Maybe it's the dislike of tannins

But I doubt it.

Bought a bottle of Zinfandel (Ernest and Julio Gallo 2002) to replicate the nice one I had last friday.

A pity. I think the Zinfandel (on offer now at Carrefour) is over the hill. Mum mixed a little into pineapple juice (canned variety). Not too bad. Perhaps can be used for punches and sangria. Acidic.

Yet to try my first Napa Valley wine (muahahaha), White Zinfandel (Beringer 2004). Sitting pretty right now at home. I bet it's tasty. =)

Walk The Line and Munich

V's away so I used my free time to watch movies. Alone. Sobs.

Watched Walk The Line (A divorce is an abomination, a marriage is for life). That quote in parenthesis, was one of the lines I remember. It's said to June by this prissy, uptight, proper god-fearing, church going woman who dares call herself a woman. Sometimes movies like to stereotype. She's clearly one. Not all catholics or christians are that evil towards other humans. They are friends of mine who go church and all and we get along well, given my hedonistic nightlife (well, not that bad lah). Then there are friends who are christians who will not watch Brokeback Mountain because (I am guessing here) they've been told that it encourages a gay lifestyle. It's evil. It's bad. I'm none wiser. First thing I thought of when Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) glanced at his family, sitting pretty in a row at his Vegas show, was, if he was Piscean, and how terrible it must be to be brought up with ethics. It's always tougher to be upright and responsible. Especially when it's expected of yourself. How you'd succumb to drugs and alcohol... Guess what? He is!

Munich (It costs dearly. Home always does) was great too. Looking at the side of terrorism and anti-terrorism that is seldom portrayed in the media. There was a scene where Avner (Eric Bana), upon hearing his daughter babbled to him through the phone, started tearing. Thought it was a poignant moment. The quote above was relevant at a time when Avner's team was soon going to be killed off one by by and that the money paid for materials, firearms and information was more than 2 million dollars. The price was hefty as can be seen from the rest of the movie when Avner tries to pick up the pieces of his life...

A comedy sequence involving a mixture of revolutionary forces/freedom fighters/separatists/terrorists being housed in the same "safe house" was really funny. Red Army Factions (communists), ANC or African National Congress (see footnote), ETA (Basque separatist) and PLO (Liberationis t haha, or freedom fighters I guess). By the way, the Japanese Red Army Faction wasfamously featured in the Laju incident at the Shell complex in Singapore way back in 1974. Minor naval history. Palestinian Liberation forces (PFLP) were involved too. Important to note that our current President, SR Nathan was prominent then as he was the chief guarantor.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(ANC is pretty much Communist but more accurately, Marxist. It's often mistaken but it's important to note the difference. Communism is a political movement, with central governance but Marxism is basically a system of analysis, and a way to view the world. Marxism in its purest form would mean properly trained people with no need for governance, no private ownership and no religion)

Public Announcements 2

If you read this blog and you have my number in your handphone, can sms me? Leave a name.

Damage Control State 1 Condition Zulu

Trance - dance music's lowest common denominator

Well, that was something had I discussed about with a friend of mine.

But really, that was during the time when there wasn't electroclash, no Miss Kittin (Caroline Herve) and The Hacker. Glam plays a part in the previous electroclash wave. This current one, well, I don't know.


So Tiesto (World No. 1 DJ leh, dun play play) is spinning at Renault's F1 pit party this year at Sepang. 18 March. Bloody packed with with Army Daze on 15, Kings of Convenience on 16 and was contemplating The Observatory at the Arts House on the 19th. That's alot of money in there actually. Mongster was saying a trip to Sepang would be brilliant. I've probably travelled further just to club before. But it's Tiesto....okie, it's Tiesto. He is spinning at a local Ministry of Sound near you come April 14 anyway...Friday....fuck.

RM65 presale, RM80 at the door (all tickets include 1 drink) find out more here.

JKT

Just sent V off at the airport and as I was leaving, realised that I have left my handphone in the cab. Fuck people who pick handphones up and decide to keep them.

Drats. Fuck drats.

I am throwing away this pair of 3/4 pants cause it has got shallow pockets and things always seem to be slipping out. Fuck springfield and shallow 3/4 pants.

I feel a little handicap knowing that there are alot of contacts that I will potentially lose. Perhaps forever. That is the heartache of losing a phone. Yes, I am not the contents of my wallet, but fuck, the telephone numbers in there, some of which, belong to people who made me the way I am today. So yeah, the owners of the phone numbers do mean something to me. Fuck having that thought.

Gah!

Off to Sydney

I have been kinda clubbing since wednesday starting with the Surrender Party. Thursday wasn't clubbing per se, more like lobo-ing at ys's place while he steals stuff from me. I just passed to him shitload of mp3s and I think he can have a ten-song playlist everyday, featuring new songs, for the rest of his time in sydney until he graduates.

Friday, ST friend asked me out for an interview about the clubbing scene in singapore. I wanted to intro some breakinasia crew to her as well, but because it was not about the scene per se (I am curious as to why I am using this "per se" so often). It was the development that will soon come, including the making of Singapore into the "ibiza of asia". The article's gonna be out next weekend I think and hopefully I will only be able to read it after I am back from JKT. muahahahaha....gonna hopefully spend a lovely weekend with v in JKT. She's going there for work reasons. I'm going there to......ok, I have yet to work out any reasons other than to spend time with her.

Back to Friday. ST friend was going to MOS after, so that she can interview this clement guy from MOS...and cause ys's not been there, I decided to ask him along... It was only a while later that I remembered kosheen was playing a live set there that night.

But we never got to listen to the set.

Cause ys and i were "waylaid" over to one night stand for some fantastic zinfandel. Somebody should really endorse this grape. the white zinfandel is already so delicious and so is the normal red.

we later ended up contemplating another bottle before zipping across the island to changi village for a spot of ah-gua viewing and nasi lemak. the famous stall had just closed for the day when we arrived so had to settle for a poorer substitute.

Saturday was a madder rush.

I was under the impression that ys was leaving saturday morning 8am. turns out it was 8pm. so the whole day i was shuttling between my place, waterfront, ys's place, airport and zouk. This continued till sunday...as I am writing this, I was just back from east coast (katong laksa lunch) having stayed over last night and will be heading to marriott for wedding dinner.

Tomorrow morning will be sending v off before going to safti to do some paperwork. then will have to book ticks for jkt.

Love is blind but is it blinding as well?


You know how some really lousy species of humans can get to go out with certain superior ones. Probably you can account this to how love has led to glossing over of misgivings, weaknesses and ugliness. When the blindness means not seeing the bad points.

But is love blinding? In that a better one comes along but you either a) choose not to see it; or b) oblivious to it, hence love is blinding?




So you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts.
What's so amazing about really deep thoughts?

Gotta go, gonna go....

Your emotions may be a bit erratic, and it may be hard for you to focus on anything today, dear Pisces. Things continue to shift from one topic to the next with little resolution of the first. Others are not apt to be very sympathetic to your feelings so don't expect them to be. You will only be setting yourself up for disappointment. It is a better day to focus on your head rather than your heart.

Difficult times ahead for you Little Grasshopper. Now time to listen to the heart but decide with the head.


You can't get good stock outta old bones.

What I've been up to

Must remind myself that I was out on wednesday to velvet for Surrender 1st Anniversary. Tony and Blink were great. James Lavelle + Other guests were not so great.

Had dinner with mong, jas, pin, adelin and ys at Food Republic. Muah Chee uncle damn meanie. Cheat my money. First give me muah chee that's big chunky size (so stick less peanut+sugar mix), I went to buy second pack, ask for small size muah chee. cut smaller but same amount of peanut mix. shrew!

had drinks at winebar, met yve and her friends.

wasted the morning away on thursday, semi-dazed state.
had ship dinner at kBox paradiz centre.

passed ys the hard disk with 40Gb worth of MP3s.

sleepy....

Something weird comes this way

I was talking to Alen along the expressway as he was driving home to oversee some furniture matters. He'll be moving to Kerrisdale some time soon...

Got a call from some insurance company, one of those minor independent branches that is tied to a major UK insurance company. And that was when the weird coversation started. I was actually talking to Alen about the passing of the various political figures in recent years. Leading to some talk about the way Presidents are chosen, the Presidential system in US, and about China and India, how if Taiwan does not do anything drastic, it will be a sad story amongst the four tiger economies in East Asia....so it was rather interesting. Honest.

The phone rang. Private number. So I have no idea who it was.

Me: Hello?
Caller: Hi, this is XXX calling on behalf of YYY, manager of ZZZZZ Pte Ltd.

Me: Yes?
Caller: Is this Mr Jackson Pang?

Me: Yes?
Caller: Mr Pang, we would like to invite you to.....(at this point I thought it was another insurance pusher)

Me: Erm, hi, sorry, I am busy right now so is it possible to call me back in another hour's time? (yes, I was really interested in the conversation. especially about the emerging tiger economies)
Caller: Oh, Mr Pang, this will be really short. Do you have a minute to spare?

Me: (ok, at this point I was really surprised cause usually the insurance or credit card pushers/telemarketeers will ask for 5 minutes.) Erm...yah, sure. What is it about?
Caller: Mr Pang, on behalf of Mr YYY, I would like to invite you to an interview for the post of a financial planner with ZZZZ. When would you like us to arrange for the interview?

Me: Say again? (this tickled my balls intrigued me.) Interview?
Caller: Yes Mr Pang, for the post of a financial planner with ZZZZ Pte Ltd.

Me: Hmm, may I ask where did your company obtain my......contact details? (I couldn't say CV because I don't really remember writing a CV for any job before)
Caller: Mr Pang, your contact details were actually provided by a headhunter company and you were chosen, along with a few others for this position.

Me: (What the hyell?) Erm...ya, so what is this headhunter company you are talking about?
Caller: Er....sorry but I was only given your contact number and name so I don't know which company it was.

Me: Hmm...ok, I don't remember where you get the details from cause I have never sent any?
Caller: .................*awkward silence*

Me: But could you tell your boss I will be glad to go for the interview if your boss can wait for another 2.5 years?
Caller: .............*awkward silence*.

Me: Erm, actually I don't have any experience or skills to be a financial planner.
Caller: ............*awkward silence*.

Me: ............*evil silence*
Caller: Mr Pang, you do not want to come for the interview?

Me: I can't.
Caller: ............*confused silence*.

Me: I am bonded.
Caller: Oh, Mr Pang, you are bonded?

Me: Yes, that's why I am interested to know where you get the contact details from.
Caller: You are bonded to the government?

Me: SAF
Caller: Oh.

Me: But I'll be interested to be interviewed for the job in 2.5 years time
Caller: Oh.

Me: You can ask your boss if he will be interested in me 2.5 years from now.
Caller: Oh.

Me: Ok. Bye. (tinge of sadness)
Caller: Hmm, ok, I'll inform XXX. Thank you. Bye.


So Alen and I continued talking about Taiwan and how it was initially the top tiger economy when the phrase was coined and how Korea has taken over the spot with conglomerates like Hyundai, Samsung, LG, Daewoo.....

Brokeback Moments In Life

I have not watched Brokeback Mountain yet. I sure will be. V is watching with her new gf later today (wednesday) while I go velvet for tony tay and blink. I'm not queer (see below - not yours, this blog entry). A few of my friends have been telling me that it is beyond what normal guys can take when it comes to the physical portions. I don't know. I squirmed when I watch Irrversible. But was alright with the rather explicit man-on-man scenes in Stanley Kwan's Lan Yu. I have a feeling that Brokeback Mountain is just like Lan Yu, a romantic story at it's most basic, just that the couple is made up of two men. Only difference is that it is a Hollywood production. But still, I will watch it.

Anyhow, I think some quotes from the movie might be in frequent use over the next few weeks if not months. Below are the two "classics".

I don't know how to quit _____________ (fill in the blank with your vice).

This is for use when you want to inform people that you are not serious about quitting some vice that you have. For guys it might be gambling, having sex, having one night stands, drinking, watching EPL, playing world of warcraft, you know, the manly stuff. It'll be a faux pas to fill the blank with "you" which was the original quote. Cause only homosexual cowboys say that. It is best that heterosexual males replace the blank with manly activities. Imagining saying, "I don't know how to quit crocheting." Wrong usage.

When you are vehemently in denial of a social taboo, just drop this quote to up your hip and cool factor.

I'm not ___________(fill in the blank with a social taboo, e.g. queer)

Then someone else must quickly add:

I'm not either.

This requires some partnership and practise. Whenever somebody says, "I'm not ______." it must be quickly joined by a "I'm not either." Otherwise it will not be complete.

Notice that the original movie quote was Ennis saying, "I'm not queer." and Jack replying "I'm not either." I don't know if Jacks was actually admitting to Ennis that he is gay. Cause Jack's reply was, "I'm not either." Jack is not queer, and he is not something else too. He might be unsure or something. If Jack was determined in trying to tell Ennis that he wasn't gay, he should have said something like, "Me neither." But he didn't. Hence he is.

Modifications....ravaged

Previously I was using this:


Decided to do some manipulations....personalise it, so to speak.


Desdemona font. Added the Photocopy effect, playing around with the Detail and Darkness settings. Looks spraypainted. Like graffiti

I like.

You aren't missing if nobody realise that you're gone

Would like to say thank you to the following people:

(in this particular random order)

choonghern
melanie
jade
mum
yugin
yewfei
jinks
yve
mong
yisheng
and
V!

for remembering and making sure that should one day I be gone, there will be people who realise.

Advert music for Nokia's L'amour Collection? I am looking for it too

Quite a number of visitors have stumbled to my blog because they were looking for the song that is featured on Nokia's L'amour Collection tv advert.

I mentioned that it sounded like it was by Imogen Heap of Frou Frou, who has got a solo album out anyways....it's her 2nd solo album....first was I, Megaphone which is a wordplay of her name Imogen Heap. Anagram.

I have not found the song yet. It may not even be hers. Who knows? But can someone tell Nokia that alot of people are wondering......

It's my party

and I'll cry if I want to.

Blogdom

Things can get a little boring when nobody leaves comments.

Syriana - Oilman of the Year

Alright! 1 down. Another 2 more to go....some spoilers below. But you should still see the movie.

I just caught Syriana. Makes me want to watch Traffic again.

There is a strong statement in the film which is that while Saudi Arabia (represented by Prince Nasir) wants to move towards a democratic state with a more accountable system of governance and greater rights accorded to women, it is met with obstacles in the form of US pressure. Must remember why US troops are in the Gulf again...

In other news, some interesting thoughts came into mind.

• Prince Nasir was trying to evoke sentiments amongst his comrades and told them (not verbatim), "When a nation that represents only 5% of the world but accounts for more than 50% of global military spending, you know it is losing it's persuasive powers."

• Also I am currently doing a project on the Proliferation of Security Initiatives....and now a story has been vividly told of how a young Pakistani might be driven to sacrifice his life by steering his fishing boat that is spearheaded by an armed Stinger surface to air missile, ladened with explosives, into the hull of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) carrier.

• And while everyone is talking about unmanned systems (even SAF, 3G and network-centric, integrated strike blah), in this movie, you see how an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that is armed with missiles can conduct an air to ground missile engagement from 4 miles away, with the operating crew in Langley. It's not all that baloney cause I read in a Time magazine two months back about how Predators are flown for surveillance and sometimes strike missions in the Gulf from the operating base in US. It is one thing to be impressed with the advantages of unmanned systems, eliminating exposure of personnel or key capital assets to risk, ability to operate in hostile environment, sustaining long deployments, but it is a totally different thing to hear (and perhaps one day say) the words, "Take the target out", have your guys count down as the hellfire AGMs carve a straight and narrow path through the skies to your acquired target.
  

• The Beirut 1985 incident that they kept referring to must have been the car bomb attack on the Hezbollah spiritual leader. That guy lived. Many thought the CIA played a part (Just like the failed Venezuelan coup in 2002, also over oil, especially important to the US as it is famously dependent on the natural resource). George Clooney's character, Bob supposedly saved the CIA's arse. This might explain why Bob's under the protection of the Hezbollah leader.

The tagline of the movie suddenly becomes scarier. Everything is connected

I have never felt lonelier in a cinema before. Because even though I do watch movies alone, this is the first time I am sitting on a lone chair, separated from the main seats. I should do well to remember that H10 in cinema 4 of GV PS is not good for me.

I just have to say this

Was at Brendon P's party last night at Velvet.....

I have renewed faith in good ole house music.

muahahahaha....

EVERYBODY should listen to Julien Jabre's Swimming Places.

Preview it here.

Belated V day

I got V a gift on V day. And brought her for tea (after dinner) at The V Tea Room.

The gift was so practical and I knew she would find it useful. She definitely likes it too because, hey, she asked for it. Haha...unlike difficult me....I don't really know what I want.

Before tea was a heavy dinner at Inagiku. I know she's been having japanese a whole lot these past few days but...we really enjoyed the food there about a year ago so I decided we can go there again.

The food is just as good. But at that kinda of eye popping price....it'd better be.
The ebi sashimi......wow......and the shabu shabu......wee.....

I have yet to buy her flowers. Dunno if I ever will....heh heh.....

She's in taipei now. It's been raining for days. Hope she's warm. and having fun!

BLEVE

Just found this new word.

Can go out and impress them friends who are in SCDF or especially HAZMAT or some such.

BLEVE : Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (aka Blast Leveling Everything Very Effectively; firefighting term for exploding tanks)

Some additional information......

BLEVE when used as an acronym for Blast Leveling Everything Very Effectively is also known as a backronym.

It's pronounced as "blevy" or "blair vee" like rhymes with bevy. Past tense is "bleved" or BLEVEd.

Some common usage..... The gas carrier bleved after prolonged neglect allowed corrosion to rupture the tanks.

Or find some interesting pics and articles here and here.

Strawberry Wine

I have bought the trilogy of Ryan Adams' releases this year under his own name as well as those with the Cardinals.

There's this 8 minute (well, 7:58 to be precise) epic on his 29 album called Strawberry Wine

He is sounding so poignant here, somehow makes me think that you would only want to drink that in a lone bar along down an un-named road branching off a lost highway running across anonymous america. You have "our song" playing from a jukebox that is lit up so gay contrasting with your current state of mind. The bar man just poured you your drink and gave a nervous smirk when you shot him a weary look. You've lost count on the number of drinks you've had. Not that it matters. No one else is in the bar that stales with the stink of cigarette ash and cheap alcohol. Outside, your beat up pick up lays waste next to the sign post with a neon sign stating as if in some ominous tone "Last Bar In Next 60 Miles". It flashes because it's not working as it should. Like you.

But fuck, maybe strawberry wine is just some drug.

Anyway.

I'll read more into the lyrics some other time. It's a story. But unlike Collin Raye's irritating Love, Me, this is way better. Wait, why do I even want to compare the two?

Strawberry Wine

Last night the street collapsed on itself
In fact, it broke right in two
And I fell in
The strawberry vines
Into a pool of strawberry wine
Strawberry wine and clouds
Burning in the desert, surrounded in flowers
But the stems broke the armour
And the morning comes
Until it's all just the same things again
Oh god....

Don't spend too much time on the other side
Let the daylight in

Before you get old and you can't break out of it
My old friend
'Cause its getting winter, and if you want any flowers
You gotta get your seeds in to the ground
And I worry about you
Why? Because you want me to

Can you still have any famous last words
If you're somebody nobody knows
I don't know
Somebody go and ask Clair
She's been dead twenty years just look at her hair
Strawberry blonde with curls
She gets her hair done then she gossips
With the younger waitress girls at the bar
The old Irish rose
Drinking strawberry wine
Til it comes out her nose

She spent too much time on the other side
And she forgot to let the daylight in

So before you get old you'd better break out of it
My old friend
'Cause its getting winter and if you want any flowers
You gotta get your seeds in to the ground
And I worry about you
Why? Because you want me too

This fella downtown, he jumped off a bridge
He was angry about a letter he received from his friend
He fell in
To the arms of the most beautiful girl
That have ever, ever lived in the history of the world
And with nothing left to lose he got screwed
He sold his apartment before they made him move
Then he jumped straight in
To the San Francisco Bay
Now he lives on Molly's farm
Picking berries all day

Don't spend too much time on the other side
Let the daylight in

Marty was a kid when he learned to steal boats
His dad was a DJ on the radio
He fell in
To a life of riverboating crime
He's the man you see in prison
If you want strawberry wine
Strawberry wine and smokes
He sent a letter to his friend
Explaining one night on coke
He and Clair
Jumped right in to them strawberry vines
And lord knows you get lost
On that strawberry wine

Don't spend too much time on the other side
Let the daylight in

Now I'm getting old and I gotta break out of it
My old friend
'Cause its getting winter and if I want any flowers
I gotta get those seeds in to the ground
And if you worry about me
Don't bother
Why?
I'll be fine
I'm just sitting here laughing
Little old me and my
Strawberry wine

Ryan Adams

Indeed, ......don't spend too much time on the other side. Let the daylight in.....

Happy Valentine's Day

Is it Valentine's or Valentines'?

I really want to make up for it.

But time lost cannot be made up for.

There must be more to life than this

Sirens and Mash'd

You know things are changing around you when the DJ that introduced you to breaks, both old school and nuskool, starts blurring his sets with singalongs from Coldplay, Oasis, Kaisher Chiefs, The Killers, Nirvana....you look around in the darkness that is punctuated with flashes of red, blue and green, people jumping up and down singing along.

You get out, you meet new people, new people who have never clubbed besides the weekly wednesday mecca known as mambo.

You stay up late on weekend nights and sleep through the day. When you wake, you are feeling miserable that weekends are no longer as hyped up as they used to be. You realised that this could be part of the deal to grow up. You think this is wrong but you haven't got any clue what to do about it.

You remember that Valentine's Day is next tuesday and you haven't got anything planned. You take comfort in literature that downplay the special-ness of V-day. That it is a western exploitation of the notion of romance and a complete waste of money. You agree with them but can't help wonder if the agreement is made in defence.

Then there is the test that you have to study for tomorrow which you don't know what the hyell it is really for. The point of stuffing information into your head just long enough for the 2 hours or so the next morning and likely not to use it anymore.

So you hold onto the hope that with the reunion of the Smashing Pumpkins, you can shake away all these "zipper blues"

So must everything come full circle? First we get The White Stripes. Then the whole The Killers, The Bravery and the Franz Ferdinands. Is there going to be a neo-grunge wave?

And I said if the answer is no
Can I change your mind

iGod

What would you say to god should both you happen to meet in a chat room?


















You can talk to god too!
Visit iGod.

By way of wurh.

Concave Scream!!!!!!

Checked out Observatory's website and guess what! They posted that Concave Scream is having a fourth album after three! Yippee!

V and I caught them at Bay Beats 2005 in July and although it was the first time V was hearing them, she said there were really good (V's credible ok!). And the "rain rain go away" song they played before the encore is the title track from the new album. Yeah!

The Concave Scream website is not fully operational...yet....so the band's trying to blog....
Check out the site for samples of the new album - Horizons.

Think the artwork is by Andy Yang. Wonder how much is his artwork priced?

Hanabi, Fireworks, 火花

Tonight was a short but rather nice dinner outing with V. She brought me to Hanabi (yes, just like the movie by "Beat" Takeshi) for dinner. It's this Jap restaurant located within Odeon Towers. Buffet sashimi! Amazing value. And there's also a wide range of Jap food that's available if you don't like raw fish.

We then strolled over to Singapore River to catch the nightly 9:30pm fireworks display. The finale's this Sunday I hear. The last day of the 15-day long Lunar New Year celebrations.

The fireworks display lasted about 2-3 minutes but longer on weekends. I guess the best will be kept for the final day and it'll surely be crowded. Not as fantastic as what you get on National Day but still rather pretty.

Gotta get some sleep.....

Etymotic ER.6i

I bought this new earphone which I showed to V just now. I told her how much it cost. I think she might have been hiding her surprise. Much like how I reacted initially when told how much LV bags cost.

Anyway, there was a tussle between the Shure and Etymotic (it means "true to the ear").

Hence I embarked on a hour-long internet research so that I know the money used to buy the earphones will be wellspent.

The ER6i finally won the competition and the reasons were rather simple.

Okay, firstly, Shure and Etymotic make in-ear canalphones. They are both passive noise cancelling earphones. Which is the opposite of active noise cancelling earphones (duh). What the latter does is to mask ambient noise by filling the volume of air within the headphone cup with antinoise soundwaves. It's like white noise to drown ambient noise. So it is not acoustically pure and you might hear the hiss of the white noise. Such headphones require batteries or some form of power supply. Plus the fact that the antinoise soundwave frequency is fixed, rapid changing noise or soundwaves not covered by the antinoise soundwave eg. high-pitched crying babies, drills, screech of claws on chalkboard.

But not Shure and Etymotic in-ear canalphones.

They cancel out the ambient noise purely by blocking them out passively. What it means is that noise is reduced by insulation. Thus there is no additional foreign noise. What you get is just the sound from the music you hear. Acoustically superior.

And between Shure and Etymotic....well....the reputable online review sites all point towards Etymotic. Well not all. But those who mattered, did.

Users will often report that Shures' sound signature includes higher quantities of bass, but with recessed, rolled-off treble (which causes the entry-level, least detailed E2c to be thought of as "muddy" by some audiophiles). Etymotic earphones, by contrast, have reports of clear, analytical treble but low (sometimes "anemic") quantities of bass.

Oh, and that it was awarded the Best Headphone 2005 in iLounge Best of 2005 Awards. Surely.....tempted right?

So what do I think of it after using it for almost a week. Well....in layman terms (I am not an audiophile. Why would I want to fuck a mini compo?), I could sit in a train from Kallang to Boon Lay without hearing anything besides the irritating announcements and buzz of the closing train doors. In a taxi, it was like living life in a motion picture soundtrack. Just the flashing scenary outside the windows and the music going into your head. Yes, the music goes straight into your head, it's like having some serious personal experience (ok, I am being over the top here). And the best thing is, I could achieve all these without having the volume on my Royal Gala II going beyond the halfway mark. Protecting my ears! Saving battery usage! Ok, minimally.

What are the bads? Well....imagine hearing the thud of your own footsteps as it vibrates up to your ears. Or the low thudding sound generated when the earphone cables snag or bounces off your body. And you MUST NEVER EVER share these earphones because it'll be super gross having to swap ear wax....very eeeww

And also having to look like an idiot when using the earphones. There are some instructions included that will be weird to non mini compo fuckers (non-audiophiles) like me. For instance, inserting your earphones.....

• R" on the earphone indicates right ear; "L" indicates left. (DUH!)
• Carefully insert one earphone at a time, pulling up and out on the back of the ear. (what? come again? up and out?) The earphone should seal deeply and comfortably in the ear canal. For best bass response, earphones must be well sealed in the ear canals.
• When removing earphones, use a slow twisting motion to break the seal. (Like you should expect some hissing sound, similarly to sound of uncapping softdrinks)

What the hyell?

There's more....

1. Moisten flanged eartip before insertion. (doesn't this turn you on? no? then you are not a mini compo fucker an audiophile)
   
2. Roll foam eartip between your finger and thumb, place in ear canal and hold for 5 seconds. (holding for 5 secs? Holding in between finger and thumb? Freaking EAR CANAL????What is wrong with these people?)
   
3. Open your jaw while inserting the earphone. (fuck! this is beyond aural pleasure. it's oral too?!)
   
4. Use a twisting motion as you slide eartip in your ear. (oh. my. gawd.)

A bit of hard sell from the site:

Etymotic makes the world's finest in-the-ear headphones. We invented the technology in 1983 and have been perfecting it ever since through our extensive research and patented technologies. Etymotic in-the-ear earphones reduce noise naturally. They slide in your ears like earplugs to block out external noise, allowing you to hear every recorded detail. Etymotic earphones will transform your MP3 player into the world's best portable music system.

Suddenly it's worth spending that kind of money on an object so tiny. World's Best leh. Isn't that's what being Singaporean is all about?

Can't wait.....

......for friday to be over.

actually.

next friday.

not this.

If you don't know me by now....

An earlier ICQ conversation led to this entry.

Yes, shock shock horror horror shock shock horror...I am still using ICQ.

I'm arcane. So be it.

But anyway, it was about how sometimes when we get to know a new friend, we might realise that this new friend is actually interesting/boring/undergoing cataclysmic change/etc but somehow we just didn't know.

Oftentimes there are interesting/boring/undergoing cataclysmic change/etc with or without us.

Then I remembered this song that was by Mick Hucknall (I never understood why he needed to be known as Simply Red, there was never a fixed band. Mick's reputed to be a ruthless operator. Red because he is a MAN U supporter. bah! C'mon York City FC!!!!) that goes

"....if you don't know me by now, you will never never never never never never *lost count* know me again..."

You think it's a romantic song? Unlikely. It seems to sing of breakups and misunderstanding. But the warped theme is this. Some guys in a relationship hold off alot of stuff to avoid being understood....So it's actually a selfish guy singing here. He refused to be understood. And now he is complaining?

Don't you just feel like you've just been shafted? Fickle arse! Twat! Bugger!

Sh.....

I'm at my friend's place in Bedok. We're suppose to be working on some project together.

I'm getting bored....

And there's free internab connection. Wireless! His neighbour is so generous. Wireless broadband network with no security password.

Ok, back to work.

Friend won't need to know I was skiving for 5 minutes.

sh....

It works

You know that the product works when your customers complain that they can't find the camouflage t-shirt/hat/trousers they bought from you recently.

Vespertine

Listening to Bjork's Vespertine with my new earphones is fantastic. It's like listening to the album all over again....

Why is it Fearless and not Huo Yuan Jia?

I was out today pretty much by myself.
Apart from making myself a very happy boy (not in that sense), I watched Fearless, or also the most important Jet Li movie. Or also Jet Li's most anticipated martial arts film....blah blah....

Don't really know why it goes by the name Fearless in angmoh. There's nothing much about overcoming fear in the movie. But I suppose they cannot really market it to the rest of the western world as Huo Yuan Jia...

I do think that after Jet Li's multiple portrayal of chinese martial arts' greats, this one has got to be one of the best. He was previously Wang Fei Hong in the Once Upon a Time in China series then Fang Shi Yu in the Fong Sai Yuk series.

The movie is based loosely on some unverified rumours like how he was eventually poisoned by the japanese, how he beat some angmohs in China...and some truth like how his good friend, Nong Jinsun and himself, started the Jin Wu Men martial arts school.

Some background here and here...
The Singapore Branch for Chin Woo Athletic Association is at No.90, Neil Road,
Singapore 0208

Ph: (+65) 2238540 Fax: (+65) 2262891

It's always a joy to watch martial arts movies with Jet Li in it. Primarily because there won't be too much CGI or special effects. This one had more than the Once Upon A Time series...but still ok.

Bound Feet, OKT, eroticism and tortoises

I was at Borders just now and was flipping through this book called Splendid Slippers: A Thousand Years of an Erotic Tradition by Beverly Jackson. It is a splendid book about bound feet and feet binding...duh....erm....anyway....

I think it's an open secret that Chinese are a sexually active ethnic group. If you don't, there's the internab to check it out. Anyway, when it comes to foot fetish (click here to better understand what foot fetish is all about)....the Chinese pioneered the whole gamut of sexually deviant(?) acts.

So...not only did the chinese ladies of wealthy families had their feet bound, prostitutes too. And since prostitutes had to be ferried between different customers or when making housecalls (near to the brothel only),manservants were employed to piggy-back them around. So these guys who piggy-back prostitutes were nicknamed "tortotises" not because there were heroes in a half shell (turtle power!) but because they resembled a tortoise when piggy-backing the prostitutes.

Well, that explains why pimps today are called orh khwee tau (roughly translated as black tortoise head). They have their own acronymn, OKT, cause Singaporeans are efficient, even with languages. Geylang got Singaporeans too you know. Not just foreign talents.

Army Daze Redux

Toy Factory is redoing Michael Chiang's Army Daze. The cast is super! Kumar, Hossan, Sebastian (fresh from broadway beng), Sheik Haikel, Vernon A, Mark Richmond (brother Don is the sound designer), Emma Yong, Selena Tan wah lau....and the kitchen sink....

I want to watch. Never caught it as a play, only as a movie.

2 - 11 March 06
Drama Centre @ New Central Library
$35 - $58
Tickets from SISTIC

050526H FEB 06

I am still awake now because I don't want this weekend to end so soon.

050527H FEB 06

Wow! People do read my kinda shit.

recently mong said my blog seems to be getting more hits than before.

like 70 a day.

last i checked, it was only averaging 20 or so.

so earlier when i took a peek....i was happy to see someone stumbling upon my block because s/he did a technorati search for york singsoc. so i clicked on some the the york uni singaporean students' blog talking about the minster, spending x'mas, having potluck dinners, getting "home cooked food" for the first time in a long time, it sure brought back some memories.

the average did go up. averaging 40 odd.

what i did notice just now when i checked was that there's this person who read 83 of my entries. s/he did it in 169 minutes or so. that's 2 hrs and 49 mins.


kinda freaky.

How not to try beds

fucking evil.....I like!

How to make me a happy boy

At this very moment....

I can be made happy with money.

Spare cash to buy a Sendstation portable dock for my iPod so that I can get the best available sound out of iPod instead of the earphone outlet. Those who own an iPod, if you don't already know, will not get the best sound out if it's just through earphone plugged into the earphone jack. If you have a dock, you will have a line out. That is where the best sound will come out from.

But what triggered me to want to get this Sendstation thingamajig?

Because I want to get new earphones.

The previous Sony MDR-EX71 less than a year ago. And they lasted less than a year too! Argh!

So now I am using Sennheiser PX200 at home but even that is a little wonky in that you have to find the right spot for the plug to align and the sound will go on and off as I rotate the plug. Also the cables slightly malfunctioning.

The iPod original earphones suck big time. I have another pair of Sennheiser earphones that came free when I bought my iRiver cd-r player about 5 years or so ago.

And I am tempted to get either the Shure E2c or the Etymotic ER6i.

They cost a bomb but they sound so delicious. I was contemplating the Bang and Olufsen A8 earphones that I see some people use (it's rather obvious, maybe it's meant to be) but it's so yuppified and I think more of the money goes into the branding. It's like Nike vs Asics. Hmmm....maybe....or Mercedes vs Rolls Royce...and the B&O A8 is the former in both instances.

Weird plus point of the E2C - I will look like I'm hearing-impaired because the cable goes over the ear.
Weird plus point of the ER6i - Etymotic pioneered in-canal earphones because they are in the business of ear research too.

Decisions decisions.....

Low Hey!

Saturday, being the 7th day of the new lunar year, was also the birthday or every man (and woman). It's ren ri, which directly translate as human day.

It's a Singaporean tradition of sorts to eat this tossed salad with slices of salmon. The salad consists of carrots and cucumber (I think) and the dressing is plum juice, oil (undetermined source) with lots of crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, pepper and powdered cinnammon.

It's supposedly invented in Singapore (by a Hongkong chef-according to my on-Dean's list-sis). All I know is that it's usually messy during the tossing and the slices of salmon disappears very quickly.

Before that was a simple scaled down version of the reunion dinner steamboat. I opened a bottle of Penfolds Coonawarra Shiraz Bin 128 (2001). Smells so good...the fragrance of chinese plums wafted straight away into my nose when I pulled the cork out. The colour reminded me of dark berries. Thinned out at the edges. Felt heavy on my tongue. But the taste left much to be desired. Sharp and had too much tannin for my liking....right....sure...

Truth be told, even after watching Sideways, if you're an amateur before, you'll still be an amateur after. Pinot Noir is not the greatest grape to be fermented and Merlot, if it was drinkable before, it will still be drinkable after. Stop kidding yourself. You're in it for the alcohol.

Broadway Beng Review

Reveal? What reveal? Not a strip show ok? Wrong concept. Review? Oh. Solly.

Long-ish entry.....

Caught the musical today with primary schoolmates. Wasn't interested in going initially because I was thinking I'd probably be busy during this period of time but things seem to be letting up. Anyway, the second chance presented itself when one of my former classmate's father passed away so she decided last week not to watch this. So I decided to take over the seat.

No regrets.

It was laugh-a-minute, thigh-slapping, rolling on the floor, tears streaming down local humour. 90% of the musical was in Hokkien. 5% was mandarin. English forming the rest (including 2.5% Queen's English - by way of the Queen, who else! and 2.5% American English - by way of Michael Jackson). The songs in the musical was a mix, 50% English and 50% Hokkien.

But the humour was 100% Singaporean.

The 8 minute summary of Miss Saigon (complete with helicopter on stage, don't play play) reflecting Sebastian Tan's UK stint in Miss Saigon was fantastic. There was a number he was doing when he took things out from the suitcase that went along with him as he toured UK. Maggi instant noodles, condensed milk, maggi chilli sauce, lee kum lee oyster sauce....that's quite accurate I think. When I first flew over to UK and opened my luggage in my room, there were about 32 packets of instant noodles.

The 3 chiobus (yes! there is a wikipedia entry on it!) added a necessary touch of kitsch. They weren't the usual just-there-to-be-bimbotic. They were all-singing and all-dancing lian wannabes and boy do can they sing. Especially Leigh, who was the only ang moh in the quartet. She sings a mean thee orh orh (sky black black). And used to cheong with sebastian in ang suar (redhill or bukit merah). She's got a lovely singing voice and her duet with Sebastian, Sun and Moon I think, was memorable. One minute, the three could be wearing some cheena cheongsum, next minute it's some tailcoat and tophat broadway sequence. Not forgetting feather boa from Spotlight and feather fan chinese dance. Jacky, the chupcheng (mixed-blood) in the tri of chiobus, has a serious case of bad psycho-motor skills. Not really sure if it was deliberate at all! (yes, it was that bad, so her acting must be damn good). Then there was Denise Tan, the sole true blue ah lian, who turns up the raunch factor several notches.

Then there is seabass(khim bak lor)tian. Obviously the star of the show. He was improvising all the time because there was so much free banter going on between him and the audience (nice going Joyce, whoever you are, you do a mean cha cha hahahaha).

Among the stuff I noticed in the theatre, was this ang moh (I dunno how many there were in total) in the front row on the left. He OBVIOUSLY didn't understood a single word of Hokkien but sat through the entire proceedings and laughed along periodically when the ongoings were in English. I don't know who else among the audience don't understand Hokkien but if you don't, perhaps you may not want to watch it. Or you can pester your friend, if you are bringing any, to explain every single Hokkien joke.

About the beng-ness of sebastian tan, well, not wanting to doubt his redhill upbringing, there are some very accurate portrayals and exposé of what ah bengs do like tao liang (release coolness) in KTV, oh, and that guys who go theatre don't go KTV, if you believe him.



P.S. former VJC GP tutor Yo Shao An was the lighting designer.

I don't want to know

Someone fumbled upon my blog because s/he was searching for:

Amy Yip joins DBS Bank


I don't want to know....

Which Amy Yip?

BrokeBack To The Future

I never knew Marty McFly and Dr Emmett Brown were....the signs were everywhere. If only I had seen them....

New Arrivals at MNG!

Since the last time I went shopping with V and moan about it eletronically, I haven't been asked to go out with her. Besides the odd movie and night outings with her, she's kept me out of that part of her life.

So earlier in the evening, after checking out Early Learning Centre for a gift for my friend's daughter, we had dinner at Nooch (Nooch has a branch in New York in case you haven't heard. Earned rave reviews. Just wondering if it is still around...).

Walking pass MNG at Ngee Ann, V wanted to take a look at some stuff inside so I agreed. I think at that time, both of us was kinda iffy and didn't want to spoil the day for either. But we went in and after that, I suggested the MNG at Wisma. Then to the other levels which Club21 was still having sale. I think without the maddening rush of crowds that accompanied X'mas and New Year and Chinese New Year, plus the mildly calming effect of a long stretch of holiday made the short shopping stint rather enjoyable. Shoppers were kinder, no "why is this guy blocking my way" stare, some eye candy (when V is not looking) all eased me back to the weeks before the end of year shopper crowd descended on the orchard shopping belt.

Sometime ago, I remember reading or hearing from someone how best to pronounce local brands like bYSI and GG<5. Be Your Self Idiot! or Basically You Sound Idiotic. or Bitch! You Stole It! Beast, Yobs and Stupid Idiots. Bring Your Shit Inside.

The younger Mr Tan originally named his enterprise SI but soon felt that it sounded too much like rivals U2 and G2000 and decided to change it to its present name. 'bYSI has no meaning apart from giving a gentle sales message as it sounds like 'buy SI',' said Mr Tan.

There! It has no meaning. Except to subliminally entice working ladies in older than 21 to buy from them. So it's more like Bring YourSelf Inside!

What about GG<5? I cannot even imagine grandmothers wearing clothes from Tollyjoy or Pigeon or whatever toddler clothes brands there are. No great-grandmother has ever stepped into Club21 kids at Paragon, trying and buying a pile of clothes, for herself. It'd be rather daft.





Unless it's some good ole american great-great-grand daddy wearing all american oshkosh b'gosh overalls.

What's the opposite of hypochondria?

I think that's what a number of people are.

Hypochodriacs - people think they are constantly not feeling well or suffering from some incurable disease. Melman, the giraffe, voiced by David Schwimmer comes to mind. Those that actually go to the doctor and get medication. Unsatisfied, they seek second, third opinions.

There are those who are afraid of finding out what they are down with. They think they might be sick but would rather live in denial and not know. They procrastinate before going to the doctor and health screenings.

I think this sometimes applies to other things besides health matters. Like if something's going wrong, if I don't have the courage to face it now, I'm rather prepared to just avert all the issues until there is a better time. If there is a better time. It may not necessarily be a bad thing. Like a broken branch hanging by the bark, if you try to lift it up, the effort might just be enough to break the branch off completely. So why not just leave it till a later time.