BCM aka Simon the retired gaming nerd.

Bitten by Laziness Bug!

2008-02-17T20:02:00.002+08:00

>_>

<_<

o_o;

Uh, belated Happy Lunar New Year.

Aye, for the past few weeks i've been kinda lazy, not been keeping up with updates on this blog.

Work is ... the same, i still need to maintain or exceed my current standards - i.e. i'm doing 'ok' but there's definitely room for improvement.

Next sat is the monthly discussion mtg, i've also got to prepare an article out of the SSA Times as presentation material - that leaves me with a little over 5 days (minus today) to work with, so i'd better organise my time accordingly after work.

Been tweaking with some pics in my collection again after i stumbled upon www.ndsthemes.com heheh - essentially this livens up my startup screen when i boot up my NDS.

Each theme eats up roughly 0.5 mb, & with 4 themes (out of max of 12 allowable on the R4-card) this means these files take up about 2 mb of my 2 GB micro-SD card.

Over in WoW, after tagging along to Zul'Farrak, Bakchormee the rogue is now Lv45! I'm also shooting bullets to train up Marksmanship (or gunmanship? >_> ) its at LV150s currently. I should also max out my Throwing (Lv210s atm) next.

I'll load some pics in the next update :3

Yet another 2-week break :x

2008-02-04T06:00:00.000+08:00

Bleh, time flies so fast - 2 weeks have since gone by again, & chinese new year is on this coming thursday & friday.

There's also nothing much to write as well. I have not logged on into WoW during the entire 2 weeks, instead spending my free time offline on my NDS (playing Advance Wars days of ruin, & FF12 Revenant Wings), reading (magazines & newspapers mostly) or sleeping.

And the list of things i need to do goes on... such as:
-ironing my shirts :x
-reading & sharing the Gosho with others
-buying screen protector for my digital camera (i keep forgetting lol)
-re-organise my army stuff to prepare for the trip to thailand in Sep.
-and hopefully set aside an hour each day for WoW; i really should psych myself again to play before i totally lose interest & quit playing hmm.

Off to work i go now!

Sunday Odyssey

2008-01-20T19:27:00.000+08:00

I did log on to WoW during this week; however i did not level a bit (just went in to check auction, then logged out) :P

Work was particularly harsh during the week - many home loan applications meant staying back after office hours to clear work; i also missed out on the nanyang chapter ymd daimokukai organised by daniel on thursday as a result.

Probably partially because of stress, & lack of wisdom in dining (i was literally taking fast food meals for dinner throughout the week), i was afflicted by persistent cough, running nose & sore throat. I sought treatment from the TCM (Ma Kuang's) clinic on Sat, & the physician cautioned me to lay off on those fried, oily stuff & also to avoid cold drinks & dessert. Serves me right i guess >.>

*TCM= traditional chinese medicine.

So today i left my house at 6am, in order to be able to attend the first YMD leaders daimokukai / prayer session (its held on every 3rd sunday of each month, which Jan'08 being the first such session yep). I didn't regret it though, as we were able to do some spirited chanting, followed by some sharing on the Human Revolution by Vice Gen-Director Tay.

After the sharing session, i made a determination to put aside some $$$ in Feb to buy the abridged version of Daisaku Ikeda's Human Revolution, which took him 28 yrs to finish writing (and also to finish up reading on those books i had already bought too lol) :D

At 10am i was tempted to go down to Telok Blangah to sign up for NDP'08, but i didn't feel up to it, as i am still suffering from the occassional coughing bouts; in addition i had promised my mom to visit grandma while i was in Tampines.

So, after running some errands in the area on my mom's behalf, i spent the next 1 hr watching tv-cum-chatting with my grandma (my mom's mom yep), before heading to HQ ICA for the Sunday Odyssey at 1pm.

While the video show wasn't perfect (the voice of the narrator somehow ended up being high-pitched & squeaky, making me wish there were subtitles..), the sharing sessions by our senior leaders were definitely excellent & enriching.

Its also a pity that we were only able to visit 2 kaikans (HQ ICA, & either Senja or Jurong kaikan; we were assigned to Senja).

In short, thru' the sharing of the experiences, the senior leaders urged us to inherit the 'never say die' & 'can-do' spirit, which incidentally are part of the 'Gakkai' spirit.

The event ended at 6pm, and i reached home at around 7pm.

Now, as i type this entry & staring at my half-eaten takeaway dinner, i ponder on how i can encourage my members in their daily lives.

Also, i have to recover ASAP! The cough is scaring people around me (office, in public transport, & even my parents, since i'm essentially robbing them & myself of much needed Zzz during my coughing fits).

Bleargh. Forgot to buy bread for my mom. Until next week then! >.>;

Pics! (ok so i was bored..)

2008-01-13T16:53:00.000+08:00

Dunno if some of you may remember, i posted this pic in Dec'06, before i broke my old modem:
Now, taking a break before i clean the rest of the house, i decided to take a few pics of my room (below) :P

lu lu lu...

And 1 more!

And err, a random pic of a plant (taken a few days ago, at a bus-stop near my house) :

OK, back to chores now >_>

Chores & yet more chores ^^;

2008-01-13T13:35:00.000+08:00

This year, chinese new year is on the same week as Puru's birthday, i.e. during 2nd week of Feb.

So, i find myself busy with extra chores (yep, its the 'annual' spring cleaning thingy) in addition to work & showing up for SSA activities. Now i can fully appreciate why 'adults' seldom have time to play games..

As usual NDS is my only form of entertainment; in FF12, i've hit Lv80 on some of my chars & gotten Vaan's sword 'Anastasia' upgraded to +110 on all stats; just a few weeks more before i can finally kick the arse (hopefully) of those Lv99 beasts lol. Also put in some time to forge the Phantom Sword (Zelda: Phantom Hourglass), now i can either go around getting all the sidequests done, or go straight for the boss :D

Tried out Picross, can't say i like it though - navigating thru' the 20 x 20 puzzles on the small screen doesn't cut it for me.

And so i am still Lv43 in WoW for the xth consecutive week (gosh i actually lost count) XD

Back to Usual

2008-01-06T10:02:00.000+08:00

I spent the last week uneventfully - i.e. doing the usual chores, & attending various SSA-related events; i didn't even log on to WoW even once during the entire week >_>

Still, i was pleasantly surprised by Astara's sms :)

My mom seems to be ok so far, despite her taking up some chores (washing / drying / collecting clothes, cooking her own meals, & the like) recently - we'll be praying she'll be able to similarly recover as fast, after the next chemo session which will be scheduled on 15th Jan.

I've totally neglected the WoW front; aside from lack of time (i was mostly out of the house for the past week), i've also found my interest waning steadily - i guess its, the longer you stay away, the less tempting it is to actually play it.

And so i rely on my trusty NDS to pass the time - currently either playing some mini-games (in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass), or trying to get Vaan & company (FF12: Revenant Wings) to Lv99 while i'm travelling.

For once i actually got to oversleep a little (my mom wanted me to shop for groceries instead of the usual trip to Senja culture center for chanting session just now) - even so, i must remind myself not to slacken in my practice :x

And so, its back to studying the Gosho (The Eternal Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin), & Ikeda sensei's guidance lol

Till next week :P

Resolution 2008

2007-12-30T13:52:00.000+08:00

Well, my resolution for 2008 is pretty much a cut-&-paste of the one i made a year ago:

1.For my mom to win in her battle against cancer.
2.For me to get a job (for 2008, it'd be for me to be able to handle challenges @the workplace).
3.To be able to strike a balance between work, play & rest yep :D

In WoW, i've resolved to set aside at least 3 hrs per week, which will start from next tuesday :P

Hopefully i can hit Lv70 (still Lv43 now lol) before end of next year heh

In FFXI, i finally bade Purutaru & Yuumei a final farewell - cancelled my bro's a/c yesterday night.

Aside from freeing up some $$$, I'm also putting my driving lessons & dental braces on hold, in case if i need the funds for any emergency.

Well, it looks set to be a busy week ahead, as i juggle chores with work & maybe some WoW time as well.

Happy 2008 to all ^^

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year

2007-12-23T22:59:00.000+08:00

Geesh, sometimes this page takes so long to load, i simply give up waiting -_-;

Still, there wasn't much to write about.. my mom seems to be doing ok after the chemo injection - we are hoping that the next CT scan will show that its actually working >_>

To that end, i've been increasing my daily daimoku sessions (now i average about 1 hr daily as compared to 30 mins including morning & evening gongyo sessions).

I've also started actively helping out, such as making home visits (total of 3 within this month), & volunteered for a part in a sketch for our recently-concluded monthly mtg - while it was fun , it was challenging at the same time, as my command of chinese is currently still below average - with the conviction that my mom will recover & join me in such activities in future, contributing towards the kosen-rufu movement for SSA/SGI.

Over in WoW, i'm still Lv43, & not logged in for awhile now, as i continue to be hooked on my NDS (just completed ff12:revenant wings, though training my characters to lv99 to try for the other ending), & trying out diner dash lol.

In FFXI, i've also not checked in, think i may finally delete Puru/yuumei in jan'08.

It also doesn't help that i've taken over most of the chores (washing clothes, ironing my shirts & weekly general cleaning, & mopping of floor in order to welcome SSA members for daimoku chanting sessions) - i usually end up too tired to log in to any game.

Oh well.

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year!

P.S. Puru's playing as Akihabara in WoW (also shattered hand yep) :D

2 weeks hiatus

2007-12-09T19:14:00.000+08:00

Its December once again, and in some ways this year seems to resemble last year:
-my mom was undergoing her operation then. This yr, she will be undergoing chemotherapy.
-i was on the verge of quitting ffxi online then - i wonder if i'll quit wow now, due to lack of play time & dwlinding interest, among other factors.

Hrm.

Also, my bro's ffxi account is still active, i dunno if i should buy the expansion (wings of the goddess), or just de-activate puru/yuumei forever. I may be forced to choose the latter if my mom's medical bills rack up though.

I've been spending my free time either reading sensei's guidance, buddhist-related publications, or playing final fantasy 12: revenant wings on my NDS.

And of course, chanting daimoku in front of the Gohonzon to pray for my mom's success in overcoming the cancer cells.

./depressed

2007-11-26T19:23:00.000+08:00

On the WoW front, i finally begain questing / levelling again - as of now i'm almost guaranteed Lv44 (will level up once i go back to Brackenwall Village to collect some rewards).

However, it was overshadowed by my mom's CT scan results, which revealed that her colon cancer is still very much 'alive', having spread to other parts of her body. The doctor recommended my mom for chemotherapy sessions, the first of (i have yet to ask my mom how many sessions) will begin next week.

At work, it was also a bumpy ride as i once again tried my best to get my work done 100% defect-free. While I was partly relieved that majority of my mistakes were minor, i was still depressed that i was not able to achieve near-perfect work rate.

Hence, i resolve to strive even harder for my daily daimoku & gakkai activities no matter what happens; i'll challenge and emerge victorious over my current circumstances.

Back to Work!

2007-11-18T17:16:00.000+08:00

Its with some relief that my reservist duty had ended - during the exercise, i kinda screwed up by not having a raincoat & compass for my boss (CO), & forgot to retrieve the field chair on the last day of the exercise. Lucky for me, our HQ CSM spotted the 'extra' chair lying around & sent it back to HQ.

I have set forth a vow, to set a better standard of performance for next year's trip to Thailand in Sep'08, to show actual proof for the sake of kosen-rufu.

My dad's gotten a nasty migrane yesterday; coupled with my mom's recent blood test report, this makes for some challenges to overcome indeed.

Hence, for tonight's daimoku session, I pray with a firm conviction that they (my parents) have a safe & fun trip to & back from Genting, & successfully converting their karma into mission.

Last for not least, tomorrow also marks my return to work after 2 weeks' hiatus (i was away for reservist duty). I will chant for a victorious day @work, i.e. to overcome all challenges & advance onwards for the sake of kosen-rufu ^^

Reservist Week 2

2007-11-11T16:10:00.000+08:00

One week's gone by - it felt like the last 2nd in-camp training, whereby i would just hide in the office whenever i wasn't needed, except for 2 differences - one being i'd shadow my CO whenever Bn2ic was around, and that i actually spent much more $$$ this time ($20 by cab from home to camp at 5:50am) -_-;

Didn't log into WoW at all, as i devoted my free time between playing Front Mission & Final Fantasy Tactics A2 on the NDS, & sleeping >_>

Tomorrow will be the start of a 3-days, 3-nights out-field activity, with lots of mosquitoes, dozing off on the rover, lots of walking, river crossing, & finally tons of mud & sand promised.

And i'm off to finish off my chores, before my mom screams her lungs out Zzz.

Reservist Ahoy once more!

2007-11-04T11:58:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow will mark the start of my 2-week long stint @northern part of singapore, for my reservist duty.

Looking at the calender, there'll be a reprieve on Thursday (being Deepavali, declared a national holiday) - however, it seems that the army's now operating under a new system, i.e. we'd need to return on Saturday for some training -_- (and my mom has a blood test scheduled as well on that day; it'll be up to my brother to help out as an escort on that day i guess).

The week @work didn't go as smoothly as i hoped for - i was almost undone again by my carelessness >_< While individually considered as minor oversights, i am well aware that it cannot be good for me in the long run; i must muster more daimoku & overcome this weakness (tendency to trade accuracy for speed). I will win!

In WoW, my Blood elf rogue is still at Lv42. Oh well.

There is no (WoW) Level

2007-10-28T12:39:00.000+08:00

And so, amazingly i was offline for almost the entire week ^^; but it was mostly due to laziness & diverting my attention to other stuff, such as buddhist studies, & playing zelda: phantom hourglass on my NDS.

Therefore i still am Lv42 rogue as of now. Still, after watching my bro's participation in a 10-man Karazhan raid team yesterday, i'm inspired to take this char to lv70 at least (establishing foundation for $$$ income), so that i can continue on my Lv10 Isadodo, my original main char (bloodelf paladin). ^-^

Last weekend, i skipped the monthly discussion meeting @district 4, due to the team-building activity @pasir ris.

Ironically, this saturday morning saw me showing up early @the eastern side of singapore yet again - this time as a helper for a wedding ceremony between 2 youth district leaders.

Location: soka ica/an-le temple/kindergarden, opposite safra-tampines (below pic taken while i had a chance to grab my digital camera from my bag) :3

After the above event, i went to my aunt's place to meet up with my mom, who was visiting my grandma. We then dropped by bugis area for some shopping, and attended the monthly discussion mtg @nanyang district 2 (Blk 825 3rd floor).

I felt that the atmosphere @district 3, and even district 2 (which i am currently assigned to, & attended last month's meeting there @Blk 966 5th floor) was different from district 4 - i felt a stronger sense of camadrie & friendship amongst some of the members in attendance.

I felt kinda spaced out by the meeting ended though - hence i used the pretext of escorting my mom home to evade the post-meeting discussion held by the district leaders (ahem ahem).

Perhaps that's the reason for my mom & myself getting lost (we opted to walk home instead of waiting for the feeder bus - but ended up taking a detour), and subsequently this morning as well! We were not able to board the correct bus to senja kaikan - instead of alighting @the bus interchange, we opted to get off near the library, hoping to catch bus 180 from there.

To our horror, bus 180 does not stop there -_-; So we ended up boarding bus 172 to chua chu kang, where we boarded the LRT to senja. We discovered later we could have either switched to bus 975 (it has a stop near bukit panjang shopping centre), or alternatively boarded bus 157 & swap to bus 180 along the way >_>

Oh well. What goes around, comes around eh.

So ends this week's entry, as i go about doing this week's chores, ponder on if i should delete my bro's purutaru/yuumei account, & to devise a plan to strike a balance between my work, religion, fitness & relaxation time.

Level up XD

2007-10-21T18:48:00.000+08:00

In WoW that is heheh - congrats to my brother who hit Lv70 on his rogue during this week, and to myself for reaching... Lv42 (more by accident, since i was helping my bro with carrying the loot while he was farming in scarlet monastery lol)!

Aside from that though, i didn't play much during the week - work & some RL activities kept me busy throughout, even on the weekend - i had just returned from attending a 'basic district leader training course' organised by Singapore Soka Association.

The above-mentioned course took place @Jurong kaikan (very near to my home) between 12:30pm-6pm, conducted by a team of 4 trainers in mandarin language (Dang, if only i knew i could sign up for the english version, but oh well).

I'm glad though i was able to attend the course, for i was able to listen to a heart-warming experience-sharing session, an in-depth lecture about a Gosho passage 'The Opening of Eyes' written by Nichiren Daishonin, learn about some of the responsibilites & duties which come with joining the Gakkai group, & even catch up with a few friends during the tea-break.

On the minus side of it, was that my quality of work was still unsatisfactory in the sense that i had committed some repeat mistakes. To add insult to injury, i had the unfortunate experience of having my keys drop through a gap in the lift -_-

However, i thank Gohonzon that i had not bunched my office keys together with my home keys on that fateful night, else it would have been a double whammy.

I end this week's post with a resolution to strive harder for my daily prayers & studies, in order to build a proper foundation & confidence to go out for shakubuku activities!

Zzz

2007-10-14T17:35:00.000+08:00

As promised, pics :3

This was taken at The Teahouse @China Square, during my grandmother's birthday; posing with her are my cousins.

This pic was taken at my aunt's place while celebrating my grandma's birthday (father's side of the family).

Below pic's taken just on last friday, during a farewell dinner held for 2 of our colleagues, who are transferring out of the dept. The tiramisu cake was decent.

And so, the week largely went by uneventfully, though once again i'd rate my performance @work to be at best, slightly above average - i need to be able to spot discrepancies a tad faster..

On the wow front, this marks the 2nd week that i've not levelled (Lv41) :P I've also given up on the brewfest event due to lack of discipline -_-

On the daimoku front, i have also been slacking >_>; still, unexpectedly i enjoyed my stint as a youth ambassador @Soka Youth Centre for the night shift yesterday - i may actually volunteer for the next duty during 2008 lol.

Finally, i'll be looking forward to having 2 off days this coming week (on tuesday & friday), which should make up for the expected hectic weekend, being a company bonding session on this coming saturday, & district leader training on sunday respectively.

Omgwtfbbq

2007-10-07T16:43:00.000+08:00

I was left to wonder 'omgwtfbbq' as my performance @work was literally in the pits this week. I made a vow to chant more daimoku (starting with 1 hr in the morning, & at least 25 mins for evening session), so that i can emerge victorious in my daily work.

Over in WoW, i've slackened as well partly due to the stress @workv (still @Lv41, with the oktoberfest festival currently going on in the game).

Anyway, i sincerely hope that i will have the lifeforce & energy to strike a balance between work, play & studies (buddhist studies, as well as the practical lessons for my driving).

I should consider deleting my bro's FFXI account finally at last too, but i'll see how my schedule works out after my visit to the dentist next wed for braces, & later on in the month when i attend training sessions to help out as an assistant district leader hmm.

So off i go to attend my grandma's birthday @aljunied tonight; i'll probably upload the photos either later or in my next update :3

october osu!

2007-09-30T19:18:00.001+08:00

I'm actually playing some NDS games now, such as osu! takake! ouendan!, osu2, & elite beat agent :3 Gotta admit, some stages are insane >_> (stuck at the last stage for all 3 games Zzz)

So, in between retrying attempts, i'm now playing Brain Age, & Puzzle Quest.

At the workplace, its been mostly low-key, except for a sudden surge in workload on tuesday (mooncake festival), which saw me stuck @ office till 9pm. Also, a misktake that i had made on 4th July'07 came back to haunt me -_-;;;

Aside from that, the rest of the week@work went somewhat more smoothly, with me devoting some spare time to re-decorating the notice board.

In WoW, i've been slacking somewhat, due to attending some religion-related meetings on friday & saturday - nonetheless i've managed to reach Lv41 lol.

Looking ahead, its looking like i have to manage my time better from now on, especially since i've accepted the challenge to be a local district leader >.> (now where did i stuff my copy of '7 habits of highly effective people...!?)

Lv40 @last whee

2007-09-24T00:39:00.000+08:00

Finally hit a milestone (in World of Warcraft) heheh; i got bored of playing AB & WSG battlegrounds, so after amassing a grand total of 600 hk points & 13 tokens in each bg (yep, definitely pathetic), i went along to scarlet monastery as a helper of sorts, & hit Lv40 as a result :o

Now to work on getting the undead pony as my mount >_>

Also, i'm hopeful that i SHOULD be able to catch up to the rest of the gang by the beginning of next year (yep, 2008) *ahem lol* !

Over IRL, i have decided to clear my leave (6 1/2 days remaining for this workyear, till 31 Sec'07) slowly, since my reservist duty will be considered as block leave (nice!). I reckon i'll use up my leave for dental appointments, as i've decided to finally go for braces for my teeth (after almost 15 years of procrastination, in fact!) .

Meanwhile @work, while i (honestly do) believe that i'm getting better, a few cases still could have been handled with more care arrgh. Just bought a few sheets of poster-sized colour paper to spruce up the notice-board - i'll be bringing the stuff back to office tomorrow (monday) .

Celebrated my grandma (mom's side) 75th (i think? >_> ) birthday @china square over the weekend, where the relatives mostly gathered for a dinner session. Sadly, we didn't have much to say to each other aside from the usual pleasantries; we mostly kept to ourselves & concentrated on making the most of the slightly-above-average fare that were being served.

That's about it for this weekend's short update :3

Terry Fox wal.. err run

2007-09-16T12:58:00.000+08:00

Below pic taken after i returned from the run ;D

Woke up @5am to the sound of rumbling thunder -_-; True enough, the overcast sky soon gave way to a heavy downpour while i was chanting my morning daimoku. I set off to Harbour Front MRT station to meet up with some colleagues before heading out to Sentosa for the Terry Fox run fo hope.

But, my prayers were answered - the rain stopped just as we had finished warming up ^^

We took about 45 mins, leisurely walking all of the 4 km (i was glad that i didn't sign up for the 8km route, as i'm certain that i would have stood out like a sore thumb, especially when i didn't spot anyone from the bank taking that route either).

This week @work i handled some new types of cases (such as term loans, overdraft applications) & learnt how to esitmate usage of funds based on the CPF withdrawal statements.

However, i still need to concentrate on getting the basics right the first time, or i'll have a lousy rating come appraisal time >_>

To this end, i've made a resolution to chant more daimoku daily, & to avoid skipping the evening gongyo (which i've done at least once-twice per week.. tsk tsk).

@WoW - i've played in a few bg runs, but alas my luck was average - was in a few good teams for warsong gluch, followed by a few lousy runs in arathi basin Zzz i think i broke a record of having only played 4 hrs this week :P

OK, before signing off, leme put up a few pics :3

"Freebies" from the Terry fox run - a towel, the wristband (also serves as entry pass to sentosa), the T-shirt (actually, the red is DBS-commissioned Tee, one will receive another (white-coloured) T-shirt upon joining as well), & the ticket for the train ride from Vivo city to sentosa.

/who GM :P
And finally, bought a set of earphones as well as some stick-ons for my NDS ^^

Until next week! :D

Goodbye RT :3

2007-09-10T05:36:00.000+08:00

This week (on thursday) i cleared my army RT (remedial training) commitment yay :3

However, unless i start some serious weights training though, this will be an annual affair (the station that i've failed consistently is none other than chin-up).

To start off some form of training after RT in preparation for my in-camp training (ICT) in november, i went for a short 2km run with my parents (they walked while i ran) yesterday evening @ the nearby track.

This week @work was kinda lousy for me in the sense that i wasn't being very thorough, & was even guilty of repeating some n00b mistakes =_=;

Gotta do better! Better put in more backbone into my daily daimoku & gongyo sessions *cough*!

In WoW, I've hit L39, & thanks to my bro, I've now tweaked with some nice enchants (+15 Agility to my swords The Vanquisher & Sword of Omen for example).

I'll be going to AB & WSG battlegrounds respectively to save up for gear, honor points & tokens in the next coming months. I expect to be ready to level again only in Jan next year lol :P

In other RL stuff, this week i was able to join my bro & friends for dinner @jurong point on sat, although we ended up going to KFC. Then we spent the evening watching some shows @ Wallace's place.

The lawyer's bill (for my friend's consultation on "xedo" anime extortion) came up to almost $400 >_> We split the bill equally among the 8 of us - I pray that my friend does not have to pay "xedo" the "legal fees" bleh.

That's it for this week's belated update :P

Until next week then :3

Post NDP Blues

2007-09-02T18:37:00.000+08:00

Ninjaedit (discovered this screenie while watching the collection of photos on a CD which was bundled together with the ndp cert & dvd) :3

(too bad it wasnt the full video - its just a still photograph of us surrounding our poor trainer & singing "shi sang zhi you ma ma hao" (translated "mom's the best in the world").

-end of ninjaedit-

To sum up the week:

-@work: work load was not much; however i did make some careless mistakes (which i must take care to avoid in future) >_>;

-@play: mostly glued to my NDS, playing Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the overlords lol (even my bro's got into playing it). Sucks that one can allocate only 255 points to all the stats in this game though. In WoW I've finally crawled my way to Lv37. Didn't log into FFXI at all this week.

-@elsewhere: spent the weekend running around mostly. Accompanied my mom out to Orchard area for some shopping; she also visited the OG Dept store to renew her membership. We purchased 2 new pants for myself, a pair of jeans for my bro, & other misc. items.

I then headed home to offload the shopping cart, & headed out east again to ICA, to catch "A Night with Nestor Torres" friendship concert - a fellow performer & friend volunteered to meet me @Outram MRT station, where we had a quick dinner (along with our trainer during NDP, Ms.Lee2) before giving us a ride to Tampines. Much thanks Andrew! :3

I must admit it (the concert) was a nice experience, though it started off somewhat slow (& i, being classically un-trained, was in danger of dozing off initially lol). The limited release CD (priced @$25) was sold out before i had a chance to buy it :o

Joined my friends for some durians @geylang after it ended (which was again, excellent but luckily we did not order too many, as we were still digesting our dinner heh) - Andrew then dropped me off @Aljunied MRT station, & i made it home by midnight.

And so (today again @ICA) NDP certification of appreciation get!

Included is the cert + 1 NDP commerative DVD.

P.S. My NDS & mobile phone are not part of the package :P

P.S.II: i'm a closet Man Utd supported (from the days when Eric Cantona reigned on the field) :D

Ninja EDIT: i forgot to mention, it was indeed a memorable NDP - i've gained some new friends & enriched my life a bit, and kinda sad that its over (hence post NDP blues)..

I'm hoping that i'll be able to participate in next year's NDP as well!

To end this post, here's 2 piccies that i finally got around to upload from my digital camera :3

(they were taken during the post-NDP gathering / BBQ @East Coast recently) ^^

Cheers! \^^/

September beckons

2007-08-26T14:02:00.001+08:00

How quickly time flies by!

Soon it'd be my 5th month working @DBS. The workload's lighter these days, partly due to the property sub-prime crisis in America making some buyers hesitate & adopt a 'wait-&-see' attitude. I'm not complaining - it gave me the opportunity to review some of the stuff i've learnt so far, & to reflect on how i can better manage my time @work.

Over in WoW, i'd hit lv36 just on wednesday, while my bro's team are already pushing onwards to Lv45+. Which is fine by me, as i now have to divide my time between work, play (WoW & NDS), reading (i've yet to finish the novel "The Spellman Files" which i started reading last week) & religion.

The weekend was spent mostly at home, with me slacking off from chores until mid-afternoon yesterday (sat).

Once done with the weekly chores, i accompanied my mom to aunt angela's home for the monthly (religion) discussion meeting, then dropped by Wallace's place to join my bro & friends to watch some shows before heading home @1am.

I've just returned from spending the whole morning @senja lol (the weekly morning prayer was between 8-9:15am, then my mom & myself shopped + had breakfast @ the nearby bukit panjang plaza till about 10:30am, before returning to attend the clementi zone family day day.

I was tired at first as i had turned in @2am, only to wake up 4 hrs later to take the bus with my mom to senja kaikan, & kept yawning throughout the daimoku session ^^;

But my fatigue went away during the sharing session, despite a hearty portion of siew-mais (9 in total + 4 more mini-buns to boot lol) while we were @ bukit panjang plaza.

So once again i leave for maju camp for yet more running - however, i'd say its a blessing in disguise, since i had just signed up for the terry fox run (which will take place on 16th Sep'07 @sentosa) & as such, i should be in shape (even though its only the 4km route heheh).

Laters ^^

P.S. oh yeah, i've yet to receive the piccies taken by fellow members / friends for the NDP. But i guess its a better idea to seek their consent before i actually put up any pics :P

O.d.e.x.

2007-08-19T13:51:00.000+08:00

Looks like O.D.E.X (self-coined term by myself - for Operation Demand & EXtortion) has hit close to home this week - on Friday, one of my friends/neighbours just received the letter from the company which would sue him for downloading anime from the internet =_=

Thanks to my aunt, we've managed to secure a contact to a law firm which handles cases relating to Intellectual Property. As he'll be making an appointment tomorrow, i've started chanting for my friend to be able to receive expert advice on how he should deal with the O.D.E.X. issue.

I've hardly played much in WoW.. currently only @Lv34, while bro's gang had decided to level up. Guess i'll be solo for most of the time, but its fine with me, since i have other stuff to do...

... such as reading a fiction novel titled, "The Spellman Files" by Lisa Lutz. The line that caught my eye on the back cover of the novel was "Meet the Spellmans - the family that puts the fun in dysfunctional .

It intrigued me so much that i took 5 mins to leaf thru' a few pgs & decided to borrow it from the library :3

So yep, it looks like my life will just be as busy after NDP; juggling between reading (books loaned from the library, as well as material for religion study), playing my NDS (Puzzle Challenge) on top of WoW, attending the ongoing RT training (my sinday session starts in 2 hrs from now), & my daily work.

I'll put up some pics taken by my friends during the NDP in my next post :P

NDP over, next up: RT

2007-08-12T00:17:00.000+08:00

I daresay that our performance for Singa City was great for the national day parade, even better than the preview ^^

Still, while that marked the end of my commitment for NDP, i will be entering the 2nd phrase of my RT (army remedial training) from now till early Sep'07.

Aye, i'll have to leave office 1 hr earlier every tuesdays & thursdays for maju camp (on top of every sunday afternoons). Bleh - and to think that i clocked in 11:51 for my 2.4km run for last sunday's IPPT test!

True, there was no point to passing the run (i had flunked my chin-up already, therefore failing the IPPT), but my pride refused to give in. Nonetheless, the timing was a pleasant surprise, considering it has been months since i had last trained for running :3

In WoW, I've reached Lv33 &, while i hope to be able to hit Lv38 in 2-3 weeks' time - its very likely i'll only be able to do so in mid-September at my current snail's pace :o

Time to hit the bed for some needed Zzz, for i'll need to be up early to accompany my mom out to senja for the weekly chanting session, & then get the chores done before my training session @maju camp in the afternoon. Hopefully i can at least get 1/4 into Lv33 before Monday :P

Another week beckons

2007-08-05T12:20:00.000+08:00

Hrm, its looking like i'll be updating this blog weekly :P

This week @work it went reasonably well for the most part - though i'm still prone to some very newbie mistakes which i need to address >_>

For yesterday's rehearsal, it was business as usual as we completed our last combined rehearsal, though it was a much more relaxed affair as it was not a full-dress rehearsal. NDP goodie bag get, as per above pic ^^!

Link to the standard NDP goodie bag (as posted by another fellow singaporean) - i'm too lazy to save into my PC (too small anyway) :3

Moving onward to WoW (world of warcraft) i've gained overall 2 levels in around 4 hrs of play during this week, partly grinding out exp in Thousand Needles, Desolace & chopping a few mobs during my farming runs around Charred Vale off Stonetalon Mountains.

Also cleared some quests in the region with Wallace's help - in return he was able to tame Arikara heh (linked from Thottbot WoW site) .

And so i'll be off for the RT-IPPT test later Zzz i expect to fail this physical fitness test though, & i'll be stuck with extra training sessions starting from the week after NDP, till early Sep'07.

Bleh.

NDP harkens

2007-07-29T20:13:00.000+08:00

Finally the national day parade is around the corner ^^

Though it was raining for most of the day, the skies finally cleared up in the late afternoon.
We had a successful performance overall for the NDP preview show yesterday :D

Some of my fellow team-mates / performers remarked that there was a funny chinese version of this year NDP theme song "There's no place i'd rather be", an English song which is sung by Kit Chan.

It (chinese version of the song) is actually sung by DJs on Yes!933FM - i have not heard it yet, so i'll tune in to the radio to listen for it. The lyrics (in chinese) can be found on this blog: http://heavenlyjoy.wordpress.com

Over in WoW, i had tried out the (Lv20-29) Arathi Basin battleground; while it was fun, i found myself wanting to catch up with my bro & some friends, who are now staying at Lv39 for some BGing as well. So, i'm making it my goal to reach Lv39 before Sep'07 :P

I went into FFXI on tuesday night as puru, but only hung around for about 5mins, then logged out to play mario kart on the NDS XD

Quickie update

2007-07-22T23:16:00.000+08:00

Yep yep, after almost 2 months into WoW, i'm still slowing levelling in the Shattered Hand server :P

Been shuttling around Stonetalon Mountains, Ashenvale & the Barrens throughout the day in between breaks during various chores, clearing some quests & levelling up to Lv 28. Decided to call it a night early in preparation for work tomorrow.

Moving on to RL stuff:

Life has been easy-going mostly, with my work settling into a routine of sorts. Monday @work ought to be interesting, as we've just shifted our desks & stuff around during last Friday. I'm praying that the office wont be swamped by new / rework cases though >_>

At the home front, as both my parents are coping with minor aches & pain, hence i try to chip in with the chores whenever i am able to do so. My bro's currently afflicted with minor flu (running/blocked nose) too, so i took over the lion's share of the weekly housekeeping duties today.

My army remedial training has also started, & i'm 100% certain that i will flunk the IPPT (individual physical proficiency test) - its been almost 5 months since i last had a good run - already my body's protesting with aches all over Zzz. Oh well. At least it would be good training for my reservist, which will be coming along during early November'07.

I also have to save up more $$$ again, if i am to continue with driving lessons after the national day (9 Aug'07).

So that's about it for now.. i think i will terminate Purutaru/Yuumei account on FFXI by the end of the year. Been meaning to log on & chat a bit on every tuesday, but so far i've either been too busy with other stuff, or simply forgot >_>;

Yet another thank-you post

2007-07-17T21:58:00.000+08:00

This time, is to thank Da-captain ^^

Thanks to him helping me out with a case this evening (when he could have chose to go home on the dot instead), i was able to knock off from work at around 7pm.

After grabbing a quick dinner at a nearby coffeeshop, i managed to attend the memorial service for Bernard. After it ended, i spent 10 frustrating minutes trying to locate my parents amongst the crowd, then tried calling (stupid singtel network decided to go down at that time). Eventually i gave up & headed back home.

It seems that WoW is up, so i'll drop by to see if i can get some quests cleared before Zzz time (I'm now level 26 Rogue - cheap shot is fun) :3

To a honoured friend, Bernard Chua

2007-07-16T22:45:00.000+08:00

I start the first post here in honour of Mr. Chua Hock Beng Bernard - a dear friend/mentor who had died in a freak accident in Phuket Island (linked from ChannelNewsAsia) during last weekend.

He was the guy who encouraged me to sign up once again (i had participated before in 1997 & 2000 representing Singapore Soka Association or SSA) for this year's NDP (national day parade).

He gave me a lift to the training venue a few times, & had invited me along to play badminton once with his kakis at the newly opened sports complex near my house.

I'm sad that i did not get to know him even better during the time we hung out together, & that he would not be able to see our NDP performance on 9 Aug this year.

I resolve to do my part well, & dedicate the performance to his memory.