I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge >:)

So here I am after more than 2 months of neglecting this place. And I write this entry on the eve of my departure from being a student for the last 12 years of my life, to being a National Serviceman.

It's been a helluva holiday this post-A Level season, I can assure you that. My alcohol tolerance has definitely been undergoing lots of conditioning thanks to the many late nights and sessions at the minibar downstairs with my older brother.

To everyone who's made the last month purely enjoyable, memorable and fun I convey my deepest thanks. Cheers to forging even stronger ties and having more fun times ahead!

I guess right now as I type this, everything feels rather surreal. Going to the army up until now felt like something far far away yet I'm going to enlist in slightly over 12 hours time. On the 3rd of January after waking up at 1230pm (after another night of Mojitos, Margaritas and Whiskey) and realizing that I needn't have to rush off to school really hit the nail on the head and made me realize that I'm leaving the Singapore education behind for good, and embarking into a whole new system altogether.

Perhaps it's the uncertainty of what lies ahead in the next two years which leaves me feeling rather uneasy.

But a life without any challenges wouldn't be a life worth living in the first place. I guess I'm just gonna weather what obstacles and low periods and come out of all this stronger.

I'll miss all my friends while I'm in there but I'll be out in no time :)

So Long and Goodnight.

Such a beauty but Mr 007 had to crash it.
Damn Brits.

Good luck for As everyone!

Remember, be like this guy.



Be a Man with a Plan.

I've been doing alot of soul-searching this week. And to say the least, I feel I've reached a greater synthesis with my own self, my emotions and my existence. Call it an epiphany if you will.

Like I mentioned in my last entry. My moods, my actions and my words have had a largely negative impact on the way others see me and connect with me. This last week, I learnt that the hard way. Perhaps it took someone who really cares for me to say it to my face for me to actually internalize it and truly reflect upon it. Whatever the case, it's working on me. I went for Morning Prayer and prayed the rosary for the first time in about 2 years and though it felt strange at first, it eventually ended in a sense of calm sweeping over me. I've been drifting here and there, foolishly thinking that I'm indestructible, that I'm an impregnable fortress - refusing to properly confide in the people who look out for me and well, in some sense God too. It's pretty jacked but it's getting better.

It's beginning to hit me now, as the days draw closer to the end of my college life in CJC and the impending As that time truly has flown by. It's almost going by too fast. Some of the dudes have got their enlistment letters, a reminder to me that I'm gonna be leaving all these comforts and stuff behind in my journey into adulthood. And in this space of time so much has happened, so many memories both sweet and sour. Since I figure that I probably won't have the luxury of time to write this all down in the coming days/weeks, I just want to formally express myself here so I can clear my conscience and redeem myself.

I would first like to apologise to those who I've put down in any way or so. Verbally especially. I have undoubtedly been an arse to some members in my class which has left some of them (for legitimate reasons) bearing ill feelings towards me. I just want to say that if I have in one way or another made your life in college an unpleasant experience, there was no malice intended. Also, to those who I have wrongfully judged and for this reason choose to be cold or unreceptive to, I apologise.

At the same time, I look back on these two seemingly short years and see two years of my life being enriched by the abundant learning (derived especially from Student Council) and the many friendships that I've forged along the way. I can't put down in words how much my friends mean to me. I mean, like Mrs Sng said one day in class: "The measure of a man can be seen from the friends he makes." She said something along those lines but I'm making it sound cooler haha. In any case, I can safely say that I'm proud to be acknowledge as a friend by those whom I'm close to. And to all of you: Who I am today can be attributed to those who've been there for me through thick and thin. And for that I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

And to the one who loves Paus and all other things edible (haha don't hit me!) : Getting to know you has been one of the highlights of the last year and a half. I'm truly sorry for my erratic behaviour of late and just want to say that jocelynchanming,
you light up my life! :)

The end of the road is near my friends! Keep working hard and playing harder! And while you're at it own some Cambridge A Level ass!

Ah yes, since I'm here, these are the details of our CJC Post-Prom Party. Do have a good read! It's organised by a great friend of mine and it'll be awesome. Get em' Yang!

CJC Post-Prom Party at DXO - Exquisite
Organised By Mark Yang and proudly presented
by Lifestylebash.

Exquisite, the party that marks the end of 2 years
of slogging and typical school suffering that will
finally end with the end of the A levels, get ready to
experience the greatest ever release at the party.

Date: 30th November 2006

Venue: DXO

Entertainment:

- CJC's very own band, The Sexies, who will no
doubt make you shake your you-know-what with
their groovy numbers and a classic rock hit that
you can't help but go crazy and sing along to:
Highway to Hell.

- Elsa Lim, already hailed by some as comparable
to international stars Avril Lavigne and Paramore,
will also be performing her hit song "Drift" and
others that you'll be talking about for months
afterward.

- Saw Wei Jie and Graham Lim, well known and
well loved poppers within CJC, will be
performing one after the other to kick off the R&B
festivities and get your adrenaline pumping for the
rest of the night.

Things to expect:

- There will also be a Dance-off, where the winner
will walk away with a free bottle of Absolut Vodka
and a reserved table where his/her friends can chill
and enjoy the rest of the night in exclusive comfort.

- There will be a lucky draw held with attractive
prizes to be won, don't miss it!

- Look out for lightsticks and other random
paraphernalia coming your way during the party!

Drinks:

Chivas Regal Bottles going at $140 each

1 for 1 from 1am to 3am

Martinis 1 for 1 all night long!

For tickets contact: Jared 81820007


Okay then, I guess it's back to work for me. Goodnight world.

"Lest soon we be thrown through those burning gates ; the very first lambs to the slaughter."
~ John Milton (Paradise Lost)

It's been a whirlwind this last fortnight.

So the Prelims came and went (though it really didn't feel like it while immersed in the cyclical repetitions of wake-exam-night study- sleep), and well, I gave it my all. No regrets. Nada.

The cooking party at my place on the 23rd of this month was something great and I had a blast! The pictures on Chuckles' weblog say it all. And yes, I should think about expanding my cooking beyond simply pastas and all things Italian. Thanks for the company everyone! It was smashing and I wouldn't have traded that evening for anything in the world.

I've got to make a conscious effort to not let the little things in life piss me off so much. At the very least, I shouldn't show it so much. I'm like a mimosa of some sorts, one touch, one little incident as trivial as stubbing my toe or something silly like that results in me getting all angry over it. The more I think of it the more I feel it's freaking stupid how I'm so damn reactive. And the worst part of it is that it affects the people I care about, my friends and family, who struggle to find out what's wrong but I shrug it off with an "I'm tired" or "I dunno". Most times I really don't know! And it frustrates the hell out of me. Like today, when I woke up and felt messed up, lethargic and ultimately annoyed. At what? Heaven knows! We all have an area in our life that each of us lacks and needs making up for or improvement in, for me it's taking the things life throws at me with a pinch of salt and laugh it off. I guess we can't be like Ernest Hemmingway and only think about the booze, the escape and in the process plunge into a tirade of sorrow forever.

Things will pick up, because I say so.

Check it out, Thailand experienced a coup once again. Bloodless nonetheless, like it's always been since it's creation during colonial times as an independent entity. I've always wondered how the Thais did it. I mean, they existed in a region characterized by Western colonialism, and didn't succumb to the rule of the Japanese. With regards to this point I think the Thais were smart. Smart in their concessionary measures granted to the West, decisive and freedom-conscious in their approach with the Japanese (allowing the use of its country as an airbase in exchange for continued political autonomy).

A side piece of trivia that I picked up during a GP presentation some time back: "The most impolite action one can do to a Thai is point your foot in his or her face." Haha, so next time you want to get yourself beaten into a pulp in a den of muay thai boxers, you don't have to go so far as to insult their mothers.

Anyway, back to Thai coups. Judging from the timing of the coup, I personally think it smacks of conspiracy. Sure, it was conducted almost the same day as the departure of Prime Minister Thaksin to the UN General Assembly Meetings. But I think it was instigated to preserve PM Thaksin's political dignity. Think about it, the Shin Corp incident, the growing dissension amidst the Southern Thai rebels. But that's what makes Thai politics so interesting, the transitory period in the succession of rulers was so swift and at such blistering pace that there was hardly any backlash from the political events. Truly remarkable.

There's more that I want to talk about but time is not on my side. It's back to work for now.

"Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing."

Yeap. Couldn't agree more Mr Durden.

The finishing line is nearing, everyone is scrambling for an advantage. But at what costs?

The finishing line referring to that of the race towards the Prelim examinations and the impending A Levels.

I see all this panicking in people and I wonder why the need to work oneself to such a state of panic and anxiety.

Sure, it's a critical point in your life. It is, as the ever-twitching-jerk-it-out math H.O.D reminded us a month ago, THE turning point/watershed (too much SEAsin History right there) in our lives.

Yes I agree.

But then again, would exuding bucketloads of paranoia and anxiousness really slap your cookie-dough ass into tip-top shape?

We all aim to own stuff. Own in the sense of coveting something, internalising it and calling it your own. Something under your belt. An achievement. An accolade. A sense of euphoria.

It's like those possessed people who sit in front of a screen and kill the sh*t out of noobs and derive the simple, and most primal joy of kicking someone else's ass. Yeah yeah I'm no exception to this particular point but if you don't manifest this quality in any other way, I say you're lying-liar, lying-ful, man. Wooo! Incoherence! I hope someone quotes from Sartre and jacks me about this haha. It'll wake my comment board up from its slumber.



That's a picture of Sartre by the way. What the hell was that dude doing man? Look at his eyes! He reminds me of this one fella that some of my friends might know whose path I crossed in Chiang Rai last year haha. No wonder Sartre was so cool. He could read two books at once. Damn, I gotta learn that. Maybe that's what a goldfish sees everyday haha.




Not to mention he's got really bad teeth hahaha.

Talk about the apt brush upon the topic of the "Primitive" when the personification of it in Mrs Sng gave us an insightful lecture on it this morning in relation to Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

In any case, I think the phrase "what goes around comes around" and the idea of Karma isn't as hippie as alot of poeple make it out to be. I mean, generally if you do good things, it starts off a cycle of good things that may not necessarily be bestowed upon you, but good things happen in general. Stuff that YOU can be in control of that is. Sh*t like Hurricane Katrina still will happen even if everyone ran around semi-naked like Gandhi or had the sanctity of Mother Teresa.

I guess I've come to the realization that I for one have to take stock of my actions and what I say. Somewhere down the line, the things I say or do can and might just come round one day and bite me dead-centre in my arse.

And that, is not in any way pleasant.

So monster-kills, holy-sh*ts and killing sprees aside, I leave you with more words of wisdom from Tyler Durden from only the best movie in the whole world, Fight Club.

"The Things You OWN, End Up Owning YOU!"

Whoopee-do. I'm finally 18!

Had a marvelous weekend and an awesome birthday party. Thanks mom and dad.

Anyhow, here're some photos of the evening courtesy of Chuckles and JocelynChanMing.



HooHa Cafe. Good food,good fun.



The place was cosy and all but too bad the damn air-conditioning had to break down 10 minutes after I got there, effectively turning the place into a sauna.

Nonetheless, the night was filled with entertainment. From the musically inclined individuals.....



Brendanxxx Mokxzxz, Wen Seng and Xiao' An



Xiao' An and Natasha-Quek-Sok-Cheng playing and singing "Fly Me To The Moon"



And how can I forget Jerm with his Saxophone. You da man so SEXAYYY Jerm. haha. Chick-meter was off the charts that night man!



We also had our fair share of Lame-age and bad-effort stand-up thanks to Claudio (who's not in the picture), Charles and Graham. I still love you guys haha.

And now on to more random photos from the night.



Yang, Gabe and Christian? (wtf man?). Guess he's always been in touch with his feminine side haha.



The SJI table. Hail Hail Alma Mater!



See no evil, speak no evil, HEAR no evil (no sh*t man CHUCKLES) hahaha.





Shiny Happy People




Bren's face pretty much sums it all up, Chuckles. haha.



You'll NEVER be taller than me. NEVER muahaha!



Mark Chia and myself = Don't Go there please....



ARGH ZOMFG! Ness transformed me into a Paul Twohill minus the hair! AHHH....




Birthday cake with "Happy Birthday JARIED" on it. Mmmm...Oreo Cheesecake.

And well, saving best for last!




:D (she owes the poker people 45 pushups by the way haha)


That took a while.

In any case, I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to all those who made my 18th extra special with all the effort and gifts and most importantly the wonderful company!

Take care everyone. Till next time!

Peace.

Haha! I see my last entry has sparked off some sort of discourse over "absolutes" and what not.

I never imagined my comments page would be so interesting!

In any case, I've said my piece and I'm moving on with a clear conscience.

And besides the only thing "absolute" to adhere to is this



Fuh. hahaha.

And yes, I know it's ABSOLUT without the "E" just like it's "Sartre" and not "Satre" - thanks for that Mr Extra-Anonymous guy. Then again, I still think Vodka sucks-ass. Majorly.

Oh well. There goes your ideological and political discourse. Out the window.

Till more updates my friends!

Good Night, and Good Luck! (For the Mocks and Prelims of course)

Hello world. I apologise for not updating in the span of the last 20-something days and leaving the few people who come back to this little trench of mine with the not so glamourous pictures of Ballack the Horse and his compatriots.

Whoa. This month has been a whirl of activity. Here's just a quick glance and what's been going on in my life.

My final National Swimming Championships have come and gone. A 4th placed finish in the 50m Freestyle was the highlight but even better was CJ's 4x50m Medley relay. I'd like to thank the team and all those who came to support us. It really meant alot. As sadistic as this may sound, I'm going to miss the good old days of waking up at 545, heading down to the pool and busting my ass off and training again from 4 to 7 in the afternoons. I'll never forget those golden moments at the Asean Cup in KL and Jakarta, the late night running around in hotel rooms and owning at the competitions. Good laughs, good times. Sometimes I wonder what I'd be without swimming. Undoubtedly, I've learnt so much in the last 12+ years of competitive swimming. From my fledgling years till now, I've met so many people and trained under different coaches, each with their own personal styles and flair and encouraging words. Adam Luscombe in Australia who awakened my passion for the backstroke while I trained in Melbourne in December 1999 and Chen Jian Bo, the crazy-assed foul mouth Beijing coach of mine who pushed me so hard with those 1500m resistance sets and 200m butterflys. I reckon I've become alot stronger mentally throughout this whole experience. The mental preparation and meditation methods taught by that Aussie sports psychologist and the course I took in learning some self-help physio. I've been through alot. Were those 5k sets stretching 2 and a half hours worth it? They sure as hell were.


Last week also saw the end of an era. The stepping down of the 31st Student Council. Many looked upon my joining of the student council last year with skepticism and some even asked me if I was mad. Perhaps I was. The long hours of meetings upon meetings and General Meetings that went round in circles. However, these minor grievances paled in comparison to how far we've come and how much we have achieved. In fact, I can say with full confidence that I've acquired skills in working in a tight bureaucracy that could match some Russian bugger working in the former CPSU. In a good way of course. Personally, as I was filling out my council workform, it struck me at the number of events that I had helped planned either at the helm or in a sub-committee be it the organising committee of Arts Week or even Carpark Duty for Careers Day last year. More importantly to me were the friendships and bonds forged with my fellow councillors and the insane stuff we used to embroil ourselves in. From wrestling in the council room to making crowd appealing announcements, I've been fortunate enough to have participated in em all. There's so much more I want to say but time is unfortunately on my side. I just want to extend my thanks, appreciation to all of you. It's been one helluva blast!





hahahaha.

Now that I've stepped down from Swimming and Student Council, it's time to focus on what matters most. The A levels and the impending Prelims. I remember mentioning this in a previous entry about the goalessness, cynicism and plain annoyance of some of my classmates. I know it's wrong for me to get angry over it and I should learn some "Zen" but it's really getting on my nerves. Here we have two dudes whose only motivation in coming to school is to play bridge and be "sian-ed". Sure, it's their prerogative whatever the hell they want to do with their lives but here-in lies the problem: they proclaim their disdain for all things to do with contributing postively to the class environment, reducing morale and dampening class spirit at the same time. It really doesn't help that they're disruptive, loud-mouthed and presumptuous during lesson time. At the same time, they still have the audacity to scoff at the efforts of those in college who willingly put their entire being in representing the school in competitions just because they don't come back with a nice shiny medal. Excuse me, but what gives you the right to look down upon someone who stuck his or her neck out for the pride of the school, hell you could be the world's best in your sport and it still won't give you the damn right. What have YOU done to contribute to the college besides sitting behind the counter in the Co-op (heck, if you even turned up for your blasted CCA in the first place)? But hey, it's almost the end of the school year and my academic life in CJC. I really don't wish to have my enriched college life be dampened by the defeatist and down-right self-centredness of such individuals. I do believe that in the same people lies alot of positive qualities. If only they embraced them and used them for some good instead of keeping them suppressed and taking the simpler way out of everything by just being cynical bastards. Perhaps this just struck a raw nerve with me. I'm more pissed with the attitudes behind it all. So much for not being lamentatious. I'm working on it, trust me. Had to let it out some time or another.

In any case, it's time to rejoice! National Day is fast approaching! woo-hoo!
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Who the !@#% am I kidding. haha.

Well, hopefully I'll have the opportunity to update again with less bleak stuff to write about.

I'm out.
Peace.

Hey everyone, today I'm gonna try something different. I'm sure most of you have played the easy non-intellectually challenging game of spot the difference (I say most because there are some really deprived people out there, one can't make sweeping statements now can we). So here goes....


Ladies and gentleman, here we have the Dutch "goal-scoring machine", Ruud Van Nistelrooy



Up next, we have Mr Gary Neville.



And last but no the least (and this one is dedicated to Chuckles), Mr "I-Am-German-And-Pwn-Your-A$$" Michael Ballack.



Now, this may earn me some enemies (but who gives a damn, soccer hooligans...) but check this out. Don't you reckon these 3 dashing dudes have a strange resemblance to Seabiscuit over here ------>

I KNOW I KNOW! I'd be damned!

Guess the World Cup "fever" hasn't spared me either. L O L.

G'day world.

The exams are upon us. Okay for me at least. I can see those RJ and AC basta*ds gloating at me. We'll see who's gonna laugh last, chums.

Anyway.

This is a story about a boy.

Who one day had to go to a friend's birthday party.

The friend's party required the boy to be somewhat dressed up (though he didn't put in much effort at the very end for the lack of time).

Whilst at the party, something unfortunate happened to his immaculate shoes which had served him well for the last 2 years.



Jack.

Desperately, the boy tried his very best to fix his shoes.

Unfortunately, to no avail. So he did the unthinkable and EMO-ed at the side for a while.

Thankfully, the boy soon found solace, comfort and refuge at the loss of his sole (no pun intended) in his ever endearing friends.

The mood was eventually lifted and the boy forgot about his shoe woes and well, became happier. Than normal.

But what the heck, it rubbed off on the rest so all was well and it ended well. Especially for the dude in the middle with his legs spread wide hahaha.


~THE END~