Tell Me Your Dreams

First and foremost, as the title suggests, let me do a quick review of 'Tell me your dreams" by Sidney Sheldon which I've just completed today.

With the amount of glowing reviews there are on the author, I must say I was looking forward to read his books. And after finishing my first novel by him, I should say that those reviews are justified.

This book is about 3 ladies named, Ashley, Toni, and Alette. Born at different places and having different personalities, the three of them have one thing in common. They were all charged in court as serial murderers. As the story unfold, the characteristics and personalities of those 3 ladies are told. A once-rare medical condition, but has now become common, came into the limelight as it took centre-stage as the trial of the three ladies progressed. At the end of the day, the three of them had to face the consequences which neither of them wanted to... but there's no choice.

*May contain spoliers*

I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. It's a pleasant book to read with its simple english. It is basically divided into three parts -- Intro & the murders, the trial, life after the trial. There were some thrilling and intriguing moments. And it's good that the most of the story doesn't evolve just around some courtroom drama like "The Exorcism of Emily Rose[movie]".The reason why I didn't rate this above the last book I read(The Last Goodbye) is because I felt that the plot could have been much better. Maybe it's just me but I felt that after the climax during the judgement, the story seems to go downwards. Yes, the shocking revelations towards the end of what the father had done provided some twists and spurred a bit of interest but I felt more could have been done. And talking about the father, I can't believe he had gotten away scot free. But maybe if the father is convicted, the hatred will still be there and the three ladies will never be cured.

Nevertheless, it's a good read and I'm looking forward to read more of Sidney's books. Maybe I shall drop by at the library tomorrow to see if there's any of his other books. hehe.

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Went to town today to search for my white shirt for graduation. Not much time left, so have to get it as soon as possible. Luckily I got what I wanted for at Robinsons. Nothing too expensive nor fancy though. Coz I figured there wouldn't be many times I would be wearing it.

Drop by at Lucky Plaza, the shopping mall for the foreigners. As usual, the crowd there is mainly made up of non-singaporeans with maids making the larger amount. Saw this asian woman, wearing skimpy and minimal clothes, with a western guy. From the way she walks, it's very clear. She's only with him for money. And I can't help, pardon me, but to say this -- She sure makes a whore looks pretty. Duh!

Anyway, played some pool there. I think my right hand must be yelling in pain now. The other day played bowling, today was pool. haha. It has been a long time since I last played, so it took a while before I get to hit the balls into the pockets. ^_^ Went to have a quick bite after that and headed home.

Hectic Week

Waiting for Holland-Portugal game at 3, and since I've got nothing to do now, I shall give a short update on what has been happening this past week.

It's been quite an eventful and tiring week I must say. No offence to those who are working, but it really was tiring..-_- I shall update the events in chronological order.

Tuesday
Went out and had a lunch buffet at CWP's Seoul Garden with Chay. It's been quite a while since I've been to an SG outlet, so to say I miss 'cooking' and eating the food would be an understatement. Luckily we didn't went too late in the afternoon, coz by then, the place would have been more crowded. Ate and enjoy our food for about 2 hours or so before leaving the place. Yummy. Went touring around CWP for a while, including a short stopover at the arcade. Played the House of The Dead 4. New game, nice to play with. And the machine being situated near the entrances doesn't help you to escape from curious passerbys. Of course, it's more fun to play with when you don't have to pay. Thanks ah Chay! lol Went home after that stopover.

Thursday
Got woken up by my sis, who asked whether I wanted to follow them(Alya, mum, her and bro) to IMM. After deliberating for a while, I decided to go with them. After doing all the necessary washing up etc, we went out of the house at about 10 plus and took an MRT there. Met with bro at JE MRT after his night shift. Then took a public bus. The reason why we didn't take the free shuttle was because we figured there wouldn't be much space for Alya's stroller. ^_^ Upon reaching, we went around in the premises and had short visits to the indoor playgrounds. Too bad Alya is still only a few months old and thus could only watch other kids play. But from her face and smiles, she seemed to be enjoying it though.

After some shopping at the Giant's megastore, we went to Secret Recipe to have our lunch. First time being there for me. Nice place and pleasant food too. I ate the chicken kebab set meal. And since all four of us ordered set meals, we would have had a slice of cake each. But since we were full then, we decided to have them take-away. The cakes not bad, I would say. Tasted all four flavours later at home -- Tiramisu, Chocolate fudge, Cheesecake and my fav, Oreos!! WoOohOoo, just eating the cakes alone made me full for dinner. haha. Oh yeah, after our meal, we took a cab home to store the cakes in the fridge and head out again for my aunt's place. My uncle wasn't in the best of health, so we decided to visit him. Phew, that's tiring.

Saturday
Met up with Xuan, Sam and Min at Marina Square's Superbowl to have a game(or rather 1 1/2 games) of bowling. Predictably, someone was late. No comments. Anyway, since it's been quite a while since I last bowled, my game wasn't really that great. But after a while, when it just gets better, something happened. Oh well, I guess things doesn't always go as we thought it would. -_- After bowling, we went to the foodcourt to have our lunch. I ate a bowl of Yong Tau Fu. Such a big bowl that I decided to make the meal my 'luncher'. Didn't eat dinner afterwards. heh.

After the meal, we went walking around for a while before bidding goodbye to dear ibu. Why? Coz she's tired and want to sleep. Dunno how many times I heard her 'complaints', starting when we were at the bowling alley. *shake head* =P So, we let her go(unwillingly I'm sure) and the 3 of us then proceed to the arcade. Spent 4 bucks each. We played good old games and new ones. Had fun there and I'm sure it's the same feeling for the 2 ladies.=) Didn't notice the time when we were inside and discovered, shockingly, that it was already going to be 8 o'clock soon. Went to suntec after that to have dinner for the 2 ladies and dessert for myself. Departed at about 10 plus and reached home at around 11. Phew, what a tiring day it was. When I woke up the next day, had these aches on my limbs. *ouch*

Suppose to go for this KT soccer kickabout this morning(Sunday), but it was cancelled due to the bad weather. The event would have capped off a great week, but sigh, what a damper. The good thing though, I get more time to 'heal' my aches. heh.
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L'amore non prevale sempre

Managed to complete Reed Arvin's "The Last Goodbye" today. It's funny how I took 2 weeks to read one half of the book and then took just 1 day to finish the other half. For me, the latter will happen only if one of these occur.

1) Alya is sleeping or 'stuck' with my sis.
2) Bored at home with nothing to do.
3) The book gets interesting for me to get hooked.

In this case though, all these reasons were the culprit. haha.

Anyway, about the book, it's a nice one I must say. A fair share of suspense, which makes you wonder what will happen next. And there are quite a few twists along the way too which makes the story a little more interesting. There are many current issues too. Like drug and child abuse. The book has quite a substantial amount of 'memorable' parts but there's one part I would like to highlight here. Nearing the end of the book, there's this child going to be shot by a baddie. However, in that split second between the trigger being pulled and the bullet hitting the girl, the mother escaped from the clutches of another baddie and shielded the child. The mother was obviously the one who got shot in the end. I know we have seen many of such similar scenarios on TV before but each time it 'happened', I can't help it but admire the braveness and willingness of the mother to die for her child. Such things usually touched me. I guess any parent would do everything just to protect their little ones.

I would give this book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, partly because I'm a thriller/suspense fan.=P Right at the end of the story, there's a nice quote which goes, "We breathe, we risk. We make our peace. We strip it down and we let it go.." I think that pretty much explains our lives in general.

Yeah, up next would be Sidney Sheldon's "Tell Me Your Dreams" borrowed from Xuan. Heard many reviews in the net about the author and was about to search for his books this week at the library when ibu offered to lend me. Thanks Ibu! Just in time, save my trouble. hehe. Let's see how true the review on Sidney is...

That's it folks. The match is starting soon. Ciaoz~!

EDIT: Wtf! The match ended 1-0 in favour of portugal, and so Holland is out. But what pissed me the most is the sanity(or lack thereof) of the Russian referee. The card happy official bloody hell flashes 16 yellow cards in total and 4 red cards(2 for each team)!!! Those boooking really spoils the game! Tmd!!! No wonder our dear Singaporean referee is tops according to Soccernet.


Some people are just the total opposite when they are online and offline. haiz. But I guess I can't complain much coz I'm pretty much in the same breed. -_-

Lacking in Appreciation

Some people will never learn to appreciate the things you did for them. They expect so much from you until to the point that they take you for granted. On the basis of friendship, they keep asking you for help when they are having their gloomy days. They often forget that, sometimes, the things you did for them are voluntary and out of goodwill, and not an obligation as a friend.

There's two things that irk me the most. Firstly, when these people do not even give a word of 'thanks' after the help that you've given them. Come on, is it so hard to mention the 6-letter word? Saying that word should be the bare minimum, I would say, towards someone who have lend their hand for you. The 6-letter word would go a long way in feeling appreciated for what you've done.

The second thing that pissed me is when someone starts to get close to you only during his/her gloomy days. When the sun is out for them, they wouldn't care about you anymore. They make it feels like you're just a thing they can use when they have a problem. And when they've solved it, they would put you on one side and ignore you until another problem arises. Or worse, they would 'throw' you away, thinking they wouldn't need you anymore. Such a world we are living in these days. And that's sad.

I wonder where have all the sense of appreciation and true friendship(or is there still such thing these days?) gone to...

Sorry for the post, I just have to let out these random rants.

In a Weary State

I feel so damn tired now. Started to sleep at about 12am just now but keep waking up at every hour. Imagine that man! Body felt very tired but eyes and mind refuse to shut. I think I was thinking too much about stuffs last night that I was unable to have a proper sleep. The every-hour-waking-up routine continued until I gave up at 12pm.

Anyway, I went to Yiting's bro's house for her advance 21st Birthday celebration yesterday afternoon. After all the initial meet-first-before-going-to-the-house planning, I ended up going there by myself. -_- The surrounding is quite a familiar sight coz it's near the place where I played soccer with my buddies once in a while. Furthermore, CCK was once my 2nd estate during my secondary school days.

Xuan, Min and Sam were already there when I reached at 5.30. I was ushered in by her bro to the K-room' where the rest were. After a while of singing, or rather, watch them singing, we went out to savour the sumptuous buffet. A funny incident occurred then. Yiting's mum told Xuan to tell me that all the catered food are halal. Then, I think feeling scared that I was still doubtful, she came to me and showed the halal sign. Felt so funny, and paiseh at the same time. It didn't help when you are the only muslim around..lolx. There were laksa and fried rice as the main dishes. I ate the rice with some of the side dishes. And there's pink guava juice as the drinks. WoOo, nice~!

AFter eating, we talk for a while and then proceed back to the 'K-room' to do some singing. Then, at one point, I was 'forced' by those in the room to sing 'Tong Hua'. Especially by this particular friend of Yiting's. Such a unique character she has. Not to mention her jap-barbie mixed style of clothings. No offence, but it's sure interesting to see such a person once in a while. -_- The cutting of cake cum photo sessions were held at about 8 plus. Singing resumes after that. So cool huh, which karaoke lounges can you start and stop whenever you want, and free at that!?! =X

But we stopped singing and departed, finally, at about 10.30pm. When I went out of the room and head for the main door, I realised most, if not all, of the guests had went home except for us. Oops. I gave Yiting her present just before I went out of the house. Is there a common rule to give presents at the point of your arrival? Oops again, I didn't such a rule exists. haha. Anyway, she accompanied us to the bus-stop and not long after, we bid goodbyes when the fast-interval bus came. And at the mrt platform, Min separated from us coz she would be heading for the other direction. The journey took me about 20-30 mins in total, including the walking after alighting from the MRT. On the way, Saw a teenager with shorts wearing high heels. WEird man!! lol..Reached home about 11.30, washed up, surf the net for a while before giving up to my tired body. But in the end, I didn't get much sleep either as mentioned at the start of my post.

Anyway, It's an eye-opener for me as this was the first time I attended a 21st birthday party. To mum and sis, my birthday next year will be held at the void-deck as planned k! Just like Alya's baby showers. Yeah, Fandi has gone nuts!! hahaaaa

Till here then. Still feeling so tired. Gotta catch some rest. Pics will be up when I received them from our dear ting ting.

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I feel so uncomfortable when people give me strane looks or 'talked behind my back'. Especially when the talking is done directly in front of my eyes. Please lah, if anyone wants to talk about me, then go ahead and really talk BEHIND my back. Or do some 'covering' up so that it's not obvious to me. It wouldn't help your cause to have your eyes keep looking at me when you are talking with other people. Coz I will notice it! Duh!

A friend in need is a friend indeed?

Recently, I chatted with this friend of mine. Just a normal casual chat. But I realised that she's somehow not the same anymore. These days, when we chatted, her conversation will somehow make my blood pressure rose. It can be quite frustrating at times. Everything I say these days will most likely be replied with a negative comment. Nowadays, my initial optimistic mood will always make a free fall by the end of our conversation. Oh ya, there's an exception though. That is when she needs my help. That's when all the good things will come out from her.

Such a change from what she was back when school was still ongoing. I guess during that time she figured that she still needed my help, hence the goody conversations. Now that studies are over, her true colours are shown I guess. A friend in need is a friend indeed, anyone? I'm tired, I really am. I don't need this f*cking shit for god's sake. And I can't believe that I nearly fell for you back when we were still in school. Thank god I bloody didn't!!

My pay gone in 1 day!!

Phew! What a day!! haha.. Went to town today to shop. Departed from home in the morning and came back only when the sun sets. It's been a long time since I did this.. lolx.. Was practically going to all the different malls along that stretch of Orchard Road.

Actually, I wanted to search for a shirt and pants for my graduation day. But instead, I became interested and engrossed in other things, like baby clothes!! hahaa.. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of kids shops at Orchard Road. At almost every shop, I went in to see the baby clothes they have.. become addicted man! haha.. Oh ya, at one of the shops in Paragon, the salesperson asked, "Any clothes for YOUR baby, sir?" Omg, do I look that old?!?! Hmm, maybe I should look at the mirror someday.. lolx.. Anyway, at last, I decided to buy this nice pinky shirt for dear Alya from Marks & Spencer @ Centrepoint. The cashier even praised my selection. I'm so proud!! bahahaaa...

Anyway, another reason why I went out today is to look out for a birthday present. Kind of a last minute thingy actually. Luckily managed to find something which I THINK is nice. Hopefully, the person finds it nice too.. hehe.. The sales people there are a funny bunch I must say.. haha.. There's this salesman who attended to me initially. But after a while he 'transferred' the conversation to a salesgirl, to get a "woman's" opinion.. So the salesman told the salesgirl, "This man here wants to buy something for her girlfriend". On hearing that, I quickly corrected them, saying, "She's just a friend". Then they both replied, "Ya, but soon-to-be, soon-to-be!" At that moment, I dunno what to reply them already. Such a funny bunch, those sales people.. lolx.. Spent quite a long time deciding at that shop. But luckily, along with being funny, those sales people are patient too! Oh, and the salesgirl who attended to me is pweeeeety!! I nearly do not want to close the 'deal' so fast with her, so that can chat with her longer. Oops. hehee

Oh ya, met up with Chay for a while during his break time and went walking around at the Heeren. Initially, I actually wanted him to accompany me to buy the present coz I know nuts about those things..haha.. But luckily, I got a great foresight to buy the present earlier. Coz it was like rushing for him during his break. I don't think his 45 mins of break time would be enough if I want to buy during that time.

After Chay went back to his workplace, I took a quick bite at Centrepoint's Mac. And then, took the MRT and headed to Marina Bay station before 'u-turning' back and headed for sembawang..

So today, I actually was supposed to buy my graduation day's shirt and pants, but in the end, I got none of that and ended up getting my niece's shirt and the birthday present. Maybe I've changed. Maybe now, I care more about those around me than myself. Yeah, right! haha

It's a beautiful day!

Today is a great day!! Why?! Because I went back to Kranji, my beloved secondary school! hahaaa.. So many great memories from there, I will never forget this school!! lolx..

Went there in the afternoon with Eugene, Jun Jie, Siew Herng, Chay. We managed to meet 3 teachers whom had taught us. For the rest, either they were not in sch(because it's the holidays) or have left the school.

First teacher we met was Mrs Ram, our English teacher. Talked about a lot of things with her, including rubbish stuffs.. haha.. And she told me I'm as quiet as before! Oh well, some things will never change I guess.. hehe.. After chatting for quite a while, we went up to the corridor outside the staff room to see if got any more teachers to visit anot.

Then we saw Mr Shasi(or most of the guys would have called him just by Sarsi..LOL), our chemistry teacher. He seems to have gained weight now. Chatted with him for quite a while also about NS stuffs and craps. Jun Jie got 'suan' by him alot.. hahaa..

After that, we went touring around the school. A lot of memories came through our mind as we walked. Of course, the most memories would have to be our classroom @ 4C and especially 3C!! hahaa.. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, the 3C class has been repainted and the notice board have been changed. The tables and chairs have changed too. Still remember the fun times we had when we threw magnets around in the class, hitting the walls and notice board thus dirtying them. And 'making holes' at the notice board.. Oops.. Of course, we got 'duly' punished for our acts and even got shamed in front of the whole school..And I nearly got into more trouble after I wrote something on the noctice board.. I didn't know 'I love Milo' would get me into deep shit.. wahahaa.. Also, during the punishments (which includes repainting the class and cleaning the school), we still managed to have a 'catching break'.. hahaaa.. Those were the days..

Passed by the new NPCC room later which is now on the 2nd floor. And to my suprise, on its notice board, I saw 3 familiar things. All the headings that they were using now, were made by me when I was in the admin team!! And that was like 4-5 years ago!! Wah lao, very cheapskate leh!! hahaaa.. But the good thing is, at least there's something there for people to remember me by.. I suggest they put an aknowledgement at the notice board also.. hehehe..

AFter walking around the school, we meet up with Ms Sim, our Maths teacher, after her just-finished meeting. Chatted and caught up with her over sch and personal stuffs. Then, there's a question she asked each of us on whether we are attached anot. When the question was posed to me, and I said no, she asked me how come? She told me I should be having a gf because of the looks that I have! <-- I think that can easily be the joke of the year!! But thanks for the compliment though.. wahahaa... Oh, and she said she thinks she saw me somewhere outside with my gf. I don't know whether is it really me but the girl is definitely not my gf!!!! ROFL!!

Oh yeah, there's another funny thing which I have to highlight. She was telling us to be careful when we enter NS because of the bad stuffs we might be exposed to. Things such as smoking, pornographic films....... everyone of us burst into laughter when the second example was mentioned!! Omg, I can't believe she said that!! wahahahaa

After some time of chatting, we decided to bid our farewell.. but not before taking a pic. Since no one brought a digital camera, we had to make do with Ms Sim's k750i. But although it's a 2MP camera-phone, I think she chose the lowest resolution, hence the not so clear pic. We thought of taking a pic with Mrs Ram, but she went off already. It's a pity.

(Anti-clockwise from top left: Jun Jie, Chay, Eugene, Siew Herng, Me and Ms Sim Chin Chin) Look at Ms Sim's hands, I think she can be easily be mistaken as our friend instead of our teacher..haha.. And I just realised I displayed my darlie teeth in that pic *shakes head* Oh btw, Congrats to Ms Sim for her pregnancy!! Oh man, another of my ex-teacher is getting a child!! *clap*

After taking the pic, we went off and headed to LJS @ Lot 1 for our lunch. Then, me and chay went to Habourfront and Queensway to walk around and lookout for chio-bu(s) at the same time.. hehee.. =PpP

Today rocks!!

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Although it has been a great day, it would have been better if 'my' Elaine Lim(Ms) was still in Kranji. I think Jun Jie feels the same way too.. hahaa.. Even after graduation from kranji, I could never escape my secondary guy friends calling me Elaine instead of by my name.. Old habits die hard I guess.. haiz.. I wonder what is she doing now.. Is she still teaching in another school Or is she working as something else? Or has she become a housewife and been taking care of her little girl? Oh man, I will never know since we lost contact with each other 3 years ago.. Nevertheless, I hope she's doing fine now! haiz.. But I still hope I will bump into her somewhere in the future though.. hehe =D

Sparks can be felt

I can sprint BUT I can't run! What the fug!?!

On another matter, I'll just hope that the decision I made recently would not be a bad one. Praying hard.

P.S.: Noticed that my posts are becoming shorter and shorter? Oh well, this blog has become a rant and whine corner I guess. Whatever.

People change

Recently, I realised that most of the people around me have changed. It's sad that they seemed to have evolved to totally different people within this very short space of time. Are these their true characters? Have they been putting up a show all this while?

Won't waste my braincells guessing though. The bottom-line is they have unexpectedly change, for the worse. Oh, well..