Since I won't be back until the next morning after I leave my house soon to meet up with my friends , I better type this post before it's too late...

Today is the last day of 2006 , which also implies that this is the last blog entry of 2006. Traditionally , it's a recount of the past 1 year's events and memories..

The first few months of 2006 were spent on working since I completed my A levels and was waiting for enlistment. I was fortunate to be able to work in big organisations such as Asia Pacific Breweries , GlaxoSmithKline and SAFRA. The last two were particularly memorable as I was able to gain working experiences and able to meet all sorts of people , great friends , great colleagues etc. Particularly my superior from GSK , whom I look up to as someone with drive and determination not only towards work but also the way he live his life. Someone with a good sense of humour and knowledge. I still remember that he once told me that "the only time when a person fails is when he gives up trying" and "when you know , and you know that you know , knowledge replaces fear". These 2 philosophies serve as a good reminder whenever I meet with obstacles in later days.

On the 1st of March was the release of the A levels' results. I was rather nervous but upon receiving my results , it was a huge sigh of relief followed by being ecstatic because I achieved the results I wanted. Particularly CLA and History , my most favourite subjects which I obtained an A respectively. I had fallen once in my education route in having to repeat an extra year during year 1 in junior college , and I told myself I cannot afford to fail a second time. I did it , I am able to continue my education and go on to university. Most importantly , I want to express my thanks especially to those who stood by me and believed that I can do it eventually. My family , friends and teachers , I cannot expressed my gratitude enough for all the support you guys have given me.

7th April was my enlistment into army. Life has since changed then , from a civilian to a soldier. Enlisting into one of the most xiong companies was good training to toughen me up. Meeting new brothers and experience a different kind of lifestyle is certainly unforgettable. After BMT , I was posted to 3rd Transport. Disappointed no doubt , because I didn't get into either OCS or SISPEC , but nevertheless it's a blessing in disguise because in my new unit I got to meet a group of great brothers. Though some of us including me are posted out to navy , hopefully we will still be able to meet up for outings in future.

Friendships-wise , I believe that there is no forever friends or foes in this world. Friends come and go , but I am very glad that this year I am able to meet new friends and yet able to keep in touch with old friends. I think this should be the way.

Material-wise , I am glad too because this year I am happy with all my purchases be it accessories and clothes , especially accessories because I have replaced all the pure silver items to stainless steel material , ranging from rings to chokers etc. Of course I wouldn't reject the possibility of adding new items to my collection , but only if I really like them. This applies to clothes too. Come 2007 , the top items in my most wanted list is a jacket and a mp3 player. I am already eyeing that cool converse jacket I saw a few weeks ago.

Love-wise , this is a rather sensitive topic. All I can say is that this year from a particular day onwards , finally I have woken up from my senses. It's almost 2 years and all along I always thought that my efforts will touch someone's heart. Till I realised that the smile is not genuinely meant for me , the heart is not beating for me and I am not the guy she is missing. Tears stopped , and tiny rays of light begun streaming into my stormy heart. Love is two-way traffic and I learnt it through the hard way. I always thought that I had met my one and only , only to realise all along I am the fool who plays two roles in the name of love. I don't blame anyone , because there is no right or wrong in love. To say that I had lost entirely is not true though , at least I learnt something. At least I made the effort , even if I do not know whether I did indeed brought happiness to her for some moments. I tried and I never regretted. I know that one day , I will really meet a girl who is genuinely touched by all my efforts and loves me for who I am. The girl who will share my life together should lead me to happiness instead of sadness and tears. Oh well , till this day comes. I won't be so dramatic as to say that I don't believe in love anymore , but I don't expect much , at least for now. This is because the higher the expectations , the more disappointments one will expect to receive. However , 2006 is a year in which I am much more happier than in 2005. This is true and it will be for the many years to come.

Have a great year ahead !

Love ,

Andrew

Curse of The Golden Flower is indeed a glorious spectacle , ranging from every aspects from the costumery to the architecture of this film. This visually stunning drama seems like another Shakespearean royal tragedy in which the story focuses on internal conflicting relations among members of the royal family. Beneath the sheer extravagance and ceremonial procedures , lies the dysfunction of the ruling family threatening to be expose sooner or later. They are seemingly trapped in a sword of damocles , in such a vicious web that will ultimately lead them to a doom of their own doing. The exposed bosoms of the palace maids and the Queen injects a titillating mix to the nefarious and odious atmosphere roaming around the palace. Males among the audience definitely wouldn't mind , afterall , men will always be men. Their brains are visually stimulated at a higher probability compared to their female counterparts. Personally , I like this movie because I am always fascinated by ancient feudal era of China's history and the grand splendor of palace structures. Of course , Jay Chou is undeniably the source of pulling in the young crowds , just like what he did in Initial D though this time round he plays a quixotic role and ended slashing his own throat , albeit with honour because he refuses to give in to evil doings against his own conscience. It's a pyrrhic victory eventually for the King , for his dastardly actions in keeping the throne cost him all his sons and an insane wife. The ending theme song - Chrysanthemum Flower Bed , complements the sad ending. It will be excellent if there is a bonus screening of the main theme song too , but one probably can't have both sides of the world. My rating for this film : 9.5 / 10.

Christmas Eve was spent with my gabrielite brothers and it was a good gathering to embrace Christmas 's arrival. To avoid the hassle of being peripatetic in search of places to eat , we reserved to eat at Kenny Rogers Roasters.


The gang


Our side dishes. We unanimously agree that the cheese-thingy is the best among all.


Roasters Baby Ribs. Thumbs-up for it


Jackson da man !


best gabrielite brothers :)

Due to foul weather for the past few days , jobs have been cancelled. Rainy rainy RAINIE day. Can you feel her charm ? (pun intended) . Hence , I have been slacking in workshop , sleeping and watching DVDs with my fellow mates. Good life eh ? Today is effectively the last day of the week because tomorrow and friday will be on leave till after christmas then go back. My present mood now is rather joyous because for the next five days programmes are already more or less confirmed. I am looking forward to soak in the bouyant mood in this festive season. No girlfriend ? Nevermind. There's always my fellow swinging bachelor brothers who we will meet up for boys' outings.

Tomorrow morning I am watching "Curse of the Golden Flower" with my college brothers who happened to clear leave too. Finally it's the opening premiere of this show and I am looking forward to watching it.

CAN'T WAIT !!

Today is the last day of crane course and also the day in which the final evaluation test will take place. I ended today in style by scoring an overall 80% in both theory and practical combined together. Actually , be it in either examinations or competitions , feeling nervous is inevitable. That's human nature as there is always the pressure to perform well. I feel that most importantly , there is a need to stay composed and cool at all times despite of pressure. To be intrepid , to have a positive mindset which constantly reminds oneself that the real show is about to begin. Do it once , do it right. My dad always advise me that no matter under what circumstances , don't get panic and be confident in what you are doing. Confidence alone already win half of the battle , the rest is made up of applying the skills learnt. Of course , it is easier said than done but ultimately , I am sure everybody will rather receive the outcome they very much desired rather than being ineffectual. All the efforts will come to a naught if it is the latter. Throughout my crane course , whenever it's my turn to operate the crane to lift the load through all sorts of obstacles , I always listen to music from my Samsung E900. It certainly helps to relax the atmosphere and make me feel less disconcerted , especially when listening to my most favourite songs such as si xing bu gai ... waiting for you..or even the latest huang jin jia by jay chou. Even during the test I still on my music , though I know that in future when operating crane inside camp there won't be music accompanying me since camera phones are not allowed within camp premises. My the other lousy phone which I bring to camp during weekdays has no music player installed in it and that sucks.

Now that I am a full-fledged sea terminal operator with all the courses completed , there's no reason to be away from camp unless on off/leave. Sigh. If everyday can wear civilian clothes , bring camera phone , if camp is just a mere 20 minutes bus ride away from home just like during crane course and scooting off to nearby Toa Payoh to play pool during almost every lunch break with my fellow mates , I will definitely say that I enjoy my obligation in serving the nation.

To my family and friends , especially to all those who remembered that today is my birthday. It's the thought that counts and I really appreciate it.

Love ,

Andrew

Realised my birthday is just 2 days away from today. Actually I had wanted to take leave tomorrow but my superior did not allow. Since this whole week I was attending forklift course and on Tuesday I will be starting crane course (how suay , of all days why must it be on my birthday) , he used that as a basis of rejection to approve my leave application. The brutal truth is that he just wants to save his own skin if question by higher authorities why he supposedly allows his man to be away from camp for too long. That's how this military organisation works. They don't leave you alone , and they won't bypass any chance to ruin your life in every possible way.

Then again , I have no one special in mind to celebrate my birthday with. Every birthday and every festive occasions , besides family and friends , deep down inside my heart I really wish that I can celebrate with someone important , someone who is dearie to me. Come to think of it , it's kind of sad. 20 years of age , I still have not met a girl whom I can share my life with. Moments of happiness and sorrows , be it sweet/sour/bitter/spicy , there isn't anyone there to embrace them with me. To take my hand , to assure me , that everything I have done , every effort I made , is worthwhile in building up the future for both of us. It's sad. Am I really undeserved to love and to be loved in return ?

It will be yet another forgettable birthday.

The other day I met up with my gabrielite brothers for a simple outing of pool and a good dinner at Swensens. Saturdays are very precious to NSFs and every different week I have this rotating policy in which I try to meet up with different cliques of friends. They are people I came to know at different stage of life , be it from secondary school , junior college , ex-working places , bmt , unit and other miscellaneous groups. I enjoy being with my gabrielite brothers. It takes efforts to keep the bonds intact especially after 4 years in secondary school , all of us chose different routes to either a college or a polytechnic. Now that the group of us are serving national service , one can sigh that time really flies judging by the transition of being impressionable teens to become soldiers serving the nation with supposedly pride and honour. Not a boy , but not yet a man though.

We talk about anything under the sun and that's what I like about having friends like this. Nobody is to be perpetrated of being garrulous as everybody chips in comments and views during conversations. Unlike for instance , a person talking too much of his own stuffs while expecting the other party to listen. Vice versa , when the listener on his part becomes the talker , his counterpart switches off as he is either not interested or generally has no intention to offer any unique elements to spice up the conversation. In layman's term , he is preoccupied in his own world. Trust me , because I happen to know of such people existing around who will yak about his stuffs non-stop , often repeating the same stuffs for several days. Of course , when we talk , we hope that people will listen and at times we do want to share our life experiences and encounters with others. That's human nature. However , if this transcend to the point of being garrulous in his own affairs , it is unhealthy. Actually , I feel that it all boils down to the simple principle of give and take. The art of conversations is like playing basketball with each other. When a person talks , he/she is bouncing the ball , but after sometime , it's time to pass the ball to other person so that others are allow to express themselves and so forth. That's how I adduce it using my own theory.

By the way there is a fellow ex-gabrielite in Project Superstar 2. I am quite surprised he joined this competition. No offence but because all along my impression of him was that he belongs to the potato clique. I rarely heard him speak chinese before and even when we communicated , it was in english. We were classmates in lower secondary for two years under the amazingly inept old hag who more than often liked to interfere with our personal grooming by commenting unnecessarily that gel/mousse is made up of cat urine/dog shit and whatever. During that era back then (sounds like we are very old) , we often like to style our hair using hair products and together with some of the others , we devised our own very "seh" kind of style ---- the flinging of arms x2 with a long sharp comb on the right hand before pretending to comb our hair. There is even an improvised version of this --- the addition of adjusting collar of the shirt x2 after the first action. Sometimes we even did this act in the midst of lessons. Kinda funny , come to think of the good old days. The dude is still in the competition up till now , and I wish him all the best in his pursue in the route towards stardom.

Speaking of Project Superstar , Lingyi was eliminated this week. Why why WHY ?! She struck me as someone with a diminutive frame and a winsome demeanour. Her performance that night mesmerized me. I don't understand why she cannot continue the journey.

Click here to judge for yourself

It is a paradox that with such little aspersions from the judges and high points awarded Lingyi was eliminated. Seems that it is all about popularity game and network of people casting more or less amount of votes rather than the quality of performance that should be of paramount importance.