Had this dream 2 mornings ago, during one of those times when you wake up early and doze off again: I am taking an MCQ exam consisting of 40 questions. Somehow, I complete only 30 questions and think I am done. Only when the time comes for the invigilator to collect that I realize I have 10 more questions left. I panic and sweat all over. When she comes to my desk, I have to tell her I cannot hand up the paper because I have not completed it. And to my sweet relief, I woke up.

Q: What is one similarity between the elderly and young children in $ingapore?
A: They are both looked after by Filipino maids.

Read an old issue of Newsweek about the suicide bombers in Israel during my invigilation break, and found out that: A bomb-blast victim can appear unscathed with nary a scratch on the outside, but still have massive internal injuries, for example, the lungs have exploded *grimace* or the liver is bleeding (in any case, death is near). These injuries are caused by shockwaves from the blast, which are even worse if the blast took place in a confined area, e.g a bus with the windows shut. A bomber also applied rat poison (an anti-coagulant) inside his bomb, such that victims with puncture wounds from the flying nuts and bolts will bleed non-stop.

Cannonalvin from TGP is so unbelievably 'beng' that you wonder if he's for real.
Caught 'Phone' the Korean horor movie on Saturday midnight. Quite scary; the cute actresses are a bonus. That's the good thing about Japanese or Korean movies-- even if the script bombs, there are probably cute actresses in them. The little girl in the movie could give Haley Joel Osment a run for his money.
And what have you, the very next morning, there was a big bunch of Korean youths in the congregation (they are visitors from Korea Campus Crusade for Christ). I almost wanted to ask them whether they have caught 'Phone'.
Glucklich V is selling at HMV for a bl***y $38, can you beat that?! Will try my luck at good 'ol Gramophone!
There's Glucklich V, United Future Organisation's new LP, De Phazz's new LP, but in the end I only bought November's Mixmag which came with a mix CD by John B (hey, I played pool with him before!) titled Trance 'n Bass.

I'm positive I saw Cheryl Fox at Phuture... or is there a model that looks like her?

Came across a male O level candidate in Junyuan called Stacy. Found out from Joycelyn that 'Glucklich' is indeed a German word and it means 'happy'. Had some fun messaging in Chinese with my trusty Nokia; thank God for hanyu pinyin.
A memorable night at Phuture (saw PJ, Kevin & gf there); Rainer Truby didn't disappoint. He signed my Glucklich IV CD sleeve too :)
An eclectic set! He started off with what became the majority of the set: the trademark Truby sound-- samba-ish jazzy tunes with a hint of world music. Was pleasantly surprised when he moved into drum 'n bass territory; quite a reward for staying after 2am! Better still, the drum 'n bass morphed into a gorgeous flow of kitschy disco tunes a la Dimitri from Paris! And it all ended too soon at 3am. It's about time Rainer Truby released a compilation similar to Dimitri's, hmmm, with the title A Night At The House of Sauerkraut?

What a coup-- drank up a big tall glass of fruit juice made from apples, starfruit and carrot; Mum used a blender.
There is a pasar malam at St 81. The thing about pasar malams is I don't think you can get anything of real quality from there; the things are either of low quality or they are fake (I'm not being a snob here). So the only good thing about pasar malams will be the food. And I like those HUGE chunky deep-fried crispy-skinned chicken drumsticks which you can always find, for $1.50 each. Beats throat-cutting KFC anytime (it's $2 per piece if I'm not wrong).

Laura Fygi showed us she was versatile, but that's about it. Nice smouldering vocals, with a competent band. The organisers could have done much better by putting up those giant video screens so that we could see her facial expressions. Looking forward to Rainer Truby at Phuture this Friday! And Glucklich V should be here anytime soon!

Concerts/gigs which I had paid $$$ to attend: The Rollins Band (the infamous one from which the press released photos and slam-dancing was banned subsequently), Sonic Youth/ Foo Fighters (great value-- 2 for the price of 1!), Chemical Brothers, Shonen Knife, Suede.
Concerts/gigs which I did not pay any $$$ to attend: Daniel Chan/ Tanya Chua, Pastor Sun, Tanya Chua's album launch at NUS UCC, a handful of SSO Concerts ('cos I bothered to call in during Passion 99.5 FM's phone-in contests, hehe)
Concerts/gigs which I will pay any $$$ to attend: 1) Manic Street Preachers 2) Teenage Fanclub 3) Sonic Youth 4) Manic Street Preachers
Will be going for Laura Fygi tonight; it's the first time I'm paying money for a jazz vocalist. She's not Astrud Gilberto, but I hope it'll be worth it.

From the movie 'The Guru': "Wear your nakedness like a costume."
That sounds easy, except that you should be comfortable with how your body looks in the first place. Time to revert to my daily routine of 50 push-ups->50 crunches->50 push-ups. Hope I have the discipline.

Went to Thierry's birthday party last night; bought Zero 7's Simple Things (ltd edition with bonus CD) for him, which I wished I had gotten for myself instead, darn. He bought some new CDs too, of interest is Bjork's Greatest Hits (which I definitely don't need to get) and United Future Organization's latest LP (tempted, since he got it for cheap at Tampines Sembawang-- surprising!). Quite a small simple gathering, not a bad night at all, with 3 cans of beer (2 Baron's Strong Brew, 1 Heineken, Baron is nice!), beautiful women (hehe), tasty chicken wings, tender steaks with Edith's mushroom sauce, potato salad with bacon bits and fantastic chocolate bday cake from Sweet Secrets I believe. Also learnt a somewhat tiring way of predicting the qualities of one's future spouse from a pack of cards. Felt sorry for Edith's kid brother and sister who had to put up with all the cigarette smoke, tsk tsk. Then caught Double Vision at midnight with sis, which is a real stinker; how can Rene Liu act in this crap?!

Twas my second day of invigilation at Junyuan, and I have this rant: WHY CAN'T THE STUDENTS ALL PASTE THEIR BARCODE LABELS PROPERLY SO THAT THE BARCODE INK REMAINS INTACT AND I CAN SCAN EVERY LABEL EASILY INSTEAD OF HAVING TO KEY IN SOME MANUALLY. Thank goodness the local papers are over, i.e, end of scanning.
It was my second FENR too, and this time, I had to cycle to Tiong Hin at Hougang without black pepper chicken chop in my stomach. Took the Old Tampines Rd as a shortcut, and it was way eerie; pitch black at certain parts of the road. Quite an epic ride-- the route: TH - Jln Kayu - Yishun Dam (Ah Beng/Lian couples and Ah Beng cars galore) - Mandai Rd (VERY LONG rd) - Kranji Dam - Woodlands Ave 9 - Lor Gambas - Yishun Ave 6 - Yishun Dam - Jln Kayu (Prata Point) - TH.
Well, had to take the Old Tampines Rd again back home by myself (eerie again), and I was sure glad to arrive home safe and sound.

Been branded "Professor Utonium (is that the correct name?) & the Powerpuff Girls" by Dorine after I decided to meet up with Sabrina, Clara and Tabitha (hey, their names rhyme too) at Kinokuniya; sheesh, the hazards of appearing in public with 3 young petite girls of the same height. Managed to get the paperback version of 'Word Freak - Heartbreak, Triumph,Genius and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players' from Kino at the same time, although I've devoured that book during my NCC Officers' Course last year; I must really like it to part with $28 for it. Sigh, buying through Amazon would probably cost less-- Kinokuniya could be the HMV of books, or is it Borders...
Here's an amazing bit on anagramming from the book that one of the pro players threw up (e.g of anagramming, ADEEFGHIRU = FIGUREHEAD and a neat one is EEIINNSSTT = INTESTINES!):

Look at the numbers 11 + 2 = 12 + 1 and voila...
ELEVEN + TWO = TWELVE + ONE
Truly amazing.

My new Nokia with its controversial styling and GUCCI operator logo has been attracting less-than-flattering comments from my colleagues, but I still like the phone. I like the splashing sounds inside my Sigg bottle as I shake it.

Found out that Bugis Fish & Co gives the best deal: Weekday set lunch (with a choice of main) at only $9.90! Other branches no such thing! Also finally got my 1 litre Sigg Bottle (orange) at Bugis Wallet Shop for only $25. Was glad to find 'Forever Delayed' - Manic Street Preachers Greatest Hits at Sembawang, special edition some more! This means it comes with a bonus CD of their remixed singles - The Avalanches remix of So Why So Sad gets my vote for overall best remix; only THEY can come up with a remix like that!

Twas the first day of the 'O' Levels, which meant the first day of my invigilation-- let the Exercise in Boredom begin. I''ve always thought about what I'll do to while away the hours in the confines of my head: compose a poem, ponder about the fate of the universe, write a novel, organize my life... but all those little invigilator tasks inevitably leave me with a blank slate, oh well. The birds caught my attention though; they flew in and settled on the high beams in the school hall. Now, it's a school hall and they can't feed there, so the only purpose they flew in must be for fun and observing. And I thought how it'll be like to be a bird high up there, seeing all these funny creatures arranged in a perfect grid and hunched over plastic square surfaces.
It rained, and my bike got wet. Junyuan's canteen food seems a lot better than East View's.

A laidback day... main event was having tea at Siglap Cafe Cartel, which incidentally is my first time to Cartel. Was impressed with the wide range on the menu, and even more so with their Auntie Amy's Chewey Chocolate Fudge Cake. Constructed with formidable layers of gooey chocolate fudge with a hint of rum, this gives Seah Street Deli's 7-layer Chocolate Cake a run for its money; ok, it beats the 7-layer, and is more value for money too-- highly recommended for dessert. Also learnt that 'desserts' is 'stressed' spelled backwards (am I late or what?), which is very appropriate don't u think?

Went to JB for a day with Francis, Winnie, Steven and Val. Although I like the food and shopping there, I couldn't help thinking (like I always do) how relieved I am to be living on the south of the Causeway (similar to a bungalow-dweller visiting the good 'ol HDB heartlands-- refer to my 30/10/02 post). Lunch was nasi lemak at Seasons Cafe in City Square, during which I tasted the best nasi lemak chilli ever.

Had black pepper chicken chop, 3 iced milo and 1 teh tarik to energize myself, then cycled from Kembangan to Hougang to join the FENR (Friday Eastside Night Ride) from 'togoparts' for the first time. What can I say... it was a fashion parade of MTBs. Most impressionable must be the Cannondale Lefty Fork, by virtue of its look which will make you do a double-take. Route: Meet at Tiong Hin bike shop (Lorong Ah soo in Hougang), to ECP, to Coastal Rd, makan at Changi Village, and through Tampines, Bedok Reservoir and back to Tiong Hin. Of course, I broke off along the way back to head for home. An enjoyable ride-- 34 riders in all!