D3 is awesome - it's totally been worth the wait. It's gonna be more limited than WoW though. Just an hour ago, a friend of mine downed Diablo in Hell Mode, essentially completing the game. One week, he took. So even if he played all five classes, he could feasibly complete them all in 5 weeks. With WoW, there's a whole lot more to do and they keep introducing new content. I guess they might do that eventually with D3. Or not, seeing as how it's not a subscription-based game.
- - -
Oz creeps slowly closer. They've finally submitted all my details to be vetted, and my stupid English test is this weekend. Once they have the two, together with the employer assessment, they'd be ready for the final visa submission. Still months to go though. Zzz. I will mostly definitely have to get a temp job when I'm back from the US.
- - -
I was still hedging my bets for a better Star Alliance fare to the US but I think I'm just gonna go ahead and book Delta and get no useful miles. It's kinda a big wager, like $400, if I wait till June 1 and there's no better fare and the Delta one is gone. Besides, the Delta does have good times and lays over in Tokyo. I love Narita, with its Jappy goodies. Besides, considering I should try and save money, I should burn my United miles and redeem a coupla free domestic flights.
- - -
Oh god, I just realized it's a month away from my chosen departure date and I still have no abs. Lol.
I started my diet on May 3 and while I've been pretty good at cutting my daily intake of calories, I've only lost 2 kg so far. I'm not working on building muscles right now because of my arm (which still hasn't healed) but I'm still maintaining my build, so any weight loss now is from fat, which is good.
I think I'm gonna have to take my diet up a notch and maybe hit the gym 4-5x if I'm to have any hope of rocking abs come vacation.
Gah. I'm hungry.
- - -
My arm still hurts. I'm thinking it might be tendonitis. I'm not sure whether I want to see a doctor about it 'coz web advice says to just reduce inflammation and work around it, which is basically what I've been doing.
I'm being cheap; my finances are a little worrying. :-x
- - -
I have yet to book my US flight. Blargh. Right now Delta looks good at S$1581 but I have no use for their frequent flyer miles at all. None of its group - SkyTeam - even flies to Brisbane. United actually has a comparable rate going but the fly-by date ends before my trip and it looks like they'll only offer up their next fare after May. Two more weeks to wait, and it's cutting it a little too close for comfort.
I realized that SF Pride will be a few days before my intended arrival date and now I'm wondering if I should fly in earlier just to attend it. I've never been. What's holding me back is of course the cost... Even with minimal spending, I will still have to spend on food, coffee (hee), and probably transport everyday so every additional day costs. I'll probably just do it anyway - I wouldn't be entirely broke, just worryingly short, and I'm not likely to be in the US again for a long time and definitely not during summertime.
- - -
Diablo 3 later!
This bad sleep and heat has made me not want to hit the gym but that's a good excuse to let my left arm rest for a bit. It's not really healing and I suppose I should be getting a bit worried but I'm feeling to broke for physiotherapy and I can't imagine the doctor telling me anything else but to "rest it."
- - -
This Eurasian guy on The Voice AU is adorable. Not the best singer but I'm pretty sure he's gay - straight men do not open a show for RuPaul - and I'm rooting for him. :-x
The most amazing voice on The Voice UK so far.
I've also had a HUGE ulcer on my upper lip, about 1 square cm - the biggest I've ever had. I got it from accidentally biting my lip, which I tend to do when I'm heaty, which happens when I don't get enough sleep, so it ties back to the damn birds. After slathering the ulcer with cream for a few days, the wound's finally closed, though the area's still raw. I've had to keep my mouth constantly open so that the ulcer stays dry and now my jaw's aching like I've been camping out at the sauna.
And I've pulled a forearm muscle. Fortunately, the only thing I can't do is the bicep curl action so my biceps will just have to deflate a bit while it heals.
Finally, the Aussie biz. I'd been dreading getting a reference letter from #3 because I still don't think he believes I'm serious about going to Oz and I didn't want to answer any questions. In a surprising turn though, he's signed the letter I forwarded him and just left at the the reception for me to pick up. I only literally just found this out before typing up this post so it's a huge relief after a week of worry.
However, I found out a few days ago that I have to take this stupid English proficiency test. It's $310 and the next available date is in June. I'm more pissed off about the latter. I could've sworn the agent said I wouldn't need to, so of course I didn't do anything about it till he suddenly emails me asking me if I've registered for it. Fuckety. And you'd think having a degree AND a postgrad degree from US universities would be enough.
Anyway, apart from this new delay, things are progressing nicely. SLOWLY, but nicely. I'm starting to get concerned about my finances, especially with the impending US trip. I'm hoping for a windfall. It happens. :-x Flying Air China and having a 10-hour layover in Beijing is starting to look more attractive. :-x
- - -
Avernum: Escape From the Pit
I've been playing this Steam game. It's retro and reminds me most of Fallout 1, albeit in a fantasy setting. Pretty big world, lots to do, and quite challenging (i.e. I've had to reload save game a lot).
- - -
Now The Voice AU has started too. The judges are Seal, Delta Goodrem, Keith Urban, and Joel Madden (from Good Charlotte) - a more understandable mix than the UK lot. So far I'm quite enjoying them - they have personality and yet there aren't any gigantic, obnoxious egos (Will.i.am has started getting on my nerves).
Check out Karise Eden, who inspired the fastest four-chair simultaneous swingabout I've seen in all three shows.
The only time I managed to sleep in was when it was raining in the morning. But a light rain. When there's been heavy rain, the thunder's woken me up. Mother Nature conspires to drive me insane.
- - -
The Voice UK has just started. Good timing, since the US one has reached the boring stage. It's really only fun watching the chairs spin around and then the judges going "Omg I thought you were a girl." Yes, they did that on the US version to great success and so they made sure to do it again in the very first episode of the UK version.
The judges are: Tom Jones, Will.I.Am, Jessie J, and Daniel O'Donoghue (I don't know either). An odd mix but the first three judges have strong, funny personalities and I'm liking them so far. The relatively unknown lead singer of The Script has a little way to go to break out of his morose neutral expression. He's like a similarly cute UK version of Adam Levine but duller.
- - -
For those who didn't see my link to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe vid on FB last week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-rx
It's really grown on me since and it's my song of the moment. It's been growing on a lot of other peopletoo apparently - it's #1 in UK and OZ this week!
Her name looked familiar and I realized that I had actually followed the season of Canadian Idol she was a finalist on. Her singing style was a little too precious to be taken seriously then. Very cutesy pie - kinda like now really, but this song is the perfect vehicle for her.
And speaking of Canadian Idol, this was my favorite performance through the series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhtWqfin
It's his own punky cover of this classic Drifters song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFckIZxo
I love the original so I was really surprised - stunned, really - that the little Eurasian boy managed to create such a different and yet still catchy interpretation of it.
After that, I was dragged to lunch with my mom and relatives because I had gone in her car. I realized she had not told them I was let go or that I was planning to go to Oz. Immediately after the revelations I was bombarded with all sorts of unwanted suggestions that were essentially variations of "get money from grandpa." I kinda lost it at them, though I manifested it as simply pointedly ignoring them.
On the way home, I confided something to mom. You know the Chinese custom of addressing the senior relatives when you meet them? I had stopped doing that after dad passed away - mostly with the closer relatives on my mom's side. They thought I was just being rude but the truth is I had lost my respect for them because of all their "advice" to suck up to gramps. They wouldn't have told me to do so if dad were still around. I told that to mom and added that I'd rather live with less than compromise my integrity [by sucking up] and she remained silent. She's still digesting it but I don't know if she's also crafting a comeback.
I inherited this sense of integrity from my dad. I only wish I were the kind of person who could wheedle and cajole but it is just morally repugnant to me. Heck, even asking for favors from people I'm not really close with makes me uncomfortable. I probably have lost many opportunities of one sort or another but meh, I don't think about that. I hate having regrets. Life is too short for regrets. Trite but true.
Anyway, the first night with the plugs went okay but last night, at some point, I took them off for who-knows-what-incoherent-reason and the damn birds woke me up again.
- - -
My family's in the news, again. I wonder who leaked our family drama to the press. I think I should stop trashing them here in public, just in case. Anyway, I hope the OL wins the feud 'coz that'll be good news for me.
- - -
I thought the DrawSomething app was great fun but now I've gone off it somewhat. I'm a big stickler for just keeping to drawing and not writing anything apart for "LOL" and the like. What's the point of playing a drawing game otherwise? People who choose the 3-coin words and give me half-fucked drawings also bug me.
I am very bugable. :P I'm becoming increasingly misanthropic and playing social games just makes it worse - I'm refering to WoW as well here. Bloody buggery loot ninjas in pick-up groups.
- - -
Almost time to start dieting. I'll do it after that I use this Ben & Jerry's voucher that I redeemed. One last gorge. :-d Hopefully 3 months will be enough to get abs out. I'll be staggering the dieting though, so that it won't be as strict till it gets closer to my trip.
Sometimes I wish technology would stagnate. I miss collecting CD singles and I don't play them anymore. I will someday, when I have my own place, and then I'll be like one of those people who play vinyl records now. The transition from DVDs to Blu-rays has also dampened my passion for collecting movies. Some movies really have to be seen on Blu-ray but buying them a second time just feels like too much a waste of money.
- - -
There is a bird that keeps waking me up at 7am. Yelling at it doesn't help and it's out of my reach, though I've been considering stashing a bamboo pole in my room so I can thwack the tree it's in. When I finally get my own place, it's gonna somewhere way up high, away from trees and birds and traffic and dogs.
In the meantime, I've installed a white noise app on my phone. It has a timer so I've set it for sunrise and for about an hour. I still woke up this morning but I fell back to sleep easier. It's just not loud enough to drown out the bird, and it gets a bit noisy itself if I set the volume at maximum. I've tried sleeping earlier but it's not really in my system to sleep too early. I don't know what else to do except hope lightning strikes it dead.
- - -
The lot of us had an expensive buffet dinner at The Line, Shangri-La, last night, supposedly for my brother's birthday. However, he had a tummyache and ate even less than he usually did, and for the most part, he just sat there and stared into space sullenly. If it were up to him, we wouldn't do anything at all. Like that's ever stopped my mom. In any case, her bf was gonna pay so I didn't protest going.
The food was good but I didn't think it justified the $70+ pax. There was a online reservation discount of 15% but still, good grief. I can't grasp the concept of paying exorbitant amounts for food when it's something you eat, poop, flush, and quickly forget about. Just like I don't understand why people buy fancy cars. I guess the answer to both is "too much money."
- - -
I still haven't started on my diet. I think since I haven't booked my US trip, it doesn't feel real yet, and I can't get the motivation going. Is it evil for me to hope for another US economy collapse so that airfares plummet again?
There are cheap airfares now, but they involve long - like 10-hour - transits at either Beijing or Manila. If it were Tokyo or even Hong Kong, I'd consider it but no, I'm not hard up enough to sleep in a corner of either the Beijing or Manila airport.
And there's the matter of frequent flyer miles. I've about 30k with United that expire in July, so I've to decide whether I keep them or use them. If I want to keep them, there's the option of taking a Star Alliance flight to and fro the US, which'll bring me close to another free US trip, but this flight will likely cost at least a coupla hundred more. Or I could fly a domestic United flight while in the US, but that'll still leave me with 30k miles that doesn't really do anything and will likely come close to expiring again in a coupla years, since no Star Alliance flight is cheap going to and fro Brisbane. I'm not sure if I can even use the miles now, actually, since I'll be taking all one-way domestic flights while in the US and I think the miles only get return tickets. Decisions!
Hmm. I've just examined the fine print and it seems like most of the airlines aren't even allowing mileage accrual because their prices are "promotional," though they certainly don't look so. Shucks, I reckon my only option will be to fly a domestic on United and leave the 30k dangling for another couple more years.
As of right now, Eva Air has the most reasonable price and times: $1721 and just two hours of transit in Taipei. Cathay is close, at $1814, but the meanies aren't allowing mileage accrual so fuck 'em. It's too bad - I can use oneworld miles, since Qantas is in the same group (Eva isn't in any group). The booking period for Eva is till the end of June so I can still wait and see if there are upcoming price drops. I should just book it and get it over with but I really want to get miles.
- - -
My cousin has left her young shih-tzu with us while her whole household goes on vacation. It's really cute but it makes me sad. I miss my poochie.
Part of the reason why I'm loving the new DC Comics reboot is the addition of gay characters, which has been a long time coming.
There is Batwoman, who got drummed out of the US military because of Don't Ask Don't Tell. I'm still not sure how much I'm into the story thus far but it's one of the more gorgeous-looking series.
And there's Apollo and Midnighter, from Stormwatch. Two very butch men who aren't out yet but are destined to be a power couple. (They were out previously before the reboot but not in DC.)
Sure, the Oscars are a self-congratulatory celebration for the movie industry but that's what they've always been so if people don't like it, just STFU and watch something else. I like the honoring of the movies and performances I've loved in the past year.
I'm a bit annoyed with the surprise Meryl Streep victory because I thought she might win. I had started writing about how I suspected as much but then the rest of my predictions would've been with the frontrunners so I didn't bother. Bah, I guess I should just do predictions next year irregardless. I love her but I reckon it was more a body-of-work victory. That kinda thing usually has repercussions, i.e. since Viola Davis was deprived this year, she might eventually have her own body-of-work victory over a more deserving actress.
- - -
Sure, the one season I don't watch American Idol and there's an asian guy in the top 24. I watched a coupla clips - he's not that good but he's likeable.
I'm excited about:
Drusilla! One of the most memorable TV characters ever~
Lucy Liu as Dr Watson! Apparently she's in the current season of Southland too. I'm gonna give it a try.
I like the statements they released, lol. And I still love Raising Hope!
- - -
I went down to the NATAS travel fair yesterday but they were all about the tour packages and I didn't find any good flight prices. Not surprising but I was curious to go down and have a look-see anyway. I won a door prize of sorts - a digital photo frame - so that made it worth my while. There was also a Watson's expo sale next door and I bought a carton of peanut butter M&M's that was half off. My diet can start after I finish it. :-x Besides, there's a cold going around the household that's jumped from sister to mom to sister, and I'm due to be next.
- - -
My sis texted me to say she's 75% done with getting the documents together for the Oz process. So happy she's still enthused about getting me over there.
At some point, I thought he asked me what field I was thinking of working in, but my mom claims that he asked what business I want to do, which she thinks means that he's willing to finance a business I start. My Hokkien is bad so she might be right. Of course she runs with that and goes on and on about it on the way home.
For some people, it would be a big thing but not me. I have never had any career ambitions. As long as I can remember, my dream has always been of white picket fences, and whatever work I'd be doing would just be to pay the bills. I think such ambitionlessness is a failing in Singapore, and that's partly why I want to get out of here.
After I got past being irritated at my mom, I started to think harder about what I would want to do had I capital to start a business. Honestly, I would only want to do something fun that didn't come across as work. I would own a shop but no one wants to buy CDs and DVDs anymore. I would own a cafe but I doubt I could keep that out of the red.
Then it came to me: something that I've always bemoaned Singapore lacks - a revival theater! Gads, I would love to run a little cinema that screened old movies all the time. I think a little operation could be profitable - there must be enough non-plebeians in S'pore to sustain such a cinema. :P Of course I have no idea how to go about it or how much it would cost or whether the OL would go for what would seem to him a ludicrous business plan, so this is probably a pipe dream. A pipe dream I will look further into should the Aussie thing - touch wood - fall through.
Coincidentally, I'm going to watch Hugo in an hour or so, after which I'll be all set to do an Oscar write-up.
Speaking of, thanks to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
e_rambler's invitation, I'll be watching the awards show live at GV Grand. It's a relief because otherwise my plan was to avoid all news and social media for the day till I procured the Oscar telecast off the 'net, since stupid Singapore's only live-screening the show on - inexplicably - the Fox Premium Movies channel and I don't know anyone who's extravagant enough to have that channel.- - -
The agent finally came back with something, just when I was starting to feel really despondent about it last night. He's sent my sister a huge list of documents to fill in, certify, and provide. I know she'll be much faster with them than the agent has been.
I realize that I'm feeling helpless in almost all aspects of my life right now. I can't do anything that might raise the uncles' ire because they're essentially supporting the household, I can't get my own place while my mom has a death grip on this house, and I can't speed up the Aussie process, which is kinda my only hope to break out of this helplessness. Heck, I can't even sleep early or wake late.
Add to all that, I'm kinda having a dating dry spell at the moment. I'm not finding anyone interesting (and/or cute) to hit on and no one interesting (and/or cute) is hitting on me, lol. I really need a new pool of men. :P
There's my trip to look forward too but that's just temporary relief. At least now I'm getting the sense that the Aussie process is moving along, even if at a trudge. It's a glimmer of hope.
As I'm gonna start working out hardcore again soon, I decided it's a good time to start a gym blog -
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
eddaxgymblog (original name, I know). I've learned so much over the years and it seems like it would be a waste to not share it. - - -
I've just watched the first episode of Outland, which is an Aussie comedy about gay sci-fi geeks. The characters are a bit out there but as a geek myself, I love it.
For the first time since its inception, I'm not following American Idol, which has gotten really tired. I like The Voice, but mainly the blind audition episodes. It's quite hypocritical - only the blind auditions have the judges not choosing based on looks. After that, they're free to throw unattractive contestants under the bus during the next elimination round. Considering the contestants who made the cut for the live shows last year, I think only Christina Aguilera didn't choose the prettier ones. Props to her.
- - -
RIP Whitney
She was a mess but I love her music. Even if people weren't fans, I don't understand their need to belittle people who grieve for her. They should redirect their vitriol towards the people enabling Chris Brown.
Well I'm probably two-faced about the issue. If Chris Brown died, I'm sure I'll be rolling my eyes at the bereaved.
- - -
I am almost done with the Oscar nominees of the major categories, the exception being Hugo, which has to be watched in 3D and is only out next week. Nice. I'm always happy to be able to watch all the nominees before the show because I wouldn't watch any I missed after, since most of them aren't my cuppa tea. So the Oscars is my reason to catch some critically-acclaimed movies I wouldn't otherwise watch.
- - -
I was kinda undecided about attending Seyda's wedding in Boston in July because of my dwindling finances but then I found out that Taint, the big gay WoW guild I've been with for 5-6 years, is having their annual meetup in Florida around the same time. It would be great to finally meet people I've known for years. And I've a third reason too: I wanna renew my Massachusetts driver's license, which expires in Oct. It's really handy having a US license, between having my identity checked at US airports and being carded at clubs around the world (well okay, that doesn't happen anymore, sadly).
Anyhoo, I'm now waiting for a cheap flight. The NATAS travel fair is next weekend and now that I'm free to hit it on a weekday morning, I'm definitely going.
- - -
Golly, it'll be summer in Florida and I'll be meeting a big bunch of gay men. I'll need to get myself in swimsuit shape :-x Gah, that means it'll be diet time again. I just have to figure out how many months to starve myself for. Two minimum, maybe three. Probably three. And at some point I'll have to up to 5x/week at the gym too. Gah. Cranky days ahead. Still, a big trip is the best motivation for me to get into great shape so I'm kinda looking forward to see how good I'll look come July. :-x
I actually had a lovely dream about finally getting my own place. It was ironically a ground floor maisonette, but at least there weren't any noisy fuckers outside. There were noisy fuckers inside though - I had a celebratory threesome, lol. :-x
- - -
A friend from the US flew in recently. With the disclaimer that we're not close, I was very tempted to have him bring in a carton of cigs for me, without telling him that it's illegal. :-x My conscience won out, sadly. Ah poop. What's the point of having visiting friends if they can't bring me cigs. :p
- - -
It's nice when friends ask me why I haven't updated my blog recently, be it whether they like how I write or if they're wondering how I am. I don't update as often at home because I'm not as bo liao as when I was at the office, and because it's a little depressing to say that nothing's happening. I am catching up on movies and comics and exploring new music and playing all too much WoW. I haven't got a job because goshdarnit, I want to finish the music tome and catch up on all the comics from between highschool and now - if only I didn't feel so unproductive while doing so.
I bought this Billboard Hot R&B Songs tome sometime back and yesterday I began to plumb through it. After a whole day of sampling music, I'm only at James Brown! That's just halfway through 'B'! It's been very... enriching though, discovering and re-discovering glorious soul music.
Here are some highlights:
Brook Benton - Rainy Night in Georgia - my favorite discovery so far
Angela Bofill - I Just Wanna Stop
Beverly - You Came Along
Vee Allen - Can I
The Blossoms - Good, Good Lovin'
Jo Armstead - I've Been Turned On
Margie Alexander - Keep On Searching
Ruby Andrews - Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)
Oooh, I didn't get any category right. I had totally ignored The Tree of Life and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, since the former divided audiences and the latter was slammed left and right.
Demian Bichir and Gary Oldman are in for Best Actor and Leonardo DiCaprio is out. No love for J. Edgar at all, wow. I should've guessed Oldman, what with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's strong showing at the BAFTA nominations.
Rooney Mara is in for Dragon Tattoo. Really?! These people must not have watched the original. She took Tilda Swinton's spot. Surprising, since Swinton is a recent winner.
The Supporting Actress category has no surprises but with Supporting Actor, Max von Sydow is probably the most way-out left field of the acting nominations. Poor Albert Brooks. I thought he was more popular than that.
The Help was stiffed in both directing and writing categories so it's definitely not gonna take Best Pic. The four movies that span the three categories are The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo, and Midnight in Paris.
Tintin was stiffed for Best Animated. Without any Pixar contenders, I have no idea which the frontrunner is.
Actor:
George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Brad Pitt
Leonardo DiCaprio
Michael Fassbender, Demian Bichir, Gary Oldman, Ryan Gosling, Michael Shannon
It's a wide-open fifth slot but I'm going with Michael Fassbender for Shame because he's been the most high profile of the lot.
Actress:
Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams, Tilda Swinton, Viola Davis
Glenn Close, Rooney Mara, Elizabeth Olsen
I'm giving the fifth slot to Glenn Close because of all the work she's put into bringing her movie to screen. Also, with her last nomination being in 1989, it's pretty much a comeback for her.
Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer, Kenneth Branagh
Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks
Jonah Hill, Armie Hammer
Moneyball's been doing much better in the awards circuit than J. Edgar so Hill over Hammer.
Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, Octavia Spencer, Melissa McCarthy, Jessica Chastain
Shailene Woodley, Janet McTeer
I'm giving the fifth to Shailene Woodley because I think The Descendants will get a slew of noms. Personally, I prefer Janet McTeer.
Director:
Michel Hazanavicius, Alexander Payne, Martin Scorsese
Woody Allen
Tate Taylor, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Nicolas Winding Refn
A wide-open fifth too. I'm going with Tate Taylor because The Help will likely garner a big bunch of noms.
Lunch was at #2's place, along with #3, but no one brought up my being let go or what I'm doing now. They didn't want to spoil the mood, I'm guessing. We then went to the OL's place and it wasn't brought up there either. Next was my [maternal] grand aunt's place, where there's usually a gaggle of kaypoh aunties but most of them weren't around today and they had other guests there too. Smooth sailing.
The only awkwardness was when the subject of my estranged grandma was brought up by various gossipy women.
My, how far we've fallen.
Twenty years ago the only thing I disliked about CNY was how the spoilt children/grandchildren of random politicians would go through the things in my bedroom. That was when the lot of us were under one roof, when we lived in a few apartments one above the other, linked by an interior staircase. CNY was a boisterous affair. Day one had many extended relatives visiting my grandparents and my dad would get the gambling going and be the dealer; day two had the OL's politician friends visiting and hence the brats.
The first fall was when we were all moving out of there, as it spurred my aunt's power play that effectively removed her family and my grandmother.
The second fall was when my dad died. He was always the life of the party.
And the third fall came last year, when the relationship between the OL and #2 and #3 broke down and the former decided to head off to KL for CNY with his wife's family instead.
I don't know if we could possibly go lower.
- - -
I had a time rooting through my old journals and emails looking for the addresses of where I lived in the US. I am a terrible record-keeper. Apparently for the Oz process, I need to get a police check done in wherever I've lived. It made me panic for about a day, since I couldn't find my Boston addresses. Plumbing through old emails, I finally rooted them out. One of them from an email asking someone to come by and pick me up, lol, and the other from a receipt. There is still a three-month gap during which I stayed with an ex-friend of my mom's. It would be almost impossible to get the two addresses from then, even if my mom were to ask that woman again (long story for another time), since I doubt she'd still have the address from two weekly rental places from ten years ago, but fortunately the agent reckons the time frame is short enough to overlook.
Going through my day planners from my uni days, it struck me that they're virtually diaries from back then. I have a lot of notes in there that I could tell stories about, and I think I will, at some point, here - maybe after I'm done with going through the Oscar movies.
- - -
I am now waiting for the agent to get back to me again. Zzz. I think most major hurdles have been overcome - he was worried that my sister's company lacked a training program but then we found out that it's a relatively new company so a future training program is more important than a prior one and apparently my sister was going to do it anyway.
Even moving quickly, it's still likely to take 5-6 months. Finding at least a part-time job is inevitable, though I might wait and see if I can settle for a part-time or I'll need a full-time (if everything goes up in the air; touch wood).
If I'm gonna work at Starbucks, I should wait till after Chinese New Year to start, so that there wouldn't be any awkwardness when my mom or I are asked what I'm doing now. :p
I soloed a movie at Nex the other day. Nothing remarkable about that, except for returning home from the theater, when I took a bus for the first time in many years. I'm trying to get used to public transport again, to save money from parking fees and in case they did cancel my gas card - I haven't tried it yet.
Taking the bus was easy enough, but I was very conscious of all the surfaces I was touching. I have a little phobia. It's not quite germophobia but I don't like touching surfaces that countless people have touched. Not because of germs but because of... I don't know..."ick." "Ick" is the best word to describe it. When I dine out, my arms never rest on the table. I don't know if people have noticed it and I've so conditioned myself that I don't even notice it myself anymore. I'm loathe to touch public doors and if there were a way around it, I would do it - e.g. wait for someone else to open it. I push elevator buttons with my knuckle, which in my mind is a little better than with my finger, somehow.
My bed is the most odorless of all the beds I've come across because I'm constantly in airconditioning so there is minimal sweat, and because I only get into it after showering. Once I'm out of my room in the morning, I'm tainted, and I don't get back into bed until I've had my pre-bedtime shower. I wonder what I can attribute this neurosis to. OCD? I don't wash my hands constantly, though I'm pretty sure it's still more often than most people. I used to do it more but then my hands dried out and I had to force myself to scale back. If I can control that, it's not quite OCD, is it?
Anyhoo, I could suffer the bus ride but the walk in from the bus stop was quite interminable. It's about 20 minutes and with barely any shade, so I'm at the mercy of the sun or rain. I'm gonna have to bring a brolly out.
- - -
My sleeping hours are getting a bit screwy. I apparently have an internal clock that I can't consciously control. When I was still working, I used to wake up at around 8:30am everyday, whether it was a work day or not, and so I could never go to bed late because I wouldn't get enough sleep. That clock turned itself off almost right after my last day at the office. Now I'm finding myself waking at random hours and it's disconcerting. I'm sometimes dazed through the day when I wake really late, like today, at noon.
It's a bit of a phenomenon to me, my clock. Before the army, I always woke up late for school and so I was really worried that I would oversleep during BMT. It turned out that not only could I wake myself up everyday without a clock, I could even wake myself up an hour earlier if I needed to do laundry. My clock subsequently disappeared after the army and it only resurfaced again sometime after I started working.
- - -
I hadn't made a new year's resolution in a long time but I needed one this year, to control my anger and anxiety. Everything was really getting to me but now that I'm making a conscious effort to let things slide, it's a little better. Obviously I can't let things go completely, with my family and this Oz thing hanging over my head, but I can try to let go of what I can't control. Try. :p
I'm not actually at the office anymore but things moved so fast that I had no chance to blog before leaving.
This was to be my penultimate day at the office but it so happened that the OL's son came by to pick him up for lunch and I had finished packing all his files in the morning, so I just gave it all to the son - he's taking over everything - there and then. Also, the OL said that he wouldn't be in the office tomorrow anyway so I wouldn't have need to be there.
I have to say I'm kinda dazed, though that's partly because I woke up abruptly after only four hours of sleep. For better or worse, four years of my life was spent there and now it's over. I'll need a little time to process that.
It took two days of packing to clear up four years of crap. I didn't really have much personal stuff to pack - my priority was making sure I cleaned the PC of any sensitive information. Didn't steal as much office supplies as I wanted. :p
I managed to make two final medical and one vehicle claims and those came up to over $600 so I can at least pretend that that's the severance pay I never got. The "try to get you a bigger bonus" from #3 didn't materialize and I can't say I'm surprised - he is a hypocritical obstacle to my going to Oz. I'm sure he's forgotten about how he ran away to the US and how the OL had to hire people to drag him back. Or maybe he hasn't forgotten and he's just so bitter that he doesn't want me to leave The Family.
I didn't ask about my gas card. I guess a good measure of whether they still have "liang xin" or not would be whether they've promptly terminated it, in which case I expect it to be dead at 12:01am, 1 Jan. :p
The migration agent apparently only got just got back from his annual leave today - his staff didn't bother replying my email to tell me of his leave. And he's already all booked up so my appointment with him is all the way on 9 Jan. Annoyed as I am by their service, I'm just gonna proceed with them. It'll just be a matter of chasing them instead of waiting for them to get back to me.
Anyway, I guess I'll take a little break for now and see what happens. I do have a ton of Oscar movies to catch and I'll probably solo a bunch of them in the late morning or early afternoon when the theaters are nice and empty (after the school hols).
The OL asked me to hold off asking #3 till I get my paycheck, or rather, my year-end bonus. I've no idea why and I didn't think I'd be able to understand his reasoning in Hokkien so I didn't ask. Well my pay's still not in so I haven't asked and so I still don't know if this will be my last week at the office or not! I've no idea what #3 will say. I reckon it's a matter of how far their relationship has degenerated - I'm just a pawn in all this.
- - -
I hadn't realized how much everything has been affecting me till I had a date recently and gosh, was I ever bitter. I kept up a pleasant demeanor but whenever the conversation went towards work or family, my tone soured, even as I maintained my smile. It's too bad, he was a nice guy but I didn't realize what I was doing till after the date, in retrospect. I texted an apology the next day but well, it was a terrible first impression to convey and I myself would run from someone as messed up.
- - -
^&$@&** migration agent seems to be ignoring me, even before taking my money. Gosh, either they're really popular and have no need for my money or their customer service is really messed up. I should look for another but this guy and I share the same opinion of which path to take - the previous two were pushing for work visas instead of PR rightaway - and he seems to know his stuff. I don't know if I can put up with having to chase them down constantly over the next 6 months though. Well I'll call them up later and see how it goes. I hope I can keep the pissiness out of my tone.
- - -
I'm having a bit of a zit breakout - I think due to stress - and I've had to up my Accutane/Acnotin (they're buggery expensive pills).
My TV died and my PC is on the fritz too.
It feels like my world is pretty rainy right now ; it's getting so that I can count my consolations on one hand.
Gymming's going well and I really like how my arms are developing. I love reading my magazines and comics on my iPad, even if the latter's getting to be an expensive hobby. Skyrim's still a very engaging game (I've started over and set it to a challenging Master level) and a great distraction.
Okay, three fingers.
- - -
PS Absolutely Fabulous just started a 6th season. I'll give half a finger to that.
- - -
PPS Okay, I just talked to #3 anyway since I figured my paycheck would be confirmed by now even if it isn't in. He really has it in for the OL and yes, this is most definitely my last week on the job. He went on to yada yada yada about how old I am now and stuff, and I'm wondering if my plan for Oz will go over well with him (I'll need his reference). Ugh.
- - -
Went to the doc to get some tests done - my last medical claim here. I'm happily STD-free.
Gonna get my car serviced and make a last vehicle claim too.
Wonder what else I can get away with. Maybe I should swipe office supplies, lol.
- - -
The Golden Globe nominations are out and wow, what a spread. So many movies with a single nomination. That means I'm gonna have a lot of movies to watch before the Oscars. Good thing I'll have a lot of time on my hands. :-x
I wish you guys would stop regarding it as if it were a foregone conclusion that I'd be leaving. :P I'm still not sure yet if all will go as planned.
I'd have about six months of waiting so I was thinking I should get a part-time job in the meantime, and definitely one with non-office working hours. I've always wanted to try being a barrista. It would be ideal if I could work at one of the coffee places below my gym. :-d
- - -
Bangkok went pretty well. With Royston & bf, I walked about more than I would've alone, but I cut out a coupla times so I still had enough quiet R&R time. Didn't sleep that great though - there was construction going on next door in the mornings. And a cat in heat.
Didn't overspend. I think it was about S$1k total, including flight and hotel, so it really wasn't that bad, just not the best time for a vacation.
- - -
I just realized I haven't typed out and sent all the OL's X'mas cards. Honestly, I think he'd never realize it if I toss the lot of them. So tempted to. They're a pain in the ass to do since I've to use an old-fashioned typewriter and half the time that ancient thing messes up. It's not like I'd be around to suffer any repercussions should he ever find out I tossed them... Okay, I'll just stick 'em in a drawer and "forget" about them and just toss 'em out when I'm packing up all my shit on Dec 30. It's nice that my last day is a Friday. I'm not planning on telling anyone that I'm leaving; I'm just gonna disappear. Well, besides the Head of Accounts. She might gossip about it, I don't know. It's just amusing to think that at some point in January, some people might go "Eh? Where's Lawson?", lol.
My sister is supportive and even my mom is supportive. The only things that tether me here are my immediate family and my few close friends, but I rarely meet most of the latter now as it is, since they've all wives and kids. All signs point to Go, so I guess I will, once I get confirmation from my sister that she can get her documents together. Still, I think I am gonna be worried right until I'm fully settled in there. It sucks being an adult.
I'm to be the one to tell the OL that I've been let go but I haven't yet. I figure I should wait till after my little vacation (more on that below). I have no idea how he'll react. It's not like he needs me to drive him around but it's certainly more convenient for him - it would be more about the further disintegration of his power here. Right now the only people he talks to at the office are me and the loyal Head of Accounts, who's been with us for almost as long as I've been alive. Maybe longer. At least she's indispensible. She's a really nice lady too - I think the only person I'd miss. I should buy her a little something before I go.
My biggest joy about leaving this place would be that I won't be hearing that phlegmy bitch hawk it up in the kitchenette anymore. Maybe I never, ever meet someone as disgusting as her again. Lord, four years of that. Worse than Chinese Water Torture.
I'll be going to Bangkok - yet again - with Royston and his bf, from Friday to Monday. At first he proposed Vietnam, and that interested me because I'd never been there. Then I made the mistake of telling him how cheap Bangkok flights were right now because of the floods and suddenly we're going to Bangkok instead. Bah. I have fun in Bangkok but I always spend too much there and I'm quite loathe to spend right now. I'd already gotten into the mindset for taking a short trip though, and it was all booked before I was officially let go. I just hope I can not feel guilty through the trip.
I've been gymming during office hours, most of last week I was driving the OL around, and with what little time I was actually at the office, I got caught up with reading old comics on the PC - comics is one of the things I can hyperfocus on.
Yesterday, I had an appointment with yet another migration appointment. Right before I left the office for it though, #3 had me sit down for a closed-door talk in which he stated that they'd be letting me go after the end of the month. It wasn't unexpected, but I dunno, it was still affecting to hear it said directly to me. Considering what I said I've been doing with my office hours, it's surprising they let me stay this long. Then again, #3 used to be the one who came into the office at 11am and left at 1pm - he's been putting in more office hours since the whole OL debacle.
The migration agent I met with is the best yet, in my opinion. He seems to know his stuff pretty well and the path he's recommending is the one I most prefer, albeit the most expensive as well. It's the one that would have my sister's company sponsor me for PR status, which means I'd get the PR right away AND be located in Brisbane where she lives. The cost: a whopping S$10k. A big sum now, especially in the face of unemployment, but not that big in the grand scheme of things. I'd be paying more overall if I were to just get a work visa now and try for a PR later. The cost is also broken up in stages so if at any point, if the process doesn't look like it would work for any reason, I wouldn't have to fork out the rest.
After I explained my situation, he seemed quite confident on being able to succeed as long as my sister can provide the documents needed on her side. There're quite a lot needed, which would involve some commitment on her part to see through, since I'm not there to help her gather them all. I've sent the list to her to have a look through. She's on a work trip now but at first cursory glance, she thinks she can do it.
I keep expecting her to balk at the trouble this will be - I don't know if I'm pessimistic or if I'm just used to shitty family members - but so far she's been great about it. I'm actually quite moved, especially since it reminds me of dad, and how he would do anything for us.
Sis:
Okies.
In cairns @ meetings all week.
Will look @ n get bac to u wen home.
Dat is a big commitment, r unsure it's 100% wot u wan?
Xx
Me:
If you reckon you can handle the documents on your end, well, I like a
grand adventure. :P
Sis:
Adventure it shall be then!
I'll get mr president to look over docs.
...u should have saved enough in bottled water in the last decade to easily cover e cost!!
Did he say how long? Maybe we can make it to madi G next year after all ;P
- - -
Mr President = her husband.
Bottled water = omg it's like A$2.50 for a bottle of water there so I was mostly filling old bottles with tap water to bring around. I was also trying to convince her whole family to switch to tap water, since they're using those ordered big jugs of water. Uh, I forget what they're called - those that are placed upside down onto the dispenser. Anyway, extravagance.
Mardi Gras = she's been wanting to go with me ever since I came out to her so that's almost two decades of waiting, lol. I've never been inclined to because of the crowds but I guess I'd owe it to her if this goes through!
Apparently, he thinks I can get a PR right away without involving my sister at all even, BUT, only in three states - Western Australia, South Australia, and ACT. -_- Wouldn't you know it, three boring states, none of which are near where my sister lives. I'd have to stay for 2 years there before moving.
It's actually an interesting propect that appeals to my sense of adventure but it defeats the purposes of my going to Oz, which are to be close to my sister and to have her help me get my foot in the door. I guess I'll rule that out.
Otherwise, this agent - like the first one - recommends I get the work visa instead of the employer-sponsored PR (ENS). My choice is for the latter of course. I've made an appointment with a third agent but it won't be till the following week. This guy reckons that the ENS is easier to get, somehow, so I'll see what he has to say. He does charge $120 for a consultation though - it'll be refunded if I do take up his services. I'm of the opinion that the ones who charge for consultations would charge less overall so I'll see if that's true.
- - -
I hurt my wrist somehow while sleeping. Good excuse to skip gym - a wrist injury is definitely not something one wants to risk exacerbating. I'm getting a bit unmotivated again, since there are no big trips till June.
- - -
My PC needs repairing but it's still working for the time being so I'm wondering if I should move all my pron out before sending it to the shop. :-x I assume the techies would poke around - I know I would. There's a lot to move out though. :-x
- - -
Zinio, the magazine app, is having a Black Friday sale so have a look if you're interested. I love it; I've got subscriptions to Out, The Advocate, Rolling Stone, Men's Fitness, Mate, GT, and they gave me random free issues of other titles too. Most of those were cheap (mostly because they're US editions) except for GT, but I really like that one. Given a choice, I'd still rather have physical copies of the magz but it'd cost too much to subscribe to those, and besides, it's unenvironmentally-friendly and would just further clutter up my room.
- - -
I'm also loving subscribing to comics over my iPad. It's still as expensive a hobby as it was twenty years ago though. At least I found out they drop a dollar a month after release so I patiently wait.
Overall, I'm enjoying the DC Universe reboot. While some of my past favorites seem to be flopping, others have stepped up.
Detective: I've never been a Batman fan but the current villain of this series - The Dollmaker - is right out of a horror movie. Good fun.
Batwoman: The out and proud lesbian superhero. I'm not a fan of her character - what's with her unnaturally white skin? - but there's a supernatural angle to this title so I'm following it for now.
Green Lantern Corps: I've always thought the whole Green Lantern power ring thing was kinda silly and overpowered but with this reboot they're quite happy to demonstrate just how vulnerable the Lanterns are by killing off a lot of them. Grizzly fun.
Green Lantern: New Guardians: Red Lantern, Yellow Lantern, Purple Lantern, Blue Lantern - it's a friggin' Mooncake Festival. I think this is like Justlce League International - i.e. the title that goes the humor route. Still waiting to see if it leads anywhere fun.
Aquaman: Definitely the humor route and done surprisingly well too. Great way to reboot a formerly-lame character.
Wonder Woman: Wtf. I don't get the art. It's going down, like the Wonder Woman movies. Poor bitch can't catch a break.
Suicide Squad: Another high death count title. Didn't think I like it but it won me over after calling Harley Quinn "cuckoo for cocoa puffs."
Teen Titans: One of my two past favorites. Not very exciting so far, sadly. I also don't like how they've sent past members to other titles, like Cyborg to Justice League and Starfire to Red Hood and the Outlaws (and made her a slut too). Makes this feel like a B-team title.
Legion of Super Heroes: My other past favorite and it's not exciting thus far either. I'm just sticking with these two titles out of loyalty... for now.
They're also releasing new mini-series with the reboot, featuring side characters like The Huntress and The Penguin. I'm with the reviewer's opinion that the latter title is much better. I miss the Huntress that was Helena Wayne, Batman and Catwoman's orphaned daughter. Helena Bertinelli? Who is she, Valerie Bertinelli's daughter?
After a few non-starters, two are looking promising. I've just gotten a quote from one and omg, it's gonna come up to S$5260:
DIAC, Application fee payable to Immigration department 695.00 AUD.
ASA, Professional Fees 2,900.00 AUD.
Mandate, 3rd Party, Couriers, mail processing fees 725.00 AUD.
Total: 4,320.00 AUD.
This is what they provide. I like how comprehensive it is, and the guy I've been trading mails with has been friendly and pretty confident:
Hi Lawson
No visa company on Earth (a legal one!) offers any "guarantee". Yet our 99%+ success rate, and 100% on sponsored visas, speaks for itself.
It's basically as below = if you can show those things --- that you have been doing the work for the relevant position needed, then there should be no reason why we would not be successful.
Please let me know any other questions or if ready to begin.
The caveat in there is "show those things," which refers to this from a prior mail:
So we will need to show that she specifically needs someone like you: i.e. a marketing specialist, within her company, and she has not been able to find one in the local market that matches her needs.
Then that your work experience has been like that kind of role in your current job.
And that's the gist of what makes me nervous, basically. All the proving that needs to be done.
My main qualm about this company (besides the cost) is that they're based in Perth, and though they claim to have staff in S'pore, it sounds more like admin staff than proper agents. And so I'd mainly be communicating through electronic means. I'm an old-fashioned guy who prefers face-to-face.
I have an appointment with the other prospect later. Gads, I hope they don't charge as much.
Honestly, if it's a guaranteed thing, I'm fine with forking out the money as an investment but it's more like a bet and I'm not much of a gambler.
- - -
On my first day back at work, the only relative that smiled at me was my grandfather. Later in the car he asked me how my trip was. #2 and #3 only made eye contact with me when I was in their path on their way to the loo. #5 has yet to acknowledge my reappearance. That's really sad, ain't it.
Anyway, they're apparently restructing the company at the start of the year - most likely to get the OL out - and #3 has told my mom I should start looking for a new job. At least I'll get my year-end bonus first.
Coincidentally, my sister had offered to employ me if I wanted to work in Brisbane. I didn't know if she was serious or not - she can be flakey - but this week I've traded some emails with her and she seems to actually be keen to help me out.
And so I've started looking at local migration agents who can figure out the legal issues for me. She can't get me over there simply as her brother so she'd have to sponsor me as an employer. I don't think it's gonna be quite that straightforward though; I'm not sure if she'll have to prove that she can't get someone with my "skills" over there or she just needs to prove that she employs a good number of locals in her company.
I got an email reply from an agent I wrote to. He says my chances are 'FAIR" and that I should go in for a consultation... and to bring my credit card 'coz it'll cost $150. Ugh. I've read on forums that I should check out about three agents and if they all charge that much for a consultation... ugh. That's not even factored into the main cost of the process, which I'm reading will cost more than $2k. I should find out if they have a money-back guarantee or something.
Has anyone reading this used a migration agent?
I sniffed just about all the men's colognes in the duty free. I'd decided I need a really masculine scent and I've settled on Bulgari Soir. I'll pick up a bottle at Changi.
My 0230 flight seems to be the only one before 8am and by the looks of things, the last one flew out before 11pm. One thing good about this flight time is that there was barely any lines at all for anything. I got singled out for a search again, just like I got pulled out and interrogated when I arrived into Brisbane. Something about me looks shifty. Or they could just be racist like the men here.
Gosh, my luggage bag was full. I didn't think I'd have much to buy and I didn't think I bought that much but a few pieces here and a few pieces there really add up. I bought quite a lot of Industrie and Superdry clothes. I'd never come across these brands before but they really look good and sit well on me. At least I got them on sale, but even then, the tops were S$30, $50, and the bottoms even more. I went jeans hunting one day to find the perfect jeans for my flat butt but alas. The Superdry berms look good on me at least.
Bought a bunch of Blu-ray movies for S$15-$20 each. Not that many compared to my last trip out to Oz. I think I'm moving past my DVD/Blu-ray phase. Or maybe I've just gotten most everything I want.
Bought my first two pairs of Havianas because I bought two pairs of Superdry berms that are in kooky colors that none of my current footwear match (lime green + blue plaid and orange + blue plaid). They're really expensive flip-flops considering you can buy similar ones at a wet market for $2. It is almost obscene how obvious it is that you're paying for the name when a pair of black flip-flops with "Havianas" in black lettering costs AUD$20 but the same pair with "Havianas" in grey lettering costs $25. And the price goes all the way to $50 depending on the style and how obvious the lettering is (gold is the pinnacle I reckon).
Most of my days were spent eating, shopping, playing WoW (just doing the Hallow's Eve dailies but on 12 toons), and looking for roots (more on that in a locked post). One day though, I went to temp in my sister's office when they were shorthanded. Well my brother-in-law's office really. He's one of three directors - the only one based here - and she's the general manager. It was fun. I mostly answered calls but ran some errands outside too. It's so lovely to work in an office where people are nice and funny and like each other and don't make a public spectacle by swearing at each other in Hokkien. Best of all, she paid me $200 for the day, lol.
Their business is doing pretty well, and though I think my sister is generous with me because she loves me, I also believe she's consciously or unconsciously repaying my dad's generosity too. Back when she was poor, my dad was really generous with paying for her flights out and giving her money. It's nice to hear her talk about dad. She saw a different side of him we never really got to know, and she talks about him with such affection too.
All-in-all, it wasn't a particulary exciting trip but it was a pleasant one. It would had been a restful one too, if only I had gotten good sleep, lol.
I've had one night of good sleep since I've been here - the little shit was abnormally late to start screaming this morning. I like the clothes I've gotten but they've not really been cheap. Semi-good shopping. I've hooked up all of once since I've been here, and although it was phenomenal, it's not "plenty," lol. Just as well - I'm starting to feel unattractive from all the eating without gymming I've been doing.
Apart from the nice clothes and the hot sex, the only other highlight of the vacation has been spending time with the family. It's nice not being around cold or bitchy family members. Even the little shit, when he's not being a brat, is perfectly adorable. I find that my niece takes after me. On Saturday we went down to the Gallery of Modern Art because they have an Alfrred Hitchcock Retrospective event going on at their theater. We took in The Lady Vanishes, had a late lunch, and then went back for Rebecca. We had a great time. It was a privilege watching the classics on the big screen too - Singapore needs a theater like that.
Oops, typed too soon, haha. Hooked up between typing the above and posting this entry, lol. I'm a dirty birdy.
I seem to be past my DVD-collecting phase. I've only gotten a copy of Reservoir Dogs and primarily because it was cheap and has a limited edition case. I'll probably buy some Blu-rays at some point too. The sale ones are pretty cheap at least, 2 for $20/$30.
Got random clothes on sale. I like Superdry but there wasn't much sale selection and I only got one tank. Went to the outlet stores today and was pretty disappointed too till I went to the Industrie one. Never tried the brand before but wow, the clothes fit me great. I got this black T that hugs my muscles like its worshipping them and yet it doesn't show my tummy. I just hope it doesn't expand or shrink in the wash. I'm gonna wash it here, and if it doesn't change, I'll probably go get a few more colors. The store guy was really cute and friendly too. I wish my gaydar worked better. He asked me what I was doing the rest of the day and I didn't want to risk a "spending it with you." :P
I have had the worst luck with men here. They've either been uninterested or uninteresting or flakes or kooks. I might as well have come here all flabby for all the action I'm getting. :p
And I will be getting flabby soon, with all the giant portions of food here. Even "small" is a larger portion than what I usually eat. Though, with how much everything costs, I might start replacing meals with fibre bars soon. I bought two tarts at a neighborhood bakery and omg, they were $6 total. AUD. That's at least 3 times more than I'd pay in S'pore.
Hanging out with my sister and her family has been great. They're such a happy and humorous family. Only thing is how my 2yo nephew wakes up by 7am and starts yelling for attention. Everyone in the household pretty much has to adhere to his sleeping schedule to get any sleep. It's getting easier for me though, since there really is nothing much to do here once the stores close at friggin' 5pm.
I love to savor the anticipation of vacation. It starts building a few days before but it only culminates when I'm in the transit area waiting for my flight. It's why I often get to the airport early.
I had initially intended to buy my dutyfree cigs at the Brisbane airport because Oz has lighter options so I can smoke more so I can try to finish as much of a carton as I can, since I can't bring the excess home, but I just found a new flavor of Lucky Strike - Nites Menthol - that I had to try. It's good. Not exceptional but I don't regret getting it.
Damn, this cinnamon roll is sweet. I expect to have an extra inch on my waist by the time I get home. Ugh, it pains me a little to think of how much my muscles'll deflate in 2.5 weeks. And it'll pain me a lot when I hit the gym again afterwards. At least my back'll have a chance to rest. I hope I get to put my fit body to good use there before I get saggy. :p Right now I'm shamelessly rocking a tank top, lol.
I haven't made plans at all for Brisbane, except to catch The Thing at the theater. I like taking in early shows on weekdays so it'd be mostly empty. I only hope it's as good as the original.
My sis has said that my niece and nephews want to go to the various Worlds in Gold Coast with me so that should be fun. Not something I'd do by myself but the kids are great, especially my niece. She's 14 and rebelling by becoming Saffy from AbFab, lol, since my sister is kinda like Edina.
- - -
I used to love flying because it lets me catch up on reading and games, since I have no WoW to play or videos to watch. Nowadays it's a bit rough on my consitution. Well the US flights are anyway, the 7 hours to Brisbane shouldn't be too bad. I have my iPad, iPhone, and a book to keep me entertained. Emirates should have video-on-demand too I reckon. I've never flown them before and it's also something I'm looking forward too, since I've always heard how good they are. They have a 30kg baggage allowance. That already puts them a notch above the rest.
- - -
I just popped a yellow pill that I hope is a non-drowsy motion sickness pill. I really should've kept the boxes. It's kinda stupid how they only sell the drowsy kind in S'pore considering you can't buy sleep-aids over-the-counter. If Oz has them, I'm gonna buy me a few boxes. Motion sickness and jet lag just get worse the older I get.
- - -
My next tech purchase should be an ultra-light laptop. I love this Asus but I went for power > weight and it's not very good for my back. I wish I didn't have to bring it but the All Hallow's Eve event in WoW starts next week and I want to get The Horseman's Mount for all my toons. :p Gawd, I can't stand myself.
- - -
Okay, I should get my last smoke in and get boarded.~ Whee~
I've been reading on various news sites - including The New York Times - about the DC Comics reboot in which they've reset 52 titles to #1 to start all over again. Most of the titles have gotten okay, if not good, reviews and it had me hankering to start reading them again. I'm a DC fan from way back in my highschool days, when I would take the 93 bus after school to go to Comics Mart at Serene Centre to buy whatever was new that week. As with all my collecting phases, it got a bit out of control and I wound up with a bookshelf full of comics before I switched my addiction to CD singles (you should see my collection of those).
I've always had the urge to start up again but it gets to be a pretty expensive hobby eventually and I really didn't want to add to the clutter of my already-messy room. But now with the reboot, I just couldn't resist it any longer, especially since I'd also been reading about how good the comics look on the iPad. And they really do, with the colors and the backlight. It seems a bit of a waste of money to pay for issues and not have the physical copies but oh well, it's a sacrifice. They're US$3 each for the new issues and $2 for really old back issues. You can delete them when you're done and re-download them for free whenever you feel like reading them again.
I bought a bunch of #1s last night but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I hope some suck so I don't have to follow their series, lol.
I'd actually also been resisting getting the iPad for a long time because I had no good reason to get it, even though it looked like fun. Not that "to read comics" is a good reason, lol, but anyway, it's as least as fun as it seemed to be. I haven't explored it too much yet, having spent most of yesterday putting in whatever apps I'd purchased for phone and finding out which ones had iPad/HD versions to download instead.
Oh I just realized the comics I purchased can be read on the comixology website too. Makes buying digital more competitive with buying print I guess.
So I started looking for alternatives. I chatted up with a friend in Sweden and started looking into visiting. I got all excited until I realized that because I could only stay with him a few days, flight + hotel costs for 2 weeks in Sweden and Norway would be 1k more than flight prices (from SG and domestic) in the US (I'd crash with friends). Not to mention food and shopping would be significantly more too. Not quite the budget vacation I was hoping for.
And thus I started looking back at the US. Just when I had all but planned to go, I received some last minute news from a friend - at their request I can't say what news - that would have me in Boston next June. Gah. So I've put off the US till June and in the meantime I had to look for a cheap vacation since the US one would cost me plenty.
It was down to Taiwan, which I've never been to but been curious about, and Australia, to visit my sister again. I visited her when she lived near Adelaide and when she lived in Townsville, but not at her current home in Brisbane. Since Taiwan would be a short trip (due to staying in hotels), I opted for the longer trip of visiting my sister. My primary goal is relaxation anyway. So two weeks in Brisbane.
I was last in Brisbane as a teenager and don't remember anything apart from playing my Take That casette in the car my uncle rented. Seriously, nothing else. I think we were at Sea World in the Gold Coast but I can't even be certain.
Anyway, from looking it up, Brisbane doesn't seem very interesting but that's okay. I will make some dates, buy some DVDs and watch them, and hang out with my sister and niece and nephews. My sister's really cool and I expect quite a stress-free vacation.
I've been trolling some personals sites and well, it seems the guys there are more ageist than racist, though there are still plenty of the latter. I understand personal preference when it comes to types but I find it plenty rude when it's caps-ed like NO ASIANS, or if they go "no fats, femmes or asians." I think it's much more polite to just ignore mail from people you're not into. I'm sure you don't fuck all skinny, masculine whities. It's one of the reasons why Australia isn't one of my favorite places to visit - the guys there just seem more close-minded. And the stores close at bloody 5pm. Wtf.
Still, I have some good memories of my last Oz trip to Townsville and Melbourne so I'm sure I'll have a good time again.
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My back is still aching and I should probably take time off gym to recuperate but it's a little more than two weeks from my vacation so I've to try and get just a little bit hotter by then, lol. I figure I'll have the whole of my vacation to rest my back.
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I've been watching the new Fall TV shows.
I love that Sarah Michelle Gellar is back in Ringer but I just keep seeing Buffy in her expressions and the show's kinda full of cliches. Will watch it till I can't stand it though.
Up All Night with Will Arnett, Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph is pretty good but not my kind of sitcom. I don't like it when I have to cringe at the TV when the characters get embarassed.
Free Agents with Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn didn't draw me in and I'm not taken with the premise. Same with Whitney, with Whitney Cummings. Pass.
2 Broke Girls is my favorite new show thus far. The actresses are likeable and I'm glad the ex-rich girl isn't an airhead.
I'm still undecided about New Girl, with Zooey Deschanel. She treads a fine line between lovable and annoying.
Unforgettable, with Poppy Montgomery, looks like a one-trick pony. But I kinda like her so I'll give it a few more episodes.
The US X Factor feels like American Idol in the X Factor format, especially with Simon and Paula there. Nicole Scherzinger seems like a really nice person but that makes for a really boring judge. At least L.A. Reid is feisty, even if he has a disturbing tendency to leer at young and blonde white chicks. Of the three X Factors I'm watching now, I reckon the UK one has the best judges. They're funny and appropriately critical but not mean. I'm quite pissed at the Aussie judges for removing my favorite contestants because they weren't commercial enough, and giving such weak and insincere reasons like "You're too good and I wouldn't know how to mentor you."
Revenge didn't seem like it would be my cuppa but Madeleine Stowe is a great villainess and I'm intrigued by the intrigue thus far.
Charlie's Angels is as vapid as its actresses and I don't think it's gonna last the season but I like watching girls kick ass so I'll stay with it for a while.
Prime Suspect, with Maria Bello taking over Helen Mirren's signature role, is Gritty. Note the capital G. I can't decide if it's good or not but I don't much care for grit.
More new shows to come!
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Wutwut?
The Man with the Iron Fists
A kungfu movie directed by RZA (of the Wu-Tang Clan), co-written by Eli Roth (who did Hostel), and starring Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Daniel Wu, and Pam Grier?? My curiousity overfloweth.
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Sean Maher opens up about his sexuality - hottie
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Came across this local online bookstore, Noq, after they put out a deal on Deal.com.sg. They actually have a pretty broad selection for mostly competitve prices and $5 flat shipping. The problem is their website sucks. My transaction failed a couple of times and couldn't be resolved till customer service worked it out a day or two later each time. And when my transaction with a shopping cart of 30+ books failed, I had to add each item all over again, and when I realized that I had missed one after completing the purchase, they told me (many days later) "oh well, too bad," though not in those words.
In any case, I got all my books last night. The receipt was a mess because they put in a different figure from what was in my email receipt so I had to tally everything to make sure they didn't screw me over (they didn't). Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with my purchase, lol. Got everything for a whole lot cheaper than it would've been off Amazon or from Borders/Kino. It might've been cheaper had I bought them secondhand whilst in the US but then I'd have to lug them all home myself. Can't beat $5 flat shipping.
Oh yea, you've got to pay $20 for a year's membership with them but considering how much I bought, it was less than $1 more per book and still totally worth it. But if we're close and you want me to help you buy stuff, sure.
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I really got into movies when I decided to try to watch all of IMDB's Top 250 movies. It helped that I had a Netflix subscription at that point. The list is constantly being updated but at any time I'm usually at 230+. I watched a lot of movies I'd never have watched otherwise, and liked them too.
I really got into music when I bought an earlier edition of The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, which listed every song ever charted to date. I pored through it many times over and got my hands (or ears) on just about every notable hit (they highlight those) in the book and from there, I discovered and rediscovered a wealth of [mostly old] songs.
I just bought Billboard's Hot R&B Songs 1942-2010 off Noq. It's another great tome and I'm really excited to start discovering new music. Coincidentally, I had only a few days ago come across Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list (and a bunch of other Greatest lists) and that's like another tome almost, albeit online. I'm pretty sure I know half that list at least though. Gonna go through it now.
Anyway I told the OL of my plans for a 3-week vacation and he's fine with it, surprisingly. I might just go ahead and book once I find a good fare. My mom's not gonna be happy about it I'm sure, though I don't think she's in any position to complain considering I think she's planning on another Europe trip with my sister in December.
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It looks like there'll be a third ScreamFest at the office soon. The OL ducked out quickly this morning to avoid its possibility. I expect to see quite little of him till they finally corner him. All this stuff still makes me nervous about leaving for so long. Never know what might happen when I return. The last time I came back from the US, #3 had stopped speaking to the OL.
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Fall 2011-12 TV schedule with premiere dates
A summary of the new shows
I'm looking forward to Buffy kicking ass again. Just hope Ringer is more action than drama.
And X-Factor. :-x I've always liked its format more than Idol's. Currently watching the UK and OZ ones and the new judges are pretty fun, and by fun I mean quite happy to ask the hot guy contestants to take off their shirts. Well the female judges anyway; the male judges have to pretend to act disgusted and not at all turned on (except Louie Walsh).
Charlie's Angels... hit or miss?
Pan Am - It's Mad Men in the friendly skies! Should be great fun.
American Horror Story - If they got Jessica Lange for it, it's gotta be good. This is her first ever role on a TV series!
I was getting tired of it, not just of the maintenance but also of having it be unappreciated by the conservative majority here. You can have your hair red, brown, blond, you can do it up in some Korean/Japanese-wannabe pomp, and people won't think twice of it, but my 'do made me an unconventional rebel because people don't see it on their Asian soaps.
Personally, I like having short or no hair. Very carefree and neat. But I also like having long hair that billows in the wind, and my distinctive 'do that is uniquely me. Maybe I'll grow it out again in time.
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Seems a lot of people like me with short hair. I'm getting a lot of attention on the personals sites. :-x
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I was telling Roland that I wanted to cut my hair off because I felt the need for a drastic change, and this was just about the only thing I could do. I can't even move my furniture around 'coz it's all stuck to the walls/floor. How sad is that.
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I was at Roland's place and I took a body fat test using one of those fancy weighing machines that sends electric pulses through you (or something). I'm quite happy with the results. The good is better than I expected and the bad is well, just what I expected.
My body fat is 14.7%. According to wiki, I fall under "Fitness," and am just a shade above "Athlete." I thought it'd be higher because of my tummy but turns out that's reflected on another scale.
Which would be "visceral fat," aka abdominal fat. I'm a 9 when 1-5 is" healthy," 6-14 is "not very healthy," and 15-59 is "excess level of visceral fat."
I'm happiest with my muscle mass, even though I don't know what this number means, lol. It says I'm 64.5 but I don't know if it's a percentage? Roland says it's kg but that would put me at 80% muscle and that seems impossible. In any case it puts me under "Standard Muscular," which is a step below "Very Muscular." I guess my goal should be to reach the latter.
My BMR (basal metabolic rate) is apparently that of an 18yo's, but that's unsurprising 'coz otherwise the pills I'm popping aren't working. :-x
So in a bizarre twist, they left the OL his post and removed a heretofore not involved in the fray #5 uncle. Well he wasn't quite uninvolved. During Screamfest2011, the OL did mention #5 to his four daughters but my poor grasp of Hokkien couldn't quite catch why.
This kinda leave me neither here nor there as to knowing whether I can book my vacation or not. And right now United has a promotion going that ends on Sept 1, after which it'll mean Philippine Airlines for me. -_-"" Blargh.
I can't help but to think that things wouldn't have degenerated to such a point if my dad were still around. My dad was a family man and he would've bridged their differences. And he wasn't moneygrubby either and wouldn't have been all backstabby like this lot. It's hard to believe he and I are related to these people.
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I'm wondering if this kre-alkalyn I'm taking is making me bloaty.
Creatine monohydrate, the cheapest and most common form of creatine, makes me bloated all over so I had to stop taking it. KA is supposedly a more refined version of creatine that users have said doesn't lead to bloating but then again I have a worse digestive system than most, I reckon.
Anyway I don't think I look bloaty but my pants feels a bit snug. Could just be I'm overeating. My strength seems to have improved some but I don't know whether to credit it to the KA or not. Bah.
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Okay the OL has left and the relations aren't here. I think I'll sneak home. Long weekend,ole~
I should be quite happy with all the free time I now have but my future's becoming uncertain. If the OL's gone from here, I'm all but certain I'll be out of a job, since I'm mostly handling his personal affairs now. Ergo I'm finding it hard to plan for my birthday vacation in two months when I don't know if a) I'll be working then or b) he'll need me around for whatever reason (i.e. if the OS isn't around to ferry him because no one else will).
It's a little daunting to think that I might have to face the real world soon.
In the meantime, my mom's still deludedly believing that #2 and #3 will take care of her for life. Good luck with that. I pity the poor sod who'll have to take care of her when they cut her off. Oh wait, that's me.
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Bodybuilding.com still refuses to send OxyElite Pro to S'pore but I just discovered that Nutrition Park has begun selling it. Maybe S'pore just removed it from the controlled substances list or something. Anyway it's just S$10 or so more than what bb.com is selling it at (incl. shipping) so I'm good with buying it off np.com. Much easier than off ebay. As such I just started on it again today. The max duration I can take it for is 8 weeks (followed by a 4-week break) so it'll just nicely reach my birthday.
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Blargh. Die die have to be away for my birthday. I hope this all gets resolved soon, for better or worse. Well there really is no "better," just worse. Familial relations have pretty much gone to the point of no return. I really am living some TVB soap opera.
(12:45:28 PM) Dave: no
(12:45:46 PM) Lawson: four of the OL's daughters came down to confront him
(12:46:00 PM) Lawson: about the CW and demanded he transfer some shares to their mother
(12:46:15 PM) Dave: wow
(12:46:15 PM) Lawson: it was loud and cussy
(12:46:41 PM) Lawson: it was also unresolved and now he's taken to leaving the office early in case of another scene
(12:47:21 PM) Lawson: which is kinda good for me, lol
(12:47:59 PM) Dave: lol
(12:48:03 PM) Dave: what drama!
(12:48:20 PM) Lawson: yea i'm living a soap opera
(12:48:30 PM) Lawson: As the Old Coot Farts
(12:49:31 PM) Lawson: oh
(12:49:38 PM) Lawson: actually "All My Children" would fit perfectly
(12:49:51 PM) Lawson: i would be the token gay
(12:50:00 PM) Lawson: condemned to not have a love life
(12:51:09 PM) Dave: rofl
(12:51:40 PM) Dave: As the Family Farts
(12:52:00 PM) Dave: since it isn't just the old coot :p
(12:52:20 PM) Lawson: lol
(12:52:37 PM) Lawson: sheesh, you didn't even know me during the pre-lactase days :p
(12:59:33 PM) Dave: hahahaha
(12:59:47 PM) Dave: i read about it
(12:59:59 PM) Dave: there were U.S. State Dept. warnings against travel to Singapore during that time :p
(1:00:07 PM) Lawson: lol
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Well that was easier than typing a narrative about what happened. It would be hard to imagine the audacity of what they said if I hadn't been sitting right outside his office trying to blend into the wall. I would pity him but it's a bed of his own making.
Anyway now that I can leave the office early even more often, it might be time to kick it up a notch and hit the gym 5x in anticipation of my US trip. :-d Actually it's more importaint that I start controlling my diet. Been a bit out of control with potato chips.
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Been playing Dungeons of Dredmor a lot. Really fun and replayable and just US$5 through Steam.
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Good fares are starting to show up for SIN <-> SFO but none are compatible yet. They're either not Star Alliance or they don't have dates I want. Sad. I'll keep holding out. It really is a good time for a US trip, considering how weak the USD is getting.
There's also the NATAS travel fair on 26-28 Aug. Never been and don't know if they've good airfare rates for a solo traveller though. And it's cutting it a bit close.
Besides SF and Boston, I only have Seattle planned for this trip. That oughta be fun 'coz I've never been (apart from a transit whilst on my way to Walla Walla in 1993) but I also want to visit some small town or at least some Bible Belt city. On my previous trips I went to Louisville, KY, and Saginaw, MI, and they were quite eye-openingly different from the east and west coast cities I'm familiar with.
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I like how my new glasses look but I've had them on since Saturday and my eyes haven't adjusted to them yet. I suspect they're powered a little too high, though it might be that I'm just taking a long time to adjust because my contacts were weaker and didn't adjust for astigmatism. I had forgotten that I loathe this part of getting new glasses - not knowing if the optician diagnosed my power wrong or if my eyes are just taking a while to adjust.
At least I love my new sunglasses. Now I know why so many people put up pictures of themselves wearing sunglasses. Most still look like douches though. But not me. I look cool. Hee.
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I still have a bit of cough going but it's more like a lingering smoker's thing now. A lot more manageable. I've been catching up at the gym but my metabolism isn't up to scratch yet. I'm gonna have to start dieting again soon, if I want to look hot for my vacation. I'd prefer to know my travel dates first so I can plan for two months till take off but I guess two months from my birthday is good too.
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Both my office computers died last week. While my old pc from home hasn't been fixed yet - I'm hoping the office will cover it, my ancient work pc has been replaced with a spankin' new set. I can't remember how slow the old set was, though I know it had a whopping 256M of memory. The new set is i3 and has 4G of ram. Woowoo. I'm tempted to install WoW but I really shouldn't; I have tons of paperwork to catch up on.
I was concerned about my breathing but actually working out helped. I think it's the same reason behind why asthmatics should try to exercise - to get used to breathing hard. It makes me wonder if my breathing problems arose from not working out and becoming unused to the oxygen intake of a sedentary [smoker's] body.
My cough's not getting any better but at least it's not getting worse. And I managed to suppress it enough at the gym to not come across as a Typhoid Mary, so I guess I'm all set to get my ass back into shape.
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Ordered a ton of stuff off bodybuilding.com. Didn't really mean to but I had the 10% off and I hadn't realized how much the USD had dropped against the S$. I really should make it out there this year.
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The OL's not going to the UK after all; just his son. Zzz. I wonder how he'll get about when I take my vacation in Oct. I hope he'll at least have made up with #5 by then.
So yesterday I went and splurged my Lasik money. Got me a spiffy pair of Oakley glasses, a cool pair of Rayban sunglasses, and more disposable contacts. Only cost half as much as the Lasik but they probably won't last half as long. Oh well. At least I'm quite pleased with how they look on me.
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My breathing seems to be improving. They're not as deep as I'd like but there's no suffocation panic now. I wonder which if it's the dried ivy leaf extract, the tranquilizers or the humidifier that's helping. I suspect it's the last because my nose isn't feeling that good again in this dry office air. Maybe I should get one for my cubicle.
I'm not sure if the tranqs are doing anything for me, since the doc just gave me a short run of low dosage. I like the thought of being tranquilized though, lol. I'm not the anxious type but I do get irritated easily. It would be nice to not be pissed off all the time.
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Bodybuilding.com very thoughtfully sent me a 10% off coupon just when I need to order more stuff. Love them. Haven't had any complaints so far after two big orders.
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It's suddenly three months to my birthday. Still no cheap fares to the US [on a Star Alliance flight]. Three months to get into supersexy shape and after a month of sitting on my ass and doing nothing. At least I was working out hard before that and don't have to work as hard now.
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Emmy nominations are out.
I realize most of the shows I like aren't critical faves. Guess my tastes are quite lowbrow. I'm mainly rooting for Martha Plimpton for Raising Hope.
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I just overheard that the OL is going to the UK soon, probably to visit his son and daughter. Fabulous. Though his vacations are short, I look forward to the time off chauffeuring his ass. Wish I could get away with being AWOL from work too though, lol, but I don't think my relatives would stand for it. I could probably get away with gym sessions at lunch, if only I would just get over this damn cough.
So I went and did the X-ray. Wow, really cheap ($16) and rather fast too, since I didn't have to consult a doctor there. But, it turns out the X-ray shows nothing wrong. I'm beginning to wonder if this is psychosomatic.
I went and saw the doctor again today, for the fourth time. More meds, some the same, some different - they all haven't really seemed to work so far. She listened to my breathing and didn't think I was developing asthma. I then had a little freakout that stemmed from the breathlessness panic and she decided to give me tranquilizers to see if they help. Lol. Never tried those before. Lexotan. Seems like a fairly weak dosage. She recommended I go see a respiratory specialist if these meds don't help either. I anticipate seeing a respiratory specialist. At least my company is footing these medical expenses.
Gah, waistline expanding. If I'm anxious about anything right now, it's probably about getting fat again. Well that and the breathing.
I wonder if constantly being in air conditioning could be causing this. I think breathing humid air is easier but I'm not quite sure. In any case, I'm gonna buy a humidifier for my bedroom and see if that helps any. I really can't sleep without the a/c, considering I can't open my window at night or bugs'll fly in from the garden.
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#5 is the latest person to dump the OL on me. Most mornings she drives him to the office but now I'm taking over Tues and Thurs, I'm not sure why. Poor sod, no one loves him. It's a minor inconvenience for me 'coz it means getting up a half hour earlier but whatever, it's not like I'm in any position to complain.
Still coughing, but it's pretty much bronchitis now. Went back to the doc for stronger meds but those're gone and I'm still coughing. From reading up on bronchitis, it's just mucus clogging my airways and it's not contagious, but when I have to cough, it has to be hard, so that probably won't go down so well at the gym.
Of course the best way to get over this would be to stop smoking. I think I will try to take a break once I finish this pack. While I've never tried to go off cigs before, I've always believed I can if I want to - I just haven't wanted to. Now I'll put that to the test.
Quitting smoking completely has crossed my mind too, naturally. While my personal belief is that you never know when you'll die so be hedonistic today, I don't really want to be bogged down by the inconveniences of smoking, like this stupid bronchitis. And daily smoking has become more of a comfortable routine than any kind of thrill.
What holds me back from quitting is actually the thought of smoking while on vacation, lol. I get great pleasure from buying cheap duty-free cigarettes, or trying new brands of foreign cigarettes, and smoking up a storm because the cigs are so cheap, and smoking indoors in the hotel room, or smoking outdoors when it's cold and then running back indoors to warm up. They're part of what makes a vacation fun for me.
I suppose I could keep my smoking to just vacations but I'm under the impression that sporadic bouts of smoking is worse than constant smoking. I could be wrong; I don't know.
Anyway, I'll just try to take a break now to get over this cough and see how it goes.
