2/3/08

After church today we (7 people) crammed into Brian's car and headed to Paragon. Fortunately, there were 3 girls behind so they didn't take too much space. Lunch was at Tambuah Mas Indonesian Restaurant which was pretty good, especially because Brian and I were sharing with Jialing and Tammy, which meant more food for the 2 of us :) After that met Amanda and her sis, who were shopping at Wisma. Initially the 4 of us were supposed to catch a movie but somehow they shopped instead while Brian and I headed to Cineleisure to catch the movie. Brian wanted to watch The Leap Years but unfortunately tickets were sold out for that. Settled on Charlie Wilson's War which was on the war in Afganistan against the Soviets. With Tom Hanks in the cast, it couldn't get half bad, which it didn't, but I thought it wasn't spectacular either, perhaps because I couldn't catch alot of bits as they were speaking too fast. Went to Muji afterward to finally get the fountain pen. Ended up the nib was as fat as my Lamy so gave it to my sis who was looking for a fountain pen too.

Natsume Sōseki's - Light and Darkness

This final and unfinished work of Sōseki has been a refreshing read for me. Despite having a simple premise and plot through the story, what makes this story a tour de force is how it delves into the thoughts and feelings that the characters had in their interaction with each other and the inner turmoil they face in handling these often delicate social situations. It is, as many of these great Japanese works are, done justice by the english translators which make these great gems of Japanese literature available to non-Japanese speaking people like me. A little intolerant of verbose prose that requires reading and re-reading just to grasp the idea of a single sentence, these translated Japanese novels appeal to me because the english used is simple, yet succinct. It is a pity that Sōseki didn't live to complete the novel, though besides to give a sense of fulfilment which comes with the completion of a story, would probably have served little purpose in this story, since the point was not really about the story per se in the first place.

My-head's-too-tired-to-think-of-a-title

Today is quite an eventful day, at least much more than yesterday. Was a little disappointed yesterday, with my dad's sudden request for me to stay home to setup the computer when it returned from the hospital. Had initially wanted to go donate blood and go to the library to return some books and finish up on Soseki's Light and Darkness.

Hence, everything was pushed forward to today. After the hassle-free donation, headed down to the National Library and satisfied myself for the next 3 hours with a book on Salvator Dali. Although his life seemed to be cast in the same mould of many other great people involved in the arts that came before him; having a good teacher at a young age, quickly superceding and getting bored of teachers and conventional methods respectively, achieving fame for talent in new techniques, going the path of eccentricity in the process, receiving enough wealth to lead an extravagant lifestyle, dying poor, and living beyond their years through their works and what they have given to their respective artistic communities. In these ways, the life of probably the greatest violinist, Niccolo Paganini comes to mind.

Whilst reading the book, a really peculiar girl came to sit next to me. Having to use the washroom, I left the book unattended, not thinking much of it. Coming back, however, I discovered a note on the next page that read:
MONKEY
HELLO~
It was a little perplexing, that someone would have the urge to call me a monkey. Giving the possible culprit a piercing stare (the same I use for strange people who type on their laptops whilst on the train, STANDING), I continued my read.

Having dinner later with my secondary school classmates, I could only eat a little bit with peculiar girl cum possible culprit before heading off.

It's been more than a year since I've met them, and though not everyone could turn up, it was fun seeing everyone again, reminiscing about the good old secondary school days through rose-tinted glasses which is always the case when looking back.

Had a pretty long dinner at Fish & Co.

Above: 8 very satisfied and innocent faces after the carnage

Headed to Cineleisure to take a neoprint (happened because the girl:guy ratio was skewed).

the I-can't-believe-I-exercised-so-much-today day

Woke up at the unearthly time of 5.45am for my napfa test this morning. It would have decided if I could go in NS a month later. Managed to clear all the 5 stations better than I expected, but once again, failed the 2.4km run :( By the time I came back they already stopped timing, so I have a blank score for my 2.4km! Oh well. Met someone from my primary school at the test. Never talked to him but he looked extremely familiar so I asked anyway. Turns out we had alot in common; enlisting on same date... both of us play the violin... we attend church nearby each other... he passed his napfa (err okay maybe not so similar then *pouts*).

Today was Fuyong's off-day, and we decided to go rollerblading. Wanted to do it since idunnowhen, but somehow put it off till now. Took a bus from Tampines and ended up in the middle of somewhere, walked quite a large distance before we kinda found our way around. By then my arm was semi-breaking because I tied my 2 skates with rafia string like they were salted fish and they were rather heavy. For those of you skeptics who don't believe I exercise at all, here are some pics to prove it!

This is Fuyong. Not many pictures exist of him. He kinda treats me like the paparazzi. But see how despite his pseudo-attempt at blocking the camera, he manages to strike a cheeky pose. A great future in the Hongkong entertainment industry awaits him.

And this is me! Going so fast that Fuyong could only get a back picture of me. Kinda weird to be wearing jeans, but sure beats leaving my skin on the floor (happened first time I skated), or looking like a dork wearing knee-pads. So instead, I chose to look like a nut wearing jeans while skating.

I don't really want to be around when I wake up tomorrow morning though. My usual exercise routine involves closing the windows when the sun gets in my eyes when I'm on the computer. My best friend tomorrow shall be... YOKO-YOKO!

me-day day 2

Yesterday was a real day-off for me after quite a hectic weekend, running around. Went to the pool sometime noon, since the sun wasn't particularly hot. Brought a novel with me, so in between mini-swims just lounged at the poolside reading.

Today was another such day. Slept at 4ish, woke at 11.15. Wasn't doing very much until about 1, when I realised that I only had 7 hours of sleep at night! Since I prefer to get as much sleep as possible during holidays, wanted to bump it to 8 by sleeping an hour. Slept at 2.15 and when I woke up, it was about 4.45 already. Went online and saw Xin Ning online and she also had a wasted day and wanting to make up for it, decided to go to Bukit Batok Nature Park for a jog. Not inclined to any real physical activity myself, I would have been completely satisfied doing my mental 2.4km run in the comfort of my chair. But since I promised myself to exercise everyday for this 2 weeks, and today being only day 2, it would have been really disappointing to renege on my promise myself.

After jogging for 5 minutes or so, she suggested going up the hill. Since the last time I was on bike, I only managed to go by those non slope-y or hilly areas as they were rather narrow and inaccessible by bike. Reached the top of the hill (umm dunno if there's a name) and it was some protected area so couldn't go any further.

Walking back down, I thought it was really nice that the park was so well kept, with lights and maps and paths and all. Although sometimes I think that the government could do better in certain areas, it is heartening that we have a park that is better maintained than perhaps major roads in other countries.

Saw some retirees jogging together around the park. Wondered if for most of us would we only be able to appreciate simple activities like this. Perhaps it is the knowledge that I will be a civilian for these last 2 weeks, or maybe I'm just older than I really am, but I think it's nice, sometimes, to just enjoy that little bit of nature and simplicity as opposed to running about in town.

A day with Brian, literally

After 24 hours, with 2 hours of sleep, bulging eye veins and a spinning head, it's been a blast with Brian! Met yesterday for lunch which was at Taka's Pepper Lunch. Brian insisted on paying because he won toto. The salmon pepper rice was pretty darn good! Then, walked around Taka and each of us got a T-shirt and wandered too dangerously close to the food section and we went in to get the chicken meat balls, skin and takoyaki. Having had too much to eat, it was time to work it off by shopping. Paragon and Heeren later, still didn't find a bag that looked particularly nice to me. Final destination was Raffles City since the buddy group was meeting at City Hall anyway. Got a bag from there at quite a nice discount too so we each got one. Thanks Brian and Kiat for the birthday present!

Later met the group for dinner, which was directed by Brian to the superb beef/meatball noodle stall at Purvis Street. The last time we hurried there after church was pretty memorable, and this time it didn't disappointed either. Decided that didn't wanna catch a movie with the buddy group and Brian offered to put me up for the night (somehow it always ends up this way after a friday night outing :/ ). Ended up Monster Hunting quite alot before Brian decided to go for supper and his mom readily agreed to let him take the car and he went to pick up his FOF. Those guys are seriously funny and pretty nice meeting them again, having met them each like once so far. Went to Xin Wang cafe at Siglap since it was nearby for them. Jonathan went to the washroom and came back with a packet of instant noodles in his pants because he said he couldn't resist. That guy definitely has a problem but he's really damn funny. The trip there and back averaged 100km/h, and at times I thought it was gonna be our last supper :/ But he's pretty steady so can trust his driving. Back to more MHF2 until like unearthly 5.45am and then we bitched until about 7am before sleeping. Woke up at 9am with his dad screaming at him for the car keys. Had to hurry down to the Bukit Batok shop as it opened at 10. With my superb navigational skills, we ended up pretty lost and made a huge detour. I think if we went on a road trip to Malaysia with me giving directions we may end up at Thailand.

The shop was darn busy as they were reoganizing stuff so had a late breakfast, before heading home. Somehow, just 2 hours of sleep doesn't seem all that bad O.O

Bukit Batok Nature Park

Decided today was going to be a me-day and to finally exercise since next week I'll be retaking my napfa and just thinking about getting fitter is not going to make me fitter. It's been a really long while since I've cycled, the last time being with John which ended up with rain so didn't cycle much. After I got the tyres pumped, I rode to Bukit Batok Nature Park. Passed by there a gazillion times by bus but never stepped in despite my house being so nearby. Cycled in through the carpark and there was quite a few joggers about. Along a particular stretch, there were quite alot of monkeys on the path, oblivious to everything else. I was worried that a monkey would jump out from the tree and hug my face and send me flailing about and crashing. Within the park, there are several interconnected routes, some more accessible by foot rather than bike. There was a playground/fitness area where I did some chin-ups, and one of the paths led to quite a nice view of the Xiao Gui Lin which has a small lake around. There was a sign below some trees that said "Beward of falling durians" (err, okay).

There are many weird people who jog though. There was this guy who reminded me of a bull, because he tilts his head downwards when he runs. Initially I thought he was tired so he let his neck muscles relax abit, but realised he was looking through the top of his eyes. Besides Bull-Man, there was a woman who was training her soprano voice while she jogged with her dog. Her voice was pretty good, but nevertheless weird to hear someone practicing during a run.

The day probably wasn't so good for some others though, as I saw the parking attendant printing a ticket from his machine beside a coupon-less car. Tough luck :/