Now let’s start off with this random note. I realized that I have too many books left unread. It’s time to start. Let’s start with books I own that I have yet to finish reading.

• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
• The Eighth Habit
• The World is Flat
• The Twilight Series (four books!)
• The Children Of Hurin

And books I WANT to read:

• The Time Traveler’s Wife
• A Thousand Splendid Sun
• Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang
• The Stand
• … and probably more

I think I should start with finishing the books I have first.

On another note, my family spent quite a lot of money on the PC Show yesterday. Let’s see how much I spent:

• $49.90 – Sonic Gear Earpump Pro
  Since my creative in-ear has decided to stop working on one side of my ear, I had to get a new pair. I am rather impressed with the package. It comes with a pouch and some audio jacks including one that allows you to plug in two earphones into one audio output jack. Buying it at the PC show included a free gift of a HTC mini-USB to 3.5mm audio jack adapter. Pretty cool!
• $60 – On the Twilight 4 books boxset
• $59.90 – Two pairs of Berms

And my dad bought a 42″ HDTV at $1699 =D It comes with a free Blu-Ray player. Now I just need to get a media adapter (looking to be $500 =/) to stream videos from my PC to the TV to maximise the use of said TV in a HD-content devoid Singapore.

My brother bought a $1299 HP Notebook to replace his ailing notebook.

Total damage: $3167.80

Tags: Books, Music

My mum loves to make weird tonic drinks for me. Not that I don’t appreciate them – the drinks are kind of unorthodox.

And so today, I spilled a rather significant amount (such that my keyboard can become busted) of a liquid containing Noni on my trusty keyboard. And bam!

I tried to dry it to the extent of disassembling it but to no avail.

So I fired up my trusty phone loaded with this little piece of software called GRemote and now I am using the QWERTY keyboard on my phone to input text for my computer. An intriguing and disturbing scene.

And oh, Microsoft also helped out with their On Screen Keyboard.

P.S. I apologise for this weird writing. It is not exactly to type like this and I am simply not in a very good position to be linguistic with my choice of words.

Tags: national service

I admit: I used to listen to Howard Shore’s soundtrack for LOTR too much. And as of this week, he has been dethroned by FLOW to being no. 2 on my top artists of all time.

Tags: flow

A very creative music video. The best I’ve seen so far.

Tags: coldplay

I have managed to attain IPPT Gold as part of the second year NSF requirement =) This means no more IPPT till reservist and an extra $200 into my pocket. Timing was at 9.33. I remember how horribly tiring the last lap of the run was. Anyway because of this, I got one extra day off!

I remember that I have, admittedly, not bought any genuine games for a very long time. Indeed, the last game I brought was probably Warcraft III – The Frozen Throne in year 2003! So anyway, I decided to buy C&C – Red Alert 3 at long last. The damage was $75 for the premiere edition.

Some forces seemed to be at work when I wanted to buy the game. First, the ATM machine I went to could not dispense cash. The second one I went to was spoilt by some people who got their card stuck inside the machine. But I was adamant. In the end I managed to withdraw that extra $20 I needed.

I think I am going to get more games this year. The RA3 expansion and the upcoming trilogy of Starcraft II games.

I felt that I have ended year 2008 and began year 2009 with one of my best long weekends in a while. My life spent out of green was from approximately 1 pm on the 31st Dec 2008 to tonight at about 10 pm. My doings on new year eve has been chronicled quite well in this post.

I drank quite a bit and ate quite a fair bit as well. I think I am growing fat and my fitness has really dropped quite a lot. I have met and talked with some people I haven’t seen for a while and it felt great.

Year 2009 is going to be quite hectic for me. The programme for my unit is so packed it almost looks depressing. I have my own achievements to make and I am going to promise myself that NS is not going to stifle or hinder my personal life or things that I NEED to do.

Year 2008 has finally ended. It has been a tough year for me. I’ve gone through a lot and I have grown a lot. I have done many things for the first time.

I ended year 2008 with a first: drinking till I actually feel high, for the first time in my life. So now I know how being high feels like. It’s just this feeling of extreme giddiness when you are still somehow conscious of yourself and yet, doing the weird things that you normally don’t do seems to be natural. In year 2007, I was at Kian Yong’s house counting down and playing DS games while emo’ing that I will be enlisting in nine days time. Fast-forward a year later, I am doing relatively well in NS and I am once again, celebrating the arrival of a new year in a different setting.

I enlisted on 9 Jan 2008 at Pulau Tekong. I still remember how I felt when I was aboard the ship to Pulau Tekong. The feeling of not knowing what lies ahead. Time passed very fast. I still remember how stupid I was to brave through the two field camps even though I was high on fever and coughs. I remembered how hard it was for me to sleep at night with my constant coughing. I remembered how disappointed I was at the sight of my BMTC posting results (read: No OCS). In the end, I enjoyed BSLC and made some great friends. At the same time, I failed, albeit with experiences gained, in securing any scholarships, much to my disappointment. I am determined not to give up – 2009 will be another chance and this time round, I hope I am better prepared for what’s to come.

I was posted to 1 SIR, my home for 3/4 of my NSF life. I have made great friends there and despite our conflicts, I am glad to have known them. Tonight, I spent with some of the best friends I have made at the Loof Bar at Odeon Towers, drinking to our hearts’ content as we watch year 2008 waste away in favour of year 2009. For the first time, I actually stayed out so late to drink. For the first time, I actually drank until I felt high. For the first time, I actually spent so much money ($50) on drinks alone. For the first time, I actually felt so happy to have friends in my company.

While I was watching the fireworks at the Loof Bar at 1 Jan 2009 0000 hrs, despite of my giddiness, I was thinking of what was ahead for me in 2009: another go at scholarships, ORD (8 Nov 2009), more personal growth and the list goes on. Welcoming year 2009 into the midst.

P.S.: Apologies for the inconsistent English. I typed this while recovering from the alcohol and the lack of sleep.

Tags: national service

As of this moment, I am exactly one year to ORD.

Yeah?

Tags: national service

Random (older) people on the streets, when asking me for help, used to address me as “小弟”. Yesterday, they seemed to have ceased that practice and called me “先生”. Please, I am still young. =/

I came across this at Marina Square. Seems like people these days have grown rather large with XXXXL.

And yes, in the background you can see yet another branch of Starbucks. They seem to be sprouting up everywhere like mushrooms.