Yesterday's ROD was a hodge podge of joy and...sorrow. I just can't get those Remember the Titans and Michael Learns to Rock songs out of my head. And each time they come back I think of the Titans...how they trained, performed, and owned. Yesterday was also the official end of the Titans Marching Band as the two bands went their separate ways, due to James Tan the fucker sonofabitch and Mrs Tang the academics fanatic. Politics is a very dangerous thing, just that this time, politics hurt the members, not those who played around with it. It was also heartwarming to see so many seniors come back; those whom I had not seen for a very long time, and though I didn't speak to some, it just felt good. The times where we were on the field marching together, making music together; they were priceless. (not as in no price but as in so valuable you couldn't tag a price on it.)

Too bad I had to rush down to Bedok int to meet my mum for my family dinner. I really wanted the dinner with them, but I also wanted to stay behind and hang out with my juniors. It just felt so different that I was leaving so early on that particular day. Sure I'd see them again, but somehow, somewhere, I feel a deep sense of loss and regret. Move on as some people say...don't make band your life. Well it's already too late perhaps. It's in my blood, its in my soul, it feeds my hunger for lively and aggressive music and tireless marching...the Titans spirit has completely overwhelmed me. Should I let it take over my body? Frankly I don't mind, because everytime I'm with them, well, most of the time, its a great feeling that I can never express with words alone.

Well, on a lighter note, I've bought my new cpu cooler...now there's a butterfly sitting on my cpu. Pretty nice stuff. haha. Worth the money if you ask me.

Tonight's Christmas Eve outing, similar to last years' hasn't been confirmed...hmmm. gotta work on that with qizheng later.

Till then, Merry Christmas EVE!

Today's my birthday...wow. haha. doesn't feel like one. Today's emotions included...frustration, disappointment, grief, but before that was happiness, contentment, and a sense of bliss. But why not...today...isn't it just like any other day? haha.

I woke up early today to read my birthday sms'es...every one brought a smile to my face except one, where on the other hand, it brought me a tinge of disappointment. I can remember every detail of that message right down to the punctuation marks. haha. But this is not for you, people =)

After that went for band, to present to the Felix and the other guys me and qz's 'Masterpiece', which turned out to be trash. I still think it's our greatest work, though, albeit being too long and draggy. The flashback effect backfired too. Oh well, that's life. At least I know qizheng's saved the original one we did so we can keep it for remembrance or something. It's my first effort in helping do the ROD video, and I'm pretty happy with it if you ask me.

yeap...so...that's my birthday guys. happy 22nd of december.

Today is another slacking day, and I'm going to spend $90 dollars at 12pm today when my Razer Copperhead gaming house and the eXactmat mousepad arrives downstairs. A kind soul on vrforums had offered free delivery if I had bought it from him. I trust that it is in great condition and he won't con me. haha. I wonder when I'm going to SLS to get my ZEROtherm BTF90 cpu cooler...i've been waiting for it for a long time and since it's reached our shores at a nice promotional price...I don't think I should wait. It's just that I'm too lazy to go get it myself. haha. I've been spending money on computer stuffs like crazy. But thank god it's from my own money. I'd hate to be splurging my mum's money for anything other than clothes and food =D

ROD is on Saturday and I've yet to think of something to do...hmmm. And tomorrow is my birthday. what to expect? haha. it's just another day if you ask me. I don't really look forward to birthdays these few years. hahaha. I just don't get that special feeling that i'm 'supposed' to have on that one day every year.

I had a dream last night that was really weird. haha. I won't say it here. One of those old dreams...the kind you don't wanna wake up from. haha. But sadly, I cannot appreciate them now. It's all not under my control when I an unconscious, but when I am awake I can very well slap myself and tell myself it isn't true, and it isn't going to come true. hahaha. Funny how these dreams come by every now and then to taunt and tease me.

Completed NFS Carbon already...there're a number of people who want to borrow from me, though I can't really remember who else other than Syafiq and Samantha. I still won't loan it out though, haven't completed the challenge series and whatnot. Pretty disappointed with my driving the first time I played the game. Especially during Canyon Races and Drifts. I can't remember how many times I had to restart each time I hit a wall or fell off the cliff. I'm not the best, you know. haha.

Alright, I guess I'll just end off here then. Gotta go down early. I already feel embarrassed by the fact that this guy is delivering a mouse and mousepad to my house. cya!

PEOPLEEEEE ME IS BACK FROM THAILAND!!!!

woooooo I am super tired today..woke up at like 10:30am. Intended to sleep more but then I decided not to pig off and get myself off the bed. Well yesterday I arrived in singapore at around 2:30pm...went home with Khairi cuz apparently his mum wasn't there to pick him up as she had promised earlier. Not bad lah, I just learnt that his aunt's house is super near to samantha's house lah. Passed her place twice on the way there and back. alright alright...hearty itchy itchy!! I'll update you on what we did in Thailand now!

Day 1

Day 1 was...err, well, don't count lah, huh? Left Singapore at about 6:15pm on Tiger Airways, the super budget airway which has planes with 3 rows + aisle + 3 rows space inside...super cramped and the seats were quite uncomfortable. Haiyahhh...last time we took Singapore Airlines much bigger and more comfortable, all for the same price can? lol. Got inflight movies and games and stuff summore, unlike Tiger Airways; the only things you get to do is read the cheapo magazines, stare out the window or TRY to get some sleep. Okay, back to the story. This was the first ever time I went to the Budget Terminal, as with many other members. My mum was surprised that the terminal looked like it...too used to the good stuff in Terminal 2 I guess. haha. There was only one 'shop' outside, which was Han's. Pretty good place, if you ask me. My first impression of the Budget Terminal from outside?

"looks liks a funfair sia."

Alright. Another thing was that the pilot was blabbering some shit before takeoff which puzzled us for a few moments. We were only able to catch a few words from his steady stream of jibberish! I wonder what would happen if there was an emergency and nobody could understand what he was saying...that'd be pretty interesting. hmmm.

ARRIVAL!

We arrived at a new airport in Bangkok which was called Suvarnabhumi Airport. Much nicer than the old airport which we landed at 2 years ago. It's pure international airport stuff. haha. finally, some standard. After that we went to some restaurant along one of the highway exits for dinner. I tell you, the tom yum tasted like water with chilli padi and grass inside. hahahahaha. seriously. But the food was good, just that everything was just too spicy. Felix was sweating like the pig that he was trying to down everything during dinner.

Okay, after that we went to our hotel which was called Suan Dusit Palace / Place. I think I'll call it Place because putting the word 'Palace' on it leaves its style and attractiveness much to be desired. Got familiarized with the place and my room mate MR LIANG! very nice guy actually. Dun regret having him as my room mate! haha.

Day 2

Today we went to Dreamworld! Nice place, and although I heard from my mum that it'd been renovated and new stuff had been added since 2 years ago, I really didn't see any difference in the place. haha. Just rides, more rides, and shops selling pretty cheap stuff if you ask me. Except the Adidas shop. the stuff there burns holes in your wallet. Though I didn't buy anything there. haha. Went on many of the rides with my group : Boo Keong, Farhana, Carmel and Khairi. Too bad we didn't combine groups, but anyway splitting up was better; we were able to cover more ground. There were three things the entire band did together though: A train ride around the park, the cable car ride which was pretty scary, and Snow Town! DAMN it I remember it being VERY MUCH WARMER the other time we went to Snow Town. I think we spent a good half hour or more there last time, but this time, all of us went in, and were out in around 10 minutes. hahaha. too freakin cold man! Shivering like crazy, hands frozen and painful. Estee, especially, was shivering like crazy and her face was all white (well, it was already white, but this time whiter =D) and I thought I had an advantage by wearing my Nike jacket underneath the one they provided us with; no luck. I gave it to Estee anyway so she wouldn't turn into an icicle. I would'nt want to see her with this face -_- indefinitely, and neither would anyone else.

Speaking of her and that face, she was almost the center of attention in Thailand. I don't know why, but she was one of the best people to bully during that trip. hahaha. Too bad she had to leave on the morning of the fourth day to prepare for her flight to Denmark the following night. Khairi will miss her =D don't worry man, she'll be back on the 28th if I remember correctly.

One ride I can never forget : SUPER SPLASH! Reliving the past was great, although this time I went one or two times less than the last. 2004 : 7/8 times. 2006 : 6 times! But if I could count the times I standed on the bridge facing the flume's descent, woot. hahahaha. two digits man. I tell you, standing there was more shiok than going down on that thing, minus the rush you get from plunging downwards. The advantage is that you get smacked right in the face with a whole lot of water, as opposed to having a little less water crashing down on you after 2 seconds or so, after the water around the flume makes a wall taller than you can lift your neck to see. What doesn't come crashing on you hurtles toward the bridge and slams anyone standing on it. ME LOVES. hahahahaha. I went once with my cousin too. He was weird during this trip, not talking very much and always saying 'whatever...' I felt a little sad knowing that I couldn't make him feel much better about the trip. He enjoyed Super Splash too, I suppose.

One more ride was Space Mountain, some indoor roller coaster whose waiting area smelled of dried urine. SERIOUSLY. Damn, it stank, but my group and I went twice =) The scary part about this coaster is not the drops and helixes, but the fear of getting your arms or head ripped off by not keeping them inside the car. I was trying my best to duck and dodge inside the car in order to make it out in one piece!

Alot more stuff, but I won't cover here. hahaha. Please refer to other band members' blogs for the details I left out =D

Day 3

Today was the highlight of the entire trip, the exchange program with Bodindecha High School's marching band. DAMN THAI MARCHING BANDS ARE FREAKIN SCARY MAN. They look something like DCI's Div. III or II even. Not I lah. Div I corps are godlike. the stuff they do for warmups are so different and we've never seen them before. They just do everything with such ease that I'm amazed. And their discipline...woot. Excellent, man. Mistakes? just one or two out of the whole 1 hour plus of basic marching. Occasional slip of mind I guess. But the battery percussion...woot. No tenors that day, but the snare and bass is enough to make us smile in awe and embarrassment. But they were really, really friendly and accomodating, taking time to make us feel comfortable with their drums and the exercises they used. Their Drum Major was a percussionist too, and he was the one who was leading us in the exercises most of the time. It just felt so great playing on the drums that we dream of playing, using the drumsticks of percussionists in a band which owned in the Yamaha All Thai Marching Band competition. We did well that day. Alot of concentration, I see. Bass drummers...splitting time!!! alot of practice is coming our way. haha.

One more thing about the band; they have a colour guard section! And what about them, besides being able to spin flags, rifles and other stuff aside the band? THE GIRLS ARE TOTALLY AWESOME! I mean, they don't even look Thai! They're pretty, super friendly like Japanese girls, some of them are tall, slim and slender. One of them had long, slightly dyed hair and she was the best of them all to me. One hundred percent perfect. Gotta love those girls! hahahaha. Hey, I'm not the only one amazed by their beauty. Ask Syafiq or Zach. hahahaha. really...really really nice. But I didn't approach them though unlike Syafiq and the other guys...shy. hahahaha. really okay, I'm not that good with girls.

Alright, after all the fun and the godlike tom yum served during lunch at their school, we set off for MBK, the godlike shopping centre in the downtown area...with heavy hearts and images of the people we met in Bodindecha school burned in our minds. hahaha. Just to add, to Syafiq's disgust, I dreamed of Bell, one of the colour guard girls (the prettiest one to me) on one of the nights. muahaha. Okay, back to MBK. Not much to say, besides seeing a lot of stuff we don't get to buy here in Singapore, for example, the super interesting shirts with assorted STUFF on them which I shall not say here. The arcade was super nice too, with all the latest games, at a fraction of the price paid to play here in Singapore. I had a good time drifting with Khairi on OutRun 2. House of the Dead 4 was a must play here. less than a buck compared to the 2 dollars you pay for a game here at home.

Bowling!!! We went back to Strike Bowling at MBK 7th floor, the one with disco music and lights everywhere, and glow in the dark bowling pins and bowling balls. There were even two pool tables not far from the lanes.

After that went for dinner at the food court on the 6th floor. Nice place, lots of variety. I had the Turkish fare though. Stuck to strictly Halal food everytime we were there. But hey, who's complaining? the food is great!

Met at around 8:30pm Bangkok time to go back to the hotel...And another day had gone.

Day 4

Today was the day we went to Chatuchak market, land of the great bargaining deals! It was also the day Estee left for the airport after breakfast...well I already said why around the beginning of the post, right? haha.

Alright. We had some cruise along the Chao Phraya river on a boat. Really nice. Got to see a lot of stuff. The best part was the feeding of the catfish in the river. I tell you, it's almost as if the catfish knew it was lunch time when the boat stopped. We soon saw their silhouettes lurking beside the boat. When we threw the bread in...all hell broke loose man! All the fish were fighting for the bread. Syafiq was scolding dunno wad shit as he threw the bread right in the fish' faces. hahaha. damn funny. Okay, after the cruise we went to some Temple of the Dawn. Pretty nice place. The steps were so steep some of them had to sit down and hold one step while reaching down for the next. Then it was time to cross the river and wait for our bus to take us to Chatuchak/JJ/Weekend/Super Cheap/Bargain Heaven/Whatever market.

Ok I am just too lazy to elaborate on the place, besides the fact that the market is pretty dark, damp, crowded, and smelly around the food stall areas. hahaha. I bought a pair of original Billabong bermudas for like 18SGD. Don't ask me why I know its original. It is and that's final. haha. But I bought it 2 sizes too big so I wanna sell it off here...see how much profit I can make. ALRIGHT. end of Chatuchak story. hahahahahaha. LAZY!

Day 5

Today was the day we went to the Zoo! I won't say much, cuz its pretty much the same as any other zoo you would visit. What more do you expect for a 50baht entrace fee? Yes, of course SG Zoo is better. haha. Me and Aidil played some Need for Speed Underground 2 game in the arcade...stupid thing lag like what sia. Waste money. haha. After that we went to MBK AGAIN! But this time, it was buy, buy, buy. haha. I tell you, I went there with 2k plus baht, went back to the hotel with 400. hahahaha. But that's not very much, okay? haha. The bulk of my money was spent on buying the dogtags for the drumline. The alumni were finding gifts for our sections as well as our groups as sort of a 'thank you' and encouragement gift. The groups bought stuff for us too! Very grateful...haha. The lady who sold me the dogtags was really nice. I managed to save about 400baht after bargaining with her. She had no argument about the price I stated. She was just very accomodating. Probably cuz I bought so many from her, aiya nvm la. hahahaha.I bought this soft toy for Estee too. Since she left early and missed out so much, I just thought it was fitting. haha. I bought an Estee for Estee!!! hahaha. well, it just looks a lot like her, that's all.

When we went back to the hotel, I did up the dog tags for the drumline, writing Titans Drumline 2006 on one side and their respective names on the other with a permanent marker. Cheapskate, yes, but it was the only thing I could do. I think they liked it, though. It was an emotional moment passing out the dog tags...shaking hands and exchanging hugs. pretty nice if you ask me.

Day 6

Today, we left for Singapore. A little mixed feelings...wanna go...dun wanna go. haha. But for me, I wanted to go home. I just missed everything at home. My computer, my bed, my bathroom. haha. I guess a little time away from home didn't actually spoil everything in the homey aura.



okay, I'll just stop here then. You notice...with every day above, it got shorter and shorter? hahahaha don't blame me lah. tired. haha. okay, pictures will be up later when I find the strength to do it up. cheers!

ahh, tomorrow I shall be leaving for the Land of a Thousand Smiles...Thailand...too bad the Yamaha Thailand Marching Band competition was moved forward so we won't be able to catch it. Well, there's still dreamworld and that fantastic seafood restaurant to look forward to! I've got Mr Liang as my roomie...hmmm...well at least khairi's in my group. well be gone from 13-18dec...so pls do not msg me, etc. will get back to you guys when I get back!

Okay...I went out with samantha today..to marina square. Too lazy to tell the whole story lah...anyway she did her blog and already put up everything there, so anyone interested in today's agenda just go to her blog and see. haha. dun haf the link? too bad. lol.

Just bought NFS Carbon yesterday from a VR Zone forumer at Aljunied...$45 man, damn cheap. And its the DVD Collectors' Edition summore. muahaha. Just beat the first boss. One chunk of the city is mine! night racing again...hai, cock eye. hahahaha.

okay guys, MIGHT update tomorrow morning. If I don't, see you on the 18th of december! cheers!

hi people i am back...I just made $220 today selling off some parts from my old computer...I hope there are no probs with them. Other than that, spent $42 buying my new graphic card cooler...damn I am turning into a pc hardware geek, but I LOVE BEING ONE wahahaha. All the money I'm getting on CNY and stuff and whatever will be spent on computer stuffs and going out. No more computer games. Just want to do what I can with my current rig. The graphic card cooler is emitting a nice red LED light...gonna install some fans with the same LED colour...but first, some modding on the casing...need to cut holes! money fly away again. haha.

Went out with samantha on tuesday...supposed to do ROD video with qz in the afternoon so I didn't go Vivo with the ping yians (got spf also or not ah?)...so I made time for her in the morning to early afternoon. wanted to go to some place in bedok south to eat some western thingy that she touted to be excellent but ended up at tm -.- had famous amos cookies for lunch! lol. Den played bomberman with her...lame lah. I keep killing either her or myself. Stupid bombs explode the radius so wide. haha. Actually bomberman quite fun. I was actually hooked onto it for a while back in primary school. Interesting game that has survived through the years...I salute it! haha. And that game Climax...the new aeroplane game at e-zone. Keep dying at the 5th level dahhh sian. Reactions still not fast enough haha.

Sam told me not to blog about me managing to trip her all the time but..WHOOPS THERE IT IS! hahahaha. well we're even ok, you tripped me a couple of times too...I wonder how funny it'd be to see her fall? muahaha. Shan't suan her more lah, later she come strangle me. wait...one more...DOUBLE DEW! muaha.

Poisonnnn...temptation is strong, yet wallet is weak! I dun wanna anyhow splurge the money I earned. haha. well not earned, 'got' is a better word for it I suppose. haha.

Okay people, that's about it...will update one last time before I leave for Thailand with the Titans! cheers to all!

yo people, I am BACK, after being MIA for more than a week. haha. just too lazy to even type in www.blogger.com in the URL...oh wait, I just did. Nothing much has happened, so don't worry, you guys didn't miss much! cuz you know and I know that the biggest event that took place during the past week and beyond was the CREATIVE BAND CHALLENGE at UCC @ NUS. Alumni joined with PYMB due to the fact that it was a small band and they needed help in terms of manpower. But nonetheless, we all agreed that whoever won, spfmb or pymb, we would all be happy! cuz though we might be separated by distance, the heart will still OWN as one!

The outcome : PYMB SHOWMANSHIP CHAMPION WITH PERCENTAGE OF 84.5% OWNAGE! (ok the announcement was without the 'ownage')

dota quote for yesterday : TITANS has pawned all other bands' instruments for an extra 1000 gold (well, SGD.) and two very nice certificates!!! muaha.

ok quite lazy to type some more; the 'cock-up' at CBC yesterday...if anyone wants to know, just ask any PYMB percussionist. EVERYTHING WENT WELL THOUGH! quick thinking and common sense saved us all from utter humiliation. Amazing how we pulled through. haha. pics will be uploaded next time!! very slow today. haha.

I also managed to take pics of the fireworks display at vivocity's grand opening on 1st Dec. Was going to Sentosa with chang yuan and my family for our stay at the Shangri-La resort. Didn't stay over in the end, though.

Till then, cheers!