Everything I needed

What? Christmas is over already? Just like that? Hope you guys had a good one. This Christmas, I was hoping that it would be a quiet and peaceful one. Away from the yucky crowds and pollution of all sorts. but it was not to be. All my plans landed me in places where the people outnumbered the total number of trees in my housing estate. Even Church, the place where people seek peace and solace was jammed pack with people.

Though I've met many new faces and made many acquaintances this Christmas at various places and parties, at the end of it all, I'm glad that I have my friends that I can hang out with and be totally comfortable with. You know that such friends are for life when you return from Australia and when we meet, it feels like I never left at all. Thank you guys. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time or felt so happy in the company of people for a while.

now, tao huay at geylang beckons so i've gotta run! Enjoy the last few days of 2005 and may 2006 bring amazing experiences for ya'all!

Merry Christmas Everyone.

I'm sitting in front of the computer again. I've got some candles lighted around my workstation and my jazzy christmas CD droning in the background. I'm still recovering from the eve of Christmas eve pajama party I had. And what better way to do that than to set my thoughts loose on the internet? hmmmmm.

Seeing the whole gang in their pajamas, goofing around and singing carols and drinking wine and playing games. It was weird. It was hilariously fun but definately weird. but you know what hit me? we've all grown old. we can't have the same kind of fun we did when we were 18 anymore. This party was an attempt to break out of our hardened shells of age. I wasn't able to. It didn't help that half the girls had glittery rocks on their fingers. That just reminds me that most of my friends are moving on to the next stage in adulthood while I've barely begun.

I've been through 26 Christmas's already, but I think I can only remember the second half of those. As a kid, it was always about going to grandma's house anticipating a feast and a truckload of presents. It was simple, but it did not have any impact in my life. but as you grow older, presents don't really matter anymore. Christmas becomes a time to spend with people that are dear to you. It becomes a time to reflect on the year's events and to establish your goals for the coming year. Christmas becomes a time to get connected back to the core of life.

I won't hide the fact that this christmas is gonna be a miserable one for me. The transition from being a uni student to a working adult with responsibilities is taking its toll on me. The stress of having to establish a plan to maintain the comfortable life that I am so accustomed to is wearing me out. Some call this quarter life crisis I think.

Breaking up with eunice didn't help either. I've failed in yet another relationship, and I've lost a long time friend in the process. Never date a friend if you're not ready to lose her/him. Is that true? seems to be. Its gonna be a lonely christmas this 2005. and no its not coz i'm all by myself. There's no lack of people to hang out with or places to go to. its just that I feel so detached from everything that no matter where I am, I still feel like there's no one around, no connections made. Everything is just a passing cloud. and i hate it.

Sigh, my cheery christmas entry has become long and depressing. Believe me I'm trying very hard to make this christmas work, but I still need a miracle to save this one. But don't mind me, make sure you guys go out and have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

divine bovine

Holy Cow!~ This blog has been pretty dead hasn't it? no pictures. no comics. boring wordy posts. Well, it can't be helped. There's nothing happening you see. Well, at least nothing worth blogging about. I mean, why in the world would you want to read about where I've been going and what I've been eating and who I've been meeting and where I've been clubbing and what I've been watching (by the way, chronicles of Narnia is awesome!) etc etc.

Furthermore, I can't really hook up my camera to upload my pictures or create comics coz i'm stuck using this piece of crap stone age WINDOWS computer. What a pain. I don't even think I'll be able to change the song on my blog so you guys are gonna be stuck with the christmas song for a while.

I think my dog is getting cranky coz I come home at 4 every night and break her sleep when I open the door. righto. i've run out of things to type about. later~

Home sweet home

Hey Y'all!

I am HOME! I have landed in Singapore, the motherland. In the comfort of my home and family. The house is still pretty much the same except for some rearrangment in the furniture and heaps of junk in my room! My room became a makeshift storeroom while I was gone! ARGH. Oh and I have a dog now. Its a female husky called Amber. She's a cutie but a little too energetic I reckon. Oh and my sister's got her own car now. But besides that, everything's pretty much the way it was.

Now for the bad part. I went to Orchard Road today to hang out with Shane and Ash and to try to buy my secret Santa a present. I walked everywhere and I couldn't find anything suitable to buy. How frustrating. But you know whats worse? The crowd. Oh my God the crowd in town was so unbearably suffocating. I had to jostle through the crowd in the humid and warm climate. Bad combination.

Singlish. Its so amusing to listen to people around you. The familier accent. The familier tone. Singaporeans speak funny I tell ya. And even though it has deep roots and is unique to our culture, I dislike it. Its amusing and hilarious when you listen to some people speak. But its everywhere and there's no way you can hide from it in Singapore.

Another thing, where have all the pretty girls gone? We were having coffee at starbucks that was facing the main street and not one single female caught my eye. I resorted to looking at the cars that were stuck in a jam along orchard road. Its sad when the automobiles are more interesting than the girls.

Sigh, Singapore isn't looking up at the moment. Maybe I'm just still adjusting. Maybe I'm just grumpy coz of the climate and the lack of personal space when you go out. At least the food's still good. yum.

Spread the Christmas Cheer

Don't you just love Christmas? Personally, its my most absolute favourite holiday of the year. As a kid it was because of the presents and the candy but recently, it has come to mean much more than that. Its a time to enjoy the company of loved ones and to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

I just returned from an awesome Christmas service at City Life Church today. It was my last church service in Melbourne before I head on back to Singapore and it was definately a lovely memory to bring along. It totally charged up the festive spirit in me. That, along with the latest episodes of the O.C and Grey's anatomy that I downloaded yesterday (both the shows had Christmas themes you see) have really put me on a "Christmas High".

But you know what's the best thing I love about Christmas? There's a magical feeling in the air somehow. The air is fresher, stress seems to just melt away and the daily problems in life just disappear. You see the smiles on friends' faces and the joy and laughter that comes along with all the parties. No matter what problems you have, everything is put on hold for this moment as you soak in the festive goodness.

I've always dreamt of the perfect Christmas. Just me and someone special snuggling up under a warm blanket in a room with a fire place. Watching snow float down from the heavens through the glass windows. Slowly sipping hot chocolate as the soft christmas jazz drones out from the speakers. Magic. All I need now is for the right girl to come along. and I've come to realise that many people actually get depressed over the holidays becuase of this reason. but you know what? it doesn't have to be that way. Christmas should be enjoyed with friends and family. Lonliness isn't a part of the Christmas spirit. After all the parties, I love coming home, park the car in the driveway and step in the garden to take a deep breath of the chilly christmas night air, and then I thank God for all the wonderful things he's done for me and provided in my life. There will always be special or romantic people coming in and out of your life, but Christmas will always be there so my dream will come true one day.

So enjoy this jolly season and live it to the fullest! Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless!

Bored Boarder Bought Board

Greeting's y'all!

Did I forget to mention that my mom is in town? My moma came down to attend my graduation ceremony and guess what she brought along with her? My new snowboard! YAY!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO GO SNOWBOARDING!

Version history:

'05 Option Redline 163 + '05 Technine Dominator Pro Bindings


This is my first setup and it has served me well. I've made dozens of runs on it during the 2005 Australian winter season and its an awesome board. To all those who were there with me, didn't we have an awesome time up there? We're gonna hit it in 2006 YA?

'06 Burton Custom X 160 + '06 Burton P1 Carbon Bindings


This is my new setup. It has already won the transworld snowboarding top 10 and its an absolute screamer! What I like about this board is that its totally white with minimal graphics, giving it a very clean and low profile look. but where its an absolute riot is in performance. I cannot wait to go riding on it!

'79 Darren Phua 185


This is me, feeling bored that I'm stuck at home instead of being out on a snow covered ski resort somewhere shredding on the slopes. I'm gonna start registering names for next season's snow adventure! Those interested please sign up here or through my email.

Later~

Goodbye School. Hello world!

Its done! I had my graduation ceremony yesterday afternoon and that marked the end of an era of my life. I am no longer a student. I am now a full fledged adult, fully equipped with the knowledge and skills to take on the world.

Surprisingly, I'm not as ecstatic as I thought I'd be. It wasn't too long ago when me and my uni buddies would look enviously at graduates walking around campus taking photos with loved ones during our lunch breaks. We'd always say to each other, "Man, when will it be our turn to do that?" Well, as I walked around in my graduation gown yesterday, shaking hands and congratulating familiar faces, I thought to myself, "cool, its done, I've received my degree. now what?"

- all that education and still no one knows how to look properly at the camera

At that moment I knew it was gonna happen. I was starting to look back and miss uni life. Most of the closer friends I've made in uni will be returning back to their respective countries. We had great times together. The hustle and bustle of getting to lectures on time. Lunch breaks and deciding where to eat crappy uni food. Stress from assignments and frantically working together to get work done. cramming till the wee hours of the night together before making a sandwich or cooking indo mee. sharing exam tips and assignment solutions. Laughing our asses off at anime and comedy clips. just the whole experience of going through the impossible together, knowing that somehow we'd get through it fine. That was awesome. Its been a great time working and growing with you guys.

William, Chiseng, Lionel, Woo teck, Randy, Shaun, Bee Ting and whoever else I've missed, thanks for the memories. We did it guys! Woo Hoooo! For those who have yet to graduate, you'll be done in no time! No matter where and when, we'll always be in touch ya.

later~

Fishy Business

Many friends have come to me recently and said this, "Darren, don't worry buddy, cheer up, there are millions of fish out there."

And I believed them. But events of late are starting to make me wonder if my friends have been lying to me. I've been pondering deeply about whether I should take what they say with a pinch of salt, and maybe some lemons....

Case 1 - Location: Frankston - Date: 10th November 2005


It was an outing that was long overdue. Chester and Howard were always talking about it but we never really got down to doing it. Until that night. Me, Sharon, Louis, Amanda, Howard and Chester set off to the Frankston peninsula in the wee hours of the morning. The wind was strong and the water was choppy. Hoping to catch some fish off the jetty, all we really fished out of the sea were sea lice. Sea lice are the grossest critters ever. Of course at that time we didn't know they were sea lice and we all thought that the bugs were aliens invading our bait.

Case 2 - Location: Grampians - Date: 19th November 2005


Unfazed by the unsucessful fishing outing at frankston, Me, Chester and Amanda decided to tag along with Sharon, Anna, Louis and Brian when they decided to go to the Grampians for a camping trip. The Grampians is also home to a few lakes and reservoirs and fishing is a popular past time there. We didn't want to go camping with them but we were really hoping to catch some fish and to cook it over the camp fire at the campsite for dinner. Didn't happen. What did happen was that we were surrounded by a gazillion flies by the lake the whole time, My poor car was almost destroyed by mother nature and Amanda proved to be an ace wormer. But still no fish.

Case 3 - Location: Emarald Lakes - Date: 9th December 2005


In a last ditch attempt to catch some fish before leaving melbourne, Chester and I decided to travel to the region of the Emarald Lakes. Chester had heard good stories about trout fishing there and we roped in Sharon and Joshua to come along for the expedition. The drive there was fun and the weather was awesome. We traveled to different water catchment areas in the Emarald region but non of the locations yielded any fish. Nothing was biting at our hooks. There were some breath taking views though, and they were shared with good company.

Conclusion. Millions of fish out there? There are none. I wonder what these people have been talking about? Bizarre.

Bright morning sunshine

Hee hee I've beeen awake since 7am! I hope my angel eyes come today. I hope Sharon's driving test goes well.

Would I want it any other way?

Its been pouring the whole day today. The rain trickling down the glass windows helps me think.

Its been a pretty miserable time for me lately. Things going wrong in my love life. My car being stuck in the garage. Feeling lonely at home with no means of getting around. More and more friends leaving Melbourne, lesser things to do. Bad sleeping habits, bad eating habits. The list goes on.....

But as I sit here listening to the rain pelting my roof, as I watch the water droplets slowly make their way down the glass window, I can't help but think, surely my life isn't all that bad. There are millions of people out there who wouldn't mind exchanging lives with me I reckon. People who live in fear of losing their lives. Those who have to worry about finding their next meal. Those who have to endure the cold as they find a decent spot to sleep along the streets.

I have a comfy bed, under a solid roof. Food everywhere. good family and friends, nice car to drive. I should be rejoicing that I have a nice house to be lonely in and a car to get frustrated over. Our minds work funny man. I really should perk up and count my blessings.

Righto, back to my steamy cup of earl grey.

Disastrously Amazing

Hey Y'all!

I'm back home safe and sound from wakeboarding today and MAN! was it an adventure. First off, my virgin wakeboarding expedition in Australia was an absolute disaster! Everything that could go wrong went wrong. We set off late and didn't hit the waters till about 4 plus. The weather seemed nice though so that was cool....NOT. Storm clouds were rolling in from a distance. The wind started to get really crazy and the water become very choppy. Almost like being out at sea. Not good for wakeboarding.

Steve. This guy was supposed to teach Davina and Sharon how to wakeboard. He teaches them by throwing them out in the water and expects them to miraculously stand up on their own. Bollocks man. Fortunately I remembered how frankie and the guys at pro-air from back home taught newbies so I gave them some instructions and I think they did pretty well on their first time out. Especially with the bad conditions and all. Kudos to you 2 babes!

Now, my turn arrives and I get into the stormy waters. I tell ya, I have never experienced worse conditions while wakeboarding! The water was churning and tossing me around! Getting up on the board actually took effort. Steve. Remember him? Bollocks guy? He drives the boat like a madman and with the choppy, turbulent water, i'm crashing most of the time. I didn't even get to ride out to try for a jump! I also realised that he didn't release the rope enough for the speeds he was driving, so I tell him that. Well the champion throws out some rope and then proceeds to drive the boat over it. You know what happens when an in-board motor boat drives over some wakeboarding rope? The rope get tangled in the propellor under the boat and is usually a major pain in the ass to remove, rendering the boat useless out in the water.

The next hour or so was spent drifing around in the lake and trying to find a solution to get us back to shore. I spent most of it swimming around and trying to push the boat away from the rocks so that the hull doesn't get damaged. Steve. Remember him? Bollocks guy who thinks he knows how to drive a wakeboard boat? He's there pushing the boat off the rocks for a while as well. There we were next to each other in the water, bracing ourselves against the boat (well at least I was) and for some weird reason, as we were stepping on the rocks near the banks and pushing the boat, he kept screaming loudly as if he was in a lot of pain. We were stepping on the same rocks, doing the same things. What are you screaming about you poof? He sounded like there were pirahnas biting his balls off or something. Anyhow, cutting the long story short, this continued until we drifted close enough to the boat launching area (with the help of the girls peddaling frantically from the boat). There, they managed to haul the boat back up and remedied the tangled propellor.

Oh! but not before Adeline decided that she wanted to take a plunge into the water so that she could pee pee. It was hilarious coz after that, she realised that the current was pulling her away and she had no strength to swim back to the boat. So the two of us swam off in the other direction towards the bank and climbed back to shore. It felt like we survived a shipwreck when we were scrambling up the rocky embankment followed by a grassy cliff. I even took a tumble down back into the water. Fortunately, we got out of it safe and sound.

Phew. Thank you God for keeping us safe.

So that was my wakeboarding experience today. I think I'll go back to Singapore and get a proper ride. But, despite it all, I actually had a great time today! It was an adventure! I felt so alive and a fire within me was re-ignited. I can sit back with a cool drink and laugh about this one for a while. To those who were there with me, what a memorable experience it was eh? More than just an adventure, I think the company of great friends who'll have a blast laughing about our disastrously hilarious wakeboard outing makes everything worthwhile.

Steve. Remember him? Bollocks guy who thinks he knows how to drive a wakeboard boat and had pirahnas chomping at his nuts? Well, he redeemed himself coz he didn't charge us anything for today so it was pretty much a free boat ride, while it lasted.

I had a dream

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a run. It was a short run, and yet I was exhausted after. Guess it shows how unfit I've become. Anyhow, after getting back from the run I showered and pondered for a while if I should get ready to leave the house to meet Sharon and Davina. We were gonna watch the new Harry Potter movie you see. I looked at my watch and decided that I had time for a quick nap. So I plonked into my bed and promptly drifted off to lalaland.

Then it started. the bizarre dream. It was so weird. I was in a dark place. And yet, despite the darkness, I could see a girl dressed in bright yellow. She was standing a few meters away from me. I cannot really remember who that girl was, but i think she was someone I knew. She reached out her arm and something fell to the ground from her hands. After a while, I could make out a black snake on the ground, slithering towards me slowly. I remember getting freaked out, by both the eerie girl in yellow and the black snake. Could things get any worse? Yes. The snake finally reached within a few feet from my shoes when suddenly, it started twitching uncontrollably. The twitching was horrible. It looked like it was possessed or something. It looked like something was trying to burst out of it. And then 8 legs appeared. 8 hairy, spikey, clawy legs popped out from its sides. The snake was no longer a snake. It was some deformed spidery monstrosity. At this point I reacted and thrust out my right foot to stomp on the snake/spider creature with all my might. I promptly kicked myself awake and out of bed.

What was that all about? I have been pondering the events in the dream. I have been deep in thought and trying to analyse every possible detail to decipher what it could all mean. Thus:-

a) Its a dream to warn about the impending doom generated by the madness of science and the tampering of genes and DNA at the cellular levels, thus creating mutants and monsters that may spell the extinction of the human race. apparently, these mad scientists wear yellow.

b) Aliens in their yellow motherships will be dropping alien bugs down into earth. These killers will look like snakes at first when they are travelling, but upon contact with humans, will transform into the attack mode that resembles a giant spider.

c) A girl wearing yellow will drop a snake in front of me in a very dark place, however I will be mistaken as the snake is actually her pet spider and seeing that I hate spiders, I will stomp on it, pissing her off.

d) A yellow car will jam brake in front of me, one of its tires will fall out and roll towards me before exploding into 8 different pieces.

*hic*

Wakeboarding!

Wakeboarding is a relatively new boardsport, it was created from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques. Before we called it wakeboarding, it was first called skurfing. As in water skiing, the rider is towed behind a boat, or a cable skiing setup, but typically at slower speeds (18 - 24mph).

Instead of using skis, the rider wears a single board with stationary non-release bindings for each foot, standing sideways as on a snowboard or skateboard. The boards, which can float, are typically 130 - 147cm long and up to 45cm wide (shorter and wider than a snowboard) as well as being convex (tips 15 - 25cm) rather than concave as a snowboard.

Please let the weather be good tomorrow when we go wakeboarding. I've never wakeboarded in Australia before. Let tomorrow's experience be a good one.