Car Burglary, Gifts, and a Blissful Marriage.

I was awoken this morning by a call.

"Hey dude, u know what? My car got broken into"

Was my blood brother Ken.

Well.

The silly thing is.

Close to no damage, the thief picked the lock or sthg.

And emptied his front seat storage compartment.

Which contained a grand list of valuable items:
1. Tissue Paper
2. Empty Cashcard
3. Some other valueless stuff.

And best of all, Ken also found the petrol door ajar. Apparently, his car has a fuel door lever in place of the car boot lever, while the car boot is opened by a button on the side door of the car. Well. Oops. And no, he didn't open the fuel door to siphon out petrol.

What a silly thief. Apparently he didn't do a cost-benefit-risk analysis before commiting the crime.. I mean, my bro has nothing valuable in his car worth stealing, why would he even do such a risky manouvre?? What a turd..

OK.

Rewind!

Last night, had dinner at Thai Xpress w/ Cin n Wanz n Sky, and on the way back, we saw him!

Your friendly neighbourhood Mr. Monopoly!

Isn't it an irony that they made a mascot of overpowering capital dominance look FRIENDLY?

And well, after we went to my place for MJ, I got this:

A black MJ set complete with black dice ^_^
Not to mention a very nice wooden box for storage, with felt lining within. O_o

Thanks to all u peeps for the heartfelt Bday present. It's been years since I had a birthday present, which makes it all the more special. *drum roll* Thanks to: Wanz+Sky Jon Cindy Yinghui Jess Sheen Bryan Lukey for the great Bday pressie!

Got a bday gift from Ken as well, I'm quite surprised by the number of peeps who remembered this year.

Anyway, twas' an Akira Kurosawa movie anthology, with all of the films he's ever made (17 in all) which was fantastic, cos he's one of my 2 fave film directors, alongside Stanley Kubrick.

It's film, not movies when you talk about these directors, as they take an artistic perspective in their treatment of the material. When you think movies, you think popcorn - but when you think film, you think deep philosophical questions.

Yes, both directors have a stand on philosophical discussions as depicted within their films. Akira Kurosawa is distinctly Sartrean, while Kubrick is Nietszchean.

Ok I'm sorry if that's greek to you guys.

Jean-Paule Sartre is an existentialist while Nietszche is a nihilist. I think I'm part both which just as well explains my preference in films.

REWIND!

Well, back to a week ago. Last Thursday, on the last day before Clarisse left, we went for a nice Korean shabu shabu, at Suntec Tower One/Two level three mall. It's actually just 3 units beside Kuishinbo.

A buffet dinner at 19++ per pax, it's really authentic Korean cuisine. As most of u know I love Korean cuisine, love Kimchi, Bulgogi, Bibimbap, etc. so it was a great meal. But well I'm not gonna harp on it as not everyone likes Korean food.

The Kimchi fried rice, with some other barang in the background part of the grill on the right.

Next day was Clarisse's departure. T-T

In the trench that I bought her form Zara... And...the boots she bought herself also from Zara.

Somehow I think something was not right about this particular look, I keep feeling that something is out of place but just couldn't point my finger on it.

I'm guessing it's prob that she's wearing spag straps with a trench coat (looks like she wasn't wearing anything inside the trench o_O)

But oh well. She put quite a bit of clothing in her hand carry to pull a Superman on board the airplane toilet, to cope with the drastic climate change.

And...

Well I guess good luck in some areas has to be compensated with bad luck in others.

Have you ever heard of Singapore Airlines system down? As in SIA's system serving the whole world, DOWN? Well it happened at her check-in. I haven't even heard of anything close about SIA, touted as one of the world's finest airlines. I mean, it was even mentioned in Clarisse's training course as one of the most outstanding brand marketing and service co.

To top it all off, when she was on board the plane, 15 min after take off, she used the toilet and the water-tap just refused to run. She sat down, and not long after her Kris entertainment system froze, and had to be restored (like formatting your comp) over 15 min. To put the icing on the cake, some time after, the Captain announced that a faulty toilet has caused the plane to lose 80% of the water, so passengers had to use water sparingly.

What a combo.

What were the odds of that happening??

I mean, SIA probably has the highest ratio of perfect flights for a commercial airline.

All right... to be fair, all these were hardware failures, they were still very very good on their software (service). Every problem was solved dutifully, with some extras like complimentary drinks, complimentary box of Ferrero Roches for all passengers, etc.

Oh well.

Anyways, after that I took some time to look around terminal 3. I had the honour of previewing the architectural blueprints of terminal 3 back in 2005... And seeing how that blueprint has been translated to an actual building, is simply marvelous experience.

I have to say tho... I'm afraid that the entire building is overtly technologically-reliant... Seems somewhat uncomfortable for me. They tried to even it out with some flora and fauna, but somehow that impersonal aura persists.

The viewing gallery.

That's Clarisse's plane just leaving the dock.
No, it's not an A380.

The post-customs foyer.

The very very spacious main foyer where the check-in gates are.

Yes, T3 is almost completely surrounded by glass panels, save for structural features like supporting pillars and the roof (which still has many many glass panels to allow natural light to flood the terminal). It touts ease of navigation, as almost the entire internals of the airport are see-through.

BUT I gotta say, it's gonna be really really costly to keep glass clean. We have our friendly neighbours from KL, who also love to build buildings using glass but don't like to keep them clean, and they look really funky when coated with a cake of dust.

It seems that building maintenance is more well taken care of in sg... but a building with that many glass panels, it's gonna be quite a bit of hard labour.

After sending her off, went back to Hougang to:

Rocky!

In an extremely rare photo where he just sat and didn't fidget around.

FORWARD!

To Friday, a couple of days back.

Attended the wedding of Guus and Yiran, peeps I've mentioned before in my past posts. Yiran s probably one of the bestest friends of Clarisse, so it was sad that she couldn't attend due to her co. training (these things get confirmed really last minute). So, I was the representative.

It was held at the Mandai Orchid Gardens, which you would have to pass by on the way to the Zoo or Night Safari.

The beautiful setting where solemnization takes place.

They are the youngest among acquainted peers to walk the aisle, both of them 24 this year.

Their love story is a sugar-ful one, which will make you go *Awwwww...* much more than Clarisse and I.

Guus came to NUS for exchange for half a sem in his Uni of Maastricht years (he's Dutch), four years ago. Yiran (she's from Beijing) has been studying in sg since 98, same as Clarisse, and she was also studying in NUS.

With their interest in culture and religion, both of them signed up for an excursion to a mosque in Clementi, and witnessed their religious ceremonies. It was there they met and struck up a conversation. They eventually became inseparable, sharing many common interests.

However, as Guus returned to his dorm in Holland, his cousin and room-mate noted a constant queer frown on his face, and that Guus was typing away on his laptop during unearthly hours (as was revealed in his cousin's speech over dinner). He would eventually find out that the cause of this was a girl from China he met in Singapore.

They kept in touch constantly, and half a year later they were reunited when Yiran went to the University of Maastricht for exchange. She visited his folks and had a wonderful time sightseeing all over Europe. Guus' parents loved her bubbly presence.

It wasn't long before both of them went to Beijing to pay Yiran's parents a visit, and both he and his cousin were treated with the utmost hospitality.

Three years after the meeting at the Clementi Mosque, Guus brought Yiran to the same place, on the same day, she believing that they were just paying the place a visit. And that was when Guus went on one knee, and asked for her hand in marriage.

Four years later on that very same day, they walked down the aisle and took their vows.

Auguustinus Martinus Goortz and You Yiran (尤怡然)
Blissfully wedded on this day, the 1st of February 2008.

The solemnization desk.

A candid pic while they were taking photos with everyone.

The beautiful dinner setting.

I have to say, altho this is the first wedding I have ever attended not as an attached "kid", I'm pretty sure to say it's probably the most heartwarming one I will probably ever see.

The Goortz family prepared a little dance-recital, making a song out of things they wanted Yiran to know about Guus, while dancing with their traditional Wooden shoes. Yiran's family also prepared a little something, with her aunt performing a traditional Chinese Fan Dance, and her mum and a few other aunts performing a 小调曲, which I have to say is really nice and Shanghai-Diva-ish, with her mum's powerful vocals. At the end of the performances, we were all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Then it came the dance, which was started by the Wedded couple of course, dancing in tune to Robbie Williams' She's the One. It was such a blissful sight that I almost melted there and then.

After that, all of us had a hell of a time, dancing to quick tunes on the floor, with people from at least 12 nationalities - we've got Singapore, Malaysia, China, Holland, Haiti, Egypt, Germany, USA, Korea, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, etc. Likely more that we don't know of.

But... something dissed me off is that I overheard on my way to the Gents', some Singaporeans (obvious as they were using Singlish) saying stupid things like "wa, no aircon, how can? hotel better lah...somemore so far away at Mandai...", failing to apprecite the beautiful flora and fauna in the garden, and the wonderful food (which I came to know cost about 100 per pax) which could easily rival the likes of the Ritz, Pan Pac or Meritus.

Not to mention, Singaporeans crowded among themselves and obviously didn't have as much fun as most of us did, refusing to mix with anyone except among themselves. I was somewhat angry over such typically Singaporean behaviour, what can only be the result of an overly protected upbringing.

To top it all off, exceedingly few Singaporeans I know even can appreciate that they are in fact truly brought up in a protected environment. I mean, I wouldn't blame anyone for knowing full well that they are pampered, indulging in it is acceptable for so long as you acknowledge it... but to even complain about it while indulging in it is just... well. Pretty funky.

Anyways, went home with the doorgift, which was a nice mini plant.

I can't tell what plant it is as it's still a shoot. Gonna spend some time to watch it grow, and hopefully see it flower and bloom. ^___^

Rewind!

Well, I have to blog about this cos I'm not only proud of the job, but also as Clarisse, being overseas, would very much like to know how this turned out after she left. It's actually the construction of Yiran & Guus' Wedding Card, which was planned for a couple of weeks and executed in about 7 hours of work.

It may not be the best card out there, but it's the result of my best effort, so I'm pretty pleased. Please don't laugh cos I know from young I have a distinct lack of artistic flair, but more of a technical inclination. So my words and illustrations are...well... simply ugree. Bear with it.

The mess of drafts.

The cover illustration with simple lines.
I had to do 10-ish drafts before I penned the final copy.
And it's still pretty flawed methinks. -____-||

A pop-up castle!

I lurve the castle, as my choice of materials (extra-thick tracing paper) turned out to be perfect, achieving the Cartoonish feel that I had originally intended. Wanz was asking yesterday whether I had any reference, and I'm very proud to say that it was conjured out of thin air! ^___^

The complete product, was to be bound together with the other girls from their clique and given together. Well obviously, my ugree handwriting is on the left, and Clarisse's on the right.

Well Clarisse actually left me a bit of a problem with her dedication. I made her write 2 copies just in case, as it was done a few hours before her departure. Turns out I made the right decision to make her write 2, in different coloured pens.

BUT.

As it turned out, the dark blue ink smudged, so the one with pink words had a very nice dedication but a horrible looking signature with blue, gold and pink, while the other had a smudged dedication with a very nice pink signature.

Solution?

Well obviously cut out the signature to cover up the ugree one on the pink dedication. But....how? Well after some major thinking, remembered that Clarisse loves butterflies, so I cut out that signature into the shape of a butterfly and superimposed on the blotched one.

Pretty pleased with the result.

Can't wait to show her the photos of the card when she's back. ^__^


Ok.

Now for something very very recent.

Well. I have become a happy victim to effective marketing.

I just bought the game, Hellgate London last week. It's probably the 2nd original game I've ever purchased...haha ok that's not something to be proud of.

I guess I was sold when the marketing focused on "from the creators of diablo", and that was a game I enjoyed very much.

This game has already overtaken the Hitman Series as the best game I've ever played. I mean, the graphics are great, the gameplay is great, the genre is great, so is the backstory... It's a perfect fit for me!!

Not to mention, it's pretty flexible. Thare are 3 factions (something like races) with 2 jobs each. The Templar Swordmaster is what I'm playing right now, it's the offensive fighter compared to the defensive Templar Guardian. Templars play like gothic hack'n'slash genres, like Devil May Cry if you would like a rough idea.

Then there are the Cabalists, who can be Evokers (damage spellcasters) or Summoners. Cabalists play a lot like 3rd person fantasy genres, with lotsa spells flying all over the place.

For the Hunters, there are the Snipers and the Engineers. Snipers play very much like 1st person shooters like half-life or counterstrike. Engineers are similar to Summoners, except they bring mechanical instead of biological units to aid in fights and over-run enemy forces.

There are seemingly no limit to the range of weapons and armor (which can go from barbaric berserker to medieval knight-ish all the way to futuristic metal-gear-solid garb)

All combat areas of the game are RANDOMLY GENERATED, which means each time you start the game, the area will load differently with different monsters and bosses similar to Diablo and Diablo 2 - Except that the areas are now beautifylly rendered 3d graphics. Considering they can randomly generate 3d caves and subway stations, I gotta say the game design is impressive.

Not to mention, the class that I'm playing now, Templar Swordsmaster, is kinda the dream genre I've been wanting to play - a very customizable hack'n'slash. You can arm yourself with two swords, two guns, shield and sword, gun and shield (wierd but if you like to), etc. Not to mention, there are varieties of swords, splash or direct, physical/flame/spectral/toxic damage, and an even greater variety of guns.

Nova guns fire a wave spreading outwards from yourself (very useful for clearing crowds), Blasters hit direct at targets, Rocket launchers firing splash damage rockets (but take very long to recharge) as well as Grenade launchers which have lesser damage than rockets, but can be used more frequently.

Well all these are only for the Templars faction, and once I start playing the other factions, a whole new range of possibilities are opened up. Weapons crafting is also a very very neat feature, where you can create weapons, customize them down to small details using parts and pieces that you pick up, dismantle items to yield material for crafting new stuff, etc. All good.

Well another well-designed aspect is the enemy. We've got 4 classes of monsters, i.e. the minions who come in massive numbers, the zombies who occassionally refuse to stay dead, the spectres (ghostly apparitions) who can phase in and out of physical existence, and the Primus, or true demons who lead packs of lesser monsters and have special abilities like resistance, hardened skin, extra-heavy damage, etc.

No pics of these jon, as it's hard to stay alive in the presence of monsters, much less taking a picture.

Me pointing my blaster at nothing.

Waving my "Hive Sword", which is a toxic splash damage sword.

The 3d animation is really friggin cool - those small crossy thingees you see around the screen are actually dragonflies circling the hive sword. As you slash, they fly in the general direction of the sword. Very, very cool animation for a sword.

Me, my Hive Sword, Blaster, and I

Well...early reunion dinner for tonight.

Till next time, tata!