outing

Ok so today we had a cooliozzzxxzxzxzx outing in which only the cooliozxxzxzx people were invited. Sherlock holmes was better than expected. After that, we walked into the toilet and luzhou slipped into a puddle of vomit, and had to wash his whole foot and slipper with water for 5 minutes. Congratulations.

The most exciting part came at ben and jerry's where we had a lot of exciting stuff to talk about. And look at. But since we were alone and without LAN we got down to talking about very serious stuff. Which was real nice if you ask me; I really like meeting in small groups so you can get to know people better and catch up.

Also, gerard said some realllll exciting stuff about what preferences he had about stuff in general (actually some were quite specific). As a result, lz made a couple of prank calls which were quite hilarious. Luzhou go post the sound clip lol.

And good job with the layout I'm trying to keep this thing alive. Please assist.

a new beginning

Hello everyone. Haha omg it has been eons since i last posted on this blog. I don't know how many of u still visit this blog, but I think it's high time for a revival, as observed by misc.

This all started when i realized the gmail acc i'm using is not a member of this blog (omg?). Did some tracking and discovered a super old gmail acc i totally forgot about. So i added my current acc to this blog, explored around abit, and one thing led to another. Poof. A new blog layout haha. If you are reading this from google reader or some other rss feed, u won't see the layout so come along to the blog! Make sure u have plenty of anti-spyware and ad blockers though.

This new layout is because google introduced some new Gadgets thingy, which our old layout isn't compatible with. I tried to retain most of our old stuff by keeping the picture and all, but if any of you suffer from intense nostalgia and want the old layout, I can always switch it back. Okay on your right (--->) is this thing called Follow. You can follow any number of blogger blogs, and subsequently view a consolidated update on your blogger dashboard, or you could link it to your google reader as well (i love how everything is connected nowadays).

Also, there's a photo slideshow of some of the pictures taken during our rjc days in all our fun moments. feel free to take a trip down memory lane and keep your tissue box at hand. i still haven't managed to figure out how to add a chatbox though, so for now the interim solution is to use post comments instead. comment on this post at the bottom to converse with each other. [edit: cbox added. forget comments. it's a lousy idea.]

Alright, now that introduction of the layout is over, on to updates on life.

The following event is exclusively extended only to selected people on a closed invitation basis (lol @ ellen). Those of you who are involved should already know about it. This is a reminder to assemble at Plaza Sing at 1020hrs on 281209. Regardless of whether you turn up or not, you owe luzhou $7.50.

I just returned from Beijing a week ago, and it is really super cold. Sub-zero temperatures of course, but the killer is the wind which constantly bites at your face, leaving your cheeks numb and your ears red, your nose running and your head a perma brain-freeze. Minimum 4 layers of clothing required.

Nothing much to comment about the sights there; usual monuments, architecture, scenery, shopping, etc. 2 comments though, about the lifestyle there. Firstly is the permeating sense of the struggle to be first. The adage 'survival of the fittest' can truly be tangibly observed over there. Be it getting onto the mrt or ordering food over the counter, there is always that rush to get it done first and to do it the best. There is a harshly unforgivable sense of impatience where you are quickly ousted from the game the moment you show a hint of hesitance. People queuing behind you have no qualms of cutting you if you haven't decided what to order, and the counter staff will gladly skip you too.

It is a herd mentality that forces everyone to play by the unwritten rules if one wishes to stay in the game. If you don't play this way, you don't keep up with everyone else, and you'll just be mercilessly swept aside. It's as simple as that.

Of course, more developed parts of Beijing or the more educated younger generation could perhaps be an exception to this. I can't speak for all Beijing but what i saw in my mere 8-day stay there. It does however, make it sound so much more epic when i make such sweeping statements :)

The second point is about the traffic conditions there, which is also linked to the prev point. The cars on the roads simply do not give way to pedestrians, even with a zebra crossing and a green man sign. It is the pedestrians' job to carefully maneuver oneself between the weaving lines of traffic when attempting to cross the road. Underpasses are thus greatly appreciated.

There isn't a rush hour, there's just a rush day and a rushier hour. There is always a traffic jam at all times of the day (while i am awake, anyway), and people sound their horns indiscriminately. You can literally form a melody from the cacophony of blaring horns that sound as you walk along the road.

Okay, i shall end off my Beijing recount with an anecdote. We signed up for one of the local day tours to the Great Wall when we were approached by one of their agents on the ground, since it seemed convenient and cheap. We got cheated btw; they said they would bring us to Ming Tombs after the great wall, but it turned out to be a drive-by

Anyway, (note: pls read the following paragraph in huge inverted commas) nearing the end of the tour, they brought us to some rest station while they re-fuel the coach. Coincidentally, the rest station was in this building that sells jade jewelery, and the tycoon of that jewelery store just became a father of 2 sons that morning. He was overjoyed as his previous 6 children were all girls, and he wanted to share his happiness and blessings with us by giving us all a free piece of jade. But that is not enough, he says. He sincerely wants to be friends with us all on this joyous occasion, and so he offers to teach us how to differentiate between real and fake jade. So he brings us to this exhibition room and proceeded to impart several of his tips. After that, he proclaimed that since this such a blessed day, he will let us buy anything in this room at cost price (read: 1/3 retail value). It was about an hour after we left the coach before we were finally released from that jewelery store.

Subsequently after returning to the hotel, i did an experiment and dropped the free piece of jade onto the floor. It promptly shattered into pieces. I don't know whether jade is supposed to do that, but it got me thinking. If people in Beijing are willing to go to such extent to make a few sales, to spin up such a fantastic story just to win our trust, what is the extent of such trickery and fraud in the supposedly less developed and educated provinces of China? These 8 days have given me a small insight into the kind of background that PRC workers in Singapore come from.

It is now 1.15pm on a Sunday afternoon, and no one has propositioned me with a single Dota game this whole morning! Wth where are all you people and why aren't you at home online keeping me entertained. All you no-life creeps. Lol. Okay let's hope this blog continues to stay alive with more intermittent posts like this one.