Friggin Happy.

9.99 Pounds. 70 Ringgit. Do you actually believe that?

Sunday was a happy, happy day. First there was church, where we talked about prayer and a side project - a prayer notebook, keeping track of what your prayers are and how God answers them (Yes, No, Wait). It's kinda cool - and something i've not thought about at all. He has answered my prayers before, but without writing it down i can't remember the incidences. Hmm!

After that we had youth, where a game of 'Honey, i Love you, can you please, please smile?' was played. You basically go up to a person (not necessarily of the opposite sex), say the words "Do you love me?" (this was a variation by Eric) and then try your best to make the person either laugh or twitch into a smile. We tricked Jason into laughing because he came late ("eh? HAAHHAAHAH. What?") after which he proposed to Godwinna and made her screw her face up in silent mirth. I didn't really have to do anything - Joanna covered her face with a jacket the instant i got down of my knees in front of her. Hehe.

And then there was Judo! Oh, blessed honey of a million bees! I got my grubby paws on this:


Bought in the UK by Alvin for 9.99 pounds! 70 Ringgit for a such a damn thin valuable book. No wonder i couldn't find it anywhere in Malaysia, even in 'biggest-bookstore-eva' Borders. Hmmph! Daft daft daft. But the techniques there are amazing! Whoever knew Tenri Osotogari added such an effective wrist turn! *rubs hands together eagerly*

I can't help it. Jump jump with happiness.

Then i injured my foot trying a Sasai on Phing Zhou. Ehehh. Note to self: work on Sasai. Your traditional throw sucks.Keep using a variation and this is what you get.

I didn't get to spar with Douglas, again, though Garrick took a video of me sparring with Chong (36 mb! Dang), and it had a nice osotogari in it (from me).

You know, the rate i'm going, it could really be possible that my Osoto can work in contest now. *sticks tongue out at Horng Eng and her Haraigoshi*

Happy happy happy me.

Que Avis, Malaysia?

I have been meaning to write this post for some time now, but a tiny voice kept on saying, "Make sure you get the writing right. Think first!"

And i did. I thought of what i needed and wanted to say, and how to say it. This post is long in the waiting, and painful to write. But bear with me on this.

2006 has been a bad year for Malaysians. Admit it. We've seen Mahathir go anti Abdullah (proclaiming that Malaysia is a police state - ISA, death in custody - not that it wasn't before, just that the idea that our country is not that rosy hadn't really presented itself in the mainstream since the days of Ops Lallang), we've seen the Inter-Faith Commision breaking down and all discussion about coorperation between the various religions exploding ... We've had politicians in the UMNO general assembly calling Lee Kwan Yew stupid (not that that's bad, but the action in itself is foolish in the face of the old man's cunning) and blaming all the other races for the current problems.

We've had MAS and Proton struggling.

Some of us are feeling oppressed.

We've had statements (Lee Kwan Yew) telling us the painful truth that yes, the Chinese here are being systematically marginalised. Or at least in the name of Bumi rights.

We're being told that Meritocracy is the death of Malays, contrary to common sense.

We're hearing stories of how straight A chinese students who deserve it don't get scholarships, even though they have more than enough co-curricular activities. And then we have heard how Bumis with 7As get Med scholarships overseas.

We're being bombarded with unintelligent remarks by Datuks and MPs, through the mainstream media that is the convenient arm/leg/anus of our political parties.

No more chinese schools are being built, nevermind that Kua Kia Soong keeps tabs and reports that there are no racism there, albeit increasing enrollment by students of other races.

Marina Mahathir writes, or wanted to write, about how national schools are turning her children into 'little racists'.

The foreign press is having a field day sacrificing us. There is a New York Times article about how the Chinese and the Indians are being cheated by the Malays. I can't find it, but i found one worse.

We are told not to celebrate Deepavali with Indian friends.

We have weak leaders.

We want to be taught science and maths in BM, or so we're told.

Our ministers want to control the evolution of the BM language.

And through it all we are getting cynical.

See why this post is hard to write?

I have Malay friends. I admit, i like Malay culture. Their food, their traditions, the beautiful pantun and the wise proverbs taken from nature. Call me brainwashed by Sejarah, whatever. But sometimes i'm scared. Scared that i'll morph into something i'm not, something i never want to be.

I'm scared that i'm turning into a racist.

Me, a Malaysian, proud to be tolerant. Us, Malaysia, proud to be multi-racial.

Where has all the love gone to?



Perhaps my longing to love our country stems from my Sejarah classes. The students of 5S1, (2006) St Thomas's secondary school has had marvelous Sejarah teachers since form 1, making it hard for the lot of us to hate the subject. They were all wonderful storytellers, creating beautiful tapestries of people and places long ago. Of course now we can all get sidetracked into arguing that history is anything but objective, but that's not the point. The point here is that they did their job marvelously. We loved our country. Well, at least before 2006 began to dilute the solid, wonderful picture in our eyes.

And yet, I have friends who gladly admit that they hate the Malays. All Malays. Nevermind if they're called Nazrin or Ahmad or are decent people when you give them a chance. How many great people would i have missed if i were generally prejudiced with all Malays even before i got to know them? Hmm ...

Let's have a scenario. Say there are two great groups of people in a country. One group is the natives, the other we shall call the Others. The natives are poor, the Others are rich. The natives are the majority, the Others are the minority. Now there are two ways to get rid of the economic disparity: one is to lift the natives out of their doldrums, and the other is to deprive the Others so heavily so that wealth is then equally distributed to the majority, ie, the natives. It would seem that the first is the ethical way, the better way, since it would prevent any potentially bloody coup or uprising. But isn't the second way the easier one?

It isn't hard to see what is going on here. When it comes down to the basics, the problem with Malaysia is that the fine line between helping the Bumis and being equal and fair at the same time is getting only thinner.



But we have the NEP! My God the government is doing all that is correct right for the love of my motherland you must understand!

The NEP was introduced when my father was a noob in the working world. Now it is reintroduced again when my father is nearing retiring age. Bumiputera equity is so damn low - i'd actually be happy if it was 80% or higher as ASLI described (nevermind that i think they're wrong). It would mean that the NEP did its job. It would mean that disparity was gone.

Still not convinced? Well.

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on the NEP (the link is a blogger's repost, who gives Tan Sri Khalid's background. Search for Off The Edge for the actual interview):

"What I don't accept is the way NEP was vulgarised in terms of implementation. At the end of the day, I was a player for 30 years and having looked at the end-result of it, the NEP pleases some,. but so many feel so strongly against it.

Let me explain. There are Malays that have benefited from the NEP, but there are a lot of Malays that have been sacrificed by it.

What has happened is, not only have the [bumiputra] figures for [equity participation] declined, the size of disparity between Malays is also high. This means that the idea of positive discrimination to redress imbalances is out, as you have to create other excuses for its continuance".


And in another part, he continues:

"What I am saying is that the NEP has not achieved what it has set out to do, and has instead segmented society. The problem with the NEP in regards to UMNO, is that it is utilized for the existence of the political party.

That is the worst - the wealth of the nation and its future is controlled is by 3,000-4,000 people who decide to select or not select their people, and this is funded through the advantages connected with the NEP. That is what this squabble is all about".

Patrick Teoh struck gold with his Teohlogy section in Off The Edge.

The Malays: 'Never mind lah. Whatever happens, the kerajaan, which will always will always be our majority what, will take care for us lah. We are of the soil.'

The Indians: 'You only go to see them when you are sick or need legal advice, right? Yes. THEY will do for YOU.'

The Chinese: 'Never mind lah. Can make money enough lor. My family in Perth lah. Yours?'

Whatever happens, Malaysia is my country. I don't know how the Malay Dilemma will be solved. I don't know whether Chinese all over the country will stop jumping boat to other, fairer countries that reward you based on your capabilities, and not your skin colour. I do not know how the millions of possible permutations and actions yet to be made will play out, writing history in a swirl of movement and happenings, never reversible.

But what i do know is that you and i have a choice. We can bitterly weep with what is happening, be cynical since 'everyone is doing it'. Or we can make a stand, to not fall and be racially prejudiced and scoff at the inferiority of our country. Through little ways, daily ways.

Malaysia, after all, is in our blood, our thoughts and our soul. And if not in yours, then in mine.

In The Past 10 Days ...

Most of you know that i had to take a 10 day haitus from the net a coupla days ago, and while things like BUGS and the UGS forums died down with my absense (i'm just flattering myself - Kenny is the one that keeps on posting. Bleh), i managed to distance myself from the grind of blogging and maintaining an online community (and meeting great people in the process, if i may add - Hi, Tze Lun!) and tried harder to get used to reality. For at least 10 days.

This meant a few things. First being my Utopian province was left alone for a long, long week, making me lag behind the rest of my kingdom mates in terms of growth and recovery. And the fact that i could finally set some goals for myself, and to dive into a world of complex social fabrications ... ala War and Peace.

It was refreshing, to say the least. For the rest of my post i'll break up what i've been doing into sizeable chunks, so it's easier to read and it'll allow me to scan through this years from now, for posterity.

Judo
Ahh, yes. My favourite sport and the only one i'm good at. Brought Josh over to the dojo last Saturday, and was pleasantly surprised to find Garrick bringing his cousins from Australia as well. And then i realised that Douglas, Ali and Chong all had higher belt rankings than me.

Ahh, yes. That green beast called jealousy.

So being among the lowest ranking people on that day, besides Charlton, i slugged through the warmup, me and Garrick complaining of spinning heads and wheezing lungs. We were so unfit. Daft SPM. Only my handstands were still intact - the rest made my bones feel as if my tendons were being turned into Kolo Mee.

Then came Uchikomi. Practising the throw without throwing. I completely sucked at that point, my uchikomi form of osotogari looking like something a white belter would do. Oh dear - how would the actual working throw look? Douglas called me over to try it on Charlton.

Charlton did a 360 horizontal flip in mid air and landed on his face.

Ahhah. Something went wrong, i think. Couldn't control the power of the throw, but at least it wasn't a complete flop. (Quite the opposite for Charlton. Hope he didn't hit his nose. Sorry). To my surprise, i found i could still defeat the Green Belters - throwing Ali with variations of my Sasae - Osoto combo i worked on before the SPM hit. It was ... perplexing, to say the least. But i bet once their combos are up and running our Randori matches will be on a whole different level - one where moves are countered in the thinking stage, and not in the action stage. Sigh.

After that we learned Strangles! And this was the first time i could breathe while the oxygen supply to my brain was cut off. Ali's definitely getting better at grappling. We were practising Okuri eri Jime, and the purpose was to cut the blood supply to the brain. Ali suceeded. On me. I just saw the dojo growing hazy and further and further away, with sounds of Sensei talking warping in my mind. Moving my leg to tap out seemed an absolute chore. It was seriously cool.

Anyway,

SIB Youth
Abigail went, so naturally Josh decided to invite Paul and me over. I went earlier with him for band practice (he was playing guitar, i was trying to read War and Peace), and then we had dinner at Colours. And let me tell the conversation is hilarious. Mac was going all "What do you do when you're sitting with this girl, and she asks you something you completely don't understand?"

Me: "Say that she's on a completely different frequency?"

Mack: "No. Just look cute and stupid and you'll be her friend for life. Trust me it works. Ten years of experience talking here, man."

Yeah, right. :P Now, the entire youth session was great especially with David and Abigail attending. We talked about love in the bible. Mac was, as usual, laugh out loud fall on the floor funny. "What are the ingredients of a good love story?"

"Erm. Love?"

"Of course lah! Love story wad!"

"Must have boy and girl!"

"Of course! ... You thinking what? Brokeback!?" *laughs, then suddenly stops* "Eh, true got love there also, horr ..." Pauses, passes question to the girls ... and then -

"Violence!"

"What!?" *Sound of teens laughing* "Let me think through first - ah! I know! Caveman love story! I love you ... BANG!"

Enough said. We studied Ruth, and how a selfless act and the love of a man (truly a love story, this one - there was even violence at the start!) made a woman famous - the only Gentile with a book in the bible named after her.

St Faith Extension
Whew. Three churches in a weekend! This one was a lot more familiar. Most of the people i knew, and greeted them like old relatives long lost in a war somewhere forgotten . After an argument with Maryann about my height at form 1, a soiree with Godric about hair dye and then a teasing give and take with Godwinna about diets (Euch! Cheese cake! I was just too full then ...) We had Daryl sharing with us on one of the Kings in the Old Testament - a Je!@#$%^& that was hard to pronounce. And then we had a paperball fight with Eric and gang, to illustrate how so many countries were pissed with Israel back then (gee! Not much changed!)

Anyway, his lesson was that we should ask God for help in our lives, a simple lesson, yet often forgotten in the face of life changing decisions like ... What should i do after SPM/STPM?

Yes. God was speaking to me, alright. And in the midst of it all i realized what i was missing throughout my youth - fellowship with people my age, aiming to glorify the Lord. I missed that. Forms 3 to 5 (youth in my church somewhat collapsed at form 2, coz i could still remember setting up chairs for youth sessions after BB meets) was all on my own strenght. No fellowship, just shots in the arm through camps and concerts.

So Paul and i talked it over. We're going to join Extension Youth permanently. For better or worse? We shall see.

And there you have it - my 10 days summed up, without dreary bits like my review of War and Peace (200 pages to go! Yay!) or random wonderings about how faggoty the boys/men in Goong (Princess Hours) look like. Teddy bear! Ugh!

And now here i am. Wondering what my next post will be about. Till then.

Filler

I passed my driving theory a few hours ago. At 3 p.m. 44 out of 50. Yay.

Paul blogged in UGS. Both poems of good quality. Wowie. *grins happily*

Apple released a phone in my absense. How could Steve do this to me!? *instantly salivates pool over keyboard at first glance*

Will blog about my 10 days offline ... tomorrow.

Will type Janus ... soon.

Am currently staring at iPhone. Ahhh ... bliss.

And(!) my legs are finally healing. Judo is showing me how unfit i am.

Till tomorrow, ta.


PS: Don't you lurrve Apple?

Abigail's Farewell

Naw, that isn't the title of a novel, trust me. Yesterday night was Abigail's farewell dinner, held at Hartz (to Aaron's everlasting horror) and with a motley bunch of teens from St Faith Ori and St Faith Extension in tow. David's from SIB, but's he's the exception, so lemme leave him out of the last sentence *winks*

Ruby and Aaron - Plateheads

Well, for those of you in perpetual darkness, Abi's an old friend of mine, a great servant of the Lord and THE absolute lover of the colour pink. (Ling, if you're reading this in between shifts in Aussie, trust me, you can hold nowt to her). She's leaving for New Zealand at about 9 tonight, which means as i'm typing this post she's probably at the airport with Paul and Josh and Daniel (and extended family) lugging bags to the departure hall.

The Four Cousins

Back to the dinner. It was scheduled to start at 7:30, but by some freak of nature (think rain and the impossibility of parental schedules (read:mine)), i had to get my aunt to come and send the lot of us to Hartz, ala sardine-in-the-backseat. Abigail was her usual chirpy self, with a her hair done up in cascading curls, and asked us if she looked like a poodle ... by the way, if you're wondering, i don't get that part either. When we reached there we found an alarmingly big group of people lepaking outside Hartz.

We went in, Paul and me chia-ing Abigail, and then proceeded to jam up the hallway while looking for a place to sit. David, Max, Abi and Paul hauled a table over, put it down and then hauled it back again when they realized there was no space. Throughout which we were of course being our usual selves, screaming and kicking, er, talking with each other.

I should seriously crop this to leave just two people ...

I don't think the other customers thought well of us. But more of that later.

We gathered around after being split into two groups for prayer. I couldn't hear most of what Paul was saying, but i'm sure besides praying for the food he asked for protection over Abigail throughout the trip (and beyond). When that was done we stampeded for the food.

Paul protesting before the prayer. Vive le Revolution!

This was the first time i managed to eat throughout the entire two hour limit at the Hartz - started off with salad, ate mash potatoes and pasta, ate some more salad, talked, talked some more, ate onion rings, talked even more ... you get the idea. I only took a tiny slice of chicken from Aaron because he was screaming at the spicyness of it all, and even then went back for more salad. Gee. Either i'm turning into a monk or a particularly talkative Judo bunny.

Lynn choosing salad

If the food was substandard, the conversation was not. We talked on things ranging from the aformentioned poodle lookalikes, plans after the SPM, the hazards of Laughter While Driving, and the lousiness of Planetshakers. PS fans better not kill me, but i don't think we talked about that. Hmm. Must be whispers in my mind.

Censored Aaron, Gorging Jason

Somewhere around 9, David started showing off magic tricks. He bamboozled Ruby, made coins rearrange themselves, killed kings and shuffled decks into reorganized messes. I'd seen most of the cool ones at the CF camp, so i passed and sat around with Denise, Abi, Paul and Eric. We talked about inconsequential things, mostly, but it was the company that counts, and i could see that we were all cherishing the last moments of conversation we could get with her.

BTW, Godric. Coffee.

Me. Max (with mp3 player). Paul. (Abi was praying with Denise)

How long have i known Abigail? Probably as long as Paul, but not as well. She'd worked with us all during Kids Games, choir (which i didn't attend), and impressed upon all of us her apparent ease of serving God with a smile. She led during Sundays in Sunday school, and made us laugh with her moments of blurness ... We'll all miss her.

Failing to look like poodles ... they go samseng

After that we did group photos, and i took some videos. Laughter all around (and me growling at Youtube now) ... it was a great night for Abi i hope (emails coming your way!).

Us Around Abi (with Daphne going cheers)

To Elaine Poh: in KL and learning nursing, thanks for reminding me to organize this for Abi. Us St Faith Youth are seriously blessed to have you as a friend.

To all those who came: Denise, Max, Elaine, Daphne, Godric, Eric, Paul, Josh, Dan, Desmond, Seph, Lynn (!), David, Joanna, Aaron, Ruby, Jason and .... erm didileftoutanoyoneelse?, thanks for seeing Abi off and not making me malu as an organizer.

To Abi: Good luck and God Bless you every step of the way.

Goodbye and Godspeed. You do not look like a poodle.

Got this from Abigail's frenster profile. She posted a shoutout recently.

"Shakespeare once said parting is such as sweet sorrow. I think he used the wrong adjective"


How true.

PS: For all those who wants the photos, visit my Flickr Stream here.

I'm Back

I've a lot to blog about (for once) but, i can't not at the moment. Abigail's farewell dinner is tonight, and i've driving law to study (which i haven't for the past 10 days). I've attended Judo ( and will blog about that, soon), so i guess i'll just leave an Aikido video here, since i might want to watch it again and am lazy to bookmark it in Del.icio.us.



Watch the hands - in Judo we have nothing like that ... the only Judo throw close to the techniques in the video is probably Uki otoshi, and that's a kata throw, not particularly useable in real life. Plus, the uke (guy being thrown, in white belt) looks a little like Joshua Baru, whom i brought along to judo. *winks*

Left behind

The study papers i've pasted on my wall and don't have the heart to take down.

Amanda wasn't kidding when she said last year that i'll miss school. School has taken out give or take 12 years of my life, and it has been the core of who i am now, and what i will be in the future.

School has taught me to think. School has given me friends. School has introduced me to stress and worlds of pain, and being in an all-boys school has taught me how wide one road can be.

St Thomas's two years back. Not much has changed in this area.

I won't pretend and say "Oh, St Thomas's sucks - we're a whole bunch of useless students who get worse results every year." There is so much more to life than results. I've wasted too much time in Form 4, playing, debating, writing stuff. And i admit my results won't be as good as some of the others - the SPM passed in a haze, and weeks afterwards i wake up sweating, fearing that Chemistry test that has already been swept away in a current of time.

Life now has now taken a surreal turn. I was talking to Paul the other day - he was sitting cross legged by his phone, one eye bandaged and both eyes closed; while i was lying in bed with a pile of tissues - my bane. It was weird, to say the least - and he was talking about Swinburne, taking up engineering. Paul will do well, no matter what he says. He has the brains and the ability to perceive what people think through observation - a quality that he insists was native to Thomians, back when we were a premier school.

I do hope i have that quality, but there is undeniably a Thomianess that you can't place a finger on, for every old boy that leaves the school. I have given 5 year of my life to be there, and i dare say i've been an asset to it, and the worried English teachers who wonder who to place as pawns in the never-ending game of winning competitions. Yes, you detect an undercurrent of sarcasm here - i find commenting on the habits of schools a pleasing thing to do, after reading Toltoy's subtle chiding of the pet Historical theories of his day in such a succinct fashion. The fact that i can even write like that is owed no small part to Cikgu Orlnda's doing - she's taught so many of us to think and to argue, often with hurtful and hilarious results.

I can't dye my hair green yet, apparently there are passport photos to take and the imigration departments of other countries don't take well to green headed aliens invading their lands. There might be a small chance that i'll be migrating, and the question would be when, not if. At any rate i hope to stay here for at least two more years, and tie up the loose ends that i've started - starting being something i've done so much over the last two years.

I am Eli James, for better or worse. I sigh when i hear a school bell. I have been left behind. Three months to go.

What superhero are you?

I've been spending the last couple of days surfing the western blogoshere, and i did take this test yesterday, but deleted the original post because the tables were messing up my blog. But i still have the results, so here it is:

What super hero are you?

Your results:
You are Superman!
You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

• Superman 70%
• Robin 60%
• Green Lantern 60%
• The Flash 60%
• The Flash 60%
• Catwoman 60%
• Spider-Man 55%
• Supergirl 55%
• Wonder Woman 45%
• Hulk 35%
• Iron Man 35%
• Batman 20%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Woots! Superman! I was kinda miffed at the fact that i am 55% Supergirl, and 45% Wonder Woman (i said NO to the question - do you wear a push-up bra - so what gives?) Anyway, there was also a supervillian test on the sister site, and i hopped over there to waste more time. I must say, though, some of the test questions were laugh-out-loud cheesy:

• Are you part of the feminist movement? (no!)
• Do you usually have a close female assistant? (NO!)
• Are you bald? (*stares*)

So, my results:


What supervillian are you?

Your results:
You are Apocalypse!
You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

• Apocalypse 59%
• Dr Doom 57%
• Magneto 54%
• The Joker 54%
• Riddler 46%
• Lex Luthor 44%
• Juggernaut 42%
• Poison Ivy 37%
• Two-Face 30%
• Dark Phoenix 29%
• Mr Freeze 29%
• Venom 29%
• Catwoman 29%
• Green Goblin 26%
• Mystique 22%
• Kingpin 22%
  

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Apocalypse is way cooler than some other (The Joker? Hmmph) villain, but this doesn't detract from the fact that -hey!- Apocalypse is bald!

I wonder what Wen Qi and Kenny would get ... Hmm - Lex Luthor and Catwoman? Somehow that doesn't seem right.

[update!] Sam is the Green Lantern and Dark Phoenix. Sorry for deleting your comment along with my warped post, and don't kill me by thinking about it. Coz, you know, Dark Phoenix can be pretty scary.

The Chin

I have no doubt you've seen this.

When someone who isn't a real computer user sits down to use one, they stick out their chin.

You've seen this when your grandpa does it, or when some celebrity or politician does it at a photo op. Maybe you do it.

The Chin is a posture and an attitude.

In my experience, people with the Chin don't use a computer the way others do. They surf defensively. Not only does getting anything out of the computer take a little longer, but people with the Chin look for less and don't push as hard in their search for right answers or in their use of the tools available.

While there is a clearly a generational shift going on (watch out, here come a bunch of Chinless kids) it's also being driven by economics and social status and profession. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be permanent.

[Update! I'm not referring to my esteemed readers with bifocals... the last three instances of the Chin that I witnessed were people who weren't even wearing glasses. All bifocal users are hereby excused.]

True? I should think so. It was only after reading this post did i realize that - yeah, it was true - my grandfather, my dad and almost all the old people i've seen around computers do have the chin. And this pretty much explains why they do it. Hmm! Defensive body posture! Whoever would have thought of it like that!

So. Does your dad have The Chin?

Happy New Year!

And i'd like to start by showing you this cute little post i found through Huei - JX's New Year!

Happy new year everyone! May 2007 bring you interesting times!
(Gee that seems like a curse)

8th UGS Gathering

This gathering was seriously hard to organize. After the daft quake in Taiwan, most members went offline for good, not wanting to brave the choppy waters of the information superhighway. Plus my phone bill had shot through the roof, forcing me to chat with crystal jo - her through sms, and me through blog comments *sweatdrop*

Anyway, this particular gathering was also special because a few UGSers were going away. For good. Okay, not really - only Cassy and Jylene. And Cassy couldn't make it. (Off to NS and then Taylors at KL).

The three UGSers going off to NS

Danny

Jylene

Tay (and Cassy, couldn't come)

So the gathering started off with us gathering (repitition intended) at the kopitiam next to Green Hill. We went to buy movie tickets (after a short Jylene lecture about the Thomian/Marian skills of crossing roads) and bought tickets to the Host.

Then things got weird. We sat down, ready to watch what Star Reviewers described as the movie of 2006, and .... Amber Chia started screaming.

We were watching Possessed.

Empty halls!

Me, Garrick, Jylene and Wen Qi got up, left, and argued our way into The Host (which was in the next hall - never ask Jeryl for directions) and by then people were running away from the creature. This probably spoilt the movie for me - what could've been great merely turned out good after the conclusion that drew a parallel to what was happening in Iraq. But overall not as amazing as some other political commentaries - V for Vendetta is probably the best i can think of right now (haven't watched Munich or Syriana). Miscommunications. Heh. BTW that korean girl was so cute why did she have to die?

Anyway, after hoping Nadia would come, (which she didn't) we trooped over to some Filipino restaurant, seeing as Italiano was closed. Ah, yes, the food.

Halo-halo, something Jylene recommended. That slimy orange stuff is ... i don't know what.

Ahh. The pot that Kenny could swallow.

The fish with the bones taken out and then put back in. *stares*

We left pretty soon, although conversation was not as interesting (lack of Sam to engage Jyl in girl babble, and Andrew Ho not being there to flirt endlessly with them. Hehe. He's so scared of Jyl). Then we all had a little fun with Tay who was trying to place Jylene ("Seem so familiar leh...") after she left.

Snappies:

The Boy's Corner (PS: no photos of Ben! Aargh)

Jylene and Wen Qi

Danny and me.

Angel and Erica (who is not in UGS. Yet)

Jeryl showing off his Halo-halo

Tay showing off his iPod (in Kenny's carwhichwastooloud)

I'm gonna stop killing your download speeds now and sum up: this wasn't the best gathering ever (that was in Wen Qi's house, IMHO, because partly of the laughter and her little brother, although kenny would definitely disagree with me), and it also wasn't the worst. But this was to be expected, i guess - only so much quality can seep through when you're planning last minute and with limited communication available. What did people do without handphones and blogs?

Planned ahead.

*Shuts little voice in head up*

Well, its done and i'm glad it happen. It was good to see all those people again (for the last time?), especially Jyl, Tay and Danny. Good luck and Godspeed in rural camps.