^^ The Grass Is Bluer Where? ^^

NATO

2007-02-08T20:33:00.000+11:00

I reckon a lot of people are all action and no talk. Take Singaporeans for example, they whine a lot and talk a lot of cock but when it comes to concrete actions it's like "chasing the dragon". Granted not all Singaporeans behave this way but looking at how people say they want to do this do that and nothings been done irks me big time. Granted also I've been in that boat before so I won't criticise too much of "no action talk only" or what my sergeant in army used to say NATO!

Am I daydreaming?

2007-02-08T20:24:00.000+11:00

Sometimes I'll start thinking about how things will be different if this happen, how there is a special entity up there that is looking after everyone, how everyone's born into this world to fulfill their destiny.

Maybe I watched too much anime but it does feel good to know that there's someone up there looking out for you. Man, the omnipotent being most probably need a massive call-centre and a super duper gazillion core cpu to process all the requests & prayers by people.

How real is it, to watch all the shows and movies and the main character who has to fulfil their destiny. To walk the path that no one else walked. To go where no one else been. So are all these beings born great or have greatness thrust upon them?

It's such a fantasy, to be able to fly, to do special stuff that you can only dream of or watch on tv. So are directors and story-tellers living in their own world. A world they imagine. A world free of the shackles of reality. Sometimes I just wish I don't need to worry too much about things. Being optimistic does have it's qualms too, especially if things start to fall apart. This is just one of those days.

No my world is not falling apart, just thinking too much makes my head painful. Maybe that's why I loved cartoons...

Australian Open 2007

2007-01-27T19:22:00.000+11:00

Now what did I do this whole week? Lemme see... Work, eat, sleep, thinking about work, watched the Australian Open; Maria Sharapova's grunting sound is a turn off though she's quite a beauty (among the rest so can't complain). The mens final is going to be a really good match up, I hope Roger Federer wins. Maybe I should head over to the betting site to check out the odds of Federer winning.

*LATEST UPDATE* Federer winning odds is 1.12. That is fucking pathetic! So each dollar I put in only wins 12c tax free. Ok, how about Gonzalez? His odds is 6.25. Hmmm, I may support Fernando Gonzalez then. Still undecided, I have til tomorrow evening. So who shall I bet on? *headache ah*

Tiger Woods in the making

2007-01-24T19:32:00.000+11:00

Ya like real. Catchy title only so don't get too excited after this... I played golf this week, finally!!! Well technically not the whole course, not that pro but I finally I got off my slacker arse and went to the Sydney Olympic Park golf driving range and have a few swings. Mind you, the range was very scenic and serves as pretty good eye candy.

I had yum cha in the morning so the thought of burning off some fat is very encouraging. I didn't bring my gloves and one of my noob friends asked the counter lady is it ok to play without gloves and of coz wanting to do business and looking at what we wore she said yeah if you're not that pro it's alright (damn my friend who wore slippers that day, look so unprofessional so paiseh coz everyone in there look the part in a golf range). So anyway, three of us shared a bucket of 140 balls and soon after our palms start looking red and feels like blisters is popping out soon. *Remind self to be more prepared in future*. Overall, it was fun but I am thinking of going for a course to get the proper foundations instead of swinging like a crazy man. No rabbits were killed in this process.

So HOT!

2007-01-21T17:45:00.000+11:00

That I don't even feel like blogging. It's 37"c today and clear sky. Really bad for my morale and mood. Maybe that's how men PMS comes about. Even staying at home is dreadful as the whole house's engulfed in hot, steamy air. Driving pass a swimming pool, I see throngs of people in their swim wear jumping into the pool. That felt so tempting...

Work's alright this week, nothing major. Never had to bring work back so far, which is good. I've finally decided I'll hold off on the DSLR camera I want to buy for now. Maybe towards the end of the year when/if I go back to Singapore for holiday. That's a big IF. So in that case, I'll concentrate on getting a el cheapo tripod that's hopefully not too heavy nor wobbly.

Back to the heat. Now I'll have no excuses not to have a beer. Upon saying that, I have to use the huge beer mug I got from Ainul. Till then... meanwhile I'll amalgamate with my beer in blissful 37 degree freaking heat wave!!!

Liverpool won Chel$ki

2007-01-21T02:01:00.000+11:00

Alright, so what if Liverpool lost in the FA Cup and the Carling Cup? They restored that by winning against Chel$ki at home. Well done and well taken goals. Now if only Australia has more coverage of the English Premier League that would be a god send. I still believe it'll take something magical to win Barcelona, unless some Barca key players are injured.

Okie enough of boring balls. Let's talk about something more interesting for the ladies, ahh... diamond ring. Diamond rings are expensive, they scratch other things easily, they're small and I don't see what's the big ho ha about diamonds. Note to self: I have to learn more about diamonds if I'm going to buy one in the future. If diamonds are the girls best friend, balls are the boys best friend then.

Oh I just checked, air tickets to Vietnam one way is quite cheap now. With Simon/Mela's wedding in mind, I was thinking of flying to Vietnam this June and fly from there to Singapore and then back to Australia. Tempting.... very tempting; if only I can get my ass together to get it organised now. Lol!

Pineapple tarts

2007-01-20T20:14:00.000+11:00

I bought some today at an Asian grocery store. Err I think it was like 10 for $5 or thereabouts. 50c a pop for some Pineapple bliss. Happy me... Oh I went magazine reading also in the local shopping centre. Was checking up on some mags for hifi and tv. All the chimelogy (confusing high tech jargons in Singapore talk) of those gadgets are slowing being infused into me.

I felt like I level up. I felt like a tech guru (hifi and tv) now. I can sprout hdmi, HD ready, component cables, optical out, HD definition, 768i, 1080i, 1080p, HD upscaling etc. I think I dare to venture into those specialist hifi shop and talk cock with the sales people now.

Temporary housemate bye bye

2007-01-18T21:21:00.000+11:00

Rosie was staying with us for around a week and she is leaving for Singapore today. We decided that she should check in early coz her luggage is very heavy. She managed to check in about 38kg of luggage, hee hee. See, one of the merits of going early. Ok, it may not be entirely that reason; maybe the SIA chick got a diamond ring the day before so she couldn't care less about how heavy the luggage is. Maybe Rosie pray the night before. Whatever!

To Rosie: Hope you'll be back soon! Go get PR! You know you like it here! You can download LOTSA anime & TV series here without being monitored or fear that the government will take you off their Chinese New Year Ang Pao (red packet) list. Even if you blur in Australia no worries, people tend to ignore what you're doing in public; not like Singapore, they look at you weirdly like you're from the Institute of Mental Health (it's a mental asylum, infamous). I don't meant you're from IMH. It's a figure of speech (words). Ok, nuff said, go have the food I want to eat.

Truly yours truly concerned

2007-01-14T17:55:00.000+11:00

I was reading this news clip: "Why the frogs are dying" and found it to be very depressingly informative. It's not like I don't know the world is changing, it's not like I don't know the world is getting hotter, it's not like I don't know whole species are dying; but what we as homo sapience are doing about it?

Look, there's so many people in positions of power that could enact and perhaps enforce policies that could save the world. Note, I wrote save the world. It is indeed grim I would say and if things were to continue the way it is, 10 years from now (that's if this blog is still alive) we will witness a world where there may be no frogs alive (judging from the article above), and I shall miss my frog leg porridge in Chinatown & Geylang, Singapore. Either that the frog leg porridge could cost like $50 a pop, more expensive than other delicacy.

What about people in no position of power? What can we do? Note, I include myself as I'm not in the United Nations nor did I win any $20+ million lotteries. For a start, we can all sell our cars away; take public transport; drink recycled water; don't buy books rather read e-books; don't use toilet papers for businesses etc. Some people may just do that but I envision the majority will not. It's not in people's nature to care. Let's put it this way, people's personal & more basic needs need to be fulfilled first before other external needs such as the need to care for our environment is realised (according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs).

If that theory holds true, then what? Of the world's billions of people, how many percentage truly truly care then if their basic needs ain't even fulfilled? So what's that got to say about humans doing our part for the environment? Does it start with the small things we do? What if I do but my neighbour doesn't? Does it fall on the government to educate people or to tow people in line? I don't purport to have the answer, but doing my bit for the environment is equally important as the policies that support such stances.

So what have I done to save the environment? Hmmm, I buy a car that's classed under LEV (Or low emission vehicle so the amount of carbon dioxide it emits is really low. I think it's classed under the EU low emissions guideline). Yes I don't take public transport, I'm not ready to sweat it out on the public transport system (at least not in Australia anyway). It's pretty shitty (pardon me) but that's not the point today.

I also recycle all my plastic, glass and paper garbage separately and throw them into the recycle bin. I usually shop using my own bag (those green bags you can buy in supermarket such as Woolworths or Coles in Australia); err usually coz I tend to forget to take it out of my car. My bad!

I also hate to waste water (which I think is going to be a MAJOR MAJOR resource in the future; anyone know any stocks in company dealing with water??) so I try to use as little as possible. I couldn't think of anything else I can do on my part but perhaps people else where are doing it differently, even better, even more efficient?

Now I pose you this question? What are you doing to save the world? Meanwhile, I'll go back to my world of Battlefield 2 and kill some idiots to vent the day off.

Eat eat eat, pay pay pay

2007-01-13T23:50:00.000+11:00

OMG! I tell ya! If this is what I'm doing every weekend, my resolution of getting slimmer is going down the drain. Brunch I had seafood at the Sydney Fish Market, followed by dessert/tea at Passionflower (ice-cream + fat inducing parlour) followed yet by a sumptuous dinner at a Korean restaurant call Zozo. Along the way, I may have walked quite a bit but I pre-empt myself by saying the walking is definitely not enough to burn off those extra calories.

Now, going on to that food in detail. Sydney Fish Market was the usual draft of things I eat when I'm there. Sashimi, seaweed salad, seafood platter, a small bite of sea urchin (they look weird, curry colour and slimy looking and taste well just too fresh for my taste bud.

As for Passionflower, they sell ice cream and lotsa ice creams and they have some pretty unusual flavours too! Since I haven't had waffles for ages, I went ahead and ordered a waffle with black sesame ice cream and chocolate sauce on it. I like the black sesame ice cream but I don't think it goes well with the waffle. I still finish it at the end; at least I'm still maintaining my philosophy of not wasting food.

We went Zozo coz Rosie is going back Singapore and have not tasted Korean food (not that Singapore don’t have Korean food) so that’s a good excuse to have Korean. We had bbq pork and chilli squid and chicken, Korean noodles and a tofu seafood soup. During the dinner, we kept asking for extra servings of kimchi (LOTSA IT!!!) and I felt so paiseh. They must be thinking have they not eaten kimchi before? Well, we tipped them at the end, as the service is good.

That reminds me tipping is not compulsory but highly encouraged if you felt the service is good. I don’t want to tip for the sake of formality but rather to encourage the good service that was rendered. That IS tipping! I don’t know what’s the idea behind “must always tip” mentality. Does it mean you’re well mannered? Does it mean you’re well to do? Does it mean you’re better off compared to the stingy buggers that don’t tip? Does it make you feel good? Is it the culture? Ah, as long as I feel that the service is good, a tip will be on the way. Also, can someone enlighten me when you pay via credit card, there’s an option there to write how much tips you’re giving. Who gets that? Is it the waiters/waitresses or the shop owner?

Sidenote: Maybe I should redesign the template again after looking at a few people’s blogs, mine’s getting too stale for my taste.

Casino Royale

2007-01-12T22:35:00.000+11:00

Overall I think it's not a bad show. Although the reason I watched it today is coz the weather outside is like 36"c and the temperature inside the shopping centre is like 21"c, there's no prize for guessing which option I took. To make it worse, I didn't bring along my student card so I have to pay for full adult price (not that I'm still a student) but I just want to make the full use of my extended expired privileges.

Show finished at 3.30pm so there's still time to spare and we (Rosie, Yasa and me) decided to hang around for the sake of the air-con in the shopping centre. It is really THAT bad outside right not. I'm not kidding. For those of ya who's been in Adelaide during the summer, it's pretty comparable.

So back to 007, I don't pretend I know why they choose Danial Craig. Maybe he's English? Maybe of his super tone body? But he's just so different from all the previous 007 characters. Just the way he turn around with the gun pointing through the gun barrel is just so stupid. The way he stand just does not ooze style to me. On to better points, it is more (slightly) realistic. They tried to portray 007 as not totally invincible. He's fallible. He can die. He have feelings. You know, those stuff.

Liverpool ah Liverpool, wake up your idea!

2007-01-10T22:20:00.000+11:00

All I can say is it pains me to see Liverpool lose yet again. Come on, losing once to Arsenal is painful enough but once more in the Carling Cup is the nail in the coffin. Why the heck Benitez plays Jerzy Dudek in such an important FA cup match? Match fitness & rest Reina? I suppose so but I can't totally put the blame on Dudek as he's not played for yonks. Losing the Carling cup is still alright in my book but at least work harder for the FA cup. Conceding 12 goals altogether to Arsenal alone this season is just not acceptable! Liverpool is going to lose to Barcelona if they continue this way and a pessimistic outlook for Liverpool fans this year. No cups...

I didn't watch the match, but got a SMS from a friend and was so pissed to see the scoreline and I was fuming inside. If I've watched it I'm very sure I'll be jumping mad! Sheesh!!

Internet is for losers

2007-01-08T22:05:00.000+11:00

How sweet of Optus to deprive me of Internet for 5 freaking whole days! No internet since last Thursday 4th Jan (Yes I keep tab). It just came up today evening, finally! Not a happy camper I tell ya. I was stuck with my PS2 and gf for company. Ok, stuck is such a bad word. I'll paraphrase it again; I've the opportunity to spend time with my beloved gf and PS2 and away from my evil PC. For a moment, I was losing my sanity.

Now I'm living in a world where no internet is making me anxious. I can't check news, I feel disconnected from everything, detached. I don't even know Liverpool lost to Arsenal at home, with a 1-3 score line. I don't have faith in Liverpool overcoming Barcelona. Sigh, I hope I'm wrong.

Anyway on to happier things, I got prawn rolls (those small fried prawn rolls that you can get from shops like Mei Zhen Xiang) courtesy of my darling. It's not heaps but enough to make me uber happy for awhile.

Onto my PS2, I just clocked 40+ hrs on Final Fantasy XII. Its kinda fun but I feel that I'm wasting my time instead of doing something that could be more important, such as watching Blood Diamond on my pc and knowing that conflict diamonds are bloody. Then armed with that knowledge, I can dissuade my gf not to buy too big a diamond to contribute to the growing problems in countries such as Sierra Leone.

New Year resolution 2007

2007-01-02T22:39:00.000+11:00

I want to set out to do the following this New Year 07. I'll huff and I'll puff but I'll endeavor to try my bloody best! In no order of priority.

1) Lose weight. I don't hope to be 6-pack dude but at least look a bit slimmer.
2) MBA? Wishful thinking? Maybe towards the middle or the end of the year. I have to pay for it myself this time.
3) Attend Simon & Mel's wedding. I can't give 100% guarantee but I'll plan my leave EARLY!
4) Try to keep in touch with my family and friends more. Being away in a different country does not give me an excuse.
5) Be proactive in everything I do. Yeah it's quite generic but trying to apply it in everyday context.
6) Not sure buying things will be listed under NY07 resolution but what the heck. Either a 5.1 kickass sound system / home theatre, a Nintendo Wii, LCD/Plasma TV > 32", body kit and sports rim for my car, a Canon E400D or Nikon D80, maybe a new dual core pc or everything listed above.
7) Don't procrastinate. I don't know how many times I've done it and I've got no excuses.

That's all for now...

Oh something for you Simpsons fan. Check out which character are you? I'm Bart Simpson!!!

Yet again

2007-01-01T22:25:00.000+11:00

I'm back! *GRINS*

I'm back from Singapore, back from holiday and back to work. Feels shit now especially when I start thinking about the December 2006 trip in Singapore. That was not so long ago. It was great!!!

3 years away and when I'm back some things still felt familiar yet some things change. Changes are good I always tell myself. Best part of going back was seeing everyone I miss. My family, my relatives, uncles, aunties that dote on me, cousins, nieces, nephews, good friends. I can't truly describe my feeling when I see my long lost loved ones and friends. Just feels so good!!!

Oh not forgetting food too. Before I went back, I was thinking to myself all the food I'm gonna eat. When I'm back, surprisingly I didn't crave so much for it. I was like, ok if I get the chance to eat it I will if not no worries.

I see all my little nieces, nephews, cousins and they're all so big now! When I last saw them some were like so katek (short) and so innocent. Now, they're into those boy bands ah, 5566, err don't know what those handsome Chinese actors lah. Little kids nowadays are so impressionable and it's no joke.

I've finally got off my arse to post the pictures up at flickr.com too. Clicking here will get you to the photos. Could have done it sooner but I was without my camera usb cable + memory card reader can't read my stupid Sandisk 2GB SD card. Grrrr... I managed to nick a memory card reader from my mate.

Food illustrious food

2006-08-24T16:43:00.000+10:00

Ah, I'm missing stuff like Hainanese chicken rice, fried carrot cake, mee pok, bah kut teh, nasi lemak etc. There's this restaurant (call Temasek, how nostalgic ah) nearby where they serve Singapore/Malaysian dishes and there was this week where I was perpetually camping my butt there. I went for lunch, dinner and followed by lunch the next day there. My gf told me off but I couldn't care, I was in bliss land! Of course it can't be compared to the real thing, but it's the next real thing.

Then there was another restaurant nearby. Similar food but peanut service. It was one quiet weekday, gf and me went into the restaurant first and a guy waiter (China dude. I got nothing against China folks, my ancestors came from there, I worked with Chinese people too so no grudges against the majority) saw us and we made eye contact. Then a group of aussies came straight in after us and that SOB pointed to a table for us and floated straight to them (like Scrooge McDuck to his gold). I was flabbergasted! What kinda service is this?

Throughout our dinner, he was attending to their every needs and trying to get them to order this and that (basically getting them to pay more and trying to provide good service) while when we called him he'll say wait a sec while he go to attend to their needs. Note, there were only us and them during this period.

This really pisses me off and I decided not to give any tips later. So after I signed the cc, he went to the bar counter (not far away) and murmured in mandarin to another waiter that we're stingy, never give any tips even though the dinner comes up to around $30ish. Well, I'm not normally vengeful but it felt good while I walk out with a satisfied grin from the food and the revenge! If I was REALLY REALLY piss and confrontational, I would speak to the manager and tell him the excellent service rendered by that dude.

Even hawker service is better but I pay peanuts and I expected peanuts in a hawker centre, except if you go to a restaurant you pay macadamia nuts you expect macadamia nuts service (pardon my pun).

I can be the happiest man of the moment when I'm finally able to be in a hawker centre! Meanwhile, we're going Temasek today! NOW! *GRINS*

Hiatus

2006-08-21T15:16:00.000+10:00

Ahh, feels good to be away for so long from blogging. Seriously, I think it's so hyped up and so full of people who wants to feel heard. Kinda self contradicting isn't it since I'm here too and back.

Lotsa things have happened since my last update. New job, new place, new car, new credit cards, new bills (and more bills)... ah the life of a classic working man in short, punctuated by occasional news of friends getting married or having babies since me frens and me are of marriageable age and making babies in this era of oil shortage and ever rising petrol prices.

I dunno, everyone I knew is kinda in the 1) going to get married stage, 2) married stage, 3) married with babies stage and I think I am feeling inundated by all these going onto the next phase, planning for the future stuff. Not that I don't love to plan, I love to plan stuff and lay things out and hopefully I'll get more organised (not that I would for those who knew me).

So meeting up with friends always get recurrent themes such as when are you getting married, what are you doing, when this, what that, when that, what this etc. You get my drift. Perhaps this is why I stopped writing for awhile. Perhaps working too hard diverts me from thinking too much... just perhaps I could be hungry too :p

Tiring

2005-11-30T21:21:00.000+11:00

I'm not sure whether is it due to work or just me, I've been tired the last couple of days. I reckon it's the sleep late, wake up early that's making me so tired. After I came back from back, I'll sit in front of my pc and read some news etc, next thing I know I end up in my bed (I don't think it's sleep walking).

So by then, I'll wake up at around 7ish. Then I'll sleep late again and maybe this is the vicious cycle that's making me tired. Drinking Genmaicha (green tea + popped rice), playing Need for Speed, catching up on my books, checking what next should I upgrade for my pc ain't helping either.

Talking about genmaicha, I love it so much! I can practically drink it everynight. I've read up a bit of it, although it contains a small amount of caffeine I hope it won't get me addicted to caffeinated stuff like countless millions of coffee drinkers out there. *Sheepish grin*

Now that Christmas is around the corner, I should pick up my lazy ass and start listing those old stuff that I have. You never know, someone might wanna pay gold for my Casio 128kb organiser. Muahahaha!!

Need for speed

2005-11-29T22:14:00.000+11:00

The latest instalment of Need for Speed: Most Wanted is out. For those in the unknown, NFS is a car racing game. It injects in a storyline, with awesome graphics and cars and a variety of cities, tracks, courses to drive in.

For those astute enough, you know where to find them. For those less astute, you can always do a search for Need For Speed: Most Wanted demo.

Now please let me get back to my game.

Wedding

2005-11-26T23:48:00.000+11:00

No, definitely not mine. I'll let you all know when that time comes. Stay focus.... Now, this is the wedding between Edwin and Serene (both my uni mates) who're now staying in Sydney. What more can I say, they have been together for ages. Hmm, if I count correctly it's about 5-6 years. Serene's from Singapore and Edwin's an Australian Chinese.

She came over to study in Australia and met up with him. Ever since, they're been together and she moved to Australia because of him. Anyway I shouldn't bore you with such lovey dovey stuff.

So, armed with my kick ass camera, we (Cat, JJ, Sam, Siew, Steph and me) attended their church wedding in the arvo. Cat is staying in Adelaide, JJ/Sam and Steph are from Singapore and Malaysia respectively and they flew down to attend their wedding. It was so good to see everyone. Although we didn't have lotsa time to catch up but I suppose a little is better than nothing. It just goes to show how much I miss all my friends who're overseas or far away.

Back to the church wedding, it was a typical solemn church wedding with formal ceremonies etc. For those who're been to a church wedding you should know how it's like. For those who haven't, please go find a church wedding to go to. I shan't explain further as I have a lot to write.

After the church wedding, there was the evening banquet dinner to attend in the city. They had lovely food with I think 12 course dinner. I was busy taking pictures and taking to people I knew. Cat and Sam was the bridesmaid for the bride. I managed to take a couple of pictures of everyone. Yes, I'll email to those who're there so you can develop it. I'm not sure whether should I post the pictures here, but if you wanna see a couple of it, I suppose I can always do it the email way.

I'm happy to see them tie the knot as it's only a matter of time before they do that. You know they'll be there sooner or later and it takes great courage to take that step forward. It's like walking in the dark not knowing what will happen in the future. The good thing is there's two of you taking that step forward. At least if shit happens, you know you're not alone. :)

Now, I just have to go back and process the pictures, convert it to jpg and find their email and email to them. For those interested, give me a buzz and I'll send a couple to you too. *GRIN*

Weee!! my camera

2005-11-25T23:11:00.000+11:00

After much deliberation and consideration, I've decided I'll buy my camera today. Although it sounds like a spur of the moment but in actual fact it isn't. I've been thinking about it for the past 2-3 days and there were several logical deductions as to why I decided to do it then although it seems so last minute (which I shall explain later on).

1) Edwin and Serene's wedding is just around the corner (which is tomorrow). That's one of the best times to deploy a spanking brand new camera.

2) Several of my friends are here too. Cat, JJ, Sam and Steph who are coming for their wedding. Even better as I can take even more pictures of everyone.

3) It is only slightly cheaper in Singapore compared to here. I was thinking of getting my gf to get it when she go back to Singapore but that would mean I'll only get it around early Jan 2006. $50 more to pay compared to Singapore provided I bargain.

4) Pay check just came in, better spend it now so it won't be so painful.

As you can see, due to these reasons I've decided to drop by my local Harvey Norman and bargained with them. It was raining so heavy when I was driving there. In my mind, I was like aaaaa I don't really feel like going, so troublesome, so last minute, so wet. 15mins went by and there I was walking around in Harvey Norman in Auburn, NSW.

As if I was a homing missile, I went straight for the digital camera section and immediately a salesperson approached me. I told him what I wanted and he brought out the new one. I asked him whether will he match a cheaper price I got elsewhere and after some fumbling with his pc, he said yes and I said yes. He tried to sell me extended warranty for like 4 extra years for 80 bucks, I took it (don't ask me whether am I going to use it that long, I've bought it already). After getting a memory card, it all adds up to $730. As I paid, I felt my heart skipped a heart beat.

So you can see I'm a happy person yet sad too coz today I've bought meself a spanking not super duper kick ass but pretty close to kick ass camera in my opinion. Oops, I haven't say which camera is it. It's the Panasonic DMC-FZ5. I choose the black colour one. Went home, gf ask why I didn't choose the white one I don't know why. I like both colours but I suppose I'm catering to the traditional idealogy of SLR lookalike cameras being black.

I hope this $700ish is well spent as I'll be looking forward to taking pictures and showing/sending to you all. hee hee

Fake Beerbelly

2005-11-22T21:20:00.000+11:00

I guess it was a busy and hectic 2 weeks since I've updated my blog. I'll try to fill it up with what I've done in the meantime. Well, with friend's wedding, buying of my camera, helping people move house, upgrading some pc parts, oogling xbox 360 etc hell yes I'll be busy.

Meanwhile, check out this beerbelly drinking bag. Cool!

As per their website - The result? A removable spare tire that also serves a stealth beverage. So now you can not only sport the look thatÂ?s legit to the touch (and the frisk), but you can also enjoy a tasty beverage wherever you want, whenever you want!

Don't ask me why and/or how I found that site. :)

World Cup here we come!

2005-11-19T18:01:00.000+11:00

Australia finally qualified for the World Cup! Hooray! First thing that came across my mind when Australia scored was woo hoo 1-0. Hopefully they'll make it 2-0 and go through. Minutes went by agonisingly and it went to penalties eventually. Well this penalty shootout is not as tense as the Champions League match between Liverpool and AC Milan.

Exciting nonetheless but not as heart-pumping. Australia got off to a winning start by saving the first penalty. Always good to have the advantage in penalty shootout. When it came to the last one, I've always got the feeling that Australia will win and qualify (as it's about time they do). When I saw the saved penalty I was like oooh yeah!!!! we'll definitely have free to air football matches in Australia next year.

Fox Sports (equivalent of cable monopoly) will not have the exclusive rights to the World Cup as every single Australians will want to follow the Socceroos's adventure in Germany. Muahahaha! Anyway, that's in 2006. I should stop dreaming and instead follow the premiership matches now as the World Cup qualifiers are over. If I'm awake on Sat night I might catch some matches with a Charlton Cold (local beer brand).

I should also use the huge beer mug I got from one of my friend as a gift. Just have to take it out of the storeroom and give it a good clean. ICE COLD BEER HERE I COME LATER!

Shopping day

2005-11-17T22:57:00.000+11:00

Shopping day as in it's Thursday and there's late nite shopping till late. How late? Well typically around 9pm-ish. Naturally I won't stay so late as I'm not a shopaholic. Gf came down and I guess it's been awhile since I've went shopping with her.

So chirply, we started at around late arvo. I wanted to check a couple of things like camera prices (not ideal so I'm going to buy it from Singapore), some work clothes, food and laundry bags and anything that interests her.

By 3ish, I was already feeling tired. Mind you, shopping is extremely tiring. It zaps your wallet, your bank credit ratings. Psychologically it might make you feel good if you're into shopping therapy. How true is shopping therapy? Does it really work?

Work or not, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day as long as everyone's happy that's enough.

Time flies

2005-11-16T15:45:00.000+11:00

Now what have I been doing for the past few days? I seriously can't remember. I know I was excited for my gf as she's got a couple of interviews this week. I'm happy for her that she's getting an opportunity for something new. Her current job is only a 6 months contract. Contract basis just doesn't go down with me. It's like a 6 months affair with no strings attached. Not so easy! After 6 months you have to go on with your life and look for another. It just feels so tiring for me. Hope the next job she get is permanent. Change is good but constant change is another matter.

Oh well, wish her good luck for her interviews. Hope she's not as jittery as usual in interviews. The more interviews you have, the better you'll get. :)