Rediscovery

8.5 years.

That is how long it has been since my last blog post.

It seems absolutely surreal, in an almost paranormal maner that I've rediscovered this forgotten page of mine. Pretty akin to me setting foot back onto my very own Angkor Wat that had been laid to waste, covered by overgrown jungle over the lost years.

Much has traversed in this entire span of 8.5 years - life-changing stuff that cannot simply or deservedly be summarised in a single blog entry, nor would I attempt to do so.

It feels good though, you know - the unmistakable joy of meeting a long lost old friend from yesteryears gone by, getting gently reminded of good (and not-so-good) times, made ever more precious now that age has caught up and I'm that much closer to the end than before.

I'm glad I found you, and I'm glad to be back.

resigned.resonance

... is in my head.
It is a little voice.
Soft, but sure.
A nagging little murmur.
A repetitive resonance.
A reverberating rhythm.
Resigned and regretful, it is going...

"you pathetic shit you don't even know what you are doing with your life."

mediocrity

I HATE BEING MEDIOCRE.
BUT UNFORTUNATELY,

I AM.

Of course one can't compare to the Untouchables:

1. Babies who found silver spoons to scoop and savour their mom's placentas with.

(And managed to hang on to the spoon after being delivered to feed upon their father's innards - especially the most succulent livers, and somehow their fathers' livers keep regenerating, sometimes growing at a rate even faster than their young ones can devour.)

2. Extraterresterials who have engorged craniums and are frivolously sponsored by dictatorships to go to institutions where they drink lots of beer, puke and make out in dormitories.

(The various actions not necessarily sequential and may all occur at the same time, in various proportions - eg. make out with a beer bottle and drink puke at the same time - yeah, you get the idea.)

And then they return to climb on what they believe are ladders, but never realise that there are only a few true ladders - most of them run on rungs in a wheel similar to those that hamsters run on.

3. Folks who chose to tread upon a lesser path, groping in the dark and eventually discovering the buried treasure amongst the pile of bones of those before who tried and failed.

(What these people have are balls. Very huge ones.)

But after eliminating those above, I am still flopping like a fish.

A half-dead one.

Make that 3/4 dead.
And the only feeble thing I do is to rant.
Weak.

=(

buried

This describes the recent state of life's affairs.
The picture will paint you the thousand words that I wished to convey.

bells.a-tolling

Not mine, apparently.
But I have just received like 5 wedding invites over the past month.
Sep 07 - 2
Oct 07 - 1
Dec 07 - 1
Mid 08 - 1 (this was by far the most ridiculous - whoever books you so early???)
But nonetheless - Love, is in the air.

alcohol.is.illegal.in.france

To be honest, other than Voronin's spectacular shot for the Reds to win Toulouse 1-0, this video is nothing really special.
Except for the fact that, upon closer inspection, there seems to be something wrong with Liverpool's jerseys - their sponsors "Carlsberg" are totally not reflected on their jerseys!
And apparently, the reason for that is - alcohol advertisements are not allowed in France on the soccer jerseys.
And to think that the French consume 60 L per capita of wine per year! That's a really alcoholic-indulgent nation out there for you.
I'd reckon that they just have a thing against BEER companies. =)

g.s.s.+.g.s.t.hike

After the Great Singapore Sale (GSS), comes the Great Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike.
From 5% to 7%.
They gave everyone a pittance of $200.

Let's do some sums.
Imagine on the average you take 3 meals a day total about $15 - One month about $450.
Public Transport $5 daily - One month $150.
Put in some shopping/groceries at $200 a month.
Total $800/mth.
Now increase 2% = $16.
$200/16 = 12.5mths
So they expect your GST package to last one year.
And that's without paying your sundry bills, handphone bills, big ticket items, holidays, etc.
And with the NETS surcharge - if you use NETS, I assure you that your $200 will not even last half a year.

And this goes to provide for a bunch of people in white robes who ensure that our mothers and sisters do not become maids.
Wonderful, isn't it?

n.e.t.s

Now there's a surcharge for using NETS!
The result?
It's forcing everyone to get a credit card? Or carry more cash?
So there'll be more reports of robbed grannies and grandpas who wanted to avoid paying the 2% surcharge?
And if you pay cab fares with NETS - it's a leviable surcharge of 30 cents on top of your metered fare?

What sort of stupid idea is this?
Get the nation to use NETS, "NETS IT!" here, "NETS IT!" there... and then slap the surcharge now when using the system is 2nd nature when buying groceries, books and even electronics?
Or rather should we say it's a damn brilliant and heinous ploy by the little men in white?

On a related article, read Brown's "Start carrying more cash."
Another article on the new meanings on talking.cock.com on N.E.T.S.

golly.woggy

It was those spurs of the moment.

Reminiscent of JC days.

Anyway my hair was overgrown like a weed patch.

And it felt hot and on the brink of blooming into a dandruff garden.

So

I went to a Malay barber.

Now my hair looks like one of those characters in Enid Blyton.

Someone commented that my head suddenly looked

Really round.

Now it's a long hard wait.

For the patch to fallow, the keratin to grow.

celestial.earth

天圆，地方 -

步入中年，已不再血气方刚。

人往何处，思绪迷惘。

只有一步一步，抓紧现有时光。

对地顿足，向天呐喊 -

没丝毫头绪，未来一片迷茫。

appraisal.mean.ings

武

It is interesting to note that the very word that embodies "Martial art", is an oxymoron made up of the very 2 words that briefly means "to stop conflict". Isn't the Chinese language such a delightful play of words?
Some believe that the "Wushu" - literally Martial Art, was so coined as such and conceptualised to prevent hostilities rather than to encourage strifes between people. The masters and practitioners of these arts maintain their ideals of their pursuit a purely gentlemenly sport, with the aims of improving oneself through mutual learning rather than showing off in displays of superiority from conquering your opponents.

dumbo.

Baby dumbo is adorable -I just need to look at it and she brightens my day. =)

leaning.tower

... of Sentosa.
With the dawn of a new era, the old makes way for the new.
Down with heritage, Up with the New Age!

deci.rebels

In recent years, we see vast advancement in technology, particularly nano-technology. Whilst we marvel at how such unimaginable power and memory is possible to be imbued in little silicon chips, easing comfort levels and connectivity; at the same time some lesser evils arise.
Have you ever had the displeasure of commuting via public transport and was unceromoniously disturbed by some really loud, and often irksome, music? (Noise would be a better word in my humble opinion)
I have always thought these acts of inconsideration to be restricted to the follies of youth, but couple of days ago on the MRT - there was this middle-aged dark foreign worker who was blasting those Bollywood music off his mobile, to the (horror of the) entire carriage. He seemed to be in nirvana, belting the songs out himself and causing further audio nuisance (since his voice wasn't anything to crow about - wait a minute - ok, it sounded a little like crowing all right.)
I used to think that only certain ethnicities in particular, who liked to hang loose thinking public dispensing of their music made the world "more better" - were capable of such generous acts of sharing. But it has indeed become a universal phenomena crossing all cultural borders, and is spreading at an alarming pace, jeopardizing the tranquility of all public transportation systems and human eardrum safety.
Now there's a valid reason to get your own vehicle! At least if the music is not to your palate - you could simply switch to another channel, or in the worst of circumstances - switch the damned machine off.

sleep.mask

Whilst commuting on the subway, there was a taciturn lady who seemed precariously imbalanced standing, swaying from left to right, back to front (though not necessarily in that order).
At one of the stations somebody got up and off, and the swaying ragdoll of a lady sat down. She whipped out a sleep mask and dozed off almost into the empyrean as if operated by clockwork.
Though a rare sight for sleep masks to be worn out of the bedroom or plane flights, K commented that it was a great idea to don the sleep mask. When I asked why, she gave the following reasons:
1. One sleeps better
2. One does not need to feel socially responsible for giving up seats to old folks, pregnant mothers nor the physically challenged
Put in that way - yes indeed sleep masks do provide a valid excuse to be oblivious to social pressures in a crowded train.
Other than getting a free sleep mask whilst on board a plane, where does one buy a sleep mask? =)