ONEdot TIMES

“Singapore Hell”. That’s how most Singaporeans describe this island. Pulau Tekong is the first place that Singapore men will visit when they are officially a soldier. The “amateur” soldier will have to spend at least nine weeks on this island to complete the BMT, Basic Military Training. On top of that, the “amateur” solider will also need to pass the IPPT, pass the shooting test and have at least 75% attendance (I don’t know that the hell is that).

So today I will set foot on this (hell) island for the first time in my life. But before that, I’d to take a ride on the fastcraft (what a beautiful name for a ferry ride…). Actually, I’m extremely excited about going to Pulau Tekong. Not because I like to go there a lot but I’d got the chance to feel what it will be like when I’m undergoing the BMT two years later. Furthermore, I’ve got the chance to take a ferry ride (its been almost a year since I’ve last taken a ferry ride).

Upon reaching the island, we’re first led to a not-so-fantastic AIR-CONDITIONED auditorium for a briefing (the usual boring briefing). Well, the most interesting part of the briefing is the “propaganda” video about National Service. Because the NS Men all seemed so happy in the video.

First station: To “experience” living in Pulau Tekong. Was surprised by that the place is so clean and tidy.
Second station To “experience” the food in Pulau Tekong. The looks of the food is already yucky! So dare not taste the so-called Nyona curry chicken rice.
Third station: To visit the actual training centre. Quite informative… (the fitness coach gave us some ways to improve chin-up and standing broadjump).

Ate some sausage buns and cream puffs that were offered to us before going back to Singapore island. Glad that I’ve got the chance to experience it before actually going for NS. (if not i will definitey panic or think lotsa horrible stuff when I reach that age…..)

At about 11p.m. yesterday, the Hell gates were ‘officially’ opened. And, as the name implies, it mark the start of the one-month long hungry ghost festival. So what is this Hungry Ghost Festival all about? In short, it is the Chinese equivalent of the Western’s Halloween. During this seventh month of the Lunar calender, the Chinese believe that the gates of hell are opened to free the hungry ghost who will wander on Earth to search for food. Hence, we will offer food to the ghosts to ward off bad luck. Furthermore, we’ll also burn hell notes, and stuff such as paper cars, houses etc, to our deceased relatives so as to help them live comfortably in the other world.

So what should we not do in a month where ghosts are allowed to roam freely on Earth? Here is a list of things that should/should not do in this month.
=> Do not go for swimming
=> Not suppose to speak vulgar/foul language
=> Reach home by 5 pm (for children)
=> Keep our laundry by 5 pm

Click here to read more about this festival…

Today is the fourth time that I’m watching the NDP, National Day Parade (first time was the Primary 5 NE show, second time was with my family, third time was with Jermin and this time was, with my sis). (more…)

I guess Yahoo! is on a spending spree right now. After they bought the great photo sharing website Flickr, they are now buying another great application, Konfabulator

If you remember, I’ve posted about this Konfabulator thingy a few months back. Well, I just used that for 30 days, BUT not because its not useful (when Apple saw it, they found that its such a good application that they included it in their latest OS) but rather I need to pay US20 bucks if I wanna continue to use it. But since Yahoo! had acquired it, its now offered F.O.C. And now, I’m using it again. So what are you waiting for? Go download it!

After a few days of research, I’ve set my mind on the BenQ DW1640 DVD ReWriter. So today, went to Sim Lim Square to find it. Anyway, was walking around Sim Lim square like an idiot, because this is the first time I’m going there and I just can’t seem to find the 3 stores (among the many electronics store in Sim Lim Square) that I want. Finally, found the first store after 30 minutes but to my surprise, they are only left with the ivory-coloured stocks. Proceeded to the second store and they have completely no stock at all. Damn it! if the rewriter is out of stock for the next (and last) store, my trip to Sim Lim Square will be wasted. Luckily, Cybermind have the stock and I purchased it at once. Rushed back home to install it and was so happy that it works! (this is the first time I’m opening my computer and install a new hardware). Got a scare when no sound was coming out during DVD playback. Posted my problem in the hardwarezone forums and within 5 mintues, someone said that I’d forgotten to install a “DVD” codec. Thx very much to the person who replied to me so promptly!
Now, I’m happily burning the Naruto anime using my newly installed DVD writer!

Was intending to go to the newly opened National Library after spending a few hours at fungus’s house. However, we ended up at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Well, the main reason for that is all roads leading to the Padang were closed due to National Day rehearsal. Anyway, spent about an hour in the Asian Civiliastions Museum viewing the “Journey of Faith” exhibition. The Journey of Faith exhibition showcases the Art & History from the Vatican Collections and, I personally think that its a must-go exhibition. Because not only can you know more about the Christian religion, for non-Christians like me, you can also have the chance to view the artefacts that was flown to Singapore from The Vatican (if not you’ll need to fly to Rome to view it).

After the museum tour, we walked to Clarke Quay to watch some of the National Day Rehearsal. The F-16s flypast is awesome and the sound produced by the gun salute is somewhat, deafening (IMO the tourists thought that its a terrorist attack as the sound is like a bomb explosion and coupled with the hundreds of police stationed around Clarke Quay, they have no reason not to believe it). Met Kelly and Huiying at Raffles Place MRT Station and walked to Fullerton Hotel for the Choco buffet. After wasting some time settling down, we began to, and must, feast on the vast array of chocolates that lay infront of us (FYI, this choco buffet cost us a whopping 33 bucks!). In the end, I was feeling nausea after eating too much chocolates.
Took some photos in and around Fullerton Hotel before going home and had to ban myself from eating chocolates again for the next few days…

I think today is one of those days that I should stay at home. Because its a bad day for me! (not that bad though)

This morning while I as walking along the road, I nearly fell down as I’d accidentally stepped on the side of the drain and I regained my balance as quickly as I could (it will be very embarrasing if I fell down). After that, when I was walking down the stairs, my damn headphone’s wire got entangled with the hand railings. While I was untangling the wire, some passer-bys were giving me such a weird look which embarrasses me a lot(and I thought they were thinking of “What the hell is this guy doing?!”).

Luckily, the bad luck ended after the morning and the rest of the day is “风平浪静” (peaceful).

This month is a fruitful month for us, literally. Because, it is the durian season! And due to better harvest this year, durian prices has plummeted a lot. And that make this season much fruitful than the previous one. Anyway, my family had benefitted from this extra fruitful season and I got to admit that we’d too much of it. After the Johor durian trip, we’d eaten durian almost every fortnight (and we’ve been eating it almost everyday in the past week). The result of eating too much durians? I’m starting to get headaches, sore throat and indigestion.

So what are durians? Durians is a green thorny fruit with a very strong smell and is labelled as the King of Fruits by South-East Asians. So why only South-East Asians? Because the rest of the world thinks that the strong smell is extremely stinky, like rotten fish or shit. As for me, I think the smell is heavenly good. Actually, I do not know why some of us like the smell so much (maybe because we’ve some genes similar to those of the orangutans or monkeys?) Anyway, durians are “heaty” and you’ll end up like me if you eat too much of it!

Today, I was being attacked in Sengkang. I don’t what I’d done, but I just know that I don’t deserve this kind of treatment. So what had happened?! Let me first list down the attacker’s weapons.

On my hair: Glitter Gel, some unknown hair gel and hair mousse that was unused for 4 years.
On my face: Mud Mask and some unknown facial cream
On my body: Baby Cologne and women’s perfume

I was just going to Sengkang to take my mp3 player from the attacker. However, the attacker asked me to install the Adobe photoshop for her (so as to distract my attention). Once she had succeeded in distracting my attention, she began her first attack, that is putting lotsa “unknown-brand” hair gel and glitter gel on my hair. Luckily, the glitter gel was spoilt, so she could not use it on my hair. However, she’d got a backup, i.e. the hair mousse.
Second attack: While I was still busy installing the photoshop, she quickly began her second attack, which is to pour the baby cologne and spray the women’s perfume on my back.
Third attack: This is the worst attack, which is to apply some mud mask on my face. However, I was able to escape this attack unscathed as I’d already finished the whole installation.

In the end, my whole body was “giving off” some kind of weird smell and I was so embarrassed when taking the bus. BTW, the attacker’s name is Big-Nosed Fungus.

P.S. This real-life story was exaggerated by me. So don’t take it so seriously!

1 day after London’s olympic triumph in Singapore, London itself is hit by terrorists. So what’s happening to this world? Actually, after reading the reports(in the train) about people stepping on dead bodies in order to escape, limbs scattered all over the railway tracks, I’m getting afraid of taking the MRT, especially since I need to take the MRT to school everyday. IMO, when you’re in the MRT tunnel and such a blast happens, there’s no way for you to escape. If this were to happen to me, I think I will not have the strength to even make my way to the emergency exit. Therefore I will now finally appreciate all those measures that the Singapore government had taken to prevent such a thing to happen (In the past, I just thought that the policemen stationed at every MRT station are a waste of taxpayers money and the “suspicious articles” announcements are a sore irritation for my ears).
So now we can only prevent and pray that such a thing will not happen again…
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Was just planning to get Kelly’s presents and go home after that. But things don’t usually go as planned. The 3 of us (fungus, ah ma and me) spent the whole day going to the places of interest of Singapore.

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Don’t be surprised when you see the “Make Poverty History” at the top left hand corner of my blog. This is not a spyware or adware.

So what is it all about? Its actually a whiteband to support the call to end poverty in the world. It may sound stupid to do all these, but many people around the world have proved otherwise. More than 100 artistes will perform in 7 countries around the world, Hyde Park-London, Palais de Versailles-Paris, Siegessäule-Berlin, Circus Maximus-Rome, Museum of Art-Philadelphia, Park Place-Barrie (Canada) and Makuhari Messe-Tokyo, for the Live 8 concert. The artistes that are performing include Bob Geldof, Coldplay, Elton John, Keane, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Robbie Williams, U2, Andrea Bocelli, Sheryl Crow, Green Day, Faith Hill, Will Smith, Destiny’s Child, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Stevie Wonder, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte etc. With so many artistes participating, how can we help? We can help by watching the Live 8 concert “Live” online or on TV (sad to say, not a single Free-To-Air channels in Singapore are showing it, so we can only watch it online), wear a white band (btw, 1st July 2005 is the world’s first white band day, so everybody in the world are encouraged to wear it), or send in your picture to show your support.

Anyway, this is a global call to end poverty in the world by having trade justice, pressure the G8 leaders to cancelling the poor nations debt and to doubling their aid to them.
So why not click on the whiteband at the top left hand corner of my blog and find out more what have to be and can be done? Below is a list of websites that YOU are encouraged to visit.

Live 8 website: Live8.com
Whiteband website: Whiteband.org
Make Poverty History website: MakePovertyHistory.org
One website: One.org
Make Trade Fair website: MakeTradeFair.com

“You can’t throw a rock without hitting a blogger”- Adapted from Todayonline

Definition of a blogger: any person who maintains a blog.
This phrase has prompted me to write about blogs. Nowadays, almost everyone who knows something about computer undestand the term blog. And most importantly, most of those netizens own at least one blog, if not many more. So what had caused this phenomenon? Blogs had started for as early as 1994 (at that time, I was just a little kid who doesn’t even know how to use a computer!) Well, according to wikipedia article on blogs, its the September 11 attacks that “created” this phenomenon. At that time, many blogs sprang up indicating their support for the US War on Terrorism and for other political stuff. And in the preceding years, many more types of blogs came about. Most importantly, its considered “hip” to have a blog, thus many youngsters like me went to create a blog.

So what do people do to differentiate their blog from the millions of blogs out there? Some people wrote about their sexual fantasies or desires, some people gave critical reviews of the news or political stuff (if you really want to talk on this topic in Singapore, please be prepared to be sued until you are a bankrupt by the government or that particular political party). As for me, I’d use the “power” of design to differentiate my blog, and that is what most bloggers does. Hence, many people went to learn about HTML codings, web designs etc (and that’s what I’d also done, 6 months ago, I knew nothing about HTML and web design). If you really want to have a look at what are good designs, you may want to go to the following blogs:Freeminding, The Inner Id, NIMS, Asceticmonk, Darice.

This post is just some stupid opinions of mine, so don’t bother much about it. If you wanna read more about the article, click on the Todayonline link and click Voices at the Today Section Headlines

Its just 6 in the morning and I’m ready to go. Where am I going at such an early time of the day? As the title implies, I’m going to Johor. Well, Johor is Singapore’s nearest neighbour and it’s one of Singaporeans favourite weekend getaways. Anyway, before going to Johor, we’ll be going to Jurong to board the bus.
The first 2 hours were agonising, for we’re stuck at the damn causeway for more than an hour! And to make matters worst, there’s a long queue at the immigration counter. Once we’re at Malaysian territory, we went to a coffee shop for our breakfast. Subsequently, we’re at a Pewter factory to learn how to make Pewter products (btw, Pewter is a very expensive metal alloy consisting of tin, copper and lead and Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of Pewter). Next, we’re at a durian plantation in Kulai for the most important event of the day, which is to have a durian lunch! Besides durians, there’s also a free flow of watermelons and mangosteen for us to splurge on and I’ve got to say its one of the best “fruit feast” that I’ve ever had. After the durian lunch, the bus driver drove us to an aquarium and its quite a boring attraction, so I will not elaborate more on that. In the evening, my sis and her friends went to have a shot at go-kart while I followed my mum to Jaya Jusco for some shopping. The shopping is quite lame for us as my mum only bought 6 packets of those thick yellow noodles which is very cheap. For dinner, we’re at a chinese restaurant for another round of “food feasting” (we’d shark’s fin soup, cuttlefish kangkong, “cold plate”, Asam Fish, salt chicken and butter prawns).
At the end of the day, we can only say that the $18 we paid for the 1-day tour is very well spent. Ha ha

Systm is a new “IT programme” that is distibuted LEGALLY through Bittorrent. It currently has only 2 episodes BUT, it will have a new episode uploaded on the net every week. Systm is produced by a few young adults who are previously hosts of G4tv’s The Screensavers. I’ve watched the first 2 episodes and I can say that its a very interesting programme. The first episode teaches you to build a wireless camera detector while the second episode is about building your own MythTV box (I’m not really good at giving reviews so I’m not going to elaborate more, the best is to download and watch it on your own).

The second “stuff” is not very new, its been around for more than a year. Blogshares is a fantasy stock market where blogs are treated as companies, to make things less complicated, its similar to Econs. You can trade shares, bonds, artefacts etc.
However, when I went to “list” my blog, I got a shock! I found out that both my present and previous blogs are already listed in Blogshares! Furthermore, Jermin’s blog is also listed in it. Hence I went to do something lame, that is to claim back my present blog and request to “delist” my previous blog. I’ve successfully “claimed back” my blog while it requires some time for my previous blog to be “delisted”.

I don’t know what’s wrong, but I’d just lost interest in this blog. Even though I’d spent a substantial amount of time in front of the computer, I just don’t feel like blogging. So can this “phenomenal” effect be explained by procratination? Am I beggining to procrastinate on certain things? Well, I’m like an idiot. I don’t know the answer for that yet. But I just know that its bad to procrastinate…

Time flies. How true is the phrase. It seems that my 1 1/2 month holiday is just 1 week long. Today is the official start of the new school acad year and it also marks the end of me being a year 1 student (it should’ve been yesterday but I’ve decided to skip yesterday’s lesson as it is a waste of time to go to a tutorial that lasts for only 2 hrs). Well, I’ve regretted going to school today because the tutor is not teaching today and I’m on my way back home after spending only an hour in school.

Anyway, there is some bad news. The damned Public Transport Council, or PTC has just allowed then 2 transport companies to raise fares w.e.f. 1 July 2005. IMO, I think the PTC is just a government gimmick that “balance” the need for public interest to be safeguarded and the need for public transport operators to remain financially viable. I personnally feels that the “balance”, tilts more towards “the need for public transport operators to remain financially viable. Because there isn’t an occasion that the PTC disallowed the transport companies to raise fares. So I think the PTC should be closed down as it’s wasting tax payers money… Now, Singaporeans can only grumble and pay the higher fares…

VANAKAM! Miss me? (vanakam=hello in Tamil) What should I say about this trip to Malaysia? I think its one of the more enjoyable ones. However, during the 1-week holiday, I feel like I’m cut off from the world. Because my aunt don’t own a computer, so no surfing of the internet and they don’t watch TV news (Most of their time are dedicated to HK dramas). So, my only way to catch up is to read the newspaper every morning. Well, I think I should recap what I’ve done in the past week during my stay in Malaysia.

20 May: Went to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station at 9pm and found out that the train was delayed for half an hour. The cause of it: The damn computer network of Malaysian Immigration broke down! So, the immigration officers have to use the most traditional method, that is to use pens and papers for us to check in.

21 May: Reached Malaysia in the morning and went to have a haircut immediately. Went to Sunway Pyramid for some shopping after the haircut and the rest of the day are some boring stuff that I don’t want to mention.

22 May: Got a splitting headache and felt like vomiting for the whole day. I think the lack of sleep was the main cause of it. No mood and energy to go out or even eat.

23 May: Stayed awake until the wee hours in the morning just to watch the Arsenal Vs Manchested United football match. Even though I’m not a supporter of any of the clubs, I just feel like watching it and hoped that Arsenal will win the FA Cup. Because I really hated Manchester United (don’t ask me why, I just hated them). Anyway, today is Vesak Day and many buddhist will be going to the temple to “celebrate” it. However for me, I went to a shopping complex instead.

24 May: Went to Sunway Pyramid again for some window shopping and went back to my aunt’s house to go to the Pasar Malam, night market in Malay. I can tell you that the Pasar Malam in Malaysia is truly a Pasar Malam. What do I mean by that? Let me first talk about the Pasar Malam in Singapore. In Singapore, the Pasar Malam(s) covers only a small stretch of road and is held once in a few months. However in Malaysia, its a very big night market which encircles the whole town centre and it is held every week. Many Malaysians will make it a point to go there every week to buy their groceries or just to settle their dinner there.

25 May: Today is a very important day for many Liverpool fans, including me. Because it is the day where Liverpool and AC Milan will fight for their lives to claim the most elite cup in Europe, The Champions League Trophy. It is a must for Liverpool or AC Milan fans to watch the match. The first 45 minutes of the game is a nightmare for every Liverpool fans, as Liverpool is already down 3-0 in the first half and the players look like they are already losing it. Everyone said that Liverpool is not going to win it and they need a miracle, which is unlikely to happen, to win the trophy. However, in the second half, the most unexpected happened. Liverpool levelled the game in 6 minutes and the whole match seems to come back to life. Liverpool defended like hell until the last minute of the game. And so, the match went into penalty shoot-out and its a heart-stopping experience for me, much more exciting than watching all those horror shows. Serginho missed the first penalty and Jerzy Dudek became the hero by saving two penalties. Hence Liverpool became the European Champions! What a match!

26 May: Woke up at 8 in the morning just to watch the ‘Live’ telecast of the American Idol and Carrie Underwood undoubtedly became the new American Idol. In the afternoon, my aunt and I became a part-time tour guide. Because my aunt from Hong Kong has brought 5 of their friends along and we were given the task to bring them to Genting. I felt quite uneasy talking to them because I’m not used to speaking Cantonese 24 hours a day. So, we took a bus in the afternoon to go to Genting Highlands, a mountain resort near Kuala Lumpur. Actually its quite amazing that in a tropical country, there is a place where temperatures are around 20 degrees all year round. When we checked in to the hotel, i really regretted not bringing my digital camera or my handphone. Because the hotel has a small balcony and the scenary is splendid! As Genting is quite high up the mountain, you’ll feel like you’re on par with the skyline. What a waste for not bringing my camera:-X. Anyway, spent some time walking around Genting and went back to the hotel room after the adults went to the casino, as I’m still considered underage.

27 May: Went back to Kuala Lumpur again and the rest of the day are some boring stuff. Just that in the evening, we brought the Hong Kongers to a durian road store to let them try out what is known as the King of Fruits. Oh my, the durians are excellent! As my aunt bought the best durians, which is D24 and Mao Shan Wong (Cat Mountain King in Cantonese).

28 May: Today, my aunt booked a van and we brought the Hong Kongers for a 1-day KL City tour. Once again, I really regretted and felt really stupid for not bringing my camera or my phone as I’m not able to take any photos. We went to the Istana, which means palace in English, Tin Hou Temple, Malaysia National Mosque, Malaysia Independence Square, Batik factory, Chocolate factory, KL Tower and the infamous Petronas Twin Tower, which is also known as KLCC (The world’s second tallest building). For me, the most enjoyable attraction is the Malaysia National Mosque. Because we must wear the traditonal Malay costume in order to go inside the mosque and all of us looked kinda funny in those costumes.

At night, we board a 10.30pm train back to Singapore and reached here this morning. What I can say is that, I’ve grown fatter! Because I really ate a lot in Malaysia. Well, you’ll feel kinda guilty when you don’t eat all those delicacies that is placed right in front of you . Now, I think I need to embark on an exercise plan. Ha ha

I’m going to Malaysia for a week tonight. So no post until 28 May! BTW, don’t miss me! :’)

Anyway, this sunday is Vesak Day, a buddhist public holiday. So Happy Vesak Day!

Nothing special had happened to me today, just that I’d met my friends to watch a very disgusting and gross movie this afternoon…

Well, today I shall write a review of this grotesque movie, House of Wax.
First of all, this show ain’t for the faint-hearted or those young and innocent people (I’m the best example). Its created for those serial killers, perverts, or people who are just cold-blooded.
Damn! This show is gross! Its somewhat like the animals abuse documentary that I’ve mentioned before. Just that this movie showcases some fake human torture and abuses.

Anyway, the first part of the show is damn boring, its like some sort of a porn show. Haha, and you might have guessed it, Paris Hilton is the main actress for that part… She was doing what she’s best at, doing sex scenes (its just a few scenes though…). I think most of her acting in the show is related to sexuality. Furthermore, she died wearing only a skimpy lingerie.
Second part of the show is the disgusting and gross part. And in my mind now, I can still vividly remember all those stabbing and torturing scenes (how I wish I can have some sort of a short term memory loss…). Especially the part where Jared Padalecki was “waxed” alive, its such a painful scene… And all those killings continued till the end of the show.

For me, I’ve regretted paying 7 bucks to scare myself and watch these tomenting scenes. One of the more disgusting thing is that when I reached home, my Mom cooked some meat cake which looked almost like the flesh in the movie. Duh!

Well, I’d woke up at 2.30am in the morning just to watch the live football match and I’d not regretted waking up that early. That’s because my favourite football club has beat all the odds, by beating the cocky Chelsea, to reach the finals of the Champions League. It is one of those thrilling football match where Liverpool was awarded a controversial goal in the fourth minute of the game and defended like hell to beat Chelsea. Anyway, I think Rafa is one of the best manager
s available!

Surprised? Do you like the new look of this blog? However, I’ve tell you first that I decided to use a Liverpool theme for the rest of the month to show my support to my favourite football club, Liverpool! So don’t be caught up by the sudden change in design. Ha ha anyway, I’ve decided to switch to use Blogsome. WHY?! Because I’m fed up with the service of Myblogsite, it takes years to change the full styles and I’d encountered some security issues. So, I took a few days to search for another free blog host, but all are either not user-friendly or gives limited bandwitdh, until I found Blogsome. One of the best features of Blogsome is, it uses WordPress! You might ask what the hell is WordPress?! WordPress is one of the latest and most user-friendly open-source blog host on the web right now. Anyway, it may sound stupid to switch to another blog now because I’ve just build up a name for myself, try searching for onedot on Yahoo! or Google and look at the results.

Do you like the design? Give me some comments!

Finally, my exams are over and it will be the start of my one and a half months holiday.

For your info, I’ve just found a great freeware for you to put it on your desktop. It is the Konfabulator, whcih comes with 12 preloaded widgets. You can download lotsa widgets like weather forecast, games, newsfeeds, animation etc. So go download it!Well, this post will be short as I’m preparing myself for the chalet, which will last until Sunday. And that also means no blogging again for the next 3 days! Byez

You could have noticed that I’ve changed the title bar and colour scheme for my blog. I think this is just temporary as I’m very busy with my exams right now. One of the main reasons I’m changing the title now, temporary, is I think the previous title bar sucks! its so damn plain and looks so ugly with that stupid underline. Hence, I’ve created a new title bar using photoshop yesterday. However, the new title bar is still quite ‘ugly’ or ‘displaced’ as it’s not ‘long’ enough to cover the width of the page.

You might ask me, “why get through all the trouble to create all these? there are aplenty of pre-created themes for you to download on the net, such as blogskins.” However, I don’t want to, (should I say copy?) other peoples’ work. I want to create a new design on my own.

Anyway, I’m having my exams next week but, I’ve not studied yet! I’m getting too complacent in polytechnic, as studying in polytechnic can be quite ‘relaxing’. I think I need to embark on a ‘Intensive Revision Programme’ to catch up with my school work. And that also means less blogging this few weeks!

The rumours has now become reality. Yes, Yahoo! has officially confirmed that that have acquired Flickr. Well, Flickr is my favourite place to store my online photos. It is basically almost the same as friendster and has a 10MB limit for free users like me. However, you may want to spend US$41.77 of your money to buy a pro account.

Nevertheless, the acquisition might be good news for users like me since our accounts will have more storage and uploads. Furthermore, I may be able to combine my Yahoo! Photos account with Flickr!(who will not want that?!)

Just watched another video of animal torture and I’d to say, STOP IT human! The video is the most tormenting and gross and horrible that I’ve ever seen in my life. I think, the world’s most dangerous animal ain’t snake or crocodile or spiders. The infamous title should be given to us, humans! Parents eating their own children, children raping their own mother, Father raping their own children etc. What aren’t we capable of?

Sometimes, when we strive to improve and advance, we will tend to forget the morals of life. We can be evil and display all sorts of sinful behaviours.

After watching the movie, I felt ashamed to be a chinese because pictured inside the video are all chinese, that dosen’t imply that only the chinese will do these kinda actions. For now, I felt like vomiting and don’t feel like eating meat again…

P.S. I’ve provided a link for you to download the video and watch it. Please be prepared of disgusting scenes and do not continue watching it if you feel unwell. Care for the Wild

Wow, I think firefox is getting a foothold in the browser war already. I just checked my site statistics and about 79% of the people reading my blog are using Firefox! (and the rest are the ignorant ones who are still using the fucking lame product by Microsoft).

Well, my stats may not be significant in relation to the whole internet community because my blog’s visitor count is so damn pathetic. Anyway, I think more efforts are needed to spread the Firefox to more people around the world… (cos from what I know, quite a lot of people still think that there is only Internet Explorer in this world)

Well, the neighbourhood I’m living in is in the news again. As you might know, the last time was the stupid bush fire, now, its something more serious. A man has killed his wife and two kids before committing suicide(Luckily its not opposite my house because the time that he jumped down is almost the same time that I left my house on that day). This happened just a few blocks away from my house. For me, the first thought is, Why should you commit suicide? Committing suicide is the most irresponsible way to escape from a problem and before you do it, think of your family and friends! What will happen to them when you are dead? For the man, he had killed his whole family, which is even worst, so now, a lot of people have said that he is very ‘cruel’ and irresponsible. But I do pity him because, think of the fear and guilt that you have to endure when you are doing that.

Well, you do not have to be dead to solve a problem. You can resolve the problem without committing suicide. Its just some sacrifices that you have to take.

Anyone need a Gmail or Orkut invite? Just give me your full name and emaill address and I will send it to you as soon as possible!

Well, today just finished reading The Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker. Generally, I think its a good book.

This is the first book, that I’ve read, to combine both fiction and non-ficiton stuff. It’s based on, as the title suggest, the eighteenth-century Venice. Its about the romance and adventure of two women, Marietta and Elena, whom met at the Pieta(a singing school). They later married to two arch rivals and thus and is forbidden to meet each other. However, their Pieta senior act as a middleman, passing messages for them and thus, thier friendship endures.

The book follows the history closely therefore, you can be sure that the backdrop of the book are all real. The book describes every detail carefully and you will be captivated by the scenery of Venice. Overall, this book is not just about the romance of the two girls but its definitely more than that. So, what are you waiting for? Go read it!

Ha ha, today’s Economics lesson is quite a comical one. We are discussing about CPF (Central Provident Fund or if you like, you can call it as Cash Prior to Death) and my teacher got so worked up that we need to tell him to relax. Actually, I understand why he’d gt so worked up about the topic and first, let me explain the CPF system in Singapore.

-We must contribute 20% of our meagre salary to our CPF account (that leaves us with a pathetic amount of money to spare)
-Of that amount of money, 22% goes to the Ordinary account, 5% goes to the special account and 6% goes to the Medisave account. (btw, we cannot withdraw the money in our special account until we are about to die and we can only use the money in our Medisave when we are hospitalised)
- We must have at least $84,500 in our CPF account before we can withdraw some money to pay for our house or investments and that amount will increase until $120,000 in 2013. ( that also means that we cannot touch $120,000 of my life savings until I’m 55, I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to live up to that age)
-The interest rate is a pathetic 2.5% p.a. for ordinary account and 4.5% for the other accounts
-We cannot take the money when we die, it will be transferred to our next of kin’s CPF account(TAKE NOTE! your next of kin also needs to live up to that age to take the money!!)

That marks the end of my explanation of the CPF system. So what do you think? Is the so called financial planning for your future a good one or a stupid one that is bound to eat up your life savings? Ha ha hopes that it’s not a very long article!

Just watched the Oscars and just felt like sleeping… That’s because its sooo boring! Even looking at the nominees is a big turn off. Just look at the Best Pictures, which one of the movies are box office hits? Except for The Aviator and Finding Neverland, I don’t even know the movies exist! You may say that I’m ignorant, but i just felt that there are a lot more movies made last year are better than the nominees. I’m just delighted that The Incredibles, which is a great cartoon, won the Animated Feature Film.
Anway, from all the past and present movies that have won the Best Picture in the Academy Awards, I’ve found one thing in common. And that is most of the movies, the scenes are so dark that sometimes you can’t even figure what who the hell is acting in the movie. So I think if any directors wanna get the Oscars next year, just save some electricity and make your movie look darker.

P.S. This are just some of my opinions!

First of all, I think I need to say sorry cos I’ve not posted for 3 days. What made me so frustrated is that in just over 1 week, I’ve not posted regularly…
Anyway, yesterday have a fun night watching Hide and Seek by Robert De Niro with my friends. Generally, I think Hide and Seek is quite a nice thriller with all the visual and sound effect. Most importantly, it was the great acting by Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning that made this movie awesome.

Fire!!!! wow, this is the first time i’ve seen such a big fire and its happening right behind my house. However, i don’t feel scared or worried at all! Instead, I feel excited! Cos hundreds of people have rushed down. Not to save the fire, but to watch the fire. Don’t be shocked, that’s the typical Singaporean act. Now, I can still see smoke gulfing out and the smell is terrible! From CNA website, the fire has already engulfed approximately 10 football fields. Thats quite a big area!

Anyway, lets hope that the fire will be brought under control as quickly as possible and most importantly, RAIN!(Its been more than 2 weeks since it last rain…)

Hi! Welcome to my first blog! Wow, don’t know why I started this blog. Anyway, I’m Junjie from Singapore and currently pursuing a Accounts diploma from the Singapore Polytechnic. If you have any comments, you can email me at ahdibuao@gmail.com or just post it at the Dashboard..

Happy Surfing!