Hamlet's Hero

I Love to Touch My _____

2010-07-24T18:14:00.002+08:00

I know everybody's been raving about touch-screen phones these days, but I'm still using a Sony Ericsson dumbphone because I can't find it in me to upgrade... Maybe I'll see something tonight that will make me finally take that leap of faith!

When life's good, anything's possible!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice!

2010-07-16T15:31:00.002+08:00

If I am a sorcerer's apprentice I will learn how to do everything lah! I mean why stop at just learning one specific skill tree? Go for it all! Learn how to conjure money, throw firebolts, levitate myself, make myself indestructible... I mean I'm made for this kinda madness! Let's gooooo!

Catch The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Movie starting from 22^nd July 2010 and join the Walt Disney Studios Singapore official Facebook and Twitter page!

***

So sorry that I've not been blogging regularly and properly on this blog recently. Catch my most recent thoughts on personal development on http://kevinc.net today!

Toy Story 3!

2010-06-14T00:53:00.004+08:00

Hey guys! Toy Story 3 is coming up and I really want to see how the whole Toy Story saga pans out!

I watched the trailer and my very favourite part is the part where Barbie and Ken lock eyes! It's high time for a more mature romance in the Toy Story universe as the franchise has been around for quite a bit and the original people who watched the first Toy Story when it first came out are so much older now! It's time for some spicy hot toy-to-toy action!

Can't wait to watch it! Hope I get the complementary tickets! I love Nuffnang so much! :D

Catch Toy Story 3 Movie starting from 17^th June 2010 and join the officialFacebook and Twitter page!

If she had a dagger that could turn back time.

2010-05-23T23:42:00.004+08:00

What would you have done if you had a dagger that could turn back time? The following is exactly what a dear friend of mine would have done if she had the power to turn back time.

It's an interesting piece to read because she didn't want to turn back time to make herself richer or make herself happier, but because she wanted to turn back time just so that she could give someone she cared about just a little bit more of her time.

***

What would you have done if you had a dagger that could turn back time?

- Anonymous Contributor

Hindsight is always 20/20. Indeed life is full of regrets, and if everyone could retrace their footsteps to rectify the wrongs, then there would be no unhappiness nor regrets. The significance of opportunity cost - the cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision (assuming mutual exclusivity) - would be nullified since life could always be lived and re-lived. There would no longer be life-changing decisions, since every decision would be reversible. But in such a world, instead of learning from mistakes and moving on, people would become too obsessed with leading the perfect life. The cost of correcting one’s wrongs would be greater than the cost of moving on.

But some mistakes are too painful to live with. They tear you apart during the day; keep you up at night; gnaw away at the insides, consuming you from within, incapacitating you. And I am only too familiar with the feeling of such crippling regrets, too many to count. But if I could just have that one chance to turn back time, I would choose to go back to 3 September 2006 Sunday.

He was lying in bed, wasting away and counting down the days to go. For 2 years, since the first diagnosis of a brain tumor, I’ve seen him ingest countless cocktails of pills, move from radiotherapy to chemotherapy, his hair falling out in clumps, fingers blackening, from being mobile to being confined to a wheelchair, eventually losing control of even his hands and organs.

That Sunday night, my family decided to drop in for a visit, everyone knew his days were numbered but no one expected that night to be our last visit. He was in his room, watching ‘Tom and Jerry’, I had not seen him for quite a while, so I was overwhelmed with the sight of my 13 year old cousin, a young soul trapped within a dying diseased meatsuit.

Staying beside him, being cheerful for him, was impossible.

So I did the most cowardly thing of my life.

I went out into his kitchen to cry. I pulled my phone out and called my crush. I wanted to escape the reality, I wanted to be comforted. So I stayed in the kitchen, talking to my crush, until it was time to leave, and I went inside to say goodbye, not knowing that I was bidding him farewell for good.

His last message to me was “Jia You for O-levels” - a message he communicated with great difficulty, blinking at each correct alphabet suggested. I would be taking my O-levels Prelims the coming week, and he knew how stressed up I was about exams. He was comforting me, cheering me on, yet I chose to avoid him.

He passed on 6 days later, his breathing slowed and eventually stopped, being the sweet and considerate boy he always was, he chose to leave us quietly. I never forgave myself for not spending more time with him while he was still around, but in particular, I will always loathe myself for being the coward that I was on that Sunday night.

If I could turn back time, I would never have ducked into that kitchen to hide. I would flash him my biggest winning smile, sit beside him and hold his hand and watch “Tom and Jerry” with him.

That would have given me 30 minutes of quality time spent with him, instead of the snappy, brief, five minutes of just a “hi” and “bye” I had with him.

If only I knew, If only I was brave enough then, if only I thought more about him instead of selfishly thinking about my crush and myself. Some nights I stay up reliving the episode, replaying my selfish act over and over again, loathing myself more and more. I would give my right arm to find that dagger, just to re-live the Sunday night of 3rd September 2006.

***

The Prince of Persia movie is coming up soon, and I can't wait to just immerse myself in that fantasy world and ask myself that powerful question - what would I do if I could turn back time?

Watch the trailer now!

Catch Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Movie starting from 27^thMay 2010 and join the official Facebook and Twitter page!

My Saucy Lurve Affair

2010-04-21T11:59:00.003+08:00

I recently got hold of this pretty saucy video regarding Lurve chips.

Ah… Lurve chips. Watching this video really brings me back memories of how I went all out of my way to film a video for a Nuffnang Lurve Affair contest last year.

Come to think about it, I think my video more accurately captures what a Lurve affair really should be all about – despite the fighting and the differences, two people still find it within themselves to make up to each other and find common ground and work on their relationship.

I didn’t win, but I still think that my video is pretty awesome so here it is, completely digitally remastered for your enjoyment!

Come to think about it, Lurve should get me to make an official video for them sometime! Have some Lurve today!

Adam Lambert's Fashion Tips!

2010-03-14T23:33:00.003+08:00

While interviewing the super fashionable and super popular Adam Lambert, I just had to sneak in a small question for myself and ask him what can I do to improve my look! Check out his response below!

"I think the key to personal style is to not give a shit about what everyone else thinks." - Adam Lambert

Well said Adam, well said.

Interviewing Adam Lambert.

2010-03-14T02:08:00.004+08:00

Adam Lambert!

Courtesy of the awesome folks at Sony Music and Maxis telecommunications, I got to meet and interview Adam Lambert of American Idol fame for close to half an hour today!

Here's a logo of Hotlink Maxis, which made this wonderful experience possible!

I won't go into the details right now, but just check out the crazy video that documents the starting of our interview with Adam! You have to check it out!

Stay tuned for more coming soon!

Blog, I miss you.

2010-03-06T15:41:00.002+08:00

Blog, I miss you.

I miss spending hours reflecting on what I have to say to the world. I miss the rush of discovering that a long lost friend reads my blog. I miss putting up picture after picture, line after line up on you just to make you look pretty and nice.

Then overnight, it just all went away.

Is this how love ends? When you stop remembering the reason that you fell in love to begin with and layer after layer of commitment to the relationship just withers away?

Everyday reminders.

2009-12-23T02:25:00.002+08:00

Everyday I am reminded by the wonderful people around me that friendship and love are the two things in this world worth spending time, energy and effort cultivating.

What is money or power without the right people to spend it with?

But as important as such things are, it's sad to see that sometimes people don't see it. They use people, manipulate people, and form superficial relationships with people only to squeeze out every last favor.

It sickens me.

This Christmas season, just take a look at the people closest to you, and let them know that you appreciate them. They're more important than anything else.

Thinking too much

2009-12-21T03:19:00.003+08:00

I've been trying to write a proper post for the two of my blogs for quite some time now, but the thing is that I have a pretty peculiar problem right now.

It's not that I don't have anything on my mind right now, but it's more like I have too many things on my mind, too many things that I have been thinking about that it all has become this big, jumbled mess of hopesdreamsandfearsallwithoutanypunctuationmarks.

I need some time out to figure it all out.

And maybe I just need to sleep more proper hours.

Maybe it's time to go back to hugging my cute, pink, elephant.

GOOD NIGHT WORLD.

Social networking gone too far.

2009-12-03T00:52:00.002+08:00

Instead of kissing the bright straight away like what most newly married couples do, this is what happens when we rely on social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter just a little bit too much.

Would you do this at your wedding? Or do you think that this is a little bit too much?

Of ninja assassins and bad plots.

2009-11-30T18:26:00.003+08:00

As some of you know, I am nearly done with my exams and have decided to take the greater part of the week off and go back home for some much needed tender loving care.
Yup, even us spartans need a nice break every now and then.

So being back in the land where it costs less than RM10 to watch a movie in the cinema, I just had to as it has just been so long since I last watched a movie.

So we went to catch a movie at the nearest cinema. Twilight was showing, but Yi Ting would hear no word of it, so we ended up watching the most macho movie of the lot - NINJA ASSASSIN!

It looks pretty good here!

It looked like a really good guy movie - lots of blood, violence and gore. And how can you go wrong with AWESOME NINJAS? Seriously?

So we caught the movie.

The movie has to be about more than Korean pop stars and their nicely toned bodies... right?

And you know what, it sucked. It bombed.

IT HAD NO PLOTTTT!!!

Watching the show was like: blood, kill, fight, blood, kill, fight... rinse and repeat the formula a couple of times, with a bit of sexual tension thrown in and you have the complete mess of what Ninja Assassin is.

Did you realize that I missed out any mention of a reasonable plot whatsoever?

Yeah, even though I watched the "making of" just a couple of hours earlier and heard that the show had one of the "deeper" plots that one of the veteran actors worked with, the movie still had a paper thin plot. You would get better plots reading my little 9 year old brother's essays. Seriously. It really makes you wonder what kind of movies the actor that made that comment has been working with.

Anyway, as my buddies and I were having our usual post-movie discussion session, I kinda realized that it's pretty amazing that a big Hollywood movie with a multimillion dollar budget had such a terrible plot. Isn't the plot the VERY FIRST THING that the director has to show to the producers and investors to secure financing for the movie?

How did anyone agree to put down money for such a plot?

So I guess this is what more and more directors and producers are doing these days to secure funding from their studios and investors:

"Yup, you have all that and you know what? I'm going to throw in a half-assed looking chick whose breasts can be used by the hunky male character as a bouncy cushion. It's going to sell for sure."

(I'm not kidding about the breast-cushion bit, watch the show for it! Serious LOL!)

If only it could be so easy for me to ask for a raise... or even a room in NTU.

And what's worse is that the scriptwriter was probably paid quite a substantial sum for such a shitty story which he probably wrote in the brief time he was squeezing out a crap in the toilet one fine morning. That's probably all the effort he put into it as the majority of the effort was definitely put into squeezing his morning crap out.

Oh well, enough negativity. At least now I know that even if all fails, I can always write scripts for Hollywood.

We all have to take a dump in the morning, don't we?

I’m a Sherlock Holmes in the Making

2009-11-30T17:31:00.000+08:00

I want to win those movie passes, and I got these two screenshots on cheeserland.com as well as KYspeaks.com to fight for them!

The two clues to find the required pictures were:

Now you must be waiting for the clues to which 2 blogs in Malaysia have we hidden the mystery Sherlock Holmes image, right? They are hidden in..

a) The Land of Cheeser Dot Com (mix it a little to find the answer)

b) KYCakap Dot Com (a little translation might help)

The picture from KY's blog:
The one from Cheesie's blog:

Lets hope that I win something!

Getting to the bottom of this case was elementary, my dear Nuffnang. Now hand over the goodies!

Steamy Massages

2009-11-22T22:57:00.003+08:00

Was reading up on Research Methods in the reading room and I chanced upon a copy of The New Paper, a tabloid-ish daily newspaper in Singapore.

Look at the aptly named massage parlor that just opened!

EPIC WIN OR EPIC FAIL?

Twilight will get you laid!

2009-11-22T16:33:00.001+08:00

It's only during exam period when people spend the most time on Youtube because everything (including watching the high pitched retard, Fred) is more interesting than studying.

Seriously.

But every now and then you find a gem. Yeah, I found somebody who IMHO, beats the shit out of the other Youtube celebrities out there.

Here he is, telling us just why Twilight will get you laid!

I told you it was pretty good! Now to start studying again!

A man of extremes

2009-11-21T00:11:00.005+08:00

Something that happened today made me realize that I am a man of extremes.

I either have something in entirety and in perfection, or not give a shit about it.

And that's why I can get pretty annoyed my new toys look any less than perfect. And this was what happened today:

I found a small little scratch on the rubberized casing of my Macbook and whenever I touched it, the rubber layer kept peeling off and the hole kept growing larger and larger, much to my chagrin.

When it grew to a certain size, I was like "damn this - I'm going to rub it all off!"

And the hole grew to epic proportions.

Damn.

The worst thing is that I just can't stop looking at or noticing the hole. It looks like it's going to haunt me in my sleep even.

Can't wait till I can get to the store to get a new cover for my baby. Gah. Oh well.

Hitler Cannot S/U His Exams!

2009-11-19T16:24:00.001+08:00

What happens when the NTU Student Union just fails and Hitler cannot S/U his exams?

Hilarity ensues.

A must watch if you are a NTU student! Back to mugging...

Blogging drought

2009-11-19T02:30:00.003+08:00

I'm staying up using the Mac in the room because I'm patiently waiting for my laundry to be done.

I realised that I haven't been blogging in a while and kevinc.net is in dire need of an update.

I need discipline. I need focus. I need a life.

Exams, let me just ace you and be over.

Pretty please?

There she gently sleeps.

2009-11-14T18:17:00.003+08:00

... patiently waiting for the moment where I take her out, gently open her up, and turn her on.

(:

How do YOU get your viral videos?

2009-11-12T19:55:00.002+08:00

I love internet viral videos. I just do. Just almost as much as this guy:

I really do.

And one great source of my daily dose of viral madness is Facebook. Facebook, already the ultimate destroyer of productivity and time happens to also be a gold mine of viral videos.

My source of my productivity killing superpowers.

What bugs me is that sometimes I'm away from my computer and hence away from Facebook. What then? How am I, a non-smartphone user to get updates on the craziest and wackiest viral videos to watch?

Channel X happens to have a solution, with the new mobile Facebook service that I have been writing about over the past 2 weeks!

With Channel X, getting your status updates to notify you of the latest viral videos, friends status updates and wall posts will be as easy as checking your phone for messages! It's that powerful! And it's only going for the low price of RM 1!

Learn all about this awesome promotion HERE!

Maybe if I had the Channel X mobile Facebook service down here in Singapore, I wouldn't have had missed this crazy vid when it came out!

Just maybe!

What can I buy for RM 1?

2009-11-07T23:43:00.003+08:00

What can one buy for RM 1? A roti canai at a mamak stall (note that this does not apply to the more "high-class" ones). A drink at a kopi-tiam? A handful of sweets?

RM 1 really isn't much as a can of Coke in Malaysia already costs RM1.50. So what can you buy for RM 1? What can you buy with that paltry sum that lasts a week?

Finally there's something substantial that you can have for just RM 1 a week!

Subscription to Channel X, the mobile Facebook service is yours for just RM 1 a week!

What's more is that it's just so easy to use! Just follow the simple instructions below and you'll be on your way to having great fun on Facebook whereever you are, just through the simple of use of its SMS interface!

It's that simple!

For more information, please visit this LINK for more information!

Art: Unadulterated

2009-11-06T15:23:00.010+08:00

Lately, i've been really busy with school, trying to meet deadlines and assignments the past few weeks and I kept making excuses not to blog. The whole Celcom mobile Facebook advertorial thing also has kept me busy with stuff to post on this site I kept ignoring the impulse to just write and express myself here.

So here it is, some kind of activity on my end to just let you guys know that I'm alive and well (I'm technically slightly down with a flu but it's nothing I can't handle). So what have I been up to lately? Well work aside, I've been reading quite a bit of One Piece (largely due to Ling Yi's influence) and fooling around with the handwriting tool quite a bit on MSN messenger.

Yeah so here they are, art in it's most unadulterated form and with it some updates on this blogger's life.

1) Cheebyekiaa!

Cheebyekiaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I drew this when quite a number of things hit me at the same time - I was stressed out working on a project, I recieved some rather unsettling news and I was just frustrated with life in general. I just felt like standing on some tall cliff overlooking the rough ocean waves, with the strong sea wind beating down my face and just yelling out my frustrations to the unrelenting tide.

And as much as I hate to admit it, that has been happening quite a lot in my life in NTU. It sucks to feel out of control of my life and I need to do what I can to reassert my myself in what I do. I want to achieve what I have set out for myself and go where I want to go, but it can get so frustrating.

Maybe this is where the abundance mindset that Steve Pavilina talked about on his blog comes in. Perhaps he's right and instead of spending the bulk of my time and energy focusing on the things in life that frustrate me, maybe I should spend that focus on the good things in my life instead, like the great friends I have, the great people I meet both offline and online and my love for writing.

Just being back on Blogger and writing this out really reminds me of how much I used to love blogging. I used to wake up in the mornings with like three thousand blog ideas and update like 3 times a day. I still love to write and take time to reflect on life but my studies and commitments are just taking so much out of me.

I really need to find that balance, that golden mean between work and time to spend on self actualization. Ultimately it all boils down to time management and discipline, the two things I really need to work on if I want to commit to my goal of becoming a better, more efficient person.

2) Hungry!

Hungry!

I drew this when talking to my good friend Ling Yi while working on my research methods project all alone (hate working on long, wordy reports all alone) at around 12am last Sunday, asking him to come back so that we can go out and have supper. Yes I was that hungry. I have been sleeping at really odd times due to tight deadlines and all and if I remember correctly, only taken my first meal of the day at 5pm. Little wonder that I was feeling like an Ethiopian at 12 midnight.

It is interesting to note that due to the lack of exercise and possibly my latest bout of flu (which comes with a whole lot of water consumption) that my midsection is currently very, very vastly different from the thin, skin and bones figure above.

3) Lovebeam

Lovebeam

Note that this piece is titled "Lovebeam", not "Lovebeams" and is in the singular and not plural form. I drew it when I was chatting to my pal Nick about what most guys at this age has on their minds - girls.

I think I drew this as I was thinking about fictional characters that just seem to be able to snag that one girl that they're eying when they just put their mind to it and focus on just chasing the girl of their dreams. I mean we're forced fed this stuff, and over time we just start to subconsciously believe in it, that if we find that one special girl and love her with all you've got, she'll be yours in the end.

But it always seems to me that the real world is so different from that. Making the girl the only one you think about just seems to decrease your chances - you can't talk right in front of her, you get nervous just by looking at her and you can't even muster the courage to ask her out properly. The logical thing to do would be to not dwell on it and meet more people but it never is easy to reconcile the opposing views of the heart and the brain.

Why do we desire what we cannot get so much?

I guess that's what made me draw what I drew next.

4) Heartstab

Heartstab

That's just how bad news feels sometimes, especially if it pertains to matters of the heart. It really feels like just that - a dark cold sword just stabbing through your being, emptying your being and making you feel all empty inside.

Maybe that's why I seem to connect with this song from David Tao's latest album, Opus 69, so much.

Secret Love - 暗戀

Even if you're an international singing sensation but if the girl you're in love in just doesn't feel the same about you, it still hurts deep inside. What's the use of being to get any girl you want, with the sole exception of the one you're dying for?

5) Flower for You

Flower for You

Yeah an in stark contrast to all that emo writing that this blog has not seen for a very long time, simple flowers for a friend. Come to think of it, we all feel lonely and insecure from time to time, even though if we are continually surrounded by people. A bright flower definitely would serve as a cute gesture of appreciation. Who can say no to such a cute, bright smiley face?

I drew this for Adele who drew me one when motivating me to complete my assignment! I guess that sometimes encouragement and friendship comes from the most mystical of sources. (:

***

Hope that all you out there are fine and well! Hope that you all have wonderful, fulfilled lives. That's exactly what I'm working towards!

How do I get Xpax facebook mobile?

2009-11-03T15:03:00.002+08:00

I remember how just the other day I was blogging about Celcom Xpax's mobile Facebook service? Just for you valued readers out there, I'll share with you guys a little bit on how you Xpax users can quickly get started with mobile Facebook! You lucky guys back home!

It's so simple cause it's just these few steps!

That's it! So easy! Easier than starting on my BM212 assignment 3 that is due this Thursday, I dare say!

Visit HERE for more details on this deal today!

Facebook on the go!

2009-11-01T19:37:00.002+08:00

I've been really busy for the past few weeks, and as a result, this poor blog of mine has been pretty neglected. But when I'm too busy to actually spend time to sit down and write a decently readable blog post, I do what everyone else seems to be doing at the moment - just drop by Facebook for a moment to rant about how busy and stressed we are.

Emo, emo rant.

Yeah, Facebook is simple and fast to use, and it provides the quick, instant gratification that our generation craves for. It truly is the opiate of our times. But this is the catch - you have to be connected to the internet to use it. For those who don't have a mobile internet plan like me, that means that my Facebook addiction is only limited to when I have access to the internet.

But for those lucky folks back at home in Malaysia with a Xpax data plan, I just read today that Xpax just launched this service offering Facebook access through SMS and the service only costs RM1 a week to access! For those of us studying down here in Singapore, it's just a microscopic sum of less than $0.50 SGD to use Facebook whereever you are a week! That's just crazy!

I'm going to be blogging about the new service by Xpax through the week, so stay tuned and just to let you guys know, check out: http://channelx.com.my/mdp/promo_rm1_getfb.jsp for more information! (:

Help me with my questionnaire, please?

2009-10-23T17:42:00.004+08:00

Hey guys! As you all know, I'm a super slacker and I have an AB213 research paper to present to my Prof on Monday but we need research data. Our research paper is on blogs, so trust me that answering this short (seriously, cross my heart) questionnaire will help me tremendously!

CLICK HERE FOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Been so busy for the past few days and I still feel really tired. Been working around the clock just me meet deadlines and it just has been crazy. Thank God that I have the blog awards to look forward to.

Going to get ready for the awards now! Hope that it'll be great and hope to meet more of you bloggers there!

Indulge in the Uniquely Singapore Experience!

2009-10-11T19:00:00.000+08:00

I've been studying in Singapore for close to four years already and have seen Singapore from almost every angle possible already - from the tall rooftops of office buildings on Shenton Way to the gritty lorongs of Geylang and still find something new every time I go out and explore.

That's the name of a very real hotel in Geylang. To think that it used to be super near to my old hostel!

Singapore is unique because it really is more than the metropolitan shopping city most people see it to be because it's really much more than Orchard Road and shopping, shopping and more shopping (although that does happen quite a bit here as Singapore is slowly growing into one big shopping mall, but I digress).

It's really beautiful at night.

I believe that Singapore truly is a great holiday destination because it manages to offer such a diverse amount of experiences, all conveniently near to each other with an awesome public transportation system to boot. It all adds up to great holiday exploring even if you're without a car! Where else can you walk out of the botanical gardens and take a short bus ride down to the hottest shopping centers in town? Only in Singapore!

So what would be my perfect 1-day itinerary for a foreign friend of mine?

Firstly, we'll start the day off well with some healthy exercise at the East Coast Park! The park is a wonderful place to have a picnic, jog, cycle, and even rollerblade! You can even go for a dip in the sea or make sand castles if you want to at the nearby beach!

Bicycling at the East Coast Park!

After all that exercise, we'll head towards Bedok to have a good Singaporean breakfast of Kueh Chap! Kueh Chap is something that I've found pretty unique to Singapore because I never really had it before back home in KL. Kueh Chap is a delicious dish of flat noodles accompanied with a light pork flavoured soup served with delicious stewed pork meat and organs. There are quite a number of really good Kueh Chap stalls in Bedok, and it's my number one destination I head to whenever I have the craving for it!

Super pork goodness!

After all that good food, it's time to head down to town. I would take this opportuinity to take my friend on the MRT and experience the Singaporean MRT experience. We would zoom down from the East end of Singapore down into the heart of town itself and alight at Orchard Road.

From Orchard Road, we would go by the major shopping centres and leisurely walk down towards Plaza Singapura and from Plaza Singapura doing some light shopping as well as showing my friend the only Istana I know that is strategically situated right next to a prominent shopping centre!

As we would have no time to waste at all, we would then take a comfortable cab ride right down to Vivo City, one of the newest and most spacious malls in Singapore. What makes it even better is that it's right next to Sentosa, our very next stop after Vivo. But first we take an ice-cream break!

If you know me well enough, you will know that my favourite brand of ice cream is none other than Ben & Jerry's, which till today we still don't have back home in Malaysia! And there's a scoop shop just right inside Vivo City. What does that mean? It's ice cream time!

That's called the Merlionster. If I remember correctly, it's 6 scoops of wonderful Ben & Jerry goodness coupled up with brownies and toppings and everything good!

After the multiple ice-cream induced orgasms, and some food, it's time to move to Sentosa! Time for more beach fun! There's lots of little cute attractions here that tourists love to go to as well (but don't drag me there cause I've been in them like a gazillion times already)!

There really are girls in bikinis on the beach. Would I lie to you?

And if you should get thirsty, grab a drink at the happening Cafe Del Mar and sunbathe your worries away!

Fun at Cafe Del Mar!

So after all the fun, sand and surf (did I forget the girls playing volleyball at the beach?) at Sentosa it's time to just chill and watch the sunset. And of course, that only means that it's time to eat!

So we would then cab back to Marina Bay and go to the Esplanade, which looks awesome during the sunset.

There it is, in all it's glory.

We'll walk around the Esplanade, taking the obligatory pictures of both the Esplanade, The Singapore Flyer and lesiurely make our way to Gluttons Bay to have more local food! There, I'll treat my foreign friend to even more delicious local food like Sambal Stingray, Char Kuey Teow, Oyster Omelette and other local goodies!

Nom nom nom!

After dinner, it's time for some partying! I would then take my friends to the Butter Factory which happens to be conveniently located just next to the nearby Merlion! But let's not forget the obligatory camwhoring by the Merlion!

That's the famous Merlion, with the Fullerton in the background.

And if Butter Factory is too crowded or somehow does not suit my friend's tastes, fear not as Clarke Quay or Zouk (along with Phuture and Velvet) is only a short cab ride away.

After we've had enough partying, we'll just leisurely walk down the Singapore river and enjoy the view, and finally take a leisurely walk back to one of the nicest hotels in Singapore, the Fullerton, which I would really love to have the opportuinity to stay in.

A wonderful place with a wonderful view.

I guess it's possible, but It would only make my bank balance look like this!

Oops!

That's why, if you have time, just do it, and come down to Singapore and have a great time!
Indulge in the Uniquely Singapore Experience!

Fatigue

2009-10-10T00:24:00.002+08:00

It gets tiring to blog sometimes, but I really want those invites to the upcoming blog awards. Guess you have to work for the things that you want in life, don't you?

But just for this moment I want to just escape from it all and just be still, and rest. Away from this chaotic mess we call life. Somewhere far, somewhere distant, somewhere quiet.

Somewhere they won't find us.

It’s Krrunch Time, Get Playful!

2009-10-03T01:54:00.002+08:00

Being a full time university student can be very difficult - you often times can't seem to find the slightest bit of time left for yourself with the one million deadlines you have to meet on top of all the things you just have to do, like spending a little time with your family.

That's why you end up sneaking naps whenever you can!

All the work and the stress can be a real bummer, especially when you find yourself spending every last free minute with your face buried deep inside your books, squinting at your assignments with your eyes fully laden with heavy eyebags.

Assignments, reports, competitions. It can get a little out of hand sometimes.

And that's made EVEN worse with all these blogging competition deadlines that I just HAVE to meet if I want to win tickets to the exciting upcoming Nuffnang Regional Blog Awards that just everybody has been talking about! (Vote for my dear friend Terry right here! He's an awesome blogger, trust me!)

It all adds up to this one very TULAN face.

But every problem man faces can be overcome with wits and cunning. Yes, I have a secret weapon aiding me in my quest against the evil ASS-ignments that have been terrorizing us all.

It is none other than the mighty PRINGLES!

Thank God for Pringles!

With Pringles, life just seems so much more fun and exciting. I mean who thinks about their 1001 assignments that they have to complete when they're KRRUNCHING on wonderful Pringles? Not a soul, I tell you.

How to make a long bus journey instantly more KRRUNCH-tastic? Have Pringles with a friend!

Evidence of enjoying Pringles on the bus. Photo taken with awesome friend's new camera phone, of course.

Need to turn up the heat in the bedroom? Pringles are so powerful that their very presence manages to attract members of the opposite sex all the way up five flights of stairs, one very menacing magnetic gate and into one slightly cramped room to party with you!

Don't believe me? KRRUNCH ON THIS!

HOWS THAT FOR PROOF?

Pringles are just so miraculous that they managed to somehow attract a Nuffie into my room even though she spent the entire day working hard preparing for the beforementioned upcoming Asia-Pacific Blog Awards!

Those chips sure are magical!

And if all that is still not enough to convince you that Pringles are the best thing ever, I just want to to know this one little secret that no one else is going to tell you - Pringles probably hold the key to an infinite source of clean energy. You physics geeks better start running tests on these heavenly chips right away!

Pringles are so powerful that they magically powered the extremely sleep deprived me to work through the night editing a video of never before released footage of how KRRUNCHING on Pringles actually empowered a little 9 year old boy with mystical Korean-boy-band dance powers. Seriously, don't even think of not checking the vid out.

That's just what its like when you're KRRUNCHING your way to good music!
(Please rate the video and leave comments for it would make the little boy in the video, as well as the not so little boy that manages this blog, very, very happy!)

So I guess it's back to KRRUNCHING away on those assignments! Really hope that I get the tickets as the little boy in the video really wants his older brother to go to the blog awards. Honest.

So Nuffnang, two invites for me please? Pretty please? Or I'll hold one of your Nuffies hostage by luring her into my room with Pringles again. Seriously.

Till then,
It’s Krrunch Time, Get Playful!

If only life could be like this...

2009-09-29T17:48:00.004+08:00

I was just going through my RSS feeds this morning and I saw this:

It just made me smile and beam uncontrollably. If only it were that easy to ask that cute girl that you just met out... without things being awkward.

But maybe it is that easy, and I'm just thinking too much. To ask her out or wait till I know her better? That is the question.

But then again I don't really have the time anyway. ):

I want a break. A real break. One where I don't have to worry about a million deadlines all rushing towards me at warp speed.

Please?

The closet masochist

2009-09-28T14:42:00.003+08:00

I'm starting to think that the obscene amount of self-imposed work that I do is a symptom of my closet masochism. Maybe it's the adrenaline rush that I get from rushing to complete seemingly impossible deadlines and the overwhelming euphoria I get when I survive that 'hell' week. Maybe it's the encouraging comments I get when dear friends realize the amount of nonsense I put myself through. But I can't be doing this every single week, can't I?

Or maybe I just really have something for leather whips and nipple clamps.

What have I gotten myself into this time?

Home.

2009-09-26T03:05:00.004+08:00

Finally, a real bed.

We often don't appreciate what we have until we have it dragged away from under our feet. And now that I get to finally sleep on one after so long, I'm going to make it count.

Going to be back in KL until Wednesday. Email me if you people down in Singapore need to reach me. It's going to be a nice, nice long slumber...

***

I'm still wishing that it'll come, somehow.

You can't stop a man from hoping, dammit.

A breather

2009-09-23T17:28:00.003+08:00

I survived today!

We completed and presented our case for the Post-it marketing competition, handed in our research methods report on the factors influencing people's reading of blogs and got through my quiz for Accounting 2!

When I got back to my room after all that I just couldn't help but keep bursting out singing Mariah Carey's "When You Believe".

When you believe, you can push yourself to achieve what you've never achieved before. Now, rest.

***

And when I woke up, I was gently roused my Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie. It was only the second time I was hearing the song but it made me feel unmistakably happy.

Just happily stretching on the bed.

I need to write a speech like this...

2009-09-21T12:04:00.002+08:00

Need to write a speech like that really, really soon. It would be so cool to be known as an inspirational humorist! But I have a test to study for, a report to complete and a marketing competition to win. Guess it all means that I have to be even more efficient now.

It's going to be interesting to see how I manage it all. Hope that it all goes well!

Sleepless weekdays (and weekends)

2009-09-19T16:43:00.005+08:00

Honestly speaking, it has been a tough, long, sleepless week and I'm actually pretty surprised that I survived it.

Come to think about it, university life for me is a large clash of extremes - on one hand, it's extremely taxing with reports, presentations and activities all piled up on you; one the other it's extremely fun and enjoyable with all the great people that I get to work on projects with, the late night suppers we take while taking 5 from an all-nighter and the crazy laughs we get from watching random clips off YouTube.

Spent the whole Sunday night rushing to complete a presentation for Monday morning, spent Tuesday night brooding over my Post-it marketing competition case, and Thursday night at the HSS student lounge rushing to complete the said marketing competition report for submission on Friday afternoon.

It's so tiring and so taxing, but I realize that on most nights when I get to bed dead tired I realize this one thing - as tired as I am, I laugh so much every single day, and I really can't say that I'm not enjoying myself.

Monday's presentation was for my Research Methods class and was about blog advertising, which is something that I am passionate about. Seriously, who else gets to put such pictures on the handouts he passes out to his professor and manages to get away with it? I do!

B(r)e(a)st free web game! Just proving my point that internet banner advertising is going down the drain!

Check out the evolution of the said ads HERE!

And the competition report was all about those handy little repositionable notes we call Post-its, and while it was tiring, it really wasn't too bad either.

Yup, that's the competition.

And as always, when things got a little to difficult to handle in the wee hours of the morning, we could always rely on the big guns - awesome clips on YouTube that we could depend on to bring us right back to life no matter how tired, hungry and cold we were.

Pure genius! The Japanese never fail to amaze me with all the crazy, crazy things that they can come up with!

As tiring as this crazy, crazy life sounds like, it's still manageable because of two things - I actually enjoy the things that I do, as well as the people that I work with.

The next few weeks are going to be equally challenging too, so I guess there's no time to waste. Full focus on my tasks and why I love doing what I do. Full on focus.

***

Of course, keep checking out my website on motivation and self improvement at http://kevinc.net today!

Working real hard to bring you readers top grade content despite my hectic schedule, so stay tuned!

Dimitri The Stud - How not to leave a phone message

2009-09-15T14:37:00.004+08:00

This is just so funny that I'm totally amazed that I didn't learn about it earlier!

The two videos are reenactments of two actual voicemails that a man who calls himself Dimitri left for some girl he met earlier. Apparently, he thinks he had excellent 'game', but trust me that his 'game' was just so good that the girl (whom Dimitri described) as 'elegant' never called back, but instead posted his voicemails up on the internets where he became an overnight internet sensation.

Enjoy!

This is just so awesome that I am including the complete transcript of the conversation for good measure!

Message 1

Hey Olga, it's Dimitri.

Sorry I had to leave such a rushed message with you when we met the other day. I just wanted to quickly give you my phone number, and needed to get the heck out of the area. In any event, I thought I had better leave you a more detailed message and explain why I approached you. I am single. I have no trouble meeting women; I mean, women approach me six or seven times a day. But I'm extremely particular about what I like. You're an extremely elegant woman. I couldn't take my eyes off you, and your friends were very jealous — even if they say they weren't, they were envious of the fact that I approached you, and I was very taken by you. Elegant women are very rare. I'm Greek and I'm extremely particular about what I like. So I'm giving you an opportunity here. I don't know if you picked up the message on the weekend but I'm working on a movie script so I'll be doing that all weekend…

This looks like a land line, and if it is you may not get the message till Monday. But when you do, call me and we'll get together for coffee or drinks, and let the romance begin. You looked very taken aback by my approach, and I hope that wasn't timidness, I hope it was just shock at being approached so directly. Because I don't really date timid women, because I'm a very direct, very passionate, very assertive man, and I want a woman who is very independent and strong. So… we'll talk about that, but I just wanted to formally introduce myself. I leave the ball in your court. You call me as soon as you have the courage to. Okay, Olga? Talk to you soon, bye.

Message 2:

Hi there, Olga it's Dimitri calling again, the guy from the street.

I left you a message several days ago you said you were interested. Now, here's the way I work. I don't like leaving second messages but I like you, you're a very elegant woman, you're very attractive, but, you know, I don't play that game. I know your friends tell you not to return calls; you're playing games like you see in stupid TV shows. So here's how it's gonna work. It is now 4:30 on Wednesday. Now I'll assume, I'll assume that you've already left work, because, you know, some people leave work early, so I'll grant you that. But if I don't receive a phone call back from you by 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon I'm no longer interested and I'm going to erase your number. I don't play games like that. I'm completely single, I'm very intelligent, I'm great in bed, I make great money. Believe it or not, I'm a complete catch. I've only been single four months; I had a long distance relationship for about a year, it's very tough to maintain it like that; there's nothing wrong with me. As a matter of fact I'm one of the few men in the city that has nothing wrong with him. So I'm giving you the three o'clock deadline. If I don't hear from you by then, you lose my number — I'm erasing your number right now, so you won't be hearing back from me.

So that's it: three o'clock tomorrow, or you can just completely forget it.

Now I understand if you've got other issues, maybe you're not playing games, I don't know… maybe you were abused in childhood?…Maybe your mother has cancer, and you're going to chemo…maybe you're just a person who's extremely frightened or has an anxiety disorder, maybe you're on some medication for that…I don't know, there could be another issue that I'm not aware of. But nobody says "Call me," hands a person a business card and then doesn't return calls. It's extremely passive aggressive. You should actually look that up, passive-aggressive personality disorder. You let me know, if you've got issues, psychological issues, if you're on any sort of medication for anxiety or depression, I'm not interested. But if you're psychologically normal, and you haven't called me because there's been some horrible thing that's happened in your life that's prevented you from returning my calls, that's fine. But otherwise? Don't call me. Okay, bye.

I think I should start working on my phone game! It could give my blogs a much needed viewership boost if I can do it like Dimitri! HAHAHHA!

The (not so) Ugly Truth.

2009-09-12T16:54:00.003+08:00

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I realised that Nuffnang Singapore is going to give away tickets to watch the preview screening of The Ugly Truth, starring my favourite actor, Gerrard Butler! I guess anyone that has been following this blog will know how much I LOVE watching King Leonidas in action, be it massacring Persian immortals in the 300, or romancing Hillary Swank from the grave in P.S. I Love you!

Told ya so!

But as usual, to get the tickets, we Nuffnangers were made to write blogposts concerning a certain topic to compete for those all-so-precious tickets.

And the question for today is this - what is your biggest turn-off during a date - and it happens to be quite a difficult question for me to answer for a number of reasons.

Firstly, for some reason, it's been quite some time since I've been out for a date date. It's not to say that I haven't been meeting wonderful women, but it's just that when I do, it's usually not in the context of a conventional movie and dinner (or dinner and movie, whichever is to your liking) date. I've been meeting people with friends, partied, went out to do something fun together very rarely in recent history did I feel like I was going out on a date.

The second reason is this - I think I have too much fun on my dates. When I actually find someone nice to go out with, that is. The last time in which I really didn't enjoy a date all that much was when both myself and the girl I was going out with realised that things weren't working out and we parted amicably after that. And that, my friends, was a long, long time ago.

And besides, uni life can be really hectic, not leaving much time left over for dates and the odd romantic tryst or two. Come to think of it I would be really fun to date some of the few girls I've met in school...

But I digress.

Gotta keep focused on talking about turn-offs during dates. I'm not going to talk about the really regular turn-offs that affect most people like bad breath, talking about other men during the date, gross facial hair, or just looking bad in general because that's just plain boring. That's just exactly what every other teenage emo bloggers gonna write about, and that's just so not me.

What really peeves me when I meet someone new is a lack of their own opinion. I find such people who do not possess their own views extremely shallow and boring. Does it not bother you that when you go out with someone because you want to get to know that someone better and they just hide in their shell and go 'err... I don't know' or 'err... I never thought about it' when discussing the most mundane of issues?

It's okay if it happens once or twice, but if this keeps going on too many times, as hot your date is, it's still going to amount for a pretty sucky date, in my opinion (wait, maybe I have to take that last statement back if she's really, REALLY hot).

Maybe it's just my debater background, but I find that a woman that can think and verbally spar with me extremely attractive. She scores extra points if she can engage in imaginative verbal role play too. So clearly, I would find a dumb, unopinionated person who cannot sustain a conversation with me a definite turn-off.

Yeah, definitely.

So, dear Nuffnang, I would really appreciate it if you could grant me those two free tickets to go to the premiere of The Ugly Truth because I really, really want to watch another awesome Gerrard Butler movie, but more importantly because I could kinda use a hot date right now, and tickets for a good movie sounds like a good strategy to arrange one. Seriously.

Hope to hear from you guys at Nuffnang soon, yeah? (:

Be a fan at the official Facebook page and catch The Ugly Truth when it opens in the cinemas on the 17th September 09!

The F5 key.

2009-09-10T01:13:00.002+08:00

Why do I HAVE to keep refreshing my Facebook page, blog pages and Twitter multiple times before I finally give up on waiting for any more notifications, comments or tweets to come in?

This could be a symptom of something more serious. Just maybe.

Damn, I should just learn how to sleep and forget the F5 key.

Mensa Madness

2009-09-07T21:56:00.005+08:00

The Mensa logo.

Way back when I was still a secondary school student in Malaysia, I applied for Mensa membership so that it would improve my resume - Mensa is one of the oldest high IQ societies in the world - and I thought that joining it would improve my chances of receiving a scholarship.

I didn't have a problem clearing the entrance IQ exam, but it just felt weird to me because I felt that Mensa was just a whole bunch of higher-than-average-paper-IQ folks just getting together to do stuff and who send you a newsletter (which I couldn't care less about) and meet up every now and then for activities. If I remember correctly, one of the last newsletters I got from the club mentioned something about a treasure hunt and a scrabble tournament.

It really sounds like any other random social club out there, and they had quite a substantial membership fee! So what if you score at the 98th percentile or higher on an IQ test? I had no reason to continue on with the club and so left it, pretty disappointed at the sunk cost I incurred taking the test and joining the club.

Fast forward to 2009.

Two good friends of mine, Kok Xian and Chong Xian are heading NTU's Mensa club. And guess who got dragged in to help promote their club?

I believe that their vision for the club - to make it one that is less elitist, open for all, and focused on the personal development of it's members would be a marked improvement from what I experienced back in Malaysia. I guess with such fun people heading the club, joining Mensa NTU would probably be a great decision!

Enjoy!

How does it feel to say yes to that special someone?

2009-09-06T14:24:00.004+08:00

As I was sitting in the train for that long, solitary train ride back to NTU from town, I just couldn't stop smiling.

I was just so excited and happy for my dear friend who had just made one of the biggest decisions of her life that I just looked like a smiling idiot on the train, sitting down and just beaming for no clear apparent reason.

Yes, a really dear friend of mine is engaged and planning to get married early next year! This would be my very first friend who is about to get married! The very first!

There's just so much to be excited about - the plane tickets, what I will be wearing, and what's even better is that I'll be able to see her after so long. It's been a long time since I've last saw her, and now I just can't wait!

But my friend's upcoming marriage really got me thinking about some things - how does it feel to be so certain about a special someone that you can just say yes; how does it feel to know that you're going to be with that special someone for the rest of your life; how does it feel to embark on that journey of life together, as a soon-to-be married couple?

Really, I have no idea at all how it would all feel like - getting ready to commit that 101% to that special someone. It would mean no more club romances, naughty flirting in school and going to parties excited because you could possibly meet someone really nice there. But being married also means that you already have found that someone that you waited your whole life to meet, and now you get to spend every single last minute, second with that special, special person.

I think it's just beautiful that my dear two friends can feel that way. Maybe it's just because I'm jaded and disillusioned from my past experiences, but that crazy romantic deep inside me really wants to just fall madly, deeply into love and manage to feel that way about someone again.

I'm hoping that all it takes is just for that perfect someone to appear.

To the husband and wife* to be, CONGRATULATIONS!

How could I ever speak about *****?

There's just so much to do there's no more time to waste!

* Names are witheld to preserve the privacy of the couple, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they're aren't so private after all. But just to play safe in case she calls be bodoh for no good reason at all. Better safe than sorry.

Fighting For Kisses

2009-09-03T17:16:00.004+08:00

This is by far the funniest ever commercial that I have watched this week! Don't miss this! It was so good that it pulled me through my research methods lecture, even though I watched it with the sound off!

Fight for kisses!

***

The one fundamental difference between a RPG and real life is the experience bar. You never know when you'll lvl up here.

O-Level Maths.

2009-08-31T22:16:00.004+08:00

It's been a tough and tiring week, and just don't know why, but life always seems to throw all everything at me in one big shot: work, assignments, and the latest addition to my life - a tution assignment.

Yes, Kevin Chan is finally going to push himself out of his comfort zone and go teach that one subject that he really doesn't like that much. Yes, you guessed it right if you were with me during my JC days, it's that dreaded subject that Ms Wong used to teach us - MATH.

I don't think it's gonna end up like this though...

But oh well, I guess I've said time and time again in the past that being pushed out of your comfort zone and forcing yourself to do the things that are difficult, that are scary, that other people fear, is the only way to really grow and be that better person. So that's why I'm doing it despite my hectic schedule.

Now I've really got to learn to optimize my time for all the many things that I'm going to be doing this semester, or I'll never make it past this semester. But come to think of it, I learn things best this way.

Now time to work on that laser-like focus and ruthless efficiency that I need to get through this semester! And yes, I still need a room. Room in NTU, anyone?

Wish me luck on my teaching my first O-Level Elementary Math kid!

15Malaysia

2009-08-26T10:04:00.004+08:00

For those of you that follow this blog, you may know that I have always loved both watching and creating short films! I always wanted to film a short, sweet film that really communicates a strong message.

And then 15malaysia.com came along.

15 short films about what it means to be Malaysian, 15 different directors, 1 beloved country!

Here are a few of the first few films released:

"Potong Saga"

"Chocolate"

"Halal"

"House"

I found "House" by Linus Chung especially poignant and touching. If you have to choose one of the four videos I've posted, watch "House".

Support 15malaysia.com! It's about time that Malaysia's talent gets some recognition!

***

UPDATE:

Linus Chung just commented on my blog and I just realised that he is a Nuffnang blogger too!

If you are interested to read up on more of his thoughts on his new short, "House", check his blog right here.

And do watch the Making of "House" too! It's on YouTube! I want to make cool shorts like this too someday!

The Update

2009-08-26T00:45:00.003+08:00

Hey guys, it's been some time since I've posted. I've been really busy with school, trying to find a CCA so I can earn points for hall next year and reading a really thick book on the life of Warren Buffet, "The Snowball".

I've really tried to iron the creases in my life out but I still face the same issues I did a month ago - homelessness, financial dependence on my parents and not as much willpower as I would like to have. I really hope to make progress in those three major areas and make it all better.

Well, one thing that I can be proud of is my new website, at http://kevinc.net! I have always wanted to have a dedicated blog to personal improvement and I have finally started one! I have been writing tons of really interesting articles concerning the three aspects of love, health and wealth with relation to personal development and am really excited about posting them and maintaining that blog!

So, give http://kevinc.net a visit and make sure you bookmark it or at least add it on your RSS feed! I am really trying to come up with original articles that will hopefully motivate you guys out there as well as share the knowledge of personal development that I have picked up over the years! Also, I am using it as a personal journal of sorts to chart my personal development over time.

As for this blog, as I am back in Singapore and do not have my direct support group I had the privelege of leaning on back in Malaysia, it has been difficult to come up with the next earth-shattering stunt.

But as it is always, life is unpredictable. So continue to watch this space. Who knows what will come up next?

P.S. If you know of any freshmen in NTU who are moving out of Hall, let me know ASAP! I still really need to find a permanent place to stay there! It would be heaven to finally have a desk, chair and wardrobe all to myself again!

Hamlet's Hero - The Questionnaire

2009-08-20T23:33:00.006+08:00

I've just been quite busy with school and with my (not so) secret project lately and have been really not been updating this blog enough.

I did a really long questionnaire to try to be shortlisted for an interview for an upcoming reality TV programme and I just thought that it will be really interesting if I posted it up.

I didn't get selected but I just hope that you guys will enjoy reading my responses to the questionnaire!

My Completed Questionnaire

Questions for bloggers:

1. Profile

1. Which school/university did you go to?

I’m currently an undergraduate business student in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, doing a double major in marketing and law.

2. What is your dream job?

Ideally I would like to be self employed and create a business that allows me to be both creatively express myself as well as contribute to the betterment of society.

3. What was (or still is) your day job?

I’m still a student, but blogging for competitions these days comes close to a job.

4. What/how/who made you go into blogging?

I have always been one who needed to have his opinions heard, and I love to write from time to time. I had no reason not to blog when I was on my long break after my A-level papers, and I have never looked back.

5. What is your interest / passion that you blog about?

I like doing crazy, crazy things from time to time and that has become something that I try to treat my loyal blog readers from time to time with. However, if you look beyond the humour, wackiness and occasional rant, you will see that there is a strong self improvement theme running in my blog. I love self improvement and motivational literature and I always hope that what I write may benefit my readers out there.

6. How did you come up with your nickname?

I have a really dear friend whom I affectionately refer to as Hamlet from time to time. We once joked about being rock stars and having our own band and we thought at that point that it would be just awesome to name our band Hamlet’s Heroes. We never ended up forming that band, but it struck me as an awesome name to go by when I started blogging.

2. Blogger’s home

1. Show us your workstation / work area (Where do you live ? Do u mind us coming to your home ?

Sure, you guys are free to come over to my place. I live in Kota Damansara, quite near the Mutiara Damansara area, when I am not studying in Singapore.

2. Introduce to us your housemates / family members (Who would be available to be in our show? Really would love to speak to all your family members)

This can be arranged. My mom’s quite shy in front of the camera but my Dad is quite sporting. In fact my dad starred in my very first YouTube video for an advertorial I did with Nuffnang for Mr. Potato crisps!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usXZe7EmM_M

I also have a brother who is in secondary school and a youngest brother who is still in primary school.

3. Show us your wardrobe and share with us your style ? Any fashion tips for us?

Sure thing, if you don’t mind looking inside my travel bags. I like to dress simply but classily. A fitting black tee, nice jeans and the correct sneakers never seems to go wrong somehow.

4. What are your grooming tips?

I’m a simple guy. I just keep my hair short so it’s easy to style and shave regularly for that clean shaven look. Chinese guys should just shave more and go clean shaven. We’re just not made hairy.

5. Do your neighbors know that you’re a blogger?

No. I do live this mysterious double life.

3. Blogger’s favourite hangout place(s)

1. Where do you go to get your inspirations

It’s more of who I am with to get my inspiration rather than where I do so. I get my best ideas when I talk and chill with my closest buddies. Many of the ideas I used I must say are actually ideas of my close friends that we worked on together, with their permission, of course. I’ve got inspired sitting in the Kancil of one of my closest friends, as well as in various cafes and chillout places in Malaysia in Singapore. Places like Old Town White Coffee and Station One café.

2. Do you have anybody that knows you well who are willing to be part of the show where they will spill the beans on you? (a best friend/s?) Pls let us know on this .

I definitely do know plenty. The best person to contact for this would be Chan Wing Chuan. He knows plenty and has in fact helped me in a great deal of my blogging exploits!

3. Where do you workout / play sports / recreation (Any place that you go that you might want us to shoot ie futsal, rock climbing , go karting etc)

I work out when I can with a close friend of mine at Fitness First, the Curve and spend quite a lot of time in general in that area (when I am in the Klang Valley, of course).

4. Show us a secret hideout – Klang Valley’s best kept secret

The Dataran Sunway area near my place. It’s just bursting with good food and it’s so good that I rarely have to travel far for good food these days!

5. Do you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend that we can interview?

No, but I have tons of super close friends.

4. Blogger’s favourite entertainment

1. Who are your favourite celebrities – meet up with celebrities

I am currently loving the music of Jason Mraz, which I managed to meet and take a picture with last year in Singapore. He is just awesome.

2. Who is your favourite radio DJ – Hitz deejays

I really don’t listen to the radio all that much, and only do when I am in driving. No preferences here. Just give me good music and I am a happy dude. Listen to Hitz, Light and Red FM in the car.

3. Which local bands do you listen to?

I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to many local bands but my latest local obsession is Zee Avi! Her songs are just so sweet!

4. Share with us which website(s) you visit frequently and why

Cracked.com. I spend so much time checking this site for updates that it’s crazy! This site offers high quality humour articles which are just awesome. They also have the craziest top 10 lists on the web! You have to check it out!

Where else can you find lists like 5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy or 9 Awesome Places to Have Sex (And the Horrific Consequences)!

5. What sports do you do or is there anything you do to keep active ?

I try to jog and visit the gym whenever I can.

5. Blogger’s family giving the low-down

1. Show us an old photo and tell the story behind it

That’s the oldest picture of me that I could find. That’s me when I was really young and I was pretending that my box radio which I somehow destroyed was some kind of telecommunications device. Yes, I was in to handphones even back then!

2. Parents’ view – about the blogger becoming a blogger? We need some embarrassing stories? What can we cover that would make it an interesting show?

I feel that my parents kinda take it for granted that their son goes around and does crazy things from time to time. Other people get really shocked when they see my Spartan pictures but my parents just laughed a little and got back with whatever they were doing. Guess that they’re just too used to it.

Well I once got really high on beer at a Nuffnang event and my parents weren’t too happy about it. Does that count?

3. Siblings – what they do, what ‘names’ they call each other

Two younger brothers, with one in secondary school and the other in primary school. The one in secondary school is a national debate champion and public speaker and my youngest brother loves sports.

4. Spouses talking about their first date, memorable and embarrassing moments together

No spouse to speak of yet.

6. Blogger’s secrets reveal

1. Tell us 5 things/secrets that all of us don’t know about you

· I am a certified Padi Open Water diver.

· I played the character of a gay nerd who sang and danced for a musical for my university earlier this year.

· I typed the responses to this questionnaire as well as did the majority of blogging for my blog posts on a nearly 4 year old Acer laptop which screen is breaking down till the point it has like a 2 inch thick discoloured band of pixels right in the middle of the screen! It’s dying and it is lagging all the time! Why did I have to have my Nuffnang laptop stolen!

· I once had a picture of me during my high school days ripped off my blog and used in an advertisement for a college in Vietnam. My friend was holidaying there and when she saw my face in giant posters all around the city she had a great shock and took tons of photos! http://hamletshero.blogspot.com/2008/08/this-is-what-happens-when-youre-on.html

· I was once the very responsible assistant head prefect of my secondary school, once upon a time.

2. Show us your other talent(s) – playing instrument, singing, dancing, etc

I was really active in the debating circuits in both Malaysia and Singapore during my secondary school and college years and now am continuing my oratorical career with the Toastmasters. I enjoy acting too and performed in my first musical earlier this year. I wish that I could play instruments and sing though.

3. Who is your favourite blogger(s) and why?

Well, considering I read tons of blogs I find it hard to put my finger on that ONE favourite blogger. But I must say that Kenny and Pinkpau are the two of the main blogger influences I had that motivated me to start blogging. Kenny is just great cause I really enjoy his brand of humour and Pinkpau just writes straight from the heart. Come to think of it, I try to a little bit of both in my own blog.

4. Truth or dare segment – ask a personal question (info from family/friends)

Well, feel free to come up with something to ask me. I’m game.

5. Any controversy that you might want us to cover?

Some crazy weird Malaysian issue featuring Malaysian politicians who say the darndest things would be interesting!

6. What is the most outrageous thing you will do to be in Project Alpha that we can film you doing ?

Well, I have walked through One Utama in a Spartan outfit, cross dressed and filmed a parody of Lady GaGa’s Poker Face, and much more. Maybe do some crazy Borat-ish stunt interviewing a Malaysian politician? Or maybe building a sawdust cannon on some building and setting it off? The sky’s the limit.

7. Have you got any footage of yourself doing any crazy/interesting things which we can use in the show ?

Sure, just look through my YouTube channel. (: It’s quite sad that we didn’t film the Spartan invasion thing though. ):

http://www.youtube.com/user/hamletshero

7. Blogger’s tips/Insights /views

1. Tips on how to become a blogger/writer

First off, have some kind of focus in your blog. The blog should have some content or some general theme that would make people keep coming back for more. Writing about your sad depressing life all the time generally isn’t that interesting, unless you happen to be some super hot female blogger, that is.

Secondly, post regularly. You don’t want to disappoint your readers by making them wait too long.

And thirdly, my pet peeve – putting music on your blog. Don’t do it! No matter what you think, I think it just makes your blog appear like a 13 year old girl’s livejournal, and it also makes your blog take longer to load.

2. Which Blogger do you think is Sexy /Hot and why?

I think Dawn Yang is hot! Cheesie is pretty cute too! Am I supposed to discuss my aesthetic preferences here? I just think that they are hot-lah!

3. Which Blogger do you think talks the most crap ?

Emo bloggers who just keep ranting on and on about their miserable lives. I don’t know who because I never stick around long enough to learn their names.

4. Which Blogger do you think is a wannabe ?

I think I may qualify as one, in the eyes of Malaysian blogging community. HAHAHA!

5. What is your secret to being an ALPHA BLOGGER?

I spend great time and effort planning out my exploits with my friends and have a great support team to help me out. I also take great time reflecting and writing my heart out whenever I can.

6. Which blogger do you admire the most ?

Steve Pavlina from http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/. He writes a good blog and really manages to come up with very fresh and interesting ideas concerning self improvement which I really enjoy. I admire the effort and energy he puts into his articles and the strong following that he has. His site may not look all that awesome, but this guy can really, really write!

7. Which Celebrity Blogger in Malaysia do you think cuts the grade as a blogger?

I think Kenny makes a pretty good benchmark – he has the traffic, writes well and posts pretty regularly.

8. What makes a good blog ?

In short a good blog is one that’s just interesting and makes me keep coming back for more. Just keep posting good content, and you will eventually get your following.

9. What makes a crap blog ?

A neglected blog is a crappy blog. I guess I already voiced out my opinions concerning emo kids complaining about their crappy lives on the net calling themselves bloggers but I have said too much already.

10. What do you think of doing advertorials? Is it selling out ?

It depends. I believe in doing advertorials only if you believe in the product you are writing about. If you are doing an advertorial for some kind of crappy product and waxing lyrical about it just because you are paid to do so, you will just end up misplacing all the trust your readers have in you. Trust on the internet is really important, because come to think of it, it’s all you have. So I would definitely say lying to your readers in advertorials is just bad and downright wrong.

My dear friend, the Model (to be!)

2009-08-16T16:00:00.001+08:00

This is my dear friend, Wing Chuan, and he is a dentist-to-be that aspires to be a model one day.

This is the photo he submitted in his application.

In order to make his dream a reality, he went for the recent Malaysia Supermodel Search audition at the Curve earlier this year just to give it a shot.
He even made me help him get that perfect shirt and the right he needed to ace that interview.

And he came to me recently with news that he made it through that very first round!

But now in order to proceed with the competition he needs SMS votes! In order to showcase his pure awesomeness and to solicit your very precious vote, we shot this video when he was down here in Singapore holidaying two weeks ago!

Beach Mayhem

Vote for Wing Chuan today by texting "MSS18" to 36828 today!
(This is applicable to Malaysian cell phone numbers and costs RM0.50 per vote)

Give him a fighting chance at being Malaysia's next supermodel today! Anyone who can rip off his clothes and steal the girl like that definitely deserves to go into the next round!

Vote for Wing Chuan today!

***

And I am just gushing over this Taylor Swift MV:

Things like this just bring out the hopeless romantic in me. If only magical things like that would happen in reality. But one can still dream.

This is where I will be sleeping tonight... NTU Hall 14

2009-08-14T16:53:00.003+08:00

Where I currently stay.

Finally, I have a quasi-permanent place to stay.

Learning of my plight, my really nice senior, De Zien, offered me a place to stay in his single room in Hall 14. What's truly remarkable is that he welcomed me with open arms into his room without any hesitation, even though I was never really close to him to begin with.

Really, wouldn't this world of ours be so much better off if we had more such people? People who just would just go the extra mile for you, not because that they are chasing some reward, but because it just is the right thing to do?

It also made me realize that I want to just like that too - I want to help people out there because it just is the right thing to do.

"Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light."
Albert Schweitzer

Go out there and rekindle someone's waning flame today. They'll be eternally grateful for it.

***

BREAKING NEWS:

I'm going to do my next crazy stunt and I need a backup team! Anyone, if you're in Singapore and willing to help, let me know! I need cameramen and creative minds! Hope to hear from some of ya!

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

2009-08-12T01:06:00.003+08:00

Just forget the mind-numbing fear and see the adventure. Focus. You will survive no matter what.

The flipside of true hardship and fear is exciting fear. I just have to keep my eyes on that.

It's all in your hands anyway, even right from the very beginning.

This is where I will be sleeping tonight... NTU Hall 2

2009-08-11T00:33:00.002+08:00

NTU Hall 2 this time!

I still have no permanent place to go but thankfully a dear friend had an extra room whom he still has the keys to. He has to return the keys tomorrow afternoon but I guess a bed to sleep on is always a bonus, ya? It's a miracle that I have not really had to sleep on the floor save for that night in the NUS reading room, seriously!

Today as I was leaving NUS for NTU, Nayan, my dear ex-roommate chided me for always being so last minute and not knowing where exactly I was going to sleep tonight. He said that if I just took like time out to plan in advance, I wouldn't be caught up wondering where I would rest for the night till the very last moment.

And I guess he has a point.

I really need to learn how to plan, how to have multiple plans of action instead of just going headfirst into something and hoping that it all works out.

But then again I think that I am secretly addicted to the adrenaline rush of being so crazily spontaneous.

I really hope that I get a room in the third round of balloting. The results are rumoured to come out tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying hard.

Choke.

2009-08-09T13:35:00.004+08:00

I'm just done reading Choke, another novel from Chuck Palahniuk and there's this one quote, on the second last page of the book that somehow stands out a little more than the rest.

"We can spend out lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can just decide for ourselves. And maybe it's our job to invent something better."
- Choke, Chuck Palahniuk

Yeah, maybe it is our job to invent something better. It's about time.

And off I go to do another two sets of forty.

This is where I will be sleeping tonight... NUS.

2009-08-08T01:12:00.002+08:00

This is where I will be sleeping tonight, a quiet room in an unspecified hall in NUS.

Finally, a really comfy mattress!

Thank God for good friends, seriously!

I was walking along the Bras Basah complex after dinner and I saw a homeless old man just sleeping on the cold concrete with his few possessions just right next to him. As dire as my situation may seem to me, I really am just so lucky to always manage to find some way to keep a roof over my head, be it in a kind friend's room or in some university reading room.

But I really need to do more to get myself of this rut by finding some way to make enough money for me to afford to get a place of my own.

And so I decided to drop by the Singapore Nuffnang office to just see how they're doing down there and chat with Ming about working there.

And Ming told me to check out their rooftop. So we did.

That's Adelyn, a junior of mine in SA who is also in debate, on the rooftop.

If you think that the tables and grassy rooftop isn't cool enough, wait till you see the next picture.

It's a pretty cool pool!

Yup, they have a freaking pool just above their workplace!

Now I'm definitely going to work there if they take me in!

Homelessness: The Adventure Begins

2009-08-06T23:31:00.003+08:00

It's going to be a good night as I finally found someone who can spare me a nice bed and room all to myself with an internet connection to boot! I am in a hostel room in NUS and am staying there for a couple of days before my friend has to move in. Finally, some way to get my internet fix which I am so sorely lacking!

This is what you have to do when you don't have a place to stay.

The past few days have just flown by like an awesome blur as Chuan, Bryan and I toured Singapore like mad tourists doing all sorts of crazy fun stuff, which I am at this moment, frankly too tired to blog about now.

But they left for Malaysia this afternoon, leaving me alone by myself in Singapore, still without a fixed place to stay. Where will I move my stuff and bunk in next? Only God knows.

Who knows, as hard as it may be to be a nomad and move around all the time, it hasn't been all bad. Moving around and bunking around a friends places has given me the opportunity to meet and reconnect with friends that I have not had the privilege to see in ages, as well as the chance to meet new people.

Being forced to sleep on empty tables in a dark reading room may also have been extremely uncomfortable, but it has made me a harder, stronger and more resilient person. We only grow when we push ourselves into the realm of the uncomfortable, don't we?

Chuan, Bryan, thanks so much for coming down, helping out and always believing in me. You guys are the best. I wouldn't trade my brothers who will stand by me through thick and thin for the world.

Being caught stranded, without a place to stay down here has really helped me see who my real friends who will go all out to help me, pray for me, and care for me are. And it has made me realise that I have so many blessings in my life that I really have no right to complain.

Here, I guess my real nomadic experience begins. Wish me luck!

I should be packing...

2009-08-02T01:48:00.004+08:00

But I'm spending all the time I can with my closest friends instead. No wonder I always end up packing last minute and just cramming all my stuff into suitcases.

Cramming stuff into suitcases, and after that, it's Singapore all over again.

Only this time, I'm gonna really push myself to do all that I have to do. There's no other way about it.

***

Edit:

It's 9:13am, Monday morning and my bus will leave at 11am. I am still not ready to leave.

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

2009-07-29T23:06:00.003+08:00

"Perseverance. That's just what we're lacking, the only thing separating us from those people way up there," Chuan said to me earlier this afternoon.

"Yeah, I guess," I weakly replied, knowing that he was absolutely right. He has that way of just going straight down to the point, even though that point may not be something that you may want to face just yet.

"We're really not that different from those legendary people we hear about all the time that just seem to have it all - the ability to win every damn award they can, and still manage to study in the most prestigious of universities in the world, it's just that we never seemed to finish so many of the things we started. We had our opportunities, our breaks, but the thing was that when the going got tough, or when it started to get boring, we just let go and dropped it. That's the only difference between us and them, and we better learn to persevere if you want to get out of this rut," Chuan continued.

What can I say, when he said it all already?

Oftentimes people complain that some people just exist to make our lives miserable by just achieving so much and being super awesome in general. The thing that they fail to see is that we're not that much different from such people. If we open our eyes and pick ourselves up from that pit of self pity, we can see that opportunities are abundant for the picking in this land of plenty.

There are things to do, ways to serve society and causes to support to make this world a better place. And they're all around us and I'm sure we have definitely taken some of these opportunities up in the course of our lives.

The only difference between us and that high achiever you never managed to measure up to is just what Chuan was talking about earlier - just the sheer perseverance to keep going even though no one believes in you, the sheer will to keep going on even though your muscles are numb from the exertion, the sheer persistence to keep going on even though the drive to succeed wavers and is running low.

Come to think of it, I've been living a pretty comfortable life - I've never had to beg for food; I was never ever really homeless and destitute; I've never been chained up in a cell and treated like an animal.

I have been too comfortable, and when you get too comfortable, you don't grow. The greatest personal growth only happens when you get pushed out into that deep end and you have to either learn to swim and cope, or drown and be forgotten.

It is time that I get out and just dive into that deep end. I have been comfortable for too long, and my iron will has gone rusty.

And I believe that life, being that wonderful miracle that it is, has just given me that opportunity. This Monday, I will be returning back to Singapore for the new term, but the difference is that this time I will not have a place in hall to stay in as I did not acquire enough points. I now am homeless.

I have also decided that I have been spending way too much of my parents money of late and have decided that I really want to be more self sufficient with my finances. You can only live off your parents for so long before you become dead weight, holding everybody down.

I'm in the deep end, and it's not an option to continue with all the things I've started but not finished anymore, it's a definite must.

I have to go all out with my tuition business to pay for the extra expenses I will be incurring staying outside.

I have to go all out interning part-time to make up for lost time.

I have to put my heart into my work and give this year my best shot as I don't want to be that bum that just keeps letting his parents down. No more.

Even when the world says, "Give up," I'm going to hang on to the Hope that whispers, "Try it one more time."

I'm going to pick myself up and be that person that I dreamed of being - determined, powerful and strong - and achieve all that life has in store for me.

And it all begins with perseverance.

Bruno is just too good!

2009-07-28T16:51:00.004+08:00

I guess I have no choice now but to admit the truth right here - Sacha Baron Cohen, creator of Ali G, Borat and Bruno is my idol.

He just is so damn good.

Just watch these YouTube clips where he is interviewed if you don't believe me.

And if you just have enough time to just watch one clip, please watch the last one with the knitted yarn penis. You just can't miss that one. Seriously.

Knitted yarn nipples, belly button and a full set of male genitalia! What else is he going to think of next! I really need to step up my game!

A plea for help.

2009-07-26T13:22:00.003+08:00

This is not a plea for help for myself, but rather for a 4 year old girl named Charmaine.

Yup, that's 4 year old Charmaine.

Charmaine is just 4 years old, much younger than the majority of you who read this blog and she has been diagnosed with 4th stage neuroblastoma, a cancer, giving her only a 10-20% chance of recovery if she continues treatment in Singapore.

Those are real slim chances, if you ask me.

The good news is that she stands a much better chance of survival if she does undergo treatment in New York, but the bad news that treatment over there costs a lot more. And her family just can't afford it, not unless the public steps up to the challenge and helps.

Nuffnang, our beloved blog advertising community is aiming to help raise $80,000 (SGD) to help improve that one little girl's chances, and with 40,000 Nuffnangers in Singapore and loads more back home in Malaysia, reaching that goal wouldn't be a problem if we all step up to this challenge and do our parts.

It only takes $2 from each of the 40,000 Nuffnangers in Singapore for us to reach this target, to offer this girl a better chance of surviving the cancer, giving her a better opportuinity to do all those things that we tend to take for granted in our lives - like taking her first major exam; going out on her first date; graduating from university; and receiving our first paycheck.

This is one girl who's chances are slim enough already, and I think that it is only fitting that we all chip in to increase her chances at survival, to increase her chances at being able to live her life to the fullest.

If this cause is one that you believe in, please spread the word, and just click here for more information on Charmaine's cause and how to donate.

I thought that I had a rough week, but looking at things in perspective made me remember just how lucky I am. Thank you, my closest and dearest friends, for supporting me when I really needed it most.

They say that the best way to bring yourself out of the slumps in life is to go do a good deed, something that would put a smile on another person's face.

"A good deed is one that brings a smile of joy on to the face of another."
- Prophet Muhammad

That girl means the world to her parents. Do the right thing today, and put a smile on someone's face.

The Lighthouse

2009-07-23T00:40:00.003+08:00

Remember, you will not find true joy in sleeping, in relaxing or in spending your time like an idler. As Benjamin Disraeli said:'The secret of success is the constancy of purpose.' The happiness you are searching for comes through reflecting on the worth aims you are dedicated to achieving and then taking action daily to advance them.
- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

But that's just what I have been up to lately - floating around in a purposeless haze, living the life of an idler. And I know not of a worse personal hell to sink into.

I once used to be a little boy with big dreams, I wanted to reach for the stars, and that drive kept me going, kept me working.

Now I am a bigger boy, but where have the dreams gone? Life without worthwhile dreams is a life just not worth it. You have no compelling reason to jump out of the bed in the morning; no powerful drive to force you out of the covers.

You end up merely existing, certainly not living.

I want to know that spirited young boy once again. That little boy who knew no boundaries and dared to dream. That little boy that was genuinely excited about his great big adventure in life and was bouncing around, trying to carry out his great plans.

Let me know myself again, let me know those dreams, let me know my Dharma.

Let the idleness stop, and let it all be clear.

May I see it clearly before me, like a lighthouse shining bright on a warm summer night.

When all is clear, there will be no fear.

My Lurve Affair with Drama

2009-07-11T22:13:00.008+08:00

If there's something that I really am in love in, and happen to have so much in my life, it's just her - my dear Miss Drama.

Drama is just everywhere in my life, and even if I do try to ignore her, I can't as I am just so intimately intertwined with her.

When I decide to go to One Utama for a shopping trip, she tags along...

THIS IS SPARTAAAA!

When I decide to take a dip in the local swimming pool, she's there!

Lord GaGa says hi!

Even in university I end up in a musical surrounded with drama (and made to dress up in funny costumes)!

This is so bad, that even when I wanted to film a video for this very competition, DRAMA befell us once again...

In the form of having the car broken into and having my baby laptop which had just won at the Nuffnang Stand Out party last month stolen!

Yes, at this very party!

It happened near Atria in Damansara Jaya and we really just didn't expect it! Imagine having your car broken into and finding your prized laptop stolen when you just dropped in the local Giant to buy watermelons!

The poor smashed window. ):

Yes, all because we went down for a moment to buy watermelons!

Drama, drama!

But because my love for drama was that strong, even though we did have to spend most of the night sitting around in police stations to make the said police report, my team and I still pressed on to get the video done, at any cost.

Emo time at the police station. ):

After losing the HP laptop, we had to win that Macbook Pro that Kraft is offering!

We Nuffnang crazies keep going and get the job done at any cost!

Girls + Lurve = What more can a guy ask for?

We worked throughout the night, only snacking on Lurve Multigrain chips to regain our strength...

Yay we have yummy food (beware the axe)!

And taking some breaks posing with Lurve chips too! And we can tell you for a fact that they are awesome to have breaks with! Especially like this...

Lurve love!

And they did indeed sustain us through that hard, hard night!

A little watermelon juice did wonders too!

And we present to you, my own personal Lurve affair.

Enjoy!

Sorry Nuffnang

2009-07-11T00:49:00.002+08:00

Sorry Nuffnang, but that new laptop I won just got stolen. Car was broken into and it was taken away. Now I really, really need to win that MacBook Pro!

It's gone, with all my writing and pictures and work.

No time to feel sorry about this now as making the police report already taken up most of my night already.

Lurve affair, here I come!

Note: Chuan's car was broken into near the Atria in the Damansara Jaya area. Be careful if you do park your car there.

Memories of a dateline missed.

2009-07-09T02:36:00.005+08:00

Last year I missed the dateline for the "I Sleep Better With Chipster" contest because I just kept procrastinating the act of actually purchasing the Chipster chips to take photos with.

Thankfully, I still managed to attend my first ever Nuffnang party at the Borneo Baruk club due to my wonderful friends who got my tickets and enjoyed myself immensely.

To think that the horrible monster, evil demon, wretched ghoul, whose name is Procrastination nearly stopped me from getting to know the blogging world up close and personal.

That is why I will not miss the dateline this time.

Full speed ahead to the completion of my Lurve affair project!

I won't miss the dateline this time!

And as I was going through my archives, this was the blog post that I was supposed to put up for that "I Sleep Better With Chipster" competition which I never entered because I missed the dateline!

The Post:

The room was dark and cold, with a forbidding air about it. I just wasn't sure. How could I be? So many failed attempts, failed chances and broken hearts floating about in my sea of memories, I hesitated.

I just knew that this door was more than just a door to me - it was a temporal opportunity, the kind of rare chance that comes flashing by just once and then disappears into the dark, black void, never to be heard of again. I knew that this was one thing I had to do for myself, the one thing that I deserved after all these lonely years.

As I stood there, gathering my courage, the door knob stared mockingly at my shadowed visage. Throughout the course of my life, it had been nothing but ordinary; today, the knowledge that someone was on the other side of the door made the knob possess a menacing presence, a worthy adversary. It looked cold and unforgiving to the touch. Just thinking about touching it sent thoughts of it searing right through my naked flesh jolting through my mind.

"But I won't live my life in regret, not anymore," I muttered to myself under my breath.

Bare skin made contact with cold metal, and it sent a shiver down my spine and into the very deep, dark depths of my existence. I would have jumped if I did not hold myself back. I fought the reflex to pull away. I could hear the moving of small metal parts of shapes incomprehensible to me. There was no turning back now, I was past the point of no return.

The door creaked open and a dark figure appeared across the room, gently lying on the bed. I could see the curves of her silhouette. Her head turned and she seemed to make eye contact with me through the darkness of the room. Her stare threw my mind back to another time, another place, where the people that I've let close into my life hurt me again, and again, and again. Was it worth it to take that risk again?

Then it struck - amidst all the pain, the lies, the deceit, there was one in my life that never let me down. After being with her through the night, she still was there for me in the morning - she never walked away from me. She never failed to satisfy all my senses, as she made my skin tingle whenever I put my fingers inside her. She electrified my tastebuds when I licked my fingers which tasted of her. Her aroma just filled the room like magic and took me to heaven several times over. Did I mention the sounds she made as I ate her? She was crisp and fresh for my taking, always.

It was her again today. It was my one true love, the one worth sleeping with. I had nothing to fear.

Don't you sleep better with Chipster?

Don't let procrastination get the better of you!

Malaysia takes yet another giant step backwards... towards the dark ages.

2009-07-08T15:56:00.003+08:00

The latest shocking news today:

Science And Maths In BM And Mother Tongue In 2012
PUTRAJAYA, July 8 (Bernama) -- The teaching and learning of science and mathematics in national schools will revert to the Malay language effective 2012.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the teaching and learning of the two subjects in Chinese and Tamil national-type schools would be carried out in their respective mother tongue.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the cabinet today approved the suggestion by the ministry to empower the Malay language and strengthen the teaching and learning of the English language at all levels of schooling.

"This strategy was drawn up based on the study and monitoring carried out by the Education Ministry on the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English since the policy was implemented in 2003," he said when making the announcement at the Education Ministry, here on Wednesday.

The first group of students who studied science and mathematics in the English language since Year One sat for their Ujian Penilian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) last year.

--BERNAMA

Just when you thought they couldn't get any dumber and were actually doing something to improve the quality of our nation's very employable graduates, they go on to do this.

Just how would this strenghten the teaching and learning of the English language at all levels of schooling? Oh yeah I remember now - the vast majority of our science and mathematics teachers aren't even proficient in English to begin with.

Oh well, I guess there goes our Vision 2020 then. It was great knowing you.

Saturday Night Web-Surfing

2009-07-04T23:40:00.002+08:00

Keeping late nights and then proceeding to wake up (reasonably) early and gymming during the afternoon does terrible things to your overall energy level.

Things so bad that you can't find the energy to do anything more than surf the web (and YouTube) aimlessly for yet another comedy fix while everyone else is out partying.

But I guess surfing the web for comedy can be worthwhile when you find links to great gems like these:

1. Awesomely Bad (and Funny) Student Responses to Test Questions
Now this is a real gem! I have seen a couple of these responses before in forwarded emails, but I have never seen so many awesome ones compiled together on a long list like this!

Here's a sample!

2. 14 Painfully Funny Firework Fail Videos
Fireworks and teenagers who lack judgment always seem to come together to produce real lulz. Seriously.

Just check this out and you'll see why (definitely not for the faint of heart)!

Told ya so!

3. The Best Karangan Ever
This is just so awesome that I'm just going to repost it here. I know it is quite old but this is for all those people out there who have not read it yet!

Enjoy!

Karangan budak darjah 4
Pagi itu pagi minggu. Cuaca cukup sejuk sehingga mencapai takat suhu beku. Sebab itu saya tidak mandi pagi sebab air kolah jadi air batu dan air paip tidak mahu keluar sebab beku di dalam batang paip. Pagi itu saya bersarapan dengan keluarga di dalam unggun api kerana tidak tahan sejuk. Selepas itu emak saya mengajak saya menemaninya ke pasar. Tetapi saya tidak mahu.

Selepas emak menikam perut saya berkali-kali dengan garfu barulah saya bersetuju untuk mengikutnya. Kami berjalan sejauh 120 kilometer kerana pasar itu letaknya 128 kilometer dari rumah. Lagi 8 kilometer nak sampai pasar saya ternampak sebuah lori kontena meluru dengan laju dari arah belakang.

Dia melanggar emak saya. Emak saya tercampak ke dalam gaung. Dia menjerit “Adoi!”. Lepas itu emak saya naik semula dan mengejar lori tersebut. Saya pun turut berlari di belakang emak saya kerana takut emak saya melanggar lori itu pula. Pemandu lori itu nampak kami mengejarnya. Dia pun memecut lebih laju iaitu sama dengan kelajuan cahaya. Kami pula terpaksa mengejar dengan lebih laju iaitu sama dengan dua kali ganda kelajuan cahaya. Emak saya dapat menerajang tayar depan lori itu. Lori itu terbabas dan melanggar pembahagi jalan lalu bertembung dengan sebuah feri. Feri itu terbelah dua.

Penumpang feri itu yang seramai 100 orang semuanya mati. Pemandu feri itu sangat marah. Dia pun bertukar menjadi Ultraman dan memfire pemandu lori. Pemandu lori menekan butang khas di dalam lori dia..lori itu bertukar menjadi robot Transformer. Mereka bergaduh di udara. Emak saya tidak puas hati. Dia pun terus menyewa sebuah helikopter di Genting
Highlands dan terus ke tempat kemalangan. Dia melanggar pemandu feri yang telah bertukar menjadi Ultraman itu.

Pemandu feri itu terkejut dan terus bertukar menjadi pemandu feri semula lalu terhempas ke jalanraya. Pemandu feri itu pecah. Pemandu lori sangat takut melihat kejadian itu. Dia meminta maaf dari emak saya. Dia menghulurkan tangan ingin bersalam. Tetapi emak saya masih marah. Dia menyendengkan helikopternya dan mengerat tangan pemandu lori itu dengan kipas helikopter. Pemandu lori itu menjerit “Adoi..!” dan jatuh ke bumi. Emak say menghantar helikopter itu ke Genting Highlands. Bila dia balik ke tempat kejadian, dia terus memukul pemandu lori itu dengan beg tangannya sambil memarahi pemandu lori itu di dalam bahasa Inggeris.

Pemandu lori itu tidak dapat menjawab sebab emak saya cakap orang putih. Lalu pemandu lori itu mati. Tidak lama kemudian kereta polis pun sampai. Dia membuat lapuran ke ibu pejabatnya tentang kemalangan ngeri itu. Semua anggota polis di pejabat polis itu terperanjat lalu mati. Orang ramai mengerumuni tempat kejadian kerana ingin mengetahui apa yang telah terjadi. Polis yang bertugas cuba menyuraikan orang ramai lalu dia menjerit menggunakan pembesar suara. Orang ramai terperanjat dan semuanya mati.

Selepas itu emak saya mengajak saya ke pasar untuk mengelak lebih ramai lagi yang akan mati. Di pasar, emak saya menceritakan kejadian itu kepada penjual daging. Penjual daging dan peniaga-peniaga berhampiran yang mendengar cerita itu semuanya terkejut dan mati. Saya dan emak saya terus berlari balik ke rumah. Kerana terlalu penat sebaik saja sampai di rumah kami pun mati. Itulah kemalangan yang paling ngeri yang pernah saya lihat sebelum saya mati.

And that's just some of the lulz that I caught tonight. (:

Now I'll just have to catch up on some sleep so I'll be wide awake for the Cheer 2009 finals tomorrow.

Sleep is good,
Hamlet's Hero.

The reason I should be on the MTV blog squad!

2009-06-30T23:47:00.006+08:00

Because... I am also secretly...

LORD GAGA!

Can't read my Poker Face!

I recently decided to join the MTV blogging contest and I really thought hard of something that would give me an advantage against the other contestantants and Chuan figured that we should just stick to our unconventional craziness.

And so unconventional craziness it was!

Watch our Poker Face MV (with a big shiny MTV in it)!

(Watch the second video if you can't load the first one!)

Shooting the video was extremely tiring work and now I can safely say that I can now better empathize with the stress movie producers go through in the process of producing a movie!

I hope you guys like the video!

And just a little extra, my written application for the MTV blogging competition!

Being a successful artist is all about playing the fame game - sex, drugs, money and scandals. Comment. (they make it sound so much like an essay question!)

Being an artist may seem straightforward enough to those not in the industry - all you got to do is to just come up with a hit song, a really good one, and you'll be way up there, a star.

But the fact is that in this dog eat dog world, skill and talent in music just isn't enough. You may have the grooviest beats that are more fun to ride than anybody's discostick, but if nobody out there knows
who you are, you're just that - yet another nobody.

That's why I believe playing the fame game is so important - artists need it to be heard. An artist singing in a quiet forest is a nobody in this fast paced modern jungle that we live in.

I understand this very vital fact because a blogger is not too different from the artistes you see on singing on MTV - our popularities and henceforth, our success - is directly dependent on how popular and
in demand we are. And to rise to the top, the fame game, not unlike the one played by our dear Paris Hilton in her one (sexy) night in Paris, would help so much.

I believe in the fame game also because I vehemently disagree that it's just sex, drugs, money and scandals. Sex, drugs, money and scandals alone isn't fame, but just notoriety.

To be a truly successful artist, you would have to play the fame game well because it is also about being the best and most outstanding version of yourself that you can be. Everyone around you is going to be
able to sing and come up with some catchy tune, but if you observe the true legends, you can see that they play the fame game so well that their lives become their true masterpieces that live on through the
ages.

Fame all comes down to a mysterious mixture of both creativity and raw bravery to do the things that make one legendary - be it being the fastest metal shredder in the world; or the one to amaze his audiences with an amazing 45° anti-gravity tilt; or coming up with THAT dance that everyone seems to know.

In this ever shrinking world where new artistes come and go at an ever increasing pace playing the fame game isn't something extra that artistes can do without anymore – it's a pure necessity, if you want to reach the top that is.

And that's enough trying to sound intellectual for me.

I believe that YOU, the one reading this document right now, trying so hard to look for the next generation of deserving MTV bloggers, deserves a much needed break from reading the vast amount of boring application letters which I believe you had to wading through for quite some time before you got to this one.

And so, this is my little treat from me to you. (And the best part is that considering an applicant for position rates very highly on possible reasons to visit YouTube during working hours)

It is MTV related, created by this blogger here, and I sincerely hope is entertaining enough for someone in MTV to enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKrLMk3BYLk

I swear that the link I provided is safe and does not contain any LOL cats or RickRolls. Cross my heart.

Or if you should feel strongly against visiting that link, please pop by my blog as I have recently written an MTV related blog post that should be of serious interest to you, the reader.
Really hope that at the very least, I helped brighten your day and know that should you be the benevolent being to put such faith in me and choose me as the next member of your distinguished blog squad, I will go beyond the call of duty to do the craziest, funniest things in the name of MTV.

Promise!

Hope to hear from you soon,

Kevin Chan
A.K.A. Hamlet's Hero
and also
A.K.A. Lord GaGa (only in that one YouTube video of course)

who blogs at

http://hamletshero.blogspot.com

I really hope that this application will succeed!

Keeping my fingers crossed for an email from MTV,
Lord GaGa.

***

Edit: OMG I so didn't realise that my previous StandOut post was discussed on a lowyat.net forum thread!

Here's the thread http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1053295

It's so funny to be the target of these very real internet personality disorders! HAHHAHAHA!

Thriller

2009-06-26T15:16:00.002+08:00

Thriller is playing on Hitz.fm right now and it just feels so surreal.

Michael's not just a man dressed in a zombie suit today, he's really dead this time.

And his voice is still everywhere to be heard.

Night creatures calling, the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They're open wide)
This is the end of your life

- Thriller

Guess there's no escape for him this time. Life's unpredictable, life it to the very fullest.

Transformers!

2009-06-25T12:45:00.002+08:00

These here have to be the very best Transformers fan-vids that I have seen on YouTube. If only the scriptwriters of these fan-vids wrote the script for the newest movie.

Caught the latest movie on Tuesday with all the awesome Nuffnang people and must say that although the action (and Megan Fox) was totally awesome (even though there was a littleeeee too much of Megan running, and panting... but who am I to complain?), the plot could have been so much better, and the Fallen should have been so much more badass.

Oh well, the movie still had Megan Fox in it to make up for all that.

Why is it...

2009-06-25T02:31:00.002+08:00

Why is it that you sometimes have to lose something before you realize that it means something important to you?

Why is it that things seem to come easier when you don't need them, and remain elusive when you really want them?

Why is it that women can't make up their minds?

Some things we'll never know the answer to, but they definitely do make life seem more so mysterious, don't they?

They make me feel like a three year old kid, taking his first peek into the mysterious and wonderful world outside the window, where everything is new and fascinating.

Instead of frustration, anguish and irritation, maybe all we need is to have those three-year-old eyes again, and look at life's issues with a fresh sense of wonder and excitement. And magically, it all looks better.

Like one big playground.

If only I could feel this way about the gym.

2009-06-23T17:19:00.002+08:00

Damn, if I felt the way the Arnold felt about the gym I would be way bigger than I am today!

Arnie:

The greatest feeling you can get in the gym, or the most satisfying feeling you can get in the gym, is the pump.

Let's say you train the biceps, blood is rushing to your muscles and that's what we call the pump.

Your muscles get a really tight feeling, like your skin is going to explode any minute and it's really tight it's like someone's blowing air into it, into your muscles.

It just blows up and feels different, it feels fantastic.

It's just as satisfying to me as coming is, you know? As in having sex with a woman and coming.

So can you believe how much I am in heaven?

I'm like getting the feeling of coming in the gym; and I'm getting the feeling of coming at home; I'm getting the feeling of coming backstage when I pump up, when I pose in front of 5000 viewers, I get the same feeling that I am coming day and night!

I mean, it's terrific, right? So you know, I'm in heaven.

*BEAMS*

How come it doesn't feel like coming day and night for me? WHY?

Blogging overload.

2009-06-23T02:56:00.002+08:00

It's weird, but I find it way easier to post when I've done less things rather when I have just done so, so many things and find myself having to choose a few and blog about them.

And now there are so many things that I have to write about my Singapore trip - from how Wing Chuan lost 5kg due to all the backpacking; how we went into Butter Factory with our gigantic backpacks; how we stood up a bartender; slept in a friend's living room, and the list just keeps going on and on.

And damn, I can't decide. And too tired to post all the pictures.

But what I can say is that this recent Singapore trip really made me step out of my comfort zone, and by that, really helped me grow, which I strongly believe to be the best thing that I can do for myself right now.

Step out of that comfort zone, or you will never level up.

Don't want to stay a n00b forever, don't you?

I'm marvelous.

2009-06-20T03:16:00.002+08:00

I promise this, promise this;
Check this hand cause I'm marvelous

So marvelous.

My trip in Singapore just keeps getting better and better in ways that I never imagined.

Sometimes, just relaxing and staying open to the opportuinities that life brings you can lead you to places that you've only dreamed about.

Say yes to your wonderful life (it's wonderful, you just have to open your eyes real well and see it).

In the car.

2009-06-16T20:20:00.003+08:00

Yes, you read me right. I am writing this post from the very inside of my car. I have my laptop on my lap, with it's screen partially resting on my steering wheel. I'm using the wireless connection from a nearby Starbucks and the thrill of surfing the web - minus having to buy the obligatory coffee or two - feels awesome.

It's been so long since I've really just written about my life on this blog. Not that anyone would want to read about it anyway. Or do you? Or do you just want to read about the funny and crazy things that I do?

But it's not like I really care today. Today I'm just gonna be talking a little bit about myself. Some stream-of-conciousness sort of writing. Something cathartic.

The holidays have turned out vastly different from what I expected them to be. At the beginnning of my holidays I already made clear travel plans to travel to Phuket, Vietnam and then Melbourne in July. The tickets were bought and paid for, and I was all set to go.

Then the swine flu hit. Apparently it wasn't safe to travel to Phuket and Vietnam, so I cancelled. Then Melbourne hit the news as the swine flu capital of the world.

It felt like there was someone up there with a big magnifying glass burning up my hopes and dreams for travel just like that.

And I'm stuck here with this intense need to just go somewhere and experience some adventure - to go somewhere I've never gone before, to experience different climates and seasons, to do things I never done before.

And since my 1 month long trip to Melbourne has been called off, I have to now figure out some way to do that here. Right here in KL.

There's no point complaining about it and feeling sorry for myself at this point, and if I keep complaining, it only means that I'm not working towards a solution here.

And there's this other issue, that I feel that my past couple of days have been immensely unproductive. I've been spending way too much time sitting on my chair, surfing cracked.com, gizmodo and facebook instead of actively pursuing my goals.

It's like the total lack of structure of the holidays is screwing up my productivity somehow. I need to get more organized!

Sigh. Yet more organizational angst.

Yup, so I've got it all out of my system, I hope.

I'll be down in Singapore to do some soul searching till Sunday. Let's see if my life gets more sorted out then. If anyone has any really awesome projects to work on, let me know. I really want to dive into producing some meaningful work.

Take care people,

Hamlet's Hero.

I missed Saturday's Star Metro!

2009-06-14T01:31:00.006+08:00

Earlier this morning I received SMSes from Roger and Chuan that sounded a little bit like this:

Roger: Eh, our pictures are in the newspaper lol!

Chuan: We appeared in the newspaper already!

And I had no way of checking that article out as I was still on Pulau Tioman meditating and contemplating life.

I was serious!

I've just got back from a wonderful family holiday at Tioman, but now since I can't find a copy of the Star for sale, I got to wait till tomorrow find someone who has a copy. Oh well.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments that I have been getting over the past week. It really is heartwarming to know that people out there share my crazy sense of humour and that I am not alone in my quest to do crazy, crazy things.

Expect more to come from this space, and I'll post a scan of the article when I can. Cheers people!

Update:

Here are the pictures from Star Metro! But sadly they were far from flattering.

Seriously.

Oh well, but it's still the papers! (:

How to get away from policemen with tasers!

2009-06-08T17:09:00.002+08:00

You just invoke the name of God, the archangels and random X-men, and start rapping random phrases like this dude here!

If only the people arrested during the whole 'One Black Malaysia' thing did just that!
Police brutality is a terrible, terrible thing and we Malaysians need to be more educated about our rights and not just blindly fear the police which good for nothing politicians have been using recently to scare us into submission.

Courtesy of Mob's Crib (which is awesome as usual!)

Cheers to Nuffnang's Tiger Standout Party!

2009-06-07T02:13:00.002+08:00

Just back from Murni chilling with all the Nuffnang bloggers that 'yum cha-ed' with us there after the party at HQNine at TTDI plaza!

If you're one of the great bloggers that I've met today, please leave a comment or add me on Facebook! I'll be great to get to know you amazing people more!

Gotta go already! Take care! (:

Obama Addresses the Muslim World

2009-06-05T14:15:00.003+08:00

It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples - a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us, "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."

The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.

- Barack Obama

Another truly inspiring speech by Obama.

I just hope that he goes beyond his beautiful rhetoric and actually manages to do something concrete to end all this senseless conflict that has been going on for generations.

Read the full transcript of his speech here.

Bed rest.

2009-06-04T21:26:00.002+08:00

I just feel remarkably lethargic and tired today. One of those days where the life force has been sucked dry from the shell that we call our bodies and you're left hanging to whatever scraps of energy you have left. But I guess I'm just being overtly melodramatic.

One thing is clear though - good music heals the soul. Brings us back to life. Helps us remember that even in a world plagued by famine, war, disease (blasted H1N1!) and the tyranny of many, many evil men - this world is still way more good than bad, that life really is just one big miracle that we are all in together.

Zee Avi made me feel that way with her music today.

Listening to her music just made me happy.
And with that I'm off to bed.

P.S. : To all of you that supported the Spartan Invasion of One Utama, THANK YOU!
It's so heartwarming to read all of your encouraging comments!

Tony and Khairy

2009-06-04T16:05:00.003+08:00

Had the chance to see Tony Pua and Khairy Jamaluddin verbally spar and entertain us with their wisecracks yesterday at the "New America, One Malaysia" forum at the JW Mariott Hotel yesterday.

They were so damn funny that Andrew Loh even went on to comment that they should form a comedy duo. I totally concur.

How does Tony and Khairy sound to you? I bet they'll beat Phua Chu Kang any day.

I'm a Standout in life!

2009-05-25T17:41:00.004+08:00

In life, I make it a point to stand out in the things that I do, and I really mean it.

That's why I'm not going to write yet another crappy post about how I think I am awesome just because I can score good grades in school; because I can chow down a Wendy's burger and talk at the same time; or just because I dare to jump into the sea from a boat - that's just mundane routine for Kevin Chan here.

So I decided that to win this little Standout competition here, that I would have to do something really AWESOME for a change, something that would at the very least stand out strongly in my memory, and I am proud to tell you folks that I, collaborating with Roger (from the Republic of Awesome), Chia Wei (from chiawei.net) as our photographer and Tysern (from tysern.blogspot.com) as our bag-boy have managed to bring you the only ever...

SPARTAN INVASION OF ONE UTAMA (in recorded history)!

It all started with dinner with Roger in Singapore. We were both talking about Nuffnang's Standout competition, and it went on a little something like this:

Roger: Hey, we should join the competition lah, then we'll get to go to the party and all.

Kev: Yeah, but what are we to write about? We write about awesome stuff so much it all just doesn't feel awesome anymore.

Roger: Hmmm... maybe we should just go do something really awesome. Remember that time that I terrorized the hostel in a Spartan outfit, going this is SPARTA in poor Zac's face?

Kev: Yeah dude, you're on to something here, only that we have to do something a few levels more awesome than that... What if we... go around terrorizing random people in ONE UTAMA, in SPARTAN OUTFITS!

Roger: YEAH! Great, I'll get the red capes and I'll meet you at 3pm and we'll go off to One Utama together. How's that? Set?

Kev: Set lah!

And that was how we ended up in front of One Utama on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, all geared up to raid and terrorize our beloved shopping mall.

So how do you prepare to raid a shopping mall in Spartan gear? It all starts with the right gear.

Our Spartan shopping cart!

In the cart we have two really nice red ~~towels~~ capes, two nice ~~wushu~~ Spartan spears, some belts, a ~~dustbin lid~~ kickass golden shield and of course, a Spartan's favourite drink to relax after a hard day's work of killing and plundering - CHILLED TIGER BEER!

With all our gear assembled, we pushed our cart straight into the valley of the shadow of death, our own private Battle of Thermopylae, the gates of One Utama, getting one too many awkward stares on the way there. But those preliminary stares were nothing compared to what we were about to face on the inside of that wretched building.

We quickly found a toilet and went in as mere mortal men, but we emerged as IMMORTAL SPARTAN MEN, ready to rock ONE UTAMA!

One Utama, here we come!

And then it came from all around - the giggles and stares from the people around us. It took some getting used to, but a little giggle or a weird stare from an old wrinkled auntie never stopped Leonidas, and I guess it could not hurt us either.

Old auntie gives us the weird stare!

We go around with our gear and Tiger beer and attack all targets in sight!

There goes the Colonel!

We've got McDonalds in SPARTA now!

We were just posing with more beer when we realized that we were standing right in front of the great Spartan temple... the VIDEO SHOP!

The video shop, chock full with Spartan goodness!

And so, we raided the shop for what was rightfully ours!

We reclaimed what was ours, and we decided that we had to move on, and that there was more of One Utama for us to conquer.

Our heroes move on to their next battle!

The next logical step in our conquest of the shopping mall would be to attack the information counter. There definitely must be some intelligence we can obtain there!

We approached the information counter stealthily, but there was something there so awful, so terrible that it managed to hurt our hardened Spartan eyes - it was the evil QUEUE!

THIS IS MADNESS! THIS IS A MALAYSIAN QUEUE!

After what seemed like forever...

And that was when I just couldn't take the blasphemy that was happening right in front of me anymore.

I was so pumped up after kicking that blaspheming information-counter-guy into the deep, dark, bottomless-pit-of-death that I just went on a RAMPAGE!

It's ass kicking time!

Roger wants to stab the beer for some reason!

Take my animal rage, woman!

We even brought our madness all the way inside Toys-R-Us and the cinemas!

Toys-R-Us!

The Cinemas!

In short, no one could resist the Spartan invasion, and some people even stood on our side with us.

Okay, maybe just one...

But after we got our crowns from Burger King, things just started getting better and better!

Every king needs a fitting crown, and Burger King gave us theirs!

What's more awesome than Spartans invading One Utama?

Spartans chatting up chicks, of course!

Yup, we could do it wearing a red cape and holding a really long spear. Can you?

Energized by the power of our crowns, we went on running wild through One Utama!

We ended up having so much fun, that the some really obnoxious, old security woman that couldn't speak English tried to shoo us away, telling us that we need permission to take photos in One Utama! What utter rubbish!

She was real angry that we kept ignoring her complaints in Malay (I admit, that I am a bit rusty here) but we were never one to pass a good photo op by, and so here is a goofy picture with an absolutely furious, bitchy old security hag.

Just look at that super DULAN look on her face! Priceless!

The mall security elsewhere were more friendly and even offered to pose with us!

The friendlier mall cops.

It was a long day, even for us Spartans, and we finally decided to call it a day at the bowling alley in One Utama's new wing.(But not without some more cam-whoring, of course!)

Some bowlers even wanted pictures with us!

A great shot with our excellent photographer, Chia Wei!

Considering that we started right all the way back in the center court of the old wing, made a whole big and walked all the way to the bowling alley of the new wing, I can safely say that we Spartans did indeed manage to conquer most of One Utama!

And finally, after a hard Spartan day's work of terrorizing, plundering, rampaging, pillaging, and conquering, it was time for a nice cold Tiger.

Just what a spartan needs after a hard day's work.

And my little Spartan invasion here is just why I stand out so much more than the 99.999% of bloggers out there. Period.

To you guys at Nuffnang, Robb, Timothy, Ming, I really want to go to this party, so I have my tickets, pretty please? At least enough tickets so that all four of my friends who helped me out in this AWESOME AWESOME blog post can all be there and make your event an even better one.

And also, I promise to try not to get drunk this time. Serious!

Hope to see you at the party!

***

Just for you guys, the posts of the other guys who were part of the Spartan Invasion!
Roger
Chiawei

The Transforminators

2009-05-23T15:53:00.002+08:00

John Connor:
This is John Connor, we've been fighting for a long time.

It was bad enough when we were fighting the terminators, then the transformers came.

Now we just call them the transforminators.

They used to just shoot at us.

Now they turn into sweet cars.

They're taking human prisoners, replicating human tissue, and worst of all...

...eating all of our sand.

AND JUST FOR NAIFEN (and his penis jokes)

"...It's full of... PEA-NESS..."

The next level of my Lady GaGa fetish!

2009-05-20T00:56:00.003+08:00

I think watching this just brought my Lady GaGa fetish to the very next level!

It's just makes me want to be one of those (very objectified) dancers on her shows! It's just all so awesome!

That settles it! Ladies, just to let you know, if you would ever want to date me, it would score you points to follow the following tutorial and look totally awesome like GaGa! Hahahahaha!

Yeah, it would make me one very happy man. (:

And just one bonus Lady GaGa vid I chanced upon - Poker Face (Acoustic)

Isn't she just AWESOMEEEE?

The day that time flowed backwards.

2009-05-19T23:34:00.002+08:00

Today I took a jog at 12:30 am, but I arrived back at my hall at 11:30 pm.

It just so happened that I was so used to coming back late and running my errands around hall at earliest 12am that I thought that the time on my phone was wrong and shifted it two hours later when I was jogging.

But the feeling that I suddenly had more time left in the day was awesome! It's as if a whole brand new world of opportunities has just opened up and there's so much potential that these two extra hours that I'm presented with possess.

No wonder what lies right between the past and the future is called the present, it's indeed a gift of infinite potential.

Now I've just got to figure out how to make this happen more on school days...

The Recording Studio

2009-05-19T01:25:00.002+08:00

I just had my first real taste of recording songs in a recording studio, and it really is a lot of work! Spent the whole night just recording a couple of lines for two of our songs.

Just hope that it will all be worth it when we're done with all this recording.

Then there will just be no more excuses not to kick start my internet business for good. Some other people are out there working freaking 7 days a week, what am I doing?

The Spy

2009-05-17T22:58:00.001+08:00

Team Fortress 2 vids are just awesome, aren't they?

Now to seriously think about what to do about my resume. What now, brown cow?

The Beach

2009-05-15T00:42:00.002+08:00

Been doing a lot lately. Driving up to Ipoh to visit my grandmother; meeting friends for laptop-case hunting; reading; trying my hand at web and graphic design.

Everything seems all over the place. There's so much to do, and so much to get straightened out, but I just seem to keep putting things off. It all adds up to feel pretty tiring sometimes.

Burdensome. Like a heavy rock.
(Guess how much that designer 'rock' costs! Ans: Close to $2000!)

Yup. So going to the beach today and doing absolutely nothing but relax and play with the sand was just awesome. Yeah, it was therapeutic and awesome. And yeah, we had to chase away the odd bangla or two that tried to chat up Jasmine. But it was still awesome.

The three beachgoers!

Photobombed while trying to pose sexily!

Recharged and ready to go!

Oh well, now that I'm all recharged, it's time to get back to work designing logos, learning css, learning Dreamweaver, writing a speech for Saturday and getting everything straightened out!

Geek mode turn on.

2009-05-11T18:38:00.003+08:00

The coding of a web page of a thousand lines begins with the first <html>.

kevinc.net coming soon.

Krispy Kreme

2009-05-11T00:29:00.002+08:00

Just last week, Tysern, Charlotte and I took a drive down to the hottest new doughnut shop in town - Krispy Kreme - at Berjaya Times Square deep in the heart of KL!

The iconic neon red sign!

Krispy Kreme is a well known chain of doughnut shops well known for their really tasty glazed doughnuts. They're so good that people have been known to fly them in to Malaysia and Singapore as presents!

I remember trying them a long time ago and I remember that they were really good! And now we finally get an outlet in KL when Singapore doesn't even have one yet! Yay!

And so like all good doughnut places, there was a long queue waiting for us when we arrived at the shop!

The queue.

Thankfully, the queue wasn't too long and we even got a complimentary freshly fried, warm glazed doughnut to savor while waiting! That super fresh doughnut - super warm, spongy and tasty - was likely to have been the best tasting doughnut I have ever had. The three of us finished our doughnuts in mere seconds.

The glazed doughnut we had was just so sugary, but it was just so good! And know just why it's so sugary? It's because the doughnuts practically go through a SUGAR SYRUP WATERFALL to get perfectly glazed with sugary goodness!

The beforementioned waterfall!

Our first doughnuts were so good that we totally went nuts when we reached the counter.

Assorted doughnuts!

Cookies and cream!

We all went so nuts that we bought 3 dozen doughnuts (to be split and taken home by the three of us, of course)!

Our sugary, sinful doughnuts.

They just were so good and we had to have some there before we went home.

Nom nom nom!

We had no more than 4 doughnuts per person, but after about 3 doughnuts each, we all felt like something wasn't quite right. We started giggling and the stupidest things and making really dumb jokes (really dumb, as in much dumber than the usual lah!)!

Yup, these doughnuts are so sugary that they induced my first ever case of full-fledged-sugar-intoxication! I'm swearing off super sweet doughnuts for quite some time now.

So the next time you wanna get intoxicated, but you just don't have the money for alcohol, try taking at least 4 glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts and I'm quite sure that you'll feel the results!

I want claws like this!

2009-05-06T01:02:00.001+08:00

Claws just like this!

Homemade Real Wolverine Like Claws X-Men - More amazing videos are a click away

Roar! Now to work on the Wolvie body!

Makeover.

2009-05-02T00:58:00.002+08:00

This site, like its owner, needs to seriously undergo a good makeover.

It's time for new beginnings.

Poker Face

2009-04-27T02:30:00.003+08:00

This is just so good.

She just oozes attitude in every single facet of her performance. It's just so good that I couldn't stop watching the video even though it's 2:30 in the morning right now.

Poker Face on the Paul O'Grady Show

Just awesome!

I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be
A little gambling is fun when you're with me (I love it)
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun

Ain't that so true...

Emancipation

2009-04-26T01:00:00.001+08:00

Exams are out and I have more than three whole months of glorious holidays laid out before me, for me to do as I wish to them.

I better make the most out of these three months.

First, I need to regain my strength. Been feeling so tired lately. Guess that means I have to start sleeping earlier.

Exercise, Work, Blog and Read.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do this glorious holiday. Yay!

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-28T20:43:00.002+08:00

NTU is participating in Earth Hour 2009 and Hall 5 has all its corridor lights switched off in support of this event!

The corridors are really dark, with only the fluorescent green EXIT signs lighting them faintly. It almost feels that people are going to start coming out of their rooms screaming and cheering (yes, university students have such tendencies), but as it is a Saturday night, most of Hall 5's residents are away at home.

Just a little background on Earth Hour from www.earthhour.org:

YOUR LIGHT SWITCH IS YOUR VOTE
This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.
For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Hope that you're having fun with your lights off in support of Mother Earth too!

Living on the edges.

2009-03-27T14:55:00.003+08:00

WORK. BUY. CONSUME. DIE. Is this what you really want?

7. Live on the edges.

This is probably the most important quality of the remarkable man. If you’re going to pay attention to anything, pay attention now. You can’t be remarkable by simply “doing what works,” following a pre-made template for life and keeping your head down and nose to the grindstone.

If you want to be more than just a pawn, you’re going to have to take control of the game. You’ll need to decide how your life is played, instead of living by default.
- Seven Traits of the Highly Remarkable Man - www.kinowear.com

But that seems to be what so many people are doing right now, here at university. I see so many following pre-written scripts on how to be successful and make it big at some prestigious firm, so many blindly grinding away at the grindstone just because they aren't sure of their dreams.

I myself am not totally exempt from all this. Sometimes I just wish that my hopes and dreams were just a little bit clearer, and that I have the discipline and courage to chase it.

We only have one life to live, and what a waste if we spend it just living out someone else's life.

Looking forward for the holidays where I'll probably get to live a life closer to my ideal one.

Rustic Ruminations

2009-03-21T20:43:00.004+08:00

I feel like I am in a quaint little, rural village, perhaps far away in China, far removed from civilization.

The room is but only half lit by my florescent desk-light, which but casts a white light on the right-hand-most portion of my desk, while leaving the rest of the room in shadows.

The chirping of crickets, and all manner of nature's night-sounds are to be heard, reinforcing the illusion of the rustic countryside surrounding me.

The less than chilled beer tastes surprisingly refreshing, as it courses down my throat. The warm chicken noodles are surprisingly satisfying and make a perfect accompaniment to that one open can of Tiger on my desk.

Far removed from the world at large, away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, with the cold night for company, I find peace, and the most mundane of chicken noodles taste like the King's finest meal.

What a valedictorian's speech should be like.

2009-02-08T01:51:00.001+08:00

If only we get to see more speeches like that in Singapore! (: So feel like trying to give one like this for Toastmasters sometime soon!

My Leave of Absence

2009-02-07T16:26:00.002+08:00

I myself do not fully understand why I suddenly stopped blogging, letting this blog fall into this state of neglect and disrepair, but as I look back at the good times that I've had writing in this blog, as well as getting so excited about reading all the comments you readers post, I've realised that blogging is something that really makes me happy.

I don't know how many of you out there still read this blog, but keep hanging on! I still plan to write and there will be more coming soon!

Just need to find that writing spark in me all over again. Wish me luck!

Hamlet's Hero out.

Birthday Greetings from Mom and Dad.

2009-01-17T00:13:00.002+08:00

At 12:01 AM, 17th January, I received a post on my wall on Facebook from Chan Siew Foon that went something like this:

Our dearest Kevin,

" Reflecting on the last 20 years of joy that you have brought into our lives,
Recounting all your achievements that you have made with pride,
Recalling all the magical moments that you have shared with us with delight,
We are always happy to have this loving son at our side ! "

We will always treasure :-

- Your hand made " Best Mum & Dad in the universe badges.
- Your compassionate, kind & loving nature shown from a very young age.
- Your daily reassuring words, hugs & kisses for the whole family.
- Your perseverance & hard work towards achieving your goals.

To us, you have already written many beautiful & memorable chapters in our
lives and we thank you for that.

We are truly blessed & proud to be your parents & we would like to wish you :

" HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY & MANY HAPPY RETURNS !"

We love you very much & meow- meow,

Mum & Dad.

My dad's current Facebook profile picture.

I really have the best family in the whole, wide universe. (: I love them so much!

Finally, a new year.

2009-01-16T16:57:00.002+08:00

It's been so long since I last posted. It's not that my life was so uneventful, that I really had nothing to write about; it's not because I had nothing to say in response to your lengthy comments; but just that there was so much to say until I never had the time (or took the time) to put it all out in words.

So much has happened, a new year, and I'm turning twenty really, really soon. And despite not being perfect, come to think of it, I do like who I am at the moment. In retrospect, I feel that 2008 had been a really difficult year, with the weirdest things happening, but all that I've been through really made me grow up as a person, so much more than all the books in the world can ever do.

To maturity, wisdom and better decisions for the year,
Hamlet's Hero.

***

And I have a really interesting quote from a famous entrepreneur, Morten Lund, who has invested in more than 80 startups, most notably Skype, about our current, maybe dreary times.

"...remember out there that the chances out there are bigger now than ever; all the pricks went back to their safe jobs; the time for entrepreneurs is now!"

- Morten Lund, on the current financial situation.

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade, ya?

Merry Christmas from a certain someone...

2008-12-25T04:24:00.003+08:00

To every single person in the world that considers me a friend:

I'm sorry that I haven't been updating or been spending enough time with you guys. Recently I've been busy, as well as spending a lot of my time thinking.

This Christmas, lying on my bed, I realized that one of the most important things to me is to treat my friends right, and I realized, better than ever before that all you guys out there, wherever you may be, be you in America, the UK, Singapore, Australia - anywhere in the world right now - you guys mean the world to me.

I may not do it right all the time - I often come off as self centered and arrogant - but I've realised that I really mean well, even though sometimes I come across as a cold callous bastard. If that was the case, frankly speaking, I just didn't know what to do.

Alone in my thoughts I just knew in that moment that I wanted you all to know - even though I may not be immediately near to you, or available to meet up - that all of you mean a great deal to me and that I sincerely wish that you have a merry, merry Christmas, from the very bottom of my heart.

So sorry that I may not be able to be with you at the moment, but remember that I am just human, just like you. But I miss you so.

Merry Christmas, and happy new year, from the deepest crevices of this boy's heart.

Your faithful friend,
Kevin Chan

Medical Expenses.

2008-12-15T00:08:00.003+08:00

I finally have something to write about, but even though I slept the whole day, I'm still in no condition to write as I still am in a drug induced stupor due to the horrible, horrible flu that plagues me now.

Yes, I kid you not.

And I have like $40+ worth of medicinal pills and capsules all scattered over my desk. My head's in such a mess and the state of the room really mirrors how I feel inside. Messed up, apathetic and tired.

Let's see how things are back home.

Memento Mori

2008-12-08T03:02:00.003+08:00

I woke up at about 1:45 today. 1:45am - right smack in the middle of the night.

Earlier today I was helping out at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon as a volunteer part of my Impresario committee's effort to canvass some extra funds for our project.

The Drinks Station

I was posted at one of the drinks stations and this is how it all looks like after the runners were through with us. (:

We were there at City Hall right from 12:30am last night, all the way till about 12:30pm on December 7th, and as a result of that, my internal body clock is majorly messed up right now.

Waking up in the middle of the night is weirdly disorienting. I'm pretty used to sleeping and waking up in the day, but waking up when it's all dark, silent and cold around you is weirdly disquieting.

I was lying in bed, and I just felt this chilling emptiness inside me calling out to me, and I wondered - what is my great purpose in life?

Or does it make sense to have any at all?

It's just one of those moments that makes you just pause to ponder and reflect, and I realized that there are somethings that I really want to do before my lease on this mortal vessel I call my body is up.

Here's a few of the things I thought about:

1. Write a published Novel
I've been talking about this for some time right now and I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not putting in much effort at all into planning and writing my novel and so I did a Google search for "how to write a novel" earlier tonight and I did manage to get some good pointers on the step-by-step guide to the process of writing a novel.

One article that I found particularly useful was the "Snowflake Method" and I decided to do step 1 of the method which is to write an overarching one sentence summary of my novel.

Step 1) Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your novel. Something like this: "A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the apostle Paul." (This is the summary for my first novel, Transgression.) The sentence will serve you forever as a ten-second selling tool. This is the big picture, the analog of that big starting triangle in the snowflake picture.
When you later write your book proposal, this sentence should appear very early in the proposal. It's the hook that will sell your book to your editor, to your committee, to the sales force, to bookstore owners, and ultimately to readers. So make the best one you can!

Some hints on what makes a good sentence:

Shorter is better. Try for fewer than 15 words.
No character names, please! Better to say "a handicapped trapeze artist" than "Jane Doe".
Tie together the big picture and the personal picture. Which character has the most to lose in this story? Now tell me what he or she wants to win.
Read the one-line blurbs on the New York Times Bestseller list to learn how to do this. Writing a one-sentence description is an art form.

(Read the rest of the "Snowflake Method" here.)

Yeah, so I decided that the one sentence summary for my novel would be - A coming of age story of a boy struggling with meaning, purpose and love in his life.

One of my favourite books is Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Reading it somehow changed my life in ways that I would do no justice to describe in words. Who better to write a coming of age novel than one who is currently going through all that the dear protagonist would be going through in the novel? The only issue is that I'm still unsure of how this story will end, but we'll wait and see, won't we?

2. Run a full marathon
Watching the runners push themselves through the marathon today was inspiring. At the drinks stand, we saw people from all walks of life - from the fittest athletes of African origin to the grotesquely obese; from the very young, being pushed around in prams to old, wizened grandparents all pushing themselves to complete the marathon.

And I realized - I don't want to go through life without conquering a challenge like this one.

It's not going to be easy, but the more challenges you overcome in life, the stronger and more confident you become of overcoming the rest. I want to do this simply because it is not easy, and I really need to grow stronger, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually to overcome the challenges ahead. I just have to.

I don't know why, but I feel like I'm floating right now, but not one bit sleepy. Guess this is the time to take a break. Hope you guys out there are great.

Memento mori, least we waste another day.

That Mirror Image

2008-12-03T17:30:00.004+08:00

It's amazing - when it's the exams and there's so little to say, I still end up blogging like no tomorrow; but when the exams are out and I have so much to say, I find myself holding so much back.

You can never be completely honest when you write about your own life. You can try, but as hard as we try, we never really depict ourselves for who we really are. Consciously or unconsciously, we are always leaving out little bits and pieces so that the pieces, when put together, depict an idealized version of who we are, maybe better, maybe worse, but never who we really are.

A caitiff's threats mean nothing to a true man. For real.

The learning never ends! Opening a wine bottle without a corkscrew!

2008-12-01T02:44:00.004+08:00

School's out, but the learning never ends!

I learned FOUR new ways in which you can open a wine bottle without a corkscrew! Seriously, who has a corkscrew these days anyway? Read it and I felt that it would be real useful to share with you all out there!

Method 1 - The Hit-On-A-Tree Method
While you don't really need a tree, all you do with this method is to continuously hit the bottom end of the wine bottle on a even vertical surface, preferably padded with some sort of soft cushioning to reduce the probability of the bottle cracking.

Knocking the bottle against a vertical surface somehow increases the pressure inside the bottle, slowly nudging the cork out! Don't believe it? Just watch the video below!

I tried it in my room, and after hitting the bottle on the wall a hundred and one times, the cork didn't budge and inch. Damn. The only thing that happened was that my Indon neighbour who somehow goes to sleep at 12am came knocking on my door with a mega-tulan face. Oops.

Method 2 - The Pull-Cork-Out-With-Household-Implement Method
Now this is basically using some sort of household tool to pull out the cork.

First firmly embed some object firmly into the cork and then proceed to pull it out cleanly with a some tool, preferably something that would give you some leverage, like a hammer, or a pair of pliers.

This one is pretty straightforward, but you better make sure that the paperclips or screw that you embed in the cork do not end up breaking the cork, because that will cause your wine to be filled with woody sediment, which is not a good thing. So when doing this, please be real careful.

Method 3 - The Sword Method
While this looks the coolest when done with a sword or sabre, it can be done with the back of a spoon too.

This can be pretty messy and dangerous if done wrongly, so here's the link to the how-to page!

How to Open a Champagne Bottle with a Sword

It's really pretty cool and I so want to try it someday! When there's champagne and a nice sword, Kevin will be there to sabre the top off!

Method 4 - The Push Method
When you've really exhausted all other options and still can't get the cork to budge, just push the cork in all the way. By compressing the air and the wine, the increased pressure can cause the wine to spurt out, so be careful when you do this!

Use a long tool, like a chopstick to just push the cork all the way in and the wine should just come pouring out already!

So that's it! Four useful ways in which you can try opening a bottle of wine when you find that you really don't have a corkscrew. And it is time to make myself sleep and wake up at the obscene hour of 645am, so I can make it for a meeting at Chua Chu Kang at 8am. That's life.