"I want to be your danna"

I just watched Memoirs of a Geisha, and I'm so so glad I did. Oh, I just realized as I was typing the quote in today's title my name's inside. Tsk tsk, no secondary meanings though.

Anyway, I'm just so moved by the show. I love it to bits! The flow, the direction, the camera movement, the acting, the plot, the dialogue, the everything!!! I officially award this movie my best movie watched in the last 365 days. I would like to catch it again to be honest.. TWO THUMBS UP! It also helps that the lead actress is Zhang Ziyi, quite the sweetest actress I know that ever existed. Her younger counterpart is quite sweet too, and two toes up for her acting! I felt so drawn to the lead character that I was perpetually sucked into the current of her story. When she smiled, so too did I. When she laughed, I chuckled with her. When she was sad, I got angry at the people who made her feel that way. When things didn't happened the way she had expected, I gasped the loudest in the theatre.. Oh my, do I sound in love? Haha, crap. Maybe it was just me, perhaps it was Zhang Ziyi. Maybe it was the movie, another fine love story.

"She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret."

Kirei.

Bizzee

I was just thinking about what to name today's post and the first thought was the word "Busy". It suddenly dawned upon me that the word "Busy" should be pronounced as "Bus-See" rather than "Biz-zee". Funny things we take for granted without putting a thought into them. Simple words we learnt in primary school sometimes really can baffle us at the most unexpected moments. Ever wrote a word and suddenly wondered why its spelling looks especially strange even though its correct?

Anyway, back to being bizzee. Yeah I've started my internship at Credit Suisse from 16th Jan, the date Credit Suisse decided to merge it's subsidiaries back to one huge company. So there were a lot of reforms and reshufflements on my first day. I've got a little desk next to my manager's cubicle, alone beside the PHOTOCOPYING MACHINE! I'm like the little dustbins they used to have at a junction of the road. Everyone is walking pass me to use the photocopying machine, and I can smell the ink after long usage. My PERSONAL wastebin has also turned into the photocopying machine bin, cos there's no other bin situated nearby so everyone dumps their copied rubbish into my bin. Haha.. Do I actually sound unhappy about work? Actually, not at all. I'm very happy there, and I do feel it's a privilege just to work in that place. THe people are nice and helpful, though I really really need a lot of help. So out of place really, what's an engineer doing in a bank for internship? But hey, I dun plan on being one after I graduate anyway. Hehe

There are some confidential stuff I'm obligated not to speak about. The only thing is.. I'm not fully sure which info are. So I had better not talk too much about work at the moment, til I complete the reading of the compliance papers. Anyway it's late, I'm gonna have to sleep soon. And skip back to my tiring, bizzee day again tomorrow. Yippeeeee!!

Raine day!

Woke up this morning to a super rainy day, and somehow I knew the street soccer game we had arranged for the morning was not meant to be. I caught a cold in the morning, after breathing in some dust from my PS2 machine and basically had my nose dripping the whole day. Arggghhhh.. By the time the guys started arriving at my place, the rain had already stopped though. But since everyone came at different times, we played PS2 before the whole gang of 10 reached.

Finally, we kicked the ball a little bit and my team VERY QUICKLY conceded a goal, while I was still stretching. Haha!! Another 2 minutes later, my team conceded it's 3rd goal. I turned around and was wondering "eh how come the other team got another player appear suddenly?". No it wasnt a ghost, but a security guard was standing in the middle of the court and told us to get out. Apparently, there was a sign outside which non of us noticed which was saying the court was closed til 15th January DUE TO RENOVATIONS. But what the, there were NO renovations loh. I asked a more friendly guy who came with the guard and he said it was becos there were some paintwork and the painters didnt want to look like they missed a spot. HELLOOOOOOOOOO?!?! A whole morning of anticipation for 10 burly guys just plummetted to rock bottom.

Jon Wong suggested we head off to another court since we had 2 cars, good enough for 10 guys. We reached Sin Ming's court to find another 12 guys (20-30 yrs old) playing already. We challenged them and played for about 3 matches before it started to pour AGAIN!! We gave up, and drove to Thomson road to check out the Prata house. We knew it was Haji, but still gave it a try cos we didn't think the Indian owners would go to Mecca. Unfortunately, it was closed and so was the Dim Sum backup kopitiam. So we put up at a mince meat noodle kopitiam while the rain continued to pour. It was nice having Josh join us anyway, it's been a long time! :)

Isaac, Joel and Josh followed me home to bathe, gym and play PS2. You guys free can just come my place, we go gym anytime k hehe? It's boring gym'ing alone all the time. Josh had to go at 2pm, but Joshua came over after that, haha. Yeah, my place was filled with church people the whole day. I like it, cos I havent been able to house you guys much whilst I was in hostel. Not like when I was younger, cos I had always invited church people for overnights at my place (feed Isaac until he so big size now). Joel and Joshua stayed and we basically did a whole load of crappy stuff before going for dinner together nearby. It was a simple day, but pretty fruitful for me and a very happy one too. Having good pals (old and new) at my place after so many years of staying at an inaccessible hostel is goooooooooooood!! Haha.. yippeee

Algene "Tinkle Foot" Hong, James "Leftie" Ke and Ong "Special Skill" Chun Xiang.

Isaac "Rolly Polly" Xu doing his cissy smile

Bak Chor Mee.. I couldnt taste it cos my nose was blocked. Sigh

Auntie: "Sioooo, Sioooo.."
PS: I didn't notice the auntie's ears til I posted this pic. Wow dO_Ob

Have I ever mentioned I knew Joel since he was 2 yrs old?

Special appearance!! Josh "20 minute Cross Country" Ang

And our final guest star.. Joshua "24/7 Smiley" Kwek!

Of Rain and Memories

The last 3 days have seen Singapore through almost 3 whole days of rain. I'm sure a great deal of people feel snuffed by the rain, and probably had to endure a fair deal of moisture for any outdoor activities. As for me, it's been a pretty fun filled weekend fair to say the least.

Saturday saw a new batch of Sec 1's joining Secell for the first time. Well I must say, 1993 must have been a pretty unproductive year for some of our church people, cos we've only got 3 Sec 1's this year! We had some short games for Secell, one of which involved everyone making a "new friend" haha.

Josiah tapes up the umbilical cord of his new friend

"X" marks the spot. Is that where we're suppose to burst him?

Jere: "Is my balloon big enough?"

Josiah's new friend likes to laze around on his back more I think. Haha..

Trash bag man needs a little bit of patching up here and there to stand up

Team "WILSON!!" (adapted from movie, Cast Away)

Team "DANIEL" (adapted from Cheryl's cell leader, yours truly)

Team "WILLY" (adapted from movie, Cast Away 2 - Brother of Wilson)

Cod Liver Oil advertisement - "bi yi bi, shui bi shui gao?"

Cheryl, Joel and Josiah. Friends to our "new friends"

Funky pic of Joey. Nice? She on the way to putting the V-sign, but my camera faster. Haha

Sunday was no less gloomy than Saturday. In fact, it was worse cos it virtually rained from morning (before I woke up) til night (after I fell asleep) nonstop! A drenching and cold day.. bleh! Went to the new Marina Square Foodloft for lunch with church people. Had Black Pepper Chicken Baked Rice with Mushroom Soup for only $3.50. And surprisingly, the baked rice was pretty okie. The rice below the cheese was a bit dry though, but overall worth the moola! Went to walk around after having a fun talk with Josiah, Jere and Joy.. we went in search of Andersen's ice cream. Nice weather to eat ice cream! We lingered around the mall a bit more before I got a lift back home from uncle Jimmy.

Youth Zone 3 worrr.. Next time meeting place will be Marina Square. Pre-arranged liao

Monday! Skipped the industrial attachment talk in school from 10-11am cos decided travelling to school for 1.5hrs wasn't worth the 1hr talk. Anyway turned out the talk wasn't worth listening to either, wahahaha.. Philip, Agent Yellow and myself arranged for a Dim Sum lunch buffet at Excelsior Hotel. Not bad! Not bad at all!! A pity it was the eve of a holiday today, otherwise we would have been paying about $12 plus instead of the $16 plus we ended up paying today. Worth our buckers man, the food was not bad indeed. Oh ya, there was a "Pastor's Lunch conference" or something inside the restaurant too. I saw a few pastors with the white tape around the collars and saw Pastor Oh Beng Kee with them! Hahaha

Good stuffs!! Not too oily, not too dry. Quite tasty, go and try!

I never knew eating Chinese food could bring so much joy to an Indian
After the meal, I decided to pay my childhood memories a visit. Anyone remembers the old Excelsior Hotel room we used to hold our church services in? That was about 13-15 yrs ago, so some of you can forget trying to remember.. haha. But my word, has that place changed (duh). I just felt like a kid all over again as those memories just came back to me. Hmm.. just realized I've been in the church for quite awhile now. So old.. sigh.

The lift lobby. Most of my readers would be carried up in the arms of their parents through these lifts. Either that, or still "in production".. This place hasn't changed a bit at all from how I remembered it. Press "5" for church service level at 8.30am on Sundays!

Once you come out of the lift, you'll be greeted by a long spiral staircase. I remember the stairs were carpeted when I was younger though. Red colour if I recall correctly. Those good old days when we would run up and down tirelessly and making a din while the service was going on in the room. They spruced up the wall lights at the background, repainted or replaced the old ones. But the design was still the same.

A peer over the glass panel would offer a full view of where the spiral staircase leads to, the 4th storey. Where there'll always be an empty security guard desk and a signage saying "Church of Singapore (Balestier)". My childhoooooood..

Turning right from the spiral staircase would bring us into a "holding area" outside the room used for our serviced. The place has been refurnished, and some of the old artifacts had been replaced. The wall of mirrors behind still looks the same though. I remember there was a huge statue of something next to the wall, but I can't really remember what it was. Artist impression shows that it was an eagle perhaps. Haha.. Oh ya, there was another LARGER statue in the middle of the holding area, with a circular marble bench area around it. Can't show it in the pics though, sorry bout that.

Next to the entrance to the service would be a small room cordoned off with plastic walls (no more) with a glass window looking inwards towards the holding area. There would be a TV and a set of sofa couches in the elongated makeshift room. And what do the kids do on Sunday morning when the service was going on? WE WATCH SUNDAY CARTOOOOOONS!! YIPPEEEE!! Haha

The glass doors, leading to the pool outside, between the TV room and restrooms.

The doors leading to the Orchid Room, where the services were held every Sunday morning.

The room was exactly as we had left it. With the exception of a platform missing, and 2 speakers beside it. I quite distinctively remember that this was one of the few rooms we used with NO backdrop behind the stage. So the mirror behind was rather distracting. Haha

During those days when the kids used Beach Road's Chye Sing building. We would wait patiently for the bus to fetch us there just outside the lift lobby. Yes yes.. back then SOME of the girls were taller than us boys. But now.. no more!! Wahahahaha..

I remember how I used to be a super fatty bom bom, trying to fight for his identity among a group of more pleasant-looking children. How I tried so hard to fit in, but couldn't help but just felt so different. And somehow, somewhere God brought along a few friends who didn't mind me despite my ugly obese, uncompelling looks. Those memories are pretty faraway from me now even as I try to recall exactly how I felt then. But looking at where I am now, I can't help but give thanks for the entire process of how I was moulded to be the person I am today. As much as the 5th floor of the once familiar Excelsior Hotel has evolved, we too have changed aplenty over the course of time. Well, yes we're not perfect; in fact, more often than not, we feel quite the opposite don't we? The great hope I have is the God, who took me through the last 15 years and has done so much for me, will "carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:6)! If that being so, then I'll be overjoyed to be able to say, "Dear Lord, in my life have Your way."

He makes all things new

It's the 5th day into the new year, yet it doesnt feel that a new year has begun for me. Things are still very much the same as the previous year has left them to be. New year calls for new things! New resolutions, and all things new. There's a line in a Christian song that goes "He makes all things new.." How nice if that happens for me at the start of the new year. Chicken Little says this,"That's it.. for today is a new day!" and Tom Hanks in Cast Away quoted,"Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?" Very inspiring indeed. Now all that's left is to follow Lady Macbeth who said,"But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail." It's not vulgar in case you're wondering. It's an analogy of screwing a string of a stringed instrument, til the position where it'll hold permanently, called the "sticking-place". Hehe

Work won't start til 16th Jan, so took time to catch a movie with Daren and Felix today. Watched an arty farty R21 show called "Blood and Bones". I had the idea it was a gory show, end up it's a very sad, violent show and rated so due to sexual content. The show left me with a very melancholic feeling, and the protagonists were so well built up throughout the show it was pure class. Well worth the $7 if you're of the age! Hung around to get Joy and Nat's presents, and in the end, the presents I got are VERY NICE! If you two don't like them, I dun mind trading them with you wahaha.. Got time to testo my new phone too (yes new year calls for new measures, including new gadgets). Not much of a gadget la, it's quite basic. It's the Panasonic VS2, got it for $40 inclusive of trade-in of my old Nokia 6100 model. Very worth it in my opinion, considering the phone sports a pretty workable 1.3megapixel camera.

Always wanted my next phone to be a clamshell. More classy.
Living room's mirror rather dirty, sorry bout that

Here's how the phone (and me) looks when it (and my mouth) is closed.

Wa the barrel distortion at 1m is quite a lot for a phone camera.
What's barrel distortion? Just look at the shape of my face..

Err.. not a very glamourous shot of Felix.
Paiseh dude.. Well, at least you look happy and chirpy!!!

Wa, not bad performance despite the bus being so dark. Overall 3/5 :)

Post Year End Party 2005

The Youth Year End Party 2005 officially ended. Would like to congratulate James and the committee for such a fabulous event, even despite everyone's tireness from the month's non stop stream of programmes! At this juncture, I feel really proud of everyone, those who participated in the event as helpers and also those who took the effort to fill up the area with such a wonderful atmosphere Chancery Lane felt like it was exploding. The party was my brainchild, so I feel really glad to see it through and I think it's a marvellous start to many years of Year End Parties upcoming. James took up the challenge of being a chairperson for this, and with an initial hint of reluctance, I now know it was a good thing that he took over me to run the party. Hope to see many more YEP's for as long as the ministry flourishes.

The Decor team was really fantastic, the stars and the little gritty details were just splendid. I'm not quite sure who made up the team but I know Matz and Yizhen were, and a job well done to the entire team! Also, the door gifts were genius. I dunno how long it took you all to do that many bottles of "stuff" but they were really nice. The only gripe about it being that it's fragile and I'm not sure how many got leaky ones. Haha. The logistics were pretty swift and the floor management was precise too, I think we've got wonderful able people who strike a chord with their roles there! Last but not least, to the Body Shop girls and guy, I'm proud of all of you. At your age, I wouldnt even have dared to dream of doing what you all did that night. To offer your skills and perform like that, no matter how imperfect the performance may turn out to be, is super commendable already. Everyone improves along the way, so help one another out. Remember, at the end of the day its the person next to you that matters most, not how perfect the performance ends up.

I counted the heads in the group photo at the end of the party, and the number was 76! That excludes quite a number of those who couldn't come, and our photo-master, Nanaho. The next year IS going to be an exciting one, for each one of us and hence it rolls over into the ministry. I love the atmosphere of cheer, laughter and lovey doveyness about the air last night. And it feels so genuine. Let's bring that kind of atmosphere beyond special dates like Christmas'es, New Year Countdowns and Camps, but each time we meet let us show that kind of special bond we all possess between one another!

On a more personal note, the year 2005 was been somewhat of a hard one for me. One of the toughest but nonetheless perhaps one of the most fruitful. I don't really know what to hope for in the year 2006, my resolutions are somewhat pretty non existent at the moment. The month of December 2005 ends off a busy year for the church in spectacular fashion, with me having a major piece of the pie in almost every event. Has been a busy month, and I'm needing a retreat badly. Both a personal one, and one for leadership in the ministry. It's tough seeking for God's direction over certain things, because "many are the plans in a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails". It takes a whole load of faith to believe in "God's best", and do away with the feeling of being so insignificant to someone who means so much to you.

Final planning before showtime!

Theme of the night. Duhhh..

Wahaha.. very interesting

I'm not quite sure what Cyrus was trying to imply here

Registration table girls. First impression counts!

Door gift of the night.. Ingenious

First few party'ers!

Manna: "Ask me pay? Do you know who I am?!"

I dunno how come we look so solemn here..

Haha. Obviously some people caught the party spirit

Look at the extras behind man..

Dedicated to Tommy Oh Jin Rui!!!

"Bleeehhhhhhh.."

Hmm.. no sound no sound!

Look at Lydia and Algene's cheeky grin man!

KING KONG!!!

Our tables won! Hehehe..

"So I used Helena's laptop to send an email.."

"I was an Ah Beng who scold a lot of bad words.."

"I also was an Ah Beng.. Joshua's good friend.."

Presenting.. Da Body Shop!!

The teacher, leader and friend!

"Happy New Year!!"

"Yummmmm SENGGGGG!!"

A statement to say,"No one goes home empty handed."

Emcee also gotta vacuum floor. Think so glamorous?

Dun come near me. I sux!!

Can't believe we ended up at the Fung's house to play polar bear

High on the chocolates! Haha..

How not to get high on glucose? Mad chocolate fest..

Only 30 pics shown here, click to see larger version (lines a bit jagged on smaller version). But the total pics count for the night was 269!! Click on the photo album on the right side to view all. Here're 3 videos as well:

1. Body Shop rehearsal (10mb)
2. Body Shop performance (7mb)
3. After party bo-liao'ness (3mb)

I can't end off without saying a huge thanks to my cell members for the CD-ROM and powerpoint presentation. I know time was short, so that made it tougher but I'm really really thankful to Joy, Josh, Joel, Lama, Rach, Cheong mei mei and Nat! Here's the short presentation I got! :)