How the 4th was gone... Mushroom chicken chop with French beans, coleslaw, and garlic toast.Cigarettes.Teh-O.TV.CMI Singtel Grid Girls on TV.Got home, did research for project work.Happening Birthday.... Birthday, he wrote... "Who are you, after you stop What you do?"Below is an original, unedited entry from my buddy, Shai.Thanks, dude!BIRTHDAY BOY…. SAY CHEESE I’ve known Jeff aka ‘Ah Tiong’ for about more than two years through the Arsenal Singapore Supporters Club. This club is amazing and I’ve amassed some good friends there. Jeff is one of them. Naturally, we became closer and of course with alcohol involved. Who would not like him, he is such ‘nice’ guy… Through him, I got to know his sister, Shirlyn. She ‘rocks’ my world. Hmmmm…. One of the highlights I would like to share is the Bangkok trip with Jeff in Apr 2008. It was fun and I had a different perspective of how Jeff is. Sometimes, you never thought what and who your friends are until you go for an oversea trip with them. You’ll definitely learn something from each other. And no, we didn’t have bang cock sessions there. We were there to attend a wedding. During the trip, I found out he likes to take long walk and public transport rather than taking the taxis (even though it is damn near and the cab ride was crazily cheap). In the end, I followed his propensity and I had a wonderful insight of Bangkok, which I have never experienced (I was there in 1996). In the end, I enjoyed the walking and the train rides, feeling so touristy and everything. What an experience! Jeff is really a great way to fly. He is a mixed of a ‘Hokkien peng’ and a down to earth person. I can only describe him as ‘what you see is what you get’. He has no qualms about expressing what’s in his mind and heart. Though sometimes he may be misunderstood by people, he has no malice intended. He is also one charming man and he takes action smoothly. I do not know how he operates though, but I envy him in some way or another. But above all, he is a giving man…. Today, is Jeff’s special day and I would like to dedicate this post to him. Happy Birthday dude! Wishing you all the best in your life and career and many, many more birthdays to come. Have a great celebration… Wake me up, before you go go So it will be a while before I take to the skies again.I will be joining the maddening masses during the morning crush on the bus, on a 45 minute journey, give or take an armpit in my face, in order to reach my final destination.The commute I can take.The challenge, indeed, is in getting up early enough so that I have ample time for the commute and then settle down for my lessons. I don't own an alarm clock loud enough that'll wake me and the neighbours 2 floors up and down (seriously, I've heard those ones before!) . All I have is my trusty k810i, with snooze function.Have to, nay, GOT TO resist hitting that snooze button.On the brighter note, I should be able to make it to the many binge-drinking sessions outings on in the evenings with my 猪朋狗友 friends, which will eventually translate into late nights.Which brings me back to the problem of waking up early enough.And the need for that loud alarm clock. Moblog: Tipsy Tuesday At $10 a jug, why not?!! 孙燕姿 - 我怀念的 How much for your John Hancock? Being an Arsenal fan invariably means buying the home and away jersey every season. I know of a local fan who even buys the matching socks!I've always resisted from printing players' names/numbers on the back of the jersey. Not only does it add to the already pricey garment, I find that my allegiance is to the Club, and not a player.Sure, I will always have something to say about one player or another. However, the contracts they sign are as worthless as paper towels as soon as they are suckered into a huger payout somewhere else.Which is why I am not over the moon with Adebayor's "commitment" to the Club with his newly-signed long term contract. The guy who got himself in the news for all the wrong reasons during the off-season. The guy who can't figure out how to beat the offside trap. The guy who can't control the ball effectively. The guy who fancies himself to be the next Henry of Arseanal ( and tries to emulates his moves, but FAILS!). The guy who lets his agent runs roughshod over the Club that gave him a chance.I'd much rather take a closer look at RvP's return to fitness, look forward to Eduardo's rebirth, Bendtner's partnership up front with any other striker, the fringe players that Arsene's gonna put on the field ...And this guySamir NasriThe season's gonna be damn watchable... New Toy on the Block!! 找到新玩儿！ Gunning for the Kick Off!! It's finally here, the best sporting event on TV.No. Not the Olympics, but the English Premier League!!Regular service will carry on from here on. Weekends will be spent following my Arsenal, topics with the boys (and some girls) will revolve around the play of the week, Arsenal fan sites like Arseblog, A Cultured Left Foot, and our local Siren will be refreshed countless times.Obviously, the season will focus on Arsene's non-spending during the summer break. His stubborness not to spend on big names, whether its due to finances or not, has given many a young faces a place in the first XI that are most would not dare to dream of in other big European clubs.To recap, I didn't start following Arsenal because of the trophies it has picked up in its long history. I am a visual person. And when I first saw TH14 bring a ball, seemingly attached to his feet, all the way from his own half to the other, and calmly slot in a goal, I was hooked.I was to find out, 3 years on, that the beauty of Arsenal's football has a lot to do with one person's philosophy, his altruistic vision, and knack for spotting unknown, unproven talent when they are young (and spitting them out when they are past their prime!) .I have visited the hallowed grounds, spent a small fortune watching their matches, and even swallowed my pride to sit in the away section once. Memorabilia of the Club is slowly filling up one of my room in my flat.Having a local fan club helps to fuel my allegiance to the Club. The fact that we can use it to do some good work for the community is a nice touch too. Match days at The Liz is an attack in all one's senses. The singing, the crowd, the food and drinks.One big happy Arsenal family.There are more passionate, hardcore fans out there, but I'll do it in my own "mild-tempered" ways.Come on Arsenal!! 'Ol Faithful Just back from a 7hr overnight flight, and I come home to a washing machine with a clogged drain hose.This machine has served me well for the past 5 years or so. Sure the control knob has fallen off, and yeah, I use a flat-head screwdriver to open the front when I load in my laundry. Overall though, it has done its job of making sure I have clean underwear to wear to work everyday.I had initially wanted to get a brand new one, but then balked at the prices when I perused some at the home appliances department. They cost upwards of $800!!After googling around for a self fix-it, I came upon this site that pretty much teaches one how to DIY repair just about any household appliance in the home.I chickened out halfway when I heard strange noises coming from the launder monster.So I called in the repair guys to patch up the old faithful. It took 2 visits ( the 1st was due to faulty wiring) and some earnest work from the dudes. I am happy to report that it will continue to serve me for another 2-3 years, perhaps. By then it may have to retire, missing knob, dropped off door handle and all.Oh and what caused the clog??.........My lunch money for the next 3 days... One week later... I've spent the better part of a week recharging my batteries.No blogging. Little TV. Some discovering. Much to catch up.Some people come out of it raring to go. I must say I am still crawling out of bed slowly, even if I don't start work till National Day.Much moolah have been spent. My latest single biggest purchase have been my 42" Plasma TV. It is a sight to behold, and even though the speakers are there for show, they look great together.CSI never looked so good... 观音庙 at 四马路 is also somewhere I had never been. I stood in awe of the diety drenched in gold inside. I watched curiously as followers prayed intently and shook the bamboo sticks that may give them a glimpse of their future. I heard a story of how a monk transformed himself to look tubby (but jolly) as his previous handsome self attracted the wrong kind of attention.Mustaffa at Little India is really a treasure trove of all things I liked as a young boy. If one does not mind the crowds at night, you could really browse through a whole catergory of sweets and chocolates that you used to pester your parents for.As well as old friends, some more are getting in touch with me soon as they found out about my move up in my job. I myself am getting in touch with my seniors, asking for guidance. In the service line there's always more than one way to deal with a thorny issue. Hopefully I can manage most of them when I put on my new tie.The next 4 months looks like it will be a jolt to my senses. Hopefully it won't be too jarring and I can report on happier, albeit inane stuff.Now then, where can I buy a dozen pieces of office attire for my training without hurting my pocket.Can you say, Mustaffa?! Moblog: Table Mountain Waterfront, Capetown, SA Moblog: Cracked up! This doesn't look good... So Shai ... Not! Gonna head out to Batam Cable Ski for the weekend to celebrate Shai's birthday.I will be taking the "go-there-just-to-lim-jiu" package. Which means whilst the rest are doing stunts on their wakeboards, yours truly will be kicking up his heels with a large cup of whiskey in his hand.Not that I haven't tried my hand at it, the wakeboarding that is. Just that I always get slammed into the water when the cable starts to yank me off the platform. After my 4th try, I was bleeding from the nose. Thus ends my dalliance with an extreme sport.It's safer on land, I gathered. Whiskey in hand, preferably.Shai, however, takes to it like a fish in water. Now this guy not only likes it, he's got the skills to prove it.I remember the first time I met this dude. There was something different about him, I couldn't place my finger on it at first.Then it hit me, his hair was straightened. Rebonded. Yeah that's what they call it.He even tried to convince me to do it. I looked back at him in disbelief and mouthed "WTF?!"A Gooner supporter too, it was not that difficult to get friendly with him after a while. Always dressed in his best, even on casual days, it would be safe to call him a fashionable guy. On my trips overseas it is not unusual for me to help him look out for his favourite tees and/or footwear. Sibei hiao...Always doing his best, I have had him help me out on my community projects in Arsenal Singapore on different occasions. He's done so well that the committee is asking him on board to do more for the Club. I am sure he will be able to excel in his new position.There's no one better to rock out at Wala Wala than with this guy. He knows most of the rock classics there is, and then some. People around us are mostly amused when we start jumping up and down rocking it out with The UnXpected. He cheekily mimics those around us, who prefer to sit still and nod politely along while the band is belting their hearts out on stage, by cupping his hands under his chin.I get a good laugh from that, but I tell ya Shai, someday you are gonna get into trouble with that.Happy Birthday, Shaiful!! Limerick... *Drawing courtesy of JaywalkAloeve's legs, so slim and long That I'm tempted to dedicate a song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin A tune so apt, and oh so happening Some can't wait to see her in a thong 6 Degrees of Separation Almost everyone I know are into some form of social networking online.For me, it all started from some emails that I sent time to time from my yahoo email account to a group of friends. I felt that since meeting up with most of them at different times will prove to be difficult (but not impossible), a nice sincere email would do to keep them posted on ahtiong-land.Then I discovered blogging. It was a great tool for me to just write out as and when I like, without having to email it to a significant number of people. Still, my comments to my blog are not that high, which I can live with. This is not some form of popularity contest. My friends, those with some time on their hands, do read my blog. It's just that they prefer to keep some thoughts about the post to themselves, or are too shy to share it with others. They do tell me when I meet them in person though.Another form of networking I signed up with was Friendster. I remember how colleagues around me started showing off telling me the huge numbers of "friends" they have on that platform. I signed up, added a few photos here and there, sent some friends request, and left it rotting on it's own out there in cyber wilderness. Multiply is suffering the same fate, though I feed my blog entries over there now.Then came Facebook. Till today people are surprised that I am not already on it. They send me invites; people see my photo in someone else's profile; the conversation swings over to "are you facebook-ing?", etc. I have the view that it is a more advanced version of Friendster, which only got it's break to come up with so many 3rd party apps and advertisers because it gave in to the big money.And no, I do not own a Facebook account.Twitter was another application that I ignored for a bit. It's like mini-blogging, touted by a few high profile bloggers in Sg land when it came about. I signed up, then bochup it for a while, made some new friends, added them in, and added the widget at the top of my blog.The nice people at CBB are quite the social animals. Other then a healthy forum, with chat function (great for mudane days in the office) , many already have a blogging platform in one format or another. These people do not just hide behind the screen online, many meet up regularly to continue the conversation/discussion/bullshite that started online. A good number of them organizes "deathmatches", though I've yet to puke my guts out the few times I met some of them. Perhaps I have just not met the 掌门人 yet. Maybe then I could become one with the longkang...Many of them have made the switch to Plurk , the next-gen social networking tool, from Twitter. Again, a few are asking me to hop on board. Till now, like Facebook, I have decided to stave off the temptation to jump on that internet bandwagon. They still do some twittering, or have some sort of app to feed their Plurks over to Twitter. So other than not being to cued into their cliques, I'm good with receiving random updates here and there.Other than all of the above, nothing beats having some fantastic crabs at Sin Hoi San, eh Dude? Moblog: Pretty in pink At the Singapore National Museum 心痒痒。。。（讲华语） 最近公司分了花红。见到银行户口忽然那么多个数字， 心里有点忐忑不安。 刚刚写过未来的经济将不太乐关， 但心里却一直想要买东买西。尤其是一架新的宽平电视机， 简直是看到眼花缭乱！ 本来只想买一架小小37寸无牌的， 但一出门就只看到40到42寸的名牌款型。 原本只想花不到一千元， 但现在可能需要至少两千大元了！好朋友说我以前买东西非常冲动， 看到就买。 现在， 想了几个月都还没决下心。反而快快去提款机把钱调去秘密户口。嘿，可能人老了吧。。。 Moblog: Awaken your senses... Whole Foods Market, High Street Kensington, London. No rewind in the real world? What if one sets out to right a wrong, but doesn't get a 2nd chance to do it?I was tasked to come up with a jersey for my team's dragon boat race recently.Admittedly I did not do a good job at it. Firstly, 2 people who were supposed to work with me on the design was a no-show throughout. Then I didn't know that I could have outsourced the designing/graphics to a 3rd party and charge the club for it.The jersey I came up with was bought in a retail store in London. It was white cotton. I designed the very basic graphic by myself.The printer did a bad job.I am guilty on all charges.So I emailed the Club, determined to come up with something better, at my own expense. Mind you this is not a small amount.Then, probably over a jug of beer, this chap comes up and says he can do a better job at it. 2 persons, albeit the 2 most important persons in the committee, decided that it would be best to ask members to pay for another jersey (for one last event of the calendar year) than to do a redo of a jersey that would last the whole year instead, at no more extra cost to them!!Plus they asking him to design the new Official Club polo tee too!!I remember objecting strongly when they first mooted the idea of using a branded polo from A&F and stick a Club patch at the back just under the collar (WTF??) . I went and bought an Old Navy polo instead and stuck the patch where it rightly belongs; on the left hand pocket.So now they want a 2nd Official polo. Or is it a new one for every year??So in one fell swoop, with my only recourse denied to me, I can no longer hold my head up when I go for training. In fact, if not for the fact that there are always not enough rowers for the races, I doubt I'd still be involved at all.Screw them. It's "Me" time from now on. Ouch! Halfway through 2008.Good time for a review of half the year gone so far, one would think.Started the year telling myself to be, well, myself. It's not easy though, not letting what others think/say/feel bother me. Many times I feel I have to be apologizing for things that are beyond my control, knowing that any reasons I come up with would just sound like lame excuses.Like tiny darts aimed at my back, it is starting to hurt a little. I feel I have to be proving myself to others, just to get this itch off my back. Then again if I did that, it'll just land me back at square one, wouldn't it?So can I bear the pain and forge on ahead?Check back on me later this year then.Till then, it's "ME" time!! Money for Nothing... If there's a number everyone is watching these days, it's the price of oil. Already, Saudi Arabia is planning to increase output to cope with demand. Still, the experts say that may not be enough unless the US Dollar bounces back up.And even then, the huge demand for resources from countries such as China and India will keep prices high in the foreseeable future. We are getting consumed by consumption. I remember seeing the crisis in Ethiopia on BBC recently, whilst having my lunch. I lost my appetite after seeing the stick thin children being turned away by the volunteer medical personnel, because they were not "skinny" enough.Food prices have shot up that even the humanitarian agencies are not able to afford to feed everyone there, only able to save those that are critical and could die of they do not get some food into them there and then. Here, we are bombarded by page after page of ads that asks us to spend, spend, spend. It's most probably to keep the consumer spending their dough, so that the economy can keep going.The smart people are scrimping and saving whenever, wherever they can; driving less, cooking at home more, watching the Euro '08 through "non-traditional" sources...Some are taken in by the "cheap/clearance sales" that's taking up most of the mass media ad spaces. Spend, and you save now!How soon before they raise fuel, food, services, etc prices up again, to catch up with your "savings" during the "sales"?We live in a city where we are accustomed to comfort. How many of us will change our habits for the new, less optimistic economic environment?Better question, how soon will it impact the people in their high towers before they make a policy that will benefit the people that "voted" them in? Moblog: Chope! How people save their seats at bars nowadays... FAIL The words flowed out of my motor mouth, without going through the head first.Doesn't look good. Useful words...for when things go wrong As a Verb;Once again, Delta platoon has been Wong-kan-ed. Everyone kena extra duty... except Platoon IC Seng.As an Adverb ;"Wa, he Wong-Kan-ed his platoon man!"As a Noun;"Please hor Ah Seng, when enter army, don't be a Wong-kan kia. Sure kena blanket party one."As an Adjective;He has a very Wong-kan attitude. Sure become sabo king when go army.*Please note that AhTiong actuarry study-no-high-one, so if he's been using the wrong grammer, feel free to Wong-kan him. Geh Kiang I must admit, I am not a good multi-tasker.Give me one task to complete, and I can dive right in.Give me 2, and I get distracted.Anything more than that, I start pressing the panic buttons. This is, in many cases, due to my innate talent at procrastinating too.I have to settle 3 projects within the next month. So far I have only taken token steps at 2 of them, and not even got off the block with one. The last one happens to be the most important to my professional career. The 2 former ones, people are depending on me to deliver the goods.Perhaps I have bitten off more than I can chew this time.As Hokkiens like to say," Lang kiang do ho, mai geh kiang!" More ways to waste spend your time online... It's rude, it's crude, it's sooo good...http://www.southparkstudios.com/And it's all FWEEEE!!! Moblog: Watching over Spunkymonkee Happy Birthday, Sis Super Friday So I asked Shai and Kevin, the dynamic duo at Wala these days, to watch IronMan at Cathay Cineleisure. According to some people, it's not enough to call it Orchard Cathay, will get it confused with the one at Plaza Singapura...I must admit that I never was a comic follower, my younger days did not allow me the luxury of it. Seeing them adapted for the big screen is always a kick, as it just takes a few clicks to find out about the characters, whether you know them or not.So IronMan the movie was good. The hero, John Stark, doesn't start out as a hero at all, and it's kinda witty too. Jon Favreau (the chauffeur named Happy, in the movie) directs this movie adaptation, so there were many quick one-liners and some physical comedy. Stan Lee, the creator of Marvel Comics, makes his usual cameo, this time as Hugh Hefner (owner of Playboy Magazine) in the red carpet scene.Won't spoil the rest of the movie for others, but do stay till the end credits finish. There is an extra scene after the credits. Really, even if the cinema hall empties out, and the cleaners are sweeping the popcorn from under your feet, STAY SEATED.And please, leave your friends who tend to ask questions aloud during the movie at home.Psst: There will be a sequel to this movie... Moblog: And the winner goes to... Suntec city! For the most number of urinals in a row... Moblog: Rawk neber dies!! Esplanade presents...We Will Rock You!