My Aunt from Penang dropped her BMW 325i in my house. I know, it's not the most badass BMW in the world. But Goddamn.
It's definitely a very good looking thing up close. Every tiny detail, even in the head and brake lights looks like God engineered it. The inside is a little bland(like most German cars, all black leather and hard looking dashboard).
The coolest part was when my aunt showed me how the keyless entry worked. Guess how the car is locked!
See the handle? When the engine's turned off, just close the door and tap the top of the handle, and the car locks. Bloody cool.
And really, there's a few things cooler than starting a car by pushing a button.
This is one of those few things:
I was in Singapore the whole day while my mom and sister went to see Mika perform. And I think GPS is bloody cool. Imagine this. A mass of plastic and metal the size of a calculator is communicating with satellites orbiting earth, and it's telling me when to "turn left" and how fast I'm walking and when I'll arrive.
All of a sudden, I think it's better that we sacrifice some freedom and become slaves to technology. It's just amazing sometimes. It's too easy to criticize. People call it inhuman, but only because they forget to be human about it. Nowadays I go all starry eyed and amazed whenever I see a new piece of tech. I admire the skill, but not the method and consequence. Just that ability to make something Godlike without any God messing around with the process.
I think because I've come to realize how much effort is put into creation. Having built and painted 9 tanks (2 tiny ones, 7 medium sized, and 1 out of cardboard), doesn't make me very proud. It makes me feel quite useless actually. There are people out there who do this better, and even they don't get recognized for their efforts.
Speaking of tanks, my epic project will be completed on schedule. Just like a German ja! right on time.
All the parts are done. The epicly gigantic Tiger II (with commander and machine gunner mounted) and STUG IV(my best painted tank, with commander)
Both tanks were made to look as if heavily muddied.
The heavy-set Russian KV-2 tank(commander's head just jutting out and decent damage details on the paintwork, as well as "muddy threads" effect)
The least fun I had was with the infantrymen. Each piece had to be meticulously painted, organized, glued together, armed and equipped. That's barely telling the whole story, so just observe from this picture:
The bloody soldier is smaller than my thumb!
And I had to do 23 of them(including 3 tank commanders)! The Germans got a dark green outfit, the German Mortar team got gray uniforms. The Russians all received historically inaccurate apple green uniforms because no other colour seemed to work as well.
The latest tank I've done is a bit of a disappointment.
1)I bought it when in a bad mood and I don't think it was fair that I did at the time
2)The model was of inferior quality(made in Russia, with badly designed bits that didn't always fit)
3)It took 6 months to complete cause college kind of distracted me
4)The paint job was ENTIRELY by brush, so it looks poorly painted. None of the sprays worked with T-34 tank.
5)The end result looks pretty lousy. But some touching up should solve that.
And now the moment none of you have been waiting for! The landscape!
Using my foot as a scale(1 foot : 12 inches), you can see that it's about 2 and a half feet long by 1 foot wide.
The part with newspaper that says "DAIKIN" is going to be building in a town. Will paint a road that leads out into the hill, from which the Germans will be attacking.
I painted it last night. Haven't touched the town area. Just laid down mud-coloured paint for the outskirts of town.
Oh, and my Graphics card's fan stopped working. Occasionally, it gives out little squeaks and dies off. Solution:
Bought a RM15 standard PC cooling fan, and put it on the graphics card. Genious I tell you!
No really, it works. Modern Warfare kept crashing before. Now it's fine!
I'm driving to KL tomorrow with my family. You know, I think I like driving. A lot. Especially when, on the rare occasion, everything goes right.
When there are no cops on the road.
When all corners and gear changes(even automatics can be clunky) go smooth.
When the guilt of pollution is the last thing on your mind.
When the Singaporeans are all in Singapore.(really, I know I'm generalizing, but it's true, Singaporeans are terrible drivers. Not only do they not understand the concept of patience, but they're also stupidly proud of how they drive. A bit like me, but I don't show it WHILE driving.)
Also, hopefully I don't die in a car crash tomorrow. If I do, I'd like to declare all my organs EXCEPT my kidneys up for donation. The kidneys go straight to the icebox and the rest of my family members must wait for the eventual rise of the price of kidneys before selling. I have spoken.
I'm going to be doing something really stupid tomorrow. I'm gonna pack my PC, monitor, mouse, keyboard and cables for the KL trip. I'm going to be there for about 6 days, so I may as well go prepared. May even bring my xbox, but only if there's space.
Everyone who reads this has heard of Metallica. They're so famous I can be sure that the statement is true. Everyone on the internet has at least heard of them. What a lot of people don't know is that they have had many rivals and contemporaries who arguably outperform Metallica, but receive a fraction of the fame and fortune.
Slayer and Megadeth. 2 bands you probably have never heard of (unless you're Gurdave or someone who knows about music's heavier side.).
I don't listen to either band much. Mostly because I equated fame with how good the band was. It's common sense that output should equate to input in an equilibrium state. Even in the world of music. But that's just the problem isn't it. Nothing's ever in equilibrium, so why bother with equating the two.
In real life, effort is never rewarded.
Effort is so randomly rewarded that there's little to no correlation.
Which is why, I think, most people settle for instant gratification.
Do a little, take a little. Maybe that's why all the great tragedies and great stories have gone. The modern world doesn't need heroes or villains, just a constantly updated news reel.
My brother isn't the best person to take advice from, not because he gives bad advice, but because he's bad at putting words together in the form of advice. But something he said to me about patience was quite useful.
If I was still the kid I was 10 years ago, I'd be a Singaporean driver in every situation. Not in the kiasu way. But in the "me me me me me" way. My brother was always the patient one, and I'm proud of him because he's actually making a name for himself(he got at least 2 job offers before his final university exam).
I was talking about Megadeth, goddamit. (see, this is how I forget things)
Yes, Megadeth. I don't like their vocals. Dave Mustaine sounds like a kid trying to sound evil. I can't take their music seriously. Because even when there is some brilliance, it often gets smothered by the vocals, lyrics or some other musical mishap.
There is one. Just ONE exception. A song by Megadeth that's perfect. A Tout Le Monde. I'm pretty sure Gurdave likes this song a lot more than I do. And really it's the one song that Dave Mustaine sings well and wrote well too. Maybe one day I'll be able to relate to the lyrics. I'm pretty sure it's about suicide in France.
Don't remember where I was
I realized life was a game
The more seriously I took things
The harder the rules became
I had no idea what it'd cost
My life passed before my eyes
When I found out how little I accomplished
All my plans denied
So as you read this know my friends
I'd love to stay with you all
Please smile when you think of me
My body's gone that's all
À tout le monde [To all the world]
À tout mes amis [To all my friends]
Je vous aime [I love you]
Je dois partir [I have to leave]
These are the last words
I'll ever speak
And they'll set me free
If my heart was still alive
I know it would surely break
And my memories left with you
There's nothing more to say
Moving on is a simple thing
What it leaves behind is hard
You know the sleeping feel no more pain
And the living are scarred
I know this must come as a surprise, but I watch the World Cup. I've been watching it since 1998 like most people my age. I was an England fan back in the day, but only because I thought Argentina was an evil country and that Germany was imaginary. Since 2002, Germany has been the team for me. Oliver Kahn is definitely the coolest looking goal keeper in history. He will be sorely missed. By me, mostly. Not in a gay way.
Last night's game was amazing. Germany played like a machine.
Oh yes, today in Singapore, I saw this near Raffles Medical:
Isn't number 10 Messi? That guy is so cute in the Astro ads(not in a gay way). But sometimes a bit annoying.
Also Singapore is not my kind of country. I walked around a lot.
After dropping off my family at Expo, I headed to Tiong Bahru, because I knew about a hobby store there. The trip took half an hour, and when I got there, everything cost more than S$25, so I just looked around and mentally slapped myself for wasting my own time.
Predictably, I started walking to the next hobby shop(not really, I took an MRT there). It was in Marina Square(or something, can't remember the name). Went there, realized everything was over S$40 and mentally slapped myself again.
I told myself that I walked enough to deserve a meal at Carl's Jr. Searched for 10 minutes and ended up in a hotel, doubled back and found it and realized everything there was more than S$20. Mentally slapped myself a third time then walked back to the MRT.
As usual, I had trouble with the brochure-handout people. When I was in KL the last time, I nearly grabbed the UNICEF guidebook thinking it was a handout. This time, I was listening to music on my headphones, so when a credit card brochure-handout guy approached me at the MRT, I panicked and smiled and firmly grabbed the paper in his hand.
Then I looked down at the paper and sighed in relief. It was really a proper brochure. But he wasn't letting go!
Instead of tugging it from him, I took my ear phones off and listened to what he had to say. He asked if I was a student. I said yes. He said "oh, thanks". And we never spoke again.
That wasn't the end of it(at least not for me). While walking out of Marina Square(or whatever it's called), someone approached and (I was still with my ear phones on) I just shook my head and hand in a way that usually makes salespeople back off. But the salesperson still was all up in my face. So I read the brochure(lucky I read it before grabbing it, it wasn't really a handout). It said something about children with heart disease. I didn't want to remove my earphones (A Tout Le Monde was playing), so I just said "sorry, I'm Malaysian, I don't have a heart". And then I kinda started walking a lot faster.
Anyway, right after that, I went walking again and found out the MPH near City Hall was closing up and that all books were on SUPER CHEAP sale.
Really. I bought a book for S$3. And it has at least a thousand pages. I'll give you a hint. It's not the bible.
The most expensive books in the store was only S$20, and that was only for books that were previously priced >S$100. Amazin'.
Took my time searching through for any Sin City or Batman comics, but all I found were Batman colouring books. Given my history of non artsyness, I wouldn't wanna risk insulting batman by getting one of those.
I went back to the first hobby shop I ever visited(the one that started my tank collecting hobby) in Peninsular Plaza. It wasn't there anymore. Which was sad.
Walked and walked a lot more. The GPS was really useful. And cool(did I mention that? And it was free of charge).
The rest of the journey wasn't THAT exciting. We took the LAST bus back to JB at 11.30pm. I actually had to stand right at the door. It was scary, whenever the bus turned I had to push myself against the windscreen to keep from falling out. I couldn't take any pictures because it was THAT cramped.
But I did manage to listen to a BBC podcast about the Maoist movement in India. They're having quite the revolution up there. I know I'm not the most Indian Indian in the world, but I share their dislike of imperial powers and neo-imperialism.
While in Singapore, I found a spot where WiFi was free! It was nuts. Singapore usually charges for everything. I spent a good 3 hours siting there between a Church and Raffles City blog hoping and facebooking, and also analyzing Singaporeans.
After a while a pattern emerged. Singaporeans are always mechanical. They're not perfect, but they are very rule-bound, and very conformist. Every young couple that sat down nearby pulled out cigarettes and started smoking. After their cigarettes were out they either started making out or eating their Mcdonalds. I swear at least 6 couples went through the same routine. And of the non-couples that passed by, more females than males were smoking.
There also seems to be an age factor to this. Everyone past their mid 30s didn't smoke, instead they were on the phone.
But they all seemed generally blissful. Not in a 'deep sustained happiness' kind of way, but the "i'm enjoying life" kind of way. They're ignorant in a good way. They're ignorant but so full of life. Even if that life was plastic.
It even brought a smile to my face when a couple of lesbians sat down and did a McDonalds+make out routine. I've never seen sexier things done with McNuggets in my life.
That said, I think the sheer amount of exotic cars in Singapore just destroys the experience of seeing a nice exotic car. At first it's amazing, then it's just "oh, right a Lamborghini".
I think I like Malaysia now.
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