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Friday, June 27, 2008

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Room Cleaning

I finally got down to clearing my room a few days ago. Afterall, I'm gonna be living in somewhere different in a month's time, thought it's only fair for me to toss the stuff I don't really need anymore. Threw away 8 garbage bags worth of stuff! Ok, I'm exaggerating, haha. Interestingly, as I was rummaging through my drawers and stacks of papers from god-knows-what-module/era, I found some stuff. =)


I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this. Prior to studying in NP, I've actually been to the campus some 11 years ago! I actually do remember the occassion, was some enrichment course. Pretty fun, we played with some plasticy compounds or smth. Well I was never the science/chem kind of person to begin with.

This was my name tag in Catholic High. For those who aren't aware, Cat High adopts a "different-color-for-each-batch" approach when labelling us. So for those in my batch, we were "yellow". The batch which came in when I was Sec 2 were "green", followed by blue then red. And when I graduated, the incoming Sec 1s were yellow again. 4 year cycles. Useless trivia, yes. =)



This was certainly memorable! I think some of you may know that I used to do radio broadcasting back in Cat High. This was actually an article in the Straits Time featuring us as the pioneer Radio Broadcasting Station among Secondary Schools. I know it reads "History Program", but we did much more than that. I was reprimanded for playing Savage Garden's "Truly, Madly, Deeply", because it contained this line "...and bathe with you in the sea". WTH.

This is me in the picture! haha. Eons ago I know. Well anyway, that's my grandma. She passed away some 8+ years ago. Miss her "sometimes bland, sometimes too salty" food, miss her nagging, miss her funny remarks in teochew. Miss her.

Found alot more stuff actually, shall leave that to another time. Can't wait to start studying again! =) Take care people. TGIF!

- Marvin

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Questions & Answers

Some girl from NP called me to "interview" me, or so she said. I was seriously in a half asleep mode when I was replying her. But I thought the questions (and my answers) were pretty laughable. Here, have a go. =)

Q: What kind of sandwich would you bring to a deserted island?

Marv: Bacon Cheese from NP's campus deli.

Q: Which celebrity would you want to have a one night stand with?

Marv: Since I just watched Sex and The City, I'd like to be Carried away.

Q: So that's Sarah Jessica Parker? Would you want to marry her?

Marv: No.

Q: If you just won 1 million dollars and you have only 1 day left to live, what so you think you'd do with the money?

Marv: Given my character, I think I'd end up spending the 24 hours thinking about how to spend the money, and end up not spending it at all.

Q: Who are the 5 people you'd like to meet in heaven?

Marv: (I just read Mitch Albom!) 1. God. 2. My Grandma. And I'd leave it to the first two to help me arrange the other 3 meetups.

Q: Lastly, what song would you like to be played at your funeral?

Marv: Auld Lang Syne.

Q: Would you like a live band to play it?

Marv: Nope, the Sex and The City version would do, haha.

So here it is. =)

Enjoy.

- Marvin

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Sex, Labels, Love and The City.


I really thought it was a very insightful show, though I must say I was horrified at the scenes containing frontal nudity (both female and male! *gasp*) Wasn't prepared for it, haha.
When the hall lights went up, I took a look around and found it hard to miss the fact that the majority of the audience were females, and the few males around were typically accompanied by their significant half. And there I was, watching Sex and The City with Mr Pinky Boy. I'm not complaining though!

Well anyway, a thought just crossed my mind as to why the show is so appealing to the fairer gender. Here are some reasons I thought were pretty straightforward.

1. The Clothes (Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood and the endless parade of haute couture)
2. The Witty Dialogue (bitchy comments and what nots)
3. The Sex

For point number 3, I can almost hear the disagreement as I type it. But hey, it's true! While we know that the proliferation of the internet has led to the widespread availability of online adult material (it simply means "porn is easily obtainable online"), it's a different thing watching female celebrities spout lines about the male anatomy freely. That's liberating. Not to mention watching it legally in your favourite Golden Village or Cathay Cinema, that's also liberating.

To sum it all up, I think most girls would certainly have enjoyed the show for these reasons of mine.

1. It talks about living it up.

A walk-in wardrobe fully decked with designer clothes and shoes. Which girl wouldn't want such a lifestyle, even if it's only for a day? Heck they even talk about websites which allow users to rent designer handbags for a week! Talk about e-commerce.

2. It talks about liberation.

Everyone of us dream about taking off to an exotic mexico resort for a 5-star holiday. But in reality, most of us are stuck in 5-sq feet cubicles, complete with our very own never-empty In Tray. Watching the show allows one to dream, even if it's just for awhile.

3. It talks about growing old gracefully.

It's getting so cliche to talk about youthfulness these days. Let's face it, we're all gonna get old one day, though I'm probably one step ahead of you guys in that race. It's amazing that at 50, one can still boast of such beauty, even though it is a hollywood movie afterall. Girls and women alike love the idea of seeing that it Is possible to be attractive at 50, even though the show did mention regular botox sessions in the fine print.

4. It talks about L.O.V.E.

The movie somewhat opens with these lines:



'Nuff said.

Maaan, even though I aint a girl, I wanna fall in love (with style) too.
New York City (or wherever else Love and Labels co-exist), here I come. =)


- Marvin

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MOBBERS@Orchard - 25th Jun 2008

This coming Wednesday, do drop by to join us. Lotsa fun-filled activities like mass dancing and performances await you! Here are some pictures from the previous MOBBERS @ Orchard.

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Alex.

Everyone, meet Mr Pinky Boy, otherwise known as Alex Tai or Alexus, haha. We kinda thought Pinky Boy was an apt nickname after Clement remarked about the pink shirt which fits Alex to a T. =)

Anyway, I've been wanting to say something to Mr Tai. Somehow verbalising some stuff just aint so easy for guys. So Mr Tai, don't scroll down so quickly like you'd normally do when reading my blog! This one's for you.

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Hey Bro, it's been an amazing 3 years and 1 month, give and take a few days. I know that you know this is a "thank you" post, but it's not just that. Ok maybe it is, haha.

Thank you for the first time we conversed in BLK 56, LMS Class, approx 9.30am?

Thank you for somehow clique-ing with this old uncle 7 yrs your senior.

Thank you for believing in me always, even when I told you that the green-coloured Sour Apple Candy Tape aint sour. -grins-

Thank you for being by my side as we both fought countless battles to start BA_COMM, where we both got to experience a whole new world.

Thank you for the all the additional birthday presents (poster + video) for 2006.

Thank you for the all-so-heartwarming (failed) birthday surprise in 2007.

Thank you for being there on 15th December 2005, when the world came crashing down on me for the 1st time. The trip to Malaysia truly helped to take my mind off stuff.

Thank you for being there on 27th February 2008, when the world came crashing down on me yet another time. I think I would have died if you weren't by my side all these while.

Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

Thank you sharing with me your stuff. Don't stop.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be part of your life, so that I have the chance to be by your side too when you need it. Truth be told, I think I'd never be able to repay you for everything you've done for me.

Thank you for being my best friend ever.

Thank God I found you.

- Marvin

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Toys Are Us

I went to the Toys'R'us at Forum today with Clement. Mr Ow was looking for one of those miniature car models for his younger brother aged 12. Met some ambassador juniors after that at Marina Square. A particular conversation felt quite interesting.

Others: What did you guys buy?

Marv: uhm, Clement bought a toy car.

Girl 1: ew, I don't like cars, I'd prefer barbie dolls.

Marv: That's because you're a girl!

Girl 2: That's not true, I like cars!

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By the way, Girl 1 is Hueichin, and Girl 2 is Hazlyn.

Well, that's quite true I thought. Apart from the usual "Guys like robots" and "Girls like dolls", I think the kind of toys we play kinda reflects more of our personality than our gender. Well Hueichin a.k.a Girl 1 actually said she preferred Barbie Dolls so that she could twist the doll's head off. I aint really keen to talk about Her personality: *coughs* violent *coughs*.

As for me, I enjoy playing Lego since young. In fact my mum always encouraged me to do well in studies, using gifts of Lego as incentives. I love to construct castles and palaces, filled with secret passages and other facilities. I guess I really enjoy the feeling of "building" things, the whole idea of starting something from scratch. It's like every castle I built had its own story behind. As I was constructing the buildings, I would start conceptualising, like why the King's bedroom had an adjoining secret escape passage, and why this kingdom has a huge stable for horses. Those were the days...

For those who aint too sure what Lego is, here's a link. I like the medieval kind, filled with wizards and their wands, or knights and their steeds.

http://www.lego.com/en-US/default.aspx

Your turn, what's your favourite toy when you were younger? It's perfectly ok if you name a toy which you still enjoy playing with, as long as it's not one of those lewd kind of toys, haha. Do share with me. =)

- Marvin

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Bittersweet, pride and love

2nd post in 10 minutes, lol.

I'm really proud of all my Ambassador & BA_COMM juniors for the 2 camps you guys have accomplished. It's bitter coz I know it's time for everyone to move on, and it's sweet to see you guys doing so well. =) You guys are truly my greatest pride and love.

If it matters, just know that problems, issues and bitching are really unavoidable realities of life. Trust in your right to make your own mistakes, be prepared to rectify them. If you have the love and passion for whatever you're doing, that love and passion would eventually prevail. Against all odds. You may be momentarily blinded sometimes, but the love and passion would be the beacon which would eventually remind you of what you wanted to do all along anyway.

Love and passion ftw. =)

- Marvin

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Life is full of complexities

You know, just by reading the title alone, as I was typing it out, I felt the complexity already.

I have no idea what's confounding me. Afterall I'm supposed to be having the time of my life now that I'm holidaying and maintaining my status of unemployment. My friend corrected me anyway, I'm not "Unemployed", since I'm not wanting to be seek employment in the first place. I'm effectively "Not in labour force". Lol to Economics Definitions.

Some recent updates as to what I've been doing:

Nothing.

Ok, nothing is quite an exaggeration. I went back to NP for the following reasons:

1. Talk to the Year One scholars
2. BA_COMMunications Camp
3. Ambassador's Training & Bonding Camp
4. Youth Leaders' Academy Camp Post Mortem

and,

I Swam, I Shopped and I Sure feel broke. haha. I think I sound like an ill-constructed piece of copy inspired by the ION Orchard lines. Lol to advertising gimmicks.

By now the more discerning you might already have realised, I've not talked about anything related to my title. Worse, I don't even seem to be beating around the bush or putting in token effort to do so. Well truth be told, that's the weird way I feel, inexplicablility. Go google. I don't think the word exists.

Some random things about me:

1. I hate "huh"s. (I used to hate "please lah"s more. Now they're on par.)

2. I can't decide if I'm a cheerful person. (Some university professor asked me today why I'm so cheerful. I think I am, yet I don't think I am.)

3. My big face.

4. My love-hate relationship with myself.

The list is probably endless. And to whom it may concern, I think these days I hate explaining myself. Why?

When I explain something very thoroughly, people would either be overwhelmed by the detailedness. Or they'd pick something (besides the main point) and digress.

I'm going into my "marv-shall-stone" mode. Stoned.

- Marvin

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Things Changed

Was reading a friend's blog, and I know things really aren't the same anymore. The days of hanging around together, doing stuff together are really over for us. I don't know why I still care after all that you guys have said about me behind my back (I'm still damn impressed with the "bitching chalet" idea). But I do, so here's what I have to say.

When I first got to know back in Feb that you guys dislike me so much , I was at a lost for words. Not that I think I'm too saintly to make people unhappy, but how I didn't realise so much has happened without me (the main lead, apparently) realising. For all it's worth, I cried for one night, wondering what went wrong.

Eventually I calmed myself down, and I really gave the 3 yrs very serious thought. I looked at photos, blogs...etc to scour for every single clue as to when the change occured. I failed. I thought about every single one of you and I wonder, if there was really a scale to measure whether you did more for me, or vice versa, I don't think I've shortchanged anyone. All the sudden phonecalls in need of help, I don't think I've ever turned down a single one of you. The strings I've pulled to help you, I don't think you'd not know. Staying up till god-knows-what-time to work out stuff for you, I really didn't think you'd forget it. But you did, apparently.

I thought about friendships. Even though (as you alleged) I forged new friendships in the different endeavours I undertake, I don't think I've slighted you. Again, if there was a scale which measured like how often you ask us out, and how often We asked you out instead, I think you'd find yourself at the better end of the bargain.

I'm sorry I've been (in)different to you (all) since I've got to know about everything. It obviously can't be the same ever again. I can't laugh at your jokes, talk cock with you, discuss stuff with you, as though I didn't hear about how you tell others how bad I am. I'm sorry, maybe you can, but I can't. I know for sure, if I were the one who hated you so much, I would not have the audacity (or the cheek) to ask for your help or crack jokes with you.

Now that we're all going our seperate ways, I just wanna tell you that I'd never forget all the times that we've shared. From the first chalet (ironical) that we had, the first time we all got drunk, to the first time we stayed in school to do stuff, first camp we had, every single fragment of these memories would stay etched in the deepest echelons of my heart. I believe that everything happened for a reason, and I'd take this as a huge lesson learnt. The last part of my valedictorian speech was really meant for all of you.


May God bless you. All the best.

- Marvin

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What's Next!

Alrite, I've been procrastinating this for awhile. Many people have been asking me like where I am headed for now that Poly's really Over. Thought I'd just say it out plain and loud. =)

Next Stop: National University of Singapore (NUS)
Reading: (1) Business Administration [BizAd], (2) Communications and New Media [CNM]
(Double-Degree Programme)

I'd be living in Halls! hahahaha, damn expensive. And yes, I'd be on scholarship. =)
Time I'm gonna take to graduate: I have no goddamn idea.

Commencement Date: 4th August 2008

Yeah, done! haha. And I love my Apaches to bits. <3

- Marvin

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Some Positivity in life

I've always been asked,

"Marv, why do you keep doing camps?"

Throughout the 3 years of my polytechnic journey, I have (lemme count) uhm, helped to plan / organize / facilitate at least 12 camps, not counting those which I had simply participated in. No this is not a moment of self-indulgent pride; it's a moment of understanding.

I asked myself the same question repeatedly too, why on earth do I keep doing camps and I think I do have the answer. It's because everyone needs [insert title of post].

Indeed, everyone of us needs some positivity in life, especially the younger ones. Many people misconstrue the intentions of camps, with the myopic ones thinking that camps are just brainwashing and bonding tools. I, on the other hand, consider camps to be the ideal backdrop to try infusing another individual with some positivity.

Let's be frank, almost all of us would have some unhappy things happening to us. Be it family, lovers, friends, work or school-related, wherever there are human beings, there would be interation, and thus there would be room for misunderstandings and conflicts. In a world where success and achievements seem to be denoted by materialistic gains, it isn't very hard to get oneself lost in this interminable rat race. For many, it seems almost inevitable that one day we would eventually become jaded and indifferent to everything. And that, is what I consider extreme negativity.

So I do camps because I've had my fair share of jadedness and indifference. I now know that there are many meaningful things in this world, and I hate to see others gradually losing sight of their sense of purpose. Worse, for the younger ones, to begin their awakening process thinking that the glass is half empty and not half full. Camps provide me with an excellent setting to share with the rest what little I know about being positive in life. Camps allow me to do for others what I have never experienced, and felt lacking.

Hence during camps,

I'd try to get to know everyone.
I'd try to address everyone by name.
I'd try to let everyone explore a different side of themselves.
I'd try to say good morning, good night to everyone of them.
I'd try to encourage everyone else to do the same.

and hope that during the duration of the camp, one can feel a change, and know that life is indeed beautiful.

That said, I've completed my last camp in NP. Just one word to describe it, awesome. It's really nice that the last one is also one of the best.

Well at times, I do feel negative too. Very often in fact. I think everyone does feel lost here and there. So in the midst of all the "help-spread-the-positivity" efforts, do not forget about yourself. You cannot love others well, without knowing how to love yourself. So once in awhile, do something nice for yourself too. I do that all the time.

Strawberry Sundae anyone?

p.s. Please tag and tell me what's the thing that you would do to make yourself happy. Thx!

- Marvin