Ikea hot dogs are love

Man I am addicted to Ikea hot dogs. They're yum. It's so convenient to have a huge Ikea store in your neighbourhood. Me likes!

Idol Gives Back

Was watching American Idol : Idols Give Back on Star World. I like the concept of making it a Charity event instead of the usual Idol Perform Idol Eliminated shows. It was touching to hear Ellen Degenres announce in the middle of the show that so far from all the incoming calls they raised US$30 million.

I felt touched by the videos they showed where Ryan and Simon went to visit families in Africa, all of them have at least one member who is HIV positive. Then another video showed how many African children die from Malaria every day. It was really touching and it made me all mellow and emotional. I really hope these people can find their salvation at the hands of the international community. I mean we focus so much on combatting terrorism and corruption but we fail to see that AIDS, MALARIA, HUNGER and POVERTY are so much worse. They're more dangerous and they consume more lives everyday than all the terrorist organizations put together. Maybe I am exaggerating but you get the idea right?

Anyway this particular performance by Josh Groban with African kids really touched my heart. I have always loved the song You Raise Me Up but this was just...this left me speechless.

Dark Throne

Damn Dark Throne is addictive. Just what I needed to shatter my concentration in preparation for the A levels.

This post serves as a testament to my dear friend's stupidity :)

Some people are just born stupid. And this certain person (of course I don't need to be implicit, most of them know who it is) is a testament to just how stupid a person can be. Lol. Its funny sometimes how these idiots can come up with 101 reasons to hate you. Kind of explains their stupidity. I mean we all learn Econs and we all know TIME is our biggest scarcity and you'd think these people would find a better way to utilize their time than trying to find reasons to hate people. Tsk tsk. Anyway, our sentiments are mutual. Actually I disgrace myself by saying that because I cannot just believe I wasted 1 second of my precious life to think about that person then another second to hate that person and another 1 more second to actually type it out here. That's 3 seconds worth of my life gone. Oh my God. *shrieking laughter* Hint hint.

I am bored. Waiting for Ms Aminah's lesson to start. Should be fantastic (yes I am NOT being sarcastic). I mean she is funny and on Saturday we found out she has a sentimental side to her. Stop laughing! And there's this Daryl (De La Crap according to Salem's blog) who's playing some shitass game called Dark Throne and constantly accusing Ryan. Grow up Daryl. Haha.

Midsummer Night's Phantom Opera. Makes sense?

New post again. Lol.


Dad got us tickets to







It rocks to have a father like him. The benefits are countless. Business Times rocks! He rocks! Wheee!

On a random note: I did not know that Luis Figo is actually still with Inter Milan and not some stupid shit ass Arabic club he was rumoured to have signed for. Yay!

G.R.E.Y

Do I feel like we deserved better? Yes. Maybe not Gold with honours but definitely Gold. The way they were giving out GWH, we were so sure that we'll get a Gold. I mean VJ got a gold and their performance was not as good as ours. The only thing we could hear from their performance was their precussionists. Hello? This is central judging for GUITAR not precussionists! That was annoying.

It took a while to sink in. After the results, I saw everyone tried to keep a straight face, remain as stoic as possible so as to conceal the vulnerability and the tears that threatened to pour. We gave it our best but alas we were not rewarded accordingly.

Now there is no point crying over this as they will not change their decision. The only thing we can all do is look ahead to the future. Towards our A levels. And 20 years into the future when we reflect back on our SYF 2007, at least we can smile and feel proud of the closeness between everyone in G.R.E.Y. We are like a big family, everyone gets along even though there are instances of awkwardness or a bit of quarrel. But that's normal.

Do I regret being part of the SYF team? Do I regret sacrificing my lesson time and other free time to join the SYF team? Hell no! I feel damn proud of our Ensemble and even though the judges failed to recognize us for who we are, we sure did. We all know we played as good as any of the teams that got Gold. Yeah so what if our Ensemble is only 28 strong compared to other school's 50 strong? We are one close-knit group and I hope in the future our juniors can emulate our success and strive further to get a Gold or Gold with Honours to show everyone that you do not need to be a top five filthy rich school to get the recognition you deserve for your talent.

I am going to miss guitar. It's ironic to say because prior to SYF when the stress was overwhelming I actually regretted joining guitar. I felt I made a mistake. Now as I am thinking about it, I am realizing that no, guitar was not a mistake. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I made new friends, I continued my hobby, I learnt how to play the guitar properly and I had a few laughs and tears along the way but it was all worth it. I will cherish this memory for the rest of my life. G.R.E.Y really changed my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

God of all things?

This is the second time I'm updating this blog. Wonder of wonder. I guess I have a few things to say, to get them off my chest and I don't think they're that personal so I guess typing it out here is safe. I was just talking to Luis, yeah the same guy whom I have known for a long time, when I was this lonely new kid in UWC. Talking to him always cheers me up because despite being completely tactless most of the time, he can say the right things to cheer me up.

I was just telling him how I miss those days in Kindergarten when we can just be who we are without people making snide comments about your appearence, your hairstyle, your looks, the type of accessories you own, the friends you keep and everything else. I miss those days when we can roam around happily and freely without having to worry about what kind of image you are actually portraying to others about yourself.

But now, people judge us by the first impression and if you make a wrong first impression, no one is going to bother to even find out if that is really you. They won't care to know who you really are, they'll just black list you based on the first impression you made on them. No matter how hard you try, they'll still stare at you, smirk at you and vaguely attempt to be polite when you are around, most of the time not really caring whether their remarks hurt your feelings or not. I realized people are so much more artificial and superficial when they grow up. Where did all our innocence go?

Where are those happy go lucky little babies that we were in Kindergarten, loving and caring for everyone. Telling God to keep them safe in our daily prayer before bed? Did those innocent things fade away just like that? Did they disappear from the face of the world?

Luis gave me a valuable advice which he gave me long ago. He told me, there is only one person in the world who'll always be true to you, be loyal to you, will lend you a shoulder to cry on, will cheer for you, point out your mistakes, love you and care for you. And that person is yourself. Because you can never lie to yourself. You cannot betray yourself. You are the only one who knows what you are going through and you are the only one who can provide the support that you need. You are the only one who can love yourself for who you are. The rest of the people, we meet and interact with daily?

Some are good. Some genuinely wishes you well. Thinks of you in their prayers. But the hard part is to discern between them and the overwhelming number of artificial pseudo friends that swarm around you, waiting to take advantage of you then leave you down on the floor bleeding. Then Luis asked me if I believed in God. I said no. He said something simple. He told me, most of us believe in God because we want something to hold on to. We want something that will help us cope with this superficiality in society. We all think God is benovelent, fair and just. We all turn to him, our faith in him, to escape this superficial nature of people around us. We are suspicious of everyone we meet, thinking constantly whether this new "friend" is indeed a friend or a foe. We live under constant suspicion because we know if we trust one wrong person, he or she can ruin you for life. We are all vulnerable to competition. I guess our generation is getting the full blast of the notion "Survival of the fittest". In a mad rush to become the fittest, we lose our ability to trust.

We should not be blamed for it, in fact circumstances made us this way. How can you be sure that the friend you helped today with integrity will not stab you in the back tomorrow to gain his or her own benefits? This kind of thing is not unheard of. It had happened to people before and as we experience how it feels vicariously through our friends. So Luis thinks that's why we turn to God because religion teaches us about God's perfection. Turning to God, reminds us there is still justice left in the world. That when the whole world is against you, it reminds you God will be there to help you cross your hurdles.

I admire Luis's sentiments but I remain agnostic. I cannot accept God's existance because if he was indeed the benevolent, just and fair diety that we worship, the world would be a different place. When I look around me, all I see is sorrow. I see people pretending to be someone who they are not just to fit in. Why? Because they are afraid. They are afraid that they may not be fit enough to survive in our world anymore. They are afraid they'll be villified and ridiculed for being imperfect. Where is the justice in that?

Symposium...

I just returned from VJC. Went there for the Symposium. I think we did well, just anxiously awaiting to know if we did well enough to get through to the finals. I mean we kept our presentation simple and yet we were able to convey our message to the judges (I think). We stumbled upon IJC's presentation while waiting in the holding room and they used 1001 economics jargons like Injections, Withdrawals, Multiplier Effect, Aggregate Expenditure and more. I mean I wonder how they faired, especially since few of the student judges were not Econs student. I think.

I like our presentation because we kept it simple. Even some without any Econs background would be able to comprehend what we are trying to say.

While coming back from Symposium, I was thinking about it in the cab. I realized in less than 2 weeks how 3 completely different people came together, discussed up a presentation, spent hours in school trying to perfect it and yet managed to have a lot of fun in the process. Before the Symposium I knew who Kemp and Mus were but I only knew them by face. I didnot know what kind of people they were, their personalities or character. But now I know a lot more about them and we have become good friends now. I guess facilitating this smooth transition between 3 strangers was Mr. Syn, who did not mind at all staying back with us as late as 9 pm, helping us with the presentation. We actually had to be chased out of the school by the school attendent. Lol. He stuck with us for the past 2 weeks and if we do get through to the finals, it'll be a tribute to his dedication, commitment and also his patience in putting up with us. He's a real cool guy and I found out he actually went to the Mosaic Music Festival to watch Rachael Yamagata. Lol!

How unfair! Everyone I know who knows and has heard of her went to watch her perform. Now I feel so left out. Anyway Guitar SYF tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a Gold with Honours or at least a Gold. After that I want to distance myself from the dirty politics going on in Guitar. I hate it. But it did help me to recognize who my true friends are and also allowed me to see the true character of some people whom I used to care for a lot. Oh well...

I was just having a chat with this old friend of mine, Ivan from UWCSEA. He was talking about how stressful his life is, especially with the IB around the corner. He was telling me that for the past 5 months he had no social life, no rest, no relaxation and even he gave up his jamming session with his band. Actually before he told me all of this, I messaged to him, complaining about how stressful my life is. Lol. Let's see, Common Test 2 just ended, Common Test 3 is in May. SAT is in June. Prelim is in August. A levels in November. Phew! Means mug mug mug. I better get on with it. I cannot afford to screw this up. If I do, I must learn how to use a broom cuz that's what I'll end up doing. *mugs*