Parles Vous Francais?

ermz.. hell no..

i dont speak French.. except for the lady marmalade one ah..

Voule Vous Couche Avec Moi Ce Soir.. ;)

ok.. anyway.. i'm heading down to Paris for my first flight after 2 weeks of reservist..

damn.. i feel so lazy to go to work.. not that i hate it.. coz i do enjoy flying.. but itz just that i'm getting too used to be home everyday for the past couple of weeks.

i'm gonna be celebrating New Year in Paris.. i dunno how many times i mentioned that.. but yeah..

i dont look forward for this flight coz itz too darn cold now.. bought another thermal yesterday.. and i am gonna prepare myself with all things warm.. so that i could go out on the streets for the countdown..

for those who wished that they are in cold countries.. imagine this..

in Singapore, u can go to Orchard Rd or Marina or Esplanade or Sentosa or wherever u wanna go.. in ur t-shirts and jeans or shorts or bermudas or bikinis in Sentosa.. and do the countdown..

in Europe or States.. u'll be as covered as an Egyptian Mummy trying to shout out the countdown, shivering in cold, breathing cold air and trust me.. itz not as nice as it seems..

but having a countdown is better than not having any... the atmosphere is different.. and for that, i'll get some pics for u guys to see..

ok.. backtrackking time..

i completed my reservist on Tuesday.. was supposed to be in Clementi Station by 11am.. and i woke up at 11am..

damn.. why issit that whenever i need to wake up earlier, i could.. but 11am?

thatz not even close to be a morning..

procrastination.. dammit..

but itz ok.. therez no rush to it and i arrived at 12 noon and got my stuffs done anyway..

i had lunch at Macdonald's at Tampines Mart..

met up with my 2 guitarists, Yazid and Azil at Coffee Bean at Century Square..

had dinner at the halal food court there in Century Square.. and met my old friend from my NPP, Amran along the way.. he now got a few kids and his wife is already so wifey like.. unlike those days when i knew him before he got married.. his wife was still very petite and pretty.. thatz what kids do to you..

i bought a pair of Emporio Armani shades.. niceeeeeee... i likeeeeeeeee...



see? nice rite?

i met a friend of mine.. we call him Ayang.. and yepz.. itz a guy.. Ayang.. wahahaha..

ok.. anyway.. this fella was my close friend during National Service.. very humble guy.. always drunk.. but he treasures friendships.. so basically.. like the kinda fella that will die to save a friend kinda thing.. dunno.. i didnt have to die so basically that is yet to be tested..

we used to sit together to polish our boots in camp.. just a group of like 4 or 5 of us minding our own stuffs while the rest of the guys are bz playing pranks on other recruits..

we were teenagers then.. and itz a wonder what life brings..

i didnt know i would end up being a flight attendant..

i dont think he will know at that time that he will end up having 3 stints in the DRC..

i think after 3 times he should realise that itz enough and get on with life..

itz a wonder.. some of my friends who reads this blog are still in school.. look around you.. ur friends.. and urself.. wonder what will happen in 10 yrz time?

lemme recall my good friends in secondary school..

my best friend in sec school, Yasser.. was a freaking talented artist.. he could draw anything.. now works for a graphic artist for MTV..

Ramdzan.. was in love with the sea.. was in the NCC(Sea), canoeing, and swimming team.. became a salvage diver who dives to bring up ships that was being sunk during the Gulf War.. i met him several years back on my flight from Sydney..

Pragasam.. went to ITE and did machining.. and is now a machinist.. lol.. expected..

most of the fellas became police officers.. dunno why.. especially those who are really really really bad.. the bullies in school.. toyed with drugs and so on.. and they are good cops now..

one fella had always wanted to run his own business, now runs a food stall..

one that we thought is gay, got a girl pregnant and is married to her..

the fastest guy in class.. wins at almost every running event that he takes part in.. is a flat footer and therefore classified as unfit during National Service..

the most popular guy in school.. multi talented.. plays the drums (in fact, he was the first and only drum teacher that i had), lead guitarist.. damn.. should watch his guitar scaling.. and at 16, wrote a song for a rock band that became a Malay top hit for 5 weeks.. a good singer (won a Karaoke contest by singing a Cantonese song), good in his artwork.. seriously good.. captain for the soccer team, takraw, held the record that time for long jump and high jump in school, won the 100m and 400m races.. and is very good looking.. is now bald and fat and a police officer..

in fact.. he won the karaoke competition for the whole of Singapore Police Force in 2002..

the most popular girl in school.. and as how my brother put it was that, half of the guys in school had a crush on her, small, petite, long haired and very cute.. is now twice divorced..

her ex-bf, who was my classmate now is a teacher, father of 2 and happily married..

and one guy.. one of the popular ones also lah.. definitely more popular than me coz i went thru unnoticed for 4 yrz in school coz i was the ugliest boy there.. is now wanted by police for failing to go for urine test as he had been in and out of DRC and prison..

wonder how u and ur friends will end up?

here comes the freeloader..

hmm.. ok.. i ended my reservist today.. going back to Clementi Police Station tmrw to return my stuffs..

so itz a matter of days till i go back for flights.. going to Paris on 30th Dec and spend the New Year there..

i need to learn how to count from 10 to 1 in French for the countdown.. but i'm not looking forward for it coz itz freezing cold in Europe now..

i'll try to get as many pictures of it as i can..

ok.. letz whine again..

i think from time to time we come across ppl who likes to freeload... and i happened to be on duty with one who has the habit of doing that continuously..

one of my troopmates..

so far, within the 2 weeks serving together, i spotted him buying cigarettes only ONCE. so when itz time for us to hide for a smoke, he'll demand for cigarettes from anyone whoz there.. especially me.. coz it seems that he thinks i'm supposed to do that..

everytime i buy a drink, he'll just take it as if he deserves it.. and drink it.. i'm not really bothered if itz once or twice.. but *ALL* The time?

damn..

there was once.. i bought nasi lemak.. and sat in the pantry to have it..

and my dear friend walked in.. apparently, he bought one too.. but from a different place..

so he opened up his packet..

eh.. got no ikan bilis.. and he grabbed it from my packet..

there were 2 cucumber slices in my packet.. and he said that he wants one.. so i said ok..

after he finished it, he took the other one..

things like this happened so many times.. so what if i earn more than him? if he cant afford to buy cigarettes, DONT SMOKE. if he happened to buy some sucky food from some sucky stall? TOO FUCKING BAD. dont buy from there again lor..

so i was left with 3 options.. to bear with it.. since itz just 2 weeks, or to tell him off... or like what i attempted to do.. avoid as much contact as i could..

that was what i attempted.. but itz hard when u work in the same shift and ended up seeing each other daily.. so itz a mix of bearing with it and avoiding interactions..

thank goodness reservist ended today.. if it was prolonged, i think i might spend twice the amount that i do normally coz i have an extra mouth to feed..

ok.. end of whining..

backtrackking time..

work, work, work.. most of the time.. 12 hour shifts are tough man.. luckily the guys i was working with are nice, normal ppl.. very pleasant team..

yesterday, i met up with Sheikhah Aljunied for a drink and ice cream at Swensons' Tampines, as i had promised her..

came across my cousins and their kids there..

went to work for the last nite shift, and after we ended the tour of duty.. had breakfast with the guys at Mei Ling Street nasi lemak stall.. the sucky one.. but convenient coz of the proximity to the NPC.

and i sat far away from the freeloader.. far far away.. but he still managed to grab my packet of cigarettes and pretended that it was his..

i slept thru the day.. and went to Jurong West to my cousin's place with my parents.. watched some DVDs, and suddenly.. i felt like eating durian..

me and my 2 nieces, Aisha and Nazira.. and my nephew, Farhan, went out to look for some.. went to Gek Poh, no have.. went to Giant, 10 mins too late.. called Beep, he dunno where to get, went to the old Jurong West, no have..

so sad.. came back empty handed..

and by the way.. I AM NOT DATING MY NIECE.

anyone of them.

as much as i am looking forward to go back to work now.. i'm just too lazy..

but what i realised was that.. while u hear other ppl complaining during reservist abt their jobs, i am the only contented one..

therez nothing to complain abt this job anyway.. i love flying, i love the company i'm working for.. and might be doing it for years to come..

dix, neuf, huit, sept, six, cing, quatre, trois, deux, un, zero!!!!!!

Paris!!!!!!!! Here I Come!!!!!!

erkz.. i wish i could stay home instead..

Of Mats and Minahs

again..

mats and minahs attracted my attention again today..

not that i saw them.. but had a conversation about them..

i had always wondered why would anyone be a mat or minah.. lack of fashion knowledge or lack of cash to buy something nice?

and they have a certain kinda look.. like those that dont pass off as attractive as the rest of the population, they end up being in that clan.. i dont think i had met even one pretty minah..

eh.. i did see 2 mats just now.. one with red hair.. at the something-link near tampines interchange..

damn.. i wonder still.. why be one?

so i had a conversation at Coffee Bean, at Century Square.. of some of her friends who are of that particular CONCEPT..

seems like itz not a matter of choice.. they just happen to be one..

and to slack around under the block doing nothing, and budgeting their expenses.. i think i'd rather stay home and whine if i am that broke..

lemme try to recall my encounters with mats and minahs..

the most recent one is with the girl who was auditioned to be our keyboardist.. she said that she can play they piano.. and so it was assumed that she can switch over to keyboards with enough practice..

and she claimed to be a Rudegirl.. and i was like.. wahh.. ok.. a rudie who plays the keyboards.. good.. now we dont need to teach the theory of ska music to her..

so i met her for the first time in Tampines to pass the songs to her for her to learn..

and i was like.. erkz.. damn.. she dont look like a rudegirl.. she's a minah!

and thus she was called Shaminah.. instead of her actual name, Shamimi..

she jammed with us several times.. and we decided that she wasnt cut out for it.. maybe in other bands lar.. but not ours.. for reasons that i shall not disclose..

and her bf.. a mat.. looks like a mat. talks like a mat. walks like a mat.

ok.. another encounter..

with a girl that had chatted with me on msn for quite a while..

and so when it comes to a time that we were supposed to have dinner.. she came down with her friend, and then we met her brother and some friends.. so we all sat together..

and i was suffocated by the presence of mats and minahs.. i couldnt understand their conversation, and i cant stand the sight of them..

so i cut the meeting short.. though one of them was still intrigued by my occupation.. i should just tell them to go to the airport to talk to cabin crew if they really need to talk to one..

sorry dude.. ur conversations are just not of my frequency.. no matter how hard i try to tune to urs, i just couldnt appreciate ur line of thoughts..

many years back.. when i was 17.. i used to have a gf for 3 days with a minah.. damn funny..

and so i asked for a breakup 3 days later..

i went down to her house for hari raya with some of my friends.. and we witnessed her parents smoking heroin in the kitchen..

and so thatz how they fucked up their lives.. by having fucked up parents..

so are mats and minahs really misfits of the Malay society?

i could forgive someone who had been a drug addict, or a thief..

but being a Mat?

gawddammit..

ok.. enough of rantings abt them today..

backtrackking time..

came back from night shift yesterday and slept thru the day..

woke up in the evening.. and went out for dinner with my parents and wily at Changi Village..

ok.. itz a nice place for briyani dam, and the satay there is good.. so if u guys run short of ideas for a makan place.. thatz a good place to go..

$17 for 4 plates of briyani and suji.. and filled the 4 of us to a point of contentment..

the same amount of money.. in Japan, would be for a small bowl of tempura-don, which can fill u for 15 minutes before u start thinking about food again..

after dinner, me and wily headed down to El Sheikh.. was supposed to meet my niece, Aisha there.. but she couldnt make it again.. Alwi and Farouk joined us shortly..

headed down for supper at Salihin, and met 2 friends of Alwi, Emmanuel and Arshad.. and sat there talking abt everything, till abt 2am..

therez a cat that gave birth right in front of my house.. just next to my bedroom window.. so i was up the whole night listening to the kitten cry..



cute kan?

but too bad lar.. i dont think i'd be keeping anymore cats.. so i have to force myself to refrain from having any interactions with the cats..

went out at abt 4pm just now.. headed down to the airport to collect my biometrics passport..

fetched my mom at 5.45, and after sending her home, went down to Tampines Mall and Century Square and sat at Coffee Bean chatting with her..

saw Efnie, Mima's friend passing by.. i dont think i could coz i saw her only once before..

and met up with my friend Siska.. after so long not seeing her.. ah.. Siska.. u look the same too.. masih macam budak kecik..

i got myself a Jabra bluetooth headset yesterday at Changi Village.. at one of the handphone shops there..

i'm in love with it..

thatz it for the updates.. better go now coz i need to wake up at 6am for my last morning shift of my reservist this year..

ok dok.. wa blah dulu..

P.I.M.P

ouch..

my ankle hurts..

i dunno why.. just out of a sudden.. while i was walking towards Starbucks just now..

still hurts..

ok.. anyway.. just got back from Siglap.. chilled out with Suhailah, Mohammad, Danial, and 2 guys whoz name slipped off my mind, Fizsa, and therez a birthday boy, who somehow remembered me coz he asked me whether i just got back from flight.. and a friend of the birthday boy, and another girl who just got back from some workout.. i dont remember her name either..

thanx for the ice cream cake.. it was nice.. but sorry we had to leave so soon..

i was on morning shift just now.. still doing my reservist..

nothing much happened.. just that i wanna say somethings abt what i just found out..

ok.. at the end of my tour of duty.. was sitting down with some of my friends, whoz names i wont mention..

ok.. there were these 2 married men talking..

abt going to prostitutes..

and take my word for it.. i had NEVER gone to prostitutes nor have i ever paid for sex.. so i'm quite dumb when it comes to these things.. and what i heard surprised me..

one fella was introducing the other to a so-called pimp.. i dunno whether he is a real pimp or not..

so he was like smsing the pimp.. asking for recommendations..

and the reply came in. and he showed it to us..

Emily. 23, blablabla, Office Worker, Bangkok.. and the vital statistics..

i didnt really read it lah.. so i was just listening to the conversation.. then came in several other recommendations..

and he asked for a pic of Emily.. and Mr Pimp mms-ed the pic..

according to my friend, therez even a website where you can view the photos.. talk abt keeping up with times.. so if u like her, u can just book her..

and no.. i didnt take down the pimp's number... so forget abt asking me for it..

i'll be working at night tmrw.. always a challenge to stay awake..

somehow i'm starting to miss my flights..

and btw.. how did Siglap gets itz name? Si Gelap?

an indian village used to be there perhaps?

Oh my darling.. Oh my darling.. Oh my darlingggg Clementine.....

yippeeeeeeee..

i got a new lighter!

met Zainah today.. coz we planned to go to Esplanade to have a drink at a cafe there..

as she said.. she finally got for me a belated birthday gift.. and it was a nice gift..

just in time coz i lost my Zippo that Mima bought for me abt 2 months back.. i had wanted to get another Zippo.. but here comes a windproof Dupont!



anyway, i still mourn for the lost of that Zippo.. it was a stupid mistake.. i left it on top of my car and i drove off.. at least, thatz my theory of how i lost it..

so i wont ever lose this Dupont k...

so, i picked her up at her place at 6.. right after i fetched my mom from work.. was slacking at home the whole day before that..

we headed down to Max Brenner, a chocolate bar at the ground floor of Esplanade.. it was nice... i had the Venezuela White Chocolate drink.. damn.. itz nice.. just need to have a shot of expresso in it and it will be perfect..



ah.. tu dia.. she's engrossed with her ice cream..

after the drink, we went up to the rooftop terrace for a while... met the 2 friends of Aishah slacking there.. told me that Aishah just left..

so we stood there watching the river, and headed down there coz she wanted to bring me on a riverboat ride..

i had always wondered where the boats go to..

so we went down.. and she got the tickets for the boat ride..



tak sabar tu.. nampak sah..

saw a group of mats and minahs sitting near us.. now.. issit a new trend that girls wear their jeans and show their buttcrack?

itz damn fucking ugly.

yes, we like to see girls naked.

yes, we like to see cleavage.

yes, we like to see girls in bikinis.

but buttcracks?

i think itz the third one that i had seen this week. damn..

and thatz not including at the gig on Sunday..

so this mats and minahs were hanging around playing with a remote control motorbike.. ok.. nevermind.. mats and minahs are weird in the first place.. so ok.. lets stop talking abt them..

the boat arrived.. and we were at the berth..

there were an old angmoh couple.. and a family of Indonesian tourists..

ok.. now.. itz so fucking obvious that we were supposed to go in the boat.. and the family separated themselves on individual seats which normally can occupy two..

and when they saw that we wanted to get in.. they made a blurfuck face and look.. err.. no space..

wtf?

so.. the attendant told them to move back to the seats.. and they did it with a pissed face.. whatever lah..

and thru the journey, they were singing the Oh My Darling Clementine.. wahahaha.. and Zainah started singing that song..

sickening song..

luckily Zainah was there.. so it was a sight for sore Indonesians..

it took abt 30 mins to go thru the ride.. it was a beautiful sight..

we went thru the river, going into the parts where we dont normally see..



and i saw some places where i think i will hangout in, in future.. nice restaurants.. and we always wonder where to go for makan..

after the boat ride.. we drove down to the temporary Newton Circus Hawker Centre..

went down to our favourite joint.. the one and only Pirates Seafood.. yeyyy...

met my friend, the Pirate whoz always there.. and i was starving..

so we ordered Stingray.. yeahhhh.. the real stuffs are here.. in Newton.. not Lau Pa Sat or Makansutra at Esplanade.. (that one sucks)

ordered kangkong, and rice.. and we got so stuffed up..

damn.. i used to be able to eat more than this..

we left at abt 10+... and bought some stuffs at the petrol station before we went home.. got to her place at abt 11..

i have to wake up in 3 1/2 hours time coz i'm in the morning shift..

damn.. another morning.. erkz..

but itz ok.. today made up for more than that..

thanks for a wonderful day..

Alternative Loansharks

*yawn*

i just got back from night shift.. damn.. itz so tiring.. hard to stay awake for 12 hrz straight at nite..

i'm used to sleep late in the morning when i am online.. but when u HAVE to stay awake.. itz almost impossible..

i drank lots of coffee and 1 red bull.. air kuat..

one of my friends borrowed a hundred bucks from me just now.. it seems like somehow i become like a bank where ppl borrow money from.. i dont mind doing it once in a while and for close friends, i normally would be more than glad to help.. but most ppl dont even bother to return the money.. and strangely, when u lend someone cash, itz more paiseying to ask for it back.. i wonder why ppl who borrows dont feel the paiseyness..

maybe itz just a habit that they have.. they borrow from ppl as how they had been borrowing from other ppl.. so in time, the skin gets thicker.. and they dont really feel anything..

ikhlas is ikhlas.. to lend.. but itz LENDING as how it was promised..

if i say that i GIVE the money to someone, i dont expect it back.. but if it was promised as a loan, then u should make the effort of returning it..

the only time i had borrowed money from someone was for 24 hours.. coz i needed $3000 on the day itself.. and i returned the money the very next morning..

it was even less than 24 hours.. but i was so paisey to have to ask for a favour.. but luckily.. itz one of my close friends that i had known for more than 10 yrz..

hmm.. just as i am typing this.. i received an sms from him asking to borrow another 100.. which i dont think i will oblige..

therez another one of my reservist mates who have this habit.. just on a much worse scale..

ok.. he just called me.. and i told him that i wont be giving another 100..

ok.. back to the other fella. this guy owes money to almost everyone in the troop.. except for me.. coz i know that he's not the kinda person who returns money.. and he has the habit to borrow from anyone that he thinks have the cash.. he dont earn much.. which i do feel sorry.. but i had seen him drunk so many times and in my opinion.. if u wanna enjoy urself, do it with ur extra cash.. not with other people's cash..

or rather.. i think he borrows money for his necessities, but his own salary is wasted on his extra curricular activities.. he's married.. but with several girlfriends..

and his children are on bursary.. and since i had been his supervisor in the troop for so many years, i know his level of performance.. which i shall not get in detail here..

sometimes ppl need help..

i dont mind helping.. but take the responsibilities that goes along with it..

therez a girl who offered to help me pay for a deposit for an event coz it was along the way as she was gonna pay for hers too.. but in the end, she couldnt, and i end up forking another $300 to go there and pay for it myself..

logic tells me that she should have returned the $300 that i transferred to her to pay for it.. but instead, she used the cash and she disappeared.. not fully transparent coz i know where she is, but she just avoids me since then..

itz just a fucking $300. and it doesnt belong to u. why use it?

damn.. i'm whining.. but then again.. itz MY money and i am letting other ppl enjoy the fruits of my hard work.. i work for it u know.. not for those ppl to take it and spend it..

i'd rather spend it on my parents.. or my car.. or even get a new drum part..

and i'd rather spend it on my band and band members.. coz they are part of my family too..

and my close friends, especially those that i had known for ages..

lemme see how long this guy takes to pay back.. i hope he has some sense compared to a lot of other ppl.. i gave him the money just now coz he dont even have cash to eat.. but then again, so were the rest of the ppl who borrowed and disappeared.. they were in a sad state at the time of borrowing.. and i know this guy has 2 kids..

which brings me to another point.. marriage..

why do ppl get married when they are not financially secured?

why take someone's daughter and make her suffer with u?

u dont have to be rich to get married.. but i am sure u can live within ur means and have no need to borrow from other ppl, under normal circumstances..

the Staff Sgt that i was working with the day before yesterday.. SSGT Azmil.. was impressive..

he's known in his team to be very hardworking.. and he is polite, and he's married with a child..

he's 27 yrz old, and wife is a homemaker..

he ride a small bike to work, and he brings food from home..

live within ur means..

again, i shall say.. i work for myself.. not for others to take.. in future, when i intend to be a slave, i shall post it up here..

a different type of loansharks.. those that goes around looking for preys to reap..

Liars, Cheaters and Fucked up Mothers.

damn.. i hate waking up too early in the morning..

woke up at 6am today.. coz i had to report by 7.15am..abt to leave.. then i realised that i dont have my p-cap in my bag!

gawddammit!

and i was in a rush... so i just took my old one.. without a crest.. and rushed down to report for reservist.. managed to borrow a crest from one of my friends.. thank goodness.. so tmrw i have to go and buy a new one..

after work, my parents fetched me.. my mom landed in Singapore from Jakarta at 3pm just now..

we wanted to go to Tanglin Halt for nasi ayam.. for those who have not been there.. the nasi ayam at the coffeeshop POWER!

but we came a lil bit too late.. it was already closed.. they were packing up.. wasted my 50 cents parking coupon..

so we drove down to Hawa Restaurant.. and had our nasi ayam there instead...

during the meal.. the owner approached me and asked me to check for him how much would a US$50 worth.. he was holding one.. and it was coz a fella came to the shop and asked to change US$50 coz he supposedly dont have any Singapore dollars.. and had just arrived from Philippines.. and all the money changer were closed.. so the owner approached me coz i'm a flight crew and i might know..

when i touched the note, i knew it was fake.. i took out some of my American bills that i had and asked him to compare.. and then the fella asked to change US$100 instead.. and still the money looked fake..

i should have called the Police..

eh.. wait.. i *AM* the police..

but then again, I told the owner to tell him that he's not gonna change the bill.. and this fella left in a rush before we could do anything..

anyway.. there are 24 hours money changers.. at the airport.. and at Mustafa Centre..

another story..

hmm.. as far as i know.. mothers are inseparably bonded with their children.. or most mothers.. else they will still love their child...

except for a few cases, like Dave Peltzer...

but i saw a baby today.. whoz mother had left her in the hospital a day after giving birth to her..

she was so so so so so cute.. a day old..

so sad.. being born to such a fucked up mom..

i knew that she's fucked up.. dont ask me why.. i wont explain..

but she is..

so sad..

can u girls pleaseeeeeeeeeeee be good mothers?

oh.. by the way.. i'm working at night tomorrow.. :)

NEWS ALERT! NEWS ALERT!

ahhhh.. good newssssss...

hopefully it doesnt come in too late..

SWEE LEE IS HAVING A PRE CHRISTMAS BLOWOUT SALE OF UP TO 70% DISCOUNT IN SIMS AVE TOMORROW AND SATURDAY(17/18 Dec)!!

but too bad... i have reservist and actually it started today.. and i just found out abt it.. maybe i go down on Saturday..

Time: Fri - 11am - 6.30pm, Sat - 12pm to 6pm

ok.. ANOTHER NEWS ALERT!

SWEE LEE IS HAVING A YEAR END CLEARANCE SALE IN BRAS BASAH!!! EVERYTHING MUST GO!!

display items are on sale at 50% discount!

29/30th Dec, 11am - 7pm.

yeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

ok.. now.. update time..

went to Esplanade just now.. as planned with my bandmates.. coz itz my off day and i dont wanna waste it by not doing anything..

slacking is NOT a waste of time..

not even when u are 33..

ok.. anyway.. drove down to Esplanade to meet Umi and Hamdy.. Umi brought some cheesecake from CBTL.. quite nice...

2 girls approached us for survey abt Downtown East.. damn.. the answers that they wrote lepak giler.. nonsense.. i think all of our surveys will end up being thrown away..

anywayyyy.. at abt 4+, Aishah came down.. then Azil, cheyyy.. mat motor.. first time seeing Azil on a bike without someone else in front of him..

Aishah's 2 friends came down.. followed by Din in his Coffee Bean uniform.. and Isha and her friend Emerald... she had said that Emerald is pretty.. so she just wanted to show me how Emerald looks like.. doesnt look green to me.. but ok lar.. she's pretty..

so we just slacked around.. listening to SKA SKA and more SKA..

Umi and Hamdy were taking stupid pictures throughout the time..

Different Faces of Umi



Umi Devil



Umi Angel



Umi Happy



Umi Sad



Kotai oso Sad



Jamaican Guerilla.. nak pose je..



Umi Sad Again. emo..



Din The Kopi Boy

ok.. now i have to sleep.. gotta wake up at 6am for morning shift tmrw.. first day of actual reservist..

gotta go and protect lives and property.. like real huh?

Ouch! Ouch! ARGHH! Ouch..

shucks.. woke up aching all over..

had my IPPT yesterday....

AND I PASSED!!! YEYYYYY!

those who know me and knowz how lazy i am.. will know what a great feat that was for me kkkkkk....

damn.. i had been lazy for centuries.. in terms of exercising lah.. i think this is a good catalyst for me to start running...

i think lah.. dunno whether that thinking will lead to actions or not.. i got myself a treadmill 2 months back.. and the only time i used it was to test it after fixing it up..

ok.. anyway.. yesterday.. after reservist.. went down to tampines mall had dinner at coffee bean with her.. and thatz it..

supposed to meet the band at 3+.. but now change of plans.. i dunno whatz the plans now..

aishy will be there ard 4+..

isha is planning for a meetup with me this evening.. but it seems that the plans seems to clash..

the rest of my band members are coming later in the evenings..

i dunno where and what time i'm meeting who now.. coz all plans are in a mess.. damn..

i'm a last minute planner.. but i hate it when ppl plan with me at the last minute..

Police! Come out with your hands up!

ermz.. chey.. i changed the blog title of the entry oso..

ok.. anyway.. today is my first day of Reservist.. or as they call it now.. National Servicemen. the budak budak NS are now known as National Servicemen, Fulltime.. supposedly, by them not calling us Reservist officers will make us work harder.. so sorry.. *THAT* will take a longgggg time before it happens..

first two days in Clementi Police Station before i have to be deployed elsewhere..

anyway, i wont be blogging much details abt my reservist coz i'm not supposed to.. so itz just some general stuffs abt it..

itz nice going for reservist anyway.. a change of environment from my workplace.. at least got different things to do for the next 2 weeks.. just that i hate doing IPPT and we dont have much choice on what we wanna do as a reservist officer...

actually.. not even as regulars or NSF.. as long as u are in the Force, do what the Force wants u to do..

another thing is that.. WE CAN'T SMOKE. wth.

but itz nice meeting old friends.. especially coz my troop had been together for several years.. and itz a matter of keeping tally on who got how many kids and how old they are.. and whether is Zul married and who is he dating now..

I met with my old good friend, my Corporal when i was doing my National Service.. now a Senior Station Inspector in the Investigations unit.. so we sat down for an hour over coffee and catch up on the updates of our lives.. our ritual for the past years, everytime i do my reservist there..

at 4.45, i left, had a haircut there, and bought a pair of Nike Air running shoes for my IPPT tmrw..

from City Hall, we walked towards Esplanade, along Penin, Memo, and walked along Esplanade.. then towards Marina Shopping Centre..

went down to Rastafari.. and everytime i go there.. i end up buying stuffs that i dont need.. so i bought a pair of yellow Jamaica shirts, and a jacket and a choker with a Rastafari-colored fishbone..

along the way out... came across 3 guys from Queenstown NPC, where i do my yearly reservist.. and will be meeting them in 2 days time... one of the fellas, Stanley.. had quit from the Force.. another one is quitting soon..

had dinner at the Makansutra place at Esplanade.. had stingray.. again.. as it was yesterday at Lau Pa Sat with some of the rest which i will mention later..

it wasnt fantastic.. and the sambal wasnt fantastic.. actually.. wasnt good either...

but the reason why i would never go there again is that..

THEY ARE GOD DAMNED FUCKING RUDE.

fucking ah bengs.

if u guys dont believe me... go there.. and find out for urselves..

why do i keep on getting bad service everywhere i go now? damn.. and itz a good thing that the government is trying to improve the standards in the service sector.. but trust me.. these group of fellas should be tied to a tree and be left to the dogs.

after dinner, we sat down for a while next to the river, then made our back home at abt 10.15.. walked back to City Hall and drove off..

i just got back abt an hour ago..

ok.. backtracking to yesterday..

i had abt 45 mins of sleep in the morning, woke up to send my mom off to airport for her flight to jakarta...

we checked in quite early.. so after that, had breakfast with my dad and mom at the Terminal 1 canteen.. they met their old friends who sell makan there.. and i sat there eating my bean curd while listening to old stories..

the old man was a national soccer team captain in the 60s! in the same squad with samad alipichay! damn.. aint that cool... my mom and dad confirmed it..

and he told me the story of how he survived cancer of the lungs.. went thru operations, and several chemotherapy sessions before he decided that he cant bear the pain of the treatment and would rather die.. then they found out that his cancer was gone.. and that was like 15 yrz back.. and he looks healthy to me..

after my mom left, i went home and slept..

we were supposed to meet Yazid and assist him appeal to LTA at Sin Ming, then go to ikea, then go to library.. but Yazid called and said that he had to work, so we postponed that..

we had lunch at Macdonald's at Commonwealth.. the one with the small park and a pond.. i had always liked that place.. nice ambience.. quiet.. and used to hangout there when i was in secondary school..



the pond.. itz a nice place.. really.. but my fav Macdonald's is at West Coast Park..
thatz the nicest Macdonald's ever..

walked ard IKEA for a while, and i got 2 blind curtains (fabric, not those plastic shutters kind of blind.. and some other stuffs which i needed and i dont need..

went down to Esplanade to meet Hamdy and Shida and Mas (Shida's bf? i think so.. )

Din came down later, and soon after, Meraj arrived..

oi Din.. lu tengok mana?



ni monyet terlepas dari Tekong..

we went up to the rooftop terrace to lepak there..



at the rooftop terrace..

at abt 9, Shida and Mas left, and the rest of us headed down to Lau Pa Sat..
dont attempt to eat that unless u have a high tolerance of chilli+gunpowder+volcanic lava..

eh.. the satay was from stall 13.. but the stingray was from another stall which i dunno..

but then again, the conclusion of 2 stingray eating days.. if u want good, and assuredly not dissapointing stingrays, GO NEWTON!

and after a long time, i lost my way.. dunno why.. i somehow just forgot the directions there..

and no.. itz not a sign of aging, u bastards.. stop commenting abt that in ur minds..

ok.. had a nice day..

i'm actually so so stoned now.. and dread going for IPPT tmrw.. i dont intend to pass anyway..

Live & Loud

hmm.. ok.. today's the gig day... Live & Loud 2005... at Toa Payoh South CC..

actually i played without knowing the title of the gig.. i think no one does anyway.. i just found out the title a few minutes ago..

it was kinda weird.. of all places... Toa Payoh?

ok.. anyway, we had a song that we wanted to play but we have not practiced.. so we jammed this afternoon..

woke up at 10.30, instead of 10 as i planned.. coz today is Noreen (my ex-gf) brother, Izzan's wedding.. planned to go there, and leave by 11.40 for a jamming session at 12.. but since i woke up late.. i went jamming at Yishun first..

arrived at 12.. but the studio wasnt open yet.. so we slacked at the coffeeshop next to it first..



Bapak dengan anak at Bilal coffeeshop next to the jamming studio..

after jamming, I headed down to Noreen's place.. met up with her parents and grandmother and her uncles and aunties.. after so many years not seeing them.. her dad saw me and gave me a hug.. her mom told me that they missed me.. and her grandma cried..

awwww... sweet, isnt it?

that was how close i was with them..

i made my way abt 20 mins later to head down to Toa Payoh for the gig.. Umi and Iqa came out to take the stuffs, and we ended up going to Banquet at Toa Payoh Central for lunch coz we were god damned hungry..

got a call from Nas who just arrived, and she joined us there..

arrived at the CC at 5pm, and the girls started sessioning.. i met up with Aishah and Chuck.. and saw some faces i recognised but i dont know the names..

came in just after Comic Strip performed.. and watched Deviation Of Ska..

At 6, we started playing..

the equipments SUCKED like hell..

the amps sucked.

some of the microphones didnt work.. so the horns played without their sounds being heard properly..

the main microphone wasnt working properly.. so the vox sounded like a robot.. luckily Din pulled it off nicely..

i was warned that the drums will slide.. and it did.. so i had to reset the drums after every song..

the cymbals were like... ermz.. tudung periuk.. i should have brought my own..

the pedal stopped working at the beginning of the first song.. and i played without bass pedal for the rest of the song.. the spring came off and it got stuck.. luckily Hamdy covered with the bass properly.. somehow whenever i screw up, he always managed to cover up my notes.. i dont think he even realised it..

Yazid got his own complains abt the amps and cables and stuffs like that..

according to Din, the organiser requested over and over again for us to do a cover of Hadirnya Cinta.. so we did.. we played it halfway.. just till the end of the chorus, we ended the song.. actually.. i think we should have just continued the song coz the crowd was singing along.. but too bad ah..

and anyway, this is the first gig for Iqa, our new keyboardist.. and funny.. looking at how nervous she was.. relek beb... relek..

deeeeep breathhhh...



Announcing the arrival of our latest Pirate.. Iqa The Keyboardist

we played a total of 6 songs.. and i think this is the least time we took to prepare for a gig.. but it turned out to be ok anyway..

i had fun..



see.. with so much sweat, how not to have fun..



Shida, The Clarinetist-cum-newly-found-backing vocals.. suara halusss je..



Mistaken Pirate's frontman, Din The Lulu..



My troubleshooter, Hamdy The Kotai The Bassist..



Azil the Guitarist-cum-Jantan-Joget



The Horns without Shida, who was at the other side of the stage..
Fiza Trombone
Nas Trombone
Umi Trumpet

a.k.a Tiga Abdul



Ditto, reversed view, with the crowd skanking in front..



Yazid.. SKA BEB.. SKA! *NOT* Metal..

after the gig, slacked around and watched Gen69, a skinhead band.. supposedly doing their last gig.. and Sally's Rejex played at abt 9.. damn.. they are getting so much better now.. very tight.. but they are without horns now.. but they have such a good keyboardist that covered nicely.. and their vox now sounds good..



Generation 69, with the skinheads moshing and bodysurfing.. itz a waste if itz really their last gig..



Sally's Rejex..

we left after Sally's slot, and headed down to Banquet again.. i had to make 3 trips to convey them there.. first the girls.. then the guys.. then Fatin and Hidayu.. who were taking a lift from me to go home..

so you have a chicken, a wolf and elephant.. and one boat.. how do u cross the river full of crocodiles?

just cross lah.. who said u need to bring any of them.. elephants cant ride in boats anyway.. maybe u should just bring the chicken..

some of the guys seemed to be taking a fancy of Fatin.. ok lar.. she is cute.. and now she looked better than the time i saw her at Paradigm.. that time macam kental sikit.. but now she's getting cuter.. dah besar lah katakan anak mak ni..

after that.. sent Fatin and Hidayu back, and i stopped over at my cousin's place coz my mom wanted to borrow her camera... she didnt like digital cameras..

Mom is heading to Jakarta in the morning.. for abt a week.. to initiate the beginning of her Jakarta posting..

will have to wake up in 2 hours time to send her to the airport..

and Rhythm Masala, your equipments sucked. Always trust Lee Kwong Seng for good stuffs.. Keith is damn good.. leave everything to him and he will get it done for u perfectly.. i'd suggest Rhythm Masala people learn from him if they want to do things right.. this fucking set got no fucking soundman either!

and itz $10 per person! i dont think the organisers anticipated the fucked up equipments either..

whatever lah..

I had a nice day at the gig just now.. even with fucked up equipments from Rhythm Masala, we had a lot of fun playing.. especially when the crowd got up and skanked.. thanks to all of u who made it to the gig..

Skavoovie!

I HATE YAMAHA MUSIC STORE IN TAMPINES MALL

ok.. hello.. see.. a title of hatred..

i hate hate hate hate hate yamaha music store in tampines mall..

did a hanoi turnaround flight this morning.. came back in the evening.. and got home, changed and rushed down to tampines mall to get a new pair of drumsticks and my drumming gloves for tomorrow's gig..

which was a mistake.. coz saturday evenings are as full as hell in tampines mall.. took me 20 minutes to get thru the traffic at the side road of tampines mall.. and another 25 mins to get parking..

so by the time i got to the shop, it was 8.45, which i thought was perfectly fine lah.. since they close at 9..

but it seems like they are the only shop in singapore that has opening hours like a johorean shop.. and to think that yamaha is a japanese company?

i entered the shop at exactly 8.45pm..

walked around for a few minutes.. wondering why they switched off their lights so fast, when the sign in front state that they close at 9pm..

i approached one of the male sales staff..

"erms.. excuse me.. i need to buy a pair of drumsticks"

"sorry.. we are closed"

"but itz not even 9pm.. and u guys are not even selling now?"

"even if u want, cannot. register shut down already"

i was like.. WTF?

"i thought u guys close at 9?"

"yes"

"it's not even 9! therez like 10 more minutes!"

"oh.. normally we close before 9"

damn.. what the fuck? am i in Malaysia? no offence to the Malaysian friend of mine ah.. but true mah..

why have the fucking signboard then?

i had disliked the shop way before this.. coz the staff are always rude... unlike the store in Plaza Singapura.. the staff there are REAL musicians who can answer ur questions pertaining to the instruments that u wanna get..

ok.. fine.. so u guys have a habit of closing earlier coz therez no point opening up when therez no customers.. and u, Mr Salesman, might have a dinner date at pizza hut with the ah lian girlfriend of yours..

but WTF????

i saw a salesgirl attending to a chinese couple who was looking at pianos.. and i saw her bringing the couple from one piano to another.. so what happens if they wanna buy the piano? u'll definitely switch ur fucking register on so they can swipe their credit card rite?

WTF?

that's why we like Swee Lee even if they close at 6pm.. they are not rude and they have yearly half price sales, even though i always found out about it the day after the sale..

damn.. i dont have my drumming gloves.. and the problem is that, i have a damn freaking sweaty pair of palms.. so guys.. dont skank directly in front of me.. unless u wanna get a drumstick stuck on ur head..

Hello Sir, Rolex? Omega? DVD? DVD?

ermz.. ok.. i got back from Shanghai yesterday..

or rather.. on Thursday evening.. itz already past midnight now so itz a Saturday..

Arrived at Shanghai in the afternoon, on Wednesday.. and went out to Xiang-yang market with Tun Fatimah, Kelly, Jasmine and Cynthia..

therez a real market there.. at the back, but thatz not where we headed to.. thatz where the locals go to to buy their pork.. or at least.. i think itz pork, from the smell that i got a distance away..

Xiang-Yang market is where u should go to to buy cheap stuffs.. full of foreigners, and i came across a few Malays there too.. and they sound like Singaporean Malays..

it is extremely cold now in these parts of the world.. temperature in the day was at -2 degrees.. so i guess u could imagine how freezing cold it can get..

after arriving in Xiang-Yang, abt 5 minutes later, i made my own way.. coz i didnt want to walk around with the girls as they normally would stop by every shop.. i walked around on my own and bought a belt for myself and a bag and some other stuffs, all within 45 minutes..

spent the rest of the time walking around.. was looking for some stuffs for my mom coz she is going to Jakarta for work.. but couldnt find anything interesting..

The mainland Chinese are very rough in the way they talk and they way they behave.. but they are nice generally..

during my first few times in China, i was taken aback several times coz it seems like they were arguing.. but actually.. itz just a normal conversations that they were having..

You could easily spot the ones who came from places like Mongolia.. u can always differentiate them.. obviously.. and they are normally quieter than the locals.. thatz my opinion anyway..

a lot of the beggars that hang around there are Mongolians as well.. quite a pity.. but their state looks better than those in India, as i had mentioned previously..

u could get a lot of fake stuffs there in Xiang-Yang.. but some of the popular brands had been removed, like Mont Blanc, Louis Vuitton, Prada.. so now itz Kipling, Adidas, Nike..

but dont buy fake shoes.. i dont think itz ever a good idea to do that.. coz fake shoes doesnt ventilate properly, and ur feet will stink at the end of the day.. so i think itz always a good idea to invest in a proper pair of shoes..

some of the vendors will approach the foreigners to buy fake stuffs... Hey Sir, Rolex? Omega? DVD? DVD? sexxxxxxx DVD? nice.. good quality.. HEY SIR.. YOU WANT?

but they dont tout.. they dont disturb u once u say u are not interested..

here's a pic of Xiang-Yang..



no matter how many times you can walk around the market, and how many times u had passed by a certain shop, therez always something that u had missed before that will attract your attention..

but if u are alone, itz hard to stop and look at the stuffs, coz they will pester you to buy..

once the price had been given to you, and normally, the prices are absurd, bargain. heavily.

the belt was quoted to me at 180 Reminbi.. which is abt $35.. and i started bargaining at 25 Reminbi.. which is $5.. finally got it at 40 Reminbi.. which is $8..

see the difference?

and never assume that the price that u get will be the same price that ur friend will get... to us, itz always like a game bargaining.. sometimes u win.. and get it at a really cheap price... sometimes u leave the shop feeling dumb..

i think if i would have stick to a bargain, i might get the belt at 25 Reminbi.. but what is $3 to us anyway..

I walked around Xiang-Yang for abt 2 hours looking for the girls.. but i cant find them at all.. and it was a torture coz the weather was getting colder by the minute..

finally, at abt 6, i gave up and had dinner by myself.. at Yoshinoya, and ordered a bowl of beef rice.. met a set of other cabin crew who did a later flight and just arrived at the market to start their price haggling day..

i walked around for 15 more minutes.. and decided to leave the place as therez nothing else i wanna get.. and it was already dark.. it gets dark at abt 5pm there..
took a cab and showed the driver my hotel room key which comes with the address of the place..

a confusing trip.. the driver tried to talk to me in Mandarin, and i couldnt understand a word he said.. and i talked to him in English.. and we ended up using signs.. and attempting conversations again and giving up.. but he was nice.. seeing that i have a camera with me, he stopped at a nice place for me to take a picture of Christmas decorations on the street.. i should have taken my time to snap, so a lot of the pics ended up being very blurry.. and when i arrived at the hotel, the fare was even cheaper than the one that i took on the way there.. just by a few cents.. so i knew that he didnt detour to let me take pictures for him to get extra money..



here's a picture of Christmas decorations on the street.. i couldnt snap a proper pic.. so just take my word for the fact that itz much nicer than it seems in pictures..

in fact, the taxi fare in China is EXTREMELY cheap.. in comparison to what i said abt Japan.. a 20 minutes ride barely cost $4.. and almost everything else is cheap there too... u can have a good meal which can last u a whole night at abt $8.. and this is the kinda meal that will have u crawling on ur knees to walk back coz itz just too much to eat..

once i arrived in my room, i had a phone call from Tun Fatimah.. they had been looking for me for a while and gave up too.. and they probably had arrived in the hotel less than 5 minutes before i did..

so we went down for a buffet dinner at the hotel.. and i had 4 full plates of sashimi, sushi and oysters.. and ended with fruits as dessert, and thatz it.. and i cant eat anymore..

the sashimi spread was fantastic.. and the oysters too... damn.. i think i had abt 10 oysters.. and itz a good thing that i had my hepatitis jab..

i took a pic of Shanghai sky line just before i left my room.. so u can see that China is not as backward as u might think it is.. in fact, Shanghai is moving SO fast that from one trip to the next, there are new buildings that will appear out of nowhere.. and the country is quite clean too.. though there are a few slums here and there.. itz not that bad...



i arrived in Singapore at abt 7.30 pm, and got home and went out to Coffee Bean at Century Square with Alwi and Isha.. called Wily and he came down at abt 10.. and we headed to a small muslim coffee shop at Tampines St 42, called 7K.. i didnt even know the existence of that place..

slept thru the whole of today, and woke up at 5+, had dinner with my family..

will be working tomorrow morning, doing a turnaround to Hanoi.. which was in replacement for my Perth flight..

I managed to get an off day for the gig on Sunday.. so we will be playing at about 5pm, and therez gonna be quite a few ska bands, punkrock and oi bands..

I'm not really up to it, playing a gig this month.. we had rejected several slots coz we wanted to continue playing only in 2006.. just wanna relax and chill for now.. but since Din had given his word to the organiser, we are gonna do it this Sunday..

so any of u interested to come down and skank for us? itz gonna be at Toa Payoh CC.. dunno which one of the CC.. and i think itz somewhere around 5pm.. if i am not wrong..

i wont be having anymore flights for the next 2 weeks coz i'll be doing my reservist..

MAJULAH SINGAPURA..

i dedicate my reservist to Devan Nair.. heh.. if i could..

but i do like that guy.. really.. dunno why..

Skavoovie..

Nihon e Yokoso!

i'm in Osaka now.. in my hotel room...

this is one of the two hotels that i know that we stay in that gives free internet broadband access to the rooms.. the rest of the hotels either charge us for it or we have to use the wireless access in the lounge..

anyway.. spent almost a whole day sleeping.. as usual.. coz i arrived in the morning.. and didnt get much rest yesterday before the flight as i was jamming with the band..

i woke up at 5pm.. and went out to Namba City.. a shopping area here in Osaka.. they should have other shopping places here.. but coz of the convenience, i stick to going to Namba and Nipponbashi..

itz abt 2 degrees when i walked out.. and it was a good thing that i brought my thermal and fleece winter jackets.. ok.. my first winter flight for the year... the beginning of a whole dreadful season..

normally, i will walk to these two places.. Namba is abt 20 mins walk.. 2 stations away from where i'm staying.. in Uehommachi.. and Nipponbashi is in between the two, abt 10 mins away from the hotel..

god damned expensive train ride.. $3.20 for 2 stations ride..

but itz too cold to walk for 20 mins without shelter.. so i have no choice..



the lane in between Nipponbashi and Namba.. lots of food stalls here..



the entrance to Namba City..



the river that cuts across Namba..

i had my dinner alone at Namba Walk, an underground shopping centre at the train station.. had unagi.. not bad.. better than the one that i normally have at my fav unagi stall in Tokyo..

actually.. i had been thinking of having unagi for the past few days.. so it was just nice that i came across this stall.. but itz abt $15 for a simple meal..

everything here is so expensive..

dont try to take the taxis unless u have a million bucks to spare..



All hail the high and mighty..

after dinner, i walked along Namba City.. and stopped over at Sogo.. which is a 14-storey shopping centre..

headed down to the 100 Yen store.. which is like the best place to shop in Japan.. coz things are cheap there.. like the ONLY cheap place.. and the stuffs are good too.. and the varieties are splendid.. 100 Yen is abt $1.60..

there had been too many things that i bought from the 100 Yen stores thru the years.. so many things that i dont need too comes from there.. weird stuffs.. who the hell needs portable ashtrays anyway..

In fact, Japan is full of weird stuffs.. and weird people.. i think itz the weirdest place on Earth.. they think too much in detail.. itz nice in a way.. but i like things that are done at least with a lil bit of sloppiness.. at least itz human..

i remembered leaving a girl before for not being able to get angry.. no matter what i do, she just wont get angry..

ermz.. i like humans.. not robots..

she's a sweet girl.. but unfortunately, i do like a lil bit of enthusiasm and arguements once in a while.. at least it shows that the girl can think for herself..

nothing much attracted my attention in the 100 Yen store this time.. so i didnt get anything..

i went out, suffered the cold again, and sat down in Starbucks for a Creme Brule Latte.. and even here in Starbucks, they place blankets on the seats just in case the smoking patrons feel cold..

i took a stroll back to the train station at abt 9pm, and walked a lil bit more at Namba Walk, before taking the train back to the hotel..

headed down to Lawson, which is a convenience store, like 7-11.. therez a lot of convenience stores here.. am.pm, SunKiss, and Lawson, which is like at every street corner..

i think they have more Lawson in Japan than Starbucks in Seattle and Vancouver combined..

things i like about Japan..
- lots of cute girls in extremely short skirts..
- 100 Yen shops
- u can smoke almost everywhere
- they sell cigarettes in vending machines, and itz at almost every block
- nice food.. i love Japanese food
- they sell porn at convenience stores.. not that i am porn-crazy.. but itz cool to know that they condone it .. :)

things i hate about Japan..
- lots of ugly girls in extremely short skirts..
- everything is EXPENSIVE
- extreme weather.. especially when it comes to winter..
- earthquakes in the middle of nowhere.. itz scary when u are asleep and ur bed starts to shake.. and the first thing in ur mind is Exorcist..
- not understanding the language
- weird culture
- too detailed..

weird things about Japan..
- talking escalators..
- outdoor escalators that can work in rain or shine and even in heavy snow..
- talking traffic lights..
- speakers playing music at traffic junctions..
- and they have to greet everyone that walks in and out of a store.. even if therez a million ppl walking ard there.. and they will ALL greet a million times..
- everyone is addicted to slot machines and Pachinko.. some gambling stuffs that u win ball bearings instead of tokens.. and they are REALLY addicted to it.. everywhere in Japan u can find a Pachinko place..



a Pachinko place in front of the hotel.. they have these EVERYWHERE..



Colourful Japan.. this is at the junction.. and typically Japan.. neons everywhere..



and this is the best thing that had ever been invented.. Cigarettes vending machines..

ok.. now backtracking time..

spent the past 2 days doing a safety course.. one that we have to do to re-new our flying licence as a flight attendant..

on Thursday, met up with Rosie at Northpoint, and came across Din, which was a good thing, coz else i would have to go to his place to pass him the CDs of the songs that we are jamming.. and met Wati, whoz Meraj's ex-fiancee when i was just abt to leave..

on Friday, went out with Wily and Meraj to El Sheikh for sheesha.. my niece Aisha was supposed to come down but she couldnt make it at the last minute.. Andrew joined us later and we headed down to Simpang Bedok for supper.. Alwi was supposed to join us but he had a sheesha gathering at East Coast, where they brought their own bongs and stuffs to smoke there.. outdoor sheesha.. damn.. i wonder what else the Arabs will think of.. bellydancing at Changi?

that'z almost about it.. went jamming with the band on Saturday, the only session that we have before the gig... that is, IF we are gonna play.. coz i have not been able to change my flight.. so i have to think of alternatives now.. if i still cant get the off day.. we'll back out..

after jamming, rested for a while at home and went for flight..

and here I am.. in Osaka..

Nihon e Yokoso!

how enthusiastic.. yeah rite..

Life as we know it..

ah.. sorry abt being too political in the previous posting.. just that i was reminded abt one of my good friends who was hanged abt 2 years back..

he was such a nice person.. so polite.. and very caring.. but he got into drugs when he was in his early teens.. and could never get away from it..

even after being arrested several times, he went into relapses whenever he's released..

one day, he bought some drugs from a peddler, and was arrested while the heroin was still in his possession..

and was sentenced to death.

he was hanged abt 2 years back.. and for those of u idiots who would say that he deserved it, i hope ur children will get hanged too.

and ur spouses too.

and all their family members.

and your neighbour who u have a crush on.

and his dog.

or her dog.

or cat. delete where applicable.

this friend of mine, is a very nice person.. and he fucked his life up by getting addicted to heroin.. and i know he wanted to quit, and he just couldnt.

smokers know how tough it is to quit smoking.. and chances of relapses are high.. what more if u are addicted to such things..

that's why i never tried to quit smoking..

and children, please stay away from drugs.

try to get addicted to alcohol instead. it's never too early to start.

Dear Mr Executioner,

I envy you, Sir. You have the coolest job on earth.

Where else in the world can one kill legally? And your predecessor, Mr Something Singh, had killed 50 people through his career. That's even more than most suicide bombers.

And isnt it nice that your actions had caused friction between two countries? Damn it, do you see the repercussions of your job? I am sure you had turned lives and families over. I am sure that some children had been left fatherless. Wives became widows. And mothers losing their babies that they had nurtured, but somehow had taken a wrong turn in their lives. Some out of greed, some out of desperation.

Desperation. That's something that a lot of people who are so powerful, such as you are, Sir, wouldnt understand. How the drug trafficker, Nguyen, had been so desperate to relieve his brother from debt had been. And it wasnt his cause. But then again, those are his words to save himself. Might not be true anyway.

Drugs kill people. So let's kill those who kill others. Does two negatives really make a positive?

Two wrongs never make things right. I am sure even Hitler has some people in his family who loved him. He did, anyway.

Imagine the lives that had been turned around due to executions. A mother who ran away from Vietnam, and gave birth in a refugee camp. Brought her kids to Australia so they can have a proper life. One got involved doing the wrong things and the other suffered the repercussions.

True, he should suffer the consequences of his actions. But what about those around him? What happened to the children of those victims of capital punishment? The wives? The parents?

I despise capital punishment. True, I would love to be able to kill without conscience. But sadly, I do have my conscience. As little as it is, it's still there.

Capital punishment is murder. Legalised as it is, it is still a premeditated killing of someone. I can understand killing when it's required to do so in order to protect lives and property. Or to prevent the commission of rape or kidnapping. But to do it after it is all over? Isnt it like shooting someone from the back? The danger is no longer there. What can possibly justify the premeditated legalised killing?

I am sure we are governed by smart people who can think of alternatives, rather than to take away lives, or to spend taxpayers' money on prison expenses if capital punishment is abolished. They are smart, and I am sure a good brainstorming session would do some good. They are paid highly, and unlike the rest of us who are monofocused, I am pretty sure they can think of something else that we all cant think abt. 50 times more money per year than the average Joe Lim. I am sure they can think 50 times better.

Or 50 times better means to tell us and the entire world that the best punishment is still what Nigeria practice for adultery?

And please dont compare to certain states in America where they still perform "humane" executions. After a few minutes, the results of stoning in Nigeria and lethal injections in America IS THE SAME. If i am given a chance to opt for my own death penalty, i dont think i would care how they would kill me.

I dont think the legislators, judges and juries provides life. Or provides for the necessities of life for those who finally chose a wrong path and therefore led themselves to their doom. So i dont think they actually have the rights to take away someone's life.

I'm not biased on the crimes by thinking that murderers should be hanged and drug peddlers should be spared.

Punish them. But not in a way where you dont have the rights to tread. You dont have the rights to take away someone else's life.

Mr Executioner, I hope you were smiling when you placed the noose. Cause at least I can be rest assured that there is someone who would benefit from it, when the rest of the world cried.

I'm just wondering. When did God resigned and left you in charge?

Your's Truly,

The Devil. Reincarnated.

My soul will have to wait till i get back.. find a heina of my own..

well.. i'm back.. again..

actually.. i came back yesterday.. i spent the whole day today with my band.. yazid called for a session just now before the gig on 11th..

anyway, i'm supposed to work on 10th and 11th.. so if i cant get an off day, i wont be playing for that gig.. and the band will have to back out then.. too bad.. ska without drums.. weird..

we spent time at lucky plaza for lunch, and then to starbucks next to california fitness, then to esplanade.. damn.. i miss my bandmates..

all of us were there just now.. except for hamdy, whoz in camp, and din, who dont have enough in his ezlink.. spent time discussing abt the new songs and those that we intend to play for this upcoming gig..

and we have decided not to play for the next skafest.. which is supposed to be in january.. GSC is playing.. again.. for those who are interested..

the girls left at abt 9+, except for nas, who had reattached to her bf beep.. thank goodness.. and the two of them, and me, and yazid, went to lau pa sat for dinner..



shida and fiza..



me and azil.. dia tengah tak betul tu..



Yazid, Umi, Azil and Me..

damn.. i miss my band.. and i miss the drumkit.. the next jamming session will be on saturday... but i have a nite flight after that.. so cant hang out..

backtrack..

spent the past several days with my bro and his family in sydney.. damn.. i miss the kids again now..

he lives in a place called Lakemba, in a district of Canterbury, Sydney.. and the whole place is populated by muslims.. mostly lebanese..

spent most of the week slacking at home with the kids.. and watching them play xbox.. on the 2nd day, went down to a mall at Roselands.. they bought me a pair of shoes there as a surprise belated birthday gift.. had lunch at macdonald's after that.. therez several halal macdonald's there coz sydney has the highest muslim population in Australia, and therez a halal kfc too.. just one..

and therez lots of cute lebanese girls there.. at macdonald's..

the next day, went down to another mall at Bankstown, and got Madagascar DVD and xbox game for my nephews.. i love madagascar.. thanks intan.. for recommending that movie.. lepak giler..

as usual, Australia is boring in the evenings and on weekends.. most shops were closed, but i had a good enough time playing and slacking around with the kids.. and played takraw and football in the backyard with my bro, his colleagues, and my nephews..

so that made up for everything.. took lots of pictures of them, and videos.. especially of the princess of my family..



there she is..



now.. thatz a pose..



with nutella and flour on her face.. while her mom was baking a chocolate cake..

i actually took a lot of the boys' pics too.. but itz always the same.. they are always with their xbox..



anyway.. for those of u who had never been to Australia.. burger king is known as Hungry Jacks there...

i left on tuesday.. so so sad.. i wish i could spend more time with them.. i checked in early at the airport to ensure a good seat.. and went back to see the boys play tennis..



yayat had always said that he wants to be a tennis player.. so his dad booked them for tennis coaching and tennis camps..

had a good flight back that day too.. met several of my friends on board..

ok.. backtracking..

on monday, i met Safa.. the lebanese girl that i'm supposed to marry.. but i have not made up my mind.. somehow after finding out abt their culture, it turns me off.. but i dont really care now who i marry, as long as she fits my current criteria..

my previous criteria:
- slim
- fair
- smart
- non possessive
- pretty
- must have a hobby and lots of friends. a girl without a hobby or friends will tend to cling like ermz.. nevermind..

yeah.. ok.. i'm superficial.. so? shoot me?

my current criteria:
- muslim
- slim
- must be a true female. i dont like those born males that switched genders.
- younger than me. thatz not that hard anyway.. most of the world's population are younger than me.
- never been married before..

no offence to divorcees and widows.. but as a never-been-married bachelor, i think that i'd settle down with someone who had never been married too.. so we start building our lives together.. i dont think i like the fact of starting a new life with someone who had attempted to build her life with someone else before me.. as much as i love kids, i think i'd stay away from other ppl's responsibilities.. i'll get kids of my own.. so i'll get a heina of my own..

i leave the decision of the marriage to my brother and sis-in-law.. if they want me to marry this girl, then i will.. if they decide against it, then i wont..

i'm too lazy to start a new relationship.. but i told them to hurry to get to the decision coz if they take too long and i already have a new gf, then itz too bad..

anyway, i dont really care now lah, as long as she can click with my family.. but i prefer a pretty wife.. so i will get beautiful kids..

unless u ppl think i'm ugly lah.. then dont bother holding my kids..

so now.. i'm single still.. anyone applying? and please.. no gays..

ok.. btw.. just a statement that have no relevance to whatever that i typed.. i hate attention seekers.