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Name: Ben

+ves: Nice, Helpful, Sometimes cute, Romantic(?), Cheerful, Positive, Intellectual, Smart in some ways, Great at writing, Proficient in English, A bit techy, A bit of a risk taker, Quite playful

-ves: Not handsome, Geeky, Sometimes irritating, Doesn't talk much, A bit cuckoo, Volatile, Dumb in some ways, Holds some grudges, Extremely lazy, Think and worry too much, Bit of a saddo really

If you agree with the above, or even if you agree to disagree, do let me know. Comments on a virtual postcard here please.

Wants
~~A new, better computer~~
~~And a better mouse~~
~~And a printer~~
~~A better handphone~~
~~Some decent clothes (like jeans and shoes)~~
~~Bookshelf~~
~~CD Rack~~
Small LCD TV
Peanut butter
New spectacles
My own car
Actually, lots of cars
Lots of freedom
~~And lots of money~~
To be more organised
To migrate
Happiness
Maybe, you...

Migration hitlist
USA
Honolulu, Hawaii
San Diego, California
Los Angeles, California
San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
Chicago, Illinois
~~Boston, Massachusetts~~
New York City, New York
~~Washington, D.C~~
Miami, Florida
Others
Perth, Australia
~~Tokyo, Japan~~
London, UK
Munich, Germany

Song playing: None

Monday, August 30, 2004
6:54 PM

Why I Don't Talk (Again)

Back by popular demand...

A lot of my friends, especially those from poly, has asked me why I hardly talk. The reason is simple. I don't want to look like an idiot, or worst still, piss people off. Already somebody is not talking to me, probably because of something I said. Even till now, I still do not know what I said or did to make the person angry, but well...

The thing is, I have been trained to think before I talk, so as not to say something wrong, hurtful or offensive (Primary school friends, you are responsible for this). If I don't think before talking, chances are, I will say something stupid or even worse, make somebody angry. Therefore, most of the time, I think very hard before opening my mouth, going "Will I offend anyone if I say this? Will I come across as a stupid idiot?" By the time I have made my decision, the topic has changed and I have to think again about what to say. So most of the time, I just keep my mouth shut.

Of course, I wouldn't like to live like this. But then again, prevention is better than cure. I know how powerful words can be and how one slip of the tongue can cause irreparable damage to relations, as I've experienced it more than once in my life. I'm still trying my best to open up, but my friends must instill confidence in me too. They must show that they don't mind my occasional slip and are willing to forgive some errors that I may make when talking. That would be a fair trade off in exchange for a more open and talkative Ben. Thanks for reading this. Much appreciated.

Saturday, August 28, 2004
3:45 PM

Of Marriage And Children

After days of nonsense, I think it's time to write something serious on my blog, so here's something which regards my future.

When it comes to finding my perfect partner, well, I believe in fate, that is, there is someone out there for me. However, if I really have to choose, my criteria is simple. For me, looks do not matter, simply because I'm no Ben Affleck myself. The most important thing to me is that she should be well-mannered, because what's the point of having a drop dead gorgeous girlfriend if she screams at you everyday? She should also treat me well. If she meets both points, then she should be eligible. The rest, we'll shall wait and see.

In terms of marriage, I will only commit if I'm very sure that she is the right one. Because I believe marriage is not something to be played with and you should not divorce just because you realised that she's not the right one. Divorce is not a good thing and it should only be used as a last resort, that is, if you really cannot get along. Therefore, make really sure before you commit.

As for children, I would prefer not to have any, because I have first hand experience of raising my little brother and it was hell. If I really must have children, then I would like to have a girl, because I believe girls would be better-behaved and give less trouble than boys. I know this because I've seen how stressful it has been for my mother to raise three boys and I certainly don't want to experience that. And I would only have one, because I know I can only cope with one. I already can't handle my little brother, so I can't imagine more than one of him. Therefore, for me, it's one girl or none at all when it comes to children.

Now that I aired my thoughts about my future, I would really appreciate it if you would leave your comments. Follow the instructions on the top header (the line below "BeN") and leave your thoughts. Thank you for your time. Much appreciated.

Thursday, August 26, 2004
6:09 PM

Reunion

7.30 am - Jerome sent me an SMS from out of the blue, which went something like "I'm going to Semb Sec today at 1.30. U wanna come?" I replied that I would confirm with him later. Fancy messaging me at such an hour!

9.30 am - Midway through Maths lecture, Jerome SMSed me again (Thankfully I had put my phone on silent mode) "How?" he wrote. I duly informed him that I was in Maths lecture and would inform him again when the lecture ends at 11.

10.30 am - Almost finished, Jerome asked me "When does your lesson end?" I told him it was ending soon and I would message him again afterwards.

11 am - Lesson over. I informed him that I would probably be going. After which I tried to inform as many people as I could about this "reunion". Most people replied that they could not make it because of their schedule, with only one or two agreeing.

11.30 am - Went to Food Junction with poly friends for lunch. While I was placing my order, Ken called and he asked me to help him buy McDonald's for lunch and he would pay me back later. I agreed, since McDonald's was just opposite FJ and it's cheaper than outside too.

12 noon - Almost finished my lunch when Zhong Da called. He asked: "Where're u now? I'll come look for you." I told him FJ and informed him that I was leaving soon. He agreed to wait outside for me, since he too was going back to Sembawang. With that I bade farewell to my poly friends and went off to look for him. We went to McDonald's to buy Ken's lunch and met Jerome there too. After which, we set off for Sembawang.

12.30 pm - We reached Sembawang, and met up with Ken and passed him his lunch. We sat down and had a good talk and catch up session. We found out that he was working in the school to pass the time as he awaits his enlistment to the army. We exchanged stories before he went back to his work and we waited for the others.

1.30pm - We saw and spoke to a few of our old teachers that had taught us previously. Soon after, the next two arrived, Dennis and Hui Jun. Once again, we sat down and swapped stories as Ken came out again to join us. A couple of teachers saw us and decided to join us. We all had a good chat as we waited for more to arrive.

4pm - We saw our ex-English teacher and asked her to join us for a chat. By which time a couple more friends had arrived and the group was getting noticeably bigger. All of us gathered around and pretty much enjoyed ourselves as we told each other about our lives so far. About half an hour later, we decided to take a photo as a sort of memento and we bade farewell to our teachers as we left the school. We decided to go to McDonald's at Sun Plaza for some of them to have dinner. We continued our catch-up session there.

5pm - We saw Wei Cong walked past McDonald's and called him to join us. After another round of chatting, some of us decided to set off for home. So we said Good Bye and went our separate ways. We promised to keep in contact and probably hold such meetings often.

P.S. I received this from Blogger Support today. "If you have your comments set to allow anyone to comment, non-Blogger users can leave comments by clicking on the 'or post anonymously' link"
Which is a little silly because they said that "ANYONE from the Web" can post a comment. Oh well, it's better than nothing. So now you know what to do if you want to post a comment. Do leave your name, so I can identify you. Thanks again for visiting.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004
5:29 PM

So stressed... (Part 2)

Far too stressed and tired to write today, so I offer my apologies. Sorry.

Excuse me while I go scream...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And one more thing. For those who complained about not being able to comment on my blog, I have reported the matter to Blogspot Help Support and they are looking into the problem. Hopefully they would fix it soon and I'll be able to read all your comments!

Tuesday, August 24, 2004
6:54 PM

So stressed and tired!

Another long day comes to an end, at last. Totally stressed out man, with common tests in two weeks time and tons of projects unfinished. Next week is our break, but even then my schedule is fairly packed too. Anyway here's what happened today.

We started out with DMD e-learning. Really boring, so I did the e-quiz we were supposed to do anyway. Finished it quickly so I did it again. (You could tell how bored I was) After that visited the discussion forum which was starting to get rather interesting. I won't go into details here. Those who know about it know and those who don't don't.

Then lunch. We decided to go to McDonald's even though it was still breakfast(10am). Some of us bought breakfast stuff anyway but Huang wanted to wait for the lunch menu which comes on at 11am. So we ate and he waited. He went to the counter several times to ask if he could order lunch stuff but he came back empty 4 times. Oh well...

Then it was EF lesson. We got our practical test results back and almost half the class got As. Even Eugene Ho who messed up his practical got A! Incredible! I got a D, which was barely pass, because I forgot how to measure current. Damn! Must do better next time.

Then it was DMD practical. Imagine our surprise when we realised that Khoo was conducting the lesson as Mrs. Evangeline "Mother By" Chen was absent. Damn that Khoo. He thinks he's funny when he's actually not. We had to do sound mixing which was boring (as it is always when Khoo is around). Thankfully we finished it in double quick time, even though my sound was a mixture of birds and frogs (Don't ask...).

After that we went to McDonald's (again) for some of them to have dinner. Really sian. Saw a notice at Splash & Decker (between McD and Gecko) asking for part time workers, so I asked my friend whether he wanted it or not. He asked me to enquire about the job, so I will do it tomorrow. Then went home and started writing this blog, which you probably think must be interesting since you have read until here. If you found it boring you would have stopped reading long ago. I feel really tired today. Hopefully a good rest tonight revitalises me for tomorrow. Until then, Zai Jian!

Sunday, August 22, 2004
10:29 AM

ARRGGHHH!

This is driving me crazy. Why can't people post a comment on my posts? What is wrong with this freakin' blog!? I already set the "Who Can Post" setting to "Anyone" yet people keep telling me that it requires a password to post a comment. Why? Can anybody help me before I go mad?!

Saturday, August 21, 2004
6:10 PM

So close to a medal!

Just watched the table tennis semi final featuring Singapore. Boy was it exciting. We were SO damn close to getting into the final and thus a medal. The last game was super exciting. The players kept exchanging points, 1 point at a time. We were 2 points away from winning when we cracked under pressure and lost the game. Damn! Looks like Singapore aren't fated to win a medal at the Olympics after all. We just can't handle the pressure. Let's hope we do better next time.

Thursday, August 19, 2004
5:17 PM

Yoda!

Me Picture of!

Hi! Yoda this is. Yoda visit Singapore recently and picked up new language!

Song Bo - Like to play tricks on people Yoda. After trick, then Song Bo!

Kunji Munji - Use this to scold people Yoda. Example: Kunji Munji you! Why you lose my light saber?!

Chee Bai - Oooh, vulgar! Darth Vader is a Chee Bai!

OK. Must go back to Naboo now Yoda. But worries no! Yoda back soon with more language from Singapore! Go away don't you!

Wednesday, August 18, 2004
8:04 AM

Sing Along!

Some lyrics from some songs...

What Good Is A Heart - Code Red (1999)

(If you have never heard of this song, I suggest you go look it up)

Chorus:

What good is a heart, if you're not gonna use it

What good is a love, if you're too scared to choose it

If your heart is beating, then it's for a reason

If you're not even willing to try

What good is a heart

So touching. Haha.

Vindicated - Dashboard Confessional (what a silly name)

Vindicated

I am selfish, I am wrong

I am right, I swear I'm right

Swear I knew it all along...........

Can't be bothered with rest of song

And now, for some fun stuff......

She Bangs - William Hung

Talk to me, tell me your name........................

(OK lah, I forgot the words)

She bangs, she bangs, Oh Baby

And she moves, she moves, I go crazy

And she looks like a flower but she stings like a bee

Like every girl in history

And those famous quotes:

"I have no professional training in sing-ging"

"I have already tried my best"

"I have no regrets at all"

Imagine what that would sound like if it went through sound editing....

Here's a local favourite......

SARvivor Rap - Phua Chu Kang (2003)

Some say leh, some say lah

PCK is here to fight SARS

Everybody, we have a part to play

To help fight SARS at the end of the day!

PCK say "Don't play play"

Or this stupid SARS is here to stay

But we can fight this you and me

Help fight SARS in our country!

Some classics from Jay Chou.......(translated, of course)

"Hoo Hoo Ha Hee"

"1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. I call you father, you beat my mother?! Is this right?!"

What do you think? Any more suggestions? Comment here

And, before I go.....

(To the tune of Old McDonald's Had A Farm)

Old McCowell had a song

Ee Ei Ee Ei Oh

And on his song he had Will Hung

Ee Ei Ee Ei Oh

With a Bang Bang here

And a Bang Bang there

Here Bang, there Bang

Everywhere Bang Bang

Old McCowell had a song

Ee Ei Ee Ei Oh

Have a nice day!

Tuesday, August 17, 2004
8:05 PM

Tired but fun!

What a day! It started out OK enough, although was a bit tired in the morning despite only having to come to school at 9am, 1 hour later than normal. First lesson was Digital Media and Design e-Learning, which was boring so we shall skip to lunch.

We pondered for a while before deciding to eat at the North Canteen, which was way over at the other end of campus. We had 2 hours anyway so it didn't matter. After lunch, we went to sit around the koi pond, basically to just talk cock and waste time. Then, 15 minutes before our next lesson, Electronics Fundamentals, Derrick decided to play around and his MP3 player fell into the koi pond. (Song Bo moment :-) ) We were a bit surprised and amused, but soon we asked an attendant to help and he brought a net for us to fish the MP3 player out. It was probably useless by then...

During EF, we had a practical test. It was not as easy as we had thought. Many of us did not know how to do. Most of us cheated by asking the brighter ones in the class. Most of us probably failed it anyway, so might as well cheat.

Next was DMD practical. Another test! This time, it was about Macromedia Flash, or how to do animation. Was not too difficult anyway. I got 100 marks! Actually, my creation was quite anyhow, but it was marked on whether you knew how to do anyway, not the final creation. I prefer to think of my finished product as "funky".

After which, we went to Ang Mo Kio for dinner (Some of us anyway). We went to Long John Silver and basically sat around, ate and talk cock. After which, we headed for home. OK, not really interesting, but I was quite tired by then. It was a long day. Thankfully, tomorrow has only 3 hours of lesson (8 to 11am), or 2 hours for those who jia boh the first lesson. Still, it's a short day, and hopefully just as interesting.

Monday, August 16, 2004
8:19 PM

Today in brief

Phew. Got through another long day. It started OK enough, with the first lesson being Thinking Skills. I planned to do maths (or rather, copy) during lesson, which turned out to be a good idea because the lesson was REALLY silly and boring. Those who did not turn up for Thinking Skills today (you know who you are), good job! You missed a really boring lesson today. The decision to do maths early in the morning turned out to be a good decision later in the day...
After that, we proceeded for maths lecture. With some time in between, I managed to complete my maths. The lecture itself was a bit boring, so we skip to Java lecture, OK?
Java was quite a hoot! The lecturer was a real joker. He certainly made Java interesting. We learnt applets today, which seemed quite easy. I handed up my work which I was supposed to hand up on Friday, if not for the fact that I lost my disk. Anyway, after Java, we went for lunch.
Went to Food Junction. Had sweet sour fish and drank honeydew milk tea, which was a bit sweet. afterwards, we went to ELP for some of them to do Maths. I was bored so I went to buy a pack of Mentos.
Then came Multimedia Computer. We learnt how to combine sounds using sound mixing software and we had a bit of fun. Mine was a little funny but compared to the others' creations, mine was nowhere close. After two hours of mixing around, we finally met our Judgement Day, Maths Tutorial. This was when we had to hand up our Maths Homework. To my surprised, almost the whole class didn't complete their homework, so we stayed back for an extra half an hour. The lecturer wasn't angry though. At 5.30, we finally headed for home.

If that had bored you, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to write today.

P.S. Those visiting my blog, feel free to make any comments you wish. Don't be shy! I will really appreciate it. Thanks again for dropping by!

Saturday, August 14, 2004
1:36 PM

Why I don't talk

A lot of my friends, especially those from poly, has asked me why I hardly talk. The reason is simple. I don't want to look like an idiot, or worst still, piss people off. Already somebody is not talking to me, probably because of something I said. Even till now, I still do not know what I said or did to make the person angry, but well...
The thing is, I have been trained to think before I talk, so as not to say something wrong, hurtful or offensive (Primary school friends, you are responsible for this). If I don't think before talking, chances are, I will say something stupid or even worse, make somebody angry. Therefore, most of the time, I think very hard before opening my mouth, going "Will I offend anyone if I say this? Will I come across as a stupid idiot?" By the time I have made my decision, the topic has changed and I have to think again about what to say. So most of the time, I just keep my mouth shut.
Of course, I wouldn't like to live like this. But then again, prevention is better than cure. I know how powerful words can be and how one slip of the tongue can cause irreparable damage to relations, as I've experienced it more than once in my life. I'm still trying my best to open up, but my friends must instill confidence in me too. They must show that they don't mind my occasional slip and are willing to forgive some errors that I may make when talking. That would be a fair trade off in exchange for a more open and talkative Ben. Thanks for reading this. Much appreciated.