Alright. I'm Done. 2

Just finished shopping for Grad Night. Extremely tired now. I managed to get everything I want from 2 adjacent shops in Far East. It's certainly the place with the most student friendly prices. Topman sells a blazer for 203. Zara 299. Taka 599. Whoo. And I got mine at 90 (after discount) hehhhh. Looks similar to the one I saw at Topman (altho the Topman's one is probably shinier). Anws heck the worksmanship...the blazer gonna probably be a one-off affair kind of thing. Much thanks to Dan who was so nice to give me opinions on the attire.

And with that, I'm extremely relieved and please to announce that I have finished shopping for Grad Night. Time for MORE hiking and photograph-taking! Shopping and formal attires is seriously so NOT me man. Music/hiking/photography and quirky T-shirts for the win.

Alrights. Sleepy. Very Sleepy. Adios

Alright. I'm done.

Finally over. Not the best of experience. But at least I'm done. I guess everyone screwed up some paper(s) so I should stop thinking about them. Fingers crossed all the way till March 2010. I guess I've just been too stressed up over getting those AAAB B grades I was aimming for. I've done my part and I'll leave the rest to God (and the Cambridge examiners).

Great. So now shit is over. It's time for Buying Spree. I've been discussing a couple of them with my mum and things seem to be coming along smoothly. ;) Looks like when you work hard, anything goes. :D The following list is just a reminder for myself...just in case I miss out anything...it would be to my disadvantage...hee.

In order of priority:
1) Grad Night Attire
2) HTC Hero/iPhone
3) Canon-EF-70-200mm-f-2.8-L (Prolly the most ownage)

4) Anberlin Hoodie

5) MUSE T-Shirt (for the feb gig :D)

Estimated expenditure: Quite gay.

And I'll prolly be getting a job at The Camera Rental Centre (CRC) if the dude responds to me soon. Can't wait. Doing a part-time job related to photography has always been my dream. :) Looking forward to being busy again. And for the RIGHT reasons. Don't want to just rot at home and do shit...would be so pointless.

Alright. That's all folks. Gonna go hit a couple of drums.

People and Spaces

Have you ever been like this before/Two lovers at the ends of ocean shores/So close that you cannot hide/On the continents that share no day and night/My love it's alright//Maybe I would never be the same/So close but yet so far away/I'll build us a place in time/Beneath the pale moonlight/My love it's alright//It's warm down here on the other side/I'm waiting by the phone tonight/So come home to me, come home//Kookaburra on the old gum tree/She sings to a child beneath her wings/Don't worry my love, don't you cry/You're safe with me tonight/And the world is alright/My love it's alright//It's warm down here on the other side/I'm waiting by the phone tonight/So come home to me, come home//Tell her I've built a home to stay, and I built it for us

Ok someone requested for the lyrics for the TFF song People and Spaces. So here it's. Pardon for any minor errors. Although I typed this off the lyric book, I don't completely trust my typing skills. hee.

Hot Park

Rights. Like I said ystd, I went Hortpark. It's my first time there and I think it's an excellent place to hang out, go for a jog or go dating hahaha. The morning sun felt pretty good :) It felt great to be shooting again. The new pirated neoprene strap that I bought was not bad. I think it made my camera feel at least 50% lighter hahaha. 10bucks well spent. We walked the approx 2.4km path from Hortpark carpark to Mt Faber then to Vivocity for shopping. I must admit that not doing exercise for half a year is really bad for health. I felt so tired after walking 2.4km I went to sleep without bathing (ee smely) upon reaching home. Enjoy the shots. I esp love the macro shots towards the end of the series. Esp the one with the bee. Fullview the pictures to get a better view. :D Signing off!

I'm almost as free as a Bird

I took this off a friend's blog' cause it's so interesting. Doesn't the above scenarios look familiar?

Anyway, it's gonna sound kind of weird but it feels pretty good being in a semi-exam state. Think having finished all your written papers and having 2 MCQ papers left. It gives you a hell lot of time to slack around but at the same time prevents you from having the guilt of stopping studying totally. So I managed to find time to do some MCQs and play drums as well as catch up on some sleep. I'll be going to Hortpark early in the morning (dang 7am) tomorrow with my family and I think it's gonna be a great place to get away from Exams and citylife. Gonna bring my camera along too to snap some stuffs. I haven't touched my camera for way too long. I think it needs a white Canon L lens to accompany it. And I'll be looking forward to that after As. :) Of course scoring As will be essential.

Faith (all we need)

Ah finally my first break in a very long time. Spent the time after my last NJC written paper with Brother Chun at Vivo as usual. Vivocity is simply the best place to chill out and have a chat. And I love night-long chats. :) I didn't realised that I haven't gone out (apart from school and Lot 1 for lunch) for at least 2 months. In fact...I totally forgotten how to transit to the North-East line from Outram Park. :S

Well actually, Prelims are not over...I still have 2 MCQ papers but I don't have any mood to study anymore. Dang it. Why must they drag it till next Thursday. It's totally a waste of time to spend 5 days studying for 1 Physics MCQ paper. To make things worse, the Physics MCQ is in the afternoon. I think. Haiz.

MUSE new album is very much out already but I still haven't got the chance to buy it. I can't believe Vivo doesn't have a single CD shop. HMV or Gramophone should invest in an outlet there. I mean...Vivo is such a nice place but it doesn't have a decent CD shop...ridiculous. I think I should set up a CD shop in Vivo and capture the CD market in Vivo (see...an obvious lack of Economics knowledge). Anyway, everyone around me is downloading the album. Nicer people tell me they would borrow the album from me to burn haha. But I'm firm in my stand of buying the album. Buying an album is the simplest way you can show support for your favourite band. It affirms the band's efforts instead of letting their work be reduced to mere megabytes. I guess I shall continue listening to the album on Muse.mu for the time being unless I can make my way down to Gramophone or HMV sometime this week. :)

Ok I guess I've nothing to type for the time being...due my my lack of life. Brother Chun says I completely turn into a full-time mugger during every exam. Somehow I don't have such an impression but on hindsight, I think it's pretty true. I thought it's the same for everyone. Hopefully, my hard work will pay off. I can feel I'm starting to achieve a little breakthrough in Chemistry. My Chem has been pretty stagnent at Pass for the past 1 and a half years but I think I've found the key. Econs is still a major worry. Can someone please tell me I need to pass Econs to get into Uni, that would be very helpful. Heh ok signing off.

Btw this is a song, titled Unnatural Selection, from MUSE's new album. It's really awesome. I esp love the outro and pre-chorus. :D

To:

Thanks for being such a great friend so great my words just can't justify. For being there whenever I needed you. For letting me know that I still have you at the end of the day. Thanks for accompanying me in my journey of finding a true friend in NJC. Being there wherever I'm. Wasting your precious time on my phone calls. Letting me find my motivation when I'm at my lowest. For being so sensitive to my needs. For lending me your ears whenever I needed them. For sharing your troubles with me. For attempting to appreciate my type of music. For sharing my relationship problems and giving me advices. Being there was all I ever needed and you did it best. You're the reason why I don't need girlfriends. The reason why I wasn't the ignorant and unmotivated self of my J1 days. Thank you.

Love from,
Wei Shuen

And I came to my senses

What a fool I could be

Of a heart that grows colder

From the air that I breathe

To look at my face

Oh so pleasantly calm

Yet my heart beholds a weakness

Could you just see through me

Have I lost all my faith

For a beautiful world

In a quiet degradation

Of passion and purpose

Here I stand at the edge

Of the future and now

From the depths of my lungs

Oh could you just sing to me

Into the fire

Into your grace

Into your love

You know I'm here

To love you

Sonnet - The Fire Fight

I JUST HEARD THE FIRE FIGHT ALBUM LIVE!

Oh man what can I say...The Fire Fight album launch was just awesome. I was particularly impressed by Iain Tham's mid-set drum solo. It totally set the mood right for the remaining songs of the gig. I swear I was banging my head, swinging my body, tapping my feet, jumping and shouting out lyrics like nobody's business. Paul can vouch for me that I was the most enthusiastic supporter there :) well at least within my line of view. For once I just totally ignored watching Joshua and the rest rocked it out onstage and closed my eyes and immersed myself fully in their music.

I bet you guys must be thinking how awesome it was...or thinking I'm just bullshitting around here. But trust me, TFF has proven to break every single stereotypes you guys have of local bands. Firstly, the sound system was great. The mix was perfect (Paul claims that the guitars could be a lil louder though) and it really felt like listening to the studio album but live. Every part of the performance was pitch-perfect. Secondly, TFF really got everyone high with their melodious vocals, intricate guitar riffs and dynamic drumming. They opened with "When Spring Comes Home" followed by their first single "Dreamer". But the songs that I really loved and got me frigging high was "Fires at Night" and "The Train Song" ESP FIRES AT NIGHT. Too bad they didn't play it for encore. TFF also did really well bringing out their emotions for the slower and more emotion-provoking songs. In fact, the chorus for "Hours" still rings in my head now. Iain's drumming was particularly emotional and inspiring. (I know I keep mentioning this Iain guy but he was really awesome that night and is such a good role model for a drummer like me :D) Thirdly, the harmonizing between Angel the guest performer (guitar and vox) and Joshua was really good and their voices really complemented each others. Haha I think they should make Angel a permanent backing vocals. Her voice was just so sweet, although she did cocked up abit on the guitar during the song "People and Spaces". Fouthly, TFF's music is just so inspirational and Joshua's lyrics are so thought-provoking. Combining Dance, Rock and Indie music, TFF created a unique genre of music they can claim as their own and I think that's simply why their music is so appealing...well at least to youths (age 17 and above) and young adults. While grooving to the compelling beats of the drums, one also does not forget to ponder about the meaning behind those finely crafted lyrics. That's enough substantiation isn't it!

Overall I would have given TFF 8/10 for the night's performance. Minus for one lousy unenthusiastic Singaporean crowd and one for not playing my favourite "Fires at Night". So it isn't really their fault they don't score 10/10 too. :D The set was well rehearsed and the song list was strategically organized...except for the poor narration of the story of Henri the bear by Joakim Gomez, which didn't allow me to fully grasp the story of Henri (ok in fact...I know only like 10%), everything else was just darn good. Atmosphere during Fires at Night and The Train Song was just amazing. Too bad I didn't make it home with the album. Both album and gig were sold out. :)

Ok so if you haven't heard of these guys called The Fire Fight, it jolly well time for you to check them out at http://www.myspace.com/thefirefightsg or http://thefirefight.com/. The Fire Fight is Joshua as Guitars and Vocals, Jonathan as Guitars, JBarks as Bass and Iain as Drums and Backing Vocals. I shall end of this post with a video of a performance of Beware! Monster by The Fire Fight during the album launch. Check out Iain's amazing drum solo at the start. Enjoy!

Don't you wish that...

School wasn't as tiring. You can clear all that homework and start on revision. You weren't feeling pressurized by the amount of things not done. You could stop allowing this pressure to hinder the progress of your work. You could share this pressure with someone. There's someone on MSN to chat with. Your best friend would have time to listen. Music can wash away all the pain your're feeling. You could be a rock star. You could play the guitar and sing. You could produce inspirational pieces of music. You were Matt Bellamy. You were at the top. You were not struggling to pass. You were motivated to trounce everyone else. You were in Secondary School. You could do well in GP effortlessly. You could get started on that comprehension. Your best friend wasn't besting you in your best subject. You were a female and don't have to worry about supporting a family in the future. You could stop dreaming and start doing. You were really talented in something so you could skip schooling and live off your talent. You could write an essay for your blogpost when you can't pen down your thoughts. You could write persuasive arguementative essays and express your own opinions without having to worry about what others think of your ignorance. You had a hot and pretty girlfriend. She was understanding too. Your best friend was your girlfriend. You could play freely without worries. You could concentrate fully when playing and studying. You were knowledgable about issues debated around the world. You could take 1 year off from life to tour the world. You could visit the Maldives again. Time could reverse. You wouldn't make those mistakes. She is enjoying your company. She didn't have a guy. You could spend more time in your CCA. You could win a competition. You could appreciate your positive points and stop feeling inferior about your negative points. You lived in a parallel universe. Life was not a series of problems. You would not moan about life if it was a series of problems. You could solve all your problems. Mmmm...

Note to self:

Wei Shuen stop thinking about stupid things and start studying.

Update 20/7:
Everybody's chionging like crazy. You must too...D:

I'm ready...to SLACK!

Wow. CTs are over. It was over pretty fast I admit. First day and we've cleared 2 subjects GP and Maths. Wasn't too long before the end of the last paper Physics.

So what've I been doing recently? Basically just slacking big time and doing all the things that I haven't got the chance to do during the June Hols like going cycling, whacking on my drums for 20 consecutive songs, watching youtube and some documentaries, listening to TBS new album and MUSE's Showbiz album, jamming with Bear and ZL, going out with my best pals and watching "Marley and Me" LOL.

I can be quite proud of myself today. :) I completed an 18Km (approx) bike ride from CCK to Bukit Gombak then to Bukit Timah and back to CCK. I actually just wanted to ride the bike for an hour or so to relieve boredom but I ended up cycling all the way to Bukit Timah lolx. As a result, I really need Butt Therapy now.

I noticed something interesting about cycling (not competitive ones) today. From the time when you first mount the bike to cycling the first 2 plus Km or so, cycling feels like freedom. It feels good because you have this feeling that you can explore anywhere your wheels take you to and without the effort of walking. But after the the first 2 plus Km (and many uphills) cycling suddenly feels more like a challenge. And surprisingly, it makes you feel like cycling more and cycling to further places. You tend to tell yourself to cycle a lil further more before taking a break and explore areas/terrains you're would initially not feel comfortable to explore. Well that's my thought. Haha cycling is so wonderful ain't it? :) In fact, I think I refound my long-lost love for cycling, which is great. More cycling after A's.

Alright that's basically what happened this morning. I'm going to watch Marley and Me already. Adios and hope everyone here will enjoy this 4 days short break to the MAX. :)

I Wish...

It's out boys. Ok in fact very long time ago. It's just that I couldn't be bothered to blog about it till today, when I visited MUSE.mu again. The 5th studio album from MUSE, titled The Resistance, will be out on 14th September. So get at least 25 bucks ready. This is one of the best thing that is going to happen in the music year of 2009. :) MUSE is simply genius and the band has said that the new album will be the best album they've ever produced. Now that's a really good reason why you should get the album. Wooo...

Ok apart from MUSE new album, local indie band The Fire Fight (TFF) (http://www.myspace.com/thefirefightsg) is launching it's debut album, Henri, too. Album launch gig on 31st July at the Esplanade Recital. Tickets selling at SISTIC for 25 bucks. Be sure to catch it. Contact me if you're going too haha :D

Lastly, Baybeats (wooo!) with Anberlin (WTF!?). The Esplanade will present Baybeats at various locations around the Esplanade Concert Hall from 28th-30th August. Be sure to check up upcoming awesome punk/indie bands like Lunar Node (http://www.myspace.com/lunarnode) and Audiocean. More details found here: http://www.baybeats.com.sg/2009/. Haha and of course I got a shock when I saw Anberlin will be playing for Baybeats. (What more free!). Anberlin has been one of the few bands I got really into during the past few months. I simply love the unique guitar riffs and their alt rock style. And unlike other bands, their most recent album, New Surrender, hasn't disappointed me a single bit. Check out Anberlin at http://www.anberlin.com/. Awesome stuff.

Ok with so many awesome gigs/stuff around. I'm ready for the end of CT and (heck start of Prelims). :) Adios!

Read This

This is my study table. There're more stuff left, right and under of it. My table might look disorganized but it's organized in an unorganized way. You can see 5 pieces of paper stuck to the wall. Those are my sources of stress. Especially the third one from the left. It reads "H2 Maths Revision Plan" btw. At the very very left edge of the photo, you can see a small chip of my cymbal from my drumset. I feel like playing it every now and then but I can't. In the foreground you can see my Chemistry file. That's just part 1 out of 2. Thanks to my dedicated teacher. :) And on the right you can spot the good old "O'Sullivan"...it's pretty useful afterall. If you guys bought it and haven't read it...you can try doing so. You can also spot a fullscape pad at the table front. I scribble lots of stuff on it. Including Jesus's face and Triangles. And lastly, check out my waterbottle. It has many digimon stickers on it. It has been used since I was a kid. Might be good to change in case I get water-bottle-poisoning.

Ok actually I'm just saying all these nonsense 'cause I'm ultra bored of studying. If you wasted 5mins of your mugging time reading this, go back to your work! Bb.

MINDS CIP Part III

CIP last Friday was pretty sucky. Firstly, I went there feeling very guilty because I was supposed to be doing an essay during that morning...instead I went for CIP since I gave my CIP rep my word already. My mood persisted for the entire session. Hence, I couldn't really pay attention to folding my paper crane (we taught them origami haha). Photos were sub-standard too :( Well anyway...here are the picks.

This guy really loves being photographed. He would eye my camera whenever I pick it up. So I just had to fulfill his desire lol.


This is my client for the session. He keeps missing out on my instructions but nonetheless he puts lots of effort into his work. You can see ML teaching another client in the background :)


This guy is called Roslan. He says the creature in the drawing is him. Omg.


My favourite photo of the day. Doesn't he completely have the Xiao Fu Zhi look ? (hey plus he's holding a comic)


Another of ML and my client. I suspect that beautifully folded crane he's holding is mine muahaha


ML teaching her client.


These are the cranes we folded. Not bad eh.


Couple of group shots (I'm too lazy to write any more comments...):








The End. Time for lunch. Whatever you see here will be given to MINDS. Hope they like it :)

The worst thing is to think you're winning but actually you're losing big time

Studying at Mos@JP was sucky. D: Somehow I simply couldn't concentrate on Complex Numbers after finishing my Sampling exercise. The first question was a total demoralizer. Now I understand why ZL said he felt so tired during our studying session at CCK Mos and needed to go back home...he was doing this bloody question! Dammit.

I was reviewing my revision schedule last night and I found out that I'm really running out of time. 2 weeks are going to end in 2 days time and yet I don't even feel like I'm at least 5% confident. Even ZL has almost finished up Physical Chem and Statistics. Well at least that's 50% of Chem and Maths. Meanwhile I'm still stuck like a...what? fat man in a pair of skinny jeans. 2 weeks more...I'm just really afraid I end up going to the examination hall feeling inconfident, knowing I didn't finish revising all my chapters. Probably it would have been less stressful if there wasn't SNAP in the first week so I could start earlier like what ZL did. But for now, I seriously need to chiong...

Check This Out

Haha I was really bored after doing half a Normal Distribution exercise so I decided to get onto the net. Somehow, I thought it would be interesting to Google my name and this is what popped out.

(Click on thumbnail to fullview)

I found my blogspot, Photovista winning, NUS Invitational Shoot 08 scores and even some Logistic competition organized by RP that I joined in Secondary 2. Mmm...brings back memories...

I remember winning a 20 dollars Popular Voucher for some Team Award during the RP competition. The win was damn Tyco because everyone saw our team as the black horse. Haha Roy, Jun Jie, Kah How and me. Black horse FTW. I used the voucher to buy a Linkin Park CD btw :)

NUS Invitational Shoot 08 was the 2nd and last competition I went for when I was still a shooter. I was damn surprised that I shot better than Jit Sheng and even more surprised that I got a 490 because Jit Sheng told me he had many 9s and 10s. 490 wasn't a good score. Nonetheless, I was very satisfied with it then. I wonder how much would I shoot if I had remained in Shooting Club.

Photovista. Haha my first photography competition and the only competition that I won. I was really lucky to win it. If I didn't, I wouldn't have had all the equipment I'm using now. I still remember the Prize Ceremony was held during my NCC March Camp. Haha check out my Sec 4 look:

(Click on thumbnail for fullview)

Alright that's all. Just wanted to blog about this interesting find.

MINDS CIP Part II

Second CIP session was just as fun. Instead of painting glassware, I switched to a group which was drawing stuff. Didn't know I could draw (haha ok at least trace) something decent. :) In no time, ML and I finished drawing and colouring a couple of animals. The animal drawings were meant to be cut out and pasted on postcards but we couldn't finish the cutting in time.

Photography during the session was just as fun. Had fun playing with shallow DOF at f/1.8. Can be quite tricky but the effect is really wonderful :D If only I can have that kind of DOF for group shots. :) The clients are also getting more and more used to the camera. In fact I think they love being photographed hee. I'm planning to compile a couple of photos for the MINDS people after my CIP ends. For the record, there's 2 more sessions to go :D Ok here are the photos:

ML & her client. This guy keeps giving us high fives and draws the same stuff every session.


Group photo of my group and the group beside me.


Is her name Wei Ling? Haha I can't remember. She was doodling some stuff that I've yet to figure out what was it.


Jiaying & her client. JY always sits in this photography-unfriendly side, which doesn't have much natural light. Hence her photos always look abit artificial. :S


Hui Teng & her client.


ML holding my drawings (and her colourings :) ) Haha I think the client beside her got lost for awhile.


Shallow DOF group shot for SK, Yi Peng and Yan Jun. Love the bokeh (background blur) but then again Yan Jun's face looks horribly out of focus :(


Candids of the MINDS people at work:






One of my favourite shot of the day :)




END. More to come after the next CIP session. :D

MINDS CIP Part I

CIP at MINDS today was really fun. :) When my class arrived at MINDS, we were greeted by this very friendly lady (who turned out to be the in-charge of MINDS) Roslin. She kinda did a brief intro on MINDS and the people in MINDS. I found it pretty interesting that teachers at MINDS refer to the intellectually disabled people as clients. And I didn't know these people have to go through Sex-education too hahaha. Apparently, Roslin was telling us about how one girl was telling her "Mr Ben is very handsome!" and how MINDS bought 2 very expensive life-sized male&female dolls with private parts (Yes she stated this very explicitly.) from US to educate them. :)

We had our activities at the Arts&Craft room. We were supposed to teach them how to make friendship bands but we ended up joining them at their crafts instead. ML and I settled at a table in-charged of decorating glasswares. We had to use paint to create multi-coloured dots on the glassware. And surprisingly, it takes goddamn lots of patience. The clients actually take one whole day to complete decorating one glassware ok! because they aren't as fast as normal people.

Ok I shall show some photos :) I'm surprised the clients actually love taking photographs :D

Mei Ling's and my Group. The guy on the left most left me with an almost unfinished glassware and disappeared for the remaining of the session. He came back in time for photo-taking though :)


Jiaying's Painting Team. I can't seem to make out what the guy drew though. I think it's Korean.


Hui Yi's client. Her name was something-ling. The girl beside her is called Wei Ling. Haha that's why Mei Ling kept telling me she heard people calling her name.


Group photo of Hui Yi and Man Ting's group. Check out the dude's expression man. MT told me he was hugging her around the shoulders damn tight. I sense a need for Sex-Ed :)


Yi Peng's and his client. They were scrapping tiles. I didn't really know what was going on.


Tiles Scrappers Team 1


Tiles Scrappers Team 2


This group was drawing with colour pencils. The girl on the right most has an excellent drawing of ML, MT and HY. :) Check it out below.


I thought Yan Wen wanted to compare his noobie Secondary 1 photo with a photo of this dude when he told me to take a photo. Turned out he was more interested in the chiobu in the mini photoalbum his client keeps.


Yah this is the one. I really love the drawing :) Don't you think Hui Yi really looks like Hui Yi?!!! Omg. I don't think I can even draw half as good as her. I think I'll end up drawing 3 papayas.


END. More photos after this Friday and next Wednesday. In the meantime, I'm definitely looking forward to going back man :D