goodbye money

335.75.
Ok i don't know the exact amount and i don't wanna know. but that's around how much i spent at some Ear nose and throat specialist today.

Went for a checkup by the private specialist at Mount E. The firsttime consultation fee is 100bucks :/ and i took an endoscopy (which is basically them putting some tube down ur nose to look at your nasal passages. pretty weird feeling. ) which cost 200 bucks. then medicine 17 bucks.. im quite sure it's more than 317 so i dunno what's the other costs. tax?

The tube thing is pretty cool. he slides the thing slowly into my nose. i dunno how it goes down my nasal passage without poking the roof of my nose when he is just sliding it in. it just.. went in.. with some slight discomfort only.
Then halfway through he suddenly says 'i'm going to take a look at your throat k?'
Then it slides down my throat. ugh. -controls swallowing reflex-. very weird unique feeling.

and poof 10 minutes later he is 300 dollars richer. dammit! specialists are rich.
and i'm going back next week for some skin test to find out if im allergic to dust/grass dunno wat else. 150 bucks for that -_-

let's hope the results are positive for allergy yea. otherwise.. infantry spec gg pwndzor.

1,2 buckle my shoe.

Wow i have so many things to talk about i dunno where to start. i originally planned to just talk abt one thing, but more things happened

k firstly, have you ever made a bad investment? like, you know that the probability of getting any returns at all is really low, but you still 'throw your money away' for that investment.

Or another way to put it will be.. let's say Manchester United (i dunno why i'm using them as an example, i dont like them and i prefer Arsenal, but i guess they're more wellknown and they're the generic example when it comes to soccer) plays Singapore.
If you bet on singapore and win, u get $198273, if u bet on man u and win, u get $1000.

So i give you $100 to bet. what will you bet on? Let's say i further say that it's Man U's first team vs Singapore's woman's team.

What i'm currently doing is about the same as you betting on Singapore. throwing away the $100 on an investment that most likely wont reap benefits. i'll elaborate more on this when the investment fails/succeeds.


haha ok that aside. i had a bad experience today at Bata @ Vivocity. i went there just to walk around and buy shoes.. so i went to bata as i passed it while looking for the ATM.
Ok firstly, ALL the salespeople dont speak fluent English. They are mainly filipino, with one chinese (who doesnt speak english properly either)
I'm not saying that their English is not accurate or broken English or what, it's that they CAN'T SPEAK A COMPLETE SENTENCE AT ALL. so they just mutter /murmur in singular words or short phrases.
e.g. the salesgirl who helped me just echoed out what i said 'Can i have a size 9'
"nine... nine... " -walks off to find-

anyway. besides the language barrier thing, i purchased these pair of shoes which i thought was quite nice.. and i wore it straight away and walked out after paying to walk around somemore.

luckily i did that, because after awhile i realised the shoes were quite tight and i was thinking maybe i should change to 9.5. But my right foot especially was hurting alot. As i got closer to the shop it became PAINFUL. like outright pain on the outside of my right foot. So i took off the shoe and walked half-barefoot. Then i saw the size printed on the inside : "8"
!?? I took off the other pair.. and it was size 9.

WTH!?! The salesgirl gave me mismatched-size shoes!!! that explains my discomfort -_-
And to top it off the filipino salesgirl didn't even seem the least bit apologetic.. she was just sheepishly smiling as she went to find proper sized shoes.

As i was leaving the store, i was tempted to just make a big fuss out of it. like 'oh wow how can you all give me mismatched shoes like this and cause me pain. are you going to compensate me my feet hurt alot now. what is this etc etc.'
But the manager had magically surfaced from nowhere (speaks English like a normal singaporean) and was already scolding the filipino. "you blind issit?? -"
that was all i caught as i walked out.

oh well, at least the shoes are nice. i still plan to get a pair of Converse after some months. And this store is marked for one of the ones i'm gonna hit for the 'irritate sales assistant' task in The Journey :p

infantryftl.

sigh. here i am , stuck in camp for 2 weeks. i didn't go to church last week cos i was having live firing for General Purpose Machine Gun and Demolitions. blew up some stuff. haha. boring la. so we didn't book out.. but had alot of nights out. which i never go out.
like today. i went to the mess room and am using the com now. =)

anw, by next monday ill either be the happiest person in the world or ill be 180degree changing my attitude. rawr. right now, i want out. seeing a specialist on fri/sat (zz fail soc so must stay back on fri/sat for extra training.. they havent tell us when. i fail by 3 seconds only! zz) , see what the spec says and then monday see what the MO says.
ill update more on this situation NEXT week. so.. like, quite long from now. like around bestie's bday time. 10th june.

yes christabel chong shu ying's birthday is 10th june. so go get her something if you havent :) hah

anyway, the journey blog is updated, with a slightly different concept. take a look yea =)
http://alan-thejourney.blogspot.com

i feel like writing some thoughtful insightful entry or at least talk more about my current army life. cos i just read weiqin and manda's blog and both made some meaningful entries. ha. but i'm in the army camp mess room surrounded by guys it's kinda hard to get into .. the mood. yknow.
Ill do it when i get home k! :) i hope.

update on the journey

made a blog post on 'The Journey' blog.. check it out.

http://alan-thejourney.blogspot.com/

PSP rox worz.

woot! got myself many new games thanks to ben cheok. he had like.. 20 odd games which he loaded onto a harddisk for me and i just got it back today. Not all of them appeal to me.. some just sound outright boring. like.. transformers. like .. uh?

so far i only copied 2 games over.. NBA Live 08 (which kinda sucks i dunno why i copied it) and Final Fantasy: Crisis Core.. which i'm currently playing. (i also have Tony hawk 2: underground. pretty fun but the tasks like quite hard to accomplish and quite frustrating)

Ok, Crisis Core. Firstly, this is nothing like previous FF series if i'm not wrong. (i've never played any FF series before, but i've seen it being played and the gameplay is like.. different.) Crisis Core is an RPG style game, unlike the normal battle mode of FF.
here's a very good summary of the game:

http://talkingaboutgames.com/content/view/795/32



The graphics are chio.. you see the left half of the pic? that's like the graphics for the whole game. typical FF realism. the whole game is, as the article says, story driven, so i'm watching cinematics half the time. The battle system is pretty simple though it does take skill i guess, as enemies get stronger. I've already died a few times due to carelessness. ugh.
I don't know if i'll get bored as i play more, but so far i'm enjoying it =) it is simple to play, but it is difficult enough to not be monotonous and boring.

I'm also downloading WWE atm (yess.. and old-time favourite of mine :p ).. so i'll have 3 fun games (tony hawk, FF, WWE) on my PSP to play at all times =) (i dont count NBA as a fun game. there are some minigames tho which i'll try)

Ahh, this feels good. just playing endless hours on my PSP. I wish i could just.. do this forever.

you're looking as good as ever.

Expenditure

After some extravagant living in the first 3 months of my army, i decided i was spending way more than i wanted to. Thus i started keeping a log book of ALL my spending, writing all my expenditure down.
This was both to track my spending as well as to keep track of in what aspect i'm spending the most in. The results did surprise me.

Here's a chart i drew up.. i'll briefly explain each category:

Snacks: Any snacks, drinks that are bought for non-meal time consumption.
Entertainment: Any form of spending for entertainment purposes - e.g. movie, LAN, buying a PSP, etc
Transport: Bus / Cab fares
Clothing: clothes, shoes, anything worn
Army: Any expenditure relating to army , which covers equipment and indirect purposes (e.g. haircut for army)
Gifts: Presents for other people.
Food: Meals

Here's the results:


Wow. I didn't realise i spent SO much on snacks. And i didn't expect Transport to be the 2nd highest expenditure. Guess i'm taking too many cabs :/
Oh yes, i left out the PSP amount in the calculations... otherwise it'll lob-side Entertainment.

This was from 12th April to 12th May. Wow i spent more in one day than i did in a month (the total monthly expenditure is about 350, while PSP = 355 dollars)

I either have to maintain my spending or cut it down! I think most likely maintain bah. I expect army expenditure to rise this month, and snacks will rise for sure (food is damn important for motivation in the army)

Sigh. happy eve of eve of Vesak day everyone. oh yes, happy birthday to boonlay too. (yes my fren's name is boonlay)

@Q*(#QY

AISDUHA(H!#(*H#IRUNQR

(W*DJAW(*!

PISSED OFFFFF.

Ok i just finished my B SLC and .. received my posting today. guess what. i'm going to freaking A SLC. ZZZZ. That means i'll be going back to the same camp which is freaking far from my house (boonlay) and i'll be having outfield practically every single week. how awesome ain't it.

i'm depressed and angry and frustrated and ARHGHGHGHG. i just wanna scream.
oh yes, i'm booking in monday night -_- practically all other vocations are tues morning book in.
WHY am i not posted to a unit!!! AW(E*H!ASDOI!#)(*

Ok just to make myself smile or something, here's something funny which i saw a long time ago (near the start of my BS LC).. it was the instructions on the back of the number lock which i bought:

Directions for use
UNLOCK WAY
1) Please make sure whether all the "Press Button" set up already.
2) Press your "Secret Number button" please
3) Push the slide button which is underneath this combination lock and press it down Then it will be O.K.

LOCK WAY
1) Press down the curve
2) Just push up the back side button is O.K.

Lol gg pwnd awesome instructions.

on a side note, i didn't include that qisahn ad above my tagboard.. it's cbox automatically put one. i think it works like google ads, they scan for keywords in your blog and put the relevant ads.
AND regarding my tagboard, sheesh, stop arguing on it already. go to http://www.mirc.com/ to start arguments with people not here ktnxbai.

PSP

on some sort of sustained impulse since friday, i bought a PSP today.


this is exactly what it looks like. stylish black. =) i bought the airfoam case too. (it's says air-foRm but airform doesnt make any sense, airfoam makes more sense. so. yea.)

Modified Console + package(includes batt, charger, mem card, screen protector) + 1 year warranty = $355

The hole in my pocket is biiiiiig.
Practically all my commanders in sis pec (ha with the spacing search engines wont pick this up anymore) play psp, several of my bunk mates play it, so i tio influenced to get one myself.
2 different friends recommend that i get it from the shop with the website
http://www.qisahn.com/ , and they said the service v good, it's the cheapest u can find, blabla. So i did a little research and was satisfied so decided to go there.
(The shop is opposite Sunshine Plaza. Very near simlim square, near bugis. if you want exact directions ask me.)

Well, i was not exactly satisfied with the service. This young girl served me, and she was obviously rushing through me as there was a customer in queue. She spoke like a bullet train and her hands were moving as fast as she could taking out the console, pressing the buttons, etcetc. She was clearly trying to get me done asap, without being 'patient' and 'helpful' as many described on forums, etc. There's a fine line between being 'efficient' and 'rushed'. -_-
:@ i'm gonna complain on the tagboard thing there.

Anyway, the PSP is really cool! it's not just a gaming console, it's like.. a portable mini PC. besides playing games, it can play music, videos, and even surf the net! (Wifi supported) It can also store images for future reference, and take pictures if you attach some sort of camera to it.
I've upped some random songs and vids on it, and a movie to watch in camp =) haven't got a good game installed in it yet though. dling Tonyhawk pro skater now, will take some time.. 1gb+ file. :/ probably only finish next week.

ok time to book in. chowz.


p.s. on a completely random note, in reference to my very first sentence of this post.. 'sustained impulse' is quite a paradox isn't it =)

dont you love japanese products

was just walking through Daiso @ PS today.. and came across this interesting packet of cookies.



mm. chocolate soft cookies. ok no that's not why it's interesting. btw soft cookies just mean.. it's like 'lou hong' cookies. like you leave your normal cookies open for a long time and it becomes soft. haha. yea. it's that texture. but it's pretty tasty la. with chocolate filling in the middle. won't say it's fantastic or what.
ANYWAY . yea it's interesting cos of the english text below the japanese words.. u cant see them in the above pic cos of the glare . i took another pic:



if you still can't read it, it says:
"A taste that makes sense comes from a production process that makes sense. Please try it"

LOLOL?!? Is that the most random sentence found on a product box ever or what?? hahahah. ok yes the taste makes SO MUCH sense! therefore you must try it! cos it makes sense!
the production process makes sense too ! you put the flour in the oven and bake. it makes sense! alot of sense! therefore the taste makes sense too!

wahaha.



a random shot of my other purchases. (actually stil got more, got mark and spencers choc chip cookies =) [i seriously love the packaging] )
yep, the top box of cookies is from Daiso too.
And i'm addicted to hello panda! i'm buying like one box (of 10) every week. super nice la! cannot stand it. =D

one more week

in the 3 days of field camp that i just had this week, i took about 400++ lives. i took their body in between my fingers and crushed the life out of them. oblirated. however you spell it.

Yea, there were alot of ants. :p the first few days.. about every 20 seconds i felt an ant crawling up my neck or arm or something. then ill just instinctively reach over and squeeze it , roll it up and flick it away. I did it so often that it became... second nature. like.. yawn.

Woo! BSLC is coming to an end. i'm gonna be a CORPORAL soon! Next week is my last week in BSLC (and hopefully in SISPEC. i dont wanna go ASLC) , the only tough thing left is the 28km route march . argh. well ok barring SOC and IPPT and all the PT lessons coming up.

I wanna buy a PSP! bloody hell. everyone around me seems to be playing, especially the commanders in SISPEC. then now i got the urge to play some RPG on PSP. Anyone knows a good deal please let me know! i want the full set, the console and the protectors and mem card. modded of course =X

Oh, just watched Survivor too.. Erik is super poor thing la!! he's like some nice gullible little boy who got totally played by everyone. then the girls all laughing at him somemore when he was voted out. James was freaking funny too. here's a clip from the tribal council:

"I've lost my reign as the dumbest survivor ever"
lololol.

indeed erik, what were you thinking!?!

grandslam

mind over body. it is said that we can push ourselves past our physical limit if we're mentally strong. This statement is just so .. ironical. Wait, ironical isn't the word. How about.. FLAWED.

Firstly, if we're able to push ourselves past our physical limit just with a strong mind.. that wouldn't be our physical limit in the first place would it? A limit is a limit. You don't.. surpass the limit, otherwise it isn't a limit. If we can do that, it simply means our own perception of our physical limit is wrong, and we're actually capable of achieving more.

So how about i make this statement: A strong mind helps us REALISE our physical limit.

It's more true isn't it? =)

Next this statement has led to countless of deaths. how many times have we read about cardiac arrest occuring in young individuals doing exercise? They push themselves, thinking 'mind over body, mind over body'. And indeed, their mind takes over their body and they keep going even though the telltale signs of overexertion set in - ending up in sudden heart attack and they die.
Young, healthy, fit individuals.

Indeed, the army helps you to develop a strong mind. Even when you're physically worn out, you have to keep going on, as 50 odd other guys are doing the same thing with you and it'll be.. odd to quit. Sometimes.. you just have no choice. However tired you are, you just keep going. and going.

I had section live firing yesterday.. it took the entire day and night and day. Yup, i reached back to camp at 4am. and they didn't let us sleep as we had to clean weapon and stuff. So i slept 0 hours for the whole of saturday.
came home and slept about 5 hours before my preset alarm woke me up.. and i think my psychic powers are resurfacing, as within 5 seconds after my alarm rang my mom came home with lunch. =)

Still feeling sleepy and tired! but i wanna play more games. ha. so stupid, have to book in super early tonight @ 7pm -_- ah well, just have to keep looking forward. 2 more weeks till i finish this course!! and i pray hard for a slack posting :S

Oh yes, i've had a cough for over a week and lately it's became alot worse. I was coughing nonstop the whole of yesterday. and today. it all seems connected cos i didn't sleep. well yea. it's bad. and i have field camp this week :/
pray for me yea! i wanna be at least relatively healthy for fieldcamp leh. sigh.

Doomsday

Movie Review
__________

So, i just watched the movie 'Doomsday' yesterday.. and.. let me do a quick review here yea.

Doomsday starts off with this deadly virus infecting an entire region in the UK, killing whoever gets contracted with it. Hence the government builds a wall around the entire region and quarantines the residents, leaving them to die.

Many years later, (about 35 years?) this strain of virus suddenly appears again in the outside world. And because of surveillance satellite cameras on the inside of the viral region, the government actually spotted people walking around 3 years ago. Hence, there should be a cure.

Thus a team is formed to enter the region and hunt for the cure. The people inside aren't very receptive to newcomers since they were abandoned by them in the first place....

The movie starts off quite promisingly, with quite intense action scenes and some amount of gore that can make you squirm in your seat. However, everything goes downhill after the 1hour mark or so.. it just suddenly becomes super random and the plot is terrible.

For example, the main characters were running away from the city cannibals and they run run run.. then suddenly the setting changes to this forested area and people in horseback come and capture them to bring them to a castle where the lead fights a gladiator clad in armour and with a spear and mace. (she's unarmed) (and wins)
Then when they escape from the castle they reach this factory in the middle of nowhere and she opens one container which has a beautiful sports car in it. -_- then it's car chase suddenly and right at the end of the car chase after she drives through a bus (-_-) rescue arrives about 10 metres infront.

Lol did i just spoil the whole movie for you? Good! dont watch it. you'll be disappointed as the plot was really bad after the 1 hour mark.

One show you SHOULD watch is Superhero Movie! it's super funny . it's from the creators of Scary Movie, and it spoofs superhero movies (duh). But the funny part is not in the spoofs itself, but in the witty lines and hilarious scenes in classic Scary Movie style.

So yea. i'm done with this movie review blog.. off to try to win more warcraft games after losing 3 yday. :(

400th post

this is my 400th post on blogspot! another milestone attained.

in case you didn't catch on, i'm on labour day holiday after a very screwed up wednesday in camp. so many screwups , almost got confined for one person's extra behaviour.. screwed up.


going back tmr night for section live firing on saturday.. pretty dangerous stuff given a particular blur person in my section. live rounds! if i get shot i DIE straight away. cos it's such close proximity.

ok i dont have much to say, pretty lazy to blog nowadays. maybe cos i'm perpetually tired. or cos i keep losing in warcraft :( anyway, the mission that i said i was on.. i just published the blog. check it out.

http://alan-thejourney.blogspot.com