Jayden's

Why are you still here?!

2010-06-14T08:56:00.004+08:00

If you have been living under a rock, and don't know why I don't seem to update here anymore, WELL I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING AT JAYLEIF.COM!

In time to come, I will be shifting the archives from here over to the new domain. And possibly pointing the URL there too, but for now, I'm just too busy with soooo many other things!

So please help yourself and go visit and bookmark the feed of the new blog! It will be my permanent spot! :)

The Final Countdown

2010-04-16T05:18:00.003+08:00

The New Sojourn.

2010-04-02T00:42:00.002+08:00

When you see it, you'll shit bricks...

2010-03-15T08:00:00.002+08:00

I'm sure most of you would have already watched the epic MTV of Lady Gaga's song, Telephone. In case you haven't, here's the link for you to enjoy the nine and a half minutes of music video awesomeness.

But of cos, if my blog entry is solely to introduce the video, it would be pointless. I writing this to show you something that would totally mindfuck you.

...So, just as you are halfway into the video, you can't stop yourself from going gaga over Gaga and Beyonce, and you reached this scene whereby shots of Beyonce in the bedroom is fading in and out...

OH WAIT PAUSE AT 6:29!!!

ZOMG WHAT THE HELL IS THAT???

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OMGOMGOMG...

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...still can't see it? Let me wash out the unimportant stuff:

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DO YOU SEE IT NOW???!!!
I am getting goosebumps even as I blog about it!

And to better mindfuck you, here's a enlarged pic of that eerie thing:

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(via fuckyeahladygaga)

***UPDATE***

Someone tweeted me this and I felt like I'd been punk'd!!!

Take a closer look at the outfit:

CHEEEEYYYYYY!!!

CNY, heavy-metal-fied.

2010-02-28T12:55:00.007+08:00

I always marvel at how creative agencies come up with ingenious campaigns and products. And this time round, Tribal DDB Singapore has one-up all the seasonal greetings I've seen.

How else to end this last day of the 15-day CNY festivity than to share with you guys this awesome CNY album produced by them?

If you haven't heard of the songs inside, you'd probably give me that condescending look and wonder what crappy and annoying dong-dong-chang songs they are.

These songs may have the usual CNY tunes, but they are creatively remixed in the heavy metal style by local Chinese band, Evil Singing Pandas.

The leather-studded CD jacket should give you a hint how serious they are with this heavy metal concept!

Even the logo is a clear fusion of the tiger image and the "rocker" hand sign!

So ingenious of them to incorporate the theme of this year of the metal tiger - which comes only every 60 years according to the Chinese calculations! I was totally blown off by their creativity. In fact, I already had the songs in my iTunes waaaaay before the kind folks from Tribal DDB sent it to me!

Love love love the detail they put into the packaging!

What did you know? I can even get my fortune told by just turning it to my chinese zodiac! Cool shit!

And the awesomeness doesn't stop there. Visit the website yearofthemetaltiger.com and you'll be able to play their cool interactive game!

You can either play it with your webcam or keyboard, obviously the former will be hell lot more fun! You can download the songs for yourself too!

Hope you all will have a Happy Rocking CNY! ...and thanks Tribal DDB Singapore for this awesome album! :)

A little of Langkawi...

2010-02-26T09:00:00.001+08:00

Here are a quick pick of a few shots from Langkawi. Love love love the prime lens!

Will be blogging about this trip after I'm done publishing the piling overdue posts.

No, don't hold your breath.

Langkawi!

2010-02-21T08:00:00.000+08:00

I'm heading off to Langkawi for a relaxing looooong weekend!

Actually saying that it's going to be "relaxing" is a tad incorrect. I heard the itinerary is packed with hiking, snorkeling, waterfall and whatnot! I do hope I come back in one piece! :P

Anyway, here's a picture of the "behind-the-scenes" of the make.believe advert that I thought you might be interested!

...sometimes I really baffle myself with the amount of effort & creative juices I put into individual blog posts!

Making Ideas & Dreams Real.

2010-02-18T23:50:00.004+08:00

Advertorial

......because Jayden is too busy to blog!!!

......after some Googling on it, Jayden found out that it is Sony's new global brand message!

...make-dot-believe!!! Here's the interesting bits!

...isn't this new branding so ingenious?! Sony's spirit of creativity and ability to turn ideas into reality!

Contest #1: “Dot Your Dream”
Share your dreams and aspirations with the netizens! Simply submit your dream according to any of the 4 categories of 'music', 'movie', 'gaming' or 'technology'.

Winner of this contest will get up to $100,000 worth of sponsorship from Sony to realize his/her dream!!!

Contest #2: Photo Contest
All you photography-enthusiasts!!! Send in your photo entries to this contest and...

Winners will be made fan photographers at World Cup SA 2010 to have the chance of a lifetime shooting top football stars in action at the side of pitch!!

...pssst! You can enter in both of the contests!!!

Click here to find out more!

Well, if you were to ask me what's my dream, and if I were to take part in the "Dot Your Dream" contest...

...I would ask Sony to fly me to meet LADY GAGA IN PERSON! Photo opportunity, personalise my collection of her CDs, anything and everything! I would even DIY something avant-garde and get Sony to bribe her with the money to wear it! OOH-LA-LA!

What's your dream??? Share it with me by commenting below!

Roar roar roar ah ah!

2010-02-14T14:42:00.000+08:00

Once again, an impromptu decision worked its magic! Feeling bored at home yesterday night, I asked Fab if he wanted to head down to Chinatown. It was already 11pm when I called him!

So we were changing trains at Outram Park when it was 5 minutes to midnight. Fab suggested we should get out of the station and walk to Chinatown instead so that we won't miss the countdown and fireworks!

True enough, just as we got out of the station, we heard "3... 2... 1!!!" and the fireworks came on.

The crowd was insane! It was especially chaotic at cross junctions, people were just pushing and forcing their way through.

Here's us trying to camwhore despite being pushed around! Ha!

But it was also my first time squeezing with the customary Chinese New Year crowd in Chinatown! Other than the sweaty bodies, it was actually kinda fun!

I'm not a big fan of CNY, but HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

May you be as feisty as the Tiger this year and hope it will be a ROARING good year ahead!

P/s: I bought this clothes-folding thingy there! WONDERFOLD! Hahaha!

For the love of Polaroid.

2010-02-13T15:00:00.005+08:00

In February 2008, Polaroid announced that the company has decided to gradually cease production and withdraw from instant film products completely in early 2009.

This shocking piece of news saw many instant film lovers frustrated, despaired and many desperately tried to get hold the very last few pieces of that iconic square format Polaroid films.

A group of Polaroid fanatics even set up a website called SavePolaroid.com in hopes to preserve this particular instant film that made Polaroid a household name.

However, the decisions were already made and eventually it became impossible to find the Polaroid 600 films in our local photo-shops anymore. Prices of these sparse films jacked up to as ridiculous as S$50 per box!

Like many others, I move on to Fujifilm Instax Mini to feed the addiction of Polaroids.

I like to call them mini Polaroids, but then again, these can never replace the good ol' square ones. It's hip to be square!

Some people laughed at me when I start snapping with Instax Mini. They often go, "Wah, now still got people use this kind of camera ah?"

I think the biggest misconception is that digital photography is the replacement for these instant stuff. When I'm using instant cameras, the intention is definitely not to replace the high quality product of digital - and people should never see it as so. It is just something special at times when I want something different.

Anyhoo, just as I indulged in all these Instax Mini madness, Polaroid announced in January that they hired Lady Gaga as creative director for a specialty line of Polaroid Imaging products!

It was then that we all knew something is cooking up in Polaroid!

And what do you know?! Alongside with The Impossible Project, Polaroid has announced it is going back to it’s roots, the instant camera!!!

"Supported by a strategic relationship with Summit Global Group, a longtime Polaroid partner, and The Impossible Project, the manufacturer of classic film for Polaroid film cameras, Polaroid will offer a completely redesigned, modern version of the Polaroid OneStep camera, the PIC 1000. The PIC 1000 will be available in a range of fun colors and use classic Polaroid Color 600 Instant Film to produce the brand’s classic white border instant pictures. The Polaroid Color 600 Instant Film will work with both classic and new Polaroid cameras and will be offered in packs of 10 pictures. The new classic PIC 1000 camera and instant color film will be available at national retailers in 2010. -Polaroid Press Release"

The cameras should go on sale this year. They will have flash, red-eye reduction and even a self timer, and come in wood-effect or blobby silver. Price TBA.

I can't wait to get my hands on it! Better yet if they could release special Lady Gaga edition of PIC1000!

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!

Polaroid news via wired.com

The waaaay overdue entry.

2010-02-09T09:00:00.003+08:00

If I have the chance to be ambassador of a quote, it has got to be "Better late than never." How else to blog about christmas eve, than to do it almost 2 months later? - Yes, only here at jayleif.blogspot.com!

Okay, I'm kidding. In fact, I do feel a little ridiculous writing blog entries like this that are overdue for so long.

So last year's christmas eve had a bunch of people with an impromptu idea of a decent christmas eve dinner together. We had absolutely no plans prior, so it was kinda crazy trying to find a place that wasn't fully booked - in less than 24 hours!

Thankfully, Brad the foodie was very resourceful and we found ourselves at a fancy Vietnamese restaurant, Nuoc. It's located right at the rooftop of Orchard Central! We dined amidst the view of the roof garden and we could even catch an awesome view of the city if we step outside.

Yes, our outfits were planned! We're dressed in monochrome because our fashion bloggers are Monoxious.com! :D

Needless to say, camwhoring is definitely mandatory with bloggers around.

The battle never ends! LOL

I'm wearing Monoxious' DIY of Maison Michel Bunny Ears! Click the link to see how they ingeniously gave a tutorial on making it!

Next stop of the night was Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel and we stuffed ourselves crazy with humongous burgers!

This is also where we did our christmas gift-exchange!

I don't know how, but I managed to squeeze time out to make these cards for them.

It was quite hectic actually, I was drawing until the very minute before preparing to come out. And you might have noticed, only Arissa's card has got 3 snowflakes! LOL! I didn't have time to add for the others!

Oh, Arissa and I brought our Instax Minis along and we went trigger happy with it!

Both of us has got the same full-white ones!

Brad was shooting Valerie and Dawn in the "number" poses...

...when I decided to jump in. And here's the result of it...

LOL WECANHASCUTEASIANPOSES!

We toasted and wished each other "Merry Christmas" when it hit midnight, though we weren't exactly sure whose watch was accurate! Haha!

Thank you Fabian, Valerie, Brad, Arissa & Dawn for making it such a wonderful and memorable christmas eve! Definitely one of the best ones I've ever had! Erm......... Merry Christmas to you guys?! (HAHAHA! Point proven how ridiculous overdue blog entries can be!)

P/s: Photo credits to Brad & Val because the lazy ass me didn't bring my LX3 along!

Turning 21, again.

2010-02-04T11:15:00.000+08:00

Wow it feels good to turn 21 again! HAHAHA!

I know my blog is practically dead. No thanks to you-know-what and my iPhone! Haha! I think Twitter chips in as well! I really need to delegate more time for blogging!

Well, fear not my little monsters, cos I've already scheduled a handful of blog posts to come! AND I'M ORD-ING SOOOOOOOOON!!!

And for a more regular update of me, follow me on Twitter!

I'll have everything gaga-fied, thanks.

2010-02-02T19:31:00.004+08:00

Just when you thought the "Lady Gaga's Christmas Album" was hilarious as hell...

Check out this lower budget parody of Poker Face...
...CHINESE NEW YEAR VERSION!!!

恭－恭－恭－恭喜你,
恭－恭－恭喜你！

Just in time for the CNY mood huh?

An addiction.

2010-01-30T09:00:00.001+08:00

This is only the 4th blog post since the start of the year, totally shooting myself in the foot.

Truth be told, I'm not really THAT busy. I'm just really addicted to Gagarin - my iPhone!

And here's my current high-score for Bad Romance on Tap Tap 3:

Hi, my name is Jayden and I am an addict.

High time to exercise some self discipline, Jayden!

Finally!

2010-01-29T12:11:00.010+08:00

I'm feeling so uneasy that I have to write something to calm my nerves. Or distract myself from thinking about it.

Been sitting here for about an hour now, because my smart ass instructor planned the lesson with a two-hour gap before the test. Ate breakfast and drank coffee in attempt to smoothe the tensed mind. Which doesn't help at all. The tingling chill in my body gets worse by the minute as the clock ticked away.

The next wave of chills were sent down my spine when I saw that tester who failed me in the previous test. Better not get him this time round. Not quite sure of my luck today. Let's hope it'll be a lenient guy plus smooth traffic and let my skills work the magic.

Fingers crossed.

Gobbled down a bottle of water and peed. Not sure if it is just me or the air conditioning got colder, but I'm shivering a little now.

Moved outside to get a breather and the much needed heat. Spotting the anxious faces walking into the centre. Funny how this day could mean so much to each of us, while it is just another mundane working day for the testers.

I wished I could do something to double my chances of passing though. Like wearing low cut or short skirts. But the testers look anything but gay. Hmm... I wonder if bribery works.

Alright, time is almost up. Moving back into ice chamber and await the final judgement.

Good luck dude. Bring home the good news.

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Think I don't need to state the obvious that I wrote that during the wait for my driving test. Well, you know what? I passed it on the 2nd time with a whooping 10 points! Vast difference from the 34 points in the earlier one!

FINALLY! I don't have to face my annoying instructor anymore! I think I'm super ungrateful because I totally forgot about him after I've gotten my results. He had to go around the driving centre to find me!

But nonetheless, I owe it to him. His "guarantee" of his students passing within the first two tries indeed was true! Well, if you're keen to get his contact, do let me know! (He teaches in Bukit Gombak) But you have been forewarned that he is irritating to the core when it comes to teaching!

And he calls me by my chinese name but always get it wrong! He says Jian(3rd tone) LIANG, when my name is Jian(4th tone) LONG, even when I corrected him so many times! Annoying or not?!

I wasn't confident of passing, so naturally I didn't prepare any photo for the application of license. Between having to go back to BBDC yet AGAIN, and looking like a drug addict, I chose the latter. Hell, no one will look at my license anyway!

So yeah, I can officially drive now. Time to take a trip to down to Queenstown area soon!

What happened in 2009?

2010-01-13T03:05:00.003+08:00

With that earlier emo-nemo post down, I can finally write here in a lighter mood. So here's the obligatory recap of last year's happenings:

rock climbed & shot air rifle for the very first time
turned into a legal adult
had a psychedelic birthday party
met Yasmin Ahmad for the very first & last time :(
went to Hong Kong (the win from Nuffnang vpost contest)
did my first ever videography for an event coverage
beaten probably all the "Jaydens" in the world by snatching the facebook vanity url, facebook.com/jayden
got selected to take part in the Tangs Blogathon
won a N97 with my entry via Nuffnang's Nokia Comes With Music contest
bought tix to Stefanie Sun's concert
WATCHED GAGA LIVE!!! zomg i can finally die happily
watched Beyonce live!!!
got selected to be part of a Puma & F1 campaign
revamped the blog design
emerged as finalist for Nuffnang Blog Awards ...but never win :((
won the video category for Nuffnang Blog Awards, thanks to the team's effort
bought the jesus phone (another reason to die happily)
spent an awesome xmas eve with 5 other gorgeous people
had an more-than-awesome time in Bangkok! ...and fell in love with the land of a thousand smiles

Well, that's about it and here's a very cool mash-up of last year's top 25 hits!

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNzrwh2Z2hQ

5 MORE MONTHS TO ORD! WAHAHA!!!

Jayden is a big fat liar.

2010-01-06T08:00:00.003+08:00

It's the beginning of a pristine new year, and yet, what I am about to do now is to write an emo blog entry.

I would love to post up all the festive photos and write interesting/funny entries for your entertainment sake, but I can't proceed without letting a little of my true emotions out.

I wanted to stop blogging, well, at least on this high profile blog. And that was the umpteenth time I am making (but not following through) the same old decision.

It ain't no publicity stunt to gain readers, but it is really getting old. I'm getting sick of myself going back on my words over and over again. This time round, I was pretty serious about it, and even set up a new blog. I had even written a blog entry already.

I also went to the extend of informing people that I am stopping this blog and won't be dealing with any more blogosphere-related stuff like blog-advertising;
- dropped out of an advertorial halfway,
- told a PR company not to send me the products that they wanted me to try out,
- rejected advertisement deals,
- and not forgetting telling my close friends that I'm not going to write here anymore.

But the same as every other time I made the decision, I began to wonder if it was a wise decision and started to regret it.

There are a lot of factors that cause me to have the dire need to cease blogging. Can't really write everything down here, but well, what can I say is, I'm a very emotional and an extremely self-conscious person. The slightest emotional breakdown will trigger me to close this blog. More so in recent times as I had been enlisted into the army. My hatred for the National Service system is relentless, but that is another story for another day. Point is, at times I was so emotional that I started to conceive suicidal thoughts.

In the downward spiral, closing down the blog doesn't seemed to be of such a big issue.

Nonetheless, when I eventually snapped out of it, I realised things would have had happened differently if I take them on with a different attitude. I shouldn't just get into another of my "SIGH! I WANT TO QUIT BLOGGING" episode just because I am feeling down.

Hopefully with the coming of age, I'll be able to get a better grasp of myself. Please ignore me if I EVER tell you I want to quit blogging again.

So yes, I'm a big fat liar. I said I am quitting but I'm not. My apologies if I'd caused any inconvenience to anyone.

P/s: If you are keen, here's the link to the supposed new blog.

สวัสดีปีใหม่

2010-01-02T17:25:00.005+08:00

2009 has been a year which I turned 21.

...AND FEEL OLD AND COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE.

Kidding.

Too much happening, too little time. Blog another time! Happy 2010 and have a great year ahead!

While I'm gone...

2009-12-26T10:00:00.005+08:00

By the time you read this blog post, I'll be in Bangkok with Fabian, Nadia, Nadia's BF & Victor, and shopping the hell out of it! Hope we don't get robbed or something! *CHOOOOOIII*

Anyway, I've been taking alot of random videos using my LX3. And well, the reason for getting it was largely due to its awesome HD video function. You can't ask for anything more with such a great function in a handy point-and-shoot camera.

I enjoyed shooting the random scenes so much so that before long, there's a substantial amount of video clips for me to put them together.

Here's the result of a quick 5 min editing + a random choice of piano piece:

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFtlHhfz_lQ

I won't blame you for getting bored after the first 10 seconds, it's supposed to be totally random and mean nothing at all.

The only "meaningful" thing that I realised after finishing the video, is that it starts from a dawn scene and moved into a night scene at the end of the video. Kinda cool 'cos I didn't plan that before hand at all!

I'll see if I can try to make this into a yearly thing!

Alright, until I come back from BKK, HAPPY HOLIDAYS YOU GUYS!

P/s: Do follow me on Twitter at @jayleif if you wanna catch my adventures over there!

Merry the Christmas!

2009-12-25T19:36:00.001+08:00

This year's Christmas is gonna be one of the most memorable ones! Just had an awesome eve dinner with Brad, Valerie, Arissa, Dawn & Fabian last night, and I'm gonna be in Bangkok in less than 24 hours' time!

I'm rushing to pack for the BKK trip so if you wannna read about our awesome albeit impromptu dinner, head over to Brad's and Valerie's blog! *UPDATE* Monoxious updated with a beautiful post too!

Thanks Adam for these delicious xmas cookies!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

That night's a good, good night.

2009-12-23T17:41:00.003+08:00

Here are the videos from the rocking night!

Click here to watch it on Facebook if it's too laggy over here!

And if you're a fan of Beyoncé, here's Queen B for you!!! Click to view!

An upbeat version of Destiny Child's classic - Say My Name

Single Ladies

Dance performance of Video Phone! Hot stuff!

Queen B singing Halo in tribute to the late Michael Jackson
and an awesome closing speech!

Of the B & the peas.

2009-12-22T06:28:00.003+08:00

This is a pretty loooong photo-collage blog entry! You have been warned! Anyhow, I finally got the kick to edit the photos taken when I was at F1 Rocks! Please enjoy the effort I took to make this! :D

Videos from the concert are coming up in the next blog entry! Stay tuned! :D

P/s: Please comment on the 2nd comment link!! (i.e., the one closer to the speech bubble) I'm currently porting over the comments from the fuckadilly Haloscan who decided to screw things up by turning into a paid service with only 15 days notice!!!

To mask or not to mask?

2009-12-18T18:30:00.000+08:00

If my memory serves me well, I've worked in Gmask for about a year and then Skinjam for another. Both are gadget-skinning business with very similar expertise, but the latter is no longer in Singapore.

Therefore, my experience from wrapping/skinning the gadgets are what I based on as I write this blog entry.

Here are pointers to look out for if you're considering to skin your stuff.

#1. Not all gadgets are suitable for skinning.
By far, Apple products are the best for wrapping/skinning due to their minimal design and lack of intricate joining points. Can't exactly recall which devices are difficult to wrap/skin, but they are those that have irregular surfaces, and weird "joining lines".

Also, the material of your device plays a huge role in terms of the durability of the skin. Most surfaces are okay, but those that are too smooth or textured will hasten the process of the skin "shrinking". The "shrinking" process is inevitable, it is only how fast and how bad is the shrinkage.

Here's my iPhone skinned last Sunday and already showing signs of "shrinking":

#2. By skinning, you are cutting ON the phone.
I have come to terms with it already, but just so you know, unless the person skinning your gadget is a Shaolin Kungfu master, cutting ON the phone is unavoidable.

No, I'm not talking about careless mistakes of the knife going out of course. But unlike how the staff usually claim that they are "cutting in the air", more often than not, the knives are sliding along the joining lines. Here's an illustration to describe it:

Nothing is perfect, so the claim of the process of "cutting in the air" is a tad far fetched - even for the most skilled wrapper/skinner.

Don't know to thank my experience or not, but I already found those lines that are not supposed to be there.

I feel the heartache. But, I have managed to convince myself that it is a small sacrifice for a almost perfect protection. Another illustrative description:

#3. Results may vary.
There are so many Gmask outlets and there are so many staff around. Everyone has gone through the training phrase BUT the almost perfected skills still vary from one staff to another.

If you'd previously skinned at Gmask and you think it was a job well done, do take note of who was the one who did it. It's always safer to keep going back to the same person you "trust". It's a little like finding the perfect hairstylist.

#4. To err is human.
Apart from the skill level of a staff, you'll have to understand that he/she is only human. And human make mistakes. So if you can, make the perfect situation for him/her to get the perfect results (or minimal mistakes).

- Don't rush him/her to finish it within a time frame.
- Not advisable to go during peak hours. There'll be more devices for them to do and sometimes when it gets too busy, he/she might tend to try to finish each device faster, hence a rush job.
- Please, don't stay and stare at him/her doing it. It's rude and it's distracting.

#5. Taking care of the wrap.
Getting your device wrapped/skinned doesn't mean it's invincible against everything. After all, it's just a thin piece of plastic. Scratching it (hard) with your nails WILL cause marks. Remember, it is resistant, not proof!

#6. The designs do fade, fast.
It actually depends on how you take care of the wrap/skin. But ultimately it fades. Especially those corners that is needed to be stretch during the wrapping/skinning process.

This is Fabian's laptop:

It was wrapped/skinned 3 years ago and send for laptop servicing once. And it is still looking great.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is his iPod nano done 2 years ago:

Just in case you think the design is like that, No. It was originally vibrant green stripes.

Although laptop skins are thicker and therefore will be more lasting, it shows how human handling of the wrapped/skinned devices can affect the durability of it.

So before you listen to hearsay about how bad (or how good) Gmask is, this are the factors you should consider when Gmasking.

All hail the Jesus Phone

2009-12-17T08:00:00.001+08:00

YES! After so much hemming and hawing, I've finally gotten the iPhone!

Couldn't get it any earlier because my contract's under M1 for the longest time ever and also, getting a camera phone during NS is out of question. But well, I'm still 6 months(GOSH! TIME FLIES!) till ORD though.

So when I heard M1's bringing in iPhone, my reaction was, "ABOUT TIME?!" and got mine reserved via the website.

I might sound like a douche to those who have been using iPhone since it came out, but I don't care! ICANHASANIPHONENAOOOOOOO!!!

Having using it for a few days now, I thought to myself, "WTF am I thinking of when I even considered getting a Blackberry OR an iPhone?!"

The iPhone vs. BB war is seriously over-hyped. I'm aware how our blogger queen is constantly bashing Apple stuff, especially so on the iPhone after she has gotten a Blackberry, BUT, I don't get it. No, I'm not starting a war over here. Personally, I just feel Blackberry cannot match up to iPhone's awesomeness.

I don't want to bash Blackberry, but you've got to be blind if you say that it is chioer(more beautiful) than iPhone in terms of form factor.

image by fonearena.com

But then again, I shan't be too quick to judge because this is really a 'to each his/her own' thing. For me, I really adore the slick design of the iPhone. Blackberry on the other hand just looks like any other smartphones with the QWERTY keypad.

I could go on and on about how "cool" iPhone is, but if there's only one thing that I would say about it that (I feel) triumphs over any other phone, is that it doesn't feel like a phone when you're using it.

Prior to getting it, I'd actually been playing around with my friends' berries (sounds wrong LOL), and although I do agree BB is a very nifty smartphone, it only felt like I'm using yet another very good mobilephone. iPhone on the other end, has got this user-experience that gets me addicted.

It is like a device that came from year 3000 in the future that has been brought waaaaay forward(or is it backwards?!) for us to use.

Then again, you can say I'm totally bias towards it because I think it's "cool" to own an iPhone - akin to how some kids think it's "cool" to smoke. But if there is anything to blame at all, it should be the snobbish iPhone users and NOT the phone itself.

Went to Gmask to skin the phone straight after purchase. And that's the design I sort of randomly picked just because it was the only one with lightning bolts in it. I'll be writing abit more on the skinning in my next blog entry.

Oh and the most ridiculous buy of the year is this:

$55 for 6 socks. It's the fanboy in me that made the decision.

So with all that, you can call me an Apple-snob or whatever you want, but I'm happily addicted to my iPhone. My life is now complete.

P/s: And just so you know, I named my iPhone "Gagarin".

The Wowest Podcast in Singapore

2009-12-11T14:50:00.001+08:00

I've been listening to The Shareen & Joe Show for quite awhile now. I happened to chance upon it when I followed our emcee, @JoeAugustin (on Twitter), during the Tangs Blogathon.

It's a podcast dubbed as "Real People, Real Stories." Well, it's essentially Shareen & Joe talking about anything under the sun. The combo of these two witty ex-deejays is highly entertaining and the podcast is probably one of the funniest in Singapore!

My only complain about it? The recent revised length of the podcast is too short! I need MORE for my daily fix of the podcast!!! Haha!

Well, guess what?!
They mentioned yours truly in today's episode (click here to listen)!!!

It's actually about the comments that I left on Wednesday's episode - about the Shareen's wowed reaction (literally) towards Joe's story of "the ultimate sex doll".

Didn't expect them to put that into the show! It's damn funny to hear their reaction, about my reaction! HAHAHA!

Anyway, do listen to them by subscribing to "The Shareen and Joe Show" on iTunes or via their website!

Chameleon is here.

2009-12-05T23:25:00.001+08:00

Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon
You come and go
You come and go

Post Hiatus

2009-12-05T10:00:00.001+08:00

I took a self-proclaimed hiatus from my blog after the blog awards. Needed one badly, so I MIA-ed from twitter for a week and over here for almost a month until now.

In fact, what I am looking at, is to close down this blog. And for that matter, I've already told a handful of people I'm not going to write anymore over here. Kinda giving a tight slap on myself now that I'm still doing so. Well, I'll explain my intentions on a later date.

For now, I'm setting up my portfolio website and alongside doing up a design blog (and maybe a new lower profile blog?). So I'll still be hanging out here for awhile since the blogging bug is back.

Something is cooking up.

On another note, christmas came early for mua!!! Can't thank Pat enough for this awesome Nike track jacket!!! (that I heard is not even in stalls yet!)

Since we're on the topic of christmas, can someone please help me tell Santa my wishlist?

1. NOOKA ZIRC Watch
2. NOOKA STRIP Belt
3. PORTER Messenger Bag
4. CANON 7D
5. iPhone
6. 27-inch iMac
7. Ferrero Rochers
8. Ferrero Rochers
9. FERRERO ROCHERS
10. FREAKING FERRERO ROCHERS!!!

Holga camera GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-11-10T00:41:00.013+08:00

Quick question: What does Holga Lomo camera, iPhone 3GS and Nintendo Wii all have in common?

Answer: Any one of it could be YOURS if you take part in SG Tidbits 365 contest!!!

It is a Singapore Discovery Centre initiative and they are having a contest (till 31st Dec) with those awesome prizes for you to win, just by submitting a photo or video with bite sized captions to showcase an interesting or fun fact about Singapore.

That's that...
BUT I'VE GOT MORE FOR YOU!

.
.
.
.
.
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In conjunction with the above mentioned SG Tidbits 365 contest, I'm running a mini contest over here too! You get to win this awesome white Holga 135BC camera! *Terms and conditions apply.

Here's how!
Step 1: Guess where the 2 photos below were taken
You can find the answers at SG Tidbits 365 website. You might need to do a little hunting among the growing submissions there.

Step 2: Submit with the form below
You will need to fill in the form below this post with your particulars and answers. If there are more than 1 person with correct answers submitted, a random draw will be conducted to pick the winner.

Step 3: Wait for my email
Wait for my email in your mailbox between 24 Nov to 30 Nov. I will be contacting the winner via email. Winner will have to collect the prize in person at the stipulated date, time and venue, which will be given in the winning notification email.

Location #1 :

Clue: The old Port of Singapore.

Location #2 :

Clue: You can find the grave belonging to the late Major General, Mr Lim Bo Seng here.

Submit your answers here!
Loading...

Terms and Conditions
1. All submissions have to be submitted by 2359 on 22 Nov 2009 using the Google Form found in this blog post.
2. Each participant may submit up to three entries but only one entry with both correctly identified locations will stand a chance to win.
3. The winner will be determined via lucky draw from all participants with correct entries.
4. Each winner is only eligible to win ONE prize from this contest.
5. The winner has to collect the prize in person on the stipulated date, time and venue, which will be revealed in the winning notification email.
6. The prize cannot be transferred, negotiated nor exchanged. Only the prizewinner and not any other person or agent, may claim the prize. 24seven, and its partners for this contest, reserves the right to use the winner’s name, picture and information for publicity purposes, including but not limited to print, broadcast and online media.

This will be running from today till 22nd Nov. So start searching for the answers now!

Psst... Location #1 is a giveaway lor! Can it get anymore obvious than that?!

The Red Carpet

2009-11-08T23:59:00.004+08:00

I shan't bore you with the winners list or blog about how the event went. You'd prolly read it on the other 80,000 nuffnangers' blogs. So here are the pictures!!!

Sorry if I'd unintentionally left you out of the "red carpet"! By the time I edited until Ming & Tim, I was like, OMG THIS IS NEVER-ENDING, GOT TO STOP NOW!!! (read: lazy)

Nonetheless, here are some more photos for your perusal.

Getting ready at Fabian's house.

Jayden is wearing a tophat. Your argument is invalid.

Alton & my stick! Sounds wrong... LOL

This is my FAVOURITEST photo! Don't cha feel so youthful just by looking at it?! ^^

With the big guys from Pringles!

They just luuurve my STICK, don't they? HAHAHA!

LX3 galore!

That's it! KTHXBAI!

Pardon me

2009-11-08T12:43:00.001+08:00

...while I iron out the issues with the exploded bandwidth.

On a brighter side,
My blog looks funky now, doesn't it?

E-Voucher extended!

2009-11-06T12:00:00.000+08:00

Advertorial

So did you went to take photo with Dai Yang Tian & Elvin Ng??? ...if you have no idea what I'm talking about, please refer to my earlier advertorial post!

Anyway, a piece of good news for you! The earlier e-voucher redemption has been extended!

Click to access the print version:

It is now redeemable at all Hello stores till 30th Nov! What are you waiting for?!

Jeng Jeng Jeng

2009-11-05T23:59:00.004+08:00

...I don't really know what the title means, but it keeps appearing on blog posts about Nuffnang Blog Awards. Anyone care to explain?

A part of me felt like I'd let you guys down. Hoping that I could present to all of you (who had ardently took part in the voting process like it's your own competition) something in return of your effort, but no - I didn't make it.

At best, it is just THANK YOU, THANK YOU & THANK YOU. Thanks to all of you who believed in me and voted religiously, though you'd most probably cursed me for wasting a whole lot of your time clicking away.

I must say that I was pleasantly taken aback by Xiaxue's very, very gracious deed of "sharing" the Best Original Blog Design award with me. I swore my eyes dilated with delight when I heard my name being mentioned. I can't even remember what exactly she was saying. All I knew was, I kept nodding and mouthing "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" to her.

Awesome trophies - for me not.

Nonetheless, I, or should I say - WE, managed to bagged a whooping $5K with that zombie flick of ours.

Definitely, it wouldn't have made possible without the amazing crew behind it, so I'd thought that this second version of the above photograph deemed better:

Truth be told, though logically $5000 was a lot more "worth it" than a glass memento, I would rather give the money up for the title. It's like an honorary thing, you know?

So I've made my thank-you speech, where do I begin to blog about the event?

Right, my two outfits!

Didn't realise some of you were waiting for it till my blogger friends nudged me for the blog post on my outfits. So here you go!

Outfit #1: The Willy Wonka-inspired look.

Tophat, checked.
Trenchcoat, checked.
Bowtie, checked.
Walking(?) stick, checked.

Not a exact replica, but you can read how I came about this idea over here.

Btw, is that considered a trenchcoat? I'm not too sure, but you wouldn't believe me if I were to tell you that I bought it at the Salvation Army thrift shop. $21 after an unexpected 30% discount on the already cut-rate price.

However, it didn't exactly came like that though. The bottom of the coat was tailored by my fashion designer friend, Suzsu!

Here's a clearer view of the bottom hemp:

And of cos, the awesome disco stick that I DIY-ed.

Once again, you would not believe that the metal pole was actually the handle of a mop - $3.90. But that discoball is not self made lah! It happened to be lying around in my room and I figured that it would come to good use rather than collecting dust at a corner.

So, in the metal pole goes. *does a suggestive moan* And voila! My very own disco stick!

Outfit #2: The "normal" black-tie event look.

Thank you very much, I love my "gravity-defying hair" (quoted from Fashion Nation!) :D

It was rather painful on the wallet though. The inner black shirt (outfit#1) from Top Man, the shoes from Pedro & the top hat from 4skin are all new!

And also, the new iris-enlarging contact lenses. Struggled initially cos it was a good five or six years ago when I last put contacts on. But all the time & effort proved to be worth it when my eyes looked like I was perpetually liquifying them.

Okay, I'm actually done with the editing of the rest of the photos taken during the event. But I think I shan't flood them here at one go. More often than not, you will simply scroll all the way down to look at the photos and skipped whatever I've written.

I KNOW COS I DO THAT TOO.

So, UH-AH. Thou shalt read over and over again until I post up the photos in the next entry!!!

"I" to the "N" to the "Q"

2009-10-30T06:39:00.004+08:00

Advertorial

Remember the contest I hosted on my blog last month? No, I haven't run away with your prizes! In fact, I'm here to announce the winners!

Here are all the winners who took part via the 10 bloggers!

Sparklette.net - Wei Wen
Nadnut.com - Sharonchow21
Jayleif.blogspot.com - Naqib
Lawrencewong.net - Aaron Peng
Krisandro.com - Musxzart
Techielobang.com - Zorana
Simplyjean.com - Mango Tan
Litford.wordpress.com - Yin
Holly-‐jean.blogspot.com - Tiger
Hpility.blogspot.com - Ferlyn

And the grand prize winner of S$500 Cash goes to...
Sparklette.net - Daphne

Besides that, INQ Mini 3G will be having its second roadshow this weekend at Plaza Singapura from 11am to 10pm. And this time, they're giving out even better deals when you purchase your INQ Mini 3G at the roadshow.

Simply print out the e-voucher below and redeem the following when you buy the phone during the roadshow:

1. Free pack of 3 INQ Mini 3G battery covers (worth $34.95)
2. Waiver of registration fee and SIM card charge (worth $42.80) when you sign up for the INQ Mini 3G handset

While you're there, don't miss the chance to catch Mediacorp celebrity, Dai Yang Tian and Elvin Ng at 8pm! They'll be there to meet you and you can grab the chance to take photos with them!

Get your cameras ready for these heartthrobs!

Did I mention that there will be a lucky draw too for anyone who purchases the INQ Mini 3G during the roadshow?! One winner each day will be picked to win a 12-month SingTel mobile subscription!

This is definitely an opportunity not to miss if you have been eyeing on the INQ Mini 3G phone!

Click to access the print version of the e-voucher!

This is it!

2009-10-23T13:28:00.002+08:00

No, please don't mistake the blog entry title for Michael Jackson's concert-turned-movie. Tonight's Nuffnang Regional Blog Awards! Definitely very excited to meet all the bloggers from all walks of life and from the different countries!

Don't really know what to expect but hopefully everything will turn out fine.

Anyway, a little onto my outfits for tonight since I've been raving about them on Twitter for the past week!

So when I know that I'm gonna attend this event and especially after hearing how Ming and Huiwen described that it is going to be damn glamourous for it being a black-tie event, I had only one thing in mind - The outfit must look akin to what celebs would wear to the award shows.

Googled for pictures of male celebs on red carpets, and to my dismay...

...A SEA OF BLACK!

Didn't expect formal events for the guys to be so boring! So with that in mind, I'd already come up a set of outfit for the night. It's definitely safe, not over-the-top but looking glam & all suited up.

The only lacking thing for that outfit was the shoe though, so during one of the weekends I went to hunt for one. While doing that, I saw a pretty nice looking top hat and went to try it on.

It fits me so nicely that got me thinking, "Hey! Maybe I should wear this to the awards night!"

But the hat didn't really fit the outfit that I'd already prepared, so I was hesitating whether to get it or not. Then the idea of having two outfits struck me! Why not something more dramatic for an extra outfit?!

One thought after another, and I thought maybe I could go in a look inspired by Willy Wonka!

That's actually an idea derived from Lady Gaga!

If you're a fan, you'd definitely know that all her six outfits for the VMAs are inspired by Alice in Wonderland!

DARN COOL RIGHT?!

So getting an outfit inspired by a fiction character, it was another huge hunt - for the perfect trench coat!

Looking for the trenchcoat wasn't that tough afterall, but I was left with the stick that Willy Wonka held...

...which looked a little off for such a glamourous event like this.

An idea stuck me again and I DIY-ed an AWESOME alternative to Willy Wonka's stick!
But I'm not going to reveal it here just yet!

You'll get to see it later tonight if you're attending, or much later, when I blog about it!

...psst! Or you can follow me on Twitter! I'm @jayleif and I might just twitpic about it during the event tonight!!!

That's it! Wish me good luck okay!!!

Where are all the male blogshops?

2009-10-19T06:05:00.005+08:00

I'm almost done with getting my outfits (YESSSS! If nothing goes wrong, I will have two) for Nuffnang APAC Blog Awards. But since I've not found my ideal inner top shirt, I'm turning to blogshops for help!

Similar to the problem shopping outside, the ratio of guys stuff to ladies is like 1:10.

So I asked on Twitter if anyone knows of any male blogshops, and suddenly there was an influx of URLs! Well, good stuff are meant to be shared so I've decided to list down the blogshops for anyone that has similar issues trying to find guys stuff online!

I believe the list is made up of locally set up blogshops, somehow, I feel they are faster and more reliable in a sense?

The BlackDog Store - I personally visit this blogshop every now & then and it's the only one that I could remember off hand. I find their items rather unique and stylish!

Modparade - More of a female blogshop but they carry cool male apparels too. But can someone get the model to smile or something? The face very kian-pah.

GTCY - Don't really fancy their stuff but they are said to be "mainly imported from Korea, Japan and Taiwan".

Disapprovalfashion. - Plugging for a friend, Alfred! I love the stuff there 'cos they are mainly S size!

Access-ed - Spotted a few cool graphic tees. And there are nice shorts too (but pssst, Bugis Street sells as cheap as $8 per piece).

hiscupoftee - Mainly graphic tees. Nice alternative to Threadless, but not very sure about the sizes though 'cos they measure in inches.

Fred Perry Plimsoll - Fred Perry kicks for 20-50% cheaper than retail. What say you? I say YES, YES, YES! BUT do triple check the authenticity though.

knackforwords - Quite a unique range of items, and, to top it off? A rating meter for "uniqueness" on each piece of item. LOL

Suicidal Sense - Got a hunch that the stuff are all the impulse buys from the blogshop owner. Nevertheless, some high street brands items available over there.

UPDATES:
Altitude-Homme - Tons of cool jackets, shoes and shirts, and if I'm not wrong, they design their own t-shirts too!

StoneForGold - Accessories-centric blogshop. They also have cool add-ons for your old shoes to make them look like a new one!

DYXEL - Don't really fancy their stuff, but hey, the model's one of the Kiehl's Boys! Charming dude deserves a visit to the blogshop right? Haha!

Since I'm at fashion talk, I'm going to blog about XSQUAD's opening soon! So, stay tuned!

P/s: If you know of more blogshops for guys, do leave a comment with the URL, I would like to expand this list if possible!

Behind the Zombielious Scenes

2009-10-17T11:08:00.000+08:00

Alright, first and foremost, I would like to thank all of you guys who have voted religiously for me! Fate of winning or not has already been determined and we'll just have to wait till the awards night!

Anyhoo, let me get to the main point of this blog entry. Yes, it is going to be about the Pringles Krrunch video, and more of what you don't get to see in that two and a half minutes of action. Gotta warn you first though, it's gonna be a photo-intensive entry!

It all started with me texting Audi if he's interested to work together to enter the Pringles video contest. He was very excited about it when I told him my ideas UNTIL he found out the dateline.

"When's the submission?" he asked.

"Oh, it's on the 11th," I replied nonchalantly.

"WHAT?! Isn't that like one and a half weeks from now? Are you crazy? Cannot lah!!!"

The next thing we knew, we were at Heeren talking discussing the storyboard!

That is Audi's illegible handwriting for you.

Storyline done. Storyboard done. ...the actors! And thankfully, Audi's resourceful enough to gather a bunch of friends to help out.

I had initially managed to get Peggy to star as the main lead! Unfortunately, she had to turn the role down last minute due to some personal commitment. If not, this zombie flick could actually become a hawt Tomb Raider-ish action flick!

Anyway, fast forward a few days, we were all on set, ready to shoot this zombielious video.

Here's the video taken on-set during lunch break!
I LOOK OMFGISH CHUI INSIDE THE VIDEO. PLEASE DON'T JUDGE HOR, YOURS TRULY ONLY SLEPT LIKE A FEW HOURS PRIOR!

We started at 10am so when it was lunch time, Fabian and Nick were kind enough to walk all the way out of the jungle to buy food and drinks for all of us!

Zomie eating chicken rice, bet you've never seen this scene before! Haha!

Oh, by now if you're wondering why there're like vast differences in the photos, well it is because some of them are my own edits and some are Audi's edits of the "production shots".

Make up's done by Gigi.

It's freaking awesome, isn't it?!

Looks like Jeff needs a "MTM treatment" pronto! Hahaha!

Our zombies are a tad too white, but well, we are not professionals! Still have got a lot more to learn in the future!

Now that our zombies are well fed, it's time for some action!

KENA HUNTER!

There are 3 main action "hype" in the video. Glass smashing, gun shots & the flying "ninja chip". And thanks to Audi's resourcefulness again, we actually have that kind sugar glass that people use in professional productions!

Awesome stuff!

Next up for the revolver gun shot scene, we had a *erm* conveniently placed *erm* dead police man. WHICH IS ME CAMEO-ING IN THE VIDEO! Sorry I'm shameless, but I had to find a way to be inside the video right?! MUAH HA HA.

I WILL HAUNT YOU IF YOU HATE ME!

If case you're wondering, yes, it's those old school Mediacorp gun shots! Sparks, smoke and bursting of blood packs! Not CGI okay!

On to the NINJA CHIP!

Well, for that, I'd came up with the idea to green screen a spinning Pringles chip and make it similar to the gun shots in The Matrix! Here's how we did it!

Video of spinning Pringles chip...

Chroma-keyed the greens away on After Effects.

HAAAAEEEEEEE-YAH! Flying ninja chip!

Jeff's a superb actor! I don't have to repeat how convincing is the main zombie right?! Mannnn, we should really star him in some serious role soon!

So anyway, the rain started to come in and we had to finish shooting asap. Thankfully, we're on our last scene (the funny zombies dancing one) and we quickly cleared up and managed a group photo!

Nick's missing though, he went to get Fabian's car to fetch us.

Looooooong walk out of the jungle!

But we're not done yet! After the actors and photographers went home, we washed up at Audi's place and headed back to my house to shoot the ninja chip clip and the Pringles tubes scene!

My grey wall rocks! :D

It's a wrap! And from there was intensive post production!

...and doing the trippy scene was just madness!

Well, for the last time, IT'S KRRUNCH TIME, GET PLAYFUL! :P

What did Jayden see?!

2009-10-10T10:41:00.003+08:00

Here's my submission for the Nuffnang Regional Blog Awards video contest!

This the "part 2" to the Krrunch-leidoscope video, which explains the psychedelic scene at the front!

Youtube link's here if it's laggy or you want to enjoy it on a bigger resolution!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD7qzjraupo

"Its Krrunch Time, Get Playful!"

Indulge in the Uniquely Sg experience

2009-10-09T06:02:00.002+08:00

If you were to ask me, I would say that I have a love-hate relationship with my own country. This place is great to live in, but, *in Singlish accent* DUH PEE-PER AHH HORRIGIBLE EEW KNOW!

Well, my hatred for its system and the people will be another story for another day. Put everything aside, the food has got to be the main reason why Singapore is irresistible.

image via Trends Updates

And if you can't find a reason to come here for a holiday, just simply think about the myriad choices of food you'll be able to find.

Funny thing is, though I'm not a food blogger, I'm always very hyped up whenever I'm blogging about food. Hell, my imaginary superheroes, Makan Man & Dessert Girl won me a laptop sometime ago!

So if I were to plan a perfect 1-day itinerary for a foreign friend, I'll make sure the friend indulges in so much good food that he/she doesn't feel like leaving this place!

Here's how it goes:
We'll kick off the day with the classic kopitiam style breakfast - The Kaya-Butter Toast with Soft Boiled Eggs and a fulfilling cup of Kopi!

I personally love the eggs from Ya Kun Kaya Toast - They have the biggest I've ever eaten.

If you're not yet satisfied with the breakfast, you can head over to Fandi Mona and Family food stall over at Haig Road Food Centre to try their Mutton Mee Rebus. Mmmm mmmm.

As recommended by ieatishootipost

What a hearty breakfast!

Next, for lunch, Prawn Noodles at Lavender Food Court.

...or Hainanese Chicken Rice

I like going to Chinatown or Far East Plaza for it. These two places have Chicken Rice of Boon Tong Kee's standard, but cheaper!

After lunch, head over to Tanjong Pagar Hawker Center to have some chilling Peanut Ice Kachang. Perfect for such a sunny afternoon!

Not enough? Grab a few Tutu Kueh from Bugis Street!

image via lemonshortbread

AND, for the awesome dinner, it has got to be the XO Crab Bee Hoon from Old Airport Road!

Well, if you are not quite done after dinner, I would definitely bring you to Wan Toh Sek, otherwise known as 126, at Geylang.

And with that, it completes a fulfilling day of food glorious food! OM NOM NOM! Okay, all these pics are making me hungry! Gotta go and grab something now!

"Indulge in the Uniquely Singapore EATING experience!"

Twitter is down...?

2009-10-08T23:59:00.000+08:00

No updates since like 2 hours ago. Meh. But it's kinda scary, isn't it? Like how our lives revolve so much around technology that if one day it suddenly disappears, we actually can't function properly.

Anyway, I'm still kinda busy with some stuff and hopefully I get to rest proper after the blog awards. Haven't been getting enough sleep, so here's my eyebags galore for your scrutiny.

Promise to blog about the overdue events soon!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR ME PLEASE!
It's the last 3 days before voting closes!!!

Its Krrunch Time, Get Playful!

2009-10-02T03:38:00.004+08:00

(please wait for the images to load if you're on a low bandwidth)

First up, the materials you'll need!

Step #01:
Cut the Pringles tube into 2 parts! One of it being about 1/5 of the length.

Step #02:
Cut the plastic mirror into 3 long parts that will fit nicely into the tube.

Step #03:
Slot the plastic mirror sheets into the tube and glue them down to secure them into place.

Step #04:
Cut the base off from the smaller half of the tube.

Step #05:
Stencil the circumference of the tube and cut 2 pieces out from the transparent sheet.

Step #06:
Glue one of the transparent sheets on to one end of the tube.

Step #07:
This smaller tube will be the image that will be reflected, so decorate it with the shiny/translucent stuff. You do not need to actually glue everything down; You simply place the stuff into it and glue the other side on. The shiny/translucent stuff will move about as you turn!

Step #08:
Cut out one wide strip from the foam sheet.

Step #09:
Wrap it firmly around the two parts of tube and glue it together. *Don't glue it on the tube though!*

This is the "handle" of the Krrunchleidoscope!

Step #10:
Cut out the circumference of the tube from the foam sheet and puncture a hold in the middle. This serves as the peephole!

Step #11:
Glue it down to the top end and TADAA~! It's a kaleidoscope!
OH!
NO!!!
IT'S A KRRUNCHLEIDOSCOPE!

Take a look inside!

And now to prove to you that it actually works...

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4aacXP5V2A

Stay tuned for the video contest entry!
Mark your calendars! It's 10th October 2009!

“It’s Krrunch Time, Get Playful!”

Crazy week!

2009-09-28T23:59:00.003+08:00

The past week was a crazy one! Tons of Puma events and parties, and F1 related events!

Psst... Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce totally rocked Singapore.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Don't forget to keep voting okay! :D

Krrunching my way to Asia-Pacific Blog Awards at Uniquely Singapore

2009-09-26T08:39:00.000+08:00

I'm extremely elated to be shortlisted as one of the top five finalists for "Best Original Blog Design". It's like a pat on the shoulder especially after I'd just revamped the blog design.

To be honest, I feel really really proud to have the honor to pit against Xiaxue! It's like saying I'm such a excellent blogger like her, but well, CLEARLY I'm not. Haha!

With that said, it also means that I'm up against the strongest competition ever. Even with Xiaxue aside, the other finalists, from the other parts of the globe, are very good too. We have a very popular Malaysian comic artist, and a very creative Filipino web designer (who bagged a similar award in her homeland last year)!

50% of our fate has already been determined by the judges.
The other 50% is IN YOUR HANDS!

Voting is rather simple. No registration is required! And it comes in two ways!

#1. You can go to http://awards.nuffnang.com/votes.php to vote.

OR

#2. You can vote via the 'voting poll' on the right side bar ---->

It's only a lil troublesome when you'll have to vote for every category each time you do. After selecting all the 11 blogs, the last button to click is "Submit Votes".

Here's the catch, you can vote again after every 2 hours! So technically one person can only vote 12 times per day! Voting ends in about 2 weeks' time, 11th October! And trust me, I would need a ton of support, please do ask your friends and family to help me vote okay?! Spread the luuuurrrve!

Well, with that, let me give you the...

I know I gross people out by point #5. Oh well, with all the different sick reasons you'll want to see me in trunks on Orchard Road, here's your chance.

Help me vote as much as you can, preeeetty please? *puppy eyes*

Do you know...

2009-09-22T04:10:00.006+08:00

...that I'm part of a very cool clique called, Friends of Puma?

I've started blogging over at PUMA's website for quite awhile now, and it has been an awesome experience! More importantly, I'm trying out a different blogging style over at there!

Not only that, I'm giving out tons of goodies and party/event invites every now and then on the blog!

The current giveaway is this Friday's F1 Rocks concert tickets! And the only thing you'll have to do is to comment!

>>>Hurry over before it's gone!

Oh, and while you're at it, do grab your free copy of the awesome FOP magazine over at the puma blog! Nadia & I am on the cover of this issue!

Having a voice in Crocs.

2009-09-21T02:29:00.003+08:00

So, in the previous entry, I asked you guys to make a wild guess on the brand of the shoes in this pic!

That entry received a whooping 40 comments! And to my surprise, most of you guys are correct! But there were also guesses like Uniqlo, Timberland and even Pedro! LOL!

Anyway, I can't deny that I was originally a hater, which was under much influence by Xiaxue and William Sledd. But before you check out the links and be converted to another Anti-Crocs, hear me out!

I believe a lot of people hate Crocs 'cos its very first design is, well erm, not very fashionable.

The classic design seemed to have left a very bad impression and didn't receive a good response from the public. Somehow, Crocs are then being stereotyped as an ugly footwear.

BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE LATEST DESIGNS???

They're actually quite neat! Like this one I've gotten (courtesy of the kind folks from Crocs).

Quite nifty, eh?

Ahh, a couple of months ago, Crocs contacted a bunch of us bloggers and held a little sharing session over at The Screening Room @ Ann Siang Road.

We got to share our frank views and impression on Crocs and also looked at their latest line of shoes.

We met JP McCarvel, who has been with Crocs since 2007 and he's also the moderator of the new Crocsideas.com site.

What is Crocsideas.com?

It's basically like a speaker's corner for Crocs! It is dubbed as a laboratory for Crocs customers to share, innovate, express and explore ideas around Croc's products and services.

So you like tell them, what's nice, what's not, what needs changes, and you can even suggest your own design ideas into their shoes. Your voice gets on to the website, and it gets viewed and voted and eventually the best ideas get integrated into upcoming product lines!

More importantly, credit will be given to you if your idea is being executed!

I had this glow-in-dark idea!

Don't you have to agree that it'll be like a perfect pair for clubbing if you crave for some attention?!

Ha!

Anyway, talking about the design, here's some of the new shoes displayed during the session.

Aren't they a whole lot different from the classic design?!

That's a huge ass classic "Beach" Crocs! So anyway, my favourite one from there is the "Realtree Yukon". It looks artsy!

Do head over to Crocsideas.com and give some guru advice of yours on how to improve on the classic "Beach" design! Have your voice in Crocs!

P/s: This is NOT an advertorial even though I've gotten a free pair from Crocs! I genuinely like Crocs better now 'cos they're new range is quite impressive!

Happy Long Weekend!

2009-09-18T22:42:00.002+08:00

Woot! Here comes the looooong weekend, aren't you excited about it?!

Anyhoo, if you've yet to know, INQmobile, together with Singtel, is having a INQ Mini 3G roadshow at Ngee Ann City for the whole of the long weekend!

For those of you who are dying to get hold of the INQ Mini 3G, here's your chance! You'll just have to head down to the roadshow on any of the 3 days and take part in a lucky draw!

Here's the important thing, remember to indicate you're a supporter of me (i.e. my name/blog url) on the lucky draw coupon and you'll get to win the INQ Mini 3G when they announce a winner at 6pm everyday!

I'll be heading down tomorrow (Saturday, that is) at 4-6pm and I'll be hanging out with the other bloggers in a glass house set up specially for us! You're welcome to join us at the glass house too! Do get me on Twitter at @jayleif if you can't find me tomorrow!

More details are up on the Facebook event page!

Oh, let me have to honour to entice you further with a preview of the mini "product photoshoot" that I did with the Mini 3G set!

I can't really blog about the INQmobile event yet 'cos the photos are still with Nadia! Do stay tuned for it and more 'photoshoot' photos to come!

On another note, I'm flooded with the comments guessing about the shoe brand in the previous entry! I'm going to reveal it in the next blog post and approve all the comments!

Guess where these are from?!

2009-09-18T02:53:00.001+08:00

Been donning this pair of new loafers-looking shoes recently.

Are you able to...

Leave your guess as a comment! :D

(Pssst! I shall not publish the comments until someone gets it right!)

F1 Rocks tickets up for grabs!!

2009-09-17T04:12:00.003+08:00

YEEEEEESSSSSS! You heard it right!

24seven is giving out 2 pairs of F1 Rocks tickets worth $390 (for Fri 25th Sep) for 2 bloggers!!!

No Doubt will be performing that night!

'Don't Speak' is one of the greatest song ever!

And... the other bands include ZZ Top, Simple Minds and N*E*R*D!

Here's how to win!

1. Post an entry on your blog to tell us why you deserve to win the F1 Rocks tickets. The post with the most originality and desire will be chosen!

2. In your post, insert a link to http://www.visitsingapore.com/sgpseason so that your readers can find out more about the F1 season.

3. Have a return link to Singapore Blog Press post on the contest at http://pea.to/f1R

4. Submit your blog post and your details to the post at Blog Press so that we may contact you via mobile phone if you win.

5. Each blogger will only be eligible to win 1 pair of the tickets.

6. Each blog post will earn one chance in the lucky draw, and if you tweet this phrase in your twitter, you'll get an additional chance of winning in the lucky draw - "Win F1 Rocks tickets at http://pea.to/f1R. Contest ends 20th Sep 09. #f1 #f1rocks"

7. Both winners must attend a blogger F1 Rocks stage tour on 22nd Sept 2009 at 6pm.

8. Contest runs from 16th Sep to 21st Sep 2359H.

9. Contest is open to all Singapore Citizens, PRs and Residents.

10. Join Uniquely Singapore fan page on Facebook for more news!

Do comment here with your direct link to your entry post!

Good luck y'all!

new blog designnnnnn!

2009-09-16T01:50:00.005+08:00

Initially I thought of writing in a entirely new post about the new blogskin, but since the comments had already came into here, I'd might as well update here right?

Before I begin, I have a pet peeve about the term "blogskin". I cringe whenever I hear that word. I don't know who coined the term first, but it is apparent that BlogSkins.com is a site that provides free blogskins.

Somehow "blogskin" and "BlogSkins.com" seemed affiliated and so, calling my design a blogskin will seemingly degrade from an exclusive one it to a common one found on that website.

But well, I crumbled. It's a weak argument and "blogskins" is an easier and more catchy word anyway. Kua kua kua.

That aside, it's time to rejoice!

It's quite a huge revamp in terms of the look of it!

One major change is the inverted colour scheme! Ever since the I started this blog, I'd always done up the designs with white text on black/dark background, for I'd always feel that it makes the words more striking.

But now, it's the reverse! I'm still trying to get use to it though, but thank god it didn't turn out looking crappy!

And if it isn't obvious enough, you can click the red "Jayden's Blog" sign to switch to a 2nd part of the flash!

The bulk of the flash animation was actually done more than a year ago during my last year at Lasalle! It was actually meant for my portfolio website, Jaydenation.com. It's inspired by the propaganda era hence the very self-centric design and the appearance of Mao.

What seemed like a never ending self project eventually got scraped as I got stuck at coding the website and grew out of the design eventually.

I pulled this little piece of work out for the new blog banner as I thought it could very well be served as one!

Though there wasn't any specific qualification to be eligible for the nomination of Nuffnang Blog Awards, I was hoping I could get nominated for the new design since the old one was done so many years ago! And when I made that decision, I had only 4 days left till the nominations close!

Thankfully, I have my recent doodles to add on and save the day! And yes, they are namely the blogathon and the 'obsessed' doodles!

The layout is pretty much the same, just that I'd cleared and tidied up the side bar!

The previous sidebar/s was getting a little too cluttered and I felt the urge to take a few things out and combine the 2 columns into 1.

In fact, nowadays a lot of bloggers try to clump too much information into one single page that it becomes so disorganised and distracting for blog readers. It is especially so to the blogspot users! Prolly they think they know a lil bit of HTML so they have the right to stuff every goddamn thing at the side!

I've removed the Plurk widget but you can click the red TWITTER and PLURK words in the flash to access to them! I've also changed the Twitter feed to the speech bubble like one!

Well, if you were to ask me what's my favourite part of the new blogskin, I would say it's the BLOCKQUOTES!

Look at how chio they are now!

It's a really simple touch but the grunge look makes it so gorgeous! I might just write an entire entry in the blockquotes! Ha!

One final thing that I'd like to mention is that, I've dropped the tagline "I Can Give You Gatsby"! It is now, "La Propagande de Jayden" which means "The Jayden Propaganda" in French! Got the recent French craze after watching 'Coco Avant Chanel'! Haha!

Anyway, finding a nice and catchy tagline was tough, and probably the coolest one ever is, "Everyone's reading it." LOL

Oh, and if you miss my old design, it's still available at http://jayleif6.blogspot.com!

By the way, I'm thinking of making new blogger namecards, but the problem is that I still have a ton of the namecards I've made last year!

So comment away if you'd like to have one! I'll be mailing it to anyone who wants one! Do also indicate if you want the Windows IE or Mac Safari one (or both)!

Awesome food, and even more awesome bill.

2009-09-08T21:55:00.001+08:00

This is another case of photos that got chucked at a corner and were long forgotten. Anyway, I dug them out and did a slightly different photoshop treatment from the usual blog photos.

So anyway, this happened a few months ago when I told Fabian that we should really try some foie gras since I've never had any before!

He found this rather atas restuarant belonging to a hotel at the corner of Chinatown.

Alright, without further ado, here comes the food!

The appetizers:

Foie gras taste AWESOME!

The main courses:

The desserts:

Top it up with some Long Island Tea!

Mmm mmm.

Here's the most awesome thing of the day. THE BILL.

WANNA WIN SOME COLD HARD CASH & SHOPPING VOUCHER?!

2009-09-06T18:53:00.012+08:00

Advertorial

As usual, I’ve been too busy lately to sit down and blog proper. If not for this exciting contest, I wasn’t gonna be able to squeeze time to write this either!

Oops, let the cat out of the bag too early! But you’d heard me, it’s a contest for you to win $100 cash and $100 shopping voucher!

First, let me introduce to you the lifesaver of the day: ...INQmobile!

OKAY WAAAAAIT A MINUTE! Before you roll your eyes and think that I’m doing another sales talk, don’t you jump into conclusion just yet!

I’m pretty sure yours truly is one of the first few to talk about INQmobile here in Singapore! And I’m here to break the discovery about this up and coming mobile phone brand. Yay or nay to INQmobile, it’s up to you to judge!

I had personally roamed around its website and I must say I’m rather impressed with the brand!

In a nutshell, INQmobile phones are like your iPhones and Blackberries - only simplified!

Think mobile connectivity around the clock with NO frills and NO exorbitant price tag. Okay, I will kill the simplicity of it if I’d to describe further, so check this video out.

I believe by now a lot of people understand the idea of staying connected 24/7 and the affect of mobile connectivity.

Mobile broadband services have been slashing their prices to cater to the masses and so what about mobile phones?

Like Frank (CEO & founder of INQmobile) said in the video, the phones are not out to go head-to-head with the atas smartphones in the market. However, it’s to cater people who want to stay connected but without the extravagant gadgets.

Quoted from their blog:
The services we’ve built into the device are there to be used, and not sit stranded and unwanted in some obscure sub-menu.

It is as simple as it gets – The Social Mobile!

Aside the simplicity of the phone that attracts my attention, I love how they put such delicate effort into their packaging!

The concept behind this arty farty packaging is to create an object of beauty – something to cherish and not chuck. The design ideal is to let people to keep the box, use it, and treasure it. And hopefully not to land up in landfills or recycling bins.

Bad news is, it’s not available in Singapore yet! It’s currently selling in UK, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and Italy. But who knows, if we talk enough about it, it might just pop over right?

However the good news for you is, even if you talk about it and it don’t come to Singapore, you readers and friends stand to win both $100 COLD HARD CASH and $100 shopping voucher!

Talk about giving back to the community. You’d better start thanking me for this! :P

Basically, all you have to do is to tell me what you like about INQmobile and help spread the word!

1. Go find out more about INQmobile from their website – http://www.inqmobile.com

2. Post in the comment below this post, what you like about the phones by INQmobile.

3. Tweet, plurk and/or facebook update about this contest I am running and get more chances of winning! The more you spread this, the more chances you’ll get to win in the draw!

You can copy & paste to tweet, plurk and facebook update this phrase:
I discovered a new phone on @jayleif! Go check it out and you may win $200 cash + voucher! Details at http://pea.to/inqjl #INQmobile

* Don't forget to include the following details in your comments if you have them so that you can up your winning chances!

Twitter ID: _______________
Plurk ID: _______________
Facebook URL: _______________

** Remember to include a valid email address in the “Email” field when you comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

*** Contest period will be from now till 2359hrs 14th September 2009, and is only open to Singapore Citizen, PR and Singapore Residents.

Good luck y’all!

Art is never finished, only abandoned.

2009-08-14T05:00:00.001+08:00

Here comes another overdue entry that is supposed to be up last month!

So Fab and I went to the Science Centre for the Da Vinci exhibition early last month. And we did quite a lot that day; Viewed the exhibition, tour the entire Science Centre and caught a show at the Omni theatre!

The sea monster show was meh. But I'm quite amazed at how the theatre still looks so clean and well furnished after so many years! The last time I was there was like what, Primary 5?!

The Science Centre chop and the koya-looking chop for the exhibition.

The bummer was that we can't take photos in the Da Vinci exhibition. And it being a tad boring unless you're like a super fan of Da Vinci. Other than that, I would say it was still quite enriching.

And instead of boring you with all the photos taken in the Science Centre which you'd prolly seen before, here's a short random video montage!

MEH.

Singapore, I fucking love you!

2009-08-13T05:34:00.008+08:00

said Lady Gaga.

Nope, I didn't go to the full concert yesterday. Not a fan of uncategorized seating (standing?) and the possibility of getting shoved around by sweaty bodies, or even better, blocked by the tall guys in front. But I still wished I could watch her live performance again!

Well I figured I have yet to post up the photos taken during the showcase two months ago. So I'd better be doing so since she's already here for the second time!

So anyway, got my media invites thanks to Nadia and Singtel!

The press conference happened in the morning and we sat through the talks of the launch of Singtel AMPed and after quite some time, the emcee announced her name and SHE STRUTTED INTO THE ROOM! The entire room went into a paparazzi-snapping-superstar-aura frenzy. And it still feels very surreal to have her being only just a few meters away. OH HOW I WISHED I'D CAME EARLIER TO CHOPE THE FRONT SEATS!

Nevertheless, I went trigger-happy.

Sorry that I have to tag it with my ugly URL as a small precaution in case anyone uses it without lim peh's approval. The untagged ones are on my Facebook account and there are more photos over there. Not gonna link it here though since I'd set it to friends-only.

WOKAY, BEFORE I CARRY ON. PHOTO INTENSIVE ENTRY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
ALL IN THE NAME OF Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ GAGA Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ !!

Some reporter asked her a long ass question in a rather Singlish tone, which explains her expression in the photo above.

When the press conference was about to end, she stood up to receive the plague and everybody beetled towards her to take closer shots. And for some reason, I stood rooted and continued struggling with the heavy zoom lens to shoot at the exact same spot. By the time I realised everybody has crowded near the stage, she was already walking out of the room!

That was just part one!

Part Two, we were at the very cool and huge tent called Dome to catch the showcase!

Enjoy the photos!!! Though it was only like five or six songs, I got to see the disco stick, gaga vision, and her eccentric antics LIVE!!! Maaan, I can die happily already.

Looking forward to yesterday's pictures! I hope you guys took a ton!
...and yes, she indeed said that she fucking loves Singapore. :D

Uniqlo @ ION opens today!

2009-08-07T02:36:00.003+08:00

I have been a major douchebag 'cos I haven't been to the Uniqlo at Tampines 1 ever since its launch. So when I heard Pat could pull me along to Uniqlo's media preview of the new store in ION, I was super excited!

What Pat didn't tell me was, everyone who were there will be getting a $100 voucher each!

*BEAMS* Thank you so much Pat!

The UT series are awesome and I'll be returning later to grab them! Let's pray hard for an opening sale! WOOT!

This maroon jacket's available too and I was contemplating to get it as it's only like $129 (if i remember correctly)... Very affordable compared to similar jackets in other shops! But it's rather thick, well, good for keeping warm but not very wise for the weather here! I'm still deciding actually, 'cos it's super nice!!!

Dottie, Pat & Melly!

Do head over to Pat's blog for better pictures 'cos I was too busy picking out what to get with the voucher! OR, you can head down to ION today do some shopping already!

Oh, here are my buys!

I know, it's a tad dull for my current obsession with colours. But hey, it's a HOUNDSTOOTH hoodie!

A blogathon like no other.

2009-07-31T06:05:00.005+08:00

When I first received the email from Pat Law about the blogathon, I was undeniably skeptical about the entire thing. I wasn't really sure about it, and had a few queries. I was also unsure if I'm up for this kind of impromptu writing and what is my "standard" of blogging compared to the other contestants.

From the initial email, the incentive that made me decide to give it a try would probably be the sponsored wardrobe by Tangs.

Fast forward a month or so, we were at Intel's office and being briefed on how the entire blogathon is going to be happening. There were the people from Tangs, Intel, Lenovo, Ogilvy & even the production team, Munkysuperstar. I was awed by the scale of this blogathon as I'd thought that it was just some dodgy blogger campaign.

The session really got me hyped-up about the blogathon, thinking how I should prepare for it and garner all the support needed. Well, though from the list of the contestants, we can already predict who are the ones that are going to win!

Thankfully I was going to be paired up with Nadia, my best blogging/bitching partner and I was really looking forward in spending the 24 hours together with her!

Then a week later, we were at Tangs for the wardrobe fitting - a generous $500 sponsor! I knew I didn't have to "fight" for the clothes like the girls 'cos the two other guys are of very different dressing style as me! So it was quite a breeze!

My final outfit's from Playlab, Dapper, Superdry and FRED PERRY!!! WOOT!

We also had a one-to-one consultation with the KCRs - Kiehl's Customer Representatives and all of as received a whooping $200 worth of Kiehl's products. To be honest, I had never walked into any of their stores prior to this, though I was eyeing on the eye cream that my camp mate is using. Well, I'm totally sold just after that session! Shall blog about the Kiehl's goodness in a separate entry altogether!

The filming during the fitting was fun! Although a tad stressful during the interview 'cos I kept forgetting to paraphrase my answers!

Gillian and the very charming intern.

THEN CAME THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!
...okay, not exactly a showdown, but you get the drift.

The first hour was damn hectic! And thankfully Gracey and Mus was around to help Nadia and I to set up the place.

Really appreciated them for helping us to sort out the mess on the table and writing on the white boards to tell the people to vote for us! I remember I was panicking on what to do and Gracey said, "Don't worry, leave the rest to us! Just start blogging!"

This particular display window has got the smallest space compared to the others and there were stuff hanging at the back of our heads and the displays were already taking like half of the window.

And since there were only two chairs in it, I had to sit on the faux drawer which eventually caved in 'cos it was made of foam boards.

Streams of people kept flooding towards and trying to interact with us, so we used the TV just next to our window that was displaying the #bthon feed. Mad funny thinking back how troublesome it was to "talk" with the glass barrier.

Pat Law the barista with her Blankanvas apron! Didn't drink the coffee throughout the night 'cos I think I'm very used to late nights and didn't need the caffine to stay awake.

Oh! While we're at it, Nadia on the other hand finished a large diet coke by herself and she desperately needed to pee when it was still waaaaay before her toilet break. And I've totally gotten it all on video! Hahaha!

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expLurKHvZ0

Unfortunately, my lappy kept going into Window's worst nightmare - Blue Screen of Death, which left me stranded at the table with nothing to do while waiting. So I whipped out my sketchbook and started doodling!

One of the people from Tangs saw it and wanted to make it into a t-shirt or something. But I thought the doodling wasn't really depicting the entire blogathon, but rather just Nadia and I. Note that the upper part of the piece is stuff that represented her and the bottom part is about me. So it didn't happen in the end!

Well, if anyone of us were to do an illustration for this blogathon, it has to be SHERYO! Her works are AMAZING! Please check them out at illustromaniac.blogspot.com!

So anyway, I'd posted an entry "Illustrating blogathon" about the process of this doodle piece in the blogathon blog. Do take a look if you're interested.

The Kiehl's boys were one of the highlights, I guess! When they appeared, the first thing that people will do, is to tell them to strip. Nadia's persuasion did not work on the first day, so in the morning of the the second day, she worked her charm again. AND GUESS WHAT?! IT WORKED!

AND I'VE GOTTEN IT ALL ON VIDEO AGAIN!

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92b_2g67sQE

The "victim" happened to be one of Nuffnang's bloggers too! He's Edison and blogs at shaun-owyeong.blogspot.com

During the last few hours or so, @singabeng appeared!

If you don't already know who he is, @singabeng is like Rockson the ah beng blogger who is very blatant with his language when blogging. Except, he is like the Twitter version. I'd been following him for his hilarious tweets that never fails to crack me up.

So the twitter feed started to have his tweets popping out, and before long, we knew he's somewhere around us!

He likes my hair! LOL!

We were all hunting for him and scanning through everyone in the crowd. Then Nadia made a comment about his tweets, which suddenly struck me that what she said was like so true and leading to the identity of @singabeng!

You know, it's like those crime solving scenes, whereby the detective keeps thinking about the identity of the murderer, and then, somebody make a passing remark which struck him the answer to the entire mystery! LOL

Well I shan't reveal what Nadia said and who we feel that could very well be the real identity behind @singabeng. Just because if everything is true to what we've deduced, the fun of reading his tweets will no longer be there. Let's just enjoy his anonymity and continue following him!

Thanks to all the people who'd came down to support! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Congrats to Nadia and Nicholas for the win!

P/s: The photos in this entry are from various sources: Victor, Nadia, Tangs, DK & Patlaw.

RIP Yasmin Ahmad

2009-07-26T01:40:00.003+08:00

Sometimes I really wonder why is life so fragile.

Photo credit: Audi

We first heard about her stroke incident on Thursday and just moments ago, (various) (sources) announced that she'd just passed away.

I'm very sadden by the news, I thought she would get better after the operation. Life is just too delicate.

I'm sincerely very honored that I've met her so recently and be inspired by her. She is undeniably a great talent and someone with so much heart & soul in her work. You have all my respect, and our prayers to you, Yasmin Ahmad.

Rest in peace.

What's a blogathon?

2009-07-23T17:35:00.008+08:00

I was going to write about what happened during the blogathon when I recalled the bad press that came up. At first, I wasn't gonna bother much about it. But as more and more people jump on the bandwagon, I couldn't help but to read what they say and to feel affected by it.

I thought, as one of the 10 #bthon bloggers, maybe I could say something about it?

The biggest issue was that, a lot feel that this blogathon competition had a wrong "cause" and that blogathons are only meant for charity or to raise awareness about an issue.

So may I ask, who ever set this regulation? Isn't blogathon just a mesh up word of 'blogging' and 'marathon'? Why does all these '-athons' have to be done in the same fashion all the time? Well, to me, I like to think adding that suffix simply means a prolonged period of that particular activity!

Charity or not, it's a totally different issue. Yes, this is an event for brand awareness and a lucrative competition for the bloggers. But no one ever promote this blogathon as a charity/cause-related. And may I emphasize that none of us ever use the idea of a good cause to mislead the public to the attention of this event.

That aside, another problem faced was if we'd breached Blogathon.org's Creative Commons license. To be honest, prior to this blogathon competition, I had no idea that there is a Blogathon.org. Little did I know that there have been blogathons that were held in the name of good cause. But it's a little frustrating to read the writeup of the use of 'blogathon':

I’m interested in using the name or concept of the “Blogathon” for my own project. Is that okay?

In most cases, yes! Anyone may borrow the name “Blogathon” and any information posted here in the Frequently Asked Questions as long as they abide by our Creative Commons license. Generally speaking, if your “Blogathon” is for a charity/charities or simply to raise awareness about an issue, you’re welcome to use our name! We only ask that you mention us somewhere in your project.

The one instance where we do not allow use of the name “Blogathon” is in for-profit events or events sponsored by a corporation/corporations (for brand promotion, event promotion, etc.). If you are interested in using the name “Blogathon” for this kind of project, please get in touch with us directly.

I find it too vague to simply say that a word belongs to you. Especially when it's a noun like that. It's like saying, "OKAY, I shall copyright "walking" and I will sue anyone who uses it." (...it's just like that stupid company who patented the 'way' of hyperlinking via images)

What I am trying to say, I feel that a blogathon is not like a "product" that someone created. It's a movement, and an event that can be generalized as it, if it is, well, a blogging marathon.

I'm sure the people who came up with the Tangs Blogathon didn't have any intention to violate the use of the word. In any case, if they've known earlier about the issue, I believe they would have changed the name or the spelling of it, just so it's politically correct.

But overall, it is STILL a blogging marathon right?

During the blogathon, a flamer caught our attention with the obvious nickname, BthonSucks. He/she goes on whining about how the blogathon is pointless, the bloggers were like caged animals, and etc. Well, methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Like I mentioned earlier, it is obviously a brand promoting event. A marketing strategy, and an unconventional marketing campaign. I don't understand why people like @BthonSucks have to pull it down so badly.

Cheap advertisement? I can't speak for them, but idea and the amount of effort that goes behind this blogathon clearly shows how much they'd put into. FYI, the people from Ogilvy, Levono and Tangs stayed up with us throughout the entire event just so our IT/food-support (LOL! but yes, we even had supper!) can be accommodated to. Not to mention, the laptops, that we were using, were not even launched, and they were so new that they'd to be flown in the night before.

So what's the point of this blogathon? Well, a friend of Nadia has already written a very blatant and brilliant post on it, do read up on it.

Let me just leave you with this quote before I end the blog post:

"You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."
- Abraham Lincoln

If only there were 72 hours a day,

2009-07-20T17:00:00.004+08:00

...then I can keep up with my life, my work and my blog!

Anyhoo, here's a polaroid declaring my latest liking for a facial care brand!

I finally can spell the brand without having to refer back to its paper bag! YAY! It's KIEHL'S!!! Oh ya, Kiehl's does not only have facial products, they have hair and body products too!

Blogathon...

2009-07-17T00:04:00.007+08:00

24 hours,

10 bloggers,

2 winners,

1 ULTIMATE EVENT!!!

Here's more info quoted directly from Pat:

For twenty four hours, 10 bloggers will compete head-to-head against each other in a Blogathon where they will blog, blog, tweet, blog, tweet, blog and blog inside TANGS’ window displays. 40 winks aren’t allowed, although hey, we understand the need for the occasional flirting with the passerbys from outside the windows. Two winners will be crowned (ok, not literally but you get the jist) – Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice.

Criteria for Judges’ Choice:
Total number of posts and comments generated each with a minimum of 140 words and 140 characters respectively

Criteria for People’s Choice:
Most number of unique votes collected at the event (yes, come down and vote for your favourite blogger!)

Come join us in this historical event as we watch the bloggers battle it out! And no, you may not feed the bloggers with peanuts.

More details to be revealed on the day itself.

Date:
Friday, July 17, 2009 – Saturday, July 18, 2009

Time:
18:00h

Venue:
TANGS Orchard, 310 & 320 Orchard Road

I'm gonna get locked up and displayed!

2009-07-15T03:27:00.001+08:00

...FOR 24 HOURS!

In a nutshell, I'm one of the 10 bloggers that are involved in a upcoming BLOGATHON - A BLOGGING MARATHON, that is organised by Tangs, Lenovo & Intel. I will be lying if I say I'm not excited about it!

Anyway, watch this video!

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeaSc16Sg5A

Please pardon the "standard" of the video. I made it in one night! And I know I sound very bad, singlish and all, but I tried my best! Spent most of the time on the speech and that was like the 50th take, I think. I really CANNOT talk in front of the camera.

I digress.

So, if you didn't catch my bad engrish, it's gonna happen on this Friday (17 July), from 6pm, ALL THE WAY TILL Saturday (18 July) 6pm! And since it's perpetually impossible to win with the popular bloggers and good writers around, I'll just be there to have fun!

Staying up shouldn't be a problem, I think. I'm just afraid that my frequent bowel movements will affect me the most. I TEND TO SHIT (AND FART!) HELL OF A LOT!

All of you out there are welcome to support me! Either online through the Tangs blog that we're going to write on, OR offline, by going down to Tangs(Orchard!) and watch me blog (dig nose, scratch backside, etc) live!

Yeah, this is the time you can scrutinise me for all you want without risking me punching you in return. Haha!

P/s: If you follow me on Twitter, you would've noticed I've been tweeting with #bthon alot. Well, that's the official hashtag for this blogathon! Follow me closely over there, especially during the blogathon for updates!

P/p/s: Share the love! The 9 other bloggers are namely Nadia, Claudia, DK, Hillary, Nicholas, Sheryo(I SUPER LOVE HER ILLUSTRATIONS!!!, Dottie and Stephie & Melly!

Most awesome flashmob ever!

2009-07-11T02:51:00.004+08:00

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1KOcBYGjM

It's so awesome that I'm getting goosebumps watching it!

Yet another doodle in camp...

2009-07-10T00:00:00.003+08:00

So I was bored in camp once again. And the paper and marker were lying in front of me, you tell me - how to resist?

It started out as a huge lightning bolt in the middle of the A4 paper, then it abruptly turned into Gaga frenzy when one of the storeman blasted 'Poker Face' with his mp3 speakers.

I KNOW! I made Lady Gaga looked damn fat. Tried to shade in the cheeks a lil, but it didn't help. Meh.

My favourite part of this doodle is that worm-looking guy at the bottom left. He's wearing one of Gaga's dorky shades and he has a lightning bolt tattoo!

ANYWAY, I actually did quite a number of illustration in this style since BMT till now. Most of them were done for other people, like bday cards and whatnot, so I couldn't keep a copy of it. Euphe suggested that I should put them together as a series, to which I think it's a great idea! So yeah I'm starting to keep them now, hopefully by the time I ORD, I'll be able to make them into a book or something!

Will you buy this? :P

The Material Addiction

2009-07-06T13:54:00.001+08:00

Guess what I bought?!

No, don't be fooled by the picture at the top left corner, it's nowhere close to a pair of sneakers!

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Well, it's a WAFFLE HOODIE!

pardon the boxers :P

Anyhoo, I bought it from the Nike Outlet Store at West Coast Plaza (i think it's the old Ginza plaza right?). If I'm not wrong, outlet stores sell stuff that's a season back, but hell, it's mad cheap!

If you know me well enough, you would know that I totally obsessed with 2 things - geeky frames and jackets! I find it very hard to resist not to buy a nice one unless it's too ex for me to afford.

So about a month ago, during the Fred Perry Clearance Sale...

I got this!!!

Photos don't do justice to this gorgeous blue nylon FP jacket! IT IS MAD CHIO! *swoons*

I ISH HAPPY!

A Tribute to the King of Pop

2009-07-05T10:05:00.001+08:00

Contest entry

Check out this animation that I've made!

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dqm39PSFwA

click for full res

From a Jack to a King,
you've become a part of me.

How can I keep from singing?
...a million lovely memories.

It's too early,
too early to leave.

I guess you have
gone too soon.

Here's my story made with music. What's yours?

Shake up with Nokia Comes With Music!

The answer is...

2009-07-03T18:59:00.001+08:00

Yanzi!!!

My other half adores Stefanie Sun alot so I bought this!

P/s: This is my first time going to a concert, concert. WOOT!

P/p/s: Fat hope, but JOLIN BETTER BE THE GUEST STAR!!!

P/p/p/s: See ya there too, Ben!

Friends

2009-07-02T03:29:00.002+08:00

These were taken quite sometime ago, and I've already uploaded them to Facebook. But I just got this sudden urge to post them up here. :)

WEIRD expression....... I was mad drunk!

Anyway, on a totally unrelated issue, recently I was marveled by how fast and how easy it is for friends to come and go. One moment you can be talking your hearts out to a bunch of friends you treasure, and before you know it, you're already hanging out with a different group of friends. Sometimes, it's a little disheartening that people don't call you out with them anymore. I guess it's like what most people would say, "It takes two hands to clap".

Maybe I'm a bad friend.
Maybe I have too many commitments.
Or maybe I just weird.

I yearn for a clique that spends time together and most importantly, one that does not "disband" after awhile. Do you?

Someday, someday.

2009-06-27T22:00:00.000+08:00

And if you haven't already,

I'm obsessed!

2009-06-25T10:00:00.002+08:00

I wouldn't say I'm a big fan per se, but I listen to alot to Mariah Carey. And if you haven't know, her new single "Obsessed" was out last week. Since then I'm literally obsessed with it!

Initially I was kinda disappointed that it's not a big ballad and on the first time listening, it sounded a wee bit cheesy to me. But like how her songs seem to grow in you the more you listen to them, I'm officially obsessed with the song.

As I checked out the lyrics, I found info on websites pointing out that Mariah's actually dissing Eminem with the song. That's actually a current story behind the song!

Here's roughly how it went down:

Eminem pissed over Mariah marrying Nick Cannon.
Eminem mentioned that he was dating her for 6 months, to which she denied.
He then wrote a song "Bagpipes From Bagdad" to diss the couple. Check out the lyrics man! VERY INTERESTING!
All the drama mama.
And finally Mariah lashing out back at him with "Obsessed"

So anyway, the song was ringing in my head for the entire day when I was in camp. And with nothing much to do, I doodled this.

The 3-flap-thingies on the sides of 'O' and 'd' are supposedly to resemble wings. BUT FAILED. Meh.

Worked in some photoshop magic after I scanned it in and viola~!

That's my twitter background now btw!

Facebook Vanity URL

2009-06-23T10:00:00.001+08:00

I know I'm late in blogging about this, but I thought I really should do it 'cos I think deserve some bragging rights!

First of all, I've gotten facebook.com/JAYDEN! Suffice to say, I'd beaten all the Jaydens in the world in getting this unique username! YOU TELL ME, HOW COOL IS THAT?!

Everything happened so fast and before I know it, FACEBOOK.COM/JAYDEN IS MINE MINE MINE!

Here's how it happened:

I was at Fab's office that morning and we had two laptops logged on to Facebook, one to get his and another to get mine! I was quite relaxed in the beginning, but as the time slowly ticked away, I began to grew antsy and kept having thoughts like, "Meh. I don't think I can get just 'Jayden'. Maybe 'Jayden.Tan' or something lor"

To make it worst, the counter on Fab's screen was ticking 3 seconds faster than mine! I tried refreshing the page a couple of times and it was still the same! By that time, I was already consoling myself that 'Jayden' will be too impossible to grab.

I was still thinking to myself when Fab suddenly yelled, "CAN ALREADY!"

Turned to my screen, and I saw that blue 'CONTINUE' button, as if it was written as "CLICK ME NOW NOW NOW NOW!"

I didn't even read the instructions that came up. And I can't remember what was on the screen actually 'cos I clicked damn friggin' fast. I was like, "OMG DID I GET IT? DID I GET IT? DID I GET IT?"

The next thing was this:

I remember trying to restrain my exclamation of OHHHHH MYYYYY GAAAWWWWWDDDDD (cos there were other people in his office), whilst hearing Fab's dismay that 'Fabian' was taken. He eventually got /fabian.lau which is directable too from /fabianlau without the dot.

For the next hour or so, I was on Twitter, Plurk and Facebook announcing my shiny new username. I was too damn happy about it.

However, here's one thing that I simply don't understand.

Why do people get so excited even when they'd gotten something that is not-so-unique? They were like me too, exclaiming that they have gotten URLs like /jason.tan /emily.lim /jonathan.eng (FOR EXAMPLE ONLY)

Like hello?! As far as there might be tons of Jason Tans, Emily Lims, and Jonathan Engs, but that fella who grabbed only the singular name as the URL still triumphs over you. It's like, "Oh you mean your url's SLASH EMILY DOT LIM? Mine's just Emily!" (accompanied by the flicking of the hair to show how /emily is more superior than /emily.lim)

I have nothing to say about those with unique nicks that are already well-known by their friends. You've got your unique username, Y-A-Y, but you didn't have to put up a fight for it. So, why so happy?

Moral of the story, I am DAMN PROUD that I got /jayden. There should already be a high society club for all of the 'slash one names'! Who knows down the road, some bloody rich Jayden would buy this url from me? (evil laughter)

OKAY, I can already hear tons of people calling out "CHEAP THRILL!" "SO WHAT?!" But hey, look what this guy sent me minutes after I got my url.

At least there's proof that people (or penguins) are fighting for 'slash one names'!

P/s: Please don't add me on Facebook if I don't know you.

Blogger Crisis

2009-06-17T23:57:00.000+08:00

I've seriously lost touch in blogging! I've got like tons of photos and things to blog about but I just don't get the kick to start writing. OH NO!

OMG. My phone bill exploded!

2009-06-02T17:14:00.003+08:00

Advertorial

More exactly, it went way off the charts ever since I started to access websites via my phone. After the "GENEROUS" $5 discount (which is equivalent to only about 2MB free), this month’s charges for my mobile data is a whooping $93.90.

Mind you, it’s not the first time my bill had exploded due to my data usage.

Here’s the painful sight:

(this is NOT SingTel, by the way)

So you might ask me, “WHY DO YOU USE IT THEN?!”

Well, we’re living in this era that I can’t help it but to stay connected 24/7. I definitely cannot bind my online-time to only when I’m at home. There is just too much of on going stuff on the net and far too many reasons for me to be connected all the time!

For one, Twitter and Plurk are so “in” right now that I’m most commonly seen updating about myself through this micro-blogging sites.

Hey, even the President of the United States is on Twitter!

Everything seemed fine except when I took the wrong move to use GPRS to go online. That was the killer part on my moolah. Of course, I could hunt for free wifi spots and put up with the annoyingly patchy wifi connection. BUT! I’m in camp half the time, so free wifi is certainly out of the question.

So just the other day I asked around on Plurk if anyone had anything to recommend.

And I found this!

So, mobile broadband was what I needed a long time ago. At prices like $24.65 per month, this just seemed like the perfect one, doesn’t it?

Shortly after I saw that data plan, I was approached to write this advertorial. For a moment, I thought somebody must me cyber-stalking me on Plurk! How timely can it get?! Ha!

I came to know that this is actually the first broadband on mobile that is custom-made for youths. And trust me, being the biggest player in the market, Singtel unquestionably has the most reliable network.

And did I mention it’s being capped at 50GB? FIFTY GIGABYTES OF FREE DATA!!! I don’t think I’ll be able to top that!

***

So with the BroadBand on Mobile 1500 Youth Plan, I don’t have to worry about how painful it’ll be towards my wallet when I surf on my phone. I can actually do a lot more!

Watch YouTube ,
Poke my friends on Facebook,
Check movie times,
Book movie tickets,
Download movies and songs,
Read the news,
MSN chat with friends,
Micro-blogging,
Or even blogging!
And etc…

……all on the go!

Okay, I’m heading out to SingTel shop to sign up now! If anyone needs any more information, do log on to www.singtel.com/youth

Before I go, here’s a great line from Singtel,
“Live Life Online. Yet another way you can express yourself freely!”

Parody of Wonder Girl's 'Nobody' by mrbrown

2009-05-26T06:21:00.003+08:00

Guys, you'll have to listen to this if you haven't already.

I decided to put the podcast and the MTV together and it's so funny watching it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lViRlo1_b1o

Must wash after pang jio, ok?

Update:

The video mash-up above that I've put together has been making the rounds so much that I can't help but to say something about it. First and foremost, although technically I did and uploaded the video, I hold no credit in the production of this amazing parody. All credits goes to mrbrown and his team, and not forgetting the Wonder Girls and JYP Entertainment.

FYI, the video had gotten 10K hits and over a hundred comments in just 2 days. Right now, it's almost 40K hits and close to 300 comments. Do check out the comments, they're freaking hilarious.

What's even more surprising, is mrbrown himself messaged me on Youtube congratulating the hits of the video.

Cool beans!

More HK pics...

2009-05-25T10:00:00.001+08:00

...here's the more interesting ones!

"Just another day, but at somewhere else."

I think the people on HK trains are not much of a difference from those on trains here.

I like to observe individuals during rides. When I change trains at Jurong East, especially during the peak hours, waiting for the North-South Line is like getting random strangers lining up upon you and letting you scrutinize each person one by one. Though how everyone differ from one another in some ways, I can't help but to think that we're no different as human beings.

Often, I would get this question ringing in my head, "What's the purpose of us?"

You see, every single one lives in a cycle of work, eat, sleep. And ultimately, all of us has to go. Why do we lead this path that we're trying to make it better/enjoyable when everything will mean nothing eventually? I really don't understand.

When I applied that to the commuters in the pic, it's the similarity that I felt, and, I'm still pondering about that question.

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"Same same but different."

I like how this shot captured the construction worker doing the labor and the pair of legs that seemingly suggest to that of a businessman's.

It's like the irony isn't it? The "businessman" could very well be working as well; he could be on his way the the office, while making a business call to his client and etc.

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"Please extinguish."

I don't quite understand people who smokes. If I were to pick up smoking one day, it'll either be the "cool" factor or the excuse of being too stressed.

I think the "cool" factor works as people tend to have the image of smokers as "bad" people. Some how or another, "bad" people do get the attention better than goody two shoes.

But seriously, don't cigarettes/the smoke/smokers smell? I can stand but I dislike how people smell after their sticks. I mean like, DON'T THEY KNOW IT'S FUCKING SMELLY?

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untitled

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untitled

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"Caution! Slippery floor."

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"Tools of trade."

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"Dome sweet dome."

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"GM 8711."

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"Nobody told me it smells THAT bad."

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untitled

Finally, the hong kong pics...

2009-05-20T21:43:00.007+08:00

WARNING: PHOTO INTENSIVE ENTRY!

So after months and months (actually not so kua zhang lah) of sorting and photoshopping, I'm finally posting up about my HK trip!

It's been a good 4 years since the last time I was there and since I've already been to the sight-seeing places then, this trip solely focused on the shopping and the food! :D

Well, not forgetting to thank Nuffnang, if not for the vpost contest, this free trip would not be possible.

Let the pictures do the talking!
...read 'I am freaking lazy to write!'

Setting off with my houndstooth luggage!

Tiny Jetstar airplane, but hey, it's free!

I remembered someone told me that scolding "Hum Jim Peng" in HK is equivalent to scolding "Chee Bye" in Singapore. ......I finally know why, after seeing this suggestively shaped Hum Jim Peng:

Fred Perry stores!

I know the pictures come in very random order, ahhh I'm just to lazy to sort them accordingly!

FOOD FOOD FOOD!

Okay, this might gross a few people out:

It's SWINE BLOOD! Wahaha! But seriously, my mum used to cook this yummy thing when I was young. But ever since it somehow got banned in Singapore, I never got to taste it again. I know it looks and sounds disgusting but it is really delicious. It's somewhat akin to eating tofu, but just tastier!

The dinner on the return flight cost $30+... Fancy some $5 cup noodles??

Alright, these are the pics FOR NOW! Stay tuned for the next entry!

VOTE FOR NADIA!

2009-05-12T19:54:00.000+08:00

Don't you find that this is a very interesting blogger campaign? Look at the effort they made to put the bloggers into the website!

PSST! THIS IS SO FUNNEH!!!

WAHAHAHA

updates lah

2009-05-11T20:48:00.003+08:00

it's like omg finally i've got the time to sit down and do some proper design work of my own, and YET! i just blanked out after switching on my lappy. it's quite scary, if you know what i mean. army notorious for rotting brain cells and right now, it seems to be. i've been thinking of tons of ideas and concept in my head but now they're all gone. argh. i need to start carrying a handy-dandy-notebook. (yeah blue's clues, brings back the memories eh?)
refurbishing of my room is finally going to be done soon, gonna take tons of pictures! ......oh wait, that ikea lamp looks gorgeous...
going to post up the seriously overdue pictures of my hongkong trip.
been watching my diet and working out regularly since a good amount of people have told me that i've grown quite a bit. i was quite troubled at first by the sudden weight and mass gain, but only to realise that it's what i've always wanted - to become meatier and train bigger muscles. so yeah, it's skinny no more.
left to right: coin pouch from HK design store - G.O.D., houndstooth pouch for iPod (LURVESSSS!), braun buffel wallet (bday present from the guys in my office), THE NS PHONE.
yeap, these are my current sidekicks. if it's an iPhone, then it'll be my fave combination ever.
my driving instructor is freaking annoying.

still alive

2009-05-07T01:57:00.000+08:00

Meeting Yasmin Ahmad

2009-04-07T10:00:00.005+08:00

I couldn't thank Leo Burnett, MCYS and Fulford PR enough for letting me have the chance to meet someone that is so inspiring. It's like a breath of fresh air out of the mundane routine of army life.

That special someone is Yasmin Ahmad, who directed a number of great films like Muallaf and the recent Talentime.

Okay, I'm sure a lot of people have seen this commercial that is currently still airing on TV. If you haven't or you're from overseas, please do take a few minutes and watch this beautiful film.

"Funeral" is a new TV commercial launched by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) which looks at relationships in a different light, through a woman at her husband's funeral. Ultimately, the TVC celebrates the beautiful imperfections that make a relationship perfect.

This is fresh off MCYS latest Viewers Choice 2008 win for last years Family TVC which promotes the importance and value of family bonding.

So I was invited to view the production on set last month and had a small session to talk with the people behind the scene, namely the creatives from Leo Burnett and MCYS.

More importantly, I got to meet Yasmin in person. :)

Here's a short video from the session: (apologies for the bad sound quality, do tune up your speakers.)

It's such an honor to have this opportunity to meet someone whose work is always so touching and beautiful. Yasmin herself is very down to earth and the short session with her has inspired me by a lot.

Oh, and by now all of you should have seen another family-themed commercial:

And yes, it is also directed by Yasmin.

And and and, I came across with this from her blog:

As always, it's so beautiful!

"...the little imperfections that make them perfect..."

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it for the screening event of this TVC last Friday. I'm sure it went great. Also, tons of apologies to the guys who keep calling me up to ask if I'd need any help with blogging about this! Sorry the entry came this late!

it was a 50/50 thing.

2009-04-06T20:24:00.003+08:00

The title says it all.

Yes, you're right. I did the entry on April 1st 'cos I was intending to make it an April Fool's joke. But, I also wanted to stop blogging. So I posted the entry up on that faithful day and I was telling myself, if I ever regret the decision, I will just call it off as a prank.

In case you didn't know, the Wingdings in the pic says, "Happy April Fool's!"

However, I meant what I said in the entry. I hate it how people associate blogging with fame. All I ever wanted was to record my life. And it really feels great to read your own past entries if you have been blogging for awhile. You look at how much you've grown over time and how different you are since then. For all you've known, you might already be laughing at how your dressing was so fugly and you used to think that it is nice.

The thing is, I couldn't handle the amount of blog readers - NOT that I have alot. It's just that I have to be very self-conscious and it becomes a chore. I take hours to finish a blog entry that others may just finish reading it in 5 minutes. And also, my command of language sucks, so I need to proof read a few times before I publish the entry.

It is like working isn't it? On many occasions, it was just too taxing for me.

But I know I can never stop blogging. The fire is still burning. Heh. So I wanted to start a new blog, somewhere low profile so I wouldn't have worry about the problems I'm facing now.

I talked to someone about it, and he said something like, "What's your intention of blogging? Something FOR YOURSELF to keep, right? Then, you shouldn't worry how other people look at your blog. Just do it how you would when you first started out."

To which I couldn't agree more.

So yeah. Take that as an April Fool's joke, or, call me a self-slapping idiot. I'm back on track.

Ending on a high note.

2009-04-01T20:07:00.002+08:00

Well, like how everything good must to come to an end, it is time for me to part ways with my blog. I've given thought to this decision for the longest time. Weighing the pros and cons to this and maybe what I can achieve out of this tough choice.

Blogging has opened an immense amount of doors for me. There are many things that I wouldn't have thought that I'll be able to achieve by just a mere "online diary". It started out as a personal website on the net, mostly read by only a few of my classmates. It grew into something that's not so personal, and at times, a bragging ground. Or even attention-seeking.

Why am I like that? That's not what I want. I don't want to be a celebrity. Because blogging has evolve into what it is as of now, sometimes it feels degrading to go around saying that I'm a blogger. Yah, you are a blogger, so what? You are either wannabes or the famous bloggers. Of cos, I'm not saying this 'cos I'm green-eyed. Just 'cos there's a fine line between "I am famous" and "I think I am famous". Sadly, a lot of ~~wannabe~~ bloggers do not realise it.

My blogger friends don't get me wrong, I'm not casting aspersions on bloggers and the blogosphere. It's my issue with blogging fame and the notions of the motive to blog.

Blogging literally used to be writing online diaries. But now, people associate it with instant fame.

Anyway, I know I'm going to lose many contacts and opportunities by ending my blog. But looking at how irregular and backdated I am in my blog posts, I guess it's just the right thing to do. And ending with my recent birthday party entry is definitely a high note for me to do it.

Thanks for the people who are with jayleif.blogspot.com for the past 4 years. It has been a great time blogging about my life, and my thoughts.

Signing off for the last time,
Jayden :)

Silent Dancer: Jayden 21

2009-03-13T22:21:00.006+08:00

As mentioned on the last part of the previous entry, here's the beautiful video that means alot to me.

When I first saw this video I was taken aback by how good it is. This 2min 37secs is like 2hrs 37mins to me. I love every single frame of it. It's so heart-warming and it kinda made me teared a little after watching it. This may just be yet another video to you, but to me, it already has a place close to my heart. Thanks, Audi. How can I ever thank you enough?

I shan't go on and on at it, just watch and enjoy it.

Silent Dancer: Jayden 21 from Audi Khalid on Vimeo.

I wanna say a huge THANK YOU to everybody who came to the party, each and every single one of you meant something to me. Those that I didn't invite, it's just that the hotel suite can only hold that much people.

There was a surrealistic feeling towards how I looked at the party. To think that the people actually came for me, it's so weird. Maybe I'm lacking in a lot of things like self confidence. Do I really worth their effort and time? It's like throughout the entire event, I was standing a step behind myself, watching another person's party. It's THAT weird.

Whatever it is, I've turned 21 and I'm trying to make a change in my life. Wish me luck.

P/S: Thanks to everyone who texted me and wrote on my wall on Facebook too. I could name everyone out here, but hey, you know who you are. :)

The Psychedelic Partay

2009-03-12T03:27:00.009+08:00

I don't know why I took so long to do this but, yeah, here's my 21st birthday party! And if the editing of the photos look inconsistent, that's because I spent the duration of 1 month to photoshop them individually. Well, mainly due to the huge amount of photos that I don't know which one to choose from.

I would also like to add that the following photos are from Audi, Nadia, Esther and of cos, yours truly.

First up, it was held at Naumi Hotel.

Okay, I'll have to first explain the whole rationale behind the whole hotel party idea before anyone starts thinking that I'm some ATAS, brand-whoring kid.

Initially, I wasn't sure how I wanna go about celebrating my 21st. It was only until the 2nd week of Jan, when I realised it's gonna be over soon if I don't start planning it. And I had to bring forward the celebration from 4th Feb to 31st Jan 'cos the actual day falls on a Wednesday.

Due to the last minute arrangement, all the chalets are either taken up or not available for booking within a month. I was so disheartened that I couldn't even get a proper place, I'd almost given up and almost, almost decided not to celebrate after all.

Chalets are the best option since they are cheap and spacious.

But in this case, my last option was hotel rooms/suites. So I went up and down searching for the ideal place and finally settled on Naumi. Though the exorbitant price of the suite, I never regretted holding my party over there. I think it has one of the nicest interior ever. And the staff was remarkably accommodating.

So without further ado, here's the first batch of photos:

The speech bubbles and the lightning bolts were handmade okay! Anyway, the whole *GASPS* thing came about when I was thinking of the title for the Facebook event for this party. It's like, "GASPS! I'm so old already ah?!"

Aside the orange tint in the photos from the lights of the hotel suite, I love how the photos turn out bright and colourful! Kudos to all those who dressed to the theme! :D

The presents wrapped in houndstooth print are the 21 presents from Fabian. TWENTY ONE PRESENTS. Man, he won the most-thoughtful-award hands down.

Oh, did I mention Audi takes amazing photos?!

I tell you, bloggers are the most scandalous bunch. We definitely had a lot of fun - on bed.

HAWT. Almost edison chen. Heh.

When it was nearing cake-cutting, they blindfolded me for the second time for yet another surprise. (Remember the first time they surprised me with the lightning bolt cake?)

And I tell you, THIS IS THE BEST FREAKING SURPRISE EVER.

Josiah went to the length of getting Ginette to come as the surprise! Till now, I'm still awed that she came. I thought I should give a little explanation why I'm so overwhelmed by her appearance.

The word 'idol' would be a tad too strong, so I would say, Ginette's like the role model that I look up to. I could dish out tons of vocab to describe her, but to put it simply, I find her really really cool. She's a rocker chick, a lecturer, a DJ, and one third of a local label. (I bet there's more!)

I know this may sound stalkerish, but sometime back when I found out about this interview she did with Stomp, I kept watching it and I think I'd seen it at least 20 times already.

It's really an honor to be her student. She's very inspiring and I enjoyed her classes the most. And I love her attitude towards life. Go watch the interview!

Prior to this, I've always thought that I am very good at guessing surprises. But this one really tops it. And it's kinda surreal 'cos when I was planning the guestlist, I remembered telling myself, "If Ginette comes, it'll be the best thing ever."

But I didn't tell anyone at all! I know they'll definitely invite her to come if I'd told them. How can I shamelessly invite someone this cool to my humble party? But gosh! It really happened!

I KNOW RIGHT! I was soooo wonderstruck and shy when I saw her.

The 3D Lasalle handsign. Haha!

Still in awe, it was cake cutting!

If you haven't notice, I was celebrating my 210th birthday by the count of the candles.

Next up, the usual celebrity-esque photo-taking session with the birthday boy and his cake.

The cake's Banana Chocolate from Secret Recipe! Mua fave cake of all time!

On the invite that I sent out, there was "Polaroid Galore". Not polaroid per se, but...

TONS OF INSTAX MINIS!!! There were 10 packages of 10 pieces each. Minus away those that some took home, I've got around 70 pieces of them! Polaroids are freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to view the entire upload!

A few of them left early, so here's the group photo of the 90% remaining!

We did this using my camera and the remote shutter. It was so convenient that we just kept snapping anyway while fooling around! Here's a short video montage of the photos:

Phew~ I thought I'll never finish writing this blog post! Well, that's it! Thanks for reading if you are, and stay tuned to a very beautiful and meaningful video in the next entry!

P/S: Do catch Ginette's band, Astreal, performing tonight (Thurs, 12 Mar) on Live 'n' Loaded on Channel 5 @ 11pm!
Someone help me record the programme pretty please??

while waiting...

2009-03-11T23:44:00.001+08:00

I'm finally here to blog about my birthday partaaaay! which happened like, almost 2 months ago. oh, whatever.

While waiting for the pics (ALL 51 OF THEM!!!) to upload to photobucket, here's the invitation that I sent out...

click to enlarge!

Desktop that makes you salivate.

2009-02-25T10:00:00.000+08:00

While snapping away (in the previous entry) during that time my friends came over to cook for me, I took some close-ups of the food.

This is one of them:

It has ever since become my favourite wallpaper.

Yes yes yes... I know my desktop is freaking messy. But hey, that's how I work! :P

So anyway, it makes me happy looking at it and most definitely, it has subconsciously opened up my appetite! I'd love to share it with you guys, though it's not recommended for people who are going on a diet. Heh! Click here to download!

The Incredible Friends

2009-02-24T00:47:00.003+08:00

If you were to ask me, I would definitely agree that I'm blessed to have the sweetest friends around.

So they wanted to give me a surprise. They planned to come over the day before my birthday party, and cook a scrumptious dinner spread while I'm in camp and once I get home, I'll be pleasantly surprised and sating my ravenous appetite away.

Bad news is, I took leave on that day. Ha!

Nonetheless, with the clever coordination with my mum, they managed to shocked me when they appeared in my room while I was reading email on the computer. Luckily I wasn't surfing porn. LOL

The cooking commenced and I was forbidden to help out, so I could only whip out my camera and started to snap away.

They look like they're wearing uniform to work huh? Haha. Gigi was actually wearing a very nice dress but in order not to dirty it, she changed it to my oversized tee.

My cook wears Comme des gar to work. Don't pray pray.

And before I knew it, the dinner is ready!

Man, I'm feeling peckish blogging about the food!

And in the festive mood of CNY, there was Lou Hei!

A group photo with my Mum and my bloody fat brother before we start eating:

The food was undoubtedly delicious and heart-warming. But that was not the end of it. There was one more surprise installed for me.

They blindfolded me while they busily prepared the "dessert" in the kitchen.

The cake was freaking LIGHTNING BOLT SHAPED!!! Thanks so much for the effort, I love it!

Prior to this, I actually thought that I'm quite good at exposing surprises. Oh how wrong was I!

Anyway, some crazy pics for LOL:

Many many thanks, my dear friends.

the 21 years so far

2009-02-19T00:38:00.007+08:00

This blog entry was supposed to be up on 4th Feb. Shit happens and it was being delayed till I found the mood to finish with it.

So, looking at how some bloggers blogged about how their look have changed throughout the years, I decided that it's quite a proper time for me to do so too. I went to dig out my family's old photos and this is probably the earliest of me, technically speaking:

That's obviously taken during Christmas, and certainly in the year 1987. Fast forward about a month or so, and I was born!

Funny how I can't find any of my baby, BABY photos. You know?! Like those new born, wrapped in pastel coloured towels and cute mittens, kind of photo. I highly suspect they never take any, which is so unfair 'cos my brother has got like tons of these kind of photos!

And so, this is next earliest photo that I found.

I realise the high forehead was my trademark since young.

I don't exactly have much memory of that age. In fact my earliest memory is of me asking my mum when I can start going to kindergarten like other kids I saw in the lift. The next thing I knew, I was attending preschool.

Preschool and kindergarten was fun, I recalled. I had loads of fun albeit being extremely shy towards the other kids.

That's me in my old house. See how badly the wall adjacent to the table was vandalised? It was my favourite drawing board.

Oh, I found my posture very amusing in this particular photo:

Man, I can really pose huh?!

Anyway, next up. Primary school.

I find primary school days are the most enjoyable. There was nothing to worry about, and the lessons are so short they can be split into AM and PM sessions. Even for PSLE, it was no stress at all. I don't recall that I had to mug intensively or go for tuitions to achieve the score of 247.

I know I didn't bother much about my appearance until like primary 6 or so. That was when I started to wear the center-parting hairstyle.

For some obscure reasons, I thought it was damn cool. And I was totally obsessed with it. I would find the perfect center line to part my hair every time I finish bathing. Then I would use hair pins to hold the fringe into place, and to let the hair take the M shape.

I kept the hairstyle till about mid of sec 4, before I finally saw the light that told it's time to get rid of the ah bengish hair.

So I changed the parting for good, and, it stayed with me for the longest time.

Yes, that's the number plate for the back of the bus.

Well, it was a boring ride on the bus when a few of us, who were at the top deck, realised the number plate could be taken out easily without getting noticed. So we decided to take it home and camwhore with it! I hope the people from SBS won't go after me for this! LOL. Anyway it's been so long, I don't even know where it is now.

Secondary school days were filled with all these random mischiefs and of course, skipping lessons and whatnot. One thing that I knew was, I wanted to further my studies in design after O levels. So I aspire to matriculate into Lasalle and eventually managed to get in.

I detest those who "want" to study design only when they have nowhere else to go. They think design is like something anyone can pick up easily and excel in it. On one end, there was me, who prepared so much for the interview and was super thrilled when they accepted me. And on the other, some people think that as long you've got the cash, you can get enrolled.

I digressed.

So after finishing secondary school, and like every other kid who wants to look 'cool', I went to bleach my hair!

And this marked the beginning of the many hair colours that I've tried.

Green. Did this with the help of Josiah, using the awesome Korean brand hair dye that he bought. It was done for the interview day at Lasalle.

CNY came by and the green was changed into pink in attempt to fit the festive mood.

That particular brand of hair dye fades away super fast. I got fed up having to keep on re-colouring the colour part, and therefore I made it blonde.

After having the patch highlights for quite some time, I grew bored of it and bleached my hair again.

I managed to DIYed this ash grey hair which I liked it a lot, but it only lasted for 1 day before it faded into some ugly blonde shade.

See that lil grey part? It was only second day after one wash. I remember somebody telling me that in order to keep ash colours like grey, you'll neeed to use a special kind of shampoo? It's somewhat harmful to the hair, but it makes it grey. Not sure how true is that though.

Ahh yes, I used to work in Subway. In fact, I've part timed at McDonald's and Tricon (those KFC branch with PizzaHut and Tacobell menu). I enjoyed working at those fast food joints. You'll get to eat free junkfood everyday and not to mention, you'll get to meet the funniest customers ever.

As I digressed again.

So after having shitty blonde hair for awhile, I got bored with hair colours and I gave my head to Josiah to freestyle colour it. He reused the pink and green and darken the base layer.

They call it the Ice Kacang Hair.

That's the end of the colour frenzy, though I forgot to mention I did dark blue for my entire head before. Couldn't find any photos of it, so yeah.

The parting and style didn't change much. The hair just kept growing longer and longer as I don't frequent hair salon. Well 'cos I always have this bad-hair-cut-phobia.

Eventually I reached Nirvana and got the CHI-BAH-BOOM hair.

I know it rocks. Worship me please. Meh.

It's hardwork to maintain the hair. I'm always very late due to the long styling time needed to make it chi-bah-boom. And I have to buy new hairspray every other week. The worst? I can't rest my head any ol' how even when I'm sleepy in cabs.

WHICH REMINDS ME, don't you hate looking at flatten hair after every movie? Guys, please do yourself a favor. Run your fingers through your hair, puff it up, or something; You look like crap and everybody knows you just finish watching a movie.

Gosh, I'm taking forever to finish this blog entry.

So anyway, I got sick of the brownish hair and I went back to basics.

By this time, my hair was so long that I was starting to look androgynous. So I chopped off the length by a lil and did some highlights.

This was around October 2006 and if you haven't already notice, it's the hair that runs across my blog banner. I know I should prolly change the banner by now, since it doesn't reflect my look anymore. But, nah. I've got no time to change my blog design anytime soon.

Anyway weeks later, I went to chop the hair again and I had some cool bangs!

Kept the bangs for about 2 months, and I went to chop off more hair to get the spikey look.

After months of not going to the salon, the hair eventually grew back the thickness and length.

I was out of idea of new hairstyles, so I simply snipped the fringe straight again.

Notice how it goes in a cycle from short to straight bangs, to short to straight bangs again.

So, no prizes for the the correct guess of the next haircut, ...it's short spikey again!

I remember I had the haircut 'cos I was going for an internship at Vibrantstyle. And the straight bangs made me look sloppy shit, so I had it cut away!

That was around mid 2007. And for the rest of the year I wore the same bang-ish side parted look.

Fast forward to January 2008,

Meh. Straight bangs again.

February 2008. Couldn't stand the irritating bangs that kept poking my eye, so I conveniently followed the cycle.

March 2008. Yet again (following the cycle).

May 2008. (this is getting boring)

June 2008.

It was like an impromptu thing. We were hanging out after filming Blogger's Sweets, having lunch together with Fabian and talking about hair. Nad and Fab suddenly decided to get a haircut and dragged me along. I was very reluctant 'cos it was like 1 week away from enlisting and I wanted to keep it till the very last day.

Enlistment came. *cue dramatic music*

FREAKING BOTAK.

Botak, black, and blue.

Though I can keep longer hair now since I'm out of BMT, I don't intend to play the cat-and-mouse game with the authorities anymore. I'd been through enough of the hassle of having teachers scolding me for my long fringe during secondary school. It'll be so annoying and troublesome to be picked on the hair or to go through all the effort to keep out of sight of the disciplinary folks.

Thankfully, Nakata's haircut is still in and I'm somewhat into that now!

YAY. I finally reached the end of this entry. Phew! Yup! And so this is how I look now. :)

...I wonder how I will look in the next 20 years to come?

Question:

2009-02-15T13:59:00.003+08:00

Is it okay to wish your friends who aren't attached, "Happy Valentine's"?

Okay, random. Blog entries coming up soon. :)

Blogging or lack thereof

2009-02-09T22:39:00.002+08:00

Hey people, thanks for the kind words. It's funny how I didn't realise that there are other people who are going through similar downs. Maybe I'm complaining too much? Did I? Maybe I shouldn't worry too much?

Anyway, I felt a slight relief after writing it out yesterday. It occurred to me that the cause of my downcast might actually be something so simple albeit there are prolly more than one factor contributing to it.

I'm deprived of blogging. It is the reason for the very disappointing blog post on 4th february, well, pertaining to my actual birth day.

I don't know about you, but blogging to me is like telling my closest friend about my life. He doesn't talk or reciprocate. He just sits there, and listens eagerly to me, paying his full attention, even if I'm ranting and cussing nonsense. And, he looks at every single picture I'm putting in my blog entry and he appreciates them. Most importantly, I'm having such a great time talking to him. And I'm in such a wonderful mood that I'm wearing a beaming smile when I blog.

This "mood" is the main kick that gets me blogging. Even if it means losing sleep or getting somewhere late. It is the adrenaline rush that I get from it.

Interrupting me while I'm blogging is the worst that can happen. For one, I'll lose the interest in writing that entry and will not get it back even if I get back to it moments later.

My yearn for blogging may seem puerile and insidious, but if I had to cheat myself into thinking that I have the mood to blog when I don't, it'll defeat the purpose of blogging ultimately.

Of course, I can't possibly use that as an excuse to not find a proper time to blog. The least that I can do is, try not to let it hinder with too much of my other stuff. But sometimes it just can't be helped, when the "mood" comes, I'll just have to get it over and done with.

So, please. Don't deprive me of blogging.

Fragments of the Same Dead Star

2009-02-09T01:09:00.005+08:00

My colleague recently sent this message to his friends when he felt suicidal,

"What is life? You are born into this world without knowing your future, your purpose, your strength and your weakness. You are just thrown into hell by who knows what miracle power and used like a chess which ends up died like a pawn in the end.

What's the point of living if you can't remember when you die? Is there even an afterlife to wander in or it is all but a dream and we will wake up to see only you, yourself alive?

Or are we?

If destiny is fixed even at this point of, me thinking of destiny is part of my destiny. Then, who fixed it? Or what fixed it? If it isn't fixed, how can things happen?

Where does luck come in then? What has faith got to do with life since all is destine? Even change in destine may be destined itself.

Destine. Fate. Luck. Life.

Yet we can't reject the idea of death. Did you seek death or did it seek you. Maybe death designed life to hunt you. And luck is just to make it more fun. =) (i have no idea why he inserted a smiley here)

Death's party awaits.

I strongly empathize with him and I couldn't help but to read the message over and over again. Maybe it is because I almost ended mine recently.

I'll save the storytelling for some other time. The gist of it? I'd thought everything else was meaningless to me at that point of time. I would say I was mentally <----> this close to leave everything and everyone behind. And I guess the thoughts are so strong that I seem to have it carried in my head till now. I'm still ready to go if need be.

By going, I do not mean the hemming and hawing, threatening to gain something, seeking attention - kind of exit. I totally abhor the idea of anyone using death as a pawn. I used to have this classmate of mine who uses scissors to slit her wrist, mostly just a notion to others that she'll kill herself if her partner breaks up with her. I recalled making a remark, "please lah, that blunt scissors of yours won't work. use a penknife will you?"

I used to think I love myself too much to take away my own life. Narcissism yo. And, the reason why people commit suicide is due to overdosage of pop culture. Young kids (and even adults) nowadays watch too much TV, movies and whatnot, leading them to think that suicide is the easy way out.

Ironically, it's happening to me.

I want to be truly happy. But the seemingly easy task isn't exactly as simple as what many might perceive. I feel that everything I do is a facade. I may appear to be jovial, smiles and all, but am I really happy? And recently, I noticed I've reached a certain low mood that is somewhat akin to someone pouring cold water on me whenever and whatever I do. Thankfully, Ginette's surprise appearance at my birthday party made me feel that kind of joy I had never felt before.

But that's just one thing. How can I feel happy for the rest of the things that I'm currently at?

It is not depression, is it? Gosh, no. I can never have depression lah. I seriously have no idea why I'm like this now. I have the things I craved for, the best lover and the greatest friends around me, I SHOULD be happy right? It is definitely not the issue that I don't feel contented. In fact, I am very much contented. If you were to ask me, I'm sometimes too easily satisfied that it's actually a bad thing.

Maybe it's ARMY. MUST BE. EFFING NATIONAL SERVICE MAKE ME SO EMO AND SHIT. BAH!

Okay I'm starting to blabber so let's just leave this as it is. Ciao.

The Sexy 4-Letter Word

2009-02-04T23:17:00.001+08:00

Advertorial

I know I shouldn’t go on and on about how army devours all my time. But the fact that I spend most of my time in camp training, I can’t help but to feel disconnected from the “outside” world.

Well, thank god I’m not in the era whereby NSFs have to queue up for those pay phones.

That’s a scene from “Army Daze” movie back in 1996. Ha!

Still, usage of mobile phones can be quite limited and I often ended up seeing this:

I bet many NS guys share the same sentiment. And if I can’t call back just yet, the best that I can do is reply all the messages – yeah, usually tons of them at once.

Ever since SMS became the bulk of my communication channel, I figured that the given free SMSes of each month is barely enough. And often I’ll have to bear screams from my wallet due to the overshot bills, …on top of the pathetic NSF pay.

Oh ya, trying to squeeze everything in a SMS wouldn’t work too,

…I’ll just end up having to reply more, thus use more SMS.

So, I NEED A SUGAR MUMMY.

…NOT!

All I need is this:

No, not that botak guy. It’s the Singtel Youth Plan! Having seen the various posters at bus stops, I was drawn to the sexy 4-letter word.

At first I thought I was seeing things, but after browsing their cool flashy website and checked out what they’ve got to offer, I realize this is actually the perfect plan for me.

OMG, FREE UNLIMITED SMS! Now, that should keep my wallet fat and mum. I should’ve gotten this plan before I mass sent the Christmas and New Year greetings! I think I’ll soon become a SMS fanatic ‘cos I can text all I want to all my friends regardless of which local operator that they are on.

Oh, and the FREE CAMP CALLS! My gosh, doesn’t that make my phone usage literally free?! (Okay, I forgot the monthly rate… …but wait! It’s only $25.68 for the iOne Plus youth plan!)

With the free camp calls I can really get VERY connected to all my friends, even when I’m stuck in camp!

Psss… There’s also FREE CAMPUS CALLS for tertiary students! So when calls made at designated areas like JCs, ITEs, polys and NTU, NUS, SIM & SMU, calling to any local residential or mobile number, it’s totally free!

Well well well, Singtel seriously managed to impress me. I think I’ve yet to seen any other plans that are so tailored made for the youths. Job well done!

Any of my friends who want to know more can visit http://home.singtel.com/youth

And yeap! That’s one good reason for me to stop feeling disconnected and start texting and calling everybody when I get the plan!

2009-02-04T22:43:00.003+08:00

if you are wondering why there's no blog post even up till now, yeah, i'm not blogging about anything now. i'd totally lost the mood to blog all the entries that i wanted to come up with. every single second of the time since the clock struck 12 has been bad. nothing has been what i wanted or whatsoever.

yeah, i'm 21. didn't expect my actual birth day will turn out this way. 21st some more. thank you very much.

Backdating to XMAS PARTAY- Part 2

2009-01-28T01:12:00.000+08:00

Everybody has blogged about it so there's no need for me to recount about it anymore. If need be, YES I WON A TRIP TO HONG-FANTASTIC-KONG. PLUS FREE 5D/4N STAY IN MARRIOT HOTEL.

eh, i deserve some bragging rights kay.

The End.

Backdating to XMAS PARTAY

2009-01-27T12:27:00.003+08:00

It's CNY Day 2 and I'm blogging about XMAS 2008. I know! How lovely right?! Hahaha
P/S: Nadia, I've snatched your title of the Super Belated Blogger. :P

Anyway I went to a tea party that was thrown by my friends from lasalle. I must say that Cheryl's a great cook!

Together with Sarah, they took 3 days to prepare everything! They should've been greatly applauded for their effort man.

The condo's poolside's a very cosy place!

Been such a long time since the last time I met them!

Suhaimi whipped out his camera, and I'm like OMG what's that thing?!

It's a DIY fisheye lens! Lens cap + Peephole! How wicked can that not be?! People, stop wasting your money on the fisheye lens with exorbitant prices!

Check out these pics!

Back to the party, I found out that getting thrown into the pool is like a custom of their tea parties. So yeah, it happened!!

the immunity from getting dunked is to have a DSLR hung across your neck. henceforth, i was very safe. heh. and obviously we never observe the rules of the pool.

okay that's it. got to go bai nian already. mum's nagginggggggg

I climbed, I shot, and I flew.

2009-01-10T19:47:00.005+08:00

Advertorial

“Yawn… There’s nothing to do in Singapore!”

I bet that is what a lot of people are complaining huh? And you know what? I found out that those people are actually lying! They just wanna keep the entertainment to themselves!

…Haha! Well, just kidding! They aren’t really lying per se. But there are actually a lot of other things to do that many people might not know off. Let me share with you some!

I was invited to check out the SAFRA clubhouses, and since I’m in the army now, I thought, why not find out what NSmen can do when not in camp right?

To be honest, at first, I thought SAFRA was just another boring recreation hub. You know, same old facilities found anywhere and everywhere. But after an introductory talk, I was pleasantly surprised but what they have to offer! In a nutshell, there five clubhouses that offer modern facilities, amenities and services.

Each of the clubhouses is themed differently, so I went to the one in Yishun, which is all about ADVENTURE!

Brought along Fabian and Josiah and we were all geared up for some adventure fun! Upon approval, I was welcomed by the very friendly staff and we were brought to do……
ROCKWALL CLIMBING!

Safety first, the staff ensures that my harness is secured.

Okay, stop staring at my crotch.

And off I go!

It wasn’t as easy as I thought! It was more of technique than strength. I think I didn’t practice the correct way of climbing and that’s why I couldn’t complete all the way to the top and ended with my fingers aching from hanging onto the rocks.

As much as I grumble to myself how hard it is to climb the rockwall, I think it is an even more grueling and stressful job for the guy holding on to me!

Eh, stop staring at his crotch too.

Maybe I’m not very heavy, that’s way he seemed to have an easy time doing the belaying.

Yes, I was definitely exhausted! Fab and Jo both got to try it too!

It’s definitely a great activity for a bunch of friends even if they are climbing for the first time!

Wait a minute… You think this is too much already? Wait till you try the canopy walk! It’s definitely not for the faint hearted or anyone who’re scared of heights!

Look at the look on Jo’s face, I can already spell fear, anxiety and excitement!

Basically, it’s a walk in the jungle – only 7 storeys high up in the sky.

The instructor kept warning me not to bring my DSLR along in case anything ever happens. But I still insisted to bring it out to take some pictures in action.

(Somebody please present me with the Most Daring Blogger Award! Haha)

But I tell you! I was too ambitious lah! How am I supposed to take photos and balance ladders and ropes at the same time?!

This was the one and only shot I managed to snap while balancing myself:

I seriously think I’m crazy. Ha!

The first of the four-part walk is the easiest.

BUT......

When I saw the second part, I was like, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

.
.
.
.
.
.

Here’s Fab and I taking a photo waaaay high up in the jungle.

And while we were at it, Jo didn’t wait for us and walked across the third part by himself!

That idiot!

The third one is the hardest of them all! There is only one side to the rope that we can hold on to and I lost my balance for quite a lot of times. Scary shit!

And finally we reached the end of the entire canopy walk. It was definitely a refreshing experience!

That’s us with the instructor, Melvin. He was a very humorous person and told us to remember one thing – his name, Melvin. That’s because he’s the only one that we will have to shout for if we fall! Ha!

Moving along, we were then brought to try the air rifles at their Indoor Air Weapons Range.

Mr Leong, head of place, gave us a short intro to air rifles, and before long, we were shooting away at the targets!

That’s not the professional way of holding an air rifle while shooting, but well, we were just shooting for fun!

I was quite accurate in my shots and Mr Leong told me I should join their national team! Haha! I guess all those range training in army never go to waste, huh?

A little tidbit, SAFRA Yishun’s Indoor Air Weapons Range is the biggest in Singapore and it has a lot of professional teams training over here, and also, it’s the official venue for a lot of shooting events!

Here’s a group photo before we left!

I personally feel that the range is good for some company events or team building activities whereby participants can challenge one another in shooting the target with air rifle. It’s not something that you’ll get to do everyday!

Well so, that was all! What a day huh!

But that’s not all for Yishun SAFRA!

Besides the SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre (which comprises of the gutsy rockwall and canopy wall) and the Indoor Air Weapons Range, there are others facilities like bowling, ktv, pools & billiards, cybergames & arcade, massage hut, gym and more!

Check out their awesome swimming pool! I’ll definitely come back to use it soon!

AND THAT’S JUST ONE OUT OF THE FIVE CLUBHOUSES! Good news, I can enjoy all of them with just one card!

Not only the activities and club benefits, members get to enjoy an array of lifestyle benefits from shopping, clubbing, dining, entertainment, travel & holiday insurance, auto services and many more.

Do visit their website for more information!

So now, how can you ever complain again that there is nothing to do in Singapore? ;)

My (Blog's) New Year Resolution

2009-01-05T02:26:00.004+08:00

1. To blog more.

2. To blog on time. Which also means, to blog more, 'cos overdue posts may sometimes never turn up at all.

3. To stop procrastinating. When I say I will update means I will update = To blog more.

4. To get a compact camera. I'd missed alot of blog worthy picture moments ever since I switched to a non-camera phone. More pics = Blog more.

5. To get less addicted to other online stuff (No, not porn) other than blogging, ...well, to blog more.

6. OKAY, you get the drift huh?

Hotmail is fucked up.

2009-01-02T20:09:00.001+08:00

How sia?

What happened in 2008?

2008-12-31T15:34:00.003+08:00

When 2008 came, the fengshui masters predicted it to be a bad year due to some astrology thingy. True enough, bad things came one after another. So many heart breaking events have happened around me that I don't know where to get it started.

I consider myself quite in luck already, for not having any major unpleasant incident befalling on me. *Fingers crossed* (there's still like 8 hours left before 2008 ends) ...WELL unless you count enlisting into army as a bad thing?

Anyway, following what I did last year, here's a recap of 2008:

bought a dslr
cut bangs myself
got a letter from google, but yet to accumulate the USD$100 :(
won a phone via blogging
became part of Samsung Youth Panel
did an avant garde-ish video with the help of friends from fashion design
did a video with Nadia for Nuffnang's bday party and realised we've got the chemistry onscreen
produced a vodcast with her thereafter
attended Nuffnang's bday party in a ladies pajamas
got infested with bedbugs (thank god they're gone now)
made blogger namecards
sat the flyer with a bunch of gorgeous people
won a laptop via blogging
got enlisted into the army
went to bali
went to KL with my best buddies from the army
thought that MAYBE army is good after all
passed my IPPT, which I never thought I'll be able to do it
graduated from lasalle with a diploma, going back for degree after I ORD
watch movie in GV gold class for the first time
rock-climbed, but I can't post the advertorial just yet :\
won a trip to HK via blogging

Though 2009 will only begin in a few hours' time, I can't wait for it to be over and proceed to 2010.... ....ORD LOH!

Flesh Imp 8th Anni

2008-12-30T23:50:00.004+08:00

Okay I've officially got 1 day left in 2008 to blog 4-days-worth of blog entries, so you know what? I'd decided that I'll just take my time to blog and backdate the entries if possible.

Anyway, like previous years, I got my invites from Claudia and attended Flesh Imp's anniversary party at Zouk. They were celebrating their 8th this year!

Yeap, Electric Pop's the theme, to which I super love!

Oh, pardon me for the speech bubbles throughout the blog entry. I was feeling a little doodle-ly when I edited the pictures.

I realised that way I hooked the light stick to my chain made it look like a logo we're all so familiar of.

The show started waaaaaaay later than it was supposed to, and it wasn't very impressive either. But I guess these Mambo dancers saved the night!

Check them out! Someone teach me those moves already!

Oh yeah.

Oh
my
goodness

EMILY! Why are you in shiny tights and doing exercises on the stage?!

LOL

More pics that underwent my bad photoshop editing...

And that's the big boys from Flesh Imp telling us to buy more of their clothing. Heh.

If you need, here are the previous years: 2007 & 2006

P/s: Sorry for the uninteresting post. Blogging bug went on vacation.

Ho ho ho

2008-12-26T17:38:00.002+08:00

I've got no time to update just yet, i'll try to blog things up before the end of this year!

By the way, check this out! (Look out for me! Heh)

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2008-12-25T21:14:00.001+08:00

Post Nuffnang Party Pics

2008-12-21T23:47:00.004+08:00

Love these light streaks and I just couldn't resist posting the pics up!

The company after the party was great and it's been ages since I last hung out like that. When can we do this again?

Anyhoo, updates later. :)