Sanity… is for the Weak

Another turn around the sun completed; and what have we achieved?

Jan
+ We had friends from far away coming to visit .
+ Went on our only dive trip for the year.
+ Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner with Mom & Dad… as usual.

Feb
+ Moved all posts from old site to current.
+ Celebrated mum-in-law’s birthday.

Mar
+ Sis gave birth to a baby girl.
+ The passing of a friend and shipmate.

Apr
+ Failed my first driving test.
+ Attended the first ever Singapore flickr meetup.

May
+ Went to the Gold Coast for a course and a holiday.

Jun
+ Passed on my second driving test attempt.

Jul
+ Attended the very first Singapore flickr photograph exhibition.
+ Bought our pair of matching Omega Seamaster Professional watches.
+ Celebrated mom’s birthday at Min Jiang.

Aug
+ Celebrated wifey’s birthday at Indochine.
+ Discovered the joys of YouTube and so started watching a whole lot of anime.

Sep
+ Joined up with Bookmooch ~ 21 books given away, 4 received, and another 57 to give away so far… anybody wants them?

Oct
+ Added Anime to the post categories.

Nov
+ Happy Birthday to me.
+ Went to Japan for a holiday.

Dec
+ Picked up Historical European Swordsmanship.
+ Had our Wedding Anniversary Dinner at The Cliff.
+ And am now posting this from work as I’m on duty on New Year’s Eve.

Happy New Year, everyone!

New Year’s Resolutions
+ Lose 5kg and 3 inches from waistline.
+ Be able to run at least 10km non-stop.
+ Go diving in Palau.
+ Travel to Rome for a holiday.
+ Train to achieve Novice Fellow with PHEMAS and be able to use a steel Longsword safely

Guess where we went?

Had the Christmas Combo Set, a four course meal. Times like this makes me glad that we got married at the end of the year ~ the anniversary dinner is just so much easier to plan, with all the special festive menus around.

Pretty ok food, nothing to scream about, but the view an ambience is simply out of this world. Airy, breezy and cool, the view overlooks the sea and the decor was designed by Yasuhiro Koichi. Recommended.

In memory of the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives in the Boxing Day Tsunami 2004, and the many thousands still missing today.

Peace, out.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

From:

Delta Green, Wifey, and the 2 furkids.

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

John Lennon, Merry Christmas (War Is Over)

It’s been a while since this was updated…

Audio/Visual Update
Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
+Dire Straits: Sultans of Swing
+Ok Go: Oh No
+Hed Kandi: The Mix 2006
+Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
+The Prodigy: Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005
+Blur: The Best Of
+Hiromitsu Agatsuma: Eien no Uta- Eternal Songs

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
+Final Fantasy: Advent Children
+Gokusen
+Howl’s Moving Castle
+Karas
+Vandread: the Second Stage
+Gun Parade March
+Samurai 7
+Gunslinger Girl
+Initial D: 4th Stage
+Scrapped Princess
+The DaVinci Code
+V for Vendetta
+Magica Girl Lyrical Nanoha (魔法少女リリカルなのは)
+Mythbusters: Season 1 / Season 2 / Season 3

In the PSP:
+Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)
+Battlestar Galatica Season 1
+Battlestar Galatica Season 2
+Ouran High Host Club
+Zero no Tsukaima (ゼロの使い魔)
+Paradise Kiss
+Sumomo mo Momo mo
+Pumpkin Scissors
+Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge
+Freedom

Movies to Catch:
+Ice Age 2
+Superman Returns
+Cars
+Mission: Impossible 3
+Pirates of the Carribean 2
+Miami Vice Looks like we missed this one.
+Tristan and Isolde And this one too.
+Underworld: Evolution
+X-Men 3
+Lord of War
+Open Season
+The Seninel
+Casino Royale
+The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift
+Over the Hedge Missed this
+Night At The Museum
+Crank
+Zoom
+Happy Feet
+Azumi
+Man of the Year
+Flyboys
+Accepted
+Deja Vu
+eragon
+The History Boys
+Flags Of Our Fathers

Movies to Catch: 2007
+Spiderman 3
+Transformers: The Movie
+Ghost Rider
+Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
+300

Managed to catch the first episode of Katsuhiro Otomo’s new work, Freedom.

It. Rawks.

We actually saw ads of this OVA playing while we were in Japan in November, and it looked pretty good to me. Of course, the character designs were basically re-cycled from Akira, but what the hey ~ it’s been years since that grand-daddy of anime goodness was drawn.

Go watch it. In DVD (or better yet, HD!) if you can get your hands on it. It’s too pretty to be seen in any other format.

Sword Work
Second practice today ~ and I’m in pain again. It’s been so long since I’ve done any martial arts, that I’m not in any condition for it. That said, the pain is not as bad as it felt last week. Oh well ~ more sweat = less pain.

I also bought a waster to use at practice, not to mention personal practice at home (when I’m in better shape …). Pictures when I get around to it. Can’t wait to get to the level when I can start using a steel sword!

Speaking of training, a friend of mine who started together with me was complaining of the pain as well. The reply from me was, “You need more conditioning”.

The retort from another (gamer) friend was, “You need more XP!”

XD XD XD

Ouch. I think I’ll go collapse somewhere now.

Your Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled With a Puppy

Well - one cute, soft, cuddly puppy… And a very soiled Christmas stocking.

Hmmm….. I’m not complaining

More sword work today. Suddenly, the idea of having one of those OSIM massage chairs at home to sink into after the work out sounds like an damn good idea…

Wishful Thinking
Christmas in another 2 days!

Instead of the puppy in my Christmas Stocking, can I have a Scooba instead?

*please?*

samjo: Where else? The MeForums of course!

What type of Swordsman are you?

You are a Samurai.You have trained the majority of your life. You are honerable, you follow your word. You spare no one once in combat, but that is expected, for your oponent would do the same to you. You use a two-handed katana.
Take this quiz!

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Hmm… interestingly, I’ve just started learning the longsword with PHEMAS, the Pan Historical European Martial Arts Society (Singapore)…. Hi Greg!

Swinging a longsword is just not as easy as one might think, movies and TV to the contary. It uses muscles you never thought you had…. my shoulders have been in pain for the past 2 days. But I think I’m a sucker for punishment ~ will be back again this weekend for more!

Was French Toast (or Bombay Toast as some call it here) with some fresh fruit.

Hungry… Whippets
Speaking of food, we’re out of doggy biscuits. Stanley ate the last batch, the greedy boy!

As if it’s not enough, after finishing his, he tried to steal some of Tess’s biscuit! Looks like it a trip to the petshop soon.

iFuture
We dropped by the Science Centre on Sunday night for the launch of the new iFuture (what’s this with the prefix of “i-” on everything “tech” anyway?) exhibit, with the President, His Excellency, Mr SR Nathan as the Guest of Honor.

I won’t comment much on the dog-and-pony show about how infocomm and technology will change the lives of Singaporeans by 2035 (well, duh!), but some of the gadgets on show were especially drool-worthy:

A Segway PT and a PS3. What more can a tech-geek want?

*swoon*

Humor
Saw this at a wine-tasting booth while at the exhibition.

ROFLMAO XD XD XD

You Are 70% Peaceful

You are a very peaceful person. All is good in your world, no matter what’s going on. Occasionally you let your problems get to you, but you generally remain upbeat. Your inner strength is inspirational - much more so than you may realize.

I think it’s true. Some used to think I have ice for blood ~ not that I’m an phlegmatic, cold-hearted S.O.B., but rather nothing much disturbs me. I just don’t freak out or panic as much as the average joe.

It’s Zen, za?

Since we were in the East visiting the in-laws, we decided to drop by the new IKEA at Tempines… figuring that the hype would have died down by today. But no, it was still crowded; and it got even more so by the time we left.

Still, it was an impressive place. It was so huge that we didn’t feel at all crowded despite the amount of people pouring into the place. Plus, free parking is always a plus in our book…

Samurai, Katana and… Knives?
Finally unpacked and used the knife I bought from Japan for the first time today!


Made the same way as the old Samurai’s Katana, these knives are a work of art to behold, and a joy to use. Beautifully balanced and oh, so sharp ~ nothing less than perfection is expected from the shop that has been in operation since 1590: Aritsugu

Cooking is *so* going to be a joy now

We went down to Clarke Quay today, as a drums and bagpipe band was playing there in conjunction with Saint Andrew’s Day, the Scottish National Day.

Dinner was at Brewerkz, somewhere we haven’t been to ever since we got married.

The food (and the Beer!) was still as good as ever ~ should go there more often.

Music
Did I mention I like Bagpipes? Well, the highlight of the evening was the scottish band Clann An Drumma, for which we were there for:

As an additional treat, we also had had the Bagpipe Band from the Singapore Police Force Gurkhas as the opening act!