yesterday

i had a lousy yesterday.

i had a presentation...which i thought would be for the ceo only...then i realised that it was actually some stupid "presentation contest"...and that the "judges" would be the deputy ceo, my senior director, the hr director, the marketing director, and some other big shots from other departments. fucking pissed off. wasted my whole week preparing for this presentation, only to find out that it's some contest...and the ceo wouldn't be around. anyway, i went in and did my thing...quite good presentation i must say...but then the contents of it kinda offended some of the people...which is why i got bombarded left right and centre. sigh.

after that, i decided to go to balaclava with jaime and another colleague...where mr. heineken and mr. budweiser promptly made me drink 8 bottles on an empty stomach. sigh.

and then i lost my phone somewhere somehow last night...either in bala or in the cab...please call me or something if you see this. i can't seem to receive smses on the phone that i got...some hp pda handphone that kevin passed to me a few months ago...probably something to do with the settings lah. the whole of today i was without a handphone...i've never felt so helpless before. sigh.

staying late 2

for the second night in a row, i've come home late from work. it's fucking 11pm already.

thanks to my boss, who wanted to watch each of us do our presentations, which we have to do AGAIN tomorrow for the ceo. and why? cuz he was on holiday in bali this whole week and wanted to vet through everyone's presentations when he came back just now at 7pm. i'm damn tired. i spent the whole day preparing the powerpoint slides.

well, at least he liked my presentation. short and simple. but he said it in front of everyone on my sales team, so i'll bet some plagiariser will present it to the ceo before it's my turn tomorrow. sigh. that's how life is. oh well. at least i know i did it myself.

call me grumpy, but if you've been on this kinda dinner diet for the last two days, you'd be singing the same song...


dinner

i don't like the teriyaki one...premium cut my ass...or maybe it's the bad taste left over from me staying late. GRUMPY!!!

godson's birthday

it's my godson's birthday today. =)

marco is very hyper...i've known him since he was a young-un...i remember the first time that i laid eyes on him was when he was just a few months old at east coast park way back in february. he completely took my mind off of the pressing issues on my mind (i had just broke up with adeline, and was distraught like a lost puppy). i guess he kinda filled the void in my heart the few times that i saw him...you can read about him here and here.

happy birthday marco! may you always be so doggone happy... =)

staying late

knn...i just reached home from the office. i've never stayed so late at work in my whole career. before all you no-time-management-office-bound-overtime-clocking-people start hounding me about how late you stay, you must understand the nature of my job. i'm doing sales...my main priority is to go to the customer's place, and convince them to buy my proposal. all else should be secondary...which is why i don't like staying past office hours, which is why i can start work more or less when i want...which is also why i seem so slack to some people. (as long as i'm hitting my targets, why the fuck should you care...especially if my boss doesn't??)

anyway, i was stuck in the office doing some presentation slides for some stupid presentation to our ceo about our sales performance. i just wanna get it over and done with. i'm so tired. i haven't even eaten yet. i need some beef jerky.

the jerms at bar none

i went to bar none again...to check out loe's band, "the jerms". i'm quite impressed. seriously. it's not too hardcore and not too popish...i like. the best of the night...

i actually wanted to advertise it today, but i just didn't have the time...seriously loe...haha. great performance!!! =)

photographsky - raffles marina

the weather was superb today, so once again, i decided to spend some quality time with my folks. we decided to make our way to:


raffles marina

right after i took the picture above, some security guard came out and asked me why i'm taking pictures. so i told him that i was an undercover spy working for the malaysian navy out on a reconnaissance mission, and that i'd let him have my autograph if he was nice. he was nice and left me alone. sheesh...did you know that you need written permission to take photos there??? what nonsense...

anyway, by the time we got there, it was already about 6 plus, so most of the boats were already back in their berths...


boats...


more boats

the wind was pretty strong there...which kinda explains my mom's hair...hahaha.


moby and mom

not much to say about the place...so i'll just let the pictures tell the story. =)


setting sun 1


setting sun 2


setting sun 3


setting sun 4


setting sun 5

this is the lighthouse i brought adeline to on our first (and only) valentine's day. i had planned it quite immaculately...i did the blind-fold thing all the way from our place in cashew park till we reached raffles marina (ala her birthday celebration), where i had a picnic ready. we had some ham and cheese sandwiches, salad, fruit juice, etc etc...basically the works...except we arrived there a bit too early...2pm isn't the ideal time to be at raffles marina, unless you're looking for a sunBURN. anyway, it was still lovely...we stayed all the way until dinner time, where we ate at the restaurant there...the food sucked, but who cares, it's the company that counts. but anyway, when i took the next few pictures, it brought back a flood of good memories. =)


lighthouse 1


lighthouse 2


lighthouse 3


lighthouse 4


boats @ night

and then we went home.

my mom just came back from the states about 2 weeks ago...so she brought me some stuff...

my ALL-TIME FAVOURITE snack:


beef jerky!!!

some office wear:


boss ties

and the HIGHLIGHT of the day:


minolta camera

my first REAL SLR camera. well done...who cares if it's a hand-me-down from my younger brother...i've already started taking some shots at raffles marina, but i'm gonna save the rest of the film for another photographsky trip somewhere sometime next week...cool...another outing to look forward to. =)

hawker diet

i had a crazy day at the hawker centre...

i went there for lunch, and the 水饺面 (dumpling noodle) uncle promptly forgot my order. then the cleaner wanted to be helpful, so she poured the rest of the contents of my pokka green tea into my half-filled cup...only to realise that it contained cigarette ash and not green tea. after buying the second one, another cleaner came along and did the exact same thing. sheesh.

after golf, at dinner, the 鸡饭 (chicken rice) uncle "couldn't find me" in the sparsely occupied food centre and made me wait 20 minutes for my $2 plate. then another cleaner decided to make my day even more special by spilling a concoction of laksa and pig organs soup right onto my half-eaten plate of 鸡饭 (chicken rice). sigh. everyone's trying to get me on a diet.

but it doesn't matter...i'm very excited...i just got my golf proficiency certificate today. watch out tiger...haha. =)

update

i'm going to bar none tonight with this chic from golf class. kinda cute, but got boyfriend already.

and it just keeps raining and raining and raining...

wake up call

summer has come and passed
the innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends.

will someone wake me up please.

terry fox run - the actual day

i woke up today at the ungodly time of 0630hrs. i have not attempted this stunt since i was back in jc...when there was actually something to look forward to, like school. anyway, i woke up and saw that i had an sms. marvin: "it's pouring outside...if it continues to be like this, i ain't going." damn it. it was raining on the day that i had looked forward to for so long. it's the terry fox run day. sigh.

i dragged myself up, wondering if i should bother going too...but then i thought to myself...if terry fox can run a marathon a day on one leg, i can surely WALK for 4 kilometres in the rain. and so my mind was set.

i met alan heng and victor downstairs for a light breakfast before we headed out. this was alan heng before he got the queasy stomach from eating curry with soya bean milk (this later translated into 5 visits to the toilet while we were in sentosa).


alan heng's excellent breakfast

victor, as usual, was early. but then again, he's a teacher, so he's used to waking up at such times...but then again, it IS a sunday, so he looked a little fierce.


victor

and so we were off...but to where in sentosa??? the map showed this...and i'm not exaggerating...no, this is not a lousy photo...


map

oh well, we thought, we'd just ask for directions when we reached...and then we found out that it wouldn't be necessary. we'd just follow the traffic jam instead.

sentosa actually has rangers leh...cool huh? yeah...now, if they actually did something instead of turning on their flashy strobelights on their motorbikes and waiting for things to happen...


in the queue 1

the good thing about the jam was that we got in for free...this guy forgot to ask us to pay. well done. very charitable i must say. haha.


in the queue 2

this van cut into our lane very dangerously. please give him / her the middle finger if you see this car on the road. thank you very much.


you bastard!!

the jam was actually all the way back to the traffic junction at the loading / unloading areas...and so it took us a good 45 minutes just to reach the carpark.

(btw, the girl wearing the green top with the golden retreiver looked quite cute from afar...until the dog started shitting right in front of us as we walked past...don't know if it's the dog shit or the closer proximity...haha)


carpark

and then from the carpark, we still had to walk another 1km or so...following the crowd...


the journey to the run

where we saw people running in different directions...


terry fox starting point???

and that was when we heard that the run had started already...sheesh.

victor wanted to jog, so he went off...leaving me to walk alone with alan heng...a dangerous thought for most, but then...i knew that I'LL NEVER WALK ALONE!!!


terry fox reds 1


terry fox reds 2


terry fox reds 3

actually there were a bunch of football supporters who brought their flags and banners along for the run...singing their songs and mocking other teams along the way. but i don't know...is this the time / place / occasion to do it? hmmm...i know all you manchester united scums out there wanna sing your guts out before you lose tonight, but isn't there a toilet you can go to somewhere in devil's bar to wave your flags? but seriously...though this isn't really a sombre occasion, but please, take your unrelated propaganda elsewhere lah.

and so we walked...


terry fox run 1

and walked...


terry fox run 2

and walked...and found some who could barely walk yet...


terry fox lilliputs

and walked until we finally found the real starting point. sheesh.


terry fox fun run start

a few steps away, we found the finish line.


terry fox fun run finish

we walked a bit more down the beach...but since the weather was quite dreary...there wasn't much to take pictures of...sorry guys, all the bikini clad babes decided to stay indoors today...sigh.

as we were walking back to the carpark, we chanced upon my highlight of the day:


terry fox trot 1

wowsers! horses in sentosa?? cool...i wonder if you can rent them out to go exploring...this place is called "sentosa ranch"...(but it's definitely incomparable to the saddle club...where they have more horses and stuff)


terry fox trot 2

horsing around...


terry fox trot 3

then hand nearly kena bitten off...


neigh!!!

cool.

i even got a certificate after everything.


terry fox certificate

who cares if i have to fill in the name myself? at least i have hands to write with...i am a fortunate man. i saw this guy at the run, who really only had one leg...i saw another guy without any legs, using a hand-pedalled tricycle to show his support. those are the REAL heroes that we should have been chanting for, and clapping our hands to...this experience has humbled me. join me again next year...

addiction

"you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave." - "hotel california" (eagles)

"and although my eyes were open, they might just as well have been closed." - "a whiter shade of pale" (procul harum)

"the bell that rings inside your mind, is challenging the doors of time." - "a kinda of magic" (queen)


ad·dic·tion -

1. The habitual psychological and physiological dependence on a substance or practice beyond one's voluntary control.

2. The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.


we're all guilty.

gentle reminder

here's a gentle reminder to all of you who haven't signed up for the terry fox run this sunday:

GENTLE REMINDER!!!

let me know again. thanks. =)

summer of '85

i was surfing the national geographic society's website just now, when i saw this photo taken along route 66 in arizona:


route 66, arizona

it kinda brought back memories of yesteryears gone past...when we were still young, and when my dad would take us on road trips everywhere. it brought back to mind our family's first real road trip (we also took route 66, if i'm not wrong)...

i remember we had this white 1980 oldsmobile cutlass supreme back then...it was damn spacious...three people could sit in front (the hand-brake was next to the gear shift), and there was enough space for four more passengers behind (disclaimer: asian sized passengers).

anyway, my paternal grandparents came to visit us in the summer of 1985...about one year after we had moved to the states...so, my dad wanted to show them around. that's when we headed off on a 2-week road trip from the golden state (california), all the way down to texas.

even though i was only 6 years old at that time, i remember enough from the trip to still be able to tease my dad (up till this day) for overheating the car in the middle of the arizona desert...i remember the beef jerkies that my brother and i loved gnawing on while we were on the road...i remember my grandma and mom cooing over my infant sister behind in the backseat, while my brother chattered on and on about nothing in particular (he was the talkative one back then) next to them...i remember sitting next to my grandfather in the frontseat...where he'd always be putting his protective arm around me while i slept.

we stopped by so many places along the way...the grand canyon, the great salt lake, yellowstone national park...the list goes on and on...but at that time, it was pretty boring for the hyper kid that i was...sitting in a car...wishing that the next destination would come faster...getting scolded by my dad for not looking at the scenery...but now, i wouldn't trade these memories for the world. those were the best days of my life...back in the summer of '85... =)

one of these days, i'm going to bring my parents on a road trip too...hopefully before i have pesky kids asking me if we're there yet...but then again...that's also part and parcel of any road trip, isn't it? =)

skywalk

afraid of heights? check this out...

skywalk

awesome...can't wait for them to finish building it so that i can go there and freak myself out. muahaha. =)

pet lessons

i heard this kid downstairs at the 4D shop today asking his dad if he could throw a stone at this stray cat. i think the uncle was aware of my hideous glare, cuz he quickly pulled his stupid son away and rushed off. when my siblings and i were growing up, my parents filled our lives with pets. i think this is why i love animals so much now...and in a way, it has made me the person i am today. i wish it were every parents' responsibility to ingrain this kind of awareness into their kids...in fact, it's not even about being environmentally friendly (i'm not the kind who will go and be a tree-hugger or anything like that...), but about respecting nature and it's children. you'd be surprised at the lessons that can be learned from raising pets.

when i was a baby, my dad's side of the family had this huge-ass german shephard that prowled the backyard of my grandparent's house back in taiwan. his name was "taka" (which apparently meant "eagle" or something like that). he was damn fierce to strangers...but the most loyal dog in the whole world to his family. i remember getting drenched in his saliva even as a toddler. on my maternal grandparents' side, they had a dachshund - aka sausage dog (can't remember his name though), who was the exact opposite...he'd lick every person who'd come his way...he was so friendly that he'd even let me ride on his back once in a while. they were my first encounters with pets. that's how i became comfortable around animals.

naturally, as i grew older, i'd start bugging my parents for our own pet. we were staying in an apartment back then, cuz my dad was still teaching in 交通大学 (jiao tong university)...and we couldn't get anything that barked or made a lot of noise...so ducks and rabbits were brought into my life. but they didn't last very long cuz the ducklings caught a flu...and died...while the rabbits were hunted down by stray dogs when we let them out to play on the grass patch downstairs...and well...died too. let's just say that i had an early introduction to the concept of death beacuse of that.

soon afterwards, we moved to the states. in california, we didn't have enough time to settle down to get a pet...so my brother and i would go out to our backyard and catch crickets, grasshoppers, snails, beetles, fireflies, and even earthworms to bring back to our little aquarium tank at home. they'd normally all die within a few days, cuz we didn't know that they needed proper food and housing in order to survive. but we soon figured out how to keep them alive a little longer with the help of my mom (who was very understanding, and probably concerned as well, about all the dead insects around the house). another few lessons learned on the basics for survival, and the importance of being caring and responsible.

and then we moved to the big apple. in new york, my dad brought us to the pet store one day, and asked us to choose something. it was one of the most brilliant days in my whole life. they had EVERYTHING there. i fell in love with the ferret in the glass enclosure immediately. back then, at least in new york, it was still legal to own one (though i don't know about now). ferrets are the smartest, brightest, cutest, most cuddly animals alive...but we couldn't afford one. i was so disappointed, but then we still took home a pair of guinea pigs, so...i learned to live with my disappointment, and be content with what i had. yet another chapter in the "life lessons" book.

one year later, my dad decided to change jobs, so we had to uproot again...this time, to michigan...where my dad was going to teach at the michigan state university. we had to give the guinea pigs away. by then, i had already gotten so attached to them that it was very heartwrenching for me to leave them behind. but i had to let go cuz the plane ride would have been too stressful for them to survive. another painful "breakup".

when we settled down in michigan, my dad decided that we were ready for a DOG!!! wowsers...that's up there along with the pet store in new york experience!!! we searched the papers for advertisements, and low and behold, someone was giving out free puppies! so we drove out to the farm where they were at and got ourselves a little black cocker spaniel puppy. we named her "小黑" ("little blackie"). we kept her in a dog house in our back yard, in a fenced up area, about the size of a king sized bed. 小黑 was a very hyper dog, and would want to run everywhere...but the more she wanted to run, the more i wanted to hold her tighter on the leash. finally, one day, while i was trying to get her back into her pen...she ran away. we never found her after that. eventually, we got another dog...a german shephard husky mix. DAMN cute. she had the german shephard golden dots above her eyes and a husky curled up tail. we named her "happy". silly name, but she was really just that. happy. but then, same story as with 小黑. same ending. it's not that we mistreated or ill-treated her in any way...it's just that she wanted the space to run, and the freedom to be herself, which i didn't give. if you love something, you have to set it free...if it loves you in return, it'll come back. a hard lesson even for an adult...not to mention the small kid that i was.

all in all, i think animals played a large part in my growing up years. i wished that the father today taught his son a lesson or two. cruelty to animals is actually punishable by law...though sometimes too leniently. i don't know...maybe i just have this respect for animals...the same as i would have for a teacher...a teacher who's been with me my whole life, and who's still tutoring me...albeit without words. get a pet for your son asap...i think you would reap more benefit from it than all those 4D tickets could ever bring you.

cut hair again

i went to le salon today to cut hair. luckily my shampoo girl (sg) was there this time...the last few times that i've gone, she's either been on leave or washing other people's hair...so today was my lucky day. =)

sg: how's the water?

moby: fine. thanks.

sg: what do you put on your hair???

moby: err...wax...you asked me that the last time already.
sg: oh yeah...forgot.
moby: blah blah blah...
sg: blah blah blah...
moby: damn stressed at work lah...your massage very nice leh... *closes eyes and enjoys*
sg: thanks.
moby: mmmmm...
sg: you wanna try the best shampoo boy in the house or not? ooi, eddie, show him a few moves leh!
moby: err ok...
eddie: come... *starts massaging moby's head*
sg: how? got difference or not?
moby: MMMMMMM... *eyes start rolling backwards inside the socket, shockwaves shooting around his whole body, feels better than sex...and almost better than making love...*
sg: ok...i'm back. *eddie stops massaging, sg takes over again*
moby: oh. ok. *sex starts feeling better.*
sg: so how've you been? blah blah blah...
moby: blah blah blah...
sg: so what're you doing tonight?
moby: err...don't know...probably going to hang around town i guess...nothing much to do...
sg: ok...i'll call you.
moby: err...ok...

*next scene - indochine wisma*

sg: hey, this is forgothername *introduces a friend to moby*
sg: she's very shy.
moby: hi!
forgothername: hi...eh, i wanna listen to your songs *takes out sg's mp3 player and starts plugging up her ears*
moby: err...ok...
sg: check out this video on my phone... *proceeds to show moby a video clip of a dog humping air while licking another dog...the clip is called "dog mastErbating...*
moby: err...ok... *thinks to himself: "youngsters nowadays..."*
sg: check out this other video... *proceeds to show moby a video clip of two girls fake fighting...i.e. - trying to pull each other's skirts off...*
moby: err...ok...very exciting! *thinks to himself: "knn lah jason...why you never come..."*

*end of story...till next month's haircut...*

p.s. - happy 18th birthday sg. =)

4 km walk

in order to prepare for the upcoming terry fox run where i'll be walking for 4 km, i decided to spend some more time with my folks today...we actually decided to go do the hiking thing today, minus the mountain bikes, but then it started drizzling once they picked me up. so we decided to head eastwards, in search of drier ground (don't ask me why...ask the driver...aka the ntu professor).

along the way, we passed by some big blue and yellow coloured tents on the junction of beach road and rochor road...


cirque du soleil tent through the windscreen 1

i actually had a proposal from winnie...she said that she'd go with me if i'd buy and pay for the tickets...wow. how irresistibly irresistible. i ain't desperate yet hor!!!


cirque du soleil tent through the windscreen 2

btw, does anyone wanna watch cirque du soleil with me??? pleeeeeeaaaaassssse??? haha. no lah...really...i'm not desperate. (pretty please?)

anyway, we ended up where i was two days earlier...marina promenade.


mom & dad 1

my dad, once again, wanted to jog...but this time, cuz my mom just came back from the states a few days ago (so she was still a bit jet lagged and all), i had the perfect lazyass excuse to walk slowly with her...

we took some pictures along the way...but the quality's not that great cuz it was so cloudy and all...yeah, i'm gonna blame it on the weather!!! =)


mom and dad 2


mom and moby


dad


panorama

but we DID walk for exactly 4km (according to the markers on the roadside that is), so i should be ready and fit for next week's task. hey, walking takes effort too ok. =)

we went to 鼎泰豐 (ding tai feng) after that and had a feast. my dad has a tendency to order for 5 people (inclusive of my brother and sister...both of whom, he probably forgot, are still overseas)...so we ended having to pack back almost as much as we ordered. but good food, family bonding, well done. =)

9-11

i had a sobering conversation with jo just now on msn...

jo: shit it's sept 11
moby: yeah, i was feeling a bit down
jo: becos?
moby: just remembering how i first found out about the incident
jo: how?
moby: i was playing yahoo pool, then i happened to read the comments on the main page...they were saying something like "another airplane crashes into twin towers!!!", but i thought it was just a gimmick...until i received a phone call from mandy...cuz apparently she was watching tv, and they announced it...
moby: how did you find out?
jo: watching tv then somebody called, then we changed channel to cnn bbc
moby: i think everyone will remember how they found out loh...it's like a landmark event
jo: actually i thought the planes crashing in building idea was a cool...like if i saw it in a movie, i would be excited...
moby: but it's different when it's in real life right?
jo: yeah man...
moby: the thing is, i have this picture of the towers that i took just a few months before in june, when me and fye went there to meet up with his brother and emril....it's kinda scary when you think about it now...it's like they were planning for it while i was taking the photo...


twin towers

moby: now they're not there already...sobering...

photographsky - benjamin sheares bridge

WARNING: this post contains a lot of pictures (40 in all). please don't get discouraged if you cannot instantaneously see all the pictures due to your slow motherfucking cambodian internet connection. (yeah, i'm referring to you, jo.)

i took the day off today...mainly to get work off my mind, and to take some time to relax. i wanted to go hang out with friends and stuff, but most of them were either busy with their girlfriends or computers, or both...so...i just did things my way (i.e. alone)...again.

i've always wanted to go to the benjamin sheares bridge on foot. every time i drive on the ecp, i always had a tendency to wish for a traffic jam right at the bridge, just so that i could check out the view for a while longer. but now that i don't have a car anymore, and since i had the day off, i thought what the hell, let's climb this bitch.

one problem. i didn't know how to get there. so after a long long time looking for the way up, and circling the whole of suntec city twice...


journey to the top

i finally asked this construction worker for directions...which he politely gave me...in thai. knn. i had to ask his colleague for a translation (where's chen fye when you need him man...), and finally, i reached...


stairway to benjamin sheares bridge

it wasn't as hard a climb as i thought...cuz i expected something like 100 steps or more...but it turned out that it was a slope kinda climb...not too bad...but i was already sweating like pamela anderson on baywatch by the time i got there loh.


walkway to the top

now i know why the worker spoke to me in thai rather than in english...apparently he had to rush off for a very urgent meeting:


construction takraw

on the way up the slope, i saw some people jogging / walking...


crazy healthy people

and then i saw some more of them...


more crazy healthy people

apparently there was some "national healthy lifestyle campaign" crap going on today...crazy...with all the exhaust from all those cars and buses going past them, they probably smoked more than me today...ok, maybe only lah. haha.

and then i finally reached the peak...


at the top


at the top 2

it wasn't really what i expected, cuz it was still way too bright to take any REALLY nice pictures...i left my house at around 4:30pm, and reached there at around 6:15pm (after doing the merry-go-round at suntec), but it still wasn't sunset material yet...so i decided to walk along the bridge some more.

doesn't this remind you of the movie...


independence day

when i reached the other side, there was another staircase going down, so i went and found what it's like to be under the bridge...


"sometimes i feel like i don't have a partner..." - red hot chili peppers

i was quite glad that i wore my hiking boots cuz it was kinda muddy and sandy and shitty under the bridge...


hi-tec from chiangmai

i was so happy that i'll show two pictures of them... =)


hi tec from chiangmai 2

as i followed the dirt path, i realised that i had stumbled upon marina city park...and the first thing that i saw was...


bombs away!!!

(good thing i had my fisherman's hat on)

they have a lot of sculptures and stuff at marina city park...the first of which that i came across was...


sundial


time by marina city park

then as i was walking around the park to pass time (in order to get the nice sunset pictures of the city landscape), i saw many statues...apparently there are eight sculptures of chinese legandary heroes in the park. cool...more chinese education (they must have come out when the government had the "speak mandarin" campaign). i actually learned a lot. this was the first:

"confucius was born in the state of lu, towards the end of the spring and autumn period. he was a great philosopher and educator. his teachings, which included his thoughts on "humanity" and "propriety", are recorded in the "analects". confucianism has had a great impact on chinese society. he is honoured as a sage."


孔子 (confucius)


"qu yuan, born in the state of chu during the warring period, was a patriot, a statesman, and a poet. as counsellor to the ruler of chu, he advocated political reforms in the interest of the country, but was sent into exile by the ruler. when his country was on the brink of ruin, he drowned himself in the mi-lo river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to demonstrate his loyalty. nowadays people eat rice dumplings and hold dragon boat races every year to commemorate his death.


屈原 (qu yuan)


"guan yu, a great general of shu han of the three kingdoms era, is the embodiment of loyalty, righteousness and bravery. the brotherly affection that existed between guan and his sworn brothers, liu bei and zhang fei, and guan's exploits in overpowering six generals and capturing five strategic passes, have become immortal tales. he is respected as 'guan gong', a righteous warrior, and deified 'guan di'."


关羽 (guan yu)


"hua mulan was born in shang qiu of later wei in the northern dynasties. she disguised herself as a male to join the army on behalf of her father. fearless and resourceful, she triumphed over her enemies on numerous occasions during her twelve years in the military. she has shown that women are equal to men in intelligence, bravery and capability."


花木兰 (hua mulan)


"yue fei was an eminent general during the southern song dynasty. born into a poor family, he was studious, brave and intelligent. he was especially devoted to his mother. before his departure to defend his country against the jin army, his mother tattooed four characters 'jin zhong bao guo' on his back to exhort him to serve his homeland with loyalty. he fought the jin army with great courage for ten years and won every battle. he has become a national hero for his bravery."


岳飞 (yue fei)


岳飞的纹身花刺 (yue fei's tattoo)


"wen tianxiang was a great national hero during the southern sung dynasty. when the country and the people were in great peril, he fought bravely against the enemy, but was finally held captive. during his captivity, he wrote the 'zhengqi song' and other poems to demonstrate his readiness to sacrifice everything for his country. he is remembered for his patriotism and bravery."


文天祥 (wen tianxiang)


"zheng he, an eunuch during the ming dynasty is also known as eunuch san bao. a distinguished navigator, he visited southeast asia seven times. he devoted his lifetime to navigation and to establishing friendly ties with other countries. he is a prominent figure in the history of navigation."


郑和 (zheng he)


"lin zexu, a native of fujian, was born in the qing dynasty. as a court official, he was reknowned for his integrity. when he saw how opium was impairing the health of people, he ordered the drug to be seized and destroyed, and the import of opium banned. he is held in great esteem for his patriotism and noble character."


林則徐 (lin zexu)

after the brief history lesson, i managed to get a great shot in the park of the city landscape at different timings...


cityscape view @ 1845hrs


cityscape view @ 1900hrs

wow...what a difference 15 minutes make.

the purpose of this photographsky trip was to get a nice sunset photo of the city landscape, so i had to rush through all the other sculptures that were there...such a pity as i would have enjoyed slowly strolling through this park...but as it was, i literally ran through the rest of the stuff...


soaring vision


spirit of youth


pond at marina city park 1


pond at marina city park 2

i'll definitely come here again...not many places that you can actually see...


greenery in singapore!!!

this actually came with my camera when i bought it last year at expo...though i rarely used it...too damn small lah!!!


miniature tripod

as the sun was setting, i sprinted back up the stairs, onto the bridge and took my best picture of the day...


cityscape panorama

and then i thought to myself, "why not stay a while longer and take pictures of the city NIGHT landscape?"...so i had time in between the sunset and the fall of darkness to let people know...


where's rochor rd???

eventually...


cityscape @ night 1


cityscape @ night 2

and eventually, i had company as well...


pros @ work

check out all those REAL tripods and REAL cameras. i'm gonna get one of those one of these days...

and so, it was time to head on down...where the urgent meeting was still in progress...


construction takraw @ night

while i was walking back towards the esplanade, and as fate would have it...i bumped into victor and cuixia...of all people...haha. they were on the way to their anniversary dinner at MORTON's (wowsers).


victor and cuixia

i could have sworn that i heard rob thomas singing "i don't wanna be lonely no more" in the background as i watched them walk away. =)

i wanted a closer picture of the night landscape, so i walked along marina promenade until i found a nice place to take the last picture of the night...


cityscape @ night 3

and then i went home. =)

i'm quite content now. i'm not drunk. i didn't waste money on frivolous nothings. wow. i'm not so lonely after all...i've got my nikon coolpix. =)