:+: Fine after rain :+:

Wow I can't believe it , the 1st week of school zoomed by just like that . I have to admit that the 1st few days it got to a rocky start . Things are still not stable , admin work wise & then some but other than that I'm more than alright now . I think I have to revert back to draft up a study plan/timetable starting from next week onwards or else I will be like a headless chicken running around the place like iterally .

& today I kinda learnt a hard lesson , never ever wear heels to Uni cos it will kill iterally & right now I'm suffering like shit . My shoes were drenched big time a few days ago due to the sudden downpour of rain & today it was the 1st time I wore heels to school & meh both my feet are very sore now . I actually wanted to wear them tomorrow to the Traffic Jam Street Party but luckily I decided not to so I think better suffer now than later !

I was supposed to meet up with Dan at 4pm or so eariler to collect the tickets from him for tomorrow's event but at the end I met up with him at about 4.20pm or so at Snakeweed Studios . I texted him to say that I would call him when I reach his workplace which I did & by this time , my legs were about to give way due to the high heels that I wore & to make things worst , in order to get up to Snakeweed , I had to climb up a flight of stairs so I almost died just now .

Finally when I walked my way up , I poked my head into the studio & I saw Dan strumming his lead guitar away & Leonard was sleeping/resting on the sofa with a soft toy at hand haha . I put my bags down & sat at a chair & by this time I was already limping in pain & Dan asked me why am I wearing heels & etc & he told me I should not wear them to school the next time in which I know I will not repeat the same mistake again !

Around this time , Singapore Idol 1 finalist Daphnne Khoo & West Grand Boulevard's Jude scrolled in & I have to admit it's really cool to meet Daphnne in person & she's really petite & pretty !

Dan was murking around with his lead guitar playing so many guitar solos at 1 shot & Leonard accompanied Dan by playing a few chords or 2 in a small cute acoustic guitar . It was pretty funny & everyone had a good laugh or 2 about it .

I also heard last night's jamming of Electrico's on Leonard's computer after he told me to press the space bar on the keyboards & also somemore jamming material that Electrico did in which Dan recorded it with his ipod . The sound quality of it's not bad for both & who knows these might probably end up in the 3rd album !

Everyone hanged out at Snakeweed for a while in which after a while Daphnne & Jude went outside to practise as West Grand has a gig tomorrow night at Esplanade@Powerhouse at about 7.30pm & soon after Dan & I left Snakeweed & decided to walk to somewhere nearby to get a coffee or 2 & did some serious catching up .

I only managed to talk to Dan here & there eariler at Snakeweed cos he was playing on his lead guitar & besides the environment in Snakeweed wasn't conducive to talk about some issues .

I had a bit of trouble when I was walking down the stairs as both my feet were killing me but it was alright . I managed eventually & walked slowly with Dan to this nice cafe that was further down Snakeweed . As we walked , we managed to talk about somemore things in general .

I have not seen Dan in person for almost 3 months so you can imagine but all this while we kept in contact via MSN & SMS & I have to say it was really good to see him again cos during the past few months I was plauged with my own bimbotic problems & other issues & for his case , it's work .

The cafe that I went to just now , it was really nice & I heard that the coffees that they serve are good but I'm not really a coffee person & I got myself some peppermint tea & for Dan , he got a rather big glass of beer . The glass was quite big & intimidating man & the desserts the cafe serves were apparently good too especially the apple strudel . Dan was asking me would I like to get some but I rejected & said no .

It was pretty funny when I said a flat no in front of his face cos I think that if I were to say yes , he would also go ahead & get 1 for himself too so better not lah haha

Once everything that we ordered came , we just sat & talked & talked on so many things in which among the things I voiced out to him was about Uni life & I definitely appericate on what he has told me eariler as I supposed he has been there & done that so he's able to relate to what I'm currently going though at the moment & I definitely cannot thank him enough for all the help/advice he has been giving me for the longest time so thank you so much , my dear big brother !

I actually thought of asking him whether can he send me back home or something just now but nope that didn't happened cos he had to go back to work & aka showed his face before leaving the office & after that he has to go & meet Jacq for dinner so it's cool but he did walked with me to the MRT station so it's not so bad anyway !

I'm going to see him (again) & the rest tomorrow at the Traffic Jam Street Party & I'm looking forward to it for sure . Has been almost 3 months since I saw Electrico performed at Rock For Wayne so I'm sure tomorrow's gonna be a blast + Kelvin & Khairil will be tagging along so it will be fun since both of them have not caught Electrico in performance nor seen them in person yet so it will be nice to do something for them before they head off to be enlisted in NS/Police in Sept which's real soon !

Somemore everyone's gonna celebrate Dave's birthday in advance so tomorrow will be really cool & yes I will not be wearing heels . I have learnt my lesson & oh yeah I almost forgot , Dan still owes me something or is it the other way round ? Hmm... I will only know about this tomorrow I guess & is it any wonder why my mum asked me why I looked unusually happy when I came back just now ? haha

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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

I think I got the 1st day of school jitters which attributed to what happened on Mon & I figured that I probably need time to adjust & adapt in my 2nd year in Uni so I guess more or less I will be ok .

& also after talking to people like Des , Amanda , Tim & Dan + my mum & Yee Ma , I will use the advice that they have given me & put them to good use so thanks a lot guys !

Yesterday was my 1st lesson/lecturer in Statistics . Umm... pretty ok I guess . The lecturer's humourous without going over the top so it's good .

After that I went to watch License To Wed with Hui Li at Westmall which stars Robin Williams & Mandy Moore & it's a fun movie . Taught me a few things or 2 on what to expect when comes to marriage & etc .

& I decided that I'm going to close the 2 holes that I pierced on my ears as I figured it's too troublesome to decide everyday how many earrings should I wear , be it 1 , 2 , 3 or all 4 so I decided the only way to solve the problem's to close the 2nd holes on both ears . Saves me the time & effort in deciding how many earrings to wear everyday & not to mention finding the 2nd holes on both ears can be a bit of a trouble .

Somemore I figured that since getting pierced a while back's not as bad & painful as it seems , I can always do that in the near future .

After consideration , I have 2nd thoughts about it & decided to probably wear 1 pair of earrings each day but I will alternate between the 1st & 2nd holes of my ears . Maybe on certain occasions , I will wear either 3 or 4 earrings depending on my mood .

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Monday, August 27, 2007

I nailed the 1st day of the start of my new term & it was chaotic like crazy . It's like reading a script which has no head & no tail to it .

I attended my 1st lecture which was Financial Accounting & I got a bit of a shock at the size of the classroom & the no. of people who attended the lecture . Almost 180 people were inside the room .

I had to sign up for 2 separate tutorial groups & it was madness . Everyone went & chiong to sign & write their names on the papers that're posted up in the notice board & also the books that I bought were quite heavy but manageablae .

& can you imagine , today's the 1st day of school & I have homework being assigned already meh .

I probably have not adjusted my momentum & shifting it back to my hectic Uni lifestyle mode as right now I'm still not used to it ie. having to attend lectures & tutorials separately unlike last year when both are combined together & I'm currently in those freak out moments .

I think it's because I was on a long well deserved break for so long which's why I'm experiencing a bit of a culture shock like last May when I 1st started Uni but this time round it wasn't as bad as last year where things got ugly for my state of mind .

Hopefully my momentum will revert back to normal & I read somewhere that when comes to good or bad changes that will happen in the future or are happening in your life currently , the way you handle & accept it determines how you can take it that's in any circumstances with regards to changes &amp; that you need time to adapt & adjust .

It's not something that can be accomplished overnight but you definitely need time in order for things to be put into place which I think it's very true .

Heekyung went back to Korea this morning . I actually wanted to send her off at the airport but her flight's too early at 9.55am ! Somemore today's the start of my new term in school so unfortunately or not , I couldn't do that so in the end , I settled for 2nd best , I met up with her last night at The Inn so that we can have some supper before I go back home .

We walked further down Temple Street to New Bridge Road cum Keong Saik Road where there's this stall which sells really good porridge & my mum recommended me to try it . Er actually I tried that before . Dan brought me there before so I know which porridge stall my mum was talking about & their speciality's frog legs porridge but no I didn't had any of it last night .

Heekyung & I had shredded chicken porridge which was really good & I told her that she definitely should come back next time to S'pore & bring her whole family along with her , it will be fun for sure .

At least now I know where's Temple Street . I passed by that area a few times but I just don't know that's called Temple Street to begin with !

When I got back home , my mum was asking me whether would I be going for the 1st Sony Ericsson’s Traffic Jam Street Party & I said yes & I was wondering how come she knows that I would be going for it which will be taking place this Sat night .

Why ? cos she saw the posters in City Hall MRT station promoting the event & she commented that she saw Electrico on the list of performers who will be performing this Sat & figured that I would probably be going for it & she's right after all haha

Somemore after Electrico is done with their set , Dave will be spinning after that woo hoo . William was joking to me that they should turn the event into Electrico's own private party for Dave seeing that his birthday's next week that's if no 1 turn up for the event & only if Electrico invite people whom they know to the event !

haha that will be really cool if you ask me should this become a reality this coming Sat !

The event's a ticketed affair as you have to buy the latest w660i walkman phone in order to get tickets to the event but of course I'm not going to buy the phone . I got my own way/s to get tickets to the event without the need to buy the phone .

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Sunday, August 26, 2007

So my long break has already come to an end more or less but at least unlike in the past where I didn't fully utilise my holiday breaks , this time I did & I surprised myself if you ask me .

Ok so I didn't manage to find a job or should I say in a way I was quite lazy to find 1 to kill time during my long break but at least I managed to do quite a few things during my well deserved rest as follows :

-> watched movies such as Rush Hour 3 , High School Musical 2 (it's gonna be released on Disney Channel in 2 Suns's time but still I will go & watch it as I really like it . Definitely much better than the 1st , music & movie wise)

-> discovered some great music acts such as Sweetbox , Amy Winehouse , Rachael Yamagata + bought a whole bunch of CDs such as Click Five's Modern Minds And Pastimes , Maroon 5's It Wouldn't Be Soon Before Long , High School Musical 2 soundtrack & etc

-> went for even more local gigs such as Rock For Wayne in memory of the late Wayne 'Thunder' Seah who was the drummer for The Suns , Nathan Hartono's maiden gig at Esplanade's Recital Studio as part of Late Nite @esplanade series (which I went for free since I won a pair of tickets though MTV Asia) , Lunarin's acoustic gig at library@esplanade & most recently , Caracal & SkiVe performance at Esplanade's Outdoor Stage @ Power House & you bet that I will be attending more to come despite the fact that I'm returning back to school tomorrow which marks the return of my double life once again but only this time , it will be more tougher & challenging than usual but hopefully I can manage . I can't wait to go for Astreal's Lover & The Sea gig as part of Late Nite @esplanade series in Nov ! It will be great to finally meet Ginette & co in person !

& to me it's good to support my friends's & their music in this manner although there're many different ways to show support/apperication to music artistes that you like . This's 1 of them , going for my friends's gigs , attend them & after that catch up with them & talk about stuff basically .

How could I forget this which's making me really excited since I found out from Angeline in the form of Click Five's autograph session when they make their way back to S'pore real soon YAY

-> I lost weight & counting woo hoo which equals to buying more clothes & heels too !

-> went to the arcade to kick even more butt than usual well more or less

-> got new piercings during the holidays , at least now I know I in fact can take pain after all !

-> I had some communication problems/breakdown of sorts with Dan a while ago but thank goodness I managed to clear the air/misunderstanding before I start to imagine things again . But it's ok , things are cool now & I look forward to see my rock star brother again ! Furthermore it's not worth it to throw my friendship with him down the drain just like that since I have known him for quite a long time already so yup

-> played tour guide to Heekyung who's my South Korean friend for the past 2 days since it's her 1st time visiting S'pore & glad that she has fun . I told her to bring her whole family around the next time she decides to come again . I'm going to meet her later on tonight the last time for some supper before she heads back home tomorrow morning . I actually thought of sending her off at the airport tomorrow but her flight's 9.55am & I resume school tomorrow

Yup that's basically it & at least for once , I didn't rot at home big time on what my mum had assumed .

It's back to school tomorrow for me & I think that in my mum's mind , she's probably going ABOUT TIME .

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Saturday, August 25, 2007

I only brought Heekyung to Vivo City today & I'm seriously exhausted & I only have 1 day to recover before school starts on Mon .

Honestly I think Vivo City's over hyped . I thought it has something special which stands out from the rest of the shopping centres in S'pore but guess not . The only difference between Vivo City & the rest of the pack's the size of the place which's very big but other than that , I found nothing special about Vivo City & it was my 1st time visiting the place too .

I really like the food at Superdog & the chilli cheese fries that I had was awesome & it was the 1st time I had it . Initally I thought it was such a weird combination since usually chilli cheese topping's used in hot dogs but it goes really well with fries & it's very addictive too .

But I'm glad that Heekyung has a good time in S'pore & I'm sure the next time she'll be back , she will be bringing the rest of her family along with her . I gave her a Perlini Silver triple heart pendant & a pink Marie Claire wallet as a token of apperication since she gave me quite a lot of gifts yesterday & it's only natural that I return the favour back to her .

& YES I have bought my copy of Click Five's Modern Minds And Pastimes & woo wee I love the cd sleeve pics in there , everyone's looking damn hot especially the new frontman Kyle Patrick .

I really cannot wait for them to come back to S'pore real soon for an autograph session & the pics found inside the autograph session invite are very nice & it's most certain that Angeline & I will be attending it .

I was flipping though the CD sleeve which contains the lyrics of all the songs in the album & wow 1 of my fave members in the band , bassist Ethan's very talented . He wrote or cowrote most of the songs while Kyle cowrote Empty with keyboardist Ben & Ethan wrote the whole song of Long Way To Go which I really like .

I'm not sure which might be the 2nd single since Jenny was released only recently on radio in Asia but hopefully they will pick a good song to be released after Jenny . I don't really mind any of the tracks as I really love their new album , it's really good & it's definitely will 1 of the good albums that I have bought this year & you're not talking about any 2nd album syndrome in here , music wise .

Hopefully Click Five will do some showcase or performance once they're in S'pore . I would really want them to do Long Way To Go , Mary Jane , Reason Why , When I'm Gone , I'm Getting Over You & of course Jenny live . An acoustic show wouldn't hurt too !

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Friday, August 24, 2007

Wah lau I never walked so much for such a long time man . This afternoon I went & meet up with my Korean friend Heekyung who's currently visiting S'pore for the very 1st time .

She arrived in S'pore on Wed night & she'll be in S'pore til next Mon morning & I was told to bring Heekyung around & show her the sights & sounds of S'pore in which I was like ok lor even though I must admit I was a bit reluctant to do that .

But Dan told me that since I already gave my word to show Heekyung around then I better do a proper good job or else Heekyung might probably complain to Yee Ma about me being a bad host & spoilt + pampered brat when Heekyung returns back home to South Korea .

Just to shed some light on how did I know Heekyung , I know her though the offical forums of Gareth Gates .

It was pouring like crazy this morning & I was a bit worried that things wouldn't go smoothly but thankfully it did ! I met Heekyung at the Bugis MRT station & prior to that , I had no idea how she looks like . I told her to call me when she reached the station .

& around this time , the rain has stopped so phew .

Wah , she's very pretty in person like seriously & she has shoulder length hair . I was worried with communication problems as Eng's not her 1st language but at least I'm able to communicate with her though simple Eng although at times I found myself that I have to simplify some words for her to understand but other than that , there wasn't much of a language barrier .

I went with Heekyung just now & brought her to the following places :

National Library -> Esplanade -> covered the whole of Orchard Road including Food Republic where we ate like crazy , ordered Kueh Tutu , Roti Prata , Teh Terik & the works & then later on we head to the basement of Takashimaya where we ate even more & also she bought boxes of Ba Gua & dried chicken sausages -> Suntec City where I brought her to see the Fountain Of Wealth -> Marina Square where she bought a pair of Crocs -> walked back to the hotel where she's staying at aka Temple Street & the name of the hotel's called The Inn

Chinatown's a very big area & initally I was like huh where on earth's Temple Street but eariler when she directed me to The Inn , at least I know where it's at now ! Cos sometimes I passed by Chinatown & I didn't know that I passed by this road called Temple Street -_- but now I know better .

I'm surprised that she still remembers Gareth & yes she's still a fan . She told me that Pictures Of The Other Side will be released next Mon in Korea & it surprises me but good for her . At least she's able to get the album soon .

So which means that so far his 3rd album will be released in Taiwan & next Mon in Korea .

I know that I had to collect some stuff which Yee Ma passed it to Heekyung before Heekyung left for S'pore but I didn't expect the magnitute of it ! Heekyung passed me a big bundle containing seaweed & cuttlefish & Heekyung fine dining silverware , holy cow !

So much so that I have to take a cab back home as there's no fucking way that I'm able to lug all of that back .

But at least nothing went wrong today , it was nice to meet up with Heekyung & I will do so again tomorrow when I see her again before she heads back to Korea .

& the ultimate news which made me super duper happy big time for today came from Angeline . She texted me saying that The Click Five's Modern Minds And Pastimes is available in HMV already !!

I was shocked but happy cos I thought it wouldn't be available til early next month . Not only that , there's a special invitation inside the CD in which I need it because apparently The Click Five are coming back to S'pore for an autograph session real soon !!

Somemore the CD just came in today so you can imagine when I called HMV not too long ago .

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome man , I'm so gonna get my copy ! Somemore the album's a limited edition so better get it before it's too late !

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Thursday, August 23, 2007

So yesterday was orientation for all 2nd year Uni students . I got a bit of a shock when I entered the classroom , almost 200 people + were inside , including a small batch of students who're in the Masters's program .

But thankfully in a way or so , the people that I'm going to see next Mon when school starts when comes to tutorials & lectures , will only be people from 2 groups namely those who're doing degrees in Business & Commerce since the subjects that I will be doing for the 1st 2 trimesters or so , will be the same for both groups unlike the rest of the groups comprising people who're doing degrees in IT , Communications & Engineering .

The big bosses from the Uni itself came down from Austraila to give a pep talk at the beginning of the orientation . Pep talk ? more like a demoralising pep talk man . At the way the Dean was going on , saying that our goal's to get 4 High Distinctions for each trimester (I think) , it's nuts . It's as good as asking me to go vegetarian for 1 day which I can't even go for 1/2 a day .

In this case , High Distinction means that I have to score at least 85 marks & above for each subject . Meh .

Ok so that goal that the Dean set yesterday was a bit far fetched but I'm just concerned in doing ok for my 2nd year in Uni once I head back to school next Mon . I'm like the laziest student around so I'll be more than happy to get passes instead of Distinction/High Distinction as this time round , it's different on a whole new level but I'll see about it cos I said before that if I were to get As & etc reflected on my report card , it will be like a bonus like big time !

I saw very few people who were in the same cohort/class as me since a lot of the guys have been enlisted to NS while some of the guys are waiting to be enlisted next month .

It's funny but Linda told me that I'm the 1st person whom she knew that would freaked out after orientation hahaha . Not sure if that's a good or bad thing though but so much so that after orientation ended yesterday , I headed straight to the temple & pray like big time .

Even on a Wed afternoon , the temple was crowded . Heck , no matter which day or what time of the day I visit the temple , it's always like that .

& have you visited the new campus of Laselle ? Ooh wee , it's very nice . I was taking a bit of a walk at the outskirts of the new campus on my way to the bus stop . Very nice , I really like the design/layout of the new campus although I was a bit worried that everything might toppled down like iterally .

Have to give a pat on the back to the person who came out with the design of the new campus like seriously .

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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Caught 2 movies back to back . Yesterday I went to watch Rush Hour 3 in the cinemas , very nice stuff . I watched the 1st 2 movies & obviously expectations are high this time round for the 3rd one & thankfully it doesn't suffer the much dreaded 3rd syndrome & I like it a lot .

After 6 years , the 3rd installment of Rush Hour's back & it's official I like Paris now ! But if you ask me as to which installment I like outta the whole franchise , it's still No.2 which I feel it pushes all boundaries .

Not that I don't like the 3rd one but I found myself laughing a little bit lesser than usual yesterday .

& today I watched 1 of the most anticipated made straight to TV movie/sequel ever aka High School Musical 2 with Hui Li . We watched it on the net & I have to say it's amazing & it deserves all the big hype it has gotten & I honestly feel that both the movie & soundtrack of HSM 2 , are so much better in every aspect than the 1st one .

Obviously this time round expectations for the 2nd movie was a lot more higher than ever as no 1 would have ever thought that the 1st 1 would have achieved such a huge cultural phenomenon when it 1st made its debut on cable TV last year which in this case it's called a sleeper hit but HSM 2 has definitely lived up my expectations , in terms of movie & songs/soundtrack wise .

I'm sure the soundtrack's a shoo in for the No.1 spot when it makes a splash this week in the Billboard Album chart as it's expected that almost 500K-600K of copies will be shifted in the 1st week alone .

Only time will tell & no surprises that I will be getting the DVD & watch it again next month when it hits Disney Channel on 9th Sept , Sun at 7.30pm ! provided that there's no football/EPL matches on that day .

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Monday, August 20, 2007

I found this when I was surfing the net yesterday . Pretty interesting . Read on if you wish .

How A Record Gets Leaked

There are a number of opportunities for an album to make it into the public’s hands between its completion and release :

At the studio : 4 months before release — As soon as a record is finished , anyone from the producer to the engineer to the band members can spoil the fun .

At the label : 3 1/2 months before release — Labels send albums to companies like Sonic Arts to add a digital encryption code that can identify evildoers but not necessarily stop them .

By the press : 3 months before release — Considered to be the most common source of album leakage , watermarks or not . Oops !

At the plant : 1 month before release — While in the process of being manufactured , a CD is ostensibly secured under lock and key , but sometimes copies fall off the back of trucks .

At the warehouse : 2 weeks before release — Once CDs await shipping to retailers , it’s virtually guaranteed that a copy will find its way online .

At retail : And of course , once an album is for sale online and in stores , all bets are off .

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Sunday, August 19, 2007

I went to have lunch at Outback Steakhouse in which there's only 1 outlet located in S'pore & that's at Millenia Walk .

I have been wanting to partonise Outback Steakhouse for the longest time if you ask me ! I had the Outback Sirlion that came with a side of vegetables . It's nice yes but something was sorely missing which was the fat off the steak which I will always have it & most of the time I save the best for last .

It was a bit strange seeing a piece of cooked steak that came without any visible fat on it . The food that Outback served was good but it was a bit salty here & there but other than that , I have no complains .

Managed to get some packets of sugar free candy & a box of sugar free chocolate . The sugar free chocolate's lovely ! & it probably take me a while to finish the packets of sugar free candy in the form of Strawberry Cream & Cola Gums which're imported from Holland , yum .

Opposite of Outback , it was Candy Empire ! Oh god it's a huge huge candy shop & it's 1 of those places that you go in & wouldn't wanna come out . Candy Empire sells a lot of candy , candy & more candy ! I iterally went nuts eariler when I saw what was in store .

They also sell chips , biscuits & has a small sugar free candy selection which's good for me . The prices are a bit steep especially for the sugar free selections but I suppose it's better than not getting any candy/chocolate at the end of the day

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Friday, August 17, 2007

I have been in the dumps for the past few days probably due to the after side effects of the medication that I took & then some but I seem to be alright now after I went shopping with Hui Li .

It has been a while since I last went shopping with her so I thought it will be fun . We 1st stopped by Plaza Singapura for some lunch . I went to eat at Carl's Jr but Hui Li didn't want to as she doesn't want to eat a burger that's even bigger than her head so in the end she had some rice ball .

Next it was a stop at Sembawang to check out the CDs collection & I bought my copy of the soundtrack to High School Musical 2 ! Actually I didn't want to go to Heeren's HMV after that but we still went there at the end cos Hui Li wanted to check the ever growing JPop CD collection that HMV stocks up .

I saw Olivia Lufkin's The Lost Lolli CD but it's so expensive at S$72 cos it was imported straight from Japan . Meh . I wanted to get her The Cloudy Dreamer EP but it's also not cheap at S$48 .

In the end , I went ahead & renew + redeem my Perlini Silver Classic card as I don't want to spend another S$40 to redeem a S$30 PS voucher . It seems silly to do that anyway but I wasn't expecting 2 30% vouchers from renewing my card . That's something I would probably put it to good use . Now the only problem's what am I gonna buy using the 2 vouchers since it will be expired next month . But I'm sure I will be able to put the vouchers to good use .

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Thursday, August 16, 2007

I had it yesterday & decided to go to the doctor's to seek professional medical help rather to self medicate myself . I didn't slept well on Mon & Tue as I had trouble breathing so I figured better get help before it's too late .

& for once I went to the doctor's very early . About 15 mins or so after I got up , my dad fetched me to the clinic . The doctor said that I probably caught a virus over the weekend & the virus's still in the early stages so he's most certain that I can make a full recovery .

Well that's good news but the downside ? the cough mixture that I was prescribed & given , it makes me very drowsy & I'm still in a zombie like state more or less . But at least 1/2 of my nightmare's over .

I have not gone to the gym since Mon . I probably go back later on today or tomorrow depending on the weather & whether can I take it . I kinda missed getting my butt kicked in the gym .

Maybe I will stay put at home getting more rest this & next week as I want to build up my strength & immune system . Heekyung's coming to S'pore next week for a visit . I actually thought of bringing her around & let her see the sights & all but now I'm not sure whether will I still want to go ahead with this since it will take time for me to get a full recovery since this's not something that can be achieved overnight .

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

It has been a while since I was so violently ill . The last time I was severly sick was last Sept when I 1st had stomach flu & yesterday was just plain horrible & no it's not because yesterday was Monday .

Outta the blue , I started to have a severe bad cold , sore throat & fever in which all 3 of them came swiftly & hit me like the plague yesterday morning . To make things worst , I was sneezing non stop so much so that I have lost my sense of taste/smell for the moment .

I had the shakes when I tried to sleep last night . I'm not sure what really happened yesterday but it was a nightmare to begin with & it's a miracle that I'm still alive of sorts .

The fever's gone but it's like an on/off affair that's currently going on . I'm losing my voice soon & I have been in a zombie like state which ain't fun . Tons of negative thoughts came crashing down on me last night . Even when I was sleeping , it was like I drifted in & outta it . It was like an outta the body experience .

Not sure what actually happened which attributed to all these things that's currently going on . I think it's the weather or I probably caught some bug or something . Hopefully I can get well soon .

& I so wanted to go out later on today to get my copy of the soundtrack of High School Musical 2 which has been released in stores today ! Maybe I should wait after I have fully recovered .

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Well at least right now I'm feeling so much better . The cold & fever has been subsided thank goodness but my sore throat's still there . But at least my sore throat's not as bad as yesterday .

Even up to now , I still wonder how come I could have gotten so severly ill yesterday as it came outta nowhere & just smack me in the face . Right now what matters's that I concentrate in making a full recovery .

But for now I'm just glad that I'm not in a zombie comatose like state .

Ok enough of the depressing stuff , I called HMV up eariler enquiring about the soundtrack of High School Musical 2 . YES they have it in stock woo hoo ! I probably will pick up my copy in the days to come .

I actually have downloaded the soundtrack off the net but some of the songs's sound quality are not good but I really love what I have heard & I think it might probably gonna do much much better than the 1st one , movie & soundtrack wise .

I also printed out my new Uni timetable schedule last night . Man at 1st glance it looks really intimidating & complicated but it's alright now & it looked pretty OK to me although I figure this time round , it's gonna be a lot more tougher than my 1st year in Uni since this time the school terms are not semesters anymore . Rather it will be trimesters & for my 1st trimester , it will begin on the last week of Aug all the way to Dec so you can imagine .

I do dread a bit on what will be in store when I resume school again but I figure I will be ok as long as I don't screw up anything .

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Monday, August 13, 2007

Possibly 1 of the last few gigs that I have attended prior to the start of school in 2 weeks's time , I head to Esplanade to watch Caracal & SkiVe performed as part of a 3 days Power Jam Snakeweed Weekend & last night was the last day of the 3 days event with SkiVe having the honour in closing the event .

A few of such bands were handpicked by Leonard in which they graced the event . Power Jam Snakeweed Weekend took place at Outdoor Stage @ Power House which's situated near the Makansutra Food Court .

I came to the realisation that it's pretty pointless asking people whom I know to accompany me to such gigs cos what's the point when they never heard the artistes's material in the 1st place ? Or better yet , they never even heard of them before so I figure at the end of the day , it's best if I go alone . Call me selfish or anything but it saves me the time & effort to beg/pled with people to go & accompany me period .

On my way to where the gig was taking place , I chanced upon the poster that Esplanade has put up regarding Astreal's Lover & The Sea gig as part of late nite @esplanade series ! Wow they're pretty efficient . Astreal's gig's not scheduled to take place until 30th Nov , Fri but the poster is up & running .

I will definitely go for it once tickets will be released on sale from 18th Oct , Thurs . Hui Li has expressed interest in going for it too as she likes Astreal's music as well . Somemore frontwoman Ginette kinda insisted that I should go for it as she wants to see me in person for the longest time as I have been helping them out on the sideline for a while now so why not man . I will definitely buy the tickets as soon as 18th Oct kicks in !

Both Caracal & SkiVe played full sets last night , stretching at 45 mins set . I came late for Caracal , about 7.45pm or so & there were a lot of Caracal fans/people when I made my way to the venue .

I didn't realised that Caracal cut short their set by about 20 mins or so til Leonard told me after SkiVe's gig finished as Caracal has not been playing full sets for a while now . Even Caracal's frontman Chris said so onstage but they're cool , very energetic performance they put up last night but I think it's even better than what they did for Rock For Wayne since last night , the stage setup was so much bigger than Rock For Wayne's .

SkiVe took the stage at around 8.45pm or so & for once they start on time . I have been to countless of gigs & most of the time , all of them don't start on time so for once it's a nice change & the gig that SkiVe did last night was flipping heck tons more better than the 1 they put up at Bukit Batok .

They started the ball rolling by doing Standing In The Rain . I have heard the acoustic version before when I tagged along with them for the recording of 987 Home but not the live non acoustic version . It was very nice & the sound system was good !

Initally I thought Leonard would be manning the sound for SkiVe as I recalled he didn't do that for Caracal . But nope that happened for SkiVe as Soon told me the sound equipment in Esplanade's insured . Man I didn't realise even the sound equipment's insured . Since when such a policy exist ?

Next was an original song which I never heard before but I really like it . It's something called I Hope & it was followed by a cover of Hinder's Lips Of An Angel in which I die die hate the song but I like SkiVe's redition so I can pardon them haha .

Before that , I was telling Soon PLEASE don't do Hinder AGAIN as it's no secret that I don't like that song . I mean I like it before it was overplayed to death but let's just leave it .

It was followed by another original composition that I never heard before but I think outta the songs that SkiVe did last night , this 1's probably my fave . It's something called Won't Do Anything About It .

Frontman Marcus was backed up by lead guitar which was played by Soon & keyboardist Caleb . Won't Do Anything About It is a ballad but I really like No. a lot . It was followed by another cover in the form of a Don Henley's No. aka frontman of The Eagles . Something that's called The Heart Of The Matter .

After SkiVe's 2nd cover of the night , it was followed by 4 of their original compositions in the form of Curtain Call , Lost Again , Coming Over Me & of course the single that stared it all , The Same Old Sky .

I was hoping that they will do Stay leh but that's ok . At least they did Lost Again ! The attendance of the crowd would have been much much better but at least it's better than playing a gig with empty seats .

Songlist of SkiVe's gig last night :

1) Standing In The Rain
2) I Hope
3) Hinder's Lips Of An Angel
4) Won't Do Anything About It
5) Frontman of The Eagels Don Henley's The Heart Of The Matter
6) Curtain Call
7) Lost Again
8) Coming Over Me
9) The Same Old Sky

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Saturday, August 11, 2007

Went shopping with my mum & Hui Lin . I practically spent almost 6 hours covering Orchard Point's OG & also almost the whole building of The Centrepoint . OG & Robinson are both currently having 20% storewide discounts which kicked off on Thurs & it will end tomorrow so thought why not everyone go shopping !

I got a few nice stuff & yes Orchard Point's OG does carry Dorothy Perkins after all ! But the selection available is less than what the Dorothy Perkins boutique in Plaza Singapura has to offer .

But it's alright after all I managed to get that rather plunging neckline flower dress which's discounted at 20% . That discount saved my mum S$15 so phew & thank goodness for that .

I also picked up a short sleeve denim jacket which's cool . Before , I never had a proper casual jacket so I thought that will do nicely ! Sometimes the lecture theatres/classrooms in the Uni campus can get a bit chilly than usual so that jacket will definitely come in handy .

Luckily my mum's an OG member as instead of the usual price of S$89 , she only has to pay S$29 for it ! If not , she has to pay S$59 .

I also picked up a new pair of jeans too as I realised that I'm already down a pants size . I still will wear my current stack of jeans that're hanging inside my warerobe except this time round , I will wear it with a belt . Unlike last time I never wore pants/jeans with a belt . Now it's like a habit .

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Friday, August 10, 2007

I caught the parade last night & it was a great 1 & it signifies a new chapter in NDP as last night's event was held outside of the National Stadium & the S'pore River has never been brought to life , more than ever before so it's a good 1 & to me for the parade , the neverending highlight of it has gotta be the fireworks & this year they're pretty generous with it , about 6 mins worth of non stop fireworks .

Somemore it's not often that you see fireworks spourted out from a few rooftop towers so it's really cool .

I was pretty knacked yesterday . Everyone went to Plaza Singapura to shop . The rest had Ramen at Aijisan but I'm not big on Ramen so I went to eat at Carl's Jr instead . When I got back , I saw Pan Ling Ling & her 2 boys sitting directly opposite my family . Her husband wasn't in sight though .

Woah it's cool since it's not everyday that a celeb's having a meal at the same place where my family was eating . I didn't stared much at Ling Ling & for some weird reason/s , I wasn't starstuck when I saw her cos I mean at the end of the day , celebrities are just like normal people .

Maybe it's because I have been mixing around with people who're deemed celebrities in S'pore which attribute to this haha

There are many clothes botiques in Plaza Singapura but the cutting of the clothes are just too small for me & yeah I gotta admit it's pretty demoralising sometimes when you only can see clothes but you can't fit into them in any single bit .

But when I saw those clothes that were sold in the shops , it looks like in the fact that if I want to fit into them , I have to probably eat like 1 meal a day just to starve myself just to fit into them but I figure it ain't worth it since every human being's body shape's different .

I went to Dorothy Perkins to try on some clothes . They looked great on me but I can't say the same about the price tag which was hefty . Like I tried a rather plunging V neck flower dress yesterday , it will set me for S$73 which's insane . My mum said that she will bring me to OG to shop tomorrow since OG's currently having a 20% storewide discount which kicked in yesterday til Sun & I'm surprised that OG has Dorothy Perkins clothes stock up in their clothes list so ok lah , I don't mind .

Hopefully I can get some of those pretty dresses that I saw yesterday at Dorothy Perkins & maybe pick up some new pants/tops to go along when I head out to OG tomorrow .

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Oh wow it wouldn't be long before S'pore's 42th birthday kicks in tomorrow & in a way I'm looking forward in watching the National Day Parade as this year it will be the 1st time the parade's taking place outside of the National Stadium .

& this time they will be bringing it to the Marina Waterfront & it should be interesting to see what's in store this year as I realise NDP has been offering the same 'ol same 'ol parade items for the past decade or so .

When I was a kid , I never liked watching NDP at all . I think it was only til I was 11 when I went to watch the preview of NDP & it changed my perception that NDP's stuffy & boring which of course now I beg to differ it .

I just also realise that it has been exactly a year since I 1st met everyone in Electrico in person . Excluding Daniel , last year was the 1st time I met the other 4 in the flash after their performance at Esplanade which they did a NDP countdown gig & they performed at last year's NDP itself .

I was telling Des about it yesterday & I know time sure files when you're having fun .

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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

I called Warner Music S'pore yesterday with the intention of asking them whether will The Click Five's Modern Minds And Pastimes be released in S'pore & it's a YES woo hoo as I was a bit worried the album will not be released after the unfortunate dismal 1st week sales of their 2nd album in US but thank goodness for that !

However I have to wait a while for the album to hit the stores as the lady whom I spoke to over the phone said that it wouldn't be out til early next month but it's ok , I can wait for that .

After all I rather wait than to pay S$32 from the US import of the album so no sweat .

Oh I just realise that Aug & Sept are 2 months where lots of J Pop artistes are gonna be releasing brand new material . You got people like Koda Kumi , Ayumi Hamasaki , Angela Aki , Mika Nakashima , Utada Hikaru , ayaka etc releasing new stuff & I so can't wait for all of them to release their new material .

& not to forget the soundtrack of High School Musical 2 YAY which's gonna be out this month ! I'm a bit jealous that the US audience will be getting the movie this month while I have to wait til 9th Sept for Disney Channel to premiere it as HSM 2's like 1 of the most anticipated movie that's made straight to TV .

But I guess at the meantime I make do with the soundtrack which will be out this month !

& if you happen to be around the Clarke Quay area this coming Thurs aka National Day or simply too broke to afford tickets to go watch SingFest which's scheduled to take place tomorrow & Thurs at Fort Canning Park , drop by Home Club to watch Another Sunday Afternoon perform ! They will take the stage at 10pm+ & their set roughly will be about 30 mins long .

I seen them perform before & the trio are very cool & this Thurs's gig was actually last min in that it was only confirmed yesterday . ASA are currently working on their album so gigs wise , they're pretty inconsistent this year performing here & there but next year it's gonna be 1 show stopper for them & yes I still like The Great Excuse , live version to be exact .

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Sunday, August 05, 2007

Yesterday it would have been Tracie's 34th birthday . Some of the board members , Sue & Nicola of ggates posted threads in memory of Tracie & her mum , Anita was extremely touched & it was heartwarming to read the numerous messages various members has left on these threads . I also left a message or 2 on them .

It's surreal but sometimes I still cannot believe that Tracie's gone . She passed away last year on Feb 23th , Feb as she had an inborn lung problem/disease . Her best friend also had the same condition as her & she too , died from it as well & it was a matter of time before Tracie was striken down as well .

& I believe yesterday was a pretty hard & emotional time for Anita & Tracie's husband but I'm sure both of them are able to pull though this .

Everyone in ggates knew Tracie's condition all the while so when Jill broke the news last year on the forums on Tracie's passing , it still came as a shock to everyone . It was like a huge slap that whacked me across my face .

I was pretty close to Tracie so I got a bit choked up when I left the messages or 2 yesterday . I remembered talking to her on MSN practically all the time & I definitely missed that , it was very fun as both of us are Gareth's fans & etc .

The worst thing was not her passing but rather , the worst thing's that I would never get to meet her in person until my next life but I suppose in due time , our paths will cross .

Yesterday wasn't a day of mouring Tracie's death but it was a day of celebration of Tracie's life & quoting from Jamie Michael's Whenever , see you whenever... Tracie .

Cheers mate , this's for you & I definitely miss you , friend .

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Friday, August 03, 2007

Yesterday , I went to meet Desmond at his workplace to collect another T shirt & this time it's for Hui Li . I swear I cheated with death just before that happened .

Prior to that , I bought a copy of Hot magazine . While I was crossing the road & walking to where Des's workplace's , I was reading Hot while walking/crossing . I didn't realised that the green man wasn't on the traffic light . It was still the red man that was flashing on it so you can imagine , I got a rude shock after I crossed the road & I looked up & saw that .

No wonder I was wondering how come a car sped past me just like that , I thought the traffic light was dodgy or something but oh my god , thank goodness nothing bad happened or else god damn knows , a car would have knocked me down while I was reading/walking at the same time so PHEW thank my lucky stars .

I have cheated death a couple of times but yesterday's incident probably takes the cake so morale of the story's never read a magazine & cross the road at the same time .

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Thursday, August 02, 2007

So last night when a lot of The Cure's fans flocked to the indoor stadium to watch the Rock/Indie legends live in their maiden performance in S'pore , I stayed at home to finish watching another DVD . Wow that's 3 DVDs in a row man , a record for me especially since I'm usually not a DVD whore .

& this time it's the Classical Crossover Bond's DVD which I finished watching last night . The name of the DVD's Live at the Royal Albert Hall & that DVD so far's the only 1 that the talented & very beautiful/pretty string quartet has released so far .

I checked the release date of it , it was released almost 5-6 years ago when their debut album Born was released & hence the tracklisting of the DVD contains material from their Born album .

I love Bond's DVD , it's fanastic & the live tracks of the songs that they did at the Royal Albert Hall , such as Quixote , Kismet , Victory , Wintersun (in here it's written as Winter) , Bella Donna , Alexander The Great & many more were really really good .

They even sneaked in a track called Dallas & they also did the James Bond theme song too . Honestly I think they make the sound of the violin/cello really hip & cool . I have been a long time fan of them since their debut in 2001 & I heard that they're currently working on new material for their 4th album which I'm definitely looking forward to since I have all of their albums & DVD .

I really hope that they can come to S'pore to stage a performance . I would definitely go for it big time . I also hope Classical Crossover Croatian pianist Maksim will come back to perform . The last time he came to S'pore was almost 2 years ago where he played a showcase at DXO in that he opened for Low Millions & just like Bond , I have all of his albums .

In a way it was good to listen to Bond & Maksim once again , in a way to get back to my Classical roots since the 1st music genre that I listened to was Classical .

In yesterday's Today , they complied a whole list of concerts/gigs/music festivals that will be taking place for the month of Aug . Among which's taking place this week's Baybeats , next week's SingFest , WOMAD , Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape tour which will take place in 2 Sat's time & etc .

Surprisely despite the stellar lineup of events that will be taking place for the whole month of Aug , I'm not going for any of them that's being listed . Well probably 1 or 2 but we'll see .

I was so hoping that I could go for Corrinne May's Beautiful Seed concert that will be taking place tomorrow night at NUS's UCC Concert Hall but all the tickets have been snapped up & I'm pretty bummed since tomorrow's concert will be the only time that Corrinne will be staging in S'pore this year .

Although she's based in LA now despite the fact that she's S'porean , whenever she returns back to stage concerts & etc in S'pore , it's always a full house event . All the tickets will be snapped up which's cool despite minimal promotion on the concerts that she does . It's all done simply by word of mouth .

Oh well , at least there's her 3rd album Beautiful Seed to look forward to .

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