...

"So, the pics are up."

The remnants of the air-conditioner. Cableee!

Most of the repair work has been done.

Still, here are some photos that I managed to scrape up from whatever photos I could take.

I'm not much of a photo-journalist, but hey- pictures say a thousand words, no?

That lump of plastic there used to be a heater in Mum's toilet!

Where's the shower tap? Beats me. Most likely Bhangla took that too.

No windows, no grilles. Want jump building? Easy liao.

That was the 'pad' visitors and I hung out at when we were taking a break from cleaning the house. At least something still felt like home.

JUXTAPOSE. BEFORE AND AFTER! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

All this was achieved in the span of three days. Yes, you heard me, three days. Rawr!

The living room-

moved around and squeezed to the middle to allow painting of the walls and ceiling.

AFTER- BEFORE.

AFTER- What my room looks like as of now.

BEFORE- Some of the items were lost.

I've got television, yes.

Another picture of my new room would be taken soon.

So yeah, that's it.

I'll upload more soon, I guess.

Don't count on it though- I know I wouldn't.

Cheers.

"I've crossed my toughest obstacle yet."



I have done my very best, and yes, I am pleased with the result. Thank you to all those who stood by me all these while.

The house is finally complete.

Home, on the other hand, is far from that.

At least most of the furnishing's in, and the wirings are done.

I DECLARE MY HOUSE HABITABLE AGAIN.

I'm finally back on my OWN computer, for the first time in half a month.

Bweehee.

This is horrid, though. The cooler fans are whack- They refuse to start up at times, prompting...

SYSTEM FAILURE- SHUT DOWN IN 5 4 3 2 1 *POOF*

My graphics card is thrashed. PIXELLATED SHIT OMG.

Oh, and I admit. I have had a tryst with Granado Espada. No, really!

Xuan was nice enough to let me have a taste of that stupid game. I'm SOOOO in love with the graphics. Still, everything's so automated it's almost like you're botting.

Of course, I start the game by creating my character- And man are the graphics hawt. The gothic style is amazing. I swear, everytime I see its designs, first thing I think of is Jia Ru. It's exactly like her. Elegance with a touch of audacity.

Oh, and get this. You can choose a character FAMILY name. Yes, all the other characters would have that as the last name.

I spent half an hour thinking of a good name, before finally coming upon Allevetro. It sounds so classy it's almost haughty.

So I enter the game, and what I do? Press space-bar to auto attack. Booya.

No need play game liao.

But GE has proven itself to be the future of all games- Games that are so high-tech and advanced, it plays itself.

Anyway, I'm Level 24 the last time I checked- And I played for less than two hours. The rest of the time spent levelling was leaving the computer, and being Away From Keyboard.

Bah, I'm lazy from typing now.

Don, out.

"Damn, and when you think everything's already settled. And y'know what? It IS."

I'm no longer the writer I was. Pardon this post's lack of organization- I just have alot of things on my mind to talk about.

.
.
.

So one thing leads to another.

They say misfortunes come in couplets- I didn't know Life was that cruel to throw me so many curve-balls.

And what's worst- I can't play baseball.

But hey, I'm learning to hit the balls thrown at me. (And to those who do not get this metaphor, shame on you.)

It's not that I'm surprised, really, after being pulled a fast one a few days ago.

I discovered something about myself, too. Y'know, after all of this.

Maybe it was just like me to keep everything to myself. Maybe, and just maybe, all of this was meant to happen.

I don't mean I throw myself at Fate whatsoever, but I believe in Karma (?).

Side-Anecdote:-
Being the neat freak that I was, I was compelled to clean up everything in the house. I was kinda like the guardian of the Buddha's room- took it upon myself after Dad left, so hey, why not clean it up, too.

I proceeded to the shelf, and picked out a book to clean- And 'lo and behold, it was none other than the "cause and effect" book.

You know- Do good, yay you. Do bad, burn to hell.

And funny how I just dropped it on the ground. It flipped open to one particular page:-

"Sinners who persist in a sinful life would have their residence burnt, and their material possessions lost."

Man, did that freak me out a bit.

Mum walked past- And I kinda hid it away. But I had to question myself- Did we?

I may not have lost much of my material possessions- Mum lost everything she had.

Yes, no one is perfect, but what did Mum do to deserve this? Of course, I don't take everything at face value (well, not anymore after sitting for a few KI classes. Those damn things give mindfucks like no other), and this was horribly non-sequittur.

Mum's the best mother anyone could ever have. Yes, she may be hella naggy- ten times annoying, and hell hath no wrath like a mother's scorn, but she has tried her very best to see through that the whole family stays and remains together.

And now, within this whole month, she has not only lost her home, but also her husband. That, and I suspect she has also lost respect for herself- I can see that she still blames herself for this whole incident and everything.

But things are looking up now, no?

Maybe, and just maybe, this is all for the better.

"Pfft, now I know where all the hits came from."

Oei, Alvin.

Apparently, Tomorrow.sg got a hold of this blog, spurring on the largest amount of people I've seen in months on this blog.

I've got 400 hits a day, with half of them being new.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry- He actually suggested my entry for Tomorrow.sg, and the mods might have liked to use it. Wow, now a large part of the blogosphere knows about this crap.

Oh, and I understand where everyone's coming from about this "advertisements" on my blog.

I'll get around to fixing it. I can't seem to locate the damn code.

Pardon that.

Oh right, back to the case in point.

More strangers reading the blog= woot?

Hopefully, some of my family members locate this blog, so they may see me post horrible, horrible details of their lack of conscience.

I've half a mind to smack some of my uncles for being complete assholes over these two weeks.

Thanks, Alvin.

No more coffee treats for you.

"With great power comes great responsibi-ahhhhhhhHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Choir elections for the next EXCO were held just yesterday.

Every one of the nine of us had to go out there to make a short speech, of which there'll be a vote to see who'll be the in the fifth YJC Chorale EXCO.

I was second last to go, and pretty much thankful of that.

Honestly, I barely prepared anything. Just thought of what we needed.

It was all a matter of throwing it all together, and then speaking from the heart.

You can't go wrong if you follow your heart, can you?

"I <3 Four-One, oh six."

I've changed my ambition- I want to be a Member of Parliament one day.

Yes, you've heard me.

Vote me for MP.

.
.
.

So, I had to go meet Mr Palmer at his constituency office.

Wa, sounds cool right?

I was, well, supposed to meet him during a "Meet-the-People" session, around 8pm. Thus, I set off at 7.40pm, knowing that I would reach there in only five minutes.

Well, better be early.

Okay, I was told by Mum to go to Block 123 to meet him. There, I was told to go to Block 193. THEN, Block 193 had no one there. Well, except a Kindergarten.

Something's wrong, so I went back to Block 123.

"Wait- are you VERY sure that Mr Palmer's there?"

"Let me give them a call," the clerk replied.

Uhh, yeah. It sounded VERY NOISY in the background.

So, I trudged back to the site (grudgingly, rawr) and hey, wouldja lookee that.

The session was held inside a kindergarten. So call me inflexible, impractical, blah. It was quite a sight seeing a grown man, about 6 feet tall, sitting in one of those tiny little... stools.

WE WERE GIANTS. GWARH!

I had to wait to meet him, though. One and a half hours of stoning.

"Excuse me, please take a number."

"Number?"

"Yes, you're here to see the MP, right?"

Walau, like doctor, sia.

Only that doctors take FAR LESS TIME attending to their patients.

I reached at approx. 8.10pm, and waited as my number (why was number 48 going before 42?!) arrived.

"It's because Mr Palmer wants to see you personally."

I'm not the patient type, and this explains why I kinda kicked up a fuss at about 9.20pm.

So, I enter his "office" at 9.25pm...

He knows me by name already, and we exchange greetings in front of his men, two of which I believe are terribly intimidated by my height. They never dare to look at me in the eye- Well, they had to raise their head to a seemlingly acute angle to talk to me, anyway. Snigger.

Ooookay. I put on my polite mask and proceed to conversate with Mr Palmer. What was it that was so important that he had to see me tonight?

"Do you have the forms with you for bursaries?"

"Handed them in, already."

"Oh, right right. So, how's the house?"

"Going pretty well, everything should be ready by next week or rather, sir."

"Good, good. Great to see that you're fine. How's your Mum?"

FREAKIN' INSANE.

"She's doing fine."

"Alright. So, call my men if you need any help, okay? We'll do our best to help."

Not that any of your men ever pick up the phone anyway...

"Okay, I'll do that."

"I'll pay your family a visit another day."

"Thank you."

"..."

"So that's it?"

"Yeah, thank you for coming down."

VSNLKnslaksnLKNDlknKBhgCGdfxDXjNMknj!11!!!!!!11!1

"Oh, okay. You're welcome."

jhJVHhTFytHkslnksSpFjaSBAbksBSBjvhGHSCGFgcfsC!1!!!!!11!!

Yeah, so I wasted 2 hours on this... "meet".

WTF.

"Fatigued beyond comparison."

Wa, sian.

Whatever I said a few days ago of me being back- Scratch that.

I hit rock-bottom yesterday.

Had another of those tiffs with Mum. Seriously, the stuff we quarrel about are too petty to even be considered... Stuff.

To those who were there that day, I thank you for being there, and apologise for your having to put up with this bullshit- Like everyone else hasn't had enough of this.

But anyway, I don't give a damn anymore.

I'm still going to have to give a damn about her, I'm just not givin' a damn to anything else in general for now.

I think I'm mentally scarred by this whole thing.

So then, I'm takin' up any offers for a counsellor. That, or I throw myself into Woodbridge for a few days or so, lar. Right after all of these, of course.

At least I can get some studyin' done in there.

Totally knocked out last night. Came back at 8PM, bathed, then slept at 8.10PM or something.

Rudely woken up by a nosey relative who asked what happened at 12AM. Grunted, cut the phone line, then went back to sleep... at 2AM.

Ironically, I was reading "Etiquette for Dummies" amongst other books found in the study room.

My courtesy has its limits.

Figures- There's actually point where optimism runs out. I'm tapping into reserves now.

It's pathetic, really, when you finally realise that logic doesn't solve everything- And you have to grapple with the concept of fate- or faith.

Hope? Yeah, a tiny sliver of that remains.

Just barely.

They say adversity builds character. I don't feel myself getting stronger or anything.

What I'm most disappointed in is myself. It seems to be like whatever I have been doing has been for nought.

I snapped.

So I'm human. I feel emotions.

The ache of sadness, the anguish of hatred and anger.

That moment of hopelessness within yourself, as you sit in a corner to ponder upon all your misdoings- You wonder whether you've made all the right choices.

You start questioning, and as the more you questio, the more lost you get.

The compass of wisdom didn't seem to be providing any directions, either. You had enough of that experience to find the way yourself- You just didn't know where to start from.

That has to be the emotional baggage I'm holding on to.

And every time you try to pick yourself up- You are knocked down by another scornful remark. Even when you know that you're numb to them already.

I feel so damn emotional now for this matter- Is this what they call 'teenage mood swings' or something? I fail to understand.

Maybe that's my flaw- My belief of self-infallibility and invincibility.

While I'm invincible, I'm still fallible after all.
(Hell yeah, I'm invincible.)

There, I said it.

Okay, now to pick myself up one more time, scrape the dust off my wounds and continue again. Right after this good night's sleep.

Come on, Adversity.

Give me your very best shot.

UPDATE:-

Paint is almost done. The people doing the cornices aren't exactly a punctual lot of people- They're delaying everything.

My room is finally done- 'cept for the air-conditioner. Need to get me-self a bed and a table- Not to mention start savin' up for another computer. Damn it.

Damn pimples are back. They have invaded my forehead again. And they come in tens. Urgh.

Again, pictures will be updated soon- I haven't had time for all of these; typing in a rush.

For those asking, I'm putting up at Wei Hong's house- A stone throw's away from my own. He has kindly allowed me to put up in his study room for a week or so as I clear this mess up.

And as for computer and MSN?
Oei, people also have computer what.

TO-DO LIST:-

Fix the air-conditioners.

Fix the cornices.

Finish painting the door.

Get a bed.

Get a computer table.

Save for a computer.

HOMEWORK.

SLEEP.

Bah, I'll settle the rest another time.

Time for a pit-stop.