Birth Day

My 22nd BDAY!!! Yet another year older, but what the heck, I'm already called Uncle Sam anyway, what's another year under my belt. Pfft. Hahaha. Was another wonderful nite spent with my buddies RB and ML along with good friends like Fifi, Wan Xin and Wen Long (ML's bro). Had dinner at a perenakan restaurant in Joo Chiat. Cafe Von Beta or something. Quite Good! Would definitely go back again when I'm back in Singapore. First up, the gifts from RB - 2 book on Fit For Life. My brother doing the good thing and guiding me towards a healthier lifestyle.



WX's present and her handmade card... wrapped inside is....



The book: Brian Greene's The Fabric Of The Cosmos and Gorillaz's new album - Demon Days!!!! Awesome!!! Hahaha, actually she cheated a little and knew both were things that I wanted, making them instant good presents :P



From ML - Nutty Bar Chocolate from ROYCE!!! Yes, they are heavenly!




I was amazed at the extravagance! (and richness of the chocolates)



A combined pressie from the guys - A photo frame with pics of some of the best times we've had together inside. Damn nice of them



With SINGAPOREAN sized condoms attached behind. Damn thoughtful of them. HAHAAHAHA



Fifi gave me a beautiful scarf with my name embroided onto it. Exquisite!




My bday ice-cream cake!


Happy bday to me~~ happy bday to me~~ happy BDAY to mmmeee~~~ happy bday to ME~



The BROS



Sistas!!!



Me trying to slice a rock hard ice-cream cake and Fifi trying to avoid any possible "spillage"



Finally!



Enjoy???



Actually, NO :P we all agreed tht this particular gelato store might sell good ice-cream but their cakes sux major big time XP



In summary, here's the wonderful presents I've received: 2 damn creative cards



Photo frame with memorable pics and a bball spiderman inside from my Brothers



Books from WX and RB



A bon voyage candle from WX



Gorillaz - Demon Days from WX



There's the choc from ML of course... but it's all gone now :P so, next is the scarf from Fifi



with my name on it



An Addidas school bag from my younger sis



French Connection sweater from Nerissa.



Thanks everyone!!! I love all your presents! They are all well thought. Appreciate every single one. Gona miss you all when in UK!!!

Occupation: Student

I am now OFFICIALLY a student!!! Muahahaha! I feel younger already. Notice that I already have the alcohol induced blood-shot eyes :P Kidding, it's just a crappy photo.

More Name Games

Well... yeah, I am a norturnal creature :P

How many of us are like this?

Take a moment to reflect, are any of you in danger of commiting any of these?
在此送上一句给大家

说了你又不听，听又不懂，懂又不做，做又做错，错又不认，认又不改，改又不服，不服也不说， 叫人怎么办？

Think I'm gona die a young man

Fuck, went for medical checkup today. GOT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!! ME!!! HBP!!! I don't overeat, virtually no snacks, exercise regularly, eat more vegetables than meat, don't lose my temper easily, take most things calmly and easily, STILL GOT HBP.

My pressure is 160/90. WHAT THE FUCK. Normal pressure for a male my age should be 130/80. This HBP news might as well give me a heart attack and kill me. PUI!

Life isn't fair. I know. It's gona take some time for me to swallow this bitter pill. I'm still gona swallow and digest it though. Stupid genes from father side. I'LL SHOW YOU!!! You won't be a crutch in my life.

In parting: FUCK YOU

I'll make sure my power tools are always handy!!! :)

got this from a fren of mine(points to the left). Quite inspiring, but Virgos, don't use this as another excuse to go abt criticising others or be nity-picky over some work.


The Carpenter's House
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and spend more time with his family. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour and the carpenter agreed. However, it was plain to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house; my gift to you."

The poor carpenter was in shock and shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the shoddy home he had built.

Is this the same with us? We may be building our lives in such a distracted way, by reacting rather than acting, by putting in the least instead of our best. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.


p.s. RB's bday this friday!!!

New Address

Well, topic says it all. Starting September, I'll be located at address stated below :) Feel free to send love/hate/memory/monetary mails as long as you're someone I know and have an address so that I can reply to you in kind. :P

• Sam Png

Room B2.03,
Weston Hall,
Sackville Street,
Manchester
M1 3BB
UNITED KINGDOM

Yup, that'll be the Hall that I'll be bunked in for this school term. Remember to check this slot again next September for an update.



****edited 22nd Aug '05 1146hrs

Flight details -

SQ 328 on 11.09.05
2350hrs

arr on 12.09.05
0650hrs

3 more weeks in sunny Singapore!!!

Beautiful, ain't it? Had a marvellous time in Redang. The snorkelling especially. This is only the 2nd time I've gone snorkelling and each time just leaves me wanting more. We were really lucky that it didn't rain once for the 2 days we dived into the embrace of Redang's crystal clear waters. This was the first time we ever went overseas as a class too, so it had a special significance in displaying how far along the bond we have amongst us has come. Can't wait for nxt year!!! *winks*

For Geeks

Like you and me :P

Those of you who use Firefox as your browser, which every secure-no pop up-safe-tabbing surfing experience liking person should do, might be interested in a proven way to boost the speed and performance of Firefox. I've tried it myself and it does improve browse speeds TREMENDOUSLY. Of course, d/l and u/l speeds aren't affected as your bandwidth isn't physically increased. Just the way data is processed. ;)

Right click your icon for firefox and select properties. add this to the target at the end
/Prefetch:1

Should look something like this "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /Prefetch:1

Relaunch firefox.

Or to make the internetz Go even faster then they will with that boosty thingy, save this file:

http://users.tns.net/~skingery/weblog/user.js

to this folder:

- In Windows XP, it is located in
C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.###\

How do you find someone to share this?

When and how can you know if it is the right person or time to share the most precious thing in the world: yourself

I can imagine how lonely this boy must feel. Still, this video made me feel warm inside.



saw the video here

How fast are you? (click!)

Go try and find out your speed from link above, is it similar to mine below?

Communications 629.1 kilobits per second
Storage 76.8 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 13.3 seconds
Subjective rating Not bad


I think it's a shit rating. Compared to the kind of bandwidth and speed ISPs are giving to those in USA and UK. Here's what a friend of mine in the UK has:

1.1 megabits per second
Communications 1.1 megabits per second
Storage 134.2 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 7.6 seconds
Subjective rating Good

and in USA......

Communications 10.1 megabits per second
Storage 1.2 megabytes per second
1MB file download 0.8 seconds
Subjective rating Unbelievable


geez.... Seriously.... I'm jealous.

My Thanks

Gal, thank you for your bravery and honesty.

It's friends like you that makes it worth while fighting on for life and the future.

adieu, my black beauty

she served me well and will be thought of fondly always.

The Dream Approaches

September beckons as time continues its headlong charge


As always.


Dreams begin but will I change it to reality as I myself so charged?


As always.


Smiles, hugs, greetings, shoulder pats and handshakes, but why do I dread these cold sheets at night?


By myself I cry,
As always.


Vision fogs and I plead for my support pillar to guide me through this wet fog. Echoes I hear.


As always.


End September,
end the partings,
end the searching,
end the loneliness,
end the coming of age,
end the longing,
end the heartache,
end the fear.


End not, however, living the life.

As ever.


Wake me up when September ends.

As reborn.


- Sam Png©


Can't sleep this Sunday night and I have to admit, this .... thing above has been bumping around in my head noisily for quite some time now. So, hopefully I've now exorcised it out of my system. Pretty obvious what I'm writing about.

Oh yeah, credit must of course go to Green Day, their song did inspire this (in a way lah, it was more of my current situation/circumstance) after all.

WELCOME BACK!!!

Good to have you back my dear fren. Good luck with your final year in school ;)

We missed you Pat! *pats ya head just like ol times*

Mortality

Men were born to die. Morbid, I know, but true.

A stark reminder today of how limited one's time in this world at a funeral wake for R's grandfather. The fatigue was obvious in his eyes. The sadness telling in his demeanor. I was glad to know that at least he was spared having the passing of his grandpa come as a shock. It is always harder to come to grips with an unexpected departure of a loved one. Both my grandparents and my youngest aunt left us with little or no warning. Somehow, I think I still blame myself for not being by my grandma's side when she exhaled for a final sigh. How could she not sigh? Her grandson wasn't with her, the family circle incomplete.

R, my deepest condolences. I can empathise with you as I know you were close to your grandpa as I was to my grandparents. Here's a favourite line of yours dedicated back to you:

"What you do in life echoes on in eternity."

Take heart that your grandpa will live on in the way you treat your friends with sincerity, your warm personality, your love of life, your openness, gentle maturity and generous spirit. Surely he played no small part in nurturing these qualities of yours.

Remember, my friend, our thoughts are with you in this dark hour. Take care, take heed and, once again, take heart.

Please let me be Seraphim

God, I hope I'm Seraphim cos boy do I ever feel like I'm spoiling for a fight at the moment.




You are one of the few out there whose wings are
truly ANGELIC. Selfless, powerful, and
divine, you are one blessed with a certain
cosmic grace. You are unequalled in
peacefulness, love, and beauty. As a Being of
Light your wings are massive and a soft white
or silver. Countless feathers grace them and
radiate the light within you for all the world
to see. You are a defender, protector, and
caretaker. Comforter of the weak and forgiver
of the wrong, chances are you are taken
advantage of once in awhile, maybe quite often.
But your innocence and wisdom sees the good in
everyone and so this mistreatment does not make
you colder. Merciful to the extreme, you will
try to help misguided souls find themselves and
peace.

However not all Angelics allow
themselves to be gotten the better of - the
Seraphim for example will be driven to fighting
for the sake of Justice and protection of those
less powerful. Congratulations - and don't ever
change - the world needs more people like you.

Image Copyright Sheila Wolk (prints available
through treefreegreetings.com) - words added by
myself.


*~*~*Claim Your Wings - Pics and Long Answers*~*~*
brought to you by Quizilla

Forever is Never

Regardless of your gender, if you haven't seen this movie, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!





there are 2 different links hidden in this post :P

NEW LOOK!

Yes, I have a new look.

Hair cut, dye and all tht. Even gotten round to using my contacts again (damn, they actually have an expiry date!) Haha. Sorry, no photos and dun intend to put any up. Meet up with me! I mean, come on, you got to at least make that much effort. What are friends for? :P

Missing Person Report

"Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

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

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when september ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends"

- © Green Day

So much to say, but yet I'm holding back tonight. Perhaps it's just not time yet. Well, finally finished my working stint, but I'm still a few hundred short of my target to buy a laptop before I head to UK. So....Probablyy means I'll have to taken on a final temp job. Been working on and off since Feb (mostly on) but much more frequently this June. Ergo my long absence from posting.

I'm quite worried actually. Just a mere 5 months (okay, take away a month for when I was in Europe) and I'm feeling the monotonous and mundane daily routine of a working life. I can literally feel it in my bones as the weariness seeps in at the end of the day. I'm not even doing anything physically taxing. In fact, my body is telling me it WANTS exercise! I fear for the rest of my life. Will I be able to survive the merciless grind of the working world, or will I be reduced to so much ash? Just another casualty of capitalism, strewn over at the side of the road as others trudge on by heedless of my tragic end.

guess how much per/hr? :P 

Big Kid

Mood:

Music: David Tao - 普通朋友

Okay, I fess up. I am still a child in the sense that I love watching cartoons. Anime in particular. Anyone of you other than ML are regular anime watchers too? Wana compare lists or recommend favourites to each other?

I look up at my calendar and realise all of the suddenly I have roughly only 2 months left!!!

Ouch....lets do it again sometime soon k guys? :P

One of my "trophies" from the sentosa outing for 1s22 along with RB on sunday. Dun know which scrummage this injury came from, but after a day, it's starting to be really irriating. Not so much that it hurts, just a slight twinge whenever I touch it accidentally, but more on the inconvenience it causes. Grr...Haha.

HOWEVER, I personally thought we had great fun at sentosa on sunday. So the sun wasn't blazing, but at least it didn't rain a single drop all day as well. We all got a nice mild tan with not a single case of sunburn. Of course, it felt a little different with the absence of Nes, Pat and Zhen, but another beach outing is in the works for when they do get back. Hoorah! More beach volleyball, frisball, frisbee, touch rugby (maybe? sorry steve :P) and pure wild scrumming from sand-line to water-line! Hehehe.

To the gang, thanks for adding to fond memories and great times!

Of Dumplings & Men

Ok, so I'm cheating a little here by "back-date" posting, but since the "dumpling" festival only just passed on sat, it's not too late yet, is it :P Well, there's revealation for me this year: I've never eaten a "Ki Zhang" in all my 22 years. Not till this year! Courtesy of ML's grandma cooking no less. This is the kind of dumpling that is smaller than the usual ones that come stuffed with fillings and the glutinous rice is slightly yellow in colour when cooked. You're supposed to eat it with certain kind of condiments (sugar, kaya, dark soy sauce, etc) and RB kindly provided me with some wholesome natural honey from his fridge :) EXCELLENT combination. Accordingly, half of the credit goes to RB as well for this wonderful culinary discovery of mine. How apt, two of my best friends each pitched in with their own ways to this: ML's family's excellent cooking and RB's family's healthy but still tasty foods. I apologise for the lack of pics as I gobbled down the only "Ki Zhang" ML gave me before any pic taking thoughts crossed my mind. Yes, I'm a pig. Proud to be one too. Shall leave ya with some cute pics fifi sent to me instead, pertaining to "zhangs" of course!

Postcards of Life

Found these "post cards" at http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ which Fifi's sister pointed out to me once and here are a few that really struck a chord with me. They may or may not seem nice to you, but these few somehow managed to reach out to me for various reasons.

Onto the first postcard: I wonder how many internet relationships really work out in the real life?


It sux not having somone you can talk to, but then again there are some things you'll never tell a 2nd soul


The next 2 postcards are also on loneliness. Is it true that we as human being all crave to be loved and be THE ONE to someone?





The next 2 are about a uniquely human trait: self-destruction. It's almost like addiction, the way we seem to ensnare ourselves into harmful practices. Just what is it that stops us from moving on? Force of habit? Fear of new unfamiliar grounds?

Grouping this together as I feel addictions to drugs/alcohol is born out of the same faults that cause us to hold onto harmful relationships



This person must be in such sweet exquisite pain. Hopefully she (assuming that poster is a she cos of the colours) muster up enough courage to at least try confessing to her best friend. Then again, she might keep it bottled up inside forever, like the person who did the sealed envelope postcard. So much is at risk here...




That's IT! :) I seem to be posting on sundays quite often... hehehe, sort of a summary to the week? Well, nothing of import happened really. Mom's overseas again. Uhmm... I'm stuck at home getting fat. (work doesn't really seem like work to me at the moment) Oh, I'll be attempting to teach Jamie maths (specifically functions) tomorrow. Maths, ACK! I hope I'll be able to manage.

one of the 7 sins: GLUTTONY

OMG, how ever did we manage to eat so much!!!! here's an excerpt from what Charity said:

"Let me tell you about the time.. We rose
up to heaven.. only to descend into hell
faster than you can say "Prata Heaven!"

The hot plate tofu was the greatest man!
Who goes eat zhi char and orders double
helpings of hot plate tofu one?! We are
the incredible disgustingly piggish
gluttons. Sam you are damn wussy. How
can you choose not to eat rice. Make all
of us look fat only lor. *smack you*

Recap of the night:
- 5 ppl - Me, You, ML, YS and Hardy
- 2 hotplate tofus
- One sliced fish soup
- 7 plates of rice
- 1 black pepper venison
- 1 vege (xiao bai cai)
- 1 gu lu you
- 4 cheese pratas
- 3 kosong pratas
- 2 banana pratas with ice cream
- 1 paper prate with ice cream
- 1 banana prata
- unlimited servings of hysterical
laughter and great company from JOOK."

for everyone's info, I did cave in and eat half a plate of rice in the end, but considering the amount we later had at the prata stall.......... Argh.... I AM STILL FULL!!!

Hahaha, but it was all in good fun, was celebrating Chat's bday and yes, there was unlimited fun and good will all around tonight.

I think it's officially 1st June now? Happy Bday Chat!