Monday, March 31, 2008

Japan! Ikuyo!

I'm flying off to Japan on the 3rd of April! yooshh!

Touring the Sendai region until the 9th, before going down to Tokyo for some free and easy!
Will post lots of pictures and stuff when I get back on the 13th (or even during the trip, if I decide to lug my laptop around)

Finally some respite from the crazy hot and humid weather here. Sakura blooms, here I come!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-0!

I'd say Mr. Bennett helped us score those 2 goals in the 2nd half by sending off Mascherano for being a loud mouth. He was really Liverpool's best player, blocking shots and making tackles, if only he could keep his mouth shut.

Update: I'll be going to India this October! The land of the perfect naan and curry! LOL.

Will be supporting Charlie battery for 23 SA's live firing exercise in India. Not exactly looking forward to it, since taking over from Kevin will entail lots of tedious paperwork, anxious standbys, tiring outfield exercises and preparation work. I'd definitely prefer to shake leg in Singapore and wait for ORD, but of course, as boss puts it, "You can't call yourself a gunfitter if you haven't seen the gun fire."

Not that seeing the Pegasus fire will be exhilarating (I heard it looks absolutely hilarious). But working with the Peggys will be one of my motivations for this trip - love their stupid looking, mosquito/tortoise shape. And that coughing engine sound with the rattling exhaust! Really sounds like an ancient motor car. I'll probably laugh throughout my work LOL.

Ok all that crap about motivation is fake. Everyone knows my REAL motivation will be that perfect plate of crisp, yet fluffy, yet abit chao da, authentic naan!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Its been a hazy, tiring week.

I found out the reason for my lethargy throughout last weekend - Woke up early Monday morning to a thermometer reading of 38 degrees, a headache and sore muscles. Talk about having Monday blues =/

Anyway I wasn't feeling THAT bad, so I made my way to camp, albeit in a slight daze. And so throughout the day and the next few days, I pretty much did my work interspersed with bouts of vertigo and wooziness. Thankfully the workload wasn't that high thanks to several feedback sessions with the bosses which I found very fruitful (and somewhat depressing thanks to some "bad" news which I shan't elaborate until everything is confirmed plus chop plus guarantee plus warranty).
Thursday was the worst. Cycled up and down between workshops to fix some stuff which took 3 hours to complete, thanks to limited working space, insanely tight nuts (lol) and loads of spilled, slippery hydraulic oil.

Also had to contend with an aching back since last Wednesday's guard duty. Can't stand up straight or lie down flat without feeling a twinge in my lower back arch. Was contemplating seeing the MO and get a possible downgrade until Eugene said it was probably due to strained muscles. So far so good, haven't felt any pain the whole of today after doing some stretching last night.

Bought Olivia's "A girl meets bossanova" on Wed ^^. Perfect CD to fall asleep to.

Today feels like a Saturday, for some strange reason. I was looking for Weekend Today in the stack of papers piled up on the dining table lol.

Anyway happy Good Friday everyone! Been pretty good so far =)

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Olivia Ong @ The Esplanade

Olivia who?

That's some of the responses I got lol. First got to know about her when her "A Girl Meets Bossa Nova" album was released in Japan. I was rather surprised that a Singaporean could actually cut an album in the crazily competitive Japanese market, much less become relatively popular over there.

More about her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Ong

Anyway, me and a group of YL peeps went to catch her (FREE!) at the Esplanade for the Mosaic Music Festival. We reached there around 8.30pm, and managed to catch the previous performer, Kathleen Harris, doing a couple of jazzy songs on the piano. Had to squeeze into the crowd (the whole foyer of the Esplanade was practically filled), of which most were there to catch Olivia. Quite obvious really, the moment 9pm arrived there wasn't any more space left to walk.

She started off with a cover of "All out of Love" by Air Supply...


and ended off with an encore piece, the overplayed "Fly Me to The Moon" (though she did it really well)

Check out the bass solo! Throughout the whole performance I found it hard to stop tapping along to the bass lines ^^

-credits to dusty for the vids

In between she sang some of her original songs, and other covers which I couldn't recognise. Her vocals were pretty clear though not fantastic, but her music was really unique and fresh! Her band (the Olivia Ong Quintet - nice band name =.=) deserves credit for that, especially the bassist, who was using an electric cello! Most of her songs were "funked up" and given a jazzy twist, yet still retaining that little bit of pop which definitely made them much easier to appreciate. I liked "Make it together", one of her original songs which was a originally a dance track but she twisted it to fit the whole jazzy theme.

After the encore (which her fans repeatedly shouted for), she was mobbed by people wanting to take photos with her. Looks like she has a pretty large fan-base here! And she's only 22, with at least 3 albums to her name already. That's quite impressive. I'm seriously considering buying her 2 "A Girl Meets Bossa Nova" albums already =)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/abottchen

Even if you're not a fan of Ayumi Hamasaki, you gotta check these guys out - they do piano covers of her songs. And I dare say some of the covers sound better? Or at least much more soothing than her rock-ier songs...

Back to camp for the past few days, quite relieved actually, to see the guys again and do some work on the guns. And to eat canteen food again!!!! Strangely I feel this attachment to the canteens of Khatib Camp and NSDC. Quality aside, its this raw feeling you can't get from sanitized cafes, fast food outlets, restaurants and home-cooked food. Even hawker centres don't evoke the same feeling.

Having received 12 years of education in institutions that operate old-school canteens (think dark, gloomy stall interiors, grimy floors and bird-fecal-matter-stained tables), I naturally feel at home. I still remember how I was probably the only guy in class who actually liked to eat the Indian food in VJC. *snigger*

sigh.

Uncle! Chao fan jia dan! Jia ji rou! Ling karly zhi! Xie xie ah!

Friday, March 07, 2008

IT SHOW!!

The IT Show is here again!!

Which means........ Sim Lim and Funan will be devoid of people! LOL.

I want a new 22" wide screen LCD monitor under $300, which is probably impossible to find unless the guys there are really desperate to get rid of stock on Sunday, the last day of the IT show. And a reasonably priced (i.e below $50) gaming keyboard and mouse. My only hope is that some obscure (Chinese) brand will pop up somewhere selling the above at dirt cheap prices without anyone else noticing. With good quality and reliability to boot.

Just another dream. No offense.

Anyway I won't step inside Suntec unless I really, really have the urge to spend my cash (and fight through a mob of kiasu geeks) just to get a deceptively good bargain.

A-level results are out! Still considering if I should re-apply for the new NTU Engineering + Econs dual core processors. Ok bad joke.

The thing is the additional 1 year for an additional degree in econs, and I don't even get an Honours for the engineering degree. If it were business, which is more practical in this current world economy, I'd have gone for it without hesitation. Or as my dad says, "focus on your Enviro Engi, then take MBA part-time when you get a job!" I think I'll do just that. At least I'll have some breathing space to "enjoy" my 4 years in university. And maybe pursue my rock band dreams at the same time. ^^ Sean and Wes, are u reading this? LOL.

Monday, March 03, 2008

here's an interesting and sobering (though gimicky) site.

http://www.breathingearth.net/

reminds you that the world keeps turning even as we stone in front of the computer.

Saturday, March 01, 2008


^ what's that?
Its Chatmonchy's 2nd album - "Seimeiryoku".

What's so special about it?

I FOUND IT IN MUSIC JUNCTION VIVOCITY ROFLWTFLOL.
I don't remember even seeing an AKFG CD (Overseas version) in Singapore, much less Chatmonchy.

Bought it without hesitation of course.
I'll write more about them soon.

Anyway here's the guy who designs AKFG's CD covers - Yusuke Nakamura

He has this funky, distinct style =)

In other news, I (as Kevin puts it) opened my very own Amazon.co.jp box for the first time! Surreal.
Now I have 6 hours (or more) to burn watching 2 DVD concerts by AKFG and 1 by Chatmonchy =)