New abode

Just a little update.

I have moved into my current abode since last Saturday. It has been fun thus far. Nothing too drastically different. I have fully unpacked my stuff a couple of days ago.

Went for swims a couple of times but haven't started using the rest of the amenities like squash and tennis courts.

I have also been doing the usual house-moving things i.e. buying things. I have bought a stand fan and a stand of drawers. Still need a couple of more things.

Travelling to works takes slightly longer now. The walking distance to the MRT station has increased but the MRT ride time has gone down. But the 15 minute walk everyday is good for me as I have been working late this past week and haven't done much exercise.

It is indeed quite liberating to be able to not have restrictions on the topic of conversations. To know someone who understands exactly where I am coming from.

I am contented ;-)

Cool ads

Enjoy these videos ;-)








By the way, that really cute guy said "Cool car."



The text says that "You don't have to be this brave, call us instead",

Two movies and a free lunch

Weekend sped by quickly. On Saturday I wanted to donate blood but was the plan was thwarted by heavy rain. I may be benevolent, but not that benevolent to brave heavy downpour just to go the bloodbank.

Anyway, I was invited to attend a talk on landbanking, by Walton International. I am already quite familiar with the concept, as I have heard about it 4 years ago when I was still in KL. I had wanted to invest then, but didn't due to lack of money as I just started working then.

I am considering that again, but of course not without taking into account its risks, especially in these uncertain economic times.

As such, I was there at the Meridien Hotel more for the free food. The spread was quite delicious. I liked the cordon bleu chicken and the fruit tarts the most. And there was wine flowing freely.

After that I watched Untraceable with James and Benji. The movie wasn't too bad, but the the story and editing could've been tighter. It was pretty slow at parts.

Sunday came and the skies were clear, so I was at the bloodbank to fulfill my role as a lifesaver, as Nyk calls it.

On a related note, apparently the Thais are finally waking up to the discriminatory wordings of the blood donor form. Taken from Trevvy:

The Red Cross of Thailand said that it would change its screening process for blood donors to address concerns from activists who said the system discriminated against gays, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Red Cross requires donors to fill out a form to assess their risk of disease.

Gay-rights activists had complained that one question, which was meant to target people more likely to have diseases transmitted by sex and drugs, had effectively blocked all gay men from donating by only asking about same-sex relations.

"We didn't mean to hurt anyone," said Soisaang Pikulsod, director of the Thai Red Cross National Blood Centre. "It was just to ensure the highest possible safety of our patients."

The Red Cross will rework the form to include more questions about all types of sexual behaviour, gay or heterosexual, that could increase the risk of diseases such as AIDS, she said.

Nathee Teerarojanapong, a gay activist who complained about the questioning, urged the Red Cross to focus on screening out anyone with risky sex and drug habits, instead of singling out gay men and women.

"Sometimes gays want to do good things too," he said.

My sentiments exactly.

Watched Definitely Maybe in the evening. It was pretty good, though it wasn't so much a romantic comedy as it was portrayed in the trailer. You can read all about it here if you are interested.

I enjoyed the movie, as it was very realistic in its story, about a guy reminiscing about his three ex-girlfriends and figuring who he truly loves. Though Benji and James felt that the protagonist was screwed up and led a complicated life. But hey, life IS complicated and screwed up.

This weekend will be my last at my current residence. Looking forward to waking up to smoke-free air.

Have a great week ahead!

Swamped

I have been really busy these past two weeks with work, as we have quarterly reporting to do. About half is completed.

And in the midst of all these I have to move out, so it has been really an eventful period.

And I plan to sit for a paper next month. So is my dear Nyk.

In addition, my internet connection has been going moody, with intermittent connections even though the signal is strong. I couldn't go online much.

Anyway, my ex-colleague helped me to moved most of my stuff to Jaded Jeremy's place on Sunday.

Yes, I am finally moving in with JJ after a protracted period of uncertainty

It was very kind of my ex-colleague to help me by packing the things into his car and sending them to my new residence in the east. I had expected two trips at least, but everything seemed to just fit nicely into his Camry, with room to spare.

I would be moving to my new room next weekend, as my current tenure only ends then. I look forward to that. And I wouldn't miss the stupid bitch dog barking and its disgusting hair which is just all over the entire house.

However, I did manage to catch a movie yesterday, called Teeth. It's about a teenage girl who has a teeth at her vagina, the mythical vagina dentata. It supposedly represents straight men's fear of the mysterious female sexuality, a black hole which hides a monster (the teeth) which they have to overcome to claim the prize of virginity and return to the place (womb) where they came from.

That was according to the movie.

I googled it and here are a few meanings of the toothed vagina:
1. "Toothed vagina," the classic symbol of men's fear of sex, expressing the unconscious belief that a woman may eat or castrate her partner during intercourse. (www.goddesscafe.com)

2 A fish inhabits the vagina of the Terrible Mother; the hero is the man who overcomes the Terrible Mother, breaks the teeth out of her vagina, and so makes her into a woman. The myth expresses the threat sexual intercourse poses for men who, although entering triumphantly, always leave diminished (Wikipedia)

Pffft ... straight men and their fears.

The movie is pretty low budget, with lots of blood spurting everywhere after the penis is bitten off. And the movie actually shows the cut-off penis! There is even a locker room scene where if you pay attention enough, you can see a guy's pecker.

This is very uncommon in movies. The male organ has always been hidden as opposed to breasts which are shown wantonly. There are scenes of phallus and testicles and butts.

Nyk would definitely love this movie LOL

Moving castle

I have been updating my blog only with pictures from Cleo till I haven’t been talking about myself much. Well, in case you are remotely interested, I am doing quite well, thank you very much.

Though I have been going to work on weekends and need to look for a new place to stay.

My landlord’s mother and brother have moved in to stay for about a month. The flat which I am renting has 3 rooms and of course, I have a room to myself. There is basically not enough space for 6 people to share 2 rooms and thus, I have to move out.

I did not feel comfortable with the extra presence of two people, as the whole place feels cramped. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement for the brother and mother, but how long is “temporary” is anyone’s guess.

As such, with such an awkward situation whereby the brother sleeps in the living room, I brought the topic up to my landlord. She sheepishly said that she had wanted to ask me to move out but didn’t know how to bring it up.

So long story short, I have to move out in a month’s time. I am looking for a place in the east as it would be closer to my current workplace.

The headache of moving has begun, as I have (not surprisingly) added quite a bit of things to my possession, from the initial two bagful of clothes when I first came to Singapore. I think I now have at least 5 bags.

Eye candies V

The final part of the Cleo's Bachelors. Was actually considering not putting these last few up as the results were already known two Fridays ago.







The winner was number 33, Daren Tan, who was some reality show winner (can't remember which one).

Eye candies IV

This is part four of the Cleo's 50 Bachelors. This is also the one where Jaded Jeremy has been waiting for.







This leaves the final ten guys. Coming soon!

Eye candies III

Sorry for the delay, this is part 3 of the Eye Candy series.







Nothing really great here. Joakim Gomez is actually quite cute, as seen during the play Chesty Nutty Bang Bang. But with the nerdy combed-flat hairstyle, it totally spoiled his looks!

The next installment of bachelors will be better. Stay tuned!

Eye candies II

Here's the part two.







If you noticed, I have left out a page with three contestants. Trust me, you did not miss out anything. I am just being mean trying to save the upload time for readers.http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8532639#
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For this group, I like no 11 (look at that swimmer's body, just nice; not too bulky) and no 17 (studious look, hmmm I like!).

Eye candies

I bought the March edition of Cleo Singapore more than two weeks back. It was then latched into the hands of Jaded Jeremy and now finally, it's time I share some of its contents ;-)







I just love number eight. Such a cutie, with such sharp features. I am sure QR would agree.

More to come!

New toy

Recently I renewed my contract with M1 and what this means is that I could opt for a new phone. One of the better things over here is that consumers can buy mobile phones with 50% to 100% off the retail price. The latter means free mobile phone lah.

I had been looking at phones since before Chinese New Year and had shortlisted my choices to three phones – the Sony Ericsson K810i, Nokia 6500 Classic and Nokia 6500 Slider.

Price-wise, they cost $198, $198 and $168 respectively. That was before Chinese New Year. The 6500 Slider was cheaper than the Classic, which was strange because the retail price is the other way round, with a differential of at least $50.

After Chinese New Year, the Slider remained at the same price but both the Sony Ericsson’s and Classic’s prices increased to $238. It really doesn’t make sense, even though the Classic didn’t make the cut for my final two.

I was leaning back and forth between the 6500 S (Slider) and the K810i. I was more keen on the Slider as I had never had a slider phone before. Furthermore, the brushed stainless steel finish was quite nice. It was also cold to the touch which made it unique. The down side is that is bulkier and heavier than candybar phones, at 117g.

Practicality ruled as I would rather have the slimmer and lighter K810i. However, this wasn’t my ideal choice either, as it has a joystick (which is prone to malfunction and Sony’s new phones no longer have it) and the camera wasn’t as good as the K800i. But I supposed I could make do as I do have a new camera.

Unexpectedly, the thriftier side of me emerged and all these were thrown out of the window. I browsed through their models which come free and there were four – the K800i, Sony Ericsson K660i, Nokia 2630 and Nokia 6120.

So I looked up the features of the Nokia 6120 and I was pleasantly surprised with what I found out. It received the thumbs up as being the lightest and smallest phone with the Symbian 60 software, which usually comes with smartphones. There were praises all around for its 3G and quad band compatibilities, responsiveness and customization abilities. The downsides mentioned were the small screen and fonts, and also a lack of Wifi.

All the reviews made it a very attractive phone. I was definitely tempted. I don’t listen to much music so Sony Ericsson Walkman series is out. Samsung, LG and Motorola are not even worth considering.

Thus, my choice was made. It’s free and the money I saved ($238) could go into buying memory cards for the phone.

I have seen the black model often and my current phone is black too. So I didn't want that.

Also, online reviews mentioned that the white one is much nicer. Having not seen it, I took a chance and ordered the white version online. It was delivered to me the next day. I And now, I have a new toy to play with ;-)


The picture doesn’t do it justice. It shows as if it has more silver than white, but it’s not like that.

I am relearning how to use a Nokia phone, after two years of using Sony Ericsson.

Psychic

In my new work place, my team of five has four girls and I am the only thorn amongst the roses.

Anyway, this conversation transpired on Tuesday.

Colleague 1: Wah ... now you are a part of us already.
Colleague 2: Yeah, you are now one of the gals ...
Colleague 3: Must be damn nice for you right ... surrounded by four pretty girls ...
Colleague 2: Yeah la. But how you know, maybe he likes guys. Then it would be no feelings, or maybe even torturous ....

How true, how true. My colleagues are psychic!

Election

The elections are coming and I don't think I would be able to do my civic duty to vote this time. The incumbent in my constituency, which is Pantai, is Dato Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and she will be facing the Puteri of Keadilan. Should be an interesting fight, don't you think?

Incidentally, 8th March is International Women's Day.

My dear Nyk would be voting for the very first time, so yay for him. You have my support in the things you do and you will be duly rewarded ;)

Speaking of which, this video is damn funny. Not to mention catchy.



To those of you who will be voting, happy voting!

P.S. I Love You

Last Monday was my first day at my new job. My parents and Nyk asked whether I was excited and I replied that I did not.

In fact, I didn't even feel anything. It just felt normal and routine. I supposed I have become a seasoned job changer, even though this is only my third job in four years.

My new colleagues are nice. One of them is really funny and she has a loud personality. She's bubbly and in her own words "feisty". That should keep my work days from falling into boredom.

My head of department treated everyone to a seafood lunch on my second day. We had prawns and three types of crabs (I like the sweet-spicy one best; the steamed ones tasted pretty bland).

Basically where my new work place is, there is much less choices of places to eat. The CBD area has so many hawker centers and restaurants that I have not tried them all in the two years that I used to work there.

As such, I expect my meals expenses to go up. Hopefully not by a lot.

On Friday, six of us managed to watch PS I Love You. It stars Gerard Butler (300) and Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby, Boys Don't Cry) as a couple who are madly in love with each other and had gotten married at a young age of 20.

One day, Jerry (Butler) died of brain cancer, leaving Holly (Swank) to cope with his death with the support of her sister and her best friend.

Apparently, Jerry had arranged for 10 letters to be sent to Holly after he died, spread over the course of one year. The first letter came on her 30th birthday. All those letters were signed with P.S. I Love You, hence the movie title.

It was pretty obvious that they love each other deeply. Holly fell into depression and stayed at home. The letters however persuaded to do the opposite, which was to go out there and have fun. She visited a gay club, Ireland, went fishing, sang on stage, things which she would not have done on her own accord.

The movie was funny, touching, thought provoking and ultimately the message was we have to move forward in life, no matter what happens. We still have to live our lives, work, hang out, eat, sleep, etc.

There was not a dry eye left in the cinema. I was teary-eyed at those moving scenes, that two person could share a love so deep, that it is hard to move on but it is even harder to stay put. All the while, I was thinking of Nyk and hoping for the same.

Overall, I would give the movie 4 out of 5 stars. Go watch it!

Our first Valentines Day celebration

It was our first Valentine spent together last Thursday, even though we have been together for a year.

We didn't have any ideas what to do or where to go. Fortunately, my ahem! quick thinking saved the day, as I proposed we go to KL Tower.

I have never been there and coincidentally, neither has Nyk.

So Nyk took the afternoon off and we headed towards KL Tower. From what I know, the nearest monorail stop is Bukit Nanas. I remembered reading it somewhere. Even Nyk thought that it was that stop.

When we alighted, we saw a sign which pointed to the direction KL Tower and we followed that.

Walk, walk, walk, we didn't seem to be getting any nearer to our destination. Then we saw another sign.

So we walked some more.

Still no sign of it.

We decided to hail a cab. The cab driver was kind enough to tell us that it's actually just 100 meters down the road.

Finally we saw the huge signboard which says KL Tower, which is NOT anywhere near Bukit Nanas monorail, but instead nearer to Jalan Raja Chulan.

That's a lesson in Malaysian signage for everyone.

Climbing up took us about 10 minutes. Nyk was, by then, sweaty and hot and not in a very good mood. I managed to cheer him up though.

So we spent about an hour and a half there, taking in the view. I was surprised to see quite a number of tourists there, as I was expecting it to be not a very popular tourist spot. We also saw three secondary school gays guys and a lesbian couple.

After that, we had ice cream and sat down for a drink at Coffee Bean.

Dinner was at Heaven Fusion, where we were joined by SK and David. The portions were quite small, so we ordered 5 main course. We ended our meals with their signature dessert.

We cuddled and kissed in the car, as I would be going back to Singapore on Friday, one day earlier than originally planned. The times we had seemed too short, too insufficient, too fleeting.

Miss you lots my dear.

First anniversary

My first year anniversary with Nyk was three weeks ago, just a week before I was supposed to go back to KL. As such, I didn't think that it was necessary to get anything on the day itself, as I would be back in KL later.

Besides, I haven't figured out what to get him. Nyk is not the easiest person to buy gifts for (and I am not complaining dear, just stating a fact!). So I had an extra one week to get something.

At least that was what I thought.

Close to lunch time, I got a call from the receptionist in my office. She asked me to go over to her place.

When I got there, I was shocked to see this waiting for me:


It was two bears sitting on a wagon of flowers.

When I saw it, I beamed. The smile I had couldn't be wiped off, even if someone punched me ten times.

The card said:

You are my first,
Our first year together,
Your love I do thirst,
To be in your arms forever.

I was pleasantly surprised (my dear could write poems!). Also, I was totally caught unaware, but thankfully SK knew about it beforehand, so she acted on my behalf and got Nyk an aromatherapy burner and three stalks of flowers (tulips, I think).

Anyways, I was smiling the whole day. Though some of colleagues did not believe that the flowers were for me, as we had a female colleague who always receive flowers and they thought it was for her.

It was the first time someone has given me flowers. And they smelled quite nice.

It was also the first time I reached a full year with someone, which is a milestone for me.

There was a card also, hand-delivered by Jaded Jeremy, from Nyk of course. Thanks for helping out JJ! ;-)

Thanks again for the flowers dear! Looking forward to more anniversaries with you!

CNY 2008

First of all, a very Happy Chinese New Year! Yeah, I know it's a week late, but I could only come online today.

Also, a very Happy Valentine's Day!

I have been back in KL since last Tuesday, but my modem was going crazy on me and thus I can only post something now.

CNY has been quite eventful this year. I managed to spend time with Nyk last Tuesday before he went for his family trip to Penang. That deprived me of him for a full three days!

While he was away, I met some friends. One is Sam, the repressed guy who chose not to act out his gay sexuality. But apparently, he has decided otherwise as he doesn't want to be lonely no more. The reason for the change in heart? Age is catching up.

Anyway, Sam brought two of his friends to dinner, one who is my junior from secondary school. I could still recognise him as a) my school is small and b) he is a model and I have seen his pictures appeared in the Star before.

Then I also got to meet Kenny. Did some catching up with him as I only get to see him during Chinese New Year. Was quite bored as it was a Sunday so we decided to watch Kungfu Dunk. Not too bad, it got us laughing at some parts and my eyes rolling at others for its incredulity of stunts.

I got to meet my dearest again on Monday for dinner, while giving him a belated anniversary and early valentine's gift. It's actually one gift, not two. It is something he has always wanted since two birthdays ago and he practically lit up when he saw it.

On Tuesday, I had dinner with my course mates and I brought Nyk too. There were six others and only two of them don't know that I am gay. It was quite funny, as one of them who doesn't know asked softly, "Who is that Derek's friend?" to another who knows and the reply was "Just friend la."

Then I met him again yesterday for dinner with some mutual friends. It was quite fun talking and laughing about anything and everything. We ordered steamed fish, toufu (which I didn't get to eat), kailan and sweet and sour pork. The food was too bad.

I am making up for lost time with Nyk, as I will be going back to Singapore on Saturday morning ;-)

Chesty Nutty Bang Bang

I went for a play called Chesty Nutty Bang Bang: The Hairspray of the Phoenix. From the title itself, it is quite obvious that it is a parody of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray and Harry Potter.

It started off with a bang, then slowed down a little in the first hour. The laughs came inconsistently. Even though it was pretty lame, the act of Sir Ian McKellan confusing his roles was pretty funny. In a scene from Lord of the Rings where he was in the tower with Saruman, Magneto emerged spouting lines from X-Men United.

Repeat the above with King Lear which had Ian McKellan in it too. Still funny to me.

Nothing is sacred in this parody. There were Will.I.Am Legend, AVP (Ah Lian Vs Predator, tagline: You never die before ...... is it?), Ratatouille became Ratattooist, Beauty World being poked fun of, Bangkok and the fictional Chitty Chitty Bang Kock go-go bar with its Transformers team of go-go boys, Heroes, etc.

Not forgetting the out of the news and probably forgotten famous sex video of Malaysia's ex-Health Minister, which was made fun off too. It was reenacted somewhat, with the actor humping and shouting in ecstasy, "Who's your datuk (Dato) huh? Who's your datuk?"

Overall, not too bad. Had an evening of fun and laughter to kill the boredom of work.

Two more days at my current office. Yay!

It's Friday tomorrow! Double yay!

Two famous deaths in a week

I was quite sad to find out yesterday that Heath Ledger was found dead in his rented apartment. He didn't seem like those troubled actors and it was shocking news indeed.

Of course, he was most famous for his role in Brokeback Mountain, as Ennis Del Mar. He was the more closeted one and in his situation in that era, I suppose it was understandable. I couldn't understand what he said half the time LOL But he did a wonderful job playing the role of wanting and yearning to be together but yet unable to.

The other movie with him in it which I have watched was Ten Things I Hate About You. I think he was great in the movie too. I watched a little of A Knight's Tale, but I skipped The Patriot.

His most high profile role would have been as the Joker, in the upcoming The Dark Knight. Though I wouldn't have imagined him pulling it off as the Joker, but I would hold my judgment till the movie is released. From his acting thus far, I think it is highly probably that he would have made Joker believable as a maniacally evil and crazy villain.

I agree with most that it is a great loss for the acting world.

And just last week, a lesser known actor Brad Renfro was found dead too. He was deemed a rising child actor in the 1990's, starring in The Client opposite Tom Cruise.

One of Renfro's more memorable movie was Apt Pupil, with Ian McKellan. He was a talented actor too, but obviously was more troubled and had run-ins with the law. His more recent movies were small roles and were quite forgettable.

The thing I look forward to now is to wait for the screening of The Dark Knight.

Jumping ship

As our job takes up at least one-third of our adult life, it is only logical that we should find one where it makes happy or at least not too unhappy.

For me, being able to learn new things and do interesting projects are important. Money is not really an issue, but of course it doesn't mean that I can be exploited or be severely underpaid for what I do.

In addition, I want someone who is able to guide me when the need arises. I believe that I have much more to learn and the availability of someone more experienced would be essential.

The people whom I work with are important too. The particular something that needs to be done may be shitty, but if I have a group of wonderful people with me in the same shit, then well, it sure helps a lot.

And currently, the people that I work with are just great, the best so far that I have worked with. Heck, they are just marvellous people with a great sense of humour and lots of fun. All of us are in the same age group and this is our second or third workplace.

It is thus with great sadness that I have to bid them adieu very soon. They know the reason I am leaving and they understand. They will miss me and I would miss them too. I really hope that we would still be friends and keep in touch.

A new year, a new start in a new workplace.