Make It Last

I've been...

2007-08-14T03:30:00.000+08:00

very busy.

Work at Yahoo! has been great. The learning curve is a steep one but still a great place to be working at. Everyone sits in cubes and they all look happy to be at work compared to the office at Police HQ. These guys at Yahoo! definitely love their work more than others. At least at places I worked at.

My biggest thanks to all who made their way down to watch us at Bay Beats this year. The crowd was just insane. We were demoralised when we saw how the turn out and crowd response was on Sunday. Even when TooKoo from China played before us, they were trying very hard to get the crowd to move. Dejected, we when back stage to prep up. Little did we know that the Powerhouse arena was filled when Razi introduced the band. It was a pretty rock star night to get on stage and have girls screaming your name. 8 yrs and the best crowd ever, the best ingredient to get us to rock out. Not beer. I'm happy we played Bay Beats again this year. I'm even happier to see the people I want to see there.

We prolly were the louder band that night so that made us stood out a little more. Prolly the Topman and Gibson endorsement helped. Colin took some pics of the crowd during breaks between our songs while Calvin took photos of our rockstar dressing room. I'll try upload them when I'm less busy.

Rehearsed at Jean's for her solo stuff (www.myspace.com/suitcaseheart) yesterday. Going to her place felt like an episode of MTV Cribs! I wanna live in a house like that. Cool house, even cooler music. Her solo songs are great and I can't wait to hear the rest. Played Home Club with Amateur Takes Control after rehearsal for their EP launch. Was an honor to play alongside with The Love Song (HK) and TooKoo(CH). I've still got more KOK shows and bass duties with GMF and Suitcase Heart, so do check out the bands on the following dates:

Aug 23rd: Giants Must Fall @ Home Club, 8pm (with Winterhalter!!!)
Aug 31st: Suitcase Heart @ Esplanade, Nokia Powerhouse, 8pm i think.
Sep 13th: Kate of Kale @ Home Club, 8pm (with Jon Chan)
Sep 15th: Kate of Kale @ *scape (indoor show), time TBC. (with Marchtwelve!)

See ya!

Yahoo!!!!!

2007-07-14T04:56:00.000+08:00

This semester break's starting to look pretty to me. What a day...

I've been trying for internships the past 1.5 months to no avail. Was just chatting with a friend on Wed night about internships and she asked if I ever thought of Yahoo! and she has a friend who's an intern there too. Well it'd didn't hit me that I could have emailed Yahoo! for an internship a month ago even tho I read up so much about them while preparing for case studies.

Of cos, I tried applying and got called up for an interview today. I was informed at 2 and the interview was to take place at 4.30pm. Rushed down to my school to get the necessary forms and then took a cab down to Yahoo! office. The roads were heavily congested and the taxi driver was chatting with me and I said I'm going for an interview. He got really worried that I;ll be late due to the traffic jam and dashed through 3 red lights. Then he dropped me off right at the foyer of office lobby. Felt really blessed to board that cab. I reached 4 mins early. Phew... And I think I got the job cos they told me they're waiting for HR side to process the required forms and etc.

After the interview, I rushed home, picked up my bass and rushed to HOME club. Only after 1 short practice session, I played bass for Amateur Takes Control. The turn out was great. West Grand Boulevard played first and they rocked the house down. Really like their new material. We played 2nd and I must say I really had a good time on stage. Adel printed the tabs out for me on paper so I could refer to it whenever I need to. I'm happy that the crowd dig what the ATC boys played and that I didn't bring them down with my mediocre bass playing. We played an encore. The owner of the club liked ATC's music so much that he ordered a bottle of champagne for us. Really cool gesture.

At the show were many young indie kids and also, OLD friends! Everyone's making fun of me for playing bass in so many bands now that they see me playing more shows as a sessionist than with my own band. That's the cool thing that has been happening to me this holidays. Tho luck wasn't on my side for internships, I was kept busy with so many music projects. I'm either doing standing in bass for some bands or planning on some side projects. It's great cos I believe it'll open up my musical abilities more by playing very different styles. Even Ronny is asking to do a project like Jazz & Mosh again. I'm pretty stoked but I doubt I really have the time now.

That aside, I finally DANCED tonight. The ATC guys are pretty party animals. Even Nicky and the Oslo Castaway gang were dancing so I went into the club to check the music they were playing. Yes, I sold out. I danced for the first time in my life tonight. Well how can you not be happy when you have Blur, Bloc Party, RATM, Muse and etc all meshed into one party? Wait, maybe it was the alcohol.

The Man Who Sold the World

2007-07-10T03:13:00.000+08:00

Ok, I sold out. I tuned in to BOTH the telly and online broadcast of Live Earth. It's funny how I'd check back on the concerts every once in a while just to feel disgusted. Linkin Park deserve to be shot cos they played in Japan and their stage set up is a lot bigger than the local artistes. Can you imagine how much carbon footprint all that flying, transportation of their huge ass gear, stage set ups and blah blah from US to Japan? And then we have them talk about "oh... this is something really real."

There were bands that flew on their own private jets. Beasties Boys flew in and out of UK within 24 hrs. Razorlight flew in and out with their private jet and also a helicopter ride to their next show venue. How cool is that? According to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, the total carbon footprint, including the artists and spectators' travel and energy consumption, was likely to have been at least 31,500 tonnes - more than 3,000 times the average Briton's annual footprint!!!

Sponsors and ad buyers were pretty much out purely for PR. We have Philips marketing their energy saving bulbs on MSN broadcast pages. While major sponsor of the concerts, Chevrolet and Daimler Chrysler were marketing their new brands of low emission cars. WTF? Daimler Chrysler???? Aren't they the company selling cars with emissions level ABOVE the automobile industry's standards? So why were they being approached as corporate sponsors if the organizers are sooooo damn in touch with the climate. Doesn't that make Live Earth an event to help companies with their greenwashing activities? YES.

Then we have all these people going to the concerts, pledging to pressure their governments to join an international treaty to cut down global warming pollution and to do THEIR BEST to cut down CO2 pollutions, plant new trees, offsetting pollution yadahh yadaah. Really responsible eh? NO!!! Cos the Wembly stadium was literally COVERED with plastic cups and heaps of rubbish after the concert even tho there were recycling bins all over the stadium.

There was a goal for the Live 8 concerts which was to get the G8 to commit to reducing poverty. Live Earth didn't have a target. Yes, they got thousands to pledge to their yadaah yadaah but what's most important is for the GOVERNMENTS to do it, not concert goers.

I'd love to see more coverage on the aftermath of the concerts and criticism published on the papers and mentioned on the news. i.e - What actions were taken for carbon offsets and the acheivements of Live Earth. Not for the sake of criticising the event but to continue reminding the people to do their part to reduce pollution. The event was afterall, A CALL FOR ACTION; for us to change our habits to make the world a better place. It'll be great if Live Earth does what they set out to.

Live Earth Hypocrisy

2007-07-06T15:43:00.000+08:00

I've got the time to watch the idiot box the past few days and found the ongoing Live Earth ad campaigns really irritating. You have mediacorp's artistes looking all sad and frustrated, talking about global warming and what not. How about getting someone more credible like a Geography lecturer from NUS to teach us a lesson or something? I bet Fiona Xie doesn't bother switching off the air con or car pool.

The cool part about the campaign is that it's significant enough to raise awareness. More people will learn about the "climate in crisis" and what not. That's really cool and I think Al Gore acheived that. But why the need for massive concerts in 7 continents? It's a really great idea I must say and admit that I was pretty stoked to see the band bill but think about the amount of power that'll used to run these shows. Think about the WASTE these concerts go-ers will produce. Think about how much resources they're gonna be using just to make these shows happen.

Then we have superstars who jet around in private jets, limos etc to teach the whole world how to save the earth. How cool is that! So much for conservation eh? The event was heavily publicised as one that will be broadcasted to a worldwide audience of 2 billion people. This will also mean that corporate sponsors will also have 2-billion people reach on 7th July. 2 billion will try to reuse, recycle and reduce, true. A percentage of them will also come to believe that these corporate sponsors are socially responsible and consume more of their products. Good Job!

Let's all wear green over the weekend cos the mediacorp artistes are pms-ing! Hoorah!

Take Me Home

2007-06-27T15:59:00.000+08:00

Great that I've been taking time out to session as bassist for Giants Must Fall. I like their melodies and I'm hoping for their EP to be launched really soon. They're really nice, young musicians and I believe good things will come their way. I'll be playing with them at HOME CLUB TOMORROW (details on poster above) since their bassist can't book out on weekdays. It's fun to be able to just play your instrument and not having to worry about vocal duties. And hoorah, I get to play with Vertical Rush again! Here's a press pic of Giants Must Fall (www.myspace.com/giantsmustfall):

Been thinking of the tattoo ideas that Derek came up with the last time we were at his studio. Still not settled on it yet since it's gonna be on my skin for life. Been having the same ideas for the past 2 years and for some reasons, I'm still not settled on it yet. Soon I hope. Derek's pretty patient so I guess I'll have a couple more consultations with him before getting a final drawing. He's got to be the best tattoo artist I know and it's great to be inked by someone you have faith in, especially when it's your first.

Actual album tracking starts at Snakeweed this Sunday. Am really pumped to be finally doing it but it's gonna be a long process. Was at Snakeweed yesterday to pass Leonard some pre production tracks. Flybar were there recording their debut and shit they're good! And they're pretty young too! Now I can't wait to start. More on recording after our first session. Prolly gonna start a Studio Diary with videos and etc...

Life's Sofa King Great!

2007-06-14T02:33:00.001+08:00

Mine isn't Sofa King great. Is yours?

Exams were the reason why I haven't been updating. How did it go? It was Sofa King bad.... felt like academic suicide over the past month. Bad bad academic year.

Now that school's over, at least for another 3 months, I'm looking for internship programs. At the same time, I've been playing music a lot and finally going for my driving lessons. Am also sessioning bass for Giants Must Fall (www.myspace.com/giantsmustfall) and we're playing at *scape this Friday at 7pm. Some days are just too packed and some days are just too long to pass. There's still an album worth of songs to be wrapped up for KOK's recording starting 1st July. So lotsa jam sessions for recording and also Bay Beats. It's great to be playing again.

Driving's fun. I'm only into my 5th lesson and I can't wait to get my licence. When I do, there'll be no more lugging of merch, guitar and pedalboard to gigs via public transport. Also, your friends will love you for being able to give them a ride late at night or just to keep them cool under the sun. But for now, my friends look like this when we take bus to lunch:

Enough of fierce girls. Here's another vid of Melody and Rusky together with new friend QQ (a mini schnauzer that we're dog-sitting!).

Unreal...

2007-05-01T17:08:00.000+08:00

Exams are nearing, 8 days more to be precise. Motivation's not in the house yet. Not cool...

Less than 2 weeks ago, I managed to catch NOFX's show at Far East Pavillion. Been a fan since 16, it has always been a dream to watch them live. Was totally unreal... Colin and I were helping out with Plainsunset's merch so we kinda hung out with the NOFX merch guy. He's pretty cool and I learnt a thing or 2 from how he handles the band's merch. Really professional.

Being in the mosh pit with prolly another 400-500 sweaty bodies, finger pointing and shouting to NOFX was crazy. There were times when I felt like it couldn't be happening, NOFX just a few metres infront of me playing songs from "Punk In Drublic"! I had a really great time.

Anyways, more home videos:
Melody waking Rusky up in the morning to play.

Me giving Hairil (of My Precious) a DIY mohawk.

Give me more numbers to count my way home

2007-04-16T21:45:00.000+08:00

Back in 2002, Kate of Kale were playing as many shows as possible in Singapore. Back then, there weren't many high profile shows and venues were really either really small or inaccessible. A buddy band of ours, Pensionstate came along and took us on tour to play our first Malaysian show in KL. I'd find myself sessioning as a bass player with them for 4 shows. We really learnt a lot from PS back then since they were seasoned players. We'd come back to Singapore and share the stage again at Esplanade's Arena at the first ever BayBeats.

Bummed into Dex a couple weeks back and he told me the band Pension State is no more but the same members are still playing together under a new moniker. Great to hear that they're still playing music. I do miss Pension State, watching them live and even playing in the band.

A search on YouTube for Pensionstate got me these 2 videos. The first being a local short film featuring Pensionstate's songs. "Ordinary 21" was played when the lead actor picks up a plastic trumpet a couple minutes into the show and "Paran" was the soundtrack to the vampire slaying scene. A really cool short and I really love the character, Singapore!

The 2nd video has to be their 2004 Bay Beats appearance playing "Numbers". If you like their music, do contact me for their EP.

What are you doing now, 39th Batch??

2007-04-04T02:42:00.000+08:00

Here's the graduation video of my officer cadet days in the Training Command of the Police Academy. Really miss those days man... Wonder how are the rest doing. Filmed and edited by Joshua throughout our 9 months in the old Police Academy, the video was aired during our graduation dinner. Thanks to Ming who encoded the video into a suitable format to be uploaded.

Happy Birthday, cupcake!

2007-03-29T06:18:00.000+08:00

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY, MY LOVELY CUP CAKE!
My apologies for always posting pics that don't do justice to your beauty so here's my fav pic of you! :

Isn't that a great pic, cupcake? I've got more:

I can go on posting more funny pics. Going through my photo albums, I realised you're in many of my happiest moments. I hope you stay the same and continue to make all of us happy. Man, it was more than 11 yrs ago when we first met. You're so old... I'm not gonna reveal your age. Happy 2Xth Birthday, Tiffany. Have a good one... (as good as below!)

*PS - I knew you ate our daughter...

Prettig Clothing Launch

2007-03-27T23:48:00.000+08:00

Friends at Bella Luna and Prettig are launching their clothing line for girls! Launch party this coming Sun with a line up of great bands featuring female musicians. Do check it out.

Urban Tool

2007-03-23T02:30:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, all you need to improve is to pamper yourself with better gear. Like when a guitarist buys a good guitar or amplifier, he's motivated to practice more. Same for runners.

When I first started running, I thought it's one of the cheapest sports but hell no! First, you invest in a pair of running shoes, then running clothes and more running gear! After 500kms, you buy another pair of shoes and the cycle repeats. Been carrying my phone and cash in an armband whenever I run and there isn't any space to bring along my iPod. Well not anymore. Say hello to the Urban Tool sportHolster!

I first saw the sportHolster some months ago at Wheelock's Apple store. Was set on getting it till I saw the price tag. A hefty $99.90!! Lucky me found myself one at Funan's Runners' Lab for $49 and it was the last piece. Now I can bring my iPod, keys, wallet and handphone out to run altogether! Took it out for a run earlier and I'm loving it. It definitely helped motivated me to run faster and I love running with music. Great buy. Strongly recommended for long distance runners who need to bring their iPods, keys, money and handphones out to run. (www.urbantool.com.sg)

And now here's what I've been listening these days (including the run earlier!): BRAND NEW's "The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me". The album's been playing non stop in my iPod since I got it. Below is a vid of Brand New playing my fav song, Jesus Christ, from their latest album. Well, every song on the album is my fav.

"fuck you" never sounded this good

2007-03-21T00:30:00.000+08:00

I love Lisa Hannigan man... Bought Damien Rice's "9 Crimes" some time ago and been listening to it quite a lot. Just got to watch the movie "Closer" and I could totally relate Damien's lyrics to the whole movie. Coincidentally, the hit single from his previous album "O" was the soundtrack for the show too. Here's one of my fav from the previous album. A little long tho.

Louder, louder & we'll run for our lives

2007-03-13T02:01:00.000+08:00

Last Fri, Ming and I made a pact to run from our homes at 4.30pm and meet each other at the Merlion in an hr's time. We didn't exchange high fives cos Ming never made it. His running buddy was down with knee problems mid way and I ran home alone. Today, we decided to start our week with a long run. The objective was to start running from Esplanade and end the run at East Coast Park.

I do know a couple routes to ECP from Esplanade and they're prolly around 20-23km. But it wasn't about planning a good route, water points, etc. It was more of a less plan, more fun run. Although we ran only 12km, it was FUN. We ran on tarmac, over some vegetation!, pavements and FLYOVERS!!!

Instead of sticking to the riverside of Marina Promenade which will lead us to the eastern part of the island via Nicoll Highway, we decided to take on the flyover to CTE, a much shorter route. Ran under flyerovers around Marina Promenade for 15mins and found a flight of stairs that leading to Benjamin Sheares bridge (if not wrong). After getting off the flyover, we ran through the Tanjong Rhu Estate and to ECP via Fort Road. We stopped a couple times on the flyover to take some pics too.

There was quite a crowd at ECP since it's the March school hols day now. Once hitting East Coast Service Park, we were pretty much on our own, running at our own pace. Instead of slowing down for the last 5 km, we sped up and ran at a constant speed. I'm pretty proud of ourselves. I'm hoping for a longer run soon, on a totally new route too.

Melody says hello

2007-02-27T16:01:00.000+08:00

Melody checking out the fisheye.

The audience watching Killer Calculator

I'mma gold fish!

2007-02-26T00:32:00.000+08:00

Been busy the past week with CNY and all. Actually, lazy lah. My school buddies bought me a Fish Eye Lomo cam as a belated birthday gift so I bought a roll of film and took some pics. This is my first roll so I didn't get any good shot at all. Anyway, back to the highlights of the week:

1. Steamboat at Tiff's
Steamboat at Tiff's stylo mylo fundo condo! If only I have a place like that. Sam drove Tras and little Brendan over too! It's only our 2nd time seeing Brendan and it was fun playing with him cos he was smiling and laughing the whole day. Tras gave us red packets! That has to be the funniest incident for CNY 2007! Here's skinny buttercup trying to look retarded and dropping Brendan at the same time.

2. Soccer with the Blue Birds
Well the original Wild Parrots line up has been changed. So much that half the team is made up of other friends cos our ex-OCT mates are busy. We're just a bunch of blue jersey dudes made up of my band and police mates. Played against Ming's friends again and luck was on my side. I managed to score 3 goals. A new member of the team was so hardworking he passed the ball to me whenever he could. All I had to do was to sprint a little. Prolly my first and last scoring spree...

3. The Showcase
The Showcase was held at Bella Luna studio infront a very small but appreciative audience. Killer Calculator and Orbit Cinta Benjamin from KL were headlining. Great to see them again and this time on home ground. The band that really blew me away that night was The Oslo Castaways. They even had friends come in to do visuals for them. Turn out the vocalist and bassist liked our set too. Joanna the keyboardist played some really "out of this world" synth sounds but that was exactly what made them sound so much more interesting and fuller as a unit. Besides being a great band to watch, they're great to hang out with too. Had a late late dinner with them at Katong. Here are some pics of TOC:

Since it was my first time using the Fisheye Lomo, I thought it'd be fun if I experiment more. After taking pics of Orbit, I started rewinding the negatives back a little and I think that helped to "double expose" the film. Or maybe, I just happened to screw the cam up. Whatever it was, I managed to get some interesting shots. Members of DIFFERENT bands playing at different parts of the studio but appearing TOGETHER in one pic. No photoshop at all!

Are you enjoy? I am.

2007-02-13T01:04:00.000+08:00

Met up with fellow Command Elements of my reservist unit for dinner earlier. Was great catching up with them. Kinda hoping July to come soon so I can meet up with my pals and men for another month of action.

DAY 1 - Arrival & Show
Came back from Malaysia last night. The bus rides weren't as bad as I expected. This time, Sofyan of Rika did the booking and he booked a package deal for our bus ride and hotel stay from Five Stars Tour. The ride was great cos the seats were huge and can be fully reclined. Every passenger has his own screen with quite some movies, music and games to choose from. The movies kept me occupied throughout the ride to KL. Watched The Election and some Chinese movie with Aaron Kwok and Eason Chan starring. Everyone was busy with their own movies, Pontianak, The Fantastic 4 etc... I could hear Benard's laughing behind me cos he was watching this really old Chinese vampire show.

Unlike previous tours, we had our bus drive us right to our where we were staying, Ancasa Hotel, just beside Pudu Raya interchange. We were there at 3am and could only check in at 9am so we walked around Pudu and had some drinks before hanging out at the hotel lobby with Karen, Bella Luna's KL rep. She's one spunky girl who's really involved in the scene. If I remember correctly, she was our liaison person for the show. Was really great of her to drive down to join us at 4am just to keep us company. Bernard found this drink by Real Madrid at 7-11 and I had to buy it. A FOOTBALL TEAM's drink! How rock star-ish is that? I found it nice cos it tastes like a less sweet version of the carbonated Red Bull. The rest, however, thought it was some rancid drink.

Thanks to the great hotel staff, they managed to check us in a lot earlier at 7 plus. Took a shower and went to the Mamak stall opposite for breakfast before we rest a bit. The No Direction boys had to leave at 12 for recording while Borhan and myself slept till 2+ before heading over to the show venue which was only 5 minutes walk away. YES, finally a malaysian show with VERY MINIMAL travelling.

The venue was in between 2 malls, a 3 storey cafe called One Cafe. Pretty cool place. The 1st floor's like any other foodcourt, the 2nd looks like KFC with a small LIBRARY and the 3rd floor operates like a pub, with a bar, pool tables and a stage area. The bands on the bill were pretty diverse, post rock, punk and technical hardcore. The coolest thing was seeing Shah, Norly and the Disgruntled guys upon arrival. Then Killeur Calculator and Orbitcinta Benjamin were actually Utarid members split into 2 bands! Half the line up are made up of people I played/toured with in Malaysia before! It was like a reunion show, catching up with friends who live hundreds of kilometres away. Our set went alright. A little too draggy I guess but I still like the shocked faces at our shows. The post rock dudes were enjoying it and the rest were giving the "wtf?!" look.

Met up with rest of the No Direction dudes back at the hotel right after the show. Karen drove us to dinner later at night. It has to be the biggest meal I ever had in Malaysia!!! Indian banana leaf rice with lots of chicken, sotong, vege, curry and more chicken. We couldn't finish all the food in the end. After dinner, Karen and another friend drove us all the way to Selangor just to check out their studio, Seventh Sound Studio. Hung out with other scenesters there till 3am and they drove us all the way back to the hotel!!

Tweed and Borhan went straight to bed once we reached the hotel while the rest of us bought beer and drank in the other room. We ended up talking for longer than expected and decided to go down for breakfast before sleeping. This is the prob with Singaporeans in Malaysia, we always lose track of time even tho there's no time difference between 2 countries! Breakfast was good cos it was buffet stylee.

DAY 2 - THE ROAD HOME
After waking up at 1pm, we packed up and went off to A&W for a quick lunch. How can we miss out on A&W when in Malaysia? No way! The bus was late for TWO hours! While waiting for the bus, I managed to get for myself a pair of aviators from a roadside stall and 2 Pallas Jazz shoes from Kota Raya just to make up for the lack of time to shop. The bus back wasn't as cool as the one we took to KL but was still one of the better ones I took. Reached Singapore customs at 9pm and got home only around 1030pm.

The only boo boo for the whole trip was my iPod. Somehow after resetting it to factory settings, I didn't import the all songs back into the iPod and I had only a few podcasts on it. Luckily, there was this Moneen podcast that's an hour long so it kept me occupied for a bit on the way back. A good trip. Will post more photos if I do get them from the guys.

Get your twangers out & play with your balls!

2007-02-09T02:25:00.000+08:00

I'm a happy beaver. Got a pair of adidas soccer boots for $39 at a sale and I managed to find Freddos! Not in the same old packaging like back in the days when my mom used to buy them from Watsons but at least, Freddo still look the same! Do they look familiar to you?

Today's gonna be a real busy day. School later in the morning, rehearsal with Jazz & Mosh in the evening and then off to catch our bus to KL. We'll be playing a show tmr with our Malaysian counterparts. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep in the bus after the accident last July. Well, I wonder if I'll even feel alright on the bus. Good thing is we're travelling with the whole of Bella Luna familia so it's cool to know you have a bunch of guys at your back.

Was glued to Channel 5 earlier watching "15 Minutes", a crime thriller starring Robert De Niro. Well his name alone says "you should watch it". Cool show. Dyn was watching the show too but he had to send me another MUST WATCH on YouTube. What the fuck were the producers thinking of doing this episode anyway????? You HAVE TO WATCH this.

More when I come back on Sunday night. At the meantime, check out the following new albums!
Lifetime - Lifetime (I love their old stuff more but this is fucking Lifetime!!!)
Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (not really new but a great follow up to Deja Entendu)
Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home (Thrice's frontman does Bruce Springteen-ish Cash tunes)
Moneen - The Red Tree (Not new anymore but heck, I've been listening to this since it's release!)

Twenty Four

2007-02-06T23:57:00.000+08:00

I just turned twenty four today.

Dinner at Punngol Park with Tiff and Sam last night. Nice place beside the big pond and they have a wide selection wine and beers. Pretty good food too. But the highlight of the night was talking about muffins. The 2 girls like muffins, so do I! Well, muffins have feelings too...

Thanks for the dinner, buttercupcake and queen.

We are the Champions! Farting baby

2007-02-05T01:25:00.000+08:00

So happy that Singapore won the Asean Cup. Khairul Amri's goal was a beautiful one. Even Thai manager Thavatchai Sajakul said, "Singapore deserved to win today". The only boo boo was the disallowed goal by Sharil Ishak which was clearly NOT an offside. And what's wrong with no. 7 of the Thai team? Headbutting and throwing tantrums throughout the match. He's gotta watch this clip and chill man.

Hey you, Blue Bird!

2007-02-04T16:15:00.000+08:00

Much thanks to those who ordered shirts from me. The response was overwhelming and we've submitted our orders to Threadless for packaging. To those who sent your orders late or missed out on this shipment, we're working on selling the current batch quick enough to ship in even MORE shirts soon. So hang on while we work our asses off...

After finishing up work for my shirt label, rushed down to Gas Haus to catch Caracal on Fri for the first time. Was totally blown away by their energy and musicianship considering they're just 18-19 yrs old! Really impressed. They're pretty nice people too. Gabriel has this custom made pedal board with lights and all just like the Trailer Thrash ones and the whole band were using wireless. Something Calvin and myself have been thinking of getting. I'll be waiting for the debut EP which they just started work on.

Soccer has to be the highlight of the week! Attended the Singapore VS Thailand match at the National Stadium. Really happy to be able to attend the last 2 matches at the old Kallang stadium before they start work on it. Was fun jeering the Thais for their lack of sportsmanship. I've to commend the Thai supporters tho. They were nothing but civil.

Since the soccer fever's on, buddies from my officer cadet trainee days organised a soccer match against Ming's sec sch friends. It was funny cos we haven't been playing together for more than a year. We also employed our "imports" Colin and Calvin cos we were lacking in strength! I screwed up pretty big time, letting balls to opponent team which lead to goals but heck, we had a good time. How often do we get to wear our OCT jerseys these days? Above's a pic of us after the game. Many key players of the team were absent but we had 2 hardworking imports in royal blue jerseys! haha!

And here's our backview. I have no idea why we were asked to pose for this shot. Ming won the "Most Act Cute Jersey Name" award (MING² - 13) and me, for the "Most Cheesy Name Award" (RAY LUV - 29).

Discipline

2007-01-30T12:43:00.000+08:00

It was a productive session yesterday, I went to the library and studied for 5hrs.

We want you to be Nude No More. Order Threadless shirts from my shirt label now. We're the vendor for Threadless and they go for $28 per shirt. A lot cheaper than the Far East retailers. Head on over to www.threadless.com now and email your orders to thelabelledminority@gmail.com today!

Slow Down

2007-01-28T23:04:00.000+08:00

Ran to Bedok Jetty again, only this time, I took only 40 mins to reach. Pretty proud of myself! Akash was just telling us last night that we often miss out on the simplest things that are actually the most beautiful and that we should some times just stop and take a look around us to appreciate beauty. And today, I saw these at sand castles with this notice at ECP!

I didn't notice sand castles on the shore till today! Apparently they've been around for some time and even have a store built on the shore to store sand castle building tools. I hope to clock 800kms for 2007 since I don't run much anymore. My phone's in built cam sucks.

2007 Mileage
Running: 16.5km
Walking: 16.5km

Thank you for winning

2007-01-28T13:49:00.000+08:00

Went to the game with Colin, Calvin and Thomas last night. Even tho' the sky was raining on us, spirits were high. It was a good game and Singapore dominated the game from start to finish. What the team lacked was to finish the ball in Malaysia's goal. We had a good time shouting and cheering for the home team and also, booing the away team. It's funny how they allocated the Malaysia supporters to a tiny sector IN BETWEEN Singapore fans.

The last time I saw such a crowd rooting for Singapore against Malaysia was the Malaysia Cup days. When I was still in primary school, my dad would bring me to the games he went to. The stadium was so packed that many had to sit on steps or stand at the highest level of the stadium. The crowd was fun too. Imagine 60,000 pax with prolly 50,980 refusing to stand up for the Malaysian national anthem!! When Majulah Singapura was played, everyone sang loudly. What was extremely funny 50,500 screwing up the national anthem!!! After the first chorus of "Majulah Singapura.....", everyone started cheering and clapping when there was 1 more stanza left! Somehow the win kinda appeased my anger at the Malaysian authorities over the bus accident last year so thank you for winning, team singapore.

I shall end of this post with a really good short film by Submedia I found while youtubing for Crimethinc.com stuff. Not ya Good Charlotte kinda "punk". A spoken word interpretation of the essay "Why I Love Shoplifting From Big Corporations" published in Days of War, Nights of Love.

Where the ocean meets the land

2007-01-25T23:58:00.000+08:00

I finally started running again. The lump on the left side of my left knee has subsided. It's a cyst growth but somehow, miraculously, disappeared. So I'm back to running again. Set out to run continuously for 30 mins but ended up running more. Ran 6.5km in 40 mins. A good start considering the lack of cardiovascular exercise for so long. Also, the timing could have been a lot shorter if not for the heavy human and vehicular traffic along Joo Chiat and Katong.

Somehow I found myself running towards East Coast and another 2 km more to Bedok Jetty. Feels so good to see the sea! Couldn't stay long cos the clouds were moving in and it looked like it was gonna pour. Check the pic above! Found a new route to run on the leg back. Check the pic below!

Yes! This was taken just before a bridge from the heart of East Coast Park leading to the Siglap Park Connector. I've heard so much abt the park connectors so I should try running it to as far as I can. I shall start training to take on the park connectors!

Didn't rain in the end. Those who are wondering if I ran the same distance home, well, I walked. haha!

The death of Habeas Corpus

2007-01-25T14:21:00.000+08:00

This is what I like about what the American press can do. Interesting.

Questions and Answers

2007-01-24T23:02:00.000+08:00

Do I forgive 7 times or seventy times seven?

Do I really need a bike to cycle to Katong/Roxy and back? A chopper-like bike?

Can anyone tell me where's RK House?

Everyone's Borat-ing... but,

2007-01-14T04:24:00.000+08:00

WHY NOT? IT'S NICE! I LIIKE!!

Everyone's talking about Borat, including myself. Wished I have some screen capture program to record what Tiff and Sam were doing on the webcam last night. It was hilarious watching the 2 crazy girls amuse themselves by acting out scenes from Borat. They were laughing and screaming so loud my granny prolly thought I was watching porno with the volume maxed. I'm still laughing to myself whenever I think of the girls acting out the scenes. Maybe they should have their own web show online too.

Anyway, you must be wondering how they look like. So here we have a pic of Tiff and Sam:

with me in the middle!!! Yeah right.

The show at Ngee Ann Poly was ok. The vocals were really karaoke-ish on the PA, like as if it was Hardcore Karaoke Night. At least, it wasn't a bad show. I'm picky abt the sound at shows but I guess I've come to terms with what local show organisers can provide these days and just rock out ape shit with whatever we have. I've watched bands play immaculate sets like what you'd hear on their album. I'll be impressed by their musicianship of cos, but doesn't justify my ticket price if I'm just gonna watch a bunch of statues play the songs like the ones I already have on my iPod. So bands, PLAY EVERY SHOW LIKE AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST. Put all barriers down and play like you'll never have the chance to again. A 10 second guitar solo is only 10 seconds of your stage time. It's good to be able to play everything as planned but some times, going ape shit to sing-scream-play your heart out is what the crowd paid to see. Like what Tenacious D would say, "rock out with your balls out!".

I like watching Misissued play, be it a crowd of 10 or 100, you're still getting the same effort. They remind me very much of our early days. I remember I'd choreograph stage moves like jumps etc at practice. We don't do that anymore of course. In a blink of an eye, 7 years passed and this is my 8th year playing music in KOK. Pretty cool. Another 2 more years and we'll be a decade old, which gives us a really good reason (not excuse) to hold a drinking party cum show celebration!!!

My body clock is so screwed...

Coincidence

2007-01-12T00:39:00.000+08:00

I'm starting to hear a lot more music in my head. Writing with KOK has been fun and frustrating. I'd hear many layers of sounds in my head, imaging different textures for different parts of a song. But I'm frustrated some times cos I can't play those parts. Just like how I hear harmonica or string sections when I'm writing tunes on my acoustic guitar, I so much wish I can play the blues harp. Frustration is good cos when I'm done with getting frustrated, I'll start learning what I wanna learn. Some times... haha.

Was at Karachi prata place with the band after practice last night when I bumped into my reservist trooper and a group of ex school mates. Turned out they all know each other too! It was great catching up with them. After all, it's been 8 years since I last hung out with them! Funny how I heard from them that 3/4 of our friends from sec school are either engaged or married. And I'm still struggling in my 2nd yr of studies. Looks like these guys are onto bigger things than me now. Coincidence sent Ronny marching to the same prata place for food too and my stay at the prata place was prolonged by another couple hours since we had some catching up to do too. Good to hear him telling me good stuff about Plainsunset. Maybe we'll play in the same band again.

POA lesson later in the morning and ola, the weekend! We'll be playing a show at Halo Bar, Ngee Ann Polytechnic on Saturday. The show starts at 4pm and we asked to play 2nd cos the brothers have to attend a family function.

Where: Halo Bar, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Time: 4.00pm
Price: $8.00
Bands: My Precious, Misissued, Norphrunt, The Sallys, Comic Strip and Sound Expulsion

The Full Flight

2007-01-09T00:59:00.000+08:00

I'm glad I had enough alcohol and shows to play the last month. For all uni of london students, this is the time where we start fretting over what we HAVEN'T already studied for the exams. Well mocks in March. WAIT.... am I going for the mocks???

Our good friend Amaka took some rad pics at the Gas Haus show on 30th Dec. Head over to http://amaka.multiply.com to view his other photos.

(a) Atan pimpin' with his new SG guitar and pedal board.

(b) Bodysurfing during our set.

(c) The kung fu mosh pit while we played Smilers.

(d) Calvin.

I AM VERY EXCITE!!!!

2007-01-06T15:16:00.000+08:00

Was yours as exciting?

Pictures

2007-01-04T02:14:00.000+08:00

2 great photographer friends = many great shots. click to enlarge.
16 Dec 06 @ Far East Square (credits: Ling)
02 Dec 06 @ Arts House (credits: Ling)
02 Dec 06 @ Arts House (credits: Ling)
16 Dec 06 @ Far East Square (credits: Amaka)
16 Dec 06 @ Far East Square (credits: Amaka)
16 Dec 06 @ Far East Square (credits: Amaka)

Visit them at:
www.red4passion.multiply.com
www.amaka.multiply.com

Melody

2007-01-03T16:20:00.000+08:00

Here's how Melody's doing.

(None of voices you hear belongs to me.)

The New Year

2007-01-02T20:05:00.000+08:00

A brand new template for the new year. Thank you for checking back!

I've been doing ok. Been too busy and lazy at the same time to update the past 2 months. 2006 was a jinxed year for me anyway. The accident, Happy's passing and so many more (not nice to publish them online) added up to a major jinxed year. It's good that we're at 2007 now and it'll be the year I start winning (hopefully!).

It's been more than a month since Happy's passing (24/11/2006). She was hit by a taxi just 5 metres away from home when the maid took her out for a walk without a leash. She died instantly. My parents agreed that we should bury her in the garden so I dug for an hour and gave Happy a proper burial that same night. The whole family was devasted but at least she left us really good memories.

Happy (RIP)

3 days before X'mas, we decided to save a life and adopted Melody from SPCA. Melody's a cross beagle and she's very loving. She likes to stand on her hind legs and hug us. Here's how she looks like:

So anyway, Dec was a good month to end the year. Any month with a significant amount of alcohol is a good one! Countdown to X'mas with the usual gang (KOK and NS buds) and also favorite school mates, XT and Angela! It was the same gang of dopplegangers at Gallery Hotel drinking ourselves silly to welcome the new year. It was a fun night. So much fun that the hotel management threaten to throw us out for being too loud for too long! 4 complaints from neighbours, how rock and roll!!

I promise to update more frequently this year. To end this post, here's a pic of us with a very cool bunch of strangers on X'mas. We were downing a bottle of Vodka+Fisherman's Friend before heading up to The Loof when the cool bunch gave us their party hats and took pics with us! Oh yes, that's a drunk Ricky!

2006-10-01T04:38:00.000+08:00

In A Dream

I'm having trouble sleeping these days. So here I am posting an entry at 4.40am, after waking from a dream. I'm always thinking in the day. About the wrong stuff at the wrong time. There's just so much going on in my mind. Ideas, words, issues, music, etc... And I sleep at the wrong time too - on bus rides to and fro school, 2nd half of full day lectures, while watching TV.

My hands are always full - doing the things I love - but not enough. I wanna do more and score in whatever I'm doing. I'm not looking to be the best (i never do anyway) but good enough to not be ignored or denied.

I don't know if I'm really busy, but I'd like to think so. Tho' my classes falls on only 3 of the weekdays, I still find little time for myself. It's not a bad thing afterall. First, I'm doing SELF STUDY days with Nic on our free days (read: wow! how fuckin rad! ray's reading!). The clock ticks real quick this way, real quick. I really hope to be able to keep up with all these self study sessions and not having to go thru the mad revision rush for exams this time.

I was called "the man with ideas" in my poly days, when I ran my music label and got involved in many projects (record releases/distribution/silkscreening). But on hindsight, I find myself pretty much like Mr Gomez (aka the guy-with-IDEAS-and-MISSING FORMS) for failing to keep up with what I started. This is the problem when you're overwhelmed by passion but lack resources. Projects are started with a bang, great ideas, many supporters, but lack the resources to fully execute to plan.

Nic and I are finally starting the little fashion label of ours - importing sweet graphic tees from Threadless and Oddica. It'll be a lot easier on me this time as resources are multiplied by 3 - with the help of 2 partners who are also great friends! I hope to really take indie business to another level and have both my music and shirt label recognised. More news on the shirt label soon...
--------
Later today, Kate of Kale will be playing a "comeback show" at Gas Haus just to prove that we're still ALIVE! Haha. It'll be our first time playing after the accident. The bus crash put us out of action for a month plus before we could actually resume a warm up practice. I thought we needed that rest period anyway cos I felt burnt out then. At the same time, the lull period made me wanna play again real bad. However, I feel we lack practice for tomorrow and really hope we don't screw up. The only thing I look forward to for tomorrow beside playing is to watch Press Play - our Indian brothers who survived the crash with us! - cos the last time I saw them play was just a few hours before we crashed. It'll be fun to watch them.

We'll also be playing a bigger show coming this Dec 16-17 at Far East Square for Morph Fest. Felt really flattered when the organiser said that the band bill is made up of bands who are "champions of their genre". What an ego booster but at the same time makes me feel the innocence of a rookie again. The last time I got "kanchiong" about a show was at Bay Beats when I saw the turn out waiting for our set at the arena. It's gonna be the same feeling again with such great expectations place upon us.

Talk about feelings, maybe I feel too much. That's why my hands are always full doing the things I love but the heart's always feeling empty. So much to give, so little opportunities.

2006-09-11T02:17:00.001+08:00

Safe in monotony

I'm kinda wishing I have another week of reservist to go. Another week of FIBUA, shooting, and more troop activities. It's funny how low our morale were during the first week but that I'm on my last day of reservist, I'm hoping to serve a little more. Safe to say, it's the 2nd best thing to happen to me this yr (first being me passing my exams!).

I'm very proud of my troopers for being the way they are. Not exactly 'A-Team' standard or the fittest guys around but they were more motivated and disciplined when compared to other troops. To me at least. It's fulfilling to be in a commanding position when all of us are still trainees. It's a great feeling when you feel that helped boost some guy's confidence.

Beside having found new friends in the troopers under my charge, the fellow command elements I've been working with are pretty much good dudes to hang around with. It would have been shitty if not for their lame jokes after training. Tomorrow will be the last day we'll be serving for this year (hopefully!) before we head back to work. It's school for me, so it's something to look forward to. For the other guys, I'm pretty sure they enjoy reservist more!

Finally back to sch in a couple days and the monotony starts... Get a good qualification, a good job and etc... We're all chasing for safety. I'm not complaining cos I'm afterall, chasing for safety too.

2006-08-27T18:37:00.000+08:00

Summer Songs

Been a hot hot week. Not the best time to be serving reservist but it's been quite a good week. The troopers under me have been quite a good sport. It has been easier than I thought to be leading them, especially when they all have the 'reservist mentality'. One week past and I'm very happy with how well we're getting along.

Training's not insanely tough, but I'd say a little more than what I expected reservist units to be doing. It's not a bad thing at all cos the troopers are finally starting to feel that they're doing something significant I hope. It's been fun imparting whatever I learnt from the army to these guys. The other command elements and myself sleep late everynight, letting the troopers have their shower before taking ours and waking slightly earlier to take command of the troops. Nothing new to what we been thru in the army but it's really good to see this "army culture" taking place within Police units. Most lessons are new to us officers too. Things that were never taught in the army and also having a chance to apply what we learnt in the army to urban war fare.

I must admit that I did mark out a couple troopers in my mind and have the intention to have them transferred out to other units but a conversation with a senior commander last night changed my mind. He reminded me of what my platoon commander said to me when I first got into the army, "there's no soldier that can't be trained. It's just that the officer don't know how to train him". That kinda erased the thought of giving up on my guys and now I hope I can make reservist enjoyable to all.

My only complain is the time we have on weekends. Too short. But 2 more weeks later, I'll be done and school starts then. Post more next week, maybe.

2006-08-15T02:10:00.000+08:00

AOK

All's ok my friends. Been more than a month since the last update. Yes, I left to tour with my band after the last post and on our way home, our bus skidded, crashed and over turned on the Seremban highway. It was a nasty crash but I'm glad to be back at home, counting my blessings.

Yes, I'm still mad at what happened. Still mad at the bus company for not making any apology or compensation. I'm still mad at the fact that it cost me a week of MC and wages. Still mad at the Malaysian police for not helping us. Still mad at so many things. But it's cool cos we survived the crash to become tighter as friends, not just a band.

I'm seriously mad at all the happenings. After my grandfather's passing last Dec, I met someone amazing and we both thought to be each others' soulmates. It was a great few months and exams came, along with stress and sleepless nights. Exams went crap, so did the feeling of realising I'm not her soulmate afterall. So the next thing to look forward to was the band tour, which ended up to a bus wreck.

Thinking that the worst has already happened, the next best thing was to go back to work after my injured back recovered. Little did anyone expect me to commit mistake after mistake at work. It was demoralising to go to work and have mistakes highlighted to me and having to do "damage control". And when the reservist recall order finally came, my bosses decided that they had to let me go early as they can't hire and train new staff in time for the expected surge in work load for August. I resigned late July but was called back when the new hires weren't up to mark and were asked to leave.

It has been a great 2 months temp-ing at Starhub cos I got to know many great people. Working and clowning in office with Ming's fun too. It's a shame I have to leave earlier than expected due to my recall for in-camp training. I'm not hoping to defer. Instead, I can't wait to start my 3-week stint at the Police KINS Training Camp. It's my first recall and I've been posted to be the unit's Officer Commanding of Troop 3. It'll be a brand new experience for me as it's a para-military unit and my men have no combat experience, so it should be cool going through the training with them.

I always like to lead and teach. It'll be a lot different from my NS days as most of my men will be older and already working. Some are fathers. People management might be a challenge as I might not understand the needs of my subordinates being the 23 yr-old undergrad I am. However, I'm looking forward to knowing everyone of them come this Wednesday.

Holidays are great when you have things to do. I'm glad I managed to meet up with most of my beloved friends especially after the crash. The early resignation from work's good too, tho I complained of having too much time on hand initially. Guess the only thing I'll miss is the pay and the times Ming and fooled around.

In a few hours time, I'll be meeting up with Ming and Nic for Sentosa. It's been some time since we 3 last hit the beach together (when we first got into SIM?). Then it's off to meeting Tiff and Tras for dinner at Sushi Tei. I'm sure it'll be a great day ahead. I'm sure better things are to come my way cos I'm abt done being an angry person.

2006-07-01T04:07:00.000+08:00

It's about time...

How time flies. Been a while since I last posted here. The past 3-4 months been a rollercoaster ride but everything's cool now. I almost forgot about this blog of mine until Rina asked about the lack of updates. I'm doing great and currently temp-ing at Starhub's Customer Service Service Delivery dept. I take calls from dealers' and check customers' eligibilty to apply for services. The work's pretty ok and it's the best temp job I've ever taken so far. As if it's not enough, Ming was recruited a week after me and I work alongside with long time pals Valerie and Stef.

My summer calendar's still a hectic one. Just about 13 months ago, I did a 4 date tour with my band through Malaysia. In about 3 hours time, we're gonna be leaving for KL and then Klang to play a show. The last time we went to KL was 2003 with Pension State. This time, we'll be touring with Press Play. I should be all excited but I'm not cos I haven't beem sleeping much. Worked the whole of today, practiced with the band till 1 + am, got home around 3+. It's already 4.20am as I'm writing this and it's too late to sleep now. I won't be able to wake up on time.

Come Monday, I'll go back to the daily grind, 8.5 hrs of work a day. 16 August, I'll be drafted back to the police for a month's training at the Key Installation Unit. Heard it'll be tiring but I'm really looking forward to it cos it'll be something new. I like to lead and it'll be an experience to be leading a unit of men from different background etc.

I kinda miss regimental lifestyle. I miss the disciplined me. Ever since I started work at Starhub, I haven't been exercising as much as I planned to. Good news is that there are avid runners in the office and I managed to stoke up the interest in a few more colleagues by asking them to join the Mizuno Wave Run with Ming and I. I expect more group runs before and after work real soon!

2006-03-11T03:15:00.001+08:00

Because I Can...

I figured out what's wrong with me exactly. I think and plan too much sometimes. And when plans get too elaborate, I fail to even start. For e.g. "On Mon, I'll run 5km in the morning, read econs the rest of the day, watch how Pierre Png suck at Chinese on Ch8 at 9pm". Anyone would have guessed right, I'll only do the Pierre Png dissing as planned.

So I stopped thinking the past 3 days. I'd wake up thinking of what to do and the first thing that came to my mind, I'll do it. So I woke up on Wed thinking, "Bedok should be about 5-6km away. The slope's a bitch, I should try running to bedok". I put on my running gear and was ready to go when I thought "How abt going another 500m to the pool for a swim?". Somehow I just grabbed my goggles and didn't think that much. I ran to Bedok, swam and ended up walking back.

I woke up on Thurs thinking "Maybe I should do the routine again. This time, I'll run more of the returning leg". I did! And I'm really happy I did it cos I finally learnt how to swim better. I suck at swimming and only know the breast stroke but if I continue to do this, I might take part in the Biathlon next yr! That'll be fun.

So when my friends and mom asked "why did you do that?" and all I could think of is "because I can!". Yes, because I can. I never knew I could run 10km 2 yrs ago. I never knew I can actually run 10km and swim 16 laps. But now I know. So let's all pray that I'll wake up thinking about understanding 10 chaps of MicroEconomics and 5 chaps of MacroEconomics tomorrow!

Oh yea, I finally hauled my ass down to Comfort driving sch to book my first practical BUT becos my account expired, I had to RE ENROL and pay ANOTHER fucking 152 bucks for registration! Now those who told me "it's worth it!" better make sure I pass on my first time.

2006-03-07T01:38:00.000+08:00

Missing

Photos can bring so much sadness. I flipped thru an album of my baby pics, looking for a couple to show XT and came across this photo of my grandfather and i at my dad's shop front. I guess I was only 7 then, in Maris Stella Pri uniform. It's funny why we took the pic infront of the shop's display fridge but it's one picture that speaks of my grandfather's pride of his grandson.

My mum finally put up some studio portraits of me in my Police ceremonial dress and sword around the living room. My grandma complimented the quality of the family portrait and I felt so fucken bad all of a sudden. My grandfather asked to have a portrait taken with me when I first got commissioned but I'd put him off because I was lazy to set time aside. I always thought he was never proud of me becos I was never as competent as my bro and cousins academically and the fact that I became an Inspector gave him something to boast abt. I'm so fucken wrong. I miss him now. No matter what I lived with him for 22 years and it's weird to not have him around after so long. It's a fucking shame that the pictures of me he plastered on the walls don't have him. It's such a pity. They say death brings awareness to everything. I pray he's aware I'm now proud of him and our love for him.

I'm in serious need of motivation and I'm lucky to meet someone who don't mind pushing me. I love freedom and I always enjoyed a lot of it. Of late, I'm starting to realise I actually like to be pushed. Just like John Lennon. And to keep pushing I hope this friend will, because it's been some years since I felt so comfortable with someone. I need discipline to return home. It's exam season, a time where beards and eye bags takes residence on our faces. Discipline, come home soon...

2006-01-19T05:39:00.000+08:00

The Furniture Acquisition Project

So you might have heard from me suffering from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) lately, queueing hours to get my hands on 50% off deals at Swee Lee Music. Now that I'm about 80% done to my ideal guitar rig, I'm a happier musician. Especially when you only had to spend 50% of what's required! However, I not much of a happy student yet.

I've been living in this house for the past 20 yrs and never really knew how to use a STUDY TABLE until I got into the police. Oh yeah, I miss my spacious office workstation. It was only when I was doing time in the police did I realise how fucken amazing a STUDY TABLE is! I still feel like a caveman cos I do my work on just any flat surface I can lie on and stuff. But all that's gonna change cos my bro and I went on a FAP (refer to title). I'm excited cos we both ordered a spacious L-shaped workstation each and it's a lot cheaper than Ikea. Sales love me as much as I love them. Both a new CD shelf and have been working on sorting 400+++++ fucken CDs the past 2 nights. Which explains why I'm blogging this at 6am. I just feel the need to post something up here to kill this excitement. Yeah right.

It's a nightmare trying to sort and clean the dust of all my CDs. It's like a mini CD library in my room, a very messed up one and I'm about to go gaga. Then I have a bunch of guitar gear, a couple hundred of my own album, junk and more junk. Ikea catalogues are evil cos they make you envy those show rooms and you buy a whole lot of storage solution furniture that you won't use. Unfortunately, I'm what you call REAL MAN. I like my room messy except for my CDs and music gear. I can't wait for Friday cos the table and my "WHO'S THA BOSS" chair will delivered then. My room will become a little office cum recording studio!!! Just in time for me to mug for my exams.

For now, I'll get back to arranging CDs and cleaning dustballs. I hope gay burglars break into my room so they'll re-arrange my room for me.

2006-01-03T18:43:00.000+08:00

New Year's Project

A happy new year everyone. No I haven't gone all MIA. Everthing's cool and fine :)

My grandfather's passing came as a shock but I'm glad I did all I can at his funeral. Sleeping beside his casket and keeping vigil all nights. It's a weird feeling to know that someone you lived with for 22 years is no more alive. That morning, I went to school as usual and I didn't know how to feel until after school. I met Tiff for a bit before going to the wake.

My only regret is to realise how my grandfather touched so many lives this late. Many came to his wake and we'd hear stories about him as a boy, a young man, as a grass root leader, as a father and as a grandfather. Even Tiff told me "I'm sorry about Lay-Gong" and that made me smile. Even Tiff remembers my grandfather altho she had never met him but heard him on the phone.

Tiff calls my grandfather "Lay Gong" cos his voice's as loud as Thunder God (Lay Gong in Chinese) and he calls me "Ah Lay" cos he can't pronounce "Ray". Coincidentally "Lay Gong" also means Ray's grandfather. I'm glad to be reminded of these fond memories and be able to laugh at the things he used to do we were intolerant of.

Better things are to come our way in 2006 :)

2005-11-18T00:20:00.000+08:00

The Shop on Mortuary

Our first day of work at Sentosa today. Well, at least it isn't as bad as I thought to be. We were expecting to be posted to the beach shops, man the shop alone and work under the weather. Fortunately, they lack guys in the attraction retail stores and we all got posted to shops with great air conditioning and nice colleagues.

I guess over the years, we've all forgotten how impt Sentosa is in our history text. A re-introduction of the island during the orientation brought back the memories of excursions to Fort Siloso during my pri sch years. The island has changed so much and the new structures look exciting. All I knew abt the island for the past 2 - 3 years is the beach and the volleyball babes. It's cool that the job's getting us to know the island a lot more.

So I got posted to "Images of Singapore", a walk-thru musuem like thingy depicting the history of our country. There's a retail store there selling almost every souvenir you can think of related to Singapore or Sentosa island. It was a little difficult for me to adapt to "retail work" immediately. It's not like when I once worked in WMUM where I could speak to customers real easily cos I know music and the products well.

Saying "HELLO! WELCOME TO IMAGES OF SINGAPORE!!!" in the most bubbly way was not what i learn in the police! I managed to warm up a bit and got better after a bit. I'm impressed by the Sentosa staff's passion to serve and they treat all visitors as guests. I might not be able to work lonng but I guess this retail job is a good experience and prolly gives me a little something more to write in my management essays.

2005-11-12T02:59:00.000+08:00

Close your eyes, I'm gonna make you famous!

I dreamt that I wrapped my arms around those squared shoulders like I always do, to many friends. But it's that pair of shoulders that made it felt so comfortable, so fucking comfortable. I'd find myself waking up 15 mins late but I'm a happy man. Cos I wrapped my arms around those shoulders in my DREAMS. Can't believe that alone was enough to plant a smile on me on a rush rush morning.

School wasn't too bad. I'm starting to feel like time's running out. Better plan my schedule like what I used to do in the Police. I managed to put on my running shoes for my first run after the surgery. It was such a great feeling... Hopefully the return of cardiovascular exercise will get me all focused and motivated again. Focused on my studies and motivated to do all the needful.

I managed to sucker Nic and Ming to join me on this somewhat crazy (only to non-runners) idea: "The Home Run Program". We'll try it out this coming Tuesday. I was thinking of having someone to run and the fact that we 3 are the only avid runners we know and we all live on different parts of this island, Tuesday late afternoons seem to be the best day. I thought, "why not we pack our running gear to school and run as far as possible down the route home?". Yes, it's crazy to think that I'm running back to Changi Road from the western part of SG but I think it's gonna be rad! I'll prolly stop after 10kilometres and board a bus home. Well, it's still a great workout + good sweatout + calorie burn off + $0.55 savings on my EZ Link!

Nic and Ming suckered me into something else: getting a part time job. Now we're talking what hurts bad, MOOLAH!! At 22yrs, it's really embarrassing to be asking for extra $$$ from your parents. Blame it on the bus and MRT rides, blame it on the oil price hike, blame it on the iGeneration, blame it on our pampered ass...

Anyways, I followed the 2 to Sentosa for an interview. I guessed it went pretty well and the HR personnel were quite impressed with our symmetrical haircuts. Really. I'll be paired with a really pretty D cup model if I lied. So I might just end up selling bikinis, merlion plush toys, tanning lotions and straw hats on my off days at Sentosa Island if I don't get any better job that offers as much flexibility... After being called "Sir" in the police force for so long, it's gonna be really weird saying "Thank you, Sir. Please come again".

2005-11-05T01:15:00.000+08:00

Road To Recovery

Just when I thought of skipping school for the first time, I got a phonecall from Ming to say "Hey! There's no school today!". GREAT. So the lecturer announced a break and 3 of us didn't take notice. It was pouring heavily so it's good stay home and sleep a little longer.

Ever since I officially ORD, I stopped exercising completely. I need a lifestyle change... I'm getting less motivated to do stuff. Even when I was clearing leave to attend school, I'd hit the gym before afternoon lessons and after morning classes. It's hard to exercise when I have no gym access now and I haven't got the green light from the doctor to run. It feels shitty and I'm gaining the pounds back slowly.

For some strange reason, it was easy to plunge into some of the gym ball exercises I used to do today. Great... but I've lost the stamina and strength in almost every exercise. Bad... so that's what 2 months of being a couch potato can do to you. Maybe I should stop laughing at the jocks in school and start running soon... I can already picture myself failing IPPT during my first reservist next year infront of my men.

2005-10-31T00:30:00.000+08:00

Thank You

A BIG "Thank YOU" to all who tuned it yesterday and those who sent smses and emails (to us and Daniel Ong!). Esp friends who plugged us into forums and sending out SMS-es to spread the word in such a short time.

I'd have scored better promotion if I had the time to. I'll prolly not suck answering interview questions on air too! Daniel called the night before the show to inform he's gonna play our songs and have a little KOK special on the show. I was a little dumbstuck at first but who the hell in the right mind will reject that. I said ok and he pressed the record the button. That was how it all started.

I hope you guys can do me another favour by dropping Daniel many many mails at 987dan@mediacorpradio.com to request Kate Of Kale songs to be played on his show. This will help us stay on his playlist for a little longer and probably break into the station's regular rotation list. You can also help us by SMS-ing your requests to 72346. Tell them you wanna hear us on radio still!

I thought it'll be cool to listen to the broadcast with the band so I called them out just before the broadcast. Some how we couldn't find free wireless internet to listen via webcast so we rushed down to Mr Bean's cafe, bugged the waitress to change the stereo to 987 and kept changing seats just to get the best spot for the radio! It wasn't hearing our music on radio that made my day but the SMS-es and encouragement from all over that did.

Now thanks again everyone + Dyn for recording the show digitally, Tiff & Meng who helped tape the show, Nic for pimping me to his beautiful friends and etc... Go send Daniel an email now lah okay? PLEASE! 987dan@mediacorpradio.com

2005-10-29T02:10:00.000+08:00

I'm On Radio!!!

98.7fm's Daniel Ong will be airing a 30 min (approx.) feature
of my band's music on his HOME show, 3 - 4pm tomorrow
(Sat, 29 Oct 05).

3 songs plus a short phone interview with myself. Do tune
in, spread the word and send your requests for our songs to
98.7fm!!!

You can email Daniel Ong (987dan@mediacorpradio.com) to
request for our songs

AND / OR

SMS requests:
Key in "987Home" then any of the song titles below + msg
1. 29 Apologies
2. Soundtrack To The Perfect You
3. Anchor Deep

eg. 987HOME Love the show! Pls play "29 Apologies" by
Kate Of Kale!

SMS to 72346 . Each SMS costs $0.30

Thank you!

2005-10-24T00:47:00.000+08:00

We're Just Friends

Over and over and over again
I said that we're just friends
Forget the implications
Infatuations end
If love's easy, why is it hard?
I can't imagine ever being apart
I'll come back to you
It'll be brand new
But I promise
We're just friends
Wilco

Flea mart @ Home
Didn't get much stuff cos I went near closing time. There were really nice shirts but they weren't my size. Got Wilco and Modest Mouse's old albums from this cool stall instead. The seller asked if I played in Kate Of Kale and gave me the url of his online radio ( www.unpopular-music.blogspot.com ). They've got really cool playlist so hit on them.

Doctor: It's not cancerous
So all's well. The only creepy part is having to extract 20cc of stale blood causing the swelling at the wound. If only they can remove fats so easily just using needles and syringes. I have a feeling it's still bleeding under my skin as it's starting to swell again. It feels uneasy cos I can't carry on with my usual active lifestyle. There's this fear of aggravating the wound in me all the time.

Jamming these days is just a lot more fun. It's fun to write new songs and have new 'babies' to be excited about. The song writing process is a lot different and more enjoyable now with us writing our own parts for every song. Funny how I some times feel that everything sucks and the band is what I currently do best in my life and the one thing I can be really proud of and be happy about. Everything else just sucks.

I finally got "The Last Transmission" CD today and I really like them! It's been some time since I got excited about a local release. Tho it's not all slick in terms of sound quality but it's piece of gem. Somehow listening to the CD reminds me of the substitute.com, audiotrip.com days when indie/alternative bands dominated the local scene. I'd get all excited when bands like Concave Scream, Livonia and Sherene's Closet release songs then. I do hope the 987fm's HOME show would dig out more of these bands for airplay.

Can't wait for Wednesday: Academic suicide day... Soci presentation on the same day as the soci test. It'll be a scholarstic death if there's such a word. But the screen printer in me will be revived after the test with me scheduled to impart the stencil/screen printing skills to Ming and Nic. Armed with the skills of screen printing, we'll be able to start our propaganda projects all over school. We'll be so cool that guys wanna be our friends and girls wanna have our babies. Yeah we wish. Till then, we're just losers who go to school, oggle at girls, laught at their jock boyfriends and... we go home to watch TV. Losers with the capital "L".

2005-10-17T01:14:00.000+08:00

Irony Is For Suckers

I need a holiday! You know the good part abt NS is that the only thing you go home with is the thought of having to go back to work again the next day. There's no worrying of how badly you're gonna score or if you finished your assigments.

Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good. Holiday is good.

Now, I'm only short of the winning numbers for the coming TOTO draw.

2005-10-06T17:52:00.000+08:00

"If you're still in pain, I'm in trouble..."

The nurse asked 5 mins after putting me on drip. And she asked a few more times again while I was at the holding bay of the operating theatre. She had earlier inserted the needle into a vein and into the junction where 2 veins met. Bad... It hurt but you wouldn't really think it went wrong cos needles ARE SUPPOSED TO HURT anyway. Until she apologised and said "I have to do it again".

I waited for another 20 mins lying there chatting with the nurses and it was awkward. I shivered as it was freezing and all I had was a blanket over the filmsy disposable undies they gave me. The nurse had to ask "Wah... you nervous ah?". Dumb question so I replied "Of cos. Maybe becos you IV me wrong twice".

It seem eternal for the doctor to come and have me moved to the theatre bed. The doctor was a lot more assuring, giving specific instructions to me. "Breathe hard and just concentrate on breathing". That I did, with the nurse holding onto the face mask over my face. "Now you're going to feel a warm sensation up your veins as I administer the anesthesia".

I jumped out of bed. Removed the blankets on me and found my leg bandaged. My head felt like I just suck in some really high grade cigar. As I lie on bed, nurses came to check on me and told me I should be able to go home soon. Only then did I realise I conked off for 2 hours and my knee's fixed! It was a really good feeling and it felt like the best sleep in my life.

I'm really glad that my knee's fixed now but walking is a bitch. I can't sit comfortably in class still and the journey to and off school is shitty. I got an MC till 17th Oct but I can't afford to miss class. So I have to limp really bad and slow to school. Well, at least now it feels like a royalty with lecture mates wishing me well and holding doors for me.

If there's one thing I learnt from this op, I'd say it hurts like crap but GENERAL ANESTHESIA is A LOT BETTER THAN DRUGS! Don't do drugs, do GA!

2005-10-02T23:46:00.000+08:00

Hospitals and Medicine

I just got past my first minute of fast and I'm already feeling thirst. Funny, but I can't wait till tmr cos I just wanna get through the surgery fast! The thought of having to get IV again makes me cringe. I thought it'd just like what they show on TV: put on that oxygen mask and you get to meet sandman. I've come to fear hospitals after I got admitted for dengue.

So Bali got blasted for the second time and I guess it's hell back in office again. This time, I'm not cursing cos I'm on leave and I end my service this coming Saturday! But it's really sad to hear of the bombings this time cos I feel for the victims. Was watching Channel News Asia earlier and was reminded how I'd sit in the operation cell just watching CNA, CNN and BCC the whole 12 hours while working, cursing the fact that I'm still working in the wee hours or over the weekend.

Back then, it was more of coming to terms that I have to work extra long hours on top of the 8-6 grind and just concentrating on performing what's required of me. This time, it isn't just about personal sacrifices anymore cos I'm watching the news in the comfort of my home over the weekend. That makes me appreciate what the government agencies are doing more. On hindsight, I'm kind of feeling really proud of what I did in the Police and that I played a part in our homefront security.

I've never blamed my superiors before cos they too are in it and they do a lot more than me. Needless to say, their sacrifices are a whole lot bigger as they have families of their own to go home to. Most of their children are still pre-schoolers and it's even harder when you know you can't get home in time to have dinner or talk them to sleep.

I must admit there are a whole bunch of cops who aren't behaving in the exemplary way they should but these are the ground officers you see patrolling on the streets. A few might be rude but they might just be having a bad night on the streets before they stop you. Before you curse the Police "Pigs" the next time, try putting yourselves in the shoes of the men in blue. Think about how it's unfair to the senior officers who keep your home safe from crime and terror at the expense of their own family time. They don't patrol the streets but they do a hell lot more stuff than you see on TV.

Cops don't get commissions when they issue tickets for traffic offences or when they arrest someone. And yes, Heartlanders is a dumb show so stop watching. Maybe when we all boycott that dumb show, Vincent Ng can finally get some time off for acting classes and we can see less of him baring his toned torso on TV.

2005-09-25T23:02:00.000+08:00

G.fucken.A

Was at the pre-surgery assessment and met the young and attractive doctor who'll be administering general anaethesia on me. Once I entered her room, she greeted me with a wide smile and said something like "Hi Ray, I'll be the one putting you to sleep". She broke to laughter when I replied "Wow, that sounds great!".

She continued, asking me questions about my health she need to know before my knee surgery. Everything was cool and she told me I'm in "perfect condition" for the surgery. Man... having to go for a surgery don't mean I'm in "perfect condition"! Just when I'm about to say "Wow, thanks doctor", she went on about the details of administering GA on me.

Man I fucken hate intraveneous tubes! I always thought that anaethesia's just a jab and bingo, you're temporary dead. And all the tubes through my nose is gonna hurt my throat. Damn... That gonna suck. I wiped that cheeky smile off my face once I heard the word "tube". And it's gonna be more than a couple to my body. Just for a fucken knee surgery... Eww.. yes, I'm pussy. I kinda wish the surgery's tmr so I can get over and done with quick.

The 2 KOK shows over the week went well. First was playing Historia Bar on Wednesday. It was great having people who watched us at Bay Beats come watch us again and tell us how much they enjoyed the set. Then Wintercurse's Clothing Co. launch which saw us play a short but sweet set yesterday. I kinda wish we played longer but it was good.

And Jazz & Mosh had a last minute show today. Somehow we managed to get included to play infront of Straits Records for their official opening party cum My Squared Circle's end of tour party. It was a really cool set up, playing at Haji Lane, right infront of the store. The cops came when we were playing and they asked us to lower the volume which we complied. Everything was civil and everything went on as planned. Except that Jazz & Mosh had to stop at our 3rd song. But like what Dinslife joked abt, "Dude! That's a lot of punk points to have cops show up at your set!". Yeah, we scored... Haha.

2005-09-06T23:59:00.000+08:00

Jocks & Flops

It's holidays but it doesn't feel like one. I'll go back to office, spend an hour in the gym and the rest of the day to study in the library. I kind of like days like these but it's just a 1 week break.

Been joining runs for the whole of this month. I find it fun, altho it seems like a stupid idea to my other squadmates: spending bucks to wake up early on a Sunday morning just to run some long distance. It's fun cos every run feels different and there's some I get satisfaction everytime I run past the finishing line. And that's for me, someone who hated running until about a year ago.

So I was in the library with Nic trying to comprehend what the Econs textbooks are tell us and this bunch of NS guys from MHA were talking abt the recent Mizuno run. Apparently they participated in the Real Run as well. So they spoke loudly on how they kicked each others' timing, displaying their dumb jock ass attitude. It was fucken distracting and irritating. Maybe if i did well in sports and went to a junior college when younger, I'll prolly turn out like those dumb jocks. Thank god I didn't.

2005-09-01T00:13:00.000+08:00

Burn those bridges baby!

"Must Love Dogs" is just ordinary. We watched that cos Tiff thought she wouldn't take The Maid well. I thought Must Love Dogs will have a lot abt dogs and stuff. Dumb me.

My discman prolly died a million times over the past year. I'm grateful it still plays sometimes. I can't wait for my iBook and iPod to arrive. I can see myself using it for school and everything else. To record jam sessions, photoshop, assignments and etc...Been a month since school started and work's starting to pile.

Tomorrow's my last day at work. Then I'll proceed with block leave till October! woo hoo! No more 0830 - 1900 hr days, no more standard hair cut, no more meetings, no more "fire-fighting", no more answering "good morning" to people I don't like, no more "Sorry Sir", no more Lotus Notes, no more "Regards, Insp Ray Tan", no more etc... WOOT WOOT!!!

2005-08-27T23:31:00.000+08:00

Firing Blanks?

Brought my grandfather to the doctor's today. Though he still talk with a strong voice like a loudhailer, I could feel how weak he really is when I hold him while walking. I also realised how much weight he lost since he moved out. Or maybe he already started losing weight before moving. I don't know. All I know is that I might regret harbouring negative feelings against him when passes off but I just can't help it. We all heard of the boy who cried wolf too many times.

The Blank Gig was weird. I'm glad we drew the first band lot cos I wasn't feeling too well. Throat inflammation and a severe blocked nose. Atan had 4 of his wisdom tooth removed and still in pain. Kind of funny. The sound for most hardcore bands were really bad. The low ends were all over the shop and it was real loud even outside the venue.

The crowd's new to me. We always see the same familiar faces at shows but today's a young crowd clad in Atticus and Macbeth gear. Weird. They seem to really know how to enjoy themselves at shows. It's good to see a lot more girls at shows too. With a band bill full acts playing the now "in fashion" hardcore/screamo, the gig attract quite a number of gig goers. That's a real good thing.

Real Run tomorrow morning and I'm so fucken UNFIT. I stopped running for 2 months and I'm gonna challenge the different terrains of Sentosa tmr. And I'm sick! Fuck.

2005-08-04T01:08:00.000+08:00

Don't Piss On Me & Tell Me It's Raining...

School started on Tues and it's funny going back to sch again. It feels like the law classes in Police Academy more than a year back cos I'd sit beside Nic and Meng. It's the same even now, sitting between the same 2 person who mugged with me secretly thru the night in the officers' mess of our barracks. Those were the days and it seems like we're gonna relive it the next 3 years.

I think we need to make some new friends soon. Figure I can use some help from the academic inclined when exams draw nearer. Was "LOST" during the Econs lecture and seeing those fresh JC grads answering the questions correctly kind of scares me too.

Presidential Election's dates out. I'm glad I've already handed almost 1/2 of my work to my incumbent. It's really a burden off my shoulders when I came into office to find my junior coping well and my superiors are already forwarding work to directly to him and just keeping myself in the "cc" loop. Coolness. I think my superiors are cool cos they understand I'll be shuttling between sch and work this month. I'll still slog for NDP tho.

Aug 9 will most prolly be the last time I'll have the priviledge of officers paying compliment to me with the hand salute, at least for the next 1 yr. "Police Service" is gonna be a past tense to me soon and I can't wait to raise my glass to that!

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter :) I see more time to write and play music, hang out with friends and just doing stuff before getting sucked into the workforce and start paying bills and rent. How I love $ingapore....

2005-07-25T01:22:00.000+08:00

You Can't Spell Pyschologist Without "Pyscho"

My buttercupcake made me choc chip cookies on her off day and they taste better than those baked by my dad. She was generous with the chocolate chips and I love chocolate. To reward her for the better-than-famous-amos cookies, I got her muffins. Little did I know those were banana muffins and it's not her fav. Boo.

After delivering the muffins, I decided to try "leaving my old self behind". Yes, the Nike advert. Altho I'm not a fan of the brand Nike, I can't agree more with their new running ad. That's exactly why I found interest in running. The devil in me often appear after 5 kilometres and I try fight him as long and as far as I can. Managed to reach Bedok Jetty on time and I caved in to the weaker me, staying at the jetty for longer than planned. It was a good break anyway. The drizzle was cool and it reminded me of the sea expedition a little more than a year ago. I looked into the tanker anchorage area and imaged myself going against the tide in the storm. Really miss those days.

I ran home leaving the weaker me at the jetty and started cleaning my room once I cooled down. When you set a date to embark on an exercise routine, diet, etc, you most prolly won't get thru it. Finishing what you started is tough but starting something you find hard to finish is even tougher. So fuck the "I will start cleaning when.." idea and I got started. I figure it's gonna take a while to really clean this sty of mine.
>>
OneUpForTheKids studio show last night was fun. We felt like we went back in time, 4 years ago when we played shows with Plucky at JammerzPit. It was real fun then and the crowd would go ape shit. The crowd at the show last night weren't really going apeshit. They were just checking us out. Besides our friends from Plucky, ex-NorPhrunt and My Precious, the audience were new faces to us. I guess the fun part abt studio shows is feeling like you're just jamming infront of a small appreciative crowd. It takes some interest to actually make someone to stay in the hot studio and check out the band. That's what I like cos it cuts us off all those fake people.

PartyWorld KTV with cupcake and the alumni after the show. Didn't know cupcake could sing that well! Now I know why people just keep going back to KTVs. It's fun.

2005-07-20T00:10:00.000+08:00

Crash

Watched the movie "Crash" with cupcake Tiff and some ex sch mates after work. I'd say it's worth the money if you're looking to catch a show over the weekends. The storyline's a chain of events (anchored on racism) over 36 hrs. Just find it cool how the writer pieced all these unrelated incidents to a complete story. Not your Jackie-Chan-kicked-the-white-man-thru-the-window kind of movie and no big budget stunt or explosive scene. Just good acting and what most movies are lacking these days, good storyline.

Think I haven't thank friends enough for showing support at Esplanade last Sunday. I never talk abt my band to friends cos I don't know if they'd dig my kind of music so having friends come watch and rocking out at our show's really new to me.

Thanks Nic and Joel esp Nic (for taking pics!), you guys are great cops who rock!

Thanks to my cousin Ruby for coming and being so open minded (music wise)!

Thanks to Tiff esp cos you're the most unexpected audience. I thought you're at home until I got off stage! It was nice to see you smiling in the middle of the pavement amongst the crowd as I made my way back to the merch tent. Nice surprise.

Thanks to all the ex-bartleyans!! It's just funny seeing your high sch mates who you lost contact with waving at you from the pit! But yes, it was such a nice feeling.

Really glad being able to play at this year Bay Beats and how it opened us to a lot more people. Though I thought we kinda screwed up during a couple songs, the response's encouraging. I hope playing in Kate of Kale will continue to bring us more new friends and to more places (countries!). So thanks to my buddies who are doing the band with me. It's been fun.

2005-07-18T02:29:00.000+08:00

Bay Beats 2005

It's a good year for the band. We played many shows, did a tour and managed to score a chance at The Arena stage at Bay Beats again.

Being able to play at Bay Beats again is just great as it's the biggest indie music fest in SG and it's one helluva great exposure for any band, be it small or big stage. The turn out for this yr was really great and that contributed to the sales of our merchandise.

Selling stuff on Sat was just funny. Met a lot of new people and it's just great to have new faces tell you they enjoy your music. Means a lot to me. I remember when I was 17, I was doing the same, going up to bands to tell them I like their music and stuff... It's cool to know that 5 yrs later, I can tell these supportive new found friends what my fav bands used to tell me.

For the first time, I'm nervous during sound check. It's like the innocence of a first time performer. The sound man was asking me to "play riffs" and my fingers just refused to fret the notes. Only when the full band starts playing together did I regain my composure. It was a lot easier when we got up stage to play later. Yeah we made a few screw ups but the crowd was a good crowd. I wonder if they're like 1000 heads there.

Tiff msged me once we got off stage and I realised she actually came down to support with a group of ex-sch mates altho they don't really understand our music!! Such a surprise! It was cool playing to such a huge audience but playing songs to the person who's the subject of my songs is just.... another level of coolness I don't know how to put it in words. Hung out with them after the show at Makansutra before heading home.

Well, buddies are always, buddies. Haha. Ever rocking fellow inspectors Nicholas and Joel were down to give support. I really really appreciate their support. Many other unlikely gig go'ers were down too, including my cousin Ruby.

I can't really remember much of the first Bay Beats we played except for the sucky turn out and how star struck we got when we shared the same merch tent as Sommerset. However, this year's Bay Beats's gonna be something we'll remember for a long time.

2005-07-03T23:42:00.000+08:00

Mainly I Love Kids

Took part in the MILK run today. Besides SG Marathon team mates Ming and Nic from the "Soberly Drunk" team, squadmates ZQ and Shermin joined the run with us too. Altho' it's a lot smaller an event compared to Stand Chart's, I enjoyed the route still. Lesser participants means more room to run unlike big marathon events where tens of thousands are running on closed roads.

It's our first time taking part in MILK's run and I thought it's really unique as the event's run by kids from high school and college. From bag counters to carnival stalls and even runners. I've got like 9 yr olds kicking my ass when it comes to stamina, let alone the college rugby jersey donning jocks.

I like the route the most : from Zouk to Benjamin Sheares Bridge and back, crossing Clarke/Boat Quay and Esplanade. There was this national dragon boat race going on and the Esplanade stretch to Benjamin Sheares bridge was the best. With so many college and uni students cheering on the dragon boat teams and eyes on you too, you can't help but pick up your pace and try to look as best you can. Not forgetting to add that the girls in the dragon boat teams were quite eye candies too.

Tho' we got our asses kicked by some really power chicks and kids today, we're gonna take on this year's New Balance Real Run and SG Marathon again. Hopefully, we'll be a bigger team the next time.

Oh yeah, you know you've got some reflection to do when some supporter sends an email and has a line that says "anyways, i've yet to watch a show by u guys that none of your members are drunk.". Great job, band mates. It's time we start drinking Gatorade before shows...

2005-06-22T00:25:00.000+08:00

Lotus Notes

Civil servants will know what exactly is Lotus Notes. It's like a much more powerful Microsoft Inbox and everyone in the civil service communicate with Lotus Notes. Imagine you can sit in your comfy cubicle, listen to music and do all of the below without leaving your seat!

Accepting work, pushing work away to someone else (called delegation of work aka arrow), gossiping (aka info sharing), sharing online discount coupons, explaining your latest screw ups to your boss officially, set up meetings, communicate with external agencies/public, sending birthday greetings, discuss where to have lunch with your colleagues, send out messages that you're on leave and direct all work to your covering officer and also, SPAMMING YOUR COLLEAGUES!

Oh great tool it is! Imagine abt half to 2/3 of my time in the office is spent on lotus notes! Sometimes, I feel like this Lotus Notes thingy is killing us. I now find it so much easier to just type a few lines than to call. Everything's electronic transferred I feel like a robot cos most of the time I'm heard, it's on email.

Today, I spent the whole day crafting MA tables and explainations on my screw ups here and there. Followed by a furious exchange of emails over some issue but resolved when I decided to pick up the phone and make a few calls. It proved to save a lot unneccessary misunderstanding. You wouldn't know if the other guy behind the computer is throwing a fit until you hear or see him in person. Punctuations can only help express so little.

Maybe that's why some people go unnoticed for some months after starting work in your office. Cos he chose emails over visiting cubicles or picking up the phone and end up being just another email address in Lotus Notes. I still try to walk around office to talk to people everyday. I can't understand when I receive an email from someone who sits 1 - 2 cubicles away from me but all that's in the mail is to ask a simple Qn. It's not like I have tall brick walls as cubicle partitions! All you have to do is to talk a little louder or just stand up so I can hear or see you from my cubicle!

I guess that's why I worked so well with my former supervisor, who'd call my name loudly many times a day. I'd then go to his cubicle to discuss work. If not, he'd walk over to my place to talk. After some time, we'd even talk abt our screw ups and soccer! Since he was posted out to a new posting, I've been working on my portfolio alone. Altho my other superiors are really nice people, it's hard to really know them well cos they talk to me via email most of the time! It some how gives people the idea that "we're just colleagues, not friends" or "I'm more senior than you" kind of feeling.

They prolly want to have their words ON RECORD, black and white but some times it's good to just walk over and and start with a "how's the work/shit going?". I learnt that from my former supervisor and do the same to my assistant.

So much for the bad side of emails, I bet u ten bucks I'll be more than happy to receive "Hey dude! Cafe at 1230hrs?" emails tomorrow. Anyways, it's only 39 days to school, 108 days to returning my warrant card!!!! YUM SENG!!!!!!!

2005-06-12T05:11:00.000+08:00

Congratulations and confirmations

It's out in the force orders. As of 9th June, I'm confirmed to hold the rank of a full pledged Inspector of Police. I thought it'd be like a "hoorah" thing but it was just another day for us. Cos 2 yrs of service has taken its toll and I can't wait to get back to school.

For me, there's this 'confirmation' thing when it comes to friendships. Just like bosses imposing probation terms on new employees. Maybe cos I take a longer time to really trust people. I can only name a few friends I can sit down and talk to about my own personal life. It's not that the people I know are fair weather friends but I just don't open up as easily as how I'd behave differently infront of people I don't really know.

After playing in the band with very different individuals for 5 years and still growing stronger as a unit, I guess it's sort of a 'confirmation' of our friendship. And it seems like after the recent tour, we found it so much easier to hang out doing stuff that's NOT BAND/MUSIC RELATED. In fact, I thought of the otherwise before the tour.

I remember a week before we left for Malaysia, I was telling Tiff that maybe I'll take a break from my band mates cos we'd be seeing too much of one and other. Fortunately, it turned out the opposite, which is good. At least we're beginning to see that there's more than music we can talk about.

So I guess I'm pretty much a lucky person to be able to count the number of good friends I have. Prolly having realizing this made me a lot happier a person as I was 2 years ago. I've got bunch of morons as brothers - band mates and NS buddies, a group of ex sch mates who helped me grad diploma and still calls me out for movies and dinner, not forgetting, this special group of people I grew up with since high school.

I prolly not have the chance to meet more of such great people once I start Uni and in the work force later in life. But I am content, to be able to grow old with these friends cos in my heart, they're 'CONFIRMED' as great people in their very own way.

2005-06-02T00:55:00.000+08:00

Pause Fillers

A break is what we all need some times. I've been "garang" for too long and I'm totally burnt out. Another chaotic month off the calendar and I'm starting to count my days of service left. Can't wait to just go on long leave and to finally have my warrant card returned in exchange for my pink IC. But wait, I'll be schooling by the time I get to clear my leave.

Nic, Yun Ching, Ricky and I are on this 3-day course at the Civil Service College. We love attending courses cos it's our chance to get out of the office. Today's our first day and it's a good course, learning how to be a polished presenter. All you do is to stand up and speak to the class. Beats presenting issues to your bosses at work anyway! I think I did quite ok but I'm plagued with 'pause fillers', the "uhms-ers-yeah-ok-i-mean". Funny how you'll only notice what you say when you record yourself down on video. And funny how most cringe while looking at their own vids.

X'Ho called me 2 nights back for a phone interview. He caught us at our Johor show some weeks back and liked what he saw. So he hooked us up with an interview on his radio show that's aired outside Singapore. I don't know where exactly cos I didn't really have the chance to ask.

Was really surprised at some of the questions he asked cos he really went thru our CD, lyrics and even asked about the use of the number 29 and why are there strategically 29 tracks on the CD. All I can say is that he's one cool dude for doing what he does and I've always looked up to him since I started reading BigO. It's a real big thing to have someone I really look up to tell me he like my band and even air an interview with me. That's something I'll never forget.

Also, I'll never forget when he offered to help us man our merch table at the Johor show! A lot respect for this guy who's passion for music's so strong. Everyone should get his book and CDs if you haven't. It's a lot better read than your dumb Jap manga comics.

2005-05-29T23:55:00.000+08:00

You Lift Me Up

Visited Tras and baby with Tiff and Sam today. Finally got to see baby Brendan in person. Even with feeding and oxygen tubes plastered on his face and into his nostrils, Brendan was very active, kicking and punching the air non-stop.

I like babies but never really carried one in my arms before cos I fear I might break a fragile bone or hurt the baby in anyway. But Tras reassured me and passed little Brendan over to me. In less than 10 mins, I was convinced I make a lousy baby sitter.

We played with the baby and talked to Tras for a few hours. Funny how we seldom talk serious whenever we meet. Her in-laws bought dinner for us. Nice folks. It's good to see how Tras and her baby are doing after months of just Tiff updating me abt them.

I'd love to catch up with the Tras and son again. Hopefully Brendan can wave good bye by then. It's just weird being addressed as "Uncle Ray" at this age but I'd love to hear Brendan call me that soon.

2005-05-19T01:24:00.000+08:00

RANDOM
The nice folks at The Rockstar Collective and Wallworks are putting us up for this rad show.

Come to RNDM for a change. They've got Poptart spinning after the bands so come hang out and buy us drink you trendy fuck.

Check out the band's tour diary below.

2005-05-17T23:15:00.000+08:00

KILLED BY SCREAMS TOUR DIARY - in detail
8 May 2005, Sunday
We met and travelled up north with the nice folks of Harakiri. Best friends of band, Sondee, Man and Herda went with us too. For the first time, we're headliners so we hung out and watched all the bands while manning the merch stall and waiting for our turn as the last band to close the show.

Harakiri played the first band and when they were only 2 songs into their set, a familiar face entered the hall. It was Chris Ho aka X'Ho!!! He was there to catch the gig but didn't know there would be bands from his country. He asked abt Harakiri while checking out the merch and he looked really surprised to know we're from Singapore. He then bought a KOK tee shirt (first fucking customer!!!!) and I got all star struck I gave him a CD of ours.

The show was really fun. It's fun playing in JB cos the kids really like us there and they're a really warm bunch. We put quite a show and X'Ho stayed to watch us for a bit even tho' his friends had to go off. He even offered to help man our stall when we had to go on stage! What a nice person!

Having to work the next day, we left for home right after the show. The funny part was when we decided to have dinner at Mary Brown's and the poor service made Anna of Harakiri so mad she went up to reason with the staff. I thought that was funny and cute of her cos she seemed like a quiet person most part of the day.

13 May 2005, Friday
I was the last to arrive at Kranji MRT about 6pm. We took the day off from work to depart for Malaysia. Beside the band, great pals Man, Sondee and Herda would be following us on tour. Took the 'Smiley' bus to Johor where we rented a 12-seater van for the ROAD TRIP.

By 8pm, we got our van, load up our gear, topped up the tank and started driving to KL with Colin at the wheel. X'Ho, who we met at the JB show sms-ed me well wishes for tour. How fucking rock is that!!! Like kids on excursions, we cranked up the stereo and sang to radio hits we'd never sing on the streets. Being able to travel at 110km/h on a high way legally was the best thing.

Just like any punk band on tour, we got pulled over by cops on the expressway. Most of us were already sleeping at the back of the van. The cops just checked our passport and went back to their vehicle w/o any instructions for us to leave or not. So we Man went up to them and asked if we could leave. All the cops asked was "What's Kate Of Kale?". Apparently, it was the KATE OF KALE car plate we affixed on the rear window screen that got the attention of the cops. I guessed Man told them we're a bunch of musicians and they let us go. Phew... no speeding ticket for travelling at 130km!

After getting lost for a bit in KL, we met up with Dicky of First Stance Records at abt 2am. He drove us around town to pick up KL's hottest screamo band, Utarid. Coincidentally, the frontman of Utarid turned out to be Palie, also the frontman of Elisebelle Tears. We played with him 3 yrs ago at our maiden overseas gig in KL. It was great to see him with members of Elisebelle Tears again when we drove to his place.

Palie took over the wheel from his place onwards to Ipoh. While we catch some sleep.

14 May 2005, Saturday
Palie drove us to a place where we ate Ipoh's fried kway teow for breakfast. There were news that the show organiser didn't secure the venue and we might have no show to play. What a way to start the day. We drove to the club anyway. It's one cool district like SG's Holland V but the shops are closed on a Saturday. Weird. We washed our face and brushed out teeth at the car park with the sponsored bottled water. Haha.

Somehow, the kids organising the show managed to take us to the club owner and secured the venue for the night. The show was to go on and we checked in to Majestic Hotel for a SHOWER and a short nap.

We found ourselves packing and loading up the van 3 hrs later. Once again, our beloved Utarid guys drove us to lunch where we had what the boys call "NASI GANJA". No! There's no marijuana in the rice! Just that it tastes so good, you keep coming back for more. That's why they call it Nasi Ganja. It's actually Indian version of 'economy rice' but the rice is drenched with different curries and gravies, served with a fried chicken thigh, salted egg (!!!) and some curry veggies. It's a really good feeling having a hot meal after filling our stomachs with snacks from pit stops and petrol stations when on the road.

When we finally got to Level One Club, there place was already filled and the show had already started with the support acts. One of the kids came up and sang a line from our song "Death Like Lennon's". I was so blown away by the fact that some kid who lives 600km away from us knows the words to our song!!! That's fucken wicked!

We played the last slot and the kids were great. The stage was too small for acrobatics. Calvin and I kept knocking over each other and stuff. It was great fun and we even did a screwed up NoFX cover for the encore. Yeah, the crowd actually asked for one more song. What great people!

As Dicky planned to have us reach Penang by 1am, we had to leave almost immediately after our set. Packing and loading the van's a fucken chore. Squeezing into the van with no air con and another 7sweaty guys + 1 girl adds more to discomfort. But it was fun. Atan and I managed to do a quick interview with a music zine editor while tearing our gear off the stage.

15 May 2005, Sunday
4 hrs later (1++ am), we were at Penang waiting for friends from Color My Iris to show us the way. We played with Color My Iris 3 yrs back too! It was very much like a reunion to be playing alongside with them again. Thong from Color My Iris had already helped us check in to a nice back packer lodge just infront of the club we're supposed to play. Coolness! That means no more driving the next day cos the venue is just like 10 metres away from the lodge we were staying at! We left for a really late dinner of Nasi Kandar (again!!!) at abt 2.30am and return to sleep till 1130am.

Being the Singaporeans we are, we HAD to shop. So we started walking around the streets of Penang and went into little shops. Nasi Kandar for lunch again and more shopping. I wish I brought a bigger bag but the thought of lugging all the gear and band merchandise home stopped me from buying anything big. But there wasn't much to buy anyway. All we bought were some trucker caps and sunglasses.

Back at No. 29 Trang Road where the club's located, the show had already started. As usual, we set up our merch table but had only shirts to sell. The local label that had stock of our CDs didn't turn up and I only had 3 promo CDs left. We managed to sell off whatever CD I had left and gave one to a music mag writer. He's one cool 55 yr old!

The Penang show's a little weird cos the crowd's really quiet altho they seem to like us. There were more Chinese and there were Chinese girls too. A rare scene in Malaysia. Guess Penang's got the highest Chinese population and that's why.

As it was our last show of the tour, we wanted to make it one that Utarid will remember. For the first time, we got to play before them. So we stayed for the set and created havoc when they play by carrying the members of Utarid and throwing them to the crowd to body surf. It was a cool gig.

The club owner then sold us beer for only RM3 per can!!! We then got ourselves a bottle of vodka and made the Smek, the guitarist of Utarid drunk. It was so much fun until we realised we created a monster out of Smek. He was talking crap and doing total jackass stuff while we laughed real hard.

An hour after the drunken comedy, Palie drove us back to KL again.

16 May 2005, Monday
One by one, we drove the members of Utarid to their homes in KL and parted good bye. We finally reached Palie's apartment around 5am. We took showers and slept on his floor. It's a cool crib, with members of Elisebelle Tears and Custom Daisy sharing the 3-room apartment. Their rooms were nicely painted and furnished too.

At 1200hrs, we reluctantly bid farewell to everyone while they asked us to stay for lunch. With Man needing to work at night and us starting work the next day, we had to rush home. Calvin took over the wheel and we drove 5+ hours back to JB to return the van, stopping at numerous petrol stations for food and rest.

At Larkin, Johor, we took a bus and reached SG around 8pm. We thanked Sondee, Man and Herda for helping us on tour and parted goodbyes once again. Home sweet home at 9pm.

2005-05-13T15:20:00.000+08:00

1 hour 29 mins

before I leave home for Kranji, where I'll meet up with rest of the band. We're gonna get to Johor, pick up our rented van and take on the road for 8-10hrs before reaching our destination. We'll smell each others' farts and think of corny jokes to stay awake. Well, at least we have more than 2 drivers.

Glad I took a full day off today. Had to run around to update my passport photo and restock on guitar strings. Came home and was talking to Tiff when she said there's a function she thought she'd bring to and meet up with her former JAL colleagues. BUT, it's over the weekend and I'm heading to Malaysia!! What a big boo boo!!!

Then Shai called halfway thru my conversation with Tiff and he informed of the death of a fellow scenester. Well we aren't really like close friends with him but we do see him around quite often and he'll always get into the pit when we play. It's so weird to see him just last week sipping off beer from others and doing his funny thing but gone today. It's just weird...

Ir's abt time I get going. We'll tear thru Ipoh and Penang to rock your socks off. We'll try.

2005-05-10T23:10:00.000+08:00

Ligament Spasm

Last Sunday was the best Malaysian show we played so far. We were all tired after braving the rain to the venue and waiting a whole day for our set. Fortunately, mates from Harakiri were playing too and we travelled up north together.

It's funny how we've known Harakiri for some time but never really hung out together till Sunday. They're as nice as ever. Good buddies from USV, Man and Sondee together with Herda and Lin were with us too. They're the most supportive people we know and really thank them for the fun and help they've given to us.

Anyway, we lugged all our t-shirts from SG and managed to sell some. The first customer was X'ho!!! Yeah! Fucken Chris Ho was at the show and he bought our shirt. He came all the way to JB just for the show without knowing there were 2 SG bands on the bill. I wldn't travel all the way to JB just to catch a gig with no bands I know of!

We closed the show with an energetic set and the kids seem to like us. I might have strained a lower back ligament that day, resulting to sharp jolts of pain at work today. Sucky... I can't wait for Friday to come and we'll tear thru Ipoh and Penang over the weekend.

It's gonna be crazy cos we'll be having a rented van in JB for our gear and merch. Not forgetting an 8 hr drive. Now I'm happy I have no driving license! Atan and I will be chauffered around by the Chua bros!

Time for heat rub on my back....

2005-05-08T00:05:00.000+08:00

Choke That Thief Called Dependence!

We're heading up to Johor again tomorrow! Another 'hit n run' show there cos we're all going back to work on Monday.

It's a little intimidating to see that we've been put up as an headliner act for the next 3 shows. Our co headliner for the Ipoh-Penang leg is KL's screamo outfit, Utarid. They've got some power material and it's quite a bit of pressure just thinking about putting up a show on par with foreign acts you've never played with before. But as a band, we're like of circus of clowns and we manage to get a lot fun playing shows most of the time so I hope it'll be likewise for the Malaysian tour.

Dyn helped to get a bunch of KOK shirts made and we'll be lugging them all to JB tomorrow. So help buy some merch so we don't have to lug bagful of merch through the customs when returning! We'll have the girly version of the KOK "Lion City Punk Rock" t-shirt starting next week. It's pink print on black girl tee!

Gotta check out some comedy dvd Calvin passed to me...

2005-04-18T23:08:00.000+08:00

"Killed By Screams" Tour 2005

Last night, was hanging out at my maternal gramps' place when Dyn from My Precious called me. He said among the pirated mp3 CDs he saw at Tampines, one of the mp3 CD title contained Kate Of Kale's song, "29 Apologies". "I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this!" he said.

Yeah, it sure feels funny to have your songs pirated but I didn't feel a bit 'ripped off' or anything yet. Maybe cos it's not pirated copies of our FULL ALBUM that's on sale. Looking on the bright side, one of the Fourskin founders once said in an interview that it's a sign you've made it some how when you see your work getting pirated. Woot! Woot! Hope I don't see like pirated copies of our full album on sale when we tour Malaysia. Then again, that'll mean a lot more people will be getting to hear our music!

The dates for the Malaysian tour have been confirmed and we'll be playing shows every weekend this May. It's gonna be fun and things are going great. We even managed to sell some CDs last Sat, playing a not-so-good set as a 3-piece to a not-so-strong crowd at Planet Paradigm.

With so many things coming up for the band, we'll have to go through a mad rush to get some things settled like merchandise design and getting them manufactured, WEBSITE (!!!), and logistic support for the Malaysian shows.

We've got a van and some equipment. What we lack is just one more guitar amp. If you have any to loan us for 13 - 17 May, pls email me! We're looking at a 100W amp or even a 60W amp that's loud.

Do check www.geocities.com/kateofkale in the coming few days for show dates and stuff!

2005-04-04T00:24:00.000+08:00

The Age Where No One Fits

I'm too cool, that's why I'm not seeing anyone. That a good explanation folks? :)

I'm excited cos it seems like a good year for playing music. We're planning for a 7-date Singapore/Malaysia show thingy for like 5 weekends continuously and about half of the dates are already confirmed.

I've got my guitar rewired and ready to hit the road. Hope everything gets nailed by this week so I can start putting together new tee shirts and stuff.

We'll kick off our string of shows with our buds USV at Planet Paradigm coming April 16th. More dates and details soon.

2005-03-27T02:10:00.000+08:00

The Other Room

My grandparents lived with me since birth. Tho' I had a bit of hard time growing up with my granny 'in charge' in my early years, she took quite good care of me afterall. The caning, pinching and chilli-in-mouth punishments aside, I grew up watching drama serials with my granny and wrestling with my grandfather. They cooked for us too.

Being the kind of person my grandparents are, they became more like 'occupants of the other room' to me after 22 years. I still love them but we're all tired. We're tired of the neverending drama and the fucken pointless fingerpointing from people we call relatives.

I find this whole saga a real big joke (shame on them fuckers). My bro and I helped my dad move the remaining bulk of furniture to my gramp's new pad today. It's a different kind of feeling moving today and I kind of wished I didn't give up the Bintan trip w/ my police buds. My bro asked if I felt any sadness yesterday. I said no cos it was just an empty flat.

But with everything in today and my grandparents already there today, I felt sad. For the first time in my life my grandparents are gonna live independently, away from us and the home that sheltered them for over 2 decades.

I've always hated taking orders from my grandfather but I feel bad not replying today when he asked me to visit him weekly. With my granny sitting on the chair waving goodbye, I felt a chill run down my spine. She looked like she's already missing the comfort of her REAL home and she's the only one I worried of. It doesn't help that I've seen so many senior citizens fall prey to criminals in my job.

WIth the lights off and everyone else asleep at home now, I feel a sudden loss. Across my room is where my grandparents use to occupy. Now it's empty and it's just a weird feeling looking at the empty room.

Maybe it's a good lesson to me afterall. cos I've just realised I still love my grandparents as much as before. Them living with us, I see them when I wake up and when I return from work. But from today onwards, I'll have to make time just to see them.

I hope promises be honored and everyone live in peace and happily.

2005-03-21T00:41:00.000+08:00

The Siloso (Boobies) Curse

I'm bruised and aching all over from playing shows the past 2 days. All the jumping and spasm shit we do on stage are taking its toll on us. Add on the gear lugging, alcohol and etc etc...

I could see smiling faces today. Prolly we did entertain them with our stage antics. We kind of startled the Minister when we kicked off our set with screams. Haha. It was funny quite a funny expression. At least the punk kids looked entertained and the doubleyellowline crew were kind enough to egg us on.

After the show was some beach soccer action. Quite a comical game but it was fun. I ate sand cos the guys were 'anti-cop' for today. So they tackled me whenever they had the chance to. knn. lim peh will 'or-kong' you guys when i have the chance to.

Dine late with Tiff and we talked about our future and priorities. I turned blank for a bit when she asked if I'd really be focused in sch when I finally get to. Blank cos I couldn't answer her definitely. What I really know about myself is to get back to school again. This is so shitty. The only definite answer is to go school to check out the girls.

Like me, she can't give a definite answer on what she's gonna do besides flying. Seems like this is the age when you can't give definite answers when questioned what to do in life. Damn, it's back to the "Eenie Money Eenie More!" stage.

2005-03-20T03:49:00.000+08:00

"Smile like the sun always shines..." - Boing

The show at NUS was real fun. Kind of like in JB but we talked a lot lesser. The Boing guys were really nice and they kept handing me their own concoctions of beer w/ cola and red bull vodka throughout the night. The Chua bros brought their bottle of Jaegermeister and the Germans were delighted of cos.

The reason why I didn't talk much during the set was the alcohol. By the 2nd song, I felt dehydrated and my mouth was dry. Also, we moved too much, to catch our breath. What made the show fun were the people cos they were appreciative. Being the nicest Germans Boing are, it was nice fooling around with them.

After tearing down the gear and all the equipment moving, we adjorned for a late dinner in a huge group, There, we bid farewell after a long meal. If given the choice, I'd choose to travel up to Johor to play the Boing show over the Sentosa's gig.

Anyways, we'll play 5 pm later today. 5 hrs of sleep and it's rise and fucken shine to get ready for the show. Siloso Beach, 5pm.

Visit: www.boing.info

2005-03-14T00:54:00.000+08:00

cheers darlin', I got a beauty queen to sit not very far from me

Went to SIM (again) with Valerie yesterday. The bus ride was fucken long but it reminded of our bus rides to sch. Crossing the overhead bridge, it was like back to our old tertiary days when we'd see each other on the bus take the bridge to sch.

I felt the 'consultation' sessions weren't much of use but I did get a little more info this time. The food was good at the campus western food cafe so we ate. A lot.

The IT fair was packed as fuck. It took like forever to cross from one tower to another at Suntec. My first time at IT fair cos I'm never a tech guy. I guess I'll never go to another one again unless I have $moolah$. I so want to get myself a laptop and mp3 player after seeing countless models on display. Watched Hitch after the fair and god I wish I can be like Hitch too!

After hitting East Coast Park for a run the 2nd time, I'm gonna make it a point to run there every weekend. The dogs, the joggers and the happy looking people there just make you wanna keep running till the end.

2005-03-06T23:07:00.000+08:00

What I need is what makes me bleed.

Spent the whole of Saturday at Youth Park, hanging out with the USV guys and watching them play. Made a few new friends from the NUS OMS too. I didn't know my friends have such violent girl friends till yesterday. Ave punched me in the stomach (twice!) and bit my arm (bruised with a little tooth mark) while Gillian forcefully dragged us to the pit during USV set.

Was out running round the estate this evening when I suddenly felt like going to Bedok Jetty. So I ran all the way to East Coast Park and to Bedok Jetty. Well, bad mistake cos I brought nothing with me. No cash, no cards, no phone, no water.

Although it was great running against the sea breeze and having so many cute chicks and pups as eye candies, it sucks when you're 10 kilometres from home and you have no money for drinks and only your feets to take you back. I even bummed into a superior who laughed at me for walking on the returning leg.

I'm still having mixed feelings on my grandparents moving out. Like what my brother said, no one really understand unless they've been in our shoes and for the past 22 yrs. I just wish them folks a happy live at their new pad.

2005-03-04T00:36:00.000+08:00

Dying Tulips Are Grand

I finally got Cassandra's CD at Johor last Sunday. It's one of the best Malaysian CD I've heard and it's been playing on my ear phones to and off work everyday. I got a free poster too. Maybe I should do mass digital prints in Malaysia for cheap.

I'm starting to move my ass a bit and hit the gym with Nic not once but twice today. Hopefully, I'll start going back to running and doing some pussy callisthenics cos Nic's got a solid plan to hit the gym the next 2 weeks. I'll tag along with Nic and hopefully, I'll be all motivated to start running on my own again.

Working out really help relief stress. Felt a lot better immediately after the run and shower. I was actually singing the dumb songs from Team America's sound track.

Since Singaporeans are becoming a healthy and weight conscious bunch, businesses have been banging on 'health marketing'. With Subway taking the lead in promoting themselves as a fast food chain that serves healthy food, other fast food companies have followed suit. MacDonald's and Long John's got their wraps while Burger King and KFC got their "caesar salad".

Being the occasional(altho i'll still drink and eat chips any time i feel like) health conscious Singaporean, I can't help but order the so called "healthier" choices at fast food joints when I'm out and there's no where else to dine. Altho I don't practise much self control and still eat a lot of junk, I don't eat without first thinking how unhealthy I chose to eat. I guess NS has made an idiot, calculating calorie and carbo intake at every meal.

NS is slowly turning me into an idiot and I need to school soon.

2005-03-03T01:02:00.000+08:00

Outline the floor with chalk cos my passion just died.
This is how it feels to lose passion for work:
"Shitty shitty shit. Work again tomorrow AND the day after before the week ends. "

and this is how it feels to lose the passion to love:
"my heart's a waste land so fuck you, you fucking fuck" It's so relieving shiok to just say "Fuck you, you fucking fuck".

I'm still feeling drained. Like I 'm set on overdrive and lost passion for many things. The "Be in passion always" card I keep in my wallet isn't at all working. Haha. I'm just fucked for now. But at least, the only thing i'm yet to lose passion for is music.

The show at Johor went well on Sunday. The Malaysians loved us and the girls wanted to have our babies. Ok, joking.

Most of the crowd were there for the female fronted thrash punk band, Devil Doll. They were all dressed up in leather, studs and colored mohawk. A scene we haven't been seeing here for the past 2 - 3 yrs. The funny thing was some of the mohawked punks drove. I wonder how they keep their mohawks in shape with little headroom when in the car.

We lugged our gear and 100 CDs over for Firstance Recs to distribute. It was a chore alighting and boarding the buses with all that gear but good friends of the band were there to help.

Because we only had enough cables to rig up our own gear, we had to borrow cables from 2 cute chicks for the amps. It helped that they dressed normal and were a lot friendlier. Everyone stared as we went thru a short sound check. We thought they totally hated us but to our surprise, we got the crowd on our side as soon as we started playing.

It took a little while to get the crowd on their feets at first but it was fun. Atan spoke to the crowd in Malay while I talked crap in English. The funny but shiok part was seeing these crusty punks moshing and dancing to our most un-danceable, un-moshable songs. E.g. skanking during our 'metal parts' and dancing during our 'emo parts'. I felt a lot more appreciated playing there and gave out buttons throughout the show.

We played so rough and wild I cut my thumb deep while playing and got my guitar pickups covered with blood. When we got home, I found 2 big bruises on both my knees from all the 'kneeling action'.

We had people coming to talk to us after the show like in the past! It felt a little like 2002. And the great part was that some kids actually had our very first CD and they were telling how much they dig our new stuff now. We also saw people buying our CDs off the merch table which is good.

Because we were a happy bunch after our set, we gave CDs and buttons to the 2 cute chicks who lent us cables. Man from USV hooked up the cutest one by saying "Kate Of Kale want to know you. Can leave your contacts behind?". The good thing was that he pointed at Colin's direction while saying that. Haha!

We had to leave when the girls went on stage. Took the public bus back to SG with all our gear but this time, without the hundred CDs. Really hope to play more Malaysian shows soon.

2005-02-27T02:35:00.000+08:00

Be an Asshole. You can then shit all over dicks and pussies.

I'm feeling a little better today. I was pissed shit by a lady named Noelle at the dinner & dance last night. I was pissed to a higher level during the lucky draw. whatever. At least, "Team America" movie brought the blood pressure down notches.

I need to get out of bed early later and I hope I do. I must cos we're gonna take a ride up to Larkin, Johor for a gig later. Friends from up north Malaysia, pls come.

Venue: Leez Musicians Port
Doors: Open @ 2pm
Price: RM 32

We'll be back to play on the following dates: 19/03, 20/03, 02/04, 16/04. More details as dates draw nearer so just make yourself free. I'd love to spill my guts out at more shows and further up north. Book us, pls. Thank you.

2005-02-23T00:35:00.000+08:00

I'm doing good...

I'm dealing with too many issues. Getting out of bed these days is a fucken chore. I've been Mr. Nice Guy for too long that when I raise my voice a little, people think I'm rude. I think I'm doing good anyway. I haven't lost my temper yet and I'm still Mr Nice Guy. My assistant thinks I'm jaded and asks me to relax. The truth is, I really am.

I just want to finish NS and concentrate on my own life but being the person I am, I'm not about leaving the shit behind for the superiors who have been treating me well. I'll still perform as expected, if not, better. That's exactly why I'm always feeling like shit. I'll always feel like people have certain expectations of me but it's really just me most of the time. If only I'll feel this way towards studying.

I'm forever chasing my own shadow, just like how I motivate myself to keep running. I don't know if this is good or bad cos I'm in a league of my own. It's just me against me. What I do know is that I'm fucken tired of myself for living life how people expect me to expect myself to. Not how I'd love to.

Now, I really don't know what I want anymore.

2005-02-20T03:30:00.000+08:00

Glory is a silent thing

We're into our 5th year and played shitty just now. I've come to terms that this is what we really are. The kind of shitty but you'll still go back all over again. Cos it's fun and we'll play for as long as we can.

I shall declare tonight Mineral night cos it's been a really l o n g t i m e...

i wanted to taste victory but my mouth was dry

how can i not admit i need to know you?

i'll wish for shoulders bold and broad to bear
and strength to hold my head above them
cause I just want to be something more than the mud in your eyes
i want to be the clay in your hands

i scream into the wind and laugh
as the words slap me in the face
i would gladly trade a lifetime of convenience
for and honest day or two

It's been so long since I've stood on my two feet
I'd really rather lay here and pretend
But people like you and me never get that peace
It comes from denying that everything is so screwed up
It's so screwed up

I stand on a building and throw up my arms to the sky
I swallow my pride and admit
That it's not always best to understand the reason why

Those days are gone now and we must move forward still
But I will not forget the things I understood at your window sill

But things they change and people grow
And move in step with the green paper flow
But deep inside I wonder or maybe I already know
They they never really find the answers

2005-02-19T03:56:00.000+08:00

Fifth Year Coming...

Finally, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so gonna go back to school!!!!!!!! Woot woot! I'm gonna go school where boys have done time in NS and girls a couple yrs younger. It'll be my last chance to experience the following:

cheap meals at canteen 'bio-ing" chio bus, last minute group studies, library afternoon naps, hang out with sch buds, skipping class (a few times is ok), co curriculum activities, trying to catch the same bus/train with the prettiest girl to school everyday, blah blah blah.... I'll even have time to play more music!!!

KOK will play our second show of the year later tonight. Colin came over to the prata place and we talked about how the band has become such an important part in our lives for the past 5 years. It's funny how we'd always score shows that falls on our anniversary month except 2003, the year we play ZERO shows.

5 yrs isn't a long time. But, we're proud to be playing and rehearsing in a band religiously for this long in $ingapore!! Afterall, how long more can we be playing the music we're playing now before other priorities/commitments set in and call it quits?

I remember when we first started, we'd 'choreograph' our live shows and memorise our set list. The days when we'd go play a show really nervous, get the crowd moving and having strangers to talk to us when we pack up. Well, it's true you see real friends when you play music in this puny scene. The 'strangers' soon became friends and like what Colin says, "We have nothing to offer but friendship".

Things are looking good this year, with a new CD and a bunch of shows coming up. Still, I miss playing venues like Jammer's Pit where perspiration of the moshing crowd would condense on the walls. I miss playing to crowds who'd hum along even when they don't know the words. I miss seeing same set of faces at different gigs. I miss those after show conversations with new faces at our merch table.

Well, new faces only wave and smile at us these days. Prolly cos I'm not 17 anymore and the Chua bros are like 8, 10 yrs older than half of the gig go'ers now? I guess the kids must be thinking "Ah.. those big boys must be damn old now..." and won't come up to us like they'd to bands their age.

Whatever year our birthcerts may be issued, we'll all be 18 forever. Just like Anti-Flag. Hope to see u guys at the shows!

2005-02-16T01:29:00.000+08:00

My Achilles Heel

Diagnosed with heart murmur since young and a bad knee since high school, these 2 'problems' plagued me for a long time. I never passed NAPFA in my whole schooling life and the first time I'd passed IPPT was in BMT. And that was after quite some remedial fucken training. Haha.

But I guessed they weren't as big problems as I'd thought them to be. Though I almost got thrown out of the leadership training in the last phase of my officer cadet course due to a medical review, I managed to prove it wasn't at all a problem for me. I thank the big bosses above the skies for blessing me. Thank Kew You.

Felt the need to run off the stress from work and the JUNK FROM CNY once hitting home. The hardest thing about running is to start running! So I reached home, changed and walked out immediately. Once a kilometre into the run, I'd get the 'flow' and complete my 6 or more rounds around the estate. All I have to do is to occupy myself with thoughts for that 45 - 60 mins. It was a good run cos I completed it with the same ease under the same time.

Collected my photos and I find them so funny. I look like bugs bunny. Prolly bring em' to the office and scan them all tomorrrow. Ahh... I can still smell the work pile up at the office from home...

If you hit SUNTEC Carrefour this Fri from like 3 - 9, you can talk to Uncle Policeman at the Total Defence Photofest. Can't believe they're sending me there for such duty! AND IT'S A FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!! So who says it's good to be single? You'll have one excuse less to refuse weekend duties! Hah! If you're enlisting to the Army, pretend to have a super clingy girl friend instead of expressing how good your carefree single life is. Ok, I was dumb. Dammit.

2005-02-15T03:35:00.000+08:00

Happy Couples Never Last - Part 100929 HAHA!

I've never celebrated Valentine's for my whole life, not even with a date. Though I'd love to have someone I like to do just that, I say "Fuck you flower girls! Do I look like I have a date when I'm just shopping for vitamin pills?"

I've said my peace. May you bleed this color.

2005-02-14T01:18:00.000+08:00

Diary of Always

I'm the one distinctly plain to you
For a solemn glance is another rightful taste

Wished I could have faltered
Wished I could have changed...

2005-02-07T01:58:00.000+08:00

"For You, My Love Is Never Ending"

I hate when it's 2 am, the weekend's over and I'll start work in like 6.5 hrs. All good things come to an end. I had a great week.

Thought it'd be a simple chill-out style countdown to my 22nd birthday at Paulaners on Saturday but it out otherwise. I got to do the things I've been wanting to do: catching up with old friends.

Finally met up Tras and she showed Tiff and I her baby son pictures. At only 22, I felt like I'm lagging so much behind the girls. One's got a great paying career and the other already started a family of her own. It's good to see Tras again, still like before. Just like her out of uniform in high school. Felt like I'm the dude in the BACK TO THE FUTURE movie. The girls laughed hysterically as I watched them like I'd back in high school.

I hung out with Tiff for a bit after Tras had to leave to attend to her precious. She took me to the Gucci boutique to see some AUTHENTIC Gucci bags. I'm always into fakes :) I wished we could have spend more time together but she had to go for her reunion dinner and me to meet up with my poly classmates. I opened the card Tiff gave me only after she left and I wished so much I could thank her in person! It's simple but filled with words so meaningful to our friendship.

Had dinner with U304 classmates at The Rice Table. So much thanks for the present and the little cake. They too, haven't changed much. Sweet. I like the "Licence To Bull Shit" they gave me so much.

As night falls, it was time to meet up with the "alcoholic rehab group" consisting of my band and police mates. My Police Inspectorate buds: Nic, Ricky and Ming bought me a really cool shirt and the fucking rad ALEXISONFIRE belt buckle that I casually said "I'd love to get that one" just the day before. The 'boys in blue' rock.

The alcohol wasn't enough and Alleybar was a boring place. So we adjorned to KBOX for a night of screaming cheesy 80s rock and some 90s Chinese pop song. I'm so proud of my "Dui Ni Ai Ai Bu Wan" ("For you my love is never ending" in Chinese!)gig cos I can still remember the hand movements to the chorus of the song. And I can hit the "grab my balls" pitch of Aerosmith and Bon Jovi. Now bow down to the master, me, cos I just fucken turned twenty two!

2005-01-24T01:33:00.000+08:00

Can you taste the fear in her sweat?

I'm a busy man. Once more(many more to go), I'd love to say "I want to go back to school". Busy is good cos time past real quick. Keeps me occupied and makes me feel like I'm the important dude, like some CEO or something. But in I'm in fact doing time just the opposite. My juniors are to take office tomorrow or Tues so it's gonna be the start of countdown before I leave the POO LEASE FOURCE!

Well, at least my NS is an enriching one, having the chance to go thru both Army and Police training and finally awarded a rank that most respect. The work I do is also real, compared to what we used to do in the army (fighting false objectives?) This is one great experience but damn I wanna SCHOOL!!!! I wanna strike the lottery to school!!!!! I don't gamble but a joke SMS from Tiff just struck me how great it'll be to win TOTO's top prize!

Caught Electra with a couple friends last night. I paid to watch Jennifer Garner. The show isn't that great anyway. So we dined at the food court after and we saw like groups of Uni students at different tables. They looked like they just came off some extra curriculum club or something. Looking at them makes us miss school so much. We exchanged school stories, anchored on how bad we did in school and how we managed to get promoted each year. If you ask me, I wouldn't say I'll change if given the chance to go back in time. Cos I had fun and Microelectronics isn't fun. I guess I'm just not the engineering cut.

I thank my bands for being a great outlet to express myself and let off emotionally. With all the issues, work and stress built up over the week, it's great to jam on weekends. It's been a great 5 years (in a few weeks!) and better things are coming way.

2005-01-16T23:06:00.000+08:00

Questions 'n' Answers

I'm 21 going on 22 in 3 weeks time. Kanina... I feel like 16 again, having to choose where to school and the course of study. This time, it's the "after ORD plans" that I'm racking my head for.

'A' levels counterparts are gonna ORD in March and they already have places reserved in various Unis. I bummed away last yr's enrolment exercise, so it's time to re-think what I really wanna do. Sucks... If only education here is free here like in Germany and some parts of US, I'll school a few more years!

I had a good laugh at my own result slips last night. You can say I'm quite a lucky bastard to have graduated without repeating a single academic term. Oh yes, that's something for someone like me to be proud of :)

The new tunes we wrote as "Jazz n' Mosh" are still ringing in my head. It's just so exciting for us...

2005-01-15T04:33:00.000+08:00

I'm the good guy...

cos you're the one throwing shit at the fan. We'll all stink anyway. fuck you and have a nice day :)

2005-01-11T23:45:00.000+08:00

My Heart's Held Hostage

I can't help but feel that way but I've been feeling that way for such a long long time. My heart's being held hostage for so long, I can even laugh whenever I talk about it. Haha...

So it was back to the same ol' same ol' routine at work today. As busy as ever but I now know how to manage my time to get off work earlier. Glad to be able to make it to the jam session with Ronny today.

Ronny texted me last night, asking if I'd be interested to play some Dischord-ish music. I said yes almost immediately and he went on to get Burhan of "All Countries" on board. We agreed on having Eugene as the bassist and the next sms Ronny sent was one that'd set the the first jam session to take place in less than 12 hrs after forming!

It was fun. We went in the studio excited and walked out even more stoked up to put together more material. I've always wanted to play music different from what I'm already doing with KOK. Suddenly, it's fun to play with new people all over again. Seeing the rest of the guys this excited stokes me up too.

I wish I'm schooling right now but damn, work tomorrow... Slightly less than 10 month's time, I'll be out of the Police Force!!! WHEE!!!! Start the countdown, I can't wait to school! Wait a minute, I haven't got a seat in any Uni yet. Boo....

2005-01-10T20:11:00.000+08:00

When one eight becomes two zeros

I just conked off for 5 hrs... Wonder how am I going to sleep again later tonight. There wasn't like a proper job the whole of last night's shift. Ricky and I just sat around, waiting for inputs. He slept while I surfed guitar and news sites to keep awake.

I didn't feel tired but napped 30 mins in the early morning. I even when back to my work station to clear some work and went to the gym! Wrong move. I felt sick after that. Slept on the train and missed the stop home! But the good news is that the operation has scaled down significantly and we'll be able to return to our day-to-day operations. No shift work!

I'm glad when you're near
And sad that you're here
This is what it's like to be me

I'm glad when you're near
And sad that you're here
This is what it's like to die alone.
- glassjaw (again)

2005-01-06T01:16:00.000+08:00

Silverstein kids with asymmetrical haircuts

Quite a day at work. Busy but somehow fulfilling. Weird. I should be complaining but some times, the satisfaction just balance off all the pussy thoughts.

Anyways, Jerome of Blueprint Studios took some vids of our screwed up set and other great bands at Stasis and uploaded them on his site. You can go d/l them before they're gone. I missed out our own vids of the Republic Poly!

2005-01-05T01:22:00.000+08:00

She should have let me sleep...

It sucks when you plan out your week seamlessly and all the planning go down the drain due to others' inconsideration. I'm not complaining about work. I'm just complaining about how some people work.

Everyone's got their own family and life. It's hard to please all but I hate when all's planned and set, it gets messed up again. And being single doesn't mean it's okay to take on shifts on weekends always.

Alright, I can imagine what problems I'll have if I do have a girl friend... But then again, I have my own life. I planned a couple appointments in the day so I can continue my night shift. How'd I know at the 11th hour that I've been rostered to morning shift due to some "last minute changes". Like my body clock's a "wind-up" clock.

Kanina, happy new year lah.

2005-01-03T01:18:00.000+08:00

I wish you a broken heart and a Happy New Year

Happy new year to all. I hope you had a great new year's day. It was good to meet up with ex class mates for a dinner after work on new year's eve. Little did I know I'd be activated half way thru the dinner and have to go back to work. I blamed it on bad luck.

I worked through the night till the next morning. As we didn't manage to get the service support staff back to provide us with food, I went out to get breakfast with a colleague. It was abt 10 mins walk away to the nearest food centre and it started to rain when we were abt to walk back. I blamed it on bad luck.

At 1030hrs, the manpower to replace us arrived and we quickly packed up to return home for a good sleep. It rained again on the walk to the MRT station. Again, I blamed it on bad luck.

Didn't manage to nap on the train cos there wasn't any seat. I thought of what I was working for throughout the night :- contact tracing for Singaporeans in Tsunami affected areas. Compared to those affected Singaporeans, I'm lucky to be alive and well for the new year. At least, 2005's new year's day is some day to remember. I spent the new year watching CNN and Channel News Asia in the Ops Cell.

Work aside, I'm lucky to be able to play this year's Stasis show too. We had fun and we look forward to playing again. Thanks to all who came to the show. I wish all a great year ahead.

2004-12-12T01:33:00.000+08:00

thekidswhopoptodaywillrocktomorrow

Stand Chart run was good. It was the best run I ever had so far. There were many 'eye candies'!!! I'm gonna try complete a full marathon (in 5 yrs times haha!). Man... I didn't know the marathon pics will be so ex!! I shall make do with the 2 tiny pics.

Blade Trinity was quite a dumb show. No wonder why Wesley Snipes shunned all publicity works for the movie. It must be easy for him to just say a few lines and be a total "show no facial expression" actor. At some point I felt like I'm watching some kitsch Terminator (Blade himself) and Alien VS Predator (the dumb vampires) movies altogether. Argh.... But I like the lead actress cos she's hot and Ryan Reynolds was funny throughout the show.

Tomorrow's Sunday and I'm gonna try book my practical driving lessons and have my portfolio shots done. Note the word, "TRY".

2004-12-05T04:38:00.000+08:00

I've got my bests shoes on...

It's 0438hrs. Miracle I woke up early and I'm gonna try cook in a while's time. Yes, multi-talented me gonna whip up a hearty breakfast. It's a shame I've got only instant noodles and eggs. But that's gonna take some culinary skills right?

The Standard Charter run's gonna be fun. The idea of sight seeing on foot is just so balls grabbing. Gonna be so reminded of my officer cadet days at TRACOM, running long distance in the morning and then too sick to eat any breakfast after. Those were the days... Seems like a long time ago but it's really only 6 months back.

Fellow "squadmates-now-colleagues" police Inspectors are gonna run together as a team with a seriously dumb team name, "Soberly Drunk". It's gonna be fun running with these blokes again. The same blokes who I ran, slept, ate and joked with 6 days a week for 9 months...

2004-12-03T01:46:00.000+08:00

Where train rides make the murderer out of intelligent men...

If you ever wake up feeling stupid, take the MRT to work and you'll feel intelligent almost right away (Sports car driving rich kids will forever feel stupid). Seems like 50% of train commuters have brains in their ass. Why bother to squeeze into that 6 by 6 inch standing space at the train door when the next train's just like 2-3 mins away? And have the station marshal shout or blow the whistle at you while displaying your stupidity publicly. How fucken late will you turn up for work just to wait for the next train?

So more people fall onto the tracks and blah... Yeah, cos those dumb fucks rush to the platform edge seconds before the train stops just to be the first, if not, second to board the train. I don't see why blind men can stay behind the floor markers while able bodied humans go beyond the yellow line despite being warned by station marshals. The only reason I can think of is their stupidity.

Bar top dancing's legal but pole dance at the right place. It's totally not funny when the train's all packed, you hold the vertical bar for balance and some fat shit decides to rest his/her body on the pole. Eww... I don't think anyone would mind if some hit chick does that but no, I mind trying not to fall half the time on the train. It doesn't help when the lady infront of you got really smelly hair and she's standing at your nose level. The guy beside you is trying to look all important by attempting to read the newspaper, folding it into quarters and still have the paper edges brushing your ears.

So are Singaporeans dumb or they just didn't pay enough attention during "MORAL EDUCATION" Lessons? I bet you ten bucks some of the brain-on-ass examples might just be teachers themselves!

2004-12-03T01:15:00.001+08:00

This Hole We Call Our Heart

Kate Of Kale will be playing 2 campus organized shows.

18 Dec @ Republic Poly
02 Jan @ The Substation (Stasis 7 by OMS of NUS)

Show details will be out next week. CDs are selling well at Roxy Records (Excelsior) and Inokii (Far East). We'll be shopping the CDs to more shops in the next couple months and pls book us (kateofkale@hotmail.com) for shows if you're organising one. We'd love to play just about anywhere and buy our CDs as X'mas presents. They'll make your good friends happy and your enemies sad.

2004-11-29T01:49:00.000+08:00

You're No Angel,

yet. But I sure can make you one cos my ambition's to be a wife beater, child abuser, kidnapper and murderer. I'm a real man who enjoy beating the shit out of women and children.

If you believe the above, you ought to get the shit beaten out of yourself. Don't ask what's my ambition and what am I gonna do after NS cos what I'll say is as big as the lie that just came out of me (above para).

Drink more water and eat well. You'll live long and well.