Thursday, November 30, 2006

The hols are here!

20 days. Yes, 20 days.

That’s how long I’ve neglected my blog. So sorry to all for not posting anything.

Well, it’s not that my life has been so boring that I’ve nothing interesting to share, but instead, I think it’s indolence. Laziness, and perhaps coupled with my limited internet access and my fear of tapping into other people’s unsecured network after someone got jailed recently.

On the contrary, I have many things to say. I have forgotten the actual date of most events, but this is roughly what I’ve been doing this November:

1) Movies
Yes, I went to watch 2 movies, Happy Feet and Flushed Away. I still think Happy Feet is a waste of money if you’re looking for an animation with a good story.

The story was not fully developed, the plot was boring and not captivating enough, but hey, who cares! The animation was superb, totally amazing, impeccable, and the penguins were the cutest things on screens this holiday! And those wonderfully choreographed dance moves were so brilliantly coordinated that even adults love them!

Next was Flushed Away at VivoCity. My first time to that mega mall, with Wei Liang and Andrew. It is a huge place, really big land area. I wasn’t that impressed by the array of shops, probably because it didn’t cater to my likes.

But nevertheless, GV Max was a great experience! As I was telling Guo Wei, the legroom was so good that you could sit down and people still have space to walk pass you! And Flushed Away only costs me 7 bucks! Money well spent.

Flushed Away, in my opinion, is still better than Happy Feet, unless penguins are a must see on your checklist this December. Next to catch is Open Season.

2) New desktop
Finally, I’ve managed to download Windows Vista Release Candidate 2. And it looks great! Take a look!


So nice right?!

Everything looks so dynamic right? So cool!

Ok la, I shouldn’t trick you.

Or did you get fooled?

Haha. This is definitely not Vista, but rather, Vista Transformation Pack (VTP), a software which safely modifies your Windows XP system files to mimic the look and feel of Vista. It even comes with Glass2K which allows you to make windows transparent, something like Aero. Got it long time ago after it came out on Digital Life. No system hogs, thankfully.

Oh, and my HP desktop is giving the same old problems again. It’s time to ditch it.

3) My new Ferrari


I’m never too old to play with toys. My dad bought this from the petrol station, Shell, if I’m not wrong.

4) Neworld Download Centre
Look to the right of this page at the sidebar at the top and you will find a ‘Neworld Download Centre’ link there. This website is actually the work of a few years of manipulating PowerPoint to create some very cool shows.

The site allows anyone to download these files and play on computers which meet the specified system and software requirements. So if you are free now, why not visit my site and get some nice cartoons? Go on, click it! And if you are observant enough, you should find that it is similar to Apple's homepage. ;)

5) New laptop bag


What’s cool about this is that it actually absorbs impact during a fall! The case can be dented and it will ‘undent’ itself. Got it from Popular for 18 bucks.

6) Junior Youth Camp 2006 (17 to 20 Nov)
This year’s JYC was a great experience, being in the committee, getting to organize and to lead. I got to know many new people in my church, and now Frontliners has become a warmer place to be in.

Here's the committee photo:


We had a really fun time at camp, all the games, charades, jokes, laughter and pranks…I never regret joining the committee and it's a lifetime experience I will cherish. We even booked a chalet at Changi for fun after camp, as we couldn't bear to part...

But most importantly, it drew me closer to God. It taught me how prayer can be used as a powerful tool to meet Him. I was touched in a way I’ve never felt before, and this camp was more of a time of reassurance that He is always there for me, that He is in charge of my life. This camp, too, was the first time I cried.

Not because I missed home.

Saviour
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save

Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave


7) New car
I visited the Singapore Motorshow together with my dad, and something unexpected resulted from that visit to Suntec.

A new Odyssey!!!

The current one my family has is turning 5 soon, so it’s a change now or don’t change till it turns 10 then scrap kinda thing. We got a very good price for the old one, 55K, and the new one costs 89K, with 1K off for Motorshow discount. It has sunroof, cruise control and the third row seats fold flat electronically at the press of a button.

Mu Yao (and even I) was recommending the Grandis, but my dad was adamant on not getting a Mitsubishi after one bad Dion experience. So Honda it was, and there’s only one choice for a Honda MPV now - the Odyssey. Guess he couldn’t wait for the new Stream to be launched.

8) Class video
On Tuesday, me, Pu En, and Esmond went to Althea’s house to do the class video for chalet. Ordered pizza for lunch, and we scouted through many websites for photos, and Esmond flooded my iPhoto with 150 photos at one shot…in the end we didn’t finish the video =( so we got to meet up to continue again.

9) Visit to Singapore National Museum
Went with Guo Wei to the new Singapore National Museum to watch this super old 1991 movie entitled Medium Rare, about mediums and ritual passion. It was a queer outing, considering the fact that it was just the two of us, the museum was still under construction, we were the youngest there and I went there certainly not expecting such an ancient film.


But it was a nice show, and maybe too controversial back in 1991. The theatre was not even half filled.

10) Unlimited internet
Woo-hoo! From 4 Dec I shall surf to my heart's content! No, not because of Wireless@sg, but because my house will have wi-fi (finally). My dad has signed up for Starhub MaxOnline 4000 ($58.80 per month), so I can bid farewell to that slow SingTel JetPack plan, where I usually exceed the 200MB free usage.

But then again, when you're paying $19.95 currently, you don't expect much.

11) Badminton
This is probably the only and main source of physical exercise these few months. We played at Tampines with the usual people: Jourdan, Esmond, Guo Wei, Elroy, and Debby came for once. I still suck at that sport, but as the saying goes…practice makes perfect!

12) First proper iMovie project
You’d probably not believe me, but ever since I had my Mac a year ago, this November was the first iMovie project I’ve ever created, for JYC camp echo. iMovie is quite easy to use, but it takes a bit of effort to figure out the timings for the titles and ken burns effects and all those stuff.

Esmond says it looks like Windows Movie Maker, which I never touch. It took me 4 hours for a 3 min 13 sec presentation, and not to mention, a hurting 1.79GB of space off my hard disk. But it was a fun learning process.

13) Flickr
Flickr is now the most exciting place when I’m online! I’ve decided to take up photography as my new interest, and I’ve never been so active on Flickr before. Recently I’ve used nature as a theme to go around my neighbourhood shooting, either on bicycle or on foot, equipped with a Sony DSC-W1, or occasionally, an Olympus E330.

There's this big empty field just behind my house at the Park Connector, and the view of Sengkang is just awesome. The clouds were pretty fluffy that afternoon too:


Back home, I’ll edit the nicer shots and upload them to Flickr. There are many many pros there, and it’s interesting to view their pictures and learn from them. If you do not have a Flickr or Yahoo account, go get one! Flickr rocks!

Oh, and do check out my (great) photos if you have time! Do comment too!

That’s all for now. Have piano coaching later. Gotta practice.

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