Saturday, August 27, 2005

amanda ling is hot

Abandoned my futile attempts at staring at a laptop screen and trying to resolve my personal vendetta with Philip Ong, and instead, went to watch Electrico at the Esplanade. Their first 'paid concert'! And I must say, they're pretty good. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Amanda Ling is H-O-T. Although it really hurts that my camera's damaged and I didn't take any photos of her, even though she was less than 5 metres away.
Anyway, they started out with acoustic type songs, and eventually moved on to full electric (and that's when they started asking everyone to stand and go wild). I don't really know ALL the songs played, because there were a couple of songs that're gonna be in their new album (which apparently they haven't figured out the lyrics for yet), but there was Runaway, Good Time, I Want You, Much More Inside, Fabled Angst Machine....basically, most of their hits. And when they got bored, they played Oasis' Champagne Supernova (which I totally love!!!) But they were damn good!!! At least, they made me forget that I had work still waiting for me. For the first time this week. We should all watch Electrico. And support local bands.

By the way. Scott, Kuek and Jon Lau's band is playing at Insomnia @ CHIJMES on Thursday 1st Sept. I think. It's the finals of Battle of the Bands or something. So you should really go and watch. I think they're really good. (and should give me a free cd for shamelessly plugging them on my blog) Oh, and they also play regularly on Fridays at Harke's Cafe @ Prinsep Street from 9 to 11.

Right. Back to my exciting closed memorandum. And dear old Philip.

wen was dreaming at 4:52 AM

0comments

Thursday, August 25, 2005

People who drive with headaches ought to be shot

Okay, first off, it's almost 5am, and I'm still up. The reason being the title, and this oddity of an assignment known as 'closed memorandum'. Another thing is, I realise my last few posts have been rather angsty. And whiny about law school. So I shall reform. And be more cheerful and optimistic (or maybe it's all that supper still warm in my stomach that's keeping me so bright and perky at 5am).

The concept of a closed memorandum is seriously rather interesting. A scenario where a client seeks your aid to fight his case, and you're supposed to (with your superior experience of 3 weeks in law school) look through certain cases, draw precedents and rules from them, and by logically and legally analysing all the plausible options, decide whether you're going to take up the case and the poor bugger's money. Along with a suitably accompanied explanation of 1000 words of course.

Funny thing is, 1000 words is really not a lot. I overshot it rather easily. The hard part comes when trying to decide what cases to take. And what rules to use. And what the issue of your case is, as well as how you're planning to write it. Formatting is a bitch. So is the guy who drives with a headache and gets impaired vision in one eye and jumps the curb and hits a girl. After 7 hours of pondering over how I was going to write the memo, and after an hour of attempting to write it, I was considering changing my stance totally and vote to send him to jail. (Of course I didn't in the end, I'm like how nice. And besides, in the real world, I would never send a potential client away right? It's just not profitable) Anyway, that explains the title.

Now, after having spent the last 10 hours cooped up in the Student Lounge in Law Faculty, I'd like to say that I've found my new chill spot. So much for the boring stuffy old Law Library, the Lounge is the place to be! Firstly, you can talk at normal volumes. Secondly, you don't freeze. Thirdly, you can make yourself more comfortable (I love the sofas!!!) And lastly, there're games to alleviate boredom. And I get to play music without having to listen through earphones. (Yeah, so you notice I don't really keep count)

But seriously, for all my complaining about law, tonight, after having stayed in the lounge till 230am, I've realised that it's actually quite fun in its own way. That particular way being the kind of fun I used to have in canoeing in JC, where you train 5 times a week, reach home at 10pm every night too tired to do work, and spend all your free time in the gym, fitness corner or something similarly related. It's what normal people would call crazy, but they just don't get it.

It's the people whose company you keep. I mean, nobody in their right mind would stay till 230am in the lounge by themselves. You kinda need nice friends to chat with and feel that hey, there're others out there in the same boat as me. I'm not so pathetically alone after all! Whee...

Of course, there's also the issue about studying with friends, and ending up playing (like how I spent 45mins watching Russell Peters for like the thousandth time. But hey, anything beat going back to my memo...) but come on, you win some, you lose some, and I don't mind losing in that kinda manner that feels like you've won.

Right. So, maybe it's time for a change in mindset. Maybe I'm just getting used to the pace in law. Or maybe it's just getting so late that I've become crappy. Whatever the case, the first draft of my closed memo is done.

Going Insomnia@CHIJMES tonight to see Scottie's band compete again!! And I got into Dive Comm! (Whether or not this was a wise choice for me remains to be seen....hopefully I've learnt enough to plan my time accordingly...)

wen was dreaming at 4:45 AM

0comments

Monday, August 22, 2005

i love jap stuff

Alright! Today, I went for a Jap Buffet! And it's damn nice can.

Hanabi Japanese Restaurant. 559 Bukit Timah Road #01-03 King's Arcade. Tel: 6465 5525.

Basically, it's just next to Coronation Plaza, and so it's damn easy to get there from NUS. (just take 151!) And the ala carte buffets are rather good. (lunch is like 26+++ and dinner's 30+++, which roughly comes up to 35 bucks per person) with a pretty decent variety on the menu (not that i really tried everything, i was merely fixated on the sashimi). Now, not that I'm a connoisseur of jap food or anything, but at least, the slices are relatively thick, and they don't start serving you ultra small portions after your 10th round or so (unlike certain other jap buffets i can name...). And the staff are how friendly! (or as my friend said, he'd love to work there. as anything. cos he thinks the girls are cute. ok larrr) Plus, I like the ambience there. Although some might say it's freaking crowded and noisy. (yeah, reservations have to be made, because it's freaking crowded after 630pm...btw, dinner buffet's from 6 to 1030pm. ample time to eat to your heart's content. as well as your money's worth)

Anyway, let me tell my tale now. I went there because I had a sudden wistful longing for the days of yore, when I went buffeting every weekend. Back when I still trained enough to disregard getting fat. But it'd been a while. And I miss Jap food. So, i concocted a brilliant plan. Let's eat a Jap Buffet! And let's invite my old buffeting buddies, my OCS Platoon mates! And since some of them are flying overseas to study, let's make it one good going away celebration! Anyway, I made reservations for 10-15 people (knowing my platoon these numbers are on a plus minus 5 basis) and when I went there today, I found out the nice staff there gave me a room all to myself! How sweet. And so the buffet began. Time: 630pm. Total people present: 3.

Skip forward about 2 hours and countless rounds of sashimi, tofu, beef, handrolls and other assorted foodstuffs. Time: 830pm. Total people: 8. (including scott's girlfriend, who became an unofficial member of our platoon for one night) Then came something which totally ruined my appetite. (somewhat. nothing can really get between me and my sashimi...really) The manager came in and asked if that was all the people we were going to have, because, apparently, I'd asked for 10-15 seats. And the minimum price for using that room was apparently $350. Now don't you wish people would tell you stuff like this in advance?

Well, we were all surprised for one thing. And marginally worried. And wondering if we were going to have to wash dishes to pay for the deficit. Or if they were going to throw us out of the nice comfy room where we were making a lot of noise. Or if they were gonna let us stay, and poison the food. But then, I was saved by the fact that my law readings came back to me! Contract in particular. For one thing, the management never did call me back to confirm the total number of people who'd be there. For another, I only told them about 10-15 people. No confirmation there, only an invitation to treat. And when they showed me to my very nice room, there was absolutely no mention of the fact that I had a minimum requirement of $350 for the bill. A lot like Chapelton v. Urban District Council, where the terms and conditions came after the offer had already been accepted. Ok, maybe not, since I hadn't paid yet. But you get the general idea. Anyway, I was all set to argue my way out of paying, when the nice manager actually came up and said, hey, it's alright man, we're out of space outside, so we won't kick you out (and besides, at that point in time i sincerely doubt anybody would have brought a party of 15 people in) so just chill and enjoy your meal. How sweet of them! (though honestly, I suspect they realised the fault was largely with them, and there wasn't much else they could do about it)

However, I'm still awfully pissed at the people who said they were going to come, and didn't. I mean, it was a platoon gathering. Not a 8 person meeting (though Billy was nice enough to come later). And at least tell me beforehand can, so I don't have to call you up to find out you decided not to come. (so yeah, that means I'm not pissed with the people who told me they couldn't make it) And it really spoils the mood to have something like that happen in the middle of your meal. Not to mention I'd have made all of you pay up if they had really insisted on the minimum covering cost. And freaking hell, it was like the last time you'd see some of these guys for the next few years can. I'm sure your schedules are all damn busy, and you're all damn broke (esp for those with scholarships) but at least some people bother to make the effort. Aiyah whatever. This whole thing just pisses me off. So I'll stop.

All in all, Hanabi Jap Restaurant rocks. So yeah. Go there. Eat. Enjoy. And I'll go look for more buffet places. Preferably with photos. And make this into a food junkie's haven.

Oh, and bye Effy, seeya Billy, and all the best guys. Don't think I'll be seeing you guys anytime soon. Kiatz I'll definitely see you before you leave, if only to get the shows and dvds. Sigh, but it sucks to think that for the first time this year, we'll have nowhere to go this Christmas, and Effy's bed won't get thrashed for the third year in a row. So saddening.

Btw, I think Hanabi was featured in Sunday Times (Lifestyle). At least, that's what people have been telling me. Myself, I don't really read the papers...

wen was dreaming at 11:49 PM

0comments

Saturday, August 20, 2005

days go by...i still miss you

this is going to be a long post. and a rant. so i suggest you skip it.

first off, law school. it's been what, 2 weeks of school? and i'm bored of it already. i've forgotten why i was looking forward to it, i've forgotten why i even applied for it in the first place, i've forgotten what i meant to do here. right now, my days just tumble into each other, stringing themselves out into an endless litany of lectures, times spent in the library (ostensibly studying my law readings but in reality plain MSNing), meals in the canteen, and tutorials. sleep occurs at disjointed intervals that serve to mark the passing of days, and the week just passes so quickly. i wonder why i bother going for lectures. i wonder why i don't do my readings. i wonder why i just seem to be doing nothing, and yet wasting so much time. i think i'm just annoyed, at how everyone's so hardworking and can spend hours closeted in the library reading and reading, and not lose focus, and how nobody seems interested in doing anything but rush to finish their readings for the next lecture/tutorial. ok, i just plain hate the law readings. i'm no humanities student. i only liked lit because the stories were interesting. history put me to sleep. as do my law textbooks now. so i just wonder. and do nothing about it. like right now. when i'm supposed to be reading, or doing work, but i'm blogging. and listening to music. it's the atmosphere of people studying everywhere that annoys me. i slack, and i feel guilty, and it pisses me off that i can't let myself slack in peace. like on wed, when i went to orchard for lunch for the first time in a long while, and i just felt totally lost, like i was supposed to be somewhere else other than enjoying myself in orchard on a wed afternoon. and you know something's wrong with you when you're feeling guilty of enjoying yourself.
next up. hall's awfully boring. as in, i like staying in hall. it's convenient, i get more sleep (theoratically, because the mere fact of my staying in hall means i sleep really late everyday), and it's a good storeroom for law texts. not to mention the free wireless. but i still don't know anybody in hall. other than the law students. and a few assorted others i say hi to on a daily basis but whose names elude me. it's just damned sad, that you stay in hall to make more friends, and you inevitably just end up hanging around all the law students who stay in hall, rather than the people in your particular hall. it's just a trait peculiar to law faculty i suppose.
and home's so far away now, half the time i don't feel like going home. like yesterday, where i was just stalling for time, trying not to get to the point of saying 'hey, i'm going back to hall to pack my stuff and go home'. and i don't know why. partly because i hate to bring my laptop and texts back home, cos it's so heavy. partly because it's home. and my parents will start complaining about me staying up past midnight (and they don't understand the typical hours that a reasonable law student keeps). and i have no wireless at home so i have to resort to using my old laggy computer. and fight with my sister for it (and do you know how incongruous it is for a 21 and 23 year old to be fighting over a computer??).
and also, i haven't been doing the things i meant to do. as in, i went into law with this list of things i wanted to accomplish. last month, before school started, i still meant to do these things. like spend time meeting my friends all over campus for one. among other things. and now, i just find myself caught up in the monotony of it all, just spiralling around this vortex called Law School, a vicious cycle that seems determined to suck us all under, and this situation will only get worse, i feel, when we move into the bukit timah campus (think whirlpool in the middle of the ocean, then transfer that same whirlpool with the same force to, say a lake, and see what you get) i wonder if we'll be so caught up with trying to catch up with work that we overlook the simpler things in life, like living it.

i miss sailing. badly. it's been too long. i use diving as a temporary resort, a placebo of sorts (and a bloody expensive one it is), but the truth remains, i still infinitely prefer sailing. oh, diving's fun and all. i love it when i'm on a trip and i can just ignore everything about the real world and focus on the here and now, and of course, the knowledge that every dive could be your last (a rather pessimistic view) helps in making you appreciate life more. and nothing can describe the feeling of descending underwater to a whole new reality, where you're just a visitor and observer rather than the typical human reaction of trying to make your surroundings conform to you. but my two trips coming up in sept are in jeopardy. firstly, because going for them would mean draining my bank account totally. and right now, i have no way of replenishing that account (and i'll be damned if i'm going to ask my parents for money). secondly, because i don't know if anything vaguely important for law (like tests and assignments) will be occurring during that period. and lastly, because just this morning, when i casually announced i was going diving in 2 weeks' time (using my own money i might add), my mom said i couldn't go. and she refused to say why. only adamantly insisting i can't go because it's the 7th month still. but so what? i don't know why. and she refuses to tell me why. so you're telling me i can't go out to sea in the 7th month? what about all those years i spent canoeing in jc, way throughout the 7th month? how about the times i went sailing? what makes diving such an exception? i don't know, and she doesn't want to say, and yet i'm supposed to adhere to something i don't understand. and it pisses me off. i want my break from endless notes and air conditioning. i need a tan. and they all don't get it.
i miss sailing. desperately. it's been ages (feb?) since i last sailed a laser. the feeling just beats anything else i've ever tried. windsurfing plain sucks. wakeboarding's fun and damn cool, but it's not really my cup of tea. i can do it pretty decently, but i'm not into doing it every single week. canoeing, maybe, only if i could find out where to get a K1. but a laser's special. the feeling of skimming over the waves, when you're hiked out near the water, in perfect balance with the craft, the sun on your face, the wind in your hair, the taste of salt on your tongue. and with the horizon open to you, everything's perfect. (just don't sail at that yacht club near pasir panjang, you're only allowed to sail around the stupid marina) and i miss that feeling. i've forgotten what it feels like, except in dreams.

right. anyways. in short, i want to sail. and i need a sailing buddy for that. because it's boring to sail alone. anybody?

wen was dreaming at 2:50 PM

0comments

Monday, August 08, 2005

It's been a while...

Some might call it Law Camp Part 2. Or even Matriculation Week. Me, I call the period from the 1st to the 7th of Aug the stupidest, dumbest, most idiotic, brainless, imbecilic week ever. And I'm not talking about the week. We're talking about ME.

A quick sum-up. Mon was Law Inaug, followed by NUS Inaug. Tues was NUS Flag Day. Wed was Mardi Gras, Thurs was Beach Bash, Fri was Fright Night. Of it all, I only went for Mon to part of Wed (the boring parts, some might say) The better part of the week, I was being an idiot. I shall compile a Top Ten List so future generations will learn and benefit from my incompetencies.

List of Things Not To Do (Top 10):
1) Not sleep for 72 hours.
2) Sleep for 5 hours in as many days.
3) Go clubbing in Zouk after not sleeping for 5 days and going to work at 3am.
4) Go clubbing with a fever.
5) Go work with a fever and short on sleep.
6) Sleep for 25 hours without taking any medication and just praying you'll get better.
7) Miss eating anything for 30 hours because you were asleep for 25 hours.
8) Carry on staying up late after grabbing a quick bite after 30 hours without food and 25 hours of rest.
9) Go home looking half-dead and still sick after reassuring your parents you're perfectly fine in hall the day before.
10) Go for a Jap buffet while still sick, nauseous and dizzy.

Well. So. My week was awful. I fell sick. Forgot how that felt. It's really been a while I guess. Anyway, I know this usually comes at the end of a year, but here and now, I'm gonna be making some resolutions (for this sem, and prolly lasting this week).

Firstly, I'll stop clubbing. Totally stop. (after TH bash and Law Bash)
Secondly, I'll sleep more. A LOT more. (notwithstanding all those law assignments and stuff)
Thirdly, I won't fall sick this year. (met my quota already)
AND
Lastly, I really really really wanna go eat a buffet. Preferably Jap. Anybody?

wen was dreaming at 10:32 AM

0comments