Yes I think I owe my malaysian nuffnangers an apology! I should have been at Pirates dressed as a genie, but instead I was in Singapore.
I've got a good excuse however.
A couple of weeks back, I got an email from the digital movement who were interested in getting Nuffnang involved in an event they were putting together.
The Digital Movement consists of a bunch of geeks and geekettes, who've come together to explore technology and its impact on society. They successfully pulled off a major event called Nexus earlier in the year, and were following up with a smaller, more targeted event for bloggers called Blog Out!
Hahaha, don't ask me why, but they set their first meeting with me on a Saturday! And the night before, I had brought Su Ann for phantom and prawn fishing till 3AM, after which I woke up at 7 to send her off to her coach station. So yes, I woke up at 11AM, and ambled to my car where I had left my mobile, and had like 7 missed calls and messages. I was like "FUGGGGGGG!!!!!!!" I hate being late, it gives me a terrible feeling. Literally, I flew out of my jammies, brushed my teeth, and headed out looking like a train had just hit me.
Hehe, ok, so the guys were looking for a sponsor, but still, they were very nice about me being late. I would have been KNN I'm going to kick some butt! My coffee is cold, get me a new one biatch!
Anyway, I don't know why, I don't know how! But 24th of May seems to be a magical date. You see, I actually had 3 events of momentous importance to choose from that day.
1) Nuffnang Pirates of the Caribbean 3
2) Blog out
and
3) Champions League Final
I'm sure most of you know I'm a die hard man u fan. And leading 2-1 in the first leg, I was pretty sure I was off to Athens. I mean I would literally BEG, BORROW and STEAL to catch Man U vs Liverpool. I was going to PULL EVERY SINGLE STRING I HAD to get to this dream match.
The night before the second leg of the AC milan game, I told Ewe Tiam, you had better pray Man U loses, because if they're in, there is no chance I'm missing it.
I got up early in the morning dreaming of the treble, I crawled back into bed, stoned, and stared at the ceiling for the next hour before tiredness overcame me.
So it was now between Blog Out and Pirates.
I REALLY wanted to go for Pirates, but I thought, Blog Out was going to be an awesome event (being organised by awesome people), and at the same time, supporting this event kinda meant initiating our very first Nuffnang Singapore initiative. So I HAD to stay ... boo hoo hoo ....
Was I dissapointed?
Not at all (Estee twisting my arm here)! The event was held at the Geek Terminal, a new tech based cafe for geeks. Pretty nice place at Market Street, within the financial district. the place was set up pretty well.
What do you come to a blog meet for? To meet bloggers right!?
Well, I met a cool dude called Kevin. Mr Kevin goes around everywhere with a backpack that would make Inspector gadget look like a school boy.
He's got these two cameras on his shoulders that film everything he does. Hehe, except for the essential things la .... ... its just the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, la la la. Check it out here.
This is he.
And that is me too by the way with my Nuffnang tie, which the Nuffnang team, my second family bought for me! Thank you guys, it was undoubtedly my best bday present, and that says alot cause I got a whole lot of good shit!
Then there was Genie, a Singer who launched her album on her blog! Quite a cool story. She's bubbly and really friendly, so it was a true pleasure to meet a superstar in the making. I mean, how cool is it, if one day, you've got a girlfriend singing her song in the KTV ... I'd be like ... hey ... I know her ... and then next time I'd see her, she'lll be like mingg whoooo??? Nuffnangg whatt???
Photo!
One of our Nuffnang members has been so enthusiastic about the event, I was very much looking forward to meeting her.
None other than Sheylara! A great supporter of the Nuffnang community, and a great writer, and freelance actress! Actually I call her Sheylara so much, maybe I should call her by her real name from now on ...
The program included a panel discussion
And roundtable discussions where everybody could choose what topics they wanted to participate in.
Here is bernard who is a guru in all things football (we talked football over wine with his irish lecturer friend), holding up the topic on my table!
I think our table was the most lively one. And the views represented were engaging and thougtful.
Overall, a well planned and executed event.
One last thing I've got to say. Credit must go to Estee of the digital movement. Yes I am singling out a person, whilst I understand how important the team is to everything.
From planning the event, to communicating with the sponsors, and doing a damn great job at MC-ing, she was splendid.
Today, my brother picked up a stray cat which he had witnessed being run over by a car.
He brought it home and had to rush off for a meeting. I had to get derek to send it in to the vet as I was busy with an upcoming campaign in Singapore. Our first.
I put the little kitty in a box, put in some water in a container, and sent it off. The kitty looked bewildered, a little dazed as I carried the box out to the car.
The vet called back and said it would cost $250 to put it through a number of tests, and hospitalize it for one night.
I was going to come out with the money but my parents thought otherwise, and said we should put it to sleep instead.
At first I was very sad, but I can see where they're going. We've got two dogs in the house, and even on the off chance this kitty survived, who's going to take care of it?
But yet, to have life snuffed out of you so early in your life ....
I was going through baidu.com, and I came across this song by Wang Lee Hom. Translated, it's called "A simple song". Wow, it sure hits the spot. Chinese songs really have a complexity that is at times hard to match. The imagery of nature he uses is so strong, yet true to the theme of the song- simplicity. To describe something so many find hard to express.
It's been a good 10 months since I left London. And I really do miss the place.
To tell you the truth, having done my 'A' levels in Cambridge, I had fallen in love with the university town concept. It is "quaint" to say the least, and I've never been a city person.
Ah the days at The Leys School Cambridge, still rank amongst the best of my life. On a sunny sunday, a bunch of us would walk into town, get into a punt, row under the willow trees and just relax. It was amazing.
I've dug out some old scanned photos to give you a sense of what life was like. But really, they don't those times justice.
I loved how we had to dress up in our blazers, and ties for class. There was a certain decorum we had to present as English gentlemen. Chapels on sundays were an opportunity to wear coloured shirts (A privilege normally reserved for house boys and girls).
Classes were a real event. I mean I distinctly remember, one day for English literature, the sun was out in all its glory, and the teacher Mr Kelly just said, lets head out there, for this class!
So there we were, stretched out on the lawn, basking in the sun, reading poetry. Every single verse was read with that much more emotion. I left that class, with a total sense of satisfaction, so hard to find in most instances, but so easily achieved in this one.
Here we are on a punt. From L-R, Isabelle from Germany, Julian from Ipoh, Philipp from Germany, Roman from Russia and Alan from Taiwan.
Prom night! What a laugh looking at this one hehe.
I made some of my closest friends here. Hahaha. Every saturday night we were allowed a night out on the town. So we would walk across the fen to granta or somewhere else, down a couple of pints and bugger back to drink more.
Except for me lah. The most I would oblige my friends was a pint of cider. Afterwards I would get into my room, and lock it! The whole night, my friends would be banging on my doors and offering me vodka. Hahah, with the slight throb in my head, just enough to put me to sleep, I would ignore it! I remember how one night, Roman, my russian friend even did a commando, climbed the roof and tried to get in from my window (It was a sort of loft room).
Then there were the trips! Official and unofficial!
Italy! OH MY GOD ITALY! The best trip ever! Man so much shit happened on that trip its not even funny.
Here we are eating desert in one of those roadside cafes in Rome, soooo nice I tell you. The four of us I remember, walked back, under the red glow of roman streetlamps, in the middle of the road, to our hotel. We really din't want the night to end. And on the way back, we din't say much, possibly because we just did not want to spoil the moment.
Weiyao, Mike and Myself, in Capri! Still the place I want my dream mansion.
There was also the trip to America, which I can't seem to find photos of. And later after graduation, Roman, Kelly, Philipp and myself went off to Bangkok and Koh Samui for a good time.
Woh that was another hell of a trip.
There were these four wheel pickups for rent on the island. And none of us had a license besides Kelly, but we din't care and they din't either. And to tell you the truth, even without a license, I definitely drove better than kelly who nearly got Roman and Philipp killed. Yes, that is my best girl friend for you.
Here she is, taking it easy as we hike up a waterfall trail. Hahaha, roman got leaches stuck on him as he went under the waterfall, thinking it would be more like a scene out of "blue lagoon".
So vivid in my mind, was how as we were driving back, and we hit the coast, the scene of a pink sky, reflecting off the sea's surface. That was quite something. Again, another one of those moments, you just can't buy.
If I could turn back time ...... that would be the moment I would rewind back to. And that night in Rome.
I caught Phantom of the Opera (The stage version) for something like the 7th time on Saturday.
I saw it first when it came to Singapore in the 90s, then again when I was studying my A's in cambridge, twice on holidays to London, the uni years, and now twice in space of 5 days (I'm going again on Tuesday). Pretty intense stuff. My family is going again on the last night, but I said no more!
To tell you the truth though, I don't really mind. It is by far my favourite musical.
The composition of the lyrics is just insane. The plot, characters, themes involved more complex than any other contemporary musical out there.
There is of course the classic duet, "All I ask of you" which is the quintessential example of love embodied in lyrics.
The track that is stuck in my head this moment though is "The point of no return".
I've uploaded the stage version onto my imeem profile for your benefit. Read the lyrics while you listen to it. It is incredible.
Hehe, and check out the phantom souvenirs I got. Yes, I got the mask! Hehe, might come in handy at my next halloween party mah or the planned masquerade party!
Phantom Of The Opera - The Point Of No Return Lyrics
(Phantom) Past the point of no return - no backward glances: the games we played till now are at an end . . .
Past all thought of "if" or "when" - no use resisting: abandon thought, and let the dream descend . . .
What raging fireshall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us . . .? Past the point of no return, the final threshold, what warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no return . . .
AMINTA (CHRISTINE) You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence . . .
I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why . . . In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining defenceless and silent - and now I am here with you: no second thoughts, I've decided, decided . . .
Past the point of no return no going back now: our passion-play has now, at last, begun . . .
Past all thought of right or wrong - one final question: how long should we two wait, before we're one . . .?
When will the blood begin to race the sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames, at last, consume us . . .?
BOTH Past the point of no return the final threshold, the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn . . .
We've passed the point of no return . . . (By now the audience and the POLICE have realized that SIGNOR PIANGI is dead behind the curtain, and it is the PHANTOM who sings in his place. CHRISTINE knows it too. As final confirmation, the PHANTOM sings):
PHANTOM Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime . . . Lead me, save me from my solitude . . . (He takes from his finger a ring and holds it out to her. Slowly she takes it and puts it on her finger.) Say you want me with you, here beside you . . . Anywhere you go let me go too, Christine that's all I ask of . . .
And roundtable discussions where everybody could choose what topics they wanted to participate in. 
Overall, a well planned and executed event. 
