Looking back on 2008

The much awaited last entry of the year is finally here. What I did for the past few days was to go through my one year of posts since my last entry in 2007 to gain some form of inspiration for this entry.

Having thought about it as much as I can, I have decided to do something different from what I've done last year. I'm going to attempt to list the best and worst moments I've had for the past year, otherwise usually known as a meme, mainly based on my friggin' awesome memory. So here goes!

Happiest: There wasn't an instance which I was really extremely happy about this year. The biggest thing which happened to me was Work and Travel USA but it wasn't entirely a happy event. So I think my happiest moment was getting that A grade on my results slip.

Saddest: When I think of sadness, I think of tears. The only two times I teared this year were ironically the total opposites of each other. When I was going to depart for the US, my mom cried uncontrollably so I did as well. I was upset leaving my family and friends in Singapore then. Three months later, on my last day of work in The Gr8 Escape, the same thing happened when my colleague wept during my farewell. My tear glands were thus activated. Again.



Most difficult: Semester 5 in school. I swear this was the busiest semester I've ever had in my entire university education. And I thought Sem 4 was already bad enough. Sem 5 was worse. Within two weeks to the end of the semester, I had 2 tests, 3 projects and 3 (or more) assignments due and 2 project presentations. If this is not called steamy, I don't know what is. But it pays in the end, so all is still good for me.

Most cherished: I do not need to think so long for this. The neverending lepak sessions with the best buddy has never failed to make me realise the importance of having someone really close to you, someone who understands you when you think your family doesn't, someone whom you can spend the night with without feeling the least awkward, someone you can just be yourself and talk about anything and everything under the Sun.

That someone is a best friend.

Thank you, bro. Though you're such a whore at times, you know I love you so much in the friendship kinda way.

Most daunting: My first time on the SkyCoaster. As many would know, I have a slight phobia of heights. And that's not because of my own height, thanks. When I realized my legs went wobbly at the mere sight of the SkyCoaster, I knew that phobia I had was not anywhere near slight - I told myself it would need me tons of courage and a great deal of persuasion from people around me to get me on that damn ride.


I figure the person who invented this must have been smirking at me from his grave then. I'm assuming he's dead by now.

Most satisfying: Ditto! A person who has just overcome his phobia will tell you the ginormous amount of satisfaction gained from it. I was that person after trying out the SkyCoaster, I was super satisfied with myself that I decided to try it again right after the first one!


The beautiful view of the SkyCoaster compound from the top.

Proudest: I feel proudest when I reach this far.


Mama Liberty and I.

Weirdest: The Turn Left Turn Right incident in USA.


Ms Wong and I on US soil.

I know US is big but how often do you get to step on the same land as your bestest sushi buddy at the same time UNPLANNED but are unable to meet up?

Scariest: It happened in L.A. In a bid to save a little bit of money and also to boast our excellent navigational skills, we decided to walk from Downtown L.A. to the GreyHound Station a few streets away. At night.

That decision to walk was one which was truly regrettable. That walk turned out to be one of the longest and scariest walks I've ever had in my entire life. You see, even though it was 'just a few streets away', the area we were bypassing was somewhat like an industrial estate.


Like this.

Same kind of lighting, same kind of loneliness.

Hardly any cars passed by, so if anything were to happen to us, I really don't know how we could get help. To make things worse, as we were walking in the dim-lit area, one beggar came up to us and ASKED for money, to which I replied "No". I imagined him thrusting a knife into my abdomen as I walked away with my two friends, praying that he would not follow us and do the unthinkable. Thankfully, he did not.

A few streets later, we noticed a bunch of teen thugs hanging out at one of the street benches. They were the rowdy sort, faces unseen due to the dim lights, and I imagined them coming towards us with steel pipes and wooden batons and robbed us of everything we had that day. Thankfully, they were not your typical US mobs.

I reached the bus station, face as pale as the Zhong Guo Wa Wa, panting like a crazy dog but extremely relieved that we managed to get there safe and sound.

Funniest:


Halloween 2008.

Somehow I managed to grab hold of this beauty and forced her to take a pic with me. Once in position, she held my hand and placed them on her boobies, which felt really spongy to be honest. I was feeling really weird then, so I just did a funny expression, but she asked the pic to be taken another time, (the pic above) and made me lick her spongy assets. I willingly did so.

One thing is for sure - the real ones sure feel better.

Angriest: The incident at NYC, which still makes me so full of hatred to this day. Not going to elaborate on the details, but the persons involved should know what happened.

Most embarrassing: As many would know, I have a love-hate relationship with dairy products, so I was at work in The Gr8 Escape one day when I felt my body needed a release of wastes. Ahh, must be the milk I drank earlier, I thought as I walked towards the nearest restroom which also happened to be a public restroom for guests.

One anal thing about their restrooms was that there were only two cubicles situated in each one so I was really lucky to find a vacant one there.


I just don't geddit about US restrooms. They seem to be lacking in construction materials for the door.

Apparently, I've noticed that their door ALWAYS leaves this SMALL GAP when closed. I must stress that doing the big B is a very personal thing for everyone and that these borders should not be crossed.

I was processing out the dairy products I had earlier and this old man, a friggin' guest, knocked on the door and asked if I was done. I replied a curt "No". The next thing he friggin' did was to PEEP through the gap and watch me perform the act of nature, and that made me so friggin' embarrassed I did not know where to put my face right then. I thought about it and decided that it would get super offensive and insulting and rude if I were to put words into what I was feeling about him then in any way possible because any possible way would definitely lead to a plethora of vulgarities. Getting "chick-ened out" and being deported didn't sound too pleasing either so I let it be and kept quiet.

Luckiest:



Anyone who read my blog in January 2008 would know I won 2 freaking tickets to watch Jay Chou live in Singapore Indoor Stadium. The feeling of being able to emerge victorious amongst other probably more ardent fans of Jay Chou makes me feel so gratified that I gotta watch it, albeit sucky seats and all.



Awesome pictures. I love the piano!

Most OMGWTFBBQ: Before US, I was fat. During US, I was a lot fatter. After US, I am still fat. What ever happened to my new year resolution to follow closely a healthy diet and exercise regime?

After going through each of those moments, I realized I have gone through a fair bit this year. The highlight of the year has gotta be the Work and Travel USA program, which made me experience a lot of things, good and bad. I am thankful I went on this program with my finances fully sponsored by the wonderful parents, and I'm also thankful I came back the way I was before the trip - healthy, happy and horny.

This year has fortunately been a better year for me. Let me see... having no deaths of anyone close to me, obtaining favourable results for both semesters, getting dreams of visiting US greatest cities fulfilled, overcoming phobia of heights on the SkyCoaster, trying out exciting but life-threatening rafting experiences in the US, witnessing Jay Chou live in Singapore, successfully getting an job attachment in a world renowned company etc etc. There is far too many to list.

2008 has been a good year, let's hope 2009 will be much better.


Just like the rainbow which glorifies the sky with its myriad of colours, I hope Year 2009 will bring with it a plethora of good things, be it in our individiual lives, the country on its own or the world as a whole.

Cheers to a new beginning! Happy 2009!

ANTM Cycle 10

OMGWTFBBQ. Do you see what I saw???!!!

The blogging bug is back!

Blogging on Xmas day. As I'm typing this, 234567 girls are probably being molested or have already been violated by They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in town or other crowded places. I went to town once with a friend (a girl) on Xmas eve/New Year eve for the Countdown and since then, I vowed never, ever to hang out at town on these two occasions regardless of whether or not I am with females or males. My female friend was touched front back up down everywhere. The best thing was they surrounded us like ant colonies and thus an escape route after fondling would be easy. They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named are horny, ruthless, despicable and if not for the fact that they contribute in the construction sector of the economy, they should just be banned from visiting Singapore.

How has Xmas been for me? I don't usually celebrate Xmas. I find it a little stupid to have countdown parties for Xmas! Isn't counting down to the New Year more meaningful? As such, I never had any gift exchanges during Xmas, and that's also because people USUALLY budget until the presents they spend on others are nothing short of CRAP. So giving = not giving. Why bother then?

End of the year always makes me excited though. I love to count down to the next year! I will also pen down a Last Day of the Year entry, which makes me reflect a lot on the year in a glance. A lot of ideas are circling in my head for that entry now, so watch out for that entry!!!

So anyone has good plans for New Year eve? Some friends and I are booking a hotel room for that night. My age tells me I should stop clubbing and going to crowded countdown parties already. My age also tells me I should faster finish my studies, build up my career, earn enough money, and settle down. I feel so old now that I've mentioned this. Let's leave these scary thoughts for another day, another entry.

AFF Suzuki Cup: Local fans’ unsporting rampage

Singapore Flyer to remain closed pending investigations

IMF warns of 2nd Great Depression

Party@The Float cancelled but Countdown Party to go on as planned

*laughs at all the outdoor countdown go-ers hopefully it will rain and make things worse*

I was going to blog about all the articles but I realize I am too tired to. But there was one article which caught my eye for the last few days. A veteran actor was diagnosed with muscular dystropy, a type of incurable diseases associated with the weakening of the muscles. There was news that a facebook group has been set up in prayer for him so I decided to be part of it. There were a lot of encouraging comments on the wall and of course, as much as there are encouraging words, there are also those which kinda put me off. Those I term: PUT already might as well DON'T PUT.

"Dont worry be happy!! this is what you used to say....everything will turn fine...just stay strong!!..GOD WILL BLESS YOU!!!.."

An example of an unnecessary comment. What does this guy mean by "Everything will turn fine"? It is an incurable disease alright, and doctors who diagnose him said he will have problems walking, swallowing, speaking etc in 7 to 15 years' time. Does that sound FINE to you? I feel the guy is insensitive, and it is so easy for him to say that because he's not the one experiencing this misfortune.

"nothing will happen to you stay happy and dont worry about anything!!!"

Another seemingly encouraging wall post which also comes with a truckload of redundance.

"May God strengthens you with faith and hope! Speedy recovery so that we can see more of your shows!!"

Another comment giver who did not get her facts right. Speedy recovery? Which part of incurable does she not understand? And yes, this one's from a girl, the previous are males.




The more sensible ones:

"I've been watching all his shows since i was a kid and i really do think that it is such a pity that he had to undergo such a disease. But never ever give up hope. Everyone is praying hard for him that a miracle may happen. Keep on going strong and never let the smiles fade away. :)"

"Hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality. Stay strong and never give up."

"He used to bring much laughter to me and my family. Although i'm not a christian and wouldn't do christian prayers, i will still hope that everything goes well for him.

the inevitable may come, but for now, may he have enough quality time to spend with his loved ones."

see the difference?

Results

The biggest Christmas present I have ever received so far (and not to mention, will probably be the only one) comes in the form of my semester results. Hard work really pays off. The many mornings, afternoons and evenings and sometimes late nights staying back in school mugging my ass off was worth the effort, time and money.

I suddenly feel like one of the happiest persons on Earth. Listen to my story and you'll understand why. This morning I knew the results were going to be released by 1 PM but I kept telling myself I should only check it one week later. This self denial went on till around 11 PM when my school mates dropped me a message and asked about results, to which I replied I haven't checked yet.

And then he went on blabbering about the modules we took and what grades he got (he wasn't showing off) so that got me really ginormously curious about my own results! Procrastination coupled with a truckload of anxiety set in, so again, I deferred checking them.

I went out for supper and I asked the best friend to check the results using SMS. I keyed in everything but the last digit of my PIN number. I was trembling by then. I don't know what made me so scared, I was nervous and I was going to break down. I thought about the worst-case scenario. I was so paranoid that I typed the SMS in so many times but eventually ended up deleting it away. While walking back home, I keyed in everything, told the best friend not to tell me anything about it, or show me any form of expression after seeing it. I arrived home at 2 AM, still not knowing my results.

I SMS-ed the best friend asking for some hints, but being such a trustworthy guy, he kept to his promise and answered nothing relevant. After sitting in front of my laptop, I thought about a lot of things. I managed to convince myself that checking the results now and a week later will not make any difference to the results. It's just a matter of time...

So I mustered up enough courage, searched for the website, keyed in my userid and password, stood up, held my breath, placed my finger on the mouse, punched the button and walked away. I slowly walked back to find nothing happening. Invalid userid. I included the front portion of it as well! On the 2nd attempt, I deleted the front portion, keyed in the password again, stood up, held my breath, placed my finger on the mouse, slowly pressed it, and walked off.

From afar I could see the results page. My heart skipped a beat. Two beats. Three beats. I walked towards the laptop slowly. I held my breath. My eyes zoomed into the right hand side of the results table - the grades. It was then that I realized the first letter on the results slip was the first alphabet in the English language. My God!!!

I don't know why I was so anxious about my results this sem. I think it's because I did well last sem after studying my ass off so I thought I would need to keep that up this sem. To those who have helped me in any way in this sem, thank you even though all of you will probably not read this anyway. To those who had been under my constant whining and paranoia today, sorry and thank you.

I'm feeling the motivation already.

I got this from a personality test on qiu's blog. Thought it would be quite interesting to match the Gemini/May 28 profiles to mine.

The 4 symbols I used represent the following meanings:
- True!
- False
- Neutral
- I don't know

The Gemini Profile

The Gemini Man

The typical Gemini gentleman has strong intellectual inclinations but isn't the intimidating sort.
These men are often dedicated to their career, seeing it almost as a calling rather than simply a way to make a living.
Gemini men excel in advertising, media, politics, teaching, or any field where language and communication skills are useful.



Strengths: Witty, talkative and versatile.
Weakness: Superficial, fickle and lack of commitment.

The Gemini Lover

Gemini lovers are versatile, witty, and fun-loving individuals that possess so much charm they can be almost impossible to resist.
Whether through a clever fax, a romantic letter, or a few endearing words left on an answering machine, the Gemini lover understands the erotic power of language.
It takes a unique individual to get a Gemini to settle down.
Even when a Gemini does tie the knot, he or she can lose interest quickly if the excitement wears off.

The Gemini Friend

The naturally sociable nature of a Gemini friend is a big plus in drawing people to him or her.

Initially putting a tick, I thought about this and I realize I have lost that sociable nature of mine completely recently. I need to get it back.

They aren't snobbish about friends and don't attempt to choose their companions thoughtlessly.
Though these individuals have a love of gossip, they never indulge in it with malice.
A sympathetic listener, the Gemini friend likes to use humor to leaven the troubles of others.

The May 28 Profile

General

Geminis born May 28 have absolutely no sense of danger, no fear of failing.
These people don't wait for life to happen to them -- they go out and wrestle with it.
They are adventurous types who never lose interest in life or confidence in their ability to conquer it.

Friends and Lovers

Enthusiastic and fun-loving, May 28 natives make great friends.
They love people and enjoy getting involved in the personal lives of their friends.
In romance, they are idealists, often unable to see the bad points of someone with whom they are romantically involved. This can occasionally lead to heartbreaks.

I am pro at identifying flaws.

More often than not May 28 men and women are lucky in love.

Children and Family

May 28 people place great importance upon their family background.
Whether they came from a rich household or a poor one, these people relate strongly to their lineage.
They make wonderful parents and enjoy regaling their youngsters with tall tales of their own youth. Although liberal in the use of discipline, they are sure to give their youngsters a good set of values.

Health

Geminis born on May 28 are blessed with good health and the good sense to take care of it.
Although they may possess a few bad habits, for the most part they adhere to a healthy lifestyle. Plenty of exercise is recommended, since they tend to have sedentary jobs.

!!! Deskbound jobs are sure annoying as hell.

Career and Finances

The career path of May 28 individuals is often circuitous but always interesting.
They believe that variety is the spice of life.
They care far more about what job they're doing than how much money they can make doing it.

Dreams and Goals

May 28 people believe that their life is a success if they are happy.
Material goals mean very little to them.
They count their successes according to the number of lives they touch and the people they inspire.
They believe strongly in performing selfless acts of charity that improve the lives of others.

The general Gemini/May 28 profiles have a 64.5% match to my personality. So can I accept the general Gemini/May 28 profile based on the calculation at 5% significance level? :p

For those interested, the website is here. Enjoy!