Dim sum for breakfast with in-laws. Went to Fortunate Restaurant in Toa Payoh central as nostalgia set in for the Wongs. It was their favourite eating place way back when they were still living in the area. We were starving 'cos we woke up early thanks to Belle but Sis-in-law only came to collect us at 9:30. The food isn't bad, but the main attraction, shrimp cheong fun, took a long time to arrive. While we waited, we over-ordered as usual and made ourselves sick eating various pao, and other deep fried stuff. I think it was the deep fried shrimp heavily wrapped in some kind of vermicelli that finally killed me. Surfeit of oil, and then I had to help finish the cheong fun which finally arrived. OK, for dim sum it's not too bad, but just lay off the oily stuff and go for the steamed instead. A much better idea, and healthier too.

Dropped in at June's old place since we were already in the neighbourhood. They collected some leftover junk they want to sell at the flea market this weekend. Oh, the family doesn't live there anymore but the ownership of the place is still theirs. Likewise the junk. Perhaps more on the flea market in subsequent posts.

Spent the afternoon comatose on the floor of my living room. Don't know why I was so tired. Must be Belle's fault. I gotta blame someone!

Actually, we just got back from celebrating Halim's birthday. It was such a surprise for him, seeing all of us at dinner. He didn't expect Mrs Halim to get so many of his old colleagues together to wish him many happy returns. Me, June, Anthony, Wendy, Gerald, Kim, Weng, Luanne, Vince (by himself) and Luanne's sister, Charlene (by herself); all staff, ex-staff and spouses/dates. It was like the breakfast club extended. Nice to see everyone again. Finally got to see Alexandria a.k.a. Mrs Halim, who planned the whole thing. So, she is a real person after all! Good dinner with halal sharks fin soup, pineapple rice, lemon chicken, deep fried garoupa, garlic kai lan and butter prawns. And of course great conversation, gossip and insults hurled around the table, the subjects of which may or may not have been present.

And speaking of present (how convenient), we got him a set of Lipton infusion teas, in orange and chamomile flavours. It didn't look like much so we also threw in a pair of teacups and since Sis-in-law had just returned from LA with a great bunch of cookies in tow, we also put a couple of packaged Mrs Field's cookies in the box as well to round things out. It's great having a wife who can come up with these wonderful gift ideas. Me, the stingypoke, would just have said a box of teabags would do.

Vacation time can be boring, especially on days when you don't make it a point to meet people. There is time to sleep, but I woke up early again this morning. When Belle wants out of the room, she wants OUT! It's non-stop meowing and if there is still no response from either of us, she'll treat my stomach as a fashion model's runway. She's not shy about using her claws, and she's no lightweight either. Then you have to feed her breakfast.

Since I was up early, I went for breakfast with Q-tip then took her for a walk around Yishun Park again. Where else can we go, right? Q-tip is such a manipulative little girl. On long walks when June is with us, Q-tip will beg to be carried after a while, the manja queen. Today, with just me, she walked all the way. I even gave her the choice of taking a shorter route but she pulled on the leash and insisted we go the long way instead. Humbug!

I had to get a replacement for my MP3 player's earphones 'cos I carelessly left it on the sidetable on Sunday night and Momo chewed through the wire. It's quite useless now. MOMO! I'll never learn. Momo's chewed through an assortment of cell phone charger cables, the stereo's FM antennae and partially through my PC's mouse cable. One day she's going to get electrocuted. Why, oh why, do we still keep her around? Oh yeah, she's cute.

Earphone replacement is a cheap Sony Fontopia type which doesn't have the same quality as my original Creative one. I mean the sounds are clear and distinct but it sounds like it comes from far away. I'll live with it, I suppose. If you have cats, you can't have nice things.

Ever get the feeling your PC needed an upgrade, but there was no real justification to shell out good money for it? Went to Sim Lim Square to shop but for all the peripherals there were on offer, I could see that I was doing just fine without them. I'm not playing any of the new games that need a state-of-the-art Radeon or GeForce FX and my speakers are a cheap, good-enough set that will not make the most out of an Audigy 2. I don't need any more memory, 512Mb is enough for now. I'll just have to keep tabs on the shipping date for Doom III. Once that's out in the market, I'm sure I'll have an excuse to spend money again. *Waits in anticipation...

Spent the evening watching Chinese serial after Chinese serial. I can see how addictive they are. When your cable box supplies you with Channels 8, U, and another couple of subscription Chinese channels, you can't escape. Let's see, "Double Happiness I" (TCS 8); "Greed Mask" (from HK); "Witness for the Prosecution II" (also from HK); must have been at least 1 more though my memory fails me as to the title. Well, there really wasn't much to do this evening since we ate at home and it looked like it was going to rain.

Feeling a bit cooped up, though. I want a beach, sun and sand. I want a bicycle or a pair of in-lines. I know how Belle feels like: I want OUT too! But there is the one fatal flaw in the attainment of my desires -- too lazy. Maybe too much work too, now I think about it. Now I don't want to think about it. Sigh.

Did something that I've always wanted to do but never found the opportunity for. Connie rounded me, Yee, Cara and Annie up to have a dramatic storytelling session recorded at Xinmin Pri Sch. Yee and Cara got lost as usual, and having misinterpreted my directions was also par for the course for them. It didn't matter that they were late, anyway. The Xinmin staff were having some kind of meeting and we couldn't start recording until 10, although we arranged to meet at 9. Connie was nice and bought us breakfast while we waited.

It's fun to do 'voices' while reading a story. We read from a couple of kids' stories; one about a non-conformist little bunny and another about a curious little boy and the tooth fairy. We also read excerpts from 2 grown-up stories, "Tuesdays with Morrie" (Albom) and "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" (Bach). Both stories very inspirational, also about non-conformist individuals -- the first about a withering college professor with the most positive attitude to dying, and the second a young seagull with a passion for life and for flight. If you haven't read them yet, please do so quickly. Bach also wrote "Feathers" which is just as thought provoking.

Xinmin has a cosy little studio for the recording of video and audio projects. Quite pro, with photo-shoot backdrop, lights, sound system and studio-standard video cameras. In the control space there is a video editing PC and a complicated-looking slider setup and a synthesizer keyboard. The things we could do with a studio like that! The whole thing is so new the operators are still at the flipping-through-the-manual stage for certain functions that they haven't tried out yet. We had to be patient while they got their act together, in the meantime we decided who would read what and rehearsed.

Knowing the complexity of voice-over recordings, I was prepared to stay the whole day recording and rerecording take after take. Surprisingly, we were done by 2:30 which shows either how excellent we were at reading, or how low our standards of acceptability were. I prefer to think it was the former. Ahem. We heard clips of the recording just to sample our readings and I think we sounded ok.

Next thing to do is to layer in sound FX and music to set the mood. We also might need an attractive CD jewel-case design and then the readings can be used in primary and secondary schools in English classes. What fun! Thankfully, we've done the most major part of the production and the rest is just a lot of tedious and exacting work which someone else will be doing. Yee is so addicted to this idea now, he's suggesting we do a recording of Roald Dahl's kids' stories as well. Now, that is ambitious, and could well be worth doing. We'll get around the copyright issue somehow!

Now then, who's up for Monday nite bowling?

Locked, loaded, ready for deployment! 

Day began unusually early for a Sunday morning, Friendship Sunday notwithstanding. Woke up before 6am. The sky outside our bedroom window was bright for some reason and I thought we were late for our appointment. Thankfully, we weren't.

We brought food for 3A2 who was on community service, road marshalling and timekeeping for the Kebun Baru 4.5 km run. Assorted buns and tetra-pack Milo and Ribena was all we could provide, I hope it was enough.

We parked ourselves at one of the stone tables in the void deck of blk 177 to look after bags and belongings and tried to eat some of the leftover buns for breakfast. It didn't seem right, though, just sitting there and eating while all around us the other participants were busy warming up for the run and engaging in different kinds of exercise. Somehow it felt like the "one of these things" game from Sesame Street. It didn't help when June scooted off to the market across the road and soon returned with a tau suan for herself and a tau huay for me. We really know how to spoil the market for all the health nuts around us. Oh, and the cops too, who had to set up their crime-prevention exhibition around us -- hey, if we left we would be in dereliction of our guard duty!

After the run, we took a group shot with the guest-of-honour, MP Inderjeet Singh. I suppose our mugs will appear in some community newsletter soon.

Hmm... sometimes I wonder if I don't give 3A2 enough independence. Whatever they're doing, I seem to be there too. Does it cramp their style? It's tough trying to figure out the limits of being responsible for one's charges and being too controlling. I could use an honest reply on this.

Fast forward to this evening.>> After dinner we went to Northpoint to pick up some Complete for my contact lenses. I love this stuff 'cos it's so trouble free and it matches the salinity of my eyes perfectly. No stinging, no clutching of eye sockets, no screaming "yaaaahhhh!!!!" while your eyes adjust to your CL solution. Just stick them in and go. Simple. Complete's got a free coffee mug for every 2 twin-pack you buy as its current promotion. It's the aluminum type, not porcelain, for keeping coffee warm and spill-resistant. So now I have a coffee mug I can be proud of when I use it in the Staff Lounge during my hot beverage breaks. Come to think of it, I've never had a hot beverage break in the Staff Lounge before. Couldn't bear the thought of borrowing someone else's mug to drink coffee out of. My caffine levels are going through the roof come next term! Heh heh!

Postings for the last few days have been quite heavy and heavy-handed. Cathartic for writing, but perhaps not so reading. Sorry. I've just been thinking too much. The Day After Tomorrow has been an excuse to reflect on the things we are doing as individuals and as a global community and it's not really a happy reflection. As individuals, what we do in our lives is in reality so insignificant. The futures we plan for ourselves and work so hard to build; are we able to pick up the pieces and build a new future if things just don't go the way we plan? Collectively, can we see that our insignificant comings and goings add up and the cumulative effect of it all can cause such dramatic changes around us and place us in just the state of jeopardy that we are working so desperately to avoid? And as individuals, will we care only after it's too late (c.f. the Vice Pres)?

The concepts Day After considers are quite profound, but because the scope of destruction is so tremendous, the movie's focus on how the cataclysm affects one single family feels narrow and claustrophobic. It's admirable how Dad braves everything to go fetch his son, stranded in the NY Public Library in the middle of an overnight Ice Age, but you have to ask yourself, "What the heck for? And what does he hope to accomplish once he gets there?" If anyone had survived the flash freeze -- and many people did -- then a far more efficient rescue operation would have been mounted for them. Dad's only excuse to traipse from Washington DC to NY over fresh tundra: "I made a promise." Forgive my skepticism but, yeah, right. Makes for a storytelling device but it does stretch credibility a bit. Besides, the focus on this one tough trek means so much less sympathy for everyone else who was caught unprepared for the freak storm. It's like oh, everyone else is dying around our heroes; erm... ok, nothing more to see here, let's just move on. I left the movie knowing that I wasn't impressed, but I couldn't articulate why. It was June who mentioned this point first, and I thought she hit the nail on the head. Maybe I can convince her to write reviews from now on?

Like I said, too much to think about. This morning I made myself happy with a couple of prata and a wadai then sat in front of the TV watching Saturday morning cartoons. You should see the grin on my face now. I'll stop blogging in time to watch Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (click the link and play with the "Dub your own flick" toy -- be patient, it's hilarious!) on STAR Movies in about a minute. Wonder what my face will look like then?

Our Career Seminar today, particularly the one on fashion and media design was a great success, judging by the number of students who stayed behind and plied our guest speakers with so many questions that they missed their lunch reception and Mei Lian had to take them out to lunch herself. It helps that Melvin and Peng Kiat (sorry, I can't remember the exotic name you introduced yourself with) are a couple of shuai ge and living proof that even if you look like a total dweeb in your class photo, a couple of years in professional training can do wonders for your image.
UPDATE: I remember now! He introduced himself as Calaeo Tan... wonder what his friends in college called him back then?

As speakers, they weren't exactly captivating but their passion for their art was inspirational. Despite their work in the glam industry, it really is more about work and less about glam than people imagine. They talked about their long hours, days on end without sleep; and their constant contact with people in order to raise sponsorship and to keep their ideas fresh. And yet they believe in what they are doing and that's really what counts.

Considering that they didn't take art as a subject in college but rather the more "practical" math, economics combo, the artwork they showed us is really quite amazing. And they said some nice things about economics and gp as well -- how their other classmates struggled with research and essay writing because they lacked the analytical rigour of the humble general paper, and how economics is helping them understand market forces better and so be able to strategize and position their work to their full advantage. Maybe they just had to say it, but it's good to hear the truth from an alumnus. It just sounds more credible.

Despite my initial misgivings, I'm glad to have hosted this career talk. I have hope in the students who simply won't stop asking questions. I see many talented students who draw so well, but due to practical reasons they feel they can't focus their attention on what they are good at. So I hope this session will help them raise the value of their talents and abilities in their own minds and see that there is an avenue for developing themselves this way.

My CT abandoned me to play badminton alone with 3A1 and 3A3. I had 1 good game before being too worn out to continue. Lost the match but it's good to know that my reflexes are still as good as they were 12+ years ago. I was never a good badminton player anyway. Kenneth did something nasty to his shoulder while playing. We thought he had a cramp at first so we left him to suffer while we continued the game thinking that cramps usually sort themselves out very quickly. When the pain didn't dissapate however, we got worried. Vince tried to sort of immobilize his arm with a long piece of fabric and a towel and then drove him to TTSH. Kenneth's got some good friends who helped him carry his stuff, bag, racket, shuttles, from the hall into Vince's car. Duds supported him all the way and Gid and Adam accompanied him to the hossie. What a way to begin summer vacation.

And yeah, it is the start of summer hols. We bade goodbye to Sheena who's going to the US on an internship, and Kevin who gave Pegasus an impressive start in Wednesday's Staff race. Don't know if Mun Yee is staying on, but we've received a new bunch of staff into the English Department as well. Don't know them just yet, but soon, perhaps. Oh, did I mention it was the summer hols? Yes, we still have lots of work to do and to catch up with, but hey, it's the SUMMER HOLS! Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh!

Warning: food for thought ahead. Ingest in small chunks.

We're pretty much at the half-way point of our 2nd year. The final stretch looms just up ahead, but the hard thing is, as always, the end is the beginning of something new. For some, it means moving on to National Service, for others to work and to most everyone else, further studies. It's meaningless not to be able to see beyond the finish line, for the effort expended in the race then has no purpose other than to finish. People thrive when they can continue looking forward to the future with hope and anticipation. To put it simply, Nintendo says, "Welcome to the next level!" As long as we focus on "welcome" we will do ok at the "next level."

We're showing our students the next leg of their lives with our annual Career Seminar for Year 2s. We've led up to this point with an excruciating programme on preparing resumes and gearing up for job interviews so that they might see that what they are working now has a function in their lives and in their futures. The reality of working life for the Year 2s is so close now. It wasn't long ago that people started looking for jobs at the age of 12 (PSLE), 16 ('O' Levels) and 18 ('A' Levels) and today jobs still exist for holders of these qualifications. Gwyn, alumnus from 2002, is already working full-time -- gainfully employed, as they say -- and the hours she works is no joke: 9-11 because in the workplace there is no timetable. It's do until done, by specified deadline, or if you can't do it, someone else will elbow you aside for the opportunity. The nonsense that students do and will try to get away with in College will not be met with understanding and forgiveness in the real world. That's because people are an expendable resource; there will always be a constant supply of people, especially as Colleges and Universities now churn out qualified personnel en masse. Education was once a privilege, now it's standard issue.

How are we to approach "The Job" in such a nasty environment? Is all we have to live for meaningless drudgery for the rest of our lives? The staff's usual comment, "College is hard work but it's nothing like working life!" doesn't seem to promise much for our students. In a world that's become 24/7 can only Animal Farm's Boxer survive? If our students think they are being groomed to be Boxers, it's timely to remind them that Boxer was turned into glue when he became a liability due to age and fatigue. Boxer was no survivor. He focused on a solitary goal and refused to learn more than what was required of him to fulfil his task. When his task was done, so was he.

The survivors were the pigs. Smart, constantly learning, experimenting with their knowledge, teaching skills to others whom they could exploit later, forging links with others in the larger world (including the enemy!); they did it all and they stayed on top. The only thing the pigs lacked was a set of scruples, a moral code and a sense of value for their own community. So we try to teach our students to be like the pigs: work smart, thrive, survive; but we also balance the survival instinct with community spirit and a sense of compassion for the less privileged so that everyone can live and be happy. Well, ideally speaking anyway.

Oh, "The Job." If you're going to be working 24/7 at something, it makes sense to enjoy what you are doing else it won't be long before you're knackered, literally. If at the moment you don't enjoy any particular activity take every opportunity to try something new (within your moral limits, of course), or forever remain in ennui. Go, seek out and develop your passions. Whatever it takes.

At the same time, remember that when you are starting out, you really are nobody, so be prepared to do stuff that nobody is expected to do. The late William Teo's policy is for new actors to step onto the stage only to sweep it clean for the more experienced actors to perform on. When you've learned to sweep the stage well enough, you might land an extra's role. And so on. When employing your passions in a profession, first learn to sweep the floor.

Wow. What a bunch of conflicting messages. Congrats if you are still reading. Take whatever truth you want from this mess, but that's quite enough for one day.

Beautiful day for a Track & Field Meet. Mainly Track today, though. Clear sky, summer sun, reminds me of one of the more muggy, humid days in TO.

Must congratulate the guys for amassing a bunch of medals for House Pegasus. Sarab, Iqbal, Firdaus, Fadzli. You guys showed great spirit and enthusiasm running your events and taking turns to whack the kompangs for us along with 'sif and Ramzi. Unfortunately, a few heroes aren't able to carry a whole team. We need a lot more pegasii (is that the right plural?) like you if our House is going to do better next year. I am, of course, disappointed that Team Pegasus has gone to the bottom of the House standings after today, but that still doesn't take away your achievements. Congrats, boys!


House Pegasus. We'll be back! 

Duds, if you're reading this, my congratulations to you and House Phoenix, and to your House Masters, Vince and Lena. Vince may have lost the Bowling battle to us, but his prize today more than makes up for it. Can't help comparing your success with Hogwart's House Griffindor and thinking, red is a fitting colour to launch the our new Houses in the College. Your cheerleader who hurt her leg deserves mention as well for her courage and determination to continue with the routine. Hope she'll be ok.

It's a rare sight, but the Milo truck made an appearance at the track today and kept us supplied with the chilly, chocolatey beverage. It's no substitute for breakfast but it comes a close second. As Richard pointed out at brunch, the Milo served from the truck tastes way better than if we were to concoct it ourselves. Strangely enough, it's also better than the Milo in tetra-packs and sold in shops and vending machines. Shouldn't Milo all taste the same since they all come from the same manufacturing plant? Perhaps it's just the mystique of the old Milo truck that serves up unlimited quantities of cold Milo on hot, sweaty days when everyone is thirsty from exhaustion and exposure that adds to the taste. In the farthest reaches of my memory of the truck, MacRichie Reservoir Annual X-Country 1978 till today, the truck's been working it's magic. And the magic must be in it's generousity, freely providing what is needed to those who need it. A lesson in life maybe?

Nephew, EJ's birthday today. Went to Sembawang (mom-in-law's place) to celebrate. The kid is completely obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. Everything he got was Thomas based: Thomas school bag from us, Thomas figurines on his birthday cake (more on that later), and a Thomas battery operated train set that runs on its own set of rails. He wore a Thomas t-shirt too. And to think that Thomas has a face that would have scared me when I was a kid! There's something disturbing to have an organic face fused onto an inorganic chassis. Soft tissue melded into unyielding hardness with no visible transition. Dunno why the concept upsets me, I can't explain it, but there it is.

My mom-in-law is a baking marvel. It was she who baked our wedding cake out of a real fruit cake and marzipan, decorated with silver candy sphereoids and a Precious Moments wedding couple figurine on top. The last item of deco was an inspiration of June's who found a use for the wedding gift from our mutual friend, Joyce. Nice touch. EJ's birthday cake was a sponge layer cake sandwiching an assortment of thinly sliced fresh fruit including kiwis, strawberries and peaches. The whole thing was encased in a coat of fresh cream making it look like it had just recently been snowed under. On top, as I mentioned, was a small plastic Thomas who appeared to be passing by a ranch comprising 2 plastic fences and a horse peering out at the techno-organic transport whizzing by. A couple of plastic trees rounded out the diorama. The candles were of course the anomaly.

College sports day and a WITS presentation to look forward to. Hope the day really is as short as promised. The latter part of the programme is the more worrying of the two. Well, see how, lah.

Swiss Alps 


Vive la Paris! 


Somewhere in Ireland 

OK, nobody get excited. I haven't run off to exotic locales over the weekend. I'm just testing Hello from Picasa as a possible means of hosting pix everyone can see. It's a bit bothersome and the initial learning curve is steep. I hope the post works. The pix, by the way, are my bro's.

SAFRA Yishun no longer has tikam-tikam night. There's nothing to win for our high scores any more so boo. Games are cheaper though -- a 10 game set @ $2.60 per game -- problem is that immediately after our last game, the computer resets itself and wipes out our scores so it's impossible to make an end-of-game analysis of our individual performance. So from memory, I've worked out my 3-game average for today is 131. I've done better before. June pulled a thigh muscle on her first throw and had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines. I'm going to rub it down for her soon. With nothing to win, we did the usual: losing team buys the drinks. Madly enough, Anthony agreed to give a 60 pinfall handicap to our opposing team, Ed and Cheryl. Despite the outrageous handicap Anthony and I still managed to score our drinks off them. The alley now serves a bottled root beer that is so smooth going down. Can't quite recall the brand... IBG Root Beer, or something. It's nice.

Now at home and I've got Belle cradled on my lap. She's got her right front paw stuck in my face. She's not comfortable with my face getting too near her's hence her defensiveness. Momo is similarly defensive in the same position, but not as polite. Rather than using her hand to fend off an intrusive face, she uses her foot instead. Bleah! Anyway, cat cradled and purring on your lap, hot Horlicks on the desk, courtesy of the Missus (thanks, June!) and blogging it all down. That pretty much rounds up a pleasant evening. Night!

You represent... angst.
You have an extremely cynical outlook on just about
everything. It's okay to sulk and be
depressed, but life is short, and you only get
one. It's only what you make it, and only you
can make it improve.


What feeling do you represent?
brought to you by Quizilla

What? Angst? Me? I guess we never outgrow it.

Q-tip got her walk in Yishun park today and picked up a bunch of red ants along the way. It's really exasperating to hold her steady while June and I comb her fur looking for every last one of those pests. Anyone passing by us must think we're abusing our dog because she's struggling so hard to right herself. She really hates being turned onto her back. But if we don't do anything, they bite her and the pain shows in her walk and on her face, the poor thing.

Finally mustered enough willpower to bathe Momo today. She hasn't bathed in more than a year! *sings "Smelly Cat." Well, from now on she's going to get a bath once a year whether she needs it or not! Had to trim her claws before her bath and wear my crappiest T-shirt since she's bound to tear it to shreds while in the shower. Momo is such a yowler, a scratcher and a biter. It takes both of us to hold her steady while spraying her with warm water and lathering her up with tea-tree oil based flea and tick shampoo. Not that she has fleas and ticks, but better safe than sorry. She goes into a complete panic when we turn the dryer on her. A few minutes of blow-drying is all she can take. We give up when we think we've done our best to dry her and the rest is her own look out. 2 animals abused in one day. Must be a new record for us.

Bro dropped in on us later this afternoon to return my digicam and get his pix burned on CD-ROM. He's got some nice shots of his tour in Ireland, France, Switzerland, and wherever else, although his shots tend to focus on old photographs and other publications rather than on his traveling companions and exotic scenery. Well, he has got some of those too. He's not completely mad, you know.

We all went to Changi Airport for Popeye's chicken, which we've been looking forward to all week. Forget what I said about it earlier. It's gone down the tubes although it still is marginally better than KFC. Portions of mashed potato and coleslaw are a little smaller, chicken is dryer and tougher than before and as such it was a small struggle to down our order. *sigh. Perhaps it was too good to last. Maybe we came on a bad day, but I'm sure we'll give Popeye's one more chance to redeem itself in our esteem... in the near future.

Finished our day at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Terminal 2 with a caffeine fix and pleasant conversation. He had an Espresso Americano, June an ice-blended mocha and I had a ku-niang ice-blended black forest mocha, cherry on top. So I like my ice-blended sweet with crunchy ground coffee bean and maraschino cherry bits; it's supposed to be dessert, right?

Looking forward to the coming week. June hols begin after Friday -- last chance to rest up and psych up for the final sprint towards the 'A's. 03A2, if you think you've been working hard till now, Term 3 will raise the bar for you. If you think you haven't been working hard, it'll be time to press the nitro button. Soon, you'll be speeding out of my life and on to your own and I'll miss you terribly. But it's too soon to talk about that now...

Dragged myself to a vitally important workshop on the appraisal system the teaching profession will be rated under from 2005. As useful as the information was to us, there was no way they could have made it interesting. It's just that kind of a subject. So it's more than "these are the hoops, jump through them," it now adds on a component of "we know how well you've been jumping through them because we observe you jumping in this particular manner."

In a way, I suppose it's good to have a systematic means of setting specific standards for employees to live up to or aspire towards, but it also means that the things we do as a necessary part of our jobs, things that we don't give a second thought about because of how common sense they are, now become obligatory and no longer fun. When we do something right, we want to forget we did it right then the next time we have to do it again, it feels fresh. When we do something wrong, we want to forget because it would probably have been an unpleasant experience.

You might say these memories are important to keep otherwise we won't learn from our experiences, but I say let our subconscious minds do the learning while our conscious minds focus on the practical, daily, mundane stuff of getting through the day. That's putting the right parts of our minds to work on the right jobs. Instead, what we have here is a system that records and monitors every individual at ever single little turn so that whatever you do good or not-so-good, you have to take the time to consciously remember every single little detail about it so it can go in your report for the year.

The tedium of do-record-do-record-ad infinitum sort of makes you not want to do anything any more so you can avoid recording it just to break out of the cycle. (To those of you embroiled in PW, I assure you, I know your pain). Then again, I seem to be recording everything in my blog and it doesn't seem to be so much of a bother. Hmm... I guess the audience and the motivation for writing and reading these records have something to do with it. I blog in the hope of being entertaining (er.. you are being entertained, I hope) and perhaps of being understood. The appraisal is a record to show that I know how to do my job at the level of expectation placed on me by dint of my official capacity as an employee of my employer, and to show I am doing my job better than the next poor schmuck who is destined for a 'D' or 'E' grade. Better him than me. See why it's so painful?

Whatever. I'll continue to do my job as far as I'm able and not worry too much about it because I know the veritas of this situation: Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. Tell me if I'm not right.

Watched Shrek 2. Funny, irreverent, lots of fun! Worth watching once. And don't leave the cinema until Donkey's problem is resolved.

Another late night! Just got back from Sun Plaza, finally getting June to watch Troy with me. We were supposed to go last night, then she remembered it was the last episode of the HK serial she's been following on cable TV, so we postponed it to this evening.

No regrets watching Troy a second time. Very humanistic, aethiestic portrayal where the main theme is not to trust too much in the Gods or reality will hit you smack in the face. Achilles says, "The Gods envy us... because we are mortal." I guess so, and all the heroes go off to seek immortality on their own terms, in death and death-dealing. Ironic but how else, if the Gods are not on your side? That says a lot about the kind of wars we face especially today, if you think about it.

Have a blah workshop to attend tomorrow morning. Something about the new, improved job appraisal system. Hmm... I joined Education to get away from this industrial rating system, but I guess there's no getting away from annual assessments, tests and appraisals even when you are this close to your 4th decade. If ever there's a course I would have to attend with a bad attitude, this would be it. If the tests were more real or realistic, then I would be just fine, but I suspect this series of tests will only reward those who show more agreement and support for the Emperor's new clothes. I wonder if our students feel the same way about the tests they have to take? Probably.

Lunched with Anthony and Cara at Katong Laksa, located at the junction of Boundary and Paya Lebar. The outlet is smart enough to keep the sambal on the side so patrons can choose how much of the deadly toxin they will add into their own dish. With my delicate stomach, I kept the sambal completely at bay and had my laksa totally mild. Thus I had the best of both worlds, the potent lemak flavour without the eventual regret of having flaming innards and a case of the runs. Today I wimped out, so sue me! We went whole hog with an unhealthy lunch, washing down our laksa with a whole coconut each including both the water and the meat. Not being used to opening my own coconut (even though it's been commercially packed and pre-cut) in my struggle to get the top off I succeeded also in getting my shirt front splashed with coconut water. I also wasted quite a bit of water pouring it into my cup of ice. Anthony learns fast from other people's mistakes. Thinking laterally, he poured the ice into the coconut instead. No wonder Dad always told me never to be a doofus (do-first). Watch. Observe. Learn. Oh well, Dad can always adopt Anthony if he wants.

At the risk of sounding completely vague, I have to maintain my diplomatic posture and simply make a satisfied observation that the staff is able to unite and stand up to decisions that are clearly misguided and even dangerous. Sometimes the upper echelons make certain observations and, with the best intentions, radically try to change certain norms without actually experiencing the situation on the ground. Perhaps there can be too much of a spirit of "I&E" when we "think out of the box" and implement "something different" without considering that such changes to the norm can result in making the situation even more dangerous than before. There are some norms that we depend on in order to ensure public safety because we know that everyone will follow the set rules and hence behave in a predictable manner thus reducing the element of random, disorderly, dangerous behaviour. This is particularly true in the context of traffic safety laws that guide the behaviour of both drivers and pedestrians. As long as everyone follows the rules, safety is maximized. There is no call, therefore, to make a decision that directs one party to disobey the established laws and as a result cause more chances for an accident to occur than if we simply had left things alone. Our staff on the ground, who speak from real experience, has shown an ability to unite and collectively speak up against change that is arbitrary, and literally a matter of life and death. I'm happy that we can be flexible when decisions come down from on high that seem strange but harmless, and that we can identify decisions that have real consequences and can act together to resist such. We may be easygoing, but we are not sheep. My respect for our staff has been raised a notch. Let's see how this situation will be resolved in the days to come. Let's hope the uppers will hear our voice and make the right decision and not overreact and make an even worse decision. To be honest, this matter is really very trivial, but it's funny how things can blow up when people make decisions on the assumption that students cannot be trusted to do the right thing when left on their own. It's this lack of trust that's going to kill all the things we do right in Education. Then again, sometimes students don't exactly help their own cause. *sigh.

Wow, what a day! Must be grateful to all our students who were cooperative and well-behaved while visiting Tekong. As it turned out, the trip proved most popular as I had to turn a few hopefuls away. I could only take on those who came in direct replacement of their fellows who for one reason or another could not make the trip. As it turned out, I had a total of 130 pax, including Mark who stood in as a last minute replacement for Vince.

It was quite an experience for me, whose Basic Training was on mainland Nee Soon so many donkey years ago. The only time I went to Tekong was for my Marksmanship Test. We stayed almost a week on the island in an old abandoned school, sleeping on concrete and shivering every night because it was so cold. The wet towel we used as a blanket didn't help much. The mornings were so different, hot, humid, sweaty and did I mention hot? Of course, with the new computerized marksmanship training facility, such old fashioned training programmes are now things of the past. It's now like a realistic, yet boring video game that trains a soldier in the firing of his weapon without having to actually use any 'live' rounds. Looking back, I ought to be jealous, but I can't be. There's nothing like sleeping on the cold, hard floor for a week that makes a man out of you.

Was very interested to view the contents of the combat rations package, 'cos although I've been issued with such things before during training, I never opened up the green packages to eat the mess inside. I'd always preferred to survive the day on the biscuits, hard-tack, flavoured either butter or chocolate. The supplementary package also used to contain a chocolate bar and a fruit bar and an assortment of Horlicks tablets and Ovaltine biscuits and these would usually keep me going all day. Not doctor-approved, but in the field, you'd want to minimize the number of times you'd have to go potty too. Er... in the literal not figurative sense, I mean. The mysterious green packages come in non-muslim, muslim and vegetarian varieties and they are either a rice-based or pasta-based food. Even after sampling the stuff, I can't say much about how it tastes other than "palatable." Biscuits still taste as good as I remember, perhaps even slightly better because of the buttery and chocolatey flavours where in the past it was simply flavoured "bland."

Personal equipment also seems improved -- a bit lighter. The helmet, Gore-Tex jacket and combat boots have a fibre mesh built into them to make them lighter and more airy. Saw the recruits' bunks and rec room; we really know how to take care of our NSFs these days. Tough training, with an eye for safety. Good attitude to take.

A trip is successful, I think, if there are no bored faces and there weren't any that I could see today. The instruction delivered by the Army trainers was so clear, practiced and the pedagogy is designed to convey the most meaning in as efficient a manner as possible. Instruction is designed to be understood by everyone regardless of intelligence quotient. With a closed curriculum and lots of repetition, the trainers are competent and confident in their jobs. Our students are most likely to have learned something today. Or otherwise, they at least had a good time. One or the other.

I'm trying to journal at least half and hour a day as a discipline. Looking back, I think I've been doing well so far, and I've got lots of stuff written down to show for it. But there are days, like today, where I'm feeling dry and there's nothing really worth talking about. How far can I go on talking about nothing? Hmmm...

Step one: Sift through the mundane
Organizing a trip for 120 students and staff to a military installation is something to look forward to, yet so many things can go wrong.

Step two: Find point of conflict
As it is only 120 are going instead of the 150 expected and of the 120 who have signed up, what are the actual figures going to be like tomorrow when I have to take attendance? I've got help from Jong Yann and San Chye, but I'm going to miss Vince and Tsui Wei who have classes that they can't miss. I gave a briefing this morning to our contingent, but how many were there to actually listen to the briefing? How many will remember? Which tutors will flip because I'll be pulling so many students out of class prematurely on Wednesday morning? Will they make it a point to be punctual tomorrow so that everything will run according to schedule? It wouldn't be so much of an issue if our college was the only one going, but we are just one of many colleges visiting the same place and it wouldn't do to keep everyone else waiting for us.

Step three: Examine psychology behind the conflict
It seems like I'll be just going along for the ride, but it's also my responsibility to see that we conduct ourselves appropriately and I just can't relax until the whole visit is over tomorrow evening. I may look calm on the surface but inside anxiety has free reign while "the Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head."

Step four: Derive conclusion (regardless of how lame it is)
For now I can only hope everything goes well tomorrow and then maybe I can rest again. Hur hur...

Other events to note to avoid writing off today as being completely boring:
Had dinner at mom-in-law's place and I realise that I haven't paid her a visit since Chinese New Year! Q-tip came with us to pay a return visit to Mimi. Celebrated bro-in-law, Tong's, birthday with a beautifully rich lemon cheesecake from Hiestand Swiss Gourmet Bakery.

June met the cat auntie at the square while doing her rounds and they got to talking as usual. Auntie has some wonderful horror stories about our neighbourhood strays. It so happens Void is missing today and June is so worried for her. Cat auntie is telling this story about some nutty Thai guy leaping into bushes to catch stray cats for dinner. Void is such a friendly sweetheart. We really hope she hasn't ended up in someone's tom-yam soup. Cats in our neighbourhood have been known to disappear from time to time only to reappear in their last known location after a couple of days. Maybe she just went on vacation? We'll keep our eyes open for her in the next few days. Hope she's ok.

Right. Not bad, I guess, for a day of "nothing."

So close to midnight, almost bedtime. What's wrong with Blogspot tonight, anyway? Graphics not loading properly.

Watched the Nick Berg execution video with 03A2 today. Everyone so grossed out and quite upset. Understandably so as no one can imagine such a horrible thing happening in a world that is supposed to be humane and civilized. Unfortunately, while pockets of sanity exist in the world, the vast majority of our human population live, and even thrive, in squalor, misery and horror. Civilization is the exception to the norm, a truth we don't really want to acknowledge.

So the beheading is ostensibly in retaliation against the abuses in Abu Gharib prison. So what's going to be the response to the retaliation? More violence? It doesn't seem to have an end and on the one hand, I'm saddened that this is the world I'm passing on to my students (sorry we've made such a mess of things for you), and on the other it is so necessary to see the world for what it is instead of deluding ourselves that everything is 'just fine' when it obviously isn't.

I recall these thoughts as my phone rang in the middle of my last bowling game tonight. You're wondering right now how I could get so frivolous by changing the subject so abruptly, right? Just play along, ok? My caller was in pretty bad shape, facing a situation that no one should have to. I would love to lend a hand but I also realize my limitations and I know there are many things that lie beyond my ability to control. How do I advise in this kind of scenario? I'm sorry, but all I have is common sense: identify the areas that are your primary responsibility and take control over that which you can take control over, regardless of how small it may seem compared to the big picture. Seek help and accept what help you can get. All that stuff outside your scope of control, don't pretend it doesn't exist, but avoid expending more energy worrying about it than necessary. Seek to control your areas of primary responsibility first and be grateful always for small triumphs along the way.

In our own way, we deal with the frighteningly enormous picture of a world all gone to pot. Individually, there is so little we can do, but that doesn't stop us from doing what's necessary as an individual. We can only trust that our collective efforts (whether intentional or not) will take us human beings to a higher plane of existence in time. Considering where we are now, it'll take us many more generations to get there; so all you young'uns, listen up -- learn where we, your predecessors, went wrong and do it a little better, do it right, when your turn comes around. Teach your young'uns to learn from you, and so the cycle goes.

And on the the frivolous stuff.

When my phone rang, I was having a real lousy game. I just couldn't keep the ball straight and hit what I was aiming at. As I took the call, June had to stand in for me for a couple of frames and I must say she did well to maintain a reasonably respectable score for me. I felt energized after the call and though it was a tough struggle it came down to having to score a strike on my last roll in the 10th frame in order to win a(nother) keychain. 130 pinfalls awaiting 10 for a score of exactly 140. I am now the proud owner of 2 new designed flashlight keychains from 3 games in total. Messed up my first game and missed the keychain by 4 pins! Grrr!

Good company tonight with regulars, Anthony and Wendy, June joined me at last and bowled a credible 90+ average, and Celine and hubby, Chang Wei, came as well. Under pressure from lanes on both sides. On the right lane was a guy who scored a 6-in-a-row and chalked up the lane's high game of the day! On the left, the SYCC-Cathay Bowl league championship was going on and the bowlers were of the above 200-250 pinfalls category. I bowled a 3-game average of 147, which I should be proud of. And I am.

Other thing to be proud of: The Odyssey got a Bronze award at the SYF. Well done, everyone! We've worked hard at it and we have achieved a very decent result. You've kept the tradition of English Drama alive at our college and we are grateful to you, NYeDC 03-04, for your enthusiasm, teachability, and tenacity that got us this far. Celebrate we shall, so maybe this Wednesday for a change, NYeDC will focus on putting together the all-important PSYFP. Lookin' forward to it!

Blah! No such luck with Troy last night. Hard to make charm work if subject has pulled a sleeping beauty on you. Yup, wiped out on the carpet lost in dreamland. Hong Kong serials can be quite a powerful sedative, especially if you've seen the episode once already. June only woke up at 8, time enough to go to dinner and back for a DVD in front of the TV. Nvm, there's always Tuesday's cheap movie night!

Watched The Missing (Blanchette & Lee Jones) on DVD. Wasn't quite the movie I was expecting. I thought there would be horror elements in it (where did I get that misconception from?) but the story turned out to be quite mundane after all. Bunch of Army deserters of Apache descent have a career switch and make it their mission in life to kidnap 8 (lucky number) nubile females and sell them off in Mexico. They happen to make off with Blanchette's eldest daughter and she enlists the help of her estranged Pappy (Lee Jones) who had abandoned her during her childhood to live as an Apache in the wilderness. Heaven help the kidnappers and their shaman leader when father and daughter pick up their trail.

Typical of made-in-China DVDs, the movie went well until the climactic battle when the picture started freezing, jerking and losing resolution. Who needs the censorship board when there's always poor quality recording you can count on? As soon as the battle was over and it's time to count bodies and see who's died, picture's back to normal again until the end of the credit roll. *sigh.

For most of what happened today, however, see yesterday's entry. It's like deja vu or Groundhog Day, only difference is, I'm leaving for dinner at my mom's place in 10 minutes. GTG!

Woke up at almost 10 this morning, a new experience for me since I'm usually an early riser. Sometimes it's not by choice, but most of the time I can't sleep any more after 7-8 o'clock. Too restless, I guess. Had the intention of breakfasting at the Ya Kun Kaya Toast place that just opened at Northpoint. Ya Kun's advertising is so counter to that of the trendy coffee joints; I appreciate the candour and the veritas of it. But seeing how late it was already and how excited Q-tip was about the prospect of her weekend morning walkies, we made things simple and ate downstairs instead.

Took Q-tip on a trek through Yishun Park. We saw a line of ants, a section of which was carrying an unfortunate worm off to dinner. It was amazing how fellow ants swarmed to help carry the worm over difficult terrain even though many ants would have known they wouldn't be sharing in it. Once they had helped the main carriers over a bump or crevice the 'volunteers' would go on with their own tasks again like nothing happened. June must be part ant 'cos she heeded the call for assistance and picked up the entire dinner party with a twig and transported them straight to their doorstep a staggering 3 metres away. How altruistic. When she discovered the worm was still alive, however, she felt bad and wished she had helped the worm instead. Veritas, one can only do so much, I suppose.

Q-tip had her bath on our return home and the pet supplies arrived on time. I spent the afternoon replaying KOTOR and munched on Ruffles (cheddar cheese and sour cream flavour) for lunch. (Read Mei's entry for today -- the coincidence is eyebrow-raising).

Wonder if I can persuade June to go watch Troy tonight. She missed out on Thursday's treat 'cos the show was too early for her and she couldn't get off work in time. I know she'll regret missing it on the big screen. I want to buy the DVD (Code 1, preferably) but there's nothing like watching an epic like this in 70mm, Dolby Digital sound. Time to put on the >ahem< charm... Wish me luck!

It's nice to look at your weekend and think, for a change, that there's nothing pressing on your schedule. At least, nothing more complicated than waiting for a delivery of pet kibble and kitty litter tomorrow and breakfast with the in-laws on Sunday morning. The rest of the time, hmm... who knows? Think we all worked hard for this weekend, and we are going to enjoy it by doing absolutely nothing. Such inactivity makes for uninteresting blogging, but I don't know. We'll see, won't we?

Finally got my bowling trophy 3 weeks after the event. It was presented at assembly yesterday, but I forgot to mention it in my previous entry. The trophy is actually a quite smallish gold cup bearing the college crest. It is heavy for its size and feels satisfyingly substantial to carry around. I can't decide whether to bring it home and clear a space for it (like as if it's the size of an amphora) or leave it on my desk to accompany the growing collection of aluminum root beer cans waiting to be recycled. Hope I don't recycle it by accident.

Promised to send 150 visitors to Tekong next week, but final count only comes up to about 120 including staff. Hope Ee Ling isn't too inconvenienced in helping us make these arrangements. She's on MC today, so she must be under some stress already. Feel a little bad about making her work on this trifle when she returns to work tomorrow.

Lunched with Anthony, Vince, Cara, Darrell and the new relief, Sheena. What new relief? Sheena was in the Student Council the first year I arrived at college. My first CCA was the Council, and Sheena, of course, remembers me from then. It was the year June and I got married and we invited all the Councillors to dinner. All I remember that they were very happy guests who after discovering our cache of red wine became even happier guests that night. The Councillors gave us the most thoughtful present of all, erm... practical things to use on our honeymoon. Thank you, Clifton and the 22nd SC. 'Nuff said.

It was only a matter of time that someone I might have taught would turn up again as my colleague. Now that she's experiencing college life from the other side of the staff room door, much of our mystique has vanished for her. One lunch was all it took. In case you haven't seen it yet, I'll sum it up as: Veritas, no one truly grows up.

Lunch was at Nonya Wok in Bishan. Food prepared by an authentic Nonya lady in the kitchen. I ordered the Special Fried Rice which came with bits of luncheon meat and crabsticks, but the secret ingredient was the sprinkling of what I thought was ikan bilis but Cara said it was silverfish(?). Whatever it was, it was light, crispy and flavourful. So was the rojak, the turnip bits in particular were so fresh, just slightly sweet and very juicy. There is much freshness in the otah too, lemak with chunks of fish meat to get your teeth into.

Nonya Wok is right next door to the McDonald's at Bishan bus interchange.You can't miss it. Just outside the round building housing the two eateries is a small playground in which there is a concrete children's slide. The slide is spray painted with graffitti that reads, "Max Sux." Considering the kind of food you can get next door, I have to agree.

Overwhelmed. How many of us can say they sat through Homer's Iliad AND Odyssey in one day?

NYeDC gave an excellent showing of the Odyssey -- the best performance to date, and sadly, possibly the last performance too, finally putting the old girl to rest after so much hard work. Cast energy was high and relationships between characters were better fleshed out today. There was a small technical hitch with our miscued music, but the cast performed admirably, recovering and continuing like it never happened. Strong performances by Ramzi and Sam, who persented taut exchanges between the two in-laws. Nice tension and the audience could feel it too. Gid was starting for feel something for his character, Odysseus. It was Odysseus who stood on stage today, not Gid. Hasif, crowd pleaser, kept the audience quite amused with his campy Hermes, and as Tiresias he opted for a blend of what we rehearsed -- deadly serious -- and yet kept some of the fun we used to have when Ain played the same role at Drama Night. The audience got the "blind old bat" gag and Gid did well not to overplay it. Meixian has gained much more confidence delivering Circe's dialogue and the audience reacted well to the cheeky minx. Durga's transformation from stern bouncer to airhead was a nice surprise for the audience and it lightened the scene a bit before the play got too dark. Crew and judges performed credibly although I would say a few more rehearsals were needed to sharpen the comic elements of their scenes. Chorus, clear, coordinated vocals and movement, sharp and disciplined in execution. Well done, folks!

P was in the audience and she was genuinely startled at our ending as were many of our audience members too. Gerald and Anthony came to support us along with a number of Year 1s. Thanks for the back-up, everyone!

SYF judges are a strange lot who seem to be moulded from Simon and company from American Idol, only not as vocal. My guess all judges look like that after a number of auditions. Wonder how they took to our parodying them in the 1st suitor scene?

Anyway people, you did good today! All we can do not is wait for results and see what the judges really thought of us. It's out of our hands now so there's little that worrying can do. Just take the opportunity to breathe and relax for now, and maybe -- when you can fit your lives around it -- go study! Do us as proud at your 'A's as we are with your SYF showing today!

Watching the Odyssey before Troy feels like putting the cart before the horse. Nevertheless, most of us made our way to PS for Troy. Of course the "gergers" must drool over Bloom, Brad, Bean and Bana; muscular things they are, hunky and smart. Battle scenes were beautifully choreographed, particularly with Achilles and his favourite airborne assault maneuver. It's Saving Private Ryan all over again only this time it's men in skirts hacking at each other and trying to poke each other's eyes out with their pointy sticks. Sets were lush and gorgeous, poignant scenes were moving, there's a lot that can be done with the right budget.

Might say a bit more about Troy, but not tonight. It's been a long day, too tired to think anymore. Goodnight!

Set 03S3B an essay assignment to work on and decided to keep them company by writing an essay of my own from the choices of questions I gave them. I wanted to see how I could cope with the 90 minute time constraint and to see if I still had it in me to write an 'A' grade paper. I estimate I took about 75 minutes to come up with this Cambridge not approved 994 word monster which I will not force anyone to read. Understandably, the essay does contain argumentative flaws, underdeveloped and unsubstantiated points and some clumsy phrasing. Nevertheless, I wonder how I did in the eyes of an impartial 3rd party. If you want to read and grade the essay, "What value do you place on privacy?" click here. Let me know what you think.

The essay is mainly in it's unedited version apart from correcting a small number of annoying initial typos. To save time, I planned the essay and wrote my first paragraph simultaneously. This method is likewise not approved, but it did save me at least 15 minutes writing time.

By the way, I'd also like to know if people are having problems loading up the pictures I'm hosting at Geocities. Please feedback if you can or can't see them. I'd appreciate it.

One day left to Odyssey SYF central judging. Last rehearsal is done, we've done everything we can with it and now it's totally in the hands and voices and bodies of our cast and crew. We trust you enough to let go now and to call it truly your show from this point on. You are well trained, fully prepared and ready-to-go. You are motivated and willing to give all you have to our endeavour. There is nothing that stands between us and a good showing tomorrow, one that we can all be proud of. We ended rehearsal early tonight, so rest well while you individually psyche yourselves up for tomorrow. Be bold, be confident, be aware. NYeDC, stake your claim and rule the stage!

How apt that Troy opens the day we perform The Odyssey at the SYF central judging. Cast and crew deserve no less than a treat from the Drama Club, so we’ll go north where we are more able to get a block booking. I just hope they won’t be too tired to join us for an evening of popcorn, coke and Greek mythology. All Odd-balls, please join us, ok?

One more rehearsal to go before we finish the journey we started last year. How does everyone feel, I wonder? I feel proud, anticipatory and I know that we’ve got a good show on our hands. We have everything to be proud of. It’s not easy to compress a classical epic into the “short half hour of monsters, storms, romance and treachery” but that was the challenge we set for ourselves and that’s exactly what we’ve done. So let’s go in knock everyone’s socks off and leave with a sense of accomplishment and achievement. And then we’ll go see how Hollywood does it on a bigger budget with Troy, the prequel to our Odyssey. I’ll take my 1% inspiration any way I can!

Had lunch again at Jalan Riang. The drinks uncle knows our “usual” drinks, not that he’s 100% correct all the time, but he makes good guesses, and the economic rice is definitely a draw factor. Went early today and it’s so nice to see the trays of dishes almost untouched for once. Discovered that he has a tray of sotong that must be very popular because I’ve never seen it before today. I’m not a big fan of sotong, though, so it makes no difference to me, I’m not likely to order it anyway.

Took a rain check on June’s homemade (can you get it anywhere else?) corned beef rice to go bowling at SAFRA last night, so tonight we had it for dinner. I used to think Libby’s corned beef was the best we could get, but June said it tasted too much of cow so she tried a substitute instead. Her choice was a good one: S&W, which seems to fly off the supermarket shelves leaving poor old Libby’s behind.

Good stuff, corned beef rice. Simple to prepare. Just mix up a can of corned beef with steamed rice while it’s still in the rice cooker and let it steam a little longer to make the mixture nice and hot. Also thrown in to steam are some baby corn (fresh, preferably, but canned will do) and broccoli. A note about broccoli: please don’t ever overcook it! The closer it is to raw the better. Raw broccoli is perfection, but many people don’t like it raw. Too “green,” they say. Serve corned beef rice with a liberal sprinkling of pepper and some fresh, sliced chilli padi. Q.E.D.

Arrgh! I lost my previous posting 'cos not familiar with the new buttons on this site! Nice that everything's new and there are lots more toys to play with, but have to learn to be careful what I click or lose an hour's work.

Not to say that my last entry was irreplaceable, but I don't feel like discussing that topic again. Too much thought, not enough entertainment. Anyway, it didn't sound like me. Don't want to scare my audience away with too heavy stuff. At least not yet, until we get more used to each other.

Good to have Tina drop in on us at this evening's rehearsal. Though we still couldn't round up full cast due to the odd early timing, it was enough for her to spot areas that could use strengthening and work on them. Various cast were put on the spot and worked over and the results are most satisfactory. Tension between Mother and Penelope is more dynamic and credible and the windbag scene makes much clearer sense now. Rest of the cast would do well to follow Tina's advice for themselves as well.

The simple rule that when you walk don't talk and when you talk don't walk is a very powerful rule to remember. Stand your ground, but also, don't root yourselves to the spot either. Move as your motivation moves you. Don't move because the director told you to do so. Either way, it's very clear to the audience why you are moving. Hopefully the audience will see more of the former.

Also, don't be discouraged when we repeat scenes over and over again. Few of us ever hit the mark on the first attempt. Do->repeat->learn->repeat->add on->repeat->practice->repeat->perfect. Repetition is a key strategy in the learning process. Get used to it.

Rehearsal ran a bit longer than I had budgeted for. Had to leave during our wrap-up briefing but I had to get us a lane at SAFRA for Monday Nite Bowling. Shoulda' stayed till the end of the briefing 'cos Anthony & co. came late anyway. Anthony's pride and joy, his Mazda 3, got it's first major dent after 2-3 months since he acquired it. Proximity sensor apparently didn't pick up the pillar he was reversing into. Key point: when driving, trust your eyes and not your ears. I nearly failed my driving test because of this principle. Now that he's got his first dent, the pressure to maintain his car's pristine condition is off. Guess there's a bright side to everything.

Joining us on the lanes tonight were Wendy, and two of Anthony's petanque teammates, Edward and Cheryl. Vince and Lawrence came too. Edward took a couple of games to warm up but he finished his last game very well with 176, winning a drink for himself. Anthony was a bit distracted because he kept thinking of his new dent but he, too, on his last game hit 202, which was the lane's high score for the day. He won the coveted silver pewter keychain and I know he'll gleefully show it off to Eunice tomorrow.

Me, I got in 4 games tonight the first game missing the gimmick keychain by 3 pinfalls. I won 3 keychains in my subsequent 3 games, bringing my average up to 152 tonight. Quite happy with my performance. All I have to remember from now on is to line myself up properly, aim for the middle arrow and power the ball down the centre. Striking well, sparing accuracy could be better. Next target average: 170. I'm confident that it is reachable now.

Just a quick note: By request I've put up the link to Iraq the Model in my Blogroll (see sidebar). Blogger, Ali, has included other Iraqi blogs in his sidebar. Dear_raed is still on "hiatus" but you can read Raed and Salam Pax's archives detailing their experiences during the "liberation" of Bhagdad.
Counter views can be found in Baghdad Burning written by an Iraqi girl. Trace her links too!

Spent most of the afternoon plowing through blogskins looking for a design that I could use for this blog. As nothing's changed you can guess that I couldn't find a skin I liked. I was toying with the idea of a skin called "The Pressure's On" featuring a silhoutte of the Grim Reaper and the text, "Get better grades or else," but it's so unsubtle and not me at all. Just have to keep looking, that's all.

Q-tip just loves car rides. She watches intently everything that goes on outside the car windows and always has a big grin on her face. We don't take her out too often, though, because taxi fares are expensive and we can't bring dogs into buses or the MRT. Oh, the places we'd go if we could!

We did take Q-tip to "Pets' Night" at Robertson Walk this evening. We got lost because there were no direction signs telling us where to go. Saw lots of other dog owners wandering around the place trying to find the event too. Took a stroll along the river and eventually had to ask for directions. Oh... along the river is Robertson Quay; where we came from was Robertson Walk. Ah ha!

In the process of our wanderings, Q-tip managed to shake off and lose the clip holding up her topknot and we misled a Jack Russell and a lab who assumed we knew where we were going. Finally as we retraced our steps, we met a chihuahua who happily followed us to the right location this time. Of all the stupid...! Robertson Walk is actually the name of the the square of restaurants just behind SRT, where we usually hang out during the intervals of plays we watch at SRT. Doh!

The square was full of dogs and their owners today. By the time we found the place, all the goodie bags had already been snapped up and the lines for the free dog massage(!) and free hand-drawn dog portrait were too long to bother with. Food, food, we need food! Considering that we hadn't had any lunch barring the leftover Ruffles potato chips and the bar of Lindt chocolate, June and I were starving. Food was our #1 priority! Everything else could wait!

We settled for Sketches which offered a better variety of food options than the other joints and because the crowd hadn't arrived to fill up the al fresco dining area yet. We ordered a side of chicken wings which Q-tip had a share in (it was, after all, a dinner date with your pet), a warm mushroom salad, a spaghetti vongole for June and I had a linguine served with 2 lamb chops.

Wings are wings; what can I say? Q-tip was quite happy to share them with us. Vegetables in the salad were fresh and very green topped with sauteed shiitake in a creamy, tangy dressing. June's order was very generous -- lots of clams on a mountain of spaghetti. I don't know how it tasted; she polished off the lot all by herself. My lamb was meaty and tender, cooked in plenty of garlic (whoo!) and served in a pleasant honey sauce. Q-tip was not averse to sharing some bits of lamb with me either. Nice thing about Sketches: they leave the carafe of ice-water on your table so you can help yourself any time you want. Too full for dessert.

We sat between a schnauzer and a (possibly) mini-maltese sporting a schnauzer cut. The latter was excited and quite noisy, intermittently screaming at all the other dogs around it. Cute, but irritating after a while. It's times like this we appreciate Q-tip and her quiet nature.

Hey, gimme a break! My day has barely started! A couple of links to keep you occupied while I go live:

Little shy girl (We all know someone like her, don't we?)

Pingu Extreme (Let me know when you beat my score of 1281)

It's Saturday. Why should I have to wake up so early? Especially when not long after I got to sleep (it was already about 2am!) June shakes me awake and asks for my comments on the flower arrangement she had been making for my mom for Mothers' Day. Truthfully, I thought it was well-arranged for a first attempt and I thought I gave her my verbal assurance and approval, but apparently, according to her, I started to say something then became incoherent then there came a short silence and finally I resumed my gentle snoring. So, my brain sort of functions but it doesen't translate into words when I'm in that state. June wasn't discouraged and continued her arrangement until she crawled into bed at about 4am. She is such a perfectionist and I love her. [Hmm... she's a perfectionist. She married me. What does that make me? ;)]

I officially arose at about 6:30 so I could get to the GP Seminar by 8:45. Simple breakfast at the coffee shop downstairs. GP Seminar was on the topic of the biomedical hub that Singapore is being designed to become by our economists and the ethics that govern said biomed research. This topic is especially relevant as our growth engine in the near future is being tied to this untamed wild horse that until recent times was never even conceived to exist.

Biomed offers us control over what we had once merely accepted -- health and, up to a point, even life itself. As an engine of economic growth, such control, if it can be bought, will be highly sought after by the growing population of wealthy people in our region whom we are now viewing as a vast, almost inexhaustable financial resource in the years to come. As long as people will continue to fall sick and/or die, when we build Biopolis they will come!

Bioethics is like the reins of control as we are breaking in this powerful wild stallion, making it manageable and ultimately exploitable to us. Bioethics reminds us that if we wish to take control over the once-uncontrollable, then are we responsible enough to make choices from options that were never available to us before? From the issue of abortion to stem cell research, we are already making choices over life and death -- choices that now rest in the hands of individuals when once life and death could only be a decision made by collective society.

All these issues would have been very interesting to discuss, probing further into the future of this country and what kind of services we will make available to the world in 10, 20 years time. What will Singapore be famous for then? Will people from around the world flock here to be cured of cancer or other life threatening ailments? Will they also take the opportunity to determine the traits they desire of their next generation while they are visiting or do other more frivolous things like being genetically altered to sport luminous tatoos on various parts of their bodies? Will people be coming here with diseased body parts and leave with fresh, new, healthy replacement parts harvested from a lab cultured pig or some other animal?

Would have been interesting if in our Q&;A session we had asked our speakers more questions on current research and project that towards their future practical applications, or more about the guidelines that our ethics council are currently considering so we can guess at what treatments will be or might become common practice tomorrow. Instead, we became fixated on the type of scholars we are sending to read up this field of research, their personality types and their qualifications, which I suppose are relevant considerations, but I'm not sure the speakers came down to field such mundane questions. If even our teachers are this pragmatic, I fear we are slowly losing what imagination we have left, destined to only follow and copy rather than pioneer and lead as we must in this field that remains largely unexplored. To be successful, we have to be able to identify the possibilities first then work our process to get there and not get hung up with procedure right from the start and go nowhere as a result.

Ouch. Did I just write all that? Wonder if there's anyone else left to read my blog after this outburst? Had a tea-break in between speakers.

Lunched with Agnes, Avril, Cynth and Joanna at the Dome, Bishan. Herb striploin sandwich on multi-grain and walnut bread (untoasted). Pumpkin mash made the sandwich mushy but as the flavour was pleasant and unusual I forgive them. Macchiatto to wash it down. Macchiatto... reminds me of Teresa. Wonder how she's doing today. Haven't written to her in many years now. Wish I hadn't lost her email.

College Day, and I had a good time catching up with some of the guys of S4D: Ki Han, Eric, Jian Wen, Kevin, Marcus, Wei Xiong... did I miss anyone? Also Drama club alumni: Gwyn (who sweetly offered to help work with Yr 1s), Michelle, Saz, Donnie and Millicent. Watched Thad and Bernard get dunked at the dunk tank, and was badgered into purchasing a gift set from the Drum personnel who took so much trouble over it I think they deserved their $3. Bought a panda rock painting at $8 for June, whom I hope will gain more confidence that her own rock paintings are quality pieces as well. Mei, sorry I didn't get back to the Drama booth for Ramzi's brownies. Too many people, too little time.

Had College Day reception: mee siam, kueh pie tee, sung kueh, siew mai, and the other usual catered stuff at the usual catered quality.

Went to mom's for dinner. Gave bro his spending cash, and lent him my digicam with charger to use on his tour. I feel naked without my Lumix now, especially since I can't take any more Odyssey rehearsal photos without it. Maybe Boon Sin will be kind enough to lend me hers? Anyway, to my kid bro, "bon voyage!" Come back soon!

To sum: I had 5 meals today. What a pig!

Lit students went to watch Luther this evening. Me, the thrill junkie, went to Van Helsing instead. Mei's review now makes me want to watch Luther too, but VH is a visual treat not to be missed either!

Gonna be so busy tomorrow with the GP seminar in the morn, Homecoming & College Day in the afternoon and visiting Mom in the evening, I'd better make this note for VH while it's still fresh and while I still remember to do so.

VH is a non-stop action thrill ride with jaw-dropping brawls and catfights, curiously archaic looking tools and weapons of high impact, spectacular explosions and vistas of massive objects breaking, shattering satisfyingly loudly into splinters, shards and shrapnel. The screams of really horrid creatures and a couple of gasp-inducing shocks keep the atmosphere tense and the audience ready for another breathtaking stunt -- animated or live -- or another revelation of VH's or Dracula's past. Don't expect too much exposition, though, what's important happens in the here and now of their on-screen confrontation.

Plotwise, VH takes after LXG, fusing together the stock characters of the horror movie tradition in one roller-coaster thriller. Jekyll & Hyde make an appearance but it's Frankenstein's monster and the werewolf who are tied into Drac's diabolical plot in a sort of twisted S&M procreation fantasy involving straps, chains and lots of voltage. Uh huh... so the plot's a bit thin, but it's still one heck of a campfire tale! Lots of convenient plot advancing events occur showing the hand of deus ex machina, but who cares? VH delivers some little humour, even less romance but most importantly, an orgy of edge-of-the-seat action almost without reprieve and that's what we're there for.

June's rating: 5 stars (& as a critic she's hard to please).
I don't give out stars. However, the grin on my face at the end of the movie exposed right up to my back molars so I guess it was pretty enjoyable.

So grab a ticket, a bucket of popcorn and a flagon of Coke from the concession stand and go watch Van Helsing. Meantime, I'll see if I can score a couple'a tix to Luther. See you at the movies!

I could'a gone to Ivin's with my lunchmates again, but I needed some time to myself again free of noise and socializing so I need do nothing more than sit and think. And recently, blog as I am doing now. Don't expect anything profound though. It's also a chance for me to wrestle the z-monster whenever it should choose to show up. I'll be ready.

Oh, Ivin's. I thought Vince just managed to con the trainees, Lynette, Julie, Alice & Dawn, into buying us all lunch. I didn't realize that it was to be their farewell lunch -- they're going back to NTU to continue their course and who knows if they'll get posted back to us? Just a minute before I discovered this sad fact, I had turned down the lunch offer, citing my bad stomach, which was true. I still shudder at the thought of ingesting and more curry/chilli-based foods for a while. In the last two days I have had, let's see, prata, mee pok, and yesterday's superb roti jalal a la chicken curry from the mak cik in our college canteen. I've hit my limit and a wise man knows when to stop. The company at lunch today would have been so very stimulating, but I'm just not fit company myself. Social burnout and dihorrea, thats me today.

June has gone to change some cash for 100 Euros. She is so efficient and thoughtful, quite the opposite of me. It's good that we're married to each other instead of being just colleagues with each other. We'd just kill each other in the office. The Euros are a gift to my brother who's going on tour to Ireland, the UK and France. He's departing tomorrow night and we have to arrange to meet him to present him with his gift. His trip is frighteningly expensive, in the range of $6K for flight, meals and accommodation, excluding personal expenses. Thought we'd chip in a bit 'cos he's travelling "by faith" and we're not about to let God let him down. He sent June his entire itinerary which was more info than she had asked him for and she's quite jealous now. All the wonderful places in Europe he's going to visit, many places of which she and I have never even heard. Make good use of your 100E, eh? It's not much but it'll come in useful, I reckon.

We initially wanted to meet him at the airport tomorrow to see him off and at the same time get us some Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits. Generous-sized chicken portions; crispy skin; and a juicy, tender interior. If KFC is 'finger lickin' good,' Popeyes will have you stuffing your gob with your fists. Not pretty, I know, but it is Popeyes! There's no canned spinach on the side, curiously enough, but the buttermilk biscuits and mashed potatoes feel so wholesome going down and they make you feel like a total pig after. I only have one regret after a meal at Popeyes: why did I eat so much? Urrrgggghhhh! Changi Airport, either Terminal, if you're looking for the nearest outlet. Unfortunately, my bro will only be going to the airport late so we have now agreed to meet him at Mom's instead. So much for Popeyes. *Sob.

Anyone for Van Helsing tonight at Sun Plaza?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a show! The Odyssey is back on its feet with more fun and action. Energy is high today and hopefully will pick up even more over next week. We’ve finally got the play down to a manageable half hour and even rough as it was today, I’d say it rox! Everyone was more purposeful in everything they were doing and the new motivations for some of the characters worked nicely. The addition of subtle and some not-so-subtle movements by certain characters do add a visual cue to the spoken lines, aiding the understanding of the action onstage.

Only a couple of minor errors in today’s run which are understandable due to the newness of some of the scenes, but unless corrected immediately could be disastrous to our performance next week. Silly things like breaking out of character with the giggles or acknowledging a fluffed line or appearing onstage without being appropriately attired or not carrying on the proper handprops are definite no-nos and will not happen from next rehearsal onwards.

Other than these minor hiccups, everything else seemed to work ok, and I found myself suppressing laughter in certain scenes where there was once dull delivery before. The tweaks to the crew, Odysseus and Mother work well; though I hope we’ll be able to get a 2nd opinion in time before the SYF. Would love for Tina to come in one last time for her last nuggets of advice.

Scary that our actors are still falling sick. At this late stage it's so hard to work without a full cast. Still, it shouldn't be surprising as they're all so stretched in their committments. You must take better care of yourselves; do everything you can to keep yourselves in good health: eat well, sleep well, drink plenty of fluids, engage in regular exercise, look both ways before crossing the street, etc. Your health is a priority.

Van Helsing opened today, and usually I’d be the first in line at the box office for a movie like this. I couldn’t today because of Odyssey rehearsal. Considering what we accomplished tonight, it was an evening well spent.

Hermes leaps into action again

NYeDC Yr 1 and Yr 2 bonding session, pizza to follow

Tired. Knees wobbly. Sweatier and smellier than I was last Wednesday (see respective entry for details). We had a blast playing Captain's Ball in the abandoned canteen. Audrey says it makes a good skating rink too and I understand ODAC is already using it for just that.

Great to see NYeDC running around having fun again. You people are lunatics! We played 2 games split in 2 halves, broke for dinner and you insisted on playing some more after pizza. Have mercy -- I'm too old for this physical abuse. If this keeps up, PE Dept will send PFT failures to us and we'll train them for PFT gold in a month's time.

Year 1s joined us which was more than I expected because they were busy with painting the banner for Saturday and I thought they would be tired. Duh! Nice to meet them and interact with some of them for effectively the first time. *waves at all Year 1s if you're reading this.

Also unexpectedly, the Debate team with Anthony and Greg joined us as well. It was the first time since the split 2+ years ago that Drama and Debate had gotten together for an activity. Fine. The Debate team won their games but we had a great time anyway. Well played, fellas!

Pizza delivery put me in a state of panic for a short while. Bill amounted to what we had agreed on amongst Yee, Cara and me, but I hadn't collected the cash from all of them at the time. I had enough on me to pay for half the bill and I was wondering where the money for the rest would come from. Yee showed up at the nick of time. It must have been funny to see us tutors pooling our cash and counting up the combined liquid assets on our persons which was just right to pay off the pizza dude. We were so grateful we let him keep the change, all 70 cents worth. Don't spend it all in one place, ok, buddy?

Seldom do I walk off a playing field without some damage to my corpus. It's been a habit since my youth. There's something about the image of the bruised, battered, bloodied body of a gladiator who's lived to fight another day that somehow I'm enarmoured with. It draws attention, sympathy or at the very least a seat on the bus because few people want to sit next to a walking human disaster. Who knows when the latter might keel over, causing the nearest person to undergo a police interview? Today was no different. In a mad scramble for the ball I collided with one of the pillars (actually an I-shaped steel girder) and in the process dented both my wristbones and caused what looks like a bruise on my right forearm. I can still type so I guess nothing's broken. Maybe the bruise will fade by tomorrow. June promised to rub me down with medicated oil before bedtime. Sounds good to me! Attention, sympathy...

If the X-men can break for a mad game of Bball with hilarious results I think we can have a game therapy session too! NYeDC, thanks for the game!

A week and a day to our performance of The Odyssey at the SYF. It's a risk not having a rehearsal today but many of our cast are rehearsing for Homecoming/College Day this Saturday and so we had a choice: to rehearse scenes in which cast were available or to forget everything for a day and play our brains out.

We've chosen the latter and once the cast & crew are done with helping the Year 1s with the Homecoming banner, it's off to simple pleasures again -- of running, throwing, catching, cooperating with some, competing with others, and getting sweaty and out of breath while doing it -- back to primeval basics. In prehistoric times, the hunt was the thrill of the week because our lives depended on it for food and materiel, to sustain and maintain our very lives.

Our hunting skills badly need sharpening. We have to remember what it's like to be hungry again. We need to know the importance of playing the game as a team again. We have to look our opponents square in the eye and be sure that constraints or no we will prevail. We will prevail because we will it to be so. Hence, the game is an analogy for our will to survive. How badly do we want to survive?

It's not about winning, it never was. It's about learning to cope and still coming out on top, as Odysseus himself did in Homer's epic. Odysseus had no reward waiting for him at the end of his journey, all he wanted was to come home. If this isn't motivation, silver and gold are even less of a motivation in the long run.

We need our achievements, great or small, to give us the confidence to face harder and tougher challenges as we progress through life. The harder we strive to win the sweeter our victory if we achieve it. If we don't, there is a vaster pool of learning that accumulates towards our victory next time around. Regardless, as long as we can keep on looking for and looking forward to the next time we are already a success.

The contest is not yet upon us, folks. There is still time to prepare. Let's sweat hard for a sweet victory. A week and a day. Let's give it all we've got. For today, LET'S PLAY BALL!

Well, that was terrible. I fell asleep in the middle of making my previous entry. When I awoke I had barely enough sense left in me to sign off properly. Can't imagine how I got so tired. Must be getting old.

Anthony's back from playing petanque in Bangkok. The Thai team is so good, his focus was "not to get his ass kicked," which he successfully accomplished, he reported.

Lunched at the prata place off Rosyth Road. Their maggie mee goreng is quite outstanding, if you can stand the MSG it's cooked in. We had to repeat several times that Mun Yee's order must not have any chilli in it. Must not have any chilli in it. Bad memories from last week's mee kuah, which he ordered and found to be as edible as a spouting flamethrower. Sensitive, that guy. Andro's nasi briyani looked good and his order came quickly too. Definitely on my list to try next time I'm here.

Ordered an ice Milo which was rich, sweet and very cold. Delicious. The ice Milo is quite good enough, but if you're really thirsty you could try the "Milo dinosaur" which is an up, no, supersized ice Milo, beaten into a fluffy froth on top and liberally sprinkled with Milo powder. For most purposes it's overkill, but feel free to indulge. There are worse ways to spend $2.50.

Service is very friendly. Very. The mak cik is very patient taking orders. Dealing with large groups of screaming schoolboys from St Gabriel's(?) ordering a myriad of prata combinations and frequently changing their minds and their orders is liable to drive someone bonkers or imbue a serenity, patience and longsuffering on the victim. Glad to say Mak Cik is of the latter calibre, and can still maintain her sense of humour to boot.

The usual verbal horseplay goes around the lunch table, which sometimes gets too intense for Mun Yee. Andros himself contributed a paraphrase of "OMG" in response to our irreverent banter. Tried to pull a fast one on Vince but he's wise to us now. Mealtimes are fun.

No rehearsal tomorrow. Cast & crew bonding instead. Need the energy boost and the reminder that team spirit is still alive and ready to take on new challenges. Once we get our Homecoming prep done it's off for food, fun and a round of Captain's Ball. Wa-hey! Thinking of using the abandoned temporary canteen grounds to use as our court. Whadda'ya think peeps?

Hi Farisa! Hi Mei! Hi Yan! >big wave< You've discovered who is responsible for this abomination!

As you can see, this page is quite blah and the html is going to take me quite some time to figure out. I'm just cutting and pasting text in my template right now and seeing what works and what doesn't. Would be grateful for any assistance you could provide in making my blog look prettier. Also anyhow signing up for all kinds of odd blogging services to see what they actually do. As long as it's free I don't mind experimenting.

My mind is almost totally incoherent now. All I know is that I've been fed, so now I'm in a better mood, and my blog's had a couple of visitors today that is a pleasant surprise. But, neeeeed sleeeeep...! Brain refusing to function. C u tomorrow!

The college seems to be shut down today, i.e., no one's allowed to log on the 'net for fear of the Sasser worm infecting our systems. Warning came too late for me! I was already online and my laptop suddenly flashed a window showing a countdown timer and shut down my system in a minute.

Very cleverly, I tried to download the Windows patch preventing the Worm from taking further effect (was that the proper procedure, I wonder?) but because the stupid worm kept shutting down my laptop during the installation of the patches (guess I haven't updated for a while!) I screwed up my Windows and now it won't start up properly anymore. Crap!

Moral of the story: update Windows often, before it gets too late. Gonna have to take my laptop to our tech who is probably up to his neck fighting Sasser on our LAN right now. Wonder when my laptop will come back to me?

As a public service, here is the link to d/l the Sasser removal tool from Symantec if you've been hit.

Very annoyed now. Nobody talk to me! Wait till I'm in a better mood. Grrr...

Lunch at Adrian's. He made a seafood pasta for us which was yummy. Said he woke up early to get fresh ingredients from Chinatown, about an hour's bus ride from where he lives. His seafood pasta comprised spinach fusilli with fish, shrimp and calamari topped with a tomato-basil sauce and accompanied with sauteed champignon mushrooms (I would have preferred raw champigons, thinly sliced) and steamed asparagus. Slices of baguette from Delifrance to sop up the sauce and our contribution -- Waldorf salad -- on the side.

It seems I have very poor hand-eye coordination. As I was inserting a bit of sopping baguette into my cakehole, it bounced off my teeth and landed sop-side down on the chair I was sitting on before bouncing off again to hit the floor. It left a couple of faint sauce stains on the cream-coloured upholstery which sent Adrian scrambling for the Scotchgard. Oops, 'scuse signore. Hope the stains are not permanent (crosses fingers).

I make a simple Waldorf salad based on the recipe the American tourist recited to Basil Fawlty in an episode of Fawlty Towers. Green and red apples cut into small cubes, celery, walnuts and raisins well mixed with mayo (we use Kraft). The apple cubes should be thoroughly soaked in lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. The apple cubes are cut by June herself 'cos she doesn't let me play with sharp objects -- soaking the cubes in blood makes them turn brown faster. Adrian doesn't like raisins, so we kept them on the side for ourselves. I don't know. It just isn't right without the raisins which, if used sparingly, give an occasional sweet surprise to the generally sour salad.

The rest of the afternoon we reminisced over our Hawaii trip, pouring over the photo albums we brought over to his place and seeing the shots he took of his trip to Europe and Japan. The lucky pig spent a couple of days in a Japanese onsen! He said if he was going on vacation again this year, he'd like to go see some real snow once again. It's been years since I've seen real snow too. Will I get the chance this year? Hmm... (thinking hard).