A complete change of weather, and what a scorcher! It was a beautiful day for Dreamworld. The sun was out and we finally felt the heat that makes Surfers' paradise.

We started the day badly with transport woes. Only 1 public bus to Dreamworld and thought is is very cheap -- $6 per pax return -- it is also infrequent and consequently by the time it reaches the bus stop at our end it's already too full to accept any more passengers.

After an hour of fruitless waiting, we hailed a cab. It cost us $25 but it got us there in good time; within 20 minutes of opening at 1000hrs.

We made a bee-line for the theme park's main attraction. From afar, the 1st thing we saw of Dreamworld was this great phallic symbol pointing skywards. This is the pillar that is central to the 2 most thrilling rides in the park. The Big Drop took us right to the top of the 110m tower and suspended us there for about a minute while we admired the parking lot, or contemplated our fate. Then without warning, the platform plunged into free-fall for a few seconds, making us feel like we left our insides at the top, before the brakes caught.

Next up, the Tower of Terror. The ride seats 24 of us in a car on rails. With a hiss and a bang the car rockets up the same tower vertically, then plunges us back again BACKWARDS. This is supposed to be the fastest and tallest drop for a theme park ride, but really the anticipation is much worse than the actual experience. It just happens too quickly for us to register the terror we should be feeling and then it's already over.

We took a short break on the Runaway Reptar Rollercoaster, which is thematically based on Nick Studio's Rugrats. It's a suspended steel coaster with lots of twists and turns, though on the whole, it was actually quite a mild ride.

Lunch at the CatDog Snack Shack eating (what else?) hotdogs. We're used to cats waiting at tables for scraps, but here stray heron with nasty, long, sharp, curved beaks stalked around looking for windfalls of abandoned food.

The big coaster, The Cyclone, was another steel monster with a double loop. Standard stuff, though compared to what we tried next.

Wipeout is a ride that though remains stationary, spun us around high up in the air, inverted us and swung us headfirst towards the ground a number of times. And just when we though it was over, it sprung it's nastiest surprise. Exhilarating.

The Claw -- a rotary swing is the source of another set of screams. The big swing and the rotating platform sends us up in the air to almost a full inversion, spinning us simultaneously so we either looked at the clouds or at the concrete tarmac before being swung back again with velocity. Crazy!

After this, June too a nap on my shoulder then on my lap. It was so hot we guzzled 3 600ml bottles of Mount Franklin spring water and some Coke too.

Refreshed, we sought out the last thrill -- the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride. It was dark, enclosed with one or two sights to spook, lots of abrupt turns, but again another mild ride.

We said hello to koala, Beltana, and got our pix taken with her. Took a photo with a Spongebob Squarepants statue, rode Wipeout once more, then it was time to go. Park closes at 1700hrs.

We were lucky enough to catch the public bus back and met Dawn and parents (from church)aboard. Small world.

Shopped the early evening away at downtown Surfers', KFC for dinner, then home for an early night. We need it for the early start tomorrow morning.

The late departure from Changi meant that Dreamworld was not possible this morning and will be postponed to early tomorrow instead.

We arrived in Brisbane at about 1100hrs and caught a 90 minute train ride to Narang where our limo driver collected us and our luggage and deposited us at our hotel, the Australis Sovereign. We will be staying here for the next couple of nights.

The hotel is quite a friendly place, not too formal but it looks and feels new and comfortable. It is quite a walk from the main action happening at Surfers' Paradise, but the walk is pleasant and, I suppose, healthy.

The problem is, as usual, we bring the rain. We've got our windbreakers on, hoods up, walking around Surfers' in summer. Most everyone else here is walking around heedless of the wet weather, but we are nicely bundled up, quite the anomaly, though people are too polite to mention it in our presence.

We stopped for lunch at La Porchetta, an Italian chain restaurant, for a small meat lovers' pizza with extra mushroom topping. Thin crust, plenty of meat including bits of lamb, and fresh mozza. Lovely.

In the afternoon, we hit the malls searching for the Hard Rock Cafe. HRC stuff is quite horribly expensive so we didn't buy anything, though we wanted to get a t-shirt for sis-in-law's collection.

There is supposed to be a night market along the beach every Friday night but the poor weather must have washed it out. The beach is deserted today -- not even the hardcore surfer dudes are out -- so no point opening for business, much to June's disappointment.

Returned to the hotel with my left sandal busted up at the same place I had it stiched up last time. Bah. Need to get new sandals now.

Hope Aussie TV isn't as boring as American. Hopefully, Dreamworld tomorrow!

Check it out! It's almost 9pm and I'm still here -- at home! I should have been at the airport 2 hours ago, but my flight's been delayed. QF52 is supposed to depart 2110, now estimated 0100. This effectively loses us half a day in Brisbane tomorrow, but I guess this also means we don't have to rush any more.

Ok, calm down. Everything's ready to go, everything's packed, everything's prepared for the pets to survive 2 weeks without us. Thanks to Dad-in-law who'll be pet sitting everyday until we come back. Just breathe easy, and enjoy the trip.

Relax. We're on VACATION!

Still holed up at home nursing my head cold. The weather has turned chilly and that's not helping. Hope the sun and heat down-under will clear my head or it's going to be one heck of a trip.

While I was at home, the Diamond water filter guy dropped by to repo the filter system we ordered on trial. It's a mid-size plastic box that sits on the kitchen counter connecting the water supply with the tap. The water that comes through the filter is supposed to be cleaner and healthier somehow than normal PUB water, and it was convenient to just fill up our drinking water bottles without having to boil the water first. After 2 weeks of trial though, it didn't really make much difference to our lives and so to remove one more piece of clutter from our kitchen we decided to discontinue the service. We're not likely to be using it over the next couple of weeks anyway.

Other things keeping me occupied today are NFS:UG2 (completed, all parts and rewards unlocked), Neopets (advent calendar is giving out free stuff, in case you've forgotten), Rave: Groove Adventure on AXN (a major soap opera of an anime involving more talk and backstory exposition than action, and a pretty girl-with-a-forgotten-past), and The Amazing Race also on AXN. So much media. Can feel my social life petrifying as I blog.

Cargo bag stands ready to be filled with our stuff. Clothing, electronics, stuff that friends in Sydney have requested us to get for them, toileteries; hope I can squeeze all this stuff in and still travel light. Amongst the clothing will be my new Nautica windbreaker, a Christmas present from sis-in-law. It's a convertible jacket that can double as a parka when you wear it with it's inner lining. It even has a compass on a 'bina attached to the zip. Cool!

I'll try to make one more entry tomorrow before leaving for the airport. After that, who knows? Else, see y'all in 2 weeks!

Lousy start to the week with nasal congestion, ear blockage and sore throat. Been feeling this way since last Friday, though I haven't yet been totally incapacitated. Didn't want to think about it before but I hope it clears up before I leave for Oz on Thursday.

Still managed to get myself and June to the D&D last night. Everyone was polished and well-groomed, in a way that I've never seen before in NY students. Scruffy ol' me took the trouble to shop for a blazer for myself, and a gown for my date. I even used what was left in June's ancient jar of hair gel, though I panicked a bit when I applied it to my head and my hands got stuck to my hair like they were glued on. That jar was way past its expiry date and had dried into paste. Fortunately it obliged to wash off with a liberal amout of water and I didn't dare use any more.

My table was an all-girl table, with me the odd exception. Usually in these situations, I would feel like the rose among the thorns, but last night it felt quite the opposite. Kareen, Mindy, Farisa, Mei, Pris, 'nette, Yan, Rach, and June were all beautifully decked out, leaving me feeling a bit ah pek compared to them. Old insecurities arose, those I thought I'd long since buried. I can't show how gorgeous they were 'cos my camera suddenly turned shy and stayed in its pouch all night (er... no, that's not a euphemism for anything). Their hair and faces were sparkling and shimmery, their material flowed and curved around them, their cosmetic makeovers made them hard to recognise as the schoolgirls I used to teach, and indeed, I had to look at a few of them before I could recognise who they were. I was probably the oldest man in the hall (apart from the P, who isn't a man) and I felt my age. Sigh.

The food... well, who was really paying attenion to the food? The MC kept the attention on the stage with his silly games and low-brow humour. The choice of Prom King and Queen was um... expedient and arbitrary to say the least. Wonder when it became compulsory for D&Ds to insist on hiring game-show hosts to liven up the proceedings? Perhaps on occasions when guests aren't likely to know each other that's when MCs come in useful, but here when we are more likely to have fun entertaining ourselves he was just distracting.

Veritas=Truth:
Left as soon as dinner was over. I guess a combination of factors made me opt for an early exit. Physical infirmity, chronological disparity, social incongruity, whatever. I should have toughed it out and stayed longer; been more thick-skinned and inserted myself into more group photos; and whipped out my cam at every inappropriate opportunity; that would have made the event more memorable, but I didn't. Overwhelmed, I raised the white flag, committed social suicide and headed for the safety of home. Now I'm sorry I missed the post-dinner festivities.

This weekend was like a training session for our upcoming Aussie adventure. Our mall walking took us to PS (at last), then on the MRT to Chinatown, then back on the MRT going west-north to Causeway Point where we finally picked up some supplies and a Christmas essential, our turkey.

How is all this relevant to Aussie? It's what we intend to do once we get to Sydney. Hop on board public transport and hoof it all over town, seeing everything possible. We have to build our walking stamina back up, seeing as how lazy we've gotten over the last few years. Long past are the days when we walked from Tanglin road to Suntec City and back to Scotts Road just for the fun of it. We did this quite a few times a week too because it was the only way we could spend time together alone back then. Now, we just go straight home from wherever we are and we're already alone together. Pets don't count.

Anyway, we got almost everything we wanted from our shopping list except for the kitty litter deodorant and the vacuum cleaner hose to replace our current one which has sprung a leak. We did get our turkey -- a 4.45kg li'l fella -- who's going to be chilling out in our freezer till we come back from our vacation. Also saw some new Rollerblade models which are now about a third to half the price of when they first came out. In-lines are back on my wish list. Now if only I had somewhere to use them...

We leave in a couple of days. Better start packin'.

Went shopping again on Orchard Road. This time we hit Scotts, Tangs, Lucky Plaza, The Heeren, Centrepoint and Cineleisure. Although our main objective was to walk down from Orchard MRT to PS, we never made it. There was just too much to look at between Orchard and Somerset to move any further than that.

Lunched at the Island Cafe on the top floor of Tangs. Very good local food at premium prices. Used to be, the place was just a self-service cafeteria where I would sometimes go for a reasonably priced lunch when I worked around the area back then. These days, it's been upgraded. Now, we have to 'wait to be seated' and we have a menu rather than a chalkboard to make our selections from. Wait staff are polite and top up our glasses with ice-cold water. Good eating places always ensure the water they serve is kept well-chilled.

I ordered a chicken bryani and it came with chicken curry on the side. Mmmm... tender boneless chicken in a spicy dry curry. June's Indonesian Fried Rice was a very generous mountain of rice fried in lots of shallots and some other spices I couldn't identify, but the flavour was just gorgeous. Accompanying the rice were 2 sticks of chicken satay, some chicken curry (same as mine), a handful of fried egg strips and another handful of keropok (prawn crackers). There was so much on June's plate, even I couldn't help her finish everything, and that's quite saying something. It was quite an expensive meal, considering the same dishes are usually a fraction of the price we paid, but then this meal was a level above the usual.

Major annoyance occurred when we were at the Heeren. When we took the escalator down from 3rd to 2nd floor we heard a dull thud, like someone had dropped something solid on the floor. We didn't bother to turn around and look but 5 seconds later we found out exactly what had fallen. From behind, a girl's voice made an apologetic exclamation just before something cold and very wet hit me on the shoulder soaking my right sleeve. The same wet substance splashed into June's sandal as well, though fortunately it had missed the shopping bag June was carrying.

The bimbo behind us had dropped a bottle of Coke then picked it up and immediately opened the bottle top. Of course the pressurized contents just shot forward and hit us who were standing right in front of her. We tried to wash the mess off us to the best of our ability, but we still spent the rest of the afternoon, June with a sticky foot and as for me, somehow the Coke residue on my sleeve reacted with I don't know what -- my sweat maybe -- and it stank like improperly dried laundry. Blecch.

We stayed out like that till about early evening. Nothing stops us from our Christmas window shopping, eh?

The first time I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show was at a Halloween festival at York U. I'd heard it was a cult favourite though I didn't know why and I wanted to find out. I was in the midst of an audience, most of whom came wearing quite outrageous costumes. I thought they had dressed up for Halloween. Certain members of audience became quite unruly as soon as the movie started. They were chatting, some even shouting and making fun of the characters and situations on screen. I got annoyed when (uncooked) rice fell on my head at the opening wedding sequence. Rice-wedding, geddit? I got it. I realised that it wasn't just a few blokes trying to spoil the show, rather it was EVERYBODY who was part of the show.

The movie itself was a no-brainer, but people keep going back to watch it again and again because it is the experience of audience participation, the crazy atmosphere and the chance to do what is usually frowned upon because it breaks every rule of audience etiquette in the book. Just as there are lines on particular cues that everyone knows and everyone shouts out simultaneously there are also moments when individuals improvise lines and they can be hilarious as well, and we try to remember to include what we had heard into our 'script' for our next screening.

Many of the themes in the movie, and what got added on later by the audience, fell under our censors' scissors in the past: sexual conflict (homo vs hetero, not guy vs girl) being one of them. Recently the censors allowed it to be shown as an outdoor event during the Halloween period, but the audience here hasn't a clue as to how the movie is to be enjoyed. When I was in Hono last year I picked up the movie on DVD as it is impossible to obtain here in Singapore (thanks to the ban that ceased to be of relevance many years ago).

I finally put the DVD to use last night at Weng's place. He had invited a few guests over for our first screening, though we really could have used a much bigger crowd. Luanne was there, of course, Chang Wei and Celine too. And it was nice to see Debbie and Eugene again, students I had taught from a couple of years back.

Weng had set up an outdoor cinema of sorts using his garage wall as a screen. He provided the hot dogs and drinks, June and I provided egg salad sandwiches and a few crunchies. Only me, Weng, and someone else in the back (Chang Wei?) were calling out most of the time, the rest of the crowd, newbies, only contributing the obligatory, "asshole," "slut," "this man has no neck" responses whenever these characters appeared or mentioned their names, and tossing the various props that Weng had provided us with on cue.

It was a fun evening. We even pursuaded Weng to show us the short film he shot a couple of weeks back. He had asked me to be in it, but I was so busy with invig at the time I couldn't fit the schedule. Anthony took my place instead, his film debut -- oh, and Celine's too. Bad crowd to show his film to though, 'cos we were still in the spirit of RHPS. We heckled it as well, turning his 'serious' drama into an unintended comedy.

Looking forward to the next screening when we have a few less RHPS 'virgins' who can create a bigger disturbance and create a better atmosphere for the next set of newbies to join us. How 'bout it, guys?

Must be the week to view over-reachers and world conquerors. Last Friday it was Cheng Ho, today, Alexander. Where Troy was Hollywood fluff, Alexander is a textbook, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. This movie is from the perspective of one of Alexander's old surviving Generals as he dictates his memoirs of Alexander's great exploits to an eager, wide-eyed scribe.

Pretty much everything we know about ATG, director, Stone, faithfully retells in this 2+ hour long epic. How ATG gets his horse, how ATG takes his comparatively small army to take on and defeat the nasty Persians, how his ambitions take him to India and would have taken him to conquer western Europe, had he not died at an early age. There is suspicion of poisoning as a cause of his death, but Stone, as in history, does not point an accusing finger at any one particular entity.

There is political intrigue and more than a hint of ATG's bisexual tendencies, though this is not surprising considering the time he lived in. Battle scenes are thoroughly messy. Blocks and blocks of formations clashing in a dust-obscured orgy of violence from the bird's eye view, and numerous quick cuts of personal and intimate violence from the combatant's perspective.

Always gets me wondering whenever I see scenes of close-quarters melee combat: why do men drive themselves into the midst of such utter madness, where life and limb are almost guaranteed lost? It's part of our nature, I guess, since we haven't learned anything from past battles fought long ago. It's still happening today in many parts of the world, and it's still a part of our growing -up ritual as well -- our boys being conscripted into the army for 2 years' National Service.

The timing of this movie could be Stone's warning to the US regarding it's expedition in Iraq. ATG marched into Babylon to a great welcome after having defeated Darius in battle. The US likewise expected a great welcome in Baghdad after defeating Hussein, but it wasn't to be. The narrator, Ptolemy, caustically remarks that entering Babylon was a far easier exercise than exiting it. The US finds itself in the same position today. Since Babylon=Iraq geographically, the parallel can be no coincidence. (Late edit: Stone himself says it was a coincidence).

To those of us who already know the history of ATG, the movie puts a grand picture to the text we know by heart. But those who haven't a clue as to who or what ATG is, the movie can be pretty dry and tedious to sit through. Perhaps the presence of "pretty" boys (to quote from ill-fated Clitus' spiteful observation) who litter the cast might add some interest to this movie, since the babe factor seems to be missing save for maybe Angelina Jolie who plays ATG's mom. How ineligible.

One interesting side note. According to a Discovery Channel programme I watched a week or so ago, a former Scotland Yard head and a team of forensic scientists have recently discredited both theories that ATG may have died of disease and that he may have been poisoned by shady elements within his royal court. They looked at his symptoms before his death and matched them with those caused by a toxin found in a root of a plant common in Macedonia. This root was used as a remedy for depression at the time, and it is well known that ATG was majorly bummed at the death of his best friend (some say lover), Hephaistion. The truth of ATG's death may simply be that he overdosed on this root, basically killing himself because of bad medical practice. Not very romantic nor heroic.

Odd to see this quotation so soon after I mentioned in my entry from a few days ago: "Fortune favours the bold," Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC).

So, we've got our first Idol in the 'fik. Between the 2, he is the better choice to represent us on the world stage whereas Sly still needs a lot more polishing before he can match up. Strangely enough, I had always thought it would be an all girl final, seeing as talent-wise the girls seemed to have more presence and musical ability than the boys. Guess they just couldn't pull in the votes.

I have to compare the Idol series with the 'Talentimes' of years ago. With Idol, there is a marked difference from the time of the contestants first raw debut to the time the winner gets chosen. There is an effort to mould the contestants' image, up their entertainment value, build their fan base and develop their sense of professionalism in the business. Not bad for 6 months' work for them who used to be ordinary Joes n' Janes.

The Talentimes of old didn't bother with grooming the talents to this level. What you saw on their first appearance was usually what you got at the finals. Winning depended on the judges' final decisions, and thus there were fewer surprises and less drama in these old formats.

The Idol concept is certainly a lot more entertaining, particularly since there is greater emphasis on the relationships that develop amongst the contestants. Here there is the possibility of fleshing out the contestants' backstories, their comradeship (no bitter squabbles featured in this season's Idol, but perhaps next season?) and the idea that it's a friendly rivalry -- only one will win, but everyone must pull together and work together in order for everyone to have their chance of being the last man (or woman) standing.

Central controlling figures, the judges, only have the power to be critical but the power of selection is in the hands of the people. Likewise, the responsibility of choosing well is also the peoples'.

Funny how a TV programme can reflect our current political situation, and quite possibly the direction education is going to go from now on. Greater emphasis on individual responsibility, less decision-making by a central authority. I don't know how well this is going to work out in practice, but in theory it sounds good. Everything now depends on how wisely we choose from ever growing options, and how we act upon our choices.

Right. Enough rambling for one night. Go to bed, old-timer!

Went to Orchard Road to do some shopping. Wandered around Far East Plaza, Scotts, Isetan (Shaw House), and Wisma Atria. Looked at clothes. Lots of clothes. Actually bought some clothes. Women have lots of different types of clothes to choose from for different occasions. Lots of colours to mix and match. Why are men's clothes so boring?

Another evening of scaring kids with bad acting. Tonight's group of night walkers seemed even more serious and task oriented than Sunday night's. We started the night walk earlier, but we still ended about the same time. Things went quite quickly at my station, but perhaps I crippled too many heavy people so groups had to struggle to get to "Rivendell" for "healing" and had to take many rest stops along the way. They were slow. But good news was that there was no rain though the sky did threaten a little in the early evening. No rain means no mud and my boots were spared.

On the way out of camp, we had to stop the car to allow a large python to cross the driveway before we proceeded towards supper. The driveway is looooong and the python was quite a distance from our campsite but JY called camp to alert them on this latest sighting of local fauna anyway. From what I could see, since Amy's headlights were not shining directly on it, the snake's body extended to about half the width of the driveway and the head had already passed into the bushes on the left and couldn't be seen. Kinda' makes me wonder who else was with me while I was hiding behind my tree at my station during the night walk. Brr...

Supper was at Punggol Nasi Lemak near Hougang. It was already about midnight when we arrived. For $5 I got 2 chicken wings (one was for Vince), a fried egg (over-easy), a generous piece of otah, and a sprinkling of kacang/ikan bilis. Apart from the spoonful of nasi I accidentally dropped on my crotch, the meal was quite enjoyable. The food was tasty, and it was an alternative to 24hr prata. 2 nights in a row? No thanks.

Wow. Came home after midnight again. LTC duty was more fun than I thought. Started with going to Beach Road to pick up camo paints for some of the night walk characters manning the event stations along the way.

The Army surplus stores on Beach Road are great places to get outdoorsy equipment and cool militant fashion accessories. NS men resupply their disposable items here, get their tailoring done, and get non-standard items that look great though not necessarily field-approved.

The shopkeepers here reflect a savvy approach to total retail. Alongside the gung-ho looking shops draped to the max with field equipment and military apparel there are other shops selling female footwear, hair accessories, women's clothing, and if I'm not wrong, even ladies' headgear. This incongruity is puzzling at first, then I realized that guys in the market for army stuff tend to bring their girlfriends (and wives) with them. The women in tow are another potential market to exploit, so why not?

Me, June, JY and HP squeezed in Amy's car to get to MOE's Bhatera Campsite. For a campsite it's quite a nice facility. Cool-looking open-air stilted longhouse concept housing about 10-12 occupants each. Apart from having to sleep on mats on a hardwood floor (which actually isn't so bad) the place is quite comfortable. Our crew were not overnight stayers, though.

Our job was to role-play scenes from LOTR at certain designated stop-points during the night walk. Amy, Victor, Lena and I were at the first station and it fell to us to set the story for the night walkers to get involved in. Amy, the storyteller, narrated the history of the Ring. Frodo, played by Lena, appeared on the scene chased by an umm... orc(?) played by Victor. Victor had taped strips of garbage bag to the poncho he wore and with his face in camo paint he looked like a half-hearted sniper. But with his bent-over, shuffling gait he looked evilly animal-like in the moonlight.

I had the fun job. I was Strider coming to Frodo's rescue. Initially, the idea was to engage the orc with a flaming torch, but whoever prepared the torch was overenthusiastic with the cloth wrap and the amount of kerosene soaked into it. On a test lighting, the torch quickly became a raging inferno in my hand. Burning out of control (the torch, not me) I had to drop it and it took an entire bucket of sand to put out the flames. I had to settle for a stick with 2 glow-sticks taped to the end. The flames would have been dramatic, but we weren't prepared for an orc barbeque last night.

I also had to select a few of the night walkers to continue the walk simulating walking or visual disabilities. It took the night walkers some time for their imaginations to kick in. They had to discuss what they needed to do to get to the next station with their handicaps. I could tell what was in their minds was 'let's get this over with,' rather than 'oh, a game! Let's play!' Sad thing about our young these days: they tend to get serious over the wrong issues. Sigh. I guess it's the way we train them from young. Instead of the healthy immediately rendering assistance to the needy, they have a discussion over the rules of the game, job descriptions, task allocations, and the committee can't make a decision to save their lives. In this game, as in life, the fun actually lies in 3 little words: Just Do It! Thank you, Nike.

Other stations involved John and Thad squatting half-naked by a puddle playing Gollum's 2 personalities and getting bitten by ants and struggling to maintain character despite the discomfort. JY, HP and alumnus, Natty, were elves, faces painted with the glitter cube stuff June bought from the Body Shop in the afternoon. Other alumni played the roles of Shelob and Sam, and Gurmit was, of course, a convincing Gandalf thanks to his convincing beard.

2 cars drove out for supper after the debrief. Same company in Amy's car; Jeeves and guest, JJ, in Vince's. We descended on The Prata House, Thomson, where JY got the cheese prata she'd been craving all afternoon. June and I had a plaster and a kosong each and split a milo dinosaur. Considering that the rain was so terrible in the afternoon that it looked like waves crashing over the railing into our balcony and our staircase became an impressive waterfall into our void deck, prata made a nice end to a muddy, squelchy, slippery night walk.

5 groups to entertain last night, another 5 tonight.

Looks like I was closer to the end of HL2 than I thought. A couple more brief firefights, a series of jumping puzzles and one final destroy-everything-in-sight mission and its all over, until Part 3 comes along, that is. Everything comes to an abrupt halt and a promise is delivered for the next installment. And Lamarr makes a final appearance at the end of the credit roll. Perhaps Easy mode is too easy, but I finished the story and for me that's what counts. Now to restart on a higher difficulty level for a tougher challenge.

Went shopping for prom outfit, or at least have a look at what's trendy these days. Shirts are looking more colourful and the materials are softer and more textured than the rough 'n ready cotton/synthetic I'm used to. It seems the cross-shoulder bag is also very common as most of the shop-window dummies sport this particular accessory. I'm at a loss as to what to wear. I don't want to wear the same old boring thing, yet getting clothes that might require a further makeover to carry off credibly isn't a viable option either. Time to source for options. So far the guys have kept mum on their prom outfits, so don't be shy any longer. Advise please.

Caught Furthest North Deepest South this evening. A different take on the travels of Admiral Cheng Ho and the problems he might have had with his credibility as a military leader, being only a eunuch to an upstart emperor. The enormous expedition Cheng Ho is said to have led must have drained China of much of its resources and the treasures he brought back simply could not compensate for the staggering financial loss incurred.

The production fused mime movement with puppetry and spoken dialogue. With the creative use of life-sized puppets, 3 performers multiplied themselves into 7 characters that worked together as a chorus of Mandarins (scholar advisors to the Emperor). The use of wheeled benches of different heights and a couple of models of masts with sails could be configured to look like a flotilla of ships, 1 large ship, and a bunch of ships being tossed around and lost in a stormy sea.

Faz, our Drama Club president, was in the cast as an apprentice mime and puppeteer and Artistic Director, Tina, said some very good things about his involvement in the production. YT also commented that he was a good find and that it was good to have him on board. This is encouraging, and this could mean that the other club members will also get opportunities to join in other productions, getting in on the ground floor in the realm of stagecraft and theatre. Look forward to it!

Ok, 1 thing at a time. First, HL2.

Fortune favours the bold. A hole to hide in is fine, but there's no further progress unless you're ready to take some flak and explore the next immediate area. It's an urban war zone, door-to-door fighting. Machine gun chatter is all around and bullets whizz through the air, not necessarily aimed at you, but it all adds up to a chillingly realistic simulation of a war-torn cityscape.

Across the road from the hidey-hole is a path leading to a bombed-out rooftop on which there is an ammo box full of rockets to take out another 2 striders, assuming you survive the barrage of gunfire from their combined assault. The path to take after this is hard to find as it's easy to be disoriented by the surroundings. You frequently revisit old locations thinking they might lead to new paths, but the right path to take is located on the rooftop where the ammo box is located.

I was wrong about the squad-mates not being replaceable. As soon as you lose your whole squad, another 4 chappies run up and ask to join you, occasionally scaring the pants off you as they suddenly pop up from nowhere.

It's a solo mission again when you take on the Citadel, home of the nasty bearded man who has sold out humanity to "our benefactors, " whomever they are. The entrance to the Citadel is a bit annoying as it is badly-lit and even the flashlight doesn't help much distinguishing between surfaces and shadows. I missed turnings because walls were dark and adjoining corridors were equally dark. I fell off ledges and died because I couldn't see where the floor ended. The Citadel is also the place where I lost every weapon in my arsenal except for the "gravity gun" which really came into its own.

The gravity gun is an amusing toy. It works like "force push" and "pull" in Jedi Knight. It grabs objects from a distance, even large, heavy ones, and hurls them with force at approaching enemies. As long as there are objects in the environment, there is always something to use as ammo (or as a shield). It was fun to use occasionally during the zombie level as there were buzz saw blades lying around here and there. Hurling these lethal disks around chopped hapless zombies in half, though if the blades bounced back unexpectedly, they could be suicidal as well. In the Citadel, the gravity gun somehow becomes supercharged and then it really becomes fun to play with. Gravity gun: don't leave home without it!

Kuishin-bo (Suntec City) is the restaurant with the irritating monotonous advertising jingle. They play an audio clip of this ad whenever there is a limited edition special dish to collect from the buffet spread. Yes, the restaurant offers a Japanese buffet -- all-you-can-eat sashimi (salmon, maguro and swordfish), sushi, teppan-yaki, and pretty much everything else on a common Japanese menu. Weekend dinner rate = $38 per head. Weekdays rates cheaper, especially at lunch. Not a bad place to go if you're looking for Japanese food in quantity.

Got greedy and stuffed myself with sashimi and sushi. Fresh raw fish, lots of wasabe, how could I resist? June and I had to share a seafood soup which was served in a paper bowl atop a flaming burner to keep it hot. I thought the teppan-yaki was drowned in too much gravy which made it heavy. Tip: don't be greedy with the beef even though it is a prime ribeye cut.

The 4 of us -- me, June, Adrian and Mary -- waddled out after dinner and headed to the cinema to catch The Polar Express which I think was charming, though there isn't much meat to the story. It is a beautifully rendered animation with some exciting runaway train sequences. Lovely landscapes.

Characters are the usual crowd, 4 main kids: our protagonist who represents rationality and doubt, the black girl who represents decision and hope, the nerdy kid who represents knowledge/information and hubris, and the poor kid who represents pessimism and in the end, redemption. Working together when they get lost at the North Pole the kids learn from each other and grow with the experience.

One thing bugs me: what is the purpose of the Polar Express (the train, not the story)? All it seems to do is to bring kids to Santa's realm where they stay for a grand total of 5 minutes (by Singaporean rubber-time) and then they all go home again. The journey to the destination is far longer than the stay at the destination, so what's up with that? How do kids get chosen to ride the Polar Express? None of the kids have any traits in common, they seem to be picked up at random, but anyway there is no compulsion to come on board or even to see Santa when they arrive. Too many questions. I feel like the protagonist kid.

This entry is a couple of hours late, but congratulations to the Seniors '04, you are now officially Alumnii '05. I can only imagine the elation and the euphoria you must be feeling. 2 years have gone already, so enjoy the transitional limbo you are in. No worries, no responsibilities for the immediate future, no one to nag you to go study, or do homework, not even your conscience since there is none to be done anyway. People use this period to go "find themselves." It really is best to get to know yourselves better before you settle into Uni life or a career or NS because real life begins here. Good fortune, Alumnii '05! Come back and see us sometime!

Spent the morning playing HL2 (yes, I'm still far from finishing the game), celebrating Mary's birthday at Kuishin-bo then watching The Polar Express at Eng Wah Suntec City. More on all this later 'cos I'm too tired to continue writing...

Last invig this morning, which means I'm officially on vacation! Well, apart from some personal administration to take care of, that is. Still, I'm on my own time now and let next year bring what it will bring.

Boring ol' me spent the day with HL2 again. The current challenge is to defeat a whole bunch of 'striders,' immensely tall, spindly-legged mobile gun platforms. My 3 surviving squad mates are armed with 2 rocket launchers and a machine gun. My own rocket launcher is out of ammo, so I haven't a prayer of taking down a strider that's now blocking my path. The 2 idiots with rocket launchers refuse to engage the strider on grounds that their life expectancy would be significantly reduced if they did. So I'm a bit stuck. Maybe I should run out of the hole I'm hiding in and see if there are any spare rockets conveniently lying around just begging to be used. Not today, though. Gotta save some action for tomorrow too.

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

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

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

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

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

Oh my! Wednesday already? Spent the whole day with Half-Life 2, immediately after invigilation, that is. Awesome game! Such detailed graphics, brightly lit outdoor spaces making the dark corners even more creepy by contrast. Clever puzzles to find pathways through the story, though tough, so far I've been able to figure them out through observation of the environment and occasionally blind trial and error.

The tension in the zombie chapter was way high, with an unending swarm of respawning zombies and rapidly depleting ammo adding pressure to finding the way out to the next checkpoint that much more terrifying. We get to drive vehicles too, and fire unlimited rounds at all and sundry from the mounted weapons. Steering is a little odd, using keys that I'm not used to 'cos I use a different set playing NFS:UG2. The buggy tends to get hung up a lot and even overturns if you aren't careful driving it. Here's a tip: use your gravity gun to get it upright again fast.

How absorbing and atmospheric is HL2? Well, Momo was sleeping in the beanbag behind my chair last night while I was killing um... things. I was concentrating so hard, I didn't hear June coming in to surprise Momo. All of a sudden, I noticed a long haired shoulder-height head appearing from behind my left shoulder. I screamed. She screamed. We clutched our own hearts for a moment then burst into relieved laughter. Momo slept right through it all.

The right key on Watson's keyboard has lost a corner. I must have rubbed it smooth through years of continuous use. Just noticed it.

I hate head crabs!

Looks like another mad week including the coming weekend. Only day to rest up might be tomorrow, Tuesday, and I intend to make the most of it.

Today I was working out the Drama Club's Action Plan for 2005, discussing the club's budget with the new Arts Coordinator, and being briefed about my role in this year's LTC (though I never wanted to ever participate in one of these things -- the Great Outdoors holds little promise for a city-boy like me).

The Action Plan is an annual administrative exercise to justify the activities we intend to carry out in the coming year. It also needs to factor in facilities and logistics needed, working backwards from the club's main event, Drama Night. Much of this practical planning is heavily dependent on our script which, as I speak, is still being mulled over by our budding student scriptwriters who may be in over their heads with this task.

It's time to call in the professionals, and this morning, I was lucky enough to contact an old friend, Sham, who is willing to give us a hand. Depending on the amount and scope of work required, her rates range from a coffee to, "um... haven't thought about it yet." At this point in time, my estimate is that what she can do for us will be worth at least a plantation or two. If she's helping, it's a load off my mind. Phew.

My replacement credit card arrived a couple of days ago with the instruction to use it within a fortnight, presumably to see if it is working. I tested it out at Swenson's over dinner. Their special this month is a mixed grill comprising a small steak, chicken, catfish and a couple of sausages. I like my steaks (bloody) rare, so a steak grilled to charcoal perfection isn't my idea of good meat. Also a lack of lamb chops takes a certain something away from the concept. Nevertheless, I was feeling carnivorous and a platter of sizzling animal matter, whatever the condition, made me happy and I wasn't about to complain.

Oh yeah. The credit card works!