2k word count

2k word count by the end of tonight.

This would probably be the longest yet until I decide to go for 3k or more. Let's begin..

Today is the 2nd day of work since I came back from reservist yesterday. I am beginning to pick up the momentum which is probably a good thing right? I was doing tower duty today with Brandon at zone 7. The sun was bright with it's rays nicely diffused by the clouds, giving it a nice warm feel and the breeze was blowing nicely that it would put a baby to sleep peacefully. Such weather is perfect to be lazing at the beach and it is quite often nowadays which makes working quite a challenge if you understand why.

The open water lifesaving competition is happening on the 24th and 25th of this month and I am competing in the board race. 1 event only and it is going to be my 1st time competing in this competition. I believe I am quite competent on the board but anything can happen on the race day itself. I was told that the heats would be on the 24th and the finals would be on the 25th. Competition will be tough. There would probably be those who competed last year and did not went up the podium and will try their luck again this year. As for me, I will try my best to reach the finals. Going up the podium would be a bonus and it is probably going to be tough but not impossible. Miracles can happen right?

Today is Teacher's Day! Happy Teacher's Day to all the teachers! I just sent out SMSes to 3 of my teachers. They're Mrs Crothers, Mrs Ruth Tham and Cikgu Asnida. These 3 teachers have helped me to be a better person. Each have taught me many invaluable lessons. I never really caught what they taught me back then, but when I look back, it became so clear. Let me just tell you what each teacher has given me.

I was in the normal academic class in Commonwealth Secondary School and Mrs Crothers was my class mentor when I was in secondary 1. She's married to Mr Crothers who holds a position in the local entertainment industry. You would hear his voice on the radio and television advertisement often. I met him very few times and I do recognize his voice then over the radio and television but not now. Maybe I can guess but I am not able to predict it correctly. She taught my class English language and boy, she was very strict. She was probably the firstborn child and definitely a choleric. I definitely got a a number of scolding from her when I did not finish my homework. Even though she was strict, she was a very fun teacher. Her real influence was in her real passion - Drama.

She graduated with a degree in drama and something. I cannot recall the whole degree but drama was in there, somewhere. Her drama plays are very abstract. Nothing like the average Joe plays. She would play with heights, use different colors and uses lines that I could remember till now. I consider myself very fortunate as my batch of secondary 1 classes have drama as a lesson and have Mrs Crothers as our drama teacher. That means she was teaching us in 2 different lessons. Drama was not a CCA, Core Curriculum Activity yet then. It was still an ECA, Extra Curriculum Activity. Drama lessons were very fun! We learned the basic drama warm ups and some short skit to probably learn some acting skills. We were given a tasked to do our own play and show it to Mrs Crothers before the end of the year to be graded. Along the way during the lesson, Mrs Crothers would help us to improve our scripts and even our plays. My group play was about The Adam's family. Was it a coincidence? I don't know but I was the Frankenstein. It was probably the best role for me and I really had so much fun during that class. How many people can say that they had drama as a lesson and not a CCA?

I joined drama as an ECA. My CCA was international chess. Chess sessions were boring but it was quite relaxed. When I first joined the chess club, they had a coach and they were competing in competitions and I was not into that. I just want to lay low and it happened. The coach disappeared. I am not sure till now if he quit or was fired which left club aimless. After his unknown departure, the teacher in-charge inform us that the club will be disbanded. All of us were shocked! My 1st year was ending and we have to leave and find a new CCA? It would not be easy for most of the secondary 2 and 3 people. They would lose out on the CCA points as they would not be able to get a 75% attendance per year which some of them would depend on. In the end, the club would still run but will not recruit anymore.

The best part of drama started when I was in secondary 2. There was some activity in the drama club but I did not attend much. I always find excuses not to attend and it was an ECA so there was not much importance.Like any other day, I was in class and doing my work as per normal. Then came a girl who went into the classroom and asked for me. I think she asked for Emmanuel too, whom was classmate of mine. We followed her as she told us to. I only knew she was my senior then and that is all. She brought us to the dance room. Outside the dance room, there were some seniors doing some stuff. I cannot recall but I know there was a big scrim. Inside the room, I saw Siva and Marc who were my classmates too, rehearsing with the other cast. All I remembered from that day was the comment by one of the senior that I was very tall and I was now a member of the drama club SYF team. That's when life in secondary school became very fun.

The title of our first SYF play was called - The Swing. We had little props but these props were probably our signature props as we used them in our future plays and the coming SYFs. They were black cubes and there were six of them. Each were similar with only one side without a panel thus it can be used as a box too. I think they lasted for 7 to 8 years or more till it gave out and broke. We used big sets instead. For the first SYF, we used a large scrim which was a very big white piece of cloth to divide the stage into 2, front and back. We used blowers, like those you would see when janitors wet the floor and use it to dry the floor, and angled them at forty five degrees up to make the confetti create a cool effect. We even use flood lights to make silhouettes on the scrim from stage back and there was the swing. The swing was an ordinary swing but one of the rope was adjusted so that it would slip when one of the cast was suppose to pull it down and fall on the floor as cued.

Practice sessions were intense! Mrs Crothers would barked at the cast for the play to be right and the backstage crew to be on cue for the sound and lighting. She was much stricter than she was in class and I was beginning to be afraid of her. She took notes during every rehearsals. She pointed out mistakes. She left no stones unturned to make the play a success. By the time we were near the competition, a lot has changed since the first script was written. There were some changes to the cast and new additions to the backstage crew. I was in the backstage crew ever since I got involved. We rehearsed more often at the school hall after school as the competition came closer. Thankfully, our school hall was air conditioned. I believed not many school halls were air conditioned at that time as far as I knew.

The SYF was held at The Chinese High School theater. We went there a few times to get familiarized with the surrounding and do all the sound and lighting check and get them right. We did a couple of full runs and we discovered that the stage was different in size. We took some measurements on the first visit and we went back to adjust our stage so as it would be similar to that at The Chinese High. A lot needed to be changed but most of it are where the cast would be at on stage due to lightings. By this time, everyone knew their role. Backstage crew would guide the cast out from the backstage and the cast would help the backstage crew to move and clear the stage as quickly as possible when our play ended for the next school to play. This was even rehearsed. Everything was rehearsed.

During break or before rehearsals would start, we would gather in our own groups and have a good laugh and enjoy each others company. There was one senior, his name was Chee Kaur and he was from NCC, whom a lot of juniors like myself like to be with because he tells a lot of jokes! Remember my classmates Siva, Marc and Emmanuel whom I mentioned earlier? They were from NCC too. NCC were their CCA and drama were an ECA for them. The seniors were also the pioneers of the drama club. They joined and created the club first when Mrs Crothers started it. What I was really proud was that even though we had our own small cliques, we all cared for one another. It was something that I really liked about the drama club.

We had the privileged to be able to stay overnight in school before the performance day. We had rehearsals till like 9pm. As soon as the last rehearsal was over, we packed all the stuff to be ready for tomorrow. I don't remember what happened that night but all I knew was that it was fun. We had some games and we had dinner together before we all rested for the night. I think Mrs Crothers went home. There was Miss Lena Ng who was a music teacher in our school. She also helped out with the backstage and the play. Miss Ng was joined us later stage during the rehearsal periods and she was with us till the end. We left school the following day when the school was gathering for the assembly. We were on our way to create history.

It was our first SYF. We were new in this competition and we did not know what to expect. Being new in this would make us the underdogs. After we unloaded our stuff from the bus and placed it at the storage area, most of us fell silent. I believe most of us were nervous. I went around to help one of the seniors check if all the items have been unloaded and accounted for. As we were cued to be the next play, Mrs Crothers gathered everyone to form a circle and hold hands. As we held the hands of the ones beside us, Mrs Crothers began prayers for us. It became a ritual for us. Before every plays, Mrs Crothers would make us stand in a circle holding hands and she will pray for us. As far as I knew, she hasn't stop doing that. After that, we made history.

We won that year the Gold award and The Play Of The Year award. The next 3 SYFs, we continued to win the gold before we got a silver. We had other productions that were not for the SYF but I sure hell had a lot of fun.

I've done it! I've done a 2k word count entry! I'm waking up later at 5 am but I'm satisfied! Goodnight!

where will it lead?

I'm back to work today. Wasn't the best feeling ever. I wish my "holidays" would just continue forever but it never will if I never change directions. I even thought about changing to another job. But I figure the other job will not be any different. I'd still wake up and go to work. I really need to find my momentum back. It'll be the fall of me if I don't get it back soon.

Books Books Books!

I've waited for so long for these to come! 2 weeks to be exact haha. Cos I ordered them online. I've been reading this series since the first book came out about 2 years back but I stopped reading them close to a year? These are some of the fiction books I read and they're a great read. Can't wait to read them all!


















Book 10. Tales Of Heresy

These are the drinks my mum and aunt wants me to buy for Hari Raya. They're drinks I've avoided for the past few months. Why I was avoiding? I just wanted to.














Today's break fast was a feast! There was like really a lot of food! It's the same every year during this time but I never get bored of them. Can't complain when I grew up with the same cook(mum and aunt) for the past 24 years of my life! They cook delicious foods! Really blessed to have them in my life.















Comes new books, comes new bookmarks! Well, actually they're not new. I just dug out those Pokemon and Wrestling from my antique cards collection. The camera one was a tag from my crumpler camera bag(too nice to throw away). Yes, the white one is an immigration card. I used it to mark a page on one book as I could not find anything to use a bookmark then(I haven't finished reading the book FYI).















These are some books that I've yet to complete(I did not include the new book that I just started to read). This totals to 9 books. They have bookmarks in them too, not including form the pictures above. I've not added those which I haven't read yet, which is way more than this. It looks like I have a lot of reading to do this September :)














Lots of pictures this time around. I can do this again some time. Hope you like the pictures :) Happy Holidays!

Her name was May

What I thought was nightmare turned into a dream. In that dream, I was being followed by a ghost that was going to kill me. It would stalk me everywhere I go but never killed me when it had the chance. However, it killed my friends one at a time. I don't remember who was killed but I was very sad when she kills them. She'd kill them like how a vampire would, suck their blood by the throat.

She looks like the witch from the game Left 4 Dead. Short frizzy hair, slightly pale skin, red eyes, skinny, about 1.6 in height,very long and sharp fingers that could pierce you body like satay sticks through satays and she wears a whitish grey dress that ends just above her knee.

In this dream, I was going to meet my friends over at a nearby field to play soccer. All my friends were there waiting for me at that point of time. As I was reaching the soccer field, I remembered that I forgot something but I don't remember what. When I was walking home, I realised that it was turning dark and I remembered about the ghost. She comes out when it's turning dark.

Knowing that, I ran home as fast as possible to get something which I forgot what it was. Then I remembered going down the stairs as fast as possible. I was staying on the fifth floor in the dream, same as in reality. As I got to the third floor, I can sense that she was somewhere at a higher floor watching me. Just as I reach the second floor she came down down landing on her feet effortlessly like how a ghost would, undefined by science. When I saw her, I double my speed but did not run. As I was walking away from the stairs on the ground floor, I suddenly stopped. I knew she was looking at me and she was at the ground level as well.

I turned around and asked her,"Why are you following me?!".

She just kept silent. I realized at that point she did not look like what I had described her to be. She had smooth black hair till her shoulders, her fingers and her eyes were normal like any human being although she still wears the same dress.

I walked up to her having a mixed emotion of anger and sadness when I realised that her looked different when I got nearer. Her skin tone looked like any human and she's looking down, like she was sad. Her eyes weren't glowing red but humanly.

I was then reminded that this "person" is going to kill me one way or another and this might be the time as she's probably going to do it by letting herself look pitiful and I will approach liked I care. Like stealing a candy from a kid.

Then I told myself that if I were to be killed by her someday, why not just now so it'll just end. She pierced me with her long and sharp fingers as I got closer. Her hair turned frizzy and her glowing red eyes came back and looked me right in the eyes! I was definitely going to die soon and it'll be all over.

Instead, nothing happened.

This happens before I woke up to sahur(to eat before the start of fast). I was walking with her and talking(This is when I realised that she was quite cute). She said she wanted a burger. I was thinking to myself why burgers and I asked her why since she sucked people's blood? She told me she suddenly got some cravings for it. We got the burger but I don't remember where it was from but I know it was a Ramly burger.

Then I woke up.

The dream was still in my head for the last few seconds and the last few thing I remember was that we a very nice conversation and had a good walk together. She told that she could kill me anytime but she didn't knew why she didn't. The last thing that happened was that she told me that her name was May.

Some people say that there's a story behind every dream. Like a message. What was the story behind my dream? I have a few thoughts but I think I'll keep it to myself for now :)

Apple

Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple as of today. Apple fans around the globe and probably those astronauts in space would probably heard of the news as well. I have a lot of respect for him. He's one person whom I look at when I need some inspiration. He's someone who dared to be different and who has made the difference. He has left a dent in the universe like he said he would.

I have a couple of Apple's products - 15" MacBook Pro, iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPod video, iPod nano and an iPod shuffle. They're great products. They do what they were made to do and I'm happy but not contented. I believe most Apple product users find some flaws in the product like you can't transfer songs from iPhone to iPhone/other handphones, you need an app to open a certain folder, no radio and what have they. I sometimes find it a hassle too. But people still buy them and they're able to have more money than the United States of America! What's the reason behind all these facts?

I am an Apple fan myself. I won't deny it. Those who know me knows it. Those who don't, now you know :) I have a few reasons why people buy Apple's product even know they know the flaws of it. I'll give 3 personal reasons why. First, Apple products just looks beautiful. The silver and the curves Most people would buy it just it because of that, even if the price could get you much better products, which is usually the case. Second, the App Store. Apple's App Store has almost any app for you. Weather, sports, fashion, news, technology, games of most(if not all) genres and many more! I think it's one of the best innovation Apple has contributed and most probably the best product to all Apple users. iPhones and iTouch would just be a phone and an interactive mp3 player. Lastly, it fits everyone's fashion and style. Most luxury bags are for women(correct me if I'm wrong) and normal men wouldn't buy such bags for themselves unless they have other reasons for buying it. But an Apple product is for everyone - men, women and even children. Their target market is for everyone. I believe the word "Apple" is said many more times than "Louis Vuitton" and this is where I believe Apple gets their profits.

I love watching Steve Jobs giving his presentations. He's such a great performer. It's like watching Broadway without the musical. He goes on stage and everyone listens to him. His acts are rehearsed to perfection. Cues come in at the right timing. He save his blunders with some simple humor and everyone(almost) forgives him. He's just unbelievable to watch.

I'd still buy Apple products. I'd still love Steve Jobs and hell yes I'll buy the next iPhone even though you can't transfer songs from your iPhone to another iPhone or another mobile device. Apple is part of my life now. Thank you Steve for what you have given to the individuals. Your vision for us to be empowered has come true.

“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work,” - Steve Jobs

Chill out time

I was working till 9.30pm or midnight that night. Can't remember which night exactly but I remembered what Ranger 15 Anthony said over the air as he knocked off from his duty to one of his colleague,"I'm having a can of beer by the beach. You wanna join me?". It might just be an everyday conversation you hear but what Anthony said hit me hard. When was the last time I wind down after work and forget everything? I don't remember.

I've been working so hard and sometimes I feel so hard up at the end of the day that I forgot that the remaining time after work is my own personal time. Sometimes, I waste so much of that precious personal time thinking about work. By the end of the day, I feel like I have so little time for myself.

Well, things are changing for the better now. I'm not thinking about work as much as I was. Picking up on my almost zero social life. Going to events that interest me. Picked up a new hobby. Reading more often. Enjoy life as it is and have a good rest when it's time to rest.

That ends it. I need to chill out. I need some dose of chocolate!

WOAH!

I was informed that I had not been blogging since June. Well, I never bothered to continue actually. I thought it didn't matter.

So here I am on a Tuesday afternoon working on this entry. I'm on reservist now till 29th August for the Presidential Election. I only know who Tony Tan and that's all I know of him. Why am I home now? Let me break it down for you what's the program for my reservist for the next few days till I'm officially out of reservist.

24 Aug - Draw equipment
25 Aug - Briefing deployment
26 Aug - Off
27 Aug - Deployed for PE
28 Aug - Return equipment
29 Aug - Off
30 Aug - Hari Raya Aidilfitri

This reservist is really a break for me from work at Sentosa. A fresh air for me.

It's the 24th day of fasting today and next week is Hari Raya Aidilfitri. What I had gone through this fasting month is a totally new experience so far. Training for Open Water Lifesaving Competition on the past 2 Sunday mornings were probably the hardest days of this month's fasting. Doing endurance training without food and water at the end of training is no joke. You could taste how sweet the water when you're having your shower after training. I was fortunate to have both my Sunday's off when I attended the training or I would definitely suffer at work, compromising the safety of the guests and myself. I suppose I won't be going for training this coming Sunday :)

I went to the Geylang Ramadhan bazaar about a week back to see the place alone for the first time. Why alone? I've always been to the bazaar with my mum or my aunts and uncles past years as I didn't have any intention of going there myself yet. If I go with them, it's usually to buy clothing or kuehs for Hari Raya. This time, alone, was to see the whole bazaar at my own pace and to familiarize the place. But I went at the wrong timing, around 2pm. It was very hot and very humid and I was fasting. Passing by the stalls that was selling cold drinks like bandung, air kathira, sugar cane, blueberry and what have they did not help my fast. I was dehydrating quickly. I somehow manage to see most of the bazaar in about an hour. I survived an hour of hot and humidity! It was definitely a good experience for me. The lack of crowd was actually why I could see most of the bazaar at that short period of time. When night comes, I think I'll take almost 2 to 3 hours instead. The crowd at night is probably 3 to 4 times more people during the day! Both time of the day have their own life. For me, I'd still love the overcrowded night where I can consume delicious food and chilled beverages without temptations :D

I saw this on YouTube and I couldn't stop laughing! It's damn funny! The guy who did the voice over for this is just brilliant! His other videos are in Malay and it's hilarious as hell too! FYI : Dada = chest

Now let's talk about Sentosa. It's a great place to work without much doubt. A lot of greenery, beautiful views and great people. And when great people leave, work isn't so great anymore. All the beach retail girls I knew have all left. I guess it was something I didn't expect to happen but it did. But hey, at least I know that they've made my days working at Sentosa a more vibrant one while they were still around. That doesn't mean life at work has gone dull. It has actually given me the opportunity to spend more time with my colleagues, old and new! This is probably the best time to make more new friends again.

WICKED the musical will be in town! Awesome! I've been waiting for this since.. early this year? Why you'd ask? Well, I heard somewhere about the song "For Good" from the musical is a very meaningful song. Once I heard the song from YouTube, I was hooked! It is a very meaningful song indeed. I love this part of the song" Who can say if I have been changed for the better. Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." I know I have been changed for good thanks to some people and these are the people I really treasure the most.

Okay I have to stop now. I can't squeeze anything much out of my brain now and I have to buy new bulbs for the kitchen and toilet lights. Enjoy the 2 links that I've added! Ciao~!