Of Paintball and Muscle Aches

A pit of team work, strategy and intelligence as we caught some of the Singapore MVPs in action and perspiration at the Crossfire Paintball! Yes, the folks came and they "shoot" their hearts out. Divided into 2 teams, the Green team and the Black team (Although I harbour the thought of choosing a more stylo name for the team, something like 'Titan' and not just names like black or green...ah heck).

It was indeed a well fought 'battle' as the 2 teams pitted against one another in 3 rounds of the game. Alas, it was a draw after the scores were tallied. Based on my analysis, the Black team emphasis was more on strategy (2 defenders, 3 attackers and up we move)whereas for the Green team, it seems that their objective was "Attack! Die Black team, die!" (hahaha). Well, regardless of whatever kind of strategy or mentality was adopted for each team, I am pretty sure all of us had fun. (Poor Dennis who was looking high and low for me to shoot...but neh, better chance next time hah).

Despite the muscle aches and bruises aftermath, I must say it was indeed a great work-out and a good way to chill out for our 'IT-savvy MVPs'. Game for more??

Disco Dance Fever

I was having a discussion with my friend last night and we came to an agreed consensus that nowadays, the songs that are being played by the DJs in pubs totally cannot make it. When we said 'cannot make it', it literally means that one finds it hard to dance to the tune of it. I have a good compliation of the 70s - 80s dance fever music and I would strongly recommend it to any of the DJs for them to spin it.

Some good 70s/80s dance hits which we have listed on the top of our chart
- ABBA's "Dancing Queen"
- ABBA " Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
- Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire"
- Don McLean's "American Pie"
- Kylie Minogue ''The Locomotion"
- A-ha "Take on Me"
- Bananarama "Love in the First Degree"
- Billy Joel "UpTown Girl"
- Culture Club "Karma Chameleon"
- DeBarge "Rhythm of the Night"

I must say the 70's/80's was a fantastic era for dance though... and I can still remember some of the steps to this day ! On that note, it's good to have a Retro-theme party once a while and everybody can just dance to the rhythm of the night....yeah

In honor of Sor

I happened to meet up with a friend today after 3 years of losing contact with each other. We had lost each other's mobile and although I have tried asking around for her contact a few years back, it seems nobody has any idea. Eventually I gave up looking and searching. Today was different. She was just coming out from her manicure appointment (erhem, who is having a good life now?) and we happened to bump into each other. (I find her very familar looking and she stopped to look at me..and yes, as we all know, the rest is history). So, we happily sat down for a cuppa and boy did we chat like we have never chatted before. (it felt like the good old days again hah, or am I getting old? hehe).

I have always wondered about what makes a good friend for most of my life I guess. In my working experiences since I entered the work force at age 21, I have seen supposedly good friends come and go. Friends who have clubbed with me since my University days (the so called 'clubbing kakis'), friends who have shared my fair share of happiness and sorrow, friends who made it a point to rush down in the wee hours when you needed them....where are you, my dear friends? I have deceived myself into thinking some people were better friends than they really were. And when I've recognized that they were not what I thought, I was extremely disappointed.

Now what defines a good friend? This really depends on the individual. But for myself, it would have to mean someone whom you can share your ups and downs, dislikes and likes, and changes as we move on in this battle of life. And when we do this sharing, regardless of how wrong or stupid that we might be, our friend still cares for us.

So for this entry today, I honor this friend of mine - Sor (that's her surname). I am glad we have found each other after 3 years and yes, let's cherish this friendship.

I've been Tagged!

All right, I've been tagged by Mei Ying and this means I've got to share 5 personal details with you folks that you do not know about. Hmm....it means revealing the little bits of me in the blog. Well, I guess everything has it's first time. Take a breathe and here it goes.

1. The most pathetic day of my life was the day I lost my luggage in Amsterdam. I was on a 1 month vacation with my friends in Europe back in 1999. On the second last day of my last leg in Amsterdam, my luggage was stolen from the hotel. I was left with only my passport, camera and some money which was in the haversack bag which I was carrying with me. All my personal items and gifts which I have bought throughout the 1 month tour in Europe was all gone. Imagine I had to borrow clothes from my friends on my return journey to Singapore and the sorry state I was in. Nevertheless, the claim made from my insurance company could not compensate the terrible feeling I had gone through in Amsterdam.

2. I was born with yellow looking skin. Yikes! Accordingly to my mum, when I was born, I was yellow-looking (a condition refer to as jaundice) and the nurse told my mum that she has to put me under the sun for an hour every day. I guess that's why I embraced the sun so much when I grew up. Nowadays, jaundice is a very common condition in newborns.

3. I don''t read musical notes. Only a few of my friends who knows me personally knows that I can play the piano/keyboard without reading notes. (but only with one hand). In other words, I just need to listen to any music, sit down and I am able to play the melody to the songs which I have just heard. Since I started learning to play by ear at the age of 8, my fingers just seem to anticipate where the next note is going to be, even if my eyes haven't quite caught up. My parents sent me for piano lessons when they saw my ability in this. However, I couldn't stand sitting still for that 1hour lesson and was always fidgeting. In the end, I had to call it a day with my piano teacher. You don't have to become an expert at playing by ear, but if you practice until you can do it a little bit, it will greatly improve your sight reading capabilities!

4. I have a fetish for ironing, and abhor wearing anything unless it is ironed.

5. My fondest memories were the days back in my junior college. I can truly say I spent some of the best years of my life. Speaking English all the time during the Chinese classes, "sculling" Judy Loh's PE classes, getting excited whenever the next door secret crush walks by.......the memories are endless. To me, it's a great institution that has produced some great students.

And now, it's my turn to tag someone! I am going for my one and only dearest kuzzin, triathelete Andy Tay, the famous softwaremaker, my junior Cherrie and my all-time good friend since secondary school days Jessica.

The Arena!

I was impressed by the variety show 'The Arena' - http://ch5.mediacorptv.com/shows/variety/view/1384/1/.html which was aired on TV on Jan 9. Yesterday's show was not just a battle of the wits between the so-called 'neighbourhood school' Vs the 'Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school', coincidentally it was also a battle of the sexes. What caught my eye was the motion, which I must said was an interesting one - 'Does having good looks equate to a better job, better life and better performance?'

What really got me engrossed was how the 2 teams cited many good examples of some celebrities in the entertainment industry who are getting more endorsements from companies due to their good looks rather than their skills. Celebrities such as David Beckham, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt etc were being used as good debate examples in the 1 hour battle of wits and intelligence, not forgetting how animated and dramatic some of the debators were when putting their point forward.

David Beckham/Julia Roberts might be considered good looking to many of us out there, but to some, perharps the boy or girl next door is the apple of their eye. And let's just say having good looks and hardwork have to complement each other. It' just like beer and peanuts which are complements of one another, if one is missing, the equation will be flawed.

I have said this many times to many of my dear friends 'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'. Perharps, after some time, all the so-called good looking babes/hunks will look the same to you. That is when inner beauty plays the role in helping to differentiate between the 'devil' and the 'angel'. Something worth pondering?

I am busy? Are you?

How often have we heard someone saying 'I'm very busy today' when you ask them how's work etc? I MSN a friend of mine the other day and she was going 'Very busy today leh'. How do we define busy? Happily busy or is it miserable busy? Jerry Seinfield once quoted "I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything.” Well, whatever that means. :) I would assume that when one says one is busy, it must be something that is keeping one so occupied that one can hardly take a break from whatever one's doing.

Well, I am not going to ask for your definition of busy as I am busy right now typing this entry. (hahaha)

My resolution for the new year?

After giving it some thoughts, I have decided to list down some of the goals which I would think it's achievable for this year.

1. To munch more vegetables like a cow rather than gouge on that bowl of pig's organ soup
2. To listen more to the sounds of nature rather than my MP3 collection
3. To hit the wide open spaces in my neighbourhood park like a sack rather than confined myself within the running track
4. To see more of the world rather than the 29 inch goggle box at home.

And of course, wouldn't it just make sense to just continue to indulge in whatever things I like to do, eat and play.