.

2011-08-11T01:56:00.000-07:00

I guess everyone's lives have to be in complete shambles at one point or the other so..BRING IT.

a certain ivy league university

2011-06-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

They're just gross. First they expect us to call them up to register our interest in enrolling and assure them that they're our first choice. I wasted good money and time calling them from Starbucks only to speak to..who? A masters student, posing some pre-prepared questions (so are we your first choice?) I thought that was quite unprofessional. And then - when the official decision letter finally came (online, no mail even) it was three days before the deadline. I missed the deadline of course, and requested for an extension, which I was granted. No specific time was given, so I assumed it was 2359 New York time. But nope, when I logged on at 6:50pm NY time I learned that the deadline had passed.

Way to go for a university that has been suffering some pretty high rejection rates of late. I can just picture them scratching their heads wondering why..

broken rules

2011-06-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

hello, regret. looks like we'll soon be spending a lot of time together.

Year 3

2010-11-13T09:53:00.001-08:00

My ideal Year 3 as I pictured it would never have materialised. No way.

Things weren't at all what they seemed, not for a single moment in the past year. But none of it was in my control. It's not my fault things turned out this way.

When I got on that plane bound for London, I already knew that things weren't going to be how I planned it. A new chapter had begun the moment I returned to Singapore. I just didn't realise it.

It's only a month and 13 days into the new year though. You could say that's a month wasted-but hell there's still 8 months to go, best make full use of it.

back in the playground

2010-11-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

11 months and 22 days of lies.

It's a new day.

I'm back. Time to redefine myself.

Sojourn '09

2009-07-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

lots and lots of ideas for this one at first, but to save costs decided to simplify everything and work with two tones. not very used to the lack of detail though hahah.

UKBound '09

2009-07-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

paris/venice/rome - highlights!

2009-06-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

- listening to Yann Tiersen on the Eurostar to Paris
- cooking salty chicken at Jess's place
- girl talk before going to bed (I learnt a lot)
- tourist traps in Venice
- taking silly sunset pictures at st giorgio
- eating cherries and planning the itinery
- sitting on the roadside and eating pizza before heading off to colosseum
- 1.30 for 3 scoops of gelato at vatican city AND conversing with the italian guy in manadarin
- san crispino's honey gelato
- watching the guy toss pizza and bake it over wood fire
- and then eating it on the way to termini
- luxembourg at dusk. beautiful
- alighting from the eurostar at london only to get a call from waiyee asking me to hurry over to the London Music Festival
- watching nikko mcbrain and steve vai at the music festival
- and finally, seranading WaiYee with Yon Jan for a full 2 hours I believe, with songs we made up on the spot

2009-06-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

More packing. It's like dissembling piece by piece the life that you'd built for yourself over the past 9 months, and when you're done you leave the room seemingly empty, save for the memories that had accumulated there. It reminds you of the day you first entered the room and thought to yourself: "so this is the place I'll be staying in for the next nine months" They say you change when you live by yourself overseas, and you cannot help but wonder as you step out of the room for the last time whether you are the same person who first stepped in.

dance competition: final

2009-06-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

okay this one's done..over to you huijin!

WIP: UKBound '09 Dance Competition Poster

2009-05-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

*edit*: i've gotten some feedback since. huijin and joan commented, to my shock and horror, that not enough skin was being exposed on the girl.
jx: I thought not.
anne: yes owned
auriond: thanks! i've coloured it since though and i dont really feel like changing it..will take note though.

Haven't really had a chance to relax since exams ended..first it was packing stuff then it was housing and now got two posters to do for UKBound - one for the dance competition and one for the clubbing event. Specifications: dance competition one has a hip-hop guy+girl, clubbing event one involves a sexy girl (i would never dream of drawing a sexy girl of my own free will oh NO)

Ahem so here's a little sketch of the dance one I threw together today:

tell me, if you were a student in JC and saw this plastered on your walls would it make you feel like dancing?

i still want a music blog

2009-05-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

just realised I haven't composed anything new for leisure (hence ah yum doesn't count) in something like 9 months, so here's a lil tune:

http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/wen2000_3.mp3

2009-05-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

due to the last minuteness of my trip I'm actually planning/booking tickets in the midst of my exams. Madness. Some more everything's more expensive now. Ah well I always did enjoy spontaneity.

UOB is super efficient. I just booked the ticket this afternoon and something like ten minutes later my dad tells me on skype that UOB called him to check if he made that transaction. (I'm using a supp. card) Good on them!

Chee Keen just talked to me on fb chat yesterday. I'm so relieved that he hasn't forgotten about the band. Time to revive that teenage angst/political incorrectness!

in this moment

2009-05-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

Paris Hilton meets screamcore metal. It's a breath of fresh air though, to see a female metal artist actually remain feminine.

the obligatory it's-my-birthday-today post.

2009-04-26T17:02:00.001-07:00

okay actually it was yesterday. just spent an hour typing personalised replies to facebook birthday well-wishes. phew.
singapore day was good fun (: highight was talking to Mr KF Seetoh (of makansutra fame) about all the food. all those happy afternoons spent with my dad drooling over episodes of makansutra!
oh but i have to add. even the best hawkers cant really work their magic with the limited ingredients here in london. the other highlight of the day was having people tell me that my hokkien mee was nicer than the one there. haha made my day la you people!

how not to fall asleep while mugging

2009-04-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

HEY KIDS. due to the overwhelming response to HOW TO SURVIVE A BROKEN FINGER, I now bring you the thrilling sequel on how to survive something else, something a hundred times more painful. I bring you

HOW NOT TO FALL ASLEEP WHILE MUGGING

MUSIC
By music I mean of the heavy metal variety. You don't want to be listening to smooth jazz and hope not to fall asleep. What you need is a nonstop auditory assault of bone crunching drums and distorted riffage. Whether you can concentrate is another matter altogether, but that's not really the point of this guide.

EXERCISE
Drop 20 whenever you feel the Zs coming. But effects are very temporary. The moment your heart rate goes back to normal so does your tendency to fall asleep

CAFFEINE
A very popular option is caffeine. But caffeine they say impairs hippocampus-centred learning and long-term memory loss and I'm pretty sure it even causes cancer, though research hasn't been done on that as yet (it's only a matter of time) so a good alternative would be Berocca, which is sort of like a vitamin-based Red Bull. The only problem is it makes your pee a rather disturbing shade of yellow. (due to body excreting excess vitamins)

LOCATION
Don't even think about mugging in your room. Too many distractions. Here's what you do: get a seven-foot tall ladder and sit on top. (courtesy: Wai Yee) If you nod off, you fall off. If that doesn't work, try the window ledge - that'd definitely make you appreciate the gravity of the situation.

MASOCHISM
The moment you feel yourself drifting away, punch/pinch/slap/lynch yourself. If inflicting bodily harm to yourself is against your religion, employ a suitably sadistic friend.

AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS..
..give in.

..or get a good night's rest. But if you were already doing that then you wouldn't need this guide anyways would you?

2009-04-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

So for the past few days conversations with my dad have gone along the lines of
dad: "..the market buys on rumours and sells on news"
me: "..."
Nothing like a good ol economic crisis to keep the family conversations going.

I was just shading in some random diagram for Heat & Mass the other day..and realised how much I missed drawing. Haven't drawn seriously in 3 years. I don't even doodle on lecture notes anymore.

I feel light-headed.

2009-04-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

No more irritating 13cm long hair!

Just discovered a neat little study room in the hall basement. It's like a dungeon I swear..but I actually like it better than the library!

2009-04-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Parents coming to visit for a week! I have mixed feelings about it, but it's mostly good I guess. While they're here I don't expect to get much revision done. And it's partly cos they were coming that I had to cancel the Italy trip.*

But on the other hand..well firstly it's going to be quality family time, of course! And while they're here I'll probably be distracted from everything else that's been going on in my life, which I need.
-----------------------------------

Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.

I like this quote. Read somewhere before that unrequited love is never romantic. Maybe not to the observer, but to the person involved I think once you get past the disappointment, it's still every bit as sweet. Like Alex said, all love hurts a little - but it's always good for you.

*edit: it's very bizarre how a tube line can be supended due to "person under the train at Earl's Court." How to get to heathrow now I ask you.

2009-04-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

When I composed Night Prowl I never thought I'd be listening to it while walking home at night in London. It reminded me of the night I did prowler duty with Clinton at field camp, of wild boar encounters and of hugging our precious rifles to sleep for fear that the sergeants would come round to unscrew the barrels away.

Music has this power to transport you through space and time, even if for a while.

to be alone with you

2009-04-06T08:50:00.001-07:00

Always happens. When I'm trying to study I get inspired to pick up the guitar and record something. Happened for the O-levels, happened during the A's and it's happening now.

This time it's not an original but a cover of Sufjan Steven's "To be Alone with You":

LISTEN: (=D)
http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/tobealonewithyou.mp3

the curse of choice

2009-03-28T01:37:00.000-07:00

People still ask me why I chose bioeng over law, PUB over astar et cetera, and I always give the same answer. Given the circumstances, it was a matter of choosing the least of the evils. In the absence of expectations from parents and society, I would choose none of the above; instead I'd probably enrol in Laselle and pursue a career in illustration. Or, like Jerick, enrol in music school and become a session guitarist/form a band and keep doing gigs. or if nothing else become a chef (eh stop laughing. yes you there.)

So why not? - that's what my non-singaporean friends ask me. The Singaporeans understand better - simply because this is Singapore where societal and parental expectations matter. A lot. when I spoke to daniel sassoon a couple years back (electrico's guitarist) I realised that he was practising law outside of Electrico. Then sometime last year he announced that he was leaving the band to concentrate on his career. That is indeed a slice of reality, Singapore-style. It's no place for dreamers, unless your dreams happen to have something to do with law or medicine, in which case I say you are very, very lucky.

So I actually resigned myself to this reality sometime back. I put myself in my parents' shoes and imagined what it was that would make them proud, in the process applying for every darn thing under the sun. In the end it was down to three major choices - NUS law, A*star/Imperial biomed sci or PUB/bioeng. Law was something I applied for on a whim. Very self-indulgent I know. But I actually toyed with the idea for a while before finally deciding that I'd prefer something sciencey. A*star or PUB. I liked PUB's working environment, very warm very friendly. Very family-friendly working hours too, I heard. Excellent. More time to pursue my uh..-dreams- on the sidelines.

I allow a bit of doubt to creep in every now and then. But it's always natural to wonder about the what-could-have-beens I suppose. What would I be doing if I were in A*star now? Pretty much the same actually, except that I'd be worrying about my phd applications. UK universities are notorious for their recommendations. If I were in law? I haven't the foggiest. The friends I made at Law Camp are so distant now.

Easter hols begin today! The calm before the storm or waiting for the shoe to drop or whatchamacalit. I want to go out and do something.

this is anfield.

2009-03-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

I don't recall a time where I'd felt more at home wearing a Liverpool jersey before. Everyone who wore it that day weren't just supporters - we were family. Strangers similarly clad in red would smile at us or give us a thumbs up, all the way from Euston station to the city of Liverpool itself. They knew we'd travelled far to support their team.

Liverpool is a really charming old town, with a decidedly small city centre surrounded by vast expanses of fields dotted with rickety old houses. The city centre itself is pretty happening, boasting more tantalising clothes stores than High Street Kensington. I even suggested to Mel that we come back someday just to shop. We did lunch at Macs, somehow ploughing through the thick Scouser accent with a few intelligent guesses.

Anfield was a 45min walk away from the city centre, and looked to be pretty worn down itself. Not that it was really noticeable that day as hoardes of fans were there to liven the place up, but I imagine it must look realllyy sad on non-match days. You'd think that someone would be out to capitalise on the regular stream of human traffic to the stadium, but no; the stalls and pubs that surround Anfield are as humble as you can get. We got dinner from this Chinese shop which sold sausage and chips for two pounds.

As for the match itself, there really isn't anything much left to say about it that hasn't already been said in match reports all over. Liverpool 5 Aston Villa 0. Probably the biggest margin so far for us this season, and we were there to witness it. The atmosphere was of course incredible, with all the same chants that you hear on TV, only a million decibels louder.

In an alternate reality, we'd probably have been at home, watching the match live on SCV or at the kopitiam downstairs, with all its bookies and uncles smoking and drinking and yelling "hohseh lah." And I'd probably be watching it with my dad, while sharing a plate of cai tow kway.

But we weren't! We were right there, savouring the victory with the Kop itself.

anfield here we come

2009-03-21T23:51:00.001-07:00

Three weeks ago I got to see my guitar heroes of 8 years Metallica live at the O2; today I make the pilgrimage to Anfield, home of Liverpool Football Club, the club I've supported since primary school. I remember all the wednesday and saturday soccer sessions in sec sch where I'd imagine I was Patrik Berger. (one of the reasons why I supported the club in the first place; the other was that my sis supported Liverpool too because her good friend Liling had a crush on Michael Owen)

This is all so surreal! okay got to go.

Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

Ah!Yum

2009-03-15T04:26:00.000-07:00

We were doing our last full run before the show when Kok Chong commented on how amazing this whole thing was, that we were staging a Singapore musical in London. Said it felt like he never left home. (the only reminder that we were in London was ol' Alex sitting opposite us, one of the rare genuine Brits in Imperial) It definitely did feel surreal.

Ah!Yum was a huge success. I seriously don't think that it could get much better, given the fact that planning only began last Dec, and our limited funds of course. I still remain in awe at the sheer magnitude of the entire production - somehow the entire batch of Singaporean freshers from one college managed to come together and contribute their various expertise to put up an incredible show.

Everything started one day in the JCR when Anne, Shiwei, Dikai and Joshua came together to write the script. The main plot was decided upon, and we never looked back since. Back then it was to be called Spices of Life. Then we had a meeting to revise the name, which threw up all sorts of ideas. (for eg. chicks and cocks, courtesy of you-know-who-you-are) I suggested that Ah Huat be renamed Ah Yam since he was a chicken rice seller. Then Josh said no, why not let that be the name of the musical. And so Ah!Yum was born.

And so work began on all fronts - I'd initially auditioned for Ah Hock and was just about ready to play the lead antagonist when I got roped into music/songwriting. I resigned myself to the fact that I was probably doomed to be a musician for life - and started work on the songs. That was around the time I watched Les Miserables for the first time, and as it turned out I Don't Care was heavily inspired by Les Mis.

But the deadlines were looming and I still couldn't get enough ideas out. Then came along this guy named John Chua, a student from RCM doing masters in....composition. He worked his compositional prowess and in a matter of weeks came up with 4 more songs. Soon we had enough songs and began our practices - very draining but no end of fun, almost invariably ending up in dinner at Oriental Canteen. Music practices have become such a regular fixture in our schedules - I imagine life will feel pretty empty without them from here on.

I think Singaporeans are an insanely talented lot. Everyone had some form of expertise to contribute! In the music team alone there was piano, drums, violin, guitar, bass, clarinet, dizi (played by none other than Ben Ang, champion dizi player from the 87 batch), flute, sax. And as I've mentioned before the dance team is just so professional, with amazing choreographies by Liu Qian and Dexuan and Guiyi. The logs team was also really impressive in their attention to detail (love that roast chicken) And the actors/singers...omg don't get me started on how amazing they were. No prior training at all - to this! In something like 3 months.

And the CD! The ultimate token to remember that whole experience by - at least to someone in the music team. Those 11-hour weekend recording marathons were worth it.

The audience last night was amazingly responsive and encouraging and as performers we really couldn't ask for a better audience. I think the highlight of the night must have been when this middle aged man came up to me and asked if I was the guitarist. He then went on to commend us all for a wonderful show, that we were all really professional, that everyone was on task and knew exactly what to do. Said he'd visited Singapore before in the 60s, and that the Singapore we recreated was exactly like what he saw (I seriously doubt so..but oh wells I'll take that!) And just all the people who came up to me saying the music was fantastic and the comments that Listening Ear (what a horrible title) was their favourite song. It's moments like this that make you realise that as a performer you've done your job.

Thanks to everyone involved in Ah!Yum for the beautiful memories! (:

2009-03-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

When you actually bother to sit down and examine each stage of your existence you suddenly realise how much you've been through. So many chapters, each one remarkably unique in its own right.

For example, about a year ago at this time I was doing cell culture at IBN. Go back a couple years more and I was probably cleaning my rifle or something in BMT.

Then you look at your current self and realise that you are the distillation of all these experiences, that this was the same person that went through all those phases. Then you marvel at how life is such a gift, that it allows us to experience all these things, and you congratulate yourself for making it so far, and wonder about the wonders that lie ahead.

Then you go back to doing your mechanics problem sheet, as I am about to do so right now.

one more week to major event!

2009-03-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

I'd feel guilty if I had to sell tickets to something I didn't believe was good. Ah!Yum is one of the rare shows I'm actually excited about promoting, cos I actually think it's going to be fantastic. So far the work put into Ah!Yum has been phenomenal - I think practically the entire batch has been involved at some point or the other.

The song above is Dancing by Elisa, which plays in one of the dance scenes. The first time I watched the scene during rehearsals I swear I caught myself tearing. Liu Qian's choreography is just stunning, and our dancers are prolific.

Went to UCL on Saturday night to promote the show at VinE night with Joan, Andrew and Jasmine. But something happened to the sound system and we ended up with a very watered down performance with one guitar instead of two. Guess it wasn't very effective in the end, but what the heck it was fun! These overseas school gatherings offer a pretty good glimpse into the school's culture I think. Was pretty impressed by HC night. VJ was fun and games but didn't seem to give me the same sense of family.

METALLICA DEATH MAGNETIC WORLD TOUR 2009

2009-03-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

I first came across Metallica when I downloaded a live performance of Fade to Black. Watching Kirk Hammett's melodic guitar solos made me see the instrument in a whole new light - until then I'd just been playing chords on it. Lots of people cite Metallica as the reason why they learnt to play guitar - it was certainly one of my reasons.

And so about ten years on, I finally saw them live at the O2 Arena. There is no experience quite like it I swear. These guys are living legends, and that night they delivered the best of their 30 years of music with authority.

We were lucky to get really close to the stage. Of course that came with a price - it also meant that we were embroiled in the mosh pit where the most insane fans held sway. Which meant being battered and elbowed by hordes of crazy headbanging sweaty big-sized guys as everyone attempted to outmuscle each other to get to the front. At some point I managed to get to the 2nd row, and was promptly pushed away by this huge towering dude.

There is nothing quite like watching classics like Master of Puppets and One live. I could even see Kirk's fingering as he played the Master of Puppets solo, running through the exact notes that I'd played myself many a lazy afternoon at home in Bedok. Not to mention the fact that they were the very songs that accompanied me through my O and A-levels. Touching moments indeed!

When we emerged from the arena we all looked like we just fought a war. It was pretty physical alright. But aside from the back and neckaches and ringing ears I also managed to get a guitar pick (from Rob Trujillo's hands) that will be a reminder of the night I watched the greatest metal band that ever lived.

2009-03-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

Just returned from a thoroughly exhausting recording session when I got the msg from klyder: "hey we're leaving at 4 tmr." Turns out the metallica concert we were going for was the 2nd march one not the 28th march one!

and so..less than 24 hours before metallica!

IC MALAYSIA NITE 09 - DIAMONDS

2009-02-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

After seeing Malaysia Nite, I suddenly realise how ambitious the Ah Yum production actually is. For one thing, they took the completely different approach of slapstick comedy (UCL-bashing jokes) and random showcases of talent and culture (ie dikir, martial arts) whereas we are actually going to attempt Lion King-esque melodrama. We also write and perform most of the music - so in a sense ours will attempt to reproduce every aspect of a real musical. And there's two weeks left! no time no time.

in any case the post-show refreshments are always a welcome feature in these malaysian/singaporean productions. It was (pretty decent) nasi lemak. ahyum will supposedly provide chicken rice and tiger beer lol.

goinig to spend the whole weekend recording and mixing the soundtrack..and pretty stoked about it! haven't done this is a while..

another day, another recipe

2009-02-27T01:19:00.000-08:00

upon dexuan's request:

FRIED CARROT CAKE (WHITE, because I haven't a clue where to get the sweet sauce for black cai tow kway and besides I think the white one is nicer)

you will need:
600g radish (it's called daikon here, get from oriental city)
500g water
350g RICE flour
one teaspoon salt
sugar

arbitrary amounts of:
cai poh (oriental city. or me, cos i have a lot)
garlic
about 5 eggs (hawker uncle always use one egg per person)
soy sauce
thai fish sauce (oriental city)

Serves 1-4, depending on who you are

THE KUEH:

1. Shred the 600g of radish and dump it into a pot. Add a bit of water and cook under medium heat for about 30min until the radish becomes nua
2. Mix the 350g rice flour and 500g water evenly, ensuring no lumps form
3. Mix in the radish with the flour water mixture to obtain a decidedly icky looking mess. don't hate me yet you will be rewarded!
4. add approx one tsp of salt and some sugar
5. add a thin film of oil into a flat-ish plate
6. pour the offensive-looking mixture into plate, making a mess of your kitchen in the process (the flour stains are still in my kitchen)
7. steam for 45 min. you know it's ready when you poke a toothpick in and no residue sticks
8. dump the kueh into the fridge for min. 5 hours, ideally overnight
(note: I've noticed that adding slightly more water gives it a softer texture..just play around)

THE FRYING:
1. heat oil in pan. note that cai tow kway is a pretty oily dish so for greater authenticity you know what to do!
2. dump the kueh in and stir fry for a bit until kueh becomes soft. use spatula to chop up into small pieces
3. add soy sauce and fish sauce and fry some more. don't be afraid to spam the fish sauce
4. push kueh aside and add more oil to fry the garlic and cai poh with. fry till fragrant
5. in a bowl crack the eggs, add soy sauce and mix well.
6. now for the coup de grace. lay the kueh out into a nice flat layer and pour the egg over evenly.
7. let it fry for a bit, chop up the layer into say 4 portions and flip each one over one by one
8. SERVE!

pictures someday. I always forget to take pictures gah.

beyond our wildest dreams

2009-02-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

"It's a scene one barely witnesses in London: one of innocence, albeit momentary; of snow in a city that doesn't do extremes of weather; of hostile battle lines suspended and replaced - just for the day - by playful ones; of gratuitous wonders that fall from the sky and blindside you. Yesterday, London was filled with such wonders. The headline said: -5C and we're all going snowhere. Yesterday, London went on a trip to snowhere, which sounds like oblivion, but is infinitely nicer."
- article from the Guardian

So after I retreating back to my room and drying myself up I got ready to sleep. I actually changed into pyjamas and everything. Then I looked out the window and saw people frolicking in the snow in Princes Gardens, and I couldn't take it anymore. Threw on some warm clothes over my sleepwear and went out in a jiffy.

It was like a scene out of the Day After Tomorrow, if I got the movie right. The neighbourhood that we had grown to be so familiar with had, within a matter of hours, been transformed into a thing of beauty. Not that South Kensington wasn't already pretty, but the sight tonight was nothing short of breathtaking. Everything was covered in at least 5 inches of virgin snow, unspoiled for the most part so far. (since it was 12 plus am and the streets were pretty empty save for this mob of students which we avoided) The three of us (ming wang, huiqi and me) headed in the direction of Royal Albert Hall and spent most of our time in the vicinity snapping pictures, hoping to capture with each shot the flawless beauty of that night (whether or not we succeeded you might want to judge for yourself)

I woke up earlier than expected the next morning and immediately checked my email to see if school had been cancelled. No new mail - but the headlines suggested that London's transport system had been crippled. So no school right? Wrong. The bioengineering dept decided that London's biggest snowstorm in 18 years shouldn't keep them from holding classes. Well it certainly kept me from attending them.

Spent the morning snapping more pictures with Huiqi, who was clearly as big a fan of snow as I was. Then joined Shiwei and Jing Ming to go Kensington Gardens where we met up with Anne, Weizhao, Mei Hui, Bernie and many many more people to build snow sculptures. Our snowman didn't last long, with a group of destructive civil engineers nearby. (the irony)

Day 2 of London snow was charming too, for you could see the snowscape more clearly in daylight; however nothing could beat the night of 1 Feb (or the morning of 2 feb =p) when London had just been freshly painted white, when no one knew about this new world but a privileged few, when this world seemed to belong to us and us only.

alone in the snow

2009-02-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Came out from South Kensington station and was amazed by how heavy the snow was. It was as if time had stood still, save for the occasional car driving cautiously by. I like it when it snows at night - everything seems so still and calm and peaceful. There is no wind and the sky is red.

new song

2009-01-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

composed this for major event.
well actually I wrote the tune a long time ago (in 2001) and didnt know what to do with it. so I thought why the heck don't I share it with the world. so here it is. one verse and one chorus

http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/listeninggotguitar.mp3

at last

2009-01-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

I got my electric guitar today

at last...my world is complete.

Back-to-london-post

2009-01-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

Been back in London for a week now, and the first thing that strikes me is that it's not very cold. Been windier these days though. I believe I escaped the coldest spell this winter already, spending it instead in the lesser evil of hot and humid.

I think London's weather is lovely, if you look past the cold spells in Winter.

I'm now looking for an electric guitar. Got an amp already, a Roland Cube 30x, which isnt far different from the one i have at home actually (a Cube30) but this one has more features, and soudns great. Am now eyeing the Ibanez GRG170DX. It's supposedly very good for an entry level guitar.

Very nice words of wisdom from Fernando Torres:

(on Kaka's potential 10millionpound move to Man City):

"For now, I cannot imagine Kaka playing for Manchester City. It would be a fantastic contract, yes, but there are other things more important than money. A player wants to be remembered for what he has won. Imagine 10 years after you stop playing, you go back, you look around, you are not in any picture, you have no medals, no trophies; it is like you played for nothing."

1st JANUARY 2009

2009-01-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

Happy 2009! And my new year's resolution is..nothing! don't fix what ain't broke

..ok seriously I hope to make more international friends. I also resolve to eat better food in London.

2008 was crazy! numerous huge life-changing decisions to make. 2009 will be about dealing with those decisions...

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT

2008-12-28T08:54:00.001-08:00

..you wouldn't have to endure another post about hokkien mee.

Came back to Singapore and first thing I ate was hill street char kway teow (the anthoney bourdain one) then promptly headed downstairs to order hokkien mee (HKM) and watch the HKM man whip up a batch of noodles. You learn something new every time-this time I realised that he cracks the eggs in FIRST, followed by towgay and noodles/bee hoon. then towards the end then fry e garlic. my mum says this is so that the garlic fragrance doesnt fade away with time. He also adds a LOT of lard and this black gooey thing which i have concluded is soy sauce+MSG+sugar+goodnessknows.

So I tried this new recipe at home and till this day I am stil amazed by the results. I won't hesitate to say that it tastes 80% like the real thing, except that there wasn't lard. Am still waiting to try again to see if the results are reproducible - if so I can probably write a thesis on HKM and graduate from hawker school already lol.

and so...

2008-12-13T08:25:00.000-08:00

Before I set off for London back in October I kept telling myself "it's just 2.5 months and I'll be back." 2.5 months have gone and I suppose that burning need to be back in (burning) singapore is gone. I just want to do more with my time here now. However I think going home will actually help me get more out of london this time, because for the past couple months I've felt incomplete, like I didn't bring all of myself when I left Singapore (not surprising, given the 20kg luggage limit) Not sure what it is, but I have a feeling I'll find out when I'm back.

I've heard many people describe the sensation of watching themselves on film and not actually being here.I suppose flying back for a while is like taking a break from the movie to go get a drink..and actually having the time to think about what you just watched

I gave my roomie a haircut today. His sideburns are really messy now.

there's a lot of holiday homework. The biggest project of them all being the soundtrack for Major Event 09. I wanted to be a big part of this so badly, and now I have a pretty significant role-let's hope I don't screw this up now..

scaring yourself can be scary

2008-11-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

So after falling sick a few posts back I developed this horrendous cough, exacerbated after eating plates after plates of fried hokkien mee. (see previous posts) The good thing was that I'd developed a pretty solid hokkien mee recipe, the bad thing was that I also developed something else- this horrendous horrendous cough that still hasn't completely gone away.

Things started to get really hairy last Tuesday when I discovered I'd lost 7kg, and was coughing up blood. Realising that these were the same symptoms of pneumonia/tuberculosis, I decided to lay off the hokkien mee. Bought cough syrup, lemon ginger ginseng infusion tea and manuka honey and attacked the cough with guns blazing. it's actually getting better now, and it helps to know that I actually lost 4kg not 7. And that the blood probably came from my nose somewhere.

But there was some fun to be had in the process-including the trip to Brugge. Which wasn't all that fun considering we spent all of 4 hours in the city and 1 hour in this French hypermart. The highlight, it must be said, was this meal Jared and I had that totalled up to something like 60 euros. Pricey, but hearty. Belgian waffles don't appear to be Belgium's specialty as much as Belgian chocolate and..french fries! The potato just melts in your mouth. Bless the Belgians for them's fries!

As for the French hypermart, all I can say is that it looked just like a hypermart with everything in French.

another day, another post

2008-11-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

it's guy fawkes day so I hear lots of explosions outside the window! Used to read about guy fawkes in enid blyton. Also who doesnt know v for vendetta.
earlier in the day we visited Westfield, europe's largest shopping mall. It's like Vivocity, only ten times bigger and spans 3 Tube stations. I dunno if the latter is true, but I couldn't see the end of it, so it must be true.
Went to (their equivalent of) a food court and had SINGAPORE FRIED NOODLES. This dish has been sighted in every single place that sells chinese/asian cuisine so far. Curiosity got the better of me. It's actualy really economy bee hoon fried with curry powder with sprinklings of meat.

good food in london (without torching a hole in your pocket)

2008-11-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

Okay so it's been a month since we touched down googly-eyed at Heathrow. And getting good, affordable food is still a problem. Besides a 1.99 pound Sub of the Day or a 1.90 sandwich from the Sandwich Shop, there's really no way you can get a decent meal around here for less than 2 pounds. Unless you prepare it yourself. Which brings us to...

3 SIMPLE RECIPES FOR A HAPPY DAY IN LONDON

1. GLORIFIED INSTANT NOODLES

Everyone loves their instant noodles. You can get a packet of this wonderful stuff from Oriental City for 25-45p. However, you're not going to get away with just eating flour and MSG every day, so you gotta add a little nutrition..

Chicken onion flavoured Indomie with egg and garlic ham!

This one's a little more balanced. Shin Ramyun with egg, iceberg lettuce, bacon and cherry tomatoes. This was particularly awesome.

2. ANNE'S BACON & EGG BURGER

I don't know whether this is more sheer genius or sheer bliss. Maybe its sheer gliss. Whatever the case, this recipe is courtesy of Anne, and can be achieved in the time it takes for you to fry bacon, egg, and wrap it all up in a muffin with a slice of cheese. The crucial step here is to microwave it such that the cheese, sandwiched in the middle, melts over the bacon and egg, really making a statement. It also helps to make the bun more fluffy.

JUST CHECK OUT THAT BEAUTY.

3. HOKKIEN MEE

My latest obsession. Fried a batch of it on Anne's birthday that took us back zillions of kilometres to Singapore. Before leaving, I even made it a point to watch the uncle at Niu Ji Prawn Noodle Stall fry his hokkien mee and take notes. And so when you prepare this dish you have to summon all your Singaporean-ness and put as much soul into it as the time-honoured recipe deserves. Eating this in London has been one of the most touching experiences here so far. This one's a bit more complex and time consuming though so...now for the recipe!

Ingredients
Stock
- lots of raw shell-on prawns. I used 11 for 4 people
- Knorr's chicken stock. Uncle uses pork rib soup but the pork here seriously blows so I'll stick to chicken stock for now.
- Pepper, salt, soya sauce

Main
- Yellow oil noodles
- Bee hoon
- lots of garlic
- pork (yes I've mentioned that pork sucks but the Sainsbury stir fry pork isnt bad. Chicken's good for this too actually)
- egg

1. Mix 1 part chicken stock, 1 part water and bring to boil
2. Cook prawns in the stock, deshell
3. Fry the shells in oil till fragrant, throw the whole thing with the oil into the stock
4. Spam salt, pepper and soya sauce
5. Go do your tutorials, come back in an hour
6. Immerse bee hoon in water
7. replenish water in stock in case its dried up
8. do more tutorials
9. now for the frying. fry garlic till golden brown
10. throw in the pork/chicken and fry till cooked
11. throw in the noodles and bee hoon
12. fry suitably long til arms tired. aim is to make strands loose and fluffy
13. add soya sauce and salt
14. pour in the prawn stock, cover and let simmer
15. remove cover, dump in egg and fry a bit longer
16. throw in peeled cooked prawns and serve

hope that helped. squeeze lime, add chilli, sotong and lard for greater authenticity!

ICSS Fright Night

2008-11-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

So on Friday I attended my first Halloween party! Ok so in the end it wasn't so much of a Halloween party as a costume party..but great photo-taking fun nonetheless. Anne Daniel and I went to this party shop along Portobello Road and managed to get two packs of clown face paint at 2.99 each, since I was going to go as the Joker and Anne this korean horror movie child with an umbrella. Daniel revealed his affinity for toilet paper as he went as a mummy. Everyone said I was convincing but...you judge.

White face paint is enough to look freaky

Final product

girls at halloween parties just wanna look glam

..but not these two. meet mrs joker

Sheer genius. There's a note on the fridge that says "Sir, I put your dinner in the freezer. Ah Boy was very naughty today."

awesome scarecrow. could have been be freakier though

cooking group!

more cooking group!

and even more cooking group...

and now for the coup de grace

first real week of school

2008-10-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

So it's Friday and the first week of school just ended. I guess it was alright as a whole, but some things are beginnning to suggest that I may not yet be too well-equipped for school. Monday started with a really heavy electrical eng lab, which left unanswered questions in my head all week. Math so far has been pretty basic, but I realise that I'm damn rusty. Computing is followable, but the lctures are pretty dry. And medical science is drier than it ought to be, unfortunately.

But I'm thankful that the pace is still pretty slow, compared to the likes of EEE. (which seems to be killing Derek and Wai Yee) CCA-wise, it's pretty much down to LeoSoc, ArtSoc, SingSoc, Funkology and Jazz&Rock and maybe Classical Guitar. And as for hall life-I haven't been joining them cos the activities somehow all involve drinking and clubbing. By the way just came back from dinner at the Warden's place, which was heavenly. Food has become a major challenge here, so any free food is welcome!

London

2008-10-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

London so far, as far as I can recall:
Arrived at Heathrow where customs were cleared rather smoothly. Cabbed down to James Hotel and struggled to get the luggage up the stairs. The hotel was owned by George, this kindly old gentleman who’s always so nice he provides us with sausages, eggs and buns for breakfast. The living conditions weren’t superb, but you couldn’t ask for a better deal at 15 pnds per head per night.
The first two days were lots of fun, exploring the South Ken neighbourhood with Anne Charles and Daniel. Kensington Gardens was beautiful, and I finally got to see that Peter Pan statue I’d heard about.
Saturday came and it was time to part ways with the rest of them as I dragged all 41kg of my luggage from James Hotel to Garden Hall near school. I had to stop to catch my breath at certain intervals during the 30min walk. Members of the Garden wardening team were there to welcome us. And they were very hospitable. My room turned out to be on the fourth floor, and my roommate, to my delight, was indeed Ming Wang, my coursemate.
Went for the Freshers' walkabout with Singsoc in the afternoon, which didn't really make much of a difference since we'd already gotten pretty familiar with the area. As we made our way back to the halls in the evening, the subwarden caught us and coaxed us into attending the Boat Party that night. So we went. Took the tube for the first time, down to Westminster where the eponymous abbey and the London Eye are located. The Tube trains are basically smaller and bumpier than the MRT. I promise to cherish the MRT with all my might when I come back. Upon boarding the boat, I bought a pint of Carlsberg for 4.50 pnds (which isnt thaaat bad, considering its on a boat) and attempted to mingle with everyone. After piggybacking a senior up and down the aisle, I soon realised that the sproeans at the corner table weren't doing anything. So I joined them and nua-ed for the rest of the night. I must say it was quite upsetting to be forced into this, but what the heck, it's a FREE CRUISE.

Anne's parents treated us to a delicious Chinese lunch on Sunday, the best one I had since coming to this country with really weird food. In any case, that really hit the spot, and I can't remember the rest of the day really.

My laptop is running out of battery now so this post will end here. Stupid hall still doesn't have internet.

and the best farewell msg award goes to...

2008-10-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

Bella: "may you evolve into jude law while you're there :D"

bye for now singapore

2008-10-01T00:31:00.000-07:00

After having evaded the inevitable for nearly 3 years, it's back to school again. And it doesn't feel half bad actually. The other day I actually felt rather happy doing the (prematurely dished out) math homework while listening to mp3s. I do hope my brain serves me better after the long hiatus.

Speaking of brains, they say the most effective learning mechanism lies in the subconscious mind. And for the next few months my subconscious is going to be on overdrive. It's going to have a lot to process in the new environment. I hope it learns fast, cos I want the whole settling down process to be over ASAP so I can properly live there like an old bird :D

yearbook yourself

2008-09-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

The most awesome, hardcore kickass picture in the world.

Try it yourself. The URL's right there.

Fade to Black - intro + outro

2008-09-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Decided to make one more guitar video before flying off. This one's Fade to Black by Metallica, a song about, in the band's words, "letting go of your gear and moving on". Metallica's guitarist Kirk Hammett on the song:
"We had been in Denmark for five or six months, and I was getting really homesick. We were also having problems with our management. Since it was a somber song, and we were all bummed out anyway, I thought of very depressing things while I did the solo - and it really helped."
I hope I'll be able to use my homesickness to similar effect.

OSC guys' night out

2008-09-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Watching football in a pub is very different from watching in a coffee shop which is in turn very different from watching at home. At home you get no atmosphere and emotions are kept bottled up. At the coffeeshop you get commentary and match analysis in Hokkien but you must take care not to be overly expressive lest you offend the bookies and disturb the neighbourhood. In a pub you can do pretty much anything you like.

We (Nik, Xueli, Hendrick, Sng, Jx, Joel, Sookiat, Mark) gathered at Brewerkz to basically have dinner and catch Liverpool vs Man Utd. I don't know if you could say Liverpool fans are more loyal/flashier but there were certainly more Liverpool jerseys in all the pubs I passed by.

Things didn't start out well at all, as Berbatov made his first contribution to the team by crossing for Tevez to score within the first 3 min. To concede one so early against the champions of Europe and at home ground - I thought it was going to be a long 90 min. But Liverpool played much better than the last time, making positive movements up front and creating chances. I ordered herb garlic fries to go with the match, since things looked promising. Man Utd scored again, this time in their own net, thanks to a fatal miscommunication between Van der Saar and Brown. From the second half on, Liverpool dominated, and Joel became increasingly frustrated (and entertaining to watch). Eventually, the United defence let in a goal similar to their own, courtesy of Babel. Things were even sweeter when Vidic got sent off after a second yellow.

Liverpool faithfuls have waited too long for this victory. But it's probably that which made this one particularly sweet.

Big D's Grill

2008-09-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

It seems that quality Western food stalls seem to be drawn to the coffeeshop downstairs. The latest tenant thereis Big D's Grill, which is run by a former chef and owner of a restaurant along Purvis Strt.

It seems that every new stall outdoes the last one in terms of quality of food being offered. This one boasts wagyu and kobe beef and kurobuta pork. But I decided to go for the Beer Battered Snapper (fish&chips) and Crabmeat Linguini and Bonet for dessert.

The good thing about the beer battered snapper was that...it was snapper not dory. I know everyone claims to use pacific dory or something which isnt the same as the cheap ones in the supermarkets, but they still inevitably pack this fishy smell. Well this one doesnt, and instead packs lots of bite and freshness in every bite. The batter was similar to the kind used by Lim Kee (Orchard) fried banana fritters, ie very very crispy and light. My only complaint is that the batter could have been saltier. THe fries are self-cut and come in thick slices of (gasp) real potato!

Now for the crabmeat linguini, which I ordered for my mum. It reminded me of a similar dish served at Marmalade Pantry. The pasta was nicely al dente and packed full of flavour. The chef insists on keeping the sauce thick and doing everything slowly so that the pasta absorbs the flavour.

And lastly, the Bonet for dessert. It's this Italian chocolate pudding topped with a slice of solid caramel (?!) and sliced strawberries. The presentation is great and tastes even better..every spoonful melts in your mouth and goes nicely with the caramel and strawberry. For me it induced one of those Mud Ooze (the quality of which has decined DRASTICALLY since) moments of silence.

This stall is definitely intent on serving quality food -only problem is coffee shop fare tends to survive on volume and quality is almost always compomised when there is high demand. I'll be keeping an eye on how this one turns out! Will be back next week for the pork loin.

OIC Portrait Day Sep 08

2008-09-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

I particularly liked how Drewscape introduced this month's Portrait Day:
"Get ready for another round of portrait day where you get to hone your illustration kung-fu skills under pressure and for real paying customers. Happening at Red Dot museum and part of MAAD, Customers will sit for 15mins while everyone draws the same person. The customers then gets to choose their most liked drawings. Every of your drawing that gets chosen, you get $8. There will be a booth fee of $80 that will be split among all who attend."

That about summed up the entire day. Anne dropped by with her mum and uh...aunt? and turned out to be my one and only paying customer for the day T_T Didn't help that I was getting neckaches the whole day! Oh well at least she ensured that so far, I've sold at least one drawing every Portrait Day.

There was this girl from NTU however who came along to get my contact so that she could interview me for some feature somewhere on young artists!

Went for a zhi char dinner that night with the OIC peeps somewhere in Chinatown, then went with Caleb to meet Bella, who happened to pon Portrait Day due to one of her many arty jobs.

It would be my last portrait day until at least next summer, maybe August. Must hone my illustration kung-fu skills in London!

When logic isnt logical

2008-09-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

When you rationalize, emotions are thrown out the window, right?
Wrong.

There is this thing called "backwards rationalisation", which is essentially a more impressive-sounding name for Making Excuses For Ourselves. I mentioned this to a friend last night, but only fleetingly, so I thought I'd offer a better explanation.

Backwards rationalisation basically involves making up reasons to rationalise for yourself why you did a particular action - an action that we would otherwise regret. An example is when a customer buys something he doesn't need. At the time of the transaction, he is so emotionally attached to the product, swayed by the words and vivid imagery conjured up by the salesman; but after the sale has been made he experiences buyer's remorse. Since he can't possibly ask for a refund, he might as well rationalise the purchase, just so he might feel better about his own judgment.

It is essentially a cognitive mechanism designed to defend our own identities. Humans all like to be in control, or like to think they're in control. We jab at buttons even after jabbing buttons clearly doesn't get a response. Which is why, when we've done something that runs contrary to our belief systems, we tend to twist the facts such that reality is once again congruent with our ideologies. Failing to do so would result in some killer cognitive dissonance, with our own sanity at stake.

It can be seen as a good or bad thing. I personally believe that it's a darned useful tool when you need to escape the truth for a while to consolidate your sanity. The danger is in not knowing what your mind is hiding from yourself, and remaining oblivious to the truth.

Nightclubs

2008-09-02T01:13:00.000-07:00

Clubs have this effect of transforming people. The thumping music, the lights, and most of all, the alcohol - all of these elements hijack your senses in a typical night out at the club. Some people remain remarkably congruent with their usual selves; but most people I've observed will either teeter on the edge of their sanity or become a different person altogether. You step into a club, you step into a different world - a world where everything is fast-paced, dynamic, and driven by alcohol. A world where you are prone to doing stupid things and stupid things happen to you.

For this reason, the club and the reality outside are often best kept separate from each other. It's safest to go in there, let whatever will be be and then come out of it pretending nothing happened. Complications happen when your reality is brought into the club. And thus you get all these stories of people kissing and insisting they were drunk, otherwise innocent people allegedly trying to grind their friends etc.

Which was the case the other night at UK Bound. It's so interesting to watch people take on different personas and abuse their liquid courage. And as onlookers we have to feel embarrassed for them, cos they obviously can't do it themselves.

Nightclubs are all about hooking up. Nobody actually goes there "just to dance" or "enjoy the music", and anyone who claims they do is either making excuses or isn't too sure why they're there either. Which is why, kids, you don't bring friends into a nightclub unless you plan on hooking up with them. Or if you have to, at least try not to make an ass of yourself.

ALL HOPE IS GONE

2008-08-27T02:00:00.001-07:00

Just listened to Slipknot's latest album on Youtube. From the sound of things, their music is going to go downhill from here on, like how it was with Korn and Take a Look in the Mirror. Downhill though, only in the sense that they are no longer that thunderous wall of sound that they used to be. In place of that is melody - evident in tracks Snuff and Till We Die - which actually brings out the best in Corey's now-limited vocals.

Just checked out the upcoming acts in London. And this is all happening in only the next few MONTHS. hoho

Sep 3 Serj Tankian
Sep 18 Gym Class Heroes
Oct 3 Dragonforce, Kaki King
Oct 4 Disturbed, Dragonforce
Oct 13 Queen
Oct 15 3 Doors Down
Oct 16 Oasis
Oct 30,31 Unholy Alliance Chapter 3 Feat Slayer + Trivium + Mastodon
Nov 20 Opeth
Nov 22 Motorhead
Dec 1 The Darkest Tour: Filth Fest feat. CRADLE OF FILTH
Dec 1,2 SLIPKNOT
Dec 12 Apocalyptica, The Prodigy
Dec 15 Coldplay

Sojourn

2008-08-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I have this thing for orientation camps. Maybe I happen to be a very disorientated person.

By the time this one came around, however, I was already pretty tired of camping. Serves me right. Good thing the camp was slow-paced, giving us bonding time rather than be engaged in activities which ultimately have little value in forging friendships. It's hard not to realise that when you've been to 4 camps. Take Union Camp for example. We may have worked well as a team, sometimes getting really intimate with each other in the process, but we never really got to know each other.

At the end of the first day I went over to New Majestic Hotel for Colin's farewell/birthday bash. The suite was fantastic. (and a tad kinky) Two storeys - a TV and two bathtubs right smack in the middle of the first storey, and a bed on the second. The toilet and shower doors were only ever so slightly frosted. Colin had his hands full all night, flitting here and there like a hummingbird in an attempt to divide his attention equally among all groups. Sara was no end of entertaining.

Woke up early the next day to reunite with the campers. We played amazing race - not all that remarkable but fun nonetheless. Charles, Daniel and I ran off after the finale that night to watch Liverpool vs Middlesborough at Bikini Bar. We caught the last twenty minutes of the game, just in time to see Liverpool work its magic in coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the space of..5min? We then rejoined the OG for a trip to 7-eleven. While they played drinking games, the 3 of us decided to be antisocial again and made our way to the beach at 530am. We talked mostly about our future in PUB, till the sun rose. I tried to catch some last min sleep and failed, so I joined another OG for a round of lame camp games. (at which, I must add, I am a veteran) It would be the last time I played one of those for a long time. School's starting soon.

In all the previous camps, I'd feel this constant sense of detachment and resignation to the fact that I'd leave all those friendships behind when i left. Sojourn stood out from the other camps in this one respect.

Sleepover at Celine's

2008-08-20T03:43:00.000-07:00

This was gonna be one of those crazy things you look back on in five years and laugh. Cabbed over to Celine's place after a looong day which had earlier saw me 1) attempt to apply for a VISA and fail 2) meet up with Gerald Jay and Hian Liang for a brief chat about times old and new 3) open an intl account with HSBC 4) meet up with the IBN interns for a quick dinner.
By the time Celine and Colin greeted me at the gate I was already damn shack but, as I'd come to realise after spamming NUS camps, our bodies are capable of amazing things when running on adrenaline (and prata) So what ensued was a night of mahjong, heart-to-heart talks, ice cream and wedges, prata and pillowfights. Driving over to the prata shop was especially memorable - the same prata shop we visited when I'd first come over to paint with Colin. The nostalgia feels especially thick when you end where you first began.

2008-08-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Just tried the Laksa mix from Primataste, and I must say it's pretty convincing for something processed and packaged. I imagined what it might be like in a few months' time, where a piping hot bowl of laksa would be a treasured commodity. I imagined myself preparing the dish alone in the confines of cramped quarters, looking forward to the rare treat.

The past few weeks have been about meeting up with friends who are flying off to the States, each of them so eager to savour one more time everything that they have loved about this place, to do justice to everything that has built up to this. Everything that we'd known to be in abundance - the company of our families, friends, our homes etc - we are suddenly deprived of, and we long for. A bit of regret probably sets in at this point as well - regret that we didn't treasure the moments here enough.

I have yet to find myself in that position though. With a little less than a month and a half left I suspect the sheer magnitude of the change that will take place has not entirely sunk in yet. Colin and I agree that it never sinks in until you're at the airport with your bags and you think to yourself, "Oh f**k."

top 5 metal things in china

2008-07-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

the quest for aglio olio

2008-07-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

Aglio olio changed my perspective on Italian food. There was a time when I thought that Italian was all about obscene amounts of tomato or cream sauce. Aglio olio opened my eyes to the fact that some Italian food involved obscene amounts of garlic and oil. It's such a charming dish because it's easy to make, hard to screw up, but also very hard to make outstanding. (as Colin put it)

My first attempt at aglio olio was last week. I got the ingredients off the net, and the rest of it was agaration. Somehow the pasta turned out slightly burnt.

The second attempt was at Wenhui's house. It was no better than the first, except this time it wasn't burnt and was more spicy cos more chili. But first time still seemed nicer. There were also all these garlic clumps.

Today I went to Timo's at Maxwell with Anne and Celine to watch the master at work, and perhaps find out what his secret ingredients were. As far as I'm concerned his is the holy grail of alio olio. He was very kind to let me stand beside him and watch. And just like Po in Kung Fu Panda, I realised that there was no secret ingredient. He basically used olive oil, garlic, chilies, sausages, salt and pepper just like I did. No parsley, no oregano or whatever. And the result was still as heavenly as the first time I'd tried it.

the past 4 weeks

2008-07-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

This is why I MIA so long:

1. Law Camp

2. Singapore International Water Week
(I met Water Wally. My life is complete now.)

3. CAC Camp
OG all guys, but still fun for some reason.

4. OIC Portrait Day
Sold one drawing. I've never sold more than that.

5. Union Camp
The camp with the biggest budget. Damn tiring and I swore I'd fall sick after attending 3 camps in 4 weeks but somehow it's not happening. yet.

about turn

2008-06-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Now NUS Law comes and says I've been accepted cos someone else rejected them leaving a vacancy. I suspect I'm filling Eugene's place. In any case, I accepted them, but odds are I'll only withdraw later on. I know this is morally very, very wrong but I've long decided that morals were always made to be interpreted by the individual. And I'm not saying that's right either, that's just the way things are.

2008-05-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

NUS Law finally got back to me two days ago, denying me entry. And a day later, SMU Law called to ask what were the chances that I'd accept their course, and I promptly rejected them. It's like a food chain. I'm slightly relieved, cos that means I won't have to agonise over yet another difficult decision.

So that brings two years of wondering about the future to a close, and it was all pretty much decided within the span of a month. I remember the long walks from my unit to FDS and looking at the sky and wondering what my friends overseas were up to. Then I'd feel a sense of dread wash over me at the prospect of studying Life Sci under MOE. It's not so much Life Sci (I dislike the course structure) as MOE, cos I wasn't getting a very good impression of the organisation from their disastrous admin and HR department. In the end, deadlines proved to be the best motivator, and it feels good now to have a bit of certainty in my life.

In the meantime, my stint at IBN is ending in two weeks. When I first came in I was cursing myself for making a bad decision - now I'm glad I made that decision and I don't want to leave. I met a great bunch of people here, but I just know I'm probably going to leave it all behind in September. Going overseas, from what I've observed, separates the friends from mere acquaintances. I have 3 months to invest in the relationships that I treasure and hedge them against the degenerating effect of distance.

glitch

2008-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today Soon msged saying that he's no longer going to London with me. Dampened my spirits a lot, cos I was counting on him to be that one close friend to be there with. For a while I was teetering on uncertainty again but I suppose the show must go on. This means a lot more than just me gambling ten years of my life - I'm not doing this only for myself. Problem is, I'm not sure whether it should.

mission accomplished!

2008-05-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

Today was very nice. Started with the SMU Law interview, which was rather short, then lunch with my parents at a restaurant in People's Park that employs ex-convicts. Attempted to run 10 click on the track in the afternoon, but gave up at 7.6k. Body needs more conditioning.

Evening was outing with Mr Pink (for want of another name) at New York^2. We ordered the Yankee Burger and were duly informed that there was this challenge thing where if an individual manages to finish the whole thing fries and all then the burger's on the house. We passed on that one, and were content with a quarter of the 8-inch burger each.

When the staff approached our table with a birthday cake I was genuinely surprised..I mean I sort of suspected something when Lari whispered to Cerlyn before leaving the table but when they came back i just forgot the whole thing. Anyhow it was a lovely mango cake! And Rayner brought his big big camera to take photos of the whole thing. Such awesome people.

irony

2008-05-08T05:08:00.000-07:00

If you were wondering why I deleted the last couple of posts, it's because they were regarding a particular scholarship, and blogs aren't a safe place to discuss it. Let's call it Scholarship A.

The last two weeks have been pretty surreal. Two months ago I didn't dare dream that I'd ever get Scholarship A, and now here I am on the brink of rejecting it.

I also just got into NTU's Accountancy & Biz double degree programme, something else that I didnt think I'd get. I must say I'm having quite a bit of luck with my applications this year - a stark contrast from when I bombed the Firefly, Medicine and MOE interviews. Alright so it wasn't completely luck - reading up on a bit of psychology and body language probably did help.

Tomorrow's going to be the last of the interviews for this year - I hope! SMU Law. Not that a whole lot hinges on it, but since I've paid $10 to apply I might as well go.
____________________________________________________

Chick Corea trading piano shred licks with a Japanese jazz pianist. The most amazing thing I've seen in a while:

21st

2008-04-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the birthday wishes (:

Interviews.

2008-04-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

After ploughing through five of these little fifteen minute (median length) terrors in the last nine days, I must say that they aren't quite the traumatising experience they used to be, for me. But that is not to say that they have become less of a challenge, because:

1) only fifteen minutes of yourself are presented to the interviewers, and will decide the eventual outcome
2) this outcome has a tendency to affect the rest of your life.

They are therefore terrifying not least because the stakes are high, and when stakes are high one tends to become self-conscious, and self-consciousness can only lead to a hijacking of processes that could otherwise have been handled with greater efficiency by the subconscious. Thus jeopardising the outcome. It's rather brutal when you think about it. The other reason is that you go to interviews to be judged. We are beings evolutionarily hardwired to fear being judged, because in those hunter-gatherer communities a judgment passed on you quickly spreads within the tribe. Today the consequences are no longer quite so grave, but well blame it on evolution.

There are so many aspects to juggle - dressing, body language, vocal tones, content etc. And it's one against [number between 2 to 12] so the likelihood that all these aspects are being scrutinised is rather..high. Which is why girls probably fare better in interviews because 1) they can multitask better 2) their awareness of social psychology/human behaviour is superior.

That said, here's what happened at each interview:

A*STAR 1st round - Was telling lame jokes and throwing people into laughing fits in the waiting room, probably derailing their trains of thought. Psychological warfare. Went into the room trying not to laugh. Interviewers were merciful and asked rather simple questions, so it was more or less a recital.

PUB final round - I think I overprepared. Heard that chances are you'll get through this round so long as you don't act like a complete lunatic, but I went in and threw all the glory and achievements of PUB in their face.

USP - By far the toughest interview I'd ever had. Lasted 30 min. Interviewers were an American and a Scot (I think) and they were razor sharp, firing back at me for everything I said. So it was about me dodging their rapid-fire questions until I finally gave way.
Me: "I think you got me there"
Them: "That's the whole point."
Sadists.

A*STAR 2nd round - more or less like the first, only with more gesticulating from me as I attempted to explain filtering using a syringe and a clamp.

NUS Law - Spent the whole time discussing JK Rowling and Steven Vander Ark. They concluded that I must be a huge Harry Potter fan. (I haven't read a single book in the series, nor do I intend to)

I liked the seniors at the Law interview a lot. Very fun people. Hope I get to attend the Law camp in June!

preserved vegetables and tap water

2008-04-21T01:56:00.000-07:00

I'm in a right pickle now. PUB offered me the scholarship, which in effect dangles before me the prospect of a "free" overseas education. BUT AT WHAT PRICE? doubts remain about the career prospects there, and I do not want to jeopardise my career for the sake of an Imperial cert.

they were right, every single one of them. A scholarship is free money given to exceptional individuals. Anything else is a contract.

indigestion

2008-04-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

I appear to have bitten off more than I can chew. Just when I'd come to terms with the fact that I was facing (an already daunting) 4 interviews in 8 days, I came home today to have mum point towards a letter sitting on the piano. It was from NUS, and my eyes immediately picked up three pieces of crucial information: 1) that the NUS Law interview is on the day before my birthday 2) the written test is the day after my birthday 3) I have to produce an essay on why I want to read Law at NUS during the interview. This means 5 interviews in 9 days.

If I were to count my blessings however, I'm also grateful that 1) none of these have directly coincided with my birthday 2) none of my interviews are clashing 3) if nothing else, I can always pursue my lifelong dream of selling Tu Tu Kueh at a roadside stall near Bedok MRT.

The PUB interview today went quite well, though the interviewers' body language didn't exactly coincide with what they said. I hate incongruenies like this they leave me confused. the A*STAR 1st round interview was good as well. The interviews so far have possibly been the most light-hearted I've experienced.

And so the action-packed week ahead goes like so:
Tue: USP interview
Thu: A*STAR interview final round
Fri: NUS Law interview
Sat: 21st birthday
Sun: NUS Law written test

gotta go prepare now!

ORA walkajogathon

2008-04-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Went back to RI on Saturday for the ORA carnival with Junrong and Khaiphang. Met Edward Ng and Jacq Sim who actually remembered me! I am seriously touched and in awe of her memory. "you used to be so thin and tall!" haha aren't I still?

she's married now with a very bored-looking kid! oh did I mention she's now known as Mrs Chua and now she's no longer Jacq Sim but...Jacq Chua! (now where have I heard that name before)

brothers' farewell@zouk

2008-04-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

last day at IBN for si zheng and tianji - hence we carried on the tradition of chionging zouk whenever any of us leave. Forgot it was a friday though, and the whole time they were playing useless trance music with people doing their retarded trance dance. It's easy to pick up though, and if you can't beat em, join em. We bailed out pretty early at 2am and went for prata. Walking on the streets in the middle of the night makes you feel very..serene.

last moment with wisma atria aquarium

2008-04-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

when I was little I used to get really thrilled watching the baby sharks in that aquarium

and they're tearing it down tomorrow

War against emos in Mexico City

2008-04-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

This is funny and sad disturbing all at the same time. Excerpts from various articles:

"According to La Crónica de Hoy, several hundred Mexican heavy metal, "skate punk" and alternative rock fans joined forces last Friday (March 7) in the in the center of Querétaro, Mexico to confront a group of "emos" (followers of the "emo" subculture, which is short for "emotional") who regularly use the city center as a gathering place. Four people were injured and 28 persons were arrested (22 of them minors) when more than a thousand youths clashed in the area of Jardín Guerrero, Plaza de Armas (front of the Government Palace).
Authorities in Mexico are reportedly concerned that similar incidents could happen in other cities, especially Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
An Internet campaign is reportedly being waged to launch attacks against "emos" in other parts of the country, with various web postings portraying emos as "homosexuals" who give a "bad image" to tourists who visit their towns."

“We’ve never seen all the urban tribes unite against one single tribe before… Emos, their way of thinking is for crap, if you are so depressed please do us all a favour and kill yourselves!”"

"The Austin American-Statesman reports that punks and goths are up in arms because they believe that emo has co-opted and corrupted their styles. Anger has also sprouted among homophobes that see young emo boys as too effeminate..
The affected youths have begun to strike back, organizing marches in Guadalajara and Mexico City to protest the growing intolerance in their society - under police protection. "

"The situation down in Mexico doesn't appear to be cooling down. After anti-emo violence in Queretaro and Mexico City earlier this month there are reports that young people are still mobilizing on the Internet, and preparing to launch an attack on emos at the Plaza Rio in Tijuana this Saturday.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, El Universal reports that emos are planning to march on Saturday alongside other "urban tribes" including "Los Darkys" (goths) from their unofficial base of the Glorieta de Insurgentes to El Chopo, the revered youth alternative street market where the various tribes of Mexico City usually coexist without trouble. It's an effort to display unity and tolerance as the prospects of more assaults linger online and in the streets. The Mexican government has also taken notice and called for peace and unity, though haven't acted in any decisive manner."

Can I say this was just waiting to happen? When you have subcultures, or tribes, the age old tribal instinct will surface. And what do tribes do? They fight.

In other news, the Wisma Atria fish tank is about to be removed to make way for "more retail space". The fish are about to be relocated to the Underwater World so WHOEVER HAS ANY SENTIMENTAL ATTACHMENT TO THE FISH TANK PLEASE JOIN ME THIS WEEKEND TO TAKE OUR LAST PHOTOS WITH IT. Thank you.

a movie about romance

2008-04-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

..of the three kingdoms. Just watched Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragons. It's an awesome movie that everyone who likes war epics ought to watch. The soundtrack was the best I've heard in a war movie, the cinematography was pretty and many scenes were awe-inspiring.

Just a few glitches
- it was too short
- I swear Cao Cao never had a granddaughter, much less one named Cao Ying who plays the pipa and commands an army
- The casting! Guan Yu had but a few strands of beard, Zhang Fei had pretty eyes (?!), Guan Yu's son was played by Vanness Wu (of F4 fame, go figure), Cao Cao had a sissy voice.
- Andy On's character sports dreadlocks (maybe he has jamaican blood)

and..

- Cao Cao was played by a guy named DAMIEN. That's just WRONG.

but seriously, this movie is hard to beat when it comes to san guo movies. I don't think even John Woo could beat this. Liu Dehua is prolific!

conversation

2008-03-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

(at ACJC's Fun-o-Rama)

I spot a boy wearing the RI PE T-shirt.
Me (to RI boy): Bro, don't you think you're taking a big risk by wearing that thing here?
RI boy: *laughs*
ACJC girl (who obviously overheard and butts in): We don't discriminate here!
---

funny, I was just contemplating wearing the RJ PE T-shirt to the fair. In the end I bought a T-shirt that says "ACJC 100% original".

2008-03-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

I've fallen into a rut where I don't enjoy anything I'm doing/ I'm not doing the things I enjoy. i.e. the IBN research attachment has lost every last shred of appeal and now I'm being constantly pressurised by an overzealous scientist to perform miracles. Tuition isn't fun at all, especially when it involves a long trudge down the hostile filthy streets of Geylang. I thought to myself while dragging myself through the rain that this must be what it feels like to land up in a job you can't enjoy. And a disturbingly large number of people out there are putting themselves through this, for one of two reasons 1) they're masochists 2) somewhere back there a contract was involved. My agony stems from a combination of both, but thankfully it's going to last for another 3 months at most. Today, by the way, follows a painfully long weekend marked by a slew of unreturned messages and a humiliating defeat by Liverpool. And prior to that, a friend who lost her sense of humor and an ex that just proved more anti-social than I ever gave her credit for. time to do some spring cleaning - remove the negative influences from my life and systematically replace them with postive ones.

there is a place called zouk on a day called wednesday

2008-02-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Not another delayed post. busy lah

So basically after work on Wednesday I went for tuition (during which I was already pretty drained, after a day of mundane lab work) and straight after that headed for Zouk. On the way there I saw this girl with a short dress and hot pink stockings smiling to herself as her eyes darted from side to side. After establishing in mind the fact that she was probably mildly psychotic, I also wondered whether she too was headed for the clubs. She got off at City Hall, so I didn't think so.

- and later on the dancefloor, guess who was gyrating on the pedestal? Small world. Anyways we had Long Island ice tea and danced the whole night away to decidedly mediocre music. The usual Mambo fare had been diluted by a selection of trance and techno and rock. It's on nights like these that those who claim to club for the music must've been sorely disappointed.

Which brings us to the topic of - why do we club? After all what is a club but a stupid empty room with a bar and a sound system. I always marvel at people who can say "I go there for the music" with a straight face. We go there cos of the people, to see and be seen, full stop.

Overall one of the better nights I've had at a club, hoping for more to come. Ian and I spent the rest of the night at Sean's house, which was pretty memorable in itself. I'd gone totally unprepared for a sleepover, so it was improvisation galore. Thanks Sean for the hospitality!

The next day was a pain to get through though. Zombified my way through the day, managing to kill every last cell I ventured to grow. Oh well

Singapore to host first Youth Olympics

2008-02-21T03:33:00.000-08:00

I feel so proud! haha XD

fun with visual kei

2008-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

After watching the Death Note Spinoff: L Change the World (yes that's the full title stated on the GV screen) sneaks, I got rather inspired to try the Japanese "Visual Kei" style makeup for a bit. (That and the fact that I was itching to try face paint after seeing Jacq have a field day with em) Visual Kei is the kind of look J-rock singers wear to make all the guys look prettier than girls.

So the next day I dragged my sis and Fenglei down to Marina Square to stock up on the bare essentials: foundation, liquid eyeliner, mascara and eyebrow pencil. We all then went down to Fenglei's place to play a bit.

My sis is quite a natural at this. But I of course cheated by cranking up the brightness and contrast in Photoshop, but that's cos we couldn't find a white enough foundation.

Anyways, about the movie. It definitely wasn't as good as the first two, which is actually a good thing because I wouldn't want to see the original plot get overshadowed by the spin-off. That rarely happens anyway. It delivered the L fanservice exceedingly well though - they made him do everything we'd want to see him do: run, look exhausted, babysit, stand up straight etc.

what is love?

2008-02-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Thought I could start doing cell cultures today but seems like I'll have to wait till tomorrow cos the cells aren't ready. As a result, I'm stuck in a room with UV radiation-risk and laser hazard labels all over with nothing to do but to read scientific literature. And when I'm not reading I'm mulling over Valentine's Day and love. I mean, it's been all hyped up in the media and stuff..how not to think about it?

Every year I get slightly miffed about the way Valentine's Day is overhyped and commercialised, the same way I feel about Christmas. I mean, it makes good business sense to take advantage of people overeager to impress their partners, and I understand that, but I shall take the moral high ground and say that all the hype trivialises love. Moreover there is a certain group of people who are being done a great disservice every February 14th - singles. And Valentine's Day is, paradoxically, infinitely more effective in making members of the Lonely Hearts Club more depressed than inspiring couples to celebrate their love. I guarantee.

What then is love and why does it hurt so much to be in love sometimes. I think we have it confused with other things way too often, and that's when it hurts. Love is freedom, and does not involve need in any way. Once all these needs are generated and not fulfilled there is hurt.

That big hole inside us can only be filled by realising that we are already everything we need. What hurts is not love itself but the lies we choose to believe - lies that love of another is what makes one complete. That's not true - we are all born complete, and another person is only there to help you enjoy it.

my doctor gave me the finger

2008-02-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

Nowadays when I try out the more intensive guitar speed-building exercises my little finger starts to hurt. It's definite baggage left over from my broken finger in '05. Which then reminded me that I still had the x-ray films with me, so I pulled them out and took a bunch of pictures:

first x-ray after going NUH

inserted 5 k-wires to hold bone fragments in place

I still think it's a miracle that I managed to get my range-of-motion back. Thank goodness. But I definitely can't stretch as far across the fretboard as I used to.

irony is...

2008-02-10T06:33:00.000-08:00

..when I blog in Blogspot right after expounding my views over on LJ why LJ is so much better. Both have their good points I guess, so maybe I shall henceforth practise dual-blogging.

Or maybe not, seeing as my 5-month attachment commences TOMORROW! no time liaoxx hahaz.

Come my friend, to fate let's raise
Two finger shots at this our last soiree
For tomorrow I fear
Swoops all too deadly near

2008-02-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

I changed my blog header, as you can probably see. Looks tacky, I know, and yes I preferred the old one too, but for now I need something different.

I'm really beginning to wonder how I'm going to pass time in the IBN laboratories. Those who have gone for research attachments all agree it's kinda boring, and that's what I fear most. I'd rather have my hands full, because I perform best when I'm stressed/high-strung. I also need to keep busy to take my mind off some stuff. Anyhow, juggling work and tuition is going to be tough. It's times like these- when I have so little time left to myself - that I truly relish every second of free time, and I like that. I've been too free for my own good for two years - time to get down to some work! My goal at the end of five months is to, at the very least, impress my mentor. The other end of the spectrum involves a Nobel Prize or two, but let's not go into that yet.

Happy CNY!

2008-02-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year turned out to be pretty pleasant. Got up at 6.30 at my parents' request to go help them queue for free abalone at Carrefour. Singaporeans never cease to amaze me (I amaze myself sometimes). Anyhow it went like this - one had to buy $16.80 worth of goods, take the receipt and go queue for the abalone. As you can imagine, all sorts of wonderful ploys surfaced: 1. queue cutting..It's amazing how people can just cut in nonchalantly. 2. barging into carrefour before the store opened, essentially forcing them to open for business 3. having a representative of sorts queue for the abalone while sending a whole army into the store to each purchase $16.80 worth of goods.

In the afternoon Fenglei and Wenhui came over for lunch and a spot of gambling before we all went down to River Hongbao. It's exactly the same as in previous years, save for maybe the animal of the year. No creativity lah these guys. Tsk.

Evening. Went to watch Sweeney Todd with Jacq and I really must say I think that was the best movie of 2008 so far. Which is not saying much, considering we're something like 40 days into the year but still. it's the movie to beat. I loved the sets and the soundtrack and the whole morbidity of it all.

We also discovered this book fair where everything was going for $5. I intend to go back there today to dig up some stuff. I decline to disclose the location of said bookfair because if I did everyone would rush for the books and I'd have nothing left. So nerr.

Oh yesterday I also managed to set up a new slipshod recording rig following the demise of my old comp. It's not much but I trust it'll do the trick:

..not that I'll actually have the TIME to do any recording now that I'm tied down to that IBN thing. Better not be a waste of time!

bittersweet

2008-02-06T03:18:00.000-08:00

Alright it's final - I'll be attached at the IBN till end June, which means I can't travel anymore. It's my fault really, for forgetting all about my family's travel plans when I negotiated the contract with the Director. Something I'll have to live with I suppose.

On a brighter note, I am really quite stoked over the kind of things I'll get to do. My aim will basically be to learn as much as possible and meet lots of professionals in the field.

I am attached

2008-02-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

..to the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), to be precise. Yup I sold my soul to the IBN today, and will be doing experiments on haemodialysis till end June (but I hope to finish end May). No more stints in F&B, no more mercenary @#$%^&**** tuition centres, just good ol' research.

I'll be working 830 to 6, and based on my calculations today I should be able to get to City Hall by 630 after work, so my social life hasn't gone entirely out of the window. At least I hope not!

2008-02-04T17:03:00.000-08:00

Had a chat with Dr Tergaonkar from IMCB yesterday. The theme was basically the amount of time needed in his kind of research, and whether Singapore was willing/able to afford that sort of time.

He remarked that research in the biological sciences is different from Physics or Chem research due to the nature of biological systems. You can use test subjects such as mice for a model of what happens in the human body, occurring over a significantly shorter time scale, but it still takes time for, say, tumour growth in a mouse's body. The result - long hours in the laboratory with certainly no guarantee of whether or not the current research would reap rewards (and not much pay to show for it either).

And so it seems that researchers live only for that one eureka moment, and that's the only thing keeping them going. 3 to 5 years of work for one 5-page research paper. It's beginning to sound a lot like being a doctor, but I should reserve my judgment for now. Go for one of these attachments first, then decide. He also addressed my concerns over Singapore's research climate - the government support, proximity from research centres and ease of obtaining raw materials. He seemed genuinely impressed with the Biopolis, given Singapore's limited resources. At the same time, he expressed concern over the kind of scientists that come out of Singapore's education system, or even the kind of people at the top for that matter - that we're all results-oriented and seeking quick, if not instant gratification. When I asked him whether Singapore was willing to give its scientists that kind of support, he merely remarked that it was too early to tell - the Biopolis was but 5 years old - adding that he had trust in the scientific advisory body. But my concern still remains - will the people at the helm actually listen?

I also dropped by at the Learning Lab yesterday to enquire about the status of my internship application. The reply I was met with: "Did your friend tell you the proper way to go about doing this?" Way to go learning lab. I go all the way there just to get this crap. A classic example of a money-making venture that got too much success for its own good.

waiting for the shoe to drop

2008-02-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

I've applied for so many jobs it's just insane. First, the 20-odd schools I've emailed - they might need a relief teacher any time and call me up. Then again, what are the chances? Second, the Learning Lab, which is irritating the heck out of me cos they claim to need more interns but isn't getting back to me. Third, the UOB job the NSman promised me. Fourth, the IBN Youth Research Programme. Fifth, lab assistant at IMCB. Sixth, waitering at Oasis Restaurant & Bar. Seventh, Cambridge Institute. And that's not counting all the retail outlets I left my name with and if they get back to me I really really want those too. There are so many things I want to do but somehow or other - it's just not happening for me and I end up bumming around at home.

Anyway, went for the OIC Portrait Day yesterday. I spent a good one hour plus looking for a sketchbook to buy, only to come back and have a kind soul donate his to me. Anyway I gave my drawings away for free. And met these 3 ex-TPJC students (same batch). Had a lot of fun, but I think I need more stamina.

edit: for those of you who have at one time or another asked me what type of girl I go for, this girl pretty much fits the bill:

SECURITY

2008-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Synopsis:
When two TV show hosts wake up in an alternate dimension, they are forced to face the demons of their past. How did they get there, and what does all this have to do with a girl named Emily? Will they ever find a way out? Find out in this upcoming psychological-drama-horror-detective -action-monster movie this summer. Starring kmetal87 and charjanfran.

The whole thing was shot in Takashimaya by the way. We had security come after us a number of times, but we just ran. Might make a blooper reel soon..watch out for it!

Musicianwar Singapore Meetup

2008-01-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Met up with Jerick from Musicianwar yesterday for a lil jam session at Tiet Studio. And since we're currently the only two active Singaporean members of MW, it's technically a Musicianwar Singapore meetup. Damn fun. You know you've had a good jam session by how quickly time goes by. Sometimes the hour just drags on.

Here are some snippets from the session. Jerick's on the right and I'm on the left.

Just when I thought I'd go on hiatus musically and focus on art, this comes along and revives my interest in guitar..we plan to do more collab pieces, hopefully enough for an EP.
--------------------------------------------------------
It's been a week since ORD, and it's been a pretty busy week, going for chalet and jobhunting at the same time. So far no luck for the most part, but at least I managed to find this tuition at Geylang. Going for the first session this evening.

On to the bigger picture - I'm still torn between local and overseas, believe it or not. Things changed when Imperial said they accepted me - I wasn't counting on that to happen. It's very tempting to go, but my current stand is that it's just not worth it without sponsorship. And I really was looking forward to life in NUS.

Documented effects of alcohol

2008-01-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

I have long been fascinated by the many reasons people give for the use of alcohol and its ramifications. Jacq sent me this site the other day that stated 51% of consumers do so for the taste - which came as a surprise seeing as I tend to find it rather foul-tasting despite numerous attempts to convince myself otherwise. I personally suspect that 50% of these people are lying. Merely backwards rationalising as a means to explain that night of binging that led to say, belly dancing on the bartop. I mean, no sane individual would risk such an eventuality for a sensory experience he didn't even enjoy, right?

Wrong. I think peer pressure has an enormous lot to do with it. Drinking is almost mandatory in social situations - a phenomenon that probably grew over time as more and more people succumbed to it. It is indeed hard to say no to a group of merrymakers riding on a high and manhandling you should you decline. Which was more or less what happened the other night at OSC chalet - there were I think 3 or 4 bottles of Absolut Vodka, a bottle of chivas, some beer and a couple bottles of wine. And I used to think that vodka tasted best with lime - now I know orange juice does an even more effective job of concealing the taste. A cup of 50-50 mix and I could barely tell.

And so that was how it went - Mr Tan playing the devil's incarnate, mixing drinks for everyone and assuring them it was pure juice. Sara was particularly high, basically providing the night's entertainment as he went around manhandling people and - for some reason - obsessive-compulsively spreading butter on the BBQ chicken wings. 3 cups of vodka orange and a mug of green tea chivas later, they decided to make me join this dubious drinking game that involved a die. I wrestled free of their grip, ran upstairs and locked myself up in a room. There was so much alcohol on the table and so few people left - nothing good could come out of this!

Documented Effect of Alcohol #1 (Positive)

Sara left his watch behind, so Colin messaged him about it. This was his reply (still under the effects of vodka):
"Ah dei yes yes the watch is of paramount importance, a tool denoting time, and time is the Lord's constraint on mankind. Live as we may, but within the time given to us. After which, we shall join him and seek a new life."
When later contacted about it, Sara said that no, there's no way he could ever come up with something remotely as philosophical when he's sober. We advised him to drink his way to Oxford philosophy - he might even make it to the Dean's list.

Documented Effect of Alcohol #2 (Negative)

After 2 hours of hiding in the room, I noticed that they'd quietened down outside so I went out to check. Zehan was curled up beside a pool of his own puke, Simon and Soon Heng were feeling woozy and Kannan had concussed in his car. Pure devastation! I learnt one thing though: those who endeavour to stay sober have to clean up after those who don't

heath

2008-01-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

I could actually type this post tomorrow seeing as it's 11:10pm now but what the heck. heath ledger has just gone the way of uh..kurt cobain and marilyn monroe. I don't know why nobody else seems to be reacting to this, but I feel sad. he's definitely one of my favorite actors of all time. Such a young actor, so full of promise, one of the most versatile there was. just compare his performances in a knights tale to lords of dogtown. He represented what acting's all about.

you can't blame the blueberry pie

2008-01-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

I liked My Blueberry Nights more for the visuals and the general vibe it carried more than anything else, but when you put it under scrutiny there is a lot to object to. There's not much to be said for storyline - like Jacq said it was just one of many variations of the old cliche of a serendipitous meeting of two strangers that leads to romance. At times the plot wasn't entirely believeable, and the dialogue/narration sometimes spoon-fed the audience a bit too much. It's as if WKW (my namesake director (:) got worried that his audience might be a little slow. But we must forgive him - after all this is his English-language debut and he can only get better from here. Jacq and I agreed that he tended to abuse the slow-mo/stop motion effect, but there were times when it was used to good effect. I'm not sure how to describe the colour in the film. There were all these flat shades, like when you up the contrast and turn down the brightness in Photoshop. And it turned out to be surprisingly pretty indeed, with each city seemingly cast in a different colour scheme. Oh and I think the cast really bolstered the rather weak script - except for Norah Jones who was nothing more than this visual anchor, or maybe this blank template of a person the audience was supposed to identify themselves with. Whatever it is, her characterisation seemed pretty weak compared to the rest. Sue Lynn seriously reminded me of Courtney Love. The romance didn't really develop in a typical fashion, no flirting or soulgazing, just the fact that they were there for each other, and the sincere longing for each other's company when they were apart. It was all very raw and innocent, something that is so rare in movies nowadays and could perhaps only have come from an Asian director. The use of ice cream melting over blueberry pie was a really strong metaphor for uh. the lovers' stream of passion.

My favourite quote from the movie:

"At the end of every night, the cheesecake and the apple pie are always completely gone, the peach cobbler and the chocolate mousse cake are nearly finished, but there's always a whole blueberry pie left untouched."

"So what's wrong with the blueberry pie?"

"There's nothing wrong with the blueberry pie, just people make other choices. You can't blame the blueberry pie, it's just... no one wants it."

ORD loh!

2008-01-18T01:38:00.000-08:00

our time to reminisce

2008-01-17T01:30:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm on this inexplicable Romeo & Juliet drawing kick right now. This was an experiment in different textures using different brushes - for this one all the brushes used were preset..I should go and download a bunch of new brushes soon. They make all the difference sometimes.

1 more day to ORD, after which it's time to get on with my life again. Pick up where I left off two years ago. I can still remember the night before enlistment day-I was getting butterflies in my tummy at the prospect of two years of uncertainty. I'd spent a good deal of my time mentally psyching myself up for it all. I needn't have bothered, because 1) there was nothing I could have done to prepare myself for BMT 2) if I said my NS stint was gruelling, I'd be lying.

Okay, so BMT did come with its challenges. But once you get used to the regimentation and the "wait to rush, rush to wait" nature of it all, the rest is a walk in the park. Getting to fire guns and lob a grenade were particularly gratifying. I especially loved how it made us appreciate the little things like those precious moments in the bunk where we stole a few moments reclining on the bed, or helping each other massage our tired shoulders during route march, or the sanctity of good sleep, and especially the sheer thrill of counting down the days till bookout. And who could forget field camp! When we were put under the mercy of nature - and even the supernatural as we were taught to respect these forces. I also marveled at surreal moments such as watching a tracer round go off, illuminating the night in brilliant red; firefly gazing outfield, and listening to the Cranberries sing about guns and bombs on the radio as I waited for my grenade throw. I live for surreal moments like these!

We would soon be released from Tekong, with a caveat that unit life would be even tougher. Turned out to be quite the contrary. It was an office job with generally nice (but oddball) regulars, and the best bunch of NSFs you'll ever meet. When they said you'd meet your best friends in army, this is what they were talking about.

And so two years on from that night I spent agonising over the unknown, well, I really can't say nothing's changed, cos so much has changed - both in myself and the circumstances around me. I'm just happy to say I've gotten a good break from studies and now I'm ready to go again. Some people say NS is a waste of time..for me I'd say it was time well wasted.

I just posted another guitar video on Youtube. This one is quite pointless, I promise you, but if there is one good reason why you should watch it it's because..well okay so there isn't any. But I do like the lighting on my left arm.

wherefore art thou roEMO?

2008-01-16T03:12:00.000-08:00

Concept art for the two main characters of a story my sis and I dreamt up. Starring Emo Romeo and Metal Juliet.
Edit- lineart:

damn frustrated

2008-01-15T16:44:00.000-08:00

I must've emailed at least a dozen schools by now, and not one of them has gotten back to me. And I know why - the guys who ORDed earlier and the girls who just graduated from JC - they must've snapped up all the positions by now.

It makes no sense - that guys who enlisted as PES A and B be the only ones eligible for the two month cut in their NS term if they do well in NAPFA. And what's more, a lot of them get downgraded after enlistment, bringing their PES status down, and yet they still only have to serve 1 year 10 months. And so people like me who got silver for NAPFA still lan lan have to serve 2 years. I used to be okay with it, until I recently realised that it's jeopardising my search for a temp job. what is the rationale in making PES A&B personnel the darlings of the SAF while condemning everyone else? if they have a good reason, I'd like to hear it.

Anyhow, if I get desperate I'll probably start calling or going down to the schools personally. Somehow I have a lot more confidence talking to someone in person than on the phone.

a walk among giants

2008-01-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

OIC sketch walk just rekindled my interest in drawing.

I'd first heard of the OIC through Bella only last week when she showed me the website at http://organisationofillustratorscouncil.blogspot.com. The Sketch Walk was basically about trekking through various parts of Singapore and drawing everything along the way.

So we met at Bras Basah Complex at 2pm outside Basheer bookstore. There I met Andrew a.k.a Drewscape, Billy, Benjamin and Mike a.k.a Mindflyer (OIC chairman). I also met Kesheng, a J1 from RJ, and Josephine from NYJC, both of whom were Art students. In fact, as far as I know, everyone there was either in the art industry, in art school or studied art as a subject. I felt sorely out of place. Bella arrived shortly after.

And so we set off. The first stop was the area outside Guan Yin Miao. I sketched a very uninspired and messy drawing of a building with a lor of birds on it. We were given something like 25 minutes for every stop, and it was admittedly hard for me to produce something of decent quality in that amount of time. But I guess it forced us to stop dwelling on details, and see bigger shapes and blocks of colour. Or rather, it was supposed to, but I han't realised yet. Bella drew a spiffy perspective drawing with short trees.

We then went upstairs of the hawker centre and drew from there. I decided to be a little less ambitious what with my huge landscapes and decided to focus on one object instead. I singled out a trishaw (and later realised that Andrew picked out the same one - I must have a pretty developed eye!) and drew exactly what I saw. It was literal and boring, and didn't even come with the amount of technical mastery literal and boring pictures ought to have.
We took a walk to the Gotham City building and sat ourselves in the courtyard. There were four statues of important personalities, between which I failed to draw any link. I mean, Sun Yat-sen, Churchill, Lincoln and Plato aren't exactly brothers. But anyway I stole Bella's marker and Chinese brush and drew them all.

Next stop was supposed to be Haji Lane, but we were in dire need for refreshments so our group took a rest at this little shop and had tehpeng and some snacks. Josephine asked if I had Greek blood. Wth! Haha actually a part of me wishes I had some funky exotic ancestry. Bella's half Chinese half German and half Japanese. (lol) In any case, I scribbled out a BMW, defining every line I could make out, and was pretty happy with how it turned out. Mike later commented that I need more confidence in my linework.

By then it looked like it was gonna rain pretty soon, so we hid in the Army Market for a while. I tried the waffles there, but found nothing much to rave about it. Definitely doesn't justify the hype. Or maybe I'm just a ruthless foodie.

Next stop was the Kallang Riverside Park. By then I was already feeling rather uninspired, in the end only managing to render a coconut tree in chinese brush. I have to say though, we did stop at a rather weird spot.

From there we proceeded through Geylang - no not the main road but the extra seedy streets hidden in the back. Never seen so many prostitutes in my life, I swear. They were standing there in their skimpy little outfits and (for some reason) carrying umbrellas. There were almost just as many potential patrons standing around, but on this day it seemed supply outstripped demand. You'd think that in order to lure the lechers into their lair they'd attempt to force a seductive smile. But none of them could.

Geylang was supposed to be one of the stops (figure studies?) but Bella was growing increasingly uncomfortable so we thought we'd better move on. It was getting dark, which made it hard to draw. I set out to make a drawing of a playground (always had this thing for playgrounds) and cast it in really moody lighting.

The last stop was Kallang Airport hawker centre! Fleecircus was there, but unfortunately I didn't get to speak to her. Really like her style. Anyways I didn't really care much about drawing anymore and proceeded to wolf down a chicken chop before drawing Jill Valentine with a blue G-Tec.

This was the really cool bit. Drewscape and Mindflyer, the two pros, went to each and every person and offered to do a critque of what we'd done that day, as well as our little portfolios if we'd brought them. Mike seemed rather incredulous that the OIC website was attracting people from JC..I thought why the heck not! Anyway the comments I got were as follows:

1. try to see shapes, and render the subject in tight blocks. My lines tended to be a bit too loose.
2. Squint your eyes and try to see things in three tones: light, medium and dark, and proceed to shade the line drawing in that way. Dark should preferably be adjacent to and complementing the light areas.
3. be more confident in your linework

Billy shared his portfolio with us, and it was chock full of damn inspiring anatomy studies and excellent anime lineart. Benjamin had this album of anime drawings rendered in Photoshop. What can I say man. These guys are all damn pro. We agreed to meet up again for a similar session on our own, this time without time constraints and a different route. I can't wait!

last day duty

2008-01-06T01:40:00.000-08:00

Well here I am in office on my last day duty! This office holds so many memories for me, really it does. Possibly more so than RJ, by virtue of the time spent in here. Well I am just thankful for all the experiences during my time here in this unit. As for the people I have gotten to know here, it's an understatement that we're like a family. I've said this before, and I'll say it again - the people here have more chemistry, and have bonded better than any of the classes I've belonged to. Maybe it's the fact that we aren't all bogged down by stress and have so much free time for outings. The pigging out sessions, the clubbing and drinking, the gatherings at Mark's mansion - these will form the bulk of my fondest memories of life here. Also, I dare say duties have been some of the most fruitful (for want of a better word) hours in office because alone here in this Ops Room, one has the time and the space to let his thoughts wander.

While driving to office today, I heard a song on the radio by Sting and the Police called Englishman in New York. It's such awesome driving music. My other favourite is The Look of Love by Diana Krall.