A brief recap

Hiaz... Haven't had time to update because someone has been hogging the computer. Had a relatively packed weekend, with the Fin-exis workshop over Friday and Saturday, before rushing to Jason's birthday party at Downtown East just after 9pm. Cake was already cut by then, and Yiliang and Hoon Nam had already left. The former had a appointment with friends at Dhoby Ghaut(probably to play KOF again); the latter had to rest early for work at 3am the next day. I wonder what's going on at Beaver. Since when have they started work in the wee hours of the morning? Mr Choo should employ more workers before Hoon Nam quits as well.

This afternoon, the gang decided to go Orchard - which meant that Vincent and Desmond missed their Econs lesson. No matter for Vincent since he has been attending Saturday Econs on top of his own lessons; Desmond probably was a little uncomfortable with the idea. Marc wanted to save on parking fee(very understandable), so he parked along a small road in an estate of landed property, off Orchard Boulevard. We spotted a cat in one of the gardens, of the same breed that Desmond has, and he decided to try to get a photo of it. Unfortunately, he was not blessed with stealth, and was spotted by the feline when he was about 3metres away. Perhaps it was a temporary lack of common sense, but he thought that he would be able to approach the cat to get a close-up, without alarming kitty. No such luck for him. The furball scurried away before he could say 'Cheese!' Maybe he should start watching Discovery Channel.

We separated soon after lunch - Wei Ren went to work, Desmond went home, Vincent and Mars enjoyed some privacy, while Marc went...actually I did not know where he went after that...none of my business. Anyway, I decided to spend some time in the library. As usual, the habits of the ugly Singaporean were displayed for all to see. There were people who have have books on the seat beside them; students who left magazines on the tables of Cafe Galilee; magazines and newsapapers randomly placed on the shelves by readers(instead of in their proper shelf/compartment). I even saw this guy with Newpaper in one hand while he was reading Lianhe Zaobao. There have been calls for people to take ownership of their environment and keep the public places litter-free; here, people literally take ownership of the library. It was a pity I did not spot anyone scratching their toes, trimming their stubble or resting their feet on chairs. The journalist who captured shots of them was really lucky to have seen these creatures in motion; I had to be satisfied with more ubiquitous species.

Oh yes, I almost forgot: Arsenal drew 1-1 with Chelsea! I thought it was a fair result because although there was a foul before the Chelsea goal that was not awarded to Arsenal, Chelsea did hit the post three times...

Sleepy Thursday - Part 2/Outing with Ben

Met up with Ben after lunch, at 2pm. Turns out he hadn't had time for lunch, as he had been busy running in the morning. Hmmm...I have not run since AHM in August - unlesss you include those bus and train chases. He decided to lunch at Food Junction in Wisma, where we met Tong Ming Yuan, aka CQ Tong, with his girlfriend. Tong didn't reply when I said hi. Wonder if he remembers me.

Anyway, I chatted with Ben over lunch, and through SMS, got Jason's permission to ask Ben if he's available for the former's birthday, as he had not done so himself, giving himself lots of excuse for not doing so. Turned out that Hoon Nam had already informed him. Ben thought it may be weird if he was the only specialist to turn up, so we tried to get Fabian. All I got was this,"...The number you just dialled is not in use". Wonder what happened to him. It's quite unlike him to change his number without informing us.

After lunch, we went to the coffee joint beside Food Junction - forgot the name - as Ben needed his daily fix of coffee. He insisted on treating me to a drink, and got me a glass of Iced Milo. (Thanks!) Here, I showed him Vincent's puzzle and watched as he racked his brains to solve it. He employed more than mental skills though, and at times, I was afraid he would break that thing as he attempted to force the two parts apart. You don't need brute force to solve this thing, man! No wonder he was the anchorage commander.

Still, regardless of his attendance, Ben decided that he ought to get a present for Jason on account of their friendship. We went to Takashimaya, where the present I had in mind - a Hanayama Cast Puzzle - can be found. I thought it would be suitable given Jason's analytical mind and his fondness for the occasional quiz and mental puzzles. While searching for Jason's present, we also kept a look-out for Christmas presents that Ben needs to get for his colleagues for his company's celebrations. Apparently, they each have to draw lots and get a special present(worth at least $20) for the person whose name they draw. Ben's is a woman in her forties. He had quite a headache as he did not know what be a suitable gift as there were restrictions placed on the gifts, such that certain(simple) presents - vouchers and food - were not allowed. I was equally clueless. It would have been easier if she was two decades younger. In the end, Ben set his sight on a photoframe for her, and chocolates for the rest. However, given that there is more than a week to go to christmas, he did not purchase them then.

We went home after getting Jason's present (I hope the level 6 puzzle is not too tough for him), but not before meeting Kai Fen and Yiwei(he does not know them, of course) at Wisma and Soon Chiean(Ah Wee) at the MRT station. Small world...no, small Singapore...

Sleepy Thursday - Part 1/Nageb/Vincent's Puzzle

I was SOooo not in the mood for lesson today. Must be due to my sleeping at close to 3am. Nageb was at his corniest again today. He needs to conduct self-checks soon, before his jokes get unbearable. Acting the fool seemed funny in the beginning, but it's really stale now... If he should feel bored when he's retired, I think he can partner Ting and perform at parties. It will be a piece of cake given the way Nageb clowns around these days, while Ting seems almost ready to etch a 'LAME' on his forehead. Still, having jokers beat having nannies - the kind that put children to sleep. (Hmmm...this expression sounds awkward...)

I do not know whether I should thank him for it, but the puzzle that Vincent lent me distracted me somewhat during the second half of the lecture. It looks deceptively simple, but 10secs later, I was convinced of its six stars difficulty. The keyword was not very helpful - how is 'anthlers' suppose to help me solve that thing?

Once again, Wei Ren demonstrates his remarkable ability to solve puzzles without sight. A slight turn of the head to look at someone passing-by, and 'Presto'! The puzzle is solved! Putting it back wasn't as straightforward as I thought though, so once again, Wei Ren was not able to complete his 'performance'. No matter. I was able to figure out how to put it back, so thanks to Wei Ren, I was able to master the puzzle faster than I would have done so on my own. Let's see Vincent try it on Saturday...

Finally we meet!

This is the day of the long awaited meeting with Kelly, the lady of mystery. As was mentioned in an earlier blog entry (3 'M's), she had been uncontactable. Anyway, she did arrive back on 19th Nov, but her unreliable phone and infrequent checking of emails had prevented her from acknowledging our attempts to contact her.

As she was scheduled to come back before her 21st birthday on 26th Nov, Sylvia and I decided to get her a present to be passed to her when we meet. Due to a couple of reasons (but largely because of my tendency to procrastinate and Kelly only being available after her birthday) we only went shopping on 26th.

I've never liked shopping (isn't that the case for most guys?), and buying presents for females gives me an especially big headache. It does not help that Her Highness told me before of her numerous 'NO's where presents are concerned:

1. No books
2. No jewellery
3. No decorative items that serve no function other then to take up space and collect dust(I can't remember whether soft toys are considered as such...)

OK... Maybe that's not really a lot. Still...

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So we met at Orchard on the afternoon of 26th Nov. I was glad to have Sylvia with me as I reckoned that she would probably have a better idea of what to get. Our 1st stop was Takashimaya. Large array of goods. Varied prices. Idea for present -> Nil. Actually there was one thing she really would be happy to receive, but it is WAY out of our budget - an L.V. bag. (Perhaps I can get one for her when I start drawing $10k per month in salary) So we surveyed all the different accesories and stuff available.

My initial thought was to get her a necklace - one of those you use to accesorise clothes, not those made of gold/silver/platinum/etc, which I consider to be jewellery. I saw some which I thought would suit her. Sylvia did not look very agreable. Problem was that she was not willing to give definite suggestions.

'...Aiyah, you decide lor. You are closer to her, so you should be more familiar with her preferences...'

'...I don't know what kind of design she likes...'

'...I have no opinion. You decide...'

Hiaz...obviously she wasn't of much help. But then again, I guess I expected too much from her; afterall, she did mention that she doesn't really have an idea of what to get. Even then, I was hoping she could give me a direct answer as to whether she agrees with the present - an explicit confirmation or otherwise. Afterall, it was supposed to be a joint present.

While she was not forthcoming with her assurance in the necklace, she appeared more enthusiastic when we got to the perfume section. Perhaps she thought perfume would be better? We checked out the counter with Kelly's favourite brand - according to Sylvia - Issey Miyaki. The prices dictated a search in other places.

So we crossed the road to Lucky Plaza, where Sylvia led me to a shop stocked with perfume of more competitive prices. This time, Sylvia was able to provide an incessant stream of suggestions - although the decision was still placed firmly on my shoulders. I almost strangled her.

We spent close to an hour there, which in retrospect, was pretty incredible. You see, in that short time we spent there, we sniffed at countless samples of perfume. The smorgasbord of aroma in the shop was simply overwhelming to our unaccustomed noses. The increased dose of fragrance from sniffing from the test slips caused our noses to hurt. I wonder how those people who work at perfume counters survive.

In the end, it was down to a fruity one with an ugly bottle and one recommended by Sylvia, which has a classic, yet fruity smell(I think the product name is Mirage, but I can't remember the brand). I preferred the smell of the formal, but I decided that Kelly would probably prefer the latter's smell and bottle design. So it's decided! Finally!

To celebrate our accomplishment, I treated Sylvia to Gelare ice-cream as compensation for my lack of punctuality. Hiaz... It was so wrong! Worse still, I was also late when I asked her out on my birthday... I wonder how I can improve my punctuality. Somehow, no matter how much preparation time I give myself, I can still end up late for appointments...

P.S. Do not get the grapefruit flavoured ice-cream. Despite having the refreshing tangy flavour of the citrus fruit, it was marred by a bitter taste. It's likely that they did not remove the mesocarp (the white part between the pulp and the skin) when they used the fruit to make the ice-cream.

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We arranged to meet this morning at 11am at the K-Box at Hougang Plaza - Kelly wanted to go singing, and Sylvia decided the venue. I was thankful to Sylvia for the suggestion. It's baffling how the one who wanted to go to K-Box and had numerous karaoke sessions before push the decision of the venue to me. I had only one prior karaoke experience! How am I supposed to know which has equipment in better condition, better service, etc?

Anyway, I'm glad to announce that I wasn't late today!! (Applause please!) Haha! I was 5mins early, and even got a pleasant surprise. I found Catherine standing near the ground floor lift landing! Apparently, she was waiting for a friend to sing at the K-Box there as well! Didn't manage to chat for long though, because Ms Kelly was early, so I went up 1st.

Three hours of singing ensued. Being a poor singer, i tried my best to let them have more possession of the mike. They were very encouraging though, so I still ended up singing quite a bit. Seriously, I think my small vocal range and generally low voice coupled with my lack of singing ability did not do justice to the songs. Ah, well...if they don't mind, why should I care? Somehow, I did have a lot of fun. The lunch was mediocre though. My chicken should be renamed Soya Sauce Chicken, instead of the grand Aromatic Chicken. The coleslaw consisted of huge pieces of hard cabbage which was difficult to chew - they should have shredded it. Kelly's fried fish was tough. Enough said.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting, in the food court at Hougang Mall. A nice ending to the day if not for the wrong choice of table, with the air-con vent directly above me, causing my nose to run, and the arrival of rain just when we were about to leave...

(Sorry for the compact entry. Somehow the spacing disappear when I publish the entry. I've tried five times and the problem persisted...)

Book Review

A simple book review...
...to help me keep track of the books I've read...
...to give others an idea of how the stories go...


Agatha Christie
~Hercule Poirot ~ 39 stories

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles

2. The Murder on the Links

3. Poirot Investigates

4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

5. The Big Four

6. The Mystery of the Blue Train

7. Black Coffee

8. Peril at End House

9. Lord Edgware Dies

10. Murder on the Orient Express

11. Three-Act Tragedy

12. Death in the Clouds - 2nd completion 5th March 2007

The first Agatha Christie story that I read. This is the second time I've completed the book. This book is about an intriguing murder in an airplane with an improbable way of murder. Here, Hercule Poirot gains the confidence of the murderer to confirm his deductions. To the reader and all others in the story, it seemed like Poirot had 'cleared' him of murder and had enlisted his help to investigate others. The result is a hugely surprising ending as the murderer seemed to have a rock-solid alibi. Very satisfying read.

Rating: 5 / 5

13. The ABC Murders

14. Murder in Mesopotamia

15. Cards on the Table

16. Murder in the Mews

17. Dumb Witness

18. Death on the Nile

19. Appointment With Death

20. Hercule Poirot's Christmas

21. Sad Cypress

22. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

23. Evil Under the Sun

24. Five Little Pigs

25. The Hollow

26. The Labours of Hercules - Completed 29th Dec 2006

I've actually read half of this book last year, but was not able to complete it before the due date and was not able to locate it at the libraries I visited subsequently, until now. This book consists of 12 short stories, in which Hercule Poirot sets out to emulate the person he was named after, Hercules. The 12 mysteries figuratively mirrors the 12 labours of Hercules.

There are a couple of interesting stories here; some are rather simple and lacking in suspense. My favourite here is 'The Stymphalean Birds'. Hercules' sixth labour was to kill these birds-of-prey which have iron beaks and feast of human flesh. In 'The Labour of Hercules', two Polish women with long curved noses, wearing long flowing cloaks were compared to the Stymphalean birds for their physical resemblance to the birds. The author leads the reader to think that these two are really the 'Stymphalean birds' in this story of a case of blackmail. In the end, it was revealed that the actual vultures are two women working in hand to blackmail a civil servant by leading him to think he was embroiled in a case of manslaughter. The twist was excellent and it is not until the last page of the story that the civil servant is told of the actual culprits in this case. The comparison here is thus metaphorically, and it will take a very alert reader to figure out the actual 'Styphalean birds'.

Overall, I think this is a very good book. The stories are generally suspenseful, and the matching of the crimes to the labours of Hercules was interesting.

Rating: 4 / 5

27. Taken at the Flood

28. Mrs McGinty's Dead

29. After the Funeral

30. Hickory Dickory Dock

31. Dead Man's Folly

32. Cat Among the Pigeons

33. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

34. The Clocks

35. Third Girl

36. Halloween's Party

37. Elephants Can Remember ~ Completed 2nd Dec 2006

...old sins leave long shadows...

Adriane Oliver is a famous mystery writer. During a literary luncheon, she was approached by Mrs Burton-Cox. Desmond-Cox was going to get married to Mrs Oliver's goddaughter, Celia Ravenscoft, and Mrs Burton-Cox was anxious to find out the truth behind the double death of Celia's parents - whether it was the father who shot the wife before committing suicide, or the other way round.

Saddled with a request from an unlikeable woman, she was unwilling to fulfill the task, yet pigued by curiousity to know the truth behind the tragedy. She enlisted the help of her friend, the famous detective, Hercule Poirot. Together, they seeked out all those who were linked to the incident to give them a clue to what happened. These are the people Mrs Oliver called elephants - people who were able to retain memories of what happened, years after.

As Hercule Poirot delves back into the past, he was able to discover the link between the death of the parents of Celia, and a tragic accident of her mother's twin sister six weeks earlier, and the true reason for Mrs Burton-Cox strong desire to know the truth.

Unlike most of her other books that I've read, Elephant Can Remember does not have a strong twist in the ending. It is not very intriguing as there were enough clues to guess the truths behind the deaths, halfway through the book. Still, she manages to deliver a tiny surprise in the end.

Rating: 3 / 5

38. Poirot's Early Cases

39. Curtain: Poirot's Last Case

Hiccup

Ok... So the Econs test was a mess. Vincent and Mars were giving me hints, on top of their incessant nagging, asking me to work faster. Their efforts only serve to enhance my mental constrictions. Not that it was their fault though. If I had prepared better for the test, I wouldn't be struggling to recall information and they would not have the chance to bug me(despite their kind intentions). Still, I could have done without the additional presuure from the constant unwanted attention they were giving me during the test. In the end, my brain imploded and I decided to give up on the second question(there were only two questions). No point prolonging my misery when the 'feel' just wasn't there. Carlos Castaneda said, "We either make ourselves miserable, or we make outselves strong. The amount of work is the same." Unfortunately, I was so mentally exhausted after trying so hard to make myself miserable, I did not have any energy left to make myself strong enough to withstand the setback.

I was trully demoralised for the immediate period after the test. Vincent and Mars were urging me to stop dwelling on the test. Did they seriously think they can discourage me from that? If so, they underestimated my stubborness(is that such a word?). Still, I'm not one to let myself down for long. Besides, the test has no bearing on my final grades. :-D

Hope Mr Ting does not get a cardiac arrest from seeing my script - then again, there's probably people worse than me.

P.S. This post was delayed because of limited access to the computer...

Overdrive

Yesterday (30th Nov) was Jasmine's birthday.

The plan was to celebrate by slacking at Marc's house, playing mahjong/cards/etc. Plan was almost aborted as Jasmine somehow managed to pull a tendon in her left ankle. Everyone wondered how she 'achieved' that feat when she hardly exercises; me thinks it's precisely the lack of exercise that resulted in poor coordination, agility, reflexes, etc and hence led to the injury. Haha... Anyway, she ended up skipping IBM to visit a doctor. Skipping lectures is nothing new to her, but it's never a good idea to miss Nageb's lesson. Unlike the other subjects, plenty of new stuff are covered in each IBM lecture. Well, I supposed she would not have skipped this lesson if she could help it.

So while she was away tending to her foot, we gave to Wei Ren his belated birthday present - a Renoma wallet. Actually, he claims he does not need one since he already possessed a cards holder. I thought so too, because for me, functionality is more important. Apparently the rest (esp. the girls) thought otherwise. Still, I think it's a better present then what they originally thought of giving to him - a Power Ranger toy from the early series, which is not only hard to find, but also, in my opinion, quite useless. Well, it could become a collector's item...maybe... Jasmine's present was more apt. Considering her fondness for Meiji snacks, I thought the present was superb, thought it will not help in her wish to lose weight. But that's her problem. LOL!

Well, for all my comments about the presents, my only contribution is financial... Haha... But it's not my fault since they never ask me out. :-)

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Anyway, we arranged to meet at Vivocity since Jasmine was supposed to go there(but I can't remember for what reason). I was there first with Wei Ren, Desmond and Marc, having gone in Marc's car while Mars and Vincent took bus (and enjoyed their little time together). We were supposed to meet Jasmine at 1:30pm, but as I've guessed correctly, the earliest Jasmine would reach there is 2pm (she subsequently joined us just after 2pm). So, while waiting, we went around buying some snacks. Marc decided to get some nuts from Candy Empire. They were supposed to cost $3.80 per 100g, but when he got what he wanted, we could not find any weighing scale around. Turns out the only weighing scales in the shop are at the counter, which means one can only weigh them when paying. I thought that was a cheap ploy to get people to spend more because of their inability to judge the amount they have taken. In Marc's case, his bill came to $5 plus, which means that what he thought was around 100g of nuts was actually around 150g.

We took quite some time before deciding to lunch at Food Republic. By then, everyone has arrived. The atmosphere was pretty good. The stalls and surrounding looked like they were from the early 1900s, and was complemented with mandarin oldies from those times. Unfortunately, the food was expensive and not all delicious. My ban mian was OK, but it costs $3.80. :-( Hiaz... Inflated prices at a high-rent shopping mall...

Post-lunch entertainment was hard to find. We thought of catching a movie, but couldn't watch those that we wanted. Desmond could not watch Happy Feet because it would prevent him from going back to SIM by 6pm for his rehearsal; Jasmine and Mars could not watch Saw III as they were underaged... Somehow, we ended up slacking at Spinelli at Harbourfront Centre, but not before getting a scare on an overheard bridge. Somehow, while we were halfway across the bridge to Spinelli, two guys ran across and the bridge started shaking at that time. Everyone got quite a shock because the bridge was made of some kind of metal and looked pretty sturdy. Desmond and I thought the shake was due to the two guys running across; the rest were not so convinced. They thought it was ridiculous that the pounding of their steps was sufficient to rock the bridge. In any case, I hoped the shocking experience is not an indication of structural weakness of the bridge. I do not want to see news of the bridge collapsing in the future. Perhaps I will report the incident to the building management.

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At Spinelli, Jasmine suggested a game called, "I have never ...", where we will take turns to make a sentence starting with those three words, and anybody among the rest who is opposite to that statement must drink a sip of water/tea/whatever the person was drinking. The aim was actually to find out the actual progress between Mars and Vincent ( anyway, Mars sms-ed Jasmine later that they have been going steady since last Friday). It got boring after a short while, so she suggested Zhong(1) Ji(2) Mi(4) Ma(3), where one person sets a number between 0-100 and the rest will take turns saying a number. The range shortens with each number called out, until one person is force to say the number and hence forfeit by drinking some concoction of water added with pepper/salt/sugar/tabasco/etc... I was the first 'lucky' person, and I got a sweet and salty solution. Too much sugar. I ended up downing a couple of plain water in an attempt to clear the sticky feeling at the back of my throat, and I ended up making multiple trips to the toilet. Thankfully, that was also my last time; the rest had to drink at least twice each.

We separated after that. Turned out Mars and Vincent was not going to join us - Mars was not able to get permission to stay overnight at Marc's house, while Vincent had to work the next day. Desmond, meanwhile, made his way back to SIM. Marc, Wei Ren, Jasmine and I went to Chinatown to get mahjong set and table.

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The three shops selling mahjong accessories that we found demonstrated the perfect competition / efficient market that we learnt in Econs and PBF respectively. After some relatively weak haggling, we got a set and table for $90 in all - actually Marc was the buyer - although we were targeting $80. We were assured that the prices offered were among the best around Singapore. Perhaps.

So now we got the what we were looking for, the problem was that the table took up too much space and there was only one passenger seat left in Marc's car. So Jasmine went to meet her parents for dinner while Wei Ren and I took bus to Wei Ren's house, stopping at Toa Payoh Central to buy dinner. We watched Project Superstar while having dinner. M3 was very good and managed to progress to the next round, some of the other contestants with relatively high scores were eliminated. Well, that's the problem when you leave 70% of the result to audience votes. Considering he's a foreigner, I hope he will not be negatively affected by a lack of friends in Singapore. Surely there are plenty of neutrals who vote for the best?

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While in the Toa Payoh MRT station on the way to Bishan to meet Marc, I received a call from home. Apparently the rascal was up to no good again. This time, he cut up one of the back support that my parents bought for him for $20 each - violently. And he somehow managed to disconnect the telephone line such that none of the phones work... My brother is a monster. God help him!!! For that moment, I was really glad not to be at home. I have no wish to be embroiled in the mayhem at home again. And it seemed that there was more. I was to find out when I got home, that the foldable table in the study room has been stamped with pikachu prints. There seemed to be no end to his destructive streak.

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Marc's house was smaller than I thought. It's a small three-storey semi-detached house which has this cosy English feel about it. (Haha, 'small semi-d house' is quite an oxymoron...) Desmond arrived shortly after we reached, and we began our mahjong session while Jasmine watched a Channel U drama. I was a little surprised that Marc and Desmond were more unclear about the rules of the game than I. In any case, lack of touch and knowledge can be easily overcome with tonnes of good luck. What transpired cannot be more apt an illustration. Playing VERY slowly, seemingly with uncertainty, Desmond managed to come up with numerous wins that left us shell-shocked. Even the resident pro - Wei Ren- was at times left dumbfounded by Desmond's eerily good luck. We realised the luck has got nothing to do with the seats when Jasmine took over and the games became more normal. When Desmond took over Marc for his second round, he was to demonstrate even more morale-deflating winning hands. The highlight was when he wrongly thought he won one game and showed his hands. Wei Ren pointed out his mistake and asked him to cover his tiles, but he did not as he thought he would not be able to win anymore since everyone will be guarding against him. Well, surprise, surprise! On his next turn, he drew the only tile which can give him a win(incidentally a '发', which means prosper) !

Maybe we should have asked him for some lucky numbers there and then.

I was relieved when he decided to stop as Marc replaced him. I was the biggest loser, with Desmond the biggest reason for that. Thankfully we played in very small amounts and I only lost $4. :-)

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We stopped at 6am Friday morning. Wei Ren decided to go home early to rest in view of his upcoming mahjong marathon. He's really a mahjong fanatic...no lunatic. His schedule for the weekend reads: Thurs night - mahjong. Fri morning - sleep, afternoon - study for econs test, night - mahjong. Sat morning - econs test, afternoon - sleep, night - mahjong. Sun morning - soccer. I have never heard of a crazier schedule. Maybe I just ignorant.

Meanwhile, the rest of us went to a prata shop near Marc's house for breakfast. The two prata kosong I ordered were the crispiest I've ever eaten. Nice curry too. But I ate a green chili in the curry by mistake. Thought it was a ladyfinger. Yucks!

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Finally reached home at 8am. After washing up and reading the newspapers - Damn! Arsenal lost to Fulham! - I went to bed at 10am, by which time, He was already up and clicking away at the computer.

Woke up at around 2:15pm to go for lunch, and have been slacking till now. Econs lesson is 8hrs away. Time to try to cramp something in for the test tomorrow!

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I love the silence of midnight.

Birthday gifts in November - close to $50.
Mahjong losses - $4.
Peace - Priceless. There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's my ATM card.