A fork in the road.

Another simple question: to study law or not to study law?

SMU has just offered me a place in their law school, along with a full undergraduate scholarship. Should I pursue a double degree in both law and business there, or would it be better to continue on the original plan to study business at NTU.

One decision, 3 days left to choose.

How do I choose here?

God knows.

***

And just for fun, here's the 15 minute essay I wrote for the SMU law interview.

Where a law is a terrible one, there is a moral right to disobey. Comment.

In this day and age, where the law and courts are seen as a costly nuisance to avoid by the masses, people generally treat the law as an absolute truth - something that they must abide by under any circumstance. The hassle and cost of appearing in court make people forget that the law is there for a very important reason, a reason very close to their hearts - to protect them. And that is why I believe that under the circumstance that the laws of the land have been perverted to oppress the masses in favour of the ruling elite, civil disobedience shouldn't just be a choice, it is a duty of every patriotic individual.

Social contract theory argues that we humans come out of the state of nature to form societies that protect each other because living together in society is much better than the 'solitary, short and brutish' life in the state of nature. We agree to have laws imposed on us because they are for our own good. Laws are useful because they help us better our lives. Life becomes more safe, more secure when we know that there are laws in place to safeguard our health and happiness. Laws are there to put people in place.

However when a ruling elite creates laws that only serves their own ends, this whole system fails. The law is not something we abide by because it helps us anymore, but it becomes this monster, this tool for oppression, and the only reason that we abide to it is fear.

And if we take a look in the history books and look at all the civilizations which were governed by a system of fear, we can see a recurring pattern - they all crumbled. Emperors and kings who subjugated their subjects were overthrown by those very people. No civilization can last under such rule.

And that is why I strongly believe that because of one's love for one's country, we should have the courage to demand that our countries, our laws, treat us right.

Written in 15 minutes.

Maybe that's why I believe one too many rules are made just to be broken.

Update: 2nd July, 3:00pm

The call came yesterday when I was gazing at the burnt classrooms of block D from the second floor of block C in SMKDJ.

"Hello, this is Angel Ling from SMU admissions. Did you receive our letter of offer for the law degree and scholarship?" she politely asked.

"Yes I have. Thanks for the offer, but I have chosen to decline it," I answered, suddenly realizing the gravity of my decision.

But I decided that one needed not to have a degree in law to think or argue, and that critical thinking and legal knowledge are not intrinsically intertwined.

"Err.... okay. Have a nice day." And the phone conversation came to an abrupt halt.

"I'm going to enjoy it either way," I thought to myself. And I have no regrets.

Wanderlust unsatiated.

I need to go on a trip. Since the day in which I would have to go back to school in Singapore draws even closer, I have decided that I'm going to go for two awesome trips to relax and unwind as soon as possible.

But I still can't decide where to go.

Care to help me on this?

The first choice to make is to choose between going to Penang for a food trip and Taman Negara in Pahang for a camping expedition. Anyone who wants to come along, please contact me ASAP so I can decide soon. (:

The second choice to make is to choose between going to Bangkok and Jakarta the week after. The plane tickets cost about the same, so it really depends which place is the more affordable place in terms of accomodation? Anyone has any information on this? And is there anyone out there who is willing to let two very nice guys stay over at their place for a couple of days and show us around town? That would really be awesome.

So if anyone would like to tag along, please let me know ASAP, as this boy definitely needs an adventure. Either way, it's going to be FUN!

Women and Men

I received this in my email today and I think it really is worth sharing!

***

Woman has Man in it;
Mrs. has Mr . in it;
Female has Male in it;
She has He in it;
Madam has Adam in it;

No wonder men always want to be inside women!

Men were born between the legs of a woman, yet men spend all their life and time trying to go back between the legs of a woman....

Why?

BECAUSE THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Ever notice how all of women's problems start with MEN? MENtal illness MENstrual cramps MENtal breakdown MENopause GUYnecologist AND .. When we have REAL trouble, it's a HISterectomy!

***

Guess now we know why the women we love go MEN-tal from time to time. But we still can't live without each other. (:

And yeah, there's no place like home. Period.

Pleasantville.

I'm just done watching one of the most beautifully poetic movies that I've ever watched, the 1998 movie Pleasantville.

"Nothing is as simple as Black and White"

Pleasantville is the story of how two siblings are magically transported to the seemingly utopian world of Pleasantville where things are only pleasant. Basketballs definitely go through the hoops every time you throw them, people are well mannered and awfully nice, dinner is always served sharp at 6:30 p.m. sharp.

There is no fear, danger or insecurity in that world. Everything is pleasant, and it stays that way because everyone has set routines that they follow to the last detail. There are no surprises in Pleasantville. And did I mention that Pleasantville is only in black and white?

When our two siblings cause disruptions to the clockwork routine in Pleasantville, the people they meet slowly start to realize that their perfectly pleasant lives are hollow indeed, and there is no such thing as a perfect life.

Recently I have been pondering, wondering if my life measures up to other people out there. Why is it that some people seem to be able to live spotless lives and seem to the outside world perfectly respectable when I'm here with all my flaws glaring, often for all the world to see?

And this movie came along to open my eyes back wide again. As much as we talk about creating a perfect life, a life which everyone else envies, no one lives a perfect life. We're human - we hurt, we cry, we bleed - for a perfectly good reason.

Just think about it: if we never did experience heart wrenching pain; incapacitating fear and the horde of butterflies all massing in your stomach just before you deliver a speech, we never would really be able to feel and appreciate happiness and bliss when it comes along.

Don't we just take color for granted?

Our imperfections make us who we are, they give color to our lives. And that makes all the difference.

As stupid as some of the things that I have done are, they have really still come to color my life in dazzling hues and shades that I never knew existed.

So I guess the right thing to do would just to accept them, my flaws, my mistakes, my colors, and just live my life the most beautiful way I know. I don't know if any great artist could ever ask for more.

And Pleasantville has beautiful, beautiful music. Yes, it's the Beatles again! (:

Across the Universe - Fiona Apple

Jai guru deva om...
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Stop taking the beauty around you for granted. Life's not perfect, but it certainly is beautiful.

Where did the magic go?

One minute it's there - in all it's perfect glory. Perfect, pristine, pure magic. Something that makes you see only beauty in our imperfect world. So magical it makes the morning dew sparkle like the most exquisite crystal.

Then like crystal, one misstep sends it crashing towards the ground and turns to a million pieces. And however you try to put it back together, you can't seem to find them all. And the ones that you find cut you so deep that crimson red drips on the cold, hard ground.

And like the morning dew, when the sun rises, it all disappears. Like it never happened.

But your scarred hands tell you another story.

Where did all the magic go?

Wild Live Blogging!

Hamlet's Hero is currently at Modesto's, Sri Hartamas at the Nuffnang Wild Live Party! It's awesome! We got Tysern as the midget gorilla, Ee Fei as the caterpillar, and I'm the "Man-Cat"!

The crazy three with the chicken.

It's still quite early in the night so the party hasn't really begun proper but Tysern and I have already begun "attacking" the free booze here! Three cheers for free booze!

And I have a tail, but it's not really visible in the photos!

Cheers!

Can see tons of girls in wings here! Don't know why all they can think of is wings! (: Maybe they're just lazy! More on the party tonight!

More updates later! It certainly pays to be a Nuffnang user! Yay!

Update, The Following Day:

The update will be late as all the pictures (the really awesome ones) are still with Yi Ting!

But it was awesome!

What Women Want #5: The Perfect Date

Well, I gotta rush off for the Nuffnang Wild Party as a "Man-Cat" soon, so I just thought that I should do a quick post on What Women Want this week.

Presenting, how to make the first date the perfect date!



Or maybe it's what NOT to do to make the first date the perfect date!

***

P.S. See! Smothering a girl with gifts just doesn't work (or maybe it's just Steven Lim)!

It looks like it's cat ears.

Darn you Yen Ming. Looks like you guessed right.

One "Man-Cat" is turning up at Modestos tonight.

And not to mention one midget gorilla too. Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

See you there!

I need a crazy, crazy trip.

Yes. I need a crazy, crazy trip to somewhere far, far away.

All I want to do now is to just pack the minimum - a few shirts, underwear, laptop, camera - all into a backpack and go off and have an adventure.

I want to go to Bangkok, because it's near, it's cheap to get there and it actually seems like a nice place to visit (and I guess with my limited budget, I can't really afford to go anywhere else), and it's far enough a place to travel to actually make it feel like an adventure.

I need an adventure soon. Bad. Anyone else want to come along?

If we don't do things like dropping everything we have at the moment to go on a crazy, crazy trip, we haven't really lived life proper. Period.

***

And did I mention that I'm dreaming of getting cool gear like these guys for the trip? Haha, we'll see how it goes.

A week spent.

Let's party, baby!

It's been nearly a week since I left SummerHill Realty and I'm writing this post with mixed feelings. One one hand I'm glad that I now have the time to do a lot of the things that I really wanted to do this week, and on the other I feel that the past week could have been still so much more.

This is how I spent the past week:

1. Reading
Or more accurately, reading all the motivational literature that I have scattered around my room. I'm still trying to finish "Awaken The Giant Within" by Anthony Robbins and this new book I bought, "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind".

Yup, more money wouldn't hurt.

I found that reading really helps give me this calm sense of focus that I really need, and it's always great to learn something new. While some of you out there may argue that books don't really teach us anything new, they really serve as good reminders of the things and the habits that we should practice to live an enlightened life, and that's exactly what the doctor ordered.

I've been reading more than traditional books too! I've also been reading some ebooks and trying to master photoshop too (which explains the above photoshopped picture)!

2. Exercising
Yep, I'm still trying to get that buff body and while I'm not quite there yet, I'm quite happy with what I've achieved so far. Guess I still have to continue cutting the carbs and running more!

I'm also thinking of increasing the types of exercise that I'm doing these days. The more I think about it, the more that dance seems like something that I should take up. Any nice, sweet, dance teachers out there want to coach me? (:

3. Watching TV
Well... technically I haven't been watching TV, but I have been sitting in front of the computer too for hours on end watching episodes of Gossip Girl (yes I know that I'm pretty slow here!) and Pushing Daisies, as well as the occasional movie or two.

I must say that as unproductive as TV is, Gossip Girl and Pushing Daisies are really two great shows to catch! But now that I'm done with them it's time to spend time more productively!

4. Preparing for the Nuffnang "Wild" Party!
Yes, I'm invited! And it's going to be one cool party! The only problem is that I have no idea what I should wear! An animal costume? I don't have one!

Anyone out there can help me? I've been thinking of a Beastmaster-ish furry costume complete with fur underwear but I really don't know of any good fetish shops where I can get that kind of wear nearby! Help anyone?

Furry underwear along with a big cat, anyone?

Guess I got no choice but to run all over town looking for something later today!

***

To all Nuffnang bloggers going to the party too this Saturday, see you there!

Hamlet's Hero out.

***

And this just made me think of our dear Mr. Chuah somehow.

Gah, mathematicians.

Project Trafford: Snack Attack!

Gone were the days when snacking on potato chips was an uncool past time reserved only for those a little too rounded at the waist.

These days, snacking on just a LITTLE TOO MUCH potato chips can result in a very nice trip to a famous football stadium, far, far away.

Yup, you get to go to the home of the Red Devils, baby!

And when I am talking about far, I'm talking about a different time zone here. (:

If you have been following the development of Project Trafford, I reckon that you know what I'm talking about - Mr. Potato's latest competition, promising a free trip to Old Trafford, the home of the Red Devils, Manchester United!

The top 30 Football Point Collectors of this competition win a Total Football Tour to Manchester United inclusive of Stadium and Museum tour worth RM 15,000 each!

What's more is that the top 5 monthly collectors of Football points get collectors jerseys personally autographed by football greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Ballack, Fernando Torres, Nani & Cesc Fabregas!

Find more details on the contest at the Mr. Potato website here!

Since when was eating chips at home ever this fun?

Mr. Potato and Man. U - Can you ask for more?

The contest is really simple! All you have to do is to just keep buying Mr. Potato and keep the proofs of purchases! The more you collect, the more you stand to win limited edition merchandise and also the free trip to Old Trafford! All for just eating and collecting Mr. Potato wrappers!

But I'm a poor, poor boy, who doesn't have all the money in the world to splurge on chips all day long... So what do I do?

But if you know me, I try anyway.



Didn't I say that I tried?

Click here for the first video!

And click here for the next scene!

We all tried! Watch it all!

Hamlet's Hero out.

***

Update 11:00 am, 17th June 2008:

Here's the fully compiled team video by team Ho-Liao!



Enjoy!

Busy busy.

Been busy with organizing the recent party and father's day as well as a whole lot of other assorted things like woodwork and swimming. Hamlet's Hero still has the blogging bug in him, just you wait.

I'm going to be harder, better, faster, stronger when I'm through with this.

The Map

A little note from Mr. Chuah to show you where the party will be:

The map of the place is in the link below=)


Jalan SS21/38


Click here!

- Chuah Chongxian

***

No updates yesterday as I was out catching with Nimalan, who has just come back from the UK, and the gang. So I guess I didn't sleep too early or do my reading that night, but I guess it's ok because I had something legit to do, and not just surfing the web aimlessly for hours on end. I exercised though...

Can't lose this momentum! Gotta keep it up! Going to prepare for tonight's party after work today! I guess I'll come up with the next task on Sunday.

Again, What Women Want may be slightly postponed this week! But I'll still be as interesting as ever!

My (ex-) students, SEE YOU AT THE PARTY TODAY!

P.S. For you older peeps, THERE WILL BE A PARTY SOON TOO LAAAAH! Kevin gives you his word. (:

Reading.

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is for the body"

- Joseph Addison

I've been sleeping early and exercising for two days now and I must say that it feels great! Work feels better and less stressful and I'm happier and more cheerful overall! Even my mother commented that I am more optimistic and happy these couple of days. I guess I'll do me good to keep it up.

Anyway, on to my next task.

Task for day 4:

Make some time (at least 30 minutes a day) to study and learn something every day.

Yes that's the task, and its really easy to get into it because I have SO MANY unread books in my room (yes I know I'm really blessed)!

I've always been a fan of self improvement, and reading is one very good way where one can learn more as well as improve one's self. Just think about it, almost any problem that has been faced by mankind has been written about in detail somewhere (by perhaps very bored people) and all that we have to do to learn about it is just to pick up a book and read!

It's really sad that a majority of people stop reading once they leave school. That's the sad, sad truth though. The fact remains that a successful education should not ensure that one does not need to depend on books anymore, but that one has inculcated a habit of reading.

The world is constantly changing and becoming increasingly competitive, and you're just going to be left behind if you don't read! Surfing the web for useless, random information doesn't count (yes, I know that Wikipedia can get really addictive), because most of the good stuff out there is just so hard to find. It really is so much better getting a book (or an ebook for the tech savvy) because it really is able to teach you so much better.

I'm reading a book titled " How To Get Rich: Using The Power of Your Mind", a book on memory training as well as Donald Trump's "Fortune Without Fear" and they really are wonderful.

Going to continue on my reading now so pick up a book if you haven't already!

Hamlet's Hero out!

Working Out

Still no replies from the email thing. ): Guess some people don't check their mails daily... But it was a fun exercise anyway.

Sleeping slightly earlier was really good for my system and it really paid off. So that's it, I'm going to do what I can to stick with this for 30 days. And today would be day two already. So, that's 28 more days of the sleeping early thing to do.

***

So what's the next big thing that I'm going to try doing for 30 days too?

Task for day 3:
Simple, it's what I always wanted to do if I had the energy to do so - work out.

I'm pretty happy with my figure, but one can always improve on what we have right? So I'm going to do just that - sleep early daily so that I'm fully energized to work out on a daily basis. I'm going to at least get out of the house every evening, if I have nothing on and run around my housing estate and work out.

So many times I have been so close to the legendary 6 pack abs that I always tried for, and so many times that I have ended up giving up half way because of my extremely nocturnal sleeping habits. It's going to work this time cause I'm going to make sure that I'm sleeping enough, well rested enough, and working out.

Tysern's laptop is beeping now and running out of juice real soon, so I got to go.

If you ever see my sleeping late and not working out in the evenings for the next 30 days,

MAKE ME GET OFF MY BUM.

Hamlet's Hero out.

Sleeping Right.

day I sent both letters out yesterday, but it seems to be a slow email day for me today. Didn't get that many emails concerning the property that I'm advertising on mudah.com.my either (yes, I'm trying to close a property deal quick so I can buy my Macbook for school!).

Guess some days are just not email days.

So I'll just save the writing about yesterday's task till when I get the replies. I also sent another email to a friend that I've not been in contact lately. Let's see if I can keep this up for 30 days, this whole a random email a day thing, and see just how it turns out. (:

***

But enough about emails, and on to the next 30 day trial that I would like to attempt. This was one of my main new year's resolutions for the past 2 years, but I never quite stuck with. Ready?

Task for Day 2:

It's SLEEPING EARLY (or at least EARLIER than I usually do), only for the nights where I have nothing of particular importance to do. Yup, I'll make myself sleep before 12 today. (:

Why do I feel that sleeping earlier is important?

Simple, because I get a lot grumpier and much less productive when I'm tired. When I'm tired, I can't concentrate so well, yawn more, and generally act like a 1000 times bitchier as compared to when I have had a good night's sleep.

And ever since I got a job that required me waking up in the mornings (yes, I do by default wake up in the early afternoon), my habit of sleeping late made me progressively a more tired and grumpy person. So, as Yoda would put it, sleep earlier I must.

And yes there's one more main reason I need to sleep early. Being tired is one of the main reasons (excuses) that I have for putting off exercise. I want to exercise! But it's just so hard to push myself to work out when all I can think of is just lazing around!

The problem is that I'm really a night owl! I can find all sorts of things to do at night, be it talking on the phone, doing some photoshop art, or completing a blog post. I like to think that I'm more productive at night, but the fact still remains that I have to wake up early. And being tired the whole day is a total bitch. I can't stand it anymore.

I've tried many times to start sleeping earlier, but this always seems to be the pattern where it all breaks down:

I start off motivated and I manage to sleep early.

I still manage to sleep early for a couple of days. I am mighty pleased with myself.

*POOF* Something pops up! It could be an overdue assignment, a late night party or a midnight phone call... and I wake up real late the next day. And I just can't sleep early that night. I am demoralized. The whole thing fails.

This time it's going to be different, cause I'm distancing myself from the primary evil that keeps me awake at night! The INTERNET (and PHOTOSHOP)!

And the other thing is that I'm going to be more flexible this time, in that it's ok to stay up on nights where I actually have something valid to do (which chatting and rambling on endlessly online are not) and to make it a point to catch up on sleep the following night. Guess that should do wonders to alleviate my sleep debt.

Sticking with books, rather than the net before I sleep would do wonders too. I'll cut down the temptation to do something else, open up another 'last' wikipedia page and play that 'last' flash game. Yeah, books aren't evil. (:

Will report on how this goes tomorrow.

Gotta get to my books and get ready for bed (I'm actually so ready that I'm already on bed),

Hero out.

Simplicity.

Sometimes, we humans try to hard. We stress ourselves to come up with long, well thought out articles on time; we spend hours after hours working for money, but what is it all for?

To be happy.

To be content.

But in the hustle and bustle of day to day life, we forget. We forget that happiness does not stem from such pursuits. But it's all in the state of mind.

It's sad that we forget that it doesn't take much to be happy. It doesn't take a new laptop; a shiny red sportscar; or being that tall, dark, and handsome hunk; but it's all about accepting who you are and enjoying the little things in life.

You can get all down and upset that you're not the richest, handsomest, spoilt brat in the world, and the world's being unfair because you're driving a Kelisa instead of a BMW, and your laptop is a 2 year old Acer instead of a Macbook Air, but do those things really matter?

Even when you have all those things, what really counts is having the best friends in the world to share it all with. And I already have that.

Happiness, it's that simple.

***

And the secret to living an amazing life is also amazingly simple - you gotta just step out of your comfort zone and do all those things that you were too frightened to do.

Approaching a cute girl at park, calling up a friend you lost contact with, writing a late letter of appreciation to someone that deserves it, all aren't easy things to do, but if you just challenge yourself to overcome that fear and do it, your life just becomes so much more interesting and colourful.

And that's the kind of life I want to live. I can't accept anything less.

And I'm going to try doing it for a month.

Everytime I post, I'll come up with something that I've always feared of or am apprehensive of doing, and I'm going to challenge myself to do it.

The secret to an amazing life is simple, but it's not easy, but I know I want to push myself through this.

So Here's the task I have for myself for Day 1:

Write a long overdue letter of appreciation and an email to a long lost friend.

I've already pushed myself to do it, and I'm going to write all about it tomorrow. Please comment if you have any new ideas of tasks to challenge myself with. Any suggestions to do things that would push me outside my comfort zone would be a good idea.

Let's see if this can make my life any more amazing.

Hamlet's Hero signing out.

It's Party Time!

One more week of work at SummerHill Realty, and it's PARTY TIME! I've decided that I'm going to party as hard as I can before I got to go off to Singapore for university orientation on 21st July!

Since all the UK people and the Aussie people are coming back for break real soon, it's going to be on hell of a fun time!

But before I start partying like crazy with all my dear friends who are coming back for their break, there's still one group of people that I would so love to hang out with before I got to leave for university.

The Crazy Bunch.

Yup, you guessed right! It's my beloved (ex-) students of DJ!

That's why Tysern, Chongxian and myself are organizing a big party for all our DJ (ex-) students this coming Saturday!

I know that our timing is a little off as the holidays are just over, but we were really busy with things we had to do then.

So here are the details:

Who's invited: All of Mr. Kevin's, Mr. Chuah's and Mr. Tysern's students from DJ!

Date: 14th June 2008, Saturday.

Time: 5.ooPM onwards.

Venue: To be confirmed soon, dependent on the number of respondents.

There will be games, music and a whole lot of fun! Tysern is in charge of games and music, and I know that with Tysern around, it's definitely going to be fun!

Since everybody and anybody from DJ is invited, this will be a potluck party and it would be really great if everyone can bring a little something to share! The three of us will be preparing the drinks and some basic food, but we're really looking forward to tasting what you people are going to bring! Girls, here is where you show off your cooking skills!

Please confirm your attendance by commenting the post on Mr. Chuah's blog about this party as he's in charge of the guestlist! I'll put up the link to that post here soon after he puts it up. Make sure you confirm your attendance soon (by Thursday) so we can get all the necessary arrangements ready.

If you're one of my students from DJ and reading this, do two things:

1. Make your Saturday free for this party and register by commenting on Mr. Chuah's blog post!

and...

2. Tell all your friends in school about it! The more the merrier!

I'll be fun, I tell you, so don't miss it!

***

For my (slightly) older friends, I haven't forgotten you kay? I'm eagerly waiting for all of you to come back so we can party too! My place is always free for a party! We'll have one big one soon when all of you are back!

Feel really hyper tonight and just really want to dance to loud music all night long but it's no fun without you guys! So come back and let the parties begin!

What Women Want #4: A Man Who Doesn't Need Her!

I was thinking of various ideas for this post, and I chanced this on Sophia's blog:

Someone who doesn't make me his LIFE, but someone who makes me the FAVOURITE part of his life.

Yeah, well lesson learnt from my Minnienah here. She told me once. And I pondered on this a lot. You know, when people say stuff like ,"You are my everything, you are my life". It's kinda risky, because most relationships don't end this way and ALSO because it isn't very sincere if we think about it. I don't want to be EVERYTHING to someone. I don't want him to put me in front of everything and not give a damn about everything else. I don't want to be the reason he lives! (eeyer) I also realised that you know, one phone call for an hour a day is way better than smsing for a whole day. We need space ya 'all!:)It makes us yearn for more, and appreciate what we get. This sorta links to interest and spontaneity (oh god, how do I spell this?:P) I guess that most of us get 'bored' easily as we humans are generally people who love learning new things! And when there is nothing to learn from, we feel ler dead. Well, sparks is essential I guess. See, I don't really know HOW a certain guy could keep me feeling all excited because it's never happened :P, but I bet there's someone out there who knows how to, by just being his spontaneous , interesting self.

- Sophie, from radiant-rain.blogspot.com

And I can't help but agree.

Once upon a time, a time where this blogger was still a lot more naive, I once thought that what every girl wanted was a guy that made her his life.

I mean, what more could a girl ever want more than a guy who would think about her every minute of the day, call and SMS her a gazillion times an hour to make her feel loved and cared for, as well as do everything in his power to get her anything that her heart may fancy. A guy whose heart beat only for her and whose existence was justified by that smile on her face.

Yes, I once bought into all that boy band bull****.

"That made perfect sense right?" my naive former self thought. Guess I didn't know my stuff then.

Well, you 'nice guys' may disagree, but I can tell you from personal experience that this whole "she is my reason for existence" thing is a whole recipe for disaster. A whole complete recipe. Let me show you why any self respecting male should not need his girl too much:

1. A guy who makes his woman his world is predictable. Which in other words means BORING!
I guess Soph hit it on the nail here. A guy who goes all out to be nice to his girl ALL the time is incredibly predictable. He'll always be there for her parties, carry her shopping bags and probably even spend tons of time with her and her girlfriends. You ALWAYS know what he'll be up to next because it will be whatever she asks for!

This causes the sexual tension, that spark that women always seem to be talking about, to disappear! Like I discussed earlier in What Women Want #2, women to be kept on their toes wondering if their man really cares for them. It injects excitement into the relationship. It's what makes her tingle with excitement on her bed at night, wondering what that last, slightly aloof SMS you sent to her actually meant. It's what she so enjoys spending hours with her girlfriends discussing.

But it all goes away when it's TOO APPARENT that shes your one and only. Yes, it totally evaporates. So don't overdo the "I'll love you to the ends of the world thing" too much. From time to time, yes. But NOT ALL THE TIME!

2. Making her your all and being around her all the time is not 'nice', it's smothering (unless shes one of those super clingy, needy types).
When you spend all your time around your girl, you risk not giving her enough space. One very important thing to remember is that the girl that you're dating had a life BEFORE you came along!

I strongly believe that whoever that you date should enhance the present quality of your life, and if you don't give your girl the space she needs to be with her friends (without your interruption) and her hobbies, she's not going to be too happy at you for it. She's just gonna hate you more and more for smothering her. So don't do it!

Besides, spending every second of every day with her is also going to make it impossible for her to miss you, and yearn for you. And every girl secretly wants to miss her boyfriend, at least a little. (:

3. Not having a life of your own makes you so much less interesting.
One thing that many guys fail to realize is that when a guy makes his girlfriend's life his own, he stops being that person that his girl fell in love with in the first place. Just ask yourself, which kind of guy is a girl more likely to fall in love with:

A. A confident guy who has his own priorities in life (i.e. a backbone!) and his own social circle that he can rely on.

or

B. The guy that gives up his friends for his girl and is always waiting on his girl?

Girls need a strong guy with a backbone, who acts congruently on his values, not someone who readily gives up his life for someone else, because such a person is so much more respectable (so if you chose guy B, you're sorely lacking in self respect!).

And you're definitely someone respectable and someone deserving of admiration from your girl if you dump your life for her. It also shows that you didn't have an interesting life to begin with, further making you look like a hopeless loser.

***

Would Leonidas be anywhere as cool as he is if he was pussywhipped by his wife the queen to stay and not go to war? Women want a man who stands strong to his own values, lives by his own standards, and has his OWN life, not a needy person who depends on her for his survival.

What's also important to consider is also that if you ditch your life for your girl, it's going to be really difficult to get back on your feet should the unthinkable happen.

Your life's yours for a reason. A girl is not a good reason to throw it all away.

Till then, live your OWN life, not hers!

Hamlet's Hero out.

***

I'm all done with the Project Trafford post, and I'm really excited about it! I can't wait to share it with all of you because it really is a really interesting concept!

The thing is that I can't release it to the world yet until I get the green light from Nuffnang, so please hang in there! You'll see footage of the raid, and MUCH MORE soon!

Keep tuning in!

Project Trafford: 40 Man Raid

If anyone out there wants to join the Hamlet's Hero's 40 man raid on a nearby hypermarket, message me ASAP. Let's hope no one gets arrested tomorrow. (:

Go forth and PILLAGE!

THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAA!

P.S. Come join me please if you're free tomorrow evening and live in PJ!

***

Edit: Although the rising fuel prices caused the 40 man raid to be downsized to a 4 man raid, it was an OVERWHELMING SUCCESS!

Check out the final Project Trafford post on the raid on Friday!

Don't miss it!

Latest Edit:

Mr.

Potato.

Snack.

Attack.

COMING SOON!

Project Trafford: Unveiled!

Project Trafford? What's that all about?

It all began one day, when I was in a really bitchy mood.

Bitchy. Yes, this is how I look when Shaun tries to argue with me.

Yes, I was REALLY bitchy and tired.

And when I was checking my Nuffnang analytics for the 215,542,124th time of the day, I saw this on the Nuffnang blog:

Nuffnang is currently launching a Top Secret Project codenamed ‘Project Trafford’. We are looking for 40 bloggers who are willing to participate actively in this secret project.

Here are some details that you need to observe if you intend to be one of them;

• Participating bloggers must be available and able to communicate actively via emails starting from the end of May 2008 till end of June 2008.
• Participating bloggers must be able to work together in team and respond promptly to their team leaders.
• Participating bloggers will be paid/rewarded handsomely.

If you think you satisfy the above criteria, please do write in to projecttrafford@nuffnang.com with your details such as name and contact number. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Applications for Project Traffod has been closed. For those shortlisted, kindly reply before 2pm on Thursday 29/5/08 as a test on how promptly will you be able to communicate via email.

Well, I was feeling uber bitchy and just needed to rant, so I typed out this really angsty email. The only edit I made was that I removed my handphone number!

Subject: I'm the one you're looking for. Period.
Dear Nuffnang team,

This is why I should be part of your Project Trafford team:

• Participating bloggers must be available and able to communicate actively via emails starting from the end of May 2008 till end of June 2008.

I'm 19, done with my A levels last December and have nothing better to do than bumming around at home, spending my parents money and check my blog like 200 times a day for comments. Yes, I have THAT much time on my hands.

• Participating bloggers must be able to work together in team and respond promptly to their team leaders.

What do I do with all that free time that I have when my friends around me (who are already IN uni because they didn't do their A levels in Singapore like smartass me) are studying hard in school? Bum around online and check my gmail for interesting spam to read at a frequency of 75 times an hour. Yes, press F5 a lot these days and lay in wait on MSN for possible victims to prey on.

• Participating bloggers will be paid/rewarded handsomely.

Yes, an unemployed boy like me who's living off his parents like a leech needs the cash, really, really badly. So who else better to pay than me? A rich, bratty blogger who has the money to fly anywhere in the world and camwhore in front of historical places of great interest, or this boy with no money to travel and spends his days burying himself in photoshop work affixing Dr. M's head on Leonidas's body cause he's too poor to travel anywhere. You decide (and let your conscience haunt you if you choose wrongly).

And besides, I have a great blog, and actually put great care into what I write. Doesn't that already put me head and shoulders above 99 percent of what you see posted on innit? I'm not exaggerating or anything, just read the damn blog.

So choose me. Period.

Wishing whoever that reads this crappy email lots of love (but maybe slightly less if I don't get shortlisted),

Hamlet's Hero of http://hamletshero.blogspot.com

aka

Kevin Chan

who can be contacted at 01x-xxxxxxx

and who is also a Glitterati member (see, I make myself sound like an absolute homosexual for you people, I better get shortlisted)

Yup, and I sent that to the Nuffnang team. It was highly cathartic and it made me a happy, happy boy. And even though I think (wait, I know) that my blog is awesome, I didn't expect getting selected for Project Trafford.

But I guess Nuffnang decided that they needed someone bitchy on every team, just to spice things up. (:

So here I am, writing for Project Trafford, but I can't tell you everything yet cause Project Trafford is just so TOP SECRET! The people up there in Nuffnang will reset my Nuffnang earnings to where it was 5 months ago if I say too much, too soon! Shhh!

This was 5 months back...

But I'll tell you what I can.

Project Trafford is Nuffnang's Top Secret campaign for Mister Potato (gasp)! And what we really have to do is to promote Mister Potato's contest which is giving out a free trip to Old Trafford, home of the Red Devils!

Yes, I'm made to promote potato chips.

So, what our team has to do is to come up with some plan or another to promote this contest (which is a no brainer hoard the proof of purchase game) to as many people as possible.

(:

And now introducing the team that I'll be working with:

Sultan Muzaffar who's not really royalty from sultanmuzaffar.blogspot.com.

I think that's him on the phone. What he's looking at, I don't know...

Kar Yeong, aka KY (jelly) from kyspeaks.com.

KY's the one on the right.

But he insists on a more 'leng chai' picture. When the leader tells you to do something, you don't have a choice right? What to do?

The more 'leng chai' pic.

They are our two team leaders, as wacky as they look.

And we have my fellow team members:

Debra, who dates and dines all day long at debfong.blogspot.com;

And she just had to be eating in this pic...

Satkuru, from satkuru.com/blog (duh!);

Yup, enjoying the chilly highland air.

Foong, who speaks her mind (can't be someone else's mind right?) at foongsite.com;

She says she doesn't want to scare us with a pic.

YapThomas, the Ultimat3 from yapthomas.com.

Now I found another friend who likes fedoras. (:

Well, that's my Project Trafford team (as poser-ish as we all are), and stay tuned for more updates on Project Trafford! The links of my teammates are all on my sidebar so feel free to view their blogs!

Till I'm back with more Project Trafford updates and saucy details,

Hamlet's Hero signing off.