Friday, July 24, 2009

Adventure...

Ohmygosh... Unknowingly, it has already bee like 2 week since I've last done any blogging!!! With all tt's been happening - 2 outings, a term paper to complete and keeping track of stuff before sch officially starts - I've been truly preoccupied to actually find time to sit and stare @ the com for 2 hrs and allow the inspiration to flow to my fingers...

Indeed, trying to have a social life, mug and date my computer @ the same time... I'm really biting more than I can chew... Come on, you do know tt juggling 2 balls' simple... Tt's what I've been doing all this time... But to suddenly expect me to juggle 3 balls and to do it like a pro, it's on the brink of impossible... Not to mention tt what I'm juggling aren't balls of equal sizes... Imagine one's a bowling ball (you can easily guess what this represents), the other a tennis ball and the last one's a ping pong ball... It's downright impossible...

Anyway, now tt all the pics have been uploaded on everyone's [FaceBook]'s account, there's really no point in blogging abt those events... Rather, I should blog abt what happened today... I did mocked [XP] abt taking the wrong bus and all, but she got the last laugh today when I realised tt I myself took the wrong shuttle bus too... Unlike [XP], I didn't blindly take any bus tt comes, but I wrongly assumed tt shuttle bus [A1/A2]'s a loop service... I only found out when I arrived @ some god-forsaken area which I doubt I'll ever set foot, period... @ least it's the terminal and it's a free shuttle bus service, so I only lost time, not $$$ (thank goodness for tt)...

On a brighter note, I did learn a valuable lesson...

Moving on, I saw [XP] doing her promotion for her [Kendo] CCA and I also met up with [MJ] before she has to do her matriculation... I actually wanted to meet her for lunch @ [MegaBites], but tt plan was busted when I realised tt her freshie talk lasted till like 1400 hrs... And there's free food for her too!!! With cake!!! GAH!!! I so wanted to sneak into her freshie talk @ [LT17], but since it has already been like 1 hr into the talk, I couldn't just walk into the LT... Not with some ppl @ guarding the back entrance with what I noticed papers on a table... No doubt attendance sheets...

Anyway, [MJ] didn't eat the free food and socialise, but took the shuttle bus and met up with me... I initially wanted her to meet opposite [YIH]... Yet she missed the stop and I had to travel to the bus stop outside {UHC]... Zzz... SO much walking on foot... LOL... Don't get me wrong... I'm whining for the sake of whining only... I'm not complaining... Wait, I am complaining, but only for the long hrs standing w/o sitting... Pffftt... I've been on my foot for the whole afternoon... =_=

Okay, where was I??? Yep, before [MJ]'s matriculation... We went to have a look @ all the laptops on sale and gawd!!! [Fujitsu LifeBook S6520] is really a cool dude... It's anorexic but it's still possible to shave off a few more hundred grams by removing the DVD drive... And if you want it to last longer, replace the DVD drive with another bat pack, so tt's 2 bat pack cramped into the slim dude... Aaaannndddd the best part??? It's white!!! WHITE!!! GAH!!! *Goes crazy*

The down-side of it is it's high buy price... Almost $2.4+k, after considering the GST... *Sigh* Guess I'll take this weekend to think abt it before committing myself... Oh, OH!!! And the matric fair is damn unfair de lor... All the freebies and good offers are only available for a limited number of customers a.k.a while stock last throughout the whole fair... So for those ppl who matriculate early, such as ppl from [Biz], [Design] and [Computing] who went to the fair today, which is the 1st day, they'll totally benefit from it as they'll be able to get their hands on the freebies, unlike ppl who will be matriculate later, say [Eng] and [FASS]...

Then again, even if they have any inside info, they still can't buy the laptops as they don't have their student cards... LOL... Well, I can only say it's too bad lor... Haha... Surprisingly, I'm sadistically happy over this... *Shakes head*

Okay, before I indulge in [Dragonica] and contemplate whether I should sign up and install [Second Life], should I think abt taking up any CCAs??? Like in-line skating??? Or maybe taking up a part-time job @ the sch's [Munchy Monkey Cafe]??? We have to clock a min of 4 hrsa wk and it's only serving and clearing the food, I supposed and the pay's $5.50/hr... Plus point of this is tt instead of paying to waste my time, I'm actually earning some pocket money instead...

The [E-Gaming] club's also cool... LOL...

Ho-ho, and I almost forgot... After the trauma of my [Understanding The Universe] term paper and term test, I've to mentally prepare myself for yet another week-long nightmare - orientation...

[Biz OWeek 2009] Trailer...



The video's totally speechless... It's not even mysterious or thrilling or scary... [Harper's Island] gives a much better scare... Okay, tt's not what I'm trying to drive @... What I'm trying to drive @ is the masquerade ball... It's so 'WTH?!' How on [Mother Nature] am I gonna produce a decent mask w/o looking really like a freak show??? And a mask is like so [Zorro] or [Phantom Of The Opera] lor... Ugh...

I can hardly stand today's not-so-crowded matric fair with ppl shoving paper into my face and my bumping into human beings... The thought of going through something much worse than tt in 2 wk's time is... ... I'm feeling queasy just thinking abt tt... =S

Saturday, July 11, 2009

TGX 2009 - U R Game!!!

Several more steps were taken yesterday to move [Singapore] closer to the mitigation phase in dealing with the [H1N1] virus.

Last night, the [Ministry of Health] (MOH) siad it would no longer issue travel advisories to [Singaporeans]. It said such advisories had become less useful, as the risk of catching [H1N1], whether in an affected country or in [Singapore], is about equal.

Eventually, [MOH] will also drop the list of countries with confirmed victims, and those that have exported cases to [Singapore], as more countries have stopped reporting confirmed cases. For now, however, it will retain the list on its website.

[MOH] said many countries are no longer tracking the number of infections, or reporting them. A list of countries with reported confirmed cases would therefore be 'misleading', it said.

In announcing the moves, [MOH] said [H1N1] has become a global pandemic and is probably here to stay, like any other influenza strains. Thus, it said, managing the disease should be largely a matter of personal responsibility, stressing that [Singaporeans] should always observe good personal hygiene.

Also yesterday, the [Ministry of Education] (MOE) said schools will no longer require students or staff who have returned from affected countries to take leave of absence. Those currently on such leave will be told they can return to school from next week.

Students at institutions of higher learning will return to school on [Monday]. Primary, secondary and junior college students will return on [Tuesday], as the [Youth Day] holiday falls on [Monday].

[MOE] added, however, that schools will continue to stay vigilant and keep up precautionary measures to fight the spread of [H1N1]. It said regular temperature-taking and checks to spot those with flu symptoms will continue. Those who are unwell will be asked to seek medical attention and to rest at home.

Schools will also remind students about the importance of personal hygiene and social responsibility.

[MOE] said feedback from schools showed the precautionary measures taken in the past week to stop an outbreak of [H1N1] had been carried out smoothly.

Yesterday's announcements are the latest steps in [Singapore]'s moves to mitigate the effects of [H1N1], rather than contain the disease.

The steps were taken because the virus has spread rapidly within the community: The latest [MOH] tally shows 969 victims here, with 91 new cases confirmed yesterday.

Other moves taken this week include treating patients at polyclinics and certain private clinics called [Pandemic Preparedness Clinics] (PPCs).

Of the local cases confirmed yesterday, 21 were from 2 new clusters - the [National University Hospital] (NUH) had 5 and a tour group had the rest.

At [NUH], 2 doctors, 2 nurses and a patient contracted the bug, said a hospital spokesman.

She said the clinical staff caught the virus as they were not in high-risk areas and were thus not geared in full personal protective equipment. All are in stable condition, she said.

No details of the tour group cluster were produced.

- [The Straits Times] pg A8, [Saturday], 04/07/2009

Despite what was reported in the above-mentioned article, I shouldn't have left the confines of my house on [Sat] as I found out much, much later as the leave of absence is canceled for ppl who're returning from overseas... I could argue why I feel tt it's still okay to travel all the way to town, to [SunTec Convention Centre] to be exact, but doing so would be extremely time consuming and would make me sound tt I'm trying to justify an otherwise wrong action in my part...

The bottomline is, I'm still as healthy as I could possibly be and am no plague carrying monster... The mircobes have been kind to avoid me, it seems... LOL...

I gaev a call to [MJ] to ask her out and it's a good thing she's still able to join me in my cosplay hunt @ [TGX 09]... She was horrendously late in meeting up with me, but not for the cosplay event, which is all tt matters...

Turns out she still got the whole [SunTec] and [Expo] confused, thinking tt they're referring to the same thing and thus, she travelled all the way to [Changi Expo], just to read my SMS, telling her tt it's in [City Hall]... Gee... -_-"'

Well, I arrived rather early and...

TGX 09 Realized tt there's a long queue!!! LOL... Okay, this is just another event tt's taking place somewhere on the 1st floor of [SunTec]... Thank goodness this wasn't the queue to enter [TGX 09] or I'll faint... Haha...

TGX 09 (2) The poster tt tells you where [TGX 09]'s being held... It's only then tt I realised tt it's held in conjunction with [WCG 09]... Wols... -_-"'

TGX 09 (3) TGX 09 (4) Life-size poster of [Shana] greets you @ the entrance!!!

TGX 09 (7) TGX 09 (8) TGX 09 (9) TGX 09 (20) I saw these few posters on display as I was walking around... LOL... The [Viwawa] poster made me wanna visit tt webby to try out not only [Wahjong], but [Sushido] too... I knew abt the latter only after the guy @ the booth introduced the game to me... Haha... Okay, okay... So I'm still ignorant abt a lot of stuff, but this is what defines [~LeiLa~]... =P

Me and MJ (9) [Viwawa] rocks!!! LOL!!!

TGX 09 (5) A huge crowd was gathered around this LCD screen... On closer observation, it's showing a live [DOTA] match and [Bane Elemental] just did a triple kill... Hmmm... Wow, tt's like so AMAZING!!! Zzz... -_-"'

Can't appreciate it as I haven't been playing tt game for quite some time already and I couldn't see what was really happening... The battleground was in utter chaos... Bah...

TGX 09 (25) TGX 09 (28) TGX 09 (19) TGX 09 (6)

As you can see, the place isn't tt well lit IMO and it's not easy for me to navigate... But who cares??? The most important event is abt to take place!!!

The [Shana] impersonation competition tt's held by [Animax]!!!

TGX 09 (21) TGX 09 (22) TGX 09 (23) TGX 09 (24) TGX 09 (26) TGX 09 (27) TGX 09 (29) TGX 09 (30) TGX 09 (31)

There were a total of 9 contestants and the task seems simple... All they have to do is to dress up like [Shana] from [Shakugan no Shana], and act out a certain scene from the 2nd season before doing a pose for the camera wielding audience... Simple... NOT!!! It's not easy to really en-act the scenes as this is real-life... You can't pretend to get hit in the stomach, flew backwards in the air, do a somersault before landing in a crouching position and sticking the kantana in the gound to support you... You just can't... Nonetheless, I marvel @ the 8 of the contestants as they're all 1st time cosplayers... However, it's a pity tt no one decided to stand out by wearing a cloak... I betcha if someone wore a cloak, higher points would be awarded... I would!!!

A few singing performances by some cosplaters...

TGX 09 (32) TGX 09 (33) TGX 09 (34) TGX 09 (35)
TGX 09 (36) TGX 09 (37) TGX 09 (38) [Yuna] from [FFX-2]!!! *Screams and squeals*

Once the competition's over - we didn't wait for the results, we headed outside to greet the rest of the cosplayers, which is what both [MJ] and I really were waiting for...

TGX 09 (40) TGX 09 (16) TGX 09 (41) [Reno], [FFVII: Advent Children] and [Squall], [FFVIII]!!!

And tt's not all from the [FF] family...

TGX 09 (50) Another [Yuna], from [FFX-2]... [Songstress] dress sphere!!!

TGX 09 (15) TGX 09 (43) TGX 09 (44) [Soul-kun] from [Soul Eater]!!! AHHH!!! It's the 1st time seeing cosplayers cosplaying characters from [Soul Eater]... LOL... And [Soul] holding [Domo-kun] is simply k-a-w-a-i-i!!! Erpx... I think my screw's a little loose here...

TGX 09 (63) [Prof. Frankenstein] shall help tighten the loose screw then... *Maniacal laughter*

TGX 09 (13) I don't know why, but I simply like [Lavi] from [D. Greyman]... *Swoons*

And here's more [D. Greyman] cosplayers!!!

TGX 09 (62) TGX 09 (51) TGX 09 (56)

TGX 09 (14) TGX 09 (58) [Vampire Knight]... Where are the [Day Class] ppl??? Hmmm... o_O

TGX 09 (49) Hmmm... If I'm not mistaken, this is a character from the [Guilty Gear] fighting game...

TGX 09 (45) [Super Mario]!!!

And the following are more cosplayers... It's totally eye opening!!!

TGX 09 (61) TGX 09 (64) TGX 09 (65) TGX 09 (66) TGX 09 (67) TGX 09 (68) TGX 09 (69) TGX 09 (70) TGX 09 (71) TGX 09 (72) TGX 09 (73) TGX 09 (74) TGX 09 (75) TGX 09 (42) TGX 09 (46) TGX 09 (47) TGX 09 (48) TGX 09 (52) TGX 09 (53) TGX 09 (54) TGX 09 (55) TGX 09 (57) TGX 09 (59) TGX 09 (60) TGX 09 (12) TGX 09 (17) TGX 09 (18)

By the time I'm done with being trigger happy, my legs are protesting for a rest and so we headed to [Starbucks] to rest as well as to enjoy a cuppa high class, expensive kohe...

Me (78) Min Jie (32)

Me (79) Me posing with my [Animax] notebook which I won thanks to [Saki Yuji]... Haha... Well, in the middle of the [Shana]competition, there was a quiz and I decided to provide the answer to 1 of the question tt asked for any [Shakugan no Shana] characters... Heke... ^_^

Okay, so I actually got 2 copies, but seeing tt I won't have much use of both copies, I've decided to give 1 to [MJ]... See??? Ain't I kind??? LOL!!!

*Sigh* All in all, I've a great time and attending this [TGX 09] is sufficient... In lieu of my upcoming tests, I've no choice but to stay @ home this weekend to do some mugging, thus giving [Cosfest VIII] a miss... Not to worry though, there's always the next yr to look forward to!!! *Grin* =D