Brutally honest and honestly brutal

2010-02-05T03:29:00.002+08:00

Have you ever...
- worked till you lost track of time?
- worked till you lost track of the day?
- worked till you lost track of what to do?
- worked till you dunno what to do?
- sleep and dreamt about work?
- waking up to go to work to realise it's your off day?

I did.

Thank God I can put it behind me and hopefully not bitch about it again. It's a trying time and it was benficial on hindsight.

Looking forward to visit my family for a few days (it's worth the 24-hr round trip journey!!)

Also, I'm going for my next Arsenal match soon!!!

2009-12-03T04:57:00.002+08:00

Sunset at 3plus, cold winds, gloomy days & neverending rain. These are the customised weather settings in London right now. Just got frost a couple of days back and snow is on its way, December or maybe January.

I'm still learning and in fact doing a lot at work, both admin and ops. Heathrow is unique with its set of problems and of course the usual bunch of idiots flying. Already had some experience of just being verbally gangbanged by passengers. Dun worry, no part of my body is harmed in the process...

Should I dwell on the negative? Hell NO! Been cherishing my chats online with my family and I am glad they are coping well despite various circumstances. Also, I'm literally a HMV junkie here, and had already got a fair share of CDs and DVDs! As I've been to most of the touristy areas before, nothing really tickles my fancy.

The idea of living abroad is surreal at times, really. Like spending a rare sunny afternoon jogging by the River Thames (No kiddin', its within my vicinity), taking that tube ride and feel that you are part of a whole new way of life. This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience man... Just looking forward to find time to attend another Arsenal match, a cool headbanging gig or just hang out at some really chic place when I have the time and energy.

Revived... i hope

2009-11-10T04:53:00.003+08:00

Finally, i'm plucking up the courage, time, energy to blog again. Perhaps, there may not be anyone (apart from my dearest manu, i hope) reading this. But I'm gonna use it as my diary again. Hopefully, to chronicle my adventures abroad AGAIN!!

You see, I started this blog in 2006 and went to the US for an exchange program on the eve of 2007. This blog was utilized heavily and viewed by many, as details of my travel were conscientiously posted up.

Fast forward to 2008/09, my blog could have seen better days, but due to my final year at university and subsequently, my house moving/job search and new job took its toll on me. (Besides my neverending collection of DVDs and PS3)

After my unprecedented 6-mth long hiatus, I'm back at familiar territory. Albeit ironic, since I'm typing this now in London. Yes, this is not a typo, London will be be my home till my employer decides it's time for me to move on. Well, I just arrived in the UK late last month and had been adapting myself to my new home and workplace.

Still coming to grips with leaving my very close family members behind. But it's heartening to know they have my best interest at heart. Besides the teary encounters, I've nothing much to complain. Accomodation is top notch, just went thru the hassles of getting my own car, knowing who's who here and well, doing I'm suppose to do here - WORK.

Although I'm relatively a noob here, i'm expected to be picked things/knowledge up at warp speed. I'm bloggin cos the tidal wave of duties have not befallen upon me yet. hope I can pour out my thoughts and feelings in London more with this blog. My superior told me that time here does not belong to me, it belongs to the company. 'nuff said!

Oh, one of the coolest thing I did was to head down to Arsenal's not so new home and watched a Champion's League match!!! Smashing!!

2009-03-13T00:04:00.002+08:00

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

This inspiring quote by Marianne Williamson is from her book, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3 (Pg. 190-191).

2009-01-25T22:15:00.002+08:00

random thoughts with random connections:

>Blessed Chinese New Year!
>will be cherishing my last CNY in Singapore before dunno when...
>thanks Pauline, i've changed the vid for my previous post.
>dunno why the record company wanna ban music videos on Youtube?!
>there are a lot of better things to do than be on Youtube!
>still gotta catch up on my DVDs, CDs and storybooks!!
>training at SIA has been fruitful and interesting
>will probably receive my posting in a couple of months' time...
>gotta commit it to God's grace!!! Amen.

2009-01-10T14:06:00.004+08:00

Just wanna give thanks to God for an awesome 2008 and looking forward to an exciting 2009! Boy, was i in for a ride in less than a month. Thank God for His bountiful blessings in my work as I continue to bask in the "honeymoon period" of training and also the unexpected bonus. Amen! As the staff movement and graduation draws near, I can only commit my posting to God and trust Him in His will. (btw, i met Kylie Minogue in person and greeted her when I was on the job at the airport - she's a very nice lady)

Praise God as I also managed to clear my IPPT and did my personal best 2.4km timing since JC. It's a miracle as I think I'm rather out of shape. One of my goals in 2009 is to stay close to Jesus despite the circumstance and continue to keep the faith in Him like I did in 2008. All glory be to God!

Oops. I should also control my splurging on DVDs and CDs!!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
These Christian glam rockers sure can come up with a groovy metal number! Great gym workout song too!!

Blessed By A Broken Heart - Move Your Body

2008-12-19T23:45:00.002+08:00

Headbanging a health hazard?
Posted: 18 December 2008 1029 hrs
PARIS - WARNING: Headbanging to Metallica, Motorhead or Megadeth could be hazardous to your health.

So concludes the first-ever study, published Thursday, of the fin-de-siecle dance style in which afficionados of heavy metal jerk their heads up and down to a fast and furious beat.

Declan Patton and Andrew McIntosh at the School for Risk and Safety Sciences at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, attended hard rock and heavy metal concerts to observe headbanging techniques.

They then worked up a biomechanical analysis, culminating in a "theoretical headbanging model."

In their offbeat study, published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the pair say that thrashing about like an electro-shocked rabbit may cause similar effects to whiplash.

A typical death-metal rhythm of 146 beats-per-minute or faster, combined with head-banging arcs of at least 45 degrees, is "predicted to cause mild head and neck injury," they say.

With faster tempos and a wider arcs, "there are definite risks of mild traumatic brain injury."

Anecdotal evidence also points to the potential health hazards of thrash rock, the paper says.

"In 2005, doctors believed that Terry Balsamo, the guitarist from the band Evanescence, experienced a stroke from head banging," it notes.

So what can be done?

Metal fans could wear a neck brace while headbanging -- or stick to listening to Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Enya and Richard Clayderman, joke Patton and McIntosh.

To teens who still prefer Ultra Vomit to easy listening, the paper offers a practical example of what to avoid.

It applies the "theoretical headbanging model" to cartoon wunderkinder Beavis and Butt-head, dancing to The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" at 164 beats per minute.

The range of motion of Beavis' head is about 45 degrees, which is below the injury threshold.

For Butt-head, though, the prospects are not so great.

He headbangs with a range of motion of about 75 degrees, with the risk of "level one" head injuries -- headaches and dizziness. - AFP/rose

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
One of the more credible female-fronted metal bands to catch my attention (Maria Brink playing a big part...) Irresistable riffing as well as playing it on Rock Band simply made this song stand out! Watch the solo at the end!!

In this Moment - Forever

2008-11-28T22:35:00.002+08:00

My prayers go to Mumbai for such a sad and unexpected event. News like that has been hitting closer to heart as now my job entails travelling and working at places less safe than Singapore.

Life goes on, and so is my blog entry. Well, I just completed an intense 5-day certification course and did a 3-hour assessment paper today. Thank God for wisdom and strength. Last night was cool as I had a fruitful “unofficial” family L-cell as my mum’s leaders were all absent!

Last week, my training was solely based at Changi Airport. Although the coursework was a drag, I had a good vibe commuting to the airport, reporting for work and imagining myself doing so in the near future. (not disillusioned yet I guess…)

All glory be to God! I got my Class 3 driving license last Tuesday. Like how one of my colleagues aptly put it, I have gotten a big load off my chest!! I can now better concentrate on my training as one of my clauses in my employment contract is met! It was purely by God’s grace as I was 2 points away from getting a failure!!

2 weeks ago, I was involuntarily volunteered to compete in our company’s 5km road run. I hardly had the time to train and had the department’s hopes weighing on my team and I. I came in 2nd in my department and 18th overall! Thank God I didn’t collapse…

Can’t show much pics as my contract also had a internet clause which states that I’m not suppose to display or write openly about my company.

Realized that I wrote in flashback mode, liked that kinda movies (fight club anyone?). Oh, I wanted to go swimming on Wednesday. However, I brought everything except the most important thing – my swimming trunks!! Argh!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Does this song need further introduction? Poignant. Prophetic. Headbanging. Epic. Chilling. It shows the reality and cruelty of war. Make love, not war!

Metallica - One

2008-11-16T23:39:00.002+08:00

Now that i'm 2 months into my job, my work-life balance is more or less calibrated. During the weekends, i re-discovered that time is the greatest commodity (my maiden discovery was during my NS days i guess...). digressing, $$ still comes a second close as i realized that you can't do much without $$ even if u have loads of time!

Since I started work, my weekends are rather structured...
- Do house chores (bloody therapeutic for me)
- Go gym (equally tiring)
- Go church
- Watch soccer
- Play PS3/Read
- Watch DVDs!!
On this occasion, i find myself wanting to blog to update my loyal readers. In a nutshell, I am enjoying my weekends too! Learn to live life and not let the life leave u. Well, i'm still in jitters as my class 3 driving test is on Tuesday! God bless me and I hope I dun disappoint everyone!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This gut-bursting number from Atreyu, (i'm still fuming that they din come to Singapore) contained a potent mix of elements from death, metalcore and punk! this song is testament to their emergence from yesterday's underground upstarts to today's big label success!!

Atreyu - Ain't Love Grand

2008-10-30T21:41:00.002+08:00

I think I'm extremely blessed to be able to look forward to work each day, as not a lot of folks out there can do the same. Ok, I'm only 1.5 months into my training (at least 6-8 more months to go) but everyday is very fruitful as I'm learning new stuff and looking at things in new or different perspectives. Mind you, looking at the current economic outlook, it's a miracle I'm employed!!!

What I'm doing is completely different from whatever I've been studying (materials engr) or doing (journalism). The airline industry is somewhat glamourised but it still entails the very pressures and workload that plague many other professionals today. I'm required to attend a plethora courses each week, having to take assessment tests and qualify for certification for various licenses. To think that current managers and superiors are saying that the 9-month training is just the tip of the iceberg is both exciting yet scary. Ok, the perks are attractive and worth all the hard work I have to go thru. The opportunity to work somewhere else and meet people of diverse cultures and nationalities is really interesting.

As this is an overseas posting job (yes, I won't be calling Singapore my home after CNY 2009), there's endless speculation on where we might end up and also possible hassles we have to go thru. I just commit my overseas posting to God and continue to believe in faith that everything happens for a purpose. My heart's prayer now is to be able to comprehend everything and acquire as much knowledge as I can. Also, I wanna get my Class 3 driving license this Nov.

Rayzor's ROCK-amendation:
A great single armed with chugging riffs, melodic chords and a fist pumping rhythm from Sonic Syndicate, a death metalcore band that emerged winners from a band contest in Europe. The vid has little link to the song but proves not only hip hop vids can be sexy. It's either an aural or visual pleasure. Or both!

Sonic Syndicate - Jack Of Diamonds

2008-10-20T23:52:00.002+08:00

Just completed a 5-day training programme at Outward Bound Singapore at Pulau Ubin! It was a great time of bonding with fellow colleagues and a great personal retreat for myself. I learnt more about myself as I did about others. This course was really fruitful and fun-filled despite the physical nature and the simplicity of the amenities on the island. I did rock wall climbing, rafting, camping, kayaking, jetty jumping and even rope confidence! All these just reminded myself of how active I was during my JC days! Still recovering from sand fly bites tho'...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Another stellar offering from American young metallers Trivium. Their new album is a great alchemy both their melodic and aggressive efforts, which transformed into yet another epic piece of work. Raise your fists to this!

TRIVIUM - DOWN FROM THE SKY (SHOGUN 将軍)

2008-09-28T18:22:00.002+08:00

Jesus is simply awesome and amazing. I have started work at SIA and I am truly grateful for this God-given opportunity. Some profess that grace is receiving something that you don’t deserve and I must say I have a lot of it. The initial training phase will take about 9 months, and right now I’m enjoying every minute of it. Never mind the stressful information overload as well as the mentally draining lessons I have to go through each day, and not forgetting several nerve-wrecking assessments I’m required to ace (fyi: 90%)! But I have great colleagues, accommodating superiors and a wonderful environment to work in to thank God for!! I can only wonder in awe and testify of His goodness and greatness in good times and bad (read earlier posts)!!! What a great way to fly (under His wings that is…)!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Taking a step back in time, not a very large one, this quirky piece of indie garage rock never fails to brighten up my day and look forward to putting my dancing shoes on. Have a great week ahead peeps!!
Hot Hot Heat - Bandages

2008-09-10T21:26:00.002+08:00

Anticipated a long trip on the MRT,
organized my favourites on my iPod,
looking forward to shut myself from the other peak hour commuters,
switched on my iPod,
"LOW BATT", A#@$!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Slipknot's new album is superb. Impeccable vocals from Corey, Joey at his drumwork zenith, Jim, Shawn and the rest playing like it was their last time on earth, I'm just putting this album on repeat!! Their signature style is best summed up by this number, enjoy ya' maggots!!!

Slipknot - Psychosocial

2008-08-30T19:07:00.002+08:00

My life has been unfolding like a Ch8 soap series. Exciting ups were interspersed with moments of depressing downs. Right now, things took a dramatic turn when I received news that I can start my new job in Sept! Will be hanging out in the east after a near 10-year hiatus since my secondary school days!!

Thank God and this journey of faith is nothing short of amazing:
- More than 20 resumes sent, but only 4 companies replied
- largely due to my not-so-gd degree, stiff competition from everywhere
- gone thru 5 rounds of tests and interviews for this job
- received offer but can't start work immediately due to not having driver's license
- faced uncertainty of getting this job
- pressure to get a driver's license
- feeling the pinch on my and my parents' pocket

However, God is ever so faithful to rewrite the script and i'm still reeling from the pleasnt twist in the tale. Still there's more challenges ahead, but the lessons learnt so far can only make me stronger! It's not only a great way to fly but also the way to fly great!!! (tongue firmly in cheek...)

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This indie rock band caught my attention first when they were signed to a famous metal label, and it proved to be a wise decision as these guys as as catchy as hell! Making big waves in the UK, their uplifting and rock-alicious number will even please some metalheads like me.

Kids In Glass Houses - Give Me What I Want

2008-08-21T14:12:00.002+08:00

I have started to play a miniscule part in contributing to lower Singapore's GDP since May. But I dun give a damn abt that, heck societal patterns! Before u readers began to think I'm happily sipping vodka and just conjuring blog ideas, the answer is Hell NO! I've been fruitfully occupied at home doing house chores, babysitting my yr-old nephew on weekdays, attending driving lessons, catching up with friends and working out!! I'm also looking for part time jobs and u know wat to do right? HAha...

Thank God also for passing my Basic Theory Test today!!!

Rayzor's Rcok-amendation:
Thought it was a crap song till I tried playing it on Rock Band. This pulsating number is so heavy it will make Linkin Park sound like the Bee Gees! Also, the superb video is strangely disturbing...

Devildriver - Clouds Over California

2008-07-31T21:52:00.011+08:00

Attended my convocation last Friday and it was a rather tepid affair as I was much less emotionally charged than most of my peers. The ceremony was as entertaining as watching my gothic nail polish dry and it probably made me do what I did. Unlike the thousands of graduands who "pose" for their stage photo, I did something which no one had the balls/guts to do - by giving the metal horns! Hell yeah!! At least my photo is different from everyone else, though it did drew some gasps and laughter when I did it. My mum is not very proud... See for yourself!!

Missing: Both my sisters, Angelia and Pauline, I won't forget you!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony was played on my dad's taxi on my way for the event, how apt! But this weekend's Singfest 08, last year's one rocked my socks off literally and so I expect this Saturday to make my money worth!! This is just one of the bands I'm dying to watch and seeya at Fort Canning Park!!!

New Found Glory - My Friends Over You

2008-07-21T20:50:00.002+08:00

"I didn't believe in luck or fate or chance or the position of the stars or even in coincidence. I believed in the purposes of God and in His perfect timing."- Mary Forsythe in her book, A Glimpse of Grace

It truly summed up the events that ensued since I finished my studies, to my moving house, job hunt and eventually landing a job offer. Yes, thank God, thanks to everybody who supported and encouraged me, I got a job offer! However, my initial euphoria was shortlived as I need to get a driving licsence to start my training with SIA. But I'm gonna continue to trust God and believe that everything happens for a purpose, His purpose.

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
From the quote of a woman of God, I shall recommend a new found woman of rock! Anna Tsuchiya hails from the land of the rising sun and she simply rocks!! Not since the days of Aikawa Nanase did I tune in the J-rock spectrum of music. She shot to fame with NANA's movie soundtrack and has impressed me with her music, voice and looks!!!

Anna Tsuchiya - Rose

2008-06-29T16:29:00.002+08:00

Exodus, yes, that's what I've been experiencing for the past few weeks. Kudos to Moses and Co. for enduring 40 years. As for me, it's been a rollercoaster ride for me and my family. Here's a simple guide for house-moving noobs out there (Actually, it just sums up what I've gone thru thus far!)

Phase One: Planning renovation of new house's stuff
Phase Two: Planning removal of old house's stuff
Phase Three: Packing of stuff
Phase Four: Getting rid of useless/rotting stuff whilst packing
Phase Five: Seeing new house renovations gone acc to plan
Phase Six: Moving of useful stuff from old house to new one
Phase Seven: Clearing of old house to return to HDB
Phase Eight: Unprepared for cock ups
Phase Nine: Rectifying cock ups
Phase Ten: Praying against spirits of old house and praying for God' presence in new one
~~Phase~~ God, please don't give us more stuff to attend to right now.

Basically, it's been a long story. Very stressed as I'm like the overseer of EVERYTHING since my father, bro and sis are very busy with work/ministry. Well, it's left to my mum and me to settle every thing including the kitchen sink (yes, literally). What I faced were tonnes of dust, for real! I sometimes feel like a vacuum cleaner that doesn't suck. Amidst all these, many things like spiritual oppression and attacks happened. Really no time to talk about the phases in detail yet, but it is a pain in the ass moving. Little wonder the people in the wilderness wanted to turn back! But I claim in faith that my new house is the land of milk and ~~money~~ honey... Amen!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Talking about all the hassles, waste and thrash; here's an awesome track by young metalheads Municipal Waste. They play old-school thrash metal like seasoned pros and rock like the 80s!! They are so good you want to sip your Kickapoo!!!

Municipal Waste - Sadistic Magician

2008-06-10T21:37:00.003+08:00

My final exam results were finally released last thursday and it was a bittersweet swansong to my NTU days. Bitter cos I was a bit disappointed that I got a 2nd Class Lower Honours. As I have taken too much for granted and overconfidence/complacency got the better of me, I thought I deserved another classification.

However, I soon began to wake up from my own haughty posture and turned to one that was thankful as visions of my humble beginnings where I had to pray harder than I study to avoid the infamous "tabao" plague, moments when I rejoice at even a 'D' ~~cup~~ grade and my not-so-glorious Yr 1 results where 'D's populated my transcript like termites on damp wood.

Come to think of it, where I am today is nothing short of a miracle. Thank You, Jesus! Thank you, Mom & Dad, Angelia, Rodger & Pauline! Thank you, every carecell member whom I've aquainted with and prayed for me! Thank You, friends in NTU whom I've attended lecture/tutorial/lab/electives/minor with! Thank You, profs and supervisors who impacted my life and broadened my knowledge! F#@k you, profs who killed my passion for some subjects or gave me shitty grades!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This angst-filled number by (IMHO, the world's most talented metallers) In Flames, pretty much sums up my uni days. Days where the strongest survive while the weak eat shit and die. Haha... I have to admit I one of the weak ones, but in my own weakness, I found strength from my Lord and my loved ones. So friends, u can choose to stay bitter or get better. Rock on...

In Flames - Only For The Weak

2008-06-02T16:31:00.007+08:00

Dear NTU student,
We refer to your recent application, we regret to inform you that you have not been short listed for an interview. However, we are pleased to have your resume in our file for future reference. We would like to thank you for your interest and wish you success in your future endeavour.

This has been the story of my job-hunting so far - numerous rejections. Yes, my ego was bruised, my confidence shattered and my faith wavered. Although the battle is lost, the war is definitely not. I will persevere!

Managed to find a gem of a joke (no offence) amidst my job-hunt online. World's most demanding job? Be sure I won't apply for it! Haha...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Loved the lyrics in this melodic hardcore number by James & Co. from Hatebreed. "If u don't live for something, you die for nothing!!" Hell yeah!!!
Hatebreed - Live For This

2008-05-23T00:17:00.001+08:00

Haha… Anyway I’ve been actively job hunting but the replies are few and far between. My ego certainly took a knock and I began to feel the pressure creeping up on me to get employed real quickly. Suffice to say, I’m disappointed, frustrated and a wee bit demoralized. Nevertheless, I thank God for His timely reminder, thru His Word and the people He put in my life (family and friends) to speak to me. Now, I find comfort in His promises and gotta train my own patience to wait upon Him for the right one (job I mean…)

I’ve been enjoying my time at home nonetheless, every bit of it. I dictate my own wake-up time, re-plan my gym schedule, playing with my baby nephew, overlooking the renovation works of my new home, do many things like listening to newly bought CDs, reading and watching my favourite movies and TV shows! It is, after all, my first and only official holidays! Just hope that it doesn’t go into extra time ya?

Rayzor’s Rock-amendation:
Hell yeah! Been brought back to my earlier uni years with this heavy emo song. Simply loved the lyrics and the headbanging vibe that follows!

Story Of The Year – Until The Day I Die

2008-05-10T17:09:00.002+08:00

Thank God the NTU chapter of my life has closed. I’m done with my exams (two papers only!), my FYP report and presentation and celebrated my faculty’s grad nite!

For my exams, I wanna thank God for all the strength He provided me during the month of April to concentrate and recover from FYP for the two papers I had. It might be the least I had taken in my entire NTU career, but it was the toughest to focus. It was more of a curse than a blessing as I could not concentrate on studying and also felt pressured to perform since there is so little load. But in the end, I pulled thru and hopefully give God all the glory come June.

For my FYP presentation, it was another miraculous testimony. I was all prepared on Monday for my FYP and arrived half an hour earlier to psych myself. Lo and behold, I did not bring my laptop as I took for granted there would be one in the tutorial room. I then began my frantic laptop search and amazingly found a friend who I hardly know and managed to lend me the laptop! The nightmare doesn’t end there and more stuff ensued. My laptop cannot be connected to a power point as the plug did not fit, my laser pointer malfunctioned, and the examiner was waiting on me! Not to mentioned, I also lost my confidence, my train of thought and drenched in perspiration… By the awesome grace of God, I pulled thru and just hoped for the best.

Grad nite was quite an emo affair and this brought a closure, not a good one for some reasons, to my student life. Now I’m sending out resumes, going for a couple of interviews, arranging my new house renovations work, packing to prepare to move to my new house as well as doing a lot of things to relax like a real holiday!

Rayzor’s Rock-amendation:
This is a cover done by New Found Glory, one of my favourite pop-punk bands and they are doing a nice number made famous by Sixpence None The Richer (where r they now?!). Rock on!!!
New Found Glory – Kiss Me

2008-04-18T13:48:00.002+08:00

EXAMS, as it seems, does crazy stuff to people. Saw this ridiculous vid at the recommendation of someone and i was hit by a wave of emotions - shocked, amazed, amused and of course "entertained"

Japanese man peels banana

Keep me in prayer, as I'm struggling with studying for my papers!! But be assured i won't eat another banana split during this time!!!

2008-04-03T20:26:00.006+08:00

Today is a special day because it (un)officially marks the end of my NTU student life I attended my last lecture, tutorial and took my last quiz ever! Yeah, getting kinda emo here as four years passed by so fast. Still remember the day I came to school as a blur ah beng, dunno how to read map, and took for granted everyone knows singlish. It's been an amazing journey ever since and I really thank God for every blessing, every trial and every day I set foot into NTU. A blog entry can never do my gratitude justice and thus I'm open to share more whenever u and I meet ya. Finally, if someone would have come up to me exactly five years ago and told me everything till today will happen, I would have called IMH to nab that person!

I've never put a church event notice on my blog, but i'm gonna put it now! Not that I'm a holy wannabe, but I pretty excited about the church's latest preaching series. There's just something so metal about it that it sparked my interest and boy was I impressed by the first one last weekend. Wanna war? Get your swords and battle cries ready!! (For Christ that is...)

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
In line with the battle theme, I'm introducing an awesome band called Hammerfall and they hail from Gothenburg, Sweden (how more metal can they be?) and are truly meisters of the Power Metal genre. Hear me no wrong, yes, they play power metal. (A sub-genre of metal that plays anthemic battle-themed, war-prepping hymns, tinged with both classic rock and thrash metal) Still no idea? Just press <>...

Hammerfall - Hearts On Fire

2008-03-24T23:33:00.002+08:00

Finally, today marks a closure to my FYP report as it was the final submission date, although there's still an oral presentation after the finals. Today started for me at the stroke of 12 midnight as I made the last ditch efforts to refine my report. Anyway, the demise of Arsenal on TV did not make that any easier and I got stuck formatting the report. I wwas at wits end and could do nothing to my report format, so I uttered a prayer and tried to sleep "early" (read: 3am) and start working on it asap in the morning. I was tossing in bed (alone) and could not get the rest desired, then God spoke to me on how to format my document!! Although the spirit is willing, the body was damn weak (my laptop also, i think). So I managed to sleep peacefully almost immediately and woke up in a coupl of hours' time to wrap the stuff up!

My life isn't all about FYP mind you, even if it really took a lot of my "me" time. Haven't been blogging as I'm bogged down a lot of stuff and I wanted to update readers what happened in this month so far!

- Went to watch my teenhood idols, Incubus, in action as they perfomed at Fort Canning Park.
- Completed CCLT! Finally got over and done with it...
- Was utterly blessed as my younger sis gave my a brand new PSP slim! Life on the MRT has never been the same EVER!!!
- Managed to get my first CCA points in NTU via Nanyang Chronicle
- Got to babysit my baby nephew a couple of times, and my affinity for this adorable boy can only increase.
- My family finally got the keys to our new flat, and things can only get busier and messier as the move approaches.
- Realized I dated a psychotic girl!
- Had weird and very real dreams lately (stress perhaps?!)
- Highly recommends J.Co Donuts
- Need to catch up on my magazines, DVDs and CDs!!! So i gotta roll now...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This is a really old pop-rock song from my JC days and its by an Asian artist! He's a malaysian solo artist, opened for Good Charlotte concert before but has now gone into obscurity i think. Catchy and anthemic, it still managed to get my body grooving to it now.

Lo - Evening News

2008-03-01T22:41:00.003+08:00

Praise God! Cos I am putting my final touches to my FYP first draft. Miraculous as it sounds, but I completed it in exactly 10 days! All glory be to God, as I know, and you know that it is implausible to generate nearly a year's worth of lab work into 50 pages in such a short amount of time. With my level of competence, it equates to impossible. But with Jesus, all things are possible! Now I need to get back to my notes as I got a test once sch starts again. Oh, did I even mention this week was my last official sch holidays?!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Demon Hunter is a Christian metalcore band from Seattle, Washington, started by brothers Don and Ryan Clark. Demon Hunter's members are Christian and express their faith in most of their songs. To me, the band sound like the illegitimate child of Slayer and Korn.

Demon Hunter has many musical influences including Pantera, Sepultura, Machine Head, Living Sacrifice and more. These influences are evident in the more aggressive, traditional metal instrumental and vocal parts of their music. Like Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, Demon Hunter incorporates melody and hard rock into their metalcore.

I recently bought their latest offering, Storm The Gates Of Hell, and whoa it must really give the devil shivers down the spine!! The follwing track is one of their earlier works but it posesses so much raw power it will rawk even non-believers off their feet!

Demon Hunter - Not Ready To Die

2008-02-22T22:37:00.002+08:00

Been slogging on my FYP report since Sunday and boy it's been FYP, FYP and more FYP. It's as if my other modules vaporized from the face of the earth. Anyway, I thank God for the wisdom He gave me so far, but I'm blaming myself for procrastinating for so long. Now it's time to reap what I sow and back to my Data And Results section!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This amazing track from American melodic death metallers, Shadows Fall, ranks as high as those war-themed melodic hits by Metallica. More melodic than metal, it will sure serve as a stark reminder of the ongoing wars around the world. But wars are inevitable eh?

Shadows Fall - Another Hero Lost

2008-02-14T18:43:00.002+08:00

It's been awhile huh? Again!

Really caught up with many things these past two weeks and only managed to take a surprising breather today of all days! Here's a belated Happy Chinese New Year and a lovely Valentine's Day too!!

FYP, FYP, FYP, it seems to be the flavour of the week, or shall I say of the month! My submission deadline is fast approaching and I am frantically trying to conjure something CONvincing for my report. Will continue to trust God and seek God even in the midst of busy-ness!

CNY came lightning quick and went even faster than before I can really say "Gong Xi F.." Good time of rest and catching up with ppl ard me. Watch CJ7 and Ah Long movies too! Really blessed!!!

Thank God for sustaining my health too as I came out of all the festive gluttony relatively unscathed. But I have to upkeep the temple by working extra at the gym these couple of weeks! A visit to NUH this week was a stark reminder that Health IS Wealth!!!

And thank God for bringing me thru today's bummer quiz on V-day. On this day where almost everyone is in the mood for love, guess the ones who were the happiest were those on their way to the banks after milking the V-day gift-buying madness cash cow! A bit irritated in sch (besides the quiz) when i was asked whether i'm going on a date after sch. Problem is not the question they asked, but the answer i gave did not sound genuine, so I got a bunch of teasing/probing from my friends! The aforementioned took place more than 5 times, with different friends I came across!! Argh...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Just enjoy this rockin' tune and the funny vid! Restraining myself to get emo with love ballad vids for today! Haha...

Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs

2008-02-03T00:00:00.001+08:00

It's been an eventful two weeks but I did not have either the time or energy to blog it down. Was struck down with food poisoning more than 10 days ago. I had cold shivers at night, a fever and countless trips to the toilet during the day. On top of that, I forced myself to school as I had lessons and fyp going on. I self medicated and thank God for the healing in time as I got an interview coming up.

Last Sunday was the walk-in interview for SIA flight attendants and after some contemplation, I decided to go for it - along with another enthusiastic friend from church cell group. We went at about 9am, the time stated that it will start, but was stunned at the snaking long queue at Sheraton Towers hotel. It was like Singapore Idol!! The wait for the selection process was so long it almost numbed my body and mind. To cut the long story short, I made it pass the first round but crumbled at the subsequent one! Overall, it was an enriching experience, learning how to cope with nerves and get a preview of more interviews ahead! It took me 3 hrs to wait and go thru 2 rounds of the interview!! I also started my CCLT last sunday!!

This week was mainly worrying about fyp and the pressure to start typing the report proper is mounting! Admidst that busyness, the NTU career fair was held over two days and I had to go take a look and hopefully get to apply for one or two companies as peer pressure sets in. Will not give much details of the event as I will be typing an article for Nanyang chronicle, so stay tune for that report next issue! Anyway, I got to submit 2 resumes and will apply for a couple more via online. The best part was that I won the 3rd prize in the lucky draw!! One of my friends told me I won the previous day and I thought it was just a voucher or something, but it turned out to be a Panasonic FX Lumix digicam!!! Truly blessed! Thank you Jesus!!!

Looking forward to progress with my fyp and also CNY!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Just wanna post this long forgotten brit-rock band, Hundred Reasons, who got me into that whole post hardcore genre. They still rock but not as much as when they first hit the scene. Relive their glorious past with this one!

Hundred Reasons - I'll Find You

2008-01-16T23:04:00.000+08:00

School has officially started for almost 2 weeks. Gosh! Everything is zipping by so fast that I hardly have time to blog. Ok, i must confess i'm blessed this sem with a lighter timetable and a manageable FYP. I'm still taking a lot of things for granted and really guilty for that! So, I'm gonna settle down and be more focus for the tasks at hand. Got to make new friends despite being in my final yr and also got lost searching for a particular classroom for one of my lessons. Darn!

Apart from sch, lotsa things are happening in my life too! New challenges, new plans, new hopes and new lessons to be learnt!! I'm both excited and apprehensive for that tho'. I pray that God will see me thru every moment of my 2008!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Gotta get fired up for the new sem huh? Here's the solution all the way from another Welsh band, another one with a long name, Bullet For My Valentine that is! This is a very old track but it's the one that got me sold to them! Haha... Fantastic vid to go along with the irresistable riffs!! Look out for their new album out end of this month!!

Bullet For My Valentine - Hand Of Blood

2008-01-03T20:53:00.000+08:00

Oh, how could I forget to do it in 2007?!!! To redeem myself, I gotta begin my first post in 2008 by thanking and praising God for my exam results! No, dun assume that I’m on the dean’s list or did fantastically well ya. I just managed to clear all my tough-ass modules in what has been my most difficult semester in NTU (I really really hope it is…)!

Difficult is still an understatement if u see the list of challenges I face this semester:
- Came back to NTU after a year of slacking (1 sem IA, 1 sem in USA)
- Adapting to NTU’s schedule again
- Temptation to skip sch as my days are quite light and lectures are all recorded
- Year 4 is damn competitive, everyone seems to attend lectures and do tutorials
- FYP, ‘nuff said
- Recurrence of my scalp skin condition, disappearance of my ego
- Falling sick for a record number of times this semester
- Evangelistic soccer bridging event that took 3 months of planning and executing
- Cell and its changes
On top of those, I still have spiritual, mental and emotional battles to face throughout the period.

For one of my papers, it was a one-hour paper with two 25-marks questions. I suffered a mini panick-attack as I can’t seem to recall a derivation. This carried one for almost half an hour and it was only part of the first question! In the end, I only had less than 10 minutes for the second one and it is indeed a miracle I passed!! Amen!!!
Another is a killer paper where I would be satisfied with a D, as most people who took it got borderline results, but what I got was beyond belief!! Thank God!!!
Oh, did I remember to say the above-mentioned papers were one after the other in the space of 24 hours?
Sure, my results can’t be compared to a lot of people and my papers are shamefully less difficult than a lot of my peers from other faculties. But without Jesus, what is on my degree audit will never ever materialized (Sharp if u spot the pun, haha)! Really grateful for His grace, mercy and favour all this while! I hope to experience even more of it for the coming semester and do my very best for Him even as I know He has the best for me.

Rayzor’s Rock-amendation:
Was so excited when I read in Kerrang! (a British rock mag) that FFAF mentioned Singapore & Thailand as the most memorable places that they have played at this year!! Well, I was there when they played at Far East Square in September!!! Rawk-a-licious track...
Funeral For A Friend – Great Wide Open

2007-12-31T23:45:00.001+08:00

What an eventful year 2007 has been for me and I truly thank God for everything (good & bad) that has happened. I'm a firm believer of "things happen for a purpose" and that every happening has its lesson to be learnt. Learn and boy did I learn so much in this past year, from friendships to relationships, from family to my spiritual family in church, I've still got so much I need to know! If I go on to reflect on 2007, I think one post is enuff. Guess my dear readers have to scroll back to all the entries I has in 2007 then...

Wondering why I'm able to blog with barely minutes before the countdown to year 2008? Well, I kinda have worked hard (for exams & FYP); but played harder (B'dae, X'mas, KL & Bangkok trips), and it all accumulated to my bout of bad cough/flu/fever. So I gotta stay home alone tonight of all nights and rest! Rest is so important as school starts in less than a week's time and it is officially my last sem in NTU! YEah!! It's just plain amazing how I was still on the plane this time last year for the experience of my life! Wow...

With so many things to look forward to and do in 2008, I could only anticipate with bated breath for only God knows what will happen! Apprehensively excited, if u know what i mean... Should stop now as 2007 draws to a close. See y'all next year!! Blessed 2008!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Yeah, know what u r thinkin', but i'm getting real emo nowadays (Finding Emo anyone??). This is a great piece of love metal to rawk out to!! Love y'all!!!
Madina Lake - One Last Kiss

2007-12-24T20:31:00.000+08:00

Just recovered from being a bit of bus-lag. Yeah, u read me right, bus-lag. Cos I went on a "pre-grad" trip to Genting/Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia with my NTU MSE faculty mates from wed to sat this week. On the surface, it may seem rather premature to go on such a trip to enjoy, but I see it as a time to relax and chill with my friends; to take our minds off FYP for a while!

The trip was punctured with jokes, more lame jokes, quality time catching up and there was not a moment talking about FYP/school!! Thank God for the safe coach trip and a few nice bargains I managed to get!!! We went to see the reason why s'pore is building the Singapore Flyer and the IRs, visited the Twin Towers and ate like kings throughout the trip!

Since one of our friends is on the accelerated honours program, it's also an appropriate opportunity to bade farewell as he graduates. The last picture says it all: "Time to leave vacation mode and return to reality!!!" Now back to celebrating Christmas and New Year and hit the books...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
In this season of giving and loving, it's time to take a nice rock ballad to share with all. Nice feelgood song that always prompts an impromptu sing-a-long!

Mr. Big - To Be With You

2007-12-17T22:44:00.000+08:00

Thank God for the successful laser op for my mum's left eye today! Was occupied with FYP and did not manage to accompany her, but thanks to my elder sis and bro, she was in good support. She came home in the late afternoon and looked rather fresh despite the amount of medication she was administered and the somewhat torturous medical procedure. She took a nap and was up and running after dinner! Amen. Praise God!! She still needs to apply eye drops and take some medication to stabilize her condition this couple of days tho'. Pray that she will experience a speedy recovery and her glaucoma condition to improve multifold. Thanks and appreciate all prayers guys!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Miraculously found this vid on the net. It's my fave worship song covered by hard rockers, Kutless! The words simply expressed everything I feel and God's presence & love is truly awesome. Rawk on with Jesus and let your heart cry out to Him even during your darkest moments!!

Kutless - Better Is One Day (live from Portland)

2007-12-15T00:56:00.000+08:00

Lotsa things happened since my last post, wanted to blog more but always seemed to run low on energy whenever i stood in front of my laptop screen. Here's a quick one to round up my week so far!

9th Dec
After my last post, I witnessed Arsenal's first EPL defeat at the hands of a resurgent Boro side. Not long after the final whistle, I turned 24. The thought of missing church camp bothered me still...

10th Dec
Woke up and DARN - need to go to school to do FYP... on my freaking birthday some more! Broke needle and glass bottle in the process... Haha! Wished for something to happen, but it did not materialize. Extremely touched by countless smses and a couple of Facebook messages wishing me "Happy Birthday"! Went out for late dinner at an excellent place called Westlake Restaurant!! Simply fantastic!!!

11th Dec
Received belated b'dae smses and was psyched up for my sponsored My Chemical Romance concert later. Really touched by my sister for blessing me with awesome MCR swag! Unforgettable!! Got an sms after midnight for a surprise lunch date the next day, can't sleep due to heavy supper after MCR gig.

12th Dec
Sucky morning doing FYP, everything screwed up, I sweared and cussed... But I had a nice lunch date.

13th Dec
Spent half a day at clinic accompanying my mum for her field test for her eyes. She decided to opt for laser surgery and I gotta fully support her thru this time. Went to L cell at night and it was a fun and fruitful time.

14th Dec
Did FYP, went gym and had a great time at the Young Adult Christmas Party in church. Catching up with friends, great food and exciting activities made it a memorable party.

Rayzor's Rock-mendation:
Wanted to post some angsty song but decided to lift up the mood (caused by the lousy weather these few days ya) by posting a more uplifting one instead. This number is quite an old one, but it always manage to give my spirits a little lift. Video clip might be a bit too sexy for some... haha!

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

2007-12-09T11:39:00.000+08:00

Haha… how ironic life can be - even in blogosphere itself! I’ve always been a cynical mocker of bloggers who do a sloppy job of slapping in a song with its lyrics for an entry. Never has it hit me that I would be one today! Well, a lot has been happening this year for myself, guess the whole story can be at least one long post… But one of my favourite songs by Papa Roach, really struck a chord in me when I happened to put my iTunes on shuffle. I dunno if the message is universal, but it sure is one helluva rock ballad! (Note: I've posted the vid last year, but i still have to do it one more time!)

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:

Papa Roach - Scars
I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And my scars remind me that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

Drunk and I'm feeling down
And I just wanna be alone
I'm pissed cause you came around
Why don't you just go home
Cause you channel all your pain
And I can't help you fix yourself
You're making me insane
All I can say is

[Chorus:]
I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

I tried to help you once
Against my own advice
I saw you going down
But you never realized
That you're drowning in the water
So I offered you my hand
Compassions in my nature
Tonight is our last stand

[Chorus]

I'm drunk and I'm feeling down
And I just wanna be alone
You shouldn't ever come around
Why don't you just go home?
Cause you're drowning in the water
And I tried to grab your hand
And I left my heart open
But you didn't understand
But you didn't understand
Go fix yourself

I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life
I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

[Chorus x2]

*I confess i'm getting real emo lately... so emo i'm going for the My Chemical Romance gig!!!*

2007-11-29T21:31:00.000+08:00

It's over! Finally, my toughest semester (not in a way you would imagine) has come to a full circle. Exams hasn't really been smooth and the abundance of time was not necessarily a blessing. Whatever it is, I trust God to do the rest as I did my best already. Watch this space for an amzing testimony when the results are out!

But this coming December holidays isn't a real break as I have go to school every other day for my FYP! It is also filled with church, friends, home and more school! It is however the last official break and I really wanna cherish it and make sure it is a fruitful one.

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Not exactly the latest song in town, but the title and message is a timely one for such a time as this. This song may be created even before I was born, but it still rawks like no other! Enjoy this "oldie"!!!

Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin'

2007-11-17T13:53:00.000+08:00

Was blessed with a free VIP ticket as Pauline's colleague could not make it for the Linkin Park concert. I went despite the exams kicking off the next day. It was a great 2 hours (not the add. one hour of waiting tho'...) It was an awesome gig and re-ignited the reason why i dig them so much back in the days! But both my sis and i suffered stiff shoulders and sprained necks for a couple of days!! (Worth it tho' :P)

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Some pics and a vid for all rockers out there!!!

2007-11-07T23:06:00.000+08:00

FYP: Final Year Project or Find Your Partner???

Even as I’m drowned in the torrent of deadlines, quizzes, ministry work and the impending exams, it never fails to amaze me when I thought of the uncanny similarities between both FYPs. The line between both has been blurred! Freaky!!!

Here’s why:
· You have to go through many searches when you embark on finding one.
· You may face rejection on potential ones.
· ~~Some~~ ~~Most~~ Almost all good ones are already taken.
· You never know when it starts.
· When you realized it, you begin contemplating if it is the one for you.
· You have to first familiarize with it, how it works, and correct techniques to be used.
· Learning how to communicate with it.
· Things get less confusing as time goes by.
· But at the same time, other things may seem more complex than it seems.
· You kept thinking of the endless possibilities.
· You begin to calculate every step taken, bearing in mind consequences.
· Things get exciting and interesting as you engage in it.
· You begin set a “timetable” to plan to invest time with it.
· Then monotony begins to set in after some time.
· Maintenance ~~blah, blah, blah~~ needed and it starts to become tedious work.
· Have to face it even when you don’t feel like it.
· Machine may begin to throw tantrums, faults are evident and give freak results.

To be continued...

Rayzor’s Rock-amendation:
Wow man wow. The new self-titled AX7 album rocks! Slab after slab of catchy melodic metal tunes tore thru' my iPod and it's been on repeat for the past few days! Good job guys! For those who like they rock groovy and metal ass-kickin', go get it! Here's the lead single off that amazing album... Rock on!

Avenged Sevenfold – Almost Easy

2007-10-24T23:44:00.000+08:00

Gonna headbang till there's no tmr again this Friday! Relieve some overdue stress and see one of the greatest thrash metal band to play on earth!!! 'Nuff said & just watch this space...

2007-10-11T23:00:00.000+08:00

No quizzes, no assignments, no project deadlines and no presentations this week BUT i am drained and exhausted as my week comes to its timely halt once again. It's my FYP that took so much time and sapped so much of my energy this week... For the uninitiated, my Final Year Project is on the In vitro Degradation of biodegradable polymer films. This is the second consecutive night I spent in my laboratory preparing the samples for the project - 360 in all in separate 10ml bottles! But I thank God for a helpful mentor, great FYP mate and a friendly lab tech who made my progress smoother. When there seems to be no way, God provided a door! Made a few screw ups but managed to salvage something (i hope...) by the grace of God! I am zombified right now!! Talking about zombies, I caught the sneak preview of Resident Evil Extinction last friday and it rocked (for most parts at least!) Talking about rock, i'm gonna catch my favourite Asian rocker, Zhang Zhen Yue, tmr in NTU for his campus concert!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
For disco fans out there, the tune for this kickass track is borrowed from one of Boney M's greatest hits, Rasputin. The boys, Turisas, who did this amazing and nostalgic cover hail from Scandanvia and they are reowned in the metal scene for their brand of folk metal! Hell yeah!! U may ask "Wat the folk?", listen and u'll find the answer...

Turisas - Rasputin

2007-10-07T23:45:00.000+08:00

Really amazed by the blessings that I've been enjoying thus far, cos I haven't been the most well-behaved choir boy (metaphorical cosi can't sing for nuts). Haha... got thru a presentation almost flawlessly despite having a sore throat, knowing more of my life's purpose and more valuable lessons learnt thru what i experienced these few days! I am really guilty now and I am resolving to becoming a more disciplined guy now!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Here's the new song from one of my fave female-fronted metal bands - Nightwish! Although their former lead singer (Tarja) is gone, the new one (Anette) isn't doing too bad either! The power riffs and thumping beats remain, so they still rock!! By the way, by shear freaking coincidence, the title of the song is the name of the company I am currently doing my project for!!!

Nightwish - Amaranth

2007-10-03T21:32:00.000+08:00

Instead of gripping how stressful life is, I chose to give thanks to God for what happened for the past 8 days. Besides the allergy episode, I had to cope with meeting assignment deadlines, project work, preparing presentations, FYP progress, studying for a tough-ass CA and my upcoming soccer event (btw, check it out @ adelphoscup.blogspot.com)! Despite being a zombie, oh yes, managed to catch Grindhouse: Planet Terror and it was a gorefest blast! Sorry for the digression, I managed to plough through every bit of task by His Strength! Right now, although it is not really the calm after the storm, I can at least rest a bit more. Thank You Jesus! Thanks for the lesson on Integrity too!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Bought the latest release by my long-time favourite band, the Foo Fighters and I must say they sound as good as new! "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" is a more-than-satisfactory effort and I would recommend it any self-proclaimed rock fan without hesitation! Instead of introducing their newest single, I decided to travel back in time to visit their entire back catalogue and savor their finest moments! Gues I gotta share one with y'all...

Foo Fighters - Everlong

2007-09-25T23:00:00.000+08:00

Thank God I’m alive! I survived and live to tell the tale of my close brush with death…

Today was a hectic day, waking up at 7am and then accompanying my parents to HDB Hub at Toa Payoh to select our new flat, as our current one is en-bloc. This is followed by a breakfast with my mum before heading to NTU to see to my FYP stuff and do some project research. I had prawn noodles for lunch at NIE at about 1.30pm and headed to town for a much needed gym session.

I did my usual weights routine and a run on the treadmill. Just as I was about to do abdominal exercises, I began to feel some itchiness around my body. Ignoring the initial irritation, I did some sets and found itchiness getting more intense and the development of small spots on my arms, legs, body and face! The discomfort soon became unbearable and I had to cut my gym session short as I headed for the showers thinking that I had used an unclean towel. Lo and behold, the spots soon grew more obvious and the itchiness spread to every part of my body – I was practically covered in rashes with leprosy-like skin. Panicking in the shower, I knew something was wrong and decided to rush home to my family clinic. By then, my face was puffy and I felt “tipsy”; my ears were swollen to the point it resembled pig ears – all made worse by heart palpitations as well! I gave my elder sister a call to update her and arranged to meet her at the clinic. Thank God there was not a massive traffic jam and I got a cab miraculously!

When it was my turn to see my doctor, I told him everything and his immediate reaction when he saw my state was “Wah liao eh!!” His petrified response shocked me too but he was professional enough to diagnose my condition and asked if I wanted oral medication immediately or opt for an injection (he warned it will be painful) to alleviate my rather serious condition.

Being in so much discomfort, the pain from the injection seemed to be insignificant. I took a jab on my behind and there wasn’t much pain. It turned out I got a severe case of food allergy (supposedly the prawns), and I could have DIEDif my organs were swelling too! It was so serious that my doctor’s advice was to carry with me pills or a syringe (sort of like the anti-venom for snake bites) in case it happens in the future. He referred me a a severe case to an immunologist at TTSH and warned me of a possible recurrence within the next 24 hours. By the way, as I am typing this, my body is no longer itchy and the bumps and spots have all subsided! Praise God! Although I still need to ingest more than 10 pills before I sleep tonight!! Do keep me in prayer.

This incidence is almost cathartic in a spiritual sense as I had to come to grasp with the fragility of life. Healthy triathletes, runners and soccer players die doing what they enjoyed. I had a normal day and so nearly made my way to the express queue to Jesus. But because I believe my life lies in His hands, I have no control but I can only take precautionary measure! Nothing is certain in life, but life in Christ is certain! I was in such duress I did not even care to sms anyone, call anybody else or even remember any thing from the bible – but I prayed. Thanks for the episode, thanks for the lesson and thank you Jesus for the life You gave me!

P.S. I’ve been eating seafood for the longest time, but it is the first time I suffered such an attack! Bad thing may be having to refrain from most seafood, but good thing is “less seafood = less cholesterol”.
Thanks to Angelia for being there for me when I felt helpless!

Remembering this day… 25/09/2007

2007-09-18T22:21:00.000+08:00

Snippets of my life:

When it comes to matters of the heart (or love in general), it never fails to bother me. Maybe it's my management style, or the array of different disciplines that intrigued me, I tend to ANALYSE A LOT!!! Thus, a new issue bothered me just today... "Does age matter?"

When I gave it some serious thought with a tug-of-war between feelings and logic (includes a cost-benefit analysis mind you!), the conclusion is it does!

But i stumbled upon this quote by Jean Paul Richter, a German writer. It says:
"Age does not matter if the matter does not age."
Wow! Enlightening man...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Emo me must travel back in time for some good old rock ballad and i've found one! Great song, but sucky vid... "For every good MTV, there's a hundread other lousy ones!"

Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorns

2007-09-16T22:31:00.000+08:00

Finally managed to lay my fingers to blog! Life for me now has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride so far - i must say it's been a helluva ride and it's not gonna come to a halt any sooner.

My life's hectic in a healthy sense i guess... Cos i've been getting things done (tho' there's still tons i'm lagging in and yet to complete!), learning more things (not only in sch!), managed to still catch up with friends, go gym and play soccer (haha...) and hearing from God too. Thank God for His grace and mercy throughout!

School is busy with work to catch up (God please help me with difficult modules and tough projects!), FYP is progressing slowly but steadily and I'm blessed with a fun FYP mate and I will also be attedning a few recruitment talks to prep myself! God has also blessed me as i serve Him in cell and YA, the upcoming oikos bridging event (it's a soccer event) is gonna kick off soon with my publicity proceedings, I still managed to catch one of my favourite bands live in S'pore (Funeral For A Friend)!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Here's a rock tune to kick-start an awesome week ahead! Bought their new album due rave reviews and boy was I entertained. It's a worthy buy i guess... And the vid reminded me of how i behaved at the gig last saturday! Sweet!!!
Atreyu - Becoming The Bull

2007-08-31T00:34:00.000+08:00

My FYP finally started this week as I got down and dirty with some chemicals liao. Thank God for a pleasant mentor and a sassy FYP mate who is doing another project but also under the same mentor. The training was interesting and we still have two more to go before we start to do independently. My FYP mate also help point out that I got the wrong reference book and we managed to get the correct one too!

Thank God as my mum's condition improved! Her check up went smoothly and the eye pressures were reduced. The doc decided to change the eye drops she's using and she also learnt to apply the eye drops correctly from a friendly pharmacist. The doc did not mention much about the surgery and wish to see my mum in three weeks time. Till then... "Everything I trust, I trust in You, Lord!"

PsssT... I've got another pair of free concert tickets, thanks to my dearest sister!! Not Aaron Kwok, Sammi Cheng or Black Sabbath, but it's Funeral For A Friend!!! Whoo-hoo!!! It's one of my favourite bands for the past few years!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
No, not another Funeral For A Friend mtv... This is a remake of a Dio classic by another fav of mine, Killswitch Engage (saw them when I was in US, amazing showmanship!) I like the "Holy Grail" kinda of vibe to this vid and the band playing out the comical script!

Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver

2007-08-22T20:05:00.000+08:00

Always contemplating what to blog, always going to blog, but always procrastinating! To be honest, that's the story so far for my blog as I rather not use the "Oh, I'm busy" "blah, blah, blah" crap. Here's the jiffy so far since school started... (GOSH! 3 weeks liao!!! Argh!!!)

School life
Everything's going as "planned", nothing too exciting, nothing too boring. Thank God when there seems to be no way, but He provided a way! Been faithfully attending lectures but already lagging behind in tutorials. Finally bought a textbook for a "killer module" and met my FYP mentor (who happens to be PRC, well, what are the odds?) today! The FYP discussion was nothing I had imagined as it began with her greeting in Chinese! The 20-min long discussion was conversed in 90% mandarin!!! I did not bother to ask her to speak in english as I rather not opt for a worse outcome. I am embarassed by my inability to conjure a single sentence in entirely mandarin! I already felt looked down upon and looked nothing more than a primary school kid learning hanyu pinyin, but I'm glad she took effort to explain and offer to guide me along the FYP's entire duration (hopefully use more english in the process!).

Family Life
Thank God for a turn of events at home for the past two weeks. Again, God was the one in charge as I could not have seen what happened actually happening. With regards to my mum's condition, things are starting to look on the bright side as her condition has improved again. Although an operation looks certain, what has happened has gave us all a new level of faith to trust the Almighty! I learnt that conflicts still and will plague Christian families, the difference lies in only the outcome of such entire episodes...

Personal Life
'Nuff said for the above mentioned, and I still managed to work out at the gym (though I lost weight, my stamina drop after my bout of flu), play PS2 (considered old-school now with PSP selling like hotcakes!) games, facebooking, reading (not textbooks or notes) and even go shopping (window shopping la. No sugar mama at the mo'). Also, breakthroughs and new challenges in my ministry will also see my spiritual self growing! Well, as for other stuff like making money, fulfilling my ambitions, having more fun or finding a girlfriend; these will have to take a queue number as I am fruitfully engaged/occupied NOW!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation
Found myself going retro even in my heavy music taste for the past couple of weeks! This metallic gem kept ringing in my ears even without my iPod. Best thing is that it was made before most of us were born! Standing against the test of time, it still sounds like a great radio hit, how I wished I made it!! Wanna be transported back to the rockin' 80s? Just click "Play"!

Judas Priest - Livin' After Midnight

2007-08-13T20:59:00.000+08:00

Following the last post, I had little time to post any pics and was rather occupied with school, church and the inevitable sick bug! Argh!

Anyway, was really blessed that my sister managed to get her hands on the $150 one-day pass for Singfest 2007! Boy if only we knew what we were in for, haha! We were soaked in a Glastonsbury/Reading-ish kinda atmosphere albeit on a smaller scale. Saw about 10 bands (a few really shitty ones tho'!) from 3pm in the scorching afternoon heat till about 1am for Hinder to end the balmy night on a high note! Let the pictures do the talking!

Managed to get into the mosh pit to catch a glimpse of Avenged Sevenfold ripping thier opeing song apart. Nevermind the poor videography, I was too excited!

Anyone for Funeral For A Friend gig in September?! Meanwhile, back to books and snooze...

2007-08-10T02:49:00.000+08:00

Just reached home at 1.30am and only did ONE thing for the entire National Day holiday! What is it?

It's Singfest 2007!!!

I am drenched in sweat, as well as other people's sweat, tired and dehydrated after nearly 12 hrs of non-stop rockin out and headbanging. Ouch! My throat hurts, my back is aching, my ears are ringing still and I'm dead tired. ~~Tomorrow~~ Later still need to go to school!! Arrghhh... but it was all worth it! To the max man!! Thanks to Pauline, Avenged Sevenfold and Hinder for making my night!!!

Pics and more details will be uploaded soon!

2007-08-09T10:10:00.001+08:00

881

Went to Vivocity on Tuesday night with my mum to attend the exclusive gala premiere of Royston Tan’s new film, 881. Was really blessed by my sister as the gala premiere tickets were given to me because she could not make it for the event. What a spectacle it turned out to be!

Reached Vivocity Golden Village and was greeted by hordes of fans who were by the red carpet to greet their idols. The major cast and crew of the film appeared on the red carpet for interview and photos. The gala premiere is considered large scale because, the entire GV is booked out for the screening, 13 theaters in all!! The reality of the glitz and glamour overwhelmed me as I begin to recognize more and more familiar faces from TV and theatre. Royston Tan just breezed past in front of me and before I could say “Eh, Roys...”, Eric Khoo swiftly followed behind him. The wait before Showtime was just as immense. Saw thespians like Chua En Lai, Project Superstars like Diya, TCS hottie Dawn Yeoh, TV and movie moguls and even a certain Cheryl Fox reporting to work late in the evening for an exclusive spot for the news on TV. Ok, ok, I can ramble on about the stars but now for the film.

Kudos to Royston once again for an impeccable piece again. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and was rather impressed by his work. Paying homage to getai, something he himself enjoyed, this film gave an interesting insight of the dying art. Despite the nature of getai, the film isn’t about the rites and rituals of this form of showbiz, but how those involved face life’s struggles. The film may seem simple on the surface but it draws great parallelism to many people’s lives. Hence, I gave my two thumbs up for a rather cathartic experience provided by the film.

What made this a very good film were not only Royston’s trademark direction but also many factors. Firstly, the cast did an awesome job of portraying the story’s characters on screen. Credit goes to Liu Ling Ling, Mindee Ong and Yeo Yann Yann for their stellar performances. Next, it will be the soundtrack, which is commended by my mum. All the Hokkien songs used provided a new dimension to the story. The songs dictated the mood of the situation and clearly express what the director wanted to tell. 881 is not called a musical for nothing mind you. However, do not expect it to be something like Bollywood films. If the music does not win any prize, then the costume department deserves at least a mention. The cost incurred for the costumes was truly worth it as all the sets were very attractive. It makes you wonder how they got all these ideas. The narrative begins in Mandarin and the cast spoke in a mish mash of mainly Hokkien and Mandarin. The usual subtlety and finesse may by replace by outlandish and seemingly crass dialogues, but the film hardly lost its substance. Another interesting point about the film is the narrative of the story, I shall not reveal what kind Royston used but it is impressive. Moreover, the way the narration was done was even more remarkable.

The film is not just all good and no bad as people expecting an artsy film that contains intellectual English script will be disappointed from the get go. The over the top jack neo-ish special effects were a turn off. A couple of shots taken by Royston were quite abstract and the surrealism he used won’t go down very well with every single audience. Other than that, I reckon 881 as a very good effort. Continue to support local production peeps!

2007-08-05T14:44:00.000+08:00

Oh man! It’s been almost a full month since I last blogged (common disease spreading amongst busy bloggers I guess). Haha… Actually living out my last month of holidays to the fullest! Been spending QUALITY time with family and meeting many friends (still have some I din managed to catch up with tho’), hitting the gym, blowing my PS2 to smithereens after completing Resident Evil 4 (twice) and getting hooked to the latest installment of Guitar Hero! Spiritually, I also experienced a massive breakthrough! Thank God for His timely message and conviction! I’ve also got a busy schedule ahead serving in the ministry besides my cell. However, I found myself neglecting a wee bit abt school starting and realized I haven’t really planned my own schedule for lessons, FYP and even printing notes!! I better get my study ass moving man… :P
The following is an overdue post about Transformers!

The official Transformers movie was indeed an awesome show! Perhaps my expectations were lowered before I actually stepped into the cinema due the unflattering reviews I hear and read, but I was thoroughly entertained. Gone was the child-like excitement when the machines come to life, as I was soon replaced by the marvel of how technology has brought an all-time favourite cartoon to life. The top-notch effects aside, the humour (sometimes innuendo-filled) that plastered the wispy thin storyline deserve credit to make the movie more relevant to the new generation audience. I even paralleled the final battle scene (rather slip-shod but truly touching!) between Prime and Megatron to that of the fight between God and Satan – while I am simply the indispensable Sam to bring the story in a full circle! Haha… I’m thinking too much.

The inner child in me wanted the Transformers merchandise very badly, but the cruel adult in me reminded me of my bank account. I fought with the temptation for almost 3 weeks before I relented to the (trans)former and bought the Japanese version of Bumblebee. I was rather stoked that I wasn’t resolute enough to just get the Camaro’08 one when it first appeared on the market. My bad. After more consideration or rather temptation, I also laid my hands on Autobot Jazz and Decepticon Barricade! The adult me was quite ashamed of splurging, but the kid in me was reeling away in happy oblivion!! Here are shots of my proud collection!

Here's an amazing vid of die-hard Transformers fans being Human Transformers. It's rad!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Both songs were featured on the Transformers soundtrack and I quite like both songs! Nice vids to recapture parts of the awesome film!

Transformers Theme Song - Black Lab

Goo Goo Dolls - Before It's Too Late

2007-07-18T23:15:00.000+08:00

Thank God for today! Today was an eventful day in my family as we welcome a new addition to our family!!!

No! Before you have jumped to the conclusion that it was my made-in-USA shotgun marriage that had come to fruition, my utmost apologies - because you will be disappointed...

Actually, it was my elder sister who successfully gave birth to her first child this afternoon. Her son, Zee Peng, was suppose to be delivered at the end of the month decided to play a prank on my sis by getting into a breech position. This resulted in my sis having to arrange for a scheduled Caesarean section operation today.

The day's action started at 6am for me as my dad, my mum and myself made our way to my sister's place and accompanied both her and her hubby to Gleneagles hospital. The service provided from the minute she registered for the appointment was nothing short of top-notch! Kudos to the doctors, nurses and staff at Gleneagles once again! My mum was extremely worried about my sis's well being and she had been praying fervently since Day 1. My job was to try and calm her nerves and make sure she is composed enough for the whole affair. The op went smoothly but the baby had to be warded into the ICU immediately. This provided an early scare for myself. Apparently, some fluid got into the baby's lungs during delivery and an infection caused the baby to be breathing heavily. However, all fears were allayed as the baby's condition recovered as the day drew longer. My sis also recovered quite well as she managed to chat for nearly the whole day! I bet she is a real strong woman! Praise God as He had listened to our prayers that everything will go through smoothly and both the mum and baby are fine. I thank God for looking after my sis and her son throughout this time! Amen!!!

Today was a day I witnessed a new life born and the death of a couple of mindsets, plus the responsibilities of parents, the love of families, the preciousness of a newborn and greatness of the Almighty!

2007-07-10T20:52:00.001+08:00

My last holidays are coming to an end... FAST! Yes, faster than I can even say "Wah L.....". I think I made the right move not to engage in part time work so as to spend more "ME" time. As I managed to stay home most of the time to accompany my family (esp. my mum) and also got to catch up with some of my friends. Indeed, I hope it was time well spent (Though a chunk of it was spent on reading magazines, completing PS2 games like Guitar Hero I & II and Resident Evil 4, and of course gymming! :p). Looking back, I do cherish this holidays as I will be stepping into the working world in less than 12 months' time. So right now, I gotta savour every last bit of this break before revving my engine for one last dash in the maddening paper chase in NTU.

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Speaking of revving engines, this song never fails to get myself to life. Whether it was waking up to go for lessons in Gerogia Tech or waiting to go to gym or carecell in S'pore, its energy just dissipates into me! A bit about this band, they are currently one of the hottest band in the punk rock scene. With heavy leanings towards pioneers like Black Flag, they deliver their foot-stomping frantic punk music with a dosage of socio-political awareness. Let their video prick your conscience!

Rise Against - Prayer Of The Refugee

bits

2007-07-04T15:57:00.000+08:00

Yeah! I've been officially blogging for a year now! Whoo-hoo!!!

Was actually excited about the GST package, but the joy vanished in thin air as I started to realise everything has its price hiked. My magazines now cost a few more cents now, my CDs hardly cost less than $19.00 and my KFC meal now needs at least 3 two dollar notes with spare change!! Haiz...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Caught this MV while I was still in the US. I first thought they were another bunch of cookie cutter emo-rock band (think Panic! and Fall Out Boy), and jokingly told my roomie Rob that this band has a freakin' dress code some more. But on second listen, this is a catchy number filled with what made bands like FFAF and MCR famous. This is definitely one new band to check out!

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - False Pretense

eventful week

2007-06-30T22:59:00.000+08:00

Was so impacted by the Life Conference Weekend and the concluding sermon by evangelist/revivalist Tim Hall, which talks about receiving the power of God, that I was prompted to pray for my mum when I got home last saturday. Why? Well, her glaucoma condition and her impending check up on tuesday. Credit goes to God cos my empowered faith produced a short five minute prayer - that's all. Of course, me and my mum kept believing, as well as my siblings!

Here's the awesome part! On Tuesday, we went for the check up and strangely the fear that gripped my mum seemed to dissipate away. In her eyes, both the healthy and the glaucoma affected one, reflects one of Godly confidence and hope. We went into the doctor's room with an unspoken level of faith for miracle.

During the first visit more than a month ago, her left eye pressure was in the 50s range and that caused a bit of an alarm for the doctor! And after three weeks under medication, the pressure dropped to 42. Now, to even the doctor's amazement, it read 24!! My mum had to do the examination twice that day and thought something might have went awry. But I think the doctor wanted to make sure she did not measure the wrong result. This is indeed a display of the power of God and that nothing is impossible! All praise and glory belongs to the Almighty Healer!!! Amen!!!

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This song is a remake by Megadeth, their original hit was done in 1994, this time it's done with vocals lend by the sexy Cristina Scabbia (I saw her in person during a gig in the US!) from Lacuna Coil.

Diehard Megadeth fans would say the latter sucks, but I beg to differ. This version may be mellower, but with the tuned-up guitars and female vocals, it sounds nearly as good as the more angst-filled predecessor!

Megadeth - À Tout Le Monde

Headlines today...

2007-06-24T21:21:00.000+08:00

Ok ok. I've got another major facelift for my blog again! Cos my previous skin background pic suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth. (i suppose the pic is no longer hosted >_<) Fierce right? Haha... U can stop the music if u dun like it. Now back to my blog!

Apart from a 13 year-old girl who got her foot sliced off while riding a Superman ride in the US, and that St James Powerstation's "No Ladies Night for women over 35!" shocker, the main headline today that joltted me from my lazy Sunday morning slumber was news of Thierry Henry's impending move from my beloved Arsenal FC to Barcelona FC!!!

As most ardent Gunners fans mourn and weep all over the world, I am not really shocked by the move. Here are five reasons I am glad he's going:
1. No more reliance on Mr. Va va-voom for good results
2. No more diva-ish, non-commital attitude on the pitch
3. No more transfer rumours to un-settle the club
4. New generation of players to take up the mantel
5. Hopefully, Wenger can bring in a few more world class players

Anyway, thanks for all the wonderful memories you gave me for the past eight years! My life as a Gunner fan has never been more exciting. I appreciate every drop of sweat you poured on the pitch despite some notable failures (don't think I wanna dig up the dirt...) All the best in Spain as I dun mind supporting Barcelona in the La Liga. Au revoir, monsieur!

On a brighter note, my kick-ass pals Tommy and Robert from Georgia Tech made a couple of vids for me!!! I was truly touched by their gesture and it really made my day. As the vids were done after their common wild night out, they were slurring their speech and spewing vulgarities as usual, but u know about the fact people speak their hearts out when they are tipsy. Well, I am not posting it on my blog as yet as they contain way too much profanity for my mild and not wild Singaporean friends. Just to let u know they wanna come to Singapore in the future!

Busy slacker

2007-06-20T15:11:00.000+08:00

Oxymoron I know, but that was what I have been since last week. Lifestyle in Singapore is definitely more hectic and fast! Here's a summary:

Mon: Accompanied my mum for her eye check-up, gym
Tue: Accompanied my mum for her full body check up, had a haircut, gym
Wed: Accompanied my mum for her confirmation test, had dinner with family & uncle
Thur: Gym, L cell
Friday: Cell, Geylang supper with GIPigs
Saturday: Young Adult Service, dinner at Marina Square (Xin Wang HK Cafe) w cell
Sunday: Chillout with family
Monday: Baseball/American football session with Calvin
Tuesday: Subject registration, Pass stuff to Rongs, Gym, Birthday celebration with GIPigs at Heeren
Wednesday: Gym, Had lunch with Cam at Maxwell food centre, blogging now

It feels great to do so much stuff and I relish the freedom to do the things that I enjoy before my roll-call back into the dreaded bars NTU Prison (Prison Break season 4, S'pore version!) in August. Followed by joining the rat race and getting lost amidst the hectic and frantic working life (Yes, Lost season 5, S'pore version for u!). Through it all, I hope I do not lose my identity, my destiny and my faith! Faith to believe in more great things from God and become a hero in my own right (Haha, Heroes season 3, made in S'pore!!!)

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
This is a brand new band from roadrunner records. Checked it out and was blown away by its melodic brutality! Technical slab of metal with brawny riffs that will blast u into metal oblivion! If Metallica and Pantera had a child out of wedlock, it will definitely be Sanctity!!! \m/

Sanctity - Zeppo

I feel like Paris Hilton!

2007-06-14T16:07:00.000+08:00

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not going to jail. Just felt that I've been splurging a lot for a long time, since my preparation for my US trip, my US stint, and I can't seem to stop buying stuff since I came back! Yeah, blame GSS!!

Besides getting the California Gym membership, I got myself a new pair of soccer boots, the Adidas F30. It's done out of necesssity cos my old one split into half and gotta give this new brand a try and hope it's a good investment cos it's not cheap! Apart from catching up with loads of CDs, I also eyed on a new HiFi bcos my lok kok Enzer one died while I was in the US.

Yesterday my sister spoilt the Paris in me by getting me a new Philips (Yes Cat, your former employer!) HiFi. It's awesome to the max man!!! It looked every bit as good as it performs, cool white futuristic visuals coupled with crisp audio. It even docks my beloved iPod nano! You bet my bed is a rock ring every time of the day!!! \m/ Thanks Jie Jie!!!! U rock too!!

Never Ever!

2007-06-13T12:23:00.000+08:00

Lesson (learnt the hard way) of the day:NEVER EVER walk/run/queue/etc. BEHIND a bloody smoker!!!

*cough* *cough*

Rage is Back!

2007-06-04T22:28:00.000+08:00

No not my anger, cos it never actually left me! It's one of the bands that changed my life, Rage Against The Machine, has reunited after disbanding more than 7 years ago. Only reports of them reuniting to perform a series of gigs have been confirmed, but no news of them collaborating for a new album. However, I speculate if they do, they will surely beat Guns & Roses' Chinese Democracy in terms of release date. Haha...

Rayzor's Rock-amendation:
Here's one of my faves from RATM, less vulgar but definitely more politically charged one that is. I'm putting it up cos it's not only directed by famous film-maker Micheal Moore(Fahrenheit 9/11), but the controvesy the band created while doing the vid. They went against the authorties to perform at Wall Street (but were detained of cos), where i also went during my summer vacation(not detained of cos), so surreal for a metal fan like me! Here's the proof before u view the vid!!

Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire

California dreaming...

2007-05-29T21:19:00.000+08:00

I went to the gym today with Aston, my fellow GIP mate and it's the first time i met him since we parted ways at Atlanta airport 2 weeks ago. Today is also my first time going to a commercial gym - California Fitness @ Somerset! Aston's brother-in-law sign him up for a lifetime membership (so blessed!) and he got a free one month VIP pass for me! I'm blessed too!!

The fitness consultant was furiously trying to sell me a membership (that was a few hundred dollars), but I shoot back a lot of questions and did not relent before my workout. But the gym experience was awesome and after grilling the poor consultant, I managed to cough out a deal that I was, but not the consultant i suppose, happy with! My desire to own a fitness membership was realized! But it also means the tightening of all my other budgets as it doesn't come that cheap... I hope it is a motivation to workout and keep fit.

VJ Titanium wishes to share this brand new single off Funeral For A Friend's brand new album called Into Oblivion. I simply could not get this catchy tune out of my head (my iPod included!) and it reeks of energy despite being on the verge of emo. ~~See~~ Listen for yourself!

Funeral For A Friend - Into Oblivion (Reunion)

Thank God!

2007-05-28T19:40:00.000+08:00

I know i'll never ever get tired of thanking the big Boss from upstairs, and I gotta to testify His greatness once again! Well, my dad is on the expressway of recovery as his condition had improved by leaps and bounds these couple of days. If u had seen my dad today, u couldn't tell he was the very same person who was under much duress and pain from the clutches of chicken pox last week! He still can't eat much but i believe he will once he can eat a greater variety of foods. Once again, this is never possible without the mighty healing prowess of Jesus! It was the first time in my life seeing my father "chilling out" at home watching TV and resting!! I took the chance to introduce him TNA wrestling, UFC, The Contender and Jeff Corwin. My mum is also adapting well with her condition and she is taking good care of her eyes now. As for me, apart from some simple house chores I had willingly done, I was crazy slogging it out on my PS2 playing Guitar Hero and Winning Eleven.

Here's a neat video from an awesome band, Shadows Fall, been their fan since their underground days! Btw, i saw their amazing in Atlanta last month! This is their new single off their new album!

Shadows Fall - Redemption

F#@* You, chicken pox! Loser!!!

2007-05-24T10:56:00.000+08:00

I thought coming back to Singapore will be a bit more peaceful and carefree, but how wrong was I! Ever since I touchdowned last week, I had to deal with a flurry of events that came one by one - I bet it came faster than before I can utter "Dear heavenly F...."!

Firstly, it's kinda amazing how God's peace and comfort floods our family as we learnt that Mom was diagnosed with glaucoma and it caused her left eye vision to be severely impaired. Being almost blind in one eye may be a bitter pill to swallow for even the strongest person in the world, but my magnificent mum took things in her suave stride! I guess she is a perfect testament to walking by faith and not by sight - literally!!

If LOTR had its own towers, I have mine too - Mum and Dad of course! Alas, my dad fell ill the day I came home and days later found out he got chicken pox! Talk about timing! I can't imagine how things are going to be if I have not decided to come back early from the States. Thank God!

Now that most of my friends are either gainfully employed, illegally employed or frantically searching to be employed so as to see out the long hols, I have to proudly declared in jest that I'm working part time too! My current occupation is a part time nurse cum housekeeper cum errand boy and paper boy! For the uninitiated, I have to help administer eye drops for my mum throughtout the day, help her do house chores, buy my parents food, get my dad his daily tri-dosage of newspapers and find time to do my own stuff! What a way to honour my parents for siphoning all their $$ for my US trip huh? Karma?? Haha... It may sound siong, but it is strangely therapeutic! So, dear cell mate, if u are reading this, this is why u won't see me until next week. Unless u want some chicken pox virus!

As for myself, I have been plagued with the inevitable FYP problem too since last month. Being abroad from NTU has its own cons too. As most students can approach professors directly for consulting of FYPs, I could only do mine through emails. After repeated disappointments of not getting the projects/profs I had targeted, I finally got a confirmation! It is an industrial project and I am hoping for it to be interesting enough to keep me going for a year! Praise God!!

VJ Titanium has also just recovered from jet lag and would like to dedicate this song to all readers! It's by a famous Christian hard rock band called Kutless and this song is a worship song with a strong inclination towards Nickelback-ish kinda vibe. He got the recommendation courtesy of Pauline. So rock on!

Kutless - Strong Tower

Home (bitter)Sweet Home

2007-05-19T17:07:00.000+08:00

Hell yeah! I'm back in Singapore and nothing feels better than returning home! Yet, I'm still reeling from the sour aftertaste of having to say goodbye to my roomies, the nice ppl at GT and of course, my dear 24 friends from GIP. Nevertheless, despite the jetlag(not to mention the nearly 24 hr flight i had to endure), re-acclimatisation(i'm perspiring as i'm typing this), unpacking(it's worse than packing mind u!) and reverting to my daily routine, I am happy to be back!

I suddenly found it hard to blog since I came back to Singapore. It's not the usual writer's block nor the dearth of things happening in my life. It's just the overwhelming flux of emotions, thoughts and reflections that have been bombarding my very soul and spirit. No, I am not going through the "I-can't-bear-to-leave-US" phase, nor am I suffering from bouts of depression or feeling sick after looking at my GT transcript. It's just difficult to sum things up by the mere vocabulary I possess.

It's been a couple of days since I came back the the sunny island, and I am still adjusting to the many changes (not forgetting the bloody weather, rude & impatient Sillyporeans, ever-increasing prices, etc that did not change!). Apart from the physical adaptations I have to handle, I have to also come to terms with a few things that has happened at home. Plus, I found it difficult to sms, to order food, and control my diet!

I just wanna thank God for such a wonderful past semester as I could not have dreamt, hoped or asked for more! Here are some pics to chronicle my last week in the US. I finished my exams, moved out, went to New York, Ontario, Toronto before flying back!

Nu York New York!!

2007-05-08T14:26:00.000+08:00

Am blogging in the wee hours of the morning, cooping at a local Macdonald's that is a stone's throw away from our motel in uptown New York. Cheap accomodation came at a price as the living conditions were quite inadequate and the area is rather seedy. Nevertheless, we spent the past two days that was coupled with lots of adventures in exploring Manhattan in New York! Times Square experience was surreal!

I guess it is a well deserved break from the flurry of exams and depressing goodbyes back in Atlanta... Will be going around New york for a couple more days before heading to the Niagara Falls and Toronto. Ironically, I have slept less than 4 hours in the two days spent here! The subway runs 24/7, so it gives a picture of what New York is like. Gotta rest now for another long day ahead!!!

I should be mugging, but...

2007-04-29T07:12:00.000+08:00

There's way too much distractions right now. Summer trip finalizations, packing luggages, clearing apartments, youtubing, facebooking, thinking of what to do back in Sillypore, etc have been keeping me busy.

Well, dead week just whizzed past like nobody's business and my first paper is on tuesday. Almost covered one module but there's too much left to be desired. Anyway, I won't be mugging so hard as my grades are almost done and dusted. As long as I dun f*@k up my finals, i should be able to bring back a respectable transcript back home. Anyway, I conjured the motto for this GIP a few months back: "Study hard, play harder!"

Anyway, this weekend is happening la. We celebrated our gang leader, Jackson's birthday till 4am! Saturday, there is an event at Atlanta's latino club called Loca Luna; me and my roomies are watching WWE at the Philips Arena on Sunday!

VJ Titanium is bidding his American farewell with this ass-kicking trash metal track from upcoming band, Unearth! It's a shame I will miss their concert in Atlanta (end of May)...

Unearth - Sanctity of Brothers

Back to ~~boobs~~ books!

When the end is the beginning of the end... Phew, nearly there!

2007-04-24T03:00:00.000+08:00

After our final road trip this past weekend (@ the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennesse), it's now the final week of classes before the final exams! We call it Dead Week in GT, and class attendances pummelled like stock market prices to new lows!!

Dead week is a slang term for the week before final exams in the United States of America. The week is known thus because of the propensity for college and university students to save exam study until the last possible week, and because term papers are often due. Students prepare for the exams and papers by pulling all-night study sessions, usually with the aid of stimulants such as coffee, NoDoz pills and Red Bull. During this period some students will suffer from sleep deprivation, increased irritability, and stress [1].

Ref: [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_week, dated 07:34, 23 March 2007
(see what research term papers have done to me!!)

Also, Georgia Institute of Technology students have developed a "primal scream" tradition, in which students open their dormitory windows and scream at midnight, every night of dead week. It's called Midnight Madness!!! Interesting...

Anyway, most of the quizzes, midterm exams, project work, presentations and term papers are coming to an end. Just so you know, amidst the amount of fun and wild things I did, I had to toil through the mundane and stressful tasks as well! I reckon it's a testimony of God's awesome providence of wisdom, strength, grace, favor and miracle! Here's the amazing breakdown:

For 5 modules here at GT, I have done and submitted:
- 20x homework assignments
- 16x quizzes
- 10x midterm exams
- 2x individual research term papers
- 2x group project term papers
- 3x class presentations
and lastly, 5 papers in 3 frickin' days!!! 'Nuff said!

God bless meeeeee!!!!

Just to post that i'm safe at Georgia Tech!

2007-04-17T11:12:00.000+08:00

By the time u visit my blog, u would probably have heard or seen the horrific tragedy that struck Virginia Tech. Without going into the depressing stats and terrible accounts, this is officially the worst case of shooting in US history.

"Holy shit!!!" was uttered by my roomie on the lazy Monday afternoon just as he was watching tv after a long day of classes. It jolted me out of my seat and I went to watch what was happening on the news. My mind was still processing the constant feed of reports that was broadcasted and the next thing i did was to thank God i'm alive!

People back home in Singapore may not feel the impact, but i was feeling it throughout the day. In fact, i shuddered during the news broadcast. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are pretty similar I guess... Same type of campus, same number of people, we are like sister schools according to the GT president's email and it's just happening at a neighbouring state!

For people even back home, let's not take safety and security for granted.

This blog entry is dedicated to the family and friends of the victims and to all the students, professors and staff at Virginia Tech. May God's peace and comfort be there for each and every one of them.

No music video will be put up as a mark of respect for the victims of this event.

Spring Break Break!

2007-04-12T10:47:00.000+08:00

Time and tide simply wait for no man, and I've been learning it the hard way here on a couple of occassions. As u can see, my blog has not been up to date. In addition to the many happenings during Spring Break(which was 3 weeks ago!), a flurry of events have also happened immediately after that. I can't really upload all the photos I've taken (a few GBs), so will probably share it with u people back home when I come back. Not to leave u guys high and dry, here's a breakdown of what happened since Spring Break!

- Was back at school to bear the brunt of homeworks, quizzes, exams and project deadlines! (look out for an interesting post about the amount of work I did at GT towards the end of this month!)
- Went skydiving the weekend following Spring Break. Free falling at 14000 feet is no mean feat! Of course, I was not qualified to jump alone - it was a tandem jump with an instructor. Nevertheless, it was shiok to the max!!!
- Realized that I have been splurging a lot in the US so far!
- FYP condurum!
- Attended a NHL ice hockey game and got to pose with the lengendary Stanley Cup
- Enjoyed a second fight night at Hooters with my roomie Tommy last weekend.
- Caught the flu bug last week and only just recovered.
- Bought PS2's Guitar Hero I & II!!!
- Will be going for another metal concert tomorrow evening!
- Going for whitewater rafting this Saturday!
- Final exams are just 3 weeks away!!!
- Frantically booking Summer Break trip air tickets...
- Planning the trip and departure was a headache!!!
- Will be coming back in the middle of May! CONFIRMED!!

I really really thank God and my family for supporting all this while, and the many wonderful friends I have made during this time! Gotta roll peeps! Here's a nice video to share! (courtesy of the not-dead-yet VJ Titanium!!)

Good Charlotte feat. M. Shadows & Synyster Gates - The River

Spring Break Action Part 2

2007-04-03T12:03:00.000+08:00

Reached Miami, Florida in the unearthly hours of Sunday morning and checked in Malabo hotel (the pirated version of Malibu haha, and had the worst living conditions since our stay at Atlanta Youth hostel!). As most of the people concussed into mere oblivion at about 3am, we headed to the famous South Beach in the afternoon. It was very crowded with sun-worshippers, sea-swimmers, partying spring breakers and lots of locals and tourists. Played beach volleyball, Frisbee, football, sun tanning in the process and saw the occasional topless babe too. The guys also went on a raging rampage to start dunking dry people from our group into the chilling waters. The sunset and the dwindling crowd also signaled the end of the day at the beach.

Had a stomach upset throughout the late dinner. To make matters worse, the poor service and lousy expensive food did not help the situation much. Then the first drama happened when we went sightseeing at night. We drove more than 3 hrs to search for an elusive lighthouse and on the way back, one of the vehicles met an accident on the highway. It was not serious but some suffered bruising bumps and emotional trauma. In the end, the road trip to Key West was cancelled and we spent another day at South Beach.

The second day at South Beach was very fruitful for me. After a late lunch, Calvin and I decided to go sightseeing around the area. and soon I began on a secret quest to find Miami Ink; the famous tattoo parlor that has its own reality tv show on Discovery Travel and Living channel on cable. I was a follower of the series and the idea of visiting the shop and hopefully meet the stars on the show sent Goosebumps down my body. Jackpot! We stumbled upon the shop and began to frantically take pictures - along with many other excited tourists and customers! Alas, it was a shame that the shop was handed to other people to do the tattoos. The stars only do the tattooing during filming on weekends.

Went back to the beach to play catch and when we were heading back, we saw a commotion along the beach. There was a photoshoot and I sensed it was the guys from Miami Ink. I sped towards the area and to my amazement, it was them! All five of them!! They weere shooting for the new season of Miami Ink and were there to take the photos during sunset. Soon, I went forward and requested to take pictures with Yoji, Chris and Ami. What are the odds of meeting them?! Thank God!!

Next stop: The Island of Bahamas

Spring Break Action Part 1

2007-03-30T04:09:00.000+08:00

First stop, Tampa Bay in Florida! Was in the last wave of people to set off for Spring Break as most of us did not want to skip class or miss quizzes. The rest of the pack went ahead and toured Panama City before heading to Tampa. The road trip started at 1230am and we reached our destination at around 6am in the morning. We met up with the gang and ate a hearty breakfast before going to the first attraction of our trip – the Renaissance Festival!

The festival celebrates the medieval times and the event was situated across a few acres of grassland and woods (how appropriate!). People come dressed as warriors, knights, wizards, gypsies, princesses, and they all look like extras on LOTR or Harry Potter! We were totally transported back to the medieval age and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. We spent the entire afternoon at the festival, trying out archery, watching traditional arts like fencing, joust and human combat chess, as well as meeting cute and weird people!

We headed immediately to Clearwater Beach near St. Petersburg to catch the sunset, and boy was it spectacular! You gotta see it to believe it! Admiring the wonderful artwork of God, braving the chilly gale was simply worth it! After another sinful spread at dinner, we got on the road again as dusk beckons. Next destination: Miami…

Spring Break ends = school starts...

2007-03-28T08:37:00.000+08:00

I'm back from an awesome kick-ass 9-day vacation!! Not really alive and kicking (reached back campus at 330am on Monday and attended classes at 9am!), as I'm slammed with another barrage of assignment deadlines and impending midterms! Rest assured though, despite the fun and sometimes wild incidents, I DID NOT:
1. Get shamelessly drunk
2. Sleep around with chicks
3. Get a tattoo at Miami Ink

The rest of the things that I did will be left up to your imagination I guess...
Haha, more teasingly, I will be slowly loading up some pics as time to blog is at a premium. So stay online for some interesting tales and nice pics!!!

Now, back to the books staring at me!

Spring Break 2007! Whoo-hoo!!!

2007-03-17T07:41:00.000+08:00

It's finally here! A well-deserved break I suppose - after all the toil and sleep-less nights mugging (the undesired consequence of having too much fun)... It's quite amazing today, cos most of the students in Georgia Tech left town for their Spring Break early, so all my classes were only 30% occupied!!! The atmosphere is just so different in the US as Spring Break is a BIG thing; a time where nearly everyone lets loose and just party or go for vacation!!!

Anyway, I will be joining my GIP(eeps) on a 9-day vacation!!! We'll be driving all the way to Tampa Bay, Florida, Maimi, Orlando... Gonna party at South Beach, Daytona Beach, Key West and go to the exotic Bahamas island for a quick getawayas well!! Finally, we will be going to Disneyland and Universal Studios too!! (Will prob return with burnt pockets and eat potatoes for the rest of my semester... *joking*)

VJ Titanium dishes out a party metal track to simply dictate the mood for the trip!! Cheers!!!

Eighteen Visions - I Let Go

Till then, take care and God bless... (my mum will miss skyping with me... :(

Daylight (saving) Robbery!!

2007-03-13T01:50:00.000+08:00

For the uninitiated, clocks are either turned forwards or backwards an hour so as to have more daylight during the day in many parts of the world that experiences the four seasons. In the case of Atlanta, Georgia, we turn ours one hour ahead as Spring starts. I felt weird to say the least, as I am short-changed for an hour of my life right now! Waking up an hour earlier for school makes a helluva difference mind you!! To make matters a little harder to stomach, my revision time seems to shorten too!!! (I have 3 exams, 1 quiz, 1 hw due and a term paper assignment this week!!) So much so for daylight saving, I felt robbed.

On hindsight, Spring Break arrives an hour early!!

Count yourself blessed to read this!

2007-03-10T03:55:00.000+08:00

Yeah! Start to appreciate life once more when you realize that you are able to read newspapers, watch tv or even visit my blog! No, I'm not posting a touching article or an inspirational anecdote. The fact that you are alive and reading this pseudo-crap now is a cumulation of both God's wonderful blessing and your will to survive...

Looking at the happenings here in the States and back home in Singapore is simply chilling. Witnessing tornados, hurricanes, horrific bus crash, tremors on TV are jolting. And me and some of my frens accidentally trespassing into a ghetto and watched policemen taking down a suspect and getting out alive is miraculous!

Well, I have to also survive an avalanche of homework, readings, quizzes and exams for these couple of weeks till Spring Break! For your info, we're heading to Florida, Miami, the Bahamas and Orlando during the one week holiday!! Till then, I am busy with my last-ditch efforts to study for quizzes, and hand in assignments...

The past weekend was a great outing to the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a wonderful wooden cabin and had bbq. We also went for a short trek up one of the snow-covered mountain ridges on the Apalachian Trail, saw a lunar eclipse at the Fontana Dam and went to see waterfalls in Cherokee where the famous Red Indians first reside.

Midweek was even more exhilarating as I went to watch a heavy metal concert with my rommies, Robert and Tommy. We tried a bison burger before the gig and it was delicious. The concert lasted 4 hours as we saw four different bands captivating us with mindblowing performances! The atmosphere was indescribable and I witnessed some of the craziest shit you can imagine. We went home thrashed, strungout and literally deaf. (I was falling asleep with a constant ringing in my ears mind you!)

Here are some pics to illustrate what I meant:

Can't wait for Spring Break!! Argh!!!

Two months in US liao...

2007-03-02T09:33:00.000+08:00

Whoa!! It's been already two months since I bade Singapore goodbye, and I thank God that there was never a period of homesickness or even a dull one for that matter! Fantastic room mates, great GIP(als), nice classmates and an awesome culture to soak in! Countless nights of mugging, on the road during road trips, talking cock with room mates/ GIP mates, as well as skyping with my mum! I praise God for His constant provision of wisdom, strength, grace and favor (Not a typo, quoting fr a friend, I'm "Ang-modified" liao! Haha ...) even when I'm right here amidst a totally different environment!

This is quite an old song in my opinion, but a recommendation from VJ Titanium nevertheless, cos it struck a chord during my adolescent years... (getting emo liao!) Anyway, here's a toast to a wonderful two months in Tech and for the remaining months to be even better (Spring Break is just 2.5 weeks away)!!!

Eve 6 – Here’s To The Night

Confession: I have a slight hunch I can't bear to leave USA!

TGIF... Oh really? Really!!!

2007-03-01T04:20:00.000+08:00

Phew! Another quick breather before another wave of exams/quizzes and the ever-present stream of homework! Last Friday was one of the most stressful days I had, or so I thought. This is because I have a homework due, a midterm exam for one of my weaker subjects and a powerpoint presentation for my term paper for another module!! I was still struggling to do the slides and complete my homework into the wee hours of Friday morning itself!!!

Thank God! Whatever I studied for my exam came out, although I only managed to answer 3 out of 4 questions because I forgot what I studied…(Btw, I got back my results today, got 80/100 & still below class average!! Argghh!!! -_-"") And the presentation went well, or maybe it’s because I’m a foreigner, and they just close an eye. I got bombarded with questions, I felt I wasn’t up to the mark as I was rather ill prepared(if u count the slides as a form of preparation). But the customary applause (2 in fact! One after I ended my presentation and another after the Q&A) made myself feel a little better! Speaking in front of a professor, brilliant classmates, a few graduate students as well was indeed a harrowing but enriching experience!

However, things took a dramatic turn (for the better) once I returned to my apartment. My roommate, Robert, asked me along to watch a live fighting event (something similar to the one we saw on pay-per-view at Hooters) that evening. It is held at the Gwinnett Centre, about 20 miles away from Tech. He said that he got free tickets from a classmate of his. However, his classmate, Jennifer got only 2 tickets from a guy she served while waiting tables part time. So we figured we still need to buy 2 more (Me & Tommy, who went because I sportingly agreed to go with uncertainty of getting tickets!)

Once we were there, Robert tried to get us in but to no avail. So Tommy and I went to the box office to check out the prices. Alas, the tickets range from $127 to $47 for the furthest seat in the arena. Disappointed but not dejected, Tommy decided to approach a tout. Lo and behold, that Mexican guy we approached had tickets! And after aome bargaining, we managed to pay $20 each for… Front row seats (Row B, mind you! Just behind VIP section Actual price shd be ard 100 bucks!!!). We got to see the fighters, fights and celebrities up close!!! An amazing event to wrap up a happening day!!!!

Another road trip this weekend, now must do homework!!! Argh...

Oink, oink, oink....

2007-02-21T01:30:00.000+08:00

Just got bamboozled in another exam... Hence, i'm taking this time to unwind and update my beloved readers on what happened since my Mardi Gras trip. First and foremost, a belated blessed Chinese New Year (my year!!)! This is the first time in the duration of my existence that I've spent the Lunar New Year away from home!!! We [the GIP(eeps)] organised a dinner on Friday nite at our apartment activity room. We were tasked to cook mostly chinese dishes, invited our foreign roomies and educating them on CNY and of course feasting on the obscene amount of food we prepared. Not missing was also the "lo hey" and the "yam seng" [beer here is cheaper than soft drinks and Yeo Yap Seng!]!!! The celebration lasted till the wee hours of the morning and it was one of the most special CNY i've celebrated so far!!! My signature fried rice received several compliments, but wat a shame the late comers missed out as it was wiped clean much earlier. My roomies also thoroughly enjoyed the occasion, particularly Robert, who said he wanted to throw up so that he can eat more!!!

The student experience, which many readers who were still uninformed, makes NTU studies look like O-levels! I am here to officially dismiss any preconceptions that studying in US is chicken feet, esp. at reowned institutions! I'm currently taking 5 modules for the semester, which is considered heavy in GaTech standards. Why? I have to hand up every frickin' piece of homework assignment every week and it is graded (thus counted towards final grade)!! To add salt to wound, there is a quiz for each subject every other week and mid-terms(read: mini-exams)!!! To top it off, the lectures here are clear and succinct, but we are required to do a lot of readings for the finer details and explanations!!! My ZZzz timings have hyperboled into the am regions, which I've hardly done in NTU, gym hours are constantly compromised and I can't even enjoy te DVDs I bought online!!! Argghh... This is the first time I've really mugged and although the feeling isn't top-of-the-world, it is surely something money can't buy. Sounds cliche I know, but I will definitely appreciate the more laidback setting in NTU when I get back and not take education for granted... I am still not as disciplined as expected, but I hope I will improve on that too!

VJ Titanium doesn't smell enuff iron in your blood, so here's another slab of rollicking good'o heavy metal from straight-edge (dun do drugs), hardcore metal band Bleeding Through!! Grrrl....

Bleeding Through - Kill To Believe

Gonna prepare for my next exam asap!!!

I went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, & all I got U is this lousy blog entry!

2007-02-16T02:34:00.000+08:00

Finally returning to student mode again after a rockin' time at New Orleans in Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras. I have not been able to blog due to the cumulation of homework due, exams and quizzes this week! Been sleeping less than 5-6hrs for a few days and nearly missed lessons too!

History: New Orleans is home to jazz/blues music, and also presents a mish-mash of both Southern and French colonial flavour, and it just recovered from the devastating Hurricane Katrina. Mardi Gras is "Fat Tuesday" or something in French, where there will be parades, parties and merry-making throughout Mardi Gras week. It's the first time I visit a place that parties 24/7! Adults and children wear Mardi Gras beads like a fashion statement early in the morning and everyone's just in a festive mood. The most happening place in New Orleans during Mardi Gras is perhaps the French Quarters. Here, you'll find hotels, restaurants, Voodoo shops and of course Mardi Gras outlets selling beads and party accessories. The highlights include a series of "chingay-ish" parades where marching bands and gigantic floats will roam the main street in New Orleans. During these parades, people on the floats will throw colourful and sometimes special beads to the crowd. The adrenaline rush comes for the crowd to get the beads. Btw, from the pics, u can see i got the most beads on Saturday night, and got kudos from the rest of the GIP(eeps)!!!

At night, the wildest place will be Bourbon Street (yes, named after that liqour!), there are countless watering holes, strip clubs and fantastic restaurants along the street that stretches at least a kilometre! This is also where infamous bead-throwing takes a whole new meaning! Party-goers will be prowling the streets for more exclusive and bigger, nicer beads. People who have beads stay on the balconies along the street to throw them to the crowd! The catch? The girls have to flash their boobies to get those exqusite beads!! We saw a few girls on the balconies who requested guys to flash their privates!! Usually, most are sane enough not to do it, but we witness some sporting (or rather tipsy) people (both sexes) who did it!!! The place is not sleazy as cops are stationed on horses every other corner of the street.

There's more to New Orleans than Mardi Gras, as we managed to sample their signature dishes as well! We tried the best baked ham in the world at Mother's and we had amazing biegnets, which is the french equivalent of donuts at a famous cafe called Cafe Du Mont. It's more of like a "hum-chim-peng" with a huge dose of extremely fine sugar powder coating it! Another is Cajun-style cusine, where we tried both fried and grilled alligator meat, fried frogs' legs, and many other South-meets-French kind of food! It was worth every cent we spent!!! (Salivating again...)

We also visited the D-Day Museum, which showcased the part the US played in World War too!! We also took a walk along a part of Mississipi River! All in all, it was a fantastic time spent and so much so we prolonged our stay till Sunday late afternoon! We ended up speeding back to Atlanta (hitting more than 100mph/160kmph!!) and reached back to campus at 2am!!! Many turned into non-flesh eating zombies the next coupl of days and became stuck in their dorms catching up lost time on homework and revision!

Shagged, tired and stressed! In the mean time...

2007-02-09T06:37:00.000+08:00

All in the name of fun, we headed down to New Orleans (7 hr drive!!!) for the start of Mardi Gras! The trip was so enjoyable that we dragged our stay there and reached back to our campus in the wee hours of monday morning!! Pictures comin' up soon!!! Meanwhile...

As promised, my home-made vids!

My skiing tomfoolery

My first contact with snow

Suffering from PMS!!!
Post Mardi-gras Syndrome...

UFC Fight Night @ Hooters wif roomates and GIP mates.

2007-02-05T13:47:00.000+08:00

No more road trip this weekend and just so happened that there will be a UFC Fight Night event on Saturday! My room mates, Tommy and Robert asked me along and I got some guys from NTU to go as well. And we thoroughly enjoyed the night out!

UFC is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and it is huge in the US. It is not the lame-ass, "kelong" kinda wrestling, but the real stuff. Street fighters, boxers, professional wrestlers, jujitsu masters and mix martial artists all train hard for years to get into this competition! The fights may be brutal, but it is definitely entertaining - especially the knockouts!!

Before you jump to any conclusions, Hooters happens to one of the few places that broadcast the Pay-per-view event on TV. Plasma screens, LCD TVs, big and small littered the place. However, we got there late and had to make do with either standing with the crowd or sit out in the cold and windy porch. We chose the latter and soon regretted it.

Thank God for the Buffalo Wings (one of their signature dishes), those hot wings taste even better in the bitter cold. We headed inside as soon as we're with the food. The Hooters girls were very busy, grabbing their attention to serve us was difficult, let alone trying to chat. The beer here is cheaper than Coca-Cola. Tommy caught us all by surprise when he secretly foot the bill, claiming "it's his night". We were all touched by his gesture, and promised to invite him and Robert for our CNY celebration.

Another road trip this weekend!! Mardi Gras here we come!!!

I "Love" this game

2007-02-02T12:08:00.000+08:00

The Office Of International Education (OIE) in GaTech organized this trip specially for the international exchange students like myself. About 50+ of us attend the NBA game between the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic at the Philips Arena near downtown. It was a priviledge as the tickets, which were like just grandstand seats behind the VIP section and costs $60, were free of charge! But we still need to fork out public transport and food at the arena. (Asking too much huh?)

Although I'm not a basketball fan, it was still an enjoyable trip and game. I must confess it pales in comparison to my Arsenal game 2 years back! Thks Jie once again!!The courtside entertainment was aplenty, from freebies, to cheerleaders, the mascot, and the fans as well. We were even featured on thegiant screen whilst cheering the Hawks!! Here are some pics I took at the game! A fairy tale trip will have a fairy tale ending - Hawks won...

By the way, this is my 100th blog entry!!!

Roadtrip II Pt. One! Yeah, we just can't get enough...

2007-01-30T05:35:00.000+08:00

Roadtrip number: Two
Amount of anticipation: Plenty
Destination: Beech Mountain, North Carolina
Distance: Approx. 270 miles from Atlanta
Duration: 3 Days 2 Nights
No. of people: 25
No. of people skipping classes for this trip: Some
No. Vehicles: 5
Average cost per person: $120
No. of burnt pockets: 25
Amount of fun & excitement: Tonnes
Amount of adrenaline rush: Undefined
Number of snowfall witnessed: One
Number of crazy people posing near highway exit to experience snowfall: 25
No. of tired and/or bruised bodies, who also enjoyed burning pockets for this trip: 25

Will put up 2 personal videos of my road trip in my next entry!!

While i'm away...

2007-01-26T14:09:00.000+08:00

Will be heading to North Carolina for the weekend to ski/snowboard at the famous Beech Mountain! Anticipating fun & excitement!!! Dun ever think that it has been all play and no work here. Has been struggling to keep up with the fast pace culture at Tech. And I've been burning midnight oil almost every night to turn in homework for grading or prepare for quizzes! So I guess it's a partially deserved break till Chinese New Year then. Meanwhile, whilst praying for journey and safety, just wanna show u my apartment.

Last three pics are taken at the common level, and there's also a mini gym with several machines and weights, but the CRC still rules!!

First Time Visitor Experience Version 2.0 (new and improved!)

2007-01-24T08:27:00.000+08:00

I finally managed to attend a church service on Sunday morning! Amen. (Just posting this to assure all of u out there I’m not attending Tom Cruise’s Church of Scientology ok? ) Dawn (fellow GIP mate) and Wenyu (her contact, thanks for the ride dude!), Timothy, Andrew and I, a group of 5 went to the Atlanta Chinese Christian Church and what an experience it turned out to be!

The early service is an English worship service, so the attendance (about 50-70) paled in comparison to the Chinese language service later (approx. 200). Those who attended were mostly college students and young working adults just like YAS, as well as the occasional ang moh who stay nearby or have friends here. Besides getting in touch with a Christian environment, I met more Asians than any other time I had in Atlanta thus far. ABCs, ABKs, ABJs, PRCs, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, Malaysians and Singaporeans – you name it, they are all here.

The place has a modern-day chapel look and the interior reeks of the good-old cathedral design [Culture shock factor #1]. (No photography allowed, but managed to snap a quick one during the sermon!) They began by singing a couple of hymns [Culture shock factor #2] and next come the sermon (they have preaching series too! This time its on praying…) and you’ve guessed it, an Asian pastor for the day! The preaching is quite similar to Trinity, but it ended in less than an hour. The pastor wraps up with a prayer but there is no altar call [Culture shock factor #3].

[Culture shock factor #4] was impressive. After the prayer, the celebration host IC (who recognized us at the entrance as first time visitors and spoke to us before service) became the emcee and made announcements. “Today, we are delighted to welcome so and so from … missionary, and …, Raymond Chua, and my GIP mates’ names, they are a group of exchange students from Georgia Tech.” We were actually introduced to the entire congregation, froze in our seats but managed a feeble wave to the entire crowd and a couple of warm handshakes.

After the benediction, which was the Lord’s Prayer [Culture shock factor #5], we headed to the canteen for a Meet and Greet session [Culture shock factor #6] for donuts and Chinese tea [Culture shock factor #7]! It’s basically a like the Meeting Place for fellowship and catch-up between members of the church. It’s so embarrassing, apparently everybody were intrigued by the “exchange students announcement”, and no less than 10 people came up to us and did some introduction and small talk. This is despite the fact that they were in their own cliques, but took the initiative to know us [Even more impressive Culture shock factor #8]. The preacher, Pastor Thomas, also came forward to welcome us.

It doesn’t end there mind you! We were then invited to join the rest of the people (everybody!!!) to attend Sunday school (not the kids kind where u just talk about bible stories or explanation of the bible) [but still…Culture shock factor #9], and today we learnt about meditation and prayer. It’s like a Tenet class at Trinity, where there will be like a workshop lecturer and practical session where we tried to apply the meditation techniques.

However, this is a more conservative church, and they don’t raise their hands in worship, nor did they speak in tongues and neither did they mouth out their prayers! [Culture shock factor #10,11,12]. I learnt that they are less of the Charismatic/Protestant denomination, but more of the Evangelical kind.

The last bit of the church visit was the highlight of the day! [Culture shock factor #13]!!! They serve lunch like a community, like those in temples in Singapore. Adult members will put $2 in the offering box while the children $1. As for us, since we are first-time guests, we got a free lunch. They serve food like army cookhouse style where they just have rice and a meat dish – which was amazingly delicious! It was indeed an interesting visit!! It left me thinking: Are they really so vibrant and proactive or is it just their nature friendliness??

Here's the spycam shot!

Verdict: Vibrant Atmosphere? Yes and no... but thou shalt not judge!

Brrrr...

2007-01-21T13:09:00.001+08:00

Its been rather cold from the moment I stepped onto US soil. The temperature has been fluctuating between 10 to 0 degree celsius; mostly at abt 5 degree celsius. We joked that its like Antartica, while Americans say its quite warm liao - compared to other states! Freaks!! Or are we the freaks?! If they dun see snow, it's not considered cold i guess...

The strong winds and dry climate here made the cold even more vicious; especially the mornings! For the record, I've been able to see my own breath nearly every morning (that's a good measure of how good it was man...) and has won at least three layers of clothes when I go outdoors (lesson learnt after shopping and playing soccer with just 2 layers and caught the flu for the last two weeks).

VJ Titanium makes another guest appearance in 2007, dispelling rumours that he is gonna quite the blog music video scene. Here's one rockin track entitled "Cold"!

Static-X - Cold

Note to mum: Please don't click on the "Play" button if u dun like the kind of music I listen to. If u are game enough, do put on the earphones ok, so u can enjoy. Luv ya!!

Roadtrip Pt. Two: North Georgia Premium Outlets

2007-01-20T13:03:00.000+08:00

This outing is basically no-holds-barred, shopaholics gone wild kinda stuff. We had a monotonous 2 hr drive via the interstate for abt 40 miles. Btw, its quite low tech here to the point tolls are collected at gantries like in Malaysian highways, rather than the more refined ERP system in Spore.

Now back to the crazy time spent at the place. It’s made up by small shops or outlets, hence the name, all of which sold famous and even designer products to offer shoppers a all-in-one shopping experience. Namely: Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole, Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, Liz Clairbone, Tommy Hilfiger and many many more – abt 100 shops in fact!! Here, they offer their merchandise at about wholesale prices, and it’s almost half the retail prices found in departmental stores or shopping malls.

Well, I bought some stuff at Nike and Adidas. The jeans at Gap were damn cheap, like Giordano price like that! Bought some T-shirts from Banana Republic (for some reason, they were not allowed to open a flagship store in Spore). And the catch of the day: A pair of Oakley frames at about 30 to 50% less then the market price in Spore!!! We went on our splurging extravaganza for abt 6 hrs plus walking thru the trove of shops till we literally; and physically dropped! Pockets were burnt in the process but no animals were harmed in the entire masochistic ordeal.

As for dinner, it was a tat special as we manage to find some Asian food near Chinatown. It was not Chinese food but Korean food! It was surprisingly good (hot and spicy…) and value for money. The end of the day, our first ever road trip in US, a long weekend also marked the beginning of real studying!!!

10 academic facts at Georgia Tech that will shock u! Count your blessings now!

Fact#1: Lecture class size are like tutorial class sizes in NTU (varies from approx 20 to 40). Lecturer recognizes u easily and don’t ever think of skipping lectures!
Fact #2: There are no tutorials. But it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing! (Read facts 3 to 6.)
Fact #3: Some modules have quiz every week!
Fact #4: All modules require homework must be handed in, and is graded!
Fact #5: There are still midterms and final exams!!
Fact #6: But everything from homework to quiz to exam have about same weightage! Not to mention term papers and projects!!
Fact #7: Textbooks here are 3 times as much as in Singapore and more often than not, they are compulsory!
Fact #8: Americans/GaTech students also study (mug) like hell!
Fact #9: Americans/GaTech students who don’t mug are freaking smart!!!! (Kaoz -_-")
Fact #10: Everything here is more fast-paced, more stressful and competitive than in NTU!

Roadtrip Pt.One: Stone Mountain Park

2007-01-16T01:40:00.000+08:00

Yeah! So american to go on roadtrips!! the navigation, the preparation, the process, the end - all so exciting! We "ho-landered" a couple of times too! Thank God for the journey mercy He blessed us with throughout! Wat an awesome experience! The pics chronicled the entire trip. As the cliche goes, a picture is worth more than a thousand frickin' words. So I just typed close to a million words maybe? Nah...

Martin Luther King is a great man!

A short story

2007-01-13T12:25:00.000+08:00

One Quiz

One Question

One Equation

One Mistake

One 蛋 (完蛋 = finished/liao4/doomed)

-END-

It's gonna be Martin Luther King Day on Monday (15/01/06)! Going on a roadtrip (25 NTU students on 3 MPVs and a saloon car) to visit Stone Mountain Park on Saturday and go shopping at a budget brands outlet in North Georgia!!!

In a Nutshell Pt.2

2007-01-12T10:19:00.000+08:00

4th Jan 2007
- Woke up early for FASET. An orientation program for transfer and exchange students, cos Freshmen only comes in during Fall semester. But there’s like more than a hundred of us already!
- Register subject, thank God everything went smoothly. Now it just depends if I can handle the subjects!!
- Fried rice for dinner with friends.

5th Jan 2007
- Most unfruitful day ever! Played the worst waiting game of my life so far!
- 930am to 12.30pm: Open bank account
- 12.30pm to 4.30pm: Medical Review
- ‘Nuff said!!!

6th Jan 2007
- Went Walmart for groceries!!
- Went running at Piedmont Park.
- Went Virginia Highlands, but what a letdown as there was nothing much to see. It wasn’t the Mohd Sultan Rd we expected, but just a few expensive pubs and restaurants around.

7th Jan 2007
- Find Church, but got lost and gave up after walking for 2 hrs.
- Bought handphone in a supermarket!
- Met Miss Chua for one last time at an Asian restaurant at Tech Square, but went dutch…

8th Jan 2007
- Feels lke a freshman all over again
- Mad rush for locating places and not be late
- Played soccer at 5degrees celsius, broke specs
- Cooked gd dinner
- School is finally small enough to walk all over

9th Jan 2007
- Brrr fell sick, got flu
- Went medical center to take free medicine!
- Classes cock up, venue not updated, missed one lesson…
- One textbook for more than 100USD, count yourselves lucky, Spore!!!
- Went for exchange students party. We have a bowling alley, a pool saloon and a freaking LAN/video gaming center!

Finally some explanations on photos:
- Last one from previous blog entry was a swimming pool slide at the Recreation centre. It also boast CaliforniaFitness - lke gym facilities, an indoor running track and an Olympic swimming/diving pool. This place was used for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games too!
- The cute buses are the Stinger and the Tech Trolley respectively. They are free shuttle services that bring ppl in and around GATech.
- My School, the Materials Science Building, its also called the Love Building. Here in GAtech, all buildings have Names!! Named after scientists or researchers I guess...
- Barnes & Nobles is the official campus bookstore, its huge!!
- Random scenery pic, it does look like winter, and its cold btw!
- Walmart!!! Need I say more?
- 99 cents burgers at this drive-thru near GATech!!
- Virginia Highlands, nothing much except me! haha
- Foggy Sunday morning, spells doom for our search for that elusive church...
- Sunday no alcohol!!!
- My new US prepaid phone! Off the shelf of a supermarket! But its a low-tech one.
- This is found in school itself, at the Student Services Centre!

Got a quiz tmr (first week of lessons only noe?!). Anyway, I got a module here every week got quiz!!!

Dedicated to all students cos I experience it too!!!

2007-01-10T12:29:00.000+08:00

VJ Titanium makes a very rare appearance (hopefully more to come) here on US soil, and would send out his well wishes to all students out there! May God bless all of ya wif good health, wisdom and strength for the new semester!!! Cheers

Deftones - Back to School

Note: This is not a portrayal of any institutions I'm in... tho I wished!

In a Nutshell Pt.I

2007-01-10T06:19:00.000+08:00

Was fully occupied throughout my stay at Georgia Tech so far and was dead beat enough not to blog constantly. Guess I won’t bore u with much essay-styled entries. So here’s a brief summary of what I did before moving into my apartment at Georgia Tech!
2nd Jan 2007, Tuesday
The head of GIP administration, Miss Chua, met us and brought us to Target supermarket to shop for necessities like pillows, comforters and many more. We ended up looking like a bunch of fools carrying bundles of stuff using public transport! Had lunch at a restaurant called Macy’s Mac; which has a truly southern flavour and feel to it. It was a big place and was like a museum with all the memorabilia collected through the decades. Pictures of famous people from President J. Carter to the late James Brown were put up as they had patronized the place! Here in the south of US, I’m glad to announce they like tea too! They call it the wine of the South!! Miss Chua then met us up after lunch to visit ChinaTown, which is located quite far from the main city area. Only a few shops were opened and the food looks normal but expensive.

3rd Jan 2007
Finally, we got to leave the rather cosy hostel at Ponce De Leon, and check into the Georgia Tech residence. Then we went for a short orientation by the international relations officer, Zeb. We then went for our lengthy wait for our medical checkup and that basically wraps up the day as we begin to unpack at our respective dorms. Met my first of my three other roomies. His name is Tommy, he’s heavily tattooed, muscular and I was pretty intimidated when I first saw him. But our small talk soon revealed our common interest: sports, video games, gym and listening heavy metal!! Cool chap!

More to come… Gotta go for an exchange student party now! Ciao~~~

But before that, more pics!! I've enlarged them as requested from some ppl...

The last pic is not from somewhere we visited, it is found in Georgia Tech!!! Where? Stay tune for more embarassingly backdated pics...

More backdated stuff... and pics!!

2007-01-06T10:18:00.000+08:00

As the clock struck 12, I’m holed in my refugee-styled hostel to post my earlier blog entry. The countdown was held at the Underground, and it was called Peachdrop – where a model peach would descend down a tower towards the New Year. Thank God I did not follow some of them as they witness a street fight when some passer-bys were involved in a shoving and tussle match in the human crowd. Country rock band, Lonestar, was playing at the arena but the persistent rain dampened the mood a bit.

New Year’s Day morning, we went to a famous a la carte café called Flying Biscuits and it was like breakfast and lunch combined! The portion was huge, the price was affordable and the meal was simply sumptuous. I nearly finished my “High Flyer” (one of their signature dishes), a feat no other could do! Haha… After such a heavy meal, we went sightseeing at the Piedmont Park, one place that wasn’t close and is absolutely free!!

After much photo-taking and enjoying the scenary, we went to where else but the shopping malls! All-time Singaporean favourite I guess… So we headed for the Lenox mall at Buckhead. “Eat your heart out, Vivocity!!” Most malls in America would have beaten Vivocity hands down in a size duel. The malls here in America is huge, the shop space are like three times more than what would have been in Singapore. Brands like Banana Republic, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch were like Singapore’s G2000. Prices are also better than in Singapore, perhaps due to less tax. Bought my first CD here in US, it was bought after much consideration as it was half the price compared to that in S’pore!

For dinner, we ate pasta at a nearby restaurant called the old spaghetti factory. Service was top notch despite the wait for about an hour! We did not wait for tables, but for the waiter/ress instead. At this place, a waiter/ress is assigned to each customer or group for the entire dining duration. Everything will be take care of by that particular person – it is like having your personal butler/maid kinda thing.

I’ve never eaten so much restaurant food before! Gotta stop the rot of my pocket and the bulge of my tummy liao!!

Pics follow sequence of blog entry...although might not be described

Amazing US fact #1: The Youtube loads super fast here!! An MTV loads fully in 3 secs!!! In fact, the Internet is very fast overall!

Some backdated writings and plenty of pics!

2007-01-05T11:45:00.000+08:00

Early morning, which is like 10am as most were recovering from jet lag, we headed down to Krispy Kreme, a local donut franchise. Late last night we actually went there to search for food, but they were closed. Then we settled for Papa Johns pizza which taste really great! Or were we famished?! Back to the New Year’s Eve special, the donuts were super sweet, a sugar overdose! Small they may be, but they are a dynamite loaded with deadly calories! We had leftovers and soon broke into a game of zhong ji mi ma!! It was a helluva icebreaker too! It was then we can break into more small talk among ourselves and truly get to know one another. All in all, the next few days of traveling around in Atlanta was a fruitful time of bonding and building friendships!

As it was New Year’s Eve, we decided to go to the Underground, a popular hangout according to the hostel admin staff. Then we headed down to Mid Town via the Marta (Atlanta’s very own subway/metro/MRT/u noe wat I mean), and decided to walk around. The sky was pissing rain throughout the day but our moods were hardly dampened by it; as we were driven by the adrenaline of exploration. At the Underground, we were overwhelmed by the Hip Hop culture over at Atlanta (60% Blacks)! Everywhere, the people, dressed like they are the extras or even the stars on MTV. Armed with countless bling bling and baggy fashion, you’ll feel alien wearing normal clothes. Or course, for a metalhead like me, I’m like a fish out of water!

The culture may be a bit hard to swallow, but I am coming to terms with it as other places were not as bad as I thought. First, we went to CNN, Atalanta, the founding place of the news network. It is the junction where journalists from all over the world would stop or gather for so news making. We also went to the coca cola museum, as Atlanta is also the place where Coca-Cola was created! A few of us did not join the tour though. The only thing you get was an elaborate history of why Coke is so famous and you get to try all kinds of weird flavours of Coke all over the world, plus, you can drink all you can!

i can't really be bothered with captions for the photos... but enjoy them anyway cos the Guessing game has just begun!!

All queries on pics are welcomed on my tagbored...

Touchdown!

2007-01-01T13:07:00.000+08:00

Indeed I've safely touch downed, and horror upon horrors, the entire nation is entirely engrossed in a touchdown of a different kind - the NFL playoffs! Anyway, greetings from more than a thousand miles! Currently waking up in the wee hours of the morning to grab some available network.(the temp hostel has wi-fi, but when many r using it, the router jams and the network disables automatically!)

Phew! Thank God!! I finally landed safely in Atlanta, Georgia. After much drama - which started the moment I went thru the Singapore customs, that spans across 3 flights (flight to Tokyo exceeded my expectations, flight to Minneapolis was an arduous 12 hrs with no personal in-flight entertainment! Flight to Atlanta was delayed.) and a resulting late check-in at the Atlanta International Hostel, which used to be a brothel! Facilities are adequate and we will explore some places these few days as we have nothing to do!

The weather here is around 5 to 10degreesC and it was surprisingly comfortable than chilly (mountain tortise just breathed his first few breaths of visible air – machiam u smoking 24/7 lidat one! Cool sia, no pun intended)

Interesting happenings aplenty, from taking photos with a bunch of drunken revelers (rather involuntarily) and witnessing first-hand a gripping police car chase down the street where we are currently staying before going to Georgia Tech. No alcohol is allowed to be sold on Sundays according to state law! All this on the first few hours of arriving in Atlanta.

Will upload some pics once I have the time and the more generous internet bandwidth at Georgia Tech!

Tick tock tick tock...

2006-12-29T17:08:00.000+08:00

Yea, yeah. Countdown begins for many who are gladly welcoming the year 2007. For me, I'm praying to land safely at the James-Hartfield Airport in Atlanta on 30th Dec 7.30pm (that wld be 8.30am 31st Dec for all S'pore readers out there!) with all my luggages intact!!

Even as you are reading this, I'm should be more than a few thousand miles up in the air now! "Lucky b>$£&*@d!" Haha, I know some of ya'all are cussing at me now right? I'll forgive you!! And an advanced Happy & blessed New Year to all of you!!!

*NOTE*
Dear faithful & diligent readers of www.psycho-faraday.blogspot.com, please be informed that Rayzor will not be able to post on his blog for about a week or so w.e.f. today. This is not due to the disruption of telco services, or that Rayzor has quit blogging. However, it is due to his physical transition into US and the impending administrative and accomodation matters that may result in the foreseeable inadequate access to internet services. All disappointment and incoveniences are deeply regretted. Your wonderful patience will be kindly rewarded!

In the meantime, the countdown begins for me from now (30th Dec 2006, 1.30am):
4.5 hours to takeoff. (Not my clothes u creepy thing!)
11.5 hours to Tokyo.
More than 24 hours to Minneapolis; then Atlanta!
About 3600 hours till I'm back in Singapore!!! (Ki siao liao...)

The Foo Fighters are one of my favourite bands since I heard rock music, but why did VJ Titanium leave them out time and time again? Well, bcos this is the perfect opportunity to play one of my faves and it's my message to all of u too!

Foo Fighters - Next Year

Goodbye Singapore, hello U.S.A.!!
(actually only willing to part away fr NTU)

FRANTIC!!!

2006-12-29T16:23:00.000+08:00

The adjective is still an understatement from my point of view. Thanks to the works of God creating havoc all around the world, from floods to earthquakes, I was entrenched in a mini tornado of sorts. The whirlwind of preparation even caught my family members as they were also involved in my hectic packing schedule. It came so fast, happened so swiftly and ended in a flash!

Three entire days of setting out to buy stuff, pack them when I return home in the late afternoon and checking at night left me all but ready for the flight! Phew! To think that this is only the pre-quel to my trip simply sends chills (literal and physical) down my spine! Nevertheless, as enthusiasm and apprehension await my arrival, I'll take a breather first before embarking on this once-in-a-lifetime trip!!

My sincere apologies to my friends whom I did not manage to meet up and catch up before I catch my plane! I seek your understanding that I did not manage my time well enough. I did not and will not forget you all, and promise to make an effort to do so once I return! My deepest gratitude once again to my cell/church friends/leaders/pastor for all the concerns and prayers (which I kindly request more!), my IA mates for great lunch & my NTU Materials Eng kakis for the most impromptu and successful outing ever! Finally, as time beckons, I shall enjoy my last dinner (not supper mind u!) of 2006 with my beloved family tonight!

Here's another pop-punk tune that truly caught my ears this 2006!! Rockin' and inspiring!!

All-American Rejects - Move Along

Last few million breaths of Singapore air...

You have not entered a new website! This is still Raymond's blog!!

2006-12-26T23:31:00.000+08:00

Nu-skin!! Credits to my much tech-savvy sista, Pauline, I've revamped my blog with a new template. Haha... New year coming, must have new design mah. Anyway, with encouragement and assistance from Pauline (cos she renovated hers, pls give face & visit hers also hor! thx!), I chose a rockin' blogskin imho to suit both my own style and personality.

Countdown to my US trip finally has its effects as I begin to come to terms with the reality that I'm leaving my comfort zone to a foreign land where I'm considered an alien/minority/watever u call. Anyway, I'm casting all my worries and anxieties to God and is preparing to seize the exciting and cool adventure ahead! Still tying up many loose ends for my packing esp. buying the necessities and making sure things at home are taken care of when I'm away.

It's been raining the whole day but VJ Titanium will lift up the mood with a System Of A Down song. These eccentric artists has conjure up some heavy yet rhythmic and super catchy choruses, "Choy Suey" anyone? Here's another incredibly up-tempo, politically-fuelled frantic offering from them.

System of a Down - B.Y.O.B.

R.I.P. old blog skin!

Marry Christmess!!!

2006-12-25T22:32:00.000+08:00

No, no... I'm not drunk while typing the blog post title. Nor am I bitter at missing out some really cool parties and prezzies; or wanting to rob Jesus of this rightful day of His!

Many thanks to those (u noe who u r!) who wrote me cards that are really reflective, encouraging and edifying. Thanks to my beloved TPY99A carecell NTU peeps for their farewell gift! (A Billabong T-shirt, thx Jon 4 the good taste in design & right size) Thanks esp. to Nigel & Cat for a very appropriate gift!! (An Adidas perfume, erm, or am I that smelly??)

After the typical Christmas celebration service in church (which is in fact my last service b4 I fly off to US), the NTU folks settled for Sizzler @ Toa Payoh to have our lunch. We also had an exciting and enjoyable time at the Entertainment centre as we played at the arcade and ended the day by watching Ben Stiller's A Night At The Museum. A definite must-watch for those who like fantasy, comedy and adventure all rolled into one - like Jumanji kinda movie. For me, it's worth every cent of my ticket stub.

For such a joyous occassion, VJ Titanium will skip the usual slab of metal tracks by introducing a great emo pop-punk band, Weezer! They've been ard for more than a decade and has created some cool songs. Here is one of them and the video is pure genius - courtesy of Jim Henson!!

Weezer and the Muppets - Keep Fishin'

Tired... ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz