砂漠のJeffire

Jeffirean Stories

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Tadaima!

I'm back! (in one piece!)

Okay, Malacca is quite a safe place to go. The bus ride was very long, but not very tiring. Tried to stay awake looking at the plantations but fell asleep eventually. Unfortunately there were many people taking the same bus at Larkin Terminal, so I didn't get a window seat. The fortunate thing is one seat beside me was a pretty girl all alone. She didn't look Singaporean so I didn't talk to her. Sigh! We had 4 stops, 2 for those alighting halfway, 1 for a stopover rest, and 1 at the petrol station. Reached Malacca Interchange around 3pm. Apparently they have now changed to a new integrated complex for all the interstate, domestic buses, together with a market, and the taxi station. I didn't know which bus and how to take the domestic bus (go counter buy ticket or pay as you board?) so I took a taxi instead. It cost me a bomb! RM15. Sigh. Anyway I reached the tourist information centre and got a map of the area. Then I started following the trail. You can see the photos (jumbled up halfway, apologies) of the trip under the sidebar where you see "My Photo Album". There are 88shots in all, and it was very tiring having to edit all the title and comments. I hope you like it.

I lost my way midway but saw other non-tourism related stuff, like motorshops, shops, etc. Stopped at a shop (along Jalan Portugis) selling nyonya stuff, bought RM43 worth of food, including pineapple tarts, coffee, ginseng tea, etc. Not really alot of food. However I felt it was stupid of me to buy so early... now I had to drag around with that extra baggage.

Walked back to the trail and saw the rest of the heritage stuff and the Dutch area. The Portuguese Settlement area is very far away, at the far eastern side of the town, so I didn't go. However at night when I went wandering around, I saw that on the way to the Portuguese area, there were plenty of nightspots around, like pubs, restaurants etc.

How I wished I stayed near the shopping centres instead of the inn I decided on impulse. I was too tired then..sigh. And it was not value for money - RM65. A tad too expensive for such a lousy place. I wished I bunked in at a guesthouse instead, maybe could have known some people. Sleeping alone was quite difficult because the room was entirely dark. However I just shut my eyes till I fell asleep. Woke up a few times, including after having a nightmare on cockroaches... I realised my hp was out of battery so I couldn't tell the time. I thought I would switch on the tv but guess what, I switched on my digital camera instead for the time. Slept till 5+ and couldn't sleep anymore. I washed up till around 6am and went down. Sigh, the staff were all sleeping. Actually this little hotel (motel ba) isn't 24hr, so too bad huh. The receptionist was an Ah Pek, so he woke up, kept my key and opened the door for me. That's when I went around taking all the dark photos you see.

I didn't manage to have breakfast. Do you know why? Apparently I spent all my money last night on the toothpaste, and forgot to change for more ringgit so I couldn't enjoy sitting down in their old old kopithiam for a coffee and food. SIGH. That was the biggest regret I had, worse than my choice of accomodation.

After the morning photo taking, I returned to the hotel around 8pm and went to bed in a bid to pass time because none of the money changers worked early. Slept till 10am and then checked out (2 hrs earlier than the stipulated time) then finally got some more cash and started to hunt for food. However the ambience was gone because most of the kopithiam were empty....SIGH. Ended up not eating breakfast at all.

I walked all the way to the shopping area, Mahkota Parade. Actually I was there the day before, but didn't buy anything because I didn't have enough ringgit changed. However I made a note of the stuff I thought I could afford, so now I could buy them all. While choosing the stuff I forgot about my camera and left it somewhere at one of their counters, luckily they found it and returned to me. PHEW! $500 leh. The salesgal advised me to keep in my bag. They weren't friendly at all, but never mind, I bought RM105 worth of gifts. Well, so many people in camp but not enough money, so some people aren't gonna get anything lor... too bad.

After buying everything I could afford, I took a taxi back to the interchange. This time the indian driver charged me RM12. Then I took the bus back to Johore on a window seat and an extra seat! Hee. Not many people on the bus mah. So heck la, put my stuff on the seat. From Larkin I took the bus back to the customs and Kranji, and finally took a taxi home.

2 regrets, aching hands and legs, and a burnt pocket for an interesting trip. I think it was quite worth it. Next time maybe I would go there only for the food and the shopping, en route to KL maybe. And I hope it will be by car! The bus ride is so tiring...but a real eye opener.

Ok, so you guys are wondering how much I spent... I spent nearly RM300, so that makes it about $140 SGD. Luckily I won big money for the Czech quarter finals so not too bad la. Hahaha. I guess I should had spent more on buying the local produce, oh ya, they sold lotsa preserved stuff there like prawn paste etc...

Guess I'm not a very good writer but heck la, if you got questions just ask me. Think the photos should suffice..if not let's find one day to go down again lor.

Oh that adds to the regret list. I went ALONE. Pathetic hor....what to do. I picked the wrong time to go. Ya, like I said, maybe next time ba.

Acknowledged my existence at
10:59 PM

Monday, June 28, 2004

Another couple of hours I'll be on my way to Malacca. It will be quite an experience being alone, with the route relatively unknown to me. The good thing is that I have done my research, so things aren't that bad. The only worrying thing is their security there. There has been a rise in snatch thefts and unfortunately a couple of them in the last six mths have resulted in unnecessary deaths due to brutality of the the robbers. I hope I'll be updating my blog tomorrow intact! Haha.

Saturday was a pretty good day as I joined my secondary school class for a soccer match against another team which I do not know about them but nonetheless, we played very well and managed to secure a 3-1 win. I was very lucky to have scored a goal due to their defence lapse. My peers have all improved since army, mostly in their determination and stamina. I thought I have improved much, but probably my stamina and speed aren't enough on the field. It was a very tiring game. I only played around 30mins before I retired to the bench with a nearly burnt sole and my toenails poking into my toe flesh. Argh. It was indeed nice to be back with all my friends, for the last time I probably saw them was in JC1? Haha. There'll be another match upcoming on Sunday, but I'm not very sure if I can make it...

On Friday I went Arab St in search of their non-alcoholic perfumes/colognes. Times has changed so much. In my memory, in one of the historical visits to the Kampong Glam area, a little bottle of perfume cost $2 and came in a simple looking little glass bottle. To me its simplicity looked great. Unfortunately nowadays it cost $5, as they come in a better looking gold coloured capped bottle.. The $15 tubes looked very nice but I had to get more than a few to give my camp mates... well, i guess i have to go Malacca and find some souveniors instead then. Oh ya, before I went Kampong Glam, I went for a pre-enrolment medical checkup at Raffles Hospital. Everything was ok except my height had fallen another 2cm! Hahaha. Likewise my weight fell another 3kg from 2 mths ago. If I keep getting shorter, I have to lose more weight to satisfy the BMI requirement! Haha. What to do. Anyway I walked a bloody long distance from Kampong Glam (near Bugis/Beach Rd) to Balestier (you try walking and see how far it is?) until I decided I had to go find some rest. One interesting site I walked past was the flea market at Jalan Besar. Nothing interested me though, everything looked liked they were picked from the dumps so...eek. Then I took a bus to Toa Payoh and ate japanese food. It was a waste of money! Should have not ate at the Art Bistro cafe... sigh.

Ok, hope to be back tomorrow and pray all of you have a good start to the week. 2 more days to getting my pink IC! Hee!

Regards
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
7:49 AM

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Hey friends,

I've got my photo album up there so in the future you can check it out when I mention that it has been updated. For the time being, check out the few photos I have there and hope those people featured will like the photos.

Been thinking about writing my dreams here! I mean I will like to have kept a dream diary but I'm ain't the super-enthusiast about it. I just like remembering what I have dreamt and then try to find out answers on why did I dream this and that...haha. Well you can say that I've just been inspired to write this because of the dream, or should I say, nightmare, I had this morning....And yah, you can enjoy laughing while reading my about my dreamland adventures but try not to dig me about it. I mean it's not that I can control what to dream..haha. And if you don't mind, let's do dream analysis together!

First scene I can remember was at the roadside. I can't remember anything before that, why I was there etc. However there was an accident, and I was there carrying a girl who was injured in the accident. Seems to me she's my girlfriend or something because throughout the dream I was super anxious, worried. Well, hold your laughters - the girl was with the face of Vicky Zhao. So the ambulance came and took her away.

Second scene was at the hospital. I was at the hospital trying to find where the A&E was. Ok, dun ask me why I didn't get on the ambulance. I walked everywhere, through the canteen, through the main hall(which looked very stylish, with orange lights and glass doors), read a map, asked someone I saw but still couldn't find the A&E. I was very worried, and scared... then eventually I got on the lift. Then to my horror the lift stopped midway! I pressed the buttons frantically. At this moment I felt very angry and ridiculous about the lift, so I woke up.

So I woke up. Well, since a nightmare encounter with Sadako (who remains my biggest fear at night), I have learnt to halt dreams like pressing STOP of a video player by conscientiously forcing myself to wake up. Maybe that's why I can remember the dream? Sometimes I feel like I'm deliberately dragging the dream on...hahaha

Yeah, I like daydreaming too, imagining about the stuff I can do, I like to do, the people I like etc. Sometimes I imagine bad stuff, like plane crashes, etc. Sometimes I imagine weird stuff, like inventing new things, etc etc.

Maybe that's why I put my icq nick as 'Dream Lover' for the past 5 yrs till last year? It meant that I loved dreams and not the other meaning... now I changed it to Love Dreamer. Haha.

Ok, for the dream analysis.

The first thing I tried to understand was, why was the girl Vicky Zhao? Ok, I guess it's a subconscious preference for petite girls that has sunshine smile...you know, not that kind of chiobu, lians, but sunshine girls..

The second thing I thought was why I couldn't find the A&E? I guess it's always like that. You know, some nightmares you are always looking for that elusive exit, that shelter... but of course this part I will like to hear opinion ba.

The third thing I thought was why I didn't get on the ambulance. I guess it's because I never did so in real life ba.

The last thing I thought was why did the lift stop? I guess it's just an idea of being trapped and helpless...

Well, now I wished I can dream back the serial dream I had in my younger days....I really can remember that dream about my life in school which continued like a serial drama. And also that special dream in which I first retaliated against the so called 'evil beings' in my nightmares. It was usually run, run and run.

Dreams are funny right....hehe.

Regards
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
10:04 PM

You can see that I modified one of my 'goalposts' again. I realised that why on earth would I want a car for if I haven't passed my driving test yet? Okie, so now I'm looking for a private instructor for 'driving tuition' because lessons in the school are expensive and they don't seem to tell me much about my driving. It can't be I can drive that much better in lessons than in tests? Btw, the last test I took, it was just last Fri, 18 Jun 2004, I managed to score 54pts. This was why I decided to admit all my mistakes because I was so angry with myself. I mean I cleared the circuit with 0 points and how did I manage to get 54pts for the public roads just simply because I forgot how to change down gears?

Ok, maybe I'm that bad a driver. But maybe not! To be bloody truthful, I drove my dad's van from home to CGH without crashing nor interrupting the traffic. Man, that was the coolest drive I ever did. Somemore on the expressway! I wonder if the police will catch me when I put this down here. I mean I didn't put it here because I was afraid of legal action. However I guess since they need to prove physically that I drove on that day, probably they wouldn't bother about me.

Well, if any of you knows about any private instructors in the SSDC(ie, Yio Chu Kang/AMK area) please do leave it in the comments or contact me... it would be good if he could pick me up here in Khatib, but never mind about that. I guess the only way to pass is to take revision lessons before the test. Yeah. I realised that for the FOUR times I took my tests, the 2 times with lower points I had taken ONE revision lesson prior to the test.

This is one of the toughest test I've ever had. I never feared exams/tests. Not even As, Os. Paper qualifications don't matter to me. Yet this one got me.....arghzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Well, this is the last time i'm gonna do it. everything will expire after this one and i will have to spend a ton of money to get it going again.

Will be doing revision everyday the week before the test if there is a private instructor who is so nice, patient and willing to earn the little cash I can afford. I hope this helps. If this doesn't, I should consider employing a chauffeur in the future....haha.

Ranted, grumbled, complained, confessed, screamed.

Grrrrrr
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
12:46 AM

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Dinner by Jeffire

Well, I've just finished washing up and dinner's ready on the table but too bad my parents aren't coming back at the usual time. Nvm. Anyway, what you see is a 2 dish 1 soup dinner. The soup is cooked with chicken heckbone, then mushrooms(from the can), minced meat, corn and the vegetables were added. In my mother's formula there should have been fishballs in too, but as you can see, the plate on the right has cuttlefish balls. I boiled the cuttlefish balls in the soup. After drying it then I cooked them in a bit of magarine to give it more taste. As for the tofu on the left, yes i know it looks ugly, but it's steamed tofu with cheese on top. However this dish doesn't taste good. I guess it's because cheese can't be steamed.. well, i guess i will go find some more recipes for cheese related food. Trying to cook fusion style..haha.

Finally the MO was around so I went to camp today for my FFI. It was a quick one and he signed on my FFI which I handed to Winston for his safekeeping. Then I carried all my bunk stuff home. Phew. They were heavy and so I had to spend some $3.50 for a cab back home.

Friday I will be going to Arab St to see if the perfume shops are still around. I guess I will get some stuff from them for some of my camp mates. The other stuff I will get from Malacca when I go there on Monday.

Acknowledged my existence at
9:01 PM

Monday, June 21, 2004

Life's been pretty upside down these days because of Euro2004. Those days when I wanted to watch the matches, I had to stay up till the wee hours in the morning, and then sleep till afternoon. Actually, I don't mind staying up or sleeping late, it's just that everyday I'm woken up by the irritating handphone call from my mother. And wonder what's happening to me, these days I have backache and I don't feel fresh when I wake up.... wonder it's because of the swimming, staying up late or the bed. Argh.

I have so decided to still go for the Malacca trip, albeit a shorter one. It will be similar to what those travel agencies are offering, 2 days 1 night, but it will be DIY. I will be going alone too. Wonder if it's ok to go alone, but since I have always ventured into the unknowns alone, I guess I will place a chip on the Malaysian police. Haha.

Speaking of venturing into the unknowns, I have yet decided what to do to set up my company. Nothing inspirational has arrived at this moment and without inspiration, it's difficult to put in all your belief, time and effort. I believe that these are what you need in a successful enterprise. Of course there are much deeper meanings to those 3 words, but writing it here down doesn't mean it will be translated into action. This also reminds me of some friends who have jumped into the fray of MLM. I think they really possess the 3 qualities, and I hope they will make it big someday too. Or at least make level because usually when you join a MLM, you will need to pay some fees upfront, or maybe stock on the first batch of goods as a start.

Sch's going to start soon(in mid Aug) but I have a problem : I forgotten most of my Mathematics stuff. When it comes to technicalities I have a problem. It's the same with my physics and chemistry, when I have to do the calculations with formulae and laws. Wonder how did the other NS guys manage to regrasp their knowledge..

Yes, Aloy, unfortunately, for the time being my life revolves around football. Even my main activity for these holidays is playing Winning Eleven 7I. Hahaha. Apart from that, I still dream of playing some soccer soon with the guys in camp, or at the street soccer court. It just feels so great to be running and trying to chase the ball. It's an art to me, the canvas is the playing area and the ball is your medium. Draw lines by passing/shooting, colour the spot with magnicificent dribbling and entertain the crowd with that passionate look on your face. And did you see on tv how the whole crowd roared when they saw the goal scored by Nuno Gomes....did you see how the whole of Lisbon was celebrating the win? It's so much of a joy. And did you see the tv replay of all the misses of Spain....the looks on their faces.....a soccer match is a live movie, a drama and a battle all rolled into one... Actually the best feeling I enjoy when playing soccer is that everyone gets to enjoy the Beautiful Game together...yes, the feeling of fighting as one unit.

One last week of freedom... when I return from Malacca next week, I will finish NS and will be ready to start working. Hope to find an ideal night time job soon!

Acknowledged my existence at
11:53 PM

Sunday, June 20, 2004

It's 4.50am in the morning now.

Firstly, I would like to show my deepest appreciation to all of those who stood by me. The darkest hour is over and time will heal the pain, I hope. I promise I will try to redress all the mistakes and never in the future there will be anymore of such confession. Thank you to all my friends.

Today was a pretty good day except at the pool, i didn't manage to finish the 50 lengths i wanted to. Out of the blue, many kids emerged in pyjamas and flooded the pool. Feeling cramped, I decided to end it at 40 lengths... haiz.

I finally made my first win on Euro2004, winning the matches that I watched just now. I placed some big money on them and now I overturned a $70 deficit to make a little profit. I hope I can accomplish the goal of making a profit at the game. Actually, I don't really encourage betting, so I hope you guys dun follow suit. Haha. I still can't bear to put my 'Director of Football' duties down....And to be truthful, this is only my third bet day for Euro, so dun be mistaken, I'm not a compulsive gambler.

I got a message from Bon who has finally made his first sale for today! I hope this will lift up his spirits and then subsequently he can continue to do well on his job. Keep it up dude.

Well, it's Father's Day today. I wish all the best for all our fathers, and of course may all my guy friends soon be able to celebrate this day too! (hahaha)

Yeah!
Jeffire

PS: My 7sea bro Alex is offering Euro2004 tips @ $8.88 per match day, with guaranteed refunds if inaccurate. If you like to know more about it, please email 'relex83@hotmail.com' for more details and registration.

Acknowledged my existence at
4:43 AM

Friday, June 18, 2004

I guess today is one emotional day for me. Read carefully as I will admit here some of the mistakes I had made.

a. I lied to my 7seas brothers and sisters about passing my driving licence.

I had done my apology through SMS and I hope they won't take it to heart. I am putting it down here for all my friends to see so that they know I am serious about my apology and willing to admit. I pray that they will understand. I really pray so.

b. I put too much work for my understudy.

I certainly must apologise to Francis, my understudy, that over the half year he spent with me, I had not taught him well and given him too much work to do. I was annoying with my criticism. My uncaring attitude made his life worse as the work piled on with more and more projects coming on. I hope he will understand that I really hated the way things were done and therefore I wanted to avoid work as much as possible. Hope he will understand.

c. I criticise people too much.

During my secondary schooldays I was never well liked in school because of my mouth. I was sarcastic and never thought about others' feelings. I hope over the days I have improved on this. I hope you guys have forgotten about it.

d. I am not really a straight guy.

In secondary school, I had a crush on a guy in my class who sat beside me in secondary one. Some of my friends know this, some don't. Since then, I have always wondered if I do really like guys. Well, I still would like to have a girlfriend, but I wouldn't mind if I had a nice boyfriend as well.

e. I have tried to murder my friend.

My best friend in primary and secondary school might not be around today if I pushed him harder. On that faithful day that I lost his friendship, he threatened not to go to school by saying he would cross the road at once without stopping for cars if I continued dragging him to school. I was furious and then provoked him to try it by pushing him onto the road. I really regretted it throughout the whole year. Luckily he's still around and I've managed to see him smile to me on a memorable morning where we exchanged 'hi' for the first time in 2.5yrs.

These conclude that I ought to be sent to hell, which I think I should be. I hope you guys would understand more about me and help me to walk back on the right path. Although I need no counselling, I would appreciate it so much if you guys can always help to point out my faults (thanks to Francis for doing it once) in the future.

I pray that my friends will still be around for me as much as I will always try to be around for them.

Regrettably
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
8:07 PM

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Hello

I wonder if it's worthwhile to track back and talk about the weekend I have. Well, I guess it's better that I throw it to the archive and look forward to something else.

I've yet to find a perfect site that allows me to put up the photos for show. Sorry, hope someone can introduce me one so that you people can view the photos ba. Then perhaps I needn't write about those days anymore..

Went back to camp today. It was a great day. I got a few more signatures on my clearance form and also finished the AFR projects. Now I don't owe my office anything, so it's finally time I can rest...the only thing that sucked was that nowadays nobody goes for the LIFE activities...so no more soccer.

Tomorrow I've got my dental FFI and medical FFI. Will be spending one last afternoon in camp. Then probably I will give away all my uniform and stuff that I can give away. I took plenty of stuff back, leaving only the guitar, some clothes and some toiletries. I hope tomorrow I will be able to take away everything. I also pray that my clearance form will be completed and I can just take my time to wait for ROD...

Won't be going to the Malacca trip anymore, UNLESS, I succeed in firing in that goal regarding winning Euro2004. My bros, fear not, I only run a small business, $5, $10? Hahaha. Anyway, I can afford to lose $100 anyway...just treat it as the last bets for the season ba. Have to wait till the new season to begin in end Aug before the fantasy league runs again and also with more choices to bet on. Maybe I will get to learn stuff in school so that I will know how to leverage more? Hahaha.

Made some more new goals over there. Actually one of my greatest desire is to try living alone. A place where I can design my own space, use my own furniture, wear my own clothes. My family isn't very well to do, so clothes are kinda shared... yeah, even underwear. Hahaha. Poor people mah. If you dun mind, then buy me clothes for my birthday? Aiya, dun need la. If you buy then I have to buy for you a birthday present...i would rather you spend some time playing soccer with me or maybe write me a story, letter etc. It's the thought that counts. Speaking of my birthday, my brother POP (finish BMT) on the same day 2. Double happiness huh. However I won't be going to see his parade....have a talk in school. I really look forward to knowing new people in school. Yes, girls yes, but boys are welcomed too.

To my bro Jinki, since when did cooking pasta have to do with me!?

Stay tuned...

Acknowledged my existence at
9:01 PM

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Yo!

Let me announce that I will finish my NS earlier! However due to the proximity of my ROD, I would have only earned 6 days bonus. Refer to the MINDEF FAQ Oh well, those who enlisted 3 months later than me enjoy the full 2 months, like JH, Justin, etc. I hope they will be happier than me...haha. Okie. However I will still be going back to camp to settle the remaining stuff. It's better that I conclude my chapter in NS properly, so I hope to really conclude it entirely by this Fri(going back to camp on Thu and Fri). I wonder how will they be compensating for my leave. Gotta call Chief Clerk to enquire about it...

The weekend was a great one with the commencement of Euro 2004. Portugal lost the opening match unexpectedly to Greece. On Monday morning, we saw how England lost dramtically to France in a 2 goal blitz during the dying minutes of the game, all thanks to 3 idiots aka, David Beckham who missed the penalty, Emile Heskey for conceding a free kick outside the penalty area that led to Zidane's superb goal(As JK said, Bend it like Zidane!), Steven Gerrard for making the most horrendous back pass to Thiery Henry. Man, to think England was going to win! Anyway, these days we are burning the midnight oil to watch the games. To get accustomed to it, I decided to play WE7 International again so as to stay awake to watch the match. It worked! I was bright awake throughout this morning's match, where Italy drew with Denmark. I love Denmark's style of play, much more efficient than Italy.

The weekend was full of activities that burn holes in the pocket.

On Saturday I watched Harry Potter with QY, Charles, Jorim(a new guy I've got to know) and Andrew. As SR commented, it wasn't really as nice as before. I guess it was not as exciting, though I seriously thought the plot was much much better with the twists and hidden leads. I won't reveal the differences for the benefit for those who have yet to watch. Perhaps it's got something to do with the 'final boss' idea in games. Like you know when you beat the 'final boss' too easily you would think the game is kinda not as exciting? haha. I have got to say sorry to Andrew. Your photo was great but I've accidentally deleted it.....sorrieeeeeeeeeeeeeee. After settling the payment to Andrew, we had a late dinner at KFC (not before walking around for 40min to find a non-fast food restaurant for Charles, argh). It was a sinful meal..(i added a few photos, see my photo collection, on the sidebar)

Sunday, I rose from bed by dragging my feet up. I was late to meet Jinki for the farewell lunch! Unfortunately, the rest was even later than me, so we could only start to eat from 12pm. Hahaha. I was waiting at the restaurant to ensure my reservation was still valid...thankfully the crowd came later than us and we managed to get 10 seats. Kuishinbo is a nice place to eat Japanese food. For $30.20, you get to eat all sorts of japanese food from sushi to sashimi, ramen to donburi, nabemono to yakimono.. i would give it 10 fingers all up! Moreover the gathering was of a great mix, the girls were great, the guys were fun to be talk to. One of the best lunch I've had. All thanks to the organisers and participants! After lunch we had difficulty finding an activity to do together but eventually we decided to go to a cafe for another chat...haha. Eventually the chat lasted till 7plus (from 4pm) and we finally dispersed for the day. I regret that I didn't take as much photos as I wished, and this applied to the videos too. Oh ya, you have gotta get the video from me cos no server would accept my upload of a video...I only have 2, it's 14mb and 5mb respectively...won't take too long if you are on broadband as well.

On Monday, Jinki, JunKai, Lixia, Eileen and me gathered at 11am at Kranji MRT. This time the outing's to JB! Woah! My last trip to JB was perhaps 10yrs ago, so to me it was very exciting...haha, and that was why I rarely spoke during the whole trip. I was trying to observe and listen more...Everything has changed so much..the customs, the roads, the buildings etc. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the Larkin bus terminal as we will need to get there for the Malacca trip. However the shopping trip was great. Now I know one of the best buys in JB is contact lenses. Hahaa. I didn't get any vcd/dvd/pirated stuff, dun worry.

I really want to write more about each of the 3 days but I am very tired out. I swam 50 lengths today (for the first time) and practised ball juggling for 1 hr....need to spare my eyes for some rest so that I can catch the matches later....haha

Will write again soon, so stay tuned!

Acknowledged my existence at
10:03 PM

Friday, June 11, 2004

Oh well, finally started the ball rolling for my university enrolment administration. This is the folder I got. A lion face! My horoscope is Leo too...hee.

SMU Matriculation Folder

I went to the bank today to process the bank loan. Ok, from today onwards I will be in debt and so have to start scrimping to pay back. Maybe some of your activities I wouldn't be able to join anymore...sob... anyway i'll be looking for a job so that i can work while schooling. Some of the jobs in mind include working for companies that dabble in the Dow Jones/NASDAQ etc, working at night. I wouldn't rule out nightspots as well, or perhaps stall assistant somewhere, or maybe 7-11? The job search will commence when I return from my Malacca trip. If you see any suitable night jobs please do inform me ba. I looking at some job that pays $800 - $1k. Some job that I will learn something from...(ok I rule out Networking Marketing/MLM first as it's not really fun enough for me)

Since I had to get a guarantor for the loan, it would naturally be my father. So I met my parents for lunch before going to the bank. My mother, who had to be at my aunt's place after lunch, ordered me to be in my dad's workshop office for the rest of the day so as to help out because the admin person had gone on 1/2 day leave. While in the office, I had nothing to do, so I switched on the music and read my newspaper...4.5hrs was too much for The Newpaper and Today(even with Euro2004 and GSS coverage) so I ended up snooping in the office. Found a gem below!

An ad of my father's workshop which I neva seen before

Well, the above was a laminated piece of the advertisement. Wow, I din know my father was a model on an ad before. Hahahaha. By the way, since I've already got it up there, let me advertise on his behalf too, yeah, you can see '25 years of experience' on car body repair and paint works. (well, since the boss isn't around these days, i can't claim 35 years of experience as shown haha) So if you need any repair, be it minor or major, they will even help you process your insurance claim as long as your insurance company accepts it (well, this depends on your insurance company). Any questions you can contact me ba. Some of the people whom I know and had praised my dad's workmanship include my JC friend, Jasmine, her friend's brother, my boss in HQ SA, and the current CO 23 SA. Haha...

My father looks weird in a 'spacesuit'...:p

A close up of my father(left) and his boss(right)

Ok. We went to my aunt's place to fetch my mother for dinner. This time we went the temporary hawker centre of Tiong Bahru. Wow, like I wrote before, the food there is simply great. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to take photos, but with a twist of fate, my mother was using my brother's camera phone, so you can see what we ate. Next time we go together to eat ok!? There's really a wide variety of cheap, good food. The dessert (I din take photos of it) we had, ice Cheng Teng and Ice Kachang, were simply loaded with different ingredients and provided some coolness for a hot day like today. $2 only for the 2 desserts we had!

I had this prawn noodles at a stall called 'Min Nan'

Prawn Noodles!

This is the famous steamboat porridge there.

Steamboat porridge

My father eating the porridge

Well, another day well spent. Done plenty of personal admin and ate great food. Wooooo, this sunday going for a japanese buffet...haha. Soon you gonna see a fat Jeffire again. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhzzzzzzzz

Regards
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
10:08 PM

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Hihi

Started fiddling with my camera...yeah. the model of the day is my dear Pikachu.. how's the picture? Like it?

my pikachu!

Today went to the banks with C.U and QQ. Well, you can see them below. I went UOB to apply for the Visa Mini Debit Card. I hope to get it before I depart for Malaysia. It should come in use. Can't wait for it to come!

C.U and QQ

We had lunch at Yoshinoya, where QQ started to fiddle with my camera. So you guess whose leg hair he photographed?

Guess Whose leg hair? Guess (QQ or C.U)

We then walked to the interchange as we really couldn't decide what to do for the next few hours. I stole the chance to take some more photos.

C.U - Stop blocking the girl!

QQ! Quite yandao rite?

Finally, we decided to go play table tennis. Whew, kinda many years since I last went to the stadium to play table tennis. Now we gotta pay ($1.50 before 6pm on weekdays, other time $3) but the facilities had been slightly improved. There was netting on the sides, so the ball wouldn't fall so often down to the lower floor, where people played badminton. I forgot to take the camera with me there, but C.U took some more photos, maybe I will post it up next time. Surprisingly while playing, NTUC Fairfrice called me to go for an interview for the job of a Supervisor. Eh? Since when I applied for the job of a supervisor? I thought I applied for the job of a cashier(well, wanted to try if I could work at the betting booth...haha). Anyway I rejected the invitation as I am not very keen on a day job. I need a night job, but I guess I will apply after I return from the trip ba. Not very urgent at the moment.

Yesterday I had dinner with QY and JX. It's been a week plus since I last saw them. They are sure tied down in some stupid event now, but they are still as cool as ever. Haha. Then, I finished the manual (phew, finally) and sent to my understudy, hope it will help. Meanwhile I still have a WITS project to do in the next 2 days. I pray that it will be completed by the time I go back to office on Sat to do the handing/taking over. Then I will be doing 'freelancing' in the office ba...haha.

Well, been thinking about the near future. Am I going to cope with schooling and working at the same time? I am sure there must be many people who have done it before, just not sure if I can be like them. When I was surfing the Yahoo Classifieds, saw a couple of interesting advertisements. One was of a student from NUS providing massage services, and the other, a group of students from NUS doing the same. Well, nope, I wasn't looking for a massage but rather looking for someone who do facials...haha. You can see below how many facials I need!

Well, this is me...yours truly.

Saturday I will be watching Harry Potter with QY and co, if you are interested please do contact me. I think it would be at J8 Golden Village ba. Sunday the 7seas brothers will once again get together for a buffet lunch at Kuishinbo. It looks expensive to me... well, what to do? There won't be many chances to dine together in the near future. The brothers are all at different schools, Jinki will be leaving for Australia...

Yes, recalled again what I wrote for Hiei in her testimonial, Time will reveal where we end up. It reminds me of the theme of the Orientation Programme the 15th SC organised...it's some latin phrase which I cannot recall at the moment.haha. It's been 2.5 yrs since I left YJC..time flies.

Regards
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
8:13 PM

Monday, June 07, 2004

Whew! This weekend was very fruitful. Firstly I got my matriculation stuff so can start to get ready for university life. The only problem is that the one date clash with my trip to Malacca, however, luckily, JH n Lyon both have the same problem with their Dental FFIs dates similar, hence the conclusion was to bring forward the trip by a day. Looks like I need to update the itinerary again. Anyway, for university school fees I gotta loan from the bank, but they capped it at 80%. I was thinking if there are any very poor students who made it to the university, but cannot get a scholarship, how are they going to pay the remaining 20%? However I thought of it and probably my father will pay the 20% ba. So I will pay the remaining 80% myself through instalments. Whoo...this means I must get a job while in university. Probably I will a night time job, but hope it won't hinder the projects I may face during the school terms. Heard there SMU students do many many projects.

On Sat went to the PC Show 2004 with my bro, C.U, JK and Charles. Walked and squeezed with the crowd....haha. JK and I were there to look out for digicam deals, while Charles was there for printer deals. In the end, nobody bought anything. However, on Sun, by a last minute purchase, I finally acquired a digicam. Unfortunately an oversight made me think that the digicam could be used as an webcam. Anyway it doesn't matter now. Still have one month more to get a webcam for Jinki and whoever else going overseas. Probably it would be much easier to talk over MSN instead of typing, which is why I think getting a webcam is essential. And probably for my projects in the future we could do video conferencing! Hahaha.

These are 2 photos I tried taking with the camera. Need to go for some special training liao!

This is the apple tea I just drunk...

apple tea~

This Pikachu is now back home after staying alone in the office for a year plus! Pikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

my pikachu~

Hope I can accumulate some nice photos soon.

Regards
Jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
2:00 PM

Thursday, June 03, 2004

Well, there won't be any photos for this blog so please bear with the long story ba.

A Canadian friend (his name will be depicted as C.U. here)arrived from China yesterday. A first hand experience on how to receive a friend indeed. Anyway, this guy will be around for the next 30+ days, so I've got plenty of time and opportunities to take a photo for you to see. Haha.

First time took the MRT to the airport. It was real crowded because of the Food Festival. Arghz. I didn't get to go to this festival, but anyway I'm not really that interested in an exhibition on FOOD.

I heard that C.U was on the same plane as Faye Wong! Woo hoo, but of course, Faye would have been on the First Class cabin ba. Anyway I was kinda late (but earlier than the guest) so din get to see Faye Wong (duh, who cares).

Met plenty of my NBPS juniors, whom I got to know through my brother and playing table tennis, like QQ, QT. The other people who came to receive C.U included a girl whom he met online (let's name her A), another girl who was my brother's classmate(but i wonder how come she bothered to come and receive him, hmmmmm, let's name her B) and C.U's secondary school friend from RI, an Indian guy. Actually this sudden meeting kinda like dumbed out everyone, nobody knew what to say at times. It's like everyone ain't that close together, but still in touch? Oh well, luckily I cracked a few jokes and bridged the people together. Unfortunately for the indian guy whom i tried to talk to, i couldn't really find something to talk to him, and C.U din really bother to talk to him either, so he was on his music all the way throughout the MRT trip. Poor guy. A din get much attention either, regarding this I will be rambling on later. QQ brought his stuff back to his home (as C.U will be staying with QQ for the next 30+ days). So in the end, B, QT and I were chatting with C.U throughout the whole trip, including a meal at Suntec, till I parted at Bishan station. B is quite a demure girl, and speaks cool english.....heeee. Too bad din get her no nor her name. In the evening there was a surprise welcome party, but my brother who was just 'released' from Tekong, didn't feel like going. Oh well.

Rambling time: It seems like many other people are like me, who are kinda two different type of person on and offline. It's not really a character problem I suppose. It's a communication skill that has been eroded over time.......it's very easy to be talking online, easy to write nice words, easy to put down your comments, easy to talk to many people at once, giving them a 'presumed' 100% attention. Yet offline, face-to-face conversation is entirely different. It's difficult giving everyone attention, it's difficult not to interrupt when you have an idea, it's difficult not to sound harsh when giving comments etc........

Sigh.

I'll continue this tomolo ba.

regards
jeffire

Acknowledged my existence at
1:13 AM