typical date we were on. Dinner, movie.

There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

~ Mother Teresa

OMG OMG OMG OMG MY IPOD TOUCH CAME BACK TO LIFEEEEEEEE!!! I'MA SO HAPPPIIII~~

Today was pretty much fun, as usual, out with Kevin.


*xoxo*

Went to Thai Accent (upon recommendation from Patrick's blog) for dinner - must say, was YUMMEH!

Were on a pretty tight budget - just realised that in less than a month, had spent all of July's salary + few more hundred credited out of Aug's pay (which amounts to $1.5k; don't ask how I managed that amount), even though August isn't officially over yet =.= - so we didn't order much.

Our order: Pineapple seafood fried rice, Claypot coconut seafood rice, Glutinous rice with mango, "iced water" (the waitress didn't know what sky juice -"what fruit juice did you say?"- was).

Side note - this is second time "sky juice" incident happened to us. First time, were at Pasta Mania when we told waitress we wanted 2 glasses of sky juice, and she didn't know what that was, so we ordered 2 glasses of "normal water" instead. Seriously man, isn't sky juice pretty common term in world of culinary?

Okay, back to point. Claypot coconut seafood rice was awesomely heavenly, could have ordered a second helping, if wasn't already concerned about weight.

Side note #2 - you might have realised blog post lacking of pronouns + few auxiliary verbs, have been influenced by book bought recently, language was short and precise, as such. Been pretty much into reading of late.

After dinner, movie. Yes, typical date we were on. Dinner, movie. =)

Picked The Stool Pigeon. A good watch, I'd recommend it, though a little rough on some parts, what with slashings and fights. Kinda sad ending though, presonally don't fancy sad endings, though on the whole movie was nice.

Then pampered myself (this is the last time I'm going to spend, I swear!) to a new Tamagotchi. I know I've bought 3 Tama's before, but they're broken =( - besides they were the old versions - I bought the LATEST one this time; here's a picture of it:

 Cuteness!!

Was little pricey though - $49 - but this going to be final purchase, pinky swear!

Wanted to buy Tamagotchi iD - color-screen version (imagine that! Color-screen electronic pet! *gaspgaspgasp*) but was over-priced. $109.

OMGWTFSOPRETTY =.=

*frowns*

BTW, I cooked. I COOKED!!! For first time ever, I cooked. By myself. Even packed some into plastic container for Kevin.

Feels happy for self. Self growing up. Feels self finally matured. Self done everything on "independant checklist". Cooking, laundry, housekeeping.

Am now ready to leave parents home.

But don't want to.

Abrupt ending.

as it turns out, you can.

Remember the time I drowned my iPod Touch to death and I was suffering from a case of chronic iPod deficiency for months?

I did it again. I did it again to my brand new 3-week-old iPod Touch.

I'm fucked up, aren't I?

I thought you could never make the same mistake twice, but as it turns out, you can.

I'm fucked, fucked, fucked, fucked up.

UPDATE: Here's a question for all Apple lovers out there; hope you guys can help me on this. When I realised my iPod drowned, I instinctively tried to turn it on. I only pressed the "on" button for a second, then stopped myself, but then the device started to get hot. It remained hot for about an hour or so, but the screen was black the entire time. By now, it has cooled. My question is, was it on or off? Did i accidentally turn it on? Is it cool now because it is off, or because i fried it by turning it on?I really hope some pro can help me on this.. Please..

turning my mistakes into intentional artistic strokes.

“Sometimes I need what only you can provide: your absence.”

- Ashleigh Brilliant

Okay, I give up.

I tried to upload screenshots of the game Machinarium (I'm currently stuck at the clock tower - I can't get inside!!), but M1's broadband is killing me with it's awfully slow speed.

You can Google them, or, if you prefer, you can click here. 

Cute right? Right???

Also tried to upload photos of my new iPod Touch which arrived weeks ago but since I can't, I guess there's no need to either coz seriously, who hasn't seen an iPod Touch before?

In case you haven't (which then I'd have to call you a freak), click here.

I bought the 64Gb one. More memory than my previous 2Gen iTouch - which unfortunately died when I drowned it when I spilled water in my bag. =(

Am currently being addicted to Plants VS Zombies for iPod Touch!!!

***

Today, I was surfing the net on my phone at work - I don't have internet access in my office, now you know how horrible my work life is - and I came across this Pet Society Fashionista Competition.

Basically, you'll have to design an outfit for your pet (or rather, their pets) and if your outfit's the best, you win an iPad *gasp* and 500 Playfish Cash.

I, of course, jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, the deadline was...

TODAY.

*Oh shhi....*

So I quickly printed out the given template:

and I drew.

At the office.

(Don't tell my supervisor >.<)

I couldn't find a pencil, so I drew directly onto the template using a black gel pen, silently praying that I wouldn't mak any mistakes - I know I should trust the artistic side of me, but it has been a while since I drew - 30 minutes later, I came up with this:

Sorry, the pet disappeared when I scanned the picture coz it was too light =/

Of course, I made some mistakes (one too many, if you asked me) but I cleverly covered them up by turning my mistakes into intentional artistic strokes.

Me got talent. =)

*Sometimes I flatter myself so much that even I find it hard to believe*

So then I finalized the drawings, colored them in, and here are my two submissions:

 I might just win an iPad, so vote for me by CLICKING HERE!!!

Thanks in advance!

Speaking of Pet Society, I foolishly spend $5 on 20 Playfish cash, because the "buy more Playfish cash!!" ad has been teasing me for over a year and I finally couldn't take it anymore and subcummed to it.

I bought an extra large room worth 15 Playfish cash.

Anyways, here is my (current) Pet Society home (I might upgrade it just a little more later):

 Nice???

And just to fill up thisblog post with more happiness, I shall post more pictures of my pet (which recently I turned into a 3-day snow-pet):

Last but not least, here's a picture of my pet in its pink pretty bedroom:

Nice right!!!

P.S.: I know all those furniture are outdated - I decorated my house long ago, and I haven't got the cash to renovate it.

"Customer Service, how may I help you?"

The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to offer them a drink.

~Fran Lebowitz~

You know how when you call a customer hotline, and how the customer care officers are always polite and nice to you no matter what silly things you say or what stupid questions you ask them? Sometimes I'd imagine that after I hang up, they'd turn to their colleagues and say "Hey, guess what? I just got off the phone with this dumbass customer who asked the dumbest questions ever." And then they'd gossip about me all day long about what an idiot I was for asking those stupid questions and I'd be the laughing stock of the day. And then when they go home, they'd tell their friends/gf/bf/spouse/family something along the lines of  "Today at work, I had this crazy customer who called, and she was such an idiot etc.etc.etc. - can you even believe it - she didn't even know etc.etc.etc!! You couldn't ever begin to imagine not knowing such things etc.etc.etc," and then, just like that, my idiocy would turn into one of their everyday conversations about work.

The only comfort I have is knowing that they would never see my face and the next day, I'd become just another anonymous customer.

You guessed it. I just got off the phone with one of Singtel's customer care officers, and I'm embarassed as hell. Don't ask.

***

I tried uploading more screen shots of the game Machinarium - the game is sooooooo damn cute that I couldn't help but share them here - but there was something wrong with the stupid internet connection and I couldn't upload them, and I'm just too lazy to try now. Maybe next time.

***

I usually have lots and lots and lots I want to blog about during the day, and I give myself silent reminders about it, but everytime when I come home, it always slips my mind, and hence, my lack of blog posts.

***

Oh, I remember now. It's something about authors and books. Also about my new iPod Touch that just arrived a few days ago. Even took photos of it.

But I'm waaaay too lazy to do that now, I'll just leave it for next time.

Nights.

a loving family, a great boyf, great friends, and even more currently, earning $1200 a month.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

- Buddha 

Today, I realised that I feel so...

Happy.

I mean, not happy happy, just happy.

It's like, I'm not in this estatic state of euphoria or anything like that, I don't go "YAY!!" all the time or go hyper like I sometimes do when I get happy for getting what I want, I'm just happy.

I guess I've had this good feeling in me for a while, say, a couple of weeks, but it took me this long to finally figure out that it meant happiness.

If I had to back-track to the day when this nice feeling started, I think it'd be the time when Kevin finally came back to Singapore. =)

I didn't notice it at first, but thinking back, yes, I've had my stressful moments at work, my random rants about those nitty-bitty inconveniences in life (why can't people move faster during peak hours at MRT stations?!?! Don't you need to get to work? Dumb inconsiderate slow-pokes), and yes, I've been angry and upset at times, but on the whole, I guess I was happy.

You know how I usually get hyper when I've just returned from a productive shopping spree, or when I've just bought myself electronic stuffs, or when DHL finally ships my online purchases to me?

This feeling is different. This happiness is like no other. The joy of receiveing (or rather, purchaing) new stuff is great, but it wears off after a while. This is different. This... I feel like I'm happy. No reason. Just because.

I guess I've finally learned how to live with my life. I should be happy; why shouldn't I be? I've got a roof over my head, enough cash in my bank account, food to eat, a good tertiary education, a bright future ahead, a loving family, a great boyf, great friends, and even more currently, earning $1200 a month.

*grins*

Granted, I don't have a place I can call my own, no car, and have moved 3 times just this one year and still counting (when will NTU give me a room!!!). I know there's so much more I can achieve - a luxurious home, my very own car, a high-paying job, a tour around the world, and extra money to buy those rich-people-stuff I don't need.

But for now, I'm happy. Even when I know I have shitloads of work waiting in my office to be done, even when I get awfully stressed out, and even when I get worried over my hostel accomodation, none of them seem to be bothering me. I still feel happy. As I said, I don't know why, I just am.

I remember how for this past few weeks, I'd sometimes smile to myself while walking, singing a song in my head, having an imaginary squiggly with a note floating behind me.

Like so:

Googled the picture, added the squiggly and musical note myself.

Sometimes, I'd even imagine that my note + squiggly was infectious, and those who walked past me would have my happiness rub off on them and that their gloom would suddenly turn into joy. On other times, I'd imagine that maybe my note + squiggly was visible to others, and they would see it and feel my happiness and they'd marvel at my joyful mood, and I'd turn heads because, as they say, happiness makes a person shine.

Sometimes, I'd just take a deep breath, look up and smile at the sun (or the ceiling/clouds/whateverisupthere), and then I'd imagine that with every new smile I make, a new squiggly and note would get squeezed out of the back of my head, each one being bigger than the last.

Sometimes, I'd imagine them to be translucent, glowing with a shade of golden-yellow, but most of the time I'd imagine they were a shade of cute baby-pink, with white-pinkish glowing edges.

They'd float right behind me, symbolising my joy, and that nobody else could ever destroy them coz nobody could touch it; they'd be like light clouds, even if you tried touching them, your hand would just go right through them.

And then, I'd go on about my errands, knowing that nothing could ever ruin my day.

Maybe, just maybe, you could say that I'm happy because I'm alive, living, loving, and loved.

*ilydd*

Goodnight, Beautiful

We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.

~ Thomas Merton

That's the book.

I just finished it at my office yesterday.

You know the feeling of walking out of a movie theatre right after a movie has ended, and you find yourself in that "in-between" state of mind where you're still trying to get a grip on reality while the other good half of your mind is still swimming around in the virtual world you had just experienced?

Dazed.

I think that's the right word for it.

If you're a reader like me, then I guess you'd agree when I say that that's the exact same feeling you get when you finish a book, put it down, and try to get back to reality.

Needless to say, I could hardly concentrate on my work for a good 10 minutes after I finished the book.

Moral of the story: Do not read when you know you've got something important to do afterwards, like working, studying, or worse, going for an important exam.

Dorothy Koomson did it again. She amazed me the first time, and now she's done it, better than ever.

Basically, the book is about -


*spoilers ahead; I'd recommend you read the book yourself coz it's really good, but if you're too lazy then by all means continue*

- some kind of complicated relationship between a wife, the husband, and the husbands best friend. Mal and Nova were best friends since they were kids, and they have always loved each other, but as fate would have it, they never had the chance to get together.

Personally, I think it's Nova's fault and I think I kinda hate her, though she seems to be the real "victim" in the story, but I don't see how is that when she's the one being a hazard to a beautiful marriage - I hate Mal too, for choosing Steph over Nova, even though he knows he loves Nova.

So Mal meets Steph at a bar, get together, and eventually get married to each other, but Steph can't (or rather, won't) have kids. At least Mal thinks she can't (coz of an abortion she had when she was younger), but Steph actually doesn't want to, because she is bipolar and she doesn't want her child to have it too. Okay, this part is a little confusing; I'll skip.

Anyways, the couple have always wanted a kid of their own, so they ask Nova to be their surrogate, using Mal's sperm.

Wrong move.

It's already enough that Steph has to put up with her husband going "Nova's my bestest friend" and stuff, and now she's having their baby??

Steph has all the right in the world to be jealous.

The couple were happy at first, but then one day when Mal visits his unborn baby (and Nova), a series of events unfold, leading them to realising their true feelings for each other. Turns out, both of them have always loved each other, but both have always thought the other didn't love him/her back.

At this point, Mal regrets.

Have I mentioned how much I hate Nova?

That night, Mal texted Nova "Goodnight, beautiful."

For the following few days after that, Steph noticed something amiss, and suspected her husband to be unfaithful, so she checked his phone and saw the text Mal sent to Nova.

Scared, she asked Mal to cut all ties with Nova.

At this point, Mal should have just left Steph for Nova, thus cutting short their torturous marriage, but nooooo, Mal just had to go against his true feelings and choose Steph instead, leaving Steph wondering for the next few years if he actually regretted his choice.

Eight years later, Nova's seven year old son, Leo (yes, the child who was supposed to be Mal's and Steph's), is in a coma. Steph reveals the entire truth about Nova's son (because Mal's family think Leo was the product of his infidelity with Nova) and Nova contacts Mal to see her son for the last time before he dies.

Mal has sex with Nova, Leo dies, and Nova finds out she's pregnant with Mal's child (again).

Nova goes away to live a new life with her new daughter, while Mal goes back to Steph and their relationship is (seemingly) patched up.

The way I see it, the 3 of them are plain fucked up.

I apologize for my language, but there is absolutely no other way to describe it.

Why the heck would Mal wanna go back to Steph, when he knows that he'll spend the rest of his life trying to deceive himself into believing he is happy with Steph? And why would Nova go away, when she obviously knows she's gonna suffer so much pain from missing Mal?

Sometimes I wished Nova would be a bitch and steal Mal from Steph, and then maybe I wouldn't hate her so much.

I pity Steph the most, coz she's gonna spend the rest of her life with a guy who doesn't love her properly and totally; a part of her husband would always be with some other bitch who already has had 2 of his kids.

I'm just so glad we don't usually get into situations like this in real life, and that I've only have one person I truly love, not some bullshit about having this guy as my soulmate and another as my best friend cum secret lover.

***

Watched Salt today.

Pretty good, I guess.

Nights.

But that's okay, coz I've got my beloved HTC HD2

“I guess it’s just human nature that if someone or some organization gets really successful there’s just a group of people who want to tear it down. I see it happening with Google.”

-Steve Jobs, Antennagate press conference-

Practically everyone in my office has ordered the new iPhone 4.

It's all I ever hear them talk about, especially during lunch breaks.

=.="

But that's okay, coz I've got my beloved HTC HD2 and I'm still proud of it.

FYI, my phone boasts of a 4.3 inch touch screen. How bout yours?

*But now that the iPhone 4's specs seem to be much better than the previous 3Gs' one, I guess the iPhone isn't such a bad choice afterall*

Besides, my 64Gb iPod Touch is coming tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

Though I personally do hope that if Kevin decides to get a new phone, he'd get the iPhone 4 - I'll have to admit, it's kinda pretty (the screen is a tad too small for me, though) + I'm sure he'll love the apps and the reliability of the phone itself. =)

Anyways.

Today I overheard this at my office:

Ivy*: Mr Yan, can you please call Mr T for me, tell him to come find me in the office now?

Mr Yan: (through walkie talkie) Mr T, can you come to Ivy now, she needs you.

Mr T: Sorry I can't, I'm busy right now, I'm very far from the office.

Mr Yan: (To Ivy) He says he's busy and can't come now.

Ivy: Tell him his iPhone just arrived.

Mr Yan: Mr T, Ivy says your iPhone just arrived.

Mr T: Ok, ok, I come now.

=.="


*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the persons involved.

we thought it'd be nice to fly a kite.

A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

-Caskie Stinnett-

I've just shifted into my new room (single, with air-cooler, $500 a month) @ Bukit Batok yesterday. These few days have been hectic. Crazy hectic. Like, busy, but fun. Gah. I don't know what I'm talking about.

Currently blogging on Kevin's laptop - we have decided to temporarily exchange laptops for an indefinite period of time - coz Kevin has to bring a laptop to work everyday, and my 2 kg Toshiba is much lighter than his 4 kg Acer. At least now I get to temporarily use a laptop with better specs. =)


Yesterday was, like, crazy. We  (referring to Kevin and I) packed, called a cab, and moved half of my worldly things (the other half still in NTU storage =.=) in to my new room. Just after 1 month of shifing into NTU, I have to move out again. I have a feeling I'm going to have to move again real soon. Can you believe it - it's only August and in just this one year I've moved 3 times already, and stil counting.

Great year this is.

The owner of the house are pretty nice people, though. So no worries, I guess. I just hope I don't get too used to staying here and decide not to move back to NTU.

Anyways. *I have noticed that I use the word ualmost in every blog post. I have tried to avoid using it this time, but I guess I failed :/*

So after I put my stuff in the room - didn't even unpack yet - I rushed off to church, and was 30 minutes late. zZzZzZz

Hectic, no?

Watched Phua Chu Kang The Movie with Kevin after church. =)

*xoxo*

Oh, right. Before that. We did something awfully stupid. Something you wouldn't ever dream that a university student would do, but we went and did it anyway.

Well, it's kinda a long story. You see, we had planned to go to ECP the next day, and we thought it'd be nice to fly a kite. We saw a pretty one in the arcade, but of course, it being an arcade, we couldn't buy it with money, instead, we had to redeem it with JP's (Jackpot Points).

The kite cost 1 JP. Sounds cheap? Not.

What, exactly, are Jackpot Points, you may ask.

You see, arcades are actually deceitful places, where you are tricked into thinking you're having fun, when you're actually just giving away money for free.

So, how do you earn JP's?

There's this machine where it has double platforms over flowing with candies. The platforms move in such a way that if there was any extra candy poured onto it just at the right timing (which is pretty unlikely), the platform would push the overflowing candy overboard and then the falling candy would hit a button called the counter. You'll have to use a scoop to scoop the candy and pour it onto the platform. Each attemp to scoop will cost $1.

Once the counter is hit, there would be flashing characters, namely, 1, 2, 3, and JP. The flashing slows down to a halt, and whichever number is flashing when it stops, thats what you're gonna get (usually you'll just get a 1 - fat chance you'll get the JP). If you get the JP, you automatically earn one Jackpot Point. However, if you get 1, your bar will move up a notch. Get a 2, the bar will move up 2 notches. Fill up the whole bar (15 notches), and you'll earn one Jackpot Point. As an incentive, for every 5 notches you earn, you get a whole bunch of sweets.

Which means, for every dollar you spend, you'll have to have a 100% accuracy of hitting the counter, and then you'll at least have a chance at earning 1 JP at $15, which is, mathematically speaking, virtually impossible.

After $12, we only got up to 5 notches. Needless to say, we didn't earn that 1 JP, neither did we get the kite we hoped for.

At least we won a whole bag of Very Expensive Sweets. And then, we went for said movie.

I know. This is by far one of the dumbest things I have done in my entire life.

Lets put it down in record, and then maybe if we look back on it a few years later, I might actually get amused at my own stupidity.



***

Went to ECP today. Cycling with Kevin!!! My legs and ass hurt. =( Didn't manage to take any photos, though.

After that, window shopping at Suntec, and dinner at Geylang.

It wasn't the best day ever, but in the end I guess it turned out pretty fine. A whole day of adventure touring the less visited places in Singapore with dd was pretty exciting, a day I will look back and reminisce upon.

P.S.: Sorry, I know blogging about outings without pictures are a tad too boring, but you know I'm always lazy when it comes to taking photos and uploading them. Especially uploading them. Going to play Machinarium now. Nights. =)

P.P.S.: Seriously, it's a really cute game. Go to Google images and search "Machinarium". You'll like it. Here's one to give you the motivation: 

Before I decide to hate you right back.

It has come to be practically a sort of rule in literature, that a man, having once shown himself capable of original writing, is entitled thenceforth to steal from the writings of others at discretion.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson-

People usually think they'd hate them, but I don't know. Sometimes it can be a nice feeling if you took it the right way. Say, instead of thinking they're plagiarizing you, why not think this way: They idolize/envy/admire/whateveryoucallit you enough to want to follow you because they want, if not wholly then at least partly, to be you.

I was randomly surfing the net whn i came upon this 15 y/o stranger blogger (nope, not saying names - it's not exactly my style to bring embarassment upon others, unless of course they did something awfully horrid and I'd hate them to their core *muahahaha I'm evil*) who copied and pasted a chunk of my blog post (i.e., this one) directly onto hers and didn't even make an effort to note that it was originally MY idea. AND she copied/pasted (edited some parts) of MY blog welcome note. OH PLEASE, you're only 15, are you really leading the life I AM?

Despite all that, I don't really feel mad at her, coz well, I guess its a pretty nice feeling to know that people do like my posts so much that they'd copy/paste them as their own.

To whom it may concern, if you're reading this, no, I'm not angry at you. Shocked, yes - by you blatantly copying chunks out of my work and not even editing them into somthing subtly mine but still un-provable *lol is there even such a word* - dumbfounded, yes - for realising how much my blog (which I personally think it's crap) appeals to some - but not angry. I like it that you think me good enough to influence your blog, your style of writing.  Just that, couldn't you at least reveal yourself to me, rather than just wait for me to "accidentally" find out about you? You might think (correct me if I'm wrong) I'd never find out, but the blogoshere is a pretty tiny world, especially when we both are Malaysians. Everybody knows everybody.

I don't mind you copying my stuff, but couldn't you at least just credit me a little at the end of it?

Whatever it is, I guess I just wanna say that I am kinda touched in a way, that you'd admire my work so much that you would incorporate it into yours.

Last but not least, nice to meet you. =)

It's such a nice feeling to know that at least I'm getting fans all over Malaysia and Singapore =)


P.S.: I know some pople may tak this the wrong way, but stop saying I'm showing off, kay, coz I'm not. If anything, I'm just revealing how happy and amazed I am about all this, which is what EVERYONE does best on their blogs - pour out their true feelings. In my case, it's happiness. So stop about me being a show off. Just stop. Before I decide to hate you right back. =)



***


Oh, I did something regrettable today. Oh, so regrettable and stupid, I swear I will never do it again.

Or maybe it's just because it's my first time doing it, and my conscience, still clean about it, isn't too happy about it yet.

Reminds me of how I NEVER skipped lectures in my freshman year (at least for the first semester) - even skipping lectures once makes me guilty as hell and I'd make up my mind to study extra hard to make up for it - and how just about a year later (and counting), I miss more lectures than the ones I attend. *oops*

Anyways, about this thing I'm doing, I'm so embarrased about it I can't even come to say what it is. All I know is, I swear it will NEVER happen again and this will be the first and last time I'm doing it. I don't know why I did it in the first place. I knew it deep down there I shouldn't, and I told mysef I shouldn't, but in the end I went and did it anyway.

I wished I could turn back time. If only I could.

And. No, it's not about me losing my virginity, smoking, taking drugs, or killing someone. If it helps, I'll be glad to tell you that the 'grave mistake' I did is actually much less serious, just something EVERYONE wished they could do (I'll pay you $100 if you can find someone who can swear that he/she has NEVER thought about doing what I did) but never really could imagine themselves really doing it for no good cause; maybe I'm just one of the more couragous ones who really went all out and did it for no good reason at all.

Moral of the story?

NEVER, EVER, EVER go against your conscience. It'll make you pay by killing you on the inside oh-so-painfully you'll wish you never lived.