joshi*toshi

I Have Moved!

2008-02-06T00:33:00.000-04:00

Over to..

http://joshitoshi.wordpress.com

Goodbye Blogger!! I loved you and you loved me. But, bye.

Finally!!!

2007-12-22T13:04:00.000-04:00

Here is that blog post that I have been wanting to do for a long, long, long time. Exams are now over. And I have all the time in the world, to do more things like read books, design posters, and practice DJing.

Yes that is my career now. Designing posters. Here they are.

Here is the first poster I've designed. The zombie isn't mine. But i did composite everything together.

I'm really proud of how this turned out.

By the way, I also have a radio show now.
Here is the flyer for it, which I haven't really had time to put up. I just keep forgetting about it.

* * *

So those are the posters I've created. I've been called to do two more this upcoming semester. Anyway, let me rave about how much I enjoy doing radio work.

If you don't know already, I have a radio show called Eclectic Electric with my campus' radio station. It's a fun, fun time.

So here are some pictures from within the station. This is a JoshiToshi exclusive... MUAHAHA. Okay that sounds a little lame.

Here's the mixing board. And the mic. And the computer. And a couple of cool gadgets.

Here I am about to say something! And notice my long hair. I need to get it cut! HAHA.

Massive, massive vinyl record collection that I promised the radio station I would arrange because it needs re-arranging.

Here is one my passions that spun off from doing music lessons for 12 years. DJing! I learned the basics of mixing already using electronica that was popular in the early 90s. And now I'm gonna' purchase vinyl and try mixing today's modern electronica and hopefully along the way save money to buy myself a set of turntables and a mixer and try to get gigs!

So far I'm trying to see if I'll be able to do a regular computer DJ gig at this place somewhere uptown called "Gothic Arches". It sounds scary doens't it. But I hear the atmosphere there is great and friendly.

* * *

Winter is here. And it isn't too friendly. I'm finding it hard to be friends with -20.

***

Okay I think that's all I can do for now. And lastly, here's my awful uncut hair in two-tone pop-art mode!

I Make A Stinkoman Comic

2007-10-28T18:54:00.001-04:00

Click to enlarge. And go make your own Stinkoman comic here.

Fall 07

2007-10-25T16:26:00.000-04:00

So I recently started my own radio show with Campus Radio and I call it Eclectic Electric (for very OBVIOUS reasons if you know me well enough). I'm scheduled for the show every Wednesday afternoon, and I can tell you that having your own radio show is a lot of fun.

But I'll talk about that next time. But for now. Pictures of good weather.

Red leaves when I went to Fredericton

The protest goes underway

Shoes I bought in HongKong for HK$120. Quite small, but awesome.
The give me the 'semi-emo' look.

Random shot of myself

Random shot of myself with a 'I don't think so' look

In front of a tree.

Infinity

2007-10-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

Imagine seeing this when you're coming down from space.

daft punk goes to australia

2007-10-11T10:14:00.000-04:00

Somehow, to me, the name Australia has a very womanly feel to it. If I were crazy enough I would name my daughter that.

I was in Australia in December 03. It was great. Went to Sydney to watch fireworks on New Year's Eve. Went to Melbourne to visit one of my super-old-school friends/neighbors. Stayed in Canberra with my mum's sister. To wrap it up shortly. It was an intense family holiday.

And now, I want to go back again this year in December. You know why? Because a pair of my favorite robots are performing there for the last time this year.

Daft Punk

I won't start an obsessive rave about them being one of the pioneers of French house and give you details that were snatched out of Wikipedia. But the fact that the visual/sound combination at these concerts is highly praised by critics just makes me want to be there in person. I've been following their music for three years now and you could say I'm a huge fan of their work.

The Light Pyramid (The colors are amazing)

The last time they had a tour, was in 1997. And Daft Punk said that this performance in Sydney is going to be the last time they use the Light Pyramid!

So I'm super-hyped about them. But let's face the odds. I'm in Canada. Australia isn't exactly near. After a distance calculation from here, my dreams are quite squashed!

Ok, this is the only dream-squash analogy I could find on Google.

Oh, and the distance is 16613 km.
One more sidetrack, from here to Brunei is 14451 km.

A round trip to Sydney departing Saint John on 19 December and leaving Sydney 3 January, costs US$4,000. The concert ticket costs AUS$127. The expenses (hotel/motel, eating, transport, buying CDs, buying spoons for my dad's collection) there are probably going to be AUS$1000.

So all in all that comes to - using today's latest technology and conversion rates; - CDN$5000. That's pretty huge. And in conclusion I doubt that I can go. Hopefully Daft Punk will have another tour sometime.

But does it depress me that I can't go? Actually, no. I somehow woke up feeling rather happy about the way things in my life are going.

So for now I'll just Photoshop them standing next to me.

No Words

2007-10-07T15:38:00.000-04:00

Plants And Water

2007-09-16T17:11:00.001-04:00

Plants have always needed water.

Go water your plant.

Or if you just want it all to end, stop watering it. Or over-water it.

With regards to my plant, it's doing well.

Not Feeling Well

2007-09-11T18:18:00.000-04:00

MY NOSE IS RUNNING.

RUNNING IN A MARATHON.

THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON ALL DAY.

I HATE NOSE-RUNNING MARATHONS.

Funny Time

2007-09-06T12:18:00.000-04:00

Whenever I look at these three pictures they make me laugh somehow....

You know why??? Look at the faaar left in all those pictures.

WHO IS THAT?!?!?!

It's good ol' Deuce!

Thanks to Amir for taking this in early early 2006.

Cartoon

2007-08-30T05:25:00.001-04:00

So I'm listening to the acoustic side of In Your Honour by Foo Fighters. I'm already back in Saint John by the way.

I woke up 2 hours ago and I couldn't get back to sleep.

I slept at 8 o' clock last night.

And this Chinese Toy Recall Cartoon really cracks me up:

BWAHA. I love China.

And I have a random poll now... have fun answering!

I Am In...

2007-08-26T09:31:00.001-04:00

To Hongkong I went this morning at 10:20AM. The plane ride was alright. I thought it was going to last 5 hours. But I was wrong! Only 2 and a half!

And look at all the bags...
I was thinking I should get a colourful luggage-bag so that I could spot it easily next time.

At the arrival hall. This is worse than Singapore.

Interesting wall design.

I had beef curry for lunch. Funny story about how I ordered it. Hong Kong waitresses know VERY LITTLE English. And I know VERY LITTLE Chinese, aside from wo pu kuan ni and bo lui and useless words that won't help you in ordering food.

Anyway it had this reference letter (A3), so that's what I said to her. And then I thought she asked me what drink I wanted, so I said "Coke". And then she had a "What are you talking about?" face on.

And then she then she pointed to a small section on the menu which said "Mildly sweet/spicy". It hit me. She wants to know how hot I would like my sauce! So I said spicy. And then everything was alright. She didn't have to ask me what I wanted for a drink though.

GO CHINA! After I saw this monument I totally forgot Hong Kong was under China.

This is the Express Train that I took to Hong Kong Central. Took only 24 minutes! (Or at least the promos say so)

And when I got to HK Central... I did A LOT of wandering around. Just random walking to take in scenery. And wow was there plenty of architectural scenery.

And look! I stumbled upon the legendary music store! Woohoo spent an hour there. But spent zero dollars on nothing.

And in between every tall building lie alleyways full of cheap stuff! But mostly female stuff. So I won't be buying a shirt saying "Kiss Me Quick" anytime soon.

When I saw this... I laughed to myself. How can there still be this kind of technology in the city? And moreover, that man about to walk through the scaffolding is about to get lots of bad luck! Haha. Or is it a ladder against a wall you have to walk through? I don't know, I'm not - uh, I'm not going to say Chinese.

If you look carefully, those are Filipino faces!

I was walking aimlessly through the streets of Hong Kong wearing my "I Believe In Santa" T-Shirt. And I swear I thought I saw one of my old friends walking at the intersection. I must be seeing things... or people.

Suddenly, a lot of random faces I see remind me of people I know of back at home.

Next stop: Toronto

Bad Hair Days

2007-08-15T16:25:00.001-04:00

Use the pictures. I've had many bad hair days, weeks and months. And now my blog is starting to look like a narcissist's I-Love-Myself photo-album because there's just too pictures of me now.

I like this hair-cut though.
It's so awesome.
Amilyn 'accidentally' cut it for me.

AND I HATE PIMPLES.

R.A.T.O.D.T.D.K.H.T.D.P. + Gwen Stefani To Malaysia + My DishWash-Hating Girlfriend + JASON?!

2007-08-03T13:25:00.000-04:00

Say it with me.

RAH-TOH-DUD-DUD-KUHT-UHP.

RAGE AGAINST
THE OTHER DRIVER
THAT DOESN'T KNOW
HOW TO DRIVE PROPERLY

It's not about French rats yearning to chef it up (Ratatouille). It's about Road Rage.

-----

Amilyn had freakuent road rage. Just like yawning, it's affected me somehow. Come to think of it, I think she transferred the rage to me.

I say 'Oh look at that. Nice, jerkface' in the car - even with my father guiding the wheel, whenever someone just cuts rudely on a one-lane road.

I say things like 'Oh just because you're a Merc you can do that (add lots of sarcasm)' and 'Blasted Bimmer'.

I may have a problem.

AMILYN AH.

I think I only have road rage for entertainment purposes and Amilyn's benefit so that she will think

'Aiyoh why this guy ah. Not even driving yet can have road rage liddat. Haiya he become worser than me la if he drive la. I be good happydays driver la.'

Haha.

New Words:
Freakuent - frequent and freaky. (I coined this!)

So I see (on television) and read (on newspapers) that Gwen Stefani is going to Malaysia, and some Malaysians aren't too happy about the Hollaback Girl performing her hits with maximal sexiness.

Thus, they just bring a new Gwen Stefani. Not a Gwen Ste-phoney. But...an Asian version (maybe not from China because she might contain lead, formalin or cardboard).

INTRODUCING...

GWEN TSE FANG NI!

Instead of sexy red dresses. Full-frontal covering Cheongsams!

This is a big no-no!

Okay... the legs are covered. But too much shoulder. MORE STEAM! I MEAN CHEONGSAM!

Ah... perfect. Boleh pefom! Although now her top looks more like a remix of a Filipino President's wife formal dinner attire.

Thanks to Giorgio Armani for this wonderful Asian excursion.

Look at the following image.

Would you like to be the one to wash and clean up all that?

If no is the answer, be an affiliate of the Dishwashing Haters Society. Amilyn's the chairwoman. And she claims that her yearly quota on dishes to wash is 2 dishes. I am the chairman of the Dishwashing Lovers Society because I really don't mind washing dishes at all (I hear people whispering "This boy is sad").

This is what I say to you, Dishwashing-Lover haters:
Wash it or shut it.

I'm gonna' go visit the Dishwashing Haters Society's chairwoman cause she's gonna' teach me how to iron clothes.

Jason Wong now has a black Macbook.

Everyone get their pitchforks and go after him.

Jump Around

2007-07-30T08:30:00.000-04:00

Matteo, Wei Ting 'Waiting', La Plap, Ain't Gel

Blue striped wall ... used for covering construction sites

First all four of us.

Then everyone has 'Jump At The Same Time' Disorder

Me And Matt. I jump at the right time though.

I will grant your wishes.

SLAM DUNK!

With Wei

Filipino on the floor!!!

Nice effects! My idea though.

Angel gets... some weird urges afterward.

HAHA!

Back In Brunei (Part 1)

2007-07-24T12:40:00.000-04:00

Part 1 of 4

"It's extremely hot!" I exclaimed while simultaneously hugging my family and sweating profusely at the arrival hall.

Getting back to Bruneian weather was quite the challenge. From -30 to 30 and above. That's a 60 degree difference!

I put my hand into the fridge at home and I can't feel anything cold at all.

"Is the fridge working?" I ask.

"No I think your system's just broken", my father says.

---

I watched quite a lot of movies this summer. Let me make a list!

Spiderman 3
A lot of people have issues with Peter's character shifting from his normal look to 'emo' look. I think, although it's not done very well, it's the only way to show that Peter was being controlled by that symbiote. And the fight scenes with the Sandman and Venom were very well done. I enjoyed it without a doubt.

Pirates Of The Carribean 3
I didn't watch the 2nd one. But the Singaporeans I feel were portrayed wrongly. And instead of saying "More steam", Chow Yun-Fatt should've said "MORE STEAM LAAAA!!!"

Shrek 3
A hilarious film. And I thought Justin Timberlake was going to sing a little. But I guess not. I don't think SexyBack should be played to children under 10.

Ocean's Thirteen
I can still remember some parts of the dialog (because I watched it thrice). Acting by Al Pacino is superb. And the mashup of all these great actors. Brad Pitt. Clooney. Matt Damon. And that cool Chinese guy.

AND HOW DOES EVERYONE IN THE TEAM KNOW HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE!?!?!

Transformers
All the boys need to watch this film. It has everything. Cars transforming into robots. Slowmotion Matrix-esque camera rotation action while there's two rockets careening past the camera. Geeky-kid-to-boy-who-holds-the-key (or more accurately the glasses)-to-the-world's-safety plot. Sexy-girl-who's-out-with-the-jock-but-then-ends-up-hooking-up-with-the-geeky-kid love story. Linkin Park music at the near end. Little spots of humour here and there. I enjoyed watching this film, even after three times.

And there's this new film that's coming out which looks very interesting. I call it KL Drift. But I think it's called Haru Biru or something else I can't remember!

It's got Protons and Toyotas all souped up and drifting and making tires squeal. Malaysia is going to be South East Asia's Japan.

---

So I've been hitting the gym quite frequently lately with Jason and occasionally Teo to prevent fats from amassing in the wrong places and looking... weird.

When some people saw me for the first time in a long time, they said "You look more muscular."

I reply saying... "Nah... I'm just ROBUST".

---

And oh yea, I'm 18 now. Had my birthday a couple of days ago.

All I can say is just...

Legal. I just despise that word.

A Wedding, The Poo Plant, Sussex

2007-04-20T04:11:00.000-04:00

But first, let me start off by saying...

REALLY! Look at me!

Besides the tragic weight gain...

I attended a wedding anniversary last week.
A 50th anniversary to be precise.
And I was asked to play the piano again.
I had fun. And $50 at the end of it.

Here's me in my 'barong'.

An expensive bouquet.

People dancing to a waltz.

And part of the appetizer... Being the quite hard-wired Asian I was, I was wondering...

"Where are the spoons?"

My Chemical Engineering class went to a Wastewater Treatment Facility (read: poo plant).

At the end of the trip, we were put in groups of threes and were made to present the wastewater treatment process.
We were told to get creative, so I made a very interesting 6-minute video.
It took me about 12-13 hours to complete the video.
And after the video, my team-mate Mark asked me...

"Are ya sure yer not called to do something else?"

Sure, that sounded very discouraging to hear, but then quickly said;

"Chemical Engineers need to present stuff like that all the time. You'll be making lotsa money when you're working!"

Here's me and my group at the entrance.

I went to Sussex one weekend with my friend Katie.

Very pleasant sunsets.

At one of the town landmarks.

With Becca.
The cows' names are Daisy and Buttercup.
I don't know who is who though.

Becca, Me, Katie, Chris. The photographer is Graham.

Me with the family dog. Notice how I'm not freaking out.

Katie had a huge collection of old vinyl, and we looked at some of them. She had records of Bee Gees and the Village People in very good condition.

And at the end of my Sussex trip I was handed these two records which I consider classic.

Ah, The Carpenters and The Von Trapp Family.

And I also got a very huge chocolate rabbit from Katie's mother!

This should've been all eaten up by now, considering my increasing addiction to chocolate.
But somehow, I keep forgetting to eat the thing because of my intense exam period!

Note: I don't have periods because of exams. I am having a time-period of exams.

Random

One morning I decided to get up early,
and go to school at 7o clock to do some odd hour studying.

And here's me, Fadia and Mark,
one more time for our presentation.

This is Desiree. She doesn't want me to go back to Brunei.
*cue for 'awwwwww'*

Sunglasses rampage!! We took just before going to the Poo Plant.

Ali, Fadia, Me, Fatima, John and Stephanie.

Overall, things have gotten better.
I'm much happier with my grades.
I only get depressed once in a while.
And I guess I'll be back in a month.

And the countdown timer is ticking pretty quickly...
I AM EXCITE!!!

In Minus TwentyThree Degree Weather & The "6 Things" Game

2007-03-07T12:31:00.000-04:00

In Minus TwentyThree Degree Weather...

Your car refuses to start, just like a student who refuses to go to school because going to school in this kind of cold is crazy.
Your joints freeze, and you're most likely to get arthritis 20 times faster.
Sitting on a cold, plastic toilet seat is the last thing you want to do but need to do it because #2 has been bothering you.
You desperately want to drink something hot, but ironically end up scalding your tongue.
You flail your arms and walk in circles to keep circulation going in your fingers and toes.
Smoking a cigarette is an illusion for warmth.
Rubbing your hands together for warmth is useless because your gloves are on.
The boogers in your nose literally solidify.

The "6 Things" Game

So I already got tagged by Ches and Sana to do this.

"Those who get tagged must post 6 weird things about themselves in their blog and state the rules clearly. At the end of the post, you must choose 6 other people to tag."

Weird Thing One
I can understand leet. Please ignore my leet and see me ice-skating on REAL ice.

Some of my friends were expecting me to fall down. But not today! Because I have experience from...

BRUNEIAN WAX SKATING.

None of my friends would believe that there was such a thing called "wax" skating.

I couldn't believe it either when I first tried it out back in Brunei. There was so much friction between the skates and the wax surface I thought I could smell something burning.

Weird Thing Two
I'm in Chemical Engineering.

Weird Thing Three
I was told that I talk in my sleep. I wonder what I would be saying...

Weird Thing Four
I bought these two albums right after Primary 6 in 2000.

Maybe it is a little embarrassing, but everyone's gotta' start somewhere. As of today, the Britney Spears CD is lost (not intentionally). I remember that CD came with a bonus disc with some of her earlier videos. "Oops I did it again...~"

Weird Thing Five
I had a somewhat traumatic and somehow comic experience with snoring.

It happened when I was in the US with my family in `99. We (the entire family) spent one evening sleeping in the living room of a friend we visited in San Diego.

We took our rest after spending almost the entire day sight-seeing. I was expecting to get some good sleep...
UNTIL...

My dad started snoring.

I tried to ignore it.

BUT THEN...

My brother started to snore as well.

I really tried my best to ignore the Snore Duo.

But it was impossible! Their snores somewhat got me irritated so much I started crying.

And then Mom wakes up to my crying and asks me what's wrong.

I tell her, "They're snoring so loud!!!"

She replies by saying "Hainako it's only snoring" then goes back to sleep.

Now that I look back it. It's so hilarious.

Hainako - Tagalog slang for "Omygoodness"

Weird Thing Six
I used to watch The Bold and The Beautiful a lot, for almost 4-5 months.

And this woman is my favorite character.

And I find it crazy that this soap opera is still going after 5000 episodes.

I also think this woman is pretty. She's from Everybody Loves Raymond.

And I tag thee; Conan, Teo, JD, Amilyn, Kevin Loh (I doubt he'll rise to the task) and Jasmine Yap!

Actually six weird things feel incomplete. So...

Weird Thing Seven!
Sometimes I talk to the two cats that live in my house right now. But only when no one is looking.

Le Cheval Est Rapide

2007-02-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

Oh, how rude of me. Excuse my French. I was just saying "The horse is quick."

I took a 5-minute intro course on simple French online. Now I have to purchase the program.

Besides saying that I can also say,

"Le vendeur est rapide" and "Le crayon est rapide", which translate to "The salesman is quick" and "The pencil is quick" respectively.

How the sentence "The pencil is quick" is supposed to help me if I visit Montreal, I don't know.

--

Well, I got my hair cut last week at Tanya's house. I went from this;

to this!

If you look at my head there's this line running through my head. There's another on the other side to make it look symmetrical.

And here are my two cool stylists.

So, that's my free haircut right there. I enjoy the fact that I didn't have to fork out $23 for a haircut, as mentioned before (HERE).

Anyway, it snowed heavily the other week. And here are some interesting photos.

Building snowmen is a must.

When walking in snow, you need these kind of shoes. And you spray with a coat of waterproof liquid. Only con is, these shoes are soooooo massively heavy.

A day or two after the snow falls, it melts and forms these really cool icicles near the rooftops. Some of them can reach 1 foot long, and look so awesome.

No. That's not a massive soccer field. It's a massive lake, FROZEN OVER. People skate on it. People have fishing expeditions on it. And craziest of all, people drive on it.

If you think this is bad. New York got 9 feet of snow the other day!

A strawberry pie with cherry sauce. DROOOOL. I think there's still some left in the fridge.

So I guess that's all for now. Sorry I haven't been updating lately.

To top it all off, today's blog was brought to you by the letter "K".

K is for Katie.

Emo Fo Sho

2007-01-26T23:17:00.000-04:00

So Ches and his friend Sam have created their emo music lists. Now it's my turn!

Perhaps the word EMO has won the award for 'Most Over-used Word of This Decade'. I personally think this word has been misused and abused the way the word GAY has been used. I remember calling some things 'GAY' just because it didn't appeal to me...

You know, like calling a question on a Math assignment GAY because it was hard to solve.

I remember Jonan telling me the word GAY was being misused.
While Jason, still says GAY in every other 5-6 sentences in conversations.

Anyway, according to Ches (The Meaning Monkey), emo music allows you to emotionally wallow.

So here's my list and some reasons why I picked them, and why I find it emotionally wallowable ( if that has any meaning =P ).

My Emo Salad Bar Music List

Bent - Swollen
I don't really understand the lyrics to this song. But I admire the hypnotic set of beats and arrangement of wailing strings. This is actually a head-nodder for me, but can make me feel real down and anti-social real quickly. It doesn't take much to get me out of a bad mood though!

Emilianna Torrini - If You Go Away
Perhaps the most depressing minimal ballad I have ever heard. This song was played in an old Christina Ricci movie titled 'Pumpkin'. Long story short, I feel that this song could probably drive someone so love-lorn to suicide.

Evanescence - Hello
"Don't try to fix me / I'm not broken". This line really speaks to me.

Roger Sanchez - Another Chance (Afterlife Remix)
I remember crying a little to this track because my close friend went away.

Linkin Park - Krwlng [From Reanimation]
I really enjoyed this extended, cinematic version of the original. Back in my early teens, I always imagined myself as a human experiment trying to escape from some shoddy scientists in a dark, light-flickering-on-and-off laboratory. If that wasn't bizarre enough, by the last chorus of the song, I imagined myself literally crawling for help because the shoddy scientists shot me with leg-paralyzing needles.

Relient K - Which To Bury, Us Or The Hatchet
"I tried to move you, but you just wouldn't budge
I tried to hold your hand but you'd rather hold your grudge"
Amazing lyric in my opinion. This song is quite typical of a quote-unquote 'emo song', but whatever. I was drawn to this one by it's melody and somewhat "I don't hate you, but right now I just don't like you" lyrics. After listening to the Relient K album I ended up making up "Kiss me now, I'll kill us later".

Well that's all I could think of at the moment.

This has been sort of fun. This post has sort of called me to re-evaluate my tastes in music. I'll talk about that tomorrow.

And lastly, I don't think hip-hop and rap music will ever have anything emo to talk about. Ne-Yo's "So Sick" is a slight exception though.

I believe Eamon's "I Don't Want You Back" is probably the weakest song in terms of lyrics. Just saying the "F-word" 33 times will not get the point across. It will only make you sound like a baby, and get you shot, if you're talking to the wrong person.

Okay I'm done rambling with that song.

Photo This, Photo That

2007-01-21T20:37:00.000-04:00

Sunset theater!

Shoveling snow.

Pink shirt!

The trees are dead.

The stairs are snowed.

A brother and sister.

Oh my freaking goodness.

iWish iHad an iPhone

2007-01-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

It's the brand spanking new and revolutionary iPhone. Now everybody wants one. But people in Asia are gonna' have to wait till 2008 for shipments. And don't expect the price to be nice.

I'd only use this as a keychain.

I think I'd have to be re-incarnated 23 times to listen/see all those combinations.

Apple is good for your health, but not your wallet.

Anyway, onto the iPhone.
It's unbelievable technology.
Get this: you can use your two fingers to touch the screen and resize a picture by using a 'pinching' motion. No mobile phone/PDA/smartphone in the market today can do that.

Unbelievable technology indeed.

Some interesting iPhone fan-art.
This one's too colorful. And no noticeable Apple sexiness.

This one looks rather pleasing.

This one looks like someone glued a silver iPod on top of an old Sony Ericsson phone.

Wow. Old-school dial? Nokia's oddly designed 7610? Outdated screen?
I really don't know what to say.

Anyway this is what it really looks like.

And now my latest single:
"iWish iHad an iPhone"

Well I don't really want an iPhone. It'd just be nice to own one.

Maybe some nice person will just randomly go
"Man from Asia, I reward you with an iPhone".

Yes, that'd be nice, although he probably called me 'man' because of my uncontrolled mustache.

Lookin' Back, Movin' On

2006-12-31T02:18:00.000-04:00

Okay okay okay I promise the next line is going to be my LAST self-pity statement of the year.
Joshua to Jasmine Yap: Come let us wallow in our depression of not having loved ones by our sides.

If you've been following, thanks. Thanks for your thoughts, support and prayers.

LOOKIN' BACK at 2006

Was a bum for a long time. Such a long time it threw me off my studying groove.
Left my Friendster blog, later revived for comedic purposes.
Owned a nice phone, and lost it in 7 months. How pathetic is that.
Watched Brokeback Mountain, twice.
Was addicted to Lost and all that went with it.
Opened up "Counting Down".
Wow. There's K-Box in Brunei? Amazing.
Got jealous once. Or is it 40 times? Lyn, do you remember how many? LOL.
Visited school so much I felt like a LOSER.
My Nikon camera finally gave out.
Wanted to buy Jason pink horns. Unfortunately I was under-funded at the time.
Got into DDR and Half-Life 2, thanks to Joel A.
Wished I could've gotten' a job. Unfortunately in Brunei, if you were an under-18 Filipino, you'd have to know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows two ones for you to get a job.
John D. hated me because I liked the song "Far Away" because it reminded me of Mae.
My birthday was pretty quiet. Got a gift from Grace. Vee long-distance called. Watson from KL texted. John D called on the eve of my birthday.
Ate at Fratini's three times in my last 2 weeks. First with Joel A., then with Grace and Aunt Carol and lastly (most bestly as well), with Lyn.
Took IELTS.
Amir goes indie, starts drawing again, and one of the things we both like is 'Garden State'.
Oh oh oh. Got a Jay Chou album from Shenny.
Jonan asked me, "How do you separate feelings from feelings?"
Conan and I talked about foxes.
Watched Antioni Forcione perform. Clinton ended up vowing not to touch his guitar forever.
Went to Unitek and wondered if there was such a thing as "Chinese house music".
Kevin Loh continued to call (almost) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Was writing my first Paper Blog about money and talent, and suddenly Sarah and Sana appeared!
JasmineYap likes steam boats. *cough cough*
Dropped my jaw to see the amount of weight Teo lost. *applauds*
Just as my bottom was gathering dust at home, my parents decided it was time for me to learn the ropes. Learn the ropes = clean the house, do the laundry, wash the dishes, basically do the housework ~~and save the world.~~ Haha actually it was a good thing. I hope I can become a good husband when I grow up. If not ah, wah piang.
Got depressed a couple of times.
Wondered why Lyn and my mum both disagree with Wikipedia.
Made up the phrase, "SO WHAT? I'M NOT CHINESE." Validity is available here.
My brother was (and still is, I believe), the hot thing in school.
Missed my Laplap family like crazy while having a rather different kind of Christmas with a new family here in Canada.
Entered LDR territory.

MOVIN' ON to 2007

Make it work.
Get more involved with church.
Restart with the journal writing.
Actually shave this frickin' mustache off. Average age people guess me to be with the mustache on: 22.
Going to do well in school. I am going to get up my ass to kick ass.
Grow up quick. It's adapt or die out here.

Okay...

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

2007, here I come.

Take care, everyone. And God bless.

Long Stories

2006-12-28T01:25:00.000-04:00

Merry Christmas folks!

Personally I don't believe in Santa, but I love this shirt I got as a gift

Other things I got for Christmas include
Lots of chocolate-coated granola bars!

Laura Secord choc box. Apparently a high-end selection of chocs.
I haven't opened it yet, cause I'm gonna' open it when I intend to
ruin my New Year's Resolution to...keep off chocolates.

And I also got another $50 gift card, with which I bought a new hat!

Oh, the hat didn't cost $50.

Boxing Week Sales and The Aftermath That Follows

So, like you've seen on TV. People rush to stores after Christmas,
apparently because prices get slashed so madly everyone wants

a good buy.

lots of promotions
lots of discounts
lots of "one-day only!" specials

and lots of teenage girls at the mall going

"OH MY GOD"
"AWESOME"
"WHATEVER"

Crazy indeed.

A Bachelor Party without the Cop-Pullovers and Morning-After Vomits

Josh: I'm going for a bachelor party later.
Lyn: What? A bachelor party?
Josh: Yea.
Lyn: Is there going to be a stripper?

What. The. Frig.

Curse the media and the stereotyping!

The guy on the right is getting married on the 29th.

Black-light bowling.

Xbox LAN party until 3AM.

Haircuts

I went for my haircut with Tanya the other week.
She recommended a nice place, and look at my hair now!

The only drawback:
it cost me $23.

Then we went to the market for fun.

Random!

Look at the ridiculous price of just 5 CDRs here.

This mini-village, found at my house!

This really big tree. Found at my church!

Hmm, are there any Asians in this graduation class of '04?

Mac is expensive. Don't buy.

My family here in Canada.

Time for bed.

God bless, and see you around next time.

You'll Never Find

2006-12-26T16:22:00.000-04:00

I'm so sad Lou Rawls is dead. And I'm sad that James Brown has passed away too.

Positive Pills Intake 1

2006-12-22T16:33:00.000-04:00

after my haircut,

and a little neglect

i did so badly in my finals
but the counselor said

"your situation is a great challenge"

oh and sana said something like that too.

let me just get moody for the holidays and present to you a reminiscent selection of my pictures, in 16:9 format.

Positive Pills Intake 1

Me and my Dad. Really a photocopy.

Mum with the yellow flowers, and my shirt!

The most awesome

My little brother and sister

Ah, the Goh brothers.

Mae and Mil. Classic.

Muara Tiger Club. Angel, Diana, Matt, Me

MuzicJunkie

Vee and a really funny facial expression

He sits. And stares. No escape

She's very particular when it comes to ice-cream sharing.

Teenage Girl Squad

Haha. Gotta love random pics.

Ah these boys.

Save the best for last.

have a merry christmas everyone.

Minute

2006-12-20T01:59:00.000-04:00

very sleepy

and

depressed

the grand opening of the box of cookies

2006-12-14T11:28:00.000-04:00

Let me kick things off with how my first 4 exams went.

Mechanics - Rather brutal. I answered most questions. But the Question of Death was this: A child is playing with a spring, with a spring constant of 5kx. He uses the spring to launch a ball at an angle onto a surface 8 metres higer. The ball lands smoothly on the surface and moves along the surface for 10 metres before it comes to a stop. Find:

the angle at which the child launches the ball
the coefficient of friction of the table
the distance of the boy from the surface

I THINK WHEN EVERYONE SAW THIS QUESTION, DEATH WAS WALKING AROUND THE EXAM HALL WITH A GIANT RED PEN.

Chemistry Lab - If you don't think writing 10 straight pages of calculations of explanations is stressful, you're messed. But I think I did alright.

Engineering - For the first section, we had to answer 100 multiple choice questions in 50 minutes. Exactly 30 seconds for each question. Haha. Crazy? At least we used computers to do the entire exam, instead of 'lo-tech' 2B pencil and eraser. Some of my friends claim to have finished the 100 questions in 10 minutes.

Chemistry Theory - 40 multiple choice questions and 5 rather short questions for a final exam. Should be easy to score.

Yes. Christmas is around the corner. Hence the candycane colors.

Have you seen how long my hair is? I won't be getting a piercing / tattoo / moustache shave anytime soon. Neither will I be getting a car or a new woman.

And these are the two I usually hang out with now.
Two fun-loving people.
Tanya and Jesse.

And this is what's outside my house for decorations. Yes. That IS a polar bear, and Santa, about 7 feet tall, blown up by air, with a light inside them to make them illuminate! The house is very pimped out, in terms of interior and exterior Christmas decor.

And the snow was nice to see. Covering my house, and a couple of the neighbor's houses.

So I will end here. I have to blaze through 10 hours of linear algebra review tomorrow. Wish me luck!

AND NEXT WEEK!
-14 DEGREES!

When You See A Bear

2006-12-11T00:21:00.001-04:00


The cutest Chinese pals you'll ever see. Unfortunately you either have to be Cantonese Chinese or have to know the story of the two men and the bear story to understand this. If you're not Cantonese Chinese and don't know the two men and the bear story, watch! Thanks to Grace for pointing out that it's Cantonese Chinese, and not Hokkien, Hakka, Mandarin, or apple.

Presenting: Snow Time

2006-12-09T01:35:00.000-04:00

Edited after having some time to relax after many repeated 12-hour days in school.

Enjoy!

Soundtrack provided by...nah I won't tell you.

Soundtrack: December Depression

2006-12-07T01:41:00.000-04:00

Ready, set, download.

01 - Telefon Tel Aviv - John Thomas On The Inside Is Nothing But Foam
02 - DJ Krush - Song 1
03 - Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me
04 - Frou Frou - Let Go
05 - Late Night Alumni - Empty Streets
06 - Kaskade - Distance
07 - Bent - Swollen
08 - Everything But The Girl - Single
09 - The Whatnauts - I'll Erase Away
10 - Natalie Cole - Someone That I Used To Love

Interesting notes:
DJ Krush is a Japanese hip-hop pioneer.
Natalie Cole's song 'Someone That I Used To Love' is sampled in Kanye West's 'Heard 'em Say'.
Ben Watt from EBTG suffered from Churg-Strauss Syndrome, and wrote a book documenting his day to day experiences with the disease.

December: Days of Depression

2006-12-02T11:53:00.000-04:00

Looking at the pictures on chocolatte really bring me down.

Let me have my moment to say a few things;

Next to Teo and Chester, I think I am probably having a really rough time. Let me compare my situation to the others who are studying abroad.

JasmineYap: She's in Australia, but she's got her boyfriend there with her, and an AZN squad from Brunei, who know their lahs from bahs, and who know what Gadong is.

JohnD: His parents are a 45-minute drive from his dorm. Haha I really remember when John got arrested. And he gets to come back to Brunei once a month or so.

Sana: Although she was completely uprooted to Australia, at least her whole family got uprooted with her.

Mae&JasmineMarie: At least they've got relatives they've known for a while.

~~Conan&Jonan: They're in Singapore. Singapore = their homeland.~~ I believe they're having a cruddy time too.

And I have so much doubt about whether I finish this term well. I didn't do such a good job as I promised to myself and my parents. I failed my Calculus (unexpectedly) and my Linear Algebra (sort of expectedly) the last midterm. I am really in fear of failing the finals coming up. The pressure of 5-digit tuition fees to UNBSJ and 5-digit yearly living costs is getting to me.

And yet, I still come up with excuses for my performance.

"I'm too young for all this!"
"I'm new here!"
"I haven't been studying for 10 months!"
"These 6 courses are choking me!"

Sure they sound reasonable, but

"don't make excuses, josh" - says Tanya

And the setting sun at 5pm is really taking a piece of my joy-time.

I am taking these new optimism pills (haha kidding). And I hope to get back into the groove in January.

The following pictures are pictures i have taken the previous month, and the Last Class Bash I went to Friday night. Maybe you can spot my fake smiles.

At the tour of Saint John city with Tanya

Playing the piano in front of a small crowd.

Philip showing off his project. And Travis...umm.

Waiting for a bus.

Masquerading with Fadia.

That's our solar thermal energy collector projects, with Jesse lying on the grass.

Jesse as my supposed 'date' for the Winter Formal.

YMCA = dancefloor staple

My very first DJ performance for a school dance

Jesse, Tanya, Ali, Me, Fadia, Travis, Joanna

Me and my UNCUT hair

At the piano in school

Lights lights lights

That's where everyone was dancing

Some of them are completely trashed. Can you spot them?

In closing, I think I just need to sit down and pray a long time.

2 Steps.

2006-11-30T00:58:00.000-04:00

DISTANCE
KILLING ME
HATING IT

UNI LIFE
KILLING ME
LOVING IT

MONDAY
OFFICIALLY STARTED WEARING 3 LAYERS

TUESDAY
OFFICIALLY STARTED SLEEPING WITH 2 LAYERS

Just something to prevent the artificial 'blog-dust' from accumulating.

The Wishlist

2006-11-22T08:25:00.000-04:00

Mood: Kind of so so

Listening to: Jazzanova - Blue Note Trip Compilation
Reading: How the Yellow River of China turned red
Watching: Nacho Libre with Tanya and Jesse (next week maybe)
Hair-length: Longer than ever
Armpit smell (a.k.a. stank): Tolerable
Major decisions: Whether to go to winter formal this Friday. How to make it through the remainder of the term.
Minor decisions: Whether to go have a bath now to reduce the stank to 'not present'.
Cash-in-hand: <$100
Cash-in-dreams: $10000000000000000
Number of nose-kisses since arrival in Canada: ZERO (actually VERY good)
Miss-Family&Friends Level: MAX

I've come up with a wishlist.

Material:

Lexus LS 2007

A car that does the parallel parking for you is the bomb.
And there's something about a Lexus.
Something.....

Samsung X640

I miss my old flipper-phone.
It's nearly been 4 months since it's been lost to the beach.
I regret being a forgetful moron.

Nike Zoom Kobe 1

If this shoe were a candy I'd eat it.

Emerveillement
(30"x40" canvas print by Friess Benjamin)

A rather awesome digital painting.
I bet it's fun to have it supersized to hang on the wall.
But the post-purchase trauma is horrible I presume...
This canvas sells for $421.89 Canadian!

Summer Lovin'
(18"x24" lustre print by Gilad Benari)

Ah, something to warm your heart any time of the day,
and give it that fuzzy feeling.

NON-MATERIAL
RED FOR ME BLUE FOR SOCIETY

PERFECT 20/20 VISION . FREEHAND DRAWING SKILLS . THIS KELOID ON MY KNEE TO BE GONE . LESS SEX-ME-UP RAP MUSIC ANYWHERE . LESS(OR)NO GAY/LESBIAN ADOPTION RIGHTS . JUST A LITTLE WARMTH IN MY ROOM . PEACE BETWEEN VEGANS AND NON-VEGANS (LOL) . GETTING TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS WHO DON'T HAVE TO GET DAMN DRUNK OFF OF ALCOHOL TO HAVE FUN . GLOBAL AWARENESS IN ABSTINENCE, NOT PROTECTION . MORE HOURS IN THE DAY . MORE LOST . SNOW IN BRUNEI JUST FOR ONE DAY!!!

LAST NOTES

IT WILL BE A VERY SAD DAY WHEN THE OPTIONS 'MALE or FEMALE' AREN'T THE ONLY ONES YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM IN A FILL-OUT FORM.

I'M SLIGHTLY RIGHT-WINGED.

AND FOR THE VEGANS OUT THERE. TAKE THIS WITH GREAT HUMOUR.

no more vegetarianism by machinations

life: Programmed

2006-11-18T16:13:00.000-04:00

EXECUTE INTRO MESSAGE
IF YOU'VE DONE SOME AMOUNT OF PROGRAMMING BEFORE, YOU PROBABLY WOULD UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE POST. IF NOT, THEN...JUST READ ALONG AND TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT!

WHEN BODY CLOCK = 0600
EXECUTE WAKE UP SEQUENCE
IF DAY = "SATURDAY" OR "SUNDAY"
EXECUTE SLEEP IN
ELSE GET OUT OF BED

IF SCHOOL = STILL STANDING
EXECUTE GRUMBLE MUMBLE
END IF

IF PIMPLES = STILL THERE
EXECUTE GRUMBLE MUMBLE
ELSE EXECUTE "YAY!"

IF BATH WATER = COLD
EXECUTE GRUMBLE MUMBLE
EXECUTE MAKE WATER HOT
EXECUTE RELAX IN SHOWER
END IF

IF MONEY = STILL IN WALLET
EXECUTE SAY-OUT-LOUD
SAY-OUT-LOUD = "YES!"
ELSE EXECUTE SAY-OUT-LOUD
SAY-OUT-LOUD = "CRAP!"

WHILE AWAKE
IF WEATHER = NICE WITH SUNSHINE
EXECUTE HUM HAPPY SONG
SONG = "THE CHORDETTES - MR SANDMAN"
ALSO EXECUTE SMILE ON FACE
END IF

IF WEATHER = DARK AND GLOOMY
EXECUTE HUM DEPRESSING SONG
SONG = "METALLICA - ENTER THE SANDMAN"
ALSO EXECUTE GRUMBLE MUMBLE
END IF

WHILE ONLINE
IF CONAN = ONLINE
EXECUTE SEND MESSAGE
MESSAGE = "HI"
EXECUTE PROPER CONVERSATION
WHEN IN PROPER CONVERSATION
EXECUTE SEND MESSAGE
MESSAGE = "I HAVEN'T TURNED"
END IF

IF JOHN D = ONLINE
EXECUTE SEND MESSAGE
MESSAGE = "YOU GAY"
EXECUTE MINDLESS CONVERSATION
END IF

IF SANA = ONLINE
EXECUTE SEND MESSAGE
MESSAGE = "CHACHACHA!"
EXECUTE NEAR-MINDLESS CONVERSATION
END IF

IF AMILYN = ONLINE
EXECUTE SEND MESSAGE
MESSAGE = "HEY I MISS YOU LAH"
END IF

IF AMILYN = OFF-LINE
EXECUTE SEND OFF-LINE MESSAGE
MESSAGE = "HEY I MISS YOU LAH"
END IF

WHEN WATCHING TV
IF SHOW = "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND"
EXECUTE FEELING
FEELING = "LAUGH LAUGH"
END IF

IF SHOW = "LOST"
EXECUTE FEELING
FEELING = "EXCITEDNESS"
END IF

IF SHOW = "KARAOKE CHANNEL"
EXECUTE SAY-OUT-LOUD
SAY-OUT-LOUD = "WHERE'S MY MIC!?"
END IF

WHEN MONTH = APRIL 2007
EXECUTE GET READY TO GO HOME

no

2006-11-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

poetry for a friend

needless to say
those needles can't stay
take those needles away

get rid of those needless needles

I was feeling happy today, but the rest of this week is not going to be good.

Tuesday
Mechanics & Calculus midterm papers
Linear Algebra review class at night
Engineering quiz due at 5:30pm
Mechanics laboratory pre-laboratory assignment

Wednesday
Go to Wendy's restaurant in Jesse's new car before going to...
Linear Algebra review class at night again

Thursday
Solar energy collector prototype model due

Friday
Linear Algebra & Chemistry midterm paper
Chemistry pre-laboratory assignment due
Chemistry lecture assignment due
Calculus assignment due

Saturday and Sunday
CKO (Complete Knock-Out)

and just guess who's a little excited for snow.

Flurries

2006-11-08T21:52:00.000-04:00

Here in Canada, Not so much snowfall = flurries. Makes me want to go to MacDonald's and eat some McFlurry, or I could just buy Oreo cookies and vanilla ice cream, blend it all together and maybe get the same thing.

That white stuff is the snow. Not too much, but enough to get me excited for 4 feet of white-out snow! And the snow-men with carrots for noses. And the frozen lakes and rivers. And the snow angel I'll be making (by myself sadly). And hopefully the road trip to go skiing!

And if you ever need a digital shave, go to
Kevin Loh's Digital Barbershop

Look how old I looked on the left, transformed into a weirder looking guy looking the same age. Now Amilyn, is this what you want me to look like when I come back?

Well to close off, here's some songs I will not be singing next month

I'll Be Home For Christmas

and probably perhaps

I'll Be Home For New Year's

and even more bizzarely

I'll Be Home For Chinese New Year (TongTongChang Remix)

Anatomy Of A Halloween Party

2006-11-01T20:38:00.000-04:00

A few days ago was Halloween

And a few kids came over to the house, wearing cute costumes
and went 'trick or treat!'
some kids had entire bags of candy

everything I saw on television is true
this is the childhood festival i've been missing

it wasn't too late for me,
cause i went to a halloween party last saturday night

And let me introduce to you:

THE ANATOMY OF A HALLOWEEN PARTY

The scary decorations

The finger food

The light-machine...

that lights up the dance floor

And...unfortunately, the drinks

And you always need an alien!

And here's me with a couple of friends...

It was a simple Halloween house party
A couple of adults around wearing funny costumes
Rather boring hiphop saturating the dancefloor
A few people falling over

I didn't sip from any beer bottle/can
"FINALLY!" I said when I saw the Pepsi.

I came home around 2am

I didn't come home feeling like throwing up
I didn't come home wondering where the hell I was
I didn't come home walking like I spun around 30 times
I didn't come home singing Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'

I didn't come home drunk

I know how to have a good time...
without having to feel like crap the next day

Had to go to church the following morning
I actually woke up at 7.30am!

It was a really nice weekend.

But come Monday I felt depressed again...
As the Daylight Savings Time stopped...
and it got dark by 5.30pm

I Used To Sing...

2006-10-26T05:41:00.000-04:00

This is my 31st post. I was going to celebrate the 30th post by having some sort of special content, but I guess all this chemical engineering is slowly suffocating me. And the cold makes it worse.

Well, to celebrate a post-30th post, let me just say...

I tried making up my own song once.
I was just SINGING random lyrics...

ABOUT LOVE. AT 11pm. WHEN I WAS 12.

...then my Dad opened the door, cutting off my intentions of saying "BABE" into "BEH".

Now I only hum my random love songs...
In the shower.

Nightmare

2006-10-24T03:57:00.000-04:00

I am up at this hour, because of a nightmare.
at 4AM

An awful nightmare.

We shouldn't be arguing.

SHOOTING @ NIGHT

I got into trouble with two police officers for these 5 shots
The light source was a huge spotlight
I put my camera near it
And the two police officers thought I was adjusting the spotlight
And gave me a minor scolding
But then I explained myself
One police officer went "OH, I guess that's alright"
The other just gave me the same stern look he gave me earlier

Maybe cause I was Asian
Haha

In front of someone's house

RANDOM

A sexy sunrise

My disarrayed room after I woke up
Actually I modeled it after I woke up from the nightmare
My clothes on the bed, whose sheets are messed probably cause of the nightmare
Socks in shoes, which are all over the place

What I bought last week with my $50 gift card
That weird wire is my new microphone
which I'm using to talk to JasmineY and Teo on Skype!

Swing

2006-10-20T23:45:00.000-04:00

My week has been reasonably good
I played at the wedding dinner last week

I was playing the piano for an hour at the pre-dinner meet-n'-greet

I was playing the keyboard at the dinner for about 15 minutes

mmmm...chocolate mousse. I had two of those!

And I was doing a little DJing for the dancefloor, for about another hour

So I was quite busy the whole night
It was great. And I got a $50 gift card from the organizers

So today (Saturday), I'm gonna' go out to the mall
and buy me something
or some things...
just as long they don't exceed $50

Anyone here recommend some good CDs?
HAHA I'm not intending to buy CDs this time round
I think I'll just buy....

[find out next week]

I've been having tons of homework lately
On Thursday I stayed in the uni
from 2.30 till 7PM finishing off
linear algebra

listening to some internet radio
skipping from
trance to jazz and back
grabbing the calculator once in a while
and going to tim horton's
for a refreshing cup of hot chocolate

I think that's how I'll be doing my studying from now on
in the uni itself
I don't know why
But when I'm in the uni
I get so motivated to study, and actually do it
(I think the uni has a mind control center somewhere)

I had 5 midterm papers this week
Mechanics / Calculus / Linear algebra / Chemistry / Chemistry Lab

I'll get the results next week or so

Only now I know what a GPA is

50 random shots

Paper Blog Rewind

2006-10-15T16:37:00.000-04:00

8 months ago!
And no I did not steal any pen from Bismi. It's supposed to be funny.
And after i wrote "...underfed", Sana and Sarah did happen to pass by.
What a pleasant coincidence. They saved me from boredom that day...

AND THEN WE SHOPPED FOR EARRINGS

In my hopes to inspire your creativity in a cretive way,
I've added the new ARTicles section.
Art from around the world (including some of mine).
Here's the premiere.

And lastly,
if you're wondering where your tag went
and wondered what I last said
here's Flooble's last tags.

Dance, Reverse, Snap!

2006-10-13T18:27:00.000-04:00

So...it was salsa class again last night, and the girl from Ecuador was there again. I partnered up with her a couple of times. She was pretty groovy.

And Kevin Loh gave me ADVICE ON HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS.

[x = me; y=kevin]

X: Anything you would like to advise me on?
Y: Well the girl from Ecuador did show you some moves. Hope you executed them well and not...step on her feet.
X: Anything else?
Y: Why did you say "OHH" then move on to someone else? Try to engage in a talk!
X: I was embarassed.
Y: You should share that with her. Or she'll have negative thoughts about you, like "Why are you avoiding me"
X: Oh...okay.
Y: But she'll probably say, "Oh and Bruneians must be great at foot-stepping".
X: HAHA.
Y: That's how I learn to avoid embarassment, by manipulating and twisting words to create jokes.
X: Oh really?
Y: Yes. You're a creative and multi-talented person. Good luck.

I can't say I didn't try what Kevin suggested. I did talk a little. She talked very little. Well that won't stop me from going to salsa class again!

For my engineering practical yesterday, we had reverse engineering as our 'hands on' investigation. Me and other 4 team members took apart an old Panasonic dot matrix printer. I didn't know Panasonic even made printers back in 1992! What's even more bizarre is that you can still buy some of these old printers and their parts online.

Here's some pictures.

Here's Ryan taking apart the control panel switchboard.

Justin putting all the screws found in the machine into a small tube. About 115 screws.

All the parts from the printer sorted out, which I did.

So after two hours of investigation and 'take-apart-like-Lego' fun, the professor suddenly said "Okay. Now put them back." Whan an advanced April Fool's joke.

Tomorrow night, I'll be playing my first ever post-wedding dinner reception gig. Wish me luck. I need it. I don't know what to play yet.

Perhaps I've gotten a little vain over the past month. What to do? Have camera, will take pictures of self. Here's a nice one.

I've also felt my creative side resurfacing again. More ideas for photographs, and even more ideas for jazzy chord progressions on the keyboard!

And lastly...

Triple-header Weekend Post

2006-10-07T18:20:00.000-04:00

GIRL FROM ECUADOR
It was my 2nd week attending salsa classes at the uni. The class was still relatively small. 7 girls and 4 guys (me included) and the instructor. "Anyone can dance the salsa!" he said with an optimistic vibe, to the two new guys who joined the class. "When I started out I thought I was hopeless. But now look at me. Teaching!" Haha! I thought he was silently quoting "Those who can't do, teach."

Throughout the class we learned some new moves and switched partners often so we'd get to know each other. Yeah the girl-to-boy ratio wasn't even. So there actually was a girl dancing with a girl.

So let's see...
At first I was dancing with Maggie. She's a nice real Chinese girl (real Chinese meaning she comes from THE REAL MAINLAND CHINA) with short straight hair, studying business. And then after a while I was dancing with AL (Anonymous Label). I didn't find it too enjoyable, cause her breath was drenched with the smell of alcohol. And there was this one move the dancers' bodies have to come reasonably close. IT WAS SO NOT SEXY.

And then after much dancing and learning how to execute the Dile que no (tell her "no") move perfectly, the class was over. Just before the class was over I partnered up with this quite quiet girl. She asked me where I was from. I said "Brunei." And she gave me the same confused look everyone else who asked me where I was from gave. So to make things clearer I just said "It's near Malaysia". And she went "Oh." Any Malaysian should be happy with me. I'm giving your country a boost eh! And I'm such a disgrace I probably know more about Malaysia than the Philippines.

We danced to a little merengue. Being the clueless dancer that I was I didn't know what move to make. So she was the one who showed me a couple of new moves. I tried some of them out but try after try I did them wrongly. Although I felt awkward + embarassed. I still managed to say a few words.

ME: Wow. You're good!
HER: Thank you.
ME: How do you know all these moves?
HER: I'm from Ecuador.

ME: OHHHH.

Then I went back to dancing with Maggie to hide my embarassment. Haha.

STRINGS ARE ALWAYS SEXIER
Have you ever wanted to hear what tracks by Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Fallout Boy and even Marliyn Manson sound like when they're played by a string quartet? Well I want to too. So far I've only heard Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance songs string style. Helena done orchestraichally sounds/feels so beautifully done, you really can imagine the dead girl from the video doing ballet to the song.

The String Quartet Tribute list of covered albums.

INNER CIRCLES
Jason's been telling me to stop quoting The Beatles. He says they're his band. Kevin Loh wants me to make my laptop start-up time at least 10 seconds. I don't get the point. Amir's been doing assignments. He's getting an Xbox 360. Mae replied me a short one. Maybe that's because I just sent her a "Hi. How're you. Got to go. I'm busy. Take care" email. John D and JasmineY have something in common. I'm not telling you. Jo San's in UK. Conan's hair is shockingly red! Teo's been in a spat with some horrible people. Shenny's moved to a new house. She wants me to meet her in Gadong later. I told her I'd be 24 hours late. Grace, where are you? And Amilyn hit me with her tuna fish 3 times the other day. Sana is on holidays now. Fel's mum was thinking of getting e-speed. Her computer crashed too and she's lost all her Photoshop brushes. Clinton left me a message when I woke up: "GOOD AFTEREVENING!"

And I thought these time-zones were not helping.

MEANWHILE!

Guess What Time It Is

2006-10-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

LOST TIME!!!!

the season 3 premiere, starts in 10 minutes
being in canada is great
ah it's great to get back into the mystery
that is 4 8 15 16 23 42 and 'the others'
and kim yoon-jin

*fist pump*
and the thrill is back!
my wednesday nights are now fun.

salute to all the losties in the world!
a shout-out to my lost buddies lyn and mir.
and maybe to my mum. she watches it too (sort of)

besides that
i have a solar collector to DESIGN and CONSTRUCT
for my engineering class. it's due ONE AND A HALF months from now

i think i've gotten used to
the FOUR degree mornings
and MINUS ONE degree nights

will i be prepared for FOUR months of winter?
will i be prepared for MINUS THIRTY weather?

i'll be missing christmas with my loved ones
for FIVE years

i'll also be missing
FIVE YEARS of mum's birthday
FIVE YEARS of dad's birthday
FIVE YEARS of joel's birthday
FIVE YEARS of hannah's birthday

and FIVE YEARS of ang-pow-less CHINESE NEW YEAR
guess I'll be tong-tong-tong-chang-ing by myself

27 Questions (Now And Then)

2006-09-27T22:59:00.000-04:00

I remixed a Friendster cut/paste post. You probably know how it's done. I did this back on the 29th of May. Let's compare what I thought back then to now. Current thoughts are within [ ].

I am: a good boy.
[I still am. I'm not sleeping around]
My ex was: that girl.
[Now no la]
Maybe I should: get a job, earn money and make myself known for a little while.
[TOO LATE FOR THAT]
I love: nu-lounge music, and nu-lounge lovers.
[Well I guess I'm still into it, but as always I've been into almost everything]
I don't understand: why gays make that choice.
[I know there's this whole pot of debate boiling over. I don't care. Whatever. Just don't touch me please. I ADMIT I HAVE SLIGHT HOMOPHOBIA]
I lost my: pants.
[Yes. One pair of them. Well not exactly lost. Gave it was more like it]
My girlfriends/boyfriends are: very close to me. I miss them all.
[Still remains. I wonder how they feel about me being the one they lost to distance]
People say I: am talented and have potential.
[I don't know if I still have the talent and the potential. The icy grip here in Canada is stiffening my fingers!]
Love is: something hookers can't ever have.
[That's why all pornstars remain single FOREVER]
Somewhere, someone is: listening to nu-lounge music. I hope that someone's a girl.
[Well...not such a big deal now. Right now somewhere someone is probably making me a cake]
I will always: remember 7ths.
[Always]
Forever is beyond the understanding of anyone.
[Okay I think this was a bit of a crappy line to state]
I never want to: get backstabbed by someone I trust.
[So far it hasn't happened yet. Or maybe it's happening and I don't know about it. But if you are, don't worry. I'll forgive you pretty easy. Forgetting is a service I don't really offer]
I think the current President: needs to do many things about America.
[Still think so too]
When I woke up in the morning: I was so happy it was Sunday.
[I enjoy my Sundays here at the new church I'm going to. Vineyard SJ!]
Life is full of: rotten eggs and chocolates.
[Example: Pimples!]
My past is: a story I would like to share with you, if you like.
[I still think it's rather interesting. I've always enjoyed reminiscing about Season 1, Season 2 and The New One]
I get annoyed: when I play a minor instead of a major seventh.
[Still happens. And when it does the whole groove gets discombobulated]
Parties are for: people to come together and have a good time.
[Now that I'm here in Canada; parties are for people to come together and have a good time WITH THE OMNIPRESENT FLOW OF ALCOHOL]
I wish: I had a camera right now.
[Now I've got one (thanks to Mom and Dad) and I'm trigger happy again. FLICKR!]
My pet is: dead. Someone poisoned it. I think it was one of the neighbours.
[Now I live with a cat called Sasha]
Kisses are the worst when: garlic was had for breakfast. Not that I know anything about it.
[I still don't know anything about snogging someone who's had garlic for breakfast, although I predict it would be...quite HORRIBLE]
Today: is going to be brilliant as I'm going to watch X3 again.
[I'm not watching X3 today]
Tommorrow I'm going to: keep thinking about how to keep my friends alive in my mind.
[Concentrating less on this right now. But tomorrow I'm going to try to fight off sleepiness as I go through 5 straight hours of class. They'll always be somewhere in my head]
I really want: to find someone to talk to.
[Still want to do so. Get's lonely talking to Sasha and the other cat, George]
I have low tolerance for people who: think pro-choice. But I don't judge them.
[What on earth does that mean? It must've been 3AM when I typed that!]
If I had a million dollars: I'd buy Conan his guitar set, Alison her anime DVD set, Kevin his CanonEOS camera, Jason his Strongbad DVD set..... it'd go on.
[A million dollars eh? Probably just go on a large shopping spree, fill my family's needs, and my friends' ones...right after I buy what I want]

So there you have it. A blogpost 4 months in the making.

Tomorrow I'm going salsa dancing at the uni.

Late September

2006-09-24T00:04:00.000-04:00

It is late September and it's getting cold
We're putting on our winter clothes and winter smiles

It's officially autumn now. Leaves turning orange before detaching from their hosts and gracefully dancing in the air, where ever the wind takes them, lightly touching ground, and getting rolled over by a bus, along with the other thousands of leaves that met their seasonal fate.

It was 5 degrees yesterday morning. FIVE. Getting to school was a challenge. When it hits winter, and the average temperature steeps to -20, waking up will be the ULTIMATE challenge.

I have a wedding gig next month.

And, as always, pictures.
And yes that LCD screen 'floats'.

And last but not least...

goodnight.
goodnight.
goodnight.

cut off

My Words Are Useless

2006-09-19T20:05:00.000-04:00

click to enlarge.

Count Up!

2006-09-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

Today is one week since I started uni.

Condoms sold in toilet. (But you already knew that)
3D structure modelling assignments for my engineering class.
5 straight days (Monday - Friday) eating lunch alone.
There's so many Chinese kids from Mainland China, I thought I never actually left Brunei.
Pimples are slowly dying away.
Putting cold roll-on deodorant in the morning + me being ticklish = 5 seconds of sheer terror.
Huuuuge vinyl record collection in the uni library.
No vinyl record player at home though.
Old vinyl record players available at pawnshops for $5.
I'll probably a vinly record player.
Internet speed = Glorious.
50" TV at my place = Not working (yet)
Internet TV = Glorious.
Leaving a message for Jonan on voicemail through calling card = not as expensive as I thought.
The leaves are turning orange.
Weather is great. Hint: AUTUMN.
I'm watching a ice hockey game tonight. REAL ICE. REAL HOCKEY. Not that ice (read: wax) skating at the Mall.
I have 6 assignments due next week (I think).
I am living in your yesterday (Time zone joke).
The weather isn't very hot. Neither are the girls.
But I'm just being a good boy (HAHA Teo)
And if you didn't get that....
Next time lah.

And listen to this corny joke: When Chuck Norris does push ups he is actually pushing the earth down.

HAHA. ONE and TWO.

don't want to, won't want to

Talking With Onaka3

2006-09-12T07:17:00.000-04:00

Talking to Onaka3.
Click for the whole thing.
Don't fear. It's not scary at all.

Fall

2006-09-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

And so today began my first day of UNIVERSITY classes. Say it with me! U-NI-VER-SITY!

A few bad things:

I'm 17 years old, but I look 21.
Two of my friends are 24, and look 17.
The uni sells condoms in the toilets. (This isn't a bad thing. It's just that I'm shocked. It won't be bad for those who need it.)
I'm getting 48 hours of work a week.
Winter stacks up at least 3 feet of snow.
My parents are leaving in a few hours. 6AM Friday morning to be exact.
Steve Irwin's death is actually caught on tape.
I GAINED 5 KILOS!
I can't speak French yet! And I don't have time to take elective subjects.

Good things:

I'm getting taller.
And will continue to get taller.
This person is a woman.
I GAINED 5 KILOS!
I can experience what is known as 'The Long Weekend'. Something experienced by all students who don't have to go to school on Saturday and Sunday.
I was chatting to sOmEoNe WhO StILL wAs TyPiNg LiKe ThIs. Very amusing.
It's almost autumn time and everything is going to turn....ORANGE.
I bought Outkast's 'Idlewild'. It's worth the money if you want to hear jive and jazz mashed up with hip-hop and rap.

And catch this CHMS page while it's still hot and still there. And laugh maybe. And be thankful no one has trashed your school on Wikipedia. Or maybe you're going to do it yourself? Don't say I gave you any ideas.

On my 5 Kilo Gain:
Maybe I need to adjust the weighing scale. Or maybe my vision is failing me. Or..maybe, I'm just downright getting fat. Maybe I just need to gain a little. I've been a skinny stick since Primary One anyway. And being a stick with glasses? Not something I'd want to grow my children into.

ONE

Turbulence On A Plane

2006-08-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

Yeap. Turbulence. Not snakes. Turbulence. Terrifying 30 second turbulence.

Getting lifted off my seat twice 30000 feet above ground on a plane and wondering whether the plane would make it to Toronto in one piece? Definitely a 'What I Did For Summer' essay topic. Unfortunately I won't be taking any English when the Fall term begins (on the 7th next month, I think).

I'm now in very eastern Canada, living in Saint John, New Brunswick. It's a very nice town, with very nice places to go, and very nice people. And the houses here are very nice to look at, too but sometimes I get freaked out.

We're at the end of summer right now and the climate is very comfortable and quite tolerable for a new Asian kid like me. Getting up to a 17 is nice. Walking around in the afternoon with a 23 is nice too. And going to bed comfortably in an un-air-conditioned room while the outside drops to 7 is definitely nice. I don't know if I'm prepared for winter though. People around here say normal winter temperatures drop to -10 to -20. The worst this town has ever had to face...was -40. I'm...doomed.

Things here are expensive. So if you want me to get you something, you might just want to forget about it cause with the allowance I'll be getting, I don't think I'll be forking out any under 'Gifts4Friends' any time soon. But...hope for the best! There are a lot of bargain stores around here.

Broadband here is blazingly fast and affordable. I downloaded 800MB in 20 minutes a few days ago. I'm not lying. So, I gleefully point and laugh at those with the so called e-speed to e-speed2 upgrade. Blah. But you can point and laugh at me cause I won't be owning a fancy iPod Video, flashy Sony Ericsson W810, or a sleek Tag Heuer watch anytime ever. But I did get a sexy Creative Zen Neeon from Joel, Ron, Tek and Ben!

The food here is yumyum. I agree with Chester. Vegetarians don't know what they're missing! I've only been here a week and already I've tasted food my taste buds would never have imagined tasting. Lobster, pork ribs and grilled chicken breast? I'm going to get fat, and happy. But I'm going to work out and make someone else happy.

But still, I miss Brunei a lot and I miss the people I left behind without saying proper goodbyes. My last days here... I haven't had the pleasure of being trigger happy with my camera, but here's what I could best come up with. I promise more!

I should get this laptop off my lap. I heard the heat it emits damages a certain life-making organ and the performance of the life-making process.

getting very thirsty

time to go

2006-08-08T12:56:00.000-04:00

Apple has some really interesting new ads to promote their new Macs. Watching Windows getting feature-battered...priceless.

Next Saturday I fly for Canada with both my parents. Love them. And I'm going to go through at least 24 hours of travel time. I wonder just how many hours are needed to sleep all that 'coming-for-me' jet lag off. Perhaps at the end of all my flights I will quote Conan at 626.

"My perception of time...
totally f**ked up"

And whoa, John D. got arrested by the KK police. Well not exactly arrested. They just brought him and his friends (maybe including that Korean guy) to the station. Maybe they arrested him cause he was FAT (still is though). Haha I'm taking sides with Geoff. John, don't get arrested again okay? Fat people don't survive in prison. Oh, and John is NOT in prison and is fine.

Conan's been a real buddy. He's been giving me tons of support about me and my move to Canada. Every white community needs a cool Asian kid right? Ah I miss the Goh brothers... Right now they're living on the 27th floor in some apartment.

Guys, here's one movie you should add to the list of 'Movies Not To Watch With Girlfriend': John Tucker Must Die. It has a scene of that gardener boy from Desperate Housewives in a thong!! Now isn't that something powerful enough to destroy your relationship? Maybe, if you yourself were checking out Ashanti and Sophia Bush....

PS. I haven't seen the movie

Last Friday, I lost my beloved X660. What a horrible way to kick off my last two weeks. No details for you. You only need the headlines. So I'm sort of uncontactable, unless you're Kevin Loh, who's memorized ALL my contact detailss, including my address and both my parents' handphone numbers. Maybe there's a bright side to this. In three weeks or so, I'll be in good cold Canada and perhaps get a free phone with those network plans with Cingular or something. I don't know if Cingular operates in Canada, but I'm doing the research...

If you want to send free texts to DST numbers, click on this. If you want to get married, want a really skilled photographer capturing the moments of your wedding, and have loadsa monies, click on this. If you're itching to find out whether you've got Bruneian traits, click on this (thanks to Chester). And finally, just when things couldn't get any dumber, click on this.

It's almost time to go! You can either give me a hug, a cheek-only kiss, or a new handphone. Hahah.

is it the Eskimos?
or is it the Maoris?
whatever, it's lovely

13 (famous) people

2006-08-02T03:55:00.000-04:00

A remixed version of a bulletin board post on Friendster.

01 Matthew Fox
02 Eva Longoria
03 David Beckham
04 Paris Hilton
05 Cristiano Ronaldo
06 Mike Shinoda
07 Evangeline Lilly
08 Michelle Branch
09 Vanessa Carlton
10 Tom Cruise
11 Michael Jordan
12 Kanye West
13 Beyonce Knowles

How did you come to know 10?
Through old school Mission Impossible.

What would you do if you had never known 1?
Easy, not watch Lost at all.

What would you do if 6 and 2 dated?
I'd be amazed. If Mike and Eva dated, that would be the day. Their blood of their children would be a salad bar.

Have you ever seen 4 cry?
Paris Hilton? CRY? She'd only cry if she lost all her money.

Do you think 1 is cute?
Not really. But why do I keep watching Lost? Hmmm...

Tell me something about number 11.
Michael Jordan is a real life Superman disguised in a black man's skin.

How did you get to know 8?
Looong ago on MTV. She had nice hair, a nice voice and a nice body to match.

Would you ever go on a date with number 12?
Go on a date with Kanye West? If date means 'studio meeting for discussions on mashing up hiphop/jazz/salsa', yes.

What's 7's favorite color?
I think it's green. Or at least her mySpace layout says so.

What would you do if 6 confessed they liked you?
I'd delete all my Linkin Park and Fort Minor songs.

Fact about 9:
She has the same golden mini-dress Mariah Carey used in 'We Belong Together'.

Who is 4 going out with?
Paris Hilton will go out with anyone who is willing to make night-vision coloured videotapes.

Who is number 5 to you?
C. Ronaldo? I don't know WHY everyone complains about him.

Would you ever live with 13?
Live with Beyonce Knowles? Yes. Very yes.

Is 2 single?
Eva Longoria, single? No. She dates way too many gardener boys.

Where does 7 live?
Easy, on that island with Matthew Fox, inside a hatch with 4 8 15 16 23 42 imprinted on it.

What do you think about 3?
He's kicks a wicked curveball and has the Spice Girl!

What's the best thing about number 8?
She's a guitarist. She's still hot even if she doesn't play power-chords.

What do you like about number 10?
He's done interesting movies. But he's a Scientologist with a baby to hide (you get a funny pic here).

Favorite memory of 2?
When she, at the house party, ran up to Carlos and said "I'm pregnant and it's all your fault!" *slap!*

17 more days
i want more more ways
to tell you
this isn't going to be easy

yesh, it's fresh

2006-07-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

Thanks to you, chocolatte. I was so inspired.

I woke up at 0830 this morning with a huge, huge smile on my face, because:

I got the new layout/background done.
I now have a laptop (flown in a few days ago from Singapore!)
Tomorrow, I get o-l-d. More accurately, 17.
Yesterday was too short and the best time I had since...I can't remember.
I'm going to YDM later on.
I've just found a new art style and I'll be releasing my Scan'd Alls (huge play on the word scandals). You'll find out in a week.
I somehow am un-grounded. Are you happy now JohnD? Come back wah, fat. And who on earth is 21?

Ever wondered how to describe the nature of Ah-Lians and Ah-Bengs? Here.

Ever wondered if Silent Hill could be real? Here.

Ever wondered what killed Karen Carpenter? Here.

pink.black // tickle // 38 // crab
8 hours felt like 2

I Want To Tell/Show You Something

2006-07-11T14:38:00.000-04:00

Right now I am at the lowest of lows. I am depressed and I'm hating it. And playing XBox alone sucks too, especially when the computer is beating you in football. I think it's time I return the XBox to Joel, since it's almost time for me to go already. I need help with separation anxiety. I need to stop worrying about nothing. I wish I didn't have to be such a loser in Malay. I wonder why suddenly everything just became so moody (it must've been the weather). I will stick to my individuality. I want to fix all my issues. I need to begin realizing that my life will have a bunch of goodbyes I don't want to say. I need to start realizing that everything has been handed to me on a silver plate and that I need to start thanking the very people who've treated me well. I need to stop being a selfish jerk. I need to stop secretly complaining. I need to learn contentness. I need to realize I cannot please everybody. I wonder when I will stop being the person who 'watches things happen'. I still want to play tambourine in YDM. I want to go without leaving everything behind. I need to get that out of my system.

All my thoughts are in a massive jumble jungle.

To keep me from cutting myself (emo joke), I decided to go through my pictures and show you some of my best shots. And they've not been after-touched by Photoshop.

Zoom

Taken near Sheraton

Listen

Sana listening, for once

Water JourneysMy family rafting near the shore in Philippines

StarringBracelet of my friend, who is a girl

goodnight

draw draw draw

Meeting

2006-07-06T09:54:00.000-04:00

My dad rocks. I went out with him yesterday and he bought me a new shirt and 2 pairs of Adidas shoes. But I've got to find a way to make him stop talking to the cashiers. Hahah

I watched the France vs Portugal at 3am this morning while using the phone. It was so sad to see Cristiano Ronaldo cry (OMG am I jumping over the sexual-orientation fence?). One thing positive people say what this World Cup does is bring people and nations together. MY FOOT. Just because England lost to Portugal, the English shun Portugal as a tourist destination. The Brazillians burn down a statue of Ronaldin-ho in rage because Brazil made an unexpected exit. And now, that Germany is out...who KNOWS what's going to happen???

I bought Madonna's 'Confessions On A Dancefloor' in Bandar today because I had to break my $100 and the bus driver didn't have $99 on him. The album is quite interesting to listen to, especially since she has ABBA's 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' on 'Hung Up'. And then I met up with Lyn, Shenny and Sia for a very short while in Gadong.

The best example of music rape is the massively annoying mash up mix of:

Black Eyed Peas - My Humps,
The Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha, and
Sugababes - Push The Button

I don't even WANT to begin to tell you how bad/offkey/stupid/yuck/pukely it sounds.

Next time I'll tell you about my dreams, and how rubbish some of them are...but now I'm helping my mum learn DDR!

two in one / that's more fun

Ago

2006-07-01T01:08:00.000-04:00

1 Week

It was day nine

^{(counting up)}

It also was day fifty-four

^{(counting down)}

1 Month

I can remember

longing...

for company, an iPod, a camera

anticipating...

Jonan and Conan's return

wishing...

JD wasn't fat, JasMarie and Mae were still here
hating...

Kevin Loh for never going out

giving up...

1 Year

I was ecstatic it was my birth-month. I love being a July-an.

Everything around me seemed perfect, except for the mediocre grades and pimples.

*Wasn't over 'almost-season failure' yet* I needed "GET OVER IT CLASSES"

1 Decade

I remember being called Jay-J. There was a Joshua George in my Primary 1 class.

I was spectacled.

Diana, Angel and Matt were my good friends. Thank God we still are.

I started organ classes.

The girls in my class bullied me with "HA you look like a dork" jokes. I hope you have BRACES NOW AND CAN PICK UP RADIO SIGNALS. Haha JK.

hand in hand

I Can't Feel My Nose

2006-06-29T01:32:00.000-04:00

This sucks. I'm starving. It's getting dark and it looks like it's going to rain. All this, and I can't feel my left nose. 2 hours after my dental and the anaesthetic hasn't worn off yet. JD I hope you've found your slimming program already.

Yesterday I stole (well, took down) a jazz poster and met up with Shenny for a while at The Mall. SUSPEK AH! Shenny has a nicer phone than everyone else now. I'm jealous of her, and of Watson, Kevin, Lyn, Conan, Jonan, and Ben (also the proud owner of this).

And so Shenny forced me to wear her tudong after I forced her to wear it (balance). And this is how I look. But first go hide your children and/or siblings who are below seven.

I need pimple destruction cream.

comfortable

2006-06-26T03:05:00.000-04:00

Listening to: Pure silence

I cannot believe it. YDM Camp 2006 is over. The best 4 ooosome days of this year, gone. I'll just keep my thoughts on this to myself.

Interesting Moments

Daphne: Hmm. You look like you could eat some more.
Me: Yeah I'll be going back again for a second serving.
Daphne: (slowly moves her plate near to mine) Here.

Joe Willits: You want to know something interesting?
Me: What?
Joe Willits: Did you know that Michael Ballack is 100% English?

Jonan: How do you tell the difference between feelings and feelings?
Me: (laughs out loud) Now that's funny.
Jonan: Seriously.

well at least i now have God...
and a star tambourine

Oh My, Yesterday

2006-06-19T00:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday...

2.30pm

I was so down and feeling like that God-forsaken dump near the roundabout leading to Subok, so I decided to take myself to G-Town (alone, this is sad) to have lunch since my whole family was in Miri. I took 2 buses to G-Town (this, even sadder) and took an alone lunch at Big Papa's at Centrepoint. Before that I was printing stuff for Jasmine.

After the lunch I wanted to go to The Mall just to see if there were any of my friends there. I doubted it though.

Conan and Jonan were in KB. Shenny FUTURE went to her grandparents. Clinton might've been with his family. Fel also outs with her fam. Lyn PAST slept at 6am. JD might've been going to a slimming program in KK. Sana was 2 hours ahead of me. And the only place Kevin Loh goes to is MD and Nyonya's restaurant.

I saw this poster for this jazz concert which was going to be held last night at Sheraton. Thank the Lord for that, and thank goodness I passed by The Mall. I quickly picked up my pictures for Jasmine, took a bus to Bandar, and walked to Sheraton. Meanwhile there was a dead dog on the road. After I checked if there were ticktets still left, I called Lyn PAST (who was awake) up. She said she'd go.

It was 4.15 when I took the Express Bus in Bandar. It was 4.45 when I got back to my place. So I went in my house, through the back-door (nyehehe), played the living room stereo real loud with some Nitin Sawhney, stole a few shampoos and skin smootheners from Mum's bathroom, stripped down and took a shower. After that I quickly dried off, changed, and grabbed some gel to put on. Just as I rubbed the gel on my hands, my phone receives a message. I was more worried about my hair, so yeah.

A whole ten minutes I went from looking like that guy from Fall Out Boy to David Beckham. At the end of it I decided to play it safe and look normal. ONLY THEN did I decide to check my phone. It would be really stupid if it was Lyn PAST saying "Oh I can't come tonight. Sorry. I hope you didn't shower and gel your hair for 10 minutes yet." Phew. It was only Vee. "What's Conan's phone number?"

A bus came at 5.30 and I reached Sheraton at 6.15. I bought the tickets and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. 7.30 the cocktail buffet began. Lots of yummy chocolate cakes!!! Lyn PAST came at 8, cause she was having dinner with her family for Father's Day. So we watched the jazz pianist from Belgrade tickle the keys and finger the ivory. Amazing stuff. His name is Bojan Z.

After the show, my dad came to pick me up at around 9.45. And my dad sorta talked to Lyn PAST for a while. And then, on the ride home, he asked me

"Why is she grinning ear to ear?"

Partytime Tuesday night!!

Different Types Of Relationships

2006-06-14T13:14:00.000-04:00

I just came up with some crazy stuff...

LDR (Long Distance Relationship) - Everybody knows this one.
SCR (Singapore Chicken Relationship) - Communication between the pair usually contains an intense amount of Singlish with the style of speaking comparable to the constant squawking of a chicken. While normal couples take turns to say "I love you", those in an SCR will "I lau yuuu" to each other at the same time several dozen times over like chickens in a poultry with a snake in it. SCRs are not recommended for those with high grammar standards.
VCR (VideoCassette Relationship) - This is what happens after several months of LDR. A partner will record himself on tape, say all he/she needs, send the tape over to the other partner, and thus the partner receives the message and plays the tape on television. VCRs usually fall apart after one realizes the invention of YouTube and GMail.
DDR (Dance Dance Relationship) - A relationship that just revolves around dancing on the Dance Dance Revolution machine. That's the only place they interact. Before and after that, they don't care. DDRs only last long if they both know what they're doing.

There are less common relationships known to society, such as:

CDR (Crazy Deranged Relationship) - For those who find love in mental institutions.
ER (Emergency Relationship) - Usually lasts between one to three weeks when someone is desperately looking for some rebound action.
PR (Private Relationship) - Basement affairs. Those involved in PRs get into deep trouble with their OR (Original Relationship) partners.

I had a DDR session with Lyn Past yesterday. And Shenny Future owes me one. Clint loves Dallas. Fel's into 'disco robot' moves.

There is no way I can express how happy I am that CONAN AND JONAN ARE BACK!!!

My K-Box Playlist

Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual//Village People - YMCA//Geri Halliwell - It's Raining Men//Madonna - Music//Rob Thomas - Smooth//Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head

I Tried

2006-06-12T03:17:00.000-04:00

when will you smile

My weekend was great.

On Friday I met good ol' John D. We had good talk. And at YDM practice we practiced like mad...and came up with a hip-hop/rock version for "Big". And Swee Mei gave me a nice back massage. I also found out Uri filed a police report against AJ.

Saturday started out very messy. I woke up very late and got scolded severely for it. In school I met Chris, Louie and Wendy. I hadn't seen them in a month or two so I was real glad to see them. They came up with this new sort of joke....

Example: "Props, props, props to Joel, for getting 6 girls to sit around him just now."

At PASAR, Louie belanja-ed me to a mi-goreng (oh yeah I'm gonna' miss this too. So maybe I'm gonna bring 3 boxes of it!!!). Alexis, AJ and John D came along. Today was going to be the day I transfer ownership of John D's SIM card from me to him. It's a long and dodgy story. Alexis, JD and I walked to DST Yayasan. And the line was so freakin' long, I said "John, this will take forever." Although I said that I got into line.

It didn't take forever to get into the building. The lady at the counter was calm and collected, and she understood the situation. So it took merely 3 minutes to get the whole transfer of SIM card ownership from me to John D which was good. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, Alexis, who wanted to register HIS SIM card, had an expired IC and no passport. And guess who got footed with the responsibility to register Alexis' SIM card under his name....no other than good-natured IC-bringing pimple-face me. He returned the favour by buying me a sundae.

At around 12 I got back to school to perform on the keyboard for the childrens, who were having a American Idol-type show for kids from different classes to perform, and to let the whole primary section vote. And the voters have to pay to vote. I think it costs one dollar to vote. SGS is really finding ways to make moneh. There was this one girl from Primary 3 who really sang "It's All Coming Back To Me" so powerfully, and with emot-emot (emotion). I texted Shenny saying "Hey someone's singing your song..."

Soon enough it was my turn. I played the Pink Panther Theme in dance mode (told you I have double standard issues). Then those pop staples that children like. Axel F, Popcorn, Exploration of Space. But somehow I didn't like my performance at all. Cikgu Izan was sort of MCing to my beats. Her voice overpowered my tunes. I mean..."You're already the show's MC. Give me MY turn!"

After that small gig I went to Empire for my mum's office's Family Day. I met Aaron Corpuz who I talked to for most of the afternoon. Y'know the Empire is a nice place to have a 626 session.

At night, I came home to a practice for Sunday's service. Grace was there. I tried.

Sunday was the big day for me, cause I'd be performing on stage at the Filipino National Day Celebration.

By 11.30pm I was at Beribi at the 5th floor of the Scout's HQ in a huge air-conditioned hall, with at least 500-600 Filipinos present. "Is THIS how many people I'm going to be performing in front of?" Then something terrible hit me. Nervousness. Melissa (Chris' sister) told me, "You've played so many times at school. Why be nervous?" How nice of her to keep it together. She also introduced me to her boyfriend, whose name I forgot! Again it happened.

Ms. Bheng whether I wanted to play during the lunch intermission from 12.00-12.30 instead of playing the opening act from 12.30 to 12.40. Somehow I picked to play the 30 minutes. My Dad and Ms. Bheng asked me "Do you have enough songs to go through 30 minutes?" I firmly answered yes.

After I was introduced by Mr. Castletort (yes that's his real name), I set up my keyboard on the stage. I couldn't believe how many people I saw. So many heads. So then I started my session by starting with "Sway" and 15 other songs (including The Final Countdown, I Will Survive, Loving You and those dance tunes Popcorn, Axel F. and even a danced up Pinoy Ako). And believe it or not, I memorized all my songs. That's what 7 months does to you. And during my 30 minutes of playing I sold 20 pieces of my self-recorded CD!

During my performance, I thought I saw something fat standing in the audience. I squinted. It looked like John D, cause it was standing next to Alexis and AJ and anything fat that stands next to Alexis and AJ has got to be JD. I tried to find him. But alas I could not.

After that, I went to Gadong and met up with Clint, Fel and Lyn. Double date? NOT REALLY, cause Vee is back and she dropped by. I also met long-time-no-see-friend Jason who I gave a giant hug when I met him. [Call it what you want, gay or bent. Screw you I love my friends]. I think he's got a girlfriend, cause he was hanging out with a boy and two girls. Now THAT'S a double date.

At the pool area, I talked to Fel and while Lyn and Vee racked up the pool table by playing 9-ball, somewhat funnily. I'm not good myself anyway.

Clint left at 4.30. Fel one hour later. Lyn half-an-hour later and Vee at 6.30.

My Mom forgot to pick me up. And my Dad picked me up at 9.30. Thank goodness for Kevin Loh. He called me and we talked for an hour. How I asnwered his call was quite funny. I was at Euroclassic looking for some stuff, then suddenly my phone was ringing the old 90s song "I'm horny. Horny, horny, horny."

And I went to a cybercafe, checked my mail, talked to JasmineY (finally) and was surprised by all the tags at my blog. Love you all. That really put a smile on my face.

Phew that was long.

"I Heard..."

2006-06-08T03:38:00.000-04:00

Madonna singing in that foreign language in her track 'Sorry' sounds w-e-i-r-d

Yesterday I went to SAS Church cause Terrence called me over to help Wei Ting with 'Majesty'. Ms. Jane was going to lead worship...and when she saw me at the practice room, she said, quite enthusiastically...

"I heard that you play techno..."

I'm brilliantly shocked. How does she know that. This is not good. I think I've got a reputation around a church I don't even go to on Sundays that I'm a techno-player. Anand joked around saying "HOW CAN YOU BE DOING THIS TO GOD'S MUSIC?" Or maybe I'll be a pioneer of CFM (Christian Fengtau Music). CERTAINLY NOT. If I did Jason would stop being my friend. Yes you Jason Wong who's in a Clifford The Red Dog costume.

YDM Camp is coming up, and I'm so excited to play beautiful (NOT FENGTAU) music to lead people into worship.

Things in Brunei I'm going to miss in [teh-place-imah-going-to]

Moderately yummy cheap food [No more one doller nasi katok]
Warmth [Some people in the place I'm going to, tell me that July and August are their warmest months. What is warm? 10?]
Astro [According to Wikipedia the town I'm going two has only 3 channels on the tube. My dad makes the situation worse by jokingly telling me 2 of them are in French. NOOOOOO!!]
Pirated music/movies [Everybody in Brunei is a criminal]
My friends [Don't cry for me, everyonegentina]
Cannot Singlish ah [What you understand or not? Basket lah]

Things I think I'm going to enjoy in [where I'm going to]

Living in a indie town [Want to join me, Amir?]
Staying a day's drive from New York [Maybe go TRL]
Wireless with my laptop at the Uni [Finally NO MORE WIRES and MUCH MORE SPEED]
The cold [Cold enough to freeze off me pimples so I can be normal, again]
Wider selection of original music [Goodbye to you stupid unlabelled disc in a plastic case with a faded cover which I bought for $2 and doesn't work on my stereo]

They Broke It

2006-06-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

I think Pilihan FM hates me.

Well I was involved with the school in this weekly radio segment that Pilihan gives to schools. And about 2 months ago, I went with some of the recording participants to record our radio segment. There was karaoke done by our nice girls. A nice play narrated by Randy (quite interesting to hear him speak English properly), and...of course...the school called me to join them to play my keyboard.

At first I played the school song in piano mode. All sacred and very mellow. But then they asked me to "jazz it up". Apparently, "jazz it up" means fengtau it. So I did. And the school song was played with 4/4 beats and a melodic siren. They (the recording participants and the Pilihan DJ) were like "That's a nice beat." It's horrible music rape though. Haha.

Anyway I played two songs after that, 'Sway' and 'Popcorn' to be used as the 'Grand Finale'. I re-played those songs at least 3 times cause I was performing under pressure (we had to keep extremely quiet whenever the "ON AIR" light was on, so the beat was *boom*boom*boom* and they were sitting in their seats nodding their heads lightly trying to keep their dance moves to themselves)!!!!

Well yesterday was the airing of the segment on Brunei airwaves. I was so ecstatic to hear Michelle and Louie saying "Your Number One radio station in Brunei" with a breathy tone so ... not very commonly heard by them. Ahah. Then it came to my turn....I played the 2 versions of the SGS School Song, got interviewed by Mich and Lou. And just when I thought they were going to play my final 2 songs, a moody slowrock track came on.

"HEY I DID NOT PLAY THAT!"

THE SHOW WAS FREAKIN' OVER!!!

I was quite disappointed. But I was happy to get a radio debut even Conan in Singapore heard about it, although it's a stupid time to get all *populer* now, since I'm leaving.

I WANT TO FIND OUT WHY PILIHAN FM DID NOT PLAY THOSE LAST 2 SONGS. I'M GOING TO MARCH MY BUTT (WHICH I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TONE) OVER TO MR. SIM'S OFFICE AND DEMAND AN EXPLANATION, BUT IF I SEE TEACHER MENCHIE I'LL RUN AWAY.

And since I'm so free and inspired, I will release a short clip of 'The SGS School Song (Joshua's Dance Remix)', downloadable at some file-hosting site.

boom

2006-05-31T14:11:00.000-04:00

I have a double standard issue. I always remind myself, 'Feng tau music (techno that's like 200bpm and has chipmunk vocals and over 40 tracks on a single mix disc) is not art. It's music rape.' But there was this one time on the keyboard I experimented with.....

(feng tau beats + pink panther theme) x 200 bar repeats = really good for ecstasy parties

I have soiled myself (not the crap in the pants sort of way)

I think it's about time someone contributed 'feng tau' to wikipedia. Just typing 'feng tau' alone in the Google search bar...you'll get results like

Anyway, here in KL, we what we call the Feng Tau club. Feng Tau in cantonese means shakehead and that's how we enjoy drugs [link]
...bek even tho the polis alredi tangkap them over n over again la, who dunwan to do ? [link]

I remember once, when Mr. Jireh stepped in the class, Hanif shouted 'FEEEENGG TAUUU' and started waving his towel around doing authentic headshaking action.

Okay, nuff bout feng tau. Getting sick of seeing all that being typed out.

If you really need a laugh, head over to Planet Jeff!!. The latest bashblog by a dude who gets frequently bashed himself because he has a race with a funny name.

It's June already. I can safely say that I have watched half the year go by. I can also safely say 2006 was my most useless year when I'm old and probably still ticklish. I wonder if my sensory nerves by then would already have deteriorated and I'd be cured. Or if not if someone tickles me again my reactions would be so violent my bones would break and my lungs would explode and I might die x_x

Jonan, Conan and JohnD are coming back. Thank God they're coming back, I've got no one to talk to. I may talk to Kevin, but he does at least 99% of the talking most of the time. Come to think of it, I've been talking to girls lately. Lyn, Shen, Sana, my mom, both Jasmines. I'm being girlenated!

7 months of directionlessness. 2 more to go.

Any Redder...

2006-05-27T14:46:00.000-04:00

All I did was ask Fay if she was going to watch XMen3. And just after she answered, right from across the table, Lyn shoots a piercing "Oh, you are so flirting with her" right at me. Clinton and Shenny waste no time in letting out laughs.

I couldn't believe my ears. Then Lyn started telling the story of 'The History' to the new friend (whose name I forgot). She revealed that it happened twice, along with some facts which made my face turn very red, just like at Teacher Veronica's house 2 hours before.

XMen3 was fantastic. I don't understand how Angel (that boy with wings) got to be displayed so grandly on the X3 promoposters and yet the role he played in the movie was extremely minor. He didn't even help the good guys out in 'The Final Battle'! Somehow he reminds me of the lead singer of Yellowcard.

Sometimes, arrangements are broken. Well I understood why my recent arrangement was broken.

Anonymous: Whoever you are, I guess this 'unfinished business' needs to be 'finished' soon.

Time?

2006-05-22T13:59:00.000-04:00

After 2 weeks of playing Half-Life 2, I'm done with it. 15 hours of great gameplay. I thought the ending was anti-climactic, though. Although I literally dashed my expectations of a grand finish by reading the walkthrough before finishing the game, the ending came so abruptly I was actually shocked (a huge explosion happens, then a stop in time, then the G-Man takes me away). Probably that's why the game won 35 Game of The Year Awards along with the reason for the existence of the highly sizzling Alyx Vance.

By here, you must be wondering, "You took 2 weeks to finish the game??" Well, I guess that's more than logical. I mean, if you're paying $19.99US to play a game finishable in 15 hours, would you want to finish it in a day or two? I'd prefer not to, so it's worth my money. But then again, the Xbox I have and the games that came along with it aren't mine to begin with. A good pal lent it to me. Thanks, Joel (not my little bro), A LOT. I feel like my lost pre-teen joy is recurring, again.

And get this, Bantiao Ming 2 is Half-Life 2 in Chinese.

So now, I'm hooked on the Half-Life saga. I think I'll play Half Life again cause I was stuck the last time and stopped playing it cause it was O' Levels that time, I think.

Have you heard of Brokebat Mountain? It's a term used to describe the relationship between Batman and Robin. Yes, it's hard to believe that some filth-heads think that the Dynamic Duo are gay. Read the article here, here, and here. Seems like even cartoons get targetted.

Even SpongeBob was a target of gay criticism after episode "Rock-A-Bye Bivalve" was aired. If you're an avid SpongeBob fan, you might remember when SpongeBob and Patrick found a shell and decided to raise it as if it was their child and they playing the parents. Patrick became the Dad and somehow SpongeBob became the mother. One believed it to be a spreading of 'homosexual agenda'.

SAY WHAT?

Numbers Refreshed

2006-05-10T12:15:00.000-04:00

NUMBER OF.....

Hits on Friendster (May 2006): I don't care anymore. No one can beat the 158231258 hits on Joey's page.

Pairs of shoes misplaced in the car of a friend I see only weekly: 1 (and that was my favorite pair)

Times this site was locked by Blogger's not-yet-so-perfect spam prevention robots: 2

Hours I had to wait to get my blog unlocked to publish this post: maybe 19?

Times I've been said to have 'b(.)(.)bs': Maybe 6

Tracks I'm mixing for Fel's Rhythm & Remix Compilation: 10

Days till I leave: 100

Eclectic Electric Tracklistings

2000-01-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

Show 0 (Trial) [22 October 2007]

Show 1 [24 October 2007]
Imogen Heap - Hide & Seek (Morgan Page Remix)
Basement Jaxx - Bingo Bango (David Morales Remix)
Markus Schulz - Somewhere (Perry O'Neil Remix)
Lostep - Burma (Sasha Remix)
Ferry Corsten - Holding On (Luke Chable Remix)
Azzido da Bass - Doom's Night
A Hundred Birds - Jaguar
MJ Cole - Crazy Love
Architechs - Body Groove
Sander Kleinenberg - My Lexicon
The Chemical Brothers - It Began Afrika
Chicane - Love On The Run

Show 2 (Halloween Mix) [31 October 2007]
Samuel Barber - Adagio For Strings
Talvin Singh - Traveller (Kid Loco Remix)
Peace Orchestra - Who Am I (Chateau Flight Remix)
Machine - A Perfect Lie (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
Portishead - Numb
Telefon Tel Aviv - TTV
dZihan & kamien - Homebase
Ralph Myerz & Jack Herren Band - Here Is Love
Lemon Jelly - Experiment 6
Sneaker Pimps - Post Modern Sleaze
Emilianna Torrini - If You Go Away
Royksopp - Triumphant
The Cinematic Orchestra - Channel 1 Suite
Jakatta - American Dream (Afterlife Remix)
Billie Holiday - Speak Low (Bent Remix)
Tosca - Doris Dub
Hybrid - Dreaming Your Dreams

Show 3

ARTicles One [Random Five]

1999-12-31T12:00:00.000-04:00