Had a blast during the office party on Monday. Came extra early to hand out the little gifts i bought for my team. Best thing was the gift received as well! A box full!

Counting down, in my possession are 4 t-shirts, a Nike pull-over, Bodywash+perfume, Table lamp, Picture frame, small bottle of wine, Messenger bag, Notepad/book and lots of sweets+biscuits!

There wasn't a mood of work that day and topping it off, it was officially half day. And on top of that was the 1st day of the much awaited MX gathering/chalet for 3days 2 night filled with food, fun and movies of cos.

I love December..

Most guys would cringe at the sight of a green uniform. Going back to the filthy messy status after being thrown out of your comfortable life. But this time, things were a little different. Sure enough, the constant, rush to wait, wait to rush was inevitable, but it dawned to me that in the end, i was a good break for me. The stress of work, suddenly left behind was much a relief.

Can't believe I'm going to say this but, i can't wait for next ICT.

It's time like these that pushes me to the limit and beyond, having to accomplish what i thought would be impossible and upon completion, a grandeur of satisfaction swallows my being making me feel invincible.



More pics can be found here.

I miss that feeling.

A short stint, back into green. 1 bloody week. What a waste of time.
What can we do in 1 week? Not that i dislike them but i dread the though of the pile of work i have to rush when i come back. And the holidays aren't make it easier.

Tired.
Tired is when you give every possible reason not to.
Tired is when every call races your heartbeat, thinking something went wrong.
Tired is when is trying hard not to sleep so the hours would pass by slowly before dawn.
Tired is like a candle, burning hard and fast.
Alarmingly. Unnoticed. Diminishing.
A candle burning out.
Burning.
Don't you see my flames darkening?
Don't you hear the silent fizzle?
Of cos you don't.
No one does.

The one performance that blew me away was the piano version of Pushing me away, which i wasn't aware of till the concert. We hear Chester scream his head off but never in this light and he did a pretty good job. Everyone was so moved by it that a girl beside me had to run to the back to console herself from breaking down...

One of the wildest night of my life.
After missing their gig at the Padang a few years back, Linkin park came back for their tour and i couldn't miss the chance. Standing right smack in the moshpit, my only regret was not queing early to get nearer to the stage. The gig felt short but hell, they played 21 songs and ended in 1 1/2 hrs with a heading banging ending to "Bleed it out". No one could ask for more.

The course voice(from the screaming-sing-a-long), ringing ear(from the rocking music of cos) and the aching calf and arms (from the jumping and hand banging), it was totally worth it.

Spanish Blair witch 28 days/weeks later horror flick.

Awesome. Can't wait.

A far out photo slide show that will blow all the boring one to hell.



All you have to do is upload or pick for your fav online photo manager(Flickr), pick a music from their list or upload your own and click create!

They'll whiz up a storm and create this nifty slide! Awesome!

ANIMOTO

And more heroes and billon..i mean villain comes our way! Woohoo!

Was hanging around in office talking to my friends when a giddy feeling was felt. Like being on a rocking chair but was felt internally. I gave a quizzical look to my colleague, if something amiss is happening. He asked me "What?" but i kept quiet, thinking i might not be feeling well.

But upon seeing all my lanyards of badges hung on my wall swaying to and fro, i knew something was not right. The swaying kept going and so i stood up to see if my neighbor was shaking the table.

There he was sitting still.

I tried shaking it to see if possible. Nope, the tables were a sturdy bunch.

"Did you guys feel anything?" my neighbour colleague said aloud. I jumped. Hah! i wasn't alone! I went off into the world wide web and tried searching for any special bulletin and lo and behold, a report of a 7.9 magnitude earthquake was report at 710pm in Indonesia.

This might be alittle morbid but i have a major fascination for natural disasters. And now after having this little taste, i wondered how it would feel to experience the full blow ones, may it be earthquakes or even tornadoes.

A series of Japanese Fanta ad that had me in stitches.

Mansion Impossible - the addictive, free property trading game. Buy and sell houses on your way up the property ladder, making enough cash to get the $10 Million mansion - how quick can you do it?

http://3form.net/mansion_impossible/

For the safety concerned drivers out there, here's a site where crash test are reported and video-ed for the public to view and judge.

Great for people to are bored and like to watch car crashes...

http://www.consumerreports.org/

FreeTube is a demonstration of what is possible when technology, social networking, and multimedia are combined. If a computer can handle vast and complex calculations and can manage overseas financial transfers, then surely there must be a way to let individuals watch live television and shows on their computer. From this very simple concept, FreeTube was born. FreeTube attempts to provide a service that allows users to watch live or real-time television on their computer. By using FreeTube you can watch tv online for free - no fees, no downloads, no time limits!

http://freetube.110mb.com/

An SMS came screeching into my lazy sunday afternoon that says:

"Filler ad for IG not sharp. yur cover got convert to high res or not?"

I was flabbergast. Why in the world would i give a low res image for print to the newspaper? Even if i did ( which i certainly didn't!), wouldn't the QC from the printers report such matter?

Sigh. I'm tired of arguing anyway, Even though it still pisses me off when i try to do my darn best to get things going. Somehow such small little bothersome things would effect me enough to ruin the day.

I know its nothing and i know he didn't mean it as a complain but it just kinda bothered me still.

I need a break. My weekend wasn't a fruitful one either cos the mag is still not closed yet. And the damn situation is keeping me unrest.

1) Promo page not confirmed yet.
2) Inhouse event not gotten back to me yet.
3) 1 ad not confirmed
4) 1 ad still pending

How the hell am i suppose to send the files to print on Mon?? Partial yeah? I suppose.

Holy crap, LOL. So true!

Life on Mars is British drama series that's been in it's 2nd season finale back in it's origins.
Thanks to the miracle of the technology of the internet, it was a sheer pleasure to watch streaming in full view AND high quality this brilliant drama.

Plot: A cop on investigation of a serial killer was accidentally knocked down by a car and woke up in the 70s. Is he in a coma, time traveled or gone insane? This awesome drama just keeps you coming back for more. Its a pity we don't get British drama here in Singapore cos this ones a keeper.

..news that is.

1) The new Imac
An orgasmic design with added/improved iLife. I WANT ONE!





2) Inline skating
My virgin attempt. Pretty fun. I just need enough courage to stride further and open my legs wider...i was practically walking instead of skating. More practice to come.






3) Maxtor crash
First it was Jeremy's. Now mine. What's up with Maxtor external HDD nowadays? Did it reach a due date or something?

NEVER use an external hard drive used by a PC to be plugged into a mac.

Cos it'll not appear on your mac, thinking theres something wrong with the connection and thinking it should work on your PC when you get back home only to find out when you plug it in a big ass error that says:

E:\ is Not Accessible
The disk structure is corrupt and unreadable.

There i sat gapping with mouth open. OMFG. Jeremy will rip my head off and use it as a door stopper. Thank god there's GETDATABACK software to retrieve the data out even at dark times.

Its been awhile that I've actually blogged about life. Most of the time I've posted interesting links that pertain what might interest others as i realize that my life is much so. Nothing usually happen now a days. Day in and out, I've flowed through my daily routines almost incident free (well to my knowledge i guess. It might be for others..). Anyway it'll serve the little stuff in point forms just for a run of the mill gesture to keep u guys up to date.

1) It's been 3 months working in SPH. Time really flies and prior to the uncertainty of the new environment, life here is great. Have yet to get to know everyone yet since we all have different schedule work flow. I've got to make the effort to say something or strike a conversation instead of awkward smiles in the morning..

2) The contract for Jetaway (in house flight mag for Jetstar) has finally expired and did my last July/August issue. It hard to let it go cos i brought it up and shaped it to how it is today. While at the same time relieved that a small burden is off my shoulder.

3) Another mag i hold dear, Inside Golf will have its final run in august. I have loved how it has shaped today (because of me of cos..heh heh heh). And there's been good response of it but alas, it going to make way to a new publication much stronger in name. I shall not name thee but i think it as a step Aurthur to my experience. Imagine doing a golf magazine in the world. No more bewildered look of not knowing what title i was doing..

4) Appraisal are totally new to me and something i have to work on this year on if i ever want to get my ass to the next level. My dream? To be at least an art director in SPH magazine. But i have so much to learn. So not to fret I'll take each step at the time. I'm not hungry for power. Yet.

5) Started back my MX duties after settling in at work and managed to get up close with Shu Qi, Maggie Q and Jay Chou. Reviews are a pain to write but i can't resist the free tics. Gotta take the bitter with the sweet to make the whole experience a wholesome one..

6) I beginning to phase out my crowded places to hang out. I now prefer quiet settings where i can drink and have good conversations without screaming at the top of my lungs, competing with the average Singapore idol wannabe. In fact, I've always hated going Karaokes. i only go there because of companionship. Majority wins so, i had to follow through. Even if i protest for which they ask me where else, thats where i fail miserably. I'm a failure to point out hip happening places which are conducive to carry a conversation yet relax enough to hang out for hours. Any suggestions?

7) I've started thinking and acting upon investments. Why u ask? ...Don't ask.

More to come..

Why walk when you can slide! Featuring the next in thing, Carpet Skates!

Ever wondered about capsule hotels in Japan, here's a sneak peek at them. Not too shabby though, got TV somemore...

Here's a scenario:
You're by the road waiting for the green man to turn when a man walks by and crosses, minding his own business in his own little world. Little did he realize a car, at great speed, is approaching. Do you:

1) Shout to him to warn about the car and risk him turning around to see who is shouting at him to only have the car plough into him.

2) Let his intuition take over and hope he'll pick up the pace and dash to safety but framing yourself by others "a person who doesn't care and would rather watch other people get hurt".

Seems like everyone has had their brush with fame with the Simpsons. Guess I'll join the band.
Homer seems to be missing something..

PS: The movie Rocks!

New MTV commercial about AIDS and HIV.
Beautifully done. Haunting.

Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat

Was having my daily online news in the morning when i came across this.
So what is it? 51? 50? or 15? Make up your mind...

It was a time when man and beast were untamed and the mighty mammoth roamed the earth. A time when ideas and beliefs were born that forever shaped mankind. 10,000 B.C. follows a young hunter (Steven Strait) on his quest to lead an army across a vast desert, battling saber tooth tigers and prehistoric predators as he unearths a lost civilization and attempts to rescue the woman he loves (Camilla Belle) from an evil warlord determined to possess her.

Hailed from the hit TV series of the same name, Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 for CONTROL, battles the forces of KAOS with the more-competent Agent 99 at his side.

The Official trailer to this mysterious movie produced by J.J Abrams. This has been the talk of the internet since Transformers opened in theaters in the States on July 3rd and this trailer mysteriously played in front of it. All we know is that it's being referred to as Cloverfield and will hit theaters on 1-18-08. However, here's your chance to give it a full-on high definition whirl and see if you can figure more out, or just be shocked and amazed at it over and over again.

I managed to get a hold of this endearing Japanese animation after hearing how good it was. It was warned that this is no Saturday afternoon cartoon with a happy ending and i was ready to face it through. Watching it, emotions did varied with dramatic situations but throughout the film, it didn't manage to really thug my heart as much as i thought i wanted it to.

I was wrong.

As soon as the credit rolled, i couldn't help but swell up and cried my eyes out. Even till now, it never fails to glaze my eyes up at a mere thought of the images from the film.

..that too much O2 (Oxygen) is bad for your health?

Blame it on evolution but your body only has CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) receptors in it, so it cant detect O2. CO2 is used up by cells and is transported in your blood by Haemoglobin (Red blood cells) and exhaled. Breathing in O2 means your body can't detect it. Kinda of silly but its true. So too much O2 suffocates your body because you don't need to breath anymore.

To show yourself how weird your body is, take like 15 really big deep breaths slowly in and out. You go light headed, too much O2. ( Do stop if you feel a limit). And if you hold your breath after that, you'll be surprise that you can stop breathing for quite some time.

Even on your last day at work, you still rush around to get those ads approved and pagination settled. You tried so much to let yourself busy so that emotions won't run amok. But alas, the sight of our little present, from our hearts of a little presentation mock-up of your 2 magazines, with us (including you lah of cos) as the main cover pic, you ran and hide to shy away as tears flowed down.

I too looked away and buried myself in work so not to get caught in the tidal wave.

But fret not cos I'm sure there'll be time we'll meet again.

To get drunk what else?

All the best at your new place and continue be that trend setter babe!

It has been quite sometime since i practiced my photo skills at events with MX and by the looks of it, I've been rather alittle rusty. No matter anyway cos i finally managed to come close face to face with Shu Qi in the flesh. This petite woman has been all places and all kinds of film and has been rather iconic for her looks and her too-hot-to-handle history in film. In conjunction of the grand opening of Cathay's new cinema chain at Ang Mo Kio Hub, the movie My Wife is a Gangster 3 was the official opening film hence gracing the event.

To read more about it click here!

After 2 years plus doing the mag, i finaly get to be involve in the main event photo shoot to give art direction. And of all timing this had to be done at night when the location is given clearance (=after office hours). Set at the Peugeot showroom we had finally ended our shot past midnight and eventually were satisfied of the work.

Do look out for the Carma magazine out in the newsstands early July!

Self-destructive journalist Pierre Peders (Buscemi) is no stranger to violence and inhumanity. Having made his name as a war reporter, he has traveled the world seeing some of the most horrifying sights imaginable. So it's no surprise that he's upset when he's demoted to interviewing America's most famous soap star Katya (Miller). The two meet and immediately it's a collision of two worlds -- Pierre's serious political intentions and Katya's superficial world of celebrity. But as the night progresses and their confessions grow more intimate, Pierre and Katya find a deeper connection, each scarred in their own way. Honest revelations soon give way to punishing decisions and the interview evolves into a passionate verbal chess game spiked with wit, intrigue and sexual tension.

In conjunction with the upcoming Transformers film coming soon, here's a look at a different side of the lives of those darn robots.

Courtesy of The Perry Bible Fellowship

Oh they crack me up...

Managed to get some time off to help out at MX (finally..i miss working at the scene..) to cover the press conference of Die Hard 4.0 featuring Maggie Q. I must say, i find her alittle petite than i thought. But of course she's as gorgeous as i had always imagined.

Click the image below to read the article and see more pics of her and don't forget to check out MX Vid Cast as Maggie tells us her experience shooting the film...

Pixar's latest creation.

Robert Neville is the last man alive. He busies himself with preparing for a nightly attack from the rest of the world - all of which have transformed into the 'infected'.

Sounds like 28 Days later / 28 Weeks later...

Producer Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) brings audiences the terrifying thriller 30 Days of Night, set in the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, in the extreme northern hemisphere, which is plunged into complete darkness annually for an entire month. When most of the inhabitants head south for the winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the town's residents. As the night wears on, Barrow's Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), and an ever-shrinking group of survivors must do anything they can to last until daylight.

Orphaned musical prodigy August Rush (the adorable Freddie Highmore) travels to New York in search of his biological parents (Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), befriending street musician and mentor Robin Williams in the process.

Cracks me up watching this.
Watch more of it at http://www.lonesausage.com/main.htm

What if the Japanese had its way with this all American product?

Well if you put it that way, i guess there isn't any original idea after all...

Thanks to Anonymous (shy little fella aren't you...) there a much easier way to find your favorite songs.

http://searchable.awardspace.com/

Have fun!

This was my view , heading back home these couple of days, non-stop. Dark and lonely. Finally managed to settle and close the mag yesterday and headed home after confirmation of the colourproofs...

Its was so great to finally see light while heading home. I never knew i would miss after office rush...

In conjunction with the upcoming Transformers, these Cosplay guys are going to the extreme! Check out Optimus Prime, and the others. They transform too!

Now i know what i wanna be for Halloween! I wonder if they sell them..

Presenting my sanctuary. Its not done yet though. Will be thinking of getting low shelfs to put on the left table cos its taking too little space for a big area. And maybe those plastic drawers to put underneath.

Can't wait till pay day.

I was googling myself (sound wrong man...) when i came across this.

Wah, my very own school. And i'm a Datuk in KL too...

No photoshop or image editing software needed. All you need is a photo of yourself and upload it to them. Your very own dollar bill with your face on it. Comes in different currency as well!

Check them out at http://www.festisite.com/tools/generators/money/

Overload with pop-culture reference, the driving force that makes it charming seem to be lacking although it does have its moments with it's occasional laugh-out-louds. Great for kids but the adults may find it all too familiar.

"I took the offer" whispered my colleague.

My heart sank as her words hit me. I was hoping she would stay on but i guess the offer was too attractive. I'm actually happy for her, finally getting her upgrade in working life but deep inside, i wanted my team to stay. But one by one each fell and hunted for greener grasses. I can't really blame them. Each have their own goals to meet.

Alot have come and gone but its only now that i suddenly felt a smack in the face as i realize that the original drive force whom i have rallied together is slowly crumbling away, leaving me standing to the point of tears. But i tried not to think about it too much and distracted myself with work.

Who's next i wonder...

Jeremy's sms came as a surprise this morning when he asked me out this evening. Bursting the bubble moments later, it was for a get together with some friends whom i went on my California trip with. Its been a year since i met up with them again. Minus Jeremy of cos but it just felt like yesterday that we were all gambling in Vegas at midnight, trekking the treacherous Grand Canyon, cruising around in LA, exploring San Diego and hanging-out in San Francisco.

And today was a special day as Vincent, Gillian's friend, fortunately became our LA tour guide, dropped by in Singapore before hopping back to Indonesia. Still remembering how he helped me post my souvenir back home because it was really a pain lugging it around (in case you were wondering, i bought myself a life size road sign of Las Vegas Boulevard) and refused me to repay the posting cost.

Anyway, will hook up again when i visit the states again man. Have a good trip and Happy Graduation!

And next week, the finale of the season! Will they save the world? I can't wait!! PS: The covers above can actually join up. Cool..

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MediaCorp Publishing launches Vanilla, its first women's magazine
SINGAPORE: If you have a taste for the latest trends and finds, then MediaCorp Publishing's new women's magazine "Vanilla" could hit the sweet spot.Available at newsstands from July 16, its editorial team says the magazine is focused on an enriching and inspired living.Launched on Friday, some key features of "Vanilla" include the latest in food and lifestyle, family tips, social trends, technology and wellness updates.The magazine costs S$4 and industry players believe it has a place in the women's magazine market.The editorial team's target market is, what it calls, the "Generation X" women."She's really a woman who has come into her own financially, economically, socially and the Generation X woman is the one who's been the inspiration for this magazine," says Juleen Shaw, Group Editor, MediaCorp Publishing."I think women have had to respond to their multi-faceted life, there's the career, she's a mother, she wants to balance her life with leisure, hobby, Me-time. So I think it's fabulous that we have a magazine that helps her get the maximum out of life. I think the market place is ready for such a title," says Grace Ban, Managing Director, Estee Lauder Cosmetics. - CNA/yy
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There is still space for women lifestyle magazine? Are you kidding me? the market is practically drowning with it. Why can't they just target a new market like..the gay population or something..now THAT'S a group of people thats not tapped to it full potential yet.

GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google GMail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium that enables you to save and retrieve files directly from inside Windows Explorer. It literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.

For PC only: GMail Drive

There is a software for the mac users as well.

For Mac only: gDisk

The past few weeks, life has been a whirlwind.
News of us of us being transfered to the mothership hit hard among us, being unknown of what is to come. Back then with only a few weeks till our departure, the feeling of uncertainty kept glooming above us in the midst of us still rushing around with 4 magazine still in production and only finally having the last few days to pack our stuff to be moved with minutes to spare. It can be alittle daunting, coming from a small cosy publishing company to a devouring intimidating structure of business. A few day prior to the move, they welcomed us with open arms and assured us of the move, allowing us to settle down slowly as not to shock our system. We had our doubts around but we got around it well enough. For me at least. Within a week, my cubicle walls are littered with designer stuff and movie posters as deco, computer all customed fit to my needs and knowing the way around the building (although there are still some nooks and cracks i have yet to discover..). Although i do need a few cupboard for storage, I've quietly slipped in the system and settled in. I count my blessing though that i had this great opportunity which may come to a surprise, managed with ease. I'm just afraid that with all the good luck I'm getting, the bad ones might just flank me and give me a surprise attack.

Some of my colleagues however are not filling in as well as expected. New superiority or change of environment maybe the cause of it but having the sinking feeling that they won't last long saddens me most. Its been 2 1/2 year of building a brand, seeing people come and go, seeing the product grow has made me attached to its name. A sense of familiarity comforts me most, even at the most adversative situation, there is nothing i can't handle even though i almost did quit sometime ago ( another story but my closeness to the people and product made me stay).

Anyway, its already been 2 weeks and the amount of work is sufficient enough to keep on driving and swing back into action (pun intended, if you know which 2 title i do in the publishing world..) of cos without compromising of who i am and not get too caught up with multilevel structure of whatnots.


Its a brand new day. Time to get cracking and stop dwelling in the past. If we can't fit their culture in our life, we'll fit our culture into their lives instead.

...and i see that already happening . *smiles..