Sanity… is for the Weak

It’s all uploaded ~ slideshow’s here. And flickr photogroup here.

Enjoy!

I do not apologise for my earlier rant, save to the innocent part of the world whom I have directed my curses.

Today, a dream of mine has died. A beacon of light that has guided me in dark and storm-tossed sea of life for the last twelve years has been extinguished.

But this time, I am not alone; I will stand, and my loving wife stands with me until a new goal is found.

“I Still Live!”

[rant]

*&^%$#@!!!!

-bleep-

*unprintable*

I am seriously, seriously, pissed. And I think I need a strong drink, probably several.

[/rant]

As promised, some (about two-thirds or so) of the pictures we took in Istanbul are up on flickr, and here are some highlights:

Food there was not cheap, but it was quite good. We tended to go to this little bakery near the hotel for breakfast; it had the most wonderful cheese-and-olive stuffed bread covered in sesame seeds that went really well with the super strong Turkish Tea served in dinky little glass teacups. Lunch and dinner were usually at an eatery that would not look out of place in a Singaporean food court serving “Economy Rice”, as that’s what it basically is ~ go to the counter, pick the dishes you like and have it served with rice or couscous. We really loved the lentil soups served there.

The dessert lovers would enjoy Turkey. Of all the famous sweets, Turkish Delight is probably the best known. Lesser known but sweeter is Baklava, a traditional Ottoman pastry drenched, nay, drowning! in syrup ~ it’s a sweet lover’s heaven, but instant calorie hell…

Case in point, check out the dessert junkie drooling at a pastry shop window:

More seriously though, Istanbul is a historic and culture-rich place. We really loved going through the historic monuments and museums.

The other hightlight of Istanbul would of course be the Bazaars, the Grand Bazaar being the most famous:

That’s it for now ~ I’ll upload the rest soon, but do surf by the flickr page for more.

Hi folks!

We’re just back from Istanbul, Turkey. The sights have been inspiring, the culture amazing, and the food wondeful.

Just let us unpack and wash up, and I’ll upload the pictures as soon as I can.

Singlesticks in the Park

We went to Toa Payoh park, a short 15-minute walk from my home, for our usual Saturday Morning Singlesticks. Ken has a much more detailed description on his blog on the event.

Suffice to say, Ken has made tremendous improvement to his play and and control. Bravo!

Separately, we made a little headway in interpreting Bolognese swordmanship, from the excellent resource by the Order Of The Seven Hearts. It’s much more easier when you have someone to to through the instructions for the play to understand what works and why, rather than trying to muddle through by one’s self!

Saturday Gaming
Saturday afternoon and night is gaming as usual ~ what was unusual was that we tried a new card-game that evening ~ Three Dragon Ante. Highly addictive, it has elements of trick-taking and bluffing, with sudden reversals and other surprises. I foresee that this will probably become a regular at our Saturday night gaming sessions

Wifey treated me to dinner at Mimolette for my birthday. As predicted, the place does look very different by night ~ more sensual and mysterious from the lighting and lack of back glare from the city lights which drown the rest of the island.

We shared a starter of Pan-fried Foie-gras, on a bed of caramelised banana and fruit cake(!), with apple and balsamic reduction. Fruit cake + Foie gras is an interesting combination, to say the least, but we thought the sauce carried the fusion rather well.

E-Lynn had a duck confit, while I had the most tender coin of loin, ever! It was moist, juicy and yet so tender… yum!

For dessert, we shared a molten chocolate cake, very skillfully done, as well as a Angel Food cake that was drowning in cream and fruits.

We took a look at the attached lounge and wine bar; and found it to be quite well decorated and snazzy ~ perhaps we’ll drop by with some friends another time for drinks.

Recommended, especially for a romantic night out.

And I’m 35.

This sucks.

*edit*
Note to self:

Growing Old is Inevitable, Growing Up is Optional!

The Compagnia della Spada from PHEMAS put up a swordsmanship demo over at the Indoor Stadium on 11 Nov 07.

This marks the first time the company is represented at full strength and most members are more-or-less armored and kitted up.

Audio/Visual Update
Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
+Queen: Greatest Hits
+OST Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Wave 103
+Red Hot Chilli Peppers Greatest Hits
+Utada Hikaru: Ultra Blue
+Diablo Swing Orchestra: The Butcher’s Ballroom
+OST Samurai Champloo - Departure
+Monkey Majik + Yoshida Brothers - Change
+Lisa Ono: Soul & Bossa
+Enya: Paint the Sky with Stars
+Chage & Aska: Code Name 1. Brother Sun

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
+Mythbusters: Season 1 / Season 2 / Season 3
+I.33 - Fencing with the Sword and Dagger
+Man of the Year
+CSI - Season 1
+Initial D - 4th Stage: Project D
+Heroes Season 1

In the PSP:
+Sumomo mo Momo mo Dropped.
+Pumpkin Scissors
+Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge
+Freedom
+Kanon 2006
+Ghost Hunt
+Lucky ☆ Star
+Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Dropped.
+Lovely Complex
+Murder Princess Dropped.
+Monster Princess Dropped.
+Sola
+Hayate no Gotoku
+Dennou Coil
+Clannad
+Rental Magica
+Night Wizard
+Bamboo Blade
+Heroes Season 2
+Bionic Woman

Movies to Catch - ‘07:
+Spiderman 3
+Transformers: The Movie
+Ghost Rider
+Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
+300
+Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Missed this
+The Simpsons Movie Missed this.
+Shrek: The Third Missed this
+Bridge to Terabithia… missed this one.
+Seraphim Falls
+Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
+The Last Mimzy… looks like we missed this one.
+Day Watch
+Nomad
+Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End
+Live Free or Die Hard
+Next
+The Golden Compass
+I Am Legend
+Hot Fuzz
+The Kingdom
+The Seeker
+Beowulf
+Get Smart
+Ratatouille
+Stardust

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters
+Grindhouse Missed this
+Balls of Fury
+Black Sheep Missed this

Movies to Catch - ‘08:
+Iron Man
+The Dark Knight

Gone to the Movies
We caught Stardust over the Deepavali holiday! Something of a mash-up between Romeo & Juliet (Capt. Shakespeare, hah!), Snow White and a few other old fairy tales, this modern yarn about a boy’s coming-of-age adventure entertains with tight story telling and creative effects.

Recommended, especially if you love Neil Gaiman’s stories.

We’re gearing up rather nicely ~ bits and pieces of kit are arriving and being integrated into our armor and overall “look”

More details of the PHEMAS demo company:

And of course, myself:

Have you ever played or heard of the game “Mastermind“?

I’ve played it quite a bit when I was much, much younger, but what really intrigued me was the cover ~

It seemed that the guy with his mysterious smile mocked me with every game I played with my cousins and aunts; oh, how I hated losing!

But recently, I came across this article which gave the story behind that game cover.

Go on, have a read. And re-live a simpler time.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent
To blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England’s overthrow;
By God’s providence he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

The Æon Trinity campaign has ended last week, and so this week we try something new: Scion

School Nights
On a side note, wifey attended her company’s annual Dinner & Dance. Funny thing was, the theme for this year’s event was “Back to School”.

And so, she dug up a set of her old school’s uniform from somewhere, and….. looks like she had a lot of fun!

I am a lucky man