Goodbye Swan and Piers

i remembered when my basketball buddy was lamenting about the departure of the more senior servicemen, i was thinking there wasnt much to be upset about. if the old guy goes, it means you yourself is also closer to freedom, and that is a good thing! just look at the bright side!

but i guess it matters if me as the new 'old guy' still have more than half a year to go haha. and especially when swan and piers are such interesting people that you got to spend time with in the tiny office.

shaun is the one who helped integrate me into the office when i first arrived. hes a highly sociable creature who can make people around him feel very comfortable. unfortunately, he is really messy and unorganized. he has the habit of leaving half-drank bottles and can drinks around and messing up the office, which i often nagged him for xP. today he left a glue-stick uncapped on my table after use!

shaun probably has the worst job any admin guy in the camp can ever have. if not for his crazy personally and strange working style, he might have already sunk into depression! in his job, hes been involved in so many different things that we always tease him as the guy who knows everything (he hates this title). its a good thing hes finally able to get this giant boulder off his back.

pierson is quite the opposite of shaun. he is the up-there guy who does his job impeccably well. he doesnt know everything like shuan, but hes a master in whatever he does. he looks like someone with a serious personality and is difficult to get close to, but he is full of nonsense and he jokes a lot. i remember when i was still new to the office, he wetted a shirt of the other newcomer and put it in the freezer!

although i was closer to shaun initially, i became closer to pierson eventually, since we are nonsensical jokers (maybe partly because happen to shift my workplace closer to him as well). though he looks cool, hes like a small child around us. without my influence, he got himself hooked onto korean pop music and become a worse fanboy than me! but its thanks to his new interest that we managed to generate so much fun in the office.

like i said before, i still have more than half a year to go. the new guys are fun people as well, but the old birds will surely be missed. all the best for your futures!

When your car goes out of battery

a small episode this fine morning:

this morning is like my any other sunday morning. i had my alarm timing set at 10am (having slept late as usual) but was woken up for breakfast (as usual) just before 9.

while i was still brushing my teeth, my dad who left house first called for us to bring my sisters car key down to him. i thought his remote car key has run out of battery. to my surprise, when i reached the car park, i found out my sisters key didnt work too. the car battery was flat. apparently my sis, who was the last user, forgot to turn off the headlights when she was the last to use the car last week -.-

my father called his friend who live nearby 'borrow' his lorrys battery power. he agreed, but later on called back to inform his lorry couldnt start as well because he too forgot to switch of his headlights! as his lorry is a manual vehicle (the engine is able to start when you push the vehicle), my dad and i went down to help him push-start his lorry.

after which he drove to our car park to revive our car!

sorry for the blur picture. i didnt want 2 uncles to wait for me get a good shot.

so i learnt 3 things today:

1) how to revive a vehicle

2) i actually have the strength to push a vehicle

3) a car is lighter than a lorry

happy ending.

Old Spices And The Science (and nonsenses) Behind It

check out this sexy mens shampoo commercial! targeted at women xD i learnt about this old spice thingy from my friends a couple of days ago when they told me to look up the commercials. apparently this commercial caught the attention of many, such that different things related to the old spice commercial started popping out!

* due to lack of research, i cannot guarantee whatever i mention below is completely accurate ^^

this is one of the original old spice commercials (by isaiah mustafa). the interesting thing about the commercial is the instantaneous change in scenes happening in a single take. i thought computer graphics is probably heavily utilized, but it seemed otherwise from the explanation below! check out the creative production below!

(the commercial and the breakdown is sandwiched by a totally irrelevant commercial in between. but that in itself is pretty funny as well xD)

and what happened after such awesomeness?

a sesame street parody!

and many other parodies as well. some of which are pretty funny and well made! i assume the ones below are not the original.

while the original old spice guy is sexy and cool, terry crews is simply EXPLOSIVE! and he makes a strong impact too xP

the next one attracted more controversy. his version of commercial can be seen as 'awesome' or 'disgustingly spastic'. but give some credit to fabio! he kept himself in such a good shape despite his age.

what else are there? the mustafa, the original old spice guy answering questions posted to him. and he takes a dig back at fabio!

ORD Loh!

... NOT!

not so early. i still have to wait till september. im only getting this back now because im going to exchange for a pink one (if you know what i mean).

hmm... a blue card holder living in singapore enjoy lesser privileges compared to the pinks. but im pretty used with being different (or special! :D). in fact, i do see some good in that... anyway, good or no good, the blues gonna turn pink come monday.

it guess this change is a very natural one. ive always seen it coming, since ive been living in singapore all my life. however, i still feel a little bad when the time for conversion finally arrived.

it could have been much worse maybe, had the people at the malaysian consular not been so nice. even though i (and everyone else) was there to betray my country of birth, they were very friendly and professional. they speak english too!

i feel it takes a lot to be working at the consular, seeing people of your nationality approach you everyday to enquire about renouncing the citizenship. i was relieved and grateful that it didnt take much trouble to obtain the letter of betrayal from them.

look forward to your adopted nationality boy! like everyone else ORD with a PINK IC!

A post dedicated to my Movie Mate

my long time companion (of some sort) has left singapore for australia to study for 2 years. at this point of writing, this person should already be halfway through the flight.

throughout the years of knowing this person, our common activities together have seldom deviated from eating and watching movies. however, through the regular irregular meetings, i got know a lot of interesting things about this person.

to this person:

living in a foreign country would probably be a good and unforgettable experience, but it might not be easy. ive not tried it myself, so im not in a position to give any practical advice. the closest i have to such an overseas stint is a 7 week attachment, with a large group of friends, where food and lodging is well taken care of oO

i feel that your lifestyle in singapore and skill sets will stand you in good stead of you embark on your overseas experience. if you are able to look after your mental well-being and find means to channel any of your unhappiness, you will be fine : )

it must be difficult to be at somewhere so far away. but on the bright side, your english will probably improve there! hehe... no matter what, take good care of yourself, make the most out of your experience there and come back a better person! 안녕!

Let's Speak Korean a hundred times!

lets speak korean 시잔한 지 백회가 됐다! 축하해!

phew... took me an eternity to write the sentence above... anyway, back to the original topic. it has taken me more than 2 years, but ive finally reached the hundred lesson! there were times where i was practically crawling through the lessons, but im glad i didnt stop : )

i think this is the first time that ive persisted with learning something for such a long time. i tried guitar (lacked interest, crooked finger) and japanese (lacked interest, difficult learning materials) previously but i didnt persist for very long. but having an interest in korean songs and shows really helps to sustain my learning.

although im much, much better compared to 100 lessons before, ive only been learning the tip of the ice kacang. even that isnt easy. whist continuing with the lessons, i have to constantly recap what ive covered in order not to forget. hopefully i will be able to understand much better when i reach lesson 200!

as usual, chinese new year spent in malaysia. this time round, we were in such a hurry to leave that i barely had time to pack all that i need for the trip.

the immigration & checkpoints authority said the customs would be choked up through the new year, but it was okay when we drove to malaysia. the jam was there, but it wasnt unusually long.

fathers side

this years new year was a little different. for a start, the house was filled with food!

lots of choices, but only the pistachios and prawn rolls appealed to me.

of course, there is also the usual:

fresh veggies! without preservatives!

free rambutans from the 2 rambutan trees

my agile dad climbing up the tree for the rambutans

managed to snap a picture of my naughty nephew

we went to a few more places this year. en route to my mothers side, we stopped by a few place to visit my mums cousins. this was the time meeting them.

tailing my uncles car during the visiting

and my cousin tailing us

saw this place on our way. my mum said its her secondary school.

what is new year without fireworks?!! there has to be some fireworks, right? actually i dont really care :P but we did have some at home.

young naughty cousin trying to steal candies.

i also went to a newly-erected temple which was located right opposite my uncles house. went to get a divination, asking for work and studies and got a good one!

should have asked for EVERYTHING haha...

i returned yesterday, but without my parents. they decided to stay with their own siblings for a few more days, so my sis, aunt, 3 cousins and myself drove a car back on our own. it was my first time driving all the way back without having the assurance from someone who knows the way. thankfully, im able to make my way back. the traffic was surprisingly good, and that definitely helped me a lot.

the jam at the customs was also a pretty short one. but unfortunately while i was queueing at the singapore customs i was diverted to the customs for cargo trucks, which was slower. it was a good experience though. you dont get to drive through the customs for cargo trucks that often, do you?

McDinner at aunts house. end of CNY chapter!