the death toll for the tsunami disaster has exceeded 118 000. how does one fathom a hundred thousand people? the entire regions of ang mo kio and toa payoh, obliterated in a flash? or is that a mere drop in the ocean, bad pun definitely not intended. i do not claim to understand even a fraction of their pain, to be able to see the entirety of this event even from this sheltered looking- tower we are in. i guess this is a sobering way to start the new year.. a resolute slap in the face to make sure we see how unbelievable lucky we are just to be doing the things we are now, and that we appreciate all this enough to be willing to help those not as fortunate.

to the new year: may everyone stay safe, healthy and happy. it may seem innocuous, but it's mighty hard to achieve. try hard anyway.

cheers.

pix ahead! this week's been great.. caught up with lotsa friends and family =) here's liangcai, me and veen.. we reckon we're relatively sane, esp when compared to absolute fruitcakes.

veen's bday! and finally, a full mensa gathering..

hehe my dearest bro just turned 26.. candles are positively blazing

yes i know i'm late again but merry christmas! did everyone have a good one? hehe xmas this year was.. different. but the other stuff first.

lc gave me a little endless illustrated kids' book! no it's not as childish as it sounds.. will post a pic of it soon. hehe kinda disturbingly sweet seeing dream, death and co prance around in minature forms, complete with doe eyes and chipmunk cheeks.

had xmas dinner at veen's. finally, a full mensa gathering! (p.s. to the uninformed, no it's not that elite group i'm referring to.) this is the bunch which has miraculously stuck together for 4 years now, after just 1 week of jc orientation and 3 short months of AJ. hehe yay!

after which followed a short drinking session at veen's porch, with benny and alan. latter ah pek kept refilling my vodka, so couldn't get to try the kahlua =/ veen's pissed that benny's v opinionated, and that he kept criticising my uptightness even when the corridors started revolving.. well i say everyone's entitled to their opinions, we're being opinionated too when we say we don't like others to give opinions about us. we can always take their words to be ear-side wind, if you get what i mean ;)
alan gets disturbingly drunk- not only do his jokes get worse, his vocal cords get loose. yep alcohol opens most people up. hehe feel free to tag at the board what your poison of choice does to you, or anyone you know of.


26th dec, boxing day. a year ago, i got my driving license, and i met you. now one year on, it's still hard to accept all that i've experienced, it seems too good to be true. whatever happens, i'll never regret falling. let's just see where this goes =)

you know when you have pix like this

and this, things aren't exactly v good..

another teacher from nyjc passed away yesterday. he was on holiday with his newly wedded wife on their honeymoon, damn it! why? ever notice how people always lament, "oh it's so sad, it was only another week to his birthday", or "his pregnant wife's going to give birth anytime now"? i mean, it's not like there's ever a convenient time to die but.. either that or someone out there enjoys spurts of luckless irony.

notice i said another. that's because it seems like just some time ago that miss hamima (sorry if i've misspelt it) went too. God be with the people at nyjc.


shang's off with lynn again. this time, possibly for real. and it's been quite a revelation for me- i've gotten the chance to hear it from the guy's point of view. all along i've been getting it from veen, and now i get to see both sides of the story. and believe me, it's not easy standing here. on one hand i want to explain to shang why girls do the things we do, and on the other i want to hug the poor boy and tell him to move on.

relationships. if only we could muster as much effort for our work as we do towards trying to figure out what to do. and that is why hedonism is such a draw. enjoy, and why bother about the why and how and what, if all they do is lessen your pleasure? of course there are drawbacks, but everything has its pros and cons. love utterly, and you expose your vulnerabilty and ability to get hurt, badly. be wary, and you can never express yourself fully.

which to choose? one can only guess. good luck.

hehe guilty pleasures this wk.. yes i know i'm terrible, i should be working, earning my keep etc etc but school's starting in a few weeks.. excuses excuses..

but anyway, this gives me the opportunity to go blading! catch up with friends! expand my wardrobe! go blading again! i'm no pro, my method of braking is still the same (i.e. worship the ground) but nothing beats the joy of seeing blue sky, white clouds, emerald waters and feeling the warmth of sunshine on your shoulders. of course, we shall deign to elaborate on the oppressive heat and extensive sunburns for now..

shopping with lc on tues was fun! explored far east like never before. hidden shops with guerrilla messages splashed on terribly expensive tees (which still shrink, acc to the shop owner), and a shop tt sells vintage stuff, including vintage adidas sneakers and jersey. could smell the mothballs just looking at them. oh did i mention i dyed my hair? hehe apparently it's quite eye-catching.. got picked up by those 'talent scout' pests 3 times. pesky, but flattering nonetheless =P or maybe they'd never seen someone wearing a straw toupee before, my hair is THAT dry.. sigh. but anyway i like the colour.. wanted purple but didn't wanna go bald (involves bleaching). veen said my rebellious streak's come like 5 yrs late. well better late than never, i say =)

went o bar last night too, just to grab a couple of free drinks. think i like tequila better than vodka, but veen says i'm weird. why? i hv no idea.. alcohol tolerance bit better than last time, but still bloody low. had 1 orange teq, 1 teq shot, abt 3/4 mug of beer and an eye-opening lesson in the art of seeing double. amazing, i tell you. it was like everything, esp the bottles displayed at the counter, decided to prepare to board noah's ark.

ok dad's gotta use the com, till next time..

check this out! i'm not on commission from them, but ThinkGeek has hilarious stuff that's witty and geeky all at the same time.. xmas prezzies anyone?

sometimes we just don't know what we want, do we? we agonize over which dessert to have, which skirt to buy, which choice to make. unfortunately sometimes the thing in question is taken by the time we actually do decide. which makes me wonder, is it that we didn't want it in the first place, and were only stalling for time, or was it truly a wasted opportunity? i guess this's one of the perks of having a developed prefrontal cortex.. you don't see sheep agonizing over the patch of grass they should've grazed on instead, do you?

had dinner with veen at marche suntec yesterday. conclusion: salads are nice, but preferably when you have familiar, recognizable things on your plate. excerpts from last night's conversation:
me: hey what's this? *pokes scrap of brown thing on salad plate*
veen: dunno!
me: erm ok.. *puts it in mouth* hm. still dunno.
(couple of seconds later)
me: is that an onion?!
veen: yep, wanted to try it.
me: and so you took 3 of them?
veen: *does her feline grin*
me: *bites the said onion* omg this is so gross.

further conclusion: i seem quite game to try stuff.
however this hypothesis is untrue. i do not (will not, on pain of death) eat the following, and possibly other as-yet unacknowledged/ unencountered culinary disasters:
escargot/ soft-shell crabs/ kway chap
connoisseurs may bewail my decision till their delicate palates turn blue, but i don't see the point in digging out a slug from a shell. and of course i must mention my favourite theory: if it tastes like chicken, why can't we darn well stick to chicken?