Be Still My Soul

had an amazing saturday! got to meet up with SC3 again, and it feels like so long since we met. so many of the girls are either doing honours or studying, and the guys are looking chubbier and chubbier. and we learnt that you should never call an occupational therapist a masseuse. even if the people he works with are called clients and not patients because of services rendered... also totally amazed that Ruth the Archie Girl can still find time to play WoW. truly a dedicated gamer. should find time to get her to play DotA!

i think afternoon DotA is not as competetive as night-time DotA. the calibre of players is much lower, case in point being the game i just played. for craps sake, 3 leavers in the first 5min? enemy players complaining when i run off to the fountain? it came down to me and some canadian guy who was making anti-asian remarks, 1v1. so as he made a big push with a leaver, i took 2 windwalking leavers and piled him from behind! twice, no less, as he tried multitasking. wish i had more chances to do this kinda work, because my multitaking isnt so strong. better than his apparently. he quit after dying for the 3rd time in 5min. making the game a great 10min long. had just reached lvl11... assholes!

Finlandia - Jean Sibelius

Running Hot

today looked much better than most of my normal-type days! i got to redo my PA with PJ. and believe it or not, the film, in holder no less, went straight in to her mouth and aligned itself so quickly! took like 2 minutes, when yesterday just getting the damn thing it was a study in frustration. and the film was very nice too. good detail, and it showed me enough to think that if PJ ever asks me to do endo on her #46, i will consider referral.

because of a once-in-a-lifetime 3-hour lunch break, the brotherhood went to trawl Clementi. after a good round of Thaksin Beef Noodles, we went to play pool. i have never played like that in my entire life. sure, Mao wasnt playing called shots, but the sheer number of disgustingly lucky shots i had were enough to induce adrenaline smiles. me and Shafiq ended up willing 2-1 on aggregate. to be fair though, Mao looked really rusty. really wish we could do this kinda thing more often...

Peripheral Decay

think today was quite disheartening. had quite a bad morning. dropped my bur-box in the lift lobby, let rip a string of *uh-hem* french and realised that some fresh-out-of-JC interns were standing nearby. then got hammered in the perio competency over the stupid inter-space brush. and finally found myself unable to do any kinda posterior PA technique on PJ. like... gaah! and to top things off when i finally got a shot off it was way too high. and it looks like i'll have to put the poor girl through another round of my rusty handling and a couple of extra Rads. sure i might be cavalier about personal exposure, but the lab partner is something different.

Wa Si Li E Gun So Chia, Ta Gang Wie Lih Chiu Kua

another one of those rushed, strange sundays... it seems like these days can fly by so fast even without having done anything of note. besides a dominating DotA session. its the first time i've played a session with 4 strength heroes in the same team. hairy stuff in the beginning... and i think that getting a team-mate out of an ambush is about as satisfying as getting a kill. something to think about...

sometimes when i have a bit of time to myself i think of all the things that i've wanted to do over the year and wonder if any of them are realistically on the horizon for me.

1) learn to blade

2) learn jap

3) learn guitar

4) learn to drive

5) go to sentosa with a bunch of good friends and play volleyball

somehow, even though it doesnt seem so far out, i never get round to it. and the last one... as noted in Lego's blog entry on the chalet, the class is getting pretty off. was talking to Daysleeper and we were reminiscing about the time when we were preparing for the freshies to come in. the chalet time spent in Sentosa... damn i miss that! all the nonsense we did. seems as if the class friendships have grown that much shallower. i suppose other people find amusement with outside friends, but i got to confess my pool of friends is quite small. i've always operated that way, with a small core of dependable people. but increasingly i wonder if it's enough. theres the dependable 3 of my class brotherhood, but they have their own stuff. and Jo, and increasingly Lovy over in church...

realised that watching japan hour is a great way to destress. there's something so amusing in watching japanese people looking so sincerely and honestly happy as they stuff themselves with, oh say, raw whitebait on rice garnished with yam gratings. the big smiles and happy grunting... why cant i get a holiday job like that?

tomorrow i will finish the bloody diastema, polish my amalgam until the instructor gets flash-blinded, and do up a class 3 in CR in the meantime. because i can. seyla.

My Wish-My Life - Do As Infinity

*happy birthday Daysleeper!*

That Voice Which Calls To Me And Speaks My Name

think today will be an excellent competitor for most boring public holiday of 2005. as expected, but not desired, there was nothing to do and no-one to go out with. pretty depressing really. i just managed to fill the day with pharmaco, perio and DotA. the only upside being that i won all games. at least not everything is going shitty. and i envy people who dont feel lonely when its an empty, quiet night.

Xiao Hu Shi - Mayday

Mana Break

i dont think that school has ever been this draining at any point in my prior academic life. so draining that me and Shafiq ended up slumped in Kopitiam chicken-winging ourselves. and after that we remembered Coffee Grounds and the sandwiches and cheesecake. like... damn!

endo was rather slow today. i wouldnt actually call it a bad day cos i got some stuff done up... but due to a lack of equipment some of my cluster didnt get to use their NiTi burrs. this ended up with Clement being very pek chek at lunch. haiz... it is really quite sad when we pay mad school fees and still dont have enough equipment. clinic wasnt any better... whole session closing a bloody diastema? crazy! and it wasnt even ready to sign by the time we got ejected from clinic. PJ was so tired out she was babbling nonsense about needing to clean amalgam debris out of her Oscar rubber face when we were obviously late to go down.

also somewhat saddened by a movie outing today not materialising. sure... just because you have a reputation for kite flying im supposed to feel a it more at peace with the world when it happens? damn i need movie therapy!

Revelation - L'Arc En Ciel

Mayday

decided to pick up the Mayday CD from the cheapo parallel-import rack in the bookshop in NUH. damn, it aint half bad! havent listened to chinese music for yonkers... almost miss the nights spent in the Coy office with 93.3 for company... just the music bit. sleeping at midnight on the couch with my boots still on was stupid.

had an amazing session today on 4-handed dentistry. the whole concept is that with some clever synergy between the operator and the DA, you become the dental equivalent of Ne Zha the 4-armed Taoist deity, destroying caries and making pretty restorations in half the time. way harder than they made it look in the demos. and passing un-capped syringes promises to be a hairy affair. i somehow seem to suck at it, but PJ aint half bad. mebbe i should employ her as my DA.

half the class was in pretty snappily dressed today. in fact, stripes were predominant. which kinda took the shine off my special-application Zara shirt. oh well... the ladies also got an explanation of why short skirts, no matter how figure-flattering, are bad clothing choices for any dental assistant.

squeezed in time to take and have taken a set of DPTs. the quality aint too bad lah, at least grade 2. mebbe the condyles and spine are a bit fuzzy, which mite require a retake, but the presence of a supernumary supposed premolar in my sector 4 is a heck of a lot more worrying. looks like a visit to OMS may be in the cards.

Tenderness (Returning Your Freedom Mix) - Mayday

*this being an approximate translation of the chinese titles*

*update!*

played DotA to Mayday. they have a Hokkien song! fwaah! everybody buy this CD oredi! if the rousing music aint enuff to make you want to buy it, the Hokkien song is the icing on the cake!

Once I Thought That No-one Knew The Way

been reflecting on some things lately. i need to be more tolerant. mum says its been something i grew up with, i used to get spazzy if younger kids drew in my books or broke my toys. but developmental or not, its really starting to bother me. i cant go about life getting pissed at every human failing that i see, every lapse in judgement that befalls my path, every smooth question asked in lectures that make me doubt the prior attention of the inquirer. God grant me the grace to be more humble...

135 - Do As Infinity

Blaze Of Glory

tired as hell after playing in the Classic Battletech Tsunami Benefit. an epic 4-hour match over 2 x 2 maps, with 7 players trying to be the last survivors. and in the end, with me and Colin-sama standing over the steaming wreckage of the unfortunate 5, i bagged myself a hard-cover Master Rules book! points to note: my water play is still weak. hengfully my gamble to go for the higher armour of the Wolverine 5M paid off over a more mobile Phoenix Hawk 1D. other point to note... the head armour of the Phoenix Hawk is crap. all in all, much fun to be had, and i hope the close to 200 bucks collected will be of use.

radio test on friday, and still left in limbo as to how i did for the endo test today since none of the doctors called on me to discuss my performance. dare i trust Adrian's stolen glance at my grades that predicts a pass?

Mellow Amber - Do As Infinity

Scream If It Hurts

today was quite an eventful day! i now have had the experience of being semi-professionally isolated and rubber-damned. spelling intentional.

somehow ended up volunteering for the isolation clinical demo since when Dr Lim asked for a volunteer/volunteeress everybody developed shrinking violet behaviour. it is now clinically proven that i have majorly tight contacts, especially in the lover jaw. thankfully these come with healthy gingivae, because i took quite a beating as Stan tried to floss in the rubber dam. taste of blood disappeared in 5min, lip anaesthesia lasted for almost 3 hours. other learning point: expect that the patient will not be able to spit accurately into the spittoon after LA.

tried eating lunch with the uncomfortable realisation that i couldnt tell if i was drooling out of the numb corner of my lip. went to the new cafe near the medical library with Mao and Clement and PJ and Anqi. which was in its own way quite a surprise. general consensus was that the food wasnt quite up to scratch. of special infamy is the Pasta Alfredo With Chicken, which had a rather soapy aftertaste. ratified by the rest, it has nothing to do with lubricant on my rubber dam. they did however save the day with their desserts. the cheesecake is of good quality and acceptable pricing, definitely recommended.

Ways & Means - Snow Patrol

If You Find That Once Again You Long To Take Your Heart Back And Be Free

looks like Phantom is turning into the movie of the month. Mao went to watch it on a separate occasion and posted lyrics from All I Ask Of You on his blog too. i think its really something that despite the movie's flaws, those songs keep playing in my head. there must be something about the story of the tortured genius and the couple in love that makes us want to remember.

had dinner and a pool session with Char on saturday night. and yeah, this is the first time that i've referred to her by name instead of designation. its been so long, and i think things are good between us. didnt feel any tension at all, and it was good catching up and hearing about mutual friends and work. and yeah, pool sucked. but i finally beat her in one round out of four and treated her to a sundae at KAP Mac's. jon is easily pleased, no?

the christmas project is getting into planning stage quite nicely. a little bit of the plot and framework are coming up, and 2 possible songs have presented themselves. hoping and prayng for good stuff. come support me ok? this time i book way way way in advance!

Heart - Do As Infinity

Isnt It A Beautiful Night?

title for tonight is the rhetorical question that seems to be the trademark of our favourite vampire Alucard. Hellsing looks very promising, slightly different target audience from Inuyasha but indeed very kewl! the BMG is good, the pacing and direction of the cinematics is very jap in its manga-style pan angles, and who wouldnt like a guy who refuses to die?

finally got to watch Phantom! ok, so yeah the Phantom can't sing for nuts. and it was apparent as soon as he started singing the bit where he berates Christine about Raoul. and Christine is a bit of a soppy little puppy. but the songs! it's all about the songs! and the ones which weren't jacked by bad singing were very nice. actually got a bit misty-eyed when they sang "All I Ask Of You". after the show got into discussion with Shafiq about re-casting the whole show. and we came to the conclusion that they shoulda gotten the Moulin Rouge gang into this one. Kidman to do Carlotta, Ewan McGregor to do Raoul. mebbe even Travolta to do the Phantom if he lost some weight!

__________

All I Ask Of You

.

[Male voice] (Raoul)

No more talk of darkness Forget these wide-eyed fears

I’m here, nothing can harm you

My words will warm you and calm you

Let me be your freedom

Let daylight dry your tears

I’m here, with you and beside you

To guard you and to guide you

.

[Female voice] (Christine)

Say you love me every waking moment

Turn my head with talk of summertime

Say you need me with you now and always

Promise me that all you say is true

That's all I ask of you

.

[Raoul]

Let me be your shelter

Let me be your light

You’re safe, no one will find you

Your fears are far behind you

.

[Christine]

All I want is freedom

A world with no more night

And you, always beside me

To hold me and to hide me

.

[Raoul]

Then say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime

Let me lead you from your solitude

Say you need me with you here, beside you

Anywhere you go, let me go too

Christine, that's all I ask of you

.

[Christine]

Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime

Say the word and I will follow you

.

[Both]

Share each day with me, each night, each morning

.

[Christine]

Say you love me

.

[Raoul]

You know I do

.

[Both]

Love me, that's all I ask of you …

Anywhere you go, let me go too

Love me, that's all I ask of you

__________

will i ever be able to ask people out for a movie and not have my kite flown? why does this happen? is it exclusive to the class? i've never seen it like this before!

Shine - Mr Big

Another Year Is Dawning

seems like ive been really too inert to get any blogging done over the last week. another year is starting up, and there are new challenges ahead! namely passing all the evil memory-based subjects, treading the social minefield that is dental life, and becoming a better person in every aspect possible.

Lovy, Jo and me have kinda embarked on Project Christmas. whereby we will get a kick-ass musical seeded for this christmas. cos 2 months, as frequently ranted on by me, is so inadequate. our church has talent which isnt being put to better use because we've been too slow and lazy to plan it properly. hopefully by God's grace and guidance we'll have something good this time, instead of the barely-there which has been the paradigm.

had a good jalan session with the brotherhood today. popped by GPA so Mao could return a book to Dr Wilson Goh, and then we went shopping! got another Do As Infinity CD set that was going cheap, saw many cute girls, ate 25cent ice cream, disturbed Shafiq's friend. life should be like this.

Desire - Do As Infinity

*thanks for all the nice stuff for christmas PJ!*

Wings Of Steel, Hearts Of Fire

the week is getting even shittier, would you believe? nearly flipped out last night when i was studying and Jo mentioned her desire to go to Wild Wild Wet. got to be wound quite tight for that to happen... at home now which is unusually early for me. i went to the library after class and just fell asleep for one and a half hours with my immuno notes in my lap. kinda echoes back to the discussion i had with Tien during dinner yesterday about why i suck at school. guess i really do have issues with performing under pressure at bulk adsorption of information. i dont believe in adsorption as a learning method. cos yeah, its adsorption. it just all falls out after the test. but thats the way they want to work in this country. looks like i have to suck it up and work as best as possible under the circumstances.

had the quietest RP session ever. hardly talking in the cluster at all. freaky... sure it was still somewhat more animated than other lab sessions, but i think the strain of school is already showing. even Dr Thean looked really wiped during the lesson, and started off with a minor blowup over Nijam's phone firing off. Shafiq suspects bipolar personality...

tomorrow's a holiday which i shall proceed to spend with my texts. so for tonight i shall soothe my sadness with DotA. so much for stopping during term. got to go hammer some people now.

You Make Me Want To Fall In Love - F.I.R.

Grinder

missed out on doing a monday update because i was too wiped! the 5 day week looks pretty killer, and the friday holiday and consequent rescheduling of classes to the remaining days is not helping at all...

still not quite into the clinic. thankfully all the old stuff is signed, even the scraping and tapping. viva la big-ass round bur! have a very ambitious plan of 4 sessions to get all the work done. in actual fact, 5 or so looks more realistic. see if i can get those 5 restos done in a day as planned, the rest of the schedule shouldnt be too mad.

Operation Phantom 2 is in progress. date set for Wednesday the 5th... and i really dont care too much whos going. if its just Shafiq and me, or a whole buncha random people, i still wanna watch the movie. whether the reviews are fantastic or ambivalous i'll still watch it. musicals herald back to my Band days in ACS(I) and ACJC, when i could still play decently. i really miss those days...

Endo looks a bit killer. wonder why the schedule is so rushed this time round... best suspect is probably our dear 5 day week again. and for the life of me why cant certain individuals figure out that Dr Chng has a soft voice and gets drowned if they engage in idle chatter in SM1B?

Your Eyes Open - Keane

The Birthday Of A King

2 days blogging in one entry again! looks like my holidays are slowly melting into oblivion even as i type. the mood surely mirrors that in Diana's 25th Dec blog entry...

to those who asked... the musical went okay from my personal opinion. the film bit turned out much stronger cos of good camera angles and some Jin Ma Jiang-level work from Mum and Dad. the live bit was, however let down slightly due to some rather loose tone work from the choir. haiz... really need to start earlier. 2 months is a recipe for disaster.

got to watch Kung Fu Hustle on Christmas Day. and by empirical testing i can now state with confidence that first row seats in Cine are okay, you wont get a neckache. this show is a must-see. sure, its not cerebral, but thats the beauty of it. the comedy is actually not very in-your-face, a departure from the usual Stephen Chow style. good fight choreo, interesting characterisation, and an okay plot.

had a pretty good outing today with Amanda, Samm and Changshuo. havent talked to Samm for ages, always good to catch up and see how people are doing. had mucho fun window-shopping, and i somehow ended up giving advice about orthodontics. no rest for the dental...

started work on my christmas present, a Macross Super Valkyrie model kit, fully articulated even. got to say that im none too impressed with the plastic work. some of the joint lines are screwy. and they decided to make this one a 15th Anniversary Metallic Coat Special Edition. its fugly as helll, being a metallic silver and green colour. and when you cut the sprues the plain plastic color shows at the incisions. dont get me started on what it looks like when you file the joints even... she's got a lot of work ahead, and im planning to paint it up like Skull One with some proper acrylics to cover the gay metallics.

back to school tomorrow, havent packed yet. hope i dont forget anything, esp PJ's christmas presents...

This Love - Maroon 5

How Much Of This Can He Take?

its past midnight in Geng's place. and im a little bit booored! think this party this year was a bit quieter. just beat the stuffing out of Nijam in straight sets in a wierd wrestling game that Kenny brought. all girl high-res wrestling action, the naughty boy! sure made pwning Nijam a little more interesting...

looks like Operation Phantom was a flop. to tell you the truth... i think i kinda didnt follow it up due to the expectation of mucho kite being flow. what with late comers and people falling sick... whats happening to our people?

had the object lesson today that tactile investigation in a game of Polar Bear is muchly over-rated. quite amazing how much noise the class girls can make in a simple RPG setting. and in my class, dead men still tell tales!

Streamers In The Wind

today was a slow day... windsurfing din materialise due to Lego being overseas. like... damn! and i hate the concept of having to haul my board without a buddy. of course coulda called Cheryl out but then heck lah.

instead had to meet up with Nijam to do the verdammte fluoride project. i swear... who the heck does holiday homework at the age of 22? we do! sadness indeed. planning to compile the data tomorrow morning... which means i have to haul my fat ass out of bed and do work. think im a really hard-to-motivate person. if i think something is stupid i'll have trouble working with it.

still in the process of ramming the script for Christmas into my head. i think its actually easier working with Shakespeare. they have a rhyme scheme, and the internal rhythm of the verse makes it stick. damn... next musical shall be worded in iambic pentameter. yeah, right...

Inuyasha gets better and better! we now see the re-entry of Kagome into the scene, and Naraku shows a bit of power. and the closing credits are not being played to the second closing theme, Fukai Mori by Do As Infinity! w00tz!

for all the guys watching The Amazing Race, i'll state for the record that Jonathan of Jon and Victoria fame is a jerk. he needs professional, institutionalised care. and the missus should get a freaking medal for not slapping him and quitting. like that taxi driver did. hes da man!

Neverland - Love Psychedelico

Cheap Deals, Big Steals

had the most amazing lunch today due to an accident at the fast food counter. considering that KFC 2-piece meals were going for disgustingly cheap, i thought i'd get 2 for myself. and i thought my brother was thinking the same thing. and here's why the meal was amazing... i was wrong. he only wanted one. and i hence managed to eat 5 pieces of KFC for lunch. had to skip dinner tho. urrk..

watched Kaena in Cine. its some animated artsy filmy thing whereby the biggest sell point was that Kirsten Dunst of the adorable rotated laterals voiced over the lead character. it was ok lah... nothing to scream about. plot a bit jumpy even for Jon and his leaps of logic. and still uncomfortable from surfeit of fried chicken.

song of the day:

__________________________________

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Have yourself a merry little christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on all troubles will be out of site

.

Have yourself a merry little christmas

Make the yuletide gay

From now on all troubles will be miles away

.

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden of yours

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

.

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bow

And have yourself a merry little christmas now

.

Hang a shining star upon the highest bow

And have yourself a merry little christmas now

__________________________________

who's coming for my church musical thingy? response over the class mailing list has been not so forthcoming, so sms me if you need details on how to go!

By Breaking Free, Will I Be Broken Hearted?

listening to some very nice Do As Infinity as i try and recall 2 days worth of events. was totally wiped after getting home after a bloody long ride from Tanah Merah MRT Station last night so i couldnt blog due to my brain feeling like it was full of cotton wool.

soccer yesterday morning was another reminder of encroaching age and flagging fitness. dammit, 10 minutes and i get tired? that blows! did however run into an old school friend from JC. Esmundo is now doing aeronautical in the US. lucky cow. now on holiday back home eating local food with abandon and playing mucho tennis. was great catching up with him, was talking a lot of materials science to him too. the consequence of too much DM i guess. but its true that our dental stuff broadens our base a lot more than what the MBBS guys are getting. after that went to look for the rest who were playing on without me, and found them on a very muddy pitch playing against people with proper boots! failing skill rolls and falling into mud while trying to change direction or brake is not kewl.

the ex's birthday party was, believe it or not, a drag. almost all 21sts are lah. lets face it, cramming 40 guests together from diverse backgrounds and trying to entertain them for the night is a bitch. i should know, i had 70ish! haiz... but aniwei, it was also a big reminder about how things change, how people change. dont know if its me still having hangups, but i suspect that i had met her for the first time with her in this phase in life and me in this phase, i might not have fallen for her. she's lost a lot of her old innocent charm, grown pseudo-sophisticated without the accompanying depth. she had 4 shoe boxes of photos for the guests to peruse (which saved me and her council from death by boredom) and it just showed all the changes. her as a 6-year-old missing her anteriors, when the braces went on (wtf the ortho yanked her upper 3s? got to check that!), her totally retro glasses in primary school, her MGS uniform, council camp, her hair as it grew out to tail length in J1, her in Council No 1s, her in Seniors Night gear, her uni friends. her with bf number 2... it was kinda like a big grin and bear it session. and now, she's so unfamiliar to me, my present to her was a bottle of scent. and even that was hazarding her tastes, i dont know what she listens to or wears now. or even if her sizes have changed. and since i figured i wouldnt be able to talk to her much i just wrote her some stuff on a Zo-Card. thankfully had my ass hauled out of there by Lincoln and his little A-class Merc. damn the kid is a maniac at the wheel... suffice to say after the first road junction i saw fit to remind him about the A-class and its stability issues on moose tests. die in Tanah Merah = not cool.

also had the opportunity to listen to Vocaluptuous in Heeren while killing time to go down to Tanah Merah. some of their members look gayer than a lamb in spring, but they sound damn good! people should listen to this kinda thing more. its good harmony without being deep and inaccessible. and it can disillusion people who think their singing is fantastic when it isnt.

Quando - Vocaluptuous