A Happy Birthday, To Me, And My Blog

Chinese New Year was a blast this time, but there was no 360 fund to collect for unlike last year. Family all around, hong baos being given, its a great time of the year, probably the best as well. Being Chinese New Year also reminded me that my blog is now slightly more than a year old now, since my first post was somewhere in the heart of it. My first post was also pretty close to my birthday last year, which is what I'll be talking about in this one as well.

Decided to bump the celebrations earlier to today since my actual birthday is the 18th of February, better known as Common Test Day 1, and I doubt too many people would be in a celebratory mood.

Tim Foo probably forgot to come, and Sam was sick, so in the end only Tim Kwok, Matthew, Bryant and Jem turned up. Of course, that had its advantages too, namely not having to pass controllers around so much. Bryant brought his Gamecube, thank goodness, since Jem brought his 360, but forgot his video cable...

Anyhow, we played Super Smash Brothers Melee, with human opponents I could actually had a decent chance of winning against. Bryant and Super Smash is Shen Shin is to Dark Crusade. Played my usual Kirby, refusing to forsake the little fluff ball who can mysteriously pull out swords and hammers 4 times his body length out of the air. Jem was not much competition since he wasn't really listening to the tutorial video, and Tim didn't see the tutorial at all. Matthew was content thrashing my AI+ maps in DotA on my laptop, periodically calling me in to show off his 30+ kills against 3 opponents.

Tried to hustle up some blood pressure pills for Bryant before I started on RE4, he always has fits when he watches me play, and today was no different. Didn't help that I entered the Verdugo stage at the time. Amazingly, I managed to get most of the prompts to dodge the Verdugo's attacks, my reaction time not encumbered by the "six second stun time" my team claims I have. Matthew wonders why I can't do that on the field where it counts, and proceeds to tell everyone of the photo that someone took of me stoning while everyone else was running in a match.

Had dinner at around at around 6:30, got a few pictures of it





Ah Sam, what you missed... There was much steak to be had...

My parents had to send Jem back home since he was supposed to have left my house 5 minutes after 8:30, and he lives in Clementi, so he had quite a distance to cover. Tim had a couple of rounds of disastrous rounds of Mercenaries before his dad came to pick him somewhere around nine to ten, and Matthew hitched a ride with him. Bryant stayed to play Super Smash till about half past eleven with us since he stays just a few streets away.

Then all of a sudden at around 12:15, my mum tells me that there's a kid outside our gate with a bike, and its probably Bryant. I go do to check, and what do you know, it is him.

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Bryant : Okay, its a pretty strange request, but can I borrow two eggs??
Me : No kidding thats strange, what in the world do you need eggs for at this hour?

Bryant : My sis wants them, she's baking...
Me : Who the hell bakes at this hour?? And why didn't you ring the bell??
Bryant : Didn't want to wake anyone up. Tried to call you 4 times
Me : I don't have my phone remember??
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Ah well, its the end of another great birthday and Chinese New Year, thanks to all the guys who came, really enjoyed having you guys here.

Clouds and Cosmos

Night had fallen as I returned home
With weary arms and aching bones
Yet, despite my pack weighing down on me
I couldn't help but stop and see
To gaze up into the pristine night sky
That alluring sight before my eyes

Clouds rolling across the inky black night
So peaceful, so quiet, so calming a sight
The blazing sun gone, replaced by the moon
And although the clouds heralded rain quite soon
I paused awhile to look up at
That endless, free flowing rolling sky that
Stretched out beyond the eye can see

That boundless spectacle made me
Feel so insignificant, so tiny and small
Compared to the cosmos, the stars and all
A tiny speck in a realm so huge
I'm just one person, in my personal refuge

The first raindrops shake me from my starry sojourn
And through the rain, I continue my return

I R Irked

Righto, I'll get started, there be much things I feel I have to whine, bitch and complain about like a little girl in the week.

My loss to Shen Shin on Eden
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On their traditional Frag Day, we went to settle an old score that had lasted between me and Shen Shin in Dark Crusade. Having never actually played against each other, with only reports of each other's skill from other people, I arrived at the LAN center to attempt to dethrone a champion. Shen Shin on the other hand, though he claims he treats "all opponents with respect despite their win rate", thought he was here to partake in a clay pigeon shoot.

The Space Marines of Darassuum Kad Chapter would face off the Guardians of Craftworld Thaelecon. I struck fast, with three Guardian squads savaging his base within 2 minutes of the start, targeting his Servitors before they could bring the heavy bolter turrets online. His Scout marines offered little resistance, and for a short moment, I was completely unopposed. My Dark Reapers began to arrive, just in time as the supersoldiers of the Adeptus Astartes emerged from their barracks, who fell quickly once the agents of Khaine brought their Reaper cannons to bear. Somewhere in the background I could hear Sam saying "Shen Shin, now's a good time to pick up the pace!!" For first time, probably in a long time, the Darassuum Kad Chapter looked like it would not triumph. 5 squads of Dark Reapers fired death and destruction into the crowd of Guardians and Space Marines led by their Brother-Captain.

I don't know how, but somehow, my attack was beginning to be pushed back. Guardians fell as bolter rounds tore into them. Dark Reapers, tied up in melee combat by Assault Marines, were unable to fire their Reaper cannons. My attack force was but scattered bodies on the ground as Grey Knights screamed for my Webway Assembly to be destroyed. Goliath had won once more.

My loss didn't come as surprise to anyone, even to myself. Now here's the bit that really gets I R irked.

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Shen Shin : So beat that rush.
Bryant : I think Cheng Heng will have the last laugh when the final year results come out...
Shen Shin : Apathy... I don't care about studying...
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A week earlier...
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(Chinese test results are back)
Me :Son of a *****, 23...
Shen Shin: What you get??
Me : 23....
Shen Shin: HA!! 32!! IN YOUR FACE!!
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Now, I've known Shen Shin to be a lot of things, mainly fanatical and fascist/Communist/Idealist (Dreamer if you ask me). He's the kind of guy you can picture as the Chairman of some banana Communist republic 20 years down the road. I'm serious, when Mr Chua asked him how he'd solve world poverty in RME, he replied "A Communist revolution." He claimed that "Communism isn't bad" in Full History according to Matthew. Hypocrite isn't one of them, guess I'm going to have to add that to the list now...
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On to the next subject I wish to whine about now...

Loss of my handphone
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All started with Luohan wanting to take a picture in school. Since his phone didn't have external memory, I offered mine up. Of course, of all places he could have picked, he picked the teachers conference room. While a conference was on... Still, I agreed to take the photo, so I guess its partially my fault, but Ms. Tan came out, took one look at Luohan and Co. posing for the shot, and confiscated my phone, telling me to see my HOL. With Frag Day being the next day, and my birthday party on the 9th, I picked a REALLY good time to get my phone confiscated till the end of the term.

!!!Warning!!! Sarcasm levels have reached Byrant-class levels, protective measures must be taken. OOGA BOOGA!!
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Right, now that all that's been out of my system, I can finally get on with more important things, like studying and organizing my birthday party.

>Insert title here<

When I can't think of a title, that will appear.

I bought myself Rune Factory on a whim on Saturday after I refereed at the Sec 3 Inter Class Soccer/Touch Rugby tournament, and I can't seem to get myself off it... Its got Zelda style game play, inclusive of hacking and slashing monsters in caves, the main thing that separates this Harvest Moon series from the rest and made this spinoff so popular. Its also the only HM game which Sam has not dubbed "gay", since he can't stand a game that doesn't involve killing/shooting/violence.

It handles much like any other HM game, but with better graphics and some voice dubbing (not much though). Most interesting part about it, like I said above, is the the monster caves. Its unique combat element adds a lot of life into the series which was starting go stale, judging by the last one they released for DS... In this one, you happily run through caves, slaughtering all the monsters that you come across, or alternatively, you could tame them so they can help you out, either by giving products like eggs, helping water and gather your crops, or helping you fight in the caves.

This blog will turn a year old on the 8th of February, dug that up going through my old posts. Speaking of birthdays, my own is coming up on the 18th, though I plan to have it on the 9th, since 18th is the starting day of the Common Tests. Haven't filled up the guest list yet, as well as the entertainment, since I got to decide that based on the type of people that are coming. A soccer game might be feasible, though I can't imagine Tim Kwok having fun doing that or any other sport for that matter. Definitely decided on the menu though, and it shall involve steak. Sam, if you're reading this, 360 = more steak.

Good and Bad...

Week's been pwnage so far for me, was awarded $150 from the school for good progress, got a perfect score for the differentiation test, among other things.

Problem is, Mrs Ang is away on some course of some sort, which means a stand-in for her was needed, and it arrived in the shape of one Miss Yeo. I'll say it direct, she is boring.

-She never deviates from the book, unlike BAng, who would discuss anything from Heroes, to head lice to Prison Break, to name a few.

-Her lisp. I suppose this really isn't her fault, but it isn't making it any easier for us to concentrate in class.

-She is boring.

-Did I mention she was boring?

Eugene seems to fancy her though, I guess he's got a thing for stick insects. Given the fact that she's barely out of university, I guess this could be due to her lack of experience. We all still want BAng back ASAP though.

Sam requested I put this rant of his up. He wrote it in, surprise surprise, Lit class. The original question was "What makes the old woman and unattractive character?"

Sam's Rant
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What is unattractive?? Perhaps it is like cheese that has gone bad on a hot summer's day, or a jock strap that has been used one too many times and is growing unattractive fungi, or perhaps even Cheng Heng, who has some serious funk in his trunk (Its only ethanol and grass I swear!!) But why did Tom Robinson kill the mockingbird?? I do not know, perhaps its because I have not read the book and I'm working on the assumption that Tom Robinson was the squirrel who grew opposable thumbs, so it could use a BB gun to shoot that bastard son of a bird. Perhaps the bird stole his cake, soft...moist...and most delectable of cakes. The messiah of the cake world. The Ubercake! But I for one think that the companionship cube called "JEM" was overrated and started talking to Gordon Freeman, causing him to go mad and swing his crowbar around, knocking the remote out of Chuck Norris' hands. After which Chuck Norris went nuts and did a roundhouse kick of awesomeness, cracking the world in half!! Billions died and humanity was on the brink of extinction! Then Optimus Prime woke up and discovered it was all a dream and made the resolution not to watch Oracle and Huntress... Mudwrestling!! In a hot tub!! While making out!! While Lara Croft pours lube on them while screaming "Room for one more!?!"
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End of Sam's rant

Don't ask me why, he somehow always draws the topic to his favourite Oracle/Huntress fantasy.

First of all, let me say a very happy 16th birthday to both the Tims I know, Tim Foo, and Tim Kwok (Yes, I know I'm a week late).

Tim Foo had his birthday party yesterday, a week early if I remember right. I was supposed to get there at 6, my parents got lost trying to navigate to his place, the house numbering coming to an abrupt end at 102 when he said he stayed at number 4 on the same street. When we finally found out that there were two sections that of that same street that were split into two, I finally arrived half an hour late, spotting Poh Chih and him walking to the field at the back of his house with Chris to play soccer.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who as late. Most had arrived by 7, save Raghaav, who got lost as expected. Tim finally found him wandering around a few streets away at around seven thirty, and we could finally get the game started. The game itself was hilarious, mostly since the ground was wet and muddy from the rain. Joel ran around holding his pants up the whole game to keep them clean, Reuben tried not to get his black nail polish washed off (A failure), people missed easy goals because they couldn't see the ball in the dark, the trees were the top scorers with 3 goals, I threw a frog I found on the field at Poh Chih midway through the game, Raghaav nearly broke his neck taking a kick when he slipped and fell, and we managed to roll Zhongxi through the mud just before we ended.

We finally came in close to 9 after Keith nearly killed Joel with a shot, and queued up to take a bath (It took as all nearly an hour to get cleaned off) before we got around to having dinner out in Tim's backyard. Despite the generous spread of food before us, I seemed to be the only one with a significant appetite. Chris suddenly realized it was already 10+ and he needed to be home so we hurried up with the cake cutting so everyone could rush home in time for their curfews.

Coach's selection of the 22 player squad will depend on the match tomorrow St. Andrews on their new artificial turf. My bid for a starting position is shaky at best, doomed at worst. Right now, I just want to fight my way onto the 22 man squad first, then take it from there. My last chance for redemption is at hand, my hand must not falter.

The Return to Reality

School has started again, and homework that I never knew existed began to appear, like Chinese... Six essays, a couple of comprehensions... This would hard enough already as English, but in Chinese... Can't imagine what the situation would be like if I decided to be lazy and not do any of my other homework.

Mr. Lam's sense of humour seems to have grown over the holidays, unfortunately tipping toward the sick end of the spectrum. Check this out
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Lam : Joel, tell me, are the wires of the solenoid insulated or not??
Joel : Err... Insulated
Lam : Correct, it must be insulated, with rubber. We are safe people, must always use rubber protection
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Lam : Now, we have a few ways to magnetize a magnetic material. One, a traditional favourite of boys here, is called stroking, where we use one magnet to rub against it. Then we have the method known as double stroking, where we use two magnets to rub against it.
Someone : Is double stroking faster??
Lam : The number of hands does not matter, you still get the same...effect.
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To try and relax, I decided to skip the selection trials for Sec 1's (It was optional, and it was raining) Chris and company to play table football. Problem was, Bryant was torn between going with them or going home to do his homework and Monty didn't want to go to HBD Hub because it was too far from his house, and we debated on what to do in the CC cafeteria while Daryl took a crap and Mojo ran back to school to buy graph paper

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Bryant : See, I really have to get back home and finish up the @#*#ing Chinese..
Chris : Just come with us, you can copy off mine. Well, I left a few blank, but those are the harder ones, you can try them out yourself.
Bryant : Arggh, what to do?? Cheng Heng, what do you want to do?
Me : I....Think I'll just flop over and go to sleep.
(Flops onto the table and goes to sleep)
Bryant : Absolutely useless in a crisis...
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Eventually, Bryant decided to follow Daryl to HBD Hub to help him kill time before he met up with his other friends, and I tagged along. After lunch, we went to MacDonalds to so Daryl and Bryant would have a more a conducive environment to do their differentiation holiday homework in. Having done and handed up mine long ago, I sat there with my McFlurry and helped them out when they needed it, which was pretty often. Flipping through Bryant's Batgirl comic in between rescuing them, I came across a tile with Batgirl and Oracle hugging each other. On a bed. Sam would explode if he saw that. He was went crazy enough at the though of Oracle and Huntress in a mud fight, in bikinis, and requesting to Gail Simone that she include such a situation future issues was on his "To Do" list when we met her at the Writers Festival.