Settlers of Catan

My siblings, and, of late, my motley gang of JC friends, have gathered interest in spending quality time rattling 2 dice and breaking up in vile curses over the improbabilities of their outcomes ("That's impossible! How come you throw a 12 again! --censored-- "), all in the good name of wholesome family entertainment.

We are playing Settlers of Catan, a game where you gather resources via dice throws to build roads, settlements, and cities to win the game (when you will be 'hailed by all as the Lord of Catan' - but we never do carry out the pompous [and ridiculous] ceremony of obeisance though it's part of the rules.)

My brother has the basic set and we've gotten the expansion set, so we're good for 3-6 people without the need of going to the expensive Settlers' Cafe. Do tell me if you're interested in playing the game - we can take some time off our busy schedule to whoop your sorry ass.

But if you're good, you can whoop mine. =)

DXO is going down

http://www.dxo.com.sg/

Friday night. 10+pm. There were more staff in DXO than customers - the ratio was such that personal concierge service was possible, and irritating waiters keep coming to your table to ask if you need anything else. And yes, they swoosh away your glass less than 5 seconds after you are done with it.

Oh boy, they are going down.

I pity the DJ who spins for an empty dance floor.

再见了，尘世。

I found a letter in my father's drawer - looks like a suicide note (if my chinese does not fail me in comprehending it) by someone else.

Makes me wonder what actual story lies beneath it.
--------------------------------------

燕! 曾经爱过我也给我爱过的人,
丧钟在我的耳际敲响了, 人生竟是那么苦闷乏味的一回事.
我想了又想,终于决定了: 我要自刎, 一了百了, 回去那无忧无虑的老家!

生不带来美满的愿望, 死又何必带去半点的悲哀?
我于是选择了大海, 让那浪花泡沫来洗尽尘世间所染上的污秽.
我的倔强,我的好胜, 可以鼓舞起我的勇气往下一跃, 了结我的余生, 乘着今天早涨的湖水.

你收到这封信候, 我更没有理由恨你.
总之来生有绿, 我再不会为金钱而葬送我的一生.

祝你新婚快乐,
有明绝笔于孤灯下

Tea Leaves

It never fails to astound me, how tea leaves have such an aggressive expansionistic nature when brewed. One moment they occupy less than 0.563% of my nalgene bottle, the next moment they have taken over the entire kingdom.

Yummy...

Chocolate.

The 7 Things Post...

As per requested by dearest Beatrice,

7 things that scare me:
1) Finding my bank balances (UOB + DBS) at 0 dollars, and no one to borrow money from. (*Nudging Eu*)
2) Losing my memory
3) Finding that there is no one for me to live for.
4) Finding that there is no one living for me.
5) Artichokes, lady fingers, and everything else green on the plate.
6) Final Year Project. This is the scariest of the lot.
7) Public speaking.

7 things that I like most:
1) Most edible food, esp pig trotters. Inedible food include most things green (pui!).
2) Exercise. Esp jogging.
3) Chio bus... heh heh...
4) Travelling
5) Having damn a lot of time and money and no responsibilities (copied from Beatrice!)
6) Playing minesweeper
7) Hanging out with my JC friends, playing bridge and mahjong.


7 important things in my room
- hmm... this is hard, cos my room is not important to me. No place is, actually - I'm ultra portable. Just gimme a sleeping mat, at least.
1) My soft toy pig?
2) My clock?
3) My army duffel bag... argh. There's nothing much that's important.
I'll do another list here to make up for it -

7 important possessions:
1) Wallet
2) Keys
3) Handphone
4) Spectacles
5) My Tevas
6) My Nalgene
7) My watch (which I lost recently. =|)
- with these, I can go almost anywhere.

7 random facts about me...
1) I'm left-handed
2) I have a scar on the left side of my chin.
3) I stand TALL at 1.64m. The air is still fresh at this level, thank you.
4) I have a super bad memory.
5) I was a President's Scout.
6) PSLE: 271.
7) I don't gamble, ching teng bets not included. I only bought Strike! once, and it was to liven the mood for a eat-and-watch-world-cup-together session with my JC pple.


7 things I plan to do before I die...
1) Travel a bit more.
2) Eat more good stuff.
3) Get a gold for IPPT.
4) Run a marathon.
5) Make my peace with God.
6) If time and money allows, own a provision shop.
7) Finish my fyp.


7 things I can do...
1) Write with my left hand.
2) Do 40 pull-ups/100+ push-ups in one go.
3) Catch cockroaches without fear, if with plastic bag. Else will kancheong a bit that the bugger will poke my bare hands with its thorny legs.
4) Cross my eyes.
5) Play minesweeper quite well.
6) Charm old aunties off their... hmm.
7) Walk/sit alone by myself in dark buildings/alleys/cemeteries.

7 things I can't do...
1) Write with my right hand.
2) Do split, cartwheel, hand stand, and any of those acrobatish stuff.
3) figure out what girls are thinking.
4) remember things very well.
5) win zx at bridge.
6) strike a good bargain.
7) talk slowly. Especially during interviews. And when seeing chio bus.

7 things I say the most...
1) 'Can't remember...'
2) 'FRANK-LEE speaking...'
3) 'Shiiiiit.'
4) 'Crap.'
5) 'Uh huh..' + 'Okay....'
6) 'Wanna bet N ching teng that...' - where N is an integer bigger than 0, smaller than 10.
7) 'That is a very good question.'


7 celeb crushes...[none too serious, except Mavis... haha.]
1) Mavis Fan
2) Vivian Chow [wah, so long ago~!]
3) Fish Leong
4) Fiona Xie
5) Michelle Chia
6) Lin Chiling
7) Jeanette Aw

IF i had to pick 8..excluding Beatrice whu got me to do this at the first place..
1) Eu and his queen
2) Yus
3) Kenneth
3) Chee weeeeeee~!
4) Thim
5) Celven
6) Nerissa
7) YY~!

What's up these few days::

WED::
Dinner with Beatrice and Jiahui! Weird combi, indeed. =)

Frank, Jiahui, Beatrice

Thurs::
Wallace and Gromit with Tjio. Did I say that it is a great movie? =D

FRIDAY::
Was down at the wholesalers' on friday checking out prices and placing tentative orders for the upcoming event in February. It's about time, yes.

Spent the rest of the day at Thomson Plaza reading a book, with a large sunflower for companion - because HY called up and didn't want me to visit (probably mesmerised with her k-dramassss...)

SAT::
NEVER EVER WEAR KHAKIS AND TEVAS TO A COUNTDOWN PARTY AT FRIEND'S CONDOMINIUM COUNTDOWN.

You never know when someone will suggest going to Attica, which will end you up in a pathetic (and unsuccessful) attempt to mingle past the Attica bouncers, leaving you with no other choice but to join other friends for a glorious time at Chijmes dancing outrageously silly dances.

SUNDAY::
Lack.of.sleep. zzz...
Went to town for a chat with old friends.

Wallace and Gromit - Curse of the Were-rabbit

is a good show to watch. Recommended, if a good laugh is preferred.

Ranting

Frank's first attempt at golfing.

Played golf at a driving range at Sin ming after Narnia with Kelli, Mike, Lynn, Stanley, and James. Once again felt like a fish out of water/monkey robbing a bank/banana in a teapot, being the charlie chaplin who makes surprisingly accurate hits at the grass patch BESIDE the golf ball.

Does Eu know James Koh, the tennis pro? I have certain impulses to pull Eu into my JC clique, which is surprisingly increasing in members - there's Stanley when Lynn's around; Kenneth's a new mahjong khaki; James' a tennis khaki of Lynn+Stanley's.

Mike is "spreading his resources too thinly" managing his "stocks portfolio", going dragonboating, learning tennis, learning inline-skating, wakeboarding, on top of his MA work at stanchart. Makes me think of myself spreading my resources too thinly as well - jogging, gymming, hanging out with the clowns, windsurfing, inline-skating, wakeboarding(not really for a long time!) But my main resource constraints is more money than time, although I foresee an impending payback period to my FYP. And the v-day roses thingy again. Haiz. But they are necessary evils, for my degree and for more money respectively.


On a side note, I have been watching too much movies/anime. You know that when you have dreams of kongs and little chickens wearing spectacles engaging in the freedom fight in Narnia, with Naruto and his kage bunshin no jitsu on the opposing side - with Jacky Cheung singing a sad love song in the background.

Help. My hat's on fire.

The Biggest Loser

On Christmas eve, I lost my favourite watch at PA SSC at East Coast after my windsurfing session there. I bought it many years ago, a few months before I sat for my O levels, and it has followed me faithfully for a good 9 years ever since.

For these 9 years, it was my only analog timepiece - being absolutely in love with it, I could not set my eyes on another. Sure, there were occassional eyeing of other beautiful timepieces, but I kept faithful to it as it did to me throughout. During these years, any other watches on my hand were digitals, worn purely for functional reasons. Me and my Seiko, we had a thing. The capacitant died a few times and water seeped in a few times too, but we were good after the repair jobs.

And I am saddened by the loss, like I've lost a part of me. Its chunky metal watchstrap, its scratched and chipped glass covercase, its luminous hands and dial, its constant admonishment when I got lazy (it's a Kinetic which loses power when I stay sedentary for too long), are all so familiar to me. I'm not sure if I can cope with the loss.

And when I get a new watch, it will never be the same as with my favourite Seiko.