Finished duty early, about 10:45 am, so I went into Orchard Road for an early lunch before meeting Sham. It's been a long while since I went into Orchard by myself. These days, I hardly have a reason to go there at all.

Lunched at Pastamania, Scotts. Ordered prawns n 'shrooms on penne in a white wine sauce. Though the pasta was slightly underdone, on the whole it didn't disappoint. Prawns firm and fresh, 'shrooms, flavourful. The dish could use a handful of finely sliced raw button mushrooms for added texture and taste, but not many people would accept raw mushrooms on their plate.

Met Sham over a macchiato. It's good to discuss our ideas with an experienced scriptwriter. She kept us focused on the important details, avoiding distractions and complications, and in the end we created a workable storyline. Jane and Arron will learn a lot from working with her. I feel a lot more confident now about Drama Night '05.

Got home and it was back to HL2. The stages of driving vehicles is over. Squad-play is the next thing. There's nothing like having an ever-respawning group of alien monsters you can use as cannon-fodder to take flak on your behalf. They're loyal and mindless and they take out lots of enemy with ruthless efficiency. Having a squad of human beings is a little different. You want to take care of your human buddies 'cos you know they're not replaceable. So far, I've experienced both styles of squad mates. Doom 3 is such a lonely experience in comparison.

HL2 is already affecting my dreams. Last night I dreamt that the Earth was being invaded by alien spiders. I fought the invasion valiantly but it was a lost cause. Spider venom turned people into green-skinned, happy, zombie-like beings with no other thought in their minds than picking fruit from trees. At the end, I didn't make it. I was murdered by a fellow human being who thought I was burgling his house. I shouldn't have bothered.