion fine dining restaurant.

On the first day i felt pretty left out, everyone didnt seem to be expecting me. Standard chinese restaurant, alot of aunties and malaysian ladies working. Other than the barman and the manager, I am the only guy in the entire 23 or so staff working there. Assigned as food runner for lunch and dinner, figured that they dont really have time to teach me service as the place was fully packed. And Serene actually came and join me after awhile, also spending 2 weeks at Pine Court, i suspect is to help them tide over the Mooncake period. According to the aunties who have worked 15-30 years there, we are the first ever trainees to ever step into Pine Court. I hope to leave a good impression though.

Working through insane split shifts of having 3.5 hours break in between, and my job scope so far has only been "standard" F&B, but i still look forward to work. The food that i serve out, i always think how it could have been better, how else could it have been done and so on. Everyday I go there, I feel I am learning something, not necessarily F&B related, such as surviving in place where the workers play politics, and so on.

For all fellow TP interns out there: there is always something to learn in whatever you are doing, it just depends on how well you can pick it up. Even if you are just cleaning rooms, or staying behind the computer the whole day, you can aim to be the best in that area. Learning is endless. Lets not throw TP's face, and the older generation's expectations of us. THE FUTURE IS OURS!

2007-09-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

8th September 2007

Finally, the HotChef competition was over. It happened yesterday at TAS. the road was tough, tedious, fun and really educational. Miraculously, we won 2nd AND best display prize, probably the first competition i took part in, and i won 2 prizes.

For everyday of the past 2 weeks, I have been cooking at TCA (Tp's new culinary academy) from 9am to at least 5pm. Cooking to test the team's coordination, cooking to test the taste. Getting scolded by chefs all round the clock. And being looked down on my abilities because i am HTM and not CCM, some chefs thought Calvin and I would be a burden to our CCM team mate. But we proved them wrong isn't it? As far as he can cook, he cant manage for god's sake, and i really believed Calvin and I helped out a big part in that.

Special thanks to:

Chef Joyce: Who came earlier than us and leave later than us EVERYDAY. leaving her paper work aside just to help us. nagging at us non-stop, scolding us. helping us to clean up every mess we make. She is officially "Mama" Joyce to us. 1/3 of the prize goes to her. no doubt.

Chef Derrick: Coming down almost everyday to help us as well. Teaching us many things, not only cooking, but organising, and much more. Sacrificed his time to buy a duck and roast for us during his off day. Respect.

Chef Jason: He came down for 2 days only, but he made immediate impact. he cooked for us to try, and I knew why he deserves to be in the national culinary team. his food is super good. he thought me how to cook 3 dishes all in 1 day. great man, great chef. all my respect.

Chef Jasmine: for asking the chefs to help us, and helping us cling the best display. and reminding us that we are lucky to have a bunch of singapore's best competition chefs behind us, reminding us not to, and never be cocky.

Calvin: yeah man, i wanna thank you too. your tolerance level and your adaptability level is very high. for someone who haven been to the kitchen before and to perform like this, you are really very good already. getting scolded from everyone everyday and you still hang on and go ahead. without you, this couldnt have been done.

Phylicia: and thank you phy for understanding and supporting me throughout this competition period. we planned to go genting after exams, but it got cancelled because of the competition. you were not angry, and everynight you have to hear my complaints and you give me "valauble advice" LOL. love you phy.

I might be the only HTM senior to be dumb enough to take part in competition, leaving me 2 days of rest before SIP while the others have at least 2 weeks. but i really feel its all worth it. I learn so much, much more than the entire semester on Culinary lesson. Would I say "NO" to competition next time? haha. i see myself taking part in more in the future. the next one would be FHA Dream Team in April. hope i can get in!

Photos of the competition would be uploaded some other days.

2007-08-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

30th Aug 2007

Have been so busy lately. Exams are finally over! That would probably be my last school exam for the next 4 years at least. I'm gonna miss TP and all the people that I knew and all that I encountered and learned to make me who I am today.

I believe the main issue on every year 3's mind now is how many friends will you actually stay close with after Poly life. It is scary, seeing how close friends in year 2, after changing class in year 3, could be reduced to mere hi-bye friends. However, I am glad to know I will have a handful of people that I will keep in contact with for a long, long time. Not forgetting my eternal friends from Team Daidee and of course, Phy.
__________________________________________________________________

Tabasco hot chef competition scheduled on 7th September is a mere 8 days away. We had alot of practices lately, I had not rested one day at all since the end of exams, which just sucks. Spent almost 400 bucks among 3 people for this competition, and I still feel chances of winning are pathetically low.

Sometimes, when you are a just a Commis chef, do not overestimate your abilities and knowledge, no matter how much you read up on the lastest Molecular Gastronomy, no matter how well you think you are doing. My team's dear leader, shall call him Mr T, is one such person.

Personally I feel he is a good chef, but as a leader and coordinator, or when it comes to human relationships, he sucks through and through. Knowing that his team mates, me and Calvin, are very new to the kitchen, instead of encouraging us, he talks sarcastically, thinks he really is one class above us and will use every chance he have to show he is leader. And that just sucks. When i asked him "Mr T, what do we do now?", he replied "Please lar, use your brains". Ok, so now what? You think you're damn smart now? Its supposed to a TEAM WORK, but how many decisions are made YOURSELF without consulting me and Calvin? Yes, we might not help much, but as a team, we would surely like to know any decisions being made.

First, you say you wanna do Molecular Gastronomy, den you changed Asian, now you want Western. So what exactly do you want? Now you come up with all these weird Peruvian dishes that just tastes like smoked mashed potato to me. You said the chefs emphasized that basics would help us win, but yet you keep trying to "chim-ify" your food with all the weird names, weird ideas etc. I can never forget these moments, where you think you're being smart, but you're not:

Scenario 1

Chef J: What is this?
Mr T: Its a Peruvian dish, its a Causa
Chef J: A WHAT?
Mr T: Causa, its a Peruvian dish
Chef J: Never hear before, your dishes making me feel very confused.

** Note that Chef J is a chef from the National Team

Scenario 2

Chef Jo: Hmm, this dish.....
Mr T: Its actually my trademark dish, I really like it alot, I think it brings back childhood memories.
Chef Jo: huh? no feel leh
Mr T: Maybe because decoration not nice?
Chef Jo: Please dun tell the judges that this is your trademark dish. Lao Kui (it's embarrassing)

From the above 2 scenarios, you can clearly see how much he tries to impress people with all his never-heard-before culinary chimology. I told him, I warned him. Be humble, we are still inexperienced, do not try to fly to heaven in one step, do be so big with your words and ego, explain everything humbly. But no, you had to continue your egoistic ways. How many times had it been that Calvin and I really felt that you are just stepping on us so that you can get closer to the spotlight.

And I thought he can act so good he deserves Oscar. Whenever we are doing trial cooking, he will not care a shit about how well we are doing, he focuses on what he is doing himself. And as a leader, you should check. Whenever we ask him "Eh this one can or not?" he replies "Okok very nice" without even glancing at it. When we ask him "how much to add?" he replies "just add".
When the dishes turns out crappy, he blames it on us. Oh back to the topic. He practically ignores us throughout the trials, UNTIL when chefs walk near. He will showcase his acting skills worthy of Oscar's and go "eh guys? everything ok? wow this looks great, well done. Hmm i think this might need a little more colour"

Wtf. seriously wtf. Number 1 bootlicker and actor. Whenever Calvin and I try to suggest a change, or try to tell him his idea is wrong, he does not accept it. He thinks our knowledge is below his and we should not have better ideas than his. BUT how many times did the chefs pointed out the same mistakes that we told you? Whenever the chefs tell you, you ALWAYS say "yes chef i understand" I cannot tahan anymore.

Fuck you. We join this competition because we want to win as a team, not to let you stand on us and shine in the spotlight. not for you to order us around like worthless filth. After this competition, i have sweared never to work with him ever again.

Out

2007-08-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

My first cake in the oven - below.

The completed Lemon Cake, home made for Phy's birthday - left

Extremely delicious carbonara below, and my experimental dish, Lemon Cream Pasta to the left.

This is my kitchen. look at the amount of work place i have, so pls cherish your big and well equipped kitchen.

2007-08-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

13/8

i might be a little too harsh

ticketing test is finally finally over. it is the end for ticketing. relatively easy to do, to my surprise. went for the shortest revision lecture EVER by Lisa C. a real pro. 30 mins.

all that's left is the competition, exams before SIP starts. rather excited.

cool week

2007-08-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

This is one of the competiton items for my team,

tuna wrapped in soya jelly with watermelon

Another cooking try out at home! Made cream sauce myself for the first time and just added in brocolli. Needs improvement. the cup of green stuffs is avocado milkshake, looks gross but trust me, it is SOOOOOOOOOOO good. my goodness. This drink is made possible with the lovely blender purchased recently. haha.

enjoy time!

2007-08-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

CHOCOFFEEL STAFF!!

2nd Aug

The "fiercest" week just passed. 2 major presentations in a day was never a good thing, but we cleared it, finally. I predict this to be a long entry. lol

28th Jul (Sat)

Only 3 days left till we have to hand up the Hot Chef competiton recipe. 8 bloody recipes, and only 2 out of the 8 seemed workable so far. Calvin will be staying over at Terence's today to test dishes. You would never understand how much i want to be there, but I can't, thanks to tuesday's double presentations. I couldn't bring myself to go there and have fun in the kitchen and neglect rehearsing my presentation slides. Called up Calvin and asked how was their progress at around 10pm and he said they were just starting. I had so many sudden urges to just take a cab down to Terence's house and do it with them, but i didn't. I felt so bad and useless deep from my bones. Even though I told them i would experiment on 2 dishes myself from home, deep down inside I knew my dishes would not be accepted even if they were really good. Screw the ginger ale. Tried to rehearse through my slides and it just couldn't get in. It was a bad, bad day.

29th Jul (Sun)

Woke up to Calvin's msg "We got 5 dishes done, 2 more cold dishes to go". I asked him if my ginger ale was still needed, he said yes, as a back up, much like what I have expected. Am i disappointed? Yes I am, but i accepted it. Went to play basketball with the guys and got throughly owned by the NS guys. Felt useless in the game, I just didn't dare to move in that game. Jerome ended up telling me "Why you so scared to move? We had a chance!" Then it dawned on me, our team had been playing among ourselves for too long, we need external competition to drive us better. Rained heavily after 2 hours of balling and was called up by the CC's janitor for a "free buffet". No one knew what it was but everyone who happened to passed by the CC was invited. Turned out to be some Youth Organisation Handover day, plus National Day talk. They didnt have enough people so they just grabbed anyone available to make up the numbers (who the hell wanna attend something like that?) pretty obvious. sweaty basketballers, ping pong uncles and Aunties carrying market goods were amongst the audience. I decided it would be a waste of time and made some lame excuse and got away with the guys.

Had lunch with them and found out that Calvin would be following Terence to Shermay Lee's cooking school to help out today. Followed by further recipe testing at night. I wanted to be there, but I reckoned i should just give up the idea. Went to crystal jade at jurong point with mum and aunt. freaking ex meal with so-so food. i dun really fancy crystal jade other than its Xiao Long Bao branch. Managed to grab a blender at the Courts there and went home. had a little quarrel with a grp mate over presentation. nth personal. Tml would be a long day.

30th Jul (Mon)

Started the day with a mind blowing Ticketing lesson, followed by the knowledge that Calvin and Terence had came out with 8 dishes and a team name (everything was decided without me)Real bad start. Before the lesson I carried all my stayover barang barang to phy's' hse to deposit. Gonna stay over at yan wan's house to rehearse the next day's double presentation, but i dun really wanna squeeze into one room with 6 girls. so i decided to drop at phy's hse instead. Went for lunch with ivan and group, followed by another useless lisa chua lecture and off to yan wan's house. Starting off by playing DS Lite, den off to Simei to buy some lacking ingredients. Eastpoint was very different from what i remembered it to be, when phy was still staying in the area. Much trendier now. headed back to yan wan's hse and went out again for dinner. den back to her house for rehearsal. had a fun time finding trouble with a particular grp's slides.

oh i forgot to mention. yan wan's hse is this 2 storey DVD cove/ entertainment hub. if a police ever raids her house, it would take her 1 day before she can dispose every DVD in the house. LOL. nontheless i borrowed Saw and Saw 3 from her.

Rehearsed till real late at night and the bloody chocolate cutlet kept failing. wrong type of chicken, wrong type of oat, wrong me with wrong cooking skills. It was only at 3+am that we decided to start on BE presentation. everyone was shagged out, and Qiutin blew her top out of fatigue. there she was trying to present and there we were laughing away. her eyes were swollen and i reckon it was time for all of us to get a rest. headed over to phy's hse after a 20 min walk. reached there about 4.50am, bathed etc and slept for 1.5 hrs at aldrin's room. Phy said at 5am "its only 10 mins before my mum wakes up to prepare to go to work." you can imgine how late/ early it was. anyway many thanks to phy having to sacrifice her sleep hours to open the door for me. love you :)

31st Jul (Tues)

Felt a hard kick in my butt and woke up after a 10 minute wake up call by phy personally. washed up and rushed back to yan wan's house to cook the chicken and prepare for the presentation. was locked outside yan wan's house for 20 minutes or so as everyone was asleep or didn't have keys to open the door for me. tango-ed in the kitchen with beilin while everyone else is still asleep or groggy and managed to settle the chicken while the rest of the group woke up one by one. Went into the room to take a look. Sarah and Qiu Tin were dead fishes. lol. dressed up and headed for school in a much unplanned for situation. and it started with Destn presentation.

we were the second group, and it started with Sarah, Ayuni, Beilin, Yan Wan, Qiu Tin. when it was my turn, seconds after i spoke my first sentence, the timer rang. 15 mins was up and lisa chua said "2 more mins". Cherie was behind me, and she had more important things to say. I stammered horribly and decided to pass to Cherie asap. Then it was Q&A. I had to be honest, out of the 8 questions posted, i only knew how to answer 2, thank god i have good group mates. Yan Wan answered the tree question in a way that stunned me. we anticipated the question and had come out with the correct way to respond but it seems like she forgot about it. She was being questioned mercilessly by the other groups and I felt i have to step in and correct it. Thank god it was the right way to answered it and i felt it somehow made up for my horrible presentation earlier.

rushed off to change into our "costume" and heat the food up and ran through BE presentation one last time before going in. Shoo-ed Tan Teck Meng out of the room and set the room up. Qiu Tin got him back and we started. He seemed totally uninterested in our little "act". Presentation as per normal but I thought I sounded really panicky. Q&A session, thank god everyone had great answers. Tan Teck Meng said we did well and that really made my day. Headed outside and took some group photos and headed back home for my well deserved rest. woke up to study for the dreaded chinese letter writing test the next day.

1st August

Chinese test was generally ok, went for OB lecture, was good to catch up with some old friends. OB tutorial was again, boring. headed to TM for a drink and chit chat with phy. Went home. nth much.

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and so it seems the busiest week is over, all that is left now is the BE portfolio and exams before i go for Top of the M for 5 full months. Results for the Hot Chef Competition would also be out pretty soon next Monday. Although I was not involved in many things to date, I would still hope we get through the selections, then I will work double hard to return the 2 guys a favour.

Thats it for now.

the urge

2007-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

25/7

quite a number of things happened in the past few days. finally passed up Business Enterprise project on Friday. heaved a HUGE sigh of relief and i was still feeling stress until the very moment the report was handed in. finally. around 110 pages of goodness. haha. my group than carried on to plan our presentation rehearsal dates for the whole of the following week. shiok.

Ticketing on a Monday morning is always hellish. wats worse i forgot to bring the latest manual, totally lost and praying for the next test. good thing is that it has been pushed back by one week. at least more time to practice.

Terence roped me and Calvin in for the Tobasco Hot Chef competition after his original teammates pang seh him. he had the menu and ideas all ready but Calvin and I are afraid that we might be able to reach his standards as we are seriously out of practice. had a discussion on the menu and managed to come up with a mind blowing ending drink together. believe it would work and hope we can win. its a great exposure.

Sometimes i really wonder what would have happened if i quitted HTM last year and joined CCM instead. i would be cooking everyday at this point of time instead of chionging projs if i did that. but wat are the consequences? hmmm...seeing how terence can get so soaked up in exploring cooking does make me abit jealous, just a wee bit. i always tot to myself if there is no NS, i would change course w/o thinking. but due to NS, 2 extra years wasted. and if i decide to further education, i will be like 25 before i start working and that is DAMN OLD.

settled with wat i have. agreed with what the Chef from Bambino! said "A man who cannot focus on the tasks in front of him is not fit to talk about his dreams". so damn true.

funny indians

2007-07-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

22/7

have been slacking past few days after Business Enterprise have been handed up. feel more relaxed but now i fear Business Enterprise reflections. oh well.

Started to look for indian videos on youtube. all of them are damn funny, esp all their dance steps and the retarded english subtitles. here are some links so enjoy urselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtJRNyPK-lc&mode=related&search= -> Thriller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vedFnHHCHGM -> Tunak Tunak Tun

Yesterday (saturday) went out to Vivo with mum to try to find new slippers. my old pair of crocs are giving me many slippery problems. fell down a short flight of stairs once and have to walk super slow on wet grounds. I bought the current pair almost 1.5 years ago and i wear it almost everyday, everywhere i go. The wear and tear it suffered is unbearable. the sole is completely flat and so i decided to get a new pair.

Was considering over another pair of crocs for the comfort or a pair of haivannas as it seems hip. headed to crocs store first and the pair i wanted had no new piece so we went up to New Urban Male. tried the Haivannas, wasnt tt great and my mum said it looked "beach boy-ish". i decided i was really into "hip" stuffs nor do i wanna be a "beach boy" so i left the store and went back to crocs. got my eyes on this pair and i really want it. so i asked them to reserve a new pair for me at Marina Square for collection within 3 days.

SUNDAY. the following day. went to bball as usual with the guys and headed to Marina Square with them for lunch, arcade session and collection of my crocs.

new pair's up there. really BRIGHT as compared to the black and brown previous pair i had.

after tt i decided to cook pasta AGAIN when i reached home. my mum said it was damn good. and i hope she isnt just trying to make me happy . haha. Its bacon aglio by the way.

Cheers

A look back at Tasting Notes

2007-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

19th July 2007

Went to Tasting Notes (wine bar) to collect my June pay today. saw yuan kai setting up the alfresco area, reminded on how i used to do that 2 months ago. when i walked into the bar, saw the familiar scene: joseph smoking and reading papers, jil behind the computer and yuan kai at the bar. the same music CDs from 2 months ago were still playing.

i started work at Tasting Notes at about March 2007. recommended to the place by eunice. initially thought i would not be used to the bar environment but decided to give it a try, widen my experience scope. fell in the love with the place gradually, the friendly staff, friendly guests, nice night scene, good food all over. Get to see many people from all walks of life. since i dun go clubbing, it sorta opened my eyes to the night life of SG.

there are so many memorable things about Tasting Notes that i will always remember.

1. on my 2nd day at work, Jil said i look like a 2-month old
2. opened a bottle of 1986 and broke its cork
3. cut my fingers multiple times with the wine opener
4. broke at least 20 wine glasses
5. the day when a drunk guy walked straight into the glass panel with a loud "BONG!"
6. the day where i saw kelly fainted and shaun carried her to the clinic
7. microsoft party - total mess
8. Jimmy's birthday - I "won" a pack of tissue paper during lucky draw
9. Egon was in total shock when he knew i was ONLY 19 years old. he thought i was at least 25
10. Me and Yuan Kai VS the Security Guard. Classic
11. The hunt for the missing Yoyogi plates
12. Jil's "holy missions"
13. Guests gave me $20 personal tip
14. the attack of the lemon girl
15. how kim and I would stand at Alfresco and await the late night rush
16. the way Jil says "i think the crowd will slam in soon"
17. Foggy specs after exiting the cellar
18. PS' fancy beer bottle opening skill
19. Magnum ice cream behind the car park
20. Running to get baguette and talking cock with the person at Canele
21. Phone calls to the Thai restaurant "Hi~Put Thai~"
22. Phone calls to Sangokushi "NI HAO! SAN GUO YAN YI!"
23. rolling sofas
24. predicting the rain
25. Unagi fried rice by Jimmy
26. Mr Tham's "f*kced up-ness"
27. Angeline's bombastic hair
28. Spizes with angeline, YK and Kelly
29. Jil's "admirer"
30. Yuan kai "the pimp"
31. Joseph telling me "trust me, you will make it big in this industry"
32. Popped champagne for a group of excited Japanese guests
33. Eavesdrop guests' conversation
34. the filthy side station
35. "old chio bu" quoted by yuan kai
36. "ONE coke....for my consumption pls"
37. "lovely" smell for cigars
38. watching people make out at sofas
39. Nigel's bday surprise for his girlfriend - failed cake and heart shaped balloons
40. the staff telling me "we miss you"

the list goes on and on. I've worked there for only about 4 mths, and i feel very attached to the place. but commitments in school make me unable to carry on working there. but i will remember this period. for sure. will go over for drinks and visit the guys. for sure.

after i got my pay, went over to tiong bahru plaza to meet mum for dinner and got ingredients for cooking pasta. den met zh while he let me taste his new tom yum chicken patty, a little too soggy and missy that tom yum sting.

Went home and chionged report. it is finally done. cooked some pasta today, mum said it was nice. will continue to improve.

Lights out

last lap

2007-07-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

so i got back my amadeus test 2. 39.5/50. At least i know i have secured an A for 60% of my coursework grade. gotta maintain it for test 3. quite some things happen the last few days.

14/7 Saturday:
Watched Harry Potter with phy and team daidee at Suntec. arcade session with zh, played time crisis 4, have no idea why i am so drawn to noisy arcades. The movie seats sucks but its a 5 bucks per tix thanks to hazel, so nvm la. well, the movie sucks i thought. it totally did not bring out the feeling that the book is trying to let us feel. merely riding on the fame and special effects. boring show. had Sizzler's for dinner, kinda ex but was ok since the guys were around. crapped alot.

crazy mel watched harry 3 times in 2 days time. finally got HH and cindy together as planned, dunno how it will work out though.

15/7 Sunday:
Played basketball as usual. Couple of injuries as usual. Went for lunch with the guys and headed home for Business Enterprise compilation. heard from mel that HH was being a wuss and did not dare to talk to cindy thorughout. Watched Wu Zhong Xian show in the evening. nothing beats a good laugh.

16/7 Monday:
got back amadeus, went for lecture. nth much. went for haircut at QB house at CS with phy. feels so much better with shorter hair, i predict if i keep my hair long it will look like afro. perhaps one day i should try. LOL.

17/7 Tuesday:
went to sugar loaf. the donuts were still as good.

___________________________________________________________________

Finally the projects are ending. this is the last lap to go. feel so damn tired but at least my group is dependable and fun people, takes out alot of fatigue. going to school everyday like a zombie. tired and sleepy and tired.

With the projects ending, it means my poly life is ending soon. how fast, i still feel like year 1. i dunno anything much abt TP, probably because i nv join SL or GL or TPSU or any CCAs. Now i think about being in a fine dining place for 5 mths, gives me the creeps, esp after watching Bambino! but i am really looking forward to it.

My list of things to look forward to:
1. SIP
2. Genting Trip
3. Kbox Trip(s)
4. Buy a PSP
5. Taiwan or Hong Kong Trip
6. Basketball Rematch with Han Xiang's group
7. Basketball Match with William's group
8. NS? lol....

Pasta Addiction

2007-07-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

I believe it was during Year One, when i was still 16 years old that i first tasted pasta outside the hawker centre's standard tomato sauce and spaghetti. It was at Pastamania. Somehow, from that day onwards, i was fasinated and addicted to pasta. The versality of pasta is limitless, unlike chinese noodles which gets soggy after cooking awhile, pasta is a whole new thing to me. I tried almost every item on Pastamania to date, and when i go to restaurants, i would order pasta. Bit by bit, my expectations of pasta grew higher. Pastamania which used to be a "Wow" place for me was "okok" now. I decided i might want to try my hand at cooking it myself.

regularly on and off i would go down to the supermarket alone and buy stuffs to cook my own pasta at home. to be fair, all of them tasted pretty mediocre, nothing special, but i didnt stop. i cooked more. ok so it was a few days back, i was pissed at projects. so i went down to the supermarket to get some ingredients and whipped some lunch myself.

Looks like a mess, but it is beef and asparagus with spaghetti. the sauce came from a bottle.

Didnt taste wonderful, but the beef was surprisingly good. I enjoyed myself throughout the process. cooking has more or less become a hobby. but if were to be a chef, i would love to excel in pasta.

Finally bought a sautee pan today! all these while i have been trying to cook with a bloody wok which sticks like hell. now i got a non-stick pan. wahahaha. ok projects again

Group Dynamite

2007-07-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I sort of mini blew up our harmonious group today by repeated pressing and questioning a certain member about her work. Guessed it pissed her off, but had to represent what the others felt, had to play devil's advocate.

Ironically, OB was teaching on grp dynamics today and one of the concept covered was known as groupthink, meaning everyone agrees to a certain idea w/o opposing it due to fear that your team mates would condemn you or sorts. hey, i never believed in that shit, which is why i blew that dynamite today. no personal attacks though, never believed in that. work is work.

Finally bought the Professional Chef book at 44 bucks. Been wanting it since year 2. more of for my own enrichment purposes, i've always loved to learn more about food. Carried that almost 10kg bag to TM, met phy while she buy her blazer and went to Ding Tai Fung for dinner. Not too bad, not the best also, just dun get why places like this and Crystal Jade and get THIS much business when their food might not even be half as good as neighbourhood Zi Car stall. The power of branding.

Went home and continued to churn out Enterprise report while watching Bambino! at the same time. A short into on the show, it is a jap serial revolving around how an arrogant small town chef who thought he was the best was forced to learn humbly when he came to work at a fine dining place in Tokyo. DAMN GOOD. sort of reminds us of culi lessons in the past, just much more intense. very addictive show. catch it when you're free on crunchyroll.com

alright, its past midnight and i feel dead tired already. gonna skip lec tml so i can have 2 days of rest and time to churn my report. sleep sleep sleep sleep.

AMADEUS

2007-07-09T04:59:00.000-07:00

amadeus test 2 at 10.30am today. reached school 8.30 have breakfast with phy, always a good way to start the morning. flipped through amadeus book multiple times and got fed up, so met cherie and she suggested we "practice" amadeus on microsoft word. wat a "great" idea. Went outside the lab, saw yan wan and co. walk out after the test looking depressed, and i felt worried. Test started, was stunned by 1st qns but went on to complete the test on a steady pace. challenging, but managable.

lunch with ivan at biz park, he had a special order of crunchy mini cockroach and drumstick, damn funny when he bite into the drumstick and shouted OH FCUK when he realised the extra ingredient. went on to destn lec, followed by proj grp "interaction" cum meeting. came up with new ideas and yan wan had to remind us on how long more we have before submission. THANKS.

den went on to filter the number of SA applicants, 40 confirmed ones. Quite alot but we shall see how many active ones are there. Met phy for dinner and rented a dvd "hard candy" at PLAY!. home now...starting to do proj again. boring

decided to blog again...

2007-07-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

so i decided to blog again, begin my once a year update. LOL

so tml is ticketing test, gonna start punching a whole string of numbers that dun make sense into the computer. on book, the theory looks damn easy. but i know tml when i look at the test paper, it would be another story.

watched 2 great movies over past few weeks. transformers and die hard 4.0. Excellent shows, but i tot die hard was better, no offence to transformers fans. Remember when i watched die hard first movie abt 5 years back, i liked it alot, this new one sure didnt disappoint me. Bruce Willis is back as the super policeman who can take out any number of well trained assasins and any war vehicles with nothing but a handgun. Cool show, should catch it.

Projects coming to an end soon. My group is excellent, except for the huge number. I am someone who can perform when i am in desperate situations, so mebbe i did slack a little this sem. At this point of time, projects seem to have slowed down, dunno isit all our engines die out or we are near completion.

And Calvin recently expressed his anger towards the * to me and Stella, so he is on our side after all, and i tot he was neutral and all, bullshit. Like i said, * do things, she do the head and the end. During the most intense and manpower needed middle parts, she would disappear, why? Coz her chances of being seen as "hardworking" would be reduced as everyone is around. So when everything is over, she would come out, give a "well done speech" as though she was part of those who fought the war and show her face to the lecturers etc. So much for being the leader, supposedly.

I really dun get how * can be so damn selfish. I mean, she does things ONLY if she benefits from it. Anything that would allow her to be seen as the one in charged and as the pro one, she would jump on to the chance and make the rest of us look like trash. Oh well, she has good PR skills to be fair, but wouldnt it be sweet if i told her "hey, you know, apart from lecturers, no one really gives a SH*T abt you." She will climb high in her career i admit, but only to a limit. What can she do, where can she go when everyone below her or on her level does not support her? As a friend, i can really see her change ever since she stepped up as leader. I believe everyone who once treated her as friends would prefer the old her.

Enough of *makes me sick. and hey, it feels pretty good to blog once in awhile, mebbe i should more often. off to sleep now

18th Birthday. Triple Surprises :)

2006-05-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Today i turn 18. Today i am very very happy, touched and totally surprised. I never had so many people singing and celebrating birthdays with me before. Today i will always remember.

It started yesterday when i went to PS with my new classmates/ project mates to discuss our project and eat MOS burger at the same time. Halfway through, 2 of my classmates, Shi Shi and Hui Ting disappeared for about 20 minutes. Later, they appeared with a present for me in advanced! I am so happy...totally stunned as i only knew them for about 2 weeks and they are giving me a present. I am really touched.

Today in school, as usual the lessons were tiring. After Zhang Wei's fantastic lecture, we were about to leave for Harbour Front to visit Post Office so Shi Shi could pay her PUB bills. Suddenly they said they wanna eat at the canteen. I was stunned but i thought what the heck mebbe they missed the "fantastic" food there. ( Ps. The food at Tourism Academy's canteen is fantastic. All should try.) So they put their bags down and just as i was about to queue for food, my class rep asked to over to her table. I thought she wanna discuss some school work issues with me BUT...she asked me to sit down and presented me with a small slice of birthday cake!!! I was so shocked! The surprise grew bigger as my entire new class gathered round my table from all locations and sang birthday song to me VERY LOUDLY. I was totally stunned...but really..extremely happy and touched. Thanks guys.

After school, i was going to meet Phy to have a meal at Carl's Jr at Marina Square. On my way to Harbour Front, met up with Joel to take the bus out to Harbour Front from Sentosa. On the way, Joel kept mentioning about some shuttle bus to Marina Square and i am totally baffled by his words. I thought he was mad. LOL. When i met up with Phy, she gave me my present and i was really happy just to be able to celebrate my birthday properly with her. On our way to Marina Square, Phy kept asking me to go get smth to eat first. I kept saying no because i thought that Carl's Jr would be very filling and if we could hurry up, we would fill our stomachs faster. On the escalator down to Carl's, i was sian when i saw the crowd but Phy said she reserved seats. I was blur and suddenly i saw Ivan and Gwen sitting there. At that instance, i knew what was in stall for me. Phy had asked them all down to celebrate with me. I am so happy la!!!! I put my bag on the chair and Ivan said "eh dun put there...no space...we got 11 ppl" Wa lau. I hear liao i total stunned and so happy. Phy actually planned this for me. I am sooo happy. We ate there and talked crap and made fun of people and the meal ended with a Swesen's ice cream cake. I opened up my present and it was a brown Fux Deluxe Crumpler bag. Omg. I am soooo happy with the present. Although i expected it but seeing it makes me so happy. Thanks all. They sang the birthday song so loudly in Carls Jr but who cares? I really enjoyed that. After that, we wanted to catch a movie but didnt due to time constraints, so everyone went home.

This is till now the best birthday i had ever experienced and i will always remember everything you guys did for me.

To phy...thks so much for all these. I know you spend alot of money and efforts and i really appreciate it. I love you. Thank you so much.

And above all...THANKS TO ALL WHO MADE IT HAPPEN!!!! special thks to Ivan also for the white tie. I like it! :)

my screwed buddy

2006-02-21T04:28:00.000-08:00

I am taking a short break from revising and decided to come and write a blog. Ya..its currently exams week. 2 papers down and 2 to go. Pretty weird that i do not feel the pressure of exams as much as i used to in secondary school, this made things worse, i don't have the major motivation to study ultra hard. To hell with exams already. I estimate that by the time i write my next blog exams will be over. Oh well.

These 2 weeks were quite "enriching" to me in a sense that i get to see sides of my friends that i do not usually see, thanks to exams. I have people to study throughout the day and sleep at night, and people who sleep whole day and study at night. And of coz, one of my closer buddy who is, although i dun wanna mention, is screwed in my point of view.

Time for a little bragging now, well you need reasonably better grades to get into my course and i do not believe that my friend ( take him as Jason..fake name though) is stupid. He has been skipping lectures and tutorials and i simply dunno what is going through his mind. His lecture notes are blank and his mind is blank during tutorials. Despite being marked down by a couple of my tutors, Jason refuses to buck up. He is just so laid back that a group my girls in my class whom we usually hang out with start to detest him. And there was one girl he used to like in there. Well now he has a girlfriend so it doesnt really matter.

3 weeks before exams, although he has no idea of what is goin on at all, he made no effort to try to salvage his situation. 1 week before exams, he goes out with his new found girlfriend and play games whole day despite my constant nagging on msn. Haix..i dunno what i can do to help him. He was supposedly to be disqualified to take 2 exams because he was absent for too many times with no valid reason and one which he failed his coursework in. But in the end, he wasnt. Obviously our tutors had decided to give him a chance and yet he does not appreciate it.

And so this was it, the exam week itself. 2 papers had passed and he says that he is screwed in both. He knows where he stands. He knows his current situation. He knows he is screwed way before the exams. I really dunno why he can take it all so easy. Last saturday, he promised me he would go out and study with his girlfriend. Obviously he didnt. I read his blog regularly and found out that he went shopping with his girlfriend. Oh gosh. That girl is either an idiot or she is not serious about Jason.

She should know Jason's condition more than anyone else but no! Instead of persuading him to study, she goes out and play with him! What a bitch. Worse thing is she has considerably good results herself. Selfish fcuk. I wonder if she ever loved him for real or what also. I just pray all the best for my friend.

Simple love

2006-02-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was THE Valentine's Day. Or practically what my girlfriend would refer to as "Every girl's birthday". Well, its quite true, they get almost everything they want on this day. Ya. This day. So how many people actually can comprehend the true meaning behind Valentine's Day? I can say even i can't. But i know for sure that at least i understand it better than AT LEAST one of those blokes out there. Yup. No offence to anyone at all. You might refer me as some guy who thinks he knows his stuff but i don't. Hey this is an online diary so i can say what ever i want here :)

I went out to meet my girlfriend (Phy) at City Hall Station. Wearing a half of a pair of lover's tee that she gave me before hand and holding only a box in my hands, i seem the odd one out amidst the people holding flowers. GASP. Thats right! I did not buy flowers for Phy. GOSH. NO FLOWERS!!!!

When i met up with Phy at City Hall, she greeted me with a huge grin which spoke a thousand words. I love it so much when she does that. :) ok back to the topic. And yeah, we settled down at Gelare to have some waffle ice cream while we checked out each other's presents. I am not gonna tell what. LOL. And ya. I couldnt help but notice something. At my rough estimate, among every 20 pairs of people walking along city link, there were at least 16-18 pairs who were couples. Be it guy-girl, guy-guy or girl-butch. The poor ones left were either with a bunch of same sex friends or alone. Poor them. They chose the worst period in the year to come out and shop alone.

We went on to have our lunch-dinner at Sakae Sushi and as expected, couples dominated the restaurant. Both inside and outside queueing. We were darn lucky to grab a seat. As we started munching on our food, we noticed a very young couple beside us who were very..erm..ok..F*** up. As young as 14 years old i estimate, both were in school uniform. They sniggered at waiters in the restaurant and asked for service alot of times. The girl was horrifically unglamourous. She placed her legs high up on the chair and make alot of loud rude comments. Typical Ah-Lian-In-Training. Another 2 years or so and she can graduate with a diploma in Ah Lian Ethics. Congrats to her. Halfway through the meal, Phy decided to open my card and she almost cried at what i wrote. :) Ah..the wonders i can do with a black pen. No fanciful colour pens. The best thing for me was that she liked it. Worth every effort of mine thinking of what to write.

So after the meal we strolled all over Orchard area and met lots of weird couples. There was a pair in gothic dress. Eww. We saw lesbians, gays. Guess Valentine's Day is also Sexuality Harmony Day. So we queued up at a neoprint machine for about 25 minutes to get our wonderful picture taken.

We went to Paragon and Wheelock to take a look at the legendary Crumpler bags that i am considering to buy and found out that they were amazingly out of stock. That means that of you take a piece of stone and throw it at a group of teenagers, you will probably hit some guy with a Crumpler bag. -_-"

And we settled down last at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Wheelock, sipped our favourite Pure Chocolate and enjoy our favourite past time, talking. I love to talk with Phy. I know her so well. She knows me so well. And we would do another of our favourite hobby, people-watching. haha. Looking at people, commenting on their dressings, their attitudes, they way they walk etc. Well, people also do this to us so ya, tit for tat. LOLX.

And so i sent her home. It was the end of the day. I felt happy. Like i always do when i go out with her. To me, Valentine's Day is just another day on the calender for florists to earn big bucks and high class dining restaurants to earn their keep. To me, love is simple. If you love her and know her so well, you will know that she loves you and knows you so well too.

Love is simple. Everyday is Valentine's. Cheers.

Godamn Exams

2006-02-12T07:32:00.000-08:00

Alright..it has been so long since i have written on my blog. Almost a year i guess. I will be spraying more shit here more often now. Oh well...now what...OH YA...god damn exams. Whoever started this theory on exams is a pure genius. He is able to invent the one thing that speeds up girl's PMS and increase their probability of mood swings, makes guys feel like all hopes had abandoned them and make all parents feel hope towards their children. Thats right..the power of exams. I dunno about you people but whenever it is exam period, i tend to feel like "hey..i know my stuffs..nothing to be afraid of.." but yeah, its just me bluffing myself. So i end up with a hard determination to study. I arrange my stuffs (first time in months) and make my environment conducive for studying. All efforts gone down the drain when i just could not withstand the might of my master, THE COMPUTER! The moment i flicked the switch, i knew this was it, I threw the white cloth before the battle began. I started surfing aimlessly on the net, disturbing people on MSN and doing all sorts of totally unproductive stuffs. I just refused to return to my books. I kept telling myself, hey..just awhile more. The "just awhile" turned out to be the whole afternoon. And when i finally settle down and ready myself to study, it keeps getting worst. I thought i was free from the grasp of the computer when my young 6 yr old cousin visited me with my aunt and uncle. Not knowing the extreme dangers of a computer and ignoring all advice, he insisted i on the computer for him so he can play games. "play" games...more like pressing the keyboard frantically. The most crazed thing is, he is the one who wants to play, but he wants me to sit by his side and WATCH him play!! Are kids nowadays lacking the sense of security? Are they scared of Sadako coming out of the computer screen? And he keeps asking me to adjust the settings of the game once in every 5 minutes. Bottom line..i couldn't study. Frustrated, i lie on my bed attempting to fall asleep in hope of this nightmare to end when i wake up BUT NO. Heaven wasnt smiling at me. He woke me up from my "almost" sleep and shove me his Gameboy Advance. Guess he misinterpreted that i was bored and wanted me to have something to play too. Aww..so sweet. I though of that abit too soon. He was telling me about some boss in his Gameboy that he just couldnt defeat and he said that i could try. So i went ahead and being a teenager, i easily changed a toddler's hard enemy to a piece of crappy cake. Upon seeing me defeat the boss, he snatched the console from my hands and ran to the living room, telling his dad about his ultimate showdown with the boss and how he emerged victorious. He totally ignored the game going on in my computer. I switched off the computer, thinking that he might be engrossed in his game for awhile and opened my book when i had to leave for dinner. -_-" After dinner, i felt like an asshole and once again i on my computer and surfed aimlessly. That is how i suddenly remembered my blog. That is how i started writing this. That is how my hopeful day of studying turned into a day of wondrous and happy events. Cheers. :)