Goodbye 2007....Welcome 2008

In two more days, 2007 will be over. This year I feel passed by really fast. Generally it was a rather good year for me. Before the year ends..let me take a look back at the things that happened this year...

Biggest surprise
I guess it had to be my pay increment. For those who knows how much it was..you know what I am talking about! It was really a big surprise for me at the beginning of the year and a big morale booster for me. Its nearing the time of the year again and I wonder what I will get this year!

Most Memorable Trip
Before June this year, it would be my Hong Kong trip..but of course after June I think my US trip is most memorable. My first time going away for such a long time and to the place I thought I can only go in a few years time. I had so much fun...LA, Vegas and New York. I missed those places.

Most Value-for-Money Expenditure
My Lasik operation. For 2600 bucks, I get my perfect vision back. It feels great waking up and see everything bright and clear without the need to reach for my glasses. And no more irritating contact lenses! woohoo!

Biggest Upset
Just when I thought 2007 is going to end well for me..My office computer kena virus and all my work for the past two years got wiped out. Quotations, reports, drawings, calculations...everything..GONE! The worse is I didnt backup my stuff...sigh.

Most Daring Feat
Till now I am still surprised I did that. I am afraid of heights ..I remember shaking when standing on top of one the towers at exxon. I dont know what made me take the ride at genting...the Space Shot but it was awesome. My heart nearly jumped out ...lol. It was the scariest experience I ever had...like I jumped out of a building.

****
2007...from long brown hair,short black hair...short brown hair to long dark red hair...getting old...maybe next year will be...no more hair..

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Things to look forward to in 2008

January
Jay Chou 2008 Concert..hehe, finally I can go to his concert. 3 more weeks to go!

March
Nace exhibition at New Orleans. Going to US again next year...might be dropping by Houston too.

April
Taiwan trip. Hopefully I can go..havent made any plans yet.

June
Korea or Australia or Japan trip...Hmm want to go all these three places but can only afford one. Wonder which one will it be in the end.

August
Beijing Olympics 2008 - nothing got to do with me...but its the biggest event in Asia.

Most anticipated movies in 2008

Cloverfield
The mysterious movie by JJ Abrams. The trailer that showed Statue of Liberty decapitated by some unknown monster.
Kungfu Dunk
Jay Chou latest movie inspired by Shaolin Soccer.
The Dark Knight
The sequel to Batman Begins featuring Heath Ledger as the Joker...cool!
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Trailer looks promising and better than the first.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Second last movie, how can I miss it.

Things to do in 2008

1. Get my driving license
2. Start going to the gym again

Yeah! No more procrastination...time to move my lazy ass!!

Top of the M

Hehe..thanks to Ah le ..I get to go to the revolving restaurant at the top of Mandarin Hotel to kaypoh kaypoh. The view up there is quite nice...I didnt know Singapore can be this beautiful. Heard from him that the restaurant will be closing at the end of this year..I am glad I get to catch this view before its gone. Normally I dont think I will come up here... its a very high class restaurant. I took a peep at the menu..the cheapest set dinner is 98+++ per person.

SB7 10 yrs reunion

Finally after so many years, my JC classmates really did come together for a reunion.

Once again our class rep Caroline did all the work in order to make this work...thanks again Carol! The meeting place was at Clark Quay...I havent been to Clarke Quay for a very long time..I remember the last time I was there it was like a ghost town....shops closed...not many people...but its so different now...with Central...the places seems so lively now. I sat near the riverside enjoying the view...watching people screaming as they shot into the sky on the human catapult machine...haha duno whats the real name..but it looks really scary.

We had our dinner at Brewerks...word of caution..if you are planning to go there..DONT!..the food is expensive and it sucks..and the service is really bad...the waiter is fucking rude.

It was great catching up with everyone again..after so long. 10 years ago..we were so young...clueless about our future...(maybe just me)..now we are all working professionals.

Everyone looked so different now, especially the girls..more feminine and prettier..lol.
Mr Daryl Yap...cannot pose properly for a decent photo...always must "shua shuai".

I wonder when is the next time we will meet again...another 10 yrs? I hope not!

My early christmas present from...myself!

Its been a week, since I paid 1599 bucks for my lcd tv. Today the tv finally came and its beautiful! I have a 32" LCD tv in my room where I can watch my dvds while lying comfortably on my bed...woohoo!

Jac's wedding

Its a reminder of how fast I am getting old when people around me starts to get married one after another. Yesterday I attended my NUS classmate - Jac 's wedding..the third wedding dinner I been to this year. It was great meeting up with Qinghuan, xin ran, steven, chewy, andrew and alex again. Ever since we graduated, its been so hard to meet up with them ...just like my jc classmates...but..I will be meeting my jc classmates for the first time in ....7...8 years next weekend! Been such a long time and I am glad Andre made an effort to send the very first email that started the ball rolling. *excited*7 members of the CN7 class. Gosh we know each other for 6 years oreadi. Wonder who will be getting married next. will it be the happy lady at the center? Hohoho

Group photo with the beautiful bride in pink and the handsome groom.

Reunion

Had dinner with Aaron, Adrian and Nelson last night..Its been such a long time since the four of us sat down together for a decent meal. We've been frens since secondary school and how time flies...its already been 15 years. We had a great time reminisicing the past...although I was the target for attacks most of the time! Oops Nelson not in the picture as he is the one taking it. This pic is taken using my new N95 5 mega pix camera...the quality is...not very impressive.

Happy...

Today my manager say will talk to my boss to ask him to bring me along to New Orleans next year for an exhibition...hehe. Nice!! Excited mode...but duno my boss will agree anot...*pray hard*

Jay Chou concert

HEHEHE...I got my tickets to Jay Chou concert 2008!!! When I heard all the tics were sold out in 4 hrs I was so disappointed..luckily, thanks to ocbc...I get to redeem the tics using my points....hmm really anything...just ask OCBC...lol

My Company Trip

Went for my company trip to KL and genting the past weekend. Had my fair share of good luck and bad luck...lol

the good: I won RM200 at the casino...got a rm100 angbao from my boss

the bad: got stuck in traffic on the way to kl due to road block...stained my white adidas jacket with black oil during one of the rides at genting theme park...got stuck in traffic at jb and singapore custom for 3 hrs due to computer breakdown...

Anyway its quite short trip and the planning was quite bad. Too much to accomplish over a short period of time...in the end we spent most of the time on the bus instead of sightseeing


Lunch at the botanical garden at KL. This place seriously looks like our very own Kallang river except we dun have mosques.Poser at work ....
Nice christmas lights at one of the KL shopping mall. Didnt really have time to shop. Reached KL at 3plus, check in hotel at 5, company dinner at Park Royal Hotel at 630 to 10pm. The food was great ...the best we had for the entire trip.
Caught a view of Batu cave as our bus drove by on the way to Genting. Looks really nice but too bad we didnt get to stop for pictures...damn!
My fourth time to Genting but its the first time by cable car and it was a scary but nice experience. The view was awesome...
View from First World Hotel. Finally I went to play at the theme park and it was damn fun! The roller coaster ride and the space shooter...hmm is that what they call it? Anyway the one where they move you up damn fucking high and let u free fall down...Scared the shit out of me. But the experience was indescribeable! I was so glad i tried it.
On the way back, we stopped by Royal Selangor Factory...
Also made a detour to melaka...or should it be malacca...Wish I took more pictures though...but wasnt really in the mood...not sure why..

Shin Kushiya....

Went to a posh japanese restaurant called Shin Kushiya at Vivo for dinner yesterday. Suddenly felt the urge to splurge and pamper myself abit... The food there is quite good (and quite ex too) but overall the experience was quite memorable. The service was really good too ...highly recommended!


Their yakitori very tender and nicely grilled...yum yum

This calamari is a must try ...its sooooooo good!

The other dishes I ordered..

牛仔很忙

Jay Chou latest song - 牛仔很忙...Mtv is damn funny..cant wait for his latest album ...Yihaa!!

27 years of my life...

Had a great weekend ...Firstly I want to thank all those people who sent me smses to wish me Happy Birthday..Really appreciate it. Special thanks goes to Nelson, Jazon and Josh who spent time with me during my birthday..enduring my mini concert..lol...which in opinion wasnt that bad. Haha.

I cant believe I am 27 already..time passed really fast. Met my JC teachers during my fren's wedding last saturday and was chatting with them and realised gosh...1997 the year I was in JC1 .thats 10 years ago! I am kinda dreadful of the big 3-0. Its like only 3 years away ..NOOOOO!! I want to look young forever! muahaha...

Anyway, made a few plans for myself to accomplish before my 28th birthday..hope when I look back at this point next year...I can proudly say that "yeah! I did all that!"

1. Get my driving license...been thinking about it a lot this past few weeks. Maybe I really should move my ass and go do something abt it.
2. Restart my gym routine and hit 60kg again!! I have lost so much weight the past year and I feel really lazy. I should start going to the gym again since I found out I have a direct bus from my house to the Jurong West Sports Complex!!
3. Buy myself a LCD TV and put it in my room..hehe.
4. Visit taiwan...I hope I will be able to visit Taiwan next year...and hopefully Australia too..I need more $$$.

A look back at my 27 years and some important frens I have made...

1980 - October 12th..(Time unknown) I came to this world at Alexander Hospital...and for some weird reason, my parents decided to call me WANG YUNCHAO...hate the name..

1985 - I got my younger brother...my childhood playmate..lol

1987 - Started my Primary Education at Pei Tong Primary School..hate the green uniform but I had some nice memories of that place..too bad they tore down the place...rebuilding a new school now.

1988 - Zoe Tay won the first star search. Lol. I still remember sitting in front of the tv watching her win and asking my mum..."why this woman mouth so big?" Cant believe I ended up being her biggest fan.

1992 - Performed a routine at the talent time with my then best buddy, weijie. Haha...we were doing a aaron kwok number...singing and dancing in front of the whole school.

1993 - Got into Fairfield Methodist Sec cos my mum was hoping I can wear my brother uniform so she can save some money.

1994 - Met my best fren Kenneth . Its been 14 long years!! Also my good frens Nelson and Aaron whom I am still in contact with..These are my oldest frens to date. Got 10th place in my entire school for the year...the best result I ever got..after that everything just went down down down....

1997 - Got into ACJC. Had two great years at this place. Met a great fren there, Daryl..too bad we drifted apart over the years. Bought the first CD (Faye Wong album) of my life...used to buy cassette tapes cos CDs were so expensive to me then.

1999 - April 22nd. The day I got enlisted in Army. Till now I am still quite sore that my parents made me go to tekong alone. I was quite upset that everyone else had parents with them...while I was there all alone.

2000- Got posted to Tengah Ammo Depot as an Ammunition Technician. Met some of my good frens there...Teck Chye, JianHua, Gary, Sim, Kwong, Yang, Eric and Rongshu. Glad I am still in contact with most of them.

2001 - Started my 4 years course in Chemical Engineering. Quite a torturous 4 years and I am glad I got through them. Bombed big time in my first semester...got 3.26 ( third class honors) grade. Made a few good frens along the way...Mag, Sandy, Vince, Qing Huan...

2004- Got into ExxonMobil for my Industrial Attachment. Had a hell of a time there and somewhere, somehow I manage to break the "skinny" curse and gain nearly 10kg during my 6 months there. My attachment buddies ...Lifen and Eileen ...the powerpuff girls...lol

2005 - Graduated from NUS with a second upper honors ..thank god. Before stepping into the working world...I served the remaining 3 months of my NS sentence at Ammo Branch and met my buddy..aka..the slacker...Timon..lol

2007 - Corrected my shortsightedness and it was a blast! Its such a great feeling to wake up and be able to see everything clearly without reaching for your specs. Went to Hong Kong and USA! My US trip...the most amazing experience to date and it was the first time I travelled with my best fren Ken.

2008 -????

My first time on a FPSO

Today I had a great experience...I get the chance to board and work on a FPSO..also known as Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading Vessel. Its super huge and when I was standing on the dock looking at the portside of the vessel i was thinking about the movie "Titanic"...I wonder which is bigger. Anyway, I was there to supervise the installation of a temporary cathodic protection system for the protection of the hull of the vessel during its time at the yard.

It was quite scary taking the lift up the vessel...together with all the bangalahs....I feel like one of them...with the helmet, safety specs, overall and safety harness (ouch). Up on board..its like a warzone..one wrong step and you might be hit by something or trip on something. Its really amazing how all these workers can work on so many things at the same time..The modules on the vessels are so complicated. Too bad I cant take photos..it would have been great. Thats not the one I went up...just for illustration purpose..lol. One one side I get a nice view of Sembawang, on the other, I see malaysia. One unforgettable experience on board is the watching people queuing up for the make shift urinals. While peeing, u get a birds eye view of what I just mentioned earlier...but, the urinals are super gross..imagine few hundred workers, 10 urinals...the stench is just..unforgettable.

Going back tomorrow again. Going to have a good rest now..:)

The fall of Britney

For the past week, I have read reports about Britney horrifying comeback performance at this year VMA Awards. Well, I like quite a few songs by her and was curious how bad her performance was, so I went to youtube to take a look. God I have to say how badly she had fallen...

Then..







Now...



Its quite sad how pregnancy can destroy a woman...gone are her sexy toned abs and her agile and electrifying dance moves...all that is left now is a tired, fat britney looking lost on stage.

Expressions

How many expressions does one person make each day? How many can one make? My ambition when I was young was to be an actor. Actors have to convey " 喜怒哀乐" with their facial expression..I always believe I can make quite a few..Feeling quite bored at home..so decided to document the many faces that I have. hehe

Transformers!

Got a surprise gift yesterday...Automus Prime!!! Thank you so much Mike!

Transformers was my favorite cartoon when I was young..but I was unable to afford the automus prime figurine. I remember going to the toy shop again and again just to look at the automus prime truck on display knowing that I will never own one. When I got this last night I was so excited...spent quite some time trying to figure out how to transform it from truck to robot...robot to truck...and damn it was difficult. I was so afraid I might twist the wrong place and crack the figurine. Lol..its so fun...reliving my childhood over again. Yipee!

Dog chasing...

Went to meet my fren Francis yesterday to play with his Jack Russell. Ever since I saw Milo in "The Mask" in 1994, I told myself I must get one for myself when I can afford it. So yesterday was like a trial run for me which turned out disastrous. :( My fren left me with his dog at the park and everything was well and good at first...although the dog seemed abit afraid of me and kept trying to bite off the leash ferociously....

Yeah, thats her...trying to bite the leash...Totally convinced that she was not going to break loose, I let her do all the biting she wants...then to my horror...after some twist and turn...the leash around her neck came loose...omg. All hell broke loose then. I didnt know how to react and she kept running..All I could do was follow her...She freaked the hell out of me when she dashed across the road with onlookers looking shocked at how bad a dog owner I am. After what seemed like forever, my fren finally found us and put the leash back on her...phew! I thought I gonna get his dog lost or worse killed. No more dogs for me...All of a sudden I feel cats are better...haha.

The rest of the day went abit better..I watched two movies, Secret and Ratatouille. Both amazing movies in my opinion. Secret was way better than what I expected. Some people just have all the talent. The part where Jay was challenging his senior was unbelieveable. His piano skill is just ...chao diao! I like the twist at the end and how the love story played out. It was sweet innocent love at its best. This is the best Jay chou movie so far..Initial D was too much hype but not fantastic..Curse of the golden flower was just...mediocre. Not bad for a first time directorial effort.

Ratatouille is a fantastic comeback for Pixar after last year flop - Cars. The thing that separates Pixar animated films and others is heart. Other studios often churn out crappy animated films with cute characters doing silly things but without much of a plot. Ratatouille, showed once again that Pixar still is the King of animation. With scenes of Paris so beautiful and realistic it makes me feel right there with Remy..the rat. Besides the movie obvious message 'anyone can cook!", its also about Remy self discovery....about having courage to try new things and be true to oneself. Rats have never been so adorable...the finale sequence was totally hilarious.

Two great films in one day..what a wonderful saturday it was.

Fireworks at the Bay

Ever since I participated in the National Day Fireworks team in 2000, I was fascinated by the fireworks. After that I was always chasing them. Every year during the National Day fireworks carnival I will be at marina bay to catch them. I used to take photos with the old fashioned camera and they turned out like crap so I stopped. Then when I first got my digital camera I thought it can do wonders...but the pics turned out like crap too. But I realised the fault lies with me. Haha..After .much consultation with the pros....I managed to take some decent photos...not really good but decent. I have a long way to go to get those real professional pics. But some things for sure after last night...I need a tripod, better location and early dinner...

The crowd at the Bay last night was unbelieveable. I had the feeling that the entire spore population turned up. Everywhere was packed. From the floating platform spectator stand to the esplanade, across the bridge..to merlion park (where i was) all the way to boat quay...every single spot near the water was packed...booked...whatever. I walked all the way from esplanade to boat quay and back at 7pm hoping to find a decent spot but all I could see was tripods, bags, shoes, drinks lining up at the sidewalk chopping seats for their owners. So I ended up at the steps in beside the merlion. It was a great spot to view the fireworks but not the best spot to capture them cos it was too close. So all I could get was the fireworks and nothing else. But it was a much better attempt than previous.

After the display was over I was so damn hungry cos I didnt take my dinner. I reached cityhall at 6 alone and was hoping to get dinner before I head over to esplanade..to my horror..every single restaurant was packed, reserved...fully booked. Even Macdonalds at Marina was filled with people. And being alone didnt help. After walking for one hour I realised I am not going to get my dinner..so I went with an empty stomach..bad idea. Alone and hungry I made my way back to suntec city and most restaurants were closed by 1030 already. In the end I have to settle for MacDonalds (which was still packed) and take out to eat at the benches inside suntec..poor me.


I like this shot...I was seated right next to the Merlion and I realised I have never taken a decent shot of this icon of Singapore before.

Be Strong..Geum Soon

Have been catching this drama faithfully for the past 4 months...100 over episodes of Be Strong Geum Soon...in 2 weeks time, it will end on CH U, but I got to see the last episode on youtube. Its damn touching...Watching her overcome all the obstacles and finally end up with someone she loves and find true happiness. I am beginning to like Korean drama, I used to think Korean dramas are all sad,same plot...cancer, amnesia, blah blah but after watching a few..I begin to understand why people prefer watching them instead of watching Singapore ones. Singapore dramas are really getting worse and worse...everytime I switch over to CH 8 around 7 plus, I see Xiangyun screaming...Its super lame..I really missed the old drama serials...like Golden Pillow, Samsui women, Unbeatables, Morning Express..nowadays Mediacorp just like to produce crap. They like to produce ridiculously long dramas just for the sake of filling up airtime. The scriptwriters have nothing to fill up 100 over episodes so they come up with crappy plots, unbelieveable relationships..add in some daily quarrels and there you have it..Mediacrap newly produced piece of shit. While I was watching Geum Soon, it didnt feel like I have watched 100 over episodes..you really feel for her character when she is happy or when she is down..the supporting characters are just as good and are given considerable character developments..unlike Singapore ones, you watched 100 episodes but you dun give a shit what happens to the characters. Here is a segment of the last episode of Geum Soon and an MV...nice..:)

Price Hike!

Its the time of the year again when the board of directors of SBS sit down and say "Hey lets up the bus fare again!". When I heard the news saying that SBS have decided to submit their proposal to raise the transport fares I was thinking..great, every year also increase, every year they also say "After careful consideration, they had no choice but to raise the fares to cover for rising costs"...I dun remember there was a year they said after careful consideration, we decided not to increase the fares. Of couse when SMRT heard that, they thought "kao! they also increase liao, if we dun increase we lugi!" and so next day, as expected SMRT also submitted their proposal after much consideration.

I must admit the Singapore transport services are quite efficient but they are really not that great yet to warrant a yearly increase. Besides, there is no competition! Its not like SMRT and SBS are competing with each other..they seem more like partners...increasing price one after another. Then came the news that there will be penalty for bus operators if the waiting time exceed 10 mins. Please... I cant remember how many times I waited for my one and only feederbus for more than 15mins...Who is going to monitor them anyway? Moreover, after years of price hike, I dont see any improvements in the transport services...On rainy days, I was appalled to see some buses with their upper deck seats totally wet as the roof was leaking. Many occasions I was sitting happily on the bus when I realised the aircon was dripping water on me. And talking about making places accessible to those handicap pple, our buses are way behind ...I saw buses in LA where people in wheelchair were able to board..boy was I impressed. Here, those old people have difficulties climbing the steep steps up the bus. Buses are always so crowded at peak hours and buses speed off bus stops without stopping just becos the front is packed and the bus driver cant be bothered to ask people to move behind. With all these they still have the cheek to increase the fare every year.

Talking about fare hike...there are so many merchants who took advantage of the 2% GST to increase their prices...can drinks selling for 1 buck now goes for 1.10, I bought a hotdog bun at Breadtalk this morning, previously at 1.20 now it cost 1.30..is that a 2% increase? How convenient...2% become duno how many percent..like those hawker..2% increase ah..my wanton mee at 2 bucks cannot become 2.10 ...make it 2.50 lor....

The end of Harry Potter........

Spent the rest of my off day yesterday reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Finally I finished it. I remember I started reading the first book in 2001 and its been 6 years already. I read an interview with JK Rowling and she said "Some people started reading the first book when they were 10 and now they are already 20 yr olds" Thats quite amazing to me...The book was quite boring in the first few chapters with lots of aimless wandering around but towards the end, everything just exploded..the last few chapters leading to the climax was one non-stop heart thumping ride that doesnt let up. In the end, everything ended well, all loose ends tied up..well almost..I have to start reading the first six books in order to refresh my memories on some stuff..Maybe to some, its just a children series but to many, myself included, its a journey..journey through the imaginative wizarding world of J.K Rowling and watch the three characters Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione change from innocent 11 yr olds to eventual fighters against the Dark Lord. Its quite a journey and maybe thats what makes Harry Potter series so special and I am glad I picked up the first book 6 years ago.

Daylight robbery....

Took leave to send my canon camera for repair..when I surrendered my camera and ask how much it will cost..the girl said "minimum 200" ..I was like "$@#$@wtf!" I bought this camera 2 yrs ago for 699 and now its selling for 500 and the repair is minimum 200? Sigh now I am torn...should I repair or buy a new one? If I were to buy a new one..shd I get a canon digital ixus 70, powershot or SLR...or should I get a different brand...sigh...

不能说的秘密

Just got this latest song by Jay chou from my fren Tim..Like it alot...once again, the lyrics are so nicely written....

冷咖啡离开了杯垫

我忍住的情绪在很后面

拼命想挽回的从前

在我脸上依旧清晰可见

最美的不是下雨天

是曾与你躲过雨的屋檐

回忆的画面在荡着秋千

梦开始不甜

你说把爱渐渐放下会走更远

又何必去改变已错过的时间

你用你的指尖 阻止我说再见

想像你在身边在完全失去之前

你说把爱渐渐放下会走更远

或许命运的签

只让我们遇见只让我们相恋

这一季的秋天飘落後才发现 这幸福的碎片
要我怎麼捡

My first site job!

Spent 4 days at a site in malaysia. My first site job...kinda excited. Have to act like very experienced and very professional which I am totally not! Haha..actually I think I am quite a suay xing, when I was there, it rained every single day ...and work have to stop. In the end, 2 days of work have to spread into 4 days... I have to oversee the installation of the cathodic protection system for 6 underground pipelines...have to decide where to place the magnesium anodes, test point, reference electrodes blah blah..then have to teach the workers how to connect the cables to the pipes..it was quite fun and I learnt quite alot :) My work is only 1/3 done..one area done, 2 more pipelines more...looking forward to it..hehe

What a Saturday...

Woke up early in the morning to accompany my mum to see a doctor. She've been complaining about some "ringing" sound in her ear and was lamenting nobody cares about her...but I was quite pissed off by her...here was our conversation on friday night...

Me: Go to the clinic downstairs and see the doctor tomorrow...
Mum: No lah, downstairs clinic so expensive..later charge me 40 plus 50 bucks...
Me: .......
My mum likes to go back to the doctor in clementi (where we used to live) cos its cheap...
Me: Ok then lets go to the doctor in clementi...
Mum: erm....dun want...
Me: Why?
Mum: Becos the taxi fare from here to clementi and back cost 20 bucks! (My mum cant really walk that well, so we have to take a cab)
Me: .............
Me: Ok fine! I will pay for everything...cab fare, doctor fees...ok?
Mum: Ok...

Sometimes talking to my mum makes my blood boils....

Anyway thats how I spent my saturday morning..After that I went to get my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows..Yesterday was Harry Potter's Day, every major bookstore I went to, 8 out of 10 people queuing up are paying for a copy of Harry Potter...and there are stacks and stacks of it ...which makes me wonder...why preorder? There is no special discount or free gifts for preordering, so why pre order when you can get one on the day of release as everyone else? Anyway it costs me 48 bucks and it completes my collection. I am going to start reading it later, trying very hard not to flip to the last page for a sneak peek of the ending.

After that, went to watch Disturbia with Vincent...my classmate in NUS...It was a sleeper hit in the US and now I know why. Its a horror film with a story. Not those typical no brainer, blood and gore slasher pics...in fact, the slashing is quite minimal. Its a light hearted romantic comedy disguised as a horror film. It keeps you at the edge of your seat towards the end without having to show much blood ..unlike Saw and Hostel. The ending was quite cool too, not those typical..."I will be back" endings for typical horror films these days..

After the movie, I got a preview of the fireworks for NDP and it was great. Got myself a nice spot at Marina Square foodcourt. Not too crowded, and nicely elevated to view the fireworks display. Fireworks never fail to amaze me even though I have seen it like more than 10 over times...Maybe I will pop by again on National day to watch it again...

I thought my day will end after that but it didnt...my frens jio me go karaoke...and karaoke was just too hard to resist...end up singing from 1030 to 230am..haha..sing until I buay tahan....but it was fun...:)

Potter Mania...

This month is the month of Harry Potter...on July 23rd, all will be revealed. The first book of Harry Potter came out in 1997 but I wasnt hooked until I read the first book in 2001. I still remember I was skeptical about it when the first movie came out and I was like ....god, its just a children's book. Then I decided to pick up the first book and read it for myself and then there is no turning back...6 yrs later, I find myself waiting for the final book to come out next week ..like millions of potter fans. Its a little pricey though, at 48 bucks, I wonder if I should spend that kind of money on ...a book. Its quite amazing the kind of money parents are willing to spend on their kids these days....I remembered my mum wouldnt even buy me a book that cost more than $5 . I am always more of the book fan than the movie fan for Harry Potter...maybe becos I still cant get over the fact that movie 3 was just absolutely horrible. The last one was a considerable improvement from the third but the damage was done. Nevertheless, I went to watch the Order of the Pheonix on Saturday. The fifth book was my least favorite of the series...its just too damn hard to read..at 700 pages, I find myself losing interest at around page 400. When I was reading it, I thought..the movie version is gonna be so boring cause although its the longest book, there isnt much going on that can be put into a movie. Surprisingly, the movie turn out to be quite decent..in fact I think its one of the better ones. Maybe becos it was really simple this time to leave out the redundant and just focus on one major plot line and the movie doesnt seems to be too choppy. The acting was better and the flow was much better too. Although there are some scenes that I feel could be better dealt with, like the demise of Sirius, it is still the only movie besides the first that stayed true to the overall feel of the book. So...the movie didnt disappoint, I hope the final book will not too. My gut feeling tells me Ron is not going to make it...although most people have placed their bets on Harry dying. Oh well, we will find out in 7 days time.

back in singapore in 4 days...

Fireworks on Fourth of July....

Chrysler Building.....

Me and Ken outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art ....
View of Central Park and Manhattan at the top of Metropolitan Museum of Art...

Sunset at Manhattan...

The awesome view at the top of the Rockefeller Center...

Central Park....

Construction at the former World Trade Center site.....

Me at Times Square....

Me and Ken on the Brooklyn Bridge....

Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge...

Statue of Liberty with the Manhattan skyline..

This is a hell of a trip...but all good things have to come to an end. Have been travelling around New York quite abit and it really wasnt what I expect it to be. Nevertheless it was amazing. Times square, statue of Liberty, brooklyn bridge, grand central station, union square, wall street, former world trade centre site..there are just so much to see in this city! Went up the top of the Rockefeller Center two days ago and the view was breathtaking...you get the whole view of the manhattan city...empire state, central park, chrysler building...its just beautiful.

Did quite abit of shopping yesterday...spent so much at Abercrombie and Fitch. The levis jeans are really cheap though, I bought 2 pairs of 97 USD...thats like the price of one in singapore. hehe.

I had the opportunity to watch a movie in the states as I wanted to get the feel of it..its quite silly but I just wanted to waste 2 hrs of my travelling time on a movie. So we went to catch Transformers on Fourth of July. Its a nice movie but didnt quite live up to my expectation. For one, the storyline is kinda crap. The only thing that saved this movie is its incredible visual effects...even so sometimes there are so much going on you dont know who is fighting who. Most of the robots are redesigned beyond recognition so its quite disappointing for fans like me. The funny thing about watching a movie in the states is there are no predetermined seating arrangement. Something I totally cannot understand. People are allowed to take any seats they want...first come first serve. I thought its such a stupid way of resource allocation. In the end, due to our big group, and our late entrance, one of our frens have to sit on the aisle for the entire show. After the movie, there are actually people who stand outside the theater with survey forms asking you to fill up what you thought about the movie. Thats really cool...how come we dont get that in Singapore.

Had quite abit of bad luck during this trip...queue up for the treasure island show at vegas for an hr and it was cancelled due to strong wind, went to a famous club and it was closed for maintenance, wanted to go up the statue of liberty and the time passes were sold out ...and the worse, I dropped my camera on the floor and it totally died on me! Cant believe it..canon digital ixus 50....one drop and its dead..sucks man.

Ok, I think I am going out..today its arty farty day..going to metropolitan museum